Does Internet empower people to change world? (make a better world)

Even if it's a really good tool to bring people together people with similar likings and desires, that doesn't mean that it's good to do that. If bad purposes are behind the "joining", Internet can turn threatening.

I accept that Internet can be used for almost anything because of its width, but that doesn't lead to empowering people to change the world for good. Internet can be used to expand either good or bad "ideas", and them can make people "move" to change the world even if they're demagogical ones. I believe that if used properly, Internet can become a powerful weapon against those "bad ideas" and the laws that "cause harm" to citizen's rights.

Overall, I consider Internet as the most revolutionary informative worldwide tool, and can be used for good and bad purposes. Honestly, I think this powerful tool is the best for bringing people aiming for a world change together.

Glossary added!

A new page has been added to http://firstbtxblog.blogspot.com.es/  : Glossary. You can go there just by clicking the link under the title.

It's a page used for "collecting" all the new vocabulary I'm learning this year in English. Also I put their source, so everyone could get new ideas for learning English while enjoying it.

Hope you enjoy it -^^- !

Oral presentation: "Our dreams"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHm8Hcxl5Qg

Well, Blogger doesn't accept to put the video normally (perhaps video privacy issues), so I only post the link.


Valoration

Presentation (10%) - 7%
Body language & eye contact (10%) - 8%
Structure (10%) - 10%
Content (40%) - 35%
Language (20%) - 15%
Pronunciation & intonation (10%) - 7%

Self-evaluation --> 8,2 (82%)

Overall, it was a good presentation.

My dreams

Dear Ms. Guilana;

          As you know, I'm José Yépez, and I'd like to introduce myself by explaining you my life goals. My biggest dream is to achieve the knowledge to help as many people as I can. It can sound like a stupid goal, keeping in mind that there are a lot of people who hurt others because of fun, revenges, or even by error, or whatever. But for me, it isn't.

          I feel really well when someone become happy. Of course, my intention of helping people is completely universal, because all people deserve to be helped (understanding "help" objectively, applicable to all kinds of human). First I though about being a doctor, but I recently decided to become a psychologist. You know, if the body's "broken", you can still live (bar comma cases, perhaps), but if the mind's "broken", all becomes... "distorted", making the person's life a hell or a non-sense. Also, I find psychology much more interesting than medicine (I didn't realised that since I've decided to study it), so I think that I chose correctly.

         Well, with this little chunk about me, I hope that I've presented myself properly. Oh, if I've talked ambiguous, just tell me to fix it. Sometimes I do that, not intentionally, of course. Hope you enjoyed my presentation!

 Big hugs,

                                                                 Jose

Podcast: Short joke

Here you can listen a little joke that we recorded in class. Hope you laugh!

listen to ‘Jose’ on Audioboo

Milgram's experiment and the limit of psychological experiments

Milgram was a psychologist who did an experiment to check what was the influence of an "authoritarian" person on people's behavior. The experience consists on a memory test: One person tells a words line and other person (an actor) has to repeat it. Each time he/she fails, the "speaker" send a volt discharge to the one who failed, and every time elevate the voltage. Sometimes the "speaker" doubts, but then, a person with a white coat (like a scientific) tells him "It's safe", "Continue", and things like that, and then the experiment continued.
The results had a signification: 65% of the "speakers" "killed" the actor because of his errors. I think that people was too influenced by others. Does that mean that people doesn't think by themselves?

Well, this was actually an experiment that tried to find an explanation for the Holocaust, and it did. You can see a representation of the experience on the film "I comme Icare" (1979):

News: "Second coronavirus death reported"

A second person died from a respiratory illness similar to the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus. All the died ones are "linked" to Qatar or Saudi Arabia, but the World Health Organization still don't know where the infection came from. There are some studies that show that the virus is related to another virus found on a bat specie.

I'm thinking about a question... Where the first virus come from? They're not "alive" in the word's strict sense, and that confuse me, but this it's not the issue. The mortal beginning of a new discovered virus is bad news. What about if is it already expanded worldwide? What a big deal. This doesn't affect me directly - at the moment, and I'm hoping to not be affected as well as don't wanting others to be affected -, but it's a problem that can easily grow to catastrophic consequences if not stopped.


New words
Acute: Agut
Spread: "Extendre"


News & photo source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20468478
"New words meaning" source: http://www.wordreference.com/es/

News: "Are these animals too 'ugly' to be saved?"

Animals which are worldwide known as endangered ones tend to be conventionally aesthetically pleasing or cute, but there are ones that are more threatened than then. Although they're not as beautiful as the others in the orthodox sense, they have physical characteristics that make them unique.
A project run by the Zoological Society for London is trying to fight for these "less appreciated" animals.

A very good intention apparently without lucrative purposes. It's true that humans don't really have the obligation of taking care of environment and animals (there aren't any "divine obligations"), but this kind of (supposed) disinterested help for the needy ones is definitely a light in this society that mostly focus on individual issues. It's true that this issue doesn't affect me directly, but it's true that I've never focused on wanting to help "beautiful" animals, and I wanted to help all endangered ones in the same manner (sounds kinda hypocrite, but I've wanted to help on this for a long time). Since I don't have any resource to help them at the moment, I'll have to wait.
Why is it every time the same? The not-conventionally things tend to be always isolated only because they're not "socially good", and that's all. They don't have a life like pandas or tigers, they're like a monsters, don't they? Jeez.


New words
Doe-eyed: "De ojos saltones" (castellà)
Echidna: Echidna (Like an "spiky ant eater")
Pangolin: Mani ("Scaled mammal")
The needy ones: Els més necessitats (while writing)
Lucrative: Lucratiu (while writing)
Disinterested: Desinteressat (while writing)


News & image source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20323753
"New words meaning" source: http://www.wordreference.com/es/

News: "'Fat' drug could treat epilepsy"

Researchers in London came up with the idea because of the ketogenic diet (high in fat and low in carbohydrate diet) used by children with drug resistant epilepsy to try to help them with their medical condition. The diet has attracted criticism because of its side effects - such as hypoglycemia or retarded growth - but by pinpointing fatty acids in the diet that are effective in controlling epilepsy, they hope they can develop a pill for all kinds of people that could provide the same benefits without the side effects.

Good news. A worldwide health problem finally has hopes of conclusion. In my opinion, it's a great advance on medical investigation. It's true that this doesn't affect me directly, as I don't know anyone knowing that she or he suffers because of this, but it's good to see that some people will become happier because of human team work.


New words
Carry out: Portar a terme
Fatty acid: Àcid gras
Pinpoint: Localitzar
Breakthrough: Gran pas endavant


News & image source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20417144
"New words meaning" source: http://www.wordreference.com/es/

News: "'Ice cream' murder woman gets life sentence in Austria"

Estibaliz Carranza, nowadays known as "the ice killer", buried in concrete her ex-husband and her lover after killing them. When discovered, she tried to flee, but was caught and judged. Psychiatrist agree that she suffered from a personality disorder as well as serious mental abnormalities.

Well, maybe these horrific things can be avoided if people with this kind of serious mental disorders are treated at time, but I'm not sure if "the sick ones" realize they're are not healthy... Even if someone tells them that, I think they won't take it seriously and will just negate to be treated. These things doesn't  affect me at the moment, but maybe I'll encounter some people with this while working and, if I can do it, I'll try to "fix" these disorders.


New words
Concrete: Formigó
Trial: Judici
To plead: Suplicar
Guilty: Culpabilitat

News & image source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20453491
"New words meaning" source: http://www.wordreference.com/es/

News: "Gaza and Israel begin to resume normal life after truce"

After a lot of military attacks between Gaza and Israel, they begin to resume normal life. Israel launched a final offensive against Gaza, with the killing of a Hamas military leader. Also, the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement came into force. Finally, Israel has agreed to end hostilities, same as Palestinians.

It's true that if someone attacks they'll shatter in conflict again... Well, it's good to see war end - even if temporally -. This doesn't affect me directly, but seeing that people can still agree with things when religion or economical issues "come into the show" it's enough to give me some kind of "hope" about a future without those things, specifically the conflicts they provoke.


New words
Truce: Suspendre les hostilitats (castellà = tregua)
Resume: Reprendre
Ceasefire: Alto al foc
Overnight: Durant la nit
Under the deal: "Sota" el problema (dilema)
Staging: "Posada en escena"
Sheltering: Refugiant-se
Shelling: Protegint-se (?)

News & image source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20444499
"New words meaning" source: http://www.wordreference.com/es/

Trying to improve mental skills

I've been searching a lot of information about improving "mental skills", such as concentration, memory, and stuff. Then I started to apply it.
First of all, I searched for "meditation's psychological and biological effects", as I believed that there was a connection between the obviously high concentration rate of Buddhist monks and the time they spend meditating every day. I was right: focusing your attention on one thing - acting as "meditation base" - improves your capacity for concentrating on other things. Once mastered, this "actualized" skill can be applied on mostly whatever.
I'm giving it a try, and I can focus more on reading books, for example. I don't know if I'm doing it right or it's just placebo effects, but I'm happy with the results.

Choosing a topic for an oral presentation

Although there are a lot of ideas to talk about, it's really easy to choose what kind of stuff you want to talk about. The topics given by the teacher focus on projects that we've done in class (dreams and youth), adding "informatics" as a general idea.

Talking with my partner, it easily turned out that the idea we like more it's the dreams one. We've shared some opinions about the things that we like to talk about, but they weren't focus enough, so our ideas turned... "too general".

Then, we decided to talk about our personal dreams, the challenges we'll face to reach them and the solutions.

Dialogue - Eva & José

Scenario: Two friends talking about their mum’s mechanisms to keep young

Characters: José, Eva

J: Oh, did I tell you that my mum got an appointment in Corporación Dermoestética?

E: Wow, really? Why?

J: She is upset about her wrinkles.

E: Is she confident with her decision, isn't she?

J: Yep, she is.

E: Did she try any cosmetics?

J: Well, I think she never thought about that. My mum believes (that) they can be harmful.

E: Oh, come on. It’s known (that) operations are dangerous, aren’t they?

J: I knew you wouldn’t like that…I don’t disagree with her at all, though.

E: But why she wants to spent money on operations? She may feel bad with wrinkles, it’s so…unnatural!

J: Yeah, I think you’re right. Oh gosh, you always preferred to avoid this kind of things, didn’t you?

NOTE: The format went completely mad. I'll rewrite this entry to try to fix this.

"Youth is the most important thing in the world"

On one hand, this can easily turn into obsession; you know, it's nearly imposible to keep young all your life, and the desperation of seeing you getting older will be a nightmare.

But on the other hand, old people usually desire to be young again. Maybe they suffer to much from physical aches, so there we have a possible argument to defend that youth is the most important thing in the world.

“We can't live without humor”

Is this really true? If we interpret this sentence in a literally, absolutely non-metaphoric way, it's easy to talk nonsense: Humor is completely vital for life and without it, we will die. Obviously, to discuss this phrase we need to understand it as a metaphorical one.

On one hand, having a favorite topic for jokes doesn't mean the others would find comfortable with it, and you can easily offend or make someone feel bad; otherwise we would all have the same type of humor. The same occurs if we are jokers; we may see it funny, but it can be painful for the person who “suffered” the joke. So, humor can make your life and other's ones tough.

However, on the other hand humour affects positively to your relations and behaviour, greatly increasing your sense of self-fulfillment and making you engage your life happier. Well, life can be really deceptive, and it's absolutely true that if the bad things aren't faced with positiveness, they can make you suffer a lot.

In conclusion, humor is kinda “useful” if we want to avoid suffering, but on an adequate measure; in other words, having no humor at all doesn't help you much, but having an “uncontrolled” one have similar consequences.

News: "France shootings: How can a child aged four handle trauma?"

Zeena, a four-year-old child, was found with her dead parents inside a car. She was optimal physically, but the acquired trauma in such horrific experience is likely to affect her for the rest of her life. According to a psychologist specialized on children trauma, she would have experienced a really stressful reaction - a massive shock - and activated "a sort of shut-down response" that protected her psychologically. "Now", the police will take up to a week before questioning her to ensure that she won't be re-traumatized or "forced" to re-live the incident.

I can't even imagine how she could handle the situation (I know, it's mostly a "defense mechanism" issue, but it's really striking). Few people have experienced this kind of extremely shocking event, and I think they're the only ones that can say how it feels. This case doesn't affect me directly, but as a future psychologist (or/and psychiatrist or/and neuroscience doctor, perhaps), I'm sure that I'll encounter this kind of problems some day, and if I don't change my mind, I'll do all my efforts to try to help people that faced them.


New words
Witness: Presenciar
Stimuli: Estímul
Grasp: Comprensió
Pans out: Resulta

News & image source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19508900
"New words meaning" found on: http://www.wordreference.com/es/

Kinda worried about summer

The summer is near and everybody is impatient for the holidays. I don't know if there'll be like the others: I'm thinking about start working besides I have to do a lot of things... You know, I'm kinda worried about it. I don't know what exactly I'm going to do with the "treball de recerca", and it's important to have already clear how to do it.What about friends? Most of them will work, a lot will go on trips and few will stay here for the summer.

In reality, I'm not like thinking... I have some work for tomorrow, and it's very important, besides I'm a bit stressed lately.

Reading time ! : The call of the wild

Buck, a four-year-old dog, lives peacefully in Saint Claire's valley. Manuel, Buck's master's gardener, wants to sell Buck to a man who needs dogs for sleighs to pick gold on North-west Canada. The dog, who doesn't know what's going on, is abandoned in a train. Before he can escape, the train begins to move, sending Buck to an unknown place...

Opinion

Well, it isn't a bad book. Reading how Buck is treated made me sad, but I like the story in general.Good ambientation and adjectives to describe the situations. Recommended for those people who really love animals.

Cinema time ! : Kung-Fu Panda

Po is a panda who wishes to be a kung-fu master. He admires Master Shifu, Master Oogway and the Furious Five, the kung-fu masters who are living in the Jade Palace, in a mountain near the town where he lives. He spend his life being a waiter in his fathar's restaurant, but one day, master Oogway organizes an exhibition in which the Furious Five have to compite to be chosen as the "Dragon Warrior". Accidentally, Po becomes the "Dragon Warrior", wining an oportunity to fullfill his dream... But, there isn't only good things... Tai-Lung, an evil guy who is in prison, wants to have his revenge...

Opinion

I think is a really funny movie! The summary I put above seems to describe a serious movie, but it isn't. Good dubbing and character expresiveness, although is an animation film. Recommended for those people who go after their dreams (all ages).

Final reflection - 1ST BTX

I think I've improved a lot. I had done a lot of practice (mostly with your-says and the grammar book), and learnt a large amunt of vocabulary, that I used a lot of times in my posts (like "environment" (I didn't know that word, I used to say "atmosphere", or terrifying things like "ambiental"), for example). Also I already know more about some interesting verbal forms, like the conditionals (Example: If I don't work, I won't have the 10) and the future (Example: I'll work a lot).

For me, the best post I ever done is... none. All the posts have their caracteristics, and I like them all the same way. I used different grammar and vocabulary on my posts, but I think that the bests about this are the posts that talk about my opinion.

The most interesting activities for learning English were the oral presentations (because you get used to read in English, and you may translate some words, learning their meaning), the "your-says" (because you were talking about something that interests you, and all the words you translated are learnt easily) and the activities on the grammar book (because there are all kinds of exercises on this book, and it's possible to correct them by yourself). I don't think that any activity was unuseful, because in all the activities you had to search for translations, and it helps a lot to learn some vocabulary, or read things in English, and it improves your grammar by getting use to see verbs correctly used, or adjectives,...

I would like to do the same activities; I liked them. It's true that I don't like very much to do oral presentations, but is fine. The idea of doing your-says is great, and good for improve your mark (with effort, and I think it's right to permit it). In this subject, I felt freedoom to do whatever I want to improve my mark, and it's a thing that I value really positively. In other words, I love the English subject, and I hope that it won't change.

Informal dialogue

Maybe I won't put the dialogue video for personal reasons, but it will be here:

http://tadziosgate.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/podcast-soap-opera.html

We've almost learnt to respect our world

Nowadays, there are a lot of improvements in order to protect the environment. But, is it really true that we have almost learnt to respect our world? There's still a lot of bad things affect our world.
In a way, I agree with the idea that we've made an improvement in our attitude towards teh earth. There are a lot of clean energy plants, a considerable number of foundations and charities,... But it's also true that we became more irresponsible: cars are overused, the seas are polluted,...

 If we respect our world, a lot of things will mostly disappear, and the government isn't showing any interest in that. Respect the world creates less money than destroying it, so it's not a good idea to preserve it. Seems crazy, eh? People literally killing a lot of life forms only for money. Unfortunately, the world is full of such bad people.
I think that this masacre won't stop until the earth becomes uninhabitable. Instead of losing one million euros, for example, they eill lose 30 million to make another planet comfortable for human life (maybe they would find one already prepared, but surely they will let non-important people die here). Silly, very silly. If it's like this, I think that the people who are getting richer due to this "way-of-doing" things are very stupid, or maybe "normal people" will pay for the rich's errors

Oral presentation : Bullying

Self-Evaluation

Quite good. Nervous as usually, but good, better than the presentation of the second term, I think. I have practiced, but not the necessary. I had forgotten some parts, mixed some parts with others, there were some moments that I’ve becomed understandable... The intonation and pronunciation was quite good, though.

I really liked this topic, I wanted to do this presentation for a long time ago. I was quite embarrassed, but that’s all. A moment I really feel “warm” in the class was when someone had asked me if I know someone who was bullied... I felt the time freezed. I love when people show their emotions, or make a try to show a little. It makes me feel very embarrassed and comfortable.

My internet connection hates me, and didn't let me put the video... I'm beggining to get annoyed by this.

'No signal' from targeted ET hunt

Australian astronomers used a great big new installation to examine Gliese 581, a star known to host planets in its habitable zone. It has six planets, two that are like super-Earths. The research was done, but nothing was found.

It doesn't affects me, but annoys me. I don't understand why we have to spend our time and money exploring the space while there are a lot of people dying because of diseases. I imagine how the installation costs, for nothing...
What exactly do astronauts in the space? Explore? The only use I can see for this is the experimentation on 0 gravity conditions... But I think that we can already simulate this conditions on the Earth, so... I realise that we can find intesting things outside (like material), but meanwhile, a lot of poor people is dying because they can't eat (What cost of fabrication has a rocket? Maybe 10 human lives? Much more, I think)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18288926

"How you remind me" - Nickelback

Never made it as a wise man / Mai fer-ho com un home sabi
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing / No vaig poder parar-ho com un pobre home robant
Tired of living like a blind man / Cansat de viure com un home cec
I'm sick of sight without a sense of feeling / Estic cansat de veure sense sentir res
And this is how you remind me / I així és com em recordes

This is how you remind me / Així és com em recordes
Of what I really am / Del que realment sóc
This is how you remind me / Així és com em recordes
Of what I really am / Del que realment sóc

It's not like you to say sorry / No és propi de tu dir perdó *
I was waiting on a different story / Estava esperant una cosa diferent
This time I'm mistaken / Aquesta vegada m'he equivocat
For handing you a heart worth breaking / Per entregar-te un cor digne de trencar

And I've been wrong, I've been down / I he estat equivocat, he estat "deprimit"
Been to the bottom of every bottle / Anant fins al final de cada ampolla
These five words in my head / Aquestes 5 paraules al meu cap
Scream, "Are we having fun yet?" / Criden, "Estem divertint-se encara?"

Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
No, no / No, no
Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
No, no / No, no

It's not like you didn't know that / No és com si no ho sabéssis
I said I love you and I swear I still do / Vaig dir que t'estimava i vaig jurar que ho continuaria fent *
And it must have been so bad / I ha hagut de ser dolentíssim
'Cause living with me must have damn near killed you / Perquè viure amb mi quasi et mata *

This is how you remind me / Així és com em recordes
Of what I really am / Del que realment sóc
This is how you remind me / Així és com em recordes
Of what I really am / Del que realment sóc

It's not like you to say sorry / No és propi de tu dir perdó *
I was waiting on a different story / Estava esperant una cosa diferent
This time I'm mistaken / Aquesta vegada m'he equivocat
For handing you a heart worth breaking / Per entregar-te un cor digne de trencar

And I've been wrong, I've been down / I he estat equivocat, he estat "deprimit"
Been to the bottom of every bottle / Anant fins al final de cada ampolla
These five words in my head / Aquestes 5 paraules al meu cap
Scream, "Are we having fun yet?" / Criden, "Estem divertint-se encara?"

Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
No, no / No, no
Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
No, no / No, no
Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
No, no / No, no
Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
No, no / No, no

Never made it as a wise man / Mai fer-ho com un home sabi
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing / No vaig poder parar-ho com un pobre home robant
Tired of living like a blind man / Cansat de viure com un home cec
I'm sick of sight without a sense of feeling / Estic cansat de veure sense sentir res
And this is how you remind me / I així és com em recordes

This is how you remind me / Així és com em recordes
Of what I really am / Del que realment sóc
This is how you remind me / Així és com em recordes
Of what I really am / Del que realment sóc

It's not like you to say sorry / No és propi de tu dir perdó *
I was waiting on a different story / Estava esperant una cosa diferent
This time I'm mistaken / Aquesta vegada m'he equivocat
For handing you a heart worth breaking / Per entregar-te un cor digne de trencar

And I've been wrong, I've been down / I he estat equivocat, he estat "deprimit"
Been to the bottom of every bottle / Anant fins al final de cada ampolla
These five words in my head / Aquestes 5 paraules al meu cap
Scream, "Are we having fun yet?" / Criden, "Estem divertint-se encara?"
 
Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
Are we having fun yet? / Estem divertint-se encara?
Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
Are we having fun yet? / Estem divertint-se encara?
Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
Are we having fun yet? / Estem divertint-se encara?
Yeah, yeah, yeah / Yeah, yeah, yeah
No, no / No, no


* I'm not sure

I've done only the traduction, the other is copy and paste.

The panda

The panda in an herbivore animal that lives mostly on China, on their natural "home": bambu woods. Their caracteristic colours and shape makes it one of the most known animals in the world. It has many ressembles to a bear, focusing on the shape. The really original caracteristic of the panda is its colours: white with some black zones. You can see an example in the photo, but I supose you already know its existence.

It's my favourite animal: cute and big. I really like his colours, that make him unique worldwide. Of course, I know that if you get close to a baby panda and the mother is seeing you, you probably get killed by its clws and teeth... It's strange, but I like how protector are with its "children".


NOTE: When I tried to put an image, Blogger didn't let me, so I put de link...

Panda

First batxillerat is over!

This year was quite stressing. It was quite difficult to adapt to batxillerat environment, but I'd made an effort and finally I 've done quite well all the subjects.
At first it ressembles to ESO because of people behaviour and the childish atmosphere floating on the air... It doesn't change a lot, though. There are some people who are behaving like this alright now... I don't mind really, but they're wasting their time and their parents money. You know, batxillerat is optional. Then, seems illogic to come here to do nothing. Maybe they had tried, and gived up because of difficulty. Because it's not easy: Doing batxillerat requires effort and constance.
I hope  second will be more serious. I 've liked a lot the way that teachers explain, but the "bad students" behaviour ruined the climate. It's true that in an exam week you can get really stressed, but it's not only for the final reward: It's for autosuperation too.

Study links womb environment to childhood obesity

Scientists found changes in the DNA at birth which is a result of the mother's diet or exposure to pollution or stress.They  linked these changes to a higher Body Mass Index in children about nine years old, but the researchers say more work is needed to definitively prove the relation between these two phenomenons

Well, it's not good to have a lot of obese people, but only for their own healths... It doesn't affect me, because I've already born, but... What about the newborn?
It's known that a lot of people is obese nowadays... Even the environment will help with this... I don't know, I completely respect all kinds of people, but borning literally "condemned" to be fat... It's beggining to be a little frightening.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17234033

I can't put a photo, blogger don't let me...

"¡Cuánto Cabrón!"

"Cuánto Cabrón" is an humour page where you can find a lot of different types of funny situations, normally focusing on daily routine or typical forms of behaviour (boys, girls,... Well, these are normally taken by prejudices or old-fashioned behaviours).
All Spanish people can post in there their short stories (in form of "vignettes"). In this page, they use different "memes" to express different emotions/reactions to the large amount of situations that the "vignettes" describe.

I don't really like this page, because of the abuse of black humour and the use of stereotypes to describe imaginary situations (unfortunately, nowadays those situations can easily occur). Some friends have said that it's for laughing, it doesn't  make sense to take it so seriously.
I understand that view, but I can't laugh at that. Definitely. I see it and I can't laugh. I gave it a go, but it didn't work. But there are some that gave me some fun (these aren't made focusing on prejudices or stereotypes, but they're of very stupid situations).

The climate change

The climate change is a great problem that the humanity have to fight nowadays. The out-of-control deforestation, the masive use of industries and cars and the most human passivity against the problem makes this planet more contamined every day.

It's true that I think it would be better to colabore all together to solve this problem, but also I think that the people who has enough resources to make a huge improvement don't do it, so... Why is it our responsability? Maybe we can help, but we can't waste too much time and money in this while other people is enjoying the life happily. We have to survive, aren't we? No one helps you for doing a good thing for the environment.

So, the environment is going to "die" someday if the people who can do something really important don't do it. It's something like: "I prefer money than the environment, the animals, the other people and all the stuff that don't concerns my money". Worst people ever, a shame that way of thinking will exist forever (I think). Also, the people seems to have the tendence of don't colabore or disturbing each others... I don't know, maybe it's posible to do something huge colaborating with people worldwide, but I think that it's very, very difficult (If any measure "touches" the money, a lot of people will be against it, and the environment will "feel" very lonely, I think).


I can't put a photo, blogger don't let me... 

Cinema time ! : V for Vendetta

Year 2030. England has fallen in a dictatorial totalitarism, based on the nazist thinking way. People who opose are eliminated, and every person with different culture or behave (they're trying to do like Hitler) finish the same way. People are scared and hopeless. But there's one man, one masked man, who fights against this dystophy. Even alone, even in danger, he does all that can lead the society to a new age, to the freedoom... V, who search the destruction of the "current" system.


Opinion

Best movie of all times. It makes me cry a lot, and V's strong ideals captived me. Best argument ever: absorbing, with loads of "unnervant" moments. It's true that previously it was a comic; probably I'll read it. I think it's better to don't fall on that dystophic world (or something similar); it would be a chaos for different people: a boring world. Too boring. Maybe this world it's full of bad things, but I realized that is only my subjective view, and it would be bad (for me) to try to impose my ideas to other people. Maybe there are some people who likes the idea of having everyone thinking like him/her, but definitely it isn't a good thing for me.

Panda wounded has been found in the forest

A wounded panda has been found in the forest, near a natural reserve in Sichuan, China. A reserve worker and two of his friends had found him in a very bad fisical state; he had wounds in the legs, an eye, and the stomach.
Nowadays the panda is out of any danger.


Opinion

This doesn't affect me directly, but I'm a little sick about stories of bad human making suffer the others. It's happier to see a good action toward the animals, considering that nowadays there're a lot of violence against them. In this world, the animals have very few rights, and I think this is an injustice... Someone had said once: "The animals have feelings; it's different if you don't have them".


http://newscontent.cctv.com/news.jsp?fileId=138713

Cinema time ! : The Woman In Black

Arthur Kipps was a lawyer. One day, he had to go to an strange house, isolated of the other ones of the village, for a normal affair. The house, that seemed tetric when Arthur Kipps visited it for the first time, hid a terrifying story caused by the inconditional love of a mother for her child. Instead of telling him the story of the house, the village people next to the house remained silent, and the horror returned...


Opinion

An amazing horror movie, it shows how cruel the people can be toward others, even if they're family. Crippling story, good ambientation music and an excellent scenario make this movie one of the best horror ones that I've ever seen.
Better to watch it with people: you'll enjoy it more. Obviously, you have to have a reasonable age to see it. I recommend it, it's one of the best horror movies that came out lately.

Oral presentation : Hawaii

Real text

Hello, everybody. As you know, my name is José Yépez and I study here with you. Well, I’m gonna talk about Hawaii.
I’d like to explain the structure of my presentation; first, I’ll do an introduction, explaining the geographical situation of Hawaii. Later, I’ll talk about two traditional things: the lei and the hula and, to finish, I’ll explain my conclusion, which consists basically on talking about why I chose this topic.

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states (August 21, 1959), and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. Hawaii’s diverse natural scenery, warm tropical climate, abundance of public beaches and oceanic surrounding, and active volcanoes make it a popular destination for tourists, surfers, biologists, and volcanologists alike. Its capital is Honolulu on the island of O’ahu.
This state have an anthem, a seal and a flag. The anthem is the music what you’re listening.

Do you now what’s a lei?
At Hawaiian weddings, flower garlands known as leis are traditionally placed around the necks of the bride and groom. Traditionally, Leis are created from some of the island's most beautiful and fragrant flowers. Each lei is made up of some 40 or 50 fresh flowers, and tied with a colourful ribbon. These flower garlands are very symbolic of Hawaiian culture and an integral part of every celebration on the island.

In Hawaii, both men and women wear flower leis or necklaces made of flowers, and their leis provide them a sense of enjoyment and pride. For tourists, the lei has become a tradition of visiting the Hawaiian Islands. Tourists are usually welcomed with a lei and the word Aloha. Aloha is the Hawaiian word for welcome and love.

Do you know what’s Hula?
Hula is a uniquely Hawaiian dance accompanied by chant or song that preserves and perpetuates the stories, traditions and culture of Hawaii. Hawaiian legends tell stories of hula beginning on the islands of Molokai and Kauai. Today, this enchanting art form has become a worldwide symbol of Hawaiian culture and the beauty of Hawaian people. The popularity of hula has spread to the U.S. mainland, Japan and even Europe.
There are many types and styles of hula. Hula auana (modern hula) is danced to western influenced music and features a more modern and fluid style. This is the most familiar type of hula to visitors. Hula kahiko (ancient hula) is danced to dramatic chants and percussion with more traditional costumes.

Well, I’ve choosed this topic because I’ve always like to visit Hawaii, and this project was a motivation to search information about it. I’ve dreamed a lot of times about doing my wedding on Hawaii, and thanks to this project, I’ve found some information about that. I have to say that it have been quite easy to do because this project wasn’t very long and the information was easy to find.


What I said

Uuum, hello, I’m José Yépez, and I’m going to present my presentation about Hawaii. Uuum... Uum, first of all I’m going to talk about the content of the presentation; first I do, I’ll do an introduction explaining the geographical situation of Hawaii, and, um, and, and later I’m going to explain two traditions “facts”, the lei and the hula, and, um, for, for (what?) I’m going to explain my conclusion.
Um, Hawaii it’s an archipielago, archipielago in the Pacific Ocean and, um, the west of the United States, there (what?) the flag, and here it’s the... symbol of Hawaii and, and there’s an anthem... too.
Um, the, do you know what’s the lei? “No, no, no” (what?) “The typical dance?” Um, no, that’s the hula. (what?) The flower necklace um, and, well, it’s really common on Hawaii and you ever seen it sometimes it’s used by by by marriage, and the bride and the groom wear it, and in Hawaii is... The lei is a symbol of pride and love, and the men and the women wear it without distinctions. It’s also used to welcome visits to Hawaii and the word Aloha that means... respect and...
Um, do you know what’s the hula? “The typical dance” “Mwahahahaha” The hula it’s the typical dance in Hawaii, aahh, it’s aaah it’s a fff... it’s a cheerful dance that consists in... in... in... soft movements, and it (what?) Hawaii. There’re typical styles depending on the zone in, for example in Honolulu the, the (what?) more, more energetic and the men dance too, and um... and the style of hula has... and the style of... is, is more popular in the capital (what?) O’ahu. Ummm, my conclusion... Um, I chose this topic because I’ve loads of dreams about a marriage in Hawaii and, and, well, this is an oportunity to get the motivation to search information for it, so it’s not very difficult to do, but I think it’s very short my project and I (what?) you’ve enjoyed... it, and, um, thanks for listening, and do you have any question? I’ll be happy to answer them.
(QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS)


Self-Evaluation

I think I have "dishonoured" Hawaii with this horrible presentation ^^'
I was less nervous than the first time, but I haven't practiced the necessary. And well, here's the result! I was too excited about doing a presentation about Hawaii... This is why I consider that my presentation is horrible.
But, like a miracle, I didn't know how I managed to "perform" but I did it "well", better than I though before I could see the video. I see that my pronunciation was not bad as I though... But I had forgotten most of the text! And I "invented some parts"! Oh, my.
Too many "um"'s and weird similar stuff, and I keep looking at the screen! Hope I could improve my oral on the next term.

NOTE: I CAN'T POST THE VIDEO!

Friend's description (written and recorded)

---------'s one of my best friends. Actually he's quite tall (average, like me, more or less), brown-eyed, with short dark-blond hair. He's not fat, because he does a lot of exercise, but he has quite a round face. He normally wears glasses.

Just seeing him walking towards you makes you smile, because he's always kind friendly and outgoing, and I never get bored when he comes to my house or when we go to the cinema. He's also a very balanced person, who helps other people (me, for example) to not do "weird"/stupid stuff and be emotionally overcome. Even though he's rather sensitive. It's true that when you meet him for the first time he seems a bit cold but, in fact, that's because he's a bit shy. He really likes to watch anime on the computer, and he wants to go to Japan someday. He doesn't like egocenthric or bossy people.

One thing that I really like about ------------ is that he always helps you if you have problems, and he doesn't have prejudices, being one of the most friendly people that I have known. Apart from this, he can be too perfectionist sometimes, and I don't like that at all. But he's a very loyal friend and I believe in him.





I've hidden my friend's name to "protect" him.

Dutch offered 'euthanasia on wheels'

Euthanasia has been legal in the Netherlands for a decade. But an organisation based in The Hague is now offering a mobile euthanasia service, prompting accusations that the law has been pushed too far.

I think that is really weird to offer 'euthanasia on wheels'... I mean, if someone wants to kill himself, is better to go to a special place to do it, completely equipped, where the death's can be totally controlled,... I'm not against the suicide, but I think is a waste of money to provide this "service" to the community... There are things that are more necessary than this.
I'm not against the suicide, but I think that it's better to fight against the problems and go on the search of the happiness. This new doesn't affect me, because I don't live there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17230102

Thousands protest against European Union austerity cuts

Thousands of demonstrators have turned out in European cities to protest against austerity measures.
In Spain, thousands of schoolchildren and university students left the classroom and took to the streets to protest against education spending cuts, which in some instances turned violent.

I don't know if this kind of measures are necessary or not, but I'm pretty sure that there are other solutions. I don't know why we get to this awful situation. The only I can say is that manifestating it's OK (because is a constitutional right, and it mustn't be aggresive (otherwise I think that's unuseful, because the government can simply look to other side)), but destroy the city it's too much...
This affects me because I'm a student and the education cuts aren't going to help me...


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17210178

Sarkozy hides in bar amid protest

Hundreds of angry protesters have booed French President Nicolas Sarkozy, forcing him to take shelter in a bar as he campaigned in the Basque country ahead of April's presidential election.

I think that there are other ways to protest than get angry and trying to hurt a president. Yeah, it's true that the situation is really bad and everyone is getting nervous, but this isn't gonna help to solve the problems. And if everyone wants to quit him from his role, sorry, but he was elected by votations, so... I don't want to offend anyone, but maybe it would be better to think twice before voting someone.
It doesn't affect me because he's not "my president" and I don't mind about his security, because he has enough guards to mantain him safe.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17227438

Iris

Iris is my other cat. She's more little than Luna, more young too. I don't know exactly how old she really is because she was "wild". She was born secretly in my garden, in a part where my dad use to keep his tools.
I remember that it had rained for two days. The second day, at night, I was reading in my room when I heard a noise. It was a very weak sound. I told my father that there was something outside making a weird sound, and he went out to look. Few minutes later, my dad returned. In his hands, Iris was staring at us, completely wet and scared.
Now, she is a very sensitive cat. She likes to stay with people; although she can be a little rowdy sometimes. I have to say that she's more affectivate than Luna, but I love both by the same way. She had other name, "Alma", but we though that it would be better to call her Iris because of her beautiful eyes.

- Iris with Luna (from left to right) -

Describing a videogame character : Xion

NOTE: Here are SPOILERS about the story of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days!

Xion is a main character in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. She's a misterious girl that normally appears totally covered, unless she's with Roxas and Axel (her two bests friends), or when she has passed a lot of days in the Organization. She's a bit emotional, but she's strong and purposeful.
But that's only when she's with her friends; actually she's a puppet created (by the Organization) to copy and douple Roxas powers, if the Organization (a group of really powerful Nobodies) couldn't use Sora. Each member of the Organization see her in a different form, including Roxas, Axel, Riku and Xigbar (the others see her covered).

Opinion

She's one of my favourite characters of all Kingdom Hearts series. Even knowing that she was a puppet, she had will enough to going on the search of the truth and to sacrifice herself for a major purpose. She and Roxas are Nobodies, but they seem to have a heart instead of nothing, and, although the Organization made them suffer, they were enough strong-willed to avoid all the obstacles.
Sometimes I wished that things had change a little for Xion... Maybe the story couldn't be continued, but Xion didn't deserve to vanish in Roxas' arms.


END OF THE SPOILERS

Itazura na Kiss

Itazura na Kiss is an "anime", most popularly known as "Japanese cartoon".

Sinopsis

This is the story of Kotoko, a dreamer girl who is in love with Irie, one of the bests students in her High School. She tell him about her love, but he refuses really cold, giving a lot of pain to Kotoko. While the time passes, the love feeling never stops and Kotoko fights for her truly love, even if he refuses her once...

Opinion

This is really emotional story... It's true that I hate the behavior of Irie, showing that he hasn't got any feeling (and making cry of rage the viewers) ... But the story is really, really good and it makes me cry a lot of times. I recomend this anime for people who really like emotional stuff, because they would like it. Sincerely, a master piece.


Here's the ending of the second season of Itazura na Kiss:



In the photo, Kotoko and Irie. PHOTO SOURCE: Here.

Perfect Cherry Blossom

"Perfect Cherry Blossom" is the title of the 7th game of Touhou series made by ZUN.

Sinopsis

It's the time that spring has to come to Gensokyo. But, instead, the snow continues falling. No one suspect anything, and everyone continues with their daily routine. But after encoutering someone who shouldn't be in that place, a girl started to suspect something...

Opinion

I like this videogame. Inever get bored while playing this videogame. It can be a little monoton sometimes, but it's an exciting one. The story changes depending on the character that you choose in the beginning, but basically the style doesn't change.

Escaping in the night (Part 2)

An unnatural force was trying to make me turn and see what was doing that strambotic sound, but I could keep walking as before, until I reached the shop.
There was a man talking to the seller. A huge man, bald, with a brown lock beard and a really big belly which seemed to want to escape from the man's tight shirt. I saw that man in the town before, but, for some unknown reasons, I stared at him while he was walking to the door. He turned to say goodbye, but then he looked at my eyes, smiled and dissapeared through the night...
Then, I bought bread, and I started to run again, trying to rach home before my mother came back. But, before I reached home, I passed through the place where I heard that strange noise... I had some creeps while running, and then, after a curve, I saw it...

Reading time ! : Eclipse

"Eclipse" is the third book on the Twilight saga, written by Stephenie Meyer.

Bella is in love with Edward, but she also wants to be with Jacob. The strong feelings of love and the relentless advance of a menace press Bella to make a decision...

Opinion

This is the first book I read of the saga. Before of this, I've watched the movies of the two first books ("Twilight" and "New Moon"), and later I read them. I think, in order of preference, that "Eclipse" is the third book I like the most in the whole saga. It has feelings, some anxious moments, some action... It's true that it leaks a little about magical elements (it only has vampires and wolfmen) and it's a shame because I really like fantasy books, and I expected more "magic". Anyway, I love the book. I recommend this book to peopl who like love stories, and basically, to Twilight fans.

Reading time ! : American Horror: Three terrifying tales

Basically, this is a book to learn English. It has a lot of activities, a short introduction about the tales' writer (Edgar Allan Poe) and some people related to "horror" (cinema, books,...)

The black cat: A man who loves animals has a cat named Pluto. But, one day, he killed him. Soon, some strange things happen, and the man will become obsessed...

The oval portrait: A man comes to a castle to escape from the storm outside. In his room, he discover a beautiful portrait of a woman... But a terrible story is behind the painting.

The tell-tale heart: A man become crazy by an older one, only because of his eye (made on crystal). But killing him becomes a real nightmare...

Opinion

I really like horror stories! It's true that I get scared easily, but it's a sensation that I feel very strong, and I like it. This isn't a book of a really high level, it's only for practice English. But it helps me to remind these stories, that I read few years ago.