The Future

Hi there Blogmasters,

When I was a young boy, I thought it would be nice to be a teacher. However, that idea only lasted 5 minutes and I soon decided I'd be a footballer, a musician or a movie director. Now, 100 hundred years later, here I am teaching in Chile. Believe me, it wasn't what I imagined I'd be doing. I’ve lived in lots of different places, done lots of different jobs and met lots of different people. So, in my experience, life very rarely turns out how we plan it. In fact, it would be very boring if it did. Just think, when I was your age there were no mobile phones, no commercial computers and the internet didn’t exist. How weird is that! Anyway, today I’d like you to get out your crystal ball and try and imagine what you’ll be doing in 10 years time.

Say:
Where you think you’ll be,
 What occupation you think you’ll be doing,
Who you’ll share your life with (family/partner/children, etc)
What things you will have achieved,
What changes the world will have seen.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on your teacher’s blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A Birthday

Today I'd like you to write about one of your birthdays that you remember fondly.

In my case I'm going to talk about my 23rd birthday. At that time I lived in Chester, the town were I grew up between the ages of 7 and 23, so it was my last birthday before I moved to live in London. The reason it was so memorable is because my sister, who lived in London paid me a suprise visit. I think it was a rather normal day. In the morning I went to work in the laboratory where I worked as a Laboratory Technician, and at 4pm I finished for the day and went home. When I arrived to my flat I found my sister waiting for me outside. I was really happy to see her and totally suprised that she had come to see me. A couple of friends came by to take me out for a drink so we all ended up going out to eat something and then we went for a drink. It was a quiet celebration but it was still special. We ate (pizza I think), drank and chatted. My sister gave me a really nice present - an earring in the shape of a musical note - which I still have (although I took my earrings out when I started working in Chile!!). I've had some wild birthday celebrations but I remember this one because it was quiet and relaxed.

Write about a birthday or celebration you remember.

Say:

When it was,

What you did,

Who you were with,

Why you remember this event.

Mention anything else you think is important or interesting. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my post and on the blog's of 3 classmates.

                                                     My sister Moe

A Family Member or Relative

Hi FAU Bloggers:

Today I'd like you to write about someone from your family. It could be a brother or sister, one of your parents or another relative (uncle, aunt, cousin, etc). I'm going to write about my brother Adrian. Well Adrian, or Adie (AD?) as we like to call him, currently lives in New Zealand with his wife and 2 kids - Ella and Freya. He was a happy child, always joking and trying to make people laugh. He had a good temperament and rarely got angry. He learnt carpentry when he was a teenager and now works repairing violins and cellos and making groovy furniture. Ady is 18 months younger than me and we've always had a great relationship. He is someone you can depend on and is always ready to help out if things are complicated or you have a problem. The rest of the time he loves fooling about and playing music. He is a very good guitar player and an excellent violin player. He taught himself both instruments when he was younger. He is very perseverant. When he starts something he makes sure he keeps working on it until its right. Mostly, he just makes me laugh.
Here's a mix I did of one of Ady's songs:

Write about someone from your Family.
Say:
Who it is,
What they do,
What they are like,
What sort of relationship you have with them.
Mention anything else you think is important. Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates.

A One-on-One Conversation

Hi Blogheads,
Today I'm going to talk about someone I'd like to have a one-on-one conversation with. The person I'll write about is Mervyn Peake, a British author, illustrator and painter. I first heard of Peake when I was about 15 or 16. One of my sisters gave me one of his books to read. I started it but didn't finish it. I actually read it a couple of years later and found it amazing so I found and read all the other books he had written. I love Peake's imagination and dark humour. If I had the chance to talk to him, I'd like to ask him a number of questions like, where he got his ideas or what inspired him. I think he was a very observant person because his is able to create extremely descriptive writing and wonderful images. I’d also like to talk to him about the artist colony he started on the Island of Sark (a little island between England & France) and the contrast between like in London and a remote island. Finally, I’d like to ask him about his experience in the Second World War. Peake was a war artist and he had quite a traumatic experience, especially as one of the first people to enter Belsen (the Nazi concentration camp) after its capture. He wrote poetry about the horrific scenes he saw and it obviously affected him deeply. Peake died of Parkinson’s Disease in 1968.

Write about someone you would like to have a one-on-one conversation with.

Say:

Who it is,

What they do/did,

When you first heard about this person,

What you would like to ask them,

Why you find this person interesting.

Mention anything else you think is important.

Write at least 250 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 c

A Holiday

Hi Bloggers!
This week I'd like you to write about the best holiday you ever had. I think mine was a trip my wife and I made to Peru and Bolivia in 2001. We flew to Arica and stayed the night in a hostel. The next day we took a minibus to Tacna and a bus to Arequipa. We stayed in a cheap hostel in Arequipa but also spent one night in Colca Canyon (to see the baby Condors). On the trip to Colca, we made friends with 2 Italian guys and 2 Israeli girls who we kept meeting throughout our trip. After about 4 days in Arequipa, we took a flight to Cusco. We could have taken a 19-hour bus ride for about 2 dollars but we decided on the 30-minute, 50 dollar flight because it was the rainy season and some of the roads were blocked. Also there had been rumours of bandits holding up the buses and robbing the tourists. Cusco was great. Obviously, we went to Machu Picchu which was amazing. It was raining when we arrived but the sun came out late in the afternoon when all the one-day tourists had left. My wife and I had arranged to stay overnight in Aguas Calientes, the nearest village, and we walked up to Machu Picchu again the following day at 8 am to see the sunrise. We also climbed Huayna Picchu as well which has an amazing view and is a great place to take photos. In Aguas Calientes, we met a group of Argentines in a bar and they told us about an amazing hotel in Coroico, Bolivia that involved travelling down the "Road of Death". So, off we went to Coroico via Puno (for 30 minutes), Copacobana for two nights, with trips on Lake Titicaca to La Isla del Sol and La Isla de la Luna, included, and La Paz. Coroico was great. The Road of Death was scary and the hotel was just as amazing as the Argentines had said it was. Actually, the Road of Death was so scary I didn't want to leave Coroico! Eventually, I had to. Luckily we made it back to La Paz safe and sound. A couple of days later we took a bus back to Chile via Lake Chungara. Great trip!

So, write about a great holiday you had.
Say:
Where you went,
Who you went with,
How long you stayed,
What you did,
Why you enjoyed it so much.

Mention anything else you think is important. Write a comment on your teacher's blog and on the blogs of at least 3 classmates. 

A Movie Hero or Villain

Hi Fau Bloggers,

Today I’m going to write a post about a movie hero or villain. At first, I was going to write about Daleks, the alien robot-like creatures who are the archenemy of Doctor Who (a fictitious time traveller from the planet Gallifrey). However, I realized I’d written about him in a post about a TV programme I enjoyed when I was a child, so I decided to write about Roy Batty, the Replicant from the Science Fiction film Bladerunner.

I first saw Bladerunner in 1982 when it first came out. A friend gave me a pirate copy and it blew me away. I loved everything about it. The dark film noir setting, the high-tech gadgets, the idea of a future that wasn’t perfect, the action, the architecture, the rain, the script, the soundtrack, and to top it all off, the most amazing villain.

I found Roy Batty to be the perfect villain.  A humanoid robot, whose battery is about to run out, trying to find out why he has to die. This was quite a mind-blowing concept back in those days as it’s really a question of what it is to be human.  Actually, some of the humans in the film have less “humanity” than the Replicants. I won’t tell you the story as it’s a film everyone should watch without spoilers. However, I can highly recommend it as a film to see, even now 37 years after it’s release. The great thing about Roy Batty is his intelligence. At times he may appear violent and ruthless but at the end of the film, he demonstrates that Replicants have humanity even though they don’t have a soul. He was built as a fighting machine to work on distant galaxies but, the same as thousands of “slaves” throughout history, he rebels and goes in search of the answer to a question that alludes us all: Why am I here? Why do I have to die?

Write about a movie hero or villain that you like.

Say:

Who they are,

What movie they are in,

When you first saw the movie,

Why you like them,

Why they make such a good hero/villain.

Mention anything else you think is important or interesting. Try to write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my blog and on the blogs of 3 classmates.

A Family Meal

Good Morning Fau Bloggers:

Today I'd like you to write about a family meal you remember. The family meal I remember was in about 1983 or 1984 (I think. My memory isn't as good as it used to be!!). It was in a Hostel my father managed in a little village in Scotland called Coldingham Bay. It was a couple of years after my mother had died and possibly the first time the family had gathered together since her death, The whole family was my dad and my 5 sisters (Terri, Clare, Moira, Lizzie & Fran) and my 3 brothers (Adie, Colin & Ged). My nephew Dan would have been there too. I can't remember what time of the year it was so I can't remember if we were celebrating anything special or not. I think there was turkey or vegetarian meatloaf on the menu. One of the reasons the meal is so memorable is because my sister Moira and brother Adie started a food fight that got really crazy. It was so epic that it took us ages to clean up afterwards. I mostly remember it because of my dad's reaction. He was always very strict at mealtimes when we were younger but, on this occasion, he just sat there laughing. I think he had finally realized that his children were all a little bit crazy but in a good way.

Here's a picture of the coast next to Coldingham Bay.

Write about a family meal you remember.
Say:
When and where it was.
Who was there,
What you ate.
Why it was memorable.

Mention anything else you think is interesting or important. Try to write at least 200 words. Leave a comment on my post and on the posts of 3 classmates.