BRUSSEL! I (Down in English)

07:14 hores del matí. Estic despert? No ho sé. Estic somiant? Tampoc no ho sé. Aleshores, per què collons sé que el despertador sonarà en un minut? No, segur que no ho fa, no me la pot jugar d’aquesta manera: el despertador i jo som amics. Amics, bonica paraula, d’aquesta classe  no se’n tenen molts. I si se’n té molts, alguna cosa no funciona bé al meRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGGG! Me cague en l’hòstia! Puto despertador! Quin fàstic d’aparell! Bé, tranquil, l’apague i m’aixeque. Ja està. Apagat. Ara només falta llevar-me. Vinga. Va. Va. Va. Merda. Merda. MERDAAAAAAAAAA! Quina hora és? Ah! Les 07:45! Salte del llit ara mateixa! Llet, amb Cola-Cao, per favor. Gràcies. Però què dic? Si m’ho he de fer jo, llàstima, ma mare no està. Un moment, per què no està? Ah clar! Sóc a Brussel·les, per moments se m’oblida, “caram”. En fi, allà anem. Desdejunat i vestit i amb les dents ben netes. Plorat i mocat isc al carrer i pam! Hi ha una boira que no em deixa veure més de tres cases en avant. I aquesta sensació... què és això? Que li passa al meu cos? Per què es comporta d’aquesta manera? Un moment... La putaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa quin fred faaaaa!!!!!! Vet per on, a la parada de bus pareix que en faça tot i més. Bé, aplegue al departament de Mecànica i apa, a treballar. Aquest model no m’apanya, aquest tampoc, l’altre menys encara... Tim? Could you help me, please? Ja el tinc, perfecte, a simular s’ha dit! Que visquen les malles i els volums finits! I Navier-Stokes també ja que estem! A Reynolds no, a eixe que li’n donen.

17:00-17:30. S’ha acabat la jornada ‘laboral’. Torne, compre, no compre? No torne i em quede pel centre a veure coses? Les possibilitats són infinites. Després ja vindran les implicacions. Si torne ja, compre. Si no torne, compraré després. Bé, per a què dir mentides, compraria demà, però visitaria zones inexplorades encara. A fer la mà la paradeta! No torne i en pau! Gràcies a això he començat a trobar costums amagats de la ciutat, com per exemple que ací cascú fa el que li ve en gana a la façana de la seua tenda.

Cliqueu a la imatge per a veure-la millor

I si poden fer el que vulguen a les façanes, imagineu-vos què no faran dins les pròpies botigues perquè, qui no ha volgut mai tenir una sabateria i un gat vigilant els lladres? (Si, sí, els preus són en euros, EN EUROS!)

Cliqueu la imatge per fer-la gran

El Manneken Pis? Bah! Això està passat de moda home! Millor visitar la seua germana Jeanneke Pis!

Cliqueu a la imatge per fer-la gran

Heu estat mai en algun mercat de les puces? Si? Segur que heu trobat alguna joieta que altra però... açò, açò era menester? És el pitjor que podia passar, analitzeu-ho: Buddy... DINS D’UNA CAIXA. Cosa que significa que... ANDY L’HA ABANDONAT! Brussel·les m’ha donat l’oportunitat de conèixer el final de Toy Story 4, fins i tot abans que s’haja planejat de fer-la!

Cliqueu a la imatge per fer-la gran

Tintín, Els Pitufets, Lucky Luke, Astèrix i Obèlix... Brussel·les està infestada de street art, no hi ha carrer per on passes que no tinga una façana ben gran alimentada pels personatges locals nascuts ací.

Cliqueu en la imatge per fer-la gran

És una ciutat encantadora, que fascina i emociona i, a la vegada, misteriosament fa que t’embriagues d’un pensament que et fa dir: però que lletja que és aquesta ciutat, Senyor! I no pares de pensar que fa fred i que plou, i que quan no plou, fa fred, i que si no fa fred, plou, però si no plou ni fa fred, no fa sol, està núvol. Però a pesar dels núvols, els pensaments sobre família, parella i amics et vénen al cap, però de sobte, oh mira! Està plovent! Anem a comprar paraigües! Nyas, 10 euros pel paraigües! Ups... ja no plou! En fi, meravellosa.

Ps este article va dedicat en especial a: Júlia, Poler, Martí, Raquel i Salva, perquè van fer possible un cap de setmana inoblidable. A tots ells, gràcies. Ací teniu el vídeo.

BRUSSEL! I (English)

07:14 in the morning. Am I awake? Don’t know. Am I sleeping? Don’t know.  So, why the hell do I know that the alarm will beep in a minute? I’m sure that’s not going to happen, there’s no way it can happen to me, we are friends. Friends, beautiful word, we don’t have lots of them. And of course if you do have lots of them something wrong is happening to myRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG! For fuck sake! You idiot alarm! What a nasty thing! Ok, I turn it off and I get out of bed. Done. Turned it off. I just need to leave bed. Ok. Go. Go. Go. Shit. Shit. SHIT! What time is it? Oh no! 07:45! I jump off bed right now! Milk, with chocolate please. Thanks. But, what am I saying? I have to do it myself, poor me, my mother isn’t here. Hang on, why isn’t she here? Oh yes, I’m in Brussels, I always forget. So, there we go. I had breakfast, and I put my clothes on and brushed my teeth. Plunge into street and… pam! It’s really really foggy. And this weird sensation… what is this? What’s happening to my body? What is this strange behaviour? Wait… Fuuuuuuuuuuuck! It’s so coooold!!!!!! And now the bus stop, where the weather gets colder, cheers! Ok, eventually I arrive to the Mechanical department and I start to work. I don’t like this model, neither this one, nor the another one… Tim, could you help me please? There we go, now I’ve got it so let’s go to the simulations! Long live to the meshes and the finite volumes! To Navier-Stokes also! Reynolds, my dear, you… you… fuck you!

17:00-17:30. Work is done. I could come back home, do some shopping, or I could not and take time myself to get to the centre to visit new places. There are infinite possibilities. If I come back right now, I’ll buy something. If not, I could buy later, well, why tell lies, I’d buy tomorrow, but I’d explore new places I’ve never been before. Bye bye supermarket! I’m not coming back! And thanks to that, I started to discover different stuff, that is usually hidden inside the city. For example, a person can do whatever he fancies on the facade of his business up here in Brussels.

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And if they can do things like this, imagine inside their own business because, who has never thought about having a cat as a security manager? (Yes, the prices are in euros, IN EUROS!)

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The Manneken Pis? Please, this is sooo old! You’d better visit his sister, Jeanneke Pis!

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Have you ever been in a flea market? Yes? I’m sure you have founded something extraordinary but this? Was this necessary? It’s the worst thing it could have ever happened, let’s analyse it; Buddy is INSIDE A BOX. And that means that… ANDY HAS DUMPED HIM! Brussels gave me the chance to know the end of Toy Story 4, even BEFORE the movie was thought!

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Tintin, The Smurfs, Lucky Luke, Asterix & Obelix... Brussels is plenty of street art, there is no street without a massive facade where the important guys who born and raised here are represented.

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This is a charming city, fascinating and exciting; however, a dodgy thought mysteriously invades your mind and makes you say: “what an awful place, Jesus Christ!” You can’t help thinking of the wheather: it’s cold and rainy; and when it’s not raining, it’s cold; and when it’s not cold, it’s raining; but, when it’s neither rainy nor cold, it’s not sunny either, it’s cloudy. But even it’s cloudy, I think about the family, my girlfriend and also best friends, but suddenly, look! It’s raining! Let’s buy some umbrellas! Here you have 10 euros for the umbrella! Ups… it stopped raining! So that, marvelous.

Ps I dedicate this post specially to Júlia, Poler, Martí, Raquel i Salva, because the made posible an unforgettable weekend. To them all, big thank you. Here’s the video:

                                

ESTEM ADORMITS? / ARE WE ASLEEP? (Down in English)

Bé… com podria demostrar-ho? Sé que és difícil però ho intentaré. Veureu, el que vull demostrar és com us poden importar més les notícies que, per a mi, tenen més aïnes poc significat avui, que les notícies, diguem-ne importants, que ocorren en aquests moments tan apassionants.

Com podria demostrar-ho? El primer que cal abans de res és una eina de mesura. Fa tretze anys haguera fet una enquesta o potser ni tan sols això. Amb tretze anys, la meua ment no estava suficientment desenvolupada com per a pensar que hi havia tanta gent adormida. Probablement, si ho haguera pensat i fet, bàsicament haguera sigut pensant que es referien a la gent que dorm normalment durant tot el dia. La cosa, però, ha canviat i disposem d’una ferramenta de treball, si més no, apta per a realitzar aquest petit estudi: Féixbuc. La gran xarxa social. Tots coneixem Facebook. Sabem que quan algú penja un ‘estat’ hi ha tres accions possibles: fer clic en m’agrada (like), compartir l’estat, comentar-lo. Basant-me en aquestes tres accions possibles, l’anàlisi que faig és aquest:

Estarem d’acord en què si un estat és ‘popular’ o ha agradat a la gent apareix en el nombre de comentaris, molt nombrosos, és a dir, té més likes o més vegades s’ha compartit, sí? Entendrem també que, pel contrari, quantes menys accions realitzades hi haja sobre l’estat, menys ‘popular’ el considerarem, és això? Però... ‘popular’ és sinònim d’important? Intentaré demostrar que no. Els passos a seguir per aconseguir-ho són els següents:

1. Publicar dos estats ben diferents. Un d’important per a mi i un que considerem que esdevindrà popular.

2.- Esperar.

3.- Comparar el nombre de comentaris, likes i comparticions.

4.- Fer captures de pantalla i penjar les fotos.

5.- Extraure’n les conclusions.

La primera prova van ser estats d’una persona que no sóc jo, compte amb el seu permís per a publicar aquesta entrada. El primer estat tracta sobre el futbol, podem veure la primera imatge amb el text que el meu company de treball va posar i com podem observar compta amb 8 likes, 2 comentaris i 2 likes en un dels comentaris. El segon estat tractava sobre la festa de Tordesillas, el Toro de la Vega, amb una imatge d’un artista a un periòdic estatal, aquest estat té 0 likes, 0 comentaris i 0 comparticions.

1a prova

A la segona prova vaig publicar dos estats seguits, al primer vaig posar «Seguiu pensant que viviu en una democràcia?» juntament amb una notícia on deia que havien estat detingudes seixanta persones per intentar assistir a una manifestació. Al segon estat vaig publicar una frase corresponent a la lesió d’un jugador de futbol. I ho vaig deixar allí, publicat, esperant els likes, comentaris o comparticions. A l’endemà el resultat va ser aquest: 3 likes i un comentari per a l’estat relacionat amb el futbol. 0 likes, 0 comentaris i 0 comparticions per a la notícia de viure en democràcia.

2a prova

L’última prova va consistir en publicar un article de «Cuanto Cabrón», recordem que esta pàgina és una web d’humor, amb una vinyeta que m’havia resultat graciosa, que tractava sobre el valencià. Resultat: 6 likes, 7 mentre escric açò. L’altre estat consistia en una notícia que tractava sobre l’enorme quantitat de gent que mor en l’intent de creuar el Mediterrani per aconseguir una vida millor a l’estranger. Resultat: 0 likes.

3a prova

Cal destacar que de les 3 proves realitzades, absolutament cap conté likes, comentaris o comparticions al segon estat, el que considerem «important». És una prova suficientment fiable per a fer veure què és el que de veritat importa a la gent? No. És una prova suficient per a mi, per a pensar que la gran majoria de la gent que em rodeja està adormida? Sí. Imaginava que passaria això. LLavors... quin és el problema i per què he escrit aquesta entrada? L’únic objectiu que té aquesta ‘anàlisi personal’ és fer-vos veure que us importa més el futbol, veure tele-porqueria o poder eixir de festa els caps de setmana que les notícies que després critiqueu al bar, canya a la mà, com si així poguéreu solucionar el món. Perquè el bar, amics meus, ho soluciona tot. I vosaltres, els que llegiu aquestes línies, podeu encara ser capaços de despertar cap a un nou camí. Podeu intentar que la situació canvie, però només ho aconseguireu si es mobilitzeu, si eixiu al carrer per demanar el que és vostre. Així que per favor, quan algú us faça saber a través de la televisió, la premsa, la ràdio... que s’anuncien noves retallades, o que aneu a sofrir una nova reforma laboral en benefici dels més rics per empobrir els mateixos de sempre, per favor, no s’ho penseu, eixiu al carrer i deixeu de gastar-vos cinc euros en cervesa i gasteu-se’ls en el tren per anar a les manifestacions a fer-vos sentir. O preferiu seguir pensant que les coses se solucionaran el dia que ‘isquem de la crisi¡? Amics meus, sent dir-vos que la crisi fa molt de temps que va en marxa i que TOTS, TOTS I TOTS els drets que s’han aconseguit a l’hora de treballar, s’han aconseguit gràcies a manifestacions i vagues. O penseu que els governs donen drets als treballadors perquè de veritat creuen que és el que s’ha de fer? Què voleu, acabar cobrant 300 euros al mes per treballar 8 hores al dia? Doncs, seguiu com ara, adormits. Per finalitzar us diré que no tinc cap ànim d’ofendre a ningú. Respecte molt la gent que veu futbol o que ix de festa. L’únic que us demane és que desperteu, desperteu i desperteu.

Us deixe una cançó amb una lletra increïble i preciosa. No lleveu el video només perquè ix una (a) d’anarquia. La lletra és magnífica i s’entén sense dificultats, no resulta gens estrident!

  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCXIpDC-8KE

ARE WE ASLEEP?

Well… how could I prove it? I know it’s difficult but I’ll try my best. The thing I’m trying to show you is the way you mostly like what, to me, are not important news rather than the important ones, those which should really matter for the circumstances we are going through.

How could I do that? First thing I need is a measurement tool. Thirteen years ago I would have used a survey, or not even that, since when I was 13 my brains were not developed enough to figure out there were asleep people and, if that would have been the case, I would have thought of lazy people who sleep all day. But now, things have changed and we have got a tool I think it’s good to do this little research. Facebook. The social network. Everybody knows about it. Everyone knows that when somebody uploads a status, there are three options: like, comment and share. Based on these three actions, the research would work as follows…

It’s clear to everyone that a status becomes popular when it has got plenty of likes, comments or shares, is it not? Contrary to that, we would say a status is not popular when there are only a few actions on it, or not even one. But, here comes the point: is it popular synonym of important? I’d like to prove that that is not the case. These are followed the steps:

 1.- Post two really different statuses. One that is important to me and one that I consider it would be popular.

2.- Wait.

3.- Compare likes, comments and shares.

4.- Print screen and upload the captures.

5.- Draw a conclusion.

The first test consisted of two statuses from one person that is not me (with his permission to do it). The first status is about football (the sentence just tells that team are not playing good football and it’s loosing), we can see that it has 8 likes, 2 comments and two likes in one of the comments. The second status is about “El toro de la Vega” (illustrated with a satiric cartoon), a Spanish “tradition” where humans make suffer and eventually kill a bull just for fun. This one has 0 likes, 0 comments and 0 shares.

1st test

To do the second test I posted two consecutive statuses. On the first one I put “Are you still thinking that we are living in a democracy?” and I attached an article explaining that the police arrested 60 people who were just trying to arrive to a protest against the Spanish monarchy. On the second one I talked about an injury that a football player had. I waited for one day and the results are these: 3 likes and 1 comment to the football status. 0 likes, 0 comments and 0 shares to the press release about the arrested people. 

2nd test

The last test consisted of posting a cartoon of “Cuanto Cabrón” (a satiric cartoon website) with a picture which seemed really funny to me. The result was: 6 likes (7 whilst writing this). The other status was an article about the massive amounts of people who die trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea just to achieve a better life abroad, result: 0 likes, 0 comments and 0 shares.

3rd test

Notice that none of the second statuses (the one we have classed as important) of the tests has obtained a like, a comment or a share. Is it reliable enough to find out what people are like, what does really matter to them? No. Is it a sufficient proof to demonstrate myself that many of the people surrounding me are asleep? Yes. Did I expect what was going to happen? Yes. So… what’s the problem and why did I write this publication? This research is only after one target: try to show you the fact you care more about football, garbage telly (in Spain we don’t have quality channels on TV, far less when it comes to València) or going out every weekend, rather than news you no matter what criticise at bar, while you’re drinking a beer thinking that this is the proper way to save the world. The bar, my friends, the bar solves all problems. However, you still have got the chance to wake up of the dream and walk in to a new world. You can try to change the situation, but you will only achieve this change with mobilization, plunging into to the streets asking for what is yours, what it belongs to you. So, please, when the newspapers, TV or radio say you’re going to receive, once again, bad news from the government, just making richer the already rich people and taking money off the same people, please, do not hesitate, go to the street and stop wasting 5€ in a beer and spend it with the public transport to go to a protest. But I might be wrong and you still prefer to think that things will be sorted out the day we will leave the crisis behind. Sorry for that but, my friends, crisis has been within us long enough and you should know that ALL ALL and ALL the rights achieved for workers were achieved thanks to the protests and strikes. Or do you think that the governments give rights to the workers because they really believe that is the right thing to do? What do you want, ending up earning 300 € per month for 8 hours per day of work? So ok, just carry on being asleep. To conclude I’ll tell you that I have no intention of offending anyone, I respect people watching football and those ones going out. I ask only for one thing, wake up, please, wake up.

P.S.: you should listen to this song, it’s in Spanish but the letters are pretty good. Please, don’t remove the video just because there’s an “A” standing for anarchy. I have given myself permission to… translate it to you! Here we go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCXIpDC-8KE 

Buried ideas
why are you gonna fight
join the new dance
of neoliberal fashion

Classes are abolished
there is no distinction within the poor
hunger and poverty
are part of your imagination

And the new pacifist
now wear military
how easy is the way to make war
in the name of peace

How many pro-environment people
wish to defend
the beautiful blue beaches
and green fields at the end of the month

Open your eyes
get out of darkness
what’s the meaning of life
when dignity dies

Open your eyes,
look for clarity
breaking the illusion
of this false reality

How happy is the worker
exploitation is over
his children go to school
has a car and television

There are many opportunistic people
the votes give power
right is now the center
and donkeys know English

How beautiful is love
when you only know hate
How easy telling lies
when hiding the truth

Your talk sounds good
infernal democratic
when hiding behind the walls
locked my freedom

Open your eyes
get out of darkness
what’s the meaning of life
when dignity dies

Open your eyes
look for clarity
breaking the illusion
of this false reality