Sara Collantes - London: Concrete, glass and flesh

What could I say about London that hasn’t already been said? How can I, in barely 600 words, live up to a city that gave me so much in such a short time?

It gave me the freedom which comes from anonymity, you know, to walk throughout the city as if it were mine. I felt at home every moment of every day while walking down its famous streets and parks: St. James’s Park, Camden Town, Covent Garden, Bishop’s Park or the Soho at night. I was exposed to lots of culture, since London is known worldwide for being a paradise for people who love art, history, theatre, music and cinema. Its cultural offer is simply endless (and often free): The British Museum, The Natural History Museum, The National Gallery, The Victoria & Albert Museum, etc. And the most important thing, it gave me a new point of view from a more open mind.

London had never been one of those cities I was looking forward to visiting before I die, but over a year ago, the chance of going suddenly showed up. A friend of mine was there doing an internship as part of his University doctorate in Neurobiology. Héctor, that’s his name, was having a really hard time as he was there all alone, away from his family and friends, and he didn’t stop telling me how amazing the city was. So I didn’t think about it twice and two weeks later we, my boyfriend and me, were there, in the big city.

It was a gloomy Tuesday but it seemed to me like all was glittering when I went out of Picadilly Circus tube station. Everything there is big and intense but at the same time absolutely accessible and unpretentious. There’s a perfect blend of the highest office towers with the simplicity of some old buildings. A really good example is the Globe, a reconstruction of the 16th-century theatre where most of Shakespeare’s works were played, whose next-door “neighbour” is the Tate Modern, a former power station turned into the most visited gallery of modern art in the world.

Find me if you can!

Now, you should juggle what the day can offer you with its astonishing nightlife. I mean, when you’re in this enchanting city with your perfect partner and one of your best friends, time just flies. We went to every rock bar we could afford or we found on our way, regardless of whether they were big and popular or tiny and filthy, until we lost the track of time - and missed the last tube as well! But the second floor of a double-decker at 4 in the morning is great fun.

Brian May live!

London is the city par excellence. Not only does it have its own life, which runs giddily through its veins, whether narrow streets or big avenues, but it’s this life which also trapped me and I didn’t even notice. London is a blend of cultures and races, a labyrinth of concrete, glass and flesh but I didn’t want to find the way out. It didn’t win my heart at first sight but little by little: every sip of my pint, every step I took in a park and every “sorry” I got from a stranger, tied me to the city inevitably. Everything is possible in London, even seeing Brian May in concert in St. Pancras’ railway station - like it wasn't important at all!

It is ironic how people always highlight London’s vast proportions and infinite possibilities but then we all get amazed for its quiet and cozy isolated, places, and eventually, end up falling in love with it.

I want to finish this post with some beautiful words stolen from a book by Peter Ackroyd called “London: The Biography”: “London goes beyond any boundary or convention. It contains every wish or word ever spoken, every action or gesture ever made, every harsh or noble statement ever expressed. It is illimitable. It is Infinite London”.

Sara, congrats on a fantastic post! It's really written from the heart, and I can see how much enjoyed London.

Tell you what, guys. Samuel Johnson used to say "When a man (sic) is tired of London, he's tired of life". The things is I went to the British capital a few times in a row in the early / mid 80s, so eventually I kind of grew tired of it myself. I mean, don't get me wrong, how can anyone deny there's so much to do and see there? So many instantly recognizable landmarks (do I need to write a legend under each photo?!) to visit. But still I thought enough was enough and I should know other equally interesting places in the UK. Besides, I daresay I've never been that keen on huge cities, and the usually chaotic traffic, the "hustle and bustle", made London somewhat less appealing.

I  know someone else in the class has also visited this "wonder"ful city, so will you post your own comments about it, now that we're dealing with the subject of "Wonders of the world"?

Rosa Baez - Lewis Hine’s exhibition: Building a nation

Lewis Hine's self-portrait

Last weekend I had the chance to see the Lewis Hine exhibition placed in San Benito Gallery in Valladolid.

Lewis Hine (1874-1940) was an American sociologist and photographer, considered the father of documentary photography. He took his pictures in the USA, mainly in New York, in the first third of the 20th century.

He realized that “one picture is worth a thousand words” and used his camera as a tool for social reform, so much so that he finally managed to change some labour laws.

The exhibition, which consists of 60 original photos, can be divided into three collections or projects:

First Collection: Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island

At the beginning of the 20th century, New York was the most important city in the world, so many people from overseas left their countries pursuing the American Dream.

Ellis Island is next to the Statue of Liberty, where boats full of immigrants had to stop in order to control and test them before they were allowed to enter New York.

Some of the photos in this project are portraits: faces alone - their skin prematurely aged - as well as big families with all their humble belongings, who look nostalgic, penniless, sick and tired.

Second Collection: Child labour conditions

Children working in the street, selling newspapers, delivering packages, etc.

Children from Pittsburgh, some of them working in cotton mills, others in coal mines.

It’s very shocking that children look extremely tiny compared to the objects they manufacture, like newspapers, machines or suits.

Along with child labour, there are some photographs that show mothers and their children working in humble, dirty and untidy rooms in their own homes. Even the youngest child, who is no more than five years old, is working. In one particular photograph the family are assembling parts of plastic flowers while in another they are all sewing clothes. We must take into consideration that work at home was a low-paying job.

Third Collection: Men working in the Empire State Building

In these photographs Hine demonstrates his admiration for those strong young men who risked their lives working at hundreds of metres high. They were heroes, without whose effort the building, prosperity and growth of the USA wouldn’t have been possible.

This thrilling, moving and historical exhibition will be open until 27th April. It is a must!

On this video from the BBC you can see some of Lewis Hine’s photographs: The child labour photos that shamed America.

Thanks a lot, Rosa. A fantastic post to celebrate 3,500 hits of our blog! I couldn't remember Hine by his name but the moment you mentioned the iconic image of some Empire State workers (see below), I realised who you were talking about. Such inspiring black-and-white photos, aren't they? But hey, was it a photo during the building of the ES or the Rockefeller Centre, instead? And did Lewis Hines actually take that legendary shot?

The iconic "Lunch atop the the skyscraper". Was it just a publicity stunt?

It's only coincidence that a few months ago I happened to get into a bar in town near Cuesta Sancti Spiritus - whose name I fail to remember now - which featured this instantly recognizable snap as part of its lively decoration. I couldn't help staring at it for a few minutes while sipping a beer and I wondered what was the life story of those men in the photo. But yesterday, when I was looking for the image online, I unexpectedly came across an article of September 2012 appeared in the Daily Mail which might shock you all. It did to me indeed!

Maite Garcia - My favourite scene: Troy

Troy is an epic film which tells the story of the victories and tragedies happened in the legendary War of Troy. Its plot is based on the Greek epic poem "The Iliad", the most ancient poem of Western literature, written by Homer. This film also includes material from other sources such as "The Odyssey" by the same writer or "The Aeneid" whose author is Virgil. 

Troy starts with a huge feast organized by Menelaus, King of Sparta, in honour of their guests, Hector and Paris, princes of Troy, in order to make peace, as they had been bitter enemies all their lives. Nonetheless, the unbelievably attractive Paris, played by Orlando Bloom, falls in love with Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, who unfortunately is married to Menelaus, the host king. This fact doesn't stop Paris from running away with the Queen of Sparta. His unconscious, immature action will trigger a series of conflicts which the great Achilles, Ulysses, Hector or Priam see themselves involved in. 

After that brief introduction, I must admit that Troy is not one my favourite films because its director, Wolfgang Petersen, was much more concerned about making a blockbuster, that is to say, he paid more attention to the entertainment value than the historical accuracy. However, when I saw the film, a scene made a strong impression on me, maybe for its extreme tension and its beautiful soundtrack. I am talking about the awesome fight between Hector, prince of Troy, and Achilles, warrior of Sparta, which I would like to share with you. 

Thanks Maite. I'm delighted that you've posted another entry after a pretty long while, actually after your film review of Nosferatu back in November, is that right? 

That said, honestly I didn't think much of Troy when I saw the film either. I mean, it was entertaining enough, but the storyline was, to my mind, pretty weak and - I couldn't agree more with you - rather inaccurate as regards its historical background; moreover, I wouldn't say this is Mr Pitt's best performance to date, is it? But hey guys, if you disagree with Maite and me, we'd love to read your comments, wouldn't we Maite?

Paco de Lucia: Death of a guitar god

I probably would have never listened to flamenco attentively had it not been for the immense talent of two geniuses of Spanish music: Camarón de la Isla and, indeed, Paco de Lucia.

I discovered the genre pretty late, in the mid-80s, when I started working as a language school teacher in Salamanca at the old building in Calle Peñafiel. One of my colleagues, Santiago, was in his office listening on a cassette (those were the days!) to Camaron de la Isla's legendary record, La Leyenda del Tiempo. He asked me if I liked him and I must have replied, quite unenthusiastically I guess, that I had not listened to much of his stuff and in any case flamenco was not my cup of tea. Rather annoyed - or at least shocked - he replied in his funny madrileño accent (and I'm quoting his words in English to the best of my ability) something like: "Are you joking, mate? He's the dog's bollocks!" (Es la hos***! - if you'll pardon my French, ha!)

So he insisted on me taking the tape home and only then did I start to appreciate the real magic of that spiritual music, even if La Leyenda ... was not really a classic example of pure flamenco but rather ground-breaking and revolutionary actually, as it combined the old tradition with many elements of modern music, even a bass and electric guitar! Prior to that "discovery, I must admit I'd always thought that flamenco was second-rate, the weird music of the humble gypsies. How could I be so wrong! And we can claim without a doubt that it was the influence of both Camaron de la Isla and Paco de Lucia that elevated the often underrated genre to the category of art. I've always compared flamenco to the blues - alongside rock, my favourite musical genre - in the sense that they're both deeply spiritual, music with a true "soul". Actually, I used to refer to Black Americans as the gypsies of the USA!

Of course I'd listened to Paco's music before Camarón. I mean, can anyone say they've never heard the familiar tune of arguably the most famous rumba of all time, Entre dos Aguas? But it was that instant fondness of Camarón that years ago made me also interested in the work of other flamenco icons, mainly by the maestro de Algeciras.

There's no doubt whatsoever that Paco de Lucia is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, guitarists of all time. Venerated by his flamenco colleagues, admired by his contemporary fellow performers, his influence is out of this world. He had the technique of a god, with those devilishly quick fingers, and the duende of a one-off artist. My son David, a keen guitarist himself, says it's almost impossible to play like he does, and with the years Paco has become one of his all-time guitar heroes. So much so that he feels devastated by his sudden death.

But rather than my boring words, let Paco's glorious music speak for itself. Firstly, how about a Chick Corea classic tune you may know, Spain, which I particularly love as performed live by three "monsters" of guitar playing, who so many times collaborated with one another: Paco himself, John McLaughlin and Al di Meola. Sheer joy!

But I should not forget, of course, that Paco's roots are Flamenco and Andalucia, so without further ado, I'd like to embed this amazing buleria by the unique, majestic duet of Paco and the long-gone, sorely-missed Camarón back in 1976. Makes my hair stand on end! Puro duende!

Last but not least, there's this fantastic clip featuring Paco with the legendary Ravi Shankar (have you heard of his famous relationship with George Harrison?), a sitar virtuoso, while they discuss (in English) the much-debated connection between flamenco and Indian music. Really interesting!

You must be thinking that Paco's English skills were not that good. Indeed he was not very talkative or fond of TV interviews. That's why you'll find interesting to watch him speak the language (English, I mean) in this rare, very personal interview on Polish television. It feels weird to hear him talk (again in his halting English) about his little house on the coast of Mexico, where he loved to spend long stretches to unwind - and where he eventually found his untimely death.

HASTA SIEMPRE, MAESTRO!

Rosa Baez - My favorite film: Life of Pi (A magical tale about trust and faith)

Pi survives 227 days with a Bengali tiger on a lifeboat drifting across the Pacific Ocean. He overcomes this life and death struggle thanks to his trusting, optimistic thoughts: 

First and foremost, he realizes that the tiger is essential for his survival because it keeps him awake and he finds the true meaning of his life by searching for seafood and providing the tiger with it in order to avoid being devoured.  

He also remembers all the life lessons from his family; for instance, his father showed him the tiger’s primal carnivorous instinct while his uncle taught him to swim and not to be afraid of water.

He finds a book on the lifeboat with a wise tip: "Above all, don’t lose hope”, and he sticks to it. He firmly believes that God cares for him although he can’t understand how.

Finally, they both reach the Mexican coast and after Pi recovers his health, he keeps his enthusiasm for life without being spoilt by this hard experience.

This thought-provoking film reminds us that “life is a story and you can choose yours”.

Thanks, Rosa! Indeed "Life of Pi" is a great story as well as a visually stunning movie.  

Since you don't mention a particular scene, let me choose one for you, actually the moment when both Pi and the beautiful (3D animated) tiger - which goes by the funny name of Richard parker - reach the shore of Mexico after their amazing ordeal at sea. So moving!