An Afternoon in Madrid

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I'm watching a Spanish mini-series about the Basque movement in the 1960's. English subtitles. That's what's great about watching T.V. now, shows from different countries. So, I am watching this show and a protest march and riot in 1967 takes place. I'm reminded that I was in Madrid in 1967. My friend Bud and I leave our hotel and go to the train station to make arrangements for the train to southern Spain so we can go to Morocco. On the way back, as we approach the hotel we see a big mob. It's a protest mob that later turns into a riot. We weave our way through the crowd, knowing this is a bad place to be and finally get into the hotel. 

We go upstairs to the second floor where our room is and then we stand on our balcony and watch the riot. Along comes about a dozen or more grey police vans. They line up in a row and open the doors to the last one. Then the police grab people by the scruff of the neck and toss them into the van. When the van is filled, they close the door, drive away and the next van backs up. Same thing again till all the vans are filled. And that's the end of the riot. We stayed in the hotel bar that evening instead of going out. 

I'm putting up a photo of a van but the actual vans were smaller and no windows.

International Protestors Union?

The day is starting off wrong. The Canadian Tire flyer had driveway sealer at $12.99. Aaagh!. I bought mine in June for $30.00. Can't do anything about that. It's not like you can buy and save them. The other day, I switched those lawn mowers around. Now I have exactly what I want. Two mowers, both 6.75 hp, one with a bag on the back and the other with large rear wheels. I guess that's the end of that hobby. Rained all day yesterday and last night. Today it's cloudy, no wind and supposed to be hot this afternoon.

Right now I have a deal you might be interested in. Part of a set of dentures used by Winston Churchill to disguise a lisp is going on sale. Expecting around $8,000. How about this piece of history for your coffee table? Imagine the hot words that passed over these teeth. Or maybe not. There are actually two sets and the first one is in the museum. So the second one may have only spouted hot air. And I'm sure you've had your fill of that.

When you watched the Soccer World Cup and you saw how bad the North Korean team did, you probably figured the coach would be in big kaka. Well, he is no longer a coach, he is a construction worker. I thought he would end up in jail at the least. So maybe he was favoured. And the coach from Brazil? He also got turfed. Reminds me of the ball game the Mayans used to play. The losing team were toast. No free agents there.
I bet they were always looking for new players.

Here's a title that turns your head when you first glance at it."Separatists Start Five-Day Strike In India kashmir." When I saw that all I could say was, "Good Lord, now the protestors are going on strike?" It appears they are. Starting today, for five days, the store owners are going to close all their stores. But not wanting to cause their customers any grief, they will go off strike for Sunday, then back on strike on Monday. And you wonder why these countries still live the way they did 2000 years ago. Wonder if they belong to the International Protestors Union?

My Facebook entry today is: "I must be losing it. Saw this headline "Snooki Knocks Obama's Tanning Tax." And I actually knew who Snooki was. Help! I'm sinking into the celebrity abyss."