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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 20, 2011
Dying for salt You might have heard of the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, but have you ever come across the ‘Dead Sea’? No, it’s not the sea where zombies go for vacations. Then why do you think the Dead Sea is called the Dead Sea? Because that’s what you’ll be if you decide to venture into it? Not exactly … the Dead Sea gets its name from the fact that there are no living creatures in or around it except for some bacteria. How do you think this sea was formed? Fascinated already? This is nothing…keep reading to find out facts you have probably never heard of and things no school teacher will teach you!
Maze
Location The Dead Sea is located in Israel and Jordan, about 15 miles east of Jerusalem. At 400 metres (1,320 feet) below sea level it is the lowest place on earth. The Dead Sea is located in the Judean Desert area, a part of the Syrian — East Africa Rift Valley, with the Judean mountains to the west and the Moab mountains to the east.
How dead is the Dead Sea? The Dead Sea is the saltiest sea in the world. It is completely landlocked and it gets saltier as you go deeper. What you’ll see on the shores of the sea is white, crystals of salt covering everything and this is no ordinary table salt either. The salts found in the Dead Sea are mineral salts, just like you find in the oceans of the world, only in extreme concentrations. The water in the Dead Sea is deadly to most living things. Fish accidentally swimming into the waters from one of the several freshwater streams that feed the sea are killed instantly, their bodies quickly coated with a preserving layer of salt crystals and then tossed onto shore. While the Dead Sea may be notorious for killing off marine creatures, its salts are widely used for health and beauty purposes. In fact, it’s considered by some to be the largest spa on earth!
Explore
without even trying! That’s what’s so cool about the Dead Sea. The presence of salt in such high quantities allows our bodies to float like a cork in water! Just make sure you don’t drink the water!
Why is the Dead Sea so salty? All rivers in the region fall into the sea. But the interesting bit is that ... no rivers drain out of the Dead Sea. The only way water gets out of the sea is through evaporation. And boy does it evaporate! This part of the world can get pretty hot. When the water evaporates, it leaves behind all the dissolved minerals in the sea, just making it saltier.
Legend According to Greek legend, the village in Phrygia refused to be hospitable to Zeus and Hermes and therefore, the angry gods sank the village under a lake. Since they were so prone to punishing people, there came about a belief that the valley was sunk beneath the waters of the Dead Sea because of a similar offence by the people.
Fun Facts • • • • • •
How deadly is the sea for us humans?
•
Humans are very adaptable creatures. We can swim in the Dead Sea, just like we can swim in the ocean except people in the sea don’t really swim! They just float around
•
The Dead Sea isn’t actually a sea at all! The Dead Sea is a saltwater lake. Cleopatra loved the Dead Sea so much, she ordered that cosmetic factories and resorts be built along its shores. Egyptians used mud from the Dead Sea in their mummification of the deceased. Centuries ago, one of the popular names of the Dead Sea was “The Stinky Sea”. In the Bible, it is said that the Dead Sea will one day come alive and fill with marine life. The unique salt in the Dead Sea treats acne, psoriasis, hives, cellulite, dry skin, dandruff, stress, muscle aches, and more. During the 20th Century, the “Dead Sea Scrolls” were discovered. These scrolls are the ancient writings of the Essenes. The Dead Sea is 3 million years old.
SOURCE: BOGGLESWORLD.COM
ha ha ha
Where do ghosts swim on holiday? In the Dead Sea! What do two oceans do when they meet? Nothing, they just wave! Who lives in a sand castle? A sandwitch! Where do rocks like to spend their summer? ILLUSTRATION: JAMAL KHURSHID
At Pebble Beach What letter is always wet?
How to make
C! (Sea, get it?) Where do you take a sick boat? To the dock!
Creating Coloured Salt
Why do fish swim in salt water? Because pepper makes them sneeze!!!!!!.
This is a fun craft project for kids in the summer. It is time-consuming and inexpensive to do. Recycle jam or mustard jars, create the colour salt and then fill the glasses up in layers of colours.
For this project you will need: • • • • •
Salt Street chalk in different colours Small bowls for mixing and glasses Jelly jars Mustard jars, wide straight glasses to fill the sand in
Instructions: 1.
2. 3.
The first step is to fill a small bowl up with the amount of salt you need. Insert the chalk and work it around the salt in a circular motion. This will start to colour the salt. A little patience is needed. Continue until the colour is as intense as you would like it to be. Fill your glass now with the coloured salts. This will create layers of different colours. If you would like to create patterns and designs, take a spoon end or a knitting needle and insert it in the glass and poke the colours down as desired. By moving the object around, you can create many interesting looks. SOURCE: CRAFTIDEAS.INFO
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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 20, 2011
literati for young readers
Kidnapped!
SAMEEN AMER
Books by Hans Wilhelm German-American author and illustrator Hans Wilhelm has produced many picture books that children can both enjoy and learn from, helping young ones who are still becoming acquainted with the written language, as well as encouraging reluctant readers to become interested in printed work.
18 years in captivity, a lost childhood and intense torture... Now a 31-year-old woman, Jaycee shares her story in A Stolen Life
SAMEEN AMER
Book: A Stolen Life: A Memoir Author: Jaycee Dugard Genre: Non-fiction, memoir Publisher: Simon & Schuster (2011)
Don’t Give Up, Josephine! Excerpt:
A little penguin named Josephine must learn how to dance in Don’t Give Up, Josephine!, a book that leaves the readers with an uplifting message. Although generally very good at learning things, Josephine feels dejected when she struggles with ballet, and is worried that she will be considered a failure by everyone. But with some encouragement from her friends, Josephine discovers that with a little perseverance, she can master something that initially seemed difficult. Accompanied by lively illustrations, the book will not only bring a smile to the faces of young readers, but also encourage them to “learn something new”; “it may be hard at first, but it gets easier”.
The Big Boasting Battle A lion and a snake get into a boasting contest in The Big Boasting Battle, the story of two friends who learn that their differences make them unique and useful in their own ways. After arguing about who is superior, Horace (the lion) and Sylvester (the snake) set off on a race to see who can run faster, but end up falling into a trap; there they must work together if they want to find a way out, using each of their strengths to escape from the hole, ultimately coming to the realisation that they are “both perfect in our different ways”.
“When we are inside the strange house, he takes off the blanket and instructs me to sit on the wicker sofa. He is a very tall man. He has very light blue eyes and brown hair that is thinning on the top a bit. His nose is kind of long and his skin is a bronze colour. It looks like he spent too much time in the sun. He does not look like a bad guy. He looks like a normal guy. Like any ordinary guy you would see in everyday life. But he is not! He couldn’t be … could he? He shows me a black thing with metal ends that look sharp. He calls it a “stun gun” and he says he will use it again if I try to get away. He turns it on and I hear the strange zapping sound I heard before when my body would not work. The sofa I’m sitting on has a lot of cat hair. I look up and I see a cat sitting on a washing machine. The cat looks like a Himalayan Persian tortoiseshell and there is another one that looks like a very fat, tabby torty. I ask if I can pet them. He says if they come to me, then I can. One comes over and I give it a pet. Its hair feels silky and real. I think this cat is the only thing that feels real right now; everything else feels like a nightmare but this is too real to be a dream. The man says to follow him.”
as she tries to survive the ordeal. She talks about living under daunting conditions in a concealed area in the backyard of the Garrido house, the births of her daughters, missing her family, the actions and behaviours of her kidnappers (including Nancy’s jealousy, and Phillip’s religious views and ideas), and helping them run a printing business; the book goes on to explain how she was discovered (after “two Berkeley cops saw something amiss” when Phillip took them all “to the parole office”), and reunited with her family, and culminates in her efforts to heal and move on. Also included are entries from her journal written between 1998 and 2007, as well as pages from Eclipse’s Journal, a diary she wrote about her cat Eclipse in 1993; being fond of animals, the writer mentions her pets in various parts of the book and discusses some of them in considerable detail. The content of A Stolen Life, as you can imagine, is very difficult to read. All the horrific things that she endured at the hands of her deranged captor have been described in graphic detail, so the book is not for the faint of heart. It is a tale of hope and survival, but the details of all that was inflicted on her are explicit and disturbing. And while the author clearly isn’t a master of prose, this doesn’t take away the charm of the book; the memoir gives the readers a chance to hear Jaycee’s actual voice, which is why the grammatical missteps seem almost inconsequential. Overall, A Stolen Life offers a unique look at the nightmare that a kidnap victim had to endure, and the physical and psychological abuse she suffered, and how she is now working to “unravel the damage that was done to me and my family”. Her story is shocking and riveting, and it provides a voice not only to her but possibly many others like her.
While on her way to school on the morning of June 10th 1991, 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard was abducted by Phillip Garrido and his wife Nancy Garrido. She would remain missing for the next 18 years — a time she would largely spend as a captive, while being physically and mentally abused by her kidnappers — and give birth to two children, before being discovered and rescued in 2009. Now a 31-year-old woman, Jaycee shares her story in A Stolen Life, a book that details the period she spent in captivity and how she is learning to rebuild her life following the traumatic events that stole her childhood. The memoir sees the kidnap victim look back at everything that happened to her during the last two decades, starting from the day she was taken and winding up to her present-day life. Jaycee reveals the harrowing details of her life with Phillip Garrido and the abuse she was subjected to, presenting her thoughts, feelings, and confusion
Karachi’s very own Amazon No libraries? No problem. We can now rent-a-book KIRAN NAZISH
‘We shouldn’t teach great books, we should teach a love for great reading.’
Totally Bored Boris Boris the bear can’t think of anything to do, having played with all his toys and read all his books, and his father and mother are too busy to do something with him. But when his sister starts to have a party with her friends, it catches Boris’ attention, and when he tries to bother the cheery partygoers, the results aren’t what he expected. A nice little story about the joys of company and friendship, the tale is supplemented by colourful illustrations that will keep young readers interested all the way till the end.
Tyrone the Horrible Tyrone the Horrible is the story of a little dinosaur named Boland who learns how to deal with a bully called Tyrone. Being bigger and stronger than most of the other young dinosaurs, Tyrone likes to pick on the others, especially Boland. Tired of being bullied, Boland looks for ways to deal with Tyrone, but nothing seems to work, until one idea finally does the trick, showing readers that using your brain and not brawn is the best way to beat bullies.
You can send your contributions and suggestions to You can send your contributions and suggestions to t2@tribune.com.pk t2@tribune.com.pk
There is now a forum that follows the wisdom of this saying by facilitating passionate readers in Karachi with an online library. Founded by Usman Siddiqi and Jawad Yousuf, The Readers Club is a unique book rental service initiated two years back. With TRC, book lovers and addicts in Karachi can rent their favourite titles, read and then return them and get others. It works exactly like a library, only better: the books come to your doorstep. With about 3000 books and 300 active members, this forum seems to be growing in popularity among all kinds of people from housewives and elderly readers to the children and the youth. The success of TRC encouraged the founders to start an online book store as well, called Kitabain.com. Kitabain has more than 50,000 books in store and makes deliveries all over Karachi. They have both English and Urdu books belonging to different genres including biographies and memoirs, current affairs and politics, history, religion, fantasy and sci-fi, children’s books, fiction, self help, cookery, graphic novels, humour, reference books and others. Co-Founder Usman says: “We started The Readers Club to provide a cost effective and efficient way for people across the city to indulge in reading from the comfort of their homes and offices. It wasn’t started as a commercial venture but rather to address the gnawing problems of a lack of libraries and the high cost of books. The re-
With TRC, book lovers and addicts in Karachi can rent their favourite titles sponse to the service has been extremely encouraging and beyond our most optimistic expectations.” Indeed, most avid readers have greeted the newly formed club with much joy and anticipation. Ayesha Sana, a Canadian Pakistani who has now moved to Pakistan, says “When I moved here, I was amazed at how little Karachi had to offer to literary hobbyists like myself. It took me eight months of frustration before I came across Kitabain.com and Voila! I found my Amazon books right here in Karachi. From there I learnt about Readers Club and found it amazing. I think it’s a great service, especially for people like me who can’t live without devouring books. Their collection, however, needs some work and it would be nice if they expand the Readers Club collection.” Aqsa who is a housewife with two kids, enjoys the easy-access factor the most, “The best part is being able to view books online, select them and simply place an order. I never had any issues with their delivery service too.” Aqsa’s eldest daughter, Umm-e-Qulsoom, is in kindergarten and she thinks it
would be nice if there was more variety for Umm-e-Qulsoom too. “They do have lots of children’s books, but not many for her age. Sure I can go to their request option and ask for book titles, but it would be better if I had a pile to choose from.” Usman says, “We have strong demographic data on what people want and what can get popular among our members.” The best driving force for Readers Club and Kitabain.com, he says, has been the customer loyalty. According to Usman, it’s the feedback, suggestions and requisitions from users and members that have helped these sites to improve their functionality. Without paying any heed to the feedback, it would have been impossible to cater to the needs of the users. He says they plan to expand Readers Club across Lahore and Islamabad gradually while they are already delivering in Lahore and a few other cities from Kitabain.com’s platform. For now anyone is Karachi can read a title available on Readers Club’s online shelves or order a book for purchase from Kitabain.com. Both Readers Club and Kitabain. com also cater to those who want to swap or sell their own titles with their members. Many book stores publish their hot titles on Kitabain.com for very reasonable rates. The best titles are mostly featured on the front page and sell like hot cakes. So if you have been clueless about what to do with your old books and where to buy new ones without putting a dent in your wallet, you know where to go. Reach out for your laptop!
Have you seen my Mom? NADIA JAFRI
Book: Please Look After Mom Author: Kyung-sook Shin Translated from the Korean by: Chi-Young Kim Genre: Fiction Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf (2011)
Excerpt: “You never stopped calling her Mom. Even now, when Mom’s missing. When you call out “Mom” you want to believe that she’s healthy. That Mom is strong. That Mom isn’t fazed by anything. That Mom is the person you want to call whenever you despair about something…” Their mother has disappeared from a train station in Seoul. Their parents were coming from the Korean countryside for a visit to their children in the city. The children put on a desperate search — they distribute flyers, seek out clues, turn to the police and to passersby, but Mom is nowhere to be found. Kyung-sook Shin’s novel, Please Look After Mom, is the first of her books to be translated into English. Immensely popular in Shin’s home country of South Korea, the novel has received both acclaim and criticism in the U.S. Crafted into four parts, each one reflecting a different character’s perspective, Shin has written at least half of the novel in the second person narrative — a style that lends itself well to each character’s self-reflective and at times, self-effacing inner dialogue. The first part belongs to Chi-hon, the elder daughter and a wellknown novelist, who reflects on the events since Mom’s disappearance. Her pain is visceral as she treads through the time periods, conversations, and memories of her mother. Deep in her ruminations is the guilt she feels over her recurring terseness and dismissal of Mom’s concern, of Mom’s ignorance and illiteracy. Shin has weaved together a quiet irony in Chi-hon’s relationship with her mother. Chi-hon has chosen a career as a novelist while her mother has never had the opportunity to become literate. The next part focuses on Hyong-chol, Mom’s elder son and also her favourite child. Hyongchol’s account, though not written in the second person, is just as reflective and emotionally jarring as his sister’s. At the heart of his reflection on his relationship with his mother is the feeling that he ultimately let her down by not understanding that her dreams for him were perhaps her dreams for herself. While Hyongchol becomes aware of this after Mom’s disappearance, we also learn that Mom held her own guilt towards Hyong-chol, which she attempted to vocalise, if only he was paying attention. Similarly, their father realises his mistakes and the ways in which he took his wife for granted. His insensitivity and wrongdoing further highlight Mom’s incredible strength of character and the ways in which she remained
emotionally isolated for most of her life. In the final part of the novel, we hear from Mom herself, acutely providing more insight to her life. At 17 she devoted her life to her husband and eventually to her children; a story not uncommon in Eastern cultures. Mom’s reflections are perhaps the most evocative and soulful pieces of the novel. As the story unravels from each differing perspective, you learn the secrets and truths that define each character and the family as a whole. At the backdrop is the history of South Korea and intertwined are themes of war, loss of innocence, and heritage. Some reviews by critics in the U.S. have referred to Please Look After Mom as a “soap opera,” “melodrama,” and a “guilt-laden morality tale.” Self-inflicted guilt on account of one’s mother is a raw and authentic part of Eastern cultural identity (this is so in a number of other cultures as well) where mothers of prior generations may have suffered silently in many respects while dedicating their life to their children. Their ordeals and sacrifices are far more than just melodrama. The guilt is necessary perhaps to remind us of our responsibilities — to hold us accountable. In the Eastern world, as is demonstrated by the popularity of the novel in South Korea and the numerous other languages in which it is set to be translated, Shin’s story is not only credible and compelling, but also an opportunity to reflect, remember, and maybe even repent. In a poignant final scene of the novel’s Epilogue, Chi-hon surrenders herself before the Pietà in the heart of the Vatican. It is here that her belated order to look after Mom becomes a plea and a prayer that stirs and resounds long after you have put this novel down.
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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 20, 2011
blogosphere prisons of the mind
Depression: Shamed into silence ANEKA CHOHAN
In the dictionary, depression is defined as a ‘severe despondency and dejection, accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy’ or as a ‘condition of mental disturbance, typically with lack of energy and difficulty in maintaining concentration or interest in life’. However, nowhere in the above definitions, have we come across the words ‘weakness’ or ‘illness’. So, why do our people of South Asian origin consider depression as something disgraceful? Studies have shown that women are more likely to suffer from depression than men are and, from the list of ethnic identities, South Asian women suffer more from the disorder than their counterparts do. I think it is vitally important to draw attention to the fact that depression is not a sign of laziness or incompetence. Unlike in the West, research about South Asian women and their mental disorders is scarce. Perhaps our patriarchal and extremely ignorant culture is responsible for this. South Asian women are reluctant to talk about their depression and the factors that have caused it. Anjali Dixit, from the Palto Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), says that there are biological, social and cultural factors that contribute to a woman’s depression. She says that hormones and other issues relating to miscarriages, pregnancy or menopause affect women more. If a woman is under pressure from trying to maintain the home and family or earning money to run the household, depression is more likely to occur. In a patriarchal society, such as ours, women are pushed right to the breaking point. Typical things such as being the perfect mother, sister, wife, daughter, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law and/or career woman, bearing children (especially boys), being subservient and submit-
Depression is an illness that can prove to be fatal for humans if nothing is done to cure it ting to their husbands are just crushing the minds of us females. What’s worse is that our people not only push womens rights to the limit but also teach them to bottle up these problems. Blackmailed emotionally with disgrace or loss of family honour, women are more reluctant to confide in someone such as a friend or a health professional. Research has also established that suicide rates are higher amongst South Asian women than any other ethnic identity and this stems from the depression problem. A young woman whom I talked to on condition of anonymity, actually revealed to me that she attempted suicide by swallowing sleeping pills after being unable to cope with the building stress that becomes fatal for us women in the end. The attempt was, however, unsuccessful. This attempt, she says, remains a secret from her family to this day with the belief that she will suffer even more should they find out. The tragic truth is that, despite living in the 21st century, our people and their minds are still stuck in the benighted past — an era where ignorance, lack of knowledge and logic were common. Just ask
yourself — how on earth is confiding in someone about your inner problems and mental health disgracing your family? Even though Pakistan has narrow-minded people, there are liberal-minded people too. Nevertheless, those people on their part failed to contribute to removing the stigma that is associated with depression. Many generations of young women have been through this painful and tough ordeal in the past and it won’t stop here. Lots more women of forthcoming generations will be pushed to go through this trial if we do not put a stop to it now. It is still not too late — better late than never, they say. Let’s look at it this way: depression and cancer are both illnesses that prove to be fatal for humans if nothing is done to cure them. Nevertheless, patients who are terminally ill with cancer receive so much more love and support from others than depressed people do. It is very much similar to what legendary writer David D Burns once said “depression can seem worse than terminal cancer, because most cancer patients feel loved and they have hope and self-esteem.” We all salute the bravery of cancer patients who are putting on a courageous face during such a difficult time. So, why do we point fingers of suspicion at our poor, young women when their minds are driven right to the breaking point rather than acknowledge the pain and suffering they are being put through? People need to close off all these intolerant ideologies and look at the issue of depression through a new perspective-our perspective. The female perspective. Perhaps, then, things may become better. A new sun may rise on a new day for a new future for us women.
AFTER RECOVERY
Who wants a woman like you? NOOR FATIMA
This week I visited the Punjab Institute of Mental Health (PIMH) in the Shadman area of Lahore with my class. We noticed a stark difference between the men’s ward and the women’s ward. It was a heartbreaking experience. I came to realise that the stigma of being a “mental patient” can mean loneliness and isolation for all psychiatric patients, especially women.
The men’s ward When we entered the men’s ward, we saw a group of men clad in bright blue shalwar kameez and mismatched sweat-
ers. They were seated on rough carpets on the floor, basking in the warmth of the winter sun. These were the stable male patients, survivors who were able to regain normal mental equilibrium with regular medication. As they saw a flood of baajian (that was us) entering the ward, they waved to us smiling and laughing like innocent school children. It was difficult to tell that these people once suffered from socially taboo illnesses like schizophrenia. However, the trip to the female’s ward was neither as inspiring nor as cheerful as the male ward.
The women’s ward As we entered, a swarm of female patients ran to the open gate. The large expanse of the green lawn was full of women dressed in pink shalwar kameez. Their condition was abysmal. I was shocked. Female patients, stable and unstable all seemed to live together. But they did not seem happy. While some of the ladies stood holding hands, some screamed and yelled at one another but fell silent at random intervals. A woman who seemed to be in her 50s ran towards us and greeted us like we were long-lost relatives. As
we smiled and nodded politely, her enthusiasm mounted to a new level. She cried with delight and sang her own rendition of Noor Jahan’s Laung Gawacha, casting coy glances at us while frequently touching her nosepin as she swayed to the tune. Some of the older female patients had their hair cropped to manly bobs. Some walked with spastic movement and had twisted wrists and heads tilted at angles. The director of PIMH told me that in many cases recovery was irrelevant. The institute was to be the women’s home as their families refuse to take these patients back even when their mental state has improved. He told me about
a particularly tragic case of a Canadian girl, who received treatment, recovered and was duly released by the institute. But the girl’s family refused to take her in, she was left on the streets where she was raped and tortured. It took her months to find her way back to PIMH — where she was now diagnosed with acute schizophrenia, depression and paranoia. She has to be kept in solitary confinement. The doctor on duty told us about the girl when she explained that female patients are hardly ever accepted by their families even after complete recovery. I felt sick, sad and hurt to know that families could behave this way.
Surviving an identity crisis SABA KHALID
Last year, I remember not being able to sleep. Such nights were common. I would twist and turn for over five hours, lying in bed until finally, sleep would come. During those waking hours spent in bed I would cry. My anxiety attacks were so severe that I would fear I may die during the sleepless struggle. I knew I was on the precipice of a full-blown identity crisis. In retrospect, I wonder now why I never bothered telling my family or friends what was going on. Maybe, it was because I really didn’t understand the dilemma myself. Maybe, it was because none of my colleagues or friends were going through such a phase. People will tell you thousands of ways to avoid one. Why? Because, for once, you have to reassess yourself, your priorities, your direction in life and exactly who you have become, as opposed to who you wanted to be. When you realise how far you are from your real self, it can be devastating. During those nights that’s exactly what I was doing — discovering that all the ‘so-called perfect’ elements of my life were mere facades. My job was a complete farce — I had always dreamt of becoming a novelist. But here I was writing corporate mumbo jumbo that was barely read by anyone. The person that I loved was turning icier each day. I had incredibly low self-esteem. I was so unsure of myself that I couldn’t walk out of the house without layering my face with makeup and donning high heels. I knew I hated my face, my skin and my body. On one of those tired and lifeless days, I was bitterly
My anxiety attacks were so severe that I feared I may die during the sleepless struggle betrayed, but unlike many people, I could not get myself to forgive and forget. I completely lost my ability to live. What followed then was a complete resignation from all social life. I became what you may call a ‘hermit.’ Now there was no choice but to strip myself to the core layer by layer. In such harrowing hollows of life, I turned to God — something I hadn’t done in years. Who else can pick you up when no one else can? And surprisingly He really did. Sitting there after months of introspection, I discovered myself and my ability to live. I was able to get past the prevailing identity crisis. I was surprisingly able to love my un-showered, un-made-up self. I was able to forgive and forget the betrayer but still cut him off cold turkey. I got closer to my parents and finally shared with them my entire journey. I soon realised I belonged. I existed. I found overwhelming acceptance for this new person that I became, from everyone around me. Not just from my parents, but my friends, old colleagues, and finally, myself.
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THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE, AUGUST 20, 2011
offbeat Hen lays egg-stra large egg
Sparrows are ‘like gangster rappers’ Chirping sparrows are actually trading insults like gangster rappers, a new study has shown. What sounds like harmonious singing is really the noise of males trying to appear macho, say researchers. And, just like humans, most of the boasting and trading of insults is done to impress the girls. “Song sharing among sparrows is actually an aggressive behaviour akin to flinging insults back and forth,” said lead researcher Janet Lapierre, from the University of Western Ontario in Canada. Sparrows have a large repertoire of songs but, when advertising for a mate, males stick to a ‘greatest hits’ selection that they perform repeatedly. “The birds sing as aggressively and loudly as possible,” said Ms Lapierre. Sparrows living in more competitive environments are likely to perform a more aggressive but smaller selection of songs, the researchers say. This is like trying to prove themselves in a tough neighbourhood. Those living in less competitive areas are more likely to sing their own songs rather than compete with other males by chirping the same tunes as them, the study adds. The research has been published in the journal of Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology.
A Chinese farmer is hopeful one of her hens can smash the world record for an egg. Zhao Li from Feixiang County, northern China’s Hebei Province was given quite a surprise when she discovered the egg, which measures an eye-watering 9cm long and 6.5cm wide with a circumference of 17cm. The whopper also tips the scales at 420 grams, with an average egg weighing just 50g. Zhao said “I’ve been raising the chickens for a year, I fed the hens with nothing special; just chaff, melon skin and grass.” SOURCE: ORANGE.CO.UK
Bat on a plane sparks panic
SOURCE: ORANGE.CO.UK
Here comes the bride... 60 years later! A loving couple celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary by renewing their vows in front of the four original bridesmaids — 60 years after they tied the knot. Denis, 85, and Jean Weaden, 78, met and fell in love in 1947 and got married four years later in 1951. The couple are still very much in love and decided to celebrate 60 years of marriage at the same church to the exact minute of their original service. Amazingly, the couple’s original bridesmaids Doreen Bullen, 76, Ann Speed, 75, Kathleen Horler, 72, and 69-year-old Dorothy Joyner reacquainted themselves with the important roles. Sadly, Denis had to do without was best man John Prunell, who passed away two years ago at the age of 78. Jean said: “Having a service to renew our vows was something I’d wanted to do for our 40th anniversary but it didn’t happen.I was determined to do it for our 60th and we saved up for the last two years for it.” “It poured with rain the first time around but we had better luck this time. It rained a bit in the morning but it was beautiful afterwards. I was shattered by the end of it but all the effort was worth it. We had a fantastic day.” The service to renew their vows was conducted by rector, the Rev Ruth Legg, with the happy couple sprinkled with confetti as they left the church. Following the exchange of vows, Denis and Jean hosted a reception at nearby Pill Memorial Club. Denis was born and brought up in Easton-in-Gordano with Jean coming from neighbouring Pill. He met Jean in the village hall, known as The Hut, during a New Year’s Eve dance. Four-and-a-half years later, they were married in St George’s. Denis said: “We even held the service at noon, exactly the same time as our wedding.” “Looking from here, I can see The Hut where we met. I can’t dance but it was where people went in those days. I don’t know where the past 60 years have gone. I wouldn’t say we’ve never rowed but you just get on with it and today has been lovely.” The couple, who have lived in the same house in Friendly Row, Pill, for 54 years, have four daughters and a son, 12 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren — soon to be 14.
A bat on a plane caused panic among passengers on board a flight in the US. The animal was filmed flying through the cabin during a Delta Airways flight from Madison, Wisconsin, to Atlanta’ Georgia. It caused so much distress that the pilot was forced to return to the departure airport. Passenger Mike Schmidt filmed the bat flying over passengers’ heads as they ducked and screamed. The animal was finally contained when it flew into the onboard toilet and a passenger shut the door. Mr Schmidt said: “I woke up to a small scream and then I saw the bat fly over my head. I grabbed my phone to get some video as my friends would never believe this.It went up and down the aisle about four to five times before being trapped in the back lavatory.” SOURCE: ORANGE.CO.UK
Orangutan teaches road safety
SOURCE: DAILYMAIL.CO.UK
Armed robber tried Plot to make Hitler to steal sandwich more ‘feminine’
Car hit by a flying cow
SOURCE: ORANGE.CO.UK
SOURCE: METRO.CO.UK
SOURCE: METRO.CO.UK
Gnomes fight garden pests
Adolf Hitler was the subject of a British ‘hormone plot’ to lace his food with oestrogen as a way of making the Nazi leader less aggressive and more like his secretary sister Paula, Professor Brian Ford has revealed in a new book. British spies came up with the Blackadder-esque idea to smuggle the female sex hormone into Hitler’s food as the Second World War raged on with no end in sight, the book claims. Oestrogen was chosen for its tasteless properties, Professor Ford explains, and because of the fact that it would have a slow and subtle effect, thereby making it able to pass the Fuhrer’s food testers unnoticed — unlike poison, for example. “Research had showed the importance of sex hormones — they were beginning to be used in sex therapy in London,” says the professor, a fellow at Cardiff University and a pioneer of popular science. “The Allies hoped to smuggle oestrogen into Hitler’s food and change his sex so he would become more feminine and less aggressive.” A night shift worker has told how a teenager held a gun to his head — and tried to steal his cheese and onion sandwich. Garry Bell, 51, was on his way to work at a factory in Tindale, near Bishop Aukland, when it happened. The would-be robber pushed a black handgun against his temple and tried to grab his pack-up, containing the sandwich, a bag of crisps and a bottle of pop. “It was then that I got angry and swore at him and he ran off,” said Mr Bell. “I just carried on walking.” He continued on his way to work and completed his shift. It was only when he told his girlfriend next day what had happened that he called the police. “I just thought it was a prank and that it was a toy gun,” added Mr Bell. “It was only later that I realised it might not have been, and even if it was just a BB gun, if it had gone off against my temple, it probably could still have killed me.”
Meet Bam the road safety primate who’s on a mission to make sure children in Thailand wear their helmet whilst cycling. The eight-year-old Orangutan loves to cycle around when he gets the chance and was enlisted by the Thailand government to help spread a campaign message about accident prevention. Launched on Friday at the Dusit Zoo in Bangkok, Bam dressed in a bright yellow t-shirt rode his favourite blue bike (courtesy of some training wheels) through the crowd of thrilled onlookers. He was also joined by two freewheelin’ friends, but it seems one forgot to wear her helmet, which is a big no-no for Bam who always wears his smiling panda hat whenever he hits the road. Road welfare is a serious issue in Thailand with a staggering number of daily cases being recorded. In 2010, daily road accidents in Thailand averaged 559 cases a day with 616 persons injured and 52 killed.
Driver Robert Gould had a lucky escape from his car after the bonnet was flattened by a cow who leaped three feet over a fence and crashed into the bonnet, breaking a wheel. The cow was trying to escape a farmer when it escaped into the road in Leeds, according to reports. Gould skidded almost 80 yards on impact, ending up on the other side of the road as he tried to stop. Luckily, he escaped with just minor cuts and bruises. Unfortunately the bovine bonnet basher was announced dead at the scene. Robert, 24, said, “I was driving along when a cow jumped out and landed on my bonnet. It had hurdled a threefoot high fence and hit the front of my car. I had no time to brake and my car veered to the other side of the road. I was very lucky that nothing was coming from the opposite direction.” “The police were very nice about everything, although I don’t think they could quite believe it either.” “I am now looking out for low-flying cows when I am driving.”
Known as the ‘combat garden gnomes’, these back-garden ornaments form a lean green fighting machine. Foxes, rats, squirrels and other outdoor pests are in the cross-hairs of hand painted AK47s — and you can be sure they’re not afraid to use them. The idea to create the unit was formulated when Mr Thorsson was serving in Afghanistan and received a present of toy army men. ‘‘Someone sent me a package of those cheap plastic green army men as a gag,” he explained. “I did some searching online and found that there were no blue plastic sailors. I felt unrepresented so I sent away for some materials and spent a couple of nights sculpting out little sailors.” “Some months later I was out at sea on a container ship and had a lot more down time. I was mulling over what else I could do with little green plastic army men. I was also thinking of sculpting out some comical garden gnomes. It didn’t take long before these two ideas merged and I started sketching out Combat Garden Gnomes.” Upon his arrival back in America, Thorsson began making the gnomes and soon enough they became a hit .
SOURCE: METRO.CO.UK
SOURCE: METRO.CO.UK