By Marina Kosareva: Hello and Happy each Valentine’s Day! If you are single I know you feel like switching me off right about now but don’t be in a rush. This is not going to be a lovey-dovey programme. I’m going to take a look at this romantic holiday and investigate how it all began and why we are all forced to feel guilty bad about it one way or another. If you are one of those people who can’t wait for this day to come you’re probably wondering what guilt has to do with it, let me explain. So if you are single, all this day does is point out the fact that you have no one special in your life, right? That’s the way it works. If you happen to like someone you might expect them to give you something as a sign that they are into you. So you spend your day wondering and in the end you might not get anything. That doesn't necessarily mean that guy or girl doesn’t like you. It could mean that they don’t like this holiday. And this brings me to the reason why even those who do have someone special in their life, sometimes feel guilty about Valentine’s Day as well. There are so many men and women out there who hate the fact that they have to show and prove their affection on one particular day of the year. They don’t like the fact that it’s becoming increasingly commercialized and that they’re being forced to buy all these little chocolates and teddy bears in the shape of heart. You know what I’m talking about. All the stores fill their shelves in red merchandise with “I love you” blasting in every corner. Don’t worry if you’re one of the romantic types, I’m not here to destroy your Valentine’s Day. I just want to give you both sides here. So imagine a girl who’s had no one on Valentine’s Day for a year or two or more, and the all of a sudden she happens to be with someone on this day. But the guy she’s with is not into the holiday. So again she gets nothing. That makes her feel bad and the guy feel bad as well. This actually happened to me before. For about three years I always managed to find myself single on this holiday. Then one year, I thought finally I’m not going to feel like an outcast on Valentine’s Day. Well, guess what? My boyfriend hated Valentine’s Day. So when he came home from work that evening like nothing ever happened, I was looking at him like, come on what are we doing, where are we going. You know expecting that he had planned a romantic evening somewhere. You know what I got? A tempurpedic pillow pillow that we had discussed about buying for a long time and he just happened to pass by a store and get it. It didn't even have anything to do with Valentine’s Day. Needless to say it was the most unromantic gift I had ever received on this day. Then when I told him about how it was Valentine’s Day and couples normally do this and that he told me how felt about it and then felt guilty that I was disappointed. So all of a sudden this day that’s supposed to be all about romance and happiness became very sad. And by the way, if it wasn’t Valentine’s Day we would’ve had a great evening. Isn’t that ironic? In any case I decided to forget what this day means and he decided to organize romantic events for this occasion because it meant something to me. So now he plans and buys me stuff and I don’t. I’m just kidding of course. Oh and another point I want to make here is about expectations. All the women I know have their hopes up for what they’re going to get or what they will do on this day. If by any chance they don’t get what they expected somewhere deep inside they are disappointed. No isn’t that just terrible? I don’t know about you but I think this day is just made for disaster. OK don’t turn off the radio, I’m done ranting about it. Now I will actually talk about how the whole Valentine’s Day thing started. I actually never researched it so I was very curious to find out myself. I want to know who’s responsible for this romance madness and how it became an international extravaganza with so many products and events dedicated to it. So let’s begin our exploration. Saint Valentine’s day is named after early Christian martyrs. We don’t know who exactly because there were many men named Valentine back in those days. The day was established by Pope Gelasius I in 500 AD. Back then, people honored two Valentines and those were the Valentine of Rome and the Valentine of Terni. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia there was another martyr named Valentine but not much is known about him. And of course then the day had nothing to do with love or romance. It was just a name day. In 1969 when the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints was revised, Saint Valentine’s Day was removed and transferred to local and national calendars. That was because the Church didn’t have enough information about the person it was named after. The only place that still celebrates this day in the traditional sense is Balzan which is in Malta. And that’s because they claim to have found relics of the saint. Traditionalist Catholics are also said to follow in their lead. Now, if we are talking about legends then there are two versions of the story. One says that Saint Valentine was being persecuted for being a Christian. Before his execution he performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer. According to American Greetings there was a twist to that legend. They claim that before Valentine was executed, he wrote the first "valentine" card and that was to the girl he healed. He addressed her as his beloved and signed "from your Valentine". Another twist to this legend claims Valentine was a priest who disagreed with a law ordering young men to remain single and performed secret marriage ceremonies for them. If we look at time periods in terms of months, in the ancient Athenian calendar, mid-January to mid-February was dedicated to the sacred marriage of Zeus and Hera and was known as gamelion. In Ancient Rome, February 13th through the 15th was considered a period of fertility known as Lupercalia.If we talk about facts here, the first association of St. Valentine’s Day with romance was made by English poet Geoffrey Chaucer. He wrote a poem in honor of the first anniversary of the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. It said, "For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate." Unfortunately, in terms of romance and birds mating this didn’t make sense because experts say that the middle of February is an unlikely months for birds to be mating in England. In any case, in 1797 a British publisher created The Young Man’s Valentine Writer which had verses for those incapable of writing romantic poems to their loved ones. They became extremely popular and the rest of course is history. Hallmark claims that more than 140 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year and more than half of those are purchased in the six days leading up to the holiday. Now that’s Hallmark research but in general about a billion Valentine's Day cards are said to be exchanged in the US each year. It’s also one the biggest seasonal card-sending occasions of the year, next to Christmas. Women are said to purchase 85% of all the cards which is hardly surprising. I haven’t met many men who like to talk or write about their emotions at length. And if you do a get a card sometimes it’s empty which kind of defeats the purpose, but anyway. Apparently most of these cards are given to teachers, then children, following that we have mothers, then wives and finally romantic partners and pets. Yes even pets get to feel special on Valentine’s Day. I think that’s ridiculous. At least give them a special food or something. You know something they can appreciate. I must say I was surprised to hear that teachers and children get more cards than wives and significant others. Parents actually get 1 out of every 5 cards. Looking at this in a global perspective, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day each year. Now who do you think buys most of the flowers, men or women? This is no srprise really. 73% are bought by men and the rest by women. Men also buy most of the candy. By the way Richard Cadbury was the one who invented the first Valentine’s Day candy box. And that was in the late 1800s. Oh and check this out. Apparently the Italian city of Verona, famous for being the homeland of Romeo and Juliet’s romance, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day. I can’t help but wonder who sends these letters. It can’t be small children because they wouldn’t be reading Shakespeare at such a young age. And as far as anyone else goes, why do that? I don’t get it. And that’s our round up of interesting facts about Valentine’s day. I don’t know about you but personally I’ve learned a lot of new things about this holiday. I almost feel like a Valentine’s Day expert now. It’s amazing how it all started so simply and exploded into this super crazy shopping extravaganza. I looked at some of the cards that were made in the mid 1980s and they are so simple, yet it’s clear that a lot of thought went into them. They are super detailed and have embellishments on them. Now our cards are all aimed at creating some sort of an effect. And that’s usually to shock you or make you laugh. I definitely think that there was more meaning in this day before. Here in Russia this holiday is of course celebrated like in most parts of the world. We have events organized at various clubs and bars. The shops are all decked out in ‘Be By Valentine’ type of stuff. As far as other countries go, there are many which celebrate this holiday on different dates and have slightly different names for it but the principle is always the same more or less. There is one place I want to talk about in particular though and that’s because I found something they do quite funny. So apparently in South Korea if you got nothing on the 14th of February or the 14th of March which is another extension of their version of this holiday then you go and eat. Yeap, if you got no presents then you should go to a Chinese restaurant, eat black noodles and mourn your single life. Mourn your single life? That’s a bit harsh don’t you think. Now that’s exactly what I was talking about earlier. All this day does is making people feel guilty all the time. Anyway let’s move on and take a look at countries where Valentine’s Day is being met with a lot of harsh criticism. First we have India. Even though the holiday is becoming extremely popular over there Hindu and Islamic traditionalists call Valentine’s day is becoming increasingly popular but there are people trying to put an end to it. Apparently a political party is calling for it to be banned. Over in Iran, this holiday is seen as anything but representative of Islamic culture. Conservatives have been criticizing it for years. Actually this year the Iranian printing works owners' union banned the printing and distribution of any goods promoting the holiday. That includes cards, teddy bears and everything else along those lines. But we’re not perfect either. In the Belgorod region here in Russia the local government has also banned the holiday. Shops cannot sell special merchandise, venues cannot host events dedicated to the holiday. Officials claim tit promotes temporary affections rather than true love, and therefore contradicts Russia's traditional culture and morals. Source: Voice of Russia, Image: Photobucket
Valentine’s Day: history, traditions, facts & figures
How Santa delivers toys around the world in just 1 night
Washington, (ANI): Scientists have explained how Santa Claus is able to deliver toys to good girls and boys around the world in one night. According to Larry Silverberg and his team at the Carolina State University, with his cherubic smile and twinkling eyes,Santa may appear to be merely a right jolly old elf, but he and his NPL staff have a lot going on under the funny - looking hats. Their advanced knowledge
of electromagnetic waves, the space and time continuum, nanotechnology, genetic engineering & computer science easily trumps the know-how of contemporary scientists. "Children shouldn't put too much credence in the opinions of those who say it's not possible to deliver presents all over the world in one night," Silverberg said. Silverberg also said that Santa has a personal pipeline to children's thoughts, via a listening antenna that combines technologies currently used in cell phones and EKGs, which
informs him that Mary in Miami hopes for a surfboard, while Michael from Minneapolis wants a snowboard. A sophisticated signal processing system filters the data, giving Santa clues on who wants what, where children live, and even who's been bad or good. Later, all this information will be processed in an onboard sleigh guidance system, which will provide Santa with the most efficient delivery route. However, he adds that letters to Santa via snail mail still get the job done. "While he takes advantage of emerging technologies, Santa is, in many ways, a traditionalist," he said. Silverberg is not so naive as to
think that Santa and his reindeer can travel approximately 200 million square miles, making stops in some 80 million homes, in one night Instead, he posits that Santa uses his knowledge of the space/time continuum to form what he calls "relativity clouds." "Based on his advanced knowledge of the theory of relativity, Santa recognizes that time can be stretched like a rubber band, space can be squeezed like an orange and light can be bent. "Relativity clouds are controllable domains - rips in time - that allow him months to deliver presents while only a few minutes pass on Earth. The presents are truly delivered in a
wink of an eye," Silverberg said. With a detailed route prepared and his list checked twice through the onboard computer on the technologically advanced sleigh, Santa is ready to deliver presents. His reindeer, genetically bred to fly, balance on rooftops and see well in the dark, don't actually pull a sleigh loaded down with toys. Instead, each house becomes Santa's workshop as he utilizes his "magic bag of
nano-toymaker that is able to fabricate toys inside the children's homes. The presents are grown on the spot, as the nano-toymaker creates, atom by atom, toys out of snow and soot, much like DNA can command the growth of organic material like tissues and body parts. Therefore, there's really no need for Santa to enter the house via chimney, although Silverberg says he enjoys doing that every so often. Rather, the same relativity cloud that allows Santa to deliver presents in what seems like a wink of an eye is also used to "morph" Santa into people's homes. (ANI) Photobucket: Link1, Link2, , flickr.com. Source: News Track India
nano-toymaker that is able to fabricate toys inside the children's homes. The presents are grown on the spot, as the nano-toymaker creates, atom by atom, toys out of snow and soot, much like DNA can command the growth of organic material like tissues and body parts. Therefore, there's really no need for Santa to enter the house via chimney, although Silverberg says he enjoys doing that every so often. Rather, the same relativity cloud that allows Santa to deliver presents in what seems like a wink of an eye is also used to "morph" Santa into people's homes. (ANI) Photobucket: Link1, Link2, , flickr.com. Source: News Track India
Charlie Chaplin on both sides of film camera
Charlie Chaplin in films and photographs from family archives is the subject of the first exhibition of its kind in the world. It is displayed at the Moscow Multimedia Art Museum between the 30 of November and 17 of February.
The great 20th century actor shows both familiar and unfamiliar facets of his personality to the visitors. Gray-haired Chaplin is surrounded by children and performs his famous comical stunts. Chaplin in the shape of an abstract caricature – this is how he was seen by famous French avant-garde artist Fernand Leger. A character from an uncompleted animated cartoon Charlie the Cubist in the shape of a wooden figure made of hinged panels. A film made by Chaplin himself about his studio’s backstage life which was never shown after it was made. There are also a lot of other exhibits that show a very versatile picture of this genius of 20th century film-making, which has never been achieved yet within one project. This was the aim of the curator of the exhibition Sam Stourdze from Switzerland. Charlie Chaplin’s familiar screen character has not always been a sad, lonely little tramp whom most people imagine when thinking about Chaplin. In 1914 Chaplin appeared on the screen as a barefaced swindler and lady-killer showing a clear interest in his neighbour’s wife and his friends’ money. This character loved dirty tricks and missed no chance of furtively giving people a kick. Chaplin’s character started changing only in the film The Kid made in 1921. Whatever part Chaplin performed – of a fireman, priest, soldier or factory worker – the audience recognized him by his famous walk and indispensable accessories, such as huge boots, a bowler-hat and a walking-stick. At the Moscow exhibition this classic image of Chaplin can be traced in photographs and fragments of films, such as City Lights, The Gold Rush and The Great Dictator. What is especially interesting is looking at Chaplin’s photos on the shooting area in the process of making those films.When Chaplin made his films he always had a clear-cut plan of making the audience weep at some moment, laugh at another, be terrified but then cheer up. Mind that the audience goes through all this range of emotions watching a silent film. Charlie Chaplin used to say that silence was a blessing available to everyone. He said that few people knew how to enjoy it because it was not for sale. Wealthy people buy noise, he said. This idea is very much applicable today. At least, the new film The Artist made in the style of a silent film was recently awarded several Oscars. Source: Voice of Russia
The Casual Vacancy: why I’m dreading JK Rowling’s Adult Novel
Beattie's Book Blog: JK Rowling new adults’ book, The Casual Vacancy, will sell by the bucketload, says Sameer Rahim. But that won’t make her a great writer. last year Miss Rowling was estimated by Forbes to be worth $1 billion, with the bulk of her money coming from her books and the Harry Potter film franchise Photo: David Fisher / Rex Features While her millions of fans are no doubt doing cartwheels in anticipation of JK Rowling’s new book for adults, the rest of us can be forgiven for holding back our enthusiasm. It’s not that The Casual Vacancy – according to her publisher a “blackly comic” novel about small-town ructions in the fictional Pagford – will necessarily be bad. In fact – though I haven’t of course seen a word of it: the publishers would probably shoot me if I had – I imagine it’ll be as similarly well done and as well meaning as Harry Potter. What I find depressing, though, is the amount of attention the Rowling juggernaut will get – attention disproportionate to the quality of her work.I’m on dangerous territory here, I know, because an awful lot of people like Rowling’s work. Not just like, in fact: many are obsessed fans – as opposed to disinterested readers – and will rain down abuse on anyone who doesn’t toe the Potter party line. (I’ve found the children simply love the books while the adults get defensive.) So let me say that I’ve read the first three Potters and quite enjoyed them. Wholesome, decently paced and occasionally dark; you can easily while away a rainy hour or two in their company. What they lack is any feel for language, character and – crucially for a children’s book – the unexpected weirdness you find in, say, Alice in Wonderland. Read the full story, and more than 100 comments (!) at The Telegraph. I’ve always thought that Lewis Carroll and JK Rowling were each other's polar opposites in children’s writing. The Alice books are riddling, disturbing, unexpected and memorable with a relish for language that means you can still recite whole passages from memory years after reading them. Rowling’s magic is logical and plodding (much like her prose: can anyone honestly say they can quote one line?) and the pleasure her stories give is similar to putting together a jigsaw that eventually forms a clear picture. Even her concluding plotline in the Potter books about searching for Voldermort’s Horcruxes follows this pattern. Source: Beattie's Book Blog
The Comedy of the Cat, c. 1850
The Comedy of the Cat:, Behind the Curtain, 1850, The Victoria & Albert Museum
Stalking the Belle Époqu, by Joseph Crisalli: This print, also from the George Speaight Archive at the V&A, depicts the inside of a Punch and Judy fit-up as a performance is taking place. The Professor holds Mr. Punch in his right hand, as is proper, and Judy in his left. On the floor, by his side, a woman is breast-feeding. That’s not a standard feature of most fit-ups these days. Meanwhile, a young crying child sits at her side and another child is holding a couple of puppets, waiting to hand them to the puppeteer, who is most likely her father. The engraving is entitled “The Comedy of the Cat - Behind the Curtain.” Cats were sometimes employed in Punch & Judy Shows when a terrier was not available to play Dog Toby. This was, of course, before the animals took a puppet form, too. The engraving is from an original painting, “La Comédie du Chat. Derrière” by Jules David (1808-1892), (see below). The print dates to 1850.
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