WHO IS THIS GUY CALLED ARIEL?

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Friday, August 26, 2005

ARIEL'S SPANISH RECIPES #1

In response to a huge demand from … well … er, two people, here are a couple of traditional Spanish recipes. Like all the others that I’ve posted, they use few, cheap ingredients and are quick and easy to make. Got to live up to what it says on the label, see?: ariel’s no budget recipes. So, if you looking for cordon blue stuff, this isn’t the blog for you. Gazpacho. ( pronounced gathpacho ) For those of you who aren’t familiar with Spanish cuisine, gazpacho is a sort of cold soup, or drink,... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

THE SPANISH WAY OF DEATH

The more affluent modern societies become; and the more its members become obsessed with their own health and beauty, the more they seem to look upon death as an infliction of a cruel and uncaring God or Nature. But the Spanish seem to me to have a more natural acceptance of death than do we present-day British; although in my youth our attitudes to death were very similar to theirs. They, and most people of my generation, view death not as the ultimate insult of God, or Nature, but as an... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

THE ANSWER TO BLACKCAT'S QUESTION

I read a post by Black Cat ( Men and women have it all backwards. How did this happen? ), and I was tempted to add a comment; but the subject is a far too big for a mere comment. In this post, she makes the valid point that in nature it’s the males, not the females, who have the gorgeous plumage, or other striking attributes that attract a female; and is apparently puzzled as to why this rule of nature does not apply to humans. Of course we humans are animals, but to extrapolate this aspect of... Sign in to see full entry.

WHAT TO DO WITH A GLUT OF TOMATOES/NO BUDGET RECIPES#2

In a previous post, I gave some advice as to what to do with a glut of tomatoes, which one usually has at this time of year. As I said, you can peel, liquidise and freeze them, and they do freze well. We've just done 75 lbs of the damned things! But another thing you can do with tomatoes is make them into jam, which is really delicious, and oh so simple to make! All you do is peel the tomatoes and cut into small pieces, add the equivalent amount of sugar and just boil until cooked. When you... Sign in to see full entry.

WHAT TO DO WITH A GLUT OF TOMATOES

ARIEL'S NO-BUDGET RECIPES#2

Here is another cheap recipe for a meal for two. Or naturally, if you increase the ingredients, you can make it for as many people as you like. It’s what I call paella a la pobre: “ poor man’s paella ”. True paella is quite expensive, using sea food and other ingredients that you might not have to hand; or can’t afford. I don’t do weights, ‘cos they’re too complicated for me, so I judge my ingredients more by size. What you need for two to three servings:- A piece of any sort of fish, but white... Sign in to see full entry.

CHANGE OF HEADING

The product has been rebranded, but the quality remains superb Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

ECHOES OF A PAST WAR/THE LOVERS PART 2

In the first short story that I had published, one of the characters, ( this is the man in “ The Lovers” ) while on holiday in Spain, ruminates upon Spain and her people: upon historical and modern Spain. He thinks about the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath. Since writing that story, and coming to live permanently in Spain, I have thought much more about this subject. Because they invariably stem from long-standing social and/or racial and religious tensions and hatreds, civil wars are the... Sign in to see full entry.

THE LOVERS PART 2

The Lovers Part 2 In the evenings, as they sat on their terrace, sated and langorous with food and wine, they gazed upon dizzying chasms and piled up, shadowy mountains, garlanded with the fairy lights of far-flung villages. Toy villages, strewn by a fractious giant’s hand: bone white and ethereal in the light from stars so bright that they stung the eye like a welding arc. They watched the moon stealing over a peak – a moon such as they had never seen before. Seen through the clear mountain... Sign in to see full entry.

Monday, August 22, 2005

LA MATANZA/IT'S A MAD WORLD, MY MASTERS

The bridge that you see here is in the mountains near our house, and it spans a long-disused railway that used to run from Malaga to Ventas de Zafaraya; about eight miles from where we live. ( Those blossoms that you see appear to be on an almond tree, of which probably millions are grown in Andalucia. ) The track runs from just above our house to Zafaraya, and we often go for a drive along it, partly because our daughter lives outside Alhama de Granada, a few miles north of Zafaraya, and partly... Sign in to see full entry.

" IT'S A MAD WORLD, MY MASTERS! "

What the hell is wrong with us? Are we sheep? Why do we permit others to enslave our minds with their own perverted views? Have we no longer any backbone that we cannot stand up for what we believe in? What is so wrong with our normal human personalities and attributes that we so meekly permit others to heap scorn and abuse on them? All these, and a thousand other cogent questions could be addressed to the proponents of political correctness; but seldom are, and if addressed never receive an... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

THE LOVERS PART 1

They came to Spain from a frigid clime; came in the late Andalucian primavera, when the high sierras, shorn of snow, turned their bones to the warming sun; when the fecund earth lay basking, teaming in the sun, gestating a million plants. They came when a myriad flowers were in full bloom, swooning the air with their heady scent, the colours of their blossoms so intense that they hurt the eyes; came when the pea-sized grapes hung thick and clustered on gnomish stumps; came when the arroyos and... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, August 20, 2005

THE LAST SIGH OF THE MOOR/ENDLESS NIGHT.SILENT WORSHIP

In the mountains of Granada is a low peak, called El Ultimo Suspiro De Moro “ The Last Sigh of the Moor ”* It was upon this peak that Boabdil, the last Moorish ruler of Granada, on his way into exile in Africa, gazed for the last time upon the tan and vermilion walls of the Alhambra Palace. That palace that had been his home, and had been the seat of power in Granada for over 700 years. This morning it had been his; this centre of government of the last remaining Moorish taifa in Spain. But it... Sign in to see full entry.

ENDLESS NIGHT AND SILENT WORSHIP

These was my first posts in Blogit, and I am re-posting them for the benefit of the newbies. ENDLESS NIGHT All was done, the last word said, and I stood in my window, and I watched you go. You paused at the corner, in a wash of light from a street lamp. Your hair was gold, and your coat a red flame in the night. You looked up once; your face a pale blur, through rain streaked glass. It seemed to me that your eyes met mine, in a final glance. I clung to the moment, Winter filling my soul. You... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, August 19, 2005

THE COURT OF THE LIONS

He had come to Spain on a sort of pilgrimage: marvelling at the graceful beauty of the great mosque at Cordoba; musing in the shadows of the atalayas, brooding on their crags all along the coast of Andalucia. And this visit to the Alhambra was to be the culmination of that pilgrimage, before flying home to a life which had been turned to ashes. He first became aware of her: a woman clad in a long, softly clinging emerald green dress, when she was standing gazing up at one of the towers, a rapt,... Sign in to see full entry.

THE PORTICO OF THE COURT OF THE LIONS, ALHAMBRA PALACE, GRANADA

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HOLIDAY OFFER TO BLOGIT MEMBERS

We have a holiday home to rent in Andalucia, Spain, which is available to Blogit members at 10% discount off listed prices. Full details are available in the Casa Golondrina link in my side bar. Sign in to see full entry.

THE TAPESTRY OF LOVE

How may I fathom her love for me: or plumb the depths of my love for her? When wife and lover and mother and child, she is all-in-all to me? Woven we were when first we met into a single tapestry: with she the warp and I the weft. How could I live without my love when she is all to me? We are one tapestry, she and I: woven of the bright hues of Love, and the dull colours of mundane Life; the threads of the radiant hues of our happy times cheek by jowl with the blacks of strife. Enmeshed as I am... Sign in to see full entry.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

HEADLINES & ARIEL'S NOT A GIRL

BUSH, BLAIR PUTIN IN LOVE TRIANGLE BREAK UP! Deep Throat reveals sordid sexual details. $ firms. PREGNANT CHOIRBOYS ALLEGE ARCHBISHOP’S PATERNITY! MASS SLAYING: KIDMAN SAYS “Not guilty!) $ at five year low. NONCE’S NIGHT OF TERROR IN SEX-CHANGE DEACON’S TORTURE CRYPT! Cherie Blair in legal battle with aliens. £ falls against euro. STORM IN ENGLISH CHANNEL! U.K. SINKS! Howard blames Lib Dem wetness. £ firms against dollar. WORLD ANNIHILATED! ALIENS WIN! From Russia, Bush says “ Stand firm!”... Sign in to see full entry.

ARIEL IS NOT A GIRL!!!

Maestro, please tap your baton on your podium. All. Pay close attention. First violin give us an A. Orchestra. Play “ God Save The Queen “ ( America to you revolted ex-colonists over the pond. ) Choir. To the above tune/s sing … “ Ariel is not a girl, Ariel is not a girl, Is not a girl.” Repeat 87 times. Audience. Break out into lusty singing of the choruses, and on conclusion give rapturous standing ovations ( 12 in number. ) ( Standing ovulations are not permitted within the precincts of the... Sign in to see full entry.

About this Blog

Fiction, poetry, articles and a whole lot of other Ariel's stuff ; musings and ponderings ; they're all here, and i hope you'll find something here that you like. But I have a deeper purpose in mind. See, reading the papers and watching TV, it's so easy to think that the whole world's motivated by racial and religious hatreds of various kinds. Well most of us aren't, are we? We ordinary people are moved by love and compassion for our fellow humans ; and respect and tolerance for their differences. It's true that all that it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing, so we who are motivated by love have a duty speak out against the evils of the world ; not to be ashamed of our histories, nor embarrassed about being and saying clearly what we are and what we believe. If we don't learn to love each other, we'll perish. Although I am an atheist, my guiding principle is, and always has been, Christ's adjuration to " Love thy neighbour as thyself"

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