#liot music

[body-to-flame]

I WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOU!!!!!! I WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOU!!!!!! EVERYTHING YOU FEEL IS GOOD!!!!!! IF YOU WOULD ONLY LET YOU!!!!!! I WILL WASH YOUR HAIR AT NIGHT!!!! AND DRY IT OFF WITH CARE!!!!!! I WILL SEE YOUR BODY BARE!!!!!! AND STILL I WILL LIVE HERE!!!!!!!

[measuringbliss]

French Politics: Revenge of the Sith

MASTERPOST

Previously...

(click the link to see the animation; the text is otherwise available just below)

During Emmanuel Macron's first mandate, the government had it easy. The main challenge was to try and convince everybody in the country that ~le wokisme~ would lead to the end of civilization. It was also seen that having a presidential candidate financially supported by a certain Russian dictator was somehow acceptable. Adding to that, speaking out against the president became essentially banned on television. The 2022 presidential election was characterized by the left acting stupid, the right acting stupid, and the French middle-class being absolutely clueless. However, the left prepared for the legislative elections by uniting under the NUPES name...

So what can you expect to read about in this post?

In no particular order: bad nicknames, a prolonged game of musical chairs, the end of democracy, and Elon Musk. Yes, Elon Musk is involved.

Terribly, thank you.

With Macron re-elected at the end of April 2022, he had to elect a Prime Minister. As is tradition, his previous Prime Minister, Jean Castex, resigned at the end of Macron's first term, after already having replaced Edouard Philippe in the middle of the mandate.

ENTER: ELISABETH BORNE

1) BORNE-OUT

Borne had previously been minister of transport, minister of ecology and minister of labour, employment and integration. She had quite a reputation, as her previous coworkers had nicknamed her "Madame Borne-out" - an obvious play on her name and "burn-out". She was also nicknamed "Madame Bornée" (Madam Stubborn) and, as recently re-discovered, "Méchanta" (a feminized version of the word "Mean").

Obvious Prime Minister material, right?

So an incompetent wimp was followed by sadistic lady with no empathy. Surely things would go perfectly well.

2) LEGISLATIVES

Next came the time to elect representatives at the National Assembly. Wikipedia describes it as the lower house of the French Parliament, the other, higher house being the Senate. We don't care about the Senate (for now), because the National Assembly is what votes on laws, while the Senate theoretically moderates the NA. The NA is more proeminent and its members are elected by the people.

Basically, the National Assembly is the core battlefield of this game of musical chairs.

I know it may be a bit boring, but you need to understand the basics to understand the drama. Think of it as the opening episodes of a Game of Thrones season, before shit hits the fan.

The National Assembly is constituted by 577 members, which means the majority sits at 289 seats. Usually, the president's party has most seats and thus, can basically do what they want.

"Usually."

As stated in the opening crawl, the French Left united until a single name (while still retaining their individual parties): NUPES. Basically, they would support each other and try to put a single candidate in each territory, instead of fighting against each other. Two communist parties opted out, as they didn't appreciate the main (but weakened) left party taking so much space in the coalition.

So here are the key parliamentary groups: NUPES (the left union), LIOT (utilitarian center union; they don't necessarily share views), Ensemble (Together, Macron's union), UDC (the right) and RN (far-right).

"Nobody won," said Gabriel Attal, the government's spokesperson at the time.

Macron's Ensemble party got 245 seats, so they didn't get a majority. For a while, it was thought the NUPES (the left union) might get the majority, but nope, they "only" got 131 seats - still consequent. A very bad surprise, however, came in the form of the far-right getting 89 seats, a historical score and more than the right union (64). However, Nazi newcomer Eric Zemmour didn't secure any seat for his far-right party so hey, we'll take the small victories.

So let's talk alliances: the Left union had 131 seats (32%). The Right (Macron + UDC) had 245 + 64 (38% + 7%). LIOT was a wild card (or rather, comprised of wild cards). You might assume that Macron's party, definitely right-wing, would get on just fine with the other right union, and strategically-speaking, they have 309 seats, that is, the majority.

However... Les Républicains, UDC's main party on the right, is presided by Eric Ciotti.

Let's play a game.

Here are two Nazis. One pretends to follow the same ideas as the government, and one pretends to follow the same ideas as the government. Who's who? You've got two hours.

So the two Right coalitions don't see eye to eye, but don't worry! Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, said that Marine Le Pen (far-right) was "too soft". He also continually supports cops. So what I'm saying is that the two Right coalitions are enemies but also very similar. Still, a lot of pride and resentment.

This also means the government is majorly fascist. Surely nothing might go wrong.

3) ENTER: 49.3

What is 49.3?

Pronounced /ka.ʁɑ̃tnœftʁwɑ/, 49.3 is an infamous part of the French Constitution. Americans have the Second Amendment, well we have 49.3.

49.3 exists exactly to face the kind of situation that the National Assembly is in: with no guarantee that a law will be approved by the NA, the Prime Minister might be tempted to bypass it completely. In doing so, the Prime Minister opens the possibility for the opposition to submit a vote of no confidence. If the National Assembly approves the vote of no confidence, the law is rejected and the Government is disassembled - only the President stays. That means organizing new Legislative Elections. If the vote of no confidence is rejected, the law is approved, goes to the Senate, then goes back to the National Assembly for a second read.

There's a big limitation to 49.3: you can't use it at will. That would be preposterous. Imagine a Prime Minister using 49:3 eleven times in six months. Couldn't happen, right?

Elisabeth Borne, by whom I really mean Emmanuel Macron, decided to do exactly that.

Ordinarily, the Prime Minister (so Borne) is only able to use 49:3 once per year... except for laws related to finances. And oh, would you look at that, Macron had a big project planned for a long time:

la réforme des retraites

The idea is to basically extended how long we need to the national pool for retirement, before we can retire ourselves and benefit from pension. There's been a fair bit of manipulation here: the government announced they would prolong the length by two years, then less than that, then more.. But it doesn't account for people who do hard work like construction workers and the likes. People die before reaching that age. Among other young people, we often joke that we won't get any pension, but it's out of apathy, really. It's a horrible reform, it creates more gender inequality and most of all, it's unneeded. The government's justification is that it's necessary, otherwise the country will be heavily indebted by 2050, but it's obviously a pretext. Dozens of experts have said he's wrong - but Macron loves to listen to people who agree with him. Know what we could do instead?

Currently, there's a guy who's richer than goddamn Elon Musk. His name is Bernard Arnault. He's the richest (officially) guy in the world. He's also French. He could fund everybody's pension for decades.

So. Anyway.

People were opposed to that reform from the very start, even in 2019-2020. Our deputies at the National Assembly filibustered for a while (basically sending thousands of amendments to be studied, most notably the Left union NUPES, while the Far-Right party RN's attempt at filibuster were lukewarm at best). Macron (through his Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe) used 49.3 to bypass the amendments... but then there were a lot of protests, and do you know what else happened at that time?

COVID-19, our beloved!

One positive consequence of the pandemic was that the government was so busy facing it (with no competence whatsoever, aside from lying a lot to the population) that they just gave up on any bill they were trying to pass.

The pandemic didn't stop, but everyone pretended it did, so here we were in 2022, and Macron was once again trying to make everybody accept his goddamn reform. Once again, filibuster happened and then Macron (through his Prime Minister, Borne) started using 49.3 like there's no tomorrow.

From October to December 2022, Borne used 49:3 ten times. Then on January 23th, 2023...

"Look out! New rule!"

The government taught us there were more than 3 numbers...

Bitches, bros and nonbinary hoes: please welcome 47.1!

Pronounced ka.ʁɑ̃t.sɛtœ̃, 47.1 is the bad guy reappearing after you thought he'd been blown up already, but with broken teeth. It basically says to the deputies:

"Hey, if you don't vote for me quickly, I'll be automatically approved :-) Oh, and you can't filibuster your way through this either <3"

The bill would then go to the Senate (with a shortened debate time too), then again at the National Assembly.

"People know 49.3, it's very unpopular because it's brutal. But nobody knows about 47.1, it makes things easier for us," said a clueless Macron deputy.

People complained, because while they were confused at what exactly 47.1 entailed, they knew it was basically 49.3 with makeup.

Which it was.

4) NO CONFIDENCE

So the pension bill was voted at the Senate on March 11th, 2023. On March 15th, a Joint Committee approved it and added some stuff. On March 16th, the Senate approved the changes.

THEN IT WAS TIME... FOR THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY... TO VOTE FOR THE BILL AGAIN.

At this point, the bill was more than unpopular. Polls estimated than more than 70% of the French population was against the pension reform. The left-wing NUPES comprising 32% of the seats was very much against the bill. The far-right RN had also made it clear that they were against it (17%), as they'll do anything to be contrarian to the government - they're populists, after all. Even the right-wing-but-not-Macronist UDC (7%) was not very supportive of the bill - contrarians, proud, and a bit clueless too. But some of them truly believe the bill sucks, which is nice. They're not *all* unreasonable.

So Elisabeth Borne used her favorite secret weapon that we were beginning to miss:

i hope you appreciate my quality montage

Borne 49.3'd her way through the bill, inviting everybody to gang up on her for a vote of no confidence.

The next day, Friday, two motions were submitted:

the first one by LIOT, the center alliance. It was the most likely to be approved, contrary to...

the second one by RN, the right-wing party. It wasn't likely to be approved because the RN is (rightfully) stigmatized.

The votes would take place on the following Monday, after the weekend.

5) MONEY IS MAN'S BEST FRIEND

"Nobody asked you." (Arkunir proceeded to ratio Elon Musk a few more times, as well as Macron himself.)

Do you know how to easily get the approbation of a people who's protesting against a financial reform? Just get a billionaire to support you! I'm sure this will not make anything worse. Macron loves dem billionaires, after all he gave the Légion d'Honneur (an official reward) to Jeff Bezos, you know, the Amazon guy, earlier during his second mandate. Macron also has very shady links to McKinsey...

So anyway, what a weekend. Americans started speaking out, complaining about us lazy French (to them, I'll reply: mobilize for your rights!), in particular Elon Musk, who proceeded to get ratio'd (the Twitter equivalent of getting owned) multiple times by French people.

Meanwhile, Aurore Bergé, controversial chief of Macron's party for her many bad faith arguments at the National Assembly, enjoined the right to own up to what some of them had been saying against the bill for weeks. So she basically unintentionally motivated some right-wing deputies to vote favorably to the motions of no confidence.

"Let's all get behind Aurore Bergé!"

Naturally, a lot of people joked about it. Some of us almost thought she was trying to destroy the party from inside.

Monday arrived, and I couldn't do anything except watch the hours-long stream of the National Assembly, starting at 4pm.

One member of every party gave a speech, basically repeating what they'd been saying. It was boring, endless, and it ended with Adrien Quatennens, and oh my god I haven't even talked about him but who cares, he's irrelevant for this portion of our history, but I still had to mention him as he represented people who don't belong to a specific party. I'll probably explain the deal about him when the time comes to talk about the 2027 presidential elections. This post is already long enough as is.

Then the votes finally happened. There was an agonizing 30 minutes to vote, and at the end of the first one (LIOT's)... It hadn't been approved. Basically all of the left, the far-right and LIOT had voted, and we only needed about 25 members of LR (the right who's not with Macron). We got a few of them, but not enough. The second vote was irrelevant. We had lost.

OR HAD WE?

Protests kept going. Actually, protests got bigger. Without much consultation, protests took place in the evening just after the vote.

In fact, as I'm writing this, the protests haven't stopped.

6) So, are we in a totalitarian state?

Study.com did a helpful explanation of what is a totalitarian state that I'll condense in simple points:

Rule by a single party: Macron certainly likes to think that's the case.

Control of the media: You could make a case for this. Officially, we have freedom of speech. Unofficially, journalists can't contradict the president. The medias love to pretend they're neutral when they're decidedly not (and a lot of big medias are owned by a fascist billionaire).

Control of education: Does defunding public education count? Possibly. The state of education in this country is regrettable, in spite of a lot of professors trying their very best.

Control of the population through propaganda, terror and intimidation: Police brutality is generalized, and Darmanin, Minister of Interior, wrongly declared that it was illegal for unwarned protests to take place. The cops enforce this fake rule by fining people who're there with no reason. There is definitely an attempt to quell the rebellion, not by listening to opponents, but by pushing through.

Control of the economy: 11 uses of an anti-democracy failsafe for the economy certainly looks like it.

The Council of Europe, Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders and Iran (yeah...) called out France for its police brutality. My university has been blocked for a week and a half and has already confirmed that it will be blocked next week as well. There are recordings - actual recordings! - where cops threaten young people, and we know this isn't a rare case at all. Lots of aggression.

A kid just died during his high school final exam because the adults refused to help him.

Marion Game, the French voice of Lois in Malcolm in the Middle or Mallory Archer in Archer, died. She was a beloved actress. I'll miss her.

Not all of this is linked to the rest, but France is having a hard time right now.

7) Remember who the real enemy is

On March 22nd, Macron did an interview at 1pm, obviously speaking to the only part of the population that loves his pension reform: people who're already retired. He repeated what he's been saying for years: "The French people elected me for my program." even though he acknowledged, when he got re-elected, that a consequent (the majority, in fact) part of his voters had only done so to counter the far-right.

Macron also said, "The [Insert offensive term for people who only earn minimal wage] have never had a better purchasing power," which is bold, both because he was even more condescending than usual, and also because EVERYTHING IS HORRIBLY EXPENSIVE.

Around the same time, the French journal Libération said the following:

"When on March 21, Macron said that 'the mob, whichever it is, has no legitimacy compared to the people who affirm its sovereignty through elections', he disowns democracy three times. First off, he disowns any popular aspect of the protests, regardless of what they are, because if the mob has no legitimacy (although it is supported by unanimous unions) over one of the biggest opposition protests of the history of the 5th Republic (even with the support of the vast majority of society, especially among the workforce)... It means a social movement can't be recognized as the voice of the people."

The two other ways, summarized:

Macron's opinion isn't the voice of the people, as he can still act against the nation's interest

opposing "the crowd" and "the electors" disowns social democracy, ie. workers unions, through which the people also speak

I think it's a great formulation of what's going on.

What do you mean, that's not a King Charles?

Things aren't that bad, though. Macron had to ask King Charles III to not come visit France right now. He didn't expect the protests to get worse (for him) after the failed vote of no confidence.

Adèle Haenel, one of the leads in Portrait of a Lady on Fire and real-life lesbian, spoke out in favor of the workers and said feminists had to take part in the fight.

We got our own version of MinetaGate: in an interview given to the main gay magazine in France, Têtu, Olivier Dussopt, the Minister of Labour, said two things:

He came out as gay, which is something that we, the gay community, immediately rejected

He said that the government might need to use 49.3 again

It worked out so well last time...

Anyway...

I'll simply conclude with what the chief of the General Worker's Confederation said in regard to this interview:

"Either [Macron]'s completely unfamiliar with our system and that's very serious, or he's fucking with us."

[japan-korea]

Less expin Japan. I hear More kpop and American music..seems a level less formal..not AS tradition bound in as much...seems like feel pretty accepted - history tying the countries..good or bad, American influence that makes some things feel alk8nd of welcoming/familar..liots of clothing w American university names, etc. Japan has sumo, kabuki, Geisha inf - beautiful trad arts - f

Can be more boisterous with friends etc on street - and seems more blurring of public amdnprivate persona global pop culture thing

[jim-reid]

Eyewitness - The Jesus and Mary Chain Riot

John Harris / Q Mag Witness: Various Event: The Jesus And Mary Chain Riot Date: March 15, 1985 Location: North London Polytechnic

Having carefully whipped up a minor furore with their "buzzsaw pop" and fun-sized live shows, Scotland's premier Scuzzadelic oiks found themselves at the centre of - eek! - a real-life breach of public order. John Harris rounds up the culprits and gets some feedback. Neil Taylor (NME writer and first journalistic JAMC champion): The article about what happened at North London Poly was the second or third piece on the Mary Chain that I'd done in a week. I'd done a review of the show at the Three Johns pub in Islington - there were 20 people there, and a week later 200 were claiming to have gone. The piece caused quit a sensation for the band: I said they were the most exciting group I'd seen since Joy Division. I'd spent the last three years writing about English pop groups who were influenced by ideas that had this cuddly DIY outlook - The Wedding Present, Shop Assistants, BMX Bandits - and then along came this band who had a real Fuck You attitude. You could tell the potential was larger. Jim Reid (JAMC vocalist): People were waiting for something to react to. There was nothing around at the time: the early '80s was probably the lowest point in musical history. People wanted a bit of nastiness, trashiness. We kind of knew what we were up to. Some people were going to see what we were doing as genius, and some people were going to see it as an insult. Even at some of the early gigs, violence broke out. There were always people who were outraged by what we were trying to pass off as music. But North London Poly was different. It was on another scale. We were quite shocked. Alan McGee (Creation Records head honcho, then also Mary Chain manager): You've got to see it in context. Gigs now are not a threatening experience, but gigs in the mid-'80s - because it was just after punk - had this kind of football element. Once you crossed the boundaries of good taste, it just seemed to appear. Neil Taylor: What happened at North London Poly was a result of what happened at the Fire Station on the Old Kent Road - which was packed - and that was a result of what happened at the Three Johns. At the Fire Station, people were complaining that the band wouldn't talk to the audience or that they'd only played for 15 minutes. At the same time, their popularity was building - so by the time they got to North London Poly, it was quite a volatile combination. Some people actually wanted to be abused, everyone wanted to know more about it, and it just flared up. Alan McGee: Meat Whiplash went on first. Halfway through the set, Stevie, the guitar player, threw a wine bottle into the audience. He was a nutter. Somebody got on stage to belt him, but he and the rest of the band ran away, except for Eddie Connolly, the bass player. So he got socked. The next band on was the Jasmine Minks, and they went on carrying clawhammers. They wanted people to see they were tooled up. I said, "What the fuck are you doing?" and they said, "If it goes off, it goes off." So the audience had a bottle thrown at them, the second band went on with hammers... is it any wonder it all went off?

Jim Reid: We were watching what was going on from backstage. It was obvious that a bunch of people had come to cause trouble. There were a gang of people who were up for a ruck: probably people who'd read about the gig at the Three Johns. We'd heard there were people in the crowd with baseball bats. And there wasn't any security! People could get on the stage if they wanted - and there were people out there with weapons! They could just get up and pound your head in. Everyone was very uptight. Neil Spencer: I turned up with my girlfriend, just in time to see the Jasmine Minks. I was anticipating enormous problems with the audience - they crammed in all these people, and they weren't prepared for it. There was no security, no system in place to take care of what was likely to happen. It got out of control partly because of the dialogue going to and from the stage: people shouting about whether they actually were the "best band in seven years", which was a comment I'd made in my review, responding to Jim Reid's attitude, people shouting "Rubbish!", pushing and shoving. Jim Reid: I'd had enough beers to feel kind of numbed. It was definitely Dutch courage. I could see the people who'd come to cause trouble right in front of me, making gestures, saying they were going to rip my head off. I was too drunk to be scared. We played for 15 or 20 minutes, and then it was just chaos. Joe Foster (early JAMC producer, soundman, guitar tech): There were some guys at the front of the stage who pulled Jim into the crowd, with the basic intention of ending his career as a singer. I dived off stage, slapped a couple of them and jumped back up. But the college security guys wouldn't let us back up. It was like they wanted us to die! Neil Spencer: They came on. Two and a half minutes of feedback, general abuse. They started to perform, and a fight developed. They went off stage, came back on stage, the equipment got pushed off, and the police were completely incompetent. It was impossible for them to deal with it. There was no animosity towards them: they were just caught in the middle, with their helmets falling off. Joe Foster: Someone knocked a PA stack over and it all went downhill. It seemed to last forever. I remember going out front, finding all these student girlies hurling speakers at each other. Jim Reid: I think it was Pete Astor (of the Weather Prophets) who told me that there were all these Japanese girls at the back, pulling at the curtain, shouting, "Liot! Liot!" Neil Taylor: I did actually get thumped. One person came up to me and hit me, for having partially created all of it. It wasn't Chris Eubank territory, but it was a punch. I got out of there pretty quickly. Jim Reid: After we came off, we were in our dressing room, and we heard all this pounding on a door down the corridor. It was an angry mob banging on a cupboard door, thinking it was our dressing room! I remember peeking out of the door, watching these people shouting, "Get the bastards! Get the bastards!" I don't know what their problem was: maybe we played too short, maybe we went on late... maybe people had been listening to all this crap music for too long. Neil Taylor: I wrote the story. I phoned up the NME and said, "Hold pages two and three!" It was a news piece, a double page spread. Very factual. And it was great for them, because suddenly everyone was after them. They went from calling me up and coming down on the coach to having record companies fly them up and down. Joe Foster: It was after that gig that the whole riot thing seemed to take off to an incredible extent. And it made us feel that we were right to be kicking against all this crap: people saying, Ooh, Boy George is a great singer, and all that sickly stuff. You know, 2,000 rioting maniacs can't be wrong... Alan McGee: Once it went off, it was out of control. People say I hired people to start it, which is absolute rubbish. I wasn't trying to have a riot; I was 24 years old and I thought I was Malcolm McLaren. I was just having a laugh. But it changed me. Up until then, it had all been quite voyeuristic: cranking it up, seeing what happened. When it actually did go off, it was horrible. This all relates to the whole Blur/Oasis thing, actually. You know they were going to do gigs in Bournemouth on the same day? I said to Noel, "This is a very dangerous thing. I've been through this shit with the Mary Chain". The minute you start doing Blur v. Oasis in Bournemouth, you'll get football fans coming along for the fight. Jim Reid: We played the Electric Ballroom in Camden a few weeks later, and that's when it all got to be a bad joke. I think at the beginning it happened for the right reasons. It was sort of spontaneous, even though trouble was expected. By the time we played there, people were coming with copies of the NME under their arm, looking at the photos of North London Poly, like, "This is how you do it..." It took a while to get away from it. We'd keep walking on stage and being met with a shower of bottles. Funnily enough, I got beaten up about three weeks after it, by people who said they'd been there. Four or five guys beat the shit out of me at a Nick Cave gig, saying, "and if we ever see your drummer again..." Alan McGee: The Mary Chain used to regularly get their heads kicked in at that time. Them and The Birthday Party just brought out the violence in people. Neil Taylor: Was it a riot? The weekly papers referred to it as a riot, but if you go back to my piece, it's only the headline that has the word in it. But, you know, I'd say 40 people fighting is getting there. It wasn't aggression against law and order, which is what you'd usually expect a riot to be; and there wasn't that much aggression against the band: it was just something that was brought out in people by the very nature of the experience. It was all fantastically exciting. 

[deadinsidekid-blog]

(ChilDrenOFTheClOut)

[almostdiplomatic]

Hello everyone. I haven’t been here for a hot minute due to so many reasons – from the pandemic to anxiety, focusing on Youtube and Instagram, a death in the family, and so many other reasons that will bore you. But hey – I’m back and in a way, I think I should have gone back sooner as writing has always helped me cope with so many things. Especially when I’m writing about something that puts a smile on my face. Case in point, I have a pretty big one on right now as I type about the dining experience I recently had in Bricole.

This restaurant which has been around for over three years now – an eternity in Berlin terms – was able to survive the city’s highly competitive gastronomy scene due to its innovative fine dining menus that offer quite the foodie experience without breaking the bank.

Tucked away in Prenzlauer Berg, Bricole is nestled in a leafy, family-friendly area of the city. Small shops thrive in this area, still on a roll in resisting rampant gentrification. “You don’t need a fancy address to attract those who are really interested with good food,” Bricole’s Fabian Fischer shared over dinner.  “We started with a very relaxed atmosphere where people can laugh. If you don’t have this too formal attitude then people won’t be that intimidated.”

With over 200 different types of wine and menus that range between four to six courses, Bricole can seem pretty intimidating on paper but definitely warm and cosy once you step into the restaurant. Friendly faces paired with the patience to explain what goes into each dish, Bricole’s team is a group of 5 that has gotten closer during the pandemic. A challenge they were able and still surviving from.

Now that the city has allowed people to dine in restaurants again, Bricole has opened up 22 seats plus two more at their bar. Keeping the appropriate distance is – of course – observed. But don’t worry – the dining experience can actually make you forget that the world is really going crazy, even just for a little while.

Quite an unforgettable menu at Bricole

To start off the meal, you get amazingly-soft bread that comes with caramel butter. I have a thing for butter as it just makes absolutely anything better. If only we can smother the world’s problems with butter then utopia is at hand. But alas, we have to make do with having it for food and I guess we can’t really complain there. Good news is that Bricole also sells their smooth and rather fluffy caramel butter. Just make sure to take it out of your fridge at least 10 minutes before consuming it.

The Kohlrabi (German turnip) Dumplings are a summer treat. A light and refreshing start to open up your palate. The salmon profiteroles that come after come with salmon tartare and a dash of cumin. An interesting pairing with textures that will only leave you excited for the first course.

In all my years of writing about lifestyle topics, food among them, it has rarely happened that a dish served as the first course will make such an unforgettable impression. After all, they are usually the front act or a minor band in the music festival that is your dinner. That was not the case for Bricole’s Flamed Salmon.

You get a taste of cooked, slightly smoky salmon through the outer layer of the thick-cut with the juiciness of having it raw. Swimming in a shallow pool of yoghurt dashi and creme, it adds a light tartness to each bite. I was immediately obsessed.

I love myself a great vegetarian or vegan option and Bricole’s chanterelle concoction is pretty up there on my list. You’d think there’s actual bacon inside with the way it was flavoured. The potato creme and leek sauce provide a creaminess on top of the fresh chanterelles that offer a bit of a bite.

The main highlight for me has to be the fish dish. “What? Not the meat?” you say. Why yes, believe it because it’s true. The dish is also my friends Gil and Ute’s favourite. I forgot to ask Xenia who was also with us but I’m pretty sure she enjoyed this one too.

The turbot is prepared with almond creme, coconut, merguez, and beans. It was absolutely divine and was paired with a Krebs 2015 Viogniere. A match made in heaven.

Me loving the turbot doesn’t mean I wasn’t able to appreciate the onglet, though! The rosey-perfection was tenderly served with an intense combination of parsley, chimichurri, and cherries.

For dessert, we were lucky to try the refreshing pavlova with raspberry, citrus, and macadamia. This was followed by a plate of chocolates in varying textures – my favourite was definitely the pralines in the middle with the creamiest cores. Don’t have a sweet tooth? No worries. You can also opt for a cheese plate instead.

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You pair the desserts with a Sauternes from Chateau Liot and believe me when I say I’d take it over water or coffee on any day.

What you need to know

As I mentioned earlier, Bricole offers menus that go beyond what you pay them for. Four courses will set you back EUR 49, 5 courses are at EUR 59, and you can get 6 courses for EUR 69. Adding 31, 38, and 45 Euros will allow you to pair your dishes with wine. I suggest you splurge a little and go for it as the pairings do elevate each dish.

Also, it’s worth noting that Bricole is the first restaurant I encountered in Berlin that doesn’t charge you for water – both still and sparkling. This leaves you more room for wine, in my opinion.

Since the pandemic is still around, distancing and safety are of utmost importance. Happy to report that the 22 + 2 seats offer ample space in between diners. Since there are not a lot of seats and the restaurant doesn’t do double seating, it’s best to make a reservation.

I know I will as I plan to come back. 😉

Restaurant Bricole

Senefelderstraße 30, 10437 Berlin Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 1830 till 2200 Phone: 030 84421362 Reservations: Click here

**I was a guest at Restaurant Bricole but that does not – in any way – affect my review and opinions expressed in this article.

Gastronomical Escape at Bricole in Prenzlauer Berg Hello everyone. I haven't been here for a hot minute due to so many reasons – from the pandemic to anxiety, focusing on…

[damnitjustin]

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poseidon triumphs in the eyes of rain won't give a fuck about tomorrow if i die today

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RIP Mac Miller your music will forever reach out and inspire me

</3

music >= drugs

quickly, quickly - if you only knew tobi lou - high score (prod. galimatias & noah breakfast) sir - something new ft. etta bond [outro seg.] alex lustig - enough ft. akacia alex lustig - free form jerry folk - all in me ft. heavy mellow liot - drift slowly, slowly - rosas rosaj // amine - dr. whoever [intro seg.] goosetaf - say what ft. maskman, forrest & atwood c h o i s i e s - gone bearson - get lost ft. ashe (ford. remix) hanz - pause post malone - i fall apart (lars aae remix) medasin - leaving earth 2  ekali - leaving ft. yuna louis the child - better not (telepathics remix) alex lustig - u ashe - used to it (rlstne's lo-fi remix) medasin - ramen

[body-to-flame]

hi!!!! my name is elliot 😼 demigirl she/he pronouns. I'm brazilian!! 🇧🇷🇧🇷 i have no respect for the english language so ignore if I type something wrong, its intentional ❤️ (actually its not im dumb)

Music???!!! Mitski, Boygenius, Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus, Caroline Polachek, Taylor Swift (guilty pleasure), GFRIEND, Red Velvet, Taeyeon, IU, AKMU and Fresno (I listen to a lot of artists but these are what I hear the most) (yes i was a huge kpop stan and still listen to some of them) (gfriend pls come back to me)

Shows (i dont remember anything) Yellowjackets, Killing Eve, Hannibal, Haunting series by Mike Flanagan, Fleabag, OITNB, The Office, Arcane, Hotel Del Luna, My Mister, My Liberation Notes, The Legend of Korra, Code Geass and Clannad (I've watched more than that but my memory SUCKS, i watch some movies too but you have to check my letterbox for that)

Games..... League of Legends (💀), Fortnite, Hollow Knight, Fornite, Baldur's Gate 3, Life is Strange, Until Dawn, Stardew Valley, Journey, ABZÛ, The Last of Us 2, Darkwood, Disco Elysium, Lethal Company, Portal 2

I think thats it. i mostly post abt yellowjackets and specifically jackieshauna cause im completely obsessed, and post some edit lyrics (?) of mitski and boygenius songs too !

im friendly 😭😭 please ask me something or message me!!! 😘😘😘😘

[body-to-flame]

Didn't mean to empty your perfect body

And fill it with my passing will

[body-to-flame]

Shuffle your favorite playlist and post the first five songs that come up then tag 5 people (im not tagging anyone😭)

thank YOU SO MUCH FOR TAGGING ME @loserlesbianbf

i've realized that i didnt have a proper playlist to do this, i just pick albums and listen to them 💀 i have to organize my music . anyways, i tried

1. Body to Flame by Lucy Dacus (how convenient)

2. Chantey by AKMU (Sailing is the album of my life)

3. Come into the Water by Mitski (absolutely adore this one)

4. One Kiss by Red Velvet (get ready for my kiss~ 🙈💝💞💖💓😳💓💝💓)

5. Beijo Estranho by Vanguart (i was listening to them this morning lol)

[body-to-flame]

You know I'll always think of you, I'll love you till the end of time / You are the best thing that I'll ever keep so far out of my life

[body-to-flame]

Don't you move

Can't we just stay?

Can we start over?

Don't fade away

[body-to-flame]

I will take good care of you

I will take good care of you

Everything you feel is good

If you would only let you

I will wash your hair at night

And dry it off with care

[body-to-flame]

TOUCH ME BABY (TOUCH ME, TOUCH ME, TOUCH ME, TOUCH ME!)

[body-to-flame]

i kinda wanna kiss your girlfriend if you dont mind 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘

[body-to-flame]

I set a fire to my soul

I hope it ate til it was full

I set a fire to my soul

It burned me and it made me whole