#91 American Motorhome For Sale

5 berth luxury Winnibago Windcruiser for sale.
Petrol engine recently converted to LPG.

"Good little runner, Guv" . . . . . . . (wink).

#90 Hot off the Press - Crevé Dur

Issue 2 of Crevé is now available:























Valves - should it be Presta or Schroeder? A spirited debate from both camps reveals that it is not an open and shut valve.

The Inner Tube - from the author of The Inner Game a new discussion into the psychology of pressure and how high it could or should go. Off the scale? - you decide.

Blow Up! - (1966) is director Michelangelo Antonioni's view of mod fashion and an engaging, provocative murder mystery that examines the existential nature of reality through the world of punctures and flared trousers.

FREE! pre-glued, jumbo puncture repair patch - with every new subscription to Crevé.
See also blog #78

#89 where? when? . . . . and why?

Another photo from the shoebox.

#88 Rare CD (live)

I just found this CD in the remainder bin at our
local supermarket - for only 2 euros!
I might put it on eBay and see what happens.



















Nathan Wiltshire is modern pop music's ultimate chameleon, bouncing from pop to country and even orchestral experiments all with the breathless enthusiasm of the newly converted.

Wiltshire has explored soul and funk before, but never with the conviction he shows here in this rare live recording.

Its a rare classic, don't you know (grin).

#87 Olé

Just to avoid any confusion - it is not me swirling the cape - I just took the snap!

#86 Thai Fish Curry

How I cook a fish curry in about 20 minutes:

















Ingredients:
olive or coconut oil for frying
red onion(s)
2 cloves of garlic
fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
1 red chilli, finely chopped
1 tablespoon fish sauce
juice of 1 or 2 limes
half a can of coconut milk
fillets of firm fish (Perch for preference) cut into cubes
½ mango (also in cubes)
some fresh coriander

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the ginger and chillies and fry further 2 - 3 minutes.

2. Stir in the fish sauce, lime juice, coconut milk and cook for a further few minutes.

3. Add the fish and simmer for 5 minutes or until the fish is nearly cooked, then add mango, cook for 2 more minutes.

4. Dress with freshly chopped coriander.

Finally
Serve with rice or noodles.

More curries #73 and #69

#85 Moors and Christians

A thousand and a bit years ago, Spain had a ding-dong between the Moors and the Christians. These days it might be called 'ethnic cleansing' as the Christians sent the Moors packing back to Africa.

Now, we have a fiesta to commemorate the event - and everyone enjoys themselves!

Groups of men and women parade up and down the High Street dressed in their particular persuasion. Then they shout at each other, have a mock battle and get even more pissed!

Viva España!

top picture: a line of Moors - North American Indian division.
below: . . . . . . . your guess is as good as mine.

#84 Out for a Bike Ride

Self portrait as I wooshed down nice smooth road.
Somewhere between Sanet and Beniarbeig.
Costa Blanca, (sunny) Spain.

#83 More Front Doors

From a series of Other People's Front Doors















My man in Bali sent me this door - it could be his as he's building another house in his coconut grove. I will have to go there and confirm!

Other doors #29 #45 #61 #63

#82 Now Playing

Three new LP's on my Danset record player:






1. Ali Farka Touré - Savane
African guitarist and bluesman Ali Farka Touré's final solo studio album.

2. Gerry Mulligan and Astor Piazzolla - Reunión Cumbre
Jazz y Tango, recorded in 1974 - nice :-)

3. Anouar Brahem - Le Voyage de Sahar
Amazon said a load of bollox (including):
"Tunisian oud master Brahem continues his by-now-well-established collaboration with François Couturier (piano) and Jean-Louis Matinier (accordion.)

The trio's improvisations are miracles of weightless precision; while sounding like nobody else, they also evoke chanting medieval monks, Keith Jarrett's florid keyboard sagas, Parisian bal musette, the long-vanished Moorish kingdom of Granada via 20th-century Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, languid recollections of French impressionist Eric Satie plus dissonant gleanings from Astor Piazzolla's sardonic Argentinean neo-tangos.

Despite this complex array of intellectual influences, which permeate the trio's constructions like smoke rings, their works come across as disarmingly simple and unpretentious, a tidily diffuse combination of Arabic modes, European classical disciplines and jazzy intuition".

. . . . . . . . . . even so, it's quite good.

#81 Role Model

A picture from the archives, taken in St Thomas, US Virgin Isles.

#80 Pictures on walls (various)

If you can't make out the detail on this collage, come round to our house and have a look at the origional. Give me some notice so I can run off a print, have it framed and suitably hung.

#79 Lunatic Ahoy!

We don't get too much aggression or violence in Spain.
*Thankfully*

This poor man decided to try and destroy our water tap cover. It's made of iron, so he didn't succeed.

Woke the neighbours up from their siestas, though!

#78 Puncture Victims Magazine!

I'm going to start a magazine for cyclists that are always getting flats ;-)
It's going to be called Crevé. Here is the first front cover.
Hope it's not a let down, (ha ha).






















or that it's not just a load of hot air
or . . . . . (you may fill in your own pun here).

#77 Barcelona Ice Box

While we were in Barcelona we spotted this refrigerator in a shop window. It is painted in the Barcelona Football Club colours and is obviously intended for sale to some Cule (Barsa football club fan).

I looked on the Arsenal FC website and found a plastic drinking bottle for two quid and on the Chelsea FC site there were some Russian 'gold' medallions at various prices.

Being a bit of a Gooner I might have to get an Arsenal drinking bottle - just as cool as a fridge, eh?

#76 To the Fair

We went to the fair across the road.
We didn't ride the Bulls.
We didn't ride the Dodgems.
Someone did eat Chocolate Covered Churos!

#75 Torneo de Squash - Clasificado Uno!

Thursday and Friday
we had another
Torneo de Squash at the
Centro Deportivo Ogisaka
in Dénia.

Me (in very sweaty T shirt),
organiser Arturo and Paco
(runner up) on the 'podium'.

#74 HorseCop Chicago

Photo from the archives:
Policeman riding a horse in . . . Chicago!

#73 Hot & Sour Prawn Curry

How I cook:



Hot & Sour Prawn Curry - You will need:
Frying Pan

Fresh or frozen Prawns (shown here fresh Langostinos)
Red Onion(s)
Garlic
Chopped Tomato
Lump of Palm Sugar
Tamarind paste
Water (some)
Garam Masala Spices:
1tsp Black Pepper, 1tsp Clove, 1tsp cinnamon, 2tsp Cardamon, Bay leaves (alternatively buy ready made garam masala mix).
2tsp Cumin, salt to taste.
Sometimes I put in some fresh Chillies or 1tsp Chilli powder.

Method
Make tamarind paste by soaking pulp (or buy ready made).
Fry onions a bit, then add garlic, then garam masala spices & cumin, then tomato.
5 minutes later add sugar and tamarind, then water.
Make a sloppy sauce.

Cook this sauce for 20 minutes - or more (the more the better).

Finally
Add prawns for a few minutes.
Garnish with fresh coriander serve with rice or dhal.

#72 "Die you filthy cigarette packet!"

. . . . or words to that effect.
Keep Barcelona Tidy advertising campaign

#71 Back to Barça

. . . . or what we did at the weekend.



Friday: we drove up to Barcelona (5+ hours). Picked up Tom from work and carried on to Mataló to see a concert by Femi Kuti. Driving Nigerian Funk Rock.



Before the concert we went for tapas;
Calamares a la Romana, lots of home made Potato Croquettes, Pork Brochettes and Patatas Bravas - all good.

But *even better* was the cost of TWO BOTTLES of HOUSE WINE: 3.50 euros each! (If you think in your English Pounds, US, Canadian or even NZ Dollars, I can tell that 7 euros for two bottles is very, very cheap. Even in Indonesian Rupiahs they were a bargain!

Check the bill or ring them up at Can Pep if you don't believe me!

Saturday we walked around Barcelona. I took some photos of bottles of wine in a shop window and then Sally (in front of bottles of wine in a shop window).



Went for dinner in restaurant by the sea (not shown).
Ended up drinking mojitos in Leon's bar.
Pictured: Tom about to sample 7 euro (!) mojito.



















Sunday: photo of my Vans shoes,
print design by Addict,
standing on Pavement Plaque
somewhere in Barcelona.

Then we drove back to Dénia. :-)

#70 Correfoc - Run & Fire

Down our high street you can sometimes see; manic motorists, scary scooters, bulls out for a jog, paellas being cooked and (as shown here) Mad Max Fireworkers shooting out fire and sparks into a crowd of lunatics dancing to a drum and pipe band at 2am. All quite normal, really.



The Red Devil is on stilts, raining down sparks from a great height.
The band follows closely behind the fireworkers.
These days they don't start until the ambulance is in position . . . . . .

#69 Captain's Chicken Curry

How I cook:



Captain's Chicken Curry - you will need:
Frying pan with a lid and a blender.

Chicken thighs, onion, garlic, ginger, chili, paprika, cashew nuts, sultanas, cumin, clear vinegar or lime juice, salt & pepper, cup of water, oil or ghee.

Fry an onion on very low heat till brown, 15+ minutes?

. . . . in the mean time chop up:
2 or 3 garlic cloves
lump fresh ginger (peeled)
1 hot chili (de-seeded)
half tsp tumeric powder (not essential)
cumin powder (grind some seed for preference)
handful cashew nuts
handful sultanas

Add all the above to the cooked onion and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a blender with a cup of water and blend to make a smoothish paste - make it quite wet and sloppy.

Dust the skinless chicken thighs with salt and pepper then fry for a few minutes each side. Dump the blended paste over the chicken, bring to boil, turn down to a simmer and cover. Cook on low heat for about 50 minutes, turn occasionally.

++ just before serving add tablespoon of clear vinegar or lime juice ++.

Top with chopped coriander and a sprinkle of sweet paprika.
Serve with rice or noodles or nan bread.

#68 Russians

St Petersburg, Russia, 1994.
One of these lads gave me his cap badge, I think his name was . . .
Vladímir something . . . . . 'Putin' seems to ring a bell . . ?

#67 Varieties of Paella

They are having a Paella Cooking competition in the high street (this man hasn't put his rice in yet). It does smell very good, especially with the wood smoke giving it that something extra

Mmm, Wood Smoke.

#66 Red Hot Chili Peppers

I bought these chili peppers in the big food market in Barcelona. 5 for a Euro. In England they are called Scotch Bonnets (Capsicum chinense) They are hot!

I put about a third of one in a Thai Fish Curry and that was enough.

#65 Fish for Tea

. . . . . or Hommage à Captain Beefheart























I was a big Captain Beefheart fan and so I took this self portrait (above) and spoofed the Trout Mask Replica album cover (below).

I used a monkfish - didn't want to be accused of plagiarism, ha ha.

#64 Only in Spain!

No, its not Pamplona!

But it is Dénia's version of running with the bulls. During the fiesta of Bous a la Mar a few (not very macho) bulls jog down the high street as far as a 'bullring' by the sea. There the local lads do their best to taunt the bulls so that they charge and end up falling into the sea (boys and/or bulls).

Its a *bit* dangerous. The bulls do have horns (although the one with the bell looks suspiciously like an out of work cow). There are no 'Health and Safety' regulations here, however - so its all quite all right.

#63 Puerta Mexicana

Carrie's front door when she was living in Guaymas, Mexico.
From a series of Other People's Front Doors

#62 Boulevard De L'Indépendance

I just bought (!) a CD.
Yes, paid with real euros (but with Tom's staff discount)
Toumani Diabate's Boulevard De L'Independance












If you liked this album you will also like:

Orchestra Baobab - Specialist in All Styles
Ry Cooder - Chavez Ravine
Ali Farka Touré - In the Heart of the Moon
V.M.Bhatt & Ry Cooder - Meeting by the River
Taj Mahal - Hula Blues
Manu Chao - Esperanza
. . . or perhaps Clandestino . . . ?

#61 Somewhere in Barcelona

Tom´s Door - From a series of Other People's Front Doors

#60 InterRailing

A week flying, biking and railing in Switzerland and France

Tuesday: EasyJet flight from Madrid to Genevre, stayed the night in local FormulaOne hotel.












Wednesday: 100k ride round south side of Lac Leman via Thonon and Evian to Aigles. From Aigles took the mountain train up to Leysin.



















Stayed with 'triathletes in training' Tim and Ben.














Thursday: hello to Lizbeth and AJ. Cooked curry for the gang - sorry chaps, chicken turned out a bit chewy :-(




















Friday: 130km ride back round lake (north side) via Montreux and Lausanne, through Genevre and stopped in Viry

Saturday: Nice ride from Viry to Aix les Bains, train to Grenoble, then back on bike to Vizille.

Sunday: Vizille to Villard Reculas - all *very* uphill. The last 10k is the back road to Alp d'Huez. Stayed in a gite next to Jimmy Riccitello who is running a camp for a group of American friends.

Monday: Cooked Chicken Tarragon for Jimmy and his mates while watching herd of goats munching local mountain.














Tuesday: Rode back down to Grenoble and 4 trains and 9 hours later ended up in Barcelona.

#59 Viva!

Hurray! Carrie arrives in Madrid

#58 Riccitellos - a big thank you!

Carrie was on her way back from Mexico. She arrived by bus in Tucson expecting to fly to Madrid. Continental Airlines lost her booking and she wasn't on the passenger list. Next available flight was in 5 days time :-(

So we called Jimmy Riccitello who lives in Tucson and asked him to look after Carrie for a few days. No Problem! came the reply.

Then Carrie got sick, went to hospital, diagnosed with appendicitis, had to have an operation. Discharged, back to the Riccitello's to wait for next available flight, another week.

So a very big thank you to Traci(21), Jimmy(42), Matthew(4), Madeline(2)