Gadling

Earlier
today when looking through some of the recent stories at USA Today online I noticed what seemed to be a rather silly
question. In a column called Ask the Captain a frequent reader of the column decided to ask whether or not airplanes have windshield
wipers. In my mind I’m thinking of course they do! What are you thinking? Why waste the captain’s time with such
questions, but thanks to the reader for being curious and brave enough to ask I managed to learn a little bit more
about the way the wipers on an airplane function. Needless to say I walked into the piece being a smartie pants and
walked out actually knowing something. Thanks a million!

Today’s word is a Spanish word:

limpiaparabrisas –
windeshield wiper

You’re all probably laughing at me for teaching this one and wondering where
on Earth, from which language dictionary or horrible online translation tool I retrieved this word. To make a long
story short I purchased a CD-ROM some years back to help me better enhance my Spanish speaking skills. This was one of
the very first words that came up in the first few lessons and not only did it seem extremely lengthy it seemed out of
place. Was this really something a beginner would need to know over say, luggage, sleep, or horse? I also started to
question the makers of the program after my close Mexican amigos laughed when I used the word. My advice to you – use
at your own risk.

To revisit some past Spanish words or words from Spanish speaking countries found here on
Gadling click into these: escalar, cercano, realidad, larimar

There is
nothing in this world so thoroughly enraptured in machismo as the bullfight.  A thousand pounds of angry
beast, a red cape, sharp sword and lonely matador is the stuff of legends, the raw material which turns boys into men,
grows hair on their chest, and embraces every other male rite of passage. 

I’m not sure there is a comparable American equivalent which can even come close to the bullfight.  As a
result, entrepreneurs cashing in on this dearth of manhood, are bottling up machismo and serving it in the form of
stateside bullfighting schools. 

While bullfighting is, of course, illegal in America, teaching it isn’t—much to the chagrin of animal
rights activists. 

Geoffrey Gray of the New York Times decides to give it a try and checks into
the California Academy of Tauromaquia just east of San Diego where he
learns the basic moves of a matador, but without the bull.  The concept is similar to scuba diving – learn
in the pool first, then head out to open water.  “Open water” in this case, is across the Mexican
border where students continue their lessons with live animals in Valle de las Palmas, Baja California.  

The basic course stops short of actually killing the bulls, but as is always the case in Mexico, money talks. 
One of the students in Gray’s class paid $600 extra for the “privilege” of dispatching a bull.  I
guess this is a step up from hunting (and strangely artistic the times I’ve seen it in a professional bullfighting
arena) but I just don’t think killing a bull would make me more of a man—unless I was naked and did it with
my bare hands.  Now that would make me a real man.