Douce France

Well, these days, i guess my sweet country has nothing to envy to what i can see over here sometimes...

Sometimes, I miss Europe bigtime

One cannot always find happiness at Dunkin Donuts... and where do you go then ?






Dont look for it in Upper East Side, this is in Germany.
Merci Gade for the pics...

ThanksGiving 07

Un repas de Thanksgiving original cette annee, cuisine par une vraie Chef de Tokyo, chez mon ami film director Nobu.
Dechaussez vous avant d entrer, ecrans partout, ambiance Asie du futur, et toutes ces amies du Japon, Coree et Taiwan. Que des gens qui travaillent dans le film et la video - la plupart avait fait un sejour a Paris pour leurs etudes - tres sympa.

Cannabis and Cancer

Cannabis compound 'halts cancer'
cannabis plant
The CBD compound found in cannabis is non-toxic
A compound found in cannabis may stop breast cancer spreading throughout the body, US scientists believe.

The California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute team are hopeful that cannabidiol or CBD could be a non-toxic alternative to chemotherapy.

Unlike cannabis, CBD does not have any psychoactive properties so its use would not violate laws, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics reports.

The authors stressed that they were not suggesting patients smoke marijuana.

They added that it would be highly unlikely that effective concentrations of CBD could be reached by smoking cannabis.


This compound offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that could achieve the same results without any of the painful side effects
Lead researcher Dr Sean McAllister

CBD works by blocking the activity of a gene called Id-1 which is believed to be responsible for the aggressive spread of cancer cells away from the original tumour site - a process called metastasis.

Past work has shown CBD can block aggressive human brain cancers.

The latest work found CBD appeared to have a similar effect on breast cancer cells in the lab.

Future hope

Lead researcher Dr Sean McAllister said: "Right now we have a limited range of options in treating aggressive forms of cancer.

"Those treatments, such as chemotherapy, can be effective but they can also be extremely toxic and difficult for patients.

"This compound offers the hope of a non-toxic therapy that could achieve the same results without any of the painful side effects."

Dr Joanna Owens of Cancer Research UK said: "This research is at a very early stage.

"The findings will need to be followed up with clinical trials in humans to see if the CBD is safe, and whether the beneficial effects can be replicated.

"Several cancer drugs based on plant chemicals are already used widely, such as vincristine - which is derived from a type of flower called Madagascar Periwinkle and is used to treat breast and lung cancer. It will be interesting to see whether CBD will join them."

Maria Leadbeater of Breast Cancer Care said: "Many people experience side-effects while having chemotherapy, such as nausea and an increased risk of infection, which can take both a physical and emotional toll.

"Any drug that has fewer side-effects will, of course, be of great interest."

But she added: "It is clear that much more research needs to be carried out."

Article from BBCNews http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7098340.stm

Le Policier chante dans un groupe Punk... Crazy city

November 14, 2007, 3:44 pm
Punk-Rock Band Has Odd Tie to Brooklyn Shooting

By Al Baker

One of the police officers involved in Monday’s fatal shooting of a troubled 18-year-old man in Brooklyn is a vocalist in a punk-rock band called EDP — which, in police parlance, is an acronym for an emotionally disturbed person.

The officer, Sgt. Carl Carrara, was one of five officers who fired a total of 20 shots at Khiel Coppin on a dark sidewalk outside Mr. Coppin’s home on Monday night after Mr. Coppin pulled a hairbrush from beneath his sweatshirt and pointed it at the officers as if it were a gun. Sergeant Carrara, 32, fired five bullets from his semiautomatic gun.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said the shooting appeared to be within departmental guidelines because the officers reasonably believed deadly force was about to be used against them. The Brooklyn district attorney’s office and Police Department internal investigators are also looking into the shooting. Mr. Coppin’s mother told the police that she had long struggled with her son’s psychiatric problems. He took antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs, and had been admitted to Kings County Hospital Center’s psychiatric ward, officials said. He had been arrested in the past and spent time in a juvenile facility, they said.

On Tuesday, a day after the shooting, EDP’s debut album, “Next Stop: Bleaker Street,” was released, said Perry Serpa, the publicist for the band and the owner of the company, Good Cop Public Relations.

Mr. Serpa said, “It’s a rarity, yeah,” when asked about a police officer also following a musical career. A band called Black 47 also had a New York City police flavor.

A review posted on the Internet states, “Carl Carrara is a New York City police sergeant by day, but when Brooklyn clubs own the night, you will probably find his band EDP playing at one of them.” It said the band plays “an infectious brand of old-school punk that, though some thought was dead, proves to be as refreshing as ever. This sound combined with their DIY ethos and garage band attitude is sure to take them a long way.”

David, Edward et le Grand Saladier

Je ne veux pas chercher les coincidences la ou il n y en a pas, non. Mais quand meme, c est amusant:
- ce mardi 13 Novembre, j avais une repetition avec un theatre show. J arrive sur les lieux en avance (rare), donc je passe vite fait a la Poste de nuit, juste devant le Madison Square Garden, dont l enseigne lumineuse qui annonce les concerts a ete retiree apparemment.
"Je ne saurai donc pas qui joue ce soir" me dit je, tout en observant les nombreux semi remorques autour du block.

- je file alors aux studios UltraSound dans le meme block, pour m apercevoir que je me suis trompe de lieux: la repetition de ce soir a lieu a Funkadelic.

Par quel attraction mysterieuse suis je venu roder autour du MSG moi ce soir ?

- soit, je reprends la route, arrive en retard (moins rare), joue, et rentre a la maison.

- c est ici, en lisant les news, que j aurais la reponse: Van Halen at Madison Square Garden on Nov 13...

Deux fois que je les croise sur la meme tournee (voir le mois precedent), et toujours pas vu !

La Brosse, le Noir et le Policier

La Police a encore tire cette nuit: 20 balles.
Sur un adolescent de 18 ans.
Il avait des problemes mentaux dit on.
Et il etait arme... d une brosse a cheveux !
"Une erreur" disent les 5 policiers tireurs, "dans le noir, on ne voyait pas bien...".
Alors dans ces cas la ils tirent.
20 fois, on ne sais jamais.
Bon, une chose est sure: il ne recommencera pas, vu qu il est mort.
Ca c est passe ici, a Bed-Stuy, sur Gates Avenue, a 3 blocks de chez moi.

L an dernier, pas loin non plus, la Police avait tue un autre jeune, le jour de son mariage. 50 balles.
Par erreur aussi: il n etait pas arme.
Et l histoire du quartier, de la ville et du pays ne tarissent pas de ce genre d anecdote.

Ah oui, a chaque fois, les victimes sont noires, bien sur.
Des Noirs pas armes, il y a a plein par ici.
C est peut etre ca qui pourra ralentir la "gentrification" galopante de Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Le quartier a d ailleurs pour maxime: "Bed-Stuy, Do or Die"... et depuis ce matin, il se commence a se reveiller...

C etait un 13 novembre a Brooklyn.

Park Slope and my beloved Brooklyn Food Coop

Scenes d horreurs a Manhattan

Des haches, des squelettes, du sang, d horribles cicatrices, des membres coupes, des scenes monstrueuses, des cris, mais aussi d accortes infirmieres et beaucoup de porte-jarretelles: chaque annee a la meme date, New York change de visage pour une nuit entiere, avant d entamer calmement le premier Novembre.
J avais une enregistrement tele dans Soho - j ai pu y voir des images du concert des monstrueux Jordi la veille ici meme, diffuse ce soir - puis un show off Broadway. Comme j etais sur mon velo, j ai pu en croiser des jolis costumes, toute la nuit.
Le plus effrayant ? Une espece de de personnage tout en noir, avec cape et capuche, dont on ne voyait absolument aucune partie du corps, pas meme le visage, c etait vraiment tout noir, assez flippant deja. Et si on le regardait, deux yeux rouges s allumaient violemment... Efficace dans la terreur, serieux !
Le plus bizarre ? Un squelette couche sur le pont de Williamsburg, renverse par un taxi, avec tous les pompier autour de lui...
Le dernier ? Michel, qui passait en voiture avec son pote, l un en pirate, l autre en Robin (sans Batman).




pic by B.Davidson