Saturday, September 29, 2012

Valencia CF vs Real Zaragoza @ 16:00


Coming off a loss to  Majorca, Valencia is already pretty deep in the hole this season with five points in five matches. Today's match may be difficult.








Mallorca moved up to second in the table after a 2-0 victory over Valencia on Sunday lunchtime. The first chance fell to the visitors, Jonathan Viera shooting just wide, but soon afterwards Víctor Casadesus connected with Hemed's pass to fire in a shot which visiting keeper Diego Alves let through his hands. Aouate had to save from Soldado and Valdez headed against the bar before the break, but immediately after the restart Nsue headed just wide, and a few minutes later Víctor headed a long Aouate clearance on for substitute Arizmendi to make it two. Tino Costa had a couple of chances later on to get one back, but Aouate and his defense held out to leave the Ches down in the bottom half of the table.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

A Night at the Movies



Cinestudio D’Or is a true relic from the past; a bargain cinema which plays a new double feature of recent films every week. Most of the films are dubbed into Spanish if foreign unless stated otherwise. The movies change every Monday and the price varies from 3.50 (weekday) to 4.50€ (weekends) and 3.00€ on Tuesdays. 
                      
As far as movie snacks, they have a couple of machines for soda, coffee. and candy but feel free to bring your own. If you don't pack in beer or wine and a snack you'll be jealous of those around you who didn't make the same terrible mistake. What could be better on a very hot afternoon than a couple of good movies and a cold beer?

There is a Valenbisi station a few steps away on the corner of Reino de Valencia and Almirante Cardoso. There is also bike parking in  front of the theater. The #19 and #40 buses also stop on this corner.

This week:
EL CABALLERO OSCURO: LA LEYENDA RENACE
del 24 al 30 de septiembre
18:30h. y 22:45h.

TERRAFERMA
del 24 al 30 de septiembre
16:50h. y 21:10h.


Cinestudio D’Or

Almirante Cardoso 31, 46005

#963 955 433


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Spanish Soccer News In English

Soccer Spain is the best English language website for Spanish football news. Now if I can just find  place to find good news about Valencia CF.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

The Spanish Speaking World

There are something like 500 million people in the world who speak Spanish. 



• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• Dominican Republic
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Guinea
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Puerto Rico
• Spain
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

Along with these countries I would add that the United States has more Spanish speakers than every country on this list except four. There are hundreds of millions of people who speak Spanish spread pretty heavily over three continents. Spanish is also one of the favorite choices for those of us who want to learn another language. It’s a big world out there if you can speak Spanish.

Friday, September 21, 2012

Electric Pasta Boiler?


In yet another attempt at reducing my energy consumption I have added an electric kettle to my stock of kitchen gadgets. I make a lot of pasta and it always seems like such a waste of energy to boil water on the stove. I have asked Italian friends if there exists in Italy some sort of electric pasta cooker to heat water more efficiently. Evidently there isn’t such a contraption so either I am on to something or this is going to be a dumb idea. An electric kettle boils the water and then turns itself off automatically. I can’t count how many times I have put water on the stove to boil and then returned to my desk and forgotten about the entire act of cooking. I use a kitchen timer now to remind myself that I have something on the stove but I think this electric kettle idea is a lot better. After the water boils I simply pour it into a pot and then I cook the pasta. The kettle is insulated and has a good lid so it seems like a much more energy efficient option. I may even start drinking tea.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Bayern Munich vs Valencia CF 20:45

A tough first game in this season's Champions League for Valencia. Last season's runner up hosts this game as Valencia comes off a win last Saturday over Celta.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Valencia encabeza la compraventa de viviendas por extranjeros


Se realizaron un total de 3.114 ventas en el segundo trimestre del año
La mayor parte se transacciones tuvieron lugar en Alicante, con 2.645

La Comunidad Valenciana lideró la compraventa de viviendas por parte de extranjeros en toda España con un total de 3.114 en el segundo trimestre del año, realizadas fundamentalmente en la provincia de Alicante, con 2.645 operaciones.

Los extranjeros residentes en España realizaron 9.502 compraventas de viviendas durante el segundo trimestre del año, lo que representa un crecimiento del 12% con respecto a las contabilizadas en el mismo periodo de 2011 y la mayor cifra desde hace cuatro años, cuando se alcanzaron 11.130 operaciones.

Sin embargo, a pesar de que las transacciones realizadas por este colectivo encadenan ya crecimientos interanuales por cuarto trimestre consecutivo, el número de operaciones continúa muy lejos de las casi 30.000 que se registraron, por ejemplo, en el segundo trimestre de 2006, en pleno auge del sector.

Y es que hay que tener en cuenta que en la actual coyuntura económica el número de extranjeros empadronados en España ha descendido con respecto a la cifra que se alcanzaba años antes.

Así, el número de extranjeros residentes en 2011 se estabilizó en 5,7 millones y el número de empadronados cayó en 40.447 personas (un 0,7% menos).

Además, otro de los factores que han explicado el alza de las compraventas de los extranjeros en España ha sido el descenso de los precios de la vivienda libre, que en el segundo trimestre del año retrocedió un 8,3% hasta los 1.606,4 euros por metro cuadrado, lo que supone regresar a niveles de finales de 2004.

En contraste con los máximos que se registraron en 2008 antes del estallido de la burbuja inmobiliaria, y según datos del Ministerio de Fomento, la compraventa de viviendas por parte de los extranjeros residentes en España marcó su mínimo histórico en el primer trimestre de 2009, cuando las operaciones se desplomaron hasta las 5.036.

Por ubicación de la vivienda, la mayoría de las compraventas realizadas en el segundo trimestre del año se realizaron en Comunidad Valenciana (3.114), Andalucía (1.676), Cataluña (1.615) y Canarias (1.173).

Por su parte, el menor número de operaciones se registró en Cantabria (15), Ceuta y Melilla (16) y Extremadura (18).

Atendiendo a la provincia de residencia del comprador y la localización del inmueble, Alicante lideró con 2.645 operaciones la clasificación, seguida de Málaga (1.127), Barcelona (847), Tenerife (655), Baleares (536), Las Palmas (518) y Madrid (522).

Del lado contrario, se situó Ávila (2), Ceuta, (3) y Palencia (4). En este contexto, la inversión que realizaron los ciudadanos extranjeros a la hora de adquirir inmuebles en nuestro país durante los tres primeros meses del año repuntó un 2,5% con respecto a los datos de un año antes, hasta los 1.163 millones de euros.

De acuerdo con los últimos datos del Banco de España, este importe -el mayor desembolso desde el segundo trimestre de 2011- contrasta con la tendencia a la baja que experimenta la inversión de los españoles en inmuebles fuera de nuestras fronteras, que se redujo un 50 % hasta los 95 millones.

fuente: ELMUNDO

Sunday, September 16, 2012

La Sombra del Viento

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

15SEP08

I often feel like I am not learning Spanish well enough or fast enough. In many ways it is the hardest thing I have ever set out to achieve. There is never going to be a finish line nor is anyone going to unfurl a big banner proclaiming “Mission Accomplished!” As self-deprecating as I am about my ability to speak my new language, I have been fairly pleased with my rapidly-improving reading ability. I just finished my most productive week of reading in Spanish. One of the things I really like about reading in Spanish is that it is thoroughly quantifiable as far as seeing how hard I am working and how much I have achieved—I just need to count the pages I've read. This week the pages I have read include those making up Carlos Ruiz Zafón's novel, La Sombra del Viento (569 pages!) and the farce by Eduardo Mendoza, Sin Noticias de Gurb (143 pages).

I began reading Sombra last year after returning from a trip to Barcelona where the novel is set. I read about 300 pages, understanding it fairly well until I got bogged down and started getting confused. I was only reading at a rate of about 20 a day back then and I simply got lost in the labyrinthine narrative. This time around I set my goal at 40 pages a day, then upped that pace to 50, and ended by reading more than 100 pages the last two days of reading the novel. I really felt like I had made a quantum leap as I was reading this book which has been a phenomenal bestseller, not only here in Spain but all over the world. It's nice when a great book reaches such a massive audience. If you are looking for something to read, I can't recommend this book highly enough (the English title is The Shadow of the Wind).

In this novel you see shades of Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez, part suspense novel and part fantasy fiction. He uses Barcelona as one of the characters in the book and I was so glad that I got to know that city a lot better before I started reading. I am warning you now, if you start reading this book make sure you don't have anything pressing on your calendar for a day or two because from the first sentence you will be hooked.

Todavía recuerdo aquel amanecer en que mi padre me llevó por primera vez a visitar el Cementerio del los Libros Olvidados.

(I still remember that morning when my father took me for the first time to visit the Cemetary of Forgotten Books)

Continue reading at your peril, or at least the peril of the other shit you may have been planning to do.

As I said, I began reading Sombra with a 40 page a day goal. I was having so much fun reading that I increased that to 50. It would take me three solid hours to bag my 50 page limit. To achieve this modest reading rate I had to sequester myself to the local Ruzafa branch library, away from noise and distractions. Like everything else in my world here, the library is a mere two blocks from the front door of my building. Besides the peace and quiet, my little library also offers a couple of reference items that I have been using to help me improve my reading skills. I have been wearing out their Spanish dictionary for foreigners, which is a terrific resource for students of the language. It gives simple Spanish definitions for words and then uses the word in a sentence. I also use the Spanish thesaurus. I have had to rebind my Spanish/English dictionary with packing tape as I have thoroughly worn it out through heavy usage. And I keep filling notebooks as I write down every word that I look up along with the definition and the context sentence. If anyone has a better strategy for learning Spanish, please let me know.

View all my reviews

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Lots of Summer Left in Valencia

We still have well over a month of summer temperatures and sunshine to go here in Valencia. Last year I wore shorts until October 20th. If you are in the market for another summer vacation there is no need to wait until 2013; just come to Valencia and you can have the beautiful beaches almost to yourself.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Macaroni and Cheese: An American Classic Dish

One of my all-time favorite dishes and definitely on the list of menu items for my fantasy restaurant.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

If You Like Liver You Will Love this Recipe


I have made this recipe twice already and can attest that it is wonderful. Wonderful and filling. Wonderful and filling and healthy. But I love liver so this is now among my favorite recipes.



Liver For The Blood

Chicken liver helps build healthy red blood cells, as it is very high in vitamin B12. This vitamin is needed to make DNA, and your body can store a few years' worth of it, so you don't need to eat very much organic chicken liver to obtain the right amount of vitamin B12. If you are vegetarian, consider eating chicken liver once a month or every few months to ensure you don't develop a deficiency in vitamin B12, which can cause anemia.

Liver For Your Skin

Chicken liver is high in riboflavin, or vitamin B2. This vitamin helps produce and repair tissues in your body, chiefly the skin. Eating chicken liver will make your skin smoother and more apt to deal with rashes and peelings. It will also improve the overall health of your internal tissues such as the inside of your gastrointestinal tract.

Liver For Cholesterol, Hemoglobin And Your Adrenals

Pantothenic acid, also known as vitamin B5, is a part of conenzyme A or CoA and is present in organic chicken. CoA assists your body in generating energy from and synthesizing steroid hormones and cholesterol. Hemoglobin also requires CoA for its synthesis, and your own liver uses this coenzyme to process toxins out of your body. Pantothenic acid also supports your adrenal glands, which aid your body in dealing with stress.

Liver For Thyroid Gland

Rich in selenium, chicken liver helps the thyroid gland remain healthy by supporting iodine within your body. Iodine helps the thyroid gland deal with toxins to keep your blood healthy, which affects all the systems in your body, since your red blood cells are responsible for the delivery of oxygen to every cell.

VIDEO: how does Globexs work?