Cada any, des de finals de novembre i fins el març, durant tot l’hivern, s’organitzen al Garraf i al Penedés, les seves famossímes xatonades. És la ruta del xató, que just comença el diumenge del darrer cap de setmana de novembre, a la vila maravellosa i marinera de Vilanova i la Geltrú. Allà, a la plaça de la Mediterrània, podreu disfrutar d’un seguit d’actes on el xató és el protagonista. A més de la xatonada popular, motiu de la festa, hi trobareu un mercat del Xató, amb productes de la terra. També s’organitzen uns tallers gastronòmics, tastets de vins, gimcanes o visites guiades a Vilanova. Si us acaba agradant el plat i l’ambient podreu, gràcies a la ruta del xató, fer un bonic giravolt turístic i gastronòmic, al llarg de l’hivern, pels pobles on existeix la tradició d’aquest plat excels. El xató es una amanida, una deliciosa amanida. El bon xató porta escarola, anxoves o seitons, bacallà, tonyina i olives arbequines. Però el millor del xató és la seva salsa. Els ingredients d’aquesta delicadesa culinària són un secret traspasat de mares a filles. Cada casa fa la seva salsa de xató. Però totes porten, com a mínim, ametlles, avellanes, nyores, alls, oli d’oliva verge, vinagre i sal. N’hi ha també amb un xic de bitxo, pa fregit o ceba escalivada. Si el probeu, repetireu. Malgrat ser una amanida és un veritable plat de gourmets. A les xatonades, a més de degustar el xató podreu acompanyar-lo de bons vins del Penedés. També degustareu les postres típiques dels municipis de la Ruta: escumes de Sitges, bufats del Vendrell, catànies de Vilafranca, llunes de Vilanova, sabres de Sant Pau de Sant Pere de Ribes, petons de Cubelles, garrofins de Cunit, cossetans de Calafell i carquinyolis de Canyelles. Vilanova i la Geltrú te molts més alicients per completar el dia, o un cap de setmana de visita. Hi ha el museu del ferrocarril, amb trens i locomotores de tota mena. Un iman pels vostres fills i filles. O la casa romàntica de can Papiol, una casa burgesa del XIX, perfectament conservada. O l’espai terra XIX, instal·lat a la Masia de can cabanyes, una finca senyorial. Em deixat pel final el Museu Víctor Balaguer. És una filial del museu del Prado de madrid. Una veritable pinacoteca, amb una col·lecció que us deixarà bocabadats, que no podeu deixar de visitar. No us diem on dinar, perquè menjareu xató. Però si voleu quedar-vos a dormir penseu en els esplèndits hotels de Vilanova. Com el Cèsar, en una casa del XIX, mig nou i mig antic, confortable. Amb un bon restaurant. O l‘hotel Ceferino, al costat del mar, amb boniques habitacions i apartaments. També un cuidat restaurant. Si no trobeu lloc en aquests hotels no us preocupeu. Hi ha un piló d’altres establiments, tots prou decents, i un grapat de càmpings.

Cada año, desde finales de noviembre y hasta marzo, durante todo el invierno, se organizan en el Garraf y el Penedés, sus famossímes xatonadas. Es la ruta del Xató, que justo empieza, el domingo del último fin de semana de noviembre, en la villa maravillosa y marinera de Vilanova i la Geltrú. Allí, en la plaza del Mediterráneo, podran disfrutar de una serie de actos donde el Xató es el protagonista. Además de la Xatonada popular, motivo de la fiesta, se organiza un mercado del Xató, con productos de la tierra. También hay unos talleres gastronómicos, catas de vinos, gymkhanas o visitas guiadas por Vilanova. Si les acaba gustando el plato y el ambiente pueden, gracias a la ruta del Xató, dar una vuelta turística y gastronómica, a lo largo del invierno, por los pueblos donde existe la tradición de este plato excelso. El xató es una ensalada, una deliciosa ensalada. El buen xató lleva escarola, anchoas o boquerones, bacalao, atún y aceitunas arbequinas. Pero lo mejor del Xató es su salsa. Los ingredientes de esta delicadeza culinaria son un secreto que se traspasa de madres a hijas. Cada casa hace su salsa de xató. Pero todas llevan, como mínimo, almendras, avellanas, ñoras, ajos, aceite de oliva virgen, vinagre y sal. Las hay también con un poco de guindilla, pan frito o cebolla asada. Si lo prueban, repetiran. A pesar de ser una ensalada es un verdadero plato de gourmets. En las xatonadas, además de degustar el xató podrán acompañarlo de buenos vinos del Penedés. También degustaréis los postres típicos de los municipios de la Ruta: espumas de Sitges, bufats en El Vendrell, catanas de Vilafranca, lunas de Vilanova, sables de Sant Pau de Sant Pere de Ribes, besos de Cubelles, Garrofins de Cunit, cossetanos de Calafell y carquinyolis de Canyelles. Vilanova i la Geltrú tiene muchos más alicientes para completar el día, o un fin de semana de visita. Está el museo del ferrocarril, con trenes y locomotoras de todo tipo. Un imán para vuestros hijos e hijas. O la casa romántica de Can Papiol, una casa burguesa del XIX, perfectamente conservada. O el espacio tierra XIX, instalado en la Masía de Can Cabañas, una finca señorial. Me dejado para el final el Museo Víctor Balaguer. Es una filial del museo del Prado de Madrid. Una verdadera pinacoteca, con una colección que os dejará boquiabiertos, que no se puede dejar de visitar. No os decimos dónde comer, porque comereis xató. Pero si desean quedarse a dormir piensen en los espléndidos hoteles de Vilanova. Como el César, en una casa del XIX, medio nuevo y medio antiguo, confortable. Con un buen restaurante. O del hotel Ceferino, junto al mar, con bonitas habitaciones y apartamentos. También un cuidado restaurante. Si no encuentra lugar en estos hoteles no se preocupe. Hay un montón de otros establecimientos, todos bién decentes, y un puñado de campings.

Mój przyjacielu,
równie dobrze, zamiast łba tego psa
mogłaby być tam twoja głowa

Myślisz, ze ogrzewa cię światło
a ono tylko odbija się w oku,
które widzi obsuwającą się wydmę świata

Skowyt uwiązł ci w gardle
i sądzisz, że to jakaś fanaberia poetów
by skomleć, kiedy zasypują cię piachem

Twój Pan, gdzie jest?
Czy zagoił ci się już grzbiet
wygarbowany kiedyś przez jego kij?

Mówisz: gniew Mistrza mojego
to boży gniew!
Czy nie dlatego, że wówczas cierpienie twe,
choć głębsze – wydaje się też metafizyczne?

His Master’s Voice: słyszysz?
Czy jest to głos wołającego na pustyni
czy też szmer przesypujących się ziaren piasku,
które w końcu zduszą twój oddech?

Patrz: nicość jest jak płonąca ochra!

Ale ty mówisz, że to jedynie brudna żółć

I dziwisz się, że można ją uznać za symbol życia,

że przecież to tylko liszaje
zdjęte z muru tego szalonego malarza Goy’i

Nie wiem, czy pysk swój opierasz znużony
monotonią dziejącej się hekatomby
kiedy wszystkie kolory
przeganiane są na cztery wiatry?

Nie wiem – jest już w tobie spokój i pokora
życia wiernego jak pies?
Czy też rezygnacja i zmęczenie
sługi wygnanego z pańskiego pokoju?

 

Czy gasnąc, pochłonięty przez śmiertelną czerń
będziesz sie pocieszał,

że o zdechłym nie mówi się źle?

Że mogą cię nawet wtedy nazwać

swoim najlepszym przyjacielem ?

I pamiętać, że właśnie tu leżysz pogrzebany?

 

 

 

Jakże różnią się od siebie te dwa obrazy, które w madryckim Prado zrobiły na mnie największe wrażenie: rozbuchana kolorystycznie, zatłoczona kompozycyjnie, drobiazgowo detaliczna, szalenie alegoryczna - pełna niezliczonej ilości symboli wizja Boscha ukazująca “Ogród rozkoszy ziemskich” oraz minimalistyczny, monochromatyczny, zredukowany niemalże do jednego znaku obraz Goy’i “Zagrzebany pies”.
Goya namalował go pod koniec życia na jednej ze ścian swojej willi Quinta del Sordo jako uwieńczenie całej serii nazwanej później “pinturas negras”. “Domu Głuchego” dawno już nie ma, ale “czarne malowidła” przetrwały – najpierw zdjęte wraz z tynkiem ze ścian, a później przeniesione z tynku na płótno – wiszą teraz w Prado i są uznawane za coś w rodzaju malarskiego testamentu Goy’i.
“Pies” uważany jest za obraz par excellence modernistyczny, z tym, że wyprzedzający swoją epokę o wiek niamal cały. Nikt inny, tak jak Goy’a, nie potrafił równie wspaniale łączyć ekspresję z symbolizmem: furiacką wręcz swobodę operowania pędzlem czy szpachlą i przejmującą na wskroś wymowę znaku, kreski, plamy i obrazu.
Wydawałoby się, że symbolika “Psa” jest dość jasna i przejrzysta: chodzi tu o dramat świadomości żywej istoty skonfrontowanej z nieszczycielską siłą przytłaczającego ją świata – dramat osamotnienia, opuszczenia, rezygnacji, niemożności, bezsilności i ostatecznego unicestwienia w obojętnym na nasz los pustynnym Kosmosie.
Jednak, po głębszym wejrzeniu w dzieło Goy’i, można się przekonać, że można go interpretować na wiele różnych sposobów (o czym świadczyć choćby może zamieszczony powyżej tekst, kórego zręby powstały jeszcze wtedy, kiedy stałem oniemiały przed tym zdumiewającym obrazem aragońskiego mistrza w Madrycie).

  

H o l a guapos! Nyt on Tetuániinkin palannut jälleen rauha kaikkien turkulaisten vierailijoiden jälkeen. Parin viikon päästä on tosin Carinan vuoro: hänen vanhempansa ja alun perin Zaragozasta kotoisin oleva poikaystävänsä tulevat joulukuussa visiitille. Ehkä pääsen espanjan lisäksi harjoittamaan jossain muistini perukoilla uinuvaa saksaani Carinan vanhempien kanssa. Haluan muuten tuoda näin julkisestikin ilmi, kuinka paljon pidän Carinasta, meistä on tullut todella hyvät ystävät näiden kuukausien aikana. Minua on onnistanut suunnattomasti, kun olen saanut niin samanhenkisen ja rakastettavan kämppätoverin ja vielä aivan summan mutikassa (näin Fräulein Pannerin ensimmäistä kertaa vasta kun olin jo kirjoittanut vuokrasopimuksen ja muuttanut tetuanilaiseen asuntoomme)! Olen Carinasta hyvin onnellinen.

Katarinan ja Janin vierailu sujui muutamista eripurista ja erimielisyyksistä huolimatta oikein rattoisasti. Minulla oli oikein ihana viikko siskoni ja “veljeni” kanssa. Täytyy sanoa, että aika kului jälleen siivillä, ja vaikka näimmekin viikossa paljon Madridia, vielä jäi paljon asioita näkemättä ja kokematta! Nyt jälkeen päin, kun on katsonut Katarinan ottamia valokuvia matkasta, tulee vieläkin tyytyväisempi olo matkan kattavuudesta: Katarinan valokuvissa tiivistyy mielestäni mainiosti madridilainen viikkomme. (Pahoitteluni, että ko. valokuvia ei tänne pysty linkittämään.)

Viikkoon mahtui kolme laadukasta taidemuseota, perinteikäs Prado Goya-kokoelmineen, Guernican Reina Sofia ja ehkä minua eniten miellyttänyt Thyssen-Bornemisza, jossa esillä oli jopa yksi Berthe Morisotin teos. Nämä kolme taidemuseota ovat kyllä todella upeita ja kattavia instituutioita, erityisesti mieleen jäi Pradon ilmavuus ja teosten mainiot esillepanoratkaisut. Pradossa on tilaa liikkua ja museomiljöö on ehdottoman miellyttävä, joskin ainakin minä olisin tarvinnut siellä lukemattomissa saleissa vähintään kartan ja kompassin (ehkä myös GPS-laitteen). Myös Paseo del Prado, puistomainen kävelykuja oli kovin viehättävä astuttava.

Parque del Retirossa söimme Katarinan kanssa herkulliset suklaa-napolitanat, jotka ostimme Puerta del Solin aukion täydellisestä leipomosta. Leipomon näyteikkuna on kuin still-kuva Marie Antoinetten suloisimmasta päiväunesta, jossa kermamunkit ja suklaa-pähkinäkakut tanssivat käsi kädessä ranskalaista menuettia. Harmiksemme tuona päivänä Madridissa velloivat suunnattomat ilmamassat, ja hetkemme Retirossa oli ilmastollisesti sangen kolea. (Onneksi ainakin Katarinan ruumiinlämpöä kohotti lievästi leivoksen herkullisuus.)

Rastro-katumarkkinoilla minä ostin itselleni upean vanhan kissa-aiheisen peltisen keksirasian ja kauniin mustavalkovalokuvan. Olen suunnattoman innostunut Rastron antiikki-osiosta, jossa myydään aivan upeita vanhoja esineitä yleensä hyvin huokeaan hintaan. Kun Maria oli kanssani Rastrossa, löysin täydellisen vanhan patinoituneen pöytäjalkapallopelin, joka olisi maksanut 90e (superhalpa sen kuntoon ja “oikeaan” arvoonsa nähden) ja olisin sen Suomessa luultavasti ostanutkin, mutta täältä Madridista sitä olisi ollut niin hankala kuljettaa Suomeen. Oih, itken vieläkin tuon menetetyn aarteen perään…

Tietenkin myös teimme ostoksia asiaankuuluvilla Gran Vialla ja Solin Calle de Preciadoksella, ja totesimme, että Madridin luksus-ostoskatu, Calle Serrano, on kovin ikävässä kunnossa johtuen massiivisesta koko kadun kattavasta tietyömaasta, joka aiheuttaa pölyä ja melua muuten mahtavaan ostosympäristöön. Katarina ja minä suorastaan rakastuimme Musgo-nimiseen täydelliseen putiikkiin, missä myydään uskomattoman kauniiden vaatteiden ja korujen lisäksi erittäin hyvällä maulla myyntiin valittuja sisustustuotteita. Ja laatunsa nähden Musgo oli erittäin edullinen liike. Calle Serrano on joka tapauksessa ehdottomasti juuri niin loistelias ostoskatu, kun matkaoppaat sanovat: Loewen, Guccin ja Pradan liikkeet seisoivat vieri vieressä odottaen varakkaampien laukku- ja vaateaddiktien invaasiota.

Katarina ja Jan kävivät myös kokemassa Real Madrid vs. Atlético Madridin ottelun, mikä lienee taatusti madridilaisten unelmaottelu: kaksi kotijoukkuetta vastakkain. Tällainen superottelu aiheuttaa myös tunteiden kuumentumista, mutta niin kuin odotettavissa oli, Katarinan ja Janin raportit Vicente Calderon-stadionilta (Atléticon kotistadium) osoittivat, että madridilaiset kannattavat yleisesti Atléticoa, joka koetaan tietyllä tavalla aidommaksi nimenomaan madridilaiseksi jalkapalloseuraksi, toisin kuin supermenestykseen kohonnut Real Madrid. (Näin kärjistetysti todeten.)

Kaikkien näiden enemmän suunnitelmallisten kaupunkiaktiviteettien lisäksi pyrin tutustuttamaan Katarinan ja Janin Carinaan ja muutamaan muuhun uuteen ystävääni. Lauantai-iltana istuimme iltaa Tetuánissa herkullisten tapasten ja salaattien merkeissä, ja oli hykerryttävän hauskaa, kun olohuoneemme täyttyi niin monesta kansallisuudesta (suomi, saksa, italia ja espanja edustettuina) ja kun jokainen meistä osasi vähän jokaista kieltä jonkin verran. (Jan pääsi elvyttämään italian taitojaan ja Katarina saksaansa, minä vähän kaikkia.) Ilta oli oikein onnistunut ja mielikuvani “kansainvälisen kommunikoinnin” mielekkyydestä vahvistui vahvistumistaan. Rakastan eri kieliä ja eri kulttuureja suunnattomasti!

Söimme suomalaisessa seurueessamme myös joka päivä ulkona, minäkin pääsin siis vihdoin maistelemaan uusia makuja ja espanjalaisia aina noin 10e maksavia päivän menuita (menú del día). Koettua tuli hyvä wok-ravintola Sevilla-metroaseman kupeessa, asturialainen pikkuravintola (missä palvelu erinomaista), kreikkalainen perheyritys Chuecassa, (missä pääruokani oli lievästi kyseenalainen, kröhöm) ja pari italialaista pasta- ja pizzaravintolaa, joista toisessa söin herkullista juustorisottoa. Näihin ravintolakokemuksiimme mahtui mukaan valitettavasti myös yksi, jossa koimme luultavasti koko elämämme suurimman pohjanoteerauksen erityisesti ravintolapalvelun ja -osaamisen saralta. Kokemus oli hyvin hämmentävä ja sanotaan nyt vaikka näin, että ennen tuota ravintolaa, olin luullut, että jokaisella ravintolalla on tietty ammattiylpeys. No, ehkä meille sattui vain huono tuuri: tällaiset kokemukset voivat tietysti olla hyvin yksilöllisiä (?). Suolaisten ruokien lisäksi nautimme Katarinan kanssa muun muassa espanjalaista perinteistä makeaa riisijälkiruokaa (arroz con leche), galicialaista suklaakakkua ja El Corte Inglesistä ostettuja erikoissuklaita. Nauratti kovasti, kun Jan huomautti, että jos jatkaisimme siskoni kanssa tuota rataa, voisimme hyvinkin olla muutaman vuosikymmenen kuluttua maailman lihavimmat ihmiset. Hahah!

Mainittakoon vielä, että lupauksieni mukaan Katarina ja Jan saivat nauttia joka ilta myös herkullisista viineistä. Viva el Lambrusco!

Uskoakseni myös Katarina ja Jan pitivät loppujen lopuksi melko paljon Madridista, tai ainakin sen erityislaatuisesta välittömästä tunnelmasta ja rennosta asenteesta elämään. (Maanantaina 9.11. täällä oli muuten Almudena-pyhimyksen päivä, yleinen vapaapäivä, ja päivän aattona, sunnuntaina, Madrid oli kuin mikäkin bilemekka: meininki kaduilla ja tavernoissa oli kuin Suomessa uutena vuotena!)

Omalta osaltani täytyy sanoa, että rakastan Madridia joka päivä enemmän ja enemmän. Tämä vaan on kaupunki minun makuuni, una ciudad que simplemente me encanta.

Tokyo, 11 November 2009 - Pabrikan otomotif asal Jepang, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), mengumumkan bakal meluncurkan generasi terbaru dari varian Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) premiumnya, All New Prado, akhir November ini. Namun, varian tersebut untuk saat ini masih ditujukan untuk pasar Australia.

“Toyota menawarkan produk yang lebih tangguh sekaligus lebih sempurna dibandingkan generasi sebelumnya. Selain memiliki kemampuan di segala medan, juga lebih nyaman berkat tambahan fitur-fitur premium,” demikian pernyataan resmi Toyota, Selasa (11/11).

Seperti pendahulunya, produk terbaru Toyota itu masih menggunakan mesin 4.000 cc dan 3.000 cc. Kedua varian dilengkapi system transmisi manual dengan enam kecepatan dan otomatis dengan lima percepatan. “Banyak teknologi driver assist yang dicangkokan pada Pardo baru tersebut,” ujar sumber Toyota.

Tak hanya itu, tingkat konsumsi bahan bakarnya juga diklaim semakin irit khususnya di varian mesin 4.000 cc enam silinder yang kini menggunakan teknologi variable valve timing-intelligent (VVTi) ganda.

Pasalnya teknologi itu mengendalikan kerja katup masuk dan buang sehingga pemakaian bahan bakar irit namun daya mesin meningkat. “Peningkatan mencapai lebih dari 10 persen hingga lebih dari 200 kilowatt atau 260 daya kuda,” tambah sumber Toyota.

Toyota juga mengklaim, pada varian mesin 3.000 cc direct injection turbo diesel dengan empat silinder, keberadaan injektor baru dan penyempurnaan sistem pendigin dan intercooler yang telah dilakukannya telah meningkatkan torsi hingga lebih dari 4.000 Newton meter sejak putaran mesin pada 1.200 rpm.

Selain membenahi sektor mesin, Toyota juga menambah sejumah fitur penunjang keamanan dan kenyamanan dalam berkendara. Beberapa fitur yang ada di Prado teranyar itu adalah : tujuh buah airbag, electronic stability control dengan traction control untuk memastikan roda selalu menapak dengan pasti menjadi fitur standar generasi terbaru Prado tersebut.

Kemudian antilock brake system, emergency brake assist, dan electronic brake force distribution untuk mendapatkan peforma pengereman terbaik.

Fitur lainnya adalah multi-terrain monitor. Seperti diketahui, Prado selama ini dilengkapi fitur kinetic dynamic suspension system yang berguna untuk meredam getaran yang dihasilkan mobil agar sesuai dengan kondisi permukaan jalan.

Versi terbaru piranti itu dilengkapi multi-terrain monitor yang berfungsi menayangkan gambar dari kamera yang ditempatkan di keempat sisi kendaraan. Walhasil, pengemudi dapat melihat kondisi permukaan jalan pada enam area di sekelilingnya, depan, belakang, samping depan, serta belakang kanan dan kiri.

Downhill assist control yang bertugas menjaga kecepatan kendaraan dan memastikan stabilitas ketika meluncur di turunan.yaitu saat mobill menuruni lereng. Sedangkan fitur hill-start assist control berguna untuk mengurangi risiko mobil tergelincir ke bawah saat melakukan start di tanjakan atau di permukaan yang licin.

Fitur lainnya adalah, adaptive variable suspension system dengan roll posture control. Perangkat itu dipasang untuk memberi kebebasan pengemudi mengatur tingkat peredaman suspensi.

Toyota juga memasang tombol tiga pilihan sistem suspensi yang bisa dipilih sesuai dengan lintasan yang dilalui mobil. Tombol tersebut dipasang pada setir. Sedangkan ketiga pilihan itu meliputi, “Mud & Sand”, “Loose Rock”, “Mogul” dan “Rock”.

Lantas berapa Prado terbaru itu akan dibanderol? Sumber Toyota memberi kisaran 3.150.000 yen dan hingga paling mahal 4.750.000 yen atau sekitar Rp 346,5 juta hingga Rp 522,5 juta.

Sumber foto 01 | Foto 02 | Foto 03 | Foto 04 | Foto 05

A Puigcerdà tenen llocs dos fires que no podeu deixar passar. Una a primers de novembre. L’altra a mitjans d’abril. Totes dues tenen com a protagonista el cavall. En totes dues hi trobareu milers de metres quadrats a disposició dels animals i els seus amos. Milers de visitants omplen el recinte. És una fira gegantina, que traspassa fronteres. No veureu mai tants cavalls junts. Hi ha moltes altres activitats associades a la fira que faran les delícies dels més menuts, i despertaran la curiositat dels més grans, com ara concusos d’arrossegada, tir i enganxada, parades, exposició d’altre bestiar, etc. A la tardor Puigcerdà es vesteix amb colors virolats. La tardor és molt bonica a la Cerdanya. A la primavera tot és verd, un verd tendre, recién estrenat, i la neu cobreix encara els cims. Si aneu a la fira quedeu-vos uns dies a la Cerdanya. Podeu allotjar-vos a La Molina, als apartaments Guitart, que per les famílies estan molt bé, i serà temporada baixa. Podeu dinar millor fora de Puigcerdà,que estarà molt ple de gent, potser a Alp, al Mesón Restaurant, carrer Sant Pere, 9. Telèfon 972 144 120. O bé a Llívia, al restaurant Can Cofa, al carrer Frederic Bernades, 29. Telèfon 972 896 500. Un bon lloc, tradicional i cassolà. Més bé de preu, amb menú, a Cal Russó, que també és un hotelet familiar. Telèfon: 972 146 398. Per allotjar-vos, a Puigcerdà mateix, penseu en els grans càmpings. L’Estel, situat camí de Llívia, o bé el Pirineus, a Guils, a les afores. També teniu hotels, que solen ser molt bonics, però molt cars, com ara el Prado, amb bones habitacions familiars, o el del Lago. En tots aquests allotjaments el servei de restaurant és esplèndit.

En Puigcerdà tienen dos ferias que no puede dejar pasar. Una a primeros de noviembre. La otra a mediados de abril. Ambas tienen como protagonista al caballo. En ambas encontrareis miles de metros cuadrados a disposición de los animales y sus dueños. Y miles de visitantes que llenan el recinto. Es una feria gigantesca, que traspasa fronteras. No vereis nunca tantos caballos juntos. Hay muchas otras actividades asociadas a la feria que harán las delicias de los más pequeños, y despertarán la curiosidad de los mayores, como los concusos de arrastrada, tiro y enganche, paradas, exposición de otro tipo de ganado, etc. En otoño Puigcerdà se viste con colores chillones. El otoño es muy bonito en la Cerdanya. En primavera todo es verde, un verde tierno, recién estrenado, y la nieve cubre todavía las cumbres. Si vais a la feria quédaros un fin de semana en la Cerdanya. Pueden alojarse en La Molina, en los apartamentos Guitart, que para las familias están muy bien, y será en temporada baja. Pueden comer mejor fuera de Puigcerdà, que estará muy lleno de gente, quizás en Alp, en el Mesón Restaurante, calle Sant Pere, 9. Teléfono 972 144 120. O bien en Llívia, en el restaurante Can Cofa, en la calle Federico Bernades, 29. Teléfono 972 896 500. Un buen lugar, con comida tradicional y casera. Mejor de precio, con menú, en Cal Russó, que también es un hotelito familiar. Teléfono: 972 146 398. Para alojarse, en Puigcerdà mismo, piense en los grandes campings. Stel, situado camino de Llívia, o bien el Pirineos, en Guils, a las afueras. También tiene hoteles, que suelen ser muy bonitos, pero muy caros, como el Prado, con buenas habitaciones familiares, o el del Lago. En todos estos alojamientos el servicio de restaurante es espléndido.

Tomada en el nuevo vestíbulo del Museo del Prado de Madrid, el 02 de noviembre de 2007.

Vota esta anotación en Bitácoras.

Aparecen las primeras setas de cardo con una calidad inmejorable.

Fruto de las últimas lluvias, seguido de días de nieblas y temperaturas más que cálidas.

 Las primeras setas de cardo están con un color pardo vivo y con una frescura envidiable, los prados zamoranos están en condiciones de producir muchos de estos exquisitos manjares.

Es increible como poco a poco las empresas visionarias estan comenzando a ver la internet y en especial el portal El Salvador on Business, no como una herramienta más, sino como el futuro de los Negocios Salvadoreños. Es por eso que le damos la BIENVENIDA A LA EMPRESA RIUMASA S.A. de C.V. , la cual ya forma parte de nuestra gran familia, y ya esta viviendo y experimentando el crecimiento de su tráfico, de sus ventas, de sus ingresos; gracias al apoyo y soporte que el portal El Salvador on Business le ha brindado.

RIUMASA es una imprenta con más de 8 años de experiencia en la impresión offset publicitaria y administrativa. Los estandares de calidad y sus tiempos de entrega la han caracterizado y posicionado como una de las imprentas de mayor confiabilidad y accesibilidad del país. RIUMASA cuenta con tecnología y metodos de impresión especiales parta manejar altos volumenes y especialmente alta calidad en las resoluciones y duirabilidad de sus impresiones.

La Cobertura que RIUMASA posee es a nivel Centroamericano, su amplia red de logística le ha permitido mantener un procedimiento de entrega satisfactoria tanto en tiempo como en calidad. RIUMASA tiene la capacidad de imprimir en todo tipo de papel o cartón, posee máquinas troqueladoras, cortadoras, dobladoras, numeradoras; todo lo necesario para manejar la publicidad impresa en su totalidad.

Su amplia trayectoria y eficiencia en sus trabajos, le ha valido a RIUMASA el aval y confianza de innumerables empresas reconocidas tales como: TIGO, PRADO, LA PRENSA GRAFICA, TALECRIS, NESTLE, PURINA, CREPE LOVERS, Y MUCHAS MAS..

Aqui esta el video de RIUMASA, DISFRUTENLO.

Si quieren ver la página completa de RIUMASA en el portal El Salvador on Business aquí les dejo el enlace:

http://www.elsalvadorob.com/clientes/riumasa.html

Losa datos de contacto de RIUMASA son los siguientes:

Telefáx: 2220-9438 / Cel.: 7736-8807

Email:  carlos.umanzor@yahoo.com

RIUMASA S.A. de C.V. ………….IMPRIMIMOS TUS IDEAS

ONE4MAE hitting the tee world

 COMING SOON !

Dear All..

Anyone Using Prado Framework here?

September 9th

Another day set aside for art in Madrid, and this time it was the big one – the world-class Museo del Prado.

Now you might think that the sensible place to have a ticket counter would be at the main entrance, right? Not so at the Prado. After queueing for a while, and with no informative signposting anywhere, we were asked for our tickets. Er, well, we’d like to buy some, please. No, no, you have to do that at the other end of the building! So off we go, down to the other end, where there are two entirely different queues and again no helpful signs whatsoever, with bewildered folk milling around everywhere around randomly placed disinterested cops. Jesus!

Museo del Prado

Eventually we gain egress, and immediately forgive the Prado for its arcane and East German-like means of obtaining tickets, since the contents are overwhelming and will occupy us until the late evening.

The highlights for me were seeing my favourite painting of all time – yes, get ready to cringe in horror at my 18 year-old student bedsit tastes – Bosch’s “Garden of Earthly Delights.”

Now, most folk like to concentrate on the right panel of this venerable triptych from 1500, you know, the bit where bird-headed demons are devouring men with crows flying out of their arses, people are shitting gold coins and oddly futuresque spacemen are groping young damsels.

I like this part too, but I as I approached the painting I sneaked in behind a guided tour and was amazed and enlightened by the exposition of the English-speaking leader.

See, the middle panel, the biggest part, represents the overindulgence of man after Eden, and as such is little more than a thinly-veiled orgy. There are threesomes, interracial couplings, people touching their private areas from which are bursting forth bunches of flowers or birds, and all manner of weird interaction with fantastical animals.

You are left wondering whether Bosch was really just seeking to warn people of the dangers of indulgence, or whether he just got his kicks from his own perverted inventions, a pornographer if you will.

Aside from a few other Bosches, the same room also held Brueghel’s “The Triumph of Death,” obviously greatly influenced by the former, and likewise revelling in the nastiness of the fantastical scenes it portrays, and a great and powerful work because of it.

Elsewhere I reacquainted myself with Goya, not only the dark images from the horrors of the Napoleonic Wars, but also his celebratedly frank, nay disrespectful portrait of the Spanish royal family, his employers.

In this masterpiece the King looks like a fat pin-headed freak with a big nose, while his wife resembles an ugly barmaid rather than a queen.

Elsewhere, one young lady is portrayed with her face turned completely away, and the royal Granny peers out from the back rows with a gigantic black excrescence on the side of her face, looking like a hideous witch.

Meanwhile, Goya lurks at the back. How on earth did he get away with such a monumental piss-take?

Velazquez outside the Prado

Velazquez – a nightmare to pronounce in lisping Castillian, and largely unknown to me until this trip. A master of capturing accurate facial expressions, his most famous work, prefiguring Goya’s liberties, chooses to reverse the normal perspective of a portrait, leaving us with Phillip II’s view of his daughters and court jesters messing around in the artist’s studio, with Velazquez himself in mid flow with the brush.

The King and Queen are reduced to a blurry image in a dirty mirror on the back wall. Revolutionary indeed.

Lunch was again in the gallery restaurant, where a fine tuna pie and rice salad were consumed with gallons of gazpacho and a beer.

Elsewhere in the restaurant we spotted an archetypal Japanese weirdo – a middle-aged man in unfashionable clothes, sitting bolt upright and muttering to himself.

In a satisfying reversal of what goes on in Japan, there was a wide circle of empty seats around him, despite the place being nearly full.

After leaving the Prado we proceeded to join the locals in the relaxing Retiro park, an enormous expanse of green in the city centre, featuring a boating lake in front of an imposing monument to some monarch or other.

I couldn’t resist making use of my zoom lens to capturing the expressions of the folk out in the little boats, but feeling somewhat uneasy at invading their privacy.

So if you notice your silly mug in the any of the shots displayed here, see you in court, baby!

(More images from this trip can be found here)

Virgin vacations put out this list a while ago of the best 16 museums in the world.

I believe this list is a little American-centric, but I decided to put it to the test and see what real travelers thought about each one anyway.

1. Musee du Louvre, Paris, France

Chelseyineurope inside the Louvre in Paris

As for the Louvre, it is GIGANTIC. I sat in the lobby of the museum for 20 minutes before finally convincing myself that I could conquer the Louvre and go all the way inside. When I finally convinced my legs and my lower back that I am not 85 years old and that they can deal with the Louvre, the first painting I saw was the 2nd painting (Cimabue’s Madonna) I studied in my art history class last fall. That’s when I really realized I had hit the art history big time. I am so so glad I took art history in college, and I think I saw close to half of the paintings I studied in class during my time in Paris.

I walked through the Italian hall, which is pretty much different artists painting the same scene (the Madonna and the Christ child). And of course I saw the Mona Lisa. Not that exciting, but she does have an odd enticing quality. The Louvre visit was made well-worthwhile by watching tourists push each other to take photos in front of the Mona Lisa and listening to people talk about her in 20 different languages. I also get a kick out of the people who video tape museums. What poor family member left back it home is going to be forced to watch 3 hours of footage of the inside of the Louvre? – Chelseyineurope

2. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, USA

Inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Jimandlaura

Took the subway uptown to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Wow, what a place. We loved it and we only scratched the surface. Particularly liked the modern art (Hirst, Pollock) and the ancient Japanese silk prints. You could spend a week there and still not see everything. Great cafe too! – Jimandlaura

3. Vatican Museums, Vatican City, Rome, Italy

The ceiling in the Vatican Museums

The museum was extended in 2000 for the millennial year celebration of Christ’s birth, and the renovations included a large spiral ramp leading to the entrance to the museums. We had fun by challenging the group to run up the spiral ramp while they took the escalator.

We saw a number of interesting sculptures while waiting in a courtyard to enter the first of the museums. One was of a pine cone from 1 AD or 2 AD, that was a symbol of fertility and was first made as a Roman fountain. In the courtyard, we also learned about the story and significance of the Sistine Chapel. The chapel is used as the place where the cardinals choose the next Pope. It was named after Pope Sixtus IV.

As we walked through various parts of the museums, I was surprised to see some art from Ancient Egypt and Greece, even including two marble sculptures of Diana the fertility goddess and Diana as the goddess of the hunt. Worship of Diana was notorious in the New Testament. It seemed to me as though the presence of the artwork indicated the idea that the church acknowledged and saw itself as the fulfillment of many earlier traditions and religious practices. My interpretation could, however, be incorrect.

I was awestruck by the tapestries depicting various events in Christ’s life. The tapestries were housed in a darkened room and one of them gave the impression that Christ’s eyes were following you as you walked past. Another interesting room was a room of ancient maps. – Woodsfamily

4. Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

Ruthperelstein on the terrace of the Uffizi Gallery

Tuesday we visit the Uffizi Gallery. This is another place where you have to have a reservation. It does make it less stressful and you do beat the lines, which are long and full of grumpy tourists.

The Uffizi Gallery has the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere, including Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. It is beautiful. The time periods this museum are not my personal favorites but again the sculpture knocks us out.

Building of the palace was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de’ Medici as the offices for the Florentine magistrates — hence the name “uffizi” (“offices”). There is also a corridor that extends for the end of the building along the Arno river and through the Ponte Vecchio to the Pitti Palace that is no longer used by was the way the elite could travel without stepping a foot into the dangerous streets. – Ruthperelstein

5. Prado Museum, Madrid, Spain

Juliana of Paul-jules at the Prado Museum in Madrid

We got to our hotel, and headed out to the Prado museum immediately. It is one of the best museums we have seen on the trip. It has a large number of El Greco paintings. He has become one of our favourite artists. It also has many by Raphael, Reubens, and Durer. – Paul-jules

6. The State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia

Fishtails04 found the State Hermitage overwhelming

The State Hermitage, located in the former Winter Palace of the tsars, in St. Petersburg, houses one of the finest art collections in the world, with more than three million pieces – it seems that Catherine the Great liked big numbers in more than just her lovers. And that’s the problem really: it’s estimated that to walk through each of the galleries would total about twenty-five kilometres – i.e. it’s just too big to cover in an afternoon. It’s also too excessive in style for me to really enjoy: all busily decorated floors, marble pillars, highly decorated ceilings, heavy furniture, dark portraits of gloomy monarchs, imposing sculptures, huge crustal chandeliers, and gold and gilt opulence. As the guidebooks says, “One must visit the Hermitage on a visit to St Petersburg…”, and it was worth it to gain an appreciation of its scale, but I felt something of a failure when, after an hour and a half, I’d had enough and, with that sense of panic I experience in large department stores when I can’t see a way out, started frantically searching for an exit. – Fishtails04

7. J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles, USA

Inside the J. Paul Getty Center with Jeznkez

At length the road wound up through the hills and we arrived at the J. Paul Getty Centre, which is a gigantic art museum, housed in a purpose built series of monoliths amid the verdant grounds. The museum is perched on a hill in the Santa Monica Mountains, looking over L.A. and out to sea.

We had nowhere near enough time to do justice to the whole four buildings, each of which contains different styles of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present, but had a good look around and enjoyed the peaceful and exquisitely conceived gardens, interwoven with sculptures and water features. The whole complex is constructed from Travertine (1.2 million square feet of it) which is a fossilized, textured stone that reflects the bright Californian sunlight, imparting the whole place with a luminous, ethereal glow. Overall an incredibly successful public space and a great example of modern architectural design and realization. And all free of charge! – Jeznkez

8. Musee d’Orsay, Paris, France

Londonpenguin at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris

Our long walk ended up at the Musee d’Orsay. I headed straight for the Impressionists upstairs, and leisurely made my way back down. Happened upon the Salle des Fetes, which is a glorious burst of gold, crystal and mirrors. I also found the Art Nouveau rooms and was really enjoying them when the announcement came over the loudspeaker that the museum would be closing in 15 minutes, which was half an hour earlier than we had been told. Slightly disappointing, but it was definitely worth going back to. – Londonpenguin

9. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA

The Enemans standing in front of a fountain at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

The style of the buildings downtown is such a far cry from anything else you’ll see. There were times when I thought even the Greek Gods would be impressed. I was surprised to see how brand new the art gallery looked, despite having been open for sixty years. The marble floors were pristine and the walls were un-scuffed as if it had been built last week. I was particularly anxious about the Ansel Adams beach photography gallery on display for a limited time. – Jeneman

10. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France

Mamakarpus at the Centre Pompidou in Paris

I really wanted to see the Pompidou Centre, so we went looking for that. It took us forever to find it, it was so annoying. We kept looking at the map backwards, so we were wandering around forever. Oh well. We eventually found it and it was pretty cool. It’s a modern art museum. I honestly didn’t care about going in to see the art, but I wanted to see the building and the fountains right beside it. So I was happy. – Mamakarpus

11. Tate Modern, London, England

Laohallo's friend at the Tate Modern in London

After borough markets we headed over to tate modern which is a modern art museum. Im blaming Tammy for picking this tourist attraction. Lets just say the art is very strange and modern. It was a good laugh though. – Laohallo

12. Museum of Modern Art, New York City, USA

Julesjb found this statue in MoMA's sculpture garden

After that I then went across to Manhattan to see the MOMA (Museum Of Modern Art) which was amazing. All my favourites were there including Cezanne, Magritte, Picasso and Dali. I also saw a few Jackson Pollack’s which I thought were very impressive in terms of scale and use of paint. – Julesjb

13. British Museum, London, England

Harmony at the British Museum in London

It was spectacular and we could not believe the size and the amount of artifacts, especially since it was free to get in! We saw the Rosetta Stone, a massive Easter Island head, many beautiful Greco Roman sculptures, and much much more. – Mikeandharmony

14. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, USA

Ineednewears found this to be one quiet place in the Guggenheim museum

Who would have thought that on a windy, rainy, cold Friday evening dozens of people were willing to queue underneath the semi-permeable dripping roof of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in their damp clothes and soaked shoes just to get in for close to free (for some, pay-what-you-can comes frighteningly close to nothing). I pictured a Friday night at the “Gugg” along the lines of a Friday night at the library or much like a sheep pasture with but a few bodies scattered around in the far corners, but what I got involved much more arm-against-arm rubbing and additional queuing as the spiral-shaped interior, seven-levels high, filled up.

I complained not about the crowds but about the barriers along the spiraling platform being too low, and constantly feared toppling over to free fall and be torn open by one or more of the suspended cars on my way down. - Ineednewears

15. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA

Toddfamily had a "Rocky moment" at the Philadelphia Art Museum

The next day we spent the morning on a bus tour of the city and ended up at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We really enjoyed this museum too and were once again lucky to join a tour with a very knowledgeable guide. We met Mark at the front of the museum afterwards and had a little Rocky moment on the front steps – those of you who know the first Rocky film will know this scene! – Toddfamily

16. Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA

Traveled loved the Chicago Art Institute

We took the Metro to Union, then walked down Adams to the Art Institute. We saw more exhibits in one day than I recall seeing on any of my previous visits. We started off in the European area, then lunched at the cafe, which was surprisingly satisfying, and finally we took a couple more hours to walk through the American and photography exhibits. One my favorite works of the day was one that probably does not receive the attention it deserves, located in the corner of the same room as “American Gothic” by Hopper, called “Nightlife” by Motley. But of course, I also loved almost everything I saw there. – Traveled

Framework adalah sekumpulan library dan code program yang digunakan untuk memudahkan pengembangan aplikasi. Yang paling populer saat ini adalah .NET Framework yang digunakan untuk pengembangan aplikasi di platform Windows. Nah di PHP juga ada beberapa framework yang dapat memudahkan pengembangan website ataupun aplikasi web based. Beberapa framework tersebut adalah Prado, CakePHP, Symfony, Zend, dan banyak lagi framework lainnya. Sebagian besar framework PHP menggunakan konsep MVC. Konsep ini memisahkan pengembangan menjadi 3 bagian yaitu pengembangan model/object, visual/design tampilan, dan controller /logika program. Selain framework PHP di dunia pengembangan web juga terdapat Ruby on Rails yang sangat populer. Menggunakan bahasa Ruby dan Rails sebagai frameworknya.

Saya hanya membahas Prado karena framework ini telah saya gunakan selama 1,5 tahun dalam pengembangan website. Framework lainnya hanya saya lihat dan baca reviewnya, untuk mencobanya masih belum tertarik. Prado merupakan framework untuk PHP dimana pengembangan aplikasi web dengan Prado akan mengubah konsep dan alur kerja pengembangan website dari konsep tradisional PHP menjadi berbasis komponen dan event. Contoh paling simple yang menggunakan konsep yang sama adalah pengembagan website dengan ASP.NET atau pengembangan aplikasi desktop dengan Visual Basic dan Delphi. Jadi pengembangan website hampir sama dengan pengembangan aplikasi desktop.

Dokumentasi Prado sangatlah baik, mulai dari manual, dokumentasi class, wiki, contoh kode program, hingga step by step contoh pengembangan suatu aplikasi yaitu tutorial pembuatan blog. Semua itu tersedia melalui website Prado atau file Prado yang dapat didownload. Pada versi 3.1.1 tersedia dokumentasi dengan Bahasa Indonesia. Saya sendiri telah merasakan manfaat Prado. Saya telah menyelesaikan 3 aplikasi web, dan saya merasakan perbedaan waktu pengembangan yang jauh lebih cepat dibandingkan teknik pengembangan web tradisional. Coding juga jadi lebih baik, rapi, dan minim error karena kita tinggal menggunakan komponen yang ada. Bukan membuatnya dari awal.

Prado sangat mudah dipelajari, bahkan oleh orang yang tidak memiliki background PHP. Teman saya bahkan dapat membantu saya menyelesaikan satu aplikasi padahal dia tidak pernah mengembangkan aplikasi web. Dia cuma mengenal Visual Basic sebagai bahasa pemrograman dia. Tidak sampai 1 minggu di bisa mengerti bagaimana mengembangan aplikasi web dengan Prado. Tapi tentu saja background PHP sangat diperlukan bila tidak ingin kesulitan untuk penggunaan fungsi-fungsi tertentu di PHP.

Bila sudah menggunakan Prado terkadang pengembang mengalami kesulitan untuk fungsi tertentu. Dukungan komunitas Prado yang kuat melalui forum sangatlah membantu. Bahkan komunitas lokal seperti sub-forum Indonesia juga cukup aktif. Pertanyaan dengan cepat mendapat respon dari komunitas Prado Indonesia.

Teknologi yang digunakan Prado sangat mengikuti perkembangan web. Ajax, UI Component, SQL Data Mapper, Active Record, PDO, dan banyak lagi adalah teknologi yang ditanamkan kedalam Prado. Dan pengembang Prado dengan mudah menggunakan teknologi tersebut dengan cara Prado tanpa dipusingkan kode program dibalik teknologi tersebut. Itulah Prado, walaupun berbasis PHP tapi teknik pengembangan berbeda dengan PHP. It’s Prado Way not PHP Way. Untuk informasi yang lebih detail langsung aja ke website Prado di http://www.pradosoft.com

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We left the apartment around 8:30… walked to the tram stop, took the tram to the train station, bought train tickets to Valencia, 50 minutes on train, arrived at Valencia, walked to metro station in Valencia, bought metro ticket, took metro to Valencia airport, got off at airport, through security, check-in, wait for flight, board flight, 30 minutes in air, touch down in Madrid, find metro station in airport, buy Madrid metro tickets, take metro from line 3 to line 10 to line 1, 30 minutes in metro, get off on Tirso de Molina Plaza, walk up metro stairs, look for hostel, can’t find hostel, call hostel, really close, walk to hostel, check-in, lock up bags, and GO! Phwew…. Wednesday was one mode of transportation to another! But, we left at 8:30 and were checked into our hostel by 2:30, so it wasn’t too bad of a trip, and very easy to navigate. We called a friend and met up for a late lunch. I had the menu of the day, which included cafe con leche (coffee with milk), spaghetti-style pasta, and a lightly-fried fish with boiled potatoes on the side. Was pretty good, but definitely wouldn’t be the best meal of my stay in Madrid. My roommate was feeling a little sick, so she headed back to the hostel to rest and I went with my other friend to explore around. We walked down Calle Atocha (Atocha Street) and towards Museo del Prado, Madrid’s most famous museum! We took photos of the beautiful town, walked along the Botanical gardens (although we didn’t go in because it cost one euro and we only had about 30 minutes until it closed), took photos in front of the beautiful fountains and statues in front of the Prado Museum, and then walked to the ticket side and realized entrance was free from 6-8pm! Wow! So, we got our free tickets and entered the Prado. Amazing. I was jumping for joy as we entered. I couldn’t believe it. Here I am, in Madrid, the capital of Spain, and entering the Prado museum, home to works such as Velazquez, Goya, and El Greco…. WOW. I went straight for the Goyas. The artistry was impressive, to say the least. I took my time, admiring the sheer size of the paintings, as well as the lifelike qualities and looming stares. I like to make stories for each painting I see before I read the panel. I like to imagine what the model was thinking as they were being studied and sketched and painted and critiqued to the tiniest of detail. I like to think about what the artist was thinking while they made the painting… Goya was magnificent. That was about all I saw Wednesday night, as I only had about an hour to look. But, I would be back to see the rest soon. We left the Prado a little before 8, and took more photos in the dwindling sunlight. We walked up and down Paseo del Prado, and stopped in a little cafe for some bottled water and cafe con leche. We talked for an hour or so and sipped espresso, and then my friend had to catch a train to Portugal, and I had postcards to find! So, we stopped in a souvenir shop and bought a large quantity of Madrid postcards, and then my friend went her direction, and I headed back “home” to the hostel. It started raining at this time, of course, so I wrapped my scarf around my hair and protected my postcards from the rain under my shirt and trekked the fifteen minute walk up Calle Atocha and straight to the hostel. Madrid was alive at this time, despite the rain. People sipped coffee in little shops, vendors scrambled to pull their goods underneath awnings and overhangs, people bustled into restaurants to have an early dinner (9:00 is quite early to have dinner for most Madrilenos) or to dry off from the rain, and I arrived at my hostel a little wet, but extremely happy. I was in Madrid!!! I settled into the little desk in our hostel room and wrote out about 20 postcards to friends and family. My hand hurt with joy, as I have been trying to find postcards for weeks! I jotted down the names of all the pictures on the fronts of the postcards, because I had to be sure I actually got to see the sights I was sending to my friends and family! Hah! After about two hours of greetings and sights and addresses, I took a quick shower and crawled into the top bunk of my hostel bed. Squeaky squeaky… but not extremely uncomfortable, and I slept like a baby all night long…

Pouco mais de um mês depois de ter iniciado a campanha rumo à presidência do Flamengo, a ex-atleta olímpica Patrícia Amorim aumentou ainda mais a diferença para os demais candidatos. Agora ela lidera com 24,8% das intenções de voto. Estes são os dados divulgados esta semana da pesquisa realizada pelo BBE, da PUC/RJ.O advogado Clóvis Sahione continua em segundo, com 14,7%;  Pedrinho subiu para terceiro e aparece com 4,2%; o presidente em exercício Delair Dumbrosck caiu para quarto, com 3,9%; Eider Dantas, que já retirou sua candidatura, vem em quinto, com 3,3%; Plínio Serpa Pinto é o sexto, com 2,9%; e Lysias Itapicuru e João Henrique Areias aparecem empatados com 1,3% cada.

No Salão de Frankfurt, a Toyota apresentou o reestilizado Land Cruiser. No entanto, o SUV chegou apenas com carroceria de cinco portas. Agora, a marca japonesa divulgou as primerias imagens do modelo de três portas, com visual um pouco mais esportivo e carroceria compacta.

Com relação ao Land Cruiser alongado, ele mantém o desenho interno, mas oferece espaço para apenas cinco ocupantes – contra sete do irmão maior. O estilo ficou mais esportivo, com linhas mais retas, inspiradas nos últimos modelos da marca. Ele chega para enfrentar a versão curta da Pajero Full.

As imagens são do modelo vendido na Austrália.

GALERIA

Out to prove that “less is more”, Toyota will offer customers the choice of a three-door version of its next generation Prado in Australia for the first time.

Aimed at a younger buyer with off-road recreation in mind, the three-door Prado will be sold alongside the current five-door models from November.

Aside from its shorter stature, the three-door version remains identical to the new Prado 150 range, with only the roof and rear-quarter panel needing to be changed.

Its short wheelbase and inherited higher break-over angle mean the three door version is more capable off-road that its larger sibling, able to travel over steeper peaks than five-door.

Its reduced weight not only means improved acceleration and fuel efficiency but also a strong towing capacity of three tonnes – 500kg more than the already impressive five-door.

Toyota Australia’s senior executive director sales and marketing David Buttner said three-door Prado was a valuable addition to the local range.

“Prado three-door will be the ideal vehicle for couples who want a vehicle for its sporty styling, as well as Prado’s legendary towing and off-road abilities,” Mr Buttner said.

All next-generation Prados in Australia will have seven airbags, vehicle stability control, traction control and anti-lock brakes.

Alloy wheels and Toyota’s Smart Entry & Start, which provides keyless entry and ignition, are also standard.

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Bredesen, VW execs to visit plant siteToyota to build Corolla hybrid – reports

Let me tell you, being a tourist while hungover is not fun. Especially when you´ve designated the day for museum visits.

Our first stop was the Thyssen museum. Seeing all the religious paintings there and throughout our trip really has renewed my interest in learning about the world´s religions. I´ll add that to my list of things to do.

After the Thyseen, we headed over to the Prado Museum to take advantage of its free hours. When we got there, there was a ridiculously long line of people waiting to get in that stretched at least 3/4 the length of the museum (which is huge). Luckily, once they opened the doors, the line moved super fast and we got in quickly.

Top Spanish Artists to See:

1. El Greco
2. Goya (especially love his Black Paintings)
3. Velazquez
4. Ribera
5. Picasso

Top Things That Annoy Me about Tourists in (Art) Museums:

1. Walking across between me and the painting I´m looking at when you can easily walk around behind me.
2. Literally just walking up and standing directly in front of me to look at and block my view of a painting.
3. Walking around a crowded space with your hands on your hips and your elbows sticking way out, bumping into people with them.
4. Talking loud as hell in a museum.

Apparently some people think no one else in the world exists besides them! Sometimes it seems like these tourists are totally oblivious to anyone but themselves! In the church in Toledo (blog about that coming soon), some middle-aged Italian lady literally pushed me over to see something in a display case that I was looking at!

Anyways, after the Prado, we headed over to Chueca, the hip, gay neighborhood, for some drinks and food. There we got to see another show on the main square, this time with middle-aged, drunk gay guys and teens gathering to drink. The excitement never ends here in Madrid!

Back in gender studies class at uni, momentum was regularly stopped while our lecturer explained to whinging sportoes that the patriarchy was bad for men, too – and the new Toyota Prado campaign has had me thinking precisely that for the past week. Here’s the ad, if you’ve not yet seen it:

The ‘net has been abuzz about how hilarious it is, particularly as a skewering of the myriad ‘phobias exhibited by Border Security-type television shows (xenophobia springs to mind), but that’s where it falls down for me, and all because of one of my least favourite phobias of all.

It is “funny”, much like the Snickers/Mr T ads and moments of the new VB campaign. But here’s the problem I have with it: campaigns like these (and, for a real flashback, the old Collingwood “What’s that in your locker, you big girl?” Sunsilk ad), play into your average “Aussie” person’s latent (or in many cases, not so latent) homophobia.

All that’s missing is for one of the tough boder patrol team members to use the phrase “a bit of a poofter”.

That might seem like a stretch, but it isn’t when you examine the campaign’s examples of apparent “soft” manhood (i.e. “men’s cosmetics”, “manscaping”). Much like the phrase “real women” makes my blood boil, so does implied ideals of “real manhood”, which, let’s face it – despite the presence of a few women in the ad, both on the Patrol and behind the wheel – is essentially at the core of the Prado campaign: people who drive “soft-roaders” are either not real men (in other words, potential gay men), or women (who are most certainly not real men).

We’ll keep laughing at this sort of humour in advertising because in our post-internet-slang (“Taste the future in your mouth”, “The drinking beer”, etc) and satire-drenched world, it will be shrugged off as “irony”. But isn’t it time we examined the deeper implications of such depictions of manhood, real or unreal?

Methinks it’s time for Joe Jackson’s sage meditation on gender roles to climb back up the classic hits charts for a much needed repeat airing:

Toyota has big plans in store for its small car project. Toyota has zeroed on Dentsu Communications to handle the advertisements for Toyota’s small car which will be soon launched in India.

It has been roughly estimated that the volume and the size of the business is in the vicinity of Rs 100 crore. Dentsu, along with this responsibility, will also be looking at the advertising duties of Toyota Prius, which is pitched as a green car and is launching next month.

Toyota’s advertisements belonging to the passenger car segment will be handled by Dentsu while PerceptH will be handling the advertisement duties of the SUV and the MUV categories.

The other cars belonging to Toyota stable in India include Camry and Corolla Altis in the passenger car segment and Innova, Prado, New Land Cruiser and Fortuner comprising SUV and MUV.

The entry of Toyota into the small car business is considered significant, as it is moving towards a more mass market. The advertising blitzkrieg by car giants entering India, including Volkswagen, in the recent times explains Toyota’s needs to keep the ad size significant. The marketing activity is slated to begin soon.

 Francisco Goya “La maja vestida”, 1800 circa. Madrid, Prado.

Francisco Goya “La maja desnuda”, 1800 circa. Madrid, Prado.

A quanto pare Manuel Godoy Álvarez de Faria Ríos Sánchez, onnipotente ministro di Carlo IV re di Spagna, odiato da tutti eccetto da coloro che non potevano permetterselo, si era fatto costruire nel suo gabinetto privato un dispositivo ingegnoso. Un ritratto di donna giacente, le braccia piegate sul cuscino e le mani unite dietro il capo, scorreva verticalmente in un recesso segreto e lasciava il posto a un ritratto analogo, medesima donna, ma senza indumento alcuno come una dea pagana. 

La donna sorride in entrambi casi al pittore, non un vero ammiccamento, sarebbe stato troppo volgare, piuttosto una amabile e quieta sicurezza di sè, una ilarità trattenuta e complice. Il pittore Francisco Goya, afflitto da deprimente sordità, dopo aver impartito le istruzioni necessarie alla modella, si suppone amante del ministro, deve essersi concentrato sulla sua opera limitando al minimo la conversazione. Ha certamente come riferimento la Venere d’Urbino e Gli Andrii di Tiziano nonché la Venere allo specchio di Velasquez. È consapevole dell’assoluta eccezionalità della commissione (si tratta per quel che ne sappiamo del primo nudo femminile non giustificabile da pretesti mitologici) e quindi decide di interpretare il tema in modo assolutamente nuovo: annulla ogni indizio ambientale,scompare persino la cortina che nei dipinti dei due maestri incornicia parzialmente il nudo, rivela in modo chiaro il soffice giaciglio sul quale è distesa la donna. La luce è diversa nei due dipinti: calda nella Maja vestida, più fredda nella Maja desnuda. Il ministro non godette a lungo delle gioie della “visione doppia” in quanto una rivolta popolare e Napoleone in persona lo costrinsero all’esilio nel 1808. Goya pagò caro l’aver dipinto l’amante di Godoy, Pepita Tudò: nel 1815 fu chiamato in giudizio dalla temibile Inquisizione che gli chiedeva se riconosceva come opere sue i due quadri, il motivo per cui li aveva dipinti, chi lo aveva incaricato, chi fosse il soggetto e per quale fine avesse prestato l’opera sua. Si salvò per la provvidenziale intercessione di un cardinale.

Associo a questo intervento due clips reperite su YouTube: la prima si riferisce al film “L’ultimo inquisitore” di Milos Forman, la seconda riguarda un’esecuzione di Andres Segovia di un’opera del compositore Granados ispirata a Goya.