Premiere - Diary of The Dead

Do you know what is a zombie? Maybe yes, thanks to the movies. In that case you can thank George A. Romero (or you can blame him, in case you have nightmares about zombies! eheheh).
The american director George A. Romero is the "responsible" who brought zombies to the big screen, through is 1968 movie "Night of the Living Dead".
Since then is been an icon and a reference to movies and videogames, where the "Resident Evil" series are the best example.

So guess who was here in Paris for a movie premiere? The father of all zombies, George A. Romero, came to his "Diary of The Dead" premiere. I went to watch it for the fun, but the movie theater was crowded with real fans, wearing crazy t-shirts, shouting for Romero, with books and DVD's ready to be autographed.

The movie was fun in its own way, joining horror and comedy (dark humor) in George A. Romero's way. Following the current trend in Hollywood, "Diary of the Dead" was shot using the shaky camera technique, made popular by "The Blair Witch Project" or the most recent "Cloverfield" (but you won't get sick... I think! eheh).
A group of film students find themselves in a middle of a zombie invasion, and instead of shooting their own horror film they (at least some of them) decide to take the camera and film everything they run by. Obvisouly I don't need to say that only some of them survive the movie! :P

Nevertheless it's a good movie and I particulary appreciated the social commentary ("does humankind deserve to be saved?"), and is enjoyable to watch with a group of friends.

By the way, accordingly to wikipedia, a zombie is a reanimated corpse! Hmmm... I love when they talk dirty! Bah, they take all the fun of it :-D

Merry Easter everyone!

Chocolate eggs, fluffy bunnies, extremelly sugat sweet almonds...ahhh, that's Easter, another marketing season! :P

But I couldn't let pass the occasion without wishing you all an Happy Easter. Me and our friendly chef Rémy are going to share a chocolate egg... well, I'm more into the surprise inside! eheheh

In France there in no such thing as the Good Friday like in the most part of the world. Instead, the holiday is celebrated the day after Easter Sunday... with the suggestive name of "Easter Monday" (Lundi de Pâques)! eheheh So, yes, I won't be working tomorrow! Sorry dudes! eheh

Don't forget to accompany your Easter chocolates, almonds and cakes with a good Porto wine! Hmmm... I'll remember it for sure! ;)

By the way, can we say Merry Easter, or is it just valid for Christmas? :-P

Pigeons in Paris are très chic

Some consider pigeons smart, for others they are a plague, tourists in Italy love them, but in France pigeons are the selective about what they eat! eheheh

I've already seen people feed bread, seeds, rice or corn (!) to pigeons... but I was amazed when I saw a group of pigeons eating a nice french crêpe!
They are the good example how french cuisine is good and how selective you are about food.
Ok, they were eating on the ground but we do the same on picnics ;)

Now you already know: next time you see a french pigeon be careful what you feed because you can insulte it!

And speaking in crêpes, don't forget to try the typical (my favorite keyword!) French crêpe Suzette. It's a crêpe with some orange juice, lightly grated orange peel, sauce of caramelized sugar and liqueur (the typical liqueur should be Grand Marnier). Then the special touch: the crêpe is flambéed. :-P

Back to the gym!

Last time I went to the gym (on a regular basis, of course) was more then 2 years ago! Yes, that's correct: 2 years! With this I don't mean that I've became lazy or a couch potato (eheh), but many reasons helped for this long pause.

Finding a good gym, with a fair price/quality ratio, was the the main excuse.
From back in the days when I was living in south of France, the available gyms weren't that great. Too much money for below medium (or bad) quality: small areas crowded with old and deprecated machines! So, back then, I chose activities like hiking on the mountains, skiing during winter or swimming at the sea in order to stay in shape.
Now, in Paris, I decided to give another chance to gyms, after all the offer is wider and quality too (well... you can discuss that too)! ;)

So I got courage to sign up (and pay! eheh) for a membership package. Now I won't have any excuses! It's time to get in shape!

No pain, no gain! ;)

Premiere - The Eye

I really miss good old horror movies, always waiting for a new "The Exorcist", "Nightmare on Elm Street", "The Ring" or, one of my personal favorites, "The Blair Witch Project".
Underwater horror like "Jaws" or from outer space like "Aliens" are on my special hall of fame.

All this introduction just to say that I went to the premiere of "The Eye", another Hollywood remake from an asian horror movie.
One of the highlights of this premiere was the presence of the leading actress, Jessica Alba, who arrived one hour later than initially promised, because she left the hotel later than expected. It was tough to calm the crowd, so they ran lots of trailers while the lady didn't arrive.
Later I found out that the real reason she was late was because she was in another premiere... for a competitor movie theater chain! eheh

The film tell the story of a woman who receives an eye transplant who starts to see death itself and frightening visions from the eyes' donner.

The movie itself was a good surprise, because it didn't use the traditional formula for horror movie remake: lots of special effects, loud sound effects and etc...
Jessica Alba has a good performance for this kind of movie, and the french directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud (yes, there are two!) put a positive personal touch. Besides, thanks to them Jessica Alba was invited to travel to Paris for the european premiere ;-)

Until the next (and good) horror movie comes, I'll let you with some pictures and video from the event... and don't get an eye transplant! :-P

Sport is bad for health

I disagree with those who say sport is recommended for our health. But I think I've just lost aeound 5 years of my life while watching the football match beetween FC Porto and FC Schalke 04, for the UEFA Champions League.

Of course I was supporting my hometown team, FC Porto... and it was very very long and "painful" match, which was decided on penalties shoot-out!

I shouted, I jumped, I cursed, I yelled... but my long-distance support was not enough to help! But I think my neighbours didn't enjoy "the noise"! eheheh

FC Porto played well, but tonight wasn't our lucky night... but it was insane the opportunities we've missed (yes, I say we because I always think of myself as the 12th player! eheh)

Now it's to sleep... I hope I won't have more nightmares!

Força Porto!

Let's Velib'

The streets in Paris were invaded by the bycicles from outer space! Don't worry, there are no aliens and no one was abducted! :-P
But it's a fact that there's something different in Paris, a big bycicle invasion. If you last visited Paris before July 2007 you will see the difference next time you come.
Like everything in life, there are good and bad things abouth this invasion.

Velib' is the acronym for “vélo libre” or “vélo liberté”, which means free bicycle or bicycle freedom. Since July 15th 2007, Paris is another european city with a self service “bike hire” system. You can pick up a bycicle in one Velib' station and drop off to another, and you pay for periods of 30 minutes.

I recommend this service for your next visit, because it's cheap, fun and you can avoid the crowded subway and tourist buses! eheh
Buy 1-day or 7-day ticket on the web or at any of Vélib’ stations, but you will need a credit card.

But with this new trend, another problem arises: security. If you think driving is hard in Paris... well, now danger has a new name: Velib'.
Lot's of people just think they can grab a bicycle and go in any direction! Worst, traffic lights and 'One way only' signs exist only to decorate the streets! :-S

So, if you plan to drive here, or simply cross a street as a pedestrian... look twice before doing anything!
Now you understand why they named it "bycicle freedom"! eheheh