lunes, 22 de noviembre de 2010

La luna de Fito Cabrales



Es poco lo que tengo,

el oro de mi tiempo
,
la flor de mis neuronas

y por supuesto la luna.



–Adolfo Cabrales Mato, "Fito"–



Haz clic en la imagen para enlazar con la página web de FITO & FITIPALDIS

FITO ES DE BILBAO

Niño de metal

El niño de metal que está sentado detrás del pabellón de La Casilla se vuelve geometría cuando está de perfil. De perfil, su color es el azul y la criatura que sostiene en las manos se ve mejor.

domingo, 21 de noviembre de 2010

Estatuas en La Prolongacion (Gran Vía de Bilbao)


We find several statues along this part of the Main Street which used to be called La Prolongación.

These are the ones we can see while walking on the right path as we go towards The Sacred Heart Plaza (the left path if we walk towards Plaza Moyua).

A bust of poet Ramón de Basterra

Busto del poeta Ramón de Basterra en una de las entradas al parque desde la Gran Vía.







"Reading", by Joaquín Lucarini Macazaga

"Leyendo", de Joaquín Lucarini Macazaga

All the statues on the facades in this part of the city also belong to Joaquín Lucarini Macazaga

sábado, 20 de noviembre de 2010

La Prolongación - A walk along the right (left?) path of this part of the Gran Via




La plaza del Sagrado Corazón es el final de la Gran Vía, pero puede ser también, claro, el comienzo de un paseo. La parte de la Gran Vía que queda entre esta plaza y la de Federico Moyúa se conoce como La Prolongación, debido a que, originalmente, la avenida principal de Bilbao se extendía entre la Plaza de España o Plaza Circular y la Plaza Moyúa. La Prolongación se construyó en los años veinte y treinta del siglo XX. La mayoría de los edificios de su lado derecho (según vamos de la plaza Moyúa a la del Sagrado Corazón), lado izquierdo en nuestro recorrido, pertenecen a esa época.


The Sacred Heart Plaza is the end of the Gran Via, but of course it can be the beggining of a walk. The part of the Gran Via or Main Street between this Square or Plaza and the Federico Moyúa Plaza is known as The Prolongation. Until the twenties of the past Century it was called Avenue of the Allies and most of the grounds at both sides of the Road were stil empty. Now we shall pay attention to the right path of The Prolongation, which is the right path coming from Moyua Plaza towards the Sacred Heart, but is the left hand from the point of view of our route.



Houses in the left corner of the Plaza of the Sacred Heart, as we enter the Gran Via from this point to go to the right, towards Moyua Plaza.






 



Casa Lezama-Leguizamon, 1921, obra de Ricardo Bastida.

Lezama-Leguizamon Houses, from 1921. The arquitecht was Ricardo Bastida.






 Arquitects Eugenio María Aguinaga, Hilario Imaz and German Aguirre
were authors of this building, constructed in 1957.










 This in an example of the simple and beautiful racionalist architecture which sometimes was made in the same years that saw the raising of the most ornamented houses created for the wealthy classes. Ejemplo de la arquitctura racionalista que en ocasiones se hacía por los mismos años en que se levantaban las palaciegas y ornamentadas casas de la alta burguesía, como las que hemos visto en Gran Via 58.





Edificio de 1927, obra del arquitecto Angel Líbano.
A building designed by arquitect Angel Libano. It was finished in 1927.





jueves, 18 de noviembre de 2010

Patchwork

Esto es lo que hacen los árboles en otoño.

This is what trees do in Autumn.
Art of the fallen leaves.

Arte de las hojas caídas.



















Los arces. The maple trees.
















Los tilos. The lime trees.

Otoño en Bilbao

miércoles, 10 de noviembre de 2010

The Bilbao Song




Please, come into the Mudcat Cafe, which is not in Bilbao, but in the Internet, to know about the BILBAO SONG

But wait, you don't need to go there to start reading...


THE BILBAO SONG

That old Bilbao moon, I won't forget it soon
That old Bilbao moon, just like a big balloon
That old Bilbao moon would rise above the dune
While Tony's Beach Saloon rocked with an old-time tune
We'd sing a song the whole night long and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all

No paint was on the door (no paint was on the door)
The grass grew through the floor (the grass grew through the floor)
Of Tony's Two By Four (of Tony's Two By Four)
On the Bilbao shore (on the Bilbao shore)
But there were friends galore (howdy do, howdy do)
And there was beer to pour (chug-a-lug, chug-a-lug)
And moonlight on the shore (and the moon shines above)
That old Bilbao shore (on the shore, not the floor)
We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all

Those old Bilbao guys, They loved to harmonize,
Who stopped to realize How fast the summer flies!
The moon was on the rise, We'd catch the ladies' eyes
And whisper Spanish lies, They never did get wise.
We'd sing a song the whole night long and I can still recall
Those were the greatest
Those were the greatest
Those were the greatest nights of them all

That old Bilbao moon, I won't forget it soon
That old Bilbao moon, just like a big balloon
That old Bilbao moon would rise above the dune
While Tony's Beach Saloon rocked with an old-time tune
We'd sing all night with all our might and I can still recall
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest (those were the greatest)
Those were the greatest nights of them all


Transcribed by Ronald E. Hontz

Original Lyrics and Music by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill in the 1929 German musical "Happy End." Johnny Mercer added new lyrics.
(Title is often mistaken to be "Bill Bower Moon"). Bilbao is a city on the Bay of Biscay on the north coast of Spain.


BILBAO SONG (Happy End)
Sung by Marianne Faithful

Bill's beer hall in Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao,
Was the most fantastic place I've ever known;
For just a dollar you'd get all you wanted,
All you wanted, all you wanted,
Of whatever kind of joy you called your own,
But if you had been around to see the fun,
Well, I don't know, you might not like what you'd've seen;
The stools at the bar were damp with rye,
On the dance floor the grass grew high,
Through the roof the moon was shining green
And the music really gave you some return on what you paid.

That old Bilbao
Down where we used to go
Da da da da da...
I can't remember the words,
Da da da da da da
It was so long ago.
I don't know if it would have brought you joy or grief, but
It was fantastic
It was fantastic
It was fantastic
Beyond belief.

Bill's beer hall in Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao,
Came a day the end of May in 1908,
Four guys from Bristol came with sacks of coal dust,
Sacks of coal dust, sacks of coal dust,
And the time they showed us was really great,
But if you had ben around to see the fun,
Well, I don't know, you might not like what you'd've seen,
The brandy bottles smashing through the air
And the chairs flying everywhere,
Through the roof the moon's still shining green,
*And those fog eyes all going crazy with their pistols blazing high;
Think you can stop 'em? Well, go ahead and try!

That ol' Bilbao
Down where we used to go,
Casting its golden glow;
That ol' Bilbao,
Why does it haunt me so?
I don't know if it would have brought you joy or grief, but
It was fantastic
It was fantastic
It was fantastic
Beyond belief.

Bill's beer hall in Bilbao, Bilbao, Bilbao,
Now they've cleaned it up and made it middle class
With potted palms and aspree;
Very bourgeois, very bourgeois,
Just another place to put your ass,
But if you could come round to see the fun,
Well, I don't know, you might not find it such a strain,
Ha, they've cleaned up all the booze and broken glass,
On parquet floors you can't grow grass,
They've shut the green moon out because of rain
And the music makes you cringe now when you think of what you paid.
Hey Joe, play that ol' song they always played-
That ol' Bilbao
Casting its golden glow,
That ol' Bilbao moon,
Love never laid me low.
That ol' Bilbao,
Why does it **hurt me so?
I don't know if it would have brought you joy or grief, but
It was fantastic
It was fantastic
It was fantastic
Beyond belief.
So long ago.

The Brecht-Weill song, as sung in "September Songs, Music of Kurt Weill," cover by Marianne Faithfull, and originally sung on Broadway, in "Happy End," 1929. Lotte Lenya recorded it in 1930.


From THE MUDCAT CAFE

Go there if you can read the original lyrics in German
and also to get more information on the English versions

martes, 2 de noviembre de 2010

Día de difuntos

All
Souls
















El día de difuntos, los carritos de los vendedores de castañas asadas se convierten en calaveras.

María Maizkurrena: Los difuntos
El Correo, 02.11.2010

lunes, 1 de noviembre de 2010

La paz sea con los muertos
















NOVIEMBRE, LA PAZ SEA CON LOS MUERTOS
MAY THE DEAD HAVE PEACE
Un buen día para empezar un blog