Ten things I love about you

video realizado pelos alunos do 2º B

Ten things I love about you

My students from 2nd grade High school watched the film "Ten things I hate about you" and wrote a parody.
Watch it!

Culture Unplugged Video

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Mother´s Day

Mother´s Day is a holiday to honour and give thanks to our mothers. People celebrate the day all over the world. In France, a flower-shaped cake is part of the family meal. In the U.S., most restaurants claim this day as their busiest all year. In many other countries, carnations have a special significance.Although the holiday is very commercial, it´s not a Hallmark holiday. In other words, it´s not a holiday created by businesses to make money. Mother´s Day actually has its origins long ago in ancient Greece. Rome, which copied much of the Greek way of life, had a similar holiday. So did other countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Unlike today, though, people didn´t honour their own mothers. People honoured the mother of the gods, Rhea. After the Roman Empire fell, Mother´s Day disappeared.So how did our modern version of the holiday come about?Many believe that Mother´s Day as we know it originated from the British holiday called "Mothering Sunday." All through the Middle Ages in Europe, people brought gifts to their home (or mother) church on the fourth Sunday of Lent. Then in the 16th century, people began to live greater and greater distances from where they had been born. About this time, it also became increasingly common for children to work far from home as servants and apprentices. They would often need the day off to make the journey, which also allowed them to visit their mothers and family. They would bring a cake and pick wildflowers to give as presents, too. From here the holiday was born.Americans have had a great influence on the holiday, too. A woman named Julia Ward Howe brought the holiday from Britain in the 1870s. She saw it as a way to honour mothers, of course, but also as a way to honour and promote peace. Then in the early 1900s, another woman campaigned for a national holiday for mothers. Her name was Anna Jarvis, and she sent letters to business leaders, clergy members, women´s clubs, and anyone else who might help. Within a few years, forty-six States celebrated the holiday. In 1914, Mother´s Day became an official holiday, and was quickly commercialized with cards, carnation flowers, and chocolate candy. Anna Jarvis "wanted it to be a day of sentiment, not profit." She also called greeting cards "a poor excuse for the letter you are too lazy to write!"Different countries celebrate the holiday on different days. Different countries have adopted different traditions. But one thing remains the same everywhere: it´s a day to say to your mom, "Thank you."

www.headsupenglish.com

Earth day

Think about this!!

Earth Day

Earth Day 2009, April 22, will mark the beginning of The Green Generation CampaignTM a two-year initiative that will launch in 2009 and culminate on the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2010. The Green Generation includes ordinary people who are engaged in individual and collective activities to improve their health, to improve their schools, to participate in building a solution to urgent national and global issues, such as climate change or the world’s water crises. The 40th Anniversary of Earth Day will be recognized by future generations as a turning point for all people worldwide and will mark the beginning of a new era of personal, corporate, and government responsibility for preserving the Earth.Under the umbrella of The Green GenerationTM, thousands of events are currently being planned in schools, communities, villages, towns and cities around the world.The Green GenerationTM is open to everyone. Learn more about the Earth Day 2009 and The Green Generation CampaignTM: www.earthday.net/earthday2009

Othello Music Video

History of Carnival in Brazil

Carnival Roots
The origins of carnival date back to the ancient Greek spring festival in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine. The Romans adopted the celebration with Bacchanalia (feasts in honor of Bacchus, the Roman equivalent to Dionysus), and Saturnalia, where slaves and their masters would exchange clothes in a day of drunken revelry. Saturnalia was later modified by the Roman Catholic Church into a festival leading up Ash Wednesday. It quickly evolved into a massive celebration of indulgences - one last gasp of music, food, alcohol, and sex before Lent - before the 40 days of personal reflection, abstinence, and fasting until Easter (not exactly what the Church probably had in mind). 40 days of purging sins, preceded by a week filled with virtually every known sin. The word itself comes from Latin, "Carne Vale" or "Farewell to the Flesh".

Brazil - Rio de Janeiro
Rio's lavish carnival is one of the world's most famous. Scores of spectacular floats surrounded by thousands and thousands of dancers, singers, and drummers parade through the enormous Sambódromo Stadium dressed in elaborate costumes (or, quite often, with absolutely no costume.) It is an epic event televised around the world. The origin of Brazil's carnival goes back to a Portuguese pre-lent festivity called "entrudo", a chaotic event where participants threw mud, water, and food at each other in a street event that often led to riots (an event quite similar to today's Andean carnival - see Venezuelan section of this booklet). Rio's first masquerade carnival ball (set to polkas and waltzes) was in 1840. Carnival street parades followed a decade later with horse drawn floats and military bands. The sound closely associated with the Brazilian carnival, the samba, wasn't part of carnival until 1917. The samba is a mix of Angolan semba, European polka, African batuques, with touches of Cuban habanera and other styles. What we now know as samba is a result of the arrival of black Brazilians (primarily from Bahia) to the impoverished slums or favelas surrounding Rio following the abolition of slavery in Brazil in 1888.
Today the carnival is organized by the escolas de samba (samba schools). They first appeared in 1928. Much more than musical groups, they are in fact, neighborhood associations that provide a variety of community needs (such as educational and health care resources) in a country with grinding poverty and no social safety net.
Brazil - Salvador da Bahia
Salvador da Bahia was Brazil's first center of government (from 1549 to 1763), and remains its musical capital. For centuries, Bahia was home of the Portuguese sugar industry and slave trade. As a result, today Salvador is the largest center of African culture in the Americas. Amidst the colonial architecture and cobblestone streets, there is an unmistakeable beat of Bahian drumming. You can hear it in the stereo speakers and boomboxes blasting the latest Axê pop music. It becomes overwhelming when the large percussion ensembles (with literally hundreds of drummers) called "blocos Afros" take to the streets for carnival. It was a movement launched a half century ago by the group, Filhos de Gandhi (Sons of Gandhi). Today, there are countless blocos Afros that have taken on a new mission as part of the "negritude" movement to re-establish Black Pride. Olodum, Ara Ketu, Ilê Aiyé, Timbalada and the all women's drumming mega-group Dida all electrify Salvador every February during carnival. Olodum's Billy Arquimimo explains, "We started Olodum 20 years ago because at that time, black people used to be ashamed of their skin. We thought it was necessary to do something to re-establish Black Pride, and to redevelop African culture here in Bahia."
Like Rio, the city of Salvador is famous for its carnival. For both cities, it is an enormous festival leading up to Lent. That is where the similarities end. Rio is famous for its Samba schools, elaborate costumes (or at times no costumes), and a huge parade held at the Sambódromo Stadium. Salvador is Brazil's street carnival. It lasts for weeks. The music begins daily as early as noon and runs until 7 or 8 the next morning.
Bahian superstar Carlinhos Brown explains, "We play, not for money, but to celebrate happiness. Our carnival is a street carnival. It is for everyone, not just for those with money." In addition to the Blocos Afros, artists like Carlinhos Brown and Daniela Mercury perform on huge trucks, packed with loudspeakers called "trio electricos". These are the big tractor-trailer trucks packed with huge speakers. The tradition began in 1950 when two Bahian musicians, Dodo and Osmar, performed with their electric trio aboard a 1929 Ford pickup truck.. Even though there are regularly 20-40 bandmembers atop 18 wheeler mega-trucks today, the name "trio electrico" still sticks. Bahia's carnival is perhaps the world's largest public festivity, attracting crowds of three million that dance through the night in Salvador's historic colonial streets.

Disney Love: Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's day

Valentine' s day

February 14th is Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day is a day for romance and love. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in many countries around the world, including Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
You see a lot of romantic symbols on Valentine’s Day. For example, many couples give each other roses. To give someone flowers at any time of year is romantic, and as roses are a symbol of romance, roses on Valentine’s Day are especially popular.

Another symbol of romance that is seen frequently on Valentine’s Day is Cupid. In Roman mythology, Cupid was the son of Venus, the goddess of love. Cupid was often shown as a smaller, more playful version of his mother. His golden arrows were magical and even slight contact with one of the arrow tips could make a person fall madly in love.
One understanding of romantic love—called courtly love—dates back to medieval times, and sending cards on Valentine’s Day dates back equally far. In 1415, a prisoner in the Tower of London sent a poem to his wife. This is considered to be one of the earliest recorded valentines. For over four hundred years, people made their own valentines by writing poems like this.
In the Victorian era, in the mid-1800s, companies started producing valentines for people to buy. Now many people buy, rather than make, their valentines. Almost one billion valentines are sent every year. According to the Greeting Card Association, 85% of the valentines are bought by women.
Of course, people don’t just buy cards. People buy candles and balloons and many other things, often in the shape of a heart. You can find boxes of candy that are shaped like hearts, or candy that is itself in the shape of a heart!

The presents might be something small and sweet or something big and dramatic. Some people get engaged (promise to marry each other) on Valentine’s Day. Although Valentine’s Day is generally romantic, many people like to use the day to celebrate any kind of love—including love of friends and family.
Some schools have valentine parties. The students give each other valentines. They eat heart shaped candy. Some schools have other valentine celebrations, such as dances.