Valentine's Day

This is one of my favorite Valentine Poem...

Here among the lovers I wait willing,
Alone because I cannot be with you,
Pensive in the press of people filling
Promenades with passions spent and due.
Yet I am happy in my melancholy,
Vested in a love that like the night
Arrays itself in dreams that veil me wholly,
Leaving me contented till the light.
Even were I with you, I would wander
Near the things that would, but cannot be,
Taking you with me towards that inner wonder
In which we find the truest ecstasy.
Nor would our love be greater not apart,
Each with each together in the heart.

Innwa

Innwa was also known as Ava in the ancient times. It is a city in the Mandalay Division of Myanmar, situated just to the south of Amarapura on the Ayeyarwady River. It is also called Ratnapura meaning "City of Gems".Innwa was the capital of Myanamr from 1364-1841. Prior to this, Sagaing had been the capital, but after Sagaing fell to the Shan, the court moved across the river to Innwa. The kings of Innwa set about restoring Burmese supremacy, which had disintegrated after the fall of Bagan.In 1555, Innwa fell to the southern Burmese Kingdom of Taungoo, but in 1636, the king of Taungoo relocated his own capital to Innwa. In 1752, the Mon revolted against Burmese rule and sacked Innwa. A couple of years later, the founder of the new Konbaung Dynasty, Alaungpaya, crushed the Mon revolt, and after a period with Shwebo as his capital, re-established the court in Innwa.After the British conquered Lower Myanmar, after the Second Anglo-Burmese War, Upper Myanmar was commonly called the Kingdom of Innwa. During the reign of King Bodawpaya (1781-1819), the capital was moved to nearby Amarapura. However, his successor, King Bagyidaw (1819-1837), moved the Court back to Innwa in 1823. When a tremendous earthquake caused extensive damage in 1841, Innwa was finally abandoned for Amarapura. Little remains of the ancient capital today.

For more information, visit: http://www.myanmars.net/myanmar-travel/myanmar-mandalay/innwa.htm

Thanatkha

Thanatkha, the fragrant liquid powder of the bark of Muraya Exotica, induced by rubbing it round and round with a little water on a circular flat stone is a unique Myanmar traditional beautifier worn by Myanmar ladies, young and old alike. One hardly finds a Myanmar lady who does not like thanatkha. No matter how much modern cosmetics and make-up are in abundant use today, the thanatkha is still a favourite beautifier of Myanmar ladies from all walks of life. This tradition of wearing thanatkha is an outstanding and priceless inheritance, passed down through generations, found only in Myanmar. Thanatkha agrees with Myanmar natural environs, especially with the weather. It is recognized to be of great help to bear the heat of the sun and thus an ideal cosmetic for those who have to work under direct sunshine. Women who work in paddy fields always wear thick layers of thanatkha to help themselves tolerate the intense heat of the sun.

Fiat Mefistofele

It is the most beautiful racing car in the world, written in

the short story, A Riddle, by Antonio Tabucchi. It has a six cylinder 23.706l aeroplane engine, 4 valves and spark plugs per cylinder. It was used for speed records at Brooklands.The kit is multimedia. Lots of metal. The plastic wood was replaced by real wood and the fabric hood straps by leather ones.

Bugatti Royale

In the short story, A Riddle, by Antonio Tabucchi, there is a story about the missing elephant at the front of a Bugatti Royale. The informations are referred from Google and Wikipedia.

The Bugatti Type 41, better known as the Royale, is one of the most extreme luxury cars ever built. It was enormous, with a 4300 mm (169.3 in) wheelbase and 6.4 m (21 ft) overall length. It weighed approximately 3175 kg (7000 lb) and used a massive 12.7 L (12763 cc/778 in³) straight-8.

Everything about the Royale was magnificent. Its cast "Roue Royale" wheels measured 610 mm (24 inches) in diameter and were works of art in their own right. All six production Royales still exist (the prototype was sadly destroyed in an accident in 1931), and each wears a different body, some having been rebodied several times.
The massive engine (apx. 4.5 ft long x 3.5 ft high), one of the largest fully-realized automobile engines ever made, produced 205 to 223 kW (275 to 300 hp). Its cylinders, bored to 125 by 130 mm, each displaced more than the entire engine of the contemporary Type 40 touring car. It was a high-tech design, as well, with 3 valves per cylinder driven by a single overhead camshaft. Nine bearings were specified for reliability, but only a single custom carburettor was needed. A derivation of the Royale engine was also used in railcars.

For more information, Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bugatti_Royale

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American Jazz Age author of novels and short stories. He is regarded as one of the greatest twentieth century writers. Fitzgerald was of the self-styled "Lost Generation," Americans born in the 1890s who came of age during World War I. He finished four novels, left a fifth unfinished, and wrote dozens of short stories that treat themes of youth, despair, and age.

In the short story, A Riddle, by Antonio Tabucchi, Fitzgerald is used as an expression to people who want to live on an "American Dream." It is because one of his most famous novels, The Great Gatsby.

The novel chronicles an era that Fitzgerald himself dubbed the "Jazz Age." Following the shock and chaos of World War I, American society enjoyed unprecedented levels of prosperity during the 1920s as the economy soared. At the same time, Prohibition, the ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment, made millionaires out of bootleggers and encouraged organized crime. Although Fitzgerald, like Nick Carraway in his novel, idolized the riches and glamour of the age, he was uncomfortable with the unrestrained materialism and lack of morality that went with it.

Vist http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby for more information.

What The Bleep Do We Know?, the movie

It is one of the best movies shown in our English class. It is about the uncertain world of the quantum field hidden behind what we consider to be our normal, waking reality.
Originally released in February 2004 in one theater in Yelm, Washington, What the BLEEP Do We Know!? went on to become the fifth highest grossing documentary in the United States, with ticket sales of $12 Million.
Shunned by all movie distributors, the producers set about distributing and marketing the movie themselves in a “proof of concept” strategy to show theater owners there was indeed a market for spiritually oriented films that catered to audiences’ intelligence, not their lowest common denominator.
Although rejected by every major film festival (Sundance, Berlin, Toronto, Cannes, etc...), What the BLEEP did get entered in five smaller festivals, and won in every one.
Here is one of my favorite quotes in the movie.
To know that we know what we know, and to know that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.- Copernicus

Visit their official website: http://www.whatthebleep.com/whatthebleep/