"Boune - The Musical", bientot sur Broadway

Dans la serie "C'est la crise, mais les Boune & U ne se refusent rien", hier apres-midi nous sommes enfin alles voir ...


Du grand show, tres pro, du vrai Broadway quoi ! Les danseurs et danseuses les mieux gaule(e)s de tout Manhattan. Tres rigolo aussi. Et une ambiance a la Cabaret (celui de Liza Minelli, pas Patrick Sebastien).

Je songe a ma reconversion et je travaille mon grand-ecart.

Bises a toutes et tous et un grand merci pour les petits mots d'encouragement sur mon dernier post.

La crise vue de ma fenetre

Bonjour a tous,

J'essaye de raviver un peu ce blog en y postant un message, au moins, par semaine. Vous l'aurez compris, mon principal probleme est que je n'ai pas grand chose a raconter ces jours-ci, si ce n'est vous proposer une forme de reader's digest de l'actualite americaine, quasi-integralement consacree a la crise. Desole, ca ne va pas vous changer beaucoup du journal de Laurence Ferrari (PPDA - R.I.P.)

La crise demarree dans le secteur financier est assez facile a resumer. Si vous vous demandez a quoi peut ressembler un "eclatement de la bulle financiere" et l'origine de cette allegorie chewing-gumesque, un petit schema resumera bien les choses (tks, Mond'1):

En jaune, c'est la valeur boursiere des banques avant la crise. En vert, cette meme valeur au 30/01/09.
Consequence : comme les banques ne savent pas faire plus de profits en faisant tout simplement leur boulot, elles preferent faire des economies en me licenciant. Merci !

Mais c'est pas tout. De peur qu'elles ne mettent definitivement la cle sous la porte, le gouvernement de Sa Saintete Barack Obama leur donne des sous. Un peu plus de 180 milliards pour AIG, aux frais du contribuable. La ou ca se corse, c'est que le contribuable .. c'est moi ! Si l'Etat ne se goinfre plus a hauteur de 35% de mon salaire, chomage oblige, on se demande bien comment on va pouvoir financer tout ca. En tout, on en est a 3,000 milliards d'injectes ou en passe de l'etre.

Avantage pour le contribuable (seule categorie d'etre humain qui interesse Barack en ce moment) ... pas grand chose sauf s'il est amateur de "soccer" et de Manchester United en particulier.

Ajoutez a cela une dose de malversations (Madoff) et des compartements a la limite de la morale (putain, quelle tarte a la creme !!) en ce qui concerne les bonus ... et la societe americaine devient quasi-explosive. Non, reellement, c'est ce que je trouve le plus surprenant : que les francais descendent dans la rue ne m'etonne pas (je suis meme un chaud partisan) mais que les americains veuillent pendre les residants de Park avenue a un croc de boucher ...

Parce qu'ils souffrent les americains, et davantage encore que les francais. Ci-dessous, une file d'attente devant un "thrift shop", le Emmaus local, juste en bas de chez nous. Les magasins ferment, les restaurants aussi. Au dernier decompte, 45 millions d'americains ne disposaient d'aucune couverture medicale (dont 12 millions d'enfants) : je me demande ce qu'il peut en etre maintenant que tant de personnes ont perdu leur job et la subvention patronale pour frais medicaux qui va avec.

"Work is the curse of the drinking classes" - Oscar Wilde.

Si cette crise est la pire que les USA aient connu, cela se voit egalement dans la consommation d'alcool penserait-on. Et bah meme pas !! Pour la premiere fois de l'histoire, la consommation de biere (le "nectar de l'Amerique") est en chute de 10%. De meme pour la bijouterie et les montres (-7.5%, que fait Sarko ?), et les casinos (-8.5%). Seuls la lingerie et le cinema se portent mieux dans la crise.

Les Boune & U decident, dans ce contexte, de se satisfaire de plaisirs simples et peu onereux. Le soleil est de retour et on en profite. Par exemple en flanant dans Central Park et en visitant Little Odessa, le quartier russe de Brooklyn. Le tout est resume ci-dessous:

NYC / Brooklyn / Little Odessa - March 21st & 22nd

Bises et bon courage a tous !!

The Boston Globe Wanabe

Chers tous,

Comme on dit dans le Massachussetts, "Chose promise, ... chose promise !" Ainsi qu'annonce dans le bref post de vendredi dernier, voici un petit reportage tres personnel sur notre week-end chez Estelle and Kedu, a Cambridge et Boston.
Bien sur, vous auriez prefere un recit detaille de mes journees de chomeur ... Eh bah faudra vous contenter de ca !!

Quelques elements de contexte tout d'abord (pour de plus amples details, merci de vous referer aux pages Wikipedia dont les liens se trouvent dans le post de vendredi).
Cambridge fut fondee en 1631 par des puritains anglais (ca sent le pleonasme, pardon Ben) et 6 ans plus tard y fut construit le college de Harvard.
Depuis, la ville et le college ont prospere. Plus recemment, le Massachussets Hinestitioute of Technology (M.I.T.) s'y est egalement installe.

Fatalement, Cambridge devenue la ville universitaire la plus prestigieuse des USA s'en trouve egalement la plus grande concentration de librairies et de Quotients Intellectuels tres eleves (faut dire que le reste du pays ...).
Parallelement, la ville a gagne une reputation tres liberale (au sens americain du terme - societal) au point qu'elle est surnommee "Republique Populaire de Cambridge". Dernier fait d'arme : l'election de la premiere Maire afro-americaine ouvertement gay en remplacement du premier Maire afro-americain ouvertement gay.
Je sais pas vous, mais je vois beaucoup d'espoir dans ce dernier paragraphe. Le seul hic etant que tout le monde n'est pas admis a Harvard ou au M.I.T..

Que les Estelle & Kedu's, en revanche, se soient installes dans cette Gorki de l'Ouest, ne tient pas au hasard. L'intelligence et l'ouverture d'esprit ne sont pas les moindres de leurs qualites (sluuuurp).
Je passe un peu la brosse a reluire, la, mais j'ai 2 ou 3 choses a me faire pardonner, en particulier une bavarditude hors-norme ce week-end (ma reclusion habituelle peut en constituer une circonstance attenuante). Les pauvres ont beaucoup souffert, davantage encore que U qui finit par s'habituer ... ou se faire une raison.

Que font les Estelle & Kedu's ici ?!? Et bien, d'apres ce que j'ai pu en comprendre au cours du week-end, Estelle est venue se casser le tibia ici parce que les "crutches" sont mieux et Kedu est venu s'adonner a des pratiques masochistes avec des chevres dans The Best Hospital in the World (dixit le Departement Communication dudit hopital).

Alors, il est temps a present de vous parler gastronomie. Malheureusement, la region n'offre rien de bien special en la matiere a part sans doute des flocons d'avoines et autres pitances de peine-a-jouir. Et c'est la que nos deux expats interviennent : pour egayer le quotidien, ils ont invente le Diet Coke a la Fraise et les pates au rab. C'est delicieux !!

Quant a la rubrique Paysages et Architectures, voici un petit condense photographique. Nous etions, vous l'aurez compris, en config' mobilite reduite / disabled a cause des malheurs de "Petit Corps Malade" - (c) Kedu. C'est pourquoi vous ne verrez pas ici tout ce qu'il y aurait a montrer mais ils ont promis de nous re-inviter (prevoir un baillon pour moi).

Attention, dans quelques secondes, vous allez decouvrir l'une des plus belles regions des USA, la Nouvelle-Angleterre, pour laquelle j'ai une tendresse particuliere. Sans doute ce qu'on pourrait appeler le charme discret de la bourgeoisie ...

Cambridge / Boston - March 2009

Mille bises a tous. Et encore merci a nos Cambridgiens !!

Boune & U's deli will be back soon ...

Nous sommes a Boston pour le week-end, chez Estelle et Kedu.

Reportage complet en debut de semaine prochaine sur le berceau de la civilisation americaine, son histoire protestante, calviniste, huguenote, janseniste, puritaine, reformee, lutherienne ... bref, le grand Fun !!

En attendant, vous pouvez reviser ici : en anglais ou en francais.

Slumdog...???

Bon, je vous ecris sans savoir les resultats les plus attendus des Oscars mais jusqu'ici, j'ai l'impression que mon film fetiche du moment s'en sort bien...

Si vous ne l'avez pas encore vu, je vous invite a y aller avec ou sans victoire aux z'oscars!
Si d'ailleurs ceux qui l'ont vu, veulent bien m'aider a convaincre un Boune desoeuvre que ce film est un bijou, je leur en serai gre! Son argument de refus a se rendre dans les salles est politiquement incorrect, je ne le revellerai pas sur ce blog...
Merci pour votre soutien et Jai Ho!
Grosses bises a tous.

A defaut de pouvoir arpenter les rues francaises...

Je suis longue a la detente mais il vaut mieux tard que jamais...


Ce qui ne veulent pas la version courte quelque peu partisane mais le discours integral, il est disponible ici. C'est trois fois rien meprisant... on le merite probablement !?!

Bon, beh si vous voulez que l'on revienne, n'hesitez pas a aller vous ballader!
Toutes les infos sur le site de SLR.

Tous ensemble, tous ensemble, eh, eh! Tous ensemble, tous ensemble, eh, eh!

Sign o' times

Hello les lecteurs !!

Vous ne pouvez pas ne pas savoir qu'hier avait lieu le SuperBowl, 43eme episode. Comme chacun sait (c'est sur), il s'agit du titre de Champion du Monde de Football (pas soccer, football americain) ou s'affrontent chaque annee le vainqueur de la National Football League et celui de l'American Football League.
Oui, pour faire plus simple, les americains ont deux championnats distincts. Et pour ne pas gener les nuls en geographie, le champion du monde ne peut etre qu'une equipe americaine.

Bon, les Steelers (de Pittsburgh, PA) ont gagne contre les Cardinals (d'Arizona).

Mais ce show, l'evenement le plus regarde a la TV aux US (les ventes de TV augmentent de 500% la semaine precedente) est aussi l'occasion des minutes de pub les plus cheres au monde.

Voici quelques uns des spots d'hier soir, a mon avis tres revelateurs de l'ambiance ici.





Mais il serait inimaginable que Pepsi soit absent d'un tel evenement.





La deuxieme est un peu compliquee a comprendre : il s'agit d'une parodie de parodie a laquelle participe le personnage de la serie d'origine ...

Last but not least, une pub (trouvee par U, comme par hasard) qui incite les americains a devenir vegetariens (y'a du boulot). L'annonceur est PETA, equivalent local (mais un peu plus hardcore) de la SPA. La pub a ete jugee choquante donc elle n'existe que sur internet.


'Veggie Love': PETA's Banned Super Bowl Ad

Voila un peu de pop culture US transfusee en France et ailleurs.

Moi, m'en vais chercher un job. Bises a tous ...

Boune is back (with photos from Philly)

Hello everyone,

Comme vous ne le savez peut-etre pas deja, je suis en cours de licenciement. Maman etant deja au courant, la nouvelle peut desormais etre rendue publique.

Pour ceux (les plus pervers) que les details interessent, merci de me passer un coup de fil (via skype ou autres par ces temps d'economies) : je ne raconterai pas les details obscurs du complot qui vise a m'evincer de ce pays sur un blog.

Rien de tres rejouissant jusqu'ici. La bonne nouvelle, c'est qu'il va falloir me separer du PC prete par ma boite (5 ans que nous vivons aux frais de la princesse, numeriquement parlant) et que depuis ce matin, j'ai investi dans un bijou de technologie dernier cri (en fait non, mais j'ai tout de meme l'impression d'avoir change de siecle).

Par voie de consequence, le Boune & U's deli se trouve a nouveau en mesure de vous offrir ses plus beaux reportages photographiques !!! Alors ? Heureux ?!?

Bon sang ne sachant mentir, il faut savoir qu'a chacune de nos escapades, meme dans NYC que nous connaissons (presque) par coeur, U doit souffir de voir mon oeil en permanence colle a l'appareil photo. En resultent quelques centaines de cliches a chaque fois, dont la plupart est inmontrable.

S'en suit un interminable processus de selection des photos qui me font le moins honte, loin de satisfaire la reactivite editoriale dont U souhaiterait que ce blog fasse preuve.

En meme temps, je suis pas le New York Times et je ne gagne rien dans l'histoire.

Ci-dessous, un compte-rendu en images de notre escapade a Philadelphie, il y a une quinzaine jours.

L'autre grande nouveaute, c'est que U est elle-meme dotee d'un appareil (photo, pas dentaire) et que je peux donc de temps en temps apparaitre sur une photo histoire que vous puissiez verifier l'effet des cheeseburgers sur mon teint. Alors ? Heureux ?!?

J'ai plein d'autres photos dans mes dossiers donc je vous les ferai partager a l'occasion.

D'ici la, tres bonne annee a ceux auxquels je n'ai pas encore eu le temps de la souhaiter. Bises a tous, bien sur mais speciale dedicace a Alexandre ... Dieu qu'il est beau !!!

From president elect to president (tout court)

Quelques photos et le discours en attendant la video.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often, the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land -- a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of shortcuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the fainthearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated, but more often men and women obscure in their labor -- who have carried us up the long, rugged path toward prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again, these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions -- that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act -- not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control -- and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart -- not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort -- even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment -- a moment that will define a generation -- it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends -- hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism -- these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility -- a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world; duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence -- the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed -- why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent Mall, and why a man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world ... that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested, we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back, nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

God bless ALEXANDRE et God bless America!