The Fallas in Valencia
...There´s a new blog and a new podcast. I hope you find them interesting.
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The Fallas in Valencia were amazing. I´ve been before but not quite in the same way. We got to the outskirts of Valencia, parked, and came in to the centre on the Metro.The metro is a fantastic network in whatever city one is built and this is no exception tunneling deep into the ground below the city. The trains were jam packed and we had a laugh thinking of the efforts of health and Safety officials. How nobody gets killed is a mystery.
We had to change once during this part of the trip and then from the second train we climbed about 200 steps to get back to ground level. The streets were already choc-a-bloc by 10.30 with people heading towards the 2pm Mezclata. This, if you like, is a rather long and loud series of explosions! This is the really big one and the crowds were already showing excitement.
The streets were full of various peñas or clubs if you like all proudly wearing their group´s neckerchiefs. We were honorary members of a Telefonica sponsored peña and we met up with our boys, Andrew and John with Andre´s fiance,m Missy, and their friend Mario from the barrio! Needless to say drinking and good spirits were the order of the day. After the mezclata we wandered round the city visiting friends of our boys in their various restaurants and, of course, looking at the fallas-or massive figures built by falleros on behalf of the peñas. Around 4 pm there was a fabulous parade which went on for hours. All the peñas walk around mthe city to the cathedral where there is the massive statue of the Virgen upon which the flowers the representatives of the peñas have been carrying are built onto the replica of the Virgen. Each of the peñas have the little children in their traditional costumes and they look fabulous. The members of each peña also dress in the costumes appropriate to the occasion and the processionn is fronted by two beautiful white horses. It really is a fantastic day. The crowds on the pavements also have fun trying to move around as the roads are only opened now and again ton let people cross to the other side of the road.
The most interesting absence is the small number of rowdies contained within a cast of hundreds of thousands. I think belonging to a peña builds in a form of social responsibility and adds to the stability of the community.
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Dear Reader,
Nothing really engages the human brain like music.
The left brain enjoys rhythmic structures, chord progressions, and the way lyrics fit nicely. While the right brain soars on melody and emotional responses produced by the infinite combinations of instruments and voices.
But music's effect on the brain may go far beyond enjoyment. In fact, more than 5,000 certified music therapists in the U.S. base their professional practice on the healing properties of music.
Along with these specialized therapists, neurologists have been conducting research that's already revealed evidence that music is a multipurpose therapeutic tool.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Less confusion, less depression
-----------------------------------------------------------
In a recent Los Angeles Times article, Harvard neurologist Dr. Gottfried Schlaug explains that when an area of the brain is disabled due to trauma or disease, music provides a unique way to reach that area, sometimes restoring impaired functions such as movement, memory, and speech.
For instance, researchers have found that music can establish a steady pace that helps patients with advanced Parkinson's disease initiate walking.
Music therapy has also been used to temporarily open up areas of memory for Alzheimer's patients. And in one study, mood and function significantly improved in subjects with dementia who learned that when they pushed a button they would be rewarded with a familiar song.
In research conducted by Dr. Schlaug, stroke victims who developed speech impairments were taught to improve speech fluency by expressing themselves with a chant-like form of singing.
Last year, I told you about a University of Helsinki study that examined 60 stroke patients. Divided into three groups, some patients listened to whatever music they liked, some patients listened to audio books, and some patients had no specific listening plan.
After three months, focused attention and mental operation abilities improved by nearly 20 percent in the music group, but didn't improve at all in the other two groups. Verbal memory scores in the music group improved by a very large margin, and subjects were less confused and less depressed compared to the other groups.
One stroke expert told the BBC that more research is needed before widespread use of music as therapy can be recommended for stroke victims. This caution is laughable unless someone can produce any evidence at all of a single adverse side effect of music.
Jenny Thompson
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Word of the Day
el elemento eh-leh-men'-toh (noun)
element; factor, component, part; individual, type, sort; habitat
EXAMPLES
Cuando voy a una fiesta estoy en mi elemento. - I'm in my element at parties.
Tiene un tatuaje de los cuatro elementos. - He has a tattoo of the four elements.
For more information and examples, visit the SpanishDict.com entry for el elemento.
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Music Stuff March 19th
1958, Big Records released 'Our Song' by a teenage duo from Queens, New York, Tom and Jerry. The duo became Simon and Garfunkel.
1964, Billy J Kramer And The Dakotas were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Little Children.'
1964, UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson presented The Beatles with their awards for show business personalities of the year for 1963 at London's Dorchester Hotel.
1965, the Tailor And Cutter Magazine ran an article asking The Rolling Stones to start wearing ties. The current fashion did not include wearing ties with shirts and many tie-makers were facing financial disaster. Mick Jagger said of the appeal, “The trouble with a tie is that it could dangle in the soup. It is also something extra to which a fan can hang when you are trying to get in and out of a theater.”
1971, T Rex were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Hot Love.'
1976, Paul Kossof guitarist with Free and Back Street Crawler died aged 25, of heart failure during a flight from Los Angeles to New York, Kossof had a long history of drug abuse.
1978, Billy Joel made his UK live debut at London's Dury Lane Theatre.
1981, The J Geils Band were at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Centrefold'
1982, Ozzy Osbourne's rhythm guitarist and former Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads was killed when the plane he was riding in crashed.
1994, Dutch instrumental duo Doop were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Doop', their only hit, making them One-hit Wonders.1995, Bruce Springsteen started a two week run at No.1 on the US album chart with his 'Greatest Hits.'
1996, the second Beatles Anthology series was released. The album featured 'Real Love', a track the remaining members of the Beatles recorded using an old demo track of John Lennon's. The song was first recorded by Lennon in 1977 with a handheld tape recorder on his piano at home, it originated as part of an unfinished stage play that Lennon was working on at the time entitled "The Ballad of John and Yoko."
2001, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's London home was broken into.
2006, Orson were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'No Tomorrow', the California band's only UK chart topper2006, Shakira was set to become the first pop star to release a single only in the form of a mobile download. The singers forthcoming release ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ would not be issued in the US as a CD or as a download via the internet but would be available to phone users connected to Verizon.
2007, US soul singer Luther Ingram died from a heart attack at the age of 69. Ingram scored the 1972 US No.2 hit ‘(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right’ and wrote the Staple Singers' hit ‘Respect Yourself’.
Birthday Boys and Girls March 19th
1946, Paul Atkinson, The Zombies
1946,Ruth Pointer, The Pointer Sisters
1952, Derek Longmuir, Bay City Rollers
1955, Actor and singer Bruce Willis
1983, Carrie Underwood
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fallas in Valencia were amazing. I´ve been before but not quite in the same way. We got to the outskirts of Valencia, parked, and came in to the centre on the Metro.The metro is a fantastic network in whatever city one is built and this is no exception tunneling deep into the ground below the city. The trains were jam packed and we had a laugh thinking of the efforts of health and Safety officials. How nobody gets killed is a mystery.
We had to change once during this part of the trip and then from the second train we climbed about 200 steps to get back to ground level. The streets were already choc-a-bloc by 10.30 with people heading towards the 2pm Mezclata. This, if you like, is a rather long and loud series of explosions! This is the really big one and the crowds were already showing excitement.
The streets were full of various peñas or clubs if you like all proudly wearing their group´s neckerchiefs. We were honorary members of a Telefonica sponsored peña and we met up with our boys, Andrew and John with Andre´s fiance,m Missy, and their friend Mario from the barrio! Needless to say drinking and good spirits were the order of the day. After the mezclata we wandered round the city visiting friends of our boys in their various restaurants and, of course, looking at the fallas-or massive figures built by falleros on behalf of the peñas. Around 4 pm there was a fabulous parade which went on for hours. All the peñas walk around mthe city to the cathedral where there is the massive statue of the Virgen upon which the flowers the representatives of the peñas have been carrying are built onto the replica of the Virgen. Each of the peñas have the little children in their traditional costumes and they look fabulous. The members of each peña also dress in the costumes appropriate to the occasion and the processionn is fronted by two beautiful white horses. It really is a fantastic day. The crowds on the pavements also have fun trying to move around as the roads are only opened now and again ton let people cross to the other side of the road.The most interesting absence is the small number of rowdies contained within a cast of hundreds of thousands. I think belonging to a peña builds in a form of social responsibility and adds to the stability of the community.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Reader,Nothing really engages the human brain like music.
The left brain enjoys rhythmic structures, chord progressions, and the way lyrics fit nicely. While the right brain soars on melody and emotional responses produced by the infinite combinations of instruments and voices.
But music's effect on the brain may go far beyond enjoyment. In fact, more than 5,000 certified music therapists in the U.S. base their professional practice on the healing properties of music.
Along with these specialized therapists, neurologists have been conducting research that's already revealed evidence that music is a multipurpose therapeutic tool.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Less confusion, less depression
-----------------------------------------------------------
In a recent Los Angeles Times article, Harvard neurologist Dr. Gottfried Schlaug explains that when an area of the brain is disabled due to trauma or disease, music provides a unique way to reach that area, sometimes restoring impaired functions such as movement, memory, and speech.
For instance, researchers have found that music can establish a steady pace that helps patients with advanced Parkinson's disease initiate walking.
Music therapy has also been used to temporarily open up areas of memory for Alzheimer's patients. And in one study, mood and function significantly improved in subjects with dementia who learned that when they pushed a button they would be rewarded with a familiar song.
In research conducted by Dr. Schlaug, stroke victims who developed speech impairments were taught to improve speech fluency by expressing themselves with a chant-like form of singing.
Last year, I told you about a University of Helsinki study that examined 60 stroke patients. Divided into three groups, some patients listened to whatever music they liked, some patients listened to audio books, and some patients had no specific listening plan.
After three months, focused attention and mental operation abilities improved by nearly 20 percent in the music group, but didn't improve at all in the other two groups. Verbal memory scores in the music group improved by a very large margin, and subjects were less confused and less depressed compared to the other groups.
One stroke expert told the BBC that more research is needed before widespread use of music as therapy can be recommended for stroke victims. This caution is laughable unless someone can produce any evidence at all of a single adverse side effect of music.
Jenny Thompson
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Word of the Dayel elemento eh-leh-men'-toh (noun)
element; factor, component, part; individual, type, sort; habitat
EXAMPLES
Cuando voy a una fiesta estoy en mi elemento. - I'm in my element at parties.
Tiene un tatuaje de los cuatro elementos. - He has a tattoo of the four elements.
For more information and examples, visit the SpanishDict.com entry for el elemento.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Stuff March 19th1958, Big Records released 'Our Song' by a teenage duo from Queens, New York, Tom and Jerry. The duo became Simon and Garfunkel.
1964, Billy J Kramer And The Dakotas were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Little Children.'
1964, UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson presented The Beatles with their awards for show business personalities of the year for 1963 at London's Dorchester Hotel.
1965, the Tailor And Cutter Magazine ran an article asking The Rolling Stones to start wearing ties. The current fashion did not include wearing ties with shirts and many tie-makers were facing financial disaster. Mick Jagger said of the appeal, “The trouble with a tie is that it could dangle in the soup. It is also something extra to which a fan can hang when you are trying to get in and out of a theater.”
1971, T Rex were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Hot Love.'
1976, Paul Kossof guitarist with Free and Back Street Crawler died aged 25, of heart failure during a flight from Los Angeles to New York, Kossof had a long history of drug abuse.
1978, Billy Joel made his UK live debut at London's Dury Lane Theatre.
1981, The J Geils Band were at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Centrefold'
1982, Ozzy Osbourne's rhythm guitarist and former Quiet Riot member Randy Rhoads was killed when the plane he was riding in crashed.
1994, Dutch instrumental duo Doop were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Doop', their only hit, making them One-hit Wonders.1995, Bruce Springsteen started a two week run at No.1 on the US album chart with his 'Greatest Hits.'
1996, the second Beatles Anthology series was released. The album featured 'Real Love', a track the remaining members of the Beatles recorded using an old demo track of John Lennon's. The song was first recorded by Lennon in 1977 with a handheld tape recorder on his piano at home, it originated as part of an unfinished stage play that Lennon was working on at the time entitled "The Ballad of John and Yoko."
2001, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell's London home was broken into.
2006, Orson were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'No Tomorrow', the California band's only UK chart topper2006, Shakira was set to become the first pop star to release a single only in the form of a mobile download. The singers forthcoming release ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ would not be issued in the US as a CD or as a download via the internet but would be available to phone users connected to Verizon.
2007, US soul singer Luther Ingram died from a heart attack at the age of 69. Ingram scored the 1972 US No.2 hit ‘(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right’ and wrote the Staple Singers' hit ‘Respect Yourself’.
Birthday Boys and Girls March 19th
1946, Paul Atkinson, The Zombies
1946,Ruth Pointer, The Pointer Sisters
1952, Derek Longmuir, Bay City Rollers
1955, Actor and singer Bruce Willis
1983, Carrie Underwood
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