french sitcoms; end restaurant exhibit

i had hoped that these 2 weeks, i would be able to throw myself into painting 10 hours a day. i did not succeed in that, but i DID make some progress and get a sort of rhythm going. i was able to focus more and pull some things together. after painting for a few hours in the morning, i would take a break and make myself lunch. i started turning on the tv to watch while i ate. i normally don’t watch tv, but it was so quiet in the house! in fact, i told myself that it would help me with my french. sounds like an excuse, but i do think it’s true. i became a regular watcher of a few french sitcoms. they were all in a new and interesting format which was a series of short sketches of about a minute, one after another. sort of like a group of one line jokes.

one series is about 3 married couples. one older couple is in their 60’s. another couple is middle aged in their 40’s. then, there is young couple in their 30’s. the colors of the show are all very intentionally saturated. one sketch might have a background of predominantly green with the woman would be wearing 2 orange tones and the man wearing 2 purple tones. then there would be a new sketch with one of the other couples, with an intense blue background, the man wearing pink and the woman wearing yellow. every sketch would have a new color combination. each couple is in a different stage of a long term relationship. the older couple are loving but slightly bickering. the middle aged couple yell and nag at each other. the younger couple are still trying to learn to live together. interesting to me is that this young couple is a mixed couple – a blond woman of “european origin” and a man of “african origin” (as they say here). they are a modern couple and there is no mention of race. still not a normal thing on american tv, i think, though i haven’t watched american tv for a while.

there was another series which is about a young couple, but makes the camera take the view of one of the guest characters. in one episode, they are sitting facing the camera who is their psychologist. they are talking about their upcoming marriage. the whole show is a series of short sketches in which you hear the psychologist speak and only see his hands. in one, for example, the man has gone off to the bathroom and the waiter asks what she would like to drink. the woman says “i always have a glass of white wine”. the psychologist says, “oh, that’s good. that shows that you are faithful.” she says, “yes, i am”. her drink is delivered and the man comes back to the table. the waiter asks what his order is. ( you see where this is going don’t you?). he says, “oh, i’ll have a glass of red wine, as always”. the young woman smiles. he says, “no, wait, maybe i’ll try rose today, no maybe i’ll have a mixed drink”. she is aghast and throws her drink in his face. “what did i do!?” he says. anyway, i thought the “camera as a character” was an interesting approach.

so far, my favorite french tv sketch was on another sitcom about a teenage boy and his family, his friends, his life. it’s a sketch that i also don’t think you’ll see on american tv. the teenage boy and his 2 guy friends are sitting around his room. they are fully dressed, but one boy is wearing a bra over his t-shirt and another boy is sitting behind him fiddling with it, while the main teenage boy watches on. the dad walks in the room and stops and looks over the scene. the main character says, “dad, it’s not what it looks like.” dad, trying to be cool, says “ok. whatever.” pause. “so, what is it?” the boy says, “well dad, we’re practicing taking off a bra, because we need to know how to do it when we’re on dates. and we’re timing each other”. dad says, “ok, i’ll leave you to it”. he opens the door of the room and is about to walk out the room when he stops, backs up and closes the door again. he says, “what’s the fastest time?”. teenage boy says “3 minutes”. the dad pauses and then says, “let me show you how. start the timer”. he sits down next to the boy with the bra on, uses his left hand, reaches over and flicks it open. “wooooaah!” yell all the boys. teenager says “3 seconds, woah dad, you’re so cool!”.

today, i also needed to go pick up my paintings at the restaurant that has displayed them since march. they are closing for renovations for the summer. in fact, i had gotten an email from the chef announcing that he had sold the restaurant. it was the new owner, who is renovating. he told me that he plans to create a new restaurant that should open in january. i didn’t sell any more paintings, but the waitress said that the customers had loved them. i had left free postcards of my work, and they were all gone. this was a good landmark for me as a painter. i did a pastel still life this morning to give the chef to thank him for his support. later, i did a pastel of a friend’s dog. i was quite pleased with it. i had been meaning to try some pet pastels for a while. it worked out really well and i am excited.

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