It takes courage to...

...do "accrobranche".


Accrobranche is a french word which means a kind of a treetop adventure. It's a sporty obstacle course at the top of the trees.
You are reassure with a safety harness and you have to go from footbridges to footbridges, walking on beams, hanging from rings or using tyrolean.

I suffer from vertigo but I love this activity, specially when I go with friends because then, I don't pay attention to the height.

There is one "accrobranche" place in the forest near my house. You have 5 levels : the green one where footbridges are between 4 and 6 metres from the floor, the blue one (6-8 metres), the red one (8-10 metres), the black one (10-12 metres) and the extreme one (more than 12 metres). The higher the footbridges are, the more difficult to cross are the "obstacles".

I usually do the red, the black and the extreme one because I like challenges. But everytime, I get stuck at the same place.
There is a footbridge, which is 14 metres above the floor, and where you have a rope and in front of you a net tight between two trees. Your goal is to catch the rope, jump into the space, and to catch hold of the net.
And everytime, i'm so much scared that it takes me more than 15 minutes to do it ! But I don't have a choice because there is no escape so I have as much time as I want but I have to jump !

And everytime I say "never again" but finally I go back and I'll try it again and again until I could jump without being scared !

Good manners.... or not !

It's easier to learn when we are children. That's why good manners have to be teached early.
The first place where children can learn good behaviours is with their parents, way before going to school.

The six most important things a child should be taught about manners are : tolerance, respect, politeness, hygiene, sense of civic responsibility, moral.

Here are some example for each topic :
* Politeness : say hello, good-bye, please or thank you, don't swear, don't speak with your mouth full, ...
* Respect : respect to the other kids and to older people, respect others' belongings, ...
* Tolerance : respect others' opinions and others' differences, ...
* Hygiene : wash your hands before you eat, take a shower, brush your teeth, ...
* Moral : stand up and give your sit to older person, learn and respect rules at school, to be fair when you play a sport, ...
* Sense of civic responsibility : help the others, respect the environnement, vote (later), ...

But for me, all those good manners are connected. For instance, not swearing can be considered as politeness but also respect and moral. Not speaking with a full mouth can be politeness, hygiene and respect at the same time.

And first, kids learn those good behaviours at home with their parents, grand-parents or siblings. As it's the first place to learn them, it's also the most important. For me, it depends mostly on the parents.

Then children keep learning good manners at school. The problem in our actual society is that parents count to much on teachers to educate their children. But teachers don't have time enough to educate the pupils as the parents could have. So, for sure, one part of teachers' job is also to educate children but in the same way as the parents have to.
Furthermore, usually, when a teacher punish a pupil, parents desagree so the child can't know what is wrong or not.

Uh Huh Her

Last Sunday, I went to Richards on Richards to see Uh Huh Her, an indie-rock band. And they really put on a great show !

" The concert is sold out, so when we arrive in front of the venue at 8.15pm, there is already a lot of people, mostly girls actually !
It becomes immediately apparent that the majority of the audience are fans of The L Word and are here to see Leisha Hailey, as it could be expected.

The first part of the concert was supposed to be The Fashion, a punk new-wave band that I really didn't like. Finally, we can see Army of Jennys.

Jenny Galt, the singer, was introduced in 2006 on the TV show Rockstar: Supernova.
She is an awesome singer with gorgeous vocals, an interesting mix of pop melodies, moody synth sounds, sophisticated lyrical undertones, drum and vocal loops, and impressive piano work. She is a multifaceted and talented musician whose sensuality and soulfulness captivate.

After half an hour, she leaves us impatient to see Camila Grey & Leisha Hailey, the two girls of Uh Huh Her. And it is time for a drink and a walk to visit the place !

But time becomes long and people starts to be really noisy.

However, the duo arrives on stage and, right off the bat, throw a change up, begining with "I’ve Had Enough", a track which offered a glimpse of what the group may make with its next studio album.















The song meets a positive reception, but nothing compared to what is heard when the sounds of "So Long" and "Run", older songs from their EP, I See Red, ring aloud to follow.
Later, "Explode" with its deep synth and simple piano melody makes the main highlight of the evening. It is followed by "I See Red", the main song of their EP, which carries a touch of The Cure in its guitar melody.

Leisha Hailey is the talker during the show, announcing the first song Camila ever wrote "Say So", and the group’s favorite song to play, "Wait Another Day".

As the end of the concert approaches, I am still waiting for my favorite song. And they leave the stage without playing my song. Dam' ! Why ?!

However, it takes less than a minute before the clamors force an encore. Uh Huh Her comes on stage once more to play "Dreamer", my favorite song. Uh huhhhh !!! "

Because of the short life of the band, Uh Huh Her finished its set in about a hour and fifteen minutes.
Anyway ! Camila and Leisha managed to give us a phenomenal musicianship as they played their lovely electro-indie-pop that carried a sparkling sound filled with menacing guitars, ethereal vocals and spacey synthesizer sounds.

How does Vancouver compare to your home city?

First, there are a lot of similarities between Lille & Vancouver. Both are big towns. That implied that there are a lot of people, a lot different cultures, clouded streets, very developped public transports, ...
One further similarity is the weather which is rainy in both city.

Differences : sea & moutains all around, green, architecture, ...

Yes : globalization deletes the different cultures which become only one ;
homogenization of the architecture (in accordance with the contemporary style);
same organisation in the cities (ex. chinatown, "black area" in Paris, Vancouver, NY, Montreal, ...)

No: communal culture still live through people and way of life ;
main caracteristics of the cities stay the same (ex. organisation, main square, streets' layout, ...)
even if it looks the same, life is different (climate, politics, geography, history)