The carnival of Venice

The carnival was originally an ancient Roman festival which has characterised by feasting, gift-giving and role reversal. Many people believe that the name "carnival" is derived from the Latin "carne vale", which means "farewell to meat". It marked the end of winter and the time to use up any meat that people had stored in their homes before it became inedible due to te warmer temperatures. One of the most common features of carnivals was for revellers to disguise themseleves br dressing up and wearing masks.

By the mid 17th century, the carnival of Venice had become the most famous. It was a time for rich and poor to forget their class differences and unite in celebration. This was made easier by the wearing of masks, which hid the identity, and class, of the wearer. People woud meet in the town's squares where there would be a lot of food, wine, dancing and entretainment. The festivities stopped at the end of the 18th century when Venice became part of the Austrian empire and the canival was banned.

In 1979, the Venice Carnival was reinstated, and since then, its popularity has grown and grown.

The tourists love it, but not so the Venetians.

Many residents even leave the city during the carnival period in order to avoid the mobs of tourists.

What to do?

Ireland's schools have suffred from an increase in discipline problems in recent years. A survey published last week on students' behaviour foun that 97% of staff suffered unacceptable levels of verba abbuse, threatening behaviour or problems with truancy. Instead of penalising the schools, the Irish government wanted to offer more support.

The minister for education and science saide that teachers have to address problem behaviour in the classroom, and shoudn't automatically expel the problem students. Of course, there are some factors involved that schools cannot control, including the behaviour of children at home or on the streets. However, the minister believes that the first step is to provide more assistance to the teachers and students in the classroom.

They has suggested a number of different solutions to the problem. The first steps is for schools to identify serious discipline problems. Then, further measures can be implemented. These include providing more support teachers in the classroom, recruiting learning mentors for the problem students and improving communication with parents.

Although there is a long way to go, the minister is confident that these measures will be successful.

Handsome Men

There was a time when male grooming was just about a quick wash, a shave and a splash of aftershave. Fast forward to the present day, however, and the unthinkable has happened. Role models such as David Beckham and Brad Pitt are influencing how men see themselves. These new, improved men are now spending more time in the bathroom than women.

A recent report in Health for Men magazine examines trends in the European market in male beauty products, and shows changing attitudes in men. According to the report, men are now aware, and they are spending more than 5 billion pounds annually on their appearance. While men didn't use any products like moisturisers and body lotions in the past, today about 40% think skincare is extremely or very important. Manufacturers are now offering a lot of male products, such as Nivea for Men, Gillete Complete Skincare and a new Clearasil line.

So, what does all this mean for women? Maybe it is time to get a bigger bathroom. Men need their space in front of the mirror, too!

The biggest playboy of the history

Hello, yesterday I was watching the film Giacomo Casanova, played by Heath Ledger and I really loved it, I was fascinated by the character so I've decided to investigate more the story of his life. By the way I highly recomend the film, it is amazing XD.

Giacomo Casanova was a soldier, a musician, a spy, a writer an adventurer and the world's most famous lover! His autobiography, A History of My Life, written between 1790 and1792, tells the stories of his adventures with 122 women!

Casanova was born in Venice in 1725, and was very intelligent. He studied to be a priest, but he didn't become a priest because he loved wine and women too much! He believed in God all his life and said that eventually his prayers were allways answered. Casanova graduated from the University of Padua in 1742 and two years later he started work as secretary to a cardinal in Rome. Sadly he had to leave the city a few months later beacuse of a love scandal. The following year he travelled to Naples, Corfu and Constantinople, before he decided to return to Venice, his birthplace, and work as a violinist.

Casanova met the love of his life in 1749, a beautiful young Frenchwoman, Henrietta.

He said, "People who believe that a woman is not enough to make a man happy have never known 'Henrietta'." To his surprise Henrietta left him, and Casanova remembers this day in his autobiography as one of the saddest moments in his life."What is love?" he asked, and compared love to an incurable illness. After a while Casanova returned to his family.

Casanova was a gambler and 1757 he invented the lottery. Amazingly this made him a millionaire. He continued to travel and had adventures across Europe for the following 41 years, translating operas, writing plays and studying magic. Giacomo Casanova died in June 1798.

PLACE NAME CHANGES

PLACE NAMES SELDOM REMAIN THE SAME. WHAT IS CALLED NEW YORK CITY TODAY WAS ONCE NEW AMSTERDAM. THE BRITISH CITY YORK WAS ONCE CALLED EBORACUM BY THE ROMANS. YET, OVER THE LAST FEW DECADES, MAINLY AS A RESULT OF POLITICAL CHANGES, THERE HAVE BEEN A LARGE NUMBER OF "NEW" NAMES ARE ACTUALLY QUITE THE OPPOSITE. THEY ARE IN FACT THE NAMES THAT THESE PLACES WERE ONCE CALLED MANY YEARS AGO.

ONE OF THE MAIN RESONS FOR CHANGE IS TAHT MANY CITIES ARE NOW OPTING TO GO BACK TO THE NAMES THAT THEY HAD BEFORE THEY WERE COLONISED BY EUROPEAN POWERS. CONSQUENTLY, THE CAPITAL OF CHINA, WHICH FOR YEARS USED TO BE KNOWN AS PEKIN, HAS NOW REVERTED TO BEIJIN( WHICH MEANS THE CAPITAL OF THE NORTH IN CHINESE). FOR THE SAME REASON, BOMBAY IS NOW KNOWN AS MUMBAI.

YET ON OCCASIONS THE CHOICE OF A NAME CAN CAUSE MUCH TENSION WITH A COUNTRY'S NEIGHBOURS. WHEN THE STATES WHICH ONCE FORMED YUGOSLAVIA CLAIMED INDEPENDENCE, THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA CHOSE TO BE CALLED MACEDONIA. THIS, HOWEVER, WAS UNACCEPTABLE TO GREECE, WHICH HAS GOT A NORTHERN PROVINCE REFERRED TO BY THE SAME NAME. A COMPROMISE WAS REACHED WHEN THE NEW COUNTRY ACCEPTED THE TITLE OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA, OR FYROM.

THERE ARE MANY REASONS FOR KEEPING UP-TO-DATE WITH THE CHANGES OF PLACE NAMES IN THE WORLD. FIRST OF ALL, IT IS IMPORTANT FOR POSTAL SERVICES AND COMPANIES INVOLVED IN TOURISM OR PUBLIC TRANSPORT TO BE AWARE OF NEW NAMES. IT IS ALSO ESSENTIAL FOR RESCUE WORKERS AND CHARITIES WHICH SEND AID TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO BE INFORMED OF CHANGES TO PLACE NAMES. FINALLY, FOREIGN MINISTRIES MUST BE ABLE TO AVOID SITUATIONS WHERE THE WRONG PLACE NAME IS USED, THUS CAUSING AT BEST EMBARRASSMENT OR T WORST INSULT TO THE COUNTRIES INVOLVED.

MOBILE PHONES

IT IS INDISPUTABLE THAT MOBILE PHONES ARE A FACT OF LIFE. PEOPLE CAN BE SEEN AND HEARD USING THEM AT ALMOST ANY TIME IN ALMOST ANY PLACE. IN FACT, IT SOMETIMES SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO IMAGINE HOW WE ONCE GOT ON WITHOUT THEM. YET, IN JAPAN, ONE OF THE COUNTRIES WHICH GAVE THE WORLD THE MOBILE PHONE, PEOPLE ARE NOW BEGINNING TO REALISE THAT THIS NOISY INVENTION COULD BE A THREAT TO THEIR ANCIENT CULTURAL VALUES. JAPANESE PEOPLE ARE GENERALLY NOT TOLERANT OF LOUD NOISES. DRIVERS DO NOT HOOT IN ANGER. CAR ALARMS ARE SILENT. PEOPLE DO NOT SHOUT IN PUBLIC AND STRANGERS RARELY TALK TO ONE ANOTHER. SOCIAL HARMONY IS A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF JAPANESE CULTURE AND JAPANESE SOCIETY EXPECTS MOBILE PHONES USERS TO MANTAIN THAT SOCIAL HARMONY.

INSTRUCTION MANUALS IN JAPAN ADVISE MOBILE PHONE USERS TO PUT THE PHONE ON VIBRATE OR MESSAGE MODE WHILE TRAVELLING ON A TRAIN. IN TOKYO THE USE OF MOBILE PHONE IS PROHIBITED ON CITY BUSES AND THE UNDERGROUND. IF A CUSTOMER'S PHONE RINGS IN SOMRE RESTAURANTS, THE WAITER WILL POLITELY ASK THEM TO TAKE THEIR CALL IN A SPECIAL ROOM FOR PHONE CONVERSATIONS. IN OTHER RESTAURANTS OR BARS, THERE ARE SIGNS ASKING COSTUMERS TO TURN OFF THEIR MOBILE PHONES.

IN SPITE OF THIS,PEOPLE ARE UNWILLING TO SWITCH OFF THEIR PHONES. SO WILL THE MOBILE PHONE DESTROY TRADITIONAL VALUES WHICH HAVE LASTED OF YEARS? PERHAPS NOT. HELP HAS COME FROM A VERY UNUSUAL SOURCE-- THE MOBILE PHONES COMPANIES THEMSELVES. THEY HAVE LAUNCHED A COMPAIGN AIMED AT THE MORALS OF MOBILE PHONES USERES. THEY HAVE PUT UP ADEVRETS WITH MESSAGES LIKE:"EVERYBODY ON THE TRAIN CAN HEAR WHAT YOU WOULDN'T TELL YOUR MOTHER". SO WILL THIS COMPAIGN MAKE JAPANESE PEOPLE RESIST THE TEMPTATION TO USE THEIR MOBILES IN PUBLIC PLACES? THAT STILL REMAINS TO BE SEEN.

DNA

HI, THE LAST DAY I WAS READING A SCIENCE MAGAZINE (MUY INTERESANTE :P) AND I FOUND AN ARTICLE WHICH TALKED ABOUT GENETIC HISTORY. THE FACT IS THAT THERE IS A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS WHICH IS WORKING ON A PROJECT THAT WILL REVEAL THE GENETIC MAKE-UP OF THE BRITISH PEOPLE. APPARENTLY YHEY WILL TAKE BLOOD SAMPLES FROM THOUSENDS OF VOLUNTEERS FROM CRONWALL IN THE SOUTH TO THE SHETLAND ISLANDS IN THE NORTH, STUDY THE DNA PATTERNS FOR EACH REGION AND THEN COMPARE THE RESULTS.

THIS WAY THEY WILL NOT ONLY BE ABLE TO CREATE A GENETIC HISTORY OF BRITAIN, BUT WILL ALSO COLLECT IMPORTANT INFOTMATION REGARDING DISEASE PATTERNS AROUND THE COUNTRY.

THE SCIENTISTS WILL ONLY TAKE SAMPLES FROM VOLUNTEERS WHO LIVE IN THE RURAL AREAS AND WHOSE PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS ALSO LIVED IN THE SAME AREA. THIS IS BECAUSE CITIES ARE COMPOSED OF MIXED POPULATIONS WHO HAVE COME FROM A VARIETY OF AREAS AND THEREFORE THEIR DNA PATTERNS WOULD BE TOO MIXED UP FOR A TRUE GENETIC PICTURE TO BE FORMED.

WANT TO REMOVE YOUR TATTOOS?

ACCORDING TO SOME SOCIETIES OF DERMATOLOGICAL SURGERY OVER 50 PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE WHO GET A TATTOO EVENTUALLY WANT IT REMOVED. SOME ARE BORED WITH IT, OTHERS HAVE CHANGED THEIR LIFESTYLE. THA MAJORITY, HOWEVER, ARRIVE AT HE DERMATOLOGIST'S CLINIC IN THE AFTERMATH OF A BREAKE-UP. FOR THEM, THE TATTOO, WHICH ONCE HAD A ROMANTIC SIGNIFICANCE, IS NOW JUST A PAINFUL REMINDER OF A RELATIONSHIP THAT FAILED.

HOW SUCCESSFUL IS TATOO REMOVAL? THERE ARE A NUMBER OF FACTORS INVOLVED, INCLUDING THE SIZE OF THE TATTOO, ITS LOCATION, COLOUR, HOW IT WAS ORIGINALLY APPLIED AND THE INDIVIDUAL'S ABILITY TO HEAL.

FOR INSTANCE, A TATTO APPLIED BY AN EXPERIENCED ARTIST MAY BE EASIER TO REMOVE SINCE THE PIGMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN EVENLY INJECTED IN THE SAME LAYER OF THE SKIN. NEW TATTOOS ARE OFTEN MORE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE THAN OLDE ONES ARE, AS ARE YELLOW AND GREEN ONES COMPARED TO BLUE AND BLACK ONES.

WHY DO KIDS STAY AT HOME NEARLY FOR EVER?

TODAY, YOUNG ADULTS ARE CHOOSING TO REMAIN IN THEIR PARENT'S HOME FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS. THEY MIGHT HAVE LOST A JOB OR CAN'T FIND ONE, AND SO CAN'T AFFORD TO LIVE ON THEIR OWN. SOME YOUNG ADULTS WANT TO CONTINUE THE WARM AND SUPPORTIVE PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIP THAT THEY HAVE ALWAYS HAD. YOUNG PEOPLE ALSO REMAIN AT HOME SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS JUST EASIER TO STAY THERE WITH ANY RESPONSIBILITY.

THIS FACT MAY BE OCCUR BECAUSE OF THE LONLINESS WHICH BRINGS PARENTS AND THEIR ADULT CHILDREN TOGETHER.

THE PARENTS, SUDDENLY, WITHOUT THEIR CHILDREN AT HOME, FEEL THIS EMPTINESS AND ARE PLEASED WHEN THEIR CHLDREN RETURN.

KARAOKE

KARAOKE, WHICH MEANS AN EMPTY ORCHESTRA HAS BEEN A VERY POPULAR WAY OF ENTRETAINMENT IN BARS AND PUBS IN JAPAN SINCE THE 1970S.

TODAY IS BECOMING A HOME ENTRETAINMENT, AND THANKS TO THE LOWER PRICES AND SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGY, MORE AND MORE PEOPLE CHOSE TO ENTRETAIN THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WITH IT.

BEFORE YOU HAD TO PAY BETWEEN 500$ AND 2000$, BUT TODAY YOU CAN BUY SOME KARAOKES FOR LESS THAN 100$.

ONE VERSION, OF THE KARAOKE OFFERS NEW FEATURES LIKE THE ABILITY TO CHANGE THE PITCH OF THE SINGER AS HE OR SHE IS SINGING SO THAT IT IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE PITCH OF THE SONG WHICH IS PLAYED.

THE MOST CURIOUS IS THAT THE PITCH-CORRECTION HAS BEEN USED SO MANY YEARS BEFORE BY PROFESSIONAL SINGERS ESPECIALLY WHEN PERFORMING AT CONCERTS, ALTHOUGH NONE OF THEM WILL ACTUALLY ALLOW THE MANUFACTURERS TO REVEAL THEIR NAMES.

The Banyoles Lake

According to the legend the Banyoles Lake, was formed like this

A story from the 8th century, tells of a great beast which lives beside the lake. It is the last descendant of the prehistoric beast that lived in that region. It lives in a deep cave and it is not good to disturb him.

According to what people said, the beast had a voracious appetite and it devoured the peasants' flocks. They lived hidden at home protected by walls. In fact, every night one man disappeared from his house.

One day, Charlemagne arrived there and, having heard about the beast, he decided to go to kill it. When the soldiers arrived there, the dragon came out of its cave giving off its foul breath and they began to cough because of the toxic cloud that formed around them.

After that, the peasants asked a monk to help. He had arrived with Charlemagne's troops, was called "Mer" (Sant Emerio).

The monk went to the dragon's cave and began to pray, after that they both went out and the peasants asked the monk to kill him.

The monk stopped them and told them it was harmless and it only ate grass and roots.

And when they asked him about the disappeared people he told them the truth: the disappeared people were fighting with Charlemagne who stole all the flock

The big monster went back to its cave and even today, if somebody tries to disturb it, it will give off its foul breath against them.

A book you really have to read....or watch.

Q & A by Vikas Swarup, is a picaresque Bombay novel. This wonderfully written book, tells us about the adventures and misfortunes of Rama, who has won a game-show.

The author, born in Allahabad (India), worked as a diplomatic in countries such as Turkey, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia and the United States. Since August 2006 he has been in Pretoria as India's Deputy High Commissioner.

This book has been translated into 33 languages and has won several awards such as Best First Book by the Commonwealth Writers' Prize or Paris Book Fair's Readers' Prize, the Prix Grand Public 2007 and others.

Q&A is about a poor teenager who wins a fantstic sum at a TV program, the Indian version of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? After that, he is immediately arrested on suspicion of cheating in each answer to the questions of the program. So he relates his life experience, describing the people he has met, his sensations, his thoughts, his feelings, his fears,... Since he was a child until the present.

For example, in one chapter he explains how he knew the answer to the question:"Which is the smallest planet?": he was living in a guesthouse and new tenants arrived, a family with a daughter. The father was an astronomer and he was always speaking about stars, constellations, comets and galaxies while Rama was listening through the wall using a glass. One day, daughter found a cat and the father named it Pluto becuase now the cat was the youngest in the family. So that's why Rama knew the correct answer was Pluto. But Rama fell in love with the girl and to protect her he had to do something horrible.

I highly recommend this book because it is an entretaining novel, full of details from India's life and you will get hooked on it from beginning to end.

"My Hobby:Reading"

Hi, I didn't know what to write here so I have decided to post up an old interview

that I had made to my neighbour. Here it goes:

"My hobby is reading. I read story books, magazines, newspapers and any kind of material that I find interesting.

This hobby got started when I was a little girl. I liked reading novels, story books. But my parents didn't like that I read these types of books because they thought the most important thing and the best thing for me was to get good school results. And you know to get good results, you have to study hard and spend time on it. Reading would be a waste of time they thought. So I read books every night, secretly, when they had gone to sleep.

Now I read just about anything is available. Reading enbles me to learn about so many things that I would otherwise not know. I learn about the wonders of the world, space travel, human achievement, gigantic whales, tiny virus and other fascinating things of our world.

The wonderful thing about reading is that I don't have to learn things the hard way. For example, I don't have to catch a disease to know it can kill me, I know the danger so I can avoid it. Also, I don't have to go deep into the jungle to learn about the tiger, I can read all aboout it in a book.

Books provide the reader with so much information and facts. They have certainly helped me in my daily life. I am better equiped to cope with life. Otherwise I would go about ignorantly learning things the hard way.

So I continue to read. Apart form being more informed about the world, I also spend my time profitably.

It is indeed a good hobby."

Animals

This is an answer to my friend Mara who does think I hate animals: it i not true at all!

In my opinion animals are important for two reasons. The first one is food: we need animals to have something to eat.

And the second reason is pets. I think that all people should have a pet. And that is my case. I have a rabbit and I really get on well with him. For me it is more than a pet, he is a mate. He's called Bello and he runs freely around my room. He is well-behaved , he pees and poops in his cage.

If you are alone at home and you feel lonely, you can call him and he comes. Pets never get angry and they are always there. So that is why I think that all of us should have a pet.

In addition, it is also amazing to see wild animals in their natural habitat, so all in all animals are part of our life and we need them.

Family Liaison Worker.

Hello, this is just to introduce you something which is pretty strange here in spain: Family Liaison Wroker.

A Family Liaison Wroker works as an assitant to answer any question you may have about every day life. They usually have years of experience with working with children and families and they are able to assist you with any information you may require both school/ home related.

They can signpost you to relevant outside agencies that may be able to support you.

They use to work independently so you can speak with them in confidence.

One of thier roles is to support the schools, Teacher and Assistants with childrens PHSE developement which has been most successful in other schools.

As a parent my aunt is aware of the ups and downs of being a parent. It is one of the hardest jobs to do at times!

Family Liaison Workers are here to offer you help and support so you can feel free to contact them. Do not think your issues are not important. However small, they will do their best to help. they are always interested to hear about your ideas on courses.

William Shakespeare: plays and theatres

William Shakespeare was fascinated by plays from an early childhood. When his father became High Bailiff of Stratford, he and his family used to see plays whenever actors came to visit the town. This was how William Shakespeare developed his taste for the theatre.

In the 1580s, William Shakespeare reached London where he started to learn his acting skills. He chosed to work in a theatre because there were lots of mini jobs to do, such as keeping rich people's horses, sweeping the floor after the plays and reminding actors when to go on stage. Later William became an actor himself, finding it so fun to be in a play that he decided to write his own play scripts.

William Shakespeare played in important part in developing history plays where he clearly enjoyed mixing tragedies and comedies, high life and low life.

For example, he could transform love to a tragic theme like in "Romeo and Juliet" or turn it to pure force as he did in "The Merry Wives of Windsor".

William's ideas came from old stories, poemes as he wrote in verses and real events like in Macbeth he used the power of witchcraft to please James I, an adept of sorcery.

He became the most favourite writer in London. Sadly a plague hit London and he had to stop writing for two years between 1592 and 1594 as all the theatre were closed. Instead he wrote 154 beautiful short poems called sonnets because they only had 14 lines; 126 sonnets were adressed to a young nobleman, the rest to a mysterious dark lady. "The Rape of Lacrece" was dedicated to the Earl of Southampton who paid apparently 1000 pounds.

William Shakespeare was selective about the actors he employed. The only female he had, played the lead role of Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet". In his other plays all the parts were taken by men, with boys or youth playing as women and children.

Theatre companies had between 8-12 "sharers" who run the business and played the leading charcters like Burbage and Shakespeare himself as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Liar. Shakespeare's company was called "The Lord Chamberlain's Men" then later changed its name to "The King's Men".

Comic parts went to Thomas Pope or Will Kemp (both clowns) until he left the company in 1599 and was replaced by Robert Armin who had a beautiful voice so Shakespeare would write songs for him to sing in his plays.

William Shakespeare's play writing career probably ended when the Globe theatre burnt down in 1613 and was completely destroyed from a cannon shot during Henry VIII. He had written 37 plays.

Goth subculture

• The goth subculture is a contemporary subcuture which began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. the gothic rock became its own subgenre within post-punk, and that followers of these bands started to come together as a distinctly recognizable movememtn gothic rock. as opposed to punk, gothic rock combines dark, often keyboard-heavy music with introspective and depressing lyrics.

However, by the 1990s, the term goth subculture had become more contentious.

the ideology of this subgenre is inspired by the romanticism and neoromanticism and it is based far more on aesthetics and simplified ethics than politics.

During the late 18th and 19th century, feelings of horror and supernatural dread were widespread motifs in popular literature; nowadays we can see that this process in the modern horror films.

• The mass media has made reports that the have influenced the public view that goths, or people associated with the subculture, are malicious; however this is disputed and the goth subculture is often described as non-violent and, contrary of what some people think, goths are usually not supportive of violence, but rather tolerant.


• Goth fashion is stereotyped as a dark, sometimes morbid, style of dress. Styles are often borrowed from the Elizabethan, Victorian or medieval period and often express Catholic or other religious imagery such as crucifixes or ankhs.

Today we do accept more this subculture as we see in dark films like the famous Interview with the Vampire and all the Anne Rice's saga.

And also we are somehow attracted by this genre, which is a kind mysterious for us, so it is more common to hear about new gothic bands in the music field.

After all, no matter which culture it is, we will always have new other cultures that will interest us and that we can like or not.

How will be the world?

Describing what the world will be like in the year 2050 is a very relative topic because not everybody has the same visions of this question.
I don't have a clear vision about this subject,for this reason,then,I will explain other visions.
On the one hand,there are people who think that in the future the world will be very different and more modern than in the present. They believe that in the world of year 2050 tecnology will develope a lot and everything will be computerized;there will be things as for example,robots,computers that recognize their owners,etc...
On the other hand,there are people that,against the first group,think that there will be a social and moral development,for instance,people will learn to respect each other and respect the environment. Moreover,there will be not injustice neither prejudice,and the world will be an equal world.
In conclusion,I disagree with these visions because the first is too technological and the second is a utopian vision.In my opinion,I believe that,with the current situation,it is impossible to know what the world will be like in the year 2050.

Monet and the Japanese world

Claude Monet almost never left Europe and even never traveled to Japan. But in his Giverny home in France,he surrounded himself with Japanese woodblock prints(56 in his dining room). He first collected Japanese prints in the 1860s,andthis passion would last for over three decades. At the end of his life, he owned 231 Japanese engravings.

Monet never recopied the Japanese engravings. But Monet carefully analyzed the prints. The structure and the colours of Mont Fuji by Hokusai inspired Monet for a canvas of the Grainstack. The Japanese artists liked to feature the anecdotic or dramatic moments whereas Monet concentrated on light,which was the very subject of the canvas.

Like many other artists,Monet considered Japanese culture as very artistic,shaped by the refind aesthetic tastes of its people. As far as Monet is concerned,the way Japanese art shaped his style and the way he saw the world around him can be noticed in many of his canvases as early as the 1870s. He began collecting woodblocks by the greatest masters,Hokusai,Hiroshige,Utamaro....

Through Monet paintings,we could clearly establish a link with a Japanese printmaking world especially with his well-known Japanese bridge in Giverny or in his famous series of Haystack as above as well as the Glycines,and notably his Nymphéas.

The world of Claude Monet was ever since influenced by this oriental tradition of the philosophical contemplation of the nature.

When Monet travelled to Norway to Sandviken village in 1985 he imagined he was in Japan.

Heath Ledger:R I P

Heathcliff Andrew Ledger was born on 4th April,1979 in Perth(Western Australia). His family was Scottish and Irish. His father, Kim Ledger,was a mining engineer and his mother, Sally Ledger Bell, was a French teacher.

Heath Ledger started his career while he was in high school. His first film was `Two Hands´.In 1999 Ledger started his career in Holywood with `Ten things I hate about you´. After that´, he participated in `The patriot´and was protagonist in `A knight's tale´.

In 2001 he won showest award for his role in `The patriot´but his most important film was `Brokeback Mountain´. With this film he won an Oscar nd was nominated for Golden Globe in 2005 . He was also a protagonist in a new version of `Casanova´,`The dark knight´and ´The imaginarium of Dr. Pamassus´,that he couldn't finish, but the film will be completed with Colin Farrel,Jude Law and Johnny Depp.

Heath Ledger was not only a talented actor. He was a producer and director of music videos. He was also a good spotsman and he had a future as hockhey player.

Besides, he was married and he had a daughter.

Heath Ledger died on 22 of January 2008 in Manhattan at the age f 28.

A film you really have to see: BRAVEHAEART

Braveheart is about Scottish Independence wars whose leader is William Wallace. If you like historical films with a lot of action, you will love this type of film very much.

It is an epic historical film situated in Scotland in the 12th century, William Wallace, played by Mel Gibson, is a warrior who fights against Edward I, the English King, for Scottish freedom. When his wife dies murdered by an Englishman, Wallace searches revenge.

He organizes a warrior army with scottish patriots who want Scotland to be free for ever.

Mel Gibson is the director,producer and protagonist of this film. The acting is brilliant and the film is absolutely exciting.

Moreover,the special effects are rather good and the soundtrack, of Celtic music,is totally great,and the extras act brilliantly.

In my opinion,I think that this film is really interesting,and it is one of the best films that I have seen. If you want to know more about scottish independence you can see this film. I am sure you will really enjoy it.

How is your ideal school?

I think that,describing an ideal school is not too difficult because everyone has thought about their ideal school some time. Then,I will describe what my ideal school would be like.
On the one hand,the school would have the basic things as air-conditioned,a good blackboard and heating,if it is possible,in good conditions. Furthermore, classes would have comfortable tables and chairs and highest tecnology like computers,televisions,DVDs and good stereos.
On the other hand,it would have other important things as a relaxed atmosphere,freedom of choice and democratic principles in ordern to create a better atmosphere to study and a bit of independence for students so that they would not feel under pressure. Although,not everyone will agree with these ideas because some people think that students need strict discipline and rules.
In conclusion,I believe that in order to achieve my ideal school it is necessary to be responsible students and have a lot of money.