Archive for November, 2006

Notting Hill

Notting Hill

Notting Hill is a highly original romantic comedy directed by Roger Michel in 1999 and starred by two worldwide known stars. The role of Anna Scott is played by Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant plays the part of William Thacker. This film is set in Notting Hill which is one of the best-known areas in London.

The film begins when Anna Scott, a Hollywood movie star, visits William Thacker’s bookshop in Notting Hill. After this, they run into each other in the middle of the street and they fall in love. She has to leave and William thinks that he will not see her again, as she is a star he will never be able to contact her. However, she leaves him a message arranging an unconventional date and then they start a relationship. After a lot of events, they break up and we don’t know if they are going to meet again because she returns to America. William realises that he did not do the right thing and he tries to talk to her. Unfortunately, she is about to leave, it is too late… or not?

The film is vastly enjoyable, the most outstanding features are the acting, which is of high standard and the soundtrack which perfectly matches the plot. Although it has a predictable ending, it is so emotionally powerful that it is the best scene of the film.

If you want to have a good time, Notting Hill is a highly entertaining film which appeals to all ages. People who like romantic comedies shouldn’t miss it because the story is perfectly portrayed. I definitely recommend it.

Battered Women

against domestic violence

When I knew that I had to write an article in this blog, the first thing I thought was to write something about myself, like some of my partners. But when I arrived home after class that day, I heard in the news about a woman who had been killed by her husband. I found it horrible, so I thought that it was a good issue to write about.

Unfortunately, nowadays maltreatment to women is very usual.
In this year about 63 women have been killed by their boyfriends or their husbands.
If you look on the Internet you will see lots of websites in which you can read articles about this.
I have done that and I’ve found some articles which I found really interesting so I’m going to sum up two of them:

- The first case deals with a man who beat, threatened and assaulted his girlfriend. Luckily, he didn’t kill her.
In my opinion he was crazy because I think that people who do that can’t be sane. It’s also interesting to think about the profile of this kind of man. They are usually jealous and possessive people who try to control all the things that their girlfriend or wife does, for instance, they don`t like seeing their girlfriend or wife talking to other men, and they don’t like seeing their wife made up, and although I’m a jealous person myself, I think that relationships should be based on mutual trust, communication and obviously love and if you do this kind of things to your wife or girlfriend, you can’t really love her.

-Another unbeliavable and amazing case deals with a 25-year-old girl who was burnt to death by her ex-husband. The witnesses affirm that the man approached the girl while she was walking down the street on her way to work and he kissed her. After doing that he spilled an inflammable liquid over her and then he lit a lighter, so the girl caught fire.
There was a programme about this case on televisión yesterday. The girl was called Vanesa Rodríguez and she was mother of two little children; her family and friends are shattered.
In this case, the murderer is in prision, but unfortunately, there are a lot of cases in which the killer is free. In many caes, women are not taken seriously by the police or some organizations which deal with these cases, they don’t do anything about it, and finally these women are killed.

In order to finish with this maltreatment to women, I believe that politicians and people who have authority in these issues should do more than they are doing.
If you are interested in this issue you can read more about it in these books:
* Battered women by Leonore Walter.
* Rape in marriage by Diana Russell.

Another kind of language

esperanto flag

If somebody offered you the posibility of learning an a constructed language (like, for example, Quenya, which you will recognize if you have read The Lord of the Rings), you would probably say that it’s a waste of time, and that only a weird person would learn it. But, why do people think that artificial languages are not worth your while?

One day, just by chance, I read an article about Esperanto language. It had been created in 1887 by Polish Dr. Zamenhof, who had the idea of “building” a language which would be talked by everybody on Earth (as a first or second language) to allow understanding, and the possibility of talking with anybody all throughout the world.

The glory at Tudor age… not so glorious

Henry VIII

The Tudor monarchs Henry VII, Henry VIII, Mary I (Queen of Scots), and Elizabeth I have been considered outstanding features in British History. Britain reached one of its most powerful and glorious periods during their reigns. After a quarrelsome century, full of famine, diseases and wars, The Tudor rulers managed to set their country on top of the world.
Henry VII tried to establish law and order in his country after so many wars that had damaged Britain, and he was very successful at improving finances during his reign. When he died, Henry VIII wasted the money he had inherited from his father, who had been a more intelligent ruler than his son. Henry VII had been a businessman rather than a man looking for glory as his son was.

According to McDowall, (1992) Henry’s failure to gain an important position in European politics was a bitter disappointment. He spent so much on maintaining a magnificent court, and on wars from which England had little to gain, that his father’s carefully saved money was soon gone. (p. 69).

Elizabeth I had to face many inconveniences when she was crowned queen as England was not an easy country to rule: there had been rebellions against Henry VIII and her son and daughter Edward VI and Mary I. Elizabeth was a woman, and most people felt that women were inferior to men. This meant that they did not like taking orders from a woman, or obeying laws that had originally come from a woman. However, Elizabeth managed to overcome all the problems she inherited. While she was queen, England survived attacks from foreign countries, and became a strong and secure nation.

Nevertheless this glory was not so glorious. “Elizabeth’s methods of raising money would today be considered dishonest as well as foolish”. (McDowall, 1992, p.80). She and her advisers used to give titles of nobility to every pirate who defeated merchant ships either Spanish or Portuguese, as well as complete control on trade to one single person or company (monopolies).
 

REFERENCES:
McDowall, D. 1989. An Illustrated History of Britain. Harlow: Longman.

Street markets

Street Market

Those traditional markets, where people used to meet years ago and buy food and the things they needed , seem to be disappearing. There’s no point in buying there since stores from major corporations are cheaper and open everyday. Centuries ago, people lived in little villages, and they met once a week to buy and exchange goods and news. That was how markets were invented: a place between villages where people could put up their ’shops’ and go there to earn their living.

But now, in our evolution, we’re gradually destroying everything to make huge grey buildings and lock ourselves in them just buying more and more things. I like street markets because, besides they have really interesting things which can’t be found in a store, I think the quality of the food they sell is better, because most products are made and grown by the sellers themselves. We should try to keep street markets, even if it’s only because they are part of our tradition.

Chasing your blood

Chasing your blood

Blood tears,
blood eyes,
blood never runs now.

Enslaving… Never mind,
the sorrow, my smile
reshaping in your cries.

Bear in mind,
don’t escape
without a scratch.

Misleading hopes…
the sorrow, my fangs
stealing your lives.

Only chains, only nights,
bloody rain’s in insides…
the sorrow, my eyes
weeping my blames
for ever now.