Dia de los Inocentes

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children who were in Bethlehem and in all the region thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men.
17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,
18 "In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted, because they are no more."
Matthew 2:16-18 (21st Century King James Version)

As the story goes, the Three Wise Men stopped by King Herod’s place asking for directions to the birthplace of Jesus, the King of the Jews. King Herod, himself being the King of Judea thus the King of the Jews, understood that this put his title into jeopardy. Not quite understanding the purpose of the the Three Wise Men’s visit he asked if they knew where Jesus was, so that he could worship him (you’ll remember from the previous sentence that they had stopped by to ask him that very same question) with the intentions of killing him. One thing leads to another, the Wise Men dream of Herod’s intentions and an angel visits Joseph and Mary giving them a head’s up and a chance to flee to Egypt. Herod, one step behind the rest, proceeded with his infanticide intentions, but unable to find the infant of choice decides to just randomly go after all of the male children two years old or under. This became the Massacre of the Innocents which allegedly took place on December 28, 0000. The result of the massacre varies from 6, according to the 1910 version of The Catholic Encyclopedia, to 64,000, by an early Syrian count.

Somewhere along the way the slaughter of innocent children became cause for pranks and the tossing of water balloons and eggs on unsuspecting passers-by. The belief, to the best of my understanding, is that the slain children of Herod are often considered the first martyrs for Christ (an act which an all likelihood was underappreciated as Christ was just 3 days old and not in any condition to be receiving martyrs). So, as it stands when on December 28 a child hurls an egg in one’s direction, that child is considered innocent or without sin and is not to be scolded or reprimanded. Ultimately it has become a watered down version of April Fool's Day.
(I should clarify my use of "watered-down" to mean that it isn't as highly recognized as April Fool's Day. In fact the only celebration of it that I have seen is more in the pueblos and less in the cities).

Merry Christmas/Feliz Navidad/Bon Nadal

A Link to an Eloquent Piece on Why Jeffy is a 'bag

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Quite Possibly the Greatest Guitar Solo of All Time

c/o St. Sanders (and A. Moritz)

The Four Horsemen Are Nigh

Evidently, Chuck Norris will be solely responsibly for giving Walker, Texas Ranger style ass whoopin’s to anyone trying to cross the border into the US of A, should Mike Huckabee become President.
My thoughts, personally, I think Chuck is kind of old to be running around the Southern and Northern borders to be administering ass whoopin’s. He might need a helper…I smell a Steven Seagal advert sequel.

What’s the bit about being a lifelong hunter? Am I supposed to equate that with securing the borders or was there a topic change? …I smell an Elmer Fudd advert sequal.

Alright, I've Officially Picked My Pony in This Race

The only thing missing was for him to slam the mic to the ground and to rhetorically scream out, "CAN YOU SMELL WHAT BARACK IS COOKING??!!!"
This is a speech he gave on Saturday November 10 in Des Moines. You can feel as his passion and even rage feeds off the crowd who are going out of their damn minds with ecstatic glee.
This video is quite long (20 minutes or so) but it is well worth your time.



Taken from You Tube via Crooks and Liars

"We're not birds, we're a jugband"

Rabid otters are on the attack. Officials warn residents to avoid local jugband performances.

The above posting from Fark reminded me of this:



I don't suppose anyone knows if this was ever released on DVD.

"Por que no te callas?" or "Why won't you shut up?"

There was something refreshing about King Juan Carlos's ability to step in and take control of the situation. Chavez's mic had already been cut as he continued to interrupt Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero by slinging insults about Spain's former Prime Minister Aznar(Zapatero's political counterpoint).
The situation itself doesn't make much sense. Aznar (the former Prime Minister) lost the election in 2003 and wasn't even at the conference. I'm not sure what Chavez was trying to accomplish by even bringing his name up.

This Guy's Not Even Trying Anymore

http://www.newsfollowup.com

Washington Republican Representative Jim Dunn is brought up on sexual harrassment charges. His response was that he was "sure it was very inappropriate, because I do that kind of thing."

Kudos to you Jim Dunn for at least sparing us the bullshit rehab spin.

http://www.komotv.com/news/11042746.html

item taken from:

http://www.fark.com/

My "NFL who gives-a-shit-itus" has been potentially resolved

Under normal circumstances I could care less about the NFL. The problem is that I never really had a team to root for. Initially I tried to be a Bears fan, but that didn't work because really I just wanted them to get done playing so the Cubs could come back on. Then I went on to the Dolphins. That was a bleak tenure. For Christmas one year someone had bought me a Dan Marino Starting Lineup figure, so I assumed that I should like the Dolphins. It didn't last long. Then I went for the Broncos, but that was only in preparation for one day wanting to move to Colorado. It pretty much ended when the Broncos started winning superbowls and I realized that I didn't really give a shit.
I may have finally found a team. Hear me out on this. The only thing that I have been hearing about this season is the Colts/Patriots match-up that took place yesterday. I have been hearing about this throw down since September and I just wanted the damn thing to be over so my sportscast podcasters would talk about something else (like if the Cubs get a shortstop what are they going to do with Theriot). As the anticipation built up I really got tired of hearing about the Patriots, specifically. As the day got even closer I found myself really wanting the Colts to win, just because I was tired of hearing about the Patriots.
This morning I woke up and immediately checked the sports section hoping that the Colts had slaughtered the Patriots. They didn't, but they only lost by 4. After reading the articles I scrolled down to read the comments which were littered with Patriots lovers and Colts haters. In fact on the Fox Sports article, I couldn't find a single comment in support of the Colts. So, dammit that's where I go. I realize that I'm a Johnny-Come-Lately and am one season behind in relishing in my team's championship win, but I am here and now declaring myself a Colts fan. Somebody has to.
(yea Colts)

Barack Obama on SNL

This past summer I went to see Barack Obama speak in Iowa. It was one of the better speeches that I have seen. He was quick and to the point. There wasn't much by way of intentional pandering or speech scripted applause moments. Afterwards he took questions from the crowd. Many of the questions were designed to engage him in debate or clarification of previous statements, he handled it all rapidly and succinctly, including a response for the woman who tried to shout him down by comparing his stance on certain issues to Hillary's and then telling him that she was a better candidate.

I haven't yet decided on who I would have voted for in the upcoming caucus in January (which is moot point since I won't in Iowa to particpate this year), but each time I see and hear Barack, I like him more and more.

c/o A. Moritz

Kanye West - "Can't Tell Me Nothing"

I first saw this video with my brother in Chicago. The addition of both Zack Galifinakis and Will Oldham is within itself pure genius. Galifinakis used to have a talk show which was good, but impossible to find because they kept changing the times. Some of it is available on You Tube. Will Oldham is a singer-songwriter who performs as Will Oldham, Palace and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy.

The End of the World

Do Nihilists Cry? (Sure Al Can Mend the Hole in the Sky, but Can He Mend the Hollow in my Sigh?)

Postings have been few and far between lately. Sorry.

The Cubs lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Arizona Diamondbacks. I guess it doesn’t matter…we all knew they would.

It’s October in Spain and it is sunny and warm. Leaves don’t fall, pretty soon they won’t grow anymore either. Valencia is soon to be suffering from nearly 80% ground surface desertification. They are also building a Formula One track, I think people are more excited about that than they are concerned about the former.

I’ve been listening to Stephen Stills’s new/old album Just Roll Tape: April 26, 1968. I like it, it’s raw and stripped down. It’s just him and his acoustic guitar. The story as I understand it, he was working on a Judy Collins album and she had wrapped it up with a few hours left over on her studio rental. Stills used the rest of her time to record some of his own tracks. In 1978 the studio was being torn down and an engineer was given free reign to whatever tapes were left in the studio. He found a reels with Stills’s name on them. He salvaged them and turned them over to Gram Nash, who turned them over to Stephen Stills and convinced him to release them. Again as I understand it these are the earliest recordings of “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”, “Black Queen”, “Helplessly Hoping” and “Wooden Ships”.

I’ve also been listening to Iron and Wine’s new album The Shepherd’s Dog. It’s an allegory for something, I just haven’t put it together yet.

I’ve never read The Scarlet Letter. I’m reading that now. I just finished The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. I don’t read enough female authors. My wife also complains that I don’t listen to enough female musicians…I think she’s right.

I just signed up for lastfm.com you can check out my page at http://www.last.fm/user/InnaSenseAbroad/

Emilio came and took away all of the furniture. I’m supposed to throw away the rest. Those seem like perfectly good chairs to me, but what the hell; they’re not mine. They’re kind of wobbly, but so is the new furniture I have spent the last week putting together. I got a hot dog from Ikea, they put it together for me.

They’re going to build an Ikea in Valencia next year. People are excited about that, but not as excited as they are about the Formula One track.

By the way if you are ever in Valencia, stop by Amsterdam Records in Nuevo Centro. Buy something, keep him in business. http://www.arrakis.es/~jvitoria/Amsterdam/

Hey Frankie, thanks for the beer. http://www.myspace.com/cafeinfinito

The Bluetones play Slight Return on Later with Jools Holland

*** note the camera pulling away from ZZ Top as it pans over to The Bluetones.

ZZ Top playing Cheap Sunglasses on The Old Grey Whistle Test (1980)

Yo La Tengo is taken to Rock School by Mr. Show (1997)

www.toothpastefordinner.com

Max Roach (1924-2007)

Revolutionary jazz drummer Max Roach passed away a few weeks ago. Incidentally he died on the same date did Elvis Presely, but I don't imagine that they will be rolling out honorary candy bars in his absence. (Over the summer Reese's saw the release of a Reese's Peanut Butter and Banana Cup in honor of Elvis being dead for 30 years. Apparently Elvis was a big peanut butter and banana sandwhich fan, as to the candy bar...it wasn't a pleasant experience.)
Max Roach is known for his work with Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.

There is an article eulogizing him in Slate by Fred Kaplan which refers to a 7 minute hi-hat solo he did on The Tonight Show when Bill Cosby was guest hosting. Here he is with bassist Tommy Potter.

Naked Hoops

Yard Fitness commerical
(c/o D. Ryan)