It's Friday, let's get into the week-end groove with a run on the Lego Field.

I am far from being a football fanatic ('soccer fan').

I still found the good natured Lego World Cup 2010 Videos by Lego Fussball fun to watch.

Besides South Africa-Mexico (above), there are 10 more games including Slovenia-England and Germany-Australia.

Too hot to run after a ball here today!

Need some dishes with South African flavors to go with the game Barbecue South African Style, Cape Wine Braai Masters is perfect pick.

Was the location decided in homage to his first hit Le Poinçonneur des Lilas ('the subway ticket puncher' 1964) ?

In any case Gainsbourg is now a garden in Paris (19ème arrondissement ).

Located near Porte des Lilas above the Peripherique as you can see (picture above), Le Jardin Serge Gainsbourg does not try to have all its plant domesticated.

The 'natural prairie' would not be out of place on some rocky hills of southern France.

Is there a smoking section?

Thanks to Damien Steffan of Mairie de Paris for sharing details with us.

(Jardin Serge Gainsbourg page is in French, photos by Anne Thomes).

It looked for a while like Screen on the Green a beloved summer program in Washington DC would not make it to its 11th edition due to funding issues.

Thanks to a grassroots online campaign, sponsors (HBO and Comcast) finally stepped up to the plate.

Here's the 2010 program:

Dan Zack of Washington Post describes Screen on the Green (on May 26) as "classic movies, Cabernet-stained picnic blankets, deflated wedges of brie and boobs who insist on sitting in high-rise camping chairs."

To celebrate their new lease on life they are throwing a kick-off party at Spy Museum on July 8.

Under the milky way for 4 nights of movie magic...

How many of us have tried to make kids eat they are not crazy about or simply have never tried?

Japanese might have found a solution with Bento boxes but what of the rest of us?

Maybe it takes a Brit to solve the problem.

In the same way that Eat Me Magazine takes formality out of food, Funky Lunch turns Lunch into Happy Faces.

They make healthy stuff look enticing.

Their site share many ideas which I am sure you can remix with your own ingredients.

If not for Lunch some of their creations will be a hit at parties, even grown ups parties I should say, the canape type.

They turned the fruits of their imagination into a book (picture above) published in May 2010.

To give credit where it's due, I discovered Funky Lunch thanks to Idee Mag (a French Food Site)

Bite She Says, not the fruit of the original sin, rather a juicy strawberry.

Cover Girl for Issue 2 of Eat Me Magazine, Food is Fun with this new glossy...

You can now Subscribe to the Magazine online .

When they are not putting the magazine together, they go out for dinner sometimes, recently at Saigon Saigon (June 23).

I have not had a copy in my hand yet so I cannot tell you how much better Issue 2 is.

I don't know if Grandma and the Big Bad Wolf are regulars at this Wine Bar.

All I can say is that Le Trou du Loup ('the wolf's hole') has an air of mystery to it.

One thing for sure you will find Stephane Delanoe the owner who turned a well known 'auberge' into a 'bar a vins' a wine bar which opened its doors in February 2010.

High above Besancon after the Tunnel of Morre, the Trou du Loup is also a permanent showcase for the paintings of Yves Hasselmann. Find one you like order it on the spot.

The art and wine blend is not surprising once you learn that Stephane Delanoe was a professional musician for 15 years.

As for the wine and the food, you will find Grands Crus, Local Wines, Organic Ones and a selection of wines by the glass refreshed weekly:

Red Wines:

Vin de table de France Gueule de Loup de Roquefort 14% 2,50 €

AOC Côtes du Jura Poulsard 2008 - Domaine Baud 12,5% 3,50 €

Vins de Pays de l’Ardèche Le Mazel Cuvée Briand Organic 13% 3,50 €

AOC Cotes de Bergerac Château Masburel 2000 Quality of St Emilion 13% 4,00 €

White Wines:

Vin de Pays Côtes du Luberon La Vieille Ferme (Perrin & Fils)  13% 2,50 €

Vin de Pays de l’Ardèche Le Mazel Cuvée Les Lèches Organic 14% 3,50 €

AOC Cotes du Jura Rosé Rosé floral Domaine Grand 13% 2,50 €

AOC Montravel Château Masburel 2001 Coup de coeur 13% 4,00 €

Sparkling:

Crémant du Jura brut Domaine Rolet 12% 4,00 €

Champagne brut tradition Brigandat et fils 12% 8,00 €

Champagne ½ bouteille brut  Billecart Salmon 37,5 cl (= about 4 flutes) 12% 19,90 €

(voted best of world by Decanter)

You must have noted the accent on Jura for the local flavor.

Hungry as well as thirsty, order a cheese plate or a selection of saucisson, ham and other cuts or smoked trout.

It will taste better if you sit outside this summer.

Summer is here, school's out and July in New York brings us Japan Cuts, festival of contemporary Japanese cinema at Japan Society from July 1 to July 16, 2010.

With 25 titles and 32 screenings, this is the largest showcase of contemporary Japanese film
outside Japan, with international and U.S. premieres as is the case for Zero Focus (below).



Special guests include filmmakers Momoko Ando, Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Tomorowo Taguchi, Toshiaki Toyoda, Hitoshi Yazaki, and Isao Yukisada; and actors Tatsuya Fujiwara and Daichi Watanabe.

It's also a chance to party in style with Festival Launch Party on July 1st, SUSHI TYPHOON! on July 3rd and NIGHT OF THE FILMMAKERS on July 10th.

In addition to independent and big budget feature films from the past year and 8 titles co-presented with the New York Asian Film Festival, the 2010 edition caps the decade with the Best of Unreleased Japanese Films of the 00's (Best of the "Naughties"), a digest of overlooked films from the past ten years which-for whatever reason-have not been treated to U.S. distribution.

One of theses Best of Naughties (no pun intended) is 'Electric Button' Moon and Cherry (pictured above) by woman director Yuki Tanada which the program says is "recalling traditional "Pinku Eiga" (porn for refined sensibilities) in form--but radically different in detail, the film is both sweet and dryly unsentimental while effortlessly dancing across the lines of comedy, drama, romance and eroticism. Yuki Tanada rethinks the erotic film from a decidedly "woman on top" perspective."

At the movies for Tokyo Thursdays # 145

Previously: Masashi Asada's Photography Keeps it In the Family, Asadake Exhibit, Paris, Til June 18

Want to start a collection, buy one piece and help an artist finance her way to grad school, here's your chance.

Portand based artist Michelle Ramin whose work I mentioned a couple of times is auctioning her way to San Francisco Art Institute for a MFA in painting.

Here's the deal (in her own words):

"Intent: To auction off as much of the artwork as I have in my studio for as much money as possible in order for me to go to SFAI for my MFA this fall.

How is this going to work, you may ask? Simple. Every day, beginning June 24 until July 24, I will be posting a new piece of art up for auction on this site. You may choose to bid on this piece or hold out until a piece you really love shows up days later. It will be available for bidding for 24 hours, from midnight until midnight the day the piece is posted. I will start the bid very low and also list the retail price (my “normal” price) of the work so that you know how much of a deal you are getting. Some pieces may start at 5 bucks, others 500 depending on how large the work, how much time I’ve spent, how much money it took to make the piece, etc. On July 24, I will be ending the online auction and having an opening reception at FalseFront in NE Portland where you may come and bid on larger, more expensive pieces. It will be a beautiful show as well as an art sale, and we are also working on having a BBQ during the day and perhaps even a homemade ice cream social. It should be tons of fun! So come on out!"

First piece is Key West Balcony, 4″ x 4″, Acrylic and Pen on Birch Panel (below) put on Auction on June 23 (auction closes on June 25)...After this initial one, Michelle writes that all auctions will be up from midnight until midnight ONLY!

Bonne Chance, As we say in France...

Annmarie was the first one to dish out the right answer in our Ciao Bella Book of Gelato contest.

She wins a copy of this guide to earthly delights...

Annmarie lifts the curtain on a few of her passions for us:

A round of applause for Annmarie...

(illustration is 'Orange Sorbet' on page 120 of 'Ciao Bella Book of Gelato and Sorbetto')

Should art spaces be staid affairs?

As museums bring music and restaurants inside their walls, why wouldn't art in all its forms find its place in wine bars ans small plate eateries.

Under the Heart in Motion banner, a group of people opened L' Atelier des Arts on June 19, 2010 in Brussels.

Whether you like art on the wall or in the air (say music) it will be there.

There is also a full bar and food is served.

I am still waiting to hear from them as to what the menu and the wine selection looks like.

They want both their heart and their art to beat stronger.

L' Atelier des Arts is located 9, Rue Haute in Brussels and there is outdoor sitting.

(illustrations for this piece via L'Atelier Facebook Page)