Bombon (El Perro)

Quien carajo le puso el nombre 'Bombon' a un Dogo?

Of the many films that have come out of Argentina's fantastic film industry in recent years, one of my favourites was Bombon (El Perro). I first saw it in 2005 and then a couple of weeks ago I downloaded it from Pirate Bay -it'll take a while to torrent the film as there aren't many seeders out there. If you don't understand Spanish I'd recommend getting it on DVD with subtitles. Also, the Argentine accent might make it difficult for anyone who hasn't had much experience with the form of Spanish used over there. There's not much slang though so it shouldn't be too hard.

Anyway, the film is set in Patagonia and tells the story of a down on his luck and wrong side of 50 mechanic who lost his job in a service station and is trying his luck selling hand made knives. Whilst travelling around, he stops to help a stranded woman, who repays his kindness by giving him her late father's pure bred Dogo Argentino.

Bombon is beautifully acted by the largely amateur cast and it even manages to make the Dogo look cute. Villegas, the main character, is just so pathetic (in a really nice way) that you can't help but feel moved by almost every action he takes. His almost permanent look of misery, his stoicism and his pride make you want to cry with joy when he smiles. It's not a sad film but neither could it be classed as happy. It just is what it is; the story of a man and his dog.

Cerro Concepcion Doesn't Need Giant Hotels

For anyone who's read this blog for a while or who knows me in real life, this won't come as a shock: I'm a capitalist pig who loves money, exploiting the poor and pie. But even evil-doers such as myself can see when someone is simply taking the piss. And that's what's happening right now on Cerro Concepcion: Someone is taking the piss out of everyone who lives here.

Now the local residents' association and I agree on some things and disagree on others. They want nothing at all to change on the hill whereas I'm generally in favour of new restaurants, boutique hotels, cafes and boutiques. I'm also in favour of old properties that are in terminal decline and pose fire and other risks being converted into loft apartments and offices. This is the way to attract new investment in the city, new life and new residents. It won't happen overnight but I believe it's the way forward as this city desperately needs investment and it won't get any from a public source.

But I truly don't believe that there's space for a 43 room hotel on Cerro Concepcion, particularly one that insults the architectural heritage of this neighbourhood. Enough mistakes have been made like this already. This hotel will put a massive strain on the infrastructure of the Cerro. It's just too cramped up here to support a hotel of this scale. For those of you that know the area, the proposed site is on the former carpark on the corner of Abtao and Templeman.

The area of the city for which this project would be perfect is, quite obviously, Barrio Puerto. This is a neighbourhood that needs revitalising. The design of the hotel (which actually gets easier on the eye the more you look at it but is not suitable for the cerros) would fit in much better down there. It could be even bigger than 43 rooms. It could be a part of the regeneration of a really run down neighbourhood. There are possible sites in Calles Serrano and Cochrane.

Hell, even a little further up on Cerro Alegre would be more suitable for a project this size, where there's more space and everything's a little less constricted. But Cerro Concepcion is simply not the place for this hotel. This is something the Junta de Vecinos and I can completely agree on.

Dying in Valparaiso: Murder, Made Easy

Right at the very top of this photo of El Cementerio de Playa Ancha are various vaults that are abandoned, falling apart and no longer have the little inscribed tombstone to cover the shelf like space in which the coffin is placed. Some of these vaults are at ground level and are actually quite deep. This area of the cemetery is the furthest from the entrance that you can get and pretty isolated. You can drive all the way up.

My friend commented, "This would be a great place to dump a body. Drive here, throw it in and brick it up. No one's going to notice."

Just a thought.

Being Nice (not me, obviously)

Kyle's doing something nice. Go check it out and, should you feel the need to be a good person, feel free to help. You might even win a prize.

Plaza Sotomayor-Way Before and After

So after a quick bit of research after Fiona's comment in yesterday's post about the 1906 Earthquake I came across these images on the ligamar website

Fig. Nº 3. Año 1883. Plaza Rafael Sotomayor.
1. La Aduana de Stevenson, (1833).Desde 1856, Intendencia Provincial.
2. La Aduana de San Agustín, (1839). Tribunales de Justicia.
3. Plazuela de San Agustín. Plazuela de los Tribunales.
4. La calle del Comercio. Desde 1880, calle Arturo Prat.
5. La casa de Juan Mouat, (1843) mal llamada casa de Lord Cochrane.
6. La calle de la Planchada. Desde 1880, calle Ignacio Serrano.
7. La primera plaza de la Aduana. Desde 1881, plaza Rafael Sotomayor.
8. Segundo edificio del Correo, (1869).
9. Banco de Valparaíso, (1858).
10. Edifico de Bomberos, tras la remodelación de 1875.
11. Monumento a Lord Cochrane, inaugurado en 1873.
12. Estación Puerto.
13. Bolsa Comercial (1858), a punto de demolerse para dar paso al Monumento mausoleo de los Héroes de Iquique.
14. Jardín de la Bolsa.
15. Avenida Errázuriz, desde 1875.
16. Cajón de la Compañía de Diques Flotantes. Muelle Provisorio.
17. Edificio Rose-Innes.

Fig. Nº 4. Año 2000. Plaza Rafael Sotomayor.
1. Edificio de la Comandancia en Jefe de la Armada, (1910).
2. Plaza Rafael Sotomayor.
3. Edificio de los Tribunales de Justicia, (1937).
4. Plazuela de los Tribunales.
5. Ministerio de la Cultura, ex Correo, (1944).
6. Ex bar Antofagasta.
7. Hotel Reina Victoria.
8. Cuerpo Bomberos, (1955).
9. Edificio Grace, hoy Compañía Sudamericana de Vapores.
10. Edificio Los Héroes, (1980).
11. Estación Puerto, (1937).
12. Edificio de la Aduana, (1930).

They show the Plaza Sotomayor as it appeared in 1883 and as it is now. It won't be for much longer though (although the basic building layout will be the same). The Plaza is due to be renovated and completely changed again...Judging by the speed of every other municipal project, the remodelling should be finished sometime around 2078. According to the news last year, they should be finished early next year.

They might want to think about starting.

Valparaiso Earthquake 1906 II

Some more images from the 1906 earthquake in Valparaiso. Part I is here

Plazuela Bellavista in ruins. Plazuela Bellavista is now Plaza Bellavista after the magnificent decision to demolish the Edificio Brown in the 70s.


Calle Condell in Barrio Puerto


A Panoramic view of the Almendral. I can't work out where the photo was taken-I think probably from Cerro Bellavista.

I love Steve Bell:

Thai Food in Chile: Do It Yourself

One of the complaints most foreigners have about Chile is the lack of decent-and spicy- Asian food. Chinese food here is beyond appalling and Thai and Indian cuisine is watered down and Chileanised so much that it resembles the original only in name.

Now to get around this, you have to cook your own. If you live in Santiasco, then you have easy access to the Chinese and Korean supermarkets in Patronato where you can buy all the sauces, frozen dim-sum, noodles and other imported goodies your little hearts desire. If you live on the coast, however, you're screwed. But not anymore...

Both Jumbo and Lider now stock a reasonable variety of imported Asian spices and sauces. The best find was the authentic Thai curry pastes in Lider in Vina (also sold in a little store on Arlegui). Red, green and yellow are available and mixed in with the Thai coconut milk from Lider you can make a fantastic Thai curry.

The Thai pastes from Jumbo (there's Tom Yum and a couple of others) are really good for making proper fried rice. Jumbo's coconut milk is an absurd rip off at 2400 pesos, however. Lider's Thai stuff is about 800 pesos. The curry pastes cost around 2500 pesos and last forever.

Now, let's hope that real Indian spices make it over here soon as well...

Valparaiso Earthquake 1906

Another of the books available for download on Memoria Chilena is entitled 'The Catastrophe of August 16 1906 in the Republic of Chile'. A better name could not be found.

The earthquake that hit Valparaiso at 7.55pm on that day was catastrophic. Around 3000 people died during the quake and countless more in the days that followed due to their injuries. 20,000 people were seriously injured. Much of Barrio El Almendral was flattened, along with a fair proportion of Barrio Puerto. In the hills, Cerros Carcel y Merced were the most affected. Cerros Alegre y Concepcion, the richest, most upmarket (as they still are) and mainly foreign neighbourhoods were barely affected due to the hills being pretty solid bedrock.

People were hit by falling masonry, crushed in their houses or burnt alive due to the fires that raged in the days after the event. Looters were summarily executed. Buildings continued to topple for days after the quake and more were demolished for being structurally unsound. Material losses were estimated at over 300 million pesos (I have no idea what that amount would be in today's money. Several hundred million Dollars I should imagine). The cost of reconstruction, many times that amount.

Map marking the worst hit areas:


Over the next few days and weeks I'll post more photos from after the disaster. Here are a few to get started.

Plaza Victoria:


Teatro Victoria:


Calle Victoria:

Bodies:

Banks of Valparaiso II: Old School

A while ago, I posted about the banks here in Valparaiso. It turns out that I'm not the first person to have this idea. Whilst searching through the information on Memoria Chilena I came across a great book called Valparaiso 1536-1910 which had been scanned and uploaded from the original housed in the Biblioteca Nacional. The book can be downloaded and is an extremely detailed history of Valparaiso, Chile. At some point I might even get around to reading the text and not just look at the old photos. Memoria Chilena is a really good source of information in general for Chilean history, by the way.

Anyway, here are photos from sometime between 1906-1910 of all the banks in Valparaiso. The images are quite grainy as I've had to adjust them a little. The original scanned and uploaded book is really bright and it's tricky to see many of the photos. I've done my best to make them a little easier on the eye.

As far as I can tell, the only bank still functioning and in its original location is the Banco de Chile. The Anglo Sud-Americano building is now occupied by the banking monster Santander. Many of the other buildings I don't actually recognise but I'll keep my eye out when I'm wandering around in future.