Hey ppl, long time!!

My avatar's on the right cuz I got bored of the avatar on the left alwayz. What have I been doing these holz??

1. Go to school for spl class
2. Rot in school
3. Complain about school
4. Eat
5. Went to CCD for LucidInsanity's and Zonkt's combined B'day treat.. (Was FUN!!)
6. Read, Read And more Read

So, 2 books i wanna mention Princess and Brisingr

PRINCESS - By Jean Sasson:

This book is just amazing. It recounts the hardships Princess "Sultana" (name changed in the book to protect her identity) has to face as a Saudi royal woman. Written by Jean Sasson as if narrated by Princess "Sultana", this book is a must-read. You don't feel, even once,  like someone else has written the story in 1st person. It starts with "Sultana's" childhooh and how she grows up into a woman surrounded by the men who "twist the Prophet's (Muhammed) words for their needs" ,the horrors faced by Saudi women, and the "Male Dominance" beginning right with her brother."Sultana" is a bold character who tried to defy the male-dominated society right from delaying the wearing of her Abaya. She is at the mercy of the men who surround her life - father, husband, brother etc.  It makes you feel very lucky to have not had to face such things.

This book is well written, and is not exactly what you would call on feminism. It is basically that "Sultana" wants people of the world to realize their plight. And there is this one line from the book that I like:

"If no-one knows of my existence, does that mean I do not exist?" - Princess Sultana

BRISINGR - a book that I've been waiting for, ever since I finished eldest.*Spoiler alert*

I have heard of many negative reviews about this book saying that this book is just a filler to drag time and stuff, but I feel it was a good book on the whole, I mean not as brilliant as Eragon/Eldest but ok, quite good. It wasn't a disappointment for me, mainly cuz i didn't read too many fan fics and theories online.

This book basically deals with Eragon's promises to the different people he has made and how he tries to fulfill them. Eragon's loyalty toward Roran makes him determined to bring Katrina back. He also marries them both. (It's kinda weird to imagine the younger brother performing the marriage thingy for the older one!) I found Roran's story quite annoying. He was just kinda very annoying with his "leading the troop" and great battles and everything.Then there's Eragon, who as an elf-human hybrid is weird to picture and I would have preferred him to stay human. The truth about Brom being his father was kinda expected and wasn't much of a shock to me. I loved the whole forging of the swords chapter. It was brilliantly written, very picturesque. And I love the sword and the idea that it bursts into flames when u say "Brisingr" The stuff about Eldunari was also also quite good. Though, I did feel a little sad when Oromis dies. There wasn't much of action (ok there was, but not as much as i expected) but the revelations of Galbatorix's and Shruikan's power, Eragon's mother, Solembum's words and all were interesting. Saphira, my fave character, was, as always, brilliant. I have nothing to complain about her. Her character's so strong and beautiful. You can't help but love her!

I would say u HAVE to read, even if it isn't as amazing as the previous two. I'm waiting for the last one now which hopefully, will be as good as I want it to.

P.S. I made that pic that sez Brisingr ;)

So, like I usually do, I fled the country to spend my Birthday in Paris. This year Monique joined me in Paris (well, sort of, she was there one day ahead of me). She told me that she already got me a pressie and that I would get it in Paris.

To my surprise she gave me a Mr. Jummy, a free promotional gadget (when buying 4 packs of Sultana Biscuits). Here he is, peeking in on the left, while I did my utmost to look fab for my 52 photo.

Benjamin (I named him Benjamin 'cuz I don't like Mr Jummy as a name) tried to eat the lense right after I took this photo. He became friends w/ Flat Eric today. Yes, I have a Flat Eric too.

52 32 Benjamin (Mr. Jummy), originally uploaded by Stewart Leiwakabessy. 11th August, 2008 -- ©Stewart Leiwakabessy ]]> http://titolando.wordpress.com/?p=147 Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:46:22 +0000 titolando http://titolando.pl.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/nudi-a-new-york/ Fa caldo e quando fa caldo ci si presenta come "mamma ci ha fatti"!

Questa è la nuova moda neyorkese. E per chi vuole spogliarsi questa è l'estate giusta! La metropoli propone una vasta gamma di attività sociali alle quali si può partecipare come natura ci ha fatto.

Nell'Upper East Side, al 1616 della Second Avenue, al locale Dorian’s, tutti coloro che si sentono a proprio agio solo se nudi possono tranquillamente mangiare svestiti. Il Dorian's è stato il primo locale ad ospirare serate "No hot Soup" organizzate da John Ordover (web-marketer).

A Downtown Manhattan si può andare da Mercantile Grill, al Pearl Street, o al "Nake Lunch Bar & Lounge".

Al di là dell’East River c’è Pete’s Downtown, al numero 2 della Water Street di Brooklyn.

La scelta è varia e organizzare una «naked dinner» è assai semplice: basta chiamare un ristorante che aderisce alla «No Hot Soup», concordare la serata e poter contare su un sufficiente numero di adesioni visto che il locale per l’occasione chiude al pubblico, al fine di consentire ai nudisti di svolgere tranquillamente il proprio party.

Normalmente i camerieri e i cuochi restano vestiti, ma questo non disturba i nudisti e, secondo quanto detto da Ordover al New York Post, non sconvolge neanche troppo i ristoratori perché "a New York si vede di ben altro...".

La richiesta di eventi sociali per chi ama denudarsi è talmente ampia che basta avere un’idea innovativa per essere sommersi dalle richieste, come avvenuto per Sultana, il locale di Williamsburg, a Brooklyn, per metà ristorante e per metà dancing, dove si danno appuntamento gli amanti del nyotaimori ovvero il sushi servito su corpi completamente nudi per poter essere consumato a temperatura corporea.

Per comprendere quanto numerosi e affollati siano i party senza veli a New York basta andare a cercare la controprova altrove, come per esempio negli elenchi degli iscritti ai corsi di "Naked Yoga", basati sull’idea che gli indumenti ostacolano la concentrazione di chi li porta.

Al "Phoenix Temple" di Midtown le lezioni per nudisti si svolgono due volte la settimana: iniziano con la cerimonia dell’abbandono degli abiti - che dura circa dieci minuti - e poi continuano come avviene per tanti altri corsi di yoga.

"NakedYogaNyc" è un club che offre corsi senza abiti a prezzi stracciati. Per chi non vuole andare in palestra preferendo sessioni private di «Naked Yoga» i prezzi salgono notevolmente, ma i clienti, uomini e donne, risiedono in gran parte nell’area del «Golden Block» dell’Upper East Side dove si registra la maggiore percentuale di ricchi dell’intero Pianeta. I ricchi spesso si annoiano e lo yoga praticato senza abiti indosso può essere un passatempo davvero insolito.

Lo «HotNudeYoga», al numero 100 della 23ª Strada, è invece dedicato solo a clienti gay, vicino alla palestra c’è un omonimo negozio di articoli sportivi e chi diventa socio riceve anche una newsletter che racconta di «successi spirituali», viaggi in India e interazioni fra yoga e sesso «che per alcuni insegnanti sono da evitare mentre per altri sono inevitabili».

Poco lontano, sempre a Chelsea, c’è il People’s Improv Theatre dove la compagnia artistica «Naked Comedy Showcase» del bostoniano Andy Ofiesh alterna sul palcoscenico spettacoli dei comici Jenn Lennon, Tim McIntire detto «il reverendo», Denise Robichau, Dan Sally e Myq Kaplan. Tutti rigorosamente nudi.

Per gli amanti del genere c’è anche un musical a Broadway. Al teatro New World Stages, sulla 50ª Strada, va in scena «Naked Boys Singing» che il New York Times ha recensito parlando di «una produzione affabile e accattivante con un cast versatile e di talento» come si intuisce già dal numero di apertura, il cui titolo è «nudità gratuita» perché spogliarsi per il gusto di farlo non comporta guadagni ma garantisce forti sensazioni di libertà e benessere.

Poco lontano dal teatro, a Times Square, suona il «Naked Cowboy», il 38enne Robert John Burck che intrattiene i passanti suonando la chitarra. Ma è un nudista démodé perché non rinuncia agli slip.

Fonte: www.lastampa.it

Kraj:

Już w tą sobotę 17 maja rusza nowy sezon ligowy SAR Camel League Cup. Zgodnie z wcześniejszymi zapowiedziami Prezesa Ligi
Pana Dżalala bin Sezera i dzisiejszym nowym Statutem SAR Camel League dotychczasowa 10 drużynowa Ekstraliga po wcześniejszej fuzji
z II ligą została podzielona na dwie dywizje po 8 drużyn. Z Ekstraligi tak jak to było w czwartym sezonie spadną 2 najsłabsze drużyny
a na ich miejsce z niższej dywizji awansują dwie nowe.

Nowe zasady poza ograniczeniem ilości drużyn do 8 w obu ligach i zmianą nazwy tej niższej ligi rozgrywkowej nie wniosły nic nowego do SAR Camel League.

Prezes Dżalal bin Sezer poinformował, że drużyny które wystąpią w piątym sezonie ligowym w SAR Camel League [Ekstraliga]
i SAR Camel League 1 [1 liga] zostały przydzielone do lig w drodze losowania.

Skład drużynowy SAR Camel League:
1. Al Fations Awa
2. AS Sultan Al Mana
3. Gephard Um Nasah
4. Ghazela El-Talathani
5. Halam Huwar
6. Puszek Awa
7. Wezyr Al Ri
8. Yslamic Jidhuf

Skład drużynowy SAR Camel League 1:
1. Arabic Al Muhar
2. Arabic Devils Awa
3. Dżannah Al Muhar
4. Prince Huwar
5. Rajn Isu
6. Red Dragon Al Mana
7. Scorpio Sitr
8. Tiger Al Mana [d. Akkarat]

Redaktor Naczelny /-/

I'd never heard of the Sultana disaster until a brief mention of it in Ken Burns's Civil War documentary. Even in its brevity, it was horrifying: The victims were primarily Union soldiers recently released from Southern prisoner camps. To think that they'd already gone through so much, from battle to the terrible prisons, only to be killed en route to their homes, and in such a agonizing way -- it was heartbreaking and seemed so grossly unfair.

Later, as I dabbled in genealogy, I learned I might have a link to the Sultana. It took me completely by surprise.

My great-great-great-grandfather, James Conover, enlisted in the 175th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry in October of 1864. In November, he was one of several members of the 175th captured near Columbia, Tennessee; he was sent to Cahaba (or Cahawba) Prison in Albama. Here, according to his military records, James Conover died in February, 1865.

There's conflicting information, though, regarding whether James Conover might actually have died in the Sultana disaster. One book I read on the event listed his name as one of the victims. The problem is, record-keeping was unreliable regarding what happened at the prison AND regarding prisoners who were loaded onto the Sultana. (One reason so many died was because far too many passengers were crowded onboard.) I've read other articles that say some bodies were dug up from the Cahaba Prison cemetery, but when they were being moved, there was another boat accident and some of the bodies floated away and were never recovered. So that makes definitive research even harder. There's a wonderful Conover genealogical site, and it combines the data for James Conover's death, stating he died February 17, 1865 -- but seven miles north of Memphis aboard the Sultana. So it's a difficult mystery to unravel.

I doubt I'll ever know what happened for sure to my great-great-great-grandfather. My instinct is that he probably did die in Cahaba Prison; but no doubt many of his comrades, including friends from his home area in Brown County, Ohio, perished in the Sultana tragedy.

None of this was ever passed down through family oral history, which is curious to me. Grandma Martha loved to tell family stories; if she'd known anything about her great-grandfather, she would have shared it. I've always been interested in the Civil War, and I didn't know until I started doing some research that I even had ancestors who had fought. (I have several.)

In Bloom Rose Cemetery in Brown Country, where a lot of my maternal ancestors are buried, there's a white pillar near the front gate. I'd never read the names on that pillar in all the years I'd visited there with Grandma Martha, but out of genealogical curiosity I finally did one day. It turns out that pillar is a monument to those local soldiers who never returned from the war. One of the names on that pillar is James Conover. (The wife he left behind, who died in June of that same year, is buried nearby.) It's only one of the things I've discovered about my mother's family that I wish I could tell Grandma now. She would have been fascinated.

There's another less personal connection to the steamship Sultana that I never knew until recent years. The Sultana was actually built in Cincinnati. A few years ago an historial marker was erected near Sawyer Point in the vicinity of the Cincinnatus statue (if I'm remembering correctly).

If you're interested in learning about a maritime disaster that cost even more lives than the sinking of the Titanic, sites like this one have lots of information about the Sultana.

Sultana - Dibidik
Video rzrarti tarafından gönderildi

Sultana - Dibidik (Video)

Geçtiğimiz günlerde ikinci albümü 'Şöhret Yolu'nu çıkaran Sultana albümüne ilk klibini 'Dibidik' isimli parçasına çekti.

Serdar Ortaç - Vikipedi

[değiştir] Dış bağlantılar. Serdar Ortaç Resmî İnternet Sitesi · http://www.serdarortac.com.tr/ Serdar Ortaç Resmi İnternet Sitesi ...

Serdar Ortaç & Sultana Ayrı Gitme

Serdar Ortaç Şeytan

Sultana - Vikipedi

Sultana (asıl adı Songül Aktürk), hip hop müzisyeni, söz yazarı, yorumcu. Uzun yıllar ABD'de yaşadı. ...

[dailymotion id=x1febq]

Sultana - Kuşu Kalkmaz Klibi izlemek için vidyonun üzerindeki play işaretine basınız, istediğiniz her türlü vidyo klibi bize ileterek eklenmesini sağlayabilirsiniz. Sultana kliplerinin tamamını izlemek için sağ menüdeki şarkıcı isimlerine göre olan kategorileri kullanabilirsiniz. Kliplerle birlikte şarkı sözleri çok yakında sizlerle olacak. Diğer Sultana şarkılarını klipler çıktıkça yayınlayacağız. Kuşu Kalkmaz vıdyosunda sorun tespit ederseniz, vidyoyu yenilemek için lütfen bize vidyo ismini gönderin.

Teşekkürler.

• La manera tan efectiva, clara y rica en que la novela hace uso de referencias históricas.  ¿Por qué? Para traer a la realidad la narración novelada de la historia familiar ajena a la autora.  Mourad debió investigar a través de entrevistas con sobrevivientes. 
• Pero más importante aún ha sido leer una versión de la historia que en muy pocas ocasiones se puede conocer.  En "De parte de la princesa muerta" desde el inicio ingresamos al mundo de la vida del harem y sus escasos pero interesantes contactos con el mundo exterior.  Es así que conocemos la versión que de la historia narran las sultanas sobre la guerra, la sociedad occidental y el sistema de vida árabe.
• Comentamos sobre la importancia del honor, el orgullo, la dignidad, la tradición y el orden.  Y sobre el papel que estos juegan en la sociedad.  Además, tuvimos un momento de melancolía mientras empezamos a notar tantas de estas virtudes que parecen estar desapareciendo en los albores del siglo XXI.

• ¿Hace bien la sultana en enseñar a su hija a mantener una posición altiva y principesca?  ¿Por qué lo continúa haciendo a pesar de que el Imperio ha caido?
• ¿Cuán importante es para Selma mantener el contacto con su padre?  ¿Por qué creen que el padre de Selma desaparece y no escuchamos de él sino en momentos lejanos en la historia?
• La invasión de occidente significó una ruptura con las tradiciones del antiguo orden otomano.  ¿Qué opinan de esta ocupación y sus efectos?
• ¿Qué opinan de la lucha nacionalista que emergió en Turquía y sus provincias una vez cae el Imperio?
• ¿Qué pasa con Seigel?  ¿Por qué, a pesar de ser un esclavo, ha estado presente en la narración? ¿Cuál es la relación de Seigel con la sultana y Selma?

1. Did you know ... that on April 15, 1865, Abraham Lincoln's autopsy was performed in the 2nd floor guest room at the front right hand corner (northwest corner) of the White House?

What is fascinating about this is that three days prior to his assassination, President Lincoln claimed to his wife and friends, that he had had a disturbing dream. According to Ward Hill Lamon, in his book "Recollections of Abraham Lincoln: 1847-1865" Lamon quotes the President as saying ...

"About ten days ago, I retired very late. I had been up waiting for important dispatches from the front. I could not have been long in bed when I fell into a slumber, for I was weary. I soon began to dream. There seemed to be a death-like stillness about me. Then I heard subdued sobs, as if a number of people were weeping. I thought I left my bed and wandered downstairs. There the silence was broken by the same pitiful sobbing, but the mourners were invisible. I went from room to room, no living person was in site, but the same mournful sounds of distress met me as I passed along. I saw light in all the rooms; every object was familiar to me; but where were all the people who were grieving as if their hearts would break? I was puzzled and alarmed. What could be the meaning of all of this? Determined to find the cause of a state of things so mysterious and so shocking. I kept on until I arrived at the East Room, which I entered. There I met a sickening surprise. Before me was a catafalque, on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. Around it were stationed soldiers who were acting as guards; and there was a throng of people, gazing mournfully upon the corpse, whose face was covered, others weeping pitifully. 'Who is dead in the White House?' I demanded of one of the soldiers. 'The President,' was his answer; he was killed by an assassin.' Then came a loud burst of grief from the crowd, which woke me from my dream. I slept no more that night; and although it was only a dream, I have be strangely annoyed by it ever since."

Then, on April 14, 1865, Lincoln is quoted as saying to his bodyguard, Mr. William H. Crook ... "Crook, do you know I believe there are men who want to take my life? And I have no doubt they will do it .... I know no one could do it and escape alive. But if it is to be done, it is impossible to prevent it."

2. Did you know ... that Major Henry Rathbone and Clara Harris, the young engaged couple who attended the play at Ford's Theatre with the Lincoln's on the night of the assassination had a tragic ending to their own lives. 

On July 11, 1867 they were married and eventually had three children. The major suffered from indigestion and severe mood swings to which he probably took opiate. On December 23, 1883, Rathbone went crazy. He attempted to kill his children, then shot and stabbed Clara to death, then stabbed himself, but not fatally. He was arrested and eventually sent to a German insane asylum for the rest of his life. Rathbone died on August 14, 1911 at the age of 73.

3. Did you know ... that on April 27, 1865 at approximately 2:00am, the worst marine disaster in United States history took place. The steamship SULTANA, blew up, caught fire and sank in the Mississippi River killing over 1700 passengers.

The Sultana had been contracted by the US Government to transport Union soldiers released from Confederate prison camps, up the Mississippi River to Ohio. In the early morning hours of April 27, the boiler(s) exploded destroying part of the ship and engulfing the remainder in flames. There were well over 2000 people on board at the time of the disaster (legally the Sultana was allowed to carry a capacity of 376 people). No confirmed number exists on the casualty and survivor count, however it is estimated that upwards of 1800 people perished in the disaster with another 700-800 surviving.

To put this in perspective, the Titanic disaster had a loss of about 1517 lives.

According to Wikipedia, the accepted cause of the tragedy was "determined to be mismanagement of water levels in the boiler, exacerbated by "careening." The Sultana was severely overcrowded and top heavy. As she made her way north following the twists and turns of the river, she listed severely to one side then the other. The Sultana's four boilers were interconnected and mounted side-by-side, so that if the ship tipped sideways, water would tend to run out of the highest boiler. With the fires still going against the empty boiler, this created hot spots. When the ship tipped the other way, water rushing back into the empty boiler would hit the hot spots and flash instantly to steam, creating a sudden surge in pressure. This effect of careening could have been minimized by maintaining high water levels in the boilers. The official inquiry found that Sultana 's boilers exploded due to the combined effects of careening, low water level, and a faulty repair to a leaky boiler made a few days previously."

The reason so few people have ever heard of this disaster is because it happened when so much else was in the news of the day. The Civil War had just ended; Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated just two weeks before; but most prominent in the news was that Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, had been cornered, shot and killed the day before (April 26) in Bowling Green, Virginia.

LINKS to the SULTANA story:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sultana_Disaster

http://www.historynet.com/sultana-a-tragic-postscript-to-the-civil-war.htm

http://sultanadisaster.com/blog/

Hemos conocido ya la estructura estamental del sultanato y el rol que todos los miembros de la familia del padischah deben cumplir. También conocimos la visión de los pueblos árabes sobre el mundo occidental y las incoherencias que de nuestro sistema de vida ellos relatan. Ahora, estamos en la primera parte álgida de la novela y revisamos la derrota del que fue un Imperio de más de 500 años.

Finalizó la Primera Guerra Mundial y el Imperio Otomano ha sido derrotado. El ejército occidental de ocupación se ha encargado de insultar a los turcos al violar sus normas de vida. Pero más interesante ha sido descubrir el latente deseo de venganza que mantuvieron por muchos años oculto los pueblos no turcos del antiguo imperio.

Hemos viajado por varias calles de Istambul y acá les van algunas fotografías para que puedan ilustrar las excelentes descripciones que hemos encontrado en la novela.

Mezquita en Istambul

Puente Galata - Istambul

Palacio Dolmabahce - Istambul

Torre Galata - Istambul