Men's Health

Men’s Health magazine is the largest lifestyle magazine for men in the United States. It was first published annually, but now, it is published ten times in a year. Its success overpowered GQ and Esquire combined. Men’s Health provides information on health and fitness, sex and relationships, guy wisdom and nutrition and style. The magazine not only takes pride in its accomplishments in publication. Every year, members of its website double, making it one of the most searched sites in the United States.


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Fashion Addition

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Before I start talking about the genius and talent of Martin Luca, I want to share a piece of good news. For the past fifty years, MOD Magazine has shaped and molded the trends and fads of the average woman. From the ends of their hair to the tips of their toes, editors, designers, contributors, writers, models and every single member of the staff didn’t tire from being the backbone of what women from all walks of life wear. That’s why it is always delightful to know that one of them takes pride in stepping forward to something more. Although it is a great deal of loss for the magazine, this person, with all certainty, will continue to be a generous altruist to the fashion industry. Beloved guests, let us give a warm round of applause to Karl Lagerfeld’s new International Division Chief, Jacqueline Saks.


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Aesop's Fables: The Milkmaid and Her Pail

Patty the Milkmaid was going to market carrying her milk in a Pail on her head. As she went along, she began calculating what she would do with the money she would get for the milk.

"I'll buy some fowls from Farmer Brown," said she, "and they will lay eggs each morning, which I will sell to the parson's wife. With the money that I get from the sale of these eggs, I'll buy myself a new dimity frock and a chip hat; and when I go to market, won't all the young men come up and speak to me!

"Polly Shaw will be that jealous; but I don't care. I shall just look at her and toss my head like this."

As she spoke she tossed her head back, the Pail fell off it, and all the milk was spilled. So she had to go home and tell her mother what had occurred.

"Ah, my child," said the mother...

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.


Source: http://www.umass.edu/aesop/
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Aesop's Fable: The Bundle of Sticks

A father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. When he failed to heal their disputes by his exhortations, he determined to give them a practical illustration of the evils of disunion; and for this purpose he one day told them to bring him a bundle of sticks.

When they had done so, he placed the bundle into the hands of each of them in succession, and ordered them to break it in pieces. They tried with all their strength, and were not able to do it.

He next opened the bundle, took the sticks separately, one by one, and again put them into his sons' hands, upon which they broke them easily.


He then addressed them in these words: "My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other, you will be as this bundle, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; but if you are divided among yourselves, you will be broken as easily as these sticks."

Union gives strength.


Source: http://www.umass.edu/aesop/

Are You Going For Dogs? Or Cats?

"A dog is man's best friend." That common saying may contain some truth, but dogs are not the only animal friend whose companionship people enjoy. For many people, a cat is their best friend. Despite what dog lovers may believe, cats make excellent housepets.

In the first place, people enjoy the companionship of cats. Many cats are affectionate. They will snuggle up and ask to be petted, or scratched under the chin. Who can resist a purring cat? If they're not feeling affectionate, cats are generally quite playful. They love to chase balls and feathers, or just about anything dangling from a string. They especially enjoy playing when their owners are participating in the game. Contrary to popular opinion, cats can be trained. Using rewards and punishments, just like with a dog, a cat can be trained to avoid unwanted behavior or perform tricks. Cats will even fetch!

In the second place, cats are civilized members of the household. Unlike dogs, cats do not bark or make other loud noises. Most cats don't even meow very often. They generally lead a quiet existence. Cats also don't often have "accidents." Mother cats train their kittens to use the litter box, and most cats will use it without fail from that time on. Even stray cats usually understand the concept when shown the box and will use it regularly. Cats do have claws, and owners must make provision for this. A tall scratching post in a favorite cat area of the house will often keep the cat content to leave the furniture alone. As a last resort, of course, cats can be declawed.

Lastly, one of the most attractive features of cats as housepets is their ease of care. Cats do not have to be walked. They get plenty of exercise in the house as they play, and they do their business in the litter box. Cleaning a litter box is a quick, painless procedure. Cats also take care of their own grooming. Bathing a cat is almost never necessary because under ordinary circumstances cats clean themselves. Cats are more particular about personal cleanliness than people are. In addition, cats can be left home alone for a few hours without fear. Unlike some pets, most cats will not destroy the furnishings when left alone. They are content to go about their usual activities until their owners return.

Cats are low maintenance, civilized companions. People who have small living quarters or less time for pet care should appreciate these characteristics of cats. However, many people who have plenty of space and time still opt to have a cat because they love the cat personality. In many ways, cats are the ideal house pet.


Source: http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/sample.html
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Blonde And Blue Eyes

When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white.

I thought -- if I just wished hard enough and was good enough, I'd wake upon Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!

More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will have gone abroad in search of "greener pastures." It's not just an anomaly; it's a trend; the Filipino diaspora. Today, about eight million Filipinos are scattered around the world.

There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to spitting on that sacrifice.

Or is it? I don't think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was once the other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino-a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of cultures.

Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and individual personalities. because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighborhood back home.

Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World country, one that is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time. Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year. They have skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.

A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an extension of identity . Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UK's National Health Service . We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of the world's commercial ships. We are your software engineers in Ireland , your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North America, and, your musical artists in London's West End.

Nationalism isn't bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain essentially who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions, arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!

Leaving sometimes isn't a matter of choice. It's coming back that is. The Hobbits of the Shire traveled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the word. We call people like these balikbayans or the 'returnees' -- those who followed their dream, yet choose to return and share their mature talents and good fortune.

In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way. But I will come home. A borderless world doesn't preclude the idea of a home. I'm a Filipino, and I'll always be one. It isn't about just geography; it isn't about boundaries. It's about giving back to the country that shaped me.

And that's going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning.

Mabuhay and Thank you.

Essay by Patricia Evangelista

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Why Are Filipinos So Poor?

Why are Filipinos so Poor?

In the ’50s and ’60s, the Philippines was the most envied country in Southeast Asia. What happened?

By F. Sionil Jose

What did South Korea look like after the Korean War in 1953? Battered, poor - but look at Korea now. In the Fifties, the traffic in Taipei was composed of bicycles and army trucks, the streets flanked by tile-roofed low buildings. Jakarta was a giant village and Kuala Lumpur a small village surrounded by jungle and rubber plantations. Bangkok was criss-crossed with canals, the tallest structure was the Wat Arun, the Temple of the Sun, and it dominated the city’s skyline. Ricefields all the way from Don Muang airport — then a huddle of galvanized iron-roofed bodegas, to the Victory monument.Visit these cities today and weep — for they are more beautiful, cleaner and prosperous than Manila. In the Fifties and Sixties we were the most envied country in Southeast Asia. Remember further that when Indonesia got its independence in 1949, it had only 114 university graduates compared with the hundreds of Ph.D.’s that were already in our universities. Why then were we left behind? The economic explanation is simple. We did not produce cheaper and better products.

The basic question really is why we did not modernize fast enough and thereby doomed our people to poverty. This is the harsh truth about us today. Just consider these: some 15 years ago a survey showed that half of all grade school pupils dropped out after grade 5 because they had no money to continue schooling.Thousands of young adults today are therefore unable to find jobs. Our natural resources have been ravaged and they are not renewable. Our tremendous population increase eats up all of our economic gains. There is hunger in this country now; our poorest eat only once a day.But this physical poverty is really not as serious as the greater poverty that afflicts us and this is the poverty of the spirit.

Why then are we poor? More than ten years ago, James Fallows, editor of the Atlantic Monthly, came to the Philippines and wrote about our damaged culture which, he asserted, impeded our development. Many disagreed with him but I do find a great deal of truth in his analysis.This is not to say that I blame our social and moral malaise on colonialism alone. But we did inherit from Spain a social system and an elite that, on purpose, exploited the masses. Then, too, in the Iberian peninsula, to work with one’s hands is frowned upon and we inherited that vice as well. Colonialism by foreigners may no longer be what it was, but we are now a colony of our own elite.

We are poor because we are poor — this is not a tautology. The culture of poverty is self-perpetuating. We are poor because our people are lazy. I pass by a slum area every morning - dozens of adults do nothing but idle, gossip and drink. We do not save. Look at the Japanese and how they save in spite of the fact that the interest given them by their banks is so little. They work very hard too.

We are great show-offs. Look at our women, how overdressed, over-coiffed they are, and Imelda epitomizes that extravagance. Look at our men, their manicured nails, their personal jewelry, their diamond rings. Yabang - that is what we are, and all that money expended on status symbols, on yabang. How much better if it were channeled into production.

We are poor because our nationalism is inward looking. Under its guise we protect inefficient industries and monopolies. We did not pursue agrarian reform like Japan and Taiwan. It is not so much the development of the rural sector, making it productive and a good market as well. Agrarian reform releases the energies of the landlords who, before the reform, merely waited for the harvest. They become entrepreneurs, the harbingers of change.

Our nationalist icons like Claro M. Recto and Lorenzo Tanada opposed agrarian reform, the single most important factor that would have altered the rural areas and lifted the peasant from poverty. Both of them were merely anti-American.

And finally, we are poor because we have lost our ethical moorings. We condone cronyism and corruption and we don’t ostracize or punish the crooks in our midst. Both cronyism and corruption are wasteful but we allow their practice because our loyalty is to family or friend, not to the larger good.

We can tackle our poverty in two very distinct ways. The first choice: a nationalist revolution, a continuation of the revolution in 1896. But even before we can use violence to change inequities in our society, we must first have a profound change in our way of thinking, in our culture. My regret about EDSA is that change would have been possible then with a minimum of bloodshed. In fact, a revolution may not be bloody at all if something like EDSA would present itself again. Or a dictator unlike Marcos.

The second is through education, perhaps a longer and more complex process. The only problem is that it may take so long and by the time conditions have changed, we may be back where we were, caught up with this tremendous population explosion which the Catholic Church exacerbates in its conformity with doctrinal purity.We are faced with a growing compulsion to violence, but even if the communists won, they will rule as badly because they will be hostage to the same obstructions in our culture, the barkada, the vaulting egos that sundered the revolution in 1896, the Huk revolt in 1949-53.

To repeat, neither education nor revolution can succeed if we do not internalize new attitudes, new ways of thinking. Let us go back to basics and remember those American slogans: A Ford in every garage. A chicken in every pot. Money is like fertilizer: to do any good it must be spread around.Some Filipinos, taunted wherever they are, are shamed to admit they are Filipinos. I have, myself, been embarrassed to explain, for instance, why Imelda, her children and the Marcos cronies are back, and in positions of power. Are there redeeming features in our country that we can be proud of? Of course, lots of them. When people say, for instance, that our corruption will never be banished, just remember that Arsenio Lacson as mayor of Manila and Ramon Magsaysay as president brought a clean government.We do not have the classical arts that brought Hinduism and Buddhism to continental and archipelagic Southeast Asia, but our artists have now ranged the world, showing what we have done with Western art forms, enriched with our own ethnic traditions. Our professionals, not just our domestics, are all over, showing how accomplished a people we are!

Look at our history. We are the first in Asia to rise against Western colonialism, the first to establish a republic. Recall the Battle of Tirad Pass and glory in the heroism of Gregorio del Pilar and the 48 Filipinos who died but stopped the Texas Rangers from capturing the president of that First Republic. Its equivalent in ancient history is the Battle of Thermopylae where the Spartans and their king Leonidas, died to a man, defending the pass against the invading Persians. Rizal — what nation on earth has produced a man like him? At 35, he was a novelist, a poet, an anthropologist, a sculptor, a medical doctor, a teacher and martyr.We are now 80 million and in another two decades we will pass the 100 million mark.

Eighty million — that is a mass market in any language, a mass market that should absorb our increased production in goods and services - a mass market which any entrepreneur can hope to exploit, like the proverbial oil for the lamps of China.
Japan was only 70 million when it had confidence enough and the wherewithal to challenge the United States and almost won. It is the same confidence that enabled Japan to flourish from the rubble of defeat in World War II.
I am not looking for a foreign power for us to challenge. But we have a real and insidious enemy that we must vanquish, and this enemy is worse than the intransigence of any foreign power. We are our own enemy. And we must have the courage, the will, to change ourselves.


F. Sionil Jose, whose works have been published in 24 languages, is also a bookseller, editor, publisher and founding president of the the PhilippinesÕ PEN Center. The foregoing is an excerpt from a speech delivered by Mr. Jose in Manila, Philippines.

Aesop's Fables: The Goose with the Golden Eggs

One day a countryman going to the nest of his goose found there an egg all yellow and glittering. When he took it up it was as heavy as lead and he was going to throw it away, because he thought a trick had been played on him. But he took it home on second thoughts, and soon found that it was an egg of pure gold.

Every morning the same thing occurred, and he grew rich by selling his eggs. As he grew rich he grew greedy; and thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find nothing.

Greed often overreaches itself.


Source: http://www.umass.edu/aesop/

Words with the Sound /ch/

In saying the /ch/ sound, just copy the sound of breaking static. Bite and put your upper and lower teeth together, slightly pout your lips and quickly exhale some air going to the middle of your teeth.

Practice these words:

- challenge
- cha-cha
- charcoal
- charming
- chalice
- cheap
- checkbook
- cheddar
- cheeky
- cheesecake
- T'ai Chi
- chocolate
- choice
- choker
- chomp
- choose
- chubby
- chuck
- chunk
- chuckle
- chug

Note: Not all words that start with "ch" is pronounced /ch/. Some are pronounced as /k/ like 'cholera', 'chemistry', 'choir'.

Anger

Anger is part of the fight/flight brain response to the perceived threat of pain. When a person makes the cognitive choice to take action to immediately stop the threatening/painful behavior of another, anger (as opposed to fear) becomes the predominant feeling, with behavioral, cognitive and physiological correlates. In the animal kingdom, when physically threatened, animals will make loud sounds, attempt to look physically larger, bare their teeth, and stare. Humans behave in a similar manner when a perception of potential pain occurs, and the decision to oppose occurs. Anger is a behavioral pattern designed to communicate "Stop your behavior immediately, it is harmful or threatening- If you don't, violence towards you may follow." Rarely does a physical altercation occur without the prior expression of anger by at least one of the participants.

In the world of humans, because of our unique use of codified symbols and sounds -written and spoken language, pain or the threat of pain can be perceived from written and verbal sources . We may not perceive an immediate physical threat, but pain or the threat of pain thus can be felt psychologically and thus the threat of psychological harm is real. Therefore anger can arise without (1) A direct physical threat (2) An actual other person present. Because of our capacity to imagine the distant future, the threat of pain can also arise purely from our imagination, and not be based on anything happening in the immediate present.

In humans anger often arises when another human being is perceived to violate expected behavioral norms related to social survival (for example, not receiving 'respect' - without which a person may feel physically vulnerable). These violations break social or interpersonal "safety rules," or are ethical/legal violations.

Humans often experience anger empathetically. For example, after reading about others being treated unjustly, one may experience anger, even though she/he is not the victim.


Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Meryl Streep

Considered by many movie reviewers to be the greatest living film actress, Meryl Streep has been nominated for the Academy Award an astonishing 14 times, and has won it twice. Born Mary Louise Streep in 1949 in Summit, New Jersey, Meryl's early performing ambitions leaned toward the opera. She became interested in acting while a student at Vassar and upon graduation she enrolled in the Yale School of Drama. She gave an outstanding performance in her first film role, Julia (1977), and the next year she was nominated for her first Oscar for her role in The Deer Hunter (1978). She went on to win the Academy Award for her performances in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Sophie's Choice (1982), in which she gave a heart-wrenching portrayal of an inmate mother in a Nazi death camp.

A perfectionist in her craft and meticulous and painstaking in her preparation for her roles, Meryl turned out a string of highly acclaimed performances over the next 10 years in great films like Silkwood (1983); Out of Africa (1985); Ironweed (1987); and Evil Angels (1988). Her career declined slightly in the early 1990s as a result of her inability to find suitable parts, but she shot back to the top in 1995 with her performance as Clint Eastwood's married lover in The Bridges of Madison County (1995) and as the prodigal daughter in Marvin's Room (1996). In 1998 she made her first venture into the area of producing, and was the executive producer for the moving ...First Do No Harm (1997) in television. A realist when she talks about her future years in film, she remarked that "...no matter what happens, my work will stand..."


Source: http://www.imdb.com/

Maria Sharapova: Highest Paid Female Athlete

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova is a Russian professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. As of November 19, 2007, she is the fifth-ranked female player in the world. At the end of 2006, she was the world's highest-paid female athlete

Sharapova has won two Grand Slam singles titles. She is a former U.S. Open champion, having defeated Justine Henin in the final of the 2006 U.S. Open. Two years earlier, she defeated Serena Williams in the final at Wimbledon.

Sharapova has been labelled as an offensive baseliner by tennis critics and fans[2]. She is noted for having an excellent double-handed backhand and serves; particularly for the power and placement of these shots. She also is noted for having a good forehand. Likewise, critics claim that for her height, Sharapova has decent agility on-court. Being an offensive player, Sharapova is usually able to overpower her opponents or keep them on the run with sharp angles from the baseline. However she is not known for being among the strongest of defensive players. She loses precision on her groundstrokes when she is put on the run herself, a weakness that the best all-around players will exploit. Sharapova is also not a natural volleyer. Instead of having "soft hands" at the net, she typically uses a powerful "swinging" volley for net approaches. Sharapova usually serves for placement but uses enough power on her first and second serve that attacking that stroke was very difficult for her opponents.

Due to her injury problems, Sharapova has adopted a new service action, with a shorter backswing. Sharapova's first and second serve has become less effective during the 2007 season. Previously, Sharapova had an elongated backswing to generate power on her serve; however, as a trade-off, the swing also placed incredible strain on her shoulder, which eventually led to Sharapova's shoulder injury at the beginning of the 2007 season.It has been seen that in Madrid, Sharapova's service motion has reurned to normal.

In 2006 Sharapova signed a lifetime endorsment deal with Prince Sports, Inc., a longtime sponsor of Sharapova. She currently plays with the O3 White racquet.


Source: http://www.imdb.com/

Aesop's Fables: The Fox and The Grapes

One afternoon a fox was walking through the forest and spotted a bunch of grapes hanging from over a lofty branch.

"Just the thing to quench my thirst," quoth he.

Taking a few steps back, the fox jumped and just missed the hanging grapes. Again the fox took a few paces back and tried to reach them but still failed.

Finally, giving up, the fox turned up his nose and said, "They're probably sour anyway," and proceeded to walk away.

It's easy to despise what you cannot have.

Source: http://www.umass.edu/aesop/

Words With The Sound /sh/

In saying the /sh/ sound, just copy the sound of static. Bite and put your upper and lower teeth together, slightly pout your lips and exhale some air going to the sides of your teeth. You will hear a hissing sound, almost similar to radio static.

Practice these words:

- shabby
- shack
- shackle
- shade
- shadow
- shaggy
- sharpener
- sharing
- sure
- shaving
- shampoo
- seashore
- shells
- shutter
- shower
- shamelessly

Richest prize in golf up for grabs in Dubai

The richest prize in golf is up for grabs in the Dubai World Championship set to begin in 2009.

According to press reports, this extravagant tournament will dangle a total prize fund of US$10 million and draw the sport’s biggest names.

The competition will be held at the emirate’s Jumeirah Golf Estates and would initially run for five years as part of the European Tour. The over-all winner will get a total of US$1.66 million

The Tour’s Order of Merit will be re-named as the “Race to Dubai” with the winner pocketing US$2 million. Should a single player wins both the “Race to Dubai” and the Dubai World Championship, he will get a total of US$3.66 million.

The world’s best players, including Tiger Woods, are welcome to play, according to organizers. But those not part of the European tour should fulfill its criteria before qualifying.

The tournament, they say, offers an alternative to the PGA Tour, particularly those who opt not to reside in the United States.


Source: http://blogs.inquirer.net/golfdigest/

Aesop's Fables: The Ant and The Grasshopper

In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest.

"Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?"

"I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same."

"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil.

When the winter came the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing, every day, corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer.


Then the Grasshopper knew...

It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

Source: http://www.umass.edu/aesop/

Aesop's Fables: The Miser and His Gold

Once upon a time there was a Miser who used to hide his gold at the foot of a tree in his garden; but every week he used to go and dig it up and gloat over his gains.


A robber, who had noticed this, went and dug up the gold and decamped with it. When the Miser next came to gloat over his treasures, he found nothing but the empty hole. He tore his hair, and raised such an outcry that all the neighbors came around him, and he told them how he used to come and visit his gold.

"Nay, said he, "I only came to look at it."

"Then come again and look at the hole," said a neighbor; "it will do you just as much good."

Wealth unused might as well not exist.

Source: http://www.umass.edu/aesop/
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Aesop's Fables: The Lion And The Mouse

Once when a Lion was asleep, a little Mouse began running up and down upon him; this soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him, and opened his big jaws to swallow him.

"Pardon, O King," cried the little Mouse, "forgive me this time, I shall never forget it. Who knows but I may be able to do you a turn some of these days?"

The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him, that he lifted up his paw and let him go.

Some time hunters who desired to carry him alive to the King, tied him to a tree while they went in search of a wagon to carry him on.

Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, went up to him and soon gnawed away the ropes that bound the King of the Beasts.



"Was I not right?" said the little Mouse.

Little friends may prove great friends.


Source: http://www.umass.edu/aesop/
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Words With Letter "S"

In saying the /s/ sound, just copy the sound of a hissing snake. Bite and put your upper and lower teeth together, relax your lips and exhale some air going to the middle of your teeth. You will hear a hissing sound, almost similar to a snake's.

Practice these words:

- asset
- assembly
- boss
- Brussels
- compass
- disseminate
- estranged
- focus
- gastric
- hostile
- insolent
- jostle
- Kingston
- luster
- mosquito
- nausea
- oscillate
- passive
- quasi
- rustic
- sassy
- solid
- solvent
- serpentine
- Tuscany
- understanding
- vase
- western
- yeast
- zealous

Apathy: The Feeling of Indifference

Apathy is a common feeling of complete discontent for one's emotional behaviour.

Apathy etymologically derives from the Greek απάθεια (apatheia), a term used by the Stoics to signify indifference for what one is not responsible for (that is, according to their philosophy, all things exterior, one being only responsible of his representations and judgments). The concept was then reappropriated by Christians, who adopted the term to express a contempt of all earthly concerns, a state of mortification, as the gospel prescribes. Thus, the word has been used since then among more devout writers. Clemens Alexandrinus, in particular, brought the term exceedingly in vogue, thinking hereby to draw the philosophers to Christianity, who aspired after such a sublime pitch of virtue. [1]

The concept of apathy became more sympathetically accepted in popular culture during the First World War, in which the appalling conditions of the Western Front led to apathy[citation needed] and shellshock amongst millions of soldiers. Many often had no emotion or thought process concerning killing/death in general.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/

2007 Biggest Celebrity Breakdowns

From Lindsay Lohan to Britney Spears, Hollywood teems with stars and their dust-ups. But today's Tinseltown may not have more scandal, just more cameras.

The reality is this: Hollywood has long been home to mishaps from drugs to marital affairs, but its stars never before faced the kind of media scrutiny they do today. With six celebrity weeklies, five national nightly entertainment shows and a blogosphere heavy on celebrity content, the roller coaster lives of the A-list have morphed into a can't-miss soap opera for a massive audience.

Harvey Levin, managing editor of Time Warner's entertainment news Web site, TMZ.com, says Hollywood is basically the same as it was 50 years ago when it comes to scandal. He says the difference between then and now is that before nobody was really paying attention.

"For so long, people never got a glimpse of stars in real life," he says of a media that largely steered clear of life outside of award shows and press junkets. "It looked as though these stars basically lived in limos and on red carpets, and it was almost unreal to see them outside of their perfectly manufactured pose or scene."

That's hardly so anymore. In today's celebrity media, stars are just as likely to be photographed at a gas station as they are the red carpet. And it's this sort of access that enables their audience to follow celebrities' lives as if they were neighbors. Says Sarah Ivens, editor in chief of OK! Magazine: "We now have that same kind of intimacy, or we think we do, with A-listers."

The result: The wall between what is public and private is gone for today's stars. According to veteran publicist Howard Bragman, who most recently mopped up the mess of Grey's Anatomy cast-off Isaiah Washington, celebrities must know and accept that the concept of privacy is not guaranteed anymore.

But rather than fault the pesky paparazzi and the outlets that publish their work, Eric Dezenhall, a Washington, D.C.-based crisis management specialist and author of "Damage Control," points a finger at the attention-seeking stars. The way he sees it, the paparazzi doesn't chase them, they chase the paparazzi.

"You don't get the kind of coverage Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton get if you don't want it," he says of the tabloid fixtures whose past year include DUIs (Lohan) and a jail term (Hilton). "These antics are designed to get media attention."

And no one got more attention in 2007 than Lohan, Hilton and Spears.

A former Mouseketeer, Spears filled her year with heavy partying, questionable mothering and a slew of courtroom battles (and head shaving, and a live meltdown on MTV, and attacking the paparazzi, etc.). In spite of it all, the troubled starlet, who lost both her kids and much of her credibility, still churns out chart-topping tunes.

Hilton violated the terms of her drunk-driving probation, and was sentenced to a 45-day jail term, later cut in half for good behavior. With much fanfare surrounding her entrance and exit, the celebutant served the sentence this past spring at a Los Angeles County jail. For her part, she claimed she was not aware her license had been suspended.

After rising to stardom with lead roles in "Freaky Friday" and "Mean Girls," struggling starlet Lohan now grabs more headlines for her hard partying ways than her box office performances. Her year included a couple of DUI charges and two stints in rehab. Still, she managed to remain working and will appear in 2008's "Dare to Love Me," a biopic about tango legend Carlos Gardel.

For these and other stars, it's not simply a matter of what they're doing--be it drinking, driving or doing drugs--but also where they're doing it. Rather than move away from the flashbulbs of Los Angeles, they continue to turn up in and around Hollywood hot spots where their picture is bound to be snapped.

The good news for the troubled set: Hollywood is a very forgiving place. With few exceptions, the media and its audience are willing to forgive and forget if a star offers an apology--and talent.

Let disgraced stars of the past serve as proof: Eddie Murphy was once found with a transvestite prostitute; Winona Ryder was once caught shoplifting; and Russell Crowe was once charged with assault when he threw a phone at a hotel concierge.

The way Ivens, a veteran of several U.K. publications, including Tatler, Daily Mail and the British OK!, sees it, America--unlike her native British audience--loves a comeback story. While British readers have more of a "build people up to knock them down" mentality and react better to a negative slant, she says cover stories with happy endings work best in the U.S. market.

"They love to follow the soap opera," she says of American readers, "but at the end of the day, they want a happy ending." How lucky for Lohan, Spears and their meltdown-tarred cohorts.


Source: http://omg.yahoo.com/

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Catherine Zeta-Jones was born on 25 September 1969, in Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales, UK, the daughter of Dai Jones, who formerly worked for a candy factory, and Pat Jones. Her brother David Jones (b. 1967) is a development executive and brother Lyndon Jones (b.1972) works at her production company. Catherine showed an interest early on in entertainment. She starred on stage in "Annie", "Bugsy Malone" and "The Pajama Game". At 15 she had the lead in the British revival of "42nd Street". She was originally cast as the second understudy for the lead role in the musical but when the star and first understudy became sick the night the play's producer was in the audience, she was given the lead for the rest of the musical's production. She first made a name for herself in the early 1990s when she starred in the Yorkshire Television comedy/drama series "The Darling Buds of May" (1991). The show was a smash hit and made her one of the United Kingdom's most popular television actresses. She subsequently played supporting roles in several films including Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992), the miniseries Catherine the Great (1995) (TV) and a larger part as the seductive Sala in The Phantom (1996) before landing her breakthrough role playing the fiery Elena opposite Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas in The Mask of Zorro (1998). She starred in many big-budget blockbusters like Entrapment (1999), The Haunting (1999) and Traffic (2000), for which many believed she was robbed of an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. In November 2000 she married actor Michael Douglas. She gave birth to their son Dylan Michael in August 2000.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/

Cocktails

A cocktail is a style of mixed drink. However, not all mixed drinks are cocktails. A cocktail usually contains one or more types of liquor and flavorings and one or more liqueurs, fruit juices, sauces, honey, milk, cream or spices, etc. The cocktail became popular with Prohibition in the United States. During Prohibition the art of mixing drinks became more and more important to mask the taste of bootlegged alcohol. The bartenders at a speakeasy would mix it with other ingredients, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. After the repeal of Prohibition, the skills developed in illegal bars became widespread and heralded the golden era of the cocktail, the 1930s. One of the oldest known cocktails, the Cognac-based Sazerac, dates from 1850s New Orleans, as many as 70 years prior to Prohibition.

Until the 1970s, cocktails were made predominantly with gin, whiskey or rum, and less commonly vodka. From the 1970s on, the popularity of vodka increased dramatically, and by the 1980s it was the predominant base for mixed drinks. Many cocktails traditionally made with gin, such as the gimlet, or the martini, may now be served by default with vodka.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, a little farming community outside Johannesburg, South Africa on August 7th, 1975. Her mother, Gerda, is German, while her late father, Charles, was French.

Charlize began her modeling career in 1991 aged 16 when she won a local modeling contest. She started modeling in Europe and came to New York a year later. She didn't like being a model though, and decided to try her luck with ballet, which had been her biggest passion as a child. Unfortunately, a knee injury prevented her from dancing. Her mother bought her a one-way ticket to Los Angeles in 1994 and Charlize started visiting all of the agents on Hollywood Boulevard but without any luck. She went to the bank to cash a check for $500 she'd got from her mother and became furious when she learned that the bank could not cash her check because it was an out-state check. She made a scene and an agent gave her his card, in exchange that she learn the language, which she did by watching soap operas on TV. Her first role was as a young mother in a park in a B-film in 1995, but it was a non-speaking role with three seconds of screen time. Her next role was as Helga in 2 Days in the Valley (1996), which landed her the role of Tina in That Thing You Do! (1996). Since then, she has starred in movies like The Devil's Advocate (1997); Mighty Joe Young (1998); The Cider House Rules (1999); The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) and The Italian Job (2003). An important day in her life was February 29th, 2004 when she was awarded with her first Academy Award for her performance in Monster (2003).

Source: http://www.imdb.com/

Peter Pan (2003)

This is a small exchange in the movie Peter Pan.

Wendy : Once upon a time there was a boy named Peter Pan, who decided not to grow up.

Hook : Skip the prologue

Wendy : So he flew away to Neverland where the pirates are.

Hook : What fun he must have had.

Wendy : Yes but he was rather lonely.

Hook : Lonely? He needed a Wendy. Why a Wendy?

Wendy : He liked my stories.

Hook : What stories?

Wendy : Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty.

Hook : Love stories?

Wendy : Adventures! In which good triumphs over evil!

Hook : They all end in a kiss. He does feel! He feels about you. She told him stories. He taught her to fly. How?

Wendy : You just think happy thoughts. They lift you into the air.

Hook : Alas, I have no happy thoughts.

Wendy : That brings you down!

Hook : How else?

Michael: Fairy dust! You need fairy dust!

Hook : What of Pan? Would unhappy thoughts bring him down?

Wendy : He has no unhappy thoughts.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/

In Good Company

Intermediate

Eugene : Thanks for the Laker tickets.

Dan : You bet.

Eugene : Seats were terrific. But I'm still not going to advertise in the magazine. My son-in-law tells me that people don't read much any more. Too much effort moving eyes back and forth. So we're gonna put most of our budget into television, radio, internet.

Dan : Okay.

Eugene : Okay? What does that mean?

Dan : I'm not gonna try to sell you.

Eugene : Why the hell not? You're a salesman.

Dan : Yeah. Just not a very good one, that's all.

Eugene : I'll say.

Dan : But I am going to ask you one favor.

Eugene : Oh, yeah?

Dan : I'm gonna leave you an issue of the magazine and I'm personnally gonna send you a new one every week. Now, I'll call you in a few weeks, and if you want to we'll talk. There's a great article in there comparing today's quarterbacks with Johnny United.

Eugene : United would kick their butts. So this is your sales pitch?

Dan : I've been with the magazine for 20 years. I believe in it.

Source: http://www.imdb.com/

Words With Letter "R"

Words containing letter "R"

Practice these words:

- artistic
- bragging
- breeding
- brocade
- barista
- crucify
- cartography
- calligraphy
- caricature
- driven
- dreary
- frost
- fervor
- garnish
- grater
- garter
- radical
- rainbow
- random
- raspberry
- realize
- realm
- recycle
- redirection
- remorse
- reserve
- reservoir
- resolution
- revalidated
- resource
- reporter
- rhapsody

Words With Letter "L"

Words containing the letter "L"

Practice these words:

- lying
- lawful
- lighthouse
- linen
- league
- linear
- luggage
- leather
- landlord
- liberty
- lever
- leverage
- lifelike
- longevity
- larceny
- laceration
- localize
- ally
- alter
- alteration
- bulldogs
- ballpark
- ballpoint
- blended
- bludgeon
- closer
- calligraphy
- clapping
- download
- dolly
- elongate
- elevate
- flush
- flow
- floundering