Fancy a song?

Once that music has come back into my life and it's Christmas, I've been reading about Christmas carols and listening to some of them, old ones and new versions of these traditional songs.

By clicking here you can read about the history of Christmas Carols, as well. 

I don't know yet if you are very fond of Christmas Carols. The only thing that I can guess is from our last class when you sang along "Santa Claus is coming to town" - it was an extraordinary performance, ha, ha, ha. But I won't be able to resist the temptation of making you sing again. Needless to say, the song will be easier and who knows? maybe Víctor or Nico can play the guitar, too.

The list of Christmas songs is endless, and many are my favourites. However, I don't want to bore you with all of them, so I've chosen the one which I can't get out of my head, today.

This is the version of "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" flawlessly performed live by Jewel . Fancy listening to it? Here it is!!!

Well, guys, do you have a fave Christmas Carol? Perhaps the traditional and popular Spanish song "Campana sobre campana"? Leave your comments and/or links to your favourite ones. It will be entertaining to continue listening and singing along until we meet again in 2013.

All the best for you in the New Year!!!

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYBODY!!!

Are you having a ho-ho-ho happy time? I guess so. Everybody seems to be bright-spirited these days, don't they?

Christmas holidays are full of traditions we all should keep. Do you agree with me or not?

Families gather and have scrumptious Christmas feasts, you meet your lifelong friends and relatives who you don't normally see, people bless you with their best wishes for the future, or maybe you even watch the traditional Christmas message on TV. I don't know whether you are very keen on it or not, but do you want to know what Queen Elizabeth II said this year? If so, click below and get ready for a bit of Received Pronunciation, considered the most accurate way to pronounce English.

Nowadays, monarchies are being modernized -the Queen recorded her message in 3D. If you want to find out more, click here.  

Meanwhile, in Spain, we could also see some slight changes in our King's speech, but that is not the point of this entry.  

The thing is ... I'd like you to comment on how you spend your Christmas, if you enjoy this time of the year, what your wishes and blessings for the future are, or any other aspect you would like to mention, it's up to you ...

Here are my wishes for Christmas and the forthcoming year:

I wish everybody could make their dreams come true, live in peace and have their own peace of mind, and seize every single day of their lives!!! 

C'mon, guys, leave your comments and upbeat wishes! You won't regret it!

 

Is honesty the best policy?

Is honesty the best policy? The answer is yes. Since we are children, we are taught the importance of  honesty and why we should be honest. We try to do our best to be honest to our family, friends, teachers, and almost everybody we meet. However, when we find out how dishonesty has helped some people achieve extraordinary things easily and swiftly, we tend to go the wrong way.

Honesty is essential in everything we do. We are honest to create a good impression when we meet someone and ensure the other person that we are reliable and trustworthy. Sometimes we can feel weak in some situations but we are aware of the fact that honest and sincere people are always given many chances to prove themselves. However, in case of dishonest people, second chance is very rare to come. Once a person has proved to be dishonest, it will be difficult for us to trust again.

Click here and listen to Aiman and Todd talking about the culture of bribes in business.

How honest are you? Have you ever had to face a business situation in which a bribe was involved? Would you accept a bribe for any reasons?
Have you ever done a dishonest thing? What was it? How did you feel?

Christmas came to town

Ho, ho, ho!!!

Yesterday was a great day at the Official School of Languages in Ciudad Rodrigo. We celebrated our particular Christmas party. We started at about three o'clock, lunchtime, and we could taste the scrumptious dishes pupils and teachers had lovingly prepared for this special event.

I'm completely sure all of us can say that we had a great time together, we ate, drank, talked, sang and danced.

The pupils learning Portuguese received their presents from "Their Invisible Friends" and we could realise that the pupils at EOI Ciudad Rodrigo are not only good at cooking but also at handcrafting, since some of the presents had been made by them. The English Department organised a raffle among all the dishes the pupils of English had cooked. The winners were María from 1NI, with her so-called cheesecake and Sergio from 2NI, with his potatoes with mayo and the typical Spanish "jeta". Congratulations to both of them, which we want to extend to all the participants, who enlivened the party until the end.

The only downside was that many pupils could not attend because of the time or other affairs. Who knows, maybe next time?? But don't worry you can find out more if you ...

Click here and thanks to David, you'll be able read about the party in Ciudad Rodrigo al Día.

Well, MANY THANKS FOR JOINING THE CELEBRATION !!! And giving me the opportunity to meet you outside of the routine classes have!!!

Hopes, dreams and ambitions

One day, I'd like to achieve all my hopes, dreams and ambitions. I'm not particularly an ambitious person who only tries to succeed in life without considering what other people want, dream or hope. However, I must admit that I usually get what I want and that makes me feel happy and satisfied with myself.

Here's a video for you to watch. The artist Candy Chang turned an abandoned house in her New Orleans neighbourhood into a huge chalkboard, asking her neighbours to fill in the following sentence "Before I die I want to ..." 

Her neighbours wrote amazing messages. 

Watch the video, reflect on it and ... What's your answer?

Before I die I want to ... make the people around me as happy as I can. At some point, I'd absolutely love to make them have peace of mind, take their worries out and make them aware of the genuinely important things in life.

There are also a lot of other things that I'd like to do before I die. Just to set an example, I can tell you that I've always wanted to run the world's largest marathon, yeah, you're right, I'd like to run the New York City marathon. Wouldn't it be amazing? But if I have to be realistic, I'd try, at least, to take part in it, if not finish it. New York is always an exciting place to visit.

So, now it's your turn. My aim with this entry is to make you all write a little bit, so put on your thinking caps and start blogging.

What are your hopes, dreams and ambitions? Will you be able to achieve them before you die?

International Day against Gender Violence

Today is the International Day against Gender Violence. It is terrible that violence still exists in the twenty-first century.

This day was designated in 1999 by the United Nations General Assembly. The date was chosen to commemorate and pay tribute to the lives of the Mirabal sisters from the Dominican Republic who were violently assassinated in 1960. Each year on this day, governments, international organizations and NGOs are invited to organize activities designed to raise public awareness of the problem.

Here is an extract of Ban Ki-moon's message for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women this year:

"Millions of women and girls around the world are assaulted, beaten, raped, mutilated or even murdered in what constitutes appalling violations of their human rights. [...] We must fundamentally challenge the culture of discrimination that allows violence to continue. On this International Day, I call on all governments to make good on their pledges to end all forms of violence against women and girls in all parts of the world, and I urge all people to support this important goal."                                             Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Domestic battery, rape and sexual abuse, mutilation, exploitation, ... Gender-based violence affects us all and we all may know women or girls who have suffered from this kind of violence and for whom violence is a daily reality. It destroys families, weakens the fabric of our society, and takes a heavy toll on our communities.

Today is also an opportunity to remember those who have died as a result of gender-based violence. And finally, it is a day on which communities can consider concrete actions to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. 

Here is a song by Sarita Bhukal, True Beauty. 

It perfectly reflects what gender violence is about. 

Some parts may even hurt your feelings, since they are disturbing. 

You are invited to write your comments after listening to it.

Facebook

We have spent a lot of time talking about social networking sites lately, especially Facebook. I don't want to finish dealing with the topic until you click here and listen to two people doing the same. They are Alex and Katia and they are talking about using social media and how they affect their lives. It's a good opportunity to practise your listening skills and then your writing by posting a comment on it.

If you want to find out more about how this social networking site began, click here and read it. It may well be interesting for you.

 

Are you on Facebook? 

Well, as you should know by now, I'm still thinking about starting to use it myself, but who knows, maybe if you encourage me with your comments, I'll get rid of all my prejudices and one day, I'm likely to surprise you all.

Common, guys, leave your comments now. 

You won't regret it!

Shop till you drop

Shop till you drop, apart from being a website where you can buy the latest products online, is the current trend.

As you all may know by now, after celebrating Thanksgiving Day last Thursday and being stuffed like turkeys with cranberry sauce, yesterday was Black Friday -the busiest shopping day of the year and the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. People queue until shops open and offer good discounts for their products. It's an excellent opportunity to go on a shopping spree.

The thing is that I couldn't wait to Black Friday and I had my own one two weeks ago, when  money was nearly burning a hole in my pocket and I decided to buy new clothes and shoes. I had that wonderful feeling of being satisfied by the amount of times I keyed in my PIN number.

Well, let's comment on consumerism and your habits. 

• Do you particularly enjoy shopping? 
• Are we getting used to spending a lot of money on things we really don't need?
• How often do you use your credit / debit card to pay for your shoppings? Do you think one day in the near future we will be living in a "cashless society" and we will pay for everything with credit cards?
• Have we gone crazy about shopping?

Write your comments about it and then if you want, shop till you drop!!!

How come?

Hi there,

It's been a long time since I last wrote an entry on my / your blog. I've missed it and once that we've got started I really hope that you all join and participate enthusiastically.

Now that is time to think about going back to my "normal daily life" after this holiday which I have been looking forward to for quite a long time and after having enough time to ponder about many a thing, a song comes to my mind and I'll tell you why. Maybe you all know it or maybe not, in any case, I want you to listen to it and write your reflections on it. 

If you are on the intermediate level, we are about to start unit two where we will deal with the topic of how to use social networks to communicate and keep in touch with people as well as having been putting into practice the form "used to" for past habits; whereas if you are on the advanced level, we are having a look on what the future can bring as well as our personal experiences within our families and city life. Paradoxically, this song reminds me of different situations any of us can have gone through at least once in a lifetime.

As I am ALIVE AND WELL (despite catching a cold these days), I would like you to sing along with Gotye, a Belgian-Australian singer, whose single Somebody I used To Know has been awarded all over the world.

Watch the video and listen to the song. I don't particularly like the aesthetics of the video clip but I have to admit that it is somehow striking. What do you think?

Well, this is it. Do you like it? When or in what situations could you say those terrible words? Who to? Why? Please leave your optimistic or pessimistic comments on this song. It will be interesting to know your ideas.

Bloomsday

These days, nearly everybody is thinking about going somewhere exciting or interesting for their next holiday. What about you? Well, I can't even think about it. However, what I can do is to travel from the comfort of my sofa with the help of Leopold Bloom. Do you know who he is? Let me tell you. He is the main character in a famous literary work, James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses.

You should know by now that today people in Ireland celebrate Bloomsday, a celebration which has been named after the main character in Ulysses, Leopold Bloom. The action takes places in Dublin, on June 16th, 1904 (It is said that James Joyce chose this date because he had his first date with Nora Barnacle, his later wife, on this day). 

James Joyce

 

It narrates a day in the life of this man, who stops at different places and makes us think about what life is and the things that can happen on a single day. Today people in Ireland even dress as Leopold Bloom and other characters in the book and they stroll along the places Leopold Bloom visits on June, 16th. They stop and read some passages from the novel. They visit the house where Leopold and his wife, Molly lived, the pub where he used to hoist some pints of beer, ... There are a lot of activities to commemorate this. You can check them on the official website.

Leopold and Molly's house

Unfortunately, Ulysses is not a book I would recommend you to read at this stage since it is a thick book, about one thousand pages, narrated using the so-called interior monologue. That means, that the author narrates the events as they happen in the mind of the main character, without stops and using a complex network of symbolic parallels taken from the mythology, history and literature. James Joyce even created a unique language, he invented words and puns. 

Despite being very difficult to follow, Ulysses is an outstanding worth-knowing story. So, if one day, you find it on top of a market stall in Dublin, on a shelf of a library or in a bookshop and you feel like spending some good hours reading it, don't hesitate to do it. You probably won't be deceived.

The Queen's speech

After this pause on the blog, let's have a look at the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee.

As you have probably heard on the news, Queen Elizabeth was crowned in 1952 after her father had reigned for a really short period of time. It wasn't the first time a woman would reign but it is the first time that she does for so long. Queen Elizabeth II is the only queen most Britons have met. In spite of being on the spot, she is loved and criticized, worshipped and blamed for some of the faults made in the past, including when she did not know -or maybe did not want- to handle the situation after Princess Diana's death.

Nowadays, her public image has considerably improved and we can see her showing her feelings in public. She seems to be enjoying all these celebrations. She smiles, claps, shakes hands with her people, ... she even jokes (as you have heard before) and definitely she has proved herself to be that loving old Lady English people adore.

If you want to find out more about the celebrations this year, Queen Elizabeth's life and history, and other pieces of information, click on the official website link.

The history of England has been depicted in many good films. Some of the latest ones are these two:

The Queen (2006) where Hellen Mirren performs a magnificient role as Her Royal Majesty on her most difficult days ever after Princess Diana's death.And The King's Speech (2010) where Colin Firth displays all his talent to portray King George VI's effort to overcome his stammering with the help of a speech therapist.Both films are worth seeing!!!

And finally, listen to God Save the Queen, performed by Brian May (Queen) on top of the roof of Buckingham Palace in 2002, Elizabeth II's Golden Jubilee.

What would you do if ...?

What would you do if ... ? This is the beginning of a question we probably face every day in different situations. We are always considering our reactions to a lot of experiences, decisions we have to make regarding all aspects of our life. We try to think about everything logically and we are probably unable to come to a satisfactory reason or explanation for our actions -that's a different subject, though. And it's in those daily situations when we are using the hypothetical second conditional with hypothetical results in our present or future. Let's see some examples:

• What if I saw a student cheating in an exam? 

• If it wasn't / weren't for this blog, I think my pupils wouldn't read or write anything in English.

• Supposing the price of oil doubled tomorrow, what do you think would happen?

As a result, day after day, we go through these hypothetical situations. Even when we listen to music. There are a lot of songs that make us think about what our life would be like if something were different or we could change something in it.

Here's a selection of songs. Enjoy it and if you like one, don't hesitate to listen to its complete version! 

Finally, would you like to write a short comment on what you would change in your life if it were possible for you?

You are allowed to respectfully allude to a wide range of topics: your studies, your personality, the current situation in your country, ... The sky is the limit!

What if you could change the world!!! Try it!!!

Writing better

Writing is often a difficult task since we have to think beforehand. 

There are a lot of strategies to follow. For instance, plan and write notes before you write, choose your best ideas and decide the information to include in each paragraph. In addition to this, we should bear in mind who are we writing to and what for so that we can adapt our language to the correct degree of formality or informality. You all know this because we have discussed it in class. But today, I want to remind you how important punctuation is. The use of capital letters, commas, apostrophes, ... give sense to what we write.

Your classmate Antonio has been working on the lack of punctuation and how this can affect to the understanding of a text. This is the situation:

A really handsome traveller, after having stopped at an inn for a night and having received a lot of attentions from the innkeeper's ready-to-marry daughters, decides to leave the following note for them. (You're lucky because this time the text is in Spanish!)

Tres bellas que bellas son

me han exigido las tres

que diga de ellas cual es

la que ama mi corazón

si obedecer es razón

digo que amo a Soledad

no a Julia cuya bondad

persona humana no tiene

no aspira mi amor a Irene

que no es poca su beldad

The following morning, when the three daughters read the note, confusion was all around. One by one, the daughters started asking their father the meaning of what the traveller wrote. The wise father, afraid of his three daughters, and considering the lack of punctuation, read them the note in such a way that each time, the traveller chose one of the daughters. So, who do you think is loved by this handsome traveller -Soledad, Julia or Irene?

Can you see now how important punctuation is? Don't forget to use it when you write and you will avoid misunderstandings as the one above.

British Humour

As we already know, laughing has very positive effects and a good sense of humour can help people forget their problems and improve their health. But, is there a similarity between Spanish humour and British humour? Let's see it!

It is said that the British laugh at themselves and their institutions. There are some popular comedians who are famous for their irreverence to the Royal Family and the established British traditions. Other jokes can refer to Irish, Welsh or Scottish people and they are based on stereotypes such as nationalism, stupidity, laziness or meanness. But, undoubtedly, the most productive jokes in British humour are simply nonsense or they take advantage of the multi-meanings of many English words, with lots of example of "double entendre".

This witty way of playing with words, not only in their written form but also in their pronunciation, can create misunderstandings, and consequently, they make people laugh.

To be funny in Britain, most of the times you have to pretend you are a nerd, show you have an endless repertoire of jokes related to your wife or much better, to your mother-in-law (be careful, though, British people don't like jokes which see women as sex objects or as inferior to men) and set your jokes in a doctor's surgery or a funeral, for example.

Finally, some of the most famous sit-coms or comedians in Britain. Have you heard of Monty Python, Little Britain, Benny Hill or Mr Bean? There are also very good stand-up comedians: Lee Evans, Michael McIntyre, Rehman Akhtar, just to name a few.

This is a video of what is called stand up comedy, which has also become popular in Spain. The stand-up comedian is telling an anecdote from a trip to Australia. Listen and laugh, and don't worry if you don't understand everything!

OK, now it's your turn to leave your comments.

• What type of jokes do the Spanish like?

• What do you like to joke about?

• What regions are funny and why?

• Is it easy for other people to understand Spanish humour?

• Do you have a favourite stand-up comedian?

Summer Camps

At this time of the year, people start thinking about their next summer activities, such as, studying English abroad, spending some time by the beach, even going to a summer camp, ...

Listen to Lindsay, talking about what she remembers most about going to a summer camp.

Did you ever go to a summer camp when you were a kid? Did you enjoy it? How did you feel about it?

One of the most typical activities there is to tell ghost stories, were your stories scary? What about learning new things such as lighting a fire, surviving in the nature, fishing, ...? Was it an exciting experience you would recommend everybody or did you use to feel homesick?

Leave your comments on how you felt and what you did. I bet they are interesting experiences you want to share with your classmates.

My home town is a dirty old town

     Bejar, my home town, was an industrial centre in the past located in the west of Spain, with a thriving textile industry pre-dating even the Industrial Revolution.

             

     Since ancient times, the town was characterized by its dedication to wool production, an activity which flourished after the arrival of the Flemish Masters in the late seventeenth century (1691). The Flemish Masters were experts in textile production and they were brought by the Duke of Bejar to drive the development of the industries here. Thus, the great development and improvement of the textile industry, which characterized the economy in Bejar during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is explained.  

            

     Industrial development favoured and consolidated Bejar’s middle class, which during the nineteenth century controlled Bejar’s policy, once the Duke of Bejar’s privileges disappeared.

   

     In the first half of the twentieth century, the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War benefited Bejar’s industry, since Bejar stood at the “national area” in opposition to “republican” Catalonia.  The military victory established a strong connection between the new regime and Bejar’s middle class. Then its industry obtained the supply of clothing for the army.

Old factories, the old railway and the river

              

     The 1970s meant the beginning of the end of the clothing industry. The decline of the clothing industry in Bejar was the result of the excessive dependence on the state contracts, poor location, the loss of the railway, poor communications..., (many factors have been analysed in order to explain the decline, but not even experts agree),  which made it very difficult to compete in the globalized world. Around 1849 there were 200 factories employing 4,000 people; in 1969 there were 58 clothing companies and 38 craft workshops with about 3,500 workers. Nowadays there are about 14 companies in Bejar employing about 300 workers.

             

     As a result of the industrial decline, the town has lost population progressively since the 70’s, when Bejar was close to reaching 18,000 inhabitants. The situation is progressively getting worse and worse and according to 2011 official statistic figures, the population is less than 15,000 inhabitants, 14,511 (INE).

             

     In short, economic depression, loss of population, unemployment, low wages, lack of opportunities for young people, brain drain, lack of entertainment..., Bejar has become a sad, tired and dirty old town.

             

     There is a popular British folk song entitled “Dirty Old Town”. I don’t know why but this song always evokes me Bejar, even before I could understand the lyrics, probably due to its title. I knew this song through the version by The Pogues, an Irish band, but I found with surprise that this is not the original one. 

 

            

     “Dirty Old Town” was written By Ewan MacColl, British folk singer and social activist, in 1949 but was made popular by The Dubliners, amazing Irish folk band, and has been covered by many others since, especially Irish bands. Thus, there is a common misconception that the song is Irish and was written about Dublin. However, the song was written about Salford, MacColl’s hometown, so the song actually originates from northern England.

             

     The song is about a love and hate relationship with the town. Dirty and old, in fact, denote disgust and repulsion. Nevertheless, the town is the setting for the romance which is taking place in it, too. The song also evokes sounds, images and places related with industry, like factories, canals, sirens, trains, smoky wind... However, the last verse is reserved for some kind of act of rebellion towards the city, envisaging its destruction. In the last part of the verse, there is a change from an authorial “I” to “we”. It is not clear if this plural subject refers to the couple or to the collective of citizens or workers, who will chop down a “you” – I’ll chop you down like an old dead tree- that might be the town itself or one of its architectonical features (chopping down like a tree might refer to the tall chimneys of the factories).

         

     Recognizing that cases are not exactly alike, Bejar has become a grim town like the Dirty Old Town described by the song. Nowadays in Bejar most of the factories are closed, destroyed or have become shopping centres or blocks of flats. Many places remind of the industrial past like chimneys, canals, the train track, train station..., but all these places are abandoned, the sirens don’t sound, there are no trains, no smoky wind..., and there is no future.

Listen to the version by The Dubliners, live. Click here.

  

The photos for this entry has been taken from the blog by Mª del Carmen Cascón. 

This is a fantastic entry, Fernando, it's obvious you've worked hard. Congratulations!

Ok, guys, what are you waiting for? Start leaving your comments on it.

 

Paying for breathing better?

According to what we commented in class about cities and as Fernando had promised, this is an entry devoted to a city La Paz in Bolivia. This is what Fernando writes:

            Nuestra Señora de La Paz, in English Our Lady of Peace, is the administrative capital of Bolivia. It is located at an elevation of roughly 3,650 m above sea level, making it the world’s highest capital city.

             
            La Paz metropolitan area, formed by the cities of La Paz, El Alto and Viacha, makes the most populous urban area of Bolivia, with a population of 2.3 million inhabitants. El Alto is part of the metropolitan area of La Paz and is located 4,000 m altitude making it the second highest city in the world.

             
           Social differences are expressed according to where the neighbourhood is. The upper classes live in the south of the city, in the lower areas where the weather is milder and there is more oxygen. The temperature difference is 10 degrees in relation to El Alto. There, the upper classes have built their houses. This area houses the most affluent and exclusive neighbourhoods of the city. It has been benefited from steady economic growth and is now the second commercial and financial centre of the city, housing international firms like Moody’s, Citibank, Nissan Motor Corporation and the “Megacenter”, Bolivia’s biggest shopping mall.

             
           As altitude rises, the temperature and the oxygen level decreases as well as the social stratum. The middle classes live on the slopes. In the northern and western areas and El Alto the poorest people live.

             
           La Paz is such an example of what happens in the world at the global level where resources, energy and water belong to those who can afford it, the rich countries. Climate change may further increase the differences between rich and poor people, between those who can afford basic needs, as water, clean air or oxygen, and those who can’t.

Find out more on these links: 
 wikipedia, no sin mi mochila, and miradas de Bolivia                     

Well, what do you think? It's an interesting post, isn't it? Thanks Fernando for sharing your knowledge with us. Keep on doing it, please.

Getting things we don't need

This entry has to do with the one on favourite possessions and it's meant to offer you the possibility to practise your listening skills.
 
Do you agree with the fact that we tend to buy products we don't really need? 

That's what happened to Melissa, an American girl. Listen to her and guess what she bought at a flea market by the beach. Did she take home far more things than she expected?


Should we "declutter our lives" from time to time? Leave your comment on it.

My favourite possession

In this world where we abide by the rules of “you are what you have”, trying to pick out only one favourite possession may become a difficult task.

If we started thinking about what we possess, the list of things we couldn’t live without would be endless. We are so used to having them that sometimes we do not even appreciate them, we do not remember how we got them, if it was easy for us to have them or if we could do better without them.

This reminds me of the song “Ka-ching” by Shania Twain (do you remember it? We listened to it a long time ago when dealing with the topic of “money”.) The lyrics referred to the fact that “all we ever want is more, a lot more than we had before” and only by possessing we’ll be happy “with lots of money and things”.

Well, if you had to make your choice for your favourite possession, what would it be? A car? A mobile phone? A laptop? Your credit card? A family photo? …

Needless to say, I value all the possessions mentioned before but there is something I especially like and enjoy having: an original and exclusive penholder.

Do you like it?

 Maybe now you are wondering why a penholder, being a really simple object. The reason is also simple because it was given to me by the most important person in my life. Let me describe it!

The first thing you notice about it is that it is hand-made. The main materials are re-used –this was a good idea, don’t you think? We need to re-use materials apart from recycling them. It is made of different colourful old 3 ¼ disks stuck in cardboard. It is quite big and solid, which is good because I can keep a lot of pens and pencils there so I always know where everything is. I’ve had it for three years and it is on my office desk so that I can see it and use it every day.

I absolutely love it because it just reminds me of how simple objects can make people, in this case me, very happy and proud of having such a penholder.

It's 9 by 9 cm.

 What about your favourite possession? What is it? Why is it special? Where did you get it? How long have you had it? What does it look like? What size is it and what is it made of? What do you do with it? How often do you use it? Where do you keep it?

Leave your comment straight away. It’s easy to do it!

World Book Day

"In a village of La Mancha, the name of which I have no desire to call to mind, there lived not long since one of those gentlemen that keep a lance in the lance-rack, an old buckler, a lean hack, and a greyhound for coursing."

"To be, or not to be: that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them?

To die: to sleep; No more;

and by a sleep to say we end

The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; 

To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub."

 

As you all know by now, these two quotes belong to two of the most famous works in universal literature. The first one from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes and the other one from Hamlet by William Shakespeare. Both authors have in common the fact that they died on the same date, the twenty-third of April 1616.

Don Quixote and Hamlet are two great characters, they are well-known all over the world, but do you have a special character from a special book for you? Who is it? Why do you like it?

Mine is Sir Sigfredo of Ivanhoe, the main character in Sir Walter Scott's most popular novel, Ivanhoe. It's a great romance that takes place during the Age of Chivalry. Ivanhoe is a noble and brave knight who returns home from the Crusades to marry Lady Rowena, an Anglo-Saxon princess. However, he gets involved in the hard struggle between Prince John and his brother, Richard the Lionheart. He has to fight Prince John and his followers to help Richard win back the throne of England. For this battle, Ivanhoe will count on with the generosity of a Jew man, Isaac and his beautiful daughter, Rebecca.

I've always enjoyed this kind of stories, with the knights fighting for a good cause, where you know that the "good guys" are going to defeat the "bad ones" but you're not totally sure about what is going to happen with the love affair behind the main story.

As every great piece of writing, Ivanhoe has its great film as well. Obviously, Ivanhoe is a 1952 film by the MGM, which was nominated for the Oscars in three categories. In the above photo, you can see Robert Taylor in his role as Ivanhoe.There were other fantastic actors and actresses such as Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine and George Sanders in that extraordinary production of the fifties in Hollywood.

Leave you comment on your favourite character from a book or in case you don't enjoy reading much, from a film.It will be interesting to read about it.

Are you superstitious?

Today is Friday the thirteenth. Fear of Friday the 13th and the number 13 generally is known as triskaidekaphobia. Surveys carried out in Britain revealed that 41% of British people feel uncomfortable about Friday 13th while 4% live in dread of it. What's your position? Are you afraid of this day or the number 13? 

Back to 1791, the reluctance of superstitious sailors to sail on this day was considered to have reached such a level that the government decided to prove that the superstition was a fallacy. They decided to build a ship whose name was HMS Friday. They started to build it on a Friday the 13th, it was launched on a Friday and began its first maiden voyage from London on a Friday. Neither the ship nor the crew was ever heard of again. 

What do you think? Do you agree with people who say that more accidents happen on Friday 13th than on any other normal Friday? Is thirteen as unlucky as people say? Leave your comment on it.