Bill Fay, the (re)discovery of 2012

Good music is much better explanation than words:

Coco and the revolution at home

On Saturday 22 December, this little cute thing of 6 weeks old came to our home:

The kids were absolutely shocked to tears by the surprise, since I had told nothing in advance, and they had been requesting a dog for many months. So a revolution started at home on Saturday. There was some discussion about the name, and eventually we agreed on Coco.

Unfortunately, the next morning it was obvious that something was going wrong with Coco: he had problems with breathing, was not eating or drinking, and he had a very low tone. We went to the veterinarian on Sunday and Monday, and we discovered he had a very serious pneumonia. Apparently he was already ill when he came home. The veterinarian told us that the prognosis was very bad, given the seriousness of the illness and the age of the dog. So we prepared for the worst.

You can imagine the bad vibe at home: I had planned this to become a huge, nice Christmas suprise for the whole family. Yet it was turning to be some awful days, with family celebrations but at the same time thinking Coco was in the way to die.

We spent one day with hourly injections of serum and forced feeding, day and night. And unbelievably, Coco started to feel better and better, and his vitality was slowly improving. Yesterday he reached a point when he started to eat and drink by himself. You should see the whole family watching at him, in awe, at the sole spectacle of getting up and eating.

This morning I came again to the veterinarian. It seems we are on the good pathway, and despite the fact that Coco starts to protest everytime we hold it -because he suspects, with reason, that the next injection is around the corner-, he is also starting to enjoy the company of kids.

There we have it: our little sad, and later happy, story of Christmas in 2012.

Happy holidays to all of you!

For some private reasons, our family is having sad days despite meeting all our closed ones these days. But I want to wish the audience of this little blog all the best for these holidays, with your families. If there is a time of the year when my mantra carpe diem gets all its meaning, it is by now, regardless of beliefs or religion.

Carpe diem. Nothing is for granted. Enjoy every minute.

DC Resource to close, editor to join Digital Photography Review

I learned recently that a reputed website posting digital camera reviews, DC Resource, is closing, and that its editor is moving to become the senior editor at Digital Photography Review.

I think this is bad news. While I can understand it is probably a good move, in economic terms, for such editor, the result is that one of the best independent websites dealing with digital photography disappears, while the editor goes to run the reviews at another website owned by Amazon, and with interests which are not exactly the same as those of the readers, lovers of photography and cameras. In fact, word in the streets is that the credibility of Digital Photography Review, since it became owned by Amazon, is less than stellar, to put it mildly.

Nanotechnology animation

The author states at youtube that this video took a month to be done. But I think the final result is well worth the effort:

The curriculum of all of us

This is again in Spanish: the follow-up tv ad from another previously discussed in this blog. It deals with the countless positive aspects of Spain which are forgotten, sadly, in recent years:

1000 shows of "El Intermedio"

"El Intermedio" is a tv show, broadcasted by La Sexta, which deals with political news treated with a strong dose of humour, yet using a big amount of intelligence and critic analysis. The frontman is a well known showman, El Gran Wyoming, who had a previous stunning success in another show, "Caiga quien Caiga".

I have been watching this show dalily for many months, and it is really a pleasure to do it, because if is one of the very few tv programs which lets you have a good time while using your brain. And besides it has an editorial line which fits with most of my own political opinions.

So I just wanted to say congrulations to the whole team making "El Intermedio". In times of mediocrity pretty much everywhere on tv, they are a blow of fresh air, helping to overcome this difficult period in Spain.

In memory of Laurent Schwebel

Talent is no word to describe some of these amazing pictures. Rest in peace.

Extraordinarias instantaneas de lauren schwebel. in memoriam from antonioalmela

The demise of hi-fi

Yesterday I was browsing one of the brochures from MediaMarkt and suddenly I realized about the demise of hi-fi.

Before I go on, I'd like to stress this is not one of those dickwaving posts to brag about my many knowledges on hi-fi, or about my hyperexpensive hifi system: I am half deaf and my system is 22 years old, very far from the last advances.

The start of the story is that, looking at the MediaMarkt stuff there was, in total, two products devoted to listening to music. And both were tiny digital audio players. No amplifier, no CD player, no loudspeakers, no anything at all. Let alone turntables, which are like dinosaurs for the majority of people. Hi-fi was nowhere to be seen. Yet there were plenty of large TV sets, digital cameras, computers, hard disks, etc. But space focused on high quality audio playback: none at all.

This made me remind about my teenager years, when I started to get deeply interested in music. At the time, I remember saving buck by buck to buy the first audio system, one which was not expensive but still had good quality turntable & speakers. After a few years, and again saving and saving, we were able to get our first CD player.

In 1990, I started having a small salary. The first I got was spent in gifts for my family, but the second was used to get a good CD player. It's the same I am using today. A couple of years later, I had saved enough for an amplifier + preamplifier with loudspeakers, all of good quality. Again, they are the same I am using today, and the few times I manage to find time and use them properly, they sound amazing. The CD player, amp & preamp are shown in the picture above, together with a couple of more recent devices (a DVD player and a CD recorder).

By contrast, as of today, the few good hifi shops that existed in my town have been disappearing, or widening the kind of products they sell. In the big surfaces there is less and less space dedicated to audio systems. And all is a reflection of the lack of interest of people, who listen to music by headphones or in computers, but very seldom in a specific hifi system.

All of this is possibly related to the trends of miniaturization and use of small devices for audio playback. Yet I find a real shame that, in times when digital products have become very affordable, the outcome is that people is listening to music in truly awful conditions. And I say it is a shame because, for anybody whose ears work fine, the difference between computer speakers, or cheap headphones, vs a good hifi system (even not expensive, just the basic stuff in good quality) is nothing short of astonishing, and it truly opens a new door to enjoy good music.

But this is, I guess, another sign of the times.

David is looking for a job

And he certainly deserves it; shamefully, there are plenty of young and very talented people in Spain, these days, looking for a job:

Driving in Russia

If you enjoy driving, you better avoid doing it in Russia:

Solange: Losing you

Something tells me that Solange might be the next big thing in commercial pop: a few days ago, I discovered this EP; it's a collaboration between Solange Knowles (yes, Beyonce's sister) and producer Dev Hynes (Blood Orange). The vibe smells similar to the early Janet, or Aaliyah, but with a production in the current standards. And the songs are catchier than it might appear on first listen. Judge by yourself:

Patios in Córdoba: Intangible Heritage of Humanity - UNESCO

I just learned that a long aspiration of my town, Córdoba, has been recognized by UNESCO:

Today, the celebration of Patios de Córdoba has been recognized by UNESCO as "Intangible Heritage of Humanity"; some of you have seen quite a few pictures I posted on this celebration, which is my favourite, in this blog, and I am very happy of this international recognition. This is the official information posted by UNESCO:

Fiesta of the patios in Cordova 

Description
Fiesta of the patios in Cordova
© 2010 by Rafael Morales Ruiz, Cordova City Council
For twelve days at the beginning of May, the city of Cordova celebrates the Fiesta of the Patios. The patio houses are communal, family or multi-family dwellings or sets of individual houses with a shared patio, located in the city’s historical quarter. This characteristic cultural space boasts an abundant array of plants, and during the fiesta inhabitants freely welcome all visitors to admire their beauty and the skill involved in their creation. The patios also host traditional singing, flamenco guitar playing and dancing. Ancestral practices of sustainable communal coexistence are shared with people who visit through expressions of affection and shared food and drink. The fiesta is perceived as an integral part of this city’s cultural heritage, imbuing it with a strong sense of identity and continuity. It requires the selfless cooperation of many people from all age groups, social strata and backgrounds, promoting and encouraging teamwork and contributing to local harmony and conviviality. It is guided by secular traditions, knowledge and skills, which take form in the luxuriant, floral, chromatic, acoustic, aromatic and compositional creativity of each patio – an expression of the symbolism and traditions of Cordovan community, and especially the residents who dwell in these patio houses.
(...)
Decision 7.COM 11.30
The Committee (…) decides that [this element] satisfies the criteria for inscription on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as follows:
R.1: Celebrating social spaces that promote human contact and cultural exchange, the Fiesta of the patios is a communal festive event that provides a sense of identity and continuity to the residents of Cordova, who recognize this expression as a significant component of their intangible cultural heritage;
R.2: Inscription of the Fiesta of the patios on the Representative List could promote cultural diversity and appreciation of human creativity because of its spirit of openness to the entire community and to innovation;
R.3: The nomination describes the current and proposed measures to protect and promote the Fiesta of the patios, strengthen its viability and ensure its continuity with the commitment of the State and Cordova residents;
R.4: The nomination was elaborated with the active participation in particular of the practitioners and relevant associations and they provided their free, prior and informed consent;
R.5: The element is included in the Intangible Cultural Heritage Atlas of Andalusia administered by the Andalusian Historical Heritage Institute and in the General Catalogue of Andalusian Historical Heritage administered by the regional government, both elaborated with the participation and consent of the practitioners and communities concerned;
Inscribes the fiesta of the patios in Cordova on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Salvados: Oligopoly, el juego de la energía

This is mainly for Spanish readers: the tv show Salvados broadcasted this video a week ago. It ignited a significant controversy with the leaders of the energy companies in Spain, and with reason, since it crudely unveils the many methods by which they are always winning in the war against the average consumer:

The camera that is always with you might not be up to the job

Some weeks ago, in a lovely evening, we decided to do a short walk along the Guadalquivir river, before coming back home. It was one of those days when light is amazing, and the views of the Mezquita, the river, and the skyline in the evening were truly fantastic. So I thought it was a good opportunity to make a few pictures...

.... but it was also one of those days where the only camera I had with me was my mobile phone, an Xperia Neo V of 5 megapixels I discussed before in this blog. Its camera is rather decent with good daylight, but its limitations become fairly obvious under low light. And this was an occasion with wonderful, but low, light. So here I am posting some shots, which could have been terrific on my Fujifilm FinePix F30 or Pentax K10D, even if they are far from today's best cameras in low light:

Migas under the sun in December

Yesterday we had a wonderful sunny day in Córdoba, and despite the very low temperatures we're having lately, it was warm and really nice to be under the sun. As usual on Sundays, we were in good company with a few families of friends, and we had "migas" for lunch, a typical Winter meal made with bread in pieces, cooked with olive oil, and served with pepper, chorizo and morcilla (the later are "highly-seasoned pork sausages", but you better taste it to understand what I mean). It's what we call a solid meal, most appropriate for this time of the year, and if you can made it on top of a fire, then it's just perfect. A few pictures:

And this is how "migas" look like:

"The messenger", first solo album from Johnny Marr, to be released in February 2013

Johnny Marr will release soon his first solo album, as reported by NME:

Johnny Marr announces debut solo album details
Johnny Marr has announced details of his debut solo album.
'The Messenger' will be released on February 25, 2013. It was recorded in Manchester and Berlin and features the former The Smiths guitarist on vocals, guitar and production.
The LP was mastered at Abbey Road studios by Frank Arkwright who recently worked with Marr on the remastering work for The Smiths' box set 'Complete'.
Speaking to NME about the album, Marr said he didn't want to be in anyone else's band anymore. After leaving The Smiths in 1987, Marr played in a number of other bands, including The The, Modest Mouse and The Cribs.
"It is late in the day to be making my debut," Marr said. "I didn't want to be in someone else's band at this point. In the past I might have been reluctant to stand up front, and I've been lucky enough to be in bands with great singers, so it wasn't necessary. But this is my band now, and the frontman in my band has to play guitar. I do both."
Speaking about the rumours that his former band The Smiths are set to reunite, he said: "Everybody seems to know more about a Smiths reunion than I do. Those rumours are like a sport for everyone involved bar the people who were in the group 30 years ago. But it's not happening."
Marr is also set to join grunge icons Dinosaur Jr for a special performance in New York this December to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the band's 1987 album 'You're Living All Over Me'.

To promote it, he played at BBC this version of The Smiths: "Please, please, please let me get what I want":

Pesticides cause Parkinson's disease

Yesterday I learned that Parkinson's disease is caused by pesticides. The pathology starts at the digestive system, moving towards the central nervous system to eventually cause the Parkinson's disease. Before I get called conspiranoid, let me post the link where you can read the original article

But what I found more shocking is that the compound shown to cause the Parkinson's disease in this study is rotenone, a compound which has been used in "organic farming" (!!!!). Which should make us think twice about the supposed security of "organic farming". Fortunately, this and related studies prompted a ban of rotenone in agriculture, from what I've read. Yet I wonder how many of similar substances remain allowed due to lack of information (or even to hidden information).

This is the abstract of the article; at the link above you can download the whole article, if interested:

Pathological studies on Parkinson's disease (PD) patients suggest that PD pathology progresses from the enteric nervous system (ENS) and the olfactory bulb into the central nervous system. We have previously shown that environmental toxins acting locally on the ENS mimic this PD-like pathology progression pattern in mice. Here, we show for the first time that the resection of the autonomic nerves stops this progression. Moreover, our results show that an environmental toxin (i.e. rotenone) promotes the release of alpha-synuclein by enteric neurons and that released enteric alpha-synuclein is up-taken by presynaptic sympathetic neurites and retrogradely transported to the soma, where it accumulates. These results strongly suggest that pesticides can initiate the progression of PD pathology and that this progression is based on the transneuronal and retrograde axonal transport of alpha-synuclein. If confirmed in patients, this study would have crucial implications in the strategies used to prevent and treat PD.

30 years ago in Spain

30 years ago, the Socialist party won the elections in Spain with a large majority, and for the first time since the return of democracy, a moderate left party had the opportunity to rule the fate of our country.



It's a sad coincidence to learn today that pensionists will not see their salaries updated to compensate for inflation, in another (the last) broken promise by the Partido Popular.

It might be, nonetheless, a good time to remember the things which were carried out by the governments of Felipe González, the most brilliant of modern leaders in Spain, and one who, despite a dark end with plenty of corruption scandals, left behind many significant improvements.