Eurovision

Has Bradley Cooper found new romance?

11/30/2011
Erica Stapleton

Don't get your hopes up single ladies, People's Sexiest Man Alive, Bradley Cooper, may no longer be on the market.

Sienna Miller shares thoughts on 'terrifying' tabloid coverage

11/25/2011
Erica Stapleton

At a press conference in London on Thursday, actress Sienna Miller disclosed why she felt "paranoid" and "scared" after tabloid reporters relentlessly intruded in her personal life and ultimately hacked her cell phone for access to more personal information.

"For a number of years I was relentlessly pursued by 10 to 15 men, almost daily," Miller revealed. "Spat at, verbally abused."

Eurovision: Big Brother envy

9/27/2007
John Neal
Finding sanity and security in a bean-bag chair

My wife likes to watch Spain's version of "Big Brother," "Gran Hermano." I don't care for it. Maybe it's because I don't understand it. Put maybe a dozen overly-handsome and beautiful people -- with a pair of ugly ducklings for fairness -- in a house, isolated from the exterior world, and hope for public television porn... or at least some good cat fights.

Eurovision: Come Sit with Me

9/23/2007
John Neal
Unhitching myself from American hang-ups in little cafes

I was at the Canuto Cafe, a small stone and timber place in the pine hills of San Ambrosio that serves cold beer and the best wild game this side of the Guadalquivir, where I saw it. I've seen it before. I just never took much notice of it.

The Canuto, being a small place, fills quickly. It was a Sunday and the Formula 1 race was about to begin. I was there already an hour and had secured my spot at the bar with my cousin, Juan. There are few tables in the bar-restaurant but there are several more in the front and back terraces.

Eurovision: Beach trips from hell

9/17/2007
John Neal
Forget wanting to relax on the sand. Bring enough junk with you to maintain the Armada.

I am a minimalist. My personal philosophy is built around "Less is best." I do not like clutter. I do not carry extra baggage -- the physical or the emotional type. I am content with my few belongings. There is less for me to worry about when I am dead.

I live in Barbate. Maybe you've heard of it. It is likely you have not. It is a small town in the province of Cßdiz on Spain's southwest coast. I like it here because it is a simple town. There are three main roads that crisscross the village and no traffic lights. It is also on the beach.

Eurovision: Tragedy strikes home

9/6/2007
John Neal
Three dead, five missing after the Barbate-based fishing boat Nuevo Pepita Aurora capsizes in Strait of Gibraltar

The hard Levante gale blows through my town, kicking up sand, tossing debris, knocking down frail trees, rattling my windows. Walking is a near-impossibility because of the dust in the air, and the force of the wind threatens to knock me over. But there is one thing the wind can't move: the heavy grief that has settled over Barbate.

Wednesday afternoon, the fishing boat Nuevo Pepita Aurora capsized in the Strait of Gibraltar 14 miles from Barbate's port. The crew were returning home from a night-long excursion in Moroccan waters.

Eurovision: On the Road in Spain Part I

8/11/2007
John Neal
The bus to Algeciras with the suegra

It had been planned for at least a month. We -- my wife, two children, myself and my Spanish mother-in-law (my suegra)-- were going to a water park in Algeciras with about 30 other people from my town.

We had to be waiting for the group bus at nine sharp. Of course, my wife and I put off getting ready until about one in the morning the night before and were half-asleep with two grumpy, equally tired toddlers. No amount of hyping up the water park was going to make them any happier.

Eurovision: Battles with the suegra

8/3/2007
John Neal
I thought I was gaining a mother-in-law. Man, was I wrong.

When I married my wife I thought I was gaining a mother-in-law. Oh man was I wrong. Instead, I got a "suegra."

The suegra is typically a middle-aged Spanish woman who will make a six-course meal and insist on extra-large portions even though you haven't quite gotten over that case of stomach flu. If you don't eat you don't appreciate her. If you eat what she gives you, then you eat too much and she will point this out in sharp whispers to complete strangers.

As with many things in regards to the suegra, it is a lose-lose situation. Unless you are her son.

Eurovision: Encounters with street vendors

7/27/2007
John Neal
Who needs Wal-Mart when you've got Louis and Co.?

I was sitting at beachside cafe for my afternoon when it happened. It was inevitable, really, and I knew it was going to happen. It was just a matter of when. Even the hundred-degree heat wasn't going to keep it from happening. The large sign at the entrance to town expressly prohibiting it certainly was impotent.

His name is Louis, and he came from Senegal by boat to the Canary Islands (a treacherous 1000 mile trip) to seek a better life for his family.

Eurovision: Going deaf in Spain

7/22/2007
John Neal
The latest kiddie trend is driving me insane

With every year's village fair there comes a trendy toy it seems every kid in Barbate -- young and not so young -- must have. Last year it was the mini-motorcycle. In every point of the city you could hear the damn whine of the motors as the pint-sized death traps sped up and down city streets and raced along the golden sands of the village's beach.

This year, the must-have is far less expensive, but probably twice as noisy: megaphones. Some genius thought they would be great toys for the summer fair.

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