Mar 10, 2012

Movie for A Rained-Out Ball Game presents: The Stupid


"People that are really very weird can get into sensitive positions and have a tremendous impact on history." George W. Bush

Mar 4, 2012

My Daily Spanish Routines! (with SoundCloud)


Hi, my name is Jose, I study at the IES Mediterranean Institute of Cartagena (Murcia) in Spain. To learn more about Spain I'm going to tell you my every day in this beautiful country. 

Every day I wake up at 7:30 a.m., I get dressed and I comb my hair. I have a typical breakfast in Spain, a carajillo with a 'sobado'. I say goodbye to my father who get up later to try to find a work. I leave my house to the Institute at 8:04 a.m. and I'm always late, as a good Spanish man.

Mondays in class are horrible, despite of the fact that I go back to see my buddies we're all tired but it happens every day and we want to arrive at the break in the refectory where the barwoman serves tapas of potato omelette, ham or squid (delicious!). When everyone has finished eating, the barman put on well-known songs here as Paquito El Chocolatero, Que viva España of Manolo Escobar or El Torito bravo of El Fary and we dance with emotion and joy.

Every day we have class of Latin, Greek, philosophy, History of Art, classes of Spanish guitar and typical dances of the country. We can't forget English class where we learn to thank the Lords of Despeñaperros who impersonates a nice Anglo-Saxon. In Spanish language classes we read a chapter of Don Quixote and analyze it on syntax. In History of Spain we watch every day a film about the Civil War of Spain although sometimes the teacher prefer some Paco Martinez Soria's movie or Andrés Pajares's and Fernando Esteso’s.

At the end of classes I come home where my father, who is looking for work, has prepared a succulent and very Spanish food: potato omelette with squid and tapas of olives and ham. After finishing eating around 4 p.m. I need some sleep and I have a siesta. At 6 p.m. I wake up, turn on the computer and I watch on youtube the Iniesta's goal in the final of the World Cup to remember one of the most important event in Spain. In the afternoon I do homework and study all subjects although I do breaks to read a daily sports newspaper.

At night, I have a paella or 'callos' for dinner and a good banana Canary Islands for dessert. At 12 p.m. I go to my bed until the following day and until the weekend where I go to Cartagena center where, as in all Spain, there are many bars in every corner where you can imbue with a friendly atmosphere.

If you want to come to Spain, doubt, it's a fabulous place for a crazy and intercultural party (though not for employment and honesty), you will have a good time in La Tomatina, San Fermines or Fallas from Valencia, I assure you. We're the country with more unemployment in Europe but we have a joy in the body that no one in the world has. Olé.


Mar 3, 2012

'Hugo': clocks and dreams



Hugo is an orphan boy living in the walls of a train station in the 1930s in Paris. He fixes clocks and other gadgets as he learned to from his father and uncle. The only thing that he has left that connects him to his father is an automaton that doesn't work; Hugo has to find its heart-shaped key. On his adventures, he meets with a cranky old man who works in the train station and his adventure-seeking god-daughter. Hugo finds that they have a surprising connection to his father and the automaton, and as he discovers it, the old man starts remembering his past and his significance to the world of film-making.


"If you've ever wondered where your dreams come from, you look around... this is where they're made." George Méliès (Ben Kingsley)