What you didn’t know about your favourite Christmas movies

What you didn’t know about your favourite Christmas movies

1. A Christmas Story:

The movie’s writer was inspired to create the leg lamp by an illuminated Nehi Soda advertisement

2. Home Alone:

The ‘evil’ furnace McCauley Culkin’s character is scared of in the movie was lit up and animated by two people with fishing line and flashlights



 

3. Miracle on 34th Street:

The 1947 movie was released in May because the studio head, Darryl F. Zanuck, insisted more people went to the movies in the summer.

4. The Shop Around the Corner:

This 1940 holiday black-and-white film, featuring Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, inspired another movie — 58 years later. You’ve Got Mail, ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQIjcZLLsug ) starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. A big difference between the two? The original is set in Hungary, and the later one in New York.

5. A Charlie Brown Christmas:

Linus’ iconic speech about the true meaning of Christmas was almost cut when the animated movie’s producers and creator Charles Schultz clashed over the inclusion of religion. Schultz wanted the one-minute-long speech left in, but the producers thought it would limit its audience and drive away advertisers.

6. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation:

Mae Questel, who plays Aunt Bethany ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCBvFYGwd0g ), who wraps up her cat and makes the famous Jell-O mould, was also the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl. Christmas Vacation was her last movie.

7. White Christmas:

Irving Berlin, the man who wrote the song of the same title,

hated the holiday — for good reason. In the early hours of Dec. 25, 1928, his first son, Irving Jr., was discovered dead in his crib.

8. Scrooged:

David Letterman’s Canadian musical sidekick, Paul Shaffer, is leading a group of street carolers in the movie that Bill Murray’s character insults. The carolers include Miles Davis, saxophone player David Sanborn, and jazz guitarist Larry Carlton.

9. It’s a Wonderful Life:

The scene in which Jimmy Stewart’s character is considering suicide on a bridge, he’s sweating.

It might have been from acting in the moment, but it could also have been from the California summer heat wave he was working in while on a set.

10. Elf:

Ming Ming the elf from the beginning of the movie is Peter Billingsley, the actor who played Ralphie in ‘A Christmas Story.’

 

Did you know that Linus' "Meaning of Christmas" speech was lamost axed?

NORAD Santa trackers break records on social media

(Yahoo photo)

NORAD Santa trackers expected record holiday telling children about big man's location

Every year millions of children log in to http://www.noradsanta.org to track "Santa" around the world.

FILE - In this Dec. 24, 2010 file photo, Air Force Lt. Col. David Hanson, of Chicago, takes a phone call from a child in Florida at the Santa Tracking Operations Center at Peterson Air Force Base near Colorado Springs, Colo. Santa is already piling up monster numbers on social networking sites this season, so the volunteer Santa-trackers at NORAD are bracing for tens of thousands of calls and emails when their operations center goes live on Christmas Eve. (AP Photo)

DENVER - Santa's piling up more than presents this year. The big man's trackers at NORAD say Santa Claus is breaking records on social media and by old-fashioned telephone this Christmas Eve.
Volunteers NORAD Tracks Santa at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado were fielding 4,000 calls an hour Saturday morning, on pace to break a record. Santa's NORAD Facebook page exceeded 840,000 "likes" by midmorning.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command has been telling children about Santa's whereabouts every year since 1955, when a newspaper ad invited kids to call Santa on a hotline. A typo led dozens of kids to call the command.
The officers on duty played along and began sharing reports on Santa's progress. It's now a deep-rooted tradition at NORAD, a joint U.S.-Canada command.

Son discovers mother's 100-year-old Christmas letter

Dear Santa:

Son discovers mother's 100-year-old Christmas letter

 

Hannah Howard's Christmas letter lay in a chimney for years

 

The ghost of Christmas 100 years past arrived early for a County Down man when he discovered the Santa letter his late mother wrote when she was a girl.

The scorched letter, dated Christmas Eve 1911, had been up a chimney in a Dublin house for decades.

Victor Bartlem's mother, Hannah Howard, had written her Christmas wish list when she was 10 years old.

 

Mr Bartlem said he was overwhelmed at people's response to the letter

It was first discovered in 1992 when the current house owner John Byrne installed central heating.

He came upon Hannah's letter in the chimney and decided to keep it as a memento of times past.

He made it public this week in the Irish Times and it was there that Victor - living more than 100 miles away in Bangor, County Down, - read about it.

He was sitting at home when his wife read from the newspaper about the little girl from Oaklands Terrace, Terenure who put her letter up a chimney. It was then that he realised that she was his mother.

"I simply couldn't believe it. I never knew about this letter. I never even knew it existed," Mr Bartlem said.

"I could not believe it, it was absolutely amazing and it is such a sweet, typical child's letter."

Mr Bartlem said he was overwhelmed at people's response to the letter.

"It is in the spirit of the time we are in at the moment which is Christmas," he said.

On her Christmas list, Hannah wrote: "I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee."

Hannah was born on Christmas Day 1900. Mr Bartlem said his mother attended the Zion Church of Ireland in Raphoe and married Alfred Bartlem in 1931.

She had two sons, Howard and Victor. She died in 1978.

(BBC News/Yahoo)

7 Gifts to Avoid this Holiday

 

7 Gifts to Avoid this Holiday

Household Appliances - No woman wants to be reminded of household chores or think you're thinking of her as the one who does the cooking and cleaning when she opens her gift.

A Pet - With guests visiting your house, holiday decorations on display, and myriad other distractions during the week, it's the worst time to try and introduce a small animal to its new home.

Jewelry You've Seen on a TV Commercial - most women do not want a heart-shaped pendant from a chain jewelry store. If your loved one is an accessory lover, opt for something special and one-of-a-kind from an independent jewelry designer on Etsy.

Gift Baskets - The one thing there's never a lack of during the holidays is food. That's why no one needs any more food coming their way. While a nice gift basket full of cured meats, cheese spreads, fruit, and candy might be delicious, there's already more than enough to eat without giving someone more.

A Sweater - There's no denying a cashmere sweater is a nice thing, but opening a box and discovering a plain sweater is sort of dull.  Instead, add a nice cashmere scarf or pair of gloves to your loved one's stocking.

Credit Card Gift Cards - They're processed as credit cards with a limit of whatever is loaded on the card so it can be difficult to use them for purchases that exceed that amount. And most of these cards have an activation fee you'll have to pay at the point of purchase. Instead, opt for cash or a gift card to a store you're certain your recipient likes to shop in.

Lingerie - if you're a man buying a woman lingerie, the gift is as much for you as it is for her. And, if you're opening gifts in mixed company, it could be really embarrassing for the recipient. Save the sexy underthings for a Valentine's Day gift and get her something she really wants this holiday season.

Orange you glad Tangerine Tango is the colour of 2012?

 

Orange you glad Tangerine Tango is the colour of 2012

Tangerine Tango, an electric orange red, is the colour of 2012, according to the Pantone Color Institute.
It’s warm, uplifting, and energizing, and it happens to look great with almost every skin tone. The vibrant shade has already made its way onto fashion designers’ radars.
Each year the Pantone Color Institute forecasts the colour for the year ahead and the due diligence is intense.

FASHION REGRETS

FASHION REGRETS

Fashion that Makes Us Sad: Jimmy Choo’s Lizard and Raccoon Bag

This Jimmy Choo bag made of raccoon and lizard makes us very sad.

Most people associate Jimmy Choo with stunning sandals and heels, but every designer makes mistakes. There are so many horrible elements to the Whipstitched Fur Crossbody bag, we're just going to start listing them off.

1. Raccoon tails. Plural. Because the tail of one nighttime bandit is not enough, Jimmy Choo has used a whole family of raccoons to uglify your bag and pick up lint and debris wherever you go.
2. The twisted rope serving as a strap. It should be holding back fancy drapes.
3. We count six tassels. There may be more!
4. Somewhere buried beneath this mess is lizard skin. More beautiful wildlife destroyed for a useless purpose.
5. The bag is only 6" x 6" making it not only cruel and hideous but also impractical.

The bag is on sale (no surprise there) for $1,336 marked down from $1,995 at Neiman Marcus. We can't think of anyone who would carry this thing. Can you?

Fashion that Makes Us Sad: Urban Outfitters' Anti-holiday Sweater

Urban Outfitters is selling a holiday sweater adorned with drugs and booze.

Forget images of Santa, reindeer, or snowflakes on your holiday sweaters-Urban Outfitters has a different interpretation of festive attire. Your holiday vices may include egg nog and a few too many gingerbread men, but the folks at Urban are kicking it up a notch and embrace pills, marijuana, mushrooms, beer, and cigarettes. 'Tis the season to be... high and wasted?

We know Urban Outfitters loves to be "ironic" and push the envelope, but we fail to see the humor in this "Relaxed Pullover Sweater." It may be on sale for $49, but whomever wears this sweater may wind up a little more "relaxed" than we'd like to be.

Fashion Regret

Trend worthiness = please don't touch these

                                                                     Trend worthiness: file under G (for garbage) 





            

                  Photo by Keystone Press                                                                    Photo by Anthea Simms

 

 BOYCOTT!!!

Remembering the Montreal Massacre (Dec.6,1989)

Remembering 

Credit Image: © The Toronto Star/ZUMApress.com/

 The Montréal Massacre

The Montréal Massacre of December 6, 1989, in which 14 women students at the École Polytechnique were systematically killed and 13 other students wounded by a lone gunman, is indelibly imprinted on the minds of Quebeckers and others who struggled to comprehend the worst single-day massacre in Canadian history.

The act of gendercide

On the evening of December 6, 1989, shortly after 5 o'clock on the penultimate day of classes before the Christmas holidays, Lépine carried a concealed Sturm Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic rifle into the École Polytechnique. His first female victim, Maryse Laganiere, was killed in a corridor. He then proceeded to Room 303, a classroom which held 10 women students and 48 men, along with a male professor. Firing two shots into the ceiling and shouting, "I want the women. I hate feminists!," Lépine enacted a gendercidal ritual that will be familiar to readers of other case-studies on this site (Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Colombia) -- only this time, the victims were female. Separating the men from the women, he expelled the men at gunpoint, lined up the remaining women students against the wall, and began to fire. Six women died; the others were injured, but survived.
"Then, Lépine went down to the first floor," wrote Maclean's (December 18, 1989). "Firing at diving, ducking students as he went, he entered the cafeteria, where he killed [Anne-Marie] Edward and two of her classmates. Still on the hunt, Lépine climbed back up to the third floor, where he strode into Room 311. Students, unaware of the unfolding tragedy, were delivering end-of-semester oral presentations. 'At first, nobody did anything,' recalled Eric Forget, 21. Then, the gunman opened fire, sending two professors and 26 students scrambling for cover beneath their desks. 'We were trapped like rats,' said Forget. 'He was shooting all over the place.' Other witnesses said that Lépine leaped onto several desks and shot at women cowering beneath them. Four more women were killed. Then, roughly 20 minutes after embarking on his rampage, Lépine took his own life." By the time he blew off the back of his own head, fourteen women lay dead, and thirteen other students were injured (nine women, four men).

The murdered women were:

Geneviève Bergeron, aged 21;
Hélène Colgan, 23;
Nathalie Croteau, 23;
Barbara Daigneault, 22;
Anne-Marie Edward, 21;
Maud Haviernick, 29;
Barbara Maria Klucznik, 31;
Maryse Leclair, 23;
Annie St.-Arneault, 23;
Michèle Richard, 21;
Maryse Laganière, 25;
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22;
Sonia Pelletier, 28; and
Annie Turcotte, aged 21.

Gendercide is gender-selective mass killing 

Stick insects that have lived a million years without sex

A Timema walking stick.

Stick insects that have lived a million years without sex

 

Stick insects not so excited about sex, apparently

A species of stick insect has been living for a million years without having sex, according to a new study.

The stick insect reproduces without the need for a male – and studies suggest they have been doing so for hundreds of thousands of years.
The findings also reveal that life without sexual intercourse can continue.
The species – Timema stick insects, which live in shrubland in the west coast of the US – are already known to produce clones of themselves through asexual ‘virgin births’.
Five insects had ‘ancient’ lineage, dating back more than 500,000 years, and two were even older.
Researcher Dr Tanja Schwander said ‘all the evidence’ points to the species having survived for more than a million years without sex.
‘Why Timema asexuals have been able to persist for so long, despite all the predicted negative consequences of asexuality, is the focus of ongoing studies.’
The findings of the Canadian study, published in Current Biology, could overturn theories that asexuality is an evolutionary ‘dead end’.
Asexuality has benefits, including rapid population growth. However, the cloning of young creatures means that species are less able to adapt to changing environments through ‘shuffling’ genes.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/869808-stick-insects-that-have-lived-a-million-years-without-sex#ixzz1fQoHcgE6

'Bugs Bunny' weta insect is world's biggest

'Bugs Bunny' weta insect is world's biggest

This giant weta is the world's biggest insect (Picture: Solent)
It looks a bit like an alien, but this carrot-eating weta has now been declared the world's biggest insect.

This is a real life Bugs Bunny - a huge insect that eats carrots.
A former park ranger discovered the giant weta up a tree and his find has now been declared the world's biggest insect.
Mark Moffett found the cricket-like creature, which weighs a staggering 71 grams, after two days of searching on a tiny island.
The big bug, with a wing span of over seven inches, is only found on Little Barrier Island, in New Zealand.
Earlier this year, the water boatman was declared the loudest creature in the world by scientists thanks to the insect's noisy 'singing penis'.
A team of biologists and engineers told the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow that they had found the 2mm long insect is capable of making a din measuring 99.2 decibels - the same level as a full orchestra playing at its loudest.

That makes the bug, or Micronecta scholtzi, the noisiest animal on the planet relative to its body size.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/883547-bugs-bunny-insect-is-biggest-in-the-world#ixzz1fQmNzMGu

'Noisy penis that sings' makes water boatman world’s loudest animal

The water boatman has a noisy way of attracting a mate (Getty Images)

The lesser water boatman is the loudest creature in the world thanks to the insect's noisy 'singing penis', scientists have discovered.

A team of biologists and engineers told the Society for Experimental Biology Annual Conference in Glasgow that they had found the 2mm long insect is capable of making a din measuring 99.2 decibels - the same level as a full orchestra playing at its loudest.

That makes the bug, or Micronecta scholtzi, the noisiest animal on the planet relative to its body size,.
The male water boatman generates the sound by rubbing its penis against its abdomen while underwater, as it attempts to attract mates.
Although 99 per cent of the noise is lost as it is transferred from the bottom of the river to the surface, the singing is still loud enough for humans walking on the banks to hear.

Dr James Windmill, of the University of Strathclyde's Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering, said: 'We were very surprised. We first thought that the sound was coming from larger aquatic species.
'When we identified without any doubt the sound source, we spent a lot of time making absolutely sure that our recordings of the sounds were calibrated correctly.
'If you scale the sound level they produce against their body size, they are without doubt the loudest animals on Earth.'
The noisiest creature in absolute terms is the blue whale, which has a song that can reach 188 decibels.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/868086-noisy-penis-that-sings-makes-water-boatman-world-s-loudest-animal#ixzz1fQnNuF46

Beetle 'world's strongest insect'

Beetle 'world's strongest insect'

A dung beetle has been named 'world's strongest insect'

After months of trials, a contender for the title of World's Strongest Insect has been named by scientists

The dung beetle species Onthophagus taurus can pull a load 1,141 times its own body weight - the equivalent of an average person pulling six fully laden double decker buses.

Dr Rob Knell, one of the researchers from Queen Mary, University of London, said: "Insects are well known for being able to perform amazing feats of strength, and it's all on account of their curious sex lives.
"Female beetles of this species dig tunnels under a dung pat, where males mate with them. If a male enters a tunnel that is already occupied by a rival, they fight by locking horns and try to push each other out."
Dr Knell's team tested the ability of beetles to resist a rival by measuring how much force was needed to pull them from their holes.
Dr Knell said: "Interestingly, some male dung beetles don't fight over females. They are smaller, weaker and don't have horns like the larger males. Even when we fed them up they didn't grow stronger, so we know it's not because they have a poorer diet.
"They did, however, develop substantially bigger testicles for their body size.
"This suggests they sneak behind the back of the other male, waiting until he's looking the other way for a chance to mate with the female.
"Instead of growing super-strength to fight for a female, they grow lots more sperm to increase their chances of fertilising her eggs and fathering the next generation.Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/818833-beetle-worlds-strongest-insect#ixzz1fQeLDMTM

Pig born without back legs learns to walk upright

Pig born without back legs learns to walk upright on his front legs in China
A dedicated farmer has taught his prized pig, which was born without back legs, to walk upright on his front legs.

Proud Ge Xinping, from Mengcheng in eastern China's Anhui Province, says he thought the deformed piglet would die after he was born in July.
However, after lots of time and devotion the pig has learnt how to walk on its forelegs and is now the talk of the town.
'Villagers all love it as it walks like an upside down gymnast,' Ge said.
Elsewhere in China, pig breeders are not having such luck.
More than 100 people in the Henan province have been sentenced for planning to contaminate pork with the drug, Clenbuterol, which makes the meat leaner but can have adverse affects on humans.
Known in China as 'lean meat powder', Clenbuterol continues to be laced into animal feed by farmers desperate to get their meat to market even though it is banned in the country.
A subsidiary of Shuanghui Group, China’s largest meat processor, was also found to be selling the tainted pork.
Ringleader, Liu Xiang, was sentenced to death.

Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/883029-pig-born-without-back-legs-learns-to-walk-upright-on-his-front-legs-in-china#ixzz1fQaZv0Um

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS - Part 1

Dancing Stars - Round and round they go

This is a still image, but if you move your eyes around the central square pattern, the stars will seem to move. The effect is due to a phenomenon that's colloquially called "eye jitter." The eyes, constantly moving by imperceptible amounts, amplify the difference between the two patterns and create the illusion of motion.

Warp Speed - How fast is it moving?

Place your hand on the center of this image, and the stars will appear to move faster!

Sidewalk Crater - This illusion's a blast.

Located in front of the Montparnasse Railway Station in Paris, this chalk drawing was created by Julian Beever to commemorate the 10th anniversary of a 2001 accident at a petrochemical plant. View the next slide to see the painting as a work-in-progress.

Green and Blue - Two colors or one?

Believe it or not, the "green" and "blue" colors in this spiral are exactly the same. They appear different because of the way our eyes perceive them in relation to the contrasting orange and pink stripes. Our eyes contain millions of 'cones' which decode light wavelengths to determine colors. When certain colors are combined, our brain is unable to process the information properly.

Ouichi Illusion - It seems to float.

Move your head around, and the circular pattern in the center will appear to move independently of its surroundings.

'Toy' Car - How big is it?

Believe it or not, this is a full-sized car. The illusion of small size is created by a special technique of shooting called 'tilt-shift,' as well as an oversized coin placed on its hood to fool our sense of scale.

Something Fishy- This fish is easy to catch.

What appears to be a fish is actually a meticulous painting on a person's hand.

Crazy Carpet - Not your garden-variety floor.

This weird carpet pattern appears on a videogame store in Paris. The floor is actually flat.

Pouring Faucets - Pour it on.

Because of distortion caused by the grey bars, this still image has a strobing effect that makes it appear as if the water is flowing.

Hidden Tiger - Find the feline.

One tiger is easy to see, but there's a hidden tiger too. Click to the next image for a solution.

Hint: Read the tiger's stripes.

 

Soccer balls are kicked out of Totonto Earl Beatty Public School

School ball ban leaves Americans chuckling

Seth Meyers of Saturday Night Live made mention of the ball ban at Earl Beatty Public School in Toronto, during an episode of Weekend Update on Saturday. 

On the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, cast member Seth Meyers dropped Earl Beatty Public School into his Weekend Update, a roundup of wacky news items from around the world.
“A school in Canada has banned all game balls including soccer balls and baseballs because the principal thinks they’re causing too many injuries,” Meyers says.
“The safety-minded principal also asked that the custodian install a hinge in the see-saw,” he says, pausing for effect as the studio audience chuckled.

Pundit and radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said “This is how you wimpify kids. This is how you turn 'em into a bunch of wusses. Can you believe this?”
“Softballs, baseballs, footballs, soccer balls, banned, tennis balls. Because the children were scared,” Limbaugh says
The principal at the east-end public school sent a letter home last Monday, stating students could no longer bring hard balls onto school property, citing a number of “serious incidents” in which students, parents and teachers were hit or nearly hit by flying balls.
One parent suffered a concussion after being struck by a soccer ball, the letter said.
More than a hundred students have signed a petition demanding permission to bring their balls back.

BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, the wusses are winning. "Students at an east-end Toronto school are being told to leave their soccer balls -- and other hard balls -- at home. The principal of Earl Beatty Public School banned the balls this week after a parent suffered a concussion from being hit in the head with a soccer ball." A parent. Just out of curiosity, why was a parent playing soccer at school? But you see the dangers here of soccer. We warned you about it 15 years ago. Concussion, soccer ball.
The principal at the Toronto school, Alicia Fernandez, banned hard balls, claiming that they're dangerous. The kids were coming in complaining of injury. The kids were saying they were scared. And we can't have the kids scared, ever. The ban went into effect two weeks ago. "Students can bring in a sponge or other softballs to play with, but soccer balls, footballs, baseballs, even tennis balls are not allowed now for safety reasons. Some parents say that the ban's excessive and unfair to children who like to play outside."
Luckily, since their diets are now controlled by the government these kids don't have to worry about getting obese, either, what with all of the concern that's being attended. This is how you wimpify kids. This is how you turn 'em into a bunch of wusses. Can you believe this? Softballs, baseballs, footballs, soccer balls, banned, tennis balls. Because the children were scared. It's a good thing Canada doesn't have a military.
END TRANSCRIPT

Soccer balls are kicked out of Earl Beatty Public School in the city's east end.



Andy Rooney on Women Over Forty

Andy Rooney on Women Over Forty

By: Veronica Kavanagh

Andy Rooney says:

As I grow in age, I value women who are over forty most of all. Here are just a few reasons why: A woman over forty will never wake you in the middle of the night to ask, “What are you thinking?” She doesn’t care what you think.
If a woman over forty doesn’t want to watch the game, she doesn’t sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do. And, it’s usually something more interesting.
A woman over forty knows herself well enough to be assured in who she is, what she is, what she wants and from whom. Few women past the age of forty give a hoot what you might think about her or what she’s doing.
Women over forty are dignified. They seldom have a screaming match with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won’t hesitate to shoot you, if they think they can get away with it.
Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it’s like to be unappreciated.
A woman over forty has the self-assurance to introduce you to her women friends. A younger woman with a man will often ignore even her best friend because she doesn’t trust the guy with other women. Women over forty couldn’t care less if you’re attracted to her friends because she knows her friends won’t betray her.
Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over forty. They always know.
A woman over forty looks good wearing bright red lipstick. This is not true of younger women. Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over forty is far sexier than her younger counterpart.
Older women are forthright and honest. They’ll tell you right off if you are a jerk, if you are acting like one! You don’t ever have to wonder where you stand with her.
Yes, we praise women over forty for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it’s not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed hot woman of forty-plus, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some twenty-two-year-old waitress.
Ladies, I apologize.
For all those men who say, “Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free,” here’s an update for you. Now 80 percent of women are against marriage, why? Because women realize it’s not worth buying an entire pig, just to get a little sausage.

First published September 2007

Via http://www.divinecaroline.com/22323/34969-andy-rooney-forty#ixzz1dud4tAyl

With gratitude to all the fabulous women who are beautiful examples of what it means to mature with grace

HAVE YOU?

SAY SOMETHING NICE 

If you can't say something nice...

...Don't say anything at all!"

HAVE YOU?

Have you ever lost yourself in a kiss? I mean pure psychedelic inebriation. Not just lustful petting but transcendental metamorphosis when you became aware that the greatness of this being was breathing into you. Licking the sides and corners of your mouth, like sealing a thousand fleshy envelopes filled with the essence of your passionate being and then opened by the same mouth and delivered back to you, over and over again - the first kiss of the rest of your life. A kiss that confirms that the universe is aligned, that the world’s greatest resource is love, and maybe even that God is a woman. With or without a belief in God, all kisses are metaphors decipherable by allocations of time, circumstance, and understanding.”

THE POWER OF A KISS

 

"I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.”

Audrey Hepburn

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN DAILY SCHEDULE:

Not only he organized the daily activities but question the reasons and accomplishments

Girl Power

One night President Obama and his wife Michelle decided to do something out of routine and go for a casual dinner at a restaurant that wasn’t too luxurious. When they were seated, the owner of the restaurant asked the president’s secret service if he could please speak to the First Lady in private. They obliged and Michelle had a conversation with the owner. Following this conversation President Obama asked Michelle, “Why was he so interested in talking to you.” She mentioned that in her teenage years, he had been madly in love with her. President Obama then said, “So if you had married him, you would now be the owner of this lovely restaurant,” to which Michelle responded, “No. If I had married him, he would now be the President.”

Love is an accident waiting to happen

Love is an accident...waiting to happen

Desire is a stranger...you think you know

Intimacy is a lie...we tell ourselves

Truth is a game...you play to win

If you believe in love at first site...you will never stop looking.

(from the movie "Closer")

 

"I like my LIIIIIIIFFFFEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, YEAH, I can do anything gooooodddd" 

Energy and optimism!

ALL ABOUT BRAS - Including the Largest 1222B Size

The World's Largest Bra (Size 1222B)

Unveiled in London

By Life's Little Mysteries / http://ca.news.yahoo.com/

If there are more car accidents than usual along London's Thames River this month, motorists have a good excuse for being distracted: The world's largest bra hangs from a nearby skyscraper.

Guinness World Records has officially recognized the bright pink bra, which hangs from the ITV Southbank building and was unveiled on Oct. 28, as the world's largest

The bra took four weeks to stitch up, and is made from about four football fields worth of lightweight spinnaker nylon. The fabric weighs about 165 pounds (75 kg), and with the metal fasteners it comes to 198 pounds (90 kg).

And, because you're surely wondering, it measures 27 meters (88.5 feet) under the bust and 31 meters (101.7 feet) around the bust. Technically, it's a 1222B, but if reduced to human proportions, it would be a size 34B.

The bra was part of Britain's Breast Cancer Campaign's annual "Wear It Pink" fundraiser day. Last year's event raised about $4 million to help fund cutting-edge breast cancer research.

Who Invented the Push-Up Bra?

By Corey Binns, Life's Little Mysteries Contributor

We have a World War II veteran to thank for the push-up bra’s popularity. Support systems for breasts first became a regular item in women’s wardrobes in 1907. But the world had to wait for the push-up until Frederick Mellinger was inspired by his fellow army men to engineer a sexier bra.

Mellinger followed his war buddies’ advice, and designed pieces they said their girlfriends would prefer over the available options at the time, according to his obituary in the New York Times. He returned home from the War and, in 1946, opened up a lingerie business, the now infamous Fredrick’s of Hollywood.

In 1948, Mellinger introduced the world to its first push-up and called it, appropriately, the "Rising Star."

Although he is widely credited as the inventor of the push-up bra, Mellinger recently ran into some competition for the title. A white padded brassiere made in 1880 was uncovered in the collections of London’s Science Museum.

This bra – which may be the oldest push-up bra – was made out of two round pads attached by a wide piece of fabric, and decorated with lace and feathers.

Over the years, the uplifting undergarment has become a well-appreciated invention. The push-up bra is one of the 100 most important inventions of all time, according to a survey of British adults conducted by Tesco Mobile. The bra came in at No. 77 on the list. The wheel was No. 1.

What's the Average American Woman's Bust Size?

By Jeanna Bryner

In the last 15 years, the average bust size has increased from 34B to 36C. Whether the lift is due to breast augmentation surgeries or a side-effect of expanding waistlines is not known.

Either way, from slinky to full-coverage undergarments, bras have graced the bodies of women since the 1800s. But modern bra sizing didn't come into fashion until 1928.

As if measured and weighed for a delectable recipe, breasts are sized in cups, with the following conversions:

A cup—8 fluid ounces (238 milliliters)
B cup—13 ounces (385 milliliters)
C cup—21 ounces (621 milliliters)
D cup—27 ounces (800 milliliters)

Bras must support a pair of breasts that can weigh just over a half pound (0.3 kilograms) to a whopping 20 pounds (9 kilograms).

Here are some other facts about one of your most intimate pieces of apparel, according to "Secret History of the Bra," which will air on National Geographic Channel starting Sept. 28:

• A single bra weighs about 1.6 ounces (45 grams) and contains more than 40 components.
• Caterpillar spit, dirt, crude oil and molten metal are several of the ingredients in a bra.
• More than 4 million new bras are created on average every day.
• Consumers spend around $16 billion a year on bras.
• Each woman owns an average of about six bras.

Average breast size breakdown

According to the information we have available, here's how average breast size in America breaks down:

• AA cup: 2%
• A cup: 15%
• B cup: 44%
• C cup: 28%
• D cup: 10%
• DD cup: 1%

So the average breast size is something of a Bell curve, with B cup right in the middle. Barely one quarter of women have the coveted C cup (considered by many to be the perfect breast size). Many men are attracted to women with D cup breasts. Rumor has it that many adult film studios refuse to even consider a potential actress unless she has a minimum of C cup breasts -- and pay more for actresses with D or larger breasts!

Bras Don't Support Bouncing Breasts, Study Finds

By Jeanna Bryner

Whether women are said to be flat-chested or big-busted, ordinary bras fall short when it comes to supporting bouncing breasts, a new study claims.

And during exercise, women's breasts bounce more than previously estimated, moving a vertical distance of up to around eight inches (21 centimeters) compared with a past maximum measurement of six inches (16 centimeters).

The bouncing, in some cases with breasts weighing 20 pounds or more, can prove painful and damaging to the limited natural support system.

Bra basics

Typically, bras are designed to minimize up-and-down motion and not the other two dimensions of breast movement found in Scurr's study.

For all cup sizes, the so-called encapsulation bras in which each cup is separately molded provided the most support, beating out the compression bras, which limit only the up-and-down motion. The encapsulation bras limit some of the movement in the other directions as well.

In A-cup women, wearing a sports bra reduced overall breast movement by 53 percent, compared with a 55-percent reduction for G-cup women.

Smart support

A pair of D-cup breasts weighs about 15 to 23 pounds (7 to 10 kilograms).

But breasts have little natural support, Scurr says, although ligaments and the skin are thought to do most or all of the work. Breasts are made up of fat, milk ducts and connective tissues, such as collagen, ligaments and blood vessels. The momentum created by intense bouncing can stretch the breast's connective tissues, causing sagging and pain for many women.

An estimated 50 percent of women experience breast pain during exercise, Scurr claims.

Without appropriate bra support, some women abandon active sports due to breast pain, Scurr said.

"There really are women who want to do exercise but who don’t have the bras to cope," Scurr said. "I know of a 16-year-old who was selected to play basketball for the county, but she was told to give it up because she couldn’t find a bra that made playing possible."

Support of the bosom by a bodice (French: brassière). 1900

History of brassieres

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

The history of brassieres is inextricably intertwined with the social history of the status of women, including the evolution of fashion and changing views of the body.
Straps on the bra can be adjusted to fit the shoulder of the woman wearing it. Girls typically start wearing bras at ages 10–13. Women have used a variety of garments and devices to cover, restrain, or modify the display of breasts. From the 16th century onwards, the undergarments of wealthier women were dominated by the corset, which pushed the breasts upwards. In the latter part of the 19th century, various alternatives were experimented with, splitting the corset into a girdle-like restraining device for the lower torso, and transferring the upper part to devices suspended from the shoulder.
Since the late 19th century, the bra has replaced the corset as the most widely accepted method for supporting breasts. By the early 20th century, garments more closely resembling contemporary bras had emerged, although large-scale commercial production did not occur till the 1930s. Since then bras have replaced corsets (although some women prefer camisoles) and a minority go without. Brassieres are a multi-billion-dollar industry dominated by large multinational corporations. During the 20th century, the emphasis on brassiere usage has shifted from functionality to fashion.