Do the Madison, Monsieur

Had an interesting interview with an enthusiastic Frenchman this morning -- enthusiastic about his retail business, which is expanding into the United States, recession or not, and about the United States itself. Anti-American sentiment gets more play, but clearly a vein of more favorable feelings also exists in France. Which would also be the case here in the United States regarding France. Not that French anti-Americanism bothers me much, anyway. You're not going to be much of a great nation if you don't piss off a fair number of people.

While I'm on a Franco-American theme, here's a fine cultural blend: a clip from Jean-Luc Goddard's Band à part (1964). Definitely French. You could hardly get more French than Goddard and the French New Wave. And yet the characters are doing the Madison. If French postings on You Tube mean anything, the French are still fond of the Madison. Stay to the end of the clip, and watch for the silly walks as well:

Just as entertaining, and also a cultural mash, is the Leningrad Cowboys (Finns) and the Red Army Choir (Russians) singing "Sweet Home Alabama."