“On the one hand,” she said, turning over her left hand as if closing the top to a box of fragile heirlooms, “you have to take into account our youth. The way in which each of us was taught to think. From the beginning.”He looked at her soft and delicate ballerina fingers and smirked slightly. “Weak argument,” he thought. “A cop-out for someone who doesn’t know how to take responsibility for their own actions.” He reached out to take take her hand condescendingly in his, but she withdrew it just in time, continuing emphatically with the other.“This is how I see it. If you are taught from an early age that certain actions are right or wrong, in an absolute sense, then it is inevitable that your life will habituate itself around those principles. However, if morality is a circumstantial lesson from early on, the child will become accustomed to judgment that involves more time and reason.” He would let her continue a little further, so as to appease her. “Because what is right is not always right and what is wrong is not always wrong. This is the way I was brought up to understand things; circumstantially.”**But in fact, the reference was all wrong.As an infant, her mother was certain that if she only repeat complex matters frequently enough, that memory would eventually settle in and consequentially produce a young genious. And knowing that touch made for faster association, often amidst her incessant ranting she would take the tiny palms of her daughter’s hands in hers and turn them about. “This is your Right and this is your Left. This one’s the Right, right? Can you wave your Right hand? Right…right.” She repeated such things with a coo-ing lilt as the child giggled, blankly work to support her wobbly head, or else stared on in trance-like curiosity. Later on in pre-school Natalia would demonstrate proudly, raising her hands up high, “this is Left and this is Right.” In this way she came to understand direction through her hands; in the same way that one comes to recognize Bob differently from Joe. As a name. As an entity. At first, she would confuse the two like a set of twins; for which a scar, a tilt of the brow, or whichever one is a thumb sucker becomes useful for distinguishing between them. It was only natural that Right and Left would thereafter come into possession of those things within reaching distance as well.**“Well, naturally,” he exclaimed. “But you cannot deny that there really are a great number of unwavering principles that society depends upon, and thus cannot be contested no matter the circumstance. Certain mores that everyone must understand and accept in order to live in harmony with one another whether you are Christian, Jewish, Mormon, Athiest, etc. It is the only reason we are able to go to court with one another and respect authority.”**It became a curiosity of his for a short while as a boy that, for fun, if you put yourself at the center, standing in the middle of the street per say, you would have to turn your body entirely by 180%, and then everything that was to the right would be on the left. Yet, he still give precedence to what his mind had settled upon in the first place. What was initially to the right was still to the right, really. This second possibility had simply super-imposed itself upon the first for the sake of the experiment. You could reposition yourself, accept the new coordinates, and abide by its laws, but it was understood that everything has an order, the first map being the truest, and so on.
**“But sometimes authorities are wrong and the rules don’t apply…,” she began, but he did not let her finish.“Just imagine if I claimed,” he bulldozed in loudly, “say, if we were playing a game for instance, and in every match I kept changing the condition of the rules. Like in a game of tag, where just when you were about to tag me, I stopped and said ‘Base. I’m safe. Since you run faster I can call bases’…and then again later when you tag me anyway, I keep running along claiming ‘but you can’t just touch me. You have to catch me’…and so on?!”**From that point onward in her youth, she understood everything Left to be consequencial of the left hand, and everything Right of the other. She would reach out and touch a thing to determine which it was. And if she could not reach it, she had only to imagine, to touch upon it with her mind, and there it was, “Ah, yes. This is Left.” Which ever hand was the easier to grasp it with gave her the answer she needed.There she lay a spindle. Her arms extended out from her center, feeling her way about and assessing the cosmic relations of her proximity based on how tout the yarn was. Placement was relative and circumstantial for sure, never a determinate thing; that is, unless you stop time and motion all together, but such sterility was a practice to be found only in mathematical and geographical cartography. It was inevitable that she should be a dancer. Not a prodigy by any means, but persistent and exceedingly passionate. **“Of course, but we don’t negotiate like children and you misunderstand me,” she said irritably.He was already smiling, and despite her anger and bodily defiance toward his attempts at wrapping his arms about her waste and seducing her into sitting on his lap, she found herself petting one of his arms with an unconscious hand.“Then what do you mean my love,” he said softly. “as you can see, child or adult, any fair judge will say that the rules must be entirely laid out from the beginning or else there is no game to be played; no certainty to claim nor guidelines to follow. Unless, of course, we are to re-establish the rules anew and start all over again.”**It was not his fault that he saw things so clearly. Though he was certainly at fault. His parents were lawyers and he was often left with the governess. Not that it would have made much of a difference. It was natural to think that the idea of right and left is beyond the understanding of an infant. Baby steps. Hand, Nose, Baba, Mama, Dada, and the like would have to come first. Leave direction for later, for maturity.He was four or five when he came to understand the order of things. Standing in various assigned positions, looking left and then right, and memorizing everything that fell along the path leading to opposite points of extremity. His hands were simply points on the map, if they happened to be on the map at all. He could also spot a tree and from there follow the left and right extensions assigned to it. In this manner he came to recognize objects as to the left or right if tending in a certain direction away from an appointed center.
And thus his thinking became linear.**“But…,” she paused, “that’s not much of a method for dealing with those kids whom every time the rules don’t go their way try to change them SO THAT the rules must be re-established and the game can stop and start over. And that way escape losing or being caught.”“Ah-ha! but exactly my point,” he called out laughing with satisfaction, and at last succeeded in pulling her into a sideways cuddle on the sofa. She struggled with the thought for a moment and then gave in completely.“How did we get here?” She felt defeated and turned her face so as to look sadly into his eyes. But he was not looking at her so her gaze fell over onto the unlit fireplace opposite the couch. “I don’t know how you do it. You always manage to twist my words around so that I end up emphasizing your point when I started out trying to say something so different…”**Natalia had dropped out of physics as soon as it began to rely on calculus. She could never get a hold of the coordinate system in four dimensions. She liked to talk about spacial and temporal concepts, but could only fixate on one coordinate at a time. If she made progress away from the initial point then she was in danger of losing her hold on it by the time she reached the conclusion, for which she would need to redo the problem in order to remember the steps involved and what it was she was looking for in the first place. She had trouble keeping the concept intact while grappling with numbers, and likewise with the reverse. Thus at a certain point it all became numbers and nonsense, having forgotten entirely the initial theory. Although, …she would have liked to understand curl and string theory, and magnetism excited her very much.For him, it was easy enough to remove himself from the center. Just take any zero and assign distance and direction from there, and KAZAM! No more thinking about it. Your tools await you. Natalia, on the other hand, was helpless. In the city, she was a lost cause. She would sometimes catch herself momentarily baffled over why the sun was setting in the north-east. Then she would have to reposition herself to fit logic. West was a thing that she held in her left hand, East in her right, and North went up through her head and as far as the eye could see. The sun set just to the side of this reasoning. Such mistakes tickled her and she would snicker out-loud to herself.He would tease her sometimes. He just might have to strap her to the back of a honing pigeon to make sure she came back home. At least her other senses seemed to be intact if she was lacking in this one. And she would smile. Somehow flattered. And knowing that he admired her in this moment for possessing the sensibilities of a woman, despite her being a broken compass.**She could feel his warm breath on her shoulder, a hand slipping up the back of her thigh from under her skirt, and a little nibble just under her ear that made her squirm a little, rubbing herself against him to put out the ticklish feeling and digging her nails into his arm slightly for mercy.“So THIS is how you do it,” she giggled, allowing him to guide her hand toward his belt buckle. “Distract me into compliance?”“yeah, but you verified my point didn’t you?”
“But you didn’t allow time to hear out mine. Which is exactly the point I was trying to make in the first place… Ouch.” He bit and sucked at a nipple that had escaped her blouse, and she was now stroking him repetitiously, her leg climbing his and working to pull down his loosened pants.**Right and Left had different meanings too. Distinctions that were easily separate to him. For her as well, as far as she knew, though from time to time her right hand would go unseen as it busied itself nervously while she spoke of “doing the right thing”. That or else she would stroke her hair distractedly with the left hand when something was thought to have been “left behind”. She liked to use those terms when she found herself in awkward circumstances.**“Game over, I win,” he said with quickened breath.“New rules, lets start again,” she pleaded, and then gasped suddenly in a momentary shock of pleasure.
April 26, 2007
ON THE ONE HAND
March 27, 2007
M-10 Demonstration in Madrid
To those who’ve been awaiting another story, my apologies; research, a graduate application, and an army of lost orugas(caterpillars) sightlessly attempting to migrate, winding cola-a-cabeza(tail-to-head) through the paths of the Parque del Oeste as the leader feels or smells his way (or something close enough) from one tree to the next; a few broken links in the chain and a lot of time spent wondering whether these breaks were owing to the fallen foot of a jogger, a brutish dog, or a rebellious Oruga usurping the power of the first by breaking away to lead his own. And would these sightless strands of fuzz ever make it to the same tree? These are some of the preoccupations that have kept me from my writing. Or rather from the writing of an alter-ego, wafting randomly through the streets of Madrid; for it is exactly that.
Every new spark of interest becomes a question which becomes a story which stops where it is to spin upon its head, hoping to be retrieved at some point or at the least offered up for sacrifice, since it’s owner has adopted the habit of abandoning those whirling vision from the past; Alas, to an unnavigated graveyard of visions hoping to be discovered ahead! And thus an indignant accomplice, an oruga perhaps, must decide at random to fall behind, conquer, and infest the rolling head until it is made a home and monument to be forgotten with pride.
Now putting disclaimers behind, Sampson has just returned from the barber with the intention to carry out a story that he once had all the will in the world to complete.
P-P-PROTESTS IN MADRID
By MySpy accomplice Harry Sampson
If you have not already tuned into the March 10th 2007 protest in Madrid, it is my duty to inform you of this event.
On March 10th, PP (conservative right-wing “People’s Party”) leader Mariano Rajoy called together over 330,000 Spaniards to the center of Madrid for a demonstration, speaking out against the Spanish socialist president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
In his opening speech, Rajoy called for a secession in further negotiations with ETA (Basque nationalist organization and terrorist group) along with accusations that Zapatero is secretly consorting with Batasuna (Basque nationalist political party; political branch representing ETA) over the future of Navarra (Northern province of Spain in the Basque country).
The manifestation was called in part as an anniversary remembrance to the March 11th Al Qaeda metro bombing in 2003, in part as a political uprising, and in part as a public response to the smaller December 2006 ETA metro bombing, as well as to Zapatero’s recent decision to release Iñaki de Juana (an ETA terrorist and long time prison inmate) into hospital care within his home region after a hunger strike that almost killed him.
The current care and supervised release of Iñaka de Juana to his home province received a particularly sensitized response that greatly enhanced the furry of many over the number of concessions that have been made in favor of ETA as a means of negotiation.
Contesting that ETA does not want peace, and that concessions will only lead to ETA’s wanting more and consequentially will also demonstrate that they can use terror as a weapon to receive what they want, Rajoy has called for a defense of the nation.
“We are not talking solely about terrorism, nor principality either. We are talking about Spain. With whom does the president discuss the future of Navarra, with the Basque country, with Spain? He discusses it with Batasuna in Secret!” proclaimed Rajoy during his convocation speech.
Although the manifestation was initiated by the strictly divided right wing, the number of demonstrators at this rally exceeded that of the response to the Al Qaeda metro bombing in 2003. This month’s demonstration was organized, tranquil, and produced a clear and affective message. Children and elderly walked steadily and joyfully along in the eventful parade waving the Spanish flag, singing songs of protest, and carrying signs that read: “Spain for liberty”, “No more sessions with ETA”, and more.
The accusations of the rally’s participants were also reinforced by claims that the demonstration represented the voice of the Spanish population as a whole. And to see thousands of unified individuals calmly swarming the streets with their families, making it impossible to walk in the opposite direction, singing “Zapatero, resign!” and “Spain asks for a new president. Zapatero does not listen.”, with thousands of people waving or wearing the national Spanish flag, would seem to be exactly what it poses as: the voice and opinion of the Spanish population entire.
***
At this point in the news update, you may either choose to continue on to read Sampson’s thoughts concerning the implications of this event, wait for the follow-up article THE FLOOD; perhaps a more interesting version of what resulted from the demonstration, or else skip the article entirely to visit more reliable news links at the bottom.
***
Continued…
After further investigation, I have come to understand more than what I observed in the streets and what was backed by the conservative press. This protest has become a complicated and touchy issue to approach. Not to mention, I just got a haircut and my neck is exposed. But I will attempt to unveil an alternative perspective to the best of my knowledge and better of my judgment.
In association with the anniversary of the March 11th 2003 metro bombing in Madrid, which was an attack by Al Qeida terrorists, the PP has held a threateningly large protest against the the president of Spain. M-11 (as the date is referred to) was the cause of the disempowerment of the PP (for which Rajoy was the presidential candidate) through the election of socialist president Zapatero and the removal of Spanish troupes from Iraq. It seems that the right wing has not forgiven or forgotten this radical transfer of hands.
Why was the PP removed from power?:
Because the PP and former president José María Aznar lied about the source of the bombing, blaming it on ETA, despite evidence otherwise. And for a country whose citizens were wisely tuned into more informative international channels, they would not have the wool pulled over their eyes. Such behavior was not to be tolerated. Immediate action was needed; Replace the president by electing a more honest leader, and remove Spanish troupes from Iraq if it means bloodshed at home.
What controversy has emerged from the election of a socialist president?:
New legalities include gay marriage and abortion, which for a primarily Catholic old world country has been an enormous affront to long standing and recent generations of conservative principals.
Also, Zapatero’s strict adherence to attempting peaceful negotiations with ETA, at the expense of making unearned concessions, and in the face of a long, spread-out history of terrorist attacks (including the recent attack of December 2006), has been a source of controversy to a party ready to bring about compliance by force of hand.
I’d like to personally remark here that the recent international hype over terrorism appears to be working to the advantage of the PP as they seek a means to introduce civil war in attempt to attain national compliance to strict and catholic minded leadership; that is, under the auspices of fighting the internationally accepted war against terrorism by any means.
An important question that has not been asked yet:
Is the Spanish right wing learning from and adopting the practices of the Bush administration in the US? How similar is the Spanish right wing to the US right wing at this moment?
If the attempted manipulation of the last Spanish president failed, the PP rally of this month seemed unnervingly contrived to rectify its mission to convince the public of the necessity of a civil war. I cannot help but feel wary, coming from a country that has so recently experienced being taken unaware, acting upon the confusion, faith, and accusations of a few powerful men and blinded by sensitivity.
The mixed messages and implications of the demonstration, though convincingly and passionately strong, seems eerily similar to the mass confusion over the connection between the separate events that lead to the war in Iraq (e.g.- Saddam Hussein’s history of abuses, allegations of hidden weapons of mass destruction, linked together with the Al Queida terrorist attack of 9/11, etc).
What Rajoy has done is to take the metro bombing by ETA in December of 2006 and jumbled it together with the anniversary of a separate metro bombing by Al Queida on March 11 of 2003, and then superimpose upon this sensitive anniversary a manifestation against the president, whom he accuses of making secret concession with Batasuna. He has used the combined pain of multiple events as grounds to evict him from office by popular vote and apply “more affective” means for diminishing the strength of ETA.
Rajoy is not only rallying for public impeachment of the president, but also for supporting warfare within his own country. And a good percentage of the public has responded largely and in good faith to the enumerated causes over which to fight without thinking seriously about the implications of what it might bring into effect.
I would be lying if I said that when I walked out into the street and was pushed backward by the flood of thousands upon thousands of families with their children all waving flags and signs, in peaceful and even joyful movement against Zapatero, that this did not impress me and exhilarate me to want to take part. And I would be lying if I said that it did not seem like all of Spain was being represented then and there as the people claimed, and the following day by quite a few news papers as well. But the reality is that the Country has become seriously divided in a bad way. And over the few issues for which the two parties should be working together toward resolve (e.g.- over the existing conflicts with ETA or the future of Nevarra). They are so starkly divided in opinion as to inhibit any discussion at all.
In my opinion, this should be of particular interest to US Citizens. Regardless of party, should we not be concerned over the kind of international influence that the recent actions of the US is having upon other nationalities; the possible adoption of our methods and focus of the media evinced through that of the conservative parties in other countries (e.g.- right here in Spain).
It is an interesting time to be living in Europe, when one is capable of witnessing that the US has not only acquired a bad reputation over the invasion of Iraq, but that it has also had a contrary effect. In 2003, Spain was my hero- thousands of Spaniards banded together in a reactionary protest against its participation in a falsely ignited war against the middle east, calling for peace to the Spanish people, an honest president, and democratic participation of the public at it’s height. Now, having finally made my way to Spain, it is as heavily divided between the right and the left as the US, and even seems to have attained something of our characteristics.
The Spanish right wing is organized and speaks on behalf of the voice of all of Spain with disregard for the rest, dropping lines about national pride, necessary measures, and accusations of the opposite party’s incapability to act. The left wing is unorganized, patient and quiet about its negotiations, slow to profess a clear opinion or make a stand so as to be flexible and open-minded yet rejecting anything associated with the right, accepting of new liberal movements (gay marriage, abortion, etc) for the sake of “liberty”- seen more as an accepted fad of “what is the right thing to do if you are an open-minded liberal” without interest or faith in the attempt to eventually make its reasoning for these dramatic changes understood to the opposing party, etc.
I do not know what will happen if the PP succeeds in putting an end to Zapatero’s negotiations and using force to try to diminish the hand of ETA. And I cannot claim to know which party has the better solution for putting an end to the long history of continued attacks against innocent Spanish citizens. But I will say that a divided country is a scary thing, and we might learn, react, and maybe even instruct by paying attention to similar events occurring in other parts of the globe.
***
Related links in both Spanish and English: (I am having trouble finding news coverage in English… I will be updating this list).
In Spanish
Prensa News: http://mensual.prensa.com/mensual/contenido/2007/03/10/uhora/inter_2007031014213195.shtml
Zapatero´s response: http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/94264/0/rajoy/Gobierno/manifestacion/
In English
M11: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11_March_2004_Madrid_train_bombings
M11 effects: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/23/1457202
February 28, 2007
Sundays at the Reina Sofia
Written by MySpy accomplice Ala Boutart
My favorite Sundays during Winter in Madrid, Spain, are the chilly afternoons with a bag of castañas [roasted chestnuts] in hand and a free ticket to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.
There is no better venue than the Reina Sofia for viewing 20th century to contemporary art in Madrid. This centro del arte is a palace of works by international masters such as: Dalí, Gris, Miro, J. González, Tapies, Rueda, Dubuffet, Man Ray, Max Ernst, J. Torres García… the list goes on for four floors and four wings of masterpieces. But the spotlight of Reina Sofía’s permanent collection goes to Pablo Picasso.
Beyond the expansive rooms of drawings and paintings by Pablo and his contemporaries awaits Picasso’s famous Guernica. There are few works of art in this world that possess enough grandeur to put an entire chamber of spectators to absolute stillness; in a state of awe sometimes lasting more than an hour. I have never seen such silent tribute paid outside of a cathedral or a synagogue.
As the Reina Sofia already demands repeated visits, it is an added perk that the it also hosts major Contemporary exhibitions for temporary viewing.
I have personally made it a habit to visit the museum every Sunday during its free hours. Even non-art lovers might enjoy sitting in the courtyard amongst the fountains, beneath the massive mobile sculpture of Alexander Calder, or else visiting the library and cafeteria on premisis. I generally choose two exhibits to focus upon, one temporary and one from the collection, and perhaps a third if I am not already oversaturated.
So, what’s hot at the R.S. right now? Chuck Close.
The American photo-realist portrait painter has surpassed his field. What an appropriate name “Close” for someone who has spent his entire career in focus upon, first, his porous replications of wall sized headshots, and second, a masterful study of pixelization on canvas.
Chuck Close is mind boggling proof that pixelization alone hugely determines the decipherability of an image. His paintings stand witness to the concept that pixelized chaos works to the same affect taht one cna tsill reada setnence evn whn hte ltetres are conefusd.
Chuck Close sets a loosely schematic mix of colors, in asymmetrical amoebic shapes, into a large pixelized grid. In effect, the eye is fooled into seeing a highly distinguishable face. What up close appears to be a circus of colored blobs, is from a few steps back akin to the precision of a portrait.
Do not miss this exhibit if it comes your way. And if you happen to come to us before the 30th of April, make sure to grab a bag of castañas and stop into the Revistas y Guerra chamber, featuring media works by propaganda artists during the Spanish civil war, before you leave.
“Propaganda is, first, an effect, and after the cause of the divisions in the modern world.”- Bertrand Russell, re-translated by MySpy accomplice A. Boutart.
Museum link:
February 28, 2007
Dollars to Euros, Beware!
A large percentage of North Americans (excluding Canadians. Also known as US of GBA’s, United States of God Bless American citizens), are unaware that the value of the U.S. dollar has been on the decline in recent history.
Many US citizens would even go so far as to approximate
their money’s worth as a consumer in Spain to that of
Mexico (if only it weren’t so darned far away). In
reality, however, the current exchange rate between
the US dollar and the euro has actually increased to
an approximate ratio of $1.32/1.00€.
For those who don’t understand the calculation, this
does not mean that the US dollar increases by 38 cents
when visiting Europe; as one John Tailor assumed,
incidentally auctioning off his entire inheritance on
an unsellable piece of property in Northern Spain,
which he mistook for an amazing deal. It’s just the
opposite.
But despite the figures, many USofGBA’S are still
convinced that the conversion rate is a hoax.
“After all, if the euro is so hot, than why don’t
Spain, Italy, and France have as many commercial
centers as we have,” says touring rock idol Harry
Finkle. “They still can’t compete with us. I dunno, if
the euro is more, then there must be less money in
Europe or something.”
Nor do US tourists seem aware of the hefty price
variance after traveling abroad. Joan Timbers, a
student at the University of Oklahoma, recounts her
experience during a recent summer vacation in
Barcelona.
“I just went to Spain last summer, and I
didn’t notice any difference,” says Timbers. “In fact,
you can get a mocha grande at Starbucks for only 3.50,
just as if you were in the states. Really, if you try
to go anywhere local, though, they don’t even take
credit cards.”
If the price of buying a mocha doesn’t seem
steep, especially when forgetting that the amount is charged in euros, try converting $600.00 at a Spanish bank. Even without a conversion charge, you might notice that your return is roughly 150 bills short in your pocket; a number that is easily overlooked when using a credit card.
Differences in custom have also shown to affect public
opinion in the US concerning the value of life under the euro. Cover-model Rebbecca Caldwell of HipMag, for one, equated her host city to a third world country during her stay for Madrid’s annual Fashion Week.
“Handmade Spanish leather boots are the best!” says
Rebecca. “But, I think that’s a small luxury for these
people. Hell, if their money was worth anything, why
would they take their old shoes to a zapatero [shoe
tailor]. Just buy new ones. In fact, Spaniards are so
archaic, they even elected a Zapatero for president. I
think he’s a Socialist too, which means that things
will probably only get worse. Don’t they know that
it’s against the law for socialists to make money?”
As US citizens increasingly reinforce GBA as a
privileged island unto itself, the problem of
international awareness on the financial front seems
to be sending the country unaware into an ocean of
debts that no credit card can pay off.
Will this crisis eventually sink the ship? One thing
is certain, no one in Spain will be asking for payment
in US dollars any time soon, and Europe is upping the
ante on a regular basis.
Though the effects of a declining dollar might be a
debatable subject on a corporate level, perhaps it is
time to worry about personal spending habits of the US
currency as its value continues to recede. God bless
Americans indeed.
By Al Michaels, financial adviser and author of Economy Abroad for Idiots.
Check out some related articles:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/business/16565915.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3303549.stm
February 25, 2007
MySpy to be!
It’s about time!
At last, MySpy prepares to offer to the New World an updated and respectable interpretation of contemporary whatnots from the Old World. Based out of Madrid, Spain, the MySpy column provides a mixture of real events and fantastical exaggerations for the internationally quizzical reader. Possibly the only cult Tablog of its kind on the web.
Follow and respond to the ensuing stream of stories, news, criticism, and developments to come.
Hope you enjoy,
Alicia Edwards
