COME ON!

Are there not enough problems in France that need to be tackled? Does presidential candidate Segolene Royal have so much time on her hands that she feels the need to stick her nose in Quebec's affairs? I guess when you're not busy developping a viable electoral platform...you know with, like, plans for the country and stuff...you're a pretty carefree individual. Hey Segolene, I've got a shitload of work on my hands right now. How about you make yourself useful and write a couple of presentations for me instead of taking trips - both metaphorical and physical - to faraway lands and telling people how to live their lives.

Seriously...

UMP: 1, Parti Socialiste: 0

Our first debate, the fruit of sleepless nights and horrendous stress, went down without a problem yesterday afternoon at Sciences-Po. If you speak French and are passionate about French politics (aren't we all??) you can check out the video for it here.

I really do feel bad for the Socialist party right now. The deputies have literally nothing to work with since their presidential candidate Segolene Royal has yet to create a platform. Oh wait, I forgot that last month she declared that she would ask "the people" what issues they want her to tackle. I guess that's her platform. She's also doing an excellent job of contradicting herself repeatedly and then getting mad at the press for highlighting her incessant contradictions.

So that is why I declare the UMP deputy the winner of this first round of debates...even though near the end he declares that he's had enough of the left's "racisme anti-riches". That did not go over too well with the audience.

Last night we went to check out a party put on by Trax magazine, and featuring a DJ set by the members of the Klaxons, who grace the cover of this month's issue. When we got there, the music was tremendous, but by the time we made our way through the huge crowd and grabbed a drink, a new Klaxon was behind the decks and his house music got a little boring. Highlight of the night: burning home through the empty streets on a bike.

Elections extravaganza

Today is the first of six debates that I have helped organize at Science Po about the upcoming French Presidential elections. The topic will be "The French Social Model...a Model?". For those of you not attending, I'll cut to the chase and just tell you that the answer is a resounding "No". But more specifically, myself and the 7 other students in my group will be launching the debate around 3 themes: meritocracy, gender equality and social uncertainty. That last one doesn't translate properly in english, but in french it's "inquietude sociale"...Did you know that almost 50% of french people are worried that they may one day end up homeless?

Our panel members include two politicians with very different stances on the issue, two experts who have studied at length the issue and a coordinator who is also an expert on the subject. The whole thing will be moderated by Ali Baddou who hosts a great radio programme each morning on RadioFrance. If all goes well, the politicians will start yelling at each other. Fingers crossed!

Speaking of elections, the Serbs go to the polls on the 21st. This is a huge deal in terms of what will happen next in the Balkans. Two days ago in class we discussed the upcoming decision on Kosovo's political status with a top expert from the International Crisis Group and a member of the Kosovar government. They both told us very frankly that they see little difference between the so-called moderate candidates and the nationalist candidates in Serbia. This is troubling, because when the UN Special Envoy to Kosovo releases his report at the end of this month, he will probably recommend that Kosovo become independent. The Serbs have repeatedly declared that they would categorically reject any proposals for an independent Kosovo. There is great potential for the powderkeg to ignite again and it will be interesting to see how the outcome of the Serbian elections influence the decisions that will be made in the next few months.

photos...

Some pictures taken by my talented and beautiful friend Svea who is currently visiting me from Toronto....
...getting ready for a night on the town...

...in my appartment...

...in my favourite bookstore...

...in the metro...

...in St. Germain des Pres...

la merde has hit the fan

Never in my life did I think I'd be so excited to wake up terribly hungover two mornings in a row. Ever since classes started on January 2nd, I've been sleeping 4 hours a night, spending 12 hours at school a day, forgetting to eat meals, and in general, cursing Sciences-Po. I'm beginning to think that I have the immune system of a super-human because apart from a little head cold, I have somehow managed to avoid any major health breakdowns that would normally occur with such behaviour.

Last night was the most fun I've had in a long time. Jean Nipon came along and brought some friends...although the ONE dude I wanted to hear went on at the exact moment when I was engaged in a deep political discussion upstairs. Other highlighs of the night included dancing to this and this.

Now just because I've spent the last two nights drinking away my sorrows at Le Paris Paris does not mean that I'm out of the woods yet. I think this school has made it its mission to try to kill us. And the professors have all been taken by this random desire to move all of our due dates foward, sometimes by over a week. So things aren't about to get any better any time soon. Not to mention the fact that my Master's Project is really picking up now and our first large debate about the upcoming presidential elections is happening next week. Check out our pretty website.

All that being said, Trax magazine is having a bit of a celebration on Thursday night and I think it might be a good time...

so this is the new year

It's with a bit of a heavy heart that I rang in the New Year. For those of you in the Vancouver Ultimate community you will have already heard about the tragic car accident that claimed the life of one of the UBC women's team's coaches. JK's death came as a huge shock and he will be dearly missed...

If classes didn't start up again tomorrow and if I didn't have so much work to hand in in the next 2 weeks, I would have stayed in Toronto for New Year's Eve. Unless you have lots of money to spend on exorbitant cover to get into even the shittiest club, Paris is lame on december 31st. Low expectations are key.

My night started off on the right foot when, on my way home from dinner at around 1030, I didn't respond to heckling from some 17 year old riff raff and I got a glass bottle thrown at my feet. Happy new year indeed, assholes.

This little anecdote illustrates perfectly why Paris is not fun during nights of big celebration. The chances that you'll get harassed increase tenfold; not only by the racaille that comes in from the suburbs, but from over-aggressive cops who are on edge and snap faster than usual. A general rule is to avoid the streets at all costs between 1am and 3am, because that's when they start laying the smack down. Although last night, the sirens started resonating across the city around 10pm.

I ended up at a very random house party in the diplomatic appartment of a guy who works for the Cypriot embassy. There were seemingly endless bottles of champagne, wine and hardbar, fabulous finger foods and a DJ. I spent a good half hour discussing the politics of fashion with this guy's business partner. FYI Vancouver, Leone distributes some of his clothes, so if you're looking for a $5000 dress...

After trying to hail a cab for about 20 minutes (and in the meantime getting harassed some more in the street) we gave up and I started walking home. Don't worry mom I had my pepper spray.

So now it's 2007 and I've got a very difficult 2 weeks of assignments and projects ahead of me. Maybe I should have joined this protest. Who said the French didn't have a sense of humour?