May 09

LATEST UPDATE: May 09 (May 24th)

May 24th

Hello guys! It's good to be blogging again. You know, this is by far the shortest monthly entry of all and the blog needs some new blood, so to speak, so here I go.

Well, the end of term is at hand, barely a couple of lessons left, and I've got mixed feelings about the situation. On the one hand, I'm looking forward to the summer hols, which means lots of free time with my wife and kids, the course in Cambridge, etc. But on the other hand, I won't be seeing you guys each week and I'll miss you all very much, believe it or not. I always become very fond of my students. On top of that, we're heading for exam time, and you can't imagine how much I hate it. Besides, I get kind of anxious for you, perhaps I shouldn't but I can't help it. Naturally not everyone will "make the grade", you know, pass the exams, and, regardless of how much work and effort you've put in throughout the year to deserve the pass, it's always a nasty feeling to have to flunk some of you (hopefully not too many!). I just hope you do your very best at the exams and don't underachieve. To make things worse, I wish I knew what the test is going to be like, but it's shrouded in mystery. I want to believe the level will be adequate but (and I'm not trying to stick my neck out for them) I just know how difficult it is for my colleagues in the exam committee to work under pressure and eventually ellaborate the best materials possible to suit all the schools in CyL.

Anyway, I'm boring you with all this empty rhetoric. So let me tell you something lighter, about the weekend I've had so far. On Friday I went with my wife and kids to Villamayor to sample a bit of the neighbouring village's festivals, which are in full swing right now. So there was this gig by Los Mojinos Escozios. Not that I'm a fan of the band, but simply my son and some of his mates wanted to see them live and he asked me to give him a lift. Initially we intended to drop him at the venue and pop around the village until the end of the concert. But since it was an open-air gig we thought we might just stay for a while to see how it fared. So lights are off and on stage comes this tubby nutty long-haired bearded singer, with his bare torso and a bulging packet under his trousers. Outrageous! And he begins bellowing his first song to the sounds of hard rock music. The audience was a mix of locals and visitors alike, all ages from toddlers to some elderly. No question the frontman is a "showman" who knows all the tricks to amuse the fun-loving public: an indecent joke or remark here, a provocative posture there, I have to admit I had a good laugh now and then. Sometimes he goes beyond the limits of good taste, considering it's a free open-air verbena and, as the saying goes, "hay ropa tendida" (I don't know the equivalent in English) but all in all it's sheer fun and farce and people know what they can expect from the Andalusian band's lyrics and its lead vocalist's manners on stage.
Hi again! You know what happened. I was typing this stuff when suddenly the whole room shook with the sound of thunder. A mighty storm was coming so I thought it wise to turn off all electrical things. I had to go out for lunch and haven't returned home until now, nearly 8 hours later. Sorry about the break!
Well, I think I spoke enough of Mojinos so I should move on. Tell you what: I've been to Van Dyck Tormes this afternoon to watch Ron Howard's free adaptation of Dan Brown's bestseller Angels and Demons. Despite its fast thriller pace and the stunning recreation of The Vatican landmarks, I can only say that I don't think much of it. Probably The Christian church and Hollywood get on like hand and blister, or fight like cat and dog, if you see what I mean. The storyline, in my modest opinion, wavers from the incredible to the ridiculous. I would even say that Tom Hanks at times looks like he's wondering what the hell he's doing in the movie (apart from earning an awful lot of cash). He's kind of a religious Indi Jones but without the energy and charisma of good old Harrison (Ford). But having said that, you can detach yourself from all the conspiracy and murders, the Church-Illuminati feud, and simply sit back and watch as a "Vatican-goes-to-Hollywood" flick. To cap it all, the dubbing is utterly ludicrous. I mean, why on earth do they have to dub many of the actors' voices with those stupid Spanish-foreign accents?
Enough. I'd rather blog about a lovely film we and the kids watched on the home cinema last night: A modern classic called The Full Monty. We played it for the kids as we had seen this hilarious comedy (with a dramatic undertone) a few times before. And boy, didn't David and Laura love it! You could see them ... 

Gosh, this is being really difficult! First the storm this morning and then my computer crashed when I was about to publish the latest entry so I lost a good deal of the film reviews and I've had to start again. Anyway, I was saying you could see my kids laughing their heads off at many of the scenes, like the famous "dole queue" dance. All the characters are so well-liked, especially Gaz (Robert Carlysle) and Gerald (Tom Wilkinson), who have fallen from grace in the once prosperous Sheffield. Needless to say we watched Full Monty in English and though the language is often gross, the subtitles are excessive at times, but my kids didn't seem to mind. Most of you have probably seen the flick by now (not necessarily in Spanish) but if you haven't I can only recommend it as a must-see film . The story, the acting, the music, everything in TFM is a joy.

OK, this is definitely one of the longest (and most difficult to write) entries on this blog, and I should close now. Listen, I'd really appreciate it if, apart from visiting the blog, you would write in some of your thoughts, comments, etc. 

See you on Tuesday. Cheerio!

May 6th

This will probably be the last section of the blog, as in June both you and me will be too busy to do any "extra tasks". So I guess it is kind of time I began assessing what this "project" has been like since it all began back in November. To tell you the truth, though it's been good fun for me to see it grow from a humble beginning while I learned little by little to make it more ellaborate, I cannot deny I expected more commitment, so to speak, from most of you, with the few honorable exceptions, so it leaves me a bittersweet taste, you know, mixed feelings. I wish you had written in your comments, reviews, opinions and stuff more often, but maybe I'm also partly to blame, perhaps I haven't been able to make you "infected" by my honest cheerfulness and enthusiasm. Anyway, I don't want this to be a gloomy farewell entry, but just the beginning of the inevitable end. Mind you, there's still ample opportunity for you guys to collaborate until the end of term. As the saying goes "better late than never" ...

Actually, if you visit the music blog section Ana (who else) has written a little something.

See you tomorrow! Good night! And congrats to the Barca fans ...