On Saturday December 4th,  I participated to the event “Poetry-Sound-Music Intersections” at A Gathering of the Tribes organized by Chicagoan poet/trumpet Dan Godston. The performers included:
1st set: Kristin Prevallet (poetry) and Edmund Mooney (electronics)
2nd set: Nicole Peyrafitte (vocals, poetry), David Boykin (reeds), Dan Godston (trumpet).

It was a very fun gig. David and Dan created great music, I enjoyed weaving my texts through their complex and adventurous sounds. You can have the proof of the cream (no pudding here!) & listen to the first segment uploaded by Dan Godston here. Thanks to audience member and dear friend Paige Mitchell, we have a video of the event and I invite you to watch the last piece of our set at the end of this message… really, don’t miss it!

Whats cooking next? Voilà zee program for next week:

7pm - Vocal Improv Session # 7
Nora McCarthy (voice), Andrea Wolper (voice), Nicole Peyrafitte (voice), Francois Grillot (Double Bass)
8pm – Jason Mears Group
Erika Dagnino (poetry), Steve Dalachinsky (words), Jason Mears (sax and clarinet), Ken Filliano (bass), Satoshi Takeishi (drums)
9pm – Grassroots
Darius Jones (alto sax), Alex Harding (bari sax), Sean Conly (bass), Chad Taylor (drums)
10pm – Steve Dalachinsky & Ken Filiano Duo
Steve Dalachinsky (poetry), Ken Filiano (bass)

January 1st 2011
We will wish you Happy New Year at:
37th ANNUAL NEW YEAR’S DAY MARATHON READING
This year Pierre Joris, Nicole Peyrafitte & Miles Joris-Peyrafitte will be performing as a trio. We are scheduled between 3 & 4PM.
Also, I have done for the past three years, I will be making crêpes in the back and this year I will also make a soup ! Why make it simple when it can be complicated, right!
The event starts at 2PM and goes until past midnight and below is the impressive list of poets & performers:

The Poetry Project
St. Mark’s Church
131 East 10th Street
New York, NY 10003

Poets and Performers for 2011 include: John Giorno, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Philip Glass, Suzanne Vega, Taylor Mead, Eric Bogosian, Anne Waldman & Ambrose Bye, Vito Acconci,  Foamola, Anselm Berrigan, Ariana Reines, Peter Gizzi, Liz Willis, Ted Greenwald, Bruce Andrews & Sally Silvers, The Church of Betty, Thom Donovan, Tim Griffin, Todd Colby, Tom Savage, David Shapiro, Jonas Mekas, Josef Kaplan, Judith Malina, Albert Mobilio, Alex Abelson, Maria Mirabal, Bill Kushner, David Freeman, David Kirschenbaum, Diana Rickard, Don Yorty, Dorothea Lasky, Douglas Dunn, Alan Gilbert, Alan Licht w/ Angela Jaeger, Charles Bernstein, Christopher Stackhouse, Citizen Reno, Cliff Fyman, Corina Copp, Aaron Kiely, Adeena Karasick, Bill Zavatsky, Bob Holman, Robert Fitterman, Rodrigo Toscano, Brenda Iijima, Brendan Lorber, Brett Price, Corrine Fitzpatrick, Curtis Jensen, Dael Orlandersmith, David Vogen, Derek Kroessler, Diana Hamilton, ARTHUR’S LANDING, CAConrad, Akilah Oliver, Douglas Piccinnini, John S. Hall, Samita Sinha, Sara Wintz, Secret Orchestra with special guest Joanna Penn Cooper, Shonni Enelow, Bob Rosenthal, Brenda Coultas, John Yau, Julian T. Brolaski, Evelyn Reilly, Filip Marinovich, Douglas Rothschild, Drew Gardner, Eleni Stecopoulos, Elinor Nauen, Eve Packer, Jo Ann Wasserman, Joanna Fuhrman, Dustin Williamson, E. Tracy Grinnell, Ed Friedman, Edwin Torres, Eileen Myles, Elliott Sharp, Emily XYZ, Erica Hunt, Erica Kaufman, Evan Kennedy, Joe Elliot, Joel Lewis, Frank Sherlock, Gillian McCain, Greg Fuchs, Janet Hamill, Jeremy Hoevenaar, Jessica Fiorini, Jibade-Khalil Huffman, Jim Behrle, Julianna Barwick, Julie Patton, Michael Lydon, Lisa Jarnot, Maggie Dubris, Marcella Durand, Marty Ehrlich, Merry Fortune, Michael Cirelli, Kristen Kosmas, Laura Elrick, Lauren Russell, Leopoldine Core, Nina Freeman, Paolo Javier, Patricia Spears Jones, Paul Mills (Poez), Michael Scharf, Mike Doughty, Karen Weiser, Lewis Warsh, Linda Russo, Penny Arcade, Peter Bushyeager, Rebecca Moore, Mónica de la Torre, Murat Nemet-Nejat, Nathaniel Siegel, Nick Hallett, Nicole  Peyrafitte, Pierre Joris & Miles Joris-Peyrafitte, Kathleen Miller, Katie Degentesh, Kelly Ginger, Ken Chen, Kim Lyons, Kim Rosenfield, India Radfar, Tonya Foster, Stephanie Gray, Susan Landers, Tony Towle, Tracie Morris, Valery Oisteanu, John Coletti, Rachel Levitsky, Edmund Berrigan, Jamie Townsend, Macgregor Card, Wayne Koestenbaum, Will Edmiston, Yoshiko Chuma, Nicole Wallace, Arlo Quint, Stacy Szymaszek and more T.B.A

General admission $20/Students & Seniors $15/Members $10.

And last, but not least, 4 large paintings and two framed collages are now at the Chancellerie of the French New York Consulate.  If you are French and  need to renew your passport or any other admin stuff you will  see them. I am very grateful to our consul, Mr Philippe Lalliot,  to have taken the initiative to have  contemporary art instead of posters! Merci to Mr. Le Consul and merci to his team for having my work displayed in their work space where 15 000 people come through each year. I have set up a webpage for information on the paintings here.

Voilà! And now Joyeux Noël and enjoy the whipping!

Sunday afternoon I was at the The Tenth Annual NYC International Pickle Day where  pickles from around the world were featured, celebrated and sampled—list of participants here. The event is organized by the New York Food Museum & The Lower East Side Business Improvement District. This year the Umami Food & Art Festival curated the first performance and art event at the festival where I was invited to offer some pickle poetry. My origins demanded that I focus on the cornichons a.k.a gherkins.

The video above features my cornichon poem written for the occasion and set to the music of the well know composer and  famous gastronome Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868). The title of the composition is: Hors d’Oeuvres III : Les Cornichons — and this is not a joke.  Quatre Hors d’Oeuvres et Quatre Mendiants are part of Rossini’s last sets of compositions called “Dernier Pêché Mortel, de Vieillesse” or in English:  “Sins of Old Age”. These unpublished late compositions (1857-1868), now compiled in 14 volumes, were meant to be performed at private occasions in the composer’s drawing room.  Below are the details of Volume/ Book 4:

Quatre (4) Hors d’Oeuvres:
[The Hors d'Oeuvres here refer to appetizers]
I- Les Radis - radishes
II- Les Anchois -  anchovies
III- Les Cornichons-  gherkins
IV- Le Beurre – butter

The Quatre (4) Mendiants:
[Mendiants refer to dried fruits and one of the Thirteen desserts of the Noel Provençal. Each fruit is supposed to represent the robe color of four monk orders]
Les Figues sèches – dry figs  — Carmel order
Les Amandes – almonds —Dominican order
Les Raisins- raisins —Franciscan order
Les Noisettes – hazelnuts — Capuchins order

This occasion lead me to reconnect with the marvelous Franco-Italian  singer-song writer Nino Ferrer (1934-1998). I learned his “Les Cornichons” and even if you don’t know French, do listen to it. Nino Ferrer was a very interesting artist who had quite a successful carrier. His background included studying anthropology with André Leroy Gourhan and accompanying jazz musicians like Richard Bennett & Bill Coleman. Voilà — and merci beaucoup to  Françoise Bevy for the photos. Enjoy!

Graduation, birthdays, family visits, drawings, preparation for up-coming shows kept me away from the computer, but here is the schedule for the next few weeks. We hope to see you at these very exiting shows:

Sunday June 27th
Metropolitan Museum
1:00PM
“Picasso, Pablo Ruiz: Spanish Poet Who Dabbled in Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture””

A conference by Pierre Joris, co-editor and translator of Pablo Picasso’s poetry: Burial Of The Count Of Orgaz & Other Poems
I will be the reader for  the French & Spanish versions of Picasso’s texts.

TRIALOGUES @  The Vision Festival XV
Tuesday June 29th
9:15PM In the Downstairs Theater

Mike Bisio/Nicole Peyrafitte/Pierre Joris

Thursday July 1st
5:00pm -midnight (our time TBA)
at the Brooklyn Bridge Park
Pierre Joris & I will be among the many poets & performers of:
I Do Not Doubt I Am Limitless: Walt Whitman’s Brooklyn

I am looking forward to a variety of exciting events this spring/early summer. All the details are listed below & do not miss “Trialogues” —Joris/Peyrafitte/Bisio— at the Vision Festival June29th!

Events coming up:

Thursday April 29th 6:15PM
I’m giving a talk -with slides & IN FRENCH & free- on Augustus Saint Gaudens:

Comité des loisirs du personnel de l’ONU
L’ASSOCIATION CULTURELLE FRANCOPHONE
est heureuse de vous inviter à la conférence de
Nicole Peyrafitte
Le Retour al Paìs d’Augustus Saint  Gaudens
Une En/Quête sur l’immigration, la vie et l’œuvre
du célèbre sculpteur Américain né en Irlande,
de père gascon et de mère irlandaise.
Le jeudi 29 avril à 18h15
Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie
801, 2ème avenue ( 43ème rue ), suite 605, New York, NY
more info on my work on Augutus Saint Gaudens here

Thrusday May 27th 7pm
MaelstrÖm Revolution Fiestival
Jerome Rothenberg/Pierre Joris/Nicole Peyrafitte
+ a group of Belgium Artist TBA
at The Invisible Dog
51 Bergen Street, Brooklyn

WALTZING IN QUICKSAND: POETS IN COLLAGE
Tribes Gallery
May 21-June 27, 2010
Steve Dalachinsky, Bob Heman, Yuko  Otomo, Valery Oisteanu, Bruce  Weber, Star Black, Aaron Howard, Nicole Peyrafitte and  Lewis Warsh.
Opening Reception
Sunday June 6th from 4-6
Tribes
285 East 3^rd St, 2^nd Floor
NYC 10009

Tuesday June 29th 
9:15PM
THE VISION FESTIVAL
Joris/Bisio/Peyrafitte
Trialogues
Abron’s Arts Center
466 Grand Street
New York, NY

And still on view:

Michel Calvet / Nicole Peyrafitte / Jean-Pierre Rives
The World Bar /The Trump Tower
845 United Nation Plaza
New York NY 10017

I always look forward to go eat at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station (New York City). The  food, the decor, the dishes & even the waiters make you feel it could be 100 years earlier. You can always rely on the freshness and the great variety of the oysters, but what fascinates me the most is their signature dish: the Stew / Pan-Roast. I like to sit at the counter as near as possible to the fixed steam-sleeved swivel pots. There, a dexterous cook prepares your pan roast to order. The Ur dish is the Pan Roast made with oysters — though today also made with cherry clams, scallops, shrimp & even lobster— then butter, clam juice, Heinz Chile Sauce —spicy ketchup—, toast points, Worcestershire Sauce, celery salt & heavy cream are added to the pan. The mixture is brought to a boil, swirled onto your plate and once it has been generously sprinkled with paprika it is brought to you piping hot with a few packages of crackers. The Stew Roast is pretty similar minus the point toast and the Heinz Chili Sauce and I must say I prefer that version. I haven’t made it at home yet but below you will find one published in the New York Times in 1974. It is a really very easy and quick to make once you have the ingredients.  Anyhow as I said before a premium destination for Pierre and I and when we went last week I recorded our impressions:
Listen to our  live impressions at the Oyster Bar!

1 August 1974, New York Times, pg. 32:
OYSTER PAN ROAST
8 freshly opened oysters
1 pat of butter
1 tablespoon chili sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
A few drops of lemon juice
1/4 cup oyster liquor
Celery salt, a dash
Paprika
4 ounces cream
1 piece of dry toast (if desired)

Place all but the cream in a deep pan and cook briskly for a minute, stirring constantly. Add cream. When it comes to boil, pour over toast in a soup plate and serve

ps: Before or after the Oyster Bar do not miss the “whispering gallery”.

I don’t really complain about the weather, except maybe in the summer when it is really hot and humid  — and that’s when I escape to my native Pyrenees where it’s mosquito free & cool. I like cold weather, I like the snow, I like the rain, I’m scared of the wind but love it, I even like the fog —but not when I have to drive, &  like everybody else I like the sunshine! I think we get the weather we deserve, and we can’t change the weather… I have but it is hard!

Today was definitely a day I was happy not to have to leave the house. It was stormy on the Narrows and it would have taken a serious effort to stay dry and warm outside — and too big of an undertaking to try to change it! I stayed home, got some reading done for the Augustus Saint Gaudens project, cooked food — I will report on that later — watch the “try-less” Six Nation Rugby game between Scotland & England (13-13) and helped Pierre fight the nasty cold that had been attacking him. We did a lot of homeopathic remedies and at around 6pm it was time to get him a good dose of vitamin C since he forgot to take them this morning…that is when I though of an healthy martini!

The first time I had a vodka martini with fresh grape fruit juice was at the Algonquin Hotel lounge where I was hoping to see Matilda the famous resident cat.  “The Hemingway” ($18):  Ketel One, Fresh Squeezed Ruby Red Grapefruit, Simple Syrup, Sugar Rim (good, but too sweet for my taste.) I sipped it very slowly ($18!)  waiting for the cat to grace me with an appearance but she didn’t. Maybe she was dinning on premium scraps? something like wild salmon or foie gras left overs? Anyway, next time I will try to email her first, as her email are read to her on a daily basis.

All that to say that today was the day to make my version of “The Hemingway” and give it another name — please no offense to the Hemingway aficionados— I call it “Healthy Martini”: 1/2 Stoli, 1/2 Fresh Squeezed Ruby Red Grapefruit, a dash of Cointreau, in the shaker. So good, so satisfying, so healthy, it brings instant sunshine, inside and outside, guaranteed! Try it.

MARCH—collage/drawing from N.P.  Calendar Series

Yeap! We are in March and I saw some crocuses “piercing” the ground on 71st street yesterday. It cheered me up. The general mood has been down with all the international and national events, catastrophes, health care mess… Even my hometown, Luchon, was seriously affected by a storm coming from the Southwest with winds at 200km/h. It killed one man, pulled out thousands of ancient trees, lifting roofs, and closing bars for one day! No one remembers seeing or hearing about such an event in a place that is so naturally sheltered from the wind. Who says there is no global warming? The same idiots who feel threatened by universal health care? The same idiots who worship a god that knows neither nature nor health. We need D.A Bennett  The Truth Seeker all over again, I just read that book and it is amazing how the problem of religion in politics has remained the same for two century ago and is far from being solved.

Anyhow, life must go on and I have been busy. The “d’Artagnan 25th Anniversary Art Show” at The World Bar is still on. Works by French painter Michel Calvet and 3 large collage/paintings of mine are on display.  The World Bar serves delicious cocktails and their $8 happy hour special is totally worth it. I had a “peace cocktail” concocted by the excellent (1/2 french) mixologist Jonathan, all fresh juices and premium liquors — a real treat! We will have another event there soon as the opening was affected by the storm. So don’t feel bad if you couldn’t make it; D’Artagan has agreed to provide us with more patés and saucisson for another event, so stay tune!

Below you will find my detailed calendar of events for March, four events still coming up, it is all exciting especially the Umami festival one, which is leading me into fascinating research about yeast and beer in Mesopotamian time. As a result of all this action the fridge as been consistently empty and home made Miso soup (see recipe here)and rice has become a staple.

I cook two cups of brown rice twice a week and eat it in different forms. The breakfast version is becoming a house favorite and even Pierre who is not a brown rice aficionado really likes this one:

-Warm up some rice milk in a bottom of sauce pan. Add 1/2 cup of cooked rice per person, one small apple cut into small pieces, 1/2 banana, raisins, cranberries, goji berries, maple syrup. Just warm it up. Before serving add chopped roasted almonds, pistachios, walnuts. That’s a tasty healthy breakfast!

When we finally made it to the coop a few days ago we got the making for a chicken soup. I had been craving it since Dawn Clements (now showing an amazing piece at the Whitney Biennial click here) served me the most delicious one at her studio in early February.  That recipe is also very easy:  throw it all in the pot and let it happen while the smell of the broth takes over the house. This is what I threw in the pot of cold water:
-1 organic chicken (with feet!)
-3 celery ribs
-3 carrots peeled and cut
-2 “fanned” leeks
-1 onion with 3 cloves planted in it
- 1 spice/herb bag with: fresh parsley, thyme, laurel leave, 1 cardamon pod, 6 blk pepper corn.
- Sea salt.
Then you can either delicately lift some of the meat and eat it separately or debone  the whole thing and return it in the pot. You will have to add some salt and pepper to taste and you can of course add some pasta or rice or potatoes. I just had a bowl and this is ever so restauring and satisfying.

Now the schedule and if I don’t see you there, please stay in touch!

Sunday March 7th
Sunday Best Reading Series
4PM $7
The Lounge, Hudson View Gardens
Pinehurst Avenue and 183rd Street
183rd & Pinehurst Avenue
New York City

Friday March 12th
UMAMI Festival
Featuring Sarah Klein, Murray’s Cheese, Tom Cat Bakery, Ithaca Beer Company
& NP w/ Rosie Hertlein ( violin)
6:30PM
click here for reservations
Astor Center for Food and Wine
399 Lafayette (at 4th Street)

Sunday March 21
NP & Pierre Joris, Nick Flynn, Major Jackson, Douglas Unger
6PM
Poets for Peace at Erika’s
85-101 N. 3rd St # 508
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(between wythe and berry
and it is the bedford stop on the L train)

Monday March 29th
NP w/ Pierre Joris & Michael Bisio (bass)
THE LOCAL 269
269 E Houston Street NYC

Ongoing until Agust 2010
D’Artagnan 25th Anniversary Art Show
Michel Calvet / Nicole Peyrafitte / Jean-Pierre Rives
The World Bar /The Trump Tower
845 United Nation Plaza
New York NY 10017

Wow! Since I returned from Chicago I have not had a chance to post to the blog. It has been insanely busy:

There is the ongoing work on Augustus Saint Gaudens with the documentary script writing advancing slowly but steadily.  I am trying  to clarify some aspects of his father’s life —Bernard Saint-Gaudens— in their early years in NYC. It is quite fascinating to dig into the history of this period and  discover that there was a lot of French political immigrants in NYC. They all mingled at a German tavern called Pfaff’s. I found some evidence that Bernard was among the patrons. A famous client of Pfaff’s was Walt Whitman! Chances are the two men crossed paths. Now that is exciting to me! But this week I had to put Augustus and Bernard on the back burner as I prepared to hang a painting show for the D’Artagnan 25th Anniversary Art Show.

Ariane Daguin, president of D’Artagan, is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of her company and it is quite a grand affair. 200 native Gascons have flown over the Atlantic to assist in the celebration.  It all started by a beret toss contest on 14th street an 9th Ave on Thursday at noon. The passersby had never seen such an event. Two festive bands —we call them bandas in the south of France— animated the competition. I was proud to participate and tossed my beret really far …we all took gold, silver and bronze and that was a glass of delicious and crisp Colombelle white wine, tasty Saucisson & hearty paté — provided by d’Artagnan, of course! Ariane and her company have brought a whole new line of food products to the American table. In many ways she is a role model both as a friend and as an entrepreneur.

Photo 1: Nicole tossing the beret.
Photo 2: Ariane Daguin directing the strict contest sponsored by Saint Mont Wine

I can’t really get into the details of all the events, but the one I am most involved with is the art show. I am honored to be one of the Three Gascon Musketeers of Art picked by Ariane. I am also honored to show in the company of celebrated sculptor and rugby player Jean-Pierre Rives and famous Toulousain painter Michel Calvet.  I will show large canvases that have never been exhibited in the US before. I  hope to see you at the public opening on Tuesday February 23rd from 5-7 pm at:

The Musketeers Are Coming!
D’Artagnan 25th Anniversary Art Exhibition

You are cordially invited to a reception with the Gascon artists
Michel Calvet Nicole Peyrafitte Jean-Pierre Rives

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23
5:00 PM until 7:00 PM
at
THE WORLD BAR (reception)
& DAG HAMMARSKÖLD PLAZA

Complementary appetizers by d’Artagnan & Cash bar

MICHEL CALVET & NICOLE PEYRAFITTE PAINTINGS AT:
WORLD BAR AT THE TRUMP WORLD TOWER
NEW YORK CITY’S PREMIER INTERNATIONAL COCKTAIL LOUNGE
845 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017

JEAN-PIERRE RIVES SCULPTURE:
DAG HAMMARSKÖLD PLAZA, Sculpture Platform
“THE GATEWAY TO THE UNITED NATIONS”
47th Street and Second Avenue, South East Corner

Michel Calvet

Nicole Peyrafitte

Jean-Pierre Rives

MERCI ARIANE AND D’ARTAGNAN
“UN POUR TOUS, TOUS POUR UN!”

Pierre and I are en route to Chicago. We will take the train tomorrow and we have reserved a “roomette”, that is a sleeping car for two with all meals included.  It is our 2oth anniversary and as we  both have work to do in Chicago (see the announcement for Pierre Joris’ reading at the end of the post) we decided that 40 hours of confinement —that is if there are no delays— will be  ideal to enjoy…or test our relationship!
More recipes and food reports will come soon. Meanwhile I am leaving you with a poem I wrote after a very inspiring visit to the Georgia O’Keefe: Abstraction show at the Whitney Museum. The piece was written using some titles of the paintings and a few lines from the Sarabeth’s advertisement brochure I had picked up at the coat check and used as a note pad. I read it at the Bowery Poetry Club on Sunday and you can read and hear it below. Voilà for now and off to the windy city!

Click here to hear the recording

January 7th, 2010 —
For & W/ Georgia O’Keeffe
By Nicole Peyrafitte

Inside a clam shell
In the evening
Clam shell again
Painted and pungent
Red Black & Night

Black place #1
Black place #2
Black place #3

A wonderful redefinition
Of yellow sweet peas
An impressive wave
In the pool
In the woods
In lake George
Pink & green

Alligator pears
Shipped to Alaska
Red & pink
Ballet skirt or
Electric light
We will not be responsible
For black abstraction

At the rodeo
Music pink & blue #2
On Wednesdays only
A train
At night
In the desert
Black white & blues

The touchstone; a portrait
Or jack in the pulpit
A piece of wood
Sandwiches, snacks, pastries, muffins
Coffee and desserts
All above the clouds in 1963
Special
Very special

Special #8
Special #12
Special #17

A tent door
At night
Everything she created
Blue & green
Though pelvis series
Red & yellow
Watch for the opening
My last door
Black door
With red
Yolk like
Ever morphing feelings
Cosmic walk
On
An
Untitled red wave
Eggshell abstraction with
Circle

———————————————————————————

For your information:
Pierre Joris’ reading in Chicago :
Chi Reading
Fri Jan 29 5:30pm

We sure started the year “en fanfare”…that is: not so discretely! Our new year’s eve  adventures started at 6:30pm for hors d’oeuvres & cocktails at the house of good friends. Thanks god I passed on the very tempting Campari martinis and settled for white white.  The tasty and nurturing Zabar’s appetizers (great chicken liver paté), provided the healthy layer for the boisterous night to come!
Next stop was Pocha 32 —32th street in Manhattan— a quite exotic Korean drinking establishment decorated with fish nets and soju bottle caps. Soju is the Korean national drink. The main ingredient of soju is rice, almost always in combination with other ingredients such as wheat, barley, or sweet potatoes. Soju is clear-colored and typically varies in alcohol content from 10% to 25% proof. It was first known to have been distilled around 1300 A.D and believed to have been brought over to Korea by the Mongol invasion.  I have  a serious problems with Soju:  I have a tendency of drinking it at the same pace as wine and forgetting the alcohol content!

Fishnets and Soju bottle-caps decorations at Pocha 32 (32nd street NYC)

Expertly counseled by our daughter in law we also tasted a very refreshing —and treacherous— beverage: Mak Gul Li (막걸리). This traditional fermented, unfiltered & milky looking liquor is brought to the table in a tin tea kettle and served in bowls. We tried two kinds: one was made with rice and the other  with millet. The rice one looked, and tasted, like carbonated fermented sweet rice milk. The intense yellow/green millet one was a touch more bitter, richer with a more complex finish.

What can be better than spicy tripe and octopus dishes to enhance these potions? Maybe more soup? I got a taste of the fish cake soup (어묵탕), then came Seafood Pah jun (해물파전), spicy stir fried tripes (소곱창 볶음) , followed by spicy baby octopus with pork belly (쭈꾸미 삼겹살 볶음). Overall the food was decent but as I was in a party mood I might have missed some subtleties—though I did noticed the horrible mushy over cooked rice!

After a few hours of jolly time at Pocha, we felt the need to move and one of us had heard of a rooftop bar next near by. We had no trouble finding it and that is were we comfortably settled to toast the new year. The 14th Floor Roof Top bar of the La Quinta Hotel looks up to the Empire State Building —for which I wrote and recorded the French audio tour, and last I heard it is still on! To our surprise the place was not crowded at all but boasted the kind of eclectic bunch of people  only New York City can bring together. So it was with a motley crew of Puertoricans, Mexicans, Filipinos, Koreans, Japanese, French, Germans —and even a young man from Luxembourg,  to Pierre’s astonishment! — that we celebrated well into the night with bubbly clear fermented grape!

It was hard to wake up the next day,  and our stomachs felt a little unsettled, but we showed up right on time to set up my crêpes station at St. Mark Church for the 36th Annual Marathon Reading. Pierre read first and didn’t get my act together to film him —sorry!— The crêpes got sold out pretty quickly. It was really nice to have blog readers stop by say hello —Merci! The place was packed through out the day and despite much of my time spent in the back I got to listen to some very nice reading and music. Voilà! and let’s start the year with a touch of  Gascon language:

Bona annada, plan granada, e de hèra d’autas accompanhada!