Art Futura does Blogging
Well, I really tried to get to the ArtFutura show at CCCB on time today, so I could see the panel discussion on weblogging. I ended up missing almost all of it (thanks Transports Metro Barcelona! Thanks RENFE! I appreciate all your confusing-ass signage and refusal to speak in Spanish, only Catalan!) Anyhow, mostly my fault. Instead of walking 1 mile downhill to the FGC train station and taking a 25 minute ride downtown, it was a 30 minute bus ride, walking uphill 1/2 mile, and then waiting for a big ol’ train, long ride into Barcelona, and then a metro 2 stops to downtown.
SO I finally arrive, and the Q&A session is underway. Anil from TypePad/SixApart is there, as is Meg from Blogger, and a Spanish guy, and someone from BoingBoing. From best I could tell, this is definitely not the author of the stuff I enjoy reading on BoingBoing… but she seemed competent for the few minutes of moderation I saw. Meg was given to rambling, and tried to make some point about linking to sites in different languages that was vaguely incoherent. Anil was well spoken as always (disclaimer: he’s a personal friend so I’m likely biased), but the whole panel looked like they could use a good night’s sleep (and I understand this is the case.) I won’t judge the whole thing on the 10-15 minutes I saw, and much of the audience seemed pretty into it, so I’m guessing the overall S/N ratio was high. Next time I’ll learn to navigate the bus system better, and actually see the whole talk, or something.
Watched the presentation from some guys from the UK who did Bjork’s last video, pretty nifty CG animation. Three young guys, it was depressing a bit. But they seemed geniunely creative, so props to them.
Finished off the night with a good Pakistani meal with Ubaldo and Lisette, yum. That makes the mistaken commute hell almost worth it 
I agree that Metro & RENFE (mostly this one) give a BAD service, but:
· The signage in Metro are mostly NAMES (of the streets, squares, monuments, stations, etc), and if that names are in Catalan the signage will obviously be in Catalan. Having the names in Catalan and the signage in Spanish IS confusing
· The rest of the Metro signage is in Catalan, Spanish, English (at least inside the train) and I don’t remember any other sign (inside and outside the train) that is not actually a draw or a pic.
· The RENFE Speakers in Sants and other important stations are in Spanish and Catalan for “rodalies” and travels inside Spain, in English too for travels to/from the airport and in French for trains going to France
· In other minor stations depends mostly on the personnel working there, but the “revisores” (reviewers? the one’s who check that you have the ticket) speak mostly spanish. They are there also to give info in case that you didn’t know that. Oh, well, the voice recordings are in both Catalan and Spanish 
But, ok, the Metro is so slooow and RENFE is definitely the worst public transport in Barcelona (and probably this applies to the rest of Spain).
And, please, don’t be close-minded and be gentle with the people where you live in: Give Catalan a try, it will open you many doors
P.S.: Sorry about my terrific english