Sunday 26th August 2012
Home again and a quiet hot week in August, our 29th wedding
anniversary, the stories of Julian Assange and Lance Armstrong, the sentence of
Norway’s mass murderer, the naked prince, a ruined fresco in Spain and RIP Neil Armstrong.
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| On Friday we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. Gosh we are aging. |
Hello again.
It is Sunday
and time to write my blog and reflect on the week that is coming to an
end. In Spain most people are still on
holiday and the streets of the cities are virtually empty. I am back at work but still had lots of time
to relax at home where it has been very quiet. A lot of the afternoons were spent by the pool
as really this week seems to me to have been the hottest week of the year. We have had to have the air conditioning on
all through the night until Thursday when the heat finally began to ease
off. I think it is now the end of the
thermometer reaching 40ºc which sometimes makes it impossible even to be by the
pool and the only place to be is in our air conditioned bedroom. Without the air conditioning the room would
reach a temperature of 30ºc, the highest I have seen for a long time.
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| It has been lovely relaxing by the pool this week. |
It was the
first week I have been home for the whole week for a long time, the first week
I haven’t been somewhere travelling. And
you know what? It’s lovely to be home again.
Ah but not for long my friends, as next Wednesday I will be off to Stockholm
for meetings and no sooner am I back, I will be off again, to Santander. Yes, this time next week I shall be at the
hotel we always go to, directly opposite one of my favourite beaches in Spain,
the famous “Sardinero” beach. Then the
telecoms conference, the biggest of its kind in Spain, will make a start on
Monday and I will be very busy, like every year. Santander is a marvelous backdrop to a great
conference where all the big guns from the Spanish sector meet, in a kind of
first week at school for telecommunications in this country.
So let me
start from the beginning. On Monday I
started the Dukan diet, again, to shed the 2 or 3 kilos I had gained after our
gastronomic holiday. I am pleased to say
that so far, 1 and a bit have already gone.
On Monday
morning the news was dominated by the story of Julian Assange, or rather by his
speech from the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, near Harrods, where he has sought
asylum. His lawyer is the famous Spanish “ex” judge, Baltasar Garzón, so maybe
it is because of the latter’s advice that he is at the Embassy. His story is famous, the founder of Wikileaks
which discovered many secrets of the US government, mainly to do with
unorthodox behavior related to dealings in Afghanistan and Irak. He is also wanted by the Swedish authorities
to answer accusations of sexual assault complaints that he denies. He won’t go to Sweden and is in political
asylum, worried that once in Sweden, he will be extradited to the USA and there
he fears for his life. In his speech, he
appeals to Barack Obama to stop what he calls a “witch hunt”. It is difficult to judge this very
complicated issue. I, for one, think
what he did in Sweden does not constitute a real crime and that his future
would be very dark if he was sent to the USA.
I also applaud Wikileaks disclosing sensitive US
military documents as I don’t see why governments we vote for should keep such
secrets from their voters. I cannot
foresee either an easy way out of the current situation. How long I wonder can Julian Assange continue
to live in the Embassy? There have been
talks of the British government storming the Embassy, something I hope they
would never do as it would go against all the laws of diplomacy. Meanwhile the British bobbies surround the
building, as do protestors who are in favour of the Australian internet icon.
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| Julian Assange was big news this week |
On Tuesday I
went into the office. I had such
startling news there, that it was only on Friday that I remembered that Tuesday
21st October was our 29th wedding anniversary. For the
record, it is the first time in all these years that I have not remembered our
wedding anniversary on the day. When I
suddenly remembered on Friday, I called Eladio and told him we had forgotten
something important. Of course he didn’t
have a clue, so I told him. As usual he
was quite non plussed and just said, well let’s celebrate it tonight at La
Txitxarrería. Well we did, but I’ll tell
you about that when I get to Friday in this post.
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| This was what we looked like on our wedding day on 21st August 1982, 29 years ago! |
On Wednesday I
had two important meetings, one with my PR Agency, Ketchum, for the record with
Carlos and Isabel who run the Yoigo account, and then with QE, my events
agency, represented by Bea and Cris. We had lots to discuss about our up and
coming participation in the annual telecoms conference in Santander. We met at the half way point between our
house and Madrid, at the cafeteria outside Zielo, the shopping centre in
Pozuelo. As I remarked to Carlos, it is
at the tables here that all the great PR ideas we have for Yoigo’s activities,
seem to be born.
On Thursday
Olivia had good news. She was called
from her TV programme to be told it resumes at the beginning of September and
that they wanted her to spend the first week reporting live from Galicia. That was good news indeed as with all the
changes at RTVE we weren’t sure the programme would be resumed. Later she exchanged locations with a
colleague, which means her first week back will be spent reporting from Valencia,
where her new beau is from. This week
she has been studying hard from home as she will be taking an official exam at
the end of September which if she passes would make her a full time member of
the corporation. It will be tough and
probably impossible though as there is only one place and lots of
contenders. But watching her I can only
applaud her attitude and fighting spirit.
It was on Thursday too that we heard of Lance
Armstrong’s decision not to take part in the process whereby the USADE wants to
see him convicted of using drugs in his cycling life and strip him of his 7
Tours of France. You can read his personal
statement here and also read the interview in Velo Nation with the man from the
USADE, Travis Tygart, who is championing the cause. I’m not sure what will happen next in this
complicated case as it seems the deciding body will be the UCI, the main
international body for cycling.
The case and
story are of great interest to me as I once knew the man himself quite
well. You see he rode for Motorola when
I was the PR Manager and latterly in charge of the PR for the Cycling Team’s activities
in Europe. I once wrote a post on my
memories of the Texan cyclist which you can read here.
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| Me with Lance Armstrong going to the press conference after the Clásica San Sebastian race in August 1994 |
Meanwhile the Tour
of Spain is well into its course which this year will not go further south than
Madrid and I was interested to see what the cycling world there would have to
say about Armstrong. But I was
disappointed as most of the comments were very neutral. The cycling world is a very closed circuit
and no one talks openly about doping, although it is vox populi that is has
been going on since even before the days of the great Eddie Merckx. I for one would agree with those who comment
that it would be impossible to compete in and win a three week tour of the most
grueling sport in the world. I have
heard comments from people from the “inside” that this cannot be done on food
and drink alone and I tend to agree. I
am no fan of Armstrong but would not like to see him stripped of his 7 Tours;
it would be disastrous for this sport so close to my heart.
On Friday we
woke up to the news of the sentence of the mass murderer in the killings in
Norway just over a year ago. I hate to
name the monster who did this as I think he already has enough publicity and I
will not blot this post with his picture.
The end of the terrible story is that he has finally been convicted withthe maximum prison sentence of 21 years which means he has been found sane, the
big question around the court case. What
really gets me is the luxury he will be living in, as Norway’s prisons are
probably the most comfortable in the world.
You can see what I mean if you look at these pictures published by El
País about the prison where he will spend his sentence. I just hope the families of the victims and
the survivors can close this terrible chapter in their lives and move on.
Friday, as I
said above, was the day I remembered our wedding anniversary belatedly. So we went out to dinner, accompanied by
Olivia and we chose La Txitxarrería, one of our favourites, in nearby Pozuelo
where we had a lovely meal. Olivia took
some photos of us which you can see here.
I posted my favourite, the one illustrating this blog, and got some very
positive reaction from lots of my friends on Facebook. I was pleasantly surprised by lots of their
comments. To think we have been married
for 29 and that we are still in love is rather special and something of a
rarity these days. Apart from having won
the marriage lottery, something I always say, I often think the recipe for such
a strong marriage come from mutual respect and admiration. Eladio and I rarely quarrel, hate conflict
and most of the time enjoy the same sort of activities. Also, I still find him very attractive, with
his swarthy looks, chunky build, wonderful skin, hair and perfect teeth. Yes, I married a very good looking guy, but
equally wonderful inside and much quieter than me. He is my rock and I could never imagine life
without him. I look forward to as many more anniversaries I have the luck and
privilege to have with him by my side. You
can see the rest of the photos that evening here. Below is a lovely photo of Olivia and I that
night, like mother like daughter!
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| With my beautiful daughter Olivia at our anniversary dinner on Friday |
Saturday came
and it was the weekend. The main news
this weekend has been about Prince Henry of Wales, more commonly known as
Prince Harry, younger son of Lady Diana and Prince Charles. He is well known for his antics but this time
I think he went a little too far. There
has been much reporting on a game of strip pool played in Las Vegas with
friends and lots of girls, from one of which the photos must have leaked of his
nakedness in a mad sort of romp. You can
see all the uncensored photos on this website.
Buckingham Palace officials did their best to censor the British press,
asking them not to publish them. The Sun, though, disobeyed which is a sort of
first, even for The Sun.
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| The front page of The Sun the only British paper to publish photos of the naked prince. |
If that was the
main news of the weekend, the main news in Spain not only at the weekend but
all through last week was about the botched restoration of an “ecce homo” fresco
of Jesus Christ in a small village in the province of Zaragoza. The story hit
the world’s biggest media, including the New York Times and The BBC and the humble and once anonymous
lady who wanted to restore her favourite painting in her parish church, is now
world famous and suffering from an anxiety attack at her home in the small village of Borja where people are flocking to take photos of the fresco.
I was so
surprised that this small piece of news about the restoration of a not particularly
valuable work of art should make such an impact the world round. I suppose it is the monkey like effect that
the painting now has, although Cecila Gómez, aged 80, tries to defend herself
by saying she hadn’t finished the job and that she had done so openly for all the village, including the parish priest, to
see. You will have seen the pictures,
but take another look and judge for yourself.
I feel rather sorry for the poor woman, who will never live this story
down.
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| The story of the botched job of repairing a fresco by an old lady in Borja, a small village in Spain, hit the world news this week. |
Saturday for
us was quiet. Susana, of whom I haven’t
seen much lately, because she now lives independently and because we have been
away, went to Santiago with her friend Elena to spend the weekend. Olivia took her to the airport and they left
yesterday at 06.30 in the morning. They
woke us up when the realised they didn’t have the remote control to open the
gate and somehow the alarm went off. It
was not a good awakening I must say.
Last night
after our walk, we came home to go bed early. I had one last look at my
Facebook and was shocked to read that the space legend, Neil Armstrong had died
aged 82 after complications from heart surgery.
This week which promised to be quiet was certainly a week of shocking
news but the news of the death of the first man to walk on the moon, for me and
many other people will have made the most impact.
On the 40th
anniversary of the first landing on the moon, I wrote about my memories of that
occasion which you can read here. Neil
Armstrong, the captain of Apollo 11, who always shunned publicity, when asked what
he felt like after having landed on the moon, replied: “small, very small”. And now the man who will always be remembered
for saying: “one
small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” (he meant to say in this much rehearsed phrase, “a
man” but forgot the “a”) is no longer with
us. A part of living history has died
but of course, like all great men, he will live on in our memories and then in
history books.
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| Neil Armstrong when he was the Captain of Apolo 11, died this weekend aged 82. RIP |
I will never forget watching him
on 20th July 1969, on our black and white television at home, aged 12,
along with an audience of 500 million people across the world, walk on the moon
and pronounce those words. RIP Neil
Armstrong is all I can write as a shiver goes down my spine.
And today is Sunday, a quiet day
at home for us. Ivanka is having her day
off and I made a very healthy lunch for the rest of us, including a wonderful
home-made gazpacho made for us by dear Ivanka.
Oli will be off to Almería
tomorrow for a few days holiday with Miguel until she starts work again next
Friday. Suzy will be back later tomorrow
after her long weekend in Santiago. So
we won’t be all together again for quite a while which seems to be the norm
these days.
I look forward to my travels to
Stockholm on Wednesday where it will be much cooler and of course to Santander
next weekend. Next week’s post will, of
course cover both visits.
Meanwhile I wish you all a great
week. Enjoy the last week of August and
hopefully the sun will be shining for you wherever you are.
Cheers
Masha
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