wingolog

The sky! Barcelona has tasted Toledo clouds of late, bringing a pleasant overcast chill to the solstice. Sant Joan was last Saturday evening: hertzian explosions, fire-flamed meat, morning light.

Everything has broken on my bicycle. One or two dozen spokes, the frame (a crack down the head tube), cables (back brake, shifter), pedals, and, most recently, the rear axle. It has gotten to the point of amusement. A beer to the first commenter to correctly predict the next new part to break.

Regarding existence in Europe, for my American readers, I offer two more data points. One: not only are there unlimited "sick days", when you get well, you have to go to the doctor before they let you back to work. Two: I went to a most amusing wedding on Friday, held at a vineyard near Tarragona. It was a lay ceremony, with a judge and paper-signing at opportune times. There was a guy on a mixing deck hiding in the shade; during the ring-exchanging part of the ceremony, he tastefully turned up a bit of eurotechno. During the recessional, "Dancing Queen". Would this fly in the states, I ask the jury?

My sister says that when she sang a capella, that they beatboxed saying "boots, skirts". It works: "boots, skirts, boots, skirts, boots, skirts".

hack

A bit of last-minute fixups to a paper I'm submitting to the 2007 Workshop on Scheme and Functional Programming. A bit of an odd endeavor, as I'm not an academic. I'll write more about the topic after smoothing out a few more rough patches.