An overview of my 2011 by Belén Delgado from ColombiA

Quick overview of my 2011, thanx to the 111 articles I have written in my blog this year that helps me to remember! Let´s start with : 42 movies seen in the cinema in 2011 which means an average of 3.5 movies per month. Being the film "Blue valentine" the first one we have seen and ending with "New years eve", curiously enough, I did not like neither the first movie nor the last one i have seen this year!. Among my favorite movies of the year: Black swan,The fighter,beautiful,the skin i live in,in time,source code and the king´s speech.

It has also been a musical year, with the attendance of 12 concerts; among our favorite ones: Lighthouse family, glee, The coronas,maroon 5 ,kylie minogue and George michael.

We have also attended 10 shows in Dublin going from theatre, musicals,ballet and comedy club. Starting 2011 with "the lido show" in paris and ending in style with The nutcracker ballet at the convention centre. Great way of beginning and ending the year.

One of my new year resolution in 2011 was to travel around the world and yeah, i fulfilled this one taking into account that I only have 22 days of holidays per year( Otherwise, i would have travelled more lol): We started the year in beautiful Paris, then we went on with the Carnival of Venice ,verona and vicenza, then in April to the Caribe: Aruba; in May I wore my new flamenco outfit in :Cordoba. Then we travelled to the UK to Manchester;then to Trim (in Ireland)following with :Poland (herbert's wedding)in October to the Cannary island of Fuerteventura (paradise!) and we are ending this year and welcoming 2011 in Colombia!. In a nutshell : 8 different countries, 9 different trips.

Some Highlights of the year for me: where is wally wolrd guiness record in dublin with my mum dressed as wally,too!! My best friend wedding Herbert in Poland ; It has been a year of photography with at least 5.400 photos taken, all started when I bought my frist dslr camera nikon 3100,attending three diff photography courses and meeting my photography teacher Dave Mccane,he has inspired me all the way through!

It has been a year of jumps which has also inspired me to create a new blog collecting my jumps http://goaheadjumpjump.wordpress.com/ , this year i have discovered the technique of levitation. Going to the carnival of venice with my good friend Matteo,Helena and andresillo. My sister's marilis visit with my niece and nephew to Dublin. My first trip to a race course in Ireland; the Trip to Aruba and ending the year in Colombia seeing Andresillo so happy makes me happy too,i feel very welcome here,thanx! Last highlight of the year for me would be the ebay summer party at the gibson hotel and the xmas ebay party at the Guiness storehouse.

Of course, I only want to remember the highlights of the year, all the lowlights will be erased from my memory (such as : being robbed for the first time in Poland or stress at work), I happen to have a very strong relationship that helps me through in my life and I do hope in 2012 I´ll be able to overcome all the obstacles life has ready for us! One has to take the positive side of everything and this is my motto for 2012 , too!

New Years Eve (2011) - just cheesy!Last movie i have seen

i have fullfilled my 2011 new Years resolution of writting about all the movies i was going to see in the cinema! Well, it looks that this one has been the last film i have Seen this Year, it has an adecuate name for the occassion lol "New Years Eve".To sum it up,it's a bunch of different stories,all protagonized by very famous American actors and actresses and taking place at new Years Eve. I was not engaged in the film and it was so cheesy..! I did not have so many expectations, when you see so many known actors at once,you it can't be any good!Even Bon Jovi plays a small role, too. Best of the movie,Ashton Kutcher ,he is so handsome that nothingelse matters lol. let's say ,it's an ok movie if you have a hangover,then you may like it lol

I hope you have enjoyed my humble movie reviews throughout tris Year!

Not just a simple movie, recommended: Take Shelter (2011)

Almost end of the year and i have to go on with my new year resolution for 2011 when I said that I would write about every movie I see, specially good ones like this one: "Take Shelter". It's a film that will make you feel different things: fear, thrill, sympathy, sadness.., all in one. I can't tell you much , otherwise i'll destroy the originality of it. Just in a nutshell, it's a film with no famous actors , no big budget, no special effects just the power of the protagonists' mind that takes over his life. It's about how being a bit different can be misunderstood by society and confused with madness. The only thing I can tell you is that every time it rained in the movie, it was linked to the protagonists' bad dreams. One of the highlights of the movie for me is the part when he was chased by black birds in tribute to Hitchcock Movie "birds" and, of course i loved the end. It's not a film for everyone, only for those who want to see something different. "Take shelter" has not passed unnoticed by critics and it has received several awards from non-conventional films festivals such as Sundance festival or Cannes. Of course, my congrats to Michael Shannon, playing the main role, Curtis, his eyes conveyed a lot of feelings and you really believed in every single feeling he had in the film. So get ready! Take shelter every time Curtis dreams! The problems is that it's not so obvious in the film when this happens, it's not clear sometimes when it's supposed to be reality or a dream and the question is: Are they really dreams or are they apocalyptic messages trying to tell Curtis something? You will find out once you have watched it til the end!

Recommended movie: 50/ 50 (2011)

If you want to laugh and cry, this is the movie to go! Rotten tomatoes crititcs and audience agree on this one giving it a 93%! This does not happen very often! Great cute actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt that you may have seen in other great films such us "500 days of summer" and "Inception", is the protagonist of this film inspired by a true story. What I like about this film is that the people from the movie are just common people : spontaneous, natural, you can really relate to any of them. A delicate subject is dealt with in the film, Joseph playing Adam, is diagnosed with cancer and it shows how this impacts his life, his friendship to his best friend, played by funny actor Seth Rogen, to his mum, played by a mature Angelica Houston, to his girlfriend, to other patients, to his ill dad and even to the doctors. I do not want to tell you much, just that it's a beautiful and touching story, for those who have had a relative with cancer will for sure feel identify with any of the protagonists. It's unbelievable how such a sad topic can also make you laugh! The highlight of the film for me is absolutely Joseph Gordon's role, he is so lovable, it reminded me a bit of "500 days of summer" , when I also loved his role! He just plays so well his role that you believe every single word or smile, tear he gesticulates! When I was watching this film I remembered how people who have not had any contact with cancer, can be so tactless about it and ask all the time " how are you?" , yes, this may seem normal and polite but when someone has 50% chances of living, the question he or she does not want to hear is "how are you?" every day, specially being under the harsh treatment of chemotherapy.

Just pure Irish talent : The Coronas (Olympia theatre, Dublin 5th of December)

Yesterday night we had the pleasure to see one of the most curent successful pop-rock Irish bands: " The Coronas". Its four members are from Dublin, they recorded their first EP in 2004 at the famous venue "Vodoo Lounge" but it would not be until 2007 with their debut LP " Heroes and Ghosts" that they will become well-known. And you will be wondering how come a Spaniard and a Colombian happen to know this group? Well, we are big fans of music in general and try to attend concerts as much as we can, one of those concerts was " The Script" concert last summer in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, another well known Irish band. The Coronas was one of the supporting bands of " The Script" and we listened to them there for the very first time and since them, specially my husband, we are big fans. Going back to last night concert, I can describe it in a few words: Passion, Talent, Positive Energy, Happiness and great atmosphere! There were 2 supporting bands : " The Car Lovers girls" and "The Kayun tree", first band started playing at around 19.00 pm and we got to the Olympia at around 20.00 so we only could listen to one of their songs, not my style ,not too much to comment on , I can't judge either since we only listened to one song! But about " The Kayun Tree" , I can see that we loved them, they are a band from Galway a mix of "Scissors sisters, Calvin Harris and The Example", very lively, musical and energetic! First time we have seen them but it won't be last! I'll dedicate one post to them soon.

After "the Kayun Tree", "The Coronas" came at around 21.30 and wow, what an energy from the very beginning! THe lead singer, Danny did not stop jumping with his guitar! He smiled all the way through and his happiness could be seen on his face when the whole audience (Theatre was packed, it was a sold-out nite) sang along some of the most famous songs such as " Heroes and Ghosts", " San Diego" "Someone elses's Hands" (this is actually my favorite one!), "Won't leave you alone". Danny can sing, play guitar and piano, all perfect!! no faults!! And his voice is so unique!!. He was explaining the meaning of the songs, when he composed them such as for example another beautiful song composed in a rainy day: " Different Ending" and then he started playing it in the piano. The Coronas mixed the new songs with the old ones so no-one was disappointed there :-)

More info about the Coronas here:

http://thecoronas.net/index.php

You can follow them on twitter and on facebook.

The concert went so fast, we didn't want it to end, it really made my day, a very different Monday evening for me, these little things are the ones worth living working for! The audience had a mixture of people from different ages! The Coronas appeal to everybody!

A couple of Anecdotes:

1.I'm lucky that my husband sings very well because he was singing so loud Corona's songs that I could only hear him lol being lucky again because he did not know all the lyrics for the new Corona's album released only the 25th of September " Closer to You".

2.Another anecdote when I was getting my jacket to leave , the security guys took one young drunken lad outside the Olympia because he apparently hit someone, I was luck I could go back and get out of the narrow corridor since they were coming my way and the young guy was not very calm..

So , what are you waiting for??/ You haven't listened to the Coronas yet?? give it a go!!! and if oyu can see them live once, go!! They are stil at the Olympia theater until this Saturday (6 gigs in total) and I think you may still be able to find tickets ,best ones are standing, of course!