[thought for the day] walpurgis night

Just been out on our Walpurgis revels but instead of sacrificing an innocent and concerning ourselves with fertility rituals, we ate pizza. They always speak of the nun Walpurga "dying" on Feb 25th and being sainted for being a martyr on May 1st.

Usual motif on this day is "passing through the fire" and I'd like to know how exactly Walpurga died. They don't tell you. Also, on the Hotel Safari was a giant picture of a naked woman and an exchortation to join their Walpurgis Revels - surprised how open they were about it.

It's also Mayday tomorrow, actually today and "nash prazdnik" or our holiday when all sorts of marches and festivities take place in Russia but for me it's a working day.

Thought for the day?

"Success is not the result of spontaneous combustion. You must first set yourself on fire.”

Anyone care to explain that one? And finally, some delightful people enjoying their festival.

I Feel So Sorry for Her But It´s So Funny!

Ok, La Sexta is one of six TVE (Televisión Española) owned channels, owned by the gov´t. There´s quite a bit of controversy surrounding this specific channel. I´ll leave that for another time. I´m here to focus on a specific progam: El Intermedio. It´s kind of like The Daily Show with John Stewart or The Colbert Report but much more cheeky. The host´s name is "El Gran Wyoming" (Big Wyoming). He´s left of center but doesn´t hesistate to make fun of the gov´t. Find below a video (which was originally sent to me by a friend, whom will remain nameless) where he "conducts" an interview with President Zapatero. This was a real interview that was done on Ana Rosa´s program. He basically asks about Zapatero´s sex life. When I have more time, I´ll post a translation.










He has a whole cast of other people, like Stewart and Colbert do. One of them is Usun Yoon. She´s from Utrera, a city in Andalucía (southern Spain) but was adopted. Her Spanish isn´t the best. They often send her to do interviews with people, who have trouble understanding her...too funny! She´s my favorite part of the whole program.

The Power of Powerthirst

I originally found this via Brando. My friend and I will be making a parody video of this shortly. Once it´s up, I´ll link to it! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

I didn´t know it but a real commercial took the idea!

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

I checked out the web site, it looks genuine. Does anyone have any more info on it?

¡Puente!

That´s what we will have starting tomorrow on Mayday. For those who are not up to speed on general Spanish slang (as I´ve heard this word employed by Colombians as well, I assume it is universal and not just unique to Spain and Colombia), it is an extended weekend. For instance, if you have a holiday on Thursday (like tomorrow), you also take Friday off (even if it´s not a holiday). Therefore, Friday bridges between Thursday and the weekend. Well, we have a holiday on Friday as well. It´s the 200th anniversary of Madrid´s uprising against Napoleon´s army in 1808. As Ron Burgandy would say, "I don´t know how to tell you, I´m kind of a big deal." That´s what May 2nd would say to the rest of the holidays this year. I plan on staying here in Madrid, instead of bombing around like I´ve done for the last few weekends. This weekend plans to be exciting enough. Maybe I finally get to Ventas on Sunday and see the first bullfight since I tried going in March and it was cancelled due to rain. Yeah, people aren´t happy when they´ve paid 40€ or more for a show that doesn´t happen, ain´t that right guys?When they are upset, they throw their seat covers into the bullring.  I saw one guy get drilled in the face, at row 3.  Strangely, it costs more to sit closer to the ring, which includes getting burned by the sun!

[housekeeping] this blog almost certain to end

I intimated some days back that this blog may well cease operations near the end of May. We're talking odds here and that's what a lot of people over here have been involved in at an official level since last Thursday - estimating the odds, which change daily. The fact is - if I come a cropper then the blog does too.

I'd dearly love to tell the tale - it's a good tale which is so illogical and my official status so invidious and yet I'm not able to tell all. Unless there is a miracle, this blog will most certainly end during the last week of May, with a fortnight hiatus being the best case scenario, rated around 20%, all things factored in. 70% says it's all over.

It's a story of one man in another city setting a new law in motion which has effectively ended everything. We are, of course, fighting a rearguard action each day now but the chances are not good. Other complicating factors make it well nigh impossible.

These are the days one finds out who one's real friends are but I have no expectations on that score, only hope.

Think I'll stop here now.

[thought for the day] tuesday evening

"Goodness what beautiful diamonds!"

"Goodness had nothing to do with it."