Nourishment for your ears

One of the topics of our last philosophy classes was “worldmusic” and, according to what Professor Ramirez said about it, these CDs came to my mind instantly. I don't really know if these CDs can be categorized as worldmusic but what I can tell is that I cannot live without them. That is why today, instead of writing about my favorite website, I want to write about my favorite CDs.

Lagrimas Negras is the first part of this duo formed by the Cuban piano man Bebo Valdés and the flamenco singer Diego "el cigala". It gave me goosebumps while listening cuban and latin american ballads sung softly by that deep gipsy accent which mixes two different musical styles.
I personally believe that all the songs are worth to mention but if I had to choose a couple of them I would say La Bien Pagá and Lagrimas Negras (which is also the name of the disc).

Lagrimas Negras was released in 2003 and by 2007 they had sold more than 1,000,000 copies by now. In 2008, Diego Cigala released Dos Lagrimas which was made by himself (without Bebo Valdés) but following the same style. Some good songs I'd mention are María de la O, Dos Gardenias and Caruso.

I know that these productions may not be the most interesting thing to listen for young people nowadays but, I'm convinced that music is culture. Reggaeton, hip-hop, salsa or even cha-cha are good! but so is flamenco, bosanova, tango, folk and many others. Let's give our ears a break and give them a variety of sounds, impressions, feelings and traditions that only music can offer.

Movie comment

I’m trying to make an effort categorizing and selecting the movies I liked the most but it is a hard decision. I’m not good at watching movies. I rather take a nap than spending 3 hours to get nothing (valuable)... or maybe do something more interesting like reading a book or learning some new stuff on my pc.
Nevertheless, Couple months ago two movies called my attention because of the plot and the content which was not completely fantasy nor completely reality (and I love that! History mixed with fiction). The first one is Da Vinci’s code. I know it is old (…) but by the time I was living in a country where there the access to new movies was not good at all.
Anyhow, the movie I want to mention is named just as the book: Angels and Demons. It is Da Vinci’s Code’s second part (as a movie) but in fact, and according to what I’ve heard, the book was actually written before Da Vinci’s code. It takes place in the Vatican City and shows the conflict between science and religion rolled by the Catholic Church and the Illuminati, an ancient “enemy” that stole an antimatter weapon which will be used to destroy the city. The movie includes, wisely, all the myths that people (or history) has made up of the Vatican City and its people.
The main character of the movie is Tom Hanks (the same guy of the volley ball called Wilson) who works to solve a murder (well… there are many) and prevent the terrorist act against the Vatican. Obviously, Tom Hanks risks his life dangerously but, in the end, saves the city (just like every American hero does). Original... don't you think so?

WTF?

Couple days ago I was going to take a picture of a martial art school called Taekwondo WTF. As you see, there are not to many places called “WTF” nowadays and, when I was about to take the picture, some random guy came to me asking what I was doing. Surprised (and a little scared must confess), I answered that I wanted to keep a record of the sign without any other intention. Before I could finish, this man started talking about how much he enjoyed Taekwondo and how good he was at it.

At that certain point of the conversation I was absolutely terrified. His eyes never looked at me… they were moving all around like if he was trying to hide himself from the "enemy" or something. He kept walking back and forward like not knowing if he had to stay or leave. Fortunately my mobile phone rang and, completely frightened but looking absolutely calmed I finished the conversation making up that I was in a hurry.

After this experience, I wondered why people never realize how scary they can be. I'm sure the way this guy approached me that day wasn't the best one but I couldn't help wondering also if I was the weirdo that doesn't comprehends others. Anyway, what I'd like to say is that I understand girls now, more than ever, when they say they walk scared on the streets. I'm pretty sure there must be more than one I-love-taekwondo-guy walking around. Fortunately, I'm a man who owns a mobile phone that rings in the right moment... fortunately.

Youniverse...I'll give it a thought

The results on youniverse.com showed that I'm a "Sofisticat" (yeah, sure). Anyway, I felt kind of satisfied when I read the result cuz I thought it was going to be something different such as... "mad homeless" or "psycho" or just "English teacher" but not.

At least, the test showed something good. And it seemed to me that the purpose is making you feel better by showing only good stuff. There were no bad characteristics to describe! The test never showed how bad I am managing my time or the selfish I am with my money. It didn’t say how much I love gossiping and making fun of people.

However, and knowing that these are the same word for all who make it match correctly, makes me happy to know that I am a “worker bee” saying that I like new things and a never-ending appetite for learning and discovering new things. It also says that I’m a “high time roller” which is someone who lives in style, worried about fashion and health.

What worries me the most is that it says I’m sociable. I consider myself very reserved and taciturn. I don’t talk if I don’t need to do it and don’t share with anybody I don’t know but…who knows, maybe the conception I have about myself is wrong and I probably should pay more attention to what these smart guys of Youniverse have to say about me.

Checkmate

Three days ago we had this interesting conversation in class about death penalty. I remember some good points of view on who or when should be penalized with such penalty and, even though some look surprised, I said I totally agreed with it. Consequently, I gave my arguments of why did I think that way. The debate that started that morning was one of the best ones I’ve ever been to but sadly time wasn’t in our side and we had to finish it right away.

Later, when dinning, I kept the same conversation with Kath, my wife. She is absolutely against death penalty and we both had our own mini-debate in which the arguments were becoming very realistic (as we both were politicians trying to find solutions). Suddenly, Kath said something I never expected to hear… “Do you believe in God?”

Knowing what she wanted to do I said: “what does that suppose to mean?” and she said again: “Do YOU believe in God?” I answered “yes, why?” and she said “well, if you believe in God, one of his commandments says “thou shall not kill. Therefore capital death is not an option for a believer”. Not showing any emotions but recognizing that somehow I had to change my thoughts, we remained in silence and finished our dinner.