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Random thoughts from an unconventional Spaniard in the States

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Prison break


This is a picture of a poster that was hanging on the wall and that I took also during my visit to the ESP.

I was rather amused when I read this sentence: “Escape is difficult. Only about one hundred inmates have managed to do it.” No further comments... ;-)
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Guessing game

I took these pictures at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly, during the days that I spent there about a month ago. One of them corresponds to a reconstruction of Al Capone’s cell, while the other corresponds to the kind of cells that were assigned to regular inmates. Can you guess which is which?

Hint: Regular inmates are generally incapable of truly appreciating the beauty and sophistication of real oil paintings hanging on their walls… ;-)

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Atlantic City


I came back home a few minutes ago after a nice daytrip to Atlantic City in New Jersey. For those of you who do not know about it, AC is known to be the gambling capital of the East Coast, some kind of “little Las Vegas” located by the sea between Washington and NYC. The weather was great and we took a nice stroll along the Boardwalk. After lunch, we went inside the Caesar’s Palace. It was my first time in a casino, and I found the ambiance rather impressive, even though I did not really get to play at all.

All in all, I found Atlantic City an interesting place for a short visit; I do not think that I would choose to go there for a long holiday though, since gambling is not really my cup of tea… still it was ok for just a few hours.


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La generación generosa

Este texto fue enviado por Álvaro Bardón Turuelo a la sección de cartas al director de El País y publicado el domingo 17 de junio de 2007. Me gustó mucho y por eso he decidido incluirlo aquí. Lo subscribo al 100%.

*****

Elogio a la "generación generosa"

No hay momento más importante para la generación de españoles que frisamos la treintena que el periodo comprendido entre el 20 de noviembre de 1975 al 28 de octubre de 1982. La transición nos llevó a cambiar nuestro régimen político y nuestro modelo social; propuso nuevas bases para las estructuras económico-financieras y allanó el ingreso de España en instituciones supranacionales presentando su candidatura a país moderno.

A nadie se le oculta, además, que este proceso se ha convertido en ejemplo de cambio social y espejo de virtudes políticas. No han sido pocas las ocasiones en las que se ha alabado la postura de los diferentes partidos, en las que se ha felicitado a las instituciones o al Rey y en las que se ha celebrado el consenso. Nada más justo si no hubiéramos olvidado a los auténticos protagonistas de este proceso.

Fue la generación que ahora camina hacia la jubilación la que propició el cambio de régimen tras la muerte del dictador. Fue esa generación (y no la clase política) quien pasó página y olvidó afrentas e injusticias vividas en carne propia. Fue la que sufrió un vetusto modelo de familia que los relegaba como hijos y uno nuevo que insistía en sus obligaciones como padres. Fue la que con su enorme trabajo diario llevó a España a un nivel de bienestar que nos colocó a la altura del resto de países de Europa y ahora todos disfrutamos. Fue la que desde la cocina del hogar abrió las puertas del mundo a sus vástagos. Fue, en fin, la generación que propició el cambio, sufriendo cada inconveniente pero sin disfrutar de lleno las mejoras más que a través de sus hijos.

A esos españoles que tomaron el timón, que se la aguantaron, a esa "generación generosa", clave del éxito de la transición, a mis padres..., gracias.


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¡Campeones!

"Tout ce que je sais de plus sûr à propos de la moralité et des obligations des hommes, c'est au football que je le dois."
(Albert Camus)
There we go: Real Madrid is the brand new champion of La Liga, the national soccer league in Spain. I have been a supporter of RM since 1994, and I have seen them winning this competition several times, but this year’s victory has been the most difficult one to achieve by far. Probably because of this, it has also been one of the most rewarding. The quest for beauty that had characterized the team in previous years has been replaced by a strong sense of pragmatism and commitment to win each and every match, to fight until their last breath… and never surrender. Personally, I must confess that I had never been an admirer of Capello’s methods and style, but his work throughout this last year has taught me something important: when it comes to succeeding in a great task, a task which is worth of a great effort, beauty without commitment is doomed to fail. Genius and creativity can never be excuses to justify a lack of will power and hard work, and when they are they become more of a burden than a blessing. I guess you can call it the "eye of the tiger", that we mentioned in yesterday’s post. Felicidades, campeones.

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Eye of the tiger



"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!"
(from the movie Rocky Balboa)
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Libertad

Se acabaron las vacaciones; vuelta a los Estates.

Una camisa, un pantalón vaquero y una canción... ¿dónde irá?



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Toros in Aranjuez

Back in Spain, I went to see a bullfight a couple of days ago. The bullring is located just a couple of blocks away from my parent’s apartment, where I grew up and lived for more than twenty years. I have never been particularly interested in this kind of events, but this time I decided to go and watch one so that I could experience the “fiesta” in person and judge the whole thing by myself. My emotions after the show where kind of mixed. Quoting from the prologue to Disney’s Aladdin, we could probably sum them up as “it’s barbaric, but hey… it’s home”. Certainly, the cruelty to the animal is gratuitous and unnecessary. I would not speak of humiliation though, since in my opinion the toro is, in general, respected and treated with a very peculiar “sense of honor” at all times. From the cultural point of view, it is interesting to attend a ritual which has essentially been kept the same for several centuries and which is still capable of attracting people’s attention. The costumes, the music, the folklore are present everywhere and provide very enriching glimpses at he Spanish tradition and national identity.

Truth be told, I am not a supporter of bullfights and I don’t think I ever will, but I think that it is a good idea to at least go and see one in person at one point in your life. The experience will give you a fair amount of food for thought and you will then be able to judge by yourself, which constitutes the first step towards becoming your own judge.


Welles: My father and I made a tour of the grand boulevards of antique Europe. And when we were in Iberia I had the chance to face the bulls. At the knee of the great Manolete I took up the cape and sword - (he uses his napkin and knife to demonstrate) -- across from me stood a mammoth bull reputed to have gored a full seven men to a grisly demise! So -- with Manolete shouting encouragement I flourished . . . I flourished again . . . and the bull charged! Across the golden dust it came, thundering like the great minotaur of legend, closer, ever closer, its calamitous hooves pounding into the dirt, shaking the earth as I held the crimson eye of the bull with my own, defying it -- it was almost upon me and I flourished one last time! -- the monster swept past! - (he spins his napkin in the air and his knife is now gone, a magic trick) -- and my sword was gone -- buried in the bloody eye of the beast!

Hearst: You are evidently a man who knows a great deal about bull. Of all man's malignity -- of all his sadism -- none is more depraved than cruelty to animals.

Welles: In Spain the cruelty would be in denying the beast a fighting end.

(excerpt from a dialogue between William Randolph Hearst
and Orson Welles,
from the movie RKO281)


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