Post-George (Clooney, that is)

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - There is a kind of post-George hangover in the air in Geneva today, after George Clooney's brief visit to raise $1 million-plus for Barack Obama. The Irish broadcasting network made his fundraising stopover headline news, picking up the story from Reuters (as did Yahoo News), Swisster, part of the Edipresse publishing group, made a flash in the pan Clooney autograph signing session in Carouge its main story on the Tribune de Geneve, and WRS, ran an interview with Charles Adams, Clooney's host, Tuesday morning, to ask if there were any seats left for the $10,000 dinner (answer: no) among the 75 on offer. You can check out the photo of him on the WRS page if you missed the real George.

"Transformers" art sees beauty in garbage collection

Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland (20 Minutes, Fre) - A group of 22 garbage collection trucks, fire engines and other public service vehicles drove into a strange formation in the centre of Vevey Tuesday: they were the building blocks of a giant robot image created by artist Guillaume Reymond, who had them photographed from the sky. "Transformers 01" is the name of his series of aerial photos that will be on display at the Images 08 visual arts festival in Vevey, 11-30 September.

No-go botellones in Switzerland? Lausanne says no, Geneva yes

Updated 17:45. Lake Geneva region, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - A Spanish import, botellón, or mass drinking parties for young people in an open-air public place, has politicians throughout Switzerland debating how to handle them. Lausanne Wednesday morning banned them but Wednesday afternoon Geneva decided to let one Friday night, the 22nd, go ahead after announcements appeared on Facebook of bottelones in the two cities, as well as Bern, within the next 10 days. Geneva's authorities are putting in place extra clean-up crews after the giant party, but also asking people who are part of it to take responsibility for making sure it all goes well.

At issue is how to deal with a large public gathering, which normally requires permission from local authorities, when no one takes responsibility for organizing it. City politicians have in fact met with two of the people who launched the invitation on Facebook and while the discussions were reportedly friendly, at least one has refused responsibility as an organizer. Zurich banned one scheduled there and some politicians are taking a hard line, saying that police have authority to deal with any large public gatherings.

Related: Le Matin, Le Temp,
Background: Discover Seville; "Spain moves on youth binge drinking," Global Alcohol Policy Alliance, 2006 and Wikipedia

Phil Collins and Orianne Cevey divorce settlement, talk of stars circuit

Updated 19 August. Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Daily Mirror in the UK broke the news, People Magazine picked it up and now the celebrity news circuit is passing it around: the divorce after six years of marriage between musician Phil Collins and his wife Orianne Cevey Collins is costing him more than any British celebrity has, to date, had to pay out to an ex-spouse. The figure cited by the Daily Mirror is £25 million, a number the newspaper says came to light in accounts for Philip Collins Ltd, the former Genesis star's "personal management company" in London. How the British tabloid obtained the accounts is not clear; Swiss divorce settlements are by law private. The couple live in separate homes near Nyon, Vaud. Orianne Collins created a jewelry company called The Right Label which has made a splash at the Baselworld art show and earlier this summer at the Cannes Film Festival.

Lausanne newspaper 24 Heures noted 19 August that the details of the divorce settlement could not be confirmed through either member of the ex-couple.

Fetes de Geneve claims great success

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - In a summer of capacity-crowd festivals, starting with Montreux and Nyon, Geneva officials Monday cooed over the latest success: the Fêtes de Geneve, the city's 10-day music and fun festival, pulled in some two million people.

For the grand finale fireworks Saturday half a million people, reports RSR (Fre).  The only rough spot was a glitch at the fireworks, where the jet d'eau was turned on too early, before the final splash of fireworks went off.

Geneva photographer Michel Bobillier, who publishes under the name athos99, provided the photos shown here.

Photos courtesy of athos99 (click on images to view larger). Ed. note: for the complete collection, including 145 spectacular images of fireworks and more from the Geneva festival, visit his blog photo gallery.

Leonard Cohen to play in Geneva in October

Nyon, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Leonard Cohen's hugely successful concert at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July, part of his first tour in 15 years, will be followed by a return trip to Switzerland in October. Opus One, based in Nyon, is taking reservations online for the 27 October concert in Geneva. They are also on sale at FNAC and Ticketcorner, for CHF95-225. Cohen will also play in Zurich.

Fetes de Geneve: images by Athos99

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Michel Bobillier, whose photos of the Fetes de Geneve fireworks were published in 2007 by GenevaLunch, has made a bright and fun 120-second montage of the light show, as a warmup to this year's show Saturday 7 August. Remind yourself why these are some of the best fireworks around, not to be missed!

Photo courtesy of Athos99: Music this week has been memorable, including a popular concert by Michel Lalanne who played to an appreciative audience only four days after surgery.

Geneva: the name, the woman, the city, the Fetes!

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The 26-year-old American who was crowned Miss Fetes de Geneve Sunday night, and who will reign over the festivities in the city starting Thursday is called - that's right - Geneva. She was named after her grandmother.

Photo: © athos99, reproduced with permission

First of August holiday solar eclipse

Switzerland (GeneveLunch) - Switzerland's national holiday, the first of August, will have an extra bit of a light and shadows show, in addition to the usual fireworks: a solar eclipse. The eclipse begins shortly before 09:00 and lasts about an hour. If you aren't looking for it, you might miss it, since this is only a 2.42% eclipse, but if you are planning to watch it, federal government health department warns, be sure to buy adequate equipment at a pharmacy. The cheap cardboard glasses are not considered safe and children and older people should be watched carefully.

Details of the eclipse and a history of the past 500 years of eclipses near Geneva.

Old boats take to the lake in La Tour-de-Peilz

La Tour-de-Peilz, Vaud, Switzerland (20 Minutes, Fre) - Seventy-five boats took part in the 33rd Old Boats regatta over the weekend, putting on a display of beautiful wooden sailboats, most built before 1956. According to one of the organizers, interviewed by 20 Minutes, the weather was perfect, with thunderstorms skirting the area.