Spain conquers Hollywood

Nowadays Spain seems to be a fashionable topic in L.A. or Los Angeles, the city of Hollywood. Two men have made the miracle: Pau Gasol, the new Lakers star, the famous and glamorous basketball team of the city (there is a second one, Los Angeles Clippers, although not so world-wide known) and Javier Bardem, the Spanish cinema star and winner of an Oscar for the best actor in a supporting role for his creation of the sociopathic killer Anton Chigurh in "No Country for Old Men" directed by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.

"Gasollywood", "Problem Gasolved" or "In Pau we trust" were some of the messages of support Gasol could read in the Staples Center, the home of Lakers, the night of his premiere. From the very beginning Gasol has adapted to his new team and to the systems Phil Jackson, Lakers´coach, plays with. His great understanding with Kobe Bryant, the great team star has made experts think that Lakers are a candidate for the final victory in the play-offs at the end of the season. In fact, in the last ten games with Gasol already in the team, Lakers have won nine matches with only one defeat.

Javier Bardem has achieved success in Hollywood after a long career in Spain with famous titles like "Mar Adentro" or "Los Lunes al Sol". He was not a new actor in America because it was his second nomination. He got his first one with his role of the Cuban writer Reynaldo Arenas in "Before Night Falls" ("Antes de que anochezca"). Bardem dedicated the award to his family, Spanish actors and actresses and to Spain. After José Luis Garci, Pedro Almodóvar and Alejandro Amenábar, Bardem got a new Oscar for Spanish cinema and became the first actor in getting it.

Do you think Pau Gasol is an example of Spanish development and success in sports?

Have you seen "No Country for Old Men"? Did you like it? Did you like Bardem´s performance?

Have you seen any of Bardem´s films? What is your opinion of him as an actor?

St. Valentine´s Day

As you may know, St Valentine seemed to exist in Ancient Rome. At the time, Rome was governed by Emperor Claudius, who needed people for his army. Not many men liked the idea of joining the army so Claudius thought that unmarried men would like to be soldiers for Rome. Therefore, he prohibited marriages.

Our man, who was a priest, decided to oppose the law by marrying couples secretly until he was caught. Valentine was then imprisoned and there he became a friend of the daughter of the prison guard. On the day he was supposed to die, 14th February 269 A.D., he left a note for his friend in which it could be read `Love, from your Valentine.´That moment started the custom of exchanging messages of love in St. Valentine´s Day.

Today, this custom still exists and apart from the messages, people buy presents and go out for romantic weekends or romantic suppers in restaurants to celebrate this day. Big department stores try to take advantage of the event by doing business with love, an everyday feeling not depending on a particular day.

Do you think couples should celebrate this day as a way of showing their love to each other or that love should be celebrated every single day if it is a true love, regardless of the calendar?

Do you think St Valentine´s day has become a commercial festivity in which shops earn a lot of money at the expense of people´s illusion or that it is valid to give a present to your love on that special day?