'The Stare of the Owl' is already available online

Dear readers,

My new essay about the notion of crisis is available in the following address:

http://www.bubok.es/libros/225561/LA-MIRADA-DE-LA-LECHUZA-Un-antidoto-contra-las-crisis

For more information, you can view the last item in this blog.

If you are studying spanish, and you like reading and thinking, then you could practise with my book.

Cheer up to buy and read it,

The author

News about my New Book

GIL VERNET, Jordi

The Stare of the Owl. An antidote to crises (written in Spanish)

Bubok Ed. (digital and paper edition, 267 p.)

Reus / Málaga, 2013

This essay, which was written last year, will be published within a few days. I reflected there on some current crises from a philosophical perspective. The critical situation of the publishing world forced me to make an autoedition. I want to think the cause was not necessary the low quality of my work, but economic reasons. Anyhow, you will be able to get this book online from wherever you are, and decide yourself. This essay doesn't try just to analyze the economic crisis, but the notion of crisis itself. In several chapters, some examples of crisis are considered to try to find what they have in common.

The content has been split in two parts. The first part treats about that could be called 'Social crisis': the crisis of family, education, values, religion, and politics. The second part reflects on both crises of knowledge and science. The two parts examine what there is really deep down of those great changes named crisis. It is actually said that there is a crisis when something changes quickly and suddenly, isn’t it? It doesn’t mind if we are talking about ‘the Cuban missile crisis’, ‘a marriage crisis’, or ‘a government crisis’. They all are crises.

The thesis I hold in the book is that being alive is being constantly in crisis, taking into account that the word Krisis meant 'sudden change' in ancient Greek. Social life and even the things of nature are always changing. Sometimes there are bigger, sudden changes: they are great crises without any doubt, and so they are called. Evolution is the name we give to the great and constant changes in the nature. The universe is always evolving, and things which are inside are evolving as well. I would like that this book may help its readers to understand better what 'crisis' means.

By the way, if you are studying Spanish, and you like thinking, and also reading essays, cheer up and dare to buy and read my book. I think I may assure you won’t regret. As soon as the book is available, I’ll put the publisher link in this blog.

Back Home

Reality was waiting for me when I arrived home. I returned to Spain two weeks ago, and I found three astonishing news. However, I must admit I'm confused because I’m not certain they aren’t connected.

The first one is that José Maria Aznar, a former president of the Spanish government for eight years, is threatening to come back. It seems that he is dissatisfied with the policy of current president Mariano Rajoy, and he would like to take over the control of the situation. It is well-known that Rajoy was chosen by Aznar as his heir instead of Rodrigo Rato. (By the way, there are no words to describe the successful-failure professional career of Rato: International Monetary Fund (IMF), BANKIA…) Anyhow, why is Aznar unhappy with Rajoy’s policy? Why is he hesitating about the skills and abilities of his successor?

It is said that Aznar doesn't agree with Rajoy’s policy. It seems that he thinks he would do it better. It's thought the balance of the Aznar era was positive because macroeconomic figures went up, and Spanish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew up too. The fact, nevertheless, is that Aznar’s government was quite responsible of the building bubble which almost ruined the Spanish economy ─although fortunately for him, after his term of office.

Perhaps there is another explanation for his comeback. It is also said that Aznar is disappointed about some information relative to his daughter’s wedding. Something about gifts and favors received from people who are being investigated for corruption in the called Gürtel case. Aznar could have got gifts valued in many thousands of euros in return for some dark compensation. The wedding ceremony lighting, expensive wines, luxurious clothes, and perhaps jewels would be amongst those gifts. In the background, the cause of Aznar's annoyance is very likely the attitude of president Rajoy in front of the corruption in his own party and the Bárcena’s papers issue.

The B accounts of the Popular Party (PP), which reflect some alleged illegal payments to many high PP public offices, were done on manuscript sheets by its ex-treasurer Luis Bárcenas. The scandal was brought to light in the last autumn. Aznar wouldn’t be glad because his name appears on the list of beneficiaries. Reaction of Aznar has been to disavow Rajoy, and he insinuates Rajoy is misusing both his authority and his legacy (Aznar’s authority and legacy, I mean). Should Aznar return? Is that the right question? Would his comeback be good for Spain? Many people are hesitating over that fact, especially in his own party.

Meanwhile, the economic crisis follows in spite of our unbelievable figures of unemployment are going down as a consequence ─at least in part─ of seasonal contracting. Although it exists actually the hope this decrease is not just a consequence of the summer tourism industry demand, but a real economic trend. We’ll surely know it inside four months. I wish it were a positive indicator that our economy is reactivating.

(The first news has been powerful, hasn’t it?) The second one is that Spain follows being the main guilty for all the evil things which affect Catalonia. The government president of Catalonia, Artur Mas, doesn’t lose any occasion to say that Madrid is responsible for all our pains and sufferings. "Catalan people don’t deserve so bad luck. Why did we marry Castile over five-hundred years ago? Why have we had to be in fact under the Spanish Bourbon crown for about three centuries? We would have liked to get independence or, at less, to belong rather to the USA, like Massachusetts or to Germany, like Baden Württemberg; but not to Congo or Myanmar, of course. We are rich and civilized; we aren't poor and barbarian. Catalonia is pure; Catalonia has neither corruption nor misadministration," he seems to say.

It seems as if our politicians didn’t make any mistake. “Nowadays, Catalonia has not money because of Madrid. Ergo: if Catalonia were independent, it would have a lot of money, and Catalans could live surrounded with pleasures and treasures,” they say. (Where are you seeing the fallacy, dear reader? OK, you’re right.) The really truth is that state, national, and local politicians are equally responsible for all those things which were wrong done last years in the whole Spain. Not just Madrid, Very Honourable President Mas.

The third news affects surprisingly nature: WE (West Europe) won’t have summer in this year, whether the forecast which has done a French weather agency was right. It seems that math models predict an unusual cold and wet summer as effect of the cool and rainy spring that Europe has had. I wonder if a cold and wet summer is not a summer too. Why are some kinds of news so shocking? Maybe it'll be temperatures one or two degree lower than the average; perhaps we'll see more rain than usually. However, does it mean we are not going to have a summer? I thought that I could swimming, playing beach rackets, diving, motorbiking, running, and having a few jars like any summer in my life. However, next summer I’m going probably skiing, making snowmen, and staying home having tea. What a summer is waiting for us! 

Do all these news have something to do each other? Should Aznar come back? Should Artur Mas find other excuses? Is nature furious with us? Haven’t we done the right things? Has the world become mad? Am I having a dream? I don’t know, but I’m absolutely sure I'm back home.

A Brief Comment by an Irish Runner

I don’t know whether or not I have anything to do with the dude who appears in Running Boston (2), but I thought I should answer just in case it refers to me.

I'm a curly haired, freckled, and white skinned as a glass of milk young Bostonian guy. You would say I seem to be like an Irishman because my descent came indeed from Ireland. I run often along the Charles River. Sometimes, I gaze at other runners. I remember for example a guy wearing a complete black running equipment some Sundays behind. I thought he wore overdressed, but he seemed being cold. I followed him for a mile, and further I overtook him. It was a bald, thin, suntanned, and about 6-feet tall middle-aged man. It caught my eye the fact he ran with a very good style, but I immediately thought he was able to go faster. Maybe he was doing a long training. I didn't know. If he wasn't from New England, he would be an European dude. Definitely, he could not be from one else of the States. He might be Italian or French; perhaps even a Spanish guy.

It doesn't matter if he came from France, Italy or Spain: he brought the whole Mediterranean in his blood. They are very different to us, the Celtics. Although some Celtic people lived at the Cantabrian Sea, and other regions in those countries, Mediterranean people are another thing. That runner seemed also well accustomed to move through the Hub. Was he maybe thinking of living in Boston definitely ?

Two Sundays later, I saw him again. However, that time he ran faster, and he was doing acceleration series or maybe a Fart Leck training session. When we coincided under the Harvard Bridge afterwards, I was be able to see why he ran so fast: he put on a pair of brand-new sneakers New Balance 890v3 Boston Marathon Edition - M890B0S3 - Paul Revere - reflective purple colorway. I understood it all at once. How I envied that Mediterranean guy, and even more at night!!!

Patrick O’Toole

Making a Parenthesis in Our Lives

We took the final decision about the trip in early January: we were going to do an intensive English course in Boston, Massachusetts. We had to look for an academy, but my wife already knew BAE (Boston Academy of English); so we decided going there. I think the choice was right. The facilities, the atmosphere, and the quality of teaching are excellent in that academy. Thank this, we both have improved a lot our level. I had actually felt the strong call for studying English in May last year, during my first visit to Boston. I had never experienced that necessity with the Shakespeare’s language before although I had studied German in Germany twenty-four years ago. It had more to do with my preferences in Philosophy in those years than with the relative or absolute importance of these languages in the world. I have always recognized the role of English as modern lingua franca, but the course of my life didn’t permit to do what I would like to do when I was in my twenties. Consequently, English has been my pendant issue for a long time. The fact is that whereas I thought I needed first German because of my philosophy studies, I found English could wait. It was probably a mistake, not only because many very important philosophers are writing in English in our time, but also because the universal presence of English in the popular culture and in the international relationships.

Anyway, when I was in the States last year accompanying my wife in a professional journey, I had time to think, and realize it was time to resolve my hanging subject. According my manner of thinking, there is a serious contradiction between being a well-educated person and being lacking in the language which is used to communicate to each other by people around the world. It had been an inner inconvenience for decades, so finally I decided to kill the problem. Therefore I purchased a pack of courses online in June last year that I've finished in April this year, just before my trip to the USA. The plan was to get grammar and vocabulary knowledge, practice listening and pronunciation, and be prepared to do a total immersion for a month. If I was able to reach a good level in ten months, I would be able to make good use of my stay in the States. My wife did me her support, and she encouraged me at all times. Even she decided to join as student in her spare time in Boston (she had to work as well). I’ve worked hard during almost a year, and I’m convinced it has been worth it. I’m writing the present article fluently, and quite fast. I think it ought to mean something.

I don’t know if my method can be exported to anybody. Each one has his own skills, abilities, and style for learning. I’ve used tools which are in the market, and they are not unattainable expensive. It's certain I’ve had time enough to do it. However, I think the most important thing has been my enormous motivation. Studying in front of a computer (with no teacher) several hours a day during ten months; taking (alone) level exams without self-tricks; putting partial targets before finish line. All these things require time, determination and a clear objective. Taking in account this premises, and the fact that there are not two identical people, anyone can do a similar learning.

We had to prepare the travel and the stay because we both have things to do and family responsibilities. Our resources are also limited. A well thought and calculated planning is needed to take advantage of a good opportunity like that without overspending. Waste time and money was not amongst our plans, so we were extremely careful with our spending. I must recognize we felt envy of some classmates who had scholarship or subsidy, but it’s also true that we cannot complain.

If you are thinking about doing something like this ─and if you don’t mind─, here you go some advices:

1. If you are an adult, you should be prepared to play the student role again. It doesn’t matter who you are, how old you are, what you know, how your profession develops. You are a pupil surrounded by other pupils like you. Your group consists in students with a pretty similar level in English, and your daughter could perfectly be in a superior level. If you have any problem with that, you won’t be a good student. My advice: forget who you are, and focus in your learning.

2. To optimize your learning, you should emulate a sponge. You don’t learn only of the teachers, but of your classmates from around the world too. Be aware of this fact, and leave the international atmosphere takes you. Open your mind.

3. I find that speaking often between us (my wife and I) in English has also been a good help. If you coincide with other speakers in your own language in the academy, don’t use the common language. Talk just in the language you have gone to learn. It may be difficult at the beginning, but if you get it then it'll be odd to hear them in the common language. Speak only in English (or in the language you are learning).

4. We are fortunate because we have friends in Boston, and this fact supposes an invaluable help. Knowing local people is the best option if you have the opportunity, but it isn't easy. Therefore you should take advantage of the activities in the school: events for socializing, parties, excursions, cultural visits, etc. Don’t underuse them. Do social life.

5. And last but not least: be methodical, study hard and practice full time.

We are home again. Our impression is that we have had a parenthesis in our lives: we were students again! Meanwhile our habitual life waited for us, and our routine ─with its goods and troubles─ stopped for a moment whilst we had this useful and enriching brief period. We are continuing our habitual life from now on, but we have no doubt: it has been worth the parenthesis.

BOSTON POPS

On Wednesday, May 15, our dear friends from Boston had a nice surprise for my wife and me. Like on May 13 had been my birthday, they decided to take us to the Boston Pops, that is a featured spring musical event for the Bostonians. It treats of a celebration that has been held for more than one hundred and twenty-five years with no interruption, in which the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) plays popular music in the Boston Symphony Hall (BSH). During the performance, the public may order for having something to eat and drink. They can sit at the tables which have been set instead of the habitual seat rows. The atmosphere is more informal and relaxed than when the orchestra plays classical music. The history of this event is briefly explained in the page 15 of the Week 2, 2013 Season Programs Magazine issue.

Affectionately known as “America’s Orchestra,” the Boston Pops is the most recorded, and arguably the most beloved orchestra in the country. (…)In 2010, with the 125^th anniversary season, the Boston Pops reached a landmark moment in a remarkable history that began with its founding in 1885. Four years earlier, in 1881, Civil War veteran Henry Lee Higginson founded the Boston Symphony Orchestra, calling its establishment “the dream of my life.” From the start he intended to present, in the warmer months, concerts of light classics and the popular music of the day. From a practical perspective, Higginson realized that this ‘lighter’ performance would provide year-round employment for the musicians. “The Promenade Concerts,” as they were originally called, were soon informally known as “Popular Concerts,” which eventually became shortened to “Pops,” the name officially adopted in 1900. The following year the orchestra performed for the first time in its new home, Symphony Hall. Not only is this performance space acoustically outstanding, it was also designed, at Higginson’s insistence, so that the rows of seats for Boston Symphony concerts could be replaced by tables and chairs for Pops concerts (…)

In all these years, the BSO has had seventeen conductors, being Arthur Fiedler the first American-born of them and also the longest conductor with about fifty years leading the orchestra. He introduced the Evening at Pops television series, “Bringing the orchestra into the living rooms of countless Americans.” The currently conductor is Keith Lockhart (1995-present), who has led more than 1,500 Boston Pops concerts. He has discovered a new way opening the performances to a wider, more varied public.

The Boston Pops has a particular motif each year. The motif for the 2013 edition has been the music for the movies, from the Hollywood’s Golden age to nowadays blockbusters. “This season, the Boston Pops celebrates what is probably this country’s most significant contribution to popular culture around the world ─the movies,” Lockhart said. The function started with a train of sequences done from tracks of films, which succeeded each other while the orchestra was playing the proper music. It was wonderful to listen to live music watching well-known pictures that ever have moved to smile or tears the most attendants in the theatre. Hollywood films have made more for the culture globalization than hundreds of speeches and political deals. Who has not laughed watching the Laurel & Hardy or Jerry Lewis pictures? Who has not suffered and cried seeing Gone with the wind or The Bridges of Madison County? Didn't you excite watching Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn in The African Queen? Since we all were children, we have been seeing films from Hollywood in English or translated into many languages. We share the same film culture ─taking naturally into account the correspondent national additions.

I should say two words about the site where the performance was going to be. You surely know what usually happens when two couples of friends chat while they walk in the street. The four elements recombine: one of the new pairs is formed for the men, and the other one for the women. I wonder if it may be a cultural universal. So when we were walking through the city, my friend Dave ─who is a really world-well-travelled man─ talked to me about the Symphony Hall, the building where the concert was going to take place. He referred to the age (about 130 years old) of the BSH, but he realized that it was almost new compared with many buildings in the older Europe: “for Europeans, anything in America would be extremely young or new,” he told. What wouldn’t be for Egyptians or more yet for Iraqis!!! We agreed that you cannot be confused between the age of the concrete people and the age of the civilization. Human beings are young or old in years; human civilization, in thousands of years; and human culture, in hundreds of thousands of them. There are neither churches nor universities dated before British arrival in New England. However, my descent is not older than David’s descent. Not just because the whole humanity comes arguably from Africa, but in the more restricted sense that American Culture is an overseas development of the European or Occidental culture, with any world cultural contributions you want to find in it. It is certain that we can see and hear people from all ethnic groups and hundreds of languages throughout the streets of the American cities. So happens in Boston. But immigrants and even native people, whose descents had been living here for centuries before the arriving of European people, have had to accustom to live in the Occidental style, and even giving up part of their traditions if they were impossible to combine with the current life. It is not a victory or a defeat, and it can seem fair or unfair; but that's just the development of human history.

Anyway, the BSH is a praiseworthy concert building, especially because of its acoustics. The sound of the music played by the BSO had actually a high quality, and the execution was quite perfect. We listened to the music whilst we followed the rhythms with our heads, hands and legs. After the introduction, three impressive vocalists ─Donna McKechnie, Jodi Benson, and Doug LaBrecque─ performed some of the Marvin Hamlisch’s most memorable tunes from both stage and screen. The performance was also a tribute to Mr. Hamlisch (1944-2012), a well-known and many times awarded composer for both Hollywood and Broadway. The vocalists sang the pieces and also played as actors. The public were indeed enthusiastic clapping and singing when it was possible. Being amongst the presents in a so relevant Boston social event was a great pleasure for us. We felt as if we were Bostonians as well. This was possible just thanks to our hosts’ kindness.

We enjoyed the evening. Thanks Ann and David one more time.

RUNNING BOSTON (and 3)

May 13: my second birthday in Boston. I’ve got up at 6.00 a.m. and I‘ve had breakfast. Then I’ve done my homework and I’ve gone to the Academy. As daily, I’ve been learning English for six hours there, and afterwards I’ve come back home. My knowledge is going up and I am satisfied with my improvement. It is tiring to have to think and speak the whole day in a language which is not yours. However, I’m convinced that is the best form to learn any language: a total immersion in the language you want to learn. And yet, you have never the warranty you’ll be able to domain it. Although when I got home daily I feel tired, after resting a bit I can do anything. I go sometimes to run, but we have today guests for dinner. Accompanied by our best friends in Boston, we are going to have something out.

I ran yesterday. I decided to go to the Bunker Hill Obelisk and follow a track of the Freedom Trail, a 2.5 miles touristic route through Boston that leads to 17 significant historic sites. Places such as Paul Revere’s House, USS Constitution, Bunker Hill Monument, Old State House, etc. that are related with the revolution and independence of the United States in late eighteenth century. I done my usual previous preparation, and afterwards I started running towards Harvard Bridge. I crossed it and turned right in front MIT following the path next the Memorial Drive. I went down the Charles River and passed under the Longfellow Bridge. It took its name of the well-known Portland nineteenth century poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. One of his poems was “Paul Revere’s Ride”, a poetic version about the pre-war actions of one of the most popular local heroes against the British. Paul Revere was a patriot who rode speedy his horse to warn the colonists about the positions and movements of the British troops. He’s an icon in Boston. The subway red line crosses the river over this bridge in its way to Harvard Square. (Subway is also known in the Town of the Hill as ‘T’.) This zone is not pleasant for running because of the traffic, noise and pollution. While I was running, I realized the atmosphere was not the best. However, I decided not to change the way. I had my target in the obelisk of Bunker Hill, and I wasn’t going to stop.

I was running in the middle of an industrial area along Edwin Herbert Land Boulevard. Land was a scientist and inventor who cofounded Polaroid Corporation, the company who launched the instant photo cameras in the late 40s. In my route to Charlestown, where the monument is located, I crossed the John F. Gilmore Bridge. A bridge with the name of an important financial businessman sited over an industrial estate. It’s curious how they put names to the bridges. After crossing the bridge, I entered to Charlestown, a beautiful quiet residential neighborhood north of Boston. I went straight along Austin St. and Green St., then High St., and finally Concord St. I had in front the famous Bunker Hill Monument. The 221-feet granite obelisk has stairs inside and you can go up the 294 steps to the top. Last year, I climbed in 2’36”. It was erected to commemorate one of the most important battles against the British in the early American Revolutionary War. It happened in June, 17, 1775, and though it was actually in the adjacent Breed’s Hill, is known as Battle of Bunker Hill. Despite the American colonists lost the battle, they were able to cause serious damages to the British. It can be said they began to believe in that moment the final victory was not a dream. Therefore this event is so important in the history of the States. I stopped running, and I was reading brief historical reports for a while. I remembered when I did the visit accompanied of my wife. We walked the whole Freedom Trail. It had to be attractive, otherwise she wouldn’t come.

I left Monument Square towards south crossing High St., and I found the line which marks the Freedom Trail on the sidewalk. I decided to follow it to Winthrop Park, where the Soldiers Monument is, Winthrop St. down, Main St. and City Park. From there inbound, I ran along North Washington St. to pass over Charlestown Bridge. Many cars were being driven across the bridge, and the contact between their tires and the metal of the bridge surface produced a very peculiar sound. I would like to say something about my left leg, but I promised it not to talk about its situation. It told me, “Have I complained about my pain?” and continued, “Have you had to stop running?” It was right, no doubt. So I accepted not to say anything about.

At the end of the bridge, I turned right on the Causeway St., and I was be able to see the TD Garden on the right, the multi-purpose arena that is shared by the mythical basketball team Boston Celtics and the ice hockey team Bruins. When I was a child, I was supporter of the Lakers. It was a trend in my country. Afterwards, I discovered that I had so much to learn! I had left the Freedom Trail line some minutes ago, and I looked now for the Boston Common from Staniford St. I ran through Temple St., Derne St. and Bowdoin St. When I arrived at Beacon St., I was already in the top of the hill with the State House at my back and the Boston Common in front of me. I crossed the Park and the Public Garden as well, and I passed by front of Cheers’, the pub where was inspired the world-known television series. I went along Commonwealth Avenue until Clarendon St., where I turned left and ran through Copley Square to Huntington Av. The Boston Public Library ─which we are going to visit in a couple of hours─ was on the right. I’ve talked about this library in the other articles of this series. In two minutes, I got home.

The training was almost 7 miles in about 50 minutes. That is 7’19” per mile. I achieved a good pace following the Freedom Trail. I love doing running sightseeing.