RUSSIA IS CHANGING THE FACE OF FASHION

The word Lumpen refers to the dispossessed, the unskilled, the uneducated... But it is also the name of a Model Agency located in Moscow. It was founded by Avdotja Alexandrova, a filmmaker. 

Lumpen provides models that are exclusive Russian faces from all over the world, so they are all connected to Russia. Some were born there, some have Russian mothers... But they aren't necessarily ethnically Russian. Alexandrova says that for her films she prefers faces that can tell a story, and no matter what the face looks like. She doesn't matter about the typical standards of beauty and she prefers originality

It was the distinctive Russian faces that the agency provides and the contrast to its names, what made the biggest names in fashion start turning to this exactly modeling agency. And less than two years after launching, they have already cast models in major fashion shows like Vetements, Kanye West, Lanvin and Comme des Garçons. Also Kayne West used Serva, a Lumpen model, and Alexandrova's boyfriend, as a fit model for his clothing brand Yeezus. And eight of the twelve men that walked in Comme des Garçons' Autumn-Winter 2017 Homme Plus show, were provided by Lumpen. 

The diversity of models provided by Lumpen may make them avoid the criticism against some ot its clients, like Vetements and Balenciaga that have been criticized for their casting choices, because the latter's Fall-Winter '16 show featured no black models. But in Lumpen the  color doesn't matter, and they have half-African guys, European-type looks...

MY OPINION:

I really like the ideology of this modeling agency. I think that Alexandrova had a great idea choosing special faces and forgetting about the typical standards of beauty. It made Lumpen succeed because of its originality. 

I think that this is a start of the change of beauty standards in our society and it could open the eyes of people and show them other types of beauty. 

NANNY CHASES A PACKAGE THIEF

Kate Anderson is the nanny of a one year old child. The family that lives in Washington State had recently set up security cameras when a 29 year old women arrived with a car at their porch, where there was a package and she took it.

Then she runs back to the car, puts the package on the front seat and tried to get in but the cart left her behind at the house. After the nanny saw this, she run out of the house and followed the thief. When the nanny got her, she dragged her into the home and held her for eight minutes until the police arrived. 

The thief was arrested on outstanding warrants, but she has not yet been charged with anything. And also the Seattle Police Department issued a statement warning homeowners in the area that package thefts often occur, and advised them to track their packages, require signatures for anything of value, or send packages to a monitored area such as an office. 

MY OPINION: 

I think that Kate Anderson was very brave because she followed the thief with no fear and she got her until the police arrived. Also, I think that leaving packages is not very save because things like this could happen, so I agree with the Seattle Police Department decision about warning homeowners in this area to track their packages, sent packages to a monitored area such as an office or require signatures because if it's anything of value it could be dangerous to leave it in the street. 

Here you can watch the video of the nanny stopping the thief: 

READING A BOOK OR AN EBOOK?

Nowadays, we are so familiarized with tecnology. That's why many people are starting to read books through a screen using eBooks and not how it has traditionaly been made. 

Personally, I prefer reading books, because I'm always using moviles, computers... And when I'm reading I like to disconnect of all. Also, because I like having the book to turn the pages, smell the odor of the book... But let's see the advantages and disadvantages of reading a book and reading an eBook. 

The advantages of books are that they don't need energy to run so you don't have to read it at home plugged and you can take it everywhere you want. Also you can feel the book like I've said and if you have the oportunity, the writer can sign your book.

The disadvantages are that it is more expensive than an eBook and it takes up more space.

On the other hand, the advantages of eBooks are that you can have all the books you want in the eBook, because it doesn't taked much space and also because it's cheaper than a book in paper. 

Also because it is easy to carry the eBook,  it doesn't weights too much. Finally, you don't have to move or wait to but a book you can buy it instantatly and if you need it, you can also search the definition on the eBook because some bring an incorpored dictionary. 

But the disadvantages are that eBooks need Internet to buy books and you also have to charge the battery which can ends at any time. Though you can have many books in your eBook, some don't have a digital verions of it. And the most important is that it exhausts your eyes.

SOCIAL MEDIA ADDICTION

Social media addiction is becoming a bigger problem that we think. The reason why people have this problem is because they spend too much time on social media and also because companies know how to make them more attractive so that people enjoy using them. 

The consequences of this kind of addiction are, in the first place that people spend too much time on the internet and they take distance from the reality and from people around them. Also, when they don't have a connection, they feel anxiety because they need to be in contact with the others. 

I think that the only way of solving this problem is by stopping focusing on the social media and really focusing on the people around you. 

"I fear the day that technology will surpass our human interaction, the world will have a generation of idiots." - Albert Einsten. 

When Albert Einstein said this he was predicting what was gonna happen, because it was obvious to him that someday this would happen and we would be addicted to technology, because it makes our lifes easier

Here you can watch a short documentary about social media addiction:

CHRISTMAS COMMERCIALISM

Many people say that Christmas is a materialistic holiday, that it is driven by commercialism and that it's not worth keeping Christmas anymore. 

In my opinion, it is obvious that companies are taking advantage of this time of the year when they can sell much more products because people buy many presents. But I don't think that we should stop celebrating Christmas because of it. 

For me, the most important part of Christmas is that we are able to stay home with our family and spend time together doing things that we enjoy, like decorating the house, putting up and decorating the christmas tree, baking cookies... I really do enjoy those moments as many people does too. 

My opinion about the presents is that it is true that many people is driven by consumerism because at this time of the year they buy a lot of not necessary things. It is also true that we could celebrate Christmas without presents and then we will finish with this intense commercialism, but I think that in this time of the year we really love giving presents to the ones we love and seeing them happy for it. 

And it is also true that we could just do these things every day, meeting with family, giving presents, decorating the house or just baking, so maybe Christmas is not necessary, but I think that it is special because, first of all, we don't have many free days and it's hard to organize a day when all the family can meet, and second because it is beautiful to wait all year for Christmas, to be able to do things like I said, or just to see all the streets decorated with lights and go shopping with your family. So I think that what makes it special and beautiful is that it's just a day of the year and it is the perfect excuse spending time with family, and that's why I think that Christmas is worth keeping. 

Scientists used fake hallucinations to probe the minds of people with psychosis

A new study from England, published in the journal The Lancet Psychiatry suggested that the difference between people who hallucinates and have difficulties getting through their day without clinical help from the ones that hear voices but can do a regular life, is the way they interpret their own psychoses. 

In the research they put 260 people under simulations of psychotic experiences and then they studied how the participants reacted. Of those 260 participants, 84 of them were clinical psychosis patients, 92 were not patients, although they also had psychotic symptoms, but this group didn't need medical care to live. Also, researchers said that those 92 people used specialist sources such as mediums, online forums for psychic and spiritual activities...The rest of the participants were just a control group without psychosis symptoms. 

The researchers used magic tricks like memory games in which they seemed to be able to read the participants' mind, and others. Then, the researchers did an interview with the participants to interpret their experiences. 

After this, the results showed that the clinical group was as able as the nonclinical group to identify psychotic symptoms as psychoses. So this suggests that the reason that some people is more able to avoid getting too disturbed isn't because of recognizing that what is happening isn't real.

The difference between the two groups they say is because the clinic one seemed to see something dark and mean behind what was happening and in change, the nonclinical group found spiritual explanations. 

MY OPINION: 

I think that this study is very interesting because it shows that the difference between people with psychosis who need clinical help from the ones who don't is just the way they interpret their psychosis symptoms. 

So it may be a great advance to the knowledge of the clinical treatment. It could open doors to new methods to treat psychosis because, as we have seen, the ones with clinical treatment react the same way as the one who don't have a treatment, but the second ones use other methods to explain those symptoms and this way they don't get to see a dark side on what they hear or feel during their days, and this way they can live a regular life. 

Click here to read more information.

MAN FINED FOR PAINTING EXTRA ROAD SIGNS TO EASE DAILY COMMUTE

A 28 years old man named Cai, decided to paint some additional arrows on the road in order to avoid his morning extreme commute because he was tired to frequently got caught up in the same intersection of the city of Lianyungang.

He just brought white paint, a brush and a ruler and he painted an arrow directing cars to go straight in a line reserved for left-hand turns. He did this because the straight line was always full of cars while the line that turns left was empty, so he tried to change the signs to try to speed the commute. 

But after security saw what happened through cameras, Cai wa caught and he admitted to the painting. He was fined with $200 because his actions were very dangerouse and he could have caused a collision.

The Chinese broadcaster CGTN posted a video to YouTube of Cai painting the road. He is wearing a red jacket and he is painting the straight arrow as cars, buses and trucks speed past next to him, and occasionally he moves out of the road to let pass the vehicles who hare driving on the line he is painting. 

Also, the footage shows whe the police caught up with Cai. And later in the video, we can see as traffic workers arrive at the intersection to repaint it to the original arrow. 

MY OPINION: 

My opinion about this is that the man shouldn't have done this because it is very dangerous. The third lane can't go straight. That's why the arrows say to go only left or to turn back. If you look, there are only two lanes past the intersection, so making the third lane into another straight lane would result in the lanes converging inside the intersection rather than before the intersection. If someone went straight in the third line it would have been a disaster and it would have ended with an accident. 

The reason why Cai painted the road wasn't to make it more efficient or safer, but rather he was selfish and wanted to make his commute faster at the expense of other people's safety. 

Click here if you want to read more information. 

COUPLE CARE FOR AN ORPHANED KODIAK BEAR

Susan and Jim Kowalczik from the Orphaned Wildlife Center in Otisville, New York, America. They have been rescuing bears for more than twenty years and they still take care of injured wild animals ,including Kodiak brown bears, Syrian bears and black bears on their 100 acre estate. Then when the animals get ready they release them back into the wild. 

But there are some cases like Jimmy who has been too injured to be returned into the wild. It is a Kodiak bear who is nine feet tall and weighs 1400lb, since he arrived from a West Cost game farm with an injured leg, and now he is 21 years old. 

The couple describes Jimmy as a gentle animal, and that he is unaware of his incredible strength. But though the bears are dangerous animals, they look at them like their children and they like to think about them like a family. Although, they say that sometimes the bears dive them crazy. 

The animals require full-time care and feeding, feasting on up to 30lbs of foor a day, including a mix of meat, pet food, fruit and occasionally marshmallows. And also, they have to take extra care during the mating season when the bears are not quite themselves. 

Also, they adopt other animals like chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels and deer. And the couple has many expectations for the future like to expand and to take care for even more animals. 

MY OPINION: 

I think that Susan an Jim Kowalczik are wonderful people for taking care of the non-profit Orphaned Wildlife Center because it requires a lot of work, time and money, but they like it because they have the opportunity to help many animals and the love they put in them, they get it in return like with Jimmy. 

I would love to have the opportunity to work with animals like them but the first time I saw the videos and the photos of them with the huge bear I was a bit scared because they are so big and though they look a inofensive with them it is still dangerous. 

Click here if you want to read more information.

US ELECTION SPECIAL: WHY DONALD TRUMP?

232

Clinton

62.391.335

270 TO WIN

290

Trump

61.125.956

Donald Trump's victory against Hillary Clinton left everyone surprised because anyone expected him to win. The question is how did he win?

The answer is that Clinton didn't get his base voters in the same numbers as Barack Obama did and also did had an economic plan for working-class whites. Other facts that contributed to her lost was the letter from FBI Director talking about the investigation of the private email server.

MY OPINION: 

In my opinion, the main reason why Trump won is because people didn't trusted Hillary Clinton. After everything that happened with the email scandal, of Hillary using a private server outside the official system for using her email. Trump new how to use this in his favor and people started to follow him.


HERE YOU CAN READ MORE

INCEPTION

Inception is a science fiction thriller written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolan. It is about Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio)  who is a profetional thief. He espionages people by entering in their subconscious minds, using two-level "drem within a dream" so that he can extract valuable information.

This practice has permited Dom get into the dangerous world of espionage but also it has converted him into a fugitive and he had to sacrifice everything he loved. But now, Dom has the option to have his old life back but for this he and his team of especialist have to make a very difficult job. It consists on reversing the operation, insted of stealing information of someones subconscious they have to introduce information and if they get it, it would be the perfect crime.

MY OPINION: 

There are many reason why it is one of my favourite movies, the first one is because I think that dreams are a fascinating topic for a movie. In a dream you can creat whatever you want. Another reason is because this movie is really unpredictable, when you feel like you know what's coming next, everything changes and this makes the movie a little bit hard to follow, also because it's really fast, many thing are happenig at the same time and you have too many information to remember and to digest. I also like the characters of this movie, I think each of them are really interesting and the fact that you don't know many things about them makes them even more interesting and mysterious.

I recomend this movie to everyone who likes science fiction but it is a little bit hard to understand because it makes you think a lot. I had to watch it twice to really know what was happening during all the movie and I still have some doubts about some facts and obiously about the amazing open end. 

HERE YOU CAN WATCH THE TRAILER: 

BEST STAGE OF YOUR LIFE

The best stage in life for me is young adulthood because you have the legal age and you are able to do things you couldn't when you were under eighteen. 

At this stage of your life you can have your driving license and you can have your first car and go wherever you want to go whenever you want without having to ask someone to drive you. Another reason why I think this is the best stage of your life is because you finished the hard last years of high school and you are able to go to university and focus on studying something you really like and something you really enjoy doing and after this, if you are lucky, you can work on something you have studied for and something you enjoy like doing. Also at this stage of your life you can leave your parent's home and go to live near the university with your friends or with new people you meet there, because you have many new friends there, and you start living your life by yourself being independent and doing whatever you want and being responsible. 

By saying this, I don't mean that other stages of your life are less important. For example, infancy and childhood are very beautiful periods of your life, but from infancy, we don't remember anything and from childhood the same, we just remember some things we have seen in photos. But anyway, those were times of your life where you just focused on living life happily and not worrying about anything. 

From adolescense, I think it's also a beautiful period of your life, but it's a bit hard because you have to focus on studying, but you also want to hang out with your friends, and your parents don't trust you because you are young yet, but it's beautiful because you don't have to worry too much about problems in life, you see your friends in high school every day, you probably will have your first love, and you will experience many new beautiful feelings. 

DANGEROUS WAY FOR CHINESE CHIDREN

To go home from class, a group of children in China fron Auter village in Sichuan province have to carry they backpacks or other items while they have a dangerous journey because they have to climb over a mountain cliff using wooden ladders and walk almost four kilometers long

Other people of the village and even dogs travel this terrifying way and they say it makes their legs shake and they never look down because it is really scary. They want to have a safer way to get to school but they believe that a better future lies in getting education for their children.

MY OPINION: 

In my opinion this shouldn't be happening in the modern world we live and this poor should have a better way to go to school without having to risk their lifes because it looks really dangerous, specially for the old and young people. China goverment has to give a solution to secure their lifes as soon as possible.

HERE YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT IT

BOB DYLAN WINS NOBEL PRIZE

On October 13, 2016, Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He is the first musician to win the award and this is why it caused a controversy and people is debating about whether song lyrics, however brilliant,  have the same artistic value as poetry or novels. Also he is the first American poet to win this prize. Just nine Amrican novelists and short-story writers and one dramatist have been awarded.

The Nobel citation says that they gave it to Dylan "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition"

Some accuse the Swedish Academy of abandoning its high standards and succumbing to populism, even though all the prizes are very important. Some critics give another point of view at this award. It is obious that we are moving from the print culture to an audiovisual culture, but this doesn't mean that print is dying and that people don't still write novels and poems, it's just that print has lost dominance and audiovisual is becoming more and more popular. Also they say that lots of poets are writing poems to be performed and to be heard rather than to be read. So in giving the prize to Dylan, the Swedish Academy is moving with the times and changing as our society does.

Here you can listen to his song Every Grain of Sand (1981):


Every Grain of Sand - Bob Dylan from Temuco Blues on Vimeo.

Here you have the lyrics:

In the time of my confession, in the hour of my deepest need,
When the pool of tears beneath my feet flood every newborn seed,
There's a dyin' voice within me reaching out somewhere,
Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair.
Don't have the inclination to look back on any mistake -
Like Cain I now behold this chain of events that I must break.
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master's hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.

Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear,
Like criminals they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer.
Ah, the sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way,
To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame
And every time I pass that way I always hear my name.
Then onward in my journey I've come to understand
That every hair is numbered like every grain of sand.

I have gone from rags to riches in the sorrow of the night,
In the violence of a summer's dream, in the chill of a wintery light,
In the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space,
In the broken mirror of innocence on each forgotten face.
I hear the agéd footsteps like the motion of the sea,
Sometimes I turn - there's someone there - other times it's only me.
I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man,
Like every sparrow falling, like every grain of sand.


MY OPINION

In my opinion, Bob Dylan does deserve the Nobel prize because he is a great songwriter and also a great poet. I think that beacause he sets his lyrics with music is not a reason for not giving him this prize. In my opinion Bob Dylan's poems could stand on its own without the rhythm of the songs, but also singing them attract more audience than just a written poem in our society. 

HERE YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT IT

ABOUT MUSIC

I really enjoy listening to music and also playing it. When I listen to my favourite artists' music I feel relaxed and happy. Since I was little I got into the music's world when I started going to music classes. In the very beginning I didn't really enjoy them because I was little and shy but then I made so many friends and I enjoyed my classes. I remember one day my music teachers told us that we should choose an instrument to play it. I feel so comfused because I didn't know which one was my favourite. Then I visited some classes where they were playing different instruments. I loved the violin and the piano but then I entered in the traverse flute class and I knew that I wanted to play it. It sounded really good and they were playing an amazing song. So I chose it, the traverse flute. 

Since now I have always played the flute and I don't think I am gonna stop playing it because I really enjoy it but recently I can't play it so much because of the exams, works... 

In my flute classes we always play classical music. The thing I enjoy the most is when my teacher Aleix and me play duets because it sounds amazing. But sometimes me and my friends met one day in the music school to play some pop music we have decided and we practice it and then we perform it in front of all the teachers and parents and some friends we invite. We are not a big group, there are three pianos, two guitars, a violin, four traverse flutes and sometimes the drums. Currently we are practicing the song Trumpets by Jason Derulo and it sounds really good. 

When I am at home I never listen to classical music I just like playing it. I enjoy listening to Indie folk, Indie Rock, R&B, sometimes pop...  My favourite artist at the moment is Tom Odell because I found him a very expressive singer in the way he sings and plays the piano. 

MY FAVOURITE BOOKS

I love reading since I was little because it is the only way I can forget about everything for a moment and just focus on the amazing story I am reading.

My favourite genre of books at the moment are science fiction and adventures. I also love the dystopian fiction which is a literary genre that explores social and political structures in the creation of a degraded society in the future. 

One of my favourite dystopian novels is Divergent by Veronica Roth. It is a trilogy and it consists of Divergent (2011), Insurgent (2012) and Allegiant (2013) and she also wrote another book, Four (2014), explaining some moments of the story from another perspective. 

The books describe a post-apocalyptic version of Chicago, closed by a chain link fence and where society is divided into five factions: Abnegation for the selfless, Candor for the honest, Amity for the peaceful, Dauntless for the brave, and Erudite for the knowledgeable. Everyone when they turn 16 must choose a new faction, or remain in the one they have been raised in. 

The whole trilogy follows Beatrice Prior (Tris), a 16 years old girl who has an aptitude for more than one faction. She is special. She is a Divergent. However, it's not safe to be a Divergent and Tris has to keep it in secret. Tris gets into a captivating journey to discover the secrets of the factions, protect herself from those who will kill her for her divergence, and find what is hidden outside the chain link fence... 

They have also done the movies of the books, Divergent, Insurgent and on March 2016 Allegiant.

The actors of the movies are Shailene Woodley as Beatrice Prior, Theo James as Tobias Eaton and Ansel Elgort as Caleb Prior.

If you want to know which is your aptitude or if you are a Divergent you can take a test from the official movie site to know it. Click here. 

Here you can watch the trailer of the first movie: 

MY FAVOURITE YOUTUBER

One of the things I enjoy the most doing on my free time is to watch videos on Youtube and my favourite youtuber at the moment is Casey Neistat.

Casey Neistat is an American film director, producer, designer and a creator of popular Youtube videos since 2010. He was born in New London, Connecticut, US in 1981 and he is actually living in New York with his wife Candice and his two children. 

What I like about him is that he is a really hard-working person (he also has a tattoo which says DO MORE). When he was little he was very poor. He didn't even finished his studies and he worked as a dishwasher but he had a dream, he wanted to live in New York and make movies, so he did it.When he moved to New York in 2001 he began working with the artist Tom Sachs and his brother Van Neistat making series of films about the artist's sculptures and installations. One of his biggest successful projects was when in July 2008, Home Box Office HBO bought an eight-episode television series, "The Neistat Brothers" directed by Casey and Van Neistat for just under $2 million. 

He has made 95 short movies on Youtube and recently, on March 25 of 2015, he started daily vlogging on his main Youtube channel. 

Another thing that amazes me about him is that once he had an accident with a Vespa motorcycle and he broke his leg in 27 parts. The doctors said the he would never run again but after a hard rehab until now he have run 22 marathones. He inspires me to dream big and never give up.

Here you can see a short movie he made about the Devil's Pool, Africa: