A Walt Disney Silly Symphony - The Grasshopper and the Ants.

Administration of business

The administration of a business consists of the performance or management of business operations and thus the making or implementing of a major decision. Administration can be defined as the universal process of organizing people and resources efficiently so as to direct activities toward common goals and objectives.
The word is derived from the Middle English word administracioun, which is in turn derived from the French administration, itself derived from the Latin administratio — a compounding of ad ("to") and ministratio ("give service").
Administrator can serve as the title of the general manager or company secretary who reports to a corporate board of directors. This title is archaic, but, in many enterprises, this function, together with its associated Finance, Personnel and management information systems services, is what is intended when the term "the administration" is used.
In some organizational analyses, management is viewed as a subset of administration, specifically associated with the technical and mundane elements within an organization's operation. It stands distinct from executive or strategic work.
In other organizational analyses, administration can refer to the bureaucratic or operational performance of mundane office tasks, usually internally oriented and reactive rather than proactive.
The world's first business school, the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, France, was established in 1819. The first business school in the United States, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, was founded in 1881. Anecdotically, top French business school HEC was also created in 1881, while Harvard Business School, founded in 1908, was born just one year after France's prestigious ESSEC Business School.

[edit] Administrative functions

Administrators, broadly speaking, engage in a common set of functions to meet the organization's goals. These "functions" of the administrator were described by Henri Fayol as "the 5 elements of administration" (in bold below).

• Planning - is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who should do it. It maps the path from where the organization is to where it wants to be. The planning function involves establishing goals and arranging them in a logical order. Administrators engage in both short-range and long-range planning.
• Organizing - involves identifying responsibilities to be performed, grouping responsibilities into departments or divisions, and specifying organizational relationships. The purpose is to achieve coordinated effort among all the elements in the organization (Coordinating). Organizing must take into account delegation of authority and responsibility and span of control within supervisory units.
• Staffing - means filling job positions with the right people at the right time. It involves determining staffing needs, writing job descriptions, recruiting and screening people to fill the positions.
• Directing (Commanding) - is leading people in a manner that achieves the goals of the organization. This involves proper allocation of resources and providing an effective support system. Directing requires exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to motivate people. One of the crucial issues in directing is to find the correct balance between emphasis on staff needs and emphasis on economic production.
• Controlling - is a function that evaluates quality in all areas and detects potential or actual deviations from the organization's plan. This ensures high-quality performance and satisfactory results while maintaining an orderly and problem-free environment. Controlling includes information management, measurement of performance, and institution of corrective actions.
• Budgeting - exempted from the list above, incorporates most of the administrative functions, beginning with the implementation of a budget plan through the application of budget controls.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Lord's Prayer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Catholic (without doxology)^[12] and 1928 Anglican BCP (with doxology)^[13]

Our Father who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

and forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us,

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

[The 1928 BCP adds:

For thine is the kingdom,

and the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever.]

Amen.

 ...........

1662 Anglican BCP^[14]

Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done,

in earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive them that trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

[For thine is the kingdom,

the power, and the glory,

for ever and ever.]

Amen.

........

1988 ELLC^[15]

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

[For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and for ever.] Amen.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_Prayer

 

 

Pan American Games

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pan American Games

Organizations

Charter • PASO • NOCs • Symbols Sports • Competitors Medal tables • Medalists • Ceremonies

2011 Pan American Games

The Pan-American or Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics.^[1] The competition is held between athletes from nations of the Americas, held every four years in the year before the Summer Olympic Games. There also has been one edition of the Winter Pan American Games in 1990. The Pan American Games were last held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2007. The next edition of the Games is being held in Guadalajara, Mexico in 2011, followed by the 2015 games in Toronto, Canada. Since 2007, host cities are contracted to manage both the Pan American and the Parapan American Games,^[2] in which athletes with physical disabilities compete against one another. The Parapan American Games are held immediately following their respective Pan American Games. PASO is the governing body of the Pan American Games movement, whose structure and actions are defined by the Olympic Charter.^[2]
The Pan American Games Movement consists of international sports federations (IFs), National Olympic Committees (NOCs) that are recognized by PASO, and organizing committees for each specific Pan American Games. As the decision-making body, PASO (Pan American Sports Organization) is responsible for choosing the host city for each Pan American Games. The host city is responsible for organizing and funding a celebration of the Games consistent with Olympic Charter (since PASO is affiliated with the IOC, the Olympic Charter) and rules. The Pan American Games program, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games, is also determined by PASO. The celebration of the Games encompasses many rituals and symbols, such as the flag and torch, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies. There are over 5,000 athletes that compete at the Pan American Games in 36 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third place finishers in each event receive gold, silver, and bronze medals, respectively.^[3]

Pearl Jam

<sup>Pearl Jam

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guitar), Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), and Mike McCready (lead guitar). The band's current drummer is Matt Cameron, also of Soundgarden, who has been with the band since 1998.

Formed after the demise of Ament and Gossard's previous band, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam broke into the mainstream with its debut album, Ten. One of the key bands of the grunge movement in the early 1990s, Pearl Jam was criticized early on as being a corporate cash-in on the alternative rock explosion. However, over the course of the band's career its members became noted for their refusal to adhere to traditional music industry practices, including refusing to make music videos and engaging in a much-publicised boycott of Ticketmaster. In 2006, Rolling Stone described the band as having "spent much of the past decade deliberately tearing apart their own fame."[2]

To date, the band has sold over 30 million records in the U.S,[3] and an estimated 60 million worldwide.[4][5] Pearl Jam has outlasted many of its contemporaries from the alternative rock breakthrough of the early 1990s, and is considered one of the most influential bands of the decade.[6] Allmusic refers to Pearl Jam as "the most popular American rock & roll band of the '90s."[7]</sup>

Rock in Rio

Rock in Rio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rock in Rio Location(s)     Rio de Janeiro
Years active     since 1985
Founded by     Roberto Medina
Genre     Rock, Pop

Rock in Rio is a series of rock festivals held in Brazil and later in Portugal and Spain. There may be additional festivals in either Mexico or Colombia.[1]

Three incarnations of the festival were in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991 and 2001, four in Lisbon, in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010, and two in Madrid in 2008 and 2010. The shows were organized by Brazilian entrepreneur Roberto Medina. In 2011, Rock in Rio will take place in its original home, Rio de Janeiro.

Rock in Rio has been the largest music festival in the world, with 1.5 million people in the first edition, 700,000 in the second, about 1.2 million in the third, and about 350,000 people in each of the 3 Lisbon editions.

The first edition of the festival was held from January 11–20, 1985. Queen, George Benson, Rod Stewart, AC/DC and Yes were the headliners, each occupying top spot for two nights (Benson, however, ceded it to James Taylor for their second night in the same bill, due to the huge delay Taylor's extended performance had caused to his concert two days before). About 1.4 million people attended the 10-day-long festival.

Rock in Rio in numbers

    The "City of Rock", the place where the event was held (which was built for the festival) covered an area of 250,000 m² (around 2.7 million square feet)
    1,600,000 liters of beverages were served, using 4 million plastic cups.
    900,000 hamburgers.
    500,000 pizza slices.
    McDonalds sold 58,000 hamburgers in a single day, which was a Guinness World Record.


Read more about it and find much more information!

The lazy song - Bruno Mars

The Lazy Song Bruno Mars

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like pickin up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

I'm gonna kick my feet up, then stare at the fan
Turn the TV on, throw my hand in my pants
Nobody's gonna tell me I can't
(Naahh)
I'll be lounging on a couch, just chillin in my snuggie
Click to MTV so they can teach me how to Douggie,
'Cause in my castle I'm the freakin man

Ooooh
Yes I said it
I said it
I said it 'cause I can!

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like pickin up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything
(Nothing at all)

Huhul, huhuuuul
(Nothing at all)
Huhuuul, huhuuul

Tomorrow I wake up
Do some P90x
Meet a really nice girl
Have some really nice sex
And she's gonna scream out this is great
(Oh my God, this is great)

Yeeaah
I might mess around
And get my college degree,
I bet my old man will be so proud of me.
But sorry paps you'll just have to wait

Ooooh
Yes I said it
I said it
I said it 'cause I can!

Today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like pickin up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

No, I ain't gonna comb my hair
'Cause I ain't going anywhere
No, no, no, no, no,
No, no, no, no, ooooh

I'll just strut in my birthday suit,
And let everything hang loose
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeeeaaah

Oooh, today I don't feel like doing anything
I just wanna lay in my bed
Don't feel like pickin up my phone
So leave a message at the tone
'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything
(Nothing at all)

Huhul, huhuuuul
(Nothing at all)
Huhul, huhuuuul
(Nothing at all)

Pancakes recipe !

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.               

(The vídeo might be different from the written recipe..., but read and listen to practice.)

Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe

Vanilla Cupcakes (Fairy Cakes) have become so popular. Gone are the days when they were only served at children's birthday parties dressed with a quick swipe of frosting and a sprinkling of colored sugar. Today's cupcakes show up everywhere, from adult birthday parties to weddings and their decorations range from the very simple to stunning works of art.

These beautiful Vanilla Cupcakes start with a white cake batter that is baked in individual cup-shaped molds (Americans like to use a muffin pan) that have been lined with fluted paper bake cups. These paper bake cups make the cupcakes easy to release from the pan and also make clean up a breeze. Most of us like our cupcakes frosted with a sweet buttery confectioners frosting made from butter and confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, with a little vanilla extract for flavoring. While covering them with just a thin layer of frosting makes them ideal for everyday, you can make them more decorative with a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip (in the picture I used a Wilton 1M star tip). To dress them up even more, garnish with fresh or candied flowers or a sprinkling of colored sugar, which also gives the cupcakes a welcome crunch.

The name "cupcake" was used differently back in the 1800s. Then the name "cup cake" simply referred to a cake where the ingredients were 'measured' not 'weighed'. It seems that before the 1880s ingredients for cake baking were actually weighed so when recipes started to be given in 'cup' measurements, the cake recipes were named 'cup cakes' to reflect this difference. Greg Patent also tells us in his book 'Baking in America' that a woman named Mrs. Rorer (in 1902) was the first to actually print a recipe for the cupcakes (with frosting) we all enjoy today.

Vanilla Cupcakes:

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup (130 grams) granulated white sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Zest of 1 large lemon (outer yellow skin)

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup (60 ml) milk

Buttercream Frosting:

2 cups (230 grams) confectioners sugar (icing or powdered sugar), sifted

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk or light cream

Assorted food colors (if desired)

Read more: http://www.joyofbaking.com/VanillaCupcakes.html#ixzz1QP45Kdig

Kit Kat !!

My nephews have asked me to post it...

Kit Kat chega aos supermercados gaúchos no dia 1º de julho

Após 17 anos fora das gôndolas brasileiras e muitos pedidos dos consumidores, a Nestlé Brasil decidiu lançar no país o Kit Kat, chocolate mais vendido no mundo e um dos itens mais comercializados nos aeroportos internacionais. O doce passa a ser vendido a partir da sexta-feira, 1º de julho, nas redes de supermercado do Rio Grande do Sul, onde o chocolate fará sua estreia.

Neste primeiro momento, apenas a rede Walmart e o Sam’s Club venderão os chocolates no país. Na região Sul, já estará disponível no varejo.

A Nestlé irá importar os Kit Kats da Alemanha. A companhia, no entanto, já avalia a produção do produto no país, dependendo dos resultados iniciais. Será comercializada a versão “Four finger”, formada por quatro pequenas barras, a um preço sugerido de R$ 2,50.

A preocupação da companhia é com o clima brasileiro, quente demais para manter a qualidade do produto. Por isso, a distribuição será feita com cautela, diz uma fonte da empresa.

O produto chega às gôndolas no momento em que a Nestlé comemora 90 anos de Brasil e Kit Kat completa 75 anos de história no mercado internacional. Com informações da Agência O Globo.
(jornal do comércio)

By John Mair

MANILA | Sat Jun 18, 2011 3:06am EDT

MANILA (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.VX), the world's largest food group, expects the upward trend in raw material prices to persist, and its global operations provide a natural hedge against the strength of the Swiss franc, its chief executive said on Saturday.

Swiss-based Nestle, which has factories in 81 countries making products such as KitKat chocolates, milk products and pet food, is working to improve efficiencies and reduce costs as the prices of its inputs and packaging rise.

"It is clear that the upward trend, in our eyes, is going to be there to stay," chief executive Paul Bulcke told reporters said in Manila, where he was marking the 100th anniversary of Nestle's Philippine unit.

"Which is not a bad thing, if you put it in context of the fact that agricultural raw material prices went down for so many years to a level that agriculture was not an interesting activity, or there was no R&D investment, or there was no political impulse."

Nestle, which makes Nescafe, Maggi soups and Gerber baby food, has said it expects to meet its goal of 5-6 percent sales growth in 2011 and higher margins, although higher raw material costs and a strong Swiss franc would dampen first-half results.

It had projected rises in input costs to be at the top end of its guidance of 8-10 percent in 2011, with pricing expected to tick up during the year.

That guidance on input costs remained, even after some moderation in global commodity prices in recent months after a sharp surge earlier in 2011, Bulcke said.

"When we speak, we don't speak on the cost-on-the-day cost, we speak on the trend we see," he said, saying Nestle tried to read trends and set prices that could be stable amid market volatility.

"We never calculate our cost price on the peaks of every raw material," he said. Nestle, whose shares have fallen 4 percent this year, expects emerging markets to account for 45 percent of turnover by 2020, from 35 percent, or 39 billion Swiss francs ($46 billion) now.

"I do see the growth of the emerging markets double, give and take, the growth of the developed markets," Bulcke said.

STRONG FRANC

The Swiss franc has hit record highs against the dollar and the euro in June, and that will weigh on Nestle's consolidated results, when income from its foreign operations is converted to francs for reporting.

Bulcke said the franc did not affect the day-to-day operations of foreign units, which work in local currencies.

The company hedged its raw material needs to provide price certainty, but was not going to start hedging the Swiss franc purely for account consolidation," he said.

"No, because we have a natural hedge. What you can have is less Swiss francs, but they are Swiss francs so there's more dollar equivalent.

"We are growing very, very handsomely, and with less francs at the end of the day. And that is a little bit more the ego stuff -- you say 'all that effort, all that growth, where is it?' Well, it's in the Swiss franc."

(Editing by Nick Macfie)

 

Wake Up Everybody !

Wake Up Everybody Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes

Wake up everybody no more sleepin' in bed
No more backward thinkin' time for thinkin' ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be so
There is so much hatred war an' poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
'Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
When you teach the children teach 'em the very best you can.

Chorus
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah,
Just you and me.

Wake up all the doctors make the ol' people well
They're the ones who suffer an' who catch all the hell

But they don't have so very long before the Judgement Day
So won'tcha make them happy before they pass away
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out they do it every time

Chorus

Acordem, pessoalHarold Melvin and the Blue Notes
Acordem, pessoal, chega de dormir
Chega de pensar pra trás, é hora de pensar para a frente
O mundo mudou tanto
Do que costumava ser
Há tanto ódio, guerra e pobreza
Acordem todos os professores, é hora de ensinar de uma nova maneira
Talvez então eles ouçam a o que vocês tem a dizer
Porque são eles que estão chegando e o mundo está em suas mãos
Quando você ensinar crianças, ensine o melhor que puder

Refrão
O mundo não vai melhorar se a gente deixar pra lá
O mundo não vai melhorar, nós temos que mudar, é
Só você e eu

Acordem os médicos, façam os velhinhos melhorarem
São eles que sofrem e que pegam o inferno

Mas eles não têm muito tempo antes do Dia do Julgamento
Então façam-nos felizes antes de eles morrerem
Acordem todos os construtores para eles construírem uma nova terra
Eu sei que todos conseguiremos se dermos uma mão
A única coisa que temos a fazer é colocar isso na nossa mente
Certamente as coisas funcionarão, elas dão certo toda vez

Refrão This song is beautiful! Everbody needs to wake up...

Cancelar

Economy Cartoon

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/photos/economy-cartoons/68

Facebook and Obama.

Can Facebook win Obama the 2012 election?

Rory Cellan-Jones | 15:27 UK time, Monday, 4 April 2011

Is Facebook now the most important weapon in a politician’s digital armoury? Barack Obama certainly seems to think so. The US president has just launched his re-election campaign, and Facebook seems to be at the centre of it.

The Obama Facebook page, created way back during the last campaign, has this message at the top from the president:

“Today, we are filing papers to launch the 2012 campaign. Say that you’re in.”

Saying that you’re in means telling your Facebook friends that you support Obama and want him back as president in 2012 - a very cheap and viral way of getting your message out, compared with the huge cost of running a traditional American campaign.
The campaign website looks very sparse right now - indeed, it makes a point about being a work in progress - so the Facebook page, which is already “liked” by nearly 19 million people, looks more likely to receive the most traffic. The possible Republican contenders also have a big presence on the leading social network, though Sarah Palin, with 2.8 million fans on her page, seems to be far ahead of others from her party, even though it is by no means certain hat she will run.
As for other digital tools, a YouTube video was used to launch the campaign, joining the many Obama videos which were a feature of the last Presidential race. Twitter, though, seems less prominent.
The 2008 Obama campaign became a byword for innovative use of digital technology and social media - although all the excitement about the use of Facebook and YouTube concealed the fact that older techniques such as email databases and telephone banks may have been more important.
When I was covering the digital side of Britain’s general election last year, all the parties appeared desperate to learn lessons from across the Atlantic. But British politics became fixated not on Facebook, but on Twitter. Suddenly, it seemed every MP, every candidate, every spin-doctor was tweeting day and night.
While Twitter is now an essential tool for anyone wanting to tap into political news or watch a story unfold, many political strategists are sceptical about its value as a medium to spread your message and engage new supporters. They point to the fact that Facebook has a much wider audience, and is better suited to local campaigns.
For the dull work of gathering a crowd to go out and knock on doors, a network which is already employed to organise everything from book clubs to anarchist demos may be the better choice.
Twitter may be the home to the chattering classes, Foursquare is the thing amongst twenty-something New Yorkers with great social lives, whereas Facebook, in the disparaging words of the digital prophet John Perry Barlow is "the suburbs". But that is where most people live - so no wonder Barack Obama thinks it is the place to win an election.

Charlie Brown teacher !

When I was a child I used to read thousands of  Peanuts strips. I loved them.

Who loves Mafalda? I do !!!

Mafalda

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    

This article is about the comic strip. For the Italian princess, see Princess Mafalda of Savoy. For the Italian "comune", see Mafalda, Molise.

Mafalda statue from Pablo Irrgang. Place: Corner of Chile and Defensa streets, San Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Mafalda is a comic strip written and drawn by Argentine cartoonist Joaquín Salvador Lavado, better known by his pen name Quino. The strip features a 6-year-old girl named Mafalda, who is deeply concerned about humanity and world peace and rebels against the current state of the world. The strip ran from 1964 to 1973 and was very popular in Latin America, Europe, Quebec, and in Asia, leading to two animated cartoon series and a movie.

History
The character Mafalda and a few other characters were created by Quino in 1962 for a promotional cartoon that was intended to be published in the daily Clarín. Mafalda's name was inspired by David Viñas's novel Dar la cara. Ultimately, however, Clarín broke the contract and the campaign was canceled altogether.
Mafalda became a full-fledged cartoon strip on the advice of Quino's friend Julián Delgado, at the time senior editor of the weekly Primera Plana. Its run in that newspaper began on 29 September 1964. At first it only featured Mafalda and her parents. Her friend Felipe came on the scene in January 1965. A legal dispute arose in March 1965, which led to the end of Mafalda's Primera Plana run on 9 March 1965.
One week later, on 15 March 1965 Mafalda (the character at the age of five) started appearing daily in Buenos Aires' Mundo, allowing the author to follow current events more closely. The characters of Felipe, Manolito, Susanita and Miguelito were created in the following weeks, and Mafalda's mother was pregnant when the newspaper shut down on 22 December 1967.
Publication resumed six months later, on 2 June 1968, in the weekly Siete Días Ilustrados. Since the cartoons had to be delivered two weeks before publication, Quino was not able to comment on the news to the same extent. After creating the characters of Mafalda's little brother Guille and her new friend Libertad, he definitively ceased publication of the strip on 25 June 1973.
After 1973, Quino still drew Mafalda a few times, mostly to promote human rights. In 1976 he produced a poster for the UNICEF illustrating the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Characters
The comic strip is composed of the main character Mafalda, her parents and a group of other children. However, the group was not created on purpose, but was instead a result of the development of the comic strip. The other children were created one at a time, and worked by countering specific aspects of Mafalda. The exception was Guille, Mafalda's brother, who was introduced during a period when the author did not have other ideas.

• Mafalda: The main character Mafalda is an Argentine girl, approximately six years old,^[1] with a great concern for the state of humanity and a proverbial hatred for soup. She often leaves her parents at a loss by asking about mature or complex topics. As an example, she gets chided to concern herself with child-like things instead of asking about China's communism; in response, she pretends to play with bubbles in soapy water only to promptly proclaim that she is done and then restate the China question once more. Her incisive observations often leave the adults at a loss. Mafalda is generally a pessimist to the point of being accused of being so by her friends; to this she responds that things are not so bad as to stop discussing them.
• Mamá ("Mom") (Raquel, 6 October 1964) and Papá ("Dad") (No name, 29 September 1964): Mafalda's parents are a very normal couple, without any particular distinguishing features. Mafalda is often very critical of her mom's housewife status; her dad often tries to avoid Mafalda's snarky remarks and questions, although he very much sympathizes with the kid's scary view of school life. He is an avid horticulturist. Raquel appears to have been a talented pianist with Mafalda's father having a job as some sort of insurance agent who occasionally smokes. Their car is a Citroen 2 CV, which was a popular entry-level model for middle-class Argentines in the 1960s.
• Felipe (19 January 1965): A dreamer who is deeply scared of school, even though he's the brightest and oldest member of the gang. He often wages intense internal battles with his conscience, innate sense of responsibility, and top school grades that he hates (*shows Mafalda a note where his teacher compliments him on his grades* "That is the worst good news I've ever been given!"). A consummate procrastinator, he loves to play cowboys and read comics, especially the Lone Ranger. Late in the series, he also has a crush on a girl named Muriel (as Susanita once says). He is characterized by his hair and teeth. When Mafalda drew a picture with an uncanny likeness to him, she says she used a shoe with a carrot at an angle for a model.
• Manolito (Manuel Goreiro, Jr., 29 March 1965): The son of a Spanish shopkeeper. He is sometimes referred to as gallego (Galician), as his surname hints at such an origin, but it is common practice in Argentina to refer to all Spanish migrants as Galicians. While his family business is but a small, local grocery store, he seems ambitious with his career, business, capitalism and dollars, being more concerned with them than anything else. He's shown to be simple minded, but sometimes this is not the case. He is, in fact, very creative when it comes to business plans. He never goes on a vacation because of his father, who owns the store they work in. Both appear to enjoy making money and upon Manolito suggesting closing shop and go on a vacation for a few days, his dad appeared to have fainted from shock. He is characterized by his brush-like hair, which runs in the males of the family, and in one strip it is seen as growing quickly back right after it has been shaved.
• Susanita (Susana Beatriz Clotilde Chirusi, 6 June 1965): A frivolous girl with curly blond hair, who displays stereotypical feminine traits likes gossip, dreams of marriage and maternity, and woman antagonism. Her dream is to be a mother and dedicated housewife; she often fantasize about the possibilities. She is Mafalda's best female friend despite their bickering ("Well... you know... I'd rather freak out at you than at a complete stranger") She and Manolito are fiercest enemies, although it is shown that Susanita is more often the perpetrator of their bickering; as the attacks are often one-sided, Manolito is caught off guard most of the times, but on occasion he gains the upper hand. At times, she seems to have a crush on Felipe. She is sometimes shown as a glutton, usually regretting sharing with her friends or tricking them out of their snack.
• Miguelito (Miguel Pitti, 1966): About two years younger than Felipe and one year younger than Mafalda and the others, characterized by his lettuce-shaped hair. Somewhat of a rebel, most of the time he is a little too eager to get into philosophical debates. A descendant of Italian immigrants, his grandfather is very fond of Benito Mussolini. He appears to have a harsh, houseproud mother, whom he is frightened of.
• Guille (Guillermo, 1968) or Nando in some translations: Mafalda's little brother. He loves soup (much to his sister's chagrin), has a pathological dependence on his pacifier, and he and Mafalda have a pet tortoise called Burocracia (Bureaucracy). Somewhat cynical and prone to histrionics, with the prime target being their mother. He is a bit of a troublemaker and appears to share the same trait as his sister in terms of bringing up awkward topics of discussion.
• Libertad (5 February 1970): "Libertad" is a given name in Spanish, which means "Freedom". The character is of small stature, leading to jokes about the size of freedom. Libertad is the most politically radical character of the comic strip, more even than Mafalda herself. She took the place of being the political one while Mafalda became more well rounded in her topics of discussion. She often gets in trouble with her teachers due to her point of view.
• Muriel: Felipe's platonic love. Although he could never actually speak to his beautiful neighbor, it appears that Susanita knows everything about her, as well as everything else, because of her gossipy behaviour.

The characters aged at about half the real time-scale while the script ran. They also went through minor changes largely due to the evolution of Quino's drawing style.

The Terminal Review

                                                    

The Terminal Review

By Shawn McKenzie 06/21/2004

I have to be honest: despite the fact that director Stephen Spielberg has made many wonderful non-sci-fi flicks, I’m always a little leery of how well I will take them. The same thing always happens though…I end up loving them anyway. That happened again with his latest, The Terminal.

               

Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks) is a citizen of the fictional Eastern European country of Krakozhia. He has come to New York City to do a favor for his father, and then he plans to go home. In the period of traveling from Krakozhia to New York, his homeland had erupted in civil war. This creates a logistical problem for him, since he is caught in an immigration Catch-22. The United States no longer recognizes his country (at least during the civil war), so he is not allowed into the USA for this reason, and they won’t allow him to go back home for the same reason. This is a problem for airport security director Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci), since his boss, Salchak (Eddie Jones), has informed him that he is up for a promotion, and he doesn’t need this headache. He has head security guard Ray Thurman (Barry Shabaka Henley) escort Viktor to the international lounge of the airport terminal and give him some food vouchers. Ray tells Viktor that he has to stay there until the situation in Krakozhia is resolved. Viktor doesn’t quite get it, since he can barely speak any English, but when he sees footage of the civil war on the terminal TVs, he understands and freaks out. He soon accepts his situation and looks for a way to survive, but he accidentally loses his food vouchers to custodian Gupta Rajan (Kumar Pallana), who thinks that Viktor is a foreign spy. Frank can’t technically let Viktor leave, but he tries to slyly allow Viktor to go unofficially, so that the foreigner will be someone else’s problem. Viktor’s honesty weighs out, much to Frank’s distress. Since he has no food vouchers, Viktor finds other ways of getting food, from eating crackers with mustard and ketchup to returning luggage trolleys for quarters so that he can buy burgers at Burger King. Enrique Cruz (Diego Luna), a driver for the airport food service, sees his plight and makes a deal with him. He agrees to feed Viktor in exchange for him getting personal information about customs official Dolores Torres (Zoë Saldana), with whom he is madly in love. Everyday Viktor takes his pass and exit form to Dolores, gets denied entry into the country with her big, red “Denied” stamp, and finds out more useful information for Enrique. Baggage handler Joe Mulroy (Chi McBride) also helps out Viktor, and eventually so does Gupta, after Joe convinces him that Viktor is not a spy. Viktor himself starts to fall in love, with flight attendant Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones) who occasionally passes through the airport. She is having an affair with a married man named Max (Michael Nouri) and is frustrated that he won’t leave his wife for her. At night, Viktor sleeps on a row of chairs in the unfinished Gate 67, but out of boredom, he finishes the work on the gate, leading the construction foreman, Karl Iverson (Jude Ciccolella), to hire him for his crew and pay him under the table. Days turn into weeks, which turn into months (nine months to be exact), but he has patience, since he made a promise to his dad to do this favor, and not even the United States’ bureaucracy will stop him.

This story is loosely based on the story of Merhan Nasseri, an Iranian refugee. In 1988, Nasseri landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris after being denied entry into England because his passport and United Nations refugee certificate had been stolen. The French authorities would not let him leave the airport, and he stayed there in Terminal One for the rest of his life (he has since been granted permission to either enter France or return to his own country, but chooses to live in the terminal.) Screenwriters Jeff Nathanson and Sacha Gervasi took Nasseri’s story, changed the location, added some supporting characters and a love interest, and told a charming, though slightly disjointed, story.

Hanks gives another performance that should be nominated for an Oscar. It didn’t take me long to believe that he was a foreigner, and not just an actor playing a foreigner. Tucci, whom I normally don’t like, is good as the “bad guy,” if that’s what you can call his character. I liked Zeta-Jones, but I thought that her character was more of a distraction than an integral part of the plot.

Other than the Zeta-Jones character, the only other thing that irked me slightly was a bit of misplaced humor that Spielberg occasionally lets in. In Minority Report, it was Tom Cruise’s eyeballs rolling down a ramp. In this movie, it was Gupta’s attempt to entertain Viktor and Amelia during a romantic dinner. While they were eating, Gupta would do something even odder, from juggling to spinning plates, each time they showed him entertaining them. I know that this movie is kind of a comedy anyway, but it wasn’t slapstick, so I thought that it was a weird running joke.

Overall, The Terminal is an endearing and highly entertaining movie. Throughout Spielberg’s career, he has had more hits than misses with me, so next time he comes out with a movie, I should assume that I will like it, sci-fi or otherwise. Don’t let me down, Stephen!
(from entertainyourbrain.com/)
( image from jacarebanguela.com.br)

USA - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette

Facts and Statistics
Location: North America, bordering both the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean, between Canada and Mexico
Capital: Washington, DC
Climate: mostly temperate, but tropical in Hawaii and Florida, arctic in Alaska, semiarid in the great plains west of the Mississippi River, and arid in the Great Basin of the southwest.
Population: 301,139,947 (July 2007 est.)
Ethnic Make-up: white 81.7%, black 12.9%, Asian 4.2%, Amerindian and Alaska native 1%, native Hawaiian and other Pacific islander 0.2% (2003 est.)
Religions: Protestant 52%, Roman Catholic 24%, Mormon 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 1%, other 10%, none 10% (2002 est.)
Government: Constitution-based federal republic
Language in the USA
The United States does not have an official language, but English is spoken by about 82% of the population as a native language. The variety of English spoken in the United States is known as American English; together with Canadian English it makes up the group of dialects known as North American English. Spanish is the second-most common language in the country, spoken by almost 30 million people (or 12% of the population).
American Society and Culture
Diversity
America is ultimately a nation of immigrants and as a result is a cultural mish-mash in every sense of the word. Not only is the country populated by people from foreign countries but all Americans in one way or another trace their ancestry back to another culture, whether Irish, German, Italian or Scottish. Looking around any major city one will notice the ‘melting-pot’ that it is.
Informal and Friendly
Most people who come to the United States may already know a few things about the people through TV. Although this is of course a skewed reality some of the stereotypes are true, especially American friendliness and informality. People tend to not wait to be introduced, will begin to speak with strangers as they stand in a queue, sit next to each other at an event, etc. Visitors can often be surprised when people are so informal to the point of being very direct or even rude.
Time is Money
The country that coined the phrase obviously lives the phrase. In America, time is a very important commodity. People 'save' time and 'spend' time as if it were money in the bank. Americans ascribe personality characteristics and values based on how people use time. For example, people who are on-time are considered to be good people, reliable people who others can count on.
The Family
The family unit is generally considered the nuclear family, and is typically small (with exceptions among certain ethnic groups). Extended family relatives live in their own homes, often at great distances from their children.
Individualism is prized, and this is reflected in the family unit. People are proud of their individual accomplishments, initiative and success, and may, or may not, share those sources of pride with their elders.

Customs and Etiquette in the USA

Customs and Etiquette in the U.S.A

Meeting and Greeting

• Greetings are casual.
• A handshake, a smile, and a 'hello' are all that is needed.
• Smile!
• Use first names, and be sure to introduce everyone to each other.

Gift Giving Etiquette

• In general, Americans give gifts for birthdays, anniversaries and major holidays, such as Christmas.
• A gift can be as simple as a card and personal note to something more elaborate for a person with whom you are close.
• Gift giving is not an elaborate event, except at Christmas.
• When invited to someone's home for dinner, it is polite to bring a small box of good chocolates, a bottle of wine, a potted plant or flowers for the hostess.
• Gifts are normally opened when received.

Dining Etiquette

• Americans socialise in their homes and ‘backyards’, in restaurants and in other public places.
• It's not at all unusual for social events to be as casual as a backyard barbecue or a picnic in the park.
• Arrive on time if invited for dinner; no more than 10 minutes later than invited to a small gathering. If it is a large party, it is acceptable to arrive up to 30 minutes later than invited.
• Table manners are more relaxed in the U.S. than in many other countries.
• The fork is held in the right hand and is used for eating. The fork is held tines down. The knife is used to cut or spread something. To use the knife, the fork is switched to the left hand. To continue eating, the fork is switched back to the right hand.
• If you have not finished eating, cross your knife and fork on your plate with the fork over the knife. Indicate you have finished eating by laying your knife and fork parallel across the right side of your plate.
• If you are more comfortable eating in the Continental manner, go ahead. It will not offend anyone.
• Feel free to refuse specific foods or drinks without offering an explanation.
• Many foods are eaten by hand.
• Food is often served family-style, which means that it is in large serving dishes and passed around the table for everyone to serve themselves.
• Do not begin eating until the hostess starts or says to begin.
• Remain standing until invited to sit down.
• Do not rest your elbows on the table.
• Put your napkin in your lap as soon as you sit down.
• Leave a small amount of food on your plate when you have finished eating.

Business Etiquette and Protocol

Business Etiquette and Protocol

Business Dress

• What is considered appropriate business attire varies by geographic region, day of the week and industry.
• In general, people in the East dress more formally, while people in the West are known for being a bit more casual.
• Executives usually dress formally regardless of which part of the country they are in.
• Casual Friday is common in many companies. High technology companies often wear casual clothes every day.
• For an initial meeting, dressing conservatively is always in good taste. Women can wear business suits, dresses or pantsuits. Men should wear a business suit unless you know the firm to be quite casual.

Greetings

• The hand shake is the common greeting.
• Handshakes are firm, brief and confident.
• Maintain eye contact during the greeting.
• In most situations, you can begin calling people by their first names.
• Most people will insist that you call them by their nickname, if they have one.
• In formal circumstances, you may want to use titles and surnames as a courtesy until you are invited to move to a first name basis, which will happen quickly.
• Business cards are exchanged without formal ritual.
• It is quite common for the recipient to put your card in their wallet, which may then go in the back pocket of their trousers. This is not an insult.

Communication Styles
Americans are direct. They value logic and linear thinking and expect people to speak clearly and in a straightforward manner. To them if you don’t “tell it how it is” you simply waste time, and time is money. If you are from a culture that is more subtle in communication style, try not to be insulted by the directness. Try to get to your point more quickly and don’t be afraid to be more direct and honest than you are used to. Americans will use the telephone to conduct business that would require a face-to-face meeting in most other countries. They do not insist upon seeing or getting to know the people with whom they do business.
Business Meetings
Arrive on time for meetings since time and punctuality are so important to Americans. In the Northeast and Midwest, people are extremely punctual and view it as a sign of disrespect for someone to be late for a meeting or appointment. In the Southern and Western states, people may be a little more relaxed, but to be safe, always arrive on time, although you may have to wait a little before your meeting begins.
Meetings may appear relaxed, but they are taken quite seriously. If there is an agenda, it will be followed. At the conclusion of the meeting, there will be a summary of what was decided, a list of who will implement which facets and a list of the next steps to be taken and by whom. If you make a presentation, it should be direct and to the point. Visual aids should further enhance your case. Use statistics to back up your claims, since Americans are impressed by hard data and evidence.
With the emphasis on controlling time, business is conducted rapidly. Expect very little small talk before getting down to business. It is common to attempt to reach an oral agreement at the first meeting. The emphasis is on getting a contract signed rather than building a relationship. The relationship may develop once the first contract has been signed.

1. from : (www. kwintessential )

Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Breaking Dawn – Part 1′ Trailer: Vampire Weddings, Romance, & SexJun 5, 2011 by Sandy Schaefer

The teaser trailer for ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1′ hints at the now customary swooning romantic atmosphere of the film -and the eventual macabre shift in tone.

While the Royal wedding for Prince Williams and Catherine Middleton may have garnered a lot of attention this past April, the REAL marital celebration of the year for millions of people will be that of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her immortal vampiric lover Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) in this fall’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.
The official teaser trailer has been unveiled for the penultimate entry in Summit’s Twilight movie series, which promises to feature all the ham-fisted romantic atmosphere (with some delivery, this time) that fans of the franchise love – set against the luxurious tropical backdrop of Rio de Janeiro, where Bella and Edward spend their honeymoon.

 

As the Breaking Dawn movie synopsis puts it, Bella and Edward “finally give in to their passions” on their honeymoon – and it’s thereafter that things start to get a little weird. Fans of author Stephenie Meyer’s source material are more than aware of the bizarre complications that arise during Bella’s resulting pregnancy, including the gruesome deed Edward must perform in order to save the life of both his wife and unborn child.
Franchise staple screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg has already made it perfectly clear that most of said graphic moments will occur off-screen in Breaking Dawn – a cinematic equivalent to how Meyer shifts from Bella’s perspective to that of Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) during the pivotal birth sequence in the original novel.
However, before all that goes down, Bella and Edward get to enjoy their simple but luxurious wedding and honeymoon together. So those of you expecting Part 1 of Breaking Dawn to be all about supernatural horror and gore need not apply.
Check out the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 teaser trailer:

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BREAKING DAWN TRAILER

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Oscar-winner Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, Dreamgirls) took over the directorial reigns on both halves of Breaking Dawn, but – judging by the trailer – he hasn’t drastically altered the visual style from the last two Twilight flicks (New Moon and Eclipse). Given that Condon recruited a highly decorated creative team to help bring this supernatural romance franchise finale to life, there’s little reason to doubt that Breaking Dawn – Part 1 won’t look or sound as impressive as any other upcoming tentpole picture.
It’s the content, not the style, that distinguishes the first half of Breaking Dawn from just about every other blockbuster-in-the-making on the horizon. Case in point: most people associate dramatic choir trailer music with footage of mind-blowing CGI effects and awe-inspiring set pieces (see: the theatrical previews for Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2). So seeing that kind of musical accompaniment with scenes of wedding invitations being sent out, Bella and Edward spooning beneath a tropical waterfall, Jacob ripping off his shirt in the rain, Bella discovering her unnatural pregnancy – and everything else in the Breaking Dawn trailer will definitely prompt laughter from people not already deeply invested in the Twilight series.

Obviously, at this point, you’re either pumped to see the Twilight finale – or you really could not care less. So fans at least can take comfort in knowing that Condon and his filmmaking team look to do justice to the original Breaking Dawn novel (and all that implies).
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 hits theaters on November 18th, 2011. Part 2 will arrive a year later on November 16th.
(from screenrant)

I want a puppy !

Stop smoking around me !!!

Monica's Gang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The main characters of the gang. From left to right: Monica, Jimmy Five, Smudge and Maggy.

Monica's Gang (originally titled Turma da Mônica in Portuguese) is a popular Brazilian comic book series. The series was created by Mauricio de Sousa, who signs his work as "Mauricio". Plots are centered on the adventures of a group of seven-year-old friends in the fictional neighborhood of "Limoeiro" in São Paulo. The neighborhood was inspired by the neighborhood of Cambuí, in Campinas and the city of Mogi das Cruzes, where de Sousa lived his childhood.^[1]

History

Mauricio began his comic universe in 1959 with a newspaper comic strip titled Bidu, printed on Folha da Manhã, the newspaper where Mauricio worked as police reporter.^[2] Cebolinha followed in 1960. The character Mônica first saw the light of day in 1963. Comic books featuring the characters started appearing: "Bidu" (1960 - cancelled after a few editions),Mônica (1970), Cebolinha (1972), and many more. The stories have been translated to several languages and sold in dozens of countries. The series has been running steadily for over forty years, and generated uncountable spin-offs in the realms of merchandising, animated cartoons, video games, theme parks, and more. Mauricio employs a large staff on his company Estúdios Mauricio de Sousa to execute these projects.
The characters are drawn in a simple cartoon style and the stories often finish with a happy ending. In the end of each comic book, there are three panels with a quick joke, such as newspaper strips. Compared with the Peanuts characters, Monica's gang is less reflective and a bit more fantastic, less psychological and more active.
Characters often break the fourth wall, acknowledging they are performing or even talking to the writers from inside the papersheet. In some stories, they go "behind the sets", as if they were filming a TV show or a movie. The main characters also make fun of other characters for being secondaries (Sunny, a yellow-haired boy is the one that is most mocked for being a secondary character). Another is a recently returned character called Manezinho (diminutive form of "Manuel" in Brazilian Portuguese), who is referred by Smudge as "the new secondary character".
Also, to avoid any copyright problems, when referring to any person, company or band, Mauricio writes something that sounds similar, resulting in word plays, mostly puns and phonetic transcription of foreign terms. Examples: Coca-Cola = Tota-Toia; Michael Jackson = Maicou Jeca; Titãs = Tantãs; Banda Calypso = Apocalypso; Star Wars = Tauó; and so on.
Nowadays the comics are sold in 40 countries in 14 languages.

Characters

Main characters

The four main characters of Monica's Gang are:

• Monica (Mônica)

Main article: Monica (Monica's Gang)

• Jimmy Five (Cebolinha)

Main article: Jimmy Five

• Smudge (Cascão)

Main article: Smudge (Monica's Gang)

• Maggy (Magali)

Main article: Maggy (Monica's Gang)