(a) Person/Expert you admire OR (b) Websites you enjoy visiting.

(a) Beautiful minds ...

“All of us, at some point in life, get brilliant ideas...only a few of us have the courage to take the next step.”

Manoj Arora

I  want  to  believe  that  all of us have the potential to become the individuals that we want to be; that we all have been born equal in this wild world; that races are equally important; that the preciousness of life is enriched by the presence of man... 

"I 'm going to be a ... when I grow up", we used to say when we were kids.

In fact, we are non-graduated scientists, philosophers and artists. Our abilitiy as scientists is clearly visible when we decide what to do first and what goes on next. We apply deep thought as kid scientists to envision what materials we can use to build, for example, a castle within our bedroom. We gather information from magazines, friends, parents and then materials to fulfill our project: chairs, blankets, pillows and any other suitable stuff to make of our castle a comfortable place... a kid's castle, using the ingenuity of grown up men.

Brains at work

Like professional philosophers, we enquire about life... where I come from, when we will travel to the moon, how life on other planets is, how I ... an endless number of questions to satisfy our need for knowledge; and then, we feel ready to state all our hypotheses: "when I grow up I'll become an astronaut, travel to Mars and ... "

Kids' ability as artists is widely accepted, particularly by parents, relatives, primary school teachers..., perphaps not by their peers (other kids) who are inclined to think they are better artists and do have a gift at drawing, dancing, painting...; however, we feel confident with the severe, truthful and indulgent response of our closest elders.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo Da Vinci  (1452-1519) was apparently one of those kids who grew up and developed his capabilities to the highest level: a great artist, scientist, engineer, inventor....His hallmark is found in invaluable paintings, such as Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, and The Virgin and Child; in numerous drawings with unprecedented information on human anatomy;  in outstanding sketches and drawings of devices and machines that would later be invented, such as the helicopter and parachute and so on... His works have trascended in time and  reflect the artistic and scientific nature of his brilliant mind.

Stephen Hawkings 

If Leonardo is the expression of a restless person, I cannot but feel a profound admiration for the work done by one of the most famous theoretical physicists and cosmologists of our time: Stephen Hawking who was born in 1942, in Oxford, England. He was diagnosed with a motor neuron disease known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) when he was 21 years old. ALS paralysed him because of muscle deterioration.  Hawking died at the age of 76. However, his brilliant mind floats in the universe of knowledge, permitted him to understand, discuss, and explain complex issues to his peers and even write easy-to-understand books, such as "A brief History of Time", to laymen like me. 

Brilliant minds have always been at my reach when I look for information to prepare, for example, exercises in scientific English; they are everywhere, moving here and there, present in paintings, books, videos, talking to you, listening to you... and also seeing you from the other side of the mirror ... as you are also an important building block of this world of knowlege and ingenuity...

Now it's your turn:

Choose (a) OR(b)

(a) Who is a person/expert on your field that you admire?

• Who she/he is. (short biography)
• What she/he has done. (examples of their work)
• Why you like her/him.
• Include his/her image

OR

(b) Write about a career-related website that you enjoy visiting.

You have to:

• provide the link
• describe the website (sections, features,etc)
• say how often you visit the site
• explain why you like the site.

Minimum number of words: 170  

Add comments to 3 of your classmates’ posts

plus a comment on your teacher's post

Music in our lives...!

Music produces a kind of pleasure that human nature cannot do without 

Confucius

Have you ever wondered about the kind of music, melody, song, tune ... you first listened to? Most likely you were not born yet. Women use to sing to their unborn babies during pregnancy and some are fond of playing music from the radio (eg classical music for the Mozart effect) to let him/her enjoy music from the very beginning.

Most newly born babies happily eat, sleep and listen to music; when they are a few months old, they start clapping the rhythm of the melodies with their hands; and when they can walk, they have original ways of dancing the music they listen to.

When you are a young adult, you have developed preferences that are far from those in your childhood; however, you may sometimes feel comfortable with the "childish" music you have to hear when you are at a birthday party of some relative's or friend's son or daughter.

As we grow, we change our preferences and we develop our own taste. If you have parents fond of classical music or any other kind of music, you might have developed a liking for such kind of music. Have you ever found yourself humming a song that you don't like? ...the music you listened to when you were younger was recorded by your brain and sometimes it leaks out ...

Einstein on Mozart's music

I enjoy almost any kind of music. Depending on the mood, I listen to classical music such as Symphony 40, Mozart, or "Remembrance from the Alhambra" played by any famous guitarist; sometimes Calypso music (from Jamaica folklore) by Harry Belafonte; Rock and Pop music, such as songs from Bee Gees; Salsa, from a wide variety of famous singers and bands; Jazz from many players; or the Dutch symphonic metal compositions of EPICA. Like most of you, my preferences vary widely, since music is part of the joy in our lives.

Music in films is also essential, not only in musical films, such as The Sound of Music and Chicago; but also as the background score that gives a special atmosphere to a film, such as the movie soundtrack of the Lord of the Rings. Analyses of the musical scores of each of the films of the trilogy have been made to uncover hidden messages that certainly enrich the story.

The guitar, the piano, the violin are my favourite instruments; however, I must confess I play none of them. I enjoy dancing a bit of rock and roll and  salsa... I wonder if I would enjoy watching a ballet, I have never been to one. 

To my surprise, I enjoyed watching the musical films Mamma Mia and Les Miserables; both have wonderful musical scores and interpretations.... and the former is still on stage right now...!!

As you may have noticed by now, I love music.

Now, it's your turn

Write about

The importance of music in your life
The kind of music you like most
Instruments of your liking
The singer, band or group of singers you like
The kind of music that you do not like now, but you liked when you were younger.
The music of films that you remember
Any information you find pertinent to music appreciation

Wordcount: 160 words
Make comments on 3 of your classmates' posts and the teacher's