Search This Blog

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Think Pink

Pink

Think Pink

Pink swatches
Pink is a combination of the color red and white, a hue that can be described as a tint. It can range from berry (blue-based) pinks to salmon (orange-based) pinks. Its symbolism is complex and its popularity is subject to so many influences.
We can begin an analysis of pink by looking at natural and contemporary souces of this delicate color. First, regardless of your skin color, some part of your body is pink. So are sunsets, watermelons and Pepto Bismal. Depending on your age and culture, you may remember pink Cadillacs, pink flamingos (once considered in bad taste in American culture but now retro-chic), Pink Floyd, the Pink Panther, and the pink triangles of the Third Reich (which were used to identify male homosexuals).

pink dollIn almost every culture, one stereotype emerges: pink is associated with girls, blue with boys. Unfortunately, there is no consensus of opinion on its origin.

According to Jean Heifetz, for centuries, all European children were dressed in blue because the color was associated with the Virgin Mary. The use of pink and blue emerged at the turn of the century, the rule being pink for boys, blue for girls. Since pink was a stronger color it was best suited for boys; blue was more delicate and dainty and best for girls. And in 1921, the Women's Institute for Domestic Science in Pennsylvania endorsed pink for boys, blue for girls. (When Blue Meant Yellow. pp. 20 -21)

One could argue that contemporary color symbolism confirms these associations. Blue is considered a calm, passive color, hence feminine. Red (pink derived from red) is considered active hence masculine.

alt
On the other hand, the idea of associating blue with male babies may stem back to ancient times when having a boy was good luck. Blue, the color of the sky where gods and fates lived, held powers to ward off evil, so baby boys where dressed in blue. In Greece a blue eye is still thought to have powers to ward off evil. The idea of pink for girls might come from the European legend that baby girls were born inside delicate pink roses.
Another theory states that the sexual origins can be found in ancient China. At a time when certain dyes were quite rare, pink dye was readily available and therefore inexpensive. Since blues were rare and expensive, it was therefore considered to be more worthwhile to dress your son in blue, because when he married the family would receive a dowry.

pink daisy
The origin of the English term "pink" is as valuable as any discourse on symbolism. Here are some interesting analyses:

In English, the word "pink" could be derived from the Dutch flower pinken dating back to 1681. The flower's name could have originally been "pink eye" or "small eye." Another possibility is the verb "to pink" - to prick or cut around the edges, as with pinking shears. The jagged petals of the flower looked as though they had been cut, thus explaining why it became known as the "pink." (Jean Heifetz, When Blue Meant Yellow, p 110)

pink flamingoFinally, going back to the ancient Egypt, the flamingo was the hieroglyph for the color red.


In colloquial language, to be "tickled pink" describes a state of joy, a "pink slip" is a notice that you've been fired from your job, to be "in the pink" suggest good fortune and health, and a "pinko" is a person who is extremely liberal, a socialist or a communist.

Visitors to Color Matters provide some interesting information about pink:

"Amongst the Owambo people (of Namibia), traditional wealth for the women has come in the form of a particular pink snail shell which is found in the extreme north and up into Angola. These snail shells are collected then cut into circular pieces, rubbed until they are all perfectly round and the same size and then beaded together. The richer the woman, the more strands of snail shell necklaces she has. They are very precious. These days the shops sell plastic versions, of course! What I have also seen in recent times is Owambo women in dresses which they say are traditional dresses, which have quite a bit of pink in them."

"With parakeets the male's nose is blue and the female's is pink."

"In Belgium they dress boys in pink and girls in blue. "

In conclusion, consider the following: Although sunburned skin and watermelons are pink's natural associations, the color is loaded with historical meaning, knee-jerk reflexes and cliches. In some cases, it is quite appropriate; in others, perhaps the only cliche worth using is one, which is ripe for a vivid transformation.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

ROMANTIC FEBRUARY......................


Facts about February
Customs and Traditions
Gemstone: Amethyst
Flower: Primrose
 
The Romans and the Celts regarded February as the start of spring.
When did February first appear on a calendar?
February, along with January, was introduced onto the Roman calendar by Numa Pompilous when the calendar was extended from ten to twelve. The word February comes from the word 'februa' - which means cleansing or purification, and reflects the rituals undertaken before Spring.
Other names for February
The Anglo Saxons called February 'Sol-monath' (cake-month), because cakes were offered to the gods during that month. February was also known to the Saxons as 'sprout-kale' from the sprouting of cabbage or kale.
Having only 28 days in non-leap years, February was known in Welsh as 'y mis bach' - the little month.
In Shakespeare's time about 400 years ago, the second month of the year was called 'Feverell'. In Isaac Newton's time one hundred years later it had become 'Februeer'. The modern name, February, is only about a hundred years old.
Candlemas Day (the Christian festival of lights )
2nd February is Candlemas Day. This ancient festival marks the midpoint of winter, halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox. In olden times, many people used to say that the Christmas season lasted for forty days - until the second day of February.
Robert Herrick in his poem 'Ceremonies for Candlemas Eve' writes,
DOWN with the rosemary and bays,
Down with the misletoe ;
Instead of holly, now up-raise
The greener box (for show).

How did this 2nd February come to be called Candlemas?
It was the day of the year when all the candles, that were used in the church during the coming year, were brought into church and a blessing was said over them - so it was the Festival Day (or 'mass') of the Candles.



Candles were important in those days not only because there was no electric lights. Some people thought they gave protection against plague and illness and famine. For Christians, they were (and still are) a reminder of something even more important. Before Jesus came to earth, it was as if everyone was 'in the dark'. People often felt lost and lonely. Afraid. As if they were on their own, with no one to help them. Then came Jesus with his message that he is with his followers always ready to help and comfort them. As if he is a guiding light to them in the darkness. Christians often talk of Jesus as 'the light of the World' - and candles are lit during church services to remind Christians of this.
Borrowed Days - 12 - 14 February
12 - 14 February were traditionally said to be 'borrowed' from January. If these days were stormy, the year would be favoured with good weather: but if fine, the year's weather would be foul. The last three days of March were said to be borrowed from April.
Other Weather-lore, beliefs and sayings for February
It is said that if the weather is fine and frosty at the close of January and the beginning of February, there is more winter ahead than behind.
When the cat lies in the sun in February
She will creep behind the stove in March.

Of all the months of the year
Curse a fair February.

If it thunders in February, it will frost in April.
If February give much snow,
A fine summer it doth foreshow.

The Legend of the Snowdrop
The flower called snowdrop appears in February and is a symbol of hope. According to legend, the snowdrop became the symbol of hope when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. When Eve was about to give up hope that the cold winters would never end, an angel appeared. She transformed some of the snowflakes into snowdrop flowers, proving that the winters do eventually give way to the spring.
There is an old rhyme which says:
"The Snowdrop, in purest white array, First rears her head on Candlemas day."

Interesting Facts
The name snowdrop does not mean 'drop' of snow, it means drop as in eardrop - the old word for earring.
Snowdrops are also known as known as Candlemas bells.
The Latin name for the snow drop is Galanthus, which means "milk flower".
Mysterious footprints
One of the strangest things ever to happen in England took place during the night of the 8th February 1855.
During the night, heavy snowfall blanketed the countryside and small villages of Southern Devon. In their houses, people huddled beneath their bedclothes on a night of intense cold. Slowly the first light of dawn came to reveal a bleak frozen landscape - and the footprints.
To the astonishment of all, when people left their houses they found thousands of mystery footsteps. These were in the shape of a cloven hoof, but they moved in single file. More astonishingly was the fact that they covered a distance of one hundred miles or more and went through fields, gardens, towns, and even over rooftops.
At first people were intrigued, but then became very frightened. The news swept quickly over the country and many people believed the footprints belonged to the devil. The London newspapers published the story and experts came to investigate the footprints, before the snow melted.
Nobody could offer any satisfactory solution to the mystery.
Traditional games played in February
Shrove Tuesday marks forty days before Easter. The forty days are supposed to be a time of quietness and fasting. Shrove Tuesday (sometimes called Mischief Day) was the last day before Lent, so it was the last day for fun and food for a long time.
A special game of football is a played in February. It is played differently from the game our country is well known for. This game of football has no rules and is played on Shrove Tuesday. In some villages and towns traffic would be stopped and all the men would come out into the street at a set time. The church bell would ring and a football would be thrown into the crowd and the biggest ever football game was played. This game is still played in some places in England.
Skipping is also a traditional Shrove Tuesday game.
Traditional Foods Eaten
The last few days before Lent are known as Shrovetide. A time of feasting and revelry.
Collop Monday was traditionally the day to eat large pieces of fried meat.
Shrove Tuesday was the last time luxury foods could be used. All over Britain different Shrove Tuesday meals were made - sometimes it was broth (Scotland), or doughnuts (Hertfordshire), frying pan pudding (Lincolnshire) or pea soup (Cornwall) - but the most usual meal and the meal we still make today is pancakes.
Festivals and Traditions
Candlemas
Candlemas is a traditional Christian festival that commemorates the ritual purification of Mary forty days after the birth of her son Jesus. On this day, Christians remember the presentation of Jesus Christ in the Temple. Forty days after the birth of a Jewish boy, it was the custom to take him to the temple in Jerusalem to be presented to God by his thankful parents.
In pre-Christian times, this day was known as the 'Feast of Lights' and celebrated the increase strength of the life-giving sun as winter gave way to spring.
This feast is called Candlemas because that was the day on which the year's supply of candles for the church were blessed.
St Valentines Day
This was originally thought to be the day on which birds chose their mates. There are many traditions and tales associated with romance activities on Valentines day including:
  • the first man an unmarried woman saw on 14th February would be her future husband;
  • if the names of all a girl's suitors were written on paper and wrapped in clay and the clay put into water, the piece that rose to the surface first would contain the name of her husband-to-be.
  • if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine’s Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a rich person.
Each year in Britain, we spend around £503m on cards, flowers, chocolates and other gifts for Valentine's Day. Traditionally these were sent anonymously, but now-a-days we often make it clear who is sending each 'Valentine'.

Shrove Tuesday 2010
Shrove Tuesday marks forty days before Easter.
Read more about Shrove Tuesday
Ash Wednesday 2010 (the day after Shrove Tuesday)
A playground tradition was to carry a piece of twig from an ash tree in your pocket or down your sock. Anyone who didn't have an ash twig had his or her feet trodden on.
Find out more about Ash Wednesday
Kissing Friday (the Friday after Ash Wednesday)
Friday of Shrove Week, English schoolboys were once entitled to kiss girls without fear of punishment or rejection, a custom that lasted until at least the 1940s.
In Sileby, Leicestershire, Kissing Friday was called Nippy Hug Day. There men could demand a kiss from the woman of their choice, but if their petition was denied, they had the right to 'louse', or pinch, the woman's posterior - perhaps mimicking the pinching of lice?
Thinking Day.
This is the day when members of the Scout and Guide movements remember their founders Lord and Lady Robert Baden-Powell.
Leap Year Day - (occurs once every four years)
Anniversaries
5th - Birth date of Robert Peel in 1788. Formed first police force in London, hence nickname 'Bobbies'.
6th - Queen Elizabeth ll came to the throne on this day in 1952.
7th - Charles Dickens was born in 1812
8th - A minor earthquake shook Britain in 1750.
8th - A strange thing occurred in Devon (see above)
11th - Sir Francis Drake became the first known Englishman to sail the pacific in 1578
11th - Thomas Edison born in 1847
The phonograph and the motion-picture projector were only a few of Thomas Edison's more than 1,000 inventions.
12th - Birth of Charles Darwin in 1809
14th - St Valentines Day
15th- In 1971 Britain went decimal. All the banks were shut on the 11th and 12th to prepare for the change over. Three million ponds was spent converting the country’s phone boxes to take the new two pence pieces. Every cash register in the country had to be changed.
20th - On this day in 1896 the cinema came to Britain when a programme of films was shown for the first time to a paying audience.
23rd - Birth of George Frederick Handel in 1685
23rd - Birth of Samuel Pepys in 1632

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

FOOD and FACTS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Food is something we interact with on a daily basis – frequently, in fact. There are many very obscure facts about food that are fascinating and definitely worthy of knowing. So, at the behest of Juggz, here is a nice trivia list about food.











10. COFFEE


The Fact: The most expensive coffee in the world comes from civet poop
Kopi Luwak are coffee beans that come from Civet (a cat sized mammal) poo. The animals gorge on only the finest ripe berries, and excrete the partially-digested beans, which are then harvested for sale. Kopi Luwak is the most expensive coffee in the world, selling for between $120 and $600 USD per pound, and is sold mainly in Japan and the United States, but it is increasingly becoming available elsewhere. My question is: who the hell discovered that it tasted good?
9. FEAST


The Fact: The largest food item on a menu is roast camel
The camel is stuffed with a sheep’s carcass, which is stuffed with chickens, which are stuffed with fish, which are stuffed with eggs. This feast is sometimes featured in Bedouin weddings.
8. BUGS


The Fact: The FDA allows you to sell bugs and rodent hair for consumption
The FDA allows an average of 30 or more insect fragments, and one or more rodent hairs, per 100 grams of peanut butter. I will certainly think twice before buying my next jar!
7.SOUP


The Fact: The first soup was made of hippopotamus
The earliest archeological evidence for the consumption of soup dates back to 6000 BC, and it was hippopotamus soup!
6. REFRIED BEANS


The Fact: Refried beans are only fried once
The reason for this misconception is a translation error. The originals are frijoles refritos which actually means “well fried beans” – not re-
5. WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE
 
The Fact: Worcestershire sauce is made from dissolved fish
Worcestershire sauce, the popular English sauce, is made from dissolved anchovies. The anchovies are soaked in vinegar until they have completely melted. The sauce contains the bones and all.
4.POPSICLE


The Fact: The Popsicle was invented by an 11 year who kept it secret for 18 years.
The inventor was Frank Epperson who, in 1905, left a mixture of powdered soda and water out on the porch, which contained a stir stick. That night, temperatures in San Francisco reached record low temperature. When he woke the next morning, he discovered that it had frozen to the stir stick, creating a fruit flavored ice treat that he named the epsicle. 18 years later he patented it and called it the Popsicle.
3. MICROWAVES


The Fact: Microwave cooking was discovered accidentally, when a chocolate bar melted in someone’s pocket
This is very true and very scary – imagine what it was doing to his leg! The fact is, Percy LeBaron Spencer of the Raytheon Company was walking past a radar tube and he noticed that the chocolate bar in his pocket melted. He then tested popcorn in front of the tube (surely turning up the power and standing out of the beam), and it quickly popped all over the room. He is (obviously) known as the inventor of the Microwave oven.
2. PEANUTS


The Fact: Dynamite is made with peanuts
Peanut oil can be processed to produce glycerol, which can be used to make nitroglycerin, one of the constituents of dynamite. Note however, there are other processes that can be used to make dynamite without using peanuts at all.
1. COCONUT WATER


The Fact: Coconut water can be used (in emergencies) as a substitute for blood plasma.
The reason for this is that coconut water (the water found in coconuts – not to be confused with coconut milk, which comes from the flesh of the coconut) is sterile and has an ideal pH level. Coconut water is liquid endosperm – it surrounds the embryo and provides nutrition.

Monday, September 19, 2011

"**ICC WORLD CUP WINNER'S LIST!!!**"

ICC Cricket World Cup Winners List and         Awards List


Year  Winner         Runner-Up  Year   Man of the Match  Man of the tournament
1975  West Indies Australia       1975  Clive Lloyd (West Indies) -
1979  West Indies Australia       1979  Viv Richards (West Indies) -
1983  India           West Indies   1983  Mohinder Amarnath -
1987  Australia      England        1987  David Boon (Australia) -
1992  Pakistan      England         1992  Wasim Akram (Pakistan) Martin Crowe (New Zealand)
                                   1996  Sri Lanka     Australia        1996 Aravinda de Silva (Sri Lanka) Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka)
                                   1999  Australia      Pakistan         1999 Shane Warne (Australia) Lance Klusener (South Africa)
                                   2003 Australia       India               2003 Ricky Ponting (Australia) Sachin Tendulkar (India)
                                   2007 Australia       Sri Lanka        2007 Adam Gilchrist (Australia) Glenn McGrath (Australia)
                                   2011 India             Sri Lanka        2011 Dhoni (India) Yuvraj Singh (India)



"JANUARY".........FIRST TO LEAD(FACTS ABOUT JAN)

Facts about January
Customs and Traditions
Gemstone: Garnet
Flower: Carnation

The beginning of the new year and the time to make New Year resolutions.
January was established as the first the first month of the year by the Roman Calendar. It was named after the god Janus (Latin word for door). Janus has two faces which allowed him to look both backwards into the old year and forwards into the new one at the same time. He was the 'spirit of the opening'.
In the very earliest Roman calendars there were no months of January or February at all. The ancient Roman calendar had only ten months and the new year started the year on 1 March. To the Romans, ten was a very important number. Even when January (or Januarius as the Romans called it) was added, the New Year continued to start in March. It remained so in England and her colonies until about 200 years ago.
The Anglo-Saxons called the first month Wolf monath because wolves came into the villages in winter in search of food.
New Year's Eve customs and traditions
===============
New Year's Day
===============

New Year's Day is the first day of the year, in the Gregorian calendar. In modern times, it is the 1st January. It is a time for looking forward and wishing for a good year ahead. It is also a holiday.
People welcome in the New Year on the night before. This is called New Year's Eve. In Scotland, people celebrate with a lively festival called Hogmanay. All over Britain there are parties, fireworks, singing and dancing, to ring out the old year and ring in the new. As the clock - Big Ben - strikes midnight, people link arms and sing a song called Auld Lang Syne. It reminds them of old and new friends.
=================
The Door Custom
=================
In the old days, the New Year started with a custom called 'first footing', which was suppose to bring good luck to people for the coming year. As soon as midnight had passed and January 1st had started, people used to wait behind their doors for a dark haired person to arrive. The visitor carried a piece of coal, some bread, some money and some greenery. These were all for good luck - the coal to make sure that the house would always be warm, the bread to make sure everyone in the house would have enough food to eat, money so that they would have enough money, and the greenery to make sure that they had a long life.
The visitor would then take a pan of dust or ashes out of the house with him, thus signifying the departure of the old year.
========================
New Year Superstition
========================
The 1st of January was a highly significant day in medieval superstitions regarding prosperity, or lack of it, in the year ahead. A flat cake was put on one of the horns of a cow in every farmyard. The farmer and his workers would then sing a song and dance around the cow until the cake was thrown to the ground. If it fell in front of the cow that signified good luck; to fall behind indicated the opposite.
============================
Unluckiest Day of the Year
============================
It was an old Saxon belief that 2nd January was one of the unluckiest days of the whole year. Those unfortunate enough to be born on this day could expect to dies an unpleasant death.
==================================
Coldest Month and day of the Year
===================================
January regularly produces frost, ice and snow and is the chilliest month of the year in Britain.

St Hilary's feast day on 13th January has gained the reputation of being the coldest day of the year due to past cold events starting on or around this date.
One of the most severe winters in history began around 13 January in 1205, when the Thames in London froze over and ale and wine turned to solid ice and were sold by weight.
"So began a frost which continued till the two and twentieth day of March, so that the ground could not be tilled; whereof it came to pass that, in summer following a quarter of wheat was sold for a mark of silver in many places of England, which for the more part in the days of King Henry the Second was sold for twelve pence; a quarter of beans or peas for half a mark; a quarter of oats for thirty pence, that were wont to be sold for fourpence. Also the money was so sore clipped that there was no remedy but to have it renewed."—Stowe's Chronicle
In 1086, a great frost also started spreading over the country on St Hilary's Day.

Frost (ice) on cars is common in December and January
==========================
River Thames Frost Fairs
==========================
The worst cold spells in Britain occurred between 1550 and 1750. The climate during this time was known as the Little Ice Age, when winters were so cold that the Thames froze over each year. It was not uncommon for the freeze to last over three months, as in the case of the winters of 1683 - 1684 and 1715 - 1716.

The first recorded Frost Fair was held on the frozen river Thames in London in 1608. It had tents, sideshows, food stalls and even included ice bowling!

The Thames had frozen over several times before 1608. In the 16th century, Henry VIII is said to have traveled all the way from central London to Greenwich by sleigh along the river during the winter of 1536 and Elizabeth I took walks on the ice during the winter of 1564.
The last Frost Fair was held in the winter of 1814. It began on February 1, and lasted just four days. An elephant was led across the river below Blackfriars Bridge.
==========================
St Agnes's Eve 20 January
==========================
This was the day on which girls and unmarried women who wished to dream of their future husbands would perform certain rituals before going to bed. These included transferring pins one by one from a pincushion to their sleeve whilst reciting the Lord's Prayer, or abstaining from food and drink all day, walking backwards up the stairs to bed, and eating a portion of dumb cake ( previously prepared with a group of friends in total silence and often containing an unpleasantly large portion of salt) before lying down to sleep.

St Agnes's Eve is a title of one of Keat's poems.
=====================================
Customs of the Year's First New Moon
=====================================
It is said that if you look through a silk handkerchief at the new moon, which has never been washed, the number of moons you see will be the number of years which will pass until you're married. But it is unlucky to see the new moon through a window.
To dream of your future husband, it is said that at the first appearance of the first new moon of the year you should go out and stand over the spars of a gate or stile and look at the moon saying:
All hail to thee moon, all hail to thee,
I prythee, good moon, reveal to me,
This night who my husband shall be.
=========================
Festivals and Traditions
=========================
Wassailing has been associated with Christmas and New Year as far back as the 1400s. It was a way of passing on good wishes among family and friends.
==============
Twelfth Night
==============
Evening before Epiphany. Twelfth Night marks the end of the medieval Christmas festivities and the end of Twelfthtide (the 12-day season after Christmas ending with Epiphany). Also called Twelfth Day Eve.
Epiphany or Twelfth Day
Also known as Old Christmas Day and Twelfthtide. On the twelfth day after Christmas, Christians celebrate the visit of the Magi or wise men to the baby Jesus.
==================
St Distaff's Day
==================
This was the day on which women had to return to work with the distaff (another name for a spindle) after the Christmas holiday.
==============
Plough Monday
==============
The day on which work started again after Twelfth Night was known to countryfolk as Plough Monday: the day on which labourers had to return to the fields. The day was also nicknamed St Distaff's Day: the day on which women had to return to work with the distaff (another name for a spindle) after the Christmas holiday.
===========
Wassailing
============
People went from door to door, rather like carol singers at Christmas times, but at New Year they were called 'wassailers'.
===============
Burns Night
===============
The people of Scotland honour their greatest poet, Robert Burns. He was born on 25th January approximately 250 years ago (1759) and wrote his first song when he was sixteen. A traditional Scottish meal is neaps (swede), tatties (potato) and haggis washed down with whisky.
Unusual Customs Calendar
==============
Anniversaries
==============
1st - The London Credit Exchange Company issued the first traveler’s checks in 1772.
1st - The BBc began broadcasting its first programmes in 1927.
1st - Traffic policemen were introduced in Great Britain in 1931.
2nd - On this date in 1770, a huge Christmas pie was baked for holiday consumption in London. according to the Newcastle Chronicle, it was made of "two bushels of flour, twenty pounds of butter, four geese, two turkeys, two rabbits, for wild ducks, two woodcocks, six snipes, four partridges, two neats' tongues, two curlews, seven blackbirds, and six pigeons.. It was nearly nine feet in circumference at bottom, weigh[ed] about twelve stone."
4th - Louis Braille was born in 1809. He was three years old when an accident caused him to lose his sight.
9th - Income Tax was first introduced, at two shillings in the pound.
10th - The London Underground began operating in 1863.
11th - The first televised weather broadcast featuring a presenter on screen was transmitted from the BBC's Lime Grove Studios in 1954
11th - Charing Cross Station, London, opened in 1864
14th - Motorists were required by law to wear seat belts in 1986
17th - Robert Scott and his party reached the South Pole in 1912
18th - A.A. Milne born in 1882. English author of Winnie the Pooh stories.
21st The BBC in London made its first world broadcast in 1930
25th - Robert Burns was born 1759
26th - Australia Day
27th - Mozart born in 1756 in Austria.
One of the world's greatest music composers.
28th - On the evening of this day in 1807 London's Pall Mall became the first street in the world to be lit by gas lights
29th - The Victoria Cross originated from this date in 1856. The medals were made from the metals of guns captured in the Crimea.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Lucky waitress!!

Franchesca Renderos,22,a watress in a Houston restauran,when asked waht she wanted as a tip,jokingly replies that she wanted a car.She was amazed sometime later,when a silver coloured Lancer pulled into the restaurant's parking lot and the customer handed over her its keys.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

MOON TREE

'Moon Trees' are so called because they have grown from seeds that were carried to space by astronaut Stuart Roosa,pilot of the command module of Lunar spaceship Apolllo 14(1971). While Roosa circled around moon,his packet of about 400 to 500 seeds of a variety of trees from eartth also orbited the moon. After Roosa returned to earth these seeds were germinated by US Forest Service and planted at different sites. A moon tree(a Loblolly Pine) was planted inside the White House in Washington D.C. and others have travelled far and wide. Second generation moon trees have also been grown from the seeds and cuttings of the original moon trees. Although the experiment didnot reveal anuthing substantial, moon trees are considered to be a symbol of an unspoken connection between space exploration and life on earth.