Worldwide Countdown of 2011

Countdown to a new year naturally means party but every year people want to do it differently either going to a beach party or staying at home with loved ones near their television sets watching the countdown program and ushering in the new year.Some others who want to keep it simple will  message everyone at midnight till their last penny gets over.


As such,this year, how is it different in various parts of the world?

In Chennai, Hotel Accord Metropolitan ushers in the new year with party at OPM themed "flow with the glow".Best known as a party hub in Chennai, offers a  price of (Rs 3,500 per couple) includes unlimited beverages and snacks throughout the night from 6pm till 1am. 


In Hong Kong,hundreds of thousands of people gathered along Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor to watch fireworks explode from the roofs of 10 buildings.


In Japan's Zojoji temple in Tokyo, monks chanted and revelers marked the arrival of the new year by releasing silver balloons with notes inside.


In South Korea, up to 100,000 people participated in a bell-ringing ceremony in central Seoul, which involves officials and citizens striking the large bronze bell hung in the Bosingak bell pavilion 33 times at midnight.


In Europe, Greeks, Irish and Spaniards partied through the night to help put a year of economic woe behind them.In Greece, thousands spent the last day of 2010 standing in line at tax offices to pay their road tax or sign up for tax amnesty. 

In Australia, multicolored star busts and gigantic sparklers lit the midnight sky over Sydney Harbor in a pyrotechnics show which was witnessed by 1.5 million spectators. 


Italians welcomed  the new year with illegal fireworks, shot off in squares and alleys which is a tradition that usually results in numerous hand and eye injuries.


In France, police were on alert for terror attacks and for celebrations getting out of hand. Rampaging youths typically set fire to scores of vehicles on New Year's Eve. 53,820 police officers were mobilized, 6,000 more than usual.

In Singapore,  Marina Bay Countdown Party 2011 took place at Marina Bay, which is the centre of Singapore.Theme this year is Celebration of Collective dreams. It will bring together the collective wishes and aspirations of thousands of Singaporeans, and unite all in counting down the final seconds of the year to celebrate the beginning of a new year full of hopes, challenges, changes and dreams.Fireworks, world class DJ music and live coverage by Channel News Asia( TV channel) is the speciality of the program this year.


As it is obvious from the facts given, countdown is casual for most of us but some countries like France are still weary of Terror threats like Al-Qaeda and Greece is worried for its economy.Thus, it is not the parties which matter.As world countries are still concerned with economic recovery and terror threat, the onus is on the world countries or the leader, US to unite world countries on this and international efforts be taken in conjunction with the new year celebrations.We have to build territorial and economic security before we rejoice.


http://www.ayczone.com/articles/countdown-2011-celebrating-the-new-year-in-the-city-of-hope.html
http://bpdgtravels.blogspot.com/2010/12/marina-bay-singapore-countdown-20102011.html
http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-7760146/aHR0cDovL2FhanJhdC5ibG9nc3BvdC5jb20vMjAxMC8xMi9uZXcteWVhcnMtZXZlLmh0bWw= 

Best Paid Stars under 30-what does it mean to us?

They are young, hot and rich.You cannot get enough of them. The top 5 stars are all below 30 and yet earned a record salary in 2010. The top 5 on the list are

1) Beyonce,         Age: 29   ( $ 87 million)
2) Britney Spears,  Age : 29  ( $ 64million)
3) Lady Gaga,       Age: 25    ($ 62million)
4) Miley Cyrus      Age: 17    ($ 48million)
5) Taylor Swift      Age: 20    ($45 million)

In India,
Kareena Kapoor Age: 30   ( Rs 7 crores)

All these facts just shock us and make us wonder why can't we be paid the celebrity way? Why can't we too live the celebrity life? Branded clothes, costly cars, media attention, Music tours and many more things are the reasons why we too want to be celebrities.Taking a look at reality, we sulk that education is the only way to earn hard core cash.

So,what does this mean to us? We cant stop reading and watching videos about these celebrities.Some of us are die hard fans of these stars that we are the first to download their songs and spread the news among friends.

I feel that celebrities sacrifice their childhood in order to earn the money they do.For example Miley Cyrus has a private tutor now and she started acting from age 9.At age 12, she started acting in Disney Series,Hannah Montanna. This takes away opportunity for her to make friends and socialise like any other child.They even do photo shoots which are revealing as part of their career.For example, Miley did a photoshoot which only a rug when she was 15.Britney Spears too went through highs and lows in her career and personal life, getting married twice, shaving her head bold, loosing self control over inability to get custody over her babies.As such, stardom comes at a very large cost.

What do we ordinary people learn from these?  Money is not everything that we need.We need relationships, we need to mould characters which are exemplary.






http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/7765950-spears-beyonce-highest-paid-in-2010
http://www.celebitchy.com/14452/beyonce_has_a_million_bucks_worth_of_wigs/
http://www.indiareport.com/picture.php?k=1&sourceNewsId=1149405

Rajinikanth Fever

Rajini Kanth has became more of a Global entertainment icon after acting for more than more than 25years in Tamil Cinemas.His movies started taking off since the 1975.He has 150films to his credit.Since 1982, he has won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actor at least 5 times. He is known for his style and punch dialogs which have found a special place in fans' hearts till today.His latest achievement is Endiran, 'Robot' which fetched him global recognition and fans idealized him to the extent that they started taking on prayers for God using needles and pulling chariats  and milk 'abhishagham" on his posters for the success of Rajini's films.No die hard fan of Rajini Kanth Sir misses any one of his movies and they make sure they get tickets to 1st day, 1st show. News Updates attest to this.He has 50,000 fan clubs worldwide.In Chennai, even politicians like Chief Minister , M.Karunanithi and Union Minister for Chemical and Fertilizers,M.K.Alagiri, visited the Satyam theatres to watch 'Robo' when it released in theatres here.

What is so special that "Robo" has to be watched at any cost? No.1, it is talked about by everyone for the actors, Miss World Ashwariya Rai,Rajini in dual roles,(as a scientist and Robo) the world class effects along with production cost of Rs 160 crores ,the movie is dubbed in 3 languages.Tamil,Telungu and Hindi and  music by A.R.Rahman. These names only makes our expectations grow higher and create desire to watch it upon release in cinemas.

Rajini's fever is not only seen in the latest movie, Endhiran but he has been gaining fan base as it is evident in previous movies and the response they drew for him in his career.Rajini has served as a stylish character to convey messages to the youth,politicians and people through the movies he acted in so far.   During the year 1995, in "Basha" , he sang the 8 divisions of human life.In 1999 , in  Padaiyappa, he said " No man who is greedy and no woman who is angry can reach success in life".His famous dialogs can never be forgotten.For instance, "na oru thadavai sonna nooru thadavai sonna mathiri , en valli thani valli".

In 2009, when Kuselan movie was released in New Jersey, it was released in 50 cinemas there alone and Rajini M&Ms were sold at the cinemas.Lots of crowd keep coming to watch the star.

With new actors coming in, will Rajini fever die down? The obvious answer is no. Watching his movies today can lift up the style quotient and also the "I can do spirit" in any one of us as he  has acted just like an ordinary person which is something that everyone,(regardless of social or economic status) can easily relate to.

http://www.squidoo.com/super-star-rajinikanth-the-real-hero-in-india
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/6916064-rajini-fever-sweep-across-india-with-endhiranrobot-staggering-success
http://tamilgrounds.com/blog/2008/07/27/kuselan-delivers-the-punch-exclusive-first-look/

Bikini Babes 2010

Bikini babes  2010

Donning bikinis and flaunting their oomphy bodies is another way these models cum actresses market themselves in the film industry. The  top 5 on the Bikini Babes List 2010:

1)    Mugdha Godse

2)    Punjabi Anushka Sharma

3)    Aruna Shield, British Actress

4)    Lara,Deepika,Jiah Khan

5)    Priyanka Chopra

They all share a common history. All have accolades related to modelling then, they moved on to acting in Bollywood. Mugta Gupta (24) has been crowned Bikini Babe 2010. She is currently acting in Help opposite Bobby Deol. . In 2002, she participated and won the Gladrags Mega Model Hunt. In 2004, Godse took part in the biggest modeling contest in India, the Femina Miss India contest. She reached the semi-finals and won the Miss Perfect Ten title.She entered Bollywood in the movie Fashion in the year 2008. In 2009, she acted All the best, Jail and Help is her latest movie which is 13 Aug 2010.

Next up on second position comes Anushka Sharma(22), who did not have much aspirations for herself in the film industry as her interests were solely to make it big in modelling. She began her modeling career at the Lakme Fashion Week as a model for Wendell Rodricks's Les Vamps Show and was picked to be Rodricks's finale model at the Spring Summer '07 Collection. Since then she has done campaigns for Silk & Shine, Whisper, Nathella Jewelry and Fiat Palio.Her first acting role was in Aditya Chopra's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) opposite Shahrukh Khan.

On third position, Aruna Shield.The UK born, Anglo Indian decent is the only babe with drama and theatre related experience  and was spotted at a theatre workshop by an acting agent.After working with theatre for over a year, she entered   worked in various other leads in independent and feature films like Mission Improbable (2007),  Live Bait and Private Moments (2005).She made her Bollywood debut in 2010, in the action thriller, Prince. The same year, she appeared in the epic adventure Ao The Last Neanderthal, a love story set 30,000 years ago in a lost savage world. The film was produced by European cinema chain UGC. Her film Mr Singh Mrs Mehta, was released on 25 June 2010.Aruna is also a dance choreographer and has experience as a belly dancer.According to Google zeitgeist , in the year 2010 , Aruna was the second most sought after actress in internet queries originating from India.

On fourth position, there is a tie among Lara Dutta(32) , Jiah Khan(22) and Deepika Padukone(25). Lara Dutta has a diverse background.Having studied economics, she went on to modelling. Then after clinching Miss Universe 2000 Title, she won the annual Gladsrags modeling competition in her native India, thus winning the right to be the first Indian representative at the 1997 Miss Intercontinental, in which she took first place. Later, she was crowned Femina Miss India Universe and Miss Universe in 2000. Later in Bollywood, Her box office "hits" included Masti (2004), No Entry (2005) and Partner (2007) and House Full (film) (2010).Her latest success movie has to be blue which was a challenge for someone with swimming phobia. Its all thanks to Akshay Khanna who encouraged her to pick up swimming with the special swimming trainer.

Jiah Khan, another babe who is also british born acted in quite a few movies.She is most remembered for her role in Dulha Bikta Hai.Ghajini(2008) and Houseful(2007) are her landmark movies so far.

Deepika Padukone, the natural bikini babe who flaunts bikinis for the first time turned heads when she daunted one. She was spotted in a ramp competition in NLS, Bangalore.Over the years,  she has modeled for such Indian brand names as Liril,  Dabur Lal powder,  Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, and has been "brand ambassador" for the Jewels of India retail jewelry show.The cosmetics company Maybelline made her its international spokesperson. At the fifth annual   Kingfisher  Fashion Awards she was awarded the title "Model of the Year". Then she was chosen as one of the models for the Kingfisher SwimsuitCalendar for 2006 and won two trophies at the Idea Zee Fashion Awards: "Female Model of the Year - (Commercial Assignments)" and "Fresh Face of the Year".Padukone was also chosen as the brand ambassador of Kingfisher Airlines and later Levi Strauss and Tissot SA.In addition, she appeared in the music video for Himesh Reshammiya's song Naam Hai Tera.

She has earned a remarkable name in Om Shanti Om(2006)  and comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno(2008) and Love Aaj Kal, (2009).

Standing on no.5 is Priyanka Chopra who shot to fame after becoming Miss World in 2000. She acted in  movies The Hero: Love Story of a Spy for which she won a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. She is known for her success in movies like Dostana and Fashion. She also acted in the movie, Ashutosh Gowariker's What's Your Raashee?. This is the 1^st film Chopra became the first actress in the world to portray 12 distinct characters on screen.She is being considered for inclusion in an upcoming edition of Guinness World Records for this feat.

Some films get publicity through the “bikini babe concept” more than the content.

DHOOM:2 – Apart from the fact that it being a sequel to smashing hit DHOOM and Hrithik-Aishwarya’s fresh pair, the film gained maximum eyeballs as Bipasha Basu sported a hot bikini not to mention the hot and skimpy costumes for Ash too.

TASHAN – From day one this action-thriller was promoted wholly-solely with the fact Kareena acquiring a size-zero figure to don a bikini in the film.

DOSTANA – Though this fun-filled outing’s major attraction was John and Abhishek’s naughty camaraderie but Priyanka’s sexy gold Bikini definitely became a talk of the town and one of the major selling points when the film was about to hit the screens.

BLUE – The action-adventure gave Lara Dutta enough opportunity to wear Bikini in the film. Considering the fact that BLUE was mostly set underwater, Lara was hardly seen in casuals or any other form of outfits.

SHORTKUT – After doing enough of demure, girl-next door, shy roles finally Amrita Rao joined the bikini brigade with this film. Till date SHORTKUT is more than remembered for Amrita’s sexy avatar.

DIL BOLE HADIPPA – Following the syndrome of ‘If my contemporaries can do it, so can I’, Bollywood actress Rani Mukherji also shed few kilos and sport a bikini for the first time in her career to promote her film.

Along parallel lines, Model Amanpreet Wahi says “Indian actresses are going more for bikini in movies because for some it is an easy way to gain popularity. If an actress is coming in a bikini in a movie, then few months before the release there is a hype, which attracts audiences. "

Isn’t it obvious that film and fashion industry is fusing into one and fashion models are the ones who later go on to act? Thus, the western bikini culture is slowly seeping into Indian culture.To grab eye balls the directors make their lead actress wear bikini and we audience too watch it.Thus, we too entertain such practices.Its good as long as the movie gets a classic direction just like the western movies.But we still respect our Indian woman even if they wear Saree or Bikini.

http://www.bollywoodtrends.net/2010/12/bollywoods-bikini-beauties-of-2010.html

 

http://www.mahiram.com/2010/02/01/bollywood-cashing-in-on-bikini-babes/

 

Are we too comfortable with Technology?

Technology can be defined as the latest gadgets, the internet, videos, games, audio websites, social networking websites, etc which makes our lives more convenient without having to travel, we spend time online and get information as well as get entertained at the same time.

As such, the growing concern here is that the constant switching of tasks means the Youth will not be able to sustain their attention on each of the task. “Their brains are not rewarded for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing” says Michael Rich, Associate Professor of Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Centre on Media and Children Health in Boston.To add on, he says,and the effects could linger “The worry is that we are raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently”

To deal with this problem, Westwood High Scool Principal, David Reilly, 37 suggests using the same technology to get back the children’s attention.I think this is a wonderful concept.Websites are to be created to communicate with students, classes where  digital tools are used to record music, iPads used to teach Mandrin and so on.Students who are tech savy want to flaunt their skills and they spend a lot of their homework time trying to learn the technology they love.I do not  mean to say this is wrong but not at the cost of their regular learning curriculum. To well utilise their skills in the use of technology, college programs should start portals for online discussion of a specific subject matter and also have more online quizzes to give them the feeling that they went online to do their college work.If that is not creative enough, colleges should involve students in designing aspects using the various technology softwares like Dreamwever, Photoshop cs3 to create websites,brochures of their own.

Youth want instant gratification and they opt for E-books.Is that a viable option? Yes, certainly.Recently, Samsung Galaxy Tab was launched in the Indian msrkets.It offers an unique application called “Reader’s Hub” which gives access to a vast digital Library.One can access over 2 million e-books, 3,000 magazines and 1,600 newspapers in English and Vernacular languages on the go.How else can you enrich your knowledge other than the use of Technology? Lifestyles of Youth made more easier, knowledge is now at your hand, No, palm.

The cost of owning one Galaxy tab might burn into your purse strings demanding 2 months salary close to Rs.38,000. Well, its worth all the penny you invest.You want to get satisfied in information gathering, news, song collection (100,000 indian songs), GPS maps which help guide you around India and what’s more, you have an ultimate HD experience with full time connectivity to the net. This means as Youth, non-stop connectedness to the social world. Facebook, Twitter, hotmail and the list goes on.

Youth can break boundaries and come out as winners provided they use technology to the common good of all. Presentations in classes be in Video or Powerpoint silde Shows, it interacts with the students and helps sustain their interest for a longer span of time. This will mean that the content too stays in the minds of  the students as they are actively involved in the process of sharing and receiving information. In short, technology is our friend. If misused, it can turn into a foe.

http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2007/10/facebook-as-learning-platform.html

http://hubpages.com/hub/Embrace-Technology-Early-How-To-Enhance-Learning-Through-Blogs-Wikis-Videos-And-Podcasts

Online information should be free

Jeremy Wagstaff is writes a weekly column for The Wall Street Journal’s Asian and Online editions.He is also a consultant on issues relating to innovation and technology.I appreciate him pointing that online information should be free especially to journalist.This is largely due to the information overload which is available on the net.As long as you have net connection paid for, no need to pay for information.

"In Asia it’s hard to draw a line somewhere, and I’ve covered sleazy politicians and (even sleazier) tech PR companies, all of whom expect to get something for something. " This is true as money is the centre of all activities esp. in asian economies which are more practical and not willing to take risk.For example, recently, the Polestar Awards in Chennai in Park Hotel was organized for awarding best technology articles.In that, They have to spend so much money to get the technology information to be published on print and online.Its not an easy job.As, such i agree that information online should be paid for especially when large amount of work[(team work + travelling) which involves high expenditure] comes into the preparation of the content.

blog link: http://www.loosewireblog.com/2008/10/should-journali.html