International Papanates

One central concept to understand Catalonia is that of papanates. Catalonia, Barcelona specially, is the land of papanates. A papanates is a person who make his/her living of saying obvieties or common places. In politics it is full of them. The city mayor of Barcelona is a clear example. I was listening his speech the other day and after 5min talking, he just used vague and bogus words to define what he is going to do if he wins next election. He talks about believing, confidence, and other pseudo-religious shitty concepts recovenverted into the new dogmatic faith of his party. Papanatism. Barcelona mayors are known to be papanatas: Hereu, Clos, Maragall...until the best of all, Pich i Pon, who was so pro in the art of spoonerism that in Catalan there is a category of them called piquiponades, like when he mentioned the Nippo-Japanese war or the Anglo-English relations.
But unfortunately papanates are not only into politics. Most of them are in business. There is a universal believe that making money save one from all his sins, but this one is to big to be redeemed from. Some of the former presidents of FC Barcelona have been egregious business men, and also illustrious papanates. Nuñez, Gaspart, Reyna, Laporta...even the present one, the pijito Sandro, whose only difference is that he can utter a whole sentence without ashaming his language teacher.
However, there is a new breed of papanates invading the country recently. As a fruit of the recesion we are in, a new cult has appeared in our land, that of entrepreneurism. Even the word they are using is probably wrong (emprenedor) and a papanatada in itself. Now, it seems that the only and true credo that will save us from the recession is that we all become entrepreneurs of technological companies in a night. This is like opting for using bicycles for mass transportation: since we can't build a proper transportation system, get a third-world vehicle and risk your life in crazy-driving Barcelona. Now, since economy is totally dead, the brightest mind of the country, thouse who have an MBA or have been a posh diletant in California while at University, the sons and grand-sons of the elite, have come to think that we all must be Steve Jobs. "We have talent, and we are born leaders", they think, "and also the money", what could stop them from being successful entrepreneurs?
Catalonia exports papanates in fancy and trendy cardbroard boxed for all the world to buy; FC Barcelona, Custo, Desigual, Pans&Co. Nothing original, just better packaged.

Piotr, the Mushroom Grower

Sorry to insist, but the farm owner is just like Jertzs Balowski

Zame aczent, zame zcspirit!

Mushroom Shining

I don't know where I am. I'm in a business trip to Poland. We must make the vision system for a robot that will automatically pick mushrooms, so we came to a farm in Poland to study how the people who we are going to take their jobs from do that. So far so good, though I don't know where I am. I feel like being in the middle of the woods and that wolves will appear at any minute from the frozen lake in front of the hotel to eat us all.

My mobile phone says I'm in Koczala, that I've heard it sounds like Kochawa, but the hotel is in Dymi, a spa-tourist resort called Aquarius by a frozen lake. Google map say this is here. Not to be mistaken with Dymi 2, the complex of soviet concrete buildings at the entrance of the village painted in sound colors that just remember me the danchi I was living in for 3 years in Japan.

The farm is in a special place, a 450Ha piece of land that once was an old military airport with a 2.5 Km landing airstrip and camouflaged hangars for soviet air fighters, that can be also seen in Google maps. We are staying at a hotel only for us (5 people) which is closed for being out of season. This morning, as a joke, I said to the Greek guy who also participates in the project that this places looked very much like resort in The Shining. He answered "watch the child in the big wheel!". The funny coincidence is that tonight I've seen that child in a big wheel...on TV. I'm watching The Shining in German in a crappy TV set with only channels in Polish and German.

We're gonna stay until Friday. Hope my door will resist the ax!

GANBARO NIPPON!!!!!!!!!

Boooooooooring!!!!!!!!

Spanish TV is soooooo damn boring that I've thought about that episode of the Young Ones



With a performance of Madness (Welcome to the House of Fun)
Isn't Jerzy Balowsky nice?