Molly Mendiguren sent this photo of her lauburu tattoo. She writes “Taken right after I got it. Chose the basque red & green colors over the plain black.” The full size photo can be found in the Tattoo Gallery. Eskerrik asko Molly!
One of the pioneers of modern Basque music, Mikel Laboa, recently died (Dec 1, 2008). Beginning in the 1960s, Laboa was a cornerstone of much that followed, from the rediscovery of traditional Basque instruments such as the alboka and the txalaparta to influencing even some of the hard rock and heavy metal bands that the […]
I’ve been meaning to share this set of links for a while and just thought I’d “dump” them on you before I either forget or they get outdated. 🙂 Last.fm, an online music station of sorts, has a channel dedicated to Kortatu and similar artists. I haven’t spent a lot of time with it yet, […]
The tattoo photos keep coming in. The latest tattoo belongs to Mikel Lataburu. On his arm, he has the phrase “Euskadi geurea,” which translates to “Euskadi is ours.” He had it done by a Kurdish friend of his in Istanbul, where Mikel currently resides. He says it is a beautiful Sunday day in Istanbul and […]
My Euskara is very poor. I have a basic understanding of the grammar, but my vocabulary is very limited and I don’t have the declensions nor the conjugation of the verbs in my head. Even so, I’d like to pass what little I can on to my daughter, to at least give her an exposure […]
Kevin Paul shares his tattoo, done by Tattoo 13 in Oakland, CA. It is a stylized lauburu in which each of the heads of the lauburu is an oak leaf. A great idea! Thanks for sharing Kevin. This, and all the tattoos, are in the Tattoo Gallery. If you have a tattoo to share, feel […]
Sunday, April 26, marks the 72nd anniversary of the bombing of Gernika. When I posted on a previous anniversary, I wrote that the Wikipedia article on the bombing briefly mentions that, in addition to Gernika and Durango, Gerrikaitz was also bombed. I was intrigued by this as my dad is from that town and I […]
Finding nice overviews of the Basque Country — its history, culture, traditions, and language — is rare in English. There are, of course, The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky and The Basque Country: A Cultural History by Paddy Woodworth. But, both of those are rather lengthy and certainly have their authors’ respective […]
I had never heard of the txalaparta before my first visit to Euskadi in 1991, even though I was semi-active in Basque dancing and attended many festivals in the US. In fact, I only learned about it once a friend of mine, Mikel Lopategi, who was also in Euskadi at the same time, had learned […]
Joyce Inchauspe is a member of the Big Horn Basque Club of Wyoming. When she heard about Aita Tillous’ passing, it was snowing where she lives. She was inspired to make a little Basque snowman as a tribute to a man who they had the pleasure to host many times in Wyoming. She writes: Father, […]
