First side effect of IATFL: got this resource from Nik Peachy.

It allows anyone to offer asynch access to you by questions.
You make a video response and anyone can see it.
Repeated ?s are automatically answered...

Neat way to personalize stuff.

Just testing a widget...

Matt's Madrid parking lot conspiracy theory.

Parking in Madrid.

I have a feeling that some of the parking problems in Madrid are intentional.
Before, in calle Narvaez, they opened up the streets 3 times in the same month,(completely illegal; the companies are required to co-ordinate their digging) and reduced the available parking spaces. After about a month of spending an average of an hour/day looking for parking, I got an announcement from the city announcing a new underground parking lot that I could rent from them... and that would require the street being cut off for another year.

Parking lots are cash cows. In Madrid, a parking space is more expensive than any car any normal person could afford. (I stay away from the first person because I have inherited my father's unhealthy penchant for sticking to cheap second-hand cars... if I need a car to impress people, I need to work more on me, not raise money for some car factory.) To sum up: to park beside the clinic where he works, my father bought AN ENTIRE HOUSE WITH A GARDEN in Rosetown, Saskatchewan for less money than one parking space in Madrid, where someone at minimum wage would have to dedicate their entire salary for three years to buy a parking space. Those of the city are not bought, but LEASED for 25 years at the same price as buying.

Now, in my new house, I am getting worried.

There is a slight parking problem here, but it is getting worse: all of the sudden there is a lot of work going on in the street, aggravating the situation... draw your own conclusions. I have hastily come up with mine, so let's see what happens...

vaudeville on television

A few things are done.

Just uploaded the video of "Perception and Deception".
Perception and Deception is on the market, let's see how it works out. I think that there isn't a lot of competition, and although the school market isn't anywhere near as lucrative or organized as corporates and international festivals, (This market is not an easy one, and I would make a quarter of the money charging the maximum a school can pay, with a lot of negotiation...) I like thinking that I can do something useful with my training, and think there is possibilities for steady work.

The idea of making English as a language real, and fun compensates, and I like the energy that the kids have. Also appealing is the idea of not doing so much travelling, especially with a BABY on the way... we are expecting the 7th of October, which is VERY VERY soon.

Still doing shows with Nicolas, and they are going well, better everytime, so I can mix my solo shows with the duo show, and hopefully, the school gigs will give me time to direct other projects, as well as spend time with baby... Madrid is an expensive city, and we will be trapped here , because of my wife's work, for some time. Hopefully the school gigs will allow me to escape everyonce in a while. Running away from the circus to join a home has its downside, too.

ok, nuff said.

Matt

First Entry

I live in Madrid, Spain. I am from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Madrid is faster to write when you do paperwork, which is it's principal advantage over Saskatoon.

There is however much more paperwork.

I am a circus artist, graduate of L'ecole nationale de cirque de Montreal.

I have married a Spanish girl, and I am here for a while. As an immigrant, I have spent a lot of time looking at Spain's dirty laundry, but somehow I still like the place.

I am working on a new show, Perception and Deception, dealing with the psychology of deception and the limits of perception. I have my first show the 14th of Dec.

My previous shows include Vaudeville Negro, which sounds a bit too Al Jolson in the English language, if you can read Spanish, try www.vaudevillenegro.com , which I still perform and the better named "To Be 2", with Dirk Van Boxelaere (see www.dirque.com) which we no longer perform.

That is what I do, and what I had better get back to doing right now.

Later.

Matt