As you might have heard, tv.com is disabling posting and commenting in user blogs. By July 30th, blog content will no longer be visible on the site. Inevitably, I will lose touch with most of the friends I've made here which deeply saddens me. Anyone who wants to remain in touch, please send me a pm and I'll direct you to my Facebook account. To all the rest, farewell, take care, good luck and have a long and very happy life!

A big thank you to everyone in the list below, I've laughed and cried with you and hence you will always have a spot in my heart:

12678 _DiNozzoLover_ 2muchtv_91 44Hilla44 5_LD_5 abdullah2220 ACDiNosey Addicted411 Adrymk15 agux987 Alec_Bollig alexlips amaryllis88 AmyJean91 andre_13 Angel200489 Angie_Jane ArmoredCore55 Arna12 Arrowhokie23 arwyn-t AryaStark88 AsakuraHao2004 AsprineSMacked atc4gvn ausgurl_12 BammyMan banannie bbntom55 bdhoff BethanyJoyFan Big_Papi7 Black_Cries Bliss_West88 Blk_rse88 blue_fish24 bobfrapples8 Bones18 brandonfrench Bridgess91 BrightlyLit Brinchen buffyangel4evr_ camelotkitty12 CaptainFreedom3 casabonita83 cassiop_yeaaah CaterinaValenti cathgil Chanouel Charlieicequeen charlottedotcom charmed1102 charmedluv Chayiana Cherish4 CherishPassion chickawackaboo chuckdreyfuski Chuck_Off chylo9 clabrazil clairebearnz codegashdragon cool_professor Coolceruleanblu cpassos crazyforTV97 csino1fan csinyfan csiny-Love Csiroxmysox cyberdarkkid D-Danni D-syfer Dakotagirl823 danbambridge Da_Tonks DeanW8r Deea Delgada delia_morandi Dfan46 Dj-Dark-1 DL-Flack DLRgirl213 dool_girl doxos dramafreakcsi dpebbleson dylan-luver Dzjaansis eatalotacookies efc1991 efc91 elanoringl Elfor_Rocket ElPersonaVII Em105 emeraldmile emilylouise EmpireClover esponda1 Ewkatal famguyrocks fantasyfreak77 fantasymommy felicity83 finalfan789 flamecatcher fosterscheese foxdvdgh FoxPhile foxy-csi friendslover238 FriendsSvuLost8 Fwirrel G3ckOz gab94bee gcmest24 Ghostlover6190 giovinazzo gorobu GossipGirlFANxx GrandviewEagles greysanatomy12 GSR_Fanatic gwenpiper24 -hanna- hakone1 happy666 haysm Heather_H HeatherGSRGirl hebri HILOLAK holden_potter hornswaggle hrgaffney HugeHouseMdFan i_rock_74 ian6432486 ice_edge idwithheld Iheartcsi illegalferret I-luv-Chocolate iluvgilmore7791 iluvu4ever IlyanaRVS Ivlander14 jacobp76 JamesPreston0 janeramil Janestronger javnah JellyFishJammer Jemma jenn21 jennabby jennidinorobot JesusFreak1990 JJuna JoeyDC83 Jordinajamaica Kadodian KaitlynReynolds kajinka karlmeszaros Kathy7 Katie_mkd Kewlz KimLePatoure Kim_sprite2009 kinga4545 kingkilla3 kingrich06 kingsgf Kitty-Kat-Kate kiwi2325 KR123410 kwadd1985 KyahCA Lady_Lancaster laurameyer legend-dreamer LEOCAPO LetsFreakOut Liaq100 lilmzhappy lilyaya1 Linds1986 Lisaraph LizzieMckenzie LizzyGlue Lolita208 londoncherry loopy_101 loreleiadf lostcy Love_ya24 lozza1525 mackymacaspac MacsGirl Maisy mami2envy Manu4380 marginator Mariekjj Marijacurcic MarWash marylnsky mathwizard09 meancoconut merlinholly merlinrules09 mickeyDs4 micopacman mikaylachick123 millica miri100 Misa DL misschoo mitchelc moggiye Mortal_Taylor Mountiegirl Msblakelewis Mynerva24 NateR92 NCISislove nenita_721 neomichel nephayugi Nicksta101 ninjazx7rrr NoIdeaForThis numb3rschick Numb3rsfan1 NYCarbon oba717 osdawaya16 othforeverlove pakhair Parricida patry_trusky paulwj PaxPhoenix pennyrua peteandbob pikastatic100 PiratePixieVix PixieLyssie PLZKLLME0080 Pop-star1998 portuguesemarta preenad Primo295 Princess_Teacup Princess-peach Procter_Fox_Fan purplerae R3d_Rummii radrobd RandomlyKeira Reaganbaby -renn- Rheadayz Rhylee Rockamoca RockyBoc Russospa saleblanc sandyqbg Sarah_Is_Lost Sarah_LOST sarahislost sarahwinter Saxa246 ScF2007 seashell_girl Shaol sharpsh0t shatgan2222 shiftcomma3 sid1157 siebeuh sikatgames Silvara Silverlaine silverlions -Skatman- Sky SleepTight snowdays sprint_car_fan2 sprintcarfan2 sssquarepants StarbucksAddict Stellagirl stellaluvr14 Subs33 sugah66 super_snotling susan1302 Suzpsycho swede85 sweet_jane synyster-666 Taylorchick TheCloser4eva thefamilyguyguy thefanof thundderrrr_xo tigerdude22 Tonik2255 tonyandzivafan Toph_Girl250 Torferleon248 Tosatsu TvFreak7 Tvnut Tyneebub TyZeRViRuS VaveAma92 VGFreak8 vicky24c vonkie_1991 Wanted23 Water78 weatherlyx20 West3rd WillieErickson WingedAlchemist WitchyWeasel88 Wizadora97 WolfgalX xcharmedkx Xhosa9congo xlovedust xmarksthesugar XooKey xTrufflesToYoux XxClaraxX xxEsterr xxShawneexx ZaraLawless Zbb250 zeencat Zeromus1337

(Second part of my previous blog, keeping comments short not to exceed the maximum allowed size for a blog again)

El Efecto del Naútico (The Effect of the Nautical).

The Royal San Sebastian Nautical Club is a too pompous name for a small Nautical Club which building was designed by Jose Manuel Aizpurua and Joaquin Labayen in 1929. It imitates a ship that is anchored in the promenade. I absolutely ignore what nautical activities it holds, but I know there's a disco with pretty cool views on the top (all those windows in the foreground belong to it) and women don't have to pay for admittance tickets :D For some reason, hot men don't seem fond of it. Oh well.

El Peine del Viento XV (The Wind's Comb XV)

El Peine del Viento XV is an emblematic group of three steel sculptures designed by Eduardo Chillida and finished in 1976. They are embedded in the rocks and constantly beaten by the Cantabric Sea, which is usually brave in this particular spot of the promenade.

There are some holes in the ground that expel wind at high speed every time the waves hit the shore so it is always a pleasure to sit down and stare at the tourists that stand on them looking down puzzled as they wonder what the story is with them. As you can imagine, countless of unwilling Marilyn Monroes show their undergarments for their very embarrassment and everyone else's delight :lol:

If the tide is rough enough, not only wind but water comes out of the holes.

Perdido en la Parte Vieja (Lost in the Old Part)

The Old Part of the city is a small bunch of busy streets that hold the night life and most of the city celebrations and festivals. At their heart there's the Constitution Square.

That was it, hope you enjoyed the visit to my corner of the world.

Oh, there's another last drawing which belongs to one of the nicest celebrations that my city holds. It is actually being celebrated today, so I'll come back with fresh pictures and the story behind it soon ;)

Google Spain decided to join today my city's celebrations, so cool they reflect something that only goes on locally here! :D

So, this is where I live. Nothing too fancy, but I like my city. It's big enough to fulfill all of my needs and small enough to move on foot all around.

Oscar Alonso, a publicist from my city, seems to have at least two things in common with me: he likes San Sebastian (our city) and he likes Tintin. My old friends here have probably had to put up with some of my Tintin blogs already and know of my love for the blonde journalist. It's one of my childhood heroes and I never grow bored of re-reading the stories again.

To my very delight, this publicist has put both San Sebastian and Tintin together in a series of drawings that absolutely made my day when I read the news in the newspaper.

He arranged an exhibition in a bar of some friends of his that even made it to one of his drawings.

I went to the exhibition, watched the lovely drawings and enjoyed the pleasure of those simple things that make me happy. And well, I decided to share ;)

El Enigma de la Barandilla de la Concha (The Enigma of the Concha Railing)

La Concha (the shell) is the name of one of the three beaches in the city. It has the shape of a shell, hence the name. All along the promenade, there's a railing with a design that keeps people in raptures for some reason.

It's become so popular, that it is present in every souvenir and whatnot. I own two Concha railing shaped pendants from as long as I can remember, a silver one and a golden one (sorry about the unfocused pic). Most people in the city do too.

La Construcción Vacía (The Empty Construction)

La Construcción Vacía is the name of this steel sculpture by Jorge Oteiza. It was placed in the promenade in 2002, and I don't like it at all but hey, I'm not into Modern Art.

It is a nice place to admire the beauty of the Cantabric Sea both when it's calm...

...and rough.

El Misterio de la Isla de Santa Clara (The Mystery of Santa Clara Island)

Santa Clara Island is a small random island with no other interest than being a cute place to go picnicking.

It's placed in the middle of the bay, and going swimming from the beach to the island has killed many summer beach days.

La Farola del Kursaal (The Kursaal lamppost)

If you ask me, it's the ugliest design for a lamppost in the city. The only thing that I like about them is that you can walk around their base into small viewpoints over the Cantabric Sea (to the north) and the Urumea River (to the south). They are situated along the Kursaal Bridge...

...and by the Kursaal Exhibition Centre, two buildings designed by Rafael Moneo in 1999. I'm not a fan of them either, they really don't fit in that area of the city but hey again. They are supposed to be two aground rocks.

The Kursaal Exhibition Centre holds the San Sebastian International Movie Festival where ironically enough, one of the prizes given imitates the design of some other lampposts in the city. Lol

More to come soon since the whole of it exceeds the maximum allowed size for a blog :|

"In a time when one's town was one's world, the actions at a dance excited greater interest than the movement of armies..."

I've been watching all period movies based on Jane Austen's novels:

-Sense and Sensibility.
-Pride and Prejudice.
-Mansfield Park.
-Emma.
-Northanger Abbey.
-Persuasion.

I've always loved the novels and to my surprise, the movie adaptations aren't bad at all. I'm not that fond of Mansfield Park and Emma but the other four are impressive to me. I've realized they have a lot of things in common so here is a list of 25 facts (in no particular order) I love about them:

Left to right, up to down and clock wise, the images belong to:

Jon Jones' Northanger Abbey (2007).
Adrian Shergold's Persuasion (2007).
Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice (2005).
Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility (1995).

1 Rain scene: there is always a scene involving pouring rain, and it's never meaningless since it seems to usually bring about some important realization for the characters. In my opinion and for some reason, taking a rain walk and getting drenched is a good way to come to terms with one's thoughts and feelings.

2 Gallantry, because it simply feels good.

3 Carriages, I find them highly romantic.

4 Walks in the nature. Bless the time where malls (and crowds) didn't exist.

5 Some character gets sick, which will tangle the storylines very conveniently.

6 The unexpected: good starts don't necessarily mean a brilliant future and bad starts won't necessarily bring only sorrow.

7 Four poster beds, I simply love them. I use a mosquito net around my bed in summer, it kinda conveys the feeling of period beds so it makes me double happy.

8 Books: the characters that come out of writer's mind of course like reading and daydreaming.

9 Fireplaces: I love them insanely, probably because condos don't come with one *pouts*

10 Old pianos: harpsichords, pianofortes, you name it. I love the sound. I'd love to know how to play the piano, but I'm certainly not gifted towards music.

11 Family houses: amazing dwellings I'd seriously love to visit.

12 Men: handsome ones in amazing costumes. Can't help it, they make me melt. I'd love for men to wear those nowadays, I simply find them hot.

13 Subtleness: groping was not etiquette and cunning was a must. Some could find it boring, I find it terribly exciting.

a) Henry wipes some mud stains off Catherine's face.
b) Louisa keeps throwing herself into Frederick's arms each time the occasion is fitting.
c) Charles touches Jane's dress ribbon. I can't even tell how much I love this.
d) Marianne allows Willoughby to cut a lock of her hair as a token of her affection.

14 Stolen glances: in a time where people weren't allowed to talk to each other until they were formally introduced by a third person (and even after that strict norms were to be observed) stares made up for words.

15 Dances. Gah, those dances. I love them irrationally. They were fun and flirty. Perfect time and place to meet people, to steal a glance, to be subtle and to put into practice some courtship according to the conventions of the time.

16 Passion: seems to be the more intense the more it needs to be refrained.

17 Letters: bearers of the best and the worst news.

18 Romantic spots: those people did know where to hang out.

19 Horse riding: delightful activity and a good way to get some privacy.

20 Confessions: secrets shared at night time are even more secret.

21 Tears: it is not Jane Austen without some good degree of drama.

22 Laughter: gotta balance out from the tears.

23 Jealousy: usually as a product of misinformation or misunderstanding, thickens the plot in a catchy way.

24 Happy endings: good things come to those who wait.

25 Random things I love and that have their space in the movies:

Top hats
Tree houses
Candles and chandeliers
Atlas

Now, my favourite scene from all 4 movies belongs to Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth don't get along well: he is too proud, she is prejudiced and they've hurt each other's feelings. At some point, she leaves Mr. Bingley's house where both of them are guests at. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley say their goodbyes to her by the carriage. She starts to get up and suddenly she is helped into it. Taken by surprise, she turns around and realizes that it is Mr. Darcy the one holding her hand. They share a look that speaks volumes for both and then he quickly leaves. Best moment of all comes from a zoom in where Mr. Darcy stretches out his hand on his way back into the house: the touch has burnt. They'll face some struggle but there'll be rewarded with a happy ending :D

So I've been to Rome and the Vatican City *cough* 5 months ago *cough* and even though I've been pestered to death to blog about it, I took so many (many = almost 1,000) pictures that it is really hard for me to choose between them. Not that they are all great, quite on the contrary, but still I find myself having a really hard time making a selection. I spent a whole week there which granted me time to visit all relevant spots: Area Sacra, Ara Pacis, Piazza Navona, Piazza Colonna, Circo Massimo, Coliseum, Domus Aurea, Fontana de Trevi, Roman Forums, Roman Arches, Roman Fonts, Capitolino Museum, Palatino Museum, Vatican Museum, Panteon, Piazza della Rotonda, Piazza del Popolo, Boca de la Verita, Teatro Marcelo, Vittorio Emmanuelle, Santa Maria Maggiore, Castelo San Angelo... you name it.

I came back most amazed with the city, the food and above all the breathtaking historical sites and the amazing collections at the museums. Setting your foot somewhere with such a great historical significance meant a lot to me, and it's a visit I really recommend anyone to do.

So, in an attempt to be original *cough* lazy *cough* I just decided to post a bunch of random pictures. I bet you have all seen loads of views of the most relevant Roman Architecture like the Coliseum or the Panteon, St. Peter's basilica and the Vatican Dome, the most relevant Roman Sculpture like the Fontana de Trevi, the Capitoline Wolf and Miguel Angel's Pieta and the most relevant Paints like the Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel so yeah, I won't bore you guys with more of it and post things you might have not seen instead. I bet these are more boring after all but hey. However, if anyone is interested in any of the aforementioned cla_ssical stuff, you only have to ask and I'll post my own take on it.

Now, without further ado, here's some random Rome for you:

Probably the most random of all, a heart shaped Heineken cap drawing on the ground.

A cool lamppost.

A ship on top of a pedestal. I looked around for some explanation but apparently there was no reason for it. Then I saw some others around the city so I guess it must be a symbol for something *shrugs*

Mosaics. I can't even imagine how long it took for them to be made: the selection of the shades of the pebbles is absolute accurate in order to achieve shades and relieves.

I loved this Roman carriage.

This is the seating of some relevant citizen inside the Coliseum. The name was engraved on it, and once that person died, the name of the new owner of the seat was engraved on top of it, that's why it looks messy.

A lion's head and some farm animals. There is a huge collection of sculptures depicting animals, from farm ones to wild ones. I don't recall seeing sheep, ducks, birds, cows, goats, dogs, cats and so in any of my Art books. Those surprised me greatly and for some bizarre reason, the security measures around them were tighter than around the most well known pieces in the same museum. I had to take the pics from pretty far away.

Children. Same as with the animals, there were tons of sculptures depicting little kids. Those were very nice to see as well.

Eagle overlooking the main access to the private area in the Vatican City.

Vatican library.

Vatican museum stairwell. I think it was pretty cool (and annoying to use but hey).

Now something that made me feel upset. There were tons of ancient bits and pieces scattered all around. It kinda gave the impression that since they have so many to deal with, at some point they stopped caring.

Cestia Pyramid. I didn't know there was one in Rome.

Loved this too, a bit of the old Roman road. It was as cool as hellish to walk on.

A seagull on top of the sign for the Imperial Forums road. I found it nice that they used a column instead of a more conventional street sign for such a relevant spot.

Inside the Vatican Dome.

I climbed the 5 hundred and something steps at 38 Celsius degrees (100F) to reach the top of the Dome. I thought I was gonna spit a lung anytime. Judge for yourselves if the view was worth it or not.

So, that's Rome for you for now. If you guys like it, I might make another. Pray it doesn't take me another 5 months. Lol.

Happiness is the absence of fear.

Beauty is the absence of pain.

Eduardo Punset (1936), Spanish writer, politician and economist.

"I'm a big fan of dreams. Unfortunately, dreams are our first casualty in life. People seem to give them up, quicker than anything, for a reality".

(Kevin Costner, American actor, director, producer and musician. 1955-)

Have you given up to any dream in exchange for a reality?

Did you regret it?

* "Riau, riau" is part of a short song that is sung by bullrun runners right before every bullrun, where they pray to Saint Fermin for they not to be harmed during the run.

Once again and like every year "San Fermines" arrived, Spanish exultation of cruelty, savagery, barbarism and slaughtery. I rant about it every year, but in case my new friends are wondering, I am referring to bullruns and bullfights. Shame on us how they turn out to be one of our most well known tourist attraction around the world. Meh, it makes me sick, I promise I hate my country :evil:

I bet most of you will get some seconds of the bullruns on tv, but be aware that you get censored versions. They seem to be a light, exciting and fun tradition, but they are not. People die and certainly the bulls die (or rather, they are killed) so it is not fun for the bulls anyway. And honestly? They are the only ones I care about because they are the only ones that are part of the "fun" unwillingly.

They have just been dragged out of their well known lands, and they are forced to run on an unknown surface which is too slippery for their hooves, surrounded by lots of people that blind their way. They are absolutely scared. I just wish that the bulls just turn around and start running against all that bunch of braggarts, goring here and there. But they are too scared to do that. They try and stick together, because they are totally lost.

And more important than that, they are not mean by nature. They don't intend to kill anybody just for the fun of it, like they are gonna be killed hours before the bullrun ends. This might come as a surprise for some of you but yes, all the 6 bulls are killed every day, during a whole week, the very same ones that are seen running in the morning. They are killed slowly and painfully. Animals are way better than some humans, I've always thought so and I always will.

So there, I put my conscience at ease and once again spread the word. If you feel like reading a bit more about it, here are the links to some blogs of mine. I warn you because they include links to pictures which I do strongly recommend sensitive people NOT to watch, but you can just safely read avoiding the links.

It makes me proud as hell that their content was used in an anti-bullfighting campaign last year :D

Spanish slaughtery 1

http://www.tv.com/users/boom-moo/profile.php?action=show_blog&entry=m-100-24969982

Spanish slaughtery 2

http://www.tv.com/users/boom-moo/profile.php?action=show_blog&entry=m-100-24969980

As many (way many more than I thought) of you noticed I set my profile private a while ago. Why, you wonder? Many reasons. Some only known, or rather, only understood by me. The thing is that I haven't been quite feeling like myself from a while ago, and I'm still looking for the person I should be.

Not the smallest of such reasons, I just happen to think that I am simply too uninteresting for my thoughts to be shared. You know? I keep reading blogs about tv shows, about movies, about news of the world, about games, about music, about personal experiences... basically all and every interesting kind of topic I never blog about. So I don't want to force my friends to comment in my blogs only because they are my friends and they are my blogs and you guys feel obliged to be that kind.

But then, I am overwhelmed by how many of you found ways to grab a hold of me and ask me to set the profile visible again. It made me feel really good and really bad. I felt good because it is great to feel loved and cared for. Bad, because I wish I was able to properly return all that. I feel like I am loved in bright colours and I just return black and white shades of affection.

I am not good at pouring my feelings in the open so typing this is not easy. I am well aware I don't make a good friend, I know what my flaws are and I don't seem to do well at getting over them. I get scared when I get close to people, the closer the more scared, the closer the further I push them away, the closer the higher my defences are put up. Maybe because people who should have loved me didn't do it, I don't think to deserve random affections. Friendships here are so amazing that it's as if we got started right in the middle, racing through the steps every day. It's not a bad thing, but it makes my eternal state of confusion grow, it's unsettling and it turns scary.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am really grateful for all and every friend I've made here. And I've come to realize that avoiding things only makes them more present. So I guess I gotta work on on overcoming my self esteem issues and just let myself be happy.

So, a huge thank you for all those pms, posts, emails and to everyone who enquired about me. You all know who you are. Absolutely surprising to me that almost half of them came from GameSpot people. Which reminds me that, in case you don't know, GameSpot and and tv.com pm systems are not linked anymore, so pms are not longer shared accross sites. It doesn't make sense to me since people from both sites can track each other and blog updates are shown in the profile pages of both sites but the fact that such feature has been discontinued is yet a further reason to open my profile again. My newest friend is a GameSpot friend and I only knew about it when I logged in Movietome :roll: So I promise to check out my GS pms :)

Thanks once more for the friendship, affection and support. Many hugs for all :)

~.~.~.~.~.~

Now, I'll stop the boring ramble and give you something else to comment on so you can skip all that's been said above :lol: I'm sorry to sound like a drama queen but that's me, always overthinking.

Anyway, Tonight is St. John's night, fire night. Bonfires are lit at midnight in every neighbourhood to celebrate the summer solstice, songs and dances are held around them, little pieces of paper with written wishes are burnt in them, food is cooked in them, rockets and fireworks are thrown as a background. I used to enjoy it a lot when I was a kid. There is something magic about this night, there is a big tradition of sorcery and witchcraft where I live and it is a very especial feeling. I just think it is a very fitting day for a change of attitude. Any celebration going on in your countries tonight?

Respect is not called for, respect is achieved.