LITTLE JOHNNY'S JOKE

"Jesus Is In The Bathroom"

A Sunday School teacher of preschoolers was concerned that his students might be a little confused about Jesus Christ because of the Christmas season emphasis on His birth. He wanted to make sure they understood that the birth of Jesus occurred a long time ago, that He grew up, etc. So he asked his class, "Where is Jesus today?"

Steven raised his hand and said, "He's in heaven."
Mary was called on and answered, "He's in my heart."
Little Johnny, waving his hand furiously, blurted out, "I know! I know! He's in our bathroom!!!"
The whole class got very quiet, looked at the teacher, and waited for a response. The teacher was completely at a loss for a few very long seconds. He finally gathered his wits and asked Little Johnny how he knew this. And Little Johnny said, "Well...every morning, my father gets up, bangs on the bathroom door, and yells 'Jesus Christ, are you still in there?!'"

TRE METRI SOPRA IL CIELO*

New Year, new books, new responsibilities… but there’s something which never changes. I still adore Federico Moccia and all his books!
I heard about him last year, when I was having two weeks holidays in London. It was summer and I was there with my best friend. We weren’t at the same class but people there was really pleasant, so I could make friends quickly. Most of the students of my class were from Italy and in my opinion it was wonderful because I love his culture and everything related to them.

Well, I talked about this the last year in my old post. I’m not exactly talking about the same but I’d like to begin this post with my best memories. What I tried to explain before is that in my class there were also Spanish and French people. There, I met a nice Spanish girl called Berta and I liked very much talk with her because our interests were really similar. One day, we talked about Italy, about Italian songs and about our new Italian friends. While we were chatting, Berta told me she reading a great book. It was called “A Tres Metros Sobre el Cielo” (Three Steps Over Heaven). She said it was written by Federico Moccia, a well-known writer in Italy and she told me what it was about as well: Moccia wrote a love story. Their main characters were Romeo and Juliet of nowadays and the scenes took place in the beautiful city of Rome.

I made the most of my last days in England and when I came back home I couldn’t wait to buy that book. Berta was right, it was absolutely gorgeous! Until nowadays this is my favourite love story and I think it will be my favourite one for a long time. It’s hard to summarize everything in few lines, but I’ll try…

This story is about Step and Babi. Stephano Mancini is a member of the most problematic band in Rome. Their friends and he are always in troubles: fighting, stealing…with no reason. They go everywhere with their motorbikes because with them they can go as fast as they want and they can feel free for a while and forget all their worries. Step went everywhere with his best friend, Pollo. Step had a traumatic experience some years ago: he saw his mother in his neighbour’s flat. She was wearing few clothes and her hair was in a mess. When he saw it, he was beside himself and he almost killed his neighbour giving him a terrible beating. He could never overcome it.

Babi was completely different. She was a nice girl and their parents were really proud of her. She was very responsible, polite and she had good marks. They believed that she was an exemplary daughter, but Babi wasn’t as innocent as their parents thought. Babi’s best friend is Pallina and they’re inseparable.
One day, Pallina and Babi went to a party organized by a girl of their class. They’re having fun, but suddenly some juvenile delinquents appeared there. Step and Pollo were between them. Pollo tried to steal Pallina’s purse but she realized and she told off him. He just laughed at her and then, he asked her for a date. Step found Babi fascinating but this feeling wasn’t reciprocal. Party turned into a completely disaster and the problematic boys escaped with their motos. After their date, Pollo and Pallina fell in love. Pollo knew exactly hoe to make her the happiest girl. Because of it, Babi had to meet Step very often. At first, she hated this idea. However, she was feeling something new inside her when Step was around her. It was only necessary few days to fell in love one with each other. They were opposite people but when they were together everything was like a dream. The fist months were gorgeous: the first kiss, the first tattoo, the first night together…It seemed their happiness wouldn’t have an ending. They felt invincible but they were wrong. Babi was really temperamental: she could shout or get angry even for the smallest nonsense. In spite of this, Step loved her and he knew exactly how to calm his girlfriend.

Even thought their love was able to overcome anything, everything changed early. One night Pallina called them crying: she told them that Pollo and she had gone in a illegal nocturne competition of motorbikes. Pollo had lost his motorbike’s control and he had a terrible accident. He was lying on the floor unconscious. Babi shouted Step telling him she couldn’t stand his life style any more. Step was beside himself and slapped her. Babi couldn’t believe it, so she decided to leave him for ever.

Step felt his world was breaking down by the minute. He couldn’t understand why life had decided to take everything he loved from him. His only hope was Babi wanted him far away from her life so, it was hard to make his wish come true, but not impossible.
The story has a tragic ending although I won’t go into details. If you want to know what happens exactly I’ll recommend you to read this book. I know, it’s quite dramatic, but I felt identified with some parts of the story. Federico Moccia’s lyrics are lovely and he’s very down-to-earth.

Sometimes we cannot have everything we want. Perhaps it’s too late and we don’t deserve it or perhaps life isn’t fair with us. Unfortunately, life works like this.

ISABEL COIXET: HOW TO SUCCEED BEING YOURSELF

Isabel Coixet has become the perfect example of excelling nowadays.

In her beginnings she was a journalist but then, she decided to collaborate in advertising commercials. She was brilliant on it and she could make publicity even for the best makes in Spain as IKEA or McDonalds. However, Coixet wasn’t satisfied enough with this, she wanted to face up to new risks and challenges. She set about working in films industry but away from Hollywood. She has made films based in her feelings and her stories. From the first moment, Isabel Coixet knew that it wouldn’t be an easy task and that she would have to work really hard to get a fair recognition. She is a woman, and sometimes is quite difficult to be heard in our society if you’re of the female sex. She was aware of this, so she never gave up in herself. She was good enough to triumph and that’s exactly what she did. Her films are able to touch the deepest human feelings and they talk about well-known topics in people’s lives. She likes to work with novice actors as well as with celebrities who ask willingly to work with her. As a result, she has done magnificent works as: “My Life Without Me”, a dramatic film which talks about real problems (in this case about cancer) but always with a special touch.

Isabel Coixet knows exactly that she’s making a sad film and because of it she tries to turn this drama into a hypnotizing transparency based on hyper-reality. That’s her perfect formula to mix human fears and the strongest feelings. She is not only able to do it; she can do wonderful films tackling infinity of different topics as well. Of course, she does everything on her own way.

We could say she is a genius, but a really discreet genius. Her fragile appearance conceals a woman who believes in herself and who has gift for succeed in all her aims. It seems she feels like telling to the whole world her hidden thoughts through her films.

Otherwise, she is a great fan of Japan and Japanese culture. That’s the reason why her production company is called “Miss Wasabi”.

Isabel Coixet is a fighter woman and never refuses to know other cultures, other languages or new experiences. Perhaps she is the greatest example of the Catalan character.