The Canadian Government’s Translation Bureau recently made its French/English/Spanish technical terminology database, Termium, free to access after over a decade as a subscription-based service. While off-the-cuff translations are often available from free services like BabelFish, Termium focuses on technical terminology such as scientific, medical and legal terms. [more inside]
posted by Shepherd on Oct 22, 2009 - 35 comments

Since 1980, the Celtic Media Festival has brought together people who broadcast, and now Webcast, in Celtic languages. Videoblog Gwagenn.TV provides a report (with autoplaying video) from the 2009 festival whose clips and interviews are spoken and subtitled variously in Breton, French, English, Welsh, Scots Gaelic and Irish, Catalan, and Basque, not all of which are actually Celtic. [more inside]
posted by joeclark on Sep 15, 2009 - 5 comments

Christopher Moore has been to Paris lately, and has decided to share some of his vacation snaps, and, most amusingly, teach us a bit of French.
posted by markkraft on Aug 26, 2009 - 32 comments

Nouvelle Vague covers New Wave and Punk (MLYT) Nouvelle Vague (no, not this one) does Bossa Nova covers of New Wave and Punk songs, including: Dance with me (Lords of the New Church), Master and Servant (Depeche Mode), Love will tear us apart (Joy Division), Making plans for Nigel (XTC), Blue Monday (New Order), This is not a love song (PiL), The guns of Brixton (The Clash), and one NSFW title [more inside]
posted by zippy on Aug 19, 2009 - 25 comments

"If you were to describe me without anyone being able to see me, they would think I am a monster (Guardian video + article), that I am not fuckable. But if they see me, that could perhaps change." While French artist ORLAN's work spans decades and mediums (FR, may be NSFW), she is perhaps best known for her 1990s performance series "The Reincarnation of Saint-ORLAN" wherein ORLAN filmed herself receiving seven different plastic surgeries (NSFW) while entirely conscious. [more inside]
posted by nonmerci on Jul 6, 2009 - 26 comments

Artheme Swallows his Clarinet is a rather bizarre short film from 1912. [more inside]
posted by hydrophonic on Jun 24, 2009 - 10 comments

Bonsoir, Monsieur COK!
Dans un formidable élan de générosité notre patron adoré nous offre enfin la possibilité de voir son FILM sur la toile!
A short film about efficiencies in bomb manufacturing.
posted by boo_radley on Jun 15, 2009 - 16 comments

Les Animaux tel qu'ils sont is a delightful 1920s French art instruction book, showing one how to draw various animals, from the previously discussed Agence Eureka.
posted by fings on May 22, 2009 - 7 comments

Marilyn French, author of The Women's Room, among other works, has died.
posted by Morrigan on May 5, 2009 - 26 comments

The Go Team might have done it first. But nobody wreaks havoc in a Pac-Man suit like the French!
posted by manosthf on Apr 16, 2009 - 37 comments

The sales of a book by Madame de Lafayette, "La Princesse de Clèves", are up in France and there have been public readings of it in theatres and universities. The reason? Sarkozy hates it. As Sarkozy's popularity plummets, the "17th century tale of thwarted love" gets unexpected attention beyond the classroom. Badges inscribed with "I am reading The Princess of Clèves" were the most popular item at the opening of the Paris book fair this week. [more inside]
posted by lucia__is__dada on Mar 19, 2009 - 29 comments

Shockingly, a novel about a Nazi officer who abets murder squads, transports Jews to Auschwitz, has sex with his twin sister, possibly kills his parents and then dies rich, old and reflective has caused a trans-Atlantic controversy among literary critics. Published in the original French three years ago, the English translation of Jonathan Littell's The Kindly Ones hit American bookstores this week. [more inside]
posted by zoomorphic on Mar 11, 2009 - 86 comments

La Revolution Des Crabes (SLYT, French w/ subtitles) [more inside]
posted by Challahtronix on Mar 10, 2009 - 4 comments

A tale of two countries Some time ago, the french & German tv channel Arte had created an internet extension devoted to audio only, Arteradio. This website contains hours of audio creations. This is the place where you can listen to The first radio drama /la première fiction radio /in two languages and one version /en deux langues et une seule version /a BBC-ARTE Radio coproduction /enregistrée à Paris et London /recorded on location /diffusée en hertzien /broadcasted on BBC Radio 4 on February, 4th, 2009 /online on arteradio.com. You can also listen to McKenzie Wark, or to the moment of silence created on September the eleventh 2002, to Steve, to English pupils in Paris, to Susan George, to Dean Hurley commenting his work, and then dive into the complete unknown, and pure French sounds, like these testimonies about masturbation, or about la chanson, like a Paris postcard, or even a street snapshot.
posted by nicolin on Feb 10, 2009 - 3 comments

For that headbangin' couple, the ones you owe a wedding gift... [more inside]
posted by lapolla on Feb 4, 2009 - 24 comments

Friday fun: The revamped Globulos! [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Jan 9, 2009 - 3 comments

Portraiture of the living dead. [some NSFW; via Bygone Bureau] [more inside]
posted by Korou on Dec 10, 2008 - 31 comments

Once Upon a Time - a filmed fairy tale starring baby monkeys lost in frightening trees, a witch, crocodiles, a tiger, a "popotamus" and a lion, and even a "tremendously very bad mammoth." (In French, English subtitles)
posted by madamjujujive on Nov 16, 2008 - 12 comments

At One Minute Languages you can learn greetings, talking about names, counting, and more in Catalan, Danish, French, German, Irish, Japanese, Luxembourgish, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, and Russian.
posted by sveskemus on Nov 11, 2008 - 26 comments

Savez-vous que Jodie Foster parle et chante en français?
posted by taursir on Sep 14, 2008 - 53 comments

Oktapodi is a nice short from Les Gobelins, (last covered here). The 'Making-Of' is fun too.
posted by of strange foe on Sep 13, 2008 - 14 comments

Forty years ago, Swinging London was yet to swing. Everything was in black and white and, in class-bound Britain, fashion photographers were trades-men – polite, smart, seen but not heard. A new breed of snappers changed all that – Terry O’Neill, Brian Duffy, David Bailey and Terence Donovan. Bailey and Donovan started their careers in the West End studio of the doyen of fashion photographers – John French. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on Sep 1, 2008 - 11 comments

Ten French soldiers killed in afghanistan. A ceremony for the 10 soldiers took place today in Paris.. Caught in an ambush, the soldiers have been fired upon during several hours. Nato strikes are told to have been inaccurate. Survivors' testimonies seem to imply that the situation has been dealt with in an awkward way. The President's decision to send more troops in Afghanistan is discussed.
posted by nicolin on Aug 21, 2008 - 19 comments

Le Bernardin chef Eric Ripert's got a blog where he serves up demos of recipes he makes in his toaster oven.
posted by contessa on Aug 20, 2008 - 39 comments

Anti-French sentiment still runs high in the USA. Thankfully, Miquelon monitors French bashing activity since 2003. To gain some perspective, some even venture into the belly of the beast...Oh Paris Paramus, where art thou? [more inside]
posted by Oneirokritikos on Aug 11, 2008 - 62 comments

The most expensive home ever sold, Villa Leopolda (wiki here) on the French Riviera today fetched an estimated $750 million from an anonymous Russian tycoon (more about the sale here, here, here, and here). Formerly owned by banker Edmond Safra, whose mysterious death by fire in his Monaco home in December 1999 resulted in a murder conviction, the Villa's name refers to its original owner, Belgium's King Leopold II (and we all know how he made his fortune), and was reputedly built for his mistress.
posted by ornate insect on Aug 11, 2008 - 53 comments

Doug Skinner translates Paul Vibert's House of Flesh and Bone, a short story about living inside large animals. Part 2. Part 3. via
posted by klangklangston on Jul 10, 2008 - 1 comment

Rémi Gaillard leaves a trail of befuddled witnesses and victims in his wake. [more inside]
posted by Dave Faris on Jun 24, 2008 - 43 comments

Fancy a whirlwind tour of Popular Chanson? A broad term referring to contemporary French popular music, "chanson" applies to a startling array of stuff. Just how broad do I mean? Let's start with Grand Corps Malade, sublime slam poet/lyricist. Les voyages en train. Quatre saisons. [more inside]
posted by nonmerci on May 22, 2008 - 13 comments

Frédéric Madre's BOARD is a "diptych joining quotidian poetry and collages of terms issuing from web nomenclature, which is to say all the expressions which one reads without seeing". (via, and source of quoted description)
posted by No-sword on Apr 30, 2008 - 5 comments

@mateurdart is a French-language blog on erotic art in a wide variety of eras and styles. (NSFW)
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Apr 24, 2008 - 17 comments

The hippest of today's French youth can't get enough of Tecktonik--a dance (YT), cultural movement and apparent marketing ploy (in French), Tecktonic is a style of dance characterized by its lack of footwork and embrace of various ridiculous arm gestures. Coupled with a strong fashion sense (in French) involving copious amounts of neon, pseudo (or full-on) mullet haircuts and jeans that could be painted on, Tecktonik is a dance craze that, since its birth in 2000 at a Parisian nightclub, has only increased in popularity. [more inside]
posted by nonmerci on Apr 1, 2008 - 84 comments

Israeli-French singer Yael Naim, recently featured in this Macbook Air commercial, might just be the Next Big Thing. A little bit of soul and a little bit of folk have snagged her Album of the Year in World Music at the annual Les Victoires de la Musique French music awards this year. She currently only has two English songs released - one of them an absolutely lovely song entitled New Soul with an equally charming music video, and the other a slow and jazzy rendition of Britney Spears' Toxic, finally somewhat redeeming that song. Official Site.
posted by Phire on Mar 12, 2008 - 45 comments

Alain Robbe-Grillet, French author, member of the Académie française and subject of this recent Mefi post, has passed away at age 85.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Feb 18, 2008 - 16 comments

Henri Salvador died yesterday, age 90. "In his 70-year career, Henri Salvador also gained popularity as a dancer, pantomime artist and TV personality. His musical range included prewar chansons, whispery bossa nova, children's favorites and rock 'n' roll." And his English wasn't bad.
posted by Lezzles on Feb 14, 2008 - 6 comments

YouTube user lightning49 has 160 of videos of French singers which she has subtitled with her translations. Her biggest collection is of Jacques Brel videos but there are also songs performed by George Brassens, Charles Aznavour, Edith Piaf as well as a smattering of other stuff. To start you off with a few songs here are three of my favorite songs by Brel, Je suis un soir d'éte, Le moribond and La valse à mille temp along with Charles Aznavour's La boheme, Edith Piaf's Milord and Georges Brassens' Les passantes.
posted by Kattullus on Feb 13, 2008 - 13 comments

Frère Jacques! Frère Jacques! [more inside]
posted by oxford blue on Dec 28, 2007 - 13 comments

Les plumes du dragon. A storybook in French by Andrej and Olga Dugin. [Via MONSTER BRAINS.]
posted by homunculus on Dec 20, 2007 - 11 comments

110% is a classic convivial québécois sports Habs-centric debating talking heads french TV show, broadcasted every weeknight on TQS from 22:45 to 23:30 and daily episodes are posted online almost in their entirety (usually only missing some minor bumpers) at around 00:30 AM everyday, if you can figure out how to start the weird flash player (tip inside) and stand the chopping of the main part of the show in four randomly-sectionned parts. [more inside]
posted by jchgf on Dec 12, 2007 - 10 comments

Luc Sante has started a blog (according to Sasha Frere-Jones). Two entries so far, the first on a book cover from the 60's and the second on a picture of a rockabilly band. From the 2nd blog post: And that is why we come here once a year to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown rockabilly band: to persuade them to rest, and lay off the young. But just have a look at them--they were never meant to be! They should never have tried occupying the same stage, and they should have left music to find its own way home. The piano player, with his incipient Mickey Mouse ears, was clearly destined for a career working with puppets. The twins on guitar and bass were natural-born casino greeters. The other guitarist has the fine tapered hands of a pest-control agent specializing in silverfish. And the drummer--he was meant as an example. What happened to him should have been shown to driver-safety classes in every high school in the country. [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Dec 8, 2007 - 18 comments

Are you a Nutella connoisseur? Can you tell the difference between French and German Nutella? An informative 4 minute lesson on YouTube.
posted by Wolfdog on Dec 7, 2007 - 48 comments

Les duos anglo-français. [more inside]
posted by rom1 on Nov 20, 2007 - 6 comments

Claude François was one of France's most successful popstars, a complete song-and-dance act who remained at the top of the charts for almost ten years before his career was tragically cut short when he tried to change a lightbulb while in the bath (youtube ahead). [more inside]
posted by jacalata on Nov 11, 2007 - 19 comments

This post isn't about the great Belgian guitarist Philip Catherine - too many guitar posts recently - it isn't about the Belgian singer Katerine (nothing to say). It is about the French singer Philippe Katerine, who has been changing the way lyrics are written, as well as giving a whole range of new topics to French song. With Je vous emmerde (F*** you) he explains what's on a loser's mind. Excuse-moi is about the things a man focuses on during sexual intercourse in order to avoid early ejaculation. The individual struggling with an meaningless society is always present : Borderline (warcraft version with English subtitles). His lists and his humor clearly link his work with the texts of Poets like Raymond Queneau, Boris Vian (and Serge Gainsbourg), or the prose of Georges Perec. He can be Elegiac, Paradoxical, Funky, prosaic, he's always twofold.
posted by nicolin on Oct 25, 2007 - 13 comments

sarkozy, sarkozy, sarkozy.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Oct 23, 2007 - 25 comments

To me, he embodies The classical guitarist with all the clichés attached. But he can also make any material his own, or use forms with humor. He's got good compositions too.
posted by nicolin on Oct 17, 2007 - 7 comments

French jazz guitar is often mistaken for swing guitar, or gypsy style guitar. It's true that great french guitarists, like Bireli Lagrene or Christian escoudé, are still playing in this style. But curiosity is a trademark of most of the French guitarists, and even Bireli Lagrene gave a try to various kinds of jazz. French guitarists have been attracted to Be Bop from the start (btw, even Django has been). Maybe you've heard of Sacha Distel ? [more inside]
posted by nicolin on Oct 16, 2007 - 6 comments

First she was a dancer but after an injury she had to sing to make a living. She still dances a little during her songs (a rare feat among flamenco cantaoras). I first heard about her when she made a whole record (cd) of Edith Piaf's songs in spanish. You can get a taste here. She talks about it here (spanish + french, excerpts). She sang les feuilles mortes too. But nothing equals seeing her, I think : so here she is with two covers from a recent documentary : a song by Edith Piaf, a song by Lola Flores. Btw, If you get into french songs in the flamenco idiom, try this.
posted by nicolin on Oct 11, 2007 - 4 comments

The French Fry Coated Hot Dog and other artisan hot dogs from Korea.
posted by empath on Oct 9, 2007 - 62 comments

"I've hidden myself and covered myself for too long. Now I want to show myself fearlessly, even though I know my body arouses repugnance. I want to recover because I love life and the riches of the universe. I want to show young people how dangerous this illness is." French Comedienne Isabelle Caro, 27, an anorexic who weighs just 68 pounds, was displayed on Milan billboards (NSFW) for fashion designer Nolita as the city celebrated fashion week. The prevalence of eating disorders within the fashion industry have only recently been addressed officially, however Georgio Armani has complained that since Caro isn't a model herself it proves "even people who take no notice of fashion get anorexic."
posted by miss lynnster on Sep 30, 2007 - 116 comments