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runswithscissors


Monday, April 02, 2007

From recent days:

Out walking one morning mid-week, realizing that the young trees planted along narrow local streets had begun sprouting leaves, the bare look of winter months suddenly softening, the color green suddenly everywhere again.

Stopping in at the local estanco -- tobacco shops, a long-standing institution where one can buy stamps, post cards and trinkets as well as cigarettes, etc. -- to get stamps. The friendly 30-ish guy behind the counter began singing along with a Randy Newman song playing on the radio as he dug my stamp out from an accordion folder in a drawer. In awkwardly accented English, he came out with, "You can leave your hat on....," one of the least likely lyrical extracts I expected to hear in a neighborhood shop that morning.

Last Tuesday night, Television Español broadcast the first edition of Spain's version of a French program, featuring candidates for high office taking questions from members of the public, responding with answers as unscripted as you'll get from candidates for high office. Title: Tengo una pregunta para usted (I Have A Question For You). For two hours, the current president (José Luís Rodriguez Zapatero) took questions from 100 people -- selected objectively, it's claimed, by a firm outside the government and TVE -- on topics that ranged all over the map. Out of all the exchanges, some of them fairly intense, the media fastened on the one in which a person asked Zapatero if he knew the current price of a cup of coffee. 80 céntimos, he answered. This was headline news, and for the next two days pages and pages of newspaper space and many hours of radio and television were devoted to squeezing as much out of that one silly Q&A as possible. There was a serious concern behind the question, of course: the drastic increase in prices and general cost of living provoked by the conversion to the euro, and wondering how in touch the president was with an aspect of life that affects everyone of normal income levels. That didn't get a whole lot of press, and I was thankful to see one female journalist speak disparagingly about the entire chapter, referring to the question as "una bobada," as nonsense. The day after the broadcast, with the press foaming at the mouth about the coffee question, Zapatero invited reporters to have a cuppa with him at a government cafeteria. The price, headlines blared, was 70 céntimos. Zapatero essentially shrugged, maintaining a show of good humor through it all.

(70 céntimos? 80 céntimos? One joint in this barrio charges a euro -- prices in all the rest range from a euro and 5 céntimos to one euro 20.)

Sometime this month, the leader of the right-wing opposition party will be on the show (all of this part of the lead-up to elections coming in May). I suspect I'll do myself a favor and skip that one.

A night or two after that, Madrid experienced a night of theatrical happenings, events taking place in theaters and public places all around the center, some going through the night, well into the wee hours. Down the street from here, part of the plaza got cordoned off during the day, a couple of techies set up sound equipment. By evening, something sounding like a cross between crickets and an electronic keening could be heard in the space, a crowd gathering around the cordoned area. I missed the event. By the time I passed, around 11 p.m., the plaza had reverted to its usual nighttime party mode, techies packing up equipment as the crowd swirled around them.

[continued in next entry]


España, te quiero.

rws 4:14 AM [+]

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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
February 2003
March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
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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