This is our first oral presentation
of the course. This year I have decided to do it with my sister again because
is easy to work with she although we disagree in some things… anyway, at the
end we do what I want (it’s not a joke).
Well, this time the presentation is
about British Humor! We chose this topic because we (both, not only me) like
the kind of humor that is ironic and we love sarcasm. British humor, in
addition, is also a clever humor so we love theme.
As a self-evaluation, I think that
one of the things that I have to improve is our pronunciation and also, I have
to be more relaxed and try to not read of the paper.
This is the video of the presentation
and although the quality is not very good, we hope you enjoy it!!
Palestinian
poet and artist Ashraf Fayadh has been sentenced to death. This case started
when the religious police of Palestine, arrested Fayadh in 2013 on account of a
complaint from a Saudi citizen that accused him of obscene comments against
God, against the Prophet Muhammad and against the Saudi Estate and for
propagate atheism in public places.
He was
newly arrested in 2014, when prosecutors accused him of several charges of
blasphemy for his book of love poemsWithin
Instruction published ten years ago. Prosecutors also accuse him
of mocking God and the prophets of Coran. He was sentenced to four years
in prison and 800 lashes and, in this case, the fiscal refuse the death
penalty by repentance of the accused poet. But this last November, another
judge reviewed the case and now, he has been sentenced to death as he considered
that the repentance was not enough.
Important
cultural figures from different countries have joined to protest against this
death sentence, misfortune that unfortunately adds the death of the father of
the writer after suffering a heart attack last week when he heard the
news.
Amongst
those who has supported Fayadh, now refugee in Saudi Arabia, we can
find Chris Decon, the British
poet Carol Ann Duffy, the British writer David Hare, the Egyptian
novelist Ahdaf Soueif, the Sirius poet Adonis, the Irish writer Paul
Muldoon, the historian of the United Kingdom Simon Schama and many more in
addition to a dozen of organizations and associations from the United Kingdom,
the United States and from Africa, who
have signed a statement defending the freedom of the poet and the freedom of
expression.
I choose this
new because it show us that, nowadays, in the 21st century, not everybody in
everywhere has the rights that should have. At least in our country or in the
Europe Union, is unthinkable that someone could be arrested for give his
opinion and even less, that this person could be sentenced to death! This shows
us that we are not as advanced as we thought (although a country as the
United Sates, one of the "most moderns" the death penalty still
exists). For this, I agree with those intellectuals who has risen against this
because is an injustice in capital letters.
One of the main conclusions of the European Environmental Agency is that
the European Union have to impose most ambitious new policy measures if
they want to achieve the objectives proposed for 2050. Although in recent years
the current legislation has improved a lot of water and air quality, these
measures are "insufficient" because there are still many challenges,
among which highlight the following ones as the most important:
Among the major European challenge we find the health of the population,
in danger for theatmospheric
pollution. Currently, over than the 20% of the European urban population is
living exposed to high levels of pollution, higher than those that the
legislation required. And important fact to remember is that exposure to high
levels of pollution was the responsible of 430.000 premature deaths in Europe
last year.
In second place, we find the need of reduce the emission of gases
that contribute to the greenhouse effect. And finally, the report also warn
about the exposure to traffic noise, the noise coming from the industrial
activities,... that also was the responsible of nearly 10.000 cases of
premature deaths in the community.
I think that is important to, among all, try to reduce our ecological footprint
because we are destroying our planet. In fact, the report warns us that if we
don't stop this, the natural phenomena will be more and more aggressive because
of the climate change, and this will lead to the pollution of the water, of the
air and also, of our health! For this, we must remedy the damage we are doing,
it's like we were digging our own graves: we are the only ones responsible for
climate change and also, were the only ones affected.
I know it's difficult to change our way of life because we are costumed
to this kind of life and probably, most of us think: "who care, when the
planet stop holding us I’ll be more than death". But this is not idea, we
are the responsible of what is happening and is in our hand stop this. It's not
necessary that one day to another you stop using your car, but there are plenty
of minimal things that you can do every day. For example, instead of poured
down toxic chemical wastes as paint, motor oil,... you can depose them in the
specific sites, you can by local goods that reduce the air pollution, I'm sure
you can use less electricity, lees water and also, produce less waste! All of
this are simple things that everybody can do in their daily routines so, if you
think that break the harm we are doing to our planet was a difficult thing, you
were wrong!
If you think about Christmas Lottery spot, for sure, you will remember about the one of the last year in wich Manuel enters in his frequent bar, thta has win the lottery, for take a coffe. At the beggining of the spot, manuel is sad because he's the only one that hasn't buy the ticket of the lottery, but his friend, Antonio (thta is also the boss of the bar) give him one of the win numbers. The mesage of this spot, apart of the solidarity of Christmas, was that "the greatest reward is share". So, if you
remember this famous spot, the one that they have prepared for us this year...
Don't you ever think about what
happened with Antonio and Manuel, the protagonist of the last year spot? Will
Antonio still have opened the bar? Well, no longer answer for all: the life of excess of Manuel has taken him ahead. Or at least, this is what the new
short of Tuti Fernandez represents (in a comic way).
"The
idea came in a meal. We were talking about the announcement of this year, that
didn't convince us because it was similar than the story of the last year"
said the director, that after this meal he called to the characters of the last
year and they started to record the spot.
In it,
Antonio (played by the same actor, Julian Valcárcel), appears alone, sitting on
the bench in a garden having a conversation with her friend or at least, what
remains of him and talking about what had happen in a year: Manuel get
divorced, after win the lottery they travel to Ibiza,... and as he say
"800,000 euros we have spent, you and me in a year, 800,000 euros, which
is not easy... It has merit!" And now, Antonio is in front of
a psychiatric to take the ashes of Manuel friend to his wife
If in
2014, the moral was "The greatest reward is to share" and after 365
days and spending 800,000 euros, the new moral could not be other than:
"Remember, if you got the lottery this year, not waste it".
People get older, nobody can discuss this, your hair will turn gray, your skin will be fill with wrinkles and blemishes, you will have flabby skin hanging and much more but you don't have to worrie about that, live happen! Even so, if you are one of these people who want to stay forever young or only lengthen your youth, there is an endless list of thing you can do thta are improving year by year and becoming more and more popular starting for dying you hair and ending with sugery. The next image show us how and why the industry of the Botox and the plastic surger is increaing year by year. Despite the high prices and the fact that both men and women think that the ideal age is 31 years old, year by year, more and more people is trying all kind of treatmens for fight agais time, and how we should imagine, women are more sucsceptible to hide the marks of the age: 56% of women are worried about the physical apearance compared to only the 36% of men. For explain this we have to find the answer in the pressure that society makes over our appearance: everybody (although some more than other and the more are the women) are always thinking about what people say or thing about him, and for this, women especially, are always trying anti-aging products and also for this, more women than men (42% over 18%) considere to try the plastic surgery for hide the "imperfections" that the age cause to your body.
I don't think that get older is a bad thing or something you should worrie about or be ambarrased of, it's true thta evrybody love being young: you still have a life to live, you still have a lot of experinces, vives,... But I think that I couldn't bear to be forever young, I mean, as I say, there is a lot of thing thta you can do, but there's also handful more that you couldn't. Each stage of your life would be different of the others and live is to go through all of them and live what you get in each.
We all know that, nowadays, beauty is in the eye of society: so many
people are influenced by what society represents as beautiful. Every year,
millions of people spend more and more money to change their outward
appearance. One of the guilty of this is the media that presents the society
with unrealistic body types that promote how people want to look like
especially, women. We spend so much time (and money) trying to look like what
society wants that we begin to see others and ourselves as what is presented
physically rather than who a person is, but what a woman is supposed to look
like based on society’s perception? Many of us will try to find this answer looking
in fashion magazines, beauty magazines,... but if you look carefully, you will
find out how fake and unrealistic they are, I have never seen a person like
that in the street but, however, I see how many women try to copy this images. And how the fashion industry manages for control, what they say, the canons ob beauty? One of their main allies is the Photoshop. Kilometric
legs, flat tummy, illuminated faces, perfects waist and smiles without wrinkles
are some of the miracles that appears in this magazines and that can be
achieved Photoshop, a digital program that revolutionized the way we conceive
an image.
I
don’t think that the use of Photoshop is a “bad thing” I mean, you can improve
your images, but the problem comes when you stop
to get perfect images to have unrealistic images. And this is a big problem
because it determines what people think of herself: everybody wants to look
like models or celebrities on magazines, a thing that it’s nearly impossible
because neither they are that way, but it makes you to live always conditioned
by this images, you will never be plased with yourself if you are always trying to look like "how you should look" (according to the fashion industry).
It's pretty
clear that the use of the Photoshop especially in the fashion world is not a
novelty but, however, never fails to impress us when images with an abuse of
this tool come to light. A perfect example
of this is the case of a picture of the actress Imma Cuesta that appeared a few
weeks ago in the newspaper "El
Pais". The actress has called "an invention" what the newspaper
had done. In the message that she give she said that she didn't feel self-conscious,
but outraged as a woman. I think that this complain is giving an important
message that call us to think over what are the canons of beauty that we
should follow and also say to usa that we should be more independent of fashions and stereotypes. After
releasing her retouch on social networks, other actress has supporter Imma for
his bravery.
Who has
never been dropped food on the floor, has taken and has eaten consoling
themselves with the law of the five seconds, wishing that if the food hits the floor and you snatch it up in less than five seconds, it's safe to eat? I think that it has happened to
everyone once in live (as minimum)... But it's the food really safe or should we throw it away or wash it off? Are we believing in this unwritten rule as an excuse to salvage the last piece thta left of a cookie? For years, we have use this rule as a "sanitary excuse" to eat what has fallen, but I have a good new for all of us: we can keep your
conscience clear because an study ha prove that this myth is true!
Anthony Hilton, a
teacher of microbiology in the University of Aston, has lead an interesting
study for analyze if the "law of the five
seconds" it's true and according to which, you can only eat the food that
had been dropped on the floor if it has been there less than five seconds, time
for which the food is not contaminated. This investigation was carried out with
all kind of food as toast, pastries, cookies or candies fallen on
three types of floors: tiles, laminate and carpet and between an intervals of 3
and 30 seconds.
This study has demonstrated
that the time is a key factor for the transmition of the bacterium to the food,
but the kind of floor is another factor to consider. To the astonishment of
many and for the fate of many others, the researches found that in five
seconds, it's not possible that the food "catch" batteries and also,
that the floor with less possibilities of pollutes the foods is the carpet, the
tiles, by contrast, are the best allies of the bacteries. The texture of the
food also influence, is not the same dropping a toast with butter and jam
than dropping a piece of bread.
So next time, when
you drop a cookie down, pick it up, blow a little and you stick it in your
mouth in hopes of having eliminated the bacteria that could have caught, you
can be sure that your health will not be in danger.
Unless you are a "female Instagram
junkie" you probably won't know who is Essena O'Neill. She's an australian
19 year old teenager model with more than 612.000 Instagram followers, around
250.000 subscribers on YouTube and close to 60.000 Snapchat contacts .She
earned an income from social media, but she has chose to give up with her
"social media celebrity" career when she quit from this different
platforms describing it as "contrived perfection made to get
attention", and called for others to quit social media of their lives.
She has deleted over 2000 photos with no real
purpose other than self promotion. Without releasing, she have spent majority
of her teenage life being addicted to social media, social approval, social
status and her physical appearance. Social media (especially how she used it) isn’t
"something real": it's contrived images and edited clips ranked
against each other. It's a system based on social approval, likes, validations
in views, success in followers,... O'Neill accepted that she was consumed by
it, she spent the majority of her day aimlessly scrolling, she used to spent
hours on YouTube, on Tumblr,... I think that the message that Essena is giving
is very important, how can we see ourselves and our true purpose or talents if
we are constantly viewing others? Many of us are in so deep we don't realise
it, we don't realise the power and the impact that it has on our lives.
Now O'Neill is focusing on a new project called"Let's be Game Changers"with witch she wants to start a movement where someone's worth isn't determinate
by their physical attributes or by the social media influence, as Essena sais,
she wanted to "give people the opportunity to be free, grow, learn and
explore while challenging their own beliefs". With this new project she
also want to explain the reality behind their pictures. The results has no waste,
I mean, although we probably knew the purpose of her images, it surprised to
hear so sincerely from the mouth of the protagonist. She has uploaded some
pictures with interesting comments. For example, one of the latest photos that
she had show to us, appears a "selfie" of herself heavily made-up, and
she comment that she spent over two hours making up herself for take more than fifty different pictures for just publish one in Instagram and promote a make-up brand and, the worts of all is thta aftert all that work an all that time, she went to sleep because she was ill!
She has turn around all social media and a lot of celebrities as models,
singers,... have begun to upload pictures of themselves without makeup or
without combing and also, a lot of "internet celebrities" has started
to explain through their pictures why did they take it, why did they upload on
iInstagram or in any social platform,... with the hastag #SocialMediaIsNotRealLife
in support with Essena.
I think that the reflection that Essena O'Neill has done is very
important, I mean, it show to us the role that social media play in our daily
live and, in some people, it's excessively important and this is a problem,
it's not health be so engaged and a good example is Essena, that had
acknowledged that she has waste his youthfulness worried about things as simple
as the number of likes that you get in a picture or the number of followers you
have. I also use this kind of social platforms and I'm glad that I can say that
I can live without them, I'm not constantly cheeking them or
uploading pictures. You waste a lot of time scrolling and seeing pictures,
comments,... of everyone you want and how you should imagine, in second of
batxillerat, we don't have so much time. Anyway, I think that we don't need to
go so far and put off of our lives this kind of platforms because they also
have good things, but I believe that if you think that they are doing more harm
than good, you should think about what Essena O'Neill has said.
My
sister loves cinema and she is always watching all kinds of films of all ages.
She knows a lot about the actors and actresses, about the directors and even,
about the scriptwriters!!! Who else know who the scriptwiter of a film is? It's
incredible...we can say that she is a "cinema geek" (but with all the
love). For this reason, she is always telling me which films I should see or I
should know about, I mean, the typical best ones of all the story of the cinema
and also, which films I shouldn't see because they are “bad”.
As you can
imagine, we always have quarrellings and problems for decided what movie watch
on Saturday's night and even, for decided which TV series watch: we have very
different likes and it's very difficult to reach an agreement. Most of the time
we end each one with a different laptop in different rooms seeing different
things... Anyway, I also have to say that sometimes (only sometimes) I listen
to my sister and I don't regret. For example, I have accompanied her to the
cinema several times and I have to say that she knows to choose the film: I
love "Relatos Salvajes", "The Sniper" and especially, the
last one that we have seen: "The Martian".
The Martian is an
American science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and based upon the book
with the same name of the writer Andy Weir. The main character is starring by
Matt Damon and there also appear great actors and actresses such as Jessica
Chastain, Kate Maran or Michael Peña.
The plot is the
next: in the year 2035 the crew of Ares III, a manned mission to Mars, has established
a temporary base on the planet where they have to stay for some time while they
study the planet’s surface. However, the crew is forced to abandon the base to
escape a massive Martian storm and while they are evacuating, one of the
astronauts is lost and the crew left him because it seems that he's dead, but
he has survived. Now he is alone in Mars and nobody know that he is alive. Although
at first he thought that he would die in the planet then, he realize that he
can't give up and with his botanical and technological knowledges and also,
with a lot of humor, he manage to solve his mains problems: the food and the
water and also, contact with the NASA for his rescue plan.
One of
the things that I most like is the way that he solve his problems I mean, he is
able to “create” an orchid on Mars for plant potatoes "in a planet where nothing grows" as he said, he is able to “make”
water, he invents a set of words to communicate with the NASA and, even so the
problems and concerns, he have time for joking!
I really enjoy
this film and it's weird because I'm not very kind of science fiction films but
I think that this movie is different, I mean, it's not hard-boiled science
fiction film because there also are dramatic scenes and others that
differentiate this film from the genre. Another think that I like of this film,
as I have already said, is the humor, the irony and sarcasm of the astronaut
that makes the story very entertaining and wonderful, a thing that seemed to be
impossible in a film where a character is alone in a planet!
I would like to end up with a funny fact and is that thre are a number of films like the onethta I've just commend, "Salvar al Soldado Ryan" or "Interstellar" where Matt Damond has to be rescued.
Humor is a way to look at things from the mirthful side, it's the quality that makes something laughable or amusing, is the ability to perceive, enjoy, and express what is comical and, in my opinion, is one of the most important qualities for umans. Humor is everywhere: laughter is one of the first things you do as a newborn and, if all goes well, it will be one of the last things you do before die. We only have to look at the business industry to see the importance of humor: they are constantly creatung funny advertisments, funny products,... in order to get our attention.
Is natural thta people approach pleasure and avoid pain, hence, the sence of humor influences many of our daily decisions and it helps us face the thoughest situations in life. As you know, we comfort with a lot of daily problems that cannot be solved easily and on time, but if you lead on in humor, those harsh times will be bearable, you will be able to llok at the problems from a different angle. And these are not the only benefits of humor: it also helps people psychological and physical wellbeing: it helps you cope with stress, adversity and deal with pain and physical adversities and laughter, benefit your circulation, lungs and muscles. And let's not forget the social benefits og humor! As Marilyn Monroe said: "If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything". How true is it? Bithing is more attractuve than a sense of humor, for both mean and women. Nothing relieves tension like laughing and laughing with others increasing bonding. So, not surprisingly, funny people recieve positive attention and admiration, your ability to create and appreciate humor also influences who wants to date or befriend you. Everybody has the joking family member thta they always look forward to seeing, everybody remembers the kid in school thta always made the class break into a laughter and everybody remebers and loves having a fun conversation with someone once in a while! So, we can say that having sense of humor is one of the highly desirable attributes; everyone wants somene with a good sense of humor by their side.
Summing up, humor is an important tool in social relations: only think about how much easier can be an unconfortable situation when you joke about it. Humor is absolutly necessary, having a good sense of humor can make life easier: try going through a day without so much as a chinkle and you will find that it's downright impossible so, for an easier life: smile, laugh and make others laugh!
