By Zakiya Adam

Madrid is an amazing city but it feels as if the longer I stay here the smaller it gets. Having been here for the past 3 months, the discotech scene is starting to feel redundant, the paella is seemingly loosing its flavour, and worst of all, the dollar keeps loosing its value. So last Sunday afternoon, while I was sitting in my room in the rural senior citizen occupied barrio of Garcia Noblejas, with no television, radio, or sign of life, I once again looked towards the internet for some type of entertainment.

Feeling a bit nostalgic for the celeb-reality crazed television programs from the good old U.S.A., I ended up on VH1.com to see what wacky shows have cooked up for this season… and to my delight there were many! First on deck, the infamous Ms. New York. Ms. New York, previously of Flavor of Love 1 & 2, has returned to star in season 2 of her own hit show I Love New York. With her this season is a handful of colourful characters with even wackier nicknames including Midget Mack (pun intended), It, and Cheesy. To add to the chaos Ms. New York’s mom has also returned for the ride. I only watched two episodes and already I think this season is going to be riot. It has twice the drama, twice the sex, and apparently someone special gets a second Chance (wink, wink) to prove his love to New York (If you did not watch the first season forget the latter part of this sentence).

New also to VH1 this season is Irv Gotti, CEO of MurderInc Records, starring in his very own reality show entitled Gotti´s Way. If you thought that Ja Rule or Murder Inc was capable of staging a comeback this should clearly indicate to you that’s its just not going to happen. This show is ridiculously scripted and completely contrived. However, it is kind of funny and it features several cameos from both Russell Simmons and Jay-Z so it maybe worth watching.

Along with these shows are tons of other celeb-reality shows including The World´s Smartest Model, Salt & Pepper´s Show, Hogan´s Way, and Rock of Love. All in all if you are feeling a bit homesick VH1.com will give you that fix of American television if you need it.

By Ellen Marks

Just as I’m typing along at a brisk pace, the soothing “click click click” comes to an immediate halt. Why on earth is there an ñ instead of an apostrophe? Rather than a question mark, there’s and underscore, and instead of the @ sign in my email address, there are quotation marks? This is a common dilemma I find myself in while getting my internet fill at school, work, and internet cafes; the keyboards never correspond.

While the basic alphabet is the same (which I greatly appreciate), punctuating my arguments has become a serious dilemma. Often times, the keyboard is made in America and programmed to the Spanish keyboard style. Other computers display the opposite situation, as they appear to be Spanish, but are programmed American. It seems simple, but then the British keyboard comes into play, or even some French (noted by the ç) and I find myself drowning in an abyss of erroneous punctuation.

It may be a bit of a tangent, but punctuation is vital to my argument, and can really change the significance of a sentence. Let’s take for example, one phrase punctuated differently. The words “A woman with out her man is nothing” can be punctuated a few ways resulting in very different meanings. Here are a few examples, beginning with the feminist version, and followed by the more macho approach.

“A woman: without her, man is nothing.”

“A woman, without her man, is nothing.”

See how clever punctuation can make one seem? Well, allow me to show you, my attempted punctuation of the same phrase, using a baffled Spanish, American, British keyboard.

“A woman¿ without herñ man¡ is nothing.”

So I may be exaggerating a bit, but it’s incredibly frustrating nonetheless. This daily typing battle has gone too far, and I propose a change. Let’s make a master keyboard! Really, how difficult could it be? We could simply combine all the Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, and Armenian alphabets into one master device. On second thought, this may be a bit extreme. Maybe a smaller keyboard sidepiece that holds all the punctuation marks would be more fitting? This idea won’t pick up without support! Well, I suppose if you’re still doubtful, we can wait a while before we start rallying. But just consider my proposition next time you end up with parenthesis instead of a question mark at the end of your sentence.

By Ellen Marks

Feeling inspired to embrace the Spanish culture that surrounds me, I took a trip to the movie theatre near my house to catch the recent release Las Trece Rosas. Not knowing what to expect, I found myself blinking away tears half way through. I guess that’s what I get for not doing my research.

Las Trece Rosas recounts the story of thirteen young women -between the ages of 18 and 29- living during the reign of Franco. These women had jobs ranging from volunteer workers to nannies, but all were tied together as members of the Unified Socialist Youth (JSU) in Madrid. The women work together to rebel by refusing to submit to the fascist ways and by expelling flyers demanding “Menos Franco, Más Pan Blanco” (“Less Franco, More White Bread”). While their rebellion is bold, the women are caught and jailed. They lose contact with their families and friends while in jail. They remain defiant together by singing the JSU anthem “The Youthful Guardsmen,” but are punished. Unfortunately, despite their noble attempt to gain justice, the women’s fates end tragically in their sentencing to death.

Such a destiny is upsetting to say the least. Though I’ve probably convinced you to avoid this movie at all costs, it gives a very concrete example of the Spanish Civil war. Before seeing the movie, I hadn’t registered the real impact that fascism had on Spain and it definitely got the point across. Well, I enjoyed the movie, and would classify it as a “good cry” –if such a thing actually exists. Overall, I recommend Las Trece Rosas despite its disheartening ending.