Imagine...

Saturday 27 November 2010

Once we’ve been talking about equality and the importance of the Human Rights in our society, I decided to post this video. Dance is my favorite expression of art and I think that through it we can catch people’s attention to social problems and to cultural discrimination. This routine was created by Mia Michaels, my favorite contemporary choreographer. The movement her dance pieces portray is breathtaking because we feel like we are part of the story the dancers are exposing. I honestly love it!
This video is from the American version of So You Think You Can Dance? (SYTYCD), one of my shows of election. The world has definitely amazing talents, as you’ll see.
I believe everyone knows this song but pay attention to the lyrics.

"Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world..."



I hope you like it!
Daniela

The meaning of life

Monday 15 November 2010

American History X

Wednesday 10 November 2010

“American history X” is a Drama. The premiere was in 30 October, 1998.

Main characters: Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) and Danny Vinyard (Edward Furlong).

   Derek is a skinhead that hates different people. He is a violent man that learned some of his theories with his father, a policeman that  had a story to tell everyday mostly about crimes of black people. The death of his father made  the situation worse and one day, Derek kills a black guy and goes to prison where he felt alone.
   While Derek is in prison, his brother Danny is learning the ideas and theories of skinheads, to follow the example of Derek.
   Derek goes to work in prison with a partner, a black guy, called Lamont.
He recognizes the reality, how other people feel when they are discriminated. He feels worse when he wonders if he will be able to save his younger brother from this.
 

***

I chose this film, because it represents a reality in the world. We can see real problems such as racism, discrimination, emigration and violence. A shocking film, with an important message for all of us.

With Derek Vinyard in "American History X", Edward Norton earned a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actor.

Raquel Valente, 12ºC

Animal testing

Monday 8 November 2010

Animal testing is the use of non-human animals in experiments.
94%of animal testing is done to determine the safety of cosmetics and household products leaving only 6% for medical reseach!
It has been proven that there is already enough existing safety data, as well as in vitro alternatives to make animal testing for cosmetics and household products even more unnecessary and unethical.
To help  go to www.peta.com
made by: Giselda Bica num 11 from 12 B

        Cinema 

Cinema includes the technique of projecting images to create the impression of movement and it is as well as an art and a film industry. The films are produced by recording images of the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects.The cinema is considered to be an important form of art, a source of popular entertainment and a powerful method for educating citizens. 

There are many types of films such as action, animation,adventure, comedy, documentary, Drama, Fantasy, Musical, Romance, Horror or Suspense.

After knowing the most important facts of Cinema, I decided to name one film: my favourite film. The film is named " Memoirs of a Geisha" from Arthur Golden. First it appeared as a Book and then it was adapted to film. It is told in the  first person  by Sayuri Nitta, a retired Geisha. She is interviewed by Jakob Haarhuis, a professor at New York University. The story is told in flashback format and it makes many references to the time between Sayuri's carrer and the time she is being interviewed. She explains the different aspects of being a Geisha and how their live their lifes. For those who don't know what a Geisha is,  Geishas ( or Geiko or Geigi) are traditional female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese traditions such as classical music and dance. 

Well, here is a little trailer about the film for those who became/may be interested.

I chose this film for two reasons: first, and as I have  mentioned before, it is my favourite movie and second, it portrays something about the culture of one of my favorite countries: Japan. 

by: Vânia Amaral 12ºC

Music

  

"There is no noise, only sound." (John Cage, 20th-century composer)

Music is a form of art form whose medium is sound. The word derives from the Greek word – Mousike – which means: ‘(art) of the Muses’. It’s also one of the Performing Arts; the others being dance, opera, drama, magic, spoken word and circus and it’s divided into 8 genres: Drama, Tragedy, Comedy, Tragicomedy, Romance, Satire, Epic and Lyric.

 

Music is originated from the Paleolithic era, commonly known as the Stone Age, which dates back roughly to 2.6 to 2.5 million years ago even thought the ‘age’ of music can be determined fairly easily, the culture from which it was originated can’t. It’s estimated that is originated from Asia, more specifically China, where it was found one of the earliest and oldest collections of prehistoric musical instruments, dating back from between 7000 and 6600 BC.

 

Roughly until the beginning of the Renaissance music (1300 – 1470), music was used as a form of a complement in plays, poems and stories. It was during this time that music as a true form of art was made, it was also the catalyst to the musical compositions and the Baroque music. It was during this period that classical music was born.

Music was a bit unchanged until the middle of the 20th century, when the forms of commercial music was formed with the aid of the Radio era. Many more styles of music were born, such as the blues, jazz, rock, etc. This styles and, more recently called, genres still live today but much of the music it’s used commercially.

"The border between music and noise is always culturally defined. By all accounts there is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be." (Jean-Jacques Nattiez, musicologist)




Andreia Pinto, nº 3

Sunday 7 November 2010

Gorillaz is a virtual band of comic book characters that was created in 1998 by two British, the Musician Albarn Damon and the cartoonist Jamie Hewlett.

The idea to create Gorillaz appeared while both creators were watching MTV and they thought that there was no substance there.

Jamie Hewlett(left) and Albarn Damon(right)

The Virtual band is composed by four characters: 2D(Vocals, keyboard), Murdoc Niccals( bass guitar), Noodle(guitar, vocal, keyboard) and Russel Hobbs( drums an percussion). The band's story is explored through the website and music videos.

(Noodle, 2D, Russel and Murdoc)

The music is a collaboration between multiple musicians, however Albarn is the only permanent member.

The style of the band is a variety of musical genres with a great number of influences like hip hop, alternative rock and electric.

(Snoop Dogg)

(DE La Soul)

(Little Dragon)

The band entered the Guiness Book of World Records as the Most Successful Virtual Band(2001) and they also achieved innumerable music awards( Mercury Prize in 2001, five times platinum with Demon Days Album in 2005, Grammy Award nominations and the Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals).

Some music videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhPaWIeULKk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f16k4xaaw94

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axEIXsmeUVg

Miguel Pedro

Gorillaz

Art

Friday 5 November 2010

I was born and grew up surrounded by an atmosphere of theater. I am passionate by any kind of play, wether it is drama, comedy, musical or any other type. That's why I've chosen this theme. I've chosen art and, as a subtheme, I've chosen theater. I know that nowadays, people think that watching a play is boring and a waste of time. Let me tell you that you're wrong. Watching a good play, with a great plot and good actors, is a cross ??of feelings that you can't imagine.


It's an old art, the first recorded theatrical event is from 2500 BC in Egypt. It is a complex job build / To build a  play and to present it to an audience, anxious to see a piece of art, is a complex job.
Enjoy a good moment from a play, a musical called Jesus Christ Superstar that was presented in Porto and was directed by Filipe Lá Féria. It's one of my favorite parts from this musical that I saw, perhaps, three or four times ;D


 
Ana Pereira

Religion

Religion is the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or a set of beliefs concerning the origin and purpose of the universe.
Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories associated with their deity or deities, that are intended to give meaning to life. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature.

Judaism is the oldest Abraham religion, originating in the people of ancient Israel and Judea. Judaism is based primarily on the Torah, a text which Jews believe was handed down to the people of Israel through the prophet Moses in 1,400 BCE. Judaism today is practised by about 13 million people, with about 40 per cent living in Israel and 40 per cent in the United States.

Christianity is based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (1st century) as presented in the New Testament. The Christian faith is essentially faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and as Savior and Lord. Almost all Christians believe in the Trinity, which teaches the unity of Father, Son (Jesus Christ), and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead.

 Catholic Church, headed by the Pope in Rome.

 Protestantism, separated from the Catholic Church in the 16th-century Reformation and split in many denominations.

 Eastern Christianity which include Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and the Church of the East.

Islam refers to the religion taught by the Islamic prophet Muhammad, a major political and religious figure of the 7th century CE. As with Christianity, there is no single orthodoxy in Islam but a multitude of traditions which are generally categorized as Sunni and Shia, although there are other minor groups as well.

Buddhism was founded by Siddhartha Gotama in the 6th century BCE. Buddhists generally agree that Gotama aimed to help sentient beings end their suffering by understanding the true nature of phenomena, thereby escaping the cycle of suffering and rebirth, that is, achieving Nirvana.                   

I hope you all enjoy...

Hugo Queiros

The living will

Someone once told me that everything we do, as individuals and as citizens, is politics. So, I decided to choose a topic that has been intensely discussed in the Assembly.


The living will is an advance health care directive in which the instructions for treatment of an individual are written, specifying what actions should be taken in his/her behalf when he/she is no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity.

It was created in response to the increasing medical technology and also because studies diagnosed many problems related to the medical care of the dying. Besides, aggressive medical interventions leave millions of people confined to nursing homes. Others only survive through the use of feeding tubes and some are kept alive in permanently vegetative state.

A living will must portray the wishes of the patient and it should be constantly updated. It is only used if the individual has become unable to give informed consent about his state.

As a health directive it brings ethical issues related to the power and freedom of will and values related with the relationship between the patient and the (responsibility of the) doctor, and also the wishes of the loved ones.

I hope you like it. Daniela :)

Future life

We can only have some ideas but we don’t know for sure how  life will be. We can only base ourselves in what we see know, and in what we do and think now.

In the future people will be more careful with the environment?

 Will theyrecycle?

Will they  fight for peace?

Or make war for resources?

Will people  be richer?

Or only a few will have everything?

Technologies will help us?

Or  will we become more independent?

What can we expect?

Maybe a completely different world where things will be more fair. Where the wealth and resources of the world will be very well distributed.

Or a world with lots of conflicts. Let’s find out . . .

Some of the areas affected by future technologies will be:

- robotics;



- transports;

- health;

- army equipment;

And a lot more.

Diogo 12ºA nº9

How to deal with this topic changes from person to person because everyone has their idea of what the future will be.

Our future life is very uncertain.

We imagine ourselves in a world with lots of robots, flying cars and with almost 200 years and full of energy because of the development of medicine, remedies and technologies.

Thursday 4 November 2010

I found this video and I loved the music and the message that it brings to us. I think that it shows us that we are unique and everyone is special in his own way. We are brothers and we shouldn't discriminate anyone.

Just look at the video and listen to the music and you will feel like a firework.

Enjoy (;

 
Ana Pereira