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Welcome to the Inaugral Issue of The Barcelona Bugle |
Well the tradition continues, as Lynn and I set up our printing presses in a new
barrio*, we have taken what was The High Park Picayune and created the
The Barcelona Bugle. You have here in your hands the first issue. You might want
to get two copies and plasticize one of them so that your grand-kids can appear on
future incarnations of The Antique Road Show and pretend like they don't really care
how much it is worth.
Our goal is to maintain the tradition of innuendo, half-truths and ridiculously
captioned photographs. We also hope that this will be a more passive and interesting
way to find out what Lynn and I are doing without having to weed your way through our
"fullscap" emails.
We plan to have a few regular features in the Bugle such as Qué Más
and Qué Tal. Qué Más directly translates into "What more".
It is however a very versatile expression, and can be used to indicate "Can I get you
anything else", or "What else is there", or "Of course, they're going to put flaming
tulips in a hundred thousand people's hands
at the same time, y porque no?".
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-- we will try to get some international perspectives from our "Reality TV Flatmate" friends --
As you see we've bookended it with the expression y porque no? ("and why not?").
Qué Más will be reserved for explaining things that you probably aren't going to see in
Canada.
Qué Tal is one of the most common expressions meaning "how's it going?". Or
if you put an object or place after Qué Tal you're asking how is (or was)
that thing. Qué Tal tu bocadillo equals "how'd that pork sandwich go down?". This
section will be reserved simply for listing things that are going on in Barcelona, and Spain in
general.
We will also have a photo essay (explained below), and regular articles on various goings-on.
As it was with the Picayune, all submissions will be accepted to report on the events of whatever
corner of the world in which you reside, and we will try to get some international perspectives from
our "Reality TV Flatmate" friends.
The Editors
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* You'll have to excuse the injection of Spanish throughout the paper,
see www.dictionary.com for translations.
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Photo Essay #1 - Castelling |
-- 1000 words at a time --
This is the first of what we expect to be a feature here at the
Bugle -- a photo essay. There are so many things here that we just
can't really put to words and we hope that the pictures will speak
for themselves. This photo essay takes you through the afternoon that
Lynn and I took part in the staple of catalunya culture -- Castelling.
Castelling has been performed for hundreds of years, and consists of
teams including strong men at the bottom, spanish small guys in the middle,
women above them and with children at the top. What we learned while watching
was that the general public is an important ingredient to the success of
castelling as they crowd the bottom and push inward keeping the castellers
base together.
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-- Click on the picture to see the essay --
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The Flatmates Revealed for the First Time!
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-- 4th Highest Population Density --
We received very popular feedback for our "Tales of the Flatmates" feature
in the electronic leaflets that preceded The Bugle. Take a glimpse now
into our first apartment in Barcelona and add some context to the stories.
Flat Layout
Click on the layout above for a clearer picture on how you fit this many
people into one flat. You will learn how it is that Barcelona
is the 4th most densely populated city in the world.
Although we started at the flat with a large group of Italians and a French
girl named Amandine, the bulk of our stay at Calle Aribau 113 was spent with the group
you see to the right.
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-- Meet the Cast --
Not having a picture of Gederson "the Brazilian Kramer"
accurately reflects the fact that we saw him 3 times in the month and a half
we were there. The pictures that never turned out of Jorge "the psychotic Gitano"
accurately reflect that he sold his soul for some Xibeca long ago.
Click on the faces to view the datos of the various flatmates. The publishers
apologize in advance to G-Swede for his picture featuring his pet it; we will
update it for a better one when we receive his first article submission. The cast
are featured in pictures from a pizza party that took place our last week at 113
Aribau 1ª Atico.
D.O.P.
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The Parade of the Gigantes
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-- The Bugle needs your help --
A regular event in the Mercé festival is the parade of the Gigantes (Giants).
Every town hall of every neighbourhood in Cataluyna has its own pair of Gigantes
and at the Mercé they parade around Barcelona. Giants make for a great format as there
are no bad seats at the parade.
The Bugle staff are positive that the Gigante pictured at the right is very familiar
to us. Can you help us place this Gigante? Send you submissions to
brian@pooladdict.com
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-- Can you place this giant? --
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Debunking the Myth that Canadians are Polite |
Being unemployed and on an extended vacation has given us a lot of
time to develop various political and pilosophical theories. We
think they're brilliant! Then again we only have each other to
debate them -- so we thought we might share them with a wider audience.
For example, we've developed a theory to explain why Canadians are
forever apologizing as they walk down the street. You know what I
mean...someone bumps into you on the sidewalk and you apologize to
them "sorry!" We've been led to believe that being polite was a defining
feature of a Canadian. This is a myth propagated by Canadians.
When we first moved here we thought that the Spanish were quite rude as
they plowed their way through crowds and never even looked back to
see the old lady they knocked over. Our constant apologies were met
with confusion and contempt.
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We've been led to believe that being polite was a defining
feature of a Canadian. This is a myth propagated by Canadians.
After battling the enormous crowds at
the Mercé festival and learning Barcelona's record for population
density, we developed a theory to
explain our obviously strange habit of apologizing. In Canada,
we have so much space that we have absolutely no excuse to bump
into people. If you're so hopeless that you can't dodge someone
on a Canadian sidewalk...you should be sorry! And of course you
should also apologize to anyone who can't make it around you!
That's our theory...and we're sticking to it.
Lynn
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That's all for now Folks |
-- Thanks for reading --
Well we hope you enjoyed the first issue; we enjoyed making it. As I mentioned
in the opening, feel free to make any submissions to be published
in The Bugle (pictures are especially welcome -- the "Black Sheep"
winning the cup for example), just email them to
brian@pooladdict.com
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-- In the next issue ... --
Apartment #2
We host our first visitors
(Kaylie and Anthony)
Brian and Lynn go
to the Pyrenees
Brian gets a job
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-- The opinions expressed here necessarily reflect the opinions of the publishers --
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Barcelona's municipal government recently decided to allow buskers to
play in the metro. Although we welcome the sounds of the pan flute and
acoustic guitar in an otherwise drab environment, we didn't know what to
think of the band on the last train.
Picture us on a subway car
crowded with early morning commuters, jolted awake by
a four piece salsa/polka band with their own amplifier and beat box. As I turned
to Brian and shook my head saying "Qué más?", the train pulled into the
next station and the band hobbled off with pesatas in hand.
As we
watched them lug their gear onto the next car, our only
response was to laugh and say ...
Sept. 10 - 21
Spanish Lessons at the IHOP
Sept. 20
Dinner with Brian Quigley and Carmen in town after IBC
Sept. 21 - 24
Mercé Festival - Free concerts, castelling, bullfight, public art
Sept. 26
The Pizza Party
Oct. 31
We move to the new apartment at C/ Ricart 16
Oct. 17 - 18
Kaylie and Anthony stay with us as they pass through
Oct. 12
Brian gets a job
Oct. 22 - 24
We go to the Pyrenees to see The Aran Valley
Oct. 29
Brian starts new job
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Otoño
Weather -
High 35ºC (early Sep)
Low 12ºC (end of Nov)
Sun and Rain
Events -
Sept. 11 - Catalunya National Day
Sept. 24 - Festes de la Mercé
Visitors -
Kaylie and Anthony Oct. 17 - 18
Invierno
Weather -
Low 5ºC (mid Jan)
High 16ºC (end of Feb)
Rainy and Cold
Events -
Dec. 25 - Feliz Navidad
Jan. 1 - Any Nou
Jan. 6 - Epiphany, when kids here get gifts and when the 3 kings arrive in Barcelona
for parades (not Marky Mark and Ice Cube the other ones)
Feb. 13 - Carnaval (lots of Merry-making)
Feb. 17 - Festes del Tres Tombs
Visitors -
We're currently planning on being here over X-mas, Cheri and John have expressed interest
Primavera
Weather -
Low 12ºC (early Mar)
High 25ºC (end of May)
Beaches open towards end of March early April
Events -
March 24 - 31 - Holy Week (Easter) we're thinking of going to Andalucia for it
May 11 - Holy day of Irish-Canadians
May 31 - Corpus Christi, Celebrated with a mysterious "Dancing Egg"
Visitors -
Many people have expressed interest, no firm dates
Verano
Weather -
Low 19ºC (early June)
High 37ºC (end of July)
Hot and Humid
Events -
June - Celebration of Electronic Music
June 28 - Pride Parade and holy day of French-Canadian Women
Aug. 15 - Fiesta Mayor de Gracia
Visitors -
Wide Open
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