How to cook French without leaving the states

Tarte Tatin - the French apple pie


 5 to 6 pounds tart apples (I like Braeburns, Jonathans, Honeycrisps, Jonagolds, or Fujis)
25g unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Pâte Brisée, chilled  I didn't make the homemade crust  and instead I bought it at Carrefour
Crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream for serving
cinnamon (optional)


I usually cut the butter and sugar in half because the apples are usually really juicy.

1.in an oven-proof skillet, place the butter and the sugar
2. Peel, core and cut the apples with the round part facing up and place in the skillet forming a circle
3.  When all the apples are in the skillet, start on med-high heat. If the juices from the apples becomes too much, boil it into caramel in another bowl.
4. Cook the apples for 20 minutes until soft
5. Roll out the pate brisée and place on stop of the apple mixture, creating openings with a fork.
6. Bake at 425 or 220 for 45 minutes

7. When turning it over,  becareful as the juices are boiling hot.
Then eat while warm with creame fraiche, yogurt or ice cream. It also makes a good breakfast.

MONUMENTA, Boltanski- Personnes

An "monumental art expo" that has come and gone with only a trace of personnes.

When I first heard of this expo, I was not all interested in going to it,  because  it looked like a waste of money and time similar to the last expo of this kind I saw in 2008 - Richard Serra.  Every article that I saw concerning the expo didn't really interest my tastes, so when I heard that my class would be visiting it for class, I was not happy. But I sucked it up and was actually impressed by what I had seen.

 Personnes takes up a new theme in Boltanski's work

This is the Hello Monster

Formed in 2007, THIS IS THE HELLO MONSTER is the solo musical project of Gerald K. It is an energetic and an enlightened live response to the anti-folk New Yorkers: Regina Spekor, Antony & The Johnsons, and Chris Garneau and the Scandivan pop artists: Ane Brun, and Anna Ternheim.Gerald was influenced by these artists’ concerts and the touching intimacy that each one shared with his audience. Thus, he decided to concentrate towards musical composition and was invited to perform at the Tanz Festival in August 2007 in Berlin. For this concert, he proposed an underground lo-fi solo recital of ghosts and green plants in pots. He developed a unique form of live solo piano, synths, toys and machinery, where lo-fi sounds join the the excitement of a nocturnal voice and cinematic landscape of an old smoky club.
THIS IS THE HELLO MONSTER! and his intimate fok-tinkered universe attracts a warm welcome from the public. As a result of being Selected by the Grand Zebock 2009 and a Paris Jeune Talent Prize Winner 2009, he will give several concerts at the 3 Baudets, Nouveau Casino, Divan du Monde, L’International, etc. He is currently working with Olivier Marguerit (Syd Matters, Los Chicros, Hey hey my my..) to write his first album to be realeased from BS record and will play the first act of Emilie Loizeau, Piers Faccini and Imbert Imbert’s season 2009-2010.

www.myspace.com/tithm or http://www.myspace.com/nousisbeautiful
THIS IS THE HELLO MONSTER, is like the North wind and a fantastic animal, the deep quiet of a Brian Eno, a unicorn and the black lion, a zombie sleeping in a voice synthesizer or palm of a model tropical volcano.

PRESS QUOTES
The brand new project of This is the Hello Monster is to open the show of Piers Faccini. composed by Gerald Kurdian and Jack the invisible Dinosaur, TITHM has an obvious talent. The singer Gerald K writes songs and plays several instruments including the synthesizer, flute and piano. He will carry you into his fantasy world of avant-folk and pop.
- Web-libre.org

The first sensation when listening to This Is The Hello Monster is a feeling that one can say they have never heard! More astonishing to listen to This Is The Monster Hello, is that everything seems to take life around him, including his machines, which boasts a strange universe which then binds it to share his folk, indie. Gerald Kurdian, author, composer, performer, multi-instrumentalist, has indeed managed to create strong emotions with simple spell-binding titles, including "TV Show", melody and arrangements of great beauty, "and on" Heavy Like Stones "or "Sinking In You".
- Rocknfrance.com
From love pop tinkling in one’s ears. It is exquisite as the second-degree water rose, but it has moved in the first degree. Gerald Kurdian is a soul man. And he is also a dancer it seems. In any case, he's the Hello Monster.
- Leoelbows.blogspot.com

Dandy shifted decadent, This Is the Hello Monster!, an award-winning 2009 young talent from Paris, is a young French artist who detonates and surprises one with a world worthy of a fantasy. Between folk on edge and bitter sweet pop, This is the Hello Monster is an artist to discover live urgently.
- Culture.froggytest.com ...

Gerald aka Kurdian This is the hello monster! did not stop surprising us and touching us. Alone on stage with his keyboards, he has given us a singular event, as charming surprise or where maintaining the charm and romance sometimes graceful and sometimes timid than we knew him, now he introduced in his performance subtle humor, playful yet intriguing and we are the sole actor in a funny musical (science fiction) but no less intelligent, carelessly and bubbly act.
- Notfortourists.com

Describe your cultural professional experience and where did you get started?
Alumni of Beaux Arts in Paris, where he studied contemporary art, dance and theater.
He has written music for stage and movement choreography. With these influences he started to sing and created a one-man show.

What is the meaning behind “This is the Hello Monster?”
The hello from the name refers to saying “Hello” with the feeling of Showtime?

When you play at concerts, what kind of audience do you hope to find, and do they please you?
As many people as possible, people from magazines or contemporary artists. Once there was a group of older woman and it was shocking and I really want to know why they were there. I love the public at Nouveau Casino.

Any news and what are your future projects?
My first album will be released in March 2010. The Paris Jeunes Talent Prize in 2009 with a concert at the Bellevilloise in Paris in March. Looking for outside grants and would like perform outside of Paris, possibly abroad.

Explain your music.
Experimental
Emotions from the radio
Reading music like a musical story
Science fiction
Imagination
Pop ballad
Layering of noises not heard everyday

Wishes, Thoughts?
I don’t want to be commercial but rather looked at as an individual.
“You don’t know what’s inside or what you will find”

The Rain - A new French Folk Band

Julie and Martin of “The Rain” are just “walking around, walking around” into the Parisian 

independent music scene with nothing holding them back.  This folk acoustic duo with only three 

weeks of “real experience” put creative inspiration in their genuine, memorable tunes of love, 

heartbreak, and dreams in the city.

Duos are the new standard in today’s folk genre such as “Kings of Convenience” whose musical melody and poetic devices influenced those of “The Rain”.  Julie and Martin sing in English with an accent unlike the typical French one, but rather a result of an US-southern country meets LA chic. Julie’s voice resembles Zooey Deschanel’s of « She & Him », in which both emphasize the idea of returning to the foundation instead of repeating the same oohs and lahs of other singers today.

Their presence on the stage is often reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkel, except this duo faces each other, rarely turning their attention towards their melody-thirsty audience. Immersed in the intensity of each performance, Julie and Martin remain poised even if the audience gets a little too loud. But even with that said the resonation of Julie’s lips harmonizes through every little crack of the room, just as rain falls in the forest. Martin strums the guitar with a non-imitable lightness and his megaphone announcement proclaiming words of wisdom voice echoes like that of Brandon Flowers from “The Killers.”

The mélange of airy or upbeat harmonies resemble the early 60’s rock sounds from “The Kinks” or “Velvet Underground”, only lacking in the full band presence that these groups had. Their harmonies do not coincide with the familiar everyday tunes coming from artists such as Rihanna, but a spin on those who made these genres popular. This duo’s future depends on a faithful open-minded audience (who doesn’t rely on modernity), just as the optimism the audiences had for “The Beatles” or Bob Dylan.

For music check out: http://www.myspace.com/therainmusicband