Winds from the Sahara

Jueves: 1:45

Go Mets! Above .500. Well, i'll enjoy it while it lasts. They will need to keep Reyes, who is having a monster year if they are to remain a winning team. But i think the Wilpons will trade him at the deadline so they can at least get something back for him before he can just walk away. He's said he wants to stay in NY. Either way, Senior Wilpon can't afford to pay him what he can get on the open market.

After a fourth day of bowel-churning heat, it is cool and breezy tonight. It's 72F! There are nights when it's still 90F at 1:00 in the morning! It is actually cold out on the patio. It feels awesome. There are times when after days of baking heat and burning sunshine, your mind plays tricks on you and think you will never be cool again. I just keep drinking electrolyte solution, powerade, gazpacho and fresh squeezed orange when it's like this. You don't even feel like eating. Two oranges (liquified) and gazpacho was all i ate until i had a quarter of a grilled chicken and a salad at 22:30. This place becomes a desert in the summer. People melt. Women go braless whenever possible. At least there's an upside. You lose weight too cuz you don't want to eat. One 1/4 of a chicken all day? I'm not sure how i did it, but there were days i 'd put away a whole chicken. Sweet baby Jar Jar Binks that's a lot of pollo.

Okay. I'm going to out on the terrace and freeze my ass off. Just because i can.

Sweet goddess Isis, Mother of Horus, who's many incarnations were the great Pharaohs,

Thanks for turning off the freaking Oven that is the Sahara for a couple of days. Stupid African winds. It was so hot and my balls were hanging so low that i tripped on them twice this week. SO thanks for that.

Your Loving Subject,

King Tut / Steve Martin

Tuesdays get crazier and crazier

i taught til 21:00 and got to Bender Tuesday by 22:15. It was CRAZY! It was Dave's Birthday. Ashley had come from a belly dancing recital and was Belly Dancing to Shakira, she was in the full dress and regalia. Carla, Jenny, Carolyn, Goran, Dave, Meaghan, CJ, Kelly - the place was packed. Bender Tuesday brings out the craziest in people. Carla had to work at 8:00 but stayed because she is just showing a DVD. Now that's using your head.

Now shower and then class til 22:00. It should only be 89F today. Happy happy, joy joy!

some brighter things

15:37

Yesterday was 100F. Today will only be 98F. Tomorrow, 97F. Brian and Mihaela came over and we barbecued burgers and sausage. Delicious. And we played the card game, 31, for hours. I won three Euros. I still got it! Shower, eat, and go up north to teach at the Uni.

23:14

Home. Sweet home. SO VERY HOT TODAY! Scorchifying. If you don't drink enough water it will catch up to ye. It's still 93F and it's almost a new day. But from 16:00 to 20:00 are the Doom Hours. Everything is hot because the sun will be up til 20:15 at this time of year and the heat has been building since 6:30. It got fully dark about 15 minutes ago.

All else is fine. Functioning under normal parameters. It's a nice thing.

Two more glasses of water and i feel much better. Drink drink and be merry, for tomorrow we fry!

the darkest hour

Sabado

HOT. Another summer. Real scorcher today after yesterday was a break.

But it was delightfully chilly on the terrace at 3:30. The night is the only time the heat breaks. If it does. I wake up every morning at 7:00 or so, i think it's just cuz of the sunlight and that's it's delightfully cool. Sometimes my eyes open before dawn. But then i always go back to sleep to snag a few more hours.

Because you know the darkest hour is always just before the dawn

-CSN

Bravo to New York for legalizing same-sex marriage! They are now the largest legal state. This could be a big boost to the whole movement. Cheers to all the folks who made it possible, from the first ideas being jotted down on a napkin to the signing of the bill last night.

it's 12:30 and it's already 88F / 31C. And it's going to get to 96F/35C.

15:07

Massive, prep for moving somewhere cleaning going on. Dani and his girl friend didn't come home last night so they must be out of town. So i am taking care of business. Ain't nothing but a hound dog!

Music to clean by;

Mojo - Tom Petty

Presence - Led Zeppelin

Live Frogs, disc 1 - Les Claypool

My room is clean. I know where everything is for when i move in July. I never stop moving.

Women's World Cup! Mel asked me to start a fantasy league, so i did, but i have no idea how the f*&k to pick my players. And they wonder why no one watches the women's world cup. I tried Seester. I spent half an hour on the sight.

So hot. the late afternoon is the worst.

Lunes 1:55

It's lunes by me, domingo by you all. That's all i wanted to say. Besos!

dog food and celery

June 24th? Really? I haven't written since Sunday? Well let's see what i can catch you all up on-

It's been hotter than Hell on Sunday. Brutal. 96F. 97F. It's dry but it still rends your soul.

THE BULL ENDS HERE

Two Sundays ago, i called Brian to see if he wanted to hang. He was in Valencia but asked if i wanted to take his ticket to the Bulls that night. This is the biggest festival of bulls in Madrid the whole year long. And i live walking distance to Ventas (the bull ring) . He said he was supposed to go with his friend Justine but then he and his girlfriend went to Valenica on the spur of the moment and would i please fill in for him. "Justine the hot little French chick? Anything for you buddy." We had fun and it was very interesting because the Matadors are all on horseback and just kill the bull with the picas (they look like lawn darts). There was lots of showmanship. It was fun. Bad for the bull. But they live better than anything raise for beef in the USA. Bad end though.

BURN YOUR VERGUENZA

I have a class of beginners, so i had them write down things they are embarrassed to try and speak about in English. They wrote it down on a piece of paper, then they tore it up and placed it in my green portfolio folder. I then told them i would burn them on the terrace and bring pictures the next week. I called it Burn Your Verguenza. I brought in pics of their former verguenza in flames. The unfortunate thing was that it didn't burn to well, so what did i have that was flammable? Olive oil. I always have some. I live in Spain! Oh, that made it burn alright. I got some good picks and while i was checking them out i heard POP. And the Mahou ashtray i've had for years had split in two. I got a wet towel and put it out before it damaged the plastic patio table.

DOGS SHOULD NEVER BE VEGETARIANS

Last Sunday in the park, Lola's little dog was running her ragged, trying to get his leash back on. She said it was fine to pick him up. So a while later I let him sniff me, talked to him and tried to pick him up. He bit me on the left index finger. Polly cleaned it out with some hand sanitizer. It was too bad and i should know better than to go near any dog and try to pick it up. My 1st class at 11:00 am was Sonia, a doctor. She asked if i had cleaned it out. I had with alcohol and salt water and wrapped it in napkin with wet salt for about 20 minutes. I didn't have a bandage big enough, so i wrapped it in a fresh tissue and wrapped it in blue electrical tape (drummer's ALWAYS have electrical tape.) Sonia, shook her head at my home-made designer bandage and went upstairs. She came down with some big bandages. I bought more later that day.

I later found out from her sister, Linda, that because Lola is a vegetarian, that the dog is too.

"I think you should let him have meat," i told Lola. "He seems to like it." I must have a faint aroma of Montreal steak seasoning on my skin from a lifetime of barbecuing.

When we were leaving, Lola said, "Can we take a piece of you home?"

"A doggie bag?," i asked.

The finger is healing nicely.

The week hath ended. Go forth and multiply.

7 x 7 = 49

here and there

Wine tasting in the park 19/6/11

DOMINGO

Happy Father's Day to all of you.

I survived 33 hours of class this week. That probably means that i spent at least 25 hours traveling. i only had one class on Saturday and Sunday is a much needed day off.

But i have work. A lot of work. This is always good.

I'm lucky. Mum and my Nana and Pop instilled a decent work ethic in us. A pride in doing things well. Plus it really helps with a having a place to live and food to eat.

I am listening to the highly anticipated album, 2 from Black Country Communion, one of the first super groups in a long time to actually be super. Joe Bonamasa-Guitar, Glenn Hughes-Bass and vocals, Derik Sherinian-Keyboards, and John Bonham- drums. Check out both of their albums when you can. I do not throw praise around lightly, but they are awesome.

Hot hot hot. It will be between 34 and 36C the next few days. That's 92-96F. 309 Kelvin, whatever that means.

LUNES
We had a wine tasting in Retiro park that rocked. Now, shower, eat pasta and back to work!

II

Happy Birthday Kevin (June 9)
Happy Birthday Frippy and his brother Mully (June 15)
Happy Birthday Bayside (June 17)

And like that it's done. Gemini fest is over. The long long string of birthdays is over. I think there were ten. Til next year! I like June. It's a good month. It's a teacher's month.

Worked 15 hours the past three days, which is average (5 a day). Manana and Fri will be 17. It's good. I'm happy for the work. I'll be exhausted by week's end, but so be it. i can sleep as much as i want this weekend. Just one class on sabado in a cafe over red tea. That's a good class.

Okay, it's 1:03 on Thurs morn. I have class at 11:30. I bid you all a good night and a pleasant manana!

_On our next episode_

• The Bullfight with Justine the hot French chick
• Burning your Verguenza
  

Doce Horas Conmigo

When a problem comes along
you must bend it!
when your girlfriend has a schlong
you must end it!
-Devo / Traditional

Bender Tuesday! Taught class at 11:30. Cooking pasta now. Then class at 15:30. The 19:00 til 21:00. Then go meet the crew for Bender Tuesday. I may teach as much as 35 hours this week! Whew! Stash some cash for August, when there's nothing to do but barbecue and watch porn. I will also break my own indoor/outdoor teaching record (i'll take the MBA class to the patio across the street for a beer and conversation on Fri, which they love.) 12 hours of class with me in the span of a week is just too much. I can't even stand me that long.

Another Tricky Day

Last Friday at the MBA class, Silvia was the only one who showed. They are in finals so i understand. So she and i had a good class for about an hour an forty-five minutes. I'm not going to keep the poor woman there with me for four hours. But this is the email i got from one of my students on Saturday;

Sent On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 9:02 PM, xxxxxx@yahoo.com
HI! I arrived at 20.30 and nobody's at class, I can`t arrive before because my flatmate was enclosed at the bathroom and that's the reason why I was late

First off, this guy makes more excuses the Palestinians. I don't care about the reason, you are there or you're not. It's not a big deal. But was his friend locked in the bathroom? Was he stuck? Was the door jammed or is he just stupid? Was it a call for help? Suicide attempt? All that matters, i guess, is that the friend is okay.

Now Anthony Weiner, that's not okay. He emails picture's of his schlong and his last name is WEINER! That's just too ironic. At least he's accurately named.

Flashback to 1616. "Okay, we need you all to get some last names. ...You,....you there, you'll be Smith cuz you're a Blacksmith. You, the baker, ....you'll be Baker. And you, the one who's always exposing himself through the peephole in the women's outhouse..., you'll be Weiner."

(This is no social crisis)
This is you having fun
(No crisis)
Getting burned by the sun
(This is true)
This is no social crisis
Just another tricky day for you

-The Who

Dial 'J' for 'Judicious Palate'

16:52

Just talked with Mel on messenger. She is well.

I was supposed to work today but Elena had an emergency at the hospital. May tomorrow. I will be working weekends til the end of June. It's the only way i can fit everyone in! And while the work is there you gotta take it.

The Babylon Sisters have started a wine importing business so i am going to Monica's for a wine tasting. She said she needs feedback from an American palate. I said "you dialed the right number."

SO i shopped. Now eat. Then shower. Clean room. Hang laundry. Taste wine. Watch USA vs. Panama, Gold Cup at 1:00 am. Jamaica is through to the quarterfinals already. Yeah Jamaica!

The Rainy Season

All the late night bargains have been struck
Between the satin beaus and their belles
Prehistoric garbage trucks
Have the city to themselves
Echoes and roars, dinosaurs
They're all doing the monster mash
And most of the taxis, most of the whores
Are only taking calls for cash
-Dire Straits

LUNES

Apparently we are in monsoon season here in early June. i've never seen it like this. Pouring all day long. If i see locusts or frogs start falling from the sky i am pulling up stakes and getting the hell out of here. You don't have to be Yul Brynner to know plagues when they arrive.

What have i been teaching lately? Well, about Ford and GM finally building fuel-efficient small cars (GM was told it needed to recover their competitive advantage by the Obama Admin. when they were bailed out by the Taxpayers). Tomorrow i'll start an article about how there is ACTUALLY such a phenomenon as raining frogs. What else; Marketing and the early Republican candidates for President (I threw the Gary Hart / Donna rice scandal in there, as well as the Iran-Contra affair; supposedly a CIA guy said he was tasked with neutralizing Hart because of his promises to investigate the relationship between the Government and organized crime. And Bush was the VP, Ex-head of the CIA. If they'll fund an illegal war in Nicaragua, sell weapons to the Iranians and allow drug dealers to bring cocaine into Miami as long as they dropped off the weapons to the Contras, can you put it past him to dig up dirt on Hart? The students seemed to dig it. They were shocked about the Iran-Contra affair but it's all documented. I studied it in social science with John Orman (Ethics in Government.) How the fuck did our country ever elect George Bush after that? And a heap of people took the fall for George. The paper trail led right to his feet. But they took the fall so that Bush could still run in 1988.

Sometimes i swear i've seen it all. The things that people do on this planet are unbelievable. And what's going on in the US now.... well it doesn't make a goddamned bit of sense.

New class manana, up north. I'll take as many classes as i can get. Anything to keep from doing the soundtrack for pornos again. Although i did win a PORNY award for Best Soundtrack for The Wind Beneath My Wang (1998). And Amy PoonTang also won another award for WBMW for Best Actress in a Foursome. 2 PORNYS, that's kind of impressive.

But i've turned the page. I left that life behind a long ago time ago. Possibly in a galaxy far far away.

Today i feel old. That just happens sometimes.

Will the Canucks take a commanding 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup or will Boston still stake a claim to make it a series. I think Boston did well just to get as far as they did (and beat a tough Tampa team.) I just think it's Vancouver's year after 4 decades of waiting.

Like the way the Caps are still waiting. They tear it up in the regular season and then fizzle and fry in the playoffs.

My mobile phone just rang. I was offered a job scoring a new movie, Seymour Butts. I passed. I'm going to bed.

MIERCOLES

Bender Tuesday was a blast. I didn't get there til 10:30 and everybody was psyched to see me. It's an organic celebration of friends getting together during the middle of the week. I quite like it.

I work at 4, 6, and 8. I teach therefore i am.

43

June 5th in History (we're really getting to the dregs at this point.)

1940/06/05 (Wed): 1st synthetic rubber tire exhibited Akron Oh
1933/06/05 (Mon): US goes off gold standard
1975/06/05 (Thu): Suez Canal reopens (after 6 Day War caused it to close)
1977/06/05 (Sun): Revolution in Seychelles Islands (they had been given independence in 1976 from England but there was a coup in 1977- they are off the coast of Africa, north of Madagascar. Never heard of them before this.)
1996 - Howard Stern makes his market debut in Memphis.

Like i said, dregs.

Great picnic yesterday in Retiro. Great weather for about 3 hours, then it rained but Most of us found a tree and Jenny and i found a big bush (i'm serious) threw down a blanket and sat under it, aided by an umbrella. Then we went to a bar for a bite and then to Barbaroi to watch Spain bitchslap the US National Soccer Team. Save the bitchslapping, it was a great time. Everyone was there; American Laura, the Babylon Sisters, etc. We celebrated birthdays of May 31, June 5 (2) and June 7 (3). Until the rain came, and it was pretty steadily coming down for a spell, it was a sunny glorious 72 degree day.

Vancouver went up 2-0 on Boston (yeah!) The Mets blanked the Braves for Gee's sixth win.

So i am 43 today. Hooray! I Feel like a well-built Toyota.

At the Uni on Friday, the class all wished me a happy birthday. I told them i was going to be 143. This one guy, Xulio (chulio) said, "You look like your only 123!"

Gemini Rising

I guess it's one of those things
You can never explain
Like when an angel cries
Like runaway trains






Like one of those times
That's never the same
Like when something dies
Like runaway trains
-Tom Petty

What day is it? Friday. No... 4:15 AM. Saturday. Whew! Long day, but fun. Lots of good classes.

We came in second in the Quiz tonight; Mike, Ben, Josh and i. Respectable. ooohhh. I have a party to be at in 12 hours. better get some shut eye!

10:03

Congratulations to Atlanta. This is city of under a half million, best known for being a Delta Airlines hub and the home of CNN, now has the dubious distinction of being the only NHL market in the modern era to lose it's hockey team TWICE, both to Canada (the Atlanta Flames move to Calgary in 1980, The Atlanta Thrashers move to Winnipeg in 2011.)

Let's burn Atlanta again!
-me, 1999 After Atlanta beats the NY Mets in the NLCS

13:55

I love waking up and falling back to sleep. We are all meeting at Retiro Park at 4 for a picnic, of sorts. It's a Gemini fest. Me, Alberto, Ana, Laura Mitchell and Carrie. Carrie had to go back to Alabama to take care of some family business and i don't know if Laura Mitchell is coming, but still; there are 4 of us. And Bayside is a Gemini too, the 17th. So many Geminis, so many expats (Ana y Alberto are Spanish, but they hang with us, and Alberto is married to Carrie). Is there a like equation? Probably..... that we are all certifiably Bonkers.

Carrie is actually the 5th like me. She's the good twin. Which...., i guess makes me the evil twin. I bet that comes as a shocker. So the pic above is a fairly accurate portrayal, excepting that i normally hide my horns and my tail and i don't have hooters (God Damn it! ). But my hair's almost that long. And we both love to rock high heel shoes!

Severed

JUEVES



JUNE 5th in History;

1930 U.S.A. Mobsters 5th June 1930 : The Illinois State Prosecutor made a public statement that gang murder in Chicago has taken a grizzly turn and mobsters are now cremating victims to stop identification and evidence .



1945 Germany Borders Re Set 5th June 1945 : The United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia formally strip Germany of all conquests it acquired under Nazi rule . The "Big Four" reduced the country's borders to those of which it held in 1937 . They also set up a military government over the country while getting the country's unconditional surrender.

1953 U.S.A. Fireworks Explosions 5th June 1953 : An Alco Fireworks and Specialty Company warehouse and factory exploded killing four people in Houston, Texas. Over 400,000 pounds of fireworks exploded in the factory which in addition to the deaths injured 73 people. The cause of the explosion was said to be due to a general manager hammering nails into a display.

1981 U.S.A. AIDS 5th June 1981 : The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report announcing that cases of rare pneumonia were found among five homosexual men in Los Angeles, California which was later identified as the Aids Virus


Stanley Cup Finals. Go Vancouver! I say Vancouver in 6. I can't live in a world where Boston wins a title in all 4 major Sports within ten years.

I can't let that happen and i won't let that happen and i can't let that happen!
-Homer Simpson

4 scratch infield hits for Pittsburgh. Capuano is in trouble in the 7th after pitching very well. Bases loaded, no outs. And now it's 2-2. Still no out. Capuano is out. Hard luck. A missed force play. Going for instead of throwing home. 4-2 Pitt. Ugh! An inning to forget. Another infield hit. That's five now. 5-2. Brutal. Please make it stop.

There are no good days anymore Bart, just days.
-Milhouse, the Simpsons, after seeing the beginning of Finding Nemo for the 1st time and seeing the mother and her eggs getting eaten.

And there will be no NFL season in 2011. Sad but true. I just don't think they'll reach a deal. The owners are being selfish morons. They don't give a hoot about all of the people who work at the stadiums. They're going to shut down a $6b dollar a year industry during the worst recession since the Great Depression. Shameful really.

Pitt 9 - Mets 2

Shameful.

VIERNES

When the evil of a snowflake in June
Could still be a source of relief
-Genesis

it's not that cold but its like high 50's. Which is lovely weather here for June. The summer is coming. And the heat. The soul damning heat.

So 50's is cool.

Okay - must wake up earlier than my norm for work manana. It's late but it sometimes takes a while to wind down from 7 hours of class. Sleep well dear peoples to the West. Tomorrow is the following day's yesterday.

Sever tomorrow
-Porcupine Tree

Imagination, part II

Okay. I can post pics again. Is that what you imagined earlier today? A Robot drinking beer, smoking a cigar and pointing to his ass? I know i did!

That's what i always imagine.

June is here and it's 64F and cool. It should be low 7o's for the next week or so. Woo hoo! I love it. Sometimes the beginning of June is so great here.

Bender Tuesday was fun. Small crowd, but fun. It was just Kelly, Goran and I for quite some time.

13 hours of class the next two days. Whew! My week is so bottom heavy. End of the week heavy.

This blog is to go over 5,000 page views. Crazy. Thank you, all of you.

Imagination

MARTES

i can't be sure, but i think that recently listening to several musical projects that include Tony Levin have changed my life (see: Stick Men, Liquid Tension Experiment, and his solo stuff.) It's unlike anything i've ever heard (see: Exit Stage Left, Rush -Meddle, Pink Floyd - Red, King Crimson, - Selling England, Genesis.) Sometimes you get into something and it changes the way you look at music.

i need a change. Not sure what it is. And i've just been thru so much change! It's a minor one. I 'll figure it out. Life keeps you on your feet, i'll tell you that much.

The teaching treadmill. It's always running. But, that's kind of what i was looking for, i guess. i'm not sure what that means but it's 1:18 on a Tuesday morning, so i'm gonna let it slide.

Take me off the grill cuz i'm done. Night!

11:18

Looking for extra work in the summer. Maybe i could be an Au Pair in August. Either that or i'll reluctantly go back to scoring pornos for a while. I mean, i did get best score for Rack of Ages, I Know Who You Did Last Summer, and the epic Nineteen - Hundred and Eighty Whoors. Screw it, it's a living.

19:12

2 Classes canceled so i only taught 1. I just can't seem to work on Tuesday (Martes.) So i cooked up a half kilo of lamb chops and had a salad. Yum. Do the dishes, hang laundry and then off to Bender Tuesday. I'll make them up on Friday (Viernes.) Cleaned my room so it's spanking clean!

MIERCOLES

14:06

Sunny and really cool. 64F. Beautiful! Shower. Then teach, teach and teach.

It's not letting me add a photo, so you'll have to use your imagination.