far too much writing, far too many photos

runswithscissors


Thursday, February 06, 2003

As you might imagine, the Iraq thing is a major deal here in Madrid – in part because it's of regional import, Spain being a Mediterranean country; in part because the head of the current center-right government has been pushing ahead in sync with the White House, in spite of the fact that the overwhelming majority of the Spanish population appears to be squarely against any such stance. (I base that statement on what I've seen of polls reported by the major local TV and radio outlets, along with the two major daily newspapers -- El País on the left side of the political spectrum, El Mundo to the center-right. According to them, anywhere from 70-75% of the population opposes an invasion of Iraq under any circumstances.) The last several days have seen a growing outcry against the threatened war, and yesterday morning the third-floor residents of a nearby building -- one that faces this building across the soon-to-be-ex-vacant lot out front, just across the narrow street -- hung a large white bedsheet from one of their clotheslines which bore the legend
NO a la
GUERRA
-- a slogan that's become more and more visible here over the last week.

As the morning progressed, the wind began wrapping the bedsheet sloppily around the clotheslines, slowly distorting the message. By midday, the sheet had blown around the lines enough times that nothing remained of the sign but the word
GUERRA

It remained like throughout the afternoon.

Sometime during the evening hours, the residents cottoned to what had become of their message and freed up the sheet so that
NO a la
GUERRA
waved once again, clearly visible to everyone passing through this part of the neighborhood.

This morning the residents hung laundry to dry on the other clotheslines, giving the anti-war message a folksy, down-home feel. And that's how it's remained all day – colorful clothes and anti-war statement, all waving gently in the mild Madrid air.

********************

On a different theme altogether, the following is from an e-mail sent by a loved one back in the States about a seriously atypical drive to a movie theater that took place yesterday:

I like to get to a film a few minutes before it
starts because I like to see the previews. But
H. does not. We were taking two cars over
to the theater... as he had driven over [earlier]
and the theater is not far from his house. And
so, I'm ready to go and H. is not. So we're kind
of hanging around the backyard... literally
killing time. Then we go. I'm in front of him
and we pull up to the intersection down there
by the car lots behind the school. We're waiting
for the light to change and I'm fiddling with the
radio dial. I look up and see this pick-up truck
with a trailer attached doing sort of a mini-jack-
knife, sliding sideways toward my car (I'm the
first one in line at the intersection). A major
collision had just happened, but all I see is
this truck all over the place right in front of me
and I'm kinda wondering at how close it is to
my car (about 2 feet)... and will it keep going in
the direction it needs to without hitting me. It
was one of those slo-mo nothing to be done but
wait situations. It comes to a halt on the
sidewalk without hitting me.

I look back and motion for H. to back up a bit.
He hadn't seen what actually happened either.
Turns out the truck had been t-boned by a car,
the front end of which was demolished. H. got
out and went up to the wreck. I sat in my car.
A guy from one of the car lots is out there with
a cell phone. After a couple minutes, H. gets
back in his car and we drive around the wreck
and on to the movie.

When we got to the theater, Henry says the guy
in the car admitted it was his fault, though I still
am not sure what he did... ran the light I suppose.
Turns out he was on his way to the airport where
he was to catch a plane to Mexico in an hour.
I doubt he made that plane.

Interesting event, though. It didn't upset me at
all. But I keep thinking about this timing thing...
how we were just doing nothing so as not to get
to the theater too early... and then voila... boom!
Front row boom. rofl.

rws 12:59 PM [+]
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BLATHERINGS

August 2001
September 2001
October 2001
November 2001
December 2001
January 2002
February 2002
March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
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March 2003
April 2003
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June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
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November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
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January 2008
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March 2008
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September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
March 2009
April 2009
June 2009
July 2009

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


MORE FOCUSED BLATHERINGS


Travels:
London '01
Pamplona
Italy '03
U.K. '03
Sevilla
Casablanca
Stoke-on-Trent
Barcelona
Québec/Ottawa
Boston/Lisbon/Madrid
Italy '04
Montréal
La Sierra

Events:
Madrid -- arrival
9/11
Emergency Room I
Holidays 2001
Holidays 2002
Holidays 2003
Holidays 2004
Holidays 2005
A neighbor's passing
Madrid -- March 11 bombings
  and aftermath
Emergency Room II
Israeli friend/Madrid Marathon
Madrid -- Royal Wedding
The DELE exam

GONE, a novel:
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10

THE BASTARD CHILDREN OF
JOE ROCCO, a novella:
-- Part 1
-- Part 2
-- Part 3

BURBANK SHRUGGED,
a screenplay:
-- Part 1
-- Part 2
-- Part 3
-- Part 4

Short stories:
Murphy's Wife
Another Autumn
La Queja de Una
  Hermanastra Muy Conocida

Autobiography
-- Personal History
-- Hormones On Parade
-- Accidents, Random Mishaps,
    Personal Problems

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


OTHER SOURCES OF WHOLESOME ENTERTAINMENT

People/Weblogs:
dooce
foxvox
fudge it
fear not
rebekka
bookslut
802online
idle words
madhaiku
wockerjabby
grow-a-brain
rebel market
letting me be
out and about
kung fu grippe
fanatical apathy
baghdad burning
wfuv's music blog
kexp's music blog
mimi smartypants
between the miles
just a hippie gypsy
the impossible cool
tomato can brushes
vermont homestead
sugar mountain farm

Good Clean Fun:
gizmodo
futurismic
postsecret
dave barry
human clock
mcsweeney's
spaceweather
book-a-minute
internet archive
self-portrait day
my cat hates you
out of context quotes
surrealist compliment
  generator
strindberg and helium

Makin' Musical Whoopee:
last fm
stereo8
pandora
soma fm

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .


ABOUT RWS/CONTACT





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