Since we try not to take ourselves too seriously here at nuroa, we recorded a video that reflects the fact that people in Spain tend to leave home at a later age than in other European countries. The Spanish government is trying to create €200 subsidies to incentivize youngsters to leave their parents’ homes, but we’ll see how well that works.

So here’s our humorous take on the situation. Please let me know what you think!

nuroa.tv, canal de vídeos inmobiliarios

Happy San Jordi’s Day! I’ve gotten neither a book nor a rose, which kind of sucks, but I’m trying to keep upbeat.

For those you outside of Catalunya, Sant Jordi (”Saint George’s Day” for English speakers) is a special day, similar to Valentine’s Day, but not quite as commercial. All around the streets of Catalunya, there are small vendors with small, folding tables selling roses and books for a few euros so that couples (or friends or even bosses) can express their love for and appreciation of one another. Women walk around town with roses, men show off their books and everyone enjoys the beautiful springtime weather.

Sant Jordi’s Day is the Day of the Book and the Rose in Catalunya, and celebrates a martyred Roman soldier who was decapitated when he refused to kill Christians. There are popular stories of San Jordi and a dragon. Through a random lottery, the king’s daughter was chosen to be given as a sacrifice to a dragon that was terrorizing the village of Montblanc, but San Jordi arrived just in time to kill the dragon and save the beautiful princess.

Giving roses in celebration of San Jordi has been done at least since the Rose Fair began in the 15th century. The book part came into effect around 1930. April 23 was chosen as the official day in Catalonia, because it was the day on which Cervantes and Shakespeare, among others, died. Quite logically, it’s also the accepted date on which San Jordi died in 303 AD.

Speaking of love, Mariah Carey is the queen of the love song, and I’m really loving her new hit, Touch My Body. It explains what happens after you’ve given your partner the rose or book for San Jordi’s day. Touch My Body was the number one song in the US for the last couple of weeks, only recently replaced by Leona Lewis’s Bleeding Love. In addition to the mellow beat and sweet vocals, I like the reference to a web 2.0 start-up. It gives me something to which I can aspire.

First, Mariah tells her lover how she feels about him:

I know that you’ve been waiting for it
I’m waiting too
In my imagination I’d be all up on you
I know you got that fever for me
102
And boy I know I feel the same
My temperature’s through the roof

But then being the paparazzi-stalked star that she is (when she’s not begging for media attention, that is), she warns her lover not to try to embarass her on the Internet:

If there’s a camera up in here
Then it’s gonna leave with me
When I do (I do)
If there’s a camera up in here
Then I’d best not catch this flick
On YouTube (YouTube)

That’s when you know that you’ve hit the bigtime. Not when you get paid $1.65 billion for your not even 2-year old start-up. Not when important bloggers and analysts note that you dominate your category more than Google dominates search. It’s when a superstar like Mariah Carey name-checks you in her number 1 song without even asking to get paid for it or having to explain who you are. That’s when you know you have become an important part of popular culture.

Today, we’re launching a photo contest to find the most f*cked-up apartment. We’re launching the contest primarily in Spain, but anyone from any country with a picture of a f*cked-up apartment can participate.

We’ll be handing out 1 iPod shuffle per week until the grand prize is announced — a 32 GB iPod Touch.

The contest ends on 15 May.

As long as you are the legal owner of the picture, there’s a chance that you could win!

If any non-Spanish speakers have any questions whatsoever, don’t hesitate to be in touch with me: gary [AT] migoa.com.

Good luck!

A pair of humorous videos from the Jimmy Kimmel show.

F*cking Matt Damon

F*cking Ben Affleck (Jimmy Kimmel’s response on finding that his girlfriend, Sarah Silverman, was f*cking Matt Damon. Nice cameos with Harrison Ford, Don Cheadle and Brad Pitt)

I was rewatching this video, as it’s one of my favorite performances of all time. And I was thinking that if you replace Jennifer Holliday with Hillary Clinton, and replaced Curtis (the love interest) for the dream of becoming President of the United States (or the American public), you’d understand Hillary’s Clinton’s emotional response when she realized that voters didn’t “love” her.

As Hillary/Effie puts: “Am I’m Telling You . . . I’m Not Going Nowhere . . . I’m Not Living Without You . . . I’m Staying, and You’re Gonna Love Me!”

Doesn’t Curtis (the love interest) look a little bit like Obama? Just a little?

Here are the full lyrics. Just try it. Instead of an unfaithful lover, insert the dream of becoming President of the United States or the American public. Take your pick.

———
And I am telling you
I’m not going.
You’re the best [man] I’ll ever know.
There’s no way I can ever go,
No, no, no, no way,
No, no, no, no way I’m livin’ without you.
I’m not livin’ without you.
I don’t want to be free.
I’m stayin’,
I’m stayin’,
And you, and you, you’re gonna love me.
Ooh, you’re gonna love me.

And I am telling you
I’m not going,
Even though the rough times are showing.
There’s just no way,
There’s no way.
We’re part of the same place.
We’re part of the same time.
We both share the same blood.
We both have the same mind.
And time and time we have so much to share,
No, no, no,
No, no, no,
I’m not wakin’ up tomorrow mornin’
And findin’ that there’s nobody there.
Darling, there’s no way,
No, no, no, no way I’m livin’ without you.
I’m not livin’ without you.
You see, there’s just no way,
There’s no way.

Tear down the mountains,
Yell, scream and shout.
You can say what you want,
I’m not walkin’ out.
Stop all the rivers,
Push, strike, and kill.
I’m not gonna leave you,
There’s no way I will.

And I am telling you
I’m not going.
You’re the best [man] I’ll ever know.
There’s no way I can ever, ever go,
No, no, no, no way,
No, no, no, no way I’m livin’ without you.
Oh, I’m not livin’ without you,
I’m not livin’ without you.
I don’t wanna be free.
I’m stayin’,
I’m stayin’,
And you, and you,
You’re gonna love me.
Oh, hey, you’re gonna love me,
Yes, ah, ooh, ooh, love me,
Ooh, ooh, ooh, love me,
Love me,
Love me,
Love me,
Love me.
You’re gonna love me.

Over the Christmas break in New York, I did one of my favorite things in the whole world: I watched a lot of TV in my pajamas without moving for 24 hours. Even though I love Europe, I crave American pop culture whenever I’m back in the US.

So I spent a lot of time watching MTV, VH1, Bravo and a few other cable stations. With the remote in my hand, I came to appreciate just how much reality TV dominates US air waves, and with good reason: You can’t make this stuff up! Following in reverse order is a list of my top 5 US reality shows. If you can buy them on iTunes or find them on emule, I highly recommend that you do so. A lot of them are now available via streaming directly from the various channels’ websites, so you can get them for free if you are willing to deal with a few commercial breaks.

5. The Real Housewives of Orange County: When I lived in the US, Bravo was the high-brow arts and entertainment channel focused on wealthy people who love the arts. But after the success of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” (five gay guys help a clueless straight guy become “fabulous!“), it’s still focused on wealthy people, but with a generous bit of reality trash thrown in. Hence, “The Real Housewives of Orange County”. Orange County is one of the richest neighborhoods in the US state of California, so the show focuses on pretty silly rich woman looking for love and/or more money. It’s quite literally meant to be the reality TV version of Desperate Housewives, but after three seasons, the formula is getting a little bit tired. Reality TV begins to suck when it’s clear that the participants are exaggerating their reactions or, even worse, acting. I like seeing crazy people being crazy. Fake celebrities acting crazy to maintain their fake celebrity is not quite as interesting.

4. Project Runway: A simple formula now in its 4th season. A beautiful and appealing hostess who doesn’t get in the way (Heidi Klum). Successful designers as judges, including Donna Karan, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia (Elle magazine fashion director). And 15 young designers representing various demographics. The three finalists get to present their work on the runway at New York Fashion Week before real celebrities and the international fashion scene. The winner also gets an editorial spread in ELLE and $100.000 to start his/her own fashion line. So it’s a real competition with a meaningful prize for people whose main goal in life is larger than being a reality TV star. That realness is what makes the competition intense. And the fact that fashionistas tend to be bitchy and catty also help to keep the real-life drama factor way up! (Full episodes are available on Bravo’s website. Below is just an excerpt that I found on YouTube.)

3. Made: It’s MTV’s way of convincing teenagers that dreams really do come true if they work hard enough. The show tends to focus on issues important to teenagers but ripe with comedic possibilities — for example, the fat girl who wants to be prom queen, the Jewish nerdy kid who wants to rap like Jay Z, the cheerleader whose secret dream is to be like the skater kids, etc. Each kid who wants to get “made” reflects a high school prototype and is assigned a “trainer” who represents exactly what the teenager wants to become - a mentor/role model to show that the goal is possible. And the entire episode shows how no one believes that the kid can do it, how the kid also doubts herself, how the trainer kicks her ass, how she starts to falter before eventually fulfilling her goal through hard work and determination. It’s a great piece of propaganda to inspire kids to work hard and keep believing in themselves. And it’s funny along the way watching the nerds, cheerleaders and fat kids make fools of themselves in their attempts to fulfill their dreams. (MTV streams the full episodes from their website.)

2. A Shot At Love with Tila Tequila: No one in the offline world had any freaking clue who this girl was before this show. My sister had watched every episode and had read about Tila’s private life, but she had no clue why or how Tila was a “celebrity” with her own show, or why MTV had chosen to make her the host of their New Year’s Eve special. After a little bit of research on Wikipedia, I discovered that Tila is a former nude model whose claim to fame is that she has 2 million friends on MySpace. That’s it, folks. That bit of notoriety got her a recording contract and a television show on MTV. Now everyone knows her name. Fame. And the show itself added fuel to her whole Vietnamese Internet sex kitten image (the mix of subservience and sex goddess included) when Tila announced during the first episode that she was bisexual. So the twist on the traditional reality dating show format is that 16 boys and 16 girls had to convince her: i) which gender she preferred; and ii) of that gender, why he/she was the best candidate. She French-kissed and made out with pretty much each of the guys and girls, all the while claiming that she was really looking for love. She gave one finalist’s grandmother a lap dance, and then did a pole dance before the two finalists’ parents. She did this all without seeming like a slut, just like a nice girl looking to have “innocent” fun. The Vietnamese bisexual Britney Spears. Riveting TV indeed. (Full episodes are available on MTV online.)

1. I Love New York: For the record, it’s almost embarrassing to admit that I love this show. It is the most popular reality TV show in the US. The original idea was that Flavor Flav, one of the ugliest guys ever created and a former rapper with Public Enemy who was borderline homeless before the show began, would give a group of “lucky” women the chance to fight over him and possibly become his bride. The show was a runaway hit, as the girls were straight-up ghetto. These women were definitely not ladies, and their ghetto trashiness made help make the show a huge hit. Tila Tequila’s show is almost a direct copy of Flavor of Love, except with a bisexual sex-kitten twist. New York is the star of this spin-off, and she is hilarious. She is always smoking her Newports (cigarettes arguably found only in the inner cities of New York), has big fake breasts and is absolutely crazy. But she’s entertaining. There’s absolutely no way to get bored when watching I Love New York. It’s obviously somewhat staged (did anyone really think New York would end up with a “small person” who didn’t even reach her left breast?), but there’s enough real craziness there to make it worth it.

Last week Sophie and I went to Paris for the Le Web event. Whereas ETRE probably has the best networking and is over-the-top elegant, and DEMO Germany is a must for anyone wanting to enter the German market, Le Web is easily the coolest tech event that I’ve ever attended (Essential Web is probably second).

By cool, I mean that it felt like I was at a cool, exclusive party — kind of like when my friends and I snuck into Puff Daddy’s VIP Party when the MTV Awards came to Barcelona. But that’s another story . . .

At ETRE, the guests are important but not really focused on being cool. It’s more like being invited to a world summit where you can actually meet and interact with world leaders. At DEMO, you have all of the German VCs available to you. At Le Web, the speakers and other guests are cool, public figures but probably not the main attraction. Some of them gave 20-minute extracts of what should really be much larger discussions. In fact, in a world where almost everyone has a blog and has posted his or her best presentations on YouTube, you usually don’t learn anything new at large conferences geared to general-interest audiences full of non-entrepreneurs. If you want to participate in longer, more substantive conversations with entire micro-communities of commentators, analysts and entrepreneurs, go read your favorite entrepreneur or VC’s blog or become one of her “friends” on Facebook or search for her presentations on YouTube. There are a lot of options that are cheaper than paying the hefty entrance fees and travel expenses to go to a conference.

But if you do go to a conference, it’s nice to feel welcomed, as if you are a VIP guest. And that’s what Le Web excels at. It’s clear that they spent lots of time designed to make the event feel special and singular — making it comfortable and elegant, as opposed to just functional and boring.

A few highlights:

• The networking lounge was full of modern art work and live artists drawing while entrepreneurs networked on comfortable couches and/or watched the main conference on large plasma TVs.
• There was the Michelin-star type lunch, with chefs preparing foie, shrimp, fondues, raclettes and other great meals, and other waiters serving wine, cocktails or whatever beverage might capture your attention.
• Each guest was introduced with electronica / house music, which certainly woke me up at 9AM in the morning
• Loïc Le Meur graciously introduced himself to each guest at the party, smiling broadly and being a good host, even when Phillipe Starck spoke about 1 hour more than his allotted time.
• Kevin Rose had a very intimate and personal conversation with a Business Week journalist, who asked him about Digg’s groupies.
• Most of the presentators cursed and spoke in a lot more “vulgar” terms. It was surprising on the one hand, but it lent to the atmosphere that the audience was being allowed to hear open and honest conversations between influential Internet opinon-makers. No bullshitting. Just the real deal with lots of cursing.
• Most of the attendees were dressed stylishly and intelligently, as if we were all part of an exclusive Rive Gauche soiree.
• And, of course, there was the fact that so many people went. Bloggers. VCs. Tech analysts. Entrepreneurs. It seems that we all go to the same conferences, but people seemed a lot happier and cheerful at this one. Various blogs had speculated that there’d be 2000 people attending (clever, aggressive marketing). At the event, however, Loïc mentioned that 800 people would attend, and it seemed to me that there were fewer than that. A good showing, but fewer than 1000 people in the same room at the same time. And a lot of the tickets seem like they were comped — i.e., free for friends of friends of Loïc and certain bloggers.

That being said, it was definitely a very cool event. The coolest, most elegant tech event around by far.

Here’s another viral video making the rounds. I first became aware of it when Kara Swisher posted about it, noting that it had made Robert Scoble spew Diet Coke out of his nose. Then Iñaki mentioned it when Oriol and I had lunch with him and Dani on Wednesday (btw, really nice guys. I’d invited them via Facebook to meet up with us. They quickly said yes and then even paid for our lunch! We chatted for about 2 hours about nothing and everything. A good time was had by all, and we will pay for the next meal! We’ll probably even invite them to our next party, though they’ve made us promise to keep the video cameras off . . . .) And then today, I noticed that various VC blogs were posting the video.

So I could no longer resist the peer pressure.

I think the video’s mildly humorous and relevant only to tech geeks (have I become one of those?). But in the end, I’m a bit of a lemming (i.e., easily influenced). If influential people say it’s important, I guess it must be important. And if the makers of the video recommend that I put it in a blog (and important bloggers have done so), then I guess I should do it too.

Maybe that’s what Dan meant about content not being the key factor?

I promise to try to be more original going forward . . . . I’m not in high school anymore . . . If the cool kids jumped off a bridge, I wouldn’t jump. Would I? . . . .

I came across this video while surfing the “Spain” page on Facebook. It’s hilarious and shows how transgressive culture is, particularly in the age of the Internet. White kids in the South dancing like black and Latino inner-city kids in Los Angeles, all being watched via Internet by various nationalities in Spain.

The kids in this video are “krumping/crunking“, which is a style of hip-hop dance popularised in Los Angeles, based on music from Southern rappers in the United States.

Dave LaChapelle’s documentary Rize focuses on this kind of music/dance. (Ironically, I frist saw the documentary on Canal+ in Barcelona.)

Whatever.

This video is hilarious and endearing at the same time!

(By the way, for those of you not as old as I am, the reference to “White Men Can’t Jump” is from the 1992 movie of the same name. It scares me to think that that Carlos was 3 when this movie was made, and I was his age!)