Slog - Comments on Paris Underground http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground This sounds too good to be true: A secret society of French mechanics snuck into the Panthéon after hours, built a workshop, and spent a year fixing an antique clock that had been abandoned. Slipping in at closing time every evening – French television said that they had their own set of keys – they set up a workshop hidden behind mock wooden crates at the top of the monument. The security guards never found it. The Untergunther used a professional clockmaker, Jean-Baptiste Viot, to mend the 150-year-old mechanism. When Untergunther announced they'd fixed the clock, French officials decided to... Copyright 2008 Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:07:21 -0800 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:53:01 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Greg Sweet.

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855553 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855553 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:13:00 -0800 Comment by tsm Brasil
Meu Brasil brasileiro
Meu mulato inzoneiro
Vou cantar-te nos meus versos ...

]]> tsm http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855557 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855557 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:15:42 -0800 Comment by Phelix Yes, let's prosecute people who go out and restore national treasures to their original state for nothing but the pleasure of the restoration. No charge to the people.

Hmmmm... That makes sense.

]]> Phelix http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855558 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855558 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:15:44 -0800 Comment by Judah Oh, that is too good to be true. Entirely.

]]> Judah http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855565 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855565 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:19:47 -0800 Comment by MonumentOfLove Can't wait for the David Fincher movie! Or God forbid, Bryan Singer.

]]> MonumentOfLove http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855570 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855570 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:22:56 -0800 Comment by wench I think I just figured out what I want to be when I grow up. Wow...

]]> wench http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855573 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855573 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:26:30 -0800 Comment by Clint This would be a great movie. My vote to direct would be Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro.

]]> Clint http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855574 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855574 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:27:01 -0800 Comment by Gnome Liberation Front La societe pour la liberation des nains de jardin salute nos liberateurs des espaces trouvees et cachees!

Liberte! Egalite! Fraternite!

]]> Gnome Liberation Front http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855575 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855575 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:28:27 -0800 Comment by Gloria I can see this. Lots of people in specialized work love doing what they do, and the opportunity to work on an important historical piece like the Pantheon clock would send some hobby/amateur clockmakers' hearts racing.

]]> Gloria http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855585 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855585 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:36:53 -0800 Comment by inkweary This sounds very romantic but isn't necessarily a good thing all the time. Actual restoration of antiquities is a very specialized science and there is a big difference between restoration and conservation. Sometimes it is better to leave something in a state of disrepair to maintain its historical integrity than to add a lot of new parts, that is why you sometimes see really ratty looking chairs in museums. There are a great many works of art that have been permanently damamged by bad restoration work in the 19th century, the Mona Lisa being the most famous. While the desire to step in when government underfunds is laudable the results are not always so. About 10 years ago a cab driver here in Seattle decided to "restore" the statue of Chief Sealth downtown near Denny. He used an industrial metal cleaner which had a high acid content that actually scarred and pitted the bronze of the statue. On the upside when real restorers were called in for emergency remediation they discovered that the statue was once gold-leafed and a fund was set up for re-gilding the Chief.

]]> inkweary http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855591 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855591 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:43:10 -0800 Comment by elenchos My secret group has spent the last two years fixing the Alaska Way Viaduct. Shhhh! Don't tell!

]]> elenchos http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855595 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855595 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 15:44:27 -0800 Comment by catalina vel-duray How about getting them here to fix the clock at King Street Station?

(The abandoned parts of the station are fascinating, by the way. Not that I would know)

]]> catalina vel-duray http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855659 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855659 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 16:46:59 -0800 Comment by douglas @10 to have a secret and (kinda)benevolent society running around doing cool shit, i think, is worth the risk to an old clock. i love history and antiquities, but they all have a story, and now these badasses are part of that story which is really neat. so, nah nah.

]]> douglas http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855677 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855677 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:01:21 -0800 Comment by Dirty Harry My secret society has a mattress and stale beer down a manhole in the CD! Wanna come see it?

]]> Dirty Harry http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855704 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855704 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:30:17 -0800 Comment by MidwayPete Stories like this help restore my faith in humanity.

]]> MidwayPete http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855754 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855754 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:55:49 -0800 Comment by GW HAHAHAHAHA. That's awesome. And I am drunk in Indiana. It freakin sucks here.

God, I miss Seattle.

]]> GW http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855804 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855804 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:28:39 -0800 Comment by GW @11 - RE: previous comment. Sorry, did I mention I was drunk?

]]> GW http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855806 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855806 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:30:19 -0800 Comment by its already a movie some have already made a movie about this idea of an underground scene and it was actually starring Pink as a actress.
Seems France loves to party within and on top of its past. The movies free on Fearnet. and it is creeepy. If you like crypts and long tunnel hallways.

]]> its already a movie http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855814 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c855814 Life Mon, 26 Nov 2007 21:55:28 -0800 Comment by Gemini Gypsy Ok. I'm getting out my Emma Peel outfit; now where do I sign up?

Vive La France!

]]> Gemini Gypsy http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c857076 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/11/paris_underground#c857076 Life Wed, 28 Nov 2007 12:53:01 -0800