Horror vs romance

Scares... or kisses? Demons... or prince charming? The genres of horror and romance are both eternal antagonistic as equally as interesting. When we see a movie or read a horror book, what we want is to feel fear. Mysterious murders, paranormal, spirits, demons, and all that which is unknown and that terrifies us. Moreover, watching romantic films or books we seek love stories, unrequited relationships, passion, drama. Both of them have negative and positive effects on people who watch them. On the one hand, horror films produce insomnia, anxiety, post-traumatic stress that can last into adulthood (phobias); however, they also help to desensitive a person to violence, so can cope with difficult situations in real life. Furthermore, the anxiety you feel has a slimming effect. On the other hand, romantic movies greatly affect the relationships and perceptions of marriage. The characters that appear in them generate high expectations on viewers and what they expect from their partners becomes unreal sometimes. Nevertheless, couples who watch and talk about these films are less likely to divorce, keeps them closer together and it serves as therapy. Indeed both genders kill boredom, depending on your preferences you choose between terror and romance, both are irresistible !

For me, the best is the horror genre, but sometimes I like to watch dramas. These are films of each genre that I like: 

The Bridges of Madison County

The Conjuring

Gaunt bodies

I am deeply concerned. I am a person who likes a lot of hugging, and few days ago I met with an old friend and when I hugged her, my arms could take two or even three turns around her waist! ヽ(ﾟ〇ﾟ)ﾉ

It was a joke, but seriously, what is happening? My generation is heavily influenced by the media and the image of themselves they can give to others. If clothing designers advertise their designs using skeletal bodies, they manage to convince young people that the clothes suit better when you do not have meat to fill it. Then, those adolescents who exceed the "ideal weight" feel insecure with themselves and subjected to harsh diets to lose weight. Personally speaking, that behavior is the stupidest thing I have ever seen in my whole life. Torturing your own body to meet other's expectations... Gaunt bodies are not pretty at all, and above all, they are unhealthy. Main victims of anorexia and bulimia are young women (90%-95%), between 12 and 17 years old, and 6% of them die. The only way to prevent this to happen is the education. Do not let them convince you that you are not thin enough, learn to love you and your body the way they are. In addition, anyway, chubby bodies are such more beautiful, do not you think? As in Rubens' paintings （＾ｖ＾）

Education and creativity

Ken Robinson is becoming a legend in education reform. He led the British government's  1998 committee advising on creative education. His findings were so powerful that he was knighted in 2003. Robinson says American education system does the opposite of what Gillian Lynne was so fortunate to find. Instead of organizing around individual flourishing, we have standardized testing. That structure alienates students, so that many drop out before graduating. He uses Gillian Lynne's story at the close of his popular TED Talk, "Why Schools Kill Creativity." And here, I put his interesting talk about education and human creativity. Hope you enjoy it and reflect on too :)

Pride and Prejudice

I try to read books about different topics, so as not to fall into the routine of always read the same genre. Still, I have favourite authors and works which I am fond of, and have dedicated a hole in my library staff. One of these is 'Pride and Prejudice', by Jane Austen.

'Pride and Prejudice' is a romantic novel, first published in 1813. The novel tells us the heart-warming story of getting the man of your dreams, and all the troubles that are connected with it. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their five unmarried daughters live in the estate of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, a rural district about thirty miles from London. The family is not rich, and their property is ‘entailed’ to pass to the nearest male heir in the family, in this case to Mr. Collins. The main concern of Mrs. Bennet’s life is to see that all her daughters are married, preferably to men with large fortunes. She sees an opportunity for her eldest daughter Jane when Mr. Charles Bingley, a wealthy gentlemen from the city, occupies the nearby estate of Netherfield Park. He brings her closest friend, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, who unlike Bingley, is proud, rude and disagreeable. The constant friction between the Bennett family and these two characters offers humor, confusion, but mostly romance and passion. If you have not read it yet, run to the nearest bookstore ! You won't regret it ^^

If you're not so fond of reading as I, but you want to know the history, take a look at the 1995 English miniserie in Youtube:

You can also watch the wonderful 2005 film adaptation, starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. Personally, it's one of the movies that I like: 

Malala Yousafzai

I do not think that war is a subject that I like to talk, and less put it on my blog, but I think that in this case, I must publish it.

This girl is Malala Yousafzai, and surely you have heard about her. She is a 17 Pakistani student who has become a female education activist, and also the youngest ever Nobel Prize recipient. Malala is known mainly for human rights defense for education and for women in northwest Pakistan. One year ago, she was shot in the head by Taliban gunmen. According to him, her 'crime' was to have spoken up for the right of girls to be educated. After weeks in intensive care, Malala survived. When Malala was asked for their activism, although she knew the danger, she replied: "I didn't want my future to be imprisoned in my four walls and just cooking and giving birth".

The situation of girls in Pakistan is of concern for everybody because of  Malala, and it is especially alarming in rural areas due to social and cultural obstacles. Before firing, Malala wrote an anonymous diary about life under Taliban rule in north-west Pakistan, and she documented the anxiety she and her friends felt as they saw students dropping away from class for fear of being targeted by militants, and as the girls began to attend school in plain clothes not uniform, so as not to draw attention on themselves. Militants destroyed scores of girls chools in the time the Taliban wielded power over the valley, and this became Malala's primary concern.

Here there is a Malala Yousafzai's speech at the ONU, which I saw today on the TV, and I think everybody must watch it and reflect on:

Happy birthday, John Lennon !

Today is October 9th, and 74 years ago was born in Liverpool the best music composer who has never been able to exist. Of course, I am talking about John Winston Lennon. He is known as the main founder of the world famous pop group: The Beatles. At the beginning, he was a member of a beginner and novice group of skiffle and rock n roll called The Quarrymen, which was formed in 1956. Later, after meeting Paul McCartney and George Harrison, and after losing his mother, eventually John Lennon formed The Beatles in 1960. 

The Beatles, formed by John Lennon, Paul Mccartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, are the best-selling music artits in the United States, with 177 million certified units, and also in UK. Their style and innovations in the way of making music influenced many later bands, specially rock and heavy bands. His fame lasted until its dissolution in 1970, when each artist took separate paths.

John Lennon, who was married to a Japanese conceptual artist named Yoko Ono, claimed peace and the rights of the poorest, and became an icon of the hippie movement. Finally in 1980, with John 40, while he was signing autographs in the streets of New York, one of them named Mark Chapman shot him four times in the back, and John died.

Here you have a video of a song composed by John Lennon in his solo career to his mother, which I love very much:

My favourite place

One reason that I like to learn languages is the fact of being able to travel to many different places and meet a myriad of cultures. I have never been at other countries, so I'm looking forward to putting my feet on another floor that is not of my apartment. The good thing about I like English is that wherever I go, I would get by with my level... I think (＃￣ω￣)

If I was given to choose, the first place I'd want to visit is Ireland. Despite the fact that I've never been there, it is such a wonderful place. The whole country is covered by the green, as if it hadn't been trodden by man. Although there are industrialized cities like in any other country, in Ireland the nature has been kept with all its beauty. There's so much things to see on this amazing country: in Dublin, you can participate on the Gaelic Games, which introduce visiting groups to Ireland’s greatest cultural secret and most popular sports; you can also visit famous Westport houses and gardens, with a guide. The irish people is straightforward, modest, outgoing, similar to the people of my country, so in my case it would be very fun to make friends there. I can not die without have been to Ireland.

If you are interested in Ireland too, and want to pack up and move to one of the nicest and most welcoming countries in Europe, here I put a video to know everything you can do there:

Femmes damnées / Damned women

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) was a French poet, essayist, art critic and translator of Edgar Allan Poe. So, of course, he is one of my favourite writers. He's the author of 'Les Fleurs du mal' (The Flowers of Evil), and I would like to share with you the poem I love the most. 

FEMMES DAMNÉES / DAMNED WOMEN

Lying on the sand like ruminating cattle, 

They turn their eyes toward the horizon of the sea, 

And their clasped hands and their feet which seek the other's 

Know both sweet languor and shudders of pain.

Some, whose hearts grew amorous from long confessions, 

In the depth of the woods, among the babbling brooks, 

Spell out the love of their timid adolescence 

By carving the green wood of young saplings;

Others, like sisters, walk gravely and with slow steps 

Among the high rocks peopled with apparitions, 

Where Saint Anthony saw the naked, purple breasts 

Of his temptations rise up like lava;

There are some who by the light of crumbling resin 

In the silent void of the old pagan caverns 

Call out for help from their screaming fevers to you 

O Bacchus, who lull to sleep the ancient remorse!

And others, whose breasts love the feel of scapulars, 

Who, concealing a whip under their long habits, 

Mingle, in the dark woods and solitary nights, 

The froth of pleasure with tears of torment.

O virgins, O demons, O monsters, O martyrs,

Great spirits, contemptuous of reality,

Seekers of the infinite, pious and satyric,

Sometimes full of cries, sometimes full of tears,

You whom my spirit has followed into your hell,

Poor sisters, I love you as much as I pity you,

For your gloomy sorrows, your unsatisfied thirsts,

And the urns of love with which your great hearts are filled!

LES FEMMES DAMNÉES - Marco de Gastyne

Festivities in my town

I am from a small town named Bullas, northwest of Murcia. It is specially known for the production of high quality wine, and as in all parts of the world, people are deeply rooted in their traditions. One of these traditions are festivities, which are held every year on the first weekend of October in honor of the patron saint of the town.

There is folk music, a fairground, and also a whole street full of stalls with food, clothes, toys, accessories... In addition, one of the most famous traditions is the 'Diana', which consists of eggs and flour thrown at each other while walking around the town. It's very funny !

In Bullas, the Friday night all families gather together to eat crumbs. Crumbs is a very typical dish here, the ingredients are: flour, salt, water, olive oil, and pork or fish. They taste so good, although your stomach fills up fast. I ate crumbs with all my friends and had so much fun !