Today, The Winsors and The Grandma have attended the inauguration of MatterMatters, the new permanent exhibition at the DHub in Barcelona.
The family has gone to the Tate Gallery in London to follow the opening by video conference and to support SusanaWinsor, the influencer who has presented and directed the event.
They have received two great special guest stars -Eli Bond-Bean, the German TV Star and Susana'scloser friend; and Claire Fontaine, the Quebecoise designer and photographer, and TheGrandma's closest friend.
Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives.
It is located in the former Bankside Power Station, in the Bankside area of the London Borough of Southwark.
Tate Modern is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the world. As with the UK's other national galleries and museums, there is no admission charge for access to the collection displays, which take up the majority of the gallery space, whereas tickets must be purchased for the major temporary exhibitions.
The nearest railway and London Underground station is Blackfriars, which is 0.5 km from the gallery.
After sharing the Millbank site with Tate Britain for many decades, since 2000 Tate Modern has occupied the converted former Bankside Power Station. This was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of Battersea Power Station, and built in two stages between 1947 and 1963. It is directly across the river from St Paul's Cathedral. The power station closed in 1981.
Prior to redevelopment, the power station was a 200 m long, steel framed, brick clad building with a substantial central chimney standing 99 m. The structure was roughly divided into three main areas each running east-west-the huge main Turbine Hall in the centre, with the boiler house to the north and the switch house to the south.
For many years after closure Bankside Power station was at risk of being demolished by developers. Many people campaigned for the building to be saved and put forward suggestions for possible new uses. An application to list the building was refused.
In April 1994 the Tate Gallery announced that Bankside would be the home for the new Tate Modern. In July of the same year, an international competition was launched to select an architect for the new gallery. Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron of Herzog & de Meuron were announced as the winning architects in January 1995. The £134 million conversion to the TateModern started in June 1995 and was completed in January 2000.
The most obvious external change was the two-story glass extension on one half of the roof. Much of the original internal structure remained, including the cavernous main turbine hall, which retained the overhead travelling crane. An electrical substation, taking up the Switch House in the southern third of the building, remained on-site and owned by the French power company EDF Energy while Tate took over the northern Boiler House for Tate Modern's main exhibition spaces.
The history of the site as well as information about the conversion was the basis for a 2008 documentary Architects Herzog and de Meuron: Alchemy of Building & Tate Modern. The conversion work was carried out by Carillion.
Tate Modern was opened by the Queen on 11 May 2000.
Tate Modern received 5.25 million visitors in its first year. The previous year the three existing Tate galleries had received 2.5 million visitors combined.
The Bonds have returned to Dublin to continue their English exam preparation. Eli Bond continues reading her beautiful Fiana Griffin's book Why do the Irish?
The Irish are the happiest people in the EC, according to a survey carried out a few years ago.
The happiness of the Irish often puzzles visitors who can’t see many objective reasons for great happiness in the State of the nation.
Both the troubled past of the Irish and their religious beliefs have taught them not to look for happiness in material success or possessions although they have begun to do so.
The majority of the population are Catholics and they have been taught that the main purpose of this life is to qualify for a good place in the next life and as a poor oppressed people they learnt to find most pleasure in the entertainment provided by each other’s company.
The Irish have a philosophical, humorous acceptance of the misfortunes of life, summed up by the familiar phrase ah "sure, it could be worse".
Source: Why do the Irish? by Fiana Griffin
May the road rise to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and rains fall soft upon your fields
and until we meet again. May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
I'm Eli Bond. I was born in Berlin when the city was divided in four parts: The American, the British, the French and the Russian one. I'm from the German Democratic Republic, a country that doesn't exist today. Living under the URSS was difficult because we hadn't got anything and we lived under a big poverty. I'm a reality show participant, a person who appears on TV creating opinion and entertainment. I like colours, reading and travelling.
-Good morning, Eli Bond and thanks to attend us.
-Good morning. It's an honour.
-How was life in the GDR?
-Difficult. It was very difficult. I think that this age influenced me a lot and, perhaps, this is the main reason about my job.
-Why?
-Because in the GDR you worked thousands of hours and you didn't earn a lot of money. When the wall fell, capitalism arrived to us and, although it isn't a perfect economic system and creates a lot of differences, it's better than living under the communism.
-Do you miss anything about the GDR?
-Well, people were very educated and polite but I don't know if it was because of the control of the system over the citizens or because of the idiosyncrasy of the East German people.
-When did you decide to be a TV Star?
-I'm not exactly a TV Star. I won a reality show and then a lot of TV viewers discovered me but I try to live as anonymous as I can.
-Do you believe this kind of TV programmes are good for children or they're rubbish like some people think?
-I don't understand why people speak badly about these entertainment programmes. There are lots of channels on TV. If you don't like this programme, you can choose another and if children are watching these programmes, I suppose, it's because their parents accept or they aren't at home. In this case, perhaps the problem is about the families' schedules and not about TV.
-How do you define yourself?
-I'm a person with an open mind who likes learning things and travelling around the world. We were prisoners too much time, we couldn't leave the XXX, and now that we have the opportunity, I'm not going to miss it.
-Which is your favourite country?
-All of them. Every country has something to offer but if I have to choose, I like the USA because I'm in love with New York City and Ireland, because all the country is a fairy tale.
-Have you visited these countries, then?
-Yes, I have. I was in New York City and it was an incredible experience. I travelled from NYC to San Francisco because I wanted to visit Berkley University and Silicon Valley. San Francisco is an amazing city and I discovered that the origin of jeans was thanks to Levi Strauss, who in 1850 created them. Later, I visited San Diego and I was the Pacific Ocean for first time. When I remember the Pacific Ocean I think in sharks, especially in the whale shark which is in danger of extinction but also in the 250 other types which live in this ocean and eat fish, seals and crabs. They scare me.
-And Ireland?
-Yes. I was also in Ireland. I visited all the country from the north to the south and I discovered nice people with strong ideas who were very proud of their culture.
-Are you proud of being German?
-It's a strange situation. We need at least two more generations to forget this terrible fact. The role of Germany in the WWII was terrible and we lived the consequences during many years.
-But now, Germany is the most powerful European country...
-I don't agree. I think that Norway, Luxembourg, Vatican City, Netherlands or even Andorra are better than us. Working on TV has showed me how important is marketing to promote your ideas. I think Germany is a big marketing campaign.
-Are you a sceptic?
-Yes, in some things that people accept without thinking twice, I often have other opinion.
-Why do you think people accept the official version so easily?
-I don't know. The influence of mass media over the population is huge. You can't trust on newspapers, TV or radio because they explain the reality that they want and they're interested in. If you say one lie thousands of times, finally, people will accept it like a truth.
-Which is the solution to fight against this?
-It's difficult. You can't live without trusting in anything or anybody but you can try to be critic and observe as things as you can before giving your opinion about something. You must listen to all versions and try to extract the real information which is hidden. We must be proactive citizens.
-How do you feel being a member of The Bond's family?
-Very well. It's an incredible experience. I got married with Jaume Bond and he's an artist. Being with the whole family is like being with Jaume multiply by one hundred. I have lived lots of emotions and great experiences.
-How is a normal day with The Bonds?
-We haven't got similar days. Every day is different and this is something very important because it offers to you the possibility of living fantastic experiences every day and you can enjoy them with all your heart because you know that next day you're going to put the score to zero and we're going to start again. It's a non-stopping life.
-Which is your best memory with The Bonds?
-It’s difficult to choose only one. I remembered my birthday. It was a great surprise and when I talked about colours. I love them.
-Which is your favourite colour?
-There’s a colour for every moment but if I had to choose one, perhaps green, because is the Irish and hopeless colour.
-How long have you been studying English?
-I never studied English in the school. It was forbidden. We studied Russian and Spanish because we only could travel to the URSS and to Cuba. I started to learn English when the wall fell and I had the chance to travel.
-Was English difficult to learn?
-Not a lot. English and German have a lot of things in common. They're from the same linguistic family. When I met Jaume, we talked in German because he's Dutch and he speaks it. Learning English wasn't necessary until we had the opportunity of travelling and have business with foreign enterprises.
-You like reading, don't you. Recommend me a book...
-I like George Orwell. I recommend you Homage to Catalonia, a book about the resistance of Catalan people during the Spanish Civil War. This war was very important for us because if Europe had helped the Spanish Republic, we hadn't suffered the WWII. But Europe, like always, decided to look to other side and the tragedy was consumed in all Europe. I also recommend you 1984, the book where Orwell talks about the big brother and the future idea of governments controlling all the populations.
-Do you think we are under a big brother?
-Of course, we are. We are totally controlled by mobile phone, internet, passports, DNA... We haven't got privacy and this is very important in life because is good staying alone with you without the control of the power. Imagine Christopher Columbus with a drone over his ship when in August 1492, he arrived to Spain to sail to the west because he believed that the Earth was round and after ten weeks a sailor saw a bird and they arrived to an island that they called San Salvador. It could be interesting to know if this story is true or not.
-Define yourself in one sentence.
-True colours are beautiful like a rainbow.
-Thank you very much, Eli Bond.
-You're welcome.
Its hard to take courage
in a world full of people
you can lose sight of it all and the darkness inside you.
Monday finds you like a
bomb, it's a bad day for starting or finishing something. This is the reason
because of The Bonds have choosen Tuesday to say goodbye to The Grandma.They are going to stay in Ireland during some
days but The Grandma has decided to return to Barcelona to redecorate her new
home. She has bought Casa Vicens, an Antoni Gaudí's building in the center of
the city.
That's been left ticking
there too long. The ties that join The Bonds are so strong that they're goingto
conitnue working together to reach their new objective and The Grandma is going
to help despite of the distance.
You're bleeding in this
hard work but nothing is won without effort and persistance. The Bonds are very
strong people, perhaps because of the influence of Irene and María José Bond
who have Aragonese ancestors.
Some days there's nothing
left to learn, like today. The Bonds have dedicated their day to enjoy
themselves and remember beautiful old memories, which are part of their story,
now. In fact, The Bonds are History.
From the point of no
return, you can't change these things that you thing you could have done better
but with the experience of them, you won't do them again. Life is a constant
way of learning things and we need to be resilient like Eli, Olga and Paula
Bond who are a wonderful example of resistance against adversity.
You're leaving and you're
still here in our memories. Rubén, Raquel and Miriam Bond, three beloved
members of our family who decided to follow their own paths.
Hey Hey I saved the world
today, I have created a new family plenty of happiness, illusion and creativity
like The Collins, The Addams, The Holmes and The Poppins, The Bonds have become
in another great experience which arrives farther than teaching English.
The Bonds have saved the world today
Everybody's happy now,
Mariona Bond has decided to celebrate her birthday with the family and Maya
Bond has cooked delicious cookie monsters for all the family.
The bad thing's gone
away. It has been time to forget real situations and create a new world, a
parallel universe where we have been the owners of our own future without
paying attention to work, money or personal affairs.
And everybody's happy now
remembering David and Pedro Bondin
Oasis Bar, being the Queens of the Carnival or Joanjo winning the Eurovision
Song Contest.
The good thing's here to
stay. MJ has arrived with our titles and suddenly have appeared lots of good
memories about two intensive months travelling, working, laughing and sharing
the best of us: our creativity and interest in learning new things. From The
Cathars to The Navajo, we have been travelling across our history, our
languages and our culture to realize that there's something that everybody
shares: the idea of a better future for our next generations. We've listened
motivational stories of Noemí Bond who have talked us about resilience and
connections.
Please let it stay, share
these fantastic moment with us because the future is unknown and nobody knows
what is going to happen tomorrow.
There's a million mouths
to feed and Montse and Jaume Bond know it. They have prepared a delicious
omelette and a fantastic cake for the family.
Jaume Bond or James Bond? Mmmm...
And I've got everything I
need. I don't need money or treasures. I need to do something that gives sense
to my work, then to my life. I want a better future for all the members of my
families, because a better future for them means a future full of opportunities
in a land of hope and dreams.
I'm breathing. I've
received some presents of my family and I'm astonished. I don't deserve them.
It's my work and nobody receives nothing to do her work. I have grown under
Master Yoda philosophy and I know that you must do things or not. There isn't
another option.
And there's a hurting
thing inside, the final is closer although we still have two months to stay in
contact, two well-planned months to work together to reach the next objective.
But I've got everything
to hide, this feeling of loneless that has invided me when I have said goodbye
to the family.
I'm grieving. I’ll miss
you.
Let it stay. Let all the
memories stay with us forever because they’re going to help us to smile when
difficult days arrive.
Let it stay. Let all
memories stay with us forever, strong enough to be resistent to the fire which
destroyed our past and to the forgetfulness which destroys our present. Be
ready family, our future will be splendorous.
The Bonds are still in Dublin. They're visiting cultural places like museums and leisure ones like parks and stadiums. The capital of Ireland is a very beautiful city plenty of history where people offer you their best and where you can feel like home.
The family has decided to stay in Ireland during some weeks and continue their English lessons.
Today, they have been revising Reported Speech and have read a new chapter of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Tonight, the family is going to assist to a concert of Popular and Folkloric Irish music because Eli Bond and The Grandma are great fans of it. Tomorrow, they're going to present their respects to Molly Malone.
Because in this life nothing is black and white... Take part to what each colour can convey to us. Play with each tone to strengthen your positive emotions.
According to Pshycologists and experts in colour, the tones that we have contacts throughout the day, afect in our mood. Since to be processed differently in the brain, they convey different feelings and emotions.
Let's go to start to describe them:
Green: If you want to relax the most, test a walk in a park.
The reason: Green transmits rest and calm. People feel calmer when they seen it. If you need a moment of peace in a busy day, there is nothing better than a stroll along a park. You will feel relax immediately.
Red: If you want to stand out between a lot of people, test with red lipstick.
The reason: Red gets you pay attention to detail. Paint your lips of this colour before taking action. It is also the colour that we most need to look for processing, so all eyes will be heading towards you.
Blue: If you want to think about a good gift, test to look at the sky.
The reason: This colour develops the imagination. If you need to put it in use, nothing better than throw a look at the sky to have a brainstorming. That will help you feel more creative quickly.
Lilac: If you want to feel different, try to make up with this colour.
The reason: This colour is perfect to encourage the expansion of originality. Dare to apply a shade or a lipstick of this colour, it will be ideal to enhance your skin tone and radiate energy and health.
White: If you want to get out of a bad time, try to wear white clothes.
The reason: White gives us more hope for the future. Wear white clothes or white accessories will transmit hope to look to our future.
Brown: If you want to escape to the quietness, try to go to your favourite coffee shop.
The reason: No matter the decoration or the colour of the coffee itself, these tones will make the coffee shop the ideal place to relax when outside things aren't so good. People feel comfortable when they're surrounded by earth tones.
Black: If you want to feel desired, try to wear black heels.
The reason: Surely, you already feel sexier when you wear black. But this colour also gets you feel powerful and sophisticated. If you want to make it easier than ever to capture the glaze of thousands of fans, you have to wear some black heels.
Yellow: If you want to get the mood, try to paint your room in yellow.
The reason: Yellow is the colour of the sun and symbolizes the strengh and the will, too. People who passing time in a room painted with this colour feels more active and have better mood than those who found in rooms of other colours.
Orange: If you want to be more active, test to get an orange bracelet.
The reason: This colour helps you to feel more cheerful. Implement it using some orange accessories. Check it out when you feel tireder and you will fill with energy and vitality.
Thanks, Eli Bond.
Painting is concerned with all the 10 attributes of sight;
which are: Darkness, Light, Solidity and Colour, Form and Position,
Today, The Bonds have had an intensive day in Tenerife Island. They have climbed Teide Mountain and they’re now resting in a hut, on the top of the mountain, which is only reserved for special guests.
Before climbing Teide, they had revised some English grammar like Demonstratives and Past Participle and they have read a new chapter of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
MJ has offered two new presents to our family: a book to prepare B2 Exam and one of the greatest novels of Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist.
Next, Eli Bond has offered some interesting information about the importance of colours in our lives, something that this family knows perfectly because there is one of its members, Jaume Bond, who is a professional painter.
The Grandma has talked about colours, flowers and travels remembering two incredible writers, Mercè Rodoredaand Blai Bonet. Both of them are considered excellent writers and both of them had difficult lives full of disasters, sadness and terrible personal conditions.
The Bonds have participated in the Carnival last weekend wearing some butterflies costumes and thanks to this, they’ve won another prize. Jaume, Joanjo and Pedro Bond have joined to David Bond who has been declared the Queen and all of them have won the festival.
The family is very happy for this prize because David has been in Paris, working in a new James Bond’s film, and he has seen how the family has missed him during these days. David’s returning has been the best present for this unforgettable family.
After this moment of glory, the family has talked about environment and recycling using some modal verbs like Must, Haveto and Should and they have shared different experiences in Tenerife, a special place for Irene Bond, who used to spend long seasons in the island after working in her secret and dangerous missions and for Pedro Bond who has remembered his ancestors and who has talked about one of the most beautiful European cultures: the Guanches.
Finally, The Grandma has decided to buy some islands. They name Wild Islands and are situated between Canary Islands and Green Cape. It has been a present for celebrating M. José Bond’s new goal.
If we intend to provide a better life, and a better world,
for future generations, we can't ignore the quality of the environment we leave them.
While The Bonds were practising Countable & Uncountable nouns, the Highway Patrol arrived. They wanted to know how was possible that all their transports were full of peyote, a beautiful plant of the desert.
The family had been visiting Navajo Nation and they were impressioned by the resistance of this incredible and ancient community so important for our recent history and their wonderful language which was used in the WWII by the Codetalkers. They discovered The Blessing Way an important Navajo ritual.
The Grandma explained how she was in her Indian tent withMariona Bond who was totally slept while Pedro, David and Maya Bond were drinking some Navajo beer, this which has a black and gold tag, in Oasis Bar. M.José Bond was with Paula Bond dancing country line while Noemí Bond was trying to help some rich people, who seemed Arabian but were only native ones with some handkerchiefs on their heads, and wanted to be cured by the magic powers of Noemí's hands. Olga and Eli Bond were watching TV when Juanjo and Irene Bond took photos and disturbed some local scorpions and Jaume was sculpting an Indian Totem that Montse had demanded him.
Police has believed nothing and they're all under suspect waiting tomorrow when an FBI team is going to arrive to help the local police and all The Bonds are going to be analized by the true machine. God helps them!
Always assume your guest is tired, cold, and hungry,
Today, The Bonds are still in the capital of The USA.They're checking their passports to know if they can travel to New York City,first, and San Francisco,later or they must return to Sant Boi. You know, the new rules of the man with orange hair...
The family is celebrating Eli's birthday and they've received an unexpected visit: Manuela Bond, an EliBond'scloser friend who has surprised all the family with a huge cake. Delicious!
Manuela is a shy person and she doesn't want to appear in our blog, for the moment, but the family is persistent and they're working to convince her to appear on it.
Before eating the cake, the family has worked Future Continuous, Prepositions of Place,some Social English and some Airplane and Business Vocabulary.
Finally, The Bonds have created some crosswordsto prepare their closer travel to Kiev, after visiting San Francisco, a long trip which offers lots of leisure and they've talked about how to try to be brave in front of difficult situations, especially in interviews and embarrasing ones.
Today, The Bonds are still in Washington. They're practising some Social English and The Superlative. The family is working in a high level and this fact allows them to dedicate more time to speak about different theme. They're very interested in helping Jaume and Eli Bond who are suffering a deep couple crisis.
The Grandma is talking about resistance and resilience. It has been a constant in the communities and we can find some examples in our closer story: 1641, 1714, 1936, 1941 are dates which demonstrate how people could learn to protect themselves. From Barcelona to London, from Sant Boi to Siracusa, resistance in front of the cruelty of wars and resilience like a phsycological way of surviving.
Literature is a great demonstration of our past because it expresses feelings, stories and facts which are common then and now but... What is true? What is false? We don't know really and this is the most beautiful side of all these stories that we can not be sure about anything although science and language is a good ally to discover other points of view, other explanations and other ideas very different from the original and official.
Joanot Martorell, Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare... Who were they? It doesn't matter because a man can not create a myth without the complicity of a society who wants to continue the tradition and make it popular.
Tomorrow, the family is creating a song for participating in the Eurovision Song Contest.
I believe our countrymen will show themselves capable of standing up
to it, like the brave men of Barcelona, and will be able to stand up to it, and carry on in spite of it, at least as well as any other people
The family has a new member: Montse Bond. She's Eli Bond's secret daughter, a result of an old German romance, and the real reason about Jaume Bond's behaviour last week in Berlin.
All the family is in New York City now and they're preparing a plan for a week. The Grandma wants to go to Broadway to watch Barbra Streisand in concert; Brooklyn, to visit Richard Castle, an old friend who is an international writer and she wants to know more things about the CSI team with Mac Taylor and Stella Bonasera.
Finally, the family plays Bingo with Noemí and Pedro Bond to enjoy themselves.
I grew up in New York City, a town with different races, religions,
They also read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and create a plot because it's very tired to wait without knowing anything about Jaume.
Eli Bond explains some feelings and experiences about Berlin, her hometown, and talks about Jaume, her husband, who is a bohemian artist who doesn't control his art.
The rest of the family is playing Pio Pio, a game where Juanjo Bond is an incredible crack and Juanjo Bond is in the hotel recovering of an intensive flu.
The Grandma tries to calm her nerves explaining stories: today, she has talked about the importance of the Gypsy culture in the Mediterranean cultures and a curios story about George III of the United Kingdom who wrote in his diary in July, 4 1778: Nothing important happened today.
Egypt is coming back, is becoming , is going to become, you know, a center of excellence for the region and maybe for the rest of the world.
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