Grave Error

January 6, 2008 · 5:54 pm

Too Much Home Entertainment

I have a case of too much home entertainment on my hands. One of the problems is that Christmas normally lasts from the day after Thanksgiving until December 25th. After that point, all Christmas music and decorations should be safely put away until the following November. But this is not the case in Spain where the Epiphany is celebrated as a central part of Christmas season.

As a matter of fact, children receive their gifts not from Santa Claus on December 25th, but rather from the three Wise Men (Reyes Magos, ironicially a misnomer since they are not kings nor magicians) on January 6th. This all means that after having said my good byes to Christmas two weeks ago, I returned to Spain to find that everyone was still out shopping and whistling expired caroles. Furthermore, as today is January 6th, everything is closed except for bakeries which sell the traditional and inedible Roscón de Reyes (a dry, uninteresting cake). As a result, I have spent today (and the entire weekend) locked up inside my apartment alternating between various Christmas gifts and my new reading list to entertain myself. Continue reading →

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Filed under Digressions, Literature, Living la vida española

January 4, 2008 · 12:53 pm

Obama is what is Good about America

The news today from Iowa is outstanding. Regardless of who you want to win the elections, the fact than an African American wins the Democratic Iowa Caucus is a historical landmark in the United States. Furthrmore, Obama took 38% of the votes in a 95% white state like Iowa with almost 10 percentage points above the Clinton campaign machine with all of its experience and expertise.

This is something to make you proud to be American. Time will tell whether Obama can continue the momentum against the Clinton powerhouse, but the times have definitely changed and are changing. Think about it.

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January 2, 2008 · 1:55 pm

New Year, New Books

It’s a new year and I just got back from home. That means many of things, one of which is that I have a new list of books for the new year. Here’s what’s new on my shelf and in deck: Continue reading →

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January 2, 2008 · 9:28 am

Back from Brooklyn

What happen? I’m back from Brooklyn. I spent ten days back in the States, split about half and half between home and NYC, and now I am back. After almost two weeks of being offline, I almost feel as if I could never go back to work again in my life and not be a lesser person for it.

As usual, I didn’t get to do all of the things I would have liked to over Christmas, but I did get to spend some extra time with ReWrite in Brooklyn. This ain’t the best video ever shot, but it’s the only footage I got. It starts with the Potomac River near Great Falls on the Maryland side, then goes to photos from the Staton Island ferry, and then finally the view from ReWrite’s window in Brooklyn near Prospect Park (on the other side). The music is “One Step” by Aretha Franklin.

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December 29, 2007 · 4:25 am

Offline and Loving It!

For this Holiday Season, I am offline and absolutely loving it. I barely check my webmail or my work mail, and it’s great. Unfortunately, this won’t last too many more days. See ya’ll soon…

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December 19, 2007 · 12:19 pm

Coltrane Olé

A friend of mine gave me John Coltrane’s Olé about six years ago, but it was not until last year in November that I really listened to it closely. Then a few weeks later while in Marrakech, I suddenly could not get the tune out of my head. From that moment on, I have become a Coltrane addict, and for no reason in particular, I found myself this past weekend listening over and over to “Olé“.

Although the piece appears to be dedicated to Spain, it is much more reminiscent of Northern Africa. With the exception of McCoy Tyner’s big piano cords and Freddie Hubbard’s trumpet both of which give the feel of a paso doble at a bull fight, the rest of the music is like you’re in Marrakech’s Djemaa el Fna or in a medina. Eric Dolphy’s flute reflects the incessant sound of North African flute players in the plaza and on the streets, and the excellent play between the two bassists (one plucking, the other one using the bow) together with Elvin Jones’ drums create the almost spiritual trance. And then there is John Coltrane soaring over the rest.

In a second rate effort to replicate this experience, I have created this third rate nine minute video (from the 18 minutes that the song endures) with photos from Spain and Morocco.

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December 18, 2007 · 5:37 pm

Barak Clinton, Hillary Bush

Obama Clinton.jpg

Back in 1992, Bill Clinton gave a political lesson on how to win an election. When running against an incumbent, most candidates make the mistake of attacking or complaing about the incumbent. The problem is that most people are turned-off by complainers and whiners. That was where Bill succeeded. His argument was change and his whole campaign was about how voting for him would be a positive change for the country, and this was highly successful retoric.

Now in 2007 and 2008, Barak Obama is the new Bill Clinton. He is arguing for change and being the change candidate. On the other hand, Hillary is arguing that the country needs a president with experience who doesn’t need on the job training. But back in 1992, Bush Sr. was much more experienced than Bill and arguably more experienced than Hillary is today. If we followed through with Hillary’s logic (and if it were constitutionally permissible), Americans should vote for Bush Jr. again, as he is more experienced than Hillary herself.

So what is so different about these elections than those back in 1992? Does the United States need a more experienced president in these elections than it needed back in 92? Change vs. experience, then and now. A Barak Obama is who a Bill Clinton figure for change verus a Hillary Clinton who is a Bush figure for experience in office. What do we want? Continue reading →

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December 18, 2007 · 4:26 pm

A Coincidence?

If political transition in Venezuela were only that simple …

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December 18, 2007 · 3:58 pm

Names and the State

About a year ago, I posted about a women who was denied citizenship in Spain because the state refused to recognize the validity of her first name. Well, I just read a news story about how an Itlalian court would not allow a family to name their child Friday. Continue reading →

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December 17, 2007 · 12:30 pm

Recycled Post of the Week: My Favorite Things

This weekend, to avoid the cold and the shoppers, I assumed the fetal position and read from cover to cover Paul Bowles’ The Sheltering Sky. I had seen the movie a couple of times and had started and abandoned the novel once before, so I decided to give it a second go.

There is a well-known quote from the story that reads,

… we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens only a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that’s so deeply a part of your being that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless.

This reminded me of something that I had written before in a post entitled, “Real and Personal Property and Possession” on how the only property that we ever really possess is the intangible: Continue reading →

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