Chamberí

In the morning, I went to a pharmacy to get a topical antibiotic for acne. I bought one bottle last month and it is working well. The pharmacist told me that it looked really much better now. I was quite shocked that she remembered me! Then I visited a newly opened museum of Madrid Metro in the old station of Chamberí, my neighbourhood, that was closed in the 1960's. There was a lot of old people who still remembered it operational so it was quite interesting to hear their stories. Madrid is a big city, but these little moments are priceless.

(!) No More

Panic! At the Disco is now just Panic at the Disco. Duh! I am listening to their new album and it's another addition to that ridiculous revival wave. My Chemical Romance sounds like Queen, the Killers sound like Bruce Springsteen and the P!ATD now sounds like the Beatles. What a disappointment.

Done

The forms are completed, translated and I am going to take them the government office tomorrow. The thanks for the fact that I am not in a mental institution go to El Pintor.

Cribaje

To further deepen my struggle with the RyC forms, I have to translate everything that I wrote so far into Spanish, including my trayectoria científica, which brings many challenges. I spent some time on drug discovery where the crucial assay is called "high-throughput screening". The regular dictionaries don't help, obviously, so I tried wikipedia. I found a site in English, no Spanish version, but fortunately, there was also a version in català available. In Catalan, the term is "cribratge d'alt rendiment" and because castellano and català are like twins, after a little approximation game using the on-line Spanish dictionary, I got to the term "cribaje de alto rendimiento". What a journey!
Update: These forms are driving me insane. I went for a little coffee with Carlitos to refresh myself and we ended up having it in the CaixaForum! There is a wonderful exposition of paintings from the Uffizi Gallery, called "El pan de los Ángeles", related perfectly to this time of the year.

Jueves Santo & Viernes Santo

I am having a wonderful Easter. While I am working on the Ramón y Cajal application forms during the day (and they slowly drive me crazy), I try to relax a little bit in the afternoon. Yesterday we met with Carlitos for couple of beers and then Tonito joined us for some more and we ended up having a dinner with Rubén and Jesús in a Japanese restaurant. Carlos haven't eaten sushi and tempura before so it was funny to explain him the wasabi stuff, soy sauce and the miso soup. Today we met again for a torrija from the famous San Onofre pastelería, later for some montaditos and then we went to see the oldest tree in Madrid in the Retiro park. I haven't been there before in the night and I have to admit it's quite spectacular, especially in the full moon. Tomorrow back to my forms, sigh.

Temptation

Wet Wet Wet - Temptation (Live, 1987).
Marti Pellow smiles through the whole song. Incredible.

Grammar

Last week I let myself to immerse in the world of English grammar once again. I realized that I normally used many words and expressions that were not correct. In a postmodern world I shouldn't care too much, but take the amount/number case. I am afraid that I said many times something like this: "There was a huge amount of people on that square". The signs in the supermarket usually say: "Express line. 10 items or less". In the first case, it should have been "a number of people", in the second one, "or fewer". Why am I posting it? Reading some "Lost" related discussion groups, I have realized that many Americans cannot spell properly. Couple of examples: "reckage/wreckage" or "intence/intense". These are not typos, they appear frequently. Is it worth the thought or it's just me, being picky and "germanish"?

Destender la ropa

Regarding the RAE and its online dictionary, I have to agree with Sergio. I've tried today to find an expression that I heard yesterday, "destender la ropa", in English it may be "to take clothes from a clothesline". Unfortunately, nothing could be found. Using a simple Google search, I found many links to that term, including the following video of a dog who está ayudando a destender la ropa.

Wet Wet Wet - Morning

Marti was so charming and cute 13 years ago. At that time, I believed that world can be a better place. The 3:04 moment is priceless. What difference does the heroin make.

A Day Out

It's their first day on the sun!

Thank You!

Thanks for all the birthday wishes: Carlitos, Mama & Papa, Marco, Paskaloo, Tonito, Manu, Mikel, the 316 Gang, Gabriel, Cristihan, Marc, Eric, Aingeru, Jackie, Clair, Mien & Ton and Steph! I love you truly.

New sins

Monsignor Gianfranco Girotti, who heads the Apostolic Penitentiary, described what Catholic church newly considers as mortal sins: "certain violations of the fundamental rights of human nature through experiments and genetic manipulations." He also mentioned drugs, which "weaken the mind and obscure intelligence".
To be a biologist is a mortal sin now. Bravo!

What I want

for my birthday.


I meant the coat, of course.
Update: The Socialists defeated the conservative party in Spanish general elections. It's good enough as a present.

Borovsko Bridge

If the mankind is ever wiped out from the surface of the Earth, the Nature may take over:

A never-used highway bridge near Borovsko, Czech Republic. The construction began shortly before the WWII as a part of a transeuropean corridor, the 100m tall bridge was formally finished in 1950 but never used and later flooded by the drinking water reservoir built in 1976. The entry is strictly prohibited due to the water protection.

Emma

While I enjoy the warm weather in Madrid, Central Europe suffered a heavy storm named Emma. A video showing an unsuccessful landing attempt of a Lufthansa craft in Hamburg, Germany.

Magnolias

Cubs

November 23, 2007: In the Brno Zoo, two polar bear cubs were born. The event was announced only in the local media to avoid a possible disappointment if things go wrong. Kept in a dark den with their mother, without human intervention to protect them from infections, they survived the difficult first three months, observed only by infrared cameras.
February 25, 2008: The first pictures of yet-to-be-named cubs are released.

Guapo

This coming Friday, Spain will elect Miss and Míster España 2008. My favourite contestant is Pedro Enrique García, Míster Alicante.

Rectangle

Madrid was famous for its "Golden Triangle of Arts", where the vertices were formed by El Prado, the MNCARS and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. Now there is a new vertex, a new building of Caixa Forum, designed by the Herzog and de Meuron Studio, originally an electrical power plant. It's much smaller than the big players, but it has a potential.

Reconocimiento

Two days ago, a woman from the Health and Safety Department came to tell me that the next morning I had to go for a medical check-up. It's a wide institutional thing that was going on for months. The place is quite far away from Madrid, but she assured me there was a Metro station around. Well, suicidally walking on the Fuencarral motorway it took about 20 minutes to get there. While totally hungry because of the coming blood tests and already fed up, the day turned out to be one of the funniest days in Madrid. The reason was the nurse who was performing all the tests on me. At first, she tried to attach the "octopus" 12-lead EKG device on my chest. As soon as she attached 4 electrodes and tried to attach the rest, the first four fell off. This battle continued for about 10 minutes and I already started to laugh. After she brought some magic adhesive gel and the situation hadn't changed, I was laughing so much that the electrodes would have to be attached by a Superglue not to fall off. I had to take a five minute break. Then we continued in an acoustic anechoic chamber when I was supposed to hear something in the headphones that might remember El Caudillo. She described the sound I was supposed to hear as "toot", but not "beep". Well, in this special isolated cabin I could hear the doctor speaking across 2 walls but nothing out of those antique headphones. As a result, I am officially sordo now. Then we continued with lung capacity tests. I swear I tried really hard and after six attempts to satisfy her, she said that it could be finally OK, but then she wasn't able to print the last successful result. I was leaving the room with diaphragm spasms.
The further illustrate the hilariousness of that place, the doctor reminded me of Dr. Kylie Johnson from MADtv:

Morning, Madrid

From Facebook:
Joseph Mc Loughlin wrote at 1:23pm on February 14th, 2008:
When the streets are deserted, the shops close early, the bars and restaurants are empty, no one wants to come out and everyone is miserable and suicidal, and in school only half the students appear for classes... is it a public holiday (again?)... or is it the fiesta of Santo "Triste"... or has the King died?... NO IT'S RAINING!
Applies to trains, too.

Sad

Albanians in Kosovo declared independence. When I see them waving the bloody red flags of Albania and also the Stars and Stripes (but not the Kosovo flags), I keep wondering that the European Union diplomats, isolated in their glamorous Brussels palaces, ignited a fire, which effect cannot be foreseen. Instead of working harder to reach a compromise (where ALL parties have to loose), they simply gave up. Similarly to the Sudetendeutsche in the pre-WWII Czechoslovakia with their "Heims in Reich", the Albanian Kosovans have already started planning a unification with Albania. This fire may spread to Macedonia and as a precedent can be (and will be) easily applied to any province or minority anywhere in the world. The appeasing Europeans will pay the price soon, as they did for the Munich Agreement.

Inland Empire

David Lynch's Inland Empire is the best-selling DVD in the Callao fnac store in Madrid. Simply unbelievable. I love his movies, but this one was on the edge of being unwatchable. When I saw it in the cinema a year ago, about a half of the people left the room before the movie ended.

PR S04 Near the End

Although the Bryant Park Runway Shows have already happened, the TV is obviously running late: in the last episode we still had five designers to compete. Not to spoil the elimination surprise for the viewers, the producers decided to let all five contestants to present their collections in NYC. As we know now, in the MET episode Sweet P was eliminated, but we can still appreciate what she would compete with if she could. I have to say that while the execution was not always 100%, I really enjoyed her unique colour palette and most of the designs:
Bravo Sweet P! Your genuine personality was the highlight of this season for me.

Painting a petal

I have never experienced such a gloomy state of mind as now, when I read Cormac McCarthy's The Road. That book is brilliantly written and his English is a pure poetry. The language switches between a full but heartless style when he describes the burnt, lifeless Earth and a short, elliptic one for the talks between the father and his son. It's those dialogues that make my heart stop for a second or two.

Rainbow

Walking to the swimming pool today, the air was filled with a light rain. The sky was patchy, with deep dark clouds but also with promising flashes of blue. The swimming pool in Cantoblanco is on a little hill, overlooking the Autónoma campus. After couple of laps, the sun finally showed up for a minute and I looked through the glass wall and saw a gigantic rainbow spanning the campus valley. Unfortunately, it only lasted for one lap, as the rain shortly returned to wash the colours to the drainage as if nothing had happened.

Bizarre Love Triangle

Cover by Davi Não Vê Estrelas

Lost, Season 4

After neverending 8 months, the first episode of the season 4 of Lost! In May 2007, in the "Through the Looking Glass" episode, we learnt from those shocking flashforwards that Jack, Kate and possibly more survivors of the Oceanic Flight 815 had left the island. What we are told now is that maybe it was only six of them (!) who returned, including Hurley, who was the central character in this episode and referred to himself in the future as one of the Oceanic 6. The mysteries escalate and deepen and it's too early to draw any conclusion. I was happy to see Jeremy Davies parachuted on the island in the last two minutes of the show, portraying one the bad (?) guys who fool the survivors to be somebody else than they really are (Not Penny's Boat). There are only seven more episodes in this season, due to the WGA strike, sigh.

Vocabulary

Yesterday I learnt a new word. In the morning, our sister lab came to pick us up to celebrate José's birthday in the cafeteria. Juanjo, THE camarero, asked his typical: ¿Qué queréis?, and we ordered "seis con leche, dos solos, tres medianas, uno cortado y uno manchado". The manchado coffee was for a new post-doc in their lab and we haven't order anything like that before. ¿Manchado?, I asked and they explained me that it was a hot milk just stained a little bit with coffee.

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!

cuz it's madrid

and jesus is totally worth it

Three morning stories

Waiting at the Chamartín railway station for some connection, the train door is open. A man enters a wagon while still smoking a cigarette and leans against the door frame. Waiting for the door signal, he finally throws the cigarette on the railway track. Door closes, the cabin air is full of smoke.

Walking on campus. Four female students are approaching me on the sidewalk in the opposite direction. They all see me but they don't move a bit. I end up walking on the road like Agnes in Kundera's Immortality.

Having breakfast at the cafeteria. A group of men just arrived to the next table. One of them starts to clean the table by energetically sweeping the bread crumbs and other dirt on the floor but also on a friend sitting next to me. Not a word of apology.

Pictures

Sergio at Future Briton blogs about worth of taking pictures in the museums or galleries. I have to disagree that it's a stupid idea. I believe that sometimes it can turn out pretty well:

(The Dance, Henri Matisse, MoMA, Midtown Manhattan, NYC, September 2005)

PR Canada!!!

I thought that Project Runway (USA) was a good show to watch. But I just finished a first episode of the Canadian spin-off and what a treat! Pure magic. Those guys are funny, friendly, yet competitive and extremely professional. The editing is great, you see them cooking dinner, sitting on the patio, talking and drinking wine, like a normal person would do. All the sterility of the US original is gone, it's like a breath of fresh air. In the first episode, they worked with three pieces from their competitors' suitcases (which they were allowed to pick in just 30 seconds) and transformed them into a garment that should have reflected their personality. For instance, look at this:

This dress didn't even win the challenge and what an amazing and innovative piece of garment. Look at the mentor and the beauty experts:

It's Brian Bailey, a designer himself, on the left and Eric Del Monaco and Eddie Maleterre on the right. Quality and style. Last, but not least:

Arthur Mendonça (left) and Shawn Hewson as guest judges for the first episode. Holy cow! Finally, when Iman (the Canadian Heidi, but sharp and bitchy as hell) kicks the loser out with "You_Just_Don't_Measure_Up!" (yes, she pauses between the words), it's giving me the creeps!

François Hadaya

Thanks to the Golden Style Compass at Niwdenapolis, I have a new fashion god: French designer François Hadaya.

PR S04E04

After the exciting menswear challenge, this week's episode was somehow awkward. The designers were introduced to outdated fashion trends (that will be super trendy again in like 5 years, LOL) and they had to transform them into contemporary, relevant looks. They worked in voluntary (!) teams of three with a leader picked by themselves (!) and they had to coordinate their efforts so the final collection will be "cohesive" (what a word!). The team of Christian (team leader), Jack and Kit got Zoot Suit, Fringe and Pleather. For some strange reason, they were feeling and behaving like winners from the beginning! Can a gay man be homophobic? I was on the verge of becoming one after that little monster Christian said that their team was "pretty fierce" and that they were a "team Star because their team is hot, like a star, like a celebrity". My f@#$ing goodness, what an idiot! The team of Jillian (team leader), Kevin and Rami were working with Overall, 70's Flare and Poodle Skirt trends. They are all strong and very good designers and even though Jillian and Kevin were having some arguments, they won this challenge. Some PR bloggers find this season boring and without the bold personalities so typical for the previous seasons, but I enjoy the professionalism and experience of Rami, Kevin, Jillian and others. They work hard, they are calm and focused and they deliver. I am sure that most of the drama on the set is due to the editing.

The team of Chris (team leader), Steven and Sweet P got Baggy Sweater, Shoulder Pads and Dancewear, but they didn't work enough on that cohesion requirement. It made the judges quite unhappy and Chris was eliminated:

Chris' loosing design is in the middle. By the way, is it just me, a fag, or the two Caucasian models are just plain fugly? The team of Ricky (team leader), Victorya and Elisa worked with Underwear as Outerwear, Neon and Cut-Outs trends and it was a mess, mostly because of Ricky and Victorya constant fights. Ricky was in the bottom two (again), but surprisingly he didn't cry this time. Just let him go, please.

From Recoletos, With Love

Yesterday night at the Recoletos RENFE station.
Me (after unsuccessfully trying to exit the station using my ticket): My ticket doesn't work. Can you replace it, please? Him (a RENFE employee, already famous for the following, but I never learn my lesson): (Inserting the ticket in some sophisticated machine and studying something on the computer screen for 2 minutes). You cannot travel on this ticket, you already took the train twice today. Of course, I know that, I was just trying to leave the station, but the gates didn't let me out. (Back to the screen, another 1 minute). The ticket is fine. No, I believe it's not, I tried three exit machines, the ticket didn't work. You cannot travel more than twice a day. I know that. Can you please change my ticket? I will need it tomorrow morning. No, the ticket is fine.
5 MINUTES, 15 nervous people behind me in a queue, me keeping the old ticket that is apparently fine.

Today in morning at the Recoletos RENFE station.
Me (after unsuccessfully trying to enter the station using my old ticket): My ticket doesn't work. Can you replace it, please? Him (another RENFE employee): Of course.
15 SECONDS.

A moment like this

8:00. Madrid deeply breathes the morning fog. The concrete carvings of the Columbus memorial are obscured by the bluish wet mist. On the horizon, the white blocks of the Salamanca barrio are hit by the first rays of light. Finally, the shy light reaches the fountains in front of the memorial and illuminates the jets of water in pink. A moment of an eternal beauty.

Rip-off

PR S04E03

Menswear. Panic! On this week's Project Runway the designers had to make an outfit for Tiki Barber, well, I don't know him either, but apparently, he is a former American football player who is now a TV host. He was all about his butt, that they should pay attention that he has a big butt, that he really (!?) likes details and patterns, blah blah blah. It was pretty pathetic, but the designers were incredibly stressed out, which I didn't get, because half of them are men (gay men, more precisely) and they should know hot to fit a pair of pants and which colours to combine, no? Anyways, it was a real nightmare, they were behaving very unprofessionally and I hope that the producers noticed and repeat the menswear challenge at some point because it was a good episode! Kevin, the only straight guy on the show, has combined purple and black (the colours of the Winter 2007 H&M collection, as I've realized today while shopping there for more black items) and the result was stunning:

I would buy that stuff immediately! Unfortunately, he lost to Jack, who made only a two-piece outfit, well tailored according to the judges, but endlessly dull:

And that little squeaky monster Christian got the cutest model. There is no justice in the world.

Snow

A breathtaking picture I found on the internet yesterday. A high-speed train in a snow storm approaching my hometown approximately a week ago. To remind me in this sunny and still relatively warm place that Christmas time is around the corner, Madrid Christmas lights were turned on yesterday night. Apparently, there are nine millions bulbs around the city (1 million more than last year), but in total they will consume 8% less energy than in 2006 due to new technologies.

Jesus cut his hair

PR S04E02

This week's Project Runway was about creating a 2-piece outfit for Sarah Jessica Parker's BITTEN line, which is a super cheap, mostly trashy looking garbage. The designers had to work on a $15 budget in couples, with team leaders selected from all 14 designs by SJ. Victorya (team leader) and Kevin won with a simple yet beautiful black dress paired with a vest:

The bottom two designers' teams were Christian (TL) and Carmen with a freaky monstrosity from the 80's, and Marion (TL) and Steven, who didn't expect how badly their fabric would behave. Subsequently, Marion as a team leader was eliminated. During the presentation and also during the whole episode, Marion's sweet and genuine personality sharply contrasted with Christian's self-centeredness. I hope I won't have to wait too long for Christian to be eliminated.

Finally

Fog in Cantoblanco! Grey is totally the new black.

T2[in] Victim

There was no way I could leave without this pair of shoes. To further deepen the superficiality of this post, I can assure you that the straps are actually silver.

PR S04E01

Project Runway is back with its 4th season. Even though it was more or less obvious who would celebrate at the end, Rami Kashou (who, by the way, looks like a Right Said Fred member) really deserved to win, the execution was flawless and the presentation fortunately avoided the usual "sculptured European-inspired tailored piece" talk. You go boy! I am looking forward what is coming next week, from the preview it seems that this season will be pretty dramatic.

DEXTER

Smart + witty = my new obsession.

¿Por qué no se callan?

OK, a controversial post that I wanted to write for some time, but recent incidents triggered my final decision. For some time, I am thinking about the immigration issues. I've started to have an impression that many Latinos have some unreasonable feeling that Spain has to let them stay because Spain did something horrible to them in the past and that they have rights to make comments about the Spanish politics (or European one, in general). Spain is a member of the EU, thus it has to coordinate its immigration politics with the rest of Europe. I know that these people won't probably move to Germany or France, as they don't (and won't) speak the language, and that's why the other European countries keep quiet about this influx. If I hadn't faced some arrogance towards people from the north of Europe, who have a real right to live here because of all the treaties that Spain signed as the EU member, I wouldn't write this. But because we are just guiris for you, read something about the European law and shut up.

A quote worth reading

Concerning the dating business: "If you can not find someone better than or equal to yourself, it is better to travel alone than journey with a fool." Thanks, Dub! from MySpace.

Private: My Secret Lover

The next big thing, trust me.

Quite shocking

A new study by medical researchers has caused consternation among public health professionals by suggesting that, contrary to conventional wisdom, being overweight might actually be beneficial for health, The Independent reports. The study, published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, runs counter to almost all other advice to consumers by saying that carrying a little extra flab – though not too much – might help people to live longer.
Does it mean that all my starvation and pescado y ensalada con ensalada was just a waste of time? LOL.
(No way, the Hedi Slimanesque 31" black pants are totally worth it).

MIT vs. Gehry

MIT sues renowned architect Frank Gehry for alleged flaws in unusual building. I hope MIT wins. The l'art pour l'art style of Gehry is monotonous and tiresome. Lately, he is trying his hardest
to leave me unimpressed.

Recognizing the Saints

The last movie that left me feeling totally sick was Requiem for a Dream. Today, I've had the very same nausea while watching A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. It's a story of a guy growing up in a desperate neighbourhood of Astoria, Queens and finally leaving all the horrors but also his loved ones behind and moving to the West Coast. The performances were stellar and the storytelling almost surreal, even though it's based on Dito Montiel's autobiography. Highly recommended.

Hallowmas