slow and lazy

I remember that a few years go there was a program on spanish TV dedicated to the Soccer league that was named “el Friqui” (pronounced as it sounds), Friqui was the phonetic translation for the english expression “free kick”. Free kick is basically the action that follows a fault or a challenge against a player in which that player’s team gets the option of having a free kick  against the other’s team goal. Quite simple. So the direction of the program that obviously didn’t know english at all, decided that “free kick” was a kind of special name for that action, not a real description and decided that as it was a special name, it should have it’s spanish version that should replace the normal expression that was in use in spanish (libre directo, which translates for free kick). In this way a new word in the soccer world was born; “friqui”. Of course, thay guy rested so happy with his invention forever and ever.

Real sports newspaper Headline. 2008

A few years after the “freak cultures” became fashionable in the US and english worlds, so it did a couple of years after, and of course the adjective freaky was directly translated phonetically to “friqui” or “friki” in the spanish language. Another word was created just transcripting phonectically from the english language.

 Blog entry comenting on the “friqui pride” day in Spain ¿¿¿?????aaaaarggggg

Suddently you find yourself in an odd situation where in spanish (you can see this with some online searches) free kick = freaky. And if you are a freaky of free kicks you are literally “un friqui de los friquis”.   I don’t know if any of what I am saying makes sense to any of you guys. In any case disturbing, very disturbing some things that happen in some places.

Whatever….

i should be writing more

my to Do list keeps growing and my ongoing projects don’t advance or if they do, they do it so slowly you don’t even notice. This means,
- first that I keep doing the same
- second that I keep  waiting for other people responses and that makes me nervous, I am really bad when I have to wait and things are not in my hands
-  third that my to do list keeps growing and i can’t move forward
- fourth and most important that I am busier now that when I was working, so I cannot enjoy my time. I NEED REAL HOLIDAYS.

So I am getting crazy, like an inprisoned tiger, moving and roaring withing the cell but without being able to go out, so I keep inside and working, but still no results, patience my friend, patience, but i am not, so once in a while I get carzy at home, like tonight and I start calling everybody, so be aware I might call you tonight

Also, not related, why politians are not able to address the real questions, why nobody can have a sense of state and long term thoughts, why are we so uncapable.

Also, not related, I hate bad movies, dude they didn’t have automatic guns in the 30’s. It’s fine you disconnect from the real when you watch a movie, but they cannot pretend we are stupid.

whatever

“lazyness” / 4 in a row

I was thinking that I was not going to write while in Spain. I am going back to London tomorrow night, I was feeling lazy, I guess I just change my mind.

After touring Spain the week before I basically decided to spend this one disconnecting myself from the world and planning the next steps after the rush of the end of the year and the end of my employment at SOM London. Surprisingly enough I’ve done much more things that I thought and I have been more efficient that I would have expected. Probably I just haven’t done what most people consider work, or productive tasks, but I have achieved more things in 2 weeks than in the previous 2 months at the office.

First week I devoted it to travel with my frien Fly through the wonders (some of them) of Spain and Portugal, second week I devoted to reading, watching movies, researching and writing.

My Spanish/ Portuguese tour. 

sunday 21st . Madrid. 
Monday 22nd. Madrid-Bilbao-San Sebastian
Tuesday 23rd. San Sebastian-La Rioja-Madrid
Wednesday 24th. Madrid-Cuenca-Valencia-Alicante
Thursday 25th. Alicante-Granada
Friday26th. Granada-Sevilla-Lisboa
Saturday 27th. Lisboa-Belem
Sunday 28th. Lisboa-Sintra-Merida-Madrid
Monday 29th. Madrid
Tuesday 30th. Madrid-Alicante. 

Probablynext time I should include some ore places, but I would love to do it slowly, like taking a month to tour Spain and enjoy it. Great country to visit, bad country to work in… at least today.

this road movie was change drastically to a movie marathon and some late night conversations.  As an example, in one night, from 22.00 h till 6.oo am I watched.

CASABLANCA-PERFECT STRANGER-THE DEPARTED-CLICK

tomorrow back to London. This is as far as I know my life..

goverment believes buildings are like dishwashers

So, there is a new law in Spain that classifies the buildings in terms of their energy efficiency performance.  Surprisingly enough the law is the same one that one applies to washing machines and refrigerators, and the classification is the same, rating from A to F, A being the best one possible.

The funny thing is that the law used to rate electrical appliances to show which one is more sustainable showing a ratio that describes the energy used to produce energy. So for example the amount of watts you need to maintain the fridge of X capacity at 4 C, and things like that.  The basic beauty of that rule is that is simple, it is not affected by any third parties and does not depend on the location or the time of the day.

How much electricity you consume to spin 1Kg of clothes at 1100 rpm. that’s it. Then you rank the appliances from A to F. Fine.

But now, they are doing the same with buildings, and I am sorry, but WTF.
How do they wanna do that, is it about how many bulbs you use? Does it take in account the human factor of throwing a party in it, or leaving the window open?

Basically what the law is intended is to have a measure of the heats gains and losses through windows and building envelopes including the location of the building. In other terms, how effective the cladding or the envelope is, but it is stupid to compare that to an electrical appliance. And not only that but it is really naive to consider a building an abstract object when the building is a live entity that is subject to climate, different uses, and above all human factor. Does having a more efficient building envelope assures me  I am more energy efficient? or more sustainable? Does all these sustainable measures that normally lead to the use of highly expensive glass (which is really energy consuming to fabricate) are really sustainable?

whatever, next time I will do a building I will design a dishwasher, and both would be rated F, of course.

nothingness (part II)

…we don’t have much sun there, where we come from…………

posts interruptus

Lately when I start writing a post I never finish it. Normally I get caught in the middle of the writing to go to a meeting, or some friends calling me from the street to my balcony (yes, yes, I know, It is like in a small town, quite rude), or have to leave the office for some reason, etc.

So instead of trying to finish them, I decided to post them here, like “unfinished” posts.

1. sometimes I have a “Laina” and today I am at the office

Last year one of the partners at the office had this horrible tic. He couldn’t stop moving his leg. He actually was working in his computer while moving constantly his leg, like small, quick movements with his foot hitting the ground. It was so that he actually used to move out table

2.hung up

ahora que vamos despacio
ahora que vamos despacio
vamos a contar mentiras trarala
vamos a contar mentiras trarala

vamos aaaaaa contar mentiiiiiras

Some life on hopes, others on the past, others on the facts
Promises have been relegated to value zero as in todays principles is not necessary to keep them

21 universal lies.

Tosco – 21 Mentiras Universales

Gracias Sole, eres grande

party

We had a party yesterday night at my place.

No comments.

 

15th may

A boring post. And one i will refuse to admit authorship in the future.

A day like any other, at least for almost 6 billion people. But today is Madrid day and that at least means that is day off for almost 5 million people and has some emotional meaning for around the same amount of people all over the world.

It is really funny that you really have to leave a place to discover your real feelings to that place and you celebrate much more small things like your city’s day.  Normally I’ve done nothing during this day over the years, just a day off, and if you work on the suburbs not even a day off, just anger for having to work.

Anyhow I guess that when you live abroad you get to know what things you really care about your place, I should say Bullfights (i can here the boos from here), the way we party, Spanish music ( I would ever deny I’ve said this) and our banana republic impulsive way of doing things, i would also deny saying this, it is truly a horrible way of doing things, but it is the way we do it.

It is like those movie dialogs, it is an idiot, but it is my idiot so I love it, that actually doesn’t make any sense and you really wanna through up, but sometimes when is you in the middle of the fight you know…. it is your idiot.

Another really funny thing is that Madrid is like NYC (yeahh, come on, you’re dreaming, hahahaha, you wish) OK, it is not like NYC but my point is that nobody is from Madrid, and normally if you are born in Madrid your parents are not from Madrid, and it is really rare to spend your whole life in Madrid, well not as much as NYC or London, but for Spain is really a high percentage on that. So it is the day of a city that is quite anonymous for being Spain and that nobody belongs to. Well, I DO BELONG AND SUPPORT MADRID. (and Real Madrid)

so, 15th May

an online submission

Last week I submitted a proposal for an architectural competition in Spain, more precisely in Cordoba. And the submission day was quite funny because, as I am in London, I asked a friend of mine to plot, print and make the package in Madrid and then send it to Cordoba through the Spanish post. I was able to follow all this process on-line and live, like one of those Internet Live retransmissions of an important sports or cultural event. Kind of.

9;49 file received in Madrid

9.5o it looks like crap but maybe you are lucky

1o.o3 A4 booklet printed and signed

1o.1o Envelopes ready.

11.4o Cd burned and signed with all the files

12.23 Someone called A. has gone to the arts&craft shop to buy the boards foam.

14.oo Mune is heading to the plotting place

16.oo Everything is plot and mounted onto the foam. Boards ready

16.33 Boards arrive back to the office.

17.oo package ready and close

19.o5. Package was sent through the post.

Mission accomplished.

Not that bad, eh!!!!