Video of the week - Uriah Heep

Many people of my generation remember the UK's rock group of the 70 Uriah Heep. I don't know how to describe them, I just like listening to them. My choice is on the hit “Lady in black” and the ballad “Come back to me”. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Dear Valentine, I Hate It When You ...

HAVE you decided what to get for your valentine this year? You could try something classic, like chocolates. Or something blingy, like earrings. Or sexy, like lingerie.

Joana Avillez

But if you really want to improve your relationship, you should give your loved one an i.o.u.

Find a nice piece of stationery, and in your most graceful lettering, assert: “I promise to write about our next three fights as though I were a neutral observer.” Then, doodle a heart on the page, stick it in a pretty envelope and give it to that special someone over dinner.

New research suggests that this may be the most valuable present you’ll ever give. After all, conflict is inevitable in long-term relationships, and the way people navigate it can affect not only their happiness, but their mental and physical health as well.

Married couples who are hostile when they fight, for instance, are more likely than gently scrapping spouses to have compromised immune functioning, elevated coronary calcium levels (an early risk factor for heart disease), and slow wound healing. The negative effects, in various studies, can be seen in both men and women, and frequently in both the aggressive partner and the recipient of hostility.

Dirty fighting is a lose-lose proposition for pretty much any couple. But a spousal spat isn’t necessarily bad. Indeed, fighting can actually shore up a relationship, if it’s done constructively.

With that in mind, I recently collaborated with colleagues at Stanford University, Villanova and Redeemer University College to determine if a no-cost, no-counseling “intervention” could improve marriages by actually helping couples fight better. And the procedure we tested involves little more than having each spouse write about their spats on three occasions.

In a two-year study to be published this spring in the journal Psychological Science, we recruited 120 relatively happily married couples from the greater Chicago area. The duration of these marriages ranged from one month to 52 years.

In the first year, every four months, we had both partners in each couple provide a brief description of the most significant marital conflict they had experienced in the previous four months.

Then, in the second year of the study, we divided the group in two. In one subgroup (our control), we continued the process of the first year.

For the other subgroup, though, we gave an additional, if modest, writing assignment. Beyond their summaries of the fight, we asked each spouse to write about the conflict from the perspective of a neutral third party who wants the best for both spouses — and, from the perspective of this imaginary individual, to identify, if possible, any single positive aspect to the argument.

One wife, for example, wrote that this neutral observer “would tell me that I needed time to calm my anger down and channel it in another way.” A husband in the study recalled that, during a recent argument with his wife at a hotel, there actually was a mutual friend listening nearby. “My mind kept going back to her listening to our spat,” he wrote, concluding that she probably “heard a rational discussion between two loving people.”

To maximize the chances that volunteers in this group would keep this constructive “outsider” perspective in mind in their daily lives, we also asked them to write about what might prevent them from adopting this point of view during future marital conflicts and about what strategies they could employ to overcome these obstacles.

Each of these supplemental writing assignments took an average of seven minutes, for an additional writing time of just 21 minutes per spouse in the intervention group during Year Two of the study.

The results, however, were striking. For couples in the control group — consistent with several previous studies, unfortunately —  marital quality declined over the two-year period, as measured by self-reported numerical assessments of marital satisfaction, passion, love, trust and intimacy.

Likewise, the same measures fell among spouses in the intervention condition during the first year of the study, before the additional writing assignment began.

But then, in Year Two, the decline stopped for these couples: levels of mutual happiness and satisfaction remained where they were at the end of the first year. And this was true regardless of how long they had been married.

In a follow-up analysis, we discovered that, while the frequency and severity of arguments in each arm of the study were comparable, couples who did the extra writing exercise found their fights significantly less distressing over time.

We don’t yet know whether such conflict evaluation is as effective in marriages that are already struggling — indeed, while the procedure appeared to stem the expected erosion of marital bliss, it did not reverse the effects of previous declines.

But that said, given the trajectory of most marriages, it seems wise not to wait too long. A promise to turn at least some of your fights into short-story workshops may be the sweetest Valentine’s Day gift you ever give — especially if it’s taped to a box of chocolates.

Article of the week.

Hello again, today I bring you an interesting story I read last week and It surprised me.

Australia dolphins 'saved' by

juvenile's distress call

The distress call of a young dolphin has been used to lure a large pod of the animals to safety, after it appeared they would strand themselves in shallow water.

Environment officials in Western Australia caught the juvenile and took it to deeper       

 water, where its distress calls enticed the rest to follow.

One dolphin died in the incident.                      

                                                                                    About 150 dolphins are thought to have been saved

A spotter plane reported that the rest - thought to number about 150 - had swum to the safety of the open sea.

The dolphins had been milling in shallow water at Whalers Cove near the town of  Albany, on the south coast of the state.

"The juvenile was sending out distress signals, which was calling the dolphins in," conservationist Deon Utber told AFP news agency.

"As soon as it was translocated to deeper waters the pod followed it out and last we saw they were swimming out to sea."

Video of the week: Can Money Buy Happiness?

Hi classmates!
I chose this video because I think that a lot of people would desire being rich, but really if you are rich are you happy?

Video of the week: TAKE CARE OF YOU, FIRST.

Hi everybody!

Hope that you're enjoying the Christmas holidays and now that the New Year is coming I decided to upload this video because I think it's very helpful and it makes you think in the important things in life and how to be happy, I think that the advice that give us the video could be a good purpose for 2013.
Hope you like it!

Kisses.

Maya Calendars Actually Predict That Life Goes On

If you are an hypochondriac person reads the text to stay calm and if you aren't read it too because it is interesting

Despite that more people are preparing for doomsday, you can see the vides here 

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/doomsday-preppers/

Maya Calendars Actually Predict That Life Goes On

Doomsday? No way. Ancient Maya said we’ll be around another 7,000 years or so.

Tortuguero Monument Six, supposedly predicting the "end of the world" in December, actually tells the life and battles of a ruler.

Photograph by Gilberto Villasana, AFP/Getty Images

Catherine Zuckerman

National Geographic News

Published December 13, 2012

This December, not everyone is concerned with making plans for the New Year—especially not the people who think doomsday will get here first. Instead of planning parties, they're stockpiling food, refining escape routes, and honing survival skills ahead of the alleged date on which the Maya calendar "ends"—December 21, 2012.

So should we all be preparing for imminent apocalypse? According to the scholars, no.

The ancient Maya are usually cited as the predictors of the world coming to an end this month: One of their "great cycles" supposedly ends now. But the Maya were brilliant mathematicians and fantastic record keepers. They didn't have just one calendar. They developed many different kinds, including a cyclical solar calendar and a sacred almanac. They also measured time with something known as the Long Count, which were great cycles of 5,000 years.

Somewhere along the way a rumor spread about the current great cycle, indicating it ends on December 21, 2012. This sparked the belief among some that the last of our days are upon us.

Rebirth

It's not the first time that the possibility of apocalypse has sparked the human imagination. Doomsday prophecies have a rich history, and believers tend to overlook the scientific evidence that disproves them. In this case, the doomsdayers fail to take into account the intricacies of Maya timekeeping.

"There's only one [Maya] monument that even has the 2012 date on it," says Maya scholar Ricardo Agurcia, adding that apocalypse anticipators are ignoring that according to the Maya, when one great cycle ends, another begins. "It's about rebirth, not death." (Read about the rise and fall of the Maya in National Geographic magazine.)

Indeed, the Maya predicted the world would most certainly not end in 2012. Earlier this year, archaeologist and National Geographic Grantee William Saturnodiscovered a series of numbers painted on the walls at a Maya complex in Guatemala. The calculations included dates that go far into the future. "The ancient Maya predicted the world would continue, that 7,000 years from now, things would be exactly like this," he said in a press release. (See ultra-high-resolution, zoomable pictures from inside a newfound Maya chamber.)

"We keep looking for endings. The Maya were looking for a guarantee that nothing would change. It's an entirely different mindset." (Watch: Mysterious Maya Calendar and Mural Uncovered.)

It Came From Outer Space?

That should be enough to soothe Maya-inspired worries about doomsday scenarios. But what about other potential agents of catastrophe—coronal mass ejections, a "killer planet," polar shifts?

On these possibilities, NASA can shed some light. On his blog Ask an Astrobiologist, NASA space scientist David Morrison has fielded some 5,000 questions about doomsday 2012. People want to know about the existence of Nibiru, or Planet X, and whether it's coming to destroy Earth or not. Others inquire about alignment of the heavenly bodies, shifting of the magnetic poles, and bursting of solar flares. In a YouTube video, Morrison said, "There is no threat to Earth in 2012. Nibiru does not exist. There are no special forces when planets align. Don't worry about 2012, and enjoy 2013 when it comes."

Despite this emphatic professional pushback, anxiety over our impending demise persists. According to an article in the New York Times, a number of Russians have fallen under the apocalypse spell, snatching up essentials as December 21st approaches. The story also cites apprehension in southern France, where certain camps believe Bugarach mountain has the power to protect in a doomsday scenario.

In the United States, doomsday preparers have help from people like Larry Hall, who is building underground luxury "survival condos" in Kansas missile silos leftover from the Cold War era. Careful not to judge anyone's reason for worry, he said, "I'm not saying you're right or you're wrong. I'm just trying to have a one-size-fits-all solution to whatever your threats may be."

Catherine Zuckerman knows her apocalypses. She is author of National Geographic's e-book "Doomsday 2012," which examines the enduring fascination with doomsday predictions.

White Christmas. I have found this Chritsmas carol. It is a bit original It has a rhythm with swing. I hope you enjoy it.

White Chritsmas

Happy Christmas by John Lennon

I think it's a quiet song but very nice and with easy lyrics. I hope I like you. However, I think the best one is one of Amanda's Songs 'All I want for Christmas is you' by Mariah Carey.

Xmas good food

I'm crazy about cooking and I'll sharing this easy dish with us. It is very easy to make but a bit expensive ,in the other hand Xmas is a once of year. I'm sure yours Christmas guest's will be pleased.


http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/content/recipes/christmas/christmas-smoked-salmon/

Christmas songs

I wanted to propose two songs but Amanda was faster than me (happily because it shows we share the same feelings about Christmas Carols).I want to add this song because I think it´s different. Maybe the sound it´s not the best but I find this version funny and original.
 I wish it could be Christmas everyday

And in this version the sound is better than first

I wish it could be Christmas everyday

  Furthermore I love Frank Sinatra voice and one of my favourite Sinatra´s version is the second song. It’s quite easy , a bit repetitive but the rhythm invites us to dance like Ginger Roger and Fred Astaire (well , perhaps young people don´t know Ginger , Fred and Frank...a pitty).

 Santa Claus is coming to town

And I teach this version at school (the children's version),you must choose!Ho,ho,ho

Christmas songs.

I want to propose two songs, I think the first it's quite easy but it sounds good and the second one it's more difficult because of his singer but we can with everything!

 Last Christmas - George Michael

  All I want for Christmas is you - Mariah Carey

Jingle Bells

I wanna add “Jingle bells” to our Christmas collection. Wishing you a merry mood and expecting your songs. Come on!

Let it snow, by Dean Martin - Any votes???

The article of the week - Illusions

                                 25 Brilliant Optical Illusions
This is an article about the visual illusion. Have a nice time with the reading and exercise some pictures. You'll enjoy it.

Video of the week : The polar express

Storyline is an online interactive website designed to increase literacy and bring the excitement of books into the classroom and home using Internet technology.This site is wonderful especially on those nights when I am too tired after work or it is too late to read. My kids love it, it is interactive and enjoyable for both, them and myself.The stories help me very much to improve my english listening comprehension and I am very pleased to watch some well-known actors.Maybe The polar express is not the best story but it is so good to feel the Christmas spirit...The polar express

video Dr. PATCH ADAMS

PATCH ADAMS: each one of us, has his/her own clown inside to show to the world and make people smile!

I've found one beautiful scene (because there's a good speech), but for me the best one is when he makes children laughing in their hospital room. If you have never seen this film I recomend it to you! Not only because I would like to be a doctor, I think you'll feel different after watching it!

Hero - Mariah Carey (Lyrics)

STEVE JOBS EXPLAINS THE RULES FOR SUCCESS

A good friend: Caroline (By Rebeca)

Her name is Caroline. When I was eight years old my parents bought a piece of ground in Blanes and I met her there. She's from Bordeaux, France, and she comes to Spain every year in summer and Christmas.

I pass all the summer in Blanes with her and another friends, and when she has to leave us, she always starts to cry. We're very important people for her, and she is too important for us, therefore every year it's harder. We're a group of ten friends, but really, in this group there are other groups. I speak more with her and two friends more, we're a subgroup of four people, our WhatsApp's name is "the trident+1" because we are from Barcelona and Caroline's from France. Although she never is physically, we speak every day in the group and she does as much as possible for keep the contact. Caroline's a person who cares much for the relationships.I admire her because she’s very funny and self-confident, however, Caroline's a bit eccentric, she's an unusual person. 

We have passed good moments together, and I hope to spend more special moments with her. 

A good friend: Massilva (By Vanessa)

Massilva comes from Algiers the capital of the largest country in Africa. If you stare at her you will never believe that she is African. Her features like her pale skin, her little nose and her chestnut and curly long hair without yashmak it surprised me. Even though her country is becoming each day like “a prison under a blue sky” because of the Islamic religion, her origins are on the mountains of Kabili. Kabil people are a sort of Berbers, they have also their own language “amazir” and traditions. That is why she has some freedom that other girls in the same age have not in her country.  And believe me! She takes advantage of it with an enormous responsibility!

I first met her in France last year, in Nancy. She was my room neighbor and since the first time we trusted and helped each other all long of the year. We were both alone, far away from our home and our family.  For me it was a pleasure to stay there and discover a new country, for her it was the only opportunity to escape from the submission.  She was studying the first year of medicine which is much harder than in Spain, and I was studying my fifth year there doing an Erasmus exchange program. She is a true example of a woman who believes in herself and who improves and learns from everyone and everything, everyday.  She talks about her ideas in a surprising clearly way. I need to thank her because during all the year she transmitted to me her energy and I realized that I was so lucky and that life could be hard and serious but we can always find out a smile. I hardly believe that in the future she will be a wise woman.

She knows a lot about how to save money and she was always next to me to give me an advice. That was amazing because she is younger than me, despite her age she knows a lot about life maybe  because in her country was not so easy to live et survive as a woman, that is why she is so conscientious, ambitious, self-confident, cheerful, stubborn, and loyal. She spent some time in Catalonia this last summer. I loved to keep her company for these days! She stills giving to me some advices about my lifestyle, and we keep contact.  I want to discover her country too one day!

I am happy to say that she is a really good friend.