REVIEW: The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 is the last film of the Hunger Games saga. It follows the story of Katniss Everdeen, who's become the face of a rebelion against the Capitol. She has one last chance to end with the horror of President Snow's government and to finish with the oppression the 13 districts of Panem are under. This is a stunning end to the series that will keep you in tension until the very end.

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Katniss Everdeen has survived two editions of the Hunger Games, and her actions are seen as rebellious. After the destruction of her hometown, she decides to be the Mockingjay of the districts, the face of the rebelion. Even though the rebels have gained a lot, the Capitol still stands with Snow as a president. Katniss believes that the only way to end everything is through Snow's death, so she will do whatever it takes to get to the front line of the battle that's just about to begin.

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I read the whole series of the Hunger Games so one thing I liked about this movie it's that it is a great adaptation of the novel. They didn't supress any of the scenes and they remained loyal to the story. As a reader, I really appreciate that. Also, the action sequences were really exciting, with great effects that made it seem like you were there. Throughout the story you could also see the characters in a deeper way that helped you to connect with them and with the story. The cast also did a great job, specially Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss) and Josh Hutcherson (Peeta). I was really stunned with their performances.

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One thing I didn't like about the film is that it was really long. However, this is because of the loyalty to the book's storyline and action scenes, so I'm glad that they did it this way.

As a conclusion, if you are a hunger games fan or if you have seen the other movies, I'm sure you'll like this one. It's easy to see that both the cast and the production crew put a lot of effort in this movie. I even teared up a bit because I really this saga and I didn't want it to end, but I am really happy with the final product. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 reached the high standards that were demanded for the end of such a great series, at least for me. So next time you go to the cinema keep in mind that this is an entertaining movie to watch.

Oh, and here's the trailer. Enjoy!

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YOUR SAY: Wattpad

Wattpad is a quite popular social network amongst young writers. It allows you to post long lenght texts that you have to divide by chapters. The point of this website is that you're able to post a whole book if you want and for free.

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One of the most attractive features of Wattpad is the feedback. If you like to write but you're not sure of whether your work is good enough or not, this network can get you new readers. Whoever reads your posts can comment on them and also like the story, so that way you can see how your writing is received by other people. Stadistics say that this website is getting 16,9 milion visitors every month, so you can imagine the huge possibilities this can give you.

Also, the chapter-by-chapter mod to upload the content creates a serialization of your work that will help you to make your readers engage with the story. There's an option in Wattpad to "become a fan" of a writer, something like following another user's work so you can keep up with it. As a consequence, you must be active and post regularly so you won't lose your followers. This feedback mentality will connect you to people with your same interests.

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You can also add links to your book or, even, to your Amazon profile so they could buy it. Recently, Wattpad included a new feature in their website which is "Fan Funding". If you are a writer and you have a dream that you really want to become true but don't have the money to pay for it, your readers can support you now by donating money for your project.

Wattpad's Fan Funding from Wattpad on Vimeo.

The dominant genres in Wattpad are Science Fiction, Fantasy and YA (this stands for Young Adult Literature).

However, there are some people who are afraid of having their work stolen by someone else, as it's posted on the internet and access free. Even if you are the one putting your writing online, it's terrible to see that your stories are being used without your consent. That's why Wattpad has a copyright report section where you can denounce a plagiarist.

I personally fell in love with this network. I'd like to become a writer someday so I would give this website a go and try to post some piece of writing on it, just to see what happens. I think that it's great to be able to have feedback from other people who are interested in your stories. It would be a really good test to a writer's ability.

My reaction when I found out about Wattpad.

ORAL PRESENTATION: Mr. Bean

Here's the oral presentation that Sandra and I did about Mr. Bean for the humour project. Enjoy!

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TED TALKS: The key to success? Grit

The key to success? Grit is a TED Talk that psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth made on 2013 for TED Talk Education.

Angela Lee Duckworth went to teach math to seventh graders in New York public schools when she was 27 years old. After teaching them for a while she noticed that their grades weren't necessarily related to IQ. Some of her best students didn't have an awesomely high IQ and some of the students with the highest IQ struggled with grades. She started wondering why this happened, if the key to succeed in grades wasn't to learn quickly but something else.

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She decided to go back to graduate school and got a degree in Psychilogy. She and her partners did a lot of studies in different areas to try and predict which people would be successful after a long period of time and which would not. They did this in places like the military, business companies, etc. Finally, she found a common base in all of these studies: people who were successful had grit.

Grit is perseverance and passion for the things you do, it is to be brave enough to not give up on them. Grit helps you to give your future perspective a wider range: it is to look forward to succeed over the years rather than over the week or the month. When you put effort and perseverance in the things you do, in your ideas, in your dreams, that's when you become successful.

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Something else that she talks about is the ability that we all have to grow midset. We need to change our mentality when it comes to things like studies because we give up too fast. The brain is expanding its knowleadge all the time and if we perservere we'll realize that we have that ability to do things with effort.

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Personally, I think that grit is a very important thing when it comes to success. You can't be successful if you don't keep up with what you do and put passion into it. If you have a dream you won't see it become true if you don't work hard to make it your reality. Angela Lee Duckworth is right when she says that the educational system is too focused on IQ and that it should be more oriented on helping children to be grittier so they won't give up on their studies and on themselves.

Here's the video!

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PODCAST: Joke

Here's my joke for the humour project!

NEWS: Forget Fitbit, track your fitness using a TATTOO: Flexible circuits worn on the skin monitor heart rate, stress levels and more

This piece of news was written by Gian Volpicelli for the Daily Mail online newspaper on the 27th November of 2015.

The news is about Tech Tats, a new technology developed by a Texan company callled Chaotic Moon. This wearables' function is to track heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, stress levels... They can do this with their biometrical sensors that are connected to the skin through the tattoo. Tech Tats are made with electrically conductive paint with LED lights and also include the biometrical sensors and a controller. One of its advantages in front of fitness trackers such as FitBit is that they can be worn in any part of the body, as they blend with the skin perfectly. The Tech Tats last for a year.

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Chaotic Moon has also said that these device could also be used as a location tracking system for children, for military operations or to keep ID and bank account information (this would allow us to pay for things with our Tech Tat). More over, they can connect via Bluetooth with a smartphone.

Personally, I think that this device can be a little bit problematic, specially with the bank account and tracking system functions it has (would it only be used by parents to track their children?). The good thing about them is that they can warn you when something is wrong with your vital signs and, for example, send a notification to your smartphone if it's connected with it. That way we'd know when something is wrong. The other plus it has is that they are temporary, so if you want to make them disappear you can. Regardless of my personal opinion, I think that it's quite a step forward in technology. 

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VOCABULARY

unwieldy: used, handled, or managed with difficulty because of size, shape, weight, or complexity.

to keep tab(s) on something: to keep a watch over something.

track: to follow the course of something.

NEWS: Silicon Valley professionals are taking microdoses of LSD at work to increase productivity

This piece of news was written for the Daily Mail online newspaper on the 27th November. However, the article doesn't include the name of the reporter.

The news is about how some workers at Silicon Valley are taking microdoses (between 10g and 15g) of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) to give a boost to their creativity. The amount of the drug consumed every morning allows them to feel more awake and concentrated on their activities. People like John Andrew said that they felt a lot of clarity and that their work was a lot better after a few months of taking LSD or realted drugs. James Fadiman, author of The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide informed that the number of people taking these kind of drugs to improve their efficiency has increased a lot since 2011, specially amongst workers in their twenties.

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On the other hand, Matt Johnson, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says that taking microdoses could have a bad effect on a long-term consuming routine. The article also talks about the death of Arthur Cave, a teenager who died falling off a cliff after taking LSD.

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Personally, I think that this could become dangerous. As Matt Johnson said, consuming these drugs on a regular basis could lead to unhelthy effects later on, which would be bad and unproductive. Also, I think that we should consider working on our own, without having to take any drugs, because maybe there would come a day where we would actually need these drugs because we wouldn't be able to work without them. If everyone started to consume drugs for their work then what's the point on even putting some effort? Isn't that the reason why drugs in sports are banned? We should all try to trust our own capacities before jumping to something like this.

VOCABULARY

uber: the ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than.

assess: to determine the amount of something.

dose: an amount of medicine to be taken at one time.

NEWS: Li-Fi: 100 times faster than Wi-Fi, tests prove

This piece of news was written by Adam Boult for the Telegraph online newspaper on the 25th November of 2015.

Thw news is about Li-Fi, a new alternative to Wi-fi that can send data information throught the air at 1GBPs of speed, which is 100 times faster that Wi-fi. It was invented in 2011 by Professor Harald Haas of the University of Edinburgh.

The way Li-Fi works is with VLC, which stands for visible light communication. The data information travels trough light with no need of wires and through the air. In the article, the author makes a comparison with the well known fibre optic networks. The great difference between these two kinds of connections is that fibre optic networks need optic fibre wiring while Li-Fi is wireless.

Professor Harald Haas

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There are a lot of projects to test this kind of connection regulated by Velmenni, mostly in industries who are looking for a faster and safer way to transmit information. An example of these industries are airlines, to improve on in-flight connectivity and others. It is also being studied for personal internet connection.

Personally, I think that this is a great progress for technology. It would change our internet connections a lot if the information we send and receive was travelling 100 faster than it is now. Not only that, but also the fact that the wiring connections would disappear after some time, because they wouldn't be needed anymore. And also, if this system works with light (like light bulbs) i wonder if we could produce the energy needed with renewable energies. On the whole, I think this is a great thing that we should all keep an eye on.

VOCABULARY

beam: to transmit (a signal) in a particular direction.

pilot: serving as an experiment before full-scale operation.

flickering: quality of something that appears quickly and briefly.

Here's Professor Harald Haas talking about Li-Fi in a conference:

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NEWS: This 7-Year-Old Blind Girl Was Banned From Using Her Cane At School

This piece of news was written by Taylor Ortega for the Elite Daily online newspaper on the 18th of November of 2015.

It is about a seven-year-old  blind girl named Lily-Grace Hooper whose walking stick was banished from school, the Hambrook Primary School, for health and safety. The reasons why this was done were that the teachers and students could trip over it while walking around the school. The mother was infuriated by this and told the Bristol Post that her daughter needed her cane to guide herself and that the measure was discrimitation. Even though Geoff Cox, head of the Health and Safety executive public sector team, agreed with Lily-Grace's mother that the little girl needed the walking stick, the school suggested getting an all day adult assistance for her. This was totally refused by the mother, who held that she wanted her daughter to grow as an independent girl. Finally, the school said that the banishment of the cane would be temporary until they could speak to Lily-Grace's mother to talk about it.

Lily-Grace Hooper with her mother

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Personally, I think that what the school did to Lily-Grace Hooper is awful. The walking stick is a measure that helps her walk around and it's something used by a lot of blind people. I don't see how it is a danger for teachers and students that she uses it. The school said that someone could trip over the cane and that it was a safety problem. Well, I say that you can trip over a lot of things at school. Why don't they ban pencils or scissors or football balls, for example? Those can cause harm too. I agree with Lily-Grace's mother, it really is a ridiculous and unnecessary measure. I hope that this little girl was finnaly allowed to bring in her cane because it's an important tool that helps her deal with her disability.

VOCABULARY

round-the-clock: lasting or continuing throughout the entire 24 hours of the day; continuous.

ban: to prhibit, forbid or bar; interdict.

cane: a short staff used to assist one on walking.

EXAM COMPOSITION ABOUT BEAUTY

"No woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly" comment. How have the roles of women changed in our society in the last 100 years?

There has been a great evolution over the centuries when it comes to the roles of women and how they're seen in society. However, there's still more change to do.

in the last century, women have gained the right to vote, they've been encouraged to be the ones creating a path for their own lives, they've shown the world that they are as valuable as any man... For example, as we can see in the statement that Lord Henry makes in the novel, in the Victorian times (as in the majority of times) women are only a beautiful thing to look at, a maid to take care of the house and the children, an object of display for her father or husband to show around. She does nothing. As men tell her, she doesn't need to study or work, as that is not her duty. She also can't speak her mind, as her opinion is unwanted and useless.

This kind of oppresion is not healthy for society. Still now, women keep fighting for themselves, as there are things like wages, for example, which are unfair. But it's not only them. Nowadays everyone, both women and men, seems to be objectified, molded by the interests and desires of the media and society.

Regarding all this, what I think is that objects can be decorative, but humans can't.

YOUR SAY: Life's playlist

Music is everywhere we go and is one of the most global ways of art. Every single person in this world can be emotionally moved by music, find a genre that they like, or even the most creative ones, express themselves with its composition.

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Different kinds of music can induce to certain atmospheres: relaxing, sad, happy, angry... Our brain connects the sound of it to emotions and feelings, creating a deep understanding that can differ from one person to another. That is to say that music has two meanings: the main one that can be fathomed by everyone and is about the mood it sets, and the personal one, that is related to our inner interpretation of the feelings it can provoke. A specific song can make us remember a moment of our lives like, for example, an afternoon that we spent with friends having lots of fun. It can also bring to mind a person, a place...

Let's continue with our behaviour when it comes to music. When we are sad, we tend to either listen to sad music and probably end up crying or happy music to get cheered up. Something that happens to me, for example, is that whenever I'm going to a party I put some club-like music to get in the mood (specially when I'm really tired and don't feel like going).

How music can change a film

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Also, when it comes to lyrics, a song can be really sincere and heartfelt with some particular topics. These are less interpretable, but can also be produce very personalized feelings and emotions.

For me, music is something incredibly awesome. It can make you cry, but it can also make you smile. I believe that every song is a story that is different for each person, and while we all enjoy it in different ways and genres, we all need it, because it speaks when words can't.

YOUR SAY: Fright night!

"Hey do you want to come over to my house? We could watch some people get killed, haunted by ghosts, getting a nice exorcism done... You know, just a lovely afternoon activity to have a good sleep at night."

"Emm... How about no?"

I think I'm not that good with examples, but I just can't help it, horror movies weren't made for me. On the other hand, there are people who really enjoy this kind of films. If you think about it, it's quite a strange thing that we like to sit at home or at a cinema sweating in pure terror while we cover our faces with whatever comes in hand. But, what's most unbelivable is that, although we know that we're going to get scared, we keep watching.

Even if I'm not quite fond of them, I can see that there are good things in horror movies that even a chicken like me can notice. Firstly, they give us a great rush of adrenaline due to the tension we are under. More over, it's probably one of the few movie genres that can get us really involved in the story and empathize with the characters.

Of course, I'm only considering good films, and not the ones that would make you burst out laughing instead of scaring you. The skills of the director are really important in these movies, because they must have the ability to set the right atmosphere and mood while mantaining the tension throughout the film.

Personally, I'm quite reluctant when it comes to horror movies, but I do like some of them. Do I get really scared? Yes. Do I sleep at night? No. Is that suspicious shadow just my chair or is it a murderer? It's obviously a murderer but if I don't move a muscle and cover myself with a blanket he or she won't be able to hurt me. But the more I watch a horror movie, the more I like it (probably because I already know in which scenes I can get scared), and althought that wouldn't be a great point, it's my own way to enjoy them.

What a lot of us do after watching a horror movie.

YOUR SAY: "Knock knock. Who's there?"

Nowadays technology has taken over many fields (if not all) of our lives. We use it for everything. Specially, human comunication has changed completely. Whether it's on our computer or over the phone, we can talk to other people instantly and at long distances.

This kind of comunication has also allowed the appearance of a new kind of relationship: internet friends. Now, being able to meet new people with your same interests from every corner in the world is a great thing. It's a really enriching experience that we can all profit greatly from. It won't be so weird iff someone tells you that they met their best friends or their soulmate through the internet.

Here's a beautiful compilation of internet friends

meeting for the first time.

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But, like every technologic progress, it has its bad side too. In the last decade, approximately, the number of people who've had problems with internet users who held a fake identity has increased a lot.  The term to describe this kind of emotional hustle is "catfish". To be "catfished" means to be fooled, and that's exactly what this concept is about. It consists on a very personal relationship between two people through the internet, with the inconvenient that one of them is faking his or her identity in order to bully the other person (cyberbullying), to swindle them or just for fun. This "so called friend" usually adapts his or her personality to draw the victim to them, building a relationship based in lies.

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There is a show on MTV, Catfish, that shows how many people follow the thread of this internet friend to discover their real identity. Sometimes (very rarely), they end up being happy because their friend didn't lie to them, as was suspected. In most of the episodes, though, they discover a diferent person from the one that was expected.

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Personally, I think that being catfished must feel really bad. Anyways, I don't think that I'd trust someone so much over the internet. I mean, you can make very good friends, I have some of my own that I really appreciate, but you must always be careful. Not everyone out there has good intentions towards us, even if we haven't done anything wrong.

So, to end this post I thought that it would be a good idea to include a video of the TV show Catfish. Enjoy!

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YOUR SAY: Inked

Now that we're nearly eighteen we start planning the many things that we'll do. But, nowadays, a lot of us would answer the same thing: "Mom, Dad, I don't care what you think. I'm getting a tattoo done."

In recent years, tattoos have become the new fashion trend. People used to get them out of love, representing their hobbies or the important things in their life. Now, they get it done for nearly anything. Is it a bad decision though?

Notice the musical motives?

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I believe that tattoos are beautiful as a way of art. They allow us to externalize our inner self in any way we want. We make our skin a canvas to paint the story of our lives or the world that's in our heads. Despite the fact that some part of society finds them irresponsible, it's another artistic form that retains personal emotions, just like music or paintings.

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On the other hand, I personally would never get a meaningless tattoo done, as many people seem to enjoy doing. I sometimes wonder if they actually think it through or they just choose whatever drawing or quote comes to their mind. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that they shouldn't do it, let people express themselves in the way they want! As long as they're okay with bearing that tattoo all their lives, it's fine.

Just wow.

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As a conclusion, I think that when out skin starts to get wrinkly as we grow old, we should never feel ashamed of the tattoos that we decided to get done some crazy day. Instead, we should feel proud about them and say: "Mom, Dad, look. This tattoos represent the greatest work of art that I'll be able to inspire: my soul."

Different lives, different meanings.

If you want to have a laugh you can also check out this gallery of tattoo fails!

I just can't figure out what they were thinking.

Is humour necessary?

Regardless of our personality, we've all laughed at something at least once in our lives. We all know how it works, doesn't matter if we're funny or not, if we like dark humour or farce... But do we need humour in our lives? Is it necessary? I think it is.

Humour is probably one of the few human features that can make us feel full of joy, even if it's just for a few seconds. Laughter allows us to forget our problems and, nowadays, with all the stress that we're under 24/7, that's quite difficult.

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Not only does it help us to forget our issues, but also it allows us to talk about them from a different point of view. We can be as harsh as we want using dark humour, but we can also put our witty comments more lightly (apparently) with sarcasm or irony.

And what about what others feel about humour? A good hearty laugh can release tension in an awkward or difficult situation. We seem more friendly (of course, if we don't use humour as an offense) specially if we learn how to laugh at ourselves.

If we share a joke with someone, it creates a bond with them and a friendly feeling.

To sum up, humour is necessary because it allows us to relax and to take our problems less seriously. It binds people together and is suitable for anyone. At the end of the day, we all look better with an honest smile across our face, don't we?

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Email to my teacher

Hello Sònia,

I believe that everyone has a dream inside of them. It doesn't matter if you don't know what to do with your life or if you have a lot of plans and no time to concentrate in any of them, there's always this little something to which your soul aims to.

I am one of those few people who knows what their dream is, and I feel really lucky because, sadly, not everyone can say the same. In my case, I've always known that I wanted to become a writer. Above all things, that's been my goal since I was a little kid writing messed up stories in my father's office.

Wherever I go, there's always a lot of stories growing on my mind, expanding until I think that I'm not capable to control them anymore. Because of this, my main objective in life is to become a successful writer and be able to live off of it. Sometimes I even fantasize that one of those stories could make it to the big screen as a great movie.

Anyways, that's not my only dream. I could say I have many that vary from time to time, but the following are the most persistents.

 I'd like to live in more than one foreign country for long periods of time (Australia, the UK or Germany... perhaps the US), because I've always wanted to know new cultures and people from all over the world. 

Another dream of mine would be to go to a lot of concerts and meet some of my favourite singers and actors. Probably this would be the most difficult of all but hey, it's called "dream" for a reason. 

Last but not least, I'd love to see that, in the future, everyone in my family and in my group of friends is doing well. I know it may sound a bit corny, but I think that being with the ones you love and knowing that they're happy with their lives is the most important thing anyone could ever wish for.

As a conclusion, I think that, althought dreams can seem hard to accomplish, we must work hard so that they become our reality. We can't just sit all day waiting for a miracle that will change our lives without any effort. Any time is a good time to start working on our dreams, because, at the end of the day, that's what will make us feel satisfied.

Sincerely,

Míriam.