Chess and Infidelity? Kevin Kline's First French-speaking Role

As a chess player myself, I especially look forward to seeing "Joueuse", a new French film which just opened in Germany and will be coming to the US soon.
The main character, Hélène, teaches herself how to play chess and then turns to a reclusive American expat (Kevin Kline in his first French-speaking role), whose house she cleans. He willingly helps her with the game, but her playing skills soon overtake his and she begins to live and breathe chess. Meanwhile her new passion threatens her family life – chess is regarded as a form of marital infidelity.

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The Nobel of Literature Goes to French Writer

This year the recipient is author Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, whose multicultural experience seems to have had something to do with his writing and eventually his winning.

"The Nobel committee said on Thursday that “this work contains magnificent images of a lost culture in the North African desert, contrasted with a depiction of Europe seen through the eyes of unwanted immigrants. The main character, the Algerian guest worker Lalla, is a utopian antithesis to the ugliness and brutality of European society.”

Read more here.
graph per times

More Things Sarkozy: The Son and His Scooter

There's always something with this guy. His ubiquity in the press also translates to ubiquity in my blog.... Sarkozy's quite the text, that's for sure. So, what's the news today?
Well, 'Sarkozy' news today revolves around his aesthetically superior blonde son, his lovely scooter, reckless driving, and that little concept called 'sense of entitlement.'
The premise of the article might seem inconsequential in the beginning. However, it does raise some valid questions.
Here it a bit:
"Jean Sarkozy has also been a beneficiary of his father’s power, it seems. When his motor scooter was stolen last year, the police recovered it quickly, even going to the extraordinary length of taking a DNA sample from his helmet. In 2005, he ran his scooter into the back of a BMW, according to a complaint brought by the car’s owner, M’Hamed Bellouti, who managed to catch the license plate number as the scooter sped away. The police failed to find the scooter, but the car owner’s insurance company did. Nevertheless, in a December 2007 trial, the complaint against Jean Sarkozy was dismissed.

Mr. Bellouti asked then: “Why is there a two-speed justice system? When they steal his scooter, they are full of zeal. When it hits my car, there is less zeal.”
Read more here.
graph per ny times