The Shenkerian

August 2010

The Shenkerian Cultural Magazine

Agosto 2010

The Shenkerian

August 2010

2

Summary

Toy Story 3 3 The Ahab Parallax: ‗Moby Dick‘ and the Gulf Spill 7 Washington, D.C. 12 United States Declaration of Independence 16 Notting Hill Carnival 23

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The Shenkerian

August 2010

3

Toy Story 3

Film

Review by empireonline.com After years of being stowed in Andy‘s toy chest, the time has finally come for Woody, Buzz and friends to move on. But after they‘re welcomed to Sunnyside Daycare Centre by the kindly Lots-O‘-Huggin‘ Bear they realise this seeming toy‘s paradise is actually something closer to hell... How ‗adult‘ can a commercial family movie be pushed before it starts alienating its core audience? Lay on too many mature pop culture references (see Shark Tale‘s emphasis on Mafia movie clichés), and you leave the smaller ones fidgeting. Go too ‗dark‘, and that theatre will be awash with trauma-induced tears. Works the other way too: play it too young, and adult eyes glaze. It‘s a fine balance. And Pixar remains the master of that particular tightrope walk. being stowed – essere stati messi via; fidgeting – agitarsi; eyes glaze – (idiom.) si annoiano; tightrope walk – camminata sul filo del rasoio

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The set-up has a 17 year-old Andy preparing to leave for college, his few remaining favourite toys making desperate Woody-corralled gambits for his attention. The sight, in the first few minutes, of the ever-determined cowboy doll clinging on to an old mobile phone as he listens to Andy‘s confused ―Hellos‖ is just one of several near-heartbreaking moments. Naturally, Woody refuses to accept his destiny, which as the other survivors (The Potato Heads, Rex, Hamm, Jessie, Slinky, Bullseye, the ‗Ooooh‘ alien triplets and Buzz) point out, will lead them either to the attic, a daycare centre or the dreaded trash. And, via the wonderful quick-beat action-plot contortions that characterised both previous Toy Stories - miss a single second at your peril - it‘s to daycare they go, to a place with the blandly sinister name of ‗Sunnyside‘, appropriately making it sound as much like an old people‘s home as a nursery. The resulting caper is, like its predecessor, a paragon of good sequel-making. It moves the story on, while keeping its characters and plotting comfortingly familiar, and it brings in new characters without neglecting the originals. But hey, don‘t worry, there‘s still plenty of laughs. A prison-break movie structure is deftly constructed around the toys‘ trapped-in-daycare predicament. Just as the action comes thick and fast, the wisecracks and visual gags are high-volume and high hit-rate. Combined with the kind of state-of-the-artistry we now take for granted with Pixar, they ensure that every last frame counts, each a firework-burst of fine detail. gambits – mosse; clinging – arrampicato; daycare centre – asilo; dreaded – temuta; trash – spazzatura; caper – birichinata wisecracks – arguzie, battute ironiche

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August 2010

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A kids‘ movie for grown-ups. A grown-up movie for kids. Exactly what you‘d expect - and hope for - from the latest, and we‘re guessing final, Woody and Buzz adventure.

Review by slantmagazine.com

3D is as superfluous to Toy Story 3 as it was to Up: Both films, marvelously and perceptively drawn, are classically - and classily - told tales of adventure in which good is pitted against evil, but because peril never comes in the shape of a bat or sword swinging at anyone's face, they don't exactly benefit from the added dimension. The effect of the Toy Story films is practically primal. They appeal to anyone who's ever cared about a toy. These films, with scant manipulation and much visual and comic invention, thrive on giving toys a conscience and imagining what adventures they have when we turn our backs to them. As social commentary, Toy Story 3 is provocative but vague, even unrealized. Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear's torment of Woody's friends by locking them in with the daycare's younger and considerably less kind children suggests something of a slave trade. Their nightmare imprisonment is practically a statement on gentrification, as you get a sense of the rich life Lots-o'-Huggin' and his cronies enjoy being impossible without other, less fortunate toys wasting away in less desirable, impoverished conditions. The scenario is evocative, suggestive of a New York City street with a Whole Foods and expensive luxury rentals on one side and the projects on the other, but the correlation the film makes to real-life pitted – opposto; scant – scarse, poche; thrive – prospera: slave trade – tratta degli schiavi; cronies – compagni, amici

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urban gentrification ultimately feels tacky because the way justice comes to Sunnyside has no correlative in Harlem. Fans of the Toy Story films will bemoan how this third film frequently indulges the snarkiness that completely dictates the world of the inane Shrek movies, most evident in the predictable exchanges between Ken and Barbie (not once, but twice do characters - including Woody - recoil at what is perceived to be Ken's effeminacy) and the Latin-lothario behavior that grips Buzz when he's unscrewed and switched to "demo" mode. Time and again, Pixar has proven to be above such frivolity and insensitivity, but the powerhouse of an ending, proof of the company's emotionally rich ability of telling tales that force us to grapple with our mortal coil, is so humane it disarms our qualms. Tears tell no lies in the end: Toy Story 3 is sketchy, but it's also profoundly moving. tacky – trascurata; will bemoan – si lamenteranno; snarkiness – presenza di ―animali immaginari‖; time and again – di volta in volta; sketchy – sommario, approssimativo

The Shenkerian

August 2010

7

The Ahab

Parallax:

‘Moby Dick’ and

the Gulf Spill

Focus On

Published: June 11, 2010 By NewYorkTimes.com A specially outfitted ship ventures into deep ocean waters in search of oil, increasingly difficult to find. Lines of authority aboard the ship become tangled. The unpredictable forces of nature rear up, and death and destruction follow in their wake. ―Some fell flat on their faces,‖ an eyewitness reported of the stricken crew. ―Through the breach, they heard the waters pour.‖ The words could well have been spoken by a survivor of the doomed oil rig Deepwater Horizon, which exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in April, killing 11 men and leading to the largest oil spill in United States history. outfitted – attrezzata; tangled – intricate; stricken – afflitto; crew – equipaggio; breach – breccia, frattura; doomed – destinata ad affondare; oil rig – piattaforma petrolifera; spill – fuoriuscita

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But they come instead, of course, from that wordy, wayward Manhattanite we know as Ishmael, whose own doomed vessel, the whaler Pequod, sailed only through the pages of ―Moby-Dick.‖ In the weeks since the rig explosion, parallels between that disaster and the proto-Modernist one imagined by Melville more than a century and a half ago have sometimes been striking - and painfully illuminating as the spill becomes a daily reminder of the limitations, even now, of man‘s ability to harness nature for his needs. The British petroleum giant BP, which leased the Deepwater Horizon to drill the well, has naturally been cast in the Ahab role, most recently on one of Al Jazeera‘s blogs by Nick Spicer, who compared the whaler‘s maniacal mission to the dangers of greed, ―not just to a man such as Captain Ahab, but to all his crew and to the whole society that supports their round-the-world quest for oil.‖ Whaling was the petroleum industry of its day in the 18th and 19th centuries. The 40-ton bodies of sperm whales could yield dozens of barrels, some derived from blubber and the rest, the most precious kind, spermaceti, from the whale‘s head. The oil burned in millions of lamps, served as a machine lubricant and was processed into candles distinguished by their clear, bright flame, with little smoke or odor. In addition, whalebones could be used to stiffen corsets, skin could be cured for leather, and ambergris, the aromatic digestive substance, could be incorporated into perfumes. New England ports, the Houstons of their era, and fortunes were built with whale oil money. vessel – nave; whaler – baleniera; harness – imbrigliare; leased – affittato; drill – trivellare; well – pozzo

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At one point, the United States exported a million gallons a year to Europe, according to Philip Hoare, author of ―The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea,‖. ―The whaler was a kind of pirate-miner - an excavator of oceanic oil, stoking the furnace of the Industrial Revolution as much as any man digging coal out of the earth,‖ Mr. Hoare writes, adding the observation of the English statesman Edmund Burke to Parliament in 1775 that there was ―no sea but what is vexed by‖ New England harpoons. While other kinds of ships sat nearly dark on the waters when the sun went down, a whaler could look like a floating Chinese lantern, the sailors luxuriating in the light produced by the fuel they carried. ―He makes his berth an Aladdin‘s lamp, and lays him down in it,‖ Melville wrote, rhapsodizing about an oil ―as sweet as early-grass butter in April.‖ But much like the modern petroleum industry, whaling quickly came up against the limits of its resources. Hunting grounds near North America were wiped out by the early 19th century. And the lengths to which ships had to go to continue to find them led to the event that inspired ―Moby-Dick,‖ the sinking in 1820 of the whaling ship Essex, which was rammed by a sperm whale in the South Pacific, more than 10,000 miles from home. The Essex had headed there to hunt at a whale-rich site discovered only a year earlier. It was called the Offshore Ground, a name suggestive of the highly productive oil site known as Mississippi Canyon, where the Deepwater Horizon was at work when it exploded. Underwater fields like it have made the Gulf of Mexico into the fastest-growing source of oil in the United States, accounting for a third of domestic supplies. stoking – alimentando; berth – ormeggio; were wiped out – furono cancellati; rammed – speronata

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But in the same way whalers had to sail farther and farther for their prey, oil companies are drilling deeper and deeper to tap the gulf‘s oil, to levels made possible only by the most advanced technology, operating near its limits. The Coast Guard has warned that this technology has outpaced not only government oversight but - as events have shown - the means of correcting catastrophic failures. An admonition from Nietzsche that Mr. Hoare cites in reference to ―Moby-Dick‖ seems just as pertinent to the spill: ―And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.‖ Of course, the spill has now rewritten the script for the debate about how the oil industry should be able to operate and scrambled the political calculus behind President Obama‘s plans, announced in March, to open vast new areas to offshore drilling so as to reduce dependence on imports and win backing for climate legislation. The spill, looming as the worst environmental disaster in the USA‘s history, might in itself be incentive to push the United States more quickly toward new energy sources in the way it once turned to petroleum. Andrew Delbanco, the director of Columbia University‘s American studies program and the author of ―Melville: His World and Work,‖ said that one of the great underlying themes of ―Moby-Dick,‖ is ―that people ashore don‘t want to know about the ugly things that go on at sea.‖ ―We want our comforts but we don‘t want to know too much about where they come from or what makes them possible.‖ He added: ―The oil spill in the gulf is a horror, but how many Americans are ready to pay more for oil or for making the public investment required to develop alternative energy? I suspect it‘s a question that Melville would be asking of us now.‖ outpaced – superata; looming – che appare, si profila; ashore – a terra

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Washington, D.C.

Travelling

Text taken by time.com Washington, D.C. is a city you can walk across, with wide-open avenues, front porches, old neighborhoods and river views. It was designed by a Parisian, Pierre L'Enfant, and it still feels that way. Because buildings cannot by law be higher than the width of the street they front, you can always see the sky. There are more than two dozen free museums, so you can absorb culture the way it was meant to be experienced - in short encounters in the midst of everyday life. Now we take a look to 10 things you must see in this city. United States Capitol One fixture you can still access in post-9/11 Washington is the Capitol, and it is a weird and beautiful place. There are 540 rooms and almost as many lawmakers, all connected by winding halls, porches – portici; weird – bizzarro, strano; lawmakers – legislatori

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tunnels and an underground train. To get inside, you have two choices: You can go on an official tour after getting tickets from a kiosk just outside the building or you can contact your state Senator or Representative to get a pass to the gallery and watch the place in action — or inaction, which is equally interesting. For lunch and politico-spotting, crash one of the surprisingly decent, low-priced cafeterias in the Rayburn House Office Building or the Longworth House Office Building on Independence Avenue, or get a glass of wine and pasta at the upscale Sonoma on Pennsylvania Avenue, right behind the Library of Congress. The National Mall The best way to see most of Washington's monuments and museums is to stroll down the Mall, a greenway crowned by the Capitol and lined with treasure all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. Choose your own adventure, rambling in and out of museums and staying only as long as you'd like. If you have kids with you, take a break at the old-fashioned carousel in front of the Arts and Industries building, about halfway down the Mall. Or duck into the sculpture garden at the Hirshhorn Museum nearby. There's a lot to see, so you'll have to prioritize - or chill out and assume you'll be back one day. The National Museum of American History is one museum not to be missed on the Mall, a massive collection of all things American - from Abraham Lincoln's top hat to the Nintendo Game Boy. crash – imbucatevi; greenway – zona verde presso un‘area urbana; rambling – vagando; duck – immergetevi

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Another sure thing on the Mall, the National Museum of Natural History has something for everyone in the family, from the femme to the fierce. The Hope Diamond is here, along with an insect zoo, an IMAX cinema and a hall full of dinosaurs. International Spy Museum This is one museum that is actually worth paying for - especially if you're burned out on the more nutritious museums (which you will be any second now), or if you have children over age 10. The Spy Museum, one of D.C.'s most popular attractions, is noisy with films and interactive displays. But at the end of the day, this museum works because spies are cool, and so are KGB lipstick pistols and invisible-ink letters. Be sure to check out the exhibit on the Navajo codetalkers and the history of spying going back to Moses. Then have dinner at Zola, a sophisticated American restaurant adjacent to the Spy Museum. (Yes, D.C. now has a few sophisticated restaurants. Incredible but true.) Washington National Cathedral America does not have many truly impressive Gothic cathedrals, so the National Cathedral is one worth visiting. It is actually an Episcopal church, but Congress has designated it the National House of Prayer. Since 1907, it has been used for state funerals for three presidents, monthly emergency unity services during WWII, presidential prayer services and 9/11 memorial ceremonies. Half-hour tours are held throughout the day. It is striking and pleasantly removed from the rest of official D.C. in a more residential area. After your tour, head to 2 Amys for excellent Neapolitan-style pizza. worth – degno; codetalkers – persone che parlano in codice striking – sorprendente

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National Zoo Just down the road from the Cathedral, the National Zoo is yet another free play zone brought to you by the Smithsonian. Meander by the Giant Pandas, keep an eye out for the orangutans, which can travel freely on a system of cables 40 feet above your head, and if you have small children with you, make your way all the way down to the petting farm and the pizza-garden playground. The U Street Corridor At night, you have three main choices in D.C.: Georgetown, where the tourists and frat boys go to party; Adams Morgan, where the frat boys go once they've graduated; and U Street, where you won't find any of the above. The strip of bars, restaurants and boutiques runs for about eight blocks between 17th Street and 9th Street NW, in a neighborhood called Shaw. The birthplace of Duke Ellington, U Street was once a center of African-American culture. Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong were regulars. After the 1968 riots, the corridor sat mostly vacant for far too long. But it is now finally, fully revived, jangling with sound and motion after dark. Check out D.C.'s best live-music venue, the 9:30 Club, just off the corridor at the corner of 9th Street and V Street NW. You can also find good, upscale restaurants and bars like Marvin, a bistro and bar with a rooftop lounge. But the icon of U Street is still Ben's Chili Bowl, a family-run, old-school chili-dog joint that opened in 1958 and stuck around when almost nothing else did. meander – girovagando; frat boys – membri di associazioni studentesche; jangling – squillante

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Gravelly Point To get a break from all the history and heritage, head across the Potomac River to Gravelly Point park (off the northbound George Washington Parkway in Virginia). It's a grassy knoll known only to locals where you can watch airplanes come in (shockingly close to your head) for a landing just a few hundred feet away at Reagan National Airport. There is also a walking and biking path that runs along the river, plus a pretty view of Washington. Malcolm X Park One of the nicest and least appreciated parks in D.C. is a place officially called Meridian Hill Park but known to everyone as Malcolm X Park. Its 12 acres sit on a hill overlooking downtown and the monuments. John Quincy Adams lived in a mansion here after leaving the White House. Today, there are spooky statues and cascading pools of water, more reminiscent of a neglected European chateau garden than a National Park Service tract. Visit late on a Sunday afternoon to dance to the sounds of the ad hoc drum circle that has been forming weekly since the 1950s. parkway – viale; grassy – erbosa; knoll – collinetta; spooky – sinistre, misteriose

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United States

Declaration of

Independence

Reading - Literature

la ―Dichiarazione di Indipendenza‖ fu il primo atto ufficiale con cui le colonie inglesi in territorio Americano sancirono la loro volontà di separarsi dalla madrepatria. Nasce, infatti, proprio con l‘intento di formulare un documento che rappresentasse al mondo intero, e alle future generazioni, le motivazioni che spingevano i coloni all‘indipendenza.

Context: In the Spring of 1776, after the tremendous impact of Thomas Paine's 'Common Sense,' the Continental Congress appointed a committee to draft a declaration to outline the colonies' intent for independence. The committee consisted of John Adams of Massachusetts, Roger Sherman of Connecticut, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Robert R. Livingston of New York, but the writing of the document fell almost entirely to Thomas Jefferson of Virginia. The Declaration consisted of three parts. The first part stressed above all basic rights. Echoing the philosopher John Locke, Thomas Jefferson wrote of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". Following the example of the political philosopher Jean-Jacques

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Rousseau, one of the first theorists on the principles of democracy, Jefferson insisted that "all men are created equal".

The second part listed the grievances the Americans had with the British Parliament and King George III, while the third and final part, the Declaration, announced that the colonies had become 'The United States of America'. The Declaration was signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776.

The following text is 'The Declaration of Independence' in its entirety.

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.

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But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government.

The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise, the state remaining, in the meantime, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without and convulsions within.

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He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of new officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us; for protecting them by a mock trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states; for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; for imposing taxes on us without our consent; for depriving us in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury; for transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offenses;

for abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies; for taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments; for suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

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He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrection amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions. In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injuries.

A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here.

We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connection and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our eternal separation,

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and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America in General Congress assembled, appealing to the supreme judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do.

And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor.

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Glossary

are endowed v [ME endowen, from Anglo-Norman endouer: OF

en- + OF douer (to provide with a dowry), from L dotare] - are

equipped, are provided for

inalienable adj. - that cannot be transferred to another or others

hath v [archaic] - third person present singular indicative of "have"

(has)

wholesome adj. [ME holsom from OE halsum from Old Norse

heilsam] - beneficiary, helpful, healthy

hither adv. [ME, OE hider; Old Norse hethra] - to this place,

towards this place

mock trial [mock adj. ME mokken, ad OF mocquer (to deride,

jeer) - contrived or imitation court trial, sham

has plundered v [G plündern, from Mid High German plundern,

from Mid Low German plunder (household goods)] - has robbed,

has wrongfully seized

brethren n [ME from OE brothor] - brothers

edress n [ME redressen from OF redrecier: re- + drecier (to

arrange)] - satisfaction, reparation, compensation, reform

kindred n [ME kinrede, kindrede, from Late OE cynrede: cyn (kin)

+ -rede (condition) from OE ræden] - group of related persons, as

a clan or tribe

disavow v [ME disavowen from OF desavouer] - disclaim

knowledge of, responsibility for, or association with, repudiate

levy v - wage, declare, start

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Notting Hill

Carnival

29-30 August

2010

Focus On

Introduction

The streets of West London come alive every August Bank Holiday weekend as London celebrates Europe's biggest street festival – the Notting Hill Carnival. With a Caribbean theme that sees West London packed with steel bands, Calypso music and tempting food stalls, the Notting Hill Carnival is a huge party. Expect a sea of colour as amazing floats and costumed performers wind their way through the streets of London.

Events The Notting Hill Carnival usually gets under way on the Saturday with a steel band competition. Bank Holiday – festività nazionale; steel bands – bande che suonano tamburi originari di Trinidad e Tobago; food stalls – bancarelle con prodotti alimentari

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Sunday is Children's Day, with a shorter parade route. It's also the day that the costume prizes are awarded. Bank Holiday Monday sees the main parade. In the evening, the floats leave the streets in procession and people continue the festivities at the many Notting Hill Carnival after-parties. You can expect to see some 50,000 performers and 40 sound systems. Around 2.5 million people attend over the Carnival weekend. The usual route for the Notting Hill Carnival covers a loop around West London. It generally begins on Great Western Road, then winds its way along Chepstow Road, on to Westbourne Grove and then Ladbroke Grove. Six disciplines go to make up the carnival as we know it today. Mas' (masquerade), Steelband, Calypso (political, social and satirical commentary, set to music), Soca (the traditional music of Carnival, a fusion of Soul and Calypso), Static Sound Systems, and Samba all play their part in the Carnival.

History First held in 1964 as an offshoot of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival, the Notting Hill Carnival has remained true to its Caribbean roots, bringing a spirit of diversity to London. When the Notting Hill Carnival first started around 500 people attended. Today it attracts hundreds of thousands to London, and continues to grow in popularity. The roots of Carnival come from two separate but connected strands. Carnival began in January 1959 in St Pancras Town Hall as a response to the depressing state of race relations at the time; awarded – assegnati; loop – anello, circuito; offshoot – propaggine, diramazione; strands – filoni

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the UK's first widespread racial attacks (the Notting Hill race riots) had occurred the previous year. This carnival organised by Claudia Jones (a "Trini") who is widely recognised as 'the Mother of Notting Hill Carnival', was a huge success, despite being held indoors. The London Free School inspired festival was the first organised outside event in August 1966. By 1976, the event had become definitely Caribbean in flavour, with around 150,000 people attending. However, in that year and several subsequent years, Carnival was marred by riots, in which predominantly Caribbean youths fought with police - a target due to the continuous harassment the population felt they were under. During this period, there was considerable coverage of the disorder in the press, which some felt took an unfairly negative and one-sided view of Carnival. For a while it looked as if the event would be banned. Prince Charles was one of the few establishment figures who supported the event. In recent years, the event has been much freer from serious trouble and is generally viewed very positively by the authorities as a dynamic celebration of London's multi-cultural diversity. In 2003, Carnival was run by a limited company, the Notting Hill Carnival Trust Ltd. A report by the London Development Agency on the 2002 Carnival estimated that the event contributes around £93 million to the London and UK economy. harassment – persecuzione; for a while – per un po‘

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