'5 de Mayo' a fiesta for all

Normandale Community College celebrates diversity and welcomes everyone to 'Cinco de Mayo' celebration.

Following the tradition of each Cinco de Mayo, NCC will host a celebration that highlight the importance of our Hispanic friends and help to embrace diversity and culture.

Organized by the Club Latino and sponsored by Lead Founds, President’s Council Diversity, the Center for Multicultural Services, and Normandale Program Board. Cinco de Mayo party promotes culture, tolerance and a better appreciation for Hispanic celebrations with culture, piñatas, food, music, sombreros, drinks, mariachis, and endless fun.

If you hear Mariachi music, follow them as the flautist of Hamelin. Everyone is invited to celebrate the next Thursday, May 5^th. 

Here you have a cultural and Historic note about Cinco de Mayo:

Cinco de Mayo has a real significance in Mexican-American culture. On May 5^th of 1862, Mexican troops defeated French forces near the city of Puebla. Outnumbered and outgunned, everything was against the Mexicans, but they pulled off a spectacular victory. The victory ended French presence in Mexico.
Now that’s something to celebrate!  Otherwise we would be taking French classes instead of Spanish classes.

**Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo has nothing to do with Mexican Independence, which happened on September 16^th of 1810.  

Of course bring all your amigos, your marichi sombrero, maracas and your taco costume, if you have one. y Ole!

When: May 5^th, 2011

Where: NCC Gym

Cost: General Admission $2.00 and $1.00 for NCC students

Time: from 4pm to 8pm

What does it means Cinco de Mayo for you?

10 Useless inventions

Have you ever wondered how would be our life without inventions?

Maybe for some people life could be a little complicated. For others, life could be less stressed if they were not dealing with buttons or instruction manuals.  Certainly something that cannot be denied is that inventions facilities life of much people. However, there are some ingenious creations with little utility for the human beings.

The website Top10 list published the ten most useless inventions of the history.  Here we introduce four of them.  Moreover, if you have one of those at home, keep it, get rid of them or just send them to the museum. The decision is yours.

Baby cage, 1937

In 1937, the Chelsea Baby club of London, England, promoted some cages of wood and wire to place the newborns out of the windows of the departments.  This was introduced as alternative for those families without any gardens or any specific place where they can leave their babies. Also, the cage would allow the baby to have fresh air and sunlight.

Sure it did not work, who wants to hang their baby outside in the 5^th floor of the building.  It is hard to imagine that someone did invent this baby cage as a useful thing.

Cat-Mew Machine, 1963

If rodents were the problem in the kitchen, here was the ultimate solution. Invented in Japan and brought direct to the stores was this device called "mew cat machine." Powered by a two watt motor, the objective of this expensive device was to scare rodents by imitating the sound of a cat, “mew.”

Sure rodents made fun of that.

Shower Hood, 1970

Our modern times demand much more of our time and every day we have less time to do our routine activities. In the case of the women, time can be short in mater of makeup.  Do not worry, someone had the solution. Here we have the wonderful “Shower hood.” The one that allow women to take a shower without damaging the makeup.

Nevertheless, the invention did not succeed, but there are a lot of women who still waiting for an upgrade in this invention.

Cigarette Holder Built for Two, 1955

Ok, here is the situation. A smoker buys a new box of cigarettes; suddenly someone came and asks for a cigar. How far the smoker can go when he/she does not want to share a new cigarette? Here is the solution, the smoker share their cigarette with the other person. But in order to avoid awful experiences, like extra saliva in the filter, a genius developed an instrument of two mouthpieces that permit two people to smoke of the same cigar. 

Wow, sure both had the same amount of nicotine!

Want to know the rest of the list, go to:  Top 10 list
All the pictures from: http://top-10-list.org/2011/03/29/top-10-useless-inventions/

Hanna - Movie Review

Her name is Hanna and is hundred times more lethal than any other girl of her age.  But wait a second, her last name is not Montana and she does not sing or act on kids TV shows. The Hanna that we are talking about is a cold blooded killer trained by her father in the art of killing for surviving.

Welcome to another CIA spy movie. This time “Hanna” came from the hand of Director Joe Wright, The Soloist (2008), Pride and Prejudice (2005), Atonement (2007) and others, less, memorable movies. 

Joe makes his big shot by introducing his more recently action movie called Hanna, who is supposed to be the close female version of Jason Burn, but that is something that is far a way of being seeing.

 Plot

The movie begging showing us that Hanna (Saoirse Ronan) lives out in the wilderness with her father Erick (Eric Bana).  Erick trained Hanna to be alert every moment, even if she is sleeping, and teach her to killing, if it is necessary to survive. This kind of life led her to the idea that there is not time for having friends and a normal life like every single teenager of her age.  Her unique comfort is a book of fairy tales but her father concerns are beyond simple things.

When he agrees that she is ready to live among other people. Erik plans to keep their identities a secret from agents who are following them. Both take different ways and agree to meet at a predestined spot. Over and over, she rehearses her identity and story with Erik.

Hanna is captured by government agents, but scape. When Hanna and Erik are on the run, they are spotted and monitored by government forces, in special from a mysterious woman (Cate Blanchett) whom Hanna is supposed to kill. Simultaneously, Hanna must learn about the world around her.

In General

Hanna is a nice movie for killing some time. The story is simple and there are no much to tell about it. The action could be for some moments good, but there are moments in which looks like a teen movie. Something to highlight is the amazing Original sound track of the movie. The geinus behind the OST were the unique "Chemical Brothers." For moments it brings armony and let you feel that you are running with Hanna, and in others it stays in your mind for hours.

Hanna, love it or hate it.  

See for yourself.







‎1hr 51min‎‎ - Rated PG-13‎‎ -

Action/Adventure/Suspense/Thriller‎
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Tom Hollander, Olivia Williams

Understanding Islam - Islamic Awarenes Week

From April 11th to April 15th, NCC will host an entire week with a comprehensive and comparative Islam's conferences.

This event is organized by the Muslim Students Association at Normandale, and will cover different perspectives about Islam traditions, culture and ideology. The event is open for NCC students and for those who would like to understand more about Islam.


Schedule for this cultural and educative week:

Monday 11th
Muhhammad (PBUH) a Timeless Legacy
Yusuf As-Sousi  
Where: A2564/2566     Time: 3-6pm  

Tuesday 12th
Missconceptions About Islam: Dispelling the Myths
Sheikh Faraz
Where: A2564/2566     Time: 3-6pm

Wednesday 13th
Evening with The Quran: A Day of Beautiful Recitations
Sheikh Jamal Ben Amir
Where: A2564/2566     Time: 3-6pm

Thursday 14th
Poetic Endeavours: Islamic Poetry
Where: A2564/2566     Time: 3-6pm

Friday 15th
Darkness to Light: How Islam Changed my Life
*Imam Naien
Where: F1265     Time: 2-4pm


*Former body guard of Muhammad Ali and Imamm of Masjid Dawah in Saint Paul.



Do not miss the chance and get involve more with Islam in the US and oveseas.

Sucker Punch - Movie Review

Girls just want to have fun, but when girls become bad...they can be ultimate weapons of mass destruction, or at least weapons of mass distraction.



Picture From: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/hammervision/assets_c/2011/03/Sucker_Punch_12951259163742-thumb-640xauto-341399.jpg



The nice and wonderful cliché of the week came from the hand of director Zack Snyder, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010), Watchmen (2009), and 300 (2007), who brings to the big screens the fantasy thriller “Sucker Punch.”

This movie takes us into incredible adventures by the imagination of a young girl whose distort the tiny line of what is reality and imagination.  Full of fantastic especial effects, this young girl and her friends face different warfare scenarios in which the best and dangerous weapon is the imagination.

Plot

After her mother’s death, Baby doll (Emily Browning) fall in a sequence of events that led her to be send to Vermont mental institution. With a pervert stepfather with lecherous intentions and the accidental shooting of her little sister, Baby Doll remains alone in this mental prison.

Her loneliness is not so far of being full of action when she starts using her dream world as the only escape from her darker reality.  Baby doll and her hot friends, I mean, wonderful friends, Amber (Jamie Chung), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), Rocket (Jena Malone), and Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), fight everything that is in their path. Soon they have to learn that in order to stay alive everything came with a sacrifice.

In General

Hot girls, bad guys, sexy outfits like extracted from Akibahara, weird and creepy soldiers, robots, swords, guns, explosions, extraordinary action…what else is need?  

“Sucker Punch” looks like a story coming from a famous Japanese comic, but it is not. It is a warfare movie full of action and pretty warrior princess. For the outfits, looks like Director Zack Snyder took a lot of elements of fantasy and mixed all in a blender. The result could not have better name “Sucker Punch.”  

See for your self

Cast:

Emily Browning  as Baby Doll, Vanessa Hudgens as Blondie, Abbie Cornish as Sweet Pea, Jamie Chung as Amber, Jena Malone as Rocket, Carla Gugino as Madam Gorski, Jon Hamm as High Roller, Oscar Isaac as Blue, Scott Glenn as Wise Man.

Running Time: 120 minutes



Battle: Los Angeles – Movie Review

Is someone watching us? Are we alone in the universe?  

imagen from: http://www.singapore-movie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/World-Invasion-Battle-Los-Angeles.jpg

The answer to these enigmatic questions is responded in “Battle: Los Angeles.”

Get your gears ready and join the marines in an epic battle in Los Angeles, California. Defend the human race, extract civilian survivors before the Air Force blow the city, and defend the planet earth from a massive alien invasion looking for natural sources. This is not a videogame, maybe we will see one soon. This is a movie that brings hell and destruction to Los Angeles.

Battle: Los Angeles is directed by Jonathan Liebesman, Darkness Falls and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre prequel, who brings this 2011 and action-packed sci-fi movie that carries: marines, biomechanical aliens, and unending shooting of adrenaline.  

Plot

The story follows Staff Sgt. Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), who is close to retiring, and a platoon of marines who are very quickly involve in action. While global news reports give details of something unusual coming out of the space, leadership on the platoon is questioned when 2nd Lt. Martinez (Ramon Rodriguez) confront Staff Sgt. Michael about who gives the orders. That is erased soon when both are send for a extraction mission and aliens bullets do not distinguish military ranks. Surviving become a priority.  

 

Imagen from: http://daveonfilm.com/pics/battle-los-angeles-la-publicity-still.jpg

In general

Battle: Los Angeles jumps into high levels of action, too fast, that is hard to understand details of the movie.  The story is simple and probably not well developed to understand the main characters. Also, is not difficult to predict the ending of the story.  Perhaps as many movies of this kind, that involves aliens, we see the same formula over and over again: aliens attack, humans fight back.

Battle: Los Angeles is not a movie that will be nominated for any Oscar or Golden Globe.  This movie is more for killing sometime or just for having fun watching how aliens kick humans and then are kicked and wiped out by the marines. Is very recommendable to watch it in “D-BOX Motion Seats,” the experience is awesome.

See for yourself.

Saint Patrick's Day 2011



Photo From: http://treboldecuatrohojas.com/wp-content/uploads/shamrock_verde.gif



Join to the rest of the community and celebrate with Minneapolis one of the most famous days of the year in the US, Saint Patrick’s Day.  

Wear green and get ready for fun and memorable moments with friends and family. In this occasion, like every year, Minneapolis celebrates St. Patrick’s Day with a parade for everyone who is and likes everything related with the Irish day.

The parade is this Thursday March 17th, 6:30pm on the Nicollet Mall, and is organized by the Saint Patrick’s Day Association.