Basques around the world

Hi Basques,

Day three of Jaialdi promises Basque sports galore including some of the biggest names in the world of Herri Kirolak and the NABO Pelota tournament.

Wednesday night, meanwhile, traditionally a big night, was apparently rocked harder than ever thanks to the likes of Amuma Says No and the Oinkaris. Basques All Around the World group members Katie D’Angelo (remember her?) and Jose Antonio Alcayaga III were there to soak up the atmosphere and give their take on the  events of the evening.

Meanwhile Kepa Junkera, who was in Boise earlier this year and went down a storm, has been busy playing gigs in Catalonia, Caceres… you name it. He’s also been busy on his blog, with two new posts: One is an interview he gave to Biscay newspaper Deia on July 8^th. Another one is further news about his and Xabier Amuriza’s latest combined work BETI BIZI.

More news soon.

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Arratsalde on!

There are just 4 days and 16 hours to go until the start of this year’s Jaialdi celebrations in Boise. Throughout the course of the festival, we’ll be bringing you news, images and updates of goings-on.

As you can imagine, with less than a week to go Boiseans are now in the final stages of preparations. It is now the turns of Boise Mayor David Bieter and Basque Museum Director Patty Miller to tell us how each of them has been preparing for Jaialdi.

Dave Bieter, a Boisean of Basque descent, says that there are more Basques than ever visiting from the Basque Country and just to make us feel welcome recorded an invite in his very best Euskera!

News this side of the Atlantic includes the latest from San Sebastian’s Heineken Jazzaldia, which included an important award presentation for double-bassist Roy Carter and a performance from Cuba’s Arturo Sandoval.

Laister arte!

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Kaixo Basques!

With just four days to go to reach the 12,000 dollar funding target, Ipuina Kontatu has received 3,090 dollars backing and a mountain of moral support. Each donation offers a special incentive. have a look at the images from Ipuina Kontatu, new documentary on the Basque Country. The Gallery shows a series of stills from Ipuina Kontatu, a documentary made by Emily Lobsenz which uses first hand accounts to tell the story of one of the world’s most ancient people.

The 45th edition of Heineken Jazzaldia will kick off in Donostia on Wednesday with Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, Ron Carter and Portico Quartet, among others.

Basque Country’s most powerful observatory opens in Bilbao. The observatory, built on the roof of Bilbao’s Technical College boasts a dome of more than 3.5 meters in diameter.

Basque unemployment rate stood at 9.1% in 2nd quarter of 2010. The number of people in work stood at 951,000, which was a net increase of 8,400 people compared to the previous quarter (+0.9%), according to Eustat data.

Don’t forget to send us your Pyrenees photos! The Tour de France enters the Pyrenees: take photos of the cyclists and atmosphere and send them to Udablog, or landscape photos to Eguraldiblog.

Have a nice day!

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Good afternoon,

Following up so soon on our now twice-weekly updates we just had to tell you about our interview with Emily Lobsenz, the US filmmaker who is seeking backing for her documentary Ipuina Kontatu.

The documentary takes a fascinating look at Basque culture and how it has managed to survive so many slings and arrows.

Read the intriguing interview and find out how you can take a part in the film’s release and get a sheep named after you! Plus receive some other interesting perks.

Ipuina Kontatu [Telling Stories] -promo trailer from Daggewood Films – Emily Lobsenz on Vimeo.

Other interesting news today is that Elhuyar Basque Encyclopaedia is now up and running. But don’t worry if you don’t speak Euskera – the on-line science and technology Encyclopaedia also offers definitions in English, Spanish and French.

Joe Sample and Randy Crawford play at Vitoria’s Jazzaldia tonight. Meanwhile, enjoy a video of last night’s gig with Diane Reeves.

Have a great weekend.

Ondo pasa!

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Dear Basques,

How are you? We hope you are enjoying summer!

Let’s see what we have to offer you today:

Boise-born Basque brothers Javi (who recently made a documentary about Basque Shepherds in Idaho entitled Artzainak: Shepherds and Sheep), and Josu Zubizarreta called into Bilbao’s Eitb headquarters to explain how each has been looking more closely at the Basque Diaspora and the story of their forebears.

The 34th edition of Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival welcomes a very special guest today: Dianne Reeves, one of the most important and significant jazz singers of our time. She will be performing at Mendizorrotza Sports Arena, where saxophonist Joshua Redman will also play.

Watch also two videos of the concerts of Buddy Guys and Larry Carlton at Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival.

Residents of Pamplona have bid farewell to the San Fermines fiestas for another year, with a traditional rendition of ‘Pobre de mí‘. In addition, San Fermin Pelota final took place yesterday and Oinantz Bengoetexea and Patxi Ruiz won 22-12 against Titin and Pascual.  San Fermin final tournament that took place at Labrit fronton.

That’s all for today! see you soon!

Agur

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Arratsalde on!

José Antonio Alcayaga III has written to remind us about Ipuina Kontatu, the feature-length documentary about the Basque Country made by Emily Lobsenz.

There are just 11 days left to pledge a donation towards the 12,000 dollars they need to get it released. So far they’ve raised nearly $2000 but there’s still a long way to go.

Find out how you can donate and even win yourself a copy of the film and more.

As Jaialdi draws ever closer – just two weeks to go now until kick-off – organizers have been telling eitb.com about the last-minute preparations for the last week of July.

Another festival, meanwhile, will shortly draw to a close: Today was the penultimate bull-run of San Fermines – and the quickest. Read about how it went and see the video.

Gero arte!

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Hello Basques all around the world,

After San Fermin 2010 kicked off on Tuesday July 6th,  reports say that two people were injured, though not seriously on the first day. Several runners were knocked to the ground and trampled, but there were no gorings. On the second day, two people were gored and at least four more injured in falls. And lastly, today,  one person was gored and two others injured in a panic-filled third running of the bulls at Navarre’s San Fermin festival.

On EITB.com you’ll find news, videos and reports about this year’s San Fermin festivities. You can also enjoy various photo galleries and of course our special infographic about the traditional running of the bulls.

In addition, we invite you to watch this video of the Bull-running from the 1920’s. In the 1920s, the runners ran with the bulls dressed in suit and tie. It was the butchers who made it fashionable to wear the tradition white suit and red scarf.

Jeff May, owner of Boise’s Bar Gernika, tells eitb.com’s journalist Igor Lansorena about preparations for Jaialdi 2010, and how Twitter is helping them to increase their clientele and make contacts in the ‘Old Country’.

“We have been able to sell “Basque” as something attractive, academically and intellectually,” says Alberto Santana, Director of the Basque Studies Center at BSU, in an interview with eitb.com.

And to finish with, for music lovers, a number of outstanding bands will be performing at this year’s Festival Bilbao BBK Live 2010 from July 8^th to 10^th, including Rammstein, Pearl Jam and Faith No More. Basque band from Bilbao Rise to Fall opened the BBK Live 2010 festival on Thursday but Rammstein was with any doubt the main protagonist of the night.

Watch videos of Rise against or Slayer and you can see photos of the concerts playing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday here:

Thursday July 8^th concerts

Friday July 9^th concerts

Saturday July 10^th concerts

And remember you can watch the concerts live via eitb.com. EITB will be following the Festival every step of the way and most gigs can be followed live on eitb.com.

Agur lagunak!

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Hi Basques,

There are some exciting happenings coming up in the Basque World this summer. In case you hadn’t heard (;-) Boise’s Jaialdi Festival has come round again and there are now just 21 days to go!

July 6^th, of course, marks the beginning of what is probably the biggest, most famous, most spectacular fiesta in the whole of the Basque calendar: SAN FERMINES!!

12pm today was the traditional ‘txupinazo’ when a rocket officially announced the start of 9 days of partying, madness and joy. Catch the latest news, videos and photos today and throughout the next nine days on Eitb.com/en.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Igor has been speaking with Alberto Santana, head of the Basque Studies Center at Boise State University. He’s been talking about a rather different side to Jaialdi, where several academics have been invited to talk about the history behind Boise’s Basque names at a conference being held during the celebrations.

Happy San Fermines, and don’t forget to check out the Infographic on the traditional running of the bulls.

Laister arte!

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Dear Basques all around the world,

Basque daily newspaper DEIA, reporting on June 26th, announced October’s opening of Bar Basque in New York – the first ever Basque eatery to open in the US city, famous for its international cuisine.

A ‘First Thursday‘ packed with exciting events rings in a month that for Boise’s Basques marks the beginning of the lead-up to Jaialdi, the biggest Basque cultural festival outside the Basque Country.

See more photos here: http://tinyurl.com/2vcymeq

Produced by trikitilari Kepa Junkera, the latest album from Bertsolari Xabier Amuriza reflects his unending respect for Basque traditional music, but in a whole new, innovative light. Catch a glimpse. Bizi Beti is the latest album from Basque ‘Bertsolari’ (singer of improvised verse) Xabier Amuriza, produced by Kepa Junkera under the label of Hiri Records.

Watch this video: Paz de Ziganda Ikastola in Villava will host Nafarroa Oinez 2010 on October 17th under the slogan ‘Munduz Mundu’ (’All around the world’).

And check the latest posts on Kepa Junkera’s blog ‘Inside & Out’:

Amuriza released an album that mixes dance melodies and electronic music

Azken erronka

Have a nice weekend!

AGUR!

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Hey Basques,

There are only minimum services today due to industrial action, though the sun certainly isn’t on strike.

Remember we told you a few weeks ago that Bilbao had been awarded a ‘Nobel’ prize thanks to its ‘liveability’ and post-industrial rejuvenation? Well the City Mayor is currently in Singapore to pick up that award.

Mugalari has written about another good reason to visit the city. You may or may not know about the hanging bridge, actually classed as a World Heritage Monument by UNESCO. A fantastic piece of machinery, it’s been running since 1893.

Don’t forget of course that AC/DC played in the Basque capital last night. By all accounts the whole of the San Mames stadium rocked to the Australian band’s gig, possibly their last ever – and they played it in Bilbao! Why would that be, we wonder..?

Don’t forget the next big musical event is BBK Live, starting on July 8th. If you don’t know already, here’s a sneak peak at some of the acts playing on the first night.

That’s all for now!

Gero arte.

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