India 2008

India was very different than we expected. Although it is a poor country, we found happiness, beauty and very kind people. It is a colorful country with an interesting history, cultures and religions. We could only visit one of the 28 regions, Rajasthan (which I guess it is one of the richest regions), plus New Delhi and Agra (Uttar Predesh). The main itinerary was:

New Delhi - Mandawa - Bikaner - Jaisalmer - Jodhpur - Ranakpur - Judaipur - Pushkar - Ajmer - Jaipur - Agra - New Delhi (and some other little stops in other cities)

We visited a lot of forts and temples and we learned a little bit about their languages, cultures and religions. I wish I could post one day all my new knowledge about India:

• The peculiarities of their religions are quite interesting. Very different religions (hinduism, islam, jainism, buddhism, etc.) coexisting together in a same society. Many different gods; Allāh, Ganesh, Hanuman, Krishna, or even no gods. Many different doctrines, points, philosophies, symbolisms, etc. Beliefs that don't leave you indifferent. I was impressed by Jainism religion, I liked it :P.
  
• Culture: It is incredible how there are still concerted marriages among people of the same caste, so you don't know your wife/husband until the day of your wedding (bad luck if you don't like her/him), or to be obliged to work in a certain area because of the caste you belong to.
  
• And it is always fun to learn a new language and to try to speak it to local people, just to see if they are able to understand you. It is an universal truth that if you try to speak in their language, they will look at you with different eyes, they will probably smile and be more kind to you :D.
  

In short, too many things I wish I never forget ... We are lucky we have some pictures to remember them all :P:

However it was a fantastic trip, we also found some other things not so nice to see:

• Traffic is one of the most shocking things in India. It is totally uncontrolled, nobody respects anything, there are a lot of accidents and the drivers blow the horn all the time (just to try to avoid them). Paradoxically they respect the 80km/h speed limit in motorways (Thanks GOD!!! :D).
• Cleaning: All the cities are completely dirty, there are no bins and sewers are normally air-opened. It would be "easy" to put some bins in the street and to offer a dumpster service just to clean the streets a little bit. I think the cost would not be very high. The real problem is to try to get people to use them.

As I have said before, I think we have been in one of the richest regions of the India, so I guess the country has some other bigger problems than traffic and cleaning.

"I had no shoes and complained, until I met a man who had no feet".
Indian Proverb

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India 2008 - Some little videos

The trip to India gave us time to visit a lot of cities, forts, temples and to live many experiences difficult to capture in little domestic videos. Anyway, we think it was worth it to try ;P.

Enjoy them:

Crazy Motorways

Camel Safari

Jagdish Temple at night

Monkeys Temple

Arjun!!!!

Ranakpur Lake

Last day of the trip :(

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Sólo YO tropiezo dos veces con la misma piedra

Sólo YO tropiezo dos veces con la misma piedra… :S Pero prometo que de la próxima vez no pasa!!!

Fix You by Coldplay @ Barcelona's Palau Sant Jordi - 06.09.08

DioS!!!! Hasta se me ponen los pelos de punta!!!

“Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.”

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India2008 Sneak Preview

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Mind, Meaning and Cause: so What if I like Röyksopp?

M'agrada Röyksopp, i què?

Some Videos:

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Coming Soon: Summer'08 Special Post with pictures of San Fermines, Roses, Lloret, Platja D'aro, Eivissa (Ibiza).

Pictures Special Trip to India next October...

Espanya!!! Tots junts per un mateix objectiu!!!

¡Podemooos!, ¡Podemooos!, ¡Podemoooooss! ¡Sííííííííííííííí!

Quien iba a pensar que este grito que al principio me parecía ridículo ahora se haya convertido en uno de mis favoritos. El ¡Podemos! nos ha liberado definitivamente de la dinámica negativa de la selección, nos ha hecho olvidar el pasado y eliminar antiguos fantasmas, y nos ha llevado a un nuevo horizonte, un equipo de ensueño, que juega casi a la perfección y que a vapuleado a cualquier rival que se le ha puesto por delante. Sin duda la selección española ha sido muy superior a cualquier otra selección en esta Eurocopa 2008.

Una Eurocopa que ha sido una de las más vibrantes que yo recuerde. Los amantes del fútbol no podrán olvidar momentos míticos ya para la historia:

1. El jogo bonito de Portugal
2. El partizado Turquía – Rep. Checa, ya para los anales de la historia deportiva
3. La electrizante Holanda
4. El Italia – Francia
5. El España – Rusia por partida doble
6. El gol de Villa en el Suecia – España
7. El Croacia – Turquía, nueva hazaña de los turcos
8. Tifón Arshavin en el Holanda – Rusia
9. Los penaltis del España – Italia y los momentos posteriores, con el periodista de Cuatro entrevistando al Rei casi llorando. (no tiene precio).
10. El Alemania – España y las 48 horas posteriores.

y 11. Ver jugar a Xavi, Iniesta, Senna, Cesc, Villa y Silva juntos... No tiene precio

Ahora a por el Mundial 2010 :P!!!

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Best Civ4 quotes - Part II

Mining: "The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." - Confucius

Meditation: "Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back." - The Buddha

Polytheism: "Not at all similar are the race of the immortal gods and the race of men who walk upon the earth." - Homer

Masonry: "It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls." - Aristophanes

Horseback Riding: "If you speak the truth, have a foot in the stirrup." - Turkish Proverb

Writing: "True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read." - Pliny the Elder

Mathematics: "If in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics." - Roger Bacon

Currency: "Everything is worth what its purchaser will pay for it." - Publius Syrus

Drama: "All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts. " - William Shakespeare

Optics: "One doesn't discover new lands without losing sight of the shore." - Andre Gide

Philosophy: "I have gained this by philosophy: that I do without being commanded what others do only from fear of the law." - Aristotle

Bureaucracy: “Bureaucracy expands to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy.” Oscar Wilde

Banking: "Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies." - Thomas Jefferson

Nationalism: "A man does not have himself killed for a half-pence a day or for a petty distinction. You must speak to the soul in order to electrify him." - Napoleon Bonaparte

Printing press: "What gunpowder did for war, the printing press has done for the mind." - Wendell Phillips

Military tradition: "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." - Sun-Tzu

Economics: "Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe." - Albert Einstein

Steam Power: "You would make a ship sail against the winds and currents by lighting a bon-fire under her deck? I have no time for such nonsense." - Napoleon, on Robert Fulton's Steamship

Physics: "To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction." - Isaac Newton

Medicine: "As to diseases make a habit of two things - to help, or at least, to do no harm." - Hippocrates

Combustion: "Everything in life is somewhere else, and you get there in a car." - E. B. White

Refrigeration: "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are." - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Plastics: "I just want to say one word to you. Just one word: plastics." - Calder Willingham

Genetics: "Soon it will be a sin for parents to have a child which carries the heavy burden of genetic disease." - Bob Edwards

Robotics: "The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do." - B. F. Skinner

Fusion: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke

Scientific method: "I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo Galilei

To see the first part click here.

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1000 visits!!!

Kiops' Blog reaches 1000 visits. Congratulations!!!

Since it was created in 4th October 2007, it has received a lot of visits from all around the world, specially from Europe and America.

Thanks to posts like "The Anchor", "Experience it again!", "Post Remember", "What else is there?" or "What does the song Gabriel by Lamb really mean?" the blog has reached 1000 visits and 1964 hits, what means I am not talking alone.

I hope to continue blogging for a long long time and receiving visits and interesting comments.

Thanks to everybody.

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Best Civ4 quotes - Part I

Fishing: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." - Lao Tzu

Hunting: "If you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both." - Native American Saying

Sailing: "You can't direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails." - Unknown

Archery: "Do not throw the arrow which will return against you." - Kurdish Proverb

Metal Casting: "And them that take the sword shall perish by the sword." - The Bible, Matthew

Literature: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." - Sir Francis Bacon

Alphabet: "Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world." - The Buddha

Compass: "The wisest men follow their own direction." - Euripides

Constitution: "No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, or in any other way destroyed, except by the lawful judgment of his peers." - The Magna Carta

Fascism: "The great masses of the people... Will more easily fall victims to a big lie than to a small one." - Adolf Hitler (Misatributted)

Engineering: "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Music: "If music be the food of love, play on." - William Shakespeare

Paper: "I cannot live without books" - Thomas Jefferson

Assembly Line: "People can have the Model T in any color - so long as it's black." - Henry Ford

Education: "There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance." - Ali bin Abi-Talib

Replaceable Parts: "The whole is more than the sum of its parts." - Aristotle

Biology: "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, but the one most responsive to change." - Charles Darwin

Liberalism: "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin (paraphrased)

Gunpowder: "You can get more of what you want with a kind word and a gun than you can with just a kind word." - Al Capone

Democracy: "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." - Winston Churchill

Corporation: "Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility." - Ambrose Bierce

Communism: "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." - Dom Helder Camara

Ecology: "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children" - Native American Song

Artillery: "Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl." - Frederick the Great

Electricity: "We will make electricity so cheap that only the rich will burn candles." - Thomas Edison

Industrialism: "There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible." - Henry Ford

Computers: "Never trust a computer you can't throw out a window." - Steve Wozniak

Mass media: "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about." - Oscar Wilde

Future tech: "The future will be better tomorrow." - Dan Quayle



So, What is the most interesting quote for you?

Play it!

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Discover

"I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel
I focus on the pain, the only thing that's real.

No one knows what it's like
to be the bad man, to be the sad man.

No one knows what it's like
to be hated, to be fated to telling only lies.

I wear this crown of thorns upon my liar's chair,
full of broken thoughts, beneath the stain of time.

What have I become? My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know, goes away in the end.

And no one knows what its like
to be mistreated, to be defeated,
To feel these feelings..., like I do,
and I blame you!

But my dreams, they aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be.
My love is vengeance, that's never free

I remember everything, the feeling disappears
You are someone else, I am still right here.

And you could have it all, my empire of dirt.
I will let you down, I will make you hurt.

...

What have I become? My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know, goes away in the end.

I hurt myself today, to see if I still feel
I focus on the pain, the only thing that's real.

If I could start again, a million miles away
I would keep myself, I would find a way."

Behind Blue Eyes' Limp Bizkit Vs. Hurt's Johnny Cash

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¡No me lo puedo creer!

No me puedo creer como un equipo que ha jugado perfecto, que se ha entregado al 100% y ha conseguido lo imposible puede llevarse un varapalo tan grande.

Qué gesta y que decepción a la vez.

¡Hoy todos somos del GETAFE!

¡¡¡Felicidades!!! Ha sido una injusticia pero, ya se sabe, el fútbol es así.

A ver si otros se aplican el cuento y se comen sus propias palabras… Que n’aprenguin!

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Asturias'08

"El cielo dormido o despierto

deja que sigamos soñando con el mar"

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A man of science or a man of faith

If you were in the island, who would you follow?





Check the poll: Jack or Locke

Go by my own seems a good choice, but it would probably be my end. Not only because it is dangerous place but also because I would probably become crazy (too many days alone).

I would definitely follow Locke. Although I consider myself a man of science, Jack has made too many mistakes, he is becoming crazy day after day and his attitude sucks sometimes. He has lost his mind, his nerves boil too easy, just for love. He doesn’t know what he wants and sometimes he doesn’t listen the opinion of the other oceans.

Locke is a man of faith, he knows that each one of them is there for some reason. The fact he can now walk is not by chance. He is not a leader but he lives and let the others live. He is an adventurer. He prefers to explore by himself instead to be told what is out there. He has also made some mistakes and sometimes he is a too good guy but, after all, he is one of the most intelligent people on the island (after Ben).

So, who would you follow?

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Salvemos Eurovisión

La gala “Salvemos Eurovisión” ya ha pasado, dejándonos algunas “perlas” entre comillas y algunas joyas de verdad. Durante la duración del programa tuvimos la oportunidad de ver a 10 candidatos de calidad muy dispar; desde grupos destrozando canciones rayando la mediocridad, como D-Vine o Ellas, hasta artistas con gran talento, como Coral. Pero sin duda, fueron dos candidatos los que me llamaron realmente la atención.

Andreu Buenafuente, con su gran capacidad de lanzar figuras al estrellato (véase por ejemplo el NENG), tuvo la idea de crear un personaje que participara en el concurso de MySpace, para seleccionar al candidato español para Eurovisión de 2008, donde cualquiera se podía presentar. De este primer contest, se seleccionarían cinco artistas que pasarían más tarde a la gran final, llamada Salvemos Eurovisión, compuesta por cinco candidatos más elegidos por un jurado supuestamente integrado por profesionales del sector. Así que Buenafuente encargó esta tarea a David Fernández, colaborador del programa y miembro de ElTerrat। Y lo que empezó como una broma se ha convertido en un gran fenómeno de masas। Todo el mundo conoce hoy en día el baile del chiki-chiki y su victoria en la gala fue casi por mayoría absoluta.

Por supuesto estoy más que satisfecho por el resultado del concurso; primero para darle su merecido a RTVE. Si nos dan la oportunidad de elegir al candidato, ahora que apechuguen con la elección. El Baile del Chiki-Chiki es la canción que realmente queremos que vaya. Y segundo, porque grandes canciones han ido a Eurovisión y han vuelto con el rabo entre las patas, simplemente porque las votaciones son un fraude, como los clásicos puntos otorgados entre países vecinos. Así que esta es nuestra manera de decir que nos importa un comino el resultado y lo que queremos es pasarlo bien. Además, el festival ha ido perdiendo prestigio año tras año, así que no merece la pena llevar a artistas “reales” a perder el tiempo allí.

Es decir que el primer candidato que me llamó realmente la atención fue Rodolfo, su participación y victoria llevan un mensaje “escondido” para RTVE, Eurovisión y para el iluminado que se le ocurrió montar un sistema de selección MySpace + votación telefónica. Supongo que a estas alturas ya le habrán despedido...

Y el segundo candidato realmente bueno, según mi opinión, es La Casa Azul (aquí enlace wikipedia). Su propuesta La revolución sexual tiene un rollo funky moderno que engancha bastante, y el videoclip no tiene pérdida. Realmente creo que es un estilo realmente nuevo aquí en España, aunque se podrían encontrar grupos similares en otros países. Además, La Casa Azul tiene algún otro tema en su disco que merece la pena escuchar.

Lo realmente sorprendente es que este grupo existe desde 1997 y cuenta ya con cuatro álbumes, aunque yo no había oído hablar de ellos hasta ahora. Aunque esto no es del todo cierto si tenemos en cuenta que Guille Milkyway, voz solista del grupo, fue el compositor de la famosa “Amo a Laura” para la MTV España y de la canción introductoria de la série Gominolas.

Creo que la participación en esta gala les puede haber servido para hacerse un sitio en el panorama musical español, primero por dar a conocer algunos de sus temas actuales y segundo para poner “cara” a canciones que todos conocemos y que ahora relacionaremos con ellos.

Por último esta Coral, gran artista, pero con el problema que no aportaba realmente nada nuevo, sonaba como otro nuevo producto sacado de OT, y por eso su impacto no estuvo a la altura de su calidad.

En cualquier caso, pienso que el titulo de la gala este año no podía ser más apropiado. Habrá que esperar al 24 de Mayo para ver si esta vez hemos Salvado Eurovisión.

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New York II

Some tiny videos of the trip:

Toys'wow'us

New York in February

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The Anchor

Every single equation needs a constant. I am looking for mine around the world.

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I Am... Lost

#5 - The First Time I Heard Myself On the Radio
#4 - Dad Teaching Me To Swim at Butlins
#3 - The Christmas Liam Gave Me the Ring
#2 - Woman Outside Covent Garden Calls me Hero
#1 - The Night I Met You

Top Five moments of Charlie's Life.

"Greatest Hits", Lost S03E21.

This List makes me think a lot...

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Dijous Llarder a la vila del pingüí

Por una vez en la Tierra de Mordor la niebla se desvaneció, los rayos del Sol irrumpieron en la apacible vida de las criaturas de la Comarca, iluminando fachadas, calles y plazas, dando lugar a una escena insólita. Aquel día las calles se llenaron de ruidosa muchedumbre que, dejándose llevar por la momentánea retirada del frío, se dirigía con paso solemne a la plaza mayor. Allí, como en un gran festín, los cerdos colgaban de afilados ganchos atados con gruesas cuerdas, el cocinero alimentaba las llamas, y los comensales se iban sentando uno a uno mientras observaban la gran cantidad de manjares que allí se ofertaban.

En seis personajes se centra nuestra historia, aunque más tarde se añadieron cuatro más:

Y aquel día, degustando todo tipo de alimentos y bebiendo jarras de cerveza, se gozó de un buen ambiente soleado, con conversaciones amenas y divertidas. Lujoso paréntesis en estas tierras...

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Christmas Stars

"Protagonistas" inesperados de algunos medios de comunicación de Vic y Osona, durante las fiestas de Navidad.

Portada Especial de Navidad de la web OsonaTanga

Clica sobre el enlace para ver la noticia original y el comentario "cachondo": Imatges del 24 Nit a LaDisco



Protagonistas también del Més! Osona en Año Nuevo.


Publicidad de La Disco Vig en el Més! Osona de la primera semana del 2008 (del 2 al 6 Enero).
Foto de media pagina!!! jeje, nos hizo bastante gracia porque luego todo el mundo nos comentaba que nos había visto en el semanal, jeje.

Por supuesto, siempre estarán las fotos de rigor de "la colla" que le pedimos cada semana a Toni "Cantizano". Se pueden consultar en la galeria de la web de La Disco.

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