INSIDEsticky mess///‘illustrated’week ///sueños de scoopy
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‘OBVIOUS DELINQUENTS’ PA G E 8
‘FIGURAS’
ALFREDO LAHOZ
B A R C E L O N A ’ S F R E E C U L T U R A L N E W S W E E K LY | W W W . B C N W E E K . C O M | O C T 1 3 - 1 9 , 2 0 0 6
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THE ‘LEYENDAS URBANAS’ ISSUE
rumores de la street
BARCELONA IS NO STRANGER TO NIGHTLIFE, BUT WHAT ABOUT WHAT LIVES AT NIGHT?
PA G E 4
VOL 1, NO 19
Érase una vez Once upon a time there was a crazy lady cooking children in the Raval, monks roamed through secret tunnels, and men and women disappeared into thin air. Yes, it was Barcelona. Is it still?
VOL 1, NO 19
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OCT 13 - 19, 2006 W W W. B C N W E E K . C O M
E D IT O R’ S L E T T E R I have always maintained the belief that Barcelona is a fun city. It’s a city where you can have a beer for breakfast and a scotch for dinner if you please, and no one will pass judgement on you. It is a city that lacks organization in certain ways but provides a level of chaos that a person such as myself finds necessary in order not to grow bored quickly. The only other place in the world like that, for me, is New York City. Last Monday I came to the stark realization the most fun this city has to offer happens Monday nights at Sidecar in Plaça Reial. I had seen the flyers for Rachel Arieff’s Anti-Karaoke before, but the last time I did karaoke was at Tucson Tacos in Kingston, Massachusetts and I had the mike taken away from me midway through Journey’s “Faithfully.” I was a little traumatized. The reality is that no one passes judgment at a venue where the host douses the crowd with Jack Daniel’s (from which I nearly suffered permanent blindness last week) or the person performing Poison’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” pronounces the lyrics “even ros han its Thor.” I realized the power one can have over a crowd when we did the BCN WEEK rendition of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” with enough pizzazz to induce a mosh pit and a bit of crowdsurfing. Anti-Karaoke is a perfect launch into the week. I think this week we will do Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades”. Hope to see you there.
Jennifer Cross J E N N @ B C N W E E K .CO M
staff Marcus Villaça foundeR / creative director Jennifer Cross co-founder / editor / publisher Lena Wiget managing / listings editor David Tressel associate editor Alfredo Lahoz photo editor Tiffany Carter proofreader / pie baker Laurent Bompard distribution director editorial contributors Kade Agan, Tiffany Carter, Isolda Dosrius Déulafeu, Núria Ferrer, Prada García, Claire Gunter, Mose Hayward, Alfredo Lahoz, Joe Littenberg, Lady Ondina Osborne, Zara Patterson, Laura Siciliano-Rosen, Spencer Tarp, Maja Wakin, Lena Wiget
advertising sales Joe Littenberg joe@bcnweek.com Claire Gunter claire@bcnweek.com Harmony Barry harmony@bcnweek.com Alida Zapata alida@bcnweek.com Michael Roberts michael@bcnweek.com Dom Composto dom@bcnweek.com Kade Agan
sales/marketing intern
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que scary!
PH O T O S BY
Alfredo Lahoz
Send it to quedices@bcnweek.com
D.L. L-741-06 © 2006 all rights reserved
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Guiri Trivia! Fear of Friday the 13th is called “paraskavedekatriaphobia”. Superstitious fear of the number 13 is called “Triskaidekaphobia”.
wikipedia
La “Monyos” a gnome-like creature muy popular in the Barcelona of the 30s.
THE ‘LEYENDAS URBANAS’ ISSUE
who’s a Paraskevideyo no. katriaphobic? SIN EMBARGO, FRIDAY THE 13TH IS UPON US... BY
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Mose Hayward
Let’s do some word association just like you are in your psychotherapy session: We say Friday the 13th. What comes to mind? Black cats, mirrors breaking, the Prince of Darkness, you tripping and falling and possibly Megadeath posters. Friday the 13th certainly doesn’t bring to mind dolphins jumping over rainbows and baby lambs. Long before Jason donned his mask, Norse myth told us about Loki, the embodiment of mischief who happens to be the 13th guest at a little soirée where he tricks Höor (the blind god of darkness), into fatally shooting his brother Balder (god of innocence and peace) causing the earth to go dark (or at least Scandinavia). Let’s not forget traitor Judas who happened to be the 13th guest at the Last Supper. Or the witches of ancient Rome who gathered by the dozen to leave space for their 13th member — El. Diablo. The Mayans believed that the world would end on Friday, October 13, 4772 (we still have time). Pero claro, we are writing the year 2006 now and the world is moving ahead at a pace we can hardly keep up with. We don’t have time to reflect on absurd superstitions. Our world is explained by cold, hard facts. Moritz is good. Pulpo is weird no matter how much paprika you put on it. Ya está! Pero really? There has never been a time that you have caught a glimpse of something in your Eixample stairwell but looked closer and nothing was there? Or turned around when walking home in the Gótico late at night to see no one? It’s Friday the 13th — what is a better excuse than that to relate Barcelona’s own little spooky stories?
names, presumably Enriqueta’s patrons. That wasn’t nearly as disturbing as the bones of up to 30 children they uncovered or a blond scalp belonging to a three year old girl who had disappeared years earlier. Further investigation revealed a small room with shelves of small bottles and flasks filled with coagulated blood, human fat, and unidentifiable substances. These were presumed ingredients for Enriqueta’s large notebook full of handwritten healing recipes and potions to treat all sorts of illnesses. Enriqueta eventually confessed to being a “healer” who sells potions and ointments fabricated from human ingredients. Her previous residences were found and searched. Behind a fake partition wall in an apartment on C/ Picalqués officials found the bones of several children’s hands. Hidden in an apartment on C/ Tallers, more bones and two more blond heads of hair. In a tower in Sant Feliu de Llobregat, more recipe books and flasks filled with unknown substances. In the patio of a house on C/ de los Jocs Florals in Sants, a toddler’s skull and the bones of three different children. Enriqueta was incarcerated, where she opened her veins with a wooden knife. She claimed it was not a suicide attempt but rather that she needed to see blood. She never made it to trial as she was lynched by inmates before she appeared in court. It’s speculated that she had actually been poisoned at the behest of a client of high standing whose name appeared on the list found in the apartment on C/ Ponent, which is now Joaquín Costa. Think about that next time you go to Benidorm or Negroni.
When the child was a toddler he was hit by a trolly on Las Ramblas and decapitated. Madame Jasmine, devastated by the loss of her child slowly went insane. She could be found walking through La Boqueria, dressed to the nine, carrying a headless baby doll. Enriqueta Martí
On a raw February evening in 1912 Ana Guitart was walking home with her young daughter, Teresita, when they stopped to talk to a neighbor on C/ San Vicente. Ana let go little Teresita’s hand, thinking she would make her way up to the apartment on her own. When Ana arrived home alone, her husband asked where their daughter was. After a preliminary search it was clear that she was missing. For two weeks Barcelona held her breath while officials combed the city looking for Teresita. Just when they were about to give up hope, a woman saw the miserable, imploring face of a sad little girl with a shaven head through the grimy small window of her neighbor’s apartment. The neighbor knew that apartment owner Enriqueta Martí lived with a son and daughter, neither of which looked like a mini Sinéad O’Connor. She notified the authorities who arrived on the morning of February 27th on the pretense of a complaint that Martí was raising chickens. They pushed inside against Enriqueta’s protests and discovered two little girls, one of which was the daughter and the other little Teresita Guitart. The son however was nowhere to be found. Teresita later told the judge that she had never seen him. The other girl, however, had seen her brother butchered on the dining room table. Talk about trauma. Subsequently, Enriqueta’s apartment on C/ Ponent was inventoried, revealing among some small, squalid rooms a lavish parlor decked out with expensive furnishings where Enriqueta entertained “clients” and prostituted children that she had kidnapped. Police found letters, inclusive of a list of
madame jasmine
Staying strong with the crazy women harboring issues with children, there are virtually no public records about Madame Jasmine. We learned about her at the bar after which she is named for on La Rambla del Raval. The story has it that Madame Jasmine was called as such because she was a call girl who always carried the scent of jasmine from her mother’s flower stall on Las Ramblas. She was stunningly beautiful and most of her clients were high society Catalan politicians and social figures. Just like all smart girls Jasmine fell madly in love with an anarchist with whom she had a baby. When the child was a toddler he was hit by a trolly on Las Ramblas and decapitated. Madame Jasmine, devastated by the loss of her child slowly went insane. She could be found walking through La Boqueria, dressed to the nine, carrying a headless baby doll. The bar Madame Jasmine located at Rambla del Raval, 22 (Just opposite to Botero’s fat cat) pays homage to the woman whose ghost is said to roam the Rambla late at night.
gran bird
Not all of Barcelona’s urban legends happened at the turn of the last century. More recently, On the 10th of June, 1990, La Vanguardia published a letter from reader Pere Carbó. Carbó reported having been woken in the wee hours of the morning of May 28th to the horrible screeching of some kind of bird. He went out on to his balcony and saw other neighbors had been aroused from slumber by the same noise. What they saw together was the silhouette of a what
‘where The streets have aname ’ BY
Tiffany Carter
Joan Amades i Gelats (1890-1959) was an eminent Catalan folklorist. From 1933 to 1937 he wrote and researched at a frenetic pace, sometimes publishing half a book in 2 months and arriving at the 42 volumes known as the Biblioteca de Tradicions Populars. The following legends are adapted with permission from Guia Llegendària de Barcelona: La Ribera and Guia Llegendària de Barcelona: El Raval. Carrer de l’Amargos According to Barcelona legend, the universal legend of the poor, miserable shoemaker came about in this street. There was an old and extremely poor shoemaker who sang all day as he worked. The king had a palace nearby and he was so bothered by the singing that one day he called on the shoemaker and told him to move far away, presenting him with a big bag of money. The shoemaker, who had never had money and was suddenly and at once rich, began to obsessively fear losing it; he looked at everyone with mistrust as if they wanted to steal from him and spent all his days counting it in fear that he had lost some. The joy which had made him sing was replaced by disease and constant agony until one day, missing his tranquil life as a shoemaker, he decided to give the money back to the king and be poor again, tacking shoes and singing happily. We don’t know the name of the shoemaker, but they say that the king was Jaume I. This street is curiously close to the antic palau de Valldaura. Carrer del Call In the house marked number 14 once lived the printer and bookseller Cormelles. His press was visited by Cervantes during his time spent in Barcelona and it’s the one he has Don Quixote visit in the second part of this work of genius. Carrer de les Mosques It’s very narrow and reaches the antic mercat del Born. The vendors from the market used to go there to throw out their trash. This created swarms of flies, making it nearly impossible to pass. In the entire street there was only one house, a bordel. The old Barcelonans said humorously: “Al carrer de les Mosques hi fan funció a les fosques”. A crime was committed in this little alley. One man murdered another in order to rob him. No one saw it except for the huge, ever-present swarm of flies which gave the street its name. The criminal was sure he wouldn’t be discovered; only the flies had seen and flies don’t speak. The authorities tried long and hard to discover the perpetrator and all was in vain. Years passed and they overlooked the criminal. He became rich and lived most opulently; no one, by far, could have suspected that he was the author of this murder. Now old, he became ill and the flies began to take hold of him; they never left his side and surrounded him in great throngs. In their persistence he saw a desire to see him exposed; in an attack of fever, he confessed his crime. Upon his recovery he was hung. Carrer de la Vidreria According to an old tradition, the people of Barcelona were those to discover glass. A ship was taken by surprise by a storm and forced to seek refuge on a deserted beach. The ship’s crew went ashore, and feeling cold, built a bonfire. A while later they saw how the entire space of land surrounding the fire took on a special brilliance and a certain solidity; it formed a strong layer which broke when tread upon. They experimented fixedly with the phenomenon and when they arrived to the city they dedicated themselves to testing it until they perfected the art, giving the glass industry the huge importance it enjoyed here in Barcelona in other times. Carrer d’en Cervelló One side of this street is almost completely occupied by the wall of the antic Hospital de la Santa Creu. When this wall was built, there were a lot of problems with the job: the wall wasn’t very solid and it fell a few times. The overseeing mason believed that for the wall to achieve the necessary resistence it was necessary to bury a human body between the rocks; he decided to do it with the first person to walk by. After a moment his wife appeared, bringing his lunch. His pain was great in seeing that he had to sacrifice her, but it was unavoidable — the wall demanded a human
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Guiri Trivia! Enriqueta Martí,the vampire of C/Ponent, claimed she sold the bones of the children she slaughtered to a textile merchant who turned out to be the young Joan Amades. He denied this, saying he only bought cloth from her and that they never spoke during the transaction. www.documentant.net
‘where The streets have a name’ C O N T I N U E D F RO M PREV I OU S PAG E
sacrifice to be built strong and solid. Being interred, alive, into the wall, the poor woman never stopped calling out to her husband, whose name was Cervelló, from within the pile of rocks. Still today, when there is a strong wind, the name Cervelló can be heard through the murmur of the wind; the half drowned-out voice of the poor woman never ceases to call out for her husband. Carrer de la Morera Morera was a wretchedly impoverished laundress who had to work tirelessly just to live. It had only been a short while since the old cemetery had opened and everyone was talking about it like about something big. The laundress went to buy a lottery ticket and solemnly promised that if she won the grand prize she would spend a night in the cemetery. She did win the grand prize, which was 300 duros. The most horrific fear took hold of her when she realized she had to keep the promise she’d made. Together with her husband she had a mattress delivered to the cemetery and she slept a night there, against the inside gate. Her fear was so great that she died a few days later.
appeared to be a gigantic bird, described by Pere as having a wingspan between three and five meters. What he found more strange, though, was that there was no mention of this in the press. In the following six weeks the big bird was seen by others in Barcelona and surrounding areas—Tarrogona, Girona—and La Vanguardia received more readers’ letters to the same effect. A botanist wrote into the paper a short time later, claiming that he had seen the bird-creature and it was a supposedly extinct species, Avis Cervus or Peritio, a close relative of the Ave Roc and other mythic bird species. It had been described by the rabbi Ben Chaim in the 16th century; as half bird, half deer. A few days later, El Periódico reported that the police had received hundreds of calls about the creature; the citizen information help-line had collapsed under the bulk of the calls. The head of ornithology at the Biology department of the University of Barcelona couldn’t offer any scientific explanation for it. Unless maybe it was an albatross? They can have a wingspan of up to 3,6 meters. Except they inhabit the southern hemisphere. Other biologists suggested it might be a large tropical crow. The Generalitat’s Department of the Environment suggested it was a vulture. La Vanguardia went on to publish a poll taken of several reputable authorities, among them Josep Maria Costa, Technical Director of the Barcelona Zoo and Andreu Grau, the President of the Pilot’s Association of Catalonia. And the letters continued to flood in. The general consensus described the thing as black, like a vulture, crow, mutant dove or
perhaps a “radioactive chicken”; its excrement was the “size of a windshield wiper” according to one woman from Girona. That’ s a big bird. *** Our contemporary mythology often takes the form of urban legends, recycling our hoary and calcified legends, superstitions and ghost stories for the modern ear. Unauthenticated stories often taking the form of cautionary tales, they vary in the telling but are always told as true and more often than not wear the telltale “friend of a friend” disclaimer. Crossing countries, continents and oceans, urban legends nearly always follow the same mold. The friend who woke after a night of partying with strangers in a bathtub of ice and missing a kidney, the woman who put her wet poodle in the microwave to dry it, the finger found in the bottom of the can of chili, the woman saved from the killer in the back seat of her car by the lumberjack following her and flashing his headlights: you’ve surely heard some version of these classics whether you’re from a fjord or a desert; these tales travel in ways that are impossible to map but fascinating to observe. They evolve to fit the culture, but the message or warning is the same. Whether or not Madame Jasmine roams El Raval at night or an unidentifiable creature with a large wingspan flapped its way over Barcelona, it is hard to say. We don’t expect you to be a Paraskevidekatriaphobic but just ask that you take pause and realize that these are the stories that undoubtedly make our overly explained world a little bit more interesting.
S Y A S K E E W BCN 20TH Y P P A H ! P O P A U G I TO ponsable for es r to e c s i o s h u T m od o g g n i ars e y 0 bring 2 r o f a n o l Barce
s/ o s r u c n Go t.oiguapop.com/co ook www b s o ñ a ir 20 e p h o t p a n i u g w i to r ch e i t h s i w g e k r o bo andth y r a s r e iv re 20 Ann ubtedly be mo every o will und ning than what g… n i enterta urrently readi c you are
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PIZZA & SALADS / TERRACE SUN & SHADE / “TAKE AWAY” MON–FRI 19:30-1:30 / SAT 12:30-1:30 KITCHEN OPEN NON STOP
OV E RH E A R D BY
Erin Van de Hey
chicas ***
Carmelitas Girl 1:Your perfume smells like my virginity Girl 2: That’s disgusting...how do you know what your virginity smelled like? Girl 1: I don’t, but if it did smell like something, it would smell like your perfume.What is it? Girl 2: Michael Kors Michael. Girl 1: Oh. Girl 2:Your virginity smelled like a boy? Girl 1: I didn’t know it was Michael Kors.
then it is on the left. Fat American Girl with innappropriately short skirt and Fat American girl with Camel toe juntas: OK, GRACIAS! hehe. ***
SuperSol BF4-eva 1:You are so picky. BF4-eva 2:Why, cuz I don’t want to eat fuckin’ clams in a can? BF4-eva 1:You don’t want to try anything new ever. BF4-eva 2: I tried that fuet s& *( last night.
***
Adolfo Dominguez
BF4-eva 1: That was salami!
Fat American Girl With Camel
BF4-eva 2: It had skin on it.
Whiny Girl (deflating): “He’s Just Not that Into You”? I might as well kill myself. Big-Chested Girl: Or buy a vibrator.
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WE SPEAK ENGLISH, SPANISH, ITALIAN AND FRENCH Toe: Oh my God! Those shoes are going to look so awesome with your Louis Vuitton bag! Fat American Girl With inappropriately short skirt: I know! I can’t believe they are only 130 euros! Fat American Girl With Camel Toe: I know—that’s only like $170! Fat American Girl With inappropriately short skirt: It doesn’t matter anyway—it’s not my money! Fat American Girl With Camel Toe: hahahahahaah Fat American Girl With inappropriately short skirt to pija sales girl with too much foundation: So you said there is a Starbucks near here? Pija Sales Girl with too much foundation:Yes it is here; go left,then cross the street,
***
Walking on Passeig de Gràcia Whiny Girl: I just don’t know why he hasn’t called! He’s such a wanker. Big-Chested Girl: Maybe he has been busy. Whiny Girl: Maybe he just wants to be my friend. Big-Chested Girl: Oh the “’Maybe He Doesn’t Want to Ruin the Friendship’ excuse.” Whiny girl: Sorry? Big-Chested Girl (pulling pink book out of purse): Read this. Whiny Girl (deflating): “He’s Just Not that Into You”? I might as well kill myself. Big-Chested Girl: Or buy a vibrator.
Carrer Marquès de Barberà 15 (only 100m from Rambla)
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‘FIGURAS’ OUR VERY OWN ‘A-LIST’ OF BARCELONA PERSONAJES BY
Joe Littenberg
‘obvious delinquents’
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“We aren’t like gangs here. Outside BCN it’s more like that. Here it’s just a bunch of individuals. And the police think we don’t work, or that we sell drugs and rob because some guys come here to do that and dress like skaters to blend in more. But we’re doctors, lawyers, this guy builds boats — we do all kinds of jobs.” “Yeah,” adds his friend on my right, “there’s a guy who’ll break legs for 300 euros.” I laugh and keep scribbling down notes. “You see that,” the first one says to his colega. “You say some bullshit like that but then he writes it down and next thing you know all skaters are leg-breaking hooligans.” When this particular skater-dude says skate, he pronounces it with that trademark extra “e” that all Spaniards tend to put before any English word that begins with “s.” I love it. Welcome to the wonderful world of es-spanish es-skate. So, why is BCN so great for es-skate? “The climate, the fiesta, the manageable size of the city, the architecture, the building materials they use. There’s a lot of skateable ground.” I think he’s referring to area2 in which to skate until he points to the actual stone blocks on which we sit outside MACBA. “It’s smooth, it has a lot of bounce, a lot of pop, and it doesn’t wear away.” Oh, word? “London, Sweden… Stockholm, Slovenia, Croatia, Munich, Switzerland, Austria,
France...” You’ve skated all of those places? “Sí.” And Barcelona is? “Lo mejor. Es la capital Europea del es-skate.” And here we sit, in the heart of the best skating city in all of Europe. Skaters fly by, fall down and curse, ollie and grind. Others sit and chill. Bums sleep. Do you know most of the skaters here now? “Si.” Ok, so … who’s that guy? “… another guiri, just another guiri.” Pedestrians cross the plaza unfazed and only one skater-dude, who owns a pet squirrel, fake front teeth, and an interesting board variation called a snakeboard, almost runs over a baby being pushed in a stroller. It doesn’t seem, I say to the guys sitting on the wall next to me, that the Ajuntament’s laws on civisme, which effectively outlaw skateboarding, have had much effect. Have they, skater-dude? “Not much, but the thing is that now they have the power to do it. The police are like hyenas; if they aren’t hungry, no pasa nada, but if they are? They give you a ticket and take your skateboard. I don’t pay the fine but that’s a 200? skateboard I have to buy again. But I don’t give a shit. Take it and I’ll be back out here again tomorrow. It’s just sad that a guy who trains and works hard for three or four years thinking he’s going to make the world a better place ends up being sent to take a kid’s skateboard.”
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GIMME SOME OF T H AT S T I C K Y M E S S BY
Spencer Tarp
I can think of few things as mythic and magnificent as porn. Mmmm — hot dirty sex with beautiful sexy bodies in sultry exotic places. Whatever your nasty thought there’s a salacious magazine or movie, wellproduced and lit (or not depending on your twist) with timed and perfectly executed shots and moans. Porn is sexual fantasy’s playland and it is where we allow ourselves to be or do what we many times do not achieve with a partner in real life. Porn allows us to be dirty whores or domineering cunts or submissive slaves; porn reflects a horny ardor we trust to share with very few people. I went to the 14th annual
© BBC/LITTLE BRITAIN’S DAFFY D
Beaaaatch!
star, to have a cock that acts more like a trained pony rather than an impulsive and finicky bulge. I wanted to talk to and see men who owned their beast and dominated it, until they were ready to be the dominated one. This was the myth I carried with me. What I got, what was billed as “Heat Gay,” was about as hot and furious as a sexy training camp for big-dicked meatheads. The show I saw featured two “Latin Loverrrrrs” who stiffly gyrated a dance routine while stripping. Was this a joke? I swear I saw them counting “one-twothree, one-two-three” as they glided across the stage, graceful like
Porn is sexualfantasy’s playland and it is where we allow ourselves to be or do what we many times do not achieve with a partner in reallife. Porn allows us to be dirty whores or domineering cunts or submissive slaves; Porn reflects a horny ardor we trust to share with very few people. International Erotic Film Festival expecting to slip into a dark and sexy pool of desire and urge. I was excited at the prospect of being excited, of walking onto the set and into the professional atmosphere of base and animal desire. I wanted to see dirty things and be impressed by the lavish lack of repression and witness the spectacle of gluttonous and rapacious genitalia. A quick lap around the bottom floor satisfied my curiosity about the always bizarre heterosexual (male) tastes and I quickly headed for the stairs leading me up to Heat Gay 2006. I was eager to see some hot and steamy homo on homo action, whatever that action may be: appendages, holes, opened, engorged, wet, sweat, release, satisfaction, fill it and make it bigger, whatever. These are the things I wanted or expected based upon what I have seen portrayed on screen, and even beyond the triple X fantasy I expected to vicariously experience what it is like to be a porn
Frankenstein, later humping each other’s legs with the suave and slinky thrusts of a rusty tin man. The grand anti-climax was the so predictable-ithurt cock flop against a pareo. You’ve seen this before, haven’t you? So not porn. The routine ended with them dropping the pareo to reveal two glossy cocks, massive, yes, but not at all raunchy or sexy. And that was all. That was Heat Gay 2006. There was more gay heat downstairs with the heteros. What I saw on stage was nothing more than a regurgitated image of what sexy has become: boring and artificial. Where was the sizzle, where was the spunk? I was at a fucking porn festival and what they had was truly insulting — insulting to fantasy, insulting to sex. The public reacted with an expected deadpan applause and the only tension in the room was that of the barman urgently trying to change out the keg as the tap feverously spat foam in frothy spasms. At least someone was getting messy.
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the week
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Lena Wiget
AND
PARQUE DEL TURNET @ CERDANYOLA DEL VALLES // LA PALOMA @ TIGRE 27 // HELIOGÀBAL @ RAMÓN Y CAJAL 80
thursday /// OCT 12 To all US-Americans who’ve promised themselves not to return to their beloved country as long as Bush sits on the throne: guys, be strong! If you’re feeling homesick, go to the Galería Dels Àngels and watch “I’ll be lost when I find you,” multichannel video installations by the British artist Richard T. Walker who collected his material in the US. The gallery is open in the evening hours from 21:00h to 24:00h.
monday /// OCT 16
If that doesn’t do the job, invest 6¤ and go to the next cinema (Floridablanca) to watch Wim Wender’s latest film “Don’t Come Knocking” (USA, 2005), which is the director’s second collaboration with Sam Shepard after “Paris, Texas.” Shepard does a great job in the role of the aging film star and the road movie offers beautiful shots of small town America. The film is showing at 20:35h and 22:45h regulars at Rachel Arieff’s Anti-Karaoke at SIDECAR (Cuidado: The title in Spanish is Llamando a las puertas del cielo). Air fame, at Razz 1 at 02:30h. Entrance revival and brit-punk bands, The Movement and Chest, but also a scoot- costs 15¤ at the door. At Sala Castelló Vs. DJ (experimental er run by the BCN scooter club. What a but danceable electronic sounds) and CCCB @ MONTALEGRE 5 // NUI @ VJ KamikAze cRew help their guests to timewarp! Starts at 22:30h and entrance costs 10¤. ALMOGÀVERS 208 // BIKINI @ DEU I a genuine multimedia experience at MATA 105 // RAZZ @ ALMOGÀVERS 122 19:00h for 2¤. The experimental music festival Lem Apolo [2] makes it reggae and funk this continues, and tonight at 22:00h they’ve invited Barbara Morgenstern evening with sets by German Florian from Berlin to play at the Auditori of ”Party” Keller, pioneering Jamaicanist the MACBA. Minimal is her theme, comRagnampaisser from the legendary bined with piano, voice and electronics. Get a Sunday away from the norm at Trojan Soundsystem and an official DJ the mouthwatering Barbecue & Blues If you’ve missed Rachel Arieff’s Antispin-off from Trojan Records. Starting which kicks off at 12:00h noon in Karaoke show on Monday, here’s your at 22:30h this gig will set you back second chance: Rap and Rock as well Cerdanyola Del Valles at the Parque Del between 10 and 12¤. as you can and don’t forget to open Turonet with fab jamming from Down your mouth when Rachel is pouring JD Home, Lluís Coloma, Strolin´ Band, GALERÍA DELS ÀNGELS @ CARRER from the stage. Starts at 22:00h at Cheikh Lo and Roy Paci & Aretuska. DELS ÀNGELS 16 // RENOIR FLORIDABLANCA @ FLORIDABLANCA Sidecar. When was the last time you went ball135 // SALA CASTELLÓ @ AVDA. room dancing?! Well, if you’re up for a FRANCESC CAMBÓ 36 // SALA APOLO CCCB @ MONTALEGRE 5 // CINE CASABLANCA @ PASSEIG DE GRACIA bit of rumba and cha cha cha check out @ NOU DE LA RAMBLA 113 La Paloma this afternoon where the 115 // TASMANIAC @ RAMELLERS 15 // ladies and gents from the barrio go BEGOOD @ SANCHO DE ÁVILA 78 // wild to the sounds of the Orquestra Los MACBA @ PLAÇA DELS ANGLES 1 // Tigres Del Raval from 17:45 to 21:45h. SIDECAR @ PLACA REIAL 7 Or check out the band Luna Roja who play groove rock at Heliogàbal tonight at 20:00h. Entrance is free. Starting today, the CCCB hosts Barcelona’s first collection of films and documentaries about Colombia entitled At the CCCB the Colombia theme con“Light and Shadow of the Colombian tinues with more short films from Conflict.” It’s organized by Imago 16:00h to 18:00h. At 21:15 the scene Barcelona and Fundación Imago Colombia to give countries with smaller moves to the adjacent C3 Bar where budgets a platform to present their cul- Elinana Sobrino and Rodrigez Mendoza tural realities. At 15:30h the film Nuestra from La Turbina Remix (V.O.S) play with music and pictures. Tierra Sagrada is showing in the Hall of the CCCB. From 14:00h to 18:00h Colombian short films are to follow and Nui inaugruates a new exhibition tonight at 20:00h called Kaos, showing at 19:30h the evening ends with a disphotographs of abandoned factories, cussion forum that includes the direcraves, graffiti and mutant creatures by tors Sergio Cabrera, Luis Ospina and Italian photographer Paola Verde. Later Ricardo Coral. Whoever wants to know to play: DJ Daveetee drum& bass. The more can continue with Perder Es entrance and a glass of wine are freeCuestión De Metodo (2005, Sergio bies. Cabrera) at the cinema Casablanca.
sunday /// OCT 15
friday /// OCT 13
saturday /// OCT 14
Tasmaniac, the city’s first electro music shop, is fusing it up once again with art offerings at 19:30h. What was formerly an art laboratory has begun a new epoque in digital art and electronic fusion thanks to Manu Blin, owner and Barcelona native, and collaborations with artists from Argentina, England and Spain. Audio visuals, abstract illustrations and digital urban art are guaranteed to sizzle in this demonstration of atypical and non-mainstream mezcling. Sure to be a night of frolicks: Begood stages not only two very decent mod
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After a quiet period, Phoenix have returned with a new album and world tour. Known for their fusion of hip-hop with exquisite orchestra, but on a rock agenda, they tick all the musical boxes and rise from the ashes, quite metaphorically, to play at Bikini. Starts at 22:00h and entrance costs 23¤. Affiliates of the mighty electro-pop scene in France, Parisian duo One-Two create musical joy, influenced by 70s pop but with a modern hedonistic style much like LCD Soundsystem. One-Two presents their debut record “Love Again,” produced by Stephane Briat of
Those who can’t imagine taking a bubble bath without their dear buddy yellow plastic duckie and all those who are curious as how 110 artists have dealt with the challenge of creating something arty out of this yellow piece of squeaking plastic should have a look at the gallery Mercado Del Borne where they exhibit the results until October 31. With no cover and on from midnight till 06:00h, Fellini’s Nasty Mondays are a good choice if you like large crowds of sweaty hipsters, dancing on Mondays to varying indie, electro-disco and music from the 80s while passing to and fro in all the different stairwells and rooms. The DJs in the Red Room are Maxpunk, Soren and Kosmos. MERCADO DEL BORNE @ REC 37-39 // FELLINI @ LA RAMBLA 27
tuesday /// OCT 17 Usually the films screened by 100.000 Retinas would run at Apolo, where you would sit on uncomfortable wooden benches whilst enjoying a beer and the unique Apolo atmosphere. That’s all over now because they had to move it to the cinema Casablanca Gràcia, but the independent films every Tuesday are still worth a look. Tonight at 20:00h and 22:00h at Cinemes Lauren: Mysterious Skin by Gregg Araki (2004, USA). At the restaurant Candela Raval a new exhibition of paintings and illustrations by Paola Sman, Verónica Blejman and Pedro Cuevas opens at 20:00h. If their work doesn’t match your taste, try the food. It’s really tasty. Sidecar’s Brazelona Sessions continue from 00:30 with alternative pop and rock with Brazilian influences, this week starring Alberta In Love and DJ AndyLoop. Entry is 4-6¤ CINEMES LAUREN @ GIRONA 173-175 // CANDELA RAVAL @ HOSPITAL 48 // SIDECAR @ PLACA REIAL 7
wednesday /// OCT 18 Seeing as the origins of contemporary dance hail from Germany, it’s no wonder that few countries can measure up to their innovative techniques today. For this reason, the Goethe Institute is showing films collectively entitled “30 Years of German Theatrical Dance,” featuring dancers like Mary Wigman and Kurt Jooss. The showings are at 20:00h Wednesdays in October and are complemented by a black and white gallery expo of dance photography from the last 20 years. Entrance is free. Hardcore Superstar and Babylon Bombs play at Razz 3 at 20:45h for 18¤. Más barato: the curiously named Cop Porn spin a bit of mid-week electro disco for all from 22:30h at Fantástico, gratis.
Mono dorado. Oleo y aerosol s/tela. by pedro cuevas at candela raval
INSTITUT GOETHE @ MANSO 24-28 // FANTÁSTICO @ ESCUDELLERS 3
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ENCHUFA EL TELEPHONE
CASA LUCIO V I L A D O M AT, 5 9
TEL. 934 24 44 01
You need either Spanish or Català to order here, and even then you will get little to no guidance from the bartender besides “yes” and “no.” Don’t give up, though, because the house red is awesome and you definitely want to drink here. All of the décor is either food or drink related: neat stacks of wine bottles from floor to ceiling, enticing arrangements of homemade tapas. The whole place is clean and rustic except for the sophisticated selection of glasses for wine tasting, which is impeccable. These guys know their wine and on that subject, they are a fountain of information once you get them going. And if you tire of wine, they have homemade vermouth on tap just above their antique and functioning telephone. In the back they serve full lunches and dinners which are popular for the local executive crowd, so go and strike up a conversation with some future enchufe.
A SENSE OF TIMELESSNESS
SALTERIO SANTO DOMINGO DEL CALL, 4
YOU GUESSED IT
BISMILLAH KEBABISH J O A QU I N C O S T A 2 2
TEL. 934 43 01 84
Just around the corner from the MACBA is a little place called Bismilla Kebabish. Go there. It is open late and what, might you ask, does it serve? Döner. Amazing, plentiful, spicy-as-youlike-it Doner. You can choose between chicken or beef, though they are rumored to serve up a mean mixto of the two. Whatever you order, they cut and grill it right there with onions and peppers, much like that Philly Cheesesteak you sometimes pine for.
And then they bring out the bread. From an old-fashioned Tandoori oven a fresh piece of naan is born for each and every sandwich. They literally hand shovel your meat and veggie grill onto the naan, top it off with lettuce, tomato, and creamy sauce, and if you are into the idea, you should ask for picante. That weighty combination arrives to you wrapped in foil, deli paper, napkins and a plastic bag. Ain’t no one eating that baby but you!
ou’ll hear this place before you see it, and it will sound like a dream. Then you walk in and it is a dream. Ancient stone walls and a worn wood floor—everything is bathed in a thick patina, even the generously hipped mora behind the bar. Though not specifically a Moroccan place, you can get Moroccan Mint tea and pastries, along with other small snacks and drinks. They serve you with pride and the house standard is dark red paper napkins. There is a sense of timelessness in everything at the bar. Service is slow, and each tea is made individually using a gas stove and a small pot for boiling water. Thankfully, there is no rush to leave. When the time comes, the owner discreetly drops the door cover to half mast and continues about his business, neither eyeing you nor even seeming to want to leave himself.
CHAIN DE TODA LA VIDA
CAFÉ CARACAS CIGNE, 18
NICE DIVE
CHISTU
TA L L E R S , 1 4
If one ever wanted to define the term “nice dive,” Chistu would do it. You can practically bathe in the pitchers of beer they bring out, and their traditional food menu touts the usuals such as patatas bravas, butifarra de Girona, pincho moruno, and the ubiquitous pà amd tomàquet, all of which are cheap and
delicious and served on plates of dubious vintage. Though you can’t tell from the outside (yes, Chistu is the one with no name— just some wood, painted yellow), this place is huge and the back room fills with large parties coming out of classes in the evening, so bring your friends.
TEL. 933 02 50 28
TEL. 932 17 94 86
Saturday morning. Are you hung over? Then come to Caracas to get a dose of strong coffee and morning reality. Located just off of Gràcia’s Mercat de la Llibertat, Caracas serves a variety of homemade pastries (coconut bizcocho, anyone?) and coffee any way you could possibly want it. The first sala is usually standing room only and full of grandmas lugging packed Rolsers home from the market, but the back room is full of tables and a rolling boil of conversation. You can buy coffee by the kilo (highly recommended), as well as their galletas and xocolata artesana. And did I mention the bizcocho?
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oh lord,won’t you buy me a scoopy 50cc? Vespa, Piaggio, Kawasaki, Ducati, Honda: when will you be mine? Maybe vehicular lust runs in my blood, or maybe my impatience outstrips my concern for the environment, but I guiltily covet a moto. For ecological (but, more pertinently, economical) reasons, I am a public transportation girl. But it’s been many a night, while waiting the 20 to 70 minutes for the Nit Bus, that I’ve wished for a hog or its lesser cousin. To be able to move, where and when you choose, is the essence of freedom. In the United States, the motorcycle/moped clan is limited to particular demographics. You suit up for your trip on two wheels in casual clothes or leather, and your vehicle says something about your character. The no-axle ride means you’re one of those badasses—the Harley gangs, the off-duty race car drivers, those with a taste for danger. Here, the riders run the gamut: the businessman in the suit, the teenager with no muffler, the twenty-something in three-inch stilettos on her way to a party. In Barcelona, the asunto is not if, but how. Remember that somewhat inexplicable civisme poster with the white moto and cyclist who looked as though they’d been encased in cheese? After staring at it for days, I finally deduced that the message was Ride quietly. Please do not soup up your ride so that the walls of buildings shake when you pass. My bedroom faces the street, so I can back this gentle suggestion. I’ve often had to rewind movies because of the ungodly
cacophony of a passing motorist. Truly, decibel level is only properly appreciated in relation to other audible sounds. Yet still I dream. I feel like I’m missing out on a defining element of Barna culture. Motorcycling encapsulates the character of Barcelona. It’s both sensical and non-: the most time-efficient mode of transportation, yet also the most dangerous. It affords the opportunity to be an individual in the sea of people, to gain some autonomy on the increasingly-packed roads. You can weave in and out of traffic with the daring your character allows, following the cars or boldly squeezing between them in a lane you’ve carved out for yourself. Vaig en moto, tío. Fuck yes. Barcelona isn’t the only town that’s a heavy motopolis. It’s something about the Mediterranean culture in general. Italia, Greece, the Balkans—we all love the sun, the sidewalk cafés, and a hunk of vibrating metal between our legs. We’re closer, somehow, to the primitive pleasures a proper upbringing teaches us to manage and subdue. Why not enjoy what nature and vehicular engineering have so generously provided? Can you think of a better date than riding down our gorgeous coast on your moto and dining on seafood in Sitges? In thirty years, when the petroleum runs out, we’ll all be riding bicycles, so motocultura might be enjoying its swan song. Gone will be this little independence, this quiet fire on the streets. Ride it while you can.
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The launch of the first Lasanta_Cultura Visual bi-annual art publication was motive for a cosy party in the secret little garden at the back of the not-so-secret Espace Cultural Ample last Thursday. Dubbed Delicatessen to reflect the collaborators’ own personal tastes and to give the publication a feel of “private luxury”, the best samples of work from 20 or so artists are on display in this heavy, glossy art mag. I’m usually quite impressed with this type of thing anyway; after a bit of free champagne and seeing that these folks have put together so rich a selection of art it was all the more fascinating. As cheeky and fun as it is dark and shocking, the selection of images (cartoon art, sculpture and fashion photography) within provide some visually tantalising subjects and
BY
Zara Patterson
subtexts, ranging anywhere from crude human forms to Islam, capitalism to feminism and sex. Some favourites include AES+F, a Moscow based group of artists who superimposed Mosque roofs on landmark buildings of the Western world (such as the Sagrada Familia), the goth, rubberised military fashion by Mallorcan Gori De Palma, and action photography with a self-harming, boozy and very slutty Barbie shot by Meghan Kathleen Quinn. This really is just to name a few; the publication is so smartly arrayed and put together with such care that Lasanta Cultura should be applauded along with the artists. The price tag on the mag is 30¤— pretty pricey if it’s not all to your taste. But hey, that’s why they called it Delicatessen.
reviews cuz we don’t do pre-views
Astrolona BY
Lady Ondina Osborne
Aries D A N C E T H E AT R E
peeping tom
LE SALON / MERCAT DE LES FLORS BY
Mose Hayward
You notice their technique first—this Belgian company’s three dancerchoreographers (Gabriela Carrizo, Samuel Lefeuvre, Franck Chartier) have developed a spectacular ability to fling themselves at the stage floor in such a way that they always seem to land on their most awkward or bony parts— elbows, necks and kneecaps. At one point, a dancer’s torso seemed to be glued under the feet of his abusive partner, who jumped and stamped to shake him off. Another sequence had a dancer trapped between his partner’s legs, in constant danger of being kicked. And then there was the kiss scene, where a child, a real-life, very patient three-to-four year old, is handed back and forth between two dancers who twist over and around each other, locked at the lips. This last bit might seem like it should come off sickly sweet, but it’s intriguingly weird, watching a child watch dancers writhe around her. So it is that the parts of the show that don’t look painful are at the very least uncomfortable.
And that seems to be Le salon’s take on family life. There’s beautiful, if rough, live music, uncentered stage pictures, and fragments of a story, centered around a grandfather, played by Simon Versnel, who has enough staginess about him to make you wonder if he’s in the wrong show. Nevertheless, this patriarch’s attempts to maintain dignity in spite of money troubles and pissing himself do come off as both humorous and touching, at least for those of us who understand French (the Mercat should have provided subtitles). As with the other programming at the Mercat de les Flors, this engaging spectacle was only in town a couple days, so by the time you read this it’ll be gone. But Peeping Tom are one of many internationally renowned companies throwing themselves up on (or down at?) the Mercat’s stages this fall. Quite a few of these should prove worth seeing. The full schedule is at www.mercatflors.org.
one hot fox
ZORRO / ISABEL ALLENDE / HARPER COLLINS 2005
Laura Siciliano-Rosen
“There is no one like Zorro.” So begins Isabel Allende’s Zorro, and immediately an image of a dashing man in black appears in the mind of anyone familiar with the popular TV and film character. True, there’s no one like Zorro, except perhaps those other Zorros playing him. But there’s nothing like Allende’s remarkable storytelling talent, either. Allende weaves her tale of how the young Diego de la Vega came to be the legendary Zorro around a number of fascinatingly rendered locales: from the Spanish colony of California, where Diego is born in 1795 of mixed Spanish hidalgo and Native American blood, and where, witnessing a brutal attack on Indians, he first discovers a passion for justice, to Barcelona circa 1810, when Diego travels by boat with his Indian best bud Bernardo to study. By the time he returns to Alta California in 1815, he’s been expertly trained in fencing and combat; he’s joined an underground society, performed with Gypsies, coordinated rescues of the wrongly accused, fallen in love, made a suitably villainous enemy,
Taurus Did you know that Venus is your ruling planet? It is Venus’ peace, harmony and love that tend to smooth things over for you. Be careful, though—your natural magnetism attracts both positive and negative forces and you have to be careful about the people in your life. Have a good look around you this week as someone is thinking to betray you.
Gemini While the change in temperature has most people feeling frisky this week,your dark side is calling:you want to be superficial, inconsistent, cunning,and inquisitive. I say what the fuck, go for it.Just be careful about who you freak out on; make sure it’s someone who knows you well enough not to care, or someone you don’t care about.
Cancer While watching Mercè’s fireworks from my rooftop, I noticed a dark silhouette on another rooftop sitting alone, eating a bocadillo and crisps.You’ll find yourself in a similar situation this week:alone doing the mundane,witnessing bright-colored and explosive excess.
Leo You’ve been my favorite Leo this week: loving, kind and attentive.This has been a rare shift in personality traits; normally you can’t see beyond your own lion pride and stubbornness. How has it felt? You’ll be returning to your own ways soon, so enjoy the tranquility while it lasts.
Virgo
BOOK
BY
Salvador Dalí closed his one and only Broadway production because he couldn’t figure out how to create cube-shaped bubbles. Find inspiration in his genius boarding on insanity—demand the impossible this week.
‘The Cave of the Yellow Dog” is a very simple story of a nomadic Mongolian family and a puppy. Filmed in a manner that mixes documentary and fiction, it is long and tedious. Or spectacular and moving. How willyou choose to view it? When you’re lost in the rain,willyou panic or willyou learn?
Libra been kidnapped by pirates to New Orleans, and, most significantly, discovered the fun of a secret identity—the fox Zorro, a name stemming from the coming-of-age ritual Diego had endured under the guidance of his Indian grandmother. It seems the likeable Diego can do no wrong, and in fact he can’t: he is basically the cleverest, most courageous, talented caballero around, although he has oversized ears and doesn’t get the girl (at least not that one). The latter two are perhaps concessions, so that this version of the story is not too Hollywood, but let’s face it: such heroics are made for the screen, so it’s a forgivable offense. Allende here swaps her usual magical realism for creative historical fiction—in Europe the storyline parallels the French occupation of Spain, a time when Barcelona’s prisoners were locked in the dreaded Ciudadela (not so family-friendly back then) and one can imagine a beautiful, on-the-run Gypsy stealing away from the shadows of a tourist-free Catedral. Allende, generous with suspense and detail, might as well have been there herself.
You’re feeling very sexy or you’re in dire need of sex; either way you have to fuck. It’s okay, don’t be shy. Polish the kit and get it ready for play and I promise it won’t be difficult.You ooze sex this week,the pheromones are at max output. I’m actually jealous.
Scorpio You’re being so healthy, or you want to be healthier, or you’re being really freaking unhealthy—whatever the case, health is on your astrolona plate this week. Look at what you’re putting in your body and have a good think about it.
Sagittarius BCN is a city that likes to demonstrate. Be it for papers or peace,there is always a group that is eager to organize some marching and chanting.Think about what you need to proclaim, make a stand, implicate yourself, scream, make a scene, demand to be seen.
Capricorn Do you still hear the beat of the bass drum? Thump,thump,thumping in the deep dark of your head, so much so that you worry it’s invaded your soul and you’ve gone way beyond your original intention: it’s all gotten out of control. Have you lost it? Can you find it?
Aquarius Get creative with your dance moves.Practice at home with the music turned up high in front of the mirror.That’s right—no one is looking. Let out that dance fever you always repress.You need a good boogy like George Bush needs a good buggering.You’re grinding already,aren’t you?
Pisces I have a neighbor somewhere nearby who plays the trumpet. Practicing, he sometimes strikes a clear and resonating note that sings its way into my heart and captures me in a sultry grasp, but most of the time he spits out broken shards of musical intent. Is it you playing that horn? I think you’re choosing to be sharp instead of sexy.Why?
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Your sorry ass speaks Spanglish like a 3 year old.
Your excuse is that you only have enough money to eat olives in juice from a plastic bag five times a day. Your days of excuses have come to an end. Write us a 300-word essay explaining why YOU deserve a free 4-week intensive at Kingsbrook. Email your plea to free4u@kingsbrookbcn.com by Monday, November 6th.
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djs contra la fam BY
Joe Littenberg
As far as concert styles go, DJs Contra la Fam, a live-music charity event last Sunday benefiting a public kitchen in Gràcia, was “Derelicte”! That’s a rather obscure reference from Zoolander, a comedy in which a fashion designer, in a plot to keep production prices down and sweatshops up, mimics homeless style in his newest clothing line. To the contrary, DJs Contra la Fam, while stylistically “Derelicte,” had its heart in the right place: helping the very poor and very homeless that call this city home. Their objective and style were in perfect harmony. The concert took place in three different loading docks within the Mercat Sant Antoni from 4pm to midnight. The aesthetic styling that loading docks notoriously lack was fittingly augmented by piles of graffitified cardboard boxes, some hanging bed sheets, also graffitified, and a huge word, FAM, spelled out with colorful plastic produce crates. It all screamed, “What’s important here? That’s right—not spending money to impress, but raising money to fight hunger and help people.” No one that
worked the show was paid. Two of the three areas housed stages that were graced by a good many DJs, local and otherwise, as well as several bands and hip hop groups. During the evening hours, local fans filled the loading dock like boxes of lechuga to see local fusion group BarXino play, mix, drum, and rap. On the next stage, others enjoyed some dirty, dirty techno—mmmmmm, dirty techno— spun by Lee Van Dowski. Another local DJ, An Der Beat, followed her to end the night with an eclectic mix. Those who wanted to tranquilizarse dragged themselves to the chill out area, aptly named for its chill out beats, hammocks, and mattresses and cushions strewn across the market floor. It was pure street-style chillin’, cheaply done with a constant attention to the event’s goal. So rare to see such harmony these days. Keep an eye out for the next DJs Contra la Fam. It’s events like this that make Barna the wonderful, livable, liberal, and affordable paradise that we all call home.
EXHIBIT
are you surreal? SALA PARÉS / PETRITXOL / UNTIL 0CT 22 Sept 26 saw the opening of two shows at Barcelona’s Sala Parés, a surprisingly spacious gallery in the heart of Ciutat Vella. The entire upstairs gallery is dedicated to the works of Catalan David Casals who uses photographic realism to capture moments that are both familiar and universal and which follow the overriding themes of memories and things forgotten. Each piece, be it a golf scene or a skewedperspective seascape, inspires a certain serenity in the viewer while evoking personal memories, which is what Casals is known for. In the downstairs gallery you will find the works of artist friends and colleagues Juan Antonio Maña and Brigitte Szenczi who have been carrying on a dialogue through their art for years now. Despite their obvious parallels and shared interest in surrealism, it’s pretty clear who did which piece. Szenczi’s work depends largely on an architectural construct of space and the psychological power of her figures, and though strongly
BY
Claire Gunter
surreal, she is very clear in her intentions. Ciudad occidental is a remarkably funny representation of Western society, with a Western latrine labeled “Duchamp” smack dab in the middle of the picture plane. Mañas’ work is architectural as well, but instead of focusing on the psyche of his figures, he is more concerned with what their settings convey. You often find cracked walls and crumbling stairs, and wide open landscapes being encroached upon by some exploding behemoth metropolis. Another leitmotif is that of the search, visually represented by figures with flashlights. In one case, entitled Encuentro con la gente pequeña, the flashlight beam illuminates a bustling colony of tiny people, which is both intriguing and playful for the viewer. All three artists were at the opening to answer questions for the small and knowledgeable crowd that turned out for the event. Now, though, you can visit the show at your leisure until October 22nd.
C O N C E RT
sequins & penises If you were to argue that electro glam pop rock was left behind in the 80s,you would be sorely mistaken. If you were to argue that it should have been,you may be right. Peaches revitalises glam pop-rock, pink sequins and choreographed rock moves included.A little trashy and over-the-top for the few scattered and bewildered faces at the back (mine included), but a perfect way to spend a Thursday night for the rest of the crowd,who were throwing their arms in the air like they just didn’t care. Screaming along with “shake your tits”and “fuck the pain away,”the crowd couldn’t get enough. After a ridiculous amount of costume changes (I lost count after 4),and a giant penis making an
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BCN
Week
BY
Anna-Maria Masci
appearance onstage, it became evident that everyone was there to simply shake their booty. But that’s just the style of music it is.With no real appreciation of music, it didn’t feel like the way a concert should— it was more like a trashy disco night or an 80s dress-up karaoke event. They even had an onstage medal ceremony for each member of the band. (“Barcelona,you may have Gaudí architecture, but I have a band.”) I may have left with a shrug and indifferent attitude, but many left with a smile and a favourite pop tune in their head. If sequins and 80s poprock are what you’re into,you won’t be disappointed with Peaches. I, on the other hand,would like to think we’ve progressed on from that.
Classifieds
our very own les encants
Personal classified ads are free. They may be 25 words max in length. Business classified ads are 5 cents a word. DEADLINE Friday at 12:00 noon, the week before publication. HOW TO SUBMIT Send it via email to classifieds@bcnweek.com, fax to +34 93 443 6659, or snail-mail to San Gil 2, bajos 2, 08001 Barcelona
Top 5 gigs of the Month BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE BLACK HORSE
1_ bananarama sept 10 2_ hot chip sepT 26 3_ rapture sept 28 4_ virus sept 29 5_ mogwai sept 30
machine, heating and cook gas, microwaves. Big Parking. Rented for 3- 11 months. www.balmat.com/piso baledel1@yahoo.es
ROOM with views Own bathroom. Sunny big house surronded by nature. Rustic garden. 2 living-rooms. Fitness room. Internet. Privacity. Sitges 10 min. 360¤.dragonina@telefonica.net 938 968 573
BUARDILLA
IKEA BOOKCASES 2 Ikea bookcases, 40/60 euros, gotico, Zach, 652.250.943
Atic (buardilla) near Sitges. 85 m Well lighted. Private garden. Suitable for musicians, artists or proffesionals. 450 ? month or price to be agreed depending on use. dragonina@telefonica.net 938 968 573
Private Apartment — studio, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom — up to 3 persons. Raval — quiet, air conditioning. ZSR-BA@yahoo.de
APARTMENT TO RENT IN IBIZA.
FREE HUGE TV huge big giant screen t.v. to big to see. works perfectly. free to anyone willing to dismantle and remove from my 7th story Eixample flat w/ no elevator.. needs controller. thanks. keep it real.664482688.
cute flat Cute flat for sale in Barceloneta. Approx. 32 m2, located ideally only 2 min. from the beach. Renovated recently, and ready to move into. Nice, bright living room with access to the balcony. Open kitchen. 2 sleeping areas with AC. Big bathroom. New shower. Price: 227,000 ref no C22o at www.casamona.com
top floor flat Top floor flat for sale for under 200.000in Barceloneta! One bedroom, living room, bathroom, shower and balcony! All furniture included. Hurry.. It will go fast. Located on the 6th floor and VERY close to the beach! Good investment! Possibillity to buy the 25m2 terrace that is on top of this apartment for 10.000 extra. Tine@Casamona.com
atico en barceloneta 2
Un atico de aprox. 27m en Barceloneta. Tiene una habitacion, sala, baño con ducha y un balcon grande y soleado. Anteriormente utilizado como piso de alquiler. Todos los muebles estan incluidos. Situado en la sexta planta y MUY cerca de la playa. Muy buena oportunidad! Tine@Casamona.com
FOR RENT APT WITH POOL High standing apartment in Barcelona, swim pool, furniture, 3BR, for rent. Very sunny. All outside, ample balcony. 15 minutes from the center of Barcelona and 10 minutes from the airport and the beach. Next to comercial center. 3 furnished rooms, two baths, TV 32", air conditioned, music, dishwasher, washing
Small, cosy, 1-star, 10-rooms hostel with a familiar atmosphere located in L’Eixample district, 10 minutes on foot from Rambla Catalunya. The rooms are basic, well-lit and sunny, with kitchen access; some have a balcony overlooking the street, and others overlook the large courtyard. 24 hr reception and laundry service for 5¤. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
2.
quiet apartment
FOR SALE
Hostal Els Angels
5 km to the city, in the countryside, apartment capacity 4 people. Private garden and swmingpool. Car necesary. rainbowinspain.com or info@rainbowinspain.com
GAY AND GAYFRIENDLY ACCOMMODATION IN MAIN GAY DESTINATIONS IN SPAIN. Hotels and hostels in Barcelona, Madrid, Ibiza, Sitges, Gran Canaria, Tenerife. rainbowinspain.com or info@rainbowinspain.com.
BARCELONETA Very nice IKEA renovated 1 bedroom apartment next to the market and subway. Tons of light. 700 ¤. Rafa 616 560 299.
sunny room Room for rent (Urquinaona) Nice bright, fully furnished room, exterior in a comfortable flat, situated in the center. Only 2 minutes from the Metro L1 y L4. 280¤/month all bills included. simon-sparks@excite.com
Hostal Santa Anna The friendly family-owned Hostal Santa Anna is practically on Las Ramblas. The quiet, clean and well maintained hostel has 18 simple rooms with views of the street or interior. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Hostal Fina A basic 2 star hostel located in the very heart of the historical centre of Barcelona, at Portaferrissa, the most commercial street in the city. The hostel offers basic, clean, well conditioned rooms, where you will be able to relax and rest, as most of them are interior and very quiet. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Hostal Plaza This picturesque, 2-star, 20-room hostel is located between Passeig de Gràcia, Pl. Urquinaona and Pl. Catalunya, in the 1st floor of a modernist building. In the 1st floor, the hostel offers common areas, such as a bar serving drinks and breakfasts with plasma television, and a lounge with sofas and a quieter atmosphere inviting to read and relax. In addition, here is an Internet service for the clients. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Hotel Travessera The Hotel Travessera 2 star hotel located right next to Gaudí’s lovely Parc Guell. Hotel Travessera has been recently refurbished and has 23 well-equipped rooms with en suite bathrooms, air conditioning, heating and TV. A good value, for reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Hostal Las Flores The Hostal Las Flores is a cosy family-run hostel located right on Las Ramblas. This quaint 1 star hostel is an economical choice, with 22 rooms on 4 floors. Almost all have access to a shared bathroom, except one double room which includes a private en suite bathroom and has a view of Las Ramblas. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Apartamento de la Paz 2
Poble Nou Beach Rooms Poble Nou Beach Rooms is a cosy place with lots of natural light in (where else) Poble Nou. A Barcelona classic, the apartment has original ceramic tiled floors. There are 3 bedrooms, each sleeping 2-3 perons. For short-term rentals, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Crayon Box Apartment 3.1 The Crayon Box Apartment 3.1 is the beach lovers dream, a 40m2 recently renovated apartment right on the beach, sleeping up to 6 persons. For short-term rentals, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Week BCN
PRODUCTOS
The spacious 100m Apartamento La Paz has a 30m balcony stretching around the building and looks out over Las Ramblas and Port Vell. The apartamento can sleep up to 6 people, and is located on the first floor (no lift access) with lots of natural light. There are 3 double rooms, 1 with 2 single beds, 2 rooms with 1 double bed each. For holiday rentals, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Hostal Ballestero A modest, well-maintained, 2-stars hostel of 26 rooms located near Meridiana Avenue, on the corner of Fabra i Puig Avenue, close to the commercial centre of Heron City. The hostel is situated in a 5-floor building with lift. Not especially charming, but it does offer clean, well-maintained rooms. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
BARCO Paula I Have an original experience on the Paula I sailboat (not a houseboat), or as we like to call it the “floating apartment,” located in the Port Vell. The boat can sleep up to 6 people, with 3 cabins with double beds. Watch the curious smiles of your friends when you tell them you’ve stayed on a 40 foot sailboat (not for sailing). Not many people will be able to say they spent their Barcelona vacation on a luxury boat! For short-term rentals, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Crayon Box Apartment 2.1
get your guiri fix at
www.bcnweek.com
The Crayon Box Apartment 2.1 is a 40m2 private apartment located on the beachfront of Barceloneta. This newly renovated apartment can sleep up to 4 people in 2 double rooms, one with a large double bed and another with bunk beds. A sofa bed sleeps one more, which is located in the living/dining room
which also has a TV and balcony. The kitchen has all the amenities and there is also a full bathroom. The apartment is equipped with heating and air conditioning. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Hostal Boquería The Hostal Boqueria is a newly renovated hostel right on Las Ramblas, opposite the lively atmosphere of the Boquería. 15 neat and tidy rooms with TV, air conditioning, heating and private bathrooms, this is a fairly standard hostel: 2 single beds and a sink in the room. Good value accommodation right in the centre of Barcelona. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
bathroom, heating, TV and telephone. All rooms are exterior, with natural light, and are sufficiently soundproofed with windows with double paned glass to guarantee a good night’s sleep. The hotel is well-maintained and is wheelchair accessible. Breakfast included. For reservations, .barcelona30.com.
Pension Cortes Pension Cortes is a basic, clean hostel located in beautiful old building on Gran Via. Rooms are clean and cosy with single beds. Although the rooms overlook the street, it is relatively insulated from street noise. Metro station Urgell. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Hostal Lesseps A modest hostel placed in an old building with a beautiful entrance door, in the popular Gràcia district, an area full of live with a special charm, which still keeps its village atmosphere. It is located a 15 minutes walk to the famous Parc Güell and Passeig de Gràcia. The hostel offers simple, clean rooms; but do not expect a design decoration. However, all of them are equipped with a complete bathroom, and TV. There are double rooms with 1 double bed or 2 individual beds, and triple rooms, which are more spacious. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
BARCO Déjà vu Oceanis 36cc The Déjà vu is a gorgeous 36 foot (11 metres) cruising yacht moored in the marina Port Vell. A Jeanneau Oceanis 36cc, it was built in 2003 and waves the French flag. Outfitted in cherry wood, the boat is equipped with modern comforts, such as satellite TV, kitchen, full bathroom, towels and bed linens, and even slippers in case your feet get cold. Sleeps up to 4. For reservations, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Apartamento Picasso 32 Up to 5 of you can stay in the 50 m2 Picasso 32 Apartment smack in the middle of the historic and yet trendy district of Born. It has two bedrooms, one with a single bed and the other with two singles. The living/dining room has a TV and 2 sofas, one a sofa bed which sleeps two. The kitchen is fully-equipped, as is the bathroom. A small balcony gives a good photo-op of the gargoyles from the building in front, not something you wake up to every day. AC. For holiday rentals, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Levante Apartament M1 A recently renovated, 95m2 apartment with an excellent location, which can accommodate 4-8 persons. Located in the heart of the historic Barri Gòtic, it is a basic, cosy apartment, decorated with classical style wood furniture. It offers 3 bedrooms: one with 3 individual beds, one with a double bed, and the third with 2 individual beds. For short-term rentals, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Travessera Apartments A private, welcoming apartment with daily cleaning service and towel/linen change located inside a 1-star hotel, next to Hospital Sant Pau. Sleeps up to 3 persons. For short-term rentals, visit www.barcelona30.com.
Hostal Rembrandt Hostal Rembrandt is a clean, wellrun 28 room hostel in an unbeatable location on Portaferrisa. Can you ask for a more central location? visit www.barcelona30.com for reservations.
Arc de Triomf Room Short-term rental in a double room for 1 or 2 persons with en suite private bathroom and TV in gorgeous shared apartment. apartment is right by Arc de Triomf metro station (line 1) and Renfe regional train station. Visit www.barcelona30.com.
Hotel Climent The 1 star Hotel Climent is located on the Gran Via in a 7 storey building with 5 rooms on each floor. The rooms are neat and clean, with minimal decor. They have an en suite
WANTED Studio Space Freelance programmer looking to work in some kind of rented space inBarri Gotic or nearby. Require broadband internet and telephone connection. Will consider paying up to 200¤ monthly. gfranklin@gmail.com
dragonina@telefonica.net 938 968 573
Classes of Russian From an experienced teacher and translator from Moscow for highlymotivated english—speaking people. Contact: arsbrush@yahoo.com
VAN AND DRIVER FOR REMOVALS AND CARGO TRANSPORTATION Inexpensive, safe and flexible. Any day, any time. Barcelona / Catalunya. 647533344 / 933291363 www.vanbcn.com
MASSAGE EXCHANGE Seeking to start a small group of people doing bodywork at any level and willing to exchange sessions for the joy of it. I do Hawaian Lomi Lomi, Ayurvedic Yoga, Reiki and Metamorphic massage. galileanin@gmail.com
tarot reader TAROT, international clairvoyant... DAVID. clairvoyant, tarot cards, psychic, crystal ball, palm readings, david has the true gift of reading your future. David at 678378802
english teachers
FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Barcelona English Academy requires full time experienced teachers for 2006-07 course. TEFL qualification, experience with kids and enthusiasm essential. Spanish a great asset. Please send letter&CV to: nicama@tele2.es
New 11-a-side football team starting in the Barcelona International League. Interested in playing each Saturday? All nationalities welcome. Email uws@dial.pipex.com
bike needed Any type can be interesting. If it’s old and not damaged — perfect. If it’s a bit more modern, ok! But don’t want to pay more than 100¤. schwester_polyester@yahoo.com
TV DONATION I would like to get a — colour or black and white — TV donated for my room for the coming Winter to keep updated with the domestic and world news. Has someone got a spare one? I feel like in a shell when I learn the daily news. I would be very thankful. mineral_moon@yahoo.ca
children playground Looking for, or to start a playgroup for children in Diagonal Mar/Villa Olimpica area. English, Russian, and Spanish speaking. Interested email: keyian@hotmail.co.uk.
AND SERVICES LECCIONES DE INGLES GRATuitas Suscríbete a The Ziggurat Daily Vitamin (www.ziggurat.es) sin coste, sin compromisos y sin SPAM!
FREE ENGLISH lessons by email The Ziggurat Daily Vitamin. No cost, no obligation, and no SPAM. Sign up at www.zigg
dog walker Professional Dog Walker and Sitter!Now you can go on holiday without having to worry about your dog being looked after! Also offered; dog walking services, for when you don´t have enough time or energy for your dog(s). Call me on 617.972.643."
YOGA LESSONS Hello, I give the Yoga lesson for you.From the junior class till a high rank, I teach kindly! Please give a call or send a message by mail. Shiva-650 901 468
I SAW YOU Did u see someone you like? Too shy to say it to their face? Then BCN WEEK’s ‘I SAW YOU’ is for you! Be sure to tell us who you are and what you saw when? where? why? email or contact detail required. AT FLAHERTY’s You work at flaherty´s on Sunday afternoons, and I stop by sometimes for coffee, then I usually stay and read. You have a beautiful smile, and I’d love to know what you’re reading. Me: Salt and pepper goatee, glasses.
SHY BRASIL Shy quite brasilien girl in my ETEA web design class, dont sit alone have a coffee with me in the breaklaura
VERDI VERDE Inglish film at cinema verdi I saw you in the line you eated palomits but they caiy on the nasty brown rug. I payed for alots more palomits for you becos u very nice and handsome young man. Will u arrive to watch the cinema wiht me agin? boomfizzle@gmail.com
ORDERING TAKEOUT You were the tall Caucasian guy in the navy or black suit (very cute). Ordering take out around 2:15ish. I think there was something there, you smiled, I smiled and said hello. I think you were coming back to talk to me, but I had to go and get my food. When I came back outside you were headed along C/Bailen. and I couldn’t catch up to you. We should talk…..Me, bi-racial guy with dark hair wearing a dress and sunglasses. Let’s connect. benjamino@fastmail.fm
SKINNY MINNY
Hello, I give the Spanish lesson for you. From the junior class till a high rank, I teach kindly! Please give a call or send a message by mail. Shiva-650 901 468
With a skinny minny so thin the wind will blow her away and if someone touched her she might snap bitch last saturday. Oi what the frig r u doing with a pip cleaner girl like that? I hope her razor hips pierce your skin and the rattling of her skeletal-blink-and-youll-miss-it body make you sick! gsegneri@yahoo.com
FOOTBALL TEAM
WORKING AT FASTNET
SPANISH LESSONS
5-a-side football. Friendly, informal games. If interested in playing, contact me at alan.moore@auna.com"
spanish classes Qualified teacher. Best references. Private or 4 people groups. All levels. Also business Spanish. María
I saw you working behind the bar at the fastnet, i want to run my fingers through your black curly hair. I ordered a bottle of estrella extra cheerily, but dont think you noticed. meet me there this sunday for some real fast-net. if you know what i mean. nodnarbs83@yahoo.com
BCN
Week
15