Pau Gasol in the All-Star 2016 game!

Pau Gasol in the All-Star 2016 game!

This weekend in Toronto (Canada) will take place one of the biggest basketball events in the world will take place, that is, the NBA All-Star Game 2016. What is the All-Star? The All Star is a basketball exhibition game hosted annually by the NBA, matching the league's star players from the Eastern Conference against their counterparts from the Western Conference. Each conference team consists of 12 players, making it 24 in total. There will be a lot of excellent players playing it, like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony (Eastern Conference) and Kobe Bryant or Kevin Duran (Western Conference). But what has it been the most awesome thing , it’s that Pau Gasol is going to play!

Due to Jimmy Butler's knee injury, Pau Gasol, who was going to miss making the All-Star team by just 360 votes, has entered in it in the end. He has to be really proud of it, because for the 35-year-center it will be the sixth appearance in the All-Star. Moreover, he is going to be the only white-coloured player and the only foreigner in the game.

It’s true that there are other Spanish players that have played in the All-Star, like Jorge Garbajosa, Juan Carlos Navarro, Rudy Fernández, Marc Gasol and Ricky Rubio, but Pau Gasol is the only one who is going to play 6 times this event. I hope that Marc Gasol gets over his injury soon and Spain can have a good participation in the 2016 Summer Olympics Games of Río.

All in all, I think that Spain has to be proud of having such good sport players like Gasol, Nadal, Contador, Alonso, Casillas… I reckon that if we did the same in everything Spain would be a better country. It’s for this reason that I think that we should also improve in other themes, in other areas such as education, which we are not so good at

"2 CELLOS" Classical vs Modern music

"2 CELLOS"

CLASSICAL MUSIC vs MODERN MUSIC

“2 CELLOS” is the name of this fantastic cello duo, consisting of the Slovenian-Croatian Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser. Apart from being two excellent cellists, they are known for doing incredible versions of well-known pop and rock songs with their two classical cellos. In 2011, they signed a contract with Sony Masterworks and since then they have already done three amazing albums. What kind of music do you like listening to? Is listening to classical music old-fashioned?

It’s a well-known fact that we have nowadays a lot kinds of music Rock, Punk, Pop music, Jazz… that we can listen to. It’s not like a few decades ago that we only had the opportunity to listen to one or two kinds of music. Nowadays thanks to platforms like Youtube or Spotify, we can have all the songs that you can imagine in your mobile phones or laptops without any problems.

Nevertheless, especially teenagers listen to other types of music like Reggaeton, Techno… that I’m not saying that they can’t listen to them, but that have lost a lot of the musical values that music used to have. It’s for this reason that I reckon that some genres of music like Classical, Rock music or Pop music have lost their places in favour of this kind of music. In spite of this, it’s true that musical tastes change and I think that it’s good, but there are some songs and values that we shouldn’t lose.

All in all, I reckon that groups like 2 Cellos are good to listen to at least once in your life because they mix the traditional values with the new ones, which is twice better. Moreover, not all the modern music is like that since there are artists such as Adele, Avicii, Maroon 5, Sam Smith, Stromae, Louane or Bruno Mars and groups like Cage the Elephant, Imagine Dragons or London Grammar whose records have become part of the history of modern music.

MLK Thank you for giving us a fairer world.

MLK Thank you for giving us a fairer world.

Michael King Jr. or Martin Luther King Jr., as we know him, was born and raised on Atalanta’s Auburn Avenue on January 15, 1929. He was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He was best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.


King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he gave his famous "I have a dream" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.

But unfortunately, on Thursday, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr., who had retreated to room 306 of the Lorraine Motel, was killed by a white segregationist on his balcony, before his sermon in Memphis on Sunday. For all these reasons on the third Monday of January America and the whole world remember everything he did for America and for the civil rights, in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day., (which is the date where he was born).

In my view, he was with Mandela, two of the most influent people that have fought for the black people rights, and what’s more important, in a nonviolent way. Both of them searched the equality between white and black people, one in America and the other in South Africa and I reckon that without them we would be in an unfair world (even more that it’s in our days). 

Thank you M. Luther King for giving us a fairer world.

China growth slows and oil price falls.

China growth slows and oil price falls.

In the latest months, news all over the world have been talking about two main topics, China’s economic situation and the fall of oil prices. What’s happening with China economic growth? And why are oil prices falling so fast?

First of all, I want to talk about Chinese economic situation. After growing more and more during more than 20 years at least, China economic growth has experienced a painful slowdown in the last two years. According to experts, China’s economy has suffered this economic slowdown for two main reasons: China’s focus on creating an economy driven by consumption has made an overproduction that now they can solve, especially in steel. And the other main reason is that China's stock market has crashed over because of the distrust of the other countries of this overproduction and because of the ignorance of some Chinese investors that have become indebted investing with money that they didn’t have.

The oher important piece of news has been the oil price falls in all over the world. The latest fall of oil prices has been prompted by concerns that a market already awash with oil from the two biggest suppliers – Saudi Arabia and Russia – would receive additional supply from the lifting of sanctions against Iran and the ending of a 40-year US export ban. In addition to this, experts say that things won’t be better in 2016.

In conclusion, in this 2016 things won’t be better in the economic aspects. China will have to do all their best to have a lower production if it doesn’t want to continue having an overproduction. And in my opinion we have to search alternatives to the oil, pushing more towards renewable energies.

Is travelling abroad a good experience for every young person’s education before starting university or finding a job?

Is travelling abroad a good experience for every young person’s education before starting university or finding a job?

Nowadays, travelling abroad is considered a good experience for young people who are going to begin their university education or working. However, can everyone afford it? Is it so necessary to find a job if you want to work in your own country?

It’s a well-known fact that travelling abroad can be too expensive: accommodation, food, the travel... Nevertheless, it isn’t impossible because you can do many things to earn some money for it, if you can’t afford it. For instance, I have some friends that have worked in ice cream parlours or restaurants when they were staying in a foreign country. In spite of this, in my view it’s more advisable to earn some money first and then travel abroad.

Another important fact to take into account is that you should live there with people of another nationality, because if you go with people that speak your language, you won’t learn anything. This year, for example I’ve stayed for five weeks in France and I’ve been living with a Swiss, a German and a Taiwanese, so apart from having a different language, we also had different cultures, which for me was even better.

Personally, I think that it has been one of the best experiences of my life, this summer I hope to do the same in England. I reckon that now it’s the best moment to do these kinds of things, firstly because we are learning a different language and secondly because it will help us to find a better job, even if we aren’t going to work in a foreign country, because it will give you experience.

Brolin Mawejje had a dream far from home

Brolin Mawejje had a dream far from home.

Born in the Makindye District of Kampala, Uganda, Brolin Mawejje, had a hope and it was to become a snowboarder. His family wanted the best for their child, so when he was only two years old, his mother left the family indefinitely and she reappeared at age 11, arranging him to join her in the USA in Boston’s suburbia. As he was the only African in his school, he was bullied by his American classmates. But the course of his life would change for ever when he joined an after school ski & snowboard program. Brolin discovered a new world. Combined with a drive to excel in his studies, Brolin found a family that helped him to trust the world for the first time.

This article story shows us that everything can be possible. No matter where we live, no matter how much money we’ve got, because if we have got talent everything can be possible. The most interesting thing is that he’s now going to participate in the next Winter Olympic Games and he’s going to be the first African snowboarder that is going participate in some Winter Olympic Games.

Another important fact is that he came from a poor family, so his conditions were even more difficult to become successful and it is for that reason that he needed economic support for this incredible project. He’s also going to help in Uganda children that were in the same case as him, so I reckon that it’s going to be a good way to contribute in this world of inequality.

All in all, I personally think that there should be more cases like this man. Showing us that if we believe in something, even if people tell you that it is impossible, we can achieve them at last.

Japan resumes Antartic whales hunt. Tradition or brutality?

Japan resumes Antartic whales hunt.

Tradition or brutality?

On 1st December Japan restarted its "scientific whaling" programme after a year-long hiatus. The hunt is expected to kill 333 whales. To carry out this mission a Japanese whaling fleet set sail for the Antarctic at the beginning of December. Last year, they couldn’t do this “lethal research” because the UN (United Nations) proved that it was a cover for commercial whaling and that they had no proven scientific merit. However, this year despite all the international pressure and as Australia said in “a whale sanctuary” of the Antartic, they have set their fleet there. What do you think about this “scientific research”? For Japan, hunting wales is a tradition, is this tradition, a tradition that should be banned?

First of all, it's true that scientists do many researches with animals, because we couldn’t cure for example a cancer proving with humans, because we would kill ourselves. It’s for that reason that they use lab mice to first try to find the cure and then they begin to administer the drug in humans. Nevertheless, why shouldn't we do it in whales? Firstly, because they are species that can’t reproduce as fast as lab mid do. Secondly, because they are at risk of extinction. Thirdly, because it’s unnecessary to kill an animal of thousands of tones to do a research. And, most important, because they are an important element in the food chain.

Like a lot of traditions that imply hunting animals only because it’s a tradition and that in reality they don’t need its food to survive, I reckon that is not a wise tradition. Or like in Spain that we have a tradition which consists of fighting with a bull on the arena, humbling it and then killing it; or running with a dozen of them beating them with sticks.

All in all, maybe my opinion is influenced by the fact that I'm an animal-loving person, but I don’t think that we are in the Middle Ages when people needed to kill whales to survive. That is why I would like to ask humankind for something: stop these brutalities! as we keep on maintaining these stupid traditions we'll put an end to our world, especially to certain endangered species, and I reckon we should preserve our planet as healthy as we can for future generations.

An example of direct and reported speech

A WEIRD LAPTOP

Two weeks ago I decided to buy a new laptop, because my last one wasn’t working well and it was old-fashioned. Therefore, last Tuesday I went to the new computer store that is just at the corner of my street. There were good offers and I bought a light red Mac (a laptop from Apple). The first week everything was okay, but on the second week, when I switched it on, it made a lot of noise and then it switched of. So, I went back to the shop and talked with the shop assistant and this is what he told me.

“Hello, can I help you?” He asked me.

“Yes, I’ve got a problem with the Mac that I bought here two weeks ago” I said.

Then I explained my problem, he took my laptop for a couple of days and he called me by telephone again.

                “Listen, Sir, your Mac has a virus and we can’t do anything for it” He told me.

                “But, but… I can change it for another one, can’t I? I asked impatiently.

                “No, because it was an offer”, he answered.

We were talking for two hours and then, I decided to talk with his manager. He finally accepted to solve the problem and told me that they would bring me another one, because they have some spare ones in another city. However, he told me that he couldn’t give my money back, because they had just opened, and I finally had to accept, but I didn’t go to that shop again.

Anyway, next time I will always check that any item I want to purchase has a guarantee and that it is valid for at least two years. Bargains can cost you a fortune!!