Dawn

Dawn

Sunday, July 15, 2012

At last the ads on my Facebook page no longer consist entirely of exhortations to join one dating agency or another. Today I was told that I could "enter your erotic shop with confidence, rapidly and discretely, so that you can surprise your partner." Which is good to know. The second new ad was for an investment site, albeit starring a young and beautiful blonde. Have they got me taped?

Interesting cartoon in one of the national papers a day or so ago - A group of men marching past a sign saying TRAINING IN HOW TO DO THE GOOSE STEP FOR PERIPHERAL ECONOMIES. Wonder what it means.

After mentioning my Panama hat yesterday, I read today that - in Britain at least - they are this summer's must-have. The problem I have with this is that the article stressed you should never wear it in the rain. Of which the UK has had little else this year. Anyway, this prompted me to check the labels in mine just now. Nothing about rain but I couldn't help contrasting the message Genuine Panama with another one which read "Made in China". In what, then, does the hat's genuineness lie? Perhaps in the fact it's made of "100 toquilla palm straw". Albeit woven by nimble-fingered Chinese teenagers.

As I typed rain in the last paragraph, the Beatles were singing "endless rain into a paper cup" in my ear. A coincidence? I think not.

My impression is there's a certain age after which a man can get away with saying - and maybe even doing - things which wouldn't be permitted to a younger man. Perhaps this is a bad example in Spain - where a compliment to a woman is always received gracefully - but the sort of thing I'm talking about is telling a teenager how beautiful she is, without getting a slap across the face. Or, in Britain, being arrested for the thought-crime of attempted rape. I'll try to think of - and experiment with - other examples and report back

I walked around the centre of town today, counting the shuttered shops. I gave it up as a depressing exercise when I reached 30. And this was without going into the many off-the-street galerías, which are probably in a worse state. Can they all have been owned by people in their 60s who decided to jack it in early and retire on their partially-declared earnings?

Finally, here's another sign of the times - a special offer on the staff of life. Sorry it's not the right way up but I've tried everything, without success. I can't swear it's a single bar with three branches. This question is a bit of a mystery. Rather like the Holy Trinity. Whatever that is.



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