January 2011 – Leeds's Singing Organ-Grinder

A market-oriented etymology of Catalonia

From Gothalania to Land of Alan the Goth.

Intriguing explanation of the v/b confusion in Spanish orthography

It’s all Microsoft’s fault, says a member of the Catalan hanging and flogging brigade.

Pin perils of open barrel organs

Royal Flash, and Flashman is romancing Lola Montez, Bismarck’s mistress:

With a FROB in the throat: but what’s wrong with moderately fucked translation?

At a crucial moment in Spain’s fortunes, the bank restructuring fund (Fondo de Reestructuración Ordenada Bancaria, FROB) has come up with a lousily translated Powerpoint (h/t) explaining what’s being done. But anyone with half a brain can figure out what they’re trying to say (partly because it’s so bland, and unrevealing of the crucial numbers),…

Video of David Icke making payments to aliens in Barcelona

Curiously Mr Icke’s talk on holographic herpetology was promoted by the Neuro-Linguistic Programming clique, which he elsewhere considers a Satanic mafia. I sense a conspiracy, or a prophet who, suitably clothed, might earn a tad more on the Ramblas.

Weeding planner

Conjugal Bliss, or You Always Hurt The One You Love. It’s a interlingual malapropism, but let’s swing with it. For anyone contemplating a musical career in Spain, the site contains encouraging evidence: apparently this kind of thing works out at €800/hr. For anyone contemplating marriage here, do consider flying in geezers.

Farewell, (Catalan) Talgo

One of 20th century Spain’s great engineering achievements disappears as it drove: with nary a whisper.

Talgo III in Granada, by Falk2 [GFDL (<a href=

http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons" title="Talgo III in Granada, by Falk2 [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons" />

“Sonatrach is studying all options in case BP decided to sell its assets for another party”

Does this recent MedGaz pipeline story mean we’re about to see more headlines like Swedish BP chairman ‘whisked married lover on luxury cruise as oil spill chaos erupted’ and Gulf Oil Spill: Tony Hayward Attends Glitzy Yacht Race As Oil Spews Into Gulf? BP: from British Petroleum to Barbarian Pissheads? The article reports the words…

How to achieve optimal, emission-free load balancing for Bicing and other public biking schemes

In Barcelona, differential payments based on vertical displacement could eliminate redistribution truck carbon emissions and create income for cyclists with time on their feet. So, for example, you pay 8ct to cycle from Gracia to the beach, but earn 8ct if you cycle back.

Bicing accepts principle of parallel universes

Perhaps not, but they’ve removed from my records the journey that yesterday they were going to charge me 280€ for.