topical – Page 21 – don't confuse the narrator

vivir de las rentas

It’s that time of year again. Time to do the annual declaración de la renta, the Spanish tax return.

This is somewhat easier now the tax office issue a borrador of what they think your status is, which you can simply agree to rather than going through the process of filling out a lengthy tax form. Mind you, I’m pretty sure that if they then decide they got it wrong it’s going to be the individual who will be responsible.

Many people will therefore still complete the return from first principles, and although it’s a lot more automated than in the past, I still expect to see people queuing in the bank clutching their envelopes bearing the primary-coloured logo of the Agencia Tributaria and the PADRE logo.

Which raises the question of what fathers have to do with tax returns.
Continue reading “vivir de las rentas”

not born yesterday

I missed the story in the Guardian on March 6th about our “growing lifespan”. (I do think ‘growing’ is a strange adjective: surely ‘increasing’ would be better?)

Anyway, I came across the story today after reading the bemusing phrase:

The lifespan of the average British person increases by five hours a day.

on the BBC website.

Reading that made me suddenly feel tired.
Continue reading “not born yesterday”

tact in advertising

Metro UK frontpage March 14th: Japanese earthquake news and Pokémon advert

Occasional unfortunate juxtapositions of headlines or adverts and news stories can’t be avoided, particularly online when there may be no one person in charge of a page design and layout.

Even so, I was shocked to see the front page of today’s UK Metro digital edition.

There’s a huge, attention-grabbing photo of devastation caused by the earthquake in Japan, and right below it an advert for Pokémon Everywhere which claims that “over 150 new pokémon have arrived in the UK”.
Continue reading “tact in advertising”

a woman’s work

I get very irritated about all the different ‘international day of this’ and ‘world day for that’ events. Particularly when there seems to be so little consensus about the celebrations. (I’ve commented before on how the UK celebrate an entirely different World Book Day from the rest of the planet and I always miss it – though I do remember the one on April 23rd. )

Be that as it may, Google has reminded me that today is International Women’s Day, and I find from clicking their commemorative logo that it’s the 100th anniversary of the event and that women around the world will be standing on bridges to celebrate. Continue reading

communications technology

In a story on the BBC website, about the streaked tenrecs of Madagascar, I find the following:

Unique hedgehog-like mammals have been filmed using their quills to communicate.

I wonder if they’ll eventually progress to fountain pens, biros, and on to other, more modern, technology.

(Yes, the photo includes all sorts of irrelevant stationery items, but it was the only one I had in my files that featured a quill pen. I think it may be a porcupine quill.)