Yum, yum, yum! Milanesas de pollo!

Today my friend Elena invited me to eat with her and the whole Casa Hispana -Hispanic House)at Macalester College for their weekly common meal. She and Romina, both from Santa Fe, Argentina, are the native speakers this year. I was a native speaker at Macalester College 5 years go. Anyway, the meal was "milanesas de pollo con pure". My absolutely all time favorite meal of all!!!!! It was delicious, yummy, gimme more!!! :)

Here is Elena explaining how to make this plate. The video is in Spanish, sorry for the monolingual people out there :-)

Whomp, whomp! Pillow Fight Minneapolis 2007

Pillow Fight tomorrow!

I got this from

http://www.unapologeticnonsense.com/2007/10/pillow_fight.html

Pillow Fight!

You may remember the Pillow Fight from last year. If it looked like fun, you have a chance to participate in this upcoming event. From what I can tell, the two pillow fights are not related, but don't take my word for it. At any rate, get the word out.

Feathers fly and teddies soar as you converge for the Twin Cities first giant urban pillow fight! Swing and whack as you evade pillow-wielding assailants. Bring a soft pillow at 6 PM and wait for the signal (you'll know when). Pillow fight!

PJs and funky pillows encouraged. More fun with Feathers.

Pillow Fight Minneapolis
Outside Walker Art Center (grass circles) @ 6:00 PM
Friday, October 12th 2007
Rain Date TBA. Free for all ages!

Rules: Please follow these guidelines to ensure a safe and fun pillow fight for everybody!

+ Soft pillows only!
+ Swing lightly, many people will be swinging at once.
+ Do not swing at people without pillows or with cameras.
+ Remove glasses beforehand!
+ Wait until the signal to begin.
+ Spectators welcome, but consider bringing a pillow.
+ Bring garbage bags to help clean up afterwards.
+ TELL EVERYONE ABOUT PILLOW FIGHT.

Feel free to repost this on blogs, forums, Myspace, Facebook, etc…

Get them moving!

Have you ever been in a big room with 500 high schoolers and your job was to make them move/dance? OK. Now add to that the fact that those students are from MINNESOTA!
Today I had the honor and pleasure to work with the University of Minnesota and do exactly that! They received about 500 students from high schools in the suburbs and provided them with a mini "university experience". In this case I opened the event doing some dances from the workshop "Bailemos Juntos". I am glad that I just presented that at IWLA conference so I had all the dances very fresh in my mind. Of course there was a big difference in sharing the presentation with 3 other people (Kika, Alicia and Luz, the other members of "Bailemos Juntos" team) to a group of Spanish teachers to doing it all by myself with 500 teenagers! But it was quite a success. Most of them were quite engaged and they all seem to be having fun. A bonus was that I did part of the presentation in Spanish so they got to hear a native speaker using his mother tongue. Most of these students are taught by American teachers, and there is nothing wrong with that at all, but they are not native speakers of Spanish. So it was a great opportunity for them AND for me. It was very good for me to break out of my 1st to 8th grade mode (which I love) and be a dance/rock start among teenagers! I even had some of them on the stage leading some steps with me. I had my own "dance with the stars" moment. The organizer (and the teachers) were very impressed and satisfied with my work. They already requested that I come back in April for another presentation similar to this one. My presentation was followed by a university teacher who had the hard task to have these kids thinking about the issue of immigration and undocumented immigrants for a moment. A Cuban salsa band was the perfect closing part of this experience. Students were up again dancing and moving. It was great to see such a large group of students from Minnesota shaking their bodies and having fun!

Chango Spasiuk, accordion genius!

I forgot to write a post about it but a few weeks ago I had the pleasure to go to a concert of Chango Spasiuk. He is a musician from Argentina and an accordion genius. I always admired him and loved his music while I lived in Argentina but I never had the chance to see him live. That chance came to a reality on Sept. 22nd at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis, MN. Here you have a few shots.

Mini-summer in Iowa

Iowa was a lot of fun! The IWLA conference was pretty good and I had fun with my friends. It was also very hot! I couldn't believe how hot it was being the first weekend in October. We also sold several DVD of "Bailemos Juntos". I am going to be selling the DVD's online soon.

First "Bailemos Juntos" DVD is here!!!

I seems I have been presenting "Bailemos Juntos" workshop for ever. But I never get tired of doing that. Not only because I love dancing and teaching dances but also because I get to see my friends from El Lago del Bosque (Spanish summer camp at Concordia Language Villages): Alicia, Kika y Luz. It's like a mini reunion at each conference and we have so much fun together! We will be presenting this weekend at IWLA for there annual conference. There is one more reason that will make this presentation very exciting. We are launching our first DVD!! Si, si, si! El DVD esta aqui!!! We recorded one of our previous sessions and I've been working really hard in editing it. I think it looks pretty good. It contains explanations of seven dances from our workshop plus a couple of extras (surprise!). I can wait to see my friends again and dance with them! You can learn more about our workshop and dances at our Bailemos Juntos website

Flip Video Vs. Flip Video Ultra

I got a new Flip Video Ultra now. This video is a comparison between my "old" Flip Video and my new Flip Video Ultra. Do you notice any difference? Tell me what differences you see.

Faces While Driving

En la vida de Paulino (Oct/02/07)

Paulino's Life Update

"Cara a Cara" - Face to Face - (Adobe Premiere exercise)

I am testing and experimenting with video editing using Adobe Premiere.
I tried the split screen with the crop video effect and I also played with subtitles. Because the quality of the original audio was not very good I used voice over but I need to practice more with that.
In general the result is not perfect but I am quite satisfied with this first experiment. I don't have video editing training and I am learning all this on my own.
I welcome feedback and suggestions.
Is the middle line too evident? How do you make it disappear?
Is there any good trick to help the actor (me in this case) do each part of the dialogue so that it syncs later? Mine is a little off.
Thanks for all your ideas and suggestions!

paulino

Video for Everyman

And it did happen! My experience with new technology (more specifically the use of Flip Video Camera) was featured in an article called "Video for Everyman" by CHRISTOPHER LAWTON, September 26, 2007; Page D1 of the WALL STREET JOURNAL
Just to avoid any infringement of copyright I am not going to paste the text here. If you didn't get the newspaper you can read it online.

Or you can listen to an excerpt that I read in this video.

I speak so highly about the Flip Video Camera. May be Pure Digital Technologies Inc. will send me a new one! Since now I am kind of their unofficial spoke person :)

Spanish subtitles are here!

Well.. now that I am going to become an international person! (LOL!) I need to make my videos more accessible to different audiences. Let's start with a very important market: The Latino Community.

Here is my first attempt at adding Spanish subtitle to one of my videos.




or click here

My name on a major international daily newspaper?

Is it true? Could be true?
Paulino Brener mentioned in the Wall Street Jounal?

Yet Another MN State Fair 2007 Video

Yet Another MN State Fair 2007 Video

International Club is back!

Eight years ago I spent my first academic year in US. I was an Amity Scholar and I worked (or rather volunteered) at Brighton High School in Rochester, NY. It was a wonderful year and a great way to start my life in US. One of the things that made it great was that I had the opportunity to work with three interesting ladies who later became my friends. We were part of what we called the "International Club". I know, not a very original name but it was special for us. We all came from different parts of the world: Imke from Germany, Maeva from France, Veronica from Spain and Me from Argentina. We shared many adventures. Today, after many years and thanks to Skype conference feature, we had our "International Club" meeting. It was very exciting to hear the four voices back together. We even talked about starting a blog together and share experiences, pictures, etc and the seed was planted to have a "real" meeting (meaning in person) some day (possibly summer 2009 in London). :-)
Our of the four I am the only one who remained in US and even though I like it here I miss visiting other counties (mainly in Europe) and learning about other cultures. But now may be we can be back in touch and they can bring Europe back to me until I can go and meet them there.

Here we are:



Can you guess who is who? :-)

Say hi to "Paulexto Balut"

OK. So lately I've been pretty active on cyberland: myspace, facebook, youtube, etc. But I have been avoiding a biggie: Second Life. I did try it a few months ago but it didn't really get much of my attention. Now there is a language festival coming in September and I want to attend it so I gave Second Life a Second Chance.

This is the beginning of the metamorphoses of my avatar. I randomized all features (skin, shapes, etc.) and then adjusted just a few. I am sure I will make changes a few things here and there with time but for now I like being a blue man. After all blue is my favorite color. What do you think?

My videos in MNStories.com

Yay! A couple of my videos were featured as MNStories.com

Or you can just watch them here :-)

Ready for a ride?

Last Saturday I went to the Minnesota State Fair. I haven't been there for 4 years.
I went there with my friend Tyson and we had fun. Specially when we found, just by chance that "Forro For ALL" (a band that plays Brazilian music) was there! They are very good. It was supposed to be a short visit to look around but I ended up staying a little later to take some pictures and videos.

Including this video of the Skyride



More video and pics later. Enjoy!

Audiobooks discussion continues

This is a continued discussion about Audiobooks (see previous post)

Steve,

Hmmmm... you speak like someone who is trying to sell something and relies a lot on capitalism for that... Oh wait! You ARE someone trying to sell something! :-)

Steve, I am glad you are blessed with the wealth that allows you to afford all the comforts you deserve at your age. And mind you, I do say "at your age" with respect. I am sure you have worked hard (and continue to do so) in your life and you are able to purchase and enjoy your Argentine wine and Russian audiobooks. Great! Good for you!

Unfortunately (or fortunately) at this moment in my life I have other priorities and needs. I work in a small private school and the salaries are not that high. I am not complaining, I love my job! I have all the food, clothes and housing that I need and I even go out once in a while! :-) But I do live on a budget and I appreciate the opportunity to use free resources until I am able to purchase other type of resources. I know many people who are in the same (financial) situation or they are just frugal and don't want to pay for their audiobooks or anything else they can get for free. What's wrong with that?

I am not saying that librivox.org is the all fulfilling solution. It's just one more option. Options are good! It's good to have options! And you would be surprised. Some of what you call "second rate audio books produced by volunteers" are of high quality since some of those volunteers are in fact PROFESSIONALS! Many of them work in radio, voice related jobs.. and guess what?... yes! some of them are even readers for professional audiobook companies. Then why they do it for free? The answer is: promotion and marketing! Since all books that you find at librivox.org are from/in the public domain (i.e. very old books) so you won't find your recent bestseller novel there. For that, and I agree with you Steve, you should pay for the unabridged audiobook. :-)

Take and give care,

paulino

ps1: Since I work in a private school I am not afraid of any school district deciding to use volunteers. We are an independent school. :-)

ps2: Your title for this post has to a's in front of "good". You don't mind that a Non-Native Speaker of English points out your typos, right? May be you'll pay back and point out my typos, grammar mistakes, etc, etc, and then I'll learn from my mistakes and improve my writing. And believe me, I know I need to improve my writing skills!!!

ps3: I wanted to talk more on volunteerism and non-profit organizations but I'll leave that for another time.

Audiobooks: great resource for language learning

This is my response to Audio books - a richer reading experience


hi steve,

i love audio books! specially since i drive at least 1 or 2 hours a day from/to work.

my favorite site for free audio books is:

http://librivox.org/

there are tons of them. now, since these books are recorded by volunteers not all of them are of the best quality. but once you start browsing around you can find which readers have not only good audio quality but also are good readers.

also, once you find a reader that you like, it's possible to find other recording that he/she made.

you can download all audio books here. they are complete free and they offer 3 different formats.

AND MOST IMPORTANT! you can become a volunteer, too!!! i would encourage non-native speakers of english to:

1) listen or download audio books in english from this site.

2) BECOME A VOLUNTEER READER! There are several recordings in languages other than english... but i think there need to be more!

all the information you need is in their website http://librivox.org/
but if you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me and i'll try to help you. i've been reading/recording for them for while in spanish and english.

enjoy!

How is my driving?

Minneapolis Time Lapse Drive (Hwy 7)

From Excelsior, MN to Franklin Ave. and Harriet St. in Minneapolis. A 30 minutes drive in a 2 minutes video. How is my driving? Driver: Paulino Brener

Let's teach more languages in schools!

I recently came across this post about teaching languages in schools

Let's stop teaching languages in schools.

Since, like Steve, I am also passionate about language teaching I posted the following response/comment:



Steve,

As a language teacher myself this article makes me very uncomfortable. Even more coming from someone like you, who promotes language learning and makes a profit from it.

I am grateful to be able to work in a private school where I have total control, flexibility and creation of my curriculum and decision over method(s) of instruction. I just need to follow the guiding principles underlying our school (I work in a Waldorf school). But the rest is totally up to me. In this sense I think I am privileged that I am able to "experiment" different ways to reach my students. I understand that most mainstream or public schools do not have that luxury.

Nevertheless I believe that (at least in US, where I live) public schools still don't have the level of support that the teaching of foreign languages deserves. Despite the many years of research and strong evidence of its advantages and benefits foreign language learning is not regarded as a priority or even considered as a core subject. Some progress is being made at a very slow pace, though.
Posts and comments like yours, especially when titled “Let's stop teaching languages in schools” might lead the general public into miss-informed or wrong directions. I would strongly encourage you avoid such language.
I do agree with you that some reform might need to happen for schools to teach languages more effectively. I also sympathize with your proposed methodology. It’s very radical and innovative. Although I could see some challenges in its implementation. May be we can talk about it some day.

Take and give care,

paulino

PS: BTW, I believe that you meant to say “He commented that Canadians who go to Japan learn JAPANASE (not English) better than Japanese who come to Canada.” right?

Posted by: paulino brener | August 16, 2007 at 03:53 PM

Nokia 770 Internet Tablet

During the month of July I have been an avid contributer to the online magazine Vita.mn. Every contribution got me Karma points. And since I was the person with most Karma points in July I got the first prize! A Nokia 770 Internet Tablet...
Here is a pic of me with my new box (still in box) in front of the Startribune (producer of Vita.mn)

Rough beginning for a great mini-vacation

So my mini-vacation to Chicago ended. I was there from July 31st until August 5th. I had a blast. But the beginning of it seems like it was not going to be a good ride.
First, before leaving home, I locked myself out of my car when I went to look for a few items there. I've done this a few times before but this was definitely the most inconvenient time of all. I call my resident manager and I was very VERY lucky that not only she was in her office but also that she answered the phone. Something that she doesn't usually do in that early in the morning (about 7:30 am). Once she opened my apartment for me to get another car key and retrieve my apartment keys everything was fine.
I took a combination of bus and LRT to the airport. I must say that neglected to double check what terminal my flight (Airtran) was departing from. I got out of the LTR at the Lindberg (main) terminal. Again, I was very lucky that I chose the shortest line for security checks because it wasn't until then that I realized, or that the security person realized, that I need to be at the Humphrey terminal.
The shuttle to the Humphrey terminal was quick and there was not line at the security check there. Now it was time to relax and wait for my flight.

More on Chicago later...

knitters, bridge and spanish curriculum

Chicago has been hotter and hotter since I arrived. But it's very cool. I've been roaming a little bit and there is live everywhere. A lot of people outside, some small restaurants have musicians on the sidewalk. Chicago definitely comes to life in the summer.
I am enjoying my stay so far. I have met a couple of old friends that live here and a new friend: Franklin. Franklin is a knitter and photographer (I think he also has a day job... but I didn't pay attention to what it was). He has a cool blog about knitting and life. He is very funny and his writting is usually quite witty. Check it out here. He also started a cool project called 1,000 Knitters and I wanted to part of it. I must admit that it was a little weird being photographed while knitting.. but I will survive. Here is a pic of Franklin and I that I took with my cell phone.

Later that night it was Franklin who showed me (on the monitors of the bar where we were in) about the huge bridge catastrophed in Minneapolis. That was horrible. I tried to call a few friends but it was impossible to connect. Luckily txt msg worked much better. All of them are fine. Some of them also confirmed they were fine through email, myspace. etc.

Today (Thursday) and part of Friday I have been working on my 8th grade Spanish curriculum (and more) with Ileana. She is the current Spanish teacher at the Chicago Waldorf School and it has been great to work with an experienced teacher like her.

...

Wicked is coming soon!!!!

Chicago... Chicago...!

Oh, wait! The song was New York, New York! Oh well. I am having lots of fun in Chicago as if I were in New York City. The weather is super nice (kinda hot). It's kinda nice to get out for Minneapolis for a few days and be in a bigger city. I can always find smaller town or peaceful places in Minnesota :-)
The trip started yesterday morning with a little bit of a nuissance. Right before I was going to leave to take the bus and train to airpot I checked my car for a few item that I needed from there. And I locked myself out of my car! Apartment keys and everything! I just wanted to bang my head on the wall! I was very very lucky that the resident manager was not only still there but that she also answered the phone. I don't think she usually does early in the morning. She was a great help! Thanks Ann!
I got to the airport on time, only that I went to the wrong terminal. I neglected to check that AirTran was leaving fron Humphrey terminal and not Lingberg. But they are very close to each other. The shuttle bus was quick and I went through security very fast. That terminal was so quiet!
The flight was calm and short and the train to the hostel was easy to find.
The plan is to stay a couple of night at the Hostelling International Chicago downtown (to enjoy a little bit of the city life). Thurday and Friday I will be doing some work, yes work! :-) I will be meeting with an experience Spanish teacher in a Waldorf school to work on 8th grade curriculum. Then Friday afternoon and Saturday I will meet my good friend Steve from Rochester, NY. We are getting together here in Chicago to see WICKED!!! I can't wait!
More later... time to have breakfast!

Campaña Informativa en Español para madres/padres que tienen la custodia de sus hijos

Ecobulbs

It's not cheap to be eco-friendly! But I'll try...

Malt at Uptown Diner

All you wanted to know (and more) about malts.

Twin Cities Secrets # 1: The Elf Tree

Amy tells us about the Elf Tree by Lake Harriet in Minneapolis

My new Flip Video Camera

Amy comments about my new Flip Video Camera at Tea Garden (Minneapolis)

So what's going on this Summer ('07)

Well...as usual I told myself that I was going to have a relaxed Summer and I ended up being pretty busy. But "good" busy. I am really enjoying the activities I am doing.

* I just finished a two weeks workshop on Mexican traditional dances. Nice workout and cultural experience.

* I am taking two classes:

- Introduction to Creative Writing at MCTC: It's an online class and I like it but it might end up being too demanding with too many deadlines. I might drop out of it but haven't decided yet.

- ASL 2 at St. Paul College: I love it. LOVE IT!!! I think I might even continue on ASL 3 this fall.

* I will be performing my 2 solos at Dreamland Arts in July (more info soon, or visit my website paulino.info)
* I had a lot of progress on my Green Card process. It has being a lot of work (and money!) but there is definite progress. Unfortunately due to a recent (today) change from the Department of State I might have to wait a little longer than expected. I know I haven't written much about this. It's a delicate topic and I might write more about the experience when it's all done (when I finally get my green card) but for now I'll keep it to a minimum. But if you want more details email me and I'll be glad to tell you more. (mail AT paulino DOT info)

* I am going to Chicago end of July. Multipurpose trip: visiting Chicago friends, working with an experience Waldorf teacher, meeting Rochester, NY friends and watching WICKED!)

* And like every Summer I'll be visiting El Lago del Bosque, Wilder. One of the Spanish camps from Concordia Language Villages. I have many good friends that work there.

And last, but not least... one of my favorite activities in the Summer: going out and meeting new people! Will you be next?

Mexican dances

There is nothing more motivating for me than learning ethnic dances. This week I had a unique opportunity to learn some Mexican traditional dances with an instructor from Mexico. The workshop will continue next week, too. I'll see how much I can do and learn or how long my legs can keep up with that! :-)

Faces

Ivory quote # 2

True, natural beauty is in the simple things.

En vérité, la beauté naturelle se trouve dans le choses simples.

Winter... Spring..and then Winter Again

I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Minnesota is a state in the northern central region of US (known as Midwest). This state is known for its long (very long) winters. They are also very cold winters. But one would hope that by the end of March, and with Spring officially "announced", the snow would melt away and green would slowly start to surround us. And that DID happen. We had a few lovely and sunny days with temperatures rising up and signs of Spring everywhere: small buds on the trees, more birds flying around, etc.
But yesterday the Winter King decided to pay us his last visit of the year and everything went white again. Unbelievable! Well.. everything is possible in the land of 12,000 lakes. Anyway, we tried to make the most of it. I admired how beautiful the trees looked with snow on their branches and children everywhere made their (probably and hopefully) last snow man of the season.
Ok, now...that's it! We want the Spring Fairy to come and bless us with green trees, sun, warm temperatures, birds and lots of flowers! ... Achoo! Oh no.. what about allergies? Oh well, no season is perfect. Thanks mother Nature! :-)

Ivory soap and quotes

Ok, if this information is more than you wanted to know... let me know :)

It's been a long time that I use, almost exclusively, Ivory soap. Why?

The Soap So Pure It Floats!
An established American icon of pure clean, Classic Ivory Soap is a simple, pure formula that cleanses your skin by removing dirt and oils which can clog pores. The classic, 99 44/100% pure formula contains no heavy perfumes or lotions so it leaves your skin feeling naturally clean with a light, Ivory-clean smell. Discover the consistent quality and value that have made Ivory the leading pure soap on the market for decades.

For your convenience, Classic Ivory Soap is available in the family-size
4.5 oz bath bar and the 3.1 oz personal size bar
in a variety of package choices.

(source http://www.ivory.com/YourIvoryProducts_ClassicIvoryBarSoap.htm)

Last time I bought some it was a 12 pack but it wasn't until today, when I reached for the last bar of the packet, that I noticed that each bar comes with a quote. A different quote in each bar!
How come I didn't notice this before?

Anyway, I am glad I did and I will be paying more attention next time. But I identify soooooo much with this quote that I wanted to share it with you. It's in English and French on the wrap paper and I like both versions, so I am going to copy them literally.

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

"Profitez des petits plaisirs de la vie, car un jour vous vous rendrez compte qu'ils étaient vraiemnt de grans plaisirs."

Insomnia 2: mr. alien

What happened to mr. alien? What is he thinking? Why did he change color? Why did he run the other way?

If you have answers to any of these questions, please let me know (post a comment)

Insomnia 1: old habits and hobbies

This is what happens when I can't sleep at night. I go back to old habits and hobbies. I haven't done this in a while, so be nice... :-)

New phone and new mobile blogging

I got a new phone today. It has a camera on it. Finally I am catching up with cellphone technology. Now I will be able to send pictures from my phone directly to my new Paulino on the GO blog. Like this one:

I then I can edit the post and add some text to it... or not :-)

Patrick's Cabaret demo

Wow, more than a month and a half without blogging... what a slacker :-)
And I have so many thing to tell.. anyway until I get to them I will post a demo video I edited to promote Patrick's Cabaret.

Here it is:

Esperanto is not dead

Even though I haven't made much efforts to improve my Esperanto lately, I keep finding examples that show that this is not a dead language at all.

Look at this cute video:

Let's burn down the house!

Well... not literally.
I just started experimenting with a new home project: Melting Crayons.
I was going pretty well... until I have a little accident in the oven and now it's partially covered in crayon wax... oops!
But I have been more careful lately and I am having fun and some good results.
This is my last badge:

Before melting

After melting

Esperanto>Youth>Spain>Madrid

My friend José is one of the organizers of this really cool gathering for young people (like me!) who would like to learn more about Esperanto or practice this interesting language with other cool people. If you are near Madrid, don't miss it! I wish I could be there, guys! Good luck!

ENCUENTRO IBÉRICO 2007 Del 9 al 11 de marzo en el albergue juvenil "San Fermín" (Villaverde-Madrid). Organiza HEJS, la Sección Juvenil de la Federación Española de Esperanto. Para más información: www.esperanto.es/iro2007/index.htm IRO 2007 Iberia renkonto Okazos de la 9a ĝis la 11a de marto en la junulargastejo "San Fermín" (Kvartalo Villaverde de Madrido). Organizos HEJS, Juna Sekcio de HEF. Pli da informoj : www.esperanto.es/iro2007/index.htm

EPOTI featured on the Bob and Rob show!

This is a post from a blog where I collaborate English Practice over the Internet

------------

By now most of you know about podcasts and how useful they are for learning English. One of the ESL podcasts we (EPOTI group) like is "The Bob and Rob show". It has very good information on language and culture and it's very educational yet informal and even funny.

Some EPOTI members have developed a relationship with Bob and Rob. I think Ignacio has been mentioned in several lessons and the rest of us post comments quite frequently on their blog.

In their Latest show Lesson 72: Money they mention our website www.letslearnenglish.info! They even added the link to their side bar. Thanks Bob and Rob!!!

May be they did this because I (Paulino) have been helping with corrections to their transcripts (listen to voice message on Lesson 72 or find corrections on their discussion board -registration needed-) OR maybe because another EPOTI member (Jiri) sent them some beer and chocolate!

In any case, we are honored to be part of the Bob and Rob show!

Posted by paulino brener at 3:28 PM

Wash your hands! Lavate las manos!

Last week was pretty hard at school. We had a lot of sick children (i.e. absent) and a few teachers as well. I usually start teaching my Spanish classes at 11:10 am but I had to teach Morning Lesson (8:30 to 10:30 am) on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for 2nd Grade that week. After having been teaching ML for the two prior weeks I was hoping to rest a little but it was not possible. At least I am glad that I didn't get sick.
During that week I taught all the lower grades (1st through 4th) how to say "lavate las manos" (wash your hands) and we actually washed our hands in class! It was a wait to contribute and to minimize the spread of whatever was out there (norovirus and influenza according to one school email).

Mayas and Folk dances

What an amazing and busy week! Classes resumed at Spring Hill School. Besides my regular Spanish classes I am teaching a block of two weeks to the 7th grade titled: Ancient Civilizations of Mesoamerica. This course concentrates on the Mayas and Aztecs. Mayas last week, Aztecs this week. It's very interesting being a class teacher. I am enjoying it a lot.

Also on Fridays 5th and 12th I taught Argentine and French folk dances at Tapestry Folkdance Center. I had a warm (even a little nostalgic I must admit) feeling when I had more than 30 people dancing gato or carnavalito with me. I'll teach my last class on Friday 19th.

Talkcast at Talkshoe

Lately I've been pretty hooked to Skypecast on Skype. But yesterday I took part of a new type of online show. This time hosted by my friend (and EPOTI member) Marian. He knows a lot about internet, blog, podcast, etc. and he has a very interesting blog.
Marian used a new website called Talkshoe. "TalkShoe™ - a new way to create Interactive Podcasts and talk with interesting people with similar interests around the world.
Other uses of TalkShoe include talk shows, discussion groups, fan clubs, and friends & family chats.
TalkShoe is also being used by businesses and organizations to improve communications with customers & suppliers, get out marketing messages, and facilitate better employee communications." (from Talkshoe.com)

If you are interested joining Marian here you have more information:
Talkcast information:
Talkcast Name: Webtutor: Internet Magic made easy
Host: Marian Heddesheimer - mh@rent-a-tutor.com
Next episode: EPISODE2 - Talk about Podcasting and Blogging, Thu, January 11, 2007 02:30 PM EST
This Episode is dedicated to podcasting and blogging. I will tell you how to start your own blog at blogger.com or your own podcast at blip.tv. We will also discuss how to promote your blog and podcast in some detail.
Phone number: (724) 444-7444
Talkcast ID: 12267
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Happy Birthday Song in Chinese

I have just received another cyber-present from Lingual Bee (David). He is originally Chinese but he lives in USA now.

Here is his song


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Social interactions: breaking the ice

I went to a New Year's Eve Eve (12/30) party this afternoon with my friend David. I haven't seen him for a while so it was great to see him again and to be out and about and social.. well.. I don't know why but I was not that social today. I am usually pretty good at parties at talking to different people both known and new. Was I shy? Is that possible? :-) May be just pensive. But I was not sad or having a problem or anything. Just quiet. I guess that might have seem strange to some people since I was asked "everything OK?" a few times. And yes! Everything was OK. Perhaps many people are not used to see me pensive or without a smile from ear to ear :-)
I really enjoyed the party, in a different way. I enjoyed observing people interacting. I liked eavesdropping here and there and mainly I got to observe body language. Something that helps me a lot when I am acting or creating a character.

One of the things that stuck in my mind was a question that my friend David used as a conversation starter. He is very original at times... well.. most of the time. ;-)

So, I would like to ask YOU (the reader) this question.

As we welcome the New Year I’d like to leave you with a question that calls for a little bit of reflection (although I hope you don’t have to think too hard to answer it). For some reason the coming of a new year calls people to reflect a little bit. I certainly hope that people develop a habit of reflecting a little more every day.

So here it is:

What makes YOUR WORLD a beautiful place?

I hope to hear from you, or anyone who would like to answer that question, at email@paulino.info


Take and give care,

paulino

Unexpected and Unrequested Xmas present

Credit Card companies can be so generous sometimes!

I just checked my bank balances online and found out that my bank had double my credit line! According to the representative "they check my credit activity and payments regularly and give me an automatic courtesy increase in my credit line if everything looks good".
Ugh! I couldn't believe it! Why wasn't I asked first! I actually think that is kind of rude. But then, there are many things that I don't understand about economy in general and US economy in particular. That's why I am a Spanish Teacher! And a very happy one! :-)

Hasta luego!

The b-day songs are coming in!

So, I have 3 songs so far. Two in German and one English.

The first song in German is by Patrick Scully. Patrick is a little taller than me and he is the director of Patrick's Cabaret, a place where I usually perform or curate shows. Shameless plug: My next show at Patrick's Cabaret will be in June, 2007: "Noche Hispana 3"


Here is Patrick singing in German:


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The second song in German comes from Marian. He is a part of the EPOTI team (English Practice over the internet). We organize Skypecasts weekly, keep a blog and a Moodle site called "Let's Learn English" where people can find plenty of things to practice English.

Here is his song



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And the third is by Duan Atter, the director of "The Warren: an artist habitat"

Here is his song:



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Enjoy!

And what are you waiting for to send yours!!!

I've been good

It seems that I've been a good boy this year.
Santa visited me and early!

My Birthday: Cyberfiesta or Cyberparty, Cybercomments, Cybersongs

(Puedes ver este mensaje en español abajo)

As most of you know this friday, 12/22, is my birthday. I'll be 33!

I don't usually make a big deal of it in they real world but I am a little more liberal in the cyber-world :-)

I like my Cyberparty!

So what is it? Very simple!

You have from now until January 6th 2007 to send me your Cyberpresent. I have to give a little more time for those who need to think about it. And I always liked the Three Wise Men better than Santa Claus anyway (they are diverse, wise -duh!- and have thoughtful presents).

So, be creative and send me a cyberpresent: a simple "hello", a note, a story, a joke, lyrics of your favorite song, an anecdote about that time you and I got drunk... ehmm.. no, just kidding.. I don't drink :-) Anyway... send anything to mail@paulino.info

This is year I also would like to add a theme: Happy Birthday Songs in Foreign Languages.

If you have a mic and recording capabilities (software) in your computer, and you know how to use it, please record the traditional happy birthday song of your country and in your mother tongue and send an mp3 to mail@paulino.info

If you don't know how to do that but you still want to do it.. get a mic, connect it to your computer and click on this lovely pink "comment" button below (it even has a star! ah...!), it will take you to a website where you can record your song. You can also record any other type of messages (if you are sing shy) but please keep it clean: this is a family show :-) You can send some extra text with your recording on that website, too



Well... now stop reading and do it! HAVE FUN!

and thanks...

------------
Como muchos ya saben este viernes, 22/12, es mi cumpleaños. Cumplo 33!

Usualmente no le doy mucha importancia a esto en el "mundo real" pero soy un poco mas liberal en el mundo ciber :-)

Me gusta mi Ciberfiesta!

Que es? Muy simple!

Tienes hasta el 6 de enero, 2007 para mandarme tu ciber-relago. Tengo que darle un poco de tiempo a aquellos que necesitan pensarlo bien. Y de todas maneras siempre me gustaron mas los Reyes Magos que Papa Noel.

Pues, utiliza tu creatividad y mandame un ciber-regalo: simplemente un "hola", una nota, un cuento, un chiste, la letra de tu cancion favorita, alguna anecdota de cuando tu y yo nos emborrachamos.. eh.. no.. solo bromeada.. Yo no bebo :-) En fin, cualquier cosa. Mandamela a mail@paulino.info

Este año tambien quiero agregar un tema: Canciones de Feliz Cumpleaños en Idiomas Extranjeros.

Si tenes microfono y programa en tu compu para hacer grabaciones, y sabes como usarlo, graba una cancion de "feliz cumpleaños" tradicional en tu pais y en tu lengua materna y mandame unmp3 a mail@paulino.info

Si no sabes como hacer eso pero igual queres mandarme una grabacion... consigue un microfono, conectalo a tu compu y apreta ese hermoso boton de "comment" que esta abajo y te llevara a una pagina donde puedes grabar tu cancion. Tambien puedes grabar otro tipo de mensajes (si no quieres cantar) pero por favor nada de palabrotas :-) Tambien puedes enviar un mensaje de texto junto con tu grabacion en esa misma pagina.



Bueno, deja de leer y manos a la obra! Diviertete!

y gracias...

a new road...

ehem... first day of Capricorn (hint... hint) :-)

soon... 33...

Joseph again: 20 years after...

When I was young (10.. 13 years old) I used to participate in many activities in my local church (Roman Catholic). One of those activities was the "Pesebre Viviente" (the nativity scene). I remember once, I think I was 13 years old, I was one of the shepherds. Now I am 6'6" tall so you can imagine I was pretty tall then, too. During one rehearsal, when the shepherds come to visit the new born Jesus, the director realized that I was taller than the guy doing Joseph (who was much older than me). So asked us to trade characters. The guy didn't like it at all but I did. You know I was born for the stage :-) I was a better Joseph than that guy... My mom told me and I believe everything that my mom says ;-) Anyway, almost 20 years later (hint, hint, I'll 33 on December 22nd, 2006) I get to be Joseph again. This time with a bigger production put on by a really cool theatre company in Minneapolis: In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre.

La Natividad

December 15-17, 2006 - one weekend only!

The Nativity Story According to St. Matthew and St. Luke

La Historia de Navidad de Acuerdo a San Mateo y San Lucas.

“En el nombre del cielo pedimos posada...

In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theatre is taking the Nativity story to the streets!

• Come experience the Christmas Story as you’ve never done before. The story of the hol

  y child being born in our midst – here in Midtown Minneapolis.

• This innovative holiday presentation will combine puppetry, street theatre and a traditional Latino “La Posada” procession. And you’ll be a part of the action!

Audiences will move with the performers among three different locations:

• First, meet “Maria and José” in the Mercado Central.

  

• Across the street in the Avalon Theatre, you’ll discover shepherds and st

  ar-seekers.

• Then, in a colorful torch-lit procession, follow Maria & José (THIS IS ME) as they look for refuge down 15th Avenue to St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, where all will be welcomed for the Nativity.

• Finally, join the fiesta in St Paul’s Fellowship Hall
  

  -- complete with music, food and games.

Told with HOBT’s signature visual beauty and soulful live music, “La Natividad” will be an utterly unique community celebration.

Besides being "Jose" in the procession I manipulated a stork puppet in the Church. I got quite a few compliments for that bird even though it was first time with that type of puppet. I hope to perform with HOTB again, soon. (I just did May Day Ceremony with then a few years ago)

I got to know a lot of new people in this production. And I also had fun sharing the stage with a family from my school (Spring Hill School), Tanja and Olivia (pictured below).

Kinder Surprise

Yesterday I received a package from my mother. Since I came to USA she has this habit of sending me a nice small package with a few items that I like of that she manages to put it without going over the weight for a certain postal rate. This package is for my birthday, of course: December 22nd. So this one came a little early.
It included a few healthy granola bars, a small calendar (theme this time: angels. It's usually "saints"), a b-day card, needles (yes, needles... since I am into knitting and sewing now) and a Kinder Surprise chocolate egg. This latter is my favorite candy! I used to eat a lot in Argentina and then during my travels to Europe. They don't sell them here.
Inside the chocolate egg there is plastic egg and inside that one there is a surprise. Usually a small plastic toy that you have assemble. Over the years I have collected many of them. Don't ask my why but I brought them with me to US and now they are on display! Yes! I almost forgot to post it here. My collection of Kinder Surprise has been on display at my local library (Franklin Library in Minneapolis) for about 3 weeks now. Here are some pics:

Walker Church Craft Sale

Walker Church is a very inviting and warm community. I performed at their church with Paper Boats and attended a couple of their services. They are full of music, energy and sense of community.
Margo, a member of this community, invited me to be part of their Annual Craft Sale. I was not sure if I was ready for that, yet. I am not a regular crafter. But at the last minutes I just put a few things together (bags, my knitted horse, etc.) and make a few more (little Christmas stockings, etc).
I participated at the craft sale Saturday 9th from 10 to 4 pm and Sunday 10 from noon to 4 pm. It was a fun experience. I did sell a few things but not much. Anyway, selling was not the main purpose for being there. At least not for me. I just wanted to be part of the experience. I had a lot of time to work on other projects, like the One Square a Day knitted quilt which is coming out pretty well. A big plus of the weekend is that I got to meet, chat and have fun with Angela and Nicole: two crafters that were on a table by me.
On Sunday I brought my felted balls and taught Angela how to needle felt. She really got into it and made a lovely chicken with to of the felted balls. She finished it around 3:30 pm (30 minutes before the craft sale closed). The funny thing is that she put the finished chicken on my table and withing minutes a couple of nice smiley ladies saw it and immediately fell in love with it. And they bought it! That was awesome. It was my first craft sale and it ended on a high note: selling a craft which was the result of a collaboration between Angela and I!

lag and vs. lack, same vowel sound

As most of you know I have been pretty active lately with some Skypecasts for people to practice English. I am also collaborating with a group of active English learners on a new website dedicated to practice English. It's called Let's Learn English .
That type of work has taken me to discover the world ESL (English as a Second Language) or EFL (English as a Foreign Language) on the internet. There are several websites for ESL/EFL learners and many interesting podcasts.
One of them it's called Speaking English Podcast,a young guys that gives tips so learners can "sound like a native speaker'. One interesting aspect of his website is that he posts all videos instead of just audio.
While I was looking in his archives I discover Episode #22 – leg vs. lag vs. lack posted in the month of October, 2006
In this episode he presented the words "lag" and "lack" as having different vowels sounds. I was pretty sure they had the same sound and emailed him about it.

His response:

"hi paulino,
one word features a long vowel, the other one a short one. that in itself makes them different. as you know i like to over-pronounce the words so that the difference becomes really obvious. in every day use by a native speaker the difference might be minuscule ;-)

thanks for the feedback.
sebastian"

To which I wrote back:
"

well.. in all the dictionaries (regular dictionary and phonetics dictionary) i found that both lag and lack have the same vowel sound

if you know about IPA pronunciation they would look like this

lag   /læg/

lack  /læk/

keep up the good work!

take and give care

paulino

ps: and yes, i am aware of your over-pronunciation.. but that's not what i was referring to. :-)"

Finally he was kind enough to include my correction in one of his recent podcasts. My phonetic teachers at Cervera (institute in Santa Fe, Argentina where I was studying to be a Teacher of English) would be so proud of me!!

Thanks Sebastian and keep up the good work!

Here it is
December 03, 2006

Episode #27 – pen vs. pan

Today, it is pen vs. pan, here is the direct link.

Skype, synchronicity and Esperanto

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary

"synchronicity is the coincidental occurrence of events and especially psychic events (as similar thoughts in widely separated persons or a mental image of an unexpected event before it happens) that seem related but are not explained by conventional mechanisms of causality -- used especially in the psychology of C. G. Jung "

Lately I have been "playing" with Skype a lot. Skype is a little program for making free calls over the Internet to anyone else who also has Skype. It has pretty good quality. One of the features I like (currently on beta version, though) is the Skypecast. With it you can create your own room and "host" a conversation (if people join in to your room). It's very similar to a radio show but with people from all over the world! You can give the mic to people, you can ask question, propose a topic, etc. I love this feature and I usually find myself wondering around different Skypecasts. You can find some interesting one by browsing the Skypecasts directory.

Lately I've been visiting many Skypecasts devoting to teaching English or practicing English (just like the EPOTI group I belong to). But I was curious about Skypecasts in other languages as well. I have been able to get to a few in French and practice my French a little bit.

One night, while I was waiting for a French Skypecast to start I was wondering if there would be a Skypecast to practice Esperanto. A constructed language that I have been fond of for quite a while. And to my surprise when I looked again in the Skypecasts directory, there it was: a Skypecast about Esperanto.

And that's why I started this post with the definition of synchronicity. I think that is a clear example of it.

I was very lucky that not many people was there. After a short while I got the host, Jose, all for myself. Jose is a young Esperanto enthusiast. Not only he is fluent in the language but he is also involved with a Esperanto group in Madrid, where he lives. It was very pleasant to meet Jose and get infused with his love for that mysterious language. That gave me enough motivation to continue my Esperanto studies again (which I am doing at www.lernu.net)

Jose has been very patient with me as I start catching up with Esperanto. I am really happy not only for getting motivated again about a language (I love that feeling) but also for making a new friend through Esperanto.

gxis la revido!

Buzzed again

Since I was quite young one of my favorite activities has been buzzing my head. YES! Cutting it all out! I still remember the first time I did it. I must have been around 15 years old. I waited until I was alone at home, got into the bathroom and cut all my hair with a electric cutter. When my family came back home: my sisters laughed, my father said "oh, well" and my mother shouted and cried! :-) I have buzzed my head many times since then. Sometimes by myself, sometimes I ask someone else to do it for me. Many people ask me "WHY?"... My usual answer "Because I can!"... There is no mysterious reason behind it. I do it mainly because it's very practical. This is what I look like today (11/21/06):
For I have played with my hair a lot over the year, look.

Thanksgiving Assembly at Spring Hill Waldorf School

Today we did an Thanksgiving Assembly at my school. I know it sounds a little early but we are taking the whole week off next week. Isn't that nice? I'll be working on my curriculum and studying Math ALL WEEK! :-)
I love the assemblies at my school. In them you can see a nice sample of what's going on in the classes since the verses and songs presented are usually part of the daily routine and not necessarily something new and prepared for the occassion.
I was very happy because I was able to present something from my classes (Spanish) with all grades: (in order of presentation)

2nd grade: "El león y el ratón" (Fable in Spanis in verse form)
3rd grade: "San Severino" (A songs that mentions different professions/jobs)
1st: We did a series of short songs and verses that we use at the beginning of each class (Hola amigos, Sale el sol, El sol es la vida, Donde estas?)
4th: Tonguetwisters with movement (Como poco coco... and Erre con Erre guitarra...)
5th-6th-7th: Guantanamera (and I accompanied them with the guitar. it's the first time I play the guitar in front of a big group of people in 20 years)

and finally 7th grade did "Zamba de mi esperanza" a lovely song from Argentina.

I am so proud of my students! (and why not... of me and my work!)

ClustrMaps of paulinoblog.blogspot.com

ClustrMaps of www.paulino.info

English Practice Over the Internet

This week I have been playing with Skype (www.skype.com) a lot!
Specially with its Skypecast feature. It's a great way to get to know people and have conversations/discussions with people from around the world!

I have also joined a group of people interested in improving their English and helping others to do the same. They have a weekly skypecast called "English Practice Over the Internet". You can find more info by clicking here

I have been experimenting with my own English Practice skypecasts and I must say I like them a lot. After all I was studying to be a teacher of English when I was living in Argentina. My English is not perfect but I think it's pretty good. Well, at least good enough to help those who are just starting to learn English. I might do them more frequently when I have more free time.

IWLA 2006

I love conferences! Specially if they are Language Conferences. This month I am participating (and presenting) in two.

IWLA, October 6 and 7

and MCTLC, October 19 and 20

This weekend at IWLA I had a lot of fun, as usual. Mainly because I got to spend time with my good friends from El Lago del Bosque (Concordia Language Villages). Together we like to present a dance session called "Bailemos Juntos". Another reason that added to the fun is that I presented my one-man-show "The Adventures of Don Quixote" to all the teachers. It was the entertainment piece at Friday reception. It was so much fun to do this show for adults! It was very well received and I got lots of compliments! I might do "Paper Boats" next year!

In two weeks I will be doing "Bailemos Juntos" by myself at MCTLC. Fun!

My fingers hurt!!

My fingers hurt. I haven't been hammering on them.. or doing some intensive labor. They are not frozen from the very cold Minnesotan winter yet...

They hurt because I have started to play the guitar again. And I say again because I took some guitar lessons when I was a kid... Hm... 10 or 12 may be? Anyway... I was never very good with the guitar but I decided I needed to go back to it.

It all started with the songs I do in my Spanish clases at Spring Hill Waldorf School. Songs like Guantanamera o La Bamba sound a little dull if you don't have some instrument to accompany them. I have tried with some shakers or maracas before but it's not the same. I needed to get back to the guitar.

I am a lefty -meaning left-handed person...I am not stating my politival views here :-)

When I was a child and I was taking guitar lessons I used to have the strings in reverse order of the regular guitars. This I could do the chords with my right hand and the stroke with my left hand.

This time I wanted to try something different and challenge myself. I bought a cheap beginner guitar and I didn't change the strings. I had this idea that I should learn to play with a regular guitar so that I could play with any guiter everywhere I go. I tried very hard to learn to do the chords with my left hand. It was very very hard...and I got discouraged and stopped practising after a while.

About a week ago I had the realization that all I wanted was to accompany my songs with the guitar and nothing else. Besides it's not like I go to dozens of parties or meetings were there is a guitar and I have the opportunity to play it.

Mr. Jansen, our first grade teacher helped me last Monday to change the strings in my guitar and gave me a 30 minutes crash course. I was pumped! My right hand immediately started to remember some of the chords. When I got home all I could do was practice with the guitar and look online for the chords for the songs I wanted to play.

This practice was interrupted by my trip to Iowa this weekend, but today I played my guitar again and I was able to do (in an almost acceptable form) "Zamba de mi esperanza". I beautiful dance/song from Argentina. May be I will post a song or two in the future... I have to practice way more!