Yes, we blog

Please, watch this

2009-05-08T11:01:00.005+02:00

Hi boys!
First of all, I must confess I'm sad and a little bit disappointed.

Why? Because I have been waiting since 5th February for your contributions for the blog (your blog, our blog) and what have I received so far? NOTHING! NOTHING AT ALL!!! Can you believe it?

Anyway, although I had decided not to update the blog until I had some feedback from you, I have finally decided to change my mind in order to share a video with you.

It is an old video, dating back to 1992, so why would I want to include it now? Because during our next classes we are going to speak about groups of people, and this video is just about that: about what can a little group achieve with a little willpower, and about everyone in the world being just that, a group of people who should be more aware of this and work together to build a better tomorrow for everyone.

When you watch it, please bear in mind that the boys and girls who wrote the speech were around your age, and despite that they managed to organize themselves to raise the funds to travel all the way from Canada to Rio de Janeiro and deliver their message to the assistants to the Earth Summit. And I think it is a wonderful message, indeed.

Please enjoy it...

You CAN change the world.

You can find an English subtitled version here. It is also very easy to find Spanish subtitled versions in Youtube.

Your comments will always be welcome.

Bye!

Super Disco Fashion II - The Revenge of the Hairy Singers

2009-02-05T13:02:00.004+01:00

Hi again!

I think I'm sick... Browsing the web I have found a different version of the Bee Gees' video and I have decided that it would be a great idea to include it in the blog and organize a little poll.

And here's the question:

ACCORDING TO YOUR OPINION, WHICH IS THE TACKIEST VERSION?
(Please look for the meaning of the word "tacky" in your dictionnary, you're gonna love it!)

I'll try to include a poll gadget in the blog. If I cant do it, just post your answers here, as a commentary to this entry.

Bye!

Super Disco Fashion

2009-02-05T12:43:00.003+01:00

I have received an e-mail from someone who has asked me to post a new music video in the blog. As I promised to include your contents as long as they were not offensive, I have finally decided to include it, but I must confess that I have had to think it over for some time before making up mi mind... In fact, I still wonder if such a tacky look can be considered offensive or not...

In any case, this video has given me the opportunity to write some lines using the Present Perfect, so that you can see how it works, and how can it be used, so thank you anyway.

And here it is...

Enjoy it!

Reading is sexy

2009-01-29T11:12:00.003+01:00

By the way, browsing El Mundo's Aula's website I have found a very interesting section which suggestive heading opens this post. Can you imagine which POEt is the star of its latest article? I'll give you a clue:

Click here and unveil the mystery...

An interesting article

2009-01-29T10:28:00.005+01:00

Hello again!

Look at the interesting article that has been published today in El Mundo on the use of blogs to improve your English (you can click on the images to enlarge them). I found it on a specific section on education which is called Aula and has its own internet site. You can find it here.

If you read the article, you'll find that it mentions some specific online resources. For your convinience, I have included the links it gives in this post, so that you can visit the sites just by clicking on them.

http://elblogdelingles.blogspot.com
http://pronunciaringles.com
http://www.queimbrich.com

I'd recommend you to visit them to see if they could be useful for you, or even to surf the web and search for your own resources... There are many blogs and sites in the internet for English learners, and some of them are really good (and some of them quite funny as well).

And don't forget to share your findings or experiences with us!

More Monty Python

2009-01-28T11:26:00.006+01:00

¡Hi!

As I promised you, the Monty Python troupe is back.

On his comment on the post on Wednesday 14th January, mysterious Blue Savannah Man said:

I think that the best Monty Python sketch is the Ministery of The Silly Walks

Here is the sketch in question so that you can tell for yourselves if he's right or wrong. (Spanish subtitled version here).

By the way, I want to take advantage of this opportunity to introduce one additional sketch in this post which is an unvaluable help to understand the working of contradictions in English, a topic we dealt with back in Unit 1. (Spanish subtitled and abridged version here).

Enjoy it!

Happy Ox Year!

2009-01-28T08:20:00.006+01:00

Hello everybody!

As I told you on Monday, we have just entered the Chinese year of the Ox, i.e. 4.707 according to their calendar.

If you want to know more about what this new year will bring to us, you can have a look at this link. Although the design of the target website is not one of the World Wonders, I think that the information it contains is interesting enough.

If you like this kind of things, I would highly recommend you to surf the web and find which is your sign according to the astrological systems of different cultures. I have done it myself and have discover that...

...according to the Mayan Horoscope I am a Blue Overtone Night. (Sounds beautiful, doesn't it?).

...according to the Aztec Calendar, I was born on the day of the Monkey on the week of the Serpent. (Wow!).

...according to the Celtic Calendar, I am a Willow. (Yes, like the itsy bitsy tiny winy little wizard of that film).

...according to the Chinese Horoscope, I am a Fire Dragon. (---).

There are as many astrological systems as different cultures in the world, and the ones I have included in this post are just a mere sample. Enjoy your curiosity and surf the web for other systems (Vedic, American Indian, African...). Some of them are quite beautiful, even poetic, and I'm sure you will get surprised with the results.

That's all for now. Good Luck for everyone!

And don't forget to share your findings... ;)

Annabel Lee

2009-01-22T12:38:00.007+01:00

Regarding the influence of Poe in many different artistic areas, Marisa (thank you very much) has kindly remind us that there is a famous song by Radio Futura based on Annabel Lee, which is one of Poe's most celebrated poems.

Nevertheless, this is not the only version of this poem. There is another Spanish version by Bunbury -which is in fact a cover of Radio Futura's cover-, and I was also able to find a classical version by a choir, a rock-ballad version by an Israeli musician called Gilad Hesseg, and another cover by Stevie Nicks, a really really famous American singer.

If you wish, you can read the original poem in www.poemhunter.com, a fantastic poetry site. Click here if you want to be directly redirected to the poem.

It goes without saying that you can add your comments to this post and say which version did you liked the most, or just to share with us any other interesting findings.

Keep readin'!

Uncle Ed

2009-01-20T07:47:00.013+01:00

As I already told you in class, yesterday (19/01/2009) it was Mr. Edgar Allan Poe's birthday. As he's one of my favourite authors, I have decided to share him with those of you who still don't know anything about him or his work.

You can easily find many details about him just surfing the internet, but, in any case, I would recommend you to visit his entry in Wikipedia, as I think it is really complete and it includes quite a nice "Selected list of works".

Knowing Poe is very important, due to his untold influence over the world of literature, as well as over the world of popular culture: It is quite easy to find Poe's references, influence and quotes on many unexpected places... For example, try having a look at Green Day's St. Jimmy's lyrics...

Just for your delight, I invite you to watch the following short movie by Tim Burton, much in Poe's mood and style. It is entitled "Vincent" and the narration is done by Mr. Vincent Price, quite a famous B-movie and horror film actor who starred many cinema adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's works under the direction of Roger Corman (Spanish subtitled version here).

And finally, I don't want to end this post without including The Raven, Poe's most amazing poem. I have decided to include two versions: The first one is read by Christopher Walken, a famous actor you probably know (Spanish version here.)

And the other version... Well... This is the other version, and that's all.

And that's all folks! I hope you liked it...

Yes, this is SPAM (but please, read it)

2009-01-14T10:47:00.007+01:00

As we are currently working about news in class, I'd like to take advantage of it and encourage you (or at least to those of you who haven't done it yet) to have a look at your high school's magazine, Brocal.

Apart from being a really nice publication with many interesting contents, it also has some sections in English which can make a very good reading (or maybe even writing) practice for us.

It is in one of those English sections, Odds and Oddities (page 5) where Ana María Lopez González unveils the mysterious origin of the word "spam", feared and hated by internet users all over the world. In a nutshell, what she says is that this term comes from a very famous sketch by the comic troupe Monty Python... The following sketch, to be precise...

Should anyone need it, there's a Spanish subtitled version here.

By the way, I'm sure you already knew about Monty Python (is there anyone who hasn't seen "The Life of Bryan" yet?), but if you didn't, I'd really encourage you to discover them (they've got their own website and youtube channel). I really love them, and I think that they are really funny (and I'm sure they will appear in this blog again).

That's all for now.

Hope you liked it!

Back to work!

2009-01-14T10:34:00.003+01:00

Welcome back!

After this long Christmas silence, I'd like to wish you a Happy New Year.

I hope you feel a little more participative in 2009! ;)

Keep on blogg... ahem... Let's start bloggin'! (Much better...)

Registering instructions

2008-12-17T17:29:00.007+01:00

Well, well, well...

It seems that some of you have had some problems when trying to register as a follower of the blog... Maybe it's my fault for not having posted these instructions from the very beginning.

So, this is what you have to do:

1.- You must have a Google account to register in Blogger. If you don't have one, just get a Gmail address. It's completely free, of course, and you can do it from here.

2.- When you have your Gmail user name and password (or if you have them already), just click on the "Followers" that you'll be able to find in the right column.

3.- Once you have done so, just fill the empty fields with your Gmail details and voilà!... You are registered as a follower. Now just fill the profile with your personal details (and your avatar) so that we can know each other a little more.

And that's it. Now it's up to you to start making your comments, reading those of your comrades and sending me whatever you want to get posted until you are able to post it yourselves (forgive the repetition).

I'll be looking forward to your registrations.

Bye!

Road Songs - III

2008-12-16T15:19:00.004+01:00

Hi again!

Angel left a link to a new road song in one of his comments. It is by some David Ford, and though I must confess that I didn't know the guy at all, I think the song is pretty enough. Click here to watch it directly from YouTube and here to have a look at its lyrics.

That's all for now!

Keep on bloggin'!

Road Songs - II

2008-12-12T22:21:00.009+01:00

Well,well, well... It seems that things are livening up!

In her comment to the post "Songs about the road" Marta said

Gosh!!

I've got 'Wherever I may roam'... It's in 'Black Album', if I'm not wrong... xD

12 December 2008 16:07

No sooner said than done! Here is a video-quiz about Metallica's wonderful "Wherever I may roam", in the version they made together with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Wherever I may roam

Complete the video-quiz and e-mail me a screenshot with your final score. And don't even try to cheat: I have incorporated an incredibly powerful trojan spyware in this blog which will reduce your hard-disk to ashes if you try to look for the answers in Google.

But that's not all, folks. I have another song for you (no exercises this time). It is a fantastic composition called "Hit the road Jack", and I'm sure you'll like it. I have chosen a version performed by Ray Charles, although it is quite easy to find different covers by many artists.

Enjoy it!

You can have a look at its lyrics here.

And, although it has nothing to do with English because it is in Spanish, I cannot resist myself to include this cover by Los Petersellers just for your delight.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Road Songs

2008-12-10T10:41:00.008+01:00

OK, sorry for the video, but I had to do it...

Maybe some of you still remember that, after listening to the song below in class, I told you to e-mail me your favourite road/travel songs, or at least do some web research and send me your results. So far, only Luca and Jesús have done so, and here is what they found:

Luca found an amazing website with a huge data base of road songs. Click here, look for your favourite one and e-mail it to me.

Jesús found a channel in los40.com which broadcasts road music. Click here and feel the wind in your face!

Thank you boys (and girls), and keep on surfing!

Bluuuuuuuue savannah song!

2008-12-10T10:23:00.007+01:00

As I promised, here is the video of your favourite song. Enjoy it!

Become a follower!

2008-12-05T18:15:00.011+01:00

OK, as I don't want to be my only follower -I'm not that egotistic- the first thing I would like you to do is to sign up as followers of the blog. You can do that clicking on "Follow this blog" (look for it in the right column).

You may also complete the profile form with your personal details and add your own avatar. You can design it in the website below and get it in your e-mail account for free (and it is cool for reviewing some vocabulary on physical descriptions too!). Just click on the image to enter the website.

Hope to see your new faces soon!

Welcome!

2008-12-05T17:38:00.004+01:00

Well, the time has come... Welcome to OUR blog. That our is important, because this blog is not mine, it is yours... Or was it ours?... I think I'm getting confused...

Anyway, what I want to say is that this blog is for all of us: I've just started this, and -although I will certainly be posting interesting, funny or sometimes just weird things- it is you who have to keep it alive, leaving your comments and adding your posts, so please PARTICIPATE and let's do something different with our English!

For the time being, I will be the only administrator, so you will have to e-mail me whatever you want to post. Nevertheless, if everything goes well, in a near future some of you could become administrators as well and start posting by yourselves (if such a thing is technically possible, which I don't know yet...)

In any case, be welcome again. And now...

...LET THE BLOG BEGIN!