Visiting Harry Potter Studios, August 2016

[English version below]

Pensant que tampoc cal que el blog renascut ha de ser monotematic, aniré explicant algunes de les coses que he fet en aquests dos anys sabatics. 

Harry Potter. Al final dels anys 1990 quan Potter va començar a ser famos, jo vaig tenir l'actitud tipic que tenia quan era més jove. Si a tothom li agrada, pos, a mi no. No m'apunto a una moda perque sí. Vaig a ser critic (pensant que merament era un reciclatje d'altres llibres classics de la literatura en anglès). Evidentment, em vaig equivocar com en moltes coses en la vida. Quan vam tenir xiquets, i ells es van enganxar als llibres (llegint i rellegint, en anglès, català, castellà), vaig llegir-los per posar-me al dia. I vaig quedar enganxat igualment! Són molt bons i els recomano a tothom, igual que us recomano a 'open your minds' i no ser tant negatiu en coses noves com jo vaig ser! En fi, l'estiu del 2016 vam decidir visitar els estudis a prop de Londres on van gravar moltes escenes de les pel·licules. Increible, val molt la pena. Si sou fans, ho recomano molt. Vam fer 3 hores de cotxe per arribar (i 3 per tornar), però no m'arrepenteixo. Crec que vam passar gairebé 5 hores dins dels estudis, i una hora dins la botiga!

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To avoid the reborn blog becoming just a Catalan independence blog, I'll throw in a few posts on what I've been doing during the last two years.

Harry Potter. When I was younger, so much younger than today, I was a bit of a fool in that whenever something new came along or became fashionable, I'd always steer in the opposite direction or try and ignore it, if not criticize it. When the Potter craze broke out at the end of the 1990s, I did the same, moaning that it was just a rehash of other great kids' literature etc. I was wrong of course. Flash forward some years until our kids were old enough to get hooked on Potter (reading and rereading them again and again, in English, Catalan, Spanish). I had to read them then to see what they were talking about, and I loved them. So now we're all hooked. That's why we visited the Harry Potter Film Studios near Watford in the summer of 2016. A 3-hour drive down (and 3 hours back) were well worth it. We spent about 5 hours in the studios, and an hour in the shop,and I'd go back tomorrow if I could. There you go, give it a try!

August

And then after July came August as usual. August started well - exceptionally well in fact; the very first day we had our annual Big Day Out on the beach. We "camp out" all day once a year on one of the huge deserted beaches on the arms of the Ebro Delta, with a fantastic knee-deep bay of water on one side of the beach, and  the wilder sea of the open Mediterranean on the other. See satellite photo below. Cousins, grannies, uncles, friends, we all hit the beach with cars loaded up with sun shades (essential), kites, buckets and spades, canoes, picnics, drinks... and spend the full day there till dusk. A great time was had by all.

Two days later I flew to England with our oldest son (12 today) to drop him off at my parents' in South Yorkshire for a week's break from us and a chance to practise his English. And then I flew back to Catalonia. The rest of us spent another week here, finishing off translation work and coping with the heatwave before joining Andreu in England for a 3-week holiday.

However the day before we flew I felt a sharp pain in my leg which brought back unhappy memories of my DVT 2 years ago and so went to the hospital to have it checked. I was given the all-clear, and a couple of blood-thinning injections "just in case" and told to fly.

For our first week in England we'd decided to go to the Lake District and a grand time was had by all - lake cruises, treks up and down hills, bathing in tarns and lakes, eating Grasmere gingerbread, visiting the Pencil Museum and so on. See photos.

However, again, by mid-week that pain was starting to come back. I managed to finish the week in the Lakes but as soon as we got back to my parents' we went to Barnsley Hospital A&E to check it wasn't a DVT again.... and it wasn't, it was a SVT! I'll explain: instead of a potentially life-threatening deep vein thrombosis which could mean the clot moving into the delicate parts of your body, it was (is) a "superificial vein thrombosis" or "thrombophlebitis" which is nowhere near as bad ... unless it develops into a DVT if the clots start to move from one vein system to another... which shouldn't happen but.... lots of should/might/but/not usually vocabulary used by the doctors who gave me a very thorough looking over in the hospital (long live the NHS!) meant that I spent the next 2 weeks scared out of my brains once again. They were right, though, so far: the pain was intense and unbearable for a few days but has gradually faded, and is now just annoying. They say in 7-14 days more I should be OK again as the SVT is just running its course. It all meant I did hardly anything for the other 2 weeks in England but I did manage to check out a new second-hand record shop in Elsecar, The Vinyl Tap! With a few more blood-thinning injections "just in case" we flew back to Catalonia on 31 August and now the next step is seeing more doctors to see why this has happened and if there's anything I can do about it - and, looking at my history repeating itself, whether these incidents are related to flying.

I am still resting up at home now but hope to get into school for some preparation this week, and aim to be 100% for working when classes start on the 14th. Our kids also go back to school that day, with our son moving up to the Big Boys' School - i.e. secondary school. Time flies.

July

After a relatively blog-free period, you'll all be wondering "What did Brian do this summer?". Well...here's July.

As you may or may not know, the school year comes to an end here by Saint John's Eve (23 June) and from then on we had the kids at home allowing us the chance for lots of arguing playing with them. My work situation also changes then as the "normal course" comes to an end and we start our intensive "summer course" for anyone who wants a short sharp introduction to English. What happens, though, is that this course is only in the mornings so I'm free by 14.00 every day, and when we've hidden at home through the hottest part of the day (temperatures reached 38º this summer) around 17.00-ish we can do things with the kids. A couple of days cycling, a few at the beach (a 25-minute drive away), and many afternoons with the kids "socializing" - having friends round, or going to friends. Our daughter also went away for a week-long summer camp at a nearby village.

We also managed to check out a couple of late-night concerts in the annual jazz festival and had a great time at the Renaissance Festival (check out previous years' July blogposts to see what I'm talking about). And we saw an amazing concert by the renowned great Catalan celloist Jordi Savall. Using a 500-year old instrument, he and his small group took us on an amazing musical tour within the amazing setting of Tortosa cathedral. Examples to follow...

All in all, a busy month but providing enough change to our normal routines to be considered "a rest" (you know the saying). A well-deserved and much-needed rest after a very busy, and stressful year, with loads of work and other issues to worry about - which I won't go into here, except the fact that our kids seem to be becoming teenagers 2 or 3 years before the predicted time :)

Mallorca

Una nova aventura! La setmana passada vam aconseguir escapar-nos 4 dies a Mallorca per a visitar familia, concretament la germana de la meva dona, el seu parella, i el bebe que acaben de tenir. L'objectiu era precisament aixo, visitar la familia i descansar despres d'un trimestre una mica moguda. I aixi ho vam fer. Vam voltar molt per Palma, vam anar a la platja, vam jugar a Monopoli, i vam fer una visita rapida a Valldemossa.

També vaig aprendre que Menorca queda a l'est de Mallorca, i no pas a l'oest com sempre havia pensat, malgrat viure aqui 25 anys i haver visitat les dos illes. També vam poder confirmar que el tema de la llengua està malament a Mallorca, molta gent no xerra en mallorqui - però a nivell personal, poc a poc, gràcies al cunyat estic millorant la meva comprehensió del que diuen quan ho parlen!

Fotos i musica....

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Brian's Big Break finally arrived - a well-deserved 4-day break in Mallorca (or Majorca). We now have family there - the missus' sister, her partner and their new-born kid - so we went to visit them and relax after a hard term (the school year finished here on the 19 June) before starting our "summer courses". So relax we did - 4 days of playing Monopoly, wandering round Palma, checking out the sights, the beach, and a quick visit to the place Chopin (apparently a pianist) described as being the most beautiful place in the world, Valldemossa. Obviously he'd never been to Yorkshire...

By the way, a little knowledge; Mallorca was re-conquered from the Moors by the Catalan king Jaume I donkeys' years ago and as such formed part of the Catalan/Aragon empire, and the language they speak is a kind of Catalan with a few changes, and a tricky accent! The Balearic isles now form an autonomous community within the state of Spain, as does Catalonia.

A few photos, followed up by another song by the best group from Mallorca.

Anything goes - Ella Fitzgerald

And finally, imagine adding the amazing songs of Cole Porter to the voice of Ella Fitzgerald - pure magic! While other 18 year olds were looking out for Bruce Springsteen or U2, there I was looking for special offer on Ella Fitzgerald jazz cassettes!

Dream a little dream - Ella Fitzgerald

Before finally reaching - in my opinion - the Greatest Voice, Ella Fitzgerald!

Cry me river - Dinah Washington

Another great voice,

T'ain't nobody's business if I do - Bessie Smith

From Billie Holiday, someone (probably my brother) said you should try Bessie Smith. So, off to Barnsley library we went...

Summertime - Billie Holiday

A l'estiu el blog se calma una mica, i habitualment fem uns quants apunts pausats i tranquils sobre un tema o grup de musica en concret. Aquest any, també. 

Quan tenia 15 o 16 anys, era una esponja amb ganes de saber-ne tot sobre tot tipus de musica, i ves per on, vaig acabar descobrint a la Billie Holiday - basicament per l'historia d'ella. 

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As usual the blog will slow down over the next few summer weeks, with a few mono-themed songs to keep the heat at bay (which doesn't necessarily mean I have gone on holiday and am not sitting behind the front door with a loaded shotgun, Mr. Burglar).

This year, jazz/blues singers. When I was about 15 I had a huge thirst for music knowledge. Raiding my parents' collection, local libraries, friends' LPs, studying music magazine, I wanted to know and to hear everything. So as friends were listening to the latest 1982 hit, for some reason - basically for her tragic history - I stumbled across Billie Holiday.

Silence is golden - The Tremeloes #summer

Farem el blog en minims aquest mes com és habitual a l'estiu, ja se sap, Silence is Golden.
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I think we'll just keep the blog ticking over with minimal work this month, as summer is for other things ...! As they say, Silence is Golden.

Summer Spanish Guilty Pleasures Selection!

Fa dies que escolto el disc que he pogut descarregar gratis (i legal) des del fascinant web La Voz Telúrica. Han preparat un disc amb versions de “pop lleuger” espanyol, fetes per cantants i grups relativament nous i, per mi, poc coneguts. Pel que entenc, allò que ells diuen “musica ligera” deu ser com quan a Anglaterra parlem de Guilty Pleasures (plaers que comporten una certa culpabilitat o sensació de vergonya, seria una traducció barata). Vull dir, aquella música que si que et genera un plaer i de la que disfrutes a tope, però en privat!! Música que no pots, o no podies, exlicar als amics ja que no era ni Bob Dylan ni Joy Division ni cap altre grup acceptat pels gurus de la musica, sinò The Carpenters, Showaddwaddy, ELO etc, i tota la tropa que pots trobar als concursos de Eurovision!. Grups que simplement feien alguna cançó enganxosa i divertit sense cap pretensió de ser els musics més bons del mon, ni escriure lletres mereixedors de Shakespeare.

Afortunadament - no sé si internet ha tingut alguna cosa que veure en això – avui en dia, el tancament en banda dels gustos musicals i les lliçons dels gurus sobre musics bons vs musics dolents gairebé no existeix. Molta gent som capaços de escoltar a Pink Floyd de mati, Motorhead a migdia, i acabar la nit amb Abba.

En fi, pel que entenc, la “musica ligera” deu ser això, aquelles cançons que fa uns anys no podies esmentar en public perquè son dels iaios, de xiquets, o dels grups “venuts”, però que realment ens agraden!

Escoltant aquest LP, però, jo parteixo d’una base molt diferent que la majoria de gent, i així no puc tenir cap prejudici ni sentiment de culpabilitat/vergonya. Per a començar, rarament escolto música en castellà. Per més inri resulta que dels cantants originals només em sonen 3 o 4 noms, i de les cançons, cap. Així que els puc jutjar realment com lo que són; cançons. Dels grups nous que han fet les versions, tampoc conec cap! I, la meva conclusió és que ... el LP és molt bo !! Perfecte per unes tardes de l’estiu quan vols escoltar alguna cosa relaxant i original. No perdré més temps evaluant les una per una, perquè no és la meva especialitat, no treballo pel Rolling Stone, i crec que cada u viu la musica d’una manera diferent, però si voleu us dic quines son les pistes que més m’han atret i així si la descarragueu (per que no? és gratis, i a més em consta que els organitzadors del web s’han currat molt durant tot un any per aconseguir que 20 grups els graven i envien aquestes cançons amb el simple motiu de difondre la bona musica!!) podem comentar-ho. Mira, m’encanten les pistes Resistiré, Puerta de Amor (a l’estil Depeche Mode?), Señor, Dile. Aneu al web aquí si us sembla una bona proposta! Felicitats a tothom que ha tingut alguna cosa a veure en aquest projecte!!
Ei, i una menció especial per la Fardaxa (cançó no. 20), una noia que té arrels ebrencs i està fent bon camí en el mon de la musica :)

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One of my favourite music blogs I follow for Catalan, Spanish and International stuff, is La Voz Telúrica. The authors have spent a year getting in touch with new relatively-unknown groups to see if they would record versions of classic Spanish pop songs, to be released this summer via a free legal download on the webpage. The result is this- free here to get!!

According to the webpage this is “musica ligera”, light music, and on further reading I take this to mean classic pop hits from the 60s and 70s which were loved at their time but have since fallen out of favour as they are not Cool - until now! I’d compare it to the Guilty Pleasures concept in English music – should we feel guilty about listening to Showaddywaddy instead of Bob Dylan? Until now, those “in the know” would have laughed at any cool youngster with Abba on his MP3 player – but nowadays it seems that the circle has closed and at last it’s accepted that we can all just enjoy whatever we want and forget what’s fashionable and what ain’t. Motorhead in the morning , and The Carpenters in the afternoon. So what?!

Anyway, I’ve never been a really big fan of Spanish music so I come at this LP from a different angle, with no “guilt” or “baggage” at all to weigh on my opinions. Don’t know the songs, the original artists, or the new ones! So I’m simply listening to it as a collection of songs which may just as well have fallen off the back of a bus. And my conclusion? It’s good stuff – well worth a free download! Hardly a Rolling Stone review, I know, but I’d rather you made your own mind up! I will mention my fave tracks though if you insist: Resistiré, Puerta de Amor, Señor, Dile.

So, if you want some perfect summer easy listening to make those heatwaves more bearable, or you want to practice your Spanish, this is the LP for you!

And congratulations to all those involved! Download here on this webpage.

Here's the back cover of the CD for track-listing and , in brackets, the original artists; and below, a couple of songs:

Stop me if you've heard ...The Smiths #vacances

Fa dies (i setmanes!) que van acabar les vacances per un altre any. Com que no som molt originals, entre altres motius, aquest passat mes vam tornar a visitar Anglaterra, passant uns dies amb la família i uns dies a la costa a la mateixa zona que visitem cada any – North Yorkshire. Com ja vaig dir l’any passat, és una zona xula si t’agrada jugar a la platja o buscar fosiles o vida marina o passejar, però evidentment no cal pensar en prendre el sol ni banyar-se! Us podem recomanar visitar pobles com Staithes, poble de pirates allà on hi hagi, o Whitby, el poble de Dracula entre altres coses!

Fotos i una altra cançó NO conectada amb el tema.

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OK, summer holidays over and done with but we still haven't blogged about them! Not being ones for original exotic adventures, we went on holiday in August to the UK, to visit family and to spend a few days on the North Yorkshire coast as usual. Staithes, Whitby, Scarborough ... a grand time fossil hunting, crab catching, walking, chip eating, rock pool observing. 

Some photos, and another song completely UNconnected to the post.