If you�re having trouble putting all the moves of Asereje together, don�t worry, a dance school near my apartment in Salamanca is advertising dance classes where you can learn the Los Ketchups dance. I kid you not. And if you thought it couldn�t get any better than that, they also offer to teach you the Formula Abierta dance as well.

I personally feel quite 'cerrado' to either of those two propositions....

Sally B, What's the "Formula Abierta" dance?

He, he, he!
Hi!
I personally used to call those little shops Rafa refers to 'tiendas de barrio', but gee! I don't know why, a few years ago I started calling them "hongkonudos", or said in the "Aserej�" way; "jonconudos"

Those "tiendas de barrio" are now called "tiendas de alimentaci�n" or "chinos" for short (they are almost entirely owned and run by the chinese) as are the 100 pesetas, "20 duros" (.60 Eurocents) stores

Saludos,
jer...

p.d. Yeah Sally B, What is the "Formula Abierta" dance?

So, where do you guys do your "compra", at the "chinos", the "hyper" or just a plain market like the San Miguel one?

Do they still have liters of "Leche Collantes, la que a los ni�os hace gigantes" (no kidding, this was a commercial on TV when I was a kid), or "�A m� plim, yo duermo en Pikol�n!"? (Pikol�n being a bedmattress brand) It's funny but the last few times I've been to Spain I haven't seen any of these brands that now come to my mind. Any of you sleep on "Pikol�n"?! Are there any funny ads like that you may want to share with us? :lo:

Re: "Las Ketchup" Today I had to go buy a replacement CD of Rosario's latest "Muchas Flores", that I had inadvertently stepped on and broken getting into my car, at a place that has all kinds of Spanish CD's named "Museo del Disco", and I saw a cardboard stand advertising of "Las Ketchup". About 1.5 meters tall in the shape of a ketchup bottle and with a little pocket that held small ketchup packets, all labeled "Las Ketchup" and promoting their latest. I thought it was pretty clever, whether you like them or not, and when I asked I was told the promotion came from Spain. Do you have these over there, too? At least, you know where to get free ketchup...!

Formula Abierta are an extremely talented pop group formed by 2 guys and 2 girls, graduates of the highly esteemed academy of Operacion Triunfo, who are responsible for the second most annoying song of the summer, 'Te Quiero Mas'. I think it�s going too far to call what they do a �dance�, seeing as all it really consists of is skipping and a bit of hip shaking, which is why I am completely astounded that anyone would actually need to go to dance classes to learn it.

As for Asereje, I mean that dance routine is kind of hard, you have to coordinate hand and leg movements at the same time, and can kind of undestand how people could run into a few problems with it.

Yah sally b, even the ketchup gals can't seem to do their own dance well

Right, the 'Te Quiero Mas' song is known here as the Pringles commercial song and is muy annoying indeed Yikes, the word "talented" is not what I would use to describe that "group"

Rafa...

quote:

So, where do you guys do your "compra", at the "chinos", the "hyper" or just a plain market like the San Miguel one?

Personally I subscribe to the shop at loads of different places theory. Saturday mornings see the multimadrid webweaver making the rounds to:

1) "Autoservicio D�a" (CLICK FOR THE PIC) for general food stuffs for the entire week (drinks, canned goods, pasta, etc...).

2) "Mercado de San Miguel". 2 stops here:
a) "Carnicar�a" for fresh meat and cold cuts.
b) "Poller�a" to fetch the chicken fillets and other poultry items.

3)"Mercado de la Cebada" in La Latina near the Rastro to my favorite fruit & veggies stand (see the thread HERE) for more.

4) El Museo del Jam�n (PIC HERE) for the bread for the days lunch.

... and as if that were not enough, I have even been known to pop into "La Mallorquina" pastry shop in Sol (THREAD HERE) for my SPECIAL LITTLE TREAT

We shop weekly here and I love the way the Spaniards do their food shopping, so very fresh!

� If "Collantes" was a brand name, I havve never seen it.
� "Pikol�n" is still around and stronger than ever in the sleeping market :z:
� I do all the food shopping around here and have yet to see the ketchup bottle promotion cutout but they may have them at the bigger supermarkets (Alcampo, Carrefour, etc...) that I do not get to often. Then again, maybe they told you the promo came from Spain to make it seem more authentic

Saludos,
jer...

Going back to the musical topic. If one knows the moves to Lambada, La Macarena or even Saturday Night then Aserej� should be easy. Maybe the dance schools start with these 'classic' hits before moving on to the current ones. The current hits I have witnessed being Aserej�, Te Quiero M�s and Que La Detengan.

We must not forget the dances for all-time hit songs like Love Shack and Blame It On The Boogie even though they are more restrained. I know formation dancing to a pop song is not a uniquely spanish concept. I recall something called Line Dancing. Is Spain doing itself justice by promoting this 'art'?

Saludos,

Ian

Jer: Thanks! That description really gives me a good grasp of what your usual shopping for food is like...So "Collantes" or "Mirinda" orange pop is no longer, but "Pikol�n" and "Casera" are still going strong, I'm glad! ...And so is horchata, I hope! I'm a big "Chufa" fan. Totally "En-chufa-do" :l:

You guys are great! ...Great info!

Saludotes,

The latest on Aserej�, Atribuyen contenido "sat�nico" a la canci�n Aserej�

I always knew there was something wrong with that song

Cheers,

Ian

That explains it then Ian...This past Saturday, I was out in the yard cutting bushes when that song came on...I had a sudden, inexplicable urge to turn the weed wacker on myself! It wasn't pretty and Mari had perform an exorcism right there next to the almond tree!

It really doesn't surprise me. I mean, they're called 'Las Ketchup' and Ketchup is red, the color of the devil. I mean, you can't be too careful with these things...! :jeje:

Dude, what will they come up with next!!

Bueno Tony,
In some parts of the world people wear red to keep away the evil eye! While Asereje is a catchy tune, I prefer the Cuban octogenarian's,Celia Cruz, latest hit, La Negra Tiene Tumbao! Azucaarrrr! :jeje: