Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in muinteor's LiveJournal:

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Friday, June 24th, 2011
10:34 am	Going away time again. So, it's that time again. I'm going away on summer camp. I'd much rather stay, and stay, in Gijón, but that's the way it goes. This year will be especially interesting. In my first camp I'll be team leader, which will be a lot of fun, and in my second camp I'll be a humble monitor. I've never been a monitor before, and I don't know my funcions yet, I'm hoping they'll let me do music and drama, because I'm in no way suited to sports, dance or arts & crafts. Jesus, what some people will do for money, or lack of. Keep safe. Another update next year... maybe. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, June 3rd, 2011
2:45 pm	A postcard from far far away It's been over twenty years since someone sent me a postcard. Today everything's digital or virtual or whatever. Well, today, what a surprise! A card a very good friend appeared in the letter box. A card from across the ocean, with 18 words written on it. So I read my friend's words, nodded to myself, and made a decision. Thanks for the card, mo chroí. What beautiful hand writing you have. You should real my scrawl. I'll write. Grá mór. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 10th, 2011
8:41 am	Cluedo on TV! Well, look what I found on Youtube recently. I happened to be looking at the filmography of an old favourite of mine, the actor Tom Baker, who was the fourth Doctor on the Doctor Who television series, just to see what he's been doing lately. Then I came accross a reference to a Cluedo television series which he had collaborated on (Professor Plum, season 3), so I opened Youtube, and guess what? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1BhEDihx3U Here's part 1 to episode 5. It doesn't mater which episode you watch, it's always the same six characters, and a new victim each time. Each episode is only 30 minutes long, and season 3 has six episodes, so I watched the six episodes back to back. Number 5 was the one I liked most. Cluedo has sometimes been a tool I like to use in the language classroom. Forget the dice, though, and just have the students visit whichever room they like. A shorter activity is to get the Cluedo cards, split them up into three piles, one pile for the characters, another for the rooms and a third for weapons, and draw the first card of each pile. Then get the students to imagine what they think happened. Of course the higher the level of English the students have, the better. Get them to write the story in small groups, or set it for homework, maybe. My best experience with this was when I introduced it at a teacher training course I ran years ago in Oviedo. Of course, other English teachers make great students, and it went down really well. Well enjoy the TV show, parts 2 and 3 are right there in the bar to your right as you watch it on Youtube. Enjoy. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 2nd, 2011
6:05 pm	Bin Laden dead and buried at sea??? This is the weirdest news I've read recently. So, they say he's dead, then they throw him in the sea. How can you explain that? (Comment on this)
Saturday, April 9th, 2011
11:05 pm	So there's been this "Missing Person" poster on shop windows here in the neighbourhood where I live, and there was this smiling photo of the missing person, a man of my own country, a full ten years younger than myself, last seen at a local train station. Well, it turns out that it was his Asturian girlfriend who alerted authorities about his disappearance, and they got onto the national police, and then it became an international search. In "Big Lebowsky" terms, new shit came to light this week. The guy had been found, alive and well, in an unspecified country, saying he didn't want anyone to look for him. So... he's gone to the station to catch a train out of the country. I mean, come on... what was he thinking? Break up right and proper, for crying out loud! Who disappears? The "Se busca" poster is still up at our local supermarket, and I tried to explain to the person at the check out that the guy had already been found, but she just smiled, like it was none of her concern. I just shrugged, paid for the groceries and left the supermarket, passing the guy's poster on the way. It's so clear the guy wanted to get out of a relationship he felt no longer convenienced him, but there are ways of doing things and not doing things. Saying "It's over" is a good way, but this guy comes across as a base coward, whose irresponsible disappearance caused grief and public money being spent finding him. His "Missing person" poster is still on at the local supermarket, (Comment on this)
Sunday, February 20th, 2011
1:57 pm	First post of 2011 and I'm kind of wondering where to start, or how. I'm so bad at keeping in touch these days, what is it with me? I guess I've become the proverbial "no news is good news" person. My family are being nice about my reclusive behaviour. I should plan a trip to Ireland sometime soon... well, I still have a lot of things to do. Some beta reading which is coming along nicely, though way more slowly than I'd planned. Set me a deadline, mo chroí? There's a new rpg campaign due to start soon, with these old friends of ours, and Ana's like "Weren't you going to work on the campaign today?" and I'm like, "Yes, but I think I will tomorrow?" and she's like "Ok" while I spend the afternoon and evening between Civ4 (way too much time), films and a burrito dinner. So I got up early today, and after pottering around a bit (which means spending time pretending to do things) I opened youtube and in my search I came accross something very interesting... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H09xnhlCQU So after watching this, I was quite amazed, and I saw in the links another yet longer film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qINwCRM8acM Absolutely amazing!!! Then there's this, a commentary by the director and the main actor http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elt_l8zisik So I started at, what, 10 am? Now it's nearly 2 pm. I've seen "Born of hope" twice, first the first time, and second the second time (but the commentaries version in which the director who plays an interesting character as actress too and the lead actor just talk about the making of) which is highly entertaining. Better than Peter Jackson, if you'll forgive me. Go Kate Madison! Well, now I've got to go attend things I should attend to. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
3:21 pm	Long overdue update. Taking advantage of a respite from a rather drastic work schedule and a fierce couple of days of weather which at last seems to be passing on. Weak sunlight making the optimist in me hopeful for the rest of the week. Here's what the lovely sea front looked like after the storm yesterday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHugI3Neh4k Ah, it's sad to see the "muro" this way. I walked along it just last week, for the first time since June (we moved house, and now live a considerable distance from the coast...) The mayor Paz Fernandez said that gijon "se há liberado de un destrozo mayor", you see other nearby communities were not so fortunate as here. In Luarca there's a museum dedicated to the study of Giant Squids, and it was totally destroyed, it seems. As for me, work has been "desbordante" these last two months. In December it'll ease off a bit. As of now I'm getting up at 08:00 starting work at 09:00, getting home at 13:00 and doing what day to day stuff I can, and then heading off again at 15:30 to start my regular job. Then getting home at 22:30 I really don't have any energy to do anyhting meaningful. So I'm just in a kind of "hanging around state" until bedtime, then the next day the same thing. It's good, though, I'm enjoying the morning classes a lot. It's a government sponsored project for unemployed people to promote their knowledge of English and so increase their chances of finding a job. Well, gotta go again. Ciao. (Comment on this)
2:49 pm	Many happy returns, dear friend! Breith lá go hana mhaith Duit! (pron ((by me with my Dublin accent...)) breh-law geh hannah wah dit) The grammar and spelling is probably awful, but hey, I never got higher than a D in Gaelic tests. I only discovered the beauty of language as an adult. As a kid it seemed like torment. Have a wonderful birthday, mo chroí! (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010
6:35 pm	Uh oh... Have you seen the scientology ad here on LJ? I can't believe it... (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 30th, 2010
1:03 pm	"Home" So, I'm back in Gijón after a month in Navarra. It was wonderful to come "home" at last. I met some amazing people. Thoroughly enjoyed classes. Was disliked by the director, but got on splendidly with the rest of the team. I was fortunate enough to meet some really amazing people, I have to say. I particularly enjoyed meeting a great Canadian called Eli. I remember his little games, like "Joe, if you could have your portrait painted by any artist, who would you choose?" I responded "Picasso." Then he asked "Joe, if you could have your life made into a film by any director, who would you choose?" I responded "Fritz Lang." I must also thank Eli for introducing me to Hemmingway at last. I'd been avoiding Hemmingway all my life. Eli passed me a copy of "Fiesta: The sun also rises" and after I'd finished we spoke about it and about Pamplona, which we visited during the camp. We were in Beire during the Fiesta there. Beire is a crazy place. It's a clump of buildings on a yellow plain where the sun beats down like a hammer on an anvil. The only places I could find to relax outside the camp compound, which was once a medieval monastery, and is now a hostel, were a shady tree in the vinyard with a stone placed as a seat and a slab laid across the ditch outside the graveyard. I said Beire's crazy because during the fiesta there the music went on until so late. The big fiesta night was Saturday 21st of August. The music was still going on at 9 am. I took my class on a nature walk to that shaded place with the trees and we played some games there. I'm home. It's weird because we've changed house and I got the address wrong when I asked the office to send me the contract and other papers, but I came to realise something. I really don't have a home anymore. It's not where I was born, that's not my place any more. When I came back yesterday I realised that home is where Ana is. Well, more soon. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
12:04 am	Music... I first heard this song back in 1982, and it became my personal anthem. Hazel O’Conner’s film Breaking Glass featured on the double bill with David Cronenberg’s Videodrome. I would never have seen it otherwise. Videodrome was mind-blowing, but Breaking Glass kind of was too, especially this song, but also the one where she’s onstage in her glowing costume, The Eighth Day, that was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InQxghlWMWM&feature=fvw Until I met Ana, in 1991 my tentative romantic escapades had always ended with an indecisive or decisive goodbye before anything serious happened. It was either the other person or me running for the door and later I’d be wondering about what had happened. This song also reminds me of a conversation I took part in one drunken night in Dublin. The great Kenneth Edge, a celebrity schoolmate of mine and I were at a party one night back in 1986 or so, and I remember him saying how the saxophone was a sexy instrument. I tried to argue for the accordion, my own instrument, and there was a girl at the party who I think we were both interested in, and well she thought the sax was the sexier. I agree with them both. However Accordion Hero is a renowned spoof, while no one laughs at sax players. Accordion Hero… I’d play it if it existed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWPKblMM04k Accordion hero makes me smile so much. Ken Edge became famous for his saxophone skills. I haven’t become famous for anything. Ken’s a national hero, and I’m an unknown citizen, helping kids learn a foreign language. Here’s something by Ken. I knew he was destined for greatness. Good on you, Ken. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btDwpej4JO0 Saxophone wins. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
3:17 pm	Happy Saint Patrick's day. Normally I really look forward to this day. This year, I'm really not in much of a celebratory mood. It's a beautiful day, though, with a light breeze carrying the promise of spring, and the low golden sunlight of late winter carrying enough warmth to make you want to leave your coat on its rack, I won't be fooled, mind you. It'll be cold tonight on the way home, I'm sure. Easter holidays are only 10 days away. Wasn't Christmas only recently? I feel like I'm living outside of time, and every time I check on the time a month has gone by. Wouldn't that be a great idea for a science fiction story? Let's see. Every time the character loses concentration, time shoots ahead, lets say a few minutes, a few hours or a few days, until soon years have gone by, but the character is trapped in a relativity bubble, if you will, and so doesn't age with actual time, just the character's perceived time. Recently I met a friend, Misha, an Asturian guy I met maybe 18 years ago, during my first two years here anyhow, and about 12 years ago he moved away from coastal Gijon to the mountainous interior. He met a lady, had a child and they moved away to the mountains. I ran into him in the street last month and we hugged and shook hands. "You haven't changed a bit!" He laughed. Misha looks older, I have to admit, but what about me? It made me kind of happy to think that he saw me the same way he did all those years ago. But I'm older, and it's been 44 Saint Patrick's days so far. A birthday away from 45, and that'll be in a few months. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in a crisis or anything, I'm just thinking about stuff. How many more Saint Patrick's days will I see, and what will I do with them? Here's a song from the wonderful Lauri Anderson which conveys my thoughts right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf0q7q9Zu5Y Be seeing you. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, November 27th, 2009
1:59 pm	Guess what I've been doing with my very valuable fre time? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qUYocB1Rxw (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, September 19th, 2009
12:06 am	Yu Ming Is aimn dom Here's a Chinese-Irish short film I saw on Spanish TV a while back, yes, with Spanish subtitles. Quite funny, but also quite sad for me. If Yu Ming were to run into me on the street, my conversation level would be uselessly rudimentary. I understand a lot of the Gaelic, but not everything. Need to get back to Gaelic, something I ignored during my schooling years. It was like Latin to me. I didn't know anyone who spoke it. My friend Tríona was luckier. She grew up in an Irish language environment. Ah, well, I learned to play the accordion. So here's the short film. It's only 10 mins. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA0a62wmd1A Here's something else. It's from Adam and Paul, my favourite Irish film of the last ten years (okay, I haven't seen many, but it's good, believe me, sad and funny). Do you understand the two Irish people speaking in this excerpt? I really like the Bulgarian guy, hehehe, and his description of Dublin is hillarious to me, full of liars, maniacs and Romanians. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c3tg1HZAvA&feature=PlayList&p=A226CED604D6D947&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=98 When he says "You fucking crazy stupid Irish" I giggled out loud and started laughing. Ana had already started laughing almost near the start. Yeah, go watch Adam and Paul. I love it, but it won't make you want to visit Dublin. By the way, when the Bulgarian guy says Dublin is a shithole, he is obviously not talking about all of Dublin, some parts undoubtedlly are, but others are not by a long shot. As a whole, Dublin is not a shithole, but that's just an opinion, just like many other things are, and it's my opinion, it just isn't, no way, not a chance. Dublin: Beautiful. Thanks. Éire go brá. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 30th, 2009
9:35 am	Well, here we go again. End of July and I'm off again on another summer camp. Don't want to go though. I'd prefer to stay here and enjoy the rest of the summer in some really good company, but back in March I was remembering the joblessness of other summers in past years, and after last year's double camp bonanza which really helped the family economy, I thought it would be best to repeat. Now I'm already dreaming of September. Wish me luck. Have a good month yourselves, or at least the best month possible. Regards (that's a word I've been reading a lot in pre-camp mails, so I thought I'd use it myself). Joe. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, July 10th, 2009
3:55 pm	Quick update. Hey there, Just got a minute. I'm alive and well, but I don't have internet access right now, hopefully that'll change soon. I luff you all!. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
3:10 pm	So I must go away again. So today’s my last full day in Gijón before the long haul of July’s Summer camp. Then there’s August’s, but that’s easier.   Normally I’d have just as much free time before the camp, but this time I’ve been promoted to Director Of Studies, so that means I’ve had to organise the programme. So, sorry for not being around in any tangible way recently, or not so recently. I’ve been preparing this camp, and when I haven’t I’ve just been plain lazy. Sorry.   Today saw the fruit of some of my work. The students’ cuadernillos are done, the placement exams too, and in general, the course is ready, as far as I’m concerned. Everything is ready. Nothing more to be done.   I’m checking stuff, though, and looking at the material, and I think I’ve done the best work possible. Now there’s nothing more to do than go over it again. I’m reminded of a song by King Crimson. This song actually reflects the creative process I’ve gone through, except for repeating myself when under stress.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoVOY9XGDBI   Enjoy the song. I love it. It’s a pity it breaks off at the end. There’s at least 5 minutes of Robert Fripp amazement after the cut. Best Bass player in the world. Check him out if you don’t know him.   See you later.   Grá mór Joe. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, June 12th, 2009
3:01 pm	Leadership again... Creatively, this has been my worst year ever, nothing written, bad or fallen-through RPG campaigns, broken promises, a desert of ideas.   Professionally, this has been my best year ever, and curiously this happens during the 20th anniversary of my new job, teaching English as a foreign language. Yes, it was 20 years ago that I embarked on my great adventure, emigrating from Ireland (just before the economic boom there, that’s just like me) and coming to Spain to start a new life. After many years of struggling, high points and low points, I now feel that professionally, I’m entering a Golden Age.   I work summer camps, as a teacher, as you may well know, and I love it. In fact, I love it more than my regular 9 month regular course teaching job. So earlier this year, my summer camp boss and personal saviour sent me a mail, saying he wanted me to be director of studies at this year’s camp, but he had to talk to people. I was like “Like that’s going to happen,” me director of studies, like, me… I’m a teacher, rank and file.   Well, I had to call my new higher-up boss, for an over-the-phone interview, and I thought it went okay, I mean, I answered all her questions honestly, and after that there was radio silence. I mean nothing for a very long time, and I got to thinking that I’d messed up the interview somehow, and that maybe I wasn’t even in the loop anymore. Yes, I have been called paranoid from time to time.   Then yesterday I got a mail. It said something like “Joe, since you are our director of studies, and there are two weeks to the start of the camp, I think you should tell me your ideas for the camp.”   I couldn’t believe it. I’d almost given up on that job, but it turns out I’m going to be teachers’ leader. I wanted to tell complete strangers this event, but of course, I didn’t.   Luckily I’d been working on this, and I have something to show my new boss.   Yesterday this seemed much more exciting, I’m only sorry Ana wasn’t here to celebrate it with me, but it was probably better that she was care taking in Oviedo, because it took me two hours to respond to a simple mail, careful wording, pencil behind the ear, and the end result was good, I humbly admit, and my new boss got back to me today so now the wheels are turning.   Today I’m more detached, more analytic, more thoughtful. I’ve got less than two weeks to finish the preparation of the study program. Tomorrow is the second weekend of Cambridge exams, and yes, I’m working as invigilator again, which means early-rising, but a very good feeling.   To finish, so much more to say, but right now, better to just to leave it be.   (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, June 6th, 2009
10:22 pm	Writer's Block: It Sounds Better When You Say It No matter what language you speak, you've probably come across words or phrases in another language that sound better than their equivalents in your native tongue. What's your favorite word or phrase in a foreign language? View 509 Answers I speak English and Spanish and I live in that delightful Spanish principality of Asturias, (yes, there's a prince) and my favourite word usage in another language comes from Asturian Spanish. "ón" and "'in" (pronounced on and een) as suffixes, mean big and small respectively. So, the name Miguel can be modified as Miguelón (big John) or Miguelín (little john). That's masculine, for the feminine form, add an "a". So with a feminine name like Clotilda, you can get Clotildona (big Clotilda) and Clotildina" (little Clotilda). The same for things, the word for house is "casa", you can say Casona and casina, or the word for mill is "molino", and you can say molinín or molinón. Dog is "perro" or "perra" and you can say perrín or perrína, never heard perrón or perróna yet, guess there aren't many people here who say their dogs are oversized. (Comment on this)
Friday, May 1st, 2009
3:30 am	There's this show on Spanish TV which I can never watch, because I have to go to work and I always miss it. Well, during the last couple of weeks, some students who are home when the show's on, told me about this Asturian guy who was really amazing. See what happened yesterday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_AAgSn-WXY&feature=popular (2 Comments |Comment on this)