The Story About My Telephone

Problem of ready cash? Or in getting a loan? No need to fret or panic. The Spanish business companies have handy solutions. Well, at least one company does, with me as an unwilling participant in the scheme.

Some time back, Telefónica, the phone company who is my present ISP connecting me to the Internet and the use of my home telephone, overcharged me 500% more than the correct quota, (49 € ADSL + rental + 21% tax, totaling to 80 - 85 € monthly) They had on the 2nd month, with their usual grace and generosity, in spirit any way, admitted the error on their part but (!!), the 'operative system was fixed in such a way'(?), they could only correct it when the next payment was due. So, even when they in fact owing me money, I had to continue paying the much higher amount while waiting for them to correct their mistake!!

They assured me that I would be credited with the amount overcharged, meaning the month following. That was 5 months ago! All my calls to them during this period resulted in my listening to a lot, I do mean a lot, of music while waiting for a line with someone on the other end, or a voice on the recording which, when happened, only kept directing me to yet another voice and a 3rd and a 4th ... each time obliging me to repeat my tedious story which none of them had the slightest idea about, and I began to hate myself for being so boring that I thought I needed to apologize.

So here I am, poor and in crisis, lending money to a very rich company at 0% interest, for a period of 120 - 150 days, hopefully not longer, but equally likely indefinitely.

I know what I should do. Instead of counting on the pittance that I might or might
not recover, why don't I be clever and think big: buy myself some Telefónica shares and join the rich brigade?!

Tags:Telefónica, ADSL,Loan,Shares

• Current Mood: bored

The Secret Kitchen

I was flipping through a book I have forgotten about, called 'The Secret Kitchen'. It's the kind that answers questions many people wonder or ask out loud, 'Where do famous chefs go to eat and what type of dishes do they choose, when they take a rest from their own cooking?' Being fabulous cooks themselves, one would think they must be extremely choosy, critical, and judgemental what restaurants to go to, and what innovative food other cooks offer.

 

Apparently not so. After interviewing all the most famous chefs in Spain, many distinguished with Michelin stars, the discovery is that: Choosy, critical and judgemental they certainly are, but the book seems to sum up that most of them usually go for the simplest and the most traditional food of the past, emphasising on freshness of products and traditional way of cooking, like a slow-cooked stew or casserole, a potato omelette, or a grill sole with butter and lemon. Nothing at all fancy or fanciful.

 

Quite a revelation. Considering for instance, in Adria's world famous 'El Bulli' in Roses, twice selected as World's Best Restaurant, used to turn out liquid air croquettes, carrot foam and the like. The book is like an act of love for the establishments who preserve the most basic elements of what is considered good food: top quality ingredients, fresh products of the season, and cooked with respect to each ingredient's characteristics to enhance, not to mask and mix, and most of all, cooked with love and pride to produce the best.

 

Personally I always prefer my food to be recognizable, each conserving it's own unique taste and aroma, not so much it's appearance. Rather than those dishes presented to me like a pretty picture or sculpture, which seems very much the trend in recent years, but when I have eaten it, most likely have even enjoyed it, I remain clueless as to what I have eaten. Besides, a meal is often very enjoyable not because it has been cooked by an angel, but because it has been shared with your favourite humans.

Tags:FoodOfLove,Angel,Human

• Current Mood: artistic

Interesting Facts You Don't Need To Know

• In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick thick than his thumb. Hence we have " the rule of thumb".
• Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
• The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma in Flintstone.
• Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury. Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
• Coca-Cola was originally green.
• It is impossible to lick your elbow.
• The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000
• Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
• The first novel ever written on a typewriter: 'Tom Sawyer'.
• Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king in history:
  - Spades - King David
  - Hearts - Charlemagne
  - Clubs -Alexander, the Great
  - Diamonds - Julius Caesar
• 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
• If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Tag:Facts

• Current Mood: accomplished

Interesting Facts You Don't Need To Know

• In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick thick than his thumb. Hence we have " the rule of thumb".
• Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
• The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma in Flintstone.
• Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury. Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
• Coca-Cola was originally green.
• It is impossible to lick your elbow.
• The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000
• Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
• The first novel ever written on a typewriter: 'Tom Sawyer'.
• Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king in history:
  - Spades - King David
  - Hearts - Charlemagne
  - Clubs -Alexander, the Great
  - Diamonds - Julius Caesar
• 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
• If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Tag:Facts

• Current Mood: accomplished

Interesting Facts You Don't Need To Know

• In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick thick than his thumb. Hence we have " the rule of thumb".
• Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
• The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma in Flintstone.
• Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury. Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
• Coca-Cola was originally green.
• It is impossible to lick your elbow.
• The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000
• Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
• The first novel ever written on a typewriter: 'Tom Sawyer'.
• Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king in history:
  - Spades - King David
  - Hearts - Charlemagne
  - Clubs -Alexander, the Great
  - Diamonds - Julius Caesar
• 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
• If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Tag:Facts

• Current Mood: accomplished

Jane Birkin, Warhol, Mick Jagger, Polaroid

Jane Birkin needs little or no introduction at all I am sure, amongst those of us who are interested in cinema and music; she has been famous in both fields for decades, and still going strong. She broke into the pop world with a song censored, and with her at that time (70's) scandalized and outlawed nakedness in public. Together with Serge Gainsbourg, her partner both in music and bed, she was immortalized in 7 invaluable Polaroid shots viewable in the Internet, as a reminder of lost youth era for all nostalgic souls.

These photos of Jane is today double news, for Spain triple, because it's also the memento or souvenir of the final destiny of this amazing instant camera, at it's time more magical and had caused far more historic excitement than the digital when it first came on the market. It had also definitely given the never before days of glory to the pop culture. But, all good things come to an end. Due to the unstoppable digital technology, this little much loved camera had reached it's sell-by date. So announced the Corporation Polaroid, closing up all their factories in Massachusetts, Mexico and Holland in 2008'

For the many devoted amateurs, fans, and collectors of relics, the search had started for anything in any way connected to this incredible little machine. It's in a way more than a mere camera, it carries very interesting stories of the pop and movie world, forming part of their history and a record of many unforgettable moments, turning some into immortal pop art.

Famous artists and photographers like Robert Mapple Thorpe, Helmut Newton, David Hockney and Andy Warhol have used it to capture the images before they transformed them into paintings or other forms of art. Many of those exhibited in the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh were results of Warhol's art based on the the Polaroid pictures.

The one of Mick Jagger taken by him in 1975 reached $15,600 few year back. In one of the many episodes of the popular TV series, the "Love Boat", the artist appeared taking photos of passengers by the swimming pool, and wandered about on the decks with the Polaroid camera hanging from his neck.

Apparently, even with limitations in the format, it also contains the element of mystery and instant delight in under a minute, with the image in proper photo paper, like the SX-70, the most sought after now by collectors. Totally lack of knowledge and skill, I have to confess a Polaroid was all I could handle. Even simpler than today's instant photo by mobile phone.

Tags:Music,Photography,Polaroid

• Current Mood: artistic