Being a politician can be tough..

One of the Catalan candidates to elections, Mr X, went to a neighborhood in the outskirts of a big Catalan city.
So this man, who is expecting at least his family to vote for him, didn't have a sweet day. He represents the type of party who is in favor of restricting immigration 100% and is not a big fan of social security and such "help" from government. I think the American model would be more what he has in mind (no job, no health insurance, right?) Anyway. In these neighborhood mostly gipsies aproached him. Complaining that since there's a lot of Moroccans and Romanians and Pakistanis, they're not getting as much money from the government as they used too.
Interesting.
I think the gipsies are one of the ethnics groups who have more trouble integrating into any society. Oh, and aside from listening to the gipsies complain that they're not the poorest anymore, a kid actually demanded Mr X that next time, he should bring along Ronaldinho to their neighborhood. You know, so that Mr X's visit is not so boring. Poor Mr X

About details

My husband took daughter 1 (4 years old) for a walk. They went near the cemetery. She asked: "what's this?"
Him: er... it's... a warehouse.
(silence)
She: It's big, who owns it?
Him:... the Town hall. Everybody owns it a little.
No more questions were asked.
...........................
Me: you told her it's a warehouse???
Him: I didn't lie! I just omitted a little detail!

Yeah... they store dead people. A little detail.

Elections in Catalonia

There’s parliamentary elections in Catalonia next week. I had no idea that there was a group called Alternativa Española but I just saw their “ad” on TV. And well, it’s one of those that want to make you want to be afraid of almost everything. The world is a chaos and worse! Muslims are taking over Europe!.
There’s a law against racist/xenofobic parties, they are plain illegal but this one seems to have sneaked in. The former government had no problem in making Batasuna illegal because they did not condemn violence. Does anybody care about groups like this? If you’d like to see their ad, this is their web, scroll down and click where it says “visionar video electoral”. It’s in Spanish, but you’ll understand the message... Spain is breaking (Catalans are to blame but they omit this part in their Catalan campaign, otherwise they’d get next to 0 votes), too many immigrants, too many muslims... Their web page is called 12deoctubre, in a tribute to the “discovery” of America. And their poster (scroll down a bit more) portrays a blonde kid with the Spanish flag on his cheeks, and one of Columbus’ ships in the back. I wonder what good did Spaniards do to America?

Surprise!

I was hoping my little daughter would start speaking in sentences one of these days, but I was not prepared for her first sentence. It was:

"LONG LIVE BARBIE!"

Can you believe it? I hate the damned doll!

My movies: Ninotchka...

I love the dialogues in this old comedy. Greta Garbo is the leading actress in this movie by Ernst Lubitsch. She plays a very serious Russian Soviet sent to Paris to bring back three comrades who have succumbed to the Western World's delights.
Here are some quotes and dialogues, some between her and an American (Leon) who she seems to despise but secretly fins attractive:

Ninotchka: We don't have men like you in my country.
Leon: Thank you.
Ninotchka: That is why I believe in the future of my country

Ninotchka: Why do you want to carry my bags?
Porter: That is my business.
Ninotchka: That's no business. That's social injustice.
Porter: That depends on the tip.

Ninotchka: What have you done for mankind?
Leon: Not so much for mankind... for womankind, my record isn't quite so bleak.

Leon: I'll picket your whole country! I'll boycott you! No more vodka! No more caviar! No more Tchaikovsky! No more borscht!

Comissar Razinin: This anonymous report was sent to me. They're dragging the good name of our country through every cafe and nightclub. Here: How can the Bolshevik cause gain respect among the Muslims if your three representatives Bujlianoff, Iranoff and Kopalski get so drunk that they throw a carpet out of their hotel window and complain to the management that it didn't fly?

Russian Visa Official: Everything is in order. Enjoy your trip to Russia, Madam.
English Lady Getting Visa: Thank you. Oh, by the way, I've heard so many rumors about laundry conditions in Russia. Is it advisable to take one's own towels?
Russian Visa Official: Certainly not, Madam! That is only Capitalistic propaganda. We change the towel once a week.

Ninotchka: The last mass trials were a great success. There are going to be fewer but better Russians.

PMS and Metamorphosis

When I have PMS, I feel I might be the leading actress in the movie "Species". You see, I feel compelled to eat, I crave chocolate and sweets. Thank God it's only a few days. But I wonder if, one day, I'll end up wrapped in a coccoon waiting for a big metamorphosis, just like the girl in Species.
I have to say, though, I don't look like her (sigh) I'm not an alien, either.

Stupid traditions (part II)?

In some parts of Spain, there's a celebration called Moors and Christians that commemorates the battles between muslims and christians when Spain was under Islamic domain. It's just a festivity, and a very beautifully recreated one, but some have felt intimidated because some muslims felt it is offensive, and an imam in Malaga asked for this festival to be abolished. The funny thing is that the imam who asked for that is Felix Herrero, a christian convert. I have mixed feelings about this, but this festivity is not meant to denigrate muslims, even though the term "moor" is not.... nice. I must say that the organizers of this festivity actually censored some parts of this holiday, without anybody asking them to do so, because they realised it could really be offensive. That's the case of "the Mahoma" in which, in some cases, a toy doll representing the prophet was burned.
Another curious thing is that actually many muslims (born muslims, not converts) have spoken in favor of this festival, and say that if we keep "deleting" things in order not to offend muslims, Islam will still be associated with little tolerance.
Another curious fact: more people want to join the muslim army than the christian one. "To fight under the moorish flag is a source of pride", says Fernando, one of the "fighters" and also organiser. To him, and many others, this festival is exalting arab culture, and all the good they brought to Spain.
Here's two pictures. The one on top is a muslim army. The second one is christian. Who do you think looks more fierce? What do you think, should festivities like these disappear?

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It's on slate, by Ann Telnaes

More magic realism...

This time it's from Mexican director Guillermo del Toro. I just saw his new fim, El laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) and loved it. I was close to tears at the end of the movie. How can the post-civil war in Spain be mixed with such fantasy? Just leave it up to this fantastic Mexican storyteller...

Stupid traditions (part I)

Bullfighting



In most of Spain, it's still the damned national FIESTA, and it must be on TV (the state controlled channels, not the private ones) once in a while. So part of my tax money goes to this stupid fiesta in which a bull is being tortured and killed while a crowd of people watch and cheer the torero. There used to be bullfighting in my hometown and it was mostly attended by tourists. It's closed now. I'm so glad. Some will say it's art, and I'm sure there's many artistic ways to kill, but to me, it still means enjoying while you see an animal being tortured to death. Sick. You cannot perpetuate anything in the name of tradition. Traditions are not sacred. Some just have to disappear. Do you know of another silly tradition that should belong to the past?

One hundred years of solitude

“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. At that time Macondo was a vil of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point….”

From Cien años de Soledad (one hundred years of solitude) one of my favorite books...

I'm not anonymous anymore!

According to my four year old daughter, I'm the third from the left. If you happen to see me on the street, please say hi. She's the first one on the right. Her hair is so much nicer, I know.

Converses de nit

Ella: Saps que hi ha bolets que es dicen rovelló?
Jo: Qui t’ho ha dit?
Ella: L’Esther. I uns que es diuen cames de rata.
Jo: Si? (cara de sorpresa)
Ella: Sí, perquè s’hi assemblen. I saps com es diuen els bolets dolents?
Jo: No, com es diuen?
Ella: Doncs…. Es diuen…. (no se’n recorda) es diuen… bolets que no són bons. No! Es diuen bolets “pordus”.
Jo: Pordus?
Ella: Sí. P O R D U S, i n’hi ha uns que es diuen trompeta. I uns altres que es diuen trompeta borda.

Moors and Christians

When I was little, we used to play a game called "Moors and christians". We really knew nothing about history, but it was fun. There's two teams with an equal number of kids and someone in the middle (leader) with a piece of cloth (there's some distance between both teams.
Each player of each team has a number from 1 to the number of players in the team. The leader places him/herself in the central line, between the two groups and shouts a number from one to the maximum is the number of total players in a team).The person of each team who has that number runs and try to catch the handkerchief, and run back to his/her team. If he succeeds, the one who failed is "converted" and his/her number is supposed to be for another player of his team. It was really fun. I tried to draw the game:



But it looks more like Martians against Plutonians...

Sabates noves

La baba, que sempre et mima, et va regalar aquestes sabatetes de la Blancaneus, i no te les vas treure de sobre en tot el dia. I la teva germana també les volia, i anava assenyalant amb el dit "anita, anita" (sirenita, sirenita). Es confon, per ella, totes les princeses són una.
Una altra cosa que m'agrada molt és estirar-me al llit amb tu a la nit fins que t'adorms (encara que de vegades em faig pregar). I sempre tenim les converses més interessants.
A-On dormen els tigres?
M-A la selva
A-Però no tenen sac?

New hijab?