CHRISTMAS CLIP

Clip of The Day

Lest We Forget

On Christmas Eve, 1914 during World War I, german soldiers set trees on trenches parapets and lit the candles. Then, they began singing carols, and though their language was unfamiliar to their enemies, the tunes were not. After a few trees were shot at, the British became more curious than belligerent and crawled forward to watch and listen. And after a while, they began to sing too. By the morning, the "no man's land" between the trenches was filled with fraternizing soldiers, sharing rations and gifts, and singing. After burying their dead bodies between the lines they were playng soccer. The game ended 3-2 for the Germans. Enjoy the clip below. Merry Xmas to you all. HC

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From Wikipedia

December 25th - Traditional Birthday of Jesus

Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday observed generally on December 25/6 to commemorate the birth of Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. The date is not known to be the actual birthday of Jesus, and may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after some early Christians believed Jesus had been conceived, the date of the winter solstice on the ancient Roman calendar, or one of various ancient winter festivals. Christmas is central to the Christmas and holiday season, and in Christianity marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days.

Although nominally a Christian holiday, Christmas is also widely celebrated by many non-Christians, and many of its popular celebratory customs have pre-Christian or secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, music, an exchange of greeting cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various decorations; including Christmas trees, lights, garlands, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly. In addition, several similar mythological figures, known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and Santa Claus among other names, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season.

Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. The economic impact of Christmas is a factor that has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world.

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

I never think of the future. It comes soon enough. Albert Einstein

TIPS OF THE DAY

PREPOSITIONS

BEFORE – Antes de. Perante. Diante. Ante. Indica posição em frente a um objeto.
Indica também prioridade, precedência em classe, ordem ou sucessão.
e.g.: - I shall be there before 6 o’clock.
The holiday season starts a fortnight before May 1st.
You must mail this letter before that package.

“I’ll have these players play something like the murder of my father before mine uncle”. (Hamlet, Act II. Scene II.)
BEHIND – Atrás. Indica a posição do objeto atrás do outro ou seguindo um outro.
Indica que um objeto fica após a remoção de um outro.
e.g.: - He died leaving a glorious name behind him.
I keep leaving my umbrella behind me.

BELOW - Abaixo de. Indica inferioridade de classe, de dignidade etc.
e.g.: - When the Sun sets it goes below the horizon.
An Earl is below a Marquis in rank.
Should I sign my name below the dotted line ?
The city of Recife, people say, is below the sea level

FAQ about Santa and Xmas

Q: If Santa doesn't have to age, then why has he become old?
A: He only appears to be old. He's an undercover kid.

Q: Why do we wish people a "Merry Christmas" instead of a "Happy Christmas"?
A: The two are about the same, but with "Merry Christmas" an extra twinkle is seen in the eyes.

Q: Why is a Christmas tree that has been chopped down called a "live Christmas tree?"
A: It's dead but doesn't know it, and yet it's having the time of its life.

Q: Why do we wrap our Christmas gifts with paper?
A: Because we like to see surprise and joy (real or kindly faked) in the recipients.

LAUGHTER’S THE BEST MEDICINE

Looks Can Be Deceptive

A 54 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she had a near death experience. Seeing God she asked:

- “Is my time up?” God said,

- “No, you have another 33 years, 2 months and 8 days to live.”

Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a face-lift, liposuction, breast implants and a tummy tuck.She even had someone come in and change her hair color and brighten her teeth! Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as well make the most of it.

After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded,

- “I thought you said I had another 33 years? Why didn’t you pull me from out of the path of the ambulance? God replied:

- “Shit! I didn’t recognize you.”

Good For Nothing

In the White House, there are 13,092 knives, forks and spoons!

WORDS OF WISDOM

"Well done is better than well said."
Benjamin Franklin

RULES OF THUMB

Idioms using the word "Eat"

Eat like a bird = to eat very little
Eat like a horse = to eat a lot of food and to eat often
Eat your heart = to suffer from jealousy and envy
Eat your words = to take back your words; to apologize for something that you said
Eat out of your hand = to have someone do exactly as you wish
Eat at you = something that irritates or bothers you

Word of The Day

Bush-League

Function: adjective

Status: US, informal



Meaning:

Of very low quality

e.g.: Bush-League customer service
A bush-league (unprofessional) reporter

Clip of The Day

'...REMEMBER???

ARSENIC-BASED BACTERIA POINT TO NEW LIFE FORMS

Breno Grisi

We could be witnessing the first signs of a "shadow biosphere" – a parallel form of life on Earth with a different biochemistry to all others. Bacteria that grow without phosphorous, one of the six chemical elements thought to be essential for life, have been isolated from California's Mono Lake. Instead of phosphorous, the bacteria substitute the deadly poison arsenic. "Life as we know it could be much more flexible than we generally assume or can imagine," says Felisa Wolfe-Simon of NASA's Astrobiology Institute and the US Geological Survey in Menlo Park, California.

Wolfe-Simon's team took mud containing bacteria from the arsenic-rich Mono Lake and grew them in ever decreasing concentrations of phosphorous. Their rationale was that since arsenic is just below phosphorous in the periodic table, and shares many of its chemical properties and is even used as a source of energy for some bacteria, the bugs would be able to swap one for the other. That is just what happened.

"After one year, they are still alive and well," says Paul Davies of Arizona State University in Tempe. Not only that, the team showed that this ability was incorporated deep into the molecular building-blocks of the bacterium, strain GFAJ-1 of the salt-loving Halomonadaceae family, right down to the DNA.
"It's the first time such a chemical substitution has been shown for DNA," says Philippe Bertin of the University of Strasbourg, France, who was not part of the team. "Possibly, it's a relic of an ancestral metabolism that was supplanted during evolution because using phosphorus was more stable and less toxic."

Despite surviving on arsenic for a year, the bacteria would still "prefer" to grow using phosphorous: biomolecules react more efficiently in water and seem to be more stable when constructed with phosphorous than arsenic. They only substitute arsenic if there is no alternative.

Steven Benner, a chemist from the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution in Gainesville, Florida, who works on alternative forms of DNA, is sceptical that the bacteria really do contain arsenic. "I doubt these results," he says, since in order to measure the modified DNA it has to be put into a water-containing gel, which would rapidly dissolve any arsenate molecules. Any hypothesis that arsenate might replace phosphate in biomolecules must take this into account, he says.

Shadow biosphere. Davies says that future work will address the stability-in-water issue, but argues that the discovery underlines the need to look further for the first true representatives of alternate life forms in Earth's shadow biosphere.

Breno Grisi
Professor (retired) of Ecology, at UFPB, Federal University of Paraíba - Brazil, currently teaching courses in ecology at private universities

LAUGHTER’S THE BEST MEDICINE

Mistakes In Life

A woman awoke during the night to find that her husband was not in bed. She put on her robe and went downstairs. He was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee in front of him. He appeared to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall.

She saw him wipe a tear from his eye and take a sip of his coffee.

- "What's the matter dear? Why are you down here at this time of night?" she asked.

- "Do you remember twenty years ago when we were dating and you were only 16?" he asked.

- "Yes, I do," she replied.

- "Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car?"

- "Yes, I remember."

- "Do you remember when he shoved that shotgun in my face and said, 'Either you marry my daughter or spend twenty years in jail'?"

- "Yes, I do," she said.

He wiped another tear from his cheek and said,

- "You know, I would have gotten out today. "

GOOD FOR NOTHING INFORMATION

CLINOPHOBIA IS THE FEAR OF BEDS

Tell Me Why...

"Are there 5 syllables in the word "monosyllabic"?

WORDS OF WISDOM

“I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.” Winston Churchill

RULES OF THUMB

Idioms

To look up to – To admire and respect
To look down on – To act as if someone is less important than you
To treat someone as an equal – To act as if someone is the same as you

Word of the Day

Elated

Function: adjective

Comparative and superlative forms: more elated; most elated

Meaning: very happy and excited
e.g.: She was elated at/about/over the news. She was elated to be chosen for the job. She was elated that she was chosen for the job.