La canción de la semana #298

...is Que no se acabe la fe by a young Cuban singer Danay Suárez Fernandez. Although mostly known for her hip-hop and R&B work, here mademoiselle chante le blues: pure and simple.

La canción de la semana #297

...is Pistear, Pistear, Pistear by Chuy Lizarraga y Su Banda Tierra Sinaloense.

cardinales y ordinales

First published 13 December 2011 @ sólo algunas palabras

Last Friday, on the way back from school, Timur and I talked about difference between números cardinales (cardinal numbers) and números ordinales (ordinal numbers). I used to confuse which are which until I mentally connected ordinal with Spanish masculine noun orden (order). So, that’s it: ordinal numbers are those that refer to positions within some ordered list, and cardinal numbers are... the other ones (those which represent quantities). Unlike English, where the ordinal numerals beyond 1st, 2nd and 3rd are typically formed by simply adding -th suffix to the corresponding cardinal numerals, Spanish has rather different terminology for ordinals.

OK, to an English speaker primero, segundo, tercero etc. should not sound exactly alien. Apart from first, second, third, fourth and so on, English has another set of ordinal numbers derived from Latin: primary, secondary, tertiary, quaternary... well, that’s about as far as it gets. I’ve never encountered quinary, senary and higher in either literature or conversation. Also, if you ever learned basics of music theory in a language other than English, the names of intervals are all very similar to Spanish ordinal numbers. But this is probably a topic for next post.

It is said that ordinal numbers above ten are seldom used in Spanish. Indeed, go googling for “mil novecientos sesenta y siete” and you’ll get thousands of hits. Now try to do the same with “milésimo noningentésimo sexagésimo séptimo”. The obvious explanation is that ordinals are significantly longer than cardinals. Still, it’s good to know one when you see one, so I think the table below may come handy *.

Cardinales		Ordinales
0	cero	—	—
1	uno	1º	primero
	un	1er	primer
	una	1ª	primera
2	dos	2º	segundo
		2ª	segunda
3	tres	3º	tercero
		3er	tercer
		3ª	tercera
4	cuatro	4º	cuarto
5	cinco	5º	quinto
6	seis	6º	sexto
7	siete	7º	séptimo
8	ocho	8º	octavo
9	nueve	9º	noveno
10	diez	10º	décimo
11	once	11º	undécimo
12	doce	12º	duodécimo
13	trece	13º	decimotercero
14	catorce	14º	decimocuarto
15	quince	15º	decimoquinto
16	dieciséis	16º	decimosexto
17	diecisiete	17º	decimoséptimo
18	dieciocho	18º	decimoctavo
19	diecinueve	19º	decimonoveno
20	veinte	20º	vigésimo
21	veintiuno	21º	vigésimo primero
22	veintidós	22º	vigésimo segundo
23	veintitrés	23º	vigésimo tercero
24	veinticuatro	24º	vigésimo cuarto
25	veinticinco	25º	vigésimo quinto
26	veintiséis	26º	vigésimo sexto
27	veintisiete	27º	vigésimo séptimo
28	veintiocho	28º	vigésimo octavo
29	veintinueve	29º	vigésimo nono
30	treinta	30º	trigésimo
31	treinta y uno	31º	trigésimo primero
32	treinta y dos	32º	trigésimo segundo
33	treinta y tres	33º	trigésimo tercero
40	cuarenta	40º	cuadragésimo
50	cincuenta	50º	quincuagésimo
60	sesenta	60º	sexagésimo
70	setenta	70º	septuagésimo
80	ochenta	80º	octogésimo
90	noventa	90º	nonagésimo
100	cien	100º	centésimo
101	ciento uno	101º	centésimo primero
200	doscientos	200º	ducentésimo
300	trescientos	300º	tricentésimo
400	cuatrocientos	400º	cuadringentésimo
500	quinientos	500º	quingentésimo
600	seiscientos	600º	sexcentésimo
700	setecientos	700º	septingentésimo
800	ochocientos	800º	octingentésimo
900	novecientos	900º	noningentésimo
1000	mil	1000º	milésimo
1001	mil uno	1001º	milésimo primero
1002	mil dos	1002º	milésimo segundo
2000	dos mil	2000º	dosmilésimo
2011	dos mil once	2011º	dosmilésimo undécimo
3000	tres mil	3000º	tresmilésimo
4000	cuatro mil	4000º	cuatromilésimo
5000	cinco mil	5000º	cincomilésimo
10.000	diez mil	10.000º	diezmilésimo
100.000	cien mil	100.000º	cienmilésimo
500.000	quinientos mil	500.000º	quinientosmilésimo
1.000.000	un millón	1.000.000º	millonésimo

* In Diccionario panhispánico de dudas and Spanish Wikipedia, the symbols for ordinal numerals contain a full stop (1.º, 3.^er, 5.ª), while Collins dictionaries do not (1º, 3^er, 5ª). I used this latter style in the table. Also, starting with 4, I listed only masculine ordinals. I hope you don’t think this sexist. To get feminine forms, simply replace the terminal -o’s with -a’s and º’s with ª’s). Maybe one day Real Academia Española will admit uses like 1^@ and segund@, why not.

La canción de la semana #296

...is Río Negro by Christoph Müller and Eduardo Makaroff (of Gotan Project fame), from El Gaucho, a film by Andrés Jarach.

Falsos amigos

First published 8 November 2011 @ sólo algunas palabras

The other day, I was chatting with a friend of mine about Spanish/English false friends: the words that look or sound similar but often mean very different things. Classic examples of these are constipado vs constipated and embarazada vs embarrassed. A good list of such falsos amigos is compiled by Laura K. Lawless.

Some words are written (although not pronounced) exactly the same in English and Spanish, for instance these:

Word	English	Spanish
actual	existing in reality	current, present
agenda	a list of matters to be taken up	diary
arena	an enclosed area for the presentation of spectacular events	sand
cargo	freight	charge; position
hay	cut and dried grass	there is, there are
local n	a person who lives nearby	location, premises, site
mama	mother	breast
manga	a Japanese comic style	sleeve
mayor	the leader of a city	bigger; older
media	plural of medium; environment	sock, stocking, pantyhose; mean, average; half
once	one and only one time; as soon as	eleven
pan	flat vessel used in cooking	bread
quince	a tree, Cydonia oblonga, or its fruit	fifteen
real	existing in reality	existing in reality; royal
red	a colour	network, web
sensible	reasonable	sensitive
sin	a violation of a moral or religious law	without
taller	more tall	workshop
tan	a darkening of the skin after exposure to UV light	so, as

La canción de la semana #295

Nine minutes of beauty: Peace Pipes (Pipas de la Paz) by legendary Argentinian prog-rockers Arco Iris.

La canción de la semana #294

...is Las Cuarenta by Antonio Carmona in duet with Concha Buika. This song appears on Carmona's new album De Noche (read more here).

Dear Diary 33

by Rod

'I only have to look at food and I put on weight' [Thinks: She must look at an awful lot of food is all I can say.]

'Isn't he sweet. Did I say that out loud?' Amazingly, this was said about me – admittedly by a very drunk dyke. Funny, I've never seen myself in those terms...

As Geordie wouldn't pay Scouser, the patio didn't get finished; Geordie had to do it himself. Mrs Geordie had insisted on a difficult diagonal pattern for the tiles (If you’re not paying, go for the best, that's what I always say.) I had a look at the new bit he had laid. Geordie had them lined up fine in one direction but totally wrong in the other. 'It's not really Scouser's fault but I can't line them up both ways because of the way he did it originally.' Rubbish! For the technically minded you just draw a line down both diagonals and where they meet is where you put the first tile on the new bit. 'Simples.' It does not look good...but Geordie can - and does - blame Scouser. (Better than admitting it's his fault to Mrs Geordie – she's scary.)

Talking of Scouser, his grandson had a tattooist kit for his 18^th birthday. Yep! He asked Scouser if he could practise on him. He now sports quite possibly the worst tattoo I have ever seen. And the grandson is going to 'improve' it the next time they meet up. I look forward to seeing the result...

We finally got fed up with having no water pressure so we had a reserve tank and a pump fitted. Unfortunately I fell for the sales talk about having the biggest tank possible. We are now the proud possessors of a 1000litre water tank. Talk about trying to ignore the elephant in the corner...still we are unlikely to run out of water – unless we have a water cut an power cut at the same time.

Herminia told us how lovely the front of our house looked. We hadn't actually started to repaint it at the time said it. Maybe she is colour blind or just being polite?

Everybody in the village knows about Geordie's drinking habits now. He is only allowed 3 litres of beer and 60 cigarettes a day. All rationed by Mrs Geordie. But he's a canny lad. When he goes for his daily 3 bottles he buys an extra, large, can and hides in the plaza and drinks it down with an extra fag before toddling home. Unfortunately all the bread, milk and veg delivery men have noticed and point him out to all and sundry. He still thinks no-one has noticed. Bless him.

The Toxteth Terminators are back. Drunk all day puking in the bar peeing in the street (an that's just the women!) They must have just got out of prison again. A Spanish girl wants to rent their house when they are away... I suggested to her this was probably not a good idea. They've gone again now, but not forgotten.

One of the Spanish families we know is going to Edinburgh. The husband is going to drive. He says it is easy, based on the 200 yards he drove on a totally deserted private lane in England with us a couple of years ago. I think he's in for a shock. They were having difficulty finding accommodation, then we realised they had decided to go the week before the Edinburgh Festival. Still all seems to be OK now. STOP PRESS No, they have just been to the house to get yet another email sorted out. So far they have booked rooms (twice) in a 4* hotel, cancelled them and then booked an apartment.

Antonio across the road, rested his bike against the boot of his shiny new car car then slammed the garage door. Result big dent in the boot lid...

Guardian Reader has scrapped another tyre! Only this time, as they no longer make that model of tyre, he needs to buy 2! I think the garage is having a laugh... Apparently when driving he is better at turning right than left. This could be a bit limiting. He also decided to go for broke whilst overtaking and went head-to-head in a game of chicken with a white transit van coming the other way on a windy mountain road whilst he was overtaking a slow car. He lost. Apparently all three passengers in the car were reduced to tears and thought they were going to die. (Brown trousers and bicycle clips all round?)

Bertha and Desperate Dan called. (The ones who never pay for a round in the pub...) They never call me so they must have a problem... Yep! Their PC has broken! They have never backed up their data - 6 years' worth! They have already 'borrowed' my recovery software and I talked them through 'safe mode' and modifying the BIOS and I have even offered them an installation disc they can use – but I'm not going to actually do the new install for them. They still had the cheek to ask if they could they also 'borrow' a memory stick for their data backup? 'No...'

DD&BB were driven by friends to a pub so they could see their daughter. Sat down, bought 2 drinks for themselves but not their friendly driver and his wife! Paid of their own meal separately and didn't pay towards the petrol either! Lovely people.

All the paint fell off our garage door so we had to repaint it. We finally settled on a 2-pack epoxy. The trouble is it starts to harden as soon as you mix the two components together. So I had just two hours to get both doors painted – before the paint set rock hard and the sun came round to that part of the house and burned what I had just done. The speed I would have liked to paint at was that of the 'William Tell Overture' the speed I could actually get the paint on to was more 'Handel's Largo'. It was a close-run thing! The last bit of paint solidified in the tin as the sun came round onto the garage doors and the temperature shot up to unbearable.

Mr & Mrs GR rushed up breathlessly and asked where the metalwork shop was that they had just visited in the next village. Huh? They described it perfectly right down to the receptionist! No, I couldn't work it out either. I didn't ask...

There we were, minding our own business in the queue in the bank, when a very irate builder with three big, burly, muddy, employees in tow marched up to the front - funnily enough we didn't protest. He then treated us to a tirade about the liars and cheats on the local council who hadn't paid him for work he had done. He then proceeded to name them one by one! After this he made a great show of asking each of his workers how much he was owed and paid it out of his own bank account. They looked very embarrassed but no doubt were very glad to get their money. I suspect there has been a similar problem with the new road bridge that has just been built. When I left in mid-October it was all but finished. A full month later it is still not open. Maybe that builder is waiting for his money too?

We are used to the local children practising their English on us but the Gypsy boy's 'Good morning' turned out to be 'Give money' when we listened more closely.

After arriving at a restaurant on a Sunday/Festival day without a reservation and being kindly found a table, my table-mate panicked when told there may not be a set meal that day muttering: 'I'm not paying for a la carte' then standing up to leave without checking – even after being found a table on a very busy day!
Has Dear Diary reached its 'sell by' date? Please let me know what you think. I get very few replies from most of the people I send Dear Diary to. I'm sure that interesting, odd and quirky things happen to you as well. I'd love to hear about them.
That's all folks!

La canción de la semana #293

...is called Yo Soy Salsamuffin. Yes, that's right! After a five-year break, the one and only salsamuffin man Sergent Garcia is back with a new album, Una y otra vez.

La canción de la semana #292

Silly, silly, silly. And not very, um, politically correct: Pamela Chu, performed by "los creadores de la technobanda", the Mexican band Vaqueros Musical.

Molinas y molinos

From the latest (November 2011) issue of Fuerteventura Grapevine:

Fuerteventura's windmills are identifiable by gender. Female windmills (moilinas) are one storey high rectangular buildings, while male windmills (moilinos) are 2 or 3 stories and circular.

Molinos date from mid to late 1700s, they were round and built out of stone and wood and whitewashed with lime. The miller's tools were stored on the ground floor, the grain on the second and the milling machinery on the top floor.

Most moilinos and moilinas have four sails although there are some with six or even twelve.

La canción de la semana #291

...is Lamento boliviano, performed by Argentinian rockers Enanitos Verdes.

La canción de la semana #290

...is El Alma En Los Labios performed by the famous Ecuadorian pasillo singer Julio Jaramillo aka "El Ruiseñor de América" (1935—1978). Since 1993, his birthday is celebrated as Día Nacional del Pasillo ecuatoriano (1 October). Listen to more of JJ's songs here.

La canción de la semana #289

...is Boy Meets Girl, a duet of Anoushka Shankar with guitarist Pepe Habichuela.

La canción de la semana #288

...is Cimarroneando by the Colombian band Cimarrón. Their new album Joropo Music from the Plains of Colombia (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings) is out now.

La canción de la semana #287

The Trio Chemirani are three Iranian percussionists, Bijan, Djamchid and Keyvan Chemirani. This week's song, Azadeh, is taken from their latest album, Invite, and features guest Malian kora player Ballaké Sissoko and Cuban pianist Omar Sosa.

La canción de la semana #286

What a bummer! Recent "improvement" of blip.fm has rendered all songs I've blipped unavailable, while we7 moved to subscription-only mode. So much for "free music". I'd like to apologise to my readers since many links to songs published here may not be of any use.

Oh well, we have to move on. This week's song is No te iras by Dominican salsero Sexappeal (no, I don't think it is that good a stage name, even for a non-English-speaking country, but there you go), from his 2006 album Mal o Bien.

La canción de la semana #285

...is Menino do bairro negro, beautifully performed by Galician singer Uxía. This song appears on her new album Meu Canto, recorded in Brazil.

La canción de la semana #284

...is Arco Iris, the title track of the new album by the Moroccan singer Amina Alaoui.

Coffee Break Spanish

Just finished listening to Coffee Break Spanish — free course of 80 Spanish lessons. Each lesson is between 15 and 25 minutes, so it makes it ideal to listen to while walking, or on (waiting for the) bus (train), or, indeed, during the coffee break of any description. It is a good fun and I learned quite a lot from Mark and Kara. (And I just adore the Scottish accent!) The second part of the course was more challenging, at least for me, since I find it difficult to visualise the verb conjugation tables without writing things down.


Lesson 77 was actually the first lesson that I heard back in May and, surprise surprise, it deals with some peculiarities of Canarian Spanish.

La canción de la semana #283

Browsing the free music collection of Other Minds Archive, I came across this fascinating live recording of legendary Chilean group Inti-Illimani.

At Stanford University on October 30, 1973, Inti-Illimani, a Chilean folk music group, performed in concert, just months after the military coup in Chile had led to the their exile as well as the death of their fellow folk singer and frequent collaborator, Victor Jara. Saved from a similar fate by the fact that they were on tour in Europe at the time of Pinochet's violent take over, the group took this opportunity to offer a poignant tribute to Jara and other victims of the fascist regime.

Almost twenty years later, Inti-Illimani were once again able to record in Chile. This week's song, Mulata, is taken from the band's 1993 album Andadas.

La canción de la semana #282

...is Impermeable azul, the Spanish version of Leonard Cohen's classic Famous Blue Raincoat, performed by Christina Rosenvinge. This song appears on 2CD + DVD set Acordes Con Leonard Cohen, recorded live in Barcelona in 2007 and featuring such artists as Perla Batalla, Jackson Browne and Duquende.

La canción de la semana #281

From the flamenco maestro José Mercé — Cuban-style Todos Seremos!

La canción de la semana #280

...is Mestizo, from the Galician pianist and composer Alberto Conde. This beautiful flamenco-flavoured jazz waltz appears on Andaina by the Alberto Conde Trío featuring Baldo Martínez and Nirankar Khalsa.

ZumbaFuerteventura

I must admit that, since I moved to Fuerte, I was a bit neglecting this (and my other) blogs. So why on earth did I start another one? To promote myself, that's why. Also, to give Posterous a try. (Sorry Blogger.)

With Posterous, one can easily create blog posts by email. I tried this and it works like magic. Of course, it's always possible to come back and edit this post with web editor.

So people, if you have nothing better to do, please visit zumbafuerteventura and maybe even share the link with your Zumba friends!

La canción de la semana #279

From my copyleft heroes, Canteca de Macao: the live version of Música!

Abrázame y sácame a bailar contigo!

La canción de la semana #278

...is Mezcalito by this blog's (and my) favourite artist, Lila Downs. This song appears on her forthcoming album, Pecados y Milagros.

Pecados y Milagros tiene que ver musicalmente con una serie de canciones que he estado componiendo sobre el mezcal, sobre las mujeres que hacen tortillas, y sobre todo del maíz, inspirada por mi hijo, que es un maicito tierno.

I can't wait.

La canción de la semana #277

This week, time for some modern classical music: Preludio y Merengue written by Cuban-born jazz saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera. This composition appears on Riberas, his collaboration with Cuarteto de Cuerdas Buenos Aires.

La canción de la semana #276

Continuing with salsa: this week it is Yuri Buenaventura with, you may have guessed it, Salsa.

La canción de la semana #275

Continuing with bass players: this week (at long last, some may say), it is the turn of the Venezuelan bassist, singer and bandleader Oscar D'León, also known as El Sonero del Mundo! His biggest hit, recorded back in 1975, was — probably still is — Llorarás.

La canción de la semana #274

In case you didn't know it already, I have a soft spot for bass players. And guess what, I have an even softer spot for female bass players. A couple of years ago, I discovered for myself the young American bassist, vocalist and composer Esperanza Spalding. Earlier this year, she became the first jazz artist to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. This week's song is Chacarera from her last album, Chamber Music Society.

La canción de la semana #273

Yet another song stuck in my head, yet again thanks to Luisa's zumba class: Suavemente by Elvis Crespo, from his 1998 debut album.

La canción de la semana #272

...is Taki Ti Taki performed by Susana Baca. According to Baca,

This is a song from Venezuela, one of the many complex rhythms played by the drummers of Guatuire. Venezuela has a variety of rhythms and musical forms that are very sophisticated... These are songs from the drummers that play to San Juan in June and sing songs in tribute for hours. We share similar roots in Spain and Africa but there are very different nuances that come out. It is a song that spoke to me, "Taki Ti Taki" refers to the rhythm and the adoration of San Juan and we feel it is close to our own culture and a part of the culture of the Americas.

This song appears on her wonderful new album, Afrodiaspora.

¡Nadie espera a la inquisición española!

Today, Yuri asked how to say in Spanish "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition". I was unable to find the Spanish version straight away; here's the sketch in English with Spanish subtitles.

"¡Nadie espera encontrarse a la Inquisición española! Nuestra principal arma es la sorpresa, y el miedo... Nuestras dos armas principales son la sorpresa y el miedo, y una eficacia despiadada... Nuestras tres armas son el miedo, la sorpresa y una eficacia despiadada, y una devoción fanática por el Papa... Nuestras cuatro... Entre nuestras armas hay elementos como el miedo, la sorpresa... Volvamos a entrar."

"¡No esperaba encontrarme a la Inquisición española!"

"¡Nadie espera encontrarse a la Inquisición española! Entre nuestras armas, hay elementos como el miedo, la sorpresa, una eficacia despiadada y una devoción fanática por el Papa, y unos uniformes rojos preciosos..."

La canción de la semana #271

...is beautiful song by Matilde Casazola, Como un fueguito, performed by Emma Junaro. This song appears on Junaro's 1987 album Mi Corazon En La Ciudad.

¿Dónde puedo copiar la llave?

Now that I officially (!) live in Spain, I reckon it's time to move beyond tourist Spanish. In places like Corralejo, ¿Dónde está el bar? or ¿Dónde está el restaurante? are really silly questions. They are, well, everywhere. ¿Dónde está la ferretería? — entirely different matter. I actually had to ask this last week. Although even that did not help: not every ferretería provides the service I was after.

¿Dónde puedo copiar la llave?

(For the record, I did not find any open establishment doing that in Corralejo.)

Here are a few more words which can be of real use when you just move in and start looking for stuff:

el cubo	bucket
el cuchillo	knife
la escoba	broom
el fontanero, la fontanera	plumber
la fregona / la mopa	mop
el hervidor	(electric) kettle
la lavadora / el lavarropas	washing machine
el lavavajillas	dishwasher
el (punto de) reciclaje	recycling (point)
el recogedor	dustpan
el sacacorchos	corkscrew

La canción de la semana #270

...is Y Para Que... by Niña Pastori. This song opens (and closes) her new album, La Orilla De Mi Pelo.

La canción de la semana #269

...is Echale by Colombian champeta singer Louis Towers.

La canción de la semana #268

Last month, Al Di Meola released his new album, Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody. This week's song is called Destination: Gonzalo and features Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba.

La canción de la semana #267

Of all Cuban songs, the most famous one must be Guantanamera. I hope you enjoy this live version by Lucrecia (love her hair), with support from Andy García and Arturo Sandoval!

La canción de la semana #266

...is Corazón de la Realidad by Amparo Sánchez of Amparanoia, from her 2010 album Tucson-Habana.

La canción de la semana #265

One more catchy merengue that I first heard at Luisa's Zumba class, and when I say "catchy", I mean that it will stay in your head for weeks: Culiquitaca. Or is it Kulikitaka? There are probably as many spelling variants as cover versions, but the definitive Culikitaca is this one by Toño Rosario.

La canción de la semana #264

...is Όλα Μου Τα Καλοκαίρια (Ola mou ta kalokairia) by Glykeria and Apurimac: a kind of music one could call "modern Greco-Latin".

La canción de la semana #263

Any fan of Ojos de Brujo would notice that their latest offering, Corriente vital, "consists largely of a reworking of old favourites". But maybe that was the point, to celebrate the band's tenth anniversary with "the best of" album? The title track, however, is brand new. The video below is an intimate acoustic version of Corriente vital performed by just three members of the band. Imagine Ojos de Brujo in your kitchen!

La canción de la semana #262

It is a pleasure to introduce here my recent discovery: Desandann aka The Creole Choir of Cuba. Reviewing their 2010 album, Tande-La, Chris Nickson wrote: "It's not obviously Cuban — but it is very obviously superb." See for yourself. In the video, the choir performs two songs, Tande and Baila Cha Cha Cha live at Celtic Connections in Glasgow.

La canción de la semana #261

...is Chuka Chuka Chuka by the Texan outfit Los Chukos de Zaz y Zaz. Just one chord throughout. Lovely.

La canción de la semana #260

...is Mi Alma Vuela en Silencio by Rosario 'La Tremendita' Guerrero Hernández, from the Sevillan singer's debut album, A Tiempo.

La canción de la semana #259

...is Lágrimas Mexicanas, from the new album by Vinicius Cantuária and Bill Frisell.

La canción de la semana #258

From early 1990s: Mi Primera Rumba, by La India aka La Princesa de la Salsa and Eddie Palmieri. Not the best quality video; absolutely fantastic performance.

La canción de la semana #257

...Fortaleza by Renaud Garcia-Fons, from his latest album Méditerranées.

Restaurante Le Provençal

Calle Isaac Peral, 61, Corralejo, Fuerteventura

Who goes to Spain to eat in a Provençal restaurant? As it happens, I do.

One sunny day July last year, I was walking along Calle Isaac Peral in Corralejo. I saw an unpretentious tapas bar which I thought could be worth exploring at some point. At that precise moment, however, I was looking for a peluquería so I walked by.

Some four months later, I found myself at the very same corner. The tapas bar was apparently shut down.

Last week, to my surprise, I found the place re-open and re-named. (By now you should have guessed that I hang in Corralejo a lot.) I saw a group of French-speaking people already sitting there, so I decided to give it a try.

I was greeted by its charming and attentive owner. (She speaks fluent English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. How is that?) Here's what I had:

• Starter: gazpacho Andaluz. I have to admit this was the best gazpacho I've had so far.
• Main: fish of the day was moray eel, pan-fried with herb sauce. I never tasted this fish before. It was delicious. However, it has many fine bones, so be extra careful, especially if you like to chat during your meal!
• Dessert: Tarte Tatin with cream. Yummy, but next time I will have it with ice cream. Must be even yummier, n'est-ce pas?

That means, there definitely will be next time!

La canción de la semana #256

After attending couple of sevillana classes in Corralejo (which were good fun; shame I have to go tomorrow!) I just can't get this one out of my head: Pasa la vida by Albahaca.

Pasa la vida, pasa la vida Pasa la vida Y no has notado que has vivido cuando Pasa la vida Y no has notado que has vivido cuando Pasa la vida Pasa la vida Tus ilusiones y tus bellos sueños Todo se olvida Tus ilusiones y tus bellos sueños Todo se olvida Pasa la vida Igual que pasa la corriente Del río cuando busca el mar Y yo camino indiferente Allí donde me quieran llevar Pasa el cariño, pasa el cariño Pasa el cariño Juramos un amor eterno y luego Pasa el cariño Juramos un amor eterno y luego Pasa el cariño Pasa el cariño Y apenas comprendemos Que hubo un tiempo que nos quisimos Y apenas comprendemos Que hubo un tiempo que nos quisimos Pasa el cariño Igual que pasa la corriente Del río cuando busca el mar Y yo camino indiferente Allí donde me quieran llevar Pasa la gloria, pasa la gloria Pasa la gloria Nos ciega la soberbia pero un día Pasa la gloria Nos ciega la soberbia pero un día Pasa la gloria Pasa la gloria Y ves que de tu obra ya no queda Ni la memoria Y ves que de tu obra ya no queda Ni la memoria Pasa la gloria Igual que pasa la corriente Del río cuando busca el mar Y yo camino indiferente Allí donde me quieran llevar Pasan los años, pasan los años Pasan los años Se va la juventud calladamente Pasan los años Se va la juventud calladamente Pasan los años Pasan los años Pasa la vida Con su triste carga de desengaños Pasa la vida Con su triste carga de desengaños Pasan los años Igual que pasa la corriente Del río cuando busca el mar Y yo camino indiferente Allí donde me quieran llevar

La canción de la semana #255

...is Tangá by Afro-Cuban All Stars. The band will be touring the USA in March/April.

La canción de la semana #254

...is Mírame a Los Ojos by Paulina Rubio, from her 2000 album Paulina.

La canción de la semana #253

...is Derorán, from SÓS (...---...), the new album by Mercedes Peón.

Flamenco Festival London 2011

...starts tonight at Sadler's Wells. The line-up includes Estrella Morente, Miguel Poveda, Aída Gómez, Rocío Molina, Tomatito, José Maya and Eva Yerbabuena.

La canción de la semana #252

...is Mi último llanto, from El Duque de La Bachata album by Joan Soriano. To quote the Songlines' Top of the World review:

Dukes rarely make good dance music. Think of the Duque de Edimburgo, or the Duque de Westminster: both rubbish with a bongo. The Duque de la Bachata, on the other hand, saves the honour of the ducal species with this terrific collection of the Dominican Republic's second-line rhythm, bachata, remaining the authentic staple of the poor suburbs of Santo Domingo despite its recent exaltation to international pop prominence.

La canción de la semana #251

From Pedro Luis Ferrer, the creator of changüisa: Tangible, from his album of the same name (to be released in March).

La canción de la semana #250

Fifteen years ago, two Malian musicians, Bassekou Kouyate and Djelimady Tounkara, failed to get visas to Cuba. An unexpected result of that was... the phenomenally successful album Buena Vista Social Club, recorded with all-Cuban line-up. But last year, Nick Gold of World Circuit Records finally succeeded in bringing Cubans and Malians together as AfroCubism. No it is not Buena Vista Social Club #2 — it is much more interesting. Apart from Kouyate and Tounkara, AfroCubism features the BVSC veteran Eliades Ochoa and great Toumani Diabaté.

"Musically, the recording sessions worked very well, but we had some strange times when they asked each other what the songs are about," Gold says. "Eliades was asking me what one of Toumani's songs is about. Toumani said it was about a baby hippopotamus. Eliades raised his eyebrows, then Toumani said: 'Well, what's your song about?' 'It's about how when I get tired of the earth I'm going to live on the moon.' So Toumani's going: 'And you think my song is ridiculous?'"

The Guardian

Ridiculous or not, this week's song is Ochoa's A la luna yo me voy performed by AfroCubism!

La canción de la semana #249

...is Las Mujeres Lo Bailan Bien by Héctor "El Torito" Acosta, performed by Los Toros Band.

xkcd en español

For once, reading the "frequently asked questions" (actually, answers to them) pays off. After a few years enjoying the comics by Randall Munroe, I finally had a look at the FAQs.

Q: Is xkcd translated?

A: Translating humor is often difficult between groups that speak the same language, let alone totally different cultures. So it's inherently a hard problem. However, a reader does translate xkcd strips into Spanish, which can be found at es.xkcd.com.

So, here it is.


(Here's the original comic.)

La canción de la semana #248

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

This week's song is Malika by Maurice El Médioni, from his 2006 album Descarga Oriental.

On first thought, one might be hard-pressed to find a common ground between Algerian raï music and Latin jazz. But for the pianist Maurice el Medioni, an Algerian-born Jew who left his home for France decades ago as an exile, and the Cuban-born, New York-based percussionist Roberto Rodriguez, the link connecting North Africa and Cuba is a direct one — by way of Spanish Andalusia.