Saturday 17 October 2009

TELL THEM WE'RE NOT IN

Nunilo and Alodia have been keeping me busy and I'm still none the wiser for reading all the literature on them except it could be a conspiracy as I have said before to get people to hate Muslims. If the Hadron Collider had existed in that century it could have told the Spanish not to bother as everyday Muslims are in the news usually blowing themselves up so it all adds to the present climate of hate and suspicion that seems to have taken most people over. Which brings me onto Geert Wilders the far-right Dutch MP who turned up in Britain to do, well what exactly? Wind up a few Muslims who are convinced Islam will eventually rule the world? There is one obstacle in their way though and that is alcohol. If only we could all become teetotallers and Muslims some people think we can rid the world of all ills. Like most things, I have no idea what my views are on any of this apart from there seems to be an awful lot of dickheads around at the moment and none of them on my level. Can you blame people for drinking and taking drugs with all that is going on in the world? There was a documentary on the other night about pubs in Britain called the Red Lion and one of them was run by a pub landlord who drank about 17 pints a day and when asked if he drank too much he answered ' yes, but in moderation'. If the pubs in Britain really are closing down at a rate of six a day maybe the Muslims will rule the world and we'll all live happily ever after.

A woman came round the other day from the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica which needs no translation and asked me loads of stuff I was prepared to tell her like how much I drank and did I think there was too much noise in Spain and drug taking etc etc. I found the letter we had been sent a few days before telling us we had been 'selected' to participate in this 'poll'. A few lies were slipped in just to *uck them up and along with Facebook and all the other drivel I find myself writing I am sure the powers that be will be kept busy.

What else? A new school, San Viator and Classes 4 A and B are doing their best to give me a twitch but unbeknown to them I worked in Santa Rosa before and that prepares you for anything. The Taliban? Hah! I found myself in the unenviable positon of levitating and spewing a few words to get the message across to bunch of nine year olds who seem to think they know it all and then I realised Jesus had appeared at my left shoulder. That's not Our Father Who Art In Heaven but a man, probably a brother, of the same name, who had silently wafted in like a 'creeping Jesus' as my mother would say, to hand me a piece of paper telling me that yes, there is a meeting next week that will discuss amongst other things the bad behaviour of said classes. Can't wait.

Saturday 3 October 2009

MUST TRY HARDER

So, how many lightbulbs does it take for a man to walk a week in a fortnight? This is the sort of stuff Vic and Bob get paid a lot of money for and Derek and I do out of boredom mainly, and a need to inhabit our own universe as opposed to the one currently on offer.

Universes aside I did learn that Madonna was leaving the UK so there's one of many reasons for me to return. Never a big fan of the so-called Madge I did cite her nine years ago as one of the many reasons I left the Motherland. That and AA Gill's depression, CCTV cameras and that general malaise felt when life seems to be passing you by in a youth obsessed society overun with chavs and feral children out to get you.

On a lighter note, I am still none the wiser on the authenticity of the Nunilo and Alodia story. Sometimes Nunilo is referred to as Nunila and even Nunilon. One source by Carlos Maria Lopez, is titled Historic Aragonese Problems of the Ninth Century which left me reeling when I read that all the details on the two sisters are 'incoherent' and that there is a 'labyrinth of dates and contradictory documents'. This sounds like most conversations I have here which leave me none the wiser and reaching for the phone to call Stephanie. There seems to be some discrepancy as to where the remains of the sisters are buried. If I understand it correctly, the Andaluscians have them but then again the Aragonese think they are up here somewhere and a bit of them in Navarra. The author is convinced however, that after all the studies carried out there is, as always, one thesis which is a 'great strength', The Aragonese one.

His words, not mine and I wouldn't want to argue with him especially if he is Aragonese. Well, October seems to be a busy month with more hospital appointments, a new job, friends over, and a lecture on our old mate Franco, from Paul Preston. I have only done a week at the new school, San Viator, and despite the usual nonsense at least the school has windows that let in lots of light and I can see people walking past in the corridoor. Not like that prison I was in before where you felt if anything happened no one would come to your aid as they were too busy elsewhere doing other stuff as opposed to teaching or supporting teachers.