1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 Table of contents

Page 15: 1980: I switched continents. The United States of America: every hippy’s dream.

Long live freedom and efficiency!
Here, I must summarize: My first passion: Mathematics. The second: Photography. Third: Anglo-saxon culture. In sum: fantastic!
(This was way before Trump).

The advantages of the United States.

My years in the 80s: Many memories, Many photos.

Some of my favourite female stars


I made it!

Next, the great leap: to become a FREELANCER, to become INDEPENDENT,…

To never know if you will earn money the following month…
The book keeping, the agenda, the marketing, the client satisfaction, the logistics, etc.…
Well, I’ve been doing this now for 39 years.



9th September 2001 :
I went to the top of those magnificent towers.
Andy Novis remarked: "Atheists don't fly planes into buildings"
Tenzin Gyatso : "It does not matter if a person is religious or not : what is far more important is that he is good.”


J'ai habité deux mois au 319 N Avalon BLVD Wilmington 90744, puis 12 ans à 2537 D Pacific Coast Highway, suite 444, Torrance CA 90505, tel 1 - 310 375 8229
2537 D Pacific Coast Highway est une résidence presque semblable à mon Square de Port Royal 75013 Paris. Mais, à l'américaine : il y a un grand parking couvert (deux places par résident), une grande salle commune derrière ce parking où l'on peut faire ses réceptions sans gêner les voisins par son bruit, genre anniversaires, et graduations, une grande laverie pleine de machines ... à laver et sécher son linge, une piscine. Il y a un "superintendant", gardien qui s'occupe de tout, du courrier aux petits travaux d'entretien.
Quand j'ai emménagé, les voisins sont tous passés chez moi, un par un, se présenter et m'offrir un dessert ou un "brisket".
Tout le monde se disait bonjour en se croisant.
Dans mon Square de Port Royal 75013 Paris France, des centaines de résidents, mais jamais un bonjour, une guerre continue pour les places de stationnements, un syndic qui ne fait rien mais coûte bien cher.
Après 30 ans de Square de Port Royal, je connais vaguement 5 personnes. Pourtant, de culture anglo-saxonne, je dis toujours bonjour.


Feet in the USA, par Christian Fournier











***********************************



**********************************

The stereotypes held by French people about American life are completely false and haven’t changed for decades :
- “The food sucks”. There are some bad products, I’ll admit, but go and try a Rib Eye steak or a Sirloin or a New York steak, or a T-Bone steak, a cold glass of milk, ice cream, etc..
The French love to complain about bad food but France itself is one of McDonald’s strongest markets: in 2003, McDonald’s sales revenue in France grew by 10%, reaching 2.2 billion euros. As I am writing this, there are 1,193 McDonalds in France!
- “Violence”. Higher crime rates in Europe than in the US, published August 14, 2012 in Police, by Jorge Valin, Spain. “It’s a shame that European media do not show the reality of the numbers, and always make the USA out to be a country of delinquents and criminals when in reality the opposite is true. Since the 90’s it’s been us, the Europeans, at the top of the list. Worse, the gap gets wider each year.”
- "In the US, there’s no social security". What you need to understand, and it isn’t too hard to grasp, is that the system is quite different. Salaries are higher and taxes are lower in the States. Highways are free to use. In France you pay taxes towards National Education, even if you have no kids, and you pay for healthcare even if you’re never sick.
In the States, you choose your health insurance according to your preferences, and you can choose superior schools for your children. Americans’ buying power is much stronger than ours, especially now in the 2014 financial crisis.
- "Americans don’t have a culture". Ouch.
The American English Dictionary contains two times the number of entries than the Littré français. And all that even without accents, those annoying, useless appendages in our beautiful language of Molière. What’s more, most new words in technology, fashion, marketing, the sciences, etc.. is always in English, never in French. The English language is much simpler and easier (adjectives are invariable, words have no gender, conjugation is laughingly simple). So many worthless things that can impede communication.

I read all the great French classics in a row : I was bored to death. Racine, Corneille, Molière, Victor Hugo, Rousseau, Diderot, Balzac, Flaubert, Marcel, Proust, Gide, Dumas, Stendha, Zola, etc.. Besides Cavnna, Camus, Jules Verne, Pagnol, Alain-Fournier, Boris Vian, La Fontaine, Hubert Reeves, Reiser, Alain Robbe-Grillet and a couple others that I enjoyed. Well, everyone has their own tastes and inspirations. Each to their own.
I read all the great English classics in a row : I had a ball. Anthony Burgess, Jane Austen, Lewis Carroll, D.H. Lawrence, Joseph Conrad, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Conan Doyle, H. G. Wells, George Bernard Shaw, David Lodge, Peter Mayle, Aldous Huxley, Stephen Hawkings, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Harris, Stephen Clarke and above all Douglas Adams.
I read all the great American classics in a row : I had a ball. John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Michael Connelly, Isaac Asimov, Dan Brown, Bill Bryson, Richard Dawkins, Timothy Ferris, John Gribbin, John Grisham Harlan Coben, Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, William Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, John Dos Passos, Henry Miller, Norman MAILER, Vladimir Nabokov, Carl Sagan, Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Philip K. Dick.

American and British cinema is constantly coming out with one masterpiece after another (I’ll only put a couple of my favourites, the complete list is too long): The Dictator, Airplane, Back to the Future, Pulp Fiction, In Bruges, The Social Network, Forrest Gump, 4 Weddings and a Funeral, About a Boy, 2001 Space Odyssey, Midnight Cowboy, Jaws, E.T., Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Amadeus, Rain Man, Abyss, Scream, Avatar, American Beauty, Philomena, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, The Wolf of Wall Street, Argo, The Impossible, Contagion, REC, Mama Mia, Apollo 13, Cast Away, Notting Hill, Kramer vs Kramer, Gravity, The Great Gatsby, The English Patient, Little Big Man, Oh Brother, Out of Africa, Pride and Prejudice, When Harry met Sally, Road to Perdition, Rising Sun, Titanic, Young Guns, Finding Nemo, Groundhog Day, Lord of War, This is England, Into the Wild, Juno, Ladies in Lavender, The Duchess, Hangover, Clockwork Orange, 500 Days of Summer, Now You See Me, You’ve Got Mail, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, etc… etc…

That’s not to say that there aren’t some great films coming out of France. I’ve enjoyed: A Very Long Engagement, Intouchables, Klapisch’s trilogy L’Auberge Espagnol, Les Poupées Russes, and Casse-Tête Chinois, Le Nom des Gens, Télé Gaucho, etc..
Alright, it’s best that I don’t even get into music…

My friend Francis Ronat, the deep-sea diver, told me once in all seriousness that Americans have no culture and no history, because of the native people. Ignorance is a serious vice.

 

-"France has the best healthcare in the world!” declared my girlfriend in 2001.
I am not exactly qualified to judge French healthcare, but I do know one thing: the organization of medication is quite bad. Even now in 2014 I come out of the doctor’s office with my prescription, still written by hand, and of course completely illegible for me. The pharmacist, thanks to his great qualifications, somehow translates this without issue and hands me a big stack of boxes. When I get home, I can’t figure out which medication I’m supposed to take and when, because many of them are generic brands that don’t match what’s written on the prescription. I guess you’re supposed to sort out the doses yourself.
When I was living in the States, even back in 1984, my prescription was typed and the pharmacist, who was usually just a grocery store employee with some training in pharmacology, would hand you your meds (just what you need and no more) in little boxes onto which would be written (typed, too), your name, the date, the medication’s name and the dosage. So much less waste than back home (our social security deficit could benefit), and no confusion.
If I try to picture the medical cabinet of a French family of 3, I see a cupboard full of boxes and bottles, mostly expired, no idea who it was for in the first place, nor why, nor how many to take.
I just don’t get it. It wouldn’t be hard or expensive at all to copy the American system. I guess I’m just naïve.









David McCallum = Illya Kuryakin, actor in "The Man from Uncle" and Daniel Westin in "The Invisible Man".



27 sept 2023 : R.I.P. Décès de l’acteur David McCallum, connu du grand public pour avoir interprété le rôle d'Illya Kouriakine, un agent secret d'origine russe dans la série télévisée des années 1960 Des agents très spéciaux, celui de Daniel Westin dans la série L'Homme invisible (1975) et, plus récemment, pour celui du médecin légiste Donald « Ducky » Mallard dans NCIS : Enquêtes spéciales. Il a participé à La Grande Évasion (1963) avec d'autres grands acteurs de l'époque dont Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Richard Attenborough, James Coburn, etc. Il était le 19 septembre 1933 à Glasgow et décédé hier, le 25 septembre 2023 à New York. Qu’il repose en paix.



When I arrived in the States, everyone called me "The Invisible Man”. At first I thought they found me washed out. Then I understood!








I got my driver’s licence in the US. Easy peasy.
In France, in Arras in 1971, I was asked to memorize the 7 cases where parking was forbidden and, when it came to the oral test, the examiner made me recite them! I was pushed back to the first level because I parked in front of a garbage.
In the US, the examiner’s weren’t interested in what you’d learned “by heart”, only your mastery of the vehicle, they want to know that you’re the one in charge, not the car.

 

Automatic gearboxes are a lot more common in the States. Yet all the clichés about them that you hear in France are again, false:
- Slower than manual transmission = false. At the red light, I sail right past the other cars if I like, except the Porsche and equivalents, if they like.
- Impossible to start on a slope = false. It works perfectly.
- Consumes more gas = false. I carried out precise tests with Antoine Schneck, who is a very precise guy.
- Only women want them = false. I am a man and have no problems with virility (see page 27).
I find that automatic lets you be more relaxed when driving, and that’s important. What’s the point in changing your gear lever a 1000 times a day, if you can avoid it?
I never honk. I have never had a single accident as long as I’ve been driving, since 1971, so 43 years, on multiple continents. Does automatic transmission make you cooler?




Je ne comprends pas la mentalité des automobilistes parisiens.
Ils klaxonnent sans arrêt, derrière les éboueurs, dans les embouteillages, aux feux rouges. Dur pour les riverains et piétons
Ce sont pourtant des gens ordinaires, des médecins, des business men. On les croit respectables. Ils veulent le tapis rouge. Ils pensent qu'il n'y a qu'eux sur la route. Ils sont lâches car protégés dans leur voiture. Si on leur retire le klaxon, je crois qu'ils ne sauraient plus conduire. Se rendent -ils compte qu'ils montrent à tout le monde à quel point ils sont cons ?

La loi Française dit bien, qu'il est interdit de klaxonner en agglomération sauf en cas d'urgence. Je n'ai jamais vu (ou entendu parler de) un automobiliste être verbalisé pour avoir klaxonné sans raison majeure.
La loi, en France ne s'applique que quand elle veut ! Il faudrait donc faire un code civil qu'avec les lois qui s'appliquent vraiment, on saurait à quoi s'en tenir.



A horrible anecdote, which unfortunately shows the state of mind of the Parisian motorists and makes me very pessimistic for our future: a woman honks behind a poorly parked ambulance because the doctors are doing a cardiac massage next door. I point out her lack of civility and she claims to be a lawyer and know the law !

I’ll never understand Parisian drivers. They honk, constantly, behind the garbage trucks, in traffic jams, at red lights. Hard on the ears for the inhabitants and pedestrians.
Yet these are ordinary people, doctors, businessmen. You would think they would be respectable. They want the red carpet to roll out for them, they are the only ones on the road who count. They’re cowardly, hiding inside the protection of their cars. I think, if you took away their horns, they wouldn’t know how to drive. Do they realize that all they accomplish is having others realize how stupid they are?
In French law it is quite clear, it is forbidden to honk your horn in an urban area except in emergencies. I have never seen or even heard of a case where a driver was fined for honking without good reason. In France, the law only applies when it wants to be! They should write a civil code with just the laws that are actually enforced, that way we would know what rules to follow.

When I left France for the States in 1980, microwaves were only just appearing.
In Arras, everyone said it was a stupid invention because you couldn’t put metallic objects inside it.
In the States, I saw ladies of all ages organize meetings, like “Tupperware” parties to rationally discuss the advantages and drawbacks of these new machines. The Atlantic Ocean is an enormous cultural gap!

Something that always shocks me : in American movies, it is strictly forbidden to show even a small part of the breast. At the same time, it’s perfectly fine to show murder in fine detail, with a head exploding in front of a Magnum 45.
“We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight.” ― John
Lennon






Henri Cartier Bresson :
"Photography is putting your head, your eye, and your heart on the same line of sight."


Ansel Adams : "There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good or bad photographs.”



Word from the photography master, Christian Fournier:
"The brand of your camera does not matter, only knowing how to use your camera matters"


Of course, there are plenty of great things in France: see page 49






From travels in Europe by Bill Bryson
On my first trip to Paris I kept wondering, why does everyone hate me so much? Fresh off the train, I went to the tourist booth at the Gare du Nord, where a severe young woman in a blue uniform looked at me as if I were infectious. ‘What do you want?’ she said, or at least seemed to say. ‘I’d like a room, please,’ I replied, instantly meek. ‘Fill this out.’ She pushed a long form at me. ‘Not here. Over there.’ She indicated with a flick of her head a counter for filling out forms, then turned to the next person in line and said, ‘What do you want?’ I was amazed – I came from a place where everyone was friendly, where even funeral directors told you to have a nice day as you left to bury your grandmother – but I soon learned that everyone in Paris was not like that. You would go into a bakery and be greeted by some vast slug-like creature with a look that told you you would never be friends. In halting French you would ask for a small loaf of bread. The woman would give you a long, cold stare and then put a dead beaver on the counter. ‘No, no,’ you would say, hands aflutter, ‘not a dead beaver. A loaf of bread.’ The slug-like creature would stare at you in patent disbelief, then turn to the other customers and address them in French at much too high a speed for you to follow, but the drift of which clearly was that this person here, this American tourist, had come in and asked for a dead beaver and she had given him a dead beaver and now he was saying that he didn’t want a dead beaver at all, he wanted a loaf of bread. The other customers would look at you as if you had just tried to fart in their handbags, and you would have no choice but to slink away and console yourself with the thought that in another four days you would be in Brussels and probably able to eat again. ........

La suite. Continued....





William "Bill" Bryson, 
OBE, FRS (born December 8, 1951) is a best-selling American author of humorous books on travel, as well as books on the English language and science. Born in America, he was a resident of Britain for most of his adult life before returning to the U.S. in 1995. In 2003 Bryson moved back to Britain, living in the old rectory of Wramplingham, Norfolk, and served as chancellor of Durham University from 2005 through 2011. Bryson shot to prominence in the United Kingdom with the publication of Notes from a Small Island (1995), an exploration of Britain, and its accompanying television series. He received widespread recognition again with the publication of A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003), a book widely acclaimed for its accessible communication of science.



Bill Bryson: A Short History Of Nearly Everything
A Short History of Nearly Everything by American-British author Bill Bryson is a popular science book that explains some areas of science,
using easily accessible language that appeals more to the general public than many other books dedicated to the subject.
It was one of the best-selling popular science books of 2005 in the United Kingdom, selling over 300,000 copies.
Bill Bryson (born 8 December 1951) is an American-British author of books on travel, the English language, science,
and other non-fiction topics. Born in the United States, he has been a resident of Britain for most of his adult life,
returning to the US between 1995 and 2003, and holds dual American and British citizenships.
He served as the chancellor of Durham University from 2005 to 2011.
Some of his books : The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989),
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe (1991) (tour de l'Europe),
Notes from a Small Island (1995) (tour de Grande-Bretagne), Walk in the Woods (Promenons-nous dans les bois),
A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003) (Une histoire de tout, ou presque…), Notes From a Big Country (American rigolos, chroniques d'un grand pays),
Down Under (Nos voisins du dessous), The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island (2016)

Bill Bryson : Une histoire de tout, ou presque… est un livre de Bill Bryson expliquant le développement de plusieurs domaines de la science
tels que la chimie, la paléontologie, l'astronomie et la physique des particules. Il explore l'époque depuis le Big Bang
jusqu'à la découverte de la mécanique quantique, en passant par l'évolution et la géologie.
Bryson nous raconte l'histoire de la science à travers l'histoire des personnes qui ont fait les découvertes, et de nombreuses anecdotes.
Bill Bryson, né le 8 décembre 1951, est un auteur ayant la double nationalité américaine et britannique
qui a écrit des récits de voyages humoristiques,
ainsi que des livres traitant de la langue anglaise et de sujets scientifiques. Il a vécu la majorité de sa vie d'adulte au Royaume-Uni.
Quelques uns de ces livres : The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989),
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe (1991) (tour de l'Europe), Notes from a Small Island (1995) (tour de Grande-Bretagne),
Walk in the Woods (Promenons-nous dans les bois), A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003) (Une histoire de tout, ou presque…),
Notes From a Big Country (American rigolos, chroniques d'un grand pays),
Down Under (Nos voisins du dessous), The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island (2016)




There are a lot of great things in the US. It is impossible to fit everything here, so here is a small selection.


Most people are friendly and helpful.

Incredible landscapes, like Brice Canyon shown here.

Spectacular performances, like the Blue Men here in Vegas.

Adventure is everywhere and easy to find.

Alaska

Colorado



The US Virgin Islands.








Banyan trees in Miami with Janet.


Arches National Park


Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska




Michelle West in Sans Soucis Hotel in Jamaica. So feminine, so delicate.


Aviation is easy to get into, and cheap.



Skydiving from very, very high, even 5km high!


The most beautiful show that I’ve ever seen in my life. Okay, I’m a huge fan of the Beatles, but still, it was 3D (the stage is in the centre with the audience all around), and the sound was grandiose. Thank you to Carlos Lopez for recommending it to me.


I met Bernard Hébert, Vice-president of the Cirque du Soleil, an amazing man, at a Concur meeting in 2015.
When I had had it with being an assistant photographer, I went to a bank in Los Angeles. I explained that I wanted to start my own photography business. The banker asked me some pertinent questions, then said: you seem to be intelligent, motivated, hardworking, and in your right mind. How many dollars do you need? At that moment, I really, profoundly understood that I was no longer in France, where, as the great comedian Coluche illustrated, “To get a loan from a French bank, you need to prove you don’t need the money”.


Friends is an American television sitcom, created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer, the show revolves around six friends in their 20s and 30s who live in Manhattan, New York City. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The original executive producers were Kevin S. Bright, Kauffman, and Crane.
Filming of the show took place at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. All ten seasons of Friends ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings; it ultimately reached the number-one spot in its eighth season. The series finale aired on May 6, 2004, and was watched by around 52.5 million American viewers, making it the fifth most-watched series finale in television history, and the most-watched television episode of the 2000s decade.

Le 23 janvier 2023, au salon de Versailles, dans l’univers de FRIENDS™ avec de nombreux décors interactifs de la série, comme l’appartement de Joey et Chandler, celui de Monica et Rachel, ou le Central Perk.







































Liste des guest stars dans Friends

A • Christina Applegate (VF : Véronique Soufflet) - Amy Green, sœur de Rachel (9-08 et 10-05)
• David Arquette (VF : Laurent Morteau) - Malcolm, admirateur obessionnel d'Ursula qui devient le petit ami de Phoebe (3-03)
• Hank Azaria (VF : Gérard Rinaldi) pour la saison 1 puis (VF : Bernard Bollet) - David, scientifique et petit ami de Phoebe (1-10, 7-11, 9-06, 9-22 et 9-23)
• Jason Alexander (VF : Philippe Ogouz) - Earl, client dépressif de Phoebe au téléphone (7-13)
• Sasha Alexander - Journaliste qui interviewe Joey lorsqu'il joue dans les "Jours de notre vie" (8-19)
B
• Obba Babatundé (VF : Antoine Tomé) - le chorégraphe (3-12)
• Bob Balaban (VF : Jean-Luc Kayser) - Frank Buffay, père de Phoebe (5-13)
• Alec Baldwin (VF : Bernard Lanneau) - Parker, petit ami de Phoebe qui prend toujours la vie du bon côté (8-17 et 8-18)
• Catherine Bell - Robin, rencontre Joey et Chandler dans le bus (2-06)
• Selma Blair - Wendy, collègue de travail qui fait des avances à Chandler à Tulsa (9-10)
• Richard Branson (VF : Lionel Melet) - Vendeur de chapeaux à Londres (4-23)
• Paget Brewster (VF : Élisabeth Fargeot) - Kathy, petite amie de Joey, puis de Chandler (4-05, 4-06, 4-07, 4-08, 4-11 et 4-13)
C
• George Clooney (VF : Patrick Noérie) - Dr. Mitchell (clin d'œil à la série Urgences) (1-17)
• Tom Conti (VF : Maurice Sarfati) - Steven Waltham, père d'Emily et beau-père de Ross (4-24 et 5-01)
• Jennifer Coolidge (VF : Hélène Chanson) - Amanda Buffamonteezi (10-3)
• Robert Costanzo (VF : Francis Lax) - Joey Tribbiani, Sr., père de Joey (1-13)
• Billy Crystal - Tim, client du Central Perk ayant une aventure avec la femme de son ami (3-24)
D
• Kristin Davis (VF : Élisabeth Fargeot) - Erin, petite amie de Joey (7-07)
• Danny DeVito (VF : Philippe Peythieu) - Roy, stripteaser durant l'enterrement de vie de jeune fille de Phoebe (10-11)
• Peter DeLuise (VF : Emmanuel Karsen) - Carl, un des deux loubards se disputant le canapé du Central Perk avec Ross et Chandler (2-21)
• Tate Donovan (VF : Sébastien Desjours) - Joshua, petit ami de Rachel (4-13, 4-14, 4-16, 4-18 et 4-20)
E
• Steven Eckholdt (VF : Guillaume Lebon) - Mark Robinson, connaissance de Rachel qui lui obtient un poste et dont Ross est systématiquement méfiant, allant jusqu'à leur prêter une relation totalement infondée
F
• Morgan Fairchild (VF : Blanche Ravalec) pour saison 1 puis (VF : Céline Monsarrat) - Nora Tyler Bing, mère de Chandler (1-11, 5-08, 7-23, 7-24 et 8-01)
• Dakota Fanning - Mackenzie, petite fille habitant dans la future maison de Monica et Chandler (10-14)
• Jon Favreau (VF : François Leccia) - Pete Becker, petit ami richissime de Monica (3-18, 3-19, 3-21, 3-22, 3-23 et 3-24)
• Sherilyn Fenn (VF : Élisabeth Fargeot) - Ginger, petite amie de Chandler et ex-petite amie de Joey, qui possède une jambe artificielle (3-14)
• Sarah Ferguson - elle-même, elle rencontre Joey à Londres (4-23)
• Conchata Ferrell - La juge qui évalue la demande d'annulation de mariage de Ross et Rachel (6-05)
G
• Teri Garr - Phoebe Abbott, mère biologique de Phoebe (3-25, 4-1 et 4-11)
• Willie Garson - Steve, organisateur de la fête pour Howard (5-15), l'homme de ménage de l'immeuble où vit Ross (à partir de la saison 5)
• Melissa George - Molly, babysitter de Ross et Rachel (9-12 et 9-13)
• Joanna Gleason - Kim Clozzi, supérieure de Rachel chez 'Ralph Lauren'
• Paul Gleason (VF : Claude d'Yd) - Jack, patron de Phoebe dans leur vie alternative (6-16)
• Adam Goldberg - Eddie Minowick, colocataire cinglé de Chandler (2-17, 2-18 et 2-19)
• Jeff Goldblum (VF : Bernard Lanneau) - Leonard Hayes, acteur et directeur d'une audition que passe Joey (9-14)
• Jill Goodacre (en) - elle-même, top-model coincée dans le vestibule d'une banque avec Chandler pendant une coupure de courant générale (1-07)
• Jennifer Grey - Mindy, fiancée de Barry (1-20)
• Arye Gross (VF : Éric Legrand) - Michael, rencard de Rachel dont elle se désintéresse totalement (2-07)
H
• Larry Hankin - M. Heckles, voisin du dessous de Rachel et Monica (saison 1 et saison 2)
• Charlton Heston (VF : Raymond Loyer) - lui-même, surprend Joey en train de se doucher dans sa loge personnelle (4-14)
• Alexandra Holden (VF : Laëtitia Godès) - Elizabeth Stevens, étudiante et petite amie de Ross (épisode 6-18, 6-19, 6-21, 6-22, 6-24)
• Helen Hunt (VF : Virginie Méry) - Jamie Buchman, confond Phoebe avec Ursula au Central Perk (la serveuse de la série Dingue de toi est également jouée par Lisa Kudrow) (1-16)
• Chrissie Hynde - Stephanie Schiffer, musicienne professionnelle prenant la place de Phoebe au Central Perk (2-06)
I
• Steve Ireland (VF : Jean-François Kopf) - M. Zelner, patron de Rachel
• Chris Isaak (VF : Bernard Lanneau) - Rob Donnen, engage Phoebe pour chanter lors d'activités pour des enfants dans une bibliothèque (2-12)
K
• Greg Kinnear (VF : Denis Boileau) - Benjamin Hobart, ex-petit ami de Charlie (10-6)
L
• Ralph Lauren - lui même (6-8)
• Hugh Laurie (VF : Lionel Melet) - passager voisin de Rachel dans l'avion pour Londres (4-24)
• Ron Leibman (VF : Patrick Floersheim) - Dr Leonard Green, père de Rachel (2-22, 3-07,8-8, 10-13)
• Jon Lovitz (VF : Patrice Dozier) - Steve, client de Phoebe (1-15 et 9-14)
M
• Louis Mandylor - Carl, "jumeau" plus qu'approximatif de Joey (6-17)
• Elle Macpherson (VF : Ivana Coppola) - Janine Lacroix, colocataire puis petite amie de Joey (6-07, 6-08, 6-09, 6-10 et 6-11)
• Michael McKean (VF : Guy Chapellier) - M. Rastatter, employeur de Monica qui lui demande de confectionner des recettes à partir d'un chocolat au goût douteux (2-08)
• Sam McMurray (VF : Patrick Préjean) - Doug, patron lourdingue de Chandler
• Dina Meyer (VF : Céline Monsarrat) - Kate Miller, actrice de théâtre avec qui Joey travaille et a une aventure (3-19, 3-20 et 3-22)
• Sofia Milos - Aurora, maîtresse de Chandler ayant plusieurs amants (1-6)
• Soleil Moon Frye (VF : Dominique Chauby) - Katie, petite amie rustre de Joey (5-15)
• Dermot Mulroney (VF : Stéphane Ronchewski) - Gavin Mitchell, remplaçant de Rachel durant son congé de maternité chez 'Ralph Lauren' (9-11, 9-12 et 9-13)
N
• Taylor Negron (VF : Patrick Osmond) - Allessandro, chef étoilé descendu par la critique culinaire de Monica (4-9)
• George Newbern (VF : Olivier Destrez) - Danny, voisin d'immeuble enfumé malencontreusement par Monica et Rachel et qui a une relation furtive avec cette dernière
O
• Gary Oldman (VF : Luc Boulad) - Richard Crosby, collègue acteur et postillonneur de Joey (7-23 et 7-24)
• Emily Osment - Lelani Mayolanofavich, jeune fille à qui Rachel donne un chèque lors de la fête d'Halloween (8-6)
P
• Sean Penn (VF : Emmanuel Karsen) - Eric, petit ami d'Ursula puis de Phoebe (8-6 et 8-7)
• Dedee Pfeiffer (VF : Rafaèle Moutier) - Mary Ellen Jenkins, amie que Phoebe présente à Joey alors que ce dernier doit lui présenter son ami Mike (9-3)
• Maria Pitillo (VF : Catherine Privat) - Laura, assistante sociale de Monica et Chandler qui a eu une aventure avec Joey (10-7)
• Brad Pitt (VF : Bernard Gabay) - Will Colbert, ami de lycée de Monica et farouche opposant à Rachel (8-9)
• Freddie Prinze Jr. (VF : Mathias Kozlowski) - Sandy, nounou de Rachel et Ross (9-6)
• Ellen Pompeo - Missy Goldberg, ancienne camarade de Ross et Chandler à l'université (10-11)
• Emily Procter (VF : Natacha Gerritsen) - Annabel, copine de Joey (2-2)
R
• Michael Rapaport - Gary, petit ami flic de Phoebe (5-16, 5-17, 5-20 et 5-21)
• Denise Richards (VF : Laurence Sacquet) - Cassie, cousine de Ross et Monica (7-19)
• Julia Roberts (VF : Céline Monsarrat) - Susie Moss, ancienne camarade de classe de Chandler (2-13)
• Rebecca Romijn (VF : Blanche Ravalec) - Cheryl, petite amie bordélique de Ross (4-2)
• Isabella Rossellini (VF : Isabelle Maudet) - elle-même, fantasme sexuel ultime de Ross qui passe par hasard au Central Perk (3-05)
• Debra Jo Rupp (VF : Claude Chantal) - Alice Knight, professeure, petite amie, puis femme de Frank Buffay Jr. (3-18, 4-11, 4-12, 4-17, 5-3, 7-17)
• Winona Ryder (VF : Anne Rondeleux) - Melissa Warburton, ancienne colocataire de faculté de Rachel qui en pince pour elle (7-20)
S
• Susan Sarandon (VF : Évelyn Séléna) - Cecilia Monroe, actrice dans la série Les Jours de notre vie (7-15)
• Jennifer Saunders - Andrea Waltham, belle-mère d'Emily (4-24 et 5-01)
• Charlie Sheen (VF : Thierry Redler) - Ryan, petit ami sous-marinier de Phoebe (2-23)
• Brooke Shields (VF : Isabelle Maudet) - Erica Ford, admiratrice timbrée de Joey (2-12)
• Rena Sofer - Katie, vendeuse dans un magasin de fournitures pour bébés qui drague Ross (8-21).
• Marla Sokoloff - Dina Tribianni, une des sœurs de Joey (8-10)
• Bonnie Somerville - Mona, petite amie de Ross rencontrée au mariage de Monica et Chandler (8-01, 8-05, 8-06, 8-08, 8-11, 8-15 et 8-17)
• Brent Spiner - James Campbell, futur employeur de Rachel avec qui il a rendez-vous au restaurant (10-14)
• Cole Sprouse (VF : Hervé Grull) dans l'épisode 10 de la saison 8 - Ben, le fils de Ross et Carol (6-15 , 7-9, 7-10, 7-16, 8-1, 8-10, 8-12)
• John Stamos (VF : Olivier Destrez) - Zack, collègue de Chandler (9-22)
• Ben Stiller - Tommy, petit ami hystérique de Rachel (3-22)
• Trudie Styler - elle-même, épouse de Sting que Phoebe ira rencontrer chez elle (8-10)
T
• Christine Taylor (VF : Malvina Germain) - Bonnie, amie de Phoebe qui se met en couple avec Ross (3-24, 3-25)
• Lea Thompson - Caroline Duffy (personnage principal de la série Caroline in the City), passante dans la rue qui rencontre Joey et Chandler en train de promener Ben, et qui croit qu'ils sont gays.
• Marlo Thomas - Sandra Green, la mère de Rachel
• Ian Thorpe - figurant, boit un café en arrière-plan au Central Perk (7-07)
• Lauren Tom (VF : Stéphanie Murat) - Julie, petite amie avec qui Ross rentre de Chine (1-24, 2-1, 2-2, 2-4, 2-7, 2-8, 2-10)
• Kathleen Turner (VF : Michèle Bardollet) - Charles « Helena » Bing, père transgenre de Chandler (7-22, 7-23 et 7-24)
U
• Gabrielle Union - Kristen Lang, conquête que se disputent Joey et Ross (7-17)
V
• Jean-Claude Van Damme (VF : Gérard Rinaldi) - lui-même, acteur dans un film qui se tourne en plein New York (2-13)
• Michael Vartan (VF : Adrien Antoine) - Dr Timothy Burke, fils de Richard Burke (4-08)
• Vincent Ventresca (VF : Lionel Tua) pour la saison 1 / (VF : Antoine Nouel) pour la saison 2 - Bob « le marrant », copain blagueur de la bande (1-10 / 2-10)
W
• Fred Willard (VF : Jean-Claude Robbe) - M. Lipson, patron du zoo dans lequel le singe Marcel a été placé (2-12)
• Olivia Williams - Felicity, demoiselle d'honneur d'Emily (4-24)
• Robin Williams - Thomas, client cocu du Central Perk (3-24)
• Bruce Willis (VF : Patrick Poivey) - Paul Stevens, père d'Elizabeth Stevens, la petite amie de Ross (6-21, 6-22 et 6-23). Il aurait accepté de venir jouer dans Friends à la suite de sa rencontre avec Matthew Perry sur le tournage du film Mon voisin le tueur (The Whole Nine Yards)1.
• Reese Witherspoon (VF : Aurélia Bruno) - Jill Green, sœur consumériste de Rachel (6-13 et 6-14)
• Max Wright (VF : Jean-Claude Montalban) - Terry, 1er gérant du café Central Perk (1-9, 2-6)
• Noah Wyle (VF : Éric Missoffe) - Dr. Jeffrey Rosen, médecin à l'hôpital (clin d'œil à la série Urgences) (1-17)
Z
• Steve Zahn (VF : Emmanuel Karsen) - Ducan, mari homosexuel de Phoebe (2-4)






That '70s Show ou 70 au Québec est une série télévisée américaine en 200 épisodes de 22 minutes, créée par Mark Brazill, Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner et Linda Wallem, diffusée entre le 23 août 1998 et le 18 mai 2006 sur le réseau FOX.
Point Place, petite ville imaginaire du Wisconsin. À la fin des années 1970, Donna Pinciotti est la voisine et petite amie d'Eric Forman ; Michael Kelso, le beau gosse un peu crétin ; Steven Hyde, le fan de rock révolté ; Jackie Burkhart, la minette et Fez, l'étranger d'origine indéfinie, squattent le sous-sol de la maison des Forman, sous l'œil bienveillant de la mère, Kitty, une infirmière « légèrement » alcoolique, et celui agacé du père, Red Forman, vétéran de la guerre de Corée. Ce dernier fait souvent preuve d’un manque de reconnaissance à l'égard de son fils traduisant plutôt une difficulté à montrer ses sentiments. Il y a également Leo, un Hippie, un amateur de marijuana totalement déluré, ou encore Midge et Bob Pinciotti, les parents de Donna et voisins des Forman.



MythBusters is a science entertainment television program created by Peter Rees for the Discovery Channel.
The show's hosts, special effects experts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, use elements of the scientific method to test the validity of rumors, myths, movie scenes, adages, Internet videos, and news stories.


Among other things, Mythbusters teaches you (and shows you) that if a car driving at 80km/h collides head-on with another car driving at 80km/h in the opposite direction, the shock is the same as if the car hit a wall at 80km/h and not at 160km/h. Newton’s law of action/reaction. The wall pushes back on the car with a force equal and opposite to that of the car, so the wall acts just like a car going in the opposite direction and at the same speed.

When a killer shoots at someone, his target finds himself thrown into the air. You can see it in any gangster movie. What stupidity. Just ask Newton. If it had that much force, the shooter would be thrown into the air as well. It’s like if a fly (the bullet) threw itself at an elephant (the victim). Yet even police movies are guilty of it.

President Obama even asked Mythbusters to retest Archimedes’ mirror, because he refused to believe it was a myth.
The beauty of Mythbusters is that you can see everything that you can do in the USA : ask for firefighters’ help even when there isn’t an accident, use a car racetrack, cooperate with universities, borrow equipment from the army, rent a giant hangar for the day, detonate huge bombs, etc.
Mythbusters is extremely popular in the US. Their fans send in ideas for modifications, suggestions, and alert them to errors.
A shame that no one is interested in science in France.










Neil deGrasse Tyson

The Big Bang Theory est une sitcom américaine en 279 épisodes de 22 minutes créée par Chuck Lorre et Bill Prady, diffusée simultanément du 24 septembre 2007 au 16 mai 2019 sur le réseau CBS aux États-Unis et sur le réseau CTV, CTV Two au Canada.

The Big Bang Theory is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom served as executive producers on the series, along with Steven Molaro. All three also served as head writers. The show premiered on CBS on September 24, 2007, and concluded on May 16, 2019, having broadcast a total of 279 episodes over twelve seasons.
The show originally centered on five characters living in Pasadena, California: Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper, both physicists at Caltech, who share an apartment; Penny, a waitress and aspiring actress who lives across the hall; and Leonard and Sheldon's similarly geeky and socially awkward friends and co-workers, aerospace engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali. Over time, supporting characters were promoted to starring roles, including neuroscientist Amy Farrah Fowler, microbiologist Bernadette Rostenkowski, experimental physicist Leslie Winkle, and comic book store owner Stuart Bloom.
The show was filmed in front of a live audience and was produced by Warner Bros. Television and Chuck Lorre Productions. The Big Bang Theory received mixed reviews from critics throughout its first season, but reception was more favorable in the second and third seasons. Later seasons saw a return to a lukewarm reception, with the show being criticized for a decline in comedic quality. Despite the mixed reviews, seven seasons of the show have ranked within the top ten of the final television season ratings, ultimately reaching the no. 1 spot in its eleventh season. The show was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series from 2011 to 2014 and won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series four times for Jim Parsons. In total, it won seven Emmy Awards from 46 nominations. Parsons also won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series in 2011. In 2017, the series spawned a prequel series, Young Sheldon, based on Parsons' character, Sheldon Cooper; it also airs on CBS.

Une bande de docteurs en science partagent un quotidien fait de jeux vidéo, d'équations et d'amitié. Leur nouvelle voisine de palier va troubler leurs vieilles habitudes et va tenter de les sortir de leur univers et de les connecter à la réalité.

"I'M NOT CRAZY. MY MOTHER HAD ME TESTED."
"BAZINGA!"

Penny: Oh, big deal. Not knowing is part of the fun.
Sheldon: "Not knowing is part of the fun." Was that the motto of your community college?

Sheldon: I made tea.
Leonard: I don't want tea.
Sheldon: I didn't make tea for you. This is my tea.
Leonard: Then why are you telling me?
Sheldon: It's a conversation starter.
Leonard: That's a lousy conversation starter.
Sheldon: Oh, is it? We're conversing. Checkmate.

Howard: I thought you didn't like Facebook any more.
Sheldon: Don't be silly, I'm a fan of anything that tries to replace actual human contact.

Sheldon: This is the temperature you agreed to in the roommate agreement.
Leonard: Aw, screw the roommate agreement!
Sheldon: No, you don't screw the roommate agreement. The roommate agreement screws you.

Sheldon: I am aware of the way humans usually reproduce which is messy, unsanitary and based on living next to you for three years, involves loud and unnecessary appeals to a deity.
Penny: Oh, God.
Sheldon: Yes, exactly.

Sheldon: Oh, Penny. I know you think you're being generous, but the foundation of gift-giving is reciprocity. You haven't given me a gift, you've given me an obligation.
Howard: Don't feel bad, Penny, it's a classic rookie mistake. My first Hanukkah with Sheldon, he yelled at me for eight nights.
Penny: Now, honey, it's okay. You don't have to get me anything in return.
Sheldon: Of course I do. The essence of the custom is that I now have to go out and purchase for you a gift of commensurate value and representing the same perceived level of friendship as that represented by the gift you've given me. It's no wonder suicide rates skyrocket this time of year.
Penny: Okay, you know what? Forget it. I'm not giving you a present.
Sheldon: No, it's too late. I see it. That elf sticker says to Sheldon. The die has been cast, the moving finger has writ, Hannibal has crossed the Alps.

Sheldon: Howard, you know me to be a very smart man. Don't you think that if I were wrong, I'd know it?

Sheldon: You know it just occurred to me, if there are an infinite number of parallel universes, in one of them there's probably a Sheldon who doesn't believe parallel universes exist.
Leonard: Probably. What's your point?
Sheldon: No point. It's just one of those things that makes one of the me's chuckle.








OK, c'est une série anglaise.

Father Ted est une série télévisée britannico–irlandaise en 24 épisodes de 24 minutes et un épisode de 55 minutes, créée par Graham Linehan et Arthur Mathews et diffusée entre le 21 avril 1995 et le 1er mai 1998 sur Channel 4 et sur RTÉ Two en Irlande. Acclamée par la critique et récompensée par plusieurs BAFTA Awards, elle fait l'objet de rediffusions régulières en Royaume-Uni et en Irlande.

La religion y est mise en dérision.







Seinfeld est une série télévisée humoristique américaine constituée de 180 épisodes de 23 minutes créée par Jerry Seinfeld et Larry David et diffusée du 5 juillet 1989 au 14 mai 1998 sur le réseau NBC. Située principalement à New York, dans un quartier de l'Upper West Side, au nord-ouest de l'arrondissement de Manhattan, la série met en scène le quotidien de Jerry Seinfeld, artiste de stand-up new-yorkais, trentenaire et de ses trois amis, George Costanza, son ami d'enfance névrosé et malchanceux, Elaine Benes, son ancienne petite amie et éternelle insatisfaite et enfin Kramer, son voisin de palier, loufoque mais sympathique. La série est considérée comme « a show about nothing » car les épisodes sont basés sur la vie quotidienne et ses tracas.

Why is it a bad idea to major in physics?
The maths is hard.
You'll never enjoy action movies again because you'll notice see lots of physics errors.

My favorite science fiction movies:

A Space Odyssey (1968)
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Rollerball (1975)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Alien (1979)
Blade Runner (1982)
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
The Terminator (1984)
Back to the Future (1985)
Abyss (1989)
Total Recall (1990)
Jurassic Park (1993)
Contact (1997)
Minority Report (2002)
Avatar (2009)
Inception (2010)
Gravity (2013)
Interstellar (2014)
The Martian (2015)
Arrival (2016)


Excerpt from Cosmos by Carl Sagan 1980:
The Sphinx, half human, half lion, was constructed more than 5,500 years ago. Its face was once crisp and cleanly rendered. It is now softened and blurred by thousands of years of Egyptian desert sandblasting and by occasional rains. In New York City there is an obelisk called Cleopatra's Needle, which came from Egypt. In only about a hundred years in that city's Central Park, its inscriptions have been almost totally obliterated, because of smog and industrial pollution—chemical erosion like that in the atmosphere of Venus. Erosion on Earth slowly wipes out information, but because they are gradual—the patter of a raindrop, the sting of a sand grain—those processes can be missed. Big structures, such as mountain ranges, survive tens of millions of years; smaller impact craters, perhaps a hundred thousand; and largescale human artifacts only some thousands. In addition to such slow and uniform erosion, destruction also occurs through catastrophes large and small. The Sphinx is missing a nose. Someone shot it off in a moment of idle desecration—some say it was Mameluke Turks, others, Napoleonic soldiers.

On Venus, on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system, there is evidence for catastrophic destruction, tempered or overwhelmed by slower, more uniform processes: on the Earth, for example, rainfall, coursing into rivulets, streams and rivers of running water, creating huge alluvial basins; on Mars, the remnants of ancient rivers, perhaps arising from beneath the ground; on Io, a moon of Jupiter, what seem to be broad channels made by flowing liquid sulfur. There are mighty weather systems on the Earth—and in the high atmosphere of Venus and on Jupiter. There are sandstorms on the Earth and on Mars; lightning on Jupiter and Venus and Earth. Volcanoes inject debris into the atmospheres of the Earth and Io. Internal geological processes slowly deform the surfaces of Venus, Mars, Ganymede and Europa, as well as Earth. Glaciers, proverbial for their slowness, produce major reworkings of landscapes on the Earth and probably also on Mars. These processes need not be constant in time. Most of Europe was once covered with ice. A few million years ago, the present site of the city of Chicago was buried under three kilometers of frost. On Mars, and elsewhere in the solar system, we see features that could not be produced today, landscapes carved hundreds of millions or billions of years ago when the planetary climate was probably very different.

There is an additional factor that can alter the landscape and the climate of Earth: intelligent life, able to make major environmental changes. Like Venus, the Earth also has a greenhouse effect due to its carbon dioxide and water vapor. The global temperature of the Earth would be below the freezing point of water if not for the greenhouse effect. It keeps the oceans liquid and life possible. A little greenhouse is a good thing. Like Venus, the Earth also has about 90 atmospheres of carbon dioxide; but it resides in the crust as limestone and other carbonates, not in the atmosphere. If the Earth were moved only a little closer to the Sun, the temperature would increase slightly. This would drive some of the CO2 out of the surface rocks, generating a stronger greenhouse effect, which would in turn incrementally heat the surface further. A hotter surface would vaporize still more carbonates into CO2, and there would be the possibility of a runaway greenhouse effect to very high temperatures. This is just what we think happened in the early history of Venus, because of Venus' proximity to the Sun. The surface environment of Venus is a warning: something disastrous can happen to a planet rather like our own.
The principal energy sources of our present industrial civilization are the so-called fossil fuels. We burn wood and oil, coal and natural gas, and, in the process, release waste gases, principally CO2, into the air. Consequently, the carbon dioxide content of the Earth's atmosphere is increasing dramatically. The possibility of a runaway greenhouse effect suggests that we have to be careful: Even a one- or two- degree rise in the global temperature can have catastrophic consequences. In the burning of coal and oil and gasoline, we are also putting sulfuric acid into the atmosphere. Like Venus, our stratosphere even now has a substantial mist of tiny sulfuric acid droplets. Our major cities are polluted with noxious molecules. We do not understand the long- term effects of our course of action.
But we have also been perturbing the climate in the opposite sense. For hundreds of thousands of years human beings have been burning and cutting down forests and encouraging domestic animals to graze on and destroy grasslands. Slash-and-burn agriculture, industrial tropical deforestation and overgrazing are rampant today. But forests are darker than grasslands, and grasslands are darker than deserts. As a consequence, the amount of sunlight that is absorbed by the ground has been declining, and by changes in the land use we are lowering the surface temperature of our planet. Might this cooling increase the size of the polar ice cap, which, because it is bright, will reflect still more sunlight from the Earth, further cooling the planet, driving a runaway albedo (1) effect?
Our lovely blue planet, the Earth, is the only home we know. Venus is too hot. Mars is too cold. But the Earth is just right, a heaven for humans. After all, we evolved here. But our congenial climate may be unstable. We are perturbing our poor planet in serious and contradictory ways. Is there any danger of driving the environment of the Earth toward the planetary Hell of Venus or the global ice age of Mars? The simple answer is that nobody knows. The study of the global climate, the comparison of the Earth with other worlds, are subjects in their earliest stages of development. They are fields that are poorly and grudgingly funded. In our ignorance, we continue to push and pull, to pollute the atmosphere and brighten the land, oblivious of the fact that the long-term consequences are largely unknown. A few million years ago, when human beings first evolved on Earth, it was already a middle-aged world, 4.6 billion years along from the catastrophes and impetuosities of its youth. But we humans now represent a new and perhaps decisive factor. Our intelligence and our technology have given us the power to affect the climate. How will we use this power? Are we willing to tolerate ignorance and complacency in matters that affect the entire human family? Do we value short-term advantages above the welfare of the Earth? Or will we think on longer time scales, with concern for our children and our grandchildren, to understand and protect the complex life-support systems of our planet? The Earth is a tiny and fragile world. It needs to be cherished.

1. The albedo is the fraction of the sunlight striking a planet that is reflected back to space. The albedo of the Earth is some 30 to 35 percent. The rest of the sunlight is absorbed by the ground and is responsible for the average surface temperature.
Copyright © 1980 by Carl Sagan Productions, Inc. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.


Entretien, avec le photographe professionnel Christian Fournier, le 25 novembre 2020, pendant une 1 h 20 minutes, à travers une vidéoconférence sur Skype. Les quatre membres de l’Intercom Agency étaient présents et toute l’équipe a enregistré cet entretien à l’aide d’un téléphone portable. Aussi, tous les membres de l’agence sont intervenus et ont interviewé le professionnel.
CF : Christian Fournier (interviewé) AF : Aida Ferdjani, PB : Perrine Bannuls, CG : Carolina Gonçalves, CC : Catalina Cuartas

PB
On a vu sur votre biographie disponible en ligne, que vous avez travaillé aux États-Unis et en Angleterre pendant quelques années.
Avez-vous remarqué des différences dans ce milieu par rapport à la France ?

CF: oulà, ça va faire très mal. Quand je fais un défilé de mode en France, je reviens, je
suis couvert de bleus. Mais vraiment ! Physiquement, j’ai des bleus ! Tout le monde me pousse de
partout, c'est la cohue. Bon, ce n’est pas nouveau ! Le monde anglo-saxon n'a pas le même civisme
que celui du français.

Quand j'étais jeune et que j'allais en Angleterre pour prendre le bus, que j'étais le 7ème dans la queue,
j'étais le 7ème dans le bus. Alors que dans le Pas-de-Calais à cette époque-là, si je suis 7ème dans la
queue, comme je suis trop poli, je suis le dernier dans le bus. Et cette mentalité-là est la même pour la
photographie.

J'ai fait beaucoup de défilés de mode aux États-Unis, en Angleterre, à Amsterdam ... Là, les
photographes sont 50 sur 4 mètres carrés. Je ne plaisante pas. Donc on est tous très serrés. Mais il y a coopération et dialogue : un photographe peut très bien me dire :
"Écoute si tu bouges ton pied de 10 cm, là je pourrai mettre le mien, on sera OK tous les deux." , "Là, ça va ? Je ne te dérange pas ?"
Chacun pense comme ça. Et finalement, on ressort sans bleu et on a quand même de belles photos.
La France est un pays de (hésitation) sauvages. Il y manque le savoir-vivre, la politesse. (soupirs) Quand on
voit les photocall, tout le monde veut des photos des stars. Moi, j'arrive toujours le premier. Je suis le premier derrière la balustrade.
Au début, on essaie tous de bien s'entendre, mais dès que la star arrive, ils se mettent tous devant moi.
Ça n'a pas changé, ça ne changera sans doute jamais en France. Je ne mâche pas mes mots. Mais bon... Malheureusement c'est ça. Regardez à la télé, vous verrez bien, c'est toujours la cohue. Les Anglais appellent ça la technique française de “l’œuf dur écrasé” parce que tout le monde se pousse et s'écrase pour rentrer. On ne sait pas faire la queue, on ne sait pas être poli, on ne sait pas respecter les autres ...
On va reprendre l'exemple de Charlize Theron, qui pose pour 50 photographes, cette fille-là elle sait poser, elle sait ce qu’est un groupe de photographes. Donc elle a l'habitude se tourner et de sourire d'abord vers un côté, puis au centre, puis de l'autre côté. Mais ils veulent tous shooter immédiatement ! Et c'est la pagaille et les bleus !


This is why I sent 12 years in California:


Si vous avez vécu en Californie dans les années 80. La Californie est immense. Nous avons la cinquième économie mondiale, surpassée seulement par les États-Unis dans leur ensemble, la Chine, le Japon et l'Allemagne. L'économie de la Californie est plus grande que toutes les autres nations du monde. Quand vous entendez que nous «échouons» et que nous sommes une «merde», c'est de la propagande politique. Économiquement, géographiquement et démographiquement, nous sommes l'une des entités politiques les plus diversifiées de la planète.
Cela signifie que très peu de choses que vous pouvez dire sur la Californie s'appliquent à l'État dans son ensemble. La vie à San Francisco ressemble plus à la vie à Londres qu'à la vie à Bakersfield. Une partie de la beauté et de l'attrait de la Californie est que, peu importe ce que vous voulez, nous l'avons. Les villes métropolitaines sont à une heure des terres agricoles vallonnées, à une heure du désert, à quelques heures des montagnes enneigées. Montez dans votre voiture et conduisez dans n'importe quelle direction pendant quelques heures et vous verrez six Californies différentes.
Les gens viennent ici de partout dans le monde, et c'est notre force. Nous sommes votre avenir - aucune race ou ethnie n'a de majorité ici, bien que les Latinx aient la pluralité, ce qui sera bientôt vrai pour l'Amérique dans son ensemble. Mais même "Latinx" est une catégorie si large qu'elle n'a presque pas de sens. La Californie était autrefois le Mexique, donc les personnes d'origine mexicaine ont toujours eu le dessus sur le plan démographique, mais vous ne pouvez pas trouver un kilomètre carré de Californie n'importe où sans intégrer les Salvadoriens et les Guatémaltèques, ainsi que les Syriens, les Libanais, les Perses, les Éthiopiens, des gens des Caraïbes, chinois, philippins et bien plus encore. Cette diversité a toujours été l'une de nos plus grandes forces. Vous avez entendu parler du moulin de Sutter, où l'or a été découvert pour la première fois? C'est dans la ville de Coloma, qui appartenait presque entièrement à une famille d'anciens Noirs réduits en esclavage. Vous pouvez toujours voir la forge du fils et plusieurs autres bâtiments historiques familiaux si vous y allez, ce que je vous recommande de faire! La ville entière est essentiellement une excursion sur l'histoire de la Californie.
La Californie a toujours ouvert ses bras au monde et cela nous a rendus plus forts, meilleurs, plus riches et plus beaux.
Nous n'avons que de l'amour à donner au reste des États-Unis. Eh bien, cela et nos importantes contributions fiscales (nous payons plus au gouvernement fédéral que nous n'en récupérons), les ports, l'industrie, les films et la musique. Oh, et nous produisons le plus de nourriture de tous les états. Mais surtout l'amour.
Donc, la prochaine fois que quelqu'un essaiera de blâmer les feux d'herbe causés par la foudre sur la «mauvaise gestion des forêts», ou les «Gender Reveal Parties» défendent le Golden State, d'accord ?
Darrin Brenner

The Golden State

La Californie à elle seule représente un quart de la totalité des brevets déposés aux États-Unis.

Elle a aussi produit : Disneyland, Universal Studios, la Silicon Valley, Apple, Facebook, Hollywood, les universités prestigieuses : Caltech, UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles), Base Edwards, Stanford, Berkeley, l’université de San Francisco ou de San Jose, California Institute of Technology (Richard Feynman), Observatoire du Mont Wilson (Edwin Hubble y a prouvé l'expansion de l'Univers), Palomar Observatory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Steve jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Hewlett et David Packard, Netscape, Synthorx, George Lucas, The Beach Boys, Tim Burton, Joe DiMaggio, Serena Williams, Robert Frost, William Hearst, Sally K. Ride, Johny Depp, Ben Affleck, Clint Eastwood, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Redford, Tom Hanks, Robert Duval, Sean Penn, Nicolas Cage, Francis Ford Coppola, John Ford, Gregory Peck, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Costner, Marilyn Monroe, Ronald Reagan, Fritz Lang, Pierce Brosnan, Shirley Temple, Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, Jodie Foster, Kate Hudson, Michelle Pfeifer, Cameron Diaz, Dean Collins, etc.

La diversité géographique : La vallée de la Mort, Anza-Borrego Desert, Mappa valley, San Diego, San Francisco, Baie de Monterey, Baie de Santa Monica, Big Sur, Les Channel Islands, Santa Barbara, Le désert des Mojaves, Yosemite, Sequoia Park, Sierra Nevada, Reno, Mont Whitney, Parc national de Joshua Tree, Lac Tahoe, Alcatraz, etc..









Some of my favourite female stars.

When we see their photos at a young age, we understand why they succeeded.





Bulle Ogier






Alie Macgraw


Amanda Seyfried


Andie MacDowell


Caitriona Balfe : la star de la serie Netflix Outlander


Angelina Jolie

Anne Hathaway


Brigitte Bardot




Brigitte Fossé


Catherine Zeta Jones


Catherine Deneuve


Charlize Theron


Cindy Crawford


Claudia Cardinale




Claudia Schiffer


Diana Rigg


Diane Kruger




Elizabeth Montgomery, ma sorcière bien aimée. Bewitched


Emily Blunt


Emma Stone


Emma Watson


Eva Herzigova


Farrah Fawcett


Geena Davis


Isabelle Hupert


Goldie Hawn


Helen Mirren




Jane Birkin


Jane Fonda


Jeanne Moreau


Jody Foster


Judi Dench


Keira Knightley


Kim Basinger


R.I.P. Lady Diana



Linda Evangelista


Line Renaud




Marie Trintignant


Maggie Smith


Meryl Streep


Michèle Morgan


Michelle Pfeiffer



d

Mila Kunis


Milla Jovovich


Mireille Darc


Nana Mouskouri


Nathalie Portman


Romy Schneider


Rosanna Arquette


Sally Field


Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy)




Scarlett Johansson


Sharon Tate


Sigourney Weaver


Sophia Loren


Sophie Marceau


Sylvia Christelle


Sylvie Vartan


Amanda Seyfried


Ellen Page


Emmanuelle Béart


Françoise Hardy


Gwyneth Paltrow


Joan Baez


Julia Ormond




Kate Winslet (Titanic, born in Reading, Berkshire, England)


Kirsten Dunst


Kirstin Scott Thomas


Jessica Barden (The End Of The F***ing World)


Marion Cotillard


Raquel Welch

Renee Zellweger


Sophie Daumier


Carey Mulligan


Elle Fanning








Audrey Hepburn 12 ans


Michelle Pfeiffer




Lea Thompson : Back to the Future


Elisabeth Shue : Back to the Future


Adèle-Exarchopoulos




Carol Bouquet


Charlotte Le Bon


Dakota Johnson


Jennifer Lawrence


Léa Seydoux


Louise Bourgoin


Marina Fois


Rachel McAdams


Virginie Ledoyen


Amy Adams


Andie Mac Dowell




Anna De Armas


Anna De Armas




Anya Taylor Joy













Cameron Diaz


Cate Blanchett




Emma Watson




Isabelle Adjani








Jennifer Aniston


Jessica Lange




Julie Delpy


Kaley Cucoo


Kelly Riley


Linda Hamilton (Sarah Connor in Terminator)




Margot Robbie


Marianne Faithfull, 1995


Maria Schneider (Dernier Tango à Paris)


Mary Hopkin


Miou-Miou






Rachel Weisz


Rosamund Pike






Sara Forestier








Susan George (film StrawDogs)


Mary Steenburgen (Clara Clayton, back to future III)




Valérie Bonneton


Sue Lyon (Lolita, Stanley Kubrick)




Jane March (l'amant)


Nancy Sinatra














Lily Collins




Eva Longoria


Booke Shields


Chantal Goya






Ingrid Bergman à 14 ans




Melanie Griffith


Twiggi

Twiggi






Glenn Close











One more LP of my youth.


 





Here are about 620 examples of my photographic event coverage since 1984, that is to say, 30 years. This is without counting those which my clients have requested that I do not show and photos that have been lost.

I know it's enormous.
No, I am not a photographic robot: my mother had me tested



This list begins with the compilations: Fashion & Models, Lingerie, Beauty, Makeup & Hair, Portraits, Events, Objects, Archi & Deco, Industry, Press, Celebrities, etc.



The sensors and web capabilities from 1995 to 2005 were horrible compared to now (2021). 40 KB max by images. My uploads at this time were therefore bad. I replace them little by little. It's long. Thank you for your indulgence.

Conclusion 1: I must not be bad, so that all these people trust me.
I have loyal customers, a sign that they are satisfied with my services. Examples: Tollens, MEDEF, Dior, GMF, Unesco, L'oréal, Anaé, Agefiph, Essilor, Genzyme, Embassy Ireland, The Advertisers Club, Garmin, VW, etc. ...

Conclusion 2: Thanks to all these varied clients (industry, wedding, corporate and personal portraits, press, events, objects, medical, culinary, diving, sports, pageants, etc. ..), I see extraordinary slices of life, confidential or public, trades and fabulous countries. I do feel very privileged. Real life, live. Thank you customers.

In rough estimation, I take 5,000 photos a week. 5,000 x 52 = 260,000 a year. For 35 years = 9,100,000 photos. Well, I would like to reach 10 million anyway!

Conclusion 3: Photography is my language

There is also a search command, not always up to date, but pretty comprehensive on all my reportages.



Due to manipulations between prisedevue.photos, prisedevue.photos and famousphotographer.com, some links may be broken. Sorry. I'm working on it !

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MY BLOGS


Not many photographers have the courage to show their photos on a daily basis. I do it to show that in a wide range of photography, I always take good photos for my clients. Technical perfection and an obvious sensitivity. If you imagine the logistic necessary for these missions (estimates, preparations, equipment, transports in traffic jams, safety, etc.), you can see that I am a photographer who achieves results in all circumstances.

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
2014
2021


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  CONTACT
WWW.FAMOUSPHOTOGRAPHER.COM    The archives

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Intellectual Copyright Property 2020 Christian Fournier.
All rights are reserved. All texts, photos, graphs, sound files and videos in this website are protected. Their reproduction, modification and uses on other web sites than those by Christian Fournier are strictly forbidden.

Most of the photos on my web site are for sale, except, of course, the ones for which I do not have the models or decor releases.

I am at your disposal for any query you may have.



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