Pop CD Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton  (Warner Brothers) Alexis Petridis Friday August 11, 2006 The Guardian
For a woman apparently ill-suited to anything more taxing than standing around nightclubs in a pair of really enormous sunglasses, Paris Hilton is quite the polymath. In recent years, the hotel heiress has variously revealed herself to be a TV star, a perfumier, a jewellery designer, a nightclub owner, a model, an actor and an author (albeit one whose book, Confessions of an Heiress, was described by a disgruntled Amazon customer as "a huge blow to the medium of literature as a whole"). You read her CV and boggle at what wildly improbable occupation she might turn her hand to next. Spot-welding? Cognitive neuropsychology? Alas, no: it's singing. Lest one carp, Hilton has been quick to point out that singing is a vocation for which she is eminently skilled. "I know music," she reassured the Sunday Times children's section. "I hear it every single day." While this obviously gives Hilton a massive advantage over those who have never heard any music and thus believe it to be a variety of cheese, there remains the nagging suspicion that this might not represent sufficient qualification for a career as a singer, in much the same way as knowing what a child is does not fully equip you for a career as a consultant paediatrician. Nevertheless, you have to admire her pluck. Putting your name to a ghostwritten book, appearing on reality TV shows and launching your own perfume collectively represent the sine qua non of 21st-century celebrity: they all do it. But for some reason, a public only too willing to watch celebrities on TV, read their books and douse themselves in their branded scents balks when asked to listen to them sing. Jordan couldn't win A Song for Europe. The minute Kelly Osbourne starts singing, audiences rise as one in order to throw things at her. Understandably, those behind Hilton's debut album have left little to chance, employing a vast team of crack producers and songwriters. Some decisions regarding membership of said team seem a little baffling - when Hilton's record label decided a reggae track "would be a really good fit", they naturally called songwriter Shep Solomon, famed for mashing up Kingston dancehalls with militant Rastafarian collective S Club 7 and ragga's Queen of Slackness Natalie Imbruglia - but you can't argue with its hit-making pedigree. We should perhaps draw a veil over Kara DioGuardi, whose penchant for collaborating with Celine Dion and Pop Idol's Darius makes her less a songwriter than a public nuisance, and instead focus on Scott Storch - producer to urban royalty from Busta Rhymes to Beyoncé - and Billy Steinberg. The latter's songwriting CV reads like the track listing of a CD with a steering wheel on the cover and sleeve notes by Jeremy Clarkson: Eternal Flame, Alone (by Heart), I Drove All Night and the Divinyls' I Touch Myself. It would be churlish to deny they have done their job. The songs are uniformly well-turned. There is decaf R&B, Strokes-esque new wave pastiches, pop house, and lyrics that hint at Hilton's private life: Jealousy takes aim at her skeletal nemesis Nicole Richie, while Screwed vaguely references the porn tape marketed by her oily ex-boyfriend. But as Turn It Up cranks into life, you realise why Hilton felt it necessary to confirm to the Sunday Times that she knew what music was. She sings like a woman who has heard of something called singing, can't be sure of exactly what it might entail, but is fairly certain you do something a bit like this. She sounds both distracted and bored stiff, as if making an album is keeping her from the more serious business of standing around a nightclub in a pair of really enormous sunglasses. On Stars Are Blind, the combination of tinny cod-reggae and your-call-is-being-held-in-a-queue vocal technique results in something so plasticky, it's perversely enjoyable. Elsewhere, Hilton's audible lack of interest torpedoes her own chances. Someone has encouraged her to make erotically charged squeals of affirmation and panting noises, with deleterious results. "Yah! Uh-huh-huh! Yah!" she huffs, like a Sloane Ranger having an asthma attack. Listening to her sing Rod Stewart's Do Ya Think I'm Sexy, you are gripped by the fear that civilisation as we know it is doomed and that brimstone is going to start raining from the sky any minute. It doesn't, but a sense of terrible foreboding is further stoked by the sleeve notes, which make reference to "all my albums to come". You might call that another example of the sheer force of will that has got Hilton so far in so many improbable careers, but on the basis of the 11 tracks here, it sounds more like a threat. |
:: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,1841306,00.html
a summary.
Summary – American Beliefs and Values
Even though the United States is quite a large country, there are certain beliefs and values which most Americans share, the principal one being that of freedom. It was the Founding Fathers’ belief that everyone is created equal and that it is the government’s duty to protect every person’s basic inalienable rights that shaped Americans’ sense of freedom. It is also understood, however, that differences in religion, sex, race or age mean that not all Americans are, in reality, entitled to the same rights and opportunities. The concept of freedom for Americans is closely tied to individualism, which is not only understood as self-reliance, but also economic self-sufficiency.
Scholars believe that such American beliefs and values arose within the context of the frontier experience, for, in order to survive in the wilderness, one had to be a robust individualist. Also imbued in the American system of beliefs and values is their “can-do spirit”; Americans often think they have innate do-it-yourself abilities. This “do-it-yourself spirit” is called volunteerism, i.e. “people helping people through privately-initiated, rather than government-sponsored, agencies”. Such practice is so common that 6 out of 10 Americans are members of a volunteer organization.
Americans have always liked to think that their country has limitless wealth; however, many resources have gradually been depleted over the course of America’s history. The United States is still rich in resources, though.
Americans’ sense of abundance is related to their habit of mobility, which is not a sign of aimlessness but rather one of optimism. This habit has greatly contributed to homogeneity within a country that is so diverse, culturally speaking. Besides, this habit also means that there is greater attachment on the part of citizens to the country as a whole as opposed to specific regions.
Americans associate the idea of freedom to that of progress, which they usually measure by looking into the history of their families.
An important concept in the American system of beliefs and values is that of the American Dream, which can be defined as “the dream of a land in which life should be better, richer, and fuller for every man with opportunities for each according to his abilities and achievement”. American history has shown, however, that achieving success is not something that is available to all Americans and recently they have begun to question accepted beliefs and values.
a summary.
Summary of The Making of a Nation
The
Upon arriving in the “
The arrival of Europeans in
It was in the years between 1840 to 1860 that the
Even up to 1880 it was still the Europeans that made up the largest portion of immigrants arriving in
It was in the late 1880s that a new wave of immigration started, the new immigrants being mainly Latin, Slavic and Jewish peoples from southern and eastern Europe.
The great number of foreigners arriving in
Immigration dropped significantly after the 1920s; however, the number of immigrants has risen again sharply of late, which has once more given rise to an assimilation problem.
Many immigrants who have arrived in
Illegal immigration has also been a problem for
Many Americans are in favor of imposing stricter bans on immigration because they believe that overpopulation is a threat. Moreover, they also fear that it affects the country’s identity. On the other hand, many Americans also recognize the importance that immigrants have had to the country, creating a more diverse atmosphere.
Americans are now said to be facing an identity crisis, with fewer and fewer Americans actually claiming to be WASPs. This has obviously led to a change as far as attitudes towards ethnic and religious differences are concerned.
a summary.
Other Voices
Paula Gunn Allen tells the story of the discovery of America from a rather different perspective to that we are used to hearing of.
First of all, Paula doesn’t attempt to ignore the presence of the earlier inhabitants in America before the Europeans arrived. On the contrary, she tries to recount the lives of the earlier inhabitants and to analyze the reasons as to why their history has been swept under the carpet as though it never actually existed.
She shows that the history of Native American Indians is closely tied to the American nation we have nowadays. For example, she gives tidbits of facts about American history that go to show the importance that Indians had in the shaping of the country, such as the fact that the Chickasaw platoons were the reason for the victory of the United States over England in the war of 1812. She shows a great deal of frustration in the fact that most Americans are oblivious of such facts, or “amnesiac” as she describes them. Having killed off thousands of Indians, she states that it is somehow reasonable that America should want to forget its past.
She also points out that such isolation and self-reliance have become the theme for American civilization. Moreover, she states that the Indians were called savages not because they committed atrocities but because they valued the community as opposed to the individual. She even says that “belonging is most important to the Indians, while belongings are most important to the Whites.”
In this story, Paula also shows how strong Native Americans actually are as opposed to the preconceived notions we usually have of their apparent weakness and insignificance. There were also many interesting bits of history that she uncovered that deserve special attention in the teaching of American history, such as the fact that English has become the official language of the United States purely by accident.
Overall, what I believe we can learn from Paula’s text is that truth is but a matter of point of view, with each person defending whatever “truth” best suits their interests. As Jane Austen once said, we must “not allow books to prove anything.”
www.myYearbook.com -- Created by 2 high school students to kick myspace's ass |
you GOTTA be kidding
| CUSTOMER REVIEWS |
Number of Reviews: 2 Average Rating:   Write your own online review! > Showing 1-2A reviewer, A Harvard undergraduate student, November 17, 2005, This book saved me! Before I read this book. I talked so bad. It teaches you all the thing you want to know to talk good. I always had trouble in english class all my life like basically I forgot about the things. Like commas, but now whenever Forget I something, I looks it in the book. i recomend it. Jrodrigues52@gmail.com (Jrodrigues52@gmail.com), someone that reads a lot books, July 12, 2005, communication is power The communication was always, it is and it will be to can. All how many appropriate of her, they are well happened. We needed the communication for everything in this life. Every citizen for simple that it is, she needs to communicate. Every country that invests in communication ends up conquering your space. The communication can be the password it secretes of those that know the secret about communicating. Also recommended: coments Othelo Shakespeare - explanation geraly from Work of Art. |
“It’s always worth living at least for a while”
não sei por que [por quê?], mas hoje deu uma vontade de viver. nem tô sendo poético nem nada. só tô escrevendo porque senti mesmo. enfim, de manhã eu tava pensando em algumas idéias pra usar com as turmas novas que eu for dar aula esse semestre. e mais agora à tardinha eu tava pensando como seria bom mais um semestre. e fiquei pensando como eu seria alguém diferente daqui a alguns meses do que eu sou agora. não que eu esteja buscando mudanças - o que não deixa de ser verdade, eu admito. mas nem é disso que eu estou falando, sabe? tô falando das coisas que te mudam sem você perceber mesmo, das habilidades que você adquire 'sem querer', das coisas que você aprende com o passar do tempo, essas coisas normais mesmo.
enfim, nem sei porque deu vontade de escrever isso aqui hoje. acho que é porque eu tenho sentido necessidade de escrever as coisas que acontecem comigo. é uma coisa meio de auto-descoberta. dessas coisas quando você lê algo que você escreveu alguma coisa há bastante tempo e depois lê, e acaba aprendendo mais sobre você e tal.
ah, e eu tô com um problema com vírgulas. às vezes eu sei que não seria correto usá-las, mas elas parecem cair tão bem em certas situações.
enfim.
era isso mesmo.
ah, brigadeiro com morango é bom.
tá.
enfim, nem sei porque deu vontade de escrever isso aqui hoje. acho que é porque eu tenho sentido necessidade de escrever as coisas que acontecem comigo. é uma coisa meio de auto-descoberta. dessas coisas quando você lê algo que você escreveu alguma coisa há bastante tempo e depois lê, e acaba aprendendo mais sobre você e tal.
ah, e eu tô com um problema com vírgulas. às vezes eu sei que não seria correto usá-las, mas elas parecem cair tão bem em certas situações.
enfim.
era isso mesmo.
ah, brigadeiro com morango é bom.
tá.
oh!!
"Marcus Murilo is a young teacher I have always liked and I needed him to do something simple but an activity that I had completely over looked until Sara Walker pointed it out in a meeting one day. What about the teachers who couyldn´t afford a single room but wanted to share and had no one to do so with. I wrote a message on the Braz-TESOL site for teacher to get in contact with me and marcelo would then deal with putting these teachers together."
>>> http://supershaun.wordpress.com/
>>> http://supershaun.wordpress.com/
the time i felt boxed in without being inside...
"mine was large. it was tall, going skywards as far as the eyes could see. taller even than the trees surrounding it. but, of course, that is something i cannot tell for sure since experimentation has a short lifespan. i remember touching it, feeling it with my hands as i walked along its borders. then i planned a single paragraph in which to recount it all. . ."
aha!
Oficina de customização de roupas em Bauru
A seção de Eventos Culturais e Esportivos da Prefeitura do Campus Administrativo de Bauru (PCAB) da USP realiza entre os dias 26 de abril e 30 de junho, uma Oficina de Customização, no Centro Cultural do campus.
Customizar é reaproveitar roupas usadas, com mudanças em seu estilo, modelo, e detalhes. A oficina terá como monitor José Carlos Suci Júnior, aluno da Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes e Comunicações (FAAC) da Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), campus de Bauru.
A oficina, realizada às quartas-feiras, das 12 às 13h30, é gratuita e está aberta aos interessados em geral. As inscrições podem ser feitas até esta quarta (26), pelo telefone (0XX14) 3235-8394. O Centro Cultural do Campus de Bauru da USP fica na Al. Dr. Octávio Pinheiro Brisola, 9-75, na Vila Universitária, em Bauru.
A seção de Eventos Culturais e Esportivos da Prefeitura do Campus Administrativo de Bauru (PCAB) da USP realiza entre os dias 26 de abril e 30 de junho, uma Oficina de Customização, no Centro Cultural do campus.
Customizar é reaproveitar roupas usadas, com mudanças em seu estilo, modelo, e detalhes. A oficina terá como monitor José Carlos Suci Júnior, aluno da Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes e Comunicações (FAAC) da Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), campus de Bauru.
A oficina, realizada às quartas-feiras, das 12 às 13h30, é gratuita e está aberta aos interessados em geral. As inscrições podem ser feitas até esta quarta (26), pelo telefone (0XX14) 3235-8394. O Centro Cultural do Campus de Bauru da USP fica na Al. Dr. Octávio Pinheiro Brisola, 9-75, na Vila Universitária, em Bauru.
it's my birthday and i'm happy as can be. =/
acordei. esperava algum cartãozinho, alguma coisa, sei lá... nao tinha nada na casa inteira. vou pro pc navegar na net. o primeiro parabéns q eu recebo é do júnior q mora a não-sei-quantos km de mim... não q receber parabéns dela seja ruim, mas nossa(!)... e as pessoas de perto?
ok. lá pelas 9 ou 10 da manhã eu recebo uma cesta PORCA de café-da-manhã. era da minha mãe. eu já sabia. antes mesmo de ler o cartão. era meio... mmm... previsível. mas 'tudo bem'. afinal, previsível eu tb sou... tst tst tst... depois de um tempo minha mãe liga e pergunta sobre a cesta. ah, me chamou pra almoçar tb. eu recusei... bleh.
lá pelas 1 da tarde, a primeira ligação pra mim. era a thalita. foi bom. a gente ficou um tempo no telefone e até combinamos de eu aparecer na casa dela amanhã.
ah, pelas duas meu pai chegou em casa pra almoçar e me dá os parabéns. só os parabéns mesmo. não ganhei presente. nem qualquer desculpa do tipo 'ah, tô sem grana'.. ou sei lá o q.. pq eu posso ser chato, mas eu entendo falta de dinheiro. eu só queria q as pessoas manifestassem o interesse em comprar um presente se elas pudessem.
umas 4 horas chega a minha irmã mais nova com duas camisetas do?/da? verdurão. bem, eu até gosto do design de algumas camisetas do?/da? verdurão. mas acho suuuuper passado, clichê, blé blé blé... ou seja, eu não compraria pra mim mesmo. mas enfim, ela fez com a melhor das intenções, né? e eram até legais. :) (ah, e ela trouxe até donuts)
depois a larisse no msn me deu os parabéns tb. já era final de tarde.
minha mãe chegou do serviço umas 7 horas e minha irmã do meio tb. mesmo tendo ligado, minha mãe veio e me deu um abraço e comentou q eu não devia ter gostado da cesta pq tava quase tudo no armário. (claro, q eu coloquei tudo no armário de propósito para q fosse bem visível q eu não gostei - pq eu não teria coragem de dizer isso na cara dela. i have a heart, mind you. haha how ironic!)
minha irmã do meio, por sua vez, mesmo tendo chegado pelas 7 tb, veio aqui uns 9 minutinhos atrás. :S ah, ela até me avisou q minha mãe me trouxe uma torta. (pra quem não sabe, minha mãe trabalha com essas coisas de bolos, tortas, docinhos, etc.) eu ainda nem fui ver a torta, mas tenho certeza q foi uma torta qualquer aí. pq eu nunca ganhei uma torta marta-rocha decente no meu aniversário. (ah, um comentário: minha irmã do meio veio me dizer q ainda não comprou o presente, mas q tem intenção e blá blá blá. ok.)
bem, a minha irmã mais velha não ligou nem nada. vários amigos (?) meus não ligaram nem nada. falta tempo pra meio noite. é melhor vcs correrem, gente.
enfim, talvez eu seja muito mimado e nem devia reclamar. afinal, eu tenho casa, comida e blé blé blé e muitas crianças da etiópia não têm nada disso e parará...... aaaaaaaargh.
fodam-se. bleh. eu só queria parabéns pra vc. e não estar chorando agora. bleh.
ok. lá pelas 9 ou 10 da manhã eu recebo uma cesta PORCA de café-da-manhã. era da minha mãe. eu já sabia. antes mesmo de ler o cartão. era meio... mmm... previsível. mas 'tudo bem'. afinal, previsível eu tb sou... tst tst tst... depois de um tempo minha mãe liga e pergunta sobre a cesta. ah, me chamou pra almoçar tb. eu recusei... bleh.
lá pelas 1 da tarde, a primeira ligação pra mim. era a thalita. foi bom. a gente ficou um tempo no telefone e até combinamos de eu aparecer na casa dela amanhã.
ah, pelas duas meu pai chegou em casa pra almoçar e me dá os parabéns. só os parabéns mesmo. não ganhei presente. nem qualquer desculpa do tipo 'ah, tô sem grana'.. ou sei lá o q.. pq eu posso ser chato, mas eu entendo falta de dinheiro. eu só queria q as pessoas manifestassem o interesse em comprar um presente se elas pudessem.
umas 4 horas chega a minha irmã mais nova com duas camisetas do?/da? verdurão. bem, eu até gosto do design de algumas camisetas do?/da? verdurão. mas acho suuuuper passado, clichê, blé blé blé... ou seja, eu não compraria pra mim mesmo. mas enfim, ela fez com a melhor das intenções, né? e eram até legais. :) (ah, e ela trouxe até donuts)
depois a larisse no msn me deu os parabéns tb. já era final de tarde.
minha mãe chegou do serviço umas 7 horas e minha irmã do meio tb. mesmo tendo ligado, minha mãe veio e me deu um abraço e comentou q eu não devia ter gostado da cesta pq tava quase tudo no armário. (claro, q eu coloquei tudo no armário de propósito para q fosse bem visível q eu não gostei - pq eu não teria coragem de dizer isso na cara dela. i have a heart, mind you. haha how ironic!)
minha irmã do meio, por sua vez, mesmo tendo chegado pelas 7 tb, veio aqui uns 9 minutinhos atrás. :S ah, ela até me avisou q minha mãe me trouxe uma torta. (pra quem não sabe, minha mãe trabalha com essas coisas de bolos, tortas, docinhos, etc.) eu ainda nem fui ver a torta, mas tenho certeza q foi uma torta qualquer aí. pq eu nunca ganhei uma torta marta-rocha decente no meu aniversário. (ah, um comentário: minha irmã do meio veio me dizer q ainda não comprou o presente, mas q tem intenção e blá blá blá. ok.)
bem, a minha irmã mais velha não ligou nem nada. vários amigos (?) meus não ligaram nem nada. falta tempo pra meio noite. é melhor vcs correrem, gente.
enfim, talvez eu seja muito mimado e nem devia reclamar. afinal, eu tenho casa, comida e blé blé blé e muitas crianças da etiópia não têm nada disso e parará...... aaaaaaaargh.
fodam-se. bleh. eu só queria parabéns pra vc. e não estar chorando agora. bleh.
I’m happy for you
You’ve made it hard for me
I counted on your company
You are staying with your friends tonight
I’m feeling sorry for myself
I keep taking everything to be a sign
>>> ! <<<
You’ve made it hard for me
I counted on your company
You are staying with your friends tonight
I’m feeling sorry for myself
I keep taking everything to be a sign
>>> ! <<<
fiesta de cumpleaños
Mi vida... no vale nada...
sin la barbie... secretaria...
Esta es la fiesta de mi cumpleaños
los voy a tratar a todos como mis esclavos
>>> ! <<<
sin la barbie... secretaria...
Esta es la fiesta de mi cumpleaños
los voy a tratar a todos como mis esclavos
>>> ! <<<
i still remember the year when we went camping for the first time
i also remember my sister's presence,
which still hangs onto my mind like a a wraith('s)
then there was the lady,
who once led the way...
the lady looked at me
the evil in my hear reshaping her complexion
and pouring back into my heart,
which, relentlessly,
sets needles into her voodoo doll.
i also remember my sister's presence,
which still hangs onto my mind like a a wraith('s)
then there was the lady,
who once led the way...
the lady looked at me
the evil in my hear reshaping her complexion
and pouring back into my heart,
which, relentlessly,
sets needles into her voodoo doll.
oh, darling
remember how you used to say
bad things could happen to the two of you
i believed you not
took all of your words to be untrue
remember him
and how he wished you didn't say
that one day loving may have been all in vain
now it's me
on the other side of the screen
that weeps a wee wee for you
i wonder if you weep too
i wonder if you weep too
remember how you used to say
bad things could happen to the two of you
i believed you not
took all of your words to be untrue
remember him
and how he wished you didn't say
that one day loving may have been all in vain
now it's me
on the other side of the screen
that weeps a wee wee for you
i wonder if you weep too
i wonder if you weep too
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