In Gracia, on the corner of Fraternitat and Tordera. From outside it used to appear a filthy hole, with an elderly couple behind the bar and a couple of clients ripe for the taxidermist. Inside, round to the right, was a secret dining area, with yellow walls, a couple of exceptionally bad paintings, and the…
I am building a bird table so I can catch tasty little birds with a net and fry them in bechamel for breakfast. Its leg consists sturdy spring, which will cause pigeons, goats and other creatures undesirable for this purpose to fall off before they get to the bait.
Walking down the escalator at Fontana metro, I pass a undistinguished-looking middle-aged woman just as she skilfully inserts her hand into the bag of the girl standing, unaware, on the step below her. I grip her arm and say, Gotcha. Oh no, she says, it’s my daughter, but you’re right to do it: there are…
Sergi Belbel’s A la Toscana, last night, first night at the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, of which Mr Belbel is the boss. It was well staged, the music was well done, and the actors are the ones who get all the work on the nacional circuit, and none the worse for that. But, like the…
Opposite the district offices in the Gardens of the Prince of Gerona on Lepanto. Far better than the real thing, which is only fun to visit if you pretend to be a stone mason.
“‘Mexico vs. Spain,’ the first scene, shows the rejected Mexican suitor, in a jealous rage, watching the love-making between Carlos, the Spaniard, his hated rival, and the beautiful senorita. With drawn stiletto, he pounces upon the Don, but the senorita seizes his arm, thus saving her lover from a horrible death. After a terrific hand-to-hand…
This is still a major problem, even from authors and publishers that appear to take themselves seriously, and even though automatic generation is now pretty good. Is it evidence of (a) the continued importance of rote learning, as over critical appraisal, in Spanish universities, or (b) the realisation, hundreds of years ago, that digitised search…