But first, a little music...

Okay, so I haven't exactly gone out and done much exploring yet. I did go to Atkins Market and buy some cider donuts, and I'd like to tell you about Atkins - which I think of as the Wal-Mart of farm stands (but in a good way) - at some point, but not right now. First it needs to not be winter anymore so that they can get some produce that doesn't come from Central America and I can tell you how wonderful it is. I can tell you that the cider donuts are deadly (also in a good way), but I don't want to give too much away just yet.

In the meantime, then, I'd like to share with you one of my favorite finds of recent months. This is La Blogotheque. Do you know La Blogotheque? Don't feel bad: neither did I. It's a YouTube channel from France that has many, many videos of many, many great bands doing unusual live performances, most often in the streets and courtyards of Paris. It is, I gather, the most-subscribed YouTube channel in France, but most of the artists they feature are American or at least English-speaking, so there's no reason we can't join the fun as well. We did, after all, save their asses in WWII.

So when I say great bands doing unusual live performances, here's what I mean: Fleet Foxes (and their beards) doing acapella harmonies sitting in a park, Man Man (go Philly!) banging on railings and trash cans and the bicycle helmets of passersby, the boys from Beirut doing their thing on a street corner, Will Sheff of Okkervil River with his guitar in another park. Sufjan Stevens sings a song on a rooftop in Cincinatti, which isn't exactly France, but he is coaxed into it by a very persistent French videographer. Andrew Bird, Grizzly Bear, Arcade Fire, Architecture in Helsinki, Au Revoir Simone, I'm From Barcelona, Jose Gonzalez, Yeasayer, The Shins, Menomena... I could spend days here. And I probably will (it's so much easier than what I'm supposed to be doing).

My favorite videos so far, the ones I have deemed worthy of inclusion in the ToaPN Hall of Fame, if I ever get one built, are the following:

1. Bon Iver's stunning version of "Skinny Love" before a small, transfixed gathering in what appears to be a basement. The song is, as you know, one of the best songs written in this or any other century, and this performance nearly made me cry.



2. Herman Dune (which, I believe, is a band rather than a guy), armed only with a guitar and a strange plastic toy instrument thingy, singing "123 Apple Tree" in a laundromat (while people are trying to get their laundry done) before taking it to the streets with another song in the best-ever category, "I Wish that I Could See You Soon." The best part, as you will no doubt notice, is the bear costume that the principal Dune is wearing throughout the performance.



Among many other things, these videos have given me serious Parislust. When I was in grad school I threatened many times to drop out and move there (I have some dear Parisian friends whose willingness to provide me with shelter and food was a crucial presumption underlying the whole scheme), but clearly that didn't happen, and I haven't been back in years. I have, however, just written a paper proposal for a conference on colonial policing that's taking place at the Sorbonne in November, so maybe I'll find myself there again before long. And when I do, I plan to track down Mr Blogotheque and give him a big wet French kiss.