Gift me a comment please!

Being Me wishes a very merry Christmas to one and all reading this post!! Hope you guys have a wonderful festive season and enjoy to the fullest!

 

Hereby, I’ll request my fellow bloggers and followers to kindly read the following lines and comment on it please!

Today morning my mind revolved around a particular piece of news…

Delhi, the capital of India, is a highly polluted piece of land. And to control this state of pollution, Mr Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, has decided to launch a new campaign. He calls it the odd-even formula. According to this campaign, on odd dates vehicles ending with an odd number will be allowed to occupy the streets and on even dates, the even numbered vehicles will come out. This – according to him – would ensure pollution control. This formula would be executed from the 1st of january (for a trial period of 15 days).

While some people think it surely will be a success, there are people who question the sanity of the man who proposed the plan! They believe that this would promote crime, engender loads of problems and so on! There are some who believe Mr Kejriwal is trying turn Delhi into an arcade game where you can built your own city and play cityville(a popular facebook game) or something!

What do you think? Your comments are essential!

Exploring Best Art Museums in Rome

Listed under the UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites, Rome is amongst the 20 most popular tourist destinations. And the prestigious museums, artful pieces, pristine documents and all kinds of archeological stuff present in Rome justify this crowd. If you are planning to visit Rome, keep in mind that you are venturing in the world of art and history. Mingling in with the local crowd or travelling as a tourist – it’s your choice, but what really matters is understanding the breathtaking beauty of the miscellaneous artifacts you are about to encounter.

To ease your troubles of selecting where all to go, here’s a list of the top class, must – visits!

Vatican Museum or Musei Vaticani 

This 16^th century museum is the result of Pope Julius II’s collection that gives this Vatican City museum the title of one of the best museums of the world. Art works like the Sistine Chapel, Lacoon and Borgia rooms, the Chapel of Beato Angelico, the Raphael Rooms that make the place a crowd puller. This extraordinarily crowded and esteemed museum also maintains dress code that prohibits exposure of skin. That means no short skirts or off shoulders, no midriffs or any such things. The museum remains closed for the Vatican holidays that are different from the Italian ones.

Borghese Gallery or Galleria Borghese

One visit to this acquisition by Pope Paul V, Cardinal Scipione Borghese, and you will understand why this museum situated on Villa Borghese Park is known to have one of the best art collections of the ancient time in the world. This magnificently prestigious museum contains Bernini’s delicate marble of Apollo and Daphne, works by Titian, Raphael, Domenichino, and Caravaggio.  A must visit for art patronages!

Capitoline Museum or Musei Capitolini

Situated on the Campidoglio, Rome’s Capitol Hill, Musei Capitolini with the oldest known community ownership was founded by Pope Sixtus IV and was opened to the public in the year 1734. It is divided into two palaces, Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori. The former is home to excellent ancient sculptures and the later houses works of ancient and modern work including the Roman emblem and the ancient sculpture of the twins Romulus and Remus suckling a She wolf.

National Roman Museum

Having excavated items from the Roman and Imperial Fora, this scattered museum covers the Baths of Diocletian, the Palazzo Altemps, Palazzo Massimo and the Crypta Balbi. This prominent museum contains coins, statues, sarcophagi, stoneware, frescoes, mosaics, ornaments and other preserve worthy items relating to the rich Roman history. The national roman museum is a fascinating place to discover the wonders of the medieval and roman times.

National Gallery of Modern Art

The national Gallery of Modern Art Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna consists of arts from the 19^th and 20^th century. Giorgio de Chirico, Alberto Burri, Luigi Pirandello are symbolized in the museum and so are the global artisans like Goya, Renoir, Van Gogh and Kandisky. This erotic museum of modern arts will open up gates, revealing pieces that’ll enthrall your mind towards the artistic era in Rome during the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Maxxi Museum

This contemporary museum designed by the celebrity architect Zaha Hadid was inaugurated in 2010. Show casing 21^st century art work including paintings, photographs and multimedia fixings from renowned Italian and other foreign modern day artists is known not for its permanent displays but for the excellent exhibition it holds, presenting some remarkable works especially on architectural themes. This modern museum has a café lounge where a continuous flow of customers could be noticed. On sunny afternoons, people could be seen enjoying in the piazza outside. Behind this museum is located one of the most popular ice cream parlors of modern day Rome – Neve di Latte.

Museum and Crypt of Capuchins

This Franciscan ‘experience’, as some people like to put it, has been recently renovated to differ from the spine chilling burial chamber it was formerly. It displays everything of the time including the knotted whips friars used to flagellate themselves with and the articfacts confiscated from various natives by missionaries to rooms of stuff representing various heroes and saints. The main attraction of this place is the ghastly burial chamber decorated with the bones of monks dug up from the soil brought from Jerusalem. They are delicately arranged on walls and ceilings and some have been made into grisly chandeliers. To turn it more meaningful and impactive, an ebullient sign reads at the entrance ‘You will be what we are now’.

Museo della Civiltà Romana

This beautiful and marvelously engineered Mussolini-era building is a useful key to the ancient centro storico. Plaster casts of elaborate Trajan carvings, models of ancient sites including Rome itself, etc make the trek worth it. After enjoying the master pieces in here, you can cross along to Palazzo dei Congressi, another marvel of 1930s EUR architecture, and check on how the metaphor to ‘The Cloud’ or ‘La Nuvola’ is coming along. It is a revolutionary forum designed by Massimiliano Fuksas.

Along with the marvelous museums mentioned above, there are places of historic preservence that can be checked out. The list of Roman museums can never get over as every museum in there has something different to show case. Apart from those mentioned above, sites like Pallazo Massimo alle Terme, Villa Farnesina, Villa Giulia, Ara Pacis, Centrale Montemartini, Doria Pamphilj Gallery and Pius Clementine Museum are other valuable spots of art revelation that are worth your time!

 

Exploring Best Art Museums in Paris

Paris, also known as the city of love, romance, exotic wines and trendiest fashion! The city of art, the city of relics, the city of churches, bridges, sculptures, memories and a lot more! A trip to Paris means recapturing the moments lived and breathed by millions of legendary lovers and warriors,  by kings and artisans… by people unforgettable and people who need not be thought of to keep them alive!

The number of musuems in Paris is accountable for the rich history it boasts of. Amongst these, prominent are its art museums! If you’re planning a trip to Paris, you mustn’t miss the big deals!

The Louvre

Considered to be one of the most important museums in Paris, situated on the banks of river Seine, palace Louvre is the site of the most diverse collections of the pre 20^th century sculptures, paintings, etc. The fortress palace is known to be dwelled in by the royal family before the completion of the palace of Versailles. In 1692, it was opened for the public to admire the great art collection. The collection kept on growing, expanding all over the beautiful composite structure. Today, it is known to house one of the best collections including the famous Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Victory of Samothrace. One can spot Islamic calligraphy and sculptures apart from symbolic paintings. The Tulleries garden bordering the explicit place is worth one’s time!

Jacquemart-André Museum

This extraordinary treasure of Paris is situated near Champs Elysees, the esteemed boulevard of Paris, focuses on the collections of the 18^th century. Adorning a 19^th century mansion, this compilation is a work of collection and procurement by Eduard Andre and the renowned painter Nélie Jacquemart. After the death of Eduard, Nelie decorated and handed the mansion over to be converted into a museum. The museum is adorned with alluring artoworks of French, Dutch and Italian origin.

Musée du Luxembourg

One of the oldest museums of Paris, opened for public in 1750, this museum is a state run collection of paintings. Situated on the imperial Luxembourg soil, this museum hosts a number of transitory presentations anticipated and admired by the localites. Exhibits in the latest years have included works by Modigliani and Vlaminck.

National Museum of Modern Art at the Centre Pompidou

Along with the Centre Gorges Pompidou, National Museum of Modern Art was inaugurated in the year 1977. Right from Cubism to Surrealism, Pop Art this museum boasts of a collection of one of the most esteemed objects of the 20^th century and includes items corresponding the 20^th century movements. The permanent collections here are freshly gone through every year to show case new acquirements. Housing over 50,000 prestigious permanent objects, the temporary exhibits are also awaited by the public.

Musée d’Orsay

This modern collection of art is just the break you need from the classical overload other museums provide. Impressionist and post impressionist paintings adorning spacious, illuminated rooms not only rejuvenate your mind but your interest in Parisian Art. Right from Dega’s dancers to Monet’s water lilies and Gaugin’s thriving jungles, these otherworldly exhibits are sure to engross you completely. Works by Van Gogh, Delacroix, Manet and many other prestigious artisans are present to rob you of your boredom!

Musée Carnavalet or Museum of Paris History

This free entry museum contained within Hotel de Carnavalet and Hotel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau, Renaissance era mansions, describes the history of Paris over 100 rooms. If you are curious about the multi faceted history of this city of wonders, it may do good to visit this museum filled with the Resurgence period items. The museum also hosts exhibition once in a while which presents various items reflecting the Parisian heritage in a successful manner.

Petit Palais

A completely new phase of the Petit Palais contains around 1300 works from 20^th century. They include masterpieces by Courbet, Cezanne, Monet, and Delacroix and many more! It is one of the free entry museums near the prestigious street of Champs Elysees. The temporary exhibitions charge a fee for visitors over 13 years of age. A beautiful and popular museum as it is, it is considerably new keeping in mind the recent renovations.

Rodin Museum

The Rodin museum named after Auguste Rodin keeping in view the number of works by him and his student present in the museum is one of the premium art museums of Paris. Apart from extraordinarily excellent works like “The Thinker”, the museum has a sculpture garden that provides for an excellent venue to saunter in. A must visit for everyone!

Counterfeit Museum

This fascinating and remarkable museum offers for a change of mood. Situated near the 16^th Arrondissement of Paris, this museum was created by the Union des Fabricants in 1951. The original idea was to make the people aware of the real items and their copies. This museum keeps on changing its items. Sometimes mobile phones and Levis jeans are an item of display and sometimes these change to Bic razor and Barbie dolls. Right from pens to sport shoes to Swiss army knives and cigarette lighters, you’ll find various items on display.

These were some of the best museums in Paris but the list doesn’t end here, or rather it begins here! POUPEE, Musee de la, POSTE, PUBLICITE, they are just a few but you would find hundreds and hundreds of them there! So have a good time exploring the heritage of the city of art!

 

Exploring History of British Museum

The first national museum harboring about 8 million objects, the British museum in London, is the collection of the well known physician, Sir Hans Solane. Although a physician, he was fond of collecting exclusive stuff. Many of his patients, including Queen Anne and King George I and II used to bestow him expensive gifts and he himself used to buy precious items while on tours along with his patients.

On 7^th of June 1753, the British Parliament passed an act to declare this collection as the national museum.

It is recorded that during the 18^th century about 5000 people used to visit it every years and these days this number has risen to become 6 million per year!

A brief view on the timeline!

Sir Hans Solane had collected innumerable items, starting from coins, medals, books, prints to drawings! Modern technology has been successful in preserving the organic ethnographic and natural specimens. The museum was opened to the public in 1759 and right from the very first day, its entry was free. In the beginning, the collection was displayed in the Montague House in Bloomsbury, where the original structure now stands.

The museum received its first Egyptian mummy in the year 1756. In 1757, King George II gifted the “Old Royal library”. A stone representing a petrified loaf and a bark of a tree gnawed by a beaver were received in the year 1760. In 1765, the museum was handed a live tortoise from North America. Assortments of precious objects including the Tahitian mourner’s dress were acquired after Captain Cook’s three Pacific voyages ranging from the year 1767 – 1770. In 1772 the Greek Vase belonging to Sir William Hamilton was attained.

In the year 1802, the Rosetta stone from Egypt pertaining to the Ptolemaic period was obtained by the museum closely followed by the purchase of bronze statue of “Discobolos” (a man throwing a dish) of the 5^th century and the marble bust of “Clytie” of the Roman era belonging to Italy from British collector Charles Townley. It was then in the year 1807 when the Department of Antiquities was found. The museum received a sculpture, i.e. a marble block, from the Temple of Apollo the Helper built on Mount Kotylion at Bassae located in Greece. In 1816 The Parthenon gave a number of marble sculptures. The Nereid or the sea nymph Monument depicting Greek and Lycian style was obtained in the year 1842. Then the remains of the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos from south west Turkey were received between the years 1856 and 57. During the same time, ‘Great Winged Bull’, one of the first stone sculptures excavated at the site of Nimrud, Iraq were added to the exhibits.

In 1897, the demise of A.W. Franks was followed by an inheritance of the Oxus treasure along with 3,300 finger rings, 153 drinking vessels, 512 pieces of continental porcelain, and miscellaneous items of

During late nineteenth century, the natural history remains were transported to the British Museum of Natural History. In 1898, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild bestowed the Waddesdon manor with glitters known as the Waddesdons Bequest. This consisted of 300 pieces of exclusive jewelry, plate, enamel, carvings, and the Holy Thorn Reliquary. Baron Ferdinand’s will stated that the collection be exhibited in a special room called the Wadessdon Bequest Room and apart from the rest of the collection.

In the year 1997, the library department was shifted to the new British Library in St Pancras.

The new century opened up projects for new buildings. The trustees purchased the 69 houses around the museum with intentions to demolish them and expand the museum. The removal of books had provided for the needed space for the overflow of manuscripts and written material and after the new buildings emerged, the ethnography collections were retrieved from their temporary place in the Museum of Mankind.

In the year 1972, the act to the British Library was passed, separating the manuscripts and books from the museum. They were dispatched to the library.

In 2000 the centre of the museum underwent renovation to be known as Queen Elizabeth II Great Court or simply the Great Court. It includes the original reading room. Various new galleries were opened. The whole system museum was re arranged keeping in view the modern world requirements but preserving the old world beauty.

In the twentieth century, a number of changes were incorporated. In 1920, the research laboratory was started up.

The museum today !

The British Museum yet has not stopped increasing its collection. By the gifts of wealthy people and assistance from great curators and collectors, the museum has been able to build its collection. This museum has been open through all the days of the year accept a few days during the world wars. It has consistently worked and served the people of Britain through thick and thin and has become the pride of Britain. Today it no more houses the artifacts of natural history and the fragile manuscripts it once used to. All that has been exhibited in individual British museums. Nevertheless, it still preserves the property of making the history come alive with the artifacts from around the world representing vivid cultures!

Throughout the history, the museum has faced ups and downs but excellent organization has kept it up and has helped in the attraction of tourists from all over the world!

Roots of Opera – Glimpse

A mesmerizing art of combining text and music in a theatrical setting is known as opera! Italian in origin, it has undergone several reforms and through several societies before westernizing in the way we know it today. The epigrammatic information given here may not swivel the intricate veins of opera but it surely covers up the main points…

Inspired by the elite circle of Florentine humanists, Jacopo Peri created Dafne – one of the earliest opera compositions to be known. Unfortunately, this orchestration consisting harpsichord, a lute, a viol, a triple flute and an arch lute is not reserved and is untraceable still. Peri’s another composition – Euridice- is alive today and is one of the most ancient compositions to be known.

It was not until 1637 that opera ventured out of the courts and amongst the common masses. It started gaining popularity and facing inevitable reforms according to different cultures and styles. But this was met by rivalry from people who thought that this reformation would cause opera to lose its originality and its classic elite purity.

In the 19^th century, the bel canto movement, literally meaning beautiful singing, popularized giving rise to intricate Italian singing with requirements of high agility and pitch control. Example of this is Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor.

Then, a new patriotic icon Giuseppe Verdi came along with his more direct, biblical Nabucco. One of his greatest compositions were Grand Opera, Don Carlos and Falstaff inspired from Shakespearean literature. Italian opera started popularizing on international soil after the more realistic compositions of Pietro Mascagni.

Italian opera also influenced the Germans. Though, some of them came about with native styles and original ideas. Richard Wagner, a German composer, conductor and theatre director, had to face many controversies before emerging as one of the most prominent opera composers.

Thomas Arne’s experimentation with comic opera turned into a huge success. His English-language operas and Artaxerxes earned fame during 1762. George Frideric Handel, a German followed by American Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin and Douglas Moore were great contributors to the English opera. Beethoven and Mozart are still remarked.

Russia welcomed opera in the 1730s with Tsefal i Pokris being the first Russian opera – a seria in three acts- written by Italian Francesco Araia. Mikhail Ginka is the first Russian composer and foreigners like Domenico Cimarosa, Baldassare Galunni and others came to Russia to compose new operas.

In France, Jean-Baptiste Lully revolted against the traditional Italian opera being accepted in France establishing a separate tradition. Founder of the Academy of Music, Lully was followed by Jean-Philippe Rameau and Jacques Offenbach.

Facing these auras of times, it has westernized to a certain extent becoming popular amongst many people today. It has far reaching affects with a huge audience around the globe. Opera has developed its own style on every soil but the main theme remains the same being projection of pleasure through music and drama in an artistic way to engross the audience in a good way!

Power Lunch Etiquettes – Choosing the Right Restaurant for Business Lunch

Power lunches are one of the best ways to impress your business acquaintances into finalizing a deal. But at the same time, choosing the right restaurant which will appeal to your dealing acquaintance is a hard job. Proper power lunch etiquettes are necessary here! There are quite a number of aspects we’ve got to pay attention to before zeroing in on one restaurant or food joint.

You have to find a restaurant that will tick off all your needs and will be especially pleasing to your client because in the end your deal being successful rests, to a certain extent, on the lunch date. How pleasing you turn out be, decides your long term relations with the person.

Food Restrictions and Preferences

You should, well in advance, inquire about the person’s dietary needs and choices. If the person is a vegetarian, taking him to an American steak centre wouldn’t turn out to be fruitful in the least. Or if the person is allergic to spices, taking him to a Thai cuisine restaurant would certainly not be recommended. A situation may arise where you don’t know what your associate likes. In those cases, you should either run your guest with two to three choices and ask her which one he/she likes, or you should take him/her to a place where they provide you with a number of cuisines. This will prevent unintended humiliation.

Service

Check on the service provided by the place you’ve decided on. Good food is a must but good service is equally important. If the service irritates the guest, your ideas of buttering him/her up would whoosh down the drain. There are restaurants which are frequented by business diners and the waiters there are well aware of when to leave the table for uninterrupted discussion and when to check on them. You can call and check if the place holds frequent business parties. If it is a known joint, you can always check the net for reviews.

Variety

It is a good idea to find out the dinning history of your guest. If the person has already been twice to the same place in recent past, it certainly won’t be as enjoyable for him/her the third time. On the other hand, a new food place would certainly lighten his spirit.

Also, it’s always a good idea to choose a local hot spot. Though a 5 star hotel mostly does the trick, there’s no compulsion you’ve got to choose that. You can very well go in for a local famous place which will acquaint your guest with the flavors of your town. If the guest is a foreigner, take him to a national place of fame, i.e., to a place where cultural specialties are served.

Ambience

Last but not the least; you have to watch out for the atmosphere of the place. If you are taking your client to a usual hang out spot for teenagers, he/ she may not exactly be appreciative of your choice. The ambience provided should be powerful and impressive. A professional setting and an elite atmosphere can play an important role in deciding your business success. A quite place with subtle frill is always a top choice!

Now we come to some preferred places by food critics and bloggers in major entrepreneur cities.

New York: In this business centric city you can always opt for Cipriani Wall Street, Gotham Bar and Grill or Balthazar. You can also check out The Grill Room at the Four Seasons Restaurant.

Los Angeles: Moving on to this high tech city of wonders, you can see Spago, Pizzeria Mozza, The Grill on the Alley, or Craft Los Angeles.

Chicago: Here, you can go in for Blackbird, Keefer’s, and Sepia. Prime Steak & Stone Crab and Joe’s Seafood is also a good choice!

London: Hardwood Arms, The Hawksmoor, The Ledbury, or Corrigan’s Mayfair are one of the hits!

If you are dealing with a vegetarian, the extra pointer may help that ethnic places like Chinese, Italian and Mexican eat outs are preferred.

Have an awesome day! Stay blessed! Happy blogging ! 😀

Business Letter Writing Etiquette – How To Write Effective Business Letters?

Even in this age of technology, where emails and messages are binging away, letters are the most effective mode of communication with people who are far off as this indicate the quality time you’ve spent in contacting a person, who in turns gets the sense of importance necessary to improve your impression. I f we pay attention to simple details and follow the business letter writing etiquette, it’ll surely reflect on our levels of success. Mastering the craft of writing effective business letters is just an article away…

Business letters are also known as formal letters. They are impersonal and require one to follow decorum by using formal language. Such letters include inquiry, ordering, reference, applications, proposals, etc. In these letters a formal tone should be adopted.

Parts of a Business letter

Dateline

The date line can be written on the right or flush-left of the documentary. It includes the date, month and the year. It can be written in one of the following ways:

30 March 2014
March 30, 2014

But refrain from using abbreviations for the month or adding superscripts to the numerals like 30^th.

Reference line

These are the special references to sources like files, account, orders, invoices, etc. They are sometimes centered but usually written below the dateline. If the letter extends over a page, all the succeeding pages should hold the reference line on top.

Special Notations

This is the notation also found on the face side of the envelope and state the privacy of the letter. It generally says “PERSONAL” if it’s intended for private matters or “CONFEDENTIAL” if it’s one for the company authorities. In the letter it should be written four to five lines below the dateline, and the inside address should be started after two lines of this notation.

Inside address of the Recipient

It should be at a minimum distance of eight lines from the dateline. It includes the following:

Addressee’s courtesy title and full name: Be careful to write prefixes such as “Dr.” if the person holds such a degree. If they don’t, you can go along with a general Mr. / Miss / Mrs. If you are unsure of the title, you can call in the firm to confirm it. If you’re not aware of the marital status of the woman, you can always write “Ms.” that is acceptable for both. If you’re not aware of the gender of the person, you can always drop the courtesy title and write “Dear” and this can also be followed in the salutation. Though awkward, this would prevent you from causing unintended offences.

Addressee’s business title, when required: This will depend on the purpose of your letter. If it is suitable, you can omit this line. However be careful to write it as:
Mr. John Smith
President
Alpha Company
and not as: President John Smith
Alpha Company.

Name of the business: You should write the name of the company as it is. Check their letter heads or websites and copy it exactly. If they write Ltd instead of Limited, write that. No questions asked just copy it off.

Full address: Write the full address of the firm where the letter is to be received. The street, name, building number, ZIP code should be included.

Salutation

Usually it is a simple “Dear Mr. _____ / Ms. ______” It is a rule that you salute a person in the manner you address him in person. If you are on a first name terms with the person concerned, it’s well and good for you to use that, but if something else, then stick to that.

If you’re addressing it to a company or department instead, write “Dear Alpha Company” or “Dear Financial headquarters” or simply “Dear Financial Head”.

Body

Keep it short, precise and to the point. Keep it to one page if possible. It can range from one paragraph to several more…maybe a few pages. But make sure to adopt a formal tone and make it as short as possible. In the bargain, don’t miss out on important points as it may leave a bad impression.

Ending

Even here, stay brief but friendly. If you are on close terms with the person you can send regard for family members but if not you can simply state “I am looking forward to talking to you” or “You can contact me on 9876543210 for further information or copies”. Finish your letter with a show of gratitude for attention but don’t thank them for something they have yet not accomplished.

A complimentary close is a must. Aligned flush-left, you can end like “Yours truly” or “Sincerely Yours”. If you’re on a first name basis with him or her, you can end like “Regards”. “Cordially” is also a very good choice.

Below that is placed the handwritten signature and the typed one. The typed signature would include your title (Ph.D. or Mr. or Ms.) and would also include your company name and your position. If the letter is presented by more than one person, everyone’s signature should be included.

Final Notations

If you are hiring a typist for the purpose of typing your letter, its initials are mentioned two lines below the signature block.

If you are enclosing attachments, it is mentioned here in the following way: “encl.” or “enc.”

If the number of enclosures is more than one, then write “Enclosure (2)” or “Enclosure (3)” bracketing the number of enclosures. If you are mailing something separately, mention it as in “Separate mailing: Annual Reports 2014”

Postscripts are undesirable as they mark your irresponsibility. It points out your poor presentation in leaving out information from the main body.

By following these guidelines, you can write a letter as artful as possible.  And if it’s your first letter, remember – First impression is the last impression.

Glam up your writing skills and make it to the top!

 

 

 

 

 

Blue Whales – Largest Living Mammals on the Earth

Blue whales or Balaenoptera Musculus are the largest mammals living on this planet, Earth, as known by most of you. Earlier it was also known as “Sibbald’s Rorqual” and the “Great Northern Rorqual”. It belongs to the Rorqual clan which also includes the Humpback whale, Fin whale, and the Minke whale.

Anatomy

Blue whales, in correspondence with their size, have never been able to weigh whole. The weight we have is just approx as the gigantic animal has to be cut into manageable pieces before being weighed which results in loss of blood and other body fluids, giving us just an estimate of the weight which comes to be 170-180 metric tons. This huge animals tongue itself is heavier than the African Elephant!

In shape, it is much more stocky and stretched with a tapering body as compared to other whales. It also has an opening in the dorsal side known as the blowhole. This blowhole expels extra water taken in during the process of feeding. Its U shaped head could be followed by a ridge till the blow head. The females are found to be larger than males here. Its arteries are as gigantic, like the animal, and the aorta can actually hold a whole human body!

Their dorsal fins are small, about 8-10 cms. The flippers grow up to 4 meters.

Respiration

Respiration is an interesting process in these mammals. We know of fishes to respire through gills but here I stress the word mammals and remind you that mammals respire through lungs. So how do these underwater mammals respire? Well they do use lungs and take in oxygen from the air. For this, they have to keep surfacing and so can be spotted at prominent places above the water level.

Feeding

These large mammals survive largely on krill. Krill is a small, invertebrate marine animal found at about 100 meters of depth of the waters. Lined along the animal’s upper jaw are baleen plates. When the creature takes in food, the baleen plates retain the krill and let the water be expelled out the blow hole.

These animals need enough energy to maintain their 170 metric ton body and for that they depend on their intake of krill. An adult can consume up to 40 millions of krill in a day!

Reproduction

They reproduce during the autumn and winter months and the gestation period involves a whole year. The calf as long as 7 meters weighs up to 2.5 metric tons. Requiring around 400 liters of milk daily, they grow 1.5 inch daily. They can reproduce typically only after three to four years.

Vocalization

A blue whale can make sounds up to 177 – 180 decibels which is out of the range of 20Hz to 20 kHz, the range of sound human ear can hear, making it impossible for the humans to catch. However, a group of blue whales can make a sound ranging from 10Hz to 14Hz. This has sometimes been heard by the people present on the occasion.

Current situation of blue whales

Keeping in view the size of these creatures, it was very difficult to kill them in the early days. It was not until a special harpoon was invented that killing of this animal was plausible. But after their poaching started, it continued on a mindless rate. Today, according to the 2002 census only 5000-12000 of these are known to be living.

Blue whales are now marked as an endangered species. Steps are being taken to conserve them but the effect is not so massive.

We need to create awareness of the importance of this magnificent creature and save them from becoming a relic of the past!

Types of Comedy

There are many types and forms of comedy that we come across every day. Right from Mr. Bean, to the Scary movie, everything has a different name. Here we’ll have a look at various types of comedies we come across in our daily and reel lives and experiences:

1. Anecdotal: This type of comedy is purely based on incidences of real life. It generally is a narration of a funny incident or scene that took place rather than jokes and the teller has witnessed it himself.
2. Off color comedy/blue comedy: Also known as risqué, it is a very harsh form of comedy involving basically sexual jokes or jokes based on racism and other murk of the society. Martin Lawrence is a notable comedian of this genre.
3. Burlesque: This type of comedy involves ridiculing a character of real life or to make a topic loose its seriousness so that it turns out to be hilarious! This is demonstrated by movies like Vampire’s suck and The Scary Movie.
4. Black Humor: It usually turns into a horror piece as it includes spoofy topics like death, marital affairs, rape, war, etc. Movies like The Chaser’s War on Everything are a display of this type. Inviting a pessimist reaction this deals with harsh and depressing humor.
5. Dry Comedy: It refers to the narration of jokes in a subtle way. The comedian doesn’t change his facial expression throughout the thing which sometimes is funny in itself! Bill Murray is known to portray this style of comedy.
6. Catch Tale: It generally starts with a story that seems very serious and creates a sense of inquisitiveness amongst the listeners but then turns of abruptly into a highly comical idiotic ending putting the audience off.
7. Parody: This kind of humor does nothing but represents an author or musicians work in a style that’s purely humorous. A minor change to the work that brings a mocking element to it is what is called Parody.
8. Sitcom: This kind of comedy goes along a pre decided script to end up the way we want. Television serials are the perfect example here like Mellissa and Joey and The Modern Family. If this is performed live, the name allotted to the type will be sketch.
9. Satirical: This form of comedy mocks the human weaknesses in a way that tingles our humor element.
10. Nonsensism: This kind of comedy refers to combination of things that make least sense. This has two sub divisions namely, epigrammatic – humor consisting smart idioms and sayings, displayed by Oscar Wilde- and wisecrack- this is generally passed on a person or character again, making no sense at all!
11. Farcical: As the word suggests, they are too ridiculous to be true. They are a cruel exaggeration of events. You can see the perfect examples in movies role played by the Marx brothers.
12. Recovery: This is the witty wacky kind of comedy where the comedian states a situation or statement which contains an error and immediately corrects it. This makes the audience see how ironical a situation can turn into. These hilarious retorts are also termed as “repartee”. It is a very common feature of comedy nowadays.
13. Seriocomedy: These are serious plays, acts or movies where there are occasional pop ups of a comical element. It may be depicted with a character who’s funny or through sudden up comings of scenes and instances that cite laughter. Throw Mama from the train and the Bucket of Crystals are examples of this.
14. Blend words: Sometimes comedians blend two words to make the product sound hilarious. Here blending occurs as in breakfast + lunch = brunch. If the comedian is innovative enough, he can conjure up some blends to keep the audience entertained.
15. Blunder: This kind of comedy is where the actor proves himself to be a complete stupid. He pulls up stunts like getting himself hit and falling into trouble. Such “inviting the angry bull” scenarios are sometimes enough to generate a round applause. It’s actually the absurdity of the comedian digging a pit for himself that makes it funny!
16. Prop Comedy: This is one very constructive and imaginative way of humor. Here, everyday articles like jackets or hats could be brought to use to make the audience erupt with laughter. Common practices of this were displayed by Bob Nelson and Carrot top.
17. Banter: In social gatherings, when old times are remembered and laughed on, it is known as Bantering. It’s a natural form of comedy where acquaintances and family members comment upon the old times, sometimes on your stupidity or sometimes on a hilarious event that took place. Refreshing of old memories in the main idea here!
18. Juvenile/ sophomoric: As the name suggests, this kind of humor involves name calling and such childish pranks. Such tricks when performed efficiently by adults create a funny atmosphere. But if put on improperly, it may let loose vibes of idiocy which disappoints the audience.

19. Stand up: Standup comedy is a type of comedy where the comedian performs live for an audience. The comedian may use one or many of the above mentioned types here.

Drama activities

Drama is a tool to explore human nature, to experience feelings indiscriminately. It is present everywhere in the society. You see a child playing house with his friend, that’s drama, you see children imitating their idol, that’s drama, and you see a person mimicking others, that’s drama!

Along with being a stress buster, it is also a great developer of personality. It is seen when drama activities are included in school curriculum, a rapid growth focus, concentration, improvement of body language, exploration of talent, ability to interact and development of confidence is inevitable.

It is now a popular method of child development to include drama activities educational intuitions. An all around development is spurted through this. If you’re thinking of helping your child with drama too, then you’d definitely need to know the best activities. Here they are:

JAM (Just a minute)

Here, the children are given individual topics and are allowed to discuss on it for some time. Then they’ve got to speak for one minute on that topic without stuttering or stammering. Yes, this is a drama activity! And quite an effective one too! You can observe development of public speaking skills, clarity of speech, language improvisation, etc.

Role Playing

It is another one of the simple activities involving drama. This can be done individually, in pairs or groups. You can tell the student to think about a person, say the president, a celebrity or something, and then enact him in front of the class fully with dialogues and everything. This results in an overall development in the thinking capabilities and he gives importance to small things.

Pantomime

It refers to the dumb acting of the bodies. Youngsters just love using body movements and gestures to express feelings. It is a challenge for them. You can ask the children to act out a scene without speaking a word and the others would guess what it was about.

Story telling

As the name suggests, here the children is not just supposed to narrate the story but to tell it! The child needs to include gestures and expressions into him while staging the story. Children also love to enact stories and you can ask them to do that too. Here, enacting doesn’t mean fully with costumes and lightning but just enactment using their skills.

Passing the face

Heard of passing the parcel? Well it’s similar to that! Here, you’ve got to pass expressions! Yeah, you stand in a circle and then the first person makes a face – happy or sad – to his adjacent player. Then he will turn and make a new expression to the one adjacent to him. No one is allowed to copy an expression. This seriously needs a bit racking of the brains because frankly, how many expressions do you expect someone to have?

Drama is a sheer stress buster. And these simple activities involve no memorizing of lines, just a time full of joy! So let your inner artist wake and open yourselves up to the world of drama!