International Women's Day

"I think that the time is ripe to make fundamental changes in our civilization. But for real change, we need feminine energy in the management of the world. We need a critical number of women in positions of power, and we need to nurture the feminine energy in men. I'm talking about men with young minds, of course. Old guys are hopeless, we have to wait for them to die off. Yes, I would love to have Sophia Loren's long legs and legendary breasts. But given a choice, I would rather have the warrior heart of Wangari Maathai, Somaly Mam, Jenny, and Rose Mapendo. I want to make this world good. Not better, but to make it good. Why not? It is possible. Look around in this room -- all this knowledge, energy, talent, and technology. Let's get off our fannies, roll up our sleeves and get to work, passionately, in creating an almost perfect world. Thank you."

Right. This quote is not obviously mine, but Chilean / naturalized American writer Isabel Allende's, one of the most widely read Spanish-language authors. Some years ago she started a foundation which is renowned for supporting programmes that promote the basic rights of children and women.

Well, as you know today is the International Women's Day and on such occasion Maria, one of my C1 students, has sent me this passionate lecture that Isabel herself delivered in 2007 at one of these TED annual conferences. It ends with the excerpt I quote at the beginning of this entry and you can watch in its entirety right down below. It comes only handy to celebrate a meaningful day like today and the often underrated role of women across the globe.

Actually Maria remembered Isabel's talk when she saw the video I forwarded you guys featuring, funnily enough, another Latin-American icon, Colombian superstar Shakira, who's been of late the talk of the town in our country as she's been spotted around with FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué. Here she addresses the prestigious Oxford Union, one of the oldest debating societies in the UK, to talk about her own foundation, Pies Descalzos, which helps the poorest children in Colombia by providing them with a decent schooling. I must admit that beyond the often frivolous façade of the music artist ("she's no dumb bimbo", a very suitable comment reads on YouTube) lies a great personality who has a lovely message to spread: the true value of a good education in today's society.

Who wants to be a Millionaire?

Let me first say that this is very much for my NA students, as we've talked in class about the rise of the TV quiz show, in particular the ever so popular "Who wants to be a Millionaire?"

The craze all began in the US in the 50s with this pioneering show, The $64,000 dollar Question. Those were the days of B&W television!

As popular as 64,000 was Twenty-One, which pulled huge ratings until a shocking scandal (which went all the way, can you believe it, to the US Congress as you can watch on the video down below) undermined the audience's faith in the programme, and made quiz shows go into decline temporarily.

But like the mythical Phoenix firebird that is reborn from it own ashes, quiz shows grew again in the 70s and so did the prizes, which got bigger and bigger. But it was not until the late 90s that a key breakthrough came, to be precise when "Who wants to be a Millionaire" first appeared on British television, and the rest is history. And history was made when an American by the name of John Carpenter (a tax agent himself, isn't it funny!) became the first contestant ever to win the staggering sum of 1,000,000 dollars. This is John on his way to success:

And click on the link for the precise moment that made television history, November 19th, 1999.

Nearly a year later, on November 12th 2000, Judith Keppel first won one million pounds on the UK version of the quiz - and became the 12th "millionaire" across the world:

Last but not least, there's the story of English "professional backpacker" Paddy Spooner, who won 250,000 dollars on the Australian quiz show in 1999 (as shown in the clip below) and the same amount in sterling pounds at the British show a year later, before he eventually trusted his luck (and lost) to the toss of a coin in Ireland.

So what do you think of these "big money" quiz shows? Would you like to appear on one of them? Post your comments here, will you?