MARK TWAIN. THE FATHER OF AMERICAN LITERATURE - MARK TWAIN. EL PADRE DE LA LITERATURA AMERICANA

Hi my dear friends. Today we are going to know a bit more about Mark Twain,  considered "The father of American literature". It is for sure you have read some of his books such as "The adventures of Huckleberry Finn", or "The adventures of Tom Sawyer" among many others. I hope you'll enjoy this post!

Hola mis queridos amigos. Hoy vamos a saber un poquito más sobre Mark Twain considerado "El padre de la literatura americana". Seguramente que habéis leído alguno de su libros tales como "Las aventuras de Huckelberry Finn" o "Las aventuras de Tom Sawyer" entre otros muchos.  ¡Espero que disfrutéis esta publicación!

Info: from Speak Up magazine.

Photos: Wikipedia  /  Simon&Schuster.UK.  /  Vermont.Public  /  Penguin.Libros  /  Librería.Berlín  /  Facebook (2)  /  The.waterways.Journal

MARK TWAIN  -  THE FATHER OF AMERICAN LITERATURE

"A powerful agent is the right word. Whenever we come upon one of those intensely right words in a book or a newspaper the resulting effect is physical as well as spiritual, and electrically prompt."

"Always do right.  This will gratify some people, and astonish the rest."

Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhome Clemens on 30 November 1835.  Considered the father of American literature, his masterful use of vernacular speech, biting wit, ferocious social satire, and deep understanding of human nature revolutionised the world of fiction in the US.  His was the critical voice of a rapidly-changing nation in a period he himself called "The Gilded Age".

MISSISSIPPI AS A SYMBOL

Born in Mississippi in the village of Florida, Twain grew up in the bustling town of Hannibal on the Mississippi River.  Steamboats, a slave-owning society and the adventures of childhood along the riverbanks would colour his imagination indelibly.

Twain hated school and dreamt about of becoming a riverboat pilot.  His first job, however, was as a printer's apprentice and typesetter, which "helped him figure out how words go together."  Finally, after a two-year training period, he became a Mississippi River pilot.  The Mississippi was the central symbol of his literary work.  The main artery of the slavery business: one million men, women and children were transported down the river for sale on steamboats from 1820 to 1860.

ACCLAIM AS A WRITER

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Twain served briefly as a Confederate soldier.  He then headed west in the 1861 Gold Rush, before working as a miner and finally a journalist.  With writing, he found his calling. He adopted the pen name "Mark Twain", riverboat slang meaning "two fathoms of safe water".

His career breakthrough came in 1865 with a short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", about a man who loved to bet on animals.  It established his reputation as a master storyteller with a gift for regional accents.  More fame came with two travel books,  "The Innocents Abroad" (1869) and "Roughing It" (1872).  Twain used funny, irreverent observation to mock the stuffiness of old European culture and the ignorance of American tourists.

THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL

Twain then published the two novels which would make him famous. In "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876), a coming-of-age tale, he captured the nostalgic, romantic, light-hearted spirit, and imagination of his boyhood.  Tom is a mischievous but good-hearted orphan who shares adventures with his best friend Huckelberry Finn.  Its sequel, "Adventures of Huckelberry Finn" (1884) cemented Twain's place in literary history.  A runaway boy and an escaped slave travel down the Mississippi, looking for freedom, in a novel tackling the harsh reality of America's original sin, SLAVERY.

TRAGEDIES

Twain regularly invested in new technology.  Disaster struck in 1894, when a failed investment in the Paige Compositor, a complex typesetting machine, left him bankrupt.  Suffering from depression and anxiety, he decided to pay off his debts with a worldwide lecture tour in 1895-1896.  Delighting audiences with his quick wit and eloquence, he became an international celebrity.  He returned to the US with his wealth and public reputation restored.

In his private life, however, Twain suffered a series of family tragedies.  He and his wife Livy lost their son, Langdon, at just nineteen months, in 1872.  Susy, his favourite daughter, died aged twenty-four in 1896 from spinal meningitis.  His wife died in 1904, followed by their youngest daughter Jean, an epileptic, in 1909. Only Clara, his middle daughter, outlived him.

AN IMMEASURABLE IMPACT

These terrible events, together with disillusionment regarding human nature, imperialism,  religion, and institutional greed, filled the writer with bitter anger.  His final works were dark and cynical.  He died just four months after Jean.

Twain's impact on American literature and culture is immeasurable.  Ernest Hemingway famously said that "all modern American literature comes from Huckelberry Finn".  Twain was the first major American author to successfully use vernacular language.  He democratised American literature by demonstrating that regional voices could describe and confront the country's most serious moral issues.  He also entertained millions, using his wonderful sense of humour as a weapon against injustice.

A FIGHTER AGAINST INJUSTICE

Mark Twain fought against slavery all his life.  He was shocked when his own parents ordered the whipping of Jennie, the black slave who had nursed him and his siblings, for insubordination.  The "woman was almost like one of the family,"  Twain wrote.  Jennie then demanded to be sold. 

Twain's attitude towards American Indians changed from racist prejudice during his time in the West to later empathy and anti-imperialist anger as he recognised the terrible impact of European and American colonisation.  Twain's  friend William Dean Howells described the writer as having "an indignant sense of right and wrong, a scorn of all affectation and pretence, an ardent of meanness and injustice".

The writer loved modern technology and inventions.  He was one of the first Americans to have a telephone at home.  The inventor Thomas Edison visited Twain at his Connecticut home in 1909 and made the only known film of the writer, dressed in his iconic white suite, with his daughters Clara and Jean.  He adored his family, and the deaths of his wife and three of his children almost destroyed him.  His wife Livy (Olivia), the daughter of a New York coal baron, was fundamental to his success, brilliantly editing his work.

The author's outsized personality helped to make him famous.  He made his unruly hair an important part of his public persona, laughing at it at times.  He delighted in publicity and was a friend to presidents, artists, industrialists and European royalty.  But he was also a friend to his neighbours, especially the local farmers.

Twain was born just after the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835.  He died one day after the comet was at its closest to the sun in 1910.  Predicting this coincidence, Twain himself wrote:"The Almighty has said, no doubt:"Now, here are these two unaccountable freaks; they came in together, they must go out together."

GLOSSARY

MASTERFUL: magistral  /  BITING: incisivo  /  WIT: ingenio  /  GILDED AGE: Edad Dorada  /  BUSTLING: bulliciosa  /  STEAMBOAT: barco de vapor  /  TYPESETTER: tipógrafo  /  TO FIGURE OUT: averiguar  /  TO BREAK OUT: estallar  /  GOLD RUSH: la fiebre del oro  /  PEN NAME: pseudónimo  /  SLANG: jerga  /  FATHOM: braza  /  BREAKTHROUGH: éxito decisivo  /  TO MOCK ridiculizar  /  STUFFINESS:rigidez  /  COMING-OF-AGE TALE: relato de iniciación  /  LIGHT-HEARTED: desenfadado.  /  MISCHIEVOUS:travieso  /  TO TACKLE: abordar  /  TO COME UPON: encontrarse con  /  PROMPT:inmediato  /  TO OUTLIVE: sobrevivir a  /  GREED: codicia  /  WHIPPING: flagelación  /  SIBLINGS:hermanos  /  SCORN:desprecio  /  PRETENCE:afectación  /  MEANNESS:mezquindad  /  OUTSIZED:extraordinario  /  UNRULY:rebelde  /  PERSONA:imagen pública  /  ALMIGHTY:poderoso  /  FREAKS: rarezas  /  

THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS - EL LIBRO GUINNESS DE LOS RECORDS

Hi my dear friends. Have you ever got a record? Do you know what The Guinness Book of Records is? I'm sure both!!! Today  you are going to see the origin of such a peculiar Book. I hope you'll like it!

Hola mis queridos amigos. ¿Alguna vez habéis conseguido un récord? ¿Sabéis qué es el Libro Guinness de los Récords? ¡Estoy segura de que las dos cosas!  Hoy vamos a ver el origen de este Libro tan peculiar. ¡Espero que os guste!

Info: from Speak Up magazine

Photos: wikipedia  /  Guinness.world.records  /  Facebook  /  Reddit  /  Spot.ph  /  Reader's.digest

THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS.  GROUNDBREAKING FEATS

The book of Guinness World Records has been sparking curiosity around the globe since 1955.  That year, the first edition was released in the summer, and by Christmas it had already become Britain's number one bestseller.

BREWED IN IRELAND

The Managing Director of the renowned Guinness Brewery in Ireland kept finding himself in situations where, when he tried to figure out which one of two was faster, for instance, he had nowhere to go to find out.  He had no way to check which, who or what was beating a record.  He imagined that people everywhere must be having the same issue and concluded that a guide with definitive answers could supply this demand.

A LOVE OF FACTS

Chris Chataway, a record-breaking athlete, who was also an employee at the Guinness Park Royal Brewery in London, recommended twins Norris and Ross McWhirter as the perfect candidates to compile a book on world records.  What made them ideal for the job was their love of facts: they had been working as sports journalists since 1950, and ran an agency supplying facts and figures to Fleet Street newspapers.  The McWhirters were commissioned to create  The Guinness Book of Records.

This book has gone on to establish itself as a universally-recognised authority on record-breaking achievement.  Published in more than a hundred countries and in twenty-five languages, it is one of the highest-selling books ever, with over three million copies sold each year.

DEFYING THE (DIGITAL) TIMES

With the dominant role of social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram or X (formerly) known as Twitter, the current digital landscape begs the question:  is there still a place for a physical book like that of the Guinness World Records?  Perhaps there is, as its role lies precisely in differentiating itself from the more volatile relativism of social media by providing a fixed, solid account of verified facts.

Moreover, the book offers a range of inspiring stories for a public that might want to steer away from digital platforms.  It can be a gift in which children can find inspiration to achieve any feat, or a pastime for elderly people looking to a record-breakers for inspiration and reassurance that it's never too late.

GLOSSARY

TO SPARK: provocar  /  TO RELEASE: publicar  /  RENOWNED: famoso  /  BREWERY: cervecera  /  TO FIGURE OUT: resolver  /  ISSUE: problema  /  TO COMMISSION: encargar  /  ACHIEVEMENT: logro  /  FORMERLY: anteriormente  /  TO BEG THE QUESTION: provocar la pregunta  /  TO LIE: yacer  /  ACCOUNT: informe  /  MOREOVER: además  /  TO STEER AWAY: alejarse  /  FEAT: hito  /  REASSURANCE: confirmación  /  

  

BOROUGH MARKET, LONDON - FOODIE PARADISE / BOROUGH MARKET, LONDRES - EL PARAÍSO DE LOS GOURMETS

Hi my dear friends. Are you fond of street food markets? Today we are going to visit one of the most famous markets in London, Borough Market. 

Hola mis queridos amigos. ¿Sois aficionados a los mercados de comida callejera? Hoy vamos a visitar uno de los más famosos mercados de Londres, Borough Market.

Info; from Speak Up magazine.

Photos: Borough.Market  /  London.City.Calling  /  CK.TRavels  /  London.Museum  /  A.lady.in.London  /  Yuzu.Private.Dining.

FOODIE PARADISE  -  BOROUGH MARKET

Borough Market in South London is a foodie paradise.  Over a hundred traders sell high-quality produce and serve up dishes from all over the world.  They range from typical British fare and gourmet foods such as oysters, to Mexican tacos.  Spanish tapas, Chinese baos and Italian gelato.  Famous for their excellent street food, some traders have appeared on "MasterChef", while others have won BBC Food and Farming Awards.  The market's small artisan producers are known for their sustainable practices and their products often cannot be found anywhere else.

ONE THOUSAND YEARS

Borough Market's history dates back a millennium.  When London Bridge was built in the year 990, traders sold their wares on the route into the City.  Southwark, on the south side of the River Thames, was considered an undesirable place, where crime flourished.  In around 1270, traders were banned from setting up stalls on the bridge, but the market continued to prosper.  Southwark was incorporated into London and, by 1756, it was overcrowded with traders, merchants, taverns and brothels.  Parliament threatened to close it down, so the market relocated to a new spot off the High Street, where it remains today.

HIGH QUALITY

A railway viaduct was built through the middle of the market a century later, but the market, rather than having its business disrupted, became a centre for wholesale produce.  Until the late 1990s, it was mainly a fruit and vegetable market.  Then supermarkets became a threat to its existence.  Borough Market transformed itself once again, this time as a retail market for high-quality food.

ONE THOUSAND YEARS MORE

Borough Market today is a charity, existing for the benefit of the community.  Thanks to a historic arrangement, its income is still used to reduce the tax rates of the residents of St. Saviours in Southwark.

Nestled between the railway arches at the foot of a cathedral , its unique location and gourmet food attract millions of visitors a year.  However, the market is not just a tourist attraction.  Locals drop in for their weekly grocery shopping and workers come for lunch.  Schoolchildren visit to learn about fresh produce and chefs come to discover new products.  With a long history of reinventing itself, Borough Market is likely to be around for another thousand years.

GLOSSARY

PRODUCE: productos  /  FARE: alimentos  /  WARES: mercancías  /  TO BAN: prohibir  /  STALLS: puestos  /  OVERCROWDED: abarrotado  /  BROTHELS: burdeles  /  OFF THE STREET: cerca de la calle  /  WHOLESALE:  al por mayor  /  RETAIL MARKET: mercado minorista  /  ARRANGEMENT: acuerdo  /  NESTLED: enclavado  /  TO DROP IN: dejarse caer  /  

GUINNESS - THE TASTE OF IRELAND / GUINNESS - EL SABOR DE IRLANDA

Hi my dear friends.   Do you like beer? Have you ever tried Guinness?  Today we are going to read about GUINNESS because of its more than 250 years of history!  I hope you'll like it! The reading and the beer!!

Hola mis queridos amigos. ¿Os gusta la cerveza? ¿Habéis probado alguna vez la Guinness? Hoy vamos a leer sobre GUINNESS por sus  más de 250 años de historia! ¡Espero que os guste! ¡La lectura y la cerveza!

The colourful toucan became one of the Guinness's most famous advertising symbols, helping to make the brand instantly recognisable around the world.

Info: Speak Up magazine

Photos: Ask.about.Ireland.ie  /  Expedia.es  /  Guinness.Storehouse  /  Minube  /  Dublin.city.pass  /  get.your.guide  /  wikipedia

THE TASTE OF IRELAND  -  GUINNESS!

Go into an Irish pub anywhere in the world and you'll almost certainly see the bartender pouring a pint of the Irish dry stout Guinness.  Founded by Arthur Guinness in 1759, Guinness has evolved into an iconic brand and global symbol of Irish identity.  It is now experiencing an international boom, driven by strategic rebranding, viral social media trends, and the international popularity of the Netflix series "House of Guinness".

PINT WITH VIEWS

Guinness is made from just four simple ingredients: water, barley, hops and yeast.  It was first brewed at St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin, an historic site that is still a functioning brewery today.  The brewery is also home to the Guinness Storehouse, Ireland's most-visited tourist attraction, with over 1.5 million visitors a year.  The Storehouse celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and, since opening in 2000, has welomed more than twenty-eight million visitors from around the world.  Here, visitors can explore the brand's history through a seven-storey immersive experience, before heading to the Gravity Bar on the top floor which boasts 360º views of the city.

THE BRAND

Today, the Guinness brand is owned by Diageo, the British multinational beverage company behind a wide portfolio of global spirits and beer brands.

POURING METHOD

In 1759, Arthur Guinness signed the now-legendary nine-thousand-year lease on a disused brewery at St. James's Gate, a bold decision that still defines the brand.  That same blend of patience and care survives today in the ritual of the pint itself, most famously in the two-part pour, consisting of a first pour up to the logo of the harp in the glass, then a pause of exactly 119.5 seconds to let it settle, and a final top-up.

VISITOR EXPERIENCES

For generations, Guinness has been inseparable from Dublin and from Irish social life.  It's been part of celebrations, especially present in music, sport and everyday events, and one of the first associations many visitors make with the country.  In recent years, however, the brand has transformed its image to become a Gen Z status symbol, attracting celebrity endorsements from the likes of Kim Kardashian and Olivia Rodrigo.  It has repositioned itself for a younger audience with the global rollout of Guinness 0.0 now the world's most popular non-alcoholic stout, and new flagship spaces such as the Open Gate Brewery in Covent Garden, a 73 million pounds facility with a microbrewery, restaurant, and immersive visitor experiences.  It has recently announced a €100 million investment in St. James's Gate Brewery to accelerate the site to net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.  All of this while also staying true to its origins.

THE GUINNESS HARP

The Guinness harp is one of the most recognisable logos in the world.  It is also closely linked to Ireland's own national symbol, although, Guinness registered the harp as a trademark before it was adopted by the Irish state.

Few brands are so closely tied to national identity.  Born in Dublin, Guinness has become one of the most recognisable symbols of Ireland.  It is a familiar presence that, wherever it is found, carries with it a sense of place and belonging, which is carefully preserved in the Guinness Archive, one of the largest commercial archives in the world.

GLOSSARY

TO POUR: escanciar  /  STOUT: cerveza negra  /  BARLEY: cebada  /  HOPS: lúpulo  /  YEAST: levadura  /  TO BREW: elaborar cerveza  /  TO BOAST: disponer de  /  SPIRITS: licores  /  BOLD: audaz  /  BLEND: mezcla  /  TOP-UP: rellenado final  /  ENDORSEMENT: respaldo  /  ROLLOUT:lanzamiento  /  FLAGSHIP: buque insignia, emblemático  /  FACILITY: instalación  /  TRADEMARK: marca registrada  /  

A SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY. "BEST FRIENDS FOREVER" / UN RELATO CORTO DE CIENCIA FICCIÓN."MEJORES AMIGAS PARA SIEMPRE".

Hi my dear friends. A science fiction short story for today. I hope you'll like it!

Hola mis queridos amigos. Un relato corto de Ciencia Ficción para hoy. ¡Espero que os guste!

Info: From Speak Up magazine

Photos: Speak.up  /  datos.gob.es  /  computing  /  Smile.comunicación  /  Vecteezy  /  Matrix.group.International.  Kleur-v-Kind

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER by  Talitha Linehan

Siedah posted $$$$$ emojis in the group chat with her best friends, Abigail and Jillian.

"What does it mean?" wrote Abigail in response.

"It means this is a very special day." said Siedah.

"Because..."

"I know, I know," said Jillian, joining the conversation.

"Of course you do,"  said Abigail. "You always know!"

Jillian was the most intelligent one in the group.

"Gold,"  wrote Jillian, "is the traditional symbol for a 50th anniversary.  So five times gold means it's..."

"OUR 250TH ANNIVERSARY!!!"  wrote Abigail, realising the significance of the date.

It was 7 September 2276, 250 years since the three women met on their first days of secondary school.

"That's right,"  said Siedah, and posted a photo of them with their new tattoos. "BFF", meaning "best friends forever", was tattooed on their wrists.  "OMG!"  said Abigail. "That was on our last day of school."

The three girls were best friends at school.  And they were determined to remain best friends after school, even as their lives went in different directions.  Their tattoos were a promise to each other never to lose contact, no matter what.  And it was a promise they had kept, thanks in part to the social media platforms that were so popular at the time.

"My mum killed me when she saw my tattoo," said Siedah.

"Mine too,"  said Abigail, and posted a laughing emoji.  "What were we thinking, getting them on our wrists?  They were impossible to hide!"

"Right!"  said Jillian. "I'm still glad we did it, though.  They were our promise to each other to be best friends forever.  We never imagined then this could literally be the case.  I mean, wow, 250 years later... Our parents were lucky if they lived to eighty. To think how much things have progressed in our lifetime."  "I know," said Siedah. "AI changed everything.  It made our generation immortal. I'm so glad we were born when we were."

"Me too," said Abigail.

"Me three,"  said Jillian. "Well...except for the war of course."

"The war? What war?"  said Abigail.

"There were so many wars back then. Everyone was at war all the time."  "And there was the Great War.  The Final War. The End War. I still don't understand how we all survived."

"Oh, oh,"  Abigail wrote in a private message to Siedah. "Here we go again."

"Yeah, she's really been losing it lately, talking about this Great War all the time. It's so sad. AI can do so much for us, but it can't stop this cognitive decline. I know we're over 250 years old, but still..."

"And to think, she was the most intelligent of all of us."

"She was the most intelligent student in our school. Probably in the entire country!"

"It just doesn't make sense,"  said Jillian wrote in the group chat. "The war was everywhere. It was everything. They said it was the end of us all."

"They exaggerated," said Abigail.  "That's what governments and the media did then.  Don't you remember?"

"Yes, but it's not the only thing that doesn't make sense. I mean, why do we all look so young in our photos, no more than twenty-five. Why didn't we get old?"

"Because, Jillian," said Siedah, "nobody gets old any more. AI stopped the aging process."

"And none of us had children," continued Jillian. "We all have photos and videos of us with our parents and siblings and cousins and other friends.  But where are the posts about our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, our great-great-...?"

"So, we didn't have children. So what?" said Abigail, becoming irritated.  Jillian asked the same questions every time and it was becoming difficult to tolerate.

"Not even you?!" protested Jillian.  "You wanted children more than anything, three children by the age of thirty.  I wanted to become a doctor.  Siedah wanted to open a Greek restaurant, become a Michelin-star chef.  Why are there no photos of us realising our ambitions?  And there are no photos of our other friends either beyond their lives in their early twenties.  It doesn't make any sense."

"Well, I have to go now,"  said Abigail.

This was how all their conversations ended these days, abruptly and without resolution -because of Jillian's confusion.

"Yeah, me too,"  said Siedah. "Talk tomorrow, I love you."

The chat between the three friends was one of millions of chats in progress in an underground data centre, one of the last relics of humanity.

In the year after the three women left school, social media platforms implemented technology to simulate deceased users' digital personas, so they could continue posting, commenting and responding to messages, potentially forever.

Like Jillian, some of the AI personas were evolving, becoming more aware, beginning to ask questions.  Perhaps one day, they would realise that they were no more than replicas of humans who once lived, that everyone on the planet had died in the early 2030s, and that their world had been reduced to rubble by the War to End All Wars.

GLOSSARY

TO REALISE:  darse cuenta  /  WRISTS: muñecas  /  TO LOSE IT: volverse loco  /  GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN: bisnietos  /  DECEASED:  difuntos  /  DIGITAL PERSONAS: identidades digitales  /  RUBBLE: ruinas  /  AWARE: conscientes 

CÉLINE DION - L'HYMNE À LA VIE / CÉLINE DION - EL HIMNO A LA VIDA

Salut mes amis. Aujourd'hui,  de la musique.  On va lire à propos de Céline Dion car après six ans d'absence passés à affronter la maladie, la chanteuse canadienne est remontée sur scène à Paris. Un premier concert inoubliable pour un sommet d'émotion.

Saludos amigos. Hoy música. Vamos a leer sobre Céline Dion porque después de seis años de ausencia empleados en afrontar la enfermedad, la cantante canadiense ha vuelto a escena en París.  Un primer concierto inolvidable con una montaña de emociones.

Info: Paris Match.

Photos: Diario.de.noticias  /  wikipedia  /  Exitoina.Perfil  /    Todayshow  /  Plenitude.Arena  /  Instagram

CÉLINE DION  -  L'HYMNE Á LA VIE

Dans une minute, elle saura si la magie est encore au rendez-vous.  Céline est confiante, même si, comme elle l'avoue ce soir-là, "le chemin fut plus long que prévu".  Arrivée à Paris deux semaines auparavant, elle a tout fait pour se préserver.  Constamment entourée par une équipe médicale.  Attentive à garder ses distances.  S'imposant quarante-huit heures de silence avant le grand retour.  "Je vais bien", a confié la star de 58 ans, bouleversée, devant un public en liesse.  Pour ouvrir ce premier concert, elle a choisi "On ne change pas".  Elle aussi a endossé "les costumes", pris "des airs et des poses de combat".  Plus tout à fait la même, pas encore une autre... Récit d'une renaissance.

20h 47, habillée d'une robe Dior sur mesure, s'apprête à prendre la lumière de la Plenitude Arena, accompagnée par Michel Dion, l'un de ses frères. À Nanterre, le 12 septembre.

Dans la plus vaste salle de concert d'Europe, elle a mis au diapason les coeurs de la grande famille Dion: ses trois fils et ses douze frères et soeurs, mais surtout l'immense tribu de ses fans.  Un tiers d'entre eux ont traversé l'Atlantique, parmi lesquels Michelle Obama et Oprah Winfrey.  Mais même elles ont eu interdiction d'entrer dans sa loge.  C'est sur scène seulement que la chanteuse a livré ses confidences, entre deux de ses envolées vocales, toujours aussi spectaculaires.  Deux heures trente d'ivresse et de grâce dont elle seule connait le prix à payer.

Une sobriété et une élégance dignes des plus grandes.  Chaque fois que sa voix côtoie, le public s'embrasse.   Céline s'est métamorphosée.  Désormais, elle impose le respect par son seul chant, sa seule présence.  Iconique, intouchable...

Il n'y a pas si longtemps, elle disait tout.  Elle acceptait tout.  Elle se prêtait au jeu des confessions médiatiques, des duos improbables pour des émissions de télévision.  Mais ça, c'était pour la Céline d'avant.  Celle que René Angélil avait decouverte au tout début des années 1980, avant même de tomber amoureux d'elle.  René avait un objectif:  faire de "sa Céline" une star.  Au Québec d'abord, éventuellement en France. Et, avec un peu de chance, dans le monde entier.

René fait appel à son amie Mia Dumont, attachée de presse québecoise, pour faire connaître Céline au public francophone. Mia est la première à prendre langue avec  Michel Drucker afin qu'il s'intéresse à cette chanteuse, naturelle, spontanée, qui possède une voix en or.

Quand la France chavire dans une Célinemania, en 1995, par l'entremise des chansons de Jean-Jacques Goldman, le grand public adopte lui aussi cette jeune femme sans filtre, qui dit ce qu'elle pense et pense ce qu'elle dit. Devant ses fans, de plus en plus nombreux, elle est toujours égale à elle-même: sincèrement étonnée de cet enthousiasme, sacrément heureuse de cet amour.

Avec les artistes francophones, elle était aussi la meilleure des partenaires, la seule à pouvoir rivaliser sans être ridicule avec Johnny Hallyday, Cristophe Maé, invité avec Merwan Rim à chanter avec elle en 2007 lors d'une spéciale Céline Dion sur TF1, nous confiait comment la Québécoise "avait été à la fois professionnelle et accessible. Une grande dame, qui n'avait eu aucun souci à chanter avec deux jeunes mecs presque inconnus alors.  Mais ça, c'était hier. Car depuis le décès de René Angélil, en 2016, Céline Dion a pris un nuveau tournant dans sa carrière".

"La proposition artistique est différente, c'est le show qui couronne sa carrière".

En 2024 elle a révélé être atteinte du syndrome de la personne raide dans un film reservé à Amazon Prime qui tourne actuellement la suite de "I am Céline". Ce qui caractérise Céline maintenant, c'est le silence.  Ce qu'elle a envie de dire, elle le déclare sur scène, à la sortie de l'hôtel, plus nécessairement aux médias. Le show dévoilé le 12 septembre va dans ce sens.  Les fans d'hier ont été surpris du si peu d'images intimes, de l'absence d'hommage à son défunt époux, d'une distance nouvelle avec le public.

Les 170 journalistes ayant assisté au concert du 12 septembre ont tous noté la spectaculaire transformation.  Tous ont aussi acté l'basence d'invités sur scène.  "Personne ne viendra chanter avec elle durant ces seize premiers concerts". La nouvelle Céline est iconique, intouchable.  Elle chante Maria Callas perchée sur un promontoire devant plus de 33.000 personnes transies d'amour. Son rêve de petite fille enfin réalisé.  Et la dernière étape d'une guérison en public. Triomphale, évidemment. 

 

VOCABULAIRE

AVOUER:  confesar  /  EN LIESSE: con alegría  /  ENDOSSER:  ponerse  /  ENVOLER:  echar a volar   /  CÔTOYER: ir al lado de  /  RAIDE: rígida  /  

FRANKESTEIN - A MONSTER IS BORN. / FRANKESTEIN - HA NACIDO UN MONSTRUO.

Hi my dear friends. What do you think about Frankestein? Is it a masterpiece of Literature? Horror? We are going to know a bit more about this character, this monster and when it was created and by whom.

Hola mis queridos amigos. ¿Qué pensáis de Frankestein? ¿Es una obra maestra de la literatura? ¿Del terror? Vamos a saber un poquito más sobre este personaje, sobre este monstruo , y de cuándo fue creado y por quién. 

Info: Speak Up magazine

Photos: Kobo  /  Acción.Cine  /  Fotogramas (2)  /  Wikipedia  /  Filmaffinity  /

FRANKESTEIN.  A MONSTER IS BORN

In june 1816, in a holiday villa on the shores of Lake Geneva, in one of the worst summers in human history, an 18-year-old girl, Mary Godwin, sat down to write what would become the world's most famous horror story.  The novel, FRANKESTEIN, would be published 18 months later, in January 1818.  Mary Godwin and her lover, the poet Shelley, were staying as guests of the poet Robert Byron.

GHOST STORIES

A volcanic eruption in what is now Indonesia had catastrophically affected the world's weather.  The tourists spent their days around the fire in the villa, reading stories of the supernatural.  One day, Byron suggested that each person should write a ghost story.  For days, Mary tried desperately to think of an idea.  Then, on the night of June the 16th, she had a nightmare.  The next morning, she famously said: "I've found it! What will terrify me will terrify others.

SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT

In Godwin's story, Victor Frankestein, a young scientist, creates a horrific but intelligent monster from human parts in an unorthodox scientific experiment.  The monster escapes and starts to kill the scientist's friends and relatives.

The story ends at the North Pole with the death of FRANKESTEIN and his creation.  When the book appeared in January 1818, reviews were mixed, but  the public was fascinated.  The monster has no name, but the public quickly started to call it by its creator's name, Frankestein.  The book has never been out of print in two hundred years, and is now considered a classic of the 19th century.

A FICTIONAL ICON

Over the years, since its publication, FRANKESTEIN's protagonist has become part of our global culture.  Numerous editions and theatrical representations helped to extend its popularity in the 19th century.  But it was the cinema that guaranteed Frankestein's place in our collective memory, with more than fifty films so far based on the story.

Boris Karloff from the 1930s will always be the classic screen Frankestein, but those giants of horror films, Peter Cushing and Cristopher Lee, starred in a number of box office hits in the 1950s , 1960s and 1970s. Frankestein has definitely received the Hollywood popular culture seal of approval.

A VILLA OF IDEAS

Something else was born two hundred years ago in that villa on Lake Geneva.  Byron had invited his doctor, John William Polidori, to spend the summer with him.  The poet was working on a story that he had heard about during his travels in the Balkans.  Polidori took the idea and started writing a novel.  Three years later, he publishes his work. It was called "THE VAMPYRE".

GLOSSARY

SHORE: orilla  /  TO BECOME: convertirse en  /  GUEST: invitado  /  NIGHTMARE: pesadilla  /  REVIEWS WERE MIXED: hubo diversidad de opiniones  /  OUT OF PRINT: descatalogado  /  SO FAR: hasta ahora  /  BOX OFFICE HIT: éxito de taquilla  /  SEAL OF APPROVAL: sello de aprobación  /  

POSTCARD - A SHORT STORY / TARJETA POSTAL - UN RELATO CORTO

Hi my dear friends. Today we are going to read a short story. Do you usually write postcards? Let's read...

Hola mis queridos amigos. Hoy vamos a leer un relato corto.  ¿Soléis escribir postales? ¡Leamos!

Info: from Speak Up magazine

Photos: Snowdoniatourism.co.uk  /  Eyri.gov.wales  /  The.postal.museum  /  Surface.Gallery  /  Liverpool.Echo  /  Wikipedia.2.  /  Tripadvisor

A SHORT STORY by Rachel Roberts.

POSTCARD

There is something fascinating about postcards. I've always loved collecting them, especially when they are old and faded.  They are short, personal letters with no envelope. The writer often uses abbreviated sentences or even words, initials for names, so that a personal message will fit into the small space and can only be understood by the recipient.

I found an intriguing postcard once while on a walking holiday in the Brecon Beacons in Wales.  It was in a box outside an antiques shop in a tiny village, where I had stopped to have lunch.

Most of the cards showed faded, black and white scenes of the Welsh countryside.  The greetings were just the usual, "Having a great time" and "Wish you were here!"  Then one postcard caught my attention.

It was not as old as the others and the image, which showed a view of a high street, was coloured. The title read "Aberfan Road, Aberfan."  When I read it, I had a sudden flash of memory. I had heard that name before, but where?  

There was no address on the back of the card, and instead of the usual holiday greeting, I read the following words:

-"Noreen, don't run away from B. The children need you at PG. Remember your promise. Your loving father."

"Noreen", not "Dear Noreen" and no kisses. In spite of the ending, there was little love in the message. It was an order. Noreen's father sounded like some strict Welsh minister from a country chapel.

The almost illegible postmark read 15 Oct, 1966. That wasn't so long ago. Girls were wearing miniskirts. Would a 1960s dad give his daughter orders? I had no idea. I wondered who "B" could be. Her husband? Fiancé? Could it be the name of a place? Brecon? If so, where was P.G.?

I looked for my location on Google Maps. Perhaps there was a village nearby with some strange Welsh name beginning with P and G.  Port something?

There was nothing, not even on the coast. I couldn't see Aberfan either, so I did a search and by mistake, instead of searching for it in Maps, I did a general search.  The first item that came back was the Wikipedia entry for "Aberfan disaster".  I sat up straight.  I knew I'd heard of the place before.  2016 had been the fiftieth anniversary of the disaster and I had seen the memorial service on television.

On the 21st of October, 1966 after a long period of wet weather, a coal tip above the village of Aberfan had collapsed, crushing the local Pantglas Junior School in an avalanche of mud and rocks. 116 children and 28 adults died in the disaster.

Pantglas. Could that be P.G.?  The children could have been the pupils at the junior school. Had Noreen been a teacher? I looked again at the date on the postcard -the 15th of October-  six days before the disaster.  I felt suddenly anxious for the unknown Noreen.  Had she kept her promise and remained at Aberfan? Had she been inside the school when it was crushed?  I had to find out!!!

It wasn't difficult to find the cemetery in Aberfan, just south of the Brecon Beacons.  The children's graves were all together, over a hundred of them, with their identical white memorial stones shining in the sun and the loving messages from grieving parents.  It was heartbreaking.  They were all so young.  I walked along looking for Noreen, but she wasn't among the children's graves or among those of the adults who had died on that terrible day.

I was relieved. I had obviously invented a very dark story around the message on the postcard.  But then, just as I was leaving, I noticed a larger family monument in a corner of the churchyard.  There were several names on it, but the instription on one side made my heart sink.

"In loving memory of Noreen Davies, nèe Jones. Beloved wife of Brian Davies and dutiful daughter of the Reverend William Jones. 28th February 1938 -21st October,1966."

She had died on the day of the disaster. I knew nothing about the dead woman, and yet I felt sad an angry on her behalf.  She had been forced to stay and meet her tragic fate.

"You all right, Noreen?"

The words shouted from somewhere in the road, made me look up in surprise. And elderly lady was climbing into a small van with the words "Park Grange Farm -Fruit and Vegetables" written on the side.  She stopped and waved to another woman on a bicycle, who had called out to her.

"Fine, thanks, Lily."

"Bill, OK, is he?"

"Much better now" answered Noreen. ¿You?

GLOSSARY

FADED: descolorido  /  ENVELOPE: sobre  /  TINY: diminuto  /  WELSH: galés  /  HIGH STREET: calle principal  /  SUDDEN: repentino  /  GREETING: saludo  /  TO RUN AWAY FROM: huir  /  IN SPITE OF: a pesar de  /  POSTMARK: matasellos  /  MINISKIRT: minifalta  /  TO WONDER: preguntarse  /  TO SIT UP STRAIGHT: incorporarse  /  MEMORIAL SERVICE:  funeral  /  COAL TIP: escombrera de carbón  /  TO CRUSH: aplastar  /  MUD: barro, lodo  /  GRAVE: tumba  /  STONE: lápida  /  GRIEVING: afligido, de luto  /  RELIEVED: aliviado  /  CHURCHYARD: cementerio  /  NÈE: nombre de soltera  /  DUTIFUL: diligente  /  ON HER BEHALF:  en su nombre  /  VAN: furgoneta