Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The people

While we were staying in the gîte, we saw the news that Dominique Strauss-Kahn was being exonerated of the criminal charges against him. That is, the charges were being dropped. We were glued to the television for about thirty minutes during a special broadcast. I'm not sure how much we actually heard, though, as we were all talking about everything at the same time.

Gathering around the tv in the laptop and smartphone age is almost as quaint as gathering around the radio might have seemed in the 1950s. Left to right: Ken, Evelyn, Mary, Lewis.

The television was our only connection to the outside world. It received the TNT signal (télévision numérique terrestre) which is France's name for standard digital tv. There are eighteen free channels available, but you need a digital tv set or a TNT decoder box to receive them. The old analog signals aren't available any more.

Of course, it wasn't long before we found that the tourist office in the nearby town of Mortagne had a wifi setup. Soon we were back online, if only for brief moments at a time.

14 comments:

  1. Love your comparison about sitting around the radio. That was the thought that came to mind when I looked at your Rockwell-like photo. Wonderful.

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  2. I bet that was an interesting conversation. I'm shaking my head at how this DSK thing turned out.

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  3. I love this photo. You should photograph people more often. I work hard to get my light settings just right.
    m.

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  4. Walt

    That's what we did in Maine. No Internet access at the cottage but we went to the town library every second day on our way to the market or grocery store.

    BTW: DSK and Anne Sinclair will be back in France on Sunday morning.

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  5. Strauss Kahn was NOT exonerated. The DA decided that the case wasn't strong enough to bring to trial. The defendant and her attorney thought differently. That's it. He had sex with the maid - that's not in doubt.

    There's nothing for him and his wife to smirk about.

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  6. Ah yes, perhaps the maid simply has a thing for butt-ugly men (right!), or money changed hands.

    So, hat back in the ring?

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  7. You don't suppose someone in the government pulled some strings, do you?

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  8. Well, here is a link to the letter written by the DSK prosecution to the DSK defense team. It explicitly outines the reasons the case was dropped:

    http://www.businessinsider.com/da-the-maid-lied-to-the-grand-jury-letter-prosecutors-2011-7

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  9. The gîte looks very homey in a vintage country-french way. I would have enjoyed hearing a little about the conversation tones regarding DSK.

    I like the reflection of the light on the floor behind Lewis. His shirt and the chair seat also have the light reflection (another window behind him, perhaps?).

    A wonderful photo of the group's faces based upon the content they were listening to.

    Mary in Oregon

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  10. Mary

    If you look at the mirror on the wall, next to Ken , you will see a spot light in between two beams on the ceiling. I believe it this light reflecting on the chair and the back of Lewis.

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  11. What Mitch said above. My thoughts exactly. Very perceptive comment.

    Love the lighting in the photo.

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  12. Mary, the gite had unusually good lighting somehow at night.
    I doubt if we'll never know what really went on with DSK at the Sofitel.

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  13. mitch, we're so quaint.

    carolyn, I'm not sure we were even talking about DSK...

    mark, pure luck. I took one with a flash that I didn't like at all.

    t.b., we just heard that!

    anon, what is in doubt is the veracity of the woman's story.

    john, I don't think so. Recent polls are saying that a slim majority of people in his party don't want him to run.

    starman, the current government is the opposition party. Some have suggested (without any evidence) that the government or their party were behind the whole thing to begin with because DSK was polling ahead of Sarkozy before all this happened.

    diogenes, thanks. That's pretty much what they've been reporting in the news.

    mary, there was a torchère lamp in the corner behind Lewis.

    ginny, thanks!

    evelyn, I think you're right.

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