fan-club-barcelona

Why We Love this Work

Elders Allphin and Bennington with Juan and Nancy

Elder Bennington provided this summary of the recent baptism of Juan and Nancy:

"One afternoon in late September we were walkingdown the street after our morning meeting. As we were walking we began to talk about the upcoming month of October,and what we wished to see happen in our area. Elder Allphin began to express that he had a feeling that there was afamily that we were meant to find and baptize in the month of October, andmoreover a family that would be going to the temple in a year’s time. As we began to talk about the idea, we bothbegan to feel a confirmation that that is what the Lord wanted in our area inthe month of October.

"Looking over our potential families that we wereteaching, the future looked bright. Wewondered if it was one of these families, or if it was someone that we had yetto meet. We came together and prayedregarding this goal, and kept it in mind as we went out everyday to work. If a stroller came down the street, our goalflashed into our mind. If a reference wereceived was connected to a family situation, we were again reminded. We were blessed with so many opportunities todedicate ourselves to our purpose. But when the answer to our prayers came, itcame through an unexpected medium.

"Margarita was a less active member fromParaguay. She was the only member baptizedin her family. During her baptismal process she began to receive harassmentfrom her family, and even began to feel discouraged regarding her newfaith. Nevertheless, she persevered andreceived a calling in the church and continued to grow in the Gospel. Around the age of 18, Margarita took herbelongings and moved to Spain. Uponarriving she was faced with trial after trial, testing her faith time and timeagain. With the necessity of workgrowing more and more apparent in her life, she began to sacrifice herreligious backing and started to work on the Sabbath. From that point on she struggled to make itback to church for roughly 6-8 years. Asshe saw the missionaries from time to time, she felt a longing to speak to themand to return to the richness of the Gospel.

"One afternoon walking down the street Margaritaspotted you and Hermana Hinckley. Shefinally mustered up the courage and began a conversation. You then passed her information on to us, andwe began to teach her. Upon teaching herwe quickly realized that Margarita´s testimony was still as strong asever. From that next Sunday on she hasyet to miss a Sunday.

"One Sunday Margarita told us that shewanted to bring a friend that she was really excited for us to meet. Thenext Sunday she came with Nancy and sat with her through all three hours ofchurch. At the end of church Margarita came up to us and told us thatNancy was really excited to start meeting with the missionaries and had alreadyexpressed her desires to become a member of the church. We scheduled afirst visit for the next night, right after the Noche de Hogar activity that wehad with the ward. When Nancy came the next day she brought her husbandJuan. We sat down with them after the activity and asked how they likedit. Juan immediately began to tell us how he felt something amazing as hewas in the church and how much he liked the people that were there. Wetaught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and why it is so important toapply in our life. As we invited them to be baptized we had not evengotten though the invitation when Juan began to shake his head, tears in hiseyes saying, "YES, this is exactly what my family needs right now. We have finally found what we are lookingfor." Nancy looked at him very surprised and with tears in her eyesalso accepted and committed to be baptized on the 15th of October. It wasthree weeks away but from the time they accepted to be baptized to the 15theverything went perfect. They had no problems with any of the commandments;in fact they loved every time we taught a new commandment because it alwaysseemed like something they had been wanting to change in their life. Theywere the most prepared family that we have ever met and it has been such ablessing to see the gospel work in there life.

"The day of their baptism Juan and Nancy showed upmore excited than ever. As Margaritashowed up, she revealed that she had brought a laptop with her. As we walked back into the room afterattending to something, we walked in to see Juan and Nancy equipped with aheadset excitedly talking to their two children and Nancy´s mother on Skype inParaguay. It was a very special moment tosee them interact and explain what was about to be taking place. As the daughter saw her mother dressed inwhite she said, 'Mom I want to wear a white dress like that too!' With tears in her eyes Nancy responded, 'Don´t worry, when you and your brother come you will both be baptized too!'

Preparing for baptism

"Nancy´s mother and two children watched theentire baptism from start to finish. Nancy´s mother became overwhelmed with emotion and began to cry duringthe moments of Juan and Nancy´s baptism. It truly was a special experience to see this family together in Spirit.

"Their children will be flying over to reunitewith the parents at the end of November. Matias will be baptized by hisfather in the beginning of December, and then middle of December they areplanning to attend the trip with the ward to the temple to do baptisms for thedead. There main goal at this point isto make it to the temple a year from now to be sealed."

Barcelona And Real Madrid are great teams.

Barcelona & Real Madrid are great teams, but I would like to stay at Manchester City for many years, says David Silva and the midfielder claims he is focused on winning trophies under Roberto Mancini and reveals he is surprised that he has adapted in the Premier League so quickly after 2010 switch.

David Silva insists he is happy at Manchester City and is willing to stay at the club "for many years" for a strong performances from the 25-year-old could potentially attract interest from Europe's elite ahead of the January transfer window but the Spaniard had offers from both Real Madrid and Barcelona before signing for City are claims he is focused only on winning trophies for Roberto Mancini's side.

Madrid and Barcelona are great teams, but I'm happy here and I would like to stay here for many years of a my family are the same as me, we're happy to the people treat me really well and I'm very relaxed i live in a very peaceful area, a small town, Silva told Cadena SER and the important thing is the team. We are playing well and we are leaders at the end of the season we will be in the fight and maybe we'll win the title to a like any other club to they are putting together a great team and we hope to be one of the biggest sides in Europe.

Silva also claimed his disagreement over Spain's squad selection with manager Vicente del Bosque is now at end after previously stating the 60-year-old favours players from Barcelona and Real Madrid and the opportunity to play those 2 games against the Czech Republic and Scotland and the team won to i played as a forward went well and I was comfortable also because my team mates made things easy for me.

Per Mertesacker Eyes Top Four And German Stopper Feels Gunners Squad Are Starting To Gel.

Per Mertesacker insists everyone at Arsenal is focused on a top-four Premier League finish despite enduring a rocky start to the season and the gunners currently sit seventh in the standings after poor results early in the campaign hindered their progress for a arsene Wenger's men seem to be getting back on course having won their last two league encounters at home to Stoke and Sunderland.

And the german centre back Mertesacker summer arrival at Emirates Stadium from Werder Bremen, insists finishing in the top four, as well as progressing in the UEFA Champions League, are Arsenal's main objectives and the table is very important for us now Mertesacker told Sky Sports News To be in the 1st four is kind of a target everybody has at this club in the Champions League we want to go through it's a hard wait for a i am very confident and I think we'll do this.

He arrived at Arsenal on transfer deadline day and admits not being able to get acquainted with the team in pre season has made it more difficult to settle in North London and 27-year-old feels things are coming together now the players who arrived late in the transfer window are better adjusted for we have no time to do lots of work to we have to use the games and work hard as a team, he added to if we have no pre-season it's a difficult situation but now I've had my pre-season and we are doing well.

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has left his position as Leicester City boss by mutual consent and the 63-year-old has overseen an inconsistent start to the season winning only five of 13 league games after spending heavily in the summer to the 1st team coach Derek Fazackerly has also left the club.

Academy director Jon Rudkin and coach Mike Stowell have taken joint control of the 1st team, to the assistance from development coach Steve Beaglehole and when contacted by BBC Sport, Eriksson refused to comment other than to confirm his departure for a statement on Leicester's website said, the club and its board of directors would like to thank Sven and Derek for the contribution they have made to Leicester City during their 13 months at King Power Stadium.

The process of recruiting a new permanent manager will begin in the coming days to there will be no further comments from the club or any comment on the recruitment process until an appointment is made.

Successfully managed Leicester from 1995-2000 and leading them into the Premier League and to two League Cup successes in 1997 and 2000 has been installed as an early favourite to succeed Eriksson.

Sven Goran Eriksson Clubs Carrier Mexico, 2008-09, for a Degerfors, 1977-78, IFK Gothenburg, 1979-82, Benfica, 1982-84, Roma, 1984-87, Fiorentina, 1987-89, Benfica, 1989-92, Sampdoria, 1992-97, Lazio, 1997-2001, England, 2001-06, Manchester City, 2007-08, Ivory Coast, 2010 and the Leicester City, 2010-11.

Cava Bottles at Freixenet Cellars

Some cava bottles (Catalan 'champagne') on a rack, at Freixenet cellars in Sant Sadurni de Anoia. More to come in next posts.

Cava Bottles at Freixenet Cellars

Some cava bottles (Catalan 'champagne') on a rack, at Freixenet cellars in Sant Sadurni de Anoia. More to come in next posts.

Javier Hernandez Signs Five Year Manchester United Contract And Hernandez Scored 23 Goals in 55 Appearances For United Last Season.

Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez has signed a new five-year contract to keep him at Old Trafford until 2016 and the Mexican, 23, who signed from Chivas de Guadalajara in July 2010, scored 23 goals in his 1st season at the club to the united boss Sir Alex Ferguson said: The last player I remember making an impact as quickly is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Hernandez said: "Playing for Manchester United has been a dream come true and he added, "I never expected my 1st year to go so well and I'm delighted to commit my future to United to win a title and appear in a Champions League final was fantastic for the i am looking forward to helping my team mates as we bid to win more trophies to this great club.

The Mexico international was on the bench for United's 6-1 drubbing by neighbours Manchester City on Sunday but came on after 65 minutes and he missed the start of the season after suffering concussion on United's pre-season tour of the United States in he has recently been linked with a move to Real Madrid and United have acted to tie him up on a long-term deal.

Ferguson added: His talent for creating space in the box and his finishing ability mark him out as a natural goalscorer and the Off the pitch he is a pleasure to manage and he works very hard and is a popular member of the squad.

Villa Appeal Herd Red Card and Villa Boss Blames Guess-Work On Decision & Managers Believes Sending Off To Be An Honest Mistake On The Part Of The Officials.

Aston Villa are set to appeal against the controversial red card shown to Chris Herd in Saturday's 2-1 defeat by West Brom and the versatile Herd was sent off following a seemingly innocuos tangle with West Brom defender Jonas Olsson which led of the visitors also being awarded a penalty.

Referee Phil Dowd dismissed Herd after his attention was drawn to the incident by his assistant and McLeish feels guesswork was involved and he had been leading 1-0 at the time of the red card and McLeish is adamant that Herd did nothing wrong and the "No doubt about it, looking at the pictures again Chris (Herd) has done nothing wrong," McLeish told Sky Sports News.

It's a poor decision on the day by the official and the these things are not deliberate he's made an honest mistake it's a shame that he's guessed the decision, rather than seeing anything derby fixture also saw Alan Hutton escape punishment for a challenge that saw West Brom striker Shane Long sustain potential ligament damage.

The Villa boss added: It always gets highlighted when a player gets injured but there's going to be collisions and the hutton wasn't the favourite to get the ball to shane was upright but he slid for the ball threw his body at it to you'd want to see your players make the challenge in the box to prevent a goal and that unfortunately in the momentum of the collision that took place left Shane injured, hopefully it's not too bad to we hope that he recovers quickly.

Cesc denies racist insults against Kanoute

Cesc Fabregas publicly denied that he blasted any racist comment against Frédéric Kanouté during the match between Barcelona and Sevilla last saturday.

As we know, Sevilla's striker reacted against Cesc and almost started a fight. That action forced the referee to show the red card to Kanouté. Newspapers today speculated that Fabregas could have told him racial insults.

Fabregas rapidly denied this version. "I have played with footballers from all around the world. I have an arabic tatoo. My girlfriend is from Lebanon. It makes no sense to suggest that I did that kind of thing" said Cesc.

Cesc denies racist insults against Kanoute

Cesc Fabregas publicly denied that he blasted any racist comment against Frédéric Kanouté during the match between Barcelona and Sevilla last saturday.

Messi missed a penalty shot as Barcelona only got a 0-0 tie with Sevilla

According to Josep Guardiola, Sevilla is one of the big teams in Spain. And the final result seem to prove him right. Barcelona FC could only achieve a 0-0 tie with Sevilla last saturday at the Camp Nou.

The most valuable player of the game was Sevilla's goalkeeper Javi Varas. Not just for his impressive saves during the 90 minutes, but for stopping Lio Messi's penalty shoot in the very last minute of the match.

The referee showed the red card to Fernando Navarro and Kanoute, but that could not keep Sevilla from rescueing an important point.

Barcelona falls to the second place of the Spanish League, right behind leaders Real Madrid.

Messi missed a penalty shot as Barcelona only got a 0-0 tie with Sevilla

The referee showed the red card to Fernando Navarro and Kanoute, but that could not keep Sevilla from rescueing an important point.

Barcelona falls to the second place of the Spanish League, right behind leaders Real Madrid.

Every Week is Transfer Week...

...or almost every week, but we are always grateful to receive new missionaries whenever they can come! On Friday, 21 Oct 2011, we were blessed to receive three young missionaries and one couple - the long-awaited Elder and Hna. Church!

At Estació Sants

Hnas. Dalton and Smith as we they get in the van

Elder Timmig (center) pointing to Cornellá where he will serve
with Elders Manotas and Egan

Hna. Martín and Hna. Dalton point to Valenica!

And Elder and Hna. Church will serve in Zaragoza

Cristiano Ronaldo is Not a Selfish Player Says Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho.

No goals in his last three club games is plenty of proof the Portugal international is not egocentric, according to the Bernabeu boss and the Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho insists that Cristiano Ronaldo is not a selfish player as the Blancos prepare for their Liga clash against Malaga on Saturday night.

Ronaldo has not scored for Madrid in the league since bagging a hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano last month for the portuguese forward's last goal came against Ajax in the Champions League on September 27 and he failed to find the net against Espanyol, Real Betis and Olympique Lyonnais and the 26-year-old has five assists in the games he has not scored in - proof for Mourinho that his star man is a team player.

I have always said that Cristiano is not a selfish player. He has his own DNA that can't be changed and I won't change it to a Mourinho is quoted as saying by Marca and he has certain characteristics to the team is playing well, looking good front are scoring their goals is not surprising that Cristiano feels good to a malaga are up next for Mourinho and Co and the coach is eager to pick up another 3 points.

The team has been scoring good goals and we have seen excellent movement as a whole, he added and we cannot score four goals every game to although I would like it if we bagged four against Malaga and they are a good team and we face a complicated game to a madrid are third in La Liga with 16 points ahead of Saturday's encounter at la Rosaleda.

Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi will not be leaving the Spanish side for Serie A in January, says Jose Manuel Llaneza.

The Italy international continues to be linked with a move to Italy to his Spain-based club have other ideas as they respond to reports over his future and the Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi will not be leaving the Spanish side for Serie A, insists the club's vice-president Jose Manuel Llaneza.

Rossi, whose agent said he was upset following the 2-1 Champions League defeat to Manchester City in midweek to be has long been linked with a return to Italy and the juventus were reportedly keen on signing him during the summer but talks collapsed over a €30 million transfer fee for the napoli were then linked with the 24-year-old after coach Walter Mazzarri and president Aurelio De Laurentiis said they were interested in signing him.

Recent reports claimed Juventus have reignited their interest in Rossi and view him as a replacement Alessandro Del Piero is expected to leave in 2012 once his contract in Turin expires to the llaneza was keen to elaborate on his players future and made it clear that Rossi to a staying at Villarreal.

We are very happy with the way Rossi has been playing this season, but his excellent performances are nothing new to us, Llaneza told Tuttomercatoweb.com and there "Will we sell him? This is not our intention at all and we are happy with what he is doing for us and we have no reason to sell is nothing regarding Juventus. Giuseppe is staying with Villarreal" and the villarreal are set to welcome Levante to El Madrigal on Sunday night in La Liga.

Fifa confirms World Cup 2014

This will be the 2nd time the country has hosted the competition, the 1st being the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil will become the 5th country to have hosted the FIFA World Cup twice, after Mexico, Italy, France and Germany and it will be the first World Cup to be held in South America since the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina, the 1st time two consecutive World Cups are staged outside Europe and the 1st time two consecutive World Cups are staged in the Southern Hemisphere and the 2010 FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa.

Fifa confirms World Cup 2014 will kick off in Sao Paulo &amp, end with Rio de Janeiro final and the governing body has released detailed plans of the 20th edition of the showpiece event and, as expected to the final will be at the famous Maracana stadium.

Fifa has confirmed the World Cup 2014 match schedule in Brazil and the tournament hosts will get the party started in Sao Paulo and the 20th edition of the Fifa World Cup will begin on Thursday, June 12, 2014 with the opening match kicking off at 1700 local time.

The final will be held at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, July 13, 2014 at 1600 local time.

Transfer News for Chelsea Target Kevin De Bruyne

Chelsea Target Kevin De Bruyne Still Eyeing Move From Genk To ‘Get To A Better Level’ and the Attacking midfielder admits that if he doesn't join to a Stamford Bridge side he would be prepared to transfer to another club and the long as they are 'better' than the Belgian side.

Chelsea target Kevin de Bruyne has revealed that while he'd still jump at the chance to join the London club, he won't rule out a move elsewhere and the Genk midfielder for a featured against Andre Villas-Boas' side last night to insists that he will continue to progress in his career to the targeting a move to a bigger club.

I always try to get to a better level, he told Sky Sports of a it is not good enough for Chelsea then maybe for a team a little lower who are maybe better than Genk to that’s what I’m trying to do," he continued and i am still young side i have maybe 12-15 years left for my career so I have a lot of time to improve myself.

The 20-year-old admitted to being disappointed a deal with the Blues fell through in the summer, but admits the possibility something happens in the summer and Yes, maybe I don’t know and i am not in the conversations between Genk and Chelsea but I hope it will be.

Interview Road Trip

This week's road trip for interviews took us to Martorell and Vilafranca. Great visits with four great missionaries doing great work! We have six investigators in these two branches preparing for baptism in the next few weeks.

Elders Roberts and McKinnon during weekly planning in Vilafranca

Cesc almost recovered, to play against Sevilla

Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas is almost fully recovered from his injury. The popular footballer aims to return to action against Sevilla in the Spanish League.

He took part of the last training session with the rest of the squad. Barcelona's coach Jose Guardiola will not allow him to play against Viktoria Pilsen for the European Competition in order to ensure his proper recovery.

Cesc almost recovered, to play against Sevilla

Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas is almost fully recovered from his injury. The popular footballer aims to return to action against Sevilla in the Spanish League.

Once again Messi stands out with two brilliant goals against Racing

The 2011/2012 season still has Lio Messi and Barcelona in the spotlight. The blaugrana team defeated Racing Santander 3-0 with two great goals scored by the argentinian genius. The other one was netted by Xavi Hernandez.

The game at the Camp Nou was almost a monologue of Guardiola's team. Messi, Xavi and Iniesta - who just recovered from an injury - dominated the game and generated the goals for Barcelona. When Iniesta and Lio play together, their game turns out to be unstoppable.

Guardiola used some players that usually do not play from the first minute: Maxwell and Thiago. Both of them did a great job against Racing.

Barcelona remains as leader of the Spanish League, with 17 points. Real Madrid follows them with 16, and Valencia share the third place with Levante.

Once again Messi stands out with two brilliant goals against Racing

Guardiola used some players that usually do not play from the first minute: Maxwell and Thiago. Both of them did a great job against Racing.

Barcelona remains as leader of the Spanish League, with 17 points. Real Madrid follows them with 16, and Valencia share the third place with Levante.

Rusty Nail on Old Beam

This nail, bolt, stud or whatever the rusty thing might be called, was piercing a very old beam outside a famous Cava (Catalan 'champagne') company which I plan to feature in coming posts. Being passionate about rust and textures in general, I thought this image was a good way to introduce tomorrow's story. Enjoy the week-end everyone! Don't forget the big picture! (click on the image)

Rusty Nail on Old Beam

Columbus Day 2011

Letter from President Hinckley to All Missionaries:

LA MISIÓN ESPANA BARCELONA

ChristopherColumbus

and theOpening of the Last Dispensation

As the sun sank below the western horizon of the AtlanticOcean on the evening of October 11, 1492, it left three small wooden shipssurrounded by the gathering darkness. The ships were located at latitude of 24degrees, slightly south of Key West, Florida, and a longitude of about 73degrees, about 3500 miles west of SanSebastian, The Canary Islands. In all of recorded history, there was no knownrecord of any ships sailing so far west from land, certainly not in the broadAtlantic.

The two smaller ships, the Niña and the Pinta, werecaptained respectively by Vicente Yañez Pinzon and Martin Alonso Pinzon, twobrothers from Sevilla Spain who were experienced captains. The third andlargest of the ships, sometimes known as LaGallega (having been constructed in Galicia) but named the Santa Maria by her devout captain, wasunder the command of a 45-year old Genoese seaman who used the Spanish versionof his name, Cristóbol Colon. In English speaking countries he is known asChristopher Columbus.

As darkness set in, the ships were at full sail in galeforce winds, traveling due west at about 9 knots. It had been 35 days sincethey had last seen land – the small port of San Sebastian in the Canary Islandswhere they had repaired a damaged rudder on the Niña. The voyage had already become the longest known journeythrough open ocean.

About 10:00 o’clock in the evening, an hour before moonrise,Columbus was standing on the sterncastle of the Santa Maria, scanning the dark horizon, when he thought he saw afaint light in the distance. Not certain in the darkness if it might be land,he did not inform his crew, but he mentioned it to an aide, Pedro Gutierrez,who thought he saw it to. The little fleet continued to sail due west underfull sail.

At 2:00 a.m. on October 12, Rodrigo Triana, a 23-year oldsailor from Sevilla, was atop the lookout on the Pinta. In the light of the moon, he saw “something like a whitesand cliff gleaming in the moonlight on the western horizon, then another, anda dark line of land connecting them” (Samuel Elliot Morrison, Admiral of the Ocean Sea, p. 226). Recognizing land, hecried out to the deck below, “Tierra! Tierra!”

In that moment the world changed. One era – an era thatcovered nearly 4 millennia of recorded history – ended, and a new era began.The known world, which had consisted of Europe, Africa, and Asia, expanded toinclude a New World previously unknown, and the discovery would arguably have amore profound impact on the world than any discovery before or since. In thedim light of the moon on that fateful morning of October 12, 1492, RodrigoTriana saw not just a slip of land on the horizon, but the dawn of a new dispensationand the fulfillment of prophecy.

The written story of Columbus begins nearly 2,000 yearsearlier in the deserts of Arabia, “in a valley by the side of a river of water”(1 Nephi 2:6). In this remote location, somewhere near the Gulf of Aqaba, Lehiand his family lived in a tent after leaving the city of Jerusalem. Duringtheir stay in the desert, the young Nephi was given a great vision in which he sawscenes from the history of his descendants as well as events leading up to therestoration of the gospel in the last days. Nephi gives us only a brief accountof these latter-day events, beginning with this interesting verse:

And I looked and beheld a man amongthe Gentiles,who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it camedown and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, evenunto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land. (1 Nephi 13:12, emphasis added)

Columbus, of course, did not have access to Nephi’sprophecy, but by his own account his world-changing voyage of discovery was theresult of being “wrought upon” by the Spirit:

With a hand that could befelt, the Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sailfrom here to the Indies, and he opened my will to desire to accomplish theproject. This was the fire that burned within me.

All who found out about myproject denounced it with laughter and ridiculed me. All the sciences … were of no use to me. Quotations of learned opinionswere no help… Who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but also of theHoly Spirit who encouraged me …urging me to press forward? (The Libro de las profecías ofChristopher Columbus, translation andcommentary by Delno C. West and August Kling)

LikeColumbus, you are engaged in a life-changing adventure. You may meet with manyobstacles, as did Columbus, but the work you do will have eternal impact. LikeColumbus, the learning of the world is of little use to you – it really doesn’tmatter how smart you are, how talented you are, or how well you speak. Whatmatters is the fire that burns within you, urging you to press forward!

May that same fire that burnedin the heart of Columbus burn within every missionary in the Spain BarcelonaMission,

Pte. Clark B. Hinckley

Columbus Day 2011

Christopher Columbus Statue, Barcelona

En Vivo España vs Escocia Ahora! / Live Spain vs Scotland RIght Now!

No te pierdas este partido en vivo en fandelfcbarcelona.blogspot.com

Lupin Beans or Altramuces Pickled in Brine.

White Lupins (Lupinus albus) or Altramuces are normally taken as a pickled snack food that accompanies beer in Spanish bars, as for example in Andalusia. It is very nutritious although I don't like it much. I've read it is rich in protein. I still think they taste bitter. Sorry for not being very talkative today.

Lupin Beans or Altramuces Pickled in Brine.

Flamenco Dancers and the Photographic Process

There comes a time you really don't know what to do with a picture that went wrong somehow. Shall I use BW or sepia? Or shall I be bold enough to simply post it as is? There are purists and photo editing enthusiasts and everyone must cast their verdict but in the end the first person to be happy with the result must be you. Maybe not everything you do may be accepted as art, but as part of a creative process, photography, no matter how realistic it might be, implies perception, inspiration, technique and that mysterious magic nobody teaches you at school. Have you seen a child's face showing you that simple drawing you already discarded as too rudimentary? Did you notice how proud your kid was? Are you sure you saw all you had to see? Would two different people value the drawing the same way? What I want to say is that the important thing is to say something, convey your message based upon your own experience and reality. Where was I? Oh, yes. Here is a group of flamenco dancers each of them in what I thought was an interesting pose. The texture is just an additive to give some mood. I am not sure where I was heading to but had a good time editing!

Flamenco Dancers and the Photographic Process

Sporting Gijon Vs Barcelona 0-1 All Highlights And Goals 2-10-2011

Sin Puyol ni Piqué... y con Adriano

El diario Sport presenta la siguiente nota con la alineación del Barcelona ante el Sporting:

"Con cuatro bajas importantes como Cesc, Alexis, Afellay e Iniesta y algunos jugadores 'tocados' o saliendo de lesiones, como Puyol y Piqué, era un poco una incógnita saber el once inicial que podía sacar Pep Guardiola ante el Sporting.

El técnico, finalmente, ha optado por una alineación en la que destaca que no están ni Puyol ni Piqué y en la que sí que está un Adriano que podría jugar de lateral izquierdo, pero también en el centro del campo.

Así, el Barça juega con: Valdés; Alves, Mascherano, Abidal, Adriano, Xavi, Busquets, Thiago, Messi, Pedro y Villa."

Sin Puyol ni Piqué... y con Adriano | barca | SPORT.es:

'via Blog this'

En Vivo Barcelona vs Sporting

El día de hoy el Barcelona se enfrentara al Sporting e intentara llegar a la cima de la clasificación en esta etapa de la temporada.

Por su parte, el Sporting se encuentra en el sótano y seguramente hará un esfuerzo extraordinario para sumar puntos y salir de la zona de descenso.

No te pierdas el partido - aquí en vivo y por múltiples canales!

Plaza Espanya: A Neuralgic Spot in Barcelona City

Plaça Espanya or Plaza España, Barcelona [enlarge]

Here is a panoramic view of Plaza España (sp) or Plaça d'Espanya (cat). The name of the place has been mispelled on purpose in the title of this post cause Google seems to have problems with Ç and Ñ, two letters that you won't find in an English keyboard. In fact it is possible that you are not able to see them while you read this article. I digress. Plaza Espanya is a neuralgic spot in the city of Barcelona for several reasons: it is an important crossroads connecting important streets like Gran Via, Avinguda del Paral-lel and Carrer de Tarragona among others (Plaza Espanya on Google Maps); it is next to the Fira de Barcelona area, where important trade fairs take place every year; it is the main access to Montjuic fountains and Palau Nacional where MNAC museum is; La Merce celebrations are held here and in the Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina which is that promenade behind the two Venetian towers in the background. Plaça Espanya was built for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition. It is said that this very spot witnessed many public executions back in the XVII century. Recently the whole place has gained relevance due to the inauguration of Las Arenas center from where I took this picture. Don't forget to click on the image for a larger view!