Tons of Love

Wishing you a happy new year 2011.
Us desitjo un feliç any nou 2011.

Necklace Perspex Hearts Pink and Yellow as seen in CX LONDON BOUTIQUE. And, you know... two thousand and eleven tons of love for all of you.

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My Card for You

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Our Figurine

As I said in my previous post, today I show you the Caganer, the star of every Catalan nativity scene, although in most cases you won't see him at first sight. He appeared in Catalan mangers at the end of the seventeenth century (in the Baroque), but did not become popular until the nineteenth century. He is usually portrayed as a peasant in a red hat — the typical Barretina, and a pipe, but he's also been modified to resemble the likeness of celebrities (the best selling this year is SpongeBob-Caganer), mostly soccer players and, above all, politicians.

The so-called "La Roja", winners of the soccer World Cup, and world leaders some of which you know well enough.

There are many explanations of this tradition. Let me say first that we put the Caganer in there just for fun, and because he has become a symbol of traditions that must not be lost — and won't be, not this one. Some say that with his action the Caganer enriches the soil and provides prosperity for the coming year. I find also amusing this one I found at the Wikipedia: "A possible reason for placing a man who is in the act of excreting waste in a scene which is widely considered holy may be to emphasize the idea that God will manifest himself when he is ready, without regard for whether we human beings are ready or not". By the way, the tradition of the Caganer is well accepted by the Church (however, I don't think the Pope is aware that you can purchase a Pope-Caganer if you want).

And this is our manger this year. Can you see the Caganer in there?

You'll see him better in my greeting card, in a conspicuous place. Could not be otherwise.

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A Figurine

I want to share with you a Catalan tradition I haven't mentioned before, no clue why I missed it... Surely the tradition of the Tió, which I explained last Christmas in my post Weird Little Friend, will be a good introduction to this one. But I'll talk about our Tió and its new performance, which will take place at Christmas day, in another post. This other tradition has to do with a figurine which is included in every Catalan crèche, usually tucked away in a corner, far from the manger itself, for children to find. This figure represents... Well I definitely need some help in this. Not just any help, but the assistance of BBC and Stephen Fry. Before viewing the video, note that 1. I am not responsible for BBC programs and 2. everything Mr. Fry states here is true:

So I've prepared the ground to an upcoming post where I'll show you our most indispensable and endearing Christmas figurine, the Caganer.

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Chapter One, First Paragraph

I have a well deserved reputation for not finishing anything I start, but considering that I actually ended my novella it would be nice to share it with you. I will try to translate it from Catalan to English in a very slow pace, turned into a micro-fiction series — and even knowing I won't ever finish this translation, at least I want to start it (I'm good at starting things). I wouldn't feel confident enough to do this alone, but maybe you could help me by telling me, e.g., which part of it doesn't sound natural, or isn't correct, or... Well, anything you have to say about it, anything at all, will be greatly appreciated. So without further ado:

1

He was told to go to bed in the Room of Hands. Since it was the first time it was called this way, he asked if they ment Joaquim's room. He insisted. They responded him that he already knew which one it was: the one at the end of the corridor. Adults needed his room, which was located in a more convenient part of the house, and not yet furnished. Andrea stepped out the room and closed the door. Robert understands it all, she said, he only asks because he has never seen those hands. When she said that he understood it all she stared at him strangely, with glazed eyes. She hugged and kissed him good night.

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Last Pictures Of Summer

Believe it or not, I took these photos in the middle of August. This completes the series of my pictures taken on Summer 2010 (I promise!).

Somewhere on the border between Spain and France.

Sheep (those little white dots...) in the mist of the Pyrenees.

This one looks more like a Summer photo. A former military stronghold in the town of Jaca, Aragon. It is surrounded by a truly dissuasive moat.

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Self Made Decorations

I set out to make many Christmas decorations like these ones for this post, but I run out of ideas after the second one. Anyway, I think you got my intention  :)

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Winter Journey. An Interview with Jaume Cabré

We Catalans often feel tempted to complain about being denied and hidden due to our lack of an independent state. Catalan literature, for instance, is surely a rarity within literary circles of Europe, because it is unknown and it is European. But rather than spending the day complaining (and thus getting bored!) why don't share and celebrate the good things we have here. Today I gathered some info and links I found on the internet related to one of our best writers, Jaume Cabré, and one of his books fortunately translated into English, Winter Journey. 

—In first place, an interview subtitled in English (in the snapshot you can read he's a music and art lover).

—Secondly, you can download one of the fourteen short stories included in Winter Journey, "Gottfried Heinrich's Dream", translated by Pat Lunn and published at Swan Isle Press, Chicago (2009), in which the leading character is none other than Bach, by clicking on the following link: Jaume Cabré. Winter Journey. In the remaining thirteen stories Jaume Cabré follows the trail of Rembrandt and Schubert, among others, through recent European history, from Vienna to Amsterdam, from Bosnia to Catalonia. Here you have the link to Amazon as well: Winter Journey.

—Finally, some words about Cabré's most acclaimed and recent book, not yet translated into English: Les veus del Pamano (Pamano voices). I leave you with the link to the Presentation of the Critics Prize in the Palau Robert, Barcelona, 2005, by Vicenç Pagès and an excerpt of it:

There are people who can compose an oboe solo that gives you goose bumps for fifteen seconds. Others, much fewer, excel at writing a piece of chamber music in which the violins set up a passionate and lively dialogue with the double bass. However, there is a scarcity of authors who, like Jaume Cabré, can successfully compose a symphony. Because Les veus del Pamano is just that, a symphony. Not so much in the sense of tempo or movements, but in the use of various instruments or, rather, groups of instruments, that come together in harmony in a text that can be described, albeit by changing musical genre, as polyphonic. — Vicenç PAGÈS

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Greeting Card Part I

This is a silly tiny movie I made some time ago for a youngster's birthday, and it's suitable as a Christmas greeting as well. Making this sort of movies is a lot of fun and you don't need a specific software, I at least just used a program I found in my Mac. I don't remember how many drawings I made for this video but at that time I already learned that the fewer drawings the better.

I split this "film" in two parts so you can expect the Return of the Silly Tiny Man in short :)

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December

The first image looks like a drawing, but in fact is what I see from my window, a good old building... And, as the second image, it was taken on a cold December morning.

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