or not. there is not much of it here, to be sure. Earlier this week, Spain's 6th free to air analogue channel, la sexta, launched (the 2nd such channel this year. not much sign of an analogue switch off here, mrs jowell) with the astonishing news that it had won the rights to show half of the 64 world cup games with the other half being shown on digital canal+.
had this happened in the UK - ie none of the games on the established channels - pages 1,2,3 etc would have been cleared and questions asked in the house. here? it barely made page 25 of the sports paper. how many people will actually see the games on la sexta is another question. we get a very bad picture here and the channel is offering a free aerial booster to all block of flats . how and when it will get done i dont know.
The causes of world cup apathy are two fold. first, too much energy goes into supporting club teams for there to be any left over for the national side. second, spain are diabolical underperformers at the world cup. they nearly always qualify but never get past the quarter final. ranked sixth in the world, this explains their odds of 12-1.
of course other factors apply in barcelona. we are, er, not actually in spain as far as many are concerned, while with Xavi still injured, we may see Spain take the field with just one Barca player, the monumental Puyol, or the same number as Mexico, Portugal, Brazil, Argentina ...
Friday, March 31, 2006
Friday, March 24, 2006
Having a crap day? This story will cheer you up
Indian farmer D Jaggalah died after drinking bootleg booze. Villagers at his cremation raised a glass to toast their friend, but used the same batch of alcohol that killed Jaggalah.
Ten funeral goers were poisoned. And died.
From popbitch
Ten funeral goers were poisoned. And died.
From popbitch
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Ronny and Becks
A friend was in town to shoot a TV advert and told me this story.
Most of the crew was local and their bread and butter is doing the local version high budget Nike/Pepsi/whatever ads featuring Ronaldinho, Beckham and the like.
Ronny they said was an utter delight to work with. All smiles, happy to pose for pictures and prepared to sign autographs until his arm fell off.
Beckham? They all had to sign a contract saying they wouldn't talk to him take his picture, ask him for a photograph or basically disturb him in anyway during the shoot. If they didn't sign, they didn't get the job.
Most of the crew was local and their bread and butter is doing the local version high budget Nike/Pepsi/whatever ads featuring Ronaldinho, Beckham and the like.
Ronny they said was an utter delight to work with. All smiles, happy to pose for pictures and prepared to sign autographs until his arm fell off.
Beckham? They all had to sign a contract saying they wouldn't talk to him take his picture, ask him for a photograph or basically disturb him in anyway during the shoot. If they didn't sign, they didn't get the job.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
reasons to be cheerful
- Barca won last night to go 14 points clear in the league.
- Eto'o scored twice to pass 100 league goals
- Ronaldinho was 26 yesterday
- The Estatut giving Catalonia more autonomy took one step closer to reality after being approved by a Parliamentary commission in Madrid
- The mercury is nudging up
- Best of all, ETA has declared that from Friday it will observe a permanent ceasefire
The fossa's penis
Worth taking a look at who gave a lecture yesterday about the size of teh fossa's penis. Click here
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Disco Ben
Ben went to school camp in the week where they camped out, fed goats and generally had a brilliant time. But the outstanding event of the camp was the disco where he was voted joint best dancer out of 120 children! His friend Fernando was the other winner...
John Travolta eat your heart out...
John Travolta eat your heart out...
Monday, March 13, 2006
is it just me...
... or is James Blunt not really, really crap? And is 'You're beautiful' not an utterly tedious dirge? And how did it get to number 1 anywhere, let alone the US?
Apart from being a turgid moanathon, the song, as my razor sharp children point out, is down plain contradictory. One minute 'I've got a plan' and the next 'I don't know what to do'. Give up mate is the answer....
I'm with Paul Weller on this one who said "I'd rather eat my own shit than do a duet with James Blunt". Even allowing for Weller's huge case of wrinklyrockercus grumpicus, it's hard to naysay such a sentiment.
Apart from being a turgid moanathon, the song, as my razor sharp children point out, is down plain contradictory. One minute 'I've got a plan' and the next 'I don't know what to do'. Give up mate is the answer....
I'm with Paul Weller on this one who said "I'd rather eat my own shit than do a duet with James Blunt". Even allowing for Weller's huge case of wrinklyrockercus grumpicus, it's hard to naysay such a sentiment.
Crapulent Oldies
barcelona's radio stations tend play a pleasantly inoffensive selection of oldies but occasionally will fixate on something really awful. one station this week seems to be playing 'just another day' by wings whenever i get in the car.
a truly ghastly, minging song about some bedsit spinster secretary that was Paul mccartney's worst song until he came up with the buttock-clenchingly embarassing, so PC it ached, 'ebony and ivory.'
a truly ghastly, minging song about some bedsit spinster secretary that was Paul mccartney's worst song until he came up with the buttock-clenchingly embarassing, so PC it ached, 'ebony and ivory.'
And that was before she got to play a duet with james blunt...
Sad, so sad
Sometimes she feels so sad.
Real warmth
the sun put its proper hat for the first time this weekend (and yes i know it was freezing in britain and if it is any consolation it was manchester style mizzle today). we had friends staying in the flat in el born and all was basically well with the world.
we ate on friday night at Arrel del Born, very close to the flat on the (as usual very good) recommendation of Andrew Swift. Not failed us yet and this time was no exception. great fish which apparently the chef's uncle catches and delivers personally every day.
i took ben to play football in the park with his friend Fernando and he ended up spending the day with him. this is always amusing because he comes back speaking with a very heavy spanish accent. sarah and bex went to the diane arbus exhibition at caixaforum which they said was teriffic.
we also crossed another rubicon by going en famille to a pop concert for the first time - Jack Johnson - who was playing at a giant basketball stadium just out of town. sarah and i did our best not to embarass the children by not dancing. tempus fugit ...
we ate on friday night at Arrel del Born, very close to the flat on the (as usual very good) recommendation of Andrew Swift. Not failed us yet and this time was no exception. great fish which apparently the chef's uncle catches and delivers personally every day.
i took ben to play football in the park with his friend Fernando and he ended up spending the day with him. this is always amusing because he comes back speaking with a very heavy spanish accent. sarah and bex went to the diane arbus exhibition at caixaforum which they said was teriffic.
we also crossed another rubicon by going en famille to a pop concert for the first time - Jack Johnson - who was playing at a giant basketball stadium just out of town. sarah and i did our best not to embarass the children by not dancing. tempus fugit ...
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
98,436 afortunados ...
... as mundo deportivo described those lucky enough to at the camp nou last night. Two of them were ben and I after our fairy godfather (or St pepe of pedralbes as he is now known. Thanks pepe) secured two late tickets for us, curiously almost in the very same spot where I watched United win the Champions League final in 1999 (and doesnt that see a long time ago ...)
It was a great night if not a spectacular game. Barca cruised it and were in control for virtually all the game. Chelsea never came to the races and ended rather pathetically by putting Thomas Huth, their big fat centre half up front as a desperate centre forward. We waved Mourinho good bye and invited him to go to the theatre.
It was Ben's first ever 'big' game and his eyes were on stalks for the whole evening. Mine was seeing United play Real Madrid in the European Cup semi final of 1968 and I remember every detail as if it was yesterday. Let's hope Ben has similar happy memories of last night in 38 years' time.
It was a great night if not a spectacular game. Barca cruised it and were in control for virtually all the game. Chelsea never came to the races and ended rather pathetically by putting Thomas Huth, their big fat centre half up front as a desperate centre forward. We waved Mourinho good bye and invited him to go to the theatre.
It was Ben's first ever 'big' game and his eyes were on stalks for the whole evening. Mine was seeing United play Real Madrid in the European Cup semi final of 1968 and I remember every detail as if it was yesterday. Let's hope Ben has similar happy memories of last night in 38 years' time.
Monday, March 06, 2006
weekend in madrid
we went abroad (bad catalan joke) for the weekend to madrid and loved it despite the foul weather on saturday when we all got soaked. we stayed at the hotel miau (really) which is as central as you can get and right on the beautiful plaza santa ana. here in no particular order are some of the things we liked:
- the museums - the big three are fantastic and very near each other. ben liked the prado with its very sinister goyas and el grecos and was very swayed by the labours of hercules pictures and saturn eating his son (he has been warned). Becca much preferred the bright modern art of the Thyssen collection and neither cared much for the Picassos of the Reine Sofia
- Retiro Park. Barcelona lacks a really big park and this one is great
- Plaza Mayor. same thing
- El caldero restaurant - great for Murcian paellas cooked like soup rather than stir fried
- The bars of placa santa ana. Great tiled and mahogany wood places with great beer and tapas
- Real Madrid's stadium tour with nine (grr) European Cups on display and a great restaurant.
- The late night life. even later than barcelona and very laid back. hordes of people thronging the streets at 2am and later even in the pouring rain.
- The new terminal at Barajas airport designed by Richard Rogers. The most stunning airport building I have ever seen.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Real revisited
A few weeks ago Spain's business weekly Actualidad Economica ran a readers' contest on how Real Madrid could fix itself on the field having been so succesful off it.
With the help of my esteemed Spanish teacher my entry said roughly that they should copy Barca by selling off all the fat galacticos to cut the wage bill, hire a new manager and leave him alone and put all their effort into finding the best new young talent in the world.
So while Real has been collected its assortment of superstars, Barca has nurtured the brilliant young talent of Lionel Messi, who they brought over from Argentina at the age of 13 and looked after with TLC (he had a a hormonal deficiency in his bones which they foudn the best care for).
Worse still is the talent Real threw away. Eto'o spent three years there with barely a kick and Micahel Owen was neglected then resold becuase the £8 million profit spoke louder than what he could do on the pitch.
With the help of my esteemed Spanish teacher my entry said roughly that they should copy Barca by selling off all the fat galacticos to cut the wage bill, hire a new manager and leave him alone and put all their effort into finding the best new young talent in the world.
So while Real has been collected its assortment of superstars, Barca has nurtured the brilliant young talent of Lionel Messi, who they brought over from Argentina at the age of 13 and looked after with TLC (he had a a hormonal deficiency in his bones which they foudn the best care for).
Worse still is the talent Real threw away. Eto'o spent three years there with barely a kick and Micahel Owen was neglected then resold becuase the £8 million profit spoke louder than what he could do on the pitch.
how many business papers does Spain need?
Spain has a new business daily, el economista, and very smart it looks to with good layout, charts, typography etc. But it's the 4th specialist business daily which to my mind is two or three too many. Britain, with a far bigger financial audience has just one, the FT. As in Britain, the serious general dailies also have good business sections.
el economista has also taken the strange decsion to publish Tuesday to Saturday. Much as I would have loved this in my daily days (working Sundays were a pain, not just because you worked half the weekend but also because there was no news) and I can see the logic. But if you need to buy a business daily every day you'll need to buy one on Monday. As most paper buying is habit, it will be hard to switch on Tuesday
el economista has also taken the strange decsion to publish Tuesday to Saturday. Much as I would have loved this in my daily days (working Sundays were a pain, not just because you worked half the weekend but also because there was no news) and I can see the logic. But if you need to buy a business daily every day you'll need to buy one on Monday. As most paper buying is habit, it will be hard to switch on Tuesday
Top line is vanity, lack of trophies is insanity
A week after a report revealed that Real Madrid had become the football club with the biggest turnover, the man who built it all, Florentino Perez, has quit as president.
Having spent $300 m to assemble a team (sorry, collection - they rarely play as a team) of fat, ageing, over the hill, galacticos that will now face a third trophyless year, the penny has finally dropped. This after a five-day period that saw defeats by a reserve Arsenal squad at home in the Champions League and Real Mallorca, 16th in the table and Spain's equivalent of Blackburn Rovers.
The headlines given to the 'richest club' report by all and sundry were insane. Name me one other industry where success is measured by turnover as opposed to profits, free cash flow, return on equity, dividend growth or market share.
'Top line is vanity, bottom line is sanity' is the old business adage and Real Madrid's bottom line is that it is out of the Spanish FA Cup, facing elimination from the Champions League and 10 points behind Barca in La liga.
Having spent $300 m to assemble a team (sorry, collection - they rarely play as a team) of fat, ageing, over the hill, galacticos that will now face a third trophyless year, the penny has finally dropped. This after a five-day period that saw defeats by a reserve Arsenal squad at home in the Champions League and Real Mallorca, 16th in the table and Spain's equivalent of Blackburn Rovers.
The headlines given to the 'richest club' report by all and sundry were insane. Name me one other industry where success is measured by turnover as opposed to profits, free cash flow, return on equity, dividend growth or market share.
'Top line is vanity, bottom line is sanity' is the old business adage and Real Madrid's bottom line is that it is out of the Spanish FA Cup, facing elimination from the Champions League and 10 points behind Barca in La liga.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Unspeakable (1)
Liverpudlians believe the whole world hates them. er, and they wonder why after this story in The Guardian:
Next time they are 3-0 down in the Champions League final I will be cheering for the other side to make it six.
The reputation of Liverpool fans took another pummelling last night when it was revealed that the ambulance taking Alan Smith to hospital had come under attack outside Anfield. Supporters surrounded the vehicle while throwing missiles and shouting "Munich scum" in reference to the plane crash that killed 23 people, including eight Manchester United players, in 1958.
Next time they are 3-0 down in the Champions League final I will be cheering for the other side to make it six.
Unspeakabale (2)
The racism that Barca striker Samuel Eto'o has to endure at some games is beyond words. Particularly at Zaragoza on saturday night where he almost walked off the pitch. And this is meant to be one of Europe's most civilised countries ....
Friday, February 24, 2006
It's Carnival today in Barcelona
Which means costumers for all the children at St Peters.
Ben, naturally, is making the most of it ...
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Marvellous Messi
There is much whinging in UK papers today. Only James Lawton in the Independent hits the nail on the head about the genius of Messi
Those of us lucky enough to see him play this season couldn't fail to agree.
He is ranked alongside Wayne Rooney as one of the great talents of the world game and certainly they both carry huge expectations to the World Cup. These hopes, however, do not exceed the kind of gifts that can be brought to the challenge.
Those of us lucky enough to see him play this season couldn't fail to agree.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Sensational
Everything that was good about Barca's football was on display tonight when they came from behind to beat chelsea 2-1 at stamford bridge. the speed and vision overwhelmed chelsea who were hanging on like a pulevrised boxer by the end. chelsea's dull brand of football was put to the sword once and for all.
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