Están locos estos Americanos

Este lunes 29 de Junio es "Memorial Day" en EEUU. Parece ser que muchos norteamericanos aprovechan Memorial Day para "inaugurar la temporada de barbacoas".

En muchas familias de Valencia, la paella es la única ocasión en la que el hombre cocina. En EEUU ocurre algo similar con las barbacoas: parece ser una actividad exclusivamente masculina. Como es de esperar en algo típicamente masculino, en seguida aparece el elemento competitivo, y la barbacoa se convierte en un símbolo de estatus como el coche:

As Memorial Day marks the official beginning of grilling season, many men will find themselves almost genetically drawn to throwing hunks of raw meat onto a fire and poking them with tongs. It's a pull that some will spend almost any amount of money to satisfy, said Pantelis A. Georgiadis, the owner of Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, the grill manufacturer based in Michigan. "There is a market segment we call the 'man cook with fire' types," he said.

Parece ser que hay gente a la que no le importa gastarse $6500 en una barbacoa:

Last fall, Dave and Allison Petrullo of Commack, N.Y., installed a custom-built Cal Spas grill on their patio with an outdoor refrigerator. They spent more than $100,000 renovating their backyard with a new synthetic deck, masonry, a whirlpool and a pool waterfall, so $6,500 more for Mr. Petrullo to have a brick sanctuary with a Cal Spas grill as its central altar seemed like nothing. "I told him to just go for it," Ms. Petrullo said. "And get your dream barbecue."

Though they have actually cooked on the grill only three times since they installed it, it has been a hit with Mr. Petrullo's friends, who congregate around it at parties and give it a going-over like a pack of high school boys around a Corvette, Ms. Petrullo said. "They like to lift up the hood and play with the knobs," she said. "They open the doors underneath, and they open the fridge next to it to check it out."

¿Qué importa el hecho de haberla usado sólo 3 veces, si te conviertes en la envidia de tus amigos?

Además, $6500 no es tanto, comparado con los $35000 que cuesta la de la foto:

But the Queen Mary 2 of outdoor cooking is the $35,000 Talos Outdoor Cooking Suite sold by Frontgate, a luxury goods catalog retailer.

Parece ser que en USA la gente está más interesada en votar a su cantante favorito en "American Idol" que en votar a su presidente en las elecciones:

A PREMATURELY greying bar singer from Birmingham, Alabama, has been named 2006’s American Idol after viewers of the talent show cast nearly 64 million votes in one night — more votes than any US president has received.

Algunos números:

• Nearly 64 million votes cast for American Idol final
• In the 2004 presidential elections President Bush received 62,040,610 votes; in 2000 he received 50,456,002. Bill Clinton got 47,402,357 votes in 1992

Y eso que, segun los jueces del consurso, parece que no canta muy bien (podeis ver un vídeo suyo aquí):

Taylor Hicks, 29, won despite being compared to a “drunken father singing at a wedding” by Simon Cowell, the British music executive who was one of the show’s three judges.

[...]

“Thank you America! I’m living the American dream!” shouted Hicks at the end of Wednesday’s two-hour show, held in the Kodak theatre in Hollywood. Hicks, whose routine includes leaning to one side and shouting “Whoo!” — as well as a much-derided Elvis-style tiptoe dance — built up a huge following of Southerners. Even before winning he was being satirised by the comedy show Saturday Night Live.

No sé como será en España, pero durante las dos últimas semanas, uno de cada cuatro anuncios en la TV en EEUU es sobre la nueva película basada en el libro de "El Código Da Vinci".

En todos los periódicos se debate sobre si los hechos que describe el libro son reales: que si el Opus Dei es tan malo como lo pintan, que si María Magdalena tal o cual, etc.

Al principio, el Opus Dei consideró demandar a Dan Brown (autor del libro) o a Sony Pictures (productores de la peli), pero parece que al final está sacando ventaja de la publicidad: el número de personas interesadas en unirse al Opus Dei aumenta, parece que atraídas por el rollo "mortificación corporal":

As it happens, the “Da Vinci Code” experience has provided Opus Dei itself with a valuable marketing tutorial. After initially considering a lawsuit against Brown or Sony, the prelature decided instead to take advantage of the publicity. The red brick building at Thirty-fourth and Lexington has been opened to reporters, and so many tourists stop by that the prelature began leaving recruitment literature by the front entrance.

[...]

The Web site has received more than three million visitors, and Peter Bancroft, Opus Dei’s national communications director, says that some of the curious have now become members. The Silas wannabes are generally screened out.

[...]

“It’s odd, really,” Bancroft says. “Every once in a while, we get an e-mail from somebody who’s really fascinated by the cilice and the discipline, and says he would like to join up if he can use them. And that’s not the kind of person that we’re looking for.”

Esta página web, escrita por (creo) un periodista católico que suele cubrir noticias de tipo religioso, aclara algunas de las dudas sobre el libro:

[...]

Q: What does all this have to do with Jesus? Or, for that matter, Leonardo Da Vinci?
A: The premise of the book is that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and that the two had children, who passed along Jesus' bloodline through generations of French people. Leonardo was the member of a secret brotherhood of painters who protected this secret by painting pictures of men that look like ladies.

[...]

Q: Okay, explain this whole "painting pictures of men who look like ladies" thing. What does it have to do with Leonardo?
A: In 1099, a reggae group called the Priority of Zion was founded to hush up the truth about Jesus' French children. It was felt at the time that if word got out that Jesus had lived in France, it would drive up real estate costs beyond what the knights were willing to pay. So the Priority of Lion was formed to keep the secret. Throughout the centuries, every time someone became prominent in Europe - Botticelli, Sir Isaac Newton, Tintin - they would be enrolled into the Prior of Zionism to help keep the secret.

Q: Doesn't it seem more sensible, if they wanted to keep a secret, not to enroll high profile Europeans?
A: Yes, except that it was hard for many years to avoid famous Europeans. From 1755 to 1914, everyone in Europe was either an author, inventor, or executed king.

[...]

Q: Why are Christians so upset about this book, if it's true?
A: Christians are dedicated to covering up The Truth about Jesus and the society of lady/man painters. What Brown uncovered in his research is the shocking truth of Christianity: Jesus was a regular dude, and a regular dude who wanted Mary Magdalene to be the first pope. Christians don't want that to come out, because the central tenet of Christianity is oppressing women. That, and getting Republicans into office.

[...]

Q: That's another question. Why, in the book, is the Catholic Church the only Christian body in the world? Doesn't Brown realize there are countless different Christian denominations, often with widely varying views on Jesus? Where, for the love of Pete, are the Orthodox?
A: Look, can you imagine a Lutheran synod or a group of Orthodox bishops commissioning a mad albino monk to hunt down an inquisitive Harvard professor? Do the Lutherans even have monks, let alone mad, albino ones? So there you go.

Q: Well, that kind of brings me to my next point. Why is the main character described as a professor of religious symbology at Harvard? Is there such a thing as "symbology"?
A: Not in a narrow, Western sense, no. But in the sense that there is a Santa Claus who brings toys to all the Christian children of the world, yes.

Q: The book also claims that the Council of Nicea decided for the first time that Jesus was divine. Is that an accurate representation of the council?
A: Yes, except Brown left out a few things. The Council of Nicea also voted to decide that Homer wrote "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" but not "Strawberry Fields Forever"; that vanilla is the best ice cream flavor; that rap music started to decline in creativity around 1993; and that George Sisler is the best pure hitter in the history of baseball.

[...]

Q: Why does the dialogue in the book which is supposed to be in French include French words alongside the English translation, like, "Pain is good, monsieur" and "Le capitaine is happy you decided to stay overnight"?
A: That is how the French speak. There is no French language per se, just a few words they throw into English sentences to make themselves seem superior to Americans.

Leyendo los periódicos y viendo la TV estos días en EEUU, uno de los temas que produce más controversía es si se debe obligar a los emigrantes a cantar el himno nacional de EEUU en inglés.

En este momento hay un debate político sobre si se debe legalizar a los 12 millones de inmigrantes ilegales que hay en EEUU, y uno de los temas más "calientes" es cómo asegurarse de que esos inmigrantes realmente se "integran" en la sociedad norteamericana antes de legalizarlos. Por lo visto, obligarles a cantar el himno en inglés es una parte fundamental de ese proceso de integración.

Varios Senadores han presentados enmiendas para convertir el inglés en idioma "nacional" (ya que, a diferencia de la mayoría de países, EEUU no tiene una idioma nacional u oficial).

Para "fastidiar", varios cantantes de origen latino publicaron el 28 de Abril (justo a tiempo para las manifestaciones pro-inmigración del 1 de Mayo) una versión del himno en español. Atención a la letra:

Amanece:­ ¿lo véis a la luz de la aurora
Lo que tanto aclamamos la noche al caer?
sus estrellas, sus franjas flotaban ayer,
en el fiero combate en señal de victoria.
Fulgor de lucha, al paso de la libertad,
por la noche decían: «¡Se va defendiendo!»
¡Oh, decid! ¿Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada,
sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada?

Sus estrellas, sus franjas, la libertad, somos iguales.
Somos hermanos, es nuestro himno.
En el fiero combate, en señal de victoria,
fulgor de lucha… (Mi gente sigue luchando.)
…al paso de la libertad (¡Ya es tiempo de romper las cadenas!)
Por la noche decían: «¡Se va defendiendo!»
¡Oh, decid! ¿Despliega aún su hermosura estrellada,
sobre tierra de libres, la bandera sagrada?

Como podeis apreciar, el autor de la letra merece cadena perpetua o pena de muerte, que (afortunadamente para estos casos) es legal en 38 de los 50 estados de EEUU. Por si os interesa, aquí teneis el principio de la versión original. Como podeis ver, la versión en español no tiene nada que ver...

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming!
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there:
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

El presidente Bush se opone totalmente a que la gente cante el himno en español. Lo gracioso es que cuando le preguntan a su mujer, no sabe muy bien qué decir: primero dice una cosa y luego todo lo contrario.

Opinión del "Presi":

I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English.

Opinión de la "Primera Dama":

I do not think there is anything wrong with singing it in Spanish

Sorprendido, el periodista le responde:

Is that an issue in which you disagree with your husband? He said it should be sung in English.

A lo que Laura Bush, tras darse cuenta de que ha metido la pata, responde:

Well, I think it should be sung in English, of course

(Si alguien duda de que el autor merece la pena de muerte, aquí puede escuchar el himno en MP3, para terminar de convencerse).

La primera enmienda de la Constitución de Estados Unidos garantiza la libertad de religión y prohibe el establecimiento de una religión como religión nacional:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Los norteamericanos se han tomado esto tan en serio que lo han llevado al extremo. Según un estudio realizado en el 2001, esta es la distribución estadística de las principales "denominaciones" (que es como los americanos llaman a los diferentes tipos de cristianismo) en EEUU:

• Cristianos (79.8%), de los cuales:
• Católicos (25.9%)
• Baptistas (17.2%)
• Metodistas (7.2%)
• Cristianos sin Denominación (7.2%)
• Luteranos (4.9%)
• Presbiterianos (2.8%)
• Protestantes sin Denominación (2.4%)
• Pentecostales/Carismáticos (2.2%)
• Episcopalianos/Anglicanos (1.8%)
• Mormones/Santos de los Últimos Días (1.4%)
• Iglesias de Cristo (1.3%)
• Congregacionales (0.7%)
• Testigos de Jehova (0.7%)
• etc.
• Otras religiones (5.2%)
• Sin religión/ateos/agnósticos (15%)

Una de las cosas buenas de EEUU es que tienen estadísticas detalladas de todo, incluída la distribución geográfica de las diferentes denominaciones. Por ejemplo, estos mapas muestran la distribución de Católicos, Baptistas y Mormones en cada condado de EEUU:







Claro, con tantas religiones, algunos se lían y no acaban de tener claras las diferencias entre unas religiones y otras. Esta página web intenta aclarar estas diferencias:

To be fair to these perplexed and terrified people, Christians are not easy to understand. To begin with, there are roughly 2,000 years of history to grasp, and certainly more denominations and subdivisions than that to take on board. For people who were raised secular, I imagine it's like trying to understand an opera after coming in halfway before the end: the stage is crowded with people, two of them seem to be dead, a woman is wearing a hat with horns, and everyone is making a terrible racket.

Aquí aclara el origen histórico del cisma entre Catolicismo y Protestantismo:

The Protestant Reformation
This is the name historians give to a major labor dispute that erupted in Germany in 1517 when a group of monks hammered a proposed union contract to the door of the pope's house, requesting a 95 percent pay raise. The pope refused to negotiate with the monks union until it agreed to pay to have the door fixed, and the result was the world's longest-running strike. For nearly 500 years, a huge portion of Christians have been on strike from being Catholic, saying they are "justified" in their work stoppage because the pope won't expand the number of indulgences they get per year. Currently, the matter is in arbitration.

Y aquí el origen del Calvinismo:

Calvinism
This theory was worked out by the French theologian and fashion designer John Calvin Klein, who argued that some people are predestined to be glamorous while others are doomed to be plain. America was founded by Calvinists, who sought to establish a country where they could pursue their belief that buckled hats were fashionable.

Las diferentes denominaciones tienen diferentes opiniones sobre si el bautismo tiene efectos "iniciáticos" reales o sólo simbólicos, o sobre quién puede realizar un bautismo:

Baptism
[...]"Baptism" is also the term used to describe a key Christian ceremony, in which prospective members of the church are either initiated actually (Catholics, Orthodox, confused Protestants) or symbolically (Protestants, confused Catholics, religious studies professors). Catholics believe that anyone can perform a valid baptism, Orthodox believe that any Christian can, while Baptists, paradoxically, believe that only they can.

También hay diversidad de opiniones sobre la Trinidad:

The Trinity
This is the Christian expression of God, who Christians say is personified by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not all Christians accept this: Unitarians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and some Pentecostals reject trinitarianism, as do Muslims. Interestingly, while this does not mean Pentecostals are Muslim, it does mean that Muslims are Jehovah's Witnesses.

Otro día escribiré sobre las religiones más "divertidas" de EEUU: los mormones y los practicantes de la cienciología...