I'm not Michelle Pfeiffer.

The Ikea Syndrome

2009-08-18T10:54:00.001-07:00

It all started with a good idea. Why pay for someone to build you a wardrobe when you can go get it at a warehouse, build it yourself and save some euros in the process? So there we were, screwing and hammering around, blissfully happy to be building our first furniture items with our own hands, almost as proud as a kid playing Lego.

It was a good concept that could be exported to other areas, right?

You wish.

I've spent all summer trapped in a sort of Ikea-ish nightmare. It's been a WTF moment after another. It all started with the hard head scratching of buying a Ryanair ticket, which is Byzantine to say the least ( how much do they weight? do I want insurance? am I paying with a credit card? will I carry oversize luggage? a bicycle? where do I leave? how many bags do I want to check in? why do I need to give all those details at least six hours before I go to the airport? what do they need the issue date of my passport for?). Another much better one was flying to Nice and finding out that I have to print the stickers for my suitcase myself on an automated machine, this time for Iberia --which is not, repeat, not, a low cost airline.Seriously far from it.

But the Best of Them All has been being sent to this sorry excuse of a student residence in Nice where not only they expected moi to clean the room before I leave it to the next unsuspecting student, but ALSO, and this is where it gets bizarre, the pillow (not, mind you, the pillow cover, but the pillow itself), AND the mattress cover (paying, bien sûr, for the laundry costs myself). And all of this, by the way, before 9.30 AM. Oh, and incidentally, the lady was not pleased with my cleaning so she decided to charge me 48 Euros for the cleaning I had already done, anyway.

And all of this while treating me as one of her employees (and believe me I feel terrible for her employees), and, on top of it, arguing that she was doing it to KEEP THE COSTS OF THE RESIDENCE DOWN!!!!!! (lie: there are cheaper residences in Nice, who actually hire professionals to do the cleaning). Humorously enough, she also mentioned that the only people that complained about this ingenious arrangement where Spanish, which also put her in the category of a racist biotch in my book, but never mind.

(Aside rant: The name of this lovely place is France Riviera (on Nice, Rue de France) and I would reccomend it with all my heart if you enjoy sleeping on a sofa bed with a mattress so old that is split in half, and sharing your neighborhood with the créme of Nice's prostitutes at night. And being yelled at for various things, e.g. making too much noise with your flipflops on the stairs, talking too loud or effing turning your lights on in your own room: "il faut économiser", she said, to the poor suffering soul).

But bear with me. The gist of this is, she made a huge effort to explain to me that she was treating me more condescendingly than any boss I've ever had (and heck I've been a waitress!), to KEEP THE COSTS OF THE RESIDENCE DOWN.
This philosophy, as you might have gathered from above, is spreading with the whole crisis spirit. With the excuse of making things cheaper, companies of all sorts are actually turning their customers into employees. You might have noticed how some supermarkets already have this nifty machines that allow you to work as a cashier for them (well, they give you a discount... oh, wait, no, they do not), or how hard it is to find someone to put gasoline on your car lately. I wouldn't be surprised if soon enough we'll find ourselves carrying our luggage to the plane or paying to use the capuccino machines at your corner coffee house.

The problem is, first, I can never be as good at doing all these things as a professional. Second, someone has probably lost his or her job because suddenly every customer is giving 10 minutes or their time to that company, and usually, and
that's the terrifying part, for free. Now think about all the money that those companies are saving on salaries, and all the time of your life you are giving them. Terrifying, huh? Well, I suggest we demand our employee discounts next time these guys ask us to do their work for them. Otherwise, my humble suggestion is 1) boycott 2) complaint and 3) do the 50s husband thing, i.e. mess it all up so badly that they give up on us, because we're too stupid.

(Related to my frustration are the article IKEA is as bad as Wal-Mart at Salon.com, and the book that inspires the article, Cheap, the High Cost of Discount Culture. They're more about why cheap is not necessarily better, and surely explain all this much more eloquently than I do)

Brains, not bombs.

2009-08-01T04:21:00.001-07:00

This week there has been two terrorist attacks in Spain, from the "separatist" group, ETA. They want an independent Basque country, and instead of using their BRAINS to try to convince the Spaniards that their motives are worthwile , they've used BOMBS. The first attack, in Burgos (bit far away from the Basque country, by the way), has left hundreds of people homeless, as they targeted a building where the civil guards (a sort of police) live with their families, destroying the front of the building completely. The second one killed two young men (also civil guards) in Majorca, even further away from the Basque country. Their only crime was, apparently, to be protecting the thousands of people that live in Majorca or come there to spend two weeks in the sun.

I'm not going to enter the discussion of whether the Basque country should be independent or not. But for the first time in the Spanish democracy, they have a non-nationalist government, democratically elected, and, if nothing else, that is a good thermometer of how a good part of
Basques feel about nationalism. Most nationalists definitely do not support ETA either. As for me, I'm not Basque, but I'm from Madrid. However, I've had my fair share of attacks here (including the death of a professor from my university). I'm really tired of this. This blog is part of a virtual demonstration against ETA and its methods.

Ps. I'm moderating comments for this one, I don't want to get flooded with political comments from either the nationalist or the non-nationalist side, as I won't be able to monitor this in the next few weeks and I won't allow any insults to be posted here. The way I see it, you are perfectly entitled to your opinion, whatever it is, until you use violence to make your case.

Unreality TV

2009-04-25T10:23:00.000-07:00

I love Susan Boyle. I love her in the way I love Ugly Betty in all her international versions, and, clearly, Hugo. Oh, and Spiderman. It's always nice to have the underdog suddenly getting karmic revenge and becoming the hero, for a day, for a minute or for three increasingly bad movies. The problem is, Susan is pretty real. She's a flesh and blood woman with a splendid voice, and since I heard her audition video for the first time something seemed slightly manufactured over there. I mean, how flabbergasted could the jury be when the camera has been following her around?
Well, apparently they had very good reason to follow her around, as there had been talent scouts looking for her for the program (they explain it better at Susan Boyle and Paul Potts: Not Quite Out of Nowhere - TIME). Well, good for her, and good for the program, but I just wish they had been just this bit honest about it and save us the "oh dear so surprised really" speeches, because, people, Cinderella stories depend on fairy godmothers and hard work.

Now, this was Susan in 1999. She deserved it big time, already, ten years ago:

Too often on television we are sent these messages that your life can change suddenly, and for the better, and we don't hear the stories of tough luck, frustration, dusting off and starting again. That's the fun fact of reality TV --it seems so indistinguishable from reality itself that unless we keep a cynical eye open at all times we overlook the constructions, the editings, the half lies and the make up. Or did you think that dress suddenly happened on poor Susan? Two scenarios: someone told her to wear it, or nobody told her not to wear it. In any case, my guess is people in the public would have laughed a lot less if she had come in different clothes. And yep, that's what I call manufacturing.

Serendipically, today I've also encountered the news that Elle Magazine, French edition, has decided to run an issue on stars without make-up, or photoshop , i.e. to Susan Boyle them a little.

...but just a little. Real beauté comes

with an electric fan and tweezers.

And damn good genes.

This is something that happens quite regularly on glossy magazines, like, once in approximately every five years. The lesson seems to be something like "hey, you can be beautiful without make up, but not so much, so, hey, feel good about yourself, but duh, you better get some products, it's totally worth it. Oh, and did you notice how pro-women issues we are?." Well, thanks. No, really. These issues have to appear every five years or so, so that the new generations stop and think for a second about something schools don't usually make them think about, i.e. reality in the media is ma-nu-fac-tu-red. Make up and hairdressers are nice, photoshop and surgery, ok, not so much, but in any case I do hope that Susan gets some in the near future because, damnit, she deserves it (certainly that's what google seems to be implying by having "makeover" featuring so prominently when you search her name in it). But please don't come and tell me later she woke up one morning and her hair was suddenly longer and straighter please.

And the best of luck, really, on the media jungle she's just gotten into.

The holiness of the multiplication table

2009-04-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

...didn't know this film existed! I definitely have to get a copy :)

Inherit the Wind

The joy of torturing telemarketers

2009-01-05T04:30:00.000-08:00

Call: 13.28

Me: (pick up the phone) .......
Telemarketer: Hell-ooooowwww goood morniiiing ♫ (really)
Me:.........
Telemarketer: good mooorniiing?
Me:.........
Telemarketer: Hell-ooooowwww goood morniiiing ♫
Me:.........
Telemarketer: good mooorniiing?
Me:.........

Me:.........
Telemarketer: (hangs up)

Call: 13:32

Me: (pick up the phone) .......
Telemarketer: Hell-ooooowwww goood morniiiing ♫ (really)
Me:.........
Telemarketer: good mooorniiing?
Me:.........
Telemarketer: Hell-ooooowwww goood morniiiing ♫
Me:.........
Telemarketer: good mooorniiing?
Me:.........
Me:.........
Telemarketer: (hangs up)

Aaah... I've got a new hobby.

I must be a bad person. About a year ago, I made a huge discovery. I had been getting recurrent phonecalls from a health insurance company, which I kept politely rejecting because, well, I'm a very polite person. However, one of these calls had to be made at 9.00 AM, in July. Let me tell you something about myself. I'm Insomniac. Ca-pi-ta-lized. I have serious problems sleeping, and heck, when it is the summer time and I finally can catch up with my sleep and sleeping late, waking me up for a stupid promotion is like feeding a Gremlin after 12. A Very Bad Idea.

So when I picked up the phone and I got the usual telemarketer yapping about their usual healthcare insurance thing, I just hanged up on her. No more "sorry, not interested", no more "sorry, I have to go", no more "sorry, could you please delete me from your list", no more "sorry, I asked you FIVE TIMES to delete me from your list". I just hanged up on her. And, hey, it felt GREAT.

Enter Telefónica, the Company We Love to Hate. This company has a very peculiar notion of public relations which includes systematically pestering cellphone owners of all sorts using a very scientific method, i.e. calling, randomly, all six-digit numbers starting by 6 and checking if there is a person on the other side of the line. Then they ask you for your name, and then they spam you with whichever stupendous new offer they have concocted on their evil dome.

The weekly meeting of the marketing section.

Enter 1485. I've been getting some calls (which, given my experience, I never answer) from these guys and I decided to do a little research to find out what they've been up to lately. Turns out, there might not even be a person behind the calls, but a sort of calling machine to more effectively pester cellphone users. The fun really begins when you pick up the phone and... no one is there. They're just checking if you might be so that next time a real ~~person~~ all-suffering telemarketer can call.

Well. Turns out I haven't enjoyed a dumb telephone call so much since those long lost summer days of making collect calls to foreign country switchboards.

Looking forward to the next one XD.

The Hitler Channel

2009-01-02T10:49:00.000-08:00

The Boy in Striped Pijamas (2008)

(...) Loss of urgency, loss of documentary conviction, and loss of recognition, offset by a net gain in jokes about the Hitler Channel: these are the outcomes we may expect as the pace of Holocaust film production continues. These will be the consequences of an end-of-the-year schedule that brings Defiance, Valkyrie, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The Reader, Adam Resurrected, and Good—because only the most determined optimist would expect all these movies to aspire to the condition of Yad Vashem.
(...)

Nextbook: Lest We Remember , by Stuart Klawans

Reading the article above, I couldn't help but wish someone in Spain wrote something about our very own Franco channel. It seems to me that all nations have their own traumas/phobias, and if the American one is the Holocaust/Hitler, the Spanish one is the Civil War/Franco. As the author goes about a moratory on Holocaust pictures, I also wish there was a moratory in Spain about the historical period of 1936-1975. Of course that would do away with half of my country's filmography. IMDB lists 119 titles, and even though some of them are not Spanish, and even though a few Spanish films have not been listed, it gives you an idea of how exasperatingly exhausting the whole thing is.

Los Girasoles Ciegos (2008)

It has nothing to do with serious historical documentation and research (I have absolutely nothing again our Law of Historical Memory,explained here), not even with doing serious documentaries (although there isn't exactly a lack of those, either). I'm not even saying that all these movies aren't worth watching. Some of them are even good. But as Richard Corliss argues in Defiance: Beyond Holo-kitsch (through which I got the link to Lest We Remember), very often these movies don't make us remember these events and think about the consequences of the Holocaust/Spanish Civil War [/insert historical trauma here], but they merely become a suitable background to guilt-trip the audience and the critics, thus distracting them from how much some of these movies...er... actually suck. And I quote(because I love sounding academic)

It has become not just a topic but a genre, one that, at its most reductive, exploits the awful melodrama of that chapter in history to badger viewers, intimidate critics, elicit easy tears, and serve as a back-patting machine for serioso directors.

Defiance: Beyond Holo-kitsch,by Richard Corliss

Defiance (2009)

Ok, so maybe not all these films are even bad, and probably not every director means all this harm consciously, but it sems that that overflow of Holocaust and Spanish Civil War films makes us miss the forest for the trees. They become the artistic equivalent of Godwin's Law, i.e.:

Godwin's Law (also known as Godwin's Rule of Nazi Analogies) is an adage formulated by Mike Godwin in 1990. The law states:

"As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one."

Godwin's Law,by the Almighty Wikipedia.

Similarly, we can probably calculate artistic stagnation by merely looking at how many Trauma movies are opening this weekend. Tragedy should not be yawn-not-another-one-please. Maybe we could restrict ourselves as audiences (we've got the power!) to one Holocaust and one Civil War movie a year?

consequences of gay marriage

2008-12-29T08:43:00.000-08:00

couldn't let it pass.

more music charts

...and here's an online comic that will knock your socks off

2008-12-25T05:19:00.000-08:00

I believe I've said it before --it always pays off to read Nalo Hopkinson's blog. This time it was a wonderful recommendation, the wonderful Bayou by Jeremy Love and Patrick Morgan. I like to think of it as a cross between Toni Morrison and Hayao Miyazaki, and I'm really looking forward to the second instalment. I had no idea you could read comics this good online, so Zuda, the home website in itself is quite a discovery.

I leave you with a teaser ;)

Bayou by Jeremy Love and Patrick Morgan

So many mistresses, so little time...

2008-12-24T09:08:00.000-08:00

I've just finished the second season of The Tudors, and it's been exactly the same guilty pleasure as watching its first season or any season of Rome. It's great fun to see the beautiful costumes and the hyperbolic acting (John Rhys-Meyers, please cool it, will you). At the same time, however, you just want to smack them on the head with the Encyclopaedia Britannica, for all the historical inaccuracies they throw in just because. Margaret Tudor, especially, must be rolling in her grave for being merged with her sister and being portrayed like such a superficial $"·$%. As for the Atia of Rome, if there ever was such a thing as vengeful Roman ghost, I'm sure she will be there, holding a devout matronly rolling pin. (Of course, anyway, nothing will ever, ever, beat Braveheart becoming the father of Edward II for the sake of having Sophie Marceau squeezed in and having something of a happy end).

I'm not going Taliban on these people. Heck you have to film a movie or do a TV show, and I suppose nobody expects total accuracy when you have a limited budget and a limited time to stuff all the stories in. But if there is something that people like Simon Schama has proven with stuff like A History of Britain is that there are enough good stories in the history books to make such distorsions not terribly necessary. The problem, I think, is that there might be less boobs around, which seems to be the whole point of The Tudors and Rome at times. But oh well, being fun to watch as they are, all you can say is, bless Wikipedia for at least a few people in the audience will bother to check the facts out of simple curiosity, and that's good. The show becomes quite interactive that way -- at least for me. I'm becoming a complete expert on royal mistresses, who are all quite a curious bunch, what with all their ambitions, beauty (or lack thereof) and, more importantly, not giving a flying %&$%% about society's conventions. My favorite, so far, is Charles II's Nell Gwyn, if nothing else for this beautiful, beautiful scene, taken straight from the wikipedia article on her:

Nell

Gwynn was one day passing through the streets of Oxford in her coach, when the mob, mistaking her for her rival, the Duchess of Portsmouth, commenced hooting and loading her with every opprobrious epithet. Putting her head out of the coach window, "Good people", she said, smiling, "you are mistaken; I am the Protestant whore"

Oh how I wish The Tudors got spin-offed all the way to The Stuarts! In any case, I'll certainly watch the third season of The Tudors next year, even though I'll miss the great Natalie Dormer as Anne Boleyn --she didn't look a thing like the historical Anne but hey she definitely can act. A lot of the weight of the show fell on her shapely shoulders and I worry that the actress they've chosen for Jane Seymour -- and, well, the character of Jane Seymour itself-- will not be enough to fill the space of Anne's severed head. Unless they go on to create a completely different Jane out of nowhere (see above), or dispatch her in a couple of episodes. And on with more interesting stories, such as When Good Portraits Happen to Ugly People.

Ps. One day, I hope, someone in Spain will do The Austrias. Now that's fun stuff for at least seven seasons.

you'd think NASA is getting some kind of publicity money from the Galactica crew...

2008-12-07T04:25:00.000-08:00

Kara Thrace, anyone?

A 400 year old supernova captured by infrared and X-ray telescopes. This is sooooo going straight to my computer's desktop :)

NASA - A Vivid View

Ps. Yeah, I don't know how I'm going to wait another month... sigh.

yaaayyyyyy cylons!!!

2008-11-27T10:04:00.001-08:00

... that's how articulate I can be about this... XXDDDD

(again, don't watch unless you want spoilers)

eheeeheehhehhheee XD

a short story of pop'era

2008-11-25T11:16:00.000-08:00

... it started off fine with this...

the three tenors popularize the beautiful Nessun Dorma before the 1990 FIFA World Cup
(the idea was to make opera available to a larger audience, and it did. Many arias are known thanks to these three guys)

... went on with this, still making musical sense...

Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballe sing Barcelona for the 1992 Olympics

(Freddie has proven he knows about opera since Bohemian Rapsody and knows how to not take himself too seriously. This is why it works)

... started going wrong with this...

Andrea Bocelli gets a career by squandering a tenor voice on corny pop songs , e.g. Vivo por Ella

(note how Marta Sanchez, an otherwise competent pop performer, suffers greatly to catch up with Bocelli. This is what happens when you get opera trained people to work/compete with pop singers and they both take it seriously)

... quickly lead to this...

Il Divo. I guess it's better than being unemployed.

(I need someone to sit down and explain this video to me. Slowly. )

... degenerated into this...

The Ten Tenors. Bee Gee Medley?????!!!!! WTF?????!!!!!

(no, it is NOT a parody. Why you need to spend all your childhood and youth studying classical music to end up performing a choreographed Bee Gees medley with 9 other guys is a mystery to me)

... and finally, we got this...

...
The Three Priests. The CD your grandma will get this Christmas.
(They seem to be taking it the religious way, so they could pull it off after all. And they are not trying to be sexy either. So I think I'll give them the benefit of the doubt)

The frightening thought is... what will we get next year??!!

... and they say the internet is killing music. Ha.

I cannot believe I haven't posted in a month.

2008-11-08T11:09:00.001-08:00

... sigh. It's been a busy month, though... the problem is, the longer you stay away from something, the harder it gets to come back. Posting something dumb sort of doesn't do the trick. But since it's been a Very Eventful and Happy Week in global terms, I guess I can post an Onion video that made me smile a few days ago...

Obama Undertakes Presidential Internship To Ease Concerns About His Lack Of Experience

That was lovely. Especially him "sitting" right next to Ibarretxe, the leader of the Basque nationalists... priceless... I honestly hope he brings dignity and respect back to the White House. And, since he's been to Harvard, we can be pretty sure this one knows at least how to spell those words.

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The T-shirt-o-meter!

2008-10-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

I found this chart just hilarious. Cafe Press, the internet custom T-Shirt store, have decided to keep track on how their political items are selling, and well, the results are just fascinating... the only problem is that they have no way of telling apart the "for" and the "against" buttons and t-shirts, so one cannot now if what's selling is this...

or this...
Nevertheless, it's certainly the kind of thing the anthropologically curious can enjoy...

Ps. Oh that Sarah Palin... she sure is media-friendly...

Paul is coming

2008-09-28T06:18:00.001-07:00

Las Viñetas de ELPAÍS.com (by Forges)

Careful with those fans... :)

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Sigh... I miss bagels...

2008-09-23T12:36:00.001-07:00

The real, New York bagels, not the cheap depressingly boring varieties we get around here....

You Are a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel

You are warm, loving, and genuinely selfless.

You enjoy comforting other people, and you easily fall into the roll of caretaker.

Of all the types, you're the most likely to be an excellent cook.

You tend to have something delicious for breakfast that you've cooked up for everyone.

What Kind of Bagel Are You?

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I told you, the woman has a common face... this time it's the Gallery of the Absurd

2008-09-19T09:42:00.001-07:00

Whis is beginning to look like a monograph!!! XD

Gallery of the Absurd: John McCain & Sarah Palin: Rocky and Bullwinkle

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Yes, Palin wears Tina Fey glasses

2008-09-18T03:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I told you so... Palin looks like Tina Fey. So I guess it was only a matter of time we got this... definitely portraits those two well...

"Can you believe it, Hillary?".................."I CANNOT!!!!!"

Warning: downer.

2008-09-11T02:59:00.000-07:00

I was there, at Loquillo's concert, last Sunday. The song is a version of a poem that has always been a favorite of mine, especially as you can see a fragment of it at the Universidad Complutense subway station. True enough, it's probably not the best thing to read at birthdays, but still great in a depressing kind of way...

NO VOLVERÉ A SER JOVEN

Que la vida iba en serio
uno lo empieza a comprender más tarde
-como todos los jóvenes, yo vine
a llevarme la vida por delante.

Dejar huella quería
y marcharme entre aplausos
-envejecer, morir, eran tan sólo
las dimensiones del teatro.

Pero ha pasado el tiempo
y la verdad desagradable asoma:
envejecer, morir,
es el único argumento de la obra.

-- Jaime Gil de Biedma.

(and here, a chance to use my translating wheels)

WON’T BE YOUNG ANYMORE

Life was in earnest –
one realizes that only later.
As with all the youngsters, I came
to take life by storm.

I wanted to leave my mark
and leave with an ovation
– to age, to die, were only
the dimensions of the theatre.

But time has gone by
and the ugly truth begins to show:
to age, to die,
is the only plot of the play.

Introducing the Space Bear ---they survive naked in space and cure cancer...

2008-09-09T11:38:00.001-07:00

And nope, they are not on the third season of Heroes...

SPACE.com -- Creature Survives Naked in Space

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GASP!!! Tigh IS running for president!!!

2008-09-02T12:37:00.001-07:00

*Waaarning!* -- follow the first link at your own risk... there's a major spoiler of Galactica's season 3/4 there. And you definitely don't want that spoiler. Really. You don't. So if you haven't seen the 3rd season finale , just don't it. Don't. Seriously.

Tigh selects Roslin , via Vayatele

Although, me myself thought first of my beloved Tina Fey when I saw Palin... sigh... and the people at Time Magazine thought she resembled "a classier, older, made-better-life-choices Britney Spears." I guess she has a common face. Or maybe it's the glasses. Which, I guess, will end up having me hearing I look like her. Too....

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How do you solve student violence?

2008-08-16T08:50:00.001-07:00

... you go OK Corral on them!!!

"When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started," he wrote on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's web site.

Mr Thweatt [the superintendent] said he believed the school's proximity to a large, busy motorway could make it a target.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Guns for Texas school's teachers

Well at least the teachers are taking crisis management training!

Now, seriously. A few things worry me about this article:

1) parents apparently did NOT object (?)
2) being close to a motorway makes it a target (last time I checked, most of the school shootings were done by students, not truckers, but hey...)
3) I'm getting flashes of that Boston Public pilot when the man fires a gun to make the kids go silent... pity I can't find the video on youtube anymore because it was priceless...

Bottom line is, you don't really want teachers with guns. I have some friends that have joked about giving us tasers ;) but jokes apart, teaching is stressful enough without having firearms involved. Jn just 5 seconds, I get a few scenarios based on the fact that so far neither students nor teachers have become flawless cyborgs:

a) teacher gets really really pissed, fires at ceiling (see Boston Public above)
b) teacher argues with spouse, comes pissed, gets even more pissed at trucker at the motorway (see upper above), gets to class gets totally pissed, student becomes rowdy, teacher yells, student becomes abusive, teacher loses it, student gets shot.
c) student argues with parent, gets pissed, argues with teacher, teacher yells, student steals gun from teacher, uses gun.
d) teacher accidentally fires gun
e) student accidentally fires gun
f) bullets accidentally end up at chemistry lab. Hilarity ensues. Explosion follows.

I'm sure TV watchers worldwide could go on thinking scenarios around this. I'm just very surprised that Superintendent Thweatt didn't seem to be able to.

Now, how about some "Let's work around why we love violence so much we can't think outside the barrel" workshops???

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The future of TV? (pointless ruminating while driving mode)

2008-08-04T02:17:00.001-07:00

Well, this is what happens every summer. Too much free time, too much reading (on and offline), too many good TV shows and the next thing you know, I'm driving back from my ex-home thinking about my favorite pastime, what if scenarios. The what if of today was:

- what if people stop watching traditional TV altogether?

Because, I'm not sure about what happens elsewhere, but here in Spain watching traditional TV means not only endless commercials but also *years* of delay with respect to US or UK broadcasts, jumping showtimes and, did I mention endless endless endllllllllesssss commercials. Me, I'm about to give up. Fast forward a few years later, and if media companies don't get cracking or do something close to terror tactics, I'm afraid we're all going to be downloading stuff, legally, alegally or illegally.

So the question is, will that mean no more TV shows, no more films, no more music? I was ruminating on these terms when suddenly it dawned on me -- what if, what if instead of buying the product after it is done, audiences gave a sort of economic vote of confidence to an author, musician or company to produce or record X, Y or Z? If you think about how some products such as Firefly cause such a fan movement to revive a particular show, I wonder if individuals would not be willing to "fund" future shows or musicians or even film companies, the same way that politicians get funding. Particularly if they are faced with an "either this or nothing" scenario. This would also possibly imply more micromanagement and a different source of promotion, but we already have the tools: youtube, myspace...

This is possibly just rambling, but hey, I've been speaking about the prices of houses falling down for years and nobody listened... well, whatever, you can call me Cassandra. But if I'm right, in ten years time I'll proudly wave this post in the air. HA.

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And so, space exploration became interesting again...

2008-07-30T15:21:00.001-07:00

I link to the digg news because the comments are so much more fun than the news themselves...

Digg - Lake of Petroleum-Like Liquid Confirmed on Titan's Surface

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you know you live in science-fictional times... (or at least kafkaesque) when...

2008-07-29T12:09:00.001-07:00

Ok so this is how teaching positions in the public system get handed out.

First you do this exam that consists of two parts, one of theoretical knowledge and the other of so-called "practical" fake-a-lesson knowledge.

After that, they check all sorts of elements in your CV that they believe are relevant, e.g. work experience, random courses, whether you have been an elite sportsman (true) or can speak Chinese and prove it (true).

All this is minced and blended and you get a mark with four decimals.

With that mark on their hands, they put you on a list and round you up in this high school auditorium at 10 am and keep you there for 7 hours while each of the people on the list choose from different positions neatly arranged in a similar numbered list.

Same again for next year...

... and the next...
... and the next...

... and the next...
... and the next...

...sigh. I'm tired...

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I LOVE Catherine Tate!!!!

2008-07-23T11:53:00.001-07:00

I knew Catherine Tate only as a Doctor Who sidekick, but her own show is just brilliant... and heck, this sketch is just soooo much like real life to me (oh that Lauren!!!)... XD

(you might need a transcript but just read the comments and it will all come to you...)

Ps. Celebrating that, once more, I did NOT get a full time position at the teacher exams this year... the Return of the Sub!!!

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I can't sleep 'coz I'm a mutant!

2008-07-19T06:05:00.001-07:00

A new genetic mutation found in flies can cause 80% less sleep than
normal flies, forcing the flies to get by with much less sleep. "Sleepless" Mutation Found Responsible for Sleeplessness

You know, that makes a lot more sense than much of what I've been reading about sleeplessness lately. It's certainly a wonderful excuse for the typical question of "but, why are you insomniac? your life isn't that bad!"

Ok, so the mutation is for flies, but hey, most of our genome is the same as theirs... besides... there's always the classic teleportation problems ;-)

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Depressing fact of the day

2008-07-09T04:36:00.001-07:00

According to La Lista Wip these are the most quoted people online (times quoted between brackets)

1
George W Bush

293.334.362
2
Barack Obama

153.086.957
3
Britney Spears

95.317.590
4
Paris Hilton

82.990.831
5
Bill Gates

74.436.260

Now, what are the professions of the only two women on the list? Argh.

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dedicated to ME for FINALLY FINISHING the exams XD ...wew.

2008-07-08T09:01:00.001-07:00

Lol... Robbie Williams, Queen, Heath Ledger... What's not to like here XD

YouTube - Robbie Williams - We are the champions

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I just love the chorus of this song :D

2008-07-02T11:22:00.001-07:00

... aaah the things you find running around the net...

Aaron Neville | Everybody Plays The Fool

(r. clark, j.r. bailey, k. williams)

Ok, so your heart is broken
Youre sitting around mopin, mopin, mopin, cryin, cryin
You say youre even thinking about dying
Well, before you do anything rash, baby, listen to this

Everybody plays the fool, sometime
Theres no exception to the rule, listen baby
It may be factual, it may be cruel, I aint lying
Everybody plays the fool

Fallin in love is such an easy thing to do
But theres no guarantee that the one you love, is gonna love you
Oh, loving eyes they cannot see a certain person could never be
Love runs deeper than any ocean, it clouds youre mind with emotion

Everybody plays the fool, sometime
Theres no exception to the rule, listen baby
It may be factual, it may be cruel, I aint lying
Everybody plays the fool

How can you help it, when the music starts to play
And your ability to reason, is swept away
Oh, heaven on earth is all you see, youre out of touch with reality
And now you cry, but when you do, next time around someone cries for you

Hey, everybody plays the fool, sometime
Use your heart just like a tool, listen baby
They never tell you so in school, I wanna say it again,
Everybody plays the fool

Everybody plays the fool, sometime
Theres no exception to the rule, listen baby
It may be factual, it may be cruel, I aint lying
Everybody plays the fool

Every plays the fool, sometime
Theres no exception to the rule, listen baby
It may be factual, it may be cruel, I wanna say it again
Everybody plays the fool

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The anthropology of soccer

2008-06-26T12:29:00.001-07:00

Ok, so I'm not a football person. Never been. I've been known to fall asleep and sit with my back against the TV set during terribly exciting matches, and even though I've had periods when I really wished and tried to like the King of Sports (as we call it over here), well. Can't help it. Yawn.

However, the guys at the bar next door are making me switch to the Spain-Russia match. It's a very entertaining orchestra of ARRRs; OOOOAAHs; UUUUUYs and YEAAAAAAHs so they sort of spark my curiosity. They did the same last Sunday, when the penalties came up and I just couldn't resist to see what the enthusiasm was about. Which was nice, because I got to see the historical last two penalties: the one that Fabregas managed to score and the one that Casillas managed to keep from scoring. I think it was the first time in my life when football actually moved me. After all, that was history --we haven't been beyond quarter finals in something like twenty years.

The thing is, I think I enjoy more listening to people's reactions to football than the whole affair of having to watch it. Especially after a guy on the radio today has brought further insight, when he said that football is so exciting because it contains the most important aspects of ancestral hunting -- throwing and catching. Certainly listening to the guys next door one can definitely imagine that Cro-magnons hunting for mammoths ten thousand years ago must have sounded exactly the same. And I don't mean this in a bad way -- it's just the anthropologist in me being a nerd, and wishing I liked football. And catching mammoths.

Me! Catch! Beast! Now!

Ps. Keeping in line with my anthropology theory, somebody has just marked his territory the primeval way. By pissing. On my door.

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PEGGY, PEGGY!!!!

2008-06-25T13:01:00.001-07:00

Yaaay!!!

Maybe I'll finally be able to speak about Margaret Atwood in Spain without getting blank stares... she's one the most important arts and literature prize Spain can give to a foreigner. Bonus: she'll probably come to get it. I don't think I'll do the crazy-fan thing and go yell at her in Oviedo, but hopefully she'll take a detour and come to Madrid ;)

MARGARET ATWOOD, PRINCE OF ASTURIAS AWARD LAUREATE FOR LETTERS

And, taking advantage of the hype, I leave you with a repost of one of my favorite clips of Margaret being herself... if you click on the video you can finish the interview on youtube...

STATEMENT BY MARGARET ATWOOD, AFTER BEING BESTOWED WITH THE 2008 PRINCE OF ASTURIAS AWARD FOR LETTERS

25-June-2008
"I am thrilled and honoured to have been awarded this highly important prize. The Prince of Asturias Awards are not only a great tribute to literature, the humanities, and the sciences, but also to the universal project of building a sane, human society".Margaret AtwoodToronto, 25th June 2008

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I'm a crocodile

2008-06-24T12:00:00.001-07:00

A sad, bored crocodile....

You Are a Crocodile

You are incredibly wise and knowledgeable.

In fact, your wisdom is so deep that it sometimes consumes you.

People are intrigued by you, but you find few people intriguing.

~~You are not a very social creature.~~

You are cunning. You enjoy deceiving people a little. (?)

You are able to find balance in your life, and you can survive anything.

What Reptile Are You?

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Oh, Amy...

2008-06-22T12:36:00.001-07:00

I feel very very regretful about this. I somehow managed to see her live, brilliant an apparently sober at the Festival of Benicassim last year, and heck was it memorable. I just hope we get the chance to see her in full shape again one day.

Singer Amy Winehouse has lung damage and irregular heart beat, says her father - International Herald Tribune

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the defeatist idea chain

2008-06-16T13:10:00.001-07:00

particularly dedicated to those who can't make out my facebook updates...

there's no way i can memorize all this c%·&
and, anyway, i'm sure to get one of the topics i'm not memorizing at the exam
besides, no matter what i do, it won't make a difference because i don't have enough experience points to get above the competition
furthermore, i can't memorize all this c%·&
and, anyway, i'm sure to get one of the topics i'm not memorizing at the exam
besides, no matter what i do, it won't make a difference because i don't have enough experience points to get above the competition
furthermore, i can't memorize all this c%·&
and, anyway, i'm sure to get one of the topics i'm not memorizing at the exam
besides, no matter what i do, it won't make a difference because i don't have enough experience points to get above the competition
furthermore, i can't memorize all this c%·&
and, anyway, i'm sure to get one of the topics i'm not memorizing at the exam
besides, no matter what i do, it won't make a difference because i don't have enough experience points to get above the competition
furthermore, i can't memorize all this c%·&
and, anyway, i'm sure to get one of the topics i'm not memorizing at the exam
besides, no matter what i do, it won't make a difference because i don't have enough experience points to get above the competition
furthermore, i can't memorize all this c%·&
... and so on, and so forth, until Friday (and beyond...?)

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Case in point...

2008-06-14T14:30:00.001-07:00

Meanwhile, a big Republican defeat in November is quite likely to result in a very nasty isolationist turn inside the opposition party. The neoconservatives - those bad guys who believe that the US should spend blood and treasure trying to bring democracy to the great unwashed - will be discredited. President Obama could find himself under pressure from both parties in Congress to put US interests first.

Europe will miss George Bush when he's not around | Gerard Baker - Times Online

Most of all on the big issues — Iran, climate change, trade - he says that there has been convergence between the US and European governments in the past four years. He seems frustrated that America is not given more credit for its good works, dismissing polls that show he in particular — and the US in general — are viewed in Europe as “a force for evil”.He says: “I don't buy into that theory. America is a force for good. America is a force for liberty. America is a force to fight disease. We've got the largest HIV/Aids initiative in the history of the world. We've got a malaria initiative that's saving babies.”

President George Bush starts talking language of a dove - Times Online

Oh, that a British journalist thinks we all are ungrateful idiots and will regret not having a boss/daddy/Superman in charge. Oh well, Kipling does live on...

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You may think we got over Victorian times. Think again

2008-06-14T11:56:00.001-07:00

Studying, studying, studying... I stumbled upon Wikipedia's transcript of Rudyard Kipling's The White Man's Burden, which I've always found a gem of obtuseness. What I did not expect is that there were, soon enough, anti-imperialist replies to the poem. So much for "he received the Nobel Prize because at the time people didn't know better". Apparently, some people did know better, just not the Nobel prize committee. What annoys me the most, is how damn familiar this whole frame of thinking is, even today, just substitute the "ports" and "roads" with, er, "democracy"...

The White Man's Burden (1899)

Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.

Take up the White Man's burden--
In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.

Take up the White Man's burden--
The savage wars of peace--
Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to naught.

Take up the White Man's burden--
No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper--
The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go make them with your living,
And mark them with your dead.

Take up the White Man's burden--
And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard--
The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light
"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"

Take up the White Man's burden--
Ye dare not stoop to less--
Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloak your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.

Take up the White Man's burden--
Have done with childish days--
The lightly proferred laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers.

The White Man's Burden - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(With apologies to Rudyard KiplingTake up the White Man’s burden.)

Send forth your sturdy kin,
And load them down with Bibles
And cannon-balls and gin.
Throw in a few diseases
To spread the tropic climes,
For there the healthy niggers
Are quite behind the times.
And don’t forget the factories.
On those benighted shores
They have no cheerful iron mills,
Nor eke department stores.
They never work twelve hours a day
And live in strange content,
Altho they never have to pay
A single sou of rent.
Take up the White Man’s burden,
And teach the Philippines
What interest and taxes are
And what a mortgage means.
Give them electrocution chairs,
And prisons, too, galore,
And if they seem inclined to kick,
Then spill their heathen gore.
They need our labor question, too,
And politics and fraud—
We’ve made a pretty mess at home,
Let’s make a mess abroad.
And let us ever humbly pray
The Lord of Hosts may deign
To stir our feeble memories
Lest we forget—the Maine.
Take up the White’s Man’s burden.
To you who thus succeedIn civilizing savage hordes,
They owe a debt, indeed;
Concessions, pensions, salaries,
And privilege and right—
With outstretched hands you raised to bless
Grab everything in sight.
Take up the White Man’s burden
And if you write in verse,
Flatter your nation’s vices
And strive to make them worse.
Then learn that if with pious words
You ornament each phrase,
In a world of canting hypocrites
This kind of business pays.

Source: Ernest Crosby, “The Real White Man’s Burden,” Swords and Ploughshares (New York: Funk and Wagnalls Company, 1902), 32–35.

Crosby on Kipling: A Parody of "The White Man's Burden"

The Brown Man's Burden,
By Henry Labouchère

Truth (London); reprinted in Literary Digest 18 (Feb. 25, 1899).
Pile on the brown man's burden
To gratify your greed;
Go, clear away the "niggers"
Who progress would impede;
Be very stern, for truly
'Tis useless to be mild
With new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.

Pile on the brown man's burden;
And, if ye rouse his hate,
Meet his old-fashioned reasons
With Maxims up to date.
With shells and dumdum bullets
A hundred times made plain
The brown man's loss must ever
Imply the white man's gain.

Pile on the brown man's burden,
compel him to be free;
Let all your manifestoes
Reek with philanthropy.
And if with heathen folly
He dares your will dispute,
Then, in the name of freedom,
Don't hesitate to shoot.

Pile on the brown man's burden,
And if his cry be sore,
That surely need not irk you--
Ye've driven slaves before.
Seize on his ports and pastures,
The fields his people tread;
Go make from them your living,
And mark them with his dead.

Pile on the brown man's burden,
And through the world proclaim
That ye are Freedom's agent--
There's no more paying game!
And, should your own past history
Straight in your teeth be thrown,
Retort that independence
Is good for whites alone.

The Brown Man's Burden, by Henry Labouchere

Ps. Heart of Darkness was written exactly on the same year than Kipling's poem.

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quotable quotes on King Kong

2008-06-11T12:49:00.001-07:00

[Remedial class of 11 fourteen-going-on-16-year olds. We're watching King Kong]

Student A. "Oh, teacher, this is like Titanic but with a big monkey"
Student B. "What? are they going to crash into the monkey?"

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When dystopia gets to real life, well...

2008-06-04T10:56:00.001-07:00

... it ends on the humor pages of the New York Times. Kinda.

I just loved it...

Homage to Catalonia - Laugh Lines - Humor - New York Times Blog

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Imagine...

2008-06-01T12:47:00.001-07:00

.... that all the stupid time I spend memorizing crap for the competitive exams I spend, instead, on actually learning to become a better teacher, preparing materials or, well, having a life...

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This was simply too funny...

2008-05-26T12:01:00.001-07:00

I. Simply. Love. The. Onion. Always sooo accurately insane...

"There is nothing that says women can't experience the manifold of crippling defeats life has to offer," said Elizabeth Mooney, a 46-year-old career counselor. "A woman shouldn't feel as though she has to forfeit her chances of raising three disappointing children with a man she doesn't love simply because she chose to squander the best years of her life working as a career counselor."

Report: Women Increasingly Choosing Dead-End Careers Over Dead-End Relationships | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

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How not to sell anything to women.

2008-05-22T10:05:00.001-07:00

I'm a regular user of Netvibes, which is for me one of the greatest inventions ever --I haven't used any other RSS readers so I can't really compare the experience, but heck when you have a good thing you don't think of changing it, do you?? Anyway, one of the feeds I have on my/their site is their own blog, because I'm a nerd like that. so when I got the newest post I first got a bit suspicious, then clicked on it, got really mad, then read the comments and had a fit of giggles. Apparently the postmistress or whatever you may call her didn't realize there *are* a lot of female geeks out there who don't exactly feel represented by bubbly statements like these:

"You can also have a look at Popsugar personal space on which you'll be able to find many exciting items to install on your page! From cooking to fashion or gossips, only and exclusively for girls!"

= uh uhhhhh yay I'm a twelve year old Stepford wife!!! (popsugar???!!!! POPSUGAR???!!!!!)

And what about "exclusively for girls"???? guys don't cook, gossip or, er, get dressed???!!!

Dear FSM. Well at least as I said the reaction on the comments is, well, priceless...

... and now that we're at it. I want a widget on the weather "exclusively for girls". And another on Galactica. Like, now.

This way girls ! - Netvibes.com Blog

What (grown) women want. From internet.It seems.

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In 10 seconds, guess which one of these two pictures belong in fiction

2008-05-20T11:48:00.001-07:00

... curious how, sometimes, life goes much faster than movie scripts... take that, Sarah Jessica Parker!!

ps. that is the UGLIEST wedding dress in world's history.
ps2. yes, I guess I'll watch the movie, sometime.

Spanish defense minister begins maternity leave - International Herald Tribune

Spain's Pregnant Defense Minister - TIME

Handicapping Sex and the City - TIME

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It's the chromosomes, stupid!

2008-05-18T04:22:00.001-07:00

... If I had to go for Hillary just because she's a woman, I guess I should have gone for Maggie Tatcher in the 80s as well.... Ok so I am not American so I don't get to vote in these elections, and I am not British and I was a baby when Thatcher got elected, but you get my point. I think...

(...) [Ellen] Malcolm even wrote an op-ed declaring that Clinton herself had a "responsibility" to stay in the race. She owed it to all women to prove that she wasn't a quitter. The sentiment echoed Clinton's own comments on the stump, her declaration that "I am not a quitter. I do not give up."These rousing displays of fortitude , however, don't necessarily suggest a positive message for women. Clinton's vow, in particular, moved Slate writer Dahlia Lithwick to ask what it means if feminism is "the inability to concede error or defeat — even in light of irrefutable, empirical evidence and in the face of spiraling support and tanking morale."

The Feminist Divide Over Obama - TIME

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What a nice suburban story... not.

2008-05-16T09:55:00.001-07:00

When I hear about things like these, it becomes less and less difficult to understand how some kids grow up into the ·%$"%" they become. I suppose you can get all sensationalist and blame the Internet, or Myspace, when the truth is that the mother that created the hoax has the ethics of a vulture on cocaine. It's just appalling to think that an adult would think it's "ok" to bully a 13-year-old kid, but hey, she had "reasons"!!

MySpace hoax victim’s kin seek justice - TODAY: People - TODAYshow.com
The parents of a 13-year-old Missouri girl who hanged herself after a failed MySpace romance — later uncovered as a hoax — say they have yet to receive an apology from the family they blame for their daughter’s death.

“They’ve absolutely offered no apologies,” Ron Meier told TODAY co-host Matt Lauer on Monday. “They sent us a letter in the mail, basically saying that they might feel a little bit of responsibility, but they don’t feel no guilt or remorse or anything for what they did.”

(...) After the two girls had a falling out, the mother invented a 16-year-old boy, “Josh Evans,” created a MySpace account for him, and made Megan believe he was new in town and thought she was cool. (...)And then the boy turned on Megan, leading a campaign of vilification and online name-calling that ended when Megan took her own life.

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On Israeli writing

2008-05-10T04:28:00.001-07:00

This article confirms both my belief that Israel is an utopian project and my belief that all utopias are dystopias about to explode. It gives a great overview of Israeli writing and how there *is* an undercurrent in Israeli society that is critical of the state's foundational imaginary. Definitely worth checking out.

Chroniclers of pain | Review | guardian.co.uk Books
All nations, as Ernest Renan famously stated, rely on forgetting or historical error (which is why, he adds, progress in historical knowledge can threaten national identity). They rely on stories that have to be forged out of a retreating past, reworking memory as they go. In the case of Israel, we could say that forgetting became a matter of survival and denial a way of life.

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... and this is where I really really really should be in August 2009

2008-05-08T10:51:00.001-07:00

AnticipationSF: English - Anticipation, the 67th Worldcon

Dear FSM it could be amaaaazing!!!

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It's a bit like 1947's 'Doom"

2008-05-04T11:29:00.001-07:00

what a fine example of filmic experimentation gone seriously wrong (well, just like 'Doom' )

Maybe they should use these shots to do the videogame. It really shouldn't be much work...

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saturday night live

2008-05-03T12:55:00.001-07:00

... been studying for three days straight. Stuck Up North so I guess it's Babylon 5 for me tonight, as Saturday TV s-u-c-k-s.

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make-a-society

2008-04-27T03:31:00.001-07:00

A friend of a friend is on her way to becoming an artist and had one of her first exhibitions yesterday. It was quite an interesting little thing that mixed consummerism and dictatorships. One of the things that struck me at the exhibition is this website, that allows you to play nation-builder for a while, deciding how much freedom, services, etc. your citizens will have. The results may surprise you :)

DISTRIBUTIVE JUSTICE

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I HATE ANTS!!!!

2008-04-21T12:35:00.001-07:00

One of the "advantages" of living on a ground floor next to the mountains is the ability to enjoy a wide variety of wildlife. As in spiders, flies, and more recently, Ants. I've sprayed ant killer and applied salt liberally in every bloody corner of my not terribly large appartment/studio/matchbox, but to no avail. And yes, I clean. A lot. And yes, I throw the garbage out, thankverymuch.

Today has been particularly enjoyable as I found the lovely little creatures dancing near the place where I prepare the food. I've followed them right to their apparent source (right behind the drier), sprayed more useless ant-kliller, mopped, hoovered and put the drier back there.

Fortunately my mum has remembered there are some ant trap that apparently sends poison to every corner of the ant hole and kills the Queen. So I've proceeded to the shopping mall to acquire it. Well, that and a cartload of a dozen other things I needed.

And so, after an hour and a half of intensive grocery shopping I come back home and the internet is not working. I've checked all the cables (my god, have the ants eaten them this weekend?), and they were fine. I've unplugged, reseted the computer, ASKED VISTA TO RUN A DIAGNOSIS (not that I hoped it would help), and finally, figured out the problem. The phone connection is also behind the drier. In my zeal to get rid of the beasties I've disconnected the phone line.

I hate to think of the poor little ants going back to their holes and killing their queen, but then again... no I don't. I'm not a Buddhist and the $%& things almost ruin my internet connection. GO TRAP!!!

PS. In other news, it seems to have snowed in the mountains this weekend. That and the squall clouds have made them look just gorgeous. See, it's not all bad Up North.

PS2. Everything itches now. I know it's psychological, but, ugh.

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Aimé Césaire, Martinique Poet and Politician, Dies at 94 - New York Times

2008-04-19T05:25:00.001-07:00

After my walk of shame about not reading Clarke and Diaz's last novel, at least I can say I have read and loved Césaire since I was a student of Caribbean poetry with Colin Nicholson at Edinburgh way back in 2000. I'm very grateful for Nicholson for putting him and other Caribbean poets on my way, and I will never forget the first time I eagerly struggled with Cahier d'un retour au pays natal in the bilingual French-English (my French sucked, my English wasn't great). I go back to that poem every now and then, and always find new things to enjoy.

Aimé Césaire, Martinique Poet and Politician, Dies at 94 - New York Times

Amazon.com: Notebook of a Return to the Native Land (Wesleyan Poetry): Aime Cesaire,Annette Smith,Clayton Eshleman: Books

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Another book I've been meaning to read...

2008-04-08T10:36:00.001-07:00

... is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I'm reading close to nothing this year, so, unsurprisingly, this has not yet been... well... even bought.

I've already read Drown, Diaz's collection of short stories, and well, I wasn't exactly thrilled in spite of the good reviews, but I really like the concept between the novel -- a young man who wants to become the Dominican JRR Tolkien. Not to mention how close it gets to what my thesis is about. And now, Diaz gets the Pulitzer -- this goes straight to the summer reading list.

'This Dominican kid from New Jersey' wins a Pulitzer | News | guardian.co.uk Books

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you know you live in science fictional times when....

2008-03-30T14:22:00.001-07:00

-- a friend shows you THIS

yes, it's a cellphone --with benefits that make the iPhone look like a quaint appliance from Captain Kirk's ... nano%·$&·$%technology!!!! nano%·$&·$%technology!!!!

Nokia - The Morph concept

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The kids are (not) allright

2008-03-28T12:56:00.001-07:00

All over the world, teenagers give their parents headaches. Why are the migraines induced by British kids felt across a whole society? Part of the reason may be that parents aren't always around to help socialize their children — or even just to show them affection. Compared to other cultures, British kids are less integrated into the adult world and spend more time with peers. Add to the mix a class structure that impedes social mobility and an education system that rewards the advantaged, and some children are bound to be left in the cold [...]

A study in 2000 by the OECD found that British parents spend less time with their children compared to other nationalities, leaving them more open to influence from their peers and a commercially driven, celebrity-obsessed media.

Britain's Mean Streets - TIME

This is becoming more and more common over here with Spanish kids as well. And the reason is, again the same. Kids simply DO NOT spend time with their parents, mostly because both their father and their mother spend a ridiculous amount of time working. In Spain, it is common to start work at 9 and not come back until 8 or 9 pm. The idea of "conciliation" (of work and family life) is a pretty new and often considered "softy-liberal-utopian bs".

The article also talks about guess-what... yes. Ratios. Again. But neeever mind... you won't hear any politician talking about that, at least not in my country. Go figure. Maybe we'll have to wait until kids start bringing guns to school here as well.

So, continue blaming the TV, the videogames and the teachers. Because they're the ones that are raising the kids.

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Everybody say OSCAR WILDE!!!!

2008-03-23T15:37:00.001-07:00

...otherwise, VICTORIAN, VICTORIAN!!! Funny as Sebastian Horsley is all about that precisely, so I guess it all goes full circle.

Ah the US and its interesting "crimes"... (the amused bolds are all mine)

"I'd been planning the go the US for six months," he told the Guardian yesterday. "I had got to the airport in full dandy regalia - top hat, long velvet coat, velvet scarf. One concession to their Ivy League sensibilities was that I had taken off my nail polish. When I put my finger in the scanner, they took me aside and interrogated me for eight hours."

Horsley said he had a previous conviction in the US for possession of amphetamine sulphate but assumed it had expired. However, his book did not do him any favours with the immigration officers.

"They said ... they knew I had been a crack addict, a heroin addict and a prostitute," he said.

"The good news was that they'd read the book - but the bad news was they'd read the book, and I was deported for my notoriety and for being an alien convicted of a crime involving 'moral turpitude'."

Moral failure bars dandy from US | News | guardian.co.uk Books

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The Great Pretender

2008-03-22T05:19:00.001-07:00

Two of my friends have decided to live together after just a year of dating and have adopted three cats. Three.
I can't even think of adopting a cat. I don't even know where I'll be living next year.
Going back home, the radio comes up with This.

Freddie Mercury – The Great Pretender – Música en Last.fm

Ugh.

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Plate tectonics is super-cool

2008-03-21T05:32:00.001-07:00

When I was a kid, I got this great book on Alfred Wegener, and since then I've thought the story of the continental drift one of the most fascinating tales ever. Seriously, try telling the story to the kid next door. They'll love it.

And the story gets cooler. The article comes with a great animation of Gondwana splitting into pieces, which is just awesome.

Supercontinent was too heavy to hold - earth - 21 March 2008 - New Scientist Environment

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Operation Chaos!

2008-03-20T12:26:00.001-07:00

Hark! Rush Limbaugh is asking his Republican listeners to go out and register as Democrats and vote for Hillary Clinton -- which he has dubbed Operation Chaos. Once more, American politics prove Fact is stranger than Fiction...

"I want our party to win. I want the Democrats to lose," Limbaugh said. "They're in the midst of tearing themselves apart right now. It is fascinating to watch. And it's all going to stop if Hillary loses."

Can GOP Voters Spoil the Dem Race? - TIME

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Arthur C. Clarke died last night

2008-03-19T08:26:00.001-07:00

Suddenly I feel guilty as I have been meaning to read him for a long while, but never got around to do so.
Looking around Wikipedia I found this priceless video of his (last) 90th birthday (can't be embedded)
YouTube - Sir Arthur C Clarke 90th Birthday reflections

The collected quotes he's got on wikiquotes are also pretty good, but of course, I'd have to keep this one:

Any teacher that can be replaced by a machine should be!

Electronic Tutors (1980)

Fortunately, most teachers can't ☺

I also liked the following:

If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run — and often in the short one — the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative

The Exploration of Space (1951), p. 111

Which allows me to seamlessly proceed to cheer at

Google Shoots For The Moon - Forbes.com

"[...]One bold ambition of the project: using lunar materials to make solar
power collectors that can generate carbon-free energy, which is then
transmitted to the Earth. [...]"

When Internet Moguls decide to go to the Moon, anything is possible... I think Clarke would like that.

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...and happy St. Patrick's everyone ^_^

2008-03-17T08:27:00.001-07:00

I just couldn't resist...

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Olga doesn't have a clue

2008-03-17T07:01:00.001-07:00

I am olga, I am from Russia. Moscow.
I am dreaming to find my real man. Maybe this is you? What do you think
about it? Please, write me a reply here:

mailto:olga@b*******s.com

olga

I've been meaning to post this for a while...

2008-03-16T07:37:00.001-07:00

... and finally, I CAN!! (I have high-speed on weekends, I have high speed on weekends, I have high speed on weekends... )

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Mhm. Someone should import this to Madrid

2008-03-12T14:10:00.001-07:00

DOT Creates New Lane For Reckless Drivers

They drive me nuts. Especially the ones with expensive cars. One of these days, I'll go to cafepress.com and get a sticker that says "you bought an Audi, not the F$·%" road"

Just wait and see.

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Things I can do

2008-03-12T10:50:00.001-07:00

1. finally, use Flock at my Up North computer... for some reason I couldn't install the previous version, but this one is working just fine oh joy.

2. This means I can blog instantly about anything whenever, without the fuss of logging in and out of blogger. This sort of thing is highly appreciated on 56k.

3. Thanks to my new wireless keyboard, type stuff while sitting on the sofa or while cooking pasta in the kitchen. Seriously. It's really cool. And, of course, watch episode after episode of Babylon 5 using my mouse as a remote control. Heee heee heee

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Oh, my, where has science fiction gone...

2008-03-11T15:55:00.001-07:00

I've spent this weekend at the V Fantastic Film Festival of the SciFi Channel Spain. It's been fun but a bit disheartening as most of what I've seen didn't qualify at all as sf, or even fantasy. I got thrillers, yakuza films and a lot of crazy people living in real-life paradigms. One wonders if the people that organized the festival thought that "fantastic" meant "really good" I mean, we got Untraceable!!!!. Oh well.

More disheartening news, the title of this article by The Guardian...

Clarke prize moves beyond sci-fi | News | guardian.co.uk Books

... fortunately once you read the article through you find out that they're exaggerating a bit. And mind you, this is the award Margaret Atwood got for The Handmaid's Tale, so that another dystopia gets the award shouldn't raise many eyebrows... anyway.

Ps. Finally I've downloaded Flock at the Up North computer. Maybe it is a Totally Subjective appreciation, but I think internet goes faster with it. Hm.

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Things I can't do

2008-03-06T11:48:00.000-08:00

Today marks the fourth week my mother embarked in home renovations one more time after the Big Fat Renovation of two years ago. The main consequence of this wall banging floor tearing is that I'm completely out of a high-speed connection. Meaning, this is the fourth week I can't:

-- navigate all those quaint Facebook applications, download pictures from my email or read any RSS feeds without getting grey hairs in the process
-- listen to Last.fm
-- watch Youtube videos

I'M GETTING COLD TURKEY. I EFFING MEAN IT.
--------

Ps. I've driven for 10 minutes with the door of the back seat of my car open, until a cute little girl and her dad have warned me. This proves two things:
1) There are still nice drivers out there
2) I'm getting dumber by the minute.

I want to shoot bureaucrats, badly.

2008-03-06T10:00:00.000-08:00

It turns out that for my examinations this June, I need to prove the Board of Education that I've been working for the Board of Education for a "·$%"% 1 year, 2 months and 14 days. And to do so, I need to go to FOUR DIFFERENT PLACES, all conveniently located around 40 kilometers away from each other, and demand for such proof at hours when I'm supposed to be, well WORKING.

This is Orwell at its finest.

gore weekend

2008-02-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

Friday:

No Country for Old Men. Just in time to say I saw it before Bardem got the Oscars. Yay for Javi!!

By the way. It seems people who have seen this movie are neatly divided between those who loved it and those who hated it because it was slow or violent or both. Me, I did like it a lot, as it's very character driven and manages to keep a certain sense of hope on humanity in spite of the grim grim story. I really love some touches of the film, e.g. the jacket/shirt story. It's also very neatly organized, which is quite a feat considering how many threads the plot has. Makes me want to read Cormac McCarthy --I'll add it to the to-read list.

Ps. Cruellest part of the film -- Javier Bardem's haircut. Geeze.

Saturday:

Spent half of the day with my friend-of-the-seven-cats, the other half with mum of-the-eternal-home-renovations (my mum's home is right now under siege by masons, painters, plumbers, floor-varnishers and the like). Result: massive dust/cat allergy attack.

Spent the night realizing I have forgotten to dance sevillanas and remembering my ski trip -- by way of various thigh pains. Oh joy.

Sunday:

Sweeny Todd. Never again will I eat meat pie, period. Realized, mid-movie, I've spent the bloodiest weekend since that Kill Bill Marathon. Like Kill Bill, much of the fun was visual --great costumes, great sets. I got a bit tired by so much music at the beginning of the film, mostly because I wasn't expecting it (the Spanish trailer cleverly avoids the subject, as musicals don't sell well here). Then I got used to it.

Cruellest part of the film: ♪Joaaanaaaaaaaa I feel youuuuuuuuuu.... ♪ encores over dinner ;) .

Overall conclusion: vengeance is bad, sleeping with seven cats is worse.

Wii Fit: mark my words, the holodeck is coming

2008-02-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

Well, it was just a matter of time -- there was the tennis wii, the golf wii and the bowling wii, so the full-gym wii just had to happen. It could be good news - maybe young kids and not-so-young kids will finally get some exercise. But it could also become the fastest way to get a bazillion lazy people injured in new fascinating ways. We'll see. For the time being, I'll stick to (not) going to a traditional gym, just in case.

But the really good news for me is that this brings us a step closer to my cherished dream of having a home holodeck. Now, that would make me buy a wii. The Robin Hood wii, the Picard Detective wii, the 18th century clipper wii... aaah the possibilities... (*) :)

Time to Shape up: Wii Fit is coming

From MSNBC

(*) I want a fencing wee, mostly. Does that exist already? Hm.

you know St. Valentine's Day has gone WAY too far when...

2008-02-11T09:43:00.000-08:00

... it invades the Merriam Webster dictionary. This is~~borderline~~ surreal. What have we done to deserve this?

Check for yourselves, for a limited period (I HOPE!!!)

The anorexic look moves on to men

2008-02-09T05:57:00.000-08:00

Geez. The kind of guys I like are on the verge of extinction? There can't possibly be anything less sexy than a guy on a salad diet! And I like them tall!! Damn you, Slimane!

The Vanishing Point, from NY Times.

Yes, I KNOW that real-life guys will never come to this point. But heck, the only guys I meet daily are media/fictional/imaginary ones. I envision a cluster of sad Adrien Brody clones populating my future... and I'f much rather have Javier Bardem eating steak...

And this is the sort of thing I should be studying at teacher training... oh wait

2008-02-08T11:40:00.000-08:00

...I don't get no teacher training...

It's quite a story. A Hasidic Jew with a military training in a Black-Hispanic school in the Bronx that had managed to get rid of six principlas in two years. The system? A school uniform, hallway patrols, meeting with teachers individually, a student congress, dividing the school into eight different "academies", and giving them "a taste of worlds beyond their own" by doing things like taking them to etiquette lessons.

For me the most important part of the article is the idea that schools (and classrooms I guess) should have a right to admission. Nope, the *right* to an education does not equal the *right* to remain in a building whatever you do or say. This is the major problem, I think, with failing schools -- we've turned them into jails, not places you are priviledged to be in for free (ironic how the administrators jumped more at him expelling students than, it seems, at the police asking for a backup). This is related with wearing a uniform -- besides the gang-color mentality, going to school is not going to a disco or to a park. A few years ago, I would have thought that these measures are too harsh, but I've come to realize that sitting back is the real backwards measure -- low or no expectations are the most demotivating thing you can do to a kid. Dumbing down, obviously, leads to dumbness; and the more you push the line of what you consider unacceptable, the further the "mean" students will go.

And, as for meeting with teachers... it would be nice, for a change, to arrive into a school and get the principal to talk to you for more than five seconds, or, well, introduce himself. The school I work for this year, for example, apparently seems to be a quiet, well-run school, but, as usual, the new teachers are at the bottom of the food chain, and, sadly, sometimes it has to do with not having been told at the beginning of the year how the school is run. We're expected to come, see, and conquer. Well, it doesn't work like that.

In any case, an article worth reading.

He focused relentlessly on hallway patrols, labeling one rowdy passageway the “fall of Saigon.” In an effort to eliminate gang colors, he instituted a student uniform policy.
He even tried to send home the students who flouted it, a violation of city policy that drew television news cameras. In his first year, he suspended so many students that a deputy chancellor whispered in his ear, “You’d better cool it.”

In Bronx School, Culture Shock, Then Revival

Quote of the Day

2008-02-06T10:02:00.000-08:00

In Spanish: "Vuelve a escribir las frases poniendo las palabras entre paréntesis en el lugar correcto" (Rewrite the sentences putting the words between brackets in the correct place)

1. I reading a magazine (am)

______(I reading a magazine)________________

And so the 5 sentences of the exercises. Should I laugh, should I cry or should I write my resignation?

Ps. On the up side, most of the kids in this class have had above average results in this class. Considering this is a remedial class, I'm so proud of them I could do somersaults. But some are hopeless (see above).

Guess who is a happy nerd today

2008-01-28T08:48:00.000-08:00

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Please please please please make this not suck please please please please!!!!!!

If Harry Potter ran General Electric.

2008-01-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

True book title. So popular I've ran into its translated version at a bookstore today. Business advice from children's literature that doesn't take into account the laws of physics. This should be interesting.

If Harry Potter ran General Electric

A few questions-- Is there a limit to the dumbness of "leadership" books? Does anybody take this seriously? Is there a Saruman guide to nasty takeovers? The Picard handbook for diplomacy? Who took my lightsaber?

Branching out

2008-01-22T13:07:00.000-08:00

I've decided to open yet another blog, just to keep the English posts separated from the Spanish posts. I guess it makes sense. Kinda.

This is so F·"% ridiculous I can't even begin to curse.

2008-01-20T14:33:00.001-08:00

Seen via Digg. Bush decides to pardon himself (pre-emptively I guess?), and the guy wonders what is it they're "becoming in this country". Well, guess what CNN guy, if you hadn't been sleeping at the wheel five years ago, you wouldn't have any reason to be outraged right now. Whatever.

Embedded Video

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The Fed-up-o-Meter

2008-01-18T11:03:00.000-08:00

I've finally come up with a pretty efficient method for keeping my students silent during an exam. You would think "well, it's an exam, they're supposed to be quiet", right? Wrong. It's taken me a year and a half to come up with my efficient method. It consists on the following points:

a) Stare at them with the exams in your hands until they shut up.
b) Give them the precise time when they will be listening to the CD for the listening test.
c) Give them the date and insist that the exam must be done in pen, not pencil (yeah, I know, but believe me, it must be done).
d) Deliver the exams once and only once there is total complete silence in the classroom.
e) Once the exams are on the table, patiently explain how to do absolutely every question in the test. Include the total number of points and how many points they need to pass.
f) Refuse to say any other word for the remainder of the hour. Believe me, this is hard. But I've become the Mime from Hell.
g) The Amazing Fed-up-o-Meter (Aguantómetro). This has been intelligently described by one student today thus:

"Mira, ese es el aguantómetro de la profe. Primero va a por el boli rojo. Luego, le quita el capuchón. Y luego, te quita un punto."

"Look, that's the teacher's fed-up-o-meter. First she goes for the red pen. Then, she takes off the lid. And then, she takes off one point"

That was so accurate I had a seriously hard time trying not to laugh. I told you, (f) is hard.

The teaching profession, an allegory

2008-01-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

- How was your day in high school?

- Complex.

Ahhhh... I've said it before, and I'll say it again... gotta love Forges....

Today, I've had a conversation with a student that considers I deserve better than to be a high school teacher. But as I sincerely told her, you can really love this job as long as you keep your sadomasochistic streak. And then I run into this...

Ps. Minutes after posting this, Windows Media has randomly selected the MP3 version of this. Heck I didn't even remeber I had an MP3 version of it.

Syn-chro-ni-ci-ty!!! Syn-chro-ni-ci-ty!!! Syn-chro-ni-ci-ty!!!

"Even socialist dictators have an interest in gorgeous supermodels"

2008-01-07T02:41:00.001-08:00

Naomi Campbell interviews Hugo Chavez for GQ | Media | Guardian Unlimited

... but the supermodels prefer them on the right... or at least, some do...

Sarkozy and the Supermodel - TIME

Report: Sarkozy to Marry Supermodel - TIME

Alternative titles:
Truth is always stranger than fiction...
Eeeverybody say "NA-PO-LE-OOOOOON"

This looks like a bad movie

[I don't even know what I feel about this. Carla Bruni is a very talented, beautiful woman and has proven this in spite of dating SuperSarko -- who is someone I can't really make my mind about --sometimes he looks clever, sometimes he acts like a complete ass. Same goes to cellphone-throwing Naomi. It's refreshing to see her doing good stuff like caring for poor kids and interviewing politicians. Then again, Shut-up Chavez aka "El Rey"... is he an Evil Tyrant or simply a loudmouth pain in the butt of capital? Who knows? Who cares?

I just couldn't resist the synchronicity]

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what I'd rather be talking about on a Saturday night...

2008-01-06T03:44:00.001-08:00

... intelligent conversation or at least intelligent bullshit... it's been soooo long....

Review: How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read by Pierre Bayard | By genre | Guardian Unlimited Books

Bayard's approach is Derridean: a focus on the relation between objects and the systems that support these. He perceives books themselves as a 'system', important only in so far as they are received within society: the gossip that they generate; the ideas that they spawn; the conflicts that they provoke. 'Relations among ideas are far more important than the ideas themselves,' he insists. Thus, it is only ever necessary to get a rough sense of what any particular book is about - and where to place it in the 'collective library'.

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I really have to record this before going to bed

2008-01-05T17:29:00.001-08:00

Location: Flamenco concert at a small bar, 1AM
Excerpts:
"You don't look like yourself in your pictures. I mean, if they told me to look for this person in the camera in this bar, I would never think it was you"
"I don't know what's wrong with gypsy women, they get so fat after 25... I guess they have their kids and let themselves go"
"I don't listen to music, I don't see the point. I have a stereo in the house, but I don't use it"
"Opera? Well I heard in a movie that you either love it the first time or you shouldn't bother. Me, I don't bother"
"I find Indian women disgusting... I mean, physically. They have a right to live of course"

To make matters worse, none of these statements were uttered in an obvious state of drunkenness. Loud enough to make heads turn, yes, but drunk, I don't think so.

Prescription: read this every time you think being single is the worst thing that could happen to you.

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Maybe I have no reason to be happy about this, but, heck I AM. I totally am.

2008-01-04T06:19:00.001-08:00

He reminds me of Kennedy, a little. Maybe he's all about the image he projects, but surely the US need a serious image change, and he's the kind of rare politician that seems to speak his mind and not go into tired-old-slogan city. So I don't know, I'm hopeful.

Obama's Historic Victory - TIME
[...]That day has now come, at the highest level of American politics. A black man with a dangerous-sounding foreign name trounced his opponents in the nearly all-white state of Iowa. And he did so because, after spending months getting to know him, the people of Iowa stopped seeing his color and began to admire his character. In an election where the word "change" became an almost meaningless talisman, Iowa's triumph over race is a message to the world about the real nature of America — and a ratification of Obama's belief that this will be an election year where everything is on the table, where all the conventional wisdom can be tossed aside, where anything, including decency, is possible.[...]

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In related news...

2008-01-03T07:16:00.001-08:00

I love how sometimes random itune playing speaks for synchronicity...

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no, 2007 didn't really suck volumes

2008-01-03T06:31:00.000-08:00

Around this time last year I hit rock bottom. A number of things that had been going badly with my life went, well, worse. So I guess my perception of last year has been tainted by what happened in December 2006 and the awful Christmas that ensued; and how hard it's been to recover emotionally from that. But looking back from today's perspective, I realize that in the process of recovery I've gained a great deal of experience, insight, perspective and a good bunch of new people in my life that I should be grateful for. Not to mention that yes, as the quiz below made me realize, I'm healthier, wealthier and yep, wiser.

So.

You Had a Fantastic Year!

Compared to most years, last year was definitely great.

Overall, you're living a much better life than you were twelve months ago.

And nothing is a better mark of a good year.

Here's to hoping next year is even better!

How Did Your Year Rate?

Back from Amsterdam

2008-01-02T09:11:00.000-08:00

... with a full New Year and a clearer head. I've been feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I'm not very sure exactly why. I guess it has to do with ~~2007 sucking volumes~~ . I guess it also had to do with second-hand cannabis smoke and beautiful Dutch boys running around. But I digress.

I also found a way to work the idea for a story I had in my head into a story. I might even, finally, put something to writing. Which is very exciting.

I'm the lucky owner of the most ridiculous egg... I mean alarm clock radio

2007-12-26T09:36:00.001-08:00

The led light changes colours every minute. Seriously. Yes, I KNOW there isn't a picture of every-color every-minute, but that's just because different shades of green photographed on my cellphone camera look just the same...

Ps. Ok, now, so you really don't have to keep it in that colour scheme if you don't want to. You have grown-up, mature color schemes -- THREE. But, again... isn't that just r--- the coolest thing ever????!

Ps2. Who's got waaaay too much free time in her hands?????

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Down With Santa?

2007-12-25T11:21:00.001-08:00

Nice to see that the Spanish quasi-mythical battle "Santa vs. the Three Kings" has got all the way to Time magazine. Traditionally, Spanish kids got their presents from the Three Wise Men on the 6th of January and were asked which one was our favorite (by the way, Balthazar won hands down). But since the 80s Santa Claus has been taking over, mostly thanks to American movies and various TV commercials.

Right now, it's not really *such* a big deal... most people sort of divide the presents between Santa and The Kings. But there is this new movement now that is aggressively asking for the Kings to fight back (gangsta hip-hop video included). I think I'm pretty much with them... if things go the way they're going, the Kings will disappear in a few years --and without them, Christmas holidays will be a whole week shorter. Bad, bad, bad idea.

Spain's Holiday Cry: Down With Santa! - TIME

The video:

(but seriously, ho's and shooting Santa Claus?!!! somebody's going slightly too far...)

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on widgetland

2007-12-25T04:32:00.000-08:00

... why is it so hard to find a widget that shows what you're currently reading? it shouldn't be so hard,come on...

Reccomended activity for summer: learn html.

aand another wee experiment ...

2007-12-24T08:56:00.001-08:00

... yes I can put this blog's feeds on Facebook... god I'm SO cheating on Tom.

... so far just considering moving off myspace.

2007-12-24T06:52:00.000-08:00

Hm. Decisions. Decisions.

The problem, basically, is that Myspace does not provide with a decent archive and I can't blog with Flock there, either. Which is beginning to piss me off. I think today might just be a good day to desert blogging there, especially as I've found this wonderful little widget for the lazy ones :)

Ps. Plus, I want to cut ties with Myspace stalkers. Long story.

I'm not Michelle Pfeiffer.

The Ikea Syndrome

Brains, not bombs.

Unreality TV

The holiness of the multiplication table

The joy of torturing telemarketers

The Hitler Channel

consequences of gay marriage

...and here's an online comic that will knock your socks off

So many mistresses, so little time...

you'd think NASA is getting some kind of publicity money from the Galactica crew...

yaaayyyyyy cylons!!!

a short story of pop'era

I cannot believe I haven't posted in a month.

The T-shirt-o-meter!

Paul is coming

Sigh... I miss bagels...

I told you, the woman has a common face... this time it's the Gallery of the Absurd

Yes, Palin wears Tina Fey glasses

Warning: downer.

Introducing the Space Bear ---they survive naked in space and cure cancer...

GASP!!! Tigh IS running for president!!!

How do you solve student violence?

The future of TV? (pointless ruminating while driving mode)

And so, space exploration became interesting again...

you know you live in science-fictional times... (or at least kafkaesque) when...

I LOVE Catherine Tate!!!!

I can't sleep 'coz I'm a mutant!

Depressing fact of the day

dedicated to ME for FINALLY FINISHING the exams XD ...wew.

I just *love* the chorus of this song :D

The anthropology of soccer

PEGGY, PEGGY!!!!

I'm a crocodile

Oh, Amy...

the defeatist idea chain

Case in point...

You may think we got over Victorian times. Think again

The White Man's Burden (1899)

quotable quotes on King Kong

When dystopia gets to real life, well...

Imagine...

This was simply too funny...

How not to sell anything to women.

In 10 seconds, guess which one of these two pictures belong in fiction

It's the chromosomes, stupid!

What a nice suburban story... not.

On Israeli writing

... and this is where I really really really should be in August 2009

It's a bit like 1947's 'Doom"

saturday night live

make-a-society

I HATE ANTS!!!!

Aimé Césaire, Martinique Poet and Politician, Dies at 94 - New York Times

Another book I've been meaning to read...

you know you live in science fictional times when....

The kids are (not) allright

Everybody say OSCAR WILDE!!!!

The Great Pretender

Plate tectonics is super-cool

Operation Chaos!

Arthur C. Clarke died last night

...and happy St. Patrick's everyone ^_^

Olga doesn't have a clue

I've been meaning to post this for a while...

Mhm. Someone should import this to Madrid

DOT Creates New Lane For Reckless Drivers

Things I *can* do

Oh, my, where has science fiction gone...

Things I can't do

I want to shoot bureaucrats, badly.

gore weekend

Wii Fit: mark my words, the holodeck is coming

you know St. Valentine's Day has gone WAY too far when...

The anorexic look moves on to men

And this is the sort of thing I should be studying at teacher training... oh wait

Quote of the Day

Guess who is a happy nerd today

If Harry Potter ran General Electric.

Branching out

I just love the chorus of this song :D

Things I can do