Some historical advice from an Irish perspective for Esperanza Aguirre on the pitfalls of attempting to demonstrate by symbolic means the virile and libertarian spirit of Madrid in the invented and regrettable conflict between it and doldrummed Barcelona.

A Portuguese menagerie of sozzledness.

Influence of fat content on palatability of roast beef.

“Discontented devil of a blackamoor, why canst thou not be satisfied to live here?” “Avast there; all our gold and diamonds can’t procure us here the bright sunshine and joyous people, nor the rich fruits and wine, of my native clime.”

Yet more Spanish culture for Brussels to ban.

Can someone work out from this steaming pool of verbal diarrhea if they’re loading the donkey down with GPS recorders etc and then letting it go wherever it wants? Now that would be really interesting. Er, not, actually. [Whatever happened to Deirdre (?) and the donkey and cart with which she made her way from [...]

Tracing that hot doggie.

Or perhaps it isn’t.

Vague musings on the past and present of hare coursing and greyhound racing in Spain.

And whatever you do don’t let them loose in fields containing horses.

From saviour to saved to savoury: the de-/remystification of bodily imperfection.

Stallholders in Vilafranca del Penedès are slashing prices, but don’t let greed get the better of you.

And what to do when those boring old marble columns get in the way of your new staircase.

A special offer on meat balls with cuttlefish will have to do until the wheel of fortune creaks in their direction.

Socialist José Sócrates continues to deny taking bribes from the British developer, Freeport, while he was environment minister. Zazie links to bloggers who expose his official income and assets, and wonders how a chicken can get so fat on so little, and why the two major parties are keeping so quiet.

I can’t see the moral difference between this and when your cat brings in a vole, but someone is outraged.

A Roger Ekirch, At day’s close: night in times past: “suspending the heart of a bullock or pig over the hearth, preferably stuck with pins and thorns”. Barcelona’s inquisition records and other (later) sources also contain a desperate screech of (sometimes living) cats and a wide range of barnyard animals with pins stuck into them [...]

The old ones are always the best ones. In the Dresden Files the Old Ones are demons, or dark gods who ruled the world before mankind. They were apparently banished from our reality. The Fifth Law of Magic prohibits the summoning of both the Old Ones, and their foot soldiers the Walkers, or Outsiders.
In old [...]

Over at Manuel Trallero.

Photo 7 on this page shows a lamb being carried by refugees from villages on the Spanish side of the central Pyrenees as the Stalinist-led 43rd Division prepared its famous last stand–the Bielsa Pocket/la Bolsa de Bielsa–against Franco’s advancing Navarrans in spring 1938. Bielsa was completely shattered by the latter’s artillery, but the scorched earth [...]