Closing semester one and looking to the future

Hello to those of you here at English Lines.

Congratulations on contributions of those who have managed to keep this blog running. This is an active group in part, so I hope you manage to keep going next semester and even on. Who knows?

It may be a useful place for Luis to keep in touch with us all and likewise.

I am not sure the extent to which a blog really encourages interaction – response to postings. Naturally, blogs seem to promote opinion giving without necessarily encouraging dialogue and debate. What do you think?

Next semester I am looking for ways to encourgae online discussion within blog groups: need the technology!

All the best in keeping creativity alive. Let it be at your fingertips, adn as for diaries!!!! They are in your hands :-)

Allyson

Tarja

Remember Tarja from Nightwish?

She's finally back, but as a solo singer! Check out her debut single





In this video you can see all the characters of the album. Although it is not a concept album, it does sound like one :)
There's the girl (the main character), the Doll (who stars the song "The Escape of the Doll"), the Boy ("Boy and the Ghost") and the Phoenix ("My little Phoenix")

Hope you like her :)

Presentations

Here we are, back in that time of the year when, on the one hand we want to celebrate our month off college, but on the other hand, we feel anxious to know our marks.

Well, in the meantime, why not going back and remember this semester’s presentations?

First of all I’ve got to apologize for not having notes about everyone’s presentation, so feel free to add anything you want :)

DAY 1

*Andreia and Dalila came to teach us a lesson about advertisement, both on paper and on video. They brought loads of examples of both kinds, and explained them. I’ve got to tell you that, if they didn’t talk about the eleven types of advertisements, I would have never noticed how different they are from one another.

*Next up was Joana, talking about both Maya Angelou and her Names. Well, actually it would be almost impossible to talk about one without talking about the other, as Names is Maya’s autobiography, from all Joana explained. It is wonderful how she could condemn the racial segregation just by telling us the story of her name!

*Then, we were visited by the wonderful ghost-ship Mary Celeste, all thanks to Luis. The whole story is delicious, how the ship was first found with everything on it but people and suddenly all the alcohol had just vanished… Am I the only one who suddenly thinks of Roanoke? And yeah, literature also gives an amazing hand on creating myths!

*Paula came next with three cartoons about tobacco. She reminded us of the famous new Portuguese law about smoking. And gave crucial information that could be considered as a motivation to stop smoking: it only takes 24 hours without smoking to reduce the risk of having a stroke.

*I (Sandra) went next, with an extra-fast (but not quick) presentation about the writers’ strike. Why is there a strike, what do the writers want and who’s supporting them were the main topics I wanted to develop the best I could. Hope I didn’t scare you with the prediction of a 9/10 months strike!

*Raquel was the sixth person of the day, bringing us a bunch of cartoons about obesity. She gave us a definition, explained us some of the causes, told us the effects and gave some advices on what to do.

*Closing up the day we had Joana Carlos with some somewhat scary cartoons about technology. I mean, scary because they are true! Have you ever tried to read a 16-year-old-girl profile on hi5 or myspace? Or, on the other hand, have you ever been on someone’s luxurious living room and then visited the poor rest of the place?

DAY 2

I know I missed some presentations in that day, so, again, I’m sorry. Feel free to add information about those presentations that aren’t here :)

*When I arrived, Pedro was trying to load some videos about drifting (too bad he couldn’t… I really wanted to see them. What about posting the links?). He told us it history and its techniques. Oh, and wouldn’t it be great if FIA recognized drifting and we could watch on TV?

*Next up was Tiago and Maddie, who brought us some information about Egyptian Gods and Symbols. They showed us the main Egyptian Gods and explained their importance. Then they talked about the meaning of some of the most known symbols, and brought us some “living” examples, so that we could see by ourselves.

*After that we had Maria João talking about AIDS. She explained the origins, gave an overview of the problem and showed us some of the official statistics that are already terrifying, considering that they will never be complete!

*Closing up the second day of presentations, there was Rogério, who brought us a different sight over 9/11. He raised some unanswered questions that can actually make one think about what really happen that day! Vanishing plains, strange falls of the towers, suspect meetings… Well, I say: too much coincidence!

A little challenge...

Hi guys!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Well, I was thinking and suddenly something came to my mind. Although these vacations were somewhat short, and most of us spent them preparing the end of the semester, there must have happened something we'd love to share with each others, right? So, here's my challenge for the whole group: why don't we tell one thing about this vacations that we loved?

As I am challenging you, it'd be fair if I started, I guess.

I'd have to say Christmas' eve with my family. This year it was at my grandma's place. Last time that happened I must have been six or seven. But that was not the only reason why it was even more special than the usual, you know. People there, all about my parents, my grandma and my uncles *my aunts were working*... it seemed to be one of those dinners I haven't had for years and years. The only exception was the presence of one of my little cousins, the youngest one as a matter of fact. It was awesome: we were joking around with everything, dancing at the sound of Max (yup, that famous singer from Madeira, who's long gone), remembering past stories, trying to keep the little kid busy while Father Christmas left his presents... For the first time in a long time there was the usual "formation" of the family and this time, I was the one who saw Father Christmas leaving my cousins' presents *it's a family's tradition: the youngest member who already knows it has got to fool those who don't*. But at a moment, you can't tell who the real kids are in my family. I mean, my cousin had just won his wrestling toys that he wanted for so long, but my uncles were so much more excited about it than the kid himself. He wanted to go home and play his new video game... It remembered me of when I was younger, I would play along with them *yeah, they'd "borrow" my new toys, so it was I who played along with them, instead of them playing along with me*, no matter what it was. But I loved it, anyway!
This is it... No further details...

Now it's your turn :)