Thursday evening was our local procession.  I had been waiting all week for the big show.  Not because it is the highlight of Algeciras’ processions, but because I only had to drag my team 100 meters to see it.

A usual late Spanish start plus a one hour rain delay didn’t help my journalist intentions.  By the time Jesus and Mary appeared my team was rubbing their eyes and looking for the boob.

But here is what we saw.

A big crowd outside the church.

Crowd control to keep the traffic off the route and the neighbours under wraps.

Note to self:  Baby plus toddler plus camera plus visiting with neighbours equals bad photos.

But we did catch a few key ingredients of any good procession.

Women dressed in the Mantilla.

Check out the details:  gloves, brotherhood pendant, rosary and slicked hair.

And Costaleros (the dudes with the towels who pack the floats.)  I wonder if this little guy was able to carry his weight, so to speak.

Just as Yago began to melt down, the first Klan members Penitentes arrived.

Then to great cheers from the crowd, Jesus left the building.

I did manage to get a couple of photos of the big guy,

Although by this point I was breastfeeding one child, on foot, in a crowd, while cajoling the second, juggling the camera and expressing sincere marital discord.

Then finally, with child number one tugging me towards home and child number two enjoying a large and noisy bowel movement,  the virgin made her grand appearance.

Just as the whole shebang was finally underway on its 6 hour route, I cut my loses and headed home.  Dirty diapers do not wait for the right angle and light conditions.

(Either do I since I know zilch about photography. But I dream about these things during late night baby bouncing sessions.)

Luckily on our way we caught the motor escort revving up.

It was Yago’s favorite moment and my only good photo.

I don’t remember precisely when we stopped covering our heads for church, but it happened sure enough! I wish that I could find the statement or declaration by the Magisterium that did away with the requirement of women to veil their heads for Mass.

I was able to find some facts about the practice at Fisheaters.com. I think that the mantilla is a beautiful tradition. I have read that there is a whole “movement” among some women to bring back the chapel veil at the same time that the new (old) Roman Missal Translation is instituted.

Do you have an opinion on the subject?  Check this out:

http://www.fisheaters.com/theveil.html

Positives:

+ Responsive and simple character controls which allow the player to learn how to manipulate the character’s motion and traverse levels and obstacles with an intuitive flow.

+ A single button for jumping changes depending on context; over cover, onto climbable surfaces, a dash button is straightforward with no cool down to move in and out of cover.  Weapons located on directional pad, can only hold 4 weapons, can be switched out/dropped/picked up, a cover button for a quick lock against cover, and an interaction button which can be repurposed for additional melee attacks or investigation of puzzles.

+  Good melee system allows for fun, brawling-type kills, with gunshot / melee combo kills being especially fun.

+ Health system based on behind-cover-regenerative model that works well for this game which is more of an over -the-top action based game where a single player defeats waves of enemies.

+ Guns are satisfying to fire they all have a good level of power and accuracy; balanced.

+ Graphics are top notch and set pieces are fun to interact with, i.e. water, ice, jungle, fire.

+ Explosive environments and set pieces i.e. cars, propane tanks, etc.

+  Great team-based online multiplayer modes such as the traditional team deathmatch, and survival mode pitting the player and two other team mates against successively more challenging waves of enemies.

Negatives:

- Missing jumps, sometimes the jump mechanic would not calculate the correct object      the player would want to interact with and the player misses an important jump.  As  there is a large amount of platforming in the game for puzzle solving and level                      traversal this becomes quite an imposing issue.

- Team member invincible, in areas where you must play with an NPC helper, they don’t      really do anything for your team either way, they can’t die and they can’t be killed by          the enemy, it’s fun to have a team mate but after a long firefight it becomes apparent        that they do not contribute to your progress only the atmosphere.

Thoughts:

~ Uncharted 2 is an incredibly fun game to play and although there are some issues with it’s platforming segments, however they don’t detract from the game, it is a solid and fun action/adventure title.
~ Before, I did not like first person shooters; I only liked third person shooters.  This game was one of the games that made me a better shooter in general, but also helped me learn how to have fun playing competitively in first person shooters because of it’s great online multiplayer.

Would like:

• A longer game, I got through the game pretty quickly.  There is the fun of playing on harder difficulties, but that is not a supplement for less content, especially with a game with such an incredibly engaging gaming experience.

• A co-op mode for storyline, in areas where the player would normally play with an NPC, the game could incorporate other players so that friends could play through the story together, this would increase the replayability and desire to replay the game on harder difficulties.

De heilige week voor pasen

Alle stereotypen van Andalusië lijken samen te komen in deze week. Het machismo van de dragers die tientallen kilo’s op hun schouders torsen, de vrouwen met hun zwarte mantillas, het overte katholicisme dat de rest van het jaar op een laag pitje lijkt te sluimeren.

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Ronduit bizar zijn de nazarenos, mannen onherkenbaar getooid met puntmutsen. Dit zijn capirotes, kappen die doen denken aan de vermomming van de Amerikaanse racistische Kuk Klux Klan. Soms, als een misplaatste vrolijke noot, zie je aan het eind van de optocht een aantal toekomstige broedertjes die een zelfgemaakt mini trono meejouwen.

Broederschappen

De hermandades horen bij een bepaalde parochie, waar zij dan ook beginnen en eindigen met de optocht. Maanden van te voren wordt al geoefend voor het dragen van de tronos door de katholieke broeders. Het is dan ook geen sinecure om deze metershoge platforms onbeschadigd de kerk uit te krijgen, waarbij vaak tegelijkertijd een helling en een bocht genomen moet worden in de smalle straatjes van de oude stad. Bovendien vragen de tochten gedurende de Semana Santa van wel 8 uur ook het nodige van het uithoudingsvermogen van de mannen. Op een willekeurige zondagmorgen zie je de broeders uit een kerk komen met bevlekte schouders, onder begeleiding van een muziekcorps, het equivalent van de Nederlandse harmonie. De mannen met de saamhorigheid van de plaatselijke voetbalclub lijken tevreden na het uitoefenen van hun heilige taak. De vrouwen, zoals vaak in Andalusië spelen slechts een bijrol.

Datum

In 2013 vindt de goede week plaats van 24 – 31 maart. Programma’s van de route zijn beschikbaar in cafés en andere toeristische pleisterplaatsen. De optochten trekken veel bekijks, toeristen en Malagueños staan gezamenlijk aan de kant, men kijkt naar de optocht en sluit af de dag af met wat copas en tapas.

© S. van Lieshout

Verder lezen:

• Het programma routes en tijdstippen 2013
• Antonio Banderas komt uit Malaga en loopt elk jaar mee in de processies
• De gitanos hebben hun eigen broederschap
• Een voor allen, allen voor een. Over bloed, zweet en tranen tijdens de heilige week.
• En als het regent, wat dan?
• Jezus maakt een knieval voor Maria
• Amnestie in Malaga

 ______________________________________________________________________

Verklarende woordenlijst

• Capirotes: punthoofddeksels. Deze kappen zijn ontstaan uit een oude straf van de inquisitie.
• Copas: letterlijk glas met voet. Irse de copas, figuurlijk wat gaan drinken.
• Hermandades: katholieke broederschappen in de regel behorende bij een bepaalde parochie.
• Mantilla: Een mantilla (in het Spaans letterlijk manteltje) is een Spaanse hoofdsluier, gemaakt van zwarte kant. Zij wordt in de Spaanse traditionele kleding van de vrouw over de kam gelegd die in de chignon wordt gestoken.
• Nazarenos: anonieme boetelingen.
• Tapas: letterlijk deksel. Hapje in Spaanse bars bij wijn of bier.
• Trono is een plateau met meestal een Mariabeeld, Jezus aan het kruis of figuren uit de omgeving van Christus, de beelden zijn vaak verguld. Málaga heeft de grootste tronos van Andalusië, met soms tot 200 dragers

I designed this lace motif because I wanted a motif that was delicate like Spanish lace, but bold and arresting like Moorish fretwork.  When worked up, the motif also reminded me of the Mexican corazon design that features a heart aflame.  I used this motif to make a unique necklace, when hung on a dainty antiqued silver chain.  If I had supermodel proportions (which I do not *sigh*) I would turn two of these motifs into earrings that would look trendy-perfect for a night out.

Thread: Diamante by Tamm in “black” (This yarn is a possibly discontinued acrylic/polyamide fingering yarn with a recommended hook size of F/5) 

Hook: I used a size D hook for a tight gauge.

Base Motif

ch6 and form into ring.

Round 1: ch3 (counts as a tr), tr 14 times into ring, ss (slip stitch) into top of first ch3. (15 tr)

Round 2: *ch2, sc into next tc. Repeat from * around. ss into first ch-2 space. (15 ch-2 spaces)

Round 3: ch3, sc into next sc, *ch3, sc into next sc.  Repeat from * around. ss into first ch-3 space.
(15 ch-3 spaces)

Round 4: *ch3, sc into same ch-3 space, sc into next ch-3 space. Repeat from * around.  ss into first ch-3 picot.  (15 ch-3 picots).

Round 5: *ch3, sc into same ch-3 space, ch 2, sc into next ch-3 space.  Repeat from * around.  (15 ch-3 picots with ch-2 spaces in between).

Top motif (crocheted directly to base motif, do not break thread)

Round 1:  ss into first ch-3 picot from Round 5 of Base Motif.  (tr 4 times, dtr once, tr 4 times) into first Base Motif ch-3 picot to the left.  ss into next base motif ch-3 picot to the left.  ss into base motif ch-2 space to the left.  Turn.

Round 2: ch2, sc into next 4 tr, ch2, sc into dtr, *ch2, sc into tr.  Repeat from * around.  ch 2, ss into base motif ch-2 space.  (9 ch-2 picots.) Turn.

Round 3: *sc into next ch-2  picot, ch3, sc into same ch-2 picot.  Repeat from * for eight more times.  (9 ch-3 picots formed.)  Cut thread leaving a 3″ tail.  Fasten off and weave in end.

Bottom motif (crocheted directly to base motif).  Attach thread to 5th Base Motif ch-3 picot to the left of where Top Motif finished.

Round 1:  ch3, sc into next Base Motif ch-3 picot to the left, ch3, sc into next Base Motif ch-3 picot to the left, ch3, sc into next Base Motif ch-3 picot.  (Your should have three new ch3 spaces on the bottom of the Base Motif, opposite from the Top Motif.  Turn.

Round 2: sc into first new ch-3 space,  ch3, sc into same new ch-3 space, sc into next new ch-3 space, ch5, ss into 4th ch from hook (forming the bottom picot), ch 1, sc into same ch-3 space, sc into next new ch-3 space, ch 3, sc into same new ch-3 space.  cut thread leaving a 3″ tail.  Fasten off and weave in end.

Finishing: Block finished motif by pinning to a piece of foam core covered in aluminum foil.  Spray lightly with starch.  Let dry.  Attach to jewelry hardware.

All my patterns are intended for private, not commercial,  use.

Corrections made 1.23.11.

If you’ve looked at veils, you know that they are enormously overpriced, which is mostly because most of them are made from nylon tulle (or illusion) which is really inexpensive.  I did a lot of research when choosing my veil material and had wanted to go with silk tulle, but at $75-$300 a yard, I wasn’t exactly certain I was prepared to work with it, especially considering how fine and delicate silk tulle is and that it is fragile and disintegrates over time.  I found out that during the Edwardian era, many brides weren’t able to find (or afford) silk tulle and used English cotton net as a replacement material, and as my wedding dress is kind of a late Edwardian style, I decided that English net would be perfect for my ensemble.

English cotton net is hexagonal and has a similar drape to silk tulle, but more opaque  (this is a great site for explanation of veil fabric Vintage Wedding Veils ).  It is not very easy to find and most of what you’ll find is MOCK English net, which is polyester.  I didn’t want any synthetic materials in my veil as I want my veil to be an heirloom veil and I want it to last.  Proof that synthetic materials aren’t the best way to go is by looking at my grandmother’s nylon net veil from 1946 and how it has many rips in it when it’s been stored in a box for 64 years.  Plus, the nylon became very stiff over time and looks nothing like her wedding pictures.  So if you’ve decided on English cotton net for your veil, be certain to read the materials and ensure that it’s not made out of polyester.  I found my English cotton net online at Heirloom Sewing for Children.  They also have a Swiss cotton tulle netting available which is finer than the English net.

I wanted my veil to be vintage looking, so I chose ivory as my color.  I decided on Alencon lace for my veil edging and purchased my lace from Britex Fabrics.  Britex has an excellent collection of lace at their store in San Francisco and I had looked there a few times for my mantilla lace.  I actually found the one that I wanted on their website, which is a 2″ French pearled Alencon lace with Aurora Borealis sequins imported from France.  I have to tell you that I LOVE ordering from Britex, and have since been ordering silk ribbon and edging lace for my dress.  It comes wrapped perfectly and they ship it very quickly.  It’s also much nicer than having to drive into SF to get it!  Now only if Lacis in Berkeley had such a service as well as such nice CUSTOMER service (which they do NOT).

Now that I decided on my veil materials and have them in my hand, it was now time to make my veil!

First, I cut out a piece of muslin the same size as my English cotton net so that I could figure out how large I could make my mantilla.  The English net is kind of narrow, so I couldn’t make a huge circle and instead made an oval pattern.

I pinned my muslin pattern on the English net and cut it out very carefully, which was probably the easiest part of this process.  The English net that I bought was white as I wasn’t certain how dark the ivory would be (no samples!).  I solved this by tea staining the material, which was easy to do as I’m using cotton and not a synthetic material.  I’m not sure how nylon or polyester do with tea staining, but cotton, as a natural material, takes the color very quickly.  I had to be careful with the cotton though, as it stretches and wanted it to keep it’s shape.  I can also iron my veil material, which isn’t something you can do with nylon.

Tea stained English cotton net

Next, I pinned my Alencon lace on the English cotton net of my veil, starting at the center bottom and working my way around my veil.

The tea stained English net went beautifully with my ivory French Alencon lace and I hid the edges of the net in the lace border.

Next, I sewed the lace on by hand with thread that matched my veil.  I considered using clear thread, but decided that matching thread would work better.  My veil is hand sewn due to the Alencon lace and the pearling, but as painstaking a process as this is, it looks much better than it would if it were sewn by a machine.  By hand stitching, I was able to camouflage my stitches and they basically disappear into the lace.  I first sewed the top edge of the lace, removing the pins as I went along, and then sewed the bottom.  I also reinforced some of the beading that was a little loose as I went along.  Originally, I had wanted to take the sequins off the lace, but they are sewn on (by hand) with the pearl beads and to remove them would mean that I’d basically have to re-bead my whole veil….

The hand sewing took me two days to complete, so it is not an easy or quick process, but once I was done, I was very happy and proud of my work.

After completing my mantilla, I sewed two combs on in order to hold it in my hair.  These are silver combs I found on eBay, and ended up being perfect for my veil.  I have thick, curly hair, so there won’t be a problem attaching these on my wedding day.

I sewed my combs at the crown of my veil about where I thought they’d work best.  I used the same thread that I sewed the lace on and hid the comb stitches into the lace.  I double reinforced it and that seems to work well, but I can always go back and triple reinforce it if I think it needs it.

My finished mantilla veil

My mantilla is fingertip length.  It also needs to be ironed (there are not all of those creases in it!), but as the English net creases and wrinkles very easily, I’ll probably wait to do that until my wedding day.  For now, I’ll be folding it and wrapping it in acid-free tissue paper and storing it in a box until the big day.  One more project out of the way!

As far as the cost of my veil, the materials probably were more than those for my wedding dress as I had half off coupons when I bought my peau de soie satin and purchased my silk chiffon on eBay.  As far as what a bridal salon would sell my veil for, I’d say about $700-800.  I was looking at a Pronovias fingertip mantilla with Alencon lace and that was $400 and that veil is made of nylon illusion and didn’t have all of the beading nor was the lace as wide as mine, plus it was not hand sewn.  That’s just my guess on the sale price of my veil.  But it’s not for sale!

I’ll post a pic of me wearing my veil at a later date when I get my hair all dolled up for the “pre-show”.  I think I gained the vintage look and feel that I was looking for and created an heirloom veil that I hope that any daughters/granddaughters that I might have in the future will consider wearing.

starting today, my new collection of wedding veils & fascinators is being posted to my etsy shop! i’m adding new pieces daily, so check in regularly for fresh items. first is my favorite of the lot, a feather trim mantilla veil, available in white or ivory. more to come tomorrow!

It’s not difficult to work out why she was so popular as she was gorgeous! Fabulous smokey face-up and spanish senorita styling.  Oh well you win some you lose some!