1898, films and imaginary yellow car parks

Apparently the bank holiday in Spain today, Immaculate Conception, is to show how much the state believes in the dogma that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was born without original sin. Oh, and because a surrounded Spanish army of 5,000 soldiers was able to grab victory from the teeth of defeat after finding a representation of the Immaculate Conception during a battle in the 80 Years War in Flanders. I have no idea when the 80 Years War was but one of the eighty was 1585.

On Tuesday it was Constitution Day, another bank holiday. So this week has been more time off than time at work. Paid time off is one of my favourite things.

It's been a quiet day. The weather hasn't been great, things are closed and Maggie's not here so I basically stayed at home.

I did go to the pictures though. I went to the pictures yesterday too. It's a good thing to do when you're by yourself. I highly recommend Animales nocturnos/Nocturnal Animals. Very striking production all together. Today though it was 1898. Los últimos de Filipinas. This tells the story of the siege of a church in the village of Baler, a church that had been fortified by the Colonial power, Spain, after they'd had a bit of trouble with Filipino Revolutionaries. The siege began in July 1898 and went on for 337 days until June 1899. What the Spanish soldiers didn't know was that Spain had surrendered the Philippines, the very last remnant of its once enormous empire, to the United States in December 1898. The Spaniards at Baler were fighting to defend an empire for six months after it had ceased to exist. Pity they didn't find another painting.

Anyway, as I drove home the roads were strangely quiet. Everyone tucked up at home getting in some sofa time I suppose. But a HiperBer supermarket was open and the cats need to eat. HiperBer isn't one of the upmarket supermarkets. There were a bunch of already drunken blokes laughing, gurgling, back slapping and topping up the drinks cabinet as I shopped. HiperBer boasts a vibrant colour scheme. Very yellow. I thought their car park looked very strange. It reminded me of the style of Animales nocturnos so I took a snap and wrote this entry.