The Notebook

This story is touching… I have watched this many times already but I couldn’t help myself but cry everytime I watch it. I would always recommend this movie to those people who love to watch love stories based on true life. I could still remember when I let my brother watch this, he also had cried that time. Really great movie… If you haven’t watch it yet, don’t be contented just reading this post..grab a copy of the movie now!! You are almost missing half of your life..

The Notebook is a 1996 American romantic novel by American novelist Nicholas Sparks. The novel was later adapted into a popular romance film by the same name in 2004. However, the movie and the book have very different endings.

The novel was Nicholas Sparks’ first published novel, and the third written after The Passing and The Royal Murders, which were never published. It was written over a period of six months in 1994. Literary agent Theresa Park discovered Sparks after picking the book out of her agency’s slush pile. Park liked it and offered to represent him. In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million advance for it from Time Warner Book Group, and the novel was published in October 1996. It was on the New York Times best-seller list in its first week of release. The Notebook spent over a year as a hardcover best seller.

The Notebook was inspired by the story of the grandparents of Sparks’ wife, who had been married over sixty years when Sparks met them. Sparks marveled at how much the couple cared for each other, and wrote his novel as an attempt to describe such a love.

In a modern-day nursing home, an elderly man named Duke (James Garner) begins to read a love story from his notebook to a female fellow patient (Gena Rowlands) who has lost her memory.

1940, at a carnival in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, local country boy Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) sees 17-year-old heiress Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) for the first time and is immediately smitten. She continuously refuses his persistent advances until their well-meaning friends lure them together; they then get to know each other on a midnight walk through empty Seabrook.

Noah and Allie spend an idyllic summer together. One night, a week before Allie is to leave town, she and Noah go up to an abandoned house called the Windsor Plantation. Noah tells her that he hopes to buy the house, and Allie makes him promise that the house will be white, with blue shutters, a wrap-around porch, and a room that overlooks the creek so she can paint. They intend to have sex for the first time, but Allie, who is nervous, asks Noah to talk her through it. They are interrupted by Noah’s friend Fin (Kevin Connolly) with the news that Allie’s parents have the police out looking for her. When Allie returns home, she and her parents have an argument and her disapproving mother forbids her from seeing Noah again, calling him “trash” and saying he is not right for her because he is poor. Outside, Allie fights with Noah. He believes her parents are right and that he is not good enough for her, and the two break up. Allie immediately regrets the decision but Noah drives away. The next morning, Allie’s mother reveals that they are going home right away. Allie frantically tries to find Noah, but when she goes to the lumber yard Fin tells her he is out making a delivery. She begs Fin to tell Noah that she loves him and is sorry for everything, and Fin reluctantly agrees. When Fin tells Noah what Allie said, Noah tries to see Allie before she leaves but arrives at her house to find that she has already left. Noah, devastated by their separation, writes her one letter every day for a year, only to get no reply. Noah and Allie eventually have no choice but to move on with their lives. Allie continues to attend Sarah Lawrence College, while Noah and Fin enlist to fight in World War II where Fin is killed in battle.

Allie volunteers as a nurse for wounded soldiers. There, she meets the wealthy Lon Hammond, Jr. (James Marsden), a well-connected young lawyer who is handsome, sophisticated, charming, and comes from an old Southern family. The two eventually become engaged, to the joy of Allie’s parents, although Allie wonders why she is reminded of Noah’s face when Lon asks her to marry him.

When Noah returns home, he discovers his father has sold their house so that Noah can go ahead and buy his dream house, the Windsor Plantation. While visiting Charleston to file some paper work, Noah witnesses Allie and Lon kissing at a restaurant. Devastated, Noah convinces himself that if he keeps his promise to her and fixes up the house, Allie will come back to him. When his father dies shortly thereafter, the house is all Noah has left. He tries to sell the house, but finds he cannot do it and refuses all offers for it.

1947. While trying on her wedding dress, Allie spots an article about Noah’s renovation on the Windsor Plantation in a newspaper and faints. She decides to visit Noah in Seabrook and he invites her to dinner, during which Allie tells Noah about her engagement. Later in the evening, Noah asks Allie to come back the next day, saying he wants to show her something.

In the present, it is made evident that the elderly woman is Allie — suffering from dementia, which has stolen her memories — and that Duke is her husband. Allie does not recognize their children and grandchildren, who beg Duke to come home with them but Duke insists on staying with Allie, refusing to abandon her.

The next morning, Allie and Noah go rowing on a nearby lake and reminisce about their summer together. He shows her a part of the creek where dozens and dozens of swans have gathered for the summer, explaining that they will eventually leave when the summer ends, a metaphor of their brief but beautiful romance. As a rain storm starts Noah rows to shore, where Allie, after getting a good look at him in the rain, demands to know why Noah never wrote to her. After Noah tells her he wrote to her every day for one year, he says their romance was never over and that it still isn’t over, and they share a passionate kiss, before making love.

The next day, Allie’s mother appears on Noah’s doorstep while Noah is out, telling Allie that Lon has followed her to Seabrook after Allie’s father told him about Noah. Her mother takes Allie out for a drive to show her that there had been a time in her life when she could relate to Allie’s present situation. She drives Allie to a coal deposit, where men are shoveling coal. She points out one man and explains that she used to be “crazy in love” with him. She starts to cry and tells Allie that she truly does love Allie’s father but that she doesn’t deserve him, then looks meaningfully at the man and mutters “I don’t even know who that is anymore.” The man spots her and looks stunned for a moment before they drive off again. On returning to Noah’s, she hands her daughter the bundle of 365 letters that Noah had written to her with a quill pen. When alone, Noah asks Allie what she is going to do; Allie is confused and confesses that she doesn’t know. Noah becomes frustrated that they are “back to this,” the place where, even after they have loved each other completely and totally, they don’t know if it is enough. Noah asks her to just stay with him, admitting that it is going to be really hard, and that they will fight, but he is willing to go through anything because he wants to be with her. Confused as ever and upset, Allie drives off.

While driving, Allie is almost involved in a car accident and pulls over on the side of the road shaken. There, she unties the stack of Noah’s letters and opens the first one, reading it. She later drives to the hotel and confesses to Lon, who is angry but admits that he still loves her. He tells her that he does not want to convince his fiancée that she should be with him, but Allie tells him he does not have to, because she already knows she should be with Lon.

The film goes back to the elderly couple, and Duke asks his fellow patient who Allie chose. She soon realizes the answer herself; young Allie appears at Noah’s doorstep, having left Lon at the hotel and chosen Noah. They embrace in reunion.

Duke’s elderly companion suddenly realizes that she herself is Allie. She remembers her past. She and Noah/Duke joyfully spend a brief intimate moment together; after originally finding out about her impending illness, she had herself written their story in the notebook with the instructions for Noah to “Read this to me, and I’ll come back to you.” But soon Allie relapses, losing her memories of Noah yet again. She panics, and has to be sedated by the attending physician. This proves to be too difficult for Noah to watch and he breaks down. The next morning, Noah is found unconscious in bed and he is rushed to the hospital; he later returns to the nursing home’s intensive care ward. He goes to Allie’s room later that night, and Allie remembers again. She asks him if he thinks their love can make miracles, and he says that miracles are what bring her back to him every time. She then asks him if he thinks their love can take them away together, and he replies, “I think our love can do anything we want it to.” Noah’s last words before falling asleep are “I’ll be seeing you”. The next morning, a nurse finds them in bed together, having both died in their sleep, holding each other’s hands, and the credits roll with a shot of the swans flying away.

This story is touching… I have watched this many times already but I couldn’t help myself but cry everytime I watch it. I would always recommend this movie to those people who love to watch love stories based on true life. I could still remember when I let my brother watch this, he also had cried that time. Really great movie… If you haven’t watch it yet, don’t be contented just reading this post..grab a copy of the movie now!! You are almost missing half of your life..

The Notebook is a 1996 American romantic novel by American novelist Nicholas Sparks. The novel was later adapted into a popular romance film by the same name in 2004. However, the movie and the book have very different endings.

The novel was Nicholas Sparks’ first published novel, and the third written after The Passing and The Royal Murders, which were never published. It was written over a period of six months in 1994. Literary agent Theresa Park discovered Sparks after picking the book out of her agency’s slush pile. Park liked it and offered to represent him. In October 1995, Park secured a $1 million advance for it from Time Warner Book Group, and the novel was published in October 1996. It was on the New York Times best-seller list in its first week of release. The Notebook spent over a year as a hardcover best seller.

The Notebook was inspired by the story of the grandparents of Sparks’ wife, who had been married over sixty years when Sparks met them. Sparks marveled at how much the couple cared for each other, and wrote his novel as an attempt to describe such a love.

In a modern-day nursing home, an elderly man named Duke (James Garner) begins to read a love story from his notebook to a female fellow patient (Gena Rowlands) who has lost her memory.

1940, at a carnival in Seabrook Island, South Carolina, local country boy Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) sees 17-year-old heiress Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) for the first time and is immediately smitten. She continuously refuses his persistent advances until their well-meaning friends lure them together; they then get to know each other on a midnight walk through empty Seabrook.

Noah and Allie spend an idyllic summer together. One night, a week before Allie is to leave town, she and Noah go up to an abandoned house called the Windsor Plantation. Noah tells her that he hopes to buy the house, and Allie makes him promise that the house will be white, with blue shutters, a wrap-around porch, and a room that overlooks the creek so she can paint. They intend to have sex for the first time, but Allie, who is nervous, asks Noah to talk her through it. They are interrupted by Noah’s friend Fin (Kevin Connolly) with the news that Allie’s parents have the police out looking for her. When Allie returns home, she and her parents have an argument and her disapproving mother forbids her from seeing Noah again, calling him “trash” and saying he is not right for her because he is poor. Outside, Allie fights with Noah. He believes her parents are right and that he is not good enough for her, and the two break up. Allie immediately regrets the decision but Noah drives away. The next morning, Allie’s mother reveals that they are going home right away. Allie frantically tries to find Noah, but when she goes to the lumber yard Fin tells her he is out making a delivery. She begs Fin to tell Noah that she loves him and is sorry for everything, and Fin reluctantly agrees. When Fin tells Noah what Allie said, Noah tries to see Allie before she leaves but arrives at her house to find that she has already left. Noah, devastated by their separation, writes her one letter every day for a year, only to get no reply. Noah and Allie eventually have no choice but to move on with their lives. Allie continues to attend Sarah Lawrence College, while Noah and Fin enlist to fight in World War II where Fin is killed in battle.

Allie volunteers as a nurse for wounded soldiers. There, she meets the wealthy Lon Hammond, Jr. (James Marsden), a well-connected young lawyer who is handsome, sophisticated, charming, and comes from an old Southern family. The two eventually become engaged, to the joy of Allie’s parents, although Allie wonders why she is reminded of Noah’s face when Lon asks her to marry him.

When Noah returns home, he discovers his father has sold their house so that Noah can go ahead and buy his dream house, the Windsor Plantation. While visiting Charleston to file some paper work, Noah witnesses Allie and Lon kissing at a restaurant. Devastated, Noah convinces himself that if he keeps his promise to her and fixes up the house, Allie will come back to him. When his father dies shortly thereafter, the house is all Noah has left. He tries to sell the house, but finds he cannot do it and refuses all offers for it.

1947. While trying on her wedding dress, Allie spots an article about Noah’s renovation on the Windsor Plantation in a newspaper and faints. She decides to visit Noah in Seabrook and he invites her to dinner, during which Allie tells Noah about her engagement. Later in the evening, Noah asks Allie to come back the next day, saying he wants to show her something.

In the present, it is made evident that the elderly woman is Allie — suffering from dementia, which has stolen her memories — and that Duke is her husband. Allie does not recognize their children and grandchildren, who beg Duke to come home with them but Duke insists on staying with Allie, refusing to abandon her.

The next morning, Allie and Noah go rowing on a nearby lake and reminisce about their summer together. He shows her a part of the creek where dozens and dozens of swans have gathered for the summer, explaining that they will eventually leave when the summer ends, a metaphor of their brief but beautiful romance. As a rain storm starts Noah rows to shore, where Allie, after getting a good look at him in the rain, demands to know why Noah never wrote to her. After Noah tells her he wrote to her every day for one year, he says their romance was never over and that it still isn’t over, and they share a passionate kiss, before making love.

The next day, Allie’s mother appears on Noah’s doorstep while Noah is out, telling Allie that Lon has followed her to Seabrook after Allie’s father told him about Noah. Her mother takes Allie out for a drive to show her that there had been a time in her life when she could relate to Allie’s present situation. She drives Allie to a coal deposit, where men are shoveling coal. She points out one man and explains that she used to be “crazy in love” with him. She starts to cry and tells Allie that she truly does love Allie’s father but that she doesn’t deserve him, then looks meaningfully at the man and mutters “I don’t even know who that is anymore.” The man spots her and looks stunned for a moment before they drive off again. On returning to Noah’s, she hands her daughter the bundle of 365 letters that Noah had written to her with a quill pen. When alone, Noah asks Allie what she is going to do; Allie is confused and confesses that she doesn’t know. Noah becomes frustrated that they are “back to this,” the place where, even after they have loved each other completely and totally, they don’t know if it is enough. Noah asks her to just stay with him, admitting that it is going to be really hard, and that they will fight, but he is willing to go through anything because he wants to be with her. Confused as ever and upset, Allie drives off.

While driving, Allie is almost involved in a car accident and pulls over on the side of the road shaken. There, she unties the stack of Noah’s letters and opens the first one, reading it. She later drives to the hotel and confesses to Lon, who is angry but admits that he still loves her. He tells her that he does not want to convince his fiancée that she should be with him, but Allie tells him he does not have to, because she already knows she should be with Lon.

The film goes back to the elderly couple, and Duke asks his fellow patient who Allie chose. She soon realizes the answer herself; young Allie appears at Noah’s doorstep, having left Lon at the hotel and chosen Noah. They embrace in reunion.

Duke’s elderly companion suddenly realizes that she herself is Allie. She remembers her past. She and Noah/Duke joyfully spend a brief intimate moment together; after originally finding out about her impending illness, she had herself written their story in the notebook with the instructions for Noah to “Read this to me, and I’ll come back to you.” But soon Allie relapses, losing her memories of Noah yet again. She panics, and has to be sedated by the attending physician. This proves to be too difficult for Noah to watch and he breaks down. The next morning, Noah is found unconscious in bed and he is rushed to the hospital; he later returns to the nursing home’s intensive care ward. He goes to Allie’s room later that night, and Allie remembers again. She asks him if he thinks their love can make miracles, and he says that miracles are what bring her back to him every time. She then asks him if he thinks their love can take them away together, and he replies, “I think our love can do anything we want it to.” Noah’s last words before falling asleep are “I’ll be seeing you”. The next morning, a nurse finds them in bed together, having both died in their sleep, holding each other’s hands, and the credits roll with a shot of the swans flying away.

Watch the thriller:

Watch the kissing scene:

Reviews:

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332280/externalreviews
• http://www.movie-gazette.com/811
• http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/notebook/

Resources:

• http://www.thelocal.se/blogs/louicemindsthegap/files/2009/07/the-notebook-poster1.jpg
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Notebook

I Love You, Man

Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd), a big-time real estate salesman, just got engaged to Zooey Rice (Rashida Jones), a stunning girl who co-owns a boutique called ZHD with best friends Hailey (Sarah Burns) and Denise (Jaime Pressly). Zooey is ecstatic about the engagement and calls her friends to tell them about it, but Peter does not seem to have anyone special he’d like to share the good news with. At Peter’s parents’ (J.K. Simmons and Jane Curtin) house, it comes out that Peter is actually a “girlfriend guy,” and his guy friends when he was growing up “fell by the wayside.” After overhearing Zooey’s friends tell her that they are concerned Peter does not have any friends, Peter realizes he needs to find some male friends in order to have a best man for his wedding. Peter seeks the advice of his younger, gay brother Robbie (Andy Samberg) on how to meet platonic guy friends and how to take them on man-dates.

Peter’s first attempt is to hang out with Barry (Jon Favreau), Denise’s husband, for poker night with the guys. It ends horribly when, after chugging too many beers, Peter projectile vomits all over Barry, who already isn’t fond of Peter to begin with. Robbie then sends Peter out with a guy from his gym for a soccer game. That does not last long, since the man angers fans at the game and has a very high-pitched voice. Peter’s mother tries next by sending him to dinner with a man named Doug Evans (Thomas Lennon) who just moved to L.A. Against Robbie’s advice, Peter goes to dinner with Doug, and it ends awkwardly with a deep tongue kiss, revealing Doug’s homosexuality. Peter seeks man-dates online and finds Mel, who represented himself as a young man on his online profile, but is actually an old man.

With all these failed attempts, Peter decides to give up, but during an open house at Lou Ferrigno’s, he meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel). They instantly hit it off when Sydney gives a play-by-play of a potential buyer farting. Because of Sydney’s honesty, the two men exchange business cards. When Peter calls Sydney he leaves a very embarrassing voice mail, but when Sydney calls him back they decide to go out for drinks.

After a nice night, they hang out again for lunch and afterward Sydney shows Peter the “man cave,” a space in his garage where he keeps a big-screen TV and his collection of rock instruments and Rush paraphernalia. They start playing musical instruments together and hanging out a lot more. Peter finally introduces Sydney to Zooey at their engagement party. At first, it goes well. Zooey thinks Sydney might hit it off with her perpetually single friend Hailey. But her opinion of him sours when Sydney makes a very awkward speech hinting that Zooey needs to give Peter more oral sex.

Peter convinces Sydney to go golfing with the girls and it ends with Hailey storming off the green. Right after that, when Peter is supposed to be watching HBO Sunday programming with Zooey, Sydney calls and talks Peter into going to see Rush instead. At the concert Zooey feels ignored while Peter and Sydney are really enjoying the concert. During tuxedo shopping, Sydney asks Peter why he is marrying Zooey and asks Peter for an eight-thousand dollar loan. Doug coincidentally shows up and confronts Peter, calling him a whore because he thinks he is with Sydney. Peter finally comes clean to Sydney telling him that he was searching for friends before meeting him and that he will loan him the money.

Zooey is no longer psyched about Sydney being the best man, especially after Sydney gets in a fight with Lou Ferrigno, possibly causing Peter to lose exclusive sales rights to Lou’s house. Peter tells Zooey that he lent Sydney money and asks her if she knows why they are getting married. Zooey is angry and leaves to stay at Denise’s house.

When Peter leaves for work that next morning he sees several billboards that Sydney put up using the loan. When he confronts Sydney, he decides to end their relationship as friends because of the conflict. After he patches things up with Zooey, explaining to her that he is nervous but ready to get married, Peter discovers that the ads worked; he starts receiving more clients including an apologetic Doug and offers on the Ferrigno house.

While Peter feels bad about confronting Sydney now that the Ferrigno house is sold, he doesn’t re-invite Sydney to the wedding. Before the wedding, Zooey sees Peter upset about the loss of Sydney, so she calls and invites Sydney (who is already on his way) to the wedding. Just before the vows are to be taken, Sydney makes a dramatic entrance, they explain their platonic love for each other, and Sydney assumes the role of best man.

Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd), a big-time real estate salesman, just got engaged to Zooey Rice (Rashida Jones), a stunning girl who co-owns a boutique called ZHD with best friends Hailey (Sarah Burns) and Denise (Jaime Pressly). Zooey is ecstatic about the engagement and calls her friends to tell them about it, but Peter does not seem to have anyone special he’d like to share the good news with. At Peter’s parents’ (J.K. Simmons and Jane Curtin) house, it comes out that Peter is actually a “girlfriend guy,” and his guy friends when he was growing up “fell by the wayside.” After overhearing Zooey’s friends tell her that they are concerned Peter does not have any friends, Peter realizes he needs to find some male friends in order to have a best man for his wedding. Peter seeks the advice of his younger, gay brother Robbie (Andy Samberg) on how to meet platonic guy friends and how to take them on man-dates.

Peter’s first attempt is to hang out with Barry (Jon Favreau), Denise’s husband, for poker night with the guys. It ends horribly when, after chugging too many beers, Peter projectile vomits all over Barry, who already isn’t fond of Peter to begin with. Robbie then sends Peter out with a guy from his gym for a soccer game. That does not last long, since the man angers fans at the game and has a very high-pitched voice. Peter’s mother tries next by sending him to dinner with a man named Doug Evans (Thomas Lennon) who just moved to L.A. Against Robbie’s advice, Peter goes to dinner with Doug, and it ends awkwardly with a deep tongue kiss, revealing Doug’s homosexuality. Peter seeks man-dates online and finds Mel, who represented himself as a young man on his online profile, but is actually an old man.

With all these failed attempts, Peter decides to give up, but during an open house at Lou Ferrigno’s, he meets Sydney Fife (Jason Segel). They instantly hit it off when Sydney gives a play-by-play of a potential buyer farting. Because of Sydney’s honesty, the two men exchange business cards. When Peter calls Sydney he leaves a very embarrassing voice mail, but when Sydney calls him back they decide to go out for drinks.

After a nice night, they hang out again for lunch and afterward Sydney shows Peter the “man cave,” a space in his garage where he keeps a big-screen TV and his collection of rock instruments and Rush paraphernalia. They start playing musical instruments together and hanging out a lot more. Peter finally introduces Sydney to Zooey at their engagement party. At first, it goes well. Zooey thinks Sydney might hit it off with her perpetually single friend Hailey. But her opinion of him sours when Sydney makes a very awkward speech hinting that Zooey needs to give Peter more oral sex.

Peter convinces Sydney to go golfing with the girls and it ends with Hailey storming off the green. Right after that, when Peter is supposed to be watching HBO Sunday programming with Zooey, Sydney calls and talks Peter into going to see Rush instead. At the concert Zooey feels ignored while Peter and Sydney are really enjoying the concert. During tuxedo shopping, Sydney asks Peter why he is marrying Zooey and asks Peter for an eight-thousand dollar loan. Doug coincidentally shows up and confronts Peter, calling him a whore because he thinks he is with Sydney. Peter finally comes clean to Sydney telling him that he was searching for friends before meeting him and that he will loan him the money.

Zooey is no longer psyched about Sydney being the best man, especially after Sydney gets in a fight with Lou Ferrigno, possibly causing Peter to lose exclusive sales rights to Lou’s house. Peter tells Zooey that he lent Sydney money and asks her if she knows why they are getting married. Zooey is angry and leaves to stay at Denise’s house.

When Peter leaves for work that next morning he sees several billboards that Sydney put up using the loan. When he confronts Sydney, he decides to end their relationship as friends because of the conflict. After he patches things up with Zooey, explaining to her that he is nervous but ready to get married, Peter discovers that the ads worked; he starts receiving more clients including an apologetic Doug and offers on the Ferrigno house.

While Peter feels bad about confronting Sydney now that the Ferrigno house is sold, he doesn’t re-invite Sydney to the wedding. Before the wedding, Zooey sees Peter upset about the loss of Sydney, so she calls and invites Sydney (who is already on his way) to the wedding. Just before the vows are to be taken, Sydney makes a dramatic entrance, they explain their platonic love for each other, and Sydney assumes the role of best man.

Interview with the cast:

External Links:

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1155056/
• http://www.iloveyouman.com/
• http://tasithoughts.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/i-loved-i-love-you-man/
• http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/i_love_you_man/

Mean Girls

The home-schooled daughter of zoologist parents (Ana Gasteyer and Neil Flynn), Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is unprepared for her first day of public high school at fictional North Shore High School in Illinois. With the help of social misfits Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese), Cady learns about the various cliques, including the Plastics, an exclusive group of girls led by queen bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams), who was once Janis’ best friend. Janis hatches a plan for Cady to infiltrate the Plastics and get revenge for what Regina did to Janis in 8th grade. Along the way, Cady learns about the “Burn Book,” a top secret notebook filled with rumors, secrets and gossip about the other girls in school, and falls for Regina’s ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett), who sits in front of her in calculus. She convinces Regina to eat a high-calorie bar that her parents had given kids in Africa to help them gain weight, telling her that they will make her loseweight.

In her efforts to get revenge on Regina, Cady gradually loses her individual personality and remakes herself in the image of Regina. Soon, her act becomes her reality, and she becomes as mean as Regina. Cady perceives the machinations of the high school students to be akin to the struggles for dominance among wild animals.

Eventually, Regina, upon discovering the truth about the bars she has been eating, strikes back by spreading the contents of her “Burn Book,” around the school, which ultimately causes a riot as the class learn all of the nasty things others have been saying about them. Called into the gym, the girls are forced to listen to one of the teachers, Ms. Norbury. She makes the girls realize that all of them have been hurt by having mean things said about them, and all of them have said mean things about others. She has each girl confess and apologize to the rest of the girls. Janis confesses her plan to destroy Regina, causing Regina to storm out and get hit by a bus, for which the school blames Cady. Cady has lost all of her friends, her status, the guy she had a crush on, she’s failing math, and her parents punish her. Cady also wrote a rumor that Ms. Norbury dealt drugs in the Burn Book, and, because another rumor in the book about a teacher turned out to be true in turn, learns Ms. Norbury will likely get fired. Cady then begins to try to make amends. She confesses what she did in order to get Ms. Norbury exonerated, and in order to make up for her failing math grade, she joins the Mathletes Team.

At the Spring Fling dance, Cady, in her Mathletes uniform, makes up with her true friends, and reaches a truce with the Plastics. She is elected the Spring Fling Queen, and gives a speech to her class that they all deserve it and are all wonderful in their own way. She distributes the pieces of her crown to her fellow classmates, and makes up with Aaron.

The Plastics break up, though. Regina returns to school and joins the lacrosse team as a way to channel her aggression; dimwitted, blond Karen (Amanda Seyfried) becomes the local weather girl; follower Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) joins the “Cool Asians” clique; and Cady stays on the Mathletes and continues to date Aaron. Regina and Cady have gained mutual respect for each other, and Janis is dating Cady’s fellow Mathelete Kevin Gnapoor (Rajiv Surendra).

The home-schooled daughter of zoologist parents (Ana Gasteyer and Neil Flynn), Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) is unprepared for her first day of public high school at fictional North Shore High School in Illinois. With the help of social misfits Janis Ian (Lizzy Caplan) and Damien (Daniel Franzese), Cady learns about the various cliques, including the Plastics, an exclusive group of girls led by queen bee Regina George (Rachel McAdams), who was once Janis’ best friend. Janis hatches a plan for Cady to infiltrate the Plastics and get revenge for what Regina did to Janis in 8th grade. Along the way, Cady learns about the “Burn Book,” a top secret notebook filled with rumors, secrets and gossip about the other girls in school, and falls for Regina’s ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett), who sits in front of her in calculus. She convinces Regina to eat a high-calorie bar that her parents had given kids in Africa to help them gain weight, telling her that they will make her loseweight.

In her efforts to get revenge on Regina, Cady gradually loses her individual personality and remakes herself in the image of Regina. Soon, her act becomes her reality, and she becomes as mean as Regina. Cady perceives the machinations of the high school students to be akin to the struggles for dominance among wild animals.

Eventually, Regina, upon discovering the truth about the bars she has been eating, strikes back by spreading the contents of her “Burn Book,” around the school, which ultimately causes a riot as the class learn all of the nasty things others have been saying about them. Called into the gym, the girls are forced to listen to one of the teachers, Ms. Norbury. She makes the girls realize that all of them have been hurt by having mean things said about them, and all of them have said mean things about others. She has each girl confess and apologize to the rest of the girls. Janis confesses her plan to destroy Regina, causing Regina to storm out and get hit by a bus, for which the school blames Cady. Cady has lost all of her friends, her status, the guy she had a crush on, she’s failing math, and her parents punish her. Cady also wrote a rumor that Ms. Norbury dealt drugs in the Burn Book, and, because another rumor in the book about a teacher turned out to be true in turn, learns Ms. Norbury will likely get fired. Cady then begins to try to make amends. She confesses what she did in order to get Ms. Norbury exonerated, and in order to make up for her failing math grade, she joins the Mathletes Team.

At the Spring Fling dance, Cady, in her Mathletes uniform, makes up with her true friends, and reaches a truce with the Plastics. She is elected the Spring Fling Queen, and gives a speech to her class that they all deserve it and are all wonderful in their own way. She distributes the pieces of her crown to her fellow classmates, and makes up with Aaron.

The Plastics break up, though. Regina returns to school and joins the lacrosse team as a way to channel her aggression; dimwitted, blond Karen (Amanda Seyfried) becomes the local weather girl; follower Gretchen (Lacey Chabert) joins the “Cool Asians” clique; and Cady stays on the Mathletes and continues to date Aaron. Regina and Cady have gained mutual respect for each other, and Janis is dating Cady’s fellow Mathelete Kevin Gnapoor (Rajiv Surendra).

Watch the thriller:

Resources:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mpg9xmsYgWU
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_Girls
• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377092/quotes
• http://blog.lib.umn.edu/raim0007/gwss3307_summer2008/mean_girls.jpg

+anima

The plot revolves around four +Anima children: Cooro, Husky, Senri, and Nana. Brought together by their +Anima powers, they search for others like themselves and a place to belong. Along the way, they encounter villains and friends alike, as well as other +Anima.

In the +Anima fantasy world,Astaria, some humans have an unusual gift that grants them the ability to morph one or more of their body parts, such as limbs, into a form of an animal’s body part. Some are capable of even more radical changes, such as growing wings or full-body transformation. The transformation processes are very fast, and occur at the user’s will. When inactive, the morphed areas revert back to normal, leaving the person’s clothing and body completely untouched. The only visual mark of this ability appears on the body of the person, in the form of a black tattoo-like marking. Occasionally, the user bears some behavioral characteristics of their animal, but this is not very common.+Anima are not treated kindly by the normal humans. Therefore, when some are treated bad enough or have a taken over neglected feeling, their +Anima often takes over them.

All who have such an ability are collectively referred to as +Anima. The +Anima are capable of controlling their powers at will. Their abilities range widely — including, but not limited to, superhuman strength, agility, and reflexes, as well as heightened senses, and the growth of physical features such as fur,claws or wings. All of these originate from the characteristics of a +Anima’s animal. Every +Anima bears the characteristics of only a single animal. Some who have been experimented contain two or more +Anima, each alone, or the two or more +Anima might fuse together to create a different or whole new +Anima. These experiments make the user’s body a permanent animal trait such as a tail and claws pop out of the user when they are angry, embarrassed, or scared.

The origin of this phenomenon is rumored to come from the Kim-Un-Kur, a type of Indian tribe(s). the criteria for one to become a +Anima is being slowly revealed. The main one of which are; 1) They are usually children age 5-14, they are very close to death or in a desperate situation. The Kim-Un-Kur seem to break these criteria, as they seem to voluntarily equip their +Anima and do not seem to vanish under the criteria under special experiments.

There are different theories how an animal is chosen for a +Anima. It is also possible for +Anima to be implanted into someone or the person done experiments on. Lyra was originally a normal human, but had said she was implanted with her recently disappeared swallow +Anima by Fly Greena Aight, a royal researcher in Asteria. In other words, naturally given +Anima are like birthmarks – they are more permanent and bestowed to them naturally. An implanted +Anima is not like the real thing and can fade over time.

The +Anima’s powers are not understood by the normal people, and the +Anima are subject to negative prejudice. Similar to the X-Men of Marvel Comics, they are feared as monsters, and even hated by some. Some are envious of such powers and seek to gain control over them. Thus, afraid of the negative reaction from others, most +Anima tend to hide their true powers whenever possible, although Cooro doesn’t seem as ashamed of his powers as the others. He actually tends to love, cherish, and show off his +Anima powers.

The treatment of +Anima differs greatly in Astaria and Sailand, the two major countries in the +Anima world. In Astaria, +Anima are treated in various ways. More commonly they are treated with suspicion or dislike, not necessarily hate, although some in the army see them as enemies. However, later in the series Astaria does try to recruit +Anima to work in the army, as to make use of their abilities. On the other hand, +Anima are valuable slaves, for example; Crystala (Husky’s aunt, the twin sister of the king of Sailand) buying Senri for 7000 gillah (1 gillah = 100 pillah, 1 pillah = 1 yen). They are looked down on and seen as less than humans. They work for their masters and are arrested by hunters and sold in slave markets if they have no master (which happened to Husky at one point). To identify them as slaves, they are forced to wear collar- like chokers with their masters symbol.

Another reason +Anima can be considered outcasts and dangerous is the fact that their +Anima can get stronger over continuous use for daily life, even to the point where individuals eventually (most likely involuntarily) give up their human sanity and become more and more like the animal they were bestowed.

There is also indication that they it may be possible for them to lose their powers, such as the blacksmith’s wife.

The plot revolves around four +Anima children: Cooro, Husky, Senri, and Nana. Brought together by their +Anima powers, they search for others like themselves and a place to belong. Along the way, they encounter villains and friends alike, as well as other +Anima.

In the +Anima fantasy world,Astaria, some humans have an unusual gift that grants them the ability to morph one or more of their body parts, such as limbs, into a form of an animal’s body part. Some are capable of even more radical changes, such as growing wings or full-body transformation. The transformation processes are very fast, and occur at the user’s will. When inactive, the morphed areas revert back to normal, leaving the person’s clothing and body completely untouched. The only visual mark of this ability appears on the body of the person, in the form of a black tattoo-like marking. Occasionally, the user bears some behavioral characteristics of their animal, but this is not very common.+Anima are not treated kindly by the normal humans. Therefore, when some are treated bad enough or have a taken over neglected feeling, their +Anima often takes over them.

All who have such an ability are collectively referred to as +Anima. The +Anima are capable of controlling their powers at will. Their abilities range widely — including, but not limited to, superhuman strength, agility, and reflexes, as well as heightened senses, and the growth of physical features such as fur,claws or wings. All of these originate from the characteristics of a +Anima’s animal. Every +Anima bears the characteristics of only a single animal. Some who have been experimented contain two or more +Anima, each alone, or the two or more +Anima might fuse together to create a different or whole new +Anima. These experiments make the user’s body a permanent animal trait such as a tail and claws pop out of the user when they are angry, embarrassed, or scared.

The origin of this phenomenon is rumored to come from the Kim-Un-Kur, a type of Indian tribe(s). the criteria for one to become a +Anima is being slowly revealed. The main one of which are; 1) They are usually children age 5-14, they are very close to death or in a desperate situation. The Kim-Un-Kur seem to break these criteria, as they seem to voluntarily equip their +Anima and do not seem to vanish under the criteria under special experiments.

There are different theories how an animal is chosen for a +Anima. It is also possible for +Anima to be implanted into someone or the person done experiments on. Lyra was originally a normal human, but had said she was implanted with her recently disappeared swallow +Anima by Fly Greena Aight, a royal researcher in Asteria. In other words, naturally given +Anima are like birthmarks – they are more permanent and bestowed to them naturally. An implanted +Anima is not like the real thing and can fade over time.

The +Anima’s powers are not understood by the normal people, and the +Anima are subject to negative prejudice. Similar to the X-Men of Marvel Comics, they are feared as monsters, and even hated by some. Some are envious of such powers and seek to gain control over them. Thus, afraid of the negative reaction from others, most +Anima tend to hide their true powers whenever possible, although Cooro doesn’t seem as ashamed of his powers as the others. He actually tends to love, cherish, and show off his +Anima powers.

The treatment of +Anima differs greatly in Astaria and Sailand, the two major countries in the +Anima world. In Astaria, +Anima are treated in various ways. More commonly they are treated with suspicion or dislike, not necessarily hate, although some in the army see them as enemies. However, later in the series Astaria does try to recruit +Anima to work in the army, as to make use of their abilities. On the other hand, +Anima are valuable slaves, for example; Crystala (Husky’s aunt, the twin sister of the king of Sailand) buying Senri for 7000 gillah (1 gillah = 100 pillah, 1 pillah = 1 yen). They are looked down on and seen as less than humans. They work for their masters and are arrested by hunters and sold in slave markets if they have no master (which happened to Husky at one point). To identify them as slaves, they are forced to wear collar- like chokers with their masters symbol.

Another reason +Anima can be considered outcasts and dangerous is the fact that their +Anima can get stronger over continuous use for daily life, even to the point where individuals eventually (most likely involuntarily) give up their human sanity and become more and more like the animal they were bestowed.

There is also indication that they it may be possible for them to lose their powers, such as the blacksmith’s wife.

Characters:

Cooro (クーロ Kūro?) is a crow +Anima, and can summon black feathered wings from his back and use them to fly. Cooro is naïve, a bit absent-minded, and slow to make decisions. However, he is optimistic and always cheerful. In Cooro’s hometown, it is said that the souls of the dead are taken by the crows who gather around the body to Heaven. His mother’s body was eaten by crow when he was born, and thus, he inherited the crow DNA. Cooro has the ability to sense +Anima, and these powers are exploited by a man named Fly. Fly has Cooro locate +Anima so he can steal their +Anima and give it to a +Anima girl with white wings (Fly claims she is an Angel +Anima). Cooro had also promised to give Fly his wings when he was older, so that Fly could fly with Blanca. In the Mukai’s original short story, Cooro is much more violent, has wild behavior, and wields a small hatchet. He also has noticeably larger wings, a bird-like tail and the feathers on his arms are smoother.

Husky (ハスキー Huskī?)((real name is Myrrha)) is a fish +Anima, whose legs completely transform into a fish tail when jumping into water. He also grows gills, allowing him to breathe underwater and stay submerged indefinitely. Husky has a small fear of water because Lady Dylana, a rival queen and the mother of Keane (who used to tease and bully Husky), attempted to drown him, from which he gained his +Anima. He wields a long staff for a weapon that he took from the Beehive Manor. Husky is revealed to be a wealthy prince who had been teased because of his effeminate appearance. Due to his mother being from the North, children also teased him for his “husky” voice. Also, Husky does not like girls because, as he quotes, they are foolish, although others think it is because he looks like a girl. In Mukai’s original short story, the belt around the collar of his cape is slightly smaller and his staff is different. Husky is also more brash and looks older. He may not like Nana in the beginning but starts to care for her as the series progress and he may have a small crush on her at the end.

Husky (ハスキー Huskī?)((real name is Myrrha)) is a fish +Anima, whose legs completely transform into a fish tail when jumping into water. He also grows gills, allowing him to breathe underwater and stay submerged indefinitely. Husky has a small fear of water because Lady Dylana, a rival queen and the mother of Keane (who used to tease and bully Husky), attempted to drown him, from which he gained his +Anima. He wields a long staff for a weapon that he took from the Beehive Manor. Husky is revealed to be a wealthy prince who had been teased because of his effeminate appearance. Due to his mother being from the North, children also teased him for his “husky” voice. Also, Husky does not like girls because, as he quotes, they are foolish, although others think it is because he looks like a girl. In Mukai’s original short story, the belt around the collar of his cape is slightly smaller and his staff is different. Husky is also more brash and looks older. He may not like Nana in the beginning but starts to care for her as the series progress and he may have a small crush on her at the end.

Nana (ナナ?) is a bat-like +Anima. Nana is capable of sprouting wings much like Cooro; however, they are bat wings. With them, she is capable of flight. Nana’s ears can grow very large, gifting her with superior hearing that is capable of detecting sound in the ultrasound frequency. In addition, she has uniquely-developed vocal cords, making her capable of emitting ultrasound waves from her mouth, which she may use either to navigate when her eyesight is useless or as a powerful area-effect weapon that temporaraly knocks out those who hear it. Her personality is kind, albeit immature, and quite feminine. Nana does not like violence and does not use any weapons. Nana reveals that her drunken father beat her and her mother and, one night, she accidentally stabbed him with her stitching scissors and ran away out of fear. While hiding from her enraged father, she became a bat +Anima. Afterwards, she joined a group of all-girl orphans in the city of Octopus. However, she ran away from them, thinking she was hated because of her powers, which actually the leader of the all-girl orphans told Nana that she was jealous of her. In Mukai’s original short story, Nana appears older and has small notches in her ears in her bat form. She also dresses differently and scolds Cooro often. Nana argues a lot with Husky about many different things. In Chapter 13 “Husky’s Depression”, Nana wonder why he looks so pretty all the time and why he doesn’t bathe with Cooro and Senri, she thinks he might be a girl and finds out he isn’t. It is hinted that she might have a crush on Husky on chapter 15.

References:

• http://www.onemanga.com/Anima/
• http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/manga.php?id=3071
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%2BAnima

Love Letter?

Read this “HATE letter”. It is so funny and creative. This is a loveletter from a boy to a girl…. However, the girl’s father does not like him and want them stop their relationship……and so..the boy wrote this letter to the girl..he knows that the girl’s father will definitely read this letter..

1 “The great love that I have for you
2 is gone, and I find my dislike for you
3 grows every day. When I see you,
4 I do not even like your face;
5 the one thing that I want to do is to
6 look at other girls. I never wanted to
7 marry you. Our last conversation
8 was very boring and has not
9 made me look forward to seeing you again.
10 You think only of yourself.
11 If we were married, I know that I would find
12 life very difficult, and I would have no
13 pleasure in living with you. I have a heart
14 to give, but it is not something that
15 I want to give to you. No one is more
16 foolish and selfish than you, and you are not
17 able to care for me and help me.
18 I sincerely want you to understand that
19 I speak the truth. You will do me a favor
20 if you think this is the end. Do not try
21 to answer this. Your letters are full of
22 things that do not interest me. You have no
23 true love for me. Good-bye! Believe me,
24 I do not care for you. Please do not think that
25 I am still your boyfriend.”

So bad!! However, before handing over the letter to the girl, the boy told the girl to “READ BETWEEN THE LINES”, meaning-only to read 1.3.5.7.9.11.13.15.17.19.21.23.25. (Odd Numbers) So..Please try reading it again! It’s so smart & sweet….

Joey Velasco

Just got totally amazed by the story behind this painter named Joey Velasco. I have watched his life’s story being featured at Mag Tv-Cebu. He is a Filipino artist and his life was an explanation of how great life is inspite of the challenges which will come in your way. Like every other person, human in nature, can encounter life’s problems, struggles and difficulties, after his woundedness, his emptiness and sufferings, he was able to stand again and get his brush abd tell the wonders of Jesus Christ’s great and unfading love.

Joey Velasco, who calls himself as “the heartist”, had undergone a tough road when he was 38, he had his kidney removed due to an illment. He said he has been trapped in a dark lonely and deep well. He prayed at that time that God would give him a rope for him to get out of the darkness, but instead of a rope, God gave him a paintbrush and at the time he grabbed it, he eventually saw light.

In speeches that he had shared, he would always say that due to his works which he sees to become real, he wanted to cut it by blade and it would bleed.

The “Hapag ng Pagasa” is the most well known painting painted by Joey, it showcases Jesus Christ in a table, like that of the Last Supper of Leonardo Da Vinci, the only difference is that this one by Joey is Jesus with 12 less fortunate children, they are all real children, except for one child, who is very remarkable because he is not sitting on a chair in the painting. He was the child in the picture which won a Pulitzer Prize by photographer Kevin Carter named “The Unknown Sudan Boy”. The picture shows a heart-breaking scene of a starving child who collapsed on the ground, struggling to get to a food center in Sudan, Africa, in 1993. In the background, a vulture stalks the emaciated child. The vulture is waiting for the child to die so that it can eat the tiny human being. No one knows what happened to the child, not even the photographer himself.

Three months later, recounted Joey, Carter was found dead of carbon-monoxide poisoning in Johannesburg, a suicide at 33, so depressed and “haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses; anger and pain…of starving or wounded children…”

This is the different side of the Hapag ng Pag asa, in this painting, the children are more lively and it shows a promising and prosperous lives of the children, with Jesus by their sides.

Have time to visit his site here: www.joeyvelasco.net

Here are some of the videos from Joey’s website and some of his own paintings.

This is a video covered by Probe, they featured the life of Joey Velasco.

Here are the paintings of Joey Velasco, visit his site for more…

“THY WILL BE DONE”

“THAT WE MAY LIVE”

“THAT WE MAY BE ONE”

“PAGKAKASUBSOB”

“MUNTING SIRENEO”

“MANUNUBOS”

“KAALAGAD”

“IN THY WOUNDS”

“I THIRST”

“HILUMIN MO”

“HELE”

“HEAL OUR LAND”

“HE IS MY KING”

“FISHER OF MEN”

“CAST ALL YOUR CARES UPON ME”

“ATROFIA – YOU ARE MY STRENGTH”

“ALAY”

External Links:

• http://withonespast.wordpress.com/2009/08/02/maestro-joey-velasco-the-heartist/
• http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20080204-116572/Joey-Velascos-journey-in-art-and-life
• http://globalnation.inquirer.net/features/features/view/20080924-162580/Joey-Velascos-Manunubos-canvases-so-real-they-bleed
• http://www.newsflash.org/2004/02/sb/sb005220.htm

INTERESTING FACTS

People spend about two weeks of their lives at traffic lights!

♥ Left handed people live slightly shorter lives than right handed people.

Armadillos are able to contract leprosy.

Ten years ago, only 500 people in China could ski. This year, an estimated 5,000,000 Chinese will visit ski resorts.

The ant, when intoxicated, will always fall over to its right side.

The original name of Bank of America was Bank of Italy.

Toxic house plants poison more children than household chemicals.

Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England, but only in tropical fish stores.

In Bahrain, a male gynecologist can only examine a woman’s private parts through a mirror.

If the entire population of earth was reduced to exactly 100 people,50% of the world’s currency would be held by 6 people

In comic strips, the person on the left always speaks first.

Fewer than half of the 16,200 major league baseball players have ever hit a home run.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.

In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world’s nuclear weapons combined.

Turtles can breathe through their butts.

Pearls melt in vinegar.

Walt Disney was afraid of mice.

You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.

Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.

As you age, your eye color gets lighter.

The average chocolate bar has 8 insect legs in it.

The human eye blinks an average of 4,200,000 times a year.

Almonds are members of the peach family.

Americans on the average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.

The Spanish word esposa means “wife.” The plural, esposas, means “wives,” but also “handcuffs.”

Abraham Lincoln’s dog, Fido, was assassinated too.

The time spent deleting SPAM costs United States businesses $21.6 billion annually.

Oprah Winfrey and Elvis Presley are distant cousins.

On EBay, there are an average of $680 worth of transactions each second.

We forget 80 percent of what we learn everyday.

There is a Starbucks in Myungdong, South Korea that is five stories tall.

If you have three quarters, four dimes and four cents, you have $1.19. But you cannot make exact change for a dollar.

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

The world’s youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.

Your nose and ears never stop growing.

Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

Thomas Edison, light bulb inventor, was afraid of the dark.

The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger.

The typical person goes to the bathroom 6 times a day.

The most sensitive finger on the human hand is the index finger.

After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp.

The hardest bone in the human body is the jawbone.

We are about 1 cm taller in the morning than in the evening. Layers of cartilage in the joints gets compressed during the day.

The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue.

The average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime.

The most common time for a wake up call is 7 a.m.

♥ People spend about two weeks of their lives at traffic lights!

♥ Left handed people live slightly shorter lives than right handed people.

♥ Armadillos are able to contract leprosy.

♥ Ten years ago, only 500 people in China could ski. This year, an estimated 5,000,000 Chinese will visit ski resorts.

♥ The ant, when intoxicated, will always fall over to its right side.

♥ The original name of Bank of America was Bank of Italy.

♥ Toxic house plants poison more children than household chemicals.

♥ Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England, but only in tropical fish stores.

♥ In Bahrain, a male gynecologist can only examine a woman’s private parts through a mirror.

♥ If the entire population of earth was reduced to exactly 100 people,50% of the world’s currency would be held by 6 people

♥ In comic strips, the person on the left always speaks first.

♥ Fewer than half of the 16,200 major league baseball players have ever hit a home run.

♥ A snail can sleep for three years.

♥ Ninety percent of New York City cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.

♥ In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all of the world’s nuclear weapons combined.

♥ Turtles can breathe through their butts.

♥ Pearls melt in vinegar.

♥ Walt Disney was afraid of mice.

♥ You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.

♥ Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.

♥ As you age, your eye color gets lighter.

♥ The average chocolate bar has 8 insect legs in it.

♥ The human eye blinks an average of 4,200,000 times a year.

♥ Almonds are members of the peach family.

♥ Americans on the average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.

♥ The Spanish word esposa means “wife.” The plural, esposas, means “wives,” but also “handcuffs.”

♥ Abraham Lincoln’s dog, Fido, was assassinated too.

♥ The time spent deleting SPAM costs United States businesses $21.6 billion annually.

♥ Oprah Winfrey and Elvis Presley are distant cousins.

♥ On EBay, there are an average of $680 worth of transactions each second.

♥ We forget 80 percent of what we learn everyday.

♥ There is a Starbucks in Myungdong, South Korea that is five stories tall.

♥ If you have three quarters, four dimes and four cents, you have $1.19. But you cannot make exact change for a dollar.

♥ 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

♥ The world’s youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.

♥ Your nose and ears never stop growing.

♥ Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

♥ Thomas Edison, light bulb inventor, was afraid of the dark.

♥ The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger.

♥ The typical person goes to the bathroom 6 times a day.

♥ The most sensitive finger on the human hand is the index finger.

♥ After eating too much, your hearing is less sharp.

♥ The hardest bone in the human body is the jawbone.

♥ We are about 1 cm taller in the morning than in the evening. Layers of cartilage in the joints gets compressed during the day.

♥ The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue.

♥ The average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime.

♥ The most common time for a wake up call is 7 a.m.

Fushihi Yuugi

This is the first anime series which I have watched on tv and which I had fallen in love to. That was way back in gradeschool. I was in grade five at that time, I can still remember, it is being aired at channel 7. I was really into this anime since the  main character, named Miaka was a teenager and I found their love story cute. It was being aired every friday, I would always wait for it and we often had a fight with my older brother who coincedentally also watches basketball shows in another channel. I would cry whenever my brother will switch the channel. *teary* But since I am younger that him, my mama will switch back again the channel to 7.*grin* My brother, left without a choice will go to our neighbor and watch the basketball show there.

Anyways, I believe if you too will follow the story, I bet, you’ll fall in love as well. To give you an overview of the series, Fushigi Yūgi (ふしぎ 遊戯?, lit. Mysterious Play) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. It was originally serialized in Shōjo Comic from May 1992 through June 1996. The manga series was given an English language release in North America by Viz Media, which started in 1999. Spanning eighteen volumes, Fushigi Yūgi tells the story of two teenaged girls, Miaka and Yui, who are pulled into “The Universe of the Four Gods”, a mysterious book at the National Library.

Miaka Yūki, is a middle school student who’s under a lot of pressure to pass the entrance exam for the competitive Jonan Academy. Her friends do not believe she will get in, but she is determined to because her best friend, Yui Hongo, who also applied for the same school and she wants them both to go to the school together. While at the library one day, Miaka and Yui had noticed a strange book there, known as The Universe of the Four Gods. As a result of reading this book, they are then transported into the novel’s universe. Inside the novel she discovers that she is the Priestess of Suzaku and destined to gather the seven Celestial Warriors of the god Suzaku in order to summon Suzaku and obtain three wishes. She falls in love with the Celestial Warrior Tamahome, who eventually reciprocates and Miaka’s desire to use a wish to enter the high school of her choice begins to shift towards finding a way to be with Tamahome. Unfortunately, Yui, who is also drawn into the book, is quickly manipulated by the emperor of the land of Kutou into becoming the Priestess of Seiryuu and working against Miaka.

The series describes the various trials that teenagers Miaka and Yui face, both quest-driven and personal. Feeling betrayed, the two oppose one another as priestesses, bringing together their own respective warriors and vying for the chance to be granted three wishes by the gods whom they hope to summon.

Much of the story also revolves around the inability of the Universe of the Four Gods to grant the wish for Tamahome to become real. In the first OVA it is revealed that there are two major reasons why Tama cannot stay with Miaka. Even though Tamahome was made into an actual person in the real world (named Taka), the difference between the memories of the “real” Taka and Tamahome made it impossible for him to stay with her until the memories of Taka were restored and he was merged with Tamahome. In addition, Tenkou was interfering with the powers of the Universe of the Four Gods, and this wish could never be made while he existed.

The last part of the story, Eikoden, discusses a new priestess entering the Universe of the Four Gods, and seeking to undo everything Miaka and Tamahome have done together.

This is the first anime series which I have watched on tv and which I had fallen in love to. That was way back in gradeschool. I was in grade five at that time, I can still remember, it is being aired at channel 7. I was really into this anime since the  main character, named Miaka was a teenager and I found their love story cute. It was being aired every friday, I would always wait for it and we often had a fight with my older brother who coincedentally also watches basketball shows in another channel. I would cry whenever my brother will switch the channel. *teary* But since I am younger that him, my mama will switch back again the channel to 7.*grin* My brother, left without a choice will go to our neighbor and watch the basketball show there.

Anyways, I believe if you too will follow the story, I bet, you’ll fall in love as well. To give you an overview of the series, Fushigi Yūgi (ふしぎ 遊戯?, lit. Mysterious Play) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuu Watase. It was originally serialized in Shōjo Comic from May 1992 through June 1996. The manga series was given an English language release in North America by Viz Media, which started in 1999. Spanning eighteen volumes, Fushigi Yūgi tells the story of two teenaged girls, Miaka and Yui, who are pulled into “The Universe of the Four Gods”, a mysterious book at the National Library.

Miaka Yūki, is a middle school student who’s under a lot of pressure to pass the entrance exam for the competitive Jonan Academy. Her friends do not believe she will get in, but she is determined to because her best friend, Yui Hongo, who also applied for the same school and she wants them both to go to the school together. While at the library one day, Miaka and Yui had noticed a strange book there, known as The Universe of the Four Gods. As a result of reading this book, they are then transported into the novel’s universe. Inside the novel she discovers that she is the Priestess of Suzaku and destined to gather the seven Celestial Warriors of the god Suzaku in order to summon Suzaku and obtain three wishes. She falls in love with the Celestial Warrior Tamahome, who eventually reciprocates and Miaka’s desire to use a wish to enter the high school of her choice begins to shift towards finding a way to be with Tamahome. Unfortunately, Yui, who is also drawn into the book, is quickly manipulated by the emperor of the land of Kutou into becoming the Priestess of Seiryuu and working against Miaka.

The series describes the various trials that teenagers Miaka and Yui face, both quest-driven and personal. Feeling betrayed, the two oppose one another as priestesses, bringing together their own respective warriors and vying for the chance to be granted three wishes by the gods whom they hope to summon.

Much of the story also revolves around the inability of the Universe of the Four Gods to grant the wish for Tamahome to become real. In the first OVA it is revealed that there are two major reasons why Tama cannot stay with Miaka. Even though Tamahome was made into an actual person in the real world (named Taka), the difference between the memories of the “real” Taka and Tamahome made it impossible for him to stay with her until the memories of Taka were restored and he was merged with Tamahome. In addition, Tenkou was interfering with the powers of the Universe of the Four Gods, and this wish could never be made while he existed.

The last part of the story, Eikoden, discusses a new priestess entering the Universe of the Four Gods, and seeking to undo everything Miaka and Tamahome have done together.

These are the characters of the story:

Miaka Yuki – Full Name: Yuuki Miaka

Birthdate: 5/12

Age: 15

Height: 158cm, approx. 5′1″

Weight: 48kg

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Blood Type: B

Interests: Eating and Tamahome

Flaws: Eating, Naive, and Trusting

Tamahome – “Fighter”

Star Pattern: Cancer

Seishi Name: Tamahome

Real Name: Sou Kishuku

Nick Name: Little Monster, Tama-chan, Taka

Birthdate: 6/28

Age: 17

Height: 178cm, approx. 5′10″

Hair Color: Dark Blue-Green

Eye Color: Purple or Grey

Blood Type: O

Seishi Power: Great Fighter

Character: “oni”-Ogre

Location of Character: Forehead

Interests: Money and Miaka

Flaws: Interest in money

Chiriko – “Knowledgeable Child”

Star Pattern: Hydra

Seishi Name: Chiriko

Real Name: Oh Do-kun

Birthdate: 3/19

Age: 13

Height: 148cm, approx. 4′10″

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Grey blue

Blood Type: A

Seishi Power: Extreme Intelligence

Character: “cho” – Stretching

Location of Character: Left foot

Interests: Reading and studying

Flaws: Looks a lot like a girl, doesn’t do much in series

Mitsukake – “Healer”

Star Pattern: Corvus

Seishi Name: Mitsukake

Real Name: Myojuan

Birthdate: 5/7

Age: 22

Height: 199cm, approx. 6′6″

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: hard to tell

Blood Type: O

Seishi Power: Healing

Character: Sadness

Location of Character: Left palm

Interests: Gardening, caring for animals

Flaws: Can only heal once a day

Nuriko – “Court Warrior”

Star Pattern: Hydra

Seishi Name: Nuriko

Real Name: Chou Ryuuen

Nickname: “Gay-Boy”

Birthdate: 3/10

Age: 18

Height: 166cm, approx. 5′5″

Hair Color: Purple

Eye Color: Brown

Blood Type: B

Seishi Power: Super Strength

Character: “yanagi” – Willow

Location of Character: upper left side of chest

Interests: dressing up, being fashionable, and Hotohori

Flaws: cross-dresser (mistaken for a girl often), In mourning for sister, Korin

Tasuki – “Mountain Fire”

Star Pattern: Crater

Seishi Name: Tauski

Real Name: Kou Shun’u

Nickname: Genrou, Fang-boy

Birthdate: 4/18

Age: 17

Height: 178cm, approx. 5′10″

Hair Color: Orange-Red

Eye Color: Brown

Blood Type: B

Seishi Power: Martial Arts, Speed, Flame Fan (Lekka Shinen)

Character: : “yoku” – Wing

Location of Character: Right forearm

Interests: fighting, brawling, stealing (former bandit)

Flaws: hates women

Hotohori – “Prince Swordsman”

Star Pattern: Hydra

Seishi Name: Hotohori

Real Name: Seishuku (Saihitei is his imperial title)

Birthdate: 4/2

Age: 18

Height: 182cm, approx. 6′0″

Hair Color: Brown

Eye Color: Brown

Blood Type: A

Seishi Power: Great Swordsman

Character: : “sei” – Star

Location of Character: on neck

Interests: Reading, Fashion, Suzaku no Miko

Flaws: Narcissistic, lonely

Chichiri – “Face of the Monk”

Star Pattern: Gemini

Seishi Name: Chichiri

Real Name: Ri Houjun

Birthdate: 5/21

Age: 24

Height: 175cm, approx. 5′9″

Hair Color: Blue

Eye Color: Brown

Blood Type: unknown

Seishi Power: Polymorphing and Magic learned from Taiitsu-kun

Character: “sho” – Well

Location of Character: Knee

Interests: Fishing

Flaws: Guilt complex over situation with fiance and best-friend

More pictures here!!!

• http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Dojo/7748/Ayeka-I-FYGroup.html
• http://www.animeyume.com/fushigi_yugi/fypicturegallery.html

External Links:

• http://www.geocities.com/jcbug51/suzaku.html
• http://catherineg.wordpress.com/2006/10/02/anime-of-the-weak-i-know-its-misspelled-fushigi-yuugi-the-mysterious-play/
• http://thiamere.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/fushigi-yuugi-oni/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fushigi_Yūgi

Shades of Gray

1 John 2: 9 (NRSV) – Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness.

Everyone can tell the difference between light and darkness. Light illuminates. One can see clearly in the light. On the other hand, darkness is the absence of light. One can’t see anything in the dark.

It’s the same in the spiritual realm. God is light. There is spiritual freedom in the light. In contrast, spiritual darkness exists where the light of Christ does not shine. Some people try to hide their shameful thoughts and acts in the darkness, thinking they can hide from God. But wherever God makes Himself known, spiritual darkness disappears.

For us who seek to follow Christ, we can tell the difference between His light and spiritual darkness. That’s not a problem. What’s tricky are the gray areas.

What’s a gray area? Right at the fringes of the light are varying shades of gray. Some parts are lighter. Other parts are darker. They are not exactly dark, because there’s some light enough to see. Once you’ve adjusted your eyes in the gray areas, you feel you’re just fine. But these areas are not exactly in the light either.

I sometimes find myself in this gray area. I know my bible, I’ve read it through a few times over, so very often i think i’m ok. Unfortunately i find myself in situations where it is not convenient, even disadvantageous to follow what the bible says. So I explore how far i can stretch scriptures to fit what i want, without falling over to the dark side. Way into the gray areas. Once i’m there, i gradually get adjusted to the dim light. Later I begin to convince myself that IS the light. And i try my best to do my walk of faith in the gray areas. Until i lose my way. Until I stumble and fall. Then i realize I’m no longer in the light but in spiritual darkness afterall.

How can I tell? My love has gone dry. I become curt with my wife. I am easily irritated with my kids. My patience runs thin with people who fail to do as I say. And that odd neighbor of mine is beginning to get into my nerves.

By God’s mercy, the light of Christ is like a search light, actively seeking us, shining His light upon us who sometimes lose our way. Then we notice our long dark shadow silhouetted against the brightness of His light. Seeing this makes us realize we have our backs turned against Him, walking farther away from Him. The only response is to admit we’ve been in the dark then turn towards His light. Repent. As we turn towards Him, we see His glory once more, and our stark nakedness is laid before Him who sees everything and knows everything. Once more we see ourselves for who we truly are. Sinners saved by grace. People formerly in darkness, brought into the light. Children of God called to walk in the light of Christ.

Do you find yourself in the gray area? Do not fret. The light of Christ is shining upon you. Move back into His light. Put your trust in Christ and He will save you.

credits to – Caloy Diño, Kristianong Pinoy group moderator, Facebook

Cory Aquino’s Day – You will be missed Cory

As a tribute to the icon of democracy for the Filipinos, Cory Aquino, I want to post this picture here that would state and would prove how Cory truly loves the Philipines and the Filipinos.

To remember, Cory had brought democracy to the Philippines which was under Marcos’ regime through People Power. Not to mention about her loneliness as a wife to her hero husband, Ninoy who died for the sake of his beloved country. Truly, this couple is a loved partner by the Filipino people. Their memories stay in the hearts of those who are knowledgeable to their deeds for the country.

To Cory who gave her all service for the Filipino people, who was left by her beloved husband for the Philippines, who put aside everything even her life for the sake of the Filipinos, for all the things she had done for us and the love she had instilled to everyone… The Filipinos love you!

…GOODBYE…