Month End Review: November (Day 103)

November had many solid music videos in it. Some were fun. Some were serious. Some had ridiculous scenes. But which one was the best? Here's the list of music videos shown.


2NE1Clap Your Hands
2PMHeartbeat
AASo Crazy
B2ST/BeastBreath
BachCello: The Silence Before Bach
David BisbalBuleria
David BisbalOye el Boom
David BisbalAve Maria
David BustamanteDos Hombres Y Un Destino
David BustamanteNo Soy Un Superman
FahrenheitAi Dao
Girl's GenerationGee
Gold MissGee
HangengMy Logo
HangengFire
Henry LauBaby
MYNAMEMessage
Nerd AlertSCV Love Song
O-zoneDragostea Din Tai
RainLove Song
SHINeeJuliette
SHINeeReplay (Japanese, & Korean parody)
SS501Single 3rd
Super JuniorBoom Boom
Super JuniorSorry Sorry
Super JuniorSorry Sorry
Super JuniorBonamana
Super JuniorMr. Simple
Super JuniorA-cha
Super Junior MSuper Girl
Super Junior MPerfection
U-KISS"0330"
ZE:AHeart For 2


Since there were so many good music videos, it is fortunate that some are disqualified for being shown before. These would be No Soy Un Superman, Sorry Sorry, Bonamana, Perfection (oh the bad hats!), A-Cha, and Oy El Boom.

Top marks go to Gold Miss's Gee, David Bisbal, and Ozone's Dragostea Din Tai. This month is a tie between my personal favourite of the month - Gold Miss's Gee - , and the music video that can be watched the most without getting bored - David Bisbal's Ave Maria. Congrats to both.

Misused Christianese (Day 103)

I have an issue with pop groups trying to be sexy and then using Christianese. It may be me being a hypocrite, but it is something that seriously does annoy me.

I have two examples. One is NSYNC's Christmas album and the other is TVXQ's song One Last Cry.

NSYNC. NSYNC is American and therefore anything Christianese will improve their saleability. My biggest issue with the album is the focus on Santa (and love) with the vaguely Christianese statements thrown in (vaguely Christianese statements with messed up theology). For me at Christmas there are two things that don't mix, Santa and Jesus, because only one can be the reason for the season. Therefore, a song about the meaning of the season should not mention Santa...and romance...and God as the reason for the season. Pick one. You can't have all three.

TVXQ. Their song One Last Cry has these lyrics. "A dame and shit and drunk, you came to get it onnnnnn. That's when it all got started (I mean) Back then I wasn't so cold hearted. With every stanza came an extravaganza. For every question he got one less answer. I was tryin' to but the futuro take. Now I Lay me down to sleep (And I) I pray the Lord my soul to keep (If I) If I should die before I wake (Then I) I pray the, let's get on our knee's. Now I Lay me down to sleep (And I) I pray the Lord my soul to keep (If I) If I should die before I wake (Then I) I pray the Lord my soul to take (Follow Me) Now I Lay me down to sleep..." You get the picture. My question is what is this song trying to say? How is it connecting drunken hotel sex to a well known prayer? And why?

For both, it's like they are saying two (or three) different things in one song and trying to connect them because they sound cool, and that's not cool.

Music Video Of The Day: 2PM (Day 102)

Today's music video was randomly selected by my brother as the only K-pop song (other than Super Junior) whose name he knows. Yes, that means 2PM's Heartbeat. Hearbeat by chance, is one of those songs which repeat its name over and over within the song, making its name easy to remember.

2PM's Heartbeat begins with an awkward rewind scene, followed by close up shots of the member's constipated heartbroken faces. If that isn't promising, what is? Then there is the glowing heart and twitching chest, the underwater aquarium of depression, and the zombie dance moves...all within the first minute-thirty. Is there anything that can top this? Maybe the puppet dance? Or the paint brush ponytails? Answer...nope, the first minute-thirty cannot be topped. However, we do get to realize that the whole thing is ridiculous. This is good, because the dance isn't very entertaining. Thank you zombie dance/constipation faces/ponytails for making the music video memorable.

A Short Bit (Day 102)

In the first two weeks of November it snowed. Or rather, it hor frosted, which was really pretty. Then, when we safely thought the snow was permanent. BAM! The southernly winds decided to melt everything, in a sickening couplet of bad roads and grimy road surfaces. Not to be defeated, the snow snowed and snowed and snowed. Everything was covered again. It was really pretty. But those south winds decided to fight back and tried to melt everything again. Oh the snowmen that were built and died. Where is this going you wonder? Well, no where. I just wanted to vent a little at the wonderful weather and bad road conditions that are not allowing me to blog about winter. It would be a lot easier to talk about snow if it were around...like it's supposed to be.

Living for le weekend.

Plaza Mayor under spaceship like navidad lights. We floated amongst the spanish families and sequinned goats until we reached La Sureña the new must visit bar chain in Madrid.

3 euro a bucket of 5 beers. Bueno, pero bueno.


El rastro the night after Kapital and Kabapchee.


Sitting in the afternoon sun watching small dogs and tiny people bumble, play and row. In the background boats filled with bells jingled away and ducks fought over patatas fritas.


Me gustan las mujeres y el vino. Obvio Julio, obvio.

Music Video Of The Day: Super Junior Blitz (Day 100)

Since today is the 100th music video, that means that today is special. Afterall, a randomly selected round number is often used to commemorate(sic) or celebrate things in our lives. Therefore, today is a Super Junior music video blitz. Super Junior is my favourite K-pop group because of their numbers, singing, dancing, and the fact that I know all their names and can connect them to faces. There is no going back once you have memorized all of Super Junior's names and faces. It is just too much work invested. Here's a short word on them all.

Sorry Sorry. The song that started it all...for me.
Bonamana. I totally learned this dance routine.
Mr. Simple. Mostly well done.
A-Cha. The first 15 seconds rock.
Super Girl. The song where we learn that if you are beautiful it is okay to reject people because you deserve someone cool and beautiful. Hangeng also leads this one. Oh yeah.
Perfection. Oddly placed fur costuming. Lame English rap. Fun fun fun.

How To Get Away With Drinking Jello Juice (Day 100)

In my household, the privilege of drinking jello juice (aka, jello before it's jelled) is a great one. I realize that this is far from normal, but so it is. So how does one get the privilege of drinking such a tasty (sugary) and delightful (warm) beverage, when the proper way to serve it is as jello? Easy.

The Steps:
1) Get sick. This may require throwing up.
2) Ask your parent for jello juice.
3) They make it.
4) Drink it. If you leave it for too long, you will end up with jello.

My preference is to drink it out of a glass measuring cup through a straw, but you may prefer a different beverage holder. I also like it when some juice is added to the jello instead of water. It increases both taste and nutrients.

Music Video Of The Day: The Silence Before Bach (Day 101)

And now for something completely different. As some of you may know, the cello is one of the most beautiful sounding instruments. It can be deep and it can be mellow, and it is almost always heart moving.

This clip of Bach's Cello Suits No. 1 The Silence Before Bach is to be appreciated for a number of reasons.
1) The sheer number of cello players
2) The song
3) The camera work. The camera person had
to move soundlessly around all those cellos
and holding posts on a moving subway train,
 while holding the camera steady. Impressive.

A NEW SONG

BODY PARTS



WHAT'S FOR BREAKFAST?

THE COOKIES

I AM A MUSIC MAN

"Animals" by David , 6C

Animals on PhotoPeach

FOOD

Practice your knowledge on food vocabulary with these exercises:

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

EXERCISE 3

EXERCISE 4

EXERCISE 5

EXERCISE 6

"Animals" By Rosalia , 6A

Animals on PhotoPeach

The Mixing Bowl: Devonshire Cream Tea by Joël Penkman


Painter and graphic designer Joël Penkman has shared a recipe with us today for Devonshire Cream Tea that is the perfect accompaniment to your morning cup of tea, especially on cold, wintery mornings like the one we had this morning! She uses strawberry jam, but you could easily substitute it with raspberry, plum, or rhubarb jam, just to name a few. It’s a great, easy-to- make way to spice up your breakfast routine. {You can see a larger version of the Devonshire Cream Tea recipe by clicking on the image above. You can also find a text version at the bottom of this post, after the jump.}


I'm a huge fan of Joël Penkman’s work. Quite frankly, it’s difficult for me to take my eyes of her colorful food paintings. There is something really beautiful about the way she paints a jelly rabbit or a box of Krispy Kreme donuts, something lovely about their simplicity.  I think my favorite piece is Blackpool Rock. It brings back such great memories of childhood and makes me hungry, all at the same time! You can find more of Joël’s work on her website, right here. You can also click here to visit her Etsy shop and order prints online. I guarantee that looking at her paintings will instantly brighten up your day! Thanks, Joël!


For a text version of the Devonshire Cream Tea recipe, and to see more Joël Penkman images, click Read More below.




Devonshire Cream Tea
225 g / 8 oz flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
50 g / 2 oz butter
30 g / 1 oz caster sugar
150 ml / fl oz milk
1 egg or milk or flour (optional)

Clotted cream
Strawberry jam
Tea


Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 220°C / 425°C / gas mark 7.

Grease and flour a baking sheet.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar.

Make a well in the flour, pour in the milk and quickly mix into a soft sponge with a knife. It is important to stop mixing as soon as all the flour is combined to keep the scones light and fluffy.

Flour your work surface and roll or press out your dough so that it is about 2.5 cm / 1" thick then cut into rounds with a pastry cutter. Collect up all the scrappy pieces and gently squash them together, roll out and cut to make more scones. Brush each scone over with a beaten egg for a glossy crust, milk for a lighter gloss or dust with flour for a dull soft crust.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes until well risen and golden.

Serve warm with clotted cream, strawberry jam and a pot of tea.

Breakfast #51: Fried Egg in Aligue (crab fat)

title
I am a relic.  In a world where fitness has swept the universe on its endorphin-powered chariot, leaving in its wake legions of runners, bikers, triathletes,and plana forma disciples, I remain resolutely languid.  Feel the burn?  Runner’s high? I listen to a multitude of people wax delirious about their physical activity of choice, still as puzzled and as dubious as I’ve always been.

It’s not that I question fitness or physical activity.  Not at all!  Exercise, it all its many forms, is good for you – and that’s the inescapable truth.  But I just can’t get on the fist-pumping, limit-pushing, sweat-dripping  bandwagon, try as I might.  And I have tried.  Really and truly.  But where other feel a sense of glorious exhilaration, I only feel nauseous and ornery.

Sports are definitely out.  Not only do I possess zero coordination or athletic prowess, anything to do with competition makes me miserable.  Solo activities like running or biking do not attract me in the least.  And don't even mention the gym to me.

So as far as physical activities are concerned, that leaves power-shopping, power-erranding, and my once a week walk to the neighborhood market.  Not much.  Although a step more active than reading…which is my preferred activity, truth be told.

I love decadence, indulging, napping with pajamas, long scalding-hot showers, burrowing under soft cool sheets, stretching, dancing , sleeping outdoors, sleeping in, 3-hour lunches with wine, hammocking, floating on my back, sniffing my baby pillow, brunch cocktails, stirring hot chocolate, lip-synching, and kneading dough.

The world is leaving me behind.  But it’s ok.  Because I have this to keep me company.

Fried Egg in Aligue (crab fat)
  • 1 egg, the best you can find or afford
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small clove of garlic, very finely minced or passed through a garlic press
  • 1 tablespoon aligue (crab fat)
  • Sea salt

- Heat a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat.  Add the oil.  When the oil is hot, add the garlic.  After a few seconds, when you can smell the garlic frying, add the aligue (crab fat).  With your spatula/turner, quickly mix the aligue with the oil and garlic.  Blend well until you have a deliciously dangerous looking mass of bubbling orange sin. 
- Onto this bed of foamy orange, gently lay your egg.  As the whites set, gently flip the aligue onto the egg whites and yolk.  Keep doing this patiently until the whites are set but the yolk remains runny.  Sprinkle a little sea salt on the yolk.
- Slide the egg and all the aligue onto your plate…or better yet onto a steaming mound of rice.  Consume immediately.  This dish does not like waiting around.

Aligue is crab fat and, over here, in a country of truly fearless people, it can be easily acquired sold in bottles.  If you are not comfortable having 2 tablespoons of fat (one animal and one vegetable…I’m nothing if not fair) in one serving then please feel free to reduce either to the quantity you are comfortable with.  If you are, however, comfortable having more, by all means indulge!  I would compensate though with some extra strenuous reading after ;)

Please don’t get me wrong.  I would love to one day be bitten my some hyper-energetic bug that will miraculously turn my potential into kinetic and my soft curves (I have lots to spare) into hard angles (I sure could use those).  Until then I suppose I’ll just have to be content with the passions I’ve been dealt.  I’m certainly not complaining.  Pass the cozy and wake me when the coffee’s on please :)

Music Video Of The Day: ZE:A (Day 99)

What kind of group makes half a music video? ZE:A, that's who. With Heart For 2, they do everything required to make half a music video. Bad lighting. Check. Only two outfits. Check. No storyline. Check. Only one set. Check. Members becoming flashes of light and changing outfits like power rangers. Check. Actually, that was the best part. I also liked the very emotional grabbing of the heart region, the dancing, and the artsy drawing style scenes. This halfie is a slick piece of work. I wish I could have seen more of it, but a minute and a half will have to do until they come out with another music video. 

" I´m back " by Jaime , 6B




Hi friends!
My name is Jaime. My class is 6B.I´m 12 years old.I live in A Coruña. Coruña is a small city by the Atlantic Ocean.I´ve got two pets. I´ve got one brother . His name is David. I like playing tennis and listening to music.In the picture I´m with one of my my best friends.
Bye, bye, friends!

Music Video Of The Day: SHINee (Day 98)

Since I missed yesterday, I suppose today would be a good day for a comparison. Thanks to a parody Replay is one of my favourite SHINee songs. Thanks to SM Entertainment (or is it EMI Music Japan?), it was redone in Japanese, when the SHINee boys were mostly legal.

What is there to say about them, other than the Japanese version has really cool winged shoes (and capri's that remind me of Ronald McDonald)? The dance is mostly the same. There is one female lead in both. SHINee are in both. I still can only connect Taemin's name and face (sorry Onew). The biggest difference is that they are trying to be cool now, whereas before they were mostly trying for cute and refreshing. It's probably a good change considering their ages, but I think SHINee is essentially a cutesy group so they need to keep that cutesy edge going.

And here are the contenders... er versions.

This is the parody version...in Korean
And this is the Japanese version. Can you see the winged shoes?

Childhood Social Rejection (Day 98)

Today I was witness to one of those childhood dramas (social rejection) that can scar a person for life. It was a little bit scary, because I also had to deal with it and minimalize the damage done. I hope it went well.

This child reminded me of my own childhood traumas. I think everyone has them. For me, my most painful elementary moment was about grade two or three. Two of my friends (Friend 1 and Friend 2) were in Daycare at my house and another one was over (Friend 3). The two Daycare friends (1 and 2) decided to run away from the visiting one (3) and therefore me as well, because I was hanging around with her and couldn't bike fast yet. Whenever one of us caught up to them, they ran away again...and again...and again. The point of this story is that even though now I look back at it and see it as a simple issue, I know that those simple acts of rejection can hurt children deeply, if not for their whole lives. And, now that I think about it, it must have been the most painful for Friend 3, because I wasn't standing by her. I was trying to be accepted by the other two.

Children doing things like that don't know how they could permanently affect another person. That's why I hope the child I saw today wasn't traumatized by social rejection and will eventually forget what happened today. If they can forget it, it usually means that the scar of hurt didn't go deep.

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. So today it's Thanksgiving Day.
The Thanksgiving holiday is a four-day holiday over the weekend. Families and friends usually eat a special meal together (usually with a turkey as the main dish). This meal also usually includes mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, several casseroles, and stuffing. This meal is made to remember a group of settlers called the Pilgrims, who came from England in 1620 to make a new life in North America.




ACTIVITIES WITH MARIAN

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LET'S FLY A KITE!

Today we flew a kite with Primary 1 children. Marian drew a beautiful design in our home-made kite and children coloured it. The result was fantastic! They designed their own little kites and at the end of the class we went to the playground and we flew the kite! It was funny! It was not very windy but we enjoyed very much.



                               

Erasmus times

Sailing is a very portuguese pastime.





My friend Antonio once told me one of his favourite things in life is to fall asleep underneath a tree.





Pretty much Porto.



"Animal Quiz "By Sara P, 6C

A quiz about animals on PhotoPeach

Music Video Of The Day: Bustamante (Day 97)

Today's theme is food, so today's music video is David Bustamante's No Soy Un Superman which features a coke filled kitchen area with island. Is this music video actually a coca-cola commercial in disguise? Who knows, but the amount of junk in his kitchen should not be letting him smile like that in the end. He didn't even finish cleaning it up.
Today, unfortunately, the link didn't want to show up so you will have to click on the link to watch Valemusic's wonderful 90's inspired music video. Here's a live performance instead.

Where I Complain About a Recent Editorial (Day 97)

The editorial page in the newspaper is consistently an interesting page to look over, if only for the political cartoon. This time I decided to read some editorials and was somewhat incensed with one about how price protection on eggs and milk in Canada is bad.

Their points were these: price protection increases the cost of eggs and milk, and is bad for trade.

Yes, price protection is bad for trade because other countries don't like it. On the other hand, many Canadian provinces produce just enough, if not too much, milk and eggs for themselves. Do we need more of these things imported? While I do not think importing these is the real trade issue, the impact that protecting farmers here have on other potential trading is real.

The author of the editorial explains that price protection was used to offer income security to farmers. I am all for income security for small farms. It is good if their revenue can cover their costs. Most people don't know that a milk producing cow produces milk for only about 6 months and has to be bred again before it produces more milk. That means that there are two shifts of cows producing milk over the year (twice as many cows as you imagined). Meanwhile, there are other costs like feed, taking care of non-producing cattle, breeding costs, medication, etc., and the only revenue these farms get to cover these costs is through milk sales.

Small farms can run cleaner and more organically than factory farms, which I fear a price decrease on milk would cause. Small businesses (farms included) provide more new jobs than large companies, so by extension, having many small farms means more agricultural jobs than having few large producers would. Not only that, but I think people get more satisfaction out of successfully doing their own thing which in this case is farming. As for price protection increasing the cost of our milk, the producer gets about 20 cents per cup of output (restaurants charge about $2 for the same). That's about $2.40 per gallon, not including that anything without a blue cow on the side is only 85% milk. I am okay with paying that much (plus plant and grocery store fees) for milk that I trust.

What really got me was the author saying that the only people who would care about price protection going by the wayside would be the 20 000 dairy/poulty farmers of Canada. This person, I think, forgets that farmers deeply affect the areas they live in. Farmers provide employment. Farmers donate with great regularity of both their time and money. Farmers buy stuff in town thereby supporting other employment. The point is, there are far more stake holders in the issue than 20 000 farmers. A decrease in revenue for farmers with a potential accompanied increase in competition hurts all rural agricultural communities, and if the author didn't notice, Canada has a lot of rural.

Morning Wednesday

Scan of Porto picture...to see it a little better!


One of my favourite shots of Amelia.


Leaf phoenix.

Music Video Of The Day: Nerd Alert (Day 96)

Due to the amazing and shocking and amazing Starcraft 2/Korean Air commercials that I found today, the theme of today will be Starcraft. You will not be surprised to know that there is a group that has made songs about Starcraft. They go by the name of Nerd Alert, and they sing the classic but slightly racey ballad SCV Love Song, which is about the human Terran units that build stuff in Starcraft. It's very moving, but if you haven't played Starcraft it won't make sense. Apologies.

WHAT? (Day 96)

I was zipping around on Youtube today, or rather, shambling about, when I discovered some videos that blew my mind a little. Have a look see.



WHHAAAAAAATT???????
What they have done here, advertise both Starcraft 2 and Korean Air, would be like advertising Air Canada and Halo....together. How does that even work?
Not only did they succeed in making ads about two totally unrelated topics (like ice cream and penguins would be), but they also managed to make them creepy. Why? I can't even think straight enough about these to analyse it appropriately. All I can do it tell you non-Starcrafters what those species were.

First commercial - A Protoss Dark Templar creeping on a woman in the airport. They can self-cloak so the only problem would be why creep on humans.
Second commercial - A Terran Dropship scaring the local airport control tower man.
Third commercial - A Zerg Hydralisk on the airplane. That guy had a reason to freak out. Zerg are not nice.

" My sister" by Danielly, 6B


Hi classmates,

This is my sister.Her name is Adrielly.
She´s 6 years old and she lives in A Coruña. She lives at 266 Finisterre Street.
She likes pizza.
She´s short and she´s got brown eyes.
She´s got 1 dog.
Her hobbies are dancing and playing with their friends in the park
She´s in class 1B.Her teacher´s name is Estrella.
In this photo she´s playing in the park. She´s smiling.

SEE YOU!

"Animals quiz" by Antía, 6A

Hi! I´m Antía! I created a quiz oabout animals on photopeach.
It´s very easy.
I hope you like it!


"Animal Kingdom" by Anxo, 6C

Hello children!.
Can you can answer this questions?.I hope you can answer correctly these questions.
Come on, go for it!
Questions about animals on PhotoPeach



Do you like this quiz?
See you soon , classmates¡¡¡¡¡¡

Amazing animals!!!! By Paula C. 6A

Hi classmates!!!

Do you like animals?? Here are some of them, but these animals are amazing, they are different!!
Look at them!!!

Amazing animals!!! on PhotoPeach

"My animals quiz" by Dani , 6C


QUESTIONS OF ANIMALS on PhotoPeach

sono, muito mas muito, sono

Fun times with Amy last week.


How I feel today.