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The Oscar’s Spanish Language Moment

23 Feb 2009

Actually there was one Spanish language moment right before Penelope Cruz won for best supporting actress when Angelica Houston, who was charged with giving Pe her nomination tribute, finished off with a “Felicitaciones”.

“This is not going to be 45 seconds, I can say that right now. Has anybody ever fainted here? Because I might be the first one. Thank you so much to the Academy

I want to share this with my fellow nominees and with the amazing ensemble of actors that I had the privilege to work with in this movie. Thank you, Woody, for trusting me with this beautiful character.

Thank for you having written over all these years some of the greatest characters for women. And I cannot talk about great female characters without thanking my friend Pedro Almodóvar for having made me part of so many of his adventures. Thank you, Bigas Luna, Fernando Trueba, for giving me my first movies. Thank you, Harvey Weinstein. I wanted to dedicate this to my parents and to my brother and sister, to my friend Robert Carlo, who is not with us anymore, and to everyone who has helped me from the beginning and you know who you are and I thank you from my heart.

I grew up in a place called Alcobendas, where this was not a very realistic dream. And I, always on the night of the Academy Awards, I stay up to watch the show and I always felt that this was, this ceremony was a moment of unity for the world because art, in any form, is and has been and will always be our universal language and we should do everything we can, everything we can, to protect its survival.

So I thank you so much and I have to say something in Spanish, because everyone? Todos lo que, desde España, ahora están compartiendo éste momento conmigo, y sientan que esto también es de ellos, se los dedico, y a todos los actores de mi país. Muchisimas gracias. Thank you so much.”

Via / Lossip

Penelope Cruz Wants Her Damned Oscar

3 Feb 2009

This past Sunday Penelope Cruz picked up a Goya award (see above video), her country’s version of the Oscars for her performance in Woody Allen’s Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona. While most people are pleased to just be nominated, la Pe told Liz Smith she wants more than that:

I congratulate Penélope again on her nomination. I ask, because it’s the tiresome but necessary question, if it really matters to her if she wins. “Hmmm … what can I say? It’s not a lie that it is an honor to be nominated, and if I don’t win, I won’t be any less honored, but … look, ask anyone who is nominated. No matter what you think you feel about awards, when you’re there, sitting in that seat, with those people, all dressed up — of course you want to win!”

At least she’s honest! I personally don’t think she’ll win (though I thought her performance was fabulous)…too much stiff competition in that category.

P.S. What is up with the intro to that video?

Via / wowowow.com

From Inside Guantánamo: What Life is Really Like in the Soon-to-be-Gone Prison

28 Jan 2009

If there is anybody out there who still has any doubts as to whether the U.S.’s shameful hellhole Guantánamo should be closed, ex-prisoner Lahcen Ikassrien has some things to tell you. Ikassrien, a Spanish resident and Morrocan national, was a prisoner at Gitmo for nearly 4 years after being captured in Afghanistan and accused of being a supporter of the Taliban.

If you understand Spanish, have a look at the video above, in which Ikassrien describes in detail what his life (if you can call it that) was like during his detention (among the torture, being laced with gasoline and set fire). I’ve also translated parts of his interview with Spain’s Telecinco here because I think it’s of interest to our readers. This kind of testimony doesn’t reach us through U.S. mainstream media:

What is the before and after for Lahcen Ikassrien, after living 3 and a half years in hell?

I am a Muslim and I will continue to be a Muslim. I don’t force anyone to enter my territory nor to accept my beliefs. I don’t have problems with Jews or with Christians nor with anyone of any other belief. But I ask for respect for Muslims because people try to make others believe that we are terrorists or that women are forced to wear ‘hiyab’ and that’s not true. I ask for respect.

Friday Field Trip : Let’s Go to the Prado!

2:04 pm By Maegan La Mala · Arts| Spain · Comments Off

23 Jan 2009

Thanks to Google (and seriously, these days Google is in everything), we can visit some of the master works of art held in the Prado Museum of Madrid, Spain without leaving your seat.

The Prado Museum has become the first art gallery in the world to provide access to and navigation of its collection in Google Earth. Using the advanced features of Google Earth art historians, students and tourists everywhere can zoom in on and explore the finer details of the artist’s brushwork that can be easily missed at first glance.

I love Spanish art and was lucky enough to visit the Prado once upon a time years ago. It’s nice to see some of my favorite works like Las Meninas and El Jardin de las Delicias

My only complaint is that you can only really look at 14 works of art and there are plenty more worth looking at pero it’s a good start. Let’s see if more museums go virtual.

Visit the Prado here.

Will Smith Gets Spanish

13 Jan 2009

Actor Will Smith was in Spain and stopped by a ridiculous show called El Hormiguero to promote his new movie, which I have no idea what it’s called in English, but is apparently titled “7 Almas” in Spanish. In the video above you’ll see Smith follow the conversation of the host via simultaneous translation, answer a couple questions in Spanish, cry about the Obama victory, and sing a flamenco song en español. Too much weird content for me here folks! I have to admit I pretty much despise him in his natural state, but since he’s so good-natured in Spanish he seems almost…ALMOST palatable.

Via / TV y Espectaculos

Flood of Cuban “Grandchildren” into Spain

31 Dec 2008

Spain announced last week the opportunity for mass nationalization of the grandchildren of Spanish citizens who were forced to flee to Cuba during the Spanish Civil War, and the response from Cubans fitting this description has been overwhelming.

Cuban cardiologist Norberto Díaz Reyes will be a Spaniard in 15 days. And he hopes to be in the “madre patria” in less than 3 months. “I always wanted to return to my grandparents’ country. I would like to live and work in Spain for many years”, he says, with a smile wider than the Havana harbor. Norberto, 38, was the first person in his country to take advantage of the so-called “Grandchildren Law”, part of the “Historial Memory Law”, which, starting yesterday and lasting for two years, will let some 150,000 Cuban descendents of emigrants and exiles, obtain Spanish citizenship.

150,000 may not sound like a lot, but that’s only a fraction of what the Spanish government is expecting. In looking at data, it appears that there should be a lot more people on their way to the Spanish consulate in Havana: in just the first third of the last century, over one million Spaniards had emigrated to Cuba. Another piece of data is that in 1905 there were over 100,000 Spaniards from Galicia — just one region of Spain – living on the island. These numbers point to a possible avalanche of petitions for citizenship, and the Spanish consulate has hired an extra 35 people just to deal with all of them.

El País reports that some people waiting in line (for days, some for weeks and months)could care less about living in Spain; what they want is a European passport so they can get to Miami.

Similar lines are forming outside of consulates around Latin America, such as the one in Buenos Aires, where the Spanish government has hired 150 extra employees to handle the demand.

Via / El País

Wii Throw Shoes at the Soon to be Former President Bush

9:22 am By Maegan La Mala · Spain| Tech · 1 Comment

17 Dec 2008

Spanish blogger Polonio 210 credits President Bush’s shoe ducking skills to the latest Wii game : “Wii Zapatilla”.

Now if only there was a game where we could throw shoes at Bush. My kids would love it and so would I.

Via / Mi Blog es Tu Blog

FIFA Announces Player of the Year Nominations

11:23 am By Maegan La Mala · Latin America| Spain| Sports · Comments Off

12 Dec 2008

Futbol is the only sport la Mala half ass follows.Today FIFA announced the finalists for the 2008 World Player and FIFA Women’s World Player awards, to be handed out here on January 12, 2009 and some of the top nominees are from Latin America.

The male nominees are Kaka (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Fernando Torres (Spain), and Xavi (Spain).

Nadine Angerer (Germany), Cristiane (Brazil), Marta (Brazil), Birgit Prinz (Germany) and Kelly Smith (England) will contest the women’s award.

Last year Kaka won the award and yes his name still makes me laugh as if I were a 13 year old.

Via / France 24

Prop 8 is Winning, Gay Couples Losing in California

5 Nov 2008

It’s 11 a.m. in Barcelona, and 2 a.m. in San Francisco, my home city. And after waking up to the news of the Obama win, celebrating it with people here, feeling overjoyed at the fact that 8 years of Republican reign is finally over and the impact that will have on the world, and that a person of color is in the White House…I got a sinking feeling. I climbed down off my cloud and back to reality to have a look at the voting returns on California’s Proposition 8.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Prop 8, it is a state ballot measure which would amend the California constitution to limit marriage to unions between a man and a woman, effectively making gay marriage illegal. You might remember that a few months back the California Supreme Court ruled that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. Marriages followed, among them that of TV star Ellen DeGeneres and her partner actress Portia De Rossi.

With 80% of precincts reporting, it looks like my fellow Californians have spoken, and their words are not what I expected. Prop 8 is winning by 4 percent, and the trend is likely to remain the same once all the votes are counted.

View from Abroad: The World Waits, Is Hopeful for U.S. Elections

4:51 am By Maegan La Mala · Media| Spain| US Presidential Race 2008| World · Comments Off

4 Nov 2008

As I sit in front of a TV in a major European city with a ton of problems of its own, the only thing that seems to be on anyone’s mind here in Barcelona — or in Spain — is what will happen today in the United States. Every network has sent not just their Washington or New York correspondents to cover the lead-up to the elections and their subsequent unfolding, but also their most prized journalists, who are Washington, Chicago and other locales. The familiar faces of the star anchors on the evening news are missing from the newsdesk, and they speak to us from a backdrop of American flags or images of the Capitol. Clearly this isn’t just any election.

9 hours ahead of those in my home state of California, my stomach is already churning with nervousness as my friends sleep. Today is the day. On the street, newspaper headlines — and talks in smoky cafés — predict a victory for Obama. In this fiercely liberal and progressive city, where I’ve encountered my fair share of skepticism (ahem, that’s a euphemism) towards Americans, I am finding that most people are convinced that we won’t make the same mistake again. It almost feels like if the U.S. elects Obama, Europeans will almost be capable of forgiving us for the last two failures of the American electorate. On the flip side, should McCain emerge as the new leader of the world’s most powerful country, there will be more than a lack of forgiveness — a resounding “you got what you deserved.”

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