Here is one of the most delightful time-travel videos provided by YouTube artist and film-restoration expert NASS, who finds black and white documentary footage of old urban areas, colorizes them, adds a period sound bed of traffic and pedestrian noises and slows the frame rate down slightly, thus giving it a more languid and realistic aura. I’ve posted many of their New York City videos over the past few years but I’ve never seen this extraordinary look at Paris in the 1920s. The first three minutes are mostly wide shots of buildings, avenues etc.–note the lack of advertising which gives the city a very different vibe than it currently has even thought the architecture has for the most part not changed. The period automobiles are another reason the city feels so different; what the hell happened to auto design? It feels like we moved backwards, doesn’t it? Shouldn’t  car design have begun with lumbering, dinosaur-like SUVs and gradually transformed into sleekly stylish machines? At three minutes in we get to the people–and things get really interesting. I have no idea who filmed this or why but clearly it was pure cinema verite, as we can see from the people’s fascinated stares into the camera. (People continue to stare at a camera when it’s plopped on the street for reasons that I can’t fathom. The same cannot be said for the phone though, which is ignored since it’s apparently has become an appendage to our hands.) The French people look…how can I say this…so very French! It’s not just the fashions, it’s something Gallic and wonderfully haughty–even the street vendors have their own specific Parisian demeanor. Other Nass videos are online and easily findable and I suggest subscribing to their excellent channel. Nass has also recently provided an email address where you can contact them. I just noticed it and I plan on doing so right now, just to thank them for helping me waste so many hours happily ensconced in other worlds and eras, not our own.