Paris Parfait

Type designer Jean François Porchez

Garden square near Shakespeare & Co., Paris.

If you love old typefaces and new fonts, you'll be interested in this wide-ranging interview with French type designer Jean François Porchez. He's the man behind the fonts at Louis Vuitton, the Paris Metro, Le Monde, France Telecom and other French institutions. Porchez also designed the covers and typography of Larousse’s series of grands dictionnaires.

Visit Le Typographe, the blog Porchez founded, which focuses on French typography and type design.

Outdoor cafe beside a canal, 10 p.m., Amsterdam. I shook the camera to achieve this double-exposure look.

Here's a curious tale of French espionage, computer hacking and American cyclist Floyd Landis.

CNN: Less trusted, thanks to Dobbs

On air, Lou Dobbs continues his crazy talk about President Obama's birth certificate, even denigrating Media Matters, the non-partisan media fact-check organisation. Meanwhile, Media Matters has purchased ads on CNN calling Dobbs out for his false claims and "racially charged paranoia."

Media Matters President Eric Burns said Friday, “Between the reaction from other media figures and the crashing of Dobbs’ ratings, CNN is making a mockery of its claim to being ‘the most trusted name in news.’ CNN can’t continue to condone Dobbs’ birther coverage and expect to be taken seriously. Jon Klein owes viewers — and his network — more.”

And Mark Morford's latest column in the San Francisco Chronicle "Change you can freak out about" is food for thought. An excerpt: ..."The ground is shaky and the ledge is slippery and bridge is rickety indeed and I think it just might be on fire. Which only leads to one truly meaningful question: What are you going to do about it?"

Summer in full bloom

Birds fly over a canal in Amsterdam.

A lantern and red geraniums.

A profusion of lavender, hydrangea and other flowers on the front steps of canal houses.

Climbing roses.

Flowers and ivy cascading from window boxes.

Pots of yellow flowers brighten a house's facade.

Window boxes of pansies and petunias grace construction scaffolding.

Gerbera daisies and tulips.

Mary Oliver's poem "When the Roses Speak, I Pay Attention"

As long as we are able
to be extravagant we will be
hugely and damply
extravagant. Then we will drop
foil by foil to the ground. This
is our unalterable task and
we do it joyfully.

And they went on, "Listen,
the heart-shackles are not, as you think,
death, illness, pain,
unrequited hope, not loneliness, but

lassitude, rue, vainglory, fear, anxiety,
selfishness."

Their fragrance all the while rising
from their blind bodies, making me
spin with joy.

Join us on a journey to Jordan!

 

Have you ever dreamed of waking up under foreign skies, just a short walk from Petra, "the Rose Red city half as old as time?" Have you ever wondered what it's like to float in the Dead Sea? Have you longed to explore castles and remains of Roman cities? Or picnic in a desert Bedouin encampment? Well now you can!

As a journalist, I spent many years living and working in Jordan. Now you can benefit from my insider's knowledge of the desert kingdom. Won't you join Alex de Souza and me March 1-8, 2010 on a photography safari to Jordan? Not only will we explore Petra - one of the New Seven Wonders of the World - we'll visit many other key historic sites. And we'll receive landscape photography tips from Zohrab, Jordan's premier photographer!

In the Jordanian capital Amman, we'll walk through a Roman amphitheatre and trawl the Aladdin's Cave of souks and spices, as well as the labyrinth gold market. We'll stroll through the ruins of a Roman city in Jerash. We'll visit a mountain-top castle in Ajloun and Qasr Amra and other castles in the desert.

We'll travel to the biblical city of Madaba, where an ancient church contains a mosaic map of the Holy Land. We'll enjoy the breathtaking scenery at Mt. Nebo, which dates from the Old Testament. There we'll see the Memorial of Moses and astonishing views of the Jordan Valley. And we'll take a scenic day trip to the Dead Sea, located 1,385 feet below sea level.

We'll visit the walled city of Kan Zaman and watch Bani Hamida weavers create hand-loomed rugs.  We'll go directly to the source to shop for intricate silver jewelry, hand-blown glass, ceramics and fine examples of local craftsmanship.

Alex and I are so excited to share this once-in-a-lifetime adventure with you! Visit our website Journey to Jordan for more details. Be sure and check out the links in the sidebar.

Fancy an adventure?

Bikes and flowers, the Jordaan, Amsterdam.

Check back later for news of a unique opportunity featuring photography and travel to a fabulous destination!

Lou Dobbs gets it wrong - again.

Ed. note: I have emailed CNN expressing my concerns about Lou Dobbs and his irresponsible behavior in spreading lies and falsehoods. See Jon Stewart's brilliant smackdown of Dobbs here. This is a letter from Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center to CNN President Jonathan Klein: July 24, 2009 Jonathan Klein President CNN/U.S. 1 Time Warner Center New York, N.Y. 10019-6038 Dear Mr. Klein, As an important and respected news organization, CNN has a special responsibility to ensure the accuracy of its reporting. We have written to you before about our concern that Lou Dobbs repeatedly fails to live up to this standard in his reporting on immigration. Now, Mr. Dobbs is again trading in falsehoods and racist conspiracy theories, questioning President Obama's American citizenship. On the July 15 edition of "Lou Dobbs Tonight," Mr. Dobbs questioned the official certificate provided by the president and the State of Hawaii and complained that President Obama has not made public the "original document." On his radio program, Mr. Dobbs has repeatedly questioned the president's fitness for office, demanding he "show the documents" and, at one point, jokingly suggesting President Obama may be "undocumented." The truth about the president's birth is not in dispute. It has been verified by Factcheck.org, among many other serious news organizations, and his official birth documents have been made public. CNN itself has repeatedly reported on the falsity of the claims of the "birthers," and the network's esteemed legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, recently called those claims "a joke." As you know, even Mr. Dobbs' frequent fill-in anchor, Kitty Pilgrim, debunked the birthers on the July 17 edition of Mr. Dobbs' own CNN show. The fact that Mr. Dobbs suggests otherwise on CNN — while real CNN reporters tell the truth — is both deplorable and an embarrassment to all serious journalists. As he has in several other instances, Mr. Dobbs, in taking up the birthers' claims, is adopting an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory that originated on the radical racist right. As Gawker.com has reported, this particular conspiracy theory was first developed by an open anti-Semite and circulated by right-wing extremists who cannot accept the fact that a black man has been elected president of the United States. Among its adherents was neo-Nazi James von Brunn, the alleged murderer of a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., this June. Von Brunn had helped spread the birthers' claims on the Internet and attacked the "dishonest & conspiratorial Media" for not taking them up. This is not the first time Mr. Dobbs has pushed racist conspiracy theories or defamatory falsehoods about immigrants. We wrote you in 2007 to bring to your attention his utterly false claim that 7,000 new cases of leprosy had appeared in the United States in a recent three-year period, due at least in part to immigrants. (The real number, according to official statistics, was about 400. Mr. Dobbs took his spurious information from the late right-wing extremist, Madeleine Cosman.) In addition, Mr. Dobbs has reported as fact the so-called Aztlan conspiracy, which claims that undocumented Mexican immigrants are part of a plot to "reconquer" the American Southwest. He has suggested there is something to a related conspiracy theory that claims the governments of Mexico, the United States and Canada are secretly planning to merge into the "North American Union." He has falsely claimed that "illegal aliens" fill one third of American prison and jail cells. And Mr. Dobbs has routinely disparaged, on CNN's air, those who have had the integrity to point out the falsity of these and similar claims. Respectable news organizations should not employ reporters willing to peddle racist conspiracy theories and false propaganda. It's time for CNN to remove Mr. Dobbs from the airwaves. Sincerely, J. Richard Cohen President

Photo of Pinocchio marionette, Barcelona, Spain by Tara Bradford.

Diversity

Diversity, Westerstraat Market, the Jordaan, Amsterdam.



Shrouded.



Waiting in line.


"We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same." - Anne Frank

"Why not let people differ about their answers to the great mysteries of the Universe? Let each seek one's own way to the highest, to one's own sense of supreme loyalty in life, one's ideal of life. Let each philosophy, each world-view bring forth its truth and beauty to a larger perspective, that people may grow in vision, stature and dedication." - Algernon Black

"Human diversity makes tolerance more than a virtue; it makes it a requirement for survival." - Rene Dubos

Globe winner

Swans, Bois de Boulogne, Paris.

I'm pleased to announce that Amber of The Believing Soul is the winner of the Boston-based CSN Stores' sponsored giveaway.  A National Geographic Adventure globe will soon be en route to her. Congratulations to Amber and thanks to all of you who left comments about your summer travel plans. Happy trails!

The lives of soldiers

French soldiers on patrol, the River Seine, Paris.

Cyrus Thatcher was a 19-year-old British soldier serving in Afghanistan. He was killed on June 2, 2009. Read his lively letters home - including one to be read after his death - here.

Read the records of 250,000 medieval soldiers - including archers who served with Henry V - here.

In case you're missing Paris...

The quay and Notre Dame.

Early morning at Notre Dame, before the tourists arrive.

Ile Saint-Louis.

Ile Saint-Louis, with St. Paul's in the background.

Bridges.

Floating restaurant opposite Notre Dame.

Paris streets.

 Quai de la Tournelle.

Ile Saint-Louis.

Flights of fancy

Butterfly, Paris. Click photo to view detail.

These flights of fancy
help create what you desire.
Aim high as you dream.

Vermeer and verklempt

Reflections of passers-by and market stalls in a framed copy of Johannes Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring," Westerstraat Market, the Jordaan, Amsterdam.

I've been having a bit of a stressful week. Besides the Typepad problems, I've had some worry over health issues; thankfully, I've had news today that is a reprieve of sorts. It seems I still have time to get my act together and forestall serious trouble. What a relief! So this weekend I shall be taking photos, taking long walks and getting plenty of exercise, while thanking my lucky stars.

I also am reading Nada Awar Jarrar's A Good Land, an intriguing book about love and war in Beirut. "...I noticed him at the butcher's one morning, both of us waiting to be saved." When I read that sentence, I substituted the word saved for served. It was only when looking the passage up for this post that I discovered my mistake. Yet either word - saved or served - is applicable in the story.

Speaking of survival, please go here and read the remarkable Jen Lemen's heartfelt stories, following her latest visit to Rwanda.

Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, hope you have a lovely stress-free weekend! Check back later for more posts.

Stranded and waiting for rescue

Bonjour! I have many photos and stories to post, but for the past two days - since Typepad launched its "new" Typepad - have been unable to post any photos. This problem exists no matter what browser or what computer I use. So am waiting for Typepad to come to the rescue with a solution. Hope to be back soon!

Meanwhile, don't forget to enter to win a National Geographic Adventure Travel globe (in the post below)!

A summer giveaway

It's Bastille Day in France and last night, celebratory fireworks lit up the sky in Paris. Today, there's a parade down the Champs Elysee. To help celebrate the joys of summer, I'm delighted to announce that CSN Stores is offering a prize to one lucky Paris Parfait reader.

The winner will receive a National Geographic Adventure Travel Globe! I selected the prize from among the Boston-based CSN Stores' vast collection of home decor, stylish futons and travel items. So many choices, I could spend days browsing their selection of merchandise. So I went with the travel theme.

Only a US-based resident is eligible to win this particular globe. But I also am offering a French brocante find. If you live outside the US, you still have an opportunity to win a nice prize.

Just leave a brief comment here about your summer holiday plans. Do you go to the same place every year or are you headed for points unknown? Do you have a special travel tip?

Winning names will be drawn for the globe and a brocante treasure on Tuesday, July 21st. Bon chance!

An evening to remember

A virtual wall of giant, puffy clouds near Meaux, France.

As always, click photos - all taken using only natural light - to enlarge and view detail.

Remnants of a rainbow.

A plane flies above the bank of clouds.

Sunset.

On Sunday, David and I had dinner with Charlotte, Di Overton's daughter, at her lovely home in a village near Meaux. Not only is Charlotte an excellent cook, she's great company - very much like her mother! Both women know how to tell a good story, no holds barred.

On the way back to the train station, Charlotte was kind enough to stop the car so I could shoot these images. David and I were astonished by the virtual wall of puffy clouds filling the sky. Living in a city, we miss much of nature's beauty. Thank you, Charlotte, for a truly memorable evening!

Blowing bubbles

Blowing bubbles, Amsterdam.

My friend Maddie forwarded this link to Sabrina Ward Harrison's beautiful True Living Project: 100 Bits of the World.

Whatever you're doing this weekend, take some time just for yourself!

G-8 to focus on climate change

Global warming graffiti, Amsterdam.

Key climate meeting looms at G8

US agrees landmark pledge to slash admissions

In other news, the extremist British Nationalist Party leader Nick Griffin told the BBC that the European Union should sink boats carrying illegal immigrants to prevent them from entering Europe!

Meanwhile, Sarah Palin keeps lying about state ethics probes. Gary Kamiya writes in Salon about "The Poison of Celebrity:"

"...Her (Palin's) strange story demonstrates the utterly distorting power of fame in America. Carried too high, her wings melted off - a meltdown evident the moment she took the national stage and painfully apparent in every tortured sentence of her rambling, illogical resignation speech. In a country not besotted by fame, a politician as intellectually deficient as Palin, whose ambitions are that untethered and above all who is petulantly unwilling to do the hard, prosaic work of governing, would be ushered permanently offstage. But in a culture of celebrity, the very theatricality of Palin's disgraceful resignation immediately becomes part of her résumé."

As Glenn Greenwald points out, President Barack Obama and the justice department have some serious questions to answer!

Nostalgia

On Wednesday, I was in a little grocery store and saw Cherry Cokes! Nostalgia, pure and simple, made me buy one. Today when I opened it, nice and chilled, I was dismayed to find it tastes a bit like cough syrup. Ever have that experience, when you find something isn't quite the way you remember? Or perhaps they're using a different formula these days. Either way, it's a reminder that nostalgia isn't always a good thing.

Digital manipulation

The National Press Photographers Association's latest newsletter links to a piece about digital manipulation. The New York Times magazine has pulled a photo essay, after bloggers discovered the images had been digitally altered. Read the newspaper's statement here.

Simple pleasures

Balloons, hearts, flowers and other simple pleasures, illustrated by photos from Amsterdam:

Riding a bike.

Imagination.

Evening strolls.

Food and conversation.

Being bold.

Exploring new places.

Laughing - and shopping!

Unexpected encounters.

Strength.

The hardy hortensia (French for hydrangeas) from my balcony, which emerged yet again, despite neglect while I've been traveling. Hydrangeas always remind me of my late grandmother, who had a yard full of beautiful blue and pink blooms.

The pottery in my favourite shade of aqua was handmade by Joyce Verver. Her atelier at Prinsengracht 136-138 in Amsterdam is chock-full of unique ceramics and stoneware pottery.

Why not share your own ideas of simple things today at Soul Aperture?

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Remembering Michael Jackson's musical genius: In 1988 in Amman, Jordan this song had significance in my life.

Abruptly switching gears, this may make you smile.

Dutch boys

So there I was in Amsterdam with only a telephoto lens and a macro, having forgotten a basic workhorse lens. I had no choice but to surreptiously shoot photos of people some distance away. I must admit I felt a bit like a thief, sneaking these photos. I was seated at an outdoor cafe when I shot images of this guy in a boat.

And I got caught out when snapping this couple. Luckily, the guy had a sense of humour. In the photo below, you see the expression on his face when he notices me. When I saw him looking at me, I jerked the camera away and waved at him and laughed. So the image is slightly out of focus, but you get the picture - I felt like a naughty child caught doing something wrong.

This guy was paying no attention, so I shot a few images of him and his dog.

En route from Amsterdam to Paris, I trained the telephoto lens on this stranger sleeping. Yes, I know, the nerve!!! Normally I ask permission to take people's photos. In France, it's illegal to photograph people without their consent.

Check back later for more photos of Amsterdam's myriad charms. And see other photos here.

Adventures in Amsterdam

Wire mesh globe light in Amsterdam shop, with the city's 17th-century buildings reflected in the glass.

What can I tell you about Amsterdam? Such a charming city, with beautiful art and architecture, great style, friendly people and good food! Before last week, I hadn't been there in 20 years. As you might expect, it's changed - mostly for the better, I think.

Shall I tell you about the lovely hotel that's comprised of 25 restored 17th-and-18th-century canal houses put together? Or about the historic restaurant in the Jordaan we found by chance, where we were the only non-Dutch people there (always a good sign) for dinner?

Or perhaps you'd like to hear about a superb six-course meal in an Italian restaurant, where we had a private dining room overlooking the kitchen and could watch the chefs' preparations? We were bombarded with attention until the last course, when they seemed to forget about us - and suddenly all that heat from the kitchen rose to the top, making the temperature stifling! I couldn't wait to leave (we'd been there over three hours)!

Or what about the art, oh the art! Rembrandt's Night Watch and his other stunning chiaroscuro paintings at the Rijks Museum show such incredible interplay of light and dark. The lines were too long for the Van Gogh Museum, but we did see the magnificent brocades, satins, furs and uniforms from Czar Nicolas and the Russian aristocracy at the Hermitage Amsterdam.

Then there was the fantastic World Press Photo exhibition at the Oude Kerk, the oldest church in Amsterdam. And an exhibit of abstract landscape photographs at the Huis Marseille Foundation for Photography. It's in a beautiful canal house, complete with a library (containing a huge ornate stove, original to the house), a landscaped garden centered with a statue of Mercury and even a little studio beyond the garden.

Double Dutch bicycle chained to a bridge railing, Amsterdam.

The Foam Museum of Photography also had several ongoing exhibits, including Massimo Vitali's World Press Photo prize-winning beach series and Guy Tillim's extraordinary documentary photos of once-grand cities and buildings in Africa, reduced to ruin.

The Anne Frank House was as emotionally moving as ever; by visiting late in the day, we avoided the crowds. We walked miles and miles along the canals and stopped in little shops and galleries. A canal boat ride, Pia Jane Bijkerk's book signing at Spui Square and a visit to the textile-laden Westerstraat Market in Jordaan were all punctuated with shooting photos. And we ate way too many stroopwaffles!

We also peered at property listings in estate agents' windows. Yes, we like Amsterdam so much, there's a chance we'll live there post-Paris. Check back later for more photos from our little adventure in Amsterdam.

Red geraniums and bicycles on a canal bridge.

Canal, Jordaan.

Canal at 10:05 p.m. June 28, 2009.

Of politics and ethics

Living sculpture, Amsterdam.

Sarah Palin: More reality-challenged than we thought.

I wonder what Katherine Graham would think about the Washington Post publisher exchanging editorial ethics for money? With such bad decisions, it's no wonder the Post is faltering.

Scott Rosenberg has an interesting article in Salon about "How blogging changed everything."

And here is an astonishing account of forced marriage; thankfully, the victim escaped, though not unscathed.

Clever crafting

My friend Anjie at Studio Wellspring forwarded a link to her brother-in-law Dennis King's terrific etsy shop. Dennis creates wonderful solid-wood children's furniture, handmade using eco-friendly products. Each piece can be custom-made with colors and sizing, as you prefer.

Expensive lessons

Murals, graffiti and bicycles, Amsterdam. Click to enlarge and read quote.

Well, that was an expensive lesson! Moral of the story: If you need a photography website put together, make sure the person you ask has actually done such work previously and can provide examples. Since returning from Amsterdam Monday night, I've spent at least 15 hours a day glued to the computer, trying to salvage a photography presention. But you won't see any links to that website here; the less said about it, the better. The site will have to be completely redone by a professional.

In another expensive lesson, certain right-wing Republicans and their cheerleaders at Faux "news" and talk radio have flipped over the new Minnesota Senator Al Franken. Um, who was it that dragged the recount out over seven months? Why that would be those same disrespectful Republicans! Apparently, democracy only applies if they get their own way - just ask the Rupert Murdoch owned-and-influenced Wall Street Journal.

This weekend, I'm hoping to find time to catch up on your blogs and email. I also have some stories and photos from Amsterdam to prepare. My British chef (oh, the irony!) will prepare a proper Independence Day feast. Hope you have a great Fourth of July weekend!