inVLC Dec/Jan 2011

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WITH | Lorca takes on Sassoon | parties & holidays | the best of Valencia & the Community | independent reviews | ÂĄaprende inglĂŠs con nosotros!

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hazy shade of winter...

Well, it's happened again. Without warning - another year has come and is about to go. Whilst it seems that years go by faster and faster as you get older, this is a great time to stop what you're doing and take stock of your life. Whether you are a true Valenciano, a Valenciano by choice or a Valenciano by just being here over the festive period, take some time to look around at your family, your friends and your associates and be thankful for what you have.

Times are tough at the moment for many people so it's also a great time to be telling people how much you love them and show that love by buying a little present or two for your favourites, which in turn helps give the local economy a much needed boost.

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Here at inVLC we want to say thanks to all our readers and our Facebook and Twitter friends for supporting us throughout the last year helping to make our magazine the best, the most widely read and the one that seems to be the hardest to find due to its ever-increasing popularity!

We would also like to thank everyone that has contributed to the magazine be it by taking out an advert, by contributing articles or pictures, taking part in a competition or helping us to deliver the magazine throughout Valencia and the Community. You all know who you are! Many, many thanks, love and hugs from the crew here at the magazine.

Have a great Christmas, New Year and Kings Day and we'll Andy, Kelly & Sean see you next year. Enjoy the read!

A lo largo de esta revista encontrarás distintos niveles de dificultad indicados en la parte superior de cada página y recuadros con vocabulario debajo del texto. Para la pronunciación hemos incluido la fonética.

about us inVLC is for all people in the community of Valencia: whether born here, visiting for a day, or living a new life in the sun.

We hope to guide you on what’s going on in the community, help those living in it, and support language learning with a bit of added fun.

Sales Vincenzo Translations Javier Competition winner Luke

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Contact information email invlceditor@gmail.com phone 633 822 614 - English speakers phone 628 831 400 - Spanish speakers facebook inVLC If you have any thoughts, comments or complaints or want to advertise, please email or phone us.

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Important numbers & Embassies / consulates Fire | 080 Local police | 092 Medical | 061 General | 112 French | 96 351 0359 USA | 96 351 6973 British | 96 521 60 22 Dutch | 96 341 4633 German | 96 310 62 53

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Legal chat We do our very best to strive for accuracy in this magazine but we cannot accept responsibility for unintentional errors or omissions, accuracy of advertisements or contributors’ opinions. We aim at all times not to offend. depósito legal V-816-2006 We use CreatorSilk paper It’s chlorine free & the wood used is from sustainably managed forests. We do this because we’re nice & want to reduce our environmental impact.

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The latest News keeping you up to date Hotspots Free in Valencia has a sweet tooth I heart Valencia the poets' torment Holidays and fiestas are festive Valencia Community we visit Canals Independent shop review Love Retro & Fun Independent bar review El Desvan del Café Let's talk Expat life! Eoghan is musical Your photos of 'it's mine' Map Talking teaching is learning new tips Art & culture Music hot new musical releases Live events only the best make it to the list Sport hot news The cinema V.O releases in Valencia Read me Sean loves his books Lifestyle Charity Setem needs you Green Declan is breathing fresh air Recipe it's a Young Ones special Artist We look back at the last year Art to see knows art A day in the life Matt shows us his Saturday Cocktails for Madmen Animal what makes reindeer so special Events & classifieds keeps you in the know

15/12/1988 James Brown adds 'State Park Correctional Institute inmate number 155413' to his 'Godfather of Soul' and the 'Hardest Working Man in Show Business' titles after a skirmish involving drugs, firearms and a police chase.

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012 Euro Championship Draw | Spain have been drawn against Italy, Croatia and Ireland in next year's European Championships in Poland and Ukraine.

England have been drawn against France, Sweden and the Ukraine. The other groups consist of Poland, Greece, NESCO Award | UNESCO has Russia and Czech Republic, and in what declared that the Valencian looks to be the hardest group Portugal, Communty's festival of Mare de Deu de la Salut in Algemesí is a World Site Germany, Denmark and Holland will of Intangible Heritage of Humanity due battle it out. to its "cultural value that passes from aterna - the shopping experience generation to generation". of the future? | A UK investment The festival which dates back to the 13th century, includes plays, fund has chosen Paterna to be the processions, dances and music and planned home of a new €700 million takes place in September each year. commercial centre aiming to be the It joins the Mystery of Elche and The largest of its kind in Europe.

Water Court of Valencia as the third They plan to site it next to the CV-35 award from UNESCO for the opposite Heron City and it would be Valencian Community. called Puerto Ademuz. The proposed www.unesco.org new park aims to provide a new concept in shopping linked to leisure, nemployment on the rise again | In sports and nature and would have a what is not happy reading for many, lake with water sports, skating rink and the unemployment figures have risen ski slope, wave pool, a climbing wall again for the fourth consecutive month and a sports club.

IKEA is also being mentioned. and the total number of unemployed now stands at over 4.4 million. The Ministry for Labour and Immigration also stated that the number without work has risen over 7.5% this year alone.

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nVLC in the news | ADN published a very nice article about our magazine on Friday 9 Dec. If you want to check it out in all its glory, go to www.goo.gl/ XFJJv. That's us, sitting in The Portland Ale House with a selection of inVLCs.

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16/12/1773 In Boston Harbour, Massachusetts colonialists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British tea ships and dump 342 chests of tea into the harbour in protest of British taxes and resulted in British military rule in the colony.

Free/cheap in Valencia

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1| wandering the city visiting the many craft and artisan markets (see below), and then warming up with a yummy specialist hot chocolate at our favourite hotspot - Valor.

2| enjoying Christmas goodies. We're now blessed with several places to buy expat treats, plus there are the amazing Spanish goods on offer - Turrón & Jijona, Rosquillos de Vino, Marzipa and Polvorones.

3| strolling along one of the gentle hikes through the protected 10 acre forest of 'The Manguillo', which is in La Pobla de Vallbona. Take a metro there and some easy walking shoes. Want to cycle? There are bike routes, too!

Turrón - honey, sugar, and egg white, with toasted almonds or other nuts. Their earliest mention is in the 16th-century Manual de Mujeres (Women's Handbook), filled with recipes for cosmetics and food. They are hard (Alicante): 60% almonds or soft & chewy (Xixona): 64% almonds in a paste with added oil.

Polvorones - soft, dusty, almond shortbread-like cakes, which melt in the mouth and are delicious. They're very similar to Mantecados - sweet crumbly cakes.

Remember that it's time to buy your 'El Gordo' lottery ticket to have a chance of winning €2,52Bn on 22 December. www.elgordo.com

Yema - a marzipan desert - rich and creamy with a yolky marzipan inside.

Roscón de Reyes - round soft cakes with a trinket inside - usually a little Jesus or king with a bean. Get the king - you are king for the day, get the bean and you have to pay for the cake. The Spanish decorate them with dried and candied fruits like figs, quinces and cherries.

Panettone - the sweet bread loaf which often has chocolate chips, currants, and other types of dried fruits throughout.

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his year's Christmas markets have already started!

Av del Oeste Av del Barón de Cárcer 1/12 - 6/01

Feria de Artesania Pl. de la Reina 2/12 - 8/01

Xàtiva metro 12 - 17/12

Mercado Colón 16/12 - 5/01

El Punto del Carmen Calle Caballeros, 38 25 mini-shops

Las Ciencias y las Artes 23/12-6/01 11-8pm

ExpoJove 2011 26/12 - 4/01 11-8pm €1-€5, Avda. de las Ferias

Cabañal 2/01

Next to Cabañal Market 3 - 6/1

17/12/1843 Charles Dickens' classic 'A Christmas Carol' is published. It has been (at least partially) credited with restoring the holiday to one of happinesss and festivity after a period of sobriety and sombreness during the Industrial Revolution.

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ant to see the Valencian Community on the cheap? Every month we'll list some great spots where you can enjoy Spanish culture, nature and have some good, low-cost fun. This month we'll be:

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I heart Valencia

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This month we have a confrontation between two poets from the English and Spanish language who had an awful lot in common: Federico García Lorca and Siegfried Sassoon.

Round 1| Childhood & Education Born in Fuente Vaqueros, Granada in 1898, Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García grew up with a love of popular songs, which he was able to memorise. He was a weak child, not learning to walk until four years old and submerged himself in the works of Victor Hugo and Miguel de Cervantes. He bounced around from school to school eventually ending up with a law degree from the University of Granada although he never practiced.

Granada provided Lorca with a keen sense of the Moorish influence and the rough geographical landscape in Spain that remained evident throughout his poetry.

Siegfried Sassoon’s father was a disinherited member of the Baghdadi Jewish Sassoon merchant family. His mother named him Siegfried for her love of Wagnerian operas. They separated when he was four and during his father’s weekly visits, his mother locked herself in the drawing room. He was the second of three sons and was educated at Clare College, Cambridge where he read history, which he never finished, instead opting to spend time hunting, playing cricket and writing verse.

WINNER – Lorca (not exactly humble beginnings, but close enough)

"To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves" Lorca

Round 2| Life & Works Lorca’s first book Impresiones y paisajes was published in 1918 and was funded by his father followed by his first theatrical work in 1920 (El maleficio de la mariposa) and his Book of Poems in 1921. Other books of poetry included Canciones and Romancero Gitano in 1928, the latter of which contributed to him being labelled a ‘gypsy poet’ – a term he felt to be derogatory.

Being involved in the Spanish avant-garde scene brought him into contact with the likes of Salvador Dalí and Luis Buñuel, who he later became estranged from after their film Un Chien Andalou (1929) which he interpreted as an attack on him. He set off for the States shortly afterwards and continued to write with his first-hand experience of African-American poverty in the US and the poverty throughout rural Spain. His return to Spain coincided with the reestablishment of the Spanish Republic and was appointed the director of La Barraca (The Shack). During his days as theatre director he wrote his best-known plays Bodas de Sangre, Yerma and La Casa de Bernarda Alba. Also known as the ‘Rural Trilogy,’ they openly attacked bourgeois Spanish society.

He continued at La Barraca, travelling to Buenos Aires to direct his plays and give talks, until government funding for the theatre was cut in 1934 and it eventually closed down in 1936. A ban was placed on Lorca’s work until 1953 and the final manuscripts of two of his works were never found.

Sassoon’s first success The Daffodil Murderer (1913) was a parody, but his works would soon become less romantic and light-hearted. A patriot from the beginning, Sassoon enlisted in the army and he was soon fighting alongside Robert Graves in the 1st Battalion in France.

Sassoon’s behaviour, labelled as heroic but completely reckless, earned him the nickname ‘Mad Jack’ – he stormed a German trench with grenades scattering 60 soldiers and delayed any possible air support by sitting down to read a book of poems for an hour and a half. The death of his friend David Cuthbert Thomas soon changed Sassoon’s stance, however, and he was sent to hospital for treatment for shell shock after declaring his anti-war views in Finished With The War: A Soldier’s Declaration.

After the war he wrote Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man (1928), Memoirs of an Infantry Officer (1930) and Sherston’s Progress (1936); three novels that cemented his reputation as an able novelist. The manuscript of Anthem for Doomed Youth (1917), by a perhaps better known war poet Wilfred Owen, can be found today at the Imperial War Museum in London along with Sassoon’s meticulous notes and suggestions in the margins.

WINNER –Sassoon (a greater output due to living longer)

18/12/1912 The missing evolutionary link 'Piltdown Man' is announced to the world. Some early doubts about the find lingered and in 1953 they were confirmed to be mixed orangutan, chimpanzee and human remains.

Round 3| Love Life Lorca was openly gay and this was often a source of deep depression. A rejection from his friend and co-worker Salvador Dalí and the later breakdown of a love affair with sculptor Emilio Soriano Aladrén left him devastated. It was a source of constant frustration, which he expressed throughout his body of works.

Sassoon was openly gay and had various relationships with many high-profile names. Artist Gabriel Atkin, actor Ivor Novello, Novello’s ex Glen Byam Shaw, Prince Philipp of Hesse, writer John Beverly Nichols and the Hon. Stephen Tennant. He then married Hester Gatty in December 1933 and they had a son – George.

WINNER – Sassoon (very busy indeed!)

Round 4| Death On 18th August 1936 Lorca’s brother-in-law Manuel Fernández Montesinos – the mayor of Granada was shot and Lorca was arrested.

Lorca had fled to Madrid knowing that his liberal views would have put him under the spotlight in a dangerous political and social climate. It is believed that he was shot a day later by Nationalist militia at Fuente Grande between Viznar and Alfacar. There is a lot of debate as to whether his murder was for political or non-political reasons. Whilst many reasons have been given and alluded to, a dossier on the murder, put together at the request of Franco himself, has never turned up. Lorca’s body has never been found despite excavations in October 2009.

Living to a ripe old age, Sassoon died of stomach cancer one week before his 81st birthday. His body is buried at St. Andrew’s church in Mells, Somerset.

WINNER – Lorca (a sadder ending)

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Round 5| Legacy El Parque Federico Garcia Lorca can be found in the city of his birth – Granada, where the Lorca summer home still stands having been turned into a museum in 1995. Another park of the same name can be found in Alfacar close to where the unsuccessful excavations took place. A single stone memorial stands underneath an olive tree where he was thought to be assassinated. There was a gathering here on 17th August 2011 to mark the 75th anniversary of his death. There is also a stone at Barranco de Viznar which reads 'Lorca eran todos, 18-8-2002', at the site of another failed excavation, this time of a mass grave. In Madrid’s Plaza de Santa Ana his statue stands proud. The Lorca Foundation, directed by his niece Laura, takes care of the promotion of his work. They are currently working on a Lorca Centre in Madrid.

Sassoon is one of sixteen poets commemorated on a slate stone in Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey.

His son George died of cancer and two of his three grandchildren were killed in a car crash in 1996. Mad Jack’s military cross was bought by the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and is on display at their museum in Caernarfon.

His war diaries, a draft of A Soldier’s Declaration, notebooks, post-war journals, love letters to his wife, photographs and letters from other writers were bought by Cambridge University in 2009 for £1.25m.

WINNER – Lorca (well-remembered in the end!)

"Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin they think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives."

Sassoon

OVERALL WINNER 3 – 2 to Lorca A win for Spain’s Lorca against a giant of English poetry. Well done!

19/12/1984 UK PM Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement committing Britain to return Hong Kong to China in 1997 in return for terms guaranteeing a 50-year extension of its capitalist system.

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Learn better with the British Council

CHRISTMAS: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY UGLY

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hristmas is one of those holidays which means very different things to different people. It can be a spiritual time, a family time, a time for giving, a time for partying or a time for just over-eating..... Most people (in those countries where it is the main religious festival of the year) find something to enjoy about Christmas, whether they are Christians or not. But hasn’t Christmas in the consumer age become just a bit too big? And a lot too commercial?

We think so. The secret of a good Christmas is to be selective. Here is our personal list of the things Christmas (at any rate, Christmas in Britain) would be infinitely better without.

LET’S GET RID OF….

Fairy lights that don’t work. We have sent people to the moon. Computers have changed our lives. On the Internet, huge amounts of information travel all over the world at the speed of light. So it shouldn’t be too difficult to put a few coloured light bulbs in a row, so they last until New Year without breaking down.

REPLACE WITH: CANDLES AND FIREPROOF FIR TREES. British Christmas Weather. In Richard Curtis films (like “Love Actually”) it always snows at Christmas in London. The city is covered with a beautiful white blanket, the perfect setting for a romantic happy ending. What’s the reality of Christmas weather in the South of England?

Grey skies with a good chance of cold drizzle in the late afternoon. REPLACE WITH: RUSSIAN CHRISTMAS WEATHER.

Turkey with Cranberry Sauce. In Britain, the usual Christmas dinner is turkey with cranberry sauce – although ultra-traditionalists may prefer goose. Cranberry sauce is basically a kind of jam. We don’t put jam on meat at other times of year, so why at Christmas?!

REPLACE WITH: NO CRANBERRY SAUCE. Consumerism. You know what we mean.

Adverts for toys on children’s TV; Department stores which put out Christmas decorations as early as September; the stress of Christmas shopping. Everywhere the message is spend, spend, spend! Christmas is a Christian religious festival, to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It’s not just an excuse for making money. REPLACE WITH: MIDNIGHT CAROLS AT CHURCH, PEACE ON EARTH, AND GOODWILL TO ALL MEN.

So that’s our advice. Avoid these things and you’ll have a good chance of having a truly Merry Christmas. Which is what we wish you now. And a happy new year!

BRITISH COUNCIL — 70 YEARS IN SPAIN www.britishcouncil.es

Holidays and parties

24-25 December - Navidad This isn't as widely celebrated in Spain, but it's still a day of church services, family gatherings and tasty food.

There are markets all over the city full of crafts, jewelry and gifts. These last until 6 January, see page 5 for further details.

...in Ethiopia Remember that national holidays will mean fewer buses, and most shops, banks and supermarkets will be closed.

31 December - 1 January - New Year The Spanish have a different style of celebrations, which are fun to join in with. Firstly there is a dinner, usually with friends or family - so restaurants are packed full and bookings must be made.

11.30pm Fireworks in Jardin del Turia 11.59pm Eat grapes at midnight on each of the 12 bongs.

12.01am After midnight, the partygoers pile into the bars (they will mostly be quiet until then). The dancing begins late and finishes even later.

(5-) 6 January - El Día de los Reyes This is the day that the children are waiting for; the day when the kings parade through the streets on the 5th, and the children receive their presents on the 6th.

The Three Kings arrive at the Port at 5pm.

The parade starts 6pm: Alameda, C/ Del Justice General Palanca, General Tovar, C/ La Paz, Pl. de la Reina, C/ San Vicente, Pl. Ayuntamiento. Expects the streets to be busy and a great atmosphere.

In the community & neighbouring towns - Alicante (A), Castellon (C) 15-31 Dec 26| Aielo de Rugat, Castello de Rugat, Catarroja, Guadasequies, Montroy, Otos, El Palomar, Potries, Quartell, Simat de la Valldigna, Tavernes de la Valldigna 2nd day of Christmas

Everyone wears white to celebrate 'Ganna' on 7 January and there is a procession of decorated umbrellas on the 6th.

...in Holland

Children wait for Bishop Sinterklaas on St. Nicholas Day (Dec 5) to arrive by boat from Spain with a white horse and Moorish helpers.

...in England People enjoy cold nights in with warm mince pies - a pastry stuffed with mincemeat (a mix of chopped dried fruit, spirits and spices).

...in Macedonia A coin is hidden in a freshly baked bread.

The member of the household who finds it will be lucky during the following year.

Alfondeguilla (C), Almedíjar (C), Chóvar (C), Nules (C) Courtesy of www.docv.gva.es Alfafara (A), Banyeres de Mariola, (A) Beneixama (A), Benifallim (A), Cocentaina (A), Penàguila (A) The details for January - 16 January have not yet been published.

All information correct at time of print. Check with the local tourist information when making plans.

20/12/1957 While at Graceland, Elvis Presley receives his call up papers for the US Army. After being filmed getting his polio shot, vaccine rates among the American population rose from 2% to 85% by the time of his discharge in 1960.

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here's no escaping this month's fun, as the shops get busier, the streets fill with lights, nativity scenes and parades.

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Valencia community | Canals

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anals, the second town of importance in the area known as La Costera, is a pleasantly busy little town, a mixture of modern and historical. As you wander the streets of the old town, look out for the tiled plaques high on the walls depicting avocations to the saints.

The town has two main claims to fame: it is the birthplace of Pope Calixto III and is in the Guinness Book of Records as having the biggest foguera (bonfire) in Spain. In the early hours of the Día de la Inmaculada (8 January) a single pine trunk is erected in front of the Plaza Mayor and in the days leading up to the Día de la Foguera (16 January) a huge conical bonfire is built with a circular base eleven metres in diameter.

They say 1200 cubic metres of wood are used in its construction and its exterior is covered in green pine bows with the whole celebration dedicated to San Antonio Abad.

Grand it may be, but it almost completely fills the square and when the whole thing goes up in flames, no-one is allowed anywhere near it, so, all you can see is the flames rising over thousands of people’s heads. Heaven only knows what the insurance premiums the town hall has to pay to cover the houses and bars on the Plaza!

The sweep of Carrer el Salvador as it widens into the Plaza Mayor to accommodate the parish church was obviously designed by someone who had an eye for ecclesiastical power. The street has hardly been touched by the hand of reformation and there are some beautiful examples of Modernist architecture. At street-level the church is stunning and in a perfect setting, but no-one seems to have noticed the anomaly of building some appalling apartment blocks nearby of exactly the same height as the church, so that as you approach Canals from the motorway what should be a wonderful feature of the town’s skyline is totally overwhelmed by them.

Canals fact file Population | 14.079 (2010) Km to Valencia | 57km Patrons | San Antonio Abad Place of interest | The Church Fiestas | 16, 17, 18 January Useful info | Town Hall | 96 224 01 26 www.canals.es

The main shopping street is the Avinguda Vicent Ferri, with its fountain at the bottom which is the rear entrance of the Casino Gran. The posher front entrance is on the Plaça Mercat. The Casino, a stylish modernista building, was erected in 1930 and was funded by a big win on the lottery. In its great open interior, murals line the walls depicting scenes from town life, including the building of the foguera.

The town is also proud of the huge sycamore called La Lloca that has provided shade for generations of townsfolk to chat in the Plaza Pont del Riu.

21/12/1975 Carlos the Jackal leads German & Arab terrorists on a raid of a meeting of oil ministers from OPEC. They killed 3 people and took 63 hostage (all eventually released unharmed). OPEC did not hold another summit for 25 years.

Car | A7, exit 640. Takes an hour Train | Line 2 cercanĂ­as RENFE (Valencia-Moixent). www.renfe.com

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To visit the Borja Tower that once formed part of the Borja Palace, in which Alfonso de Borja (later Pope Calixto III) was born on the last day of December 1378, you need to follow the follow the green Torre Borja signs on the road to Montessa. The 19-metre high tower has been heavily restored and unfortunately it is closed to the public.

Derek Workman To discover more about Spain, visit www.derekworkman-journalist.com & www.derekworkman.wordpress.com

251 The year in which Canal's saint, San Antonio Abad was born. His family were rich, but he gave away the estate and the family money to live as a hermit. He fought the temptations of the devil in the wilderness, and won.

He is appealed to for help with infectious diseases, especially skin diseases.

22/12/1978 Killer Clown, John Wayne Gacy confesses to killing over two dozen young men and burying their bodies under his Chicago home. In 1980 Gacy was given the death penalty after being convicted of 33 sex-related murders.

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Valencia Community | Canals

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Independent Review | Love Retro & Fun

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ocated in the heart of El Carmen, Love Retro & Fun is a quirky boutique where vintage accessories, 35mm cameras, we love it European marionettes and kitschy Japanese postcards converge in one cool space. The shop is run

by Ana and her brother Pedro, who became enchanted with the place given its location in the lively Plaza Lope de Vega next to what some say is the narrowest building in Europe.

“What encouraged us to open Love was the fact that we found a very special place, and from that moment my brother and I decided what kind of business we wanted.

We love picture books, the toys from our childhood and objects designed with irony. Beyond that, we have the desire to launch our own brand, so this brings us closer to that objective.”

I, too, found this space to be quite charming with its tiny corners and hidden gems. I stepped into this seemingly small shop to find that the fun, in fact, never ended. Along with the first floor, Love has two additional floors. The store makes efficient use of its bottom floor by packing tables near the front with an eye-catching array of Kirkkeland robots, handmade jewelry, vitrines full of ODM watches and grouping apparel by style in the back. I became very excited when I noticed a corner dedicated to vintage cards written in English that range from birthday to thank you to simply you’re awesome.

The second and third floors, while much smaller than the first, are still chock-full of interesting knickknacks. The second floor, which I have coined 'Kids Corner', instantly takes you back to your childhood. Mr. Potato Head, vintage planes and space rockets, hula hoops and storybooks line the shelves in this tiny but fun space. In addition, you can find children’s clothing and accessories such as umbrellas and rain boots for the fast-approaching winter.

Making your way up three more steps brings you to the third floor, which is quite spacious in comparison to the Kids Corner. This room is called the 'Centro Historico' as it offers a hodgepodge of 1950s- and 1960s-inspired home goods such as retro telephones, Lego and silverchromed martini shakers. Beyond the vintage-style items, I discovered an impressive selection of design pieces such as Drawlamp by Doiy design.

Where do they find such an eclectic mix of products you ask? Ana told me the products that are sold in the shop come from around the world. “We find most of them when we travel. From artesan paper workshops, books self edited by artists and independent publishers we look all over the world for the products we sell at Love.”

Celebrating their one-year anniversary this November, Ana explained to me that the success of the shop is really quite simple. “At Love, we combine retro and fun without losing sight of the design. We are surrounded by the most unusual objects you can find.”

Heather Dillon

Pl. Lope de Vega, Valencia, Nr Mercado Central Mon-Sat 11am–3pm / 5pm–9pm 630 380 542 loveretroandfun.blogspot.com loveretroandfun@gmail.com 23/12/1888 A severely depressed Vincent van Gogh, cuts off the lower part of his left ear with a razor while staying in France. He shot and killed himself two years later. Up to that point he had only sold one painting.

Independent Review | El Desvan del Café

“I grew up in San Diego and fell in love with the coffee shop culture and knew that one day I wanted to have my own.” After travelling extensively and working as a fashion photographer for some years, Luis settled in Valencia and opened El Desvan. “I decided to call it ‘El Desvan’ because of its meaning. A desvan is a room in a house to put all of the things that you love. In a desvan you can find anything from a chair to a lamp, but it is usually something that someone once loved.”

While Luis tended to other customers, I cruised around the café to admire the impressive collection of art and antiques that covered the walls and it was then that I understood that this café was Luis’s desvan. Black and white photos of old film stars, vintage chairs and clocks and a bike that looks as though it came from the 1950s, were just several things that caught my eye.

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en rom its hidden back terrace to its end t r antique wall adornments and its Latin name, El Desvan del Café was in V L C the perfect discovery one brisk, autumn afternoon. I stumbled upon this cozy little cafe while strolling the streets of my new favorite barrio, Ruzafa, and was drawn to its vintage-chic style that was apparent even from the outside. I peeked in and was immediately greeted by the warm and friendly owner, Luis. Noticing my American accent as I attempted to speak Spanish, he began to speak in English with an accent identical to mine. Before I could inquire as to why, Luis quickly explained to me that he spent 15 years of his life in San Diego, California, hence his flawless English.

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Doble €2 Glass of wine €2 Mixed drinks €6.50 Coffees and teas €1.50–4.50 Ice cream cocktails €6 Tea-infused cocktails €5 Seasonal cakes €3.50 I decided to take a seat in an inviting cabaret-esque corner table and look over the menu. I was amazed to see the large selection of fair trade and organic teas as well as the wide variety of coffee drinks. The American latte-lover in me was quite giddy with excitement.

Apart from the teas and coffees, El Desvan is a full-scale bar that offers beer, wine and cocktails. In addition to your standard gin and tonic, you can also choose between teainfused and ice cream cocktails. Turning over the menu, I saw that there is more to this place than just coffee and booze. The café serves up delicious seasonal cakes (such as carrot cake), croissants and muffins for those who have a sweet tooth, and ham and cheese platters for those who prefer something a little more savory. In addition, on Saturday and Sunday mornings you can pop over and enjoy breakfast that includes a selection of yogurt, muesli, toast and cakes.

After Luis took my order, he sat down and told me a bit more about the concept of the café. Most of the artwork that you find hanging on the walls is for sale, which is indicated by a small red sticker located on the corner of each. The pieces come from local artists and art galleries who wish to exhibit their work. Beyond that most of the pieces that you will find come from flea markets or simple donations from neighbors.

“I want this to be a homey, comfortable space where people can come and enjoy themselves with a nice drink and take in the art that surrounds them.”

Mission accomplished Luis.

Heather Dillon

Puerto Rico 4, Valencia, Nr Mercado Central Mon-Fri 5:30pm-10pm, Fri -1am Sat & Sun 10:30am-2pm, 5:30pm-1am Sun-10pm 96 344 1686 Facebook: eldesvandelcafe 24/12/1865. Tennessee. Confederate veterans form a society bent on reversing the progressive reconstruction of the south. Named after the Greek word for circle kyklos and the Scots/Gaelic word for family clan the Ku Klux Klan is born.

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Expat life | It Might Get Wild

First certificate

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n the audience at an Emma Get Wild gig, there is a gentle interaction that happens early in the performance between the initiated and the newcomers. As Isabel, the lead singer, hits the first refrain and the melody settles in, those familiar with the band smile knowingly, relishing the look of delight and surprise, on the faces of the newbies. It’s fair to say that they could be playing to far bigger audiences, but for now, those of us in the know are enjoying the intimate club gigs.

Formed initially for the purpose of entering a song writing contest, Emma Get Wild have evolved over the last few years under the guidance of Singer-Songwriter Isabel Castro and guitarist Salva Fito, into a versatile six piece. The name of the group comes from a Sebadoh song on their 1993 album, Bubble and Scrape.

Isabel’s parents are from Galicia but she grew up in London so writes and performs in English. "I’ve never really considered writing in another language. I suppose it comes down to English being the language I best express myself in and it being tied up with the sort of music we play and listen to."

Salva (guitar), Santi (Drums) and Alex (Guitar) are natives of Valencia and veterans of such bands as Jaula de Grillos and Ubisum. New recruit, bassist, Scott DeVore hails from Iowa, USA. Categorising EGW is no simple thing and this seems to be part of the charm. They are certainly headed in the folk direction with country detours but intentionally stepped away from the acoustic, ‘sellable’ route to go to a full electric sound. That said, they are never that far from that folk edge and when Alex breaks out the ukulele or Scott the banjo, their versatility sets them apart.

The new album is due out soon and Isabel says she is particularly excited this time round. "We’ve never been this ambitious before. I’ve been exploring the music which has most influenced me, folk from the seventies, maybe a bit of psychedelia, without veering too far from what is essentially our sound. It helps that we have some great musicians in the band."

The evolution of EGW hasn’t been straightforward. There have been changes in the line-up and an acrimonious experience with a record company but with things settled and the new album in the can, Isabel says, they are enjoying controlling their own destiny.

"There are definite plans to just keep doing what we are doing, record more music, play more and see where this next album takes us. We are happy to be releasing it with Malatesta Records, a local label run by musicians.

This means that not only are we in total control of how we sound, we are also very involved in what happens to the album after release."

The days of the small intimate gigs may be numbered so get along to see them. You will be able to bore your friends in days to come with the old line - I saw them in a little club in Valencia way back when.

Eoghan Ryan Secret Stories From the Dark Corner by Emma Get Wild will be released in the New Year.

25/12/1991 11 Russian states resign to create the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Mikhail Gorbachev announces that he is resigning as President. From the man of glasnost & perestroika came the man of vodka, Boris Yeltsin.

Your photos | it's mine

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ach month we’ll give you a topic for the following edition. Email us 1 high-resolution image with a sentence describing the photo by 31st of the month. We’ll choose a few entries to print and the editor's favourite wins a prize. This month's favourite is by Luke!

Steve Horler | Tarifa James Arendell | Basket in Lliria

Conor Lagan | El Classico!

Luke Irwin | My bubble

Marcus Hofferer | What's left Please send 1 photo per person & only send your own photo for copyright reasons. There are other terms and conditions - email us for them.

Next month’s topic is 'age’.

Look forward to seeing your pictures. invlceditor@gmail.com

26/12/1966 'Purple Haze is a ferocious two-note guitar march scarred with fuzz,' said Rolling Stone about the song written today which marked the arrival of Jimi Hendrix and a new era of electric music. 'Scuse me while I kiss the sky' indeed.

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1 La Galeria, C/ Baja, 38 2 KandABooks, C/ Tapineria, 18 3 Plou i fa sol, Pl. del Músico López Chavarri, 7b 5 Lenguas Vivas, C/ Palleter, 43 6 Sopranos, San Francisco de Borja,6 7 La Gnocca de la Tia, C/ Verger, 1 8 Portland Ale House, C/ Salamanca, 10 9 Blue Moon, C/ Ercilla, 1 10 British Foods.es, Central Market 11 Gusto Nuovo, Av/ Reino de Valencia, 9 12 Orange Language Academy, C/ Santo Domingo Savio, 68 13 Kiss My Feet, C/ San Valero, 1 14 Mad Hatter's Coffee Lounge, C/ Serrano Morales, 3 (c) OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA www.openstreetmap.org/

Talking Teaching with Orange Language Academy

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recent trip to sunny Seville for an ACEIA (Asosiación de centros de enseñanza de idiomas de andalucia) teachers conference last month has forced my hand to write something about these teachers conferences, which everyone seems to greet with that same roll of the eyes.

The conference was opened by David Crystal giving a talk on ‘Internet Lingusitics,’ in which he talked about how technological advances such as texting, tweeting, SMSing and other forms of communication were affecting the English language. So what? You might be thinking. Big deal. We all know about this. Well, David Crystal (OBE) is 70, which is nothing short of impressive and he seemed fairly clued up for a gentleman of his age. Once David had finished his one-hour piece (without notes!) we broke up into smaller groups in order to attend whichever lectures we found of interest or were in line with what we were teaching.

It was possible to attend four throughout the day, with ten taking place at any one time. Each talk was a comfortable one-hour in duration and covered a range of helpful tutorials: teaching children how to write, teaching listening, the importance of memory, how to use technology in class, teaching younger learners and the selfmotivating 'From English Teacher to Learner Coach'. With a great mixture of young, enthusiastic teachers sharing their ideas to the much drier long termers who drew from their treasure chest of experience in the teaching world, there was something there for everyone. I found myself using the same ideas only the week afterwards in class, trying to get my younger students to write. Guess what? It worked!

The benefits of going to one of these events are obvious, especially if you haven’t been teaching long or if you have just started teaching something new such as Cambridge Exams or if you arrived to class last week and found that you suddenly had an interactive whiteboard with highspeed internet. In fact, for the latter, even the TEFL veterans might benefit from a little help with this new technology increasingly invading their teaching space. Make sure to choose your talks carefully so that you aren’t listening to someone talk about something which you are already fully acquainted with. ACEIA’s timetable helpfully provided us with which talks were suited to which teachers e.g. T1 = teachers with 1 year experience, T2 = teachers with 2 years experience, etc. There were also talks in Spanish and on management for directors/ owners of academies so a day out for the entire team was not unfeasible.

You don’t have to travel as far as Seville in order to get to one. They are taking place all the time, even here in Valencia and they are (usually) completely free. The only difficulty is finding out about them. Unless your academy is plugged into the Valencia network then you won’t normally

receive the emails that are passed around the staff table and (more often than not) ignored. If you do get wind of one of these conferences, I do recommend that you at least take a few minutes to read the details and check out the website to see if it is something you are interested in or not. You can always say no even after you’ve read what the conference is about and what problems the speakers will address.

Okay. They are normally on Saturdays and you’ve probably arranged to meet Pablo on Friday for tapas and then you’ve got a free ticket for La3 and who knows how that will all end up. And yes, there will be a number of people there trying to sell you their books, CDs, trips to learn English in Kent, but just ignore them; you’re not the one responsible for buying all this stuff. If you fill in enough pieces of paper, you might even win something! Have a look at the next one that you hear about and give it a go.

The British Council in Valencia has an annual conference, on the first Saturday of October. There is a conference promoting plurilingualism in Madrid on 18 Feb 2012 (visit www.fecei.es for more details) and a teachers/ directors conference from 9-11 March 2012 in Bilbao (see www.tesol-spain.org for more details.

Scaffolding -Encourage younger learners to write better by helping them build sentences. e.g. Where did you go?

W___ d__ you go?

W___ d__ y__ go?

W___ d__ y__ g_? ____ ____ ____ ____?

Great for getting them for thinking about the full sentence rather than just the sounds.

Orange Language Academy has been an American run language school for the city of Valencia and its provinces since 2005 offering all types of language related services. They run the Mon language exchange at The Bohemian Café & the Tues and Weds nights at the Portland Ale House. www.orangeidiomas.com

For those of you who really want to get down to learning the language, we'll be bringing you an expression each month.

This is our job. Your job? Get out there and use it! Then tell us how you got on... ligar con alguien – to hook up with sb. e.g. ¿Ligaste con la chica con quien estabas anoche?

Did you hook up with that girl you were with last night?

27/12/1978 Despite having pledged loyalty to Franco's authoritarian regime, King Juan Carlos ratifies Spain's first democratic constitution in nearly five decades following its approval in a national referendum.

Music

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very month we review the best new music out there and try to keep you up-to-date with those important goings on in the music world. PJ Evans and Chris Kellet provide us with their album reviews.

Intermediate

Album To Do The Robot To | Audio, Disco, Video - Justice Justice (pronounced in French, didn't you know?) are undoubtedly the coolest two-piece going. If you haven't heard of them, pretend, or else consider yourself demodé. Better still, listen to this. Their debut album (which was untitled - it simply bore a cross) first hit dancefloors about 5 years ago, and many still pulsate nightly to the very same tunes. Since then, said cross has been showing up on thousands of walls Europe-wide, testament to their cult-like status. Their second studio album, 'Audio, Disco, Video', is a ballsy mix of heavily distorted electro (think Daft Punk but louder) and - wait for it - stadium rock. Yes, you did hear that right. And yes, it is odd to hear but incredibly it works. Just like chalk and, er, fromage, I guess.

Standout Tracks| Canon, Civilisation Album By A PJ Harvey/ Björk lovechild | Lykke Li – Wounded Rhymes Wounded Rhymes offers two things, firstly the best of what 'Indie' music has to offer. Lykke Li's style, perfected on this album, isn't whining or self-indulgent like a lot of the music tarred with the 'Indie' brush these days. It's original, soulful, melodic yet simple. Similar to PJ Harvey's 'Let England Shake' this album features lots of different instruments put to good effect but unlike Harvey's award-winning concept album Lykke Li's utilizes a mixture of musical and lyrical themes. The second thing that this album offers the listener is an insight into Swedish people's ability to learn English. At no point on this album is it obvious that she is a non-native speaker, in fact the lyrics on this album are much better than a lot of what English or American artists have to offer, and furthermore her pronunciation is flawless. English teachers listen and be amazed! Spanish groups, attempting to sing in English, listen and learn!

Standout Tracks| Sadness is a Blessing, Youth Knows No pain Album To Play Air Guitar To | El Camino – The Black Keys People will have been waiting for this in anticipation after last year’s Brothers, which was an absolute belter of an album. DJ Danger Mouse is on board for production once again; his flourishes can be found in some of the polished production that might not have been found on earlier releases. Moving from a mere two-piece to incorporate a bassist, keyboardist and another guitarist has also proved a popular move. There are the trademark guitar licks and riffs combined with an occasional Northern Soul vibe and a touch of T-Rex in places. The eclectic mix of styles on their last album is noticeably absent with The Keys returning to more bluesy roots, but we’re sure you can forgive them for that.

Standout Tracks | Lonely Boy, Money Maker, Sister Other releases | Gorillaz, The Lemonheads, Rhianna, Seal, Westlife, Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, Kate Bush, Taylor Swift, R.E.M and many, many more…

Music news| Grammy winner and massivelunged Brit Adele has downloaded an app for her phone to speak for her so she can save her voice to record more music.

Alex Turner, Joss Stone and Florence Welch have joined the likes of Craig David, Duffy, Lily Allen & Paolo Nutini on the UK Under 30’s rich list.

Elvis Costello told fans not to buy his boxset ‘The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook’ because it rocks in at £212.99. He has recommended Louis Armstrong's ‘Ambassadors Of Jazz’ for a lower price.

In case you haven’t been following our Facebook page, The Stone Roses, Florence & The Machine and The Vaccines are the first three acts to confirm their presence at FIB Benicassim 2012.

Wilco, The Drums, Goldflesh & SBTRKT are amongst the latest to sign up for Primavera 2012 alongside Björk, Death In Vegas, Josh T. Pearson and Yo La Tengo.

28/12/1908 Most destructive earthquake in recorded European history hits the Straits of Messina in Italy, destroying Messina and Reggio di Calabria. The earthquake and resulting tsunami killed around 100,000 people.

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Live events

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very month we pick out the best live music in and around the Valencia Community for those of you who want to get out and enjoy music as it should be heard. If we hear of anything else coming up, we'll Facebook it.

Nick Lowe & Geraint Watkins|

Durango| C/ Llanterners 35, Poligono

15/12 (21:30) That’s right! The all round legend will be visiting us at Sala Mirror for an early Christmas treat promoting his new album ‘The Old Magic.’ €20/25

La Closa (Meliana) Still to be announced what they will be up to for New Year but expect it to be loud.

They promise the best guitar music in Valencia for New Year for your €35. Oh and a free bar all night too!

Sala Mirror| San Vicente Martir, 200 (VLC) A popular place for dance music lovers with a wide variety of DJs. 17/12 (21:00) 37th Anniversary of Hip Hop Festival. Acts like DJ Soyez, Metro, Latecnika, and Payo Malo. €15/20 31/12 Nochevieja €25 but you get free entrance for 5/01 & 6/01 too. www.discomirror.es

www.xmassmetalfest.tk & www.durangoclub.es

La Caverna| C/ Cuenca, 70 (VLC) A very cosy venue and you’ll often find a mad gig going on. All the latest at www.lacavernaclub.blogspot.com

Jimmy Glass| C/ Baja, 28 (VLC) Sala Wah Wah| C/ Campoamor, 58 20/12 Ryan Blotnik Quartet 9.30pm €13

(VLC) Great venue with a lot of local and international acts visiting.

30/12 The Charlottes €5 31/12 Nochevieja €7 w. drink 6/01 Tribute to The Smiths & Morrisey 11pm €6 14/01 Shining Crane + Neuman 10.30pm €5/7 20/01 Tribute to Red Hot Chili Peppers - bring your own sock 11pm €7 www.wahwahclub.com On Facebook.

27/12 The Gael Horrelou Quintet 9.30pm €16 www.jimmyglassjazz.net

Excuse me| C/Tomasos 14 (VLC) Two floors with the usual eclectic mix to keep the dancefloors moving.

24/12 Nochebuena Bloody Mir di Namek & Sais 31/12 Midnight & Too Fat DJs, Gonzo in Vegas. See Facebook for more info.

**Sala El Loco| C/ Erudito Orellana, Sala Matisse| C/ Campoamor, 60 12 (VLC) Has free entry on both Christmas and New Years Eve. Reserve your spot at www.lococlub.org and you'll also get a free drink to get the party started.

16/12 The Xmas Surf Party €0 31/12 Free entrance until 12.30am 05/01 The Pepper Pots play their incredible vintage 60s sound €15/18 20/01 Danny & the Champions of the World for some guitar strumming and smooth melodies 11pm €11/14 www.lococlub.org

Rock City| A new venue in Tavernes Blancas. 24/12 Fiesta Nochebuena €6/€8 & 31/12 Fiesta Nochevieja €12/€15 has an interesting idea.

Choose your favourite songs and you can air guitar or air drum the night away. Free drinks are included.

30/12 The Real McKenzies from Canada are also appearing. €12/15 www.valenciarockcity.com

LA3| C/ del Padre Porta, 4 (VLC) www.la3club.com

(VLC) 22/12 has an I Love the 80's night €5 23/12 The Peace Dogs are playing their best Cult tributes €8/€10 07/01 Marwan Spanish sInger/ Songwriter with a smooth voice and mesmorising lyrics €10 www.salamatisse.es

Pop Club Deluxe| C/ Poeta Mas y Ros, 42 (VLC) Pop Club Deluxe Intimate setting for live music.

On Facebook.

Café Mercedes| C/ Sueca, 27 (VLC) A nice, cheap jazz venue in the heart of Ruzafa with free jam sessions on Sundays from 20:30. www.cafemercedes.es El Palau de la Musica| (VLC) 28/12 UNICEF Benefit concert €6 7/01 Johan Strauss Gala Concert €32 29/01 The London Symphony Orchestra €tbc www.palaudevalencia.com

Café del Duende| C/ Turia, 62 (VLC) A great place to catch decent flamenco dancing, music & tales from Thurs-Sun. 18/12 sees a Storytellers Evening 22/12 Manuel Serena (dancing) 23/12 Carlos Ruiz 29 & 30/12 Aloma de Balma Closed Nochebuena and Nochevieja. www.cafedelduende.com Music Box| C/ Pintor Zariñera, 16 (VLC) & Radio City| C/ Santa Teresa 19 (VLC) Open daily with visiting DJs and Tuesdays offer live flamenco music at Radio City 11pm €7 w. free drink. www.myspace.com/themusicboxclub & www.radiocityvalencia.com

Mya| 31/12/11 At L'Umbracle at New Year. If you buy an entry for New Year's Eve you will also get free entrance on 5/01 and 6/01 €25 Low Cost Festival Tickets| Tickets have gone on sale for only €30! www.lowcost.com

Black Note Valencia| Calle Polo y Peyrolon, 15 This club near the Mestalla has a great music policy covering everything from jazz, blues, r&b, soul, funk, acid jazz, swing and latino sounds.

17/12 Catch the Rat Pack DJ's €0 Mondays open jam sessions 01/01/12 Senegal Party €10 www.blacknoteclub.com Dub Club| Calle Jesus 91, (VLC) Dub Club's motto is 'to play music and not noise'. And if you like reggae and ska then you will agree. Special nights on Nochebuena and Nochevieja. www.myspace.com/dubclubvalencia

30/12/1922 In post-revolutionary Russia, the USSR is established, comprising a confederation of Russia, Belorussia, Ukraine, and the Transcaucasian Federation and becomes the first country in the world to be based on Marxist socialism.

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Sport

ff road biking | 18/12 The River Turia riverbed will play host to the XVI Ciclo-cross Internacional Ciudad de Valencia. This is one of the top events in the world for this sport which has the competitors cycling on pavements, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount and carry the bike whilst navigating the obstruction and remount. A bit like you did when you were a kid! www.ciclocrossciudadvalencia.com

© Lazaro de la Peña/VCF

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unning| 30/12 The San Silvestre XXVIII Popular de Valencia will take place. This 4,600m run seems to be more popular each year. It starts in Plaza de Ayuntamiento at 8pm.

Early January also provides another running opportunity with the Divina Pastora 10km run on the 8th. €1500 is up for grabs for the winner and there are other cash prizes too. 9.30am from Paseo del Alameda.

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ootball for Africa| To finish off Valencia's year as holder of the European Capital of Sport in 2011, Sevilla FC footballer and African Player of the Year in 2007, Frédéric Kanouté, in partnership with UNICEF, brings his Champions For Africa charity to the Mestalla on the 29th of December. A show game featuring many well known football faces will take place, which aims to help raise awareness of child malnutrition in Africa.

Entry is €5 for this very worthwhile scheme which is now in it's 4th year.

F © Valencia Basket

ootball games| Buy tickets for Valencia at the kiosks at the Mestalla on Avendia de Suecia, on their web page, on ticketmaster.es, at any of the official Valencia football shops, or even from the La Caixa website. Just ask for una entrada. The seats at Grada de la Mar are cheap and have a good view.

Get your tickets for the Levante games at the football stadium on the day. www.valenciacf.com www.levanteud.com

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alencia Basketball Club| 17/12 (19:30) Valencia - Civic Banking Cajasol - League 20/12 Telenet Oostende - Valencia - Euro Cup 28-29/12 White Rueda Valladolid - Valencia - League 03-04/01 Valencia - Obradoiro CAB - League 07-08/01 Gran Canaria 2014 - Valencia - League 14-15/01 Valencia - Basketball Fuenlabrada - League www.valenciabasket.com

Valencia fixtures| ** 18/12 Valencia v Malaga - La Liga 21/12 Valencia v Cadiz - Copa del Rey (Fourth Round) 8/01 Villarreal v Valencia - La Liga 15/01 Valencia v Real Sociedad - La Liga Levante fixtures| ** 18/12 Granada v Levante - La Liga 21/12 Levante v Deportivo La Coruna Copa del Rey (Fourth Round) 8/01 Levante v Mallorca - La Liga 15/01 Athletic Bilbao v Levante - La Liga ** Fixture dates are not cast in stone - check local papers/ internet for more information nearer the time.

31/12/1999 The US officially hands over control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanians for the first time. In May 2006, the Maersk Dellys paid a record toll of $249,165, while the smallest ever toll (36 cents) was paid by a swimmer in 1928.

Cinema

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very month inVLC brings you the best that cinema has to offer in and around the Valencia Community.

This month we’ve got a variety of Versión Original films for you to enjoy.

La Maleta Mexicana| (Trisha Ziff, 2011) A documentary about a suitcase full of 4,500 negatives taken over seventy years ago during the Spanish Civil War, which turn up in a closet in Mexico City.

It was the work of three men exiled from their own countries: Germany, Poland and Hungary. Robert Capa, David ‘Chim’ Seymour and Gerda Toro understood the dangers of fascism and decided to take the journey into Spain with their cameras.

The film details the journey of the negatives from France to Mexico and in doing so it ponders how Spain looks back on its own past from those who managed to escape. Mexico was one of the few countries to open its arms to those who had to flee Spain whilst the rest of the world did nothing. Promises to be an intriguing watch.

Babel: TBC

Afinidades| (Jorge Perugorría & Vladimir Cruz, 2010) Vladimir Cruz, Cuca Escribano, Gabriela Griffith, Jorge Perugorría Bruno (Cruz) is married to Magda (Griffiths) – a young romantic who has yet to experience much in life.

Néstor (Perugorría) is married to a Spanish lawyer called Cristina (Escribano) a happygo-lucky person. Bruno works for Néstor as a physicist and their jobs look to be in jeopardy.

The film is an exploration of values and infidelity set to the wonderful backdrop of Cuba. Stranded in the wilderness and away from the exhaustion and stress of the world in which they normally live, the couples turn to instincts and, ultimately, sex with some unpredictable consequences. www.cinesalbatrosbabel.com Babel: TBC

Carnage| (Roman Polanski, 2011) Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, John C. Reilly Polanski’s adaption of Yasmina Reza’s awardwinning play Gods Of Carnage is already being lauded by the pundits.

Penelope (Foster) and Michael (Reilly) are bohemian Brooklynites whose son is attacked in the park. Nancy (Winslet) and Alan (Waltz) are the parents of the boy who did it and attempt to make peace.

Peace comes, as we all know, at a price and our attention is soon distracted away from the initial attack onto the couples themselves.

The results are tense as the polite Penny and her rude spouse Michael clash on various occasions with a very cold Nancy and her misogynist husband Alan.

Babel: 16:45, 19:00 & 23:00

The Fimoteca American Way of Death is still going strong up to the end of the year and hopefully into the new year. All films are in original version with Spanish subtitles and are limited to one or two screenings. Get your tickets quick.

15/12 (19:00), 17/12 (18:00) The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) 18/12 (20:00) Reservoir Dogs (Quentin Tarantino, 1992) 22/12 (22:30) Wild At Heart (David Lynch, 1990) 27/12 (20:00) & 28/12 (22:30) Homicide (David Mamet, 1991) 29/12 (20:00) Silence of The Lambs (Johnathon Demme, 1991) www.filmoteca.es

Keep yourself up-to-date with the January films by liking us on Facebook.

Babel, C/ Vicente Sancho Tello, 10, www.cinesalbatrosbabel.com Yelmo Cines, Avda Tirso de Molina, 16, www.yelmocines.es Filmoteca, Plaza del Ayuntamiento, 17 www.filmoteca.es

01/01/45BC New Year's Day is celebrated on January 1 for the first time as the Julian calendar takes effect after centuries of the lunar calender. It was Julius Caesar who decided that every 4 years an extra day should be taken in February!

First certificate

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Read me | Patrick DeWitt

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he Sisters Brothers - After catching a little bit of Booker fever here at inVLC, we decided to visit some of those lucky enough to make the shortlist, but not quite win the coveted prize. Not wanting to commit the age-old sin of ‘judging a book by its cover’ I found myself doing exactly that when I came across The Sisters Brothers

by Patrick DeWitt.

The action takes place in Oregon in 1851 where we are introduced to Eli Sisters atop a new horse he is trying to break in whilst his brother Charlie negotiates another contract with the seemingly omnipotent Commodore. The contract? To find and kill Hermann Kermit Warm who has to die, but they do not know why – they never do. They just do it. The Sisters brothers are notorious contract killers throughout the land and this particular job might prove to be the job that really tests them both, as killers as well as human beings.

Events are narrated through the eyes of Eli Sisters whose voice is perfectly suited to the task. The last job – mere exposition in the book – was a disaster and involved Eli getting a bullet in the leg and both brothers losing their trusty horses in a fire. Eli finds himself doubting his career and wondering if he might meet a nice lady and settle down to enjoy the quiet life. His brother Charlie meanwhile, is a brutal killer and drunkard who Eli feels obliged to stand by for nothing more than familial loyalty. Their journey takes them from Oregon through to California in search of their target amidst Gold Rush fever in the US.

compared to something that would be directed by the Coen brothers.

Although they are hired killers it is hard not to identify with Eli - the thoughtful brother looking for the right gal to settle down with and, towards the end, the materialistic Charlie who cuts something of a tragic figure by the end of the book despite his continual debauchery.

DeWitt seems keen to question those reasons for leading the life that we are currently leading and that particular moment when those reasons themselves come into question. Herein lies the perfect basis for the equilibrium – revolution – new equilibrium structure that most authors strive for in their work leaving their readers enriched by the experience. The journey of the brothers, as much a physical one as a spiritual one, is bloody, funny, sad yet uplifting, full of snappy dialogue between them and their foes – many of whom meet their maker at their quick-draw hands.

Come with me into the world and reclaim your independence.

You stand to gain so much, and riches are the least of it.

Patrick DeWitt

The pace of the novel is incredible and the vernacular used by the brothers and the various characters that they meet along their adventures is pitch-perfect for the era, lending the story an enviable authenticity. The brothers bounce from conflict to conflict on the road to California and the eccentric support characters that appear are all colourfully drawn and provide great moments of levity which have seen the book

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I wouldn’t be surprised if the book was picked up by Hollywood at some stage. Indeed, Dewitt's first screenplay Terri has been directed by Azazel Jacobs and stars John C. Reilly (a Cohen brothers favourite).

The film will make its debut at the Sundance Festival in January 2012 and, if the book is anything to go by, will be well worth a watch.

Dewitt’s debut novel Ablutions – the tale of a barman stuck in a dead end job and making a dangerous escape – might very well be my next visit if The Sisters Brothers is anything to go by.

Bikes| The monthly bike meeting of VLC will take place as usual on the first Friday of the month. This aims to promote bikes and bike safety in VLC. Place| Plaza de la Virgin, VLC Time| 7.30pm

02/01/1492 The kingdom of Granada falls to the Christian forces of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I, and the Moors lose their last foothold in Spain. In 1609 the last Moors still adhering to Islam were expelled from Spain.

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here are many local charities and organizations in Valencia to choose from and SETEM is one whose cause happened to be of particular interest to me. I had scheduled an interview with a woman named Silvia to learn more about this interesting organization that I had so often heard about.

Tucked away on a quiet street in Ruzafa, the Valencia branch of SETEM operates as an office and a store. Walking in, I was awestruck by the array of handcrafted goods and fair trade products that surrounded me. Silvia introduced herself soon after and we took a seat in the back part of the store, better known as the 'office', to discuss the history of SETEM and how it has developed over the years.

Founded in 1993, SETEM Comunitat Valenciana is a non-governmental organization (NGO), which promotes an economic system and a more just world. They do this through united education and awareness in the Valencian society by providing alternatives such as fair trade and responsible consumption. They are a part of the SETEM Federation composed of 10 regional associations in Spain of the Spanish Coordinator of NGOs and the State Coordinator of Fair Trade Organizations. In addition, they network and collaborate with organizations, institutions and social movements, with whom they share the same principles and ideas.

Silvia explained, "In order to spread our message and our cause, we offer courses on international cooperation and volunteerism. We also organize activities that are directed at groups such as universities, city councils, public administrations and La Ropa Limpia (Clean Clothes Campaign)".

La Ropa Limpia and the Free Trade Agreement are a couple of examples of the campaigns that SETEM currently promotes. In short, La Ropa Limpia is an international campaign, calling for the improvement of working conditions in the textile sector.

The FTA, on the other hand, are trade agreements that seek maximum trade liberalization to reduce political power of governments to make way for greater freedom of choice to multinational corporations.

The products in the store come from all over the world and include items such as handmade lokta notebooks from Nepal, Chilean rainsticks, Kalamkari bags from India and ceramic jugs from Vietnam. Don’t even get me started on the food section. The shelves were lined with speciality chocolate bars from the Dominican Republic, jams from Ecuador and quinoa cookies. There, of course, was an abundance of fair trade teas and coffees and even a small selection of imported beers and liquors.

After I thanked Silvia for her time I made a quick lap around the shop and stocked up on some gifts. This was the perfect place to take care of my holiday shopping while contributing to a good cause. Below you can find a link to the SETEM gift catalogue where you can purchase items online and create your own gift baskets. www.setem.org/setem_ftp/comunitatvalenciana/files/ actividades/catalogos/SETEMCV_Catalogo_2011.pdf Heather Dillon

Calle Tomasos 14, bajo Nr Ruzafa market Mon-Fri 10.30-2pm, 5.30pm-8.30pm Sat 11am-2pm 963153505 setemcv@setem.org www.setem.org/site/es/comunitat-valenciana

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The number of members & volunteers that make up Valencia's branch of SETEM. There are many ways to volunteer including helping in the store, assisting with activities and courses and developing the social media campaign.

03/01/1987 Since the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame was introduced in 1986, of 159 total inductions only 10 have been women. Women needed to be shown 'Respect' so fittingly it was Aretha Franklin who got the honour of being the first.

Intermediate

Charity | Setem

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Green living | Political power

First certificate

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wasn't surprised that during the latest election campaign of the 20th of November I didn't hear the environment mentioned even once. Both of the large parties are two sides of the same coin, one wanting profits and the other jobs. Though they will pay lip service to the environment, when there is a conflict between green issues and either profits or jobs then the environment is quickly forgotten. They still don't understand that nature is the house we live in and that burning it down will only produce short-term gain (in paper money) in exchange for long-term misery (hunger, degradation, etc.).

The fundamental weakness of our political system and the capitalist system is that they only think in the short term. Politicians only look to the next opinion poll or maybe the next election and the companies can't see beyond their next quarterly profits report. The environment is a long term project and requires vision, but in many instances, the negative effect is felt immediately which can be seen in the following cases and it shows the lengths that politicians are willing to go to protect profits and jobs.

Urban outdoor air pollution is estimated to cause 1.3 million deaths worldwide per year. Those living in middle-income countries disproportionately experience this burden.

World Health Organisation It was reported in El País newspaper that Milan had prohibited cars on Sunday the 9th of October from 08:00 to 18:00. This happens every time that the contamination goes above 50 micrograms of particles per cubic metre (European limit) for 12 days in a row. The ban finishes when the contamination level has been below the accepted maximum for 3 consecutive days. So the people of Milan have to breath contaminated air above the accepted norm for 12 days before they get a break and 3 days of reasonable air before the cars are allowed back!

This only makes sense if we understand that the politicians’ priorities are business and jobs, the health of the citizens or other concerns are considered to be trivial issues compared to the Gods of business and jobs.

The car has never been prohibited in Valencia and obviously that can only mean that the air we breath is clean and healthy, or does it? "Ecologistas en Acción" would say that we really don't know. It was reported in the Levante newspaper on the 18-11-2011 that "Ecologistas in Acción" are in the process of taking the Ayuntamiento to court, accusing them of hiding the contamination levels in the city. They claim that the Ayuntamiento has, between the period 2002 and 2010, reduced the number of air quality measuring devices from 16 to 6! They also accuse them of moving the devices from the centre of the city, where most of the contamination is, to the suburbs where there is obviously a lot less pollution.

In particular the 4 devices which were giving the worst air quality measurements have been moved to the suburbs. Obviously if you don't look for something then you'll never find it! If proven to be true, it shows once again how far politicians are willing to go to keep business ticking over with minimum consideration for their citizens.

There are many ways to make a difference to the air around you. Start with the hint below, and have a great and green Christmas!

Declan Lehane A little goes a long way What| Buy local products from local businesses instead of from the internet.

Why| Your town provides you with interesting local products in your hand immediately!

Why not| It sometimes costs a little more.

Benefits| Reduce the pollution of international delivery.

04/01/1999. The Euro (€) arrival marks the first time since Charlemagne's reign in the 9th C that countries in Europe had shared a common financial tie. Whether it lasts as long as Charlemagne's livre carolinienne remains to be seen.

Recipe | Lentil stew

The idea of eating a bowl of lentils has never particularly appealed but we ate it willingly and happily, and were very pleasantly surprised. The lentils are really only the filler.

What makes the dish are the added ingredients, of which the limit is only your imagination.

We made ours with mushrooms, basil, thickly cut bacon pieces and with grated Parmesan cheese on top, but then, we're not traditionalists. Some recipes call for a stock cube or sprinkles of paprika to add to the flavour and 1-2 tins of tomatoes to thicken up the stew sauce, and again, that's up to you. Our favourite suggestion was to add sausage and apple. But that's for next time.

You'll often find this dish on a menu del día, and it is both warming and nutritious as the cool damp sets in.

The bonus is that it is almost too easy to make, leaving you more time to enjoy a nice glass of Requena wine while it's cooking.

Before you start, you should know that this is not the most attractive of dishes, they are lentils after all. If you plan on serving this to your friends, consider putting a sprig of something on top.

Lentils really don't need soaking, but it softens them for this recipe. They are full of Folic Acid - great if you are or want to be pregnant.

What to buy| (Serves 4) 250 gr. lentils (lentajas) 1 chorizo 100 gr. serrano ham 1 large onion 1 small glass of red wine (and 1 for the chef) 2 cloves (optional) 1 red pepper (optional) Half a small glass of olive oil 1 bayleaf 2 large carrots 3 small potatoes 2 cloves garlic 1 pinch of saffron Fresh parsley, salt & pepper

First certificate

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ne of the first meals made for us by our Spanish friends when we came to Spain, many, many moons ago, was the surprisingly delicious dish of lentil stew.

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Wow Factor| The warming sensation is long-lasting.

Effort| Easy!

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The number of different types of lentils that are produced in India. Many are used in one of their staple meals, Dhal.

How to make it| one Soak the lentils for half an hour. two Dice the meat, and slice the vegetables relatively small.

We prefer ours chunky, but it's your choice. three Fry the garlic with the sliced onion and pepper. four Put drained lentils in a pan with the rest of the ingredients and cover with hot water. Cover with a lid, and let simmer for 40 minutes. Check regularly that there is enough water in the pan. five Boil off any excess liquid at the end.

05/01/ 1933 Construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Officially opening on 27/05/1937 the first day saw 200,000 people walk, run and even roller skate over the new bridge nearly twice the length of any in existence.

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Artist of the month| Thank you for 2011

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e want to support new and up-and-coming artistic talent in the Valencian Community. Each month we choose one artist at random and devote a page to that artist. We've been very pleased to see how many of you have been in touch with your art. Keep it coming! Here's a reminder of the local artists of 2011. Get in touch with them for more information on their work.

name| Carmela DomĂŠnech email| artenganxat@gmail.com

name| Jaine Thorne phone| 647 368 322

name| Miriam Morante email| mirisdesignworld@gmail.com

name| Hampton Terry phone| 963 563 364 email| hterry44@yahoo.es

name| Sandi Goodwin phone| 636 790 267 email| sandigoodwinart@gmail.com

name| Laura Clementi phone| 671427222 email| m.appiano@tiscali.it

name| Gabriel Chalmeta phone| 637 088 616 email| gchalmeta@gmail.com

name| Michael Brown email| barcelonabrown@gmail.com

name| Valerie Stead email| valstead@googlemail.com

If you, or anyone you know, would like to feature in our art pages, contact us at invlceditor@gmail.com

Like 'inVLC' on Facebook for more art to see

"

Art to see

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or most folks, no news is good news; for the press, good news is not news." (Gloria Borger)

What’s black and white and red all over? (Until 22 January)| Broadsheet or tabloid; sports section or TV listings; scandal and intrigue or home affairs? We all have our preferences for what we like to read and where we choose to find it. Gianiluigi Colin’s Mitographie (Mythographies) exhibits a postmodern unearthing of past events, presented to the observer through a carefully exhumed, examined and indexed array of themes, including conflict, human rights (and human wrongs), politics and economics.

His vivid account of these topics shows the best and the worst aspects of human behaviour and endeavour, expertly interwoven throughout a series of large-scale images created from nothing more than layers of newsprint and printers ink. Enlarged fragments of ‘news,’ cleverly reveal once newsworthy (now forgotten) stories. Their horror now diminished or their messages of hope dismissed. Each monstrous piece reminds us of our unfailing ability to almost instantly forget that which once unnerved, appalled, delighted or amused us. As Colin disentangles the past from the present and then paradoxically unites them, he reminds us of the notion that history not only repeats itself, but offers remnants and relics, left apparent, as lessons to be learnt from or summarily ignored.

IVAM, Calle Quevedo, Guillem de Castro 118 | 96 386 30 00 | Tues-Sun: 10am - 8pm www.ivam.es| Free!

Artefacts and Allegories (Until 29 Jan)| Archaeology exhibitions were never my bag. I always found them a bit dry. Too much beige, too many things I could only decipher by screwing up my eyes in order to see what they were; what they’d once been. Better to make a beeline for the good stuff: jewels, coins and other shiny things – the rest I could leave for the archeabuffs.

So why on earth did I venture down to the Museu de Prehistoria? Well, principally because I wanted to see the work of a man whose passion for photography equalled – if not surpassed – his fervour for archaeology.

Indeed, Pierre Monet spent over 3 decades painstakingly documenting all things old and desiccated with as much devotion as any man could muster. Furthermore, the tools of his trade were, by modern day standards, relatively simple. A 6x9 Kodak and a 3D stereoscopic Verascope (a camera with a lens for each of your eyes) served him exceptionally well until the end of his tenure as site director in 1957.

Accordingly, Tanis, Images from a buried city, an exhibition which traces the excavation of a site of the same name on the Nile River Delta, is a quintessential dual-attraction. If you love archaeology, you’ll find it riveting, as the artefacts, images, recording devices and the accompanying narrative and video installation collectively make for an extremely well composed exhibition.

Alternatively, if you simply love remarkably good photographs, a consequence of this remarkably good photographer – and those of his equally accomplished daughter, Camille, you won’t be disappointed. After all, the work of anyone who (with the use of a kite!) effectively invented aerial photography has to be worth a look.

ML Museo de Prehistoria de Valencia| C/Corona 36, Valencia| 963 883 565 | Tues-Sun: 10am - 8pm, Closed Mon| www.museuprehistoriavalencia.es| Free!

06/01/1994 Ice-skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked after a practice session just 1 day before the U.S. National Championships and 1 month before the Winter Olympics. Turned out the attack was planned by one of her rivals for the gold medal.

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Madmen cocktails

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e have been absolutely adoring the Madmen series set in New York in the 60s, and were thrilled to find that on www.madmen.com they have a full list of the best cocktails from then. So if you want to make an Old-Fashioned like Don Draper, check out our guide below, and then log onto the site.

Don's. one Old-Fashioned 2 Dashes aromatic bitters ½ Tsp sugar dissolved with water and bitters 4½cl Bourbon 1 Cherry 1 Orange slice 1 Lemon wedge

I’m not a solution to your problems.

I’m another problem.

Joan Harris

I’m living like there’s no tomorrow, because there isn’t one.

Don Draper

Fill glass with ice.

Add cherry, orange slice, and lemon wedge.

Pour in bourbon.

Serve over the ice.

Serves 1

Betty's. two Vodka Gimlet

Serve in an old-fashioned glass.

5cl Vodka 2cl Lime juice 3-4 Lime slices

Pour vodka and lime juice into mixing glass.

Shake and strain into martini glass.

Add 3 to 4 slices of lime.

Serves 1 Serve in a martini glass.

*Tip| For fun, you can make your own Mad Men character, or find out which character you are at www.madmen.com

Peggy's. three Pink Squirrel 2cl Crème de noyaux (almond cream liqueur) 2cl Crème de cacao 1½cl Vodka 1 oz Fresh cream/nata

Pour all over ice in mixing glass.

Stir and serve.

Serves 1 Serve in a martini glass.

A day in the life in VLC| Matt Hanks

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iving in Valencia and the Community is surprising, varied and exciting and everyone sees something dierent. We thought it would be fun to see what other people see. For one day, a reader will take a photo of what they can see on the hour, every hour for 9 hours. This month, Matt shows us his Saturday. Contact us if you want to have a go. We're looking for non-city residents especially. invlceditor@gmail.com

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07/01/1979 Vietnamese troops seize the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, toppling the brutal regime of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge. It is thought that up to 25% of the country's 8 million people were killed in just 4 years.

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Animals| Reindeer

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he cold has finally hit us, however we won't be seeing any reindeer in Spain this winter season.

They haven't been living naturally in these parts for many thousands of years, but this hasn't stopped reindeer being synonymous with the festive season.

Perhaps it's the influence of the Christmas card industry, which has created innumerable versions of the classic image of snow capped hills with feeding reindeer, or in more recent times, of Rudolph and his 8 friends pulling a sleigh over the rooftops on Christmas Day's early morning.

The story of the reindeer pulling the sleigh came from the anonymous 1823 poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas', of which only four hand-written copies still exist. In 2006 one copy was sold, to an unnamed bidder from the US for over $280,000. The story has changed only a touch over the years: Donner was originally Dunder and Blitzen was Blixem, and Rudolph wasn't even added until Robert L May introduced him in 1939.

Going much further back in time, there are many cave paintings around Spain, some of which date back to as many as 34,000 years ago. These underground works of art include images of animals, including reindeers, which reveals to us that during the last major glaciation, approximately 18,000 years ago, lolloping reindeer were a common sight in the Iberian peninsula. While it's difficult to imagine reindeer roaming the Valencian Community now, the southern European countries like Spain, France and Italy at the time were home to these huge animals, as most of Northern Europe was uninhabitable due to ice and glaciers.

Julius Caesar himself wrote in 53BC about being impressed by this sizeable creature, and with good reason as some male species can grow to 214cm, and can weigh up to 300kg. As they don't eat meat, with the exception of the odd bird egg, they keep themselves warm through the winter period with their double layer of fur, which is made up of air-filled hairs. They have a four-sectioned stomach, and use this to ruminate.

No not ruminate as in to think but in terms of eating their food over and over again.

Foster/ permanent homes URGENTLY required Name| Chloe and her 2 sisters, Bibi and Sandy Age| 4 months Size| Will be large Personality| Typical playful pups, good with other dogs and cats Appearance| Podenco/German Shepherd X Health| Health vaccinated Info| P.E.P.A - 650 304 746

www.pepaspain.com

They chew and digest the food once, then regurgitate the semi-digested food (the cud) and chew it again to break it down further (in a similar way to cows).

But while their ability to survive in harsh climates is impressive, it is their sense of sight which is the most incredible part. This is the only mammal which can see ultraviolet light - extremely handy if they want a job on CSI looking for blood stains, or helping the police identify counterfeit banknotes. They use this skill to see hair, urine and other fluids, which would normally disappear in the harsh winter light reflecting off snow and the landscape.

The meat of a reindeer is lean and tender, and as such, many Scandinavian countries regularly eat reindeer meat in sausages, steaks and meatballs. It's salted, smoked, boiled and roasted, and is a very popular dish. No part is wasted, and the innards are included in many traditional dishes. And even those parts that are not eaten are still attractive to some cultures: it should come as no surprise that the antler of the reindeer is seen by the Chinese as an aphrodisiac.

So this Christmas as you leave your milk and biscuits out for Santa and his troops, you might just want to leave them a small 'Welcome back to Spain' message too!

08/01/1642 Galileo Galilei dies in Italy at age 77. The 'father of modern astronomy, physics and science' had been found guilty of heresy due to his revolutionary discoveries and had been sentenced to life imprisonment 9 years previously.

Events & Classifieds

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IMarkets

f you’ve got an event coming up or you are buying, selling or donating anything, drop us an email and we’ll try to give it a mention. | Mon-Montroy, Tues-Monserrat & Turis, Weds-L’Eliana Piccassent & Villamarchante, Thurs-Alaquas & Lliria, Fri-Moraira, Turis, Torrente & Chiva, SatReal de Montroy & Torrente, Sun-Alborache Rastros | Montroy | Sun 4 Dec, 8 Jan (1st Sun of month)| Calle La Pau, 625 674 906 Sagrario Olocau | Sun 18 Dec (different for Dec only)| Social Club Centre, Urb. La Lloma Olocau, 10am-2pm. Spaces free, Tables €1 Carolyn 962555819, 664809608.

Masia | 18 Dec (every 3rd Sun) | Mas Pavia Restaurante, Masia Pavia Urba, nr Monserrat. Eng 625819734/ Span 616399372, sparklesinsunshine@gmail.com.

Lliria | 7 Jan (every 2nd Sat) | Bellamy's Bar, 18 Avenida Polideportivo, Domeño, Tables free. 962728708, Lyn 625217777 magpiesbar@yahoo.com

IWC| Monthly coffee mornings. An independent organisation offering: Support, Friendship, networking... 12 January, 2 February. HIPERCOR - C.Comercial Ademuz, Av. Pio XII, 51 Valencia, top floor restaurant. www.iwc-valencia.ning.com 2nd Friday lunch| 13 January A get together group for lunch and chat. 2pm. The venue changes regularly. Contact mm@centralpoint.es for more info.

Internations events| A monthly meet up of international people. Sign up or simply check the website for more information at www.internations.org Valencia Loves You| VLY is a group created for the international ladies of Valencia looking to expand their social and professional network. For more information and monthly events join 'Valencia Loves You' on Facebook.

For sale| Hauck buggy with Group 0 car seat, Under 1 year old €40, Range of 3-6 month boys clothes some not worn or worn once €20 ONO, vlckaty83@gmail.com For sale| Panasonic 32” (80cm) TV, not flat screen 85€, Acer flat screen monitor (x2) 17” (42cm) 30€, Childs buggy – 3 wheel type 25€, Air Con unit – portable with window fittings (as new) 30€, Solar inverter 600w (12v) 45€, Gas bottles empty (standard size) 22€ each - Call Sandra 961105196 (Lliria) For sale| Bed. CAMA DE 1.35MTS*1.80MTS NUEVA. Cabezal de madera nueva maciza color nogal, colchon nuevo de 1.35mts espuma HD de 21 cms de alto con cara especial para zonas de frío extremo y cara normal y base tapizada marca Picolin de 1.35 mts con estructura reforzada de hierro y patas incluidas, refuerzo central. Venta por error en la medida. €100 o €70 sin el cabezal. El transporte es por cuenta del comprador, zona de la Vall dels Alcalans. 655761584.

For sale| IPAD2 64G, 3G. 5 months old. Perfect cond. Black, + protective cover + carry bag. Bought for €845. Will sell for €550 ono. Bradford@orangeidiomas.com Learn Spanish| Want to learn Spanish? Bilingual native teacher available €10/hr, references avail. Nacho 628 892 061.

In the number puzzle, each letter is represented by a number 1-26. Crack the code! 3 letters are already in place.

In Sudoku, every row & column of 9 numbers & 3x3 box must include all digits 1-9 in any order.

Finished with your inVLC ? Pass it on to a friend..!

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