My pleasure

General, Students' Corner

To all my students


With the holidays fast approaching I want to thank you all for being such nice students. It hasn’t been a good year to me on a personal level but my classes have helped me get over some very sad moments in my life.
I know this exam week has been tough on you; some of you took it lightly and some totally serious (to be honest, I really appreciate the serious ones). My biggest gripe is having wonderfully good students do badly, while some others that never seem to study enough do extremely well. But I can do little about it. I wish you well and hope you enjoy your summer holidays.
This photograph is the best I had and that’s the only reason to choose this class and not any other. I hope you don’t mind being in the limelight.
Good luck!!!

Maria Mena

Music

Maria Mena is a singer-songwriter from Norway, only 21 years old and she has already released 3 cd’s, of which her last album”Apparently Unaffected” with the single “Just Hold Me” has put her on the international charts.
“I’ve always tried to be really honest and really direct and not hide anything,” she says. “I just write songs that I would want to listen to. One song can create one emotion or several.”

For Maria Mena, it always comes back to the music. “Have you ever hummed a melody that you just made up?,” she asks. “That’s how I do it, though it’s more intense, on a more conscious level. I collect words and I collect sentences until I get a song, then I put them down together. I’ve learned to use that gift.” She works with producer Arvid Solvang to create her arrangements. “I sing for him, hum the melody, and he puts chords to it,” she says. “I have this sound in my head. Within pop, you have little boundaries, but I can do whatever I want: I can do jazz, soul, and R&B, but all within pop. Music keeps on breaking boundaries, it keeps on pushing those limits and that is what makes everything so universal and so amazing and I don’t think we should explain it. Just leave it at that and basically see where it takes us next.”
Fancy listening to her lovely voice in “Just hold me“? Pity the video isn’t any better, I imagine it has a lot to do with the fact that she doesn’t sell many records but ,in my opinion, this singer has grace, taste and talent and a very rich voice which reaches deep .

 

Click here to read the lyrics

Sorry , the video is no longer available for embeddding but you will find it here.�
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1R_NmIOqGU . It’s worth a visit.

Designer Clothes

General, Students' Corner,

Sent by Estela Ramon Garcia, 4th year student


First and foremost, I have to say that I’m not the kind of girl who is hooked on shopping and on designer clothes because I’m convinced that you don’t have to wear brand clothes to be dressed up or to be cool, actually, a lot of brand items aren’t cool at all. I mean, usually, while I’m looking through some magazines I realise how spaced-out film stars are, because they put on such ugly gear that they look really scruffy and badly-dressed, don’t they?
On the one hand , having brand clothes is surpassing the boundaries because as far as I know, there are people who blow their money on buying these clothes instead of saving it for a rainy day, and in the end they are broke. From my point of view they just do this to boast and pretend they are wealthy.
On the other hand there are well-off people who can afford to purchase these trendy clothes because of their huge wages. This kind of people usually splash out their money on having everything from a designer name. I believe that people usually fall into the mistake of thinking that if you don’t have expensive clothes you are laid-back and not cool at all. Nevertheless, the truth is the opposite thing, because you are more likely to be spaced out and spoiled if you have loads of expensive things. In my opinion, this sort of people isn’t cool or fashionable , they are posh.
To me being posh it’s not just buying designer clothes, it’s the way you behave, the thoughts and feelings you have…it’s everything! I have to say that as far as I’m concerned purchasing brand gear doesn’t make me posh or spoiled because I’m really down-to earth and sensible and I know that I’m not cooler because I wear one thing or the other. Besides, I often go shopping to unknown places, although to be honest, I have to say that I usually tend to be appealed by brand clothes because I like their designers much more than the bargains I come across in cheap shops, so that’s the reason why I have some fancy gear.
To sum up ,I have to say that in my case, I go for trendy clothes because I like to be cute and dressed up, and I can’t help going window shopping, but this doesn’t mean having everything from a well-known brand. I believe that is a complete waste of money buying a plain shirt which costs you a rip-off and you pay through the nose just because it has a tiny label on it. In these cases I would rather buy one in an unknown shop or at least during sales.