Dawn

Dawn

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Russian-flavoured News; Surprising News; Death in Spain; Spanish words; & Scrumptious ears.


Russia's RT TV channel had some gems last night:- 
- Of course, there may be a Crimean application to join Russia but we don't yet know how it will be received.
- We do know no decision has yet been taken - If it is accepted, there'll be a 5 or 6 stage process involving Mr Putin in discussion with members of parliament and others 
- In the East of Ukraine 'activists' from the 'local defence units' have stopped Ukrainian military vehicles from reaching the border with Russia. 
- Why is it that everyone in the West knows about the Crimea desire to leave Ukraine but no one knows that Veneto is planning to secede from Italy?
- President Putin has signed the decree allowing the accession process to begin but there are many legal hurdles to pass before it's a done deal

Russia's RT channel is still banging on this morning about the [ludicrous] equivalence between the Crimea and Veneto. If you don't know anything about this Italian development, here's Russia Today to fill you in. And here's the BBC.

There were 2 big surprises in the news this morning. Firstly, the Big Bang theory has been evidenced (proven, even) by American scientists at the North Pole. And, secondly, Qatar's award of the 2020 World Cup was gained by corruption among FIFA members. Well, one of these was a surprise but the other couldn't be less of one.

I wrote about the Spanish practice of death a couple of weeks ago. One aspect I stressed is that of completing the burial or cremation within 48 hours. A letter in yesterday's El País noted that, after the writer's father had died in a hospital, she and her children were bombarded at 3am at the Reception on what coffin they wanted, what urn for the ashes, what flowers and what time they wanted the velatorio ('funeral wake') the next day. As if this weren't bad enough, they were then hustled with an estimate of €10,000 while still in deep mourning. That's the trouble with false deadlines; they give others the chance to fleece you.

A new Spanish word: - un trolley (trole?). This is a carry-on bag that has wheels and extendible handle. As well as a trolley-bus.

An old Spanish word:- Arena. Or 'sand'. Most obviously for a bullfight. Think of this next time you're in a posh arena.

Talking of Spanish words . . . . An article in El Pais the other day weighed into the practice of archisílabo, or lengthy words formed by adding an English/Latin prefix. As with ultraexclusivo, hiperexclusividad, macrolujo and superpositiva. It's hard not to sympathise with this view, given that many Spanish words already contain at least twice as many syllables as their English equivalents. Actually, I'm sure I've heard supermegaguay, or something similar.

Finally . . . If it's the crunchy cartilage of a pig's ear that catches your fancy, hie thyself over to nearby Lerez this week, where these form the centre of their annual gastronomic fiesta. Vomit bowls provided free.

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