Port Saplaya is a little harbor area off the main beach of Valencia. It was initially set up as a little village for fishermen and their families. The fisherman could this way pull their boats in and park them in front of their house. So it goes, the fisherman are gone and it has been taken over by rich people who apparently need to park their yachts in front of their houses. In fact ironically (or not) there are signs posted all over telling you to not fish, lest you land a million dollar dinghy. The last aerial shot at the end of these photos wasn't me by the way, I stole that off the internet, but the rest are mine.
In celebration of our hundreth year here at Inner Sense Abroad we rooted around the archives and have found some of our classic music and literary reviews. This one goes back to our induction year of 1906. When we reviewed this we had no way of knowing that this little ditty would become such a juggernaut and driving force in the direction of music for generations to come. In fact Neo-prog rockers and 1980's Top 40 Radio stalwarts Styx have teamed up with Marilyn Manson and the 2/3 of the Dixie Chicks to make the James Scott tribute album, which will certainly be a classic in its own time.
The Brave and The Bold is the collaberation album between Tortoise and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy. It unifies the stylistic diversity between the two artists, taking on 10 songs including covers of Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, The Minutemen and Devo.
Consider The Lobster is a collection of essays written by David Foster Wallace. Wallace takes on a wide range of topics with each essay reading as different as the last, with the exception of one common link, the extensive footnotes and endnotes. The narrative footnotes and endnotes drive the essays into a direction that never takes away from the issue at hand, but provides further information and humor. He covers the Academy Awards of Porn, the subtle humor in Kafka's writing, September 11th as perceived from a small town in Illinois, John McCain's rise and fall and rise and fall again in the 2000 presidential campaign, the relevance of ghost writers behind popular athlete's "autobiographies" and how the right wing has managed to dominate AM talk radio and will likely continue to do so regardless of America's political climate.
Both are well worth your time.
Spain, being the God-fearing Catholic country that it is has more of a morbid approach to Easter that goes beyond the pastels and giant kleptomaniacal bunnies. These pictures show the procession of the final meeting between Mary and Jesus before his resurection. A life size model of Jesus is kept in a store front scenario of the crucifixion. On Good Friday his body is carried in a glass casket by a procession of colored hooded capucinos whose colors represent the stations of the cross. (It should be noted that if these costumes bare any resemblance to a more menacing image of the Ku Klux Klan it is because this concept which has been practiced in the Catholic Church for hundreds of years was stolen by the Klan as their costume of choice. It is unfortunate that such a solemn event should be corrupted by intolerance and hatred.) These pictures are from the Saturday night before Easter Sunday when the processions carrying Jesus and Mary meet in the market square for the final time. While I was taking the picture of the Blue Capucinos, one of them wandered up to me and gave me candy. It scared the bejeezus out of me at first, but I graciously accepted the candy...for the record it was flavorless crap candy, but thank you anyway blue capucino.
