Reggea's Rasta roots... Article by Anthoine R.

Bob Marley was, is, and will remain one of the main icons of the contemporary world. He was a superstar of Reggae and a Rastafarian prophet.

Robert Nesta Marley was born February 6, 1945 in St. Ann, son of a white captain of the navy and a black Jamaican peasant.

Bob Marley recorded his first song, Judge Not, at age 16 in 1961. In 1964, he formed the Wailing Wailers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. Their first title, Simmer Down, will be the tube of 1961 in Jamaica. In the late '60s, the Wailers became the first Jamaican band to promote a popular philosophy. The Wailers embarked on a long musical and spiritual journey, creating an original cultural movement with influence like no other Reggae artists. Soon, most Reggae stars became Rastafarians and, in turn, Reggae became the main vehicle for the expression of Rastafarian culture and its demands.

Singers like Marley became revolutionary workers and representatives of the poor of Kingston, to whom their messages were broadcast through the radio, to all the homes on the island.

"Them belly full weekends to hungry / A hungry mob is an angry mob / A rain a fall to the dirt is tough / A cook pot but the food no 'nough." By these simple words Marley made Jamaican people aware of political issues.

He attacked the skinocratic system of Jamaica, which placed Whites at the top of the social ladder, Mulattoes in the middle, and Blacks at the bottom.

In 1967, Marley left Kingston and returned to his hometown of St. Ann mountain. For a year, Bob adopted the Rastafarian lifestyle. When he returned to Kingston at the end of 1968, he continued to sing the liberation music which made him famous.

Ironically, Marley was isolated when the world changed, when youth expressed their anger and its desire for something new.

The first songs by Bob Marley with religious connotations appeared in 1968. For Marley, as for many Rastas, Blacks are a lost tribe of Israel. They consider themselves the true Jews... While some extremist Rastas (the Nyabinghi sect) believe that the white oppressor has to be eliminated, most Rastas refuse to bear arms. Rastas believe in the spiritual strength and power of the elements: earthquakes, thunder, lightning. According to the biblical precept, Rastas are forbidden to eat while others starve. They live communally, sharing and exchanging goods for services.

In the mid-'60s, because of new outbreaks of violence in the ghettos of West Kingston, police and the government expelled the Rastas, burning their houses and putting them on the street. At the height of the crackdown, police destroyed the headquarters of Black o'wall, an area of ​​the slum where many Rastas lived in huts made of wood and tin. At dawn, when the population was asleep, police arrived at the head of a convoy of bulldozers to raze the place. Those episodes inspired many reggaemen.

In 1972, during the months preceding the elections, Prime Minister Hugh Shearer, leader of the Jamaican Labour Party, decided to prohibit the broadcasting of songs on the Rasta radios. Although Marley was forbidden to engage in politics ("Sing Me No politics, after I sing freedom"), he became an electoral force to be reckoned with.

He died prematurely in 1981, having transformed Jamaican popular music into a major movement. A rare phenomenon, Bob Marley was adored by the general public, and by the most demanding connoisseurs, who discovered Reggae thanks to him.

Zimerman still wows the crowds at 70!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011c0s2/Blowing_in_the_Wind_Dylans_Spiritual_Journey/

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/05/24/bob-dylan-revisited/

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The Diary of Bridget Jones sold 860 000 copies and The Age of Reason 500 000. This is a literary phenomenon. But why do we like Bridget Jones so much?

Bridget Jones is a heroine for today's young women. She’s unmarried, thirty years old, on a diet... She’s just like most of the book’s readers. What makes her unusual is that she is seriously looking for her prince charming. She is also somewhat disconnected from reality, and she has a great sense of irony. She’s a very likeable character.

I think that girls today are still looking for true love, but they also want to maintain their independence. It is not shameful to be celibate, and, anyway, all good things come to those who knows how to wait! Sometimes, the ideal man is simply standing next to you. And, as the book shows, friendship is so important and we should learn just to have fun. We can be single without being complete losers, and learn to look on the bright side of life.

Article by Camille L.

Why don’t I stop playing football?

Football finds its real roots in medieval soule (or choule). This game was practiced in schools and universities but also by people on both sides of the Channel. The first written mention of soule in France goes back to 1147 and its English equivalent dates to 1174. From the 16^th century, the swollen leather ball was common in France. For a long time forbidden for military reasons in England or for economic productivity in France, soule, in spite of its brutality, remained popular till the beginning of the 19^th century on the British isles and in northwest France. The game was also practiced by the colonists of North America and it was forbidden in particular by the authorities of the city of Boston in 1657. Named football in English, soule was renamed folk football (football of the people) by the English-speaking historians of the sport to distinguish it from modern football.

Football developed more and more in England then spread to France and the rules were codified. In 1904, an International Federation, FIFA, was founded. Football became the most practiced sport in the world and spread to a lot of countries where it became almost a religion. At present, there are 264 million players worldwide, both professional and amateur.

Everybody can play football, both men and women. There is a football league for both. You can play football if you like running, collective sport, being with others, and the real spirit of this sport.To play football, you need a field (usually 100m x 70m, but maximum 130m x 90m) with goals at both ends, a round ball, football shoes, shin protection, clothes adapted to the sport, and eleven players on each side (one goal-keeper and 10 players) with substitutes.There are numerous rules to respect to be able to play in the best conditions, like respecting other players and the referee, the faults rules, the offside rule, etc.

Since the creation of this sport, there have been several geniuses of football. Numerous people have tried to imitate Pelé, Maradona, Zidane and the others. There are a lot of competitions around Europe and the world, including the Champions’ League, National Leagues cup, Euro Cup and the World Cup, where you can admire your favorite players. Each year, there is an award for the best player: the golden ball (this year Lionel Messi got it).

Football is very important nowadays. How many people go every week to see their favorite team in a stadium of 50 000 seats on average? Even if football is nowadays a lot about money, it remains popular. It is above all about a bunch of mates who try to surpass themselves, for others and for victory.

I love football because I’m fond of the beautiful game, I like running and spending energy for my friends because I know that they will do it for me too… It is a sport where it is necessary to trust in oneself and give everything on the soccer field.I’m fond of kicking the ball at the goal just to mark the most beautiful goal. In fact, I’m always in competition with my friends. I’m a big big fan of all professional players and I would like to be able to do what they do but I know that I will not be able to achieve their level.

Football can be a dangerous game, and I have suffered several injuries including fractures of the shin and the fibula as well as a sprain of the knee. But football is for me a second life, it’s a life which helps me get my ideas straight after school… I could not abandon the atmosphere of the changing room. I cannot stop football.

I just want to say that you should never give up because nothing is impossible.

Article by Alex P.

The sky's the limit!

What is Skydiving?

Wikipedia describes skydiving as: “Parachuting, also known as skydiving, is the action of exiting an aircraft or jumping off of a tall structure, and returning to earth with the aid of a parachute. It may or may not involve a certain amount of free-fall, a time during which the parachute has not been deployed and the body gradually accelerates to terminal velocity.”

Skydiving is a competitive sport. France has won five of eight world championship titles!

How does it work?

A parachute rig is composed of three things: the harness which maintains the skydiver’s body, the main canopy, and the reserve canopy (used only in emergencies).

During a skydive, the parachutist jumps from an aircraft (most often a plane but sometimes a helicopter or even a hot air balloon) at 4000 m (around 13000 feet) and opens his main canopy at 1000 m (3000 ft).

To open the parachute, a skydiver must pull a little pilot-chute called a “hand-deploy” which will catch the air and pull the canopy out of the rig.

In case of emergency, the skydiver has to do a “cutaway” (release his canopy) and to open his reserve canopy (which is his last chance of a soft landing...). Accidents do not occur that often because you have to check your equipment several times, and you are trained to react correctly in case there is a problem. However, this is a risky sport, not because of canopy failure, but because of broken arms and legs while landing under the canopy. As you can imagine, though, zero risk does not exist, like everything else in life!

Why did I decide to practice skydiving?

Since I was about five, my dream has always been to fly, and, as I quickly came to understand that it was impossible, I started to want to skydive as the next best thing! Skydiving brings me an unbelievable feeling of freedom. However, it also involves an acute sense of personal responsibility. During the free-fall, I feel like a (big) bird, but, as I don’t really want to die, I must be aware of the risks and react according to the situation to save my life!

Also, skydiving is one of the best ways to de-stress.

What can you do during a freefall?

It is all about the idea of flying, rather than of falling. There are many types of jumps, like the freefly (artistic moves with at least two performers), or the relative flight (sequence with four or eight performers facing the ground), and many variations of these. The choice of a discipline depends on what you want to do; either you want to perform with a team and so you do relative flight, or you want to move with another skydiver on three axes so you chose freefly.

Who can Skydive?

Anybody in relatively good health, with no heart problems or serious back trouble, can practice this sport. All you need is a doctor’s certificate.

You start by jumping with a monitor who brings you all the safety needed to have a great time without thinking about problems that may occur during the opening of the parachute. You then follow a week’s training course and after a minimum of six jumps with the teacher, you can jump alone. So, it’s not a complicated sport…

As it’s an expensive sport, though, be prepared to fry millions of chips at Mc Donald’s for a month, as I did! It is a small price to pay for the exhilaration of being able to go skydiving. I’m now a skydiving adrenaline junkie!

Article by Jules H.

Mean, moody and magnificent...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12605219

Coco nuts!

Few people know that her real name was Gabriella Chanel and that she was born in the Puy-de-Dôme (Auvergne). In my opinion, if you want to be famous and respectable, you must follow her example.

Her life is pretty strange… Her mother died when she was a little girl. With her younger sister, she was educated in a convent. After her 18th birthday, she worked as a seamstress, but she didn’t want this, she wanted to create her own clothes. She sometimes visited her sister at the convent.

One evening, she met her future man, Etienne. A few weeks later, she quit her job and went to live with him. He was a wealthy man. She met lots of famous people; she discovered worldly life and the hypocrisy of some. One day, she joined Etienne on a hunt. She did not ride side-saddle, but wore a pair of trousers and rode the horse like a man. This was a bold thing to do at the time! Later, she started to create hats, encouraged by Etienne’s best friend, Boy, an Englishman. In the end, she was disappointed by this life, and she left Etienne.

She went to live in Paris and her life became difficult. She earned her living only with her hats, which was not lucrative. One day, Boy went to her home and he offered to help her. He found her a shop, where she could sell her hats. She made a name for herself in high society. Gabriella and Boy fell in love…

During a trip to Deauville, they discovered an old, empty shop. A few weeks later, she became the owner. Boy was called up to fight in the War. Gabriella had to live alone.

After the War, Gabriella bought a whole building in which to set up her fashion business. Boy left her, but they still loved each other. He was killed in a road accident and Coco was heart-broken. It was during this period that she created the little black dress that is still famous today.

Chanel was to experience more difficult times but, thanks to her strength of character, she became one of the most celebrated women of all time.

Where did she get her nickname from? Chanel worked for a while as a singer in cafés; on the evening she met Etienne, she was singing “Coco”, a very well known song at the time. Etienne thereafter always called her “Coco”, as did all her friends!

Why is her famous perfume called “Chanel number 5”? When she had to choose a name for her new fragrance, she didn’t have any ideas, and the fragrance which she had chosen was the fifth one, so she simply called it “Coco Chanel, number five!”

Article by Angélique B.

Lisa loves B&C!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde_(film)

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde_(chanson)

Who is the most glamorous, dangerous, and free couple in History?

They had the perfect relationship: they were in love, they were beautiful, they had no limits, and they even worked together… I'm not talking about those “glamorous”, well-known couples that paparazzi love to spy on nowadays. At the time, paparazzi didn’t even really exist. Had there been any, Parker and Barrow probably would have shot them! Who? Okay, let’s try their first names: Bonnie and Clyde. You’ve heard of them I hope? They were the most wanted criminals in the US of A in the 1930s.

Here’s a recap of their story:

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were two American criminals who traveled the central United States during the Great Depression. They are believed to have killed at least nine police officers and committed several civilian murders. The couple was ambushed and killed in Louisiana by law officers.

Their fame spread thanks to the press, who portrayed Bonnie as a sexy, rebellious young woman. After their violent deaths, the myth started. Movies, books and songs were written about them and their tragic, romantic, story fed the imagination of crazy people like me.

I do not like to imagine them as horrible outlaws, who killed innocent people, but rather as two people who trusted each other and even died together. It may sound a bit dumb of me, but surely there is not only just one way to see the world…

I discovered Bonnie and Clyde through a song, the famous “Bonnie & Clyde” by Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. This song is based on a poem written by Bonnie Parker called “The Trail’s End”.

Now, it’s your turn to talk. Had you already heard about Bonnie & Clyde? What do you think about them? Do you see them as criminals or as the forever-free couple? Are there other famous criminal couples you "admire"? Comments please, or else!

Article by Lisa D