Andre Agassi - The Art of Winning

The former tennis champion Andre Agassi is definitely a fighter and he has demonstrated it on numerous occasions on the tennis courts around the world. He just published his autobiography and if the media attention was first on his statement to have used soft drugs for a certain period during his career, the real attraction of the book lies in the life of Andre Agassi and in particular the description of his mind spirit over the obstacles of life.

I had the opportunity to see Agassi in person in Montreal during his many visits at the international tennis championships. My first championship (as a spectator) was in July 1995 when Agassi had long hair and he was going out with the actress Brooke Shields. Personally, I greatly admired his companion that I found very pretty ...

I vividly remember the game in the 1995 final against Pete Sampras in the old Jarry Stadium. The temperature on the court was scorching and Sampras could not dominate Agassi who seemed to enjoy the heat and whose performance increased more the game progressed. Definitely the hot sun was his ally. Another memory was her black stockings, which contrasted with his white suit. I tried to convince my girlfriend of the time it was the new fashion:wearing shorts and black socks, but she was never convinced. To conclude on the game, Andre had won and that victory made Pierre Péladeau so angry (founder of Quebecor) that he left before the end of the game, calling Agassi a bum and Sampras a lazy ...

After that day, I met Agassi every two years (as a journalist) and I photographed him on several occasions including some directly on the court in action. Agassi was always very polite and if he was tired, he still accepted to greet the journalists and meet them after games.

I also remember his defeat in 1999 in the semi final while nobody in Montreal did understand the reason for such weak Agassi in front of his opponent, Kafelnikov of Russia. In reading the autobiography we learn that he had just meet Steffi Graf and he was eager to join her at the U.S. Open in New York. He was madly in love ...

In a sense, I have known Andre Agassi, as a photographer and Montreal tennis fan during fifteen years. So I was very pleased to receive a copy of his autobiography and I was eager to read as if it was the one of a friend (OPEN An Autobiography / Andre Agassi). I was charmed by the book and above all I recognized the Andre Agassi thatI admired for nearly 15 years. I recommend his book to anyone looking for inspiration of courage and hope in front of the obstacles of life. In summary, in tennis as in life, you have to play every minute in actual time. You have to want to win every ball and never think about the previous ball neither the next one. You should also be able to endure the pain and fatigue and still continue your efforts to win and above all, never give up the killer instinct!

Have a good reading and Bravo Andre!

Bernard Bujold www.LeStudio1.com

Official website of the book
Pictures by Bernard Bujold - Andre Agassi

Foundation Andre Agassi

Picture 1 and 2: Andre Agassi

Picture 3: Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi

The Art of Party Crashing - The Salahis

The couple Michaele and Tareq Salahi has attracted media attention for having managed to enter an official reception held by the President Barack Obama. I was not surprised to learn that the White House had been the victim of "Party crashers" because for many, this way to attend events is a lifestyle. And I would add that many journalists practice this art with great skill ...

Curiously, the authors of "party crashing" are often people very rich. Robert Maxwell was a great lover of this kind of technique and he loved to crash cocktails on yachts of his competitors... His favorite technique was to arrive few minutes before the captain weighed anchor and shout to wait whilejumping on board. In the hubbub nobody asked him if he was invited. Ironically, he died by being thrown overboard from his own yacht.
The journalists are probably the most daring "party crasher" that I know but if you ask them, they will tell you they do that for inside information. This is true in many cases, but if you ask Serge Losique, President of the Montreal World Films Festival , he would probably answer that many are mere freeloaders who want a free lunch ...

Personally, I stopped being a "party crasher" many years ago. If not I am not invited, I am just stay at home and I rest in the comfort of my house. Note that there also reverse to the "party crashing" and those are the organizers who do not want to invite you but would like very much the journalists to talk about their event in the media. They send you news release and suggest that you to attend the red carpet to take pictures and then leave because they lack space to accommodate the press at the event itself. Again, I stopped running and I refuse any invitation to the red carpet unless I am also invited to the full event. Watch others eat and drink has never been my favorite sport ...

That said, one might wonder what is motivating to attend a party to which we are not invited. In my opinion, attending a reception is a way to socialize with friends and not impose himself on people that we do not really know! We only live once, and I prefer to live in reality

and amongst real friends!

Bernard Bujold www.LeStudio1.com

See story in The New York Times
See Biography of the Salahi
Picture 1: Barack Obama and the Salahis

Picture 2: Robert Maxwell

True Love...

Luck creates sometimes incredible events, close to the impossible! But the impossible can happen and we have daily proof of it all around us.

The latest example happened to a friend of mine who was approached in the street near her home by an individual, very nice and polite, who stopped walking and told her that he find her very beautiful... He said that he felt like a thunderbolt and he did not want to miss the opportunity in front of him! He'd like to meet her again for a coffee and he confided he was working nearby.

My friend thanked the type for the compliment but she added that she was not one to go for coffee with someone she did not know and she wished him to joke, better luck next time! The type returned the comment by offering his business card and asked if, at least, she would take into account to think and perhaps write to him later by e-mail.

The story would have ended there and the card would be gone in the trash if once back in her apartment, my friend had not recognized a kind of familiarity in the name of the individual. A foreign sounding name which hold a vague resemblance to the name of a friend’s boyfriend who was going out with an immigrant boy. Note that she had never met the guy and had only heard his name. She saw her friend only from time to time.

In a final twist, the friend of my friend just phoned the next day to reconnect and take stock of the summer. She said for a start that she was still in love with her suitor: "It will soon be 18 months that we're together!"

My friend took the opportunity to ask her to recall the exact name of the boyfriend and surprise, it was exactly the one of the business card. After having told the story of the meeting from the previous day, both girls agreed that it was the same man and, scandal, the Prince Charming was anything but a womanizer…

The incredible side of this story is that there is very little chance that the type of street would have landed precisely on the friend of his lover and that this lover would just phoned the next day to the girl courted by the guy. If my friend had returned from her office 5 minutes later, she would not have crossed the guy who would have never made his love declaration nor presented his card. If the girl had not call the next day, the meeting of the street would probably have been forgotten and never the cheated woman would have known. One could say that the chances of such coincidences are like the lottery and in a sense that the guy won the jackpot. But rather than a gain, he won the loss of his girlfriend ...

Who said that the difference between good and bad luck was a single small wire? Answer: Woody Allen in his film "Match Point"! Except that the story I have just told you is true and it has recently happened on a day of the autumn 2009 in Montreal ...

Bernard Bujold - http://www.lestudio1.com/

Picture 1: Montreal's Ste-Catherine Street;

Picture 2: Match Point by Woody Allen ( (Scarlett Johansson)

The Art in Montreal - The future of its museums

Montreal has many museums, over thirty, and though some are local in scope, others are institutions whose reputation transcends borders and they are known all around the world.

It is the case of the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal led by Nathalie Bondil which has actually up to six exhibitions created by her team and currently circulating around the world in major museums.

However for artists in Montreal, their favorite museum has long been the Museum of Contemporary Art, in particular because of its mandate towards the promotion of modern art. This appreciation was particularly true during the 80s while the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montréal was a real rallying point, a sort of cultural center.
But today in 2009, this institution is undergoing an identity crisis and many Montreal artists who defended and took pride in this institution are now at war and they attack it openly in the public place.

The conflict began immediately after the appointment of new CEO, Paulette Gagnon, replacing Marc Mayer, a rising star who was supposed to put the museum on the international map but abandoned the MACM to head a museum more prestigious, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.The situation did not improve last week when the Museum of Fine Arts of Montreal announced that it increased its exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art and has also announced that he has concluded an 5 years agreement with Loto Quebec to expose works from their collection, a project that normally should have been achieved at the Museum of Contemporary Art, given that the MACM is funded by the Government of Quebec!

Some artists have suggested that such action by Loto Quebec shows an intention from the Quebec Government of Jean Charest to dispose of the MAMC and to entrust the operation of its permanent collection to the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal which it is already partially funded by the Government. It is only a rumor but no smoke without fire...

I do not believe in the logic of such a project, but after discussing the idea with several experts in contemporary art and have even raised the issue at the event "The MACM in question, I am convinced that this fusion is not impossible. The Museum of Fine Art in Montreal currently uses 1395 square meters for its contemporary art galleries while the galleries of the Museum of contemporary art are in total 2 826 square meters. A merger of the permanent collection of the MACM with the MBAM and the transfer of the building of St Catherine Street would give to the Museum of Contemporary Art the freedom to return to its true mandate which is the promotion of local modern artists, together with the local art centers which are located throughout Quebec. The MACM would then become a center of promotion rather than a showroom whose agenda has nothing to do with the mandate and mission of the institution.

A story to follow but one thing is certain: the world of the Montreal art has never been so moving and it is obvious that change is on the agenda!

Bernard Bujold

Interview Nathalie Bondil - LeStudio1.com
Lien Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal

Lien Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal
Photo 1: Nathalie Bondil, Paulette Gagnon and view of Montréal

Photo 2: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal

Photo 3: Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

Personalities of the Year 2009 - LeStudio1.com

LeStudio1.com presents its selection of personalities who by us, have particularly distinguished themselves during 2009.
Our theme for the selection: "The greatest achievements begin always in the action and the thought of one individual! "
These appointments complete the other appointments weekly made during the year in the gallery The Best 2009.
Congratulations to all winners!
Bernard Bujold - Creator of LeStudio1.com
______________________________________

List of winners Personalities of the Year 2009
Personality of the Year in the World- Barack Obama
Politician of the Year - Régis Labeaume
Citizen of the Year - Ingrid Betancourt
Artist of the Year - Leonard Cohen
Musical Album of the Year - Sacrificum / Cecilia Bartoli
Cultural Promoter of the Year - Nathalie Bondil
Book of the Year - Over the notes ... / Helene Mercier
Photographer of the Year - Pete Souza
Media of the Year - Rue Frontenac
Mention LeStudio1.com - Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg
Mention the Editor - The Lost Symbol / Dan Brown

Link to the Official Presentation of the Personalities of the Year 2009

From Glory to Humiliation - Lise Thibault

It is sometimes surprising to see the turnaround in admiration that we have towards certain personalities. The case of Lise Thibault, former Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, is particularly instructive.

I have known Lise Thibault and I even went twice, at her residence in the Laurentians during her summer galas. These feasts were never intimate and could be counted by hundreds of personalities the media or various backgrounds who were all very honored to be hosted by the Lieutenant Governor.

Personally, I must confess that I was myself a little bored but I had great pleasure to observe everyone around me and particularly the bows that people were doing in greeting "Madame" who because of her disability was always seated. For this reason, it looked like the people were kissing hand to the Pope ...

I am totally in favor of equal justice for all and if dignitaries commit breaches of the law, they must suffer the consequences.

However, where I am ill at ease, at least in the specific case of Lise Thibault, it is knowing that she is accused of having squandered public funds and that those for who the money was spent are the first to criticize, including several of the guests attending the official celebrations. If you want to be fair, it should be that people who have benefited from the holidays, or who received gifts from the Lieutenant Governor, are also punished. Lise Thibault had the habit of buying works of Quebec artists that she then offered as official gifts ...

It should be noted in the behavior of the entourage of former Lieutenant Governor the vindictiveness of people. Several people are nice and bend the knee to the dignitaries, but if these dignitaries show signs of weakness, they will be attacked without pity by their own friends. Moreover, some of my sources tell me that even the most critical accusations toward Thibault come from her former employees. These people declared that they loved her but in her back, they hated Thibault deeply ... It reminds me of Marie Antoinette!

Conclusion: The people tolerate the monarchy and the idols but attention, Princes and Princesses, if fate become less favorable to you, people will leave you and you will be sent to the scaffold ...

Bernard Bujold www.LeStudio1.com

The Globe and Mail Story

Results of the 2009 Municipal Elections in Quebec

The debate is over about who is best able to properly manage Quebec municipalities. We now get to work. Some mayors have won a sweeping victory as Mayor Quebec, Regis Labeaume, who scored 80% of the votes cast! Others, like the mayor of Montreal, have hardly saved the day while Gerald Tremblay won only 37.5% of votes cast. However, voters have chosen and we must accept the leaders which have been choosen up for the next four years. LeStudio1.com wish good luck to all those elected!
Bernard Bujold - www.LeStudio1.com