Saturday, January 31, 2009

Weekly Winners #50 – Jan/25 to Jan/31


Canada
This week’s pictures serve a double purpose, as I’m also using them to take part of the “Yo también” group’s challenge “Cotidianidad” (daily life). I will be showing my everyday pictures today, some taken inside, some just outside home.


Argentina
Esta semana mis fotos sirven un doble propósito, ya que también las usaré para mi post del grupo “Yo también” cuyo tema del mes es “Cotidianidad”. Les mostraré fotos de todos los días, tanto dentro como fuera de mi casa.

My everyday life - Mi cotidianidad







More pictures in my Flickr setMás fotos en mi set de Flickr

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Postcards from the past - #02

CanadaI almost didn’t blog today! It would have been my first time since… I don’t know, November of 2007? I was tempted to leave it like that, but I realized I have many posts in line for the next few days, so why would I wait until tomorrow…
 
Here are some pictures we took back in April of 2000, when we went out for a bike ride with the kids, near the neighbouring town of Pilar. I hope you like them!
 
 
ArgentinaCasi no publico nada hoy! Hubiese sido mi primera vez desde… no sé, Noviembre de 2007? Estuve tentado en dejarlo así, pero luego me di cuenta de que tengo muchos posts en fila para los días que vienen, así que para que esperar…
 
Aquí hay unas fotos que saqué en Abril de 2000, un día que fuimos a andar en ‘bici’ con los chicos, cerca de la ciudad de Pilar. Espero que les gusten!
 
Bicyclin’ with Mom & Dad (Pilar, Argentina - Apr/2000)
 
El va corriendo adelante, pero también va a pedalear!
 
Santi, con casi cinco años de edad
 
Esta es Caro en su bicicleta de ‘nena grande’
 
Les dije que Juan también iba a pedalear…
 
…al menos hasta que se quedó sin ‘combustible’…
 
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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Fafa

Canada
Today is my the birthday of my brother Martín (aka) Fafa; he is almost four years younger than me (do your math). I thought that it would be a nice thing for me to do to tell you more about him, especially since he has been participating on this blog a lot lately.
 
Sanito y Martín en Año Nuevo Martín is my younger brother, and hence he’s the one I’ve spent the most time since we were kids. We would play the same games, do the same silly things and… screw up big time the same way. During our teenage years, even though my group of friends was mostly my older brother’s age, I would still spend a lot of time with him. A few years later, we would still do things together, like playing soccer or going to Alejandro Dolina’s very popular midnight radio show (we even developed sidekick characters, “Fafa and Baby”, and we were well known by then!). :-)
 
Once I started singing in choirs again, Martín soon followed suite and we ended singing together, in a choir that belong to an oil company named “Bridas”, where I was acting as the Bass section lead. Once I left and came to Canada, and after that choir disbanded, Martín continued to sing and even today he occasionally takes part of some opera productions, along with another of my top commentators, Jorge (aka) “JorMig”. Last November, when my brother Paco got married, Martín took upon himself the organization of the music for the wedding ceremony, and even performed with the choir he assembled. My other brother (Guillermo aka ‘Necochino’) sang the Ave Maria for the bride and groom. That evening, once again, only I was not there…
 
Martín is our family’s ‘wild card’. I’m not saying he’s ‘wild’, but he’s the go-to guy for everybody, whenever we need anything (sometimes to the point of abusing of his time and availability). I always had that feeling that we didn’t fully appreciate the efforts he made for us. If our grandpa needed to go to the doctor for a check-up, then Fafa would take care of that, even if he had to drive for seven hours between Buenos Aires and Necochea; we needed to pick up or take something to the other end of the Great Buenos Aires? No problem, Martín would do it (well, he did it for me with some Christmas CDs a month ago). Whatever it was, it was always assumed that Martín wouldn’t mind taking care of it, and that’s where I felt we weren’t respecting him. But the truth is that he wouldn’t complain, as he was always willing to put everything aside for his family. Both him and Paco took care of my grandfather Pepe during his final days, giving him all the care and affection that he needed and that the rest of us, living in another continent, could not give him. I will always be thankful to both of them for that.
 
DSC01337
Paco, Sebastián and Juan Pablo (back row) – Fafa and I (front row) 
 
But what I think defines Martín the best is his role as an uncle. My kids –and my nieces–  adore him, even Juan and Florencia, who remember him very little. They fight over who gets to talk to him on the phone first, and they really enjoy all the stories I tell about when we were little. I was always impressed with the strong bond that Martín has with both my kids and my brother’s (and I guess the same will eventually happen with my little niece Catalina and the baby that Paco and Florencia will have soon). Comparing with my other brothers I could say that Guillermo builds a very natural relationship with the kids, but he’s ‘the uncle’. Paco has a very unusual, yet effective method: the kids love him even though all they seem to do together is ‘fight’ all day! But Martín is different: on one hand, he behaves as if he were another child, and then they play and run around and they do all kinds of silly things together. But on the other hand, you could see Martín would do anything for them, and will spend as much time as he can taking care of them and making sure that they have everything they need. He was that way back in Argentina, when he would come over for dinner every Tuesday (travelling 1.5 hours in each direction) along with my mother-in-law, and he continued to be like that when we were lucky to have him visit us back in 2003. The same happened last November, when Santi went to Argentina: Martín put absolutely everything on hold to take care of his nephew. I know very well that we broke his heart when we came to Canada, so I was very happy that he could ‘borrow’ Santi again, if only for three weeks. Going back to the Tuesday evening dinners, even after we left, Martín would still travel 1.5 hours every week, but in this case to have dinner at my mother-in-law’s house. I don’t know if they’re still doing that, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
 
09_Martín, Carolina y Santiago More than one was worried because –according to them– Martín never ‘settled down’; I guess this means that he didn’t end doing an office job and works on his own instead (maybe it’s because he hasn’t gotten married yet). I always maintained the same: that’s their problem; let them think of what Martín should do with his own life, just so he would please them.  As long as he’s happy, who am I or anybody else to tell him how he should live his life? Plus I always had the feeling that, to many people’s chagrin, he was probably happier than the rest of us, because he always knew which parts of life to enjoy: family, friends… and the beach!
 
As I was saying above, it’s his birthday today. We won’t be able to give them a hug in person, of course; but still, Gaby, Santiago, Carolina, Juan, Florencia and I would like to wish him the Happiest Birthday of his life. I’m sure he will be happy to know that he is –by far– the one relative we talk the most about, we always have a story to tell about him. Maybe this year, who knows, he can finally come to visit us. The kids would ‘die’ of happiness. Us too, of course, even if I end having to seek asylum at some Embassy once “Martín Alejandro” and “María de las Gabrielas” engage if those silly pun wars once again.
 
Happy birthday, Fafa. We all love you. Please come visit us soon!
 





Me and Fafa performing the Spanish version of “Pecos Bill”, the way our father taught us
Fafa y yo cantando “Pecos Bill”, como nos la enseñó nuestro padre.
Necochea, ARG – 17/Mar/2006
 

Pecos Bill
(Johnny Lange and Eliot Daniel)

Oh! Pecos Bill was quite a cowboy down in Texas,
And a Western superman, to say the least.
He was the roughest, toughest critter, never known to be a quitter
'Cuz he never had no fear of man or beast.

Chorus:
So, yip-pee-i-ay i-ay, yip-pee-i-oh
Fer the toughest critter West of the Alamo.

While reclinin' on a cloud high over Texas
With his gun he made the stars evaporate
Then Pecos saw the stars declinin',
So he left one brighly shinin'
As the emblem of the Lone Star Texas State.

Once he roped a ragin' cyclone out of nowhere
Then he straddled it and settled down with ease,
And while that cylcone bucked and flitted
Pecos rolled a smoke and lit it
And he tamed that orn'ry wind down to a breeze.

Pecos lost his way while travelin' on the desert
It was ninety miles across the burnin' sand,
He knew he'd never reach the border
If he didn't get some water
So he got a stick and dug the Rio Grande.

 
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Almost seriously

CanadaI’ve said it many times before, and I will say it again… Jacqueline’s “Casi en serio” is one of the best blogs I’ve ever seen, both aesthetically and by its content. Her style, simple and intimate, but full of warmth and colour, has made her a household name in the Latino blogger world. Every one of her beautiful posts is normally filled with tens, sometimes hundreds of comments of those who, like me, are amazed at the quality of her work.

But she’s not the only one with that talent… her daughter Marianne is also a brilliant artist, and her younger sister Valeria also blogs, and has inherited the same sense of beauty that her mother has. She started a contest last year, asking us to post pictures of snowmen for her birthday (which was yesterday). I participated of last year’s edition, but I was late (same as today!). I hope I still make it! Here are some of my pictures…


Argentina
Ya lo he dicho muchas veces antes, y lo diré de nuevo hoy… el blog de Jacqueline, “Casi en serio” es uno de los mejores blogs con los que me haya encontrado, no sólo estéticamente sino también por su contenido. Su estilo, simple e intimista pero a la vez lleno de calidez y color, la ha hecho una ‘marca registrada’ en el ambiente de los bloggers latinos. Cada uno de sus hermosos posts es normalmente acompañado de decenas, tal vez centenares de comentarios de gente que como yo, se queda maravillada con la calidad de su trabajo.

Pero no sólo Jacqueline está llena de talento… su hija Marianne es también una brillante artista, y su hermanita Valeria –que también tiene un blog– parece haber heredado ese sentido de lo bello que su madre tiene. Ella comenzó un concurso el año pasado, en el que se nos pedía que publicásemos fotos de muñecos de nieve para su cumpleaños (que fue ayer). Yo participé de esa edición, pero llegué tarte (igual que este año!). Espero poder ser considerado de todos modos! Aquí están algunas de las fotos…







HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VALERIA!!!


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Denying history

CanadaI read this a few days ago, and would like to comment on it:
 
Pope Benedict XVI has lifted the excommunication from the Roman Catholic Church of four bishops appointed by a breakaway archbishop more than 20 years ago. One of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's appointees, Briton Richard Williamson, outraged Jews by saying the Nazi gas chambers did not exist”.
 
These incredible words were said by Williamson in an interview he gave to the Swedish TV. He said (I quote Box Turtle Bulletin):
I believe that the historical evidence — the historical evidence — is hugely against six million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolph Hitler.
 
I believe there were no gas chambers. Yes. As far as I have studied the evidence. I’m not going by emotion. I’m going by as far as I’ve understood the evidence. I think, for instance, people who are against what is widely believed today about the quote-unquote the Holocaust, I think that people, those people conclude — the revisionists as they’re called — I think the most serious conclude that between two and three hundred thousand Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps, but not one of them by gassing in a gas chamber.
‘The quote-unquote Holocaust’, he says. Very nice. This is the same guy that has described the 9/11 attacks as an inside job, saying that it wasn’t the planes that brought the towers down, as they were “professionally demolished by a series of demolition charges from top to bottom of the towers”. Boy, this dude knows about everything!
 
http://romancatholicblog.typepad.com/roman_catholic_blog/images/2007/12/03/pope_benedict_xvi.jpgThis is the guy Benedict XVI is welcoming back with open arms. Yup, the same Benedict XVI who has recently said that “saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour is as important as saving the rainforest from destruction” (see here). He has also opposed the decriminalization of homosexuality worldwide –including countries where the death penalty is applied. What an emissary of peace, eh?
 
I know I have a lot of issues about the Vatican and the political structure of the RC church. In fact, I despise all that. Still, I liked both Pope John Paul I and John Paul II. The first died –or was killed?– too soon, so he could do very little, and John Paul II surely was a tough cookie, but they both looked like… a nice grandpa. Granted, Wojtyla showed a few of those anachronisms that have defined the Roman Catholic church lately, but still improved the relations with many other churches and was seen by most as a peaceful figure.
 
But not this guy. I’m sorry if I offend anybody, but Benedict XVI just gives me the creeps. And when he does the things he does, and says the things he says, he just confirms my fears.
 
 
Argentina
El otro día leí esta noticia que quisiera comentar:
 
El Papa  Benedicto XVI levantó la excomunión de cuatro obispos ordenados por un arzobispo rebelde hace más de 20 años. Uno de los obispos ordenados por Monseñor Marcel Lefebvre, el inglés Richard Williamson, enfureció a los judíos al decir que las cámaras de gas de los Nazis nunca existieron”.
 
Estas increíbles declaraciones fueron hechas por Williamson a la TV sueca. Dijo entre otras cosas (extraído de Box Turtle Bulletin):
Creo que la evidencia histórica — la evidencia histórica — es tremendamente en contra de que haya habido seis millones de judíos que murieron en cámaras de gas y que esto haya sido una política deliberada de Adolf Hitler.
Creo que no hubo cámaras de gas. Sí. Por lo menos, de acuerdo a la evidencia que he estudiado. No me guío por la emoción. Estoy expresándome de acuerdo a donde he avanzado estudiando la evidencia. Creo, por ejemplo, que la gente esta en contra de lo que se cree en estos días acerca del llamado Holocausto, creo que la gente, esa gente — los revisionistas, como los llaman — los más serios concluyen que fueron entre 200,000 y 300,000 los judíos que perecieron en los campos de concentración de los Nazis, pero ni uno de ellos murió en las cámaras de gas.
 
‘El llamado Holocaust’, dice la bestia. Muy bonito. Este es el mismo tipo que describió los ataques del 11/Sep como un ‘trabajo interno’, diciendo que no fueron los aviones los que tiraron las torres sino que fueron “demolidas profesionalmente por una serie de cargas de demolición puestas de arriba a abajo en las torres”. Pero este sujeto sabe de todo!
 
http://romancatholicblog.typepad.com/roman_catholic_blog/images/2007/12/03/pope_benedict_xvi.jpgEste es el mismo sujeto a quien Benedicto XVI ahora le da la bienvenida con brazos abiertos. Sí, el mismo Benedicto XVI que hace poco declaró que “salvar a la humanidad de la conducta homosexual o transexual es tan importante como salvar la selva de la destrucción” (vean aquí). También se ha opuesto a la descriminalización de la homosexualidad en todo el mundo –incluyendo países en donde es castigada con la pena de muerte. Todo un emisario de la paz, eh?
 
Yo sé que tengo muchos problemas con el Vaticano, lo que representa y la la estructura política de la Iglesia. De hecho, desprecio todo eso. Pero así y todo, me caían bien tanto Juan Pablo I como Juan Pablo II. El primero murió –o fue asesinado- muy rápido, así que poco y nada pudo hacer, y JPII no era ningún gatito, pero los dos tenían un aire a… abuelito bueno. Seguro, Wojtyla mostró alguno de esos anacronismos que han definido a la Iglesia Católica en los últimos tiempos, pero también se ocupó de mejorar las relaciones con otras iglesias y fue visto por muchos como una figura influencial y pacífica.
 
Pero no este papa. Lamento si ofendo a alguien, pero Benedicto XVI me parece una persona tenebrosa. Y cuando hace las cosas que hace y dice las cosas que dice, sólo confirma mis temores.
 
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Tuesday, January 27, 2009

WW#65 - One too many


One too many glasses… of milk!

Durmiendo los dos juntitos (closeup)
Santi and Carolina (Mar/1997)

03_Juanito_durmiendo_en_el_pasillo
Juan – (Feb/2002)

04_Florencia_dormida
Florencia (Mar/2004)

05_Florencia_con_coca
Just add some props, and now she looks exactly like me! :-)


More pictures from Dianne, MommyWizdom, Napaboaniya and Jams ODonnell



Monday, January 26, 2009

Silly Monkey Stories #31 – Carolina’s wart

 
Canada26/Jan/2009 – Carolina (11)
 
I was having dinner with the kids last night (Gaby was teaching), and we started to talk about the stuff we can talk when Mom is not around: gross stuff. Among other things, we discussed the dangers of snarting (sneezing and farting at the same time, a word I like to believe I came up with), carting (same but with coughing), etc; then we talked about a gross South Park episode in which the kids were trying to find ‘the brown note’ (a note so low that playing it would make everybody… you get the idea). It was a lot of fun.
 
A few minutes later, Carolina said: “I had a wart once”. I looked at her, remembering that she had had not one, but two very painful warts on her toes not long ago; still, what she was saying had little to no connection to what we had been talking about. Yes, I remember”, I said, “but they’re gone now, aren’t they?”.
 
Carolina insisted: No, Dad, I had a wart. “I know”, I said, “so?”. Realizing that we weren’t on the same page, Carolina gave me more details about what she was trying to say:
 
- “No, Daddy; what I had was a ‘wart’. You know, when you’re walking and suddenly you start to fart with every step you take… You walk, and you fart = wart!”
 
That’s my daughter!
 
 
Argentina26/Ene/2009 – Carolina (11)
 
Estaba cenando con los chicos anoche (Gaby estaba dando clases), y comenzamos a hablar de las cosas de que hablamos cuando Mamá no está: cochinadas. Entre otras cosas, discutimos los terribles peligros del snarting (término en inglés que me gustaría pensar que acuñé yo y que denomina al acto de estornudar y escapársele a uno un pedo), el carting (lo mismo pero con la tos), etc; también recordamos un episodio bien cochino de South Park en el que los chicos trataban de encontrar ‘la nota marrón’ (una nota tan grave que el ejecutarla hacía que todo el mundo se… bueno, se entiende, no?). Fue muy divertido.
 
Unos minutos más tarde, Carolina dijo: “Yo tuve un wart (verruga) una vez”. La miré, recordando que había tenido no una sino dos verrugas muy dolorosas en los dedos de sus pies; igual, no tenía mucho sentido para mí que saliera con semejante cosa. Sí, me acuerdo”, le dije, “pero ya se te fueron, no?”.
 
Carolina insistió: No, Papi, un wart. “Ya sé”, repetí, “y?”. Dándose cuenta de que no estábamos hablando de lo mismo, Carolina se decidió a profundizar en el tema y dar más detalles sobre lo que trataba de decir:
 
- “No, Papi; lo que yo tuve un ‘wart’. Sabés, es cuando estás caminando y de golpe se te empiezan a escapar pedos con cada paso que das… Caminas (walk) y te tirás pedos (fart)… fart!”
 
Esa es mi hija!
 
IMG_2857
 
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Catching up

CanadaMike, from “Pehuajeando pa’l mundo” (and later Lorena, from “Travesías de los Varsano Cagnotti”) and Snoogypie from “This and that” have given me some blog awards, which I accept and thank profusely.

The interesting thing is that in both cases, I got a ‘blog award combo’ containing three individual awards together. Since ‘da rules’ specify that you have to pass it on to five people, I will do that… for each one of the six!

I got a seventh award, along with Ale Betoño, and this one comes from the guy with 1,000 different identities (he goes by “David Madoff Guzman” this week, and his blog’s name is “DMG Pirámide Cultural”… at least this week!). However, that ‘award’ was tongue-in-cheek and with no instructions to forward it, so I will just accept it gratefully.


Argentina
Mike, de “Pehuajeando pa’l mundo” (y luego Lorena, de “Travesías de los Varsano Cagnotti”) y Snoogypie de “This and that” me pasaron estos premios blogger, que acepto y agradezco humildemente.

Lo interesante del asunto es que ambos premios vinieron en forma de ‘combo’, combinando tres premios ‘más chiquitos’. Como ‘las reglas’ especifican que debo pasárselo a cinco personas, voy a hacer eso… con cada uno de los seis!

Tuve un séptimo premio, compartido con Ale Betoño, y este vino con el hombre de las 1,000 identidades (en estos días se hace llamar “David Madoff Guzman”, y el nombre de su blog es “DMG Pirámide Cultural”… al menos esta semana!). Sin embargo, como este ‘premio’ fue medio en broma y sin instrucciones de continuarlo, me limitaré a aceptarlo gustoso.

Award – Premio
Recipients - Nominados
anjos_amigos
  1. Kuanyin (“Poky, Dani y Andre”)
  2. Tulip (“Ecos de aquí y allá”)
  3. MCB (“Maria with Maria”)
  4. Ana María (“Muy al Norte”)
Best frens
  1. Ale Betoño (“El 22 en Canadá”)
  2. Arturo (“Cómo es Canadá?”)

blog_de_oro
  1. Jacqueline (“Casi en serio”)
  2. Mishelle (“Secret Agent Mama”)
  3. Jerry and Bobbie (“The Right Blue”)
Lemonade
  1. Lina (“Punto a punto”)
  2. Hannia (“Pura vida en Canadá”)
  3. Dianne (“Bunny Trails”)
  4. Yen (“Me and Mine”)
Premio__dardo
  1. Ann (“My life in Italy”)
  2. Jams O’Donnell (“The Poor Mouth”)
  3. Fran y Romi (“Inmigración Canadá”)
Sisterhood
  1. Shannon (“Cyberbones”)
  2. Lotus (“Sarcastic Mom”)
  3. Lunaisa (“Viana Pulido”)
  4. Ale Marge (“Los Marge en Canada”)


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