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A picture says more than one thousand words. :D


Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras. :D

The weather today:
Mostly Cloudy
5C
UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From the East Northeast at 14 mph
Dew Point: 1C
Humidity: 76%
Visibility:6 miles
Barometer: 1030.1 mb

My work committments were extended to December as well. On the mean time, we have spent a weekend in St Omer, North of France, and another long weekend in Barcelona. From Monday to Friday I have been too busy to post in the blog and frankly, with three working days left before Xmas day, I can't be bothered to start again right now. We will be on Texas and (hopefully!) New Mexico and Arizona from December 25th to January 14th 2006 (both inclusive). You wouldn't believe how I am looking forward to this holiday!
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you all!!!

Mis compromisos laborales se alargaron hasta bien entrado Diciembre. Mientras tanto, hemos pasado un fin de semana en St Omer, en el Norte de Francia, y otro fin de semana largo en Barcelona. De lunes a viernes he estado demasiado ocupad@ para poder postear en el blog y francamente, con tres dias laborables que nos quedan antes de Navidad, no me apetece nada empezar con el blog ahora mismo. Estaremos en Texas (y con suerte y si hay tiempo) en New Mexico y Arizona desde el 25 de Diciembre hasta el 14 de Enero 2006 (ambos inclusive). Creedme si os digo que me muero por ir de vacaciones, porque realmente las necesito.
Feliz Navidad y Prospero Anio Nuevo a todos/as los lectores/as!!!

The weather today:
Mostly Cloudy
8C
UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From the South Southeast at 3 mph
Dew Point: 4C
Humidity: 77%
Visibility: Unlimited
Barometer: 1028.8 mb

Due to my many (:-D) work commitments, I have to take a break from the blog. I'll come back as soon as I can! But just in case it is not very soon... Merry Xmas!!

Debido a mis muchas (:-D) obligaciones laborales, no podre escribir por un tiempo en el blog. Volvere tan pronto como pueda! Y por si acaso no es 'tan pronto'... Felices Navidades!

A tourist visiting the big state of Texas may be forgiven for overlooking the town of Marfa , considering how BIG is Texas!.... However, if I were to tell you the film Giant was shot nearby, that may interest you and awaken your curiosity. And if I were to tell you that an unexplained phenomenon occurs at sunset on the desert, southwest of Marfa, known as the Marfa Lights (colourful balls of light, don't mistake with car lights, though!) that may change your mind? A visit to Marfa kind of starts making sense, doesn't it?

Al turista que visita el gran estado de Texas se le perdona el pasar por alto el pueblecito de Marfa , teniendo tantos lugares que visitar... sin embargo, si os dijera que el film Gigante se filmo en las cercanias de Marfa, quiza cambiaria las circunstancias? Y es mas, y si os dijera que un fenomeno inexplicable ocurre al anochecer en el desierto cerca de Marfa, algo que se conoce popularmente como las Luces de Marfa ? (extranias orbes de color que aparecen en el desierto y que la comunidad cientifica no ha sido capaz de explicar, pero no son luces de los coches, eso seguro!). No os pareceria entonces Marfa mas interesante y digno de visitar?

The weather today:
Partly Cloudy
13C
UV Index:0 Low
Wind: From the South Southwest at 12 mph
Dew Point: 5C
Humidity: 58%

What's on when great website to know what events are taking place on a particular day/month in any city in the world.

What's on when (Que pasa en? en ingles), una buena pagina web si quieres saber exactamente las ofertas de ocio disponibles por dia/mes en cualquier ciudad del mundo.

The weather today:
Cloudy
15C
UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From the South at 12 mph
Dew Point: 14C
Humidity: 97%
Visibility: 5 miles
Barometer: 1003.4 mb

Saxon Warriors with Harold Godwison's 'Man with axe' flag. Harold was the Saxon candidate to England's crown. Guerreros sajones con el estandarte (hombre con hacha) de Harold Godwinson, candidato sajon al trono de Inglaterra.




Norman cavalry, transported by ship from Normandy, France.
Caballeria normanda, transportada en barco desde Normandia, Francia.



Harold is killed, the Saxons have lost.
Harold muere en la batalla, los sajones han perdido.



The Norman William the Conqueror is now King of England. The future of England radically changed in 1066.
El normando William el Conquistador es ahora el rey de Inglaterra. El futuro del pais cambio radicalmente en 1066.

As promised, here there are some photos of the re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings which took place on 15-16 October in Battle Abbey . Want to know more about the Battle of Hastings? Here : Battle 1066 there is a very good and detailed account of it. For the quick version, go to the BoH in Wikipedia . There is a section of a tapestry in the Wikipedia photo. It is the Bayeux Tapestry, you can find it in Bayeux, France. It is the longest tapestry in History, well worth seeing it!

Como prometi, aqui teneis algunas fotos de la representacion de la Batalla de Hastings, que tuvo lugar este fin de semana pasado en la Abadia de Battle . Quereis saber mas sobre la Batalla de Hastings? Aqui : Batlle 1066 hay una detalladisima explicacion (en ingles). Para la version rapida, echad un vistazo en la pagina de la Batalla en Wikipedia . Hay un fragmento de tapiz en la foto de Wikipedia que es digno de verse en su totalidad. Es larguisimo! Es el famoso Tapiz de Bayeux, lo encontrareis en el museo de la ciudad de Bayeux, en Francia.

The weather today:
Partly Cloudy
15C
UV Index: 1 Low
Wind:From the West Southwest at 13 mph
Dew Point:6C
Humidity: 55%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1008.1 mb

As I said yesterday, let me tell you what happened with Nelson's statue... or better yet, let the local The News explain :

"SLOPPY workmanship has ruined a memorial to Nelson because the statue of the great admiral was put together wrongly at its new home. The embarrassing council blunder left a half-complete sentence on the rebuilt plinth of the statue – which was being unveiled today (for 17/10/05). The words 'remember his glory' were put on the wrong side of the plinth's bottom step, cutting short the sentence on the first two steps. It should have read: 'Here served Horatio Nelson. You who tread his footsteps remember his glory.'

Council engineers quickly discovered the mistake and spent £1,000 engraving the words on the base of the correct side, as rebuilding the plinth would have been too expensive. But the gaffe continued as the newly-engraved letters now get covered up in surrounding sand and make Nelson look like he is sinking. Chichester contractor Geoffrey Osborne Ltd's carried out the delicate task of moving the statue as part of the Trafalgar 200 celebrations. City council environment director Julian Lomas said workers forgot about the words as they laid the 25 base slabs on the sloping ground".

Oh so they 'forgot' the words. They must have thought they were just for decoration... I am still laughing my head off......


Lo prometido es deuda. Hoy os cuento lo que paso con la estatua de Nelson...o mejor aun, dejo que os lo explique el periodico local The News :

"Una chapuza de instalacion incorrecta en su nueva ubicacion ha daniado el monumento en memoria a Nelson. El vergonzoso error del ayuntamiento ha dejado una frase a medias en el pilar de la estatua - que se mostraba hoy al publico (hoy por 17 Oct). Las palabras 'recordad su gloria', de la ultima linea de la inscripcion se colocaron en el lado incorrecto del pilar, dejando la frase completa a medias. La inscripcion, en su totalidad, hubiera leido asi: "Aqui sirvio Horacio Nelson. Vosotros que seguis sus pasos, recordad su gloria".

Los ingenieros del Ayuntamiento descubrieron el error y rapidamente se pusieron manos a la obra para remediarlo, haciendo gravar las palabras en el lado correcto del pilar. El trabajo costo la suma de 1000 libras esterlinas, aunque reconstruir el pilar hubiera sido mucho mas costoso. Pero la pifiada no termina aqui, ya que la nueva linea queda parcialmente cubierta por la arena del suelo que rodea la estatua. El efecto optico que produce es curioso : parece que Nelson se hunde. La empresa encargada de mover la estatua de Nelson a su nueva ubicacion (como parte de las celebraciones del bicentenario de la Batalla de Trafalgar) y causante del error es Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, de Chichester. El Director de Medio Ambiente del Ayuntamiento, Julian Lomas declaro "los albaniles olvidaron las palabras del pilar cuando colocaban las 25 piedras que formaban la base del pilar".

Se "olvidaron" de leer la frase que tenian delante, jajaja! Pensarian que era solo para decoracion! Yo sigo partiendome el culo...


The weather today:
Showers in the Vicinity
14C
UV Index: 2 Low
Wind: From the South at 12 mph
Dew Point: 12C
Humidity: 88%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1008.1 mb

The Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth opens today. Or does it? Because see... it was supposed to be a 'millennium' project but it was started in 2004. Then there were problems with the budget, the cracking concrete, the architect and the copyright. And when we thought we had walked over this valley of tears....

See what happened today, inauguration day, as reported by the local The News : "THREE people were stuck in the Spinnaker Tower's troubled outside lift today in a disastrous opening day for the landmark. The lift got stuck 100ft up the tower with city council project manager David Greenhalgh and a representative of tower builders Mowlem inside. In an ironic twist, engineer Luca Frigerio from Maspero – the company which built the troubled lift – was with them. The trio were trapped for around an hour and a half as crowds who had assembled for the big opening day watched in amazement from the foot of the tower. Engineers in abseiling gear were sent up to look at the lift and try to solve the problem. They appeared to tinker with the mechanism on the outside of the lift shaft before it was eventually brought back to the ground at 11.20am. Problems began even before the tower opened at 10am this morning. Even as visitors – who began to queue before 6am – eagerly awaited the opening, there were last-minute worries. Heritage project manager Juliana Delaney took the decision not to open the external elevator, and to allow only the internal one to open. That meant disabled visitors who would not be able to get down the tower's 570 stairs in an emergency were not allowed up the tower".

What can I say? I am laughing my head off. Tomorrow I'll tell you what happened when the City Council moved Nelson's statue to a new location in the city and decided to give the statue a bit of a cleaning. You won't believe what happened.
UPDATE: And see the tower collapsing here . This is the work of a University of Portsmouth student.

La torre Spinnaker de Portsmouth se inaugura hoy. O no. Porque vereis... se suponia que era un proyecto para el 'milenio', pero se empezo a construir en 2004. Pasadito, el milenio. Luego hubo un sin fin de problemas : con el cemento que se agrietaba, con el presupuesto que se disparaba, el arquitecto que queria el copyright de la torre.. Y cuando creiamos que ya habiamos superado este valle de lagrimas...

Ved lo que paso hoy, el dia de la inauguracion, segun informa el periodico local The News : "Tres personas quedaron atrapadas hoy en el ascensor exterior de la Torre Spinnaker, en lo que ya se conoce como una desastrosa inauguracion del proyecto. El ascensor se paro a 100 pies del suelo siendo los pasajeros en su interior el Director de proyectos del Ayuntamiento, David Greenhalgh y un representante de la empresa constructora, Mowlem. Para mas ironia, el tercer pasajero del ascensor era el ingeniero Luca Frigerio de la empresa Maspero - la empresa que instalo el ascensor. El trio quedo atrapado durante aproximadamente, una hora y media, mientras el publico que se habia congregado para presenciar la inauguracion les contemplaba con asombro desde la calle. Ingenieros pertrechados con equipamiento para la escalada bajaron por el exterior de la torre para tratar de solventar el problema. Se les vio manipular el mecanismo del exterior del ascensor hasta que, por fin, a las 11 y 20 de la maniana el ascensor acabo descendiendo. Pero los problemas habian empezado incluso antes de la apertura de las 10 de la maniana, yamMientras los visitantes hacian cola (algunos desde las 6 de la maniana) para subir a la torre. Juliana Delaney, Manager de Proyecto de Heritage, tomo la decision de no poner en marcha el ascensor exterior y permitir que solo funcionara el interior. Como consecuencia de ello, no se permitio la entrada a visitantes minusvalidos, ya que no hubieran podido bajar los 570 escalones en caso de emergencia.

Que puedo decir? Que me estoy partiendo el culo de risa. Y maniana os contare lo que paso cuando el Ayuntamiento decidio mover la estatua de Nelson a un 'lugar mas apropiado' y, de paso, darle un repaso y limpieza. No os vais a creer lo que paso.
ACTUALIZACION: Y podeis ver como cayo la torre aqui . Es el 'trabajito' de un estudiante de la University of Portsmouth.

The weather today:
Cloudy
14C
UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From the East at 14 mph
Dew Point: 11C
Humidity: 82%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1010.2 mb

Quoting from The Times today: "PAGAN priests will be allowed to use wine and wands during ceremonies in jails under instructions issued to every prison governor. Inmates practising paganism will be allowed a hoodless robe, incense and a piece of religious jewellery among their personal possessions. They will also be allowed to have Tarot cards but are forbidden from using them to tell the fortunes of other prisoners. The guidance, issued by Michael Spurr, the director of operations of the Prison Service, makes it clear that Skyclad (naked pagan worship) will not be permitted. Prison staff have been told that pagan artefacts should be treated with respect"

Oh yes, right. So no tarot reading to other inmates and no naked worshipping. Let's not give 'ideas' to the other prisoners, mmm?

Cito de un articulo de The Times de hoy: "Se permitira que los sacerdotes paganos usen vino y varita en las ceremonias celebradas en las carceles, segun las instrucciones enviadas por el gobierno a los directores de las carceles britanicas. A los prisioneros practicantes del paganismo se les permitira poseer una capa sin capucha, incienso y un articulo de joyeria religiosa como parte de sus pertenencias personales. Las cartas del Tarot tambien estaran permitidas, pero estara prohibido leer el futuro a otros prisioneros Las instrucciones, creadas por Michel Spurr, Director de Operaciones del Servicio de Penitenciarias, deja bien claro que la practica del paganismo a lo Skyclad ( en ingles, "vestido con el cielo", es decir desnudo) no estara permitida.


Vaya,vaya. Asi que ni leer el futuro a los companieros de celda ni pasearse en bolas diciendo los rezos de turno. No fuera a ser que les dieran 'ideas' a los otros prisioneros, no?


The weather today:
Haze
19C
UV Index: 0 Low
Wind: From the East Southeast at 8 mph
Dew Point: 13C
Humidity: 65%
Visibility: 6 miles
Barometer: 1017.9 mb