My friend, William (with the abandoned blog), told me today that Andrew Hill (1931-2007) just recently passed away on April 20th. Andrew Hill was a major Jazz pianist and composer who made a name for himself in the 1960s with innovative albums for Blue Note such as Black Fire and Points of Departure. On this piece, embedded here, called “Refuge” Andrew Hills leads such greats as Joe Henderson, Kenny Dorham, and my favorite Eric Dolphy playing bass clarinet.
Filed under Jazz
There is nothing like having a no-worries Saturday, where you leave all of your problems behind, sit outside and leisurely read a book.
Filed under Friends / Family
Al final el UB Barça no pudo con el poderío del Ros Casals en el tercer y decesivo partido de semifinales a pesar de igualar la eliminatoria en el segundo partido. De todas formas, aunque muchas veces perdimos, siempre acabamos ganando. Así es la vida. Y así es para nuestra crack, la Rose Superstar.
Ahora se acaba la temporada 2006-2007 y la Rose Superstar ya está de Super Vacaciones. ¡Qué envidia! Ojala yo perdiera así también y estuviera de vacaciones hasta septiembre. Solo le pido que nos espere en la platja.
Filed under Rose Superstar
Today was another lovely day in Madrid. The sun was shining and there was a very light breeze. When the weather is nice in Madrid, the ideal Sunday is spent in the La Latina section of town where everyone meets to eat, drink, and loiter in the sun. I was supposed to meet up with Neska for lunch, but she spent Saturday night on the town with John Travolta, and I think that she was left only with a headache and no longer a fever.
So I decided to take the day into my own hands. I grabbed by iPod Shuffle — courtesy of FON — and ventured out to take a nice stroll through my neighborhood to the sounds of The Chico Hamilton Quintet with Eric Dolphy from the album The Original Ellington Suite. What a perfect paseo with Chico Hamilton’s chamber jazz accompanied by Eric Dolphy’s flute and bass clarinet — really wonderful. Continue reading
Filed under Digressions, Jazz
Anoche nuestra crack Rose Superstar hizo un partidazo para igualar la eliminatoria de semifinales de la Liga de Baloncesto Femenino. En el primer partido, el UB Barça cayó al Ros Casals de Valencia (el equipo sin duda más fuerte de la liga) por 84-61. Parecía que le quedaba muy poca esperanza al Barça.
Sin embargo en el partido de vuelta disputado anoche en la ciudad condal, Rose Superstar fue infalible con 11 puntos (9 de triples) para ayuda a su equipo a remontar la eliminatoria ganándoles 80-72. El partido decisivo se jugará en Valencia este domingo. ¡A por ellas oé!
Filed under Rose Superstar
As I mentioned on Friday, I had wanted to write a post about Thursday night’s rain. I had wanted to describe the wonderful feeling of getting into bed, under the covers to the sound of rain on my window sill. It is such a welcoming and comforting melody. For about 10 days straight it had been raining off and on in Madrid, and the constancy of the rain had washed away all of the filthiness of the previous arid weeks. So, I decided to open my balcony and let in the clean freshness of the rain.
Then today, I had to leave a little earlier from work than normal and the sun was still out. As a matter of fact, it was a very sunny day. While I came around the corner and passed, of all things, a Harley Davidson store, the air was filled with the smell of brand new motorcycle tires. Out of nowhere, I recalled the innocent joy of being a little boy in a bicycle store. Ironically, I have very little interest in either motorcycles or bikes today, but the scent brought back the feeling of comfort similar to that of childhood. I had almost completely forgotten about rain. Continue reading
Filed under Digressions
This past summer I read Another Country by James Baldwin and had wanted to write an in depth analysis of the story. I had totally forgotten about the book until now when I was listening to Louis Armstrong signing “Black and Blue”. Initially, I had purchased the book because I thought is was about an African American Jazz musician and his struggle as such. Then as I read on, I found out that the Jazz musician was only a part of the first portion of the story, even though the rest seemed to revolve around him. Nevertheless, the book rather fascinated me in its insight of people’s search for a place in the world — struggling to fit in, find love, and the injustice and violence in it all.
Filed under Digressions, Jazz, Literature
This video interview of Martin Varsavsky, CEO and Founder of FON, is a good introductory tour of our offices in Madrid and to get a glimpse of a day in the life of FON.
Filed under FON
Last night when I entered my apartment, I found to my great surprise that there was a gift-wrapped box waiting for me on the table. My friend Manolo happened to be in Madrid just for the day, and, having keys to my apartment, entered and left the box on the table. The timing couldn’t have been better nor could be my intuition. I had just finished on Saturday morning my last shipment from home of Nutter Butter cookies, my personal favorite.
So when I saw the box, knowing that Easter had just passed, I hoped for the best. I opened the box and what did I find? Crespells! Homemade by Neta the matriarch of sa meua famili mallorquina. Crespells are traditional Mallorcan Easter cookies. Neta always cuts them in the shape of roosters (her favorite animal), Mallorcan peasant girls, and the traditional Star of David (Mallorca has a long Jewish history). Of course, I went straight for the Mallorcan peasant girls. It is so nice to have friends who think of me and treat me with such warmth and kindness. I really don’t deserve it, especially after having eaten all of the evidence.
Filed under Friends / Family, Living la vida española
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