TODAY’S HOLIDAY: FIESTA OF SAN BLAS

Fiesta of San Blas

San Blas (Saint Blaise) is the patron saint of Paraguay, and his feast day, February 3, is observed throughout the country. Asunción and other large cities host religious processions, and the smaller villages often have bullfights on this day. Flowers, ribbons, and paper money (attached to the tail) adorn the bull. Because this event is a humorous commentary onbullfighting, rather than a real bullfight, the goal is not to kill the bull. Instead, bullfighters try to grab hold of the bull and remove the money from its tail without getting hurt. More… Discuss

Related articles

• Blessing of Throats/St. Blaise
• Bullfight goes ahead as authorities look the other way
• Bullfights in Ardmore
• American Missionary Gored at Zapote Bullfights
• Monday (February 3): “Tell them how much the Lord has done for you”

 

QUOTATION: E. M. Forster

Lord I disbelieve — help thou my unbelief.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) Discuss

Related articles

• E. M. Forster

 

TODAY’S BIRTHDAY: ELIZABETH BLACKWELL (1821)

Elizabeth Blackwell (1821)

Blackwell chose to pursue a medical education at a time when doctors were almost exclusively male. Consequently, she was rejected by many medical schools before one in New York accepted her. In 1849, she became the first woman in the US to receive a medical degree, but her struggle did not end there. Barred from practice in most hospitals, she, her sister, and another female doctor founded their own practice and later a women’s medical college. How did a joke gone wrong give Blackwell her start?More… Discuss

Related articles

• Elizabeth Blackwell – Heroic Women
• Elizabeth Blackwell becomes the First Female Doctor
• How Elizabeth Blackwell became the first female doctor in the U.S.

 

THIS DAY IN THE YESTERYEAR: AUSTRALIA’S LAST EXECUTION (1967)

Australia’s Last Execution (1967)

In the 16 years leading up to the execution of Ronald Ryan for the killing of a guard during a prison break, every single death sentence in Victoria, Australia—35 in all—had been commuted to life in prison. By then, two Australian states had abolished capital punishment for murder, and many in Victoria were under the impression that it had done the same. The decision to carry out Ryan’s execution was widely protested. How many of the jurors who had convicted Ryan later petitioned on his behalf? More… Discuss

Related articles

• Capital punishment should be abolished
• Tsarnaev (and capital punishment, the morality of the death penalty, and equivocation)
• States must rethink capital punishment
• Capital Punishment
• Executions in US drop close to 20-year low in 2013
• NY Times editorial talks of “Slow Demise of Capital Punishment”
• 57 percent in Mass. don’t want Boston bomber executed
• Executions in US drop close to 20-year low in 2013
• Tamayo Execution Reveals Real Problems With US Capital Punishment

 

ARTICLE: THE LOST BOYS OF SUDAN

The Lost Boys of Sudan Since the 1980s, when the Second Sudanese Civil War broke out, more than 20,000 of the nation’s boys have been displaced or orphaned. Most of these “Lost Boys”—separated from their families when government troops attacked villages in southern Sudan—walked for years in search of safety, traveling over a thousand miles to refugee camps. More than half died along the way. Many of the survivors have since been resettled in the US. What happened to Sudan’s “Lost Girls“? More…Discuss

Related articles

• PHOTOS: ‘Lost Boy of Sudan’ graduates from Lackland as an American soldier
• Lost Boy of Sudan, a former FSCJ student, killed in recent fighting in South Sudan
• South Sudan: ‘Lost Boys’ of Sudan Cry for Peace

Barbra Streisand- Memory

[youtube.com/watch?v=VLaScTPAb54]

Barbra Streisand- Memory (with lyrics)

Great Compositions/Performances: Prokofiev – ‘The Love for Three Oranges Suite’, Op 33bis – BBC Symphony Orchestra, Rudolf Kempe conducting

Sergei Prokofiev
The Love for Three Oranges Suite, Op 33bis

00:00 I. The Clowns
03:04 II. The Magician and the Witch Play Cards
06:19 III. March
07:44 IV. Scherzo
09:15 V. The Prince and Princess
13:01 VI. The Flight

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Rudolf Kempe, conductor

Related articles

• Prokofiev’s Life
• 1917 revolution. Prokofiev’s diaries

Great Compositions/Performances: Symphony No 8 in F major Op 93 Christian Thielemann

Buy “Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93: IV. Allegro vivace” on

Google PlayAmazonMP3

Artist
Christian Thielemann

 

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) – “Dubinuschka”, op. 62.

[youtube.com/watch?v=buHBcuMu9W4]
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) – “Dubinuschka”, op. 62.

L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Ernest Ansermet

Related articles

• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee” According To Harry James
• January 7 – Rimsky ‘Song of India’, Flash Gordon, 50 Cent debut
• Russian guide to 2014: 170th birth anniversary of Rimsky-Korsakov

 

Great Compositions/Performances: Bach English Suite No 5 BWV 810 E minor Andras Schiff

[youtube.com/watch?v=kFi9rTNpQrg]
Johann Sebastian Bach
András Schiff, Piano
English Suite No 5 in E minor, BWV 810
Prelude 0:00
Allemande 5:23
Courante 8:38
Sarabande 10:35
Passepied I, Passepied II 13:43
Gigue 16:56

Related articles

• András Schiff: 60th birthday concert, review: ‘great pianism’
• Johannes Monno Playing the Fugue from Bach’s BWV997

 

J. S. Bach – Motet “Singet Dem Herrn Ein Neues Lied” BWV 225 (1/3)

1. Singet Dem Herrn Ein Neues Lied
Occasion unknown.
Ps. 149:1-3; Johann Gramann, verse 3 of “Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren,” 1530 (Wackernagel, I, #455) and interpolated aria by an unknown poet; Ps. 150:6.
Composed in Leipzig (1726-27)
Text:
[Ps. 149:1-3] (Chorus I, Chorus II)
“Sing ye the Lord a new refrain; the assembly of saints should be telling his praises. Israel joyful be in him who hath made him. Let Zion’s children rejoice in him who is their mighty king; let them be praising his name’s honor in dances; with timbrels and with psalt’ries unto him be playing”.

Hilliard Ensamble

Bach-Motets playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list…

Related articles

• Johann Sebastian Bach, The North German Philharmonic & Walter Langer – Brandenburg Concerto No.3 In G Major, BWV 1048: I. Allegro
• Die Musik-Flatrate-eine neue Online Musik Lizenz – Gerd Leonhard 2012
• Honour for Bach expert

 

Philip Seymour Hoffman Dead Overdose Apparent Cause

Related articles

• Update: Apparent Overdose Claims Life of Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman
• 22 of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Most Memorable Movie Roles (Photos)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman dead at 46
• Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead
• Oscar-Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman Found Dead in Manhattan Apartment

 

War on Drugs in U.S. Partly to Blame for Deforestation of Central American Rainforests

Related articles

• Latin American Drug Trade Ruining Ecosystems in Central America – Latin Post
• Drug Trafficking Is Destroying Central America’s Rainforest
• Narco-Trafficking Destroying Central America
• Drug trafficking contributing to deforestation in Central America
• Drug smugglers ravage Central American forests in quest for secrecy

 

What’s missing in picture, by George-B

What’s missing in picture,  by George-B

If the images would have words
it would tell of the cold and heat
The sun hidden by the trees,
sun looking through  the trees
the murmur of the  water somewhere
not far enough, but just as far as to be invisible …

 Grass fragrance  barely being mowed and
now fanned to dry, 
the wind fluttering through the branches and leaves-
all 
would look at us through the frame of the picture…

NEW AT EUZICASA: WIDGET the ‘Access American Bone Health’ find out about your bone health!

American Bone Health (Click here to access)

What will you find once there:

• We must use tools for osteoporosis prevention
• We need more emphasis on fracture risk evaluation
• Primary care should handle most osteoporosis patients

Related articles

• New Bone Drug 3 Times More Effective Than Existing Treatments
• Muscle is three times better than fat for bones
• Muscle loss threatens elderly health.
• Research Could Lead to New Drugs for Osteoporosis
• Exercise for bone health
• What is the definition of osteoporosis?
• Proper Nutrition Helps Prevent Osteoporosis

TO YOUR HEALTH: Bone-Safe Yoga (for people with skeletal health conditions such as osteoporosis)

Published on Dec 20, 2012

Google Tech Talk
November 13, 2012
(more info below)
Presented by Kathleen Cody, Shelley Powers, and Annie Appleby

ABSTRACT

Yoga is a great practice for reducing stress and enhancing your well-being. But, did you know that some poses can be harmful as you get older? Take time to understand the risky movements and how to modify them to strengthen your bones and prevent fractures.

Come learn about:

– The basics of bone health and get some tips to improve overall posture
– Understand how yoga can help reduce bone loss and fractures as you age
– Incorporate the principles of bone safe yoga into your practice
– In-office Yoga Poses to help realign your posture during your work day

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Kathleen Cody and Annie Appleby impart their expertise on the mechanics of alignment, dynamic alignment and leg strengthening to prevent bone loss and fractures in your yoga practice.

For more information:
http://www.americanbonehealth.org/

Related articles

• Yoga Health Benefits For Women
• Power Post: Yoga Is Healthy
• Using Yoga to Rehab Your Back
• Yoga to Reduce Stress
• Adho Mukha Svanasasa ~ Downward Facing Dog

*Breathing Techniques* (Yoga, Meditation, Relaxation, Stress, Cancer, Blood Pressure) Kapalbhati

Free Teachings: http://acharyashreeyogeesh.com 
Facebook: http://fb.com/acharyashreeyogeesh
Spiritual Retreats & Classes: http://siddhayatan.org

Acharya Shree Yogeesh conducts his first online video tutorial which covers a breathing technique called kapalbhati. He describes kapalbhati’s history, purpose, and benefits of this ancient yogic breathing technique, and teaches you how to do it.

= About Acharya Shree Yogeesh =
Acharya Shree Yogeesh is a living enlightened master of this era and founder of the Siddhayatan Tirth and Spiritual Retreat, a unique 200+ acre spiritual pilgrimage site and meditation park in North America providing the perfect atmosphere for spiritual learning, community, and soul awakening to help truth seekers advance spiritually. Acharya Shree Yogeesh is also the founder of the Yogeesh Ashram near Los Angeles, California, Yogeesh Ashram International in New Delhi, India, and the Acharya Yogeesh Primary & Higher Secondary School in Haryana, India.

As an inspiring revolutionary spiritual leader and in-demand speaker worldwide, for over forty years Acharya Shree Yogeesh has dedicated his life to helping guide hundreds of thousands of people on their spiritual journey of self-improvement and self-realization. 

It is Acharya Shree Yogeesh’s mission to spread the message of nonviolence, vegetarianism, oneness, and total transformation. 

= Connect with Acharya Shree Yogeesh =
Teachings: http://acharyashreeyogeesh.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/acharyashreeyogeesh
Spiritual Retreats: http://siddhayatan.org

= Connect with Sadhvi Siddhali Shree =
Free Book: http://siddhalishree.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/siddhalishree

Other resources:
http://awakenchakras.com (Awaken Chakras, Activate Kundalini)
http://siddhalishree.com (Sadhvi Siddhali Shree, Spiritual Blog)
http://siddhayatan.org (Siddhayatan Spiritual Retreat and Ashram)
http://spiritualchildrenscamp.com (Spiritual Children’s Camp)

Related articles

• Swami Mukundananda
• Bikram Yoga for Better Abs
• Why it’s important to be a Lightworker
• Benefits Of Pranayama Yoga Exercises And Techniques
• Personal Spiritual Retreats Are the Best Policy to Be Happy
• Reading the powerful ‘Dariyalal’ by Gunwantrai Acharya

 

Info Transylvania – Accomodation in Transylvania, Tourist Attractions in Transylvania, all about Transylvania

 

Ce-i lipseste pozei, de George-B

Ce-i lipseste pozei, de George-B 

Daca imaginile ar avea cuvinte,
ne-ar povesti de frig si cald,
de soarele ascuns de arbori,
de soarele privind prin brazi
de apa sipotind de-undeva,
nu prea departe, destul sa fie nevazuta…

Aroma ierbii, de abia cosita si
rasfirata ca sa se usuce,
si vantul fîlfîind prin ramuri si frunze-toate
ne-ar privi din cadrul unei poze…

Purple Tomato Genetically Engineered to Fight Cancer | Squid Ink | Los Angeles | Los Angeles News and Events | LA Weekly

LA Weekly: Access Here

http://www.laweekly.com/

Great Compositions/Performances: Mozart – Serenade in G major, K. 525 ‘Eine kleine Nachtmusik’ -Conductor: Jordi Savall Le Concert des Nations Ensemble

[youtube.com/watch?v=-lNrbusiAvY]

Mozart Serenade ‘Eine kleine Nachtmusik’ in G major, K.525 / Jordi Savall

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 † 1791)
Written: 1787; Vienna, Austria
Work: Serenade No.13 for strings in G major “Eine kleine Nachtmusik”, K.525

01. Allegro
02. Romance (Andante)
03. Menuetto (Allegretto) – Trio
04. Rondo (Allegro)

Performer:
Violin: Manfredo Kraemer
Violin II: Pablo Valetti
Viola: Angelo Bartoletti
Cello: Bruno Cocset
Double-bass: Xavier Puertas

Conductor: Jordi Savall
Le Concert des Nations Ensemble

Artwork: Fete in a Wood by Nicolas Lancret

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eine kleine Nachtmusik (Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major), K. 525, is a 1787 composition for a chamber ensemble by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German title means “a little serenade,” though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as “a little night music.”^[1] The work is written for an ensemble of two violins, viola, and cello with optional double bass, but is often performed by string orchestras.^[2]

 

Allegro

 

Composition, publication, and reception

The serenade was completed in Vienna on 10 August 1787,^[2] around the time Mozart was working on the second act of his opera Don Giovanni.^[3] It is not known why it was composed.^[4] Hildesheimer (1991, 215), noting that most of Mozart’s serenades were written on commission, suggests that this serenade, too, was a commission, whose origin and first performance were not recorded.

The traditionally used name of the work comes from the entry Mozart made for it in his personal catalog, which begins, “Eine kleine Nacht-Musik.”^[5] As Zaslaw and Cowdery point out, Mozart almost certainly was not giving the piece a special title, but only entering in his records that he had completed a little serenade.^[6]

The work was not published until about 1827, long after Mozart’s death, by Johann André in Offenbach am Main.^[2] It had been sold to this publisher in 1799 by Mozart’s widow Constanze, part of a large bundle of her husband’s compositions.

Today the serenade is widely performed and recorded; indeed both Jacobson (2003, 38) and Hildesheimer (1992, 215) opine that the serenade is the most popular of all Mozart’s works. Of the music, Hildesheimer writes, “even if we hear it on every street corner, its high quality is undisputed, an occasional piece from a light but happy pen.”^[7]

Great Compositions/Performances – Luigi Boccherini: Flute Quintet in D Major op. 17 No. 1

Great Compositions/Performances – Luigi Boccherini: Flute Quintet in D Major op. 17 No. 1

Buy “II. Minuetto: Amoroso” on

Google Play, iTunes, eMusic, AmazonMP3

Artist
Alexandre Magnin

 

Great Compositions/Performances: Arthur Rubinstein plays Chopin-Piano Concerto No.2 London Symphony Orchestra, André Previn conducting

Great Compositions/Performances:  Rubinstein-Chopin-Piano Concerto No.2

Frédéric Chopin Piano Concerto N.º 2 Op. 21 in F minor: Maestoso-Larghetto-Allegro Vivace-Arthur Rubinstein, Pianist
London Symphony Orchestra conducted by André Previn (HD video)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, is a piano concerto composed by Frédéric Chopin in 1830. Chopin wrote the piece before he had finished his formal education, at around 20 years of age. It was first performed on 17 March 1830, in Warsaw, Poland, with the composer as soloist. It was the second of his piano concertos to be published (after the Piano Concerto No. 1), and so was designated as “No. 2”, even though it was written first.

The work contains the three movements typical of instrumental concertos of the period: Maestoso, Larghetto and Allegro vivace. What makes Chopin’s Op. 21 an early-Romantic concerto par excellence is the dominance of the piano part. After introducing the first movement, the orchestra cedes all responsibility for musical development to the piano; there is none of the true interplay of forces that is the mainstay of the classical concerto. Chopin’s orchestration is considered by many to be poor. Berlioz, himself a master orchestrator, was harsh in his appraisal, calling Chopin’s treatment “nothing but a cold and useless accompaniment.”

If the first movement bears the stamp of the stile brillante, the second shows the influence of Italian opera. The piano style of not only Chopin, but also his contemporaries, owes much to the bel canto operas of composers like Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, as well as to the leading singers of the day. The delicate melodic embroidery in the outer section is unmistakably operatic; so, too, is the arioso-like piano writing, over trembling strings, in the middle section. Chopin confessed in a letter, that the second movement had been inspired by his secret passion for a younger singer at the Warsaw Conservatory, with whom he had fallen in love and dreamed of for six months without once speaking to her. This larghetto remained one of his favourites, and excited the admiration of Schumann and Liszt.

In the third movement, there is another unmistakable influence. We hear the rhythm of the Polish mazurka, though in a brilliantly stylized setting. Once again, the piano, both in its poetic and virtuosic veins, dominate the music, with the orchestra largely relegated to the roles of cushion and punctuation mark.

In the finale, the violins are at one point instructed to play col legno (with the wood of the bow).

Analysis

Kevin Bazzan states “Chopin’s concertos – indeed, all of his works in classical forms – have always suffered from comparisons with those of Mozart and Beethoven. It is an old cliché that the larger classical forms he had studied at the Warsaw Conservatory were incompatible with his imagination. As early as 1852, writers such as Liszt remarked that Chopin “did violence to his genius every time he sought to fetter it by rules.” But he was not trying to re-interpret the classical concerto. He was working in a different tradition called stile brillante, made fashionable by such virtuoso pianist-composers as Weber and Hummel. Chopin borrowed from their example a conception of the concerto as a loosely organized showcase for a virtuoso soloist, as opposed to a more balanced, cohesive and densely argued musical drama in the classical vein.

There is no denying that Chopin’s concertos betray a youthful want of formal sophistication but, as one observer wrote, they “linger in the memory for the poetry of their detail rather than the strength of their structures.” Those details are so bold and colourful, so imaginative and personal, that the concertos have become the only large-scale early works of Chopin to retain a place in the repertoire.

Maximilian Schell – Obituary – Telegraph

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP’s) Year in Review 2013

[youtube.com/watch?v=XX9IwaLigtg&feature=youtu.be]

Published on Jan 27, 2014

From crisis response in the Philippines to successful elections in Madagascar and Pakistan, from South-South Cooperation to Citizen Security, UNDP had a tremendous year in 2013.

ENTERTAINMENT: People’s Choice Awards 2014 FULL. Hope you enjoy watching

[youtube.com/watch?v=lkSYRgcETb0]
Published on Jan 9, 2014

People’s Choice Awards 2014 FULL. Hope you enjoy watching 🙂 twitter: osnapitzliv 

They didn’t have enough time to show all the winners so if a time isn’t there then they didn’t show the award! 

See the FULL LIST of winners & times below *spoilers*

Favorite Movie
Iron Man 3

Favorite Movie Actor 
Johnny Depp

Favorite Movie Actress – 9:10
Sandra Bullock

Favorite Movie Duo
Sandra Bullock & George Clooney (Gravity)

Favorite Action Movie
Iron Man 3

Favorite Action Movie Star – 1:02:48
Robert Downey Jr.

Favorite Comedic Movie – 38:50
The Heat

Favorite Comedic Movie Actor – 30:40
Adam Sandler

Favorite Comedic Movie Actress
Sandra Bullock

Favorite Dramatic Movie
Gravity

Favorite Dramatic Movie Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio

Favorite Dramatic Movie Actress
Sandra Bullock

Favorite Family Movie
Despicable Me 2

Favorite Horror Movie
Carrie 

Favorite Thriller Movie
A Good Day to Die Hard
Now You See Me

Favorite Year End Movie
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

TV WINNERS

Favorite Network TV Comedy – 1:24:10
The Big Bang Theory

Favorite Comedic TV Actor – 1:00:20
Chris Colfer

Favorite Comedic TV Actress – 57:55
Kaley Cuoco

Favorite Network TV Drama – 34:00
The Good Wife

Favorite Dramatic TV Actor
Josh Charles

Favorite Dramatic TV Actress
Stana Katic

Favorite Actor in a New TV Series
Joseph Morgan

Favorite Actress in a New TV Series – 1:21:00
Sarah Michelle Gellar

Favorite TV Crime Drama
Castle

Favorite Competition TV Show – 29:20
The Voice

Favorite Cable TV Comedy
Psych

Favorite Cable TV Drama
The Walking Dead

Favorite Premium Cable TV Show
Homeland

Favorite Cable TV Actress
Lucy Hale

Favorite TV Anti-Hero
Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead

Favorite TV Bromance
Sam, Dean & Castiel, Supernatural

Favorite TV Gal Pals
Rachel & Santana, Glee

Favorite On-Screen Chemistry – 51:00
Damon & Elena, The Vampire Diaries

Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Show
Beauty and the Beast

Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor
Ian Somerhalder

Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actress
Kristin Kreuk

Favorite TV Movie/Miniseries
American Horror Story

Favorite Daytime TV Host(s) – 17:00
Ellen DeGeneres

Favorite New Talk Show Host – 20:20
Queen Latifah

Favorite Late Night Talk Show Host
Stephen Colbert

Favorite Streaming Series
Orange Is the New Black

Favorite Series We Miss Most
Breaking Bad

Favorite New TV Comedy 
Super Fun Night

Favorite New TV Drama 
Reign

MUSIC CATEGORIES

Favorite Male Artist
Justin Timberlake

Favorite Female Artist
Demi Lovato

Favorite Breakout Artist
Ariana Grande

Favorite Pop Artist – 55:05
Britney Spears

Favorite Country Artist
Taylor Swift

Favorite Country Music Icon
Tim McGraw

Favorite Hip-Hop Artist
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

Favorite R&B Artist
Justin Timberlake

Favorite Band
One Direction

Favorite Alternative Band
Fall Out Boy

Favorite Song
Roar (Katy Perry)

Favorite Album – 12:58
The 20/20 Experience (Justin Timberlake)

Favorite Music Video
Roar (Katy Perry)

Favorite Music Fan Following (Still in contention)
Lovatics (Demi Lovato)

PCA 2014
40th annual people’s choice awards
people’s choice awards 2014