John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

John Gordon Ross header image 3

About John Ross

Who he? I am a Spanish-English translator, webmaster, occasional travel writer, even more occasional copywriter, and more. You can find out about my work on the different pages of this blog, and if you are interested in my professional services, you can drop me an e-mail at webmaster AT mediterraneanblue.com, or just leave a comment more or less anywhere on the blog. I’ll even send you a CV if you really need one, though it’ll need dusting off.

I’m a Scot, brought up in England, and now live in Madrid, Spain, with my significant other. Apart from work, my interests include the usual stuff: literature, music, travel, and so on. I can hold my own in most conversations that don’t involve football or reality shows.

This blog is intended to give an idea of my various sides, from the professional (see Language Stuff and Web Development in the menu on the right) to areas I dabble in (Writing and Copywriting, Travel, Graphic Design) to subjects in which I have signally failed professionally, but maintain an interest in (Music, Guitar). A couple of pages (the BBC music page, the Whittle It miscellanea page) are here for my own convenience or amusement (yours as well, I hope). And the Freelancing page is thrown in as a concession to the fashion for lifestyle-type content.

Clarification. I’ll point out that I am not John Gordon Ross the conductor from Indiana, who I am sure is a fine person and a splendid musician, and perfect for his job as music director to the Western Piedmont Symphony .

Neither am I John Gordon Ross from Saint Louis, Missouri, though his credentials as Pilot, Ground Instructor and Flight Engineer suggest a go-it-alone attitude with which I empathize.

Nor am I John Gordon Ross, the Canadian politician who represented the district of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, before the Second World War, or his Australian homonym, or any other politician of any era or nationality.

Leaving middle names to one side, there are any number of John Rosses I would not like it to be thought I was presuming to be. For example, Wikipedia lists these notable namesakes of mine:
* John Ross (admiral) (18th C.), admiral of the British Royal Navy
* John Ross (American patriot), figure in the American Revolution
* John Ross (Arctic explorer) (1777-1856), British naval officer
* John Ross (Cherokee chief) (1790-1866)
* John Ross (Canadian politician) (1818-1871), Canadian Senator
* John Ross (VC) (1822-1879), Scottish corporal of the British Army during the Crimean war
* John Ross (industrialist) (1876-1951), Canadian industrialist
* John Ross (author), author of the 1996 novel Unintended Consequences
* John Ross (representative), U.S. Representative.
* John Ross (chemist) (b. 1926), physical chemist.
* John R. Ross (b. 1938), American linguist
* John Ross (Australian politician), member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
* John Ross (explorer) (1817–1903), explorer of Central Australia
* John Ross (artist), British comic book artist
* John Ross (activist), author of Murdered by Capitalism, and Zapatistas! Making Another World Possible
* John Ross (judge), Irish barrister, judge and Unionist politician

And, please, do not mix me up with John Ross Ewing, the character known as JR in the television series Dallas. Not that I have anything against JR, who always seemed to me to be badly done by and generally deserving of more sympathy than his fictional world ever afforded him.

Your comments are most welcome, especially but not only if your name is John Ross.

14 Comments

14 responses so far ↓

  • 1 David Howard // Mar 11, 2009 at %I:%M %p

    Hi John

    I would like to discuss a business proposition with you which I think would benefit members of your Spain and Portugal site.

    Is there an e-mail address or a phone number I can get you on?

    Thanks

    David

  • 2 Cassandra // Apr 27, 2009 at %I:%M %p

    A bride and groom’s relative has asked me for some info about wedding customs from many countries. They would like to theme each table from a country they (the couple) have visited or worked in through the Peace Corps.
    The Basque Country is one on the list. I have been having a hard time trying to find traditional wedding customs of this region. From those ideas the couple would like to create favors that are inspired from that region. Suggestion of gifts or crafts that are appropriate for weddings would be greatly appreciated.
    Thank you Cassandra

  • 3 Peter Marques // Jun 9, 2009 at %I:%M %p

    Sir, do you happen to know a private guide in Valencia and Barcelona which I could contact to guide and accompany a customer group of 4 (2 couples) on an incentive trip around the F1 in Valencia and in Barcelona in August?

    Thank you for your help!
    Peter Marques

  • 4 Chris // Oct 10, 2009 at %I:%M %p

    Hi John,

    just visited your site ’spain for visitors’. I love content rich sites like yours. May be you want to pay me a visit back, to Almeria…

    Cheers and Saludos,
    Chris

  • 5 Henry // Dec 4, 2009 at %I:%M %p

    Hi John,

    I’ve just moved to Barcelona and would really like you help with some food issues I have, namely conditions etc.
    Would be really grateful if I could have an email to contact you with,

    Saludos

    Henry Gane

  • 6 R Holman // Apr 14, 2010 at %I:%M %p

    Please don’t take this the wrong way.
    Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say the Moors
    came from northwest Africa rather than northeast?
    I like that you wrote about it.

  • 7 JohnRoss // Apr 14, 2010 at %I:%M %p

    Thanks for advising me, that typo has been there for years, now, and no-one has pointed it out.

  • 8 Gareth // May 25, 2010 at %I:%M %p

    Dear John

    I’d be very interested in the arrangement of ‘Letter from Home’ if you are willing to share. Here is a piece by Sergio Assad by way of compensation:

    http://www.acousticguitar.com/media_files/audio/205/205-25340.pdf

  • 9 Steven Sorli // Jun 8, 2010 at %I:%M %p

    I noticed that you use Zaya-Ruzo strings and fluorocarbon. I am now the exclusive retailer of Zaya-Ruzo and sell them in 5 meter coils. I also sell fluorocarbon in 5 meter coils. Go to http://www.lautenwerk.com and click on link at top for guitar strings. Thanks, Steven

  • 10 Lesa Whitson // Jun 16, 2010 at %I:%M %p

    Do you know whether or not Cava sparkling wine is Gluten Free?

  • 11 Chris // Jul 18, 2010 at %I:%M %p

    Are you the John Ross who went to school with me and escorted Sarah and I around Madrid about 2000

  • 12 JohnRoss // Jul 19, 2010 at %I:%M %p

    Bloody hell, it’s Chris! Yes, I am, great to hear from you. I have e-mailed you.

  • 13 Gregg Nestor // Oct 16, 2010 at %I:%M %p

    John – came across your site today and enjoyed it!
    Check out my link for over 320 unique recordings with guitar and chamber ensemble, duo, etc…
    http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1263132195/ref=sr_hi?ie=UTF8&rs=&sort=salesrank&keywords=gregg%20nestor&bbn=&rh=n%3A!624868011%2Ci%3Adigital-music%2Ck%3Agregg%20nestor&page=1

    Also the following might be of interest:

    In the late 50’s Laurindo Almeida commissioned 3 prominent film composers, all at the start of their illustrious careers to write solo works for guitar. The following was the result:

    1. TOCCATA (Jerry Goldsmith)
    2. PRELUDE FOR LAURINDO (Henry Mancini)
    3. BALLAD FOR A WESTERNER (Alex North)

    These three short works have been unavailable and unrecorded for over 50 years, until now….

    GREGG NESTOR
    gmn002@aol.com

  • 14 Jenna Hoffman // Apr 4, 2011 at %I:%M %p

    Hello John,
    I am a casting producer for HGTV (Home & Garden Television) in the US and we are bringing a brand new design series to Madrid that focuses on the homes and lives of American expatriates living overseas. I would love to talk to you more about Madrid, as well as effective ways to get in touch with Americans living in Spain!

    Please email me when you can.

    Kind regards,

    Jenna Hoffman
    jhoffman@highnoontv.com
    http://www.HGTV.com

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