My english competence in 2016

WRITTEN POST:

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8144317423353593605#editor/target=post;postID=8715239302339707359;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=15;src=postname


Basicaly, I've choosen this post because I think that it's where I've talked about one of my favorite things, and as a result, I enjoyed and gave my best while writting this post.

Sincerely, I did not enjoyed writting the post, and almost all my work here has been done without will and running when the clock was running out of time. So for these last posts, I tried to talk about more personal things. That post let me rest about the other things, and I could afford the time that I spent writting there, because I loved the subject and had so many good memories with that game.


ORAL POST:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePqHnL2zW0w

For the oral presentation, I've choosen this one because it's one of the most recent ones, but it still needs improvement. The main thing that I need to improve is my temperament at the time of recording. I often get nervous and it reflectson the oral presentation.


In conclusion, that's my final reflection, I'm a bit sad because I could not see some friends as much as I would like, but after all the hard work, I'm happy to be where I am.

Sergi out.

Post Comparison

My first blog's post is called "Rebel Song", I did it two years ago as the first batxillerat task. It's difficult to compare it now, since I haven't written a lot in it.


The rebel song that I've choosen is "Numb" of Linkin Park, my favourite music band.

It talks about he's under the control of another person, and he wants to be more dependent and be like himself.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXYiU_JCYtU

A fragment of the song:

"Can't you see that you're smothering me?

Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control

'Cause everything that you thought I would be,

Has fallen apart right in front of you

(Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)

Every step that I take is another mistake to you

(Caught in the undertow, just caught in the undertow)

And every second I waste is more than I can take"


But I could say that I haven't changed that much since that, I like the same things andstuff, but it's true that I've improved my english.

Formal letter

To: ObamaUS@presimail.com

Subject: Death Penalty

Dear Mr. President of the United States of America

We are writing to complain about the death penalty, because it is not ethic and it violates some of the established human rights.

Firstly, we need to admit, although death penalty is an inconvenient tradition, it can calm down the population if the person that got killed done a terrible crime, and those criminals pay for its bad actions, also it can help breaking down some conflicts.

On the other hand, it could create some problems between people in states where death penalty is legal, and they may sign up for a new campaign and loose support if the demands are not met, in addition, death penalty doesn't respect the human rights.

To sum up, we think it should be forbidden for the common good.

Our sincerely, Sergi and Jordina

VideoGame review

Starcraft: Legacy of the Void was launched at November 2015, and it was the long-waited outcome of the Starcraft series, which started at 1997.

In this final game, you'll be playing as Artanis, the Hierarch of the Protoss, the ancient stellar race that is becoming closer to extinction. The Protoss are few and they are divided, and Artanis' mission will be to ensure the survival of its race, unfortunately, it won't be easy, as ancient and dark things will come up.

Now it's the time to reclaim Aiur, the Protoss' homeworld, and with it, their legacy,

En Taro Tassadar!

A lovely show

About a week ago, one of my most beloved TV shows has been aired once again. I'm talking about how I met your mother.

Plot:

The show's main character is Ted Mosby, and he tells to his sons the epic story of how he met their mother. As he goes through the story, he also tells the legendaries stories of his gang, which is composed by his friends Marshall, Lilly, Barney and Robin

Main Characters:

Ted Mosby: He's the narrator of the story, and the thing we see are from his point of view. He's 40 years old and his main objective is to find the ideal woman and marry her.

Marshall Eriksen: He's Ted's best friend since they met at college. He's married with Lily and studies a law degree

Lily Aldrin: She's the 3rd member of the gang. Currently married with Marshall, she's a kindergarten teacher and an artist

Marshall and Lily

Barney Stinson: He's the 4th member of the gang, he's constantly doing cracy things and his passion is to get girls, no matter the method. 

Robin Scherbatsky: She's the last member of the gang, but she plays a very important role in the story.

Memorable moments: (Spoiler alert!)

Movie Review

The movie that I'll review this time is called Operation Valkyrie.

Plot:

Due to the infamous actions of the Nazi Germany, the discontent has grown among Nazi officers and soldiers, and for the sake of their country, they make a plot with the objective of killing Hitler and make a peace deal with the Allies.

The colonel Claus Von Sttauffenberg is one of the unhappy Nazi officers, and he joins the plot so his family and the rest of Germany can live at peace. He takes an important  role since the beginning of his incorporation to the plot, since he has good commanding skills. 

In the end, the "Operation Valkyrie" fires, and a lot of tension is felt...

Book review

This time I'll be reviewing a book that I've recently read.

The book that I'll review is called the "The Mist", and it's written by Stephen King.

Plot: 

One day at the town of Maine, a strong storm forces everyone to hide in their respective basements and spend the night there. Dave and his family woke up, and saw that the environment was severally damaged by the storm, but the most disturbing thing was the appearance of a white mist, which moved in an unnatural way. 

Dave went to the supermarket with his son and neighbor, despite that  he never thought about what was going to happen, and that it was going to be the last time which he would see some of his beloved ones...

Education is the key, School is the lock

"You know money is only the medium by which one measures worldly success, some of you even have the nerve to say, I don't do it for money, so what are studying for? To work for a charity, need more clarity?"

These are some wisedom words, and I personally find that after all, we just study and work for that. When a child asks his parents why he sould study and work hard in his life, it's just so he can have a good job, earn a lot of money, have a family, then work harder so his children can have a good education, study and work hard in their lives, so they can get good jobs and earn lots of money, so they can have a familiy... And the wheel never stops. It's a very mechanical thing, but while I think that it is a little sad, I don't find any problem in it.

Human rights

1- WHAT ARE HUMAN RIGHTS?

According to Wikipedia, the Human rights are moral principles or norms, which describe certain standards of human behavior, and are regularly protected aslegal rights in municipal and international law. They are commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights "to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being," and which are "inherent in all human beings" regardless of their nation, location, language, religion, ethnic origin or any other status.] They are applicable everywhere and at every time in the sense of being universal, and they are egalitarian in the sense of being the same for everyone. They require empathy and the rule of law and impose an obligation on persons to respect the human rights of others

2- WHEN AND WHY WERE THEY CREATED?

The human rights were already a concept since a lot of time, but they became an official thing some time after the great wars. The events during the great wars were a big base for the creation of the human rights, since the mass killing and losses of human lives terrorized the whole world. So that it couldn't repeat again, the majority of the governments around the world created different organisms, as for example the League Of Nations and then The United Nations,so they could prevent these things to happen again. And so, at year 1945, the human rights were created at New York by The United Nations.

3- HOW MANY HUMAN RIGHTS ARE THERE?

Currently, there are about thirty human rights, and they cover a every apect of life.

4- WHICH HUMAN RIGHT WERE YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH?

I've choosen this right because sometimes it still happens, and it's a tough situatuion if it happens to you, so I think that we should work in here.

Immigration issues

Should immigration be stopped?

Immigration has increased a lot along the past months, and it has concerned a lot of people lately, to the point of that extreme right is having an increased growth.

I think that the immigrations should be regulated by the governments, because we can’t even maintain the local person who’s been living in their countries since they were born. First, the government must focus on solving actual problems, then; when the situation improves we could try to help the others. By the moment, the borders should be more protected. It’s not a racist question, just try to help the ones who have been living here, then focus on the others. 

Are nuclear weapons global peacemakers or killing devices?

Are nuclear weapons global peacemakers or killing devices?

Since the invention of nuclear weapons, we have experimented a period of almost “peace” and “stability”, mainly in the occidental and powerful countries, could it be thanks to the nuclear weapons?

It’s a fact that since the cold war, a lot of countries had invested in the construction of nuclear weapons, and in a world where almost everyone has mortal weapons, you should think about what are you planning to do, and I think that has been a thought that had helped to keep the peace in almost the part of the world.

Fossils shed light on 'bizarre' reptile

Fossils shed in China light on 'bizarre' reptile

Two fossils recently found at China have revealed a new vegetarian reptile that used to live 242 million years ago beneath the sea.

These fossils show a strange-shaped cranium, it has an unusual shape never seen in a reptile. Basically, the skull suggests that these aquatic animals used to eat vegetables. It has caused some impression, since only a few marine reptiles, extinct or alive are known for eating only vegetables.

A reconstruction of the extinct reptile

Link:

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36195167

Kidnapped Spanish journalists return home

Kidnapped Spanish journalists return home

Angel Sastre, Antonio Pampliega and Jose Manuel Lopez, who were freelance reporters at Syria's war, have returned to Madrid safely after being kidnapped about a year ago. 

Apparently, the three journalists, who were reporting at Syria's war by their own, were captured by an Al-Qaeda's affiliate Syrian group, the al-Nusra front. They've being controlled by the terrorist group almost by a year, and finally released by allies' force groups, and then relocated to their land, Spain





Link:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-36239731.

The SpitFires that nearly broke the sound barrier

The SpitFires that nearly broke the sound barrier

In 1947, Chuck Yeager was the first man who achieved breaking the sound barrier in a plane, but before him there were also some people who got very close to it.

In a couple of times, some pilots have got really close to the sound barrier; it's the case of Erik Brown, and Anthony Martindale. Both were aboard of a Mk II Spitfire, a British one -seated warplane, which entered in service in the RAF two years later after the beginning of the second world war. Those planes weren't designed to reach those high speeds, and the pilots lived a very dangerous moment.

Photography of a SpitFire Mk II

Link:
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160505-the-spitfires-that-nearly-broke-the-sound-barrier

Trip Diary

1st Day:

After a long voyage, we finally got into London. We took a nice ride on bus from the airport to the hotel, at Holland park, where some nice squirrels were awaiting our arrival.

After that, we proceeded to leave our cases at the hotel, and then we  head to  the National Art Gallery, but if it had been for me, I simply would have stayed sleeping in my room. Once there, we took some time appreciating the art, and then, I finally gave my awesome presentation. At that point, I thought that we could go to the hotel now and rest, but no, we went to see the mighty Big Ben, the London Eye and the elegant Buckingham Palace, which I must say, they were pretty beautiful. 

Finally, we walked through some kind of park till we arrived at the restaurant, where we had a good meal, and then proceeded to the hotel and get some rest.

2nd Day:

We woke up and got a had a quick breakfast. Today we were going to see the Globe Theatre, but I didn't know till we got there. Just before getting there, we walked through a bridge the Tamesi River, it was a nice sight. When we got there, we were welcomed by a kind worker of the theatre, and we had a nice walk around there, which I enjoyed and found it very nice.

After that, we had some break time for ourselves, and we proceeded to get some food.

Later on, we went to the Natural Science Museum, and I totally enjoyed it! There were a lot of stuff about nature, since animals from astronomy. The only thing that I didn't like about it, it was the fact that the dinosaur’s zone was closed for that day, I certainly like dinos, and I wanted to see them. We also wanted to go to the Science research museum, but it was late and both buildings were about to close. And for the end of the day, we went to Harrods Center, it was amazing the things they had there, but dang, it was expensive!

3d Day:

Today we went to the British Museum, and it was also amazing, I didn’t like it so much in comparison with the other one, though. But it also had great stuff from all over the world.

We had a very good meal at Camden Town, I ate a Mexican Burrito, and I can say that it was the best I ever tasted. But the best of the day was the musical. It was amazing! The best investment of the entire trip. I would have taken a lot of pictures if it was allowed, but unfortunately, it wasn’t. Seriously, I liked it so much.

4^th Day:

Finally, the day had come, I was both excited and sad for leaving. On one hand because I wanted to go home, and on the other, because I knew that the exams were getting closer… We went with a small group to Madame Tussauds to the wax museum. There were a lot of celebrities and important characters of history, all of them very well done. I took a lot of photos, but I think that this is my favorite:

It was a nice trip, and I would like to go back there again, I will miss London!

My favorite videogame

In this essay, I’m going to talk about my favorite videogame, and explain its plot and  some characters.

Three or four years ago, I played for the first time Mass Effect, a sci-fi RPG videogame, on the PC platform. The game was aired on 2005 and since that moment it has become one of the most well received videogames.

Since the first moments that I played, I quickly fell in love with its well written story and complex and developed characters.

Plot:

The game is set in the year 2183; 35 years after humans discovered the ruins of an ancient race called the Protheans on Mars. With the technology from the ruins, humanity learned the secrets of mass effect physics and element zero, unlocking faster than light travel. Humans also discovered the mass relay network that threaded the galaxy, being able to cross thousands of light-years in a moment. Humanity began its journey in space, encountering various alien races and establishing itself on the galactic stage

You play as the commander Shepard, and your mission will be to destroy a mysterious enemy that threats the galaxy every 50.000 years…

the Citadel

Characters: (my favorite character)

Shepard was born on the year 2154, he’s a graduate of the Systems Alliance N7 special forces program, and is initially assigned to the SSV Normandy in 2183 as Executive Officer. Later, he becomes the first human to join the Spectres, an elite special task force for the Citadel Council (a council that represents every species of the galaxy)

Shepard

Garrus Vakarian is a turian, a member of C-Sec's Investigation Division. He was born at Palaven, the Turian’s home world. Like most turians, Garrus had his military training at fifteen, but later followed his father's path to become a C-Sec officer. He was responsible for the investigation of Saren Arterius (the main villain), the Council's top Spectre, after the Alliance claimed Saren had gone rogue. Even his bosses told him that the investigation was over, he decided to defy the Executor's order and pursue another lead on his own. Then, Garrus joined Commander Shepard's team to help defeat Saren.

Garrus

Urdnot Wrex, born at Tuchanka, the krogan’s home world, is a famous krogan mercenary and bounty hunter. Wrex is also one of the last krogan Battlemasters: rare individuals who combine powerful biotic abilities with the devastating firepower of advanced weaponry. A long-lived krogan who has had many adventures, he has heard of Commander Shepard on his travels, and respects the Commander as a fellow warrior.

Wrex

My favorite TV show (CORRECTED)

South Park characters, Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny

Among all the TV shows that are broadcasted today, I think that my favorite would be South Park.

Some people think that it’s for just for kids, but definitely It’s not, and I keep saying to them that they haven’t even watched it. There are a lot of reason why it’s my favorite TV show, it always has some kind of humor, sometimes it’s more refined, and sometimes it’s so vulgar and lame, so there’s always some variety.

But it’s not just its humor, almost every chapter has a hidden message, which sometime it is so helpful, and treats some things about our society with a satiric attitude.

In conclusion, I think that South Park is one of the most complete and helpful TV shows ever done.




                                          Favorite moment: 

Feminism

Feminism

Lately, there’s been a lot of problems with sexism and related stuff, and I’ll give my opinion about it.

I understand that some women are angry with men, since all along our history, women have been repressed, while men took all the important things. All these women that try to fight for equal right, opportunities, etc… have my support, and I hope that everyone else thinks like me, but then, there’s a “special group”, called the feminazis. These “feminazis” (it’s not an official name) are known for doing what men have been doing all this time, and seems that they just want to take revenge. It’s a shame, because a lot of people think about this group when you says feminism, and it destroys the good and honorable work of the feminists.

In conclusion, I agree with the feminism, as long as it seeks equality of everything between man and women.

Book review

                                                    Perdition's Crossing cover

The book I’ll review is called Perdtion’s Crossing, written by James Waugh. It’s a short book of 10 pages; it belongs to the Starcraft series.

Plot:

The story turns around James Raynor, the marshal of Mar Sara colony. His role is to keep the region calmed and and make sure that everyone accomplishes the law. In this occasion he gets the mission to escort a group of prisoners to prison. It won’t be easy, since he has to cross the Perdition’s Crossing, an area where all the outlaw people go to seek fortune in not very honest ways. He has some difficulties with his own prisoners, but in the end, the thing will go correctly.  


 James Raynor concept art

My favorite music artist

There are a lot of music artists nowadays, but, since a very long time, I have clear idea about my favorite one.

Before I mention it, I’ll make some honorable mentions that I like a lot too.

Fleetwod Mac:

I’ve discovered this band not so long ago, and I regret it. I knew its principal vocalist from before, who is Stevie Nicks, but in combination with the other members, they rock a lot!

Blue Öyster Cult:

I discovered this band about one or two years ago, and almost every day I discover a new song, and I love it. They do a lot of rock kinds, from hard rock to psychodelic music, but they always manage to get me whatever they do!

Finaly…

And finally, my favorite music artist: I discovered them with the Transformers movie, which I saw when I was a child. In that move, there was a song called “What I’ve done”, and that was their first song I heard. I’m talking about Linkin Park. This band aired with their first album called “Hybrid Theory”, in the year 1998. Since then, they’ve been working in a lot of new albums, and experienced with different types of music, which caused a bit of hate against them, but I keep saying that they are the best.

What I've done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sgycukafqQ

Linkin Park members

Movie review

The planet of the apes cover

The movie that I’ll review in this essay is named: The Planet of the Apes and I’m sure you’ve heard about it.

The movie was aired in 1968, and was directed by Franklin Shaffner. It was inspired on the novel with the samen name.

Plot:

In the year 1974, four astronauts are sent to space in an exploring mission. The captain of the ship, George Taylor (Charlton Heston) has calculated that, with the Theory of Relativity of Einstein, the time on Earth will be accelerated. The mission has taken 18 months; while on Earth have passed 2006 years since the launch of the ship.

During the voyage, a malfunction in the ship has caused the death of one of the astronauts, and finally, the ship ends up falling into an unknown planet. The three remaining explorers get out of the ship and start exploring this new planet. A bit later, they discover life form, but in a weird and disturbing way. In this world, “humans” behave like animals, and they are being exterminated by some kind race of apes.

Our three humans end up separating from each other, and get captured by the apes. Since now, the story will focus on the captain Taylor, and with him, we’ll learn about this strange ape society, and the mysterious story of this unknown planet…  

A scene from the movie

Sacred temple from 16th century that was hidden emerges from lake due to severe drought (News)

News:

Recently in Mexico, near the small town of Santa María Jalapa del Marques, in the south-east of Mexico, a religious temple has been discovered again.

That long-hidden religious temple of the 16^th century has been discovered thanks to a long and drought, which caused a decrease of the 40 per cent of the water level.

The temple was built by monks of the Dominican order, who came to the area around the 15^th century. The building has been deteriorating since those ages, considering that it’s been flooding periodically, and then, once more, getting visible due to droughts and other causes, repeating the process since a lot of time.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/sacred-temple-16th-century-hidden-7539574

Female-only police unit whose officers wore skimpy uniforms and high-heels is disbanded for damaging the force's image (News)

News:

Recently in Mexico, a just women police body has been disbanded. The reason is simple. This police unit was just composed by females, and all of them were wearing a sexy uniform as they were doing their work. This police body has not been completely removed, it just has been remodeled. Now, they wear normal uniform as everyone else, and participate in normal police activities. One of the woman of the unit said that it’s better this way, since they get a lot more respect and don’t get taken as a joke.

Opinion:

I think also that it’s been a good thing to do, since I think that cops must get considered as serious and respectable people, as long as they do their respective jobs correctly, no matter the sex they are.

Link: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/female-only-police-unit-whose-7541396#rlabs=3%20rt$category%20p$10

Paris is too dirty for Japanese tourists (News)

Summary:

Since Paris is one of the top places visited by Japanese tourists, with 600.000 tourists visiting the capital per year, some Tokyo tourisms agencies have claimed that the city is too dirty, and they began a cleanup operation. They want to make the city even more clean, all of that for their own people and tourists, who have very high standards. Paris is visited by that amount of Japanese tourists because it exists there the idealization of the ”love city”, but then, when they come, the don’t see what they expected, and then want to make the city better.

Opinion:

I think that it’s exaggerated; some people think that Paris is a leisure park, but it’s like any other city in the world.

Link:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/paris-too-dirty-japanese-tokyo-7542884