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Xcèntric Festival – Anti Popcorn Cinema
As it is being usual, The Contemporary Culture Centre of Barcelona, the CCCB, is once again organizing its most creative, experimental and risky film festival, the Xcèntric: a film contest that is quite different to more conventional systems, ideal for people who love a more personal cinema that it’s hard to watch on any other theatres. In this ninth edition, that started last December and will go on until June, the visitor can watch movies with a very clear purpose: to be able to watch great works that are otherwise impossible to watch in any other place. Special sessions This year, Xcèntric premieres a brand new space to promote local authors and creators who move between cinema, assays and experimental documentary. Former students who participated in the past Aula Xcèntric ( a kind of seminar class) will exhibit their own films this year. If you decide to go, you can’t miss the special sessions of this Festival, just like the one prepared for Sunday 31st , called “Tropical Modernity. The Cinema of Dominique González-Foerster”. This acclaimed French artist has exhibited her work in prestigious places such as Documenta of Kassel, Venice and Sao Paolo Biennals or TheTate Modern in London, but it’s barely been seen on screen. Indeed, this is your chance to discover her. Other creators whose works can be seen at Xcèntric are: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Takashi Ito, Fred Worden, Matthias Müller, Sara MacLean, Ben Russell and The Lumière Brothers. All screenings will be in their original versions with Catalan subtitles on Wednesdays and Sundays. If you have already booked your stay on Apartments in Barcelona, come...
Eros Ramazzotti in Madrid
Eros Luciano Walter Ramazzotti (born on 28th October, 1963) known as Eros Ramazzoti, is an Italian singer and songwriter. He is one of the most popular artists in Italy, and is well known not only in non English-speaking European countries but also in most of the Spanish-speaking countries where he released most of his albums in both Italian and Spanish. Ramazzotti, son of a pianist, who was named after the Greek god of love, started to play the guitar at the age of seven. At an early age he would occasionally appear as an extra in films while spending most of his time dreaming of having a career as a pop-star. When he was a teenager he wrote songs with help from his father Rodolfo. Later, he decided to attend a musical conservatory but instead he ended up taking a training program for being a book-keeper. 1981 he took part in a music contest called Voci Nuove Di Castrocaro (new voices of Castrocaro Terme) with the song “Rock 80” that he wrote himself. His first single “Ad un amico” (To a friend) appeared in 1982 which, however was not very successful. But soon after that he met his mentor Renato Brioschi who helped the young artist to find his first success.In 1984 he took part in a highly-regarded festival called Sanremo festival with his song “Terra Promessa” (Promised Land), and won the competition for the category “Newcomers”. His success lies greatly in his unique voice which could be described as somewhat nasal but a bit aggressive at the same time, and he always delivers catchy, melodic tunes which are...
Valentine’s Day around the World
Who says that love is celebrated only one day a year? It is true that having a special date can be an excuse to pamper your partner in a more original way than other days. It is a unique opportunity to make a declaration of love, a huge surprise or a special dinner. But how is Valentine´s Day celebrated in other countries? The customs of each society can be fascinating, because there are thousands of ways to express the love for someone. In New York, for example, seven couples are chosen to marry this day on the balcony of the 80th floor of the Empire State Building. Others usually create greeting cards called Valentines Day cards that are decorated with hearts and cupids, which are exchanged among friends. On 14th February, some 900 million Valentines Day cards are sent in the U.S.! The single Italian and the English women wake that morning with a special hope. When they wake up they have to look out of the window and wait for a man to pass. The legend says that the first man that passes in front of her “door of love” will marry her. Italian families take it so seriously that this day they cook as if it were Christmas, for the whole family and friends! In Denmark, this is the day of the flowers: the people usually send white flowers to their beloved ones that are often compared to “snow drops”. Men send “funny unsigned letters”, substituting their name for dots (one for each letter). If the woman guesses who her Valentine is, the man is rewarded with...
The Seven Trumpets, the Seventh Seal of the Book of Apocalypse
The Seventh is the last of the Seven Seals of the Book of Revelation (the last book of the New Testament). All describe terrible prophecies for the earth. The first four seals are those of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, predicting false prophets, wars, famine and death, respectively; the Fifth Seal is the one of the Great Tribulation, which predicted indiscriminate persecution against the Christians; the Sixth Seal describes natural disasters and, finally, the Seventh Seal is the one of the Seven Trumpets, each one equivalent to a terrible plague. The Seventh Seal is divided into several stages, each of them corresponding to a Trumpet. Every time a Trumpet sounds, a plague is launched upon the earth: the first four are described as strong winds that whip across the globe. The Fifth and the Sixth will bring more war (presumably the two phases of the Third World War which is yet to come). The last three Trumpets – the Fifth, the Sixth and the Seventh, are called Woes. These are the Seven Trumpets: The First Trumpet: there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up; The Second Trumpet: something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed; The Third Trumpet: a great star, blazing like a torch, fell...
The heavenly signs, the Sixth Seal of the Book of Apocalypse
In the first four seals or prophecies of the Book of Revelation (the last book of the New Testament) the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appeared, bearing false prophets, wars, famine and death; the Fifth announced The Great Tribulation, where the Christians are persecuted; in the Sixth Seal four angels appear who bring horrific natural disasters to the planet. When the Apostle John opened the Sixth Seal, it augurs terrible catastrophic events: earthquakes without precedent, the darkening of the sun and the moon, a rain of meteorites of devastating effect, the opening of the heavens and the quake and movement of every piece of land in the earth. In addition, all human attempts to be safe will be in vain. Some people say that these events have already occurred, but experts ensure that the heavenly signs are yet to come, and that these catastrophic events will strike the earth as never before, leaving the worst signs of horror and hardship. The earthquake will reach such dimensions that it will trigger landslides and volcanic eruptions, and the dust, the ash and the smoke will cover the earth so that the sun will not shine and the moon will turn red. But first, a fifth angel appears to ask the first four not to harm the earth until they have sealed the servants of God. Thus, 144,000 anointed ones will be blessed to preach the gospel of Christ, without fear of death. If the mission of the four angels were to harm the earth through natural disasters, the prophecy is ongoing… Throughout history many natural disasters have ravaged the planet, causing...
The Great Tribulation, the Fifth Seal of the Book of The Apocalypse
After the first four Seals or Prophecies of the Book of Revelation (the last book of the New Testament), which show the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse announcing their prophecies – false Christs and false prophets in the first one, wars in the second, starvation in the third and death in the fourth, now comes the Fifth Seal announcing the Great Tribulation, where the saints and the believers suffer martyrdom and severe persecutions. So, The Great Tribulation is the indiscriminate persecution against the followers of the Christian faith after Jesus has ascended to heaven. Matthew 24:9 defines perfectly the Fifth Prophecy: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name´s sake.” This Verse refers to the Messiah Followers Tribulation, which would begin at the time of Christ and will intensify over the centuries. Thus the Jewish nation would be persecuted and hated by other people and beliefs. Israel would be one of the hardest hit because of the Great Tribulation. Already in Roman times, the soldiers entered into the temples destroying everything they found. Over two millennia, the Jewish nation has lost billions of lives… The most shocking and bloody time in the history has been the anti-Semitic World War II, with the black episode of the Holocaust. Some years later, when the western world understood all the horrors and penuries that the Jewish people had suffered, they wanted to return them their national territory (in 1948). But still today the terrorist acts against the Palestinian and the Israeli people do not stop, and...
Screens are invading us!
You still haven’t opened your eyes and your phone rings the annoying alarm. You get up and while the coffee is heating you, turn on your computer to check your emails or to listen to some music. You also turn the plasma TV on to see the news. Then you go to your work and spend the entire day in front of a screen, big and wide enough to hide behind it. Have you noticed that since you woke up you´ve been in front of four screens? The nowadays children expect a more digital future. But this is our time, our evolution, and we must adapt to it! In ten years we have offices full of papers on desks with computers loaded folders. In ten years we have passed from offices full of papers to offices with computers loaded with folders. There are children who do not study with colourful notebooks, but they also have laptops. They learn how to properly adjust the chair, the screen, how to move the fingers across the keyboard and they understand the language of technology. But if you do not take care of your posture, your mental and physical health will be affected, because of a simple screen. The hearing will be tired and upset with a hypersensitivity to light, itching, irritation, dizziness, watering, blurred or double vision, headache … You’ll have eyestrain and with a hypersensitivity to the light, itching, irritation, dizziness, watering, blurred or double vision, and also headache. To avoid this, it is necessary to keep the screen clean, focused, with a homogeneous light and to rest occasionally. It´s also...
Learning to be happy
Is happiness something that is learned or is it innate? Fears, a pessimistic view of the facts, low self-esteem are some things that are better off rejected. There is only one certainty: happiness depends on you and not from outside sources. This ideal is not unattainable, therefore, take courage! If there were a recipe for happiness, it would have enough ingredients so that we didn’t have any lasting negative feelings. These ingredients are somewhere in the world and they are invaluable. They’re in your own interior. Happiness is not a matter of luck, money, beauty, or laughter even though these are things that can bring us great satisfaction. The general welfare lies in the harmony of oneself. Only by knowing yourself will you get closer to happiness. Therefore, strengthen your self-esteem; take advantage of the pleasures in life, and problems with intelligence. Prefer a fighter’s attitude or an entrepreneurial spirit, and you can be the master of your life. Life is like a black and white photograph: it doesn’t have pure tones but are predominantly grey instead. Unfortunately, you can’t always remove the miseries of life but you can learn from them. Of course we all fall down sometimes – we are only human. Errors aren’t curses, and if we fail at times it doesn’t mean we are complete failures, but you can monitor your thoughts and listen to your own words and that will prevent you relapses, tragedies and crises. And if you don’t like your life, change your way of thinking; check your beliefs and ideas. There is even an international index of happiness! It is seen...
Modernity returns to the museums
There are classical and modern things, traditional and new customs, ancient and future philosophies… It was under this simple dichotomy how a concept that today remains a subject of philosophical reflection and important social begun: What is modernity? Perhaps you remember having discussed this issue during your studies. Or maybe this subject does not inspire you in any way. The truth is that whatever you know about it, this is a very difficult subject to summarize in one sentence, since everyone, most intellectuals and artists, seek a way to express and define what modernity is. To learn more about modernity, visit the “Modernologies” exhibition which occupies one floor of the Contemporary Art of Barcelona Museum (MACBA) until 17th January. Follow the skaters in the Raval district right to the Plaça dels Angels (the MACBA square), where they meet to skate. Discover what the modernity subject means. Is this an international or European concept? Is this artistic or political? And what are the differences with Modernism? History tends to date the events or social concepts, but often this date is the starting point for endless discussions to define a new idea. In the case of modernity, we have not finished discussing it yet! Some people say it began in 1492 with the arrival of Columbus to America, but others place it after the Industrial Revolution in the late nineteenth century, and others date it after the French Revolution. It is not very clear. The concept of modernity did not come from one day to another. Modernity is a whole concept that lasted for years in several countries after many political...
