The Canadian government has fallen, thanks to a successful non-confidence vote on Monday evening in Parliament. Meanwhile, a major climate conference is taking place in Montréal, and here in Barcelona (where I am at the moment) a major Euro-Mediterranean summit was taking place Sunday and Monday (it’s over now). There was higher security, some streets closed, and I got in trouble with a security guard at an outdoor mall for taking a bunch of pictures of a caballitos (merry-go-round). I don’t know if he thought I was a corporate spy or if he was worried about security. In either case, I say: “What kind of a world are we living in?”

I just finished listening to Jonathan Kozol speak on the Writers Voice (sic — shouldn’t there be an apostrophe before that ’s’?) podcast. I’m not even American, but his words still outraged me. I am ashamed to say that I don’t know how our school situation in Canada compares to the nonsense going on in the U.S. — I assume better, but certainly some of those issues he discusses about the “corporatization of culture” are true north of the border, too. He was discussing his latest book The Shame of the Nation: the Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. The podcast is a good listen, if you can spare 35 minutes. And it will make you want to create and observe beautiful things — not because it is productive to do so, or because it helps stimulate the economy — but for the sheer sake and pleasure of doing it. At least, that’s the effect it had on me…

¡Qué energía! Tonight I went to see Noche Flamenca, from Madrid. It was well worth the trundle through the drifting snow, the -18 degree (Celsius) windchill and all the rest (hey, what kind of November is this, anyhow?). At least the show was hot — it was at Kola Note, a fairly intimate venue in Montréal, but sadly it wasn’t totally packed… Still, it was full enough, and the audience was very appreciative of this incredible opening-night show. Apparently this is the seventh time they’ve been in Montréal since 2000!

There were two cantaores (singers), two guitarristas, a percussionist (mostly on the cajón and djembe — I notice he didn’t hit it so hard as to bruise his fingers…I hope I picked up a few techniques just from watching). Besides the musicians, there were also two male dancers y una bailaora. Normally in Montréal we don’t see a lot of male flamenco dancers; here it seems women are more interested in learning and performing flamenco. But these guys were incredible. And so was she. They were so precise, so “in sync”, and their feet moved…um…so fast… (”How fast were they?” “Just, you know, very fast.”)

The audience definitely consisted of some of the “usual crowd” of Montréal flamenco groupies (like me?), but also a lot of people who (I’m guessing) don’t see that kind of thing very often…like the couple sitting at the table with me. They were absolutely blown away. We were just glad we didn’t sit at the front tables or we would have been showered in sweat for most of the evening. As I said, it was hot!

¡Olé — vamo’ chikillos!

la sepia vs Sevilla — cuttlefish vs a great flamenco city. Hmm.
There is a saying that: “Sevilla tiene un color especial.” Perhaps that colour is the colour sepia? Now, for fun we could say: “La sepia tiene un olor especial.” The funny thing is that it works both ways, since “sepia” is the colour but also a stinky cuttlefish! Note that Sevilla and sepia don’t actually sound that similar, because the accent is on a different syllable. Sepia is first-syllable-accented like “sepia” in English. Now here’s an interesting fact that ties this all together nicely… The dye to make the colour we call sepia comes from…drumroll, please…cuttlefish ink! (Well, it used to; now sepia is produced artificially.) All together now: “Aaaahhhh, ¡CLARO!”
Hey, I figured it out! Here’s my trabalenguas for today: La sepia se cepilla a Sevilla. — The cuttlefish brushes himself (herself?) in Seville. You definitely want to make sure all your tentacles are in order before a night out haciendo la fiesta!

el tobillo vs el tomillo — ankle vs thyme
I don’t know what tenuous connection we could find here… I guess since thyme is a “low-growing aromatic plant of the mint family”, we could try to compare them on that basis. Ankles are certainly low to the ground, and feet (if not ankles) tend to be quite aromatic (at “times”, anyhow). The mint family bit is tougher — maybe the Reebok or Nike families might be more appropriate “relations” to the ankle. Or, Conversely, we could say that it “costs a mint” to equip your feet properly with any of those brands.

Okay; enough tonterías for today. I’d better stop before you unplug your computer in disgust! (though it’s not the computer’s fault, it’s only a tool — instead you should blame the tool, the gardening fool, que escribió esas palabras tontas!)

Well, maybe for no one but me, but let me lay out the evidence. First (exhibit A), today I got a box of clementinas flamenkitas…from Barxeta, Valencia! (Well, they’re originally from there, though most recently they’re from a giant pyramidal display at the entrance to Provigo St-Urbain in Montréal.) You can tell it’s the Holiday season, because the grocery stores are big on mandarin oranges (and clementines), and also the egg-nog cartons have finally hit the shelves! Now…the oranges have nothing to do with flamenco except the name and the fact they are from Spain. And…maybe they remind you of orange polka-dots? Is that pushing it?

Also (exhibit B), on Thursday this week I’m off to see the Spanish troupe Noche Flamenca. Also (C), a few days ago I got a serious bruise on my finger from over-zealously playing my new cajón (a box-drum of Peruvian origin, but adopted by flamenco quite widely in the past thirty-ish years). Also (D), I am still very slowly learning to play a flamenco tango on my guitar… Painfully slowly, but getting there. I find that my dedo anillo (ring finger) is not very co-operative when it comes to doing multi-finger rasgueados!

Finally (exhibit E) — soon I’ll be off to Spain (again, ¡sí!) for a wee bit, where I imagine I may have a chance of seeing something flamenco-related… You think? Besides the usual Barcelona-loitering, I’m also planning to see Almería on this trip, and in particular Cabo de Gato national park (where a hotel that was being heavily protested against amazingly will be torn down! — mostly, anyhow). Back on topic — Almería is part of Andalucía so there’s sure to be some good flamenco to see there (though not in the park, ¡claro!).

Ah, another fish-word that I don’t really know even in English, let alone in Spanish (or French)…

la pescadilla — whiting
En algunos países, la pobreza puede conducir al VIH y al sida, y por supuesto ellos conducen a la miseria. Es la pescadilla que se muerde la cola. — In certain countries poverty can lead to HIV/AIDS, and HIV/AIDS certainly leads to poverty. It’s a vicious circle. Literally: “It’s the whiting that eats its own tail.” Really needs no further explanation.

el pimiento — pepper
“Ese artista, Don Juan Pulgar, está haciendo una escultura de homenaje al autostop.” “Ah, ¿sí? ¡Me importa un pimiento lo que haga!” — “That artist (DJP) is making a sculpture in tribute to hitchhiking.” “Is that so? Could I care any less what he does?” We just have the word “pepper” in English, but in Spanish it’s much more interesting: pimiento (pepper, as in the vegetable…green, red, bell); pimienta (pepper, the spice); pimentón (not really pepper but sounds like it, it’s actually paprika); guindilla (chili pepper, the best one of all!).

el piñón — pine nut (hmm, kinda like me…I really love those pine trees! Ja ja…)
Podemos ver las gemelas riendo y preparando nuestro próximo obstáculo…estaban a partir unos piñones una a la otra. — (not sure if I got this one quite right, but what I intended was) We could see the twins laughing and preparing our next challenge…from the start they were thick as thieves.

Here’s a feel-good story for a cold, grey day… Turns out computers don’t have to be all about identity theft, pornography and piracy… The gang at the MIT Media Lab have a new initiative to develop low-cost laptops ($100 or less) for children in developing countries. They’re simple and innovative machines running Linux, and will be super low-power. Ever tried those wind-up flashlights and radios? They’re fun, and that’s going to be a power option for these “OLPC” machines. They’re aiming to obtain 100 minutes of use from one minute of hand-cranking!

A key factor will be how they are used — whether computers really improve education entirely depends on how they are used, in conjunction with other forms of teaching.

So — I think this is great, but at the same time it’s important to note that, according to UNICEF’s The State of the World’s Children 2005, only 58% of people in the world have adequate sanitation (35% in the least developed countries), and 27% of children under 5 in the world are either moderately or severely underweight (36% in the least developed countries and 46% in South Asia!).

Over 1 billion children are being denied a protected/healthy upbringing (as defined by the Convention on the Rights of the Child). I’m not taking away from Negroponte and the MIT gang’s work at all — frankly I think it’s brilliant and I’d like to see more computer-industry folks looking beyond the short-term, beyond their profit margins. But…let’s not forget that children have even more essential rights than access to a laptop computer and the Internet!

We need to Make Poverty History, and fight the diseases, like HIV/AIDS, that are ravaging the poorest parts of the world. We are rich, and I feel we are obligated to help — personally giving to charity out of our own pockets, but also governmentally and corporately. And if our governments and corporations are not doing enough, we must tell them we want more done! Canada (and other industrialized countries) should fulfill their obligations by setting aside 0.7% of their GNPs for foreign aid (currently Canada, which invented the 0.7% figure in 1969’s Pearson Commission, has back-slid and gives about 0.25%). Write your MP! If you’re from another country, check your country’s report card (preliminary 2004 data here), get involved and write to your leaders.

Stephen Lewis points out that fighting HIV/AIDS is, in large part, a battle of education. So — back to the original topic — perhaps these laptop computers, bringing hope of better information access to sub-Saharan Africa (for example), could be one part of the solution? Somebody has to pay for them, though, and that’s where we all, individually and collectively, have a role to play…

Maisons de la culture! Free (and, créele o no, good) shows!

Sure, this city is known for its festivals, its cultural vibrancy. There’s theatre, music, dance, gallery exhibitions — so much happening year-round. But some of the best deals in town are free, and going down at the Maisons de la culture (though their online searching interface leaves much to be desired!). There are some great shows, and often all you need to do is pick up a laissez-passer a few days before the event — and if you’re lazy (like me), often you can get last-minute seating at the door (no, jokers, the seats are not at the door, but the tickets are). Did I mention most of these shows are free? My grandma would be proud.

That’s what I did yesterday, I went up to the Maison de la culture Ahuntsic-Cartierville to see a show by a group of quatre gars québécois playing tango (the works of the great Astor Piazzolla, plus many of their own compositions). They’re QueTango. Cellist, bassist, guitarist and drummer. The show was packed (mostly with seniors, since this was an afternoon show) and the sound was excellent, it was very intimate because I was only a few rows back. I have to say that the old ladies next to me were saying “moé j’n'aime pas ça, la musique moderne!” after some of the pieces, but I really enjoyed them. I especially liked the more “tango” moments (versus their more “jazz” moments), their rhythms and the bass player, who was fun to watch thumping his hand against the back or side of his double bass, then trying to whip his hand back in position to play the next note!

This is a better site for seeing what’s on (all over the city, though not the MdC shows). But you have to pay for most of these things, sorry… I just noticed that Noche Flamenca (de España) is doing a series of shows at Kola Note from November 24 to December 4. (to my Berkeley friends, they’ll be at Zellerbach Hall on February 19-20) I have to admit that when I saw this, I just snached a ticket for myself for the opening night. But, ouch…$40 tickets…who do they think they are, Céline Dion? We can regularly see good or great flamenco for less dinero, so they’d better be spectacular!