I’ve not put any real posts up here for the best part of 20 days days. That is due to a combination of lazyness, illness, busyness and general procrastination. I’m not going to bore you with 3 weeks worth of an update, but in short I’ve had supurb Italian food over at Angelo and Fernanda’s place. I’ve had a visit from Anthony (who took his first holiday in far too long) and Cathy & Simon who are visiting Madrid for the fourth time. Otherwise I’ve been very busy with many things world wide web. A few changes to this site…
With Google buying out YouTube this week just shows how big this internet video revelation is. I’ve seen so many good links lately. Far too many to post, so instead here’s a collection of videos similar to something I’ve been playing about with over the last couple of years; Stop gap animation. I’ve had a few good results, but nothing as good as these: Clifton Suspension Bridge 1 week of art Ballon Festival A day in the life…
To end our week’s vacation we decided that for the return trip we would take it easy stopping off at Cuenca for an evening. Having heard and read a lot about Cuenca, it was somewhere that I just had to see before leaving Spain. I wasn’t disappointed, the old town spans the immense cliffs of two river gorges with houses built the rocks. It was great exploring the twisty back stepped streets and taking photos. Truly a wonderful place, but I leave the photos to do the talking… On Saturday afternoon we made our way up to la Ciudad Encantada…
I’ve just finished The Truce by Primo Levi (thanks to Carter for the recommendation) which follows on from his first book If this is a man, in a continuation of his of his experiences in German Concentration Camps. It takes off from the day of liberation and describes Primo’s 10th month repatriation trip and as a result has a much happier tone to the hard hitting tales from Monowitz. Levi’s writing is descriptive and observant, yet with no trace of hatred towards the perpetrators can be seen, something that Levi describes well in the afterword. The more I read about…
On Sunday morning we drove South to Oliva for the start of my Catamaran Course, a birthday present from Espe (I’ve loved Dart catamarans from a very young age, and use to dream of owning one). We were due 3 hours tuition on Sunday and 3 hours on Monday. Espe had looked into various courses but this one ended up being the most convenient. Others had stated that I’d have to take a normal sailing course before climbing aboard a cat. Likewise I had been declined the use of a cat in Thailand, as the owner stated that sailing a…
On Friday evening we left Alcobendas at 5pm after another dental check up. Our destination: Alaquas, Valencia. Our route, the one with the most twists and turns. Having been so fed up of Spanish Motorways of late, I decided we were going to reach Valencia avoiding motorways. We completed the whole trip on nice roads with no inconsiderate Madrileños winding me up and managed to avoid traffic jams completely. We took the N320 via Cuenca as recommended by Philippe over a year ago. We missed our intended turn after Cuenca and found ourselves in the hills again with yet more…
Over the last year I think I’d forgotten how much I love music and how much it does for me. Just tuning into the radio more and listening to some new albums has left me feeling great. On Sunday night I took Espe down to Cafe Central for a bit of Jazz. We were treated to a performance by an Argentinian singer and accompanying band, who were later joined by two guest singers, each of which had stunning voices capable of bringing out emotions in people. Amazing stuff. While on the topic of music, for those that don’t know, it…
I meant to post this up last week. I listen to Gilles Peterson’s BBC Radio 1 show most weeks, but last week’s show really was something else. With music from the likes of Karizma, The Heritage Orchestra and Ben Westbeech I was hooked… Then came Zero DB. Wow! It’s been a while since music has moved me physically, especially in my own front room. Top marks to these boys. Their best track had to be a remix they’d put together of a track called El Fantasma de la Libertad. Filthy beats and heavy bass lines, but by far the best…