Doing the Face Book Stomp

A fairly normal morning. The chickens have somehow got out of their run and are clustered behind my shoulder on the windowsill outside, muttering and clucking and watching what I write.
Una the dog has eaten all Murphy the cat´s food again.
It is cold and grey.
But, ¡Holin! When I boot up the mighty Wurlizter, I find 20 messages in my email about people becoming friends and poking me on my facebook wall, or suchlike gibberish. This is disturbing for a geezer, causing a little-known medical condition known as "puzzlement."
¿What do I do? (I figure if I have two question marks, I ought to use them) I shall wait and see. I blame Rebekah, now a new friend.

TODAY´S THOUGHT
What most persons consider as virtue, after the age of 40 is simply a loss of energy.
Voltaire


BONUS POEM TODAY
The More Loving One
by W. H. Auden

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.

Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.

Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.

In Praise of Italians

I found the following observation in my well-thumbed copy of Montaigne´s essays today.
It seems that the Italians have had a reputation for discretion, rather than valor stretching back centuries. This is greatly to their credit.

An Italian lord once said this, in my presence, to the disadvantage of his own nation: that the subtlety of the Italians, and the vivacity of their conceptions were so great, and they foresaw the dangers and accidents that might befall them so far off, that it was not to be thought strange, if they were often, in war, observed to provide for their safety, even before they had discovered the peril; that we French and the Spaniards, who were not so cunning, went on further, and that we must be made to see and feel the danger before we would take the alarm; but that even then we could not stick to it.
But the Germans and Swiss, more gross and heavy, had not the sense to look about them, even when the blows were falling about their ears.

It reminds me of a supposed incident during the Spanish Civil War, when an Italian regiment took to their heels as a battle got nasty. The soldiers later explained to their Nationalist allies that it was simply a mistranslation. They had heard the order, "¡A las cañones!"("To the canons!") and interpreted it as, "¡A las camiones!"("To the trucks!") Which was why they had all jumped in and smartly driven off in the opposite direction.
If only the Germans had been a bit less gross and heavy during that sorry conflict.


TODAY´S THOUGHT
There are two things that one must get used to or one will find life unendurable: the damages of time and injustices of men.
Nicolas de Chamfort

Back in Business

This picture is from the Summer and has nothing to do with the day´s blog below, but somehow it seems to encapsulate life here.


Snow now in Moratinos these last few days. Only a dusting here. Along with it, a handful of pilgrims. Thursday, Jack DeGroot, a Dutchman with a taste for poetry in general and Lorca in particular, stopped by. He has written a book entitled, Intertextuality Through Obscurity: The Poetry of Frederico Garcia Lorca and Luis de Gongora.
Blimey.
But he is a nice man.

Intertextuality Through Obscurity might be a good new name for this blog, though.

Yesterday evening, two tired young ladies arrived. They had walked from Carrion and hed expected to stay in Terradillos, but found the refuge still closed for Christmas. Our place was a nice surprise. One pilg is from Norway, one from Korea. It all makes a nice break in a bleak midwinter.

MEDIA WATCH
A headline from Yahoo this morning:
Tom Cruise on death of Travolta´s son: ¨It´s horrific.¨
Well, thanks for that, Tom. I wasn´t sure what to make of it myself.

TODAY´S THOUGHT
I'm completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.
George Carlin

Encouraging news

Below, a story from Tuesday´s Daily Telegraph.

The numbers of people participating in the traditional British folk dance are dwindling whilst the age of the dancers is increasing, according to the Morris Ring, an association representing over 200 Morris troupes across Britain.
It is warning that "unless younger blood is recruited during the coming winter months, Morris dancing will soon become extinct".
Charlie Corcoran, Bagman of the Morris Ring, said: "There's a distinct possibility that in 20 years' time there will be nobody left.
"It worries me a great deal. Young people are just too embarrassed to take part.
"This is a serious situation. The average age of Morris dancing sides is getting older and older. Once we've lost this part of our culture it will be almost impossible to revive it."
Paul Reece, chairman of the Advisory Council of the Morris Ring, said: "There is still time for new blood to get ready for the Spring fertility offensive.
"Such customs and activities were once a common sight around the country. Today they are carried out by an ever-dwindling stalwart band of enthusiasts who are determined to keep them alive.
"But there is a serious danger that, in less than a few decades, Morris dancing will be confined to the history books."

In these sordid days, it is heartwarming to be able to pass on a bit of optimistic news. Within some of our lifetimes - not mine I suspect - the degrading and revolting spectacle of bearded, middle-aged ¨men¨ capering about festooned with ¨bells¨ and ¨ribbons¨ and brandishing ¨sticks¨ may be no more than a real ale induced memory. It may not be much in the face of recession and world unrest, but it´s start.

TODAY´S THOUGHT
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make
you commit atrocities.
Voltaire

Democracy at work

Just another news story below from Tuesday´s Guardian, but I was impressed by the use of the word ¨helpful¨ in the fifth line. I think Orwell would have been, too. A little gem of Doublespeak.
And the notion that the foreign press should have been in place before there was a story at all - or else forget it - is one that should resonate with the Bush mob. ¨If only we had thought of that before Iraq and Katrina,¨ the likes of Cheney must be soberly pondering over their cornflakes.


Plans to allow journalists into Gaza were aborted yesterday after Israel's military said it was too dangerous to keep staff at the Erez passenger terminal to allow people to cross into the besieged territory.
Israel argues that excluding the international media from Gaza is helpful because foreign journalists are unethical and biased in their reporting.
Foreign journalists are "unprofessional" and take "questionable reports at face value without checking", said Danny Seaman, who heads Israel's government press office, which vets and issues permits to foreign correspondents.
Seaman said it was not Israel's responsibility to give foreign media access to Gaza. "They should have been there in the first place," before Israel began restricting access on 6 November, said Seaman. "We are not going to endanger the lives of our people just to let journalists in."



TODAY´S THOUGHT
We are all here on earth to help others; what on earth the others are here for I don't know.
W. H. Auden

Bible class

TODAY´S THOUGHT
Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.
George Carlin

End of the Year Quiz

One of the several thousand pleasures of retiring from newspapers is that I won´t have to organise any more Year´s end quizzes. I was thinking this while reading about the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Why anyone would want to remember what happened last year, or practically any year, come to that, let alone answer questions voluntarily about it, is mysterious.
Still, Gaza is the Year´s first big story, I suppose, since Sarah Palin´s daughter´s baby arrived a little prematurely for the quiz compilers.

Despite, or possibly because of, all the above, I am groundbreaking by running 2010´s first end of the Year Quiz a bit early.

Quiz Question 1:
Who was the first person in 2009 to say "We do not seek war.¨?

Quiz Question 2:
What was the next word he used?

Quiz question 3:
Who will be the last person to say ¨We do not seek war.¨?

Quiz Question 4:
Given that Sarah Palin´s daughter´s name is clearly rhyming slang, is the new baby´s also?

Quiz Question 5:
If so, for what?

(Some of this may be obscure for U.S. readers, so here are some clues. The Palin daughter is Bristol, her baby is Tripp. Didn´t help much, did it?)


Answers will be published here on January 1, 2010, however I can reveal the answer to question 2 was ¨but.


TODAY´S THOUGHT
Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
Albert Einstein