Thursday, April 04, 2013

Posterity!


Originally, I did not take this photo because of the guy in the foreground, but because I liked the perspective and because you can see a bit of the canal Saint Martin in the background. And then I looked up the guy's name (Frédérick Lemaitre) on the web and found out that he used to be an actor and was apparently famous during the 19th century (he was born in 1800). Then it made me think of posterity and the reason(s) why you remain in people's memory (and not just a on a bust at a crossing of course LOL!). Sorry, I'm talking nonsense today, I had a hard day;-)

23 comments:

  1. Oh, Eric. You had me at "apparently famous". Life is precious because it is fleeting and who doesn't like a reminder that we are all dust in the wind?

    I was told (by an exile) that the Russian language has a special verb that connotes "having a good cry". It's a word that is used when Russian people get together and drink a lot of vodka and start to tell stories about the past, and lost loves, and broken dreams, and they say: "Now is the time we have a good cry." It's a popular pastime, or so I hear.

    Your photo, and your explanation, is so beautiful that I want to have a good cry. Thank you.

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    1. Awwwwwww! That is pretty moving actually. I have a friend who keeps saying: "one should never lose an occasion to cry!"

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  2. I forgot to add...I'm sorry you had a hard day. I hope you had a good cry.

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  3. sorry Eric that you had a "hard day". My suggestion is for you to scroll back to yesterday's whimsical flowers and think of the smiles and joy you brought to all of your blog friends by showing them to us. In today's picture the sky looks bleak and cold. I hope tomorrow is a blue sky and better day for you my friend! Anne

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  4. Oh Eric, I hope you are soon soothed. I think you can be proud that you knit together so many people around the world. Just one guy, in love with his city and wanting to share it and getting others to share theirs. And if you want to remain in memory, remember that everyone says that everything stays on the web forever. And I will even try to make sure it happens. I know people at the Internet Archive in San Francisco, you see, she says, grinning. (Hmmm, maybe you should have a working holiday and visit the folks at the Archive. And we'll have a West Coast PDP fan fête.)

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    1. That is very nice Sasho. Actually I would loooove to visit these guys in SF, but it's not really in my plans... Even though I will soon be on your side of the pound!

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    2. Which side of "my side of the pond?" The east coast side or the west coast side? If west coast, when? Would you have time if we organized a short (or long) PDP meet up?

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  5. Dang. I just had one of these hard days/weeks/months/quarters myself. I hope you feel better soon. At least you are in Paris and get to photograph all these wonderful sights for all your readers. Very nice of you to share. Maybe one day, down the road, they will kick Frederick Lemaitre down his pedestal and put a bust of Eric T. instead? :-)

    I just thought of something: We *think* we are having a bad day, but what would we say if our name was Jerôme Cahuzac? Oy!

    Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)

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    1. LOOOOOOOOOL. I think Jerôme Cahuzac is going to have a collection of bad days in the weeks to come! (For the non French Jerôme Cahuzac is a French politician - the budget minister on top of that! - who just got caught having a bank account in a tax haven...

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  6. sometimes we wake up thinking it's going to be an awful day and it turns out to be amazing, others it turns out to be terrible, it's like the weather, but what remains true is much longer lasting, thanks for sharing...
    i heard something on a tv show this week: instead of carpe deum, 'let the day do it's worse...'
    love the blog, but if you need a holiday that's ok too, being needed can be pressure, we need you but we love you xx Rxxx

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    1. "we need you but we love you" Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

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  7. Pour vous vous réconciliez un peu c'est valu le coût de regarder le Frédéric Lemaître de les Enfants du Paradis, en DVD ou actuellement au cinéma dans le Quartier Latin

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  8. You're entitled to talk nonsense, Eric—just so long as you show up! I think the presence of M. Lemaitre here adds an element of drama to the whole scene. ;~}

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  9. Speaking of memories, the very first photo taken of me in Paris was on one of those little bridges in the background. It was taken on a film camera in the last century and I was wearing a green jacket (no, I hadn't just won the American Masters golf title).
    So Eric, from now on, every time you pass, or cross, or take a photo of those bridges, my green jacket and I will remain in your memory. My little gift to you and posterity. He! He!

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    1. LOOOOOL. Was it a "barbour" (a piece of garment we French think is so typically British!) or just a plain green jacket?!

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    2. Not a Barbour, a plain green jacket which I thought was very stylish at the time but now I'm not so sure!

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  10. Beautifully shot, Eric, and well said. We all have these days. I hope you feel better soon.

    I love Vivian's story of the good cry.

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  11. Frédérick Lemaître a pris les traits de Pierre Brasseur dans le coeur des cinéphiles et reste ainsi connu grâce aux Enfants du Paradis de Marcel Carné.

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