Sunday best

Two South Asian gents photographing each other on the shore just short of Badalona. The younger man wore “traditional” baggy trousers, the older even more traditional “Manchesters”.

Consonantal heavy metal umlaut

Found whilst burning a pile of flyers. Maybe Soulside will tell us if this was a conscious tribute to the rock-dotted “n” in “This is Spinal Tap”.

Montserrat Virgin actually blonde

This falls into the same category as the revelation by Arenys de Mar’s thriving community of dope-fiends historians that the three kings were all black. Dunno where that leaves trite lyrics like Siempre que pintas iglesias/pintas angelitos bellos/pero nunca te acordaste/de pintar un ángel negro. (On this walk. Critical discussion of inocentadas here.)

Sinterklaas photos

Re this, some results. The comments in Dutch are grossly libellous, so don’t even try to translate them. I finally managed to get the mitre on my head–Spanish bishops don’t have much between their ears–but the only way the beard would stay on was to jam it over my nose with half of it in…

Tribute to Hartlepool

Wikipedia suggests that H’Angus the Monkey (cartoon) may have been voted mayor first time by local gamblers attracted by the high odds against him. Stuart Drummond failed to honour his “free bananas” pledge, but was re-elected. On this walk.

Nativity scene, Santa Coloma de Gramanet

None of the evangelists mention San José, electrician: Here’s a lamb emerging from the tower blocks with which urban planners chose to blanket the lower half of the old market square, which has been jacked up to cover a huge underground carpark: All on this walk.

Provincial style

I love this Jaén olive oil cooking competition, which is held not in Jaén but in San Sebastián, at the other end of the country. Is this because Jaén-ocrats want an annual freebie to the north, or because they’re ashamed of their home town? S, currently designing a collection of wedding accessories for the metropolis,…

Tango flamenco

Exhibit 1 features Die Verdammte Spielerei and some blonde and was recorded in what will presumably be the Republic of Flanders by Monday. I suppose France will get Brussels. Exhibit 2 is Tango gitano, which “forms part of a group of field materials documenting Maria Garcia performing unaccompanied Spanish songs from Asturias, Spain on January…