ugly heart

The other day I was  listening to some music on Spotify while I was finishing my art homework when a song I had never heard sounded. I quite liked it and, when I listened to it for the second time, and paid attention to the lyrics, I thought it would fit well with this beauty topic we're working with.

It is called Ugly heart, from G.R.L, and it tells the story of a girl who fell in love with a very handsome guy, but he broke her heart. In the videoclip, which is very funny and I recommend to watch, the girls are taking justice as they understand it and revenge from him... The last sentence of the video summarizes the clip well: "now your face is ugly, like your heart".

Even though this song is a bit about revenge, it also brings a question to your mind that makes you think about how influenced we are by fashion, the search for eternal youth... is beauty everything? G.R.L answer to this question easily, beauty is nothing if your inner part is ugly, if you're not honest, faithful... We must remember to care about our acts even more than our looking.

rainy days

It's Sunday morning and it's pouring down out there. The clouds cover the whole sky in dark grey and the wind is giving life to the dancing trees. Day to stay home!

I adore good weather, i couldn't live without my beloved sun and warmth typical from my country. Nevertheless, a rainy day in last November is always welcome as long as I'm not sailing... This weekned without sailing and with bad weather has come in handy for me to do some work I had to finish matching with the end of term at highschool. I had some TDR stuff to do and obviously a couple of new postson this blog...

Once I finish this I'm going to visit my grandparents and my cousin (who got twenty yesterday) and have lunch with some friends of the family. After that... And as I usually do on Sundays, I'll go to the cinema to wathch The Mockingjay! Actually, I've already seen it (last Friday with my friends) but my parents are ager to watch it and I can't refuse;) 

There's something I'd like to do today too, but I'm afraid it won't be possible: SUP. I really like this sport, it allows you to surf in the mediterranean. I can't wait for some good waves, and, in fact, I can hear them from home... The thing is that during the storm the waves are extremely messy and even dangerous, thus I'll have to wait a couple days for the sea to calm down and then, once in order, take profit of the swell!

jonathan ward

As technology industries rise at a stunning rhythm, so does the number of employees they hire and the facilities they require. The needing of expanding their headquarters bring to the tech-giants the chance to demonstrate their power by building modern impressive centers. 

Not only designed for being functional, these buildings are meant to represent the companies' philosophy. By constructing campus that house both offices and leisure zones, they try to turn the centres into social spaces, where colleagues interact more and even mix with citizens. The times of hieratic massive skyscrapers are gone, they say the 21st century architecture is about building cities in each building rather than erecting towers in the cities.

From my point of view, this new way of understanding work places can be extremely positive to both employees and citizens. Working in a building that transmits its nice atmosphere to the people in it, boosts creativity and productivity. And it's obvious that impressive buildings attract tourists and enrich a city.

Read the complete article.

sailing in kiel

I was skimming my blog when I realized two things: I haven't written about sailing this year, and that I haven't made a post about the race I finally went in June... so let's do it!

I orgnanized the trip with my parents and we went together with my sailing partner and another crew. We got on the van and started a 2000km ride to northern Germany: Kiel.

After two days driving, we arrived to the city and overslept there. The following day we went to the harbor and unloaded the boats. The organization there was brilliant: an enormous team of volunteers and staff were telling everyone what to do, where to go... A fleet of 56 Audi Q7 were waiting for our trailers and slide the motorboats into the water. 

Unfortunately we couldn't sail much because of the bad weather and the lack of wind. We did about six races in four days (which is far less than expected), however, it was amazing to sail there. Thousands of sailing boats were covering the bay in white, that was an astonishing spectacle!

The days were strikingly long, the sun rose at 3am and twilight was at 11pm. That was a bit confusing, but you soon get used to it. Due to the days being so long, we could get on the van and visit some interesting places. We saw both impressive gigantic forests and cozy little towns by the sea. One day we even went to Denmark! 

After an amazing week in Kiel it was time for us to return home... but we took our time in the return and stopped in several interesting places. We visited Hannover, Heidelberg and Freiburg. 

That trip to Kiel was an amazing way to start the summer vacation, I'm eager to return there as soon as possible!

Bis bald Deutschland!   

underground

Underground stations have always been known as gloomy places, where you should rush to catch the train and preserve your wallet. Yet a new trend is trying to change this by transforming these bad reputed spots into places of architectural interest.

The CNN has elaborated a ranking of the most impressive underground stations in the world.

As you may know, I'm really interested in architecture, in fact, I want to be an architect. These stunning art works, that make your journey through the underground tunnels something quite like visiting a museum or impressive buildings, fascinate me. As I see it, architecture is not only the science of constructing well, but also the art of transforming ordinary buildings into places of interest. Functionality combined with beauty make something as vulgar as a flat become a piece of art, something that represents a city, a country... 

Building practically will be useful, building practical art will be rewarding!

ehs

EHS -electromagnetic hypersensitivity intolerance syndrome- is known as the new disease triggering terrible headaches, insomnia and malaise.

Although it is not scientifically demonstrated, an increasing number of people believe they're influenced by the wireless technology. Regarding there are more than 5billion mobile phones out there, almost a wifi per family living in a developed country, radios and microwaves working in each house... it is difficult to make a math and find out the density of waves influencing our bodies.

The standard population aren't aware of this waves, but a significant group of people defend their bodies are influenced by these technologies and that they suffer from EHS. 

West Virginia, in the US is probably the only place on the developed world where wireless technologies are banned. This is not to keep people safe form radiations, but because that state is the house of the largest steerable radio telescope on earth. 

Diane Schou and other witnesses tell us their story.

In my opinion these people aren't completely wrong, mainly because I've noticed an increasing  on the frequency I suffer from headache since wifi was installed everywhere. I really appreciate this technologies, yet we must consider whether we are exposing ourselves to too much radiations and if they  worth the price we'll pay.  

News article based on CNN and Daily Mail reports.

fontus

Water out of the blue!

Kristof Retezár, an industrial design student at the University of applied arts in Vienna came up with the idea of a bottle that was able to produce water out of the air. It is meant to be used attached to a bike and while riding. After an hour cycling, and with proper conditions (20ºC and 50% humidity), it produces half a liter of fresh and drinkable water.

The device condenses the surrounding air to collect moisture in a flask or a bottle that can be changed at any time. 

This Retezár's brainchild could be very useful if improved. Can you imagine how beneficial it could be in a country with poor rains but high humidity rates? As I see it, it is a dream come true that will be, in a future, not only helpful for cyclists but also for the whole planet. The only drawback I could imagine, is what would happen if the air surrounding is polluted? However, I also see quite an easy answer: incorporate filters to the device!

needle in haystack

Sven Sachsalber wants to prove the popular saying: as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. 

The artist, known for his bizarre performances is to spend 48h looking for needle in a haystack, as part of his exposition in the "Palais de Tokyo" in Paris. The director of the museum hid the needle and the search will be "exposed" in one of the rooms of the Palais. It is due to last for about two days but the search will take as much time as Sachsalber needs to find the needle. 

Another recent strange performance of the artist is locking himself for 24h inside a room with a cow. 

It seems that today everything is considered as modern art... I'm not saying this performance is not art, though I'd rather name it challenge or spectacle to be shown in fast motion. I've always preferred classical art such as traditional paintings (including art nouveau and contemporary art such as Dali or Picasso) to this new way of understanding art... art is beauty and critics, this new wave of artists are mixing it with eccentricity and nonsense.

Catalonia overwhelmingly votes for independence from Spain in straw poll

"Catalonia overwhelmingly votes for independence from Spain in straw poll". This is how the NY Times titled the article about the 9N in Catalonia.

2,25 Million people voted yesterday in Catalonia in favor of Catalonia's independence from Spain. Catalonia's independence is an issue that has been one of the main preoccupations in Mariano Rajoy's legislature since in 2012 a massive demonstration in Barcelona claimed for independence. After a legal fight between the governments of Spain and Catalonia, the referendum that was due to be celebrated in Catalonia the ninth of November was declared illegal by the spanish. As promised in his  electoral campaign and pressured by catalan civil organizations, Mas (Catalonia's prime minister) convened a straw poll to demonstrate Catalonia's aims to vote and decide.

As I see it, Spanish government's attitude is absolutely antidemocratic and seems to be deaf in front of Catalonia's claim. This stance demonstrates a lack of consideration to the catalans, and, in my opinion, enhances catalans' hope for independence.

There's more to add: the constant propaganda against Catalonia that spanish media are promoting is creating a hate atmosphere amongst Spain. Furthermore, these media are choosing images for their covers that do not represent the Catalan movement AT ALL. 

In conclusion: as Catalan, I'd like the Spanish government to listen to us and start, at least, to debate instead of just ignoring every single movement of the catalan society.