vive la paresse.

It did not completely sink in yesterday, upon getting out of a grueling 4.5 hour exam, that my year is really over. But today I woke up and the sun was shining and my stomach was hurting from last night's tequila-drenched celebrations and it finally hit me that I'm on vacation.

VACATION!

The most challenging part of the next couple of days will be to figure out what to do with all this free time. Catch up on reading? Screen shirts? Movie marathons? Work on my tan? Check out some art shows? Decisions, decisions...

Rough year. It's time to be a lazy bum.

Hype.

Hype must be such a terrifying thing when you're releasing your first full-length album. I don't know what it's been like on the other side of the world, but over here we've been hearing about the new Justice album non-stop since at least January. I have to say that it took about a week for the album to truly grow on me. My first reaction was slight disappointment, but mostly because several of the songs had already been released as EPs, so it wasn't completely new and exciting. Then again, new albums are never much of a surprise anymore thanks to the magic of the Internet.

I've made my feelings about Uffie quite clear on this blog, but once again on The Party she ruins a perfectly good beat with her asinine lyrics.

For all of you heading down to Seattle in July to see Daft Punk, here is a little 9 minute preview. A buddy of mine was at this show last Thursday and he said his head nearly exploded from the incredible wall of sound coming from the stage He literally wouldn't shut up about how amazing it was...and he's not even a Daft Punk fan.

Daft Punk - Bercy Intégrale
Uploaded by fubiz

Gala, Tarantino, etc...

It's been a busy week. I'd like to say that it was busy because I was spending hours at the library studying for my Tuesday morning exam, but that would be a huge lie. The week started off with a bang, at the end-of-year Sciences-Po Gala. Even though I didn't have as much fun as I did two years ago, it was still a great night. The setting was beautiful, the champagne was flowing and the company was delightful. But the party quickly degenerated into a free for all around midnight. It's always a little unsettling when you witness supposedly bright and intelligent people become complete assholes over something as insignificant as alcohol. Although I guess those of us who attended the dinner are partly to blame since we drank most of the champagne which was meant to last all night. Oopsie. Here are some pictures.





I also went to check out the new Tarantino movie. I was completely engrossed and thoroughly entertained for the duration of the film. However, I have talked to several people - even though they describe themselves as huge Tarantino fans - who were incredibly disappointed. So all I will say is: go see it. Tell me what you think. Although I think we can all agree that the soundtrack is outstanding.

Tonight I'm taking it relatively easy, because last night I came home at dawn. It was truly a bizarre evening, timing-wise. I got home at around 11:30pm after studying and working all day, dropped my things off and rushed out. After a little bit of bar hopping, we finally settled down for some beers around 1am. It looked like it was going to be a quiet night, until I got a phonecall from a buddy on his way to Le Paris Paris. So off we went again, completely unaware of how late it was already. I got home around 6am, not even tired. So instead I ate a little, bummed around on the internet, and finally decided I should probably hit the sac. It's like I'm jet-lagged or something.

The point is, I'm going to check out Lo-Fi-Fnk tonight and I'm pretty excited after seeing the pictures from their show in Vancouver.

do and don't

Instead of going to a make-up class this morning I decided to catch up on some quality Internet literature - the Vice DOs and DON'Ts section.



It takes a real man to admit that he’s wrong and an even realer man to gather up his druthers, pick up some flowers, and head over there to apologize. Let’s do this, Howard

jesus revient en vogue

I heard mixed reviews of the Justice concert at La Cigale last night. Some people were pretty disappointed that they were only on for 1 hour. Others were whining that they never came out for an encore despite the thunderous applause. I read that Pedro even got booed at the end. I don't really get all the complaining since the Ed Rec crew were nice enough to organise a massive afterparty down the street, open to everyone and free for concertgoers.

JUSTICE CONCERT AFTER PARTY
Uploaded by mdailymotio

I did not go to the concert but headed to the afterparty around midnight. There are large parts of my night that are a bit of a blur, so we'll just assume that I was dancing and/or standing in line to get a beer. I do remember my I Heart Jesus scarf getting a lot of attention - the title of this post was inspired by a conversation with Teki Latex about said scarf. I also remember climbing up on stage and dancing with the Belgians for a while. Unfortunately the stellar pictures of that portion of my night are forever lost because Julien lost his camera. Also unfortunate is that we got there too late to catch Colo spinning, but then again we were treated to 5 solid hours of Ed Banger-Boys Noize tagteam behind the decks.

So it was an enjoyable night, capped off with a solid 6am meal consisting of a goat cheese and tomato panini and a plate of fries. The metro ride home at 7am was a little awkward - being the only person in the wagon that wasn't on their way to work. That being said, I think I'm done with buying tickets to these massive parties in cavernous clubs. It's nearly impossible to create a good vibe, the crowd is full of belligerently drunk jailbait and quite frankly it's just more fun to watch the debauchery from the comfort of the side of the stage. I may also be on the brink of an electro overdose, which is why I've taken to only listening to Wilson Pickett and the Standing in the Shadows of Motown soundtrack when I'm at home.

Speaking of music that isn't electro, Teki Latex's CD release party is Monday, which is a bit of a bummer because that also happens to be the night of the Sciences-Po Gala. So this time around sumptuous dinner and dance party with free champagne trumps Party de Plaisir at le Pourri Pourri.

invasion wallifornienne

bon, on fait quoi ce soir?

j'aime bien travailler mais les weekends j'me la coule douce...

New TTC video:

TTC - Travailler
Uploaded by v2music

Anyone else a little disappointed with 3615 TTC?

surprise!

The last Colette Dance Class of the season was fantastic. Unfortunately, in order to participate in last night's class, you had to show up at Colette at 10am and get your number. So instead we watched from the sidelines and judged everyone's form. Clearly, I could have done a MUCH better job.

Good thing the classes only last one hour because everyone was just itching to get onto the dance floor. Moreso than usual. There's something about that song...

So we were dancing along to the most amazingly cheezy 70s music when I spot, completely out of the blue, an old friend I hadn't seen since Brussels in February. Of course I knew he'd be in town for Thursday night, but it turns out he came a few days early. The girls called it a night pretty early, but I wasn't quite ready to go yet, so I decided to stay at least until the end of the Justice set. The place was absolutely bananas - impossible to get on the dance floor, and I suspect the air conditioning wasn't working because it was unbearably hot. Despite the heat and the crowd, "until the end of Justice" became "until the end of this next set" became "ok, seriously one more song and then I'm out of here". Obviously I ended up staying until the very end: it is nearly impossible to drag me off a dance-floor when old school hip hop is playing. I dare you to try.

I never made it to my morning class despite my good intentions. The Justice aftershow party is at La Loco (aka: most cavernous club in Paris) on Thursday night. I'm sure it will be fun, but nothing beats hearing them spin in the tiny confines of an old private dancer club with 150 other music nerds.

how many times can i write dance in one blog post?

It's like everywhere you look these days you are bound to see Gaspard and Xavier's faces on the cover of a magazine or the Justice cross plastered all over the metro halls. The album comes out tomorrow. For a preview of a couple of songs, head over to this blog and click on the link Justice chez France Inter. The boys even threw in a remix of D.A.N.C.E.

Tomorrow night is the last Colette dance class of the season. On the agenda: dance class to D.A.N.C.E, then dance party aaaall night long with the boys themselves. Tuesday morning class? I think not.

Dance!

T minus 3 days

Paris must be the hardest city to do a cleanse in. Take a stroll in the street and on every block there is a bakery, releasing into the air the most mouth-watering smells. Turn a corner and you're faced with a patio full of people eating fries and steak tartare. Don't even venture into le Marais...the smell of crepes or the best falafel joints in the world will inevitably make its way into your nostrils, making you weak in the knees. I've also come to realise how much of my social life revolves around a good meal and a bottle of wine. I've done this cleanse before but this time was by far the hardest, no doubt because it's hard to keep when you're going to school full time. But, when I wake up tomorrow morning, I will have only three days to go.

On my way home from the movies last night I was accosted by a very well-dressed, good-looking thirtysomething couple. The man proceeded to embrace me and tell me not to be scared. Thankfully, a few seconds later he finished that thought by saying: "even though Sarkozy is in power, we still have each other. We must stick together." He then asked me what I was listening to on my iPod (Dan Bejar you now have a new Parisian fan. You're welcome). Then he embraced me once more and told me to be strong, gave me a high five because "I can tell you're left wing. Not like my companion here" and continued on his way.