Stand by me!

That's a worldwide song: people sing it around the world. The song is inspired by a traditional Gospel song. There have been many versions of it but the most famous is John Lennon's version recorded in 1975 for his album Rock'n'roll. Today I've discovered that the song called "Beautiful Girls" by Sean Kingston has closely resembles parts of the violin solo from the original song. However, if you listen this song you would think that they are completely different.
This video is an editing of singers who play in the street. It belongs to a project called "Playing for change" and it's becoming very famous.
I think it's moving to see it.

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we see
No I won't be afraid
No I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, now, now, stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry
No I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me
Oh, now, now, stand by me
Oh, stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Darling, darling stand by me
Stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Raindrops keep falling on my head

A simple question: Where are the clouds in this film?

It hasn't any sense a song like this in a shining day. The objective of this song in a romantic and funny sequence was to create a hit that you could hear on the radio, and then you would fancy watching the movie! " Raindrops keep falling on my head" was written in 1969 by Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". They won an Oscar for the Best Original Score.

The thing is that a lot of people of my generation don't know "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (Dos hombres y un destino)but everybody can sing this song, hum at least!

Besides, this passage is considered one of the precedents of the videoclip!

Golden Gate Quartet

"I guess I've always been a part of music, and music a part of me"


Have you ever heard about a pioneer Virginia gospel quartet called Golden Gate Quartet?

Golden Gate Quartet was a gospel group who was born in 1937. However, it has lived until 2008! So, work it out! Seventy years singing over the world! It's the most famous gospel group in the history of jazz!
The members of the quartet have been changing, of course, but they have created a new style called jubilee, a secularized form of church music. Their voices became instruments playing harmonies in four-part pieces.
Besides, they have played with legendary singers like Louis Armstrong, Ledbelly, Benny Goodman,...

One of the most famous song is "Down by the Riverside". Please, listen to it!

Weird pills

About the article Taking herbs "helps depression" by Sinead Garvan on the Nicenet:

Today I'm a bit skeptical about alternative medecine. Two years ago I would have said the opposite. I've gone to alternative therapist and they have given me different kind of weird pills (they were made with natural products). In that moment, I believed that with that medication I would be better. Then, I had an argument with a good friend about it. He said me that those pills were a placebo. Maybe I disagree with him but I have to admit that in some things, he was right. In general, the power of our mind can heal us in the little health disorders like headache, backache, sorethroat, hair loss,... I'm sure about this in spite of sounding esoteric. However, after this talk, I didn't change my mind.
Suddenly, one day I realised that I hate consuming any kind of pills: you're ingesting something that will react to your body, but it can't help your own natural process because the fact is artificial!
Today I've a little job in a health food shop. I can't share their mentality but I like listening to their budist and philosophical stories. I know, it's contradictory but it's life!

Do you smile at strangers?

"My landlord's fiancee never locks her house door. And
when the two of them go to Florida for the winter, she leaves her car unlocked,
with the keys inside!"

I've read an article in a blog about the distrust of people. It's a delicate topic. Two weeks ago I realised that I didn't have my change purse. What I had to think: did I lose it? or has someone stolen it? I haven't the answer because I didn't notice anything. However, I could do two things: be distrustful all my life or live more carefree than I was. I've chosen the second option because I think we have no choice. Don't get me wrong, I'm only saying that we have to trust each other. We live in a social world, we need people to survive. Ok, that's right, there are really cruel people: thieves, rapists, killers, hijackers,... it take all sorts! But who wants a life without comunication? Nobody. Who wishes to be cut off?
I love having any kind of relationship! with my familly, with my friends, with shop assistants and I like also with strangers. In some cases, I'm scared, of course. But then, after talking to them, I feel proud.

So, what do you think about it?:

1)Do you think that we have to be cautious in every moment?
2)Do you think that we have to trust strangers?

I would like to say goodbye with some music:
Today I've discovered two nice songs in my memory. They were hidden long time ago but I've rescued. Would you like to share them with me?


Going to a town by Rufus Wainwright

Painting clouds in a canvas

Have you ever contemplated the sky and have thought: "I've to draw it"?

In the history, there have been some artists who has thought about it. Dahl is one of them. He insisted on the thorough study of the nature.
Johan Christian Clausen Dahl (1788-1857)is a Norwegian romantic painter who has revolutionized the landscape paintings of the XIX century. He belongs to "Dresden School", where the most important painter was the romantic Friedrich. I'm sure you've heard about him. However, I think that his real master was the nature.
Of course, Dahl's oeuvre has many types of landscapes: marines, with shipwrecks, moonlight scenes, pastoral idylls at sunset, ... but I only want to talk about his landscape studies. He's one of the pioners of open-air in the early 19th. He did little outdoor oil sketches of the sky, in different moments of the day because he wanted to explore carefully the changing processes of nature.


So, today I'm going to recommend something really absurd:
look at the sky!

The revolution of electronic paper

Do you know something about one of the most revolutionary inventions?

In the future, we won't read a book, we won't write in a notebook and of course, the embarrassing newspapers will disappear.
I've heard about it because I know people who like computer issues but I can't understand it yet. How will we write? Technicians say that you could write but it's a screen! We can't write words in a laptop if we haven't a keyboard.
There's already a Plastic Logic's factory in Dresden that produce electronic newspapers.
I completely agree with the huge waste of natural resources that we are doing with the paper industry. It's one of the arguments of scientists. However, I can't imagine myself without a pen in my pocket and a loaded folder in my rucksack. Could you do it? We have been born in the society of paper in spite of technological evolution.

Soon, I'm going to write an article about a painter fromDresden but this is another story.

Please! Post me comments if you have something to say! I will appreciate your voice!

Dharma Bhadur and an another Everest record

Today I've heard a chocked item of news. We could see it as good news, or as bad news I think:

This year, we have had the world's oldest climber ofEverest. However, a Nepali helper has had to pay a big price for it. He has lost most of his fingers and some toes. With seventy-six years, Sherchan has become the oldest men climbing this charismatic mountain. That's great, I know but maybe he didn't realised that he has been helped by a heroe.
When the champion was celebrating his record, Dharma Bhadur was in a hospital where doctors amputated the fingers on both his hands as well as toes on his right foot. Sure, I don't doubt his good intention of this guide that took off his gloves during the ascent to help Sherchan put on his clothes.
On the other side, how can he compensate his lost? Where is the reward?
Definitely, I think this mountaineer has been so selfish. Now, he will appear in the history books but I can't stand the idea of making a disabled person who can't works now. Because guiding mountains, for Nepalies is the only way to survive.

I recommend you two websides for look up more information about it:
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world-news/aide-pays-for-76-yr-olds-everest-record_10068268.html
http://www.tv3.cat/programa/136938435/Telenoticies-migdia

Presents of life

Have you ever received a present from life?

Surely, some people would answer me "every day" because we could understand the life as a gift. But I'm talking about little nice anecdotes like I've lived yesterday. I'm going to explain it better:

Some weeks ago I read an article in this blog about a café near my university that I like so much. Well, the thing is the owner of this coffee shop has written me a comment appreciating my positive words. They were so grateful. I couldn't never think that I'll have an answer of them. Of course, I don't expect it. I feel really happy when I saw it. However, if I want to talk about a café that I like it, the next time I won't say how is called! I'm embarrassed!

Some comments about Cristopher

"And I kept my eyes closed and I didn't look at my watch at all. And the trains coming in and out of the station were in a rhythm, like music or drumming. And it was like counting and saying "Left, right, left, right, left, right,..." which Siobhan taught me to do to make myself calm. And I was saying in my head, "Train coming. Train stopped. Train going. Silence. Train coming. Train stopped. Train going"... as if the trains were only in my mind.

I really like the main character of "The curious incident of the dog in the night-time". In spite of his problem that today I'm not going to talk about it, I think he's a nice boy. He pays atenttion to everything, every detail. Maybe he could be so weird, but in fact, we should follow his way. For instance, who whatches carefully the patterns that there are everywhere in our lives? There are a lot of beautiful little things that we don't usually see but they exist, and they could make us vivacious.

I like the book so much. I think the writer, Mark Haddon, has managed to be the voice of the character, and he explains us perfectly his point of view. I think it's a great book for this reason. It's not easy to do it.

A man's world!

Some notes of Barcelona

Barcelona gets up at seven o'clock with the rhythm of the cars and the agitation of the little bars and sleepy cafés. It's like an old computer rebooting: a slow and lazy process like a ritual. I'm not sure if it could be the best moment to describe a cosmopolitan city like Barcelona. However, it's the moment that the city begins to smell. I like beginings more than endings. In a working day, all things go by naturally, without any motivation other than the routine. I prefer these kind of days, they are more pure than sundays or public holidays. I also like them because they often give me some ideas for a new story or a new article. Maybe you could understand me better if you take a mental picture of a journey by subway like I live every working day:

A business man talking all the time with their fashionable mobile, dozens of university students showing off their coloured folders, a pretty young women reading a book that you know, people with earphones listening canned music, strange and funny talks about what are Obama's familly wearing, hundreds of newspapers with ridiculous headlines (ADN, Metro, 20 minutos, !Qué más!...) and...sometimes there's something specially interesting than you could explain to your closer people.
It's really entertaining :).

Actually, my subway stop is in the center of Barcelona: Catalunya's square. There, I have to see a lot of poverty and people under the effects of drugs or alcohol. When I see them, I feel powerless because I can't do anything for them and moreover, I've been taught that I have to be cautious with these kind of people.
Maybe they haven't got up yet.


I think The Rambla is the most singular point of my city. I admit that it's so touristy but it offers a tree-lined way with lots of poetic places: little pet shops and flower shops, human sculptures, legendary fountains and lots and lots of historic buildings. I think The Rambla is like a tree: it has many branches with other stories. I also love the narrow streets of Gothic neighborhood!

PD: I hate something about The Rambla: the smell that comes up of the first bar near the subway. I've no idea what it is but it's disgusting!

Cafetarium

Sometimes, I feel the unconscious need of saying to the waiter or the waitress that I love that place. But I can't, I'm so shy. And I always leave disappointed.
These feelings always reappear when I frequent "Cafetarium" of Tallers's street of Barcelona. It's a really nice place for writing, studying, reading the newspaper or meeting people while you're having a steaming cup of coffe. I recommend it! It's an interesting coffee shop with quite reasonable prices, pleasant owners, and a funny set: different kinds of weird mirrors, long curtains, undulating chairs and a warm orange lighting. The place is liven up with a relaxed electronic music too. But, the most important thing is the bar of dark chocolate that they always put in the coffee's plate. One more point for "Cafetarium"! I consider indispensable the contrast of sweet chocolate in comparison to bitter coffee!. Definitely, it's perfect.
We usually congratulate a cooker if a meal is nice but why don't we do the same thing with a nice café? I think there are coffee shops that hide a world inside it: how many stories could contain in it? and how many have been written?

Here you have their web if you're interested:
www.cafetarium.com/.../wp_7236d7af.html

Rain in my shoes

Today it has been a raining day, so I'm going to write something about it:

The rain always sounds. It's not music but it could be a rhythm.
The rain often changes your mood: there're some people who like it and there're who hate it.
Personally, I hate cold water, wet shoes, frozen toes and fingers.
However, I love listening to rain when I'm lying in my bed as I am in this moment, with clean sheets, after having a hot shower.
Besides, I like the raining aesthetics: puddles, gumboots, raincoats,...and specially, umbrellas.

I'm fascinated by umbrellas for many reasons. They are a classic complement that it has never changed. Maybe they should, I don't know. Moreover, in general they have bright colours and patterns. That's why they are objects that don't have to follow any fashion. People usually wear muted colours, so with an umbrella, there's a nice contrast.
Umbrellas have a curious form. It's a half sphere but ¡t's empty. Nevertheless, it's a dynamic structure. One day, my Renaissance's teacher opened an umbrella to explain the Brunelleschi's cupola of Florence's cathedral. You could understand it better with a picture:

That was a funny anecdote but it was a really illustrative class too.

Umbrella also opens the door to our imagination: movies like "Singing in the rain", coreographies, and my favourite romantic scenes!!



I love the image of a couple kissing under an umbrella while it's raining. The umbrella becomes a perfect shelter. There's nobody more in it, only the two lovers. I think is once and for all a magic picture. Last year, I used to paint lots of couples. I show you one of my creations:

Black and white

Today, I don't have time for doing an essay about my view of Barcelona. So, I'm only going to do a little comment about the film that we saw yesterday in class. My teacher of "Audiovisual languages"at the university said us that Manhatan of Woody Allen it's special because it's a black and white film. This movie had been created in 1979, although the colour on the screen appeared during the thirties! That's why nowadays "black and white" is a cinematographic option but it always has a reason. In this case, at the begining of the story the narrator explains us the reason of this choice. For him, New York continues being a black and white city. He wants to reproduce a postcard of his favourite place. We can also detect it in his way of compose the image: central and balanced. Moreover, the case of the movie seems a postcard too: a couple lying in a bench in a romantic landscape near the bridge.
Maybe, he wants to recover the classic New York because he idolizes it.
Look at this sentence and you could possibly understand it better:

" This was still a town that existed in black and white and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin".

I like this approach, I think it's really interesting and innovative. Perhaps, we could find the cause of this great idea in the genius of Woody Allen!

PD: If somebody would like listening "Rapsody in Blue" of George Gershwin I add you the song. Personally, I love it!

Not too late

The sultry vocalist, pianist Norah Jones has released in 2007 her third album called "Not too late". Jones wrote most of the songs when she was in tour around the world. With a simple acoustic guitar and some inspiration she could create her first album as a songwriter (she feels very proud of it). I like the fact that she seems so modest and at the same time, so clever and sensitive. In fact, Norah is known for her warm and her sad melodies. However, she has a film career too.

Nevertheless, reviews of the album have generally been favorable. Surprisingly, the success has been incredible. Although she doesn't play commercial music, she has sold one million copies in Europe! It's amazing!

I love her subtle and delicate music: a blend of jazz, pop, with hints of bluesy country and contemporary folk. For this reason, I want to invite you to listen and watch one of her video clips. "Sinking soon" it's my favourite song of "Not too late". I expect you enjoy it!

We’re an oyster cracker on the stew,
And the honey in the tea,
We’re the sugar cubes, one lump or two,
In the black coffee,
The golden crust on an apple pie,
That shines in the sun at noon,
We’re a wheel of cheese high in the sky,
But we’re gonna be sinkin’ soon.

In a boat that’s built of sticks and hay,
We drifted from the shore,
With a captain who’s too proud to say,
That he dropped the oar,
Now a tiny hole has sprung a leak,
In this cheap pontoon,
Now the hull has started growing weak,
And we’re gonna be sinkin’ soon.

We’re gonna be
Sinkin’ soon,
We’re gonna be
Sinkin’ soon,
Everybody hold your breath ’cause,
We’re gonna be sinkin’ soon

We’re gonna be
Sinkin’ soon,
We’re gonna be
Sinkin’ soon,
Everybody hold your breath ’cause,
Down and down we go.

Like the oyster cracker on the stew,
The honey in the tea
The sugar cubes, one lump or two?
No thank you none for me.
We’re the golden crust on an apple pie,
That shines in the sun at noon,
Like the wheel of cheese high in the sky
Well … we’re gonna be sinkin’ soon.

Carl Honore and his "Slow Movement"

Just a little comment about the video of Carl Honoré who has made me think. I completely agree with him. Time scares us, so what does we do? We rush more and more. Slowness it's a virtue in our society. He says "less can be more" like minimalists and that's true! In general, we're speedaholics, stressed and rushing towards next task every moment. I'm bored with the phrase "I don't have time". We have it!! We only have to find it.

There's a song called "Relax, take it easy" from Mika that it talks about it.



Slow down please! And explain a lot of bed-time stories to your child (I loved how he praised bed-time stories)!

My life without me

Ann is a 23-year-old mother who cleans the university at night and lives in a trailer with her husband and her two daughters.The story takes place in Vancouver (Canada). Ann has a bad relationship with her mother, she has one single workmate who's obsessed with diets, a father in prison,... The spectator may think that she's sunk with this life but she seems happy, she's used to coexist with this situation.

One day, Ann is diagnosed with a terrible cancer. However, she decides to be strong and to face death calmly. Ann is going to die but she isn't going to cry because she hasn't time. For this reason, she doesn't tell it . She keeps her secret for her. Nobody will know it until the end when she won't be able to hide it. So she makes a list of things that she wants to do before she dies; one of them, very controversial for American public, is to have an affair with another man. In spite of it, Coixet doesn't judge her act! "Why couldn't do it?".-she defends in a interview.-"She has to experiment with it"

My life without me isn't a weepy film as it could be expected. Concentrated, delicate, intensive and incredibly human, Isabel Coixet has written a deeper story about death and life too. The script is full of moments of beauty with great phrases that help us to stop our ways and think a little about our integrity.

I recommend you it if you haven't seen yet!!

Nursery Rhyme

My father used to repeat the first phrase of this Nursery Rhymeto me . He found it really funny, and I don't know why!

An apple a day keeps the doctor away
Apple in the morning - Doctor's warning.
Roast apple at night - starves the doctor outright.
Eat an apple going to bed - knock the doctor on the head.
Three each day, seven days a week - ruddy apple, ruddy cheek.

I eat an apple every day (it's my snack)! Should I worry about my health? I like this fruit because it's sweet and crunchy. Besides, it cleans my teeth. I also love Snow White's tale. When I was I child my dream was having Snow White's character in a play. I specially like the moment of the apple's bite. And this dream became true!

TATTOOS

After, I've read the article of tattoos, I've to say that one thing is very clear and nobody talks enough about it: tattos are so painful! That's a really important point of this historic fashion.
We usually follow some kind of social tendencies that are incredibly damageable: hight-heeled shoes, earrings, piercings (horror films too),...
Maybe it's mainstream because we feel special with this kind of complements but although they could help our ego, don't we think that they are detrimental for our body? The human's nature don't want to feel uncomfortable. However, our mind loves it in our society. I've earrings since I was born but I couldn't like the idea of having another one because it'll involve a needle! I don't want to see a needle if it isn't really necessary.
Finally, I would like to defend changes. I like innovation and new fashions too but sometimes we need to be sensitive and follow our nature.
Am I wrong?

Tell me please what you think!

Presentation

Hello!


This is my new English Blog! However it's also my 4th blog, That's funny. I expect that you'll enjoy it!

I'm going to introduce myself. -I'm a 19 year old girl who hasn't found her way yet. Maybe you can think that I'm exaggerating. Maybe it is but in my view, when you're young you have to ask yourself lots of questions. And that's what I'm going to do this year, it doesn't matter if I will do it in another language..

Let's talk about my hobbies and all the things I can't bear.I love surfing on the net and specially, writing on my own page. -I would like to encourage my partners to write posts often and to writecomments to each other. Moreover, I like listening to music. The title of my blog is from a song of a singer called Dido. I will recommend his song to you, is very melodic. The chorus says:

've still got sand in my shoes
And I can't shake the thought of you
I shake it all, forget you
Why, why would I want to
I know we said goodbye
Anything else would've been confused but I wanna see you again
However, I hate playing any kind of sport. I'm so lazy in this thing.

On the other hand,I've done my homeworks. I've been reading some posts of the student's blogs. Specially, I like the presentation of Harlequin's blog. It's really poetic. He talks about his character with a really nice description:
Harlequin:

"Not so funny as clowns, not so magical as magicians and not so risky as trapeze artists, but it is a lovely act which always makes people smile and feel affection towards them."

Maybe, we'll find a writer in the class!

See you soon!