My Development Is Over

I've been invited to eat at Chez Clement
on the Champs-Elysées. I accepted.

I Wouldn't Mind Being a Fat Cat Though

by Ric Erickson

Paris:- Monday, 8. December 1997:- I still don't know exactly why I went to hear Marc Andreessen talk about Netscape and a thing called 'extranet' last Monday. Usually, after doing this magazine, I try to have a siesta on Monday afternoons.

This - another first for me - was at a 'developer's conference' organized by Netscape in Europe. I am not a developer because I am already over 21, but looking at Mr. Andreessen made me wonder if I should have stopped then.

Here was Mr. Andreessen, who is 26, who looks a bit like a younger President Clinton, who didn't stop developing at 21 and is therefore much richer than me. If I resume developing, I rather doubt I can catch up.

What surprised me was the number of other 'developers' who came to hear Mr. Andreessen. He was talking about Internet, Intranet, and he brought along a brand-new word which he said was 'Extranet.' I think this is what happens if you tie a bit of telephone wire between whatever 'net' you have inside your home or office, and the other one - the big Internet - you know, the one that's all around now.

Apparently the reason for doing this is to get rich; or as it's said in jargon, 'to develop.' The reason some of this is unclear to me is I think I did manage to get in a bit of a siesta while Mr. Andreessen was talking.

After Mr. Andreessen's interesting discourse, he answered questions from the audience. At first I think he was surprised by the accents and maybe he thought for a moment he was in one of the rougher areas of the migra's domain at the Los Angeles airport, and even I thought it may have been Moscow's export lounge, but that is neither here nor there.

The best question was something like this: did he, Mr. Andreessen, think network systems would free PCs from their unstable systems?

This was the first mention I've heard anybody make about 'unstable' PC systems and even Mr. Andreessen gave a big 'Ha Ha' before answering. He gave us a brief history of mankind's efforts to build a calculating machine and I think the actual answer got lost in the depths of this.

It gave me something to think about though. I have always wondered why my machine just freezes - drops dead - for no apparent reason. Now I know - it is because it is unstable. I have wondered about it for years.

I am really annoyed. I had this neat little story to give you a chuckle. I pulled out the page so I could find it easily because I knew it would be the last thing to do. There isn't anybody else around, and yet somebody has come in here and stolen it; right from under my nose.

Here is what I remember: In France, 60 percent of all domestic cats and dogs are at least 20 percent overweight. I thought the same thing about my neighbor's cat for a long time. Until I had to pick it up to throw it out, I didn't realize it was all fluff. Now it turns out, some of them are really sturdy under all the hair.

Last Monday at the Bobino - where else? - some 'femmes aux formes opulentes' got up on stage at the Montparnasse theatre to show off the stylist, Edmond Boublil's, new collection of clothing.

Equally imposing was the line-up to get in to see the show. This was appreciated by denizens of the area, some of whom were characterized as 'thinnies' by those in line.

Anyhow, inside at 21:00 the place was full to bursting. There was a skit and a song and for three-quarters of an hour the new collection was paraded before the audience. According to the report it was very colorful and there was enormous amounts of applause.

Some comments were that the models shown were a bit too original, but better that the usual potato sacks one could find.

Edmond Boublil's clothing is not inexpensive. "Bien s'habiller, ça coûte encore plus cher quand on est ronde," said one of the ladies. Another said the clothing was well worth it, even when it was bought 'on sale.'

Modern and Contemporary Art Auction

It is more than a week from now, but you may have been lucky lately and feel your walls need to be spruced up with some new decor before the holidays.

On Wednesday at 20:30 on 17. December, Drouot at their avenue Montaigne location, is going to be the scene of a sale of works by Renoir, Soutine, Pascin, Picabia, Dufy, Van Dongen, Kandinsky and Buffet - which sort of sounds like the names from a guest-list at a party in Montparnasse in 1923. Oh, sorry; ernard Buffet was born in 1928.