Author Archives: cliff arroyo
Eurovision 2022: Grand-finale: Booty don’t lie!
Due to work considerations (meaning I had to get up early Sunday morning) I didn’t hang around for the entire event and turned off the TV after the last entry was performed. So I’ll just go through the songs with … Continue reading
Eurovision 2022: Second Semi: I wish I knew how to quit you!
The thing with Eurovision is that it doesn’t set trends (beyond the contest itself). And the thing about popular music in general is that it’s stopped changing and evolving and is simply cannibalizing itself. I haven’t heard anything really…. original … Continue reading
Eurovision 2022: First Semi: Where have all the crazy ladies gone?
I’ve got some deadlines to attend to and other urgent work… but Eurovision just started so…. gotta do that instead. Opening: Split into two sections, a kind of lame film with a craftsman in his workshop making a drone and … Continue reading
The Worst Stories in the World #46 “The Girl on the Deck”
Based on this picture. She was there and then she was gone. She had disappeared so quickly that Mara couldn’t actually be sure she’d seen the girl at all. But deep down, she was sure she had. It wasn’t just … Continue reading
Billboard of the Times
Support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion is as close to a non-partisan issue as I’ve ever found in Poland. The only ones against are (maybe… they’ve been pretty quiet) the proto-fashy types who might like to return Poland to … Continue reading
The More Things Change…. (the more they change)
Happened to run into one of the few Americans I know here the other day. “You know” I said “It’s very odd to be in Poland now looking at news pictures of empty shelves in American stores”… I was obviously … Continue reading
The Plague and I and Die (or not….)
I got vaccinated back in February-May with the Astra Zeneca vaccine for a number of reasons (a risk factor or two and it wasn’t whatever those mrna things are). Then in mid November, at an outdoor event I started feeling … Continue reading
The Genesis of Praxis
On my recent flight to Malta, the airport (not so busy now overall) had three different flights leaving in the span of 10 minutes. One to Malta, one to a large German city, and one to a Ukrainian city (let’s … Continue reading
Vacation in a Time of Cholera
I decided to spend the Christmas holidays in Malta and it was a great decision overall. Nice Green Christmas weather of the type I remember from my childhood (sunny and about 16C). Great views of the Mediterranean, nice food. It … Continue reading
Not Such a Small World Anymore
An odd side effect of the covid… phenomenon…. is that while it was fueled by globalized processes national responses have shown countries being more like themselves and less like other countries. Some examples: The US: No national response, but rather … Continue reading
The Worked Shoot 