Saturday, June 21, 2008

[thought for the day] saturday evening

Anyway, when I woke up this morning, the pain had spread to the whole of the back and then I realized exactly what was going on - I was metamorphosing into a nicer chap than earlier.

Yep, tell tale signs on the backs of the hands, the razor was working overtime for virtually no effect and then Welshcakes stopped by and murmured, 'It's definitely you.'

'Didn't you realize I've been masquerading all along?' I fiendishly snapped. 'What you've let into your house is nothing less than ... Baht At in disguise.'

'Well, you've overslept,' was the reply, as she cheerfully skipped off to marinade some chicken and start on the plum wine.

Now once more the mild mannered James Higham, I made the kitchen with the help of the trusty stick and suddenly the thought for the day sprang to mind:

Every day in every way, I'm getting better. [Emile Coue, 1915]

Surely there's something in that for all of us.

[oil] peace and harmony ahead ... not

Friday, June 20, 2008

[real news] this sultry friday

My suggestion to save the legs next time Welshcakes takes Simi for walkies


Bag draws our attention to the shocking news that there is a criminal subculture in prisons. Bag adds:

I'm sure the next expose we will be reading about is the Immigration Office explaining how all these immigrants are from a different culture from us in the UK. Catholics are religious and politicians are liars. I know. It's hard to believe isn't it?


Well, yes, it is hard to believe but here is one even harder to believe - in this home where I am currently ensconced due to the kindness of St. Welshcakes, you might think I'm the only bloke. Not a bit of it. Here is the household in order of precedence:

* Simone Welshcakes de Beauvoir
* Welshcakes
* Uncle James
* Mr. Tyry [the tractor tyre Simi comes to grips with every afternoon when the neighbourhood dogs go into hysterics]
* Mr. Bony Squeak [has to be seen to be believed but most effective]
* Mr. Dumby-Bell [occasionally I fill in, in this role]
* Mr. Pully-Toy [no comment]
* Mr. Stringy [let's not get tangled up in this]
* Mr. Tuggy [no comment again]

I have to report that Simone Welshcakes de Beauvoir is the first to greet me in the morning, followed by Welshcakes in a more subdued manner.

In other news,
Obama's gay Muslim character assassinators are hard at it and Cherie is reaching for the stars.

Finally,
Harry Haddock says goodbye to Britain's trees [courtesy of The Englishman
].

Finally finally - Kate's had her wheelie bin stolen.

[ergonomics] and blogging don't mix

Fact of the matter is that I did my back in and I can lie or stand perfectly well without pain but sitting, let alone sitting and lifting the hands to type, is a bit out of the question.

On the other hand, there is a surprise post this evening so I'll rest up now and get back to you later. Have a good Friday all.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

[this post] complete waste of time

Jams reported today the strange case of Stuart Hill, who decided that the Shetlands should secede from the U.K. and the E.U. and become the State of Forvik.

Commendable, Stuart but surely this comes under the heading of "Complete Waste of Time"? You know very well Iceland will step in and take you over.

This got me thinking about other things which are a complete waste of time:

1. Expecting understanding and compassion from a bureaucracy;

2. Thinking your holiday is going to run smoothly with no accidents and no lost documents;

3. Lending a book, even with your name on the inside cover and hoping to see it again;

4. Getting enough time to blog and visit everyone

... and so on and so on. I wonder what seven things spring to your mind when you hear the words: "Complete Waste of Time"?

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

McCanns: Physicians heal thyselves

McCanns: Physicians heal thyselves

When I first heard and read the following quote from Kate McCann at yesterday’s press conference in Strasbourg, my initial reaction was that because there was no abduction therefore the McCanns could not suffer any pain.

"A structure we feel is absolutely vital if no other families are to go through the pain we have suffered and continue to suffer since Madeleine’s abduction nearly 14 months ago".

However, there will be those in the extended family who do actually believe the McCanns version of events and this may be painful for them.

My reasoning is restricted to Gerry and Kate McCann, and I thought that evading justice was not painful.

Unlike the McCanns, I hold my hands up when I am in the wrong.

Socrates: May not their way of proceeding, my friend, be compared to the conduct of a person who is afflicted with the worst of diseases and contrives not to pay the penalty to the physician for his sins against his constitution, and will not be cured, because, like a child, he is afraid of being burned or cut: - Is not that a parallel case?

Polus: Yes, truly.

Socrates: He would seem as if he did not know the nature of health and vigour; and if we are right, Polous, in our previous conclusions, they are in a like case who strive to evade justice, which they see to be painful, but are blind to the advantage which ensues from it, not knowing how far more miserable a companion a diseased soul is than a diseased body; a soul, I say, which is corrupt, unrighteous and unholy. And hence they do all that they can to avoid punishment and to avoid being released from the greatest of evils; they provide themselves with money and friends, and cultivate to the utmost the powers of persuasion. But if we, Polus, are right, do you see what follows, or do we draw out the consequences in form?

Polus: If you please.

Socrates: Is it not a fact that injustice, and the doing of injustice, is the greatest evils?

Polus: That is quite clear.

Socrates: And further, that to suffer punishment is the way to be released from this evil?

Polus: True.

Socrates: And not to suffer, is to perpetuate the evil?

Polus: Yes.

Footnote: Is evading justice painful? + Google = Gorgias By Plato = McCanns: Physicians heal thyselves + Google = This now number 1 on Google.

[thought for the day] wednesday evening


Here's some advice:


Always give advice, especially on topics you know absolutely nothing about.

[comment is dear] lord prat bigglesworth pontificates

This may be so:

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's need for lower interest rates to stimulate the US economy conflict with the Treasury's need for a strong dollar to deal with runaway oil prices. The Fed should recognize that its actions are misguided. The potential harm of a sustained weak dollar can make the credit crisis look like a minor storm.

... or it might not be so but one thing is for sure - the Morgan Fed is either incompetent or evil.

Take your pick.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

[feel the heat] southern sicily sizzles


We had our first 40 degrees today and of course it was while we were waiting for the bus back from Catania Airport, such bus due at 13:45 but appearing, mysteriously, at 16:15 after everyone had been fried to a frazzle and nicely pickled.

We are currently locked into a discussion on which liqueur to hit first - Gin ai Mirtilli [Welshcakes made], Pineapple Liqueur [Welshcakes made = strong], Mandarinetto [commercial but yummy], Mint Limoncello [puts hairs on your chest whilst refreshing you], the Xocohilc Liquore al Cioccolato [with chilli pepper], Quince Liqueur and Orange Liqueur [both Welshcakes' mindbenders] and lastly the Vecchia Romagna Black Label Italian brandy of which more at a later time.

The Catania airport thing is a nice venture. Two hours away by airconditioned coach, one passes through amazing countryside, mainly hills, cliffs and rocky outcrops in a range of pastel colours, with the occasional rough stone building dotted here and there to complete the scene. Will have to take a camera next time - some of the cliff faces and the buildings affixed to them are awesome.

There is greenery too - hillsides of lemon trees and assorted produce, as well as the bus running close to the ocean at one point and that is something else again. I have this crazed idea to build a little house into the hillside somewhere but that's down the track.

Back in Modica, the thing which hits you is the number of motor scooters - Vespas, Lambrettas what have you. The legal age for these is 14 .......

[Sorry, have to interrupt this post with the news that Italy has just scored in the European Cup. The city just burst into spontaneous uproar, the motorcyclists are racing up and down the roads at top revs and everyone's going crazy.]

So, as I say, the legal age for these is 14 and it produces situations where a lady was crossing via Sacre-Coure a couple of days ago and was hit by one of these teenage putt-putts - she was actually lucky it wasn't worse. They're everywhere, these things.

'Nuff for now. Don't miss Welshcakes' post later on the clandestini who died yesterday and I'll mention the neighbourhood dogs who are driving us crazy with their wall to wall barking day and night, especially poor little Simi.


Quackers


Quackers

Link.

And...

Woof justice?

Reverse Culture Shock (a preview)

As I stated in the previous post, my family came to Madrid for the weekend. They´ll be here in Spain till this Saturday but I can´t go with them due to my teaching obligations. Needless to say, when they showed up at Barajas, I was thrilled (having not seen them in six months). However, as the day wore on and two of my family members refused to see or do anything besides sit in the hotel, I started getting angry. I didn´t let it show but it seemed so weird, first off, talking in English. Second, I do remember how tired I was the first day I came here. I hadn´t slept during the entire flight and proceeded to sleep two hours after eating breakfast when I got into my (now) old apartment near Príncipe Pío. I soon recovered later that day. What one member of my family (who shall remain nameless) said sums it up best, "We´re only here for a week. They should be wanting to see more stuff and not be too concerned with sleep." Too true! They really did miss out this weekend! Although they´ll be back on Saturday, I´ll be out of the country.


Some things I´m sure will seem quite strange to me when I leave early next month. Among them are the following:

No subway system in Indianapolis

A bit more face saving than here (as I´ve commented in previous posts, Spaniards are very direct, to the point of being rude by our standards).

Speaking English instead of Spanish

Hearing Mexican Spanish (for which I´ve developed a healthly dislike) instead of Castillian Spanish

No churros for breakfast *sniff*
Things that will not be strange:
A judicial system which works (Sadly here in Spain, you can murder someone and get out in twenty years)
Driving and blasting rock music out of the windows at full volume (something I´ve been seriously missing)
It´ll be a mixed bag, that´s for sure.

Last Days in Spain

I finished my finals on Friday. My family came to Madrid for the weekend and sadly missed out on quite a bit, being too jet lagged to see anything remotely cool like the changing of the guard at Palacio Real or actually going inside the Cathedral of Our lady of Almudena (we just stood outside and took a photo of the statue, my aunt from Argentina absolutely wanting a photo). Now that I only have to teach English and nothing else, I´m always out and about in Madrid. Today I went to the Telefónica building on Gran Vía and saw an exposition of photos. I was hoping to go into their museum which has many old school telephones including the one used by the king to innagurate Madrid´s phone system but it´s closed till August. I then went to Chamberí.

Chamberí is a neighborhood in Madrid and also has a cool exhibit: an old station from the Metro system dating back to 1919 (when Line 1 was innagurated). Specifically Line 1 (where I live off of) is the oldest of the entire system, something I didn´t know till today. I didn´t bring my camera with me but I found some very decent photos of it on the Internet. Enjoy!





This of the excavation of the station. It was closed in 1966 and in 2006 the process began to recover it. Once you get on the platform for the trains you can actually watch the current line 1 trains go by! I was so thrilled when a friend told me a few months ago that you can go in this station. I have been dying to get photos/get in ever since I moved to Tetuán back in February.



Here is probably the coolest photo I found. This is when your standing on the platform. Notice first off the ever famous Metro de Madrid diamond denoting what station it is (in this case, Chamberí). It´s in the old style too, compare it with the one below Quevedo, which is more recent. Second, it has one of the ads that is down in the station, they retained the original advertisements. Third, off to the right, there is one of the current line 1 trains passing by. I waved at everyone, with my sunglasses on and my university t-shirt. It passes by at normal speed, so I´m sure everyone was thinking, "What is this?"


This is the entrance to the station. Find below a photo of the diamond from Quevedo.



Monday, June 16, 2008

The Old Jewish Cemetery

I would like to share with you a place I found quite moving - the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague. It was founded in 1478 and for more than 300 years it was the only burial ground where Jews were permitted. It is quite compact in space so burials were on top of one another, sometimes up to 12 deep. The site contains an estimated 100,000 bodies and over 12,000 gravestones.

The stones are amazingly jumbled and quite fascinating. I like the following picture because to me it shows the cycle of death and life.


And here you get an impression of how close the gravestones are.


The only way into the cemetery is through Pinkas Synagogue which was founded in 1479. Today the Synagogue is a memorial to all the Jewish Czechoslovak citizens who were imprisoned in Terezin concentration camp and later deported to various Nazi concentration camps. On the walls of the Synagogue are the names of 77,297 people who didn't return! The building also houses an exhibition of children's pictures from the Terezin concentration camp.

My first step into the building, seeing all those names on the wall was quite overwhelming. There was no way I could have photographed it for lots of reasons but here is a photo so you can get an impression of it...

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This photo was originally uploaded by: ccarlstead.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

[thought for the day] sunday evening

On this auspicious Sunday, some words of wisdom from 1744:

Truth is the cry of all but the game of the few.

[post-stupour blogging] of elections, missed buses and exams


All right, I admit it - I was asleep when the door buzzer went and 'they' came for Welshcakes to take her voting.

It's Sunday, about 4 in the afternoon and I've just been experimenting with the concept of 'siesta' for real. Tried to go through books of picture postcards but was a bit too heavy-eyed after the prosciutto lunch and well ... you understand. Welshcakes also had it in mind to do a bit of siestering but the little question of having to go out to vote precluded that.

By the way, there were some sticks of grissini and that was going to be sufficient, wasn't it? Not a bit of it. Welshcakes wrapped them in basil leaves and prosciutto - then they were ready.

I'm completely lazy. Not completely. Earlier today [10 a.m.] I went down the hill to the lower town to see a Russian friend who had just seen off her Russian friends and we ambled along to the bus stop which is situated at the end of a long 'Y' shaped road, which was once two mighty torrents of river.

I'm not explaining well. The whole of the lower town is in a valley, with the ancient buildings clinging to it either side. Picturesque just isn't a sufficiently apt word. Well, at the end of this were two forlorn ladies who'd missed the bus because unbeknowns to them - it's both Sunday and election day today, which brings me back to Welshcakes who has just been taken away to vote.

No doubt she'll blog on that later. I plan to take Welshcakes down the road for a late supper at the Consorting Cafe [don't get the wrong idea] and I promised to change the lightbulb and I'll do the vacuuming tomorrow morning - not sufficient recompense for her kind taking-in of this irrascible blogger in his hour of need but I'll think of something.

So there it is, dear reader. We're getting our energy levels up as best we can for the big day tomorrow - exam day for her school all day Monday. I presume the examiner will be from the British Council.

My Russian friends, meanwhile, are visiting another town and I'll catch up with them tomorrow as well. Now I eagerly await Welshcakes return, in her light blue splendour, from her exciting dip into Sicilian political culture.

Being stateless myself, I'll mix her a light refreshment and enjoy her tales of derring-do . Oh and it's now 37 degrees C.