miércoles, 21 de marzo de 2012

United States of America

History

- In 1492, the explorer Christopher Columbus, sponsored by the Spanish Cown, reached several Caribbean islands, making the first contact with indigenous peoples.
- In 1607 in Jamenstown was the first British settlement.
- The tensions between the Colonists and the British during the decades of 1760 and 1770 led to the War of Independence, which lasted from 1775 to 1781.
- At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the U.S.A declared itself neutral.
- United States, officially neutral during the early stages of World War II initiated the provision of supplies to the Allies in March 1941 through the Lend-Lease Program.
- During the "Cold War", the U.S. and the Soviet Union fought for power  after the end of the Second World War, dominating themilitary affairs of Europe through NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
- On the 11th of September of 2001, terrorists of al-Qaeda attacked the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon near Washington,D. C., in a series of attacks that killed nearly three thousand people.

Culture

- The United States is a multicultural nation, composed of a wide variety of ethnic groups, traditions and values.
- The common culture for most Americans is a Western culture, which comes from the traditions of European immigrants with influences from African slaves and later the Asian and Latin American immigrants.
- Their culture is characterized by multiculturalism and individualism. 
- Art Since European settlement, American art has been coupled with European artistic trends. In the mid nineteenth century, began to appear the first indigenous movement and thereafter have continued to create.
- The Statue of Liberty is one of the most famous sculptures in the world and an icon representative of the whole country.
- At Hollywood, a film is considered the hub of world cinema.
- There are a lots of music tipes: African-American music, folk music, blues, jazz, rock and roll, funk, hip hop, house music, ...
-During the eighteenth and early nineteenth-century American literature took most of its influence in Europe. In the midnineteenth century, American writers began to bear fruit of their own.
- Since the late nineteenth century, baseball has been regarded as the national sport, while football, basketball and ice hockey are the three other major professional  team sports. The varsity also attract large audiences.  Football is the most popular sport in America.


martes, 26 de abril de 2011

Hachiko


Trailer


Hachikos lives

In 1924, Hidesaburo Ueno, a professor in the agriculture department at the University of Tokio, took in Hachikō as a pet. During his owner's life, Hachikō greeted him at the end of each day at the nearby Shibuya Station. The pair continued their daily routine until May 1925, when Professor Ueno did not return. The professor had suffered from a cerebral homorrhage and died, never returning to the train station where Hachikō was waiting. Every day for the next nine years the golden brown Akita waited at Shibuya station.
Hachikō was given away after his master's death, but he routinely escaped, returning again and again to his old home. Eventually, Hachikō apparently realized that Professor Ueno no longer lived at the house. So he went to look for his master at the train station where he had accompanied him so many times before. Each day, Hachikō waited for the return of his owner.
The permanent fixture at the train station that was Hachikō attracted the attention of other commuters. Many of the people who frequented the Shibuya train station had seen Hachikō and Professor Ueno together each day. They brought Hachikō treats and food to nourish him during his wait.
This continued for nine years with Hachikō appearing precisely when the train was due at the station.

Information about the film "Hachi: A Dog's Story"






Is a 2009 American drama film based on the true story of the faithful Akita Hachiko. It is a remake of the 1987 movie Hachi-kō (Hachiko Monogatari)




Charactersabout the film "Hachi: A Dog's Story"






Richard Gere as 
Parker Wilson
(the professor)









Joan Allen as
Cate Wilson 
(the professor's wife)




Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as 
Ken Fujiyoshi





Sarah Roemer as
Andy Wilson
(the professor's daughter)





Jason Alexander as
Carl Boilins




Erick Avari as
Jasjeet
(the Indian vendor)





Davenia McFadden as
Mary Anne





Kevin DeCoste as
Ronnie




Tora Hallstrom as
Heather




Robbie Sublett as
Michael









Robert Capron as
Student

In the modern day, a class full of young students is giving oral presentations about personal heroes. A boy named Ronnie  stands up and begins to tell of 'Hachiko', his grandfather's dog. Years before, an Akita puppy is sent from Japan to the United States, but his cage falls off the baggage cart at an American train station, where he is found by college professor Parker Wilson (Richard Gere). Parker is instantly captivated by the dog. When Carl, the station controller, refuses to take him, Parker takes the puppy home overnight. His wife Cate (Joan Allen) is insistent about not keeping the puppy.
The next day Parker expects that someone will have contacted the train station, but no one has. He sneaks the pup onto the train and takes him to work, where a Japanese college professor, Ken, translates the symbol on the pup's collar as 'Hachi', Japanese for 'good fortune', and the number 8. Parker decides to call the dog 'Hachi'. Ken points out that perhaps the two are meant to be together. Parker attempts to play fetch with Hachi, but he refuses to join in. Meanwhile Cate receives a call about someone wanting to adopt Hachi. After seeing how close her husband has come to Hachi, however, Cate tells the caller that Hachi has already been adopted.
A few years later, Hachi and Parker are as close as ever. Parker, however, is still mystified by Hachi's refusal to do normal, dog-like things like chase and retrieve a ball. Ken advises him that Hachi will only bring him the ball for a special reason. One morning, Parker leaves for work and Hachi sneaks out and follows him to the train station, where he refuses to leave until Parker walks him home. That afternoon, Hachi sneaks out again and walks to the train station, waiting patiently for Parker's train to come in. Eventually Parker relents and walks Hachi to the station every morning, where he leaves on the train. Hachi leaves after Parker's safe departure, but comes back in the afternoon to see his master's train arrive and walk with him home again. This continues for some time, until one afternoon Parker attempts to leave, but Hachi barks and refuses to go with him. Parker eventually leaves without him, but Hachi chases him, holding his ball. Parker is surprised but pleased that Hachi is finally willing to play fetch the ball with him. Worried that he will be late for the college, Professor Parker leaves on the train despite Hachi barking at him. At work that day Parker, still holding Hachi's ball, is teaching his music class when he suddenly suffers a heart attack and dies.
At the train station, Hachi waits patiently as the train arrives, but there is no sign of Parker. He remains, lying in the snow, for several hours, until Parker's son-in-law Michael (Ronnie Sublett) comes to collect him. The next day, Hachi returns to the station and waits, remaining all day and all night. As time passes, Cate sells the house and Hachi is sent to live with her daughter Andy (Sarah Roemer), Michael, and their new baby Ronnie. However, at the first opportunity, he escapes and eventually finds his way back to his old house and then to the train station, where he sits at his usual spot, eating hot dogs given to him by Jas, a local vendor. Andy arrives soon after and takes him home, but lets him out the next day to return to the station.
For the next nine years, Hachi waits for his owner. His loyalty is profiled in the local newspaper. Years after Parker's death, Cate comes back to visit Parker's grave when she catches sight of Hachi waiting at the station. She gets emotional and sits next to Hachi until the next train comes. Hachi, now old and achy, returns to the train station at night and closes his eyes for the last time. He has visions of Parker. After His visions, the spirit of Parker dressed and looking like himself when he died walks out of the station and the two reunite as their spirits rise up to Heaven. The film then shows Ronnie, back in his classroom, making his conclusion of why Hachi will forever be his hero. He then meets up with his own Akita puppy, named Hachi, to walk down the same tracks Parker and Hachi spent so many years together on.
The closing cards reveal information about the real Hachiko who was born in Odate in 1923. After the death of his owner Hidesaburo Ueno in 1925, Hachiko returned to the Shibuya train station the next day and every day after that for the next nine years. The final card reveals that real Hachiko died in 1934 (in fact, he died in 1935). A photo of his statue in the Shibuya train station is the last image shown before the credits roll.
The film was shot primarily in Woonsocket, Rhode Island and Bristol, Rhode Island. The newspaper reporter, Teddy, states he is from the Woonsocket Call, the daily newspaper published in Woonsocket. This is the only spoken reference to the actual location where filming took place.