robin willis

My daughter Zoe and her friend Nil exchange youtube tunes. Here’s the latest find.

http://www.julietavenegas.net/

I can thank Zoe and Nil for Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Shakira and Patito Feo. 10 year olds Keepin’ me hip.

See it here. My first time. Scary, fun… Bring it on.

The Associated Press: ‘Balloon boy’ reminder that TV is full of shams

So since the town rolls up the sidewalks at 7:30 and I have been whacked by jet lag a little more than usual I have had lots time to watch CNN and Fox. Balloon Boy was the big news. Oh, the humanity… Days and days of the Heene family. Little Falcon puking into a pan on camera. Then puking into a pan off camera. Gulf War hero journalist Wolf Blitzer stumbling over the big tip off as Dad back peddled. Larry King raising an eyebrow and cutting to a pharmaceutical commercial. Ladies and Gentlemen… everybody out of the pool…

I am staying at the Travelodge. It is a fairly down at heels motel with a balcony over looking the parking lot full of crew cabbed Dodge Rams and the mothballed swimming pool. The complimentary self serve continental breakfast consists of a plate of donut holes (2 varieties), mini bagels, Folgers coffee and Kellogs sugar frosted cornflakes. Except for the first day I have been giving it a pass as has my next door neighbor who on a daily basis, dressed in pajamas and bare feet, retrieves her can of diet Pepsi from vending machine. I can hear her “pop the top” as she enters her room. Most of the other guests wear baseball caps. And Indian family owns and operates the facility and the brother of the owner owns the Budget Inn down the street. There is HBO which has been both a comfort and a curse to me. I have not had a TV in my life for a number of decades. I have not missed much.

OK Felix has been reading the blog and was apparently offended by my comparing the sounds of killing cats to the cobla (the traditional sardana orchestra) so he sent me a file of some traditional Catalan music played on the gralla (ok insert the word “Catalan” every time the linked web page says “Spanish”). This is not the music for the Sardana and is actually quite sweet:

Gralla

Here’s the cobla Sabadell playing a sardana:

lescomares

And here is a cat fight:

catfight

See!

Listen I play the harmonica and there are times when I think would rather have my skin pulled off with a set of pliers than have to listen to a squeally tin sandwich.

Of the three the Gralla wins hands down. But…  sorry… it still ain’t Duke Ellington.

I find myself involved in another documentary. This one is about a fellow named Felix Miret who is a Casteller from Vilafranca, a medium sized town near Barcelona which is in Spain or Catalunya depending on whether the person you are talking to is a rabid fan of the Sardana, would kill their mama for a big plate of botifarras i mongetes and swoons over the sound of series of open reed instruments that sound remarkably like either a cat being killed or some one dragging their fingernails down the blackboard.

What’s a Casteller? From Wikipedia we learn that:

“A castell is a human tower built traditionally in festivals at many locations within Catalonia, Spain. At these festivals, several colles castelleres or teams often succeed in building and sustain a tower’s structure for a certain length of time.”

Felix is basically the Michael Jordan of Castellers. In Vilafranca people stop him in the streets and have them kiss their babies, bless their botifarras and give him jars of homemade salsa romescu which is a very tasty sauce made from almonds, hazel nuts, garlic, dried red peppers, olive oil and vinegar and is used on everything from fish and meats to ice cream…

Like most of these often crazy endeavors this one has not gone as smoothly as a “porc engreixat en una banyera.” But I am now find my self shooting in the USA in the lovely small town of Walla Walla, Washington. Which in Catalan would be pronounced Waya Waya.

So what’s the story? Felix the Michael Jordan of human tower makers falls in love with Andrea a nurse practioner from Roseburg, Oregon. They get married, they move to Walla Walla, Andrea gets pregnant, they have a baby. And Felix decides to make America safe for Castells and Castell builders.

OK these ones are a little more distinct… see them here.

I live in a working class barrio in Barcelona. It’s called Sants. Most of the time I love it but sometimes It makes me crazy because it can be insanely noisy and the people are such litter bugs. Here are some of my neighbors.

We played hooky and went with friends to a nice beach just up the coast. Here are the resultant photos.

We went to Morocco for a birthday party. We stayed at a nice but slightly worn resort. Here’s some pictures.