Give Us This Day

Today is? The day it normally rains gatos y perros in September? The day England go out of the European Championships? The day to celebrate Mallorca?

At the moment, there is no sign of the 12th September storm, and one can but hope that England don’t screw up. The only certainty therefore is that today is Mallorca Day, except no-one seems to know much about it. As it is one of the few “days” that doesn’t require most things to close down, and is therefore not a holiday, then it is likely to simply pass people by. Last year they tried to give the “day” a boost by giving out free flags. This year there is no such gesture. Moreover, there seems to be a lack of understanding as to what the “day” is all about. It is in fact a commemoration of 12th September 1276 when the then kingdom of Mallorca was granted a form of constitution. So, now you know.

Meanwhile, the Andratx case, now back in full investigative swing, has added an unlikely person to the list of those being investigated. Selina Scott, remember her? Allegedly there is some “irregularity”.

Yet more on Crocs. I was at the Miramar clinic in Palma today for a scan. Lasers, and all manner of electrical stuff flying around. Well, it didn’t break down or seem to be interefered with. No evidence of any static electricity gumming up the works. The bloke who was doing it had a really nice pair of blue Crocs.

And on a sort of personal note. Anyone who has read the profile thing that comes with this blog will have seen my mention of Weather Report. Joe Zawinul, the keyboard-player with the band (and prior to that with Cannonball Adderley and Miles Davis) died yesterday. Ah well.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Nirvana of course. Today. Rather than a title question. Weather Report was essentially two musicians. Zawinul and which sax player?

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Sowing The Seeds

And following on from yesterday. There was a bit of a jolly with worthies attending a conference on the need for innovation. A good excuse, as always, for some nice photos of politicans and others, listening (intently?) to the worthy speeches. The upshot of all this was that there needs to be innovation in Mallorca and the Balearics. Yes, I think we kind of got that. And that there needs to be much investment in human capital, which is management speak for training. The thing is that there is neither a tradition of innovation here nor a natural focal point to facilitate it. Nor is this necessarily a land of entrepreneurs. The structure for allowing innovation to flourish demands physical representations such as science and technology parks, financial impetus in the form of seed funding, a mental approach that does not squash risk, and good training and development. Whether Mallorca is ready for any of this, or capable of it, I don’t know.

And then there is government spending. Madrid has agreed to cough up a tad over 400 million euros for new road projects on the island, many of them designed to alleviate the numerous bottlenecks around Palma. All of this will be very much welcome. As I pointed out on 8 July (“Same As It Ever Was”), “it’s just - the road infrastructure in and around Palma is bad. It has inherent inefficiency; it is a hindrance to productivity.”


CROCS UPDATE
As promised, I duly studied feet at the Hospital d’Alcúdia. Yep. Crocs. Great swamps of them. White ones, blue ones, pink ones. Not the colours of the rainbow, more a washed-out or sun-bleached Union Jack range of colours. Can’t say that any life-saving equipment was being interfered with, but - as coincidence would have it - another hospital story has emerged (from “Euro Weekly”); allegedly someone died because an emergency call button was not functioning at the Playa de Muro hospital. One of my neighbours is a director there. Don’t think I’ll be bringing it up in conversation somehow.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Simply Red, “Money’s Too Tight To Mention”. Today’s title - it’s another song title with a missing couple of words. Who?

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My Crocodile Shoes Are Crying Too

Continuing the celebration theme (if one can call it that) of recent days, there are two sort of celebrations in Puerto Pollensa. The first is the 70th anniversary of the sea-plane aerodrome. This is now the base for the fire-fighting Canadair aircraft, itself celebrated in sculpture form on the Caprabo roundabout. The second is that, forty years after provision for it was made, the new road from the coast that will hook up with the by-pass to Formentor is taking shape (it will actually be ready next summer). The road will pass through Llenaire and Pinaret, and the anticipation is that more of the front-line will be pedestrianised.

There, bet you feel better for knowing all that. To matters of greater import, and I am very grateful to Ben (at Piccadilly) for passing this on. Crocs. Geox. You know the shoes. Everyone and his dog has a pair. I have a pair. But there are Crocs and there are Crocs, at least there are here. It so happens I know the guy who has the distribution concession for the island. He does not deal with the imitation Crocs. I spoke to a chap at a sports shop earlier this summer, and asked about his shoes. Were they originals, I asked. Oh yes, said he. Like fuck they were. While they are cheaper, they don’t have the essential quality that the originals have - that airy feeling. So, anyone seeing some “Crocs” for 12 euros here, be sure they are not the real thing. But back to Ben as he has sent me this thing from “The Sun” which says that Crocs can be harmful to health in the sense that medical staff wear them and they can give off static electricity that affects life-saving equipment. Ben points out he saw them being worn at the new hospital in Inca. I have seen them at the hospital in Alcúdia. And not just nurses, doctors as well. Moreover, the Crocs pose a potential health and safety threat in that syringes could be dropped though the holes (as you do).

I have an appointment at the Alcúdia hospital this Friday. I shall be inspecting feet closely.


QUIZ
Yesterday - Bon Jovi. Today’s title? Clue. Dec (or was it Ant) once had a child role in a series featuring this singer. Pretty easy this I reckon.

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