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06.04.02: L'Horizon, rue de la Roquette This has to rank as one of the most surreal evenings I've ever spent, in Paris or elsewhere. Sonia's friend Nicolas called me up somewhat out of the blue (since I hadn't spoken to him since early October) to invite me to a film he and his wife, as well as another friend, were going to see. I didn't ask too many questions, and we all met at Place Léon Blum for a drink beforehand. The screening was happiening at a small space in the neighbourhood, whose basic nature I never quite got a handle on. The crowd can only be described as new-agey, even if only midly so. Turns out they're all followers of this American intellectual guru -- nothing too way out there, really -- and this is the Paris branch of his, shall we say, ministry. The film, as best as I can remember it, was about some fairly platitudinous insights that a comination of modern science and this guy's teachings can reveal about the design of, well, everything, and our place in it. To add the surreality, the video was actually in English, with an American woman providing a miked simultaneous translation. As we mingled afterward, I just couldn't get over how earnestly everyone seemed to be affected by it. Luckily we didn't have to talk about it much once the four of us were out for a drink at this fun and funky café. There the issue seemed more to do with Nicolas' wife's friend hitting less than effectively on out serveuse.
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