Umbro vintage windbreaker

by Umbro

Leeds, West Yorkshire, 1995.

The snowy January gave way to a wet and windy February and then to an equally unpleasant March. The sidewalks were filling with mutilated corpses of umbrellas, and I was worrying that mine would join them in a matter of days, if not hours. (The glorious Fulton was yet to be discovered by me.)

One of those rainy afternoons a thought struck me: maybe intead of an umbrella I need, um, an Umbro? This windcheater stared at me through the shop window with its lonely diamond-shaped eye. “Will you take me home? Please?”

So I did. It must have been the first item of clothing I acquired in Leeds. Naturally, it was not called “vintage” back then. I don’t remember how much I paid for my “famous blue raincoat” but it couldn’t have been more than a tenner. I never expected this oversized piece of 100% nylon to become my best investment, garment-wise. And here it is, three decades later, still up to its job (of protecting me from the elements), as good as new. That’s quality. I’ve worn it over any other garb in my possession, including a puffer jacket and a backpack, from Leeds to Boston to Porvoo to Santander, etc. etc.

Here’s to another 30 years!

Small Time Crooks

a film by Woody Allen

Closing the cycle Conociendo a Elaine May by Vértigo, this feel-good cookie comedy stars Allen himself, Tracey Ullman, Hugh Grant is a typical Hugh Grant role and, surprise surprise, Elaine May.

Free live music and stuff in Las Palmas, March 2025

What we’ve seen in March.

• 8 March: NIA @ Plaza de Canarias, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  This year I was trying to avoid big crowds, so the only Carnaval concert I went to was this one. And it was totally worth it.
• 13 March: «El cuerpo del delito: el placer femenino en la cultura» @ Centro de Arte La Regenta, Calle León y Castillo, 427
  Presented by Yolanda Peralta Sierra, doctor in History of Art and lecturer at the Universidad de La Laguna. From Hildegard of Bingen to Carolee Schneemann, Cabello/Carceller, Mari Chordà and Canarian artists Carmela García and Yapci Ramos. A part of the cycle of talks «Envueltos en una llama roja: sexo y erotismo en la cultura audiovisual contemporánea».

  

• 14 March: Sofar concert @ Casa de Colón, Calle Colón, 1
  With Good Franco, Étel Santos and Aristides Moreno. A note to myself: no more happenings featuring Aristides Moreno for me, thank you very much.
• 20 March: «Maestras del piano» @ Casa de Colón, Calle Colón, 1
  The concert of the students of Escuela Municipal de Educación Musical de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Works of women composers of 19^th and 20^th centuries such as Nancy Faber, Anne Crosby, Christine Donkin and Clara Schumann.

  

• 22 March: «El grabado, un lenguaje multidimensional» Gabinete Literario, Plaza de Cairasco, 1
  A lecture by Ana de la Puente Arrate, the newest member of Real Academia Canaria de Bellas Artes de San Miguel Arcángel.
• 27 March: Pino Quimont Trio @ Palacete Rodríguez Quegles, Calle Benito Pérez Galdós, 4
  Pino Quimont (vocals) accompanied by Néstor García (guitar) and Leandro Ojeda (double bass). Standards like Black Coffee, Cuando vuelva a tu lado (What a Difference a Day Makes), I’m Beginning to See the Light, Invitation and, less predictably, All Blues, Los ejes de mi carreta and We Are the Champions.

  

• 29 March: Sofar concert @ Biblioteca Pública del Estado, Calle Muelle de Las Palmas
  Yes, another Sofar concert — with Nayaban Jean, Álvaro Belchí and Meliē.

And exhibitions:

• 30 January — 25 May: «Cuerpo en medio» @ CAAM – San Antonio Abad, Plaza San Antonio Abad
  Works by Macarena Nieves Cáceres.

  

• 31 January — 22 March: «Fumi aurum templum» @ Centro de Arte La Regenta
  Works by Cristina Déniz Sosa.

• 31 January — 22 March: «Zaj, 60 años» @ Centro de Arte La Regenta
  Retrospective of the group zaj, with works of Juan Hidalgo, Walter Marchetti and Esther Ferrer.

  

• 27 February — 22 March: «Vestimenta Tradicional de Gran Canaria durante los siglos XVIII y XIX» @ Museo Castillo de Mata, Calle Domingo Guerra del Río, 147
  42 faithful reproductions of the traditional Canarian garments from the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

  

• 28 February — 28 March: «Cariño Mío» @ Centro de Artes Plásticas (CAP), Calle Colón, 8
  Textile art by Cristina Ortega Viera. Guided tour on 14 March.

  

And that was it for March.

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

by Yuval Noah Harari

“Even more readable, even more important, than his excellent Sapiens”, says the quote on its back cover (by Kazuo Ishiguro, no less). Is it really so?

I have to admit that yes, it is. With chapters titles such as A Brief History of Lawns, Gap the Mind and Why Bankers are Different from Vampires, this book reads like a crime thriller. Well, the history of humankind is a crime thriller, but there have been only a few good storytellers. Harari is one of them.

On a more personal note, Homo Deus gives me a fair few ideas for my (hopefully near) future classes.

Suppose you were given a choice between the following two vacation packages:

Stone Age package: On day one we will hike for ten hours in a pristine forest, setting camp for the night in a clearing by a river. On day two we will canoe down the river for ten hours, camping on the shores of a small lake. On day three we will learn from the native people how to fish in the lake and how to find mushrooms in the nearby woods.

Modern proletarian package: On day one we will work for ten hours in a polluted textile factory, passing the night in a cramped apartment block. On day two we will work for ten hours as cashiers in the local department store, going back to sleep in the same apartment block. On day three we will learn from the native people how to open a bank account and fill out mortgage forms.

Which package would you choose?

And how about this (published in 2015):

Power will definitely not shift back to ordinary voters if Britain leaves the EU nor if Trump takes over the White House.

The task: rephrase the above sentence from the 2025 perspective, using both simple past and past perfect.

Some other predictions haven’t come true — yet. So far we didn’t see artificial intelligence meaningfully replacing doctors, lawyers and flight dispatchers, although there has been a surge in ChatGPT-generated fake research papers and job applications. What we do see at work is much more powerful natural stupidity. It doesn’t mean we are safe.

Cool World

a film by Ralph Bakshi

There goes €1 that I’ll never see again.

If you’ve ever seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit, don’t bother with this one. And if you’ve never seen Roger Rabbit, don’t bother with Cool World either: watch Roger Rabbit.

So what’s wrong with this film? Just about everything.

Cool World concludes the cycle Ralph Bakshi: Urban Noir, and about time too.

The Birdcage

a film by Mike Nichols
screenplay by Elaine May

Like Heaven Can Wait, this comedy is a remake. Which proves the point that a remake also could be fun — especially when (re)made by the great Nichols and May. Unencumbered by comparisons with the French movie, I enjoyed The Birdcage on its own right. Starring Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman, Dianne Wiest, Christine Baranski and Hank Azaria.

American Pop

a film by Ralph Bakshi

Finally, a Bakshi film that I actually liked. A soundtrack for the (best part of) 20^th century, something for kids of today to watch. Don’t let the title put you off (yes, it makes me cringe too): “pop” here is short for popular music, moving from ragtime to punk with jazz, swing, soul and rock in between. Not pop music. I still don’t get why American artists insist on naming their creations “American something”.

It’s also pretty uneven. The story kind of disintegrates towards the end — as the quality of music goes down. Yet there are some truly beautiful or otherwise funny bits that made my night.