Moralzarzal is a small commuter town just north of Madrid. According to the ayuntamiento figures, its usual eleven and a half thousand mid-week inhabitants swell to more than double that at weekends, most of whom seemed to put in an appearance at the feria de libros yesterday.
Topka had a stand, and since I was doing a storytelling session over at the library, I spent much of the day helping out.
Continue reading “book fairs and back ache”
This paradoxical headline comes from today’s ¡Qué!, one of Madrid’s free newspapers:
Twenty-four-hour gas stations can’t close at night: if they do, they won’t be 24-hour gas stations.
Who checks the headlines before the papers go to press? Don’t they have sub editors anymore?
Continue reading “headline news”
One wonders – well, this one does – who decides which “days” are to be allocated to what worthy purpose and which are to be publicised and celebrated. Wikipedia gives a list of international observance, but these things seem to be fairly hit and miss.
However, although yesterday the Google site was displaying a re-designed logo for Earth Day, today there is nothing special about the google.com logo, and on the google.co.uk site the reference is to St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s Birthday. (In fact, the birthday is only deduced from the fact he was baptised on the 26th.)
Continue reading “international book day”
The Topka editor has lined up another reading for the T-Tales collection, including Bubbles.
This time we will be reading in Moralzarzal, just north of Madrid. It’s their feria del libro next weekend – following close on the heels of Thursday 23rd, Cervantes’ and Shakespeare’s birthdays, St. George’s Day and el día del libro – and there are cuentacuentos, book signings and other activities.
Sadly, there was a slight scheduling mix up, so Bubbles is to be read in the library rather than the feria precinct, but never mind.
Continue reading “weekend reading”
The Madrid Cow Parade cows were auctioned last night.
I have many pictures of the stampede as they were lined up in the street outside the Westin Palace Hotel, but no time to pick, choose and process, so will settle for this one for the moment:
Mi Sueño (“my dream”) by Carlos A González, sponsored by alimentacion.es.
And a few brief words from Gelett Burgess (1866–1951):
I never saw a purple cow;
I never hope to see one;
but I can tell you anyhow;
I’d rather see than be one!
don't confuse the narrator 