Bits and bobs

Young singer-songwriter Amy McDonald, 21, was born in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, Scotland.

She taught herself how to play the guitar. When she was 15 she started doing shows down Glasgow.

Her first album, "This is the life" was released in 2007 and she has sold over 2.5 million records worlwide.

She will be live in Santander (Spain) in Sonorama Festival on 14th August, 2009.

I've just seen "Slumdog Millionnaire" and I am greatly surprised.







Generally I feel disappointed with films which have won Oscars (maybe I expect too much from them) but this time this explosion of light, colour, magnificent images and the exciting story at the same time emotive and stimulating left me breathless.







Probably it should have shown India slum boys' problems more deeply and people could think that eight Oscars are too many. They may be right.







But this is a delicious film and we are overtaken by emotions as varied as joy, pity, happiness, anger, revulsion and surprise that together with the superb exhilarating final dances when the credit lines appear provoke unforgettable memories of this delightful film.










"Slumdog Millionnaire" is the story of a Mumbai teen who grew up in the slums, becomes a contestant on the Indian version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire?" He is arrested under suspicion of cheating, and while being interrogated, events from his life history are shown in flashbacks which explains why he knows the answers.






Jamal Malik,an 18 year old orphan is about to experience the biggest day of his life.
With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionnaire? But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him: how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to pove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions.

But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out.

"Waltzing Matilda" is Australia's best known and much loved national song. It is recognized by every Australian, and has attained status as the nation's unofficial national anthem.

For over 100 years "Waltzing Matilda" has been passed on by word of mouth, in written forms, in sound recordings and other media. It has been represented in countless artistic works, through music, films, television, dance and literature. The song appears in multiple genres -parodies and painting, in travel stories, in children's books, at sporting events.

The words of "Waltzing Matilda" were written in 1895 by the famous Australian poet Andrew Barton Paterson. The music was written by Christina Macpherson (based on a folk Scottish tune).

"Waltzing Matilda" is the story about a tramp who camps by a creep and steals a sheep. Three policemen arrive and he escapes arrest - and certain hanging - committing suicide by leaping into the billabong, where his ghost may be heard by all who pass by.

Glossary of the Australian terms:

WALZING MATILDA: The act of carrying the "swag"

BILLABONG: Section of still water adjacent to a river

COOLIBAH: A species of gum or eucalyptus tree

SWAGMAN: An Australian tramp or itinerant farm hand, carrying his "swag" (his provisions and blankets)

BILLY: An open topped tin can, with a wire carrying handle, used as a kettle for boiling water into which tea is thrown

TUCKER BAG: A bag for "tucker" or food, part of the "swag"

JUMBUCK: A sheep

SQUATTER: A grazier or farmer owner. The meaning of this word has changed later in the twentieth century to mean a person who occupies a property illegally

TROOPERS: a cavalry soldier or a policeman on horseback.

The only one of these words that has basically died out of Australian English is "jumbuck". "troopers" is a bit dated, and "Waltzing Matilda" only survives because of this song.

Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me? the swagman asks, a century later. And a warm, dry wind from the gracelands of australia bears the burden of his sorrow to the world.