Tag Archives | food
OECD Leisure Time Gender Gap 2009

Measuring Quality of Life – A review between France and USA

As part of my Franco-American profile, I am naturally drawn to reading about comparisons and competition between France and the US. I came across this May 2009 article, France Beats America, which describes France’s epicurean passion for “living it up” in terms of eating, sleeping and holidaying. On the eating front, as much as obesity [...]

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Some nettle-related cheeses and great service in London

During my visits to London, I tend systematically to buy cheese, English cheese that is, to bring back home to Paris… to my French wife and family. Coals to Newcastle you might think! But, no. We happen to believe that the Brits have some of the finest cheeses going, enough to hold their own any [...]

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Starbucks Community Involvement

Starbucks opens eco-store, 50th in France

Starbucks France celebrated last week (July 1st) the opening of its 50th store in the country, with all the Starbucks high brass in attendance.  Located in the Disney Village at Disneyland outside of Paris, this store is the first “eco-responsible” Starbucks outside of Seattle, where they have already opened two such eco-concept stores.  The concept [...]

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Change Inverted

Permanent Changes arising from the Economic Crisis

Changes? What Changes? The ongoing worldwide economic crisis has created many obvious changes in behaviour, mostly focused on the effects of reduced funds. Whether it is the fear that makes a salaried person “tighten” his or her budget or someone who actually has less money coming in (for example, an entrepreneur struggling to make ends [...]

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Coffee Latte Face Art - Personalized Service

Coffee Latte Face Art – New Level of Personalized Service

If you think you are getting state-of-the-art in personalized service when Starbucks can offer you a selection with up to 19,000 different varieties, try this one out for size. Mike Keen, who runs a small barista (coffee shop), called Studio 6 Coffee House, in Denver, provides a personalized portrait of the coffee client on the [...]

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Hammy the Hamster Goes Organic…

Which tastes better: organic or conventional food? This Hammy the Hamster Goes Organic video (and especially the out-takes further below) is bound to produce a smile. And, if you are sensitive to the quality of the food you eat, then you could find the experiment of interest. Created by the authors of the The Cooks [...]

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MDOP Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack Ad in Paris

McDOPEY? Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack Comes to Paris

Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP): Implementation that is a whisker too long? Microsoft has launched this ad campaign for its MDOP in France. I took a couple of blackberry photos (sorry for the quality) in the metro (tube) station at l’Etoile /Charles de Gaulle in Paris. The poster comes as a double header (so to [...]

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Lee Redmond Longest Nails in the World

In case you didn’t know about the Woman with the Longest Nails in the World

A woman, named Lee Redmond, with longest nails in the world suffered a bad car accident over the weekend and lost all her nails.  It is hard to imagine, but she had not cut her nails since 1979.  The combined total length was nearly 9 metres, with the longest a thumb nail at 90cm.  The [...]

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Eagles Life in the Fast Lane

Life in the Fast Lane and Hooters

I would like to share with you with a little thought today. There used to be a time when I thought it desirable to live life in the fast lane. What does that mean? Well, by my understanding it means living with time whizzing by, memories blurring, names & faces forgotten and years merging into [...]

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Taxi economics in Paris

This is not a Grinch who stole Christmas or a post about Uncle Scrooge, but it does have to do with money (economics) and service… During the last public transport strike in Paris in November, I avoided as best I could taking a taxi. Aside from the staunch traffic jams and eco-guilt*, I was not [...]

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