The Memory Man

Stephen Wiltshire was born in London on 24th April, 1974. When he was three years old, he was diagnosed as autistic. He had no language, could not control his emotions and lived entirely in his own world.

At the age of five, Stephen was sent to Queensmill School in London, a school for children with special needs. Teachers soon saw that he communicated with the world through the language of drawing; first animals, then London buses, and finally buildings. These drawings show a masterful perspective, and a natural capacity for art. When he was eight, Stephen saw in a schoolbook pictures of an earthquake, and started drawing cities after the effects of imaginary earthquakes. He drew most of the major London landmarks.

His teachers at Queensmill School wanted to encourage him to speak, so they temporarily took away his art materials. Stephen then spoke his first word - "paper." He learned to speak fully at the age of nine.
Stephen has appeared in various documantaries since he was a child. In one of them, in 2001, he flew over London by helicopter and drew a detailed and illustration of it from the air in three hours; his drawing included many monuments. He has also drawn Tokyo, Rome, Hong Kong and Frankfurt. (adapted from Wiltshire's site http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/)

He is right now in Madrid. During this week, he has flown by helicopter over the city centre, and is currently working on one of his drawings. You can see him from the 4th to the 8th of February at the Palacio de los Deportes.

You can also visit his website gallery, at http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/gallery.aspx
or see some videos at http://www.stephenwiltshire.co.uk/download_video.aspx?Id=1239&Mode=Mac


(see also the El País article, in Spanish Stephen el Memorioso)

A Bob Marley song

We have listened in class to
Three Little Birds by Bob Marley. It's a very simple, easy to follow song. You can find the lyrics in many places over the internet, for example here. You can listen to the song below:

Here are some facts about Bob Marley. Three of them are false. Which ones do you think are the false ones?

1.Some people think he's the prophet of a religion called Rastafarianism.
2.He's the grandfather of Beyonce Knowles.
3.His father was white, and some people treated him badly for this reason.
4.He died of foot cancer.
5.He could play 9 different instruments.
6.He had 13 children.
7.He was awarded the Peace Medal of the Third world by the United Nations.
8.He is Jamaican, but he was born in Ethiopia.

(Hint: try looking at the Wikipedia article on Bob Marley)

Sing and complain

It all began when two Finnish artists,Telervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, realized people put a lot of energy into complaining. There is an expression in Finnish, "Valituskuoro", that literally means Complaint's choir. The two artists thought it would be interesting to make that expression a reality. They started in the city of Birmingham. The members of the Choir collected their complaints about everyday life and then put music to it. Soon, the Complaint's choir became a worldwide phenomenon. There are Complaints Choirs in Birmingham, Helsinki, Hamburg, St. Petersburg, Jerusalem, Melbourne and many places more. You can see the full choir list and other videos at the complaintschoir.org website, as well as the full history of the choirs.

Here is the Canadian example -- don't worry, the song has subtitles!




What things would you complain about?

Before we watch Nightmare before Christmas

I think it would be nice that you listen to one of the songs of the film. The song on the video is a more animated version by the singer of the rock band Fall Out Boy




Here are the lyrics of the song. Remember you can look up any word you don't understand at the Wordreference dictionary.

What's this? What's this?
There's color everywhere.
What's this?
There's white things in the air.
What's this?
I can't believe my eyes.
I must be dreaming.
Wake up, Jack, this isn't fair.
What's this?

What's this? What's this?
There's something very wrong.
What's this?
There's people singing songs.

What's this?
The streets are lined with,
Little creatures laughing.
Everybody seems so happy.
Have I possibly gone daffy?
What is this?
What's this?

There's children throwing snowballs,
Instead of throwing heads.
They're busy building toys,
And absolutely no one's dead.

There's frost on every window.
Oh, I can't believe my eyes.
And in my bones I feel the warmth,
That's coming from inside.

Oh, look.
What's this?
They're hanging mistletoe, they kiss.
Why that looks so unique, inspired.
They're gathering around to hear a story.
Roasting chestnuts on a fire.
What's this?

What's this?
In here they've got a little tree, how queer.
And who would ever think?
And why?

They're covering it with tiny little things.
They've got electric lights on strings,
And there's a smile on everyone.
So, now, correct me if I'm wrong.
This looks like fun.
This looks like fun.
Oh, could it be I got my wish?
What's this?

Oh my, what now?
The children are asleep,
But look, there's nothing underneath.
No ghouls, no witches here to scream and scare them,
Or ensnare them.
Only little cozy things,
Secure them in their dreamland.
What's this?

The monsters are all missing,
And the nightmares can't be found.
And in their place there seems to be,
Good feeling all around.

Instead of screams, I swear,
I can hear music in the air.
The smell of cakes and pies,
Are absolutely everywhere.

The sights, the sounds,
They're everywhere and all around.
I've never felt this good before.
This empty place inside me has been filling up.
I simply cannot get enough.

I want it, oh, I want it.
Oh, I want it for my own.
I've got to know.
I've got to know.
What is this place that I have found?
What is this?

Fall Out Boy - What's This? (Nightmare Before Christmas Cover) Lyrics

Question: At which point in the film do you think this happens? (Leave your answer in a comment)

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Can you save energy just by changing your search engine?

That's what the people from Blackle think. According to them, a monitor uses more energy when it is displaying a white screen, so if the screen in your computer is showing a dark website, you are actually saving energy. So if the original version of Google was black, it is believed that we could all save up to 750 Megawatt-hours a year.



Critics argue, on the other hand, that the site is difficult to read, and that the energy you can save is less than the site claims. For a more detailed discusssion you can go to the wikipedia article on Blacle

What do you think? Do you think it is a useful initiative? Would you use this search engine?

A transparent frog!

Hiroshima scientists create transparent frogs ::: Pink Tentacle

The Japanese scientists that have created them claim that transparent frogs will help them observe different processes like cancer or other changes in internal organs. Besides, the frogs will not be harmed.

What do you think? Do you think it is right to experiment with animals in some cases? How about genetically modifying them? What are the advantages and the disadvantages of it? Do you think the creation of these transparent frogs is going to be useful?

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The world from an anorexic girl's eyes

This is a Swedish ad against anorexia. One of the biggest problem that anorexic people have is that their way of seeing the world is distorted.

ABKontaktTheMirror
Uploaded by baronrojo

How about you? Do you think you see yourself as you really are?

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