My map

Graffiti

I've always been amazed by graffiti. But of course, it's not right to paint on a public wall. So I still stick to pen and paper.

Most of society consider graffiti an act of vandalism. People like me consider it art.

Graffiti paintings started in the 60s in the US. It's since formed part of the hip-hop and break dance culture.

The name graffiti actually comes from the word used by ancient Romans to describe a scratching or carving on a wall. In modern days it's spray paint that substitutes the carvings.

This is a very different way of writing messages. In most occasions It's not even a message, maybe a name or just an image.

There are many different types and stiles of graffiti. Most artists sign their work with a tag, which is the name given to the signature that marks their names.

I've been drawing lots of graffiti lately (practicing), and I'm planing to paint one in my room. If you read this post, and you're interested or you know about the subject, please comment. I could do with a tip or two.

Bermuda Triangle

There is patch of sea between Bermuda island, Florida, and Puerto Rico that brings a bit of mischief to our world.

The Bermuda triangle has been one of the mysteries of the Pacific for a long time. It's said that a large number of aircraft.s and vessels have disappeared in this area in the last hundred years.

Popular society has attributed this kind of disappearances to paranormal factors such as extraterrestrial activity.

However, there are many possible scientific explanations for this. Some say gasses at the bottom of the sea flow up making turbulence that can cause ships and aircrafts to sink. Others believe these gasses make massive whirls that swallow up ships and create wind currents that bring planes down.

Many specialists say that the events aren't so conclusive. The records of disappearances in that area aren't specially high compared to those in the rest of the world.

The most reasonable answer I've found for now attributes the disappearances to the largeamount of traffic in the area. Accidents are bound to happen.

Hundreds saved from sinking ferry

An enormous ferry just off the coast of the Philippines started sinking with 965 people on board.

The navy, air force and private boats have been helping people out of the ship alive. Reports say that 900 of the passengers have already been saved, 5 of them have died and 60 are still missing.

According to specialists the weather was good, which is strange.

The air force's helicopters are still searching the sea for missing people.

This catastrophic event took place last Monday morning just 530 miles south of the Philippine capital, Manila.

This news is a bit old by now. But I'm sure you can find updated news if you're interested in other news websites.

I hope the rescue helicopters have found most of the missing passengers by now. And I'm very interested to know about the cause of the sinking.
These unknown causes really get me foxed. In fact I'll probably write a post about the Bermuda triangle as soon as I know a bit more about it.

A morning fishing

I got up a bit later than usual this morning. I had a day off kayak training.

As soon as I finished my breakfast I hopped onto my bike and went to look for my friends.

They'd just woken up when I found them, so they weren't fully awake. I proposed to go fishing, as we were a bit short on ideas. Fishing never fails, we always have fun even if we don't catch anything.

Last afternoon we'd been fishing catfish and the idea of repeating the activity was quite appealing. The routine was easy.

We all rode back to my house and took the gear out.
When we had our rucksacks ready, we rode downhill with my beloved dog Uma until we reached the reservoir.

For some strange reason I'm the only one that carries a safety lock on my bike so I tied all the bikes including mine to a lamp-post.

When we reached the shore we quickly unpacked our stuff and started setting up the fishing lines.

There was a strong wind so we had to keep resetting our fishing rods.
We waited for about an hour and still nothing.
So I changed the bait on one of the fishing rods and put on a rubber lure instead. This way we'd be able to fish black bass as well as catfish and carps.

I had a bit of trouble my knots. Every time I cast the fishing rod, the weight and bait came off the line.

I finally managed to tie a proper knot, and after a few throws something took the bait. It was pulling and jumping and swirling all the way as I reeled it in. When I took it out of the water I immediately identified it as a Black bass. And then it was gone.
I didn't even have time to grab it. I had unhooked itself, and jumped back into the murky water.

That was all the luck we had this morning. The wind factor was probably not helping, but the morning worked. We had a fun time.Uma did too.

Black Holes

A friend came yesterday to visit me. He's lately developed a liking for stars, so he asked if he could use our ''sky scout'' and telescope.

We where star gazing for a while, saw the moon up close, Andromeda's galaxy, Altair and other stars.
When we finished that, he started talking to me about Black Holes, but it sounded so complicated that he was doing my head in. So I did a bit of internet research and learned something new.

A Black Hole is an area in space with a gravitational force so strong that even light can't escape from it. It's called black because it absorbs all the light from the stars and galaxies it engulfs.

All the heat and gasses from the stars spirals inwards towards the center of the hole creating powerful emissions that can be sensed from earth.

There are seven different types of Black Holes. From the ones created by the gravitational collapse of a star, which are the least powerful ones. To those formed by the gravitational force of a galaxy containing several billion stars, which are the strongest ones.

When they concentrate too much energy, they emit X-ray radiations that can clearly be seen by astronomers on earth. These radiations are named micro quasars.

Rovio

I was reading the ''Objects of desire'' section in the Focus magazine the other day and I found an interesting website on robot toys called Red5.

Red5 has a whole selection of robotic toys to entertain you with. One that specially caught my eye was Rovio.

Rovio is a remote control Wi-fi robot that moves around your house at will. The idea is that you can spy or interact with your house and family at any time you want. This toy will act under your commands from anywhere in the world, all you need is access to internet connection.

Rovio is supplied with the following accessories so it can be used successfully:

-Charging dock with ''true track'' beacon.
-Rovio setup software.
-Rechargeable battery pack.
-User manual.
-Quick start guide.
-AC adapter.
-USB cable.

You can talk, see and hear trough your Rovio, just as if you where there. It's equipped with three wheels with ten mini wheels each to enable complete maneuverability. Our friend can also take photos which it immediately sends to your e-mail. When it's running out of battery it guides itself back to it's charger.

I hope Rovio has caught your attention as it caught mine. For further information on this toy click here.

Mend a puncture

Get a bike. Puncture it with a nail.

Done that? Excellent!

Now buy a puncture kit at the closest supermarket. Take your punctured wheel out of the bike and separate the inner tube from the rim.

When you've done that, fill the inner tube up with air and put it inside a bucket of water, this will help you locate the puncture (look for the bubbles). As soon as you've found it circle it with some chalk so you don't loose the spot. Rub the spot with some sandpaper to wear out the edges that are sticking out.
If you don't, there will be a space under the patch and it'll come off.

Now stick a blob of glue over the punctured are, spread it with your finger and wait for about 10 minutes. Stick the patch on the exact place where you've spread the glue, press the patch against the glue for five minutes so it sticks properly.

If you had the patience to do all that, you're nearly finished. All that's left now is put the tube back inside the wheel, jam it into place and pump it up again.

This is a nice easy way of writing two hundred words without thinking a lot. In fact I was just going through the steps because as it happens I've got to mend my own bike right now.

Tuenti

Most young people around the world use Facebook to keep in touch with friends. Tuenti is an online Spanish social network that works just like Facebook, but isn't international.

I found out about it not long ago and joined in. This network includes lots of useful applications to communicate with your friends and family. Stuff like sending messages, sharing photos and events and viewing videos you can do for free on this website.

The name Tueti actually comes from "tu entidad" (in Spanish), which means your identity. It's quite easy to join the community, but you need an invitation from someone who's already joined.

The first thing you need when you join in is a profile. It's a good idea not to give too much information about yourself or use your complete name for safety reasons. After that uploading photos is easy, you just have to browse them and mark everyone on them. Soon people will start conversations starting from the photographs you've uploaded and you can either join in or chuck people out, it's all part of the fun. One of the important goals in this community is knowing new people and making new friends.

The hunt for the Unicycle

I first considered the subject 2 years ago when I saw a unicycle in a toy shop in Gerona. Ever since the idea grabbed me. I've always loved to try new stuff, specially activities that are different or difficult, the sort only wacky people like.

After that I researched and found out about a Spanish website that sold trials unicycles, the sort used for jumps and tricks. My only inconvenience at the moment was the price. These toys aren't sold as much as bicycles and their cost are high. So I decided to wait for a better opportunity. Last year I visited the city of Cartagena (south east Spain) where I found a kid unicycling round a bench. He was using a Monty trials one just like the one I'd been looking for. I asked him where he'd bought it and how long he'd taken to learn. Fortunately the shop where he'd bought it wasn't far away, so I went to have a look. I instantly recognized the very one I was looking for and bought it. After that it took me a few months to learn, but it was worth it.

You've got to be constantly trying if you want to learn, and if you don't have anyone to help you, you can use a narrow corridor to practice your balance. The trick is the same in everything, always leave it while the going is good.

( this is a photograph of my unicycle)

Yeti

The existence of the Yeti has been questioned for hundreds of years. The idea of a 2 metre bipedal fury brown human-like creature is difficult to believe without scientific proof. And yet there are numerable cases of sightings, prints and tales told by mountaineers and locals. There are also numerous hoaxes, photographs and fake stories of people trying to make fun of the situation. I've personally always been thrilled by these cryptology creatures and myths, so I decided to do a little research on this specific tale. I found out the following facts:

-In the 19th century:
* Hodgson's guides claimed to have seen a bipedal creature with long brown hair which Hodgson said must of been an orangutan.
* Large human-like footprint sightings in 1889 where later disqualified as the ones a bear.

-In the 20th century:
* Four different people from four different expeditions said they'd seen a large animal walking through the snow on it's hind legs.
* More than 5 different sightings and some photographs of supposed yeti footprints have been found.
* A scalp and a hand where found in a Buddhist monastery and sent by Hillary for analysis.
* Expeditionists on their mission for finding yeti proof found a feces which contained a new parasite that had not yet been found and claimed it to belong to an animal also unclassified.

-In the 21st century:
* A group of Japanese expeditionists found footprints and the leader is said to have seen one in 2003 and is determined to capture one on film.
* Hair samples are found and analysed, the tests where inconclusive.
* In 2008 a footprints where found by the American TV presenter Joshua Gates, the prints measured 33 cm long and 25 cm across at it's widest.

That's about as much proof as I could find, but I'd probably like to go to the Himalayas some day and see what more I can discover.

Gomorra

Last night I saw a film called Gomorra about the Camorra: a mafia-like society that is involved in many illegal businesses. This film is based on a book written by the journalist Roberto Sabiano who uncovered most of the real Camorra activities to the public. Since the publication of his book he's been forced to change his identity and is escorted every day of his life to prevent any possible attack.
This film gives you a very good idea of the ways of living in a Camorra society.
It's location is in Naples (Italy), the biggest nucleus for Camorra clans. It's estimated around 111 clans are established and about 6.700 members are evolved.
It's said they're more successful than organized mafias because the range of businesses are very extensive,covered and protective.
Some of the businesses involved are: Drug dealing, drive-by shooting, illegal dumping of chemical wastes, trafficking prostitutes, control of food company products and others.
The film Gomorra also shows you the simple but crude ways of living in this poor and violent society. It makes you get a very good general idea and it's not so much of a story, it's more like a fact, a truth.

War Games

Good or bad?
Most adults don't agree with war games finding them aggressive, destructive, violent in general and most of them find them time wasting. People that think this way are generally adults that have forgotten the anxiety most teenagers have inside them. These games not only help let of steam but also require a lot of concentration and reflexes.
War games shouldn't be the only way out to liberate stress, other physical and mental activities are much more important and specially outdoor activities, but these are not quite the subject right now.
The point I want to make is that these games are not necessarily bad, but people who play too much time do tend to end up a little worse than they started. The trick is to control the time you devote to these screen games and always leave it while it's still good.
Some games that represent or that are based on real historical wars actually teach you stuff that happened, dates, the state of the country at the time, weapons, political facts and so on.
Some of my personal favorites are Medal of honor, Battlefield Vietnam, Battlefield 2, Brothers in arms and Call of duty.

Fuga de Cerebros

Fuga de cerebros is a Spanish comedy film. It's got a main character called Emilio and his mad but loving friends who help him find what he desires most. Natalia is a beautiful young lady of whom Emilio has been in love of since he was a boy.
Thanks to Natalia's good marks at the end of the school term she's been offered a scholarship to study in Oxford University. This frustrates Emilio and his friends a lot but they finally find a sneaky way into the university and lock themselves into a new world of constant problematic adventures.
Through the film there are many obstacles that make Emilio's position worse and worse including his clumsiness and lack of confidence.
I think it's a clever film and very fun to watch. The dialog is probably the best part of it, and the way it all comes together in the end.
The film was published early this year and it has won a few awards, it's no longer on cinemas and is recommendable to watch with friends.

Rating: 89% ->100%

Wolf-watching in Zamora

The other day my uncle invited me to go wolf watching to Zamora as a birthday present. The next day after my kayak training I took the bus to Madrid where my grandfather would collect me. When I arrived I went to have lunch with my grandparents and after lunch my uncle and my cousin came for me. So off we went to Zamora.

We arrived late at night to the little village where we were staying and soon found our hotel. The next morning we got up at half past seven and went outside to wait for our guide.
As soon as we were all ready we started off for the wolves. Our guide went in his car and we went behind with ours. There was a moment in which our guide slowed down a bit and then continued. When we got there he told us he had slowed down because there was a wolf in front of him and he was waiting for it to get of the road. And we had passed by with out even realising !!!

The viewing place was about seven hundred meters from a spot where carrion (a dead donkey) had been set out for the wolves. Some of the people that were already there told us that they had just been watching some wolf cubs in that same place just before we came. We waited in the cold with our telescopes, and suddenly realized that some blokes had parked there cars just in front of the place where the wolves were expected to appear. So our guide went to them and told them off for being so close. After waiting and waiting our guide thought that they wouldn't come out. So we went to try somewhere else.

The new place had views over fields that at the end of a forest. There we waited and waited and still we saw no sign of wolves. The only thing we did hear and see were deer. It was the deer mating season and there were lots around. So the time came to go back to the hotel and have breakfast.

Later on our guide took us for a little walk outside the village and explained a bit about the wolves there: habitat, food, breeding, population, etc. We also saw wolf footprints and droppings.

After the walk we went back to the village and had lunch. Just before we went I played football with my cousin and had a last look around the village.

It was time to go. I had had a lovely time and I wanted to stay longer, but at least I knew I'd be back for more.

These are some of the photographs I took on the walk.

How to keep a Hamster

My hamster was given to me about two years ago. And thanks to him, experience, and research I've discovered this:

Hamsters are quite solitary mammals. They need to chew on stuff constantly to stop their teeth from growing and suffocating them. If they don't have anything to chew on they will chew on metal bars, plastic, fingers or whatever comes close.

They have a very short lifespan, from two to two and a half years. They don't like living in pairs, sometimes they can hurt each other or even kill each other.

Their menu is composed mainly by seeds, fruit and vegetables, although they shouldn't eat anything acid like orange or kiwi. If their food is varied and their health is good they can live up to three or four years (but this is rare). Having babies will shorten their lifespan. But if they do, the babies should be removed as soon as they are independent or otherwise they will start fighting for the same territory.

This is a very very short video of my hamster eating lettuce.

Hellboy

Yesterday I went to the cinema with a friend. We wanted to watch Batman but it was only on at five o'clock and it was already eight. So at the end we agreed to watch Hellboy. Most people had seen the first one and told me it was very good but I hadn't watched it because the cover didn't convince me.

The film was great. It had lots of action, a good script, and a good story.

Hellboy is a big red tough guy that was made in an experiment. Now he works for an agency that is trying to stop a king elf from uniting a deadly metal army that will destroy the humans.
Hellboy and his three companions have to find clues about the wicked elf's evil plan and stop him.

The only thing the elf needs is the three parts of a crown that his father had made along with the metal army. These three pieces together would activate the army and would bring chaos to humanity.

Rating: 90% -> 100%

The hideaway

Two years ago some friends and I found a place in the woods and we made it our special meeting place. We had some chairs and a table and a little stream down the middle. It was going perfectly until some other kids broke it to pieces. After that it all started to go all wrong. The meeting place was what kept us all together. So we started looking for a new one. We looked hard but found none, so we gave up. We stopped looking and we each did our own thing.

One day one of my friends and I were having a walk thinking about the idea my friend's dad had given us. He said that they used to have a hideaway inside a bramble bush. He also said they had cut out the inside of the bush and made it hollow so they could be inside. We were walking alongside a bramble bush and we went through a little passage and looked to the right. Our eyes met and I knew we were both thinking the same thing. It was the perfect spot for a new meeting place. If we only had the patience to perfect it it would be excellent. So we went back and told the others.

The next day the work began.

My brother and I took some pruning scissors and started cutting. Two hours later we were already half way through. The branches we cut, we used as a little dam to hold the water in the stream. We also used the dam as a bridge.

The following day we finished the clearing and cleaned it all up. That same afternoon we brought some tree stumps and lay them around. A week later we found some cut up branches and set them up in different places.

We enjoyed it until summer ended. After that we couldn't go weekly so the bush grew and covered it all up.

This summer we cleared it all up again and set up a basket with nuts for the birds and animals. I also planted some lawn. And its all looking excellent.

That's how we made our new woodland hideaway.

Morocco: Toilets

In my family toilets are an important matter.
In Morocco toilets were slightly different from the ones at home:
The toilets didn't have paper, instead there was a very well-used bucket. One had to squat instead of sit. It was impossible to flush the toilet for the was no flushing mechanism, instead there was a little tap to fill the bucket.
In Arabic countries as I soon found out toilets are used like so:
Step 1- You fill the bucket up with water.
Step 2- You squat and hope for the best.
Step 3- You wet your left hand in the bucket and clean your bottom with that same hand.
Step 4-You rinse your hand with the water from the bucket.
Step 5-Throw the water into the pit, and watch how the pit tries to cope with all the stuff you've put in it.

Eureka ! ! !

And in Arabic countries don't forget: never use your left to shake hands.

Morocco: Fossils

I love fossils! On our way to the dessert we stopped in Erfoud, a town well known for its marble industry which produces a black marble containing fossils. The morning we were leaving we decided to visit one of the fossil workshops.
The shop was impressive. The walls and the shelves were littered with carved stones containing fossils. The man in the shop explained to us that they find the chunks of marble rock and then they polish the rock until it has a smooth surface so they can make it into sinks or plates or whatever they want. Apart from that they also carved them individually.

At first some of the fossils seemed to impressive to be real. But then the man explained that the fossils were originally all jumbled up one on top of the other, and that they separated them to leave the best ones on the rock. The photograph at the top has my shoe next to the fossil so you can compare the size. And the photo at the bottom is one of the working tables in which they chiseled the fossils.

Morocco: The Journey

Part of our trip to Morocco mainly consisted in driving. Our journey started in Ceuta. From Ceuta we went to Chefchaouen. The countryside there was more like Spain, and wasn't so hot. From Chefchaouen we went to Fes. That was a long hot ride with very arid scenery.We spent a flew nights at a campsite just outside Fes, and after that we headed to the Middle Atlas. We got lost a few times but at the end we fount a little hotel in a berber village next to the cedar forest. The next day we drove though the cedar forest all day and we camped in the middle of the forest.
Our next stop was Middelt. We stayed two nights in Middelt and then we continued south to the High Atlas. After that we passed the High Atlas we stopped in Ergh Chebbi, the desert. And that was as far south as we went. From Erg Chebbi we went to Meknes and visited the ruins of the ancient Roman town of Volubilis. Then we went to the coastal village of Asilah which was full of Spanish tourists and after that we went back to Ceuta. This is a photograph of a herd of camels surrounding my car.

Morocco: Desert

The Erg Chebbi dunes are a patch of sand twenty two km long and five km wide that stretch along the Southeast of Morocco, fifteen kilometers from Argelia.
This was probably one of the highlights of our trip to Morocco.
We got there, it was late afternoon, but it was still hot. We got out of the car and started heading for the dunes.
We walked along the dunes, and took photographs. The dunes really are just as you see them in films but its actually very special being there. There were kilometers and kilometers of sand just waiting to be trodden on but unfortunately we didn't explore much. As you can see in the photo I took it was cloudy so we couldn't see the sunset. But the feeling of being there in that evaporated sea was something I'll hopefully never forget.

The whale tour

After Morocco we took a whale tour in the Strait of Gibraltar.This was one of the photographs I took of the killer whales. The Strait is a very special place for marine life because the currents between the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic sea mix and the are lots of nutrients in the water. This attracts lots fish. And fish attract bigger fish. And bigger fish attract dolphins and whales. And whales attract tourists. So that's why we went there, to see whales. The first whales we saw were Pilot whales. They were quite easy going.
After that we saw some Bottle nosed dolphins just behind them, they were amazing. They jumped and splashed and they did what a dolphin is supposed to do. We stayed with the dolphins quite a lot of time, and after that the serious whale hunt began:
We headed to the Moroccan coast were the Moroccan fishermen were fishing for tuna. Tuna is the killer whale's specialty. So what they do is they wait for the fishermen to catch the tuna and eat it up before they pull up the line. This was probably one of the highlights of our journey.
There they were, a pack of twelve killer whales just in front of our boat. We saw them for at least fifteen minutes .Until it was time to go. I had a very nice time on the whale tour, and I hope I can do it again some time.

Morocco: Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen was our first stop in Morocco. Chefcaouen is a village in the Rif mountains (Morocco). It's home to about 36000 people and attractive to tourists. It has an old casbah which was used to fight the Portuguese.This is one of the photographs I took when I went there . In 1920 it was invaded by the Spanish and given back to Morocco in Morocco's independence day 1956. I liked the town very much. The Medina was the prettiest part of all. And what impressed me most was to see children working to earn money for their family.
I didn't enjoy the tea or the couscous. But the rest of the food was all fine.
I also noticed the people used donkeys to carry things around and that is something that doesn't happen any more in Spain because they have been substituted by modern technology.

A visit to the Warner Bros Theme Park

The other day I went to the Warner Theme Park with some friends. Warner Bros Theme Park is an adventure park in which you can ride on roller coasters, river rapids, watch shows and basically enjoy yourself.

The Theme Park's Symbol.

We arrived at eleven o clock to the Central Square. From then on we planed our day. First my friends took me to the Superman roller coaster. Before the ride I was really scared but after I went on it once, it didn't scare me at all, in fact it went so quick I didn't know when I was upside down or not. I even liked it so much I rode on it three times in total. After that we went to the Batman Roller coaster, that was quite fun too. It was a bit shorter than the Superman but a lot faster.

The next thing we did was go to the waterfalls. They took us in a little boat through a twisty long river and then the boat went down a slope at 70 km/h and got us all wet.

Superman Roller Coaster

Fortunately we had our swimming trunks on and they didn't take a lot of time to dry.

When we got dry we went to visit all the village decorations. They are very realistic and original, I specially like the Old West village.

By this time It was about three o clock so we went to have lunch. We ate a very good pizza at the Boulevard.

After that we went to watch a show in the middle of an artificial lake. That was quite good.

Now it started to get really hot so we went to the River Rapids which were very wet and enjoyable. Then we went to the Batman simulator which was very dizzy and unpleasant. And after that, we decided to watch the Batman Show in "Gotham City". That was exciting.

Later in the afternoon I got dizzy in the Turning Tea Cups and after that we went on the rickety rackety Wild West roller coaster which was very bumpy and not as amazing as the other ones.

Just before we were about to leave we all had some drinks and I bought an enormous Superman tea cup.

And that was the end of that.

I really enjoyed the Warner Bros Theme Park and I hope I go back some time.

Giant Squids and Hancok

Dissected Squid

A giant squid was found in some fishermens' net in the western coast of Australia. Scientists have killed it to dissect it in public. This was supposed to be so people could raise questions in public and so scientists could find out more about these enormous strange creatures. This one they found was the second biggest squid ever found. It was twelve meters long and it weighed 248 kg.

Hancock

I went to the cinema with my friends the other day and we saw this film. It surprised me a lot. It was a very good film. It's all about a man with powers who saves the city his own way, he always causes unnecessary damage so nobody likes him. As he's all alone and guilty he drinks, that makes his reputation worse. One day he saves a man from a car crash. The man wants to reward him so he starts a plan so Hancock can be a good hero, but lots of difficulties are going to get in the way.

Hancok is a very good film that mixes humor, action and drama.

Rating: 89%->100%

Warhammer

I like painting Warhammer in my free time. Warhammer is a complicated fiction game in which you play with little plastic or metal figures which you paint your self.

The figures belong to different "species" of Warhammer and they're usually quite gory. I specially enjoy painting them, but I don't enjoy playing so much.

The species I like most are Skeletons and Dark Elves. The figures are really small and difficult to paint, but before you start to paint you've got to stick the pieces together and you can combine uniforms as you like. Its all part of the fun.

The figures are quite expensive for what they are, but in my opinion they are worth buying.

Even more expensive is the battlefield, which I prefer to make myself. This one in the photograph I made out of papier mache, small sticks, pieces of polystyrene foam and sand.

Hulk

I've just come back from the cinema from seeing Hulk 2. It's a good film. In my opinion better than the first part. Its got superb special effects, good script, excellent story and loads of action. If you liked the first one you will like this one even more.
I specially like the persecution at the beginning.
What I also like about the film is that the end promises a third film, in which I think the doctor is going to have something to do with all of it. If you like action this is what you need.
(They've been specially careful to try not to burst the pants)

-Rating out of 100% ->87%

Happy Holidays

We're planning to go to Morocco this summer, visiting the Atlas mountains and maybe even seeing apes in the cedar forests.

My summer holidays are not any normal holidays. Most kids in Spain would go to the beach one week and relax in the sand, but not me. My holidays normally include more risk and adventure. I'm not saying I don't like it, because I actually do and I've got quite used to it, but I wouldn't mind trying a couple of relaxing weeks on the beach just for once.

I do realize it's a privilege to have holidays like mine: walking up mountains, paddling down rapids, traveling through Europe with a van and two tents or driving though the Atlas Mountains but I could try having normal holidays. Even if they aren't so successful they would help me to get an other point of view.

White Cubs

Three lion cubs are being looked after in a safari park in Germany after their mother rejected them for being white and not like the rest.
Albino animals are quite rare, and they are white because the melanin in their skin doesn't have color. The only problem is that it doesn't camouflage them. There are only about three hundred white lions in the world.
These three lion cubs were the survivors after the mother left them alone. Luckily for the zoo, the lion cubs are attracting a lots of visitors, and with hope the three cubs will come along nicely.

Sanfermines

Today was the last day of the San Fermin festival. The Sanfermines is a very well known tradition in Spain and it takes part in Pamplona. This tradition of running the bulls started in XVI century and has kept up until now. It takes part between the seventh and the fourteenth of July. I like watching the Sanfermines but I don't like watching the bullfighting after it, because its a very cruel sport. People also get drunk during the festival.
Originally the sanfermines were only run by the pamplonenses but now lots of people without experience run too, this causes lots of injuries because the bulls get nervous and try to attack people.

This is a good example of a normal running of the bulls:

Slugs and mammoths

Slugs

Scientists have discovered a new species of slug in Wales (UK). It's not brown like normal species, it's white. And it doesn't have eyes. It's thought it eats earthworms instead of leaves like other slugs. It's been named Ghost slug.


Mammoths

A mammoth exhibition has opened in Japan. Mammoths became extinct thousands of years ago but these were found frozen and that's why they've kept so long. Mammoths lived in Africa, Asia and Europe in the Ice-Age and now elephants are their closest relatives. In the exhibition there was a young one year old female and a forty year adult.

Seal killing is not a sport !

Seal killing is a horrible thing. Thousands of hooded seals and harp seals are being killed every year in Canada and in Norway for their fur. But the problem is, that like every animal that's killed for his fur, they are bashed to death with clubs and other illegal weapons. This is a brutal way to kill a defenseless animal. And now people are making business out of it: taking tourists to kill the animals just for fun, like a sport. In 2003 350000 seals where killed. And each year that number is going t0 be repeated. Almost 42% of the seals are skinned wile they are still alive. Some of the cause of seal killing is also because some fishermen say they bring lots of parasites and take their fish. This horrible truth is the worlds largest mammal kill.

Kayaking

I belong to a kayaking club. Kayaking is a good sport and uses about 70% of your muscles. Daily training helps you to feel good physically and mentally. My club is very competitive and all the team members train very hard to achieve good results. I've now been in the club for five years and I'm enjoying it a lot. We're very lucky because we have a very good trainer, and he's even been named as Spain's best trainer of the year.

I also like to train in the river because it's surrounded by wildlife. Lot's of people don't appreciate this, but if they did they would realise what a special sport this is.

My pet frogs

Last Friday I caught some frogs in a pond near my house. They are baby Marsh frogs and, as you can see, they are excellent hunters. I'm keeping them in a large plastic box which imitates their their natural habitat. They are quite young so they have colour variations and don't all look the same. Some of the younger ones stick to the small invertebrate diet wile the bigger ones prefer to eat flies, moths and small insects in general.

Here is a video I made so you can see them feeding on an ant I gave them: you will see how the frog first tastes its prey and then eats it.



This method of keeping a little pond is a good one because it creates a micro-habitat that works the same way as the real one, though you must be careful not to put in too many predators like frogs otherwise the food-chain would be unstable and fail.

Swooping and jumping

I found this video by chance and I really like it. I specially like the bit where they walk up the wall and do a somersault. It's a pity there are no training centers like theirs where I live, because think that if I got the chance of doing it I would. I suppose they have to train a lot to be able do it in the street. I think they all have a lot of talent and I'm sure they can make a good use of it, although there are lots of people with hidden talents that don't get to use them. I've really liked this video and I hope you do too.

Creepy Crawlies

Why do people hate creepy crawlies? They're just species like any other. And they don't do any harm at all. I personally quite like them: They all have a mission in the life cycle, some of them even benefit us like spiders ( eating mosquitoes), they don't do us any harm, and some of them help to decompose what nobody wants to eat. After all if it wasn't for them we wouldn't exist.
I think people just don't like how the look or how they move or even how easily they sneak up on you with out you knowing. But after all they are good guys.

(Please object if you feel you should).

Prince Caspian

I saw this film today in the cinema, it's not a bad film but the end was quite unsatisfactory.Even though, I think the first one was much better. I think I liked the first one more because the film lies mainly in the principal characters. But in this one the Caspian guy just messes it all up. He doesn't really need to be there, The story could be just fine with out him. I would of expected a story about Susan, Piter, Edmund and Lucy living their one adventure. But after all I have to admit that it was well made, and I enjoyed it

My prize picky

This is a picture I took for the photograph competition in Talavera. And guess what... I won the second prize. I got quite a surprise. I really didn't think I'd win anything, though I have to admit I only did it for the prize.
I personally think that the composition is good. And you don't usually get a light surface when the clouds are blocking the sun. That is what I think makes the photograph interesting. And getting the three eyes of the bridge was quite clever too if you don't mind me saying so. Whoever reads this please comment, I'd like to know other points of view.

Football, singing birds and black rhinos

Spain wins Europe's football cup

Yesterday Spain won Europe's football cup against Germany. It was a tight match and both teams did as much as they could. The final scores were Spain 1 - 0 Germany. The only goal was scored by Fernando Torres in a desperate act, as he leaped over a German player.


Birds are singing themselves sick

Birds in British cities are having to sing louder so they can be heard on top of other city noises such as traffic. This is damaging their voices and ears. Some of them are even singing at night when there is less sound, and this too brings consequences, because it attracts predators.

More African Black Rhinos

The African Black Rhino population is rising, even though they are still endangered, there numbers have risen from 1,000 to 4,180.