It's the Presidential debate, Stupid!

AOG, Madrid

So, Mr. McCain has finally acceded to debate with Mr. Obama. The suspense is over.

I'm surprised he said no in the first place.

Hesitation on such a small scale appears to be only symptomatic of hesitation and nerves to come. Like, when he sits in the White House. And there is a crisis. And he flip flops just as he has done now. This tendency to mimic Charlie Brown's wishy washyness is funny only when serious issues are not at stake.

I think now, more than ever, the US needs a leader who does not hesitate in public, especially not over something as set in stone as a presidential debate.

If his intention was to appear like a leader, he failed.

The media report that his presence in the meeting with President Bush last night was, to say the least, that of a spectator and not a leader.

Furthermore, Congressmen have asked both candidates to stay away and get on with the election and leave them to sort out the economic crisis, bailout, no bailout, rescue plan or whatever euphemism is being used.

If nothing else, it appears like the frenzy over Ms. Palin has passed and we are back on important issues. We all think it is kinda cool she can cook a moose after shooting it from a helicopter. Yes. But can she find Tashkent on a map? As VP she probably does not need to know straight away. George W. Bush has proven that as President, she better do. For all our sakes.

Tonight America will be one step closer to making its mind up in this election.

Can't wait!

This can only be good.

John McCain's speech

AOG, Madrid

Last night, here in Madrid, I stayed up until 2 AM to watch and listen to John McCain on Fox. Thank you satellites.

What a dissapointment it turnedout to be.

As he spoke long and hard about nothing, here an American, there an American, everywhere an American American, I began analysing his body language, since his verbal language bordered on the soporiphic.

For the first time since 1952, the party holding the White House has nominated someone other than the sitting president or vice president, someone without a vested interest in running on continuity, and at a moment when the party finds it difficult to defend its record from the last eight years.

Here's some of my thoughts:

1- Has he had cosmetic surgery? He does not look like any 72 year old I've ever met.

2- Why, when I look at him, do I think he moves like a hand puppet? He moves his arms with less grace than would a Muppett. Is he ill?

3- The style of his delivery was lacklustre to say the least. His message? Well, aside from the "vote for me" attitude, which is to be expected, I can't say I recall much else.

I do, however, recall his smirk at a protesting woman who was forcibly escorted off the convention.

She has a right to speak. He is not some God. I didn't like the way he laughed at her, at the situation, and at the little people. Nor did I like the way the security guards manhandled her. Was that meant to be a show of grace under pressure or a show of strength?

Either way it was neither civilised nor was it humane. The lady in question was not a criminal.

I was surprised; shocked. If that is how he behaves at a convention, and he is only a Senator, how will he laugh at the country if he becomes president?

Palin's looks

AOG, Madrid

Presence. As much an asset to have as it is a liability to lack it; in theater and film as it is in politics.

In the Republican convention it is plainly obvious, after Sarah Palin’s performance yesterday, that it is she, and not McCain who has it. Palin has a great presence. Strong. Confident. Savvy.

Her image has all the things Hillary Clinton lacked, she instils in you the strength of her personality only by standing there, doing nothing.

It might be her beauty queen background or perhaps she was wearing power heels, but when compared to an enfeebled McCain who had to hold the microphone with both hands one can’t help but think “yes, there stands the next President of the United States, and she looks great”.

Is John McCain sick? He certainly looked frail just before introducing Palin.

This is not an image which instils security in the electorate.

Perhaps this election, more so than any other ever before, when thinking of the Republican candidate, one has to consider the very real possibility that said candidate might die in office, and it will be his VP who takes charge of the Executive branch of Government.

As she stood there, next to McCain, Sarah Palin certainly looked like the next president, as much as does Barack Obama.

This is not to say that she can actually pull it off, though when placed on the spot she might surprise us all.

However, for starters, she certainly looks like America’s first Madam President. The British press is already calling her "America's Margaret Thatcher". I hope for America's sake that they are wrong in this respect. She looks nothing like her.

Looks, however, can always be deceiving.

Sarah Palin

AOG, Madrid

In the battle for the hearts and minds of Americans this coming November, both the Republicans and the Democrats are keen on finding the best candidate. It's always said that the most important decision a presidential candidate makes is their pick for Vice President. It shows their thinking and judgment.

This 2008, events in the Caucus region between Russia and Georgia have, according to some, pushed/forced/cleared up the way for Obama’s choice as a running mate in the form of Joe Biden, a man earmarked for his expertise in foreign affairs, something which the general media in the US is adamant Mr. Obama lacks. Biden, a Delaware senator, is known as a skilled and tactful debater, and is a foreign policy expert, chairing the Senate foreign relations committee.

On the other side of the spectrum, for reasons known only to himself, McCain has chosen Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska, to be his running mate. She is the first woman to do so under a Republican ticket. So that, and only that, is good news.

The rest is just abysmal, to say the least.

Flip flops over the Ketchikan bridge aside (also known as the Bridge to Nowhere), Ms. Palin is there, I would venture, to appease the party’s right, as well as its extreme right, wings.

Senator John Kerry, presidential candidate in 2004 also thinks this is the case since, according to him, the party is “suspicious” of McCain.

As if that were not bad enough, according to Senator Kerry, "He's chosen somebody who doesn't believe climate change is man-made", as he declared on ABC news.

She also does not believe in abortion, something which will make the McCain camp loose more votes, especially amongst women, but supports expanded drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. According to Wikipedia's much discussed and amended entry for her, she is said to support teaching creationism, alongside sicence.

This is what I find scariest. Whilst the rest of the worl forges forward in scientic research, blowing away the clouds of religion, the potential Vice President of the US believes in Creationism. It is one thing to be an Evangelical Christian, but to believe in Creationsim is just too much for me. But there's more.

Rush Limbaugh, whose radio show attracts millions of rightwing listeners, has enthusiastically welcomed the Governor of Alaska.

"Palin equals guns, babies, Jesus ... Obama just lost blue-collar, white Democratic voters in Pennsylvania and other states," Limbaugh said.

James Dobson, the conservative Christian leader who had been opposed to McCain, said the selection of Palin had won him over.

Amazingly, and catastrophically for the Republicans, by bringing in someone with very little experience, they have, ironically, washed over their main quip at Obama- lack of experience.

When it comes to experience, compared with Ms. Palin, Mr. Obama looks like Winston Churchill.

The Daily News-Miner, an Alaskan paper, wrote in an editorial: “Republicans rightfully have criticised the Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, for his lack of experience but Palin is a neophyte in comparison. Palin is not ready for the top job. It’s clear that McCain picked Palin for reasons of image, not substance.”

A good omen?

After appearing with McCain at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, last Friday, Palin made her second campaign speech on Saturday near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Her stop there showed a vulnerability that could be a worry for McCain: some of the audience left as she was speaking and there was booing when, in an appeal to Democratic voters to switch to McCain, she mentioned Hillary Clinton, something Senator Kerry said was insulting to Hillary Clinton supporters, given her anti-abortion and other socially conservative views.

Palin, 44, is Alaska's first female governor. She was sworn in December 2006, making her one of the least experienced people to run for vice-president in recent memory - she has been governor for just a bit over 18 months. Alaska is one of the smallest states in the US, with only 670,000 residents; this would only make it the 17th most populous city in the United States. Just ahead of Fort Worth. Before becoming governor, Palin served two terms as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 9,800 people, and was on the city's council before that.

Do you know what the first two "powers and duties" are for the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska? Check their municipal code:

1. Preside at council meetings. The mayor may take part in the discussion of matters before the council, but may not vote, except that the mayor may vote in the case of a tie;

2. Act as ceremonial head of the city;

In the 2006 Alaska gubernatorial race, Palin bested the incumbent Republican governor during the primary election. As for foreign policy experience, she has none, but she was runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant.

Nonetheless the final outcome in November will give the US one of two new paradigms, either a Black President, or a Woman Vice President for the first time ever.

Given McCain’s advanced age- he just turned 72-, and his not ironclad health, it may even give America its first-ever woman President. But for all the wrong reasons, of course.

Globalization meltdown in my living room

AOG, Madrid

I’m all for globalization, and sometimes the extent to which our World, certainly my life, are globalised, amazes me.

Today I was at home watching some television in my newly installed satellite dish. I live in a XIX century building in an XVIII century neighbourhood in Madrid, a city turned into a capital in the XVI century, of a country striding all centuries between the 500 AD and now. Hard to believe? come on over and see for yourself!

But back to today's lesson...

The furniture at home is Swedish (Ikea), my television, DVD player and mobile phone are from South Korea (Samsung). My laptop was assembled in China and it is a Toshiba- Japanese.

The clothes I wear are mostly European and American labels, sawn in Southeast Asia.

The cologne I wear is mostly French.

Bed linen is British (Laura Ashley, Habitat), Swedish (Ikea), or American (Ralph Lauren). I use an iPod, designed by an American company (Apple) and assembled in Taiwan.

My digital camera is a Canon; American, though it is probably assembled in Asia somewhere.

My life has always been like this, cosmopolitan even when I was not aware of it. Labels and international companies have always accompanied me and my friends.

But today I experienced a complete meltdown.

There I was, at home, sipping a latte from Starbucks (Seattle- though the beans were probably African, or Brazilian- the milk? local Spanish cow from the North fare) watching television through a US-designed system pegged unto a European satellite named ASTRA.

I was quite savvy with some of the television channels- Cubavision, Al Jazeera in English, France24 in both French and English, television from Ecuador, Colombia, the UK, Argentina, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal, even Korean and Russian television... in English, (don't ask, I don't know).

I could cope with all this, in fact, I loved it. But then it happened.

I flipped the channel and, suddenly, I was watching a Mexican soap opera dubbed into Arabic on a Moroccan television station through a European satellite using American technology unto my XIX century building and my XXI century life.

I spat out in laughter my Kenyan-Seattle coffee brew all over Ikea's imitation English Floral (itself an imitation of Chinese XIX century florals) and all over my Bolivian red carpet.

My brain exploded. It was too much. Even as I write this I laugh. I’m still giddy.

I can’t help but wonder what might come next?

Chinese opera dubbed into Swahili with Arabic subtitles courtesy of Tanzanian television?

Slow dancing to Madonna

AOG, Madrid

The last time I was in Barcelona I was invited out to a new club near Montjuic. It was the usual people, music and drinking one would expect in any Euro club, except for one thing: demographics.

As I entered, and even more so, as we all left for home, a growing number of elderly gentlemen kept pouring in.

Madonna was playing and they danced with each other hand in hand.

I could not believe how beautiful it was. And odd too.

I just never associated the Pasodoble with the pop queen’s music, and yet, to them, it was the only way. It was one of those things which you think should happen all over the place, and yet, you only find here and there in this modern world.

I made a comment to a couple of friends and they explained.

As in London, Barcelona has, or rather, had, a bar which catered to older gentlemen. We went there once. I have to admit that I loved it. It was like a 1970s Art Deco disco with all sorts of people inside.

Not the usual fare found in London’s “City of Quebec” but rather, that, and then some.

Old, young, hustlers and disco bunnies seemed to relax in the company of elderly gay gentlemen. I remember saying to my friends that having seen that place gave me some hope for my, shall we say, Golden Years.

Well, not anymore. That club has been shut and what I saw slow dancing to Kylie, Madders and co was the overspill.

As far as I could tell, nobody was upset that they were there. They were keeping mostly to themselves, and, as far as I could tell, looked quite friendly.

Will their club reopen? I hope so.

For their sake and mine.

Midnight Races

AOG, Madrid

Last week I went with some friends to Madrid’s Zarzuela racecourse for the midnight races. It was quite extravagant, as well as exotic and exciting, that we could attend at that time of the day -or rather, night.

The hippodrome was filled with well-to-do people, and then some. Whilst the age average must have been about 22, there were the odd older punters about, though not that many. It was mostly an affair for young people, younger than us, that is.

When we arrived, I suggested that we have a look around, but no. A race was about to start, and we had to do something about it.

We decided to do a bet on what is called a “Gemela”, a twin. You choose two horses and they have to come in 1^st or 2^nd. Ours came in 1^st and 5^th. No win. But the race itself was thrilling.

I did have a "Doolittle" moment as we approached the track, but my friends had no clue what I was talking about.

The racetrack in itself is quite interesting. I had read a bit about it, and was quite interested in seeing it, which now I have. And I liked it.

The Zarzuela racecourse is a successor of Madrid’s old racetrack by the Castellana Boulevard built in the XIX century. It was relocated to the outskirts of Madrid in the Summer of 1934 and given the name Zarzuela given its proximity to the Royal Palace nearby (though at the time, Spain was a republic and King Alfonso XIII lived in exile in Rome).

The architect in charge of building the grounds etc. was the Arniches & Dominguez bureau in conjunction with the engineer Eduardo Torroja.

I mention this because the building, when it opened in 1941 (work had to stop in 1936 when the Civil War started) won a few architectural awards.

Given the age of most people around us (honestly, they were kids. Children driving their father's car mostly), I was surprised that the whole place was not turned into a disco.

Little did I know what was coming.

After the last race, the grounds indeed turned into an outdoor disco. Very classy with dance music being played but not too loudly. Not that there are any neighbors nearby as it is well outside the city, but it was loud enough that you could dance, or instead, talk to your friends.

Not much Bling*

Of course, not only children were in tow. Many wannabes were present, as well as middle and low class prostitutes, wannabe millionaires in all their shady glory, real millionaires who looked like drug dealers (if you’ve seen Al Pacino’s Scarface then you know the type), small town drug dealers, businessmen types, tourists, Americans who looked very at home, French people who looked very savvy throughout, and, most surprisingly of all, working class people from the outskirts of Madrid- minus the attitude and the aggressiveness.

What in the UK is known as Chavs and here, well, I think the closest thing is "curritos" which translates loosely as slang for "small jobs".

Hair gel and gold earrings, chains and bracelets. Tracksuit bottoms (sweatpants in the US) and A&F t-shirts. Tight skirts and worn heels. Perms, and artistically shaved heads.

It also translated unto the parking lot: BMWs and Audis next to Opel Astra's and some Nissans and the like. Many 4x4s ans SUVs, however.

I suppose that given Spain’s socialist credentials, this is the way it should be. However, people are people, and although there was a lot of mingling going on, especially around the bar stands and the outdoor barbecue area (odd that they should have one in a place where horses are raced), the classes did not mix much.

And yes, there was a lot of picking up going on. Single boys and girls everywhere. And single adults too.

We left around 2 AM after one of us had a “domestic” over the phone with her boyfriend. Had it been up to me, I would have stayed longer. I really liked what I saw. I liked the atmosphere. And the fact that there were sofas on the lawns.

No, not Ascot.

But somehow nicer.

Ugly Betty

AOG, Madrid

Television in Spain is quite bad. There are reasons why this is, but I won't go into them right now. Lets just say that 'the cheaper the better' goes a long way here. Why invest in quality programming when they'll buy whatever you make on the cheap?

Local programming extends mostly to what is known as "prensa del corazón" (literally, press of the heart - meaning A, B, C, D and E- list celebrities, their lives and loves and those of their maids, cooks, body guards &c.) or "prensa rosa" (pink press, and no, no gay connotations), and some Spanish-produced sitcoms and tv series of various degrees of quality.

Oh, yes, and game-shows which tend to give out good prices and usually loads of money.

Cultural programs in Spain, something everyone I know wishes there were more of- are ubiquitous because of their almost complete absence, though , of course, there are exceptions. Children's programs are also quite good though Saturday mornings are not wall-to-wall cartoons and zany contests.

Serious news programs à la 20/20 or similar, however, are top-notch. A very good example of this is Informe Semanal. Very very good. But not very many of them as a whole.

I find it odd that this country can produce such good informative shows and at the same time it feeds its housewives (for they are the main audience for the 'press of the heart') absolute drivel.

When I moved to Madrid, I installed a Digital Television decoder. Here too Spanish television often lets me down.

Some channels show Mexican and Latin American programming (mostly soaps) and others show sport. I also watch Sony television, which emits in dual-band.

This means I can switch (something I never do) between English and dubbed-into-Spanish dialogue. It shows old sitcoms like 'Mad about you', 'Will and Grace' and things like 'Providence', which I don't watch.

Unfortunately most of these channels are very dependent on the most God-awful info-mertial and 'quick-buck' endless shows. The kind where you play hangman and people call in continuously until all possible options are exhausted. Call and win! they say. I don't know if people win, I never tune in for that long.

This means two things, one, I buy a lot of DVDs: comedy shows, series and movies, mostly US and British stuff. And two, whenever Spanish television shows an American show, I am glued to the screen. Just like in back in the UK, another country with bad television- though to their credit, not as bad.

Yes, great comedy, yes. The British do great comedy. But guess what? they also produce a lot of bad and uninspiring stuff. And I remember watching mostly Channel 4 there because it showed mostly US-made programs.

But back to Spain.
Since last year I've been hooked on Medium, Nip/Tuck and Desperate Housewives. I have not been able to get into House (mostly because it is only broadcast dubbed into Spanish), Queer as Folk US version (ditto on the reasons why not), or Lost, wich I find exasperating. Sorry fans.

The newest addition? Ugly Betty.

Watch this clip if interested-



It is a sort of toned down Ab Fab meets You can't do that on television. Too much fantasy stuff goes on to compare it to the Colombian original (though much better than Spain's version of that soap). It is glamorous, and also innocent.

However, although it portrays very obviously gay characters homosexuality seems to be taboo. In a fash-mag. Can you believe it?

It also stars, unfortunately, this Australian actor who starred in the ozzy soap Neighbours for ages. as Mr. Mead, owner of the magazine.

He only has one emotion, and one look. He does have, however, a deep voice and provided he does not speak for long, or not at all, can be believable as a multimillionaire magazine owner who's just lost his lover (...or has he?).

It also stars Vanessa Williams who is really the best actress in the show. She aims for comedy, but is in fact much too good a serious actress to let herself go. And you have to love her for it.

And Salma Hayek, who somehow manages to play herself (as well as produce the show) all through the show. I have to say though, she, like Julia Roberts, is very good at being herself, so no harm done.

So, with Betty in tow, I start this Summer 2008.

Dubai and the gay

AOG, Madrid

This past weekend Madrid celebrated Gay Pride 2008. It was meant to be held last week, in conjunction with Barcelona's Gay Pride, but organisers thought it best to avoid it clashing with 1- the Eurocup, which Spain won, and 2- Rock in Rio Madrid, which, strangely enough was held over two weekends, with the heavy guns reserved for the last weekend of the two (like Amy Winehouse who stumbled both on and off the stage, the drunk drug addict that she seems to be).

The positive thing is that this year, should you have so wished, you could have visited three of Spain's Pride celebrations one week after another for three weeks since Valencia holds its celebrations a week before Madrid and Barcelona. So this 2008, one could have done Valencia, Barcelona and then Madrid.

Personally, I think it is a great idea and should be kept as such for next year. But it probably won't be.

During the celebrations, we met with a couple of friends of ours (who happen to be a couple in real life) who moved from Barcelona to Dubai two years ago.

I of course had a lot of questions regarding their new home. Sadly, their answers made me never want to visit that country.

They said that, well, gay life is very limited, even though the country is bereft of homosexual men.

"It is all very underground", one of them said, "which is quite funny since Arabic men are always very physical with each other".

But what saddened me most was this bit of information: every now and then, and increasingly so lately, the police are rounding up gay men and throwing them in prison. See this article on Dubai's police.

And the best part, once there, they get injected with male hormones. Not Western men, only the locals and the foreign workers from Asia and Africa.

I was aghast when I heard this. Also, disappointed. Here I thought that the smaller Gulf states were ever more liberal (considering their history and religion) and were getting acquainted with Western ways of thinking.

They certainly like Western property investors if their thirst for impressive skyscrapers and island developments is anything to go by. I typed "Dubai" on Google images, and page after page showed only skyscrapers and property developments such as this image on the left.

When I was last in London I remember reading an ad for property opportunities in Dubai; not as expensive as you might think (though pricey when you consider you are living close to one of the planet's most explosive hot spots and it is, basically, a city built on a desert next to the sea).

I thought to myself that maybe one day I could invest there. It would be interesting, it certainly "looks" increasingly so from an architectural point of view.

But this information really makes me never to want to live or visit that part of the world.

It is outrageous if it is true.

Never did Spain look so forward thinking as in that minute when they told me this. How sad for us all.

Humanity I mean.

Bush

AOG, Madrid

Before I forget, from today, only 199 days to go until President George Bush is out of office for good.

Just thought I should mention it.

I wonder if he'll invade someone else between now and then....

Must confess to having repressed my urges to deface and vandalize his photograph.

I am trying to be an adult about this.

And then there's this:

From Doug Brinkley's Reagan Diaries, published by Harper Collins:

"A moment I've been dreading. George brought his n'er-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida; the one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work."
As they say, If only we'd known then what we know now...