Where Are My Beautiful Balloons?

Und Was Ist Tekno?

Paris:- Monday, 21. September 1998:- Last weekend I watched the TV-news like a hawk for the latest about the 42nd Gordon Bennett Cup balloon race, which was supposed to start late Saturday night.

With no word by Monday, I asked the Aéro Club de France about it. They replied - on Monday - that the launch on Saturday had been scrubbed on account of the lousy balloon-flying conditions. The conditions were truly lousy.

The new launch place on Monday was given as Château-Thierry and the time was given as 16:30 for La Poste's balloon liftoff. The rest of the competitors were to follow at 18:00.

The weather on Monday was not much different from that on Saturday, so I was not too surprised to see no news about the race in Tuesday's papers or on TV-news.

It cleared up a lot by Thursday. I have been scanning the papers and catching all the TV-news I can. So far not a word. The information telephone number given for Château-Thierry is no longer in service.

This could mean the race started, was run and somebody won. If so, it is a secret. It is just as possible that the competitors could not wait endlessly for good-enough weather, and the whole thing was called off.

One thing is sure: this reporter doesn't have any answers. Where did my balloon race go?

I have been seeing references to 'techno' for years without really knowing what it is. Basically, it is factory noise produced any which way - except with or by musicians - and is for people who don't know any better; who think it is cool.

Thus, I heard 'techno' for the first time in the summer of '55 when I spent six weeks in a noisy factory. Little did I realize at the time that recorded versions of it would hit underground music charts 35 years later.

According to Libération, Techno has three sources: a German rock group named 'Kraftwerk,' disco and something called the 'Philly Sound.' Do you remember Kraftwerk's 'Fun, Fun, Fun On the Autobahn?' It was a worldwide hit in 1975. This was followed two years later by 'Trans Europe Express.' In 1981, 'Computer World' put the 'dot' on the 'i.'

'Disco' was, well, disco. The 'Philly Sound' was what discos played, I guess. These brave beginnings were followed by two branches: 'house' and 'techno.' This is where I quit.

Since then, I gather musicians like the Kraftwerk crew and all musical instruments have been totally abandoned.

The heros of Techno are called 'DJ's.' These may be 'live' people, but they are fascinated by robotic sounds - like you hear in heavy-metal factories or steel mills. People who actually work in these places are required to wear ear-plugs on account of safety regulations.

'Rave' is what people who attend Techno parties do. In itself it is harmless, but the authorities often take strong objections to thousands of young people hopping up and down spastically to factory noise.

Now that French authorities have tentatively accepted Techno and 'raves,' the whole thing will no doubt degenerate to the point where it becomes the background sound of kindergartens and supermarkets.

Meanwhile, I hope musicians are quietly puttering away inventing some new music to spring on the public; for the day that Techno finds itself declared as unredeemable audio pollution. I hold out no hope that it could merely be considered tasteless, and die a natural death.

'Everything' might fit into a thimble but it hasn't stopped some energetic souls from putting up a gaggle of Web sites of various persuasions. To get the origins and threads right, try House et Techno. The Web site France Techno will help you find your way around to long and loud nights.

There is a search engine for finding Techno everywhere, instead of plain 'garages,' if you use Techno keywords. For a fresh update on the Paris Techno Parade - with Techno clips! - try out the ReVE site. If all of this is too much, just hit your browser's 'return' button.

I am not trying to get out of looking up phone numbers for people, but frankly, my phone books are out of date. I only get them by accident anyhow, because I don't live in Paris. But despite its 'Minitel,' France Telecom still prints them.

Some people put the phone directory for France online too. A fairly new service is called 'Annu.' I tried a couple of names on it and got the correct numbers.

However, when I searched for a hotel's number recently, I had a bit of a time because I was unaware that 'Grand' was part of the name. Maybe I'm not a 'smart' searcher. Maybe the service doesn't give priority to the proper name - if it is the 'Grand Hotel Louis,' it will be under 'G' and not 'L.' Give it a try.

If you can't be in Paris to visit the French Senate's exhibition called 'Média Senat,' you can at least pay a visit to the Senat's Web site and perhaps leave your calling card. Libération reports that the email has been suspended because foreign visitors have been using the Senat's Internet connections as if they were in a Web-Café. If you have little interest in history or politics, the hostesses are supposed to be worth a look, but these are not on the Web site.

Exhibition: Média Senat
Musée du Luxembourg, 19. rue de Vaugiraud, Paris 6. Until Sunday, 18. October. Closed Mondays. No entry charge. Info. Tel.: 01 42 34 21 21.

This is sort of a French language 'Lit-Online' party, set to appear on your browser starting Friday, 16. October and lasting until Sundy, 18. October. The Ministry of Culture and the online 'Lit-Zine,' Pagina are organizing this affair, which - besides literature and poetry - links all the French and Francophone Web sites taking part in 'Lire en Fête.' Long-time readers will probably remember that Pagina has been featured on Metropole's Links page since the year dot. The Fête is just another good reason to give it a hit.