Easter traditions in UK. Tradiciones en Pascua.

These days we have been shocked by the plane catastrophy of Germanwings (I'm sincerely sorry for it)but this blog tries to approach to news related to the UK and the USA mainly. If you are fan of Easter eggs you should pay attention to this: Fotnum and Mason have created the scotch egg made with meat of venison mixed with dark chocolate and berries to make the Chotch Egg. Do you want to try it?

 But let´s have a look at the English tradition of giving eggs at Easter clicking on the image below.

And if you want to do some activities there are some of them included in the page. Have a nice Easter!

¿Sabes de dónde viene la tradición de regalar huevos de chocolate en Pascua? Pues pincha en la imagen de los huevos de Pascua y averígualo.

Bonfire Night and V de Vendetta

Guy Fawkes' moustached face has been adopted as a mask by anti capitalists, but what is behind it?

Remember, remember the fifth of November... In 1605 Guy Fawkes plotted to destroy the Houses of Parliament killing everybody inside including the King. Have a look at this link to remember or to discover this part of the English history.
 activities .
The film V de Vendetta took Guy Fawkes´ face for Anonymous character; look at this vendetta link for more information.

El cinco de noviembre de 1605 Guy Fawkes conspiró para volar el Parlamento, en la conocida como conspiración de la pólvora. No lo consiguió y ésto  dio lugar a la celebración del fracaso del atentado en la conocida  Bonfire Night en la que se hacen hogueras quemando un muñeco que representa a Guy Fawkes.

Saint Patrick´s Day...San Patricio

Some students ask me, "Who was Saint Patrick?". Well, if you are interested click here and find out! And what about this celebration in the United States? Discover it here! Celebrate it making a shamrock shake or paint your nails!

Hoy se celebra el día de San Patricio, Santo Patrón de los irlandeses que llevó el cristianismo a Irlanda en el siglo V.

Tribute to Charles Dickens in his bicentenary..Tributo

To celebrate the 200th birthday of Charles Dickens there are a lot of activities in London until June 2012. Probably you know that Dickens reflected in his stories the social inequality and oppresion of the poor, a theme still reflected nowadays in our society. Here you have some links that will help you to investigate about the life and works of this great writer and begin, for example, with this nice song taken from the musical "Oliver Twist" where Mark Lester plays the part of Oliver. I hope you like all and find them interesting.

Links:

Biography by the BBC

tribute to Charles Dickens in a video about his life and works.

Bicentenary: activities which will take place in London.

mirror: Victorian times through pictures.

Videos:

Animated biography by the BBC (recommended for myESO students)

Hard times : the illustrated novel

BBC Little Dorrit series.

A Christmas Carol: free online by Robert Zemeckis (2009)

Se cumple el bicentenario de Charles Dickens que nació el 7 de Febrero de 1812 en Portsmouth en una humilde familia cuyos problemas económicos llevaron a la cárcel a su padre por problemas de deudas. Dickens tuvo que empezar a trabajar en distintos empleos, experiencia que reflejaría en su obra donde denuncia el hambre, la miseria y la explotación a la que se sometía a niños y mujeres en plena revolución industrial, lo que supuso el despertar de muchas conciencias y contribuyó a mejorar la situación laboral y social de estos colectivos. Charles Dickens es un clásico de la literatura universal y el más famoso de los escritores ingleses de la época Victoriana.

Roger Casement and Vargas Llosa.

Through his book, "El sueño del celta", Vargas Llosa approaches the world of an Ireland that dreams of its independence from the British Empire leaning on Roger Casement, an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary, and nationalist. Sir Roger was a British consul famous for his reports and activities against human rights abuses in the Congo and Peru but better known for his dealings with Germany before Ireland's Easter Rising in 1916. His consular investigation into atrocities in the Congo led Casement to anti-Imperialist and ultimately to Irish Republican and separatist political opinions: he was executed for treason and stripped of his British honours. Among others, Arthur Conan Doyle, George Bernard Shaw or Yeats pleaded for clemency. Reading this book is a good exercise to understand how abuses made by our former friends lead us to become into enemies.
Click on the photo to discover more about Roger Casement.

Mario Vargas Llosa explora en su libro "El sueño del celta" la transformación antibritánica de Roger Casement, diplomático irlandés que sirvió a las órdenes del imperio británico denunciando los abusos del sistema colonial en el Congo y en el Perú. Ser consciente de estos abusos de los que formaba también parte Inglaterra hicieron que renaciese en él un sentimiento anti-invasor dedicando los últimos años de su vida a militar activamente en la causa del nacionalismo irlandés, hasta que fue ejecutado como traidor a la Corona Británica.

Sherlock Holmes in Barcelona...Sherlock a lo latino

"The no fog countries meeting" is an event that will take

place this weekend in Barcelona, and it has been organized by Spanish, French and Italian fans of this character by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.The purpose is to focus that there is a lot of allusions to the latin world in the novels and try to get the interest of young readers for this author.

Este fin de semana tendrá lugar el primer congreso internacional organizado por países latinos para recordar al célebre personaje de Sherlock Holmes creado por Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Si deseas más información visita este enlace

Oscar Wilde: 156th birthday...Aniversario de Wilde.

Yesterday (16thOctober) was the 156th anniversary of the birth

of Irish writer Oscar Wilde – one of the greatest playwrights, poets and writers to have ever committed words to paper.Here are some details you should know about his life :
1) Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16th 1854 in Dublin, Ireland.
2) Lauded as an outstanding scholar of the classics, Wilde attended both Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford.MORE ▼

3) Wilde moved to London after university, mixing in fashionable circles, and becoming a ‘spokesman for aestheticism’ while partaking in various literary activities.
4) The Picture of Dorian Gray (published June 1890), considered a work of classic gothic horror fiction, is his only published novel.
5) Drawn to drama, Wilde wrote Salomé in French in Paris in 1891 – but it was refused a licence.
6) The Importance of Being Earnest, a farcical comedy, is Wilde’s most famous play. It was first performed on February 14th 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London
7) While The Importance of Being Earnest was still running in London, Wilde sued his lover Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas’ father the Marquess of Queensberry for libel after Queensberry left his calling card at Wilde's club, the Albemarle, inscribed: "For Oscar Wilde, posing somdomite".
8) A series of trials lead to Wilde being convicted of gross indecency with other men and imprisoned for two years, held to hard labour. Upon release, he left for France.
9) In prison he wrote De Profundis, a long letter which discusses his spiritual journey through his trials.
10) He died in Paris, France, destitute on November 30th 1900, aged forty six.

El pasado 16 de octubre fue el 156 aniversario del nacimiento del gran escritor irlandés Oscar Wilde. Seguro que conoces obras suyas como "La importancia de llamarse Ernesto", tantas veces llevada al escenario e incluso al cine o Un marido ideal. Echa un vistazo al trailer de la película de Oliver Parker.

The Tudors on TV...Los Tudor en televisión.

Click on the photo to visit his fansite.

We are watching this summer this new television series, and it´s a good chance to have a look at the most famous King of England, Henry VIII. The BBC/Showtime co-production is not new, it was broadcasted in 2007, and Jonathan_Rhys-Meyers starred on it and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Drama in 2007 for the role. Perhaps you Know him because he is the face of Hugo Boss' newest fragrance, HUGO Element. Meyers hasn´t had an easy life: he has problems with his alcohol addiction and has been arrested twice. But if you want to know more about this Irish actor visit this link.

Actualmente estamos viendo una serie de televisión británica, "Los Tudor", centrada en la turbulenta fase histórica del reinado de Enrique VIII. Es una buena ocasión para refrescar tus conocimientos y si quieres seguir la serie en versión original subtitulada en español puedes hacerlo online ... merece la pena. Su protagonista es Jonathan Rhys Meyers, actor irlandés nominado como mejor actor por su papel como Enrique. Disfruta de la serie y de su atractivo protagonista, aunque hay buenos actores como Sam Neill o el fantástico Peter O´Toole, una leyenda irlandesa a quien quizás no conozcas.

June and its events... Junio y eventos.

This month has come very hot for everybody and in class is almost impossible to be concentrated: we are in our final exams and students from Bachillerato face their most important test: the PAAU! Good luck for everybody. If you want more information about facts during June visit the post Junio.But meanwhile let me tell you that I got a dream last Friday in Rock in Rio Madrid: I was lucky to attend Bon Jovi performance and it was incredible,funny and with an excellent sound...but there were more artists: Mago de Oz, Macaco, Pereza...If you have the chance tell your parents that you are ready to go to a big concert...the organization was brilliant: it was worthseeing!And thanks to RTVE because now it´s possible to enjoy all the songs in youtube. Click on the photo and discover it.

Junio se presenta caluroso y para calor el que deben estar sufriendo ahora los alumnos que se presentan a la PAAU: Suerte a todos. Pero hay otros acontecimientos más amenos como la celebración de Rock in Río Madrid. ..absolutamente recomendable.

The Spanish Inquisition...La Inquisición española.

The Spanish Inquisition was an ecclesiastical tribunal started in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It maintained Catholicism in their kingdoms, and replaced the medieval inquisition which was under papal control. It was under the direct control of the Spanish monarchy and was definitively abolished in 1834, during the reign of Isabella II.The Inquisition, as an ecclesiastical tribunal, had jurisdiction only over baptized Christians, some of who also practised other forms of faith and at the time were considered heretics according to the Catholic Church. This method was similar to Witchcraft,the use of certain kinds of supernatural or magical powers in order to inflict harm or damage upon members of a community. In Early Modern European tradition, witches have stereotypically, though not exclusively, been women. As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, its concern with magic lessened.Pendle Witches trials of 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, nine women and two men were charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft.
The most famous witchcraft incident In the British North America were the witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned.

Eltribunal de la Santa Inquisición española cuidaba de que los

cristianos no se desviasen de la religión e inició persecuciones e incluso torturas que no cesaron hasta el siglo XIX. Pero algo parecido ocurría también en la Edad Media en Inglaterra y en Norteamérica con la caza de brujas, durante las cuales muchas personas, mayoritariamente mujeres, fueron perseguidas, procesadas e incluso quemadas.

Homework 1º Bachillerato: Write a formal letter to the Cardinal Ximenez of Spain begging for the life of your best friend, a woman accused of being a heretic.Don´t omit the parts of the letter:PLAN: Details, Opening, Body, Conclusion and Closing (pg 150 Student´s book). Escucha el vídeo pinchando sobre el título y si deseas conocer todo el script o texto pincha en este símbolo. <.Si quieres información sobre los Monty Python, creadores de este sketch, pincha aquí.

Hillsborough disaster...La tragedia de Hillsborough.

It´s twenty years this week since 96

Liverpool fans lost their lives at Hillsborough in Sheffield. In 1989 thousands of football fans went to watch their teams, Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest, playing a cup semi final. Fans were searched for alcohol and weapons in order to avoid hooligans so there was soon a mass of people trying to get into the ground. Moreover, police opened the gates and caused a human stampede: the cause of the disaster was failure of police control.Ninety-six Liverpool fans never returned home. World football remembers the worst disaster in British football history and every year on 15 April thousands of people remember the dead with floral tributes outside the Anfield stadium gates.
But football hooligans have often humiliated their own players: in 1980 England and Belgium played the European championship in Turin and violence began when Belgium scored an equalizing goal to make the score 1-1. Hooligans then shamed England.

Hace 20 años de la tragedia de Hillsborough en la que murieron

96 seguidores del Liverpool aplastados contra las vallas del estadio a causa de una avalancha. En aquella ocasión la culpa la tuvo un fallo en la seguridad pero muchas veces hemos visto tragedias provocadas por los famosos hooligans que avergüenzan al mundo del deporte pero que para muchos son una especie de héroes...¿héroes de qué?...

1st Bto Homework.

Write a composition (Hooligans in sports) answering the following questions:

1.- Has the amount of violence on sports increased only around the soccer field or in every sport in recent years?
2.- How can you explain that a number of supporters seem to enjoy playing a more active role than just watching the game?
3.- Have you ever met any of these violent supporters or hooligans?
4.- Are these trouble - makers always young people who are drunk or who are just mob as some players have described them?
5.- Do you go to football stadiums or do you watch sports on TV with your friends?
6.- What happens on Spanish football?
7.- Should or shouldn´t hooligans be allowed at football?
8.- When they cause violence, do they shame their country or their families?
9.- Do you approve or disapprove violent people?

Advice: Don´t forget that this is an opinion essay: Plan it with its opening (presentation of issue and opinion), body ( specific reasons and facts to support your opinion) and conclusion (summing up and restatement of opinion).