Blog End

Hi there Blogheads,

Today is your last post so, it's time for a little reflection.

Please answer the following questions:
Which post you enjoyed writing most? (& why?)
Which post you enjoyed writing least? (& why?)
Which of your classmate's blogs you enjoyed reading most? (& why?)
Who has the most attractive blog? (& why?)
What you enjoyed or disliked about the blog writing experience? (& why?)

Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates. Write a minimum of 250 words.

A Special Website

Today I'd like you to write about a special website you like to visit. It doesn't have to be your favourite or the one you visit most but one that you go back to visit every now and then. In my case I'm going to write about AsianCinematic, a web site I found in 2010 when I was doing a course on "Experimental Cinema". http://www.asiancinematic.com/ During the course, we discussed a cult Japanese movie called Tetsuo about a man who starts turning into an "iron man" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuo:_The_Iron_Man). We watched a short clip of the film and it inspired me to investigate the genre. Anyway, whilst investigating I came across AsianCinematic and started to explore by cross-referencing the films with Internet Movie Database (IMDB). I've seen quite a lot of Asian films because I've always been interested in Asian culture but this webpage gives you access to so many films that it's a little overwhelming. I searched through a couple of specific genres and found films that you would never see on the mainstream TV or in local cinemas. My favourite finds were: Love Exposure (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1128075/) and Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169222/). I also saw some other crazy films like Machine Girl (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1050160/) & Tokyo Gore Police (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1183732/) that quite silly are so full of blood that all you can do is laugh. Tarantino is a big fan of this type of movie and it's easy to see where he gets his ideas (e.g. Kill Bill). I don't visit the website very often because I don't have much time during the academic year, however, I'm looking forward to the holidays when I can put my feet up and watch some good films. I don't think this website is for everyone because some of the films are quite "strong" in nature. However, if you like good independant cinema, it's brilliant.
Write about a website that you visit every once in a while.
Say:
When you first visited the website,
How you found out about it,
What it's about,
Why you like it,
What sort of people would like this website.
Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 250 words. Comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Piece Of Art

I can’t claim to know much about art but I do know what I like. As a teenager I was a big fan of Salvador Dali mainly because of his amazing imagination. Pop art also appealed to me because it was usually very clever and there are some modern artists who produce excellent material that gets you to think in another way. However, the painting I’m going to write about today is “The Little Tower” by Pieter Bruegel. I’ve never actually seen the original which is in the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, Netherlands but it’s a painting I was drawn to since I first saw it on a postcard in the Museum of London in the early 80’s. I still have the postcard (which is now almost 30 years old) on my wall at home. I think I might have been influenced by the similarity with the Tyrell Corporation building in Bladerunner which I saw about the same time. However, I really like the idea of the Tower of Babel and of our forefathers trying to build a tower to reach the heavens (actually, architects are still trying to do the same today, I mean just take a look at the Gran Torre Santiago!!). The colour and the detail are also amazing plus the fact that Bruegel transported the building to his native Belgium. I really wish I could paint like that! Write about 2 pieces of art you like. Say what they are, Who they are by, When you saw them for the first time, Why you like them, Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Film

One of the best films I've seen in the last few years is a British film called Fish Tank. I actually saw it at home on DVD as I don't go to the cinema very often any more (I've been once this year). The film is an independant movie by director Andrea Arnold and my eldest sister Terry suggested that I watch it. The film tells the story of a young girl from a broken home growing up in a poor part of London. The film is a drama and it stars unknown actors. The lead role is played by Katie Jarvis and it also stars Michael Fassbender who is the star of the other movie I was going to write about (and best movie I've seen this year) "Shame" by British director Steve McQueen (A must see movie - Watch it!!!). I enjoyed Fish Tank because it is a very British movie and it relates to elements of British culture that many people don't know about. The young girl in the story is a bit of a loner and has a very troubled home life. Actually, I've just seen that the full fill is available (subtitled) on Youtube:) Here¿s the trailer. Write about a movie you enjoyed. Say: What it's called, Where and when you saw it, Which actors star in it, What genre it is, What it's about, Why you enjoyed it. Mention anything else you find interesting. Leave comments on your teacher's blog and the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

10 Things You Want To Do Before You Die

Because of my age I'm limited with my choices. I can no longer play football in a Premier League football team for example or travel around Europe on a Student rail card (you need to be under 26 years old!). However, there are other options. 1. I'd like to travel to lots of places. If money was no option I think my first stop would be Japan because I've always been fascinated by Japanese culture and I'd like to experience it first-hand. 2. I'd like to direct a movie. I started making little videos last year and I think it would be amazing to do something more professional. 3. I'd like to finish writing a novel. I've started lots but never get past 2 or 3 pages. I think if I took six months off it would be a possibility. 4. I like to record some of my newer songs in a good studio. I've made lots of recordings but I haven't recorded anything in a good studio since 1996. 5. I'd like to see Janelle Monae in concert. My nephew saw her last year and said that she was brilliant. 6. I love cooking so one of my ambitions is to open a little restaurant. Maybe it’s something I’ll do when I retire from teaching. 7. Actually, I love drinking so I’d also like to open a little bar. One that plays good music and that all my friends use as a meeting place. 8. As most of you know, I come from a big family so; I’d love to be able to invite all my family for a holiday reunion in Chile. It would be great to show them all how beautiful Chile is. 9. One of my ambitions would be to take a year off and work my way around the world. My wife and I have joked about doing it so maybe next year………. 10. Finally, I’d like to find inner peace and contentment. Phew!
Write about the 10 Things You Want To Do Before You Die.

Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Little Present for Music Lovers

Feist plays at Amanda (Vitacura) this Saturday. It's gonna be good:)

A Concert, Exhibition or Show

I guess I’ve been lucky when it comes to listening to live music. I grew up in a time when everybody I knew was either in a band, starting a band, or knew someone who was in a band or starting a band. From the age of 16 I went to gigs regularly. I watched rock bands in pubs, Jazz bands in hotel bars and punk bands in dark dingy basements. Today I’ll write about one of the concerts I enjoyed most, which was going to see Nina Simone in London in 1988. I started listening to Nina when I heard one of her songs on a cassette my brother had. The song was “My baby just cares for me” and it was love at first listen. I’d listened to other female Jazz/blues singers before like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith but I’d never heard a voice with the quality of Nina’s. Over time, I started to hear more and more of Nina’s recordings and the more I heard her the more I liked her. Anyway, when the concert dates were announced I went out and bought tickets straight away. I was living in London at the time and I read about the dates in the New Musical Express, a popular music paper which I used to read from cover to cover every week. Nina Simone was a very special artist. I’d had tickets to see her before but the show was cancelled at the last minute because of trouble with Nina’s mental health. She had been trained as a classical pianist but became known as a jazz singer. However, in her concerts she often used to stop mid-song and tell the audience to stop talking or insist that they pay attention. If they didn’t, she would often just get up and leave. When the day of the concert arrived I was really excited. It was held in a theatre in the centre of London and it had the atmosphere of a classical concert. I went with my girlfriend (at the time) and a couple of friends. The support act was Najma Akhtar a British/Indian singer who I really like. She played a wonderful set and got a great reception. When Nina arrived on stage the applause was thunderous. It was just Nina and her piano but the sound she created was amazing. Nina introduced some of the songs with stories about the song; how it was written or why she enjoyed singing it. She was very formal and asked people not to talk while she was playing. She played for a couple of hours and then she was gone. I think the main thing I remember about the concert was the fact that I had experienced something extremely special. Well, it’s not every day you get to see a living legend. Write about a concert, an exhibition or a show you went to. Say: What it was, Where it took place, How you found out about it, Who you went with, Why you enjoyed it. Write at least 300 words. Leave a comment on you teacher’s blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Eating Out

One of the things my wife and I enjoy doing together is eating out. We both work so we tend to treat ourselves to a meal out once a week or once every two weeks. Often if we’re stressed or feeling run down we decide not to bother with cooking (which we both enjoy doing when we have time) and we go out. We love trying new places and eat Peruvian, Indian, Thai, Italian, Chilean (sea-food) and, of course, Japanese.

One of the things I love about Santiago is that it has good, cheap Japanese restaurants. I lived in London for 6 years and the only time I eat Japanese it cost me an arm and a leg. So, when I came to Chile I loved the fact that Japanese food was affordable.

I first went to Izakaya Yoko in 1996. At that time it was located on Merced but now it’s at Monjitas 296 because they knocked down the original building to build a tower block. I found out about the place from my wife’s sister (who I knew before I met my wife). It immediately became my favourite restaurant in Santiago and I must have gone there at least 20 times in my first year in Santiago. I often used to go at lunch time to eat the set menu but I don’t eat it so often nowadays because it often contains meat which I no longer eat (I’m a “pescatarian” – I only eat fish & sea-food, not meat).

I always have miso soup when I go because they serve the best miso soup that I’ve ever had. Another favourite is Atsuaje – Lightly fried tofu with spring onions and ginger (yummy!). The sashimi is really good because it’s finely sliced and the sushi is top quality.

The owner of the restaurant is a Japanese man who is married to a Chilean woman. They have 2 children (one of whom has just moved back to Japan). The restaurant opened in 1991 and my wife has actually been going there for 21 years. Iwouldn’t say it’s my favourite restaurant but it’s definitely top 5.

The last time I went there was last Saturday. I had to work in the centre on Saturday morning and my wife came to meet me and she invited me for a meal. Obviously, I accepted.

Write about a place where you enjoy to eat out.

Say:
Where it is,
How you found out about it,
When you went there for the first time,
How often you go,
What you like to eat there,
When you went for the last time.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 300 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

Phil Woods: Claire de Lune

Amazingly beautiful:)

King Curtis

Amazing:)

Something You Would Like To Learn To DO

Hi Blogheads,

One of my favourite pastimes is making music. I taught myself to play guitar when I was about 14 years old and started writing songs straight away. In fact, my first song had only 2 chords (Em7 and C). Initially, I wanted to play saxophone (just because David Bowie did) but they didn't have any at my school so I started taking clarinet lessons. Unfortunately I never made much progress. It was difficult to practice at home. I have 8 brothers and sisters and they used to tease me or complain about the awful noise I was making. So, I swapped the clarinet for the guitar. I don't think I'm a very good guitarist. I use the guitar to write songs. I'm fairly steady when it comes to rhythm but I never had the dedication needed to play like Jimi Hendrix. Later I started to play keyboard and I taught myself a couple of things on the piano. However, I'd still like to learn the sax. I think my favourite sax pieces are "Soul Serenade" by King Curtis and "Clair de Lune" played by Phil Woods. I`d don't think I'd find it difficult to learn the basics but it would be difficult to play how I`d like to play. I think I'd be able to free my soul by playing sax and that would be wonderful.

Write about something you would like to learn to do.

Say:

What it is,

Why you would like to learn it,

Whether it would be difficult or not,

How it would make you feel.

Mention anything else you thing is interesting. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

 

A Country

Since I was young I've always been fascinated with China and it is a country I would love to visit. I think it had something to do with books that I read as a child. One in particular was called “Misse Lee” by Arther Ransome. It was about a group of children who were captured by Chinese pirates and I really enjoyed reading about such an exotic and mysterious land. I found things related to customs and food very interesting (in the book an Emperor served the children a meal of monkey brains in the cooked head of the monkey!!). Later, when I lived in London I used to enjoy going to Chinatown in the centre of the city. It had shops that sold unusual things and great restaurants.

If I could travel to China I would like to walk along The Great Wall and see the sights in cities like Beijing (Peking) and Shanghai. I’m more interested in traditional China than the modern aspects. I love the traditional Chinese architecture and I would like to see how these elements have been incorporated into modern Chinese culture. I’m sure there are lots of interesting things to do, things to see, places to go and things to eat. It’s such a big country that it would take time to get to know it well. There are lots of other things I would like to learn about like Chinese medicine (especially acupuncture) and celebrations like the Chinese New Year – which I experienced in Chinatown in London. I think I’d need to go for at least a year.

Write about a country you would like to visit.

Say:
Which country it is,
Why you are interested in it,
What you would like to see or do there,

 Write at least 200 words.

Leave a comment on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Holiday

One of the best holidays I've ever had was the second time my wife and I went to Uruguay. We flew from Santiago and we arrived in Montevideo with no set plans. We stayed in a hostel the first couple of nights exploring the city (eating lots of muzzarella). On the third day we went to the bus station and took a bus to La Paloma, a little seaside village in Rocha. We had been before but only for a couple of days. Also, the first time we went it was carnival so, it had been very crowded.

We spent our days on the beach sunbathing, reading and swimming. The nicest day we had was when we walked 5 kilometres up the coast to another little village called La Pedrera. It was a hot day so we took our time stopping off to swim when it got too hot in the sun. The beach was deserted once we left La Paloma and it was really nice to it all to ourselves. We have lunch in a little restaurant in La Pedera and then we walked back. The whole trip took us about 5 or 6 hours mainly because we stopped so many times. One of the things I really enjoyed was the temperature of the water. I don´t go in the sea in Chile because it’s too cold. However, La Paloma and the surrounding area are on the Atlantic coast so the water is warm.

Write about a holiday you remember:
Say:
Where you went,
How you got there,
Who you went with,
What you did,
What things you enjoyed.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Photograph you like

This is a photograph from when I was about 10 years old. I'm with 2 of my brothers, Adrian & Colin, outside our house in Chester. I love this photo because of our look and the stances we have. It reminds me of early Star Trek for some reason. If you look closely, you´ll see that my brothers and I have the same haircut. That´s because my Dad used to cut our hair. Actually, I think my mum knitted the jumpers (sweaters) we are wearing. There are only 3 years between my brother's and I (If I was 10 then Ady - in the middle was 8 and a half and Colin was 7), however, I was much taller than either of them. We lived in this house for about 12 years and this photo brings back lots of memories about my childhood. I was born in the countryside and moved to the city when I was 7 so that had a big effect on my upbringing. I don't know who took the photo, most probably one of my elder sisters. I think it was most likely to have been Terry my eldest sister as I think she was the first one to have a camera.

Write about a photograph you like.

Say:

Where the photograph was taken,

Who took it,

What it shows,

Why you like the photograph.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and on at least 3 of your classmates' blogs.

A Journey

I must say that one thing I love doing is travelling. I guess I've been very lucky in that sense because I've had the opportunity to make many interesting trips. I think my travel bug started when I was younger (a lot younger!!) and I used to hitch-hike in Britain in the 70s when it was relatively safe. I remember one trip in particular that I made with a friend from Lochranza on the Isle of Arran (Scotland) to Chester, a distance of about 350 kilometres. In those days the trip would take about 6 hours by train or 8 hours by car plus an extra hour or two by ferry. This day it took about 22 hours! Anyway, I had been staying at my sister's house at Lochranza (Arran) with some friends. To get home we had to get a bus at about 6am to catch a ferry in a place called Brodick. The ferry took about 1 hour and landed in a place called Ardrossan which is about an hour from Glasgow. We managed to get a lift to the motorway quite quickly but then spent a couple of hours waiting ..... and waiting. At about 10.00 my friend said to me "The next car that stops will be a sport's car with a beautiful woman driving" . Ten minutes later a sport's car stopped and although it was an ugly man driving we were both happy to be on the move. That lift didn't take us very far but we got another lift very quickly. This time it was in the back of a lorry full of drunken soldiers who had just got back from doing service in Northern Ireland (A very dangerous place at that time). They took us 18 kilometres in 11 minutes and then speed off in a different direction. We walked (and danced!!) for a couple of hours as there were very few cars. We got a couple of short rides but weren't having much luck. Time passed and we couldn't get a lift. It got dark and we considered the prospect of spending the night on the road. At about 9 or 10 pm we got picked up by a "silent man". He drove for about 2 hours without saying more than 2 words. Later we decided that the car must have been stolen or something because the man's attitude was very strange. The "silent man" left us about 40 miles from Chester but it still took us a couple more hours to get home. I eventually arrived home at 4am after almost 22 hours travelling. It wasn't most pleasant journey but it's one I'll always remember.

Write about a memorable journey you remember.
Say:
When it was,
Where you travelled from/to,
Why you remember it.
Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Song

I'm a big music fan and I try to keep up to date with what's going on in the music world. I like a wide variety of music styles and it's hard to pinpoint my favourite. When I was younger I was influenced by my older 3 older sisters and I think they helped me appreciate lots of different artists. One of them liked progressive rock, another folk and the third soul. That meant that I grew up on a cocktail of The Velvet Underground, The Doors, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, James Brown and Tamla Motown. The first artist I got into myself was David Bowie. Later Punk happened and this also helped introduce to Dub Reggae and then early Electronic music, Rap, House and Hip-Hop. In fact, the only music I don’t really like much is Heavy Metal (although I do like some stuff that is sort of heavy-ish like The Stooges or Frank Zappa). At the moment there are a couple of songs I really like one old (1960s) and one new (2012). I recently discovered the song “Crystal Blue Persuasion” by Tommy James and the Shondells because it was sampled on a song (Sabbatical) by a group I like called De Phazz. I knew Tommy James but not this song. It’s a bit of a hippie vibe but really catchy and uplifting. The other song I’m playing at lot at the moment is “I fink u freeky” by South African Hip-Hop performance artists Die Antwoord. It’s crazy but the video is brilliant with lots of references to traditional African culture and rituals. Write about a song you like at the moment. Say Who the song is by and what it’s called Why you like it, When you first heard it What kind of music you like How you discover new music. Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on your teacher's blog and a comment on the blogs of at least 3 classmates

Introduction

Hi Blogheads,

Welcome to English 4.

I'm Simon, your teacher this semester. I'm British but I've lived in Chile for quite a long time. I've been working in FAU since 2005. My hobbies are mainly related to music, movies and books. However, I'm also a big football fan and I love cooking.

Anyway, the first blog task is to write a short introducion of yourself and to post a comment on each of your classmates' blogs.