Old media sucks #286
Colin at Thoughts from Galicia posted a link to this article by Danial Hannan where he assesses that most people who are against bullfighting have only adopted that position because they are sociopaths. In an article full of resentment and dislike towards people who hold a different point of view to him, Hannan argues that socialists, egalitarians and Islamists are all simply motivated by misanthropy, just like people who oppose the corrida.
Animals can be a handy cause for people seeking to justify their dislike of humans. There are always men casting around for a way to validate their sociopathic tendencies. A hundred years ago, they claimed to be outraged on behalf of the proletariat. Then, when working people found their own political representatives, the Angry Young Men took to championing colonials who were less likely to speak for themselves. Now, Nicaraguan day-labourers and black South Africans and the Vietnamese peasants have also found their own spokesmen, so the Sturm und Drang brigade have shifted to the one constituency than is guaranteed never to disown them: animals.
I mean, I know he's writing for the abominal Telegraph but does he really have to come off as such a measly, whiney, grovelling little prick of a sophist?
Share ThisSummer at the slopes
We spent a day at our winter hangout, Port del Comte in the Solsonès… here are some pictures (click the image to open the set on Flickr).
Football victory brings meaning to progressive politics, flag waving and the Guggenheim
Graham Keeley's article from the other day, when he wittered on about how Spain winning a major soccer title seemed to have soothed internal tensions, has been outdone by Elizabeth Nash in the Independent.
According to Nash, the victory has brought into focus all the good stuff that happens in Spain, including: Zapatero's progressive politics, a drop in support for separatists in the Basque Country and Catalonia, increased reading of popular fiction, a nice hotel in the Rioja, the films of Almódovar, large olive plantations and Don Juan Carlos claiming the title 'King of Jerusalem'.
Now I thought that Keeley's article was pushing the envelope a bit, in terms of both word count and far-fetched silliness. But Nash and her friends have really upped the ante (3593 words versus Keeley's now pathetic-looking 1436).
But what about the bad side of Spain? What about the fact that domestic violence is still a major problem? That the roads are still dangerous? That inflation is much higher than is being admitted? That bizarre laws about the protection of the king are used to deny the right to protest? That 'molecular gastronomy' is about to collapse like a whale egg and pear soufflé? That massive corruption continues to plague local government? That we failed to win Eurovision, despite having an amusing song? Someone commenting at Notes From Spain refers to a state of 'crisis' in Spain… so can both versions of the story really be true?
I reckon that this whole thing has been used by various journalists as an excuse for easy copy in the balmy months of summer. Country x wins sporting event y and the stories just write themselves really. I expect there will be some stuff in the next couple of days about how it's Gordon Brown's fault that Andy Murray couldn't beat Rafa Nadal at Wimbledon.
Spain is better off than it was 10 years ago but it has a long way to go and some very difficult decisions left to make, as well as a rough economic cycle to ride out. It's not all transsexual marriage and vino tinto here, you know.
Share ThisSpain win the most boring match ever
Naaahhh… they deserved it. Feliçitas al equip Espanyol!!
Share ThisSpanish football feeds the hungry & cures the sick
More hilarious nonsense from Graham Keeley here. Has he just discovered The Guardian pay per word?
Share ThisHa ha you're dead!
Most of you will have seen that disgraceful video that has been doing the rounds, which depicts a festive celebration called the Toro Embolao. This fun activity involves tying a bull to a stake, settting fire to his horns and then watching him go mental. It's obviously top-class fun for all the family. If you haven't seen it, you can click here (be warned: it's pretty unpleasant).
Well luckily, the bulls have been doing a bit better recently. First came the great news that prize bullfighter, José Tomás was seriously injured after a bull gored him twice. Well, he still killed the bull so hardly a taurine victory. But then I heard that a chap in Valencia somewhere was killed by a bull over the weekend. And what, pray, did he do to the bull to prompt this reaction? Oh just a spot of Toro Embolao.
Surely, you deserve a nomination in the Darwin Awards if you expire after being gored by a bull which you were trying to drive mad. Well, it brought a smile to my face!
By the way: if you want an alternative opinion, check out Erik's blog about animal torture and Catholicism. He makes the salient point that those who oppose bullfighting "advocate obscene acts among members of the same sex". Shhh, Erik: you're giving away the whole militant gay/animal rights axis! Check out the rest of his blog, too: it's hilarious.
Share ThisFuera! Fuera! What you won't see on Telemadrid
What you won't see on Telemadrid is this video (apparently made by Telemadrid themselves). It depicts the Queen of Madrid, you know: that one Graeme has a crush on, visiting the Ramon y Cajal hospital in Madrid. Many of the public health workers (or perhaps that should be: Trotskyite terrorists) were protesting in support of public health care, chanting and shouting slogans. Esperanza lost it a bit and shouts "You're paid to fuck things up" (my translation for "Estáis pagados para meter follón") into the face of one of the protesters, before turning and laughing with one of her henchmen cronies colleagues. The video's interesting because it shows that she has very little that is either presidential or human about her, as she gets personally involved in the argument, but only to exchange insults.
The real story, though, is how Telemadrid executives placed a total embargo on the footage, and issued a memo to staff to warn them that the pictures couldn't be sold to any other stations. This is indicative of the way Esperanza Aguirre understands the word 'public'. 'Public' means: good when it can be of personal utility to an avaricious politician; bad when it means paying people 'to fuck things up' (i.e. provide health care).
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Another king bites the dust!
Great news from Nepal. After 150 [actually, it was nearly 250 years] years of ruling the country as living gods, the Nepalese monarchy has been abolished by its people (well, they did it last month, but the former king has just spent his last night in the palace). It's always good news when kings are deposed as they are, without exception, national parasites with few duties but many 'historic rights'. The Nepalese people have taken a huge step today. The 'royal' palaces will now become museums.
Oh, and apparently, panic buying is ensuing in Spain. I didn't want to join in but then I wondered: what if I'm the only sensible person and everyone else panic buys? What price would I pay for being calm and superior? So actually I went and stocked up on a bit of veg and meat, the things I figure might run out if this strike continues. Sadly, a truck driver was killed on the picket yesterday… not sure if he was trying to cross it but that's irrelevant.
Share ThisNightmare in Cerdanyola
I had a dream last night that I received some sort of prize from the communist mayor of Cerdanyola. I think it was for coming 1st in a treasure hunt.
But after I had a chat with him, I realised that in fact he was none other than Federico Jiménez Losantos, former communist, right-wing shock jock and utterly mad conspiracy theorist. Also, he only had one hand.
It was an imagery-laden dream and while not exactly terrifying (I had won first place, after all), I can't help but wonder what the significance might be of having Losantos talk to me in my sleep, in Catalan.
Share ThisEsperanza plays poker, Sirera is a cherry
I saw Esperanza Aguirre, PP leadership hopeful and all round liar, referring to her love for card games the other day. She plays poker, apparently. Despite the fact that my Dad was in the Navy, I've never been someone who could pick up card games. There's a wonderful scene in The League Of Gentlemen where a doctor is forced to join a card game called 'Go Johnny Go Go Go Go', the rules of which are insanely complex. The sketch must have been written by a fellow non-card-player, as it perfectly captures the feeling of trying to play one of those infernal games, always knowing that the next card you put down will be met with sideways glances and the introduction of yet another arcane 'rule' which only serves to prolong the agony of putting down another card.
There's an ancient rehearsal of the sketch at YouTube:
Go Johnny Go Go Go Go, YouTube (but the sound is rubbish, so…)
Meanwhile, Daniel Sirera, the head of the PP in Catalonia was on the morning news show today on TV3. Golly, he's uncharismatic. The interview was shit, as they usually are. The only amusing bit was when Sirera refused to rule out that he'd back Aguirre in her bid for the PP leadership. He hummed and hawed a bit, which was enough to make me think that his vote hasn't yet been bought.
Share ThisNews: Women, unions and blogging
The reason for a lack of updates here is simple: too much work. However, the world has carried on spinning.
The Spanish political arena is currently fairly dull. Zapatero announced a female majority cabinet, which is obviously an interesting statement. It doesn't say much about what his second government will achieve. My guess is: not a hell of a lot. Libertad Digital reckons that ETA are pushing for talks with the government by letting off bombs. Talks should happen, but probably won't, given that the PP is committed to breaking the historic pact of support for the government's terrorism policy. The struggle for power in the PP is the only story really worth following.
Good news: unionised dock workers in Durban refused to unload millions of dollars worth of Chinese weapons bound for Zimbabwe. Action by local human rights groups and trade unions prevented the delivery of arms and ammunition for Mugabe's regime from a Chinese ship. Apparently, the ship is now enroute for Mozambique. I can only hope that union workers there will also fight the 'free market' which allows China to arm Mugabe's psychotic and murderous regime. I mean, could the timing be any more obvious? This is the moral equivalent of Mussolini's assistance to Franco's rebellion.
We met up with Graeme of South of Watford fame (Madrid's best English-language blog) last night. I got a bit drunk (sorry about that) but we had a great evening, ending up in Plaça Reial, where I insulted an arsehole of a waiter.
The next few weekends will be pretty busy and work is going to be intense over the coming weeks. But I'll try to blog a bit more because I enjoy this.
Share ThisMediapro: Allen film only in English and Catalan
One of the bigwigs at Mediapro, who have produced Woody Allen's crap-sounding Barcelona love letter, 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona' (still hate that title), has said that in Catalonia, the film will only be screened in English or dubbed into Catalan (IE, no Spanish dubbed version).
Jaume Roures, speaking [link in Catalan] on the RAC1 radio station, said that he also hoped that the film might open this year's Cannes festival.
The story has been picked up on the wires, and is generally being used for a spot of Catalan-bashing (any excuse, right?). Several papers have also fished up the 'political pressure' story from a few months back, which seems to me to be without substance.
This doesn't appear to be a decision even remotely connected with the Generalitat. In fact, it seems that Mediapro (or perhaps Roures) itself is behind the decision, and I suppose they're perfectly justified in taking it, however foolish a business idea it might be. I kind of suspect that he was either speaking out of turn or angling for nationalist-love, and that the film will also be dubbed into Spanish.
A more daring move would be to screen the film with only Spanish or Catalan subtitles, and no dubbing. The reservoirs of Catalonia will fill before that happens.
Oh yeah, for those of you hoping for lots of Scarlett and Penélope girl-on-girl action (as has been reported in less salubrious joints than thebadrash), apparently the rumours have been 'greatly exagerrated'. Tough luck. Still, you're on the Internet so I'm sure you can find something else.
Share ThisFranco celebrates the 18th anniversary of the defeat of the 'Spanish Revolution'
Check out the classy pro-Franco comment at the Internet Archive…
I like the bit about dwarfs, though.
Steve Fullarton: International Brigades volunteer
Steve Fullarton was the last survivor of the 500 Scots who fought with the International Brigades against General Franco's rebels in the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39. Aged just 18, and halfway through his engineering apprenticeship when he crossed the Pyrenees in April 1938, he was also one of the youngest of the 2,300 men and women from the British Isles – of whom nearly one in four died – who enlisted as soldiers or medics to defend the Spanish Republic. Indeed, he had to lie about his age, since the Communist Party – the recruiting agent for the volunteers – had a policy of only accepting those aged over 21.
Share ThisPP: Acebes & Zaplana out, Camps & Aguirre in
The PP has had a change of leadership. As predicted, this has involved the sidelining of Angel Acebes and Eduardo Zaplana. The new members of what Rajoy is calling his 'own team' are to be la niña de Rajoy, Francisco Camps (president of the Comunitat Valenciana) and Esperanza Aguirre (president of the Comunidad de Madrid). Both Camps and Aguirre lead PP strongholds which gained seats in the recent election,
This isn't a shift towards the centre, mind. Aguirre and Camps are both plenty right-wing when they want to be. Check out Graeme's obssesive enlightening series of posts about Aguirre if you want a better idea of how she ticks.
Meanwhile, the final final final (pero que finales, eh?) results are in and CiU lost a seat to the PP. This is apparently due to the postal vote taking ages to arrive (what?! in Spain?! surely not!). This leaves CiU on 10 seats in the parliament. They're still talking about a pact between CiU and the PSOE but I somehow doubt it. That would mean alliance in Madrid but opposition in Barcelona, which would be a pretty unsatisfactory situation for everyone, parlicularly the electorate. By the way, check out this post (in Spanish) about the peculiarities of the Spanish electoral system and how it encourages a sort of bi-partisan situation. This image in particular is interesting, as it shows how many seats the IU might have if a different system were adopted. Give you a clue: it's seven times as many as they have now.
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a blog by Tom Clarke in Barcelona, Catalonia, covering politics, culture and society
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