The Destructors is a short story written by Graham Greene published in 1954. It tells the story of how a gang named "Wormsley Common Gang", destroys the last house surviving the WWII in a parking lot. Leaded by a boy called T, short for Thomas, destroy from the inside the house of Old Misery, who's actual name is mister Thomas.
The story is created by black humor. first revenging an attempt to "bribe" the gang by mister Thomas, the gang starts hitting his wall with a ball. Later the Gang is convinced by T, who has severe problems caused by the war, that it would be more fun to destroy his house from the inside. The actual story can be used to describe how damaged were the lives of young kids after a war. The jokes that are seen in the book are, in my point of view, were not funny but made me feel sympathetic with Mr Thomas, the book finishes with a lorry driver laughing at his misery.
Monday 25 May 2009
The Destructors (Jose Maria)
The Destructors is a short story written by Graham Green. It talks about a group of boys which plan to destroy Mr. Thomas house while he is away. and he IS a good person to the, he offers them sweets and they don't trust him, they think they aregoing to be rotten or have some kind of poison in it. It uses black humour to make it 'funny'.
I personally don't find it funny, its not that i didnt like it, but i think its not funny to read how they destroy a poor mans house. This happens because when you laugh at somebody when bad things happen to him, you usually know him or are related to it. This story just happens too fast and you don´t even have time to relate emotionally to Old Misery, you just know that he is a nice peron and doesn´t deserve the punishment.
In this case you just feel pitty for him because he is a good man and all he gets in exchange is loosing his house. I think this specific situation does not apply to black humour because its kind of sad. It's also kind of disturbing that they actually enjoydestrying Old Misery's (Mr. Thomas) house. Anyway, its an entretaining story which promises to entretain and some people might find it funny; some people won't.
I personally don't find it funny, its not that i didnt like it, but i think its not funny to read how they destroy a poor mans house. This happens because when you laugh at somebody when bad things happen to him, you usually know him or are related to it. This story just happens too fast and you don´t even have time to relate emotionally to Old Misery, you just know that he is a nice peron and doesn´t deserve the punishment.
In this case you just feel pitty for him because he is a good man and all he gets in exchange is loosing his house. I think this specific situation does not apply to black humour because its kind of sad. It's also kind of disturbing that they actually enjoydestrying Old Misery's (Mr. Thomas) house. Anyway, its an entretaining story which promises to entretain and some people might find it funny; some people won't.
Monday 11 May 2009
0 to 200 in 6 seconds (Joke)
Bob was in trouble. He forgot his wedding anniversary. His wife wasreally pissed.She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in thedriveway that goes from 0 to 200 in 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE !!"
The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife wokeup, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a boxgift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, broughtthe box back in the house.She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Bob has been missing since Friday.
The thing that makes this joke so funny is that you werent expecting that kind of gift, since you can tell that bob´s wife wanted a car. We assume that beacause when yoiu buy a car they usually tell you how fast can it reach 100 or 200 km or miles in seconds. This is why when she recieves a bathroom scale it is so funny. Furthermore, because bob has been missing since friday, we assume that his wife got really angry and she probably did something really bad to him. Probably killed him.
The next morning he got up early and left for work. When his wife wokeup, she looked out the window and sure enough there was a boxgift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, broughtthe box back in the house.She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.
Bob has been missing since Friday.
The thing that makes this joke so funny is that you werent expecting that kind of gift, since you can tell that bob´s wife wanted a car. We assume that beacause when yoiu buy a car they usually tell you how fast can it reach 100 or 200 km or miles in seconds. This is why when she recieves a bathroom scale it is so funny. Furthermore, because bob has been missing since friday, we assume that his wife got really angry and she probably did something really bad to him. Probably killed him.
Monday 20 April 2009
The Origen of my name (Raul)
My name in English is spell as Ralph:
Ralph is an English, Scandinavian and German male given name, derived from Old Norse Raðulfr (rað "counsel" + ulfr "wolf") through Old English Rædwulf and the longer form Radulf.
My second name is Rodolfo, which in English is Rudolph or Rudolf:
is a male first name, and, less commonly, a surname. It is a Germanic name deriving from 2 stems. One being "Rod" or "Hrôdh", meaning "fame", and "olf" meaning "wolf"My Name!!
José María (abbreviated José M.ª) is a Spanish language male given name, usually considered a single given name rather than two names, and is a combination of the Spanish names of Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus Christ. The separate names "José" for males and "María" for females also exist in the Spanish language. They can also combine in the inverse order forming the female name "María José" (M.ª José); that is, the gender of the compound names "José María" and "María José" is determined by their first component. The name "José María" is colloquially shortened to "José Mari", "Josema" or replaced by the hypocoristic forms "Chema" or "Chemari".
For Maria Jose is the same just backwards! And I rock
For Maria Jose is the same just backwards! And I rock
Monday 23 March 2009
Stanhope's Letter (Jose Maria)
Dear Daisy:
I know I haven’t written to you for a while, but the last couple of days have been crazy. Things have really changed around here. It made me think, of what’s best for me, in my life, in my career, in everything basically. But most of all, I have realized that I can’t live without your love, you’re all I have right now and I cant even think of what will happen to me if something happens to you.
There’s been an attack; you know that’s all I can tell you, I can’t give any details because otherwise, my letter will be censured. But what I can tell you is that I’m fine, if that’s what you’re wondering. But there are bad news I need to tell you and I need you to be strong, for you, for me and for us. During the attack, a much loved friend died called Osborne. It hit me, I honestly didn’t expect it. Osborne was noble, had a great sense of what friendship means, and most of all, he helped me in any possible way he could. He was killed by a grenade while he was waiting for James.
But this isn’t why you should be sad about. Raleigh is ill, very ill and I really don’t know what happened to him or whether or not he hill survive. All I know is that he was hit on his back, now he can’t move. A doctor came; he said that he’s seriously injured and that he needs to send to England for special help. But the doctor says is possible that he doesn’t survive the flight. He’s not even sure if he will live until tomorrow.
As I said before, I need you to be strong now. I know he is your brother, but you need to know that he is a brave man. He thinks about war as the process of becoming a man, well, he became one. He fought bravely for his country; He is always in a good mood, even now that his is injured and is never afraid to fight. I don’t want you to be sad, I know that he would`t want you to be sad because of him. I wish I was with you, to hold you, to kiss you, to hug you and clean your tears. But I have to stay, they say war is about to end, but rumors are rumors; you can’t be sure about anything. What you can be sure about is that I pray everyday to God that we will meet again. I need you to have confidence, confidence that we will be together again, and this time I mean it. After this I will not let you go away from me again.
I know you’re taking a lot of bad news right now, and probably you’re quite sad. But there’s something I need to confess you, and I don’t want top keep this secret for the rest of my life from you. I want to tell you this because I want to be completely honest with you praying that you will forgive me for what I’ve done. I’ve been drinking Daisy, I’ve been drinking to calm my feelings and all the pressure I have here. At first I didn’t meant to, but as things got more complicated I saw it was the only solution to my depression. It was just too much to handle, the war, seeing people die, being an officer, and missing you.
Since Osborne’s death, and Raleigh’s injuries I’ve been trying to quit it, but it’s hard, you know? I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling right now, it must be difficult. But I want to ask you something. Something that will make me go on but also that I would like your honest answer. I want to hear you say that you will wait for me, that you will wait for me because you love me, still love me. I promise you I will quit drinking, as far as I know; I’m quitting it right now completely as I said before, for you, for us and for our love too.
It has been very difficult for me to write you this letter; its early morning now and I can’t go to sleep until I finish this letter. I’ve been quite angry and kind of moody over the last couple of days but it will pass, I’m sure of that. I’ve been having nightmares recently about you, about Osborne and about Raleigh. But I really can’t wait to see you. I just hope you understand me and that you’ll wait for me.
Forever Yours
Dennis
I know I haven’t written to you for a while, but the last couple of days have been crazy. Things have really changed around here. It made me think, of what’s best for me, in my life, in my career, in everything basically. But most of all, I have realized that I can’t live without your love, you’re all I have right now and I cant even think of what will happen to me if something happens to you.
There’s been an attack; you know that’s all I can tell you, I can’t give any details because otherwise, my letter will be censured. But what I can tell you is that I’m fine, if that’s what you’re wondering. But there are bad news I need to tell you and I need you to be strong, for you, for me and for us. During the attack, a much loved friend died called Osborne. It hit me, I honestly didn’t expect it. Osborne was noble, had a great sense of what friendship means, and most of all, he helped me in any possible way he could. He was killed by a grenade while he was waiting for James.
But this isn’t why you should be sad about. Raleigh is ill, very ill and I really don’t know what happened to him or whether or not he hill survive. All I know is that he was hit on his back, now he can’t move. A doctor came; he said that he’s seriously injured and that he needs to send to England for special help. But the doctor says is possible that he doesn’t survive the flight. He’s not even sure if he will live until tomorrow.
As I said before, I need you to be strong now. I know he is your brother, but you need to know that he is a brave man. He thinks about war as the process of becoming a man, well, he became one. He fought bravely for his country; He is always in a good mood, even now that his is injured and is never afraid to fight. I don’t want you to be sad, I know that he would`t want you to be sad because of him. I wish I was with you, to hold you, to kiss you, to hug you and clean your tears. But I have to stay, they say war is about to end, but rumors are rumors; you can’t be sure about anything. What you can be sure about is that I pray everyday to God that we will meet again. I need you to have confidence, confidence that we will be together again, and this time I mean it. After this I will not let you go away from me again.
I know you’re taking a lot of bad news right now, and probably you’re quite sad. But there’s something I need to confess you, and I don’t want top keep this secret for the rest of my life from you. I want to tell you this because I want to be completely honest with you praying that you will forgive me for what I’ve done. I’ve been drinking Daisy, I’ve been drinking to calm my feelings and all the pressure I have here. At first I didn’t meant to, but as things got more complicated I saw it was the only solution to my depression. It was just too much to handle, the war, seeing people die, being an officer, and missing you.
Since Osborne’s death, and Raleigh’s injuries I’ve been trying to quit it, but it’s hard, you know? I can’t even imagine how you’re feeling right now, it must be difficult. But I want to ask you something. Something that will make me go on but also that I would like your honest answer. I want to hear you say that you will wait for me, that you will wait for me because you love me, still love me. I promise you I will quit drinking, as far as I know; I’m quitting it right now completely as I said before, for you, for us and for our love too.
It has been very difficult for me to write you this letter; its early morning now and I can’t go to sleep until I finish this letter. I’ve been quite angry and kind of moody over the last couple of days but it will pass, I’m sure of that. I’ve been having nightmares recently about you, about Osborne and about Raleigh. But I really can’t wait to see you. I just hope you understand me and that you’ll wait for me.
Forever Yours
Dennis
Monday 23 February 2009
Are the Osars Worth the Attention Anymore? (Jose Maria)
(Chunky butt Funky!) The Oscars have been celebrated for more than 8 decades and last week-end the 81st took place in LA, many celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston. But something is always questioned "Are the Oscars worth it Anymore?". To me the answer is simple: Yes.
It`s cear that the winning film of the years inst necessarily the best, since the awards are a commercial ceremony. But the truth is that, at least for me, the Oscars are really to go and watch the movies during the following week and, as i said, they are`nt probably the best movies but at least they can assure entretainment and above all, something to talk about with people.
Personally, i don't pay too much attention during the ceremony, but since TV these days is full of nonsense and bad quality programs, it's nice to see something which bring entretainment to the TV. But some winners like Sean Penn were determined to win or like Heath Ledger who, after his inminent death, anyone could have predicted his win.
But really, these days, the ceremony purpose has been reduced to one thing: Social talk, because everyone talks about them for the following 2 weeks after and if you missed them you're out of all conversations. Anyway, people my age can't really say theyy are'nt worth it anymore and even if they say it, they haven't seen more than 2 Academy Awards really.
It`s cear that the winning film of the years inst necessarily the best, since the awards are a commercial ceremony. But the truth is that, at least for me, the Oscars are really to go and watch the movies during the following week and, as i said, they are`nt probably the best movies but at least they can assure entretainment and above all, something to talk about with people.
Personally, i don't pay too much attention during the ceremony, but since TV these days is full of nonsense and bad quality programs, it's nice to see something which bring entretainment to the TV. But some winners like Sean Penn were determined to win or like Heath Ledger who, after his inminent death, anyone could have predicted his win.
But really, these days, the ceremony purpose has been reduced to one thing: Social talk, because everyone talks about them for the following 2 weeks after and if you missed them you're out of all conversations. Anyway, people my age can't really say theyy are'nt worth it anymore and even if they say it, they haven't seen more than 2 Academy Awards really.
Oscars (by Raul)
Yesterday the 81st Academy Awards were hosted in L.A. They award the best pictures in 24 different categories. The most relevant winners were Slumdog Millionaire with 8 Oscar statues, after The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button with 3 and The Dark Night & Milk went home with 2 statues for each picture.
I really didn't see them but I believe that they were awarded fairly, the movies that deserved the golden statue won it. Benjamin Button was an excellent film according to me & should have won the best film category but the truth is that I haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire so I cant really argue until I've seen it. Heath Ledger won best actor in supporting role, although people might argue that he only won because he killed himself the truth is that he did an excellent job as "The Joker" he would have won it anyhow, maybe the odds wouldn't have been to much in his favor but he would have won.
I really didn't see them but I believe that they were awarded fairly, the movies that deserved the golden statue won it. Benjamin Button was an excellent film according to me & should have won the best film category but the truth is that I haven't seen Slumdog Millionaire so I cant really argue until I've seen it. Heath Ledger won best actor in supporting role, although people might argue that he only won because he killed himself the truth is that he did an excellent job as "The Joker" he would have won it anyhow, maybe the odds wouldn't have been to much in his favor but he would have won.
Monday 16 February 2009
Journey´s End & WW1 (By Jose Maria & Raul)
It is a book written by R. C. Sherriff in 1928 and it was first published in 1929.
It is set in the trenches at Saint-Quentin, France, in 1918, Journey's End gives an idea of the experiences of the officers of a British Army infantry company in World War I. The story plays out in the officers' dugout over four days from 18 March 1918 to 21 March 1918.
Dugouts were an important part of the trenches in the World War as they were used as an area to rest and carry out other activities such as eating. Dugouts would usually be placed 30 feet underground with concrete, wood and/or steel to withstand the shock of artillery and would have a set of stairs leading down to them.
A soldiers time in the front-line trench was usually short; from one day to a couple of weeks at a time before being relieved.On an individual level, a typical British soldier's year could be divided as follows:
15% front line
10% support line
30% reserve line
20% rest
25% other (travelling, hospital, etc.)
Here's a link for a review of the play:
http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/printed-books/journey-s-end-r-c-sherriff/1088655/
Monday 19 January 2009
Emo Diary (Jose Maria)
16th January
I´m tyred, I´m tyred of people looking at me in a stange way, I´m tyred of people telling me I look weird. I´m tyred of the people.
Since I changed my "look" (that´s how they call it) on holidays, when I came back school, my friends don´t hang out as much as before with me anymore and when I talk to them they get really nervous, as if i was a sort of freak or something strange. I´m still me, but i decided to change my appearance because I wanted to be different the mass, different from me...
18th January
Yesterday was as boring and depressive as previous days. But today I met new people. People that are like, people who I can talk too, people which people look in a strange way too. They dress like me and act like me. They´re called "Emos".
19th January
It looks like things are starting to get better. Today I didnt sit by myself in class. I sat with Barbara, Jason, Mary and Paul. They´re the guys I met yesterday, they´re really nice and te girl, Mary, think she´s very pretty. I think I micht actually have found the ´group´I belong to.
21st January
Oh my God! It was amazing, I kissed mary at the cinema yesterday. I can´t wait to see her on Monday.
My parents are concerned that I spend much time in my bedroom, but they don´t understand I want to be away from the society.
23rd January
What is the point of life? What´s the point of life if you can´t change anything? What is the point of being alive if nobody hears you? What is the point of being alive if nobody hears you? What is the point of being alive if you lost all your friends? What is the point of life if the person you loved cheated on you with your best friend?...
I´m tyred, I´m tyred of people looking at me in a stange way, I´m tyred of people telling me I look weird. I´m tyred of the people.
Since I changed my "look" (that´s how they call it) on holidays, when I came back school, my friends don´t hang out as much as before with me anymore and when I talk to them they get really nervous, as if i was a sort of freak or something strange. I´m still me, but i decided to change my appearance because I wanted to be different the mass, different from me...
18th January
Yesterday was as boring and depressive as previous days. But today I met new people. People that are like, people who I can talk too, people which people look in a strange way too. They dress like me and act like me. They´re called "Emos".
19th January
It looks like things are starting to get better. Today I didnt sit by myself in class. I sat with Barbara, Jason, Mary and Paul. They´re the guys I met yesterday, they´re really nice and te girl, Mary, think she´s very pretty. I think I micht actually have found the ´group´I belong to.
21st January
Oh my God! It was amazing, I kissed mary at the cinema yesterday. I can´t wait to see her on Monday.
My parents are concerned that I spend much time in my bedroom, but they don´t understand I want to be away from the society.
23rd January
What is the point of life? What´s the point of life if you can´t change anything? What is the point of being alive if nobody hears you? What is the point of being alive if nobody hears you? What is the point of being alive if you lost all your friends? What is the point of life if the person you loved cheated on you with your best friend?...
Emo Diary (Raul)
May 14
Today was a different day. School was boring as usual, everyone ignored me & my friend juan since people around here can't . At the end of school day, I talked again with the girl I like. She is being more realistic about us & she started looking at us with different eyes. It's really good that she understands us now. I invited her to go out in the afternoon & she agreed. On the walk we saw a march of us (emos) walk by, I totally forgot about the march me & juan had been looking forward all week for it, well...
At the end of our walk we saw a group of of punks that told me they would be coming and searching for us. They said we should be scared. I really hope they didn't mean it, because I don't want anymore fights in this city. I don't like it when people get hurt.
Today was a different day. School was boring as usual, everyone ignored me & my friend juan since people around here can't . At the end of school day, I talked again with the girl I like. She is being more realistic about us & she started looking at us with different eyes. It's really good that she understands us now. I invited her to go out in the afternoon & she agreed. On the walk we saw a march of us (emos) walk by, I totally forgot about the march me & juan had been looking forward all week for it, well...
At the end of our walk we saw a group of of punks that told me they would be coming and searching for us. They said we should be scared. I really hope they didn't mean it, because I don't want anymore fights in this city. I don't like it when people get hurt.
Monday 12 January 2009
Emos!!!
Emos are a urban tribe which have been on the news lately. They are very emo-tional (where their name comes from) & often wear black clothes topped off with the hair covering half of their face. Our personal opinion about emos is that they are very very sensitive & don´t show any violent reactions except for hurting themselves, which make people belive that they can treat them bad or discrimite them just because they will not fight back. Also, we think that the main problem is that because they go totally against culture or rules so noone can really understrand their thoughts or opinions excewpt for other Emos. Its not that we dont like them but we dont understand why they have such a strange behavour.
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