Roald Dahl (English pronunciation: /ˈroʊ.ɑːl ˈdɑːl/,[2] Norwegian: [ˈɾuːɑl dɑl]; 13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter ace and screenwriter of Norwegian parentage.
Born in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales, to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander. He rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults, and became one of the world's bestselling authors. His short stories are known for their unexpected endings, and his children's books for their unsentimental, often very dark humour.
Some of his better-known works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Fantastic Mr Fox, Matilda, The Witches, and The BFG.
Here is a list of his written children’s book and some of his children poetry
1. The Gremlins (1943)
2. James and the Giant Peach (1961) — Film: James and the Giant Peach (live-action/animated) (1996)
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964)[nn 1] — Films: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
4. The Magic Finger (1 June 1966)
5. Fantastic Mr Fox (9 December 1970) — Film: Fantastic Mr. Fox (animated) (2009)
6. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator (9 January 1972)[nn 1] A sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
7. Danny, the Champion of the World (30 October 1975) — Film: Danny the Champion of the World (TV movie) (1989)
8. The Enormous Crocodile (24 August 1978)
9. The Twits (9 October 1980)
10. George's Marvellous Medicine (21 May 1981)
11. The BFG (14 October 1982) — Film: The BFG (animated) (1989)
12. The Witches (27 October 1983) — Film: The Witches (1990)
13. The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me (26 September 1985)
14. Matilda (21 April 1988) — Film: Matilda (1996)
15. Esio Trot (19 April 1990)
16. The Vicar of Nibbleswicke (9 May 1991)
17. The Minpins (8 August 1991)
Children's poetry
1. Revolting Rhymes (10 June 1982)
2. Dirty Beasts (25 October 1984)
3. Rhyme Stew (21 September 1989)
Well we all know that there is more children books than that!....
Regular workouts don't decrease death risk if you're also a couch potato
Hitting the gym every day might do little to decrease your risk of death if you spend the rest of your time sitting down, a new study suggests.
The results show the time people spend on their derrieres is associated with an increased risk of mortality, regardless of their physical activity level.
The findings suggest public health messages should promote both physical activity and less time on the couch, the researchers say.
The current obesity epidemic in the United States has been attributed in part to reduced overall physical activity.
While several studies support a link between sitting time and obesity, type 2 diabetes, risk factors for cardiovascular disease risk and unhealthy dietary patterns in children and adults, very few studies have examined time spent sitting in relation to total mortality. Thus, public health guidelines focus largely on increasing physical activity with little or no reference to butt-on-the-chair time.
Alpa Patel, a researcher at the American Cancer Society (ACS), and his colleagues analyzed survey responses from 123,216 individuals (53,440 men and 69,776 women) who had no history of cancer, heart attack, stroke or emphysema that were enrolled in the ACS's Cancer Prevention II study in 1992. Participants were followed from 1993 to 2006.
The researchers examined the participants' amount of time spent sitting and physical activity in relation to mortality over the 13-year period.
Women more affected by sitting More leisure time spent sitting was associated with higher risk of mortality, particularly in women.
Women who reported more than six hours per day of sitting (outside of work) were 37 percent more likely to die during the time period studied than those who sat fewer
than three hours a day. Men who sat more than six hours a day (also outside of work) were 18 percent more likely to die than those who sat fewer than three hours per day. The association remained virtually unchanged after adjusting for physical activity level. Associations were stronger for cardiovascular disease mortality than for cancer mortality.
When combined with a lack of physical activity, the association was even stronger. Women and men who both sat more and were less physically active were 94 percent and 48 percent more likely to die during the study period, respectively, compared with those who reported sitting the least and being most active.
"Several factors could explain the positive association between time spent sitting and higher all-cause death rates," Patel said. "Prolonged time spent sitting, independent of physical activity, has been shown to have important metabolic consequences, and may influence things like triglycerides, high density lipoprotein, cholesterol, fasting plasma glucose, resting blood pressure, and leptin, which are biomarkers of obesity and cardiovascular and other chronic diseases."
(High density lipoprotein is considered the "good" kind of cholesterol.)
The results are published in an early online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history.
The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287.
We will never see this again in our lifetime ...nor will the people of the next 50-to-1,000 Life Times!
Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again. The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide.
At a modest 75-power magnification
Add caption
Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye.
Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.
By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.
Check it out, guess no one will get much sleep in August.
A little bit of facts about Mars
Text courtesy NASA/JPL
The Red Planet
Mars is a small rocky body once thought to be very Earthlike. Like the other terrestrial planets—Mercury, Venus, and Earth—its surface has been changed by volcanism, impacts from other bodies, movements of its crust, and atmospheric effects such as dust storms. It has polar ice caps that grow and recede with the change of seasons; areas of layered soils near the Martian poles suggest that the planet's climate has changed more than once, perhaps caused by a regular change in the planet's orbit.
Martian tectonism, the formation and change of a planet's crust, differs from Earth's. Where Earth tectonics involve sliding plates that grind against each other or spread apart in the seafloors, Martian tectonics seem to be vertical, with hot lava pushing upwards through the crust to the surface.
Periodically, great dust storms engulf the entire planet. The effects of these storms are dramatic, including giant dunes, wind streaks, and wind-carved features.
Water on Mars?
Scientists believe that 3.5 billion years ago, Mars experienced the largest known floods in the solar system. This water may even have pooled into lakes or shallow oceans. But where did the ancient floodwater come from, how long did it last, and where did it go?
At present, Mars is too cold and its atmosphere is too thin to allow liquid water to exist at the surface for long. There's water ice close to the surface and more water frozen in the polar ice caps, but the quantity of water required to carve Mars's great channels and flood plains is not evident on—or near—the surface today. Images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest that underground reserves of water may break through the surface as springs. The answers may lie deep beneath Mars's red soil.
Unraveling the story of water on Mars is important to unlocking its past climate history, which will help us understand the evolution of all planets, including our own. Water is also believed to be a central ingredient for the initiation of life; the evidence of past or present water on Mars is expected to hold clues about past or present life on Mars, as well as the potential for life elsewhere in the universe. And, before humans can safely go to Mars, we need to know much more about the planet's environment, including the availability of resources such as water.
Mountains, Moons, and More
Mars has some remarkable geological characteristics, including the largest volcanic mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons; volcanoes in the northern Tharsis region that are so huge they deform the planet's roundness; and a gigantic equatorial rift valley, the Valles Marineris. This canyon system stretches a distance equivalent to the distance from New York to Los Angeles; Arizona's Grand Canyon could easily fit into one of the side canyons of this great chasm.
Mars also has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. Although no one knows how they formed, they may be asteroids snared by Mars's gravity.
Women claimed three of the top five spots in Forbes' magazine's 2010 Celebrity power list, with singer Lady Gaga making her first entry and Oprah Winfrey retaking her No.1 position.
Talk show host Winfrey earned an estimated $US315 million ($NZ445 million), putting her atop the annual Forbes' Celebrity 100 list for the fourth time in the financial year to June 2010. Winfrey reclaimed the No. 1 spot from 2009 winner Angelina Jolie, who fell to 18th in the latest ranking.
Grammy-winning R&B singer Beyonce rose to second with an estimated $US87 million from a tour and album sales, together with deals in fashion, fragrance and other endorsements.
NUMBER ONE: Oprah Winfrey earned an estimated $NZ445 million last financial year, putting her atop the annual Forbes' Celebrity 100 list for the fourth time.
Despite the worldwide recession, Forbes said that celebrity earnings remain "remarkably resilient, with this year's stars having earned a collective $US4.7 billion during the past year, up from $US4.1 billion in 2009."
Forbes' ranking is a measurement of entertainment-related earnings over the past 12 months as well as exposure in print, television, radio, online, and social media.
"Avatar" director James Cameron jumped back onto the Forbes list for the first time since 1999, landing at No. 3 after his movie earned a record $US2.7 billion at worldwide box offices.
Glam pop star Lady Gaga made the list for the first time, taking fourth place with estimated earnings of $62 million.
Golfer Tiger Woods is the world's fifth most powerful celebrity, despite a sex scandal that took him out of golfing for five months and lost him several lucrative endorsements.
"He managed to earn $105 million during the past year, even as his revenue streams have diminished and his golf course design business struggles in the global economy," said Forbes.
The top five on the Forbes' 2010 Celebrity 100 list are:
1. Oprah Winfrey, $315 million
2. Beyonce Knowles, $87 million
3. James Cameron, $210 million
4. Lady Gaga, $62 million
5. Tiger Woods, $105 million
Just sharing with you what I've learned so far from reading and listening of T. Harv Eker book and mp3. You may be heard this or may have been attended some of his seminar but it's worth sharing.
Here are some excerpts which I really like and it's a mind blowing..
Wealthy people are not any smarter than poor people; they just have different and more supportive money HABITS.
It may not be the most glamorous of topics, but it comes down to this: the single biggest difference between financial success and financial failure is how well you manage your money. It's simple: to master money, you must manage money.
As for those who use the "I don't have enough money to manage" rationale, they're looking through the wrong end of the telescope. Rather than say "when I have plenty of money, I'll begin to manage it", the reality is "when I begin to manage it, I'll have plenty of money."
Saying "I'll start managing my money as soon as I get caught up" is like an overweight person saying "I'll start exercising and dieting as soon as I lose twenty pounds." It's putting the cart before the horse, which leads to going nowhere...or even backward! First you start properly handling the money you have, then you'll have more money to handle.
On the audio's, I've learned about the jar system which I think very practical in saving money and prepare myself in the future.
Harv suggested that everyone can use the JARS system to better manage one’s money. The key between rich and poor or middle class people is their ability to manage their money. Rich people are excellent money managers and poor or middle class people are less-savvy when it comes to managing their money. And of course, there are many other distinctions that set the rich, poor and middle class people apart. I will go into that on my later blog post as I intend to discuss more about the JARS money management system in this post.
The most important part of money managing is separating your income into different accounts for specific purposes. I will outline the various accounts for the JARS system as well as their % breakdown of how one should divide their money to manage below:
Financial Freedom Account (FFA) = 10%
Long Term Savings For Spending (LTSS) = 10%
Education (EDUC) = 10%
Necessities (NEC) =55%
Play = 10%
Give = 5%
Anyone can start using this JARS method of managing their money even though if you think you do not have a lot of money to manage. The key is to develop a habit of managing your money, but not how much money you have available for you to manage. One must get into the habit of managing their own money, and you can start with as low as $1 to begin using this system.
Here are how the JARS system works:
Financial Freedom Account (10%) - Put 10% into your FFA whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You must NEVER, NEVER spend the money that you put inside your FFA account. Any money inside the FFA account can only be used to purchase or acquire passive income streams to grow your money. You may spend the interest acquired from the FFA if you choose to, although it is recommended that you do not. Keep the interest inside the FFA to grow your capital and interest faster. Think of your FFA as the golden mother goose that lays you golden eggs, if you spend the money inside the FFA, it is akin to killing your mother goose that will bring you golden eggs (your riches). Instead, keep the baby geese (FFA’s interest) that the mother goose is giving you, and you can grow more baby geese (your wealth) even faster. As you may already get it, the idea is to create a golden goose! You may prefer to think of the FFA as a legacy that you can leave behind for your future generations. If you are one who believes in the law of attraction, this FFA is actually your money magnet. Keep putting more money into your FFA and attract more $$$ into your life! Put $$$ into your FFA account everyday if you can, even if it is just a penny.
In summary, the time to spend your FFA capital is NEVER! When you stop working, you get to spend the eggs but never the goose!
Long Term Savings For Spending (10%) - Put 10% into your LTSS whenever you receive money, such as your salary. The money inside LTSS can be used for major expenditure such as savings for your children’s education, buying a house for yourself, keeping aside contingency funds.
Education (10%) - Put 10% into your EDUC whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You can use the EDUC funds for your self-education, for examples, books, seminars and events etc. Everyone needs to learn, especially in this changing world. Grow your comfort zone through learning and doing. If you are not growing, you are dying!
Take this quote from Ben Franklin:
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!”
Necessities (55%) - Put 55% into your NEC whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You should use the funds inside your Necessities account to settle all your essential bills such as phone bills, electricity, clothings, eating, driving, travelling, hair etc. If you cannot survive on 55%, simplify your lifestyle. Instead of driving a car, perhaps you can take public transport, or drive a Honda instead of a BMW. Buy Converse jeans instead of Armani. There are people who cannot live on 55% NEC when they started the JARS system but over time, these same group of people are able to simplify their lives and live on 50% or lesser!
When your usual needs for instant gratification kicks in, think this:
“Wealthy people think Long term. Poor people think Short term.”
Play (10%) - Put 10% into your Play account whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You are supposed to spend this money every month to pamper yourself. The key is to BLOW this Play money away every month so that you will feel good about having money and spending it! You should feel guilt-free when you spend this money every single month. Maybe you go for massages once every month, now you can use this money to really pamper yourself by going twice, thrice or as much as you want. Or you can try ordering champagne during dinner at a restaurant if you do not usually do. Or buy yourself a new gadget. Anything outrageous that you can do to pamper yourself and makes you feel really good. You are recommended to BLOW this money every month. However, if you need to save up for things such as short trips getaways that require a little more money, you can accumulate them up to a few months, say a quarter, before you use them.
Give (5%) - Put 5% into your Give account whenever you receive money, such as your salary. You can use the money for donations to charities, use it to help someone in need. Giving is important. If you choose to give 10%, take the extra 5% from your NEC and change the % allocated for NEC from 55% to 50%.
This is really a great Money Management System as it covers most aspects, if not all, on how one usually spend their money. It is so amazing simple, yet profound, method of better managing your money, regardless of how much money you already have! It can work for people who never save their $, or for people who needs to give to feel a sense of contribution to others/society, for those that need to learn and grow through learning, for anyone who just needs a little more help in managing their money.
I hope this helps open your eyes towards money management as I am.
I will consider Chicago Bulls team as my example for this discussion. The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The team is well known for having one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history during the 1990s, winning six championships in 8 years with two three-peats. All six of those championship teams were led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson. The Bulls won an NBA record 72 games during the 1995–96 NBA season and are the only team in NBA history to win at least 70 games in a single season. During the 1990s, the Bulls helped spread the popularity of the NBA around the world. The 1998 NBA Finals, the Bulls' most recent championship appearance, was the most watched championship series in NBA history (Wikipedia, 2010 May).
The team was formed in 1960's but was only made famous during 1990's and fell off again in the limelight in 2000 up to present. The success of the team during 1990's was obviously because of the mixed up of key players like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and the leadership of coach Phil Jackson.
Phil Jackson believes that "The strength of the team is each individual member... the strength of each member is the team!" (Phil Jackson, Coach, Chicago Bulls). He added that "Basketball, unlike football with its prescribed routes, is an improvisational game, similar to jazz. If someone drops a note, someone else must step into the vacuum and drive the beat that sustains the team (Phil Jackson 2004).
For a sports team to exist, you need a group of talented athletes, who work together to achieve a common goal of winning the match (L. Sandler, 2010)
The role of team in any sports is extremely important, it will dictate between losing and winning and it will determine to be great or just an ordinary team. It is true that every NBA teams has all the skills they need to be great, they chose excellent players, great coach and manager but not all teams could achieved what the Chicago Bulls has accomplished. The bottom line is perfect team to deliver results and perfect strategy that applicable to the team.
The ball is like a microphone or a spotlight--the more it's in your hands, the less anybody else has a chance to shine. But if you start sharing it, others will contribute. If you can't live with that, you'll never win a championship (Phil Jackson, 1995).
It apparent that Phil Jackson emphasise great teamwork with his team, even the superstar like Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryantfollowed the structure outline by coach Phil Jackson.
Role of team in engineering projects
Similarly, a project team is defined as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance, goals, and approach. It could also be described as an assembly of people who are directly or indirectly accountable to the project manager (M. Newell and M. Grashina, 2004).
In engineering projects, the role of teams in the delivery projects is also very important. Engineering projects can be complex in their design, process and/or client requirements. They will call for expertise in fields not necessarily held by one individual. They will have a risk profile that requires the efforts of many to understand and mitigate.
Teams are important to this type of work as they enable the members involved to spread amongst themselves the risks and workloads of the project. This enables the team to achieve more than the individual members involved (synergy).
An effective team is required in order for the project to be in a position to deliver on its promise of completion of the project in line with the clients requirements. An effective team with members who understand their roles and responsibilities as well as the roles and responsibilities of other team members will have increased productivity and synergy which is required to deliver solutions on complex engineering problems. Effective teams will be well sized in order for each member to be effective and projects may require the formation of several teams to tackle the project successfully.
Project team members' collocation is a simple but efficient tool to increase team performance and team members' involvement (manager (M. Newell and M. Grashina, 2004).
In summary, both sports team and engineering team uses effective teamwork in achieving their goals and the members of the team play their specific roles as one team.
Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato (born August 20, 1992) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock and its upcoming sequel, Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, and as Sonny Munroe in Sonny With a Chance. As a solo musical artist, Lovato released her debut album Don't Forget on September 23, 2008. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 selling over 89,000 copies in the first week. Demi Lovato released her second album, Here We Go Again, on July 21, 2009.The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 selling over 108,000 copies in the first week. (Wikipedia 2010)
Demi Lovato
La La Land lyrics
I am confident
But I still have my moments
Baby, that's just me
I'm not a supermodel
I still eat McDonald's
Baby, that's just me
Well, some may say I need to be afraid
Of losing everything
Because of where I
Had my start and where I made my name
Well, everything's the same
In the la-la land machine
Machine, machine
Who said I can't wear my
Converse with my dress
Well, baby, that's just me [ah]
Who says I can't be single
And have to go out and mingle
Baby, that's not me
Well, some may say I need to be afraid
Of losing everything
'cause of where I
Had my start and where I made my name
Well, everything's the same
In the la-la land...
Tell me, do you feel the way I feel
'Cause nothing else is real
In the la-la land machine
Well, some may say I need to be afraid
Of losing everything
Because of where I
Had my start and where I made my name
Well, everything's the same
In the la-la land machine
Well, I'm not gonna change
In the la-la land machine
Well, I will stay the same
In the la-la land machine
Machine
Machine
I won't change anything in my life
I won't change anything in my life
I'm staying myself tonight
I'm staying myself tonight
La, la, la, la, la
Remember December lyrics
I feel a separation coming on
'Cause I know you want to be moving on
I wish it would snow tonight
You'd pull me in, avoid a fight
'Cause I feel a separation coming on
Just prove that there is nothing left to try
'Cause the truth I'd rather we just both deny
You kissed me with those open eyes
It says so much, it's no surprise to you
But I've got something left inside
Don't surrender, surrender, surrender
Please remember, remember December
We were so in love back then
Now you're listening to what they say, don't go that way
Remember, remember December
Please remember, don't surrender
You said you wouldn't let them change your mind
'Cause when we're together fire melts the ice
Our hearts are both on overdrive
Come with me, let's run tonight
Don't let these memories get left behind
Don't surrender, surrender, surrender
Please remember, remember December
We were so in love back then
Now you're listening to what they say, don't go that way
Remember, remember December
Please remember
I remember us together with a promise of forever
We can do this, fight the pressure
Please remember December
Don't surrender, surrender, surrender
Please remember, remember December
We were so in love back then
Now you're listening to what they say, don't go that way
Remember, remember December
Please remember, don't surrender
Here We Go Again lyrics
I throw all of your stuff away
Then I clear you out of my head
I tear you out of my heart
And ignore all your messages
I tell everyone we are through
'Cause I'm so much better without you
But it's just another pretty lie
'Cause I break down
Every time you come around
Oh oh!
So how did you get here under my skin?
I swore that I'd never let you back in
Should've known better than trying to let you go
'Cause here we go go go again
Hard as I try I know I can't quit
Something about you is so addictive
We're falling together, you'd think that by now I'd know
'Cause here we go go go again
You never know what you want
And you never say what you mean
But I start to go insane
Every time that you look at me
You only hear half of what I say
And you're always showing up too late
And I know that I should say goodbye
But it's no use
Can't be with or without you!
Oh oh
So how did you get here under my skin?
I swore that I'd never let you back in
Should've known better than trying to let you go
'Cause here we go go go again
Hard as I try I know I can't quit
Something about you is so addictive
We're falling together, you'd think that by now I'd know
'Cause here we go go go again, 'gain
And again
(And again)
And again
(And again)
And again!
I threw all of your stuff away
And I cleared you out of my head
And I tore you out of my heart
Oh oh, oh oh
So how did you get here under my skin?
I swore that I'd never let you back in
Should've known better than trying to let you go
'Cause here we go go go again
Hard as I try I know I can't quit
Something about you is so addictive
We're falling together, you'd think that by now I'd know
