The Great Gatsby was one of the most impressive books I’ve ever read, however, I have to admit that when I first read the book I thought that it had no meaning because I had no background information about nor the author, neither the era that he wrote about. Being informed about the former I realised that the book has some autobiographical points and then the book was more enjoyable to read.

The story is about the love which has became an obsession between Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan. Actually Daisy only loves money and a comfortable life, moreover she is a really shallow person, the only that she can do is being a little beautiful fool.  Gatsby is a rich and handsome man who does everything to become rich, both legal and illegal ways, and eventually he is the ‘great’ Gatsby.

As I said in the beginning if you have some ideas about the era you can understand the book better. Since I love that era I searched for that and found out so many things and they helped me  a lot to get the book.

After watching the move and reading the book I thought about one thing, is it good to be shallow? Okay, the first answer comes to your mind is ‘nope!’ but if you think a little bit you are going to see my point. I mean, we are not shallow people we know much about life, we have responsibilities and we are aware of these. On the other side of the coin people don’t really know what are they doing.  They just live and be happy with what they are given. This brings me back to the debate topic that we were dealing with two week ago. ‘The  more you know, The more you fear’.. Isn’t it true?

Finally, I’m so glad that we read this amazing novel, watched the movie and analyzed it. It was a great opportunity to learn something new and I’m sure that I did. I want to thank our great teacher who wants us to read such important novels and helps us to understand it.

BTW yesterday I bumped into a group on facebook called ”My English Teacher finds more deep meaning in a book than the author” I guess I gotta be a member

ET can confirm exclusively that Beyonce will perform at the 52nd Annual Grammy’s.

An inside source tells ET that Beyonce, who holds the most nominations at 10, will take the stage and perform a number.

The Grammys are set to take place on January 31, 2010.

Source: Beyoncefan

With New Year’s upon us, here’s a look at some of the good luck rituals from around the world. They are believed to  bring good fortune and prosperity in the coming year.

BABYLONIA

The people of Mesopotamia celebrate the New Year festival known as Akitu in the springtime. At this time they celebrate the arrival of the spring rains and the renewal of nature, as well as the renewal of the community.

At the festival the story of the creation is read out to remind people of the order of the universe and how it had risen out of the struggle between Marduck the god of heaven and Tiamut goddess of the powers of chaos.

BELGIUM

In Belgium New Year’s Eve is called Sint Sylvester Vooranvond or Saint Sylvester Eve. The réveillon or New Year’s Eve family parties are thrown. At midnight everyone kisses, exchanges good luck greetings, and drinks toasts to absent relatives and friends.

The cities and restaurants are crowded with people who bid farewell to the Old Year. New Year’s Day is called Nieuwjaarsdag at this time of the year the children save money to buy decorated paper for writing holiday greetings to parents and god parents.

BENGALI

In Bengali they celebrate New Year on the 13th or 14th of April, which is the first day of the month that they call Baisakh. They clean and decorate their houses in preparation for the New Year.

They use flour to paint patterns on the ground out the front of their houses, in the middle of the design they place an earthenware pot, decorated with a red and white swastika which is a religious symbol, and filled with holy water and vermilion.

Also inside the pot they place a mango tree branch, which must consist of five twigs and a number of leaves. The pot symbolizes good fortune for the family.

BRAZIL

In Brazil the lentil is believed to signify wealth, so on the first day of the New Year they serve lentil soup or lentils and rice. In Brazil on New Year’s Eve priestesses of the local macumba voodoo cult dress in blue skirts and white blouses for a ceremony dedicated to the goddess of water, Yemanja.

A sacrificial boat laden with flowers, candles and jewelry is pushed out to sea from Brazil’s famous Ipenama beach in Rio de Janeiro. Continue reading ‘New Year All Over The World’



News about the new perfume leaked in late summer and now here is the WORLD PREMIERE of the ‘First Fragrance by Beyonce’, Heat. Check out the brand new website and video below.

Make sure to check out and sign up for more details on the new site (pictured above) here www.readytocatchthefever.com and below is the HOT new TV ad for the First Fragrance by Beyonce, Heat!

NEW YORK — As the lights went down at Z100’s Jingle Ball on Friday night, giant screens played a countdown video instructing the nearly sold-out crowd to scream. These teens and tweens needed no encouragement. They screamed for each new act, for Taylor Swift and John Mayer, for Kris Allen and Pitbull, for Boys Like Girls and Jordin Sparks and the Fray.

But at Madison Square Garden, the evening indisputably belonged to pint-size pop-throb Justin Bieber. When the 15-year-old limped onstage in a walking cast to join Sparks for “No Air,” the crowd disgorged a collective shriek so deafening it needs to be harnessed by peacekeeping agencies to be used for crowd-control purposes. Continue reading ‘Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, More Play To Screaming Tweens At Jingle Ball’

OMG!!!! These videos are freakin’ hilarious! you gotta watch them all!!!

What a big night for Beyonce! She took in 10 nominations for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards! The event will be shown live on CBS Sunday January 31st, 2010. See all categories Beyonce has been nominated in after the jump. Here is the list!

Category 1

Record Of The Year
(Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s), if other than the artist.)

* Halo
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Knowles & Ryan Tedder, producers; Jim Caruana, Mark “Spike” Stent & Ryan Tedder, engineers/mixers
Track from: I Am… Sasha Fierce
[Music World Music / Columbia]

* I Gotta Feeling
The Black Eyed Peas
David Guetta & Frederick Riesterer, producers; will.i.am, Dylan “3-D” Dresdow & Padraic “Padlock” Kerin, engineers/mixers
[Interscope]

* Use Somebody
Kings Of Leon
Jacquire King & Angelo Petraglia, producers; Jacquire King, engineer/mixer
[RCA Records]

* Poker Face
Lady Gaga
RedOne, producer; Robert Orton, RedOne & Dave Russell, engineers/mixers
Track from: The Fame
[Streamline/Interscope/Konlive/Cherrytree]

* You Belong With Me
Taylor Swift
Nathan Chapman & Taylor Swift, producers; Chad Carlson & Justin Niebank, engineers/mixers
[Big Machine Records]

Category 2 Continue reading ‘Beyonce: Scores Big At 52nd Annual Grammy Nominations’