Strong Adjectives Link and Games

http://quizlet.com/set/239829/

Try 'em, you'll like 'em.

Numbers

Numbers review at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_numbers_in_English

http://esl.about.com/od/beginningvocabulary/a/ex_numbers.htm

Here's a video for the Present Perfect

Two Money Games

http://www.elllo.org/english/Games/G020-Money.html

http://www.elllo.org/english/Points/PT02-Money.html

Songs about Money

Papa was a Rolling Stone

The lyrics are at

http://www.metrolyrics.com/papa-was-a-rolling-stone-lyrics-temptations.html

Bugatti Veyron vs Zonda

[TO GEAR SUBTITULADO] Veyron VS Zonda, vuelta rápi

Family

We are Family

Reflexive Pronouns and Reciprocity

http://www.polseguera.com/freegrammar/reflexives.htm

Future Forms

http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blfuture.htm

Quiz to practice-http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_future.htm

Real ESL Video Lesson #38 - Present Progressive For Future

Family

http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blwordgroups_family.htm

http://www.languageguide.org/im/family/eng/

http://www.google.es/imgres?imgurl=http://www.britroyals.com/images/Alfred-tree.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.britroyals.com/royaltree.htm&h=2226&w=1290&sz=125&tbnid=HJJIHhbtrBsJ::&tbnh=150&tbnw=87&prev=/images%3Fq%3DBritish%2BRoyal%2BFamily%2BTree&usg=__HuXOB8qcocCyL7-qfoS4OZjPZ6Q=&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=5&ct=image&cd=1

Jerry Maguire Introduction in Spanish

Travelling across USA (part 1)

[TOP GEAR SUBTITULADO] Viaje a EE.UU. Parte 1/2

Travelling across USA (part 2)

[TOP GEAR SUBTITULADO] Viaje a EE.UU. Parte 2/2

a different wedding

Go out of a parking with sport car

[TOP GEAR SUBTITULADO] Superdeportivos en París

Bugatti Veyron 407km/h

Federal Express Video

Life has changed a bit.

Moon Landing

petit pas from mapo_mapos on Vimeo.

Sports Quiz

http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blsport_doplaygo1.htm

London trip in less 2 minutes video

A guy took a trip to London this year and made a hypnotic video with more than 3000 photos.

Homer Simpson tries to vote for Obama

Past Tenses: Simple, Continuous, Perfect

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepast.html

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastcontinuous.html

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/pastperfect.html

Roadrunner Grammar Past Tense

Training cheats

Cheats in football

The Olympics Then and Now

http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-podcasts-themes-olympics.htm

Cheating in Sports Videos

Mike Tyson



Ben Johnson



Maradona



Rosie Ruiz



Floyd Landis

Cheating in Sports

http://www.virginmedia.com/olympics2008/pictures/bad-guys.php?ssid=1

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0607/gallery.caughtcheating/content
1.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2316323/50-imperfect-sporting-moments.html

Rick Stein's Food Heroes

If you want to know more

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/tv_and_radio/food_heroes/

Halloween

It's that time of year again, Halloween-October 31st, pumpkins, trick or treat, ghosts etc. Here's a little history from National Geographic.

Interview about the economical problems

Spain On the Road Again

Pictures from Valdoviño

British Council-You are what you eat

Audio
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-podcasts-themes-food.htm

Tapescript
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learnenglish-central-magazine-food.htm#your-turn

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous

Global Warming

The Meatrix

Who are the animals?

John Cleese on Sarah Palin

Political Humour

Elastic Man

Ouch!

Dancing and Drinking

Here's Matt Harding's response.

Interesting Article about English

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/09/asia/englede.php

Picture Description Links

http://www.schule-studium.de/Englisch/How_to_describe_pictures.html

http://www.chaternet.eu/donnees/picture_analysis/HOW%20TO%20DESCRIBE%20A%20PICTURE2.pdf

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/writing/picture-description

http://languagelearningresourcecenter.org/anglais/language_db/menu_yellow_pages.htm

Some contributions to Launchpad

Bug #233934 in firefox-3.0 (Ubuntu): “Firefox doesn't display correctly this page”
What is Launchpad?

Launchpad is a free software hosting and development website. We make it easy to collaborate across multiple projects.
Why I only use Linux

Great Band

http://www.myspace.com/changeinatmosphere

Manolo Ferreiro MySpace Profile

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=322397911

Bright Spanish Scholar

I think that this book didn't still translate to English, but the chance is that the protagonist goes like a Spanish Reader to the University of Saint Louis, that's the same where Paul, our teacher, studied. The protagonist is a lazy (I suppose that Paul wasn't), and lost student, but also amusing and kind. He arrives to Saint Louis after to cheat his notes and get a grant at the University. It's a witty novel, plenty of intelligent humour. Read about it:
http://educarc.blogcindario.com/2005/12/00256-el-escolar-brillante-de-javier-rodriguez-alcazar-obra-ganadora-del-ultimo-premio-jaen-de-novela.html

Vox Pops 2008

Here's something I did in class:

Lenny Kravitz Interview on Cadena Ser

Great artist, cool dude. Good music.

My Dream Man 2

Subscribe Free  Add to my Page

My Dream Girl 1

Subscribe Free  Add to my Page

My Dream Girl 2

Subscribe Free  Add to my Page

Iraqi Subtitles

Linguistic Terrorism?

Another short film

This one is also very funny

A short film

This short that I was watching a few months in Madrid is very funny. We was talking about the gender violence and although you don't believe this is a good example in humour key

Classmate

The last day that I was in class we talk about the "old friends". A little years ago I found this photo in the Diario de Pontevedra that talked about a old classmate from San Narciso's College. I'm betwen them, can you find me?

House of the Rising Sun

Well, I got one foot on the platform

The other foot on the train

I'm goin' back to New Orleans

To wear that ball and chain

Colin Taylor's House

Colin Taylor lives in a small detached house. There is a small garden in front of the house. On the left there is a low brick wall and on the right there is a wooden fence. A hedge separates the garden from the pavement. On the left, there is a small gate and a path which leads to the front door. On both sides of the path, there are narrow flowerbeds containing plants and small bushes. On the right, there is a small square lawn.Just outside the gate, close to the hedge, there are a pillar box and a telephone box.Colin Taylor's house has two storeys. There is one large window on the ground floor on the right hand side. On the left there is a small porch over the front door.There are two smaller windows on the first floor. Colin has put his satellite dish between the two windows. A gutter runs around the house at the bottom of the roof. This collects the water which falls on the roof. A drainpipe on the left carries the water down to the ground. The chimney is on the right hand side of the roof. There is a TV aerial attached to the chimney

Student's Vision of Education

Yes and No

Spiders on Drugs

I think there's a lesson to be learned here.

Michael Jackson Transformation

Hard to believe!. A black boy who had curly dark hair in his early teens, who grew up successfully with his brothers, the amazing "Jackson Five". Who knew he would get addicted to plastic surgery. Definitevely there was a transformation. When he was 41 years old he looked like "The Joker". Nowadays he has fair-skinned, new chin, new nose, new cheeks, smaller jaw. He looks like "Ari from Planet of the Apes". Poor man...

BALANCING ACT

When you finish seeing The Remains of the Day (1993), you will realize that it is worth seeing it even twice or three times. It was directed by James Ivory and it is a screen adaptation of a Kazuo Ishiguro´s novel. If this were not a guarantee yet, you have a wonderful cast: the male lead is played by Anthony Hopkins -one of his best roles- and the female lead is for Emma Thompson; we can recognize Hugh Grant who plays the part of Mr. Darlington´s grandson, Christopher Reeve as the American Congressman and James Fox as Mr. Darlington.

The action is set in Oxfordshire, in Darlington Hall, in the interwar period. The subtitle is “Love and Loyalty” because, in fact, we have two stories in one. The most important characters are a butler –Mr. Stevens- (A. Hopkins) - and a housekeeper -Miss Keaton (E. Thompson)- who, without expecting it, will live the European political upheavals during a particularly difficult period when gentlemen are living their last days of influence.

Their lord –Lord Darlington- is an honourable, well-meaning gentleman who, for personal reasons, makes the decision of offering his mansion naively as a discreet venue where meetings and speeches about foreign policy are going to take place. We can see ambassadors, foreign secretaries and even the Prime Minister in his mansion. Traditions and a disciplined staff are put at the service of, in fact, a dubious aim: the recovery of Germany´s military power; ensuring the peace is only a ruse.

Nevertheless, all this is, apparently, the background of a more intimate story. The butler –Mr. Stevens-, in pursuit of professional dignity, devotes his life to Lord Darlington without agreeing or disagreeing; –“It´s not my place to be curious about these matters”. We can guess his personal problems, but however much he is pressed, he is unable to react. His father and Miss Keaton´s arrival will suppose an evident change; his only reaction is “I see” or “A little tired, perhaps”. His obsolete job “helps” him live out of reality. He does not want to get involved in politics or, above all, in love even though these matters will touch him very closely. It is a story of loneliness and powerlessness which turn his life into a continual loss. At the end, although he feels nostalgic, he regrets not acting in a different way, but the time is over.

Mr. Stevens and Lord Darlington both fail although they have made opposite decisions: abstention and commitment. Our life is a balancing act; standing on a rope is a very difficult task; we risk falling off.

As was to be expected, A. Hopkins´ acting is praiseworthy; we will remember his impassive face –sometimes almost a mask- fighting his emotions. E. Thompson is able to rise to the occasion; she gives a good performance. It is difficult to assess the scriptwriter´s work without having read the novel. Anyway, the audience should be attentive. First, because the story is told from the ending, after the war, in 1956, and when we begin, some statements, some gestures may be overlooked. It would be advisable to see it twice; only then do we appreciate the details. Second, because he uses many symbols, not only the dove in the closing scene but also (for instance) mirrors, windowpanes, keyholes to express his fear of reality. Last, because it is woven by parallelisms and contrasts which keep us active. As regards the photography, it is especially good; the photographer has paid attention to the details as well; we can remember two scenes; the first one when Mr. Stevens, through the window in the door, watches Miss Keaton coming up along the corridor; the second one when, in the foreground, they hold each other´s hand, but they cannot help letting them go. The technique is at the service of the plot. As far as the soundtrack is concerned, Richard Robbins makes a good choice: he uses the same melody in the most important parts of the film. Notwithstanding, at the beginning, the music may be misleading: when Mr. Stevens Sr. goes upstairs after having left the dust-pan on the landing, any person might think of a thriller and nothing could be further from reality; if it has been a deliberate effect, it has been in vain. In any case, it is just a detail. To sum up, I strongly recommend it. In spite of being a film shot in the 90s, it will survive in the audience´s memory. Seeing it is a pleasure.

-Reviewed by Luz

Top 10 Reasons to use Linux

1. Security - Linux is Open Source Software, while Windows is not. The simplest benefits of Open Source Code to demonstrate are increased security, reliability and functionality; because users of Open Source are readily able to identify and correct problems with the programs and to submit their own enhancements for incorporation into the program. Closed Source systems enjoy none of those benefits.

2. Scalability - Systems implemented under Linux can be cloned limitless times without paying additional software licensing fees - With Windows, you pay for each installation/workstation/server/cpu.

3. Power - Linux is made with the Unix design philosophy, which dictates that system tools are small and highly specialized. The result is an incredibly powerful and reliable system, limited in capability only by the user's imagination and ability to integrate the Unix utilities. The Windows philosophy is to create unwieldy swiss army knives, limited in capability by how many features the user purchased on their particular knife. Diminished reliability is arguably a side effect of increased complexity. Thus with Windows, the case is often that you have tools that ALMOST do what you want them to, if they didn't crash.

4. Reliability - The architecture of Linux is superior to Windows because critical operation system functions are implemented in such a way that buggy programs can't cause the computer to become unstable and crash. In fairness, though not quite as robust as Linux, Windows 2000 and Windows XP are much improved over Windows 9x and Windows Millenium Edition.

5. Advanced Capabilities - In addition to the system utility tools from the Unix world, Linux usually comes with the Apache Webserver, an email server, router/firewall capabilities and SQL databases. These are extras costing up to thousands of dollars on Windows. There IS free software to do these jobs on Windows, but it has mostly been adapted from Linux and loses some functionality when ported to Windows.

6. Compatibility - Linux is POSIX Compliant which means that applications developed for Linux can be operated on other POSIX compliant Unix derivatives with a minimum of reworking.

7. Support - For persons not familiar with the Open Source Community, the quality of free technical support on the internet may come as a shock. Sometimes knowing enough to ask the right questions can be a problem, but overall the best and the brightest are there to assist you at no charge when you run into problems that can't be solved by reading the documentation included with Linux. With Windows or other commercial software, your manufacturer support is only free for a limited time and is often of little value anyways.

8. Not Single Source Software - Linux is distributed by several companies, giving consumers to pick and choose the flavor that best suits their needs. Windows is the product of a single company, Microsoft Corporation. Windows users have no choice but to accept what Microsoft offers.

9. Rate of Advancement - Linux has and will continue to advance at a rate impossible for a close development project such as Microsoft Windows to sustain. A few factors driving this rate of progress are (in no particular order): the number of active developers; quantity and quality of feedback from the field; short development cycle from development team to the end user; absence of corporate "meddling" in the design process; independently developed open source subsystems frequently incorporated into Linux, giving it quantum advances in a short time.

10. Cost - That Linux is FREE deserves honorable mention and a bit of explanation. You can package and sell Linux for money. The competing Linux distributions all provide slightly different feature sets beyond the core system, including canned e-commerce solutions, printed manuals and phone support options. There is no rule that says you can't make money distributing Linux. For those who choose to download and install free distributions from the Internet, Linux is truely free. Some cynics have proclaimed, "Sure Linux is free now, but the Linux People will start charging for it once it catches on!". That statment is completely false. No single person or organization controls Linux, so that will never happen. In the unlikely case that Linus Torvalds (the author of Linux) adds some proprietary code and proclaims that all future releases will be $99.99USD, someone will simply take the latest "free" version and possibly rename it to Spin-UX. Then all the volunteer developers and contributors will jump on that bandwagon. Spin-UX will diverge from its Linux roots, over time becoming better supported and more advanced, rendering its ancestor obsolete, except possibly for purposes specifically addressed by that hypothetical proprietary added code. Furthermore Linux is covered by the Gnu Public License, stating that it and all derivative works must be distributed with the source code. This makes it extremely unlikely that anyone will wield monopolistic power in the Linux Sector.


To conclude this hopefully persuasive bit of Linux Advocacy, it must be stated that an Operating System without suitable Applications is of little use. There are free web browsers and email clients for Linux, as well as the free Star Office product from Sun Microsystems. Star Office includes the traditional productivity applications: Word Processing, Spreadsheet and Database. Corel Office is also available for Linux at little or no charge.

As more small businesses adopt Linux, the number of Indepdendent Software Vendors offering industry specific (Vertical Market) applications will increase. As I learn of business applications designed for Linux, I will document them on this site.

The Sea, by John Banville

John Banville's latest novel was one of the best that I've read last year. The Sea is where Max Morden, a middle-aged art historian, come back to the Irish seaside village of Ballyless after his wife dies of cancer. There he spent summer holidays as a boy and encountered with the wealthy and sophisticated Grace family, first with the mother, and then with the daughter, who mysteriously changed his life. While there, he alternately remembers his life with his wife and that summer holiday with the Grace family. These relationships with these three women have a decisive influence in his life. In his memory, he sees himself, ten or eleven, young and impressionable, voluntarily orphaning himself from his "transparent parents". The narrator looks back to the magical encounter in childhood that forever fired the imagination. He says that that was the year of the magical tide . Children and sex, love and death, happiness and sadness are the memories that will make he has come to be himself. Max is also the defeated man who receive the shake hands from doctor Todd -the doctor who treats Anna, his wife, who tells him in a cold way: “-Tell me the truth, doctor. -She is dying". I believe that John Banbille will be one of the most great writers in English like Conrad or Nabokov

Something Passed on to me. Good Advice

Cultural Misunderstanding

They say we just want cheap oil!

Visiting Dublin

If you go to Dublin it´s a good idea book a room in the Trinity College that is an ideal place to base yourself because it's in the centre of the city. The rooms are bigger, cleaner, quiet and comfortable, so it's a good value for money.

De que máis precisa un homen

De que mais precisa um homem senão de um pedaço de mar - e um barco com o nome da amiga, e uma linha e um anzol pra pescar?
E enquanto pescando, enquanto esperando, de que mais precisa um homem senão de suas mãos, uma pro caniço, outra pro queixo, que é para ele poder se perder no infinito, e uma garrafa de cachaça pra puxar tristeza, e um pouco de pensamento pra pensar até se perder no infinito
De que mais precisa um homem senão de um pedaço de terra -- um pedaço bem verde de terra -- e uma casa, não grande, branquinha, com uma horta e um modesto pomar; e um jardim - que um jardim é importante - carregado de flor de cheirar?
E enquanto morando, enquanto esperando, de que mais precisa um homem senão de suas mãos para mexer a terra e arranhar uns acordes de violão quando a noite se faz de luar, e uma garrafa de uísque pra puxar mistério, que casa sem mistério não valor morar
De que mais precisa um homem senão de um amigo pra ele gostar, um amigo bem seco, bem simples, desses que nem precisa falar -- basta olhar -- um desses que desmereça um pouco da amizade, de um amigo pra paz e pra briga, um amigo de paz e de bar?
E enquanto passando, enquanto esperando, de que mais precisa um homem senão de suas mãos para apertar as mãos do amigo depois das ausências, e pra bater nas costas do amigo, e pra discutir com o amigo e pra servir bebida à vontade ao amigo?
De que mais precisa um homem senão de uma mulher pra ele amar, uma mulher com dois seios e um ventre, e uma certa expressão singular? E enquanto pensando, enquanto esperando, de que mais precisa um homem senão de um carinho de mulher quando a tristeza o derruba, ou o destino o carrega em sua onda sem rumo?
Sim, de que mais precisa um homem senão de suas mãos e da mulher -- as únicas coisas livres que lhe restam para lutar pelo mar, pela terra, pelo amigo ..."
Vinícius de Moraes

Cinema

The Edge of Heaven (Auf der anderen seite) by Fatih Akin

More poetry

In order to arrive at what you are not
You must go through the way in which you are not.
And what you do not know is the only thing you know
And what you own is what you do not own
And where you are is where you are not.
T. S. ELLIOT, The east cooker
Good Poetry is the most perfect way of knowledge and feeling, we can find in it the essence of life

Poetry

So I found that my friend Xaime wasn't original when he said to me: "abril é o mes máis cruel do ano". But doesn't matter whe will still brothers on feelings and words.
I. The Burial of the Dead

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm' aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke's,
My cousin's, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.
T. S. ELLIOT, The waste land

Medieval helpdesk

The problem for some people of my generation was at the begining probably like the users of the first books

C.R.A.Z.Y.

I read on blog that C.R.A.Z.Y is an interest film in English but I think that it isn´t true because it is a Canadian film made in French. It was one of the best films that I saw in 2005 because it's an original way to tell an interesting story about a family that begins in 1960, mixing dreams and reality. Furthermore, I could remember my own life listening to again the music with I grew: a memorable recreation os "Space Odissey" from David Bowie, the omnipresent "Shy on your crazy diamond" from Pink Floyd, the iconoclastic "Simpathy for the Devil" from Rolling Stones, or the counterpoint from the romantic Charles Aznavour. I remenber especially one that the father sings at the twentieth byrthday of his son: "Hier Encore" from Charles Aznavour, I don't remember the lyrics very well but I was overwhelmed with emotion when I listen to. This might be the history of my life.

Facts of life

I don't know if all the data are true but at least some of them are curious



Spansih version here

Why do we believe that Americans sometimes are...

Dove Evolution

Evolution or Regression?

Michael Jackson 'Changes'

What's going on inside?

Wilkinson Sword Quattro Titanium Commercial

Another work of art.

Cellphone Commercials

Beware how you use your cell phone.