LARD HAT

It’s going to take a much bigger crisis than this to take...

Thu, 24 May 2012 22:33:44 +0200

It’s going to take a much bigger crisis than this to take the awesome out of Europe. The worst day I’ve ever had in Europe was still better than almost any day I ever had in Arizona.

Might bang my head anyway, though, just to see if it helps.

motherjones:

buzzfeed:

Just tried this and it did NOT help.

Killer cover.

nevver: Hereby

Mon, 14 May 2012 23:54:33 +0200

nevver:

Hereby

Summer is Coming to Madrid--6 Things I'm Excited About

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:57:03 +0200

Yes, folks, summer is on its way. The eternal debate, however, still rages. Which is better? Summer or winter? While both seasons have their advantages and disadvantages, I tend to prefer summer.

Here are 6 things I’m excited about:

1. Gazpacho, sherry and carpaccio. As much as I love red wine and cocido, I’m also happy when summer rolls around and it’s time for delicious cold seasonal foods. Drinking sherry in various specialty bars is also a plus. Also, the super-abundance of tomatoes and eggplants is great for making sauces and pastas.

2. Synthesizing Vitamin D naturally. Vitamin D makes everything seem awesome. In summer you can get a huge vitamin buzz in about 15 minutes.

3. Daylight past 10 PM. God bless European latitudes. It stays light until 10 or 10:30 most of the summer, and you can do all kinds of things.

4. Finding out who’s pro-bullfighting and who’s anti-bullfighting. In late Spring, bullfighting season starts, and suddenly all the closet animal rights activists get all worked up about bullfighting. The ironic part is that virtually none of them are vegetarians. They just somehow have the idea that being anally electrocuted in a slaughterhouse is much more dignified for bulls. I like to know who these people are, so I can take the rest of their opinions less seriously. Hypocrites.

5. Brutally hideous fashion. When Spanish people are mostly covered up, they look respectable for the most part. But give them a chance to walk around half-dressed in the heat and they’ll bring out clothes that are shocking and horrible even to my provincial sensibilities. It’s like a circus, and you can sit all day and just watch the freaks go by.

6. Laughing at everyone who starts whining about the heat. You’ve never felt real heat till you’ve spent, oh, let’s say 20 summers in Phoenix, Arizona. Go do that and then let’s talk about how hot it is in Madrid.

Here are the things I’m not really looking forward to about summer:

1. Watching my income decrease by 80% as all my students decide they’d rather be synthesizing Vitamin D than coming to English class. Pretty much self-explanatory why this sucks.

2. Sweating like a pig at night. Sleep, and all other bed-related activities become sticky, sweaty events whether you’re alone or in company. I’m pretty sure pigs actually refer to this as “Sweating like a fat German-American in an environment he’s not genetically designed for.”

3. Listening to Europeans complain about how “air conditioning makes them sick.” This is apparently an old-wives’ tale that Europeans take really seriously. Europeans consider air conditioning to be more dangerous than mosquitoes in a malaria zone. They’ll be like, “Oh my God! Cold Air! Get it away from me!”

In the end, summer wins my vote.

Coming soon: Which is better? Madrid or Barcelona?

Ha! I made Andrew Ti admit that something isn't racist!

Wed, 02 May 2012 22:30:00 +0200

You all know Andrew Ti, right? The guy from Yo Is This Racist?

He suggested on his blog that there is, perhaps, no legitimate situation in which the word “nappy” can be used in a non-racist manner.

I suggested British English usage of “nappy” as “diaper” as a possible non-racist context.

He hit me back.

Bam! I win the motherfucking game of life! I made Andrew Ti himself admit that something isn’t racist!

Tacitly.

Well, anyway, I still kind of win the game of life.

Anyway, Andrew Ti is a pretty witty guy, even if I don’t really see the point in what he’s doing.

He’s also, at times, pretty classy. Check out his response to a semi-literate Beastie Boys fan, for example. Most tumblrites would be like, “Yo, I’m just going to point out how bad your spelling is and we can all pretend it’s a valid counter-argument.” Then they’d mentally congratulate themselves on being literature majors and still be all grammar-buzzed even hours later as they started their shift at their local Starbucks.

Bertrand Russell on the Ten Commandments of Teaching

Wed, 02 May 2012 20:53:55 +0200

Bertrand Russell on the Ten Commandments of Teaching:

nevver:

Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.

Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.

Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.

When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.

Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.

Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.

Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.

Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool’s paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness.

Brain Pickings

Sheep, Pontedeume, Galicia, Spain.

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:07:14 +0200

Sheep, Pontedeume, Galicia, Spain.

Slug, Fragas de Eume, Galicia, Spain.

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:05:10 +0200

Slug, Fragas de Eume, Galicia, Spain.

I almost became Catholic this week. Long story. But I got a...

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 23:42:00 +0200

I almost became Catholic this week. Long story. But I got a sign. This isn’t it.

Via thetaoofdana.

nevver: Modern Toss

Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:46:05 +0200

nevver:

Modern Toss

The 10 Best Spanish Foods

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:31:00 +0200

I came to Spanish food a little bit late. My first surprise on arriving in Madrid was that no, they don’t eat Mexican food here. I was 21 and suffering from the All-American ailment of total ignorance of everything outside your dismal suburb, and really didn’t know any better.

In addition, I was a vegetarian at the time. While vegetarianism is an interesting experience, I wouldn’t really recommend it at this point: either way, it was totally impractical for me to integrate into Spanish culture if I wasn’t eating animals. So after a couple of years, I gave up on vegetarianism. Sorry, animals.

Anyway, a lot of Spanish food is not exactly politically correct by American standards, and I have the feeling that many tourists come here and don’t have any idea what things are, so they end up in McDonalds. Bad idea.

Anyway, without further ado, here are my top 25 Spanish foods (in no particular order):

1. Pulpo a la Gallega: That’s Galician-style octopus. Yep, the tentacles. It’s purple on the outside, white on the inside, an delicious all over. In Galicia (in the north of Spain), they serve it with cloudy home-made white wine, sometimes in little ceramic bowls like in the photo.

2. Tortilla de patatas: Otherwise known as Spanish omelette, this one is pretty simple (most Spanish food is pretty simple, actually.) It’s potato and eggs. Sometimes onion. Sometimes a little bit runny on the inside. Great.

3. Paella: I’m not actually a huge fan of paella, but it seems to be pretty popular. Rice and various kinds of seafood (mussels, prawns, squid) are the usual ingredients. The yellow colour comes from saffron.

4. Fabada: Also from the rainy north, in the region of Asturias. This is a white bean stew with bacon and sausage. Thick and wintry. One of my favorites. Also, try the version from Cantabria, called Cocido Montañés.

5. Morcilla: Technicaly called black pudding; however, the name black pudding is somewhat misleading. Let’s call it blood sausage. Now don’t be a whiny baby, I told you some of this wasn’t going to be politically correct. Try the one with rice, it’s good for beginners. Yes, it’s made out of blood.

6. Jamón Serrano: Spanish people think that Jamón Serrano is the best food on the planet. They feel bad for the rest of us poor bastards who live in countries without it. Here’s the scoop: they cut off a pig’s leg, put it in salt for a couple of years, and then hang it on the wall, hoof and all. That’s it. When they want to eat some, they cut it off in thin slices. No cooking, no preparation. They actually have ham slicing contests here in Madrid.

7. Calamares a la Romana or Bocadillo de Calamares: Very typical in Madrid, these are rings of squid battered and fried. You can get them on a sandwich or just by themselves. There are several places around Plaza Mayor that make them for around 3 euros.

8. Tarta de Santiago: Get one of the authentic ones in Galicia, with just almond flour and no wheat flour. It’s a very simple cake, flourless, just sugar, eggs, almond flour and a little bit of lemon zest. I make the best Tarta de Santiago in the world, actually.

9. Bacalao a la Riojana: Cod with a sauce made of tomatoes, onions, red peppers and garlic. Really amazing. The salted cod they use is soaked in water for 24 hours before cooking, and has hundreds of recipes built around it in Spain, and in Portugal, where it’s the national dish.

10. Rabo de Toro: Bull’s tail. Usually served with fried potatoes. It’s not the most widely-eaten food around, but they tend to serve it in places close to bull rings.

I could go on and on with this list. Selecting just 10 foods is totally arbitrary, and there are easy 20 other things I could put on this list. Maybe another time.

P.S. Thanks to 100 Foods to Eat Before You Die (explained in this article, for example) and the related facebook quiz for the inspiration to make a list of Spanish foods. I’ve eaten just under 50 of the 100 foods on the list. The whole whole subtext of such things, of course, is HAVE YOU REALLY LIVED? Which is kind of a silly thing to go to a facebook app to answer. Anyway, I just figured, if these people can make lists, then dammit, so can I!

P.P.S. Spam and Hostess fruit pies are really on a list of foods to eat before I die? WTF, people?

P.P.P.S. I think I actually have eaten spam, once, when my parents made some kind of spam and potato chip casserole. I think the idea was to explain how life was different in the 50s than it was in the 90s. Or whatever.

P.P.P.P.S. I’ve also eaten snake, because I’m from Arizona, and that’s how we roll in Arizona.

P.P.P.P.P.S. I have lived. Have you?

Two days after the general strike. Cyclist and posters, A...

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:16:00 +0200

Two days after the general strike. Cyclist and posters, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.

Octopus graffiti mural, A Coruña, Spain.

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 17:14:32 +0200

Octopus graffiti mural, A Coruña, Spain.

Casa en huelga, 29 Marzo, Madrid, España.

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:56:00 +0200

Casa en huelga, 29 Marzo, Madrid, España.

Spring in Casa de Campo, Madrid

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 22:31:00 +0200

Casa de Campo is Madrid’s most natural park, and it’s basically right in the middle of the city. You can get there on foot (crossing the Manzanares river from Principe Pío), or you can get off the metro in one of the stops on the edge of the park: Lago, Batán or Casa de Campo.

It’s famous among legitimate madrileños (who don’t often leave their neighborhoods and many times know virtually nothing about their own city) as a place where prostitution and other vices run rampant. If you’re looking for that, most of it is on the Principe Pío side. However, the whole of Casa de Campo is 5 times the size of Central Park in New York! It’s 1,723 hectares, whatever that means.

Most of it is an oak forest, and in some parts there are a lot of Stone Pines also. As shown in the above photo, Stone Pines have long trunks with no branches, and large flat crowns, so you can walk between them with no problem.

Historical note: Spain used to be full of trees, but thousands of years of civilization haven’t been kind to our forests—as you can see if you visit anywhere in La Mancha to the south or east of Madrid.

There’s a little creek running along the south side, with a bit of fauna. Here are some turtles, but we also saw squirrels, storks, ducks and geese.

Historically, Casa de Campo was a royal hunting-ground. With the declaration of the Second Republic in 1931, it was turned over to the people of Madrid. Now we have a monarchy over here again (it’s a very very long story…) but the park is still public.

The Parque de Atracciones is close to Metro Batán, the Zoo is close to Metro Casa de Campo, and there’s a pretty nice public swimming pool (open June-September, more or less) at Metro Lago.

The best thing about this time of the year: almond blossoms!

Warren Buffett, who knows a thing or two about the economy...

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 16:32:15 +0100

From Warren Buffett’s 2010 shareholder letter:

“Railroads have major cost and environmental advantages over trucking, their main competitor. Last year BNSF moved each ton of freight it carried a record 500 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel. That’s three times more fuel-efficient than trucking is, which means our railroad owns an important advantage in operating costs. Concurrently, our country gains because of reduced greenhouse emissions and a much smaller need for imported oil. When traffic travels by rail, society benefits.”

Take note, ye libertarians who are, for some absurd reason, anti-railway.

P.S. Europe has trains, and it is awesome.

Mile (or kilometer) post for the Camino de Santiago. South of...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:12:46 +0100

Mile (or kilometer) post for the Camino de Santiago. South of Manzanares el Real, Madrid, Spain.

Broken hearts are for assholes, by Frank Zappa. You should...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 12:50:00 +0100

Broken hearts are for assholes, by Frank Zappa. You should really listen to the song. It’s life-changing.

Abandoned cinema, Manzanares el Real, Spain.

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:52:46 +0100

Abandoned cinema, Manzanares el Real, Spain.

Almudena Cathedral. The Virgin of the Almudena was supposedly...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:22:00 +0100

Almudena Cathedral. The Virgin of the Almudena was supposedly re-discovered in the spot where the cathedral now stands, after being lost for centuries. It had been hidden in the city wall when the Moors conquered Madrid way back in the day. Catholics love stories involving miracles and virgins. It’s a pretty ugly cathedral, though.

I have no idea what the story is here. This guy is half-naked...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:50:00 +0100

I have no idea what the story is here. This guy is half-naked and carrying a violin. Usually a dog means it’s San Roque, but San Roque carries a staff with a gourd hanging on it, and doesn’t have these well-developed biceps. So I’m going to say that this guy just represents some young Madrileño gentleman of previous centuries who liked having fun and was popular with the ladies. In any case, he’s in a little square right off Plaza Mayor.