Where do lonely people go? Those who seldom know a shelter of their own.
Where do lonely people go? Those who left for good one day slamming the door
Where do all those homeless people go? All those forgotten by their sons
Where do all those shipwrecks repose? Banished castaways on nowhere land
Where do all desperate bodies rest when the mind abandons every hope?
What becomes of them when all is lost but death refuses their requests?
Why are there such limbos upon Earth? What kind of vicious fate can take you there?
What were they? Who were they? How do you know it is not your turn?
How can you tell? I see a bunch of kids playing in the park, laughing. What horrendous scheming decides who's gonna be next?
Barcelona photos: Daily photographs of Barcelona, Spain. Pictures of a modern city with travel tips in a personal photoblog. A photography and travel site. Art, architecture, people and traditions. Travel to Barcelona through my camera, know more about our city and towns nearby. Welcome!
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October 31, 2008
Where Do All the Lonely People Go?
Labels:
elderly people,
homeless,
lonely people,
poverty
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
October 30, 2008
Detail of Columbus Monument, Portal de la Pau, Barcelona
Today, a close look on the column and pedestal of the Christopher Columbus monument at the end of Las Ramblas. Did you know that inside this column there is a lift, a very narrow one, that takes visitors to the top? This detail in the image which looks like a cigar ring to me can be appreciated here but if you really want to feel the place click and drag inside the embedded Google street view map of the roundabout where the monument is, facing Barcelona harbor. To get some information and take a look at the bronze lions at the base, go here.
Street view image
Street view image
October 29, 2008
Taxi Drivers: A World Apart!
This is some kind of natural law, taxi drivers are a world apart. It is a very venerable profession given all the crap they have to take from us daily but...what about them?. Who hasn't lived an enriching experience after talking to a friendly cab driver? Many people have. But, who hasn't been as talkative as Buster Keaton before breakfast on the way to the airport (usually a long ride) after finding out how funny your random driver is that morning? There are many kinds of taxi drivers, they are people after all, not automatic pilots. They have their existential problems as we all have. That's quite normal. The problem is that in such small space their influence can jump at you like lice from head to head on a hippie convention. Some peculiar behaviors are already documented in Psychiatry, but many of them are still considered normal. You've got the sports fan type (normally the other team's fan),the political type (the other party's follower), the philosopher, basically nihilists (no change, not going your way, no smoking in here), the braggart (they can brag just about everything and my post is short)...and the discreet, who I certainly prefer. This fiction rant is dedicated to all taxi drivers who work around the clock and have saved our butts on many occasions. Please, don't get mad at my words today, especially my friend in the picture for obvious reasons.
October 28, 2008
It's A Letter
You see, any story could arise from this image. But to tell a story inspiration is a must and my well is very dry tonight. If I had the will to write, I imagine I would say this man came to Barcelona, was visiting Sant Jaume square after meandering the "solitary" streets of the old Gothic quarter when suddenly he decided to open the secret letter that someone had left at the hotel desk that morning. "Gosh, I told them I had paid for that and they are charging me twice". No, that's irrelevant and too common!. What can I say?. He was a musician, yes, an orchestra conductor, mentally rehearsing tonight's score. Wait, maybe he's just following some route on a map, a sort of Da Vinci code. Hum, no fountains or secret church entrance in this square. Perhaps he was a lost Manga artist drawing some new character. Well, you know what, why don't you finish the story for me. It's A Letter...
If you need inspiration for more irrelevant things to add to my irrelevant story please check this Monthy Python video first: It's A Tree (specially the introduction!)
If you need inspiration for more irrelevant things to add to my irrelevant story please check this Monthy Python video first: It's A Tree (specially the introduction!)
October 27, 2008
Feeding Your Child: Extreme Methods
If you have a child you may recall how hard it was to make them swallow their first baby food. This is our friends' baby daughter. I took the liberty of taking some macros of the feeding act. I have never seen such stubborn child before. No wonder her mother had to use the pacifier to push the food into her mouth and stop her from spitting it. I guess patience is a must in cases like this. You can try singing, chasing her mouth from left to right, calling your spoon names of well known cartoon characters like Tweety, Mickey, imitating sounds of every mean of transportation you know of, trains, motorbikes, etc. You can act like a clown or simply make use of this extreme method, using the pacifier as a stopper. Here are some real tips to feed your child.
October 26, 2008
Reflections on a Wine Porron
Wine is served sometimes in recipients like this at food market stalls and they are known as a porron. George Orwell gave a great definition of this typical Catalan container: "…and drank out of a dreadful thing called a porron. A porron is a sort of glass bottle with a pointed spout from which a thin jet of wine spurts out whenever you tip it up; you can thus drink from a distance, without touching it with your lips, and it can be passed from hand to hand. I went on strike and demanded a drinking-cup as soon as I saw a porron in use. To my eye the things were altogether too like bed-bottles, especially when they were filled with white wine" (Wikipedia). The porron is available for possible clients to quench their thirst while they try samples of some products and make up their minds. More than often, they finally buy something, now that the stall owner has treated them so well, although some people take a good sip, eat all they can and leave empty handed. There are authentic professionals doing this, but the fact they are over there fluttering around attracts more possible consumers so we can say they act as bait. Well, as an anecdote, that's me reflected on the porron of this Monistrol market stall.
October 25, 2008
Metallica Drawing: Skeleton and Girl With Gun
The post will not deal with the famous band, Metallica cause I am not a follower. I am just here for the artistic part of the drawing. I have to admit that I do like their ballads. Having said that I should tell you that I just liked the comics style and thought I might frame it at the stall where it was displayed. Then I thought that as Halloween was coming what better than something spooky. There were no pumpkins so I came up with skulls and bones. Here are two ballads you can listen too: One and Nothing Else Matters
October 24, 2008
Stones And Gems, Shapes, Light And Energy
Quartz or methacrylate , energy generating or not, you have to admit that faceted geometric objects when exposed to light do transmit a certain feeling of relaxation and can trigger a hypnotic state. You may remember your childhood for example, when you spent hours looking to the reflections of a prism under the sun. Is that the origin of greed? Is that what makes people go crazy about buying jewels?. I mean, gems are just mineral. Diamonds come from carbon, what makes it so precious? Everything lies in that fascination for stones, light and maybe some hidden energy that hooks us into collecting color crystals. The magic of mother Earth...This image was captured at a stall in a local market of a town called Monistrol.
October 23, 2008
Sugary Candy Treats: Jelly Candy or Gominolas
Still some time for Halloween but you can feel it round the corner, don't you? That gusty wind not only brings leaves but the echoes of witches too. Soon enough children will be knocking at your door, again! Time flies! Maybe jelly candy is not the right treat but they wouldn't say no, would they. They say eating too many can cause diabetes II, but what the heck, they are yummy. Sugar, starch, pectin, gum or gelatin make up some of the ingredients of these delicious sweets that come in all sorts of colors and flavors. Who hasn't got an indigestion of gummies right after watching a movie? Can you think of jelly candy names? We call them gominolas, here are some: Turkish delight, cola bottle gummies, gumdrops, gummi bears...
Now that the trick or treat ceremony is coming while don't you take a look at Halloween candy.
To create a mood let's suggest some Halloween photography tips found at Darren Rowse's (@problogger) Digital Photography School.
Now that the trick or treat ceremony is coming while don't you take a look at Halloween candy.
To create a mood let's suggest some Halloween photography tips found at Darren Rowse's (@problogger) Digital Photography School.
October 22, 2008
Balloon By Montserrat
There's nothing like a good landscape and a big balloon with shiny colors standing out against some mountain walls and a deep blue sky. Unfortunately some of them show off some publicity sometimes like this Caixa Manresa (a local bank) logo. Obviously banks tend to inflate big balloons every now and then, they rise and fall, and on many occasions they blow up or get drifted away. This one was firmly tied up to the ground just in case. Behind it the beautiful mountain of Montserrat.
October 21, 2008
Wish List: Valdeon Blue Cheese
From the region of Castilla y Leon we have today this excellent Spanish blue cheese called Valdeon after the name of the valley where is it is elaborated in Picos de Europa national park. Made out of cow or goat milk or a combination of both, Valdeon is a creamy, intense flavored cheese not as biting as Cabrales. Did I tell you that I love Cabrales? The wheel of Valdeon is wrapped in sycamore leaves, as the ones you see in the image, that add a peculiar taste to it (learn here about other cheese wrappings). Valdeon was named best blue cheese back in 2003 in a national contest. Here is a tasty recipe Smoked Paprika-Rubbed Steaks With Valdeon Butter. This particular cheese I found at a food market in Monistrol de Monserrat.
Labels:
cheese,
food,
monistrol,
recipes,
Spanish products
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Monistrol de Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain
October 20, 2008
Beads Necklaces
During my visit to Monistrol, there was this stall selling beads necklaces. I reckon this is quite common in many countries so there's no need to tell you a story about the origin of beads or to start talking about religion and rosaries. I saw a line of those necklaces and decided to play with dof for a while. Remember in the next days I will show you market products from Monistrol de Montserrat and folk dancers that participated in recent local celebrations.
October 19, 2008
Evil Mask, Monistrol de Montserrat
You know the devil disguises or manifests in oh so many ways. One day he may be McCain Trump himself, some other day the hideous child of our neighbors, maybe a cat, a pumpkin or simply an evil mask with firecrackers inside, as is the case of this one at Monistrol de Montserrat.
It was on one of the stalls of the market organized during the Fira de la Coca i el Mató 2008 (a local food fair).
Remember this fair at Monistrol has been featured here in the past, as for example in: Say Cheese.
I would like to go around with this for Halloween. In fact there was an old B movie where the devil himself wandered among the crowd for the famous celebration and everybody mocked at his attire, with tragic consequences, of course.
Follow label Monistrol below for more.
It was on one of the stalls of the market organized during the Fira de la Coca i el Mató 2008 (a local food fair).
Remember this fair at Monistrol has been featured here in the past, as for example in: Say Cheese.
I would like to go around with this for Halloween. In fact there was an old B movie where the devil himself wandered among the crowd for the famous celebration and everybody mocked at his attire, with tragic consequences, of course.
Follow label Monistrol below for more.
October 18, 2008
Wooden Toys, Las Ramblas Stall, Barcelona
Rambling Las Ramblas of Barcelona, camera on hand and nothing else to do, I decided to leave human statues alone for a while and concentrate on small details. Hundreds of souvenirs were shouting at me to be under the spotlight, to step into the limelight. Hey, me!. Forget about her! She's too ugly. I couldn't resist that urgent cry and headed for the little elf or whatever that was and gave him his moment of glory. Lady elf wasn't bad either. I suppose taking these wooden toys home would make your kids very happy or not?
And finally talking about tiny characters, did you know that every Saturday closest to June 25th the Smurfs celebrate their anniversary, Global Smurf Day?
And finally talking about tiny characters, did you know that every Saturday closest to June 25th the Smurfs celebrate their anniversary, Global Smurf Day?
October 17, 2008
Neocon Danger in Europe
Apropos of this flashy protest sign warning us about the danger of neocon offensive attacks over Europe, I wondered what a neocon is after all. It sounds like Vietcom but it doesn't have anything to do with it obviously. I hate it when I use the wrong word to refer to something, so in order to avoid stupid mistakes like saying that ecologists are the new communists, as ex-president José MarÃa Aznar recently said, I sat and read some articles. Among them I found one titled So, what is a 'neocon'? which is quite illustrative. In spite of all the reading I jumped to the conclusion that this is a complex subject and that there are many possible lines of investigation considering each neocon and the scenario. You have to learn about weapons, state monopoly, powerful influences, factions, bankers, corruption, religious sects, pharmaceutical industries, vast media holdings and even evolutionist theories! But let's resume the article. Here are some key phrases that cleared some doubts: "...people who came to the realization that modern liberalism was not the kind of liberalism that they had subscribed to...", "...concerned about forging national crusades that can tap either the American public's patriotism or its desire for reform...", "...they are influential because they promote each other...", "...they say that America is a nation uniquely equipped as the sole remaining superpower to order the world and spread our values...". After I read this a new question started popping out in my mind: Is McCain a newcon? Given the evidence and according to analysts, he is. Following that line of thought I asked myself: Is José MarÃa Aznar a newcon? Yes, the man that proclaimed that global warming is not a scientific truth and that the process may not be affected by the human factor, is a newcon. If you want to meet the authentic newcon check Aznar, interviewed by the BBC. I think I understand the sign in the image a little bit now although it may have been drawn by "ecologists" of course.
October 16, 2008
Jogging in La Rambla, Barcelona
Jogging in Las Ramblas de Barcelona is so difficult that instead of that we should call it dribbling or slalom. In spite of that, stubborn athletes you can find all year long in any part of the world. I don't know, you are in the middle of a safari in Africa and suddenly you see a jogger waving at you right behind the lions.
Joggers do take it very seriously sometimes. An old man may be mugged in a dark suburban street while a person in a hooded sweater passes by swiftly as a ghost in a Japanese horror movie, unaware of the crime and lost in that podcast on the benefits of sports, so lost that may even end up in the most transited and smoggy street of the city.
In our case here, there was some kind of cosmic impasse and for some milliseconds there was no one near the jogger, probably due to the use of a special force field or protective shield invisible to the human eye. Come to think of it, she was just a lucky tourist on the wrong street.
Joggers do take it very seriously sometimes. An old man may be mugged in a dark suburban street while a person in a hooded sweater passes by swiftly as a ghost in a Japanese horror movie, unaware of the crime and lost in that podcast on the benefits of sports, so lost that may even end up in the most transited and smoggy street of the city.
In our case here, there was some kind of cosmic impasse and for some milliseconds there was no one near the jogger, probably due to the use of a special force field or protective shield invisible to the human eye. Come to think of it, she was just a lucky tourist on the wrong street.
Labels:
barcelona streets,
health,
jogging,
la rambla,
las ramblas,
people,
sports
Location: Barcelona, Spain
La Rambla, Barcelona, Spain
October 15, 2008
Coming and Going, Carrer Petritxol, Barri Gotic, Barcelona
Petritxol street at Barcelona gothic quarter, the hot chocolate and churros street |
Resuming Barcelona as a topic, here I leave you with a view of carrer Petritxol at Barri Gotic.
Some people come and some other go for time immemorial. Streets remain but they will also disappear some day and Barcelona will not be the same.
History is caged in this part of town and without it we will be dehydrated, decaffeinated or whatever "de" something you may think of. So let's protect our history and restore the Gothic quarter!
By the way, remember it is traditional to have churros at carrer Petritxol!
Some people come and some other go for time immemorial. Streets remain but they will also disappear some day and Barcelona will not be the same.
History is caged in this part of town and without it we will be dehydrated, decaffeinated or whatever "de" something you may think of. So let's protect our history and restore the Gothic quarter!
By the way, remember it is traditional to have churros at carrer Petritxol!
Labels:
alley,
barcelona streets,
barri gotic,
gothic quarter,
petritxol
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Carrer de Petritxol, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
October 14, 2008
Baturricos Playing Bandurrias, Torre Llobeta Square, Barcelona
There you go, yet another image about jotas. This time I've got the musicians. Men dressed as baturros (the link is in Spanish I know. It refers to the different nuances of the word in our language, some good and some bad) a term that refers to peasants from Aragon playing traditional instruments like this Bandurria (Mandurria). Remember this group was part of Festa Major celebrations at Torre Llobeta square in Nou Barris, Barcelona. There are many Barcelona inhabitants coming from different regions of Spain, so I found it more than adequate to show them in Barcelona Photoblog.
October 13, 2008
Three Jota Singers From Aragon, Spain
Following in the steps of yesterday's post about Festa Major de Vilapicina i La Torre Llobeta in Barcelona, today I show you three jota singers in traditional dresses from Aragon, Spain. Notice the colorful shawls and the hair-cages with "false" braids. If you are fond of Spanish traditions and you are interested in knowing how a jota sounds please watch the video.
October 12, 2008
Jota Dancer from Aragon at Festa Major of Vilapicina and Torre Llobeta, Barcelona
I have been taking pictures at the Festa Major de Vilapicina i la Torre Llobeta, a sort of popular celebration. Each municipality in Barcelona has its own party on a given time of the year and this one was very near to my place. The lady wearing a traditional dress and shawl is a jota dancer from the region of Aragon. She is a member of the dance group Abenjot representing such region of Spain. It is not by chance that I choose October 12th to post this, as it was the day of Virgin of Pilar, the patroness of Zaragoza, capital of Aragon.
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