Resuming Barcelona as a topic, here I leave you with a view of carrer Petritxol at Barri Gotic. Some people come and some other go for time immemorial. Streets remain but they will also disappear some day and Barcelona will not be the same. History is caged in this part of town and without it we will be dehydrated, decaffeinated or whatever "de" something you may think of. So let's protect our history and restore the Gothic quarter! By the way, remember churros at carrer Petritxol!
I encourage you to check the magnificent work of Jay Wesler.
Walking in slow motion under the archway at Casa de los Canónigos in Bisbe Irurita street, if you really concentrate you can manage to stop time for a couple of seconds, while you bathe in the bright light of the sun. You should stay there, spreading your arms in the way only a child can do, stretching your head back up to face the backlit figures, the same sculptures that have witnessed the existence of so many souls. Quiet now, you almost hear them murmuring. They have this melancholic expression and they are whispering: "I am with you my son, please don't worry, people come and people go, you don't need to hurry. Some have left, others will come, but the flame is always burning. The world is cruel, there is pain, the flesh hurts but I am here to save you from your demons, I will sacrifice myself for you. Go and cross this bridge now, you will not remember me, but I will always be with you". And then you'll feel a sudden cold breeze and a little pain on your neck and shoulders of looking up so intensely and you will ask yourself: "What the heck was that?
Please, this is only a fiction, do not block the archway. Wear some protection, looking directly at the sun may hurt your eyes badly. Do not ask passerbyes if they also heard that. They know but they will act normal and pretend nothing happened.
Musicians like Barri Gotic to perform. Narrow streets there, are pleasant to stay in the shade away from nearby noisy streets. Besides acoustics is great. Many times there are small groups playing on the same site as they are supposed to play on spots assigned by local authorities. So you probably meet the very same artist depending on what time of the day or the week you visit a determined street. This man here was about to start and was having a little chat. There was this sun ray falling directly on his head acting as a natural spotlight. If you want to know more or check a full view of the street don't miss: Barri Gotic: Street Musicians Paradise?
To grow my collection of musical instruments here is a picture of a sitar. The musician was playing in Barri Gotic, a quarter that gathers a good amount of street artists who are attracted by the many tourists and special accoustics of its narrow alleys. Here is a famous video in which George Harrison is taking sitar lessons with Ravi Shankar
At Bisbe Irurita Street in Barri Gotic there's this beautiful house called Casa de los Canónigos (Canon's House). Today I show you a detail of a sort of bas-relief you can admire on its façade while walking down the street towards Sant Jaume square. Read all the details about Casa dels Canonges.
Casa de los Canónigos o Casa dels Canonges (Canons' House) at Bisbe Irurita street and next to Sant Jaume square is a XIV c. Gothic building restored in the 1920s by Rubió i Bellver and Jeroni Martorell. It was then that neogothic elements were added to the original building like this bridge connecting Palau de la Generalitat premises with the abovementioned religious house that until 1980 used to be the Official Residence of the President of La Generalitat. Jordi Pujol, the first elected Catalan government president after the 1978 Constitution discarded the house as private residence and so have done his successors.
How did you feel the day they shot Lennon? How many times have you felt that sad for someone you didn't know personally? That was one of the few moments in my life when I shed a tear for a "total stranger". With this figure of John Lennon in papier mache I want to honor his memory. If you want to remember him for only five minutes watch the video or read the lyrics of the song below. I leave you with a final question: Why did Mark David Chapman had to kill the dove of peace?
Mind Games
Were playing those mind games together
Pushing the barriers, planting seeds
Playing the mind guerrilla
Chanting the mantra, peace on earth
We all been playing those mind games forever
Some kinda druid dudes lifting the veil
Doing the mind guerrilla
Some call it magic, the search for the grail
Love is the answer and you know that for sure
Love is a flower, you got to let it, you got to let it grow
So keep on playing those mind games together
Faith in the future, outta the now
You just cant beat on those mind guerrillas
Absolute elsewhere in the stones of your mind
Yeah we're playing those mind games forever
Projecting our images in space and in time
Yes is the answer and you know that for sure
Yes is surrender, you got to let it, you got to let it go
So keep on playing those mind games together
Doing the ritual dance in the sun
Millions of mind guerrillas
Putting their soul power to the karmic wheel
Keep on playing those mind games forever
Raising the spirit of peace and love
Love...
(I want you to make love, not war, I know youve heard it before)
Papier mache figure of Marlon Brando in the Godfather. Another example of how a character may acquire a life of his own and make the audience forget about the actor in a certain way. In this case this is Mr. Marlon Brando and it is impossible to forget the man behind the character but sometimes we tend to think that they are both different people, that Don Corleone was really there, making polite offers you couldn't refuse. Like the figure in my previous post, this one is also on sale at the same Barri Gotic souvenir shop. I have to say that Hugh Laurie's post has been a total success but in a negative sense. Lots of fans have come to see Dr. House in papier mache and most of them say they wouldn't place such a horrible adornment around the house mainly because the star has not been precisely favored in this artwork.
Dr. Gregory House the main character in House M.D television series has been immortalized in this papier mache figure on sale at a popular store in Barcelona's Gothic quarter near Sant Jaume square. There was a previous post with celebrities like Keith Richards and Woody Allen and in the next two there will be more famous people. Hugh Laurie will have difficulties to get rid of Dr. House, something that has happened to too many actors for the good or for the bad. Will Dr. House obliterate a totally different character like this?: Hugh Laurie in "Black Adder".
Is it possible to see Keith Richards and Woody Allen in Barcelona, both in the same room, considering that the only thing in common that they have is they are weird and play an instrument? I had the chance to live such mystic experience in front of a souvenir shop in Barri Gotic, but both celebrities were made of paper mache. I had my doubts with Keith though!. Keith cost about 220 euros as I read on the tag hanging from his "cigarrette". Don't say it wouldn't be great to have one of these somewhere around the house just for the fun of it, if affordable of course. The following clip might hurt the sensibility of some Rolling Stones fans but Weird Al interviewing Keith Richards innevitably made me think of Woody Allen (now I am hurting my sensibility as an Allen fan so we are even): Weird Al interviews Keith Richards
Heads of state are human after all. They have to look elegant, sound clever, have good manners and an impeccable resumé perhaps, all of that creates a sort of idyllic aura that makes us forget about who they really are. We say, hey look, the president, it's the president himself, oh my God. But then come to think of it they are made of flesh and bones like you and me, and though they represent us nothing can stop them from being common mortals with disgusting needs. It is at that very moment that politics becomes just that...shit and men remain equal. These small figures are called caganers which means someone that is in the act of, you know. It is traditional in Catalan popular culture where it is common to mock local personalities in a funny and naive way. This shop is located at carrer LLibreteria in Barri Gotic (Gothic Quarter). I almost forget to mention the characters: from left to right, Fidel Castro Ruz, commander in chief; the honorable, Mr. Artur Mas i Gavarró, Catalan politician and Mr. George Walker Bush, the 43rd and current President of the United States of America.
2 ... 2 ...![Carrer Petritxol, Barri Gotic, Barcelona [enlarge]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3224/2963123246_657b2408d9_o.jpg)
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![Barri Gotic Musicians: A Little Chat [enlarge]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3050/2880030077_2eeebdd40c_o.jpg)
![Carrer del Bisbe, Barri Gotic, Barcelona[enlarge]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3162/2783273547_8659eb6740_o.jpg)
![Sitar Player, Barri Gotic, Barcelona [enlarge]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3294/2714477011_31f3b3edfd_o.jpg)
![Canon's House, Barri Gotic, Barcelona [enlarge]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3175/2686556638_71d8d1642a_o.jpg)
![Barcelona, Gothic Quarter: Casa de los Canónigos at Bisbe Irurita Street [enlarge]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3275/2505601394_95804cd50e_o.jpg)
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![Don Corleone, The Godfather in Papier Mache at Barcelona Store [enlarge]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2299985267_787b105c31_o.jpg)
![Dr. House or Hugh Laurie in Papier Mache at Barcelona Store [enlarge]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2298110469_f8612174f1_o.jpg)
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![Girl on Fountain [enlarge]](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1434/1116914103_0d6685f910_o.jpg)
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