The four columns

By Laia Esquerrà

The four columns situated in Montjuïc symbolize the four stripes of the Catalan "senyera". The four columns have Ionic capitals and were designed by the architect Puig i Cadafalch. They should have become a symbol of Catalanism but were demolished in 1929 during Primo de Rivera's dictatorship because they could not stay there for the "Exposició Universal". The Magic Fountain of Montjuic was constructed on the site instead.

The four columns were one of the first elements to be erected during the urbanization of the mountain. They were 20 metres tall and 2'5 metres wide. They were built with plaster bricks and and had to have four figures on their top representing the victory but they never let Puig i Cadafalch finish them.

The dictatorships of Primo de Rivera and Franco were very cruel with Catalonia; the latter even took away Puig i Cadafalch’s architectural qualification and prevented him from constructing anything else.

In 2001 there was a proposal to reconstruct them but this was rejected. In 2008, however, there was another project and this proved successful. The project was presented to the media in 2009 and in 2010 the columns were finally reconstructed. The work should have been finished in time for 11th September or "La Mercè" but it ran over schedule. Now they have finally been finished, though this time each column measures 18'7 metres and is made of artificial rock. They have also been situated further back than they originally were, between the Magic Fountain and the Castle.

''LA CASA DE BERNARDA ALBA''

By Martina López

There's about a month ago (on October 28th), the students of fourth of ESO went to see to the theatre the classic play ''La casa de Bernarda Alba), a new version of the book of García Lorca with the same tittle. Our teachers made us read the book before we went to see it in the play, so we knew the story.

When we arrived to the theatre we realized that it was a beatiful school! It had gardens and its main hall was huge... All we stayed amazed in front of so many elegance. The place was comfortable and big, so we were really fine.

The show started and everybody, (well, almost everybody) kept silence. There were just four actresses, one for each character and there were two of them who played two characters! The material was cheap and there was no much because they are on tour, so they can't buy a lot of material because it would be difficult to transport.

At the end, all we enjoyed with the play, and after it we could talk with the actresses and ask our doubts to them, and they talked about their experiences and it was very interesting.

After that, we went to school, or (as in my case) we went to eat at home.

In general, I think we had a great time and the theatre is always a good choice for yougsters like us.

Castellers

By Laia Esquerrà, Victoria Englert and Xènia Nogué

UNESCO has just declared "els Castellers" part of the World Heritage. Now they are better protected than before and it is more unlikely this tradition disappears.

The entire Catalan population, and most especially "les colles de castellers", are very happy about this declaration because it is a very important measure.

The castells are a very old Catalan tradition. They started in the Tarragona area with only one or two colles; now there are more than 60. They have existed for 200 years and they share a common origin with the muixeranga, which is typical of Valencia but differs in the fact that it has religious elements.

The castellers grew in popularity in 1981 when the first nine-level castells were achieved. A castell involves building human towers with one to five people on each level, to the highest level possible. There are only five teams who have been able to build "gamma-extra" castells. The most recent one was a "3 de 10", which means ten levels consisting of three people on each level. It is a sport that requires a great deal of strength, balance, courage and intelligence. The lowest levels are made up of the biggest and strongest members, while the highest feature little kids aged four and five. Anybody who climbs up the castell has to be very agile and able to climb very fast. Castells normally have eight or nine levels so those underneath have to support very great weights. They wear sashes to protect their backs. A coloured shirt and some white trousers form the typical costume of the castellers. There are six positions in one castle. The most important are the twos (dosos), the lifter (aixecador) and the rider (anxeneta). Four kids comprise the top group (pom de dalt).

Castellers have now been exported to Chile, where they are used as therapy for children with problems.

Miquel Barceló. La Solitude Organisative

By Laia Esquerrà and Xènia Nogué

In November 2010 we went to the Caixa Forum to see Miquel Barceló’s latest exhibition, called La Solitude Organisative, which featured some of his best paintings. We went through the exhibition with a guide who explained the meaning of each painting.

Miquel Barceló is a famous artist born in Felanitx, Mallorca, in 1957. He started studying in the Escuela de Artes Decorativas in Palma, Mallorca, and after that he tried to study Fine Art in Barcelona but he was never able to finish any degree.

Miquel Barceló is the highest earning artist in Spain. He uses many shades of paint, plaster, clay, etc., and has also developed many methods for producing his paintings. He almost always uses a water spout to paint the biggest areas. He sometimes uses a 40 cm paintbrush or walks on the painting. He uses everyday objects, such as like rice, spaghettis, or shoes,. He usually leaves one of the objects he used to make the painting on it. Lately he has been trying to hang up his work and paint from underneath. His most recent work was the Dome of the United Nations in Ginebra.

Miquel Barceló is a figurative artist. Although no clearly defined objects can ever be seen in his painting, there is always something, a desert, a face, a canoe... and all his paintings have a meaning and form part of his life. Miquel Barceló never searches for anything, he finds. He does not start a drawing with any specific idea; he just throws paint on it and waits. He also uses nature to create his paintings. Sometimes he dips paintings in the sea or leaves them out to be modified by insects...

Buffalo Bill

By Laia Esquerrà

William Frederick Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill, was born near Le Claire, Iowa (United States) on February 26th 1845. He was a soldier, a buffalo hunter (hence his nickname) and a showman. He provided one of the most representative images of the Far West through the many shows he performed. He died in 1917 and was buried in a mountain near Denver, in Colorado.

A hard childhood

Cody lost his older brother at the age of seven and the family had to move to Kansas. His father died in 1857, so young Bill had to start working to support the family. He started as a messenger boy and then went on to be an unofficial explorer for the US Army. At the age of 14 he became a rider for the Pony Express. He also tried to be a soldier but was not accepted until 1863 because he was under age.

Calm years

Back in the Army, he officially became an explorer. He reconnoitred the nation’s territories and started hunting buffalos. He was given a Medal of Honour by the Army, although this was revoked after his death and only restored in 1989. In 1895 he moved to Wyoming and founded a hotel in the city centre. He lived for many years in the Yellowstone National Park, close to his family.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West

During these years, when spectacular shows were very popular, he joined “Pawnee Bill's” and devised his own show. He started travelling in Europe and all over the United States. In his show he presented people from different cultures, along with their horses. Each horseman wore the distinctive costume of his ethnic group and showed off his prowess. Famous figures such as Sitting Bull and Annie Oakley also appeared in the show, and real cowboys and Indians were also involved.

Buffalo performed stories about the Pony Express, as well as Indian attacks on road convoys. By the end of the 19th century the Cody Company had become the most famous of its kind in the world and in the early years of the 20th century Buffalo Bill was reportedly the most famous person in the world.

Barcelona

Buffalo Bill came to present his show in Barcelona on December 18th 1889. Barcelona was the only city in Spain to put on the show but little information is available about his stay. He presented his show for just one peseta on the corner of Aribau and Muntaner streets for five weeks.

There are many stories about his stay but most are not true. It is said, for example, that two Indians kidnapped two little girls from Gracia to eat them, and also that two of Cody’s Indians died here and are buried in Montjuïc or Poblenou. One story that is true is that two of his Indians caught smallpox and were admitted to the Hospital de la Sta. Creu i St. Pau (both survived).

After performing the show in Barcelona, the whole company moved on to Naples.

The books

In 1998 Jordi Marill Escudé wrote a book about Buffalo Bill's show. It was called That Winter. Buffalo Bill's show in Barcelona.

In November 2010, another book was published on the subject. It was written by Jordi Solé, who presented it on November 22nd in the Bertran Barcelona bookshop. It is entitled Barcelona Far West and it is a report about Bufalo Bill’s stay in Barcelona. The opening chapter can be read here: http://www.edicionespamies.com/libros.php?libro=75.

Atapuerca

By Victoria Englert

The fossils found in Atapuerca have altered our ideas about human evolution. The investigations conducted in Atapuerca have changed our genealogical tree: it has been discovered that we have new ancestors and we now know more than we did before. At the same time, these findings have motivated other countries, such as Israel and France, to continue researching.

The team of scientists and researchers who worked on this site received the "Príncipe de Asturias de Investigación Científica y Técnica" Prize in 1997 and, thanks to their discoveries, Atapuerca has been listed as a World Heritage Site.

The Atapuerca Mountains are located in Burgos, and they contain several caves where fossils and tools of the early hominians have been found.

These sites were discovered during the construction of a railway line in the cave of Sima de los Huesos in 1992. Two years later, Francisco Jordá Cerdá led an expedition there, which so far has found approximately 2,500 human remains dating from the Bronze Age to the modern era.

There are several sites in Atapuerca. One of these is the Gran Dolina, home to the most ancient European human remains found to date, a total of 80 pieces from six individuals who lived over 780,000 years ago. The fossils found here provide clear evidence of cannibalism. The bones have several marks made for the purpose of extracting flesh and membranes. They also have marks made from blows to the bone to extract the spinal cord, as well as fractures caused by breaking bones with bare hands. Trinchera del Elefante contains the oldest elements found in Atapuerca, probably dating from one million years ago, while Galería's sediments contain fossils dating from between 200,000 and 400,000 years. And, last but not least, there is Sima del Elefante, where 3,000 human fossil remains aged from 50,000 and 300,000 years have been found.

Two types of species have been found on the Atapuerca archeological site:

-Homo Antecessor: This was the first set of remains found in 1997. He lived 80,000 years ago and was the ancestor of Homo Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens. The remains of this species, found in the cave of Sima del Elefante, have been decisive in proving that this was the first species that appeared in Europe and that it did not originate in Africa, as was previously believed.

-Homo Hedilbergensis: He lived in Atapuerca 300,000 years ago. The bones of at least 32 of these people have been found in the Sima de los Huesos.

How did they die?

Anthropologists have been able to figure out the date of their death by studying the evolution of their teeth and the development of their skeleton. The teeth of the hominids can be compared to those of today’s population. It is believed that these hominids placed the bones of those who died in the Atapuerca area.

Eudald Carbonell: the current leader of the expedition

Eudald Carbonell i Roure was born in Girona on 17th February 1953. He is a Spanish archaeologist, anthropologist and palaeontologist who studied in Barcelona, Girona and Paris. He received one doctorate in geology from the Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris (1986), and another in history from the University of Barcelona (1988). He is now head of the Autoecología Humana del Cuaternario group and the director of the Institut Català de Paleontologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES). He has made research trips to France, Italy, Georgia, Tajikistan, Argelia, Morocco, Slovenia, Croatia, Tanzania, Kenya, the USA, Mexico, Cuba, China, Australia and many other countries.

At an early age he started investigating the early colonies in the valley of the Ter and Freser River and joined the Archaeological Association of Girona.

Eudald Carbonell has made several appearances on TV shows; TV3 even has a website for the show called Sota terra (Underground). This link provides more information about the show: http://www.tv3.cat/sotaterra/equip/eudaldcarbonell

.

Facts about Alfred Nobel's life

By Leon Buengel

Alfred Nobel was born on 21st October in 1833 in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. After his birth he left Sweden and went to join his father, who was living in St. Petersburg while building, in collaboration with the Norwegian government, some ironworks for the Russian army. By the age of just seventeen years, Alfred already spoke five languages: German, English, Russian, Swedish and French. In 1859 he left Russia with his father and went to live in Sweden again.

Back in Sweden, Alfred had a private teacher. He had a great talent for chemistry and physics but was also interested in English literature. Unfortunately, his father did not approve of this enthusiasm and sent Alfred away on an exchange for two years. During this time, he travelled to Sweden, Germany and the United States, and also to France, where he met Ascanio Sobrero, who had invented nitroglycerine three years earlier, although its effects had led him to stop his experiments because they were too dangerous for humans. Nobel was very interested in this explosive and conducted many experiments. From 1860 to 1864 he worked in the Dortmund Dorstfeld mountain laboratory, where he continued with his experiments but improved their safety by inventing detonation in 1864. Nevertheless, there were many accidents - for example, Alfred’s brother and one other person died while they were in the same room as him. Nobel’s laboratory exploded during one experiment and he was the only survivor. After these accidents, he had to leave Stockholm; he built two laboratories, one in Sweden and the other near Hamburg. In 1865 he succeeded in mass producing nitroglycerine.

Nobel tried many ways of making nitroglycerine safer. He added other elements to it but nothing worked, until, however, he found the solution by accident. While nitroglycerine was being transported in a van, a bottle of the liquid spilt some nitroglycerine and it fell to the floor of the vehicle. There the liquid mingled with the dirt to form a previously unknown mixture. The driver told Nobel about the story and, in 1867, he patented the invention, known as dynamite.

Nobel was not merely the inventor of dynamite. He worked on other substances, such as smokeless powder (also patented). After some problems with the French government he had to leave his Paris base and lived in Italy until he died.

Nobel was against war but had the idea that the existence of a dangerous weapon such as dynamite would prevent conflict and lead to peace. He therefore produced large quantities of Dynamite. Other people, however, saw in his invention an opportunity to wage war more intensively.

In 1884 he was admitted to the Swedish Academic Institute. On 10th October 1896 he died in Seramo, Italy.

Nobel Prize: to use the proceeds of his invention, he said just before he died that money should be awarded to those who exert a good influence on others. So, people who have changed the world have received part of his endowment.

There are various types of Nobel Prizes.

For Physics: awarded to the creator of the most interesting invention in this field.

For Chemistry. awarded to the creator of the most interesting invention in this field.

For Medicine: awarded to the creator of the most interesting development in this field capable of helping a great many people.

For Literature: awarded to the creator of the most idealistic body of work.

For Peace: awarded to a person or organization responsible for enhancing peace between the nations of the world.

In Economic Sciences: not one of Nobel’s original prizes, but created in 1968 in Nobel’s memory by the Swedish central bank.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2010 was awarded jointly to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov "for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene".

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2010 was awarded jointly to Richard F. Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki "for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis".

The Nobel Prize 2010 for Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Robert G. Edwards for his work on ”in vitro fertilization (IVF)”.

The Nobel Prize in Literature 2010 was awarded to Mario Vargas Llosa "for his cartography of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat".

Jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was named winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

The professor of economics at MIT, Peter Diamond, won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. He shared the award with Dale T. Mortensen of Northwestern University and Christopher A. Pissarides of the London School of Economics.

Banksy: art or vandalism

By Oliver Afonso

Banksy is the pseudonym of a British graffiti artist whose identity is unknown. He paints graffiti with a distinctive technique on street walls in cities all over the world.

According to the graphic designer Tristan Manco, "Banksy" was born in 1974 and grew up in Bristol, England. He is the son of a photocopier technician. He began to paint in the 1980s, during Bristol’s aerosol boom. His style is similar to that of Blek le Rat, although Banksy himself considers Blek, who began painting in Paris twenty years before him, the superior artist.

Banksy is critizised by other street artists because he charges ONGs such as Greenpeace and firms such as PUMA for his paintings. He also sells pictures in art galleries through his agent. He has published several books featuring paintings from different cities. In 2010 his first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, was launched at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

None of Banksy’s graffiti can be seen in Barcelona, because BCNNETA erased them from the walls on which they were painted. In Madrid a Banksy imitator painted a graffiti on the wall of the cinema in which his film opened in October 2010.

The attack of the World Trade Center

By Leon Buengel

'There is no belief in God, on whom one can rely to justify such crimes'

The day of the attack started well. Blue sky. The sun was shining. The morning seemed to be innocent. But in that morning more than 3000 people lost their lives.

8:45 An airplane (Boing 767) was hijacked by a terrorist and flew at a flying speed of 700 km/h on the 96th floor of the World Trade Center's north tower. In the moment of hitting against the tower the airplane exploded and a huge fireball went out of the tower. Parts of the broken plane fell to the ground and killed passer's by. The tower swayed like it never had. The people in the tower burnt, because of the heat and the Kerosin of the airplane made everything melt. Even the lifts with the people inside.

9:02 Another hijacked airplane (Boing 767) flew at a top speed of 700 km/h in direction of the south tower. A tragedy because there were still over 31.000 liters of Kerosene in the plane. Here the people burnt after the impact of the plane. Everything burnt. Experts later found out that the force of the impact was more than 32.600 Kilonewton. The south tower swayed very much too, but one stairwall wasn't destroyed by the impact so some people could leave that horrible place. The rest were immediately killed or burnt until they were dead.

9:35 An airplane flew into the Pentagon, the most important military headquarters of the North-Americans. Luckily, only some people were killed and a little part of the Pentagon was destroyed.

10:02 Another hijacked plane exploded in Pittsburgh. The objective wasn't clear, as some people in the airplane attacked the terrorists so they couldn't complete their plan. The terorrists were Arab. Some people think that they got their money from Osama Bin Laden but we can't know for certain.

10:05 The South Tower broke down. The North tower 13 minutes later. Both of the towers buried many people under them.

After the attack many things changed. The fire brigade has the number 911 on their cars and if you want to call the police you have to phone 911.

One month after the attack the United States and the British Empire started a military attack against Afghanistan.

Here are some opinions of the people after the attack :

-Before my eyes, a part of our floor broke down . I managed to get out of the stairwell. A few minutes later, everything collapsed.

-Building parts were flying through the air, broken glass, paper was everywhere. Suddenly I saw the landing gear of an airplane crash on the road.

-A man and a woman jumped together hand in hand from the flame into the depth. A cruel picture.

Saint George’s poetry

English, what else?

When I read the instructions
Of a new videogame
In what language are they written?
In English.

When a listen to a song
By my favourite group,
In which language is it sung?
In English too.

When I travel to another country,
In what language do I talk?
Also in English.
The slogan
Of a new advertising campaign,
In which language is it done?
In English, of course!

When we are dead
And we will go to the heaven,
St. Peter will talk in...English?
English, what else?

Marc Tejero 2.1

Did you know?

Did you know
Your eyes
Are as beautiful as time?
I’ve been watching them.

Did you know
When
You say my name
Your breath
Encourages me to write?

Did you know
I loved you even
Before you told me
“I love you”?

Vlad Jarov 2.1

Imagine...

Imagine the birds swimming in the sea
And the people living in the trees.
Imagine the stars shining during the day
And the cars flying on the sky.

Imagine the boats climbing the mountains
And the animals ruling the world.
Imagine the plants talking
And people growing in the ground.

You can imagine, but it can’t happen
The world
And you can’t change it.

Mariona Sentís 2.1

Menorca

Only arriving by ship
You’ll feel the lovely breeze
But if you want a tip
Don’t stay on deck, you’ll freeze.

Once you’re there look around you
And see everything twice
Don’t think of what you do
Let yourself mesmerize.

Deep blue waters and white sand
Rocky mountains and caves
Touch them all with your hand
And listen to the waves.
Only leaving by ship
You’ll feel the lovely breeze
But if you want a tip
Don’t stay on deck, you’ll freeze.

Laia Esquerrà 3.1

The black cat’s eyes

One night, I was sleeping.
When something woke me up.
I looked out the window,
And a black cat is what I saw
He was moving at the moon, crying from a tree.
The stars were covering him, under the cloak of the night,
And his green eyes, were looking for something,
From left to right.
I couldn’t stop looking at him,
But I could feel the magic in the wind.
Everything in the dark night was calling my name.
And when that strange cat saw me,
My blood froze in me.
He seemed smiling,
So I asked why,
He tried to answer me,
Looking at the sky,
But I was so scared,
That I closed the window,
And I never opened it again.

Martina López 3.2

By the way: I LOVE YOU.

I thought that he was the person
Who would be mine forever, he and me together.
But I see I was wrong,
And now I’m here all alone.
So, I would like my life
Like everyday is the last.
Without a simple goodbye
It all goes by so fast.
Now I’m in love with my friend.
I’m happy where I am and where I’ve been.
I’m lucky to get and be with him.
Nobody knows that I like you,
That I adore you,
That I do as I do.
The day you caught my eye,
Was when you smiled at me.
You light my way then you set me free.
I am who I am,
Because you are how you are.
So you can take my hands now,
But if you do it, don’t leave me, please.
I’ll do it all for you, for being who you are.
I just want to say:
By the way: I love you.

Christine Dianne Arandia 1st B

Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes
By Rosa Lina Aragon & Laia Dedeu

About Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a Scottish doctor and writer and is well known for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are considered a great innovation in crime fiction.
He was a prolific writer who wrote science fictions stories, historical novels, plays and romances, poetry, and non-fiction.
His first significant work was “A Study in Scarlet”, which was published in Beeton's Christmas Annual in 1887. In it Sherlock Holmes appeared for the first time. Doyle took his university professor Joseph Bell as his model to create his famous character.
Doyle was an unsuccesful doctor who hadn’t got any patients, so he could devote more time to write. He decided to kill Sherlock Holmes in 1891, but pressure from his fans meant that he was included in other novels.

About Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes, the fictional character created in 1887 by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is a “detective adviser” from London in the late nineteenth century, famous for his intelligence and skillful use of observation and deductive reasoning to solve difficult cases. He stars in a series of 4 novels and 56 short fictional stories, collected in what is called the Canon of Sherlock Holmes.
Although Auguste Dupin, a very similar character created by Edgar Allan Poe, is considered as his predecessor, he didn't reach the enormous popularity of Holmes and its author.

In nearly every book the action begins in Baker street 221 B, a place which never really existed. When Holmes and Watson are reading or talking at home or Holmes is studying a case or playing the violin, they receive a letter, read the news or a visitor arrives to their home with a problem and asking for help from the famous detective.
Holmes goes with Watson in 58 of his stories and narrates them in first person.

Nowadays there are a lot of societies devoted to this character and a lot of films have been made about him, the last one, directed by Guy Ritchie, had its premiere on December 2009. Moreover, this type of literature is very pedagogical for children and young people, because it awakes the imagination and it helps to develop the scientist reasoning from within.