Archive for April, 2007
Friday, April 13th, 2007
Majnun Layla
Majnun Layla, not to be confused with layla saida was the name attributed to Qays Ibn al-Mullawah for he was “driven mad by Layla”. While “layla” means “night” in both Arabic and Hebrew, Layla was the woman that Qays feel in love with in the classic Middle Eastern love story of Layla and Majnun. […]
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Friday, April 13th, 2007
The Harm in Words, the Stength in Diversity
Yesterday, I posted an interesting article by Jonathan Capehard on racism in America. Today, I was just describing to some of my Spanish co-workers how Don Imus was fired from NBC for his racist and chauvanistic statements about the Rutgers women’s baskball team. I brought this up to discuss how racist remarks are treated […]
34 Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Thursday, April 12th, 2007
No One Writes to the Colonel
My father never answers the phone when it rings, and whenever I ask why, he always responds with the title of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ “No One Writes to the Colonel“. In other words, why should he answer if no one is calling for him. Alternatively, a phone that does not ring reminds me […]
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions, FON by eric
Thursday, April 12th, 2007
America’s Curse
Some of my friends in Spain complain that I always criticize Spain’s shortcomings and never those of the U.S. I do not think this is necessarily true, but I do admit that I am a strong proponent of the US political system (though not necessarily of its politicians and it government’s policies). In fact, […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Thursday, April 12th, 2007
Suspicious Environmental Solutions
Of course anything that you read by George Will must be taken with a grain of salt. He is a die hard conservative pundit. Nevertheless, this article does bring up some real concerns about the ways in which serious environmental issues are being addressed. For example, the obvious problem with Kyoto is that it […]
No Comments » - Posted in Essays by eric
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007
Boussates
The return from Semana Santa, for a few reasons (all of them positive), has altered my sleep patterns, and now I am working to regain my tedious schedule of work and reading. As a matter of fact, I am now reading a very entertaining book by Elif Shafak called The Bastard of Istambul. When […]
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions by eric
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007
Something Else
Sorry, but I still need a few days to come back to life after Semana Santa before I can return to writing irrelevant digressions. In the meantime, here is something else, Cannonball Adderley’s Somethin’ Else with Miles Davis on trumpet (even though “Autumn Leaves” is not so appropriate for spring). Actually, I had almost […]
No Comments » - Posted in Jazz by eric
Sunday, April 8th, 2007
Made it through the rain
It’s been raining almost everywhere in Spain during this Easter week. So far, though, I have made it through the rain, and I’m in Asturias where it is generally rainy and cold. Today, it was another nice day, and I went to visit Diego C.’s (el Fichaje) home town Gijón.
No Comments » - Posted in Digressions, Living la vida española by eric
Saturday, April 7th, 2007
La Playa de Salinas
I am in Salinas in Asturias, spending a few days with my friends Santi and Clara, their 2 year old son, Javier and with Javier’s grandmother Amparo.
No Comments » - Posted in Friends / Family by eric
Friday, April 6th, 2007
The Paradox of World Football
One thing that has always impressed me about World Football is how professional teams’ locker rooms are so multicultural and the players work together in apparent harmony. Take Real Madrid, for example, where you have players from Spain, England, Italy, Brazil, Argentina, and Mali. Of course, the players compete with each other for a […]
