October 4, 2010

St. Theresa's B. C. H. S. S, Chengaroor


St. Theresa's B. C. H. S. S, Chengaroor
 Our paradise...
the place where we flew about like butterflies
where we enjoyed the time of our lives
where we learned to be frank, friendly, free
and to LOVE
and where the four friends were meant to be met...

October 3, 2010

The story continues…



Katie, Pooja and Nithi were in the same class while Emil with the other band members in the next division. She used to be Katie’s friend from her fifth grade though they haven’t studied in the same class till this date. Emil knew Katie well and Katie knew Emil well. Pooja was kind of immature so everyone used to scold her while in class and practice. Skipping class time for practice was cool. In the meantime while the rest of the class was jealous they enjoyed the times of our life. We weren’t an established gangue in our 8th grade but when it was year 9 we became cool. That year we were divided again and Emil and Pooja came together while Katie and Nithi were left behind. I mean that’s when most of the girls form a group right? At the age of 14? We did but there was a flaw in the plan as Katie still members. They put in a Brahmin girl forming a group of five. But she was the odd one. She never matched their tastes. They hated her though adjusted with her. Katie was brave enough to avoid her in a brilliant manner. She used to ignore her and advised the others to do so. By the middle of year 9 she succeeded her goal and the group split reforming the golden group- the fabulous four or NASH as Pooja named it. Year 10 was the best ever as the four could remember each and every moment clearly.

Fabulous Four

You might have heard about many gangues with a name fabulous four. Well here it is another wonderful group. A friendship circle of four friends. Developed and nurtured in god’s own country Kerala, the paradise of catholic Christians, Tiruvalla, and girl’s own world, St. Theresa’s b. C. H. S. S, Chengaroor.


Wait a sec! Did I say something about these four friends? No right? First one is Emil, who is slender enough, cautious and a little bit nervous. Second one is Katie, she is more with Emil, she is like mature enough, but has a superior like feeling. The third one is Nithi, who the most beautiful and too slender for her family is unhappy too. But for me she is beautifully slender. Ah! She is the cupid pie of the four. The fourth is Pooja, she is fairly fat but is beautiful despite her dark complexion. She is such an unconscious one of the four, because she isn’t used to dealing things yet.

Yep! Its where these four friends learn and enjoyed their fantabulous part of life. They met through a common thread- band set. May be 3 years back they wouldn’t have known each other well. Or at least even the names. It was all meant to be this way. And may be it might be the reason that four of them joined the band set and got selected. Katie became the captain; Nithi beat the side drum, Emil the trumpet and the Pooja the euphonium.

Let me say it Pooja used to hate using that freaking instrument. (I guess she loved the base drum for sure!)

October 2, 2010

National science seminar 2010

National science seminar is one of India’s prestigious seminar competition held in the national level every year on the basis of a common topic. there are three stages for the selection of the national winner. The students have to pass through three levels of competition- district or block level, state level and then national level. Each level has three sessions to determine the winner. A written test based on the topic, the seminar presentation and an interview with the judges are the three sessions. Those who are in high school is recommended to participate in this programme.

This year’s national competition is scheduled to be held in Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, Begalooru, on 8th October 2010 on the topic “India and world science are we there?”. Students representing 28 states and 7 union territories will present their papers and the eminent panel of judges will select the most eligible student as the winner

It is a proud thing to say that it was me who represented Kerala for the national science seminar 2009 on the topic Chandrayaan concerns and promises held in Mumbai. This year Kerala is represented by Swathi Nair of Republican school, Konni, a girl from my own district.

I wish a very great luck to you Swathi. Make us proud.

June 22, 2010

Sobriquets in the world

Island of pearls…......Bahrain
Land of cakes……....Scotland
Roof of the world…....Pamir
Playground of Europe....…Switzerland
Key of Mediterranean....Gibraltar
City of seven hills......…Rome
City of skyscrapers…...New York
Holy land…......palatine
Garden of England……Kent
Gate of tears…..Babel man dab
Windy city…..Chicago
City of eternal spring………………Quito
Empire city. ..................New York
Eternal city..................... Rome
 Land of descending sun..............…Britain
Land of golden pagoda……….Myanmar
Britain of the south…………New Zealand
City of Golden Gate……san Francisco
Cockpit of Europe…….Belgium
Dark continent ……Africa
Granite City….............Aberdeen, Scotland
Gibraltar in Indian Ocean……………..Eden
Island of cloves…………..Zanzibar
Land of lilies…..............Canada
Land of morning calm…….Korea
Land of thunderbolt…..Bhutan
Queen of Arabian Sea……cochin
Wealthy coast……….Coastrica
Venice of the north……………….Stockholm
White city…….Belgrade
Water loo..Belgium
Land of pyramids...........….Egypt

Mecca of cricket……lord’s ground, England
Bread basket of world………prairies
City of Arabian nights…Bagdad
Dample city...........…Budapest
Golden city………………Johannes berg
Eye of Greece……Ethan
Modern Babylon……London
Valley of kings…..Thebes
Land of canals…….Pakistan
Land of marbles.............……Italy
City of lights.........Paris
Key of Baltic…………………Coppen Hagen
Land of thorns and hills………………Rwanda
City of five ports………….Moscow
Land of rising sun……Japan
Land of midnight sun……Norway
Gift of Nile……Egypt
Sugar bowl of the world….Cuba
Land of white elephants….Thailand
Land of thousand lakes…Finland
Sorrow of china……huangho river
Yellow river…huang ho river

Key of pacific…….Singapore
White man’s grave…….guinea coast
Land of kangaroo…Australia
Sickman of Europe…..Turkey
Emerald island…………Ireland
Forbidden City….Lhasa

June 18, 2010

Alaotra grebe

                  When the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) updated the Red list of Birds on may 25 it was reported that one more bird, Alaotra Grebe (Tachybaptus rufolavatus)a native of Madagascar is extinct from the earth which reveals the truth that the beasts and birds are disappearing from the face of earth in a faster rate than any time in the earth’s history.The bird was last sighted 25 years before and it was on this basis that extinction was confirmed.
                      The Alaotra Grebe’s habitat was severely damaged after a nonnative species of carnivorous fish was introduced into the lakes where the birds lived, according to BirdLife International. In addition, fishermen using nylon gill-nets would trap and drown the birds, contributing to the Alaotra Grebe's extinction.

June 17, 2010

Sobriquets in India


Sorrow of Bengal............River Damodar
Sorrow of Bihar...............River Kosi
Sorrow of Asom..............River Brahmaputra
Blue mounts.....................Nilgiris
Manchester of India.........Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
Land of five rivers............Punjab
Tea plantation of India .....Asom
Paradise of Earth..............Kashmir
Scotland of the east.....................Meghalaya
Vridha Ganga..............................River Godavari
Dakshin Ganga ...........................River Cauvery
Emerald land .............................Goa
Kohinoor of India ......................Andra Pradesh
Sugar bowl of India ...................Uttar Pradesh
Milk bowl of India.....................Haryana
Land of tigers..............................Madhya Pradesh
Manchester of south India ....Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu)
Silicon valley of India .........Bangalore 
Economic capital of India ....Mumbai
Spice garden of India..............Kerala
Land of Sun-rays..................Arunachal Pradesh
Paradise of botanist .............Sikkim
City of palaces......................Kolakatta
City of Golden Temple.........Amritsar
Garden city of India..............Bengalooru
Gate Way of India.................Mumbai 

June 15, 2010

Gulf Manorama | Gulf News

Gulf Manorama Gulf News

Celebrities who died of smoking-related illness

Allen, Gracie, 58, actress; heart attack (August 27, 1964)
The Burns and Allen Show
Allen lived with an George Burns, an inveterate cigar smoker, for 38 years; she had a long history of heart problems.
Benaderet, Bea, 62, TV actress; emphysema/lung cancer (October 13, 1968)
Beverly Hillbillies, Burns & Allen, Petticoat Junction, Betty Rubble's voice in The Flintstones
Cobb, Ty, 74, baseball player; cancer, diabetes, chronic heart disease (July 17, 1961)
Disney, Walt, 65, animator, producer; lung cancer (acute circulatory collapse following an operation to remove a tumor) (December 15, 1966)
Eliot, T.S., 76; author, poet; emphysema (January 4, 1965)
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Hallow Men, Murder in the Cathedral
Fleming, Ian, 56, author; heart attack (August 12, 1964)
James Bond novels
Grant, General Ulysses S., 63, throat cancer (July 23, 1885)
18th President of the US
Hayward, Susan, 55, actor; lung cancer metastized to her brain (March 14, 1975)
I'll Cry Tomorrow, I Want to Live!
King of England, lung cancer (1952)
Rand, Ayn, author/philosopher; lung cancer (March 6, 1982)
The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged
Reynolds, R.J., 58, founder of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co., emphysema, (1916)
Shirley, Anne, 75, actress; lung cancer (July 4, 1993)
Anne of the Green Gables, Stella Dallas
Vaughan, Sarah, singer; lung cancer (1990)
Broken-hearted Melody
Young, Coleman A., 79, Detroit, Michigan's longest-serving mayor. Emphysema. (November 29, 1997)

How is tobacco harmful to health?
Visit Health Hazards of Tobacco

Health Hazards of Tobacco

‘I love to kill and it’s my style
To kill I will go an extra-mile,’
the wonderful lines I read from Thrill Killer of Ronald. W. Hull is what I’m recollecting at a moment like this. Because at present I am thinking to tell you something about the ferocious tobacco. We hear the word at least twice a day. But what exactly is tobacco. It is an agricultural product, of course, processed from the leaves of a plant in the genus Nicotina. Records state that half of the children from grade 4 to 6 have attempted smoking and about 80000- 100000 children are becoming addicted to smoking each year. But I would like to ask what is attracting people to smoking like a black hole? It is the nicotine, a carcinogen, present in tobacco that is responsible for the addictive nature.

The carcinogen increases the risk of pancreas cancer, kidney and bladder cancers, stomach cancer, lung cancer, and pharynx and mouth cancers. It has several carcinogenic products that bind to DNA and create genetic mutations. Even though tobacco is consumed in different ways like chewing, snuffing etc smoking is more popular. But the unfortunate havoc of smoking is that it kills not only the one using it but also those sitting around him. Because the smoke produced is fair enough to create a lung cancer or suffocation.
Other than cancers tobacco has many more health risks. Smoking is responsible for the majority of deaths due to chronic diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking has cardio vascular effects too. It increases the risk of heart attack and other heart related diseases 2-4 times greater than a normal person. It causes abdominal aortic aneurysm. Smoking is harmful to bones and joints. It slows down the process that adds calcium to bones. It develops infertility in men and women. In women, as a result there is great risk of loss of bone density and osteoporosis.

Post menopausal women who smoke have greater risk for hip fracture and men who involve in lifting heavy objects are most likely to have a lower back pain and arthritis than the non-smokers. And also have the risk of degenerative disorders and spinal injuries. Smoking increases the risk of diabetics or glucose intolerance that precedes diabetics. It increases the production of acid in the stomach. It reduces blood flow and production of compounds that protects the stomach lining. Such people develop inflammatory Bowell Disease.

Smoking interferes with thyroid hormone production. It triples the risk of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism. It also increases the risk of goiter. Wrinkles, gum diseases, tooth loss, cataracts etc are other consequences. Even though man has advanced in his life he never realizes his drawbacks and upgrades them. Maybe the health hazards caused by tobacco are curable. But in future we could only see toothless gums and cancerous mouths. And we all like ‘Prevention is better than cure’, don’t we?
So dear friends arise, awake and think. Let’s join together and strive to create a new generation free of illness and ignorance.

You may visit 'The celebrities died of smoking- related diseases'

Death Talks

A poem in which the death talks about himself



Talking about me is fascinating
And philosophical
Hearing about is sentimental
For the faint hearted
Witnessing me is truly terrific
But experiencing me is crucial.

I am the death, the destroyer
Of the world as many addresses me
The fear of cowards and the friend of the brave
Guests of fools hope to helpless

I have pulled many from life
And pushed many to the exile
None has complained until my hands
Have gripped tight on the neck

What I have known I swear it’s true
I promise I’m honest
When there is a birth, I’m also born
When they grow up I am growing up too
And when they are ready
They cannot escape from my fingers..
Though painful once
You will later feel better and grateful
For what I have done

Home they brought their warrior dead

                                              Alfred lord Tennyson, the shining star in the world of English literature and famous as the emperor of English poetry has created yet another wonderful piece of magic through a compassionate thread. His sentimental and touchy grace of mind has been depicted so fascinatingly in this poem ‘home they brought their warrior dead’.
                Usually wars bring bad luck and its zenith is always unfortunate tragedies. Here also in the background of love and affection and the veins of death, the coupled factors delineates the reactions and provocations wore by the people gathered around the carcass of a warrior in the pre-funeral functions. His young and beautiful widow is not giving signs of depression or pain even though she carries a crushed heart. The maidens make many attempts to make her weep or (they think) she may die. At last a successful and powerful endeavor burst her into tears. An old nurse brought her child and thinking of its future life she wept bitterly which is described by the poet as “summer tempest”.
                                   Here the poet has not made any exaggerations or so much of poetic effects. But the genuine reason why it has a touchy value in every heart is the simplicity. Simile, oxymoron and elision are the only figures of speech implemented. Along with a sympathetic and emotional feeling or atmosphere, the poem depicts in it a ever-green truth. ‘Look forward to the future. Regret about past life weakens one and the hope for the future strengthens the desire to live.’ The character specialties of the warrior in the poem is described here with proper stress through which the poet possibly enhances the readers to be honest, faithful, noble and most importantly patriotic and dedicative. This poem is truly relevant in the present day society lacking moral values.

Living lives

I sat on the ashlars lain on my garden
And leaned my back to the pillar that was worn
Looked up and closed my eyes
For the sun was bright in that summer evening
I again opened and saw something moving
High above me bearing a misty hole
Clouds they were with a strange
Hole of blurred beam of yellow or white
From which a heavenly hand
Stretched outside holding a heart
Closed my eyes and again I saw
No other hole, no other hand
Winning the beam, dreariness came ahead.
With the hole, it pulled itself inside
Closing me in darkness

Many say they live
But they don’t live lives
But death
Only few live it, lovely life.

My Heart Will Go On- Celine Dion

Every night in my dreams
I see you, I feel you
That is how I know you go on
Far across the distance
And spaces between us
You have come to show you go on
Near, far wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you’re here in my heart and
My heart will go on and on
Love can touch us one time
And last for a life time
And never let go till go on
Love was when I loved you
One true time I hold you
In my life we’ll always go on and on.
Near, far wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you’re here in my heart and
My heart will go on and on
You’re here there’s nothing I fear
And I know that my heart will go on
We’ll stay forever this way
You’re safe in my heart and
My heart will go on and on…..

About the song:
Singer: Celine dion
Movie: Titanic
Albums: Let's talk about love, Titanic:music from the motion picture.
Recorded: Wallyworld, Hit Factory
Genre: Pop
Length: 4.40
Label: Columbia, Epic

Writer(s): James Horner, Will Jennings
Producer: Walter Afanasieff, James Horner, Simon Franglen
Certification:  Diamond (France), 4x platinum (Germany), 3x platinum (Belgium), 2x platinum (Australia, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK), Platinum (Greece), Gold (Austria, U.S.) .

June 14, 2010

Disasters of Deforestation

                            Forests are the precious gifts of nature. They have a great role in sustaining the life on earth. From air to petroleum are the gifts of trees. Even if man was ignorant in his early stages he later came to know about the significance and importance of the nature. They worshipped trees and nature as their deities. This is effectively seen in epics too. in 1651 Charles 2nd hid behind oak trees for the fear of his enemies, in Kerala it was inside the teak that Marthanda Varma took refuge to save himself from the Ettuveettil Pillai.
                              Sandalwood is one of the most exploited trees these days. Due to its herbal and medicinal value, steps are taken to protect them. But these woods in Marayoor are indiscriminately invaded and stolen. We all know about Neem. Its leaves are one the effective herbal treatment in ayurveda. Neem oil cake is very good manure too. Eucalyptus is another herbal tree.
Trees like banyan tree do a great deal by regulating the climate and purifying the air. We know about rain forests. They have an important role in regulating the climate and maintaining ecological balance. They supply us with oxygen- 1/5 of atmospheric oxygen is produced by trees. Once the earth was rich with 14% of forest. But now it is just 6%. Per year about 338 lakh square kilometers of forest is destroyed. But in this 6% of forest area more than 50% of earth’s living beings is sheltered. Diversified and varied species of animals and plants are found in the rainforests. Along with the forest, these organisms and forest tribes of rare and strange culture are also diminishing. From times immorable trees kepps the soil fertile and yielding and they provide refreshing shades too.
Lets see what all things have to be suffered from the feeling of trees. The greatest problem is global warming. This happens when carbon dioxide increases. Recently it was found that in 1955 the amount of carbon dioxide in atmoshphere was only 310 PPM. But in 1958 it was 350 PPM. Now it has hiked up to 385 PPM. But before the industrial revolution it was only 280PPM. And it will be 500 PPM by the end of this century itself. Because of the severe heat the ice and glaciers are emlting rapidly which rises the sea level and treat of floods. When the earth becomes hot and oceans also gets heated and evaporation rate is increased. This results in cyclones. We had seen many cyclones in this century itself like Katrina, Dennis and Evan (America), Nargis in Myanmar and Ila in Bengal.
The acidity of oceanic water, the high and low rates of rain etc are other consequences. Let me ask all those who are favoring felling of trees something. For the sake of profit and welfare is it fair to dig your graves?
Remember “your planet needs you, Unite to combat the climate change.”

My Heart

Blood! Red Blood!
On my footprints
Oozing out from my heart
Drop by drop
Scarlet drops
Wetting my body
Drenching my path

The memories prickles
The painful memories
Tears me apart
Without kindness

I looked around
Consolence? anywhere?
The silence seemed so weird
So much painful
Than the miseries

No smiling faces
No patting hands
No kind words
So strange it seemed
The world-
Nothingness, dreary nothingness

Darkness showed its face
Haunted me, teased me
Making me more and more miserable
Rolling eyes not on me
But my beloved

I waited
For months and years
With nothing
For nothing, I realised at last
The true faith is myself
The true consolence
Comes from me

There's nothingness
'Coz i never used my eyes

There's no patting hands
'Coz i never touched anyone

There's no smiles
'Coz i forgot to smile

I found no words
'Coz i was busy
With my meaningless blabber
With the evil

Open your eyes!
See the world
Enjoy its beauty
Feel sorry for the helpless
Be yourselves happy
Because you are gifted
You are not alone
Perch firmly to your faith
And achieve your goals

Then the heart heals
The rush of blood stops, sets and
Wipes away the miseries

After years when you touch it
You will feel the warmth
The tenderness
The joy of your victory

And then you will smile
At the past
And push yourselves
To the merriment...
The ever-lasting happiness...

June 12, 2010

Coat of Arms of Brazil

The coat of arms was created on 19th November 1889 four days after Brazil became a republic.
The coat of arms consists of an emblem surrounded by the supporters Coffee(at the left) and Tobacco(at the right) branches, two main crops of Brazil at that time. the Central Blue Circle shows the Southern Cross(also known as Cruzeiro do Sul). 
The outer blue ring has 27 stars which represents the 26 states if Brazil and The Federal District. 
The first line in the Blue Ribbon shows the official name of Brazil(República Federativa do Brasil — Federative Republic of Brazil). in the second line, the date of the establishment of the republic is shown- 15th November 1889.

Gitanjali - Tagore


Mind Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

I'm Alive - Celine Dion

Mmmmm ... Mmmmm ...

I get wings to fly
Oh, oh ... I'm alive ... Yeah
When you call on me
When I hear you breathe
I get wings to fly
I feel that I'm alive
When you look at me
I can touch the sky
I know that I'm alive
When you bless the day
I just drift away
All my worries die
I'm glad that I'm alive

Mosquito- D. H. Lawrence

When did you start your tricks,

Monsieur ?
What do you stand on such high legs for ?
Why this length of shredded shank,
You exaltation ?
Is it so that you shall lift your centre of gravity upwards
And weigh no more than air as you alight upon me,
Stand upon me weightless, you phantom ?
I heard a woman call you the Winged Victory
In sluggish Venice.
You turn your head towards your tail, and smile.
How can you put so much devilry
Into that translucent phantom shred
Of a frail corpus ?

Fairy tale authors

Charles Perrault
Born: 12th January 1628, Paris
Death: 16 May 1703
Notable works: Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty - Sleeping Beauty, Puss in Boots, Cinderella, Bluebeard, Diamonds and Toads, Patient Griselda, The Ridiculous Wishes, Donkeyskin...


Grimm Brothers
Born: Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm- 4th January 1785, Hanau, Germany
Wilhelm Carl Grimm- February 24, 1786, Hanau, Germany.
Notable Works: The Bremen Town-Musicians, Brother and Sister, Cinderella, The Frog King, Hänsel and Grethel, Little Briar-Rose, Little Red-Cap, Little Snow-White, Mother Holle, Rapunzel, The Seven Ravens, The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids, Tom Thumb, Sleeping Beauty, The Fisherman & His Wife, The Goose Girl, Hans in Luck, Jorinda and Joringel, Rumpelstilzchen, Snow White, The Brave Little Tailor, The Star Talers, The Elves...


Hans Christian Andersen (Danish author and poet)
Born: April 2, 1805 
Death: August 4, 1875
Notable Works: The Steadfast, Tin Soldier, The Snow Queen, The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Little Match Girl, The Ugly Duckling, The Red Shoes...


Alexander Afanasyev
Born: July 11, 1826, Russia
Death: October 23, 1871
A Rusian folklorist who recorded and published over 600 Russian folktales and fairytales

Notable Works: The Animals in the Pit, The Cat, The Rooster, and the Fox, The Wolf and the Goat, The Fox and the Crane, The Swan-Geese, The Three Kingdoms, Prince Ivan and Princess Martha, Baba-Yaga and Puny...




Carlo Lorenzini
Born: November 24, 1826
Death: October 26, 1890
Better known as Carlo Collodi, a Florentine children’s writer known for the world-renowned fairy tale The Adventures of Pinocchio.

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson
Born: 27 January 1832
Death: 14 January 1898
Better known as Lewis Carroll.

Notable Works: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass as well as the poems “The Hunting of the Snark” and “Jabberwocky”, all considered to be within the genre of literary nonsense.

J.K. Rowling- Author from 'Rags' to 'Riches'

J. K. Rowling was born on 31st July 1965 in Yate, Gloucestershire, England. she is famous as the author of the ever bestselling fctional series of Harry Potter and also as one of the richest women in the world. she was born as joanne Murray Rowling and later adopted her grandmother's name 'Kathleene' to create a middle intial.
She was interested in books from her childhood which was encouraged by her parents who loved reading too and their house in chesthow was full of books. she has written fictional novels since she was a child and always wanted to be an author. in fact, she wrote her first book at the age of six- a story about a rabbit which was called "rabbit".
Before publishing the HP series, she led a very poor life in England. she has stated that it was during a train journey from manchester to london that the charecter oh harry Potter strolled into her mind. and by the time she reached King's cross(which is included in the story) most of the characters had took shape.
On 16 October 1992, she married Portuguese television journalist Jorge Arantes. Their one child, Jessica Isabel Rowling Arantes (named after Jessica Mitford), was born on 27 July 1993 in Portugal. They separated in November 1993. In December 1993, Rowling and her daughter moved to be near her sister in Edinburgh, Scotland. During this period Rowling was diagnosed with clinical depression, and contemplated suicide.On 26 December 2001, Rowling married Neil Michael Murray (born 30 June 1971), an anaesthetist, in a private ceremony at her Aberfeldy home. This was a second marriage for both Rowling and Murray, as Murray had previously been married to Dr. Fiona Duncan in 1996. Murray and Duncan separated in 1999 and divorced in the summer of 2001. Rowling and Murray's son, David Gordon Rowling Murray, was born on 24 March 2003. Shortly after Rowling began writing Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince she took a break from working on the novel to care for him in his early infancy. Rowling's youngest child, daughter Mackenzie Jean Rowling Murray, to whom she dedicated Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, was born 23 January 2005.
To know more visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._K._Rowling or www.jkrowling.com/en/

June 11, 2010

Shakira - Waka Waka Official Video World Cup South Africa 2010 music v...

Ulysses- A. L. Tennyson

 

It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match’d with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me.

I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy’d
Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when
Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour’d of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!
As tho’ to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

   This is my son, mine own Telemachus,
To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro’ soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

   There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:
There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners,
Souls that have toil’d, and wrought, and thought with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep
Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,
’Tis not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
About the Author
A. L. Tennyson
Alfred Lord Tennyson(6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892),  the shining star of Victorian Era was regarded as the greatest living poet of England. His poems are noted for its rich meaning and lyrical quality. This poem Ulysses is one such remarkable work.Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, "In the valley of Cauteretz", "Break, Break, Break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade", "Tears, Idle Tears" and "Crossing the Bar". Much of his verse was based on classical mythological themes, such as Ulysses, although In Memoriam A.H.H. was written to commemorate his best friend Arthur Hallam, a fellow poet and fellow student at Trinity College, Cambridge, who was engaged to Tennyson's sister, but died from a cerebral hemorrhage before they were married. Tennyson also wrote some notable blank verse including Idylls of the King, Ulysses, and Tithonus.
"Ulysses" is a poem in blank verse by the Victorian poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892), written in 1833 and published in 1842. An oft-quoted poem, it is popularly used to illustrate the dramatic monologue poetic form. In the poem, Ulysses describes, to an unspecified audience, his discontent and restlessness upon returning to his kingdom, Ithaca, after his far-ranging travels. Facing old age, Ulysses yearns to explore again, despite his reunion with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus.

The call- Regina Spektor

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word
And then that word grew louder and louder
'Till it was a battle cry
I will come back when you call me
No need to say goodbye
Just because everything is changing
Doesn't mean its never been this way before
All you can do is try to know who your friends
As your head off to the war.
Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light
You will come back when its over
No need to say goodbye...
....
....
.....
Now we are back to  the beginning
Its just a feeling that no one knows yet
But just because they cant feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget
Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
'Till they are before your eyes
You will come back when they call you
No need to say goodbye
You will come back when they call you
No need to say goodbye.
The Singer
Regina Spektor
Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (born February 18, 1980) is a Russian-born Jewish American singer-songwriter and pianist.