March 2008 - Spitzberg

On March 2008, Dad and I will be trekking there. The place is called Spitzberg and is one of the most remote places on Earth. I have to make sure that my camera and lenses can endure such low temperatures! This is going to be a freaking great trip!!! Now I just have to go back to some physical training ;)

A coffee please!

Here's what you get when you ask a coffee to a graphist ;)

Some light at the end of the tunnel?

Here are some good news! Anin came back to school monday afternoon and tuesday evening for our Cultural night and it was so great to have him back with us! I'm sure he'll come up with some crazy questions during our TP presentation on May 11 ;) Other than that my I-20 (for my F1 visa) is on its way to Strasbourg. I should receive it tomorrow afternoon (it's in Paris right now, god bless FedEx) which means that I won't have to travel back to France twice in August (only once for my defense) as I should be able to have both my F1 and J1 visa done during my interview at the US Embassy in May. Saving some precious $$$$ here ;) Oh yeah, for those I haven't talked to recently, I'm going for a PhD in Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA. It took me months to make a decision and even if I doubt that I'll enjoy Atlanta, I think I'll have a great time as far as school is concerned. So the adventure continues but on the East coast this time... and alone. However, I'm sure I'll end up on a flight to Portland, OR from time to time ;) There is nothing like the Pacific Ocean and a Fat Tire at Fox and Firkins or Squirels with some good friends!
As far as ISU is concerned, this is the usual crazy pace. Nights are getting shorter as our Team Project deadline is getting closer. Also this week we have one of our classmate's daughter at school with us. This is so cool to have a 5 years old girl running everywhere, laughing and making drawings in the computer lab! The whole team spirits have improved so much since she's with us. After all we are just a bunch of (big) kids (you should have seen the parking lot this morning after the cultural night)! We should have kids at school with us everyday!
Finally I'm leaving friday in the early early morning for Nantes (French west coast). If I don't fall asleep on the way (900 km of driving - about 560 miles) and boost a bit (still have some points on my driving licence!) I may be able to surprise my sister in front of her school on friday afternoon ;) This is going to be my last week-end with her, my dad and grand-parents before I leave for the US. Looking forward to some good time (some sleep finally!!!), sailing and crepes!!!

Is everything for sale?

Love is a business. Even Peace is a business. Is everything for sale? Is there anybody out there with a conscience, with dreams?

.....I'm in and out I’m up and down
Wonder if I’m lost or found
And I need your hands on me now....
~ Hopeless, Train

My cousin's art gallery is getting famous !

"Etoiles urbaines", l'art de rue au féminin
LE MONDE | 17.04.06 | 15h43 • Mis à jour le 17.04.06 | 15h43

Dans l'univers plutôt masculin de l'art urbain, l'association parisienne Streetplayer a choisi de mettre en avant les oeuvres d'une dizaine de jeunes femmes. Un alibi pour réunir à l'espace Beaurepaire, à Paris, dans une exposition intitulée "Etoiles urbaines", des artistes aux univers divers, mais avec un point commun : la rue comme lieu de création ou source d'inspiration. Issu de la culture hip-hop et du graffiti des années 1980, cet art délaisse la bombe de peinture pour alterner les moyens d'expression et les supports : collage, acrylique, web design, vidéo, figurines, t-shirts... Aleteia, Parisienne de 27 ans, recouvre trottoirs, vitrines et panneaux publicitaires de ses constellations éphémères : Petite Ourse, Dragon, Scorpion, qu'elle forme au moyen de bandes de Scotch et d'étoiles autocollantes. "Une démarche citoyenne, pour donner autre chose à voir que de la publicité", indique-t-elle. Pour l'exposition, elle a figé ses constellations, emprisonné le Scotch avec de la résine sur des plaques de métal. Dans un style plus figuratif, Koralie, 29 ans, expose sur toile ses poupées japonisantes, bien connues des murs toulousains : petites geishas aux longues tresses, mêlant "la sensualité et la pudeur". Autre "étoile" de l'exposition, l'Italienne Microbo est fascinée par le monde microscopique. Elle donne vie à ses microbes imaginaires, étranges personnages aux corps filandreux, amas de nouilles ou pelotes de laines. "Cet art a récemment acquis une reconnaissance médiatique et institutionnelle, avec des expositions au Palais de Tokyo ou à la Deitch Gallery de New York", explique Adeline Jeudy, organisatrice de l'exposition. Les oeuvres exposées ici sont vendues entre 80 et 3 500 euros. L'art urbain a la cote auprès des collectionneurs. Quelques défenseurs du "graffiti à l'ancienne", considéré à la fois comme une rébellion et une prise de risque, critiquent cette commercialisation. A l'espace Beaurepaire, les artistes assument le passage de la rue à la galerie, comme un support de diffusion complémentaire.

Etoiles urbaines. Jusqu'au 22 avril. Espace Beaurepaire, 28, rue Beaurepaire, Paris-10e. Tél. : 01-42-45-59-64. Métro Jacques-Bonsergent ou République. De 14 heures à 20 heures. Sur Internet : www.streetplayer.net.

Packing master

So, that's for the first boxes. I'm sure I could get a degree in packing... From Lyon to Corvallis to Strasbourg to Atlanta... the adventure's going on!

I just want peace

Could the ones who have nothing to say just SHUT UP! or is that too much to ask? Is bullshitting a new Olympic event?

Gone for the week-end...

Going to spend some last days in family.

P.S: The pics of our ice skating afternoon are online.

Join the world's biggest space party!

Tonight the entire space community is going to party! 86 parties in 32 countries over 7 continents on 1 planet. Join us at the Waikiki from 10pm to 3am for the Yuri's night 06 (and the ISU Founding Day as well!).

Jaws

There is obviously a guy in Oregon who has waaaaayyyy too much free time ;) But I love it Matt!

TP Olympics - Part 2: The Photo Scavenger Hunt...

... or the day I had my roomate scuba diving in the canal and Matt naked covered with ketchup in my shower... The goal was to take pictures of the different tasks assigned to us by the 3 nuts who came up with the idea. The scores were varying from 1 to 20 points according to the difficulty/craziness of the task. Our team (Naoko, Chris R, Chris F, Matt and I) won so you're warned ;) I posted most of the pics here.

It's Spring, finally!

It's warm, sunny and it's saturday... the perfect day to enjoy the sun at l'Orangerie with Matt and Harvard.
And by the way, I still have Chris' underwear, short, T-shirt, towel, mask, snorkel and Naoko's scarf in my car... Come get your stuff, please ;) The pics from yesterday will be posted soon, but maybe not all of them ;)

I'd like...

to be able to sleep, to remember what I have done 2 days ago, to disappear for a few days somewhere with no cellphone, to relax...

How do you like my wonderful country?

Ok, so no school on monday since our friends the gypsies are still enjoying our parking lot. I can't believe my taxes pay for their brand new BMWs and huge trailers with satellite dish... What a wonderful country really! We might be allowed to go back on tuesday but I'm not sure that we will be able to reach the campus since there are strikes and demonstrations scheduled on that day (remember the CPE...). Could somebody send me a rope?

San Salvador, Bahamas 2005: Pics ONLINE!!!!

6 days of diving in one of the most beautiful place on Earth, 2000 pictures and a wonderful time. The pictures of our graduation trip to San Salvador, Bahamas (aka Columbus Island) are finally sorted and online. If you like wall diving this is definitely the place to go in the Caribbeans. I also have awesome videos but it will be for later (it already took me almost a year to post the pics...). So for now take a deep breath and enjoy!