Moon Valley

I bet you live in the complexity of the everyday life in a large city. You are stressed to the last part of your being. All you want is to escape from where you live. So, if you decide to travel this summer, what better place to go than to a quiet place, full of natural wonders. Now, leave everything behind for a couple of weeks. And have a fantastic vacation you will never forget.

The place I’m talking about is the Moon Valley, located 17 kilometres from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. The valley is very interesting due to the rocks and sand formations. For millions of years floods and winds have shaped the desert with marvellous colors and textures. The appeal of the valley is the resemblance with the moon’s surface. You can have an amazing view by standing on top of a dune. There you will appreciate the amazing and wonderful surroundings.

The climate of the region is desert. The temperature during the day is of 75º F and during the night is 41º F. You can come here and see the valley’s indescribable aspects, full of majesty and silence, beautiful and imposing. You can visit this region any time of the year, due to its warm climate. The temperatures allow the visitor to practice outdoor activities while breathing clean and fresh air.

Where to stay during this vacation time? Well, if you are into nature, what better way to spend the night than camping. You will be able to contemplate the incomparable beauty of the moon landscape on Earth. If you are not that adventurous, you can go to Explora Atacama Hotel or La Aldea Hotel, the prices go from $160 to $438 per night.

Where to eat? If you want to try some typical Chilean food you must go to La Casona (Caracoles #195, phone 851 004) or Casa de Piedra (Caracoles #225, phone 851 271). There you will find excellent food accompanied by live music. What to do? Here you can practice different types of outdoor activities, such as biking, mountaineering, sand boarding, and photography.

Next time you have travelling in mind, you must come to the Moon Valley to discover its hidden secrets. To see for yourself why it was declared a sanctuary of nature for its great natural beauty and strange moon appearance. Don’t forget to buy some artisan souvenirs. Then you will have something to remember this wonderful journey.

The Amazing Secrets of a Lost Paradise

When talking about pirates and explorers visiting a lost paradise, you might think it’s a myth or part of a story invented to entertain little kids, because the location and surroundings are full of magic, fantasy, and legends. However, the truth is that many of the settings that appear in books and movies are real places that exist in our world. One of those particular places is the incredible Robinson Crusoe Island.

This remote and almost uninhabited land mass is one of the three islands belonging to the Juan Fernandez Archipelago, located 411 miles west of South America. The other two islands are Alejandro Selkirk and Santa Clara. It was on the Robinson Crusoe Island where the sailor Alejandro Selkirk was abandoned in the year 1705 and had to live in complete solitude for 5 years. This situation lead the famous writer Daniel Defoe to write the classic novel, Robinson Crusoe.

Just as it is described throughout the story, the island is a real, amazing paradise with a rich variety of flora and fauna. In fact, it is estimated that at least 70% of the plant species are endemic, meaning that they are not found in another place in the world. Consequently, the island was declared a World Biosphere Reserve.

The Robinson Crusoe Island is of volcanic origin and has a mountainous terrain with impressive peaks rising more than 1,000m above sea level. Due to the intense erosion, steep valleys have been formed. There is also a narrow peninsula in the south-western part of the island and an incredible beach with temperate and crystalline water where you can swim or scuba dive in the company of a great variety of fish and shellfish.

People wanting to visit this marvellous place need to adjust their itinerary to certain months. According to inhabitants, the best time to visit the island is between October and April because the weather is very warm, there is not much rain, and you will be able to enjoy every single tour and excursion. The ones really interested in getting to know a bit more about the hidden secrets of this place, need to take a 2 ½ hour flight on a special plane from the airport in the city of Santiago. After landing in the island, you’ll enjoy another 1 ½ hours in a taxi–boat that will take you to the only inhabited town called San Juan Bautista, that has a population of no more than 500 residents. It is important for you to know that the plane has a maximum capacity of 8 passengers and that the flights are not daily, only from Monday to Friday, and are subject to weather conditions. However, tickets are not as expensive as you would imagine.

Once on the island, the best place recommended is the Pangal Hotel. It will allow you to rest and enjoy your time with your family or friends in total contact with nature. This hotel was recently opened and has satellite TV, music, and an exceptional dining room specializing in lobster and fish. It also has a big swimming pool and a comfortable fireplace next to the bar. The hotel also has a special boat in charge of taking people to the village and back.

Even though the island is not very big, there are plenty of things to do. Here are some of the most interesting places you can visit during your vacation on the isle.

• Hike to Yunque’s Plateau: It includes a wonderful tour that allows people to see some endemic flora and fauna.
• Hike to Selkirk’s Lookout: You may be able to reach the place where Alejandro Selkirk constantly looked in search of a ship that could rescue him from his eternal confinement.
• Juan Fernandez Lobster Fishery: This island is well known for its lobster. The idea is that people travel on a tour by boat and eat lobster together cooked on board while they enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

• Scuba Diving and Snorkelling with seals: If you are interested, you may pay a few dollars to the only company in charge of teaching you how to scuba dive. The company has a special instructor that gives everybody specific orientation on how to manage your scuba diving gear and get used to the underwater environment. Another interesting option is the possibility to snorkel among a great, big group of fur seals; the only endemic mammal of the archipelago.

Besides all these activities, people can also go horseback riding, fishing, or visit some caves and forts, which are full of history and magic.

Depending on the travel agency you choose, prices can vary. However, it is important for you to know that the best option is to buy your ticket in advance. As a general reference, each ticket may cost $572 from Santiago. The price includes the travel ticket, the hotel, and some excursions. Lunch and dinner are generally not included, but it may be a good opportunity for you to try seafood.

Robinson Crusoe is definitely a place worth visiting. It is a paradise that preserves a wide variety of endemic flora and fauna, it is not excessively expensive, and, most of all, it preserves even today a special atmosphere of adventure and mystery.

By Rose Marie Kuschel R.

The English Gazette`s Music Review

Arcade Fire
Neon Bible (2007)

Probably one of the best albums I`ve had the pleasure to hear in a long time. It is only exceeded by its 2004 predecessor “Funeral”. Neon Bible was released March 5, 2007 and unlike Funeral it had great commercial success which put them on the spot of the music business. Neon Bible received good reviews from specialized musical critics which place the album as one of the best ones of 2007 so far. This Canadian indie rock band formed primarily by husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne created amazing arrangements and beautiful musicianship using a wide range of excellently-played instrumentation which include a pipe organ, a hurdy gurdy, a military choir, and a full Hungarian orchestra. Other Band members include Richard Reed Parry William Butler, Tim Kingsbury, Sarah Neufeld and Jeremy Gara. Arcade fire assembles beautiful melodies and lyrics into this album and they differentiate themselves from any other band nowadays in the music world. Songs like Neon Bible, Intervention, No Cars Go and personal favorite My Body is a Cage depicts the originality and excellence displayed in their albums. Arcade Fire was once tagged as the best-unknown band in the world; now we must say they are the best band we all should know. 4,5 out of 5 stars.

Queens Of The Stone Age
Songs for the Deaf (2002)



Songs for the Deaf is without a doubt the best hard rock album of this decade so far. There is not another album that could match this amazing piece of work. Not even QOTSA following albums Lullabies to Paralyze and Era Vulgaris, are at the level of Songs for the Deaf. This album gathered great musicians that collaborated on the album. This is the case of Former Nirvana Drummer and Lead singer of Foo Fighters Dave Grohl. He collaborated in all the songs as the drummer. Also, Mark Lanegan did the vocals in three of the album songs. Lead singer and songwriter Josh Homme wrote most of the lyrics and the theme of the album was the fruit of their experience in California. Former band bassist Nick Oliveri had a great influence on the album since he co-wrote many of the songs and sang a few tracks in the album. Unfortunately, he was fired from the band and I think that’s one of the reasons why the following jobs of QOTSA haven`t been as good. The powerfulness of the all songs and how catchy they are make you play them again and again. Most of the albums had about five or six good tracks, but not this one. Every single song is ridiculously great. It`s an album to listen to from beginning to end, without stopping. Another characteristic of the album is that all the tracks are united by several radio audio-tracks creating the effect that you are listening to a radio station. Songs like “No One Knows”, “Songs for the Dead”, “Go with the Flow”, “Another Love Song”, and “Mosquito Song” show us how perfection in rock can be achieved. 5 stars out of 5.

The oasis that you must visit.

This small town has a population about 6000 people. It is characterized by its different environment and its nice weather during the whole year. This town has been inhabited for many years and by different cultures. Pica is known by its citric and delicious fruits like lemon and mango but in the past there were the vineyards that created the best wine in our country. Pica is not known just for its agriculture, the tourism it one of the main economical activities in this town with the trade, agriculture and mining industries.

Places
If you have the opportunity to visit this wonderful town you can’t miss the chance to go to the “Cocha Resbaladero”. This is a natural swimming pool that is situated between rocks and has two caves. You can swim there and the water is warm. You can see all the fruit trees in the middle of this plentiful desert. This experienced will really fascinate you.

Pica has beautiful houses, some of them are very old and have special doors that let the winds come in. In the streets there are a lot of flowers and at the end of the Balmaceda Street there is a small house built from a guava tree. The houses are mainly made of wood.

In front of the square there is the San Andres church which has three doors and two towers. It was built between 1880 and 1886. It is the third church of the town because the last two (1600, 1768) were destroyed by earthquakes. It is made of wood. The church has a depiction of the last supper with the characters with its real size.

In the museum you can see the paleontology, archeology, and, artifacts from the period of the saltpeter along with all the things that the town has.

A big attractive that this town has is a dinosaur’s footprint that are located 70 km to the south of Pica. You can go with a tourist guide because it is required to go someone with knowledge of this area. These footprints were of dinosaurs that lived 65 millions of years ago and it is estimated that there are about four different kind of species.

If you are planning to go Pica, you have many possibilities to enjoy and stay there. Besides that it is small town and there are a lot of hotels, camp sites, and restaurants where you can spend a nice weekend.


Eileen Llanes

Let's Talk About Music

"Madonna: singer, dancer, actress, and producer in one of her best works"

-Marco Ahumada-

English Gazette

Name: Confessions Tour. Live from London.

Artist: Madonna

Format: DVD - CD

Director: JOnas Ackerlund

Producer: Madonna

Genre: Music Concert

Company: Warner Bros / Wea International

Rated: 5 stars

1 star: Bored 2 stars: Not good, not bad

3 stars: It could be better 4 stars: better than fine

5 stars: Excellent, nothing more to say.

People always say that "the best work of an artist, is the last work". Regarding this performance, we could say that they right. This work is simply amazing; everybody can realize why madonna is the queen of pop and why nobody has been capable of taking away her crown.

Madonna could be compared to King Midas, every show that she is in, is amazing.
Making a comparison between the "Blond Ambition Tour" and this "Confessions Tour", balance is tipped in favour of the last one, and the reason is simple: show, songs, costumes, dancers, backup singers, choreography, and technology is deployed in larges quantities, and all that just for the fan's enjoyment. The show is divided in four themes: equestrian, bedouin, glam /pop/ rock and finally the disco. Songs were strategically chosen by Madonna, during each theme she changes her hair, clothes, stage design and of course the choreographies that are performed by one of the best dance teams that personally, I had ever seen before.

The introduction for the song "Music" is wonderful. It is then that every single fan is connected with her, her nature, and what she wants to share about her show, reaching her main objective, which is turning the whole planet (or stadium) into a disco party. However, it would be very selfish from my part to choose just a song or a part of the show to used to represent the rest of the show, because every single song sung by her is the best part of the show. In this work it’s possible to see Madonna’s maturity expressed from the beginning till the end.

by: Marco Ahumada.

Teenager Commits Suicide in Front of His Parents.

He was 16 years old:

Alto Hospicio- The Soto's experienced an awful and dramatic situation when their only son, Jose Miguel Soto Norambuena, took a gun and shot himself in front of them without any explanation.

It was 9.00 p.m. when José Miguel stood in front of his parents, and after telling them things like: "You never Listen to me", You never Have time for me", among others phrases, José Miguel took out a gun from his jacket and shot himself in the head.

The father just started to cry out for help, meanwhile some neighbors approached the house when they heard the shot. "I was in my house when I heard a shot so Inmediately and saw all that blood. In a second we called the ambulance but I think It was too late", said Maria Martinez, next door neighbor.

The father, who was shoked by the situation, felt guilty because his son had tried to talk whit him many times before, "I'm sorry my beloved son. I never was there for you. Now I know that I lost you I will never forgive myself for leaving you alone all that time," he crying declared over the body of his son.

Mrs. Soto, who who still can not speak due to the situation, has prayed for her son and she hopes tha he forgives her someday because she loved him. "Everything I did in my life, I did for him, but I think it was not enough. He really needed our love to be happy", she concluded.

A very close relative said that, the funeral service will be tomorrow in his house at Cerro Esmeralda 2563, Alto Hospicio.

by: Marco Ahumada.

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX.

Full title: Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix.
Author: J.K. Rowling
Director: David Yates
Type of work: Children's novel
Genre: Fantasy, fiction.

This movie was awaited by many people in the whole word, is a fictional movie that can help you imagine a different kind of world. It is a funny movie that you can enjoy watching or reading because together with this movie the author presents the new book of this saga now these are seven books and five movies all with great success.

The story begin with Harry who just wants to begin his school year in his magic school, he was bored of his uncle family. We have to remember that he is orphan since his parents died in a fight with the worse wizard in this magic word, Lord Voldemort, and Harry was the only one to survive this fight. Before to entering the school he was in danger and had to use his powers in front of his cousin. Because of that he was almost expelled from his school. Once at school he felt weird because of the incident of the precious year when Cedric, a guy from his school, died in a confusing incident in a fight with Voldemort. Harry and a group of students decided train themselves to fight with Voldemort because had returned. They decided to create a group called “Dumbledore’s army”, they had problems because a new principal took over the school and this woman was not nice.

In this movie for the first time Harry kissed a girl Cho Chang who is his classmate although many people think that he could be falling in love with his best friend Hermione, which is something that began in the fourth movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. But in this movie Harry is more mature because of everything that he confronted in the past four movies. Many people think that this is the last movie of Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) because he is too old to play the character. That is not a problem for him because he gains a lot of money working with these movies and he is the best actor that fits with this kind of movie. We don’t know yet if the fans can tolerate a change of actor. On the other hand we have the scenery which is fabulous and incredible instead of when you read a book you must imagine a different thing in the saga where everybody is amazing and magic. They have the right effects for everything.

Harry potter is not a movie just for kids it is for all ages. You can imagine living in a world like this full of wonderful and magic things. Even though Harry has some problems, it is a very interesting film. Some people think that it is a boring movie because of the fantasy but when you start to watch it you want to know what will happen in the next year of Harry and with his family. There are many rumors that he could die in the final book of this saga but we must wait at least a couple of years to find out. Or if you are not patient you can read it because book seven is already in the bookshop.

Eileen Llanes C.

Lord of the Rings: A great Saga

Director: Peter Jackson

Genre: Action/ Adventure/Fantasy

Cast: Alan Howard ... The Ring (voice) Noel Appleby ... Everard Proudfoot Sean Astin ... Sam Gamgee Sala Baker ... Sauron Sean Bean ... Boromir Cate Blanchett ... Galadriel Orlando Bloom ... Legolas Greenleaf Billy Boyd ... Peregrin 'Pippin' Took Marton Csokas ... Celeborn Megan Edwards ... Mrs. Proudfoot Michael Elsworth ... Gondorian Archivist Mark Ferguson ... Gil-Galad Ian Holm ... Bilbo Baggins Christopher Lee ... Saruman Lawrence Makoare ... Lurtz

Awards:Won 4 Oscars. Another 77 wins & 83 nominations

This is a film adaptation of the trilogy book called ‘The lord of the rings’, which has been very important for the fantastic literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. The long legacy of Tolkien’s and the massive number of fans that adore this book, were the main reason to make New Line Cinema decide to invest a lot of money with the named director Peter Jackson. Against all adds Jackson made the 3 movies without care some aspects of the original version of the book and still had success with all the public and fans, and the critics. Companies like EA Games(Game providers), have made various games of the saga, including different categories and versions of the recognized master piece production.
This great movie is about the adventures of Frodo, a hobbit from the middle earth who had to abandon his village with one objective: Throw a ring into the fire inside of the‘mountain of doom’, a ring which was forged by the dark lord Sauron to control the world.

The first part of this journey ‘The fellowship of the ring’ begins with Frodo’s task of traveling and facing enemies like ‘The nazguls’ (evil immortal wizards) who wanted to get the ring for Sauron. There were more people involved in this long journey. Some of them were hobbits, friends of Frodo (Sam and the brothers Tuk) and others like Aragorn the Isildur heir, Gandalf The White Wizard, Legolas, the son of the king of the elves from the woods, Gimly, the dwarf, and Boromir from Gondor. All of them joined together in Rivendel to begin the journey.
On other hand it was Saruman, first ally and servant of Sauron, which created a huge army of Uruk Hai (Orcs mixed with goblins) with only one purpose. To exterminate all humans and creatures of the earth.

The war starts in the chapter 2 of this movie called ‘The TwoTtowers’ a name that was given because the union of the 2 towers (Sauron and Saruman as one evil force). The first encounter was with Rohan, a huge kingdom of men, lead by the King Theoden who was possessed by Saruman, and later released from his curse by Gandalf. Rohan didn’t want a war, but war was upon them , so they had to move down to Helm’s Deep, a huge fortress made to protect them in case of war. Aragorn, Gimly and Legolas were there with Theoden together with his people, but Saruman sent all his army to defeat Rohan. More than 10.000 Uruk Hai warrior were sent to war, which were defeated by Galdalf and Eomer (the first man of Rohan, rider of the mark) at dawn, after a war they weren’t supposed to win. At the same time The Ents (Trees with life)leadered by Treebeard of the haunted forest, attacked Isengard (Saruman’s Kingdom) and destroyed everything and finished with Saruman’s orde.

Later on, in the third part called ‘The return of the king’ they had to face their stronger enemy: Mordor with it’s leader Sauron together with thousands of orcs and corrupted men’s of the north in his army. Frodo and Sam were still traveling to the mountain of doom, to threw the ring into the forge of fire, while Sauron was moving his army to Gondor, the last kingdom of men. Gondor was strong but not enough to defeat Sauron’s army; no one was. They needed more than men, swords and horses to defeat him. So Aragorn which was the predecessor of the throne Gondor, had to face the dead warriors and traitors of Gondor and call them from their graves to war, and defeat this great army. Indeed they defeat them but it wasn’t enough. The ring had to be destroyed by Frodo, otherwise the evil will keep prevailing forever. Alter Frodo and Sam faced their worst enemies; the huge spider in the tunnels of the mountain of doom and also the orcs and monsters inside of Mordor. But upon all of this, they completed their dangerous task. The ring was destroyed and all the evil was gone forever.
Even with a great movie like this, it cannot be 100% perfect. Indeed there’s more details involved, too may parts missed of the book. But the important thing is that this great movie, great effects, cast, production, artwork, etc. Now there’s available the 3 parts on extended edition versions ,with approximately 45 minutes each which are great. Just time will say if Peter Jackson or any other director will made the 4th part of this great saga
‘The return of the witch king’ which had been made already for the fans of console and pc games.

Music Review: "Introducing Joss Stone", 2007

Joss Stone returns after three years to the market with “Introducing Joss Stone”, an album that got it’s name because it is the first album with lyrics written by Joss Stone by herself. It is the third in her career and the first with Virgin Records. It is an interesting and pleasant mix of soul, R&B, and hip hop, plus her voice, resulting in a pleasure to hear. She went to Barbados looking for the inspiration to write the songs for her album. There she realized that her true love is the music, that’s why (she says) this album has a lot of lyrics about it. In the song with the name “Music”, which she sings with Lauren Hill, and she expresses her feelings for singing and the music itself. While in “Girl, They Won’t Believe It” she remembers when people told her to stop dreaming and to focus on studies. Another one of the good songs is “Head Turner” which is a song to listen to while you’re driving to the beach. For those who are recovering from a bad experience there is “Bruised but not Broken.” The album is available in two versions: a single CD version, and a deluxe edition, which includes a bonus DVD containing videos and interviews.

An Island In Iquique

Anyone who has visited Iquique knows that this city has a special characteristic, which is not found in other city in Chile; yeah, you may think of chumbeques or the ZOFRI, but I think of palm trees , the coastal park, the carnival, koy fishes, llamas, yacares, etc. All these projects have been ideas of the most bizarre mayor in Chile, Jorge Soria, whose aim was to make Iquique become the most touristic place in our country.

Now Mr. Soria is not the mayor anymore, but he left a running project which has been kept a secret for about four years. At least it was a secret until last Saturday, when a group of fishermen that were looking for the best place to throw their nets saw land. They were confused, they were about 60 kilometers away from the shore, how could it be?

“An island !”, said one of them.
“No way there are no islands in this sea”, said other man.

But the man was right, it was an island. It isn’t a natural one but the last project of Mr. Soria that is still being built. The fishermen guided the boat to land and started to explore the island, which seemed to be empty. There were only building materials and cranes and machines. The men also have said that there is only a huge hotel that has four luxury bedrooms which are as big as a square. There they also saw a lot of fruit trees, palms, and cacti, obviously. The sand was described as golden flour, because it is so fine and thin, said the fishermen. They were surprised because all around the beach there were little cabins with hammocks and pipes with all kind of licors and fruit juices, they said there even was a pipe that contained coconut water.

They also found the island scale model which had things that still weren’t built. The men said there were amazing things such as a replica of Dragon’s Hill, and a UVA filter screen above the beach. Then they saw a work schedule and realized that workers were going to arrive in half an hour so they returned to the boat.

When they arrived to Iquique they told their friends in the dock what they had found to, and they told local newspapers. Journalists arrived at the dock inmediately, when fishermen finished telling their story one of journalists ask them where was this island, but they couldn’t answer because Mr. Soria arrived and prohibited them.

So the journalists asked Mr. Soria why he made an island and why he never told anyone about it. He said that it was for rich tourists and celebrities. Then he was asked where the island was located, and he laughed and said: “When I return to my mayor position I’ll tell you”.

Even when not all iquique citizens may understand why he did such things instead of using the money for health or something more important in the city, we all end up enjoying his weird and sort of childish projects anyway. And it wouldn’t be so bad to have Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, George Clooney or David Beckham around, don’t you think so?

Torn
(Natalia Imbruglia)



Illusions never change into something real, sometimes love is very difficult to understand, especially when you are really in love and you feel that routines or others could destroy your relationship.
Love is a wonderful thing that happens to people when they fall in love and give the best of themselves to their couple to feel secure and happy. Of cause, this feeling should be mutual. But in some cases it is not.
When people love and receive love they expect that their relationship and that all that they planned and dreamt can be carried out in the near future. But there are moments where people do not know what to bring to the relationship and it is very likely that this can fail.
For this reason when one wants to be a sincere person and happy, they shouldn’t forget how they began their relationship and the reasons to be with a partner. And if you really love, you may say that it is worth fighting and continue with the illusions, otherwise it is just respect and give a chance to start again to be loved and happy. Bacause no one dies of love, but one lives of love. This is the idea.
Sometimes it is difficult to confront the problems in a relationship, especially when the rountines bring life together and you can feel torn. You don’t understand what happpened but the best thing you can do is to break-up and continue with a normal, happy and calm life. It would be better for your physical and mental health.

Anahy Kuhnow V.

I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry

The film industry gives us plenty of films every week that make us laugh, cry, or feel frightened or scared. On July 20th, Hollywood released the movie called “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry,” a comedy film that made thousands of people laugh from beginning to end.

The film, directed by Dennis Dugan, lasts 1 hour and 50 minutes. Films directed by Duncan are the blockbuster movies Happy Gilmore (in which Duncan plays Doug Thompson, the golf tour supervisor) and Big Daddy (with Dugan as a man who reluctantly gives candy to Julian). In both films the leading actor is Adam Sandler, so if those movies made you laugh, you know what to expect.

The main plot of the movie is about two straight guys. They work as firefighters in New York City’s Fire Department and they pretend to be a gay couple in order to receive domestic partner benefits. Chuck Levine is played by Adam Sandler, a well-known comedian actor, and Larry Valentine, is played by Kevin James, (he works in the sitcom “The King of queens”). Larry and Chuck are best friends, but Larry is a widower and Chuck is single.

So, why do they have to pretend to be a guy couple? The answer is quite simple; Larry discovers that he is unable to name his two children as beneficiaries of his life insurance. Chuck owes his fellow firefighter for saving his life, so he offers to be Larry’s gay life partner to resolve the insurance problem. Everything becomes complicated when the city investigator, Clinton Fitzer, decides to investigate a little bit further. So the story becomes a citywide issue. They hire a foxy lawyer named Alex McDonough, played by Jessica Biel, who spices things up.

Initially the film was rated “R”, standing for crude sexual humor and nudity. Universal Studios appealed the rating, but lost. They had to edit the film and this version was rated PG-13. Despite the mishaps, the film collected $34,233,750 in its opening weekend in the United States.

You must watch this movie. You won’t stop laughing till your sides hurt. So invite your friends to the theatre, because you won’t regret it. Not only you will laugh but understand what friendship is all about. So which better way to spend the afternoon eating popcorns with your friends or loved one.

Review CD: "Baptism by Lenny Kravitz"

Who has listened to some song by the American singer Lenny Kravitz? Probably many people know his songs and discography, but there are also people who have listened to his songs, they like them, but they don’t know who sings them.

This American singer was born forty something years ago. He has music in his veins, because his mother was a well-known singer who influenced his career. When she died, he wrote a song for her, full of love, pain, and nostalgia. It was called “Tell me mamma” through this song he asks his mother about heaven and what freedom feels like.

His discography contains seven CDs including “Circus”, “Five”, “Greatest Hits” and the last one, from 2004, “Baptism”. In this last CD, Kravitz wrote and produced the whole of CD. All the songs on “Baptism” are about his career as a singer, the love that he feels for God, and the love that God has given him. Maybe for that reason he named his work “Baptism”, because Kravitz feels baptized by the love of God.

Included in the thirteen songs of “Baptism” is “I don’t wanna be a star” where Kravitz complains about all that he has lost because of his career and all the time that he has lost by being a star. “Calling all angels” is about how Kravitz is loveless and he asks God to help to cure his pain. Through the song “Baptized” Kravitz transmits his love for God. In “Destiny” Kravitz talks about what he did and everything that he didn’t do, and finally in “The other side” the singer asks himself about what he has done with his life, living with a lot of money and luxuries, because he would really prefer to live in a small house with his family and the love of God, far away from luxury.

Once I listened to a song by Lenny Kravitz in the year 2000, the song was “Again”, and from that moment I followed his carrer. I have never listened to a love songs or songs about the faith in God with a rock rhythm. Perhaps that is why I still like his work, his songs and his voice. Also, I have to mention that he is so cute.






Karina Estay O.

MOVIE REVIEW: “THE HOLIDAY” (2006)

DIRECTOR: Nancy Meyers.

GENRE: Comedy / Drama / Romance.

CAST: Cameron Diaz (Amanda Woods), Kate Winslet (Iris Simpkins), Jude Law (Graham), Jack Black (Miles), and Eli Wallach (Arthur Abbott).

AWARDS: 1 win and 4 nominations.

RUNTIME: 138 min.

It is true that there haven’t been a lot of good romantic comedies in recent years, so it is really a pleasure to watch one that is absolutely adorable, entertaining, and requires little thought to enjoy. Directed by Nancy Meyers, The Holiday is a good, cute romantic comedy performed by a group of actors who do admirable jobs in trying to convince all their fans that real love exists, and that it is possible to find it no matter how far away it may be.

The film starts with Cameron Diaz who plays Amanda Woods, a wealthy, beautiful young woman who lives in Southern California and owns a very famous advertising firm in charge of creating movie trailers. Iris Simpkins (Kate Winslet) is a nice, hard-working lady responsible for the popular wedding column in London’s Daily Telegraph. Iris is in love with a man who is about to marry another woman, while Amanda, on the other hand, has just realized that the man she lives with has been unfaithful. Two women who are on the verge of emotional breakdowns meet online and decide to switch homes for a couple of days to relax and forget about men. As soon as possible, they fly across the Atlantic. Amanda moves to a small, typical English snow-covered cottage and Iris to a huge mansion located in Los Angeles.

Shortly after they arrive to their new destinations, both women find something totally unexpected that ends up changing their lives completely: a new romance. Amanda falls deeply in love with Iris’ brother named Graham (Jude Law) and Iris meets Miles (Jack Black), a very famous film composer who ends up being a perfect friend and ideal company. Throughout the film, Iris is also befriended by Arthur (Eli Wallach); a lovely, well-known screenwriter from Hollywood’s Golden Era that helps Iris mend her heart by giving her the advice of a wise, old man and also by allowing her to take care of him.

The Holiday is undoubtedly a light, idealistic movie. Some people may believe that it doesn’t show something unexpected or new that is worth watching it. However, this is exactly what makes it particularly attractive. It seems that all the actors were especially chosen to perform their characters because they definitely proved they do no wrong – at least in this kind of films. Even the scenery provides the audience with a special sensation, maybe because it reminds us of Christmas time and the typical winter season in those countries. Another attractive feature of the movie is that it depicts great cultural differences between the United States and England such as transportation systems, roads, houses, shops, pubs, etc., something that is really interesting. The movie also has a very natural dialogue that makes it easy to understand. In fact, Nancy Meyers is enormously successful in trying to create this sense of reality in the characters, like the movie “Something’s Gotta Give” which was nominated for an Oscar because she accurately portrays relationships and situations that are just like real life. Of course certain aspects are much more exaggerated, but maybe that is the key to make people really attracted to the film. Anyway, there is no doubt that the characters in both movies are all charismatic and entertaining; definitely, a joy to watch.

By Rose Marie Kuschel R.