Plastic Trash – One of the Main Causes of Environmental Pollution

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Lina Steffens, Germany

About eight million tons of plastic trash end up in our oceans every year, which is affecting the wildlife in the ocean and on the coast. Annually, about 100,000 marine mammals die due to plastic pollution and millions of birds and fish mistake plastic debris for food or get stuck in them. Along the shores, thousands of bird corpses rest on the beach with their stomachs full of plastic trash. From whales, sea lions, and birds to the zooplankton, plastic is greatly affecting marine life, and those who suffer most are the animals.

Why is the consumption of plastic so tremendous? It is lightweight, flexible, moisture resistant, strong and inexpensive, qualities that make the use of plastic in different areas of industry and production very attractive, which leads to an over-consumption of plastic goods such as plastic bags, packaging, straws or bottles. Coupled with littering and polluting, plastic represents a danger for nature, our environment and the animal kingdom.

A plastic bag takes about 10-20 years to decompose, while a plastic bottle needs about 450 years until it’s completely decayed. If you imagine the amount of already existing plastic trash, and the amount that is added daily, the likelihood to eliminate it from our oceans completely seems impossible.

One of the main problems is recycling, or the fact that many people are not aware what proper  recycling, and the conscious use of plastic goods could change. Different types of trash are usually put in one bin together, regardless of the possibility to help saving the environment by just separating it. Bags, bottles and packaging are often dropped on the ground where they start polluting the environment.

Each and every person that consumes plastic goods daily has to rethink their use of it. Even small changes of the amount we use and how we recycle it can make a big difference. Separating our trash, recycling plastic, minimizing the use of plastic or the use of biodegradable plastic can help. There is no way to undo it, but we can prevent the worldwide problem from getting worse.

Popular Foods in 2018

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Isidora Davila, Chile

Every year,  a new food appears on the list of things that everyone is eating. They become a trend and the people feel the need that run to buy the new coconut oil, for example. This year the food maybe surprise you more than other years.

 

clear glass container with coconut oil

  • AVOCADO WITH EGGS

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    Already not the typical and boring toast with butter or ham with cheese, now avocado with egg is the trend you can eat at  breakfast, brunch or anytime. This one contributes many benefits, like high content of fiber, vitamin C and E that it is an antioxidant and minerals like potassium.

  • BOWL FOR THE BREAKFAST!

assorted sliced fruits in white ceramic bowl

Now  breakfasts are  different than before. The trend is to put oats or açaí (fruit of a palm tree) with many fruits with different colors and seeds. The idea is for  the bowl to look so colorful. The food first enters for the eyes!

  • GREEN SMOOTHIES

close up photography of clear glass mason jar mug with green juice and sliced citrus toppings

It’s time to debug. Now you can purify your body with this smoothie with lettuce, spinach, green apple, banana, lemon, celery, kale, chard, sunflower seeds and broccoli. It’s good for your body because the mix of these vegetables and fruits, apart of the detoxification, brings many minerals and vitamins.

  • ORGANIC FOOD

vegetables and tomatoes on cutting board

Nowadays, people talk a lot about the organic food because their benefits are so important   to the  lives of the people and the earth. The principal characteristic of these foods are the cultivation process because is totally natural, without chemicals, fertilizers, hormones, without toxic that contaminate the earth and our bodies.

  • HOW DOES THIS FOOD BECOMES FAMOUS?person holds black iphone taking photo of round white ceramic bowl

People see it and start trying this food. This form  is spread through social networks, or other forms, for example,  television which shows how  this food becomes famous. Commonly,  someone famous in some social media shares photos of their foods and the programs, for example,  Hell’s Kitchen.

 

History of the Crusaders

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Kevin Pic

Kevin Bolt,Switzerland

In the year 1095 after Christ, Pope Urban II called in the Council of Clermont at the beginning of the Crusades.

 

In the spring of 1096, the Crusaders broke up into four armies under the leadership of French princes.

 

The religion of Islam, founded by the Arab Mohammed in Mecca 630, became a threat to Byzantium. As the holy places of Christianity in Jerusalem were also in the hands of the Arabs, the Pope called for the First Crusade.

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In the year 1099, the Crusaders succeed in conquering Jerusalem. 

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 The siege lasted five weeks. During this time, the Crusaders set up an appalling massacre among the Islamic and Jewish populations.

 

The goal of the crusade had been reached and more than one million people had lost their lives in this war.

 

: 1096-1099 First Crusade

: (15.7.1099 Storming of Jerusalem

: 1147-1149 Second Crusade

: 1189-1192 Third Crusade

: 1202-1204 Fourth Crusade 

: 1218-1229 Fifth crusade

: 1248-1254 Sixth crusade

: 1270 Seventh Crusade

 

The Seventh Crusade was also called the Children’s Crusade. Crusade undertaken by French and German children, in which they moved, from religious zeal, to the thousands to Genoa and Marseille, and perished miserably or were sold as slaves on the way.

 

The consequences of the Crusades:

The formation of Knights ‘ order

(Templar order, Order of St. John and Teutonic Order.

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Ranking of the order of the Knights Templar:

Since there was a well-organized hierarchy among the Templars, it was possible for them to set up a powerful army.

There were a large number of well-trained knights in the main quarters who guarded the fortresses on the one hand and were on call for the fight on the other.
In addition to these knights, there were sergeants and squires who belonged to the Templars.

 

Grandmaster–he acted like a sovereign
• Seneschal-he was the second highest dignitary • Marshal-was responsible for the training of the Knights

• Komtur – responsible for the provinces and treasurers

• Schneider – provided the Knights with the necessary garments depending on the seasons

• Fighting Brothers Knights – were members of the aristocracy – their possessions: 3 horses, a squire and a tent

• Serving Brothers Sergeants – came from a non-aristocratic family and possessed 1 horse

• Under Marshal-subjected to the marshal-was treated similarly to a knight

• Banner Carrier – was sergeant and responsible for all squires

• Squire – Stood up to the knight in battle and took care of the equipment and the horse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hedi Slimane’s “Californication”

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Matilde Serri Pini, Italy

Innovation is the best way to describe the style of Hedi Slimane. In every fashion house he has worked in, he always leaves an indelible mark.

Already in the year 2000, in the house of Dior he created the Dior Homme line upsetting the whole fashion system, fusing male and female lines, tight sleeves and an occasional cravat which became the new concept of fashion. Thus, he abandons the idea of ​​”classic” typically approached by the name of Dior.

In 2007 the revelation.

The designer abandoned Dior , and decided to move to Los Angeles to devote himself to music and photography. His passions are always crisp: thus creating a sort of personal diary and archive with his best shots. It is affiliated with the local scenario, to  rock’n’roll and indie subcultures and to its emerging artists; this setting continues to revolutionize the artist’s thought.

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He returned to Saint Laurent in 2012, instilling a rock vision in the brand, thus redesigning a more youthful and accessible picture compared to something strictly traditional. A return to the full ’70s, the same Slimane claims to have drawn inspiration from his youth heroes as Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Mick Jones.

 

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But the true “californication” of the designer was completed with the transfer of the French house of Saint Laurent to SoCal. He compared LA to the London of the 70s: “an overlap of cultures and genres”.

The gesture of the designer provoked a division of opinion from those who grasp the geniality of the action ,to those who criticize without understanding the real motivations that have pushed the artist to do so.

In conclusion, as The Red Hot Chili Peppers sing about californication in a negative sense Psychic spies from China try to steal your mind’s elation
And little girls from Sweden dream of silver screen quotation
And if you want these kind of dreams it’s Californication.

In contrast, Hedi had his own version of californication, with the only difference that he knew how to capture all the positive and artistic aspects of the place, creating the califonication style , in particular LA style , a capital of fashion.

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Real life vs Social media

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Serena Brassesco, Italy

Are we really the same person on social media as we are in real life? I ask myself this question everytime I scroll down my IG home page, looking at photos of my friends and internet influencers. It seems that everyone is living their best lives. And I wonder: “would people think the same looking at my profile?”

Maybe we hide ourselves behind a screen, deciding to share just our best traits, trying to be liked and appreciated by people we don’t know, or perhaps we post the memories we love the most, to have them imprinted into the web forever.

It’s obvious that everybody tries their best to show their followers how fun or exciting their daily lives are, and even if I do the same, I always make an attempt to be as consistent in my real and private life as in my on line life, because it’s useless to show ourselves as people we’re not, with the risk of meeting people thanks to our fake selves.

In conclusion, the desire, and maybe the need, to be appreciated by strangers can lead us to be the best version of ourselves, without all the aspects of our lives that we would like to erase.

I used to act like this, convincing myself that I could have been my best self in front of the public eye, but now I don’t care at all. Why should I be someone I am not?

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Does the Street Art have a place in Galleries ?

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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. 2018-06-24 11.52.31Nowadays, 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.

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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

Photography, a Breakthrough Technology In Art

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Angele Dubos, France.

“Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.”

 

Photography is one of the most incredible breakthroughs in technology, in society and in art movements. As a mirror to the world, photography explores human emotions. It captures or marks a passage of time. Developed over the past 200 years, it enhances faster than any other visual art, plainly because it’s a blend between technology and art,  science and abstraction, reality and imagination, techniques and inspiration. Generally speaking, photography aims to capture the reality of everyday life, in parallel, it’s a fine art which requires time and attention.

This discipline, which has helped us to understand of our world, is widespread, omnipresent, everywhere: in our smartphones, advertising, social media, streets… Then how did photography become so renowned and appreciated by everyone?

Photography took shape when a Chinese photographer created the Camera Obscura, the first camera.  The main principle occurs when the image is projected through a screen which is a kind of mirror where the image is upside down.

Camera-obscura

Then, a lot of cameras, which I’m not going to list for the reason that it’ll be so long, have risen in popularity in our societies. Cameras have been examined through scientists’ hands and professionals in order to become more effective and obtain higher performance. Some well-known brands are Nikon and Canon.

nikon_1558_d5_dslr_camera_body_1452034368000_1214153.jpg

Regarding photography as an art, this discipline navigates around genres, artists, themes, works and techniques. Sometimes similar to the art of painting, photography has followed mostly the art movement: avant-garde, propaganda, contemporary art,  modernism, pointillism… On one hand, works are really carefully thought through by the artists focusing on lighting, the subject, the background, the meaning. On the other hand, some artist’s photographs are snapshots and have been captured in the right amazing moment.

However, some works are misleading, such as the The Kiss by the Hotel de Ville. Photographed by Robert Doisneau in Paris, this work is one of the most iconic of the 20th century. It reveals the love and romantic aspect that photography may have. Whereas, this photograph was actually all planned, all organized and everything you see was set up, even the extras behind, the cars, and included the blurred background.

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Photography also addresses fashion, photojournalism, war, advertising, death, nature, nudes, paparazzi and even more. That’s why I strongly suggest that you buy and read this book: The short story of Photography, which reviews in an enjoyable and pleasant way, the history of photography from the first movement until today.

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What You Can Do When You Visit Amsterdam

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Floortje Klein Schiphorst, the Netherlands

History
Amsterdam is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city. Amsterdam’s name comes from ‘Amstelredamme’,  of the city’s origin around a dam in the river Amstel.

Facts
– There are 17,620,000 visitors per year
– More then 100km canals
– Daily use public transport: 747,000
– There are 881,000 bikes
– 63% of the people who live in Amsterdam travel everyday with the bike

Things to do
There are a lot of things that you can do if you visit Amsterdam.

Canals of Amsterdam
There are 165 canals that combine for a length of over 100km (about 60 miles). There are 2,500 houseboats in the canals. You can book a boat tour through the canals. There are many different canal cruise companies. You can choose many different types of tours, like hop-on-hop-off sightseeing tours or night time cruises with food and wine.

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Shopping
Amsterdam is a excellent city for shopping. Most of the brands are on Kalverstraat and Leidsestraat. Kalverstraat is close to the ‘Dam of Amsterdam’, also a part that you need to visit. Another nice shopping area is ‘The Nine Streets’ (De Negen Straatjes). It called that because this area, located in the heart, has nine narrow streets. There are a lot of great restaurants, cafés, art galleries, jewelers, boutiques and vintage stores.

In heart of Amsterdam you have also a lot of typically Dutch souvenir shops.

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Parks
If you want to enjoy the sun, you can buy some food at the supermarket and go to a nice park. The most famous park in Amsterdam is ‘Vondelpark’. In the summer, there are also a lot of people from Amsterdam and it is close to the heart of the city.

Located in Amsterdam West is ‘Westerpark’. It’s is a nice place to walk, skate, relax or have a picnic with friends.

Also ‘Amstelpark’, located in the south, or ‘Rembrandtpark’, located in west, are both good parks to go to.

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Museums
There are several museums you can visit in Amsterdam.
– Amsterdam Rijksmuseum is one of the most popular museums. They have historic art by Vermeer, Frans Hals, and the most famous one of Rembrandt ‘ The Night Watch’.
– Stedelijk Museum is at the Museumplein. It presents the best of modern art in Amsterdam.
– Van Gogh Museum is one of the most popular museums in the world and presents all the work from Vincent van Gogh.
– The Anne Frank House is at the Prinsengracht 263 where she lived in hiding with her family for more than two years during World War Two.
– Hermitage Amsterdam is rotating their collection of art from the Hermitage in Russia.

In addition to these museums, there are a lot of other ones like, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Nemo Science Museum, EYE film, etc.

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In the Night
If you want to go out at night you can go to Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein in the heart of the city. There are a lot of bars and clubs. In Amsterdam South you have also a lot of nice bars, in the neighborhood ‘de pijp’. If you want to know what kind of parties there are, you can go to: https://www.djguide.nl/events.p?city=amsterdam&language=en

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Other things
You can go to ‘Olympic Stadium Amsterdam’, which was built for the Olympic games in 1928. You can also go to the zoo in Amsterdam ‘Artis’. If you go in April, you need to go to King’s Day, on the 27th of April. We celebrate the birthday of the king and wearing all orange clothes, and there are parties everywhere on the street.

Nice places and restaurants 
There are a lot of nice places in Amsterdam that you can visit. We have a lot of festivals in the summer, but you can also relax on a terrace. The best spots in Amsterdam are Hannekes Boom, Waterkant, Cafe de Jaren, pllek, Café de Ceuvel, Tolhuistuin, Canibal Royal, Westergasterras, Foodhallen, Sumo Sushi, etc.

I AMSTERDAM City Card
A good website you can use for research: http://www.iamsterdam.com
There are a lot of good tips and they tell you where you need to go if you want to know more things that you can do in Amsterdam. They also sell a lot of tickets for places to visit. There is a special card you can buy when you are staying in Amsterdam. You can choose a card for 24, 48, 72 or 96 ours. It includes free entrance to over 50 museums and attractions, free unlimited public transport in Amsterdam with tram, metro or bus, free canal cruises, free giveaways and discounts and a lot more things. So you can check the website for more information and prices.

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Why Should We Travel Alone?

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Beatrice Esposito, Italy

Going on a trip with your friends or with your family can be really awesome because you can share your experience with someone else who is close to you.

But have you ever thought about traveling alone? 

Here are 4 reasons why you should travel alone.

Focus on your destination

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You can totally choose the destinations that you like the most; you are not influenced by anyone, so you don’t have to go somewhere that you are not interested in. In addition, when you go on a solo trip you can concentrate on what you would want to visit without being influenced by other’s opinions.

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Meet locals

Since you are alone, you can’t talk with your friends or family when you have nothing to do, so you have to interact with people who live in that country. That can be a good thing because they can show you what are the best things to do in that place or you could even become friends with these people in order to experience the locals’ life.

Build confidence

At first it is absolutely scary and I can tell that it is true! I came to Los Angeles to study English and I flew from Rome to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Los

Résultats de recherche d'images pour « build confidence traveling »Angeles all the way alone. That scared me a little bit because I was scared I would take the wrong flight or I thought that something bad could happen. But at the end, everything was fine and I became more confident!

Learn about yourself

Last but not least, during your solo travel, you have to face who you are and you will better understand what you are interested in.Résultats de recherche d'images pour « Learn about yourself traveling »

 

So traveling with others you will find great friendship and you will have fun, but traveling alone you might find yourself.

Carnival of Sion

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Baptiste Ostertag, Switzerland

What is it ?

The carnival of Sion is a big celebration which is every year during the first week of February.Carnaval de Sion

A lot a people are going there, most of the time in costume, just to enjoy, watch the parade, party and meet people.

A lots of groups come to Sion, to play music, as you can see in the picture below !!carna_sion24.jpg

Then in the evening, people, specially the young adult, are going under a big pavillion to do party all the night.carna_sion25

Here you meet a lot of people you know, you can dance and drink all the night, even if you’re not 21 (Not like in the USA), and you can enjoy the particular music which is being played by the brass band.

Here is an example :

The most important thing there is to enjoy yourself, and the fact that almost everybody is disguised makes the carnival really fun, because sometimes you can’t recognize people.