last night

This a journal ,right?I have never written something about my daily life up to now,so I´m going to write about what happened last night.Sometimes I feel that I´m a lucky man,and that very good things happen by chance.Yesterday was a special date for my girlfriend and me because it was our "anniversary",I mean,not really our anniversary but it was another month of being together.I was very lucky as I said because we hadn´t arranged anything to do up to last night.I thought that we were going to meet just for a moment in the Lola but she was available to go out.Last night was perfect,in spite of my allergy(why my throat for God´s sake?,why?!!!)I spent a wonderful evening,eating a big pizza and drinking coca-cola with my girl,chating and laughing.We spent some time in that bar,and then we said goodbye in the park.Ok,it was wonderful up to now,I had been with my sweet child,celebrating one month of being together,but was going to get better.I crossed the street and I listened to music,was that?I said.It was a song by Virus,"amor descartable"and the music was coming from the casino.I saw that there was a crowd at one side of the casino,in the open air and there was a tent.Then the group played another song,it was "pronta entrega"by Virus.oh my God!!!then I realized that Virus was playing there.I joined the crowd and tried to go to the front,near the stage.The audience was in the vast mayority people in their fourties;they were dancing and smiling,remembering those good times of the 80´s.I managed to get very near the stage,and I was lucky because they had just begun to play.I couldn´t believe that I was watching a rock legend of the 80´s,playing live and for free in our province.The crowd was very excited to see them,and they pleased their audience playing their hits.I wish there was Federico Moura(R.I.P) singing with them,but his brother made a good job.Last night I was a lucky guy;it was an amazing night and all happened by chance.

corny

I want to see the light
I want to travel so fast
I want to see that look in your eyes
I want to wake up after dreaming
I want to shine so bright so everybody could feel me
I want to sing a song
I want to trap you in my world
I want to be a child
I want to ask you to stay home
I want to laught
I want to scream
I want to see you try
I want to live forever
I want to fly
I want to catch the day
I want to recover the night
I want to heal your wounds
I want to spend some time
I want to feel safe
I want to sleep by your side

Dear Hyde

I was reading Dr Jeckill and Mr Hyde,an excellent novel by Robert Louise Stevenson and I was inspired by it to write this entry.I think that we are not only one person,we are several people according to our mood and our mental state.Sometimes we try to show or best side of ourselves to others,because we all have this fear of being rejected by society,of being an outcast.So,in order to be part of the society you have to play its game and adapt to its rules.It is the only way to have a good and plenty life.However,this is not so easy.There are times when we cannot manage our feelings,and the darkest side of our nature comes to light.This is when our Mr Hyde appears, and he is not very nice.Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce to you my own Mr.Hyde.Some people think that i am a quiet young man,nice to talk to and very funny sometimes(i am not a humble person,jajaja)but now I am willing to show you my other self.Hyde sometimes appears when something is out of control,when I cannot get things or those times when everything seems to fail or to turn out as I havent expected.he tends to swear a lot,looking in his vocabulary the most ofensive and disonant words that spanish language can have(it is good to swear in your mother tongue.Healso will hit things eg:doors,chairs,tables,remote controls,guitars and other objects,doesnt matter their value or price)my own hyde is a very nasty person,always willing to hurt people with his words and irony(a very corrosive one)or to think there are fools and that he is much better than them(lets face it,sometimes when we are angry we tend to think in this stupid way).the only way to calm down my mrHyde is to lock myself in my room,listen to quiet music and rest in my bed until he is gone.hyde appears depending on the time of the year,when I feel that i am stress out and there is so much pressure on me,he comes out in the most violent way.there are times that he stays for a long time,unwilling to go away and disappear,sometimes he doesnt appear for several weeks or months,and I have to say
that I dont really miss him at that times.I think he is like a powerful and deadly weapon,because he can turn my world into dust in a little while.Fortunately,now I know how to control him.he is not a very good fellow,you know.

live!tonight!(revised version)

As some people who know me very well, I am very fond of music.But I guess that some new friends of mine don´t know that I used to play in a band.About 6 years ago my cousin and me formed a band with the idea of playing our favorite songs.At that time I had very little skill playing the guitar(nowadays I am not a great guitarist anyway)and as my cousin Juan didn´t want to sing,I became the band´s singer.O.k,we were two,we had the guitarist(juan)the "singer"(me)so we needed the bassist and the drummer,the basic rock n´roll formation.The next step was looking for some lads that wanted to play with us.I heard about a boy who was learning to play the drums,so we went to his house and we found this very very young boy(he was 13 years at that time)called Martin.He was a very serious guy,who liked heavy metal and lived with his aunt.We began the rehearsal in his house,in spite of some neighbours´complains.The first time we tried to play a tune(it was a The Cure song)sounded AWFUL.I was singing out of tune,trying to emulate Robert Smith voice,my cousin couldn´t get the right time of the song because Martin was playing too fast.Once we finish playing the song, Martin´s aunt opened the door as started to tell us off-"stop making that hellish noise,I´m trying to rest".After several weeks of hurting our hands and bleeding our ears,we finally played the song very decently.Yeap,it sounded good,but we needed a bass player to give energy and presence to our sound.Then we found Martin(another Martin in the group).The problem was that we had never played the bass,but he knew a lot about sound equipments and all that stuff.He joined the band,and yes,NOW WE ARE A BAND!!!Obviously,we needed to rehearse more.weeks,and then months passed till we were confident enough to play for an audience.Oh my god!!!we finally got to play in a little party with other bands of my town.I was scared to death,we were going to play in front of people,the vast mayority of them were friends.I was little histerical the weeks before our debut,too nervous to think about so many things,the rehearsals,the sound,the songs...well,finally the big night arrived.We had to play in a very,very small place,full of friends,other bands members and some people I didn´t know.We were the last band to play that night;I was shaking,feeling that my stomach was sick and I couldn´t articulate a word,how on earth am I going to sing?I said to myself.Ok,I recognise I was pretty nervous,but my drummer was worse-"I think I get out of here, I can´t do it!!!"he told me-"relax my friend,it will be O.k" I said.I was struggling with my nerves,my real enemies in several moments of my life.-"guys,it´s your turn"someone said.I walked to the stage,picked up my guitar and got close to the microfone-"good evening,we are Ojo Blindado and this is our first show"I said. There was a struggle inside of me:I was feeling a terrible sensation in my chest, my hands were all covered with sweat and all my body was shaking in fear. I saw people´s faces,some were smiling at me,some were drinking beer quietly,just waiting us to start.At the back of the room I could see some friends jumping and screaming our names.The first chord,it started with A,the drums blasted with a powerful sound that made the walls moved...we were playing!!!the crowd began to jump and to mosh.It seems like their energy was transmitted to us,and I felt a great strenght after that nervous release. The song ended,they began to clap their hands.yes!!!that was really great,after that first song I was relaxed,I was so happy that I couldn´t stop smiling.The rest of the show was amazing,I felt so comfortable that I even told some jokes.At the end,I felt complete:we could make our dream come true,after a long time,trying to overcome difficulties and hardships for the sake of music. That was the beginning of a time that I won´t forget.Thank you guys.

sigur rós
ágætis byrjun

tracklist
intro [1:36 mins]
svefn-g-englar [10:04 mins]
starálfur [6:47 mins]
flugufrelsarinn [7:47 mins]
ný batterí [8:11 mins]
hjartað hamast (bamm bamm bamm) [7:11 mins]
viðrar vel til loftárása [10:18 mins]
olsen olsen [8:03 mins]
ágætis byrjun [7:56 mins]
avalon [4:00 mins]

a musical journey

I enter to my living room and choose one of my favourite album to listen to.I play the cd and quietly I lay on the sofa.The cd is agaetis byrjun, by sigur ros,an icelandic band,which composes a beautiful and strange music.They play a kind of ambient music that some people called "post-rock".0k,going back to my imaginary musical journey;the first song (Intro) set the mood,I listen angelical voices singing in reverse,then the music calms down and I fell like I´m going underwater(Svefn-g-englar)the keyboard emulate the sound of a radar,then the sound of the organ makes me feel a deep peace and comfort.I imagine a unborn baby floating inside her mother,suspended in time and space:the magic of life.The song ends with a strong heartbeat and (Staralfur) begins.I don´t know why but each time I listen to this song I see in my mind a beautiful tree,very old and high,I can see it now,it looks like a weeping willow.Their leaves dances with a light breeze...Flugufrelsarinn starts,and I´m now travelling in an old ship,trying to sail in spite of the heavy fog,I feel the cold and humidity in my body,and the picture is a desolate one.Fortunately I get to the shore as the song begins to fade.However,the next track makes me feel nervous(Ny batteri)the bass set the mysterious atmosphere:now I´m locked in a cage,in a dark room and I can´t escape.there is an uncomfortable silence in the room,as something bad is going to happen.I want to open the cage and escape, I think I get out of this glommy place.Another song comes to save me...Hjartad hamast is a jazzy tone which takes me higher and I feel release.Unfortunately the song ends,but the best part is about to start.(Vidrar vel til loftarasa)the intro with the piano is amazing,now I feel at home.It warms my soul with its melody, and later takes me to its end with an outstanding explosion of violins and chellos.Now it´s time for Olsen olsen,my favourite one: it´s a celestial vals, with a sweet melody played by a whistle.I want to laught,to stand up and dance;I´m in heaven.But suddenly it stops,and I fall into a nice dream(agaetis byrjun)I am very sleepy at the moment,I just want to close my eyes and fly with my mind.The album ends with Avalon,which is elegant and slow.A sudden beat over one of the violin strings closes the record.I was travelling and now I´m at home.It was an incredible journey.

big liar

Thursday morning, I was walking along the streets of my town when I stopped in a magazine shop. What have I seen? Plenty of magazines that show in their covers pictures of the participants of big brother.There are young people,nothing special,they are just like you and me.Then I started to think:I should write my opinion about big brother and reality shows in general.First of all,I have to say that I really don´t like reality shows,they are extremely boring(especially in the case of big brother).I always argue with my girlfriend because she watches this program,I can´t believe that you like this show!!!o.k,she is free to watch whatever she wants,she has her right as many viewers.But what happens when every tv channel in Agentina is based,in some way,on big brother?Everybody on tv is speaking about big brother,giving their opinion about the participants,analizing everything they can.In my opinion reality shows are not so real,I don´t feel identified with this people who are spending their time locked inside a house,I think that there are many young people like me that don´t like the show and don´t feel that they represent the argentinian young people:there is a guy who was in jail, several girls who the only thing they know is dancing in a sexual way and taking their clothes off,between other characters.I think that these kind of shows are a reflection of our society; you don´t have to be a genious,or have talent or be a hard-working person to be famous and be recognise in the society you are living in. The only thing that you have to is to take part in big brother, create a character of yourself and let the journalist and media in general do the rest.Later, when you go out of the house, you will have instant fame,you will be a star for being locked in a house doing nothing.yes my friends,that´s television, that is what they offer,silly and light entertaiment without content and message.I better turn the tv off for a while.

live! tonight!

As some people who know me very well, I am very fond of music.But I guess that some new friends of mine don´t know that I used to play in a band.About 6 years ago my cousin and me formed a band with the idea of playing our favorite songs.At that time I had very little skill playing the guitar(nowadays I am not a great guitarist anyway)and as my cousin Juan didn´t want to sing,I became the band´s singer.O.k,we were two,we had the guitarist(juan)the "singer"(me)so we needed the bassist and the drummer,the basic rock n´roll formation.The next step was looking for some lads that wanted to play with us.I heard about a boy who was learning to play the drums,so we went to his house and we found this very very young boy(he was 13 years at that time)called Martin.He was a very serious guy,who liked heavy metal and lived with his aunt.We began the rehearsal in his house,in spite of some neighbours´complains.The first time we tried to play a tune(it was a The Cure song)sounded AWFUL.I was singing out of tune,trying to emulate Robert Smith voice,my cousin couldn´t get the right time of the song because Martin was playing too fast.After several weeks of hurting our hands and bleeding our ears,we finally played the song very decently.Yeap,it sounded good,but we needed a bass player to give energy and presence to our sound.Then we found Martin(another Martin in the group).The problem was that we had never played the bass,but he knew a lot about sound equipments and all that stuff.He joined the band,and yes,NOW WE ARE A BAND!!!Obviously,we needed to rehearse more.weeks,and then months passed till we were confident enough to play for an audience.Oh my god!!!we finally got to play in a little party with other bands of my town.I was scared to death,we were going to play in front of people,the vast mayority of them were friends.I was little histerical the weeks before our debut,too nervous to think about so many things,the rehearsals,the sound,the songs...well,finally the big night arrived.We had to play in a very,very small place,full of friends,other bands members and some people I didn´t know.We were the last band to play that night;I was shaking,feeling that my stomach was sick and I couldn´t articulate a word,how on earth am I going to sing?I said to myself.Ok,I recognise I was pretty nervous,but my drummer was worse."hey,I want to go!!!,I think I can´t do it!!!"he told."relax my friend,it will be O.k" I said.I was struggling with my nerves,my real enemies in several moments of my life."guys,it´s your turn"someone said.I walked to the stage,picked up my guitar and got close to the microfone"good evening,we are Ojo Blindado and this is our first show"I said.People were very close to me,looking at me,some screaming our names and cheering.The first chord,it started with A,the drums started,we were playing!!!the crowd began to jump and to mosh.the song ended,they began to clap their hands.yes!!!that was really great,after that first song I was relaxed,I was so happy that I couldn´t stop smiling.That was the beginning of a time that I won´t forget.Thank you guys.

writing

I have a confession to make: when our teahcer told us that we have to start a blog and write something on it every other day I was scared.I consider myself not to be a good writer,that is because I don´t have enough practice and also it´s very difficult for me to say what I really want to say.Sometimes it´s very hard for me to convey the sentences I write the exact meaning.In addition,there is this fear of being exposed:it´s because I feel uncomfortable and embarrased when I have to write about intimate or private things.However,I think that as the time goes by I will feel confident and begin to write what I really want,without thinking of being misunderstood.But writing is not only about telling deep emotions and thoughts;we can invent a story,using fictional characters,or maybe we can write our opinion about any subject.One of the greatest things about writing is that it develops our imagination:it´s a wonderful experience to sit down,to open a book and let our mind fly. To escape from reality just for a while,forget about our problems and enjoy reading.I have to say that I would have liked to be a writer:a writer can change people´s minds and their attitude towars the world.A writer can evoke feelings on his readers and touch deeply in their hearts.And he can do this without being noticed or recoignized.I would be great to affect on people´s lives and be anonymous!!!that´s the reason why I admire these kind of people:writers,musicians and artist.They are special people with a divine gift,that have the capacity to light our way and make us reflect about our life and our feelings.

sigur rós-glósóli

My father

Today I was not very creative,so I checked some topics that Charly gave us to write about each time we run out of ideas,and I found one that is very interesting.I´m going to tell you about about someone who I loved somuch but is no longer here:my dad.Jose Antonio was his name,and he died 7 years ago,on a winter day.He died because his lungs were severed damaged by tobacco,he used to smoke a lot,it was his addiction.He was a great man,who taught me many things,especially important things about life and how to try to be a better person each day.He had a strong character,always fighting(using only words) and speaking his mind when something was wrong in his opinion.I think in some ways that he was a rebel,because all his life he struggled against the things he didn´t like,against everyday injustice that anyone can percieve.Although he had a strong character,he was very funny as well.He had a strong sense of humour(which I think sometimes that I inherited) and he was most of the time making jokes and bothering(in the good sense) my mother.My dad had a special gift to create nicknames;one day we counted every nickname by which he used to call my sister,and we found that he had invented at least 50 nicknames for her!!!what we did next was to write the nicknames in a sheet of paper and paste it on my sister`s bedroom door.He was always a good joker and an entertainer;he could spend hours on end inventing games or telling us stories,which were very absurd and hilarious.I remember that my brother and me used to call him "boss"(jefe)because he used to call his friends this way.My father worked all his life in a technical school here in Tafi Viejo,he was a teacher of technical subjects there.He really liked listening to Tango,he had a great collection of old L.Ps.He was also a great fan of boxing;he even watched a "mono" gatica´s fight in the Luna Park.I remember those saturday nights when I was a little kid and we used to watch the fights on tv...Sometimes I feel sorry for myself because I couldn´t enjoy his company the way my brother and my sister did(I am the youngest brother)but now I feel that I was lucky to know such a wonderful person that taught me so many things and helped me to understand this life.I miss him very much and I will always do.

Technology versus the world we used to know

"It´s the end of the world as we know it"sings michael stipe of R.E.M,let me think...mmmmm,yes!he´s right.It is prettty obvious to say that technology has come to change(and challenge)our lives;but,at what extent?Personally,I really love technology,that is to say computers,mp3 players,dvd,electronic music,etc,but I hate it sometimes.There are times when I can´t handle new technology and it seems a rather hostile environment for me.However,we realize that we have to keep up with the times,we just can´t turn our back and get stuck to a nostalgia that is really fear for the unknown.I´m really interested in how much our life is affected by all these technological devices;there are many so let´s choose one;the internet.Yes,the internet is a very useful tool,it helps us to find information in every subject matter we need and it serves as a way of entertainment as well.However, there are many things in the internet that I consider in a way or another harmful for us.Chatting could be very funny and entertaining,but sometimes I think that we should restrict its use.Some people get accustomed to meeting people and mantain affective relationships through chatting;I think that this practice prevent us from mantaining real relationships.Sometimes I think that we have lost face to face communication.Also,there are other several issues concerning the internet:there isn´t an actual control in the content that anyone can find on the net,so there is too much rubbish.Children are exposed to contents that are not intended for them,such as violence and sex.To sum up,I think that technology is marvellous and it´s very useful for us,but we should have control over it.

works of art

I would like to show you the album(s) and book(s) that I like most and changed my life in a way.As I wrote later,and people who know me know very well,I´m really fond of music and also literature,but I have to admit that I know more about music than books.I always like to shared with other people the things that I like;i do this as a way to reveal the way I am and also to get them understand me better.talking about books,there is one boooks that I read several times,three times to be precise(though it is very,very long)this books is called"of human bondage" and it was written by Somerset Maugham.I read this books when I was 13 years old I think and I read in spanish.the story is very realistic , bitter and painful sometimes(though there is a happy ending).I think that this book captured my attention because it´s the story of a boy,an ordinary boy that has dreams and feels that sometimes life is very tough.he has to overcome several hardships in orden to find happiness(or at least a little bit of peace).these hardships and difficulties makes him a man mature enough to keep living(or surviving)in this wild world.I recognise myself in the character(philip)because he is a dreamer,and thinks that life is beautiful despite everything.
well,I´m going to tell you about one of my favourite albums.it´s called "the bends"and it was composed by Radiohead,a british alternative rock band of the ´90(they continue playing nowadays).this record is truly amazing,there are just songs,the deepest and emotional songs that you have ever heard.you can find different styles in this album,from pop,acoustic and electric sets,heavy guitars,sound landscapes and ballads.it is a melodic records,i have to admit that the mood is gloomy and depresing sometimes(i don´t know why,but I like sad song and very emotional lyrics).the lyrics are great,they are about desperation,alienation,lack of communication and understanding between people and broken hearts;pretty heavy don´t you think?anyway I love this album and evoke me feelings and memories of a difficult time in my life.in spite of this,the album is a beautiful work of art and a classic record in the history of rock.

about me

my name is mauricio catena,I´m 26 years old and I´m a student of english at lola mora institute.I live in tafi viejo,I have lived there all my life.I really love english and I also like music(I play the guitar);I like reading and listening to music.