… but I felt it important today to come online and post about this topic. The more I read, the more I become concerned.
An Alien Parisienne protests SOPA & PIPA today.
Today, sites like Wikipedia, Google and many, many others on the Internet are taking time to protest SOPA and PIPA: the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP [Intellectual Property] Act.
From Wikipedia:
For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia. [Main Page statement on January 18, 2012]
SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” and PIPA is an acronym for the “Protect IP Act.” (“IP” stands for “intellectual property.”) In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. [Wikipedia: SOPA and PIPA- Learn More]
Wikipedia, Google, and many others are blacking out their sites for a period of time today, January 18, 2012. Those sites have linked in articles regarding these proposed laws in the American legislative bodies. I urge you to go and read the links (since getting on Wikipedia is difficult today– except on mobile phones or if you disable your Javascript in your browser — you can’t fritter away time looking up crazy stuff! Might as well go and get yourself informed. Once you do, I imagine as a reader of blogs and a user of the Internet, you will join the protest, too).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/join-our-censorship-protest/ (Please watch the embedded video WordPress has posted at that link, also watchable here on Vimeo. It sums up the situation very nicely.)
http://americancensorship.org/
Sergey Brin (one of the founders of Google) – December 15, 2011 post on Google+ regarding SOPA/PIPA
Go now, get informed, take action by signing the petition or by posting a blog of your own. Let your voice be heard.
May the Free Internet Live Long, and Prosper!
Live Long and Prosper, Free Internet! Spock says so.
Yours,
Paris Karin
an alien parisienne
Greetings, Readers!
I’ve just returned to Paris in time for Christmas after being in Anitbes, the town in the South of France between Nice and Cannes where my best friend lives. The “South of France” sounds like it ought to be a warm place, but is really not in winter. My BFF and I froze our keisters off at the beginning of this past week. There might be palm trees and sunshine in Antibes, but balmy it is not in wintertime. It’s chilly.
It beats being in Paris, just for views like this one, though:
From the Old City and the Fort Carré to Cap d'Antibes - click to enlarge
Or this one:
Old Antibes, with the Alps in the background
Or this one:
Sunset at the Winter Solstice - La nuit la plus longue de l'année
Even in winter, the colors of the South — Mediterranean blues, terra cotta reds, sandstone yellows, sage greens — make me feel terrific because they uplift the spirit so! No Paris grays are to be seen anywhere.
Alas, I am back in Paris, and I am posting because it is time for me to wish you a Happy Holidays!
Yes, it is those bears again. Remember them? They are in the windows at Microlithe, the association at 59bis rue Olivier Metra, 75020. I have blogged about this window here and here in the past. Adorable, eh?
I’ve got some more Christmassy photos I’d love to share with you, so if you’d like to have a look, keep on reading.
Greetings Readers!
I am, still today, madly typing away at my NaNoWriMo novel. (You can see my progress here.) I’m also still keeping an eye on the wee ones of Ms MJ, An American Mom in Paris, but only for a couple more days as their departure back to Seattle is imminent, aka next Wednesday. I can’t think too much about that, though, as now that I have gotten to know her kiddos so much better, I’m aching with the idea that I may not ever see them again. MJ has already promised to come back to visit, so I’m not worried about never seeing her again (hee hee). While this is a very bittersweet time for her, I just wanted to say here how I have enjoyed her presence here in Paris and in the Paris Bloghood. Life will not be ever quite the same without her updates on Paris. She’d better write about re-entry into Seattle, though, or I am going to have to go over there and kick some a**. Three cheers for the American Mom in Paris! Can I get a holla?!
Onward.
Some of you may remember at the end of this past September, I wrote about how I had a guest post that appeared on the Anytrip.com Blog (UPDATE 25 January 2012: now it’s the HostelBookers.com Blog!). It was the lovely Leah Prendergast who worked with me, asking me to contribute.
I have not used their services, but I have to say that if the interactions I have had with Leah are any indication, HostelBookers.com is a top-notch site from which to book trips and get advice about budget-conscious travel. Hopefully, there will be one day soon when I will be able to avail myself of their services and see some more of Europe using their travel tips and booking services. As a part of that, just so you know, I have in no way been paid or given any other promotional consideration in writing such. That’s just me, from the heart, based on the messages I had going back and forth with Leah and from reading their information on their blog. One of these days I will put up an official “Disclaimers” page that says as much for all my posts. But there you have it: I only put stuff on here where I have somehow had a personal connection with someone, and they seem like they are nice and have something cool to share. That’s it. I get no money from writing here, and I have never been paid to write about how X,Y or Z product or service is a good one.
That said, Leah has been kind enough to write a guest post on “Seven Great Things to Do in Paris for Free.” I’m really thankful to have something to put on the site this month as I am furiously still trying to write about 5,296 more words of my novel, resulting in a decent rough draft from which to create something truly spectacular over the coming months. *cross fingers*
Without further ado, please continue reading about some terrific FREE (ghetto Paris Karin loves FREE) and interesting things to do in Paris. Thank you, Leah! Read more…
… when I said just a week ago I would not blog again until the end of NaNoWriMo.
It was in part because I took some cool photos that were begging me to share them with you, and also because of some wonderful readers whose kind words have inspired me to be ME again here in the blog, and carry on the way that I used to here at AAP, especially as I did a couple of years ago when I wrote something like 60K words here for NaNoWriMo. Call me nostalgic, but I just wanted to throw another bit of Karin Brain Spillage onto the page before I hit the crazy novel writing for the next 30 days. Maybe it is because the Muse is with me! I hope so…
I may also have some writing assignments in addition to NaNo that could pull me back here in the next month — obviously, there will be something posted here if I do. Otherwise, if you see me goofing around on FB or Google+ too much in the coming days, holler at me and tell me to “GO WRITE.”
First off, though, I wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween.
Another** cute window from Microlithe, the association at 59bis rue Olivier Metra, 75020
** I posted about another one of their windows a year ago.
For more thoughts and photos, please keep reading!
Hi everyone!
I have been trying to commit to monthly blogging, and I just realized it’s been a month. Thing is, this is kind of a non-post. For those of you who like the “old school” alien parisienne posts, this will be up your alley, though.
I’ve been so busy of late! I’ve had a special assignment this past week, playing Karin Poppins to two wee ones, whose mother happens to be this person. Some of her besties are in town, and she’s needed someone to mind the fort while she goes out and has a final hurrah in the City of Light before she heads back to the City of Flowers or the City of Goodwill, depending on if you would rather go with the 1942 Resolution or the 1990 one (see here).
A total aside –
Check it! The Peerless City (yet another motto!) has a song. A few of the lyrics, for you:
Hail to the Peerless City, Metropolis of the west, The gateway to the Orient, Whom grandeur hath caressed!
Her bosom’s gemm’d with pearly lakes, The mountains tower near; The fir tree forest skirts her bound; The beauty of earth is here.
Wow.
That is, like, a really sexy song. Caressed… bosom… forest skirts her bound… Yeesh. For 1909, that is some pretty racy stuff. Go Seattle!
So yeah, that’s one of the things that has been going on. Read more…
Hello everyone! I’m actually also sneaking this post on to my An Alien Parisienne Wordpress blog via my Posterous account, someplace I experiment now and again with events and publicity about events in Paris.
I wanted to let you know about an article I have written as a guest over at the AnyTrip blog.
AnyTrip is a London-based, budget-travel, online booking agency, and while I have not yet used their services, I am really impressed with the way they contacted me to be a guest writer for their site, and impressed with what they offer at their site. Many other terrific bloggers and writers have also participated in doing articles for this month’s Love Paris Giveaway. There are four chances this September to win a trip to Paris with AnyTrip’s Love Paris giveaway. For each prize, AnyTrip will set you and a friend up with a two-night stay at a Paris hotel, an activity, and £150/€170 in travel vouchers for the return trip to Paris.
For information on how to enter as well as the terms and conditions, visit the AnyTrip Love Paris post.
You have until September 30 to enter, so hustle on over to the site!
For some juicy personal news, please keep reading! Read more…
Greetings, Readers!
Have I got something good for you today. A party! A celebration. A fifth birthday has arrived!
On August 20, 2006 a podcast was born.
Over the past few months, I have gotten totally hooked on the Katia and Kyliemac podcast, recorded live on most Saturday evenings here in Paris, France and posted on their site every Wednesday and Sunday. A couple of months ago, I had the genius idea to interview Katia and Kyliemac (aka “Kylie”), just like they interview guests on their show except in writing. So, I got in touch and asked if they would be willing to grant me an interview for my blog, and they were more than happy to do so!
To learn more about the wonderful Katia and the wonderful Kyliemac, please read on!
© katiaandkyliemac.com
Update: As of July 26, 2011, “Beware Madame La Guillotine” is available for the iPhone and iTouch at the iTunes App Store! You can find more information at the App Store Link here.
I’m a lover of tales and I enjoy finding treasure, literal and metaphorical. For who does not enjoy a good treasure hunt?
And while my food allergies/intolerances prohibit me from eating many of the culinary pleasures in Paris, some of the things in which I can partake are Paris’ history and mysteries. It was therefore my great pleasure to have taken, in part, Time Traveler Tours’ presentation of “Beware Madame La Guillotine” on a rainy June afternoon along with its creator, Sarah Towle.
Here in another “Special Report,” I’ll share with you about the tour, a bit of Sarah’s story, and my thoughts on the my experience taking the tour.
To learn more, please continue reading!
Image: Charlotte Corday, Wikimedia Commons
Greetings!
Those of you who blog and/or write may have had the following experience:
You have many things in mind about which you would like to write, some of which you have been intending to write for a long while, and that first sentence is one which causes you to get hung up because it is just so damn hard to find the right (write?) way to begin.
There.
I got that out of the way. Nothing like just jumping in, is there? Beginning this post after not having written for this blog for a while has been causing me to stall, choking like a tiny Cessna in mid-air, losing altitude (or in this case, my writing wings). But I can feel the sputters of the engine as it ignites, comes to full power, and once more, I’m flying.
Welcome back, readers.
What I have been intending to write about since around the end of March has been a post about photographer Chloe Lodge, whom I have had the great pleasure of getting to know as she has been studying for her Masters in Photography at the Spéos Photographic Institute here in Paris, France.
To learn more about this talented photographer, please keep reading!
Monumenta 2011 - Anish Kapoor: KA-POW!
It’s huge. It’s gigantic. It’s enormous! NO, it’s MONUMENTA.
In brief:
What is it?
It’s a gigantic, temporary, contemporary art installation called “Leviathan” by renowned artist/sculptor Anish Kapoor.
Where is it?
It’s at the Grand Palais in Paris, France. Enter at the Main Entrance, Avenue Winston Churchill, 75008.
When is it?
It’s from May 11 to June 23, 2011, everyday except Tuesdays.
Mon & Wed — 10 am to 7 pm.
Thurs-Sun — 10 am to midnight.
Please note that the last entry to the exhibit is 45 min before the closing time.
This upcoming Saturday, May 14, for the Night at the Museums (Nuit des musées), the exhibit will be open from 10 am to 1 am (free entry begins at 7 pm). For more information on the Nuit des musées in Paris, see here: Nuit des Musées. Select “Paris” to view all 231 events in the city.
How much does it cost?
It’s 5€ for the full-rate, half-price for those who qualify (unemployed, those aged 13-18, etc.). Free for Under-13s, journalists with press passes, and others who qualify (see Practical Information on the Monumenta website ). There is a 10€ pass for unlimited entry for the entire duration of the exhibition. Paid admission allows the ticket holder into the evening events on the same day.
Why should I go?
You should go because the sheer scope and scale of the installation will blow your mind. KA-POW!
To learn more about my own experience and thoughts on the MONUMENTA 2011 installation by Anish Kapoor, for which I attended the Press Opening on May 10, 2011, please keep reading.
