Never be the same: Tony Melendez

It was an unforgettable moment when, on September 15, 1987, he played his guitar for Pope John Paul II in Los Angeles. Born without arms, he performed a touching song entitled Never Be The Same. When the Pope approached him from the stage to kiss him in appreciation, it seemed to reflect the sentiments of the entire country.

A thalidomide baby, Tony was born without arms because his mother was prescribed thalidomide a drug used to help calm morning sickness during her pregnancy. He was brought to the Los Angeles area from Nicaragua to be fitted with artificial arms. He wore them until he was ten, when he disposed of them. "I didn't feel comfortable," he explains, "I could use my feet so much more."

His proficiency with his feet extended to more areas than just day-to-day care. He remembers that "at first, I started playing push-button organ. Then in high school I began playing around with the guitar and harmonica." He also began writing his own songs. Whether it was "playing around" with music or merely adjusting to a normal high school routine, Tony never let his handicap get in his way. "I was pretty secure in what I could do," he says.


It was also in high school that he became deeply involved in the Catholic Church. "I went when I was a kid because my parents took me. I drifted away as I got a little older. When I was in high school, my brother kept saying 'come on, you've gotta go. It's great!' So I went again and made a lot of friends, and wound up changing my life in the process.

Currently, Tony resides in Branson Missouri, which is most known for its small-town hospitality and world class entertainment. "Lynn and I love each other deeply and music brought us together. So, one day we’ll share all of these memories with our children. Music has opened the door to my dreams and I will keep singing, continue to share my life, and keep making' music for all who will listen."

Samsung Blue Earth!!! Solar and touch mobile phone

Samsung’s Blue Earth cellphone, announced but not detailed back at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year, has been launched. The handset is made from old water bottles, and the packaging is paper printed with soy ink (something I never knew existed). The Earth-friendliness even extends to the charger which sips a mere 0.03 Watts when in standby. And standby is likely where it will spend much of its time, due to the most obvious feature of the phone: a big solar-panel on the back.

Otherwise, the Blue Earth is less hippy than you might think, and instead of being wholemeal and puritan, it has all the mod-cons you’d expect of a cellphone today: a 3.2 MP camera, touch screen, music and video players, FM radio, Bluetooth, 3G.

The phone includes an energy-saving eco-friendly way with gestures as simple as automatically turning off Bluetooth connectivity, the duration of the backlight or brightness of the screen. A curious feature is the Eco Walk, which counts the steps we take to walk using a pedometer. Those data to calculate the amount of CO2 emissions we have reduced by using our feet as a means of transport. The phone also gives us back that value in the form of trees saved.

The phone will launch in Sweden this month and across Europa and Asia thereafter.

My wonderful swimming competition!!!

I'll never forget a swimming competition in which it participates. It all started when I took the airplane to Bogota. An hour later I was in Bogota, enjoying a very cold weather. The day after my arrival, began the competitions, I was very scared because I had never swum in that city.
Fortunately, everything happened as I expected, I did very well in the competitions, I won three medals, two gold and one silver.
When I finished my swimming competitions, I could enjoy the city, I met many wonderful places such as Adventure World. In this place I had a great time and the best of all was that I fell in bungee jumping. It was a wonderful experience, I felt like a bird, as if I could fly. I will never forget that day.
Also I went to La Candelaria, La Plaza de Bolivar, Campin stadium, and I bought many gift and souvenirs for my family and muy friends in malls like Unicentro, Salitre Plaza and other.
I forgot to mention that on this trip I met many pepole and now I'm sharing good times wuth them. Finally I returned to Cartagena, and I told my family everything I had experienced in my two weeks trip.

Roll the ball!!! Shakira and Juanes were amazing!!

The 2010 World Cup in South Africa has begun with the opening ceremony getting underway at the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg.
The great day arrived. South Africa presents to the world as the headquarters of world cup and that makes it all the people look to her to enjoy the sport.
Yesterday was the opening ceremony of the World Cup 2010. An amazing concert, where artists like Alicia Keys, The Black eyes peace, John Legend began to dance and sing to everyone. Shakira and Juanes were the big stars of the night.
Shakira, the spicy latina singer, really got the crowd revved up and ready to go as she performed Waka Waka the official FIFA World Cup 2010 theme song.
Finally, the proceeds from the ceremony will be used for a charity campaign, 20 Centres for 2010, that plans to help promote sports and education in Africa.

My final test!!!

Last wednesday I was supossed to do a final test at the university, so I studied a lot so that I didn't failed on it.

The teacher walked in into the classroom, he started talking and for my surprise he said I din't have to do the test.

I felt so happy and relieved because I didn't have to worry about that. All the hard work that I did during this six month was then being compesated.

I felt that studying and trying hard was really worth it.