Zazie@Cocanha has scanned extracts from two versions of the highly amusing Cartas d’el Rei D. Fernando, O Catholico, a varios reis e principes do mundo, e suas respostas: colligidas e commentadas por Fr. Antonio Tarfan de los Godos, Commendador na Ordem de S. João de Jerusalem: the first bunch from a manuscript in the collection…
The excellent Catavino is upset that the authorities want to tarmac over 100 hectares of vineyards in the Duero. I’m a bit more blasé: the Spanish only buy their own product because the Chinese don’t make it cheaper, and I cherish little hope for green open spaces in a country where the most popular form…
This Nasreddin Hodja story (via Ray Girvan) reminds me of the custom in at least one particularly poor part of England in the early 20th century of having the man in the cornershop slice one’s bread with the ham knife in order to add taste.
Regret the error includes an item from the Denver Post: Because of an editor’s error, a sentence on page 8D on Tuesday in a story about Rockies prospect Hector Gomez buying a bus was changed from “On the back he put ‘Los Peloteros’ which in Spanish means ‘The Ballplayers'” to “he put ‘Los Plotters’ which…
RMF over at Fum i estalzí has the lowdown, with before and after pics, on the death of a camel (or is it a dromedary?) at Ataturk International Airport. Grey Wolf would not have been chuffed. (More on Google in English.)
Interesting that a “left-wing” government has chickened out of time-share nationalising second and third homes in the mountains and along the coast, where the market is more difficult for tenants than in the cities.
“Eñe rrepresenta balore ma elebao de tradision ispanika y primero kaeremo mueto ante ke asetar bejasione a simbolo ke a sio korason bibifikante de istoria epañola unibersa,” and so forth, via JPQ, and without apologies to whoever wrote what may be the original.
Barcepundit has caught Julio Valdeón Blanco in El Mundo plagiarising Julie Bosman in the NY Times. Julio’s narrative style is characterised by his brilliant use of language, unless it was he who wrote his Wikipedia profile. (PS Whatever happened to Rafael Ramos? Nothing, of course!)
I’m not a big fan of his writing, but this is cool. Once somewhere similar I used to walk to work to burn off beer and pizza reserves and ended up going cross-country, cross ditch and thru hedge, to avoid car-bound colleagues who would stop and ask if I was OK.