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Be Passionate About It!

Marko — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 06:17:10 +0000

“They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”

A while ago I had an experience where I spoke with another person about social media, just pondering out loud what exciting things it could bring us. This actually wasn’t our topic of discussion at all, but I remember the deep synergy that build during the conversation. You know, a genuine two-way communication where you finish the other person’s sentences and she does the same with yours.

The conversation of course eventually ended, we both went our own ways and I didn’t think of the situation that much after that – mostly in a way like “Gosh, I really had a good talk with that person”.

Then afterward someone close to this person came to me and said what the other person had said about me after the conversation, how I seemed like a fella who was really into the subject I was talking about and really passionate about it. Our actual topic, why we originally began to talk, never came up.

So where am I getting with this? I’m saying: people tend to forget that showing the passion for the things they love to do is also their best self-marketing tool.

I’m not talking about something fake and acted, I’m talking something that comes from within; about a humble but crisp attitude where you talk boldly about your field of interest. This also means recognizing other people to be in the same line with you, not always with the same opinion as yours, even if they happen to be your competitors.

If you have really found your field, your main passion in life, you know it. This type of talk filled with blaze and energy comes naturally after that.

Try to remember the last time you were in a situation where someone told you something in an enthusiastic manner, what an effect did it have in you? Most likely it made you feel great and interested in the subject, even wanting to hear more, right?

Compare that great experience to a situation where you had to listen to your chemistry or history teacher [bald middle aged chap dressed in tweed or other things whose color is derived from sand] who was standing there like an amoeba and talking with monotonic voice, without any passion at all. I guess you felt like never wanting to hear more about these things in the future, right?

Which of these effects would you like to give to other people?

I remember last summer when I visited Catalonia, I happened to have the privilege of visiting a small chapel in the country side. The guide of the place came to talk about it even on a Sunday and boy, he was something else! It seemed he couldn’t hold his pants on when talking about the amazing history of the church – it was like this small chapel was something really unique in the whole wide world! He really transferred his excitement of the subject into us too.

Of course there are different types of people, some don’t show their feelings in the same magnitude, but then again we humans tend do learn, right? And would you leave something like this unused if you knew it was getting you some place else?

The dignity of Catalonia

joangavalda — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:58:08 +0000

Editorial published in 12 newspaper catalan (Catalan version)

Editorial published in 12 newspaper catalan (Spanish version)

After nearly three years of slow deliberation and continuous maneuvering tactics that have damaged the cohesion and have eroded its prestige, the Constitutional Court may be about to deliver verdict on the Statute of Catalonia, promulgated on 20 July 2006 by the head of state, King Juan Carlos, with the following headline: “Know: that the Parliament has approved, the citizens of Catalonia have ratified in a referendum and I come to sanction the following organic law.” Will be the first time since the democratic restoration in 1977 that the Supreme Court decides on a fundamental law ratified by the voters. The expectation is high.

The expectation is high and the concern is not limited to the evidence that the Court has been pushed by events to act as a fourth house, confronted with the Catalan Parliament, the Cortes Generales and the freely expressed will of citizens to the polls.

Again, this is an unprecedented situation in a democracy. There are, however, more concern. Of the twelve judges composing the court, only ten can give sentence because one (Pablo Perez Tremps) after a challenge is murky maneuver clearly aimed at changing the balance of the debate, and another (Roberto García-Calvo) has died. Of the ten judges voting, four remain in office after the expiry of its mandate, as a result of disagreement between the opposition and the central government on the renewal of a newly defined by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as “heart of democracy”. A heart valves with sealed, since only half of its members are now free from mishaps or extension. This is the court of appeal that is about to decide on the Statute of Catalonia. We respect the court -respect undoubtedly superior to that on several occasions this has shown himself- not draw more than allude to the causes of the delay in sentencing.

The definition of Catalonia as a nation to the preamble of the Statute, with the resulting emanation of “national symbols” (¿perhaps not recognized by the Constitution, in Article 2, consisting of a Spanish regions and nationalities?). And the right and the duty to know the Catalan language, the articulation of the Judiciary in Catalonia, relations between the State and the Government are, among others, the most obvious points of friction in the debate, according to their versions, as that a significant part of the court seems to be opting for uncompromising positions. Some people dream of back surgeries iron cut at its root the spanish complexity. This could be, unfortunately, the touchstone of his sentence.

Let us not confuse the real dilemma is forward or backward; acceptance of the democratic maturity of a plural Spain, or its blockade. Not only are in play this or that article, the same dynamic is at stake constitutional spirit 1977, which made possible the peaceful transition. There is cause for serious concern as it could be a ploy to transform mature ruling on the statute in real time with a dead bolt lock and institutional. Castling a contrary to the maximum under the Constitution, which is none other than its openness and integration. The Constitutional Court therefore decided not only on the lawsuit brought by the Partido Popular against an organic law of the State (which is now a Partido Popular that draw near to the Catalan society with constructive attitudes and flattering speeches). The high court will decide on the real dimension of the Spanish framework of coexistence, that means on the most important legacy that the people who live and staged a change of regime in the late seventies transmitted to the younger generation, educated in freedom, fully inserted into the European supranationalism complex and confronted the challenges of a globalization that relativises stiffer seams of the old nation state. At stake are the agreements that have led to profound thirty virtuous years of Spanish history. And at this point is essential to recall one of the guiding principles of our legal system, rooted in Roman law: pacta sunt servanda, pacts have to be met.

There is concern in Catalonia and throughout Spain needs to know. There is something more than concern. There is a growing tirement to endure the gaze of those who continue receiving with anger Catalan identity (institutions, economic structure, language and cultural tradition) as the manufacturing defect that prevents Spain achieve uniformity and impossible dreams. The Catalans pay their taxes (no privileges); contribute their efforts to transfer income to Spain poorest, facing economic globalization without substantial benefits from the state capital; speak a language with more weight demographic than several official languages in the European Union, a language that instead of being loved, is often subjected to the obsesive observe from Spanishness official. And observe the laws, of course, without sacrificing its proven ability to hold peaceful and civic. These days, the Catalans think, above all, in about their dignity; that should be known.

We are waiting an important resolution. We hope that the Constitutional basis to decide the specific circumstances of the case which is hands-which is nothing but the demand for improvement of an old self-European people, remembering that there is absolute justice, only justice in the case, why the legal basis for excellence is prudence. Please remember this: the Statute is the result of a double political pact subject to referendum. Let no one be confused, or misunderstood the inevitable contradictions of Catalonia today. We are not facing a weak society, on their knees and willing to assist impassive impairment of its dignity. Do not want to imply a negative outcome and trust in the probity of the judges, but anyone who knows Catalonia doubt that the recognition of identity the improvement of self-government, obtaining financing and just a qualitative leap in the management of infrastructure are and remain obstinatement claims raised a huge political and social support. When necessary, Catalan solidarity will again articulating the legitimate answer from a responsible society.

NOA TORNA A CATALUNYA - NOA RETURNS TO CATALONIA

gaycat — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:06:57 +0000

Acabo de llegir a LA VANGUARDIA una entrevista a NOA on se’ns informa que la cantant israeliana torna a Catalunya. De fet actuarà a Viladecans (27) i a San Cugat (26). Com m’imagino que alguns aprofitaran per protestar per la seva visita GAY.CAT aprofita per mostrar el seu suport a la cantant. MIRA AWAD també vindrà! A dalt podeu veure totes dues a EUROVISION

Noa returns to Catalonia and as some will protest her visit GAY.CAT just shows his support to her. MIRA AWAD also comes!

Above you can see both at EUROVISION.

Exposición Juan Bautista Maíno – Museo Nacional del Prado

Hoteles Catalonia — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:27:19 +0000

El Paseo del Arte de Madrid ofrece otra gran exposición para los amantes de arte: Juan Bautista Maíno (1581-1649), que se puede visitar hasta el 17 de enero en el Museo Nacional de Prado, permite a los visitantes contemplar la mayor parte de las obras de este artista, uno de los más importantes de la pintura española de la primera mitad del siglo XVII. Está compuesta por 35 obras del pintor español y otras 31 pinturas de los autores que más influyeron en su formación, entre ellos Velázquez y Caravaggio. Esta exposición es un ¨Must Visit¨ en Madrid como también lo son nuestros hoteles en Madrid, todos ubicados cerca del Paseo del Arte. Para más información visita nuestra página web.

A food-loving doctor's view of Barcelona tapas

exitlanguages — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:36:17 +0000

Image via Wikipedia

Found this rather honest review of several tapas bars and restaurants in Barcelona, part of a world tour blog written by a doctor whose real passion is cooking and food in general!

Tomo Style

Innovation in Primary Health care and Community health (Catalonia)

criterium — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:15:15 +0000

Health is a way of living with full autonomy, solidarity and joy. (10^th Congress of Physicians and Biologists of Catalan Language, Perpignan, 1976)

That sentence appears in the third page of the Innovation Plan for Primary health care and Community Health recently published by the Department of Health of the Catalan Government), The quote appears in its third page, after the title and the index and highlighted in bold characters, at least in the version you can download from the internet.

Some local readers may remember what the 10^th Congress of Physicians and Biologists of Catalan Language held in Perpignan in 1976 meant. Most have probably never heard of than event, 33 years old now, and may be unaware of the context (just as the General Franco regime was ending) under which seminal series of works were presented. We may talk more about what it meant in forthcoming notes.

e-Criterium also adopted that definition of what health is. The second session of the quoted Perpignan congress was chaired by Jordi GOL-GURINA and tried to advance from the then accepted 1946 WHO definition of health: “a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease”. GOL, as Jordi Font and other speakers at the recent (November 2008) memorial session held in Girona during the recent 18^th Congress reminded us, insisted in the active characteristic of health: “a way of living” and not merely “a state of wellbeing” and also in the personal and political essence of any health related work: personal because health is linked to an active process of personal growth and maturity as human beings and political as we are convinced of the implications of anybody’s actions over the remaining of the community and specifically as we believe in the capacity to influence how our communities organise themselves as healthy, i.e. promoting freedom, autonomy, solidarity and joy.

We felt happy those words were used in the new Report. For us a definition is only a framework, a common ground, from which actions can be designed and implemented. Otherwise these are only empty words.

E-Criterium is putting that definition at work. How? Explaining how we interpret it and acting on it. How? E-Criterium is a web site where all opinions will have a place to collectively appreciate if our health care system and specifically our primary health care system, that is an essential part of it, works accordingly to what for us that definition implies .. from realism and from desire.

That will be our collective contribution to the implementation of the Innovation Plan.

Olga Fernández Quiroga and Oriol Ramis i Juan

CULTO AL TORO EN LA EUROPA MEGALITICA

ramonetriu — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:53:39 +0000

ES LA FORMA TOTÉMICA MÁS ANTIGUA DEL MUNDO

Una forma de toro erguido se presenta muy desafiante sobre un pedestal proporcionado a su inmenso tamaño. Al distinguirlo tan perfecto cuando yo visitaba la dicha ermita románica (siglo X) pude maravillarme de que incluso esté provisto de un par de cuernos, Ello me invitó a considerar que antiguamente aquella explanada debió de haber sido un lugar de reunión de los primeros veneradores de dioses zoomorfos del mundo. Ello ha de ser forzosamente así, por mucho que el “culto al toro” quiera presentarse como una idea nacida en tierras lejanas. Nada puede ser anterior a la escultura de totem-padre que llamaré “Bos primigenius” de Montserrat.

Se trata de una ayuda excepcional de la naturaleza geológica a los seres humanos, porque cuando la tierra da más cantidad de frutos el gigantescoTotem-toro de Montserrat coincide en presentarse iluminado por el sol mientras que todo su extensi entorno en el sector norte de la sierra de Montserrat (que mide10 x 5 km.) permanece en la sombra. Resalta entonces la escultura muy esplendorosa, y como en la mentalidad primitiva se atribuyeron las morada de los dioses a las cumbres, a esta forma zoomorfa natural le debió de corresponder ser cual un “Padre protector”, y muy prematuramente el más ancetral de toda la prehistoria del mundo. Las pinturas rupestres, y cuanto se quiera presentar de Sumer, o de Egipto, fue un invento posterior, porque siempre fue el tamaño lo que también avalaba la importancia de toda divinidad.

abra par verla completa http://totembull.wordpress.com

Pedraforca (Saldes) II

martapiqs — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:30:17 +0000

Fa uns dies vaig estar per Saldes, i des d’allà vaig fer diverses excursions.

A banda de disfrutar de les vistes de la tan característica muntanya del Pedraforca, la tardor em va regalar una sèrie de vistes típicament de l’època i uns canvis de temps força considerables… Aquí el Pedra:

I Saldes:

Dissabte al matí vaig anar en cotxe cap al santuari de Gresolet, tot i que vaig girar cua abans, perquè entre foto i foto, vaig acabar passant molta estona al cotxe, cosa que no m’agrada.

A la tarda, després de la pluja, vaig fer el camí de Saldes a Gresolet per la Costa, i de Gresolet al refugi d’Estasen, que són 3km cap amunt amb un desnivell molt considerable.

Segons aquesta pàgina, de Saldes a Gresolet pel camí de la costa hi ha 12 km, anar i tornar, amb una alçada màxima de 1277 m. Jo només vaig fer l’anada perquè volia veure més coses i vaig triar amunt, amunt, fins al refugi d’Estasen, fent part del camí dels Cavalls del Vent. Com que ja tardejava i em feia cosa quedar-me sense llum, vaig fer les baixades i el pla corrent, i les pujades … com podia

Vaig anar mirant mapes i aquest tríptic.

Diumenge volia fer el cim del Pedraforca però es va girar mal temps i vaig haver de tornar enrere perquè no anava ben preparada per caminar amb neu i gel. Al final vaig fer el camí de la Serra a la Tartera, que vaig repetir dilluns amb neu, amb un amic i la seva gossa.

Podeu veure una selecció de fotos aquí.

VISITORS OF GAY.CAT

gaycat — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:50:38 +0000

GAY.CAT does not receive may visitors but the few who visit GAY.CAT come from around the world. Although not just from any part.
Most of the people who come to GAY.CAT come from the state of Spain. Almost half of this people come from Catalonia (amd most from Barcelona, the place where GAY.CAT is edited)

Then the rest of people come mostly from the US, the UK and from Europe as you can see in the flags I put above. From China I do not receive visits and I receive some visits from Muslim countries as can be seen here. Let me use this post to give thanks to all the visitors from all over the planet.

La Pedrera presenta ¨Maillol¨

Hoteles Catalonia — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:38:55 +0000

Desde hace unas semanas los visitantes de Barcelona tienen la oportunidad de ver un verdadero icono de la escultura moderna llamada ¨El Riu¨. Se trata de una de las obras más emblemáticas del escultor Aristides Maillol que invita a visitar la exposición que tiene lugar en La Pedrera de Gaudí hasta el 31 de enero 2010. Maillol (1861-1944), muy influenciado por su amigo Gauguin, destacó sobre todo en escultura y su obra centrada en el desnudo femenino.

Esta propuesta cultural es solo una de muchas que ofrece la Ciudad de Gaudí, como también nuestro último hotel abierto, el Catalonia Catedral, es solo uno de los 21 hoteles que proponemos para tu estancia en Barcelona! Para más información visita: www.hoteles-catalonia.com

Our country: Catalonia

joanmolar — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:32:49 +0000

Catalonia is an European country. It is an autonomous community of Spain. It is located on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula bordering in the north by France and Andorra. Catalonia is the largest section of the Catalan-speaking areas. In Catalonia there live 7,364,078 people. Catalonia was a former possession of the Roman Empire. It then passed into the hands of the Goths and Alans in the V century. The islamic people conquered the country in 712, but they were expelled at the end of that century and the beginning of next with the support of Charlemagne, Franks’ king. Girona was retaken in 785 and Barcelona in 801. Catalonia was converted into a separate domain. It gets confederate with the Crown of Aragon, which, in turn, two centuries later, was joined to Spain, although it retained its autonomous institutions of government until the eighteenth century. In 1978, Catalonia regained its independence and was constituted as autonomous community of Spain.

Written by Albert & Guillem

I should have read this the moment I bought it, VIII

Jonathan Jarrett — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:55:02 +0000

All right, last one of this series as I finally reach the end, blog-wise, of Jennifer Davis’s and Michael McCormick’s The Long Morning of Medieval Europe. The last section, two articles and a commentary paper, is entitled ‘The Intellectuality of Early Medieval Art’. It’s led, apart from the McCormick introduction, by the redoutable Mayke de Jong pondering the structure of the upper reaches, quite literally, of Charlemagne’s palace at Aachen, the solarium that so many of that family seem to have had problems with in times of evil auspice (as recently mentioned by Magistra et mater).¹ Mayke perhaps works too hard to imbue the royal balcony, where few are allowed and from which everyone else can be seen, in Notker’s Panopticon-style depiction, with symbolic significance, but the political significance of access to the king’s private counsels and the visibility of that access is very sharply drawn out, along with the way Einhard makes it clear in his Translatio Marcellini et Petri that he enjoyed such access. Thomas Noble quibbles about the architectural details in the response paper but is basically in agreement.²

The cathedral of Aachen as it stands today

I have to question the importance that both place on the term solarium itself though. Mayke spends a few pages demonstrating that the term is used almost, if not actually, exclusively of buildings that the king might be in, palaces and royal vills and so forth, and Noble compares usages in Rome and concludes, “Perhaps solarium was not a common word”.³ This may well be true for the central Carolingian zone and the ninth century, I certainly wouldn’t want to try and prove otherwise, but on the other hand, it takes me only two or three minutes to find this, from rural Catalonia in 921:

In nomine Domini. Ego Atto et uxor sua Virgilia, que vocant Druda, vinditore sumus tibi Amblardo et uxor tue Eldregodo, emtores. Per hanc scriptura vindicionis nostre vindimus vobis terras cultas et incultas, vineas edificatas vel ad edificare, regos et subreganeis, nostro proprio, qui nobis advenit per nostro comparacione quod nos emimus de te ipso emtore vel iamdicta uxori tue. Et sunt ipsas terras cultas et incultas, vineas edifikatas vel ad edificare, regos et subreganeis in comitatum Ausona, in valle Ausore vel infra ipsos termines. Sic nos vobis hoc vindimus hec omnia quod nos de vos compara^vimus in predicta valle Ausore vel infra ipsos termines, exceptus ipsos domos vel ipsos solario cum curtes et ortos et terras et vineas et cultum et incultum, qui fuerunt de condam Geirardo, quod vos ipsos comparastis de condam Geirardo vel de filios vel filias suas, vel de eredes illarum…

Yes, OK, sorry, perhaps too much Latin, sorry, I got carried away.⁴ (The superscript addition and the gap are in the original, the emphasis is not.) Rendered into breezy English though, a curious tale emerges:

In the name of the Lord. I Ató and his wife Virgilia, whom they call Druda, are seller to you Amblard and your wife Eldregoda, buyers. By this our scripture of sale of do we sell to you cultivated and uncultivated lands, vineyards constructed or to be constructed, streams and pools, our own, which came to us through our purchase that we bought from you the selfsame buyer or your already-said wife. And these cultivated and uncultivated lands, constructed and to-be-constructed vineyards, streams and pools are in the county of Osona, in the Vall d’Osor or within its term. Thus we sell this to you, all these things that we purchased from you in the aforesaid Vall d’Osor or within its terms, except those houses and that solar with courtyards and barns and lands and vines both cultivated and uncultivated, which were of the late Gerard, which you yourselves bought from the late Gerard or his sons or daughters, or [his daughters'] heirs…

So, OK, it pains me but let’s leave aside the question of why Ató and Virgilia, I mean Druda, are selling back this land that they bought from these same guys, less what sounds like a plum and well-developed little farmstead that had belonged to another guy before that. Mainly I am willing to leave it because I don’t have the index volume of the relevant charter collection to hand so I can’t look any of these people up easily. The point is that Gerard’s old farmstead has a solar, as I usually translate it, an upper storey partly open to the sun; balcony might do but we’re talking a whole floor here, I think. This is not an uncommon thing; it’s uncommon enough that I had to search a bit, and you could, given how rattly and distorted the Latin of this document is, agreements all over the place, orthography varying and so on, argue that this is just a formula. Certainly the word is unusual, but on the other hand it is clear that these things are cut about to fit the circumstances of the document’s issuing. What I mean is, most transaction charters in this area don’t mention houses with solars. When they do, the most obvious reason is, it seems to me, is that there is one, not that the scribe that day has a model charter or a formula which covered that. If that was the case I’d expect a range of other gear that sometimes turns up too, dovecotes, winepresses, sheds, meadows. The fact that these things are not here but a house with a solar is, for me, best explained if they were actually selling a house with a solar. So I think Ató and Virgilia’s house had one, and so did a few other places.⁵

Map of central Osona and the Ripollès, Catalunya, c. 950

Now, Osor is not an area full of palaces. It’s a bit up in the mountains: on the map there, if you can see Sant Llorenç near the middle bottom right, the Vall d’Osor is the next river valley south-east. So it’s probably two days’ walk to Vic, less if you don’t mind crossing some 800 m-high mountain ridges but it must be 35 km if you stick to the valleys. It’s a decent day’s walk down to the Ter too, and the Ter bends so much upriver that rowing wouldn’t get you anywhere any faster unless you had to cross anyway. Osor seems to have been well-settled at this point, there’s no new land being taken in even if it’s not all being used, but it’s some way off being top-rank.⁶ There are a couple of reasons to suppose that these are well-to-do people, though, not least because they get 50 solidi for the land they sell back, which gives us a sort of ballpark figure for the worth of what they keep, in as much as the way they’ve described things only makes much sense if the lands that they retain are enveloped within what they sell, so it must be smaller. 50 solidi is a fair bit of money by local standards, but it’s an order of magnitude smaller than what places that get called palaces go for out here.⁷ The other sign of status is that Ató apparently signs the document himself, which implies a certain amount of leisured education, though around here it’s perhaps not all that far out of the ordinary. Anyway, there really isn’t any prospect of the king or probably even the count turning up at Gerard’s old house. And this is a big one; I could find you other (less interesting) examples that are worth lots less.⁸

View down the Vall d'Osor, viewed from the source of the river of the same name, from the Catalan Wikipedia

So, well, I don’t want to be over simple but I think there may be two things going on here that decrease the significance of Mayke’s royal balconies: firstly, as ever, we’ve just got more data out here and that means more odd stuff turns up, whereas in the north big estates are much more common per charter survival because the little stuff hasn’t made it down to us. Secondly, well, weather, quite frankly. I’m sure they have some lovely summers around the Meuse and Aachen, in fact Gabriele at the Lost Fort will doubtless have pictures of half the relevant areas in blazing German sunshine, but you still might not build for it in the same way as you do nicely south of the Pyrenees. I think we can expect to see more solars in Catalonia than in Francia because there was just that much more sun, to be honest. This doesn’t diminish the significance of Mayke’s points about access to the king and the articulation of power in architecture at all, of course; but it does warn us about arguments that include silence. There is so much dark matter in statistical use of medieval documents, because we never know what we might have if the preservation had been kinder.

(Edit: extensive argument with me in the comments below reveals that several people think I’m being anachronistic here and that what tenth-century Catalans are calling solaria has nothing to do with what the word meant in ninth-century Aachen. I still think plural uses, however far across Western Europe they are from each other, indicates a word that could mean more than just ‘palace balcony’ and don’t think the word itself carries Mayke’s symbolic significance, but I must admit that opinion is generally against me here so you should consider that I may just be being hidebound here.)

München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, MS Clm 14000, the so-called Codex Aureus

Anyway. The second paper in this section is a lavishly-illustrated one (though colour would have made such a difference here, especially as it features in the argument in places; the above manuscript’s cover makes Kessler’s plate 2, and it may be clearer in grey-scale, but, well…) by Herbert Kessler about depictions of Christ in the Carolingian period.⁹ This was a sticky issue, as you may be aware, because of the response to the Byzantine controversy over the use of icons in worship. The problem is the Biblical prohibition on idols, of course; is a picture of God, even in human form, really even slightly holy, or is it a graven image that distracts the worshipper from the real divinity that can only be experienced in the mind and the soul? Christ was after all a man, and one can depict that, but can one depict the God that that man also was, or is to draw Christ actually to deny one of his natures? One of the great merits of this paper is that it actually provides a reasonably accessible way into these debates for the laymen by marrying up text and image and showing how the images try to get round the problem or confront it, individual artists making informed choices of presentation such as leaving some of Christ out of the picture, vanishing out of the top of the frame at Ascension as below (the manuscript that sources Kessler’s plate 7, but even this tiny image is more fun to look at than the greyscale) and so on. Not only does one get a sense of craftsmen at work on something highly intellectual, rather than just colouring nicely as medieval art sometimes gets presented, but one also sees how these images were taking positions in a debate of the day and, not least important, genuinely concerned with Salvation and how best to help someone towards it rather than hinder them.

Rouen, Bibliothèque municipale, MS Y6, fol. 81v.

This therefore supplements the somewhat less successful section on religious practice earlier in the book and winds the volume up, after Noble’s few adjustments, very nicely.¹⁰ My initial bedazzlement with the volume has worn off slightly after this much detailed analysis and reviewing, but really, it’s still a very worthwhile volume. It’s also physically nice: the paper is gloss and heavy, the binding tough but good-looking and the dust-jacket is glossy and thick too. The illustrations, where they exist, are good (though, yes, greyscale) and there are, as far as I noticed, almost no typoes. There are fully 18 pages of index, whereas with most edited volumes there wouldn’t be any, suggesting that the publishers or the editors recognised that it will have reference value as well as reading value. Furthermore, though some of the papers are not quite there and some areas are definitely less covered than others, it really is a pretty all-round state-of-the-question assemblage of work on Carolingian Europe and so, I continue to recommend its purchase to those who might want such a thing.

1. Michael McCormick, “The Intellectuality of Early Medieval Art” in Jennifer Davis & idem (edd.), The Long Morning of Early Medieval Europe: new directions in early medieval studies (Aldershot 2008), pp. 275-276; Mayke de Jong, “Charlemagne’s Balcony: The Solarium in Ninth-Century Narratives”, ibid. pp. 277-289.

2. Thomas F. X. Noble, “Matter and Meaning in the Carolingian World”, ibid. pp. 321-326 at pp. 321-324.

3. De Jong, “Charlemagne’s Balcony”, pp. 282-284; Noble, “Matter and Meaning”, pp. 321-322.

4. Text from Ramon Ordeig i Mata (ed.), Catalunya Carolíngia IV: els comtats d’Osona i Manresa, Memòries de la Secció històrico-arqueològica LIII (Barcelona 1999), 3 vols, I doc. no. 232.

5. For example, Ordeig, Catalunya Carolíngia IV, I doc. no. 214, “… vindimus tibi casas cum curtes et ortos, cum solos et superpositos et terras cultes et incultes, nostras proprias…“. But, you say, a solum is not the same thing as a solarium! Check it in the new online Lewis & Short, man! To which I say, firstly, du Cange says you’re wrong, at least sometimes: Charles du Fresne du Cange & D. A. Carpenter, Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, ed. G. A. L. Henschel, re-ed. L. Favre (Paris 1886), p. 523, “SOLUM, ut supra Solarium, Locus idoneus solarium ædificando”, and secondly, well, that’s why my first example had “solarium” instead innit.

6. This sort of assessment is much easier for owning Jordi Bolòs & Victor Hurtado (edd.), Atles del comtat d’Osona (785-993) (Barcelona 2001); the map on pp. 44-45 is most useful here.

7. For example, in Ordeig, Catalunya Carolíngia IV I doc. 419 Bishop Radulf of Urgell and his son Oliba sell an estate at a place called Palau to the bishop’s brother Count-Marquis Sunyer of Barcelona, Girona and Osona and that goes for 1000 solidi. This isn’t going to have been a royal palace, but given that Abbess Emma also has land next-door it is clearly comital family land, and that and the name suggest strongly that this was a fiscal estate, a big hall and its demesne or similar. For the suggestion that place-names in Palau (‘palaciolo‘ or similar) refer to such establishments, see in this case A. Benet i Clarà & A. Pladevall i Font in Pladevall, J. Sarri i Vilageliu, Benet & D. Arumí i Gómez, “Santa Maria de Palau” in J. Vigué (ed.), Catalunya Romànica II: Osona I, ed. J. Vigué (Barcelona 1984), pp. 230-235 at pp. 230-231, and more generally Ramon Martí, “Del fundus a la parrochia. Transformaciones del pobliamento rural en Cataluña durante la transición medieval” in Philippe Sénac (ed.), De la Tarraconnaise à la Marche Supérieure d’al-Andalus : les habitats ruraux (IV^e-XI^e siècle). Desde la Tarraconense a la Marca Superior de al-Andalus: los asentamientos rurales (siglos IV-XI), Méridiennes : Études Médiévales Ibériques 2 (Toulouse 2006), pp. 145-166, citing Martí, “Palaus o almúnies fiscals a Catalunya i al-Andalus” in Hélène Debax (ed.), Les sociétés méridionales à l’âge féodal : Hommage à Pierre Bonnassie (Toulouse 1999), pp. 63-70.

8. For example, that mentioned in n. 5 above went for only 15 solidi and the solos are only part of the estate there.

9. Herbert Kessler, “Image and Object: Christ’s Dual Nature and the Crisis of Early Medieval Art” in Davis & McCormick, Long Morning, pp. 290-319.

10. Noble, “Matter and Meaning”, pp. 324-326.

Hotel Catalonia Ramblas presenta: Restaurant Pelai - ¨Cuina de Cullera i Guisats Catalans¨

Hoteles Catalonia — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:17:31 +0000

Ven a Catalonia Ramblas y disfrute de la exquisita cocina del restaurante Pelai en un entorno acogedor y tranquilo, detallista, minimalista y de diseño, donde los productos de temporada son seleccionados cuidadosamente y donde este mes, del 16-29 de noviembre, se sirve lo mejor de la gastronomía Catalana.

Festival de otoño - Madrid 2009

Hoteles Catalonia — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:30:21 +0000

Teatro, danza, música y circo son las palabras que se necesita para describir El Festival de Otoño 2009 en Madrid . Este evento, uno de los más importantes en Europa, tendrá lugar entre el 4 y 29 de noviembre y tiene como protagonista todas las artes escénicas. En total habrá 35 espectáculos en 11 teatros diferentes en Madrid. De las obras 6 son de producción española y el resto de 19 países diferentes. Para los verdaderos amantes de teatro una buena razón para alojarse en uno de nuestros hoteles ubicados cerca del corazón cultural de Madrid para así disfrutar al máximo del Festival de Otoño 2009! Para más información visita: www.hoteles-catalonia.es

Cruyff's Homage to Catalonia

dickj91 — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:53:26 +0000

By J.C Dick

Johan Cruyff, Courtesy BBC

Johan Cruyff began his return to football management yesterday as he was revealed as manager of Catalonia, his first appointment since 1996. Despite the nation itself not actually being officially recognised by FIFA, or UEFA they participate in sporadic friendlies against various other nations. The post itself will be without pay, but the Federació Catalana de Futbol will be working with Cruyff’s personal charity the Fundacion Cruyff during his tenure. Federació Catalana de Futbol’s predisent Jordi Casals President welcomed the appointment in Spanish media by saying “It’s a role that has no remuneration and I thank him very much and I think Catalan soccer and Catalonia should feel proud”.

A well known proponent of the Total Football movement Cruyff’s managerial career has been largely successful with a total of 11 major honours between his spells at Ajax and FC Barcelona. He is often cited as the beginning of the period of “Dutch Influence” in FC Barcelona’s history due to the way he adapted the club to suit his style typified by unrestricted football and intuitive players.

The move comes at a time when backing behind a campaign for Catalonia to be fully recognised by FIFA and UEFA as an independent nation has grown considerably. However this campaign is about far more than football as Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya MEP Bernat Joan argues that “once again reality teaches us that in order to be a regular country we have to have idnependence. It is with full sovereignty that we will be able to become a free people in social, political and, in this particular case, sporting terms. The Catalan people demand the recognition of our national team and as Catalan politicians we cannot sit by and do nothing.”

With the Catalan independence movement growing this appointment will be useful in furthering the cause as Cruyff is an inspirational character whose mindset is very much alike to that of Catalonian indpendence supporters as he was famously quoted as saying “Je ken beter ten onder gaan met je eigen visie als met de visie van een ander. (It’s better to lose with your own vision than with someone else’s.)”

JOHAN CRUYFF

gaycat — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:01:04 +0000

Johan Cruiff serà el nou entrenador de la selecció catalana per quatre anys. En sentir la notícia al principi n’ha estranyat ja que em semblava que les seleccions nacionals tenien entrenadors nacionals la qual cosa amb Johan em portava dubtes. Johan Cruiff està molt arrelat a Catalunya excepte en un petit detall: la llengua catalana. Aquells que tan han criticat a Montilla pel seu accent català m’imagino que haurien d’estar escandalitzats amb un entrenador de LA SELECCIÓ NACIONAL DE CATALUNYA que no parla LA LLENGUA PRÒPIA DE CATALUNYA.

Personalment a mi no em fa gràcia que el nou entrenador no parli català però la veritat és que si ha de parlar català tal com parla el castellà potser caldria reflexionar. De totes maneres pel que es veu el fixatge de Johan Cruiff ha tingut un ressó mediàtic internacional i això em sembla molt important. Potser és temps de no filar tan prim. Clar que sempre fora bo que en Johan aprengués una mica de català..

Com molta gent ja creu que el Barça representa Catalunya i el català no és parlat per molts dels ídols de l’equip suposo que no s’escandalitzaran per un entrenador de la selecció catalana que no parli català.

Clar que imaginar-me el seleccionador de l’equip francés o espanyol sese saber parlar francés o castellà em sembla impensable. Perquè s’ha d’acceptar que el seleccionador català no parli català? NO és una contradiccío voler tenir una selecció catalana i tenir un seleccionador que no parla català?

Welcome to Pitta Hut, May I take your Order?

hammerphoto — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 13:36:39 +0000

I know this city. Ya, it’s just been two weeks but I know this city. I know the spots. The good spots and the ones to watch out for. I know how many sleazy Moroccans approach women and don’t take no for an answer, which is one of the ways they get their poor reputation with just about every other ethnic group in town. Nobody here like Moroccans, particularly the Pakistanis. I know that Muslims here don’t normally wear their robe things, but on Friday they did so it must have been some kind of holy day or festival. I know that even the Asians speak Spanish here, and that if you are in a fine restaurant you can almost guarantee that the waitstaff knows a modicum of English.

But there are funny surprises still, like when I stumbled upon Pitta Hut. No, I didn’t eat there! I mean, how funny is naming your place Pitta Hut? I’m sure the locals had no idea at my amusement as I laughed walking by the Pitta Hut outdoor terrace. They thought I was just a looney American. Ok, I am an Americana loco, but I’m not the one who named my quaint little restaurant in the sleepy burrough of Barcelonetta in eyes view of the sailship pier… Pitta Hut. They should have punched in a google.

Two days prior we went to the olympic grounds right at dusk. Amazing. It’s all a very cool place to look around and I would definitely suggest seeing it at dusk when all the fountains are on and the fading sunlight glows off the structures and the lights are on. It’s very peaceful there, unlike much of the city with it’s constant hum of just about everything. There are a few places here that are kind of quiet but not many. Barcelonetta is a quiet burrough with the gridded city streets, but lively along the edges which are beach. Barcelonetta is a short little peninsula.

Another thing. Barcelona is HUGE. It’s difficult to realize how big it really is. Central Barcelona is a compact but decent size, and it gives the impression that the city isn’t that large and is compact. This is not really the case. When I went to the Olympic Park which is where I though the outer part of the city was, I climbed quite a hill to get there (since it is on one side of Montjuic – a small mountain hill). When I got there I peered out beyond where we had been. Looking that other direction, I saw an entire “other” city with skyscrapers and businesses and who knows what. I haven’t been there yet, though I’m sure I’ll at least make an appearance there.

The same day I visited the Olympic Park, I also visited the National Catalan Museum which resides in and old and huge palace on the side of Montjuic in front of the Olympic Park. It was rather extensive and had a great variety of artwork. But most noteworthy was a piece of graffiti outside the place on one of the stairway railing columns. It said “Catalania is not Spain!” in English. So why in English? Was it an American or Brit? I think that is unlikely. I can’t imagine what American or Brit would care at all about some locals only cultural indication. And enough to graffiti it… No I think it must have been a local. Why English? It would have been in Catalan, but perhaps this Catalan man or woman did not know Catalan, as the language was nearly stamped out by Franco before making a late resurgence (you find Catalan on many menus and signs and it is significantly different from Spanish, as much so as Italian or French). No, I think this man or woman knew English as a second language and refused to use Spanish to write that Catalonia is not Spain.

So perhaps, I have yet to visit Spain.

TERRATRÈMOL A LES 03:12

gaycat — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:29:29 +0000

<H2NO SÉ PAS SI HA ESTAT UN SOMNI PEÒ HE TINGUT LA SENSACIÓ QUE HI HAGUT UN TERATRÈMOL A LES 03:12 AQUESTA MATINADA. HE NOTAT COM TRES MOVIMENTS CREC I EL DEL MIG HA ESTAT MOLT FORT. DE TOTES MANERES SOSPITO QUE POTSER HA ESTAT UN SOMNI PERQUÈ EN CAP MOMENT HE SENTIT CAP SOROLL ASSOCIAT.. PERÒ LA SENSACIÓ HA ESTAT D’UNA GRAN SACSEJADA D’UNS QUANTS SEGONS. M’IMAGINO QUE FORA BO ENTRAR POTSER A TWITTER O SENTIR LES NOTICIES PER VERIFICAR SI HA ESTAT UN SOMNI O UNA REALITAT. ESTARIA BÉ QUE HI HAGUÉS UN WEB PER VERIFICAR AQUESTES COSES. MIRARÉ AL 3/24 PERÒ LA VERITAT ÉS QUE PER EXPERIÈNCIA EM SEMBLA QUE JA S’HA POGUT ENFONSAR CATALUNYA QUE MENTRE AIXÒ NO HAGI AFECTAT ALS QUE FAN LA INFORMACIÓ EM SEMBLA QUE NO ACTUALITZARAN LA INFORMACIÓ. BÉ, M’IMAGINO QUE HAURÀ ESTAT UN SOMNI …

A beautiful sunset image of Barcelona from a Gaudi TV bio by BBC

BobG in Vancouver — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:19:34 +0000

Image via Wikipedia Since I was born in Barcelona Oct 8, 1935 I could not resist clipping this image

Catalonian Pride

mmbell — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:05:24 +0000

Spain is not like most countries in Europe. There are many different territories, all with their own culture, tradition, and government. Some regions even have their own language. Although this concept is not uncommon in Europe, it is more extreme in Spain. Some people in the country do not even think of themselves as Spaniards, but instead just as members of their territory.

Over the years, there has been a lot of political tension between Catalonia and the official Spanish government, causing the Catalonians to be oppressed. Catalonia fought for their independence during the Spanish Civil War from 1936-1939. When they were defeated, Franco banned all political and cultural autonomous Catalan activities. It was only after Franco’s death is 1975 that Catalonia recovered their political and cultural autonomy.The history of catalan culture contributes to the territory’s undying pride in their culture. From La Merce festival to their own language, Catalans stand proud of their culture.

Each territory in Spain has their own flag. This is the Catalan Flag. It is well represented all over Catalonia, especially during festivals and futbol matches for FC Barcelona.

Catalonian Flag

This is a map of all the territories in Spain. Some have more individualistic cultural traditions than others. Each has the right to have an autonomous government.

While all Catalans have pride, this video represents a very extreme view of Catalan independence. Do you think this view is too extreme?

La Merce is an annual Catalan festival the occurs at the end of every September. The festival celebrates the end of the summer months and the welcoming of autumn. Traditional activities include human pyramids, street parades, firework shows, live music and dancing. During this time, Catalans come together and celebrate their culture.

I interviewed my professor, Ariadna Olive, to get a more personal understanding of the Catalan culture. After getting to know her through out the past few weeks, I can better understand why Catalans have such pride in their culture. Take a look at what she has to say about Catalonia:

Click here for interview!

Promoting multilingualism within the EU

jillevans — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:55:37 +0000

During an extremely busy week in Strasbourg, I met Slovakia’s Maros Sefcovic, the new EU Commissioner for Culture, Education and Training.

I reminded the new Commissioner of our group’s (European Free Alliance – E.F.A.) priorities in terms of promoting multilingualism. I emphasised the need to make progress on improving the status at EU level for Welsh, Catalan, Galician and other languages which are official in their own territories but are not yet full official EU languages. E.F.A. is pushing for interpretation to be made available so that these languages can be used in the European Parliament.

Stock take, part IV: o but these are just taking up house room and brain space

Jonathan Jarrett — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:01:25 +0000

Right, this has gone on too long, which is more or less the point of the thread indeed but the time has come to wrap it up and make some pledges. Because, you see, I have a bunch of papers kicking around that are finished, ready to submit, in fact in some cases have been submitted and come back unloved, but this doesn’t mean I’m throwing away that research. No: these should be out there working for me and gosh-darnit I intend that they shall go out once more. There is no room in the 2-up, 2-down of my brain for academic output that has now fully grown to be lounging on the mental sofa eating crisps and claiming there’s no journals to apply to for work. Get out! I shall name and shame them.

The Romanesque cathedral of Urgell, from Wikimedia Commons

Oldest first: “Bishop and Brother: kindred and Church in an early medieval noble family”. This was a part of the thesis that kept getting cut. Never quite essential enough to make the grade, I gave about half of it as my first ever Leeds paper and then bound it as an appendix to my thesis to try and counterbalance the fact that I’d hardly considered the Church. At least, it seemed that way at the time but really, on rewriting stuff for the book it seemed to me that really, there was quite a lot of Church in it and I’m not sure why I was worried. Anyway. The other half of it is summarised in the book, but the two halves still belong together because the original catch was just that: it’s about Bishop Sal·la of Urgell and his brother Viscount Bernat of Conflent, who around the year 1000 are easily visible collaborating as a family to maximise their wealth and power but who use completely different tactics to achieve their individual aims. The point is a contrast of lay and clerical modes of power, and all it needs, I am convinced, with a couple of recent articles on related people assimilated at least, is a rewrite to make that agenda louder and then I have two journals in mind for it, one UK and one actually in Catalonia. I would like it to go the latter more because it would get me seen by the people in my actual field but it goes to the former first because that will get me seen by people who might hire me. Next time, Catalonia, next time.

The three papyrus Bulls recording the promotion of Archbishop Ató of Osona

OK, next up. “Archbishop Ató of Osona: false metropolitans on the Marca Hispanica”. I first gave a version of this at a conference in 2003, and the first proper write-up some time in the next year after I’d learnt a lot more about papyri, which feature heavily. I have given about half of it here as a blog post, but only half. The trouble is, it’s huge. I sent it to a journal Gesta knows well a while ago and they came back saying “we like it but you need to cut it by half, somehow” and the reviewer was quite snippy about what bits weren’t contributing anything. If I’d cut everything he suggested, though, half the point would have been gone. So I consulted Professor McKitterick and she suggested an entirely different journal which would probably have it uncut. And then, to my great shame, I didn’t get round to it. Right, well, that’s enough of that. I have made a rapid attempt to check for related work, believe that I have found the most obvious examples and this one will now be next out the door, before even the Leeds papers book paper item because all it needs is formatting and submitting. Now, given its size that’s still no negligible task but it is stupid that I have not done this and I hereby pledge that this will end.

Sant Andreu de Gurb, home in its previous incarnation to the parchments of Adalbert of Taradell and family; photograph by the author

“Documents that shouldn’t survive: preservation from before the archive in Catalonia and elsewhere”. This was put together in something of a hurry for Leeds 2008 and turned out to be one of my better papers even if I fluffed the delivery somewhat. Several people told me I should publish it forthwith as it’s important, or so they think, and suggested some very high-profile journals they thought I should try. And there’s really only two things I need to read for it and they’re both short, or at least the parts of them that need reading are short. But I can’t, because it’s based on Lay Archives work and I’ve been asked quite firmly not to do anything with that work, at least until the project itself has managed to publish. But because I have so much else that needs finishing, though it grates me I see no point in causing an upset by pursuing this until all concerned parties agree that I can.

1176 copy of the 945 foundation charter of Sant Pere de les Puelles

“Legends in their Own Lifetime? The Late Carolingians and Catalonia”. Mentioned already, born out of the twin wombs of “The Continuation of Carolingian Expansion” and “The Identity of Authority” fertilised by the pressing need to come up with something for last year’s Haskins Society conference. This actually turned out to be a good paper, or so I thought, and on good advice I got a professor who’d been there to critique it for me. Now all I have to do is revise according to his criticisms and send it off. Furthermore, a high-end journal already saw a version of this back when it was still basically “Continuation” in argh 2006 and they came back with a friendly revise-and-resubmit, which I should therefore have done straight away and maybe I’d have a job now. But I didn’t, because I wasn’t happy with it and it wouldn’t have been as good as I wanted. Now, this version is that good, so I think the first thing to do is to send it back to the same journal and see if they want it still. Failing that, another journal has actually asked me for it, so if its first home no longer has space or interest, they shall get their wish. This is another easy score and it will therefore go into third place on the list of shame, because I really don’t have an excuse for not having it done by now.

You may be bored of this charter by now but I never will be

Lastly the newest: “Nuns, Signatures and Literacy in late-Carolingian Catalonia”. Fresh from delivery, this one of course has a home, and when I say it’s finished I mean that I think it could be printed as it is and it would shame no-one involved. However, there is actually a lot more work on nuns in early medieval Spain than I have read, and I want to take Wendy Davies’s advice from my viva and make sure it’s in my thinking before I submit the final version. So perhaps it should have been in the previous version, as all the relevant reading is currently on my desk but there’s still a fair whack of it. Nonetheless, I intend finishing this one very soon, because I have done enough things for Professor McKitterick rather too late and by halves and this will not be another of them.

So, er, I make that fourteen papers I have in some sort of form without having done enough to get them published, and that’s ignoring the fact that I was contemplating a second book… This is really not helping me. There is a point of view that says that one can’t actually drop everything one’s working on to concentrate on one at a time and to do so would make me unhappy, it’s true. But this is just stupid.

There is a need for a resolve of sorts. So, here is my pledge. I will revise, format and submit “Archbishop Ató”. I will do all the necessary reading for “Uncertain Origins” and make sure that it isn’t me who is holding up the Leeds volume. I will try and do both of these in the next three months, but I won’t promise the timing because of now being teaching and having other papers in final stages, book about to reach proofs and so on. However, I will do it at the earliest feasible point. Then I will revise and submit “Legends” and then I will concentrate on “Succession to the Fisc” until delivery time and then we’ll see what happens next.

A Sweet Taste of Music

Denise Fondo — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:42:11 +0000

A dish simply called Music. The reason why is just as simple. According to Andorrans, musicians were

Escudella - A Country Stew

Denise Fondo — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:24:58 +0000

The cuisine of Andorra is often referred to as Catalan Mountain Cuisine. Catalonia rests along the M