All posts by Tom

Crap political prediction: ERC leadership election

Catalonia, Politics, , ,

Not that many people care about this but this leadership election could directly affect my household (no, we’re not militants, one of us happens to work somewhere where a change in direction from ERC could mean changes).

Anyway, I reckon that out of the available choices, the Carretero federalist agenda makes sense, though some will say that this is the most extreme of the options on offer. Obvously, Puigcercos is revolting (and he masterminded the last electoral campaign, an unmitigated disaster: he doesn’t deserve to lead). Benach seems OK but he kind of looks like he has a drink problem… sorry but it’s true. Reyner, I don’t really know anything about (but apparently, neither does anyone else)… he seems to be a bit of a radical, and his current’s website incudes a handy map of where they’ve burnt the king (in effigy).

BTW: why is it that so many Americans in Spain love the king so much? Same reason they love the queen of England, I guess.

Yeah, so Carretero should win but Benach probably will. Prediction over.

Edit: Told you it was a crap prediction! Puigcercos and Ridao won!

Catalonia: Enough with the rain already

Catalonia

…yeah, I know we’re in the middle of a drought but si us plau! Surely we’ve got enough water to cancel that bizarre river transfer idea? Can’t we hang out in the sunshine some time? I mean, even if I didn’t want to go to the beach (which I don’t), the satellite’s on the blink most of the time. It’s just not fair.

Gaycelona versus Gayxample – does Graham Keeley ever know what he’s talking about?

Catalonia, , , , , , ,

As seen in this fluff piece by the Guardian’s Man In Spain for nice hotels under €100 in Barcelona:

Hotel California

Great value for money considering its locaton around the corner from La Rambla. The California offers decent, clean rooms and markets itself as gay friendly, though this is more subtly played than in hotels like Axel, in the “Gaycelona” district of Barcelona.

As any fule know, the so-called gay district is called ‘Gayxample’ from the Eixample neighbourhood. It seems that Graham Keeley’s articles either consist of reheating AP and El País stories or churning out ignorant tosh. Has no one at the Guardian yet noticed that while Keeley is filing tons more stories on Spain than there used to be, they are predominantly ripped off or simply inaccurate? Maybe it’s reading Flat Earth News but this guy is really beginning to annoy me.

Guardian, sort it out!

P.S. I was going to say that Graham Keeley doesn’t know his arse from his elbow but I suspect that I’d have been picked up for bad taste. So I didn’t.

Nightmare in Cerdanyola

Catalonia, Home, Spain, ,

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.

Album review: Neil Hamburger Sings Country Winners

General, Review

Neil Hamburger Sings Country Winners

I’m a big fan of country music. Not the real, commercial 1990s shit, but the fake and made-up 60s and 70s country produced by Gram Parsons and the Rolling Stones. So I wasn’t disappointed to see that Neil Hamburger’s new album, Neil Hamburger Sings Country Winners (SCW from now on) is just what the title suggests: a collection of country songs, sung by one of America’s greatest comedians.

The songs range from The Recycle Bin, an expletive-ridden piece about recycling and failure (more on this later), to a new interpretation of Hamburger’s popular classic, Zipper Lips. But pervading the entire album is a sense of sadness, depression and bizarrely, jubilation.

Naturally, the lyrics are very funny. In Please Ask That Clown To Stop Crying, Hamburger recounts an episode where he witnessed a children’s party in a local park, ruined by a clown who, instead of entertaining the kids, slumps at the table with ‘a cigarette and a shot of gin’ and cries. The clown, of course, is Neil Hamburger. Meanwhile, in Jug Town, we hear of the solace a man can find in ‘a jug of wine’ down in Jug Town. At Least I Was Paid is a tribute to Hamburger himself, who has chosen to work as a hugely unpopular comedian sometimes paid in casino chips – but at least that’s payment.

For me. the big hit on the album is Recylce Bin, a song that combines a forceful rebuke to those who put unrecyclable items in recycling bins (‘You pricks, you fucking pricks’) with a heartbreaking ode to the things that just can’t be recylced (‘Not everything goes into a recycle in: a shattered dream, a divorce? Those are just waste’).

Neil Hamburger Sings Country Winners probably started its life as a joke. But the final product will immediately be rated as some of Neil Hamburder’s best work. I’m obviously a fan and I think it’s fair to say that his material will mainly appeal to drink-soaked, single, depressed, male fans of sick humour (which obviously excludes me: I’m married). That said, I really believe that with a bit of effort, anyone who enjoys really good comedy could learn to love Neil Hamburger. The ‘Great Moments At Di Presa’s Pizza House‘ as well as the numerous ‘live’ albums, along with the original ‘Great Phone Calls’ are all indicative of a great talent which will probably only spoil if it gets too much recognition.

Neil Hamburger Sings Country Winners – 1/1

Out now on Drag City Inc.

And here’s a video of Jug Town:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo_gCkVmBQo[/youtube]

Feliç Sant Jordi!

Catalonia, UK

A rose for the lady

Today’s Saint George’s (or Sant Jordi’s) day. I’m not the biggest fan of celebrating saints’ days, but as George most likely didn’t exist, I generally go along with this one. The fact that George is the patron saint of my former home and my adopted home makes it easy to remember.

As you may well know, there is no tradition in England for celebrating St. George, at least nothing more than having an extra pint of Stella at the Rose and Crown. Some English nationalist parties (the BNP, the English Democrats) bemoan the fact that the English celebrate numerous other festivals (St. Patrick’s day, Eid) but not the day of their own patron saint. The truth is that the English seem to have lost touch with their ‘national’ traditions around the 18th century… which coincides with the time we started conquering new lands and discovering new cultures*.

Interestingly, I received a text message from Vodafone two days ago which suggested that ‘On the national day of the UK, sign up for our My Country service and save on calls home’. Huh. At first I thought that Vodafone were talking about St. George’s day, which is in no way ‘the national day of the UK’, though I don’t doubt that the BNP would make it so. Actually, April 21st is the Queen’s birthday… so maybe that’s what they were getting at. Not her official birthday, mind, her real one.

In Catalonia, Sant Jordi is celebrated with a rather sweet version of the English St. Valentine’s traditions. Called ‘the day of the rose’ and ‘the day of the book’, Catalan men traditionally give their sweetheart a rose, while Catalan women are supposed to give their fella a book. The tradition has now become more egalitarian (and profitable, mark you), as both genders now expect to receive a book and a rose. So those of you with Catalan girlfriends or wives: don’t forget to buy them a nice cookery book, or even better a book about roses – kill two birds with one stone. You, meanwhile, should expect a manly tome on Catalan history, tax law or Barça.

Speaking of which, the footage of large, pale men beating the shit out of eachother on Les Rambles can mean only one thing: English football fans are in town again. Yes, the savages from the north are hear to support their team of nobodies ‘Manchester Foot Ball United’ or something. They’re playing Barça in the first leg of the semi-final of the Champions’ League. Given that Manchester will probably win, Catalan women should prepare themselves for a miserable supper starting at about half-past ten tonight.

__

*By ‘discovering new cultures’, I of course mean ‘eradicating newly discovered cultures’.

News: Women, unions and blogging

Catalonia, Internet computer, Politics, PP, Spain, , , , , , , ,

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.

Please don’t tell me where or when I may protest

UK, , , , , , , ,

The Olympic torch made a pretty pathetic tour through London today, beset at first by snow and wind, and later by numerous pro-Tibet campaigners intent on bringing their independentist protest to the fore again.

I was hoping that the torch would be fucked with at some point, because the relay is just another side of Britain’s craven pursuit of China’s acceptance. Because of 2012 the torch had to visit London, but at no point has the UK government spoken out about the violent crackdown taking place in what should be a free Tibet.

The most striking quote of the day for me came from the Chinese Olympic Committee representative, who said something along the lines of “It’s sad that people have to hijack the Olympics as a legitimate space for protest”. He went on to explain that while protest should be allowed (yeah, right!), the Olympics are a sporting event, not a political one.

Sorry but that just doesn’t wash. If there is any ‘non-political’ event as political as the Olympic Games, I’d like to know. I’m sick of committee organisers, politicians and police ‘advising’ on the best way to protest. Their suggestions inevitably involve meeting in some park, well away from TV cameras. Yeah, perhaps we could just do it in a labour camp. Actually, the torch relay is about the most suitable target for protest that I can think about at the moment.

Despite all the talk about Islamist terrorism, I’m still convinced that the number one threat that worries governments everywhere is organisation of labour and mass protest. We should continue our protests, illegal if need be, so that governments can’t sit pretty and pretend there is no opposition.

Carod will not run for re-election as ERC leader

Catalonia, Politics, , , , , , , , ,

Josep Lluis Carod Rovira, president of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and vice-President of the Generalitat has finally announced that we won’t seek re-election as the party’s leader. This is the result of about two years’ wrangling within the party over which direction it should adopt to gain more power in Catalonia.

Carod has been a divisive figure in Spanish and Catalan politics (but no more than pretty much any other political leader), and while he led ERC to large gains in 2004, many ERC supporters failed to turn out for the party after it accepted José Montilla as President of the Generalitat. Still, his strategy, as I understand it, has worked pretty well considering that the PSC has definitely radicalised somewhat in a failed effort to snatch Catalanist voters from ERC. Indeed, the drop in support for Esquerra in the recent elections was the result of a terrible election campaign (apparently run by Puigcercós), and large-scale abstention, rather than people actually going and voting for different parties.

This means that Joan Puigcercós will very likely be the next president of the party, unless one of the alternative currents like Esquerra Independentista manage to pull off a coup and nick the top job. Unlikely.

UPDATE: Carod Rovira has now made it clear that he things that Puigcercós should do the honourable thing and follow his example by leaving the way clear for a new leadership. Puigcercós will almost certainly ignore this friendly advice. Carod has also stated that he’ll support the candidature of a new leader, opening up the chance of a genuine contest for the leadership.