Just Another one

Software, programs and ebooks on how to make money with Twitter are sprouting everywhere like mushroms after the rain. I am beginning to wonder if they are for real or....?
For information's sake i'll list this one. It looks interesting on first sight, i'll test it.

If You like Music you MUST NOT miss it

OOizit.com
The Social Network for New UK Music

OOiZiT.com combines the capabilities of sites such as Spotify, MySpace, iTunes, Twitter and Facebook under one banner, but with a key difference: the ability to propel users into the charts. Every track sold on OOiZiT.com counts towards the UK charts, including the UK top 40!
Not only is OOiZiT.com one of the most exciting products on the internet to promote. The payouts are one of the largest too! With an OOiZiT Premium account users gain access to promo tools, detailed analytics and banners. But more importantly it offers users the ability to sell their music, keep 100% of the royalties AND chart in the UK charts. All of this without the need for a record label or management company. The site is brand new and already getting a lot of interest from the likes of T3 Magazine, Which Magazine and The Guardian, you're not short of references for the product either.
With OOiZiT.com there's no record deal, publisher or 'middle men' necessary. Never before has the route from bedsit to stardom been so direct. Unlike webcast or MySpace discoveries like Sandi Thom or Lily Allen, 'word of mouth' sensations will not have to sign a contract to reach No.1.
OOiZiT.com acts as a virtual one-stop promo shop and social networking site where users can create a profile, share and rate tracks. Fans pay to download tracks from the site. The monetised method of distribution for music-makers redistributes the power in favour of the artists.

This is going to be very BIG

INCOME ELITE

Elite Membership Site

It's a massive membership site, packed full of step by step make money online plans, reports, audio and video, and it's updated every month. There's also the Community Hub where members can meet, exchange info and ideas, ask questions, meet the core team and join in with what we call Elite Stealth Projects.
These ESP's as they are known, are one of the main selling points. They give members a chance to work on group projects, with the core team and other members, making their chances of success and monetary rewards far greater.
One of our priorities is working hard to keep retention as high as possible. The ongoing ESP's will help this as will the quality of the info, the chance to communicate with the ultra successful core team and emails explaining what will be new in the following months updates.

The most exciting aspect from an affiliate's point of view, is that it's a monthly rebill, which means recurring monthly payments for you! And we're talking about almost $50 per sale, recurring each month, while the customer stays a member.
With a strong, high converting salespage and tens of thousands of results already indexed in Google, Income Elite is set to become one of the premium make money membership sites online.

Does Santa Klaus Exist?

Yes He does, i've just talked to him and he gave me a big gift. I really hope it'll help me to improve my life a bit.
I won't even try to review it, it's too big. I'll just give you the link. If i can give you an honest piece of advise, check it out, you won't believe how much the site is giving. Don't take my word, take a look.

spanish videoblog Vídeo de SOFIAWORLD.com ▀▄▀▄ - Vídeo MySpace

spanish videoblog Vídeo de SOFIAWORLD.com ▀▄▀▄ - Vídeo MySpace

DO YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY?

I have just stumbled upon this new site and i found a number of great affiliate programs. I'll just list them, there are too many to review them all.

HighProfits 2nd Tier

When you reffer a new webmaster to HighProfits, you will receive 5% of their lifetime earnings - every time they make a sale you will be credited with 5% of what they earn!
For full details click the banner below.




123Cash Formula

123 Cash Formula is one of HighProfits premier make money products. With a revolutionary high converting opt-in system 123 Cash Formula ensures your traffic is turned into cash.
123 Cash Formula offers your customers a complete business in a box with full video instructions, stunning quality opt-in sites, professional written auto-responders and live support.
Your commissions


$31 for a full price sale

$15.50 on half price sale




123CashSurveys

123CashSurveys is the flagship paid survey site in HighProfits, with a solid sales page back up by great customer testimonials. Its reputation as an authority site in the paid survey niche is growing, and because of that so is the conversion rate!

Your commissions


You will earn 55% of the price paid by the customer. To increase conversions, we offer the product with varying discounts, meaning you can earn;
$31 for a full price sale

$15.50 on half price + up to $11.10 upsell commission





CloneCashSystem

CloneCashSystem is our current top product to promote. CloneCashSystem is a premium site that teaches people how to market online, but stands out from the crowd as it is free to join.
However, when you send a surfer to CloneCashSystem, they are tagged to you for life, so when we send them offers about HighProfits products you earn the commission!
Whilst you don't get any direct commission for someone joining CloneCashSystem, you earn money on all the emails that are sent through CloneCashSystem. We have set it up so that when we email the CloneCashSystem members about the upcoming launch of IncomeElite.com, all those members that you have sent to CloneCashSystem will receive a link to IncomeElite with YOUR affiliate link in it. This means you will get the recurring benefit of the sale of IncomeElite WITHOUT having to send your traffic to it. We pre-warm your leads with CloneCashSystem, and, by the time that we send them the IncomeElite link, they are really ready to buy!
For full details click the banner below.





Easy Cash Blogging

Easy Cash Blogging is a complete A to Z guide and covers everything from choosing the best blogging platform to the most effective ways to make cash on a daily basis. Nothing is left out and even if you've never set up a blog before Easy Cash Blogging makes it all extremely simple.
Easy Cash Blogging shows how to turn a blog into an affiliate marketing gold mine, cheaply and without any experience. This is great for the newbie market as they are always looking for fast and easy ways to start earning online. Any product which leads them by the hand to a cash producing website will always convert well.

Your commissions


$10 per sale

For full detail click the banner below-






MakingYouRicher

Earn $40 per sale of this high converting and highly popular product. MakingYouRicher is a guide to online marketing, web design and all aspects of affiliate marketing.
For full details click the image below.




Twitter Cash Formula

Twitter is the fastest growing site on the internet, and you can cash in on your share of its success! With TwitterCashFormula, you can promote a top twitter product that shows people how to earn money with Twitter - and earn top comissions for it too!
Your commissions


$15 per sale

For full details click the image below.




UndergroundAffiliateSecrets

Underground Affiliate Secrets is a detailed step-by-step e-course that covers just about every facet of affiliate marketing. Your customers will get access to everything they need to become a successful internet marketer including numerous guides, secret tactics, video tutorials and exclusive hosting packages.
Your commissions


$30 per sale




Are you still here?
Sign up and start making money.
What are you waiting for?

HOW TO USE TE

Sunny Suggs, author of All About Addons, and All About PayPal... has just released her biggest hit yet.... All About Traffic Exchanges.

She's written an in depth tutorial... answering all the questions you can imagine.
It's not just one manual, either... there are 24 different ebooks... about 24 different traffic exchanges. Any one of them is really a "must read" for anyone involved with Traffic Exchanges.

Timeline: 50 years in Berlin - Times Online

Timeline: 50 years in Berlin - Times Online

DIRTY CPA

I've just received an email from  an associate informing me of this new program. I didn't have the time to take a look so i'll just give you the link if you want to check it out for yourself.

ARE YOUR LINKS SAFE?

Whether you are promoting other people’s products or promoting your own products I am sure you would not want to leave money on the table and invite others to steal your share of profit.
Security is one of the key factors in affiliate marketing. If you do not adopt proper security measures, then your business will be at high risk. One of the most important way to restore security is to protect your affiliate links. Do not take them for granted. A bit of carelessness on your part in regards to affiliate links may cost you a lot of dollars. Do you know the long complicated links that you send to your prospective customers not only look convoluted but they can create a lot of problems too! If you send such an affiliate link to your customers, then the smart ones will definitely figure out that you are promoting someone else’s product and they would rather visit the parent company. Also, if your link does not function then your customers have to type a really long URL into the browser, which will definitely put him or her off, or you could be a victim of even a worse situation. What if some devious Internet pirates steal your affiliate links and replace them with theirs. If they do that, then you get no commission at all.
So, if you are not getting the desired results out of your affiliate marketing,don’t lose hope. There’s definitely a remedy to this problem and that is using a good url cloacker. I use and recommend to everybody Viral Url and eCa.sh because they protect your links and make you money. Let's see briefly how they work.
When you shorten your URL they add an unobtrusive toolbar to the top of the page. This toolbar displays and rotates ads for various products with your affiliate link embedded. Whenever someone clicks on the ad you get paid. There are some minor differences in the amount of commissions they pay and in some side services they provide but they're both very good, i use both myself.

I AM FEELING EVEN MORE STUPID

I forgot to tell you the name of the painter. Please be patient with me.
It is Joaquin Sorolla.

I AM FEELING STUPID

I have lived in Valencia all my life and i have discovered TODAY, by sheer chance that one of best modern painter was born right here. I've just done a quick search and i'll share with you some of his paintings. I like his style a lot.

DON't MISS THE FERRARI PARTY IN VALENCIA

Join Me at i5

Join Me at i5

FOR BIKES LOVERS

 

                                  THE CHAMPION


                    VALENTINO ROSSI

GUERNICA

It is modern art's most powerful antiwar statement... created by the twentieth century's most well-known and least understood artist.
Hoping for a bold visual protest to Franco's treachery from Spain's most eminent artist, colleagues and representatives of the democratic government have come to Picasso's home in Paris to ask him to paint the mural.
On April 27th, 1937, unprecedented atrocities are perpetrated on behalf of Franco against the civilian population of a little Basque village in northern Spain. Chosen for bombing practice by Hitler's burgeoning war machine, the hamlet is pounded with high-explosive and incendiary bombs for over three hours. Townspeople are cut down as they run from the crumbling buildings. Guernica burns for three days. Sixteen hundred civilians are killed or wounded.By May 1st, news of the massacre at Guernica reaches Paris, where more than a million protesters flood the streets to voice their outrage in the largest May Day demonstration the city has ever seen. Eyewitness reports fill the front pages of Paris papers. Picasso is stunned by the stark black and white photographs. Appalled and enraged, Picasso rushes through the crowded streets to his studio, where he quickly sketches the first images for the mural he will call Guernica.From the beginning, Picasso chooses not to represent the horror of Guernica in realist or romantic terms. Key figures - a woman with outstretched arms, a bull, an agonized horse - are refined in sketch after sketch, then transferred to the capacious canvas, which he also reworks several times. "A painting is not thought out and settled in advance," said Picasso. "While it is being done, it changes as one's thoughts change. And when it's finished, it goes on changing, according to the state of mind of whoever is looking at it."
Initial reaction to the painting is overwhelmingly critical. The German fair guide calls Guernica "a hodgepodge of body parts that any four-year-old could have painted." It dismisses the mural as the dream of a madman. Even the Soviets, who had sided with the Spanish government against Franco, react coolly. They favor more overt imagery, believing that only more realistic art can have political or social consequence. Yet Picasso's tour de force would become one of this century's most unsettling indictments of war.
After the Fair, Guernica tours Europe and Northern America to raise consciousness about the threat of fascism. From the beginning of World War II until 1981, Guernica is housed in its temporary home at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, though it makes frequent trips abroad to such places as Munich, Cologne, Stockholm, and even Sao Palo in Brazil. The one place it does not go is Spain. Although Picasso had always intended for the mural to be owned by the Spanish people, he refuses to allow it to travel to Spain until the country enjoys "public liberties and democratic institutions."
Speculations as to the exact meaning of the jumble of tortured images are as numerous and varied as the people who have viewed the painting. There is no doubt that Guernica challenges our notions of warfare as heroic and exposes it as a brutal act of self-destruction. But it is a hallmark of Picasso's art that any symbol can hold many, often contradictory meanings, and the precise significance of the imagery in Guernica remains ambiguous. When asked to explain his symbolism, Picasso remarked, "It isn't up to the painter to define the symbols. Otherwise it would be better if he wrote them out in so many words! The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them."
In 1973, Pablo Picasso, the most influential artist of the twentieth century, dies at the age of ninety-two. And when Franco dies in 1975, Spain moves closer to its dream of democracy. On the centenary of Picasso's birth, October 25th, 1981, Spain's new Republic carries out the best commemoration possible: the return of Guernica to Picasso's native soil in a testimony of national reconciliation. In its final journey, Picasso's apocalyptic vision has served as a banner for a nation on its path toward freedom and democracy.

Now showcased at the Reina Sofía, Spain's national museum of modern art, Guernica is acclaimed as an artistic masterpiece, taking its rightful place among the great Spanish treasures of El Greco, Goya and Velazquez. "A lot of people recognize the painting," says art historian Patricia Failing. "They may not even know that it's a Picasso, but they recognize the image. It's a kind of icon."

Product Review: Viral Traffic Dominator

Viral Traffic Dominator is a new site that says it guarantees more CONVERTING web visitors and online advertising with very little effort or cost. So I decided to put it to the test...
My first impression was the site looks professional and clean, with an attractive look and feel. It is easy to read and understand. Joining the site was easy and painless--they do offer 2 upgrade options but they are not required to gain the benefits.
The Members Area is very well laid out and intuitive--I could figure out what to do after only a few minutes and was able to get up and running in less than 5 minutes. Inside the site, you create links and ads--the links you simply enter any URL links you use into the generator and it transforms them into "Viral Traffic Dominator" links. You create ads for anything you want to promote using the Viral Traffic Dominator Ad Generator, which is very easy to use. You can create as many links and as many ads as you like. And they are organized in a logical way--links are displayed in the order you create them but also your 5 most recent links appear on the main page for quick reference. Also, since the link generator is the tool you'll use most, it is also right at the top of the main page when you login. Very smart!
After you've created at least 1 link and 1 ad you can start to generate traffic. Just use and promote the new Viral Traffic Dominator link instead of the original source link you had. Every time the Viral Traffic Dominator link is clicked, the page loads followed by a cool slide-up ad window at the bottom. It displays an ad PLUS an image with your affiliate link that goes back to Viral Traffic Dominator. So if anyone clicks the Viral Traffic Dominator image they see the site, and if they signup they become your referral. It's a great viral feature because you can build referrals without even trying to just by using the site.Now every time the ad window displays (your Viral Traffic Dominator links get clicked) you earn credits that get YOUR ad displayed in the ad windows when other members' links get clicked. So the more clicks, the more times your ads get displayed.
And this works virally--meaning as you make referrals into Viral Traffic Dominator (either by promoting it or just using it and visitors click the Viral Traffic Dominator image on the ad window to join) you also earn ad credits on THEIR link clicks. And this works up to 5 levels deep. So you can create a massive amount of free ad views and web traffic by referring others to Viral Traffic Dominator also.
I didn't get to test the full effect of a big downline yet (I just got the tool) but I can tell you the rest of the site works exactly as stated--my links got clicked, I earned credits, and my ads got displayed. Viral Traffic Dominator even tracked my results so I know how many clicks and how many ad displays. That was an impressive unadvertised extra feature.
There is one more benefit and feature which might be the best of them all--downline emailing. You can email your downline with offers, promotions, or whatever you like, and here is where Viral Traffic Dominator really shines. They took time to make the emailing often enough that it's valuable as a user, but no so often that it's a burden to your downline. But the best part about this feature (and actually the credit earning too) is that it tells you exactly how long until you can mail again. Now THAT's cool.
Overall I have to say I am impressed with Viral Traffic Dominator. It is simple yet powerful, and delivers on its promises. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to increase traffic and advertising.
For visiting the site click the image below.

Product Review: Advertise Free For Life

Advertise Free For Life caught my eye recently. I thought - That sounds too good to be true. And after looking into it - I have to say I am impressed.
I joined and took the upgrades - I figured, they offer a money back guarantee so why not..? You are not in any way required to take the upgrades to get the benefits of the site. They do multiply the benefits, I have found.
It is a really neat and clean site, easy on the eyes and the video showing how to use it was terrific.

Inside the site, you create links and ads--the links you simply enter any URL links you use into the generator and it transforms them into cloaked links for you. I set up a ton of affiliate products that I market and got unique links for each one.

You create ads for anything you want to promote using the Advertise Free For Life Ad Generator, which is very easy to use. You can create as many links and as many ads as you like. And they are organized in a logical way--links are displayed in the order you create them but also your 5 most recent links appear on the main page for quick reference. Also, since the link generator is the tool you'll use most, it is also right at the top of the main page when you login. Very smart!
After you've created at least 1 link and 1 ad you can start to generate traffic. Just use and promote the new Advertise Free For Life link instead of the original source link you had. Every time the Advertise Free For Life link is clicked, the page loads followed by a cool slide-up ad window at the bottom. It displays an ad PLUS an image with your affiliate link that goes back to Advertise Free For Life. So if anyone clicks the Advertise Free For Life image they see the site, and if they signup they become your referral. I thought this was great because it builds your list, referrals and potential income while you are out promoting the things you would have anyway.
Now every time the ad window displays (your Advertise Free For Life links get clicked) you earn credits that get YOUR ad displayed in the ad windows when other members' links get clicked. So the more clicks, the more times your ads get displayed.
And this works virally--meaning as you make referrals into Advertise Free For Life (either by promoting it or just using it and visitors click the Advertise Free For Life image on the ad window to join) you also earn ad credits on THEIR link clicks. And this works up to 5 levels deep. So you can create a massive amount of free ad views and web traffic by referring others to Advertise Free For Life also.
I didn't get to test the full effect of a big downline yet (I just got the tool) but I can tell you the rest of the site works exactly as stated--my links got clicked, I earned credits, and my ads got displayed. Advertise Free For Life even tracked my results so I know how many clicks and how many ad displays. That was an impressive unadvertised extra feature.
There is one more benefit and feature which might be the best of them all--downline emailing. You can email your downline with offers, promotions, or whatever you like, and here is where Advertise Free For Life really shines. They took time to make the emailing often enough that it's valuable as a user, but no so often that it's a burden to your downline. But the best part about this feature (and actually the credit earning too) is that it tells you exactly how long until you can mail again. THE ToOP LEVEL IS WHERE TO BE FOR SERIOUS MARKETERS - A GUARANTEED 3000 MEMBER MAIL OUT COMES WITH THE PACKAGE... Whoa!
Overall I have to say I am impressed with Advertise Free For Life. It is simple yet powerful, and delivers on its promises. Highly recommended to anyone who wants to increase traffic and advertising.
See it and join here: (I negotiated to give anyone that joins through my link instant GOLD membership, but this is not forever, so make haste)
http://www.advertisefreeforlife.com/FreeAds/474

THE MOTHER OF ALL PROBLEMS

HOW THE F..K AM I GOING TO GET TRAFFIC?


Everybody knows that traffic is the lifeblood to every online business. But how can you get it ?
Ppc is so expensive you'll go broke in a month. So the mother of all questions is can you get traffic without spending your cash? You can, but you have to choose wisely, there a lot of free advertising sites, but only a few are worthwhile.

TRAFFIC EXCHANGES

Very time-consuming, you need to surf for hours and the click-throu rate is very low.
I use only a few for promoting other traffic sites, these sites allow you to put ads on the surfbar and they get a lot of traffic. If you want more info click the banners below.













SAFELISTS

Most are useless, you just have your inbox flooded with emails you're not interested in and they send your email to people that won't reat them either.
I use only this one because it doesn't send emails to my inbox but you get them in situ and that's good.






TEXT AD EXCHANGE

They are, in my opinion one of the best solutions for your advertising needs. There a lot of very responsive sites. I'll list some of the ones i use myself, they are all very good and free.

3 Very Lucrative Niche Business

Very easy to setup, paying directly into your PayPal account.

Build your Website

If you don't want to spend a fortune and if you aren't a computer geek don't worry, there are sites where you can build nice websites very easily. The best, in my opinion, are those that offer an affiliate program as well, so you can make money giving away free websites. I'll list just a couple.

                                        

Another tasty recip

The "oven cooked rice" is a dish less acquaintance that the paella, but so much or more estimated by the Valencian people. It has a lot of similarities with the "rice pilaf" or "pilav", very extended in all the Moslem countries of the Mediterranean.




It was the rice dish more consumed in the Valencian Community, due to the customs of the previous epoch, at which the farmer was going to work and returned to eat at an uncertain hour. The oven cooked rice had the adventage of keeping its good point, and even improve it, after a long stand.



It was usual to cook it every Monday, because it was habitual to take advantage of the broth and the surpluses of the Sunday stew to prepare the casserole of rice and to lead it to cook to the oven of the most nearby bakery.

The oven cooked rice is cooked in casserole of mud. If you don't have any, you can use a paella (frying pan).


INGREDIENTS (for 4 persons):




1,5 liters of broth of stew

200 gr. of rib of pork cut into pieces

500 gr. of rice

250 gr of cooked chick-peas.

2 ripe divided tomatoes

3 potatoes cut to tracks

4 blood sausages

100 gr. of bacon

1 head of garlics

Saffron or food yellow colouring

Salt

 
Start the oven at maximum heat


In the casserole of mud, on the kitchen burner, fry the garlic bulb, the ribs and the bacon.

Once gilded, add the rice and the chick-peas, which also will be sautéed lightly.

Add finally the potatoes cut in thick tracks, and the blood sausages. Fry everything.

Add the broth of stew, boiling, and the saffron or the colouring.

Put the casserole in the oven and lower the temperature of the oven to 180-200 degrees.

Leave it cooking for 40 minutes

Once cooked, to take the casserole out of the oven and leave it stand for 5 minutes
 

FALLAS: Valencia's most important event

THE HISTORY OF THE FALLAS

In the middle of the 18th century, the fallas were just one part of the events held to celebrate St Joseph's Day (19 March). During the morning of 18 March, rag dolls called peleles were strung across city streets from window to window, or small platforms were set up against walls displaying one or two figures (ninots) that referred to an event or to certain individuals that were particularly deserving of public derision. Throughout the day, children and young people collected objects to be burnt on bonfires called fallas. All were burnt the evening before St. Joseph's Day in the midst of much celebration.


The next day, devout Valencians and carpenters attended their local churches in honour of their patron saint. Families also celebrated the saint's day for anyone called José (also known as Pepe) with cakes, fritters and anisette. It was a time of widespread, neighbourly festivities.

The first documentation we have concerning the fallas is an official letter sent to the mayor of the city of Valencia prohibiting the placing of monuments (especially of a theatrical nature) in narrow streets close to facades. This measure adopted by the city's police for the purpose of fire prevention led the inhabitants to set up their fallas only in wide streets or at crossroads and in squares and, unexpectedly, led in the long term to an important transformation. Although the fallas continued to have a horizontal, theatrical structure made up of two parts (a platform and a scene arranged on it), they started to be placed on wheels so that they could be moved to the centre of a street or square. As they were no longer placed against a wall, the design changed to make it possible to view them from all sides. This created much greater freedom of construction and invited the inclusion of messages all round them.
For a long time, the term falla was used indistinctly for the torches, bonfires, rag dolls and platforms, but gradually the term came to be restricted to the satirical pyres that exposed vices or prejudices to public scorn. These fallas gave rise to great expectation and the local inhabitants came en masse to view them. The structure was usually prismatic and erected on a square, wooden base decorated with painted frames and canvases or panels to conceal the combustible materials underneath. The figures included in the scenes were usually dressed with old clothes. As with the popular theatrical performances of the miracles of St. Vincent, these satirical fallas usually came with verses that were hung on nearby walls or on the pedestals and that related to the subject of the falla. By the middle of the 19th century, these verses started to be printed and bound, giving rise to the booklet called the llibret. This made it possible to develop the subject much further.
The special characteristic of the satirical fallas is that they represent a reprehensible social action or attitude. They have a specific subject and aim to criticise or ridicule. They are more than mere bonfires or pyres because they show scenes referring to people, events or collective behaviour that their makers - the falleros - consider should be criticised or corrected. The two most popular subjects for falleros in the 1850s were eroticism and social criticism.


In 1858, the falleros in the Plaza del Teatro were officially prohibited from erecting a moving falla with a direct allusion to social inequality with verses written by Josep María Bonilla, but they went ahead all the same the following year. The press gave the name of "erotic falla" or "anti-conjugal tendency" to the many fallas that alluded to racy or risqué subjects with verses using double-entendres that reflected a hedonistic, lewd mentality. Bernat i Baldiví wrote llibrets on such subjects but the best-known is that written by Blai Bellver for the falla in the Plaza de la Trinidad in Xativa in 1866. This was called "The Cross of Marriage" and was severely condemned by the Archbishop.

Throughout the 19th century, the Town Council and the authorities in general tended to disapprove of these fallas. Their policy of repression, which aimed to modernise and civilise the city's customs by eradicating popular celebrations such as the Carnival and the Fallas, was applied with rigour during the 1860s when heavy taxes were levied on permits for setting up fallas or playing music. This led to a reaction in defence of local traditions and, in 1887, the magazine La Traca awarded prizes to the best fallas. The initiative was continued by an association called Lo Rat Penat. This explicit support from civil society provoked competitiveness amongst the different neighbours' committees, stimulating fervour for the fallas and encouraging artistic creation. Criticism did not disappear from the subjects of the fallas (in some cases, it was politically radical) but a new trend arose favouring formal structural and aesthetic concerns.
Eventually, though rather reluctantly, the City Council of Valencia took over from Lo Rat Penat and awarded the first municipal awards for the fallas at the end of the festivities - one for 100 pesetas, and another for 50 pesetas. The social climate was not only in favour of this initiative but demanded it. A wide range of organisations was involved - cultural, recreational, civic, sporting, political and for workers - and all of these helped to promote the fallas during the first decade of the century. In return, the fallas increasingly devoted their attention to exalting local values, resulting in a growing association between the festivities and Valencia as their centre. From the start of the 20th century, the fallas no longer maintained the dual structure of platform and scene. A new concept took over in which the figures were no longer the most important part. The fallas now basically comprised three different elements - a low base with various platforms for the different scenes, a central body holding up the monument and a top.
The latter usually comprised a large, allegorical figure, condensing the topic of the whole falla and summarising the scenes below it.


The falla did not only contain a scene set against a background but content was expressed in the whole of the sculpture and had to be deciphered by walking all round the falla looking at it from top to bottom. Fallas had become lavish, majestic and imposing - large enough to be seen from a distance. The competitiveness introduced by the awards meant that the artists strove to produce monumental, elaborate creations.

In 1927, the Valencia Atracción association for the promotion of tourism organised the first Falla Train to bring emigrants from Valencia living in other Spanish provinces back to their home town for the festivities. This was so successful that Valencian society became even more devoted to its fallas and the number of monuments constructed grew and grew. The festivities soon came to require better organisation. The General Association for the Valencian Fallas and the Central Fallas Committee were created to represent the commissions and to organise the celebrations.

An article published in 1935 by Y. Llopis Piquer and entitled "How the fallas are prepared" describes the production of a falla in detail.
"The most important elements are: cardboard, plaster and wax, without forgetting the wood of the frames and the metal mesh covered with sacking for the large figures."


Using these simple materials, the Valencian artists emulate the large, long-lasting creations of sculptors, showing their skill in the production of grandiose monuments.

The most difficult and complex task is the construction of moulds for the heads. These are based on clay models which are then cast in plaster and subsequently in wax to give heads that are then completed by adding a moustache, a squint or a sneering expression to give a non-human touch and turn them into the characters featured in the falla.
The bodies are easier to build. The cardboard is pressed while wet onto plaster moulds and then shaped, an essential skill for any up-and-coming falla artist. And a further clay mould is made resulting in yet another human incarnation which will then be completed with physical distortions and material additions. This is the basic method used for turning out the multiple characters of the fallas.


The most difficult part is to paint the wax. There are few artists who are capable of injecting life into the figures by the use of colour but, by dint of experience and perseverance, miracles take place. What still remains to be done? The bodies are then placed on a wooden strut which serves to attach lightweight materials such as straw, cloth, sawdust and wax. The figures are finally erected on the actual day of the plantá when the fallas are placed in their final locations and the frames and mouldings are hammered on. Once in the streets, the figures blend with city life and, in the night-time darkness, observers can be forgiven for not being able to distinguish between what is real and what is fantastic.


Offering to the Lady of Forsaken

This act of devotion to the Virgin of the Forsaken, mistress of Valencia, is celebrated since the year 1945. In that epoch, the falleras were leaving the bunches of flowers at the feet of the Virgin, close to the major altar of the Royal Basilica.


In the year 1947, there were so many falleras, that the offering took place in the Seat of the Virgin, depositing the flowers in a frame of wood that was covering the altar frontals of the Basilica.
Almost 60.000 falleros and 32.000 children take part in the offering to the Virgin of the Forsaken, during the fallas.




The women, dressed in reproductions of the suits of 18th and 19th century, carry bunches of flowers to make a gigantic tapestry that forms the mantle of the Virgin, in an enormous image of the mistress of Valencia located in the Seat of the Virgin.
In the middle of the decade of the 80, there were so many falleras taking part to the offering that Jose Azpeitia, an artist and fallas maker, was asked to accomplish a gigantic image of the Virgin.




The mantle is made with the thousand of flowers that the falleras deposit. The design changes every year.



Twenty-six "dressing men" take charge gathering the bunches of the falleras and locating them in the place adapted to make the mantle of the Virgin.

The design of the Virgen mantle changes every year, but remains privately until, as the hours happen, is revealed with the placement of the flower bunches.




Almost 10.000 musicians accompany 383 commissions falleras that take part in the offering.



In the entry to the Seat of the Virgin are seen the moments of major emotion, when the falleras deliver her flower bunches and cannot contain the weeping.

For the confection of this mantle, 203 commissions falleras carried bunches of red carnations, 86 commissions brought white carnations, and 87 commissions brought carnations roses

Do you like Paella?

PAELLA (serves 6)




1/3 cup of Olive Oil

1 Small Onion, minced

2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed

3-5 tbsps minced fresh parsley

1 generous pinch of saffron

2 tbsps of chicken bullion

3 skinless Chicken Breasts, cut in large chunks

2 green peppers, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 tsp of yellow food coloring (optional -- saffron is very expensive, a pinch

of it is all you need for taste but a richer color is desired)

8 oz tomatoe sauce

1 tsp sugar

4 cups of rice

7 cups of water

salt

1/2 lb - 1 lb shrimp, leave shell on

1 lb scallops



Saute onion, parsley, and garlic in olive oil until the onion begins to become transparent. Add saffron, chicken bullion, chicken, peppers and saute until chicken has become white. Add tomatoe sauce, sugar, food coloring. Stir. Add rice & water and bring to boil. Salt to taste. Boil 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp & scallops, boil an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Simmer 10 minutes covered, stirring occasionally. If the rice appears to be getting too dry during the last 10 minutes, add more water. If the rice is too wet at the end of the 10 minutes, uncover and evaporate unwanted liquid.

ENJOY!