TABLOID

While reading news from a tabloid magazine it is easy to notice the differences between this style of journalism and news in a regular newspaper. First, the headline must be shocking so it would call the reader’s attention immediately to the report. The text must be direct and interesting, with not much space for specific details and facts. The reporters don’t talk much about their sources, they simply spit out what they discovered.

The tabloid magazines sell exactly what a reader wants to know, while the regular newspapers sell what a reader should know.

New York City: The Rockefeller Center

The Rockefeller Center





The Rockefeller Center was built during the Great Depression by John D. Rockefeller Jr. The project provided work for over 40,000 people, some of whom you see in the photo above sitting on a cross beam. The official opening was in May 1933. However, its busy life fully started in the 1940's, when the Sixth Avenue subway opened for business, connected to the Rockefeller Center Concourse. By 1946, the Rockefeller Center was fully rented.

I know that one of the most famous views in the city is from a top floor in the Empire State Building, which used to be the tallest building in New York City, before the Twin Towers were built. After 9/11 it tragically recovered this status, but it is now being rapidly overtaken by the Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan. However, I prefer the Rockefeller view of Central Park, the Hudson River and even the Empire State.

This magnificent building is not only known by its great view from the top floor but for the fact that it is the studio of NBC television, which has many famous TV programs such as 30 Rock, The Voice and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Nowadays, the Rockefeller consortium also includes Radio City Music Hall, on the corner of 50th and 6th Avenue, where many important figures like Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli and Tony Bennett have performed.

The location of this NY must-see is 30 Rockefeller Plaza and the entrance is on 50th Street, between 5th & 6th avenues. The working hours are daily 8am - 12 Midnight (last elevator goes up at 11pm).
If you are coming from the Grand Central this is your best route, passing through 5th avenue with its big and wonderful stores.

I hope you enjoy very much your stay just as much as I did. Also, that you enjoy one of my favorite places in the city.

Atonement

Ian McEwan's book relates a story which begins in an old British country house just a few years away from World War II. He tells the readers about Briony Tallis, a 13-year-old inspired writer who is waiting anxiously to act her first play for her older brother Leon as a coming-home surprise. Their cousins, the twins (Jackson and Pierrot) and Lola, are coming from the North and are not very willing to help Briony with her production.

Parallel to that, Briony's older sister, Cecilia, is confronting the tensions in her relationship with Robbie, the son of one of the Tallis family servants. The Tallis father paid for Robbie's studies in Cambridge and both she and Robbie studied there together but saw nothing of each other. It is obvious that they feel something really strong for each other but their difficulty in handling that makes them frequently annoyed with each other.
Briony as the promising writer she already is, is full of curiosity and imagination, which will inevitably create a household catastrophe.
With a lot of specific detalis, not only about the scenario but the characters mind, the book from the first instant calls the readers attention to what is yet to come and so does the movie.

The movie, directed by Joe Wright stars Saoirse Ronan as young Briony and Romola Garai as the 18-year-old Briony, Keira Knightley as Cecilia and James McAvoy as Robbie. And it is not a bad adaptation, it has a wonderful photography and great actors. Also, as written in The New York Times review, '“Atonement” fails to be anything more than a decorous, heavily decorated and ultimately superficial reading of the book on which it is based.'

The story is about making a terrible mistake and the guilt that follows and how this actions can ruin lives forever. And Briony's effort to make atonement.

Egypt

The news that I would like to discuss is located in this link from the BBC.com:

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17920053

The Arab Republic of Egypt is a well known country, located in the north-eastern corner of Africa and south-western Asia. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by Palestine and Israel, on the south by Sudan, and on the west by Libya. Mostly, the country is acknowledged for its great history, the Nile, the Pyramids and its religion, Islam.

In any discussion of Egypt, it is important to remember that the country has a wonderful past which was closely tied to its belief in the Afterlife. The Egyptians believed in more than 20 gods and goddesses, and each one had its own role in the creation of the world, making the sun come up everyday and offering protection. So, it was the population's duty to recognize and worship them. Another belief was to mummify the body to preserve it for the Afterlife. The Pyramids were built for the pharaohs to house their mummified remains for "eternity".

The River Nile also retains a key role in the daily life of Egypt.  It is the longest river in the world and its name was quoted on the Pyramids, the great temples and in tales of mummies. "In fact, for thousands of years, the River has made life possible for hundreds of thousands of people and animals, and has shaped the culture we today are only beginning to truly understand"*.

The Arab Spring is the name given to a series of revolutions and protests that occurred in the Arab world between 2010-2012. For many years, dictatorships controlled not only the social life of the population but also the political and the economical aspects.

In the case of Egypt, the President's name was Hosni Mubarak. The protests in the country ran for 18 days. Right at the beginning, the government attempted to eliminate the nation's Internet access because the social media networks were helping the population to organize the protests. President Mubarak dismissed his government and trasferred his power to the Armed Forces of Egypt.

Now, there are 13 Egyptian candidates that will stand in the poll for President on 23 and 24 May. The candidates fall into categories of former regime figures, Islamists and independents.

The big difference between the Egyptian revolution in the Arab Spring and the other countries was that Egypt's protests were largely unarmed. However, this report shows a new wave of violence has already resulted in at least 20 civilians being killed in Cairo at a protest near the Ministry of Defence.

"Opposition to the SCAF (Supreme Council of Armed Forces ) has built up steadily since it assumed Mr Mubarak's presidential powers in February 2011. The council has been accused of stifling dissent by killing protesters, detaining critics and undermining the youth and civil society groups which led to the uprising." Some reports state that the attack was made by civilians, angry at the sit-in, which began on Sunday. The sit-in was a protest from the supporters of a Salafist preacher barred from competing in the election.


*http://www.touregypt.net/egypt-info/magazine-mag05012001-magf4a.htm
**http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Story.aspx?sid=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17859639