Barack Hussein Obama (born August 4, 1961) is the President of the United States and the first African American to be elected President of the United States. Obama was the junior United States Senator from Illinois from 2005 until he resigned on November 16, 2008, following his election to the Presidency.
He is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Obama worked as a community organizer and practiced as a civil rights attorney before serving three terms in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004. He also taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.
As a member of the Democratic minority in the 109th Congress, he helped create legislation to control conventional weapons and to promote greater public accountability in the use of federal funds. He also made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. During the 110th Congress, he helped create legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for U.S. military personnel returning from combat assignments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
YES, WE CAN
30 Nov 2008
ABBA
ABBA is a Swedish pop music group. The band comprised Benny Andersson (Sweden), Björn Ulvaeus (Sweden), Anni-Frid Lyngstad (Norway), Agnetha Fältskog (Sweden). They topped the charts worldwide from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. The name "ABBA" is an acronym formed from the first letters of each of the group member's given name (Agnetha, Björn, Benny, Anni-Frid).
ABBA gained immense international popularity employing catchy song hooks and simple lyrics. As their popularity grew, they were sought after to tour Europe, Australia, and North America, drawing crowds of near-hysterical fans. They continued to release studio albums to great commercial success. At the height of their popularity, however, both marriages of the band members (Benny with Frida, and Björn with Agnetha) failed, and the relationship changes were reflected in their music, as they produced more thoughtful lyrics with different compositions.
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC
ABBA gained immense international popularity employing catchy song hooks and simple lyrics. As their popularity grew, they were sought after to tour Europe, Australia, and North America, drawing crowds of near-hysterical fans. They continued to release studio albums to great commercial success. At the height of their popularity, however, both marriages of the band members (Benny with Frida, and Björn with Agnetha) failed, and the relationship changes were reflected in their music, as they produced more thoughtful lyrics with different compositions.
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC
11 Oct 2008
10 Oct 2008
5 Oct 2008
Technology or Methodology?
The future of education
Life is short. Banned Commercial
Technology or Emotion?
8 Sept 2008
Help Yourself. Amy Winehouse
Listen to the song and try to find the mistake in the lyrics below.
Song lyrics | Help Yourself lyrics
"I'm nothing like I've ever known"
When I was looking for the lyrics I realised that there are several versions and I'm not quite sure which one is right.
Does it say: "I feel the way your soul does there"? Or: "I feel the way your shoulders bear"?
Does it say: "And this isn't yesterday"? Or: "And this isn't yet the day"?
What do you think?
Song lyrics | Help Yourself lyrics
"I'm nothing like I've ever known"
When I was looking for the lyrics I realised that there are several versions and I'm not quite sure which one is right.
Does it say: "I feel the way your soul does there"? Or: "I feel the way your shoulders bear"?
Does it say: "And this isn't yesterday"? Or: "And this isn't yet the day"?
What do you think?
7 Sept 2008
19 Jul 2008
13 Jun 2008
"Consumption Strike"
I've been thinking about how things are going on.
Our lives are mortgaged. We have to work long hours to be able to buy things we don't really need. We are convinced by ads and the mass media that we won't be happy if we don't own a big car, a big house, the latest computer, mobile phone, designer clothes, perfume, ... But we are selling our time, that is, our life to get these things. And most people can't afford protesting against their working conditions going on strike because their lives are now on the hands of bank managers. No wonder European "politicians" want a 65-hour working week!
I think workers should become aware of their real power nowadays. We are workers but we are also comsumers. Most people cannot afford going on a labour strike but what about a consumption strike? We need a way to show our disagreement to how things are going on. Maybe this is what we shoud do. STOP CONSUMING AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
Manifesto for general consumption strike
Our lives are mortgaged. We have to work long hours to be able to buy things we don't really need. We are convinced by ads and the mass media that we won't be happy if we don't own a big car, a big house, the latest computer, mobile phone, designer clothes, perfume, ... But we are selling our time, that is, our life to get these things. And most people can't afford protesting against their working conditions going on strike because their lives are now on the hands of bank managers. No wonder European "politicians" want a 65-hour working week!
I think workers should become aware of their real power nowadays. We are workers but we are also comsumers. Most people cannot afford going on a labour strike but what about a consumption strike? We need a way to show our disagreement to how things are going on. Maybe this is what we shoud do. STOP CONSUMING AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.
Manifesto for general consumption strike
19 May 2008
Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull, coming on 22nd May
I really like adventure films and I'm an Indiana Jones fan so I won't miss the new film Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. There will be a difference. I saw the first three Indiana films with my boyfriend and I will see the fourth with my son and daughter. They love Indiana Jones too.
Harrison Ford stars Indiana. He is in his sixties but I'm sure he'll be great as usual. He also starred Han Solo, the tough space pilot in Star Wars.
Henry Walton Jones, Jr., Ph.D.,better known as Indiana Jones or simply Indy, is a fictional professor of archaeology and adventurer and the main protagonist of the Indiana Jones franchise. His films include Raiders of the Lost Ark from 1981, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 1984, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989 and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in 2008. Also, he had a 1992-1993 television series called The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, and the theme park attraction Indiana Jones Adventure, which exists in similar forms at Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea. Jones is notable for his bullwhip, fedora, leather jacket, and fear of snakes.
The Indiana Jones theme was composed by John Williams. He has composed many of the most famous film scores in history, including those for Jaws, Star Wars, Superman, E.T.the Extra-Terrestrial , Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Hook, Schindler's List, and the Harry Potter film series.
28 Mar 2008
The Hoyt team - I can only imagine by MercyMe.
Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father and son from Massachusetts who compete together in marathon races and triathlons.
Rick can't walk or talk. At his birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain.
When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.
Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development. Nevertheless, the couple was determined to raise him as "normally" as possible. Within five years, Rick had two younger brothers, and the Hoyts were convinced Rick was just as intelligent as them. Because he couldn’t talk people thought he wouldn’t be able to understand, but that wasn’t true. Rick’s parents taught him the alphabet. They always wanted Rick included in everything. That’s why they wanted to get him into public school.
A group of University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills: They told him a joke andRick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate! In 1072 the engineers built an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator."
When the computer was originally brought home, Rick surprised his family with his first "spoken" words. They had expected perhaps "Hi, Mom" or "Hi, Dad." But on the screen Rick wrote "Go Bruins." His family realized he had been following the hockey games along with everyone else. They learned then that Rick loved sports.
In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. That night Rick told his father he just didn’t feel handicapped when they were competing.
With a newly-built bike (adapted to carry Rick in front) and a boat tied to Dick’s waist as he swam, the Hoyts came in second-to-last in the competition held on Father’s Day 1985.
Rick went to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education. Rick now works at Boston College’s computer laboratory helping to develop a system codenamed "Eagle Eyes," through which mechanical aids (like for instance a powered wheelchair) could be controlled by a paralyzed person’s eye-movements, when linked-up to a computer.
Together the Hoyts don’t only compete athletically; they also go on motivational speaking tours, spreading the Hoyt brand of inspiration to all kinds of audiences, sporting and non-sporting, across the USA. The message of Team Hoyt is that everybody should be included in everyday life.
Rick can't walk or talk. At his birth in 1962 the umbilical cord coiled around his neck and cut off oxygen to his brain.
When Dick runs, Rick is in a wheelchair that Dick is pushing. When Dick cycles, Rick is in the seat-pod from his wheelchair, attached to the front of the bike. When Dick swims, Rick is in a small but heavy, firmly stabilized boat being pulled by Dick.
Dick and his wife, Judy, were told that there would be no hope for their child’s development. Nevertheless, the couple was determined to raise him as "normally" as possible. Within five years, Rick had two younger brothers, and the Hoyts were convinced Rick was just as intelligent as them. Because he couldn’t talk people thought he wouldn’t be able to understand, but that wasn’t true. Rick’s parents taught him the alphabet. They always wanted Rick included in everything. That’s why they wanted to get him into public school.
A group of University engineers came to the rescue, once they had seen some clear, empirical evidence of Rick’s comprehension skills: They told him a joke andRick just cracked up. They knew then that he could communicate! In 1072 the engineers built an interactive computer that would allow Rick to write out his thoughts using the slight head-movements that he could manage. Rick came to call it "my communicator."
When the computer was originally brought home, Rick surprised his family with his first "spoken" words. They had expected perhaps "Hi, Mom" or "Hi, Dad." But on the screen Rick wrote "Go Bruins." His family realized he had been following the hockey games along with everyone else. They learned then that Rick loved sports.
In 1975, Rick was finally admitted into a public school. Two years later, he told his father he wanted to participate in a five-mile benefit run for a local lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Dick, far from being a long-distance runner, agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair. They finished next to last, but they felt they had achieved a triumph. That night Rick told his father he just didn’t feel handicapped when they were competing.
With a newly-built bike (adapted to carry Rick in front) and a boat tied to Dick’s waist as he swam, the Hoyts came in second-to-last in the competition held on Father’s Day 1985.
Rick went to Boston University, where he graduated in 1993 with a degree in special education. Rick now works at Boston College’s computer laboratory helping to develop a system codenamed "Eagle Eyes," through which mechanical aids (like for instance a powered wheelchair) could be controlled by a paralyzed person’s eye-movements, when linked-up to a computer.
Together the Hoyts don’t only compete athletically; they also go on motivational speaking tours, spreading the Hoyt brand of inspiration to all kinds of audiences, sporting and non-sporting, across the USA. The message of Team Hoyt is that everybody should be included in everyday life.
24 Mar 2008
Love is all around
"Love Is All Around" is one of my favourite songs.
It was composed by Reg Persley and first performed by The Troggs. It was released as single in October 1967 (UK), and reached the top 10 in the U.S. singles chart, peaking at #7, in 1968. It also reached #5 in the UK charts.
It was composed by Reg Persley and first performed by The Troggs. It was released as single in October 1967 (UK), and reached the top 10 in the U.S. singles chart, peaking at #7, in 1968. It also reached #5 in the UK charts.
The Troggs were an English rock band of the 1960s that had a number of hits in Britain and America, including their most famous song, "Wild Thing". The Troggs were from the town of Andover in southern England. The band were originally called The Troglodytes.
Wet Wet Wet's version of "Love Is All Around" was released on 9 May 1994. It topped the UK singles chart after two weeks and, probably thanks to its appearance in the film "Four Weddings and a Funeral", remained there for fifteen consecutive weeks.
Information taken and adapted from Wikipedia
22 Mar 2008
5 Mar 2008
American fast food
American fast food: what a stupid way to die,
American fast food – order me the jumbo fries.
Oh, it’s easy, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
(It’s quite and disposable, just like me)
If I don’t stop eating this greasy American fast food.
Well, we’re undernourished, but we’re overfed,
And we’re munching on the burger with the white bread,
And we’re sucking up the sugar in a milkshake ‘til we slip into depression with a big headache,
And our arteries are crying out, “Give us a break.”
American fast food: what a stupid way to die,
Yeah, American fast food – you kiss your old age goodbye.
Oh, it’s easy, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Hey yeah, (it’s quite and disposable, just like me)
If I don’t stop eating this greasy American fast food.
You won’t have to embalm me when my life is through,
There are so many preservatives in what I eat, the job’s being done right now for you.
Oh,
“Can I take you order, please?”
“Cheeseburger, fries, and a big chocolate malted.”
I said, it’s prefab junk at an exorbitant price, and it’s bound to make you nauseous if you look at it twice,
But they’re selling you by telling you it’s food that’s fun, when it tastes like cardboard, it chews like sponge, ‘cause it’s really only garbage on a sesame bun.
(fun, fun, fun, fun, fun)
(fun, fun, fun, fun, fun)
(fun, fun, fun, fun, fun)
American fast food: what a stupid way to die,
American fast food – order me the chilli-size.
Oh, it’s easy, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
It’s easy, baby, (it’s quite and disposable, just like me)
If I don’t stop eating this greasy American fast food,
I don’t stop eating this greasy American,
I don’t stop eating this greasy American fast food,
Oh, American fast food, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Whoa, yeah, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Oh, yeah, yeah, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Whoa, yeah, (it’s so easy and it’s trouble free)
Oh, yeah.
4 Mar 2008
23 Feb 2008
The Scream
Two weeks ago we were talking about The Scream by Munch. Someone mentioned a version of it showing Homer Simpson and his family at the back. Do you like them? Which one do you prefer?
19 Feb 2008
Reasons to learn English
I hope my colleague and friend Natalia doesn't mind my using the video of the English song she found in You Tube. I think it's really funny.
18 Feb 2008
Disruptive students
Picture taken from Classroom Management Online.
I've been surfing the web looking for an interesting video to embed in my blog. It was one of the tasks we were asked to do in the teacher training course I'm taking. I came across this one at Teachers TV. I can't embed it but I'll leave a link in case you want to watch it. I think I sometimes have similar problems with disruptive students. I feel sorry for the French teacher in it.
Teaching with Bayley: Attention Seekers (Disruptive Students)
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