Sentimental

I am remembering my summer vacations in a weekend house with my little brother and my parents. An austere, spartan place, with drinking water from a well in the woods. As a child, I hated carrying those heavy canisters. I hated the one hour walk there from the nearest bus stop, carrying all food and stuff in the backpacks. Happy to see my grandparents coming to visit us in a car, with cakes and other luxury items. On Friday evenings in July and August, happy to see either my Mom or my Dad, coming by bus for a weekend, bringing newspapers and magazines. In late August, waking up early to a cold house to go mushroom picking. Wish I could go back in time.

Tape

Today, trying to escape a boring discussion after a departmental seminar, I've tripped on a stair in the auditorium. Subsequently, I realized that the architect of that room must have been on crack: there are asymmetrical stairs covered with blurry beige carpet there! One simple recommendation to that twisted mind of his/her:

Heath, R.I.P.

Pushing daisies

With the WGA strike affecting most of my favourite shows, I am fishing in new waters. The result? I've discovered an amazing show called Pushing daisies. It's innocent yet funny and inventive and very, very stylish. It reminded me a lot a short-lived Wonderfalls, and it's not surprising that these two shows share the same creator.

These two boys cheat the Death a little bit...
A picture is worth a thousand words, so one more from the Episode 2:

Five minutes at Chamartín

8:15. We are finally leaving the stressful, dark tunnel and the train is approaching the Chamartín station. The sky is pink and I am thinking that the weather forecast must be wrong as it seems we are going to have a nice day. Enjoying it like every day, I watch people to leave and board and other Cercanías trains entering and departing the station. At that moment, I look at the Cuatro Torres and the tops of the skyscrapers are slowly disappearing in the advancing fog. In less than a blink of an eye, everything is sunk in thick white milk.

Shirts

Today, while ironing a mountain of shirts, I've discovered an interesting socio-political phenomenon. Nowadays, I have shirts that I bought in the US but also those that I've bought recently in Spain. Interestingly, those American ones are quite simple in terms of the cut, while the euroshirts are of a sophisticated construction full of tucks. As a result, it takes me five minutes to iron my GAP, Guess or Abercrombie shirts and about 15 minutes my Zara or Sfera ones. I keep wondering what that means. Is the fast-iron shirt a reflection of the fast-food style or, in general, a reflection of an easier life over there, as me and some of my friends realized after returning back to Europe? Is the complicated euroshirt actually here for some hypothetical Maruja the Maid who should iron them?

Watch for cars...

... while wearing headphones. Ads for the NSW Police Dept., Australia.

AVE

Today, while approaching Cantoblanco, my commuter train was passed in a short distance by a high-speed AVE train on the new Madrid-Valladolid course. It's happened to me for the first time since the line was opened at the end of December and I have to say it's quite breathtaking. ¡Viva España!

The Acoustic Maddens

For the original video featuring M. Shadows and Synyster Gates look here.

¡Felices Reyes!

Darjeeling

Wes Anderson never dissapoints me. I can blindly pick any of his movies and I know that I will love it as it's happened today. This was the opening weekend for The Darjeeling Limited in Spain. A story of three brothers who travel to India to find themselves spiritually? That sounds so lame and ridiculous, but as it's a rule for Anderson's movies, the truth is not far from that. I see his last work as a movie about letting things go if there is nothing we can do about it. Wes, I applaud you!

PR Canada Winner

It's Biddell, bitches! Tom and Lorenzo are reviewing his L'Oréal Fashion Week collection here.

Koleda

Surrealism lives! My January train pass has a true Christmas spirit, it's red and depicts a deer tied to a railway track. The ticket says: "Vasel Koleda", which I had to look up on the internet and it literally means "Merry Christmas" but in BULGARIAN. What a gem!

Feliz año

Happy New Year 2008! I celebrated the New Year's Eve with Antonio in a house of Ruben and Jesus, together with their friends. The food was amazing and I went through a truly surreal experience of an old Spanish movie with Marisol. It was called Las Cuatro Bodas de Marisol and it dealt with everything you can imagine: the English royalty, the obvious bullfighting and a trip to the colonies with some crocodile shooting and Marisol dressed as a nun. Unforgettable experience, thanks La 2!