FROGLEGS

In the comments from my last post, Joel asked what my take was on the stir that has been caused by an advertisement featuring the spanish national basketball team in which all fifteen squad members are shown making a “slit-eyed” gesture.

I found the following quotes from some of the squad members in an AP article:

The photo, which has been running as a newspaper spread in Spain since Friday, shows all 15 players making the gesture on a basketball court adorned with a Chinese dragon. The photo was part of a publicity campaign for team sponsor Seur, a Spanish courier company, and is being used only in Spain.

“It was something like supposed to be funny or something but never offensive in any way,” said Spain center Pau Gasol, who also plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. “I’m sorry if anybody thought or took it the wrong way and thought that it was offensive.”

Point guard Jose Manuel Calderon said the team was responding to a request from the photographer.

“We felt it was something appropriate, and that it would be interpreted as an affectionate gesture,” Calderon, who plays for NBA’s Toronto Raptors, wrote on his ElMundo.es blog. “Without a doubt, some … press didn’t see it that way.”

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Not a lot that I can say about the opening ceremonies that hasn’t already been said.  Very impressive.  For me the archer lighting the Olympic Flame from across the stadium is still the number one opening ceremony moment.

I got up early on Saturday morning to see the men’s cycling road race.  The race came down to the last second and a Spaniard pipped in on the final sprint and won by a head. Very exciting. I could actually hear neighbors cheering along with me as Samuel Sánchez crossed the finish line.  I think you miss those sorts of manifestations of community when you live in a more rural society (like the United States).  When was the last time you heard your neighbor cheering on your country in the Olympics?

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Aquí empieza mi andadura en el mundo de los blogs hispano-parlantes.  Perdona las faltas de ortografía y gramática.  No tengo tiempo ni paciencia para ponerme a corregir todo.  Así que, ¡Aguantaros!

El viernes pasado decidimos volver a un restaurante que no habíamos pisado en mas de un año.  Yo tenía ganas de una buena ensalada (bonita y barata también si fuera posible) y sabía que a los que me acompañaban les gustaba el sitio que tenía en mente.

(A brief aside for those that don’t speak spanish – I’m starting to write a bit in castellano now and then.  I doubt that any of it will be pertinent to your interests or that it will fit your context.  Just know that I’m not talking about you.  I promise that if I enter any topics having to do with an english speaking nation and its culture, I’ll be sure to write in my native language.)

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I believe I might need to eliminate a few words from my vocabulary.

Here is a picture of words I have used on my blog, generated by wordle.net.

Actually. Just. Pretty. Freaking. Brilliant.  But only if “Brilliant”’s secret meaning is actually “Embarrassing”.

The picture to the left is so distractingly cute that I fully realise no one may actually get past it to read what I am writing.

I snapped this pic while we were in the waiting room at the doctor’s office.  I don’t think that Robert is actually smiling because he is happy.  I am pretty sure it is a reflex to external stimuli that has no emotional value at all.  This, of course, does not change the fact that he is very cute when he does so or that it feels good to see your infant son smile.

My newfound talent is that I have about three top secret things that I can do to make him smile at pretty much any time.  Maybe a video post needs to happen in which I divulge my secrets? Hmmmm…

The doctor’s visit wasn’t for Robert, it was for Sophia.  Nothing to be alarmed about.

Quantum mechanics is the girl you meet at the poetry reading. Everyone thinks she’s really interesting and people you don’t know are obsessed about her. You go out. It turns out that she’s pretty complicated and has some issues. Later, after you’ve broken up, you wonder if her aura of mystery is actually just confusion.

Funny, my entire romantic life just clicked into focus.  Who would have thought that Physics would help me understand women?

via kottke.org/McSweeney’s