Dawn

Dawn

Friday, March 04, 2016

This and that

Royal Crooks: If you haven't been living in a cave, you'll know that a member of the Spanish royal family is up in court for involvement in her husband's frauds against the public purse. I don't follow the details but I know the highly educated and well-paid Princess Cristina pleads absolute ignorance and mere fidelity to her beloved husband. Of course, no one believes this for a second but it might help her get off. Said husband has been in court this week and today it's reported he contradicted himself 12 times in court yesterday, inter alia. Anyway, if this is of interest to you, click here, here and here for trial reports.

Spain's Public Toilets: It's true these have rather lagged behind the country's rapid development over the last 40 years. Some of them are as good as any in the world but some of them, well . . . aren't. Here's an article on the subject which contains far more than a grain of truth and gives advice that's pretty sound. Some of the automatic lights have to be experienced to be believed.Yet another HT to Lenox of BusinessOver Tapas for this.

A Nice Dig? I've often thought I'd like to have dabbled in archeology. And now I've got my chance. There's a iron-age site right here in Galicia, in a place called Cabeciña, or 'Little Cape' in Gallego. Which is near Oia, not far south of nearby Vigo. Though the price for training and participation – and the provision of a week of free labour? – seems steep at €937.

Banksy: So this really is Robin Gunningham after all. This former public(i.e. private) schoolboy was first fingered in 2004 and then publicly branded Banksy in 2008. But he's now been definitively 'discovered' by some sort of high tech process as the famous graffiti artist and the scourge of the Establishment. Wikipedia will be changing his entry today, I assume.

American Pie: Yesterday I linked to one of John Denver's songs. But by the miracle of Youtube links, I was taken to this famous – almost said 'iconic'! – song by Don McClean. And so discovered what some of his references were to. Assuming some readers would like to know these:-
  • February bad news:February 3, 1959 Buddy Holly plane crash
  • Chevy to the Levy. Famous Chevrolet TV commercial or the 1950s by (Dinah Shore)
  • Book of Love: Famous fifties song
  • Miss Pie: Turns out to be an illusion
  • 10 years: The 1960s,
  • King: Elvis
  • Jester: Dylan
  • Quartet: Beatles
  • Helter Skelter & Football Game: Vietnam war protests in the summer of 1967
  • Marching Band: Most of the public that wanted the war to continue
  • 8 Miles High and falling fast: Byrds song "8 Miles High" was banned because of its implications of drug use on a transatlantic flight.
  • All in One Place: Altamount Concert with drug deaths and stabbings
  • Lost in Space: Hippie movement died that day (also reference to TV series)
  • No Angel Born in Hell: Hell's Angels guarded the stage as Mick Jagger sang. The song describes the disillusioning end of both the 1950s and then the 1960s. Oh yes, Janis Joplin "smiled and turned away" by committing suicide instead of bringing happiness to Americans in the 1970s.
The chap we have to thank for this info is one Allen MacCannell.

Finally . . . Dross Bin: This – as might be obvious - is a name of an email account for stuff I don't want to see. The wheel turns and Google + has just proposed that I befriend this chap and put him in one of my Circles. But I'm dubious about this as there's no foto. Life imitating (modern?)art.

Facebook friend requests: I've been concerned about confirmation of friendships I've never sought. It turns out that, if I click on the name of someone I don't know who's liked something I've posted, the FB computer automatically sends a request to them. As most of these are Anglo Galician FB members disguised as scantily clad young ladies, this is a real nuisance as their fotos then end up on my Friends list. One day I will quit FB because of its evil practices. Maybe when everyone I know is on Google+

Which reminds me . . .

The Pope's Legions: These are still spamming my Google+ page. The latest vehicle for this is The Christian Channel. Which appears to be Canadian. Ironically, I don't have much of a 'Christian' attitude towards the bastards. I suspect the cause of this is my recent downloading of the Canada-based TV streaming operation, Filmon.

BREXIT SUPPLEMENT

The Spanish version of The Local would like all Brits here to ensure they vote in the referendum. Assuming they haven't been disqualified – like me – for living here a second or more over 15 years. Here's their plea. For folk like me, we're encouraged to get friends and relatives to vote against a Brexit. Regular readers will know I won't be doing this. But I'm sure my friend and net colleague, Lenox, will be doing this a tope.

The necessary FB foto: My beautiful daughters, Jakarta, Feb. 1984. The lucky creatures get their looks from their mother.


I'm a doting father but sometimes this is tough. Here's Faye's response to one of my FB comments the other day: Why is it taking so long for them to get round to creating an eye-rolling smiley? So you can imagine my response to Hannah's question this week as to whether a parent's love for a child stays for ever or even grows. No, I said. As soon as they start to talk and irritate you, it starts to diminish.

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