Monday, February 3. 2014

            Time flies when you’re having fun! The weather here in Valencia continues to be variable with colder days alternating with warmer days.  Rain has been scant for the past four or five months and that is as much a concern here as it is back in California.  Violent tides caused extensive damage in northern Spain and it was snowing in Madrid this morning.  The last time it snowed there was more than 30 years ago.

            I have just finished working on what turned out to be a 48 page and 13,000 word translation.  It is a prospectus intended to attract investors to become part of Mercado Central by buying a franchise and opening a restaurant with that name.  It will be a Spanish restaurant with almost all products originating in Spain. The group designs your restaurant, furnishes it, creates the menu and trains your staff.  Our friend Jordi is one of the movers and shakers behind this project.  I got involved in the translation when Jordi asked me if I would be willing to read over a version of the English translation.

            It turned out to be an utterly incomprehensible disaster.  There were groupings of words in English that made little or no sense when put together.  There was no attempt to recreate the tone of the prospectus or the passion behind it.  I mistakenly thought that maybe I could salvage the translation by correcting it.  It proved to beso arduous that halfway through the translation I decided that I would re-translate the last half and speed up the process.  It took me eleven days to finally produce a finished product.  I worked on the translation several hours a day while trying to retain a semblance of an actual life.

            After the second performance at the Ronald McDonald House a member of the local magic group approached me and asked if I would be willing to work with his group that also does hospital shows.  I told him that I would love to so he will be in touch when he sets up the next date for his group. Gurrea and I are on call for the Ronald McDonald House.  I told Cristina that she can and should give us a call a few days before she would like us to come and perform and we will see to it that it happens. Here are some shots from the second performance http://casaronaldvalencia.org/noticias.aspx?id=118

            In the meantime I keep working on the act with focus on the kid shows.  Gurrea has given me a couple of ideas of things that I can do with the “dog” and I have purchased a couple of props that will allow me to do those bits he suggested.  I have also purchased another dog puppet to insure that when the old Kitty is no longer in usable condition, I will have a backup.

            Magic and translation have filled up a good portion of my days and we continue to do those things that have become part of our routine.  We visit the Mercado Central just about every day and we eat out three or four times a week.  We tend to frequent what have become the usual places and we occasionally try a new place. 

            When we had lunch at The Ginger Loft the previous Sunday, Mike told us that they were closing down since the lease was up and they were not intending to renew it. Saturday we were giving some thought to having lunch at Mood Food and we were passing by The Ginger Loft and when we looked dining was going on.  We walked in with a look of surprise on our faces and discovered that the boys had signed a one month extension on the lease and would be around until the end of February and, if luck is with them, until the end of March.  While digesting that news we also digested a plate of ceviche and a heavenly Thai beef with Chinese broccoli.

            We have managed to take in a few movies in the past couple of weeks.  We finally saw “Blue Jasmine” and enjoyed it.  We also saw the Italian film, “La Grande Bellezza” and Saturday we saw Polanski’s “Venus in Furs”.  On the way home from the Polanski film we stopped in at La Fórcola, which was filled to overflowing. Antón told us to wait and he would seat us in a bit.  While we sat at the bar sipping on a beverage and scarfing down a couple of anchovies many people without reservations were turned away.  When we were seated we ordered our pizza and Antón gifted us with another appetizer to dull our hunger.  He charged us 15 Euros for what turned out to be a beer, a bottle of water, two glasses of an excellent red wine, two appetizers and a pizza.

            That’s about all that is newsy.  No photos because they have been posted elsewhere the day they were taken.  Speaking of photos, Susan surprised me with a very classy looking book of photos of me performing in 2013.  It matches the quality of most coffee table books.  Wow!  It’s time to get ready for a magic club meeting, so off I go.  Thanks for reading.