A VIEW WITH A ROOM
Notes on topics of interest... and things.
AOG
- Location
- London/Madrid/Barcelona, UK / Spain / Europe
- Birthday
- September 24
- Bio
- American journalist living in Europe.
I like Politics, Art, Culture, Cinema, Architecture, Travel, Literature, International Relations, Economics, Fashion, Music.
This is my stupidass blog about my dumbass life in suckass Earth.
I also blog at:
www.spanishamericanenglish.blogspot.com
and
www.subvero.blogspot.com (in Spanish)
Always up for a good story or a lead.
MY RECENT POSTS
- America's gay problem
May 13, 2012 09:42AM - Disturbing
April 29, 2012 06:54PM - Of elephants and the King of
Spain
April 15, 2012 04:42PM - Old things, new things
April 01, 2012 04:55PM - February 29, 2012
February 29, 2012 01:27PM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “@perdidochas, First of
all, the country that finances
Spain
is Spain, not
Germany…”
May 14, 2012 11:32AM - “A tragedy.
All
of it.
And still we
must persevere.”
May 14, 2012 05:01AM - “Considering America's
XIX century record, I'm
surprised by
what you deem to
call…”
April 04, 2012 09:46AM - “I have never read this
book, but I have to say, if I
read
“She has dark
br…”
April 04, 2012 09:33AM - “Hi Alan. I've lived in
several countries and I've
made
friends in all of them
at…”
January 12, 2012 05:44AM
AOG's Links
- Links to do with art and things
- Willoughby, my other blog
- My photographs
- Killercaptures Photography
- Jeremy Cowart Photography
MAY 13, 2012 9:42AM
America's gay problem
AOG, Madrid
A few
days ago, US President, Barack Obama, said that he had changed his
mind about gay marriage. He said that he "supported"
it.
"At a certain point I’ve
just concluded that for me personally it is important… Read full post »
APRIL 29, 2012 6:54PM
Disturbing
AOG, Madrid
Tonight I left home and headed to my usual coffee place: Diurno. It has been raining all day and Madrid felt cool, wet.
On the way over, I saw a mattress. On the street. With a stain. Propped against the trash containers.
It caught my eye… Read full post »
APRIL 15, 2012 4:42PM
Of elephants and the King of Spain
AOG,
Madrid
It
is often difficult to pinpoint the starting point of a man-made
catastrophe. Literary tragedies are often built around such
events, and they often make for interesting reading.
To the stories surrounding events like the Watergate scandal and
what it did… Read full post »
APRIL 1, 2012 4:55PM
Old things, new things
AOG, Madrid
There
are concepts that make it across the planet in seconds, and others
which, even after all the technological advancements, still take
for ever to arrive.
What for instance? Well, in Europe
there is something called teletext, which is a
rudimentary… Read full post »
FEBRUARY 29, 2012 1:42PM
February 29, 2012
AOG,
Madrid
Leap
year. That means one extra day. Not that it matters
much.Unless you were born on February 29, which means today is your real birthday since, according to our calendar, today occurs only once every 4 years.
This
… Read full post »
JANUARY 11, 2012 2:24PM
What am I looking for still?
My search for the eternal
past continues, but this time I think there is a lesson somewhere
which is staring me in the face, but I just can't quite put my
finger on it.
Thanks to the magic… Read full post »
NOVEMBER 21, 2011 10:52AM
Winning the lottery...sort of
AOG, Madrid
Once
again Christmas rears its ugly head. Different countries tend to
celebrate in different ways, all living out their version of the
modern invention of Christmas as invented by Germany in the XIX
century.
In
the case of Spain, this means the National Lottery,… Read full post »
SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 11:31AM
Rome sucks
AOG,
Sitges
Word of
advice, when you next go on vacation, never wear new shoes on the
flight. Why? well, it could be that the airline looses your luggage
and you are doomed to wear the same pair of new shoes for days on
end.
JULY 13, 2011 6:31PM
Summer reading (with a Soviet twist) 2011
AOG, Madrid
Summer
vacation is just around the corner and I've lately been a bit
preoccupied with my Summer reading list.
Every year I take a small army of
books with me to whichever place I happen to be visiting, and every
year I return home with 98… Read full post »
JULY 1, 2011 4:20PM
The moment I felt most American
AOG,
Madrid
On
election day 1988 my mother, my sister and I were on a Jumbo Jet
heading for Europe.
We
arrived in Madrid and within less than an hour we were on a train
heading for the region of Extremadura, on the… Read full post »
JULY 1, 2011 9:16AM
Modern neighbors
AOG,
Madrid
The cool
thing about growing up in America is that most of us (not all) live
in homes large enough to house a small third world village in the
backyard. It is one of the perks of living in a large
country… Read full post »
JUNE 21, 2011 5:28PM
What's the deal with Anthony Weiner?
AOG, Madrid
Ok, I
confess, before all the media attention surrounding
"penisgate" I hadn't much heard about Congressman Anthony
Weiner.
I mean, I live on the other side of
the Atlantic, and I have the local European politician crew
to… Read full post »
AOG,
London
I just spent
the better part of my weekend traipsing all over London. I would
like to say that you can't help but notice that there is a Royal
Wedding in our midst….but I’d/… Read full post »
APRIL 18, 2011 8:24AM
Atheism in Spain 2011
AOG,
Madrid
Spain
these days likes to present the World its best non-religious face.
Its Prime Minister, Mr. Zapatero, is a well known atheist who,
nevertheless, attended a religious service when it visited the US
in the company of the Obamas.
And that is probably the… Read full post »
And that is probably the… Read full post »
AOG,
Madrid
Today
it is 50 years since Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin climbed into his
space ship and was launched into space, thereby kickstarting the
space race between two superpowers which ended with the first man
in the moon in 1969.
It took Gagarin… Read full post »
APRIL 7, 2011 12:52PM
Outside
AOG,
Madrid
Outside is different. What does this
normally mean? Well, for starters, it means that everywhere you go,
it is going to be different. Different? You may say, But of
course!
Well Little Miss Smart Ass, you
don’t know… Read full post »
MARCH 29, 2011 3:34PM
Elliot Murphy
AOG, Paris
Last
night I was in Paris, a city I love. My partner took me to a
birthday party. It was Elliot Murphy's.
To
celebrate it, he held a concert in a small venue in Paris, New Morning.
MARCH 7, 2011 4:47PM
The 'Ho-Hum' Boyfriend
AOG,
Barcelona
I am
not an expert on relationships, nor am I an expert on human
relations. I know I will depart this planet having learned precious
little about our species. With this in mind, I must bring up what
just happened on the way to/… Read full post »
MARCH 4, 2011 8:06AM
Friendship economics
AOG, Madrid
It is
not news that the Spanish economy is not doing extremely well. It
is affecting the whole country and yesterday the unemployment rate
went back up again.
Of course, to the uninformed
observer, Spain's unemployment comes with a caveat: One, most of/… Read full post »
FEBRUARY 28, 2011 8:19PM
The King's Speech
AOG, London
I
just saw the Oscar ceremony, and I have to say I'm slightly
disappointed by the election of The King's
Speech as the winning movie. As the best movie of the
year.
I
had a hard time picturing this film as a contender for the
crown… Read full post »
FEBRUARY 23, 2011 6:37AM
Childhood lemonade
AOG,
Madrid
I
think the first drink I ever learned how to make was lemonade. I
can't say that anyone in particular taught me, I just 'knew' how to
make it.
Lemons, sugar, water and ice.
What else could I need?
But… Read full post »
FEBRUARY 20, 2011 8:06PM
True Grit
AOG, Madrid
I
don't like cowboy movies. I don't like Westerns. I don't like
Country & Western music.
I never have. I doubt I ever
will.
I don't much care for cowboys beyond
the aesthetics and the images of masculinity they
portray.
I liked Brokeback
Mountain… Read full post »
FEBRUARY 20, 2011 12:01PM
A life without Coca Cola
AOG, Madrid
There
are things in my life which just exist, and I never give them a
second thought. Streets, bricks, newspapers, bicycles, dogs,
television, things which have helped to separate our world from our
past worlds.
We
in the West, live immersed in objects… Read full post »
FEBRUARY 17, 2011 3:06PM
The chain letter
AOG, Madrid
Like many other
people these days, I've grown accustomed, tolerate, smirk at, and
even sometimes read over... slightly miffed, the numerous chain
-letter emails I get throughout the year from my
friends.
These are often only a form of spam with a cute… Read full post »
These are often only a form of spam with a cute… Read full post »
FEBRUARY 17, 2011 12:54PM
Meme of the day!
AOG, Madrid
A friend sent me this a while back. I thought I would share.
Copy and change the answers to suit you and pass it on.
It's really hard to only
use one word answers.
1. Where is your cell phone? Home
2. Your significant other? Working
3. Your hair?/… Read full post »
David Brin
Achilles7
Farleftside
Deleted Account
Jeve (aka John and Steve)
john blumenthal
Salon.com