Spain cares about Lindsay Lohan? 21/07/10

Lindsay Lohan being sentenced to prison for 90 days

Find original article here

So, Lindsay Lohan is going to Jail for 90 days because she never completed the mandatory alcohol and drug classes that were assigned to her after she was caught driving drunk and with cocaine on her in 2007.

This, I do not care about.

What I do care about is that this is one of the top 10 most viewed stories today in El Periodico. But why? What relevance does Lindsay Lohan have to Spain? She's never done a movie in spanish, or filmed a movie in Spain, or even had a Spanish co-star! Not that that means they can't enjoy her fantastic work in Mean Girls or Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, but I guess more than anything I'm just surprised that A) there is as much of a celebrity-obsessed culture here as there is in America and B) those celebrities are American. Now I know I'm generalizing here a bit, but I do think that it says something that Lindsay Lohan going to jail is making worldwide news. Is that what America exports? Real life trashy dramas about over-worked, over-privileged celebrity 'it' girls who get hardly any jail time for something that normal people might go to jail for 20 years for? I'm reading stories in the paper about breakthroughs from German scientists and groundbreaking Swedish studies, and then when it comes America's turn all we have to offer is Lindsay in a jumpsuit? What are the priorities of America? What do we export around the world? Is it valuable at all, or just merely fluffy culture junk that has no real consequence to anyone?

I'm thinking fluffy culture junk...

News: Spain has highest rate of immigrants leaving in E.U. 19/07/2010

Original article here

According to a study by adecco, this year spain was the country with the most amount of immigrants who left this year - close to 90,000. Even after this exodus, which is claimed to be due, at least in part, to the economic crisis Spain is facing, Spain continues to have the highest population of immigrants, with the statistic being close to 15% or 1 in every 6 people. The article also states that the economic problems have also altered migration patterns into the country, which dropped from 10.2% in 2008 to 2% in 2009.

I find this interesting, seeing as how people are constantly complaining about immigration, when in reality it is a sign of wealth. Are those people who were constantly complaining about immigrants happy now that they're leaving because of the recession? Be careful what you wish for...

Flamenco! 04/07/10

Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures during the performance, but here's one that is pretty similar.

Credit: http://www.simonepope.com/Images/IMG_6479.JPG

Wow! So I went down with the school to 'el palacio de flamenco' fro a short flamenco performance and WOW was it awesome! I could literally go on for hours about how beautiful it was...not only was the dance much more creative than I thought it was going to be (lots of interesting uses of props) but it was also just so strong! I love to see women portrayed as strong characters and I find it very unusual to find both sensuality and strength in the dance because historically, women's attractiveness has been derived from their fragility and weakness. But WOW! Que fuerte! All the stomping, swishing, sweating and clapping really added up to a fantastic show! I can't wait to go again soon, because if I have another opportunity I definitely will!

News: Girlfriend of Spain's Goalie responsible for loss? 08/07/2010

The beautiful couple: Casillas and Carbonero

Original story here

Accusations are coming out that the hot-to-trot girlfriend Sara Carbonero may have been the reason behind Spanish goalie Iker Casillas' miss against Switzerland's goal, that caused Spain to lose it's first game in the world cup, even though it is the predicted winner of the entire cup. Apparently, Carbonero, Casillas' girlfriend, works as a sports news anchor and was 'too close' to him when switzerland made their goal, and apparently there is also footage of him being distracted before the goal was made. My opinion? Much a-doo about nothing. I think this whole controversy and story sounds like something you'd find on a 4th grade playground, but if I have to make a comment, i guess i'll chime in that people should stop blaming the girl for being 'too pretty' (Hey...you're the people who outlawed the burke, remember?) Blame the goalie!

Sometimes people just want a scapegoat though, and the prettier, the better.

IED fashion show 05/07/2010

One of my favorites

Love the shapes and textures

Funky designer

My favorite model :)

BEST outfit of the show in my very uninformed opinion

I recently had the pleasure of attending a fantastic fashion show put on by the thesis students from the European Institute of Design. I was actually incredibly impressed with the calibur of work that they produced and the cohesion of some of the lines. There were literally some pieces that took my breath away. I've never been one to watch a lot of movies or TV, so when it was suggested that I should spend my thursday night watching a fashion show I jumped at the chance. Yes, movies are art, but so much of them are commercialized and mass produced to appeal to the largest audience possible, therefore stripping them of any polarizing or valuable content. What I liked the most about the show (and yes, it was a SHOW - movie clips synchronized to music synchronized to the models/outfits) was seeing the different points of view that each designer had (Ok, so i've watched a couple too many episodes of project runway) - and especially because they were young and fresh I think that their artistic personality came through very well in the outfits. And to top it all off some of the models were VERY cute and I felt so cultured the entire time. !

Cultural Activity: Casa Asia! 16/07/2010

Casa Asia is a famous house that has now been converted into a cultural center that promotes understanding and exposure to asian culture to the Barcelona area. The decoration inside is rich and beautiful, and there are plenty of speakers, events, cultural activities, food tasting events and well as film festivals that Casa Asia either promotes, funds, or hosts. It's a neat experience to see both palau del baró de quadras and also see the exhibitions and cultural displays at the same time.

From the outside.

Plaque outside.

Look at the detail on the outside walls!

Beautiful fountain/mosaic inside on the ground floor.

Gorgeous staircase leading up to the exhibition

An interesting mix of more asian-inspired lighting with classical architecture.

Current exhibition on national Korean propaganda

Restaurant: Casa Asia! 16/07/2010

Whilst perusing around doing some sightseeing, i found this cute little asian-style restaurant inside of the cultural center 'Casa Asia', named Shanghai 1930. The service, as usual, was a little slow (I was the only customer and I had to wait about 10 minutes until the girl behind the bar got off her cell phone), but the food was not too pricey at all and actually good! I ordered the chicken curry and I was pleasantly surprised when it came out quickly and was delicious! The restaurant has a very bamboo/wooden theme that is somewhat reminiscent of a rickety old restaurant somewhere in thailand, but the accents to the decoration added a decent amount of class and modernity. Overall it the restaurant was lovely, empty, and delicious! A must try if you enjoy Asian Cuisine.

The Menu!

The Restaurant

My chicken curry!

Me!