African Hello :-D

Tot el Camp, Es un Clam!!!!!

Visca Barca!!!

FC Barcelona have made it to the Champions League Final!!!!! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee it is the 5th time in their history and the first time since losing to Milan in 1994.
They beat AC Milan over two games and will meet Arsenal on May 17th!!!!!!!
This surely has to be the year for the blaugranas!!! Everyone is hoping for a repeat of the result at Wembley in the 1992 final when Barcas Dream Team had their one and only Champions League victory against Sampdoria.
I am so excited I can hardly sleep.
Me and Mrs Danio went to one of our local pubs to watch the Semi Final last night. The place was full of noisy Italians and the game was not the best. It was a nerve filled evening to say the least!!!!! We were both biting our fingernails... But it is over now and now we have to keep our fingers and toes crossed that we can beat Arsenal in 2 weeks time.
Going to the pub for that match should be interesting!!!!!!!

Today is the 23rd of April and is St Georges Day!!!



Here is a bit of history about St George although you will find many conflicting opinions about who he actually was / dates etc and how he became to be so popular.

St George is best known as the slayer of the dragon and
saviour of the maiden but, although this story exists in a number of different medieval literary versions and artistic representations, it is without any historical foundation and does not seem to have existed before the 11th century.
There is, in fact, every reason to believe that George was a genuine martyr who suffered at Lydda before the time of Constantine. Indeed, certain accounts record his death to be in the year 307. It is written that George was an officer in the Roman army who, after giving his goods to the poor at the outbreak of persecution, confessing his Christian faith and refusing to sacrifice to the gods, suffered "terrible tortures" which lasted for seven years and was eventually beheaded.
In Jerusalem, a monastery was erected and dedicated to him in the fifth century. Pilgrims in the Holy land between the sixth and eighth centuries speak of Lydda as the main place associated with George's cult (which resulted from his exploits) and final resting place of his relics - although the Coptic Church claims that these were transferred to Egypt and finally placed in the church dedicated to him in Old Cairo.
How he came to be regarded as patron of England is somewhat unclear, but he has been recognised here from at least the eighth century. His act of martyrdom was translated into Anglo-Saxon by Abbot Aelfric (c. 955-1020) and some pre-conquest churches were also dedicated to him (for example at Doncaster in 1061).
In 1222 a national synod at Oxford included a feast in George's honour among their lesser holidays, but it was not until after the battle of Agincourt in 1415 that it was included as one of the major feasts of the year.


St George is also the patron Saint of Mrs Danio's country Calalonia (Sant Jordi)

On this day men give a single red rose to the significant women in their lives (girlfriend and so on), and women give a book in return - April 23rd coincides with the deaths of Cervantes and Shakespeare - now many men also give women a book too.

This is one of the most colourful days in Catalonia, as thousands of rose-sellers take to the streets and bookshops set up open-air stalls along the major thoroughfares.

Wicked hey.

Just for the record ... In 1995, and taking a cue from Catalonia, UNESCO declared April 23 "World Book Day" to encourage people to buy books, to think about books, and simply read more.

Hapy St Georges Day everyone - Danio

Ok OK I admit. If I had not have seen the link on google for Miro I would not have knownthat today would have been his birthday had he not have died in 1983.
You either love his work or hate it as is the case with so much surrealist art. I like a lot of it and love his museam in Barcelona but mrs Danio isn't that struck with him I am sure many of you will agree with her. Here is a bit about the man himself...
Catalan painter, whose works, with their subject matter drawn from the realm of memory and imaginative fantasy, are some of the most original of the 20th century.Miró was born April 20, 1893, in Barcelona and studied at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and the Academia Galí. His work before 1920 shows wide-ranging influences, including the bright colors of the Fauves, the broken forms of cubism, and the powerful, flat two-dimensionality of Catalan folk art and Romanesque church frescoes of his native Land. He moved to Paris in 1920, where, under the influence of surrealist poets and writers, he evolved his mature style. Miró drew on memory, fantasy, and the irrational to create works of art that are visual analogues of surrealist poetry. The forms of his paintings are organized against flat neutral backgrounds and are painted in a limited range of bright colors, especially blue, red, yellow, green, and black. Amorphous amoebic shapes alternate with sharply drawn lines, spots, and curlicues, all positioned on the canvas with seeming nonchalance. Miró later produced highly generalized, ethereal works in which his organic forms and figures are reduced to abstract spots, lines, and bursts of colors.Miró also experimented in a wide array of other media, devoting himself to etchings and lithographs for several years in the 1950s and also working in watercolor, pastel, collage, and paint on copper and masonite. Miró died in on December 25, 1983. Not a very happy Christmas there was it!!! Ho Hum.
2 Examples of his work above. I like the singing fish... see if you can guess which one it is :-D

Here is Poppy our little dog.
She is nearly 3 and is totally mental but the sweetest dog you could ever meet.
She loves everyone!!!!!
I was never a dog person but Mrs Danio always wanted a dog and i am sooooo glad that we got one. Now I would never have it any other way she is the coolest dog ever. Fact.
We will get another dog one day (but next time a bigger dog that is a bit more chilled out)
Soon Poppy will be going to the groomers to have a hair cut as she is looking a little shaggy :-) This photo was taken a few weeks ago!!!! So you can imagine.

Went to watch Ice Age 2 The Meltdown last night with Mrs Danio :-) What a fantastic film. I would recommend it to anyone. It is so funny well written and deserves to be a massive hit. The story follows on from Ice Age but now the ice is melting and the main characters from the last film Sid (A sloth), Manny (A Mamoth) and Diego (Sabretooth Tiger) must reach a boat thing at the end of the valley to avoid the flood. Along the way they meet up with two possums (very funny and cute little chaps) and their Mammoth 'sister' who is convinced she is a possum herself (Very very funny indeed to see her hanging from a tree etc)
The best bit though is again the squirrel (above) and his trials and tribulations with his acorn. HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE
Classic
*****
PS Just noticed this is another post about animals and cartoons :-) hehehehehehehe

Just to follow on with the theme of animals did anyone hear the story in Japan about the little hamster that was put into a 'rat eating snakes' pen as supper and ended up being his best friend. Mrs Danio told me about it a few months ago.
Strange but true. Look at the photo above. One of the collest tales ever and a lesson to us all I think :-D

Ok Ok so far there has been a post on cartoons and animals. Lets see if we can combine the both a bit better.
The other night (whilst watching the Tom and Jerry classics - see below) We also watched the first episode of 'Banner y Flappy' (please excuse me it the spelling is wrong.
It is a Japanese cartoon that was shown around the world (but not in England it seems)
See the first Picture above to see 'Flappy' - a squirrel.
In the fist episode Flappy who has no mum and dad is seen with his adopted mother - a cat. Flappy thinks he is a kitten and it is very cute and sweet :-) BUT THEN THERE IS A BIG FIRE AND EVERYTHING IS DESTROYED!!!!!! INCLUDING FLAPPY'S MUM!!!!! we then see the poor little squirrel walking around crying out for his mum only to find another cat who is very nasty to him. It is very sad indeed believe me!!!!! Forget Shindlers List... this will make anyone cry!!!!!! A must see for anyone who can download it- have not found a version in English yet but when I do I will let you know.

On a lighter note I have also included Chip and Dale or in Catalonia and other countries Chip and Chop!!!!

These little differences make being and knowing someone from a country that speaks a different language super worth while :-)

For those of you who are interested - yes the theme tune is the same just exchange dale for chop.

Chip Chip Chip Chip and Dale (Chop) etc.......

Mrs Danio loves animals in fact she really should have been a vet.
She would have made a fantastic one but because of certain factors she did not go on to study this.

We have a dog - Poppy - a West Highland Terrier and a cat, Mixa.
Mrs Danio also loves guinea pigs especially the long haired variety :-D

See the pictures above. I promise you that they are Guinea pigs and not wigs!!!!

As soon as we have room we will get one. Super cool little animals dont you think?

After that (again space permitting I think the next pet we will get is a Cow - no picture attached as I am sure everyone knows what a cow looks like!!!!!!!)

Obviously it would be hard to have a cow in our top floor flat.

However, Despite saying that I have checked the tenancy agreement and it does not mention anything about restrictions on bovine pets in the property....I think I have spotted a loophole :-P. Watch this space!!!!!!

Mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

PS I have been informed that some evil people in Peru eat Guinea Pigs!!!! this is wrong.... The little evil pan-pipe-playing-people.

Thats not all folks!!!! This is just the beginning :-)

Mrs Danio downloaded some great classic cartoons from the internet and we spent last night staying up watching Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny on the laptop. COOOOOOOL :-)

It was that good I thought it only fitting that it should be the first post on my blog.

I would recommend anyone do the same :-D

You do forget just how funny they are :-D I actually laughed out loud :-D

And look at nibbles the little grey mouse Soooooo sweet :-D

Picture shown here also with the picture from 'whats opera doc' A classic!!! Where Bugs actually dies at the end!!!(hope that does not spoil it for anyone!!!)

Very sad but he does look good as the viking lady don't you think?????

:-D