
CHEERS
Faith saved us from the savages that we were, losing faith makes us savages again

CHEERS

Have you ever visited Andalucía? Well here are three cities which you might consider visiting. They are very close to each other.
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¿Alguna vez has visitado Andalucía? Bueno, aquí te muestro tres ciudades que podrías considerar visitar. Están muy cerca una de la otra.
GRACIAS – CHEERS


(Written while listening to Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt)
Lamentation No. 1
I walked barefoot with my mother on rocky sun scorched sands,
the blisters hurt,
my lips were burned.
My mother laughed, then cried…
We had no food or water and shade we could not find.
“But once you taste abundance there,
my son, beyond the great white wall,
then all this suffering and pain,
you won’t recall at all.”
So forward we continued to the paradise up north,
until the wall came into view…
Then soldiers rushed and grabbed her.
My mother tried to run.
She tried to push me towards a crack
where she thought that I could fit,
so I perhaps could scramble through
and in the northern side
I’d finally live.
My mom died in my little arms as soldiers grouped around us,
in the shadow of the wall,
with the northern air around us.
I swore one day I’d find a way to make my dream reality,
and my mother’s bones I’ll carry there
to northern hospitality…
C.2024, Francisco Bravo Cabrera/02 AUG 2024, Izmir, Turkey
NOTA BENE
«Mother Take Me to the Other Side of the Wall; Lamentation No. 1» is an part of a larger work titled «On The Other Side of the Wall» which is part of my upcoming book (untitled as of this moment). The poem featured on this page is not exactly like the one which will appear in the book, but the spirit and the narrative is identical.
The idea that permeates the book that I am writing is the plight of refugees. I lived in Miami, Florida (US) among Cubans that had once arrived as refugees to the United States. They were escaping the horrors of communism and were seeking freedom in northern lands. At that time the US government happily opened their arms and their hearts to these refugees. Of course, they came in orderly and legal fashion.
But even those who later ventured out to sea, to cross the Straits of Florida in rafts or makeshift boats were also accepted. Haitians were also appearing on Florida shores on boats and rafts, seeking refuge from corrupt governments. They were welcomed. After that, in 1980, when the Sandinista-Communists took over Nicaragua, thousands and thousands of Nicaraguan refugees arrived and they were received with open hospitality. Later, when Venezuela fell to Chavez and Maduro, the Venezuelans began arriving in Miami and they were treated with welcome arms. There are also thousands of Argentinians, Columbians and many others. Although not all are political refugees, many of the ones from these other countries are immigrants seeking a better economical situation, but all were welcome…
What is happening now? The government wants to build a wall. Well, a wall will not stop willpower, determination or the quest for a better life!
Didn’t Ronald Reagan ask Mikhail Gorbachev to «…tear down that wall»?
I lived among prior political refugees and immigrants. They are hard working, industrious, well educated and well established people. Cubans made Miami the megalopolis that it is today, a city with more than six millions people. President Obama gave that example to the communist government when he spoke before the Cuban parliament in Havana. I was not an immigrant, I went there because of my father’s job. I studied in the US. I served in the US Army, and in the county sheriff’s office and in the Coast Guard as a reserve officer, and worked to make the US a better place. The others, immigrants and former political refugees, do too.
CHEERS

(Written while listening to Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt)
Lamentation No. 1
I walked barefoot with my mother on rocky sun scorched sands,
the blisters hurt,
my lips were burned.
My mother laughed, then cried…
We had no food or water and shade we could not find.
“But once you taste abundance there,
my son, beyond the great white wall,
then all this suffering and pain,
you won’t recall at all.”
So forward we continued to the paradise up north,
until the wall came into view…
Then soldiers rushed and grabbed her.
My mother tried to run.
She tried to push me towards a crack
where she thought that I could fit,
so I perhaps could scramble through
and in the northern side
I’d finally live.
My mom died in my little arms as soldiers grouped around us,
in the shadow of the wall,
with the northern air around us.
I swore one day I’d find a way to make my dream reality,
and my mother’s bones I’ll carry there
to northern hospitality…
C.2024, Francisco Bravo Cabrera/02 AUG 2024, Izmir, Turkey
NOTA BENE
«Mother Take Me to the Other Side of the Wall; Lamentation No. 1» is an part of a larger work titled «On The Other Side of the Wall» which is part of my upcoming book (untitled as of this moment). The poem featured on this page is not exactly like the one which will appear in the book, but the spirit and the narrative is identical.
The idea that permeates the book that I am writing is the plight of refugees. I lived in Miami, Florida (US) among Cubans that had once arrived as refugees to the United States. They were escaping the horrors of communism and were seeking freedom in northern lands. At that time the US government happily opened their arms and their hearts to these refugees. Of course, they came in orderly and legal fashion.
But even those who later ventured out to sea, to cross the Straits of Florida in rafts or makeshift boats were also accepted. Haitians were also appearing on Florida shores on boats and rafts, seeking refuge from corrupt governments. They were welcomed. After that, in 1980, when the Sandinista-Communists took over Nicaragua, thousands and thousands of Nicaraguan refugees arrived and they were received with open hospitality. Later, when Venezuela fell to Chavez and Maduro, the Venezuelans began arriving in Miami and they were treated with welcome arms. There are also thousands of Argentinians, Columbians and many others. Although not all are political refugees, many of the ones from these other countries are immigrants seeking a better economical situation, but all were welcome…
What is happening now? The government wants to build a wall. Well, a wall will not stop willpower, determination or the quest for a better life!
Didn’t Ronald Reagan ask Mikhail Gorbachev to «…tear down that wall»?
I lived among prior political refugees and immigrants. They are hard working, industrious, well educated and well established people. Cubans made Miami the megalopolis that it is today, a city with more than six millions people. President Obama gave that example to the communist government when he spoke before the Cuban parliament in Havana. I was not an immigrant, I went there because of my father’s job. I studied in the US. I served in the US Army, and in the county sheriff’s office and in the Coast Guard as a reserve officer, and worked to make the US a better place. The others, immigrants and former political refugees, do too.
CHEERS

Asi que tenéis críos, venga, pues a vosotros os escribo…
Recuerdo que madre solo tenia que decirme «porque soy tu madre y punto» y se acababan todas mis preguntas y exigencias.
Tambien si me portaba indebidamente, mejor dicho, mal, y seguía jodiendo, me miraba y solo decía, «no me, no me! Que te, mira que te!» y ya, me echaba para atrás pues sabia que próximamente vendría el sopapo.
Y cuando madre estaba harta de oírme defenderme y argumentar sandeces ad nauseam con peros y más peros, me contestaba, «ni pero ni pera, ya!» y se acabó.
Pero muchos de vosotros a los críos les permitís todo. Este exceso, este permisivismo, no les viene bien, os advierto. Los críos, aunque no me creáis, quieren que vosotros, sus padres, los guieis, les pongáis limites, los eduquéis y los encaminéis. No debéis dejar que ellos decidan ni que hagan todo lo que les de la gana. ¿Que los padres tenéis la responsabilidad del comportamiento de vuestros críos? Claro que sí. Eso ha sido asi toda la vida y ahora vosotros, los supuestos padres modernos, no lo estais cumpliendo.
Además una de las razones por las cuales tenéis que controlar a vuestros críos es para que no molesten ni vuelvan locos a los demás. Especialmente en los lugares públicos, en las terrazas, en los bares, en las tiendas y en las aceras de la ciudad. En los restaurantes no debéis dejar que corran por entre las mesas como si estuviesen en un ludo parque. Vamos, no digo que los amarréis a la silla, pero si enseñadles que en un restaurante no se hace eso. Y si se aburren y se ponen majaderos es vuestra culpa. Dejad el tardeo y las cervecitas de más, pagad la cuenta, y llevadlos a un parque a que jueguen y gasten energía. ¿Ah, eso no os va? Pues para que tuvisteis hijos, ahora hay que joderse.
Otra cosa muy importante es que no les estais enseñando a ser futuros miembros de la sociedad. Pues para que sean buenos ciudadanos tenéis que enseñarles buenos modales, adquirir y valorar el buen gusto, saber saludar y despedirse, y tratar correctamente a los mayores, en fin, comportarse como seres civilizados y no como animalitos. Y lo inexorable, que sepan respetar. Tienen que respetar a los demás, a vosotros mismos, a la naturaleza y a los animales. Esa es la clave que conlleva a la paz y a la justicia y para que sean hombres y mujeres honrados y honorables. Asi gozaremos todos de un mundo mejor.
A los hijos no se les cría permitiéndoles malacrianzas y caprichos. Al contrario, tienen que aprender el valor de las cosas y los sacrificios de sus padres etcétera. Tienen que aprender a valorar los esfuerzos y asi serán solidarios y no arrogantes ni altaneros. Y por Dios no tratéis de convertirlos en pijos insoportables, esos que se tiran el pedo mas alto que el culo, porque los destinareis al fracaso y nadie los va ni a soportar ni a querer.
Queremos querer a vuestros hijos como queremos a los nuestros, y por eso os pedimos que los eduquéis. Esa es vuestra responsabilidad. Y si tenéis que darles una nalgada o una buena tunda, vale, nadie se ha muerto por eso. Pero ojo, no abuséis de ellos ni los maltratéis, pero si tenéis que cambiarle el comportamiento súbitamente, una buena nalgada lo logra.
Y no, no soy un pediatra ni psicólogo infantil, soy solo uno de esos a quienes vuestros chiquillos malcriados ha vuelto loco ya demasiadas veces. Hombre, mira que, mira que, que te, que te… 😊
GRACIAS

You probably know him from his fabulous blog Notes From the Edge but we are here to let you know a lot more about this artist from New Zealand…
ANDREW IN HIS OWN WORDS
My name is Andrew Buchanan, born and raised in NZ now living in Sydney. I entered Sydney University to study an English degree with a high distinction but have been unable to complete my degree due to acquiring multiple disabilities including a STBI, post-traumatic epilepsy, deafness – profoundly in one ear and a 30% in the other, visual field deficits and T12-L1 paraplegia from an accident at work on a building site.
I have worked in the hospitality and construction industry my entire life up until becoming disabled. My insurance company and the NSW Government have now deemed me “unfit to work” – drat.
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These were the interview questions we posed:
1) How much time in the day do you dedicate to your creative work?
1: I write, make music, and paint, largely untrained, but it is hard to put a time value on any of my art because even when I am not making or producing I am always thinking about it.
2) Other than the job of creating art, what other duties or responsibilities do you think an artist has?
2: I think that art is a way to decipher the undecipherable, I know that sounds a bit trite but I live with multiple acquired disabilities and I can find no other way to make sense of the world around me. Personally I do not see any responsibility for an artist, as long as it is true to the artist other’s opinions should not matter. Saying that I have been attacked by several people over the content of my stories. To tell you the truth I would prefer somebody to say, «you cannot write, or you are not a good writer» rather than somebody telling me off for the content of my stories. Art should be about freedom and not censorship
3) What is your opinion of AI (Artificial Intelligence)?
3: AI is a big problem in our society, can AI write a novel, or produce an original piece of art? Also it is taking work, jobs, away from people. Yes a computer can reproduce the Mona Lisa but can a computer create an original piece of art?
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ANDREW’S ART

And we are inviting you, yes, you, to also be a protagonist on FEATURES by VALENCIARTIST. If you are an artist or a writer or in any way engaged in the fine arts, you qualify. To join us all you have to do is reply to this post with an email address so that we can send you the information.
CHEERS

Dear diary, let me start with a quote from The Simpson’s, the most philosophical programme on the tele today and since the first day they started: “It takes two to lie: one to lie and one to listen.”
Yes, it seems like we are the ones told to listen. We are told to listen by the liars that want our votes, by the ones who want to convince us of their «truth» and by all those who think they are better, wiser, and brighter. So we listen…
But do we actually swallow their bullshit? I don’t think so. I hope not. When I hear Trump speak, I may listen but I don’t believe a word he says. When I hear Maduro, in Venezuela, claim he won the «elections» in his country, I may pause, have a brief listen, but I don’t believe it. He is a communist, a tyrant and rather dull compared to other communist dictators…
So…
Who are you listening to? Do you believe them? And this rule, or paradigm applies to all situations in life, not just to politicians vying for your vote or trying to convince you of their supremacy. This happens between you and your friends, neighbours, spouse, children et al…
«D’oh» as Homer Simpson would say…
CHEERS

Parece ser que cuando Albert Einstein conoció a Charles Chaplin lo primero que le dijo fue, «Lo que más admiro de su arte es que usted no dice una palabra y sin embargo todo mundo lo entiende.» Claro, estaba hablando de un genio de la cultura, de la comedia y de mucho más, del gran Charles Chaplin…
Bueno, hace bastante tiempo que te tengo ignorado, querido diario, pero hoy no pude resistir dedicarte algunas letras, algunas opiniones, díganos. Se celebraron «elecciones» en Venezuela y claro, el dictador se declaró ganador. ¿A quien le iba sorprender eso? A los comunistas no les gusta perder. Pero cuando ganan el pueblo es el que pierde. Por supuesto que los demás compinches lo reconocieron inmediatamente como el ganador. Los de siempre, Cuba y Nicaragua, no se quien más. Y como era de esperarse, la policía, que Maduro controla, está a punto de arrestar a la maxima opositora, María Corina Machado.
Parece mentira que a estas alturas del Siglo XXI todavía haya semejantes tiranos que digan cosas como estas, «El imperio español hace más de 500 años, asesinó, desterró y esclavizó a millones…». Tranquilo Nicolás Maduro que los pájaros no deben tirarle a la escopeta. Hace 500 años muchos imperios, reinos, tribus y naciones atacaban, mataban y esclavizaban a sus enemigos. Así era la cosa en esos siglos. Pero ahora los únicos que hacen eso son los comunistas.
Y yo se, querido diario, que hay muchas más locuras de las que se puede hablar, pero bueno, lo dejare aquí y te prometo no tenerte tanto tiempo en el abandono otra vez. Pero, si me lo permites, quiero cerrar esta página con esta cita extraordinaria de Albert Einstein:
«Si quieres vivir una vida feliz, átala a una meta, no a personas o cosas.»
GRACIAS

You probably know him from his fabulous blog Notes From the Edge but we are here to let you know a lot more about this artist from New Zealand…
ANDREW IN HIS OWN WORDS
My name is Andrew Buchanan, born and raised in NZ now living in Sydney. I entered Sydney University to study an English degree with a high distinction but have been unable to complete my degree due to acquiring multiple disabilities including a STBI, post-traumatic epilepsy, deafness – profoundly in one ear and a 30% in the other, visual field deficits and T12-L1 paraplegia from an accident at work on a building site.
I have worked in the hospitality and construction industry my entire life up until becoming disabled. My insurance company and the NSW Government have now deemed me “unfit to work” – drat.
+++
These were the interview questions we posed:
1) How much time in the day do you dedicate to your creative work?
1: I write, make music, and paint, largely untrained, but it is hard to put a time value on any of my art because even when I am not making or producing I am always thinking about it.
2) Other than the job of creating art, what other duties or responsibilities do you think an artist has?
2: I think that art is a way to decipher the undecipherable, I know that sounds a bit trite but I live with multiple acquired disabilities and I can find no other way to make sense of the world around me. Personally I do not see any responsibility for an artist, as long as it is true to the artist other’s opinions should not matter. Saying that I have been attacked by several people over the content of my stories. To tell you the truth I would prefer somebody to say, «you cannot write, or you are not a good writer» rather than somebody telling me off for the content of my stories. Art should be about freedom and not censorship
3) What is your opinion of AI (Artificial Intelligence)?
3: AI is a big problem in our society, can AI write a novel, or produce an original piece of art? Also it is taking work, jobs, away from people. Yes a computer can reproduce the Mona Lisa but can a computer create an original piece of art?
+++++
ANDREW’S ART

And we are inviting you, yes, you, to also be a protagonist on FEATURES by VALENCIARTIST. If you are an artist or a writer or in any way engaged in the fine arts, you qualify. To join us all you have to do is reply to this post with an email address so that we can send you the information.
CHEERS