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.