The Old Man and the Sea

Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Old Man and the Sea is a story of an old fisherman, Santiago, who hasn’t got fish in 84 days. On day 85 he goes alone to the sea because his young friend, Manolin, doesn’t get permission from his parents because of Santiago’s bad luck with fish. By noon of the first day a giant marlin takes his bait but Santiago doesn’t get it up.

After three days on the sea Santiago is tired, thirsty and his hands cramped but the fish doesn’t give up. Still the old man stabs a harpoon with his last strength into the fish’s side and the battle between the old man and the fish is over. On the journey back home, sharks attack. When Santiago has killed the first shark he loses the harpoon and makes a new harpoon of his knife and oar. Anyway at home the only thing that is left is a fishbone.

The book was published in 1952 and that’s why it is a little old-fashioned. The events are placed in 1950’s Cuba and there are some mentions about an American baseball player from that time, Joe DiMaggio.

The main thing in the book wasn’t the fight between the man and the fish but the relationship. A special relationship develops between the man and the fish as the book progresses. Even though the fish was the enemy, Santiago thought of it rather as a friend.

“The fish is my friend too,” he said aloud. “I have never seen or heard of such a fish. But I must kill him. I am glad we do not have to try to kill the stars.”

Imagine if each day a man must try to kill the moon, he thought. The moon runs away. But imagine if a man each day should have to try to kill the sun? We were born lucky, he thought.

Although the plot isn’t so special, Santiago’s thoughts were brilliant. And therefore The Old Man and the Sea has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

A thank you speech

Good evening ladies and gentlemen!

Thank you for this great honour. Winning means very much to me because I’m only a novice actress among veterans. In fact this was my first feature film so how could a career start better?

First I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me throughout the process. Making of the film has actually been a long process and I’m grateful that you stood by my side and kept me sane. And many thanks belong to my dog sitter Annie who took care of my little puppy when I was shooting the film. Your help was irreplaceable.

I would also like to thank the entire crew, my co-actor Brian Meade, the scriptwriters and especially the director, Garry Marshall, who believed in my talents. Without you I would still be acting just small supporting roles.

Acting on this awesome group was fantastic and so is our new film. This Oscar is to all of you.

Thank you!

Dear Sir,

I’m writing with reference to the article on the loss of national and cultural identity, published in your recent issue.

I agree that cultures are becoming similar and it derives from travelling. Nowadays almost everyone has the resources to travel so it’s not surprising if cultures are blending. People take influence from other countries and at the same time they bring something from their own culture to the country they are visiting. It shows in music, movies, fashion, literature, sports and of course food culture.

Here in Finland we have for instance Italian, Mexican, Chinese and Greek restaurants. We wear similar clothes to those the other people in the world wear. Music that is played on the radio comes from foreign countries. Doesn’t that mean that the world is becoming global?

I still don’t believe that there will be one big culture. Every culture has something special and in Finland it’s definitely sauna and salmiac.

And what is the point of travelling if there is the same culture everywhere? In my opinion the best thing in travelling is that you learn something new about different cultures. The old saying is true, travel broadens the mind.

Art and music in schools

Art and music lessons have always been hard for me because I’m not artistic or musical person at all.

After ten years in school I can draw a stick figure and play a fipple flute but it doesn’t motivate me that much because I feel I have learned nothing!

Singing tests don’t encourage me in any case. I have been told that I can learn to sing if I try harder but I don’t believe it because I still sing out of tune.

That’s why I think it’s unfair that music and art are graded. You can’t be good at everything and you shouldn’t either. I have managed seventeen and a half years without any talent for drawing and singing so I don’t think they are very important subjects. It is enough to me that I can listen to music but it is a waste of time for me to study music and art because I’ll never become a visual artist or a singer.

All in all art and music lessons should be given to those who want to become professional artists.

Rango

Year of release: 2011
Genre: Animation, adventure, comedy, western
Runtime: 107 minutes


The director of Pirates of the Caribbean, Gore Verbinski, has made an animated movie, which entertains the whole family. The leading voice actors are Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher and Timothy Olyphant.


Rango is a pet chameleon that has always lived in a terrarium with a broken Barbie doll and a toy fish. However everything changed when Rango got into a car accident and he started to learn about himself. Life takes him to an old western town called Dirt and with a couple of lies he becomes the sheriff of the town. Dirty town is drying up and Rango begins searching for their missing water.


The movie beat all my expectations with its brilliant plot. Even though the arrangement is typical for western movies, Rango surprises with its hilarity. Anyway it was not only an action movie but also a story about finding oneself. There were many good parts in this movie, for example when Rango was standing on the road and he wondered who he was. It was touching.


The music of Rango is made by Hans Zimmer, who has won an Oscar for the best original score from the movie The Lion King and he has been nominated for an Oscar several times.


The movie is prohibited from kids because it contains violence, smoking, rude humour and profanities. Although you could expect it’s a kids’ movie, it has many subjects from adult movies.


In my opinion the only downside about the movie is that sometimes the characters talked really fast and that’s why it was difficult to follow.