Heard from a Finn who had just visited Costa Rica:
“Costa Rica felt somehow similar to Finland. Also a small country, right after asking where are you from they would turn to “How do you like our country?”.”
I’m not so sure it is exclusive from small countries, but it is true that at least in Finland everybody asks you that.
Picture the scene: I’m in Finland after a while, go to the supermarket and find Lordi Cola. Then a kid around 8 years old stands in front of it, and starts singing “Hard Rock Hallelujah” with a French accent…
Priceless!
For the holidays at least. Feels really nice actually to be here. I understand the language and the people much better.
One thing that has caught my attention for a while now is how people see hair colour differently. For example: many people in northern Europe would describe my hair colour and my eyes as black, whereas in Mexico or in Africa my hair colour is brown, and so are my eyes. Same thing with blond, many people that I would consider blond really don’t think of themselves as blond, and vice-versa.
I was in a class the other day, and the teacher asked “Who here is from the Nordic countries?”. All my friends turned around and looked at me. Should I have said yes, or no?
Another post in the Rock en Español series.
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs is a group of Argentina that became very famous in the 90’s with their eclectic mix of rock, ska, jazz, tango, samba and big band. They had many members, but their singer and co-leader was Vicentico, who has since gone solo, the other leader being Sr. Flavio. They released many albums, but reached continental notoriety through their single Matador (Vasos Vacíos, 1993), whose video is below.
Other videos available in YouTube are:
Strawberry Fields Forever (Rey Azúcar, 1995) A cover on The Beatles.
Mal Bicho (Rey Azúcar, 1995)
Calaveras y Diablitos (Fabulosos Calavera, 1997)
La Vida (La Marcha del Golazo Solitario, 1999) This is a great video, and a great spoof.
More information, as usual, from Wikipedia.
Wandering through Technorati while taking a break from studying International Economics I found the Carl Sagan blog-a-thon. Many in my audience will probably not have the slightest idea about who this man who died 10 years ago today was and why is he important, so check out Wikipedia.
In Mexico, where I grew up, I don’t think they ever broadcasted the Cosmos PBS series, but I was fortunate enough that my school had bought the tapes (yes, tapes, after all, I was 8 or so at the time). Also at the same age, I received as a birthday present the book “Comet” from a neighbour. It was a present I devoured, and made me realise that science can be as much fun as science fiction (even though later I discovered I don’t have the patience to be a scientist myself). During the following years I bought Cosmos, Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence, Pale Blue Dot and The Demon-Haunted World. I also joined the Planetary Society as a kid, with which my name went to Mars in the Mars Pathfinder (I’m not currently a member, but plan on rejoining). He is one of two persons (the other being Isaac Asimov) that planted firmly in my mind the idea that colonising other planets is what our species needs if it wants to survive (all this before global warming and the terrorist threat became the issues they are now).
He died on December 20th, 1996 after a long battle with mielodysplasia. Even though he didn’t believe in God the way I do, my prayers are with him and his family 😉 .
I was checking out some forums I post in from time to time, and they had a thread about your personal highlights for 2006. I have to say that it got me thinking.
This year’s gone in a blur! Below my highlights of this year that is about to end:
1. Family & friends are all healthy and doing well.
2. Still with the same girl for the last 6 years and loving every minute of it!
3. Got a lot of recognition at my job, but still went on study leave.
4. Travelled quite a bit: Chilangolandia (Mexico City), London, Dubai, Tokyo, Tel-Aviv, Berlin, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Barcelona…
5. Moved to Brussels from Helsinki to start a masters in international business. Enjoying it immensely! This city is great, and I needed a change.
5.5. I’ve found a different side of myself, and got in touch with my creative side (even started a blog).
6. Started another couple of languages (# 7 & 8). I still speak them like crap, though…
7. Met a lot of interesting people, but still keep in touch with my old friends.
8. Reconnected with some people I hadn’t seen in quite a while.
9. Learned to cook sushi! And chicharrón en salsa verde, hehehehe.
10. Discovered new music (Nortec Collective rules).
Don’t know what life will bring next year, but that makes it even more exciting. I have no idea about where I’m going to live after I finish my degree next summer, and you know what? No problem!
With 2006 being the year of Web 2.0, it was bound to happen. Head over to TIME.com to read the articles.
I’ve been asked so many times about certain things I do that I decided to explain.
Update: The video is available here.
