Oh Fuck!, Alonso makes a double win in Japan, Martti Ahtisaari and Le Clézio win the Nobel peace and literature prizes and Rajoy puts his foot in it.

Hi again

I just had to include a quick post on the happenings above which for me have been some of the most important things to take place this week.

The Economist, that financial media institution of world wide prestige, this week used the forbidden four letter word to describe how we are all feeling about the financial crisis. I have never seen that word used before in headline news but actually thought it was great. I cannot somehow imagine a Spanish magazine ever doing anything like it. My Father who is nearly 90 and is a bit of a stick in the mud conservative is a subscriber of The Economist. It hasn’t arrived yet but I look forward to seeing his face when it comes through our letter box!

I’m no Formula One fanatic but I don’t like to see Alonso, the winner in 2005 and 2006 so low down in the standings. His win last week in Singapore seemed a bit of a fluke. So when he won again today in Japan
it looked like he had made a comeback. It’s a bit late though as he has 48 points and with only 2 races to go, there is no way he is going to get anywhere near his ex team mate and rival, Lewis Hamilton.

From Formula One to the Nobel Prizes announced this week. Well, I always loved competitions. I was delighted for Finland and my many Finnish friends to see Martti Ahtisaari , the former Finnish president and United Nations envoy, be awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a mediator in international conflicts. Who is probably not too pleased, or so I heard, is Ingrid Betancourt, the famous ex FARC hostage in Colombia. She was one of the candidates and word has it that she was preparing an event to celebrate winning the Nobel Prize herself. She must have got a big shock.

And a big shock it was to hear the name of an unknown writer, to me at least and possibly many more people, as this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. It went to French writer and traveller Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio . He will now surely become quite famous which, I think is one of the objectives of this prize. In any case, both he and Martti Ahtisaari (how awful is the spelling of Finnish names and surnames, you never know how many consonants or vowels!) will pocket 1 million euros each which will surely come in handy.

And finally here comes the local story of the leader of the opposition, Mariano Rajoy’s unfortunate incident with a microphone. Today is Spain’s national holiday when they celebrate the discovery of America. It is also the day of the Armed Forces and military processions go on all over Spain. The King, Juan Carlos, presides over the events in Madrid and all the Government and opposition members have to attend.
Mariano Rajoy and his faux pas
Rajoy was talking to a colleague and without realising a microphone was switched on complained that at the weekend he had to attend the Fiesta Nacional which he said was a complete bore. The vocabulary he chose was much more descriptive in Spanish as he said it was “¡un coñazo!” You can actually only feel sorry for the chap because at the end of the day he is completely right, it is a bore and I’m sure he would prefer to spend the Sunday morning with his family. It goes without saying, of course, that the press and Government members have had a field day with the whole episode.

That’s all for the moment folks.

Cheers
Masha