Selma

English Culture V - Gypsy expulsions in france

2010-11-19T09:27:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5XX1m9R_10&feature=related

English Culture V - Gypsy expulsions in france

2010-11-09T05:34:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08djz6de2UE&feature=related

This video from SKY NEWS shows us the gypsy people and their life in illegal camps. In my opinion, this people should have more life's quality despite their nationality.

English Culture V - Gypsy expulsions in france

2010-11-09T05:27:00.000-08:00

In this video we can see that people are against the Gypsy expulsions in France, even some french people.

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

English Culture V - Gypsy expulsions in france

2010-11-07T12:18:00.001-08:00

“France Gypsy crackdown continues”

“Bordeaux - France's crackdown on travelling minorities has not only targeted Roma from Eastern Europe, but also French Gypsies, who feel they have been unfairly linked to foreign-born nomads.
This week, as media coverage focused on the expulsion of Roma back to Romania, hundreds of French-born Gypsy families found themselves in a stand-off with authorities in the south-western city of Bordeaux.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's government has vowed to dismantle all illegal camps, not just those inhabited by foreign-born minorities, and 250 caravans arrived in Bordeaux last week only to find riot police waiting for them.
Traditionally, the travellers would set up camp on sports fields, but - having been kicked out of another illegal site further south - when they rolled up they found 150 police and a two-foot deep ditch barring access.
"This space is for sports," said Bordeaux mayor Alain Juppe, a powerful former prime minister and member of Sarkozy's ruling UMP.
"There are people that use it for sports, playing tennis and jogging, and it's not set up to receive 250 caravans."

Compromise
After initially protesting by blocking a major bridge across the Garonne river, and briefly skirmishing with police protecting the fields, the Gypsies went to court to demand access - and were turned down.
The city sought compromise by offering two asphalt sites; a two hectare plot in an industrial zone - which the Gypsies rejected as too polluted - and a convention centre car park - which they say is too hot in summer.
The resulting stand-off has led to the caravans being forced onto some strips of grass along an access road to the conference centre.
"Juppe has been straight with us, but let him come spend a weekend on asphalt in the heat," suggested James Dubois, president of the gypsies' association La Vie du Voyage (LVDV).
The travellers had appeared confident of victory before Wednesday's hearing, and took news of their defeat with a mixture of shock and anger.
"Normally we get an emergency court hearing, the decision comes two hours later, and we're in," said Dubois. "It's disappointing. It's not logical, but this is Bordeaux. Juppe is not a little country mayor."
LVDV vice president Franck Couchevelou shook his head.

Little support
"We tried everything," he said, gesturing to the riot police. "We'll have to capitulate. We don't want violence. We have children here."
"If it continues like this, we will all be in Paris on the Champs Elysees with our caravans in September," said Couchevelou. "We have to organise."
According to a police official, a brief melee broke out during the night when male travellers visited the 2ha lot and tried to stop city workers from cleaning up the site.
There appears to be little support for Gypsies from Bordeaux's citizens. It is common in the region to see travellers illegally occupying community sports fields, and until recently there has been little recourse for the towns.
Juppe's tough talk on illegal encampments came after Sarkozy vowed to clear 300 illegal Roma camps within 90 days and to repatriate foreign Roma.
The policy has attracted fierce criticism from international human rights groups, the French opposition and even the Vatican, but the French Gypsies say they do not want to be dragged into a political row.
"We don't care about the politics of the left or the right," insisted Dubois. "All we want is a place to park our caravans so we can work."

Normal people
The men complained they had already lost several days of work. The 140 families work as craftsmen and traders in local markets, selling products like mattresses and pots and pans.
A spokesperson for the convoy felt the French Gypsies were being confused with foreign-born Roma. "There is an amalgamation at the national level. It's getting worse," said Jean Avrillas.
"We are not Roma and we have no contact with them," said Dubois. "We are clean. We are normal people. We are French."

From News 24, 2010-08-20 22:13
http://www.news24.com/World/News/France-Gypsy-crackdown-continues-20100820

English Culture V - Gypsy expulsions in france

2010-11-07T12:02:00.000-08:00

dailymail.co.uk

Romanian Gypsies carry their luggage shortly after arriving from France at the international airport in Bucharest, Romania, on Aug. 26, 2010

English Culture V - Gypsy expulsions in france

2010-11-07T11:54:00.000-08:00

"France sends Roma Gypsies back to Romania"

“Christian Fraser visits a French Roma (Gypsy) camp
Dozens of Roma (Gypsies) have arrived back in Romania after being repatriated by France under a controversial policy backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Some 86 Roma left France and hundreds more will follow in the coming weeks after their camps were shut down.
The French government says it is a "decent and humane" policy of removing people from deplorable conditions.
But rights groups say the Roma are being demonised, and Romania has warned France against "xenophobic reactions".
"We understand the position of the French government. At the same time, we support unconditionally the right of every Romanian citizen to travel without restrictions within the EU," Romanian President Traian Basescu said.
However, Mr Basescu added that he was prepared to send police to France to help implement the repatriation scheme.
A deportee named Gabriel told the AFP news agency in Bucharest that life had been "very tough" in France, but he would not rule out returning because there was no work in Romania.
Another man said that in Romania "we don't have any chance, no jobs, nothing".
"Today, 86 people left France on the basis of what are called 'voluntary returns', 61 from Lyon on a special flight charted by the French Immigration and Integration Office, then 10 and 15 on two separate commercial flights from Roissy," said Immigration Minister Eric Besson on Thursday.
Another 139 were due to be flown out on Friday, he said, and hundreds more by the end of the month.
Exploitation claims
The Roma are EU citizens, mostly from Romania or Bulgaria, but French law requires them to have a work permit and prove they have the means to support themselves if they intend to stay for more than three months.
They complain that the permits are difficult to get, and so they are often forced to live illegally.
Roma who agree to leave have each receive 300 euros (£246; $384) and an additional 100 euros for each child.
The French government says it plans to shut down 300 illegal Roma camps in the next three months.
The controversial plan was put in place after clashes last month between police and travellers in the southern city of Grenoble and the central town of Saint-Aignan.
The Roma were not involved in all of the trouble, but the government said travellers' camps were sources of "illegal trafficking" and "exploitation of children for begging, of prostitution and crime".
Some 51 camps have already been demolished by police and the residents have been moved into temporary shelters or accommodation.
Popularity booster?
The operation has been condemned by human rights groups, who say it is deliberately stigmatising a generally law-abiding section of society to win support among right-wing voters.
• Roughly 12,000 Roma migrated to France after Bulgaria and Romania's accession to the EU
• Many have no work permits, so live in camps and resort to begging
• Separately, at least 400,000 people are designated "travellers", mostly French nationals with Roma origins
Last week, members of the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination criticised the tone of political discourse in France on race issues, saying racism and xenophobia were undergoing a "significant resurgence" there.
But France has insisted that the actions "fully conform with European rules and do not in any way affect the freedom of movement for EU citizens, as defined by treaties".
Foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told AFP that an EU directive "expressly allows for restrictions on the right to move freely for reasons of public order, public security and public health".
The European Commission said it would ensure none of the bloc's rules were being broken.
France repatriated some 10,000 Roma last year and other European countries, including Germany, Italy, Denmark and Sweden pursued similar policies.
Mr Sarkozy's political opponents have accused him of using the Roma issue to shift public attention away from corruption and on to crime.
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says that the president's poll rating is sagging and there are some who accuse him of using the recent unrest to boost his own popularity.
Some of the Roma living in France are part of long-established communities of travelling people who are French nationals.
In addition, there are an estimated 12,000 Roma who are recent immigrants from Central Europe.
"Some of these families have been in France for five, seven or 10 years and 300 euros is not enough to help them settle in Romania. They will return in the coming weeks," Malik Salemkour, the vice-president of the French Human Rights League, told the Reuters news agency.”

From BBC News Europe, 20 August 2010
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11020429

English Culture IV -The "Dawn of the Dead" and the consumer culture

2010-05-16T07:12:00.000-07:00

“Eating ‘Dawn’ in the Dark”
“Zombie desire and commodified identity in George A. Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’
Romero’s masterpiece about cannibal zombies plaguing the world is set in a US shopping center, redefining the zombie so as to infect consumer identity. The popular perception of mindless consumer as zombie is owed strictly to Dawn of the Dead (1979), and extends far beyond the film’s genre, demographics and era. This film - itself a commodity - has earned a place in the American imagination by undermining that very imagination’s dependence on commodity culture. A combination of film analysis, cultural studies and personal narrative, this essay endeavors to tell the story of the story called Dawn of the Dead by locating the postmodern zombie historically in popular culture, analyzing the film as a satire of what Romero calls ‘the false security of consumer society’, exploring Dawn as a commodity itself (one appropriated by the very consumer culture Romero sought to subvert), considering Dawn as a master tale spawning ‘rip-offs’ and hybrids, and articulating all the while the parallels between Dawn’s postmodern zombie and the North American consumer.”

http://joc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/short/3/1/83

English Culture IV - Jonathan Ive

2010-04-08T05:34:00.001-07:00

Jonathan Paul Ive, is an English designer and the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple Inc. He is internationally renowned as the principal designer of the iMac, aluminum and titanium PowerBook G4, MacBook, unibody MacBook Pro, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

As senior vice-president of design at Apple, Jonathan Ive has combined what he describes as “fanatical care beyond the obvious stuff” with relentless experiments into new tools, materials and production processes, to design such ground-breaking products as the iMAC, iBook, the PowerBook G4 and the iPod MP3 player. He won the Design Museum's first Designer of the Year prize for the 2002 iMac and iPod.

Born in London in 1967, Ive studied art and design at Newcastle Polytechnic before co-founding Tangerine, a design consultancy where he developed everything from power tools to televisions. In 1992, one of his clients – Apple – offered him a job at its headquarters in Cupertino, California. Working closesly with Apple’s co-founder, Steve Jobs, Ive developed the iMac. As well as selling more than 2m units in its first year, the iMac transformed product design by introducing colour and light to the drab world of computing where, until its arrival, new products were encased in opaque grey or beige plastic.

Ive and his close-knit team of designers at Apple have since applied the same lateral thinking and passionate attention to detail to the development of equally innovative new products such as the Cube, the iPod and the PowerBook G4, the world’s lightest and slimmest 17 inch laptop, and the ultra-slim iMac G5.

In my opinion this English designer has a fantastic and innovate work. It is a exceptional and exemplary work in the design of consumer goods, technology and furniture and it can transform the look of any workplace.

http://designmuseum.org/design/jonathan-ive

English Culture IV - Norman Foster

2010-04-08T04:02:00.001-07:00

“Norman Robert Foster, (born 1 June 1935) is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice. He is Britain's most prolific builder of landmark office buildings. In 2009 Foster was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award in the Arts category.

He was one of the architects who turned things around by proving that to make good buildings, it would not be necessary to abandon the principles of Modernism—clear structure, lucid forms—but simply to apply them with new rigor and imagination.

During the past 25 years, Foster has been the architect behind some of the most famous additions to the global skyline, including the Swiss Re headquarters in London that everybody calls the Gherkin and the Hearst Tower in New York City. Above all, he has been a pioneer among green architects. His headquarters for the Commerzbank in Frankfurt, completed in 1997, was the first ecologically correct office tower, with a central atrium that features multistory gardens that create natural ventilation. Foster doesn't merely prove that great architects can be great designers. He proves that they can be good citizens too.”

In my opinion Foster is a great architect and he has a excellent talent/skills and his buildings shows well this talent. The buildings are fantastic and they are a modern vision.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1647860_1647834_1644309,00.html

English Culture IV - Henry Moore

2010-04-06T09:59:00.001-07:00

Henry Moore was the most celebrated sculptor of his time, he demonstrated that Modernist sculpture was, after all, surprisingly adaptable to official needs. In this sense, Moore was the contemporary equivalent of the great Neo Classical sculptors such as Canova and Thorwaldsen.
He was best known for his abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art.
His forms are usually abstractions of the human figure, typically depicting mother-and-child or reclining figures. Moore's works are usually suggestive of the female body, apart from a phase in the 1950s when he sculpted family groups. His forms are generally pierced or contain hollow spaces. Moore was born in Castleford, the son of a mining engineer. He became well-known through his larger-scale abstract cast bronze and carved marble sculptures, and was instrumental in introducing a particular form of modernism to the United Kingdom. His ability in later life to fulfil large-scale commissions made him exceptionally wealthy. Yet he lived frugally and most of the money he earned went towards endowing the Henry Moore Foundation, which continues to support education and promotion of the arts.
Through my research on this artist, he is a central figure in the history of modern sculpture. Henry Moore was rated by some as the last of the old and by others as the first of the young.

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/moore.html
http://www.revistamuseu.com.br/galeria.asp?id=6828

English Culture IV - Damien Hirst

2010-04-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

Damien Steven Hirst (born 1965) is an English artist and the most prominent member of the group known as "Young British Artists" . He is internationally renowned, and is reputed to be the richest living artist to date.

Damien Hirst’s wide-ranging practice – installations, sculpture, painting and drawing – has sought to challenge the boundaries between art, science and popular culture. His energy and inventiveness, and his consistently visceral, visually arresting work, has made him a leading artist of his generation.

Hirst explores the uncertainty at the core of human experience; love, life, death, loyalty and betrayal through unexpected and unconventional media. Best known for the ‘Natural History’ works, which present animals in vitrines suspended in formaldehyde such as the iconic, his works recast fundamental questions concerning the meaning of life and the fragility of biological existence."

For me this artist has a very special sens of the life and everything is a reason to make art. The life is art.

http://gataescondida.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/damien_hirst-shark-1.jpg

http://www.whitecube.com/artists/hirst/

English Culture IV - Lucien Freud

2010-03-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

Lucien Freud Paints Queen Elizabeth II

“Lucien Freud is often described as Britain's greatest living figurative painter. So is it any wonder that Queen Elizabeth II agreed to his request to paint her portrait? One can only presume that she was familiar with Freud's style and knew what she was letting herself in for.

Some of the comments by critics of the painting seem surprised that Freud has had the audacity to paint his monarch in his usual intense, penetrating style. The Sun newspaper, never known for its tact, described it as "a travesty" saying Freud should be "locked in the Tower" for it. The editor of the British Art Journal is quoted as saying: "It makes her look like one of the royal corgis who has suffered a stroke."

Freud is quoted as saying this was because he "had always liked the way her head looks on stamps, wearing a crown" and he "wanted to make some reference to the extraordinary position she holds, of being the monarch."

Freud has described his paintings as "a kind of truth-telling exercise." And the truth of the matter is that the British monarch is not a young woman.

Article from About.com by Marion Boddy-Evans:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-499346/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-strikes--Bethlehem.html

In my research about Lucien Freud I saw this article that interested me. Here the ability of Lucien painting the Queen Elizabeth is questioned because of his intense style of painting.

English Culture IV - Banksy

2010-03-11T09:11:00.000-08:00

Banksy

Graffiti artist Banksy strikes again - in Bethlehem

"Elusive graffiti artist Banksy has struck again, this time in the Holy Land with a series of stencilled works on the security wall in Bethlehem.

The Bristol-born artist has adorned the West Bank barrier with six new images, including a dove wearing a flak jacket and a soldier being frisked by a young girl.

Banksy has adorned the West Bank barrier with six new images

Banksy has previously painted on the 436-mile long concrete wall that borders large sections of the occupied territories.

Constructed by Israel, the barrier has been condemned by activists and declared illegal by the United Nations.

It now showcases the work of possibly the most well-known and popular graffiti artists around.

Also among the latest additions are a soldier checking the papers of a donkey and one of the artist's trademark rats next to a watch tower.

Banksy, whose work was originally seen in Brighton and London's East End, is one of a number of celebrated graffiti artists who have daubed the West Bank wall over the last few weeks.

Santa's Ghetto will be open from tomorrow to Christmas Eve.

Fans of Banksy, known to include Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, will be able to pick up original work by the artist but will have to visit the exhibition in person.

Banksy said: "If it is safe enough for a bunch of sissy artists then it is safe enough for anyone."

Article from Mail Online : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-499346/Graffiti-artist-Banksy-strikes--Bethlehem.html

English Culture IV - Gilbert and George

2010-03-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

Gilbert and George

“Gilbert & George place themselves, their thoughts and their feelings at the centre of their art, and almost all of the images they use are gathered within walking distance of their home in London’s East End. Yet their pictures capture a broad human experience, encompassing an astonishing range of emotions and themes, from rural idylls to gritty images of a decaying London; from fantastical brightly-coloured panoramas to raw examinations of humanity stripped bare; from sex advertisements to religious fundamentalism.

From the beginning, they wanted to communicate beyond the narrow confines of the art world, adopting the slogan ‘Art for All’. As a result they have joined the very small handful of artists to become household names, and their impeccably-dressed figures are instantly recognisable to the general public. Bringing together a selection of pictures that spans their entire 40-year career, it is fitting that Gilbert &George: Major Exhibition is the largest retrospective of any artist to be held at Tate Modern.”

In this video George and Gilbert talk about the "Major Exibition" of them that happened in 2007 in London at Tate Modern.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/gilbertandgeorge/default.shtm

My museum (English Culture II)

2009-06-06T12:02:00.000-07:00

Museum Guide

All these objects that I present have a very important symbolic value for me.

1. Photo (1988). Is a picture were I am (2 years old) with my aunts, who I admire and I like very much.

2."Sailor Moon" and Dragon Ball". When I was 6/7 years old (1993/1994), my favourites cartoons were the "Sailor Moon" and "Dragon Ball".

3. A necklace with my name. When I was 8 years old my grandfather gave me a necklace with my name. I loved it.

4. The "Titanic" movie. "Titanic" was a movie that I liked very much.

5. My diary. This is the diary when I was teenager.

6. CD´s of Back Streetboys. I was a fan of B.S.B. I loved the music of them.

7. My bear of plush. When I was 14 years old (2000), my friends gave me this bear. He has the symbol of my football club.

8. My first mobile. My parents gave me my first mobile when I was 15 years old.

9. Image of "Notre Dame de la Garde". This image is a souvenir of when I went to Marseille (France) visit the sanctuary of "Notre Dame de la Garde" in 2002.

10. A gift offered by my grandmother in 2003. This is one of the most beautiful gift I have.

Summary (english culture II)

2009-02-15T05:14:00.000-08:00

More students can not take good grades and especially because this should not respond correctly to the questions.
To improve this situation, it is necessary to go through some stages. Before any work or presentation, the student must identify the content of their work and explain their case and justify the information. The student needs knowledge of previous arguments in the area they are creating an original argument about. They must not only know these things, but synthesize them, because the students memorize the information without understanding and then can not synthesize this information.
To conclude, students must present their point of view, but reasoned.

Popstars

2008-12-10T12:48:00.000-08:00

Inglish Culture I (L.R.E)

A culture created by me:

The culture Popstars is a movement that appeared recently, between 2006 and 2007. This culture adopting an individualistic way of life, without any communion with mother-nature.
They are always in big cities, in good houses, tary, 5-star hotels or shopping centers, therefore, popstars are allergic to the rural environment and all that it envolves.
There aren't any religion, because, for them, they are gods.
They defend the materialism and are fans of luxury and egocentrism, and can't live without a life with money, luxury and property.
They are against any kind of affection like love, friendship, compassion.
For them, the world and surrounding goes around popstars.
Good homes, good cars, good clothes, and a lot of money, are an integral part of popstar culture by his materialistic and egocentric character.
As a symbol of their culture, they have a bill (money).
Popstars is a culture easily reconignized, because walking in high-end cars and wear clothes just for goods brands, always very well-dressesd and never repeat any piece of clothing.
They have bodyguards and hundreds of employees. The arrogance, materialism and egocentrism are some of the main characteristics of this culture.

Olá

2008-10-28T14:08:00.001-07:00

Olá!!!