CENETH WINSOR, ACADAMH-CHIÙIL RÌOGHAIL NA H-ALBA

Today, The Winsors and The Grandma have received good news and great information.

Cenneth Winsor has been admitted at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where she is starting a new course of drama. She is going to be the first Chinese student of this prestigious centre and all the family are excited with this amazing news.

To celebrate this fantastic moment, that had just been predicted by Josep Winsor, he has offerred a great brunch to the family. It has been a beautiful way to say goodbye and good luck to Ceneth and to celebrate Saint Joseph, a day after.

Ceneth Winsor has passed a hard casting where many teachers have evaluated her skills and her capacities to be a great actress in a closer future. One of the most difficult activities was singing Amazing Grace in Chinese and Scottish, only accompanied by her bagpiper. She did a great job, and she has been finally accepted as a new student for the next years.

Amazing Grace is a Christian hymn published in 1779, with words written by the English poet and Anglican clergyman John Newton, that has been translated to many different languages, but Ceneth has sung it for first time in Chinese.

A strong indication of potential is sought at the entrance audition for this programme. Successful applicants will normally be of a standard at least equivalent to Grade 8 with Distinction of the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music in their Principal Study, and Ceneth has reach her dream with a lot of effort, intelligence and tenacity.

Good luck, sister! We will miss you a lot!

 More information: Amazing grace! I once was lost, but now am found

Watch Amazing Grace by (Mónica Naranjo+Polifònica de Puig-reig+Jove Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona+Banda de Gaitas Xuntanza de Catalunya)

Before saying goodbye to Ceneth, the family has studies some English grammar with Countable & Uncountable Nouns.

More information: A Little/A Few

More information: Much/Many

More information: Much/Many/A Lot Of

More information: How Much/How Many

More information: IELTS Liz (List of Countable & Uncountable Nouns)

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in Scottish Gaelic Acadamh-chiùil Rìoghail na h-Alba, formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, in Scottish Gaelic Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools.

Founded in 1847, it has become the busiest performing arts venue in Scotland with over 500 public performances each year. The current principal is American pianist and composer Jeffrey Sharkey. The patron is King Charles III.

The Royal Conservatoire has occupied its current purpose-built building on Renfrew Street in Glasgow since 1988. Its roots lie in several organisations. 

Officially founded in 1847 by Moses Provan as part of the Glasgow Athenaeum, from an earlier Educational Association grouping, music and arts were provided alongside courses in commercial skills, literature, languages, sciences and mathematics. Courses were open and affordable, including day classes for ladies, and the Athenaeum had a reading room, news room, library and social facilities.

Apprentices could also be members. Rented accommodation was found in the Assembly Rooms, Ingram Street, with major lectures taking place in the City Halls. The chairman at its inaugural Grand Soiree in the City Halls in December 1847 was Charles Dickens when in his opening remarks he stated that he regarded the Glasgow Athenaeum as an educational example and encouragement to the rest of Scotland. Its Dramatic Club was formed in 1886 a year before the institution moved to purpose-built premises, inclusive of a major concert hall/theatre, in St George's Place close to West Nile Street, designed by architect John Burnet.

In 1888, the commercial teaching separated to form the Athenaeum Commercial College, which, after several rebrandings and a merger, became the University of Strathclyde in 1964. The non-commercial teaching side became the Glasgow Athenaeum School of Music.

In 1893 additional premises linked through to Buchanan Street and included a new Athenaeum Theatre facing Buchanan Street designed by architect Sir John James Burnet. In 1928 the premises were substantially extended with a gift from the philanthropist Daniel Macaulay Stevenson.

In 1929 the school was renamed as the Scottish National Academy of Music to better reflect its scope and purpose. This major acquisition of space at the corner of St George's Place (later renamed Nelson Mandela Place) and Buchanan Street was the Liberal Club (now not required by that party), designed originally by architect Alexander Skirving and remodelled by architects Campbell Douglas and Paterson in 1907.

Its principal from 1929 to 1941 was William Gillies Whittaker. In 1944, it became the Royal Scottish Academy of Music.

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music established a drama department called the Glasgow College of Dramatic Art during 1950. It became the first British drama school to contain a full, broadcast-specification television studio in 1962. In 1968 the Royal Scottish Academy of Music changed its name to the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) and introduced its first degree courses, which were validated by the University of Glasgow.

During 1987-88, the academy moved to its present site some two hundred yards north in Renfrew Street at Hope Street, across from the Theatre Royal, the new building having been designed by architect Sir Leslie Martin with executive architects William Nimmo and Partners.

In 1993, RSAMD became the first conservatoire in the United Kingdom to be granted its own degree-awarding powers. Research degrees undertaken at RCS are validated and awarded by the University of St Andrews.  

RCS is one of four member conservatories of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music.

More information: RCS

 Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

The Lord hath promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun.

John Newton

ZERO SUM: SEARCHING THE BEANS IN THE HUDSON RIVER

The Statue of Liberty

The vision that Liberty offers to the migrant who arrives to the USA is a great metaphor about what was the meaning of this big country of countries some decades ago.

The rescue team continued its searching while Theo Kojak was looking at the sky and enjoying the vision of another spectacular amazing grace.

Amazing Grace? How sweet the sound. He thought in John Newton writing this beautiful anthem to thank God after suffering a sinking. He hoped the missing people had the same luck that Newton had. The loud voices of the members of the diving team alerted him. Another person had been found alive. Kojak was proud of himself. He was a great poker player and he understood life like a big and interesting poker game. He was still astonished with recent news of Eddie "Fast" Clark the guitarist of Motörhead who wrote the unforgettable song Ace of Spades.

Well, time to update the report.

January, 14. 07:18. Theo Kojak Report. Statue Cruises Sinking. NYC.

Last night, the rescue team continued the rescue tasks and they found alive four more people: a middle-aged dark skin woman with long brown hair; an adult white woman with long black hair with  equestrian clothes, a young woman with short black hair and light blue trousers and a young black haired man not shaved and with a red and yellow jumper.

The day has been a rush for Theo Kojak. In fact, he was always a heater. The rescue teams had found more survivors. He continued writing his report.

07:25 - Adult woman. White. Brown/red hair. Yellow coat and green shoes.

07:31 - Adult woman. white. Red haired. Long hair. Blue jeans and red t-shirt with a drawing of a pickup.

07:47 - Adult man. White. Black short hair. Yellow and black jersey (like a bee) and blue jeans.

08:10 - Adult man. White. Black short hair. Green belt and trousers and grey vest with a Saurus inscription. White helmet and black boots.

08:22 - Young woman. White. Long brown hair. Veterinary clothes.

08:55 - Old woman. White. Old-fashioned clothes. 

09:17 - Young woman. White. Long black hair. Croupier clothes.

Theo Kojak took his phone to call to the CSI NY Department. He needed people more specialist than him to continue the investigation. What happened in that boat? Why did it sink? CSI team was going to find the answers to this mystery. Meanwhile, his task continued. The first survivor told they were fifteen people and they have only found fourteen. He hoped s/he was a great shark.

The survivors were going to be moved to the Mount Sinai Hospital to be attended first, and interrogated later. They didn't know it but they were lucky people because not a lot of people survive to the force of the Hudson River flow. They played their cards and they seemed or great players or fortunate people. All the members of the family except one. Who?

 T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear

and Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.

John Newton

AMAZING GRACE! I ONCE WAS LOST, BUT NOW AM FOUND

Amazing Grace is a Christian hymn published in 1779, with words written by the English poet and Anglican clergyman John Newton (1725–1807).

Newton wrote the words from personal experience. He grew up without any particular religious conviction, but his life's path was formed by a variety of twists and coincidences that were often put into motion by his recalcitrant insubordination.

 

He was pressed, conscripted, into service in the Royal Navy, and after leaving the service, he became involved in the Atlantic slave trade. 

In 1748, a violent storm battered his vessel off the coast of County Donegal, Ireland, so severely that he called out to God for mercy, a moment that marked his spiritual conversion. He continued his slave trading career until 1754 or 1755, when he ended his seafaring altogether and began studying Christian theology.

Ordained in the Church of England in 1764, Newton became curate of Olney, Buckinghamshire, where he began to write hymns with poet William Cowper. 

Amazing Grace was written to illustrate a sermon on New Year's Day of 1773. It is unknown if there was any music accompanying the verses; it may have simply been chanted by the congregation. It debuted in print in 1779 in Newton and Cowper's Olney Hymns but settled into relative obscurity in England. In the United States, however, Amazing Grace was used extensively during the Second Great Awakening in the early 19th century. It has been associated with more than 20 melodies, but in 1835 it was joined to a tune named New Britain to which it is most frequently sung today.

With the message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of sins committed and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God, Amazing Grace is one of the most recognizable songs in the English-speaking world. Author Gilbert Chase writes that it is without a doubt the most famous of all the folk hymns, and Jonathan Aitken, a Newton biographer, estimates that it is performed about 10 million times annually. 

It has had particular influence in folk music, and has become an emblematic African American spiritual. Its universal message has been a significant factor in its crossover into secular music. Amazing Grace saw a resurgence in popularity in the U.S. during the 1960s and has been recorded thousands of times during and since the 20th century, occasionally appearing on popular music charts.

More information: The John Newton Project

 Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch; like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

 

John Newton

IN MEMORIAM: LIVE LONG & PROSPER

The Collins Family has continued its hard work preparing the Cambridge Exams. For relaxing and seeing another point of view, The Grandma invited all of them to travel into space. They went to French Guiana and there, they got on the shuttle: 3, 2, 1… lift-off!

The trip was exciting and thanks to Vanesa, who had explained them all the astronauts have’s and don’t have’s, they could enjoy the moment without any kind of danger.

More information: Modal Verbs (Must/Have to/Can)

The most incredible moment was when another spaceship drove in front of them and its member, who had long ears, wore blue clothes and had short and black hair greeted them with only one hand, in vulcan salute style, wishing them: LIVE LONG & PROSPER. The Colllins Family wished him the best, and promised to remember him forever, eternally.

 When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

John Newton