all quiet on the eastern front

It has been a quiet, dull and even not very blogable week here at DfF headquarters. I've done some cooking, some cleaning, some knitting. I'm nearly done with one project, but as it's a gift I can't show it to you yet, and the afghan is slowly coming together. The weather started to warm up a little but then today reverted to winter. I'm sure the birds that have shown up in the last couple of days are none too pleased.

On the entertainment front, Stéph has really gotten into House, which is called Dr. House in France, because the French may have thought the show took place on a construction site and not in a hospital (I mean really, what the hell?). I first saw it in the States last year and I would love to watch it now but I really, really hate dubbed programs. This is because I apparently put a lot of stock in reading lips, and when the lips and the words don't match up I am hopelessly lost. If I have to look away from the screen every time someone speaks, what's the freaking point?

The reminds me: as you may have heard, the French actress Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for Best Actress for her role in La Môme, or La Vie en Rose, as it was called in the States. Monday evening, they spent the first twenty minutes of the evening news talking about the win, the movie and Edith Piaf. I don't blame them, really, as it is something of a milestone for French cinema. While a handful of French actresses have won Oscars before, this is the first time a French actress has won for a role in which she spoke French (the others were American or British films). They made a special point of mentioning how the movie was a surprise success in America as it started on a small number of screens and was shown in French, with subtitles.

And that's when I lost it. Because, you see, all foreign movies are shown in their original language with subtitles in America. The only exception I can think of is old Kung Foo movies and those came dubbed from Asia. The last one I remember seeing like that was Rumble in the Bronx. It's too bad the French don't respect foreign films in the same way (and believe me, they pretty much rely on foreign entertainment on television!).

Well, looky there, I guess I did have something to talk about! Tune in next time when I'll rant about some other annoying thing about France! (hint: if you're new here, that's something that happens pretty close to never.)