Over the wall

The theatre group of the English department at the EOI Sagunt performed this play for the first time on the 30th of March, 2010 at Centro Cívico del Puerto de Sagunto. After this première a couple of performances followed in the school as one of the activities included on our open day on the 21st April. The students worked really hard to learn a lenghty and difficult text, but they made it! and here's the result for you to enjoy. The play was written by James Saunders, a British playwright considered to be one of the leading British exponents of the Theatre of the Absurd.
If you are a student at the EOI and would like to take part in this activity, you'll have the chance to do so next year. You'll surely have great fun and learn a lot!!
Enjoy

I Chase the Devil

How about a bit of reggae? With lyrics fit to grace the script of The Exorcist, too. As the title suggests, "I Chase the Devil" (aka "Iron Shirt") fantasises on the possibility of getting rid of the Prince of Darkness and sending him to another planet. The performers are Max Romeo, who appears on the video clip, and the Upsetters, and the song originally appeared on their 1976 album War ina Babylon. A very apocalyptic title for extremely relaxing music.

And now the ska version that Madness included in their 2005 cover album The Dangermen Sessions, Vol. 1. The title's changed, though. Now it's "I Chase the Devil, aka Ironshit." Those English vowels, they just keep on shifting.

New Material for April 2010

Here is the material due to be registered and appear on the bookshelves soon.

DVDs

Rumble Fish (1983) directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Mickey Rouke amd Matt Dillon. An avant-garde rendition of the old, old story of the troubled young boy who tries to live up to the reputation of his elder brother.

The Navigators (2002), directed by Ken Loach and starring Dean Andrews, Tom Craig and Joe Duttine. Set in the 1995 privatisation of British Rail, this gritty, hard-hitting black comedy exposes greed and venality that lies beneath the neoliberal discourse of "productivity" and "efficiency," and the disastrous consequences it has for working-class communal values.




Now for something a little less dramatic and more irreverend. Team America, World Police (2004), directed by Trey Parker, of South Park fame. A satirical take on big-budget action movies and the gung-ho spirit of the post-11/09 noughties featuring puppets.

If you think that, and we quote, "strong language, violence and sex all involving puppets" is a bit over the top, then have a look at Derek Jarman's Jubilee (1977). Starring Toyah Willcox and Adam Ant (who also provides some of the music on the soundtrack), "Britain's first official punk movie" tells the story of how Queen Elizabeth I is transported to 20th century England, to a Buckingham Palace transformed into a recording studio for punk musicians.

And finally a bit of comedy, namely The Catherine Tate Show (2007), containing sketches for BBC TV by "Britain's queen of comedy on three DVDs.

Series One

Series Two

Series Three

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

If "Heard it through the Grapevine" is about a guy who suspects his girl's about to leave him, the song we've selected is about a toy-boy who's decided to leave his sugar mommy (or daddy). Considered by many to be his best song, Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," from the 1973 album of the same name, deals with the sense of freedom gained from breaking off a relationship that one has come to feel as too constraining.

And here's the cover the Ray Conniff Singers did of the song.

Finally, we have the version by Keane. Do you think he's in the same league as Sir John (Even with the pretty-pretty photos)?

Heard Through The Grapevine

St Valentine's well and truly behind us now -at least that's the gist of "Heard through the Grapevine," the song about the guy who's just found out his girl's about to dump him. Although associated with Marvin Gaye, the song was in fact first recorded in 1966 by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. And here it is, the genuine Motown article.



A year later Gladys Knight and the Pips did the soul version of the song, which you can listen to in the clip below (Man, just dig those Afro hairstyles!)



Now we just couldn't cover this song without Marvin, could we? Also, in this clip we have the lyrics so you can sing along as well. So what are you waiting for, Caruso?



Here's definitely the longest version, by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1970. Most of it's instrumental, though.



Shouldn't be posting this up really, but we'll go ahead all the same -just out of curiosity. Here's the song in Spanish, roughly translated to "Las malas lenguas" by Santiago and Luis Anserón in 2006.