Japanese commuters watch TV on their mobiles.

This photograph by David Sacks/Getty was published in today's Guardian. Commuting in Paris somehow feels less civilized and slightly more interactive..

Alternate Side of the Street Living by Alex Sinclair

The car has got to be moved.
It’s got to be moved because it’s 7:15am on Tuesday.
“You have to move the car!” I roar at my husband, who is a large bump under the covers. He grunts. The sound of engines revving outside the window signals the urgency of the mission at hand. The morning mania has begun. Our car is on the side of the street that has to be cleaned on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 8am to 11am. During that time, cars can unofficially double park on the alternate, ‘Monday, Wednesday, Friday’ side. Fine, except that it’s now 7:20am, the kids aren’t up because it’s not the weekend, and Son Number Two has to be on his school bus by 8:03am.
If you’re fool enough to own a car in Manhattan, let alone park it on the street, forget about coffee. In fact, forget about a life. Some people live in their cars. Now I know why. You have to be physically in the damn thing, with the wheels rotating by 7:25am or you can kiss a “double parked” spot goodbye. It’s the urban Grand Prix taking place on every block throughout the city. Without a spot, you’re left to wander around in parking space limbo with nowhere to put it.
If you’re lucky and you do get to double-park, then you just have to sit in your car, like a giant paperweight, smirking at those who are still circling the block and pretending to be very busy with your cell phone or newspaper until 8am, when you can officially step out of it. Leave one second earlier and you’re ticketed.
My husband is out of bed and in the car within five minutes -- I check out of the window to see if he remembered to put on pants. Then I play reveille in the boys’ room with my vocal chords and try to impress upon them the need to put on clothes instead of hanging naked from the bunk beds. I also have to shower, get dressed, prepare a bottle for the sixteen-month old, dress her, make sure that the boys load their packed lunches, snacks and homework into their backpacks, and try to figure out what the hell they will eat for breakfast. I discover that we are out of everything, including toilet paper (“mom!”) On this particular morning we’re out of peanut butter, jam, eggs, cheese -- we’re even out of bread. Except for a few cans of black beans and an enormous packet of dry cat food -- we’re picked clean. I decide that we’ll take the kids out for breakfast and I’ll use the car for a grocery shop. Parking solved. Till tomorrow.

Lexik des cités

AFP - Dimanche 23 septembre, 15h32
Dix jeunes du quartier du Bois-Sauvage à Evry, des garçons et des filles âgés de 18 à 25 ans, expliquent dans le "Lexik des cités" leurs mots, ceux utilisés par les jeunes dans les banlieues, pour éviter les "quiproquos" entre jeunes et adultes

Ten youths ages 18-25 have put together a glossary of words commonly used in Parisian urban housing estates, or projects. The "Lexik des cités" was created with the intention of avoiding misunderstandings between adults and youths.

Published by éditions Fleuve Noir, Lexik des Cités is 366 pages long, costs 19,90 euros, and will go on sale in France on October 4, 2007.

Stockholm or bust

Stockholm came first in a Reader's Digest ranking published on Thursday assessing the quality of life in 72 cities worldwide. The criteria for this included public transportation, parks, air quality, rubbish recycling and the price of electricity.
Stockholm was followed by Oslo, Munich and Paris.
Asia's cities fared the worst. Beijing was at the bottom of the ranking, preceded by Shanghai, Mumbai, Guangzhou and Bangkok.
Nordic countries also take the greatest care of their environment and their people, according to the same report.
Finland comes first in the 141-nation list, followed by Iceland, Norway and Sweden. At the bottom of the list is Ethiopia, preceded by Niger, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Chad. The United States comes in 23rd, China 84th and India 104th.
The ranking combines environmental factors, such as air and water quality, respect for biodiversity and greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as social factors, such as gross domestic product, access to education, unemployment rate and life expectancy.
The statistical basis is the UN's Human Development Index and the Environmental Sustainability Index drawn up by Yale and Columbia universities and the World Economic Forum.

Quito

While some of us feel we're on the top of the world in Montmartre, others are living at 2800 meters above sea level. Quito, Ecuador: population 1.5 million, surrounded by four volcanoes. One method of transportation: the cable car.

Vive le Velib

In this car glutted city surrounded by a congested peripherique, or beltway, the hero of the day is the Velib. Parisians are sailing down from Montmartre on their rented bikes, an initiative put in place by Paris' mayor this summer. (Needless to say, riding uphill to Montmartre is less attractive--there is a shortage of bikes in Montmartre and near the Place Gambetta). To find out more about Velib see the link list.

ahh, cities