The Tale of the Jack-O-Lantern

The Tale of the Jack-O-Lantern

Long, long ago in the land we now call Ireland, there lived a mean and tricky man named Jack. In fact, he was so sly he actually fooled the devil. One night, maybe it was Halloween night, he convinced the devil to climb a tree. As the devil moved from branch to branch, higher and higher, Jack carved a cross in the trunk. The power of the cross is so strong that the devil was trapped and couldn’t get down. To this day, we don’t know for sure how the devil got free. But when Jack died, he couldn’t get into heaven because he had lived a mean  and selfish life. Neither could he get into hell because he had tricked the devil. He was forced to wander the earth until judgment day. He owned nothing but a single turnip, and the devil gave him an ember, which he placed inside the hollowed-out turnip to serve as a lantern to light his way.

As time went by people remembered how Jack had trapped the devil and they began to carry lighted turnips on Halloween to frighten away evil spirits. When Irish families immigrated to the United States, they brought the jack-o-lantern custom with them. Here they began to use pumpkins instead of turnips because they were easier to carve.

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Shocking Facts about Halloween

Shocking Facts about Halloween

With the loving approval of their parents, children dress up in weird costumes and play pranks on Halloween night-little realizing that for over a thousand years this one evening in the year has been specially dedicated by spirit mediums and witches to the worship of Satan. 

Halloween has nothing to do with Christianity. It is a festival which no one-child or adult-should have anything to do with. We need to better understand the origins of Halloween and its dangers. 

During the Dark Ages, a number of pagan customs were adopted by the dominant Christian church in Europe. One of these was devil night, which was later named, "Halloween." This special night, celebrated since antiquity as the night when the devils came out and walked about the streets, was a satanic festival on October 31 of each year. 

The next day was called "All Saints Day" or "All Hallows Day", so "Halloween" was the night before Saints’ day. Like the night before it, All Hallows Day was dedicated to honoring the dead. 

1.  The first known mention of trick-or-treating in print in North America occurred in 1927 in Blackie, Alberta.

2.  Halloween takes place on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honouring the dead. Halloween was called All Hallows Eve and dates back over 2000 years.

3.  There really are so-called vampire bats, but they’re not from Transylvania. They live in Central and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.

4.  Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.

5.  Turnip was the vegetable traditionally carved before the pumpkin.

6. The day after Halloween is called All Saint's Day.

7. The Halloween color orange represent the harvest.

8. You wear masks on Halloween to keep the dead from recognizing the living.

9. It take a pumpkin to 90-120 days to grow.

10. Halloween is the third largest US party day of the year and the second Super Bowl Day.

11. Barnbrack is a traditional Halloween fruit cake.

12. Jack O'Lantern is ashifty villain.

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GOLDEN-HEADED QUETZAL

GOLDEN-HEADED QUETZAL

Pharomachrus auriceps 

1. Quetzals are members of the family Trogonidae. The golden-headed quetzal has a large range; they are found throughout Panama, northwest Venezuela, the Andes of Columbia and south to northern Bolivia & Peru. 

2. The golden-headed quetzal is well adapted to lush tropical and sub-tropical areas.

3. These birds prefer to eat fruits, with avocado being a favorite meal. They will also eat lizards and insects especially during their breeding season. When seeking fruit, they make an upward sweeping flight. Some fruits rely on this family of birds to spread their seed. 

4. The golden-headed quetzal is about 14 inches (35 cm) long. Both sexes are colored a bright iridescent green with a red underbelly and golden-colored heads. Males tend to be more brightly colored than the females, with a solid black tail and a yellow-orange bill. Females have brownish bills, shorter green tails, and a dull brownish-golden head. The gold feathers are also iridescent and appear brighter or golden in sunlight. Quetzals have short, rounded wings, broad squared tails and small legs and feet. They are zygodactyls, like parrots, which means they have two toes facing forward and two facing backwards, helping them to grasp perches. 

5. Quetzals are largely sedentary birds, relying on their brilliant green feathers to camouflage their location in the rain forests as they perch quietly for most of the day.

6. These birds make a variety of whistling, clucking calls to maintain pair bonds and communicate with their mates in the thick forest vegetation. Their wide bills can accommodate large pitted fruits. They swallow the fruits and then disgorge the pit. This allows trees to have their fruit dispersed for future germination.

7. Revered by the Mayans, the quetzal feathers were worn only by priests and nobility. 

8. The name quetzal is derived from the Aztec word ‘quetzalli,’ which means ‘beautiful’ or ‘precious.’ 

9. Guatemala proudly uses images of the quetzal on its flag, the national shield, postage stamps, and has a currency called the quetzal.

The Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno)

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The Potala Palace

The Potala Palace

Known as “布達拉” or “普陀珞” in Mandarin Chinese, the name is a translation from the Sanskrit language word  “Potalaka.”  Situated on  the  Maburishan Mountain (Red Mountain) in the northwest of Lhasa, capital of Tibet, the Potala Palace is a group of magnificent buildings which, standing at more than 3,700 meters above sea level, are the world’s tallest and most intact ancient constructions. The Potala Palace measures more than 360,000 square meters in land area. The 13-story main building is 117 meters tall. It is considered to be the most important example of Tibetan architecture and was the home of the Dalai Lama before he fled to India.

The White Palace

The Red palace

It was rebuilt by the 5th Dalai Lama and became the Winter Palace of the Dalai Lamas from that time. The 13-story building of 1,000 rooms can be seen from many miles away. The Potala is divided into two sections--an outer section, the White Palace, and an inner section, the Red Palace, the latter containing the temples and reliquary tombs of the Dalai Lamas. The entire building is a structure of stone and timber.

The palace is hailed as “the pearl on the roof ridge of the world” and also one of the ten architectural wonders of the world. In 1961, the  People’s Republic of China’s State Council included Potala Palace in the first group of the country’s important heritage sites under state protection. Then in 1994, the Potala Palace became a world heritage site.
Images:Wikipedia

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17 Reasons Why Apple’s iPhone Sucks

17 Reasons Why Apple’s iPhone Sucks

1. At $399, it is ridiculously expensive. (Add in the cost of an AT&T contract and you get close to $1500)

2. Those who want to buy one must sell their soul to evil mega-corporation AT&T.

3. Japan already has technologically superior phones, and they’re far cheaper.

4. Slower internet than the commercials show: “The data experience is going to be very slow. If you’re on a cellular network, [using the Internet] is going to be very slow.”

5. Initial reports indicate that YouTube is slow and crappy using cellular network internet. It’s nothing like in the commercials.

6. You cannot remove its battery. Thanks for replicating one of the biggest complaints about the ipod, Apple!

7. The glass touch screen of the iPhone guarantees that thousands of customers who drop their phones will have cracked screens.

8. The touchscreen keyboard sucks, according to those who have used the phone.

9. It can’t send MMS picture messages.

10. It has no built-in sync with Outlook that is as secure as a RIM BlackBerry or Windows Mobile.

11. It lacks proper support for Flash websites. So much for the internet.

12. It can’t record video.

13. No instant messaging.

14. It lacks 3G high-speed data transfer.

15. No songs as ringtones.

16. No GPS.

17. It creates incredibly annoying iPhone fanboys.

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Nutritional Benefits of Milk

Nutritional Benefits of Milk

Milk is an essential part of everyone’s diet. As a primary source for calcium and other nutrients, consuming milk is important for essential growth and development. Encourage children to consume adequate amounts of milk on a daily basis.Infants up to 12 months of age need only breast milk or iron-fortified infant formula.

Children ages one to two years old should be served whole milk. Children ages two and older may only be served fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.

Nutrition Facts
Fluid milk provides the body with various nutrients essential to growth and development including
1.  calcium,
2.  phosphorus,
3. potassium,
4.  magnesium,
5.  vitamins A, B, and D, and protein.
Low fat (1%) and fat-free (skim) milk provide all of the nutrients above with about one third of the saturated fat found in whole milk.

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The Spirit of Ecstasy-Rolls Royce

The Spirit of Ecstasy-Rolls Royce

The famous mascot was created in 1911 when artist Charles Sykes was commissioned  to illustrate the year's sales catalogue. Sykes drew a girl with arms outstretched, holding her flowing gown, and the figurine became known as 'The Spirit of Ecstasy', although she was originally called 'The Spirit of Speed' and also known as 'The Flying Lady' or 'The Silver Lady'. 

The Spirit of Ecstasy is one of the most well known motor car mascot in the world. Designed by Charles Robinson Sykes, The Spirit of Ecstasy has adorned the radiators of Rolls-Royce motor cars since 1911. This wonderful mascot was modelled after a young woman who had bewitching beauty, intellect and esprit - but not the social status which might have permitted her to marry the man with whom she had fallen in love. 

Eleanor Velasco Thornton

The model was Eleanor Velasco Thornton, whose relationship with John Walter Edward-Scott Montagu remained a secret for over a decade, principally because both lovers acted with the utmost discretion. John Scott, heir to his father's title, was a pioneer of the automobile in England. From 1902 he was editor of the  "The Car". Eleanor Thornton served as his secretary. Friends of the pair knew of their close relationship but they were sufficiently understanding as to overlook it. 

A member of this circle of friends was the sculptor Charles S.Sykes.  Lord Montagu ordered the creation of a special mascot for his Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The small statue depicted a young woman in fluttering robes having placed one forefinger to her lips. The sculptor had chosen Eleanor Thornton as model for this figurine, which was christened "The Whisper".  

Lord Montagu  had made the decision to put a mascot on top of the radiator, and it  had become a fashion. Rolls Royce had noted other owners of their cars following the new vogue, but doing so with questionable style by choosing mundane or even risqué and vulgar subjects.

Following Lord Montagu's commission, Charles Sykes was asked to create a mascot which in future would adorn every Rolls-Royce. In February 1911 he presented the "Spirit of Ecstasy", which was easily recognizable as being a variation on the theme of  "The Whisper". The similarity was hardly coincidental because the model for both had been Miss Thornton. 

The Spirit of Ecstasy was delivered by the Company with every Rolls-Royce. 

Spirit of Ecstasy

From 1911 to 1914 the Spirit of Ecstasy was silver-plated and thus many thought it a massive piece of precious metal - one reason for the frequent thefts. In smaller versions, and now made from highly polished nickel alloy, the radiator decoration has stood its ground on every Rolls Royce, including those in the present range.  

Royce did not like the Spirit of Ecstasy, which he judged her to be just a fashionable  bauble and complained that she spoiled the clear line of  the car's bow. The order to create the sculpture was given during the chief engineer's illness and had been absent. Thus it became a habit that Rolls-Royce cars used by Royce were rarely driven with a mascot in place.  

Towards the end of the twenties the new body line of Sports Saloons had reduced the height of the coachwork.  Royce was prompted to think about a lower variation of the Spirit of Ecstasy, by which alteration a driver might benefit from clear vision even with the windscreen lower and his seating position reduced in turn. Sykes created a kneeling version of the mascot, which fulfilled this requirement.  

The kneeling version remained after the Second World War for the new Silver Wraith and Silver Dawn. All following models, however, sported a standing mascot, although this has now been reduced in size considerably compared to the old one.  

The nickname "Emily" is widespread and Americans speak of the "Silver Lady" or the "Flying Lady".

In 1920 Rolls-Royce had taken part in a competition in Paris for the most apposite mascot in the world. This they did with a gold-plated Spirit  of Ecstasy, which secured Rolls-Royce first place. From then on gold-plated versions of the Spirit of Ecstasy were available from the company at an extra charge.  

The woman who had been the model for the radiator decoration, was not to appreciate its success. Eleanor Thornton lost her life when, on 30 December 1915, on the SS Persia, while on passage to India, was torpedoed off Crete by a German submarine. She had been accompanying Lord Montagu  who had been directed to take over a command in India. He was thought to have been killed, too, but survived and was rescued a few days later by another ship. On his return to England he read the obituary articles in the newspapers about his own demise.

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WORLDS LARGEST CHOCOLATE TRAIN IN HISTORY

WORLDS LARGEST CHOCOLATE TRAIN IN HISTORY 

The Chocolate Express

A train made entirely of chocolate has set a new Guinness World Record as the longest chocolate structure in the world.

The sculpture, on display at the busy Brussels South station, is 112-feet (34.05 meters) long and weighs over 2,755 pounds (1250 kilos).

Maltese chocolate artist Andrew Farrugia spent over 700 hours constructing the masterpiece.

Belgian Chocolate Festival in Bruge: "I had this idea for a while, and I said what do you think if we do this realization of a long chocolate train, you know, because a train you can make it as long as you like."Actually it was going to be much smaller than it was, but I kept on adding another wagon, and another wagon, and it's the size it is today."

Farrugia had previously built a smaller train of 12 feet for an event in Malta , which he said gave him insight about how to build this much larger version.

There are two parts to the train. The first seven wagons are modelled after the new Belgian trains, and the rest of the train is modeled after the old train wagons, including a wagon with a bar and restaurant on board.

Three days before the event, Farrugia transported the chocolate train by truck in 25 wooden boxes from Malta to Belgium.

Farrugia said the train incurred considerable damage during the drive and several of the train's walls had completely collapsed. Luckily, with hard work and little sleep, the chocolate artist was able to fix all the damages before presenting the train to the public on Monday.

After measuring the length of the train and confirming no material other than chocolate was used, officials from the Guinness Book of World Records added a new category to the collection of world records and declared the train to be the longest chocolate structure in the world.

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Tips to know if a girl likes you :)

Tips to know if a girl likes you :)

1 - This will help you learn little things that will come in handy in the future. If you like a girl, don't let her slip away, tell her the truth, but if you don't like her and she told you that she does, don't say anything...it can break her heart. And when she tells you that, and, you don't like her, tell her that she's a great person. Girls like it when boys say they like something that they did or either said you're great at something. All girls are different, so be aware of the signs. Listen to the tone of her voice: if she's shy, the tone of her voice might be a little more soft, and she might start to play with her hair (smoothing it down, twirling, flipping), adjusting her clothes, and might stare at you. Another sign she likes you is if she laughs at only your boring or stupid joke. (Though, don't use bad jokes as a test, or you'll risk looking like a comedy dork.) She may not be able to look you straight in the eye and she might giggle a lot because she is thinking of funny, nice gossip.

2 - If she's flirting, she may be difficult to read. Flirting girls may flirt with guys who they consider to be just friends, and it can be misconstrued as a crush. Although some girls have no idea they are flirting. Most girls do not want to be obvious, the flirting ones might flirt with you a little bit less or they might flirt with you even more. Either way, don't "flirt around". Do not flirt with other girls. If she ever sees you putting your arm around another girl or sees another girl hugging you, she may jump to conclusions and assume she doesn't mean anything to you. And she has nothing you like or she doesn't act the way you like girls.

3 - With this, you can go alone with it if you want, or just act busy like you're late for class or something.

4 - If she finds excuses to do so, then you're probably on the right track. Tell her it was okay and you're fine. But conversely, don't assume that she doesn't like you because her fall didn't touch you. She may be too nervous of you to touch you yet. Break the touch barrier yourself. She may also find other reasons to touch you, such as by lightly hitting you about the head, or soft punching to the body.

5 - If she likes you, she will either hold it for a long time or pull away immediately. Either of these could mean that she likes you. If she pulls away quickly, it means she is nervous but she still likes you. Some girls might just be staring so don't think she loves you and wants to kiss. But if she holds the stare, and you see love in her eyes, then she is confident and she may make the first move. If you happen to glance at the girl and you see her staring back at you, then this means that she likes you, although she may quickly dart her head in a different direction

6 - If you see most of her friends glancing back at you and smiling or giggling, this means that she is telling her friends about you. If her friends are loud and immature, you'll hear "(your name), (her name) likes you!" Her friends might be making it up, however, just to tease her. So you should probably listen to stuff like, "stop teasing me!" or "be quiet! He might hear!!" When she is having a conversation with her friends, and you come over, she might stop talking all of a sudden. This likely means you were the subject of the recently ended conversation. If she likes you and she told her friends about you, they might come up to you and start a random conversation about things such as: Who would you rather date me or (her name), who do you like better, who is the hottest, would you marry (her name) or me, etc. If they name a list of about 3 people and her name is in the list, she probably told her friends about you and they're trying to search for clues to see how you feel about her.

7 - If you're outside and the girl you like is nearby and starts loudly saying "I'm cold!", that's a subtle hint that she wants you to give her your sweater. This is a very sweet gesture, especially if you want to show the girl that you like her. If there are other guys and she likes one of those guys, however, she might act disappointed when you offer yours to her first, look for her mad and tell her that who ever she likes gave it to him to give it to her. In which case at least you'll know how she feels and can move on. Sometimes a girl will pretend to be really bad at something, and say that they can't do it. That is your chance to offer some assistance, and she will most likely be doing this on purpose just to see your reaction.

8 - Do a natural smile - don't freak her out. If she smiles politely, or frowns and looks away, she is obviously freaked out by you. If she returns a soft or big smile and continues to look at you, then she is interested. If she smiles then darts over to the crowd of her friends and hides in the group then she may be nervous and curious if you know that she likes you.

9 - If she's always there for you when you need help, even like when you mention that you're really thirsty and she quickly offers you a sip from her drink, she might like you. But don't assume that she's into you only from one experience. Ask her occasionally for small things, like chewing gum or a pen, and notice how she reacts. If she's always ready to offer you something you might need, go further and ask her to help you with something else, like a school/work problem. It shouldn't be something really easy to solve, but not too difficult either, as some girls who aren't too smart might say that they don't know how to help you with those kind of things. If she's eager to help you, she probably likes you. 

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Amazing Chocolate Facts

Amazing Chocolate Facts

All the chocolate we eat comes from one plant -the Theobroma cacao tree. These trees produce pods containing pulp-covered seeds. The seeds, once fermented and dried, are processed into chocolate. 

Cacao and Cocoa 

Cacao is the bean that comes from the cacao tree.

Cocoa is often used to describe the refined cacao bean after it has been processed, however the words cacao and cocoa are often used interchangeably in the chocolate making industry.

It is believed that the word cocoa came about as a result of a spelling mistake by European traders.


1. Cacao trees grow beneath the shady branches of taller trees in the rainforest

2. They don’t begin to bear fruit until they are at least three to five years old

3. Cacao trees produce flowers all year round

4. Tiny flies called midges pollinate these small flowers

5. Eventually, cacao pods will sprout from the trunk and branches of the tree

6. Cacao midges have the fastest wingbeat of any creature on earth-1000 beats per second.

7. Cacao midges are so small that they fit easily on the head of a straight pin

8. A cacao pod contains 30-50 almond sized seeds known as cacao beans. One cacao pod contains enough beans to make approximately seven milk chocolate bars


The Mayans

9. Before chocolate was eaten as a sweet, it was a spicy drink. Some of the earliest known chocolate drinkers (250-900 AD) were the ancient Mayans of Central America.

10. The Mayans gathered cacao seeds from rainforest trees and planted them in household gardens. They plucked the pods, scooped out the seeds, and using a stone, they ground them into chocolate. They mixed chocolate with cornmeal, chilli peppers, honey, and water.

11. Mayan priests presented a chocolate drink at sacred altars during special religious ceremonies. When rich Mayans served chocolate they used lavishly decorated cups made by specially trained artists.


The Aztecs 

12. The ancient Aztecs got their taste for chocolate from their Mayan  neighbours. From 1200 cacao played a key role in the vast trade empire of the Aztec people. Cacao wouldn’t grow on Aztec land, so Aztec traders travelled to Mayan country to buy the precious seeds.

13. Cacao seeds were used as money when shopping at the market for food, clothes, and even kitchen tools and utensils. Some dishonest merchants made counterfeit cacao seeds too!

14. Chocolate was a special drink reserved only for wealthy Aztecs or kings. King Montezuma is reported to have drunk 50 goblets of chocolate a day.

15. The Aztecs presented offerings of cacao to their god Quetzalcoatl, who is often depicted as a feathered serpent.


The Spanish  

16. In 1521, the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés led an army to conquer the Aztec empire. The Spanish victors carried many treasures back home with them, including cacao seeds and the Aztec recipe for the drink. Within 100 years the popularity of hot chocolate spread to the rest of Europe.

17. The Spanish invented a wooden stirring stick called a molinillo to whip their  chocolate into a froth. They also added sugar to sweeten the bitter taste.

18. Like the Aztecs, Europeans created special serving dishes for drinking chocolate. In fact saucers were invented specifically to keep chocolate from spilling on fine clothes.

19. Chocolate houses became popular places in 17th century Europe to socialise and drink chocolate. Wealthy people drank chocolate for breakfast. It was considered the height of good breeding to lie in bed and leisurely sip a cup of hot cocoa.

A Bar of Chocolate 

20. By the 1800s new processes made it possible to create solid bars of chocolate for eating, not just liquid chocolate for drinking. New inventions, machines, and mass production made chocolate  affordable and not just a luxury for the rich.

21. The steam driven chocolate mill, invented in 1732, made it easier and faster to grind cacao seeds and cheaply produce large amounts of chocolate. In 1828 Dutchman Coenraad Johannes van Houten invented the chocolate press. Still used today, this machine squeezes out cocoa butter and makes it possible to produce solid chocolate as well as cocoa powder.

22. From Ghana, then known as the Gold Coast, cocoa beans were dispensed to other countries including Nigeria. From 1911-1976 Ghana was the world's leading coco producer supplying chocolate for most of the growing European market.

23. Ghanaian cocoa growers pooled resources to set up Kuapa Kokoo, a farmers’ cooperative.  Kuapa Kokoo trades its own cocoa in order to get a better price on the market for cocoa sold and to improve the farmers’ standard of living.

24. At a meeting in 1997 the farmers decided to create a chocolate bar of their own. With the support of Twin Trading, Comic Relief, the Body Shop and others, the farmers set up Day Chocolate, which later became known as Divine Chocolate.

25. Kuapa Kokoo’s motto is ‘pa pa paa’ which means ‘the best of the best’. You get the best of the best chocolate and the cocoa farmers get a fair and secure price for their crop.

26. One of York’s most famous sons is Joseph Rowntree, a Quaker remembered for his work towards improving conditions of working people and founding the famous Rowntrees chocolate and confectionary company. In 1827 he set up a grocer’s shop, which in time expanded into a chocolate factory, and now many of the sweets and chocolate bars that are much loved in Britain, like Kit Kat and Yorkie, are manufactured in the York factory.

27. York’s other great chocolate name is Terry’s. The firm began in 1767. The Terry’s name first appeared when Joseph Terry became a partner in 1823. At peak seasons over 700 people were employed at the plant to produce world-renowned delights such as Terry’s All Gold. The York factory closed in 2005 and moved its operation to Poland.

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The three peaks of Lavaredo

The three peaks of Lavaredo

The Drei Zinnen, or Tre cime di Lavaredo, are  three peaks  forming an  impressive massif in the Sexten Dolomites, on the border of the Italian province of Belluno to the south and Alto Adige to the north. The highest summit in the group, Große Zinne or Cima Grande,  reaches an altitude of 2,999 m,  flanked by  the other  two peaks,  the Westliche Zinne/Cima Occidentale/(2,973 m) and Kleine Zinne /Cima Piccola (2,857 m).  Aside  from  these  important  landforms,  there  are  also  some  other  peaks  that belong to the same massif, such as the Punta di Frida (2,792 m) and Pressturm or Kleinste Zinne/Cima Piccolissima (2,700 m).

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