by Khyrian Marescaux, Belgium
Fantastic Ghibli Animation Movies
by Anna Nakamura, Japan
Do you know studio Ghibli?Studio Ghibli is one of the Japanese famous movie production companies. It was established by Hayao Miyazaki.
You may know some animation movie made by them. Here is the example,Whisper of the Heart,Howl’s Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro and so on.
Without kidding almost all of Japanese really love them.And we have watched them several times since our childhood.The most interesting thing is the view and the opinion can be changed each time.
From now, I will introduce one from them.The movie name is Howl’s Moving Castle.
This is the love story between wizard and human girl. The main story is simple but it indicate how the war is ridiculous.Studio Ghibli always prefer to pick social problems, environmental problems anr war as themes.
This is the most attractive points of them.Not only children but also adults can enjoy them a lot.
And the animation is breathtakingly beautiful.It’s like a photo.And they make us nostalgic.
The music is really good as well.I recommend you watching the one tonight with popcorn and coke!
California Music
Camilo Sanhueza, Chile.
Why is California so famous? “The Golden State” is known for its beautiful beaches, Hollywood’s movies industry or its big cities, such as LA or San Francisco, but it is also well known for all the great artists that come from here.
Some of the most famous bands and artists that come from California are: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Guns and Roses, Kendrick Lamar or N.W.A. Just to name a few. 
In the 80s Rock was increasing its popularity. It was in this context that a lot of great and classic bands started to rise, some examples are RHCP, Metallica, Guns and Roses, Megadeth or Green Day. It is impressive that the most of these bands are still current, doing tours and releasing new albums.
The 90s was rap’s turn. This revolutionary genre was spreading rapidly by young people and in California it came to stay. In the 90s, Dr. Dre, Ice cube, Snoop Dog or Eazy-E became famous, if we name the most important ones. These bands had songs that talked against the racial discrimination and the life in the neighborhoods of the USA.
00s-10s
Nowadays there are a lot of contemporary artists from California and there is a variety of music styles. We can name some famous pop singers, such as: P!nk, Maroon 5, or Katy Perry, rappers: Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator. Also indie bands: 30 Seconds to Mars, Jason Mraz.
It is clear that California has been a very great contributor to music history, bringing a lot of classic and famous bands for many decades in the past and it keeps bringing very good artists in the present.
If I have to name my favorite, I could not choose just one, but surely in my top 3 would be Kendrick Lamar, RHCP and Guns and Roses. There are very different styles, but that is the good aspect of California’s music, the variety and quality of the music.
The New Star Shining on the Rock & Roll Sky
Written by Lionel Ruegger, Switzerland
“There’s a lot of blind hate out there, but rock & roll is the best way to get to know each other” ~ Sam Kiszka
We go back to the year 2012, to a little town called Frankenmuth, Michigan. Two twin brothers and high school attendees, Josh and Jake Kiszka, are forming the band, Greta Van Fleet, with their younger brother Sam and friend, Kyle Hauck. They’ve named their band after Gretna Van Fleet, a resident of Frankenmuth. After recording the songs, “Cloud Train” and “Standing On,” Hauck has left the band in October 2013 and was replaced as drummer by the brother’s good friend, Danny Wagner. Along with “Standing On,” they have released several other songs, such as “Down to the River” and “By the Riverside.”
Soon after, the band was signed to the record label Lava Records and they have released their first official single called “Highway Tune” on March 31, 2017. One month later, they released their debut EP Black Smoke Rising with the following songs on it :
- “Highway Tune”
- “Safari Song”
- “Flower Power”
- “Black Smoke Rising”
Later in 2017, the band toured with The Struts, opened for Bob Seger and released their second EP From The Fires. It’s a double EP, consisting the four tracks from their deput EP and four new tracks, two of them are cover versions:
- “Edge of Darkness”
- “A Change Is Gonna Come” (Written by Sam Cooke)
- “Meet on the Ledge” (Written by Richard John Thompson)
- “Talk on the Street”
In July 2018, the band released their second single “When the Curtain Falls”. Just one week later, they appeared on the TV show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and made their TV debut by performing the new single. Greta Van Fleet released their debut album “Anthem of the Peaceful Army” on October 19, 2018. It was the top selling album in the first week in the US and debuted on number three of Billboard 200.
- “Age of Man”
- “The Cold Wind”
- “When the Curtain Falls”
- “Watching Over”
- “Lover, Leaver”
- “You’re the One”
- “The New Day”
- “Mountain of the Sun”
- “Brave New World”
- “Anthem”
Currently, Greta Van Fleet is nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Best Rock Performance (“Highway Tune”), Best Rock Song (“Black Smoke Rising”) and Best Rock Album (“From the Fires”). The Grammy Awards ceremony will be held on February 10, 2019 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Even if they’re not going to win any Grammys, they showed the mainstream music industry and the whole world that Rock music isn’t dead at all! It’s alive like back in the 70s, and it will celebrate a comeback the next couple of years!!
You Want To Be a Cool Parisian Guy ? Follow my Advice
Rudy FRANÇOIS-MÜLLER, France
1- The Style
- A lot of big luxuous companys come from France, like Louis Vuitton, Chanel or Yves Saint Laurent. Parisian guys are inspired a lot by the street mode. For exemple, when people wait at the pedestrian crossing, it’s time to find your inspiration.
Paris fashion week 2018.
2- Good Place to Be!
- Paris is a big city, but not so big when you want to discover beautiful areas without a lot of tourist. The district of Saint Germain des Pres is a really good place to be! I really like to seat in the “Cafe de Flore”. This is an really expensive coffee, but I can see a lot of celebrities (from France or Internationnal) and thst can inspire some people!
3- Are You Really Already Going to Paris?
You can’t say that you are going to Paris if you have not made these trips:
- The Eiffel Tower is one of those must sees! I don’t recommend it to anyone who is afraid of emptiness but when you are in the Tower, we can see a beautiful view of Paris! And for the richest you can even eat in a starred restaurant in the first floor.
- The Champs-Elysees is the most beautiful street in the world. They are many shops for all budgets. In the winter, all the trees are illuminated and this makes the street even more beautiful!
- Montmartre is a very old district in Paris. Hilltop Montmartre district is a former artists village once habited by Picasso and Dali, and home to the domed Sacre-Coeur basilica. There are sweeping views of the city from its steep, winding streets, while the iconic Moulin Rouge cabaret below draws tourists and night clubbers.
4- The French Food
During your trip you should try the beef Bourguignon in a restaurant! It’s a beef stew braised in red wince, often red Burgundy (very delicious), and beef stock, generally flavoured with carrots, onions, garlic and a bouquet garni, and garnished with pearl onions, mushrooms and bacon.
I hope you will soon discover the city of Paris and share your experience :).
Dystopias
Enora Haugmard France
Dystopia is a variant of science fiction. Unlike utopias, which take place on happy locations, in most cases, dystopias depict nightmarish worlds because literally ‘dystopia’ means ‘not-good place’. Authors, according to their centuries, describe the world they imagine for the future.
So, in what way is the writing of dystopias revealing the fears and worries present for the future world?
There is a the translation of the scientific progress in dystopias. Then, dystopias evoke the fear of lack of freedom and can talk about the fear of the technological advances.
In first part, we can talk about Brave New World, Aldous Huxley’s dystopia based on a scientific and eugenic society. In his novel, we understand that
basically all babies who are born are automatically placed in classes that define which statue they have in their society. For example, Alpha is the best one. They are programmed to be tall, beautiful, and clever. Then, Bêtas also formed an intelligent class. Gammas, Deltas and Epsilon are the middle and low classes.
The chapter 2 takes place in a hospital where the Director forms Bêtas. There is a loud speaker which makes a speech “Alpha children wear grey. They work much harder than we do, we are much better than the Gammas and Deltas”. These conditioning behaviors include the acceptance of social classes. By listening to these words when you are a child we will always remember who you are in the society.
Therefore, we noticed how social conditioning is violent. Moreover, in Huxley’s dystopia, babies are conditioned by electric shocks to learn hatred of beautiful things. This extract depicts a nightmarish world, controlled by the power of words, and the violence.
Suzanne Collins wrote The Hunger Games in 2008. In the beginning of the book, we discover a world separated by a fence in the 12th District. 
The first Chapter introduces Katniss, the main character, she lives in the 12th district and she likes hunting in the forest even if it’s forbidden. Panem, the 12th, is the poorest district. In the beginning, the location is described as somewhere “gray” and “dusty”. Panem is a place where the government had taken everything.
Moreover, people such as Katniss must obey to superior authority, in this case, the Capitol, the only one place that can be rich. To enforce the authority, a kind of military exists : the Peacekeepers. But to maintain terror, the Hunger Games also exists . A game which aims to choose two people of each district and to make them fight until the death. So, people are always submissive and therefore without liberty. This world would be the nightmare of the totalitarianism.
The futuristic world involve technological progress. Richard K Morgan’s novel, called Altered Carbon, set in a future in which life is facilitated
by transferring consciousnesses between bodies. It follows the attempt of Takeshi Kovacs, a soldier turned private investigator. But when Takeshi is resleeved, it’s not in his own body. In his novel, a rich man named Laurens Bancroft has, apparently, committed suicide. When he is resleeved and his destroyed stack restored, its 48-hours back-up schedule means he has no memories of the previous two days. Convinced he was murdered, Bancroft hires Takeshi Kovacs to investigate. He is forced to obey because the people who are called Meths, people like Bancroft, are wealthy and are among other things, able to acquire replacement bodies forever.
So, they are eternal while people are dying because they don’t have money to restore their stacks. Therefore, people are also hierachied and submissive to powerful people but also dominated by technology and become kinds of robots.
Dystopias translate the fears and worries present about our future world. The fear that science will become more important than human beings, that it categorized people and gives too much power to some people. We are afraid that perfection will become too important and threaten the uniqueness. Then, it also translates the fear of losing our liberty, the fear that the government will take us over. And finally we develop a fear of technological progress that could destroy our humanity and dominate the human world. In each case, everything seems irreversible. This may be a warning from the authors.
In my opinion, Dystopias are a good way to make people aware about the most likely future problems that hovers over the world. Then, it also permits the creation of a brief idea of what our world could be like in some centuries.
Halloween in Santa Barbara
Mohammed Alnasser, Saudi Arabia
First of all, this is the first time I have visited the U.S.A. and of course it is a nice fun and good experience at the same time. During my stay there were beautiful events and festivals including Halloween.
This was an interesting event for me because it was the first time I have been involved in this event and it was a beautiful experience in my life.
I participated in this celebration with the wonderful EF Institutes and it was a wonderful celebration. My costume was about a character in the circus. We were in competition with most of the students at the institute for the best costume and for the first time I won and I took fifth place.
A New “Lifestyle”
Federica Capuzzoni, Italy
The Zen philosophy is more than a simple religion, it is a life style near Buddhism. The “Zen” is a philosophy of life that helps the individual to find happiness and serenity, and it helps to remove a negative thoughts and stressful things. To understand, and to catch the real meaning of this religion, it is not necessary to become a real follower of it, but it is only necessary to open our hearts and live with broad minds.
The most important teachings of Zen are:
- the JOY IS NOW: Often people concentrate more about their past actions or think about a future instead to live in the moment but, it’s wrong. We need to learn to live every moment of our lives and to appreciate every thing. For the Zen’s philosophy the individual’s joy depends only on himself and how he lives in the world. So how can we be happy ? We need to remove negative thinking. We should’t get swayed by external factors and also every human has the conditions to be happy.
- LIVE WITH A BROAD MIND: Living with serenity without any stress means living with a broad mind. We need to always stay ready for the changes that happen in our lives, because if you have a narrow mind this prevents you from understanding what is happening in your life. If we want to see life from another view, you must forget the rules that the society requires of us. To understand better what is meaning we can use this quotes:
“In the sky there is no difference between east or west, but the people create this difference in their minds and after they start to think that it is real.”
3. PAIN IS UNAVOIDABLE, SUFFERING IS OPTIONAL: People can only be hurt by what they decide to give importance to, so that means that is possible to avoid the suffering in vain; in fact, if you decide to emotionally break away, you can see the problem from another point of view. This teaching takes time and diligence, but it is important for your life.
Simplicity in the Buddhist lifestyle is essential. Simplicity as way of life focuses attention on the really important thing. How can you practice simplicity?
First, you must examine your life to see what stressful habits clutter your life. Are you running around too much? Are you trying to do too many things at once? Once you ask yourself these types of questions and make an inventory of habits, then you can change to simplify your life. Simplicity is the way of life that helps us put more attention on what is happening in our lives every day, and helps us to search all the positive things that are happening every day.
After this you must realize that you have choices. Every person is the writer of his/her own life. You are 100 percent unique in your own special way. You have the right to spend your life doing the things you love to do, and experiencing things that bring you massive joy.
The trick is to enjoy your life. Don’t waste away your days, waiting for better ones ahead. You must give the possibility of every day to be the best day of your life.
Marjorie Pay Hinckley
When the day is finished and you are in your bed, close your eyes and think about the whole day and search all the “happy moments” and reflect about all the good things that happened. It helps you to appreciate your life more!
STREET ART: VANDALISM OR ART?
Ilaria Tedeschi, Italy
Post graffiti, murals, frescoes or Urban Art, the Universe of the Street Art is known under many appellations. But where does it come from ? What were the changes ?
“Is it art?”
A question sometimes said and heard in museums, galleries, movie theaters, concert arenas, any place of creation. One such place is also the street, where the spectators often seem to wonder: “Is graffiti art or vandalism ?”
As a response to modernism and social segregation, graffiti became the means of communication and identity for young people in New York City in the 1970s.
Street art is visual art created in public locations, usually unsanctioned artwork executed outside of the context of traditional art venues.
Some of the earliest expressions of street art were certainly the graffiti which started showing up on the sides of train cars and walls. This was the work of gangs in the 1920s and 1930s New York.
The impact of this subversive culture was extraordinarily felt in the 1970s and 1980s.
These decades were a significant turning point in the history of street art – it was a time when young people, by responding to their socio-political environment, started creating a movement, taking the ‘battle for meaning’ into their own hands.
Soon, this subcultural phenomenon gained the attention and respect in the ‘grown-up’ world. It had taken a form of true artistic expression.
One of the most important name of the street art is Martha Cooper.
One of the most important photo of Martha Cooper.
Although still subversive, and in its large part an illegal movement, through art enthusiasts and professionals, street art earned its place in the contemporary art world.
It is a marvelous art form in its own right and it is amazing to follow the evolution and diversity of street art in the 21st century.
Street art gave birth to artists who create breathtaking murals, and those who have incorporated video art and other performative aspects to creative work ‘on the streets’.
Omnipresent globally, it has evolved into a complex art form encompassing various practices. The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti is a survey of international art scene and brings together the world’s most influential urban artists and their work.
Street art is a way to communicate with other people, to share your creativity, your ideas, your thoughts and a way express yourself, how you really are.
Some of the most important street artists are:
BANSKY
KEITH HARING
Haring’s bold cartoon figures are a visual staple of the 1980s New York art scene and have come to appear on everything from T-shirts to skateboards.
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Before Basquiat was one of the most popular artists in New York City, hanging out with the likes of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, he was a young, homeless runaway who took up graffiti under the name “SAMO.” In his short life, Basquiat worked his way up the rungs of the art world, landing himself in top galleries yet continuing to put work on the street.
Street art is a way to communicate with other people, to share your creativity, your ideas, your thoughts and a way express yourself, how you really are.
Does the Street Art have a place in Galleries ?
Post graffiti, murals, frescoes or Urban Art, the Universe of the Street Art is known under many appelations. But where does it come from ? What were the changes ?
These different kind of appellations have evolved over time and with the artists in this movement. At the beginning the Street Art was known as “Graffiti” which was an act of vandalism during the 1960/1980s decades. 
Nowadays, this form of Art which is exhibited in the international galleries, festivals or fairs like the “Urban Art Fair” in Paris, “District13 Art Fair” in Paris [which is coming soon in September 2018], “Beyond The Streets in Los Angeles” a huge showcase of graffiti and street art or the different festival of POW ! WOW ! in Hawaii, Long Beach, Washington and many other countries in the world.
This big change about Street Art in our time period evolved the attitudes and beliefs in this Art movement. Now, this kind of Art is perceived as cool and “in”, Artists don’t really need to hide anymore. Some of them became famous and can live on the income from their Art. Companies, city halls, associations and different kind of institutions call on these artists to beautify their buildings and facades. Artists are not perceived as “delinquent” like in the past when they could be arrested and go to jail for vandalism, but this fact depends as well on many aspects (location where the artists “graff” and if it can be legal or not).
Street Artists now are reconignized and some of them have their exhibits in Galleries because they deserve to be famous and well-known and live off their passion for their art. Their passion became their profession. However, if Street Art tends to be exhibited in galleries and only in galleries the movement will lose its meaning/value. If Artists forget the space that gave them their reputation, their birth as an Artist and they will expose/exhibit in Galleries, the fact that they wanted and desired to make Art accessible to the street, to people who don’t go on or are used to going in galleries will be lost and the debate on this accessibility and about money and business can be questioned.
In other words, Artists should continue to do murals on the street and for free when they can/want and they have the right, as well if they wish to show and exhibit their Art in Galleries, Fairs, Festivals etc. Both can be combined for the well-being of each Artists.
E.F
efsantabarbaranews.com 