Hareng sous le manteau

En attendant la visite de mes copines d'Hiroshima et de Rome le weekend prochain, je réfléchis au ménu, surtout que Yuki est devenue végétarienne.

Voici la recette de la salade qui peut faire une entrée ou un plat de résistance. On l'appelle Селёдка под шубой / Hareng sous le manteau parce que le hareng est recouvert avec les légumes râpés, les oeufs durs et le mayonnaise par couches successives. C'est un plat traditionnel en Russie. Il est souvent servi au Nouvel An. Tous mes amis français l'adorent et demandent souvent la recette.

Pour 5-6 personnes :

200 g de hareng fumé (dans la recette originale on mets du hareng salé mais je ne le trouve pas en France)
3 œufs
3 petites pommes de terre
3 carottes
1 oignon (ou échalote)
2-3 petites betteraves
mayonnaise

1. Faire cuire les pommes de terre, les carottes, les oeufs, les betteraves. Laisser refroidir.
2. Râper les légumes et les oeufs dans des récipients séparés.
3. Couper le hareng en petits morceaux. Couper l'oignon finement.
4. Dans un grand plat, poser l'hareng et napper d'une légère couche de mayonnaise, pour faire la première couche de la salade.
5. Puis ajouter couche par couche : les oignons, les pommes de terre, les carottes, les oeufs durs et terminer par les bettraves en séparant chaque couche par la mayonnaise.
6. Réserver minimum 3h au frigo.

The funniest filmmaker you've never heard of...

For me Pierre Etaix was a happy discovery. His films are inventive, his characters are delightful, his humour is gentle.

He made his directing debut with Rupture (1961), an 11-minute short in which a man receives a breakup letter from his sweetheart, who sends him back his photo, in pieces. Watch him struggle with the fountain pen, desk, paper, stamps and inkpot as he's trying to reply.

This was followed by Happy Anniversary (1962), a more elaborate effort in which he tries to pick up flowers and a bottle of wine to bring home to his wife but has to reckon with rush-hour traffic and a chronic shortage of parking places. Happy Anniversary was a big success, winning an Oscar award for best short film.

Étaix’s first feature, The Suitor (1962), was a smash hit in France and an art-house success all over the world. Other films received mixed reviews but in my opinion, they're all worth seeing, there's always something to enjoy, to discover, to be surprised at.

Legal disputes with producers however kept his films out of distribution for over thirty years. In 2009, a petition signed by 56,000 people (including Woody Allen, Jean-Luc Godard, and David Lynch) led to the restoration of his films to the public view.

 

Le Grand Amour de Pierre Etaix

Le Grand Amour (1969) is unusual and surreal at times. It's light and charming. There are a lot of funny gags but this one surpasses them all :--)

Le soupirant / Воздыхатель

Before I tell you about this brilliant comedy directed by and starring Pierre Etaix I'd like to start with the word 'soupirant' (suitor). Here's what I found at Parler Au Quotidien :

Le soupirant, mot aujourd’hui presque toujours ironique, c’est celui qui soupire, qui aspire, qui désire après sa belle. Le soupir est l’image sonore et pulmonaire, d’un manque. Le soupirant est donc celui qui n’a pas ce qu’il veut, et le mot est en fait très chaste : le soupir, paradoxalement, désigne le désir inassouvi plus que le désir récompensé. Le soupirant, cet amoureux aux petits soins, prévenant et respectueux qui attend qu’on lui dise oui...

The Russian воздыхатель (suitor, wooer) has the same connotations : it's the one who courts a woman, yearns after her silently, sighs, his longing is fervent though respectful. It's an old-fashioned term for an admirer, a lover.

The film is Etaix's first feature film. It's a homage to silent comedy and notably to Buster Keaton. It's fresh, tender, gentle, dreamy, poetic and extremely funny. Visually it's full of creativity and innovation. Somebody called it "une petite merveille de poésie lunaire". You'll love it, I promise.

Нежный, нежный воздыхатель,
О певец любви и неги!
Ты когда бы лишь увидел
Столько нимф и столько милых,
Без вина бы и без хмелю
Ты во всех бы в них влюбился...  

Державин (1791)

Kalmouks

Avant le 20 septembre JM doit finir son court métrage pour le "Prix du Carnet de Voyage Numérique" organisé par l'association "Il Faut Aller Voir" et VIDEOFORMES. Zhenya, une jeune Kalmouk, qui JM filme pour ce projet m'a fait penser à Pouchkine.

Прощай, любезная калмычка!

Чуть-чуть, на зло моих затей,

Меня похвальная привычка

Не увлекла среди степей

Вслед за кибиткою твоей.

Твои глаза конечно узки,

И плосок нос, и лоб широк,

Ты не лепечешь по-французски,

Ты шелком не сжимаешь ног;

По-английски пред самоваром

Узором хлеба не крошишь,

Не восхищаешься Сен-Маром,

Слегка Шекспира не ценишь,

Не погружаешься в мечтанье,

Когда нет мысли в голове,

Не распеваешь: Ma dov’è,

Галоп не прыгаешь в собранье...

Что нужды? — Ровно полчаса,

Пока коней мне запрягали,

Мне ум и сердце занимали

Твой взор и дикая краса.

Друзья! не всё ль одно и то же:

Забыться праздною душой

В блестящей зале, в модной ложе,

Или в кибитке кочевой?

(1829)

Les pochettes en folie

Pendant les vacances j'ai fait 12 pochettes Curvy Clutch avec mes nouveaux tissus américains et japonais.

Do you enjoy reading Shakespeare?

I've recently read The Taming of the Shrew, a brilliant comedy by William Shakespeare believed to be written around 1590. The main plot depicts the relationship between Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and Katharina, the headstrong, obstinate girl, notorious for her bad temper.

As soon as they are married, Petruchio begins the "taming" of his new wife. She is refused food and clothing because nothing – according to Petruchio – is good enough for her; he claims perfectly cooked meat is overcooked, a beautiful dress doesn't fit right, and a stylish hat is not fashionable, etc. He also sets about disagreeing with everything she says (the so called "reverse psychology" often used on children), and forcing her to agree with everything he says, no matter how absurd:

Forward, I pray, since we have come so far,
And be it moon, or sun, or what you please:
An if you please to call it a rush-candle,
Henceforth I vow it shall be so for me.

At the end of the play, Katharina, a compliant and obedient wife, gives a speech on the subject of why wives should always obey their husbands.

Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign; one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance commits his body
To painful labour both by sea and land,
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou liest warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks and true obedience;
Too little payment for so great a debt.

I enjoyed reading the play immensely. Reading in Russian, unfortunately. Though I studied English at a high level, wrote theses, analyzed words and structures and prefer to read the works of British and American literature in the original, I find it impossible to understand and enjoy Shakespeare.

Joseph Smigelski gives a few tips to understand and enjoy the great poet.

In his opinion the problem is not with William Shakespeare but with us. The first thing to do when confronting Shakespeare is break down the wall of resistance that has been constructed between us and him by cultural misunderstanding.

Shakespeare wrote in Modern English, the same language that we speak today. Of course, his language is poetic and most of our everyday discourse has become so pedestrian that our ears have become unable to tune in to language that aspires to greater heights.

The English language, like everything else on the planet, has evolved, so Mr Smigelski advises to use editions with explanatory notes designed to help make Shakespeare's language clearer to a modern reader (e.g Folger Shakespeare Library and NO "Shakespeare Made Easy" or "No Fear Shakespeare" series which he calls "The Reader Made Stupid" series).

Another problem with Shakespeare's works is the word order. He often put the verb before the subject of a sentence for poetic rhythm.

All this said, reading Shakespeare is a lot of hard work but the enjoyment will follow as soon as we start to get it and as the author truly remarks: Nothing worth having comes easily.

Rio Grande

It's been 2 weeks since we got back from our vacation but I'm still being lazy and don't feel like writing, sewing, reading or movie watching... I did all of it during the break though so you'll hear about it in my blog pretty soon, I hope.

I still have some pre-vacation things to catch up with. One of them is Rio Grande (1950), a Western directed by John Ford and the third film in the Cavalry trilogy following She wore a yellow ribbon (1949) and Fort Apache (1948).

Another well-known fact about the film is that Ford hadn't planned to make it. He'd wanted to make The Quiet Man for years and all major studios turned him down. Republic Pictures agreed to let him shoot The Quiet Man but first they wanted a western that would guarantee them a quick profit.

I'll probably remember this film by a great romance between John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Their characters have depth and the actors give really heartfelt performances. Ford regulars like Victor McLaglen and Ben Johnson also appear in supporting roles and have remarkable scenes.

There's a lot of wonderful singing performed by The Sons of the Pioneer.

Avec une semaine de retard

Kawasaki a bousculé notre vie il y a 10 jours. Demain on part en vacances avec une semaine de retard mais c'est rien...

J'ai reçu mes fermetures magnétiques et pas mal de jolis tissus américains et japonais. Annick m'a dit que sa vieille Singer devrait marcher... A bientôt et bonnes vacances !

Trousses noires

Comme promis récemment voici mes nouvelles trousses: à tabac, à crayons, à maquillage, à pinceaux, pour ranger votre téléphone portable, votre carte d'identité, votre Tampax, de l'argent, etc. J'ai utilisé du velours côtelé noir et rouge, du lin écru avec des chats, du lin vert, des fermetures éclaires, un bouton et des perles en bois. Vous trouverez plus de photos et leur taille exacte dans ma boutique.

Disparues

Après 3 ventes sur ALM la semaine dernière j'étais très enthousiaste et je voulais faire encore 5-6 pochettes avant les grandes vacances mais mes fermetures magnétiques... sont disparues ! Je soupçonne Antoche de l'affaire mais il ne dévoile pas la mystère.

J'ai commandé les autres fermetures mais la livraison va prendre 10-15 jours. En attendant je pourrais coudre quelques trousses...

Images Contre Nature 2013

Du 9 au 13 juillet 2013 à Marseille le festival international de vidéo expérimentale Image Contre Nature se tiendra et présentera des programmes de sélection.

Bonne nuit, les petits de JM était sélectionné ! Son vidéo va être projeté dans le programme PERCEPTION.

Si vous voulez voir la maison de mes parents (plutôt son toit), écouter Michel et moi chanter une berceuse russe très connue, jeter un coup d'oeil sur l'invasion phénoménal des sauterelles en Kalmoukie (Russie) en été 2011, regarder un vidéo qui expérimente avec l'image et le son et vous avez 4mn15sec, c'est ici.

Si la Panthère rose était une fille...

Si la Panthère rose était une fille, elle aimerait bien ma nouvelle pochette. Non ?

A bientôt !

Les pommes d'été

Même si on peut acheter des pommes toute l’année, c’est à l’automne que les pommes sont les meilleures car elles ont mûri dans l’arbre. 

Mes pommes ne se mangent pas et la meilleure saison pour eux est maintenant, l'été ! Pour voir l'intérieur de cette pochette et sa taille, regardez ici.

The Birds according to Pasolini

Uccellacci e Uccellini (1966) is my first Pasolini film. There are several remarkable things about it:

1. Its unusual sung opening credits :

2. Toto/Ninetto Davoli duo. Toto is unforgettable whatever he does or says. Ninetto gives a great performance as the happy go lucky son.

3. The scene where the two of them become monks and on the request of St. Francis of Assisi preach the word of God to the birds.

4. The movie is visually stunning.

5. It talks about desires, death, the meaning of life, Christianity, Marxism, poverty, class but first and foremost, it entertains. It's often hilarious, sometimes sorrowful but always original and highly enjoyable.