Bits and bobs

So, it's finally the weekend. A time to relax? Hell no. My agenda for this weekend has been fuller than ever and I suppose next week will be even busier. I'll try to take it easy.

Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793), daughter of the emperor and empress of Austria was married to the king Louis XVI of France (1754-1793), both of them were executed by guillotine at the height of the French Revolution.

She became queen of France at the age of 19 and had a reputation for lavish and extravagant tastes

She has come into fashion thanks to a recent biography by the UK historian, Lady Antonia Frazer and the film by Sofia Coppola based on this biography.

Coppola details a decadent world in which the French aristocracy live to excess. Marie-Antoinette is a young Austrian girl in a foreign land who does not know how to behave and she turns to drink and gambling when her husband, the heir to the French Throne spurns her in the marital chamber.


Coppola said the film was not a political statement on current times about French Revolution, she was making a portrait of Marie-Antoinette and althought it is a drama, the film has a sense of modernity and it resembles pop videos and teen dramas. Since it was released this summer, visitors to the palace of Versailles have increased considerably.


Moreover, next 8 June will hold the symbolic heart re-burial at Saint Demis Basilica of ten year-old Louis XVII. The dauphin, son of Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI is going to rest in the family crypt after 200 years of controversy.

And finally, taking advantage of this fashion, The Palace of Versailles is going to launch a perfume just today based on the fragance once used by Marie-Antoinette.
A 25 ml bottle will cost 350 euros and it will be sold only to order. A limited prestige version of 1025cl crystal bottles will be sold by 8000 euros each, this "royal" perfume comes with an aristocratic price tag.
Profits will be used to buy a travel chest the queen once owned.

El valle de Baliem, Papua oeste (Indonesia) es el hogar de las tribus Dani, Lani y Yali. Son bastantes similares y se les distingue entre otros aspectos por su forma de vestir. Los Dani usan un short y una koteka delgada (para cubrir el pene). Las mujeres que no están casadas usan faldas hasta la rodilla hechas de corteza de árbol y las casadas usan faldas de fibra de orquídea.
No voy a describir su estilo de vida, solamente quiero centrarme en un aspecto doloroso para las mujeres Dani, como siempre las mujeres sufriendo. No pude evitar el sentir un escalofrio cuando leí un pequeño artículo sobre el tema.
La muerte de un ser querido de estas mujeres les supone aparte de la pérdida afectiva la amputación de una falange de un dedo de la mano que ellas mismas se automutilan o una tercera persona lo hace por ellas después de las exequias fúnebres. Muchas de estas mujeres carecen así de varios dedos de sus manos porque no es necesario decir que en esta etnia la mortalidad infantil es muy alta.
Me llama la atención que no se haya puesto fin a esta práctica, y no me refiero al gobierno de Indonesia, ni siquiera a la civilización occidental que pueden presionar. Me estoy refiriendo a la misma sociedad Dani, ¿no ha habido en toda la historia una mente "pensante" (entiéndase hombre) que sean conscientes de este doble dolor infligido a las mujeres y lo detenga?, porque aunque sea una sociedad primitiva, deben darse cuenta de que es una práctica lesiva y dolorosa para las mujeres (ellos no lo hacen cuando mueren sus seres queridos).
Pero lo más sobrecogedor de todo y lo que me parece una crueldad absoluta es que las niñas huérfanas no se libren del ritual, en este caso a la fuerza. Puedo visualizar su horror, y me resulta casi insoportable, huyendo despavoridas, presas del pánico hasta que un adulto les reduce y les somete a la fuerza a la amputación. El "cirujano" sujeta su codo con unas cuerdas y les da un golpe seco a modo de anestésico para acto seguido amputarles el dedo con un cuchillo afilado de piedra.
¿Cómo no pueden mostrar al menos un poco de piedad por estas niñas, quizás sus propias hijas o familiares?.
Pero ahora también se me ocurre pensar en el sufrimiento de otra gran cantidad de niñas de aproximadamente 28 paises (Etiopia, Somalia, Sudán, Egipto...) que son sometidas a la mutilación genital femenina, práctica que en la edad adulta es la principal culpable de la gran mortalidad femenina e infantil cuando dan a luz y les provoca además las llamadas fístulas obstétricas causándoles incluso el rechazo de su propia sociedad.
Es increible pero cierto que en pleno siglo XXI no seamos capaces de erradicar esta práctica y que parte del Tercer Mundo sufra y muera por algo que para los del primero tan sólo forma parte del pasado, y no quiero dar la impresión de ser una feminista o reivindicativa, que no lo soy. Solamente, como mujer, me duelen estas situaciones.

Written by J. D. Salynger, It is one of my all-time favourite novels, although it has been involved in controversy since its publication in 1951 maybe by the use of offensive language, premarital sex, alcohol abuse and prostitution.
The murderer of musiciam John lennon, Mark David Chapman, was carrying the book when he was arrested inmediately after the murder. John Hinckley, Jr. who attented to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981 was also obseesed with the book, and Kurt Cobain, leader of Nirvana band was also carrying a copy of the book few weeks before his death.
Holden, the novel protagonist, has a disturbing influence on youths considered to be "social outcasts". People like Chapman and Hinckley come to relate themselves to Holden, the person who nobody understands and that can't understand anybody else.
The meaning of the novel's title is based on a misreading of a line in the song "Comin' Thro' The Rye" by Robert Burns which Holden heard a young boy singing. He imagines a field of rye perched high on a cliff full of children playing. He says he would like to protect them from falling off the edge of the cliff by "catching" them if they were in danger. Holden tells his sister Phoebe he has always wanted to be a Catcher in the Rye (symbolically a rescuer of children).
Holden Caulfield, protagonist and narrator of the story has become an icon for teenage alienation and fear.
Written in the first person and in flashback while he was in a mental hospital, though the readers do not know this until the end of the novel, The Catcher in the Rye relates Holden's experiences in New York in the days following his expulsion for academic failure from the Pency Preparatory school. It is not the first school that has expelled him.
The novel covers a few important days in the life of a tall, highly-critical and depressed sixteen year old who decides one night to run away from Pencey Preparatory boarding school, just before Christmas vacation, he plans to spend some time on his own in New York City, where he lives.
Though Holden is friendly with many people al school, and though he has several friends in the city, he is constantly lonesone and in need of someone who will sympathise with his feelings of alienation. The person Holden feels closest to is his ten years old sister Phoebe. He has an older brother, D.B. who is a screenplay writer in Hollywood, and a younger brother, Allie who died years ago of leukemia.
After getting kicked out of Pency, Holden must go home and tell his parents. Instead of deciding to face them with his failure, he wanders around the streets of New York City and comes into contact with some interesting characters, but he can't make meaningful contact with any of them. Holden thinks the only solution to his problem is to run away and establish a new identity as a deaf-mute who will not need to communicate with anyone. On the verge of a nervious collapse, Holden changes his mind and decides to go back home. He enters a hospital not far from Hollywood, and he is telling us his story while in his institution. At the end of the novel, Holden is not sure if he will be able to handle things better when he leaves the hospital.

Holden narrates in a cynical and jaded voice with a sarcastic style and using the stream of consciousness throughout the novel.
The Catcher in the Rye deals mainly with different themes:

• Alienation.

Throughout the novel, Holden seems to be excluded from and victimized by the world around him, he continually tries to find his way in a world in which he feels he does not belong.He thinks that no one understands him and that everyone is a "phony". He believes that no one is honest and everybody wants to be something else. He feels that the only person who understands him is Phoebe. He does not have relationship with girls, or anyone because he feels that he is the only genuine person in the world.

He is an atypical teenager. He is alienated more than most adolescents. He is also in the middle of an identity crisis. All teenagers go through these phases, so everyone can relate to Holden to some extend. He is socially inept, although he has many friends and acquantances, he cannot form lasting, meaningful friendship. Most teenagers, although they have insecurities, are able to function in relationships.

• Phoniness

This is probably the most famous phrase from The Catcher in the Rye , it is a word which describes the superficiality, hypocrisy, pretension and shallowness that Holden encounters in the world around him. He explains that adults are inevitably phonies, and, what is worse, they can't see their own phoniness. His brother D.B. is a screenwriter in Hollywood. Holden regards him as a "phony" and has little contact with him. He regards D.B. as a figurative prostitute, who writes only to make money, and not for intellectual redemption.

He finds the hypocrisy and uglyness of the world around him almost unbearable and through his cynicism he tries to protect himself from the pain and dissappointment of the adult world, but there is evidence that Holden exhibits much of the same "phoniness", meanness and superficiality he denounces in others.

• Loss

Holden has to deal with loss, he loses his brother, Allie, to leukemia, and he feels a tremendous loss. Allie wrote poems on an old baseball glove, and Holden cherished this and speaks about it in great detail. Once, his roommate, Stradlater asked him to write a story for him, he found inspiration in his brother Allie's baseball glove, but when Stradlater returns and finds what Holden has written, he is annoyed. Holden tears up the essay.

• Loss of innocence

Holden wishes to eliminate corruption from the world and protect children like his sister from becoming like the many adult "phonies" he hated. But he finds it impossible to maintain innocence. After seeing some vulgar grafitti on the walls in his sister Phoebe's elementary school and the museum, bastions of learning and culture, he realizes that he will not be able to erase it all and protect children from the world indefinitely.

• Betrayal

Holden constantly feels betrayed, and this is a possible cause of his problems. Early in the novel, Mr. Spencer betrays him, he was one of the few teachers at Pency that Holden liked. Stradlater betrays him by dating his best friend, Jane, whom Holden also had a crush on. When he returns home to see Phoebe, she is dissappointed in him that he failed out of Pency. He thinks that she should accept him unconditionally, so he feels betrayed.

• Maturity

Holden is very inmature, but he believes he is mature. He does not mature throuh the novel. He actually regresses back to a child-like state of mind. He is constantly dwelling on the death of his younger brother and avoids his parents. He thinks the only person he can talk to is his ten year old sister. Holden holds Allie and Phoebe in such high esteem because they are innocent. Holden's goal is to protect innocence in the world.

• The painfulness of growing up (adolescence)

The Catcher in the Rye is a novel about a young character's growth into maturity, he is an adolescent in search of an identity.

When he hears the "Catcher in the Rye" song being sung by a little boy, he decides that he wants to be the person that keeps children from falling off a cliff. That cliff symbolizes the transition from childhood to adulthood, and he wants to keep them as innocent children, not phony adults.

Other possible themes are:

• Mental deterioration. Holden ends up in a psychiatric hospital
• Failure. Holden is constantly beein kicked of schools.
• Sexual experiences/frustration. Holden is a typical hormonal tennage male, yet he does not have sex with the prostitue when she offers.

Haven't you read this novel yet? What are you waiting for? I strongly recommend it to everyone. It is a real masterpiece.

I am having problems enabling comments to some of my last posts, I know I have to republish my blog but I don't know how. I go to posting but it doesn't appear status. Can Anyone help me?
Thanks.
So, please; have you a comment to do in one of those posts, you can do it here.

Aparte de enseñar Inglés, tengo cuatro horas a la semana de Cultura Religiosa (alternativa a la Religión) con dos grupos de 3º ESO y como es de esperar en una asignatura que ni ellos ni yo la tomamos muy en serio siempre hay algún barullo en la clase, que este año es la biblioteca del centro al no quedar disponibles otras aulas.
Ayer mi jefa de seminario y amiga, Alejandra me dijo: mañana bajo a la biblioteca a la hora de Cultura Religiosa y me haces el concurso de traslados (es más negada que yo para la informática).
Hoy después de repartir unas fotocopias con diferentes sistemas religiosos y decir a los estudiantes que lo fueran mirando para decidir sobre qué religión desean hacer el trabajo, llega Alejandra. Les pido que lo lean en silencio que tenemos que rellenar unos datos.
Nos sentamos al ordenador y empiezo a cambiar códigos de centros, a eliminar otros, confirmar los demás...
El murmullo va en "crescendo", ya es un barullo. Digo voy a mandarles callar, y me dice Ale ya voy yo, que a mi no me conocen. Se levanta, va hacia la última mesa donde están los chavales y les grita "el que hable, muere". Silencio sepulcral. Yo observaba la escena, Alejandra, pequeña(como yo) en medio de los chavales que nos sacan una cabeza mirándole fijamente, estupefactos sin saber a qué atenerse. Y no puedo contener la risa.Carcajada general.
Se acabó la poca autoridad que tenía en esta clase, ¡vaya añito que me espera!.
Alejandra me dice que se me está bien empleado por reírme y yo le digo que como se le ocurrió decir eso. Se callaron ¿no? contesta.
La risa ya nos ha jugado algunas otras malas pasadas pero ya lo contaré otro día.

Next week I will show my students the film "Dead Poets Society" (1989), I think that they really need to watch it and they will not have to bring back a report or talk about it in class, just to watch it and make up their minds about it.
I could watch this great story over and over, it's one of all-time favourite; and tears would come to my eyes and stream down my cheeks every time. But not only will this film touch my heart and bring tears, it will inspire me to be a better teacher, to follow my dreams no matter what the boundaries may be and to seize the day and make my life extraordinary.
"Dead Poets Society" is the film that best explores the idea of "Carpe Diem" (Seize the day), to live every moment to the fullest from the viewpoint of a classroom of young men in a boarding school.
When a new English teacher arrives, John Keating (played by Robin Williams), he brings with him a passion for teaching romanticism, opening a never-before-seen world to his students. The film also explores the conflict between realism and romanticism as these contrasting ideal are presented in the prestigious Welton Academy founded in four principles: "Tradition, Honor, Discipline and Excellence. According to the boys: "Travesty, Horror, Decadence and Excrement".
Keating begins his unorthodox teaching methods with a fervent lecture, explaining to the students his core philosophy, to contribute a meaningful verse, so that when it came time for them to die, they would not "discover that they had not lived".
He explains that their lives are fleeting, so they should seize the day before it is too late to make their lives count.
He teaches them the works of the romantic poets such as Thoreau and Lord Byron and employs
outdoor exercises to warn them of the dangers of conformity and the power of sports as a way which human beings push each other to excel.
The English teacher was their inspiration and made their lives extraordinary, he embodies every teacher who you thought was cool and respectable, the teacher we all wish we'd had.
He brings warmth, passion and quite humour as he foster individualism in a school environment of total conformity, teaching these young men both the beauty of the English language and the importance of living life to the full (seizing the day). This teacher believed so much in his students, that it changed their lives.
Needless to say, Mr. Keating's unorthodox approach meets with obstacles, from his fellow teachers, from the school's ultra traditional Headmaster and from parents.
Keating tells his students they should call him "O Captain! My Captain!, title of a Walt Whitman poem about the assessination of Abraham Lincoln and foreshadows Keating's symbolic death at the end of the film (his removal from teaching, which is his passion).
The film concludes with the previously very shy Todd Anderson, climbing to the top of his desk to salute his fallen teacher, who changed his life, followed by the rest of the students standing on their desks in front of Mr. Nolan, in open defiance, calling to Keating, "O Captain! My Captain! to show him that his message has been understood and appreciated while Nolan stands helpless with the realization that there are too many in this demonstration to expell quietly.
With tears in his eyes, Keating says "Thank you, boys. Thank you" and the film ends on a high, but uncertain note.
It has one of the most powerful endings I've experienced similar to the one in "America History X" film.
I like "Dead Poets Society" since it is one of those films that change your life, subtly altering your perception of reality and because it showed me that we have the responsability and the joy of being alive in this planet, so we have precious little time to make a difference, and we have the moral obligation to "seize the day" and make our lives extraordinary. That the only limitations are withing ourselves and that we have to fight, to rebel against conformity to change what we hate and keep what we love.
I recommend everybody to give this film a chance and see it, it may just change your life.

Muá, Muá é a traducción ó galego da obra de Roald Dahl, Kiss, kiss; o célebre autor de innumerables libros para nenos e guionista de varias películas moi coñecidas entre as que se encontra "Gremlins" de grande éxito comercial.
Sen embargo, este autor tamén escribiu magníficas historias para adultos, e unha proba disto é esta colección de once relatos que, simplemente, parecen escritos para entreter ó lector pero que presentan o tipo de narracción característica de Roald Dahl.
A acción desenrólase dun xeito aparentemente plano e, de súpeto, cunha frase o nun paragrafo descúbrese un novo elemento que nos obriga a cambiar por completo toda a interpretación da historia, e vai debuxando un camiño ambigüo que conduce á trampa, ó inesperado; é un maestro do chocante que desconcerta ó lector.
Así a forza destos relatos está, sobre todo, no seus argumentos. Os sucesos anúdanse maxistralmente, sen saltos. Tódolos elementos da historia cadran perfectamente e nos conducen a un final conmovedor. É capaz de manter a emoción e a intriga dende o principio ó final, o narrador destas historias ten unha mente un tanto morbosa e intenta deixarnos cun sorriso xeado nos beizos, que ó final sempre o logra.
Utiliza unha linguaxe moi precisa, exacta, capaz de imprimir a estas historias fantásticas un toque de veracidade por medio dunha linguaxe especializada nas diferentes materias que, ás veces, parece que está escribindo un tratado; é o caso dos interesantes datos de apicultura en "Xalea Real", os coñecementos médicos en "William e Mary" o estudio anatómico en "George Porgy", a longa lista de menús vexetarianos en "Porco" o as descricións de mobles antiguos en "O pracer dun crego".
As personaxes son creacións moi acertadas e manteñen a súa consistencia ata o final, ben trabados cunha grande matiz psicolóxica e descritos pormenorizadamente no seu físico, ás veces esaxerando algúns trazos, moitos deles recurrentes ó longo da historia: a boca, os andares, os ollos, o tono da voz, que cobran importancia nunha o noutra personaxe converténdose ás veces en claves simbólicas das historias, como a boca en "George Porgy" ou os ollos en "William e Mary".
Estas personaxes reflicten unha realidade social: a rutina da vida cotiá, a inexistente fronteira entre o tolo e o cordo, a ambición do poder, a falta de comunicación interpersoal, a necesidade de afecto, o odio soterrado polas frustracións, pero todas elas están dominadas por un narrador cínico e sarcástico que os leva perigosamente a unha fin que os ridiculza.
En canto ó tratamento da muller, nótase que é unha obra escrita nos años cincuenta; a esposa está sempre sometida ó marido que é o que toma todas as decisións e, ás veces coma un acto de condescendencia, permite á súa muller facer algo; claro que ó final as mulleres adoitan "vengarse" da opresión a que foron sometidas.

Este libro gustame porque os relatos manteñen o interese dende que comenza, e cunha grande dose de ironía, cinismo e humor cruel precipítanse a finais asombrosos. Estás desexando saber cál será o desenlace destas personaxes que, en moitas ocasións, acaban sendo "o burlador burlado", coma o marido que domina completamente a súa muller e dirixe tódolas súas accións, quere que incluso despois de morto siga a comportarse de acordo cos seus preceptos e deíxalle unha carta escrita coas súas normas: non gastes diñeiro, non fumes, non bebas cocteis, non pintes os beizos, non merques televisión, desconecta ó teléfono...
Cando, sete días despois de morrer, a muller descubre que o seu cerebro e o seu ollo se mantiveran vivos, o primeiro que fai ó ir a verlo é botarlle unha bocanada de fume do cigarrillo e quereo levar para casa para que vexa a televisión recén comprada e a súa forma de vida, agora que el non pode "desautorizar" nada.
Tamén o caso de clérigo que quiso enganar ós campesinos decíndolles que soamente lle interesaba as patas da cómoda de estilo que lles ía comprar. Ó final, cando foi recollela, marabillándose da obra de arte que adquirida a prwzo de ganga, encontrouse con que a troucearon para que poidera transportarla mellor.
Ou o caso de esposa infiel, o amante da cal lle regalara un abrigo de visón. Para disfrazar a súa procedencia, empeñouno e dixo ó marido que encontrara un recibo de empeño. Él foi a desempeñalo a deu á súa muller unha bufanda de visón, pero ésta, máis tarde descubriu a axudante do seu marido co abrigo.
Outro caso do marido que constantemente martirizaba psicoloxicamente a súa muller e ésta vaise de viaxe durante seis semanas sabendo que se quedara cerrado no ascensor e sen posibilidade de saír.

Son relatos crueis, de grande sufrimento, pero estas persoas non senten remordimentos e os lectores somos cómplices con eles, quedámonos estupefactos, cun sabor amargo, pero pensando que o tiñan ben merecido. Soamente falta a moralexa final o poderíase aplicar o dito "o que a fai, págaa"

He preparado un texto para un examen de 2º de bachillerato similar a los textos de Selectividad.
Voy a publicarlo por si a alguien le fuera de ayuda, a los estudiantes para practicar y a los profesores para sus alumnos.
El tema me parece muy actual y está adaptado a los requerimientos de las pruebas de Selectividad de Galicia.



ENGLISH EXAM 2º Bach.

The spread of bird flu which has led to human deaths is causing concern. Like humans and other species, birds are susceptible to flu. There are 15 types of bird flu but the type currently causing concern is the deadly strain H5N1.
Outbreaks of this strain among birds were first spotted in Vietnam and Thailand. It spread to several other countries in the region and has now established a foothold in Western Turkey and Romania. The fear, after these findings, is that avian flu will spread across Europe, since viruses are carried by migrating birds, there is no way of preventing its spread.
Bird flu was thought only to infect birds until the first human cases were seen, the World Health Organization now put the number of human deaths at more than 60. Humans catch the disease through close contact with live infected birds that excrete the virus in their faeces, which dry become pulverised, and are inhaled.
The disease still does not transmit easily to humans but the latest outbreaks have raised fears of a pandemic. Experts believe the virus could exchange genes with a human flu virus if a person was simultaneously infected with both. Once the virus gained the ability to pass easily between humans the results could be catastrophic. Worldwide, experts predict anything between two million and 50 million deaths.
In addition, there is not yet a vaccine, but prototypes which offer protection are being produced. Antiviral drugs, such as Tamiflu which are already available and being stockpiled by countries may help limit symptoms and reduce the chances the disease will spread.
But, are we at risk of being infected? Scientists say avian flu is not a food-borne virus, so eating chicken is safe. The only people thought to be at risk are those involved in the slaughter and preparation of meat. However the WHO recommends, to be absolutely safe all meat should be cooked to a temperature of at least 70 C. Eggs should also be thoroughly cooked.


1. Write a title in English which best summarises the text and justify your answer in order to demonstrate that you have understood the global meaning of the text. ( 25-40 words ) ( 1.5 points )

2. Explain in English the meaning of the following expressions as used in the text. ( 1.5 points: 0,75 each )

a) Migrating birds
b) concern

3. Complete the second sentence of each pair so that it has the same meaning as the first one. ( 2 points: 1 point each )

a) Humans catch the disease through close contact with live infected birds
The disease…
b) The World Health Organization said: “Don’t eat underdone chicken or eggs"

The World Health Organization recommended …

4. Answer the following questions in your own words. The information must be taken from the text. ( 2 points: 1 point each)

a) What would be the consequence if avian flu passed from person to person?

b) Can we continue eating chicken?

5. There is a high possibility of a bird flu pandemic but we don’t have the certainty of this to happen. What do you think authorities should do to prevent it? ( about 100 words) (3 points)

I abandoned this blog for ages, now I'm back again.
I had the feeling that I was starting to get addicted to this blog ever since I started to write it last course; so,I had to stop.
Furthermore, so much has happened to me recently that I don't know how to deal with it, it has been a really hard time.
Now I'll try to write new posts regularly. I promise.

Ayer pensé ir a las rebajas a comprar un perfume, pero al final no lo hice. Me explico.
Me encantan los perfumes pero no puedo evitar el sentirme culpable cada vez que compro uno, pienso que es un lujo superfluo de este mundo desarrollado, mientras en África, por ejemplo, viven solamente para subsistir.
En cierta ocasión comentando con dos compañeras mientras viajábamos al trabajo los perfumes que nos gustaban (el mio es Noa de Cacharel, en verano prefiero Abril que es más fresquito), reflexioné un poco -a veces lo hago- sobre la conversación y les dije "nosotras hablando sobre qué perfumes comprar y otros se mueren de hambre". Es verdad, dijo una de ellas, el mundo está mal repartido, y ahí quedó la cosa. Dejamos de hablar de perfumes, pero yo decidí en ese momento que cada vez que comprara algo superfluo, daría otro tanto para alguna ONG o necesidad.
La cuestión ahora es discernir lo que es superfluo y lo que no, ¿la ropa lo es? ¿el calzado? ¿los libros? ¿la música? ¿muchos alimentos? ¿ir a la piscina? ... porque realmente podriamos pasar sin todo esto.Pero yo no puedo permitirme donar para todo, menos ahora que tengo verdaderos problemas para llegar a fin de mes con mis dos hijos estudiando en la universidad fuera de casa,la hipoteca y demás...
Resumiendo, actualmente compro menos ropa y utilizo habitualmente perfumes más baratos. No renuncio a oler bien (aunque no necesito desodorante al no sudar nunca, el olor del perfume es agradable y me hace sentir bien) y en ciertas ocasiones dono algo para ONGs o emergencias, siempre de acuerdo a mis posibilidades, por los motivos expuestos antes.

To my great sorrow I must write about you again, London.

Yesterday's joy has turned into chaos, panic, desolation, grief and much, much rage after the tragic confirmation that terrorisism has again hit Europe, a series of co-ordinated blasts on London public transport (underground and buses) causing at least 33 fatalities and over 300 people injured confirmed up to now.
I send my deepest condolences to the victims and their families, to London and to British people and I hope we all be united together to confront terrorists and this will never happen again.
There have been reactions worldwide united in the condenation of the attacks, with the firm determination and an enormous resolution to go against terrorism.
As for Spanish people, we know a lot about these simultaneous attacks, similar to Madrid last year, so we understand your sorrow and express our solidarity with the people of London.

Congratulations London on winning the election to host the Olimpic Games 2012.
I honestly wish you a great success and I join up in your joy and celebration, although as a Spaniard I'm obviously disappointed about Madrid, they have worked enthusiastically to host them. Its people are desolate again, I feel sorry for them. Lately Madrid is having hard times and now it has been the end of a dream but the beginning for London, yours has come true.Seize the chance and organise the best Games ever.

¿Os habeis fijado que ya no emiten el desagradable anuncio del niño que estaba a punto de explotar? O al menos yo no lo he vuelto a ver en el poco tiempo que dedico a la televisión.
Por fín, parece que se ha impuesto la cordura y el buen gusto. Era insoportable, tenía que cambiar de cadena sin remedio pero, he ahí la casualidad! en las otras también estaba el dichoso anuncio. Se ponen de acuerdo a la hora de emitir publiciad y claro coinciden los mismos.
Si en este caso ha actuado la censura, me alegro. Aunque generalmente no estoy de acuerdo en que actue, creo que todo el mundo debe poder expresarse libremente, por supuesto sin ofender a nadie y respetando a todos.Pero bien pudiera ser que a los patrocinadores les hayan llegado críticas y hayan tomado la decisión de retirarlo. Sabia decisión que aplaudo. Era tan irritante que no creo que fuera efectiva esa publicidad.

El espectáculo que está dando últimamente el mundo del corazón es digno de ser analizado por un psicólogo. Los contenidos rosas de antaño han perdido terreno ante subproductos autodenominados del corazón nacidos al calor de las auiencias, se ha trascendido el puro divertimento para convertirse en objeto de culto sociológico, donde las miserias humanas son su razón de existir y, lo que es peor, el espejo público donde se miran cada día millones de personas. Son asimismo fábricas de ídolos con pies de barro, mitigadores de soledades urbanas... Y sobre todo generadores absolutos de cientos de miles de euros.

Por otra parte, esto ha provocado una guerra entre periodistas de este mundo, cada vez más contaminado. Sobre todo, tras el culebrón protagonizado por Lydia Lozano sobre la hija desaparecida de Albano, donde el "caso Ylenia" se ha convertido en el "caso Lozano" y donde a esta veterana del grito, algunos de sus colegas empiezan a repudiar. Es el caso de Rosa Villacastín y de la histriónica Maria Patiño (tertuliana sobre famoseo de tercera y que se lleva la palma en la construcción de un personaje casi surrealista, viene a ser algo así como la Jiménez Losantos de los debates de este subgénero del mundo rosa) que han pedido menos lloros de Lydia y mayor consecuencia.
Chelo García Cortés la ha emprendido con Aquí hay tomate y otros formatos de telerrealidad (Gran Hermano, La casa de tu vida, La Granja...y sobre todo el imbatible Crónicas Marcianas, el late-night que se nutre también del mundo rosa, con contenidos polémicos pero reclamados por el público. Menos mal que Buenafuente le está plantando cara y está logrando consolidar su programa con un humor fino y satírico combinado con entrevistas y parodias.
Los periodistas ven que se ha entrado en una espiral en la que las reglas del juego implican mayor riesgo, ellos mismos acaban siendo carne de persecución, famosas metidas a tertulianas y algunas estrategias para fabricar noticias pueden provocar el enloquecimiento general, esta telebasura es una máquina de hacer picadillo a todo lo que caiga en sus redes y no requiere la atención de las asociaciones de periodistas sino el análisis clínico del mundo de la psiquiatría.

Pero, ¿qué es lo que ha llevado a esta situación? ¿qué ha pasado para que estos subproductos del corazón donde sus protagonistas desnudan miserias, chillan e insultan sigan siendo líderes absolutos de audiencia y con la mirada complaciente de millones de españoles?
Está claro que los gustos de los espectadores han cambiado, antes buscaban admirar, ahora quieren ver a alguien como ellos mismos, de una gente famosa por algo (trabajo, familia...) se ha mutado a unos personajes que no aportan nada, que no tienen nada que decir, que no han hecho nunca nada, han salido de la telerrealidad pero la gente se identifica con ellos.
Se ha llegado incluso a inventar noticias, crean un rumor que nadie verifica, luego lo desmienten pero hay toda una serie de parentela (tios, primos, conocidos...) que confirman el rumor, que dicen que algo de verdad tendrá y así hasta el infinito. Y no se puede demandar porque es sólo un rumor, sólo insinuan.
Al menos los informativos parecen mantenerse "a salvo" de esta tendencia de convertir la información en un espectáculo impresentable. Los medios saben que deben presentar esta información de una forma atractiva pero sin espectacularidad, y de momento se han preservado en una especie de burbuja sin contaminarse.

Las personas que insultan, gritan o se pegan ahora son presentados como modelo de conducta. No se trata de admirar a las personas sino de despreciarlas, de ver como las destrozan en un plató. Es el triunfo de lo burdo, lo fácil.
Los medios de comunicación deberían buscar alternativas fuera de las audiencias salvajes, de los contenidos ramplones y de estos personajes kleenex, de usar y tirar que son patéticos. Gente que no es nada y, de repente, se vuelve famosa pero que al cabo de unos meses ya nadie se acuerda de ellos.
Pero actualmente se pretende rentabilizar al menor coste, sin importar el contenido y esto sucede prque se está perdiendo el valor de la conversación, hay mucha soledad e incomunicación y la televisión no es más que un reflejo de esta sociedad.
Pienso que puede existir una televisión rosa amable y glamourosa,válida para el público, que le sirviera de entretenimiento y relajación, pero no esta otra que es el reflejo de una sociedad sin valores, anclada en la soledad y la angustia y que ha hecho del culto al dinero y a la fama rápida su razón de ser.