Bits and bobs

CHARLES DICKENS. BICENTENARY OF HIS BIRTH

2012-02-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

CHARLES DICKENS

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I’m very proud to mark the 200^th anniversary of Charles Dickens’s birth (February 7, 1812) here with this little contribution to commemorate this very special anniversary.

Although a writer from the Victorian era, Dickens’s work transcends his time, language and culture. He remains a massive contemporary influence throughout the world and his writings continue to inspire film, TV, art, literature, artist and academia.

Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England. He was the second of eight children. His father earned a low income as a clerk in the Navy pay office. The family was poor and moved from one home to another in London to get away from creditors. When Dickens was 12 years old, his father was imprisoned for debt. During this time, Dickens lived a miserable life. He worked in a factory and lived alone in a very small room. A small inheritance improved the family’s position and Dickens was able to go to a private school until the age of 14. His real education came from his experiences, extensive reading and observation of everyday life. When he was 15 years old, he got a job as a clerk in a solicitor’s office. He then worked as a reporter in the law courts and legal proceedings in the House of Commons. This experience found its way into many of his books. At this time, he started writing articles for magazines and sketches of the life and manners of the time. In 1837, he was approached by a publisher to write a story to accompany some drawings. This developed into The Pickwick Papers and was the beginning of his career as a prolific writer.

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His novels reflect the social conditions of the age in which he lived. As a social commentator, he wrote about the harsh reality of working-class life and exposed the evils of Victorian urban society. In 19th century England, the rights of children were not well protected. The rapid development of manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution created a huge demand for cheap labour and even very young children were sent to work in factories. Victorian novelists who portrayed these conditions in their books were accused of obscenity and of encouraging rebellion. Boarding schools were very common in Victorian England since it was believed that children raised by their parents would be spoiled. The conditions in these schools were often harsh, with poor food, little heat and cold water for washing. The discipline was strict and physical punishment was common.

Dickens and his daughters
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(Click to enlarge or download)

Dickens was also a champion of middle-class family values, although his own marriage was not a happy one. After 22 years of marriage, he and his wife Catherine separated. They had ten children, many of them named after famous writers and one of his daughters was named Dora after the character in his book David Copperfield. The real Dora died tragically of an illness just like Dora in the book. He had a pet raven named Grip. When the bird died he had it stuffed and it is now in the Free Library of Philadelphia.

He died at the age of 58 and is buried in Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey, London.

Olivrt Twist. Oliver asks for more

Marley's Ghost. A Christmas Carol

Dickens enjoyed great success, fame and popularity in his lifetime both in England and America. His great novels were Oliver Twist (1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1841), Barnaby Rudge (1841), David Copperfield (1848-1849) and Bleak House (1852-1853). In David Copperfield, Dickens draws on characters and events from his own experiences. Many of Charles Dickens' books were printed in magazines in serial form before being published in book format. Unlike other authors who finished their stories before the magazines printed them, Dickens often wrote each episode as they were being serialized. This meant that his stories had a rhythm which kept the reader looking forward to the next episode, just like a modern day TV series.

Enjoy reading some quotes from the great man himself:

“Minds, like bodies, will often fall into a pimpled, ill-conditioned state from mere excess of comfort.”

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”

“Accidents will occur in the best regulated families

“Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”

“Subdue your appetites, my dears, and you've conquered human nature.”

“Although a skillful flatterer is a most delightful companion if you have him all to yourself, his taste becomes very doubtful when he takes to complimenting other people.”

“Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.”

“Credit is a system whereby a person who cannot pay gets another person who cannot pay to guarantee that he can pay.”

“Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.”

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all doing direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.” (A Tale of Two Cities).

I have done some PDFs with beautiful stories by Charles Dickens, so If you like to read them, just download them from HERE. Enjoy it all!

Audubon’s engravings

2012-01-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

Audubon’s engravings.

French- American naturalist, ornithologist and artist John James Audubon (1785-1951) was born in the French colony of Santa Domingo, later known as Haiti. He was son of a sea captain, Jean Audubon and a servant girl on a sugar plantation. His mother Jeanne Rabin died when he was not yet a year old. His father cared for him a couple of years then sent the child to France to be raised by his middle-aged wife Anne. This selfless woman lovingly raised John and nurtured and provided him education.

Hare Indian dog. Plate CXXXII.
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When he was a boy he enjoyed wandering through the woods, collecting things from nature, and watching the birds. He began to draw pictures of birds and animals.

When he was eighteen years old his father either sent him or went with him to America to his plantation Mill Grove in Pennsylvania possibly to avoid conscription into Napoleon’s army.

White-headed eagle.Plate XXXI.
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He continued to draw. He changed from the use of pastels to watercolors. He taught himself through trial and error specializing in birds.

His marriage in 1808 to Lucy Blackwell, an English woman and neighbor, added stability to his life and she was a constant source of encouragement to him. They had four children. Their two daughters died when they were babies, but their two sons lived to adulthood. The sons, Victor and John, became artists and help their father with the painting of the backgrounds for his birds. They were also active in the publication of his works.

During his early days in America he worked at improving his drawing techniques, and became skilled at specimen preparation and taxidermy, even working for a time in that capacity at a museum in Cincinnati

Audubon was the first person to start bird-banding studies in America. He tied lightweight strings to their legs, and he could track their travels as they nested, left the area, and then returned to the nest.

Yellow-billed Magpie.
Plate CCCLXII

He travelled across the eastern and central United States -often alone, sometimes with an assistant- to gather images of over 500 known species of bird. He would often draw them from life, but sometimes killed his avian subjects and posed them with wires into life-like positions in order to capture them on paper. The latter technique guaranteed the birds wouldn’t fly off. He used all sorts of media considered unconventional at the time to create his masterpiece images. Backgrounds were created sometimes by the artist himself but more often by several assistants. These paintings reflect Audubon's love and fascination with the beauty and dynamics of American birds and the rest of their natural heritage. He printed them on large sheets of paper labeled "Double Elephant Folio" because of its large size. The resulting monumental book was called Birds of America that was a well-planned venture long before it finally came to fruition, it took him 12 years to complete his ambitious work. Audubon had the title in mind when he set about in 1820 to paint every known bird in America. Each species is illustrated showing male, female and juveniles in their natural habitat, exhibiting typical behavior and not only does he give us high definition and painstakingly observed scientific detail, he also depicts each species with such beauty, that he seems to reveal some kind of fundamental truth. His goal was to eventually produce a body of work that would far surpass any other in existence. And he did exactly that. For nearly three years he roamed down the Mississippi River and across the American frontier searching out specimens to paint, sometimes purchasing them from local hunters.

Since American printers couldn’t accommodate the oversize plates he insisted upon using, Audubon traveled to Great Britain where his paintings (and he himself) became an overnight sensation. The Brits were eager to learn anything about the new American frontier, its people and environs. The book’s original edition was printed by engraver Robert Havell (and son) starting in 1826. The process of engraving and printing all 435 plates took a dozen years and cost Audubon $111,640, a huge sum for the time. He financed the initial printing mainly through advance subscriptions, (including King George IV, an admirer of Audubon),exhibitions, and lectures (a teen-aged Charles Darwin attended one of these).

Jumping mouse. Plate LXXXV.
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Audubon originally published about 750 copies of Birds of America of which only 219 copies are extant today. Of those, only 119 complete copies exist, most of which are in museum and library collections. Eleven copies are in private hands and this latest intact volume is one of two auctioned in 2010 for more than £7.3 million. It’s the most expensive book in the world and maybe the most beautiful.

Townsends Rocky Mountain Hare.
Plate III.
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Audubon also applied his methodology and artistry to create a record of the Native American mammals. He published a large book of animal drawings, The Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America which became an immediate success on publication, illustrated many frontier mammals never before seen or depicted. Sadly, Audubon died before the publication of his final project and was completed posthumously by his son, John Woodhouse Audubon. The legacy of Audubon to the world was in these two superb works on American Birds and Quadrupeds which have come to signify a love of all wild creatures and the environment, epitomized today by the Audubon Society, as well as immortalized worldwide in publications and the stamps of over 60 countries.

As you can see Audubon combined scientific observation and exquisite beauty.

If some of you are interested in these engravings, just email me. I will give some of them for free until 31^st January 2012. After that date you will be able to purchase them at a symbolic price, sure we will reach agreement.

Easter Island

2011-12-11T07:21:00.000-08:00

Easter Island. James Cook.
Voyage towards the South Pole. 1777
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Easter Island based on Captain James Cook and Jean-François de la Pérouse's engravings.

Easter Island (Rapa Nui, Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is a volcanic island consisting mainly of three extinct coalesced volcanoes. It is one of the most isolated islands in the world but 1200 years ago a double-hulled canoe filled with seafarers from a distant culture landed upon its shores, the legends say King Hoto Matua and his family landed in Anakena beach, thus beginning the occupation of Easter Island. Over the centuries that followed a remarkable society developed in isolation on the island. For reasons still unknown they began carving giant statues out of volcanic rock and at present Easter Island is best known for its 887 giant stone monoliths, known as Moai, that dot the coastline.

Canoe Easter Island.
Atlas du voyage de la Pérouse. 1797
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The early settlers called the island "Te Pito O Te Henua" (Navel of The World). Admiral Roggeveen, who came upon the island on Easter Day in 1722, named it Easter Island. Today, the land, people and language are all referred to locally as Rapa Nui.

Today is the most famous example of societies that overtook their ecological limits and collapsed as a result. Easter Island has become, for many, a metaphor for ecological disaster.

The first islanders found a lush island, filled with giant palms which they used to build boats and housing. The plants they brought with them did well in the rich volcanic soil and by AD 1550 population on the island hit a high of between 7000 and 9000, far exceeding the capabilities of the small island's ecosystem. Resources became scarce, and the once lush palm forests were destroyed - cleared for agriculture and moving the massive stone Moai. It is not certain, but the moai appear to have been built as part of status competition between the various tribus on the island, with bigger moai demonstrating greater power. The early seventeenth century was probably the pinnacle of Easter Island culture, when the biggest moai were built. However, moai construction consumed a lot of resources, particularly wood, for transport and energy and by 1650, the last tree had been felled. With the loss of the forests, the land began to erode. The small amount of topsoil quickly washed into the sea. The crops began to fail and the clans turned on one another in a battle for the scarce resources. The violence grew worse and worse. It was said that the victors would eat their dead enemies to gain strength, bones found on the island show evidence of this cannibalism.

This way the island suffered from heavy soil erosion, it was a wasteland, the eroded soil just barely producing enough food for the meager population to survive. It was under these conditions that the Birdman Cult arose.This process of erosion seems to have been gradual and may have been aggravated by sheet farming throughout most of the 20th century.

By the time Europeans arrived on the island’s shores in 1722, the number of easter Islanders had fallen dramatically, and they had been reduced to war and cannibalism.

It is nevertheless true that the world Jacob Roggeveen first observed when arriving on Rapa Nui was a land exceptionally fertile "Fowls are the only animals they keep. They cultivate bananas, sugar cane, and above all sweet potatoes.

In 1774, British explorer James Cook visited Easter Island; he reported that some statues had fallen over.

Atlas du voyage de la Pérouse. 1797
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In 1786 Jean-François de la Pérouse visited Easter Island and his gardener declared that "three days' work a year" would be enough to support the population.

Rollin, a major in the Pérouse expedition, wrote, "Instead of meeting with men exhausted by famine... I found, on the contrary, a considerable population, with more beauty and grace than I afterwards met in any other island; and a soil, which, with very little labor, furnished excellent provisions, and in an abundance more than sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants.

The British ship HMS Blossom arrived in 1825 and reported seeing no standing statues. Easter Island was approached many times during the 19th century, but by then the islanders had become openly hostile to any attempt to land, and very little new information was reported before the 1860s.

Moai

Moai. Easter Island.
James Cook. Voyage towards the South Pole. 1777
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"Moai" are some of the most incredible ancient relics ever discovered. Although often identified as "Easter Island heads", the statues are actually torsos, with most of them ending at the top of the thighs. The islanders call them "moai," and they have puzzled ethnographers, archaeologists, and visitors to the island since the first European explorers arrived here in 1722. In their isolation, why did the early Easter Islanders undertake this colossal statue-building effort? Unfortunately, there is no written record (and the oral history is scant) to help tell the story of this remote land, its people, and the significance of the nearly 900 giant moai that punctuate Easter Island's barren landscape.

They stand with their backs to the sea and are believed by most archaeologists to represent the spirits of ancestors, chiefs, or other high-ranking males who held important positions in the history of Rapa Nui. The statues may have been created in the image of various paramount chiefs. They were not individualized portrait sculptures, but standardized representations of powerful individuals. The moai may also hold a sacred role in the life of the Rapa Nui, acting as ceremonial conduits for communication with the gods.

Almost all (95%) moai were carved out of distinctive, compressed, easily worked solidified volcanic ash found at a single site inside the extinct volcano Rano Raraku. The soft volcanic tuff was perfect material for statue carving. Using harder volcanic rock implements they were able to first sketch out the moai's outline in the rock wall and then systematically chip away at it until the moai was held in place by a thin "keel."

Monuments, L'Ille de Pâque, details.
Atlas du vogage de la Pérouse. 1797
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The moai carvers were master craftsmen, they were ingenious in making the most out of sections of rock, moai can be seen carved in all directions in the cliff face. If a defect would appear in the rock the statue would be abandoned and they moved on to another area. They took advantage of fissures in the volcanic walls and also variations in colors. In short they were true artists.

Finally when a statue was finished, it was broken off its keel and slid carefully down the slope using ropes tied to giant palm trunks which were sunk in specially prepared holes in rim of the crater. At the base of the crater they were raised up and final decorations were carved into its torso and back. Coral and obsidian eyes were placed in as a final touch, although some suggest these were only placed in the statues on special occasions. Preparation was then made for transport across the island to various ahu. The ahu were the ceremonial platforms built to support collections of moai.

We can see the history of Easter Island is rich and controversial. Its inhabitants have endured famines, epidemics, civil war, slave raids, colonialism, and near deforestation; its population declined precipitously more than once.

Contacts with western “civilization” proved being even more disastrous for the island population through slavery and disease. In 1862 wave after wave of slave traders landed on Easter Island and took away all healthy individuals. In the space of one year, a level of injury, death and disease was inflicted on the population leaving a broken people, bereft of leadership. As their culture lay in disarray a new force entered the scene whose actions would forever deny the world of a true understanding of the Rapa Nui culture.

The missionaries arrived on Easter when the people were at their most vulnerable. With their society in ruins it did not take long to convert the population to Christianity. First to go was the islanders style of dress, or lack thereof. Tattooing and use of body paint were banned. Destruction of Rapa Nui artworks, buildings, and sacred objects, including most of the Rongo-rongo tablets - the key to understanding their history - was swift and complete. Islanders were forced off their ancestral lands and required to live in one small section of the island while the rest of the land was used for ranching.
Eventually all pure Rapa Nui blood died out. Annexation with Chile in 1888 brought new influences and population has risen to more than 2,000 and today there are only a few individuals left with ties to the original population.

DANIEL PEREA Y ROJAS

2011-11-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

DANIEL PEREA Y ROJAS

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“Picador citando al toro”. It’s one of 17 beautiful sheets of bullfighting scenes drawn by Daniel Perea in his álbum “España. Toros”.

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Daniel Perea y Rojas, deaf painter (1834-19099 is considered one of the most talented artists, publicity posters and lithographs of the second half of the nineteenth century.

Let’s consider briefly the history of Tauromachy engravings first. Previous to Mr. Perea, Antonio Carnicero was the first to show all the bullfight sequence from the beginning to the end with a graphic description of all the courses on it. It is the model that inspired all the subsequent artists.

The second great Tauromachy was Francisco de Goya’s dramatic illustrations, 40 etching pictures painted between 1814 and 1816.

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At the middle of the nineteenth century, Gustave Doré stood out in France while in Spain the presence of the excellent watercolourist Daniel Perea was remarkable. He was an illustrator for “La Lidia” magazine, one of the first and more significant taurine publications of the time. This magazine introduced important technological innovations such as chromolithography, that improved colour and strokes in pictures. In an age when photography did not exist, the work of these artists became the only graphic elements available to give evidence about what was happening in the bullfighting rings.

In the twentieth century, another great Tauromachy flourished, Pablo Picasso’s 26 aquatint illustrations. And finally I must mention the outstanding twenty first century taurine artist José María Guerrero Medina. His Tauromachy is composed by 12 etching engravings remembering Picasso and inspired by José Tomás.

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As for Daniel Perea’s other works, I will mention “A los toros”. It is an album composed of 28 black watercolour sheets of the entire course of a bullfight, together with 4 page song with chromolith illustrations in the margins, “La Marcha de la Manolería”, from la zarzuela “Pan y toros”. It contains explanations of the scenes on the opposing page in Spanish, French and English. Each illustration is also printed with parallel text in these languages.

The plates from this album are also available in colour. It is a collection of 24 lithographs without the explanations and with captions just in Spanish.

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As I have these albums, if any of you are interested in these illustrations, just email me and I will give you all the digitalized copies on them in jpg format. (Until the end of November 2011). After this date, you will have to pay for them a small price –let’s say, 1€ for black and white digital copies, 3€ for coloured ones. I will donate the money to charities or to any educational project.

The Ascent of Money

2011-09-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

I read the book The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Harvard historian Niall Ferguson as part of my summer reading and I also watched the documentaries. It’s interesting to see the rise and fall of different countries based solely on whether someone could get a loan.

From its opening sentence,

“Bread, cash, dosh, dough, loot, lucre, moolah, readies, the wherewithal: call it what you like, money matters.To Christians, love of it is the root of all evil. To generals, it's the sinews of war. To revolutionaries, it's the chains of labor.”…

To its final text,

“There are those who talk about the death of capitalism or the end of free markets, as if the state were somehow an alternative to financial markets. The historical reality, as should by now be clear, is that states and financial markets have always existed in a symbiotic relationship. Indeed, without the exigencies of public finance, much of the financial innovation that produced central banks, the bond market and the stock market would never have ocurred. I remain more than ever convinced that, until we fully understand the origin of financial species, we shall never understand the fundamental truth about money : that , far from being´a monster that must be put back in it´s place (as Merkel recently said) , financial markets are like the mirror of mankind, revealing every hour of every working day the way we value ourselves and the resources of the world around us.

It´s not the fault of the mirror if it reflects our blemishes as clearly as our beauty.”.

Professor Niall Ferguson traces the evolution of money, showing that finance is in fact the foundation of human progress and suggests that financial history is the fundamental background to all history. “From Mesopotamia right down to day, the ascent of money has been an indispensable part of the ascent of Man,” he says, adding: “Without the invention of credit, the entire economic history of our world would have been impossible.”

Money, such a simple word, is at the very core of our relations. It must rank as oneof the great inventions of our species, alongside the division of labour and the wheel.

So we march with money through time. From the Roman denarius, still circulating in Europe in the early Middle Ages, through the development of the loan sharks in northern Italy into the first real bankers; from the rise of Amsterdam as the world's financial capital and the gradual shift of its techniques to London; from the Rothschilds, who did not, as is popularly supposed, make a great coup out of using carrier pigeons to learn the result of the battle of Waterloo before anyone else, but rather from a huge subsequent gamble on the price of government securities; to the first great age of market capitalism during the 19th century; and to the booms and busts of the modern world.

What I find especially interesting about The Ascent of Money is the way in which it ties together bits of history that are largely unrelated in my mind and Ferguson's ability to link the past with the present – particularly helpful right now. For example, he draws a parallel between international investment during the last great burst of globalisation from 1870 to 1914 and the massive international capital flows of the present global era. The difference was that during the 19th century it was mostly a case of the developed world, Britain, France and other European nations, financing infrastructure in developing countries, now it is a still-developing country, China, financing consumption in the US. The author coined the term "Chimerica", which he describes as "the wonderful dual country ... which accounts for just over a 10th of the world's land surface, a quarter of its population, a third of its economic output and more than half of global economic growth in the past eight years".

I found this section of “Chimerica” especially fascinating. I was surprised to see the power of saving money which is demonstrated by the recent descent in US economic power and position in relation to China. It is also surprising that China is becoming the “World Bank” in such a short period of time.

This is one of my favorite documentaries. I've developed a greater understanding of the development of “money” and the emergence of global finance. A must watch for everybody.

Enjoy Episode 6 of The Ascent of Money documentary.

Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man

2011-06-28T22:35:00.000-07:00

Leonardo Da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man

Vitruvian Man. Leonardo da Vinci. 1490

Chapter 1 “On Symmetry in Temples and in the Human Body” from Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, describing the perfect human form in geometrical terms, was the source of inspiration for numerous Renaissance artists. The architect proposed that a properly constructed temple should reflect and relate to the parts of the human body. He noted that a human body can be symmetrically inscribed within both a circle and a square, the perfect geometric forms. But only one of these Renaissance artists, the incomparable Leonardo da Vinci, succeeded in correctly illustrating the proportions outlined in Vitruvius’ work De Architectura and the result became his most famous illustration and one of the most recognized drawings in the world, The Vitruvian Man, named in honour of the architect.

This renowned drawing was completed in 1490 and it is accompanied by hand writing notes based on the work of Vitruvius surrounding the figure. It is a pen ink drawing on paper depicting a nude male figure whose outstretched limbs touch the circumference of a circle and the edges of a square. His navel falls in the exact center of the circle, but this depends on the position of the arms and legs and when the figure is in standing position, when the figure is “squared”, the center of gravity becomes the phallus which is, concerning this drawing from the compositional point of view, more important, since it is the center of the underlying geometry that outlines the basic features of the figure.

The fundamental composition consists of a circle, a square and a triangle, a sigillum known to magicians and alchemists, although the compositional triangle on this drawing is concealed.

The drawing is stored in the Gallerie dell’ Accademia in Venice, Italy and it is only displayed occasionally like most works on paper.

Other artists and architects had attempted to depict Vitruvius’ theory prior to Leonardo with less success. Da Vinci's drawing differs from the previous works in that the male figure adopts two different positions within the same image. He is simultaneously within the circle and the square; movement and liveliness are suggested by the figure's active arms and legs. Leonardo's figure appears as a living being with unruly hair, distinct facial features and a strong build. While the subject is lively, thin lines on his form show the significant points of the proportion scheme., showing da Vinci's concern with the architectural meaning of the work. Leonardo is representing the body as a building and illustrating Renaissance theory which linked the proportions of the human body with architectural planning.

It is apparent that da Vinci wrote the text surrounding the figure in Vitruvian Man alter creating the drawing, as the words are tailored to the contours of the circle and the square. The presence of text legitimates the image; the authority of Vitruvius explains why Leonardo created the drawing. The image is not, however, simply an illustration of the text. Words and image interact in the work and the significance of the piece lies in the connection between the two. By combing text and illustration, da Vinci evokes a meaning which could not be created through words or image alone.

The text accompanying leonardo’s drawing is the complete translation into Italian from the Latin of Vitruvius, De architecture , Book III of X, chapter 1, as da Vinci’s drawing was originally an illustration for a book on the works of Vitruvius. It says: “The measurements of the human body are distributed by Nature as follows that is that 4 fingers make 1 palm, and 4 palms make 1 foot, 6 palms make 1 cubit; 4 cubits make a man's height. And 4 cubits make one pace and 24 palms make a man; and these measures he used in his buildings. If you open your legs so much as to decrease your height 1/14 and spread and raise your arms till your middle fingers touch the level of the top of your head you must know that the centre of the outspread limbs will be in the navel and the space between the legs will be an equilateral triangle.

The length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height.

Leonardo da Vinci's self portrait

From the roots of the hair to the bottom of the chin is the tenth of a man's height; from the bottom of the chin to the top of his head is one eighth of his height; from the top of the breast to the top of his head will be one sixth of a man. From the top of the breast to the roots of the hair will be the seventh part of the whole man. From the nipples to the top of the head will be the fourth part of a man. The greatest width of the shoulders contains in itself the fourth part of the man. From the elbow to the tip of the hand will be the fifth part of a man; and from the elbow to the angle of the armpit will be the eighth part of the man. The whole hand will be the tenth part of the man; the beginning of the genitals marks the middle of the man. The foot is the seventh part of the man.

Vitruvian Man's importance lies in its clear reflection of the ideas of its time. It demonstrates the enthusiasm for the theories of Vitruvius among da Vinci and his contemporaries.

Many theories abound about this work, secret meanings and astrological and mystical interpretations of the sketch but I think it is a geometrical study that has stood the test of time, though I am fascinated by the product of the greatest Renaissance artist, scientist, mathematician, inventor, anatomist and engineer, LEONARDO DA VINCI. Enjoy it!

Carlos Núñez live at IES Val do Tea

2011-05-29T00:22:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Carlos Núñez, the worldwide famous Galician bagpipe player, visited our school IES Val do Tea. Needless to say it was a great event for everybody but mainly for students.

They were looking forward to it eagerly and they had prepared a welcome poster and some projects about him.

He did not disappoint anybody. He offered us all his best in two sessions with our school auditorium overflowed with students.
He gave an interesting talk about the musical and linguistic links between Brazil and Galicia showing us an outstanding video recorded while he was preparing his last album “Alborada do Brasil”. He answered lots of student questions, played the flute beautifully for them and finally he signed some “Alborada do Brasil” CDs that the school had previously drawn among students.

He also gave a signed poster to IES Val do Tea.
Our students from the school choir and the bagpipe and muñeira dance group delighted us with their performances.
It was a memorable and unforgettable day for our students and I’d like to highly appreciate the great effort Carlos Núñez did to be with us.
Thanks a lot!

And now, enjoy the video recorded live at IES Val do Tea. (Pity, it is not a good quality, as he deserves)

TRAJE SALMANTINO. GRABADOS. TRAJE CHARRO

2011-05-17T09:22:00.000-07:00

Ésta es una entrada muy larga porque quiero reflejar la evolución del traje salmantino hasta el actual traje charro basándome en grabados existentes desde el siglo XVIII.

Los primeros grabados del traje de Salamanca aparecieron en la segunda mitad del siglo XVIII realizados por el ilustrador madrileño Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla en su obra “Colección de trajes de España tanto antiguos como modernos, que comprehende todos los de sus Dominios: Dividido en dos Volúmenes, con ocho quadernos de á doze estampas cada uno”. La primera edición apareció en Madrid el año 1777. Este tipo de estampas eran muy comunes en Francia donde el Marqués de la Ensenada había enviado a Cruz Cano para que aprendiera las técnicas del grabado. Esta obra tuvo un éxito inmediato tanto en España como en el extranjero .

Cruz Cano presenta a la mujer salmantina como “aldeana charra del partido de Salamanca” y al hombre como “aldeano de los caseríos de Salamanca”. Estas dos láminas están publicadas con los números 23 y 24. No se trata del traje charro como lo conocemos actualmente sino uno más de “los trajes más normales de la plebe del Reino, nos dice el autor.
Otros grabados definen al traje salmantino como “de los alrededores”, “de las cercanías”, “del partido”, “del distrito” o simplemente hombre o mujer de Salamanca. Términos bastante imprecisos para localizar exactamente el lugar, por lo que se deduce que debía comprender una comarca bastante amplia alrededor de Salamanca.
De estos grabados voy a considerar brevemente algunos que nos permitan analizar el traje usado generalmente en la comarca de Salamanca y nos permita observar su evolución hacia el traje charro actual.
J. Laroque realizó los grabados ”Homme de Salamanque” y “Femme de Salamanque” en 1796 muy semejantes a los grabados de Cano y Olmedilla, al igual que otro grabado con el mismo nombre “Femme de Salamanque” de 1792 realizado por S. Sauveur que apareció en “Modes et Costume Historique” de los hermanos Pauquet. En estos grabados, el hombre aparece con pelo largo atado y viste las siguientes prendas: sombrero, capa, jubón de manga rajada con botonadura delantera, calzón hasta la rodilla ceñido con cinta o mediavaca de cuero, medias, zapatos llanos con tacón bajo y pala achatada y polainas. La mujer viste sombrero de calidad entrefina de ala mediana, casco chato y adornado, manta o pañuelo de cabeza abrochado a la sobarba, cae sobre el pecho y resguarda los hombros (esta prenda desaparece en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX), pañuelo de hombros, camisa o jubón de faldillas con mangas abullonadas que se ajusta con un ceñidor, presenta labores con motivos tradicionales de flores y animales. Sayas y manteos, el cimero abierto por detrás dejando ver los medianeros y bajeros guarnecidos de ribetes y listones en colores contrastados, mandil o picote avarillado con guarnición en las esquinas y calzado de tipo abotinado con tacón no alto. En cuanto a las joyas todavía muestran un uso moderado de alhajas, se limitan a unos collares y pendientes. Son joyas discretas, opuestas al ostentoso aderezo que se oficializó unos cien años más tarde.

Ya a principios del siglo XIX encontramos más grabados representativos del traje usado en Salamanca. “Servant girls of Salamanca” y “Paysan du district de Salamanque) de 1809 de I. Clark basado en las acuarelas del pintor y viajero inglés W. Bradford.

En 1825 el grabador Edné Jean Pigal realiza “Villageouse des environs de Salamanque”, conserva

aún el pañuelo de cabeza atado
a la barbilla y cubriendo los hombros pero el mandil está ya más adornado que los grabados anteriores y se va acercando al mandil charro.

El ilustrador y pintor francés Louis-Marie Lanté trabajaba para la revista “Journal des dames et des modes” y realizó unas ilustraciones del vestido regional popular de Francia y otros países. En 1827 publicó los grabados “Costume de Salamanque” y dos versiones diferentes de “Servante de Salamanque”, una de ellas una copia de Bradford.

En la obra “L’Espagne pittoresque, artistique et monumental” de Clerman aparece en 1848 otro grabado con el título “Femme des environs de Salamanque”.

El bonito grabado “Burgos, Salamanque , Santander” de Rouargue se encuentra en su libro “Voyage pittoresque en Espagne et en Portugal” de 1852. La salmantina conversa con un burgalés y una pasiega, viste un sayuelo de dos cuerpos atado con cordones bordeado de galones y repulgo. Las mangas son estrechas con folladura en el antebrazo abrochado con una hilera de botones. Tiene un amplio escote por el que deja ver las zonas ornamentales de la camisa. Esta prenda fue sustituida posteriormente por la chambra o jubona en el traje charro. La profusión del mandil de la salmantina contrasta con la simplicidad de la pasiega, un claro adelanto del ornamental mandil charro.

En esta época se dan los últimos y definitivos pasos del traje popularizado como de charro y charra respectivamente aunque debe tenerse presente que a partir de la Guerra de la Independencia se produjo una moda uniforme llamada “a la europea” generalizada al igual que en el resto de España. Los grabadores seguían ilustrando trajes plebeyos ya obsoletos.
En el grabado de Gustavo Doré “Charro des environs de Salamanque” que aparece en la obra “Voyage en Espagne” del barón Ch. de Davillier el traje de hombre ya ha sufrido una transformación importante, semejante al actual

traje charro actual. El sombrero es de los llamados de “embudo” con ala corta y vuelta adornado con borlas. El camisón es llano con la pechera fruncida y abrochado en el cuello con un solo botón. Ha desaparecido el coleto y aparece el chaleco de hojas cuadradas con generoso escote y chaqueta con solapa y bolsillos. Calzón de los llamados de maldil y medias y zapatos cubiertos de polainas. La capa es de esclavina lisa.

Avanzando el siglo XIX y también la técnica de la fotografía empezamos a ver las primeras fotografías de charros y charras reales, así a principios del siglo XX, concretamente en el año 1903 aparece en la revista “Hojas selectas” un artículo titulado “La romería de Tejares” describiendo minuciosamente los diferentes trajes típicos de Salamanca: el de artesana, el de charra y el de serrana. Lo ilustra con varias imágenes como esta fotografía con tres tipos de muchachas salmantinas.

Entre las fotos más antiguas pueden citarse las realizadas por el fotógrafo salmantino Venancio Gombáu (1868 – 1932) por cuyo estudio pasó toda la sociedad local y provincial. En sus retratos observamos ya a los charros y charras tal como los conocemos actualmente con gran profusión de joyas que han aumentado progresivamente desde una gargantilla a collares de varias vueltas y colgantes que cubren todo el torso. “Charra. Paysanne de Salamanque” y “Charro. Paysan de Salamanque” . También nos presenta los diferentes tipos de trajes de la provincia, de serrrana, de candelaria y de charra “Trajes populares de Salamanca”.

El traje charro se asentó definitivamente
como el “traje regional salmantino” con la visita del rey Alfonso XIII y la reina Victoria Eugenia a Salamanca en 1922. Se les obsequió con sendos trajes charros con sus correspondientes alhajas y abanico de filigrana de plata. En 1934 los monarcas donaron sus trajes charros al Museo del Pueblo Español y actualmente forman parte de los fondos del museo del traje.

En la foto puede verse a la reina Victoria vestida de charra.

El traje de mujer charra es de gran vistosidad. En la cabeza lleva rodetes con trenzas caladas para las orejas de pelo natural y adornadas con horquillas, un moño en la parte superior de la cabeza atado con unas cintas bordadas, un velo de tul bordado sobre la cabeza y grandes pendientes.
El busto se cubre con la chambra o jubona de seda con botones de filigrana, pañuelo de hombros de tela bordado por cuadrantes con lentejuelas, dengue o crucero de paño con bordados sobrepuestos , saya encarnada bajera con vuelta y encima el manteo más rico con festón de bordados y tirana de terciopelo. Mandil bordado profusamente y rematado por un faralar de seda, faltriquera bordada colgando de la cintura y por la parte de atrás caen dos cintas bordadas y rematadas de flecos de oro; medias caladas y zapatos de terciopelo bordados con lentejuelas. Como ya se ha dicho anteriormente exhibe gran cantidad de joyas, collares de oro, aderezos, galápagos, cruces, y veneras que cubren totalmente el torso.
Podeis apreciar la riqueza del traje charro y las prendas que lo componen en la siguiente presentación de los trajes charros de la familia y en la fotografía de María Gil Guerrero vestida de charra.

Trajes charros2

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Maori people. The real discoverers of New Zealand

2011-04-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

The Maori people are the indigenous people of Aotearoa (New Zealand), they first arrived here in a number of epic waka hourua (voyaging canoes) over a significant period of time from their ancestral Polynesian homeland of Hawaiki (Cook Islands, Hawaii and Haiti). These journeys established Maori as daring and resourceful adventurers, and as one of the greatest navigating people of all time. They adapted very easily to the new environment and started to cultivate the land, manufacture textiles and build wooden houses. Maori were expert hunters and fishermen, fishing was vitally important for them. They wove fishing nets from flax and carved fishhooks from bone and stone. A Maori tradition that remains today is throw back the first fish caught, as a way of thanking Tangaroa, god of the sea, for this generosity. Maori hunted native birds, including moa, the world’s largest bird, with a range of ingenious traps and snares. Maori ate native vegetables and also introduced vegetables from Polynesia, including the kumara (sweet potato). Vegetables were planted and harvested with a variety of tools including diggers, spades, and clubs. Weaved flax basket and bags were used to carry food, which was often stored in a pataka — a storehouse raised on stilts. Maori have proved to be excellent warriors. Only men fought, and one of the most highly prized weapons was the spear-like taiaha. This weapon, often beautifully carved, is still used in Maori ceremonies today, and its use has become a highly sophisticated art form. Another fearsome weapon was the mere (club), beautifully carved, with some made out of pounamu (greenstone or jade). A warrior with a full moko (tattoo) on his face, brandishing a taiaha or mere, makes a fearsome sight. New Zealand has been inhabited by Maori since approximately 1300 AD. Dutch navigator Abel Tasman was the first European to discover New Zealand during his voyage of 1642–43, although he never set foot on the land. Tasman’s first contact with Maori was at the top of the South Island in what is now called Golden Bay. Two waka (canoes) full of Maori men sighted Tasman’s boat. Tasman sent out his men in a small boat, but various misunderstandings saw it rammed by one of the waka. In the resulting skirmish, four of Tasman’s men were killed. Captain James Cook was sent to search for the great southern continent thought to exist in the southern seas by the king of England and he arrived in New Zealand in1769 and claimed it for Great Britain. Cook successfully circumnavigated and mapped the country. His botanists and other experts on board his ship, the Endeavour, gained considerable information about the country’s flora and fauna, and the native Maori inhabitants. Cook led two more expeditions to New Zealand, before being killed on a Hawaiian beach in 1779. This is the reason why James Cook is said to have discovered New Zealand but it is not true, the real discoverers were Maori people. In spite of this it wasn't until the late 1700s that the first Europeans began to settle in New Zealand. In 1835 the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand was signed by 34 Maori chiefs. The Declaration asserted the independence of New Zealand, with all sovereign power and authority residing with the hereditary chiefs and tribes. A few years later on 6 February 1840, Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) between Maori and the Crown was signed. The Treaty guaranteed Maori full possession of their land in exchange for their recognition of British sovereignty. The Treaty of Waitangi is regarded as New Zealand's founding document and remains a core point of reference for Maori and the Government. Maori culture has many interesting aspects including art, legend, tattoo (moko), performances (notably kapa haka), customs, hospitality and community. Since the early 1980s Maori culture has undergone a renaissance. The regeneration of interest in Maori culture has extended to language, and Maori language programs (such as kohanga reo) are now flourishing. Today Maori people are actively involved with keeping their culture and language alive. Within any Maori community, the marae provides a focus for social, cultural and spiritual life. The term marae describes a communal 'plaza' area that includes a wharenui (meeting house) and wharekai (dining room). The marae is used for ceremonial purposes, it’s a place where the culture can be celebrated, where the Maori language can be spoken, where intertribal obligations can be met, where customs can be explored and debated, where family occasions such as birthdays can be held, and where important ceremonies, such as welcoming visitors or farewelling the dead can be performed. All formal Maori gatherings are accompanied by oratory in Maori; action songs; formal receptions of visitors, accompanied by the hongi, or pressing together of noses on greetings. Hongi is a traditional Maori welcome, which literally means “to share breath”. It is believed that when the two noses meet, people exchange their breath and the visitor becomes one of the local people (tangata whenua), ready to share in all responsibilities and duties. It seems to me a beautiful and tender greeting. I'd feel very at home and most importantly.... Welcome if I were greeted with this warm Maori traditional greeting.

The art of moko or Maori tattooing was one of the few features of external Maori culture to persist from pre -European times well into the 20th century. Ta moko was brought by Maori from their eastern Polynesian homeland. The implements and methods used are similar to those found in other parts of Polynesia. Ta moko, often referred to as Maori tattoo, is the traditional permanent marking of the body and face by Maori. But ta moko is distinct from tattoo in that the skin is carved by uhi (chisels) instead of being punctured with needles. This leaves the skin with textured grooves, rather than the smooth surface of a normal tattoo. Ta moko is a core component of Maori culture and an outward expression of commitment and respect. It denotes rank, traces one’s whakapapa (genealogy) and iwi (tribal history). Each line, each spiral, each whorl represented an important aspect of the individual who bore the markings. It is believed to have begun as a need to look fierce by streaking one’s face with charcoal and red ochre which became an intricate art form of grace and beauty while also maintaining a sense of fierceness and pride. In pre-European Maori culture, many if not most high-ranking persons received moko. Those who went without moko were seen as persons of lower social status. A person, either man or woman, who bore no markings was considered to be plain looking and this was a status in itself usually reserved for slaves. Even children as young as 8-10 years old displayed body tattoos. No child bore the markings of Mataora (facial tattoo) as could be observed by the early settlers. The reasoning for this appears to be that a child’s face had yet to grow into maturity and this growth could alter the markings. Receiving moko constituted an important milestone between childhood and adulthood, and was accompanied by many rites and rituals. Apart from signalling status and rank, another reason for the practice was to make a person more attractive to the opposite sex. Ta Moko was like a history of a person's achievements and represented their status in their tribe. It also served as a reminder to people about their responsibility in life. It was a huge honour for people to have Ta Moko. Ta Moko was worn by both men and women. It was applied to the face and buttocks of men, and to the chin, lips and shoulders of women. Depending on their ranking, they may also have Ta Moko on their face. Occasionally women would put small markings over their faces or shoulders as a sign that someone close to them had died. There were no set patterns to the Ta Moko and the meaning of the Ta Moko was dependent on its placement on the face. The left side of the face related to the father's history and the right side to the mother's history. Designing the appropriate Ta Moko for each man was a long process that could take weeks or even months as there was much to take into consideration. No two were ever the same even though the meaning of each design was based on recognisable principles. After almost dying out in the twentieth century, Maori tattooing is now experiencing a powerful revival, with many young Maori wearing the moko as a spectacular gesture of racial pride and a sign of cultural identity. Ta moko is performed by a tohunga ta moko (tattoo expert) and the practice is considered a tapu (sacred) ritual. The design of each moko is unique to the wearer and conveys information about the wearer, such as their genealogy, tribal affiliations, status, and achievements. It is important to distinguish moko from kiri tuhi, tattoos that are not regarded as having the cultural significance attributed to moko. Ta moko was traditionally performed using chisels made from materials such as Albatross bone. An assortment of chisels was used, some with a straight edge, others with a serrated edge. The pigmentations used were Carui gum and dye from other vegetation that was rendered to a soot and then mixed with oil. Each tribal area used different pigments. Today most moko are performed using modern tattoo machines (and therefore leave the skin smooth), however in keeping with the traditional practice of ta moko, there has been a resurgent increase in the use of chisels. Ta Moko designs can now be seen on many people, both Maori and non-Maori. Given the significance of each stroke, the lack of research into the designs worn by some, including celebrities have angered some Maori. There is much meaning attached to each design that it is considered ignorant for a person, Maori or non-Maori, to use a design without understanding its relevance. Ta Moko is an art form of exquisite beauty showcased on skin. The traditions of a culture can be observed in its delicate patterns and designs. Another important Maori tradition is the haka, it generally accompanies each cultural performance today. The haka is a war dance. The words are chanted loudly (shouted) in a menacing way accompanied by arm actions and foot stamping. A haka was traditionally performed before charging into battle. The haka was danced without weapons, in contrast to the war dances (tutu ngaruhu or peruperu) which were danced with spears, clubs, or other weapons in hand. The haka, which expressed a variety of emotions such as joy, anger, and sorrow, called for exceptional rhythmical skill. Many were marked by a curious, rapid vibration of the hands; other motions included a stamping in unison, facial distortion (protruding tongue and eyeballs), rhythmical out-thrusts and movements of the arms, as well as a swaying of the body. Haka performed in a sitting position were as a rule of a milder character, with swaying motions from the arms and bodies. Every haka had its expert leader who gave time to the music and the motions of the dance. The haka may also be used to tell of great feats, or danced as a special welcome before a high-ranking guest. A haka can also express grievance, or, in earlier times, could be addressing a prayer to one of the ancient Maori Gods. Strictly speaking, the term haka refers generically to all Maori dance but has now come to mean the Maori dance repertoire where the men are in front and women lending vocal support at the back. The New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks, promote one version of the haka which starts with the chant "Ka mate, ka mate (It is death, it is death"), it is this haka, called Te Rauparaha's haka (so named after its perceived traditional origins) that most people, particularly rugby union football fans, know as the haka. This version of the haka is both war chant and challenge and is customarily performed by the All Blacks before major games against non-New Zealand teams. It is characterised by loud chanting, much aggressive flailing of arms and stomping of feet, fierce looks and, in the end, an angry sticking out tongues. “Ka mate, ka mate” are the words of Te Rauparaha's haka (1810) used by the All Blacks: Ka mate, ka mate Ka ora, ka ora Tenei te tangata puhuruhuru Nana i tiki mai whakawhiti te ra Upane, upane Upane kaupane Whiti te ra. These words are translated as: It is death, it is death It is life, it is life This is the hairy man Who caused the sun to shine again for me Up the ladder, up the ladder Up to the top The sun shines.

Enjoy this video with the All Blacks performing the haka versus Tonga. (Stop the music first)

Tribute to Japan

2011-03-19T02:59:00.000-07:00

A beautiful antique map of Japan from 1855 by J. H. Colton to pay a moving tribute to Japanese people's courage for all the efforts they are showing to overcome the tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March.
As Prime Minister Naoto Kan said, you will rebuild Japan from scratch. People all over the world will help you to become a powerful country again.
My great sympathy to the victims.

Spanish Civil War Posters

2011-02-27T11:15:00.000-08:00

The Spanish Civil War was an extremely complex conflict that ravaged the country from 1936 to 1939 and devastated Spain and its inhabitants. The estimates of how many people were killed in the war run from 500,000 to 1,000,000. The war came about when the Spanish communist party came to power after defeating members of the monarch in elections. They decided that they wanted to bring about land reforms and exclude the church from the government. This was not popular among the Nationalists at the time. So the Spanish Army staged a military coup to overthrow the Second Spanish Republic. The attempt would prove successful, with the eventual installation of a dictatorship led by General Francisco Franco in 1939. The nationalists were made up of monarch supporters, religious groups, Falangists and Fascists. The communist or left wing side was made up of Socialists, Marxists, Anarchists, Communists, Basque and Catalan seperatists and a number of other extreme left wing groups and trade unions. War broke out when the right wing groups refused to accept the left wing as the government and the land reforms they were about to impose.
Before his victory, Franco’s forces met the resistance of republicans, socialists, communists and anarchists in a bitter battle for Spain.
During the war both sides accused each other of being puppet governments for other governments, The Nationalists, as the rebels were called, received aid from Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. The Republicans received aid from the Soviet Union, as well as from International Brigades, composed of volunteers from Europe and the United States.
Politically their differences often found extreme and vehement expression in parties such as the Fascist-oriented Falange and the militant left-wing anarchists.

Among the many aspects of the war that continue to exert a particular fascination today is the wealth of astonishing propaganda posters produced by the various factions involved in the fighting. There was a high rate of illiteracy in the country, particularly among women, peasants and the working classes, so poster designers employed rousing imagery and succinct slogans to deliver their message.
Propaganda has played a vital part in the wars of the early 20th century it was used by Hitler in World War 2 by Mussolini in his control of Italy and of course by Stalin. Throughout the course of the Spanish civil war propaganda was used by all sides to communicate various messages, some of these messages were to encourage peace and to keep fighting for food and freedom whilst others were to convince people to leave the city or join the army. The messages varied, as did the posters. What it left us with in the end was catalogues of posters that are a poignant reminder of these dark times in Spanish history. However they are also pieces of art that serve to remind us of our not too distant past .
The war was much about ideas. Many political ideologies of the time were battling for power and recognition. Propaganda was a major part of convincing the Spanish civilians to side with various parties. Colourful and artistic posters were used to persuade civilians and spread messages as the majority of the population were illiterate and uneducated. These posters were designed by some of the best artists in Spain and the streets of all of Spain’s major cities were plastered with these posters. The Nationalists lead by Franco used the posters to win the support of the people after taking a city from the communists. The communists used the posters to win support from the peasants they were trying to help and to spread messages to the people whilst they were in power. The anarchists used their posters to introduce their new radical idea to the people in the hope of winning their hearts and minds.
These posters are perhaps the most prominent remains of the conflict that presented to the people of Europe and the world the tragedies of war and how the people of Spain were living through these tragedies. These posters are among the most important documents of the war remaining today and can be found in museums across Spain as well as other European countries.
Eyewitnesses accounts of the war attest that the posters were everywhere during the war. The cities walls were awash with the colour and creativity of propaganda. On almost every building there were party posters: posters against Fascism, posters about the defence of Madrid, posters appealing for recruits to the militia...and even posters for the emancipation of women and against venereal disease. Streets aflamed with posters of all parties for all causes, some of them put out by combinations of parties. In Republican territory, when a house was destroyed by the enemy bombs, propaganda agencies would fix posters on the ruins in order to denounce the enemy, hoping to turn aggression into rage. In Madrid, the capital of the Republic, shop owners were forced to fill their store fronts with posters: "Every space must be used to incite the spirit in its fight against the enemy," stated an article in the newspaper ABC on October 30, 1936. When a city was taken the streets of were plastered with posters to convince its citizens to change sides.
The Nationalist party produced a far lesser amount of posters than their rivals. This was primarily because they hadn’t as much inward struggle and because what they were promoting was familiar to the Spaniards. Their posters were primarily used after the taking of a city to encourage calm amongst its citizens. They also tried to encourage people to return to normality after the war.
The Communist or the Republican party were the most prolific producers and publishers of posters during the Spanish civil war. Their posters were used to garner the support of the people and often to spread messages to the rurally isolated peasants. These posters were important in communicating to an predominantly illiterate population and encouraging men to join the militia and support the communist movement. Some posters were co signed by the anarchists and communists during their coalition.

Over the course of the war thousands of posters were created and circulated throughout Spain. Many of these survived the war, however many didn’t survive the war and are lost forever.

This post is by no means to favour one side over another, that's why they are mixed up. It is merely the home and celebration of some important historical documents. I hope you enjoy them!

(Click on the link "propaganda posters to see some of them enlarged).

February Second. Groundhog Day. La Chandeleur

2011-02-02T13:56:00.000-08:00

If someone were to ask “What is the significance of today’s date? I’m quite sure that all who were asked, came up with the same answer: “Feb. 2nd is Groundhog Day!”
These responses prove the point that Feb. 2nd is deeply rooted in Canadian and American folklore.
In the folklore of these countries, the groundhog’s activities are weather related. Simply put, when this animal comes out of his burrow on Feb. 2nd, if the sun is shining and he sees his shadow, he returns underground for six more weeks of winter. If, however, the day is overcast and he cannot see his shadow, an early spring is just around the corner.
It will not be a surprise to learn that this folkloric tale has its roots in mediaeval Europe. In the Christian calendar, Feb. 2nd marks the celebration of the Purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Candles are blessed on this day, giving rise to the name “Candlemas Day.” Since this date also marked the midpoint of winter, halfway between the winter soltice, and the spring equinox, the notion arose that the weather on Candlemas Day might foretell what would take place during the rest of the winter.
Thus a bright and sunny Candlemas Day suggested that there was more winter to come; while a cloudy overcast day meant that winter would soon be over.

The legend of Groundhog Day is based on the old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year."
Every February 2, people gather at Gobbler's Knob, a wooded knoll just outside of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. The first Groundhog Day, took place in this community, when the local newspaper reported: “At the time of going to press on Feb. 2nd, 1886, the groundhog has not seen its shadow.“ The groundhog was named: “Punxsutawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary.” For the record, Phil’s first prediction was correct. In his debut performance there was “no shadow and an early spring followed.”
The ceremony in Punxsutawney was held in secret until 1966, and only Phil's prediction was revealed to the public. Since then, Phil's fearless forecast has been a national media event. The groundhog comes out of his electrically heated burrow, looks for his shadow and utters his prediction to a Groundhog Club representative in "groundhogese." The representative then translates the prediction for the general public.
If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter. If he does not see his shadow, it means spring is just around the corner.
Approximately 90% of the time, Phil sees his shadow and residents contend that the groundhog has never been wrong.
Phil started making predictions in 1887 and has become an American institution.

Now only one question remains. Why has a folkloric tradition of this type survived so many centuries? There is no easy answer, for such traditions not only have deep roots; they have a habit of “adjusting” to fit changing circumstances.
While it can never be proven, one possibility for the recent surge of interest in Feb. 2nd might be the popularity of the American movie “Groundhog Day” released in 1993.
The actor Bill Murray, plays a weatherman for a television station. The story begins with his trek to Puxatawney, Pennsylvania for the appearance of the groundhog. He is reluctantly sent to cover a story about a weather forecasting "rat" (as he calls it). This is his fourth year on the story, and he makes no effort to hide his frustration.
On this occasion, due to a sudden storm, cast and crew must stay on location until the weather improves. But something strange happens when the weatherman awakens in the morning . . . it is Groundhog Day all over again! He makes several drastic attempts to leave town, but on every occasion, the next day is always Groundhog Day. . First he uses this to his advantage, then comes the realisation that he is doomed to spend the rest of eternity in the same place, seeing the same people do the same thing EVERY day.

February 2, 2011 - around 7:25 am ET - Punxsutawney, PA
Phil did not see his shadow and thus spring is just around the corner!

Connected with Grounhog Day is the celebration of “La Chandeleur” in France.
La Chandeleur, celebrated on February 2, is originally a religious holiday, yet today it is known as the day of crêpes (“Fête de la Lumière, or jour des crêpes”).
La Chandeleur is the Catholic holiday of Candlemas, a feast to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of the baby Jesus forty days after his birth.
The story is that Pope Gélase gave crêpes to the pilgrims who arrived in Rome. The crêpes with their rond shape and golden color, signified the sun and helped Spring to arrive. Even though most people don't know the history on why they celebrate La Chandeleur with crêpes, any reason is a good reason to eat crêpes in France!
For many French people La Chandeleur is a chance to enjoy a lot of crêpes, as well as do some fortune telling while making them.
The tradition is to hold a coin in your writing hand and a crêpe pan in the other; then toss the crêpe in the air. If you manage to catch the crêpe in the pan, your family will enjoy prosperity for the rest of the year.

You can try making your own crêpe.
Crêpe recipe for 8 - 10 people
Preparation time 10 minutes, cooking time 3 - 4 minutes
Ingredients
250g flour
4 eggs
1/2 litre milk
pinch of salt
50g butter
1 sachet vanilla sugar
soup spoon (5 cl) rum
variant - you can replace the milk with crème fraiche
Leave mixture for about an hour
Preheat a crêpe/frying pan , when hot add a little butter to grease the pan
Put half a ladle of crêpe mixture into the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes each side
Suggested accompaniments: sugar, Nutella, jam, honey, fruit or lemon
Traditionally to drink - cider

There are all kinds of French proverbs and sayings for Chandeleur; here are just a few. Note the similarities to the Groundhog Day predictions made in the US and Canada:
“If Candlemas be fair and bright, winter has another flight. If Candlemas is cloudy and grey, winter soon will pass away.”

À la Chandeleur, l'hiver cesse ou reprend vigueur
On Candlemas, winter ends or strengthens

À la Chandeleur, le jour croît de deux heures
On Candlemas, the day grows by two hours

Chandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perte
Candlemas covered (in snow), forty days lost

Rosée à la Chandeleur, hiver à sa dernière heure
Dew on Candlemas, winter at its final hour

Miguel Hernández

2010-12-08T03:50:00.000-08:00

No quiero despedir el año 2010 sin rendir mi pequeño homenaje al poeta oriolano Miguel Hernández (1910-1942) en el centenario de su nacimiento.

Sobre un magnífico dibujo realizado por el también poeta extremeño Julio Santiago he impreso las primeras estrofas de "Las nanas de la cebolla" uno de sus poemas más conocidos. Está dedicado a su segundo hijo Manuel Miguel al recibir una carta de su mujer en la cárcel donde le decía que no comía más que pan y... cebolla.
Disfrutad del poema completo cantado por Joan Manuel Serrat en este video.
Si quereis saber algo más de Miguel Hernández podeis descargar mi presentación aquí.

Stererotyped Maps

2010-11-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

A few months ago we (our school) finished a Comenius Program about how to deal with stererotypes and prejudices. Schools from Poland, Turkey, Italy and Spain presented our own cultural characteristics and made very enriching multicultural meetings in all the participant countries.We discovered that the perception we had about each nationality was not very accurated, we are not so diverse as we previously thought.
But, lo and behold I have recently come across these witty hilarious maps, featured in the Daily Mail, about stereotypes and they show different perspectives according to the country which is portraying its view.

Enjoy them, they are really worth it. You can see a lot more here .
(click on the maps to enlarge them).

The World seen by the USA

Europe seen by the USA

Europe seen by the Vatican

Europe seen by Italians

Europe seen by the Germans

Europe seen by the French

Europe seen by the British

Alphadesigner.com

Pop up Books 2

2010-10-30T12:33:00.000-07:00

Along with the subjects they illustrate, the techniques behind movable and pop-ups paper art have evolved from its earliest known origins. Traditional terminology, unusual techniques and personal creativity combine to form unique volumes and timeless illustrations.

The art of paper engineering encompasses a range of methods and techniques for creating pop ups. Some basic mechanisms are:

Mouth mechanism. It's the simplest folding technique to form a mechanism that unfolds when the card is closed.

Push and Pull (Slide mechanisms). As the name suggest this means that you cut two areas in the back of the book and slide a piece of paper through the gap. From there you can push or pull the mechanism.

V Fold. A piece of card or paper will be cut in such a way that it can be stuck to both sides of the paper. When the book is closed these two folds will be up against each other, when opened, the sides pull them enough to make it "pop up".

Box card. Interesting pop up designs can be produced by making two cuts to a backing card and bending the card inwards so that it forms a small stand (inside the card). Drawings or images can be placed on the stand so that when the card is opened the image "pops".

Some advanced mechanisms include:

Volvelles. They are paper constructions with rotating parts.

Transformation. It starts with a scene made up of vertical slats. Pulling a tab on the side makes the slats slide under and over one another to "transform" into a totally different scene.

Tunnel (also called peepshow books). It consists of a set of pages bound with two strips folded in a concertina manner on each side. The pages are then viewed through a die-cut hole on the cover and the effect is like you are looking through a tunnel. Openings in each page allow the viewer to see through the entire book and images on each page work together to create a three-dimensional scene inside.

Pop-out. The most commom type of pop-up is the pop-out. With this method the pages open fully and a 3D model appears miraculously in the middle of the page.

Sound and optical illusions which besides paper are made of wood, different types of plastic and rubber, metal and electronic chips depending on when they are produced.

The extreme pop-up. An extreme pop-up is where various different types of pop up mechanisms are used withing one page to create a big desired effect (Alice in Wonderland by Robert Sabuda)

Using all these mechanisms it's easy to imagine that the most commom problems with pop up books is to survive children's hands and handling. Other problems are mechanical damages with the consequences that the construction either do not work properly or do not work at all.

HISTORY OF POP-UP BOOKS

Although today pop-up books are often found in the children's book section, the earliest movable books were tools to educate and document information, such as a calendar, the moon's movements, or the inner workings of the human heart.

The first mechanical book dates back to the 13th century when a Catalan poet Ramón Llull used a revolving disc or volvelle to illustrate his theories.

By the 14th century, scholars were using paper flaps to superimpose layers of the human body into detailed books about human anatomy. After this, there was little technical development in paper engineering until late 18th century when these techniques were applied to books designed for entertainment, particularly for children.

The first Golden Age of pop-ups began with the "History of Little Fanny" by S.J. Fuller, 1810. A paper doll book with movable paper clothes. The Company Dean & Sons marketed about 50 different titles of movable and pop-up books between 1850s and 1900.

The Industrial Revolution is underway creating a leisure class with money to spend on expensive books and the time to read them to their children.

The best known publishers through the turn of the 19th century were: Ernest Nister and Raphael Tuck in England and Germany, Dean & Son in England and McLoughin in USA. The printing for most of these books was done in Germany where the chromolithography was best.

The paper engineer considered the "Genius" of this Golden Age was Lothar Meggendorfer, the Munich artist, prolific, humorous and inventive. He wasn't satisfied with only one action on each page, he often had five parts of the illustration moving simultaneously in different direction with highly ingenius and complicated mechanisms.

The First World War brought to an end this Golden Era and few movable books were produced. It became difficult to gather the manpower required as they were hand-assembled and labor-intensive. The demand for "frivolous" pastimes decreased as well.

It would be over 50 years before these inventive books would again be in demand and published in large numbers.

During the inter-war years, S. Louis Giraud in Britain begins publishing books with true pop-ups, activated by turning the page. The series, "The Daily Express", was followed by the "Bookano books". In the USA, "Blue Ribbon" animated Walt Disney characters and traditional fairy tales with pop-ups. It was Blue Ribbon that coined the term, "pop-up" and used it in their titles.

The Second World War presented another interruption to the development of the pop-up. In the 1950s Vojtech Kubasta begins making pop up books in Prague, Czechoslovakia.

The Second Golden Age of pop ups starts in the 1960s with Waldo Hunt who sees the work of Kubasta and inspired by them begins to produce his own pop up books.

The beginning of the "New Wave" of pop up books began with the revolutionary "Haunted House" by Jan Pienkowski. Readers were enraptured by the book and it was a runaway success.

With the market firmly established for pop-ups, there was an explosion in the number of publishers producing pop up books.

As I mentioned in my previous post, there are excellent contemporary paper engineers such as David Hawcock, Bruce Foster, Chuck Fischer, David Carter, Marion Bataille, and the pop up masters Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhardt exploring new ideas and creating awesome pop up books.

Pop up books

2010-10-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Who can resist the allure of pop-up books?

They are fascinating, amazing books which appeal and delight to children and grown-ups alike. There is something very satisfying and magical about being able to touch, manipulate and interact with the illustrations which makes the reading experience much more enjoyable.

The epithet "pop up" is applied to any book that contains three-dimensional paper pictures or any mechanical or movable elements such as flaps or pull-tabs made of paper, they unfold and rise above the level of the page to our surprise and delight. Through the use of rivets, flaps, tabs, folds and cut paper, these books perform before our eyes. Each page becomes a stage inviting action and participation.

They look like ordinary books but these "magical" books conceal withing their two dimensional covers magnificent structures and many different complicated mechanisms that can leave us in awe at the precision and power of paper engineering, as the design and creation of such books is called.

Ingenious pop-up images bring graphics to life and always introduce an element of surprise. A successful pop up design is the result of the image, message and mechanisms all working together effectively. Pop-ups vary inmensely in terms of sophistication and complexity but even the most basic card with a single, simple mechanism can produce interesting effects, have a lot of visual impact and make us smile.

Pop up books are still hand-assembled after the sheets have been printed and die-cut. Their publication involves the skill of a number of individuals. Publishers and packagers are continually seeking the least costly labor forces , so modern pop-up books are manufactured by a very few specialist factories in Colombia, China and Thailand.

Nowadays there are many fine paper engineers exploring new ideas and ways of making breathtaking pop up books. I would highlight: David Hawcock, Bruce Foster, Chuck Fischer, David Carter, and for me the two "geniuses" pop-up masters Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart.

I will give a list of my favourite pop up books:

"The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by Robert Sabuda

"Alice in Wonderland" by Robert Sabuda

"Star Wars" by Matthew Reinhart

"Cinderella" by Matthew Reinhart

"Encyclopedia Prehistorica" by Sabuda and Reinhart

All these works by Sabuda and Reinhart are meticulously crafted with intrincate pop-ups and fold-outs that explode right out of the page and they are very cleverly engineered creating awesome pop-up books.

"One Red dot"

"Blue 2"

"600 Black Spots"

"Yellow Square"

"White noise"

All these excellent and brilliant works by David Carter.

"Boticelli's Bed and Breakfast" by Jan Pienkowski.

This book is meant to be opened up completely and tied end to end to reveal a 360 degree view of all the rooms.

"ABC 3D" by Marion Bataille

French graphic artist. She takes the alphabet to a sophisticated, three dimensional level. Prepare to be amazed. Each of the 26 three-dimensional letters move and change before your eyes.

Through the years, the craftsmanship behind the creation of these books has grown more creative and complex and people are now no longer buying the books just for their children. Pop-ups are now being bought by adults for themselves, as works of art and collectibles.

As you can see I am a lover of the magic of pop-ups, I appreciate them and the hard work that goes into creating interactive, pop-up books. I can't remember when my love for pop-ups began. As a child I was fascinated with Christmas pop-up cards relatives sent to us and I think I've kept this passion for them from those days.

Pop ups and movable books are must haves for any library.

(My next post will be about the techniques used to create pop-ups and a brief history of these books) You can download some books about pop ups here.

"Piano Man". Billy Joel

2010-09-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

I've been humming "Piano Man" tune again and again lately. I love this song and it can get stuck in my head and it just won't quit. No matter what I do, this song won't leave me alone, it seems this song left me forever an emotional imprint on my heart.

It's obviously a great son by Billy Joel, a beautiful nostalgic song for me. It makes me feel with a happy sadness.

A bar pianist tells us about the regular people at the bar: an old man, John the barman, the waitress, businessmen, Paul the novelist and Davy a US Navy sailor. Their dreams have not come true and the pianist tries to help them "forget life for a while".

I enjoy every verse of this amazing song starting with a jazzy piano line moving into its famous piano/harmonica tune.

"There is an old man sitting next to me

Makin' love to his tonic and gin

He says, "Son, can you play me a memory

I'm not really sure how it goes

But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it for complete

When I wore a younger man's clothes,"

This verse makes my eyes sting and become watery.

"They're sharing a drink they call loneliness

But it's better than drinkin' alone" This is simply an awesome line

The chorus is a singalong tune which comes from the bar customers who plead "Sing us a song you're the piano man

sing us a song tonight

well we're all in the mood for a melody

and you got us all feeling all right"

Enjoy this version of the song with Elton John and Billy Joel.

Billy Joel widget by 6L &

This could be the literal Spanish translation for the sung song:

Son la nueve en punto de un sábado

El público regular va llegando

Hay un viejo sentado a mi lado

Haciéndole el amor a su Gin-Tonic

Dice, "Hijo, ¿puedes tocarme una vieja canción?

No estoy realmente seguro cómo es

Pero es triste y dulce y me la sabía por completo

Cuando usaba la ropa de un hombre joven.

La, la, la Di, Dee Da

La, Da Di Dee Da Da Dum

Cántanos una canción, tu eres el pianista

Cántanos una canción esta noche

Bien, estamos todos de humor para una melodía

y nos hace sentir bien.

Ahora John el de la barra es un amigo mio

Me da mis bebidas gratis

Y es rápido con las bromas o para encender un cigarro

Pero hay otro lugar donde quisiera estar

Dice, "Bill creo que esto me está matando"

Mientras la sonrisa desaparece de su cara

Bien estoy seguro que podría ser una estrella de cine

si pudiera salir de este lugar

La la...

La Da...

Ahora Paul es un novelista

Que nunca tuvo tiempo para una esposa

y habla con Davy que sigue en la Marina

y probablemente sea así de por vida.

Y la camarera practica su política

Mientras los hombres de negocios se embriagan lentamente

Sí, están compartiendo unos tragos que les llaman Soledad

Pero es mejor que beber solo.

Cántanos una canción...

Es un buen público para un sábado

Y el gerente me sonríe

porque sabe que es a mi a quien vienen a ver

Para olvidarse de la vida por un momento.

Y el piano suena como un carnaval

Y el micrófono huele como una cerveza

Y se sientan en el bar y ponen propinas en mi jarra

Y dicen "Hombre ¿Qué haces tu aquí?

La, la...

La Da...

Cántanos una canción...

Gustav Klimt

2010-07-30T00:22:00.001-07:00

The Austrian painter and illustrator Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1918) is undoubtedly the most remarkable artist who has emerged from the turn-of-the century Vienna. Klimt's work exemplifies the encounter between the old art of the previous century and the new art of the 20th century.

He dominated the art scene in this capital of the empire of Austo-Hungary. It was the Vienna of Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schönberg and Stefan Zweig, the Vienna of the great waltzes, admired all over the world for its artistic and cultural quality and diversity.

At the age of fourteen he entered the public School of Arts and Crafts of Vienna. For seven years he learned the most diverse techniques, fom mosaics to fresco. Klimt received his first commissions while studying there, works for theatres, churches and museums ordered by several patrons.

From 1886 to 1892, he executed mural decorations for staircases at the Burgtheater and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

The tree of life

In 1892 Klimt and Match were commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Education to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall of the new University of Vienna. The sensualism and originality of the allegories "Philosophy", "Medicine" and "Jurisprudence" led to a hostile reaction, provoked widespread controversy and scandals. He was incriminated for "pornography"and "excessive perversion". He never accepted a public commission again.

Three ages of woman

At 35 he was one of the founders of the association of Austrian Visual Artists, widely known as the Secession which had three main aims: provide to young artists with regular opportunities to exhibit their work; to bring to Vienna the best foreign artists and to publish its own monthly magazine, "Ver Sacrum". He withdrew eight years later dismayed by the increasingly strong trend towards naturalism.

Water Snakes II

The primal forces of sexuality, regeneration, love and death form the dominant themes of Klimt's work. His paintings constitute a sublime frontier between traditional and modern, figurative and non-figurative. His immensely erotic portraits and sexually-charged sketches, his figures evoking the gold ground of Byzantine art, his richly patterned landscapes and mysterious allegorical compositions are at once sensous and refined and remain among the most recognized works of art in the world. Today we see in these works the Byzantine luxuriance of form and the vivid juxtaposition of colours derived from the Austrian rococo.

His paintings of "femmes fatales", such as Judith I personify the dark side of sexual attraction. The Kiss, his most known work, celebrates the attraction of the sexes. It's the most important work of his "golden phase". It has been compared to the Mona Lisa, as both exert a similar fascination. The enveloping robe substracts force to the painting's sexual representation, transforming the taboo of the kiss into a version which conquers the public's enthusiasm and the puritanical bourgeoisie's acceptance. Hope I, juxtaposes the promise of new life with the destroying force of death. Danae, a very erotic work depicts the conception of perseus by Zeus.

The Kiss

Klimt also painted landscapes based on the work of the Impresionists, even though he was not interested in time's play of lights and shadows. He found his way to landscape painting late in life, but it was a theme he greatly enjoyed. He did not draw sketches or studies for his landscapes, as he did for his portraits and allegories.

In January 1918, while Klimt was getting dressed, he suffered a stroke which paralysed the right side of his body. Less than a month later, Klimt was struck by pneumonia and died on February 6, 1918.

"Children Full of Life". A touching documentary

2010-06-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

"Children Full of Life" is a series of short profoundly moving documentaries about a fourth-grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, northwest of Tokio where their homeroom teacher, Toshiro Kanamori, encourages students to write their true inner feelings in a letter and read it aloud in front of the class. Each day, three children read letters to their classmates talking honestly about their feelings and sharing deep, ordinarily inaccessible emotions with the rest of the students. By sharing their lives, the children begin to realize the importance of caring for their classmates and gives them the opportunity to discover the value of sharing powerful emotions.
For a whole school year, the camera follows these 10-year-old's students showing how they grow and develop by learning empathy and compassion. They learn about themselves and their friends. Learn to cheer up their mates and to themselves. Learn to be courageous and take responsabilities.
Classroom discussions include difficult issues such as the death of a parent or being the victim of bullying. There are great emotive moments in this class. Mr. Kanamori's message in Class One is that their primary goal of the year is to be happy. We only have one life so we have to enjoy it. "We come to school to be happy, so let's all be happy together". This is the vow made by Grade Four students and their teacher Kanamori. The class searches together for ways to understand and cope with troubled relationships, unhappiness and loss of loved ones. Through their daily experiences, we see how they develop together the spirit of co-operation and compassion creating strong bonds between them.
An amazing moment is when a child stands up desperately for a friend. I could never imagine a child taking this kind of risk on behalf on another child. I also find it interesting that all the children took collective responsability for one child's actions.
I have to admit, I teared up a few times watching it.

- To my friend a.c.g.a. He was also such a teacher -
(You can see a Spanish subtitled version in Youtube "Pensando en los demás" from the Catalonian tv. The images are not of a good quality but it deserves to be seen.)

Rafa Nadal. Bravo!!

2010-06-06T11:22:00.000-07:00

Congrats Rafa!

Rafael Nadal has won his fifth French Open tournament without losing a set and regain the world number one ranking.
It's moving the way he sobbed like a baby, crying tears of joy. I love this boy, this tennis player, the only sportsman I am really interested in.
And now, Go Rafa Go! Regain Wimbledon!

Good luck!!

MLK's Quotes

2010-06-05T09:57:00.000-07:00

The Wave ("Die Welle")

2010-05-20T10:30:00.000-07:00

I got a Creative Zen x-fi 2 on Mother’s Day from my son and he transferred some films to it. I have just seen one of them “The Wave”. I was deeply impressed by how easily people can be manipulated, above all teenagers.

Dennis Gansel’s film “The Wave” poses the question, what led to the rise of the Nazis, and could it happen again?
The setting is in a prosperous town in present-day Germany, it is based in a high school populated by affluent, intelligent students and staff. A class of teenagers sits bored at the prospect of a lesson about fascist autocracy. Their history teacher, Herr Wenger, seems equally unenthusiastic.
He invites his students to participate in an experiment. For the next week the students will stand up to speak in class, address him as Sir and answer all the questions succinctly. He teaches them to sit up straight at their desks, to help each other out and to breathe correctly. Instead of rebelling, the students accepted gladly these new rules.

What begins as a playful study in psychological manipulation soon runs out of hands.
The group quickly begins to grow. They name themselves “The Wave”, invent a especial salute, devise a logo (a stylised wave), adopt a uniform (white shirt and jeans), create a My Space page, and exclude and persecute dissidents and non-conformists.
New students soon join “The Wave”. By midweek the students have been transformed into an ersatz Hitler Youth and they don’t realise how quickly they are mimicking mistakes of the past. Mistakes they all thought could never happen again.
A climax is unavoidable, resulting in a hard lesson for both Wenger and his students.

A great film. It is a must see for everyone, but especially for the young.

Uxío Novoneyra

2010-05-16T06:59:00.000-07:00

O Día das Letras Galegas (17 de maio) exalta as letras e a lingua Galega. Comezou a celebrarse en 1963.

Este ano adícase a Uxío Novoneyra. Naceu en 1930 na aldea de Parada de Moreda, no Courel e finou en Santiago de Compostela o 30 de outubro de 1999. O Courel foi o principal referente físico para os seus versos, considerados dos mellores no tocante á paisaxística, dentro da literatura galega.
Rematou o Bacharelato no 1948 en Lugo, e fixo algún curso de Filosofía e Letras en Madrid, onde comezou a escribir poemas en castelán. En 1952 comezou a escribir en galego, lingua que xa non deixaría nunca. Do 1953 ao 1962 estivo na montaña nativa, recobrándose dunha doenza pulmonar. En 1962 foi para Madrid de novo, e traballou na radio e na televisión. No 1966 regresou ao Courel, onde casou e tivo fillos. En 1983 afincouse definitivamente en Santiago. Foi, ata a súa morte, presidente da Asociación de Escritores en Lingua Galega.

Facsimile de "Abrojos"

En 1955 publicou "Os eidos", poemario con que comeza un ciclo poético que retomará con "Os eidos 2". "Letanía de Galicia e outros poemas" (1974). En 1979 publicou "Poemas caligráficos", prologado e ilustrado por Reimundo Patiño. Os textos están vinculados á vangarda pictórica organizada arredor do grupo Brais Pinto. A comezos da década de 1980 recompilou e depurou o seu ciclo courelán, publicando "Os eidos. Libro do Courel" (1981), que reeditou en varias ocasións. En 1983, afincado xa en Compostela, comezou unha recompilación temática da súa produción poética completa: "Muller pra lonxe" (1987), poemas paixonais e amorosos e "Do Courel a Compostela" 1956-1986, poemas políticos acompañados dunha antoloxía crítica. En 1994, logo de varios anos de silencio editorial, editou "Poemas de doada certeza i este brillo premido entre as pálpebras", e en 1998 Betanzos: "Poema dos Caneiros e Estampas".

Nos seus textos, Novoneyra preocúpase sobretodo, pola forma poética e pola linguaxe. Formalmente, procuraba o mellor resultado visual e —sobre todo— sonoro para os textos (botando man para tal efecto de diversos recursos como o fonosimbolismo, a utilización de dialectalismos e vulgarismos, os silencios, o simbolismo gráfico, etc). As poucas palabras que emprega pretenden evocar dun modo máxico o mundo no que o home esta inmerso, designando as cousas para que estas aparezan perante nós.

J.M. Barrie

2010-05-09T02:36:00.001-07:00

Today's the 150th anniversary of Sir James Matthew, Baronet Barrie, a Scottish journalist, playwright and children's book writer. He was born in the village of kirriemuir in Angus. From the beginning his life was marked by tragedy. He was the ninth child of a weaver who grew up in the shadow of an older brother, David, his mother adored golden boy, who was killed on the eve of his 14th birthday in a skating accident.

In 1894 he married the actress Mary Ansell. The marriage was childless and ended in divorce. However, he was friends with Arthur and Sylvia LLewellyn Davies, and when they died, he became the legal guardian to their five sons.

He became world famous with his play about Peter Pan (1904). It's the story of a boy who lived in Never Land, he had a war with Captain Hook, refused to grow up and created his own world of Indians, pirates and fairies.

Michael dressed as Peter Pan wrestling with J.M. Barrie as Hook, August 1906

The first name of Peter Pan was almost certainly taken from Peter Llewellyn Davies (1897-1960), one of the several Davies brothers that Barrie knew. He brought to life the myth of the perfect boy who never grows up, who can fly out of danger and yet for whom death would be "an awfully big adventure".

Barrie retold the play in narrative form as "Peter and Wendy" (1911) because he wanted his creation to benefit youngsters as much as possible. Barrie donated his rights to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children in London.

International Book Day

2010-04-23T00:06:00.000-07:00

23 April. It’s a symbolic date for world Literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes (according to Gregorian Calendar), Shakespeare (according to Julian Calendar) and Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It is natural then to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain respect for those who have fostered the social and cultural progress of humanity.

Enjoy this humorous Norwegian video "Introducing the book" to celebrate this day.

Con le mani nella pasta

2010-04-16T00:25:00.000-07:00

Ieri sera il Dipartimento di Italiano della EOI di Vigo ha organizato un corso di cucina in lingua italiana con una cuoca esperta. I docenti che frequentano il corso básico di italiano abbiamo chiesto alla nostra insegnante a partecipare e lei gentilmente lo permette. È stata una buona esperienza in cui noi praticamo il vocabolario sul cibo della classe precedente, mentre abbiamo imparato tutto sulla "cramble" (Briciola) - la provenienza, l'origine, ingredienti ... - e, naturalmente, elaboraremo la deliziosa ricetta. Dopo la gustamo accompagnato da un tè inglese.
È abbastanza semplice e facile di fare, uno stato di mele coperto da un impasto rigorosamente sbriciolato, cotto in forno fino a doradura.
Questa è la ricetta fornita della cuoca:
Ingredienti per 6 persone:

6 mele - 100 g zucchero - 1 cucchiaio di zucchero di canna (anche quello raffinato) - (scorza di limone grattugiato) - 300 g farina bianca - 150 g burro o margarina - panna / yogurt

Si dispongono le mele tagliate a fette non troppo sottili in una pirofilia da forno, sovrapponendole in modo da non lasciare spazi vuoti. Si cosparge la frutta con una noce di burro e le scorza di limone grattugiato (se vi piace con un tocco al limone)
Per il crumble, cioè il crostone che coprirà le mele, si mescolano con le dita farina bianca e burro o margarina (il dopio del peso della farina rispetto a quello del burro), in modo da ottenere un composto simille alla molica di pane grattugiata. Si aggiunge poi lo zucchero un terzo della quantità della farina) continuando a mescolare in modo da ottenere un composto leggero e soffice. Si versa il composto sulle mele, comprendolle bene e premendo leggermente. Si sparge poi zucchero di canna sopra al crumble e lo si inforna per circa 45 minuti a 180º C. È buonissimo anche se viene preparato con prugne e banane e aggiungendo una manciata di noci tritate. Si mangia caldo, spesso accompagnato da Custard ( crema simile alla pasticciera) oppure da panna leggermente montata.

"When I Am An Old Woman"

2010-03-26T03:23:00.000-07:00

"Warning"

by Jenny Joseph

WHEN I AM AN OLD WOMAN I SHALL WEAR PURPLE

With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick the flowers in other people's gardens

And learn to spit

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go

Or only bread and pickle for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

And pay our rent and not swear in the street

And set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

"When I Am An Old Woman" is a delightful poem that speaks of growing old in a wonderfully outrageous style, when political incorretness or whimsical behaviour might be accepted "just because you're old".

It was written in 1961 by the British Jenny Joseph. This classic describes women's need for freedom from the usual social conventions. It is symbolized by the red hat worn with purple, which the Victorian fashion considered a no-no.

The poem is popularly known by many titles including "Warning", "When I Am An Old Woman", "The Purple Poem", "Purple" and by other affectionate names. It's cherished by thousands of women throughout the world and practically everyone enjoys its light humour above all the ending of the poem when it says: "But maybe I ought to practice a little now..."

The interest in the poem has grown over the years and there are a whole product line about the poem including cards, T-shirts, bookmarks, magnets, decorative boxes... and other gift products.

11 - M Madrid

2010-03-11T03:13:00.000-08:00

Mi pequeño y humilde homenaje a las víctimas del 11 - M de Madrid con "Jueves", canción de la Oreja de Van Gogh dedicada a estas víctimas.

Happy 5th blog birthday!

2010-03-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

Yep, I started Bits and Bobs five years ago today. Five years and I still feel I'm learning what this blogging thing is all about.

To be fair, my dear humble blog is not as prolific as some blogs and posting has been rather sporadic and I did take some long breaks in there. It has 122 posts now and it has changed a lot since it was started mainly in appearance.

For those of you reading me and for the kind commenters, thank you for all your support and enthusiasm. It's encouraging to get feedback about what I write. Thanks a lot and a big hug.

Dr. Seuss

2010-02-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

American writer, cartoonist and illustrator Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to the world as Dr. Seuss, was born in Springfield, Massachusetts.

This year National Read Across America Day is celebrated on Ted's birthday (he was born on March 2, 1904). This event was established 13 years ago by NEA (National Education Association) in USA and focuses on motivating children and teenagers to read. Thousand of schools, libraries and community centers participate all across the country.

Dr. Seuss began his career in advertising. His advertising cartoons, featuring recurrent plea"Quick, Henry, the Flit!"became a common catchphrase and appeared in leading American magazines.

His first children's book "And to Think That I saw It on Malberry Street" hit the market in 1937, and the world of children's literature was changed forever!
Brilliant, playful and always respectful of children, Dr. Seuss published over 60 children's books characterized by imaginative characters, including such all-time favourites as "The Cat in the Hat", "Green Eggs and Ham", "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish", "Fox in Socks", "How the Grinch Stole Christmas"...
"A person's a person, no matter how small!" he would say. "Children want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained, and delighted".

In 1957, "The Cat in the Hat" started a series of books for beginning readers. He picked 220 words important for them to learn and kids and parents loved the story. It opens on two children who are stuck inside their house due to rain while their mother is out. They are looking for "something to do" when they suddenly get a visit from a six-foot-tall cat who wears a tall striped hat. This talking cat offers to entertain them by performing varios tricks, with the help from his funny-looking assistants, Thing One and Thing Two, despite the objections from the kid's pet fish.
Eventually, after the Cat and the Things end up making a mess of the house, the kids take control of the situation, and the Cat makes up for it by cleaning the place in his way out right before the mother returns.

He was also a life-long cartoonist in highschool in Springfield, Massachusetts; in college at Dartmonth; as an adman in New York City before World War II and in his many children's books. As he is famous for his children's books and his political cartoons remained largely unknown,we do

not think of Dr. Seuss as a political cartoonist. But the truth is that from 1941 to 1943 he was the chief editorial cartoonist for the New York newspaper "PM". He drew over 400 editorial cartoons on different subjects, people and places.

Besides the books, his works have provided the source for eleven children's television specials, A Broadway musical and a feature-length motion picture.
His honours include two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Well, if you ever happen to go to Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where Theodor Seuss Geisel was born don't miss the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden, Sculptor Lark Grey Dimond-Cates, created the endearing bronze sculptures of Dr. Seuss and his most beloved characters for the Springfield Library & Museums Association, located in the heart of this city.

The Bridges of Madison County.

2010-02-10T22:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Francesca,
I hope this finds you well. I don't know when you'll receive it. Sometime after I'm gone. I'm sixty-five now, and it's been thirteen years ago today that we met when I came up your lane looking for directions.

I'm gambling that this package won't upset your life in any way. I just couldn't bear to think of the cameras sitting in a secondhand case in a camera store or in some stranger's hands. They'll be in pretty rough shape by the time you get them. But, I have no one else to leave them to, and I apologize for putting you at risk by sending them to you.

I was on the road almost constantly from1965 to 1975. Just to remove some of the temptation to call you or come for you, a temptation I have virtually every waking moment of my life, l took all of the overseas assignments I could find. There have been times, many of them, when I've said, "The hell with it. I'm going to Win- terset, Iowa, and, whatever the cost, take Francesca away with me."

But I remember your words, and I respect your feelings. Maybe you were right; I just don't know. I do know that driving out of your lane that hot Friday morning was the hardest thing I've ever done or will ever do. In fact, I doubt if few men have ever done anything more difficult than that.

I left National Geographic in 1975 and have been devoting the remainder of my shooting years mostly to things of my own choosing, picking up a little work where I can get it, local or regional stuff that keeps me away only a few days at a time. It's been tough financially, but I get along. I always do. Much of my work is around Puget Sound. I like it that way. It seems as men get older they turn toward the water.

Oh, yes, l have a dog now, a golden retriever. I call him "Highway," and he travels with me most of the time, head hanging out the window, looking for good shots.
In 1972, I fell down a cliff in Maine, in Acadia National Park, and broke my ankle. The chain and medallion got torn off in the fall. Fortunately they landed close by. I found them again, and a jeweler mended the chain.

I live with dust on my heart. That's about as well as I can put it. There were women before you, a few, but none after. I made no conscious pledge to celibacy; I'm just not interested.

I once watched a Canada goose whose mate had been shot by hunters. They mate for life, you know. The gander circled the pond for days, and more days after that. When I last saw him, he was swimming alone through the wild rice, still looking. I suppose that analogy is a little too obvious for literary tastes, but it's pretty much the way I feel.

In my imagination, on foggy mornings or afternoons with the sun bouncing off northwest water, I try to think of where you might be in your life and what you might be doing as I'm thinking of you. Nothing complicated--- going out to your garden, sitting on your front porch swing, standing at the sink in your kitchen.
Things like that. I remember everything. How you smelled, how you tasted like the summer. The feel of your skin against mine, and the sound of your whispers as I loved you.

Robert Penn Warren once used the phrase"a world that seems to be God-abandoned." Not bad, pretty close to how I feel some of the time. But I cannot live that way always. When those feelings become too strong, I load Harry and go down the road with Highway for a few days.
I don't like feeling sorry for myself. That's not who I am. And most of the time I don't feel that way. Instead, I am grateful for having at least found you. We could have flashed by one another like two pieces of cosmic dust.

God or the universe or whatever one chooses to label the great systems of balance and order does not recognize Earth-time. To the universe, four days is no different than four billion light years. I try to keep that in mind.

But, I am, after all, a man. And all the philosophic rationalizations I can conjure up do not keep me from wanting you, every day, every moment, the merciless wail of time, of time I can never spend with you, deep within my head.

I love you, profoundly and completely. And I always will.

The last cowboy,
Robert

P. S., I put another new engine in Harry last summer, and he's doing fine.

Querida Francesca:

Espero que ésta te encuentre bien. No sé cuándo recibirás esta carta. Algún tiempo después de mi partida. Tengo sesenta y cinco años, y hoy hace trece que nos conocimos, cuando entré en tu sendero para pedir indicaciones.

Espero que este paquete no perturbe tu vida en modo alguno. No podría soportar pensar que las cámaras queden en estuches gastados en algún negocio de segunda mano, o en poder de un desconocido. Estarán bastante estropeadas cuando te lleguen. Pero no tengo a quien dejárselas, y te ruego que me perdones por ponerte en riesgo enviándotelas.

Entre 1965 y 1975 estuve casi todo el tiempo viajando. Para alejar la tentación de llamarte o ir a verte, una tentación que tengo virtualmente en todos mis momentos de vigilia. Acepté todas las misiones que pude fuera del país. A veces, muchas veces, me dije: "Al diablo, me voy a Winterset. Iowa, y me llevo a Francesca conmigo a cualquier costo".

Pero recuerdo tus palabras, y respeto tus sentimientos. Tal vez tengas razón; no lo sé. Lo que sé es que salir de tu sendero esa calurosa mañana de un viernes fue lo más duro que me tocó hacer en la vida. En realidad dudo de que muchos hombres hayan hecho jamás algo tan difícil.

Dejé el National Geographic en 1975 y dediqué el resto de mis años de fotógrafo a cosas elegidas por mí, haciendo algún trabajo donde lo encontraba, temas locales o regionales que sólo me obligan a estar fuera por unos días cada vez. Desde el punto de vista financiero es duro, pero me las arreglo. Siempre me las he arreglado. Gran parte de mi trabajo gira alrededor de Puget Sound, y eso me gusta. Parece que cuando los hombres envejecen se acercan al agua.

Ahora tengo un perro, un perdiguero dorado. Lo llamo "Camino", y viaja conmigo casi todo el tiempo, sacando la cabeza por la ventanilla, buscando buenas presas. En el setenta y dos me caí de un acantilado en Maine, en el parque nacional de Acadia, y me fracturé un tobillo. Con la caída se rompieron la cadena y el medallón. Afortunadamente cayeron cerca. Los encontré y mandé reparar la cadena a un joyero.

Vivo con el corazón cubierto de polvo. Esa es la mejor manera en que puedo expresarlo. Hubo mujeres antes de ti, algunas, pero después de ti ninguna. No hice ningún voto de celibato; sencillamente no me interesan.

Una vez vi un ganso en Canadá a quien unos cazadores le habían matado la pareja. Sabes que se aparean para toda la vida. El ganso anduvo en círculos alrededor del estanque durante muchos días después de lo sucedido. Cuando lo vi por última vez nadaba solo en medio del arroz silvestre, siempre buscando. Supongo que la analogía es demasiado obvia para el gusto literario, pero es así como me siento.

En mi imaginación, en mañanas neblinosas o en tardes en que el sol se pone sobre las aguas al noroeste, trato de pensar qué puede ser de tu vida y qué estarás haciendo mientras pienso en ti. Nada complicado... salir al jardín, sentarte en la hamaca del porche, estar de pie ante la pileta de la cocina. Cosas así. Recuerdo todo. Tu olor, tu sabor de verano. La sensación de tu piel contra la mía, tus susurros cuando te amaba.

Una vez Robert Penn Warren usó esta frase: "... un mundo que parece abandonado de Dios...". No está mal, se parece bastante a lo que siento a veces. Pero no puedo vivir siempre así. Cuando esos sentimientos se hacen demasiado intensos, cargo las cosas en Harry y me voy de viaje por unos días con Camino.

No me gusta tenerme lástima. No soy de esa clase de hombre. Y la mayor parte del tiempo no me siento así. En cambio me siento agradecido por haberte encontrado. Podríamos haber pasado uno junto al otro sin percibirnos, como dos porciones de polvo cósmico.

Dios o el universo, o lo que uno elija para nombrar los grandes sistemas de equilibrio y orden, no reconoce el tiempo terrestre. Para el universo, cuatro días no es distinto de cuatro mil millones de años luz. Yo trato de tenerlo siempre presente.

Pero, al fin y al cabo, no soy más que un hombre.Y todas las elucubraciones filosóficas que pueda conjurar no me salvan de desearte, todos los días, a cada momento ni del despiadado gemido del tiempo, el tiempo que nunca puedo pasar contigo, dentro de mi cabeza.

Te amo profundamente, totalmente. Y será siempre así.

El Ultimo cowboy, Robert

P.S.: El verano pasado le puse un motor nuevo a Harry. Anda muy bien.

I think this touching letter summarises the intense, lasting love story in “The Bridges Of Madison County” and I like especially the fact that the characters are “mature” and not a couple of 20 year-olds.
It was a surprising “word of mouth” best-seller book in the 1990s about the story of Francesca Johnson, a 45 year-old Iowa farm wife who meets Robert Kincaid, 52, a “National Geographic” photographer while her family is away at the Illinois State Fair.
“The Bridges of Madison County” is set in mid-1960s when Robert Kincaid comes to Iowa to take pictures of historic rustic covered bridges for a National Geographic magazine article.
Since the rural roads to Roseman Bridge are not clearly marked, he asked Francesca for directions and she offered to accompany him. Kincaid takes various shots of the bridge at a distance, because he is losing the light he needs and he decides to return the next day.
Back at home she invites him for dinner and he helps her prepare the vegetables for the meal. They share a few beers, exchange life stories and take a short walk after dinner. The evening ends when Kincaid leaves as he needs to rise early for the next day’s shoot. But Francesca drives to the bridge again that night and tacks up a note where she knows Kincaid will find it. It’s an invitation to dinner the following evening.
At dinner the next evening they realize they have fallen in love and their intense, short-lived love affair begins. During their four days together, they have much intimacy and tender conversation. They are joined in an experience of uncommon and stunning beauty, an experience that will haunt them forever.
He asks her to come away with him but Francesca realizes she cannot leave her family because of her sense of responsibility to them. She cannot abandon them, “They would not survive the talk”, she could never bring such pain and humiliation to her family. So, the two lovers return to their previous lives with thoughts of what might have been. They will never see each other again, they have only a couple of written contact over the years.
After Kincaid has died, a package reaches Francesca that contains his cameras, the medallion she had given him, the old note she had tacked to the bridge and a letter that informs her that Kincaid has passed away.
She also learns that his cremated remains were scattered at the Roseman Bridge. By this time Francesca’s husband has passed away and she lives out her days alone remembering her time with Robert. One day, at the age of 69, she is found dead. She has left instructions for her ashes to be scattered at Roseman Bridge. This puzzles her two grown children who had planned to bury her alongside their father.

“The Bridges of Madison County” is a beautifully written book, maybe overly sentimental but it has a memorable magical read. It’s one of the most romantic, stirring tales of true love I’ve ever read, it has captured my imagination and support the same as Dr. Zhivago, Romeo and Juliet, Casablanca film and countless others.
Even if the book is controversial with people divided into fans and foes of the story, regarding it as romance, literature or an adult fairy tale, “The Bridges of Madison County” holds a fascination for people because of the popular themes it explores: love, passion, opportunity, regret, loyalty, consequence and responsibility.
This book was followed in 1995 by a well-received Hollywood film of the same name starring Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood.

"Avatar"

2010-01-28T22:51:00.001-08:00

"Avatar", directed by James Cameron, is a 3D science fiction epic film set in the year 2154 which tells the story of an ex-Marine, Jake Sally - played by Sam Worthington - who is confined to a wheel-chair following a war on Earth. He is selected to take part in the Avatar Program - where his mind will control a healthy body on a remote world - and sent to Pandora, a rainforest-covered moon of the planet Polyphemus, some 4.3 light years from Earth. It is inhabited by strange criatures, the Na'vi, a humanoide race with their own language and culture.

Humans are unable to breathe Pandora's air, so the Avatar Program creates bodies designed to look like Na'vi, grown in vats using a combination of human and Na'vi DNA. Humans then "drive" the Avatar bodies as they explore Pandora. Through his Avatar body Jake will be able to walk again.

Na'vi people are ten-foot tall, blue skinned creatures with zebra stripes and a long tail pointed into a diamond at the end. The facial features are leonine, with enormous golden eyes and large, pointed ears. they are phisically stronger and taller than humans and they live in harmony with nature, worshipping a mother goddess called Eywa.

At once, we can notice the bioluminescent terrifying beauty of Pandora, the plants are a spectacle of greens, blues, pinks, and purples without being the slightest bid gaudy. Some of the plants look like jungle flowers , others like hanging butterfly wings.

Humans are engaged in mining Pandora's natural resources, a precious mineral, called unobtanium which can save Earth from its present energy crisis. Indigenius Na'vi must resist the colonists' expansion which threatens the continued existence of the Na'vi and the Pandoran ecosystem.

While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with beautiful alien Neytiri - Zoe Saldana - restless Colonel Quaritch moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics forcing Jake to take a stand and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.

The film ends with the Na'vi performing the ritual that permanently transfers Jake from his human body into his Na'vi avatar.

"Avatar" has been a film revolution offering as big a leap in our viewing experience as the change from black-and-white television to colour.

James Cameron has pushed technical effects to the limit. It's not the first time cinema has flirted with 3D but the results have often been derided. Cameron waited 15 years before starting filming as technology had not advanced enough to portray his vision. So, he co-developed a new generation of stereoscopic cameras. Simplified, this is the equivalent of two cameras strapped together, each providing a slightly different perspective on the scene, mimicking the way human eyes view the world in three dimensions.

Our impression with previous experiences of 3D was one of a flattish image with the occasional object "flying" at us, but now the entire screen has depth, taking on the appearance of a window through which the viewers are watching a "world" on the screen with a distinct foreground and background, rather than a flat, moving painting. The cinema screen becomes a theatre stage.

Viewers will need to wear glasses to get the illusion. They are polarising glasses which do not cause the headaches experienced in the past since each lens has a different filter which removes different part of the image as it enters each eye. This gives the brain the illusion it is seeing the picture from two different angles, creating the 3D effect.

And now you can enjoy the official trailer.

Mandela's Year

2010-01-20T08:48:00.000-08:00

Definitely, 2010 will be Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela's year.

The world likes to express appreciation to this great man, to the remarkable life of one of the icons of modern times who struggled against apartheid and was the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

The UN General Assembly has established July 18 as Nelson Mandela International Day, beginning in 2010 to recognize the Nobel Price laureate's contribution to resolving conflicts and promoting race relations, human rights and reconcialition.

Tributes will be paid all year round to show him gratitude, respect and admiration with exhibitions, concerts, musicals, films, new publications and even the Football World Cup Championship will honour him.

Nelson Mandela International Day will be observed annually on 18 July, Mandela's birthday, starting in 2010, when the former anti-apartheid leader will turn 92 years old in recognition of his contribution to global peace and freedom. By adopting the resolution, the UN expressed its appreciation for "a great man who had suffered fot the sake of people everywhere" and recognizes Mandela's 27-year imprisonment, most of which was spent in the notorious Robben Island prison of the coast of Cape Town.

The film "Invictus" from Director Clint Eastwood was premiered in USA on 3 December 2009 and it will be released on 29 January 2010 in Spain. It tells the inspiring story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country.

It was previously titled "The Human Factor". The new film's title refers to a poem by William Ernest Henley that was often recited by Mandela.

"Invictus" sees Matt Damon as rugby star Francois Pienaar, who created, along with Mandela (Morgan Freeman), an event that gave whites and blacks in South Africa a common cause to rally around as the country was trying to heal from the wounds of apartheid.

Newly elected President Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided. Believing he can bring his people together through the universl language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.

The Simpsons 20th Anniversary

2009-12-16T22:34:00.000-08:00

Today is the 20th Anniversary of the first episode of the Simpsons series.

The celebration of this 20 years will culminate in January 2010 with a documentary special entitled "The Simpsons 20th Anniversary Special in 3D on Ice".

This special will examine the cultural phenomenon of "The Simpsons" and will document how the world sees the Simpsons and how The Simpsosns family has seen the world for two decades.

It will be produced and directed by filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, star of "Super Size me" and "30 Days".

Here it's a video with the song "Lisa it's your birthday", a tribute to Michael Jackson

The Girl Who Silence the World

2009-12-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

The Girl Who Silence the World

Now that Copenhagen in Denmark is hosting the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference from the 7th to the 18th of December 2009, it is a good moment to see this video.

I am sorry it is not of a good quality but I only want you to focus your attention on the girl's message.

El antes y el ahora

2009-11-25T21:57:00.000-08:00

Creo que no son necesarias muchas palabras, estas viñetas ilustran claramente la transformación que ha experimentado la enseñanza y la sociedad española en las últimas décadas.
La violencia de baja intensidad es uno de los principales problemas a los que nos enfrentamos los profesores en nuestras aulas. Son agresiones leves como insultos, desprecios, desplantes, descalificaciones, desobediencias que nos van minando y que a veces desmotivan y desestabilizan psíquicamente a muchos docentes.
Si hacemos una pequeña historia de la enseñanza en nuestro país nos daremos cuenta cómo hemos llegado a esta situación.
Cuando en 1970 se promulgó la Ley General de Educación, establecía la enseñanza obligatoria hasta los catorce años y fomentaba además los valores cívicos como la solidaridad, el respeto, la generosidad, el esfuerzo y la responsabilidad.
La Logse en 1990 alargó la obligatoriedad de la enseñanza hasta los dieciséis años pero con un sistema que no favorecía ni promovía una actitud activa, esforzada y responsable de los alumnos. Se reducían los contenidos, se eliminaba el esfuerzo individual y la promoción era automática. Ya no estaba bien visto el enseñar valores y llegaron los "objetores escolares", alumnos obligados a permanecer en clase desinteresados, desmotivados y que sólo se dedican a molestar a los demás.

Al mismo tiempo, la sociedad ha ido evolucionando en algunos aspectos e involucionando en otros, digamos en la pérdida de respeto y responsabilidad. Unos jóvenes que no son respetuosos consigo mismos ni con los demás. Antes era habitual el intentar parecer una persona educada, culta y refinada. Aceptábamos la autoridad de cualquier persona mayor que podía reprendernos sin temor a la reacción de nuestros padres que seguramente le darían la razón. Éramos educados por todos, no solamente por nuestros padres y profesores. La urbanidad no era un esnobismo sino una forma de relacionarse con respeto.
Actualmente, no hay más que ver la televisión para cerciorarnos de que lo que prima es el vociferar, el hacer alarde de grosería y de una incultura supina. Tanto en las clases como en la calle hemos pasado del respeto (no miedo) al desprestigio y la mofa.
A ver quién se atreve a reprender una conducta inadecuada a un niño. Primero el niño se te rebota con gran descaro y te mandan "a que te pique un pollo", por no decir "a que te folle un pato loco" o lindezas por el estilo. Y los padres no se quedan atrás; te recriminan, en el mejor de los casos, con qué autoridad te dignas reñir a sus retoños sino llegan a más.

"Sonne". Rammstein

2009-11-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

"Sonne", (German for "Sun") is a song by the German Tanz Metall group Rammstein.

This is a classical musical video with a twisted version of the Snow White tale. The band members play the 7 Dwarves. They mine gold for a gold-addicted Snow White who snorts it like cocaine. One day she overdosis while she was having a bath and the dwarves put her in a glass coffin and carry her up a hill to bury her. An apple falls from the tree above the grave and cracks open the coffin and Snow White wakes up.

Apparently, this idea came about while several of the band members were watching the Disney film, and had "Sonne" playing in the background. There were many other ideas for the video, one of them was a video about the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

I like this rhytmic song, here you have the lyrics in German. Enjoy it!

Sonne

Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf

Sechs, sieben, acht, neun, Aus.

Alle warten auf das Licht

Fürchtet euch fürchtet euch nicht

Die Sonne scheint mir aus den Augen

Sie wird heute Nacht nicht untergehen

Und die Welt zählt laut bis zehn

Eins

Hier kommt die Sonne

Zwei

Hier kommt die Sonne

Drei

Sie ist der hellste Stern von allen

Vier

Hier kommt die Sonne

Die Sonne scheint mir aus den Händen

Kann verbrennen kann euch blenden

Wenn sie aus den Fäusten bricht

Legt sich heiss auf das Gesicht

Sie wird heute nacht nicht untergehen

Und die Welt zählt laut bis zehn

Eins

Hier kommt die Sonne

Zwei

Hier kommt die Sonne

Drei

Sie ist der hellste Stern von allen

Vier

Hier kommt die Sonne

Fünf

Hier kommtdie Sonne

Sechs

Hier kommt die Sonne

Sieben

Sie ist der hellste Stern von allen

Acht, neun

Hier kommt die Sonne

Die Sonne scheint mir aus den Händen

Kann verbrennen, kann dich blenden

Wenn sie aus den Fäusten bricht

Legt sich heiss auf dein Gesicht

Legt sich schmerzend auf die Brust

Das Gleichgewicht wird zum Verlust

Lässt dich hart zu Boden gehen

Und die Welt zählt laut bis zehn

Eins

Hier kommt die Sonne

Zwei

Hier kommt die Sonne

Drei

Sie ist der hellste Stern von allen

Vier

Und wird nie vom Himmel fallen

Fünf

Hier kommt die Sonne

Sechs

Hier kommt die Sonne

Sieben

Sie ist der hellste Stern von allen

Acht, neun

Hier kommt die Sonne

Aus

The Fall Of Berlin Wall. 20th Anniversary

2009-11-08T22:10:00.000-08:00

Today Berliners celebrate the Fall of the Wall with major celebrations on this 20th anniversary of the Wall's collapse, after nearly three decades - between 1961 and 1989 (28 years) - keeping East and West Berliners apart.
The opening of the Berlin Wall was preceded by a series of events in East Germany such as Mass demonstrations against the Government and the system beginning at the end of September and took until November 1989.
The World has changed since that Wednesday 9th November 1989; the comunism collapsed, the Soviet Empire imploded and Berliners were reunited in 1990.
Here are some data of the Wall:
Total lenght: 155Km.
In Berlin: 43,1km.
Concrete wall: 107,3km.
Guard dogs: 600
watch towers: 302
Bunkers: 22
Border guards: 14,000
Arrested people: 3221
Successful flights: 5,043
Dead people trying to scape: 239 or 800 (depending on the source)
Dead policemen and soldiers: 27
Grafitty at the Wall (" Some time, every wall will fall")

People tried to escape by means of different methods; they used the sewage system, tunnels, hiding places in cars, fake passports, light aircrafts and event balloons.

Pity not to be at the Branderburg Gate today celebrating this special anniversary. Congrats Berliners!!

Comenius "Overcoming Stereotypes to Reach Understanding and Acceptation"

2009-11-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

To my friends from the Comenius "Overcoming Stereotypes to Reach Understanding and Acceptation"
It has been a great pleasure to have all the Comenius participants (teachers and students) from Turkey, Poland and Italy (Sora and Palermo) in our school IES Val do Tea in Ponteareas - Galicia (Spain).
Thanks a lot to everyone.
Enjoy the photos!

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?

2009-11-01T10:03:00.000-08:00

Pete Seger on 6Lyrics.com

"Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" is an evocative beautiful folk song. It was written by Pete Seeger inspired by a poem in a Russian Mikhail Sholojov's novel "And Quiet Flows the Don".
This anti-war song reflects the senseless of dying in battle. It's rethorical "Where?" falls in the uby sunt tradition, a meditation on mortality and life's transcience.
There are many versions of this song in different languages. I only will mention the one performed by Marlene Dietrich in French, English and German and the ones by Joan Baez and Pete Seeger.
Enjoy this lovely song!

Eenie, Meeny, Miney, Moe

2009-10-27T12:19:00.000-07:00

Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe

Eenie, meenie, miney, moe,

Catch a tiger by the toe.

If he hollers, let him go.

My mother said to pick

The very best one And you are noooot (not) it

Choosing or counting – out rhymes are an important part of childhood. If a game is being set up and nobody wants to volunteer for a particular part or position, then a selection rhyme is used to choose one from the group.
All rhymes begin with the players in a circle. Then one of them, the singer, begins the rhyme and points around to the left or to the right, until they get to the end of the song. Whoever is being pointed at during the last word is either chosen or eliminated depending on the version or how the children choose to play.
When you sing this as a choosing game, you break it down by word. It's said like this below. On each line you're choosing a different one.

Eenie,

meenie

miney,

moe,

catch a

tiger

by the

toe.

If he

hollers,

Let him

go.

mother

said

pick

the

very

best

one

and

you

are

noooot (not)

it.

Sometimes people are counted and sometimes each person’s hands, so that you are only safe once both hands have been removed from the circle.

"Eenie, meenie, miney, moe," is the most popular selection rhyme. It was first used in the 18th Century and there exists multiple versions differing from region to region.
Some of these variations of the chants are also used to choose who would be “it” for games of tag or hide and seek.

Below there are some versions.

Eenie meenie miney moe,

Catch a tiger by the toe,

If he squeals, let him go,

Eenie meenie miney moe,

Eeny, meeny, miny moe,
Catch a tiger by the toe.
If he hollers make him pay,
Fifty dollars every day.

Eeeny, meeny, miney, mo.
Put the baby on the po.
When he's done,
Wipe his bum.
And tell his mother what he's done

Eenie meenie sicileeny,

Ooh ah zambalini,

Achi cachi Liberache,

I love you,

Take a peach,

Take a plum,

Take a stick of bubble gum,

Not a peach,

Not a plumb,

Not a stick of bubble gum.

Eeny, meany, tortellini

Beep, bop, bopellini

Etchy-sketchy, liver-etchy

I like you.

Take a peach,

take a plum

Take a stick of chewing gum

Stick it here,

stick it there

Stick it in your teacher's hair

No more school,

no more books

No more teachers' dirty looks

Yeah.

Eeny meeny desimeeny,

Ooh lah ooh lah a meeny,

Atchy atchy boomeratchy,

Bo-di-ac doh.

Take a peach,

take a plum,

Take a stick o' bubble gum.

No more schoolwork,

No more books,

No more teacher's Dirty looks.

Yeah!

There is even a controversial version when “politically correct” did not exist and children sang this rhyme using “nigger” instead of “tiger” (no offence intended!)
But it is not clear its origin if it refers when slaves were captured in Africa or when they ran away from plantations. In any case children sang the rhyme that way.

Eenea, meenea, mina, mo,
Catch a nigger by the toe;
If he hollers let him go,
Eenee, Meenee. Mainee, Mo.

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo,
Catch a nigger by his toe,
If he won't work then let him go;
Skidum, skidee, skidoo.
But when you get money, your little bride
Will surely find out where you hide,
So there's the door and when I count four,
Then out goes you

Maybe some other time I would write about other counting rhymes. I find them very interesting.

Suntory blue rose Applause

2009-10-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Today the first 100% blue rose has come out in Tokyo, Japan.

Suntory Holdings has shown the flowers that are said to be the world's first roses with nearly 100 per cent blue pigments in the petals.

It has taken 20 years to grow these blue roses and they will be sold in major cities in Japan starting November 3rd (Bunka day) at about €20 each.

"Suntory blue rose Applause" have a bluish tinge remembering the sky just after dawn and they possess an elegant, alluring fresh fragance.

So, with a unique coloring and fragance, they will create an exquisite relaxed atmosphere and they will make a memorable gift for any special occasion.

The name "Applause" was chosen to congratulate those who have fulfilled a dream and to encourage those who have worked conscientiously towards this goal. In Japanese "applause" rhymes with rose.

It's a dream fulfilled because it seemed impossible to obtain blue roses since they lack the blue pigment delphinidin but it has been proved once again that working hard and pursuing one goal can culminate in a great success.

Congrats to Suntory Holdings for this challenging success. No doubt "Applause blue roses" will be my favourite ones from now on, as I love blue colour and roses.

"Achmed the Dead Terrorist"

2009-10-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

Jeff Dunham, American ventriloquist and comedian has become an entertainment phenomenon including record-breaking television specials.

Apart from Achmed, the Dead Terrorist he has other characters: Peanut, Walter, José Jalapeño on a stick, Bubba J., Melvin the Superhero Guy and Sweet Daddy Dee.

Enjoy this video!

"The Elegance of the Hedgehog"

2009-09-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

"The Elegance of the Hedgehog" , Muriel Barbery's second novel is a beautifully written book which elegantly treats the line between literary and commercial fiction. However, I must confess it didn't capture me , at least initially. Several times I was on the point of giving up and starting any other book, but slowly this novel and its characters drew me in and I was completely hooked by the end.

It's a very Fench novel: tender and satirical in its overall tone, but absorbing because of its reflections on the nature of beauty and art, the meaning of life and death. These strands provide Muriel Barbery - one-time philosophy teacher who now lives in Japan - with the opportunity to explore her favourite theme: philosophy as applied to everyday life. Clever, informative and moving, it is essentially a course in philosophy interwoven with a platonic love story. In her brief chapters, more essays than fiction, Renée Michel, its main character, offers a mini-treatise on phenomenology, discuss the function of literature in life and the barrenness of a certain kind of scholarship.

The story provides the confession of two women: Renée Michel, a 54-year old concierge in a Parisian block of luxury apartments, and Paloma Josse, a precocious 12-year old girl, daughter of a wealthy family in the house.

The two narrators alternate chapters, but the book is written from the viewpoint of Renée, with the Paloma's story woven into it. Renée's story is addressed to no one, while Paloma's takes the form of a diary crammed with what she labels "Profound Thoughts" in which she jots down haiku and tanka.

The hedgehog of the title is a witty metaphor for Renée who calls herself "short, ugly and plump", a self-consciously stereotypical working-class nobody, but despite her appearance and outward manner, she possesses a mind of the most infinite refinement and precision. She is an autodidact who loves Mozart, adores Tolstoi, is a devotee of Japanese cinema, listens to Mahler, secretly disdains Husserl's philosophy and even practices the Japanese tea ceremony in her private backroom.

In short, she is more aware and more cultivated than anyone around her. Nevertheless, her inner life is entirely clandestine and she pretends to be far more stupid and uncultivated than she is in order to keep with society's expectations of what a concierge should be.

Her unlikely counterpart is Paloma Josse. Acutely intelligent, introspective and philosophical, this precocious girl views the world as absurd and records her observations about it in her diary. She despises her coddled existence, her older sister and her well-to-do parents, especially her plant-obsessed mother. She believes her life is meaningless and has secretly decided to commit suicide on her 13th birthday.

But halfway through "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" the lives of Paloma and Renée are unexpectedly transformed when a cultured Japanese gentleman named Kakuro Ozu moves into the building. Though clearly rich, he is also immensely courtous, mysterious and shrewd. He immediately perceives that neither the little girl nor the concierge is just what she seems and he decides to discover more about their secret lives. He quickly discerns Renée and Paloma intelligence and taste; he and Renée begin a sentimental friendship based on a shared love of beauty.

As the two characters' lifes overlap, Paloma discovers Renée secret gifts and she writes in her diary: "Madame Michel has the same simple refinement as the hedgehog", a real fortress, bristling with quills on the outside... "deceptively indolent little creature, fiercely solitary but terribly elegant" within.

These two characters provide the double narrative of "The Elegance of the Hedgehog" and you will fall in love with both. Humour and humanity exude throughout the novel, until by the last chapter you will have a tear in your eye.

I enthusiastically recomment this novel for anyone who loves books that grow slowly and then blossom suddenly.

Autumn Haikus

2009-09-22T11:18:00.001-07:00

AUTUMN HAIKUS

Autumn: my yearly

clash with conflicting feelings

of joy and despair

Yellow autumn moon ...

unimpressed the scarecrow stands

simply looking bored

Oh scarlet autumn!

that profound punctuation

to shamrock summer

autumn dusks

carecrow points

to the rising moon

first autumn trees

begin to blush

before disrobing

your eyes catch mine

as I stare into the clouds-

autumn daydream

On a withered bough

A crow alone is perching,

Autumn evening now.

The carpet of leaves
dying in silence , deadens
the passing of love.

I Look to You

2009-09-20T09:51:00.000-07:00

Wow! Welcome back Whitney Houston!

What an amazing song, for God's sake!

She is back again with this powerful song. Congrats on your beautiful video. I love it.

You. Are. Great.

2009-09-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

"Validation", Kurt Kuenne's short film, is a tiny little masterpiece, remarkably simple, turning on the premise: what if parking validations aren't just about getting free parking but also validations of your existence?
In this 16-minute fable, a parking attendant gives his customers more than just free parking, he also gives compliments to everyone by telling them their good features.
You are hooked from the initial sweep when gentle Hugh Newman starts "validating" a "customer": "You've got powerful features, man, anyone ever tell you that? Listen, you look a little down... someday people are going to see you for who you really are. You. are. Great."
So, stop what you are doing and devote the next 16 minutes of your life to this magical short, "Validation". Sure you will smile.

The Ruby brooch. Solution

2009-09-12T03:45:00.000-07:00

As I promised here is the solution of the puzzle.

In this case we were shown a sketch of the brooch exactly as it appeared after the four rubies had been stolen from it. The reader was asked to show the position from which the stones "may have been taken"; for it is not possible to show precisely how the genes were originally placed, because there are many such ways. But an important point was the statement by Lady Littlewood's brother: "I know the brooch well. It originally contained forty-five stones, and there are now only forty-one. Somebody has stolen four rubies, and then reset as small a number as possible in such a way that there shall always be eight stones in any of the directions you have mentioned".

The diagram shows the arrangement before the robbery. It will be seen that it was only necessary to reset one ruby -the one in the centre. Any solution involving the resetting of more than one stone is not in accordance with the brother's statement, and must therefore be wrong. The original arrangement was, of course, a little unsymmetrical, and for this reason the brooch was described as "rather eccentric".

Henry Ernest Dudeney

2009-08-30T03:00:00.000-07:00

Henry Ernest Dudeney (1857 - 1930) was born in the village of Mayfield, East Sussex, England. He was England's greatest composer of math and logic puzzles. Dudeney is best known for his publications of mathematical problems and pasttimes, some of which provoked serious mathematical research.

He came from a family which had a mathematical tradition and also a tradition of school teaching.

Henry learnt to play chess at a young age and soon became interested in chess problems. From the age of nine he was composing problems and puzzles which he published in a local paper. Although he only had a basic education, never attending college, he had a particular interest in mathematics and studied mathematics and its history in his spare time.

One of the most famous of his geometrical puzzles is the "Haberdasher's problem" (Cut an equilateral triangle into four pieces that can be arranged to make a square)

He was a near - contemporary of Sam Loyd, America's greatest puzzle expert and the two men frequently exchanged puzzles and ideas. Many of Loyd's and Dudeney's published puzzles show strong similarities, demonstrating how close their collaboration sometimes was.

One of his publications was "Amusements in Mathematics", you have here an example of one of his puzzles.

"The Ruby Brooch"

The annals of Scotland Yard contain some remarkable cases of jewel robberies, but one of the most perplexing was the theft of lady Littlewood's rubies. There have, of course, been many greater robberies in point of value, but few so artfully conceived. Lady Littlewood, of Rowley Manor, had a beautiful but rather eccentric heirloom in the form of a ruby brooch.

While staying at her town house early in the eighties she took the jewel to a shop in Brompton for some slight repairs.

"A fine collection of rubies madam" said the shopkeeper, whom her ladyship was a stranger.

"Yes", she replied; "but curiously enough I have never actually counted them. My mother once pointed out to me that if you start from the centre and count up one line, along the outside and down the next line, there are always eight rubies. So I should always know if a stone were missing".

Six months later a brother of Lady Littlewood's, who had returned from his regiment in India, noticed that his sister was wearing the ruby brooch one night at a county ball, and on their return home asked to look at it more closely. He immediately detected the fact that four of the stones were gone.

"How can that possibly be?" said Lady Littlewood. "If you count up one line from the centre, along the ede, and down the next line, in any direction, there are always eight stones. This was always so and is so now. How, therefore, would it be possible to remove a stone without my detecting it?"

"Nothing could be simpler", replied the brother. "I know the brooch well. It originally contained forty-five stones, and there are now only forty-one. Somebody has stolen four rubies, and then reset as small a number of the others as possible in such a way that there shall always be eight in any of the directions you have mentioned."

There wasn't the slightest doubt that the Brompton jeweller was the thief, and the matter was placed in the hands of the police. But the man was wanted for other robberies, and had left the neighbourhood some time before. To this day he has never been found.

The interesting little point that at first baffled the police, and which forms the subject of our puzzle, is this: How were the forty-five rubies originally arranged on the brooch? The illustation shows exactly how the forty-one were arranged after it came back from the jeweller; but although they count eight correctly in any of the directions mentioned, there are four stones missing.

Prove how clever you are and try to solve it.

I'd like to have comments with the solution. In any case, I´ll give you the solution in a next post in a few days. And if some of you are interested in these puzzles I´ll publish some more in the future.

The Boy Does Nothing. Alesha Dixon

2009-07-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

Alesha Dixon widget by 6L & Daxii

Enjoy gorgeous and talented Alesha Dixon's video "The boy does nothing" dancing with professional dancers.

Castro de Yecla la Vieja

2009-07-21T13:50:00.000-07:00

Bajo un sol abrasador hemos visitado el Castro de Yecla la Vieja y nos ha sorprendido gratamente su buen estado de conservación.

Se halla situado al Noroeste de la provincia de Salamanca, a 8 kilómetros de Vitigudino, en la confluencia del arroyo Varlaña con el río Huebra.

Este emplazamiento defensivo se levanta sobre una abrupta plataforma y presenta una forma aproximadamente triangular ocupando una superficie de unas 5 ha. El poblado aprovecha para protegerse las defensas naturales que tiene el terreno con escarpadas pendientes y completa su protección con una ancha muralla de más de 1200 metros de longitud que es posible recorrer en todo su perímetro y un grosor de unos 7 metros. Se adapta a las ondulaciones del terreno y su pared externa - paramento - está inclinada para dar una mayor estabilidad a la fortificación.

La puerta principal se defendía con un grueso bastión y un campo de piedras hincadas frente a ella. También presenta una forma de embudo, estrechándose las paredes hasta hacerse un callejón que discurría paralelo a la muralla.
Existen además otras puertas en embudo a lo largo de ella. También hay portillos del que destacamos el abierto en la parte septentrional con una escalera que desciende hasta el arroyo Varlaña.

Como no todo el terreno que rodea a la muralla tiene una elevada pendiente, necesitaba aumentar la protección de las zonas llanas. Para ello se sirvieron de una barrera de piedras hincadas al pie de la muralla, eran grandes y puntiagudas lajas de granito que dificultaban el avance del enemigo a pie o a caballo.
El castro de Yecla la Vieja ha sufrido sucesivas ocupaciones. Tiene sus orígenes hacia el siglo V a. C. en la Segunda Edad del Hierro y fue poblado por un pueblo prerromano, los vettones, pueblo celta que introdujeron la cultura de los verracos.
A comienzos del siglo I d. C. se produjo su romanización como atestiguan las numerosas inscripciones latinas y estelas funerarias encontradas.
En la época visigoda se produce el inicio de su decadencia y comienza a despoblarse, aunque no es hasta finales del siglo XII cuando sus habitantes se trasladan a un kilómetro dando origen a la actual Yecla de Yeltes.

Tras su abandono, en época de los Reyes Católicos se construyó en el recinto la ermita de la Virgen del Castillo que se conserva y está en uso.

Los restos arqueológicos que se conservan son de gran riqueza, especialmente grabados rupestres, tallas en piedra en todo el conjunto, tanto en las rocas cercanas al castro como en las situadas en el interior y exterior de la muralla. Son grabados simples, esquemáticos que representan sobre todo caballos pero también cabras, jabalíes, un impresionante toro y escenas de caza. También curiosos símbolos, signos geométricos como cruces, espirales y retículas.

Como complemento del recorrido del castro se puede visitar el Aula Arqueológica instalada en las antiguas escuelas en la Plaza Mayor de Yecla de Yeltes que alberga una maqueta del conjunto del castro, unas cabezas humanas esculpidas en granito que debieron ir incrustadas en los muros, cerámicas, armas, adornos, estelas funerarias y una magnífica escultura de jabalí descubierta en recientes excavaciones.

Ha sido una excursión muy grata y desde aquí os animo a visitar este interesante castro.

Señor Wences

2009-07-14T00:07:00.000-07:00

Que nadie es profeta en su tierra es un dicho fácilmente constatable en el caso del Señor Wences, este ventrílocuo salmantino de Peñaranda de Bracamonte (1896 - 1999) casi desconocido para los españoles pero que gozaba de una extraordinaria popularidad en Estados Unidos y otros paises americanos.
Aparecía regularmente en los shows de Ed Sullivan en la CBS y en "The Muppet show".

Sus personajes más conocidos fueron Pedro (una cara dentro de una caja), Cecilia (una gallina parlanchina) y sobre todo Johnny Martin (un descarado niño que en realidad era la mano izquierda del Señor Wences disfrazada con una peluca, unos botones a modo de ojos, boca pintada en sus propios dedos con un pintalabios - lo hacía directamente en escena - con una especie de cuerpo que hacía que se moviera por debajo).
Su gran éxito residía en no ser jamás grosero ni decir cosas que pudieran molestar al público porque consideraba que esto le haría perder su dignidad profesional. Siempre iba elegantemente vestido con un frac confeccionado en las mejores sastrerías de Londres.
Sociable, tierno, socarrón e ingenioso desarrollaba una técnica irreprochable; dominaba once registros diferentes de voz con los que dialogaba en ocho idiomas a gran velocidad cambiando instantaneamente la voz de sus personajes.
En su dilatada carrera (llegó a actuar hasta los 90 años) entabló amistad con personajes como Spencer Tracy, Frank Sinatra, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcok y Walt Disney. Pero también con literatos como Miguel de Unamuno, Ernest Hemingway, Juan Ramón Jiménez y con el doctor Gregorio Marañón. LLegó a actuar en la Casa Blanca para los presidentes Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower y Nixon.

Siempre será recordado por su peculiar forma de presentarse pronunciado su nombre como en español "Señor Wen-thess" y por las frases que popularizó también con su acento español " 'sOK?" (it's OK?) y "s'awright?" (it's all right?) a lo que el muñeco de la caja contestaba "s'awriiight!" (it's all right!) que aún se siguen utilizando en Estados Unidos y aparecen con frecuencia en conocidas series o dibujos animados como en los Simpsons.
En la Gran Manzana, donde residía se le dedicó el nombre de una calle, un tramo de la calle 54 entre la Octava Avenida y la Avenida de Broadway.
A pesar de su gran popularidad en América, el Señor Wences nunca se olvidó de su pais y todos los años regresaba a su Salamanca natal, concretamente a Alba de Tormes donde pasaba sus veranos. Los últimos años de su vida los pasaba entre Salamanca (unos seis meses) y Nueva York donde murió a la edad de 103 años y se le rindieron toda clase de homenajes.
Recientemente se ha publicado un libro en España sobre su vida "La extraordinaria vida del Señor Wences" de Jorge San Román.

Disfrutad ahora con un video suyo.

Independence Day

2009-07-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Independence Day I mark the occasion with Patrick Henry's passionate and radical "Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death" speech, declaring his opposition to King George III.

Patrick Henry was a prominent figure in the American Revolution, stateman, fine orator and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He is mainly known and remembered for this remarkable speech declared to the Virgnia Convention gathered at St John's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia.

"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death"

Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free - if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending - if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained - we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable - and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace - but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Amy McDonald

2009-06-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Amy MacDonald widget by 6L & Daxii

Slumdog Millionnaire

2009-06-28T12:38:00.001-07:00

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"

2009-06-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

Waltzing Matilda widget by 6L & Daxii

"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.

A true story

2009-06-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

This is a true story it happened to me two years ago.

One winter afternoon, I was walking with my mother in law when it suddenly started to rain quite heavily. As it was also cold we decided to go to the bus station where we could sit down for a while and she could talk to other old people who also went there when the weather was unpleasant.

As I would need to spent there some time I bought a magazine and a packet of chocolate biscuits (my favourites). We sat down on some armchairs in the open waiting room of the station and I started to read.

Beside the armchair where the packet of biscuits lay, an old woman sat down in the next seat, she greeted me and then started to talk to the other ladies there.

When I took out the first biscuit, the woman took one also. I was surprised but said nothing.

For each biscuit I took, the woman took one too.

When only one biscuit remained, the woman, taking the last biscuit, divided it into half, giving me one half. I felt happy of sharing my biscuits with her.

Then she said she had to go, took her things and said goodbye.

Some minutes later, I looked into my bag to take my glasses and to my surprise my packet of chocolate biscuits was there, untouched, unopened.

I felt so amazed and ashamed!

I had forgotten that my biscuits were kept in my bag.

The old woman had shared her biscuits with me and even had divided her last one without feeling irritated or angered by my behaviour.

And now there was no chance to explain myself... nor to apologize.

I had a strange impression of desolation that evening and I felt unhappy and unsatisfying.

Baby bear

2009-05-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

Hope you have a new vision of animals now.

It's so tender!

Love and Time. "Word cloud"

2009-05-10T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a "word cloud" for "Love and Time" my previous post. The cloud gives a greater prominence to words that apperar more frequently in the text. Love is the winner word so that it has a bigger size than the others which are decreasing according to their frequency in the post.

Love and Time. A beautiful old story

2009-05-03T11:20:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, there was an island where all the feelings and

human values lived: Happiness, Sadness, Richness, Knowledge,

Wisdom and all the others including Love.

One day it was announced to the feelings that the island would sink. So all of them built boats

and scaped from the island, except Love who stayed there. He wanted to hold out until the last

possible moment.

When the island had almost sunk, Love decided to ask for help.

There was a boat passing by, it was Richness passing by on a big boat.

Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?

Richness answered, No, I am sorry I can't. There is too much gold and silver in my boat there is

no room for you. And Richness left.

Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel.

Vanity, please help me! I can't help you Love. You are all wet and you might damage my boat.

Sadness was close by. So Love asked, "Sadness, let me go with you"

Oh, Love I am so sad that I need to be by myself.

Happiness passed by Love too, but she was so happy that she

didn't even hear when Love called her.

Then suddenly there was a voice, a very stong voice.

"Come Love, I will take you". It was an elder.

So blessed and and overjoyed, Love even forgot to ask the elder where they were going. When

they arrived at dry land, the elder went his own way.

Love started asking to himself, realizing how much was owed to the elder. So Love asked

Knowlwdge, another elder, "Hey!, who helped me?" Oh, of course the elder said, you don't really

know who helped you?

It was Time, Knowledge answered.

Time? asked Love. "But why did Time help me? Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and

answered:

"Because only Time is capable of understanding how valuable Love is"

Community Day of Castile and Leon

2009-04-23T10:46:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my Community on 23rd April!

Celebrating the Community Day in "Villalar de los Comuneros"

Castile and Leon is a magical land of castles and impressive Gothic cathedrals, a land with a vast wealth of historic and cultural treasures. It is also blessed with a lovely scenery including dramatic mountain landscapes and protected nature reserves with woods of oaks and cork-oaks. It is crossed by the river Duero and has the "Lago de Sanabria", the largest lake of Spain and the only one of glacial origins.

Woman Fine Art Portrait

2009-04-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my dear friend a.c.g.a. who told me about this video by William Bouguereau.