the land of 8 euro beer and making a film

Am two weeks into my 25 day stint in Paris winging it as part of a film crew. Keeping things close to the chest...it's long a fuck but in some senses hugely rewarding. For instance I've got just enough time at night, before I settle in for three hours sleep, to watch an episode of Trailer Park Boys, a genius American television show that has somehow eluded my eagle-eye until now. It's pretty excellent and has restored my faith in the cynical capabilities of the pseudo-doc comedic style. It follows two faintly ridiculous petty criminals through the daily grind of getting fucked up in their Trailer Park. Particular highlights include a deputy warden who's always half naked, the mindless celebration of guns, crime and inebriation and the fact that the lead character is never without a crystal glass of rum and coke, even when robbing a supermarket for crisps and bananas. Watch it.

Anyway, so Paris eh...what the fuck is this city all about. Firstly, to dispel an unfair myth the people are actually pretty safe despite a penchant for letting their dogs shit everywhere. But more importantly a beer is 8 euros in anywhere half decent, they eat way too many carbs and the whole place just reminds me of a bland London. The weather is the same, the vibe is not markedly different, the buildings are slightly nicer...but honestly why women quiver at the very enunciation of those two syllables is beyond me. I'm writing this on Valentine's Day, just as thousands of men sit glumly on the Eurostar heading back to London through Kent, wondering why they parted with a weeks wages to service their better half in a two star hotel behind the Gare du Nord. Sickening.

Big week coming up, what with United off to Milano (a trip I've been forced to miss...will I ever get to the San Siro?) more film making and probably some other shite that's going to be interesting. On a side note, I'm reading 'The Longest Race' a blow by blow account of the Presidential Election in 2008. Both riveting and terrifying in equal measure it truly makes you wonder where the US of A is heading and how the people contending for leadership of the nation manage to find themselves in positions of such importance. Most of them make the Trailer Park lads look sophisticated.