The Express Tribune hi five - October 7

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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 7, 2012

Hi light

Dragons are mythical creatures that appear in many different cultures and time periods. Dragons have been described as monsters, serpents, reptiles, or beasts. Do you believe they exist? Well, stories of dragons have been handed down for generations in many civilisations. No doubt many of these stories have been exaggerated through the years. But that does not mean they had no original basis. Some living lizards look like dragons and it is easy to see how a larger variety of such an animal could frighten a community. If you watch really old black and white dinosaur films, you’ll see that they would use an iguana in a miniature town set to create the illusion of a great dragon!

Many palaeontologists (scientists who study prehistoric life) believe that there are connections between the stories of dragons and the human discovery of dinosaur fossils. In 2004, a fascinating dinosaur skull was donated to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Because of its dragon-like head, horns and teeth, the new species was called Dracorex hogwartsia and it turns out that the Dracorex looks a lot like the dragons of ancient China and medieval Europe! Did you know that villagers in central China spent years digging up bones they believed belonged to flying dragons and using them in traditional medicines? They later found out that they were actually dinosaur bones!

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 7, 2012

3 Stories of dragons appear all throughout history and almost every culture has their own idea about dragons. One type of dragon, or sea monster, was feared back in the time when the world was thought to be flat, these dragons were said to be at the edge of the earth, waiting to eat any one who dared to sail far into the ocean. This story kept many people from exploring farther into the world. Maps were even made marking the place where these dragons lived. At the edge of the map the words, “Here Be Dragons” were sometimes printed.

Each culture seems to have their own type of dragon, and each of these dragons is usually very different. In the East and the West, the look and tales of the dragon are extremely different. In China, as well as in South Asia, the dragon is a symbol of nobility, holiness, and good fortune.

Throughout the history of China, Korea, and Japan, the dragon has been a part of people’s daily lives. Eastern dragons control the rain, rivers, lakes, and sea. They can chase away evil spirits and protect the innocent. The Chinese people even began calling themselves the descendants of the dragon.

They even have a year of the dragon, and it is said that anyone born in this year will be healthy, wealthy, and wise, just like a dragon.

In the west, the dragon represents evil and darkness. Unlike the peaceful image of the eastern dragon, the western dragon has sharp teeth and strong legs. It is said to bring harm, suffering, and fear to human beings. It looks very much like a reptile; it has a muscular body, a long, thick neck, a horned head, and a powerful tail. When born, a dragon’s scales are as soft as tissue paper, and slowly harden as the dragon ages.

One of the most popular stories in the west is about Saint George.

St. George travelled for many months by land and sea until he came to Libya. Here he met a poor man who told him a dragon had long devastated the country. ‘“Every day,” said the old man, “he demands the sacrifice of a beautiful

Hi light

maiden and now all the young girls have been killed. The king’s daughter alone remains, and unless we can find a knight who can slay the dragon she will be sacrificed tomorrow.” When St. George heard this story, he was determined to try and save the princess. He set out to the valley where the dragon lived and saw the princess being led by her attendants to the dragon’s lair. The knight stopped the princess and after telling her to return to the palace, he entered the dragon’s hideout. As soon as the dragon saw him it rushed from its cave, roaring with a sound louder than thunder. Its head was immense and its tail fifty feet long. But St. George was not afraid and he killed the dragon. Most stories about dragons in the west are quite similar to the tale of St. George, a fair maiden is in trouble and a brave knight must save her from the dragon.

So there are no such creatures like dragons, right? Try telling that to the people who live on a few islands in Indonesia where several thousand real dragons live in the wild! Living on four islands in central Indonesia, Komodo dragons are the world’s largest lizards. They can grow over nine feet long and weigh as much as 200 pounds; they are powerful predators and will eat any meat including other dragons and sometimes even humans! Now you might think that Komodo dragons might have inspired the stories of the mythical dragons in Europe — except for the fact that Europeans didn’t discover them until 1910!

That’s not all; there are other animals that have been named after dragons due to their similar looks. The frilled dragon is a small lizard found in the forest and woodlands of northern Australia. Like its name suggests, an expandable frill surrounds the dragon’s head and neck, which it can open like an umbrella when frightened. If this isn’t enough to scare off an enemy, the frilled dragon will rear up on its hind legs and run away — but rather than fleeing with its tail tucked between its legs, the dragon can simply leave it behind to distract a predator!

DESIGN: MAHA HAIDER

What would you like to see in Hi Five? Send an email to hifive@tribune.com.pk and let us know!

ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 7, 2012

4 : d e d e e n s ie l p p u S 2 Egg boxes Paint Coloured paper Glue Tissue paper Pens Stapler

Chinese Dragon

the egg boxes in brightly coStep 1 Paint loured paint. When the paint is dry,

cut out two of the egg compartments from one of the boxes and glue these to the lid of the other egg box to form the eyes.

Step 2

Cut a mane, eyes, nose, mouth and other decorations from coloured paper.

Glue these on to your dragon’s head.

Draw some scales on the tissue paper.

3 staple the tissue paper to the Step Finally back of the head to form the tail of your dragon.

Remember kids, always get permission from your parents before you start.

It’s always a good idea to have a helper nearby.

The Delicious Aamroo!

Who doesn’t want to have a little taste of something sweet and cold to quench their thirst on a hot summer day? That’s why ToffeeTV.com’s Bawarchi, Nikhat Zafar, is here to share a simple recipe of how to make a drink called Aamroo!

Method: First, pour a little mango juice into a bowl. Blend a little castor sugar into it.

Next, put in a few scoops of Mango-Vanilla ice cream and blend the mix together. The ice cream helps to make the mix thick and develop a texture like a smoothie.

Here’s what you need to make Aamroo: •Mango and Vanilla Ice Cream •Peach Juice •Diced Peaches •Castor Sugar (as per your taste) •A blender •A glass

Finally, add the diced peaches into the bowl and lightly mix it.

Pour the entire mix into a glass.

If you want, you can decorate with a slice of peach on the side of the glass.

Drink up and enjoy!

Did You Know?

Peaches help to decrease tiredness, mood swings, insomnia, constipation and pale skin? It also helps bring shine to your hair, strengthen nails and reduce dark shadows under the eyes. Most importantly, peaches help to increase the level of concentration, which is great!

If you want to watch an instruction video, you can log onto http://bit.ly/ttv-aamroo and follow Nikhat Zafar!

Want to watch other fun activities like this? Log onto toffeetv.com!

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 7, 2012

World wide weird Get your weekly dose of the unusual and funny from across the globe!

Baby’s day out

This unsuspecting four-year-old tot is preparing himself for a big career in racing. The toddler managed to get some early practice when he stole his mother’s car and took it for a spin, before crashing into a pick-up truck.

The mother was fast asleep at her home in Garsnas, Sweden, when her son took her car keys and drove off. He managed to drive for about a quarter of a mile, successfully making three right turns, before crashing into the truck.

When his mother learnt about his little escapade she said “I had the car keys in my jacket pocket and it was hanging so high that I thought he couldn’t reach it. But he did. Don’t ask me how, I was asleep.” SOUCE: WEB.ORANGE.CO.UK

Number one fan!

With her enormous, glassy eyes and purple hair, this girl could have stepped from the scene of a Japanese anime.

Anime fan, Anastasiya Shpagina, has transformed herself into a living cartoon character.

Originally from the Ukraine, the 19-year-old takes style inspiration from the cartoons and computer animations that have a huge following in Japan, and has even adopted a Japanese name — Fukkacumi.

Shpagina is already reported to have slimmed down to just over six stone in her attempts to resemble a living anime character, and is said to spend 30 minutes painstakingly applying her dramatic make-up to each one of her eyes. She may go even further in her efforts to achieve her desired look, with some reports claiming she intends to undergo surgery on her eyes to make her resemble her anime idols even more closely.

Shpagina is not the first young girl to take style inspiration from the world of fantasy. American Dakota Rose — or Kota Koti — has been dubbed the ‘real-life Barbie’ thanks to her doe-eyed stare and dainty proportions. SOURCE :DAILYMAIL.CO.UK

Party gator

5

A Florida man is offering entertainment with a difference for children’s parties — swimming with alligators.

For £100 (Rs15,324), Bob Barrett, from Tampa Bay, takes an alligator to people’s backyard pools to swim with their children. “It just took off like wildfire,” he said. “Everybody loves having the gator pool parties.”

Mr Barrett, who runs the local Alligator Attraction, came up with the idea during the summer when business was slow.

“If you’re nine, ten or 11 years old, you’ve already had the ‘jumparoo’ house, the bounce house, you’ve had the pizza party, you’ve had the clown party,” he said.

“You get to have a pool party with a gator. It’s a very popular party.”

Mr Barrett tapes the alligators’ mouths shut before the parties which he insists are safe.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed he isn’t doing anything illegal, but added: “We will say that this is not something that we encourage.” SOUCE: WEB.ORANGE.CO.UK

An easy catch One of the most important things a thief must remember is to hide his identity on a heist.

Sadly, 46 year-old Sean Stagg is not a smart thief. He beat up a man for a measly £1.50 (Rs230) and ran away but the cops didn’t have a hard time finding him. Why? because he has a massive spider tattooed on his bald head!

Stagg pounced on John Rose outside a newsagents in Havant, Hants, punching him in the face and ribs before making off with his small change. But the dozy crook was quickly tracked down by police, thanks to his distinctive tattoo - and the fact he and his victim knew each other by name.

Stagg was found guilty of robbery and sentenced to three years and eight months behind bars. James Watson QC expressed disbelief at the bizarre nature of Stagg’s crime, “It was an unusual offence in the sense that you and the victim knew each other. It was unusual also in the sense that it involved a quite paltry sum of money.”

SOURCE: THESUN.CO.UK

Digging deep This mission goes way deeper than you can imagine! It is a $1 billion (Rs95 billion) mission to drill 6 km (3.7 miles) beneath the seafloor to reach the Earth’s mantle and bring back the first ever fresh samples.

Geologists involved in the project are already comparing it to the Apollo Moon missions in terms of the value of the samples it could yield.

However, in order to reach those samples, the team of international scientists must first find a way to grind their way through ultra-hard rocks with 10 km-long (6.2 miles) drill pipes. Their task will be all the more difficult for being conducted out in the middle of the ocean.

The hole they will drill will be just 30 cm in width all the way from the ocean floor to inside the mantle.

To get to the mantle scientists will be relying on a purpose-built Japanese deep-sea drilling vessel called Chikyu, first launched in 2002 and capable of carrying 10 km of drilling pipes. It has already set a world-record for the deepest hole in scientific ocean drilling history, reaching 2.2 km into the seafloor. SOURCE: EDITION.CNN.COM

Bin looking for something?

This 52-year-old man could be a winner for the award for the most stupid stunt. He had to be fished out of a bin by emergency services — after getting his head stuck in it.

Police, fire crews and an ambulance rushed to the scene in Aberdeen, Scotland, where crowds had gathered to watch the bizarre rescue unfold. It took 15 minutes to cut the top off the bin with a high-powered saw — used for cutting people out of vehicles.

The man was then taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where he was treated for cuts to his face.

He escaped without being severely hurt — but his ego will surely be bruised after his unfortunate story went viral after a picture of him was posted on Facebook and Twitter.

Bar worker Ian Anderson, who works at a nearby pub, said the rescue had amused locals and visitors to the city.

He said: “I thought it must have been a fire that had been put out by the time I walked past, because there was no smoke or flames. When I got to the pub and people told me the real story, I could not believe it. Everyone was talking about it, and having a laugh about the commotion it caused.” SOURCE: THESUN.CO.UK

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 7, 2012

6

Did you know?

s n i g i r O d r o W In the Box seat Most of you who watch cricket or any other sport must have heard the commentator saying during a match, “The Pakistanis are in the box seat in this match!” when Pakistan is playing well. Now some of you may wonder, how can the team be sitting in ‘box seats’ if the match is still not over. However, this phrase doesn’t mean that the ase players are enjoying the view of the stadium from a luxury box. The phrase simply means being in an advantageous position.

Though some people may think this phrase originates from boxes in theatres or stadiums, or even seats made of box-wood.

The phrase originates from an actual box used in horse-drawn coaches or carriages. The box was used as a seat for the driver, and had to be raised quite high for the driver to be able to see ahead of the horses used to pull the coach. Since the driver could see farther than anyone else and control the movement of the carriage, the phrase could mean an advantageous position. The phrase began to be used in this sense in the mid-19th century. Later on, this phrase evolved into the phrase, ‘In the driver’s seat,’ which is very much similar and is used in the same context. However, since horse-drawn carriages are very uncommon now days, replaced by cars, the newer version of the phrase is more commonly used.

How to say 'blue' in different languages?

Arabic Bulgarian Chinese (Cantonese) Danish Dutch Esperanto Estonian Filipino Finnish French Greek Hawaiian Indonesian Japanese Malay Mongolian Tajik Tamil Thai Turkish

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :

Azraq Sin Làahm Blå Blauw Blua Sinine Asul Sininen Bleu Galazio Uliuli Biru Aoi Biru Xöx Kabud Nīlam See-far Mavi

Cool facts Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th!

Kleenex tissues were originally used as filters in gas masks.

Ronald McDonald is “Donald McDonald” in Japan because it makes pronunciation easier for the Japanese. In Singapore he’s known as “Uncle McDonald”.

Gorillas can catch human colds and other illnesses.

Ostriches can run faster than horses, and the males can roar like lions.

A lion in the wild usually makes no more than twenty kills a year.

The female lion does ninety percent of the hunting.

On average, dogs have better eyesight than humans, although not as colourful.

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 7, 2012

7

Fun & games

Want to be hi five’s artist of the week?

Send your drawing with your name and age to: hifive@tribune. com.pk

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, OCTOBER 7, 2012

Help the knight find the dragon

SOURCE: PRINTACTIVITIES.COM

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