IS SPORT AS GOOD AS IT SEEMS?

The idea we have about sport has changed drastically over the last few years. Some time ago only rich people could afford to practice some sport apart from football, which was the only one that poor children played on the streets. The ones with enough money to buy some equipment practiced tennis, ski, squash... they were considered to be the exception. However, now the strange thing is not to practice any kind of physical activity.

The image that the media offers us of famous sportsmen who always look fit, healthy and happy, makes us want to be like them, that´s why going to gyms or doing different sports is getting to be more and more popular as a way to lose weight. Of course this has its good side, such as health, or better self-esteem. On the other hand, it can also make us obsessed, or cause psychological disorders such as “vigorexia”, which leads to an excessive practice of sport, as well as stopping eating in order not to spoil the results of our physical efforts.

How can we know when we have crossed the thin line between looking healthy and going over the top? Especially now that summer is getting near and everybody wants to have the perfect body desired by everyone. We must not forget that our health is more important than looking sexy for a few months. Therefore, be clever, don´t punish yourself doing strict diets combined with long exercise sessions, enjoy your time eating, drinking or going out with your friends - it´s much better and within a few years you'll realize you made the right decision.

BOURNEMOUTH 2010

The 19th of June of 2011 we will start our first experience together outside the country, in Broadstairs, England to be exact. For those who have not been in England yet, I would like explain a little bit how it works.

Last summer I went to a campus in a town, Bournemouth, in the south of England. I went to the Bournemouth University campus (BU), because it was the first time I travelled abroad alone and I preferred to stay there rather than with a family. I spent three whole weeks of July there, and they were almost the best weeks of that summer.

We lived in little houses for four which had two floors. On the ground floor we had a bedroom, a kitchen and a small room for all of us. Upstairs there were three more bedrooms and two toilets.

I went with a friend and we stayed together in the house with two more girls, one was from Germany and the other from Kazakhstan.

The first day we did an exam (grammar, oral and expression) to put us in different levels.

A normal day there was:

We woke up early in the morning and had breakfast; then we had some time to get ready before classes or activities. At 12:30 we had lunch, some free time and then activities or classes again up to 18:30, when we had dinner. Then some activities like films, games… and then free time again. At 22:30 more or less we had to be at home, but we never made did it!

We had classes in the morning the first and third weeks, and in the afternoon the second one. We had two different teachers a day, 1 hour and a half with one, a small break of half an hour and another hour and a half with another teacher. All the teachers were native, they were fantastic, and some activities we did there were similar to the ones we are doing here in the high school.

The rest of the time we had activities (sports, games…) with the staff of the campus and free time, when we could go all around the campus, to the houses …

The worst thing was the food. Everything is fried: chips, meat, fish… and it did not taste as good as here, it is something strange, you will see!

Most of the time we were with people from all over the world, it was great, we learnt things about their countries, we practised the language, we enjoyed ourselves a lot.

I hope you have enjoyed the post and you learnt something about England, thank you for reading!

Why don´t they win an Oscar?

Have you ever seen a funny film like Leslie Nielsen’s winning an Oscar or any important prize? I have not seen it yet. When I decide to go to the cinema with my friends I want to have a laugh, to have the feeling that I haven´t wasted my money. When I see, rarely, the Oscar ceremony I don´t see any funny films winning one. I don´t know if the jury likes funny movies or not, but ordinary people do.

There are many types funny movies, but many of them are parodies of famous films. One of the best actors who has ever acted in those parodies, from my point of view, was Leslie Nielsen. He was the most famous actor in comic cinema.

He died one year ago; that was a great loss for the cinema. He made many films, such as “Wrongfully Accused”. This is one of the funniest films I have ever seen. However, the director, or even Leslie, didn´t received any mention. There is another series of movies of “Scary movie” or “American Pie”. Even though I have defended these kinds of films I must say that there are not ideal candidates for an Oscar. They are imitations of a real movie, and sometimes they include nasty things or improper scenes such as uncontrolled criticism.

Apart from the parodies there are other movies, with an original and interesting plot, which are serious and funny at the same time. One good example is “RED”. It is a story of retired C.I.A. agents who are investigating why the C.I.A. wants to kill them. It seems to be a tragedy. In part it is, because there is some blood and violence.

However, there are many funny parts which make you laugh a lot. Apart from this film, there are other films like that; films that make the cinema one of the best relaxing activity you can do.

Perhaps, one day, in a far or close future, these films will be given a prize.

CURIOUS LAWS IN THE USA

I‘ve always thought Americans were a bit strange and weird, very different from us. But after reading this I’m sure you’ll change you minds and you’ll start to think they are in fact completely mad. If not, take a look at some of their crazy laws:

In Washington lollipops are banned, you are not allowed to sleep on a refrigerator in Pennsylvania, in Nevada you cannot ride a camel along the highway and in Florida you may not fart in a public place after 6:00pm on Thursdays.

And you would say, these laws must be old and in disuse. It is true that many of them were made in old western times such as; not sleeping with your shoes on, not standing upright at a bar (if you are a man) or singing off key. But at the same time they are all still in force now.

There is a kind of obsession for introducing laws on a certain topic. For example, there are several regulations related to Sundays: not working on this day, except to sell light bulbs or riding a merry-go-round. At the same time, you are neither allowed to sell cars nor sell toothpaste and a toothbrush to the same customer.

Women have certain old laws just for them too, as they must have their husband’s permission to wear false teeth or they cannot wear a red dress out in the street after 7:00 pm! There is also a special law which prohibits unmarried women to go parachuting on Sundays.

If a child burps in church, his or her parents are the only ones responsible and will be arrested.

In my opinion the most curious laws, and I think you’ll agree with me, are the ones based on Bathtubs: they must have feet, sing in them is forbidden in Pennsylvania and donkeys cannot sleep in them.

To conclude, although there are plenty of silly, senseless American laws, it is important for a country to have a legal system like the USA’s.

And here I finish my post with the funniest Texan law. Criminals may give their victims 24 hours warning, either orally or in writing, explaining the nature of the crime to be committed.

Alternative Rock

When we talk about music, I think that we don’t know everything about it. Yes, we all like pop music, but do we really know why we like it? There’s a very simple reason: record companies want us to buy it, that’s why it’s called commercial music.

However, I think that the best type of music is ALTERNATIVE ROCK. Not many people really know what this kind of music consists of; if you are one of them, don’t worry, I’m going to explain now.

Alternative Rock is a musical subgenre of Rock music. It was created during the 60s, although it didn’t reach the height of popularity until the 80s. Its name is a mix of Rock, because it is a subgenre of the first, and Alternative because when it was first created it was outside mainstream music. It has some subgenres like Indie Rock and Noise Rock. Alternative Rock musicians use instruments like electric guitars, bass and drums.

Some famous groups which use this style are: R.E.M., Muse, The Strokes, The White Stripes, Depeche Mode, Panic! At the Disco, Foo Fighters and the Arctic Monkeys. An example of a Spanish group is Lori Meyers.

Some of their songs have cover versions by other groups. This is a cover of Depeche Mode’s song, “Enjoy the Silence”, by Nada Surf, an American Alternative Rock group which has a Spanish member. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijiCZAN2ntY

Here I leave you links to my favourite songs:

- “The Ballad of Mona Lisa”, Panic! At the Disco. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOgpdp3lP8M

- “Brianstorm”, Arctic Monkeys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30w8DyEJ__0

- “Under Cover of Darkness”, The Strokes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l09H-3zzgA

- “Undisclosed Desires”, Muse. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8OOWcsFj0U

ENJOY THE MUSIC!

The Monkey Buffet Festival

Hey!

How are you? I´ve been searching for strange and funny traditions and festivals around the world. Among all the strange traditions, like throwing breakable dishes at your neighbour’s door in Denmark, or tumbling 200 yards to the bottom of a hill… there is one that attracted my attention. It is called the monkey buffet festival and it takes place in Lopburi (Bangkok) on the 28th of November. Over 3,000 kg of fruit and vegetables are offered to every monkey that lives in Lopburi in honour of Rama. More than one thousand people go every year to the festival to enjoy a wonderful day seeing how around 600 monkeys eat what you offer them. I also think that it is a good experience because you can learn a bit of culture, see the ruins that are next to the square, and also visit the rest of Lopburi.

I hope I’ll be able to go some time and watch such a great show!

Here is a link to see the festival!

"Tonterías las justas"

I’m going to talk about a Spanish entertainment program that many people know and like, but not everybody watches it. This program is call “tonterias las Justas” and it is broadcast on “cuatro” from Monday to Friday. This program is basically about jokes and about things that appear on television. They show videos to the spectator and then they talk about them.

When they are talking about the videos Daniel, Anna and Flo sit around a big table. There is a girl that is called Romina who interviews famous people.

Another section that you can find in this program is “el blog de Agueda” where a group of old people make their own videos. You can also find a section that is called “ranking” where they show videos about people falling and they also make comments.

I usually watch this program and I like it because they make me laugh. Sometimes they act naturally and they talk about their lives outside work that makes you feel comfortable. Another thing that I like about this programme is that they change the sections, so that people don’t get tired of about them. Sometimes they bring famous people to the programme and I also like this because it makes each day different. I think that this is the type of program that other channels should have instead of people shouting at each other and arguing about stupid things.

So, after reading all of this, tell me…

Do you prefer funny programs or discussion programs?

Welcome to Austria!

If you like nature and cold weather, or if you are sweet-toothed; Austria is the country you need. You can do whatever you want, except sunbathing on a beach (there is no sea there). If you are a ski lover some of the best ski slopes of Europe are to be found in these alpine areas. Comparing the great Alps of Austria and the Pyrenees of France and Spain I would chose the mountains in central Europe. However, if you are not brave enough to ski and, perhaps, brake an arm, there are many other activities to do in the countryside. One example is ornithology, observing the slippery grouse in danger of extinction in Spain and in many European countries. If you like fishing trout in the cold rivers of the Alps, this country is the best place you can find.

The capital, Vienna, is all a leisure center. There are antique markets every Thursday and the Sacher hotel is a place you must not forget to visit. If you are in Vienna during the cold and snowy winter, the Sacher hotel will give you time to marvel at the hot chocolate and eat the famous Sacher cake while you watch the falling snow in the street. Vienna is also good to start the study of German, one of the main European languages.

If you don’t know where to go, take a jet and fly to Austria.

Dream Islands

Probably, now that December is starting all of us have thought about going to an exotic beach, or to a warm, lost island. Now I am going to help you choose your Christmas destination, or if you are not lucky enough to go there, you can dream about it for a while.

MADAGASCAR:

A visit to Madagascar is the dream of everyone with explorer blood, and could be an unforgettable way to start this New Year. It is the fourth biggest island in the world, and each of its corners hides thousands of mysteries to be discovered. Do you dare to be the first?

There are plenty of adventures to choose from, but without any doubt, the best option is to go on an expedition all over the island, stopping in different places. Most guided visits include tours to plenty of reservoirs where you will learn plenty of things from the more than twenty different cultures that are found in this culturally rich island.

THE MALDIVES:

The most visited paradisiacal islands are the Maldives. Put away your scarf, your gloves, that heavy wool jersey, and imagine yourself walking down this beach in a very light swimsuit, feeling the sun on your skin, the fine and hot sand caressing your bare feet, or listening to the gentle sounds of waves while sipping a cocktail lying by the sea. You can also bathe in one of the big blue turquoise lagoons, enjoying the green and fresh vegetation that surround them. Wouldn’t it be fantastic?

Of course this is not all, the Maldives offer us plenty of activities, you can go diving in its marvellous underwater coral gardens seeing the colours of the thousands of different fish that inhabit the charming aquamarine waters.

Cuore

Hi everybody!

I´m going to talk about a magazine that I usually buy, and you will think,“ Hmm, if she buys it, she will only say good things about it ”, well it´s just the opposite. I´ve been thinking about it and I have realized that this magazine, named “CUORE”, is just a useless magazine that consists of criticizing famous people and their defects.

This magazine is a way to make fun of celebrities and also take our money. In my opinion, aren´t we taught from childhood to respect others despite their defects? So why do we read the kind of magazines that say just the opposite?

And you will think that Cuore also informs us about current events, comments on films, offers crosswords … and of course this is a valid point. But it’s a bit cruel saying , for example, that Angelina Jolie has prominent veins on her arms or that when Shakira wants to enjoy a day on the beach, those extra pounds are showing.

But taking all this into account, the strangest thing is that we continue to buy this magazine, myself included. But seriously, I’m going to think again before buying this magazine.

I really want to know your opinion, what do you think?

TRAVELLING - Holidays on the moon

Some experts say it will be possible in four or five years, others say it will happen in 2020 and there are even some agencies who suggest this new phenomena will occur in months. The clear fact is that travelling to the moon on holidays is becoming less and less strange as time passes. It doesn’t sound any more like a science-fiction book or movie but real life.

On an Internet video, NASA is inviting citizens of The Earth to participate in space travel to the moon aboard the Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter (LRO). This new project forms part of NASA’s plan to return to the moon for investigating and researching safe landing sites, different new resources and radiation in its environment.

Europe doesn’t want to be left behind, so it is planning moon travel before 2018. The space mission will be done with no crew on board so as to explore the south pole of our satellite and discover more about it.

The topic that I am sure most of you care about is the question we are all wondering: When and how will we be able to travel in a rocket and watch the stars live?

The future, as you know, is not very clear but what is certain is that a Californian company has already started to sell tickets to see outer space for the “low” price of $200,000 and what is more; Sergey Bryn has paid them $5 million to be the fist one to have the fantastic experience of seeing space.

The latest, most recent news says Russia launched a satellite which could be used in the future as a hotel prototype. The space hotel that has been designed to be formed of several inflatable modules could be assembled by the end of the year 2015 but will cost $500 million dollars to build.

Fashion

Hi everyone!

How are you?

I think is time for a little bit of fashion. I love it, I follow fashion blogs daily. I also have to tell you that I’m not an expert. However, I will show you the hottest trends for this autumn-winter. This season the star colors will be camel, a little bit of red, olive, and the eternal black and surprising white. Let’s show you some photos.

Designers have opted by the aviator-style jackets made from sheepskin. One of the fabrics that is going to be used the most is velvet.

This season skirts will be knee length or down to the floor. But you can also be fashionable with small details; this season it has become fashionables to wear stockings above the knees. Fur jackets have become fashionable. British university style is also a big hit this season.Leer fonéticamente

Diccionario - Ver diccionario detallado

1. pronombre
1. them
2. artículo
1. the

And this is all for today, hope you like it, and if you have some more trends, just leave them in comments.

Kisses and have a good day!

Tuna!!!

Finally, the tuna came!

Year by year, the boys and girls of 4º E.S.O. dress up as minstrels. We wear a black cloak and a red or blue rosette, depending on the high school we attend. Mine is red!
The cloaks aren’t only black; if they were......they would be very tasteless. Don´t you think? Ha! Ha! Ha!

They have a special feature which is that they are covered with ribbons of many colours, made by all our friends and relatives.

After the nerves and the stress of preparing for the festival, or at least that’s how I felt, we went out to walk all around Soria, filling each of its streets with joy and colour. In spite of the fact that the first day was completely disorganised, (there was not even one guitar and there were very few tambourines) we enjoyed it a lot!

We stopped in all the shops that we passed. Most of the people, very nicely, gave us money which we used to go for dinner the last day of this "fiesta".

Personally, where I enjoyed visiting the most was my school "Los Doce Linajes". It thrilled me to see my former teachers, and also to feel that all the children, who were now occupying our desks, were happy. At that moment I remembered how when I was younger I was excited about missing some classes because the minstrels were coming to sing to us! Hee! hee!

Many things have happened to us, and there are many more left because the tuna has not ended yet.

WE WON´T STOP GIVING A LOT OF HASSLE BECAUSE THE TUNA CONTINUEEEES!!!

The Hunt!

Hunting is any activity where humans enter in the ecosystem of the animals to try to trap them. Normally the animals that they trap are killed.

The history of hunting is part of the history of humans. In Prehistoric times, people hunted animals to survive; if people didn´t hunt they wouldn’t survive because they wouldn´t have enough food to survive.

Humans improved their hunting techniques as time went by. The first tools used for hunting were a straight stick of wood and at the top a sharp stone and also the first knife was invented then. As time went on, new tools were invented and this led to bows and arrows, a curved stick attached to a taut rope connecting the extremities of the stick. This tool led to the first firearms that were invented for war, but later were used in the art of hunting. These weapons were heavy and only of one shot, but as the technology grew the weight was reduced and the number of cartridges increased to 3 per shotgun.

There are two classes of animal groups for hunting, small game and big game. Then there are other variants such as clay pigeon shooting or pigeon shooting. Examples of small game are rabbits, hares, partridge, quail, duck, fox ... etc

Big game animals that are hunted are bigger and heavier like the wild boar, deer, roe, mountain goats, chamois.... etc.

Hunting is considered a healthy sport, although some people criticize it because they think that animal life is affected, but that is a lie because what hunting does is control the number of species within a boundary so that there is no over population.

I hunt and I find it very exciting and I really enjoy it.

That beautiful sport called sky

Time: 15.30

Location: Tramacastilla ski lift and the black track of “Tubo Inferior”.

Characters: Pablo, David, Alberto, Luis and me.

Brilliant the idea of David to take the Tramacastilla ski lift to get to “Tres Hombres” and more or less in the middle of the track get off the lift and go down through the black track “Tubo Inferior”; so when we arrived there we read "extreme difficulty", but, baah, it was just a suggestion... Overall, we got to the famous track and:

Alberto: Hey! There is a child like us that came rolling down the whole track.

David: Bah! He was a novice who had no idea how to ski.

And he skis straight down 5 meters, then skids on a patch of ice and falls down, we all start laughing and his skies go straight down the runway all the way down, a tremendous scene.

Then, I start to go down the track to help him, but suddenly I turn around and I see Pablo and Alberto on the floor sliding on the same patch of ice and they are coming heading towards me. I try to move way but these idiots knock me over, Alberto´s skies hit me on the shoulder and Pablo's finish the job hitting me squarely on the head (I was wearing a helmet so it was not too bad.)

I crawl down with my skies a few meters towards David but they come off and I go down THE ENTIRE track rolling like a ball without control, tumbling, doing cartwheels, bouncing over the snow, and many other strange things that I cannot remember well, so 600 meters later, I could stop…

I lie face up, exhausted, with my shoulder and leg in pain, after having rolled like a ball in the middle of an avalanche on one of the most difficult black tracks of the resort.

One minute later, with my body lying on the surface of the snow and trembling with an incredible feeling of adrenaline after having a brush with death, I turn around to see what the hell the idiots who knocked me down are doing.

Pablo is completely white; he thought he had killed me because of the how he struck me. Luis has fallen down laughing due to my tumbling down and has several skies and poles in his hands. Later, I see David going down jumping in the snow as if he had springs in his boots and also laughing like a little kid, and behind him Alberto who comes to me but with the same luck as David, he ends up falling down, well not exactly the same because he goes head down like a sledge while the snow sprays into his mouth.

Then suddenly, an avalanche starts above us and balls of ice bounce down from the top of the track, a big one hits Alberto’s head.

In the end, everything calms down, but the commentaries while all of us were going down were these:

Luis: It is the last time I do this; I am not a back sweep.

David: Yeah! It is awful rolling down ha! Ha!

Alberto: Ehh! Help me I can’t stop!

Me: But this is great what an adrenaline rush.

Pablo: Sergio, are you ok?

But everything does not finish there; after everything gets back to normal, more or less we go down what little remains of the track as fast the speed of light, and we arrive at a difficult downhill slope. David, as usual, falls down again and he slips dangerously towards some rocks, Alberto goes to help him but, not to our surprise, he falls over his cousin. Luis, Pablo and I continue with our route going down the hill without any difficulty and we wait for them watching how the funny scene finishes. Both cousins get up and we continue going down to the end of the track.

But later, David falls down in virgin snow again, and instead of leaning his body back and lifting the tips of the skies, he leans forwards and the skies dig into the ground, he shouts an spectacular “¡Yikes!” and he falls down the hill, unable to stop with his hands; then, at the distance, we hear another scream “Hells bells!, what now?” and he gets up with all his face full of snow.

Football

Football is a sport that everyone knows. It was invented by the Egyptians and it has been very well accepted by society. Everyone is supposed to like football and if not they are considered to be very strange. Football is the most popular sport even when we are small.

Football is also the most promoted sport, on television, on the radio, in the newspapers… Also, football causes a great economic loss, due to the publicity and the money that the players receive. On the one hand, it is unfair because not all sports have the same publicity and are not as well paid as football is. Spain is going through a financial crisis, but some football players earn millions and millions of Euros every year.

Some people get really nervous when they are watching a football match, and it wouldn’t be a problem if the radical groups didn’t exist. These radical groups don’t respect the opposing team and throw objects such as bottles or flares onto the football pitch.

Football also creates idols and many people want to be professional football players and make a living from it. As happens with fame in general, many football players who are really good become rich and famous when they are young, but they usually have problems with drink and drugs. Also, some of them leave their studies very early and when they stop playing football they don’t have work.

So, football is a good sport that nearly everyone likes, but it is has too much publicity in comparison with other sports.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part I)

Since the fourth film of the “Harry Potter” series, the number of negative aspects of the films has increased.

I personally think that J.K. Rowling made a great job with her books, but the film adaptations were not a good idea in most cases. The director of the fifth and sixth film, David Yates, didn’t really see the point of this series. He didn’t receive very good criticism because he manipulated the story, changing things, omitting very important steps of the adventures, etc. and generally modifying it. Most of the fans of Harry Potter were frustrated when they saw the last two films and they hoped that the director Alfonso Cuarón, the one who directed the third and best film “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” would return.

The 19th November 2010, the first part of the last film “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” was presented by the director David Gates, but the second will be presented in June 2011 in our country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EC2tmFVNNE

On my opinion, I think that Gates and the protagonist Daniel Radcliffe have woken up. Daniel had lost popularity since the fourth film. People started thinking that he didn’t put enough care and passion into his films and what he really wanted was to finish fast and start a new life outside the 10 long years he had dedicated to Harry Potter. Even though he has made many mistakes, in this last film he has done really well.

One positive aspect of the film is that the director has looked for new and very beautiful places to shoot the outdoor scenes. Apart from that, the film contains incredible special effects which show a great effort by the whole team. Moreover, the design team chose the clothes and makeup for every single moment of the film really well, e.g. when Harry is deformed, and it has more dramatic scenes thanks to the new gore (blood) that has been introduced. Finally, there are some very good scenes like the one in Malfoy’s house.

These are very good aspects that have been improved since the last films, but it also has some important bad aspects.

To begin with, the film leaves out some very important steps of the book, like the importance of the argument between Ron and Harry, which in the film is just superficial. Or when Lupin goes to visit the three in Sirius’ house and Harry gets angry with him. Secondly, another mistake is that in the film characters appear at a specific point but as time passes, they don’t appear again for the rest of the film. Finally, people don’t like the film being divided into two parts, it’s better to see it all at the same time and not one part now and then the other one a year later.

In conclusion, the complete film promises to be a very good film, and probably, one of the best of the series.

Social Networks

Here we are!

I have decided to talk about social networks as I think everyone or nearly everyone in the class uses them. As you probably know a social network is a web in which people chat, share information, upload photos, etc.
They have plenty of advantages and plenty of disadvantages.

One point of view in favour is that they allow you to communicate with your friends on the Internet instead of spending money on the phone. Furthermore, you can keep in touch with your friends from other countries.
An additional advantage is that you can share photos, texts, messages with your friends. If one of your friends isn't connected to the net, you can write them a message (private or not) and when he/she connects it will be read. It is an entertainment when you use it in moderation and with the permission of your parents.

The main disadvantage is that some people don't know how to use it properly or how frequently it should be used. Approximately, one hour and a half a day is the right amount of time, but most people use it more, especially at the weekend.

It is addictive, I know.

We must remember that approximately two years ago we didn't use it very much and we lived perfectly well but, once you start using a social network, we find we like it and we get used to entering every day. It's like a drug.

An additional disadvantage is that there are plenty of untrustworthy people on the net that can take your personal information and cause serious problems.

All things considered, I think that they are excellent when you use them in moderation. How much time do you spend a day in front of these blue screens known as FACEBOOK and TUENTI ? Be honest!