The Revolution of Digitization

Mass digitization has become a real cultural phenomenon in recent years. With the rapid advancement of today’s technology, our society has evolved to adapt to the high speed of a modern, digital world.

The replacement of a large number of human services with artificial intelligence and computers has contributed to a greater satisfaction of clients but it has also sparked negative backlash and controversies. So, is digitization always positive? How far will we “digitize” and when is the limit to stop before it’s too late?

Personally, my first striking encounter with with digitization was when I visited the Netherlands for the first time. During my trip I had the sudden urge to visit a bank and I was unpleasantly surprised that the Dutch closed all their affiliates in order to “make it easier for the clients”. So, basically the only way to get the answers to your questions is to visit the bank’s website.

Not long ago, I also stumbled upon the new McDonald’s self-service machines. Instead of waiting hours in line to order your menu, these large machines, which resemble big touchscreens, are used as an alternative to traditional in-line-food-ordering. I really liked this concept because it drastically reduced the long time I have to wait in queue to get my food.

The problem with this kind of digization is that it will steal the jobs of millions of working-class employees, that heavily rely on their small paychecks to provide food and shelter to their families. Automatization of technology will always be ruthless to the lower spectrum of the social classes.

A more positive form of life-changing technology is the sharing of digital media. When I was born back in 1998, music and video files could only be shared via video-tapes and audio cassettes. These were later replaced by CD’s and DVD’s. Nowadays, music and films can be downloaded entirely on the internet (iTunes, Amazon) or via online streaming (Spotify, Apple music, YouTube).

The internet is also a great place for digitalized communcation. Social media has become the number one communication tool of our generation. Platforms such as Skype, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat make it much easier (and cheaper) to chat, to set-up meetings or to share photos. Via this big, digital world, everyone on Earth is connected in the expanding universe what we call the internet.

All in all, digitization is a process, designed to nurture the capitalistic needs of the wealthy, to win more money for less effort. Digitization, however, is also a sign of progress, of technological advancement. It can have many positive consequences for the society but it can also be poisonous for others. Before we start digitizing everything, we should first ask ourselves the question: “Is it really worth it?”, because some people’s lives will depend on your decision…

The Significance of Music in Our Lives

Music is a wildly popular form of art and cultural activity that consists of sound organized in time. Being embedded in each and everyone’s life to a certain degree, music has played a huge role in the development of human civilization. Music comes in different styles and forms and each person has their own unique taste. So why is music such an important medium of entertainment for so many people? Why do people listen to music in the first place?

First of all, music can affect our lives by being a source of light in dark times. By escaping the harsh reality of everyday life, music can help you to heal open wounds. Sometimes life is difficult and people find refuge by entering a different world, by listening to music to take their mind off everyday problems.

Break-ups between romantic partners or friends, for example, can be really hard and agonizing. To cope with the pain, people often engage in listening to music to heal, to meditate or to just further nourish their emotional state. Personally, songs like “Black” by Pearl Jam or “Schism” by Tool are some of the most powerful songs when life is at its lowest. Furthermore, people might like to listen to songs to enter a new reality, a different world, usually to escape their boring, routine and monotonous existence: for me, such songs can be “Lady” by Modjo or “Paradise” by Coldplay.

Music is also a form of art, the creation of a person’s soul and mind. Just like paintings or drawings, music has its own meaning and it can be appreciated and interpreted in many different ways. Music is more about feelings and emotions and less about understanding and rationalizing. This is why I really like more experimental stuff, that mainly consists of instrumentals and lacks lyrics: songs like “Soothsayer” by Buckethead and “In the Hall of the Mountain King” by Grieg

With the technoligical advancement of mankind and the arrival of the internet, listening to music has never been as easy and as accessible as it is nowadays. However, I personally think that now that music is so easy to access, people are afraid to dive deeper in the huge diversity of songs and prefer to scratch the surface, to only consume what the masses consume: songs from the Billboard Top 100 or other “popular” charts.

The problem with pop music is not that it is bad, there are many pop-songs that I really enjoy, like Adele’s “Hello“. The problem with a large quantity of pop-songs is that they are really similar: they are radio-friendly, heavily commercialized, have uninspiring lyrics, follow basic music structures and use a lot of auto-tune (see “Friday” by Rebecca Black).

Also, hip-hop and rap music can be a really bad influence for our children, mostly because it often incorporates a lot of profanity, hypersexualization and/or drug & alcohol use, just like Gery-Nikol – “Gotina & Luda” or Nicky Minaj’s “Anaconda“. On the other hand, hip-hop songs can be really inspiring and meaningful, justifying the use of profanity/drugs because they are created to be real art and not just radio singles: see “Changes” by Tupac.

All in all, music should be about creating something original, something from the heart and from the soul. For me, music is not about showing off posessions, money or how much weed you smoke. But at the end of the day, everyone should decide by themselves what kind of music they like. Music is a form of art that is created to be enjoyed and that is the most important thing.

The Law of Nature – Stop-Motion Animation

Hello everyone!

As an avid fan of music in general, I enjoy other types of art aswell. I first gained an appreciation for stop-motion animation during my short stay in the Netherlands. In art class, our task was to create a short, 30 second long stop-motion animation. Needless to say, I found the challenge intriguing and had a lot of fun making it.

My love for stop-motion animation was further nourished when I first started listening to the band Tool. Adam Jones, the band’s guitarst, is also the key creator of their videos, which are based on the stop-motion formula. Their gritty style and surreal feeling totally caught my attention. The video for “Sober” is a great example.

Creating such a stop-motion animation, however, is not quite as easy as it might sound or look. It is a long and tedious process of perfectionalizing every shot, every take. Making even one little mistake will have a negative effect on the end-product, so it is necessary to work as careful and concentrated as possible. This can take a VERY long time to accomplish, even for a short, 30-second video. It took me and my classmate an hour of coming up with the idea, 3 hours of preparing the materials and 2 hours of filming. Luckily, it is enjoyable to do, so the time was spent wisely.

Our idea was to create something abstract, something very simple, yet original. Something that was stripped of a traditional meaning, yet something that made you think, made you feel. So, we thought about the most basic geometric shapes, the building blocs of everything: triangles and squares. We thought about how life is an endless cycle of construction and destriction, chaos and order. I plan on studying biology, so a huge inspiration for this project were enzymes: how they move, how they work, how they create and destroy.

Of course, when you look at our video below you might only see some weird, funny-looking shapes, moving in a strange way. That is totally acceptable, because art can be interpreted in different ways and to be fair, it looks pretty simple and hasty. Hopefully, you will enjoy our creation as much as we enjoyed making it.

 

Lycée français n° 9 Alphonse de Lamartine

Моята Гимназия

При създаването си през 1961 г. френската гимназия се помещава в квартал „Надежда“. За учебната 1963 г. се настанява в настоящата си сграда на булевард „Патриарх Евтимий“ в центъра на София, в
сградата на 9-та политехническа гимназия.
Последният випуск на политехническата гимназия завършва през 1965 г. и гимназията остава 9-та Френска езикова. От 1977 г. се откриват и паралелки с испански език, които през 1991 г. са преместени в новосъздадената 164-та испанска езикова гимназия „Мигел де Сервантес“

През 1976 г. Френската гимназия е наградена с орден „Кирил и Методий“ I степен, а през 1977 г. е определена за асоциирано училище към ЮНЕСКО. При историческата си визита в България през 1989 г.президентът на Франция Франсоа Митеран специално посещава Френската гимназия, където интересните и непринудени разговори с учениците и учителите го задържат повече от предвиденото по протокола време.

От началото на 90-те години гимназията носи името на френския благородник, поет, дипломат и политик Алфонс дьо Ламартин (1790-1869), който е пребивавал в България през 1832 г.

Френската гимназия владее утвърдени традиции и успешно въздействие в обучението по френски език. Интензивното изучаване на езика се извършва по програма, включваща 20 часа по френски седмично в 8-ми клас и от 6 до 8 часа в класовете след 8-ми. Предметите история, география, биология и химия, се изучават и на френски език. През петте години на обучение се овладява задълбочено и хронологично френската литература и култура в различни нейни жанрове.

Девизът на училището „Френската защото сме заедно!“ е декларация на единство. В половинвековното развитие на гимназията се утвърждава приемствеността много преподаватели и сподвижници са и нейни възпитаници и така паметта за миналото става и завет към бъдещето. В годините след основаването на гимназията до френският език по популярност се нареждат и другите западни езици.

Влизането във „Френската“ винаги остава трудно. Ежегодно балът е съизмерим с този в останалите елитни столични гимназии. Това обяснява, че стимулът за кандидатстване в голяма степен се дължи на заслуженото уважение към гимназията и на завещаната вяра в нея от редица поколения. Френската гимназия има своя атмосфера, способстваща изграждането на идентичността на младите хора и опознаването от тях на националната и световна история, на обществените стойности и потребности.

Съвременната учебна работа в 9 Френска езикова гимназия е съобразена с Европейската референтна рамка ключови компетентности, които трябва да притежава младия европеец днес, където са отбелязани математическа и дигитална способност и основни познания в природните науки. Гимназията има самостоятелна интернет платформа и в обучението се прилагат новости от информационните технологии. Усилията на колегията са насочени за приобщаване към модернизирането на системите за образование и обучение и ориентиране на своите възпитаници към дейно участие в процеса за подобряване на качеството на живота и за издигане на конкурентноспособността на България във всички отрасли.

В полето на традициите на Френската гимназия е събрано почитание към изкуствата. Всяка година се представя театрална постановка по различни пиеси от класически автори. Училището има хор. Практикуват се и часове по фотография, правят се вътрешни конкурси и изложби по стените на училището.

Волейболният отбор на гимназията участва в престижната лига за купа „Кларис“, която обединява елитните столични гимназии, а футболният отбор е участник в Българската училищна футболна лига. Училището има изяви и в спортовете баскетбол, ски, тенис, плуване, тенис на маса, шахмат.

Френската гимназия осъществява образователен и културен обмен с франкофонски училища от Европа. Начинания на училището се ползват с подкрепата на Френския културен институт в София. Във Френската гимназия работят опитни и висококвалифицирани преподаватели. Сред тях са автори на учебници и методически публикации, радетели на творчески контакти със СУ и други висши училища, редовни участници в национални образователни конференции и активни членове на гилдийни сдружения. В методическите обединения се достигат успешни резултати в подготовката и реализирането на проекти насърчаващи доближаването на талантливите ученически пориви до реални цели.

Учителите по френски език са преминали специализации по цивилизация и културни процеси на Франция. Част от преподавателите по френски език са французи. Резултат от дейността на училищния екип е успешното продължаване на образованието на възпитаниците на гимназията в български, френски и други европейски и световни университети.

Хиляди са свързалите биографиите си с 9 Френска езикова гимназия, които са осъзнали красотата на света и са развили своята духовност тук.

March: Month of The French Francophonie

Hello everyone,

March 2018 is the official month for admiring the beauty and greatness of the amazing French language. As a proud French speaker and a member of the francophonie community, I would like to take this chance to express my sincere thoughts about this topic.

First of all, the French language has been a huge part of my life, so I personally feel a special and warm connection whenever I hear it. My first encounter with French was when I was about 12 years old. This was the time when me and my family moved to Geneva, Switzerland. I didn’t speak a single word of French, so it was especially difficult for me to fit in school, where everyone spoke a different language. Luckily, I had great teachers and school mates (who eventually became close friends of mine), who understood my situation and helped me out the best way they could. Eventually I learned to speak French quite decently, so the language barrier dissapeared and French was much easier for me to speak freely and confidently.

When I returned to Bulgaria in 2017, I enrolled in an acclaimed French Language school in Bulgaria, where I continued to study the language. I didn’t want to forget a language that I hardly spoke anymore (since leaving Switzerland), so the French school was a perfect opportunity for me. Then, in the beginning of 2018, I succesfully passed my French Language Certificate, so I can now proudly say that I officially speak French.

The problem is, like I already said, that I don’t really practice my French speaking and listening skills that often. Our western society is more geared towards the Anglophonic world, so most of the music I personally listen to and most of the movies I watch, even the news that I read, is in English. This leads to people not having the desire of learing new languages and cultures.

In my opinion, each and every single language is a new wealth in your reservoir. Whenever you have the opportunity to learn a new language, embrace it and don’t let go.

J’espère d’avoir contribuée au sujet. Merci de m’avoir lue et bonne chance pour la suite!

Stereotypes Are Bad

Stereotypes are the very definition of sheep behaviour!

During my life, I have had the wonderful opportunity to travel around the world (mostly the continent of Europe) and visit many different countries. This has given me the chance to study new languages, to learn new cultures and to make new friends of various backgrounds.

One striking thing I noticed while living abroad, was that the countries and the people are much more different than what I expected them to be. For example, prior to going to Germany I was told that the country consists of xenophobes and greedy people. Little did I know, Germans are actually some of the nicest people I have ever met and will probably ever meet. Germans are hard-working, helpful and absolutely fantastic people to hang-out with. This is why I personally hate to generalize nations: you just can’t assume that if there is one case of xenophobia, that all Germans are xenophobes.

On the other hand, I have experienced stereotypes myself too. When telling people abroad that I come from Bulgaria, they sometimes immediately look down on me. They usually automatically assume that Bulgaria is the poor country in Eastern Europe with lots of Roma people that wants to steal the jobs of Western-Europeans. For them Bulgarians are the very definition of “parasites”. This is, of course, is a bold and generalizing statement that is just wrong and idiotic.

A person should, in my opinion, be criticized and judged based on their own attributes, like intelectual capacity or exression, individually. Every person is different and the country is not responsible for the individual’s personality or performance in life. This is why I think that stereotypes are STUPID and WRONG.

Before judging someone, don’t follow the others like a sheep: do your own research and make your own conclusions.

 

International Women’s Day

 

 

Happy International Women’s Day !

 

Every successful man is backed up by a woman who is always a step at the forefront of him. Listening carefully, understanding with patience, supporting through thick and thin, caring heart and always being there are synonymous to the word lady to me. With the creation of world, you were also added to increase its beauty. The world is mesmerized with the work you done.This day belongs to you.

May you prosper and stood affirm in the course of life. Salute to all the wonderfull women, young and old, of the future and of the past. You make any man’s day brighter and full of sunshine.

 

 

 

 

Crystal Castles – Not In Love ft. Robert Smith (The Cure)

An excellent song with great lyrics, haunting vocals and powerfull instrumentals

 

“Not In Love” is a song by the Candian music group Crystal Castles featuring The Cure frontman Robert Smith as the lead vocalist. Although it is a an electronic song, “Not In Love” has some indie rock and punk influences that make it quite intriguing and intresting to listen to. When listening to music, one should not take into consideration what genre it is, only the quality of the sound is important. This is why I try to exit my nuthsell from time to time and give other types of music a try.

Crystal Castles’s electronic hit has become quite popular over the years, mostly due to many video-game companies using it in their soundtrack (FIFA 12 for example). When listening to the lyrics, I was astonished at how beautiful but sad they were at the same time. “Not In Love” tells the story of a person that is in denial of not being in love, when in fact he is deeply saddened that he can’t see his loved one ever again. He misses all the great times and moments of a relationship that lasted very shortly and left a scar in his heart that he can’t heal. He tries to forget his the love that he once had, but the impossibility to forget his troubled, but also euphoric relationship leaves him in emotional agony and pain.

The song itself is has a sad and melancholic feeling to it, making the listener feel a lack of hope and despair. The synthesizers and electronic components make the song really powerfull and leave a sense of confusion and chaos. Also, Robert Smith’s haunting gothic vocals align perfectly with the somber and dark atmosphere of the song.

All in all, Crystal Castles’ “Not In Love” is a perfect song for people that have been heartbroken, witnessed the end of a loving relationship or just generally feel sad and blue. Its depressing tone is certainly something that you might want to listen to when you are in a particular mood. The haunting vocals, powerfull instrumentals and top-notch lyrics are attributes, that make the song absolutely amazing in my opinion and I would recommend it to people wanting to listen to something to different.

 

Епизод – Хаджи Димитър

For my Bulgarian friends at home and around the world:

                                             

Честита Баба Марта на всички!

Пожелавам на всички щастлие, любов, радост и само хубави неща за бъдещето. Надявам се мечтите ви да се сбъднат, живота ви да бъде лишен от всякакви форми на страдание и всичките ви проблеми да бъдат решени. Но най-важното, е да бъдете все така готини и живи и здрави за напред 🙂

Поздравявам ви с едно жестоко парче на рок-групата Епизод, посветено на стихотворението на великия български поет революционер Христо Ботев. Като българи, ние винаги трябва да се подкрепяме и да не забравяме произхода си. Ние сме една нация, един народ с древна история и традиции. Ние сме българи!