My summer hit list

These are curious times we are living in....I can actually hit the sales in Paris and Berlin while being in the Provence..with one small click...and a VISA number of course...Here are a few  items on my summer sale list.

Here comes the 3D

I was on the set during the 3D camera tests for T.S. SPIVET. The images were exhilarating and breathless. JP's visual style is such an obvious candidate for a 3D marriage. Now, they have to make sure the new 3 D camera works!

TS SPIVET's Canine star

He is an Australian Shepard...12 years old
....Gorgeous dog....Jp did not know his name....

Rehearsing with the Kyle and Jacob

Prepping TS SPIVET begins..

I arrived in Montreal only to be snatched up and  taken away to a rustic hotel in near  Vermont, USA. Since I am a native California  girl, it felt exotic to be cycling amongst the East coast country side.

Montreal, Quebec

I arrived in Montreal last week. WE are staying in the Old Port section which is quaint and charming but very noisy.

Tim Burton's One Man Show

We were invited to a special dinner celebrating Tim Burton's exposition at the French Cinematique in Paris. It was such a luxury to have the museum to ourselves ( and 50 other guests) to absorb Burton's immense talent and quirky dark side. I think I appreciate Tim Burton's sketches and drawings more than his films. His drawings are really from another place in the mind that few earthlings seem to possess.

Bye, Bye, Whitney

Another RIP. Another one from my Michael Jackson generation. Another talented singer. Female, black, and oh, so gifted. Poor Whitney, nobody on this planet had a voice like that. Did she waste her life away or did she just live it?  Whitney's life was her journey. I hope she finds some peace...

R.I.P Etta James..Queen of Soul...

I had the chance to see Etta James sing two times. The first time was in 1986. I was taken on a first date to a small club in Watts, down in the hood. She was the opening act for Screaming Jay Hawkins. I was the only white girl in the whole club. She sang for her people. I could not believe what I heard nor saw. The experience was religious as much as music can warm the soul. My soul was boiling over so much that I could not even bear to hear Screaming Jay Hawkins sing. My date and I quickly left the club.
The second time I had taken the actress Diane Lane to hear Etta James play at the Roxy on Sunset Boulevard in 1988.  I could not believe what I was hearing...Etta was singing with a different voice...one for the white audience. I realized how fortunate I was to hear her really sing that wonderful and haunting voice of hers in that small club in Watts.

You did good, Etta...Get some rest now.....

Men's Fashion Week Paris 2012

I went to see Adam Kimmel's second fashion show yesterday in Paris. His inspiration was Nevada Air Force space, Area 51. No, there were not aliens walking down the runway but beautiful stiff models wearing the designers latest inspirations. It reminded me of a cross between CELINE and MAD MEN. The cut was a lot slimmer without losing the comfort or virility often associated with his previous collections. Adam Kimmel's  heart belongs to America .

Monster Wife...

One hot day in early September, I was strolling down Rue Grenelle, on my way to buy my husband a birthday gift when I saw a coat in the Prada boutique window. I had seen this coat a zillion times in the Fall preview fashion magazines for 2011. But here it was right in front of my nose. I went inside the boutique and normally, I have to admit, I am not a big Prada fan. I did not know the sales people and the clientele did not reflect my taste. Once I put the apricot faux fur jacket on..I was a bit perplexed....Did it look good on me or did I look like Big Foot, the monster that lives up in the Sierra Nevada? A folklore monster tale a bit like the Lochness monster for anyone that went camping as a kid in California.

The sales woman said that there were only two of these monster jackets in all of France...

I bought it right there. A very unusual piece that creates odd looks from the Parisian women.

Monster or not, I never bought my husband his birthday gift....Bad, bad monster wife....

Two more days!!!!!

Two more days until the Paris movie premier of David Fincher's 'MILLENIUM: Men Who Don't Like Women'. By the way this is the original Swedish title....I am obsessed...I am already  almost done with the second book. I let myself read only 25 pages per night... Going to Sweden to take the tour...Crazy, I know...

Black Diamond

This was supposed to be a bad year for the truffle season in France. Mr Truffle man, a 30 minute drive north of our house, said that he has seen a 80% decline in truffles on his property within the past 30 years.
Nevertheless Mr Truffle man made us a surprise visit last week with two huge truffles found by his dog, Pomme. Pomme is 14 years young, practically deaf and blind but she still has the 'nose'.

Our neighbor recalls her grandmother saying,' there is nothing to eat in the house, go outside and find some truffles'