quarta-feira, 26 de fevereiro de 2014

Algarve Cup 2014



2014 will mark the 19th trip to the Algarve Cup for the U.S. Women´s National Soccer Team, who have won the tournament nine times, including an unprecedented three straight championships from 2003-05. This year's tournament will run from March 5-12 across the Algarve. 

Matches




domingo, 23 de fevereiro de 2014

Maria von Trapp dies


Maria von Trapp was the third child of Captain Von Trapp and his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp and the last surviving member of the original Trapp Family Singers whose escape from Nazi-occupied Austria was the basis for The Sound of MusicShe has died at the age of 99.


Maria lived in Stowe, Vermont, the same town her family settled in when they arrived in the United States in 1942.

In the film she was portrayed as Louisa.

http://www.trappfamily.com/story

quinta-feira, 20 de fevereiro de 2014

International Mother Language Day



On 21 February 1952 the police in Dhaka, Bangladesh, shot and killed students who were demonstrating to have their language recognised as a national language in that country. In honour of the deceased students the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), established in 1999 The international Mother Language Day, which has been celebrated across the globe since February 2000.

Its aim is to promote linguistic and cultural diversity, as well as multilingualism.

Spread the word of your mother tongue!





As palavras

São como um cristal,
as palavras.
Algumas, um punhal,
um incêndio.
Outras,
orvalho apenas.

Secretas vêm, cheias de memória.
Inseguras navegam:
barcos ou beijos,
as águas estremecem.
Desamparadas, inocentes,
leves.
Tecidas são de luz
e são a noite.
E mesmo pálidas
verdes paraísos lembram ainda.

Quem as escuta? Quem
as recolhe, assim,
cruéis, desfeitas,
nas suas conchas puras?

Eugénio de Andrade (1923 - 2005)



Statue of Carlos Drummond de Andrade in Copacabana, Brazil


Ausência

Por muito tempo achei que a ausência é falta.
E lastimava, ignorante, a falta.
Hoje não a lastimo.
Não há falta na ausência.
A ausência é um estar em mim.
E sinto-a, branca, tão pegada, aconchegada nos meus braços,
que rio e danço e invento exclamações alegres,
porque a ausência, essa ausência assimilada,
ninguém a rouba mais de mim.

Carlos Drummond de Andrade (1902-1987)



On the way to Varela, Guinea-Bissau





Cape Verde


sexta-feira, 14 de fevereiro de 2014

New Yorker covers on Valentine´s Day










Do you want to bake a cake for Valentine´s day? Here is a RECIPE


Do you know the LOVE sculpture ?

What about the LEGEND of SAINT VALENTINE?


Happy Valentine´s Day!


quinta-feira, 13 de fevereiro de 2014

Top 20 greenest countries




Azores, Portugal

Portugal was considered one of the 20 most “green” countries in the world according to the Environment Perfomance Index, which evaluates the performance of 178 countries.


Madeira, Portugal

The study was developed in Yale and Columbia universities in partnership with the World Economic Forum and ranks how well countries perfom on high- priority environmental issues, in two broad policy areas:

- protection of human health from environmental harm
- protection of ecosystems



Continental Portugal (North)





quarta-feira, 12 de fevereiro de 2014

A State Dinner


A beautiful table set for dinner at the White House.



terça-feira, 11 de fevereiro de 2014

Idioms (6)



MAKE ENDS MEET

All these idioms contain the verb make.

How many do you know?


idiom (n): an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made.


Make a pig's ear of something
If you make a pig's ear of something, you make a mess of it.

“I’ve made a pig’s ear of this picture. I’ll have to start again.”


Make a song and dance
If someone makes a song and dance, they make an unnecessary fuss about something unimportant.

“It’s just a few exams. You’ll be finished by the end of the week! don’t make such a song and dance about it!”


Make ends meet
If somebody finds it hard to make ends meet, they have problems living on the money they earn.

“Some of my friends have lost their jobs recently, and they are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet.”


Make it snappy
To do something quickly.

“Make it snappy, will you, because I need help right now.”


Make your blood boil
If something makes your blood boil, it makes you very angry.

“Seeing people dropping litter really makes my blood boil!”


Make your toes curl
If something makes your toes curl, it makes you feel very uncomfortable, shocked or embarrassed.

“When I hear nails scratching a blackboard, it makes my toes curl!”


Make your day
If something makes your day, it pleases you or makes you very happy.

“If you send your mum some flowers, I’m sure it would make her day!”



© Clever Pants 2012

www.clever-pants.com




segunda-feira, 10 de fevereiro de 2014

Adventures abroad 6


Yellowstone Park




Tomorrow my 9th grade students are going to read a text about Yellowstone Park. It brought me back memories when together with my family we crossed the USA from east to west, (for one whole month ) -  "the trip of my life"- as I usually say. 




Yellowstone was the first American park created in 1872. It is the size of Belgium. There you will find “ stately mountains, bison-specked meadows, tumbling streams, a sky-blue lake and wildlife beyond counting” (Bill Bryson. A Short History of Nearly Everything) .



One of the attractions are the geysers - the most famous is Old Faithful , and the Mammoth Hot Springs.









Old Faithful geyser . 2004



Gabriel Axel morre aos 95 anos.


Gabriel Axel, o realizador dinamarquês, que ganhou destaque internacional em 1988 quando conquistou o primeiro Óscar de Melhor Filme Estrangeiro para a Dinamarca com A Festa de Babette, morreu ontem aos 95 anos.



O filme, baseado num conto de Karen Blixen, está na minha lista de 10 melhores filmes de sempre. Narra a historia de uma parisiense do século XIX que encontra refúgio na casa de duas irmãs, filhas de um pastor protestante de uma aldeia conservadora dinamarquesa.







UN Global Education First Initiative




Did you know that 57 million primary-aged children worldwide do not have the opportunity to attend school? Additionally, 69 million adolescents are not able to get a quality education. And of the many children who are fortunate enough to have some formal education, 250 million do not have basic literacy and math skills. These are alarming figures, because data shows that a good education can lead to a better life and a stronger economy.

Last July on Malala Day, the UN’s call to action for governments, donors, organizations and individuals to support education was made stronger by the voices of youth from around the world. Their message was very clear: education must be at the forefront of the public agenda for both individual nations and the international development community.


sábado, 8 de fevereiro de 2014

David Simas na Casa Branca



David Simas, o luso-descendente dos Açores, que na última campanha presidencial, foi diretor de sondagens dos democratas, acaba de ser nomeado líder do Gabinete de Estratégia Política da Casa Branca, na área da comunicação e estratégia.




quinta-feira, 6 de fevereiro de 2014

'O Mio Babbino Caro'

Amira Willighagen sings 'O Mio Babbino Caro' on Holland's Got Talent and delivers an astounding performance ... 



This is simply breathtaking. It is difficult to believe she is only 9 years old.


quarta-feira, 5 de fevereiro de 2014

Queen Victoria and the age of photography



Portrait of Queen Victoria Holding Portrait of Prince Albert, negative July 1854; print 
1889, Bryan Edward Duppa and Gustav William Henry Mullins, carbon print. Royal 
Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2013



The photographic age began in 1839, just two years after the 18-year-old Queen Victoria ascended to the throne. The Queen and her consort Prince Albert embraced the new medium. By 1842 they were collecting photographs and spending time together mounting family portraits into albums, and exchanging photographs as gifts at birthdays and Christmas. 



A Royal Passion: Queen Victoria and Photography is a new exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles that explores Queen Victoria's lifelong devotion to photography, and includes more than 40 photographs by some of the most influential and prolific photographers of the 19th century. 

The invention of the new medium of photography was announced first in Paris by Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, then in London by William Henry Fox Talbot—at the beginning of 1839. 

The Great Exhibition opened in 1851 at the Crystal Palace, London. For many people in attendance, this was the first time they had seen a photograph. The early 1850s witnessed the rise of the photographic exhibition in Britain and the beginning of photographic societies around the country. Victoria and Albert's patronage and support were important to its rise in popularity. 

Over the course of her long reign, the queen was photographed as loving mother, devoted wife, grieving widow, and powerful sovereign. She was the first British monarch to have her life fully recorded by the camera, and her portraits became emblematic of an entire age. 





domingo, 2 de fevereiro de 2014