"Their good conduct and their willingness to blend into this new milieu - this new space - cannot improve the smell that they carry with them  in spite of themselves." Continue reading

"At my gym there's a sign saying "This is a fragrance-free zone". I thought about it and, yes, perfume in a gym might be kind of weird, like smelling cooking bacon when trying to fall asleep at night. And then last week a younger male gym-goer showed up and as he walked across the floor, everyone's eyes started burning and their nostrils flared. This wasn't  because he was in some way, hot. It was because he was wearing a male body spray. The odour was half industrial, half ultra-cheap soap, and had he been waring any more, he would have resembled Pigpen from Charlie Brown, going through life with his own visible weather system. Fortunately, the staff at my gym are fearless and they landed on this guy  like hawks. He won't be wearing Satan's Tears there again anytime soon. " Douglas Coupland Continue reading

"The apple was delicious. It snapped cleanly to my bite, was crisp without being hard, and was oh so juicy. I sat in the truck‘s cab, savouring its tart, pear-like notes. It was a Braeburn variety that had been hand-pollinated in a boutique apple ranch in Southern Oregon.

The parallels  between the dildo-ization of corn and the crunchification of apples are hard to miss. Braeburns grew quickly, produced heavily and stored well. Braeburn was the right apple at the right time. Ufortunately, when the bees vanishes, they were totally fucked." Douglas Coupland

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"Un soir assommé d'ennui et ivre d'envies, Wam embarque  pour une virée sur "Paname". Pas d'argent, pas de plan, mais un sens aigu de la vanne et du défi: il ne lui en faudra pas plus pour vivre en quelques heures, ce que beaucoup n'ont pas vécu en une vie. " Wam by Slimane Kader 

One evening stunned with boredom and drunken cravings, Wam embarks on a trip to "Paname". No money, no plan, but a strong sense of the valve and the challenge: it won't take more to live in a few hours, which many have not experienced in a lifetime." Wam by Slimane Kader

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Spanish photographer Arnau Bach (b. Barcelona, 1981) created a series documenting the unrest of the banlieue titled “Suburbia”. Interested in finding stories and images outside of those sensationalized by mainstream media, starting in 2006 he would spend years in Seine-Saint-Denis, one of Paris's largest suburbs populated by over a million people. His photo series depicts the shocking violence and riots, but also shows facets of youth lifestyle and culture; one that is lacking in opportunities, venerates hip hop and finds ways to rebel. Continue reading

Île-de-France, has lost over 100,000 jobs since COVID, with the banlieues hit especially hard. Familial contagion is common here with many families living in cramped spaces. This has been compounded by the fact that starting in March authorities have given the public only four preapproved reasons for venturing out of their homes. With sentiments of mistrust and poor treatment surrounding the relationship between banlieue residents and the police, George Floyd's death brought thousands of protesters into the streets in June, a demonstration against police brutality in France as well.

Despite these turbulent conditions, it appears that changes are on the horizon for the banlieues. The Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo has been pushing a new ecological agenda with plans to convert the Périphérique highway, which surrounds Paris and seperates it from the banlieues, into park spaces with reduced traffic. Another promising update is the Grand Paris Express; expected to be completed in 2030, it will be the biggest public transport system in Europe. This will also create a bridge to the banlieues, which are currently lacking in accessible transportation into the city.

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