Dawn

Dawn

Monday, November 22, 2004

If you’ve been to my web site [colindavies.net], you may recall the picture of Mr. Topless in the photo gallery on the home page. Well, I saw him in town today, living up to his nickname, even though it’s the middle of November and the temperature was around 11 degrees. Quite a sight. And browner than ever. By the way, I think I can reveal here what I felt I couldn’t on my web site; he is said to be a retired pimp. This may interest the increasing number of Spaniards who arrive at this blog having typed ‘c. de e.’ into their search engine. Especially those who’ve had the blog translated by computer and so have some idea of what I’m talking about.

There’s an intriguing spat taking place – courtesy of one of the local papers – between the Dean of Santiago University and the professors of Roman Law there. The latter stand accused of making their exams so hard that pupils are fleeing the university in search of softer options. In their impressive defence, the professors have cited a number of statistics; the one that grabs me by the throat is that the number of years taken to complete the Law course ranges from 6 to 22 years. This is yet another reminder of the indulgence shown by Spanish parents to offspring who either have nil scholastic ability or a desire to sponge in perpetuity. Or both, of course.

There was a report over the weekend that a national police campaign had established that 97% of drivers were found to be complying with the safety belt law. Is it any wonder that the Spanish have difficulty in believing any statistics unless they are given to a [totally specious] three places of decimals?

If any of you are thinking of doing the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, you might like to know that, if you walk all the way from Roncesvalles, it will consume 100,000 kilocalories. The same amount of energy as expended in childbirth, apparently. There’s an image.

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