From Hell

Hell again...

2009-09-28T15:42:00.002+01:00

Jack's sad... Indeed he is...

He has left someone very important for him in his last destination, Riga... What? Jack has someone important in his life? How come? The cold, ruthless, braggart and good old Jack... Feelings? Yes... maybe it is that... Good old Jack... I'm getting old, maybe... Or maybe I'm just feeling melancholic because these days are quite special for me, since these are the days of the anniversary of my piece of art... Who knows? Human mind is so complicated...

Anyway, Jack's back! No more Riga, I'm here again, in my beloved Barcelona... A city I'm in love too... But, somehow, a place in which is getting more difficult to live... What I found interesting and funny before -people coming and going, noise, summarizing: city life- it's starting to annoy me... I know, I know... Riga's a city also, indeed, but it's not the same... Not so big city as Barcelona, not so many people... Mmmm... Maybe I should move... Besides, you should know I like wearing a warm, dark, long black cout... and it's becoming imposible to wear that kind of clothes here because of this awfully hot weather... Hence my doubts... Time will say!

Ok, just to take away the affliction away I'll make you a recommendation. I love watching series, in fact I'd say that nowadays I rely more on series than on cinema... So, my recommendation couldn't be another: Dexter. About America's favourite serial killer, Dexter is one of the best series nowadays, for me at least. It's about a man, Dexter, who has something inside which pushes him to kill... what he calls the Dark Passenger... However, he has been raised by a policeman, who teaches him to use his impulses for a good purpose: Chase and kill criminals who have avoided police for their crimes... So, Dexter, basically, scavenges criminals from Miami's streets... But, of course, he needs a masquerade: his job. He's a blood expert forensic working for Miami Police, and pretends to have a normal life with his girlfriend, Rita, in spite of having no feelings at all... 2 different lifes, 1 true, 1 false... Difficult to combine!

And I won't say anything else! If you like it, watch it! Nowadays they're broadcasting its 4th season in the States, but not yet in Spain... My recommendation: Watch it in English with subtitles... Just because the original voices are really much better than the dubbed ones...

And if you like it, try with the novels, they are simply fantastic!!

Ok, so nothing else... See you around, my readers...

Wow...

2009-09-02T15:32:00.013+01:00

Yes, Tallinn's Old Town can be described just like this: "Wow"... But first is first...

As I told you, Jack crossed the border a couple of weeks ago, and visited Estonia's Capital city... But, before wandering across the city, just some miles away from Latvian border, and already in the neighbour country, Jack found one interesting sign, about a camping place close to the road... So, what's interesting about that, some of you would say? ...I don't like your manners, but anyway I'll show you a picture I took of that place, so you can understand how surprised I was...

Curious, huh? Another piece of Barcelona far away from the city... Interesting indeed! Ok, just talking about Tallinn's city, I must say that its Old Town is very very beautiful! Even more beautiful than Riga's Old Town, I'd say... But, of course, plenty of people... That's precisely what I didn't like about it... It was like returning to Barcelona, a little bit... Don't misunderstand me, there are people in Riga, also for sure... Quite much... But I haven't had that feeling of being a canned sardine any time... And I had that same feeling in Tallinn... Too bad! But, of course, it is quite normal that such a beautiful place is packed with people... Normal and understandable...

My favourite place? Of course the Town Square is bery beautiful, with a lot of colourful houses and nice Sidewalk Cafes. But, like in all of these kind of places, what's best is just to wander around, without any course... to see what you find: Old charming houses, gingerbread-alike churches, hidden corners, lovely landscapes... Discovering these places is what's beautiful, at least for good old Jack.

In one of those walks I found a Medieval restaurant, called Olde Hansa, where you could eat real medieval dishes, from some kind of old texts or something like that... Or at least that's what they said! And curious Jack took the bait... Because I wanted to test something, at least... And yes: They don't use potatoes, of course! Nor coke, nor modern stuff, nor anything like that! Restrooms were scary dark, only illuminated by a couple of candles... Not enough candles, indeed!

Dishes were quite nice, from a delicious steak I had to the grilled salmon my precious companion ate... All garnished with all kind of legumes and beans (even bean's bread)... It looked like this:

Anyway, in addition to tasty food, Tallin's a very nice place worth visiting! I'd like to visit it again definitely... You should know by now: Jack loves dark and narrow alleys...

Ay ay ay...

2009-08-18T21:59:00.004+01:00

Jack's not doing his homework! I was supposed to write a post every day, or at least oftenly... Perhaps, this is a good signal, don't you think? When you're more busy living things than writing about the things you've lived... Interesting thoughts...

Anyway, I'll post pictures about my latest excursions soon, but now at least one! Last week, Jack crossed the border and went to Lithuania, and, even if I wasn't able to go to Vilnius, I managed to visit an interesting and creepy place (fifty-fifty). I'm talking about the Hill of Crosses, or Kryžių kalnas.

This is a pilmigrage place, close to Šiauliau, and it has been always a place for praying for peace and their country, remembering perished anti-russian rebels (From 19th Century rebellions against the Russian Empire). It is a symbol of Lithuanian pride which Soviets tried to destroy... They even bulldozed the place 3 times at least, but people continued setting their crosses in that place...

Nowadays, an interesting place indeed! But, of course, a little bit f**ked up because of the industry of tourism... It is a place where, usually, married couples go just after the wedding, to set one cross with their names... In fact, when Jack was visiting the place, he was quite surprised to find a Spanish-Lithuanian couple, both talking perfect Spanish and with Spanish guests... Spanish people everywhere, you know!

But, if you go... Follow the instructions and don't light any candle! ;)

And so, tomorrow Happy Jack's leaving to spend a couple of days in Tallinn. I really hope I'll take enough pictures to show how beautiful it is! Anyway, enjoy the rest of the summer, my beloved readers!

:)

2 facts about Rīga...

2009-08-11T17:35:00.004+01:00

First, scaffoldings look quite dangerous, here...

And, second, you never know what's awaiting for you around the corner... Maybe... Transvestited musicians playing The Eye of the Tiger? This is what I found one day when I was looking for shelter in a rainy day in beautiful Rīga's Old Town.

Sveiks!

2009-08-03T12:32:00.006+01:00

Čau!

Jack's in Rīga, already... Well, I've been here since the last week actually, but now finally I have some time to write down something!

I've been travelling around the country, this weekend, and I've enjoyed the experience very much... Baltic sea wasn't as brave as I thought, but, of course, it was much colder than I thought! But that's what trevelling's about, don't you think? Forgetting your truths and embrace new ones, sharing points of vies, languagues, food and drink... Summarizing: Doing what our polititians must do, and what they don't, in general! Engure is a beautiful place for sure, but dangerous if you have Sweet blood... Beware! Those dundurs (gadflies) are everywhere! Talsi is simply charming! And I'm really looking forward to visit Kuldīga, which seems to be a very interesting place, indeed!

But today, since this is my first post, I'll just talk about one of the Latvian symbols, located in Rīga... I'm talking about the Brivibas Piemineklis or just the Monument of Freedom.

This monument was unveiled in 1935, and it honours the Latvian soldiers killed during the War of Independence against the Bolshevic Russia (1918-1920), just after the First World War and the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia. Brivibas Piemineklis replaced a statue of the Russian Emperor Peter the Great, and its sculptures and bas-reliefs really depict Latvian culture and history. This 19 meters travertine column is topped by a woman figure, symbolizing the Freedom, holding three gilded stars, each one representing one of the Latvian constitutional districts: Vidzeme, Latgale and Courland. In its base: ""Tēvzemei un Brīvībai'', For Fatherland and Freedom.

The Freedom's eyes had seen a lot of things indeed... She saw how Molotov and Ribentropp shared out the lands, how soviet troops entered Rīga and how Nazi armies were applauded for expeling the Russians... She witnessed the Holocaust, she saw how "Brivibas Iela" was renamed "Adolf Hitler strasse" and then "Lenin iela"... Nowadays, it's Brivibas iela again... Soviets didn't destroy this monument, even if it was really considered for demolition, probably because they considered it to be of the highest artistic value... They tried, although, to change it's symbolic meaning, but they failed again... And I guess that's why we can still enjoy it!

Well, enough for today! I'll keep telling you more stuff or showing you surious things about this Northern Landscape of soft temperatures of 20-25ºC!

See you real soon!

Summer in the city. But... Which city?

2009-07-24T20:29:00.004+01:00

It's so hot in here...

I really can't stand this weather of yours, so Jack has happily decided to move to colder lands, this summer... And this time I've chosen Rīga, of course!

So I hope we'll meet again around! Anyway, I'll try to keep posting when I'm there, giving you the latest news about this beautiful country and uploading some pictures if I'm able to!

I also take this opportunity to give you the link to this nice website, Rīga Daily Photo Shots, a daily updated blog when you can learn curiosities about Latvia and enjoy some of the Riga corners through their pictures, whether it is a nice place or a creepy one!! I'll try to do the same, but I don't think I'll upload so much stuff!

So, enjoy your summer, dear readers... I'll try to enjoy mine!

Dievpalīgs! Or just... Godspeed!

Astronomy

2009-07-03T10:32:00.002+01:00

I love this song very very much! :)

Blue Oyster Cult - Astronomy

Clock strikes twelve and moondrops burst
Out at you from their hiding place
Like acid and oil on a madman's face
His reason tends to fly away
Like lesser birds on the four winds
Like silver scrapes in May
And now the sand's become a crust
Most of you have gone away

Come Susie dear, let's take a walk
Just out there upon the beach
I know you'll soon be married
And you'll want to know where winds come from
Well it's never said at all
On the map that Carrie reads
Behind the clock back there you know
At the Four Winds Bar

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Four winds at the Four Winds Bar
Two doors locked and windows barred
One door left to take you in
The other one just mirrors it

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Hellish glare and inference
The other one's a duplicate
The Queenly flux, eternal light
Or the light that never warms
Yes the light that never, never warms
Or the light that never
Never warms
Never warms
Never warms

The clock strikes twelve and moondrops burst
Out at you from their hiding place
Miss Carrie nurse and Susie dear
Would find themselves at Four Winds Bar

It's the nexus of the crisis
And the origin of storms
Just the place to hopelessly
Encounter time and then came me

Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

Call me Desdinova
Eternal light
These gravely digs of mine
Will surely prove a sight
And don't forget my dog
Fixed and consequent

Astronomy...a star

Abstinence...

2009-06-29T20:03:00.004+01:00

Latvian car, sincere owner!

The time has come...

2009-06-16T20:11:00.002+01:00

...Only 4 days left to my exam! Glubs!

Europe - The Final Countdown

We're leaving together,
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back,
To earth, who can tell?
I guess there is no one to blame
We're leaving ground
Will things ever be the same again?

It's the final countdown...

We're heading for Venus and still we stand tall
Cause maybe they've seen us and welcome us all
With so many light years to go and things to be found
I'm sure that we'll all miss her so

It's the final countdown!

Doomsday? ...Yesterday?

2009-06-13T00:43:00.002+01:00

Oh-oh! What will this guy do now, that he failed in his predictions (third time he does)! Will he retire like Paco Rabanne when he predicted that MIR Space Station was going to fall over Paris? Mmmm... Bad stuff, predictions! When it comes to statements, it's better to talk about the past, don't you think? ;)

Did you see the rain?

2009-06-08T00:32:00.002+01:00

I simply love this song... :)

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Have you ever seen the rain?

Someone told me long ago
There's a calm before the storm,
I know; It's been comin' for some time.
When it's over, so they say,
It'll rain a sunny day,
I know; Shinin' down like water.

I want to know,
Have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know,
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?

Yesterday, and days before,
Sun is cold and rain is hard,
I know; Been that way for all my time.
'Til forever, on it goes
Through the circle, fast and slow,
I know; It can't stop, I wonder.

I want to know,
Have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know,
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?

Yeah!

I want to know,
Have you ever seen the rain?
I want to know,
Have you ever seen the rain
Comin' down on a sunny day?

"Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat"

2009-06-06T12:40:00.002+01:00

"We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old."

Churchill's speech after Dunkirks' evacuation, May 26 1940.

"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Forces:

You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you. In company with our brave Allies and brothers-in-arms on other Fronts you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, the elimination of Nazi tyranny over oppressed peoples of Europe, and security for ourselves in a free world.

Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

But this is the year 1944. Much has happened since the Nazi triumphs of 1940-41. The United Nations have inflicted upon the Germans great defeats, in open battle, man-to-man. Our air offensive has seriously reduced their strength in the air and their capacity to wage war on the ground. Our Home Fronts have given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions of war, and placed at our disposal great reserves of trained fighting men. The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory.

I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory.

Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."

Dwight D. Eisenhower's, D-Day's Preinvasion Speech to Soldiers

4 years between the two speeches... Years of blood, toil, tears and sweet, as Churchill said at the House of the Commons... That lead to a path of glory and victory...

Because today, ladies and gentlemen, is the 65th Anniversary of the D-Day, The Normandie Invasion... A day to remember, again, because, according to Churchill: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few".

So, thank you very much!

Titanic's last passenger...

2009-06-01T22:15:00.002+01:00

So, as if I was making some kinf of prophecy, yesterday, the last survivor of the Titanic sinking, died aged 97 years old... Millvina Dean was only 9 weeks old when she embarked the ship, being the youngest person aboard, so it's quite obvious she didn't remember anything about the shipwreck... However, she always thought it had shaped her life, as she ysed to say, because she was going to live in the United States, but after the death of her father in the wreck, she had to return to the United Kingdom...

In her last she was forced to sell some of her Titanic mementoes to pay her bills, just for example a canvas mailbag, relic of her rescue... Lately, some of the people involved in the filming of the multiawarded movie Titanic, like Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet or James Cameron contributed towards her care costs by donating 40.000 $ to the Millvina Fund, set up by her friends...

For her and her family, the journey began by chance. They had booked tickets to another White Star ship, but because of a coal strike, they were transfered to the Titanic...

At 11:40 PM, that 14th of April 1912, baby Millvina was asleep in her cot when her father heard a crash, woke the family and told them to dress warmly.

"It was so dreadful for my mother," Millvina later recalled. "It was heartbreaking. "She said goodbye to my father and he said he'd be along later." Millvina Dean said her father's quick actions had saved his family. He had felt the ship scrape the iceberg and hustled the family out of its room and towards the lifeboat that would take them to safety. "That's partly what saved us – because he was so quick," she explained.

A sailor bundled her into a sack and put her into lifeboat 13, which was lowered into the freezing Atlantic. It was a cold night, but after several hours Millvina, her mother Ettie, and brother Bertram were picked up by the Carpathia.

The surviving Deans returned to England aboard the liner Adriatic, Millvina being the object of some astonishment that such a tiny baby should have made it to safety. First and second class passengers on Adriatic queued to hold her, and many took photographs of her, her mother and brother, some of which accompanied breathless stories in the newspapers.

The Daily Mirror, for example, reported that Millvina "was the pet of the liner during the voyage, and so keen was the rivalry between women to nurse this lovable mite of humanity that one of the officers decreed that first and second class passengers might hold her in turn for no more than 10 minutes".

And that's all! No more witnesses of the most famous shipwreck in all history... Isn't it sad? It is very sad for me... Historians can't do nothing without people's stories... And so, this keeps happening and happening... What's next? Every soldier of Wolrd War I will die... and in Spain, all those people who had lived personally our Civil War will die... No more grandpa's stories near a bonfire... No more anecdotes, no more lap-stories to grandchildren... Only History books left... Don't misunderstand me, I love History books, but... it's not the same!

So, Requiescat in Pace, Millvina...

Aleo e poli!

2009-05-29T01:06:00.004+01:00

This, 29th of May, is a day to remember... A day to fly, to the past... to the sacred past. Because a day like today, but 556 years ago, Constantinople fell in front of the armies of the Sultan Mehmed II... And this is the way it ended...

Some hours before the final attack, people gathered themselves in Hagia Sophia, which bells had been tolling all day long...and so, everyone was there, even the Basileus, Constantine XI... Everyone knew it was just a question of time... The walls of the city, a part of that long long wall... will fall, and then, the Jenissaurs (the Sultan's elit soldiers) would enter... and then... only destruction... And because of that, all of them were praying... But, unfortunately, praying wasn't enough. Some hours after that meeting Ottoman's armies destroyed part of the Theodosian wall, and entered the city... Chaos, mayhem... Some pople were souting on the streets, saying "Aleo e poli!", "the city is lost!"... Constantine, the last Basileus of the Last Rome died fighting in the walls, next to his subjects and brothers and sisters in pain... His body was never found and it is said, that an Angel came down from heaven and took him away, to a hidden cave... And there he is, still, waiting for the day that Byzantine armies return, to guide them and lead them, and take The City again...

So, that was the day... The day the last trace of the Roman Empire was erased by a crazy man... The day that 50.000 citizens fought bravely against an expert army of 100.000 men... A day dyed with the blood of brave Greek...This was, so, the day of The Fall of Constantinople...

"This is the night of the Greek. I've seen their sad eyes plunged into the melancholy of centuries... Outside, the bells are tolling for Dead, for the Last Rome". Mika Waltari, The Dark Angel.

Hail to the Fallen Majesty!

Īssavienojums

2009-05-24T18:22:00.007+01:00

Sveiks!

Prāta Vētra - Īssavienojums

Cik dīvainas ir tās paralēles
Kas ved mūs pa takām kalnā
Kad tu mani trīsreiz piekrāpsi
Es pazudīšu ar salnām

Tad stāvēshu dzelzceļa malā
Turp atpakaļ vilcienus vērot
Rītdiena nekad nepienāks
Džeimsam nav par ko sērot

Ja piepildītos, kau 5 domas no 100
Tad tā pirmā par tevi, otrā par mums
3,4,5 vien atkārtojums
Tālāk skaitīt nav vērts, vien apmaldīties
Lai tie zina ka mums - Īssavienojums

Jau stundu kā bendzīns beidzies
Un kāpēc man būtu kur steigties
Ja nav nekā kam iesākties
Nekas arī nevar beidties

Un atmetot spītīgās domas
Un īpašumtiesības projām
Es saoņaini skatos debesīs
Vai tiešām reiz jāaiziet bojā?

Ja piepildītos, kau 5 domas no 100
Tad tā pirmā par tevi, otrā par mums
3,4,5 vien atkārtojums
Tālāk skaitīt nav vērts, vien apmaldīties
Lai tie zina ka mums - Īssavienojums

Ja piepildītos, kau 5 domas no 100
Tad tā pirmā par tevi, otrā par mums
3,4,5 vien atkārtojums
Tālāk skaitīt nav vērts, vien apmaldīties
Lai tie zina ka mums - Īssavienojums!

American Dream

2009-05-08T09:20:00.007+01:00

Curious, this stuff about the American Dream... It shifts, it changes, it adapts to crisis times... and yet, in these times, more people think they've achieved the American Dream than before... Curious, isn't it? I'll leave you with this video about a national poll made by The New York Times and the CBS News.

But before, let's see Obama's latest record breaking:

Now, enjoy!

The Turn of a Friendly Card

2009-04-29T14:19:00.010+01:00

Some music today? Double Post!

Alan Parsons is a music engineer, which started to work at Abbey Road Studios when he was 18. He's also responsible of the making of "The Dark Side of the Moon", by Pink Floyd.

His band, The Alan Parsons Project, released many albums and had some hits, just like Eye in the Sky, this one, and one of my favourites:

Don't think sorry's easily said
Don't try turning tables instead
You've taken lots of Chances before
But I'm not gonna give anymore
Don't ask me
That's how it goes
Cause part of me knows what you're thinkin'

Don't say words you're gonna regret
Don't let the fire rush to your head
I've heard the accusation before
And I ain't gonna take any more
Believe me
The sun in your Eyes
Made some of the lies worth believing

I am the eye in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind
I am the maker of rules
Dealing with fools
I can cheat you blind
And I don't need to see any more
To know that
I can read your mind, I can read your mind

Don't leave false illusions behind
Don't Cry cause I ain't changing my mind
So find another fool like before
Cause I ain't gonna live anymore believing
Some of the lies while all of the Signs are deceiving

I am the eye in the sky
Looking at you
I can read your mind
I am the maker of rules
Dealing with fools
I can cheat you blind
And I don't need to see any more
To know that
I can read your mind, I can read your mind...

But, as this is a double post, I'll choose another Alan Parsons' song, my favourite in fact... For me, one of the best songs ever... Specially the ending, which is simply epic! It's The Turn of a Friendly Card, divided in two parts, and extracted from the namesake album, a thematic album about gambling. And so, this is the song! Be patient and listen to it until the end!

Part I

There are unsmiling faces and bright plastic chains
And a wheel in perpetual motion
And they follow the races and pay out the gains
With no show of an outward emotion

And they think it will make their lives easier
For God knows up till now it's been hard
But the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card
No the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card

There's a sign in the desert that lies to the west
Where you can't tell the night from the sunrise
And not all the king's horses and all the king's men
Have prevented the fall of the unwise

And they think it will make their lives easier
For God knows up till now it's been hard
But the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card
No the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card

But a pilgrim must follow in search of a shrine
As he enters inside the cathedral...

Part II

There are unsmiling faces in fetters and chains
On a wheel in perpetual motion
Who belong to all races and answer all names
With no show of an outward emotion

And they think it will make their lives easier
But the doorway before them is barred
And the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card
No the game never ends when your whole world depends
On the turn of a friendly card...

For me, simply Amazing!

Cold Snap

2009-04-15T20:27:00.008+01:00

Hi! You may not know me, but I'm quite famous indeed! I'm more than 15.000 years old (much older than my Nemesis), but I became famous quite recently, I'd say! It was a slow journey... 50 years to separate from my ancestors, then 3 more years travelling more than 3.000 Km., to be just in the place I was destined to be... And that's a lot, bearing in mind that only 1% of my kind goes that far towards the South. How am I? Well... I'd say I'm quite special! Only 2 or 3 of my kind are produced every year! Some people said I was 30 m. tall and 120 m. wide... But I woulnd't believe people in shock, frankly! And, even though, they didn't see me! Of course, I was staring at them... But I was so invisible... No wonder they didn't...

But I did... And I remember clearly that night... 14th of April, 1912... So peaceful, so dark... So difficult to foresee... Those lights in the distance, like an entire city coming my way... Me, floating unrelenting towards our rendezvous. And then, in a blink, that creepy sound... Iron bending and twisting... almost screaming... water flowing... And suddenly, people screaming, bells, flares... panic! People immersing theirselves in the ocean, to not come up again, distant prayers... I guess I also heard the song "Nearer, my God to thee", but I'm not really sure... But, quite appropriate, isn't it? And then, lights disappeared, and only sound remained... It took some time, but the lightful city finally disappeared in the sea... and only the screams remaind, crying for help... But a lot of people didn't get help and died there, frozen... floating without course... just like me... But I don't feel bad about that... After all... I'm just an iceberg! Maybe this iceberg:

Or this one:

This is just another way of telling that, that 15th of April, 1912, the most famous ship of all times, the Titanic, sank after hitting an iceberg. 1.517 people died that night, only 706 survived... Nowadays, there's only one alive survivor of the Titanic, Millvina Dean, but she was only two months old at the time of the sinking, so I don't think she remembers nothing about it... But it's nice we do remember about it, don't you think?

Year of Wonders

2009-04-06T13:52:00.010+01:00

Curious but real is the history of Eyam during the Plague, in 1666.

Eyam's an English village in Derbyshire, England (my beloved England), but it's also known as the "Plague village". Why?

The medieval Plague arrived to Europe from Constantinople through the Mediterranean Sea, and spread quickly accross the continent during the XIV Century. You, Catalans, suffered it specially that year 1348.

There are some curiosities about the Plague, also called Black Death because of the black-purple buboes of the diseased. In the beginning, medieval doctors thought the disease spread through the air (That's why some of them called it "The Great Pestilence", similar to the Spanish name), and so, one of the means they used to fight against it was burning some kind of scented herbs, to "clean" the air. They also used that typical masks you've surely seen in some medieval draws, to keep their noses far from the patients, dead or alive. Nowadays, we know that is caused by a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis, which spread by fleas thanks to other animals like the black rat.

And even if it wasn't a "new" disease, and was quite known before (it's believed that Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius died because of Plague in 180 A.D., in Vindobona -No, not strangled by his son Commodus), this was a horrible epidemic that killed almost the 50% of European population... in 4 years! And more than 75.000.000 in the 14th Century.

...But forgive me again! I start talking about something and then I end up with other subject! We were talking about Eyam!

So, long story short, the Plague reached Eyam in 1665, brought in a flea-infested bundle of cloth delivered to the taylor George Viccars, from London (you can see the entrance of his house in the previous picture)... who was the first to die, within a week. When people started to die, apparently without reason, they all turned -of course- to the priest of the town, looking for some answers. And so, the Reverend William Mompesson decided to take some precautions to slow the spread of the illness... One of them, for example, was to celebrate the church services outdoor, in a place called Cucklett Delf, to allow the assistants to separate themselves, reducing the risk of getting infected.

But, the most famous decission, and the one which made this town so popular was to self-isolate themselves to prevent the spreading of the Plague disease to other towns. And so, for 16 months, nobody entered or left Eyam. Families were forced to bury their own dead, and trades with other towns were made in a non-presential way, leaving money and the goods (food, medicines, etc.) in a place called nowadays "Mompesson's Well", where the water was believed to "clean" the coins from the disease... However, they also used vinegar.

When they finally decided to put an end to the quarantine, already in 1666, there were only 83 alive villagers, out of a population of 350. And so, not a pattern of infection could be established. For instance, Elizabeth Hancock never became ill, but she buried her 6 children and her husband in 8 days. Ah! The unofficial undertaker didn't die, either.

But why "Year of Wonders"? 2 reasons: The first, that's the name of an interesting historical novel about Eyam's case, written by Geraldine Brooks. The other, a poem written by the English poet John Dryden, in 1667... Because he believed that 1666 was really a year of wonders, "Annus Mirabilis"... Really? Plague... The Great Fire of London (with Capital Letters)... Wonders? Dryden chose to interpret the absence of greater disaster as miraculous intervention by God... That's a nice lesson for these times of crisis, don't you think?

However, it was really a "Year of Wonders" to Newton, who saw an apple falling from a tree, got inspired and formulated his theory of gravitation.

Uncanny Stories...

2009-03-25T22:29:00.006Z

Once upon a time, in the 19th Century, there was a man in Honey Grove, Texas, called Henry Ziegland. One fine day, in 1893 (Old stuff!), this nice man decides to walk out of his girlfriend, who committs suicide. But then, the brother of that subbed lady, tried to avenge his sister by shooting Henry... Missing the shot! The bullet barely injured Henry, grazing his face and getting encrusted on a tree behind him, but that brother thought he was dead and so, thinking himself (and his sister) avenged, ended his own life with the same weapon.

20 years after that, Henry decides to remove that same tree of his property and so, tries to saw it... But, unable to do that manually, he decides to use some dynamite. In the explosion, that bullet which had originally been intended for Ziegland, became dislodged with such a catapulting jolt that it was shot violently into Ziegland's head, killing him at last...

And the most strange thing is, this story's regarded to be true...This is what we call a Serendipity, an unexpected discovery or action, fruit of a big big big coincidence.

A lot of discoveries in the history had been fruit of some serendipities... Albert Einstein, for instance, recognized some of his findings were serendipities... Niels Bohr spent several time thinking how atoms were. One night he saw in a dream a possible shape of the atom, and he drew it on a paper... When he finally found out the configuration of the atom he realized it was just exactly the same as the one he draw previously. According to Umberto Eco, Columbus discovery of America was a serendipity!

And, this is one of my favourites! In 1898, Morgan Robertson -a well-known short stories American writer- wrote the book Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan. It's the story about a huge ship, called Titan, which sinks in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg... Is it familiar? Yes! Robertson described one of the most famous shpiwrecks of the history, the RMS Titanic, 14 years before happening! And even if he wrote the novel long before the Olimpic-class Titanic had even been designed, he described some of the features of the ship and the wreck:

- The Titanic was the world's largest luxury ship (882 feet, displacing 66,000 tons), and was once described as being (nearly) "unsinkable".The Titan was the largest ship and the greatest of the works of men (800 feet, displacing 75,000 tons), and was considered "indestructible".

- They both were launched from Southampton in April.

- The Titan and the Titanic carried less than half the number of lifeboats needed (Titanic 20, Titan 24).

- They both crashed with an iceberg, 400 miles away from Terranova, on an April night.

- In both cases, more than half of their passengers (Titanic 2207, Titan 2500) died screaming for help.

Curious, huh?

More Irish stuff...

2009-03-24T18:12:00.003Z

This is a traditional Irish song, about a highwayman who's betrayed by his own wife or lover... There are a lot of versions of it, but I do really prefer this, Thin Lizzy's one, Metallica's version. If you want to know more aobut this song, visit Wikipedia:

Metallica - Whiskey in the Jar

As I was going over the Cork and Kerry mountains
I saw Captain Farrell and his money he was counting
I first produced my pistol and then produced my rapier
I said “stand and deliver or the devil he may take you”

Yeah

I took all of his money and it was a pretty penny
I took all of his money, yeah, and I brought it home to Molly
She swore that she’d love me, no, never would she leave me
But the devil take that woman, yeah, for you know she tricked me easy

Musha rain dum-a-do-dum-a-da
Whack for my daddy-o
Whack for my daddy-o
There’s whiskey in the jar-o

Being drunk and weary I went to Molly’s chamber
Taking money with me and I never knew the danger
For about six or maybe seven, yeah, in walked Captain Farrell
I jumped up, fired my pistols, and I shot him with both barrels, yeah

Musha rain dum-a-do-dum-a-da, yeah-yeah
Whack for my daddy-o
Whack for my daddy-o
There’s whiskey in the jar-o

Yeah, whiskey
Yo-ooh, whiskey

Yo-ooh, yeah, ooh
Yo-oo-ooh, yeah

Now some men like the fishing and some men like the fowling
And some men like to hear, to hear the cannonball a-roaring
Me I like sleeping, especially in my Molly’s chamber
But here I am in prison, here I am with a ball and chain, yeah

Musha rain dum-a-do-dum-a-da, yeah-yeah
Whack for my daddy-o
Whack for my daddy-o
There’s whiskey in the jar-o, yeah

Whiskey in the jar-o, yeah

Musha rain dum-a-do-dum-a-da
Musha rain dum-a-do-dum-a-da, hey
Musha rain dum-a-do-dum-a-da
Musha rain dum-a-do-dum-a-da
Yeah

No leaf clover!

2009-03-17T12:37:00.005Z

Happy St. Patrick's Day, my Irish fellows!

Just remember, if you want to swim today in a river... You can find it's totally green! Take care!

That's just what they do in Chicago, since 1961: dying the Hudson river of this Irish green colour. And the thing is, they found out how to do that by chance! Some plumbers discovered that the dye they used to detect leaks into the river turned green, not just any color green, but the perfect color green! And so, they decided to use that to surprise the public in St.Patrick's Day!

Slán leat!

Once upon a time...

2009-03-09T10:38:00.004Z

...In a not-so-far away island called Sark, people lived happily, according to their ancient habits and laws... They had their own language (Sercquiais), and their own flag too, and they served the Feudal Lord of the Island, the Seigneur of Sark... Cars and helicopters were forbidden, and tractors were the only motorised vehicles allowed in that island... Wait a minute... Cars? Helicopters?

Yes, beloved readers, Sark was the last redoubt of feudalism in Europe, an island between England and France... and I said was, because now they're on their way to full democracy. In 1996 they agreed to endorse the European Convention of Human Rights, which was completely incompatible with their feudalism, and so, putting an end to that government system in a short time... Now, the Chief of Pleas, the "Council" of the Island, is no longer ruled by the descendants of those 40 colonists who arrived to the island with the permission of the Queen Elizabeth I (not II) to settle there... Now, 28 elected congressmen rule the island... waiting for a referendum in 2011, when people of Sark will finally decide if they want to become a full democracy or still a feudal land... But this is not really the point of this post!

This is about tradition, about some values some people may think they're old fashioned and/or useless, nowadays... And so, to talk about that, let's take a look on the Barclay Twins. Both awfully rich, owners of The Daily Telegraph and one Ritz hotel in London, one day they decided to buy the island of Brecqhou, close and under the management of Sark, and build a huge Gothic castle for them, with 2 swimming pools and a helicopter pad... Too bad! As helicopters are forbidden on that island... And so, they started to invest on the island, which main economical activity is tourism (and some tax advantages, for sure!). And so it was! They thought they have found their paradise, and started asking for political changes on the island, maybe just to get finally the permission to ride an expensive car in those islands... and, in some way, they succeeded... but not in the way they wanted, curiously!

When finally democracy was knocking at Sark's doors, and most probably the Barclay Twins were sharpen their fangs, something happened. Sark's inhabitants decided to vote for the traditionalist party, leaded by the former Seigneur of Sark, John M. Beaumont, and so, supporting Sark old ways! Democracy's ok, but let's do it our way! However, this decission didn't pleased those Barclay twins, and they decided to stop investing on that island, getting the sack to 100 people, 1/6 of Sark's population!

And that's the way it is! The Barclays couldn't buy Sark with money, and now they're punishing them... Childish behaviour? Hm... You'll say! And even if it can get awful for Sark's inhabitants after "disobeying" those twins, they decided to disobey them and that's brave and remarkable, don't you think?

So, that's all! Only 3 curious facts about Sark's Island:

1.- Dogs are forbidden on the island.

2.- There are, in fact, 2 Sark islands -Greater and Little Sark- and they're connected by a natural isthmus, 3 meter width and 92 meters above the sea... A banister was build in 1900, because people had to cross that natural bridge crawling, to avoid being swept by strong winds. That isthmus was paved by the Nazis, during the ocupation of the island, in the WWII.

3.- In 1990, an unemployed French nuclear physicist attempted a singlehanded invasion of Sark, armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The night he arrived, he put up signs declaring his intention to take over the island the following day at noon. He was arrested while sitting on a bench, changing the rifle's clip and waiting for noon to arrive.

See you soon!

Home far away from home!

2009-02-17T15:43:00.008Z

The other day, when I was walking around across Barcelona's streets I found something quite curious: An English Grocery! Its name is "A taste of Home". Quite appropiate, don't you think?

It's nice to find a place in Barcelona where you can buy some 100% English products! Now, you can taste some disgusting English dishes, for example those awful pies! Name a part of a body and they'll show you a pie made of it! Ok, not everything's so bad! Puddings, muffins... Mmm... What else... I can't think about more stuff! Well, let's face it: English's cuisine's not very nice! It can't be compared to what people call Mediterranean Diet, but even thogh, there are some nice things. Most of all related to breakfast!

But the nicest thing about this grocery is this: They have SPAM! Maybe some young people know about Mail Spam, but not the original product... Hmm... So, Spam is basically some kind of canned precooked meat. It was invented back in the 30's, and it was used during World War II to feed English and Russian troops. In fact, this SPAM is quite popular in UK, but it's not British but American! You can even find a SPAM museum in the States!

But, why do we call our junk mail spam? It's all because of one sketch made by Monty Python, one of the best humourous gangs ever! Let's see it...

As you see, one of the customers gets quite annoyed about so much SPAM in the menu, and so happens the same in our mail inbox!

Ok, enough for today! For those who want to buy some SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM WONDERFUL SPAAAAM, you can find this shop in Floridablanca 78, BCN.

Vicky Cristina... Barcelona?

2009-02-11T10:08:00.004Z

Welcome back, dear readers!

As I told you some time ago, I really like cinema! And, of course, every year I watch the Academy Awards Ceremony live, while wearing my best dinner jacket. So, every year I try to watch some of the nominated films, and after "Milk" I thought it'd be nice to watch a comedy. The chosen was "Vicky Cristina Barcelona". I guess most of all inhabitants of this precious city surely were transmitted with some kind of Allen's sickness. They probably thought: "Oh, it's so nice one of the best movie directors is filming a movie about our city!! I'm really looking forward to seeing it!". And so, I must confess, as an adopted Spanish and lover of Barcelona, I was one of those!

In fact, I'm not very keen on Allen's movies, but the curious stuff is, it's not about his movies, but people who watch his movies! There's some kind of Allen's fans who scorn people who doesn't like his movies, just like that! Sometimes, it looks like you must be some kind of jerk if you don't enjoy a movie directed by Woody Allen, and so on: Every Allen's movie's fantastic even before being released... That really makes me loose my cool! And you, Spanish people, have some kind of saying for this: "Para muestra, un botón".

I didn't like this movie at all, and the thing is, I had some predisposition to like it, because of where this movie's settled. Unfortunately, that city on the movie is not a real Barcelona. It's just a mixture of some postcards, quite beautiful, but not realistic at all. One of the scenes of this film is a fight between Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz in a street of this city. Those who walk a lot across this city would recognize it: It's St.Ramon's street. This street:

Of course this street's not on Barcelona's guides, between the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell. It's a street plenty of prostitutes, pimp's, drug dealers and other kind of freelancers. It also has one of the most charming pubs in the city: the Marsella, one of the oldests bars of Barcelona (1820) where you can drink Absinth, if you dare... But I will talk about that another day! Anyway, THIS is a real Barcelona also! Of course, by the time Mr. Allen was filming, streets had been cleaned already, and there wasn't a trace of these people. Police do exactly the same when some polititian is visiting this area. Because, let's face it: Under this pseudo-alternative vision of that what they call "Raval", loved by non-working-artists, bohemian-whatevers, cafeteria-phylosophers, and old-bikes-riders, lies the true essence of that neighbourhood: The Barrio Chino. Don't forget it!

So, that Barcelona in the film is not true at all. And what about the script? Ok, let's see it! I can't find in VCB any of those witty conversations which Allen's always making a great show of! So, the characters in the movie simply follow this scheme:

Visit something -> Dinner -> WINE -> Flamenco Guitar Player ->WINE -> Spicy Conversation -> Fuck -> WINE -> Gaudi -> Fuck -> WINE -> Dinner -> WINE -> More Flamenco!

Once I remember I was somehow waiting for a bull, appearing in the middle of Ramblas, or a bullfighter simply walking around!

And I really think Penelope Cruz is one of the best characters of the film, even if I can't stand her as an actress... But it'd be good to keep Rebecca Hall in mind, I think she's the best on this film!

Anyway, it's always good to watch a film, even if you don't like it! So, you can give your oppinion if someone's asking!

4 8 15 16 23 42

2009-01-26T13:09:00.006Z

Ladies and Gentlemen... Lost's 5th Season is finally here.

Cronicle of a Death Foretold

2009-01-10T20:51:00.002Z

Hi again, my beloved readers! How are you doing? So cold lately, isn't it?

The other day I was wandering the streets at night while a heavy rain was pouring down, (which I love since I'm a genuine English man) and then, just when I found myself all alone in a street I realized I was surrounded by corpses... Yes, people... Corpses! Not human corpses, of course... That would have been more curious and disturbing, don't you think?

Well, the thing is, I was completely surrounded by broken umbrellas. And then I thought it was a sad end for such an useful and classy complement. An umbrella is a typical thing people doesn't buy by themselves... You most probably receive an umbrella as a gift given by someone that loves you enough to worry about you getting wet when rain starts to fall. Unless, of course, it's raining already. Then hords of ambulant umbrella-sellers emerge from who-knows-where and try to sell cheap awful umbrellas to absent-mindedness wet people.

But, wherever an umbrella comes, all of them are damned if they collapse in the middle of the streets, because all of them are buried in the same way: no burial! Busted umbrellas lie everywhere, the luckiest in a garbage bin. Of course, when an umbrella breaks people worry more about getting wet than giving their silent friends a decent burial. I've always thought -in a funny way- about burning broken umbrellas, like Vikings did with their deceased people, sailing a Drakkar on fire for the last time... And dust to dust, ashes to ashes!

So, before throwing an umbrella in the middle of a wet street consider being a little bit more considered! Requiescat in Pace, broken umbrellas around the World!

Happy New Year (?)

2009-01-01T13:23:00.004Z

Let's welcome this new year with good music!

Black Sabbath - War Pigs

Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerer of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds, oh lord yeah!

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that to the poor
Yeah!

Time will tell they are power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'till their judgement day comes
Yeah!

(Bridge)

Now in darkness, world stops turning
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling
Begging mercies for their sins
Satan laughing, spreads his wings
OH LORD YEAH!

Some curious stuff...

2008-12-30T18:54:00.002Z

...Before this year ends!

Reading and reading (thing that I do quite usually since TV became a stinky piece of shit) I found an interesting article about this New Year's Eve... Well, in fact is about this 31th of December... Because the last minute of this, the last day of the year will last officially 1 second more... So, it will have 61 seconds. Officially, after 23h 59m and 59s we'll have 23h 59m and 60s... And only then 00h 00m 00s... And Happy new year!

But why? Because Earth's spinning slower than before and days are longer than before... Curious, thinking about our lifestyle, that becomes faster and faster day after day! Earth's on strike, or a least it seems so!

But let's talk a little bit about history! A second was defined in 19th Century as the 86.400 part of a day (60 x 60 x 24), but they didn't know real days have different timings... Nowadays, for example, 1 real day lasts 86.400,002 seconds. That's why, since the late sixties, we base our second system not in our planet's rotation movement, but in some physical stable processes like the movement of some atoms exposed to Laser. That's how atomic watches were born, and that's why we base our system on those watches, which are very precise! In fact, the most precise atomic watch of the entire world, the NIST-F1, will keep an accurate timing, without deflecting not even a second in 60.000.000 of years.

And that's why the IERS (International Earth rotation and Reference systems Service) decides when to add one extra second to a minute, to correct the flaw between our time system and real timing.

Of course, that second isn't very important for our daily grind, but it's curious how time's so important in these days of fast food, instantaneous news, and blitzkrieg. I guess it was more traumatic back in the 16th Century, when Gregorius XIII changed the outdated Iulianus calendar and people lost 10 days!! So, the day after that 4th of October of 1582 was the 15th of October.

So, maybe this isn't very important for you, but at least you have some new anecdote for telling tomorrow before this year shifts!

Have a nice New Year's Eve party and enjoy this extra second! 2009, the Year of the Ox... it sounds promising, don't you think?

...And justice for all

2008-12-03T20:25:00.006Z

So, we're facing a long weekend now! People will invade the streets again, buying and spending the money that they don't possess...and the wheel will keep spinning, keeping things as they are... Very good for some, very bad for many...!

But this is not the point now... Long weekend! Why? Why are we so lucky to have holidays on december? Because it's the Spanish Constitution's birthday! And polititians let us go skiing, shopping and even visiting some forbidden buildings for us the rest of the year, like the Senate or the Congress Palace... Ha! That building we really OWN, according to that paper called Spanish Constitution, the one they use to blow their noses...

Let's face it: Democracy sucks. And now is when one of you (or maybe all of you) replies saying it's not so bad... at least is better than a dictatorship! And of course it is, but that doesn't make democracy the greatest thing since bread came sliced...

Polititians lie, steal, conspire, missappropriate (another way of stealing...)... do everything to keep their asses comfortable in their seats... They don't want us! They don't need us! Only every four years they need us to perpetuate their status quo... And that's when democracy becomes funny! Polititians can smile! And joke! They talk with people and listen to their problems, trying to look concerned about them... They promise a lot of things, and they even dress like idiots, because they think that makes them look closer to us!

And the worst thing is... Some people really believe them! Some people even vote for one or another party just because of the way the candidate looks: "Oh, he/she looks friendly, I'll vote for him/her!"... which is the same as: "Oh! he/she is blonde, I'll vote for him/her!". But well... What can you expect of this country? You only have to turn on the TV to realise this is a country plenty of dumbs! And polititians know which country govern, and how to do it... They've learnt the game, and they're playing it... and enjoying it!

That's why I'm so happy Obama's the new President of the United States! Because it looks like we've been witnesses of the birth of the new Messiah... and I don't really think so... Some people here in Spain even think he's left-winged!!! Please! That's very funny indeed! Let's see how this guy acts...

So, God save the Constitution! Because this is a country where some people can drive cars of 80.000€, but others can't eat properly every day because of not having money! God save the Constitution, because people can't get a place for living (even if it's a constitutional right) and banks receive millions of euros from the government! God save the Constitution, because in this country commiting a crime is very cheap, and some prisons have swimming pools! God save this Constitution, indeed! But... What do I know! You're the real Spanish people, and I'm only a British citizen... We don't have even a Constitution!

I guess this quotation summarizes all my thoughts about democracy:

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance."
H.L. Mencken

Ho-Ho-Ho!

2008-11-27T08:29:00.006Z

Hi, my beloved readers... Here we go again! Long time since I last wrote in this blog of mine! Lack of inspiration maybe? Hm... Maybe! The thing is, I've checked the other blogs and it seems that a lot of people's not writing as much as they used to write, before! So, maybe it's not only me... who knows!

And I must say that I'm not really in a writing mood today either, but I felt the call of duty this morning, and that's why I'm here! Well... maybe there's something I want to talk about, now... Surely you've noticed in the streets already... In the shops, over your head... well: everywhere! You've noticed, so, that Christmas time's coming again! And this is the point of my today's post...

Origins, tradition... Old fashioned words, nowadays. Shops, sales, buy, buy, BUY! Yes... that's Christmas in these days, or at least it seems so! Christmas lights are set every year sooner and sooner... and maybe in the end people will celebrate Christmas wearing short sleeve T-shirts, in summertime... And if this early Christmas happens also in every single part of our Earth... maybe those who live in the Southern Hemisphere will end celebrating it in their winter... Curious thing, huh?

I'm not a family man, as you may know by now. So, I don't care about family meetings on Christmas day... I didn't do that in the past and I'm not doing it now... I don't celebrate Christmas either... I just watch and think about it... It's not about celebrating that Christ birth... I'm not Cristian either... But these are important days for a lot of actual cultures (Jews have their Hannukah) or ancient (Egiptians believed that, before new year's eve, there was a bad period... between the end of a cycle and the beginning of the next)...

So, no more spirituality? No values anymore? Streets are packed with people, shops are crowded, and it seems that crisis is conviniently hiding in a secret place, to let everyone buy more stuff without feeling guilty about it... What do you think? Actual Christmas was invented by Harrod's?

A Violet from Mother's grave...

2008-11-11T09:15:00.006Z

Hi again, my dear readers... Even if I look like a man in his mid-thirties I’m growing old and forgetful at the same time... Can you believe I forgot to post this last November 9th? Unbelievable!

It can be a normal day for you... Maybe’s the birthday of one of your friends or stuff like that... But not a special day for other reasons! Not a public holiday, not a long weekend... But, for good old Jack, 9th of November is a very special day... Indeed! Because, 120 years ago, my last victim passed away… Mmm… I can still remember how beautiful Mary Kelly looked wandering in Whitechapel streets… She was… fancy! Because Victorian whores were not like nowadays whores, vulgar and nasty! She was so much younger than my other “friends”, only 25… And prettier than the other, too: Blue eyes, red hair, nice smile… She even had all her teeth, which was quite unusual then… and sometimes even today!

So, since it was my farewell act, I did the best I could with her delicate body... And the nice thing was that I didn't have to do that in the streets, where's easy to get caught... Because I killed her in her own room... She was living with her husband in one of those rooms in Miller's Court... Number 13, If I remember correctly... And, luckily, one of the glasses of a window next to the door was broken, and I managed to enter by opening the door from the inside, through that hole... What happened next is History! You can just check that out in The Times website, where you can read any edition of The Times since it was created, in 1785! Here's the link to that 10th November edition of the newspaper.

But, just in case you fancy reading right now, just check Dr. Thomas Bond's notes taken in situ:

"The body was lying naked in the middle of the bed, the shoulders flat but the axis of the body inclined to the left side of the bed. The head was turned on the left cheek. The left arm was close to the body with the forearm flexed at a right angle and lying across the abdomen.
The right arm was slightly abducted from the body and rested on the mattress. The elbow was bent, the forearm supine with the fingers clenched. The legs were wide apart, the left thigh at right angles to the trunk and the right forming an obtuse angle with the pubes.
The whole of the surface of the abdomen and thighs was removed and the abdominal cavity emptied of its viscera. The breasts were cut off, the arms mutilated by several jagged wounds and the face hacked beyond recognition of the features. The tissues of the neck were severed all round down to the bone.
The viscera were found in various parts viz: the uterus and kidneys with one breast under the head, the other breast by the right foot, the liver between the feet, the intestines by the right side and the spleen by the left side of the body. The flaps removed from the abdomen and thighs were on a table.
The bed clothing at the right corner was saturated with blood, and on the floor beneath was a pool of blood covering about two feet square. The wall by the right side of the bed and in a line with the neck was marked by blood which had struck it in a number of separate splashes.
The face was gashed in all directions, the nose, cheeks, eyebrows, and ears being partly removed. The lips were blanched and cut by several incisions running obliquely down to the chin. There were also numerous cuts extending irregularly across all the features.

The neck was cut through the skin and other tissues right down to the vertebrae, the fifth and sixth being deeply notched. The skin cuts in the front of the neck showed distinct ecchymosis. The air passage was cut at the lower part of the larynx through the cricoid cartilage.
Both breasts were more or less removed by circular incisions, the muscle down to the ribs being attached to the breasts. The intercostals between the fourth, fifth, and sixth ribs were cut through and the contents of the thorax visible through the openings.
The skin and tissues of the abdomen from the costal arch to the pubes were removed in three large flaps. The right thigh was denuded in front to the bone, the flap of skin, including the external organs of generation, and part of the right buttock. The left thigh was stripped of skin fascia, and muscles as far as the knee.
The left calf showed a long gash through skin and tissues to the deep muscles and reaching from the knee to five inches above the ankle. Both arms and forearms had extensive jagged wounds.
The right thumb showed a small superficial incision about one inch long, with extravasation of blood in the skin, and there were several abrasions on the back of the hand moreover showing the same condition.
On opening the thorax it was found that the right lung was minimally adherent by old firm adhesions. The lower part of the lung was broken and torn away. The left lung was intact. It was adherent at the apex and there were a few adhesions over the side. In the substances of the lung there were several nodules of consolidation.
The pericardium was open below and the heart absent. In the abdominal cavity there was some partly digested food of fish and potatoes, and similar food was found in the remains of the stomach attached to the intestines."

Yes... I took her heart! And if you want to take a look to her body after my visit, you just have to follow this link... I was raised in politeness, and I don't want to scare you with dead woman's pictures... unless you want to look at them... So, here's the link. And here's her Death Certificate:

And... when remembering that 9th of November another 9th of november came to my mind... One with acts I unfortunately witnessed... And I'm referring to that nazi Kristallnacht (or Night of Broken Glass), in which 92 german Jews were murdered and almost 30.000 were deported to concentration camps... That was the turning point of Nazi's actions against Jews and... Well, you know the rest!

Rest In Peace...

2008-11-07T09:13:00.005Z

...Because breaking up is never easy! ;-)

The Vandals - My girlfriend's dead

I once had a girlfriend,
But then one day she dumped me and everywhere
I'd go people would ask me where she was.

I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all my girlfriend's dead.

I say it's leukemia or sometimes bulimia
Or a great big truck ran her over
And chopped off her head.

I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all she's dead.

I guess there's a part of me that likes the sympathy
Or the looks on their faces when I tell them how
She passed away.

I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all she's dead.

(My girlfriend's dead)
My girlfriend's dead you see,
It's a total lie, but it's easier on me
Than having to admit that she likes someone else.

(My girlfriend's dead)
My girlfriend's dead you know,
Please change the subject or I am going to go
Jump off a building and join her in heaven.

I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all she's dead.

I once had a girlfriend,
But then one day she dumped me and everywhere
I'd go people would ask me where she was.

I don't wanna talk about her.
Someone always asks about her.
So I tell them all my girlfriend's dead.
[x2]

Vi Veni Veniversum Vivus Vici

2008-11-04T19:54:00.008Z

The time has come to talk about that movie I was thinking about the other day while writing about "From Hell"... Because tomorrow, my dear readers, is a very special day indeed...

"Remember, remember, the 5th of November... Gunpowder Treason and plot... I see no reason why Gunpowder Treason should be forgot!".

In the night between the 4th and the 5th of November 1605 (403 years ago), some English Catholic revolutionaries tried to execute the Gunpowder Plot... Their idea was to blown up, literally, The Houses of Parliament, killing King James I and his family, besides some aristocrats too, because English Catholics weren't not much tolerated in that ages... So, long story short, Guy Fawkes, a.k.a. Guido Fawkes (because he fought as a mercenary in the Spanish Tercios in Netherlands) was caught when he was placing several gunpowder barrels in the basements of the House of Lords, in The Parliament... The King had been adviced before that, thanks to an anonymous letter he received, probably written by one of the conspirators who didn't want innocent people to get killed because of that "Boom stuff". So... Guy Fawkes was locked up in the Tower of London, tortured and killed...

And since then, to remind the inhabitants of that Perfidious Albion how traitors are treated even in their own homeland, in the United Kingdom they celebrate the "Bonfire Night", very similar to that Spanish traditional St. Joan's night, in which they set bonfires in the streets and burn stuffed dummies representing G. Fawkes, denominated simply "guys"...

Ok, ok, let's stick to the plan! I'll talk about one movie I certainly like... I'm referring to "V for Vendetta". This movie's based on another graphic novel by Alan Moore, with the same name. And, even if there's some differences between the movie and the novel I like both of them...

In V for Vendetta, settled in a non-distant future, England's ruled by an authoritarian government, which tries to control what people hear, talk, and above all, think. Evey (Natalie Portman) is one of those who live in fear, trying to get the shackles off her feet in order to be free... One night she meets a strange man... A man dressed with a black cape and a black hat too, clutching several knives, who wears also a Guy Fawkes mask and refers to himself as, simply, "V" (Hugo Weaving). V's planning to tear down that awful goverment by blowing up The Houses of Parliament, just like Guy Fawkes tried to do in the past...So, as I don't want to spoil you the end of the film, if you like it... watch it!

About the film... It's not very similar to the great novel which inspired it. In fact, Alan Moore disinherited himself of the film before it was released... But it has some good points too! Nice soundtrack and cinematography (indeed!) and, above all, a perfect representation of the character of V! Wugo Weaving did a great interpretation of a character without face! How? With his voice and gesticulation... So, that's why is good to see this film in English!

I love the character of V... and, just like him, I enjoy listening to some classical music too... And there's a magnificent piece of Tchaikovsky, used also in the film, called "1812 Overture". The last movement of that Overture's used in the last scene of the film... And I'd like to show it to you... So, I'll tell you what:

OPTION I: I've seen the film already and I want to delight myself watching the end of the film again, including music...

OPTION II: I haven't seen the film, so don't screw its end! Upload something else in order I can see what the fuck are you talking about!

Enough for today, I guess... And don't forget: Freedom! Forever!

Nerds or Artists?

2008-11-02T21:40:00.002Z

See what some folks can do with enough time, patience and 280.591 post-it sticky notes!!! Nice, isn't it?

This is... Halloween...

2008-10-31T10:07:00.004Z

Once again, my dear readers, is Halloween time... In the States, kids are preparing their disguises for tonight... and, according to Hollywood, masked psycho-killers are about to take revenge for what they suffered when they were childs... And, just like in Carnival, everybody tries to be someone else... And everybody enjoys that, because sometimes it's nice to make people believe that you're somebody else...

May I talk you a little bit about me? No... I don't think so... I don't want to screw this disguising stuff... But there's something I can tell you... I have this yearly tradition of watching "The Nightmare before Christmas" of Tim Burton (even if it was not directed by him) every Halloween day/night...

I love Tim Burton's movies, but especially two of them: This one and Sleepy Hollow (which I also recommend to you). I also recommend you to read his poems book called "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy", also illustrated by him... If you follow this link you'll be able to read it online.

So, I'll leave you with one song of "Nightmare before Christmas", so enjoy it... and remember... Trick or Bleed?

This is Halloween

SHADOW
Boys and girls of every age
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

SIAMESE SHADOW
Come with us and you will see
This, our town of Halloween

PUMPKIN PATCH CHORUS
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

GHOSTS
This is Halloween, everybody make a scene
Trick or treat till the neighbors gonna die of fright
It's our town, everybody scream
In this town of Halloween

CREATURE UNDER BED
I am the one hiding under your bed
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red

MAN UNDER THE STAIRS
I am the one hiding under your stairs
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair

CORPSE CHORUS
This is Halloween, this is Halloween

VAMPIRES
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

MAYOR
In this town, don't we love it now?
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise

CORPSE CHORUS
Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll scream

HARLEQUIN DEMON, WEREWOLF, AND MELTING MAN
Scream! This is Halloween
Red 'n' black, slimy green

WEREWOLF
Aren't you scared?

WITCHES
Well, that's just fine
Say it once, say it twice
Take the chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of night

HANGING TREE
Everybody scream, everybody scream

HANGED MEN
In our town of Halloween

CLOWN
I am the clown with the tear-away face
Here in a flash and gone without a trace

SECOND GHOUL
I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through your hair

OOGIE BOOGIE SHADOW
I am the shadow on the moon at night
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright

CORPSE CHORUS
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!
Halloween! Halloween!

CHILD CORPSE TRIO
Tender lumplings everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare

PARENT CORPSES
That's our job, but we're not mean
In our town of Halloween

CORPSE CHORUS
In this town

MAYOR
Don't we love it now?

MAYOR WITH CORPSE CHORUS
Everyone's waiting for the next surprise

CORPSE CHORUS
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back
And scream like a banshee
Make you jump out of your skin
This is Halloween, everyone scream
Won't ya please make way for a very special guy

Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King now

EVERYONE
This is Halloween, this is Halloween
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

CORPSE CHILD TRIO
In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song

EVERYONE
La la-la la, Halloween! Halloween! (etc.)

Music...

2008-10-29T22:38:00.004Z

Today, and because of not having class, I spent all the evening in my place... So, just like I always do, I listened to some music... And I just thought: "Ok, let's write and post again about a song!". But, somehow, I couldn't think of one single song... I mean, my head was filled with music, not songs... Maybe that's the reason of my smiling day, I don't know... So, I realized that my post shouldn't be about one single song, but about all of them... And how can I do that? Luckily, the answer revealed by itself... So here it is... One of my favourite songs, more for the lyrics (quite simple in fact) than for the song itself, even if I really love the chords: Music, by John Miles.

John Miles - Music

Music was my first love
And it will be my last
Music of the future
And music of the past

To live without my music
Would be impossible to do
In this world of troubles
My music pulls me through

Music was my first love
And it will be my last
Music of the future
And music of the past (3x)

Music was my first love
And it will be my last
Music of the future
And music of the past

To live without my music
Would be impossible to do
'Cuz in this world of troubles
My music pulls me through

Time goes by so... ¿slowly?

2008-10-27T13:06:00.002Z

Hi there, beloved readers... You surely noticed how nice was the weather yesterday... Not a cloud, bright blue sky... And for me, a distinguished Londoner accostumed to rain and mist, was a perfect excuse for going outside, just for loitering about the streets... Don't misunderstand me... I like rain and mist... It's like feeling home... But this is quite good also...

So, while walking around I heard a noise, a particular musical noise I haven't heard for a long long time... I heard a Sharpener's whistle. You'll most probably know what I'm talking about! A Sharpener is a person who sharpens knives (not mines...) in the streets with a machine connected to his/her motorcycle axis... As I said, I haven't seen one of those for a long time... And I started thinking about it... People don't sharpen their knives of scissors anymore... They throw them and buy new ones... Easy stuff... Maybe some years ago, when people hadn't much money, they used to do that, but not anymore... And so, Sharpener's are disappearing... We can apply the same chain reasoning for another classical crafts, like Cobblers or some Watchmakers...

It's something related to our nowadays mentality... We think we can waste our money buying new stuff, not repairing old stuff... They don't remember how their grandparents lived... Luckily, I can... And RIP Van Winkle surely can, too... I remember watching an old man after the Spanish Civil War taking the rind off a potato... and I must say, he seemed to be "shaving" the potato, trying not to waste any comestible part of that tuber... So, things have changed since then...

But people don't notice changes... just like we don't notice how Earth rotates... Think about a vase in a corner of a table, being moved very slowly to another corner... It's difficult to notice the movement until you realize how far is the vase from its starting spot... No movement but different spots.

But if you stop thinking for a while you surely will notice how all has changed since you were a child... How some things you simply accepted as part of a static reality are becoming obsolete... "Video killed the radio star", singed the Buggles back in the 70's... But... wasn't video killed by DVD? And now... Bluray's sharpening his knives against dvd's...

So... Our world's built over the ashes of past worlds... Worlds that seemed to be quite static for those who lived in that ages... Ironic! Nothing lasts forever, my friends...

Starman

2008-10-24T10:47:00.008+01:00

Ok... I'm not in a writing mood by now, so... more music!

David Bowie - Starman

Didn't know what time it was and the lights were low
I leaned back on my radio
Some cat was layin' down some rock 'n' roll 'lotta soul, he said

Then the loud sound did seem to fade
Came back like a slow voice on a wave of phase
That weren't no D.J. that was hazy cosmic jive.

There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He's told us not to blow it
Cause he knows it's all worthwhile.

He told me:
Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie

I had to phone someone so I picked on you
Hey, that's far out so you heard him too!
Switch on the TV we may pick him up on channel two.

Look out your window I can see his light
If we can sparkle he may land tonight
Don't tell your poppa or he'll get us locked up in fright.

There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He's told us not to blow it
Cause he knows it's all worthwhile

He told me:
Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie

Starman, waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He's told us not to blow it
Cause he knows it's all worthwhile

He told me:
Let the children lose it
Let the children use it
Let all the children boogie!

Lalalalala, lalalala... Damn! He's fucking good...

Don't stop me now...!

2008-10-20T10:20:00.003+01:00

Today I need some music to work properly... So... Let's go!

Queen - Don't stop me now

Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time
I feel alive and the world turning inside out Yeah!
And floating around in ecstasy
So don't stop me now don't stop me
'Cause I'm having a good time having a good time

I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity
I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go go go
There's no stopping me

I'm burning through the sky Yeah!
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you

Don't stop me now I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time just give me a call
Don't stop me now ('cause I'm havin' a good time)
Don't stop me now (yes I'm havin' a good time)
I don't want to stop at all

I'm a rocket ship on my way to Mars
On a collision course
I am a satellite I'm out of control
I am a sex machine ready to reload
Like an atom bomb about to
Oh oh oh oh oh explode

I'm burning through the sky Yeah!
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic woman of you

Don't stop me don't stop me
Don't stop me hey hey hey!
Don't stop me don't stop me ooh ooh ooh (I like it)
Don't stop me don't stop me
Have a good time good time
Don't stop me don't stop me Ah

I'm burning through the sky Yeah!
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you

Don't stop me now I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time just give me a call
Don't stop me now ('cause I'm havin' a good time)
Don't stop me now (yes I'm havin' a good time)
I don't want to stop at all!

Lights... Camera... Action!

2008-10-19T15:05:00.010+01:00

Welcome back, my dear guests... Sunday afternoon again... A good day for watching a film, don't you think? So... as our teacher suggested us, let's talk about films!

I love cinema... I love it since I saw that first projection of those Lumière brothers in that Salon Indien du Grand Café, back in the 19th Century... And I realized instantly that it had a lot of possibilities... So I guess I was right! It's quite possible I'll talk again about films in the future... and now I'm thinking about a concrete one... but... no... Today's not the proper day to talk about that film!

So... I'll start with this modern film about... me! I'll start, of course, with FROM HELL. And... Wow! Very fortuit indeed! It was released just 7 years ago, that 19th October of 2001.

From Hell (2001), 118 mins.
Directed by Albert Hughes & Allen Hughes.
Cast: Johnny Depp (F. Abberline), Heather Graham (M.J. Kelly), Ian Holm (Sir W. Gull), Robbie Coltrane (Sgt. P. Godley).
Produced by Jane Hansher & Don Murphy.
Written by Terry Hayes & Rafael Yglesias.
Based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell.

...And quite a good graphic novel, I'd say! Alan Moore is considered one of the best comic writters of all history, and he did a good job with this "From Hell" indeed! Because it's not an ordinary mistery novel, where there's a smart police or detective who's chasing the criminal... No... Because here, we know who the killer is in the fourth chapter of the book... In fact, in quite a way, Jack's the main character of this novel... So, lucky me! Ok, no more talking about the book... But I recommend it to you, because it's great...

Ok... about the film... There'll be some spoilers in here, so you shouldn't go further unless you want to see the film and find out by yourselves who's the killer... Because, of course, just like other films of this genre, you have to discover who's the killer! Cluedo stuff... In spite of this difference between the novel and the film I should say that's quite interesting!

Mistery! Some prostitutes are found dead in the streets of Whitechapel... Nothing unusual except by the way they were killed... Accurate cuts, organ removals... now, that's not very usual! Inspector Fred Abberline (Depp) starts investigating this strange case with the help of his loyal Sgt. Godley (Coltrane), one "unfortunate woman" named Mary Kelly (Graham) and of his also unusual psychic abilities... What first seemed to be just another day in Whitechapel turns into a plan worked out by Queen Elizabeth II and the freemasons to cover a secret marriage between her son and a catholic ex-prostitute that may cause such a scandal that would end with the monarchy, because of the birth of their daughter, in fact heir to the crown of Great Britain... That's when Sir William Gull (Holm), former surgeon and current doctor of the Royal Family shows up, executing the plan by killing each one who witnessed that forbidden wedding...

Interesting theory! The doctor of the queen killing hookers in Whitechapel... because that syphilitic jerk of Edward Albert, Duke of Clarence enjoyed fucking whores... and even marrying them! There are other theories... some of them very funny! But I'll talk about that another day...

Focusing on the film... I think it's a good film! I mean... it's not the best film ever made, but it's quite enjoyable... Hictorically talking, it's quite accurate, relating some real facts... Just like the way they were killed, some characters (Abberline, for instance... with no psychic stuff, of course!) and, especially, the backdrop... Whitechapel looks exactly as it was! And that's quite difficult to do, because if you visit that lovely neighbourhood right now you'll be very surprised! Very close to the financial district of the city... there's not a trace of narrow streets and dark alleys... excepting maybe one thing! Ten Bells Pub, which the victims frequented and which is still there! You can have a pint there... And toast for me! By the way... The last time I visited London I went for a touristic walk across Whitechapel, following the path of the Ripper! Ironic, huh? The guide was Ronald Rumbelow, a former policeman and expert in Ripper murderer's... It was quite funny, attending that walk... But very interesting indeed... So, if you go to London you can try to follow my steps there, thanks to "London Walks".

So, interesting film, despite of that typical made in hollywood ending, with Mary Kelly escaping from her destiny and running away with that blue-blooded child... by letting Jack killing other poor girl instead of her... Hm... Machiavelli would be quite proud of her! Other curious thing: The prostitutes. They were not as pretty as the film ones... Most of them were quite old and awful... excepting Mary Kelly... I'll post some pictures another day...

More films another day! Enough by now... You'll find the trailer of the film just below... See you real soon, beloved readers...

Is nothing original nowadays?

2008-10-17T21:14:00.003+01:00

I couldn't help sitting again front of my computer, just to write a few lines... Some thoughts are gathering in my mind and the only way of let the mout is by writing... So... Let's write!

Some time ago I saw a documentary in TV, talking about plagiarism in music world... Basically, it was all about bands suing other bands, argumentating that they've written a similar song before... So, they must be paid for that! And I'm not talking of secundary bands, trying to succeed by copying some famous songs... I'm talking about great bands, some of them considered the best bands of all time, like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles or Led Zeppelin, of which I'm really fond of... For example, there's a song of L.Zeppelin, "Whole Lotta Love", a very famous song indeed, which was accused of being based on a song of Small Faces, called "You need loving"... which was, in fact, based in an older song of Willie Dixon... And Dixon sued them! And he won... And since then, Dixon appears as a co-writer of that song, in every L.Zeppelin album...

But, we might ask... Because asking and wondering is what intelligent human beings do... So, we might wonder about which is the difference between copy and inspiration! It's separated by a thin line, surely! So... think about it... And watch this video if you want, about how some music can be present in our life, even when we're not listening to them specifically...

Bites and cuts...

By the way... I love Pachelbel's Canon in D with the passion!

Hehehe...

2008-10-17T20:33:00.003+01:00

Funny stuff...

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by M. Haddon... Chapter 89, Page 67:

"But I said that it wasn't a proper book because it didn't have a proper ending because I never found out who killed Wellington so the murderer was still At Large.

And she said that was life like, and not all murders were solved and not all murderers were caught. Like Jack the Ripper."

And it's funny because I'm still named as an example for many things: unsolved crimes, madness, injustice... After 120 years! Very funny... and satisfying, indeed...

Happy Birthday to... Me...

2008-10-16T09:31:00.006+01:00

Well, in fact, happy birthday to my most famous letter! The letter that gives name to this blog... I'm referring, of course, to my FROM HELL letter, which I sent to George Lusk that 15th October of 1888... So, 120 years and a day have passed since I've sent the letter! 120 days and a day... Mm... It looks like a prison sentence!

Anyway... I can remember that day so clearly... The texture of that kidney... how I was smiling while packing it all... Ah... Memories! You know, sometimes our brain's a little capricious... We can remember some things so clearly, like we were still there, living that stuff... But maybe there's some other things we cannot remember until someone talks about it! Curious thing... So, this is one of the things I can remember so clearly even today, 120 years and a day after writing it... I can see myself laughing while writing with that awfull spelling mistakes, just to make them think that I was an illiterate...

So, here's the letter!

"From hell.
Mr Lusk,
Sor
I send you half the Kidne I took from one women prasarved it for you tother piece I fried and ate it was very nise. I may send you the bloody knif that took it out if you only wate a whil longer

signed
Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk"

Very funny indeed...

Poor Jacques de Molay...

2008-10-13T09:38:00.005+01:00

Hi again, my followers... Should I talk again about History? I think History's the learning book of mankind... You surely know that sentence: Those who can't remember history are condemned to repeat it again... And believe me, there's a lot of things we don't want to experience again! Crusades, Black Death (Mmm... Maybe I'll talk someday about this nice plague), World Wars, etc. So, pay attention to that book!

But today... Ah! Today's a very special day indeed! Because 701 years ago, an overambitious French king decided to erradicate this very famous military order: The Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici, or simply, the Templar Knights. They have such name because of their first headquarters in Jerusalem, the Temple of Salomon. And, pay attention, Dan Brown fans! Some people think they found a treasure buried inside that Temple, which was the source of their economic power... But let's focus on their last days...

So, that 13th October, King Phillip IV of France in collaboration with the Pope Clement V (very close to French interests) gave the order to arrest every single Templar Knight in France, in order to judge them. They were accused of being sodomists, heretics, of spitting to the Cross, adoring Baphomet... But... Were they like that? Or, simply, Phillip IV didn't want to pay them back for all the money they've lent him? Because Templar Knights were very rich, maybe because of that treasure they had, which, by the way, was never found and vanished like tears in the rain (Mmm... I've seen "Blade Runner" this weekend)... so, money's behind all this thing... again.

Even if some Templars escaped this hunting (some of them went to Portugal), the great majority of them were burned at the stake. The last Templar Grand Master, Jacques de Molay, was burnt alive just in front of the gates of Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris, on 18th March 1314, after spending 7 long years in jail... He, who had confessed under torture, retracted his statement at the very last moment, insisting on his innocence... He only asked for one thing: being tied in such a way he could face the Cathedral, and hold his hands in prayer. And, in a dramatic way, he called out from the flames that both Pope Clement and King Philip would soon meet him. Not a year had passed and both of them were dead. Coincidence?

So, Hail them! Templars, I mean... History has this beloved characters which may have been murderers in the past... But they have this "aura" that can make them look like saints! Just like Caravaggio... Maybe I'll look like that in the future... Because it seems people don't forget me... and that's nice... indeed!

This is the Templar Seal, showing two knights (perhaps Hugues de Payens and Godfrey de Saint-Omer, two of the nine founders of the Order) riding the same horse... Contemporary legend held that the symbol represented the initial poverty of the order; that they could afford only a single horse for every two men. But I guess this is not true, because you had to be kinda rich to join the Templar Order...

Tattoo... Again!

2008-10-11T14:47:00.000+01:00

And talking about tattoo's I forgot telling which is my favourite one... So... Here it is! Even if it's not a real tattoo but a song! A song of Mike Oldfield, called Tattoo

Please, enjoy it...

Mmm... I love bagpipes!

Tattoo...

2008-10-10T08:11:00.002+01:00

I guess it's something not on my wavelength... I mean, I love draw, and I enjoy draws, wherever they are... But getting ink done it's serious stuff... Not only because it's for all your lifetime... You may become a target for some crazy folks... And I'm thinking about Mr. Karl Otto Koch, former Kommandant of Buchenwald's nazi extermination field... He, and his beloved wife, that brutal Ilse Koch a.k.a. "The Bitch of Buchenwald", enjoyed collecting tattoo's... Yes... COLLECTING tattoo's... Karl boasted about his collection before every visitor of this field... He was especially proud of one lamp, made of bones and skin... and his wife had a bag made of human skin also... When Allied Forces liberated this field, they found this creepy collection, and they couldn't believe their eyes...

Luckily, K.Otto was judged by his own people, nazis, and executed for missapropriating... His sweet wife survived until the end of the war, and was judged by the Allies... She was condemmed to all-life prison, but one fine day, in 1967, she decided to hang herself... Maybe this was the first reasonable thing she did in her lifetime!

So, take care of your tattoo's... Maybe another day I'll tell you something of Ed Gein... He inspired some movie characters, like that Buffalo Bill killer of "The Silence of the Lambs"... But he was harmless! He only made his furniture, suits, and jewelry of parts of dead man and woman... So, don't be afraid...

Interesting Quotation...

2008-10-09T14:53:00.003+01:00

Today, somebody very close to me has told me these:

"I'd give all that I know just to get the half that I do not know"

I think it's simply brilliant! We may think we're growing in wiseness, but there's always something to learn... So, beloved readers, you should follow this rule: The wise man shuts up, the silly one talks, and the idiot yells... Listen, and if you're discussing some things pay attention to those who don't talk too much... maybe they're holding the key for your answers...

And by the way, that quotation... it wasn't said by a philosopher... it was said by a singer, Joan Manuel Serrat... So, your wise man can be hidden somewhere! Keep searching...

Carpe Diem

2008-10-08T21:17:00.004+01:00

Hi again, beloved reader... Maybe you've come here again looking for some answers... I mustn't say this, but... well done...

I've been thinking lately in this "Carpe Diem", even before our classes started... In fact, even if I am immortal, as far as I know, I can't take this thoughts out of my head... Tomorrow... Always tomorrow! We, poor human beings, live our little pathetic lifes as if we were immortal... Not thinking about death... But if you close your eyes and blank your mind... You may feel the Reaper's breath on your neck, and maybe you can also hear his laugh... Because he's old and wise... and he has seen many human beings acting this way, but he has beaten all of them... Because, and that's the point, we are food for worms... Now, that's a nice sentence! So... We must start acting consequently...

You surely have thought sometimes: "I'll do that tomorrow" or "Maybe next week"... But maybe there'll be no next week, no tomorrow... So we have to keep in mind this: What if I die tomorrow? This "What if" might help us to take decissions, to live... I'm not talking of living fast and die young, like Sid Vicious said... No... That man or woman you love in secret... You may consider the option of telling him/her, because maybe there's no tomorrow... And I'm not talking of dying when turning every corner! Maybe you're waiting for the right moment to do it... Maybe you're not brave enough to say it! But someone else can appear and take your "prize". Because that was life is. Your chances doesn't get lost: anyone else takes them.

So, dear reader, think about it... Declare your love, read more, eat more ice cream, contemplate more sunsets or whatever... Just take Life by the balls and say: "Fuck off bitch! You'll not find me distracted nevermore!!"

Nevermore!

2008-10-07T21:33:00.006+01:00

Today's a very special day indeed... because today, but 151 years ago, died one of my favourite writers... Maybe the one that I like the most! I'm referring to Edgar Allan Poe. This writer... this... visionary human being wrote some of the most beautiful sentences that my tired and old eyes have ever read... And the crazy stuff is, he didn't write from the happiness, but from deep pain and misery... It's funny how, sometimes, when we feel bad we want to hear sad music... don't you think? Because, somehow, we want that music to join us in that pain, not to help to solve it... Maybe we want that pain, because pain is as natural as love, hate, regret, misery... We need to assume our feelings in order to accept them, and deal with them... Because, think about it... There'll be awful moments in our lifes, believe me I certainly know of what I'm talking about! So, accept and deal with pain, my beloved readers, as Poe tried to do... even if he was found in a Baltimore street, acting delirious, before dying of, even today, unknown causes... maybe in the future, if you prepare yourselves, if you find sadness and pain in a dark alley you'll be able to say: "Nevermore!", like The Raven did...

This Raven:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
`'Tis some visitor,' I muttered, `tapping at my chamber door -
Only this, and nothing more.'

Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow; - vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow - sorrow for the lost Lenore -
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Nameless here for evermore.

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain
Thrilled me - filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;
So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating
`'Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door -
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door; -
This it is, and nothing more,'

Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,
`Sir,' said I, `or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;
But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,
And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,
That I scarce was sure I heard you' - here I opened wide the door; -
Darkness there, and nothing more.

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,
Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before
But the silence was unbroken, and the darkness gave no token,
And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, `Lenore!'
This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, `Lenore!'
Merely this and nothing more.

Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,
Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.
`Surely,' said I, `surely that is something at my window lattice;
Let me see then, what thereat is, and this mystery explore -
Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore; -
'Tis the wind and nothing more!'

Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,
In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.
Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door -
Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door -
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,
`Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, `art sure no craven.
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,
Though its answer little meaning - little relevancy bore;
For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being
Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door -
Bird or beast above the sculptured bust above his chamber door,
With such name as `Nevermore.'

But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only,
That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
Nothing further then he uttered - not a feather then he fluttered -
Till I scarcely more than muttered `Other friends have flown before -
On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
Then the bird said, `Nevermore.'

Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,
`Doubtless,' said I, `what it utters is its only stock and store,
Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster
Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore -
Till the dirges of his hope that melancholy burden bore
Of "Never-nevermore."'

But the raven still beguiling all my sad soul into smiling,
Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird and bust and door;
Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking
Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore -
What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore
Meant in croaking `Nevermore.'

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

Then, methought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer
Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.
`Wretch,' I cried, `thy God hath lent thee - by these angels he has sent thee
Respite - respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore!
Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe, and forget this lost Lenore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil! -
Whether tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted -
On this home by horror haunted - tell me truly, I implore -
Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Prophet!' said I, `thing of evil! - prophet still, if bird or devil!
By that Heaven that bends above us - by that God we both adore -
Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,
It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels named Lenore -
Clasp a rare and radiant maiden, whom the angels named Lenore?'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

`Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!' I shrieked upstarting -
`Get thee back into the tempest and the Night's Plutonian shore!
Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!
Leave my loneliness unbroken! - quit the bust above my door!
Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted - nevermore!

Again, Gustave Doré, joining me in my thoughts... using his pencil as I used my scalpel, some time ago...

Juicy and tasty!

2008-10-02T11:12:00.006+01:00

I couldn't help smiling when talking about healthy food in our English class... Surely sprouts are very digestible, healthy or, simply "awesome"... I smiled, because some of that special beings which I talked about recently really enjoy eating human flesh... I can still remember the case of Issei Sagawa...That was a very famous case back in the 80's... He was a rich guy, Japanese but studying in Paris... There he met a german girl and, long story short, he killed and ate her... The thing is, thanks to some influences of his wealthy father, Issey returned to Japan after spending some time in a french prison... He should have spent all his life in an asylum, but he was out in 15 months... Now, oddly, he's very famous in Japan... He has written some books about canibalism, even a comic! Crazy world, isn't it?

Even thinking about what I did in the past... I find this disgusting... Eating human flesh! For God's sake... You can eat every kind of meat if your life's in danger and you haven't eaten for a long time, but doing it for pleasure it's certainly madness... But, talking about madness, we must focus our blame on money! Yes... money! Because if his father wasn't rich, Issey would be probably still on that french prison... Justice for all? Hah! I don't think so... Rich folks don't mind about justice, because they can buy it... But this is a crazy world, as I've said...

However I don't like it... I remember myself sending a letter to that George Lusk, the President of the Whitechapel Vigilance Comittee, which had the mission of catching me... Well, with that letter... that "FROM HELL" letter, I sent him half of a human kidney preserved in wine, belonging to C.Eddowes... I told him that I ate the other half, fried, and that it was really nice... Ah! Sometimes I surprise myself with my drama facet! He surely got scared... a lot...!

Hm...

2008-10-01T19:08:00.000+01:00

Today I've remembered, while revisiting my own last posts, a song of this very young group, which called themselves "Their Satanic Majesties" or, simply, The Rolling Stones... This song in particular is so appropriated for this first post of mine that I'll write its lyrics right down...

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Please allow me to introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
I've been around for a long, long year
Stole many a man's soul and faith

And I was 'round when Jesus Christ
Had his moment of doubt and pain
Made damn sure that Pilate
Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game

I stuck around St. Petersberg
When I saw it was a time for a change
Killed the Czar and his ministers
Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank
Held a general's rank
When the Blitzkrieg raged
And the bodies stank

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name, oh yeah
What's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah

I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the Gods they made

I shouted out
"Who killed the Kennedys?"
When after all
It was you and me

Let me please introduce myself
I'm a man of wealth and taste
And I laid traps for troubadors
Who get killed before they reached Bombay

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, oh yeah, get down, baby

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, oh yeah
But what's confusing you
Is just the nature of my game

Just as every cop is a criminal
And all the sinners saints
As heads is tails
Just call me Lucifer
'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

So if you meet me
Have some courtesy
Have some sympathy, and some taste
Use all your well-learned politesse
Or I'll lay your soul to waste, um yeah

Pleased to meet you
Hope you guessed my name, um yeah
But what's puzzling you
Is the nature of my game, um baby, get down

Woo, who
Oh yeah, get on down
Oh yeah
Oh yeah!

Tell me baby, what's my name
Tell me honey, baby guess my name
Tell me baby, what's my name
I tell you one time, you're to blame

...This is, of course, Sympathy for the Devil...

Happy Birthday Cath and Liz!

2008-09-30T17:48:00.000+01:00

I almost forgot!

Today's a special day... Because 120 years ago, in the same day, I made two new friends: Catherine Eddowes and Elizabeth Stride... I don't think they enjoyed our friendship as I did...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Eddowes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Stride

So... Happy birthday!

PS. I forgot to congratulate Polly and Annie! Mmmm... Some other short but intense friendships!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polly_Nichols
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Chapman

Let me please introduce myself...

2008-09-30T17:01:00.000+01:00

Believe it or not, my dear reader... I'm a time traveller... Not in a literal way, of course... I don't have a time machine, just like H.G. Wells wrote back in the 19th century... My century... Yes, that's right! I was born in the 19th century, but I can't even remember the day or the year... That was a long time ago... But forget my verbal diarrhoea... It's just that I'm not a talkative person, but when I start I can't stop doing it!

So... I was talking about me... Yes... I don't know why, but I'm still alive after so many years... If I were a religious being, but I'm not, I'd think that God has given me a mission that I haven't accomplished yet... I don't think God agree with anything I do during my "spare time"... Even if I were a follower of Satan I would not know what to think... I haven't seen anything real, when it comes to demonstrate the devil's existence, even if I tried! Every man I've known that assured to have some connections with the Devil or the Other World was a liar... But don't worry... They have achieved a proper ending for trying to cheat me... I still smile when I remember Harry Houdini, unmasking impostors who tried to convince everyone they were mediums... Arthur C.Doyle told me once about their experiment for trying to communicate with Houdini's dead mother and how he discovered (because Houdini was not that silly) that it was all a lie... That's why they lost their friendship... But see? I'm talking again, and talking about nothing! Anyway, what I wanted to say it's that I can only see devil in men's eyes... We all have that epical internal fight of good against evil... Sometimes, however, you found some special beings, whose internal fight finished long time ago, and evil became the winner... You may not believe me when I say this people are happier than the other ones... Because they accept themselves in a way nobody else does...

So, as people says, Devil knows more for being old than for being the devil itself... Then I must be the wisest man on Earth... That's what I like to share some of my...wisdom with you, my secret followers... World's crashing down, animals and plants are slowly but surely disappearing, men even are dying and dying every day... It seems they haven't learnt the lesson, they don't remember that two World Wars... However, they called ME monster! This is really funny... Human being is certainly a strange kind of animal, but surely you know this already...

Well then, I must go... But I'll keep youin touch... But... Yes!... You may not know who I am! My real name doesn't mind at all... In fact, It's difficult for me to remember it, because I've lived undercovered so many time... Hm... I still remember how Scotland Yard tried to catch me and identify me... in vain! They received hundreds of letters, written by me... or at least that's what they thought! Only some of them were written in my own handwriting, but what did they know about me! I vanished just in front of them, and now, they're all pushing daisies... Do you got any clue of my identity? Well... I'm the first modern serial killer of history, and that's a title I haven't chosen by myself... But I like it nevertheless...

So, you better call me Jack... because that's certainly my REAL name... Jack the Ripper...