16 DE MARÇ DE 2026, VAGA ALS CENTRES EDUCATIUS

 

I AM THE CHAMPION... I DID IT FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME

 I'll be the last one standing
Two hands in the air, I'm a champion
You'll be looking up at me when it's over
I live for the battle, I'm a soldier, yeah
I'm a fighter like Rocky
Put your flag on your back like Ali
Yeah, I'm the greatest, I'm stronger
Paid my dues, can't lose, I'ma own ya, ay

I've been working my whole life
And now it's do or die

I am invincible, unbreakable
Unstoppable, unshakable
They knock me down, I get up again
I am the champion, you're gon' know my name
You can't hurt me now, I can't feel the pain
I was made for this, yeah, I was born to win
I am the champion

When they write my story
They gonna say that I did it for the glory
But don't think that I did it for the fame, yeah
I did it for the love of the game, yeah
And this is my chance I'm taking
All them old records, I'm breaking
All you people watching on the TV
You go ahead and put your bets on me, ay

I've been waiting my whole life
To see my name in lights

I am invincible, unbreakable
Unstoppable, unshakable
They knock me down, I get up again
I am the champion, you're gon' know my name
You can't hurt me now, I can't feel the pain
I was made for this, yeah, I was born to win
I am the champion, oh-oh

Born champion, Luda
The C is for the courage I possess through the trauma (yeah)
H is for the hurt, but it's all for the honor
A is for my attitude working through the patience (hey)
Money comes and goes, so the M is for motivation

Gotta stay consistent, the P is for persevere
The I is for integrity, innovative career (career)
The O is optimistic, open and never shut
And the N is necessary 'cause I'm never givin' up

See, they ask me how I did it, I just did it from the heart
Crushin' the competition, been doing it from the start
They say that every champion is all about his principles
Carrie

I am invincible, unbreakable
Unstoppable, unshakable
They knock me down, I get up again
I am the champion, you're gon' know my name
You can't hurt me now, I can't feel the pain
I was made for this, yeah, I was born to win
I am the champion

I'm the champion, yeah, surpassed all rivals
It's all about who wants it the most
I am the champion
Fight for what we believe in
That's what champions are made of
I am the champion (yeah, champion)

 

 I've learned it's really important to work hard 
and keep your family and friends close. 
You've got to let them know how much 
you appreciate them for sticking by you.

Carrie Underwood

CORTO MALTESE & THE CELTS, ENJOYING A SPECIAL DAY

Today is The Grandma's birthday and the weather has wanted to give her a lovely rainy day, perhaps because it knows that The Grandma really likes these rainy and introspective days, fantastic for a good read and good company.

She will have the best company this afternoon when Claire Fontaine and Joseph de Ca'th Lon, who is some days in Barcelona, come to see her and all together enjoy the French football cup final, a very important match for the Northern Star, and she will have a good read before and after accompanied by Corto Maltese and his Celtic adventures.

Celtic Tales (or The Celts) is a volume of comics that brings together six adventures of Corto Maltese, a Maltese sailor. These stories were written and drawn by the Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt, and published for the first time between 1971 and 1972 in the French comic magazine Pif Gadget. They take place in Europe, during World War I, between 1917 and 1918. The stories are:

-The Angel in the Window to the Orient

-Under the Flag of Gold

-Concerto in O Minor for Harp and Nitroglycerin

-A Midwinter Morning’s Dream -Côtes de Nuit and Picardy Roses

-Burlesque Between Zuydcoote and Bray-Dunes

Hugo Pratt has produced numerous additional drawings of the characters and places relating to the stories in this album, as he did with other episodes of the series. Here, for example, he drew different places in Ireland and historical or legendary characters.

Among the many covers existing for Celtic Tales, one of them shows a poem in which Corto Maltese thanks different characters, mostly from Celtic legends:

-Merlin, the enchanter or wizard featured in Arthurian legend (like the followings three characters);

-Morgan le Fay and Viviane the Lady of the Lake;

-King Arthur; 

-Oberon (king of the fairies) and Puck;

-The Irish leprechauns; 

-The Cornish Pixies;

-The Scottish boggles;

-The Breton Korrigans; 

-The Welsh miners, Wales being renowned for its coal industry;

-The French elves;

-The Druids of Folle Pensée (name of a locality in the Paimpont forest);

-The little folk of the forest of Brocéliande;

-The royal ravens of Stonehenge;

-W. B. Yeats, the Irish poet; 

-And the harp of the wind somewhere to the north.

Hugo Pratt won the Prix Saint-Michel, for "Best Realistic Writing" in 1977, for the story A Midwinter Morning's Dream.

Twenty years after the death of Hugo Pratt, his ex-assistant Lele Vianello, another Italian comic book creator, gave him a tribute album. Entitled Twenty after... Homage to Hugo Pratt, it includes drawings inspired by the story A Midwinter Morning’s Dream, where Corto and characters from Celtic legends await Pratt on the day of his death to welcome him into their world.

More information: The Slings & Arrows

I haven't decided the date of my death yet.

Corto Maltese

ENJOY LA CASA PROVINCIAL DE LA MATERNITAT GARDENS

Yesterday was a day of a lot of technical and bureaucratic work for The Grandma, exactly the type of work she likes least and that they are increasingly trying to make more extensive and useless.

So, after catching up on posts and correcting dozens of activities, today, she has decided that she would have a more relaxed day, so she has gone down to have breakfast with Claire Fontaine in one of the most beautiful places she has near her home, La Maternitat, the old hospital and orphanage that has now become a reference hospital surrounded by beautiful Modernist public buildings, with gardens with a variety of very interesting vegetation, and, most importantly, Claire's workplace, with whom she has shared a good coffee, an interesting chat and a fantastic time.

And, as it could not be otherwise, The Grandma has spent a good while contemplating the construction work on the Camp Nou, a stadium that the popular saying has always said is located between life (Maternitat Hospital) and death (Les Corts Cemetery). 

Since the 16th century, the Hospital de la Santa Creu was responsible for welcoming foundlings from all over Catalunya. The exposure of children in the 16th century articulated a discourse around sin and illegitimacy, which led this institution to dedicate itself to maintaining secret maternity and raising children of sin. The quality of treatment was very low, with a mortality rate of more than 70% of the asylum seekers.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the exposure rate increased to a point where the institution collapsed. The lack of space and resources, overcrowding and the lack of sanitary conditions in the cities before the demolition of the walls in the mid-19th century caused the mortality rate to increase to 80%. The unsustainable situation of the institution, as well as the political, social and economic transformations derived from the Liberal Revolution, gave the only possible solution the creation of a unique institution dedicated to maternity and childhood.

Thus, on 23 November 1853, the Provincial Maternity and Foundling Home of Barcelona was inaugurated, based at the Casa de la Misericòrdia on Carrer de Ramelleres, 17, receiving 32 children from the Hospital de la Santa Creu. By virtue of the Charity Law of 23 January 1822, the General Charity Law of 26/6/1849 and the subsequent regulation published on 14 May 1852, it was decreed that these institutions were to be run by Boards of Ladies, thus establishing the association of the well-to-do woman's neighbour in the world of childcare, as was customary in 19th-century Europe.

Barcelona Zone writes about La Maternitat that:

In its past life, the grounds of today's tranquil park bore witness to a pioneering healthcare institution -La Maternitat i Sant Ramon hospital. This complex, which still serves various public functions, exhibits a collection of Modernist pavilions that have earned it a special place in Barcelona's rich architectural tapestry.

Originally built on the Can Cavaller estate in the late 19th century, the hospital La Maternitat de Barcelona began as the vision of Camil Oliveres i Cansaran, the then Provincial Council architect. His ambitious project aimed to integrate healthcare and aesthetics, delivering functionality adorned with artistic detailing. This approach resonated deeply with the Modernist movement sweeping the city at the time.

The death of Oliveres saw other architects take the reins, each contributing to the site's evolution while maintaining the founding principles of beauty intertwined with purpose. The pavilions, constructed of exposed brick and accented by dazzling polychrome ceramics, stand today as a testament to Modernist design -a symphony of form and function.

The complex’s signature buildings, the blue pavilion and the pink pavilion, catch the eye with their vivid colors and intricate design. Yet, the site's enchantment does not end with its buildings. Open to the public, the gardens of La Maternitat are where nature and architecture dance in harmonious balance. Amidst the foliage stands the statue 'La maternitat' by sculptor Lluïsa Granero, further emphasizing the theme of nurturing and care inherent to the site's history.

Designed to provide solace to recovering patients, the gardens now offer visitors the chance to lose themselves among diverse flora, including towering date palms and an impressive magnolia tree that claims the title of the tallest in Barcelona. In these gardens, nature performs its restorative magic, just as the architects intended decades ago.

Beyond its architectural splendor, La Maternitat hospital holds a profound social significance. Founded to aid the most vulnerable -abandoned children and mothers in need of discretion- the institution became a symbol of solidarity and care for the disadvantaged. This historical narrative echoes throughout the complex, adding depth to the visitor's experience.

The gardens, purposefully designed to offer comfort and peace to those healing within the hospital's walls, continue to provide solace to residents and tourists alike. Now, as you wander the footpaths of La Maternitat, you engage with a living history narrative that whispers tales of compassion from the leafy shade.

A trip to La Maternitat Barcelona extends far beyond mere sightseeing it's an encounter with a facet of the city's past that played a pivotal role in its social development. Whether you're an architecture enthusiast eager to explore Rationalist design or a traveler seeking a moment of tranquility away from the city’s more frenetic attractions, La Maternitat beckons with its unique charm.

The shade of the trees in the historic gardens of La Maternitat promises a welcoming escape. Indulge in the serene atmosphere and contemplate the history, beauty, and altruism that this remarkable site signifies. 

In the bustle of urban life, La Maternitat offers a serene vantage point to reflect on the city's legacy of caring for the well-being of its people both physically and architecturally.

As you leave the park, the harmonious blend of nature and architectural rationalism lingers in your mind -a reminder of Barcelona's lesser-known, but equally important, heritage.  

La Maternitat is more than just a place; it is a celebration of life, history, and the enduring spirit of Barcelona.

More information: Barcelona Travel Hacks

We learn from our gardens to deal 
with the most urgent question of the time: 
How much is enough?

Wendell Berry

'DIARIO DI VIAGGIO' & 'UNA BALLATA DEL MARE SALATO'

The Grandma has had a few days of introspection and reflection. These days she never lacks the company of her beloved Corto Maltese to whom she turns in search of peace, tranquility and spirituality.

Joseph de Ca'th Lon sent her a fantastic Panini collection entitled Corto Maltese: Diario di Viaggio and she has been reading it, sticking the stickers and placing the cards until she has had the complete collection. Then, she has reread The Ballad of the Salty Sea, the first episode of the adventures of Corto Maltese, her admired adventurer.

As she always turns to Corto, it has been a great pleasure to share these days with him, to recharge and to get up again to continue forward, because we really have to continue forward on this beautiful but complicated journey that is life.

Una ballata del mare salato, in English The Ballad of the Salty Sea, is a graphic novel, the first episode of the adventures of Corto Maltese, a Maltese sailor.

This story was written and drawn by the Italian comic book creator Hugo Pratt. 

It was published for the first time between 1967 and 1969, in the magazine Il Sergente Kirk. It takes place in Melanesia (Western Oceania), shortly before World War I, between 1913 and 1915. It introduces many future important characters from the series, such as the romantic Corto, the crazy Russian sailor Rasputin, and the young cousins Pandora and Cain.

Although the story introduces a new comic book character destined to become famous, Corto Maltese is not the main character. According to Pratt, Pandora Groovesnore is the central character. He explains that everyone is in love with her, and that she is a kind and beautiful girl who becomes an adult. Corto is just a secondary character, like so many others in this story. The cartoonist did not suspect that he would reuse the Corto Maltese character for a whole series.

To pretend that this story is true, Pratt published, in addition, a fake letter from Cain's nephew, Obregan Carrenza, which he had to give to the cartoonist himself. This process is also often used in adventure novels. This document, dating from the middle of the 20th century évokes Corto's old age and his sadness following the death of his friend Tarao. This letter is missing from many editions of this story, probably because some publishers refuse to let the reader imagine the aging hero.

Hugo Pratt will reuse Corto Maltese for news adventures taking place in America, published for the first time in 1970 and collected in the volume Under the Sign of Capricorn. This is the start of his Corto Maltese series, comprising twelve episodes. One of which takes place eight years before the first episode, in 1905 in Manchuria (China), relating the meeting between Corto and Rasputin: Corto Maltese: The Early Years. After Pratt's death, the series was resumed by Ruben Pellejero and Juan Diaz Canales. They have currently made three additional episodes. In the last one, they imagined a prequel to The Ballad of the Salty Sea, All Saints Day, to explain why Corto was attached to the raft and how he worked for the Monk.

Escondida is a fictional island located in Western Oceania, the scene of an important part of this story. Its coordinates are 169° west longitude, 19° south latitude. Which corresponds to the location of the Tanna Island, in Vanuatu, near New Caledonia. However, Pratt claimed that his model was Abaiang (Gilbert Islands, Kiribati).

The story abounds in literary references. For example, at the start, Rasputin is reading Voyage autour du monde, Louis Antoine de Bougainville's travel diary. This French explorer indeed sailed in the same zone where he was at that time. Cain, on several occasions, spreads his culture through various allusions. Thus, when he failed on a beach with Tarao, he compares themself to Robinson Crusoe and Friday (characters created by Daniel Defoe). Then, when they escape from the cannibals with the others, he tells him about Moby Dick (from the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville). Later, in Slütter's submarine, he is reading The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the long poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Finally, when he leaves Escondida with Pandora, he evokes the ship Argo and the character Jason, from Greek mythology.

Twenty years after the creation of this story, Pratt slipped a dedication into it. It pays homage to the Irish writer Henry De Vere Stacpoole, who piqued Pratt's interest in the South Seas.

Hugo Pratt discreetly slides into his story various allusions to cultural elements of the different Oceanian peoples encountered, whether through their songs or their conversations. They allude for example to gods, creatures or illustrious people, like Kanaloa, Tāne, Tū, Rongo, Tangaroa, Māui, Kupe, Tamatea (explorer), Pehee Nuee Nuee. They also speak of mythical places like Hawaiki. Finally, they evoke several of the many Pacific islands: Mangareva, Hawaii, Tahiti, Heragi (Māori name for Pitcairn Island, in Pitcairn Islands), Aotearoa (Māori name for New Zealand), Tubuai. The decor of the comic is punctuated by various Oceanian masks. Several of them are thus visible on the house where Cain is a prisoner. These items resemble those made by Baining people, they live in Papua New Guinea.

Despite this realism, Pratt allows himself touches of fantasy, sometimes making his Oceanian characters speak in Venetian language (an element that translators leave as is).

The album won the award for the best foreign realistic work at the 1976 Angoulême Festival.

This story was classified in 2012 at the 3rd place of the classification of 50 essential BD established by the French magazine Lire.

Umberto Eco, Italian novelist and literary critic, wrote a preface to this story (found in the 1989 edition) on the geographic and cultural references of this story.

More information: The Slings and Arrows

For me, my travels have been the chance 
to go to a place that already exists in my imagination.
 

Hugo Pratt

YOU’LL HAVE UNDERSTOOD WHAT THESE ITHAKAS MEAN

Σα βγεις στον πηγαιμό για την Ιθάκη,
να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος,
γεμάτος περιπέτειες, γεμάτος γνώσεις.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον θυμωμένο Ποσειδώνα μη φοβάσαι,
τέτοια στον δρόμο σου ποτέ σου δεν θα βρεις,
αν μέν’ η σκέψις σου υψηλή, αν εκλεκτή
συγκίνησις το πνεύμα και το σώμα σου αγγίζει.
Τους Λαιστρυγόνας και τους Κύκλωπας,
τον άγριο Ποσειδώνα δεν θα συναντήσεις,
αν δεν τους κουβανείς μες στην ψυχή σου,
αν η ψυχή σου δεν τους στήνει εμπρός σου.

Να εύχεσαι νάναι μακρύς ο δρόμος.
Πολλά τα καλοκαιρινά πρωιά να είναι
που με τι ευχαρίστησι, με τι χαρά
θα μπαίνεις σε λιμένας πρωτοειδωμένους·
να σταματήσεις σ’ εμπορεία Φοινικικά,
και τες καλές πραγμάτειες ν’ αποκτήσεις,
σεντέφια και κοράλλια, κεχριμπάρια κ’ έβενους,
και ηδονικά μυρωδικά κάθε λογής,
όσο μπορείς πιο άφθονα ηδονικά μυρωδικά·
σε πόλεις Aιγυπτιακές πολλές να πας,
να μάθεις και να μάθεις απ’ τους σπουδασμένους.

Πάντα στον νου σου νάχεις την Ιθάκη.
Το φθάσιμον εκεί είν’ ο προορισμός σου.
Aλλά μη βιάζεις το ταξείδι διόλου.
Καλλίτερα χρόνια πολλά να διαρκέσει·
και γέρος πια ν’ αράξεις στο νησί,
πλούσιος με όσα κέρδισες στον δρόμο,
μη προσδοκώντας πλούτη να σε δώσει η Ιθάκη.

Η Ιθάκη σ’ έδωσε τ’ ωραίο ταξείδι.
Χωρίς αυτήν δεν θάβγαινες στον δρόμο.
Άλλα δεν έχει να σε δώσει πια.

Κι αν πτωχική την βρεις, η Ιθάκη δεν σε γέλασε.
Έτσι σοφός που έγινες, με τόση πείρα,
ήδη θα το κατάλαβες η Ιθάκες τι σημαίνουν. 

 

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
angry Poseidon -don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians, Cyclops,
wild Poseidon -you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope your road is a long one.
May there be many summer mornings when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind-
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to learn and go on learning from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.
But don’t hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you’re old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.

Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you wouldn't have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

More information: Archive

Τουλάχιστον άσε με τώρα να ξεγελάω τον εαυτό 

μου με ψευδαισθήσεις 
για να μην νιώθω την άδεια ζωή μου.

 

At least let me now deceive 

myself with illusions
so as not to feel my empty life.

 

 Konstantinos Petru Kavafis

ASTÉRIX AND THE ROMAN AGENT IN DÉCINES-CHARPIEU

Today, Claire Fontaine and Joseph de Ca'th Lon have arrived in Décines-Charpieu, Lyon where this afternoon they will go to see the Northern Star, who has a very important match today. During the trip from Milan to Lyon they have been reading a new Astérix adventure, in this case, Astérix and the Roman Agent.

Astérix and the Roman Agent, in French La Zizanie, is the fifteenth volume of the Astérix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It first appeared as a serial in Pilote magazine issues 531–552 in 1970 and was translated into English in 1972.

The original French title of this story was La Zizanie (The Ill-feeling or The Dissension). The inspiration was the dissension at Pilote magazine, a year before, during the May 1968 events in Paris, a time of civil unrest, when Goscinny, then also editor of Pilote, was almost evicted from the post, and remained bitter from the affair.

In the English version Caesar keeps making the famous Et tu Brute remark to Brutus who reacts in silent annoyance at this patronising attitude. In the original French version, Caesar keeps saying Et toi, mon fils (French for And you, my son), a possible reference to the suggestion by some historians that Brutus was actually fathered by Caesar, though some think it unlikely due to the mere 17-year age difference between the two men. It may also be a reference to the Greek phrase which the historian Suetonius reports Caesar did say to Brutus, καὶ σὺ τέκνον (Kai su, teknon?), literally, in English, You too, my child?

Brutus denies ever serving Caesar's enemy Pompey, whereas he actually did so in real life. It is a curious remark to make in a series which, although largely fictional, is based on extensive research into the history and background of the time and the habits of populations both old and new.

Centurion Felix Platypus is a caricature of the actor Lino Ventura, well-known for playing the parts of tough policemen.  

The incident of the Pirates fighting between themselves and sinking their own ship is referred to in the next adventure Astérix in Switzerland.

When Impedimenta screams at Vitalstatistix about idiots (words used in the original French edition) who might one day have the absurd idea of writing the history of the village, Goscinny and Uderzo are clearly referring to themselves.

This is the first appearance of several female villagers -Impedimenta's inner circle of prominent wives. In particular, the wives of Geriatrix and Fulliautomatix and an obese lady whose husband is not mentioned, but who appears in many crowd and background scenes in later albums, are first seen here.

In the scenes where people have been deceived into arguing, the speech bubbles are painted in increasingly dark green. In contrast, in the final banquet panel, Vitalstatistix makes his moving birthday speech in pink.

Stradivarius. The old senator's voice is compared to the sound of a Stradivarius violin, highlighting its rich and resonant quality.

Magnumopus (Fr. Savancosinus). The French name of the Roman legionary Magnumpous is Savancosinus. This is a clever play on the word cosine, referencing the comic character Savant Cosinus.

The Battle of the Four Camps. For the first time, all four Roman camps surrounding the Gaulish village  -Aquarium, Totorum, Laudanum, and Compendium- unite in a coordinated attack, increasing the stakes for the indomitable Gauls. In the American English release, the camps are named; Aquarium, Opprobrium, Nohappimedium and Delirium.

It is a very special adventure from which great vital ideas are extracted.

Despite Convolvulus's best efforts, the Gauls ultimately overcome the challenges he presents. By recognizing the dangers of manipulation and reaffirming their unity, they successfully thwart the Roman's plans and expose Convolvulus's treachery.

Astérix and the Roman Agent is a testament to the enduring brilliance of Goscinny and Uderzo. This thought-provoking adventure explores themes of trust, betrayal, and the importance of maintaining unity within a community, making it a timeless classic that continues to entertain and enlighten readers today.

Download Astérix and the Roman Agent by R. Goscinny & A. Uderzo

Astérix I think that we shall soon 

have to teach our friends a little lesson.

Obélix