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Oscar’s night tonight. I won’t be watching it though. It’s really mean to do it on a Sunday, at two in the morning. Really mean. I remember when I used to watch it, when I was at Uni and would skip the lectures on the Monday. But I can’t just skip work now. What a shame…
My wishful list of winners this year is:
- Best actor: Mickey Rourke. I haven’t seen The Wrestler, but everybody says he deserves it. So I’ll support that 
- Best supporting actor: Heath Ledger. I think this is the most obvious one. There’s not contest here.
- Best actress: Kate Winslet. Just because I think she’s a great actress and she should have won the Oscar years ago with Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind
- Best supporting actress: Penélope Cruz – well, wouldn’t it be just great?!
- Animated film: Wall-E. Great great film, greatly done with a great message behind. A must-see.
- Best picture: Slumdog Millionaire. Simply the best film I’ve seen in years.
- Best director: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire.
I know Benjamin Button has been nominated to lots and it will probably will win some, but I’d be very happy if my choices win
We’ll see in the morning.
I’m not a writer. There was a time in my life when I wanted to become one, but I guess I gave up because I wasn’t talented enough. End of story.
The book I’m reading at the moment is called “The Fiction Class” by Susan Breen. It’s about this middle aged woman who is not very successful as a writer and teaches a course (“Fiction Course”) to adults. The story mixes bits about the fiction course, the protagonist’s personal life and some stories that her mum has written. At the end of each chapter there are “Writing Assessments”, and here is where my story begins.
The Writing Assessment I went for is the following:
“Think of a person from history who intrigues you. Napoleon? Cleopatra? Martin Luther King? Write a two-to-three page description of that person eating a meal. What would s/he eat? How would s/he eat? What would s/he be thinking about as s/he ate? Would someone be sharing the meal with him or her? What would they talk about? Remember: BRING YOUR CHARACTER TO LIFE!”
Well, my first obstacle was finding someone to talk about. I wanted someone original, different, with a strong personality. Someone easy to define. Somehow, Dali came to mind, but then I realised that I don’t know that much about his personality. Yes, I know he was a very successful artist, very eccentric, and egocentric.
I didn’t plan what I was going to write. I didn’t make a sketch of my main characters or wrote a list of adjectives that I would be using. I just grabbed pen and paper and started writing. This is what came out… :/
Salvador got early to the restaurant. His booking was for two o’clock but he arrived at one. Of course his usual table was not ready but that didn’t bother him: Right now he just wanted a drink. Walking through the narrow parisian streets had tired him out. Montmartre was still his favourite part of the city. Even after all those years, the bohemian atmosphere could still be felt around. At the end of the day he was an artist and this was the artists’ corner.
He got served at the bar whilst his table was being prepared.
- “Just a red wine glass please. Actually, leave the bottle”
Elena should arrive any moment and he wanted to make her see that he had been waiting for her. He wouldn’t reproach her, but he would definitely make her feel guilty for it. She should know by now how much he appreciates punctuality.
They had been seeing each other for just a few months now. He didn’t take her seriously. Who takes journalists seriously? She seemed more interested in discussing his art than any other aspect of their relationship, so he felt like this could be their last lunch together.
The waiter finally showed Salvador to his table now ready for him, and offered the menu du jour. He had eaten so many times in this local diner that he already knw what he’d have: mushroom omelette and a green salad. No dressing on the salad, sil vou plait.
He looked over the used and worn out piece of paper that the menu had become just to see Elena coming through the door. It was quarter to two. She was early, but not early enough.
Salvador stood up and kissed her on the lips. It was a cold kiss, a premonition of what was going to happen, a summary of their relationship for the last few months.
- “Have you been waiting long?”
- “Half and hour”
- “I’m terribly sorry, I thought we were to meet at two” – She was genuinely sorry.
- “Nevermind, we’re here now” said he bitterly.
The waiter approached the table to take the orders. He was a young boy, only seventeen, helping the family business. He still know nothing about life. He saw the couple, a very strange couple, looking in different directions.
Salvador was in his 60s. Elena had just turned 35. Salvador could still be considered a bohemian, like one of those parisians at the beginning of the 19th century. Elena however looked like she had escaped from a Sophie Kinsella novel. Spotless makeup, chic hairdo, wearing the latest Jimmy Choo’s.
- “I’ll have the mushroom omelette and a green salad. No dressing on the salad, please”.
- “Oui monseur. Madam?”
- “Mademoiselle, actually. Erm… I’ll have the same. Thanks”.
For an instant, whilst the waiter was wiritting the order down, Salvador felt something. Somehting stirred inside him. He had looked at Elena in the eye and he had wanted to say something. Yes, this was the moment to break the news. However, Elena -who could feel something was going on in his head- interrupted his train of though and started talking first.
- “How’s that new painting coming along?”
- “Erm… Not bad… It’s almost finished” he managed to say. He hated losing his concentration.
- “When can I see it?”
- “I don’t think you can, Elena”
- “Why not?” She was intrigued now.
- “I don’t want you to”
- “Excuse me?”
- “I don;t want you to see my painting. I don’t want you to come to my house again. I don’t want you to come near me. Full stop. If that’s not clear enough, I could make a sketch for you”
She was dumbstruck. She had not seen this one coming. She thought she had won him over with her charms and good looks, although she new deep down inside her that the relationship had never properly worked. She had felt starstruck the first time they met at a common friend’s party. She had not believed her luck. She was talking to the famous Salvador! No, she hadn’t believed her luck in the same way that now she couldn’t believe what was happening.
Salvador was about to stand up and leave when the waiter arrived with their food.
Suddenly he was quite hungry. All that walking in the narrow streets had taken its toll. So he sat down again. He looked deeply into his plate. “This very second I feel closer to these mushrooms than to you” he said. He lifted his gaze from the plate and saw that Elena was laughing.
He didn’t want to engage on a conversation. Not THAT conversation, the one starting with “What are you laughing about”, because he had a bad feeling about it.
- “You know why I’m laughing? No? Don’t yu want to know? Well, basically, after two days with you my editor asked me to keep a diary about you. <<Only the dirty stuff, you know>> he had said. And I did. I’ve been an insider in your life for months and you didn’t even know!” she laughed. “So now the world is going to learn who you really are. This diary is going to get published and you cherished popularity and fame will die with you, you old fag. Now eat your sad salad without dressing. Goodbye”
Salvador watched her throw her omelette at his plate, stand up and go. He stared into his plate once again and started eating.
Mushroom omelette had never been so delicious.
THE END.
I still don’t know what’s going on in my head to come up with something like this. Was it so difficult to stick to the actual topic? I’ll probably give some of the other assessments a go as well. Maybe I’ll come up with something more cheerful.
Jon and I spent a very special Valentine’s Day yesterday. I had got him a “Haf-Day Experience” at the English School of Falconry in Bedfordshire. I originally tried to get the Experience through the Tesco’s Clubcard Points for his birthday, but they were full for that weekend, and when the lady told me that they had the 14th of February free I didn’t think twice and booked it.
The actual place was not very easy to find and it was about an hour and half drive, but it was definetely worth it. The surroundings of the school were gorgeous. I was amazed to find out that the school was located inside Shuttleworth College which is basically a college to become a farmer! The whole concept is so weird to me… I always thought that farming is a skill/knowledge that is passed from parents to children and so on. I never thought you could go to college to learn all those things! That college has, for example, courses on Crop Production, Fish Husbandry and Countryside Management. Weird.
But going back to the Experience Day… We got there just with enough time to say hello and have a cup of tea. There was 6 of us, although another couple were only there for two hours and didn’t do the final Eagle Flying. Firstly we went to see the owls, from very small ones to really big and heave ones.
The little fella above on top is Louie, the smallest and cutest owl I’ve ever seen in my life. He was so quiet and at peace with people around him. And he was so light, you could easily forget you were holding him at all! Not like the following one (I forgot the name) who was so heavy I had to give him back to the carer earlier than I would have liked!
After visiting all different types and sizes of owls we went to fly them. Basically they stand on a pole and from a distance you kind of call them and they come and sit on your arm and then you can feed them (they eat almost anything, the carer said. We were giving them dead chicks. Apparently, some baby roosters get thrown away anyway so they are given to Bird Farms to feed the birds)
I must say that we enjoyed the day a lot, but it was freezing cold and we got tired very soon. After the Experience day we went to the nearest pub to have lunch (we were starving!), and it happened to be a Michellin-starred pub. I was called The Hare and Hounds and it had delicious food (although I enjoyed my scallops but my stomach was a bit dodgy later on in the evening).
Jon and I loved the place, the surroundings, the nature, the peace and quite of the countryside… We have kind of decided (although we already knew) that at some point in the future we will HAVE TO move to the countryside and live in a cottage. We will definetely have several dogs and a massive log fire.
Music in Spanish, or Spanish music?
A couple of days ago I wrote a post about my favourite records. They were all English-language bands/singers, so I thought I’d write a few words about those songs in Spanish that mean something to me.
This time I’m only going to mention specific artists and songs, not whole albums. I don’t know why, I can’t think right now of an album that as a whole really meant that much to me. Yes, I got the albums and would listen to them, but I would always single out specific songs. My favourite songs.
Now, there’s a secondary question in this issue: Spanish bands that sing in English. Okay then, I’ll include them as well..
So, in no particular order….:
- 091 – La canción del espantapájaros, Otros como yo
- Los Piratas – Fecha caducada, M
- Los Planetas – Segundo Premio, De viaje
- Héroes del Silencio – Héroe de leyenda, No más lágrimas, (actually, any from “El mar no cesa”) Entre dos tierras
- Danza Invisible – 10 razones para vivir, Sabor de amor
- Loquillo – Cadillac solitario
- Duncan Dhu – En algún lugar, Rozando la eternidad, Entre salitre y sudor�
- Luz Casal – Te dejé marchar, No me importa nada
- Mecano – La fuerza del destino, Hijo de la luna, Mujer contra mujer, Cruz de Navajas
- Platero y tú – El roce de tu cuerpo
- Ismael Serrano – Vértigo (this song always makes me cry)
- El último de la fila - Músico loco, Cuando el mar te tenga
- Los Secretos – Ojos de gata, Y no amanece
- Sober – La prisión del placer, Cubos
- Dover – Serenade, Hitter
- Sexy Sadie – A brand new world, Stay behind me
- Amaral – Sin ti no soy nada, Te necesito
- Los Lunes – Los años que nos quedan por vivir
- Joaquin Sabina – Por el boulevard de los sueños rotos, Ruido
- El Canto del Loco – Aquellos años locos, Insoportable
- Radio Futura – Annabel Lee
- Alex Ubago – Sin miedo a nada
- Alejandro Sanz – Toca para mi
- Nino Bravo – Un beso y una flor
And I’m pretty sure that there are many many many more that I’m not remembering at the moment!
DONE:
- I’ve attended my first meeting on my own. It may not look like a big deal, but it really is. If you stop to think about it, it was ME representing the company! People turned to me to ask questions and I had to deliver them! I must say that for the first 45 minutes I was pretty confident, as I actually knew the answers to the questions. Then the thing started getting technical and I had to say “Sorry, but I can’t honestly answer that, I’ll have to check with Graham and come back to you on that” Not very professional, but better than staring into space and looking stupid!
WATCHED:
- I’ve watched Failure to Launch, a romantic comedy with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey. It was actually funnier than I thought and had a few moments of real laughter. Once again though, the DVD from Lovefilm.com was considerably scratched and had to skip a few minutes forward for it to play. I’ve been using this service since 2005 and never had a serious complaint, but have to say that in the last few months the quality of the DVDs has worsened.
- After the film I’ve watched the footy: Spain v England. Of course, Spain won There’s a reason why Spain were the Euro Champions whilst England didn’t even clasify.
THOUGHT:
Silly thoughts that came to my head today:
- How much shorter is Silva compared to Peter Crouch?
- How much money has the Andalucia’s tourist board spent in Marketing? Everywhere I go I see the “Andalucia Loves You” banners… I bet they’re not cheap.
- Why is Tesco’s own Couscous so much worse than Ainsley Harriott’s one? You can’t go back to the cheap stuff once you’ve tried the expensive one…
- Do footballers actually watch football matches (in which they’re not playing?)
- Are Zooey Deschanel and Katie Perry sisters?
LOLed:
- I LOVE the new Cadbury’s advert, it makes me laugh out loud…
- There are a few really funny scenes in “Failure to Launch” where Matthew McCounaghey gets bitten by several “peaceful” animals…
