Problem/Solution paragraph

One of the biggest problems nowadays is malnutrition and the low knowledge about it. Malnutrition is often mixed up with starvationbut they are very different terms. On one hand, malnutrition is not necessary a lack of food; it is a lack of one or more nutrients, so we can conclude that almost everybody could have malnutrition, no matter if they live and work in a developed country.On the other hand, starvation is a debilitation of the body caused by a grave lack of food. In order to solve problems related to malnutrition, people of all ages should visit a nutritionist to make sure that they are following a suitable diet. Solving problems of starvation is far more difficult, but if third-world countries were able to make use of their own natural resources, their economy would increase, sothey might be able to earn more money and avoid starvation and diseases.

Opinion paragraph

I wanted to share my opinion about a company that I recently discovered: Pampling.
Pampling is a company in which independent artist send their designs to a contest, and people vote their favourites. Every week, new designs are sold as 'xpresstee', in a cheaper price than usual.
These designs are not limited to t-shirts and hoodies; they have sunglasses, umbrellas, scarfs, baby and children clothes, shocks, shoes, bags and even candy.
I already bought two t-shirts in the physical shop and a hoodie  and a bag online. They are made 100% cotton, so they are very soft. The drawings are silk-screen printed, which makes them long-lasting throughout time and washings.
The thing I most like about clothes is that they are soft and easy to wash, have a good quality and designs are completely original. The biggest disadvantage is the price; normally, a t-shirt costs 20€ unless you find a sale on the Internet or you buy a xpresstee for 10€. This high price is a consequence of the contest: winners make a contract with Pampling in which they decide the amount of money they will receive for each article sold, but Pampling claims a minimum of money for them.
Another fact that I liked so much is the refund system. If you don't like what you bought or it is a garment with the wrong size, the only thing that you have to do is to send it to the factory with a letter speaking about the problem you have. Once they receive it, they will send you an email with a code that exempts you from paying the cost of the  article you refunded in your next purchase. For example, if you bought a t-shirt that cost 10€ and refund it, you will not have to pay those 10€ in your next purchase, neither the shipping cost.
In conclusion, Pampling is a company that I mostly like for its system of contests and the quality of their products, but prices could be much lower!

Describing someone

I would like to talk about my grandfather Pedro, who died a few years ago.
He used to live in a countryside built by his fathers and where I used to visit him and my grandma Ana  everyday in my childhood. He spent his time taking care of the animals he bred (horses, pigs, chickens, peacocks, turkeys, sheeps and goats. He also grew different vegetables and fruits, but he prefered animals. During my visits he told me all he knew about birds (mostly about robins) and taught me many things about farm animals and how to take care of them.
My grandad was a tall man, strong and had clear eyes. He might be physically intimidating to other  people, but when I think on him, watch his photos or even see a robin, I remember those peaceful days in my childhood in the country, learning about animals and forgetting about bad things that had happened during the day.

Review: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Last week my best friend and I exchanged our game consoles: I lent him my Play Station 2 with two games and he lent me his Wii with three games; and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is one of them.
This is a videogame that I have been waiting to play to for ages. When it went on sale, there were crowds complaining about the game, and I actually couldn't think on a reason.
Later, about one year ago, I started to watch a gameplay by RanguGamer on Youtube, and found that I loved the game. Chronologically speaking, it is the first one of the saga The Legend of Zelda, so it gives an origin and a story to other elements that we first found in the first game, and that's a great point for me.
Its graphics are good and have vivid colours, so the switches are visible in the background, but they aren't obvious.



Apart from the colours and graphics, the thing I most like is the control. Using a wii remote control and a nunchuk, you can control the movements and the direction of cuts with your sword, the flight with the pelicaro and few more things.
The fact I most disliked was recycled enemies. Every saga does; producer companies take the image of an old enemy and re-design them, and The Legend of Zelda  isn't an exception. Here there are some examples:
                                    
                                   



References to old videogames are good, but creating new enemies and concepts without changing the esence of the game wouldn't be a bad idea.
In general, TLOZ is one of my favourite videogames saga, and this one specifically, can easly become my favourite despite of the numerous critics it has received.

MAMA Awards

Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) is an end of the year awards show in which Asian singers and groups compete in different categories, such as best performance, dancing, original song, etc.
This year, MAMA Awards are celebrated in Hong Kong next 2nd December.
There are male and female categories, like Best New Artist, Best Artist, Best Group, Best Dance Performance Solo/Group, Best Vocal/Rap/Band Performance and finally, Best Collaboration and Unit Performance.
These are some of my favourite artist that have been nominated for the Awards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nCLBTmjJBY 4Minute- Crazy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i32ANEa5mk Gain- Paradise Lost
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_olc9D_5y-E Niel- Lovekiller
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1oTSAhdzNQ INFINITE- Bad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzNqcc__uRs Mad Clown- Fire (Best Rap Perfomance)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWfsla_Uh80 EXO- Call me Baby
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF53cptEE5k Shinee- View

There are a lot more of artists and groups, but I chose the songs and performances that I most liked, and they all will do it great at the awards. I actually can´t wait to see the results.

VII Manga Convention

Last Weekend took place de VII Manga Convention in Murcia. I went on Saturday with some friends by train at 8:10 in the morning because we didn't want to wait in an enormous queue, but all people in Murcia seemed to think the same, because the place was crowded. The convention was suposed to start at 10:00, but we actually were be able to get in at 12:31. We wanted to attend to a speech about The Legend of Zelda, one of the most famous videogames saga, but we missed it because when we finally were inside the building, it was about to end. I could have gone with another friend to see a dance contest, but I didn't expect nothing special and we went to buy some things. Today I've seen the videos of the contest and I really regret to not to have attended. There were far less stands than the year before, so I only bought a t-shirt and a necklace. In the afternoon we saw the expositions about Marco, Dragon Ball sculptures and bonsais. Later, at 18:30 we wanted to attend to a speech about music in videogames, but the speech before (about cosplay) got too long, and since we were really tired, we left the convention to go to have dinner and finally go back home.

Introduction and Conclusion (TKD Outline)

 Introduction:
I have been doing Taekwondo for the last two years, while I was studying Bachiller in the high school. This sport can provide you with huge benefits, not only physically speaking, but psychologically too. Taekwondo is one of the best sports to practice in the youth because it increases your health and help you to have  a balance between body, mind and emotions.

Conclusion:
To sum up, if you want to be stronger, more flexible and increase your resistance you should try with Taekwondo. You also will notice how your self-confidence grows, so you will be able to reduce and handle your stress. As a consequence you will become a balanced person!

Thesis Statement: TV advertisements

Higher fines would help to dissuade TV Companies from publishing too much publicity and inappropiate advertisements that the youngest and most sensitive public can watch at some time.

Outline

1. Doing Taekwondo a few times a week can benefit not only our body, but to our mind too.
2. Physical benefits.

• Improves strength
• - During the training you are expected to use as much strength as possible.
• Increases flexibility
• -Flexibility exercises are practised in every session
• -You do need to flexible to do advanced techniques and kicks
• Increases resistance
• -Every training session starts with warm-up exercises that become harder and harder
• -These exercises avoid possible lesions and prepares your body for the training

     3. Mental benefits.

•   Improves quick thinking
• -Your sabonim expects you to obey his/her orders quickly. If you do not, yo can be punished
•  Improves concentration
• -To stay focused, you have to count loudly how many times you have repeated an exercise

     4. Therefore, Taekwondo may be a hard sport, but undeniably will increase you physical and mental condition

Books, glorious books~

Diane Setterfield is an English writer that was totally unknown for me until a few years ago.
When I was in the high school I went to a bookshop and looked for some books to keep entertained during a long trip by bus. There, I discovered The Kingkiller Chronicle and bought too The Odyssey. A third book caught my attention, but I had just bought two books, so I came back home.
A few days later, I still was thinking about the cover of that book and wondering about what kind of story it had.
Fortunately, the book was still in the same place when I came back to that shop, so I bought it. This novel is The Thirteenth Tale.
Vida Winter is a really famous and old novelist that has always been lying when she was asked about her life. The novelist knows that her death is near, so she asks for Margaret's (the protagonist) help to write her biography; the thirteenth and last work, The Thirteenth Tale.
This book may don't seem very interesting; the slow rhythm and Margaret's dull, shy and sad personality actually made me drop the story, but when I restarted reading two years ago, I discovered a wonderful suspense tale, full of misteries and secrets waiting for me.
The Thirteenth Tale gave me back the love for reading, and made me believe that there are thousands of stories out there, waiting to be read by someone, and we must dedicate them the time they require.
The Thirteenth Tale became one of my favourite books, and now I do regret to have left it years ago.
Nowadays it is a bit difficult to find it physically sold, but please, if you can, buy it and read it.
You may think that it is boring, but dedicate it enough time and you will discover that you actually love it. You will not regret.

Tutorial: How to train your dog

It's amazing the amount of people that gets a dog and they have no idea about how educate them, they have problems and they decide to abandone or give their pet. I have always had dogs, so I would like to make a tutorial with the techniques I used to educate mine.
In first place, we must be sure about what kind of pet are we getting. If you are a low-energy person or have no experience with dogs, you should get a calm and submissive puppy, or maybe an adult dog.
Puppies are cute and cuddly, but their education begins since they come in our home.
Even if they look cute, we must not allow them to bite anything, only their toys. We can do this just by saying 'No!' in a energetic way or using a soft 'touch' on their side. We can use this same technique if we observe a possesive or bad behavior.
  [Cesar Millán using his touch method to keep the dog calm and submissive during his rehabilitation]

The next step  is socializing our dog. Dogs are social animals, so they need to meet, walk and play with other dogs. To socialize our dog properly, we must walk him everyday and let him know and smell some dogs. If you know somebody who has calm dogs, it would be a great idea to wak them all together, like a pride. Doing this, we will have in the future a balanced and friendly dog, so we will avoid the fightings between  dominant and insecure dogs.

There are a lot of different dogs with different behaviours, and there are many different tips too, but I considered that these are the most important to educate our pet on an easy way.

Pokémon II

Let's continue with Pokémon. Today I am going to explain how does the game work and its evolution trough the years.
We call 'First Generation' to the games Pokémon Red, Blue, Green and Yellow Edition. In this generation there were 151 pokémon species, which could have one or two of the following types: Fire, Water, Grass, Bug, Ghost, Dragon, Psychic, Normal, Fighting, Flying, Rock, Ground, Electric, Poison and Ice. Each pokémon can have advantages or disadvantages over other types depending on its. For example, Grass type is strong against Rock, Water and Ground Types, but it's really weak against Ice, Bug, Fire and Flying types.

The Second Generation (Gold, Silver and Crystal Edition] introduced 100 more pokémon and new types Dark and Steel. It introduced more novelties as weather changes, time, days and nights and the chance to obtain rare pokémon with unusual colours, named as shinies.
Sapphire, Ruby and Esmerald form the Third Generation.
We have two important novelties in this generation: Nature and Ability.
Since this generation, each pokémon as a nature and an ability.
The Nature is some kind of personality that affects to your pokémon's stats. For example, a Bold nature will decrease your pokémon's attack, but it will improve its physical defense. There are some neutral natures too, like Bashful and Quirky,  that will not improve nor decrease any of the stats.
Each pokémon has an Ability too, that can be useful in or out of fighting and can develop a special skill or condition. For example: Eelektross is an Electric type, so he is  weak against Ground type. But Eelektross' ability is 'Levitate', so it never touches the ground and can't be damaged by this type.
Abilities can also modify some stats in special conditions. For example, Marvle Scale gives +50% pshysical defense if the pokémon is suffering poisoning, burns or it's frozen.
For me, the introduction of Nature and Ability is the most important change because from this generation, it's possible to build strategies using them or to catch special pokémon with unusual features.
The Fourth Generation (Diamond, Pearl and Platinum Edition) brings 100 new pokémon, new abilities, new moves and another important change: Moves do not depend of the type anymore.
Before, a water type move always was a 'special attack', but in this generation, water moves can also hit physically.
Pokémon Black and White Edition and Black 2 and White 2 (5th Generation) came out with a change in its story: for first time, the rival team, in this case, Team Plasma, asks for first time if it is ethical to catch wild pokémon and to use them to fight, and they pretend to release all pokémon in the world, no matter the bond that they had with their trainers.

The Sixth Generation is the most recent (2014). It's compounded by Pokémon X and PokémonY.
This generation introduced a new type: Fairy, which is strong against Dragon, which was the most powerful type until now. Old pokémon that were Normal type became fairy type, like Jigglypuff, famous befcause of  its appereances in Pokémon TV series.
Another interesting changes are the characterisation of our protagonist or visible haircuts in pokémon like Furfrou.

'Poké Recreo' is one of the new novelties. It allows you to feed your pokémon, pet it or to play. Eeevee evolves into Sylveon if we pet him in Poké Recreo and if we teach him a fairy type move.


Mega Evolution is an special evolution introduced in this generation that allows you to evolve your pokémon during a fighting using a special stone (not all pokémon can mega evolve)

This generation is one of the best for me because with Mega Evolutions, Nature, Abilities and a very big range og moves, it is possible to make wonderful strategies, train and breed a specific pokémon to make it perfect and fight with your team against people all over the world.

Comparison and Contrast paragraph: Reptiles and Mammals as pets.

There's a huge amount of people who is afraid of reptiles in general. In contrast, there is a lot of people who love them and have reptiles at home as pets.
The most popular reptile pets are pithons, geckos and other lizards like tritons. Snakes and lizards, such as iguanas, have to live in a terrarium enough big to allow them to move, with logs and earth to make them feel confortable, copying their habitats in the wild. They also need hot and humidity to stay healthy. They don't eat too much. Pythons eat one mouse a week, depending on the snake's size. Lizards eat some bugs and almost whatever you provide them. Reptiles are not loving animals. You can touch them, of course, but your pet will not bring that love back, and they must be used to pats if you do not want to be bitten.
On the other hand, mammals like cats, dogs and rodents are very popular as pets because they can live inside the house or a room, you don't have to worry about the humidity and it's easier to create a habit of feeding them everyday than feeding them just once a week, for example. Furthermore, they demand big part of our attention and affection to stay happy and healthy, and they will show you back their love.
Both reptile and mammals are good as pets, everything depends on our personal preferences and responsibility.

Pokémon I

Playing videogames is probably my biggest hobby since my childhood, when I used to play 'Bubble Shooter', 'Spyro', 'Banjo Kazooie' and 'Crash Bandicoot', exclusive titles for Play Station 1.

A few years after, Play Station 2 began to be sold, and I played superb videogames like 'Final Fantasy VII', 'Kingdom Hearts' or 'Van Helsing'. But today I'd like to focus on one of the most famous videogames saga, developed by Game Freak: 'Pokémon'

'Pokémon'  is a really popular videogame saga with six game generations. You begin as a trainer who must choose his/her first pokémon to start the adventure. After it, you travel through a region (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Teselia and Kalos, depending on the generation we are playing to) full of wild pokémon, trainers and a 'Team' with evil and selfish objectives that we must stop, just as 'Team Rocket', 'Aqua and Magma Team' or 'Team Galactic'.

There are two principal objectives: the first one is to complete the Pokédex, some kind of register of every pokémon that live in the region.

The second one is to pass eight Pokémon Gym to have the chance to challenge Elite Four and become the Pokémon League Champion fighting with your team pokemon, that have been by your side since the beginning of your trip.

But the game does not actually end if we become the Champion: there are more challenges after the League, and even if you complete your Pokédex, you'll be able to find more pokémon that you haven't faced before.

I'll write another post about 'Pokémon' next week, in which I'll explain some basic mechanics and explain why I disagree with people who think that 'Pokémon' is a children game.

Opinon paragraph: Bureucracy in Spain.

It is a fact that bureaucracy in Spain is inefficent and slow. A lot of paperwork is needed for simple procedures, so these kind of processes take too much time.
For example, when I finished secondary school, I expected to recieve my qualification, but when I asked for it, they told me that I had to wait four years to have it. This means that I will receive my diploma when I end up my degree at University.
In my opinion, paperwork shouldn't be hard to handle if we simplificated it, had better infrastructures like modern computers and hire qualificated and efficent workers.
In addition, people could help too making useful suggestions instead of just complaining about how bad is bureaucracy.
In conclusion, we should learn from countries that have better systems than us and improve our bureaucracy system.

Descriptive paragraph: Giant's Causeway

In the photo I can see Giant's Causeway, located in UK.
There are penthagonal grey stones and big waves hitting them.
When I see this photo I feel little and weak because of the strength of the Atlantic and stone's resistance and size.

Review: The Kingkiller Chronicle

'The Kingkiller Chronicle' is an unfinished trilogy that started to be published in USA in 2007.
 The author, Patrick Rothfuss, was a Literature and English Language teacher in University of Wisconsin.
His first publication is the first part of this trilogy: 'The name of the Wind'.
The protagonist is Kvothe (pronunciated as 'cuouz') a hero who hides and spends his time in a lost lodge, and whose past and truth story have been faded with lies, legends and rumours.
After years of silence, Kvothe decides to tell his true story in three days. The first day of this story is 'The Name of the Wind', about his childhood, his youth as a pickpocket and his arrival at University, where he'll try to find the answers that he had been looking for.
The second book is entitled 'The Wise Man's Fear'. It's a long sequel (1189 pages) published four years ago. It's the second day in wich Kvothe is telling the truth about his life, but still nobody knows why he decides to do this after years of releasing his own rumours and hiding behind the mask of a bartender.
Nowadays, Rothfuss is starting to check the third part, provisionally named as 'The Doors of Stone'. I hope it's published next year because I really like Rothfuss' style and the story line. This book will tell how Kvothe ended up being a hero and hidding in nowhere.

Fears...

Fear of reality.
Fear of hard choices.
Fear of weakness in my heart.
Fear of pain.
Fear of fire.
Fear of lack of imagination.
Fear of being lockated.
Fear of ignorance.
Fear of people too clever.
Fear of shame.
Fear of dissapointment.
Fear of distrust.
Fear of cold people.
Fear of teachers who don't listen,
Fear of being too afraid to act.

About me

I've been thinking that talking a bit about me would be a good way to start with these weekly writings, so I'll tell something about me and my likes.

My name is Isa and I'm seventeen years old. I live in Alhama de Murcia, where I currently live with my family and where I've studied my whole life.

Some of my hobbies are reading fantasy books like 'The Kingkiller Chronicles', which is currently my favourite saga, and reading manga comics like 'Black Butler' (called 'Kuroshitsuji' in Japanese), 'Katekyoo Hitman Reborn!' and 'Death Note', or watching some comedy, psycho and thriller animes,of which characters I often draw.

My favourite type of music is Korean pop and American pop-rock, but I also enjoy listening at orchestral soundtracks.

I'm not very good on sports, but I've been developing my skills in Taekwondo for the last two years. I had to stop with my training because of the new University timetable, but I might be able to continue next year in a new gym.

My biggest dream is traveling around the world and living abroad, maybe in Sydney or Japan.

I have nothing else to say about me, so I'll end up with this writing. 

I hope you have a nice day.

Practice I. Topic: Are new technologies positive or negative?

       Nowadays we are living a new technologies revolution in which everybody's used to have a smartphone or a tablet, but my question is: are these new technologies positive or negative?

       In my opinion, electronic gadgets are simple tools, so they are neutral. What can be positive or negative is the way we use these tools. 

       On one hand, new technologies are good to make easier some jobs or tasks and be communicated in real time.

       On the other hand, smartphones and computers are being used by children in school as a new way of studying and doing homework and in their free time. I think that children should practice their orthography and develop their handwriting skills, as well as they should have a timetable for playing videogames or using the Internet.

In conclusion I'd like to repeat my opinion about this topic: new technologies aren't positive nor negative, everything depends on the use we give them.