My interview

It was a sunny day. I had just arrived to Los Angeles and I took a taxi to DMC village, whose owner was a famous and wealthy man because of his very strange life. I was on time, so I didn't expect him to be waiting for me at the door. Daniel was wearing a beautiful kilt, he was singing yodeling but he greeted me.

I was sitting on his luxury armchair when we started the interview. The first thing I asked him was how his life was having three nipples. He answered me straight away that it was a special position because everybody was surprised when they discovered it and when they touched them, they felt revulsion but he felt sexy.

Afterwards, I tried to discover where he learnt to yodel. He told me that his grandmother had lived near Heidi's grandfather and the day before he moved to USA he'd met her on a cloud, while they were travelling to the top of the mountain, she had taught him to sing in that way.

I wanted to know how he remembered one of his parties with Freddy Mercury and he told me that they had been best friends, they had shared lots of things, guitars... and that when Freddy'd discovered the third nipple he had been more loving.

I think I met a really interesting person that day, I hope to see him again.

Fountain pens and ballpoint pen.

THE FOUNTAIN PENS

The fountain pens appeared as an evolution from the ancient feathers that people used to write with. Before Waterman invented the fountain pen, a nib was incorporated to feathers but it could only retain a few drops of ink, so it was necessary to refill the feather in the inkpot. As well as the spots were frequent, the nibs broke easily.

It isn't clear who the inventor of the fountain pens is, but Waterman presented his fountain pen model in 1884 and it has been considered the first modern fountain pen because it included the capillarity principle. This principle says the water can advance through tiny grooves if it is in contact with all their walls.

(The Waterman's pen design)

In the modern models we insert the ink in a small tank. The air enters in the tank through a small hole in the nib, it prevents the vacuum when the ink leaves the fountain pen and then we can write.

(A nib with the hole through the air enters)

Nowadays we can find three kind of nibs with different forms according to the broadness we want to write, so we can find nibs type F (fine), M (medium) or B (broad). There is a special nib for calligraphy too, it has an angular tip to do special strokes.

Today there are many fountain pen models in honour of great historical personalities or facts.

Waterman, Parker or Montblanc are some of the most important fountain pens brands.

THE BALLPOINT PENS

The ballpoint pens were designed by the Biro brothers, they were called Laszlo and Geor.

They changed the fountain pens, they introduced a point with a small ball in 1919. This ball was situated at the end of the tank of ink and it permitted the ink to leave while the air enters when it turns. It is the most important difference with the fountain pens.

The pointball pens imposed over the fountain pens for their regularity to apply ink, the manufacturing cost and security.

(Biro's patent)

(Biro's ballpoint pen)

Memory - CATS

Cats is a famous musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and it's based on a book by T.S. Eliot, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

Cats tells the story of a group of cats (the Jellicles Cats) who, once a year, in the night, escape from their homes and meet in the dump of the neightborhood to wait for their leader, the Old Deuteronomy. He chosses one cat each year to start a new life on the Heaviside Layer, it's like a special paradise for cats.

This year, the Old Deuteronomy chosses Grizabella, but while he is saying her name, they realized there is a human spying. Directed by Munkustrap, the cats introduce themselves one to one: Jennyanydots, Rum Rum Tigger, Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Macavity, Bustofer Jones, Gus, Skimble...

At the end, Grizabella appears and sing this song, Memory.

I really like this song because it has great lyrics and it shows what Grizabella is like . A time ago, she left the Jellicles Cats to live a glamorous life and now that she is old she is trying to be back, she only finds contempt and rejection.

MEMORY

LYRICS

Daylight
See the dew on the sunflower
And a rose that is fading
Roses whither away
Like the sunflower
I yearn to turn my face to the dawn
I am waiting for the day . . .

Midnight
Not a sound from the pavement
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone
In the lamplight
The withered leaves collect at my feet
And the wind begins to moan

Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Every streetlamp
Seems to beat a fatalistic warning
Someone mutters
And the streetlamp gutters
And soon it will be morning

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I musn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

Burnt out ends of smoky days
The stale cold smell of morning
The streetlamp dies, another night is over
Another day is dawning

Touch me
It's so easy to leave me
All alone with the memory
Of my days in the sun
If you touch me
You'll understand what happiness is

Look
A new day has begun

Italy =)

ITALY

Hello, my country is Italy and of course I’m Italian. Here we speak Italian, it’s a Romance language similar to French or Spanish.

Italy is a southern European country situated in the Italian peninsula, where there are two smaller independent states: the Vatican City and the Republic of San Marino. Sicily and Sardinia are part of Italy too.

It shares its borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas. About 60 million people live in Italy and its area is about 300.000 square kilometres.

(Florence)

After long time of conflicts, wars and different political systems now we have a Republic with a two-chamber parliament: the Senate or upper house and the Chamber of Deputies or lower house. Our president is Berlusconi, a very controversial politician. Italy is a founding-member of European Union, so our currency is the Euro.

Italy’s capital city is Rome, but there are many other important cities like Bologna, Verona, Florence, Milan, Turin, Genoa, Bari, Naples or Palermo.

Italy was the centre of the Roman Empire, which left a huge archaeological, cultural and literary heritage, the Italian peninsula saw the birth of the Humanism and Renaissance and during the Second World War we participated by Hitler side because we lived in a dictatorship with Mussoinli.

(Genoa)

(Venice)

There are many important Italians artists, writers, musicians, scientists or philosophers, for example Dante, Galileo, da Vinci, Caravaggio, Raphael, Paganini, Verdi, Puccini, Botticelli, Donatello, Rossini, Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Vivaldi, Pavarotti, Bocelli, Fellini…

Our typical dishes are varied. However, people just know pizza and pasta. We have foods like risotto (with rice) and lots of types of cheeses.

I really like living in Italy, it's a beautiful country. I must discover each corner and smell :)

marTitaa =)

Marta said that she was 18 years old and that she had been born in Granada. She said that she lived with her parents. She said that she had a younger brother . She told me that she had lived in a flat since she was nine years old. She told me that she had got a cat. She also said that her favourite hobbies were playing with the wii and singing. She told me that the last movie that she had seen was Angels or Demons. She said that she loved to eat Chinese food, and she said that she loved cooking. She told me that her favourite sport was football. She said that she spoke English and Spanish.
She told me about her parents, she said that her father was nice and sympathetic and her brother was very crazy. Finally she told me that she loved sunsets.



rociio perez

Daaani =)

Dani said he was 17 years old and that he had been born in Granada. But since he was a baby he had lived in a house in Peligros.He told me he lived with his parents and his sister and his brother, who was younger than him and he was older than her. He had an iguana.I asked him what he did on Sunday, and he answered he was sleep. He also said his hobbies were go out with his friends.He added he was very good at cooking!
He also said he did read “treat or trick”.He told me he could speak English, French and Spanish and he had been to France and England.The person he respected the most was his mother and the person who had influenced him the most was his mother again.He said he didn't like liar people. Dani said he preferred evenings and he liked sunsets more than sunrises.He said he wouldn't like to be famous.He told me he had worked in a farm.When I asked him about his parents, he described his father as sympathetic and he said his mother was the best in the world.

Martita :D

Not finished yet!

David by Marta

Sam by Leopoldo

Another entry of the spring

This is the spring flood of colour and life. But also full of water and cloudy skies. Equal it is hot that I fry, but the important thing there are the flowers that exist in this season.

It is necessary to give him more value to this season, because we are destroying it and very
few people realize from what it is going on.

I love spring, for its colours, its smell and its magic.
Undoubtedly it is the season of love, it is my season and that of so many other people. I hope we had enough head not to destroy it and to take more care.


Enjoy Spring! Kisses.

Photos taken by me, Marta.