The Happy Prince

B1 students have read this moving tale by Oscar Wilde. It was only written in the 19th century and it’s already a classic. We’d love to read your comment!

Sicko – Healthcare in the USA

Sick-o /síkou/, not psycho /sáikou/! Directed by Michael Moore – watch the trailer & get it at Free Documentaries

Sherman Alexie on The Absolute True Diary…

Watch Sherman Alexie (Smoke Signals and…) reading an excerpt from “The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” (by clicking on the previous link you can read three more excerpts in comments we posted!)

The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)

One of the funniest, most constructively intelligent and tenderest movies ever! You learn about the very nonviolent Bush people in a desert in Africa, you learn about our very violent world in contrast (but the film shows no nasty scenes) and also about what is important in life. You laugh your head off in natural ways, not compulsively. It’s a must, people!
The beginning is kind of misleading. It sounds and looks like a documentary. It’s like a Background Information intro. But then we get the story, or stories, so real, so human that you realize most things we see are not!
This movie, or series of movies (it’s got 3 parts or so) contains insightful material, hilarious stories, that allow you to realize those obvious things we’ve forgotten about! Kindness and solidarity survive and develop in a world where the gods have gone nuts!
It all begins with a bushman finding an empty bottle of… Are the gods crazy? Have you seen this awesome movie? (They’re showing it these days on pay TV)

Laugh (a singing poem)

For Avanzado 2 students, here is this amazing poem on laughter by Zena Edwards (British – Caribbean English – thanks, Dave! ). In the Monday group this week we read Sorrentino’s “There’s a man in the habit of hitting me on the head with an umbrella” and ended up talking about happiness… I thought you might all enjoy this. Oh, feel free to post your comments (do so! do so! ) and also… why don’t we try to write down bits of it? Here I go… Just the beginning…

Video poems

Check out “Constellations”, a moving poem! (in the two senses!)
http://www.motionpoems.com/

Would you like to record a video poem? Tell us about it!

Dan In Real Life

A romantic comedy, with a peculiar family, an ideal family, really.
The score (soundtrack) is great. If you go to “downloads” and then scroll down, you can listen to some of the songs. Great to learn English!
Dan in Real Life - Official website

The Meatrix

The critically-acclaimed, award-winning Meatrix movies – The Meatrix Homepage

The Meatrix Interactive

Sustainable Table (healthy food)

Zeitgeist: Addendum

Eli (Av2) sent us this amazing video: a 2-hour documentary, which is an addendum to a movie, Zeitgest. It’s name is Zeitgeist: Addendum (Watch it and tell us what you think!).
Both are fine examples of Artivism (notice the lexical creativity: this newly created word blends Art + Activism).
Some of the deep questions that might come up: Do you fit in society? Or are you being dehumanized by money? More practical questions: How do inflation and debt work? Is the money there is, real? What would happen if everybody were able to pay off their debts?
Please, share your views!

World Book and Copyright Day

By establishing April 25th as the international day to celebrate reading and writing, UNESCO is trying to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property. “The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George’s Day, a rose is traditionally given as a gift for each book sold.”
Check out their website to find out more about this!

Another interesting project promoting reading (and involving not spending much money!) is Book Crossing. Read and release! Check out their website to find out more about them!

Finally, support bookshops in Getafe! Don’t buy your books in great department stores!

Please, if you read this or have anything to say, post a little comment so we know this thread was interesting or useful for you!

How Art Made the World

First episode of an amazing BBC documentary — More Human than Human. If anybody wishes to post their views or tell people about it, great!

Life of Brian – We’re all individuals

By Monty Python. Do you enjoy this scene? Do you understand what they say?

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

Considering some students are reading about Sir Conan Doyle’s classic, we thought you might enjoy this music. It was composed by Miklos Rozsa and it’s part of the soundtrack of a  1970 Billy Wilder film (minute 5!), “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”. Tell us if you like it. Enjoy!

Steinbeck and The Grapes of Wrath

Here is a 1 min 40 sec video on Steinbeck and why he started writing this amazing novel. Enjoy!
PS: the thread where everybody is posting after reading the book is here. (You can always find older threads by using the Categories on your left, anyway)

Rare Superman Comic to Be Auctioned Off

Superman was created by two teenagers from Cleveland, Jerry Siegel (writer) and Joe Shuster (artist). They failed to convince comics publishers and newspapers to print their stories until Superman finally made his first appearance in ACTION COMICS #1, cover date June 1938.
Listen to the news and feel free to post your comments! Thanks!
More: Superman on Radio and Audio