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Geeta Jayanti
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Monday, December 5, 2011 Labels: Gita, Sanskrit / Comments: (0) Full article...>>
Please mark your calendar. This Sunday 11th Dec 2011, join for Geeta Jayanti celebration. Organized by Samskrit Bharati. All are welcome. For the details, have a look to this pamphlet. So.... See you all there....
click here for complete Video Report for the event.
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Saturday, November 5, 2011 Labels: Festival, India / Comments: (1) Full article...>>
Since our school days, we used to write assay about Diwali. This Diwali, I come across a nice picture, that I am sharing with readers of this blog. A picture is worth 100 words. This is satellite image of India on Diwali night.
Wishing you all, the light, wisdom, knowledge in your life forever on this occasion.
Wishing you all, the light, wisdom, knowledge in your life forever on this occasion.
Can you read Kannada?
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Tuesday, November 1, 2011 Labels: Bangalore, Festival, Kannada / Comments: (4) Full article...>>
Are you able to read Kannada? Yes? No?
Ok, if you cannot read it, then you read this article. So at the end of it, you will realize, YES to learn Kannada is so.... easy. :) If you know Kannada then also continue reading. You will be amazed by knowing interesting aspects about your own language. Look at Kannada from my perspective. Let's start first with scripts. At the end, we will see few aspects of spoken Kannada and a popular Kannada movie
1 Kannada ScriptKannada script has so many curves. Tamil is more of vertical and horizontal straight lines like symbol 'L'. Kannada is totally different. So people say they are JALEBIs. JALEBI is a sweet with a spiral shape, a shape of round round round round and full stop in the middle.
1.1 OmegaHowever, if you just carefully observe these JALEBIs, you will find one symbol is repeated again and again in almost all characters. Do you know what is that? Yes, correct it is 'w' (English lower case w) or Greek lower case Omega ω . Yes, Omega. This small Omega means angular velocity in physics. Add something to it, either at right hand side, left hand side, above it or below it, and you will find almost all Kannada characters. For example, just add English digit 7,2 or 9 at left hand side. ಬ It is 'BA'. ब 'BA' for Bangalore. Sorry I mean Benglooru. You will find this symbol everywhere in our Benglooru. Now just add a Greek upper case Delta below it. Δ Delta is triangle. Even a vertical line will do, instead of triangle. ಭ Yes, now it is 'BHA' भ from 'BA'. Put something at right hand side, ಚ you will get 'CHA'. च Add vertical Omega to right hand side. Total two Omegas. ಡ It is DA. . ड Add Delta (vertical line) below it. ಢ So it become 'DHHA'. ढ Now remove the horizontal one, only one vertical omega. ತ It is 'TA' ('THA'). त In north India, 'TA' is common for 'TA' (as in Kavita कविता ) and 'TA' (as in Rita रीता ). In South, people write 'THA' for the former one. Even instead of 'Gujarati' गुजराती , they write it as 'Gujarathi' गुजराथी. 'Vinod' is 'Vinodh' विनोध here. 'Divya' is here 'Dhivya'!! धिव्या :)
Anyway, coming back to Omega. After adding, something in all directions, now let's hang it. Like we hang clothes after washing them. You just hang it from middle. ಪ It is 'PA'. प Add Delta (or vertical line) below it. ಫ Now it is 'PHA' or 'FA'. फ Hang the Omega from both side. ದ It is 'DA' ('DHA'). द Again add Delta. Where ? At bottom yaar. :) ಧ It is 'dHA' ('dHHA'). ध Now, Let's hang Omega from right hand side. ವ It is 'VA'. व Add Delta? Nothing. :) Hang it from left hand side. Again nothing :) Ok so hanging business is over too. Now cover it from right hand side. ಎ It is 'E' .ए Now cover with Omega. ಐ Just observe them, it seems like the Omega looking at itself in the mirror located on top of it. They both Omegas are singing the famous Gazal of late Jagjit Singh.
It means even the mirror can not recognized me, It asking me for my old face and a proof that I am myself only. Understood? No. Yes Gazals are sometimes difficult to understand.
Coming back to this Kannada character. It is 'AI'. ऐ So yes, thus few characters have two Omegas,e.g AI and DA. ಐ ಡ Still, Kannadiga like Omega so much they are not satisfied with just two Omegas. So 'TA' ट and 'NA' ण have total three Omega. Two verticals and one horizontal. For 'TA' ट the horizontal Omega is at bottom. ಟ The vertical omea is looking itself in the mirror and "AAYANA MUJA SE MERI....." :) Rotate this symbol, 180 degree ಣ and it becomes 'NA'. ण
1.2 'U' symbol ()How about 'MA' म? 'MA' for me, Manish. Obviously, it contains…. Yes Omega (hung on right side). ಮ It is actually, 'VU'. वु A symbol for vowel 'u', is added to 'VA'. So it is 'VU'. But no. In Kannada script, 'VU' is 'MA'. Then how to write 'VU'? Because, 'MA' has stolen symbol for 'VU'. Simple. Tweak little bit. Instead of right bottom corner, add 'U' symbol at bottom, middle to 'VA'. ವು Yes, now it is 'VU'. वु And this symbol for vowel 'u' is a real confusing. They add it to 'YA' य , still 'YA' remains 'YA' only not 'YU' यु !!! Here is Kannada YA ಯ For 'YU' यु it is added twice. ಯು For 'ZA' or 'JHA' झ, by default, it is twice. ಝ So how to write 'ZHU' झु ? Simple, a circle then keep on adding 'u' till you are satisfied. If you have added more 'U' symbol then, Kannadiga will do auto-correction while reading it. Simple. ಝು Try to write Zunzunwala in Kannada. What'e fun ! :) And yes, don't forget to add a delta (vertical line) below ZA/JHA झ.
Unlike Hindi, all Kannda vowels are three. Hindi we have two. like short 'U' and long 'OO'. Short 'I' and long 'EE'. Kannada has such vowels three. For third one they add '9' symbol . This symbol is added by that small kid of movie "Taare Zami Par". So it is vertically flipped. Once my friend did proof reading for my Kannada poem. He added vertically flipped '9' at many places. You too, after 'I' or 'U', if you feel and whenever you feel just add . Yes, now your Kannada script looks more like written by some Kannada literate person. :) So just Enjoy MAADI. And yes, Its width should be short. This same symbol you widen. ಲ So it is 'la'.ल Now put circle below it. ಳ It is 'LA' ळ.
1.3 Greek and HindiNot only Omega and Delta, Kannada script has few more Greek characters. Like 'Pai' π = 22/7 = 3.142. π It is 'Ga' ಗ in Kannada. Theta θ is 'Th' ('Thha') ಠ ठ.
Not only Greek, Kannda script borrowed few symbols from Hindi also. Hindi 'YA' य First the top vertical line, cap is removed. So now it is Gujarati 'YA'. ય Rotate it 90 degree, then it become Kannada 'NA'. ನ Whenever I came across this symbol, first I read it as rotated Hindi 'YA'. य Then I recall, Kannada 'YA' has circle (it is like a big tummy of a fat man) and it is actually 'YU'. ಯ So this cannot be 'YA'. Oh! Yes, it is 'NA'. न. स 'SA' is simple. No confusion. Just rotate Hindi 'Sa' 90 degree. ಸ That's it !! :) Hindi SHA ष has one inclined 45 degree (it is -45 degree, let me be more specific :) ). So Kannada SHA also has this inclined line. For Hindi we add it to symbol 'PA' प . For Kannada? Obiviously to Omega. Yes :) Look at it. ಷ . Hindi 'LA' ळ is also directly copy pasted to Kannada. However here it is not 'LA' ळ. In Kannada it is 'HA'. ಹ Anyway, Kannada 'LA' ಲ we just saw it, right? Add delta (vertical line) below HA. No sir. BEDAA. Everywhere this Delta logic is not applicable :)
1.4 Lucent TechnologiesSo now borrowing business from Greek and Hindi is also over. All kinds of operation on Omega is over. Adding Delta is over. Still first character of alphabet, that is 'KA' क is pending. Right? 'KA' is for Kannada. And 'KA' is for….Yes, you all got it. Just for shake of Ekta Kapoor, all Kannadiga put sincere efforts to find suitable symbol for 'KA'. Once they visited Lucent Technologies. Lucent is my ex-employer. They just gazed at the red circle. Wow !! This circle is a nice symbol. Let's hang it. A death punishment. So now it is 'KA'. ಕ Gift it to Ekta Kappor. :) It is also English symbol I and O written vertically. In the universe, we find everything in pair. Isn't it? Happy and Sad. Man and Woman. In our IT industry, Hardware and Software, Zero and One. So why death punishment to only one circle? (Lucent only? ) Let's hang two such circles.(Alcatel and Lucent ) ಹ Now it is 'HA'. ह 'HA' We have already visited as Hindi 'LA' ळ. Let's put on a horizontal cap (line) on circle. ರ It is 'RA'. र Now put a line in the middle of circle. It is Greek Theta θ ಠ means Kannada 'THA' ('THHA'). Already covered. Let's extend this middle horizontal line on both side, add a hook to right hand side. This hook will prevent this line to come out from left hand side of the circle. :) ಈ This symbol is 'EE' ई
1.5 Practice MAADINow let's read something. As you know, practices makes man perfect and women are born perfect. At least they believe so :) . So let's read. 'Benglooru'. No need to read individual character. You can remember it as single word's single bitmap image. Where? Everywhere. At Railway station, airport, City-bus stop, etc. etc. So you can never forget how to write 'BA'. Just Remember 'Benglooru'. Add delta to 'BA' make it 'BHA'. Ok, now other most popular symbol is 'Shree'. Shree means wealth. Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth. In my parents' time, kids were starting their study with this symbol. Hey, what is written behind auto-rickshaw? Without reading, say 'Tande Tai Aashirwada' (I mean 'Thande Thai Ashirwadha' ). 99 % of times, you are correct. It means blessings of parents. Even I found parent's blessing on Taxi too (a car with yellow number plate). Other vehicles? 'Shree _________ Prasanna'. Now you know symbol for 'Shree'. It is first word. Middle word, just read few characters and other assume it. The candidate Gods/Goddess for middle words are 'Vinayaka', 'Manjunath', 'Venkateshwar', 'Balaji' some xyz swami etc. Last one will be always 'Prasanna'. OK now let's read those yellow colors, low height address board. The number is already in English. So PARAVAH GILLA. Don't worry. After that, it can be either 'main road' or 'cross road'. Why to read whole word? Just read first character. If it is 'A' then it is 'Adda Rasthe' means 'Cross road'. If 'MA' then 'Mukhya Rasthe' means 'main road'.
Have you noticed? For SAMYUKTA characters, Kannadigas write half character as full and full character as half. Say for example, ...let me think. HINDUSTAAN (HINDUSTHAAN). In Hindi, Gujarati SA is half so it is S and TAA (THAA) is full. Here different. It is HINDUSAATHN (HINDUSAATHN). AA will be added to S. So it is SAA. At the right bottom corner, small TA (THA) will be added.
1.6 Language DiscriminationBefore I forget, we need to add vertically flipped L (upper case English L) to all symbol. Like Hindi, all have cap, here all have cap + one vertical feather on top, left corner. The last character of any English word is exceptional. It has symbol 6 at top left corner, instead of vertical line. So just by looking any word written in Kannada, you can easily say, weather it is native Kannada or English. Now turn comes for Telugu people. They first remove this vertical feather from the top. Then they approve all such symbols. How? They just add one tick mark above to all of them, saying yes, this is correct, yes this is also correct. So now, after adding tick mark, all Kannada characters becomes Telugu characters. So Congratulations. You started reading this article to learn Kannada script. But, you learn to read Telugu also. One + One free. Just Enjoy MAADI.
So now you learnt so much right? What to read and how to read by identifying minimum characters, consuming less CPU cycles. Wait. First, how you will identify, it is written in Kannada? If it does not have curves. Then Tamil. Else, if it has curves and tick mark above character then Telugu. You can read Telugu as Kannada, just ignore this turban or feather. And over the above all, if you can read it very fast, then it is not Kannada, Tamil or Telugu. Either it is English or it is your mother tongue language :) . Yes, nothing to laugh. It really happens with me :). Once , from the city bus window, I was struggling to decode all the boarding of shops, written in Kannada. Suddenly, I could able to read very fluently! Miracle ! Then I realize, it was written in Gujarati. :)
Once I had one more funny experience with Urdu language. I saw a name written in Urdu language at Airport road. I learnt Urdu with my own interest in my school days. It has total three alphabets. Character at the beginning of word has different symbol, same in the middle of word is different and at the end of word it is full like capital/upper case character. Still I can recall few characters. So coming back to Airport road. I tried to read that Urdu board. I read it from right to left. So first character was ALIF. Second, I could not decode. Third was NUN. So it is a four character name, start with A and one middle character is NA. What it can be? Confused. Then, after some time, I came across, same board. Oh! it was English only. I thought it is ALIF (first), it was I, last character. English is from left to right. So first is last and last is first. And the second (or third ?) character, that I thought NUN, it was U. It was written SUFI. :)
How nice it would be, if we have XML tags. All text should be enclosed with XML tag, to indicate its language. Like
This is English. यह हिंदी है | And off course these XML tags must be in English :)
2 Spoken KannadaAnyway, so do you agree, Kannada script is simple? So you can read it. Yes. But what does it mean, that you are reading? Good question. Let me share with you, my experience.
2.1 Basic ruleBefore that, first rule, spoken Kannada is very slow or say lazy language. People fully pronounce each character. NIDHANAVAGI means slowly, peacefully. The last character ends with 'Aa', unless it is English. Like say, 'Namaskar' is in Hindi too. But in Kannada it is 'Namaskara'. There is one recent musical Kannada movie hit is 'Milan' मिलन They write it as 'Milan' in Kannada. But read it as 'Milana' मिलना. Here people feel, if they do not end word with 'aa', then it is incomplete. Then what to do if already word ends with 'aa'? Does it become 'aaaaaaaa……..' ? No it is reverse way. It becomes 'a' only!! Say for example, my एक्स employer name is 'Airvana' एरवाना It is written in Kannada as 'Airvan' एरवान , read as 'Airvana' एरवाना . :)
2.2 Lessons from my mistakesI tried to talk in Kannada. Once I told to driver that I was absent on first day. 'Mungaru dine nanu Bandidilla' (Mungaru dhine nany bandhidhilla). There is popular movie 'Mungaru Male' It means 'The First Rain' and Male means rain. So obviously, 'Munagru' means First. But no!! Mungaru is a type of rain. So by listening to my statement the driver was so confused. What does I mean by saying 'rain day, I did not come' !!! So in short, Mungaru word only comes with Male. One more such confusion happened. At the end of the day, evening time my colleague was living for the day to home, so told me 'Bye'. I replied, in Kannada, with full enthusiasm. It is my Kannada. I told, 'ok bye and Hogi Bartini' (Hogi Barthini). My friend got confused. She corrected me that yes she is going and she will come back. While, I was not going or coming back, I was still in the office only. 'Hogi Bartini' means 'I am going and I will be back'. I should tell her 'Hogi Banni' means 'Go and come back'.
2.3 My creationAll the time, I do not confuse people with my Kannada. Once I made a correct and innovative statement. Happy Birthday is simple. 'HuTTu Habbada Shubhashay gaLu'. How to wish 'Belated Happy Birthday'? Simple, 'HuTTu Habbada Aadmele Nidhanvagi Shubhashay Galu'. I wrote a nice SuPrabhatam in Kannada.
" Bangalore Road Nalli Beligge Traffic Kammi Ide, Sarva Junction Nalli Hasiru Singnal Ide...
Uthishta Banglorian Bega Office Ge Drive Madi.
Nidhaanavagi Ellaakade Traffic Jam Suruvagide., Uthishta Traffic Police, Bangaluroo Ge Mangalam Kuru...
Sree Ellaru Banglaorians Ge Thava SUPRABHATAM."
It means
"At the morning, in the Bangalore , there is less traffic. All junctions have Green signal. So all Bangalorians wake up and drive towards office. Slowly, traffic jams start. Wake up traffic police and do welfare for Bangalore city. To all Bangalorians, Good Morning.!"
This SuPrabhatam was broadcasted on Bangalore Radio City 91.9 FM at 'Bangalore Talkies' programme. Listen MAADI the edited conversation with R. J. Vasanthi. Presented the same at Hidi Kavi Samlen by 'Shabd Sahityik Sanstha' Wath MAADI
And yes, here is one more. "Din Huva Begin" - My poem translated in Kannada. Also read the orginal Gujarati version.
2.4 Simple tricksSo yes, with practices, you can speak better Kannada. You can attend weekend class at Hosmat Hospital. Contact Mr. Raghavan 9448878569 or Mr Natarajan 9845680958. You can organize Kannada class at your organization. Kannada Kali will provide all kind of help.
Still, if you feel difficult, then let me share few simple tricks. Learn Kannada in five minutes :) . It is very very simple. Just Listen. Whatever they says, you reply, 'Hauda(Haudha)…?'. They may reply back 'Haudu(Haudhu)' and continue. If some serious topic, you become serious and say 'HAUDA…?' If other party laughs, you also laugh and say 'Hauda…? :)) ' 'Hauda' means 'Aisa Kya?' in Hindi, 'Is it so?' in English and 'Eppadiyo' in Tamil.( Eppadiyo is famous word. It comes in 'Ek Duje Ke Liye' movie songs also) How long, you can manage with just saying 'Hauda…?' They may ask you something. Again simple. Only one answer for all the questions. 'Ondu Nimisha'. Whatever they ask, give same reply. It is correct. It means. 'Just please wait for one minute'. After one minute they may repeat the quesiton. No problem, you also repeat the same answer. "Ondu Nimisha". got it ? :) What'e fun!
So Happy learning Kannada. It is nice and rich language. Kannada literature has won maximum JyanpiThh award so far. (We write Gyanpith). And all Kannadigas are so sweet, so emotional and they love Kannada so much that if they know, you are learning Kannada, they will support you. They become your nice friends. And feel very happy, even if you put effort to make even one statement in Kannada. Even once Sonu Nigam spoke that, local people VJ Rubi Bhatiya feel very happy, when he speak anything in Kannada. He is a playback singer for 'Mungaru Male'
So enjoy learning Kannada.
3 Mungaru MaleRecently I watched a popular hit Kannada movie. "Mungaru Male". Enjoyed. It was copy of Hindi DDLJ. Except the end. Overall the movie was too good. Love Stories are simple to understand. No logic. Natural scene, waterfalls are too good, that you can enjoy only on the wide screen of cinema. The whole movie was with full fun by the Hero Ganesha (Pritam, Pritham).
Starting was so simple. Heor's mother was asking "AAMELE?" means next? The hero was describing, how he met her, how he fall in gutter. "AAMELE?". She took out him out of gutter. Wow!! Kannada movie is so simple to understand. Just one word "AAMELE?" The whole movie was not so simple. In the whole movie, me and the father of heroine. ERADU ONDE. We both had same situation. He was using the hearing aids. The hero always removes it and says whatever he wants to say. The poor father cannot understand. I have limited Kannada vocabulary. So even I can hear, I cannot understand fully. He can not hear. I can not listen to. So we both were inferring from the facial expressions, tone, gestures etc, what others are talking.
The heroine's parents assigned responsibility for successful marriage of their daughter to hero Ganesha. And do you know, what? When the heroine slapped him twice, he was wrenching in rain, the heroine had an umbrella for her. Then she threw the umbrella and ran away. Instead of pick up it, the hero sat in VAJRAASAN.What was the need of doing such VAJRAASAN? at the time? in rain? when the free umbrella was lying down just next to him? ( If I could enter in the picture, I would have gone there, collected it and come back. :) )Her parents asked only for safe, successful marriage not asked for not take her umbrella, if she forget. But anyway, as I mentioned, love stories have no logic. Even to know her name, he put his 100% and catches her handkerchief. Fight with villain. Finally on the handkerchief, her name was written "Nandini" (Nandhini). In Bangalore, you just go to any street corner, you will find one milk selling outlet with this name: "Nandini". What was the need to catch that handkerchief, run behind it for such a common and popular name? Again the love stories have no logic. :)
The end fully disappointed me. The poor hero, twice took bath with gutter water, bitted by villain, his mother slapped him, the heroine slapped him. That too for twice. And after all these also, he could not marry her! So sad. :( At last, I was waiting, that he will get call on her mobile, he will return and marry her. But no. The end. "Priti Madhura, Tyaag Amar" ("Prithi Madhhura, Thyaag Amara"). (by the way, there was no mobile tower in that hilly area, where he was driving. No coverage. So if someone call him back then also, "This mobile is not reachable!" ) It was not DDLJ. And like almost all Hindi love story, there was no last moment running towards airport also. Like the movie 'Ashiqui' or 'Chalate Chalate' or many such movies.
My Kannada friend argued, how can you say the end is sad? Who knows in the movie Ganesha was not hero, but he who married with her was hero!! Lateral Thinking.
Disclaimer : All the thoughts and ideas presented in articles are author's own. The sole purpose of writing this is just to have fun with learning. This is not written at all to hurt feelings of anyone, or to promote racism or any kind of discrimination based on language, caste, state or culture. Yet, if any reader feels hurt, then I am sorry for it. Please let me know any feedback, I will correct it.
King of the Festivals
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 Labels: Bangalore, Festival, Gujarat / Comments: (3) Full article...>>
Wishing you all a very Happy and Safe Diwali.
Gujarat is famous for its delicious food items. Majority of us are vegetarian. Diwali is special festival. Next day to Diwali is new year for us. We offer various food dishes to the lord, in almost all temples. We decorate them in front of lord. It is called ANNAKUT.
If you are at Bangalore, then don't miss this opportunity to visit SwamiNarayn temple. Here is the Diwali greeting cum invitation card with schedule and venue details. If you are not in Bangalore, then you can visit any nearest SwamiNarayan or Vaishnav Hindu temple. You will be amazed by diversity in Gujarati vegetarian food items offered to God.
All the best wishes on this festival to readers of "Express YourSelf !" Stay tune, I may post some photographs.
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Wednesday, October 5, 2011 Labels: Festival, Gujarat / Comments: (0) Full article...>>
You will find something different at this blog "Express YourSelf !" This Navratri article is also unique. It describes cultural aspects of our
particularly Gujarat in terms of various songs lyrics that (GARABA/RASH) we sing during this festival. The Gujarati songs with English translation for the benefit of International Readers of this blog. India
Navratri: Nav means Nine and Raatri means night. These is a nine night festival, is celebrated differently in different parts of India by Hindus.
Mythology Concept:
Navaratri is divided into sets of three days to adore three different aspects of the supreme goddess or goddesses.
- On the first three days, the goddess is invoked as a powerful spiritual force called Durga, Amba, in order to destroy all our impurities, vices and defects.
- During the next three days, the Mother is adored as a giver of spiritual wealth, Lakshmi, who is considered to have the power of bestowing on her devotees the inexhaustible wealth.
- The final set of three days is spent in worshipping the daughter of brahma as the goddess of wisdom, Saraswati. In order to have all-round success in life, we need the blessings of all three aspects of the divine femininity, hence, the worship for nine nights.
On the tenth day of October Navratri, the holiday of Dussehra, an effigy of Ravana is burnt to celebrate the victory of good (Rama) over evil.
So let's all enjoy some famous/popular GARABA = song/folk songs that people sing during this dance. Look at these wordings. Its root in the Indian mythology, devotion, culture, new era etc.etc.
Here are pure devotional songs to pray the goddess.
Here are pure devotional songs to pray the goddess.
- Let's have Rangoli with Swastik symbol at door step. And let's lit the lamps. Because today goddess mother Pavavali will arrive at my home.
આજ મારે આંગળે પધારશે માં પાવાવાળી.
- You are black and caring, oh mother,wherever I see its you only, oh mother. I recognized you in different form in different eras.
- I bow down to goddess AdyaShakti, Bahuchara.
- O birds, fly towards Pavagadh, go and invite Mahakali goddess to play garba.
પંખીડા રે ઉડી જાજો પાવાગઢ રે... માં કાળી ને જઈને કહેજો, ગરબે ઘૂમે રે...
The lord Krishna
The lord Krishna impacted all aspects of Indian culture.
- The Krishna - the prince - passes through my street and plays flute...
મારી શેરી એ થી કાન કુંવર આવતા રે લોલ, મુખે થી મોરલી વગાડતા રે લોલ...
- We are milkmen close to king Kans, we don't donate to anyone else, yes yes dear dont donate to anyone. Oh Prince Kaan (Krishna), get off our way
અમે મૈયારા કંસ રાજા નાં વાલા કોઈ ને દઈએ દાન...
- Wind is blowing and so clouds are gathered. Peacocks are singing at Gokul village. Please come to meet me my beloved beautiful lord Krishna...
- My nose-ring (ornament) is taken away by Lord કરીશ
- While playing RAAS, I lost my nose-ring (ornament). Oh son of Nand (lord Krishna), if you have found it, then please return it back to me.
નાગર નંદજીના લાલ (૨), રાસ રમંતાં મારી નથડી ખોવાની, તને જડી હોય તો આલ.....
- Without you Shyam am feeling lonely please come early to play RAASH
તારા વિના શ્યામ મને એકલડું લાગે, રાસ રમવાને વ્હેલો આવજે.
- Lord Krishna is going to dwarka and took the getup of a milkman, yes yes took the getup of a milkman....
- I am tired of writing letters to u but u don't appreciate it Kanuda (lord Krishna)....
હું તો કાગળિયાં લખી લખી થાકી, કાનુડા તારા મન માં નથી.
Village culture.
Look at this village culture. Earlier, during this Navaratri festival only, the Indian rural women were getting chance to dance in public. So some of the GARABAAs nicely capture the day to day life of rural culture.
- My golden pot and water is coming out of it.
મારું સોના નો ઘડુલો રે..., હા પાણીડાં છલકે છે.
- I had been to a country fair, heart met on its own in the fair, heart lost and drowned in the flood of youth, in the fair, in the fair, in the fairrrrrrrrrr.........
- On my pillar, peacock is sitting, where is he speaking from.......
- Innocent nephews are going to lake and dancing to the beats of drums,
- I had gone to pavagadh with 25 Cents...Pavagadhwari goddess appear in front of me or else give me my 25 cents back.
- I have planted Henna at the Madava state but its color has gone to Gujarat
- Flute played in Pethalpur and my sleeping goldsmith woke-up young kingdom, round friend red, round friend
પેથલપુરમાં પાવો વાગ્યો, ને મારો સુતો સોનીડો જાગ્યો જવાન રાજ ઘમ્મર યાર લાલ ઘમ્મર યાર.
- Ant poor one is alone and getting married..lets go to Ms. Ant's wedding...
- I want to go to the fair because its Rajudis fair
મારે તો મેળે જાવું છે ને રાજુડી નો મેળો લાગ્યો.
- Come to play "hu tu tu tu..." will u play hu tu tu tu?
Urban area
Now see, influence from urban area.
Now see, influence from urban area.
- There is lot of earnings in Mumbai but Mumbai's earnings is all spent in Mumbai only.
મુંબઈ ની કમાણી મુંબઈ માં સમાણી
- There came a train from Mumbai...who all came in the train....
- At Red Gate, (A place in Ahmedabad) I put up tents....
- I am Ahmedabad's rickshaw driver with registration plate 999, come I will show you round Ahmedabad.
This song describe all the famous sight seeing of city Ahmedabad.
- A leaf flies, foreigner red leaf. I am emotional about this leaf, foreigner red leaf
પાંદડું ઉડી ઉડી જાઇ રે પરદેશી લાલ પાંદડું
- Merry-go-round is making noise while running. Please pay cash today. Credit will tomorrow.
Spicy Songs
Now, enjoy few spicy songs. Some them are from Gujarati films (Dhollywood).
Now, enjoy few spicy songs. Some them are from Gujarati films (Dhollywood).
- Oh come closer baby...it is full moon night tonight...come to dance on the shores of Jamunaji (repeat).......
ઓહ ઓરી આવ રે છોરી.
- While coming and going give me a little look,though nothing else, atleast say how are you ?
આવતા જતા જરા નઝર તો નાખતા જજો, બીજું તો કંઈ નહીં પરંતુ કેમ છો કહેતા જજો.
- If u come near I will tell you something very private matter. You are hot n spicy sweet and sour dish. Your hair are Sutarfeni of Khambhat, Your cheeks are Ghari of Surat, hey you are Rajkot's Penda, You are beautiful...
ઓરી આવે તો તને વાત કહું ખાનગી, તું ગરમ મસાલેદાર, ખાટી મીઠી વાનગી.
This song also lists out all popular delicious dishes from different parts of Gujarat.
This song also lists out all popular delicious dishes from different parts of Gujarat.
- Hair scarf tying and it is flying away (repeat). I can't hold on, I can't tolerate, something is happening to my heart.
ઓઢણી ઓઢું ઓઢું ને ઉડી જાય (૨)
નાં નાં રે રહેવાય, નાં નાં રે કહેવાય
મારા હૈયા માં કંઈ કંઈ થાય....
- O sweetheart, where were you playing Raas ? your eyes are red and seems you have not slept all night....
ઓ રંગ રસિયા ક્યાં રમીઆવ્યા રાસ જો, આ આંખલડી રાતીરે ઉજાગરો ક્યાં રે કીધો?
Falguni Patahak (Dandiya queen) is very popular singer of Garabaa. She contributed with filmy and non-filmy albums. I have to spare one separate article just to cover translated Raas sung by her. This year, she is coming to Gokuldhaam Society in popular TV serial "Tarak Mehata Ka Ulataa Chasma".
Rocking songsThe Khelaiyaa play the Raas with extra zeal, energy on this songs.
- Drummer oh Drummer Drummer, Drummer dont play drums slowly (repeat). Or else starry night will loose its color
ઢોલીડા ઢોલ ધીમો ધીમો વગાડ માં
- Drummer beat the drum i want to take Heench, drummer beat the drum i want to take Heench, I want to take Heench and i want to play garba, o drummer. (Heench is a kind of dance)
- Drums playing at Mahisagar, Let's see all people with different professions. What they are bringing to offer to divine mother.
હે મારી મહીસાગર ની આરે ઢોલ વાગે સે.
વાગે સે ઢોલ વાગે સે
વાગે સે ઢોલ વાગે સે
- Going to lake and dancing to the beats of drums
ભલા ભાનેગળા સરોવર જાવું ત્યાં ઢોલે રમે
And yes, before I end this article, how can we forget this? The last but not the least.
And yes, before I end this article, how can we forget this? The last but not the least.
- Garbi is mine garbi re, Give us some change. Garbi mine garbi take separate bananas, bananas r not separate take a friend with it, friend asking, asking for Garbo, please put oil in the Garbaa. "Come on the last day"
During Navaratri festival, evening time, small girls in group, go door to door. They carry GARABO (a pot with lamp inside). Sing this song. And demand for oil in GARABO to keep lamp on. People always give default answer, "Come on the last day." At the last day, the small girls gets oil, money, chocolate etc from different people.
I could cover only few very popular Raas in this article. You are most welcome to add and modify. Waiting for your comments. At orkut, there was an interesting discussion on listing GARABAs. The content of this article is contributed by all enthusiastic people from my native place Mithapur, (Gujarat). Hiral has also contributed. Acknowledged to all.
Stay tune to this blog Express YourSelf ! You will find one more such article. A compilation of content shared by people on a social networking website.
Sanskrit Dinotsav
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Monday, August 29, 2011 Labels: Bangalore, Event Report, Sanskrit / Comments: (0) Full article...>>
I post the "Sanskrit Day Celebration" pamphlet on this blog. In case, if you miss to attend it, then also "CHINTA MA ASTU" Don't worry.
We had few songs, group songs, dramas, prize distribution and speeches by honorable guests. Everything in Sanskrit. Here is the video report.
We had few songs, group songs, dramas, prize distribution and speeches by honorable guests. Everything in Sanskrit. Here is the video report.
A still from daram "Dev: Kutra Asti?"
Click here for some more photos.
You will find some interesting articles in Sanskrit on this blog. Just stay tune to Express YourSelf !
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Friday, August 26, 2011 Labels: India / Comments: (0) Full article...>>
- "The Lokpal bill alone cannot eradicate corruption…" – Rahul Gandhi
He speaks only after thinking. So called, Indian future Prime minister (!!), takes so much time in thinking….
- "Anna should contest 2014 elections and then can pass any bill" – Mayawati
- What will happen to website I PAID A BRIBE , once Jan Lokpal bill is passed?
- At one end, the government and members of parliament wants Anna to end the fast. How come they just skip one whole day without discussion on Lokpal bill !!
- Let's lock all the members of parliament in the parliament without providing any food, till they come out with strong Jan Lokpal bill.
How nice, if some of us civil society people, IT people, middle class people join the politics. Let's consider useful aspect of, Mayawati's statement, to implement. Let's pass people friendly bill. We will speak spontaneously, without written notes. Most of us very little hope from our elected representative. Today Annaji is leading us. We are united under a Gandhian after so many decades. Even if this bill pass, in long run, corruption may take another form. In future, who will unite us to fight against any other injustice? Anyway we have woken up now. So let's find a constructive long term solution.
Somehow politicians have made entry barrier for us – the common men. We also enjoy such ideas in movies only. Someone has to come forward. What do you think? Express YourSelf !
Anna Hazare
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Thursday, August 25, 2011 / Comments: (1) Full article...>>
Anna Hazare says bring back the Black Money.
Do u know what will happen if 1,456 Lac Crores comes back.
1. India Financially No.1
2. Each district will get 60000 crores & each village will get 100 Crores
3. No need to pay taxes for next 20 yrs.
4. Petrol 25 Rs, Diesel 15 Rs, Milk 8 Rs.
5. No need to pay electricity bill.
6. Indian borders will become more stronger than the China Wall.
7. 1500 Oxford like Universities can be opened.
8. 28,000 kms Rubber road (like in Paris) can be made.
9. 2,000 hospitals (with all facilities) all medicine Free.
10. 95 crore people will have their own house.
2. Each district will get 60000 crores & each village will get 100 Crores
3. No need to pay taxes for next 20 yrs.
4. Petrol 25 Rs, Diesel 15 Rs, Milk 8 Rs.
5. No need to pay electricity bill.
6. Indian borders will become more stronger than the China Wall.
7. 1500 Oxford like Universities can be opened.
8. 28,000 kms Rubber road (like in Paris) can be made.
9. 2,000 hospitals (with all facilities) all medicine Free.
10. 95 crore people will have their own house.
Support Anna Hazare by forwarding this message to atleast 10 Indians.
Please take time to read it.
10 things to know about Anna Hazare 'n Jan Lok Pal Bill.. !
10 things to know about Anna Hazare 'n Jan Lok Pal Bill.. !
1. Who is Anna Hazare?
An ex-army man. Fought 1965 Indo-Pak War
2. What's so special about him?
He built a village Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahamad Nagar district, Maharashtra
3. So what?
This village is a self-sustained model village. Energy is produced in the village itself from solar power, biofuel and wind mills.
In 1975, it used to be a poverty clad village. Now it is one of the richest village in India. It has become a model for self-sustained, eco-friendly & harmonic village.
4. Ok,…?
This guy, Anna Hazare was awarded Padma Bhushan and is a known figure for his social activities.
5. Really, what is he fighting for?
He is supporting a cause, the amendment of a law to curb corruption in India.
6. How that can be possible?
He is advocating for a Bil, The Jan Lokpal Bill (The Citizen Ombudsman Bill), that will form an autonomous authority who will make politicians (ministers), beurocrats (IAS/IPS) accountable for their deeds.
8. It's an entirely new thing right..?
In 1972, the bill was proposed by then Law minister Mr. Shanti Bhushan. Since then it has been neglected by the politicians and some are trying to change the bill to suit their theft (corruption).
7. Oh.. He is going on a hunger strike for that whole thing of passing a Bill ! How can that be possible in such a short span of time?
The first thing he is asking for is: the government should come forward and announce that the bill is going to be passed.
Next, they make a joint committee to DRAFT the JAN LOKPAL BILL. 50% government participation and 50% public participation. Because you cant trust the government entirely for making such a bill which does not suit them.
8. Fine, What will happen when this bill is passed?
A LokPal will be appointed at the center. He will have an autonomous charge, say like the Election Commission of India. In each and every state, Lokayukta will be appointed. The job is to bring all alleged party to trial in case of corruptions within 1 year. Within 2 years, the guilty will be punished. Not like, Bofors scam or Bhopal Gas Tragedy case, that has been going for last 25 years without any result.
9. Is he alone? Who else is there in the fight with Anna Hazare?
Baba Ramdev, Ex. IPS Kiran Bedi, Social Activist Swami Agnivesh, RTI activist Arvind Kejriwal and many more.
Prominent personalities like Aamir Khan is supporting his cause.
10. Ok, got it. What can I do?
At least we can spread the message. How?
Putting status message, links, video, changing profile pics.
Samskrit Day Celebration
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Tuesday, August 23, 2011 Labels: Bangalore, Sanskrit / Comments: (1) Full article...>>
Welcome to Sanskrit day celebration.
Organised by Samskrita Bharati, Halsuru Division, Indiranagar, Bangalore
On 27th August 2011 4:00 PM
Parimal Sabhagan
Raghvendra Swami Math
1st stage
9th cross
B/h Arya Samaj
Indiranagar, Bangalore.
Parimal Sabhagan
Raghvendra Swami Math
1st stage
9th cross
B/h Arya Samaj
Indiranagar, Bangalore.
Landmark and direction: A2B Adyar Ananda Bhavan is near KFC signal. Opposite to A2B one small road leads to Raghvendra Math.
Click here for detail report about this event.
Nrityotsav 2011
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Monday, August 22, 2011 Labels: Bangalore, Event Report, Festival / Comments: (0) Full article...>>
Last Saturday, I enjoyed dance festival. Nrityotsav 2011. It was wonderful. How can I enjoy alone. All the readers of this blog "Express YourSelf !" have privilege to know more about the event.
Here are the details:
Organized by
Ninaad School Of Kathak Dance
Ninaad School Of Kathak Dance
Indiranagar Sangeetha Sabha
Purandara Bhavan
Purandara Bhavan
B/h Indiranagar Club,
8th Main Road
HAL 2nd stage,
on 20th August 2011 5:30 PM
on 20th August 2011 5:30 PM
Here is the list of all the performers.
It's Time to Tab!
Posted by Manish Panchmatia on Friday, August 19, 2011 Labels: India, software, Telecom Wireless / Comments: (10) Full article...>>
Samsung tablet is not at all a "mee-too" product in over-crowded tablet market. It is slim, light weight and cute. It is your companion forever. To read books, to stay in touch with your friends, to watch movies and to share your precious joyous moments with the world. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is always at your service.
Samsung tablet is not at all a "mee-too" product in over-crowded tablet market. It is slim, light weight and cute. It is your companion forever. To read books, to stay in touch with your friends, to watch movies and to share your precious joyous moments with the world. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is always at your service.
1. Physical Body
Just look its physical body. Such a slim!! Just 8.6 mm thin. And light weight like a breeze. 565 grams. It is 0.2 mm thinner and 36 grams lighter compare to Apple iPad 2. Yet Galaxy Tab has 10.1" wide screen. Let's switched it ON. You cannot keep your eyes away from it. In just 10.1" screen Samsung has accommodated 1280 x 800 (WXGA) pixels. That turns out pixel density of 149 ppi (pixels per square inch). So when you see photos, movies they become live with such a rich graphics. Live panel and mini apps are truly amazing with Samsung Touchwiz UX! JAKAAS !!
2. Connectivity
We cannot live without breath. Same like us, the Samsung tablet also breathes. It breathes with data, bits, zeros and ones. In today's era of cloud computing and networked world, any device is incomplete without data connectivity. This little device has baseband signal processing hardware for all cellular and WiFi bands. (HSPA+ in 850/900/1900/2100 MHz bands, EDGE/GPRS in 850/900/1800/1900 MHz bands, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n with dual band 2GHz and 5GHz, WiFi Direct and Bluetooth 3.0) So you get best high speed Internet coverage at any part of the world. Excellent! Isn't it?
3. Multimedia & Navigation
We all want entertainment to engage our mind. Galaxy Tab presents the best multimedia features for your entertainment. As being a Music Hub, you have access to all popular and classical albums with over 11 million tracks. Not only songs, but artist information, critics' music review, album details everything is just a touch away. You can play those melodious tracks directly to its surround sound speakers. Galaxy Tab has codec supports, for all audio and video file formats. (WMV9, WMV7, WMV8, H.264, MPEG4, Xvid, DivX, H.263, VP8, MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, RA) So no need to convert your file to 3gp, mp4, mp3 format. It supports any format. You can enjoy full HD video 1080P with 30fps on glorious 10.1" tablet screen. 3 Mega Pixels back camera for HD video recording and taking live photographs. Just A1 quality multimedia!
How about gaming? Well, compare to Apple iPad's three-way accelerometer and gyroscope, Samsung uses four-way sensors. So while gaming, screen rotation has much faster response. Not only that, it is your companion in travelling too with turn-by-turn navigation support. It has everything like A-GPS, Compass and Accelerometer. No need for map or any travel guide. Just pack your luggage and book the ticket.
How about gaming? Well, compare to Apple iPad's three-way accelerometer and gyroscope, Samsung uses four-way sensors. So while gaming, screen rotation has much faster response. Not only that, it is your companion in travelling too with turn-by-turn navigation support. It has everything like A-GPS, Compass and Accelerometer. No need for map or any travel guide. Just pack your luggage and book the ticket.
4. Social Hub
By the way, what will you do with these amazing clarity photographs? Off course, you will share them with your friends on Facebook. Don't you? Your Galaxy Tab is a Social Hub. Picasa, YouTube, Twitter, GooglePlus, Facebook, Orkut, Hi5, LinkedIn, Yammer, OCS, you just name it. At Samsung Galaxy Tab, a single portal is enough to access multiple e-mail, messaging and social networking accounts. The portal has message feed and web feed in easy-to-read flow. Not only that, 2 Mega Pixels front camera helps you to have video call over Skype etc. Now, you are never out of touch from your friends. So nice!
5. Readers Hub
Books are always our best friends. Samsung Galaxy Tab is a Readers Hub. Now need of separate e-book reader like Amazon's Kindle. You can access more than 23 lacs e-books, 2000 newspaper, 3000 magazines, RSS feeds in 49 different languages. Its large bright LCD screen displays sharp characters for strain-less reading. Zoom in/zoom out, font enlargement and virtual bookmarks improve the e-reading experience further. Happy reading!
6. Brand
What separate Samsung Galaxy tablet from other tablets? Its brand. SAMSUNG. The Samsung group is a multinational conglomerate corporation from South Korea. Any brand has special appeal, that make you special. This tablet is brand hub too. It has Adobe Flash support for better browsing. The complete Google application suite. GTalk, Gmail, Google Map, Google Maps Navigation Google Latitude, Google Places, Google Calender, Google *.* :) And yes, Android Market with more than 4.5 Lacs apps. So you can download wide variety of apps for Android Honeycomb 3.1 Operating System. However for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, no need to download anything. It has Polaris Office for your professional life. The clipboard stores upto 20 text and images. Useful, right? What Next?
7. Processor
Like Intel Pentium processor is inside desktop, "NVIDIA 1GHz dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2" processor is inside this tablet. Processor is core part. It is a brain of the tablet. Sometimes feature rich smart phone and tablet become annoying with their sluggish response to UI (User interface). This dual core processor is very powerful. It is excellent for multitasking, mobile web browsing, hardware-accelerated Flash applications, console-quality graphics and so overall best user experience. It does all the calculation in real time, so you can browse Internet, read e-books, play games, enjoy HD videos. Yet it is power efficient to conserve your battery. Unbelievable!
This blog URL is 7Layers, because our existence has seven layers. Body, breath, mind, memory, intelligence, ego and self. Same way, have you noticed? The Samsung Galaxy Tab has seven layers. So the URL for . (1)Physical Body, (2) Connectivity, (3) Multimedia and Navigation, (4) Social Hub, (5) Readers Hub, (6) Brand Hub and (7) Processor. All these seven layers exist for only one sole purpose: 'the best end user experience'. You can further enhance interaction with tablet using Keyboard case and desktop dock accessories.
Whether hardware or software. Whether Android platform or Apps. Whether WiFi or 3.5G HSPA. Whether social networking or multimedia. Whether purpose is work or play. Altogether, this tablet provides a 'wow expression'!It's far better than Apple's iPad, Motorola's Xoom, Acer's Iconia Tab A100 or Toshiba Thrive.
Mere Jaise,
Kisi Pagal Kavi Ki Kalpana Ho Tum...
Khud Ko Bhool Jaun Woh Nasha Ho Tum...
Hakikat To Nahin, Ek Sapna Ho Tum...
Ab Hosh Na Aaye To Behtar Hoga...
Sapna Hi Sahi Phir Bhi Mere Apne Ho Tum...
Kisi Pagal Kavi Ki Kalpana Ho Tum...
Khud Ko Bhool Jaun Woh Nasha Ho Tum...
Hakikat To Nahin, Ek Sapna Ho Tum...
Ab Hosh Na Aaye To Behtar Hoga...
Sapna Hi Sahi Phir Bhi Mere Apne Ho Tum...
You are just an imagination of a mad poet like me. You are ecstasy, that makes me to forget myself. You are not reality, just dream only. Let me remain in this state only. After all, it's my own dream.
Yes such tablet was an imagination of a mad poet. Now not. Samsung has launched Galaxy Tablet 750 in India on August 10, 2011. Now it is no longer a dream. It is a reality. It is marvel of engineering. So what are you waiting for? It's time for better tablet. It's time to Tab. Just go and buy Samsung Tab. And yes, do not forget to share your experience.
Yes, you can post your comments using Samsung Galaxy Tab itself. I will wait for a wow from you all. Thanks.


text:
Heavy-Duty Space Age Diamond 5-Year 15 ft. x 30 ft. Oval Blue/Silver Solar Cover Pool Blanket, Metallics
Browse all deals at Home Depot
See more in Pool & Spa Accessories
See more from CRYSTAL BLUE
* This offer may contain time-sensitive information and offers. Please check with Home Depot to confirm actual price & availability.
- Be the first to comment!
Home Depot
3787 Home Depot Dr
Zanesville, OH 43701

subset: commoncrawl


text:
According to a recent study, 96 per cent of parents believe their kids are well-behaved:
Overall, only 4.2 percent of parents of boys said their sons were not well-behaved. For girls, 3 percent of parents felt that way.
That view changed slightly according to who was doing the talking. In two-parent homes, only 2.1 percent said their kids weren't well-behaved. In single-parent families, that number rose to 5 percent.


text: Steam last edited by PlayZor on 06/04/18 03:48AM View full history OverviewSteam Homepage, taken from 3 June 2018Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management and communications platform created and maintained by Valve Corporation, first revealed at GDC (Game Developers Conference) on March 22, 2002 and released later in the year for Counter-Strike 1.6. In the beginning, it was critically shunned due to various bugs and inconsistent server performance. However, over the years it has vastly improved and is now seen as a fast, stable, and reliable service.Steam is a popular marketplace for large publishers, allowing them to sell their new and old games alike. Steam also allows independent game developers to showcase their games to a wider audience, focusing more on the quality or originality of the game rather than the production level in terms of marketing, so it often advertises debut indie titles such as Altitude and World of Goo next to high profile games such as Fallout 3 or Grand Theft Auto IV on its front page. Dylan Fitterer, the creator of Audiosurf went so far as to say that Steam is "the dream place to be" for independent game developers.The platform is commonly used in internet cafes not only because it is the host to popular multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike: Source and Team Fortress 2, but also because games can easily be installed on multiple computers through digital distribution and also because Steam has a dedicated service that caters to internet cafes.Steam has also been wildly popular among the PC gaming userbase. As of 2009 there are over 900 games available to download (with most new games co-launching with their console counterparts or launching shortly after). In January 2010, Valve announced that they had reached over 25 million active user accounts and averaged well over 2 million concurrent users throughout the day. Most analysts estimate that Steam currently controls 70% of digital distribution market share on the PC, but as Valve is a privately held company they are not required to release sales figures. Additionally, Valve has stated that for a $50 game, publishers earn $30 as revenue whereas in retail only an average of $7.50 is made.Steam's official site can be found at store.steampowered.com, which can be accessed through a web browser or the official client.In 2011, Valve released mobile apps for iOS and android allowing users to access the Steam store, view user and group pages, and use Steam chat. More info can be found at this official page: http://store.steampowered.com/mobile/In 2012, Valve announced that non-game software would be coming to the Steam store on September 5th, ranging from "creativity to productivity". According to Valve, many of the launch titles will use Steam features like Steam Cloud.PlatformsMacOS Statistics, Jan. 2013On March 8, 2010, after a few weeks of hinting, Valve announced that it was going full steam ahead with a Mac compatible version of the platform, and that a Mac version of Portal 2 would be released simultaneously with the PC version. A feature known as Steam Play was also announced, allowing games marked with the insignia to be playable on both Mac and PC when bought. Thanks to Steam Cloud, it's possible to transfer save games between them as well. Lobbies, servers, content updates etc. are also treated similarly, so Mac and PC can go head-to-head on any multiplayer game. Most Source Engine games have been made available from the start, and most publishers have also added their titles if a Mac version is currently available. The Mac version of the Steam client went live on May 12, 2010.LinuxOn July 2012 Valve announced it was working on adding Linux support to the Steam platform and to their Source Engine. Applications for a closed beta that would accept 1000 Linux users opened in late October that same year, and Steam for Linux went into an open beta on December 20. As of January 2013, Ubuntu users account for approximately 1.12% of the total Steam userbase.PlayStation 3Along with a PC and MAC release, Portal 2 was released for the PlayStation 3 and brought Steam implementation to the console.User InterfaceOriginal DesignA Steam library in the old UISteams original user interface remained largely unchanged from its inception until its first design overhaul in 2010.Current DesignThe storefront in the new UI, running on a MACOn April 26, 2010, a major graphical update was introduced to Steam's user interface, featuring new overlays, updated graphics and new social-oriented features. The update was first made available as a public beta on February 23, 2010, and marked the first major UI change since Steam's inception. Some of the alterations made to the service include:Social Integration: Steam's new UI has made a very conscious effort to help players be more social with their online friends. It features an easier to use chat interface, simple ways of knowing which friends play what game the most, and the ability to see if a friend plays a game before you buy it.News Feed: Steam delivers relevant news from all the games you own. If you want to know the latest news of any of the games you own, you just open up the news feed.Achievement Notification: It's now much easier to see when you receive an achievement and to see what trophies you have won in the past. You can see a list of recent wins from within the Steam overlay.Custom Game Lists: A user can now sort games within the game library into personalized listsNew Browser: With the new client the internal browser also switched from Microsoft's Internet Explorer to a custom WebKit-based browser. This change paved the way for the Mac client addition in May 2010. In addition to being noticeably faster than the previous IE implementation, WebKit more thoroughly supports modern open web standards.Big Picture ModeThe storefront in Big Picture ModeSteam Big Picture Mode launched on December 2012. It is a 10-foot UI built to be easily navigable with a gamepad controller.OverlayThe Steam overlay running over a game of Team Fortress 2The overlay is a user-interface that can be brought up during a game launched from the Steam client. It allows players to use a web browser, check their friends list, manage screenshots, track achievements, among other functionalities, while a game runs in the background. By default the overlay is brought up by pressing the Shift and Tab keys simultaneously, though this setting can be changed.Steam StoreGames bought from Steam either through the website or the official client are initially added to the customer's "My Games" list, into the "Not Installed" section. Installing (downloading) the game will subsequently put that game into the "Installed" section where it can also be put on a "Favorites" list. It will also make that game available for every user that uses that computer that also owns the game on their account. Games on Steam are always kept up to date and patches are downloaded and applied automatically. This means each user's copy of a game is always synced with the games of other users on Steam, and customers don't have to manually search the internet for the most recent patches. There is also no download limit, meaning games can be downloaded an unlimited amount of times, and at any time of the day. Demos of most games that have one are also available on Steam.Steam maintains a no refund and no transfer policy, although exceptions are made in extreme circumstances, such as when Grand Theft Auto IV was released with multiple performance bugs.Steam saves publishers physical distribution and retailer costs. Because of the money publishers save, they can often afford to dramatically reduce the prices on certain items at certain times. Customers can purchase games individually, or in "packs" which contain several related games and are usually significantly less expensive than if the games were bought individually (e.g. the "Valve Complete Pack" contains every Valve game ever made and saves the customer over a hundred dollars).Steam games are also tax free, although VAT (value added tax) may apply for European countries.Gifts & Guest PassesWhen purchasing a game through the Steam store all users have the option of purchasing for themselves or as a gift for a friend. The Gift system allows users to send a game to any other user on the Steam network by simply entering their username or email address. The recipient receives the game 100% free and can download the game as soon as it is received.Guest passes work in a similar way to gifts. A guest pass is a trial of a game which last for a certain period of time (usually 10 days). The recipient of a guest pass will have full access to the game and all of its features and once again can instantly download it as soon as it is received however once they have used a guest pass they cannot use a different guest pass for the same game again. Guest passes are only available for online games and are obtained by buying the full version of the game.Downloadable Content (DLC)As of March 16th 2009, Steam announced that they will now be supporting downloadable content provided by developers to all of their Steam catalog as part of new features added to their current Steamworks feature. This DLC content will act much like DLC distributed on a console and simply install into the game directly. The first game to have Steam DLC content was The Maw with two deleted scenes content packs.Sales and Holiday ExtravaganzasEvery week Steam always has two or more sales. The most popular is the Weekend sale that starts either Thursday at 5pm PST or Friday at 10am PST. The second is Midweek Madness which starts on Tuesday and goes until Thursday. Daily sales were introduced on the 16th of May 2011, as the name suggests, a game will go on sale for 24 hours at significantly reduced prices. Valve has released multiple press releases about the effectiveness of these sales, the most infamous being the 700% sale increase from the first large Left 4 Dead sale over Valentines Day weekend in 2008. Over the weekend Valve sold more copies of the game at 50% off than at retail by a large margin. Games, game packs, or temporary game packs (which only exist for the duration of the sale) may be discounted.The largest seasonal sale on Steam is during the Winter Holiday Season from late December into early January of the following year. During this time nearly all titles on Steam are on sale for at least a small amount, with daily specials during the two week sale. Likewise the Steam Summer Sale in July offers these reductions as well as bundle sales which can contain a company's entire catalog at an 80% discount. For the 2012's Summer Sale, Steam introduced a daily, three-choice voting system that gave users a chance to vote on the game that they would like to see go on sale. The proposed game titles came at a pre-determined discount.Prima Game GuidesOn May 20th, 2010, Valve announced it had partnered with Prima to sell their guides on the Steam storefront. The guides are displayed in a web-page style format and are accessible from either your Steam library or while playing by using the Steam in-game overlay.Steam CommunitySteam Community, released on September 17 2007, is a social networking feature for Steam. Steam users can create their own profile and find other players to add to their friends list. Steam Community can be accessed through the Steam website as well as through the Steam client and has an in-game communication feature which allows players to communicate, view their friends list and view the Steam Community website while in-game by using the "Steam Community Overlay". Steam users are given a 'Steam Rating', ranging from 1-10, on their profile which is based off how much time they have spent playing Steam games in the past 2 weeks. Users may also view their time played for individual games as well as stats for Team Fortress 2 and Day of Defeat: Source. In addition, users can earn Steam Badges, which are a form of achievement earned by performing basic tasks on steam such as posting screenshots or recommending a game, but also for "years served" on the service and for joining a group.Steam GroupsUsers can join a wide range of groups that are created by the millions of other people using Steam. Groups allow users to communicate with people like themselves much more easily through the Group Chat feature and a group's admins and moderators. Group members can also post announcements that will be sent out t o all members to alert them of the most recent news and events that are taking places. The 2008 redesign brought in 'Official Game Groups', groups created by Steam for top selling games such as Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source and Left 4 Dead.Steam GreenlightAnnounced on July 9, 2012 and launched on August 30th of the same year, Steam Greenlight allows the community to greenlight games so that these can be released on Steam. This will be done via a rating system and ways of providing feedback. The goal is to give developers the opportunity to convince the community to pick their game for release.SteamworksValve has released a set of tools called Steamworks that lets developers add features to their game that are unique to Steam. Achievements, online stat tracking, and multiplayer matchmaking are some of the features provided by Steamworks.Examples of games that use Steamworks:Audiosurf - AchievementsHalf-Life 2: Episode Two - AchievementsTeam Fortress 2 - Achievements, online stats, Steam Community avatars shown on scoreboard, out-of-game server browser and friends list with SteamDay of Defeat: Source - Achievements, online stats, Steam Community avatars shown on scoreboard, out-of-game server browser and friends list with SteamNBA 2K9 - PC version requires registration with Steam, but is not sold through the Steam storeLeft 4 Dead - Achievements, Steam Community avatars shown in various game menus, out-of-game friends list with Steam, shared in-game settings (see Steam Cloud), leaderboards for survival mode.Zeno Clash - Achievements, online leaderboards for the Challenge Mode.Madballs in Babo: Invasion - Achievements, Leaderboards, Steam Cloud.Modern Warfare 2 - Achievements, Steam Cloud, Valve Anti-Cheat.Torchlight - Achievements, Steam Cloud.Duke Nukem Forever - Achievements.Ninja Reflex - Achievements, cosmetic changes to the game using tools from valve's games.On May 7, 2009 global stats were added to Steam Community. These global stats show what percentage of players have unlocked any given achievement in all games with achievements on Steam. These stats are available hereSteam CloudSteam Cloud is a method of syncing some in-game settings with a central server created by Valve and was first utilized in Left 4 Dead. Valve has since implemented it with many older games. Other developers are also able to add this functionality into their products. It automatically (by default it is on, but can be turned off) saves your mouse, keyboard, gamepad and multiplayer settings i.e. settings not determined or limited by hardware and allows them to be preserved or transferred between different computers. Saved games will also be backed up, meaning that save games can be deleted from a computer and players will be able to resume previous saves years later.Screenshot SupportIn Feb. 2011, Steam added a new feature that allowed players to take screenshots and automatically upload them to their Steam profile.Official SurveysSteam Hardware SurveyLaunched originally with Half-Life 2, the Steam hardware survey is a monthly survey that allows users to voluntarily submit their computer's information, regarding specifications such as processor speed, graphics card speed, internet speed, free hard drive space, memory and even driver information to Valve where it is collated along with information from other users and presented as charts and diagrams. This information is interesting in its own right, as it allows users to compare their computer with the average computer on Steam, but the hardware survey proves especially valuable for developers as well. Because it's a large and detailed sample of their target audience, developers beyond just Valve analyse the information from the hardware survey and base games in development on the capabilities of the average user's computer. The monthly results from Steam's hardware survey can be found here.Steam Software SurveyLaunched on July 15 for Steam beta clients, the Steam software survey checks what kind of software (such as antivirus, web browsers, etc) is installed on users systems. Similar to the Steam hardware survey, Valve publicly publishes these results at the end of each month.Driver SupportSince September 15, 2010, users with AMD graphics cards can directly download official Catalyst video drivers from Steam. Font-sizeParagraphHeader 4Header 3Header 2 Quote Link Img Table TweetClean sizeSMLpositionLCRUDchangeCreditDeletesizeSMpositionLRUDchangetitle 1title 2captiondelete×Edit Image TitleTitle: CancelUpdate×Embed ImageWhat size image should we insert? 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It Chapter Two
Movie Details
Find Movie Theaters & Showtimesfor
Videos & Photos
Movie Info & Cast
Seven kids banded together to defeat an ancient evil in the first half of the adaptation of Stephen King's epic horror novel It, but it turns out they didn't actually finish the job. Twenty-seven years later, the clown-faced demon Pennywise returns to terrorize the town of Derry, Maine — and the Losers Club reunites to put him down for good, if they can.
The original cast of It returns as flashbacks reveal previously repressed experiences, and an all-star roster has signed on to play the Losers Club as adults: James McAvoy, Jay Ryan, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, James Ransone, and Andy Bean.
- Jessica Chastain
- James McAvoy
- Bill Hader
- Isaiah Mustafa
- Jay Ryan
- James Ransone
- Andy Bean
- Bill Skarsgård
- Jaeden Martell
- Wyatt Oleff
Did You Know?
- The members of the Loser's Club from It (2017) were asked who they wanted to play their adult parts: Finn Wolfhard (Richie Tozier) said Bill Hader, Sophia Lillis (Beverly Marsh) said Jessica Chastain, Chosen Jacobs (Mike Hanlon) said Chadwick Boseman, Jack Dylan Grazer (Eddie Kaspbrak) said Jake Gyllenhaal, Wyatt Oleff (Stanley Uris) said Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben Hanscom) said Chris Pratt and Jaeden Martell (Bill Denbrough) said Christian Bale. Bale turned down the Bill Denbrough role outright while Boseman was unavailable due to his Marvel-contractual obligations as Black Panther (2018). Wolfhard and Lillis's choices were the only two that ended up being cast. James McAvoy was recommended by Chastain in returning the favor of her being recommended by him to Simon Kinberg for the antagonist role of Vuk in their previous collaboration X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019).
- When Bill decides to buy back his old bike, he is talking to the seller (Stephen King) for quite some time. If you pay attention, you can see that the book on the counter has been rotated several times between the cuts.
- Pennywise: Hello.
Atom User Reviews
Worst movie ever. The whole movie was all flashbacks, the acting was horrible and didn't make any sense. There was no plot. It was pretty much the same movie just with all of the kids grown up. Lame jump scares and just terrible all around
Thank you so much for making Richie gay. He's my favorite character and seeing his love for Eddie confirmed made my heart soar.
While the film stumbles and meanders, however, there's no denying that it delivers enough set-pieces for three regular horror films.
Though Muschietti occasionally finds lovely filmic ways to transition from one to the next, the stories don't get to resonate with each other in a meaningful or emotional way — as they might in a series of well crafted hour-long episodes.


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Gov. Jan Brewer's decision to launch an independent evaluation of the Arizona National Guard represents a first step in reform efforts advocated by insiders and experts on military conduct.
The governor's call for a review of the Guard comes in response to an Arizona Republic report detailing allegations of sexual abuse, recruiting improprieties, forgery, whistle-blower retaliation and other misconduct in a Guard with about 9,000 personnel, including 2,300 full-time soldiers and airmen.
"The governor's staff needs to look into it and perhaps make some tough decisions about leadership," said retired Maj. Gen. Glen W. "Bill" Van Dyke, a past adjutant general of the Guard. "It's crisis management."
That assessment was echoed by other officers and retired military members reacting to the Republic report and to a recent leadership battle among its top commanders.
Retired Col. Karen Bence, who served as mission-support commander for the Guard's 162nd Fighter Wing, said the state military organization suffers from "a severe lack of checks and balances all the way from state headquarters to the Governor's Office."
"If I was governor, I would clean house," Bence added. "Then, I would go after my liaison and say, 'Why didn't I know about this?' "
Bence and Van Dyke said the Guard appears to need an overhaul. Lt. Col. Rob White, who oversees future Guard operations, agreed, saying, "Clean it out at the top."
Brewer serves as commander in chief of the Arizona National Guard.
Details of her organizational review have not been released, but Matthew Benson, a spokesman for the governor, said a top National Guard officer from another state will likely be brought in to conduct a "full, fair and independent review."
Benson added that Brewer still has confidence in Maj. Gen. Hugo Salazar, the state's top military officer, who disputes assertions that the Guard suffers from a flawed culture or disproportionate unethical conduct.
In an interview and an opinion piece published by The Republic on Oct. 8, Salazar described the Arizona National Guard as "one of the nation's best." He acknowledged past problems with the recruiting unit. But he insisted that rogue officers were rooted out, operations were reorganized and a new, agencywide ethics program was created.
"We do not have a corrupt command climate," Salazar said. "We address misconduct. ... It is very unfortunate that the organization is going to be dealt with in that kind of negative perception when in no way is that what the organization is about."
White and numerous colleagues listed a gamut of behavioral problems in recent years -- fraud, sexual harassment, embezzlement, fraternization and retaliation against whistle-blowers -- as evidence to the contrary. Numerous officers said wrongdoing spreads because of lax discipline in an agency that sometimes functions as "a good-old-boy network."
Retired Maj. Glenn MacDonald said the Arizona National Guard produces a steady flow of scandals for his Internet site, militarycorruption.com.
"The nature of National Guards lends itself to cronyism, favoritism and fraud," MacDonald added. "I've seen some of the most incompetent people raised to high ranks simply because they were friends with a governor."
A fight between two top commanders pushed Arizona's leadership controversy into the public spotlight last month.
Brig. Gen. Michael Colangelo, who headed the Air National Guard, was fired by Salazar after the Air Force inspector general concluded that Colangelo abused his authority by firing subordinates for misconduct.
Colangelo said he was dismissed for trying to uphold military standards. He said he sought help from Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., and asked Brewer to intervene, but she declined.
"I spent four years in that job trying to reverse a bad culture," Colangelo said. "I was a hired gun brought in to fix problems with the unit. And I paid for it."
Retired Col. Felicia French, who left the Arizona National Guard in 2010 after 32 years of military service, said she believes the organization is laced with corruption and cronyism.
"Without a doubt," French said. "It's different in the regular Army. You're not with the same people all the time. And they (federal military) are harsher. ... The active Army's not nearly this bad."
Col. Louis Jordan Jr., deputy director of the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Studies Institute, said military organizations are a microcosm of society, and when the climate of any unit becomes fouled, the protocol is simple: Allegations get investigated; leaders take remedial action.
Jordan, who served in the Arizona Guard from 2001 to '08, said he is familiar with some of the wrongdoing documented by The Arizona Republic. "It takes human beings to make command decisions," he said. "In this case, that's the adjutant general or governor."
In a 2003 paper for the Strategic Studies Institute at the Army War College, Steven M. Jones said healthy organizations breed high ethical expectations and accountability. On the other hand, he wrote, "When the professed principles of leaders do not align with their actual practices, trust and confidence are degraded and overall effectiveness is compromised."
Officers in the regular Army are routinely transferred to new commands worldwide, working with unfamiliar bosses and colleagues. State Guard outfits, by contrast, operate with just a few thousand full-time soldiers and airmen working side by side with little turnover.
Without skills of high value in the civilian market, said Van Dyke, non-commissioned officers cling to comparatively "juicy jobs" in the Guard, especially in a sour economy, creating a network of cronyism.
White said full-time assignment to the Active Guard Reserve is sometimes referred to as "the job-for-life program" because employees so seldom leave. In the state's Air Guard, for example, more than half of full-time officers have been in place at least two decades.
The result is an environment where members build longtime friendships, form rivalries and compete for promotions. They also work long hours -- men and women together -- sometimes on training exercises, where human nature leads to fraternization and affairs.
In that atmosphere, Van Dyke said, leadership is tested when an officer does wrong.
The supervisor responsible for meting out discipline may be a longtime friend of the person needing discipline. The accused might have damaging information about the boss, or connections higher in the chain of command. This sometimes results in a superficial probe and a quiet reprimand that gets torn up months later, or verbal counseling that amounts to a wrist-slap.
"When people work together for so many years, they build up baggage," Van Dyke noted. "It can become a problem."
High-level officers in Arizona's Guard said disciplinary failures are compounded by another concern: Blame for misconduct flows uphill, so a commander who uncovers deep-rooted problems may fear being accused of dereliction.
Moreover, National Guard records reviewed by The Republic indicate that those charged in recent years with misconduct sometimes file countercomplaints against their accusers.
Even when investigations are launched, the Guard's insular nature becomes problematic.
With just 2,376 full-time military personnel -- about the enrollment of an urban high school -- the subset of those qualified to investigate wrongdoing is tiny. Officers know one another or share friends and foes, so investigations may be biased or carry an appearance of unfairness.
Van Dyke said the Guard benefits from a corps of experienced officers who have worked together for years, but it also pays a price. When paychecks and post-retirement pensions are based on rank, keeping a scandal under wraps may benefit friends and avoid taint.
"That's an inherent problem with the National Guard," he said. "Stability is an asset, but it's also a liability. It is very difficult."
The National Guard Bureau, which oversees state military organizations nationwide, declined interview requests and did not respond to questions submitted by e-mail. Instead, a spokeswoman sent this comment:
"The National Guard has been serving this country for more than 375 years and we take that responsibility seriously. Our service members are a representation of society and as such, their successes and failures are a reflection on us all. ... When poor choices are made or problems are brought to our attention, we are just as eager to investigate and take appropriate action to hold members accountable and prevent future infractions."
Experts and insiders said Brewer's planned review may result in efforts to reform the organization, but Guard culture is so resistant to change that even a command shuffle might not succeed.
Van Dyke and others spoke of an unwritten military code that says misconduct -- even felonies -- should be dealt with inside the Guard. Records reviewed by The Republic indicate that some offenses go unreported and that serious wrongdoing is not made public.
White added that fraternization by high-level officers may be quietly resolved with a transfer or retirement. "They just sweep it under the rug," White added. "They claim they're protecting the organization, but they're not. They're protecting themselves."
Salazar defended his Arizona command, saying soldiers and airmen are held accountable. But he said the Guard works under military regulations that give suspected wrongdoers more protections than civilian workers. In all but the most serious cases, for example, discipline is issued to rehabilitate a perpetrator, not as punishment or to set a public example. As a result, even written reprimands are often erased from permanent records within months.
The Arizona National Guard is not alone in grappling with these problems. The California National Guard has been rocked by fraud scandals involving recruiters. Other state organizations have struggled with sexual harassment and assaults.
Only a court-martial or Article 15 proceeding can result in punishment. And legal requirements are so complex, Van Dyke said, "There is a certain avoidance in getting into one of those fur balls." In fact, the Arizona National Guard has never had a successful court-martial, and Article 15 proceedings are rare.
Van Dyke said the overall system may send an unfortunate message: In the National Guard, you can get away with wrongdoing.
Reach the reporter at firstname.lastname@example.com.
For more on this series, click here.
The Arizona National Guard has more than 9,100 personnel. Nearly 5,200 belong to the Army Guard, 2,477 are in the Air Guard and 1,460 are civilians. Most are part-time service members who have weekend duty or training. The full-time military staffing totals 2,376.
The National Guard system, which evolved from colonial militias, is 375 years old. Nationwide, the Guard is budgeted for 464,900 members: 358,200 in the Army National Guard, and 106,700 in the Air Guard.
Soldiers and airmen deploy on U.S. combat missions as needed, assist in disaster response and serve their respective states in crime-fighting, border security and other roles.
State Guards are headed by the governor (commander in chief) who appoints an adjutant general as the top military officer. When called to serve federally, however, Guard members report through Pentagon channels, ultimately to the president.
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This giveaway is now closed. The winner is Elizabeth Stark. Yay! Elizabeth, I will be contacting you!
Let's give the Mormons and exploding pythons a day of reprieve, shall we? Oh, wait! That's what you're here for? You're a Mormon who wants to give me what-for over my last post, or a gay person who wants to give me some props for my pro-homo work? By all means, go here. the rest of us, however, shall go to a nice weekend giveaway because it's a recession, and free stuff is good stuff, especially when it's good stuff. And hell, we could all use something cuddly right now.
On the subject of cuddly, I've got a teddy for you. I mean, a Tedde. Because the teddy I am talking about comes from Tedde, and these people make alterna-teddies for the modern child. As many of you know, I don't like PRs approaching me with stuff that makes no sense to me or is something my readers wouldn't like, or has anything to do with educational toys. But I do like it when people offer me something I can actually use, or when they offer me something adorable made by human hands.
Now, people, just so you know: I do not require my giveaway sponsors to send me samples of their swag, especially if it is handmade. If it is lovely-looking on the web that tends to suffice for me when it comes to the free stuff. But when these delightful vendors simply INSIST on sending me something, I cannot say I turn away Eric, the mailman, with his package, wondering who Crabmommy is and what the hell I do at my casa.
So I did not decline the sample Tedde that came in the mail for Crabtot. And I want you to know that said sample: he was big and he was ugly and Crabtot adored him instantly and transported him off to a new home she made for him out of a wine box. Ugly in a good way. Because Teddes are sort of the Ugly Doll version of teddies. They are irresistibly not-perfect, with a certain squashy homeliness that can only come from being lovingly handmade. Check out the site, here.
And today, for one lucky reader, we offer a free Tedde, this guy:.Is he not frumpily scrumpacious? Teddes are hand-crafted, sometimes hand-painted, and employ super-sweet techniques like embroidery, hand-stitching, knitting, crocheting and felting … no one Tedde is completely identical to another. Sure, you can get a bear stuffed by a machine, fresh off an assembly line, along with a bunch of others that look exactly like it. Teddes, on the other hand, are intentionally created with individual expressions and personality differences.
So put your name in the comments and Crabkid will randomly select a Tedde winner by Monday 10pm PST. Also, please visit our gracious sponsor and think of these hard-working human hands when it comes to selecting your one-of-a-kind holiday gifts. These craftastic peeps are my idea of recession-fabulous, supporting themselves with their nifty stitching talents. O, come let us adore them! I already do. And might I add that there is also a more conventional-but-still-original ted on their site that will please those of you needing something slightly less wacked out for your tot.
So, the giveaway: No need to be fancy in your comments. Just say that you want in on the Tedde and your name is in the hat. No anonymous comments please (or if you choose to sign is as anonymous, pls leave an email contact).
p.s. please stop by the bloglet for "Crocking Out", an encore of my crock pot love confession. Also next week I will be telling you about the craziest turducken in the global history of turducken, and I will be following that up with an astonishing surprise for all readers of this blog: two words: 80s, photo).
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Swagilicious: TEDDE giveaway!
This giveaway is now closed. The winner is Elizabeth Stark. Yay! Elizabeth, I will be contacting you!
Posted by Crabmommy at 9:35 AM
Labels: free stuff
36 comments:
Just checked out their site-gotta have one! My daughter would love dragging one of them around.
- November 20, 2008 at 10:22 AM
- Samantha said...
my little girl would love that!
- November 20, 2008 at 10:50 AM
- Megan and Erik said...
That is the cutest Tedde ever. How funny love it. Thanks for the chance to win.
- November 20, 2008 at 11:33 AM
My niece would love one! And I would love it to be free!
- November 20, 2008 at 12:41 PM
- mommyknows said...
He looks rather grumpy, crabby in fact (no wonder CT likes him, he reminds her of mummy). He'd suit my three year old perfectly.
- November 20, 2008 at 1:14 PM
- DoulaMomma said...
Put my name in the hat (& crumple it up so that it jumps out at Crabkid when picking the winnder!)...DoulaBoy3 is enthusiastic about the possible win!
- November 20, 2008 at 1:31 PM
- Wynnster said...
I need the Tedde, for the grumptastic nephew's first christmas present
- November 20, 2008 at 1:49 PM
- Tricia said...
Tedde is so sweet!
- November 20, 2008 at 1:53 PM
Wow I can think of a niece or two who would love one of those teddes. Or I could give it to my MIL who collects them. One of these handmade bears would be the best one she's gotten in ages!
- November 20, 2008 at 2:30 PM
- Deborah said...
Adorable!! Please and thank you?
- November 20, 2008 at 3:10 PM
- Alexis said...
So, so, so cute! The perfect antidote to all that syrupy crap they throw at you during the holidays.
- November 20, 2008 at 5:49 PM
- Mary Anna said...
I think I deserve a double entry for wanting this for my BOYS! Everyone keeps gushing about how their daughters and nieces would love this. Tedde may break my 3-year-old from sleeping with this tiny Jack o'Lantern teddy bear he won at a festival last year, whom he's named Bob. And, Thing 2 so desparately needs something to call his own.
- November 20, 2008 at 6:08 PM
- Page Posse said...
As long as an alligator doesn't bust out of the fluffy bear. I'll bet my kid would love it! wait maybe that would make it even better! thanks for the give away!
- November 20, 2008 at 6:13 PM
- THE WHITTINGTONS said...
an imperfect tedde for my imperfect baby...
- November 20, 2008 at 8:19 PM
The Tedde that appears by clicking on the store button is hilarious. I love his hearty nipples. Not enough bears have nipples these days. Must not be PC.
- November 20, 2008 at 8:19 PM
- tonypark said...
Eish, that thing looks like something backed over it.
Warthog-ugly (disgusting, but oddly appealing).
- November 21, 2008 at 12:11 AM
I'm in!
- November 21, 2008 at 4:59 AM
I'm in love! I'm putting my hat in for the anerable Tedde!
- November 21, 2008 at 11:16 AM
- kiwi said...
This is very cool swag
- November 21, 2008 at 11:22 AM
- WP said...
I want a tedde!
- November 21, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Adorable! Want!
- November 21, 2008 at 1:35 PM
- BSM said...
Read about this on offsprung--would be perfect for my baby on the way! due in 2 weeks!
- November 21, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Aw, so cute.... and I concur in the love for the Ugly Dolls. My very own SweetBabyGirl named her fanged, three-eyed Ugly Doll Cindy. I'm pretty sure she'd love a Tedde.
- November 21, 2008 at 6:19 PM
- Carey said...
It's like an Ugly Doll and a Teddy Bear hooked up & had a kid... I am sure my trio would like to fight over it!!
-- Carey
- November 21, 2008 at 7:44 PM
- Elizabeth Stark said...
Not sure what my little guys would make of Tedde, though they love Sweet Pea, who has no legs at all. We pretend to change Sweet Pea's diapers and it's always a little disturbing, the no-leg thing. Anyway, one of my great, enormous failings as a feminist mom is that my boys do not have a single doll. We plan to remedy that, since they adore dolls and since we want to be grandparents before we die and are already rather elderly parents, so anyway, yes to a doll but meanwhile, how about a Tedde? We're in the hat.
- November 21, 2008 at 10:21 PM
- cathy said...
I want. Simple as that.
- November 22, 2008 at 7:31 AM
- edubya said...
My daughter would love him. And I love his expression!
- November 22, 2008 at 1:01 PM
- lorena said...
ooh, tedde is ugly kute! thanks for the opportunity! :)
- November 23, 2008 at 9:26 AM
- Ellen W said...
I would save this for the new baby coming in the spring...
- November 23, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Since this is a random draw I am saved from having to come up with some witty or profound comment. I hope I win!
- November 23, 2008 at 8:46 PM
- Cheryl Strayed said...
Now that's a nice looking uniform! And I *want* that TEDDE. Pretty please?
- November 24, 2008 at 11:04 AM
- Stacie said...
What a cute little guy! I have a couple girls that would love it, but I might keep it for myself!
- November 24, 2008 at 1:02 PM
- girlsmom said...
Oooh, I hope I am not too late! What a lovely little tedde!
- November 24, 2008 at 4:26 PM
I want one!
- November 24, 2008 at 4:37 PM
- crabmommy said...
And the winner is...Elizabeth Stark! Whoo hoo! Elizabeth, I will be contacting you...
- November 24, 2008 at 10:01 PM
GRRR, I've never like that Elizabeth Stark and now, she has my Tedde.
- November 25, 2008 at 11:40 AM


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Romney evokes Reagan's attack on Carter in Houston event
In remarks reminiscent of Ronald Reagan, Mitt Romney told a monied Houston audience on Wednesday evening that the nation is at a point similar to 1980, when the former California governor challenged a sitting president, Jimmy Carter.
Crafting a version of the question that bedeviled Carter in his campaign for re-election - "Are you better off now than you were four years ago" - the de facto Republican presidential candidate said he believed "the country is asking itself right now whether the future will be brighter than the past or whether we're on a road to decline."
Introducing Romney to an audience of about 350 at the St. Regis Hotel, former Secretary of State James Baker also alluded to the influence of the man he served as chief of staff.
"Governor Romney is poised to take office next January," Baker said, "with the same type of laserlike focus on the economy that my boss Ronald Reagan displayed when he took office in 1981."
Baker also announced that the former Massachusetts governor had raised $15 million during a two-day, four-city swing through Texas, and that $5.5 million of that had come from Houston.
Reminding the audience that he had led five presidential campaigns, Baker told the audience that "we have a much better than even chance of winning this election."
"So people are concerned," Romney said, "but the reality is, things are about to get a lot better if we take a different course."
Romney said the nation faces another question similar to a question voters asked in 1980: "Are we going to go down a path that makes us more and more like Europe with bigger and bigger government? It's clear that what this president has done has not helped."
In his 20-minute remarks, Romney promised to "get the nation on track for a balanced budget," return the responsibility for health care to the states and individuals, open up energy resources and "make sure we have a level playing field for labor and management."
"We'll fix our schools, put the teachers' unions behind and the kids in front - finally," he said.
Houston was the fourth Texas city Romney visited this week. In San Antonio earlier in the day, he assailed proposed cuts in military spending and hailed the outcome of Tuesday's vote in Wisconsin, where Gov. Scott Walker handily defeated a Democrat in a high-profile recall election.
Referring to President Barack Obama in a speech to 1,200 USAA employees, Romney said, "he's out of ideas, he's out of excuses and we've got to make sure this November we put him out of office."
Romney collected at least $3 million from San Antonio and South Texas donors. "It was a huge success," said state House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, who missed the event in his hometown to attend the funeral of state Rep. Ken Legler. R-Pasadena, but managed to make the Houston event.
The amount raised, Straus said, "was the largest in (San Antonio) city history by a large margin."
The Houston audience paid $10,000 for a photo opportunity and $2,500 for the general reception. For $50,000, they could attend a dinner buffet and conversation with the candidate at a private residence.
"I thought he really showed some personality, a flare for connecting with people," said David Lehman, 65, a Houston geologist who attended the St. Regis reception with his wife, Patsy. "I was very pleasantly surprised."
Leaving Houston Wednesday, Romney was scheduled to continue his money-raising swing around the country, with St. Louis, Iowa and Salt Lake City on tap for the rest of this week.


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Probation violations cause a serious danger to the freedom of the defendant and can result to fines, jail time, added probation time as well as additional probation requirements. Instead of being locked up, a judge might order probation time for either criminal offenses or misdemeanor. Common terms of probation may include; employment requirements, random drug testing, avoiding any form of contact with the victim, curfew, paying fines plus court costs, avoiding any contact with co-accused, payment of restitution, frequent appointments with your probation officer, and attending educational or authorized programs.
The judge might impose some restrictions as part of the probation order, and violation of those terms could have severe consequences. Violating probation in Beloit, GA not only puts you at a risk of being locked up but also might cause you to be sentenced to jail time on your original charge.
Attorney Robert E. Levy has represented many clients faced with probation violation cases throughout the state of California. Remember, you do not even have to commit an offense to face probation violations; violating a curfew or failing to show up for an appointment with your probation officer may be adequate to cause a major jail sentence.
It is important to engage the services of a qualified lawyer in Beloit, GA to help you structure your probation in a manner that will help you adhere to the conditions successfully. However, if you are accused of committing a probation violation, it is critical that you get the help of an experienced lawyer. Do not be surprised to find out that some defendants have wasted many years on probation, and in some cases even in jail, due to probation violations following probation on a fairly minor charge. Some defendants who have experience with the criminal justice system will prefer to serve a jail time to attempting to complete a long probation period.
Agreeing to probation comes with its shortcomings as you will give up a considerable amount of your freedom, accepting restitution payment plans as well as random drug testing. You also may give up your right to freedom from seizure and unreasonable search since probation officers could be authorized to carry out unnecessary searches of your car or home at any time, night or day. They might even pay you a visit at work.
Probation turns your life over to the criminal justice system. Every now and then defendants face outright harassment or unreasonable demands by probation department employees or the probation officers themselves.
At Robert E. Levy, we understand the issues people face as they try their best to comply with probation terms; therefore, we will tirelessly defend your rights. With our help, you might even come up with a way of modifying your probation terms or we may take other actions to assist you remain with your freedom and avoid additional probation violations until you free yourself from probation restrictions. If you are facing probation violation charges, contact The Robert E. Levy to get all the help you require with your case.
The information on this website is for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as
legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create and receipt or viewing
does not constitute an attorney client relationship.


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