Report On The Construction Of Situations

I was listening to an interesting discussion on the radio the other day.
It was about how Paris was one of the most visited cities in the world but, although this brings in a lot of money, it stops the city from developing as no-one wants to change anything that might deter tourists from visiting. It becomes a city in aspic.
And the danger here is that real life drains away. The spectacle takes over.
This is true of many major urban tourist destinations. They become just a mass of shops and restaurants catering to tourists. And for many of the latter, the point of the visit is now to show that one has been to the city rather than the being there itself. There is no real engagement with the surroundings. A quick photograph next to the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty and seen it, been there, done that…
Baudrillard said that we are now living in a society of re-production and not production.
I agree. And I do it myself. Especially when it comes to re-producing other people's ideas...

The Doors Of Perception

‘Bonjour Seb.’
‘Bonjour Seb.’
‘Ça va?’
‘Ça va. Plume de ma tante.’
‘How’s life is Paris?’
‘Well, I’ve been thinking…’
‘Oh, sacre bleu, do you never stop?’
‘… that if the actions, values and attitudes I consider normal in England are different in France then what makes them normal?’
‘Quoi?’
‘Who determines the way of life that is considered normal? I mean, why do a majority adopt certain attitudes and habits especially when many of these are absurd?’
‘The attitudes and habits are from the culture…’
‘Are they? Why do something simply because someone else is doing it? That sounds abnormal to me…’
‘Have you been up the Eiffel Tower yet?’

Je Ne Sais Quoi

'Why do you speak French?' she asked.
'Why?'
'What’s the point? It’s not a useful language.'
We were in France. She was French. We were talking in French.
I didn't know what to answer in any language.

Farewell Leicester Square

Johnson said, 'When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.'
I said, 'I'm just tired of life in London.'
And as Balzac's Rastignac said, 'A nous deux, maintenant!'