The ultimate need-to-know diet tips

Approach

Diet tip #1 Think lifestyle change, not diet

You have to change your eating habits permanently if you want to lose weight and keep it off. "You can't just change what you eat for a short while, for a lasting effect," says Ramona Josephson, a Vancouver-based registered dietitian and president of weightlossdeal.com.

Cooking and Eating

Diet tip #2 Beware of refined sugar

Foods high in refined sugar are one of the fastest ways to add pounds. Check food labels for sugar in all its disguises: dextrose, fructose, corn syrup and maltodextrin, says Jennifer Salib Huber, a Halifax-based reigstered dietitian and naturopathic doctor. We all have our weaknesses, so if it's sugar you crave, reduce the amount over time. Ajax, ON mom Kathy Kirton, was overweight after three pregnancies. She went from eating a regular-size chocolate bar every day to a Halloween-size and then to a 100-calorie bar. Then she reduced the frequency of the treats and has lost 28 lbs so far.

Diet tip #3 Not all fat is bad

Most people know trans fat should be avoided as it increases bad cholesterol (LDL), decreases good cholesterol (HDL) and hardens arteries. And saturated fat should only make up seven to ten per cent of your diet. However, unsaturated fats, found in foods such as nuts, fish oil and olive oil, are beneficial. "They help reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol and prevent cardiovascular disease," says Salib Huber. Additionally, they slow down the absorption of food into the bloodstream, keeping you full longer. But don't overdo it. You only need one to two teaspoons of unsaturated fat in a meal.

Diet tip #4 Eat breakfast

It seems like a no-brainer, but we've all skipped it. "When you eat breakfast, you keep your metabolism rate up. If you don't eat breakfast, your body sees it as potential starvation and your metabolism slows down," says Josephson.

Diet tip #5 Feed your body regularly

To keep your blood sugar level consistent, eat three well-balanced meals a day and snacks between meals more than five hours apart, recommends Josephson. This will help prevent arriving at the next meal famished and "out of control."

Diet tip #6 Watch what you put on your food

You may fill your plate with healthy meat or fish and veggies, but then defeat your efforts by slathering on a lot of mayonnaise, butter, salad dressing or excess oil, warns Josephson. Limit the amount you're using and consider selecting a low-fat product, as long as it doesn't contain high sugar.

Diet tip #7 Stock your kitchen with healthy snacks

Heather Kovensky, who lost 100 lbs as a teenager and now works as a personal trainer, started eating fruits and vegetables instead of chips and cookies. She'll munch on an apple, pineapple, grapes and carrots. "Carrots and celery are not as fun, but neither is being overweight," she explains. Sugar also suggests trying raw almonds, yogurt, cottage cheese or soup.

Diet tip #8 Plan for eating out

Sometimes Kirton's kids want to eat at McDonald's. (They're kids, after all.) Instead of a soft drink, burger and fries, Kirton orders a chicken fajita, a salad and a water to get her greens and protein. She also requests dressing on the side.

Diet tip #9 Eat smaller portions

In the age of super-sizing, our sense of appropriate portions has gone out of whack. Learn about how much you actually need to eat. One serving of meat, for example, is the size of deck of cards, says Salib Huber. Use a smaller plate or bowl as a helpful visual cue.

Diet tip #10 Avoid eating late at night

Kovensky tries to have her last meal by 7 p.m. "If I'm eating at 8 p.m., I'm aware of the portions I'm having. I won't have a big plate of pasta." Why not? When you go to sleep, you're sedentary and will burn fewer calories. Also, people tend to reach for comfort foods when they relax late at night.

Diet tip #11 Drink water

"I try to drink eight glasses of water a day. Sometimes it's six, sometimes it's ten," says Halifax-based mom Tory Greff. She drinks water especially before reaching for a snack to make sure she's not just thirsty. "Also on a fuller stomach, I'm not as apt to scarf down as quite as many treats." If you find the taste bland, try buying lemon or lime flavoured spring water, as Greff does, or opt for decaffeinated herbal tea.

The mental edge

Diet tip #12 Get your eight hours of sleep

Insufficient sleep affects three weight-related hormones, says Josephson. It can cause a decrease in leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone, an increase in ghrelin, a hormone that keeps hunger pangs in check, and a rise in the stress hormone cortisol, which increases fat storage. Stress can also bring out our inner binge-eater, so be warned.

Diet tip #13 Emotional eating

Get to the root of problem. "Knowing the reason why you react to certain emotions with food will make a difference in changing your eating habits. You want to identify the payoffs and benefits you think you're getting, other than the taste, and then create the same type of feelings in other ways," says Toronto-based weight loss coach Rob Sugar.

Diet tip #14 Keep a food journal

For the first three months, Kirton kept a food journal, which helped her accurately track what she was eating and kept her accountable. Even now, if Kirton falls off the wagon, she starts to record what she eats to help get her back on track.

Diet tip #15 Get support

Sugar calls his clients every day in the beginning and then reduces the frequency as new thought and emotional patterns become established. You can also find encouragement from a nutrition coach, a personal trainer, a friend or an online weight loss community, says Salib Huber.

Diet tip #16 Stick to your guns

When a relative tried to push Kirton to indulge in a piece of cake, she responded by saying she'd worked really hard to lose the weight and she'd like him to respect her decision. If you don't want to bring up weight, Josephson suggests saying that you're absolutely satisfied by the meal and don't feel you could eat anything further.

Diet tip #17 If you fall off the wagon, get back on

Greff lost 25 lbs and then put 10 back on over Christmas. But instead of giving up, she re-examined her goals and got back on the wagon. "I reminded myself that I wanted to have the energy to take my daughter for walks and have the strength to lift her up. I also wanted to look good in my old clothes."

Exercise

Diet tip #18 Combine cardio and weights

"You want to do combination of cardio and weights for a minimum of three days a week for 45 minutes to 1 hour each session," says Erin Galway, fitness manager and elite personal trainer at Goodlife Fitness in Toronto. For optimum weight loss, you need to do weights (which build lean muscles and raise your metabolism) as well as cardio (which burns calories and improves your heart and lung health).

Diet tip #19 Break it up

Sometimes you can't seem to find an hour to yourself. Try working out at home: use an exercise video, do resistance exercises with a Theraband and use food cans as weights, says Galway. Divide your workout into 10- or 20-minute chunks throughout the day and you'll start to see the results.

Diet tip #20 Challenge yourself

To overcome plateaus, keep challenging your body. "For toning, when it becomes too easy to do 12 reps then do 15," says Galway. A personal trainer can help, adds Kovensky, because she can change the exercises or increase the weights appropriately.

Upper class : How to be Posh

Education

The most obvious background check to be a member of the upper classes is what school one went too. In many cases some are so upper class they do not go to school at all and are self taught by a tutor. This was the case for William Pitt, plus the vast majority of monarchs of Britain. Yet it is possible to be upper class and still go to school. To be upper class one must almost allways go to a public school, although a cadet school can do to.

The King's College of Our Lady of Eton, known as Eton, is a prestigious and internationally known independent school, often described as the most famous school in the world. It is located in Eton, Berkshire, near Windsor in England, situated about a mile north of Windsor Castle. It has a very long list of well known alumni, including 19 former British Prime Ministers.

Harrow School is a British public school, located in Harrow on the Hill in North West London. It was founded in 1572 under Royal Charter granted by Elizabeth I to John Lyon, a local yeoman, for the provision of education.

Fettes College is a leading independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded 1870 as the result of a large bequest by Sir William Fettes, a wealthy Edinburgh merchant, in memoriam of his son, also called William Fettes, who died in 1815. It produced Prime Minister Blair and the head of Cairn Energy a large oil company, and numerous other alumni.

Gordonstoun is a Scottish private school.

Located in a 17th century house near Elgin, Moray, in Scotland founded as an international school in 1934 by Dr Hahn, who chosn to leave Germany, mainly on account of his Jewish background. However Hahn introduced many controversial German educational traditions, which were alien to Scottish education.

Here is a list of some of the old public school colleges in the UK

The King's School, Canterbury (597)
The King's School, Rochester (604)
Wells Cathedral School (909)
Warwick School (914)
Abingdon School (1256)
Hereford Cathedral School (1384)
Oswestry School (1407)
Durham School (1414)
Sevenoaks School (1432)
Tonbridge School (1553)
Rugby School (1567)
Emanuel School (1594)
Wellingborough School (1595)

In public school rugby is more popular than football, obviously rugby union. Rugby union was invented in rugby public school. To go to puiblic school one must pay often hefty a fee, often thousands of pounds, or one can pass a test.

In public school houses are often an important part so each pupil will be proud of their house, which is a sort of team they belong too. Often they will take pride in school v school rugby matches.

There have problmes of bullying and abuse in the public school system but these problems are hopefully being tackled with.

In terms of university Oxford and Cambridge refereed to as Oxbridge are regarded as bastions of upper class establishment.

The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.

The university traces its roots back to at least the end of the 11th century, although the exact date of foundation remains unclear. According to legend, after riots between scholars and townsfolk broke out in 1209, some of the academics at Oxford fled north-east to the town of Cambridge, where the University of Cambridge was founded. The two universities have since had a long history of competition with each other.
Balliol College 1263, Brasenose College 1509. Christ Church 1546, Corpus Christi College 1517, Exeter College 1314, Green College 1979, Harris Manchester College 1889 Hertford College 1282 Jesus College 1571 Keble College 1870 Kellogg College 1990 Lady Margaret Hall 1878 Linacre College 1962 Lincoln College 1427 Magdalen College 1458 Mansfield College 1886 Merton College 1264 New College 1379 Nuffield College 1958 Oriel College 1326 Pembroke College 1624 The Queen's College 1341 St Anne's College 1878 St Antony's College 1953 St Catherine's College 1963 St Cross College 1965 St Edmund Hall 1957 St Hilda's College 1893 St Hugh's College 1886 St John's College 1555 St Peter's College 1929 Somerville College 1879 Templeton College 1995 Trinity College 1554 University College 1249 Wadham College 1610 Wolfson College 1966 and Worcester College

Cambridge Univeristy

The University of Cambridge often called Cambridge University, located in Cambridge, is the second oldest university in the English speaking world.

Early records indicate the university grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge, probably formed in 1209 by scholars escaping from Oxford after a fight with local townsmen.

The universities of Cambridge and Oxford are jointly referred to by the portmanteau term Oxbridge. In addition to cultural and practical associations as a historic part of British society, the two universities also have a long history of rivalry with each other.

Christ's 1505 Churchill 1960 Clare 1326 Clare Hall 1965 Corpus Christi 1352Darwin 1964 Downing 1800 Emmanuel 1584 Fitzwilliam 1966 Girton 1869 Gonville and Caius 1348 Homerton 1976 Hughes Hall 1885 Jesus 1496 King's 1441 Lucy Cavendish 1965 Magdalene 1428 New Hall Newnham 1871 Pembroke 1347
Peterhouse 1284 Queens' 1448 Robinson 1977 St Catharine's 1473 St Edmund's 1896 St John's 1511 Selwyn 1882 Sidney Sussex 1596 Trinity 1546 Trinity Hall 1350 Wolfson

The Oxford Cambridge boat race is a famous boat race which shows the

The Ivy league is the US equivlainet
Brown University Providence, Rhode Island Baptist
Columbia University New York,
Cornell University Ithaca, New York
Dartmouth College Hanover, New Hampshire Puritan
Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts Puritan
Princeton University Princeton Borough and Princeton Township, New Jersey
University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Yale University

Sport

The upper class seems to enjoy sport which invloves a horse I have another website devoted to such sport http://www.lonympics.co.uk/new/equine.htm this does not cover horse racing.

Other types of sport played by the upper class include

Rugby Union, particulary university and public school rugby union. Much of the Englsh rugby union side are from public school.

rowing (Oxford Cambridge boat race)

Golf - Often seen as an upper class sport often women are banned from certain areas of the club. And the clubs often have a feel of a gentleman's club. Yet some clubs especially in Scotland are more working class.

Horse racing especially ascot,

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Ascot Racecourse is a racecourse, located in the village of Ascot in the English county of Berkshire used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is closely associated with the British Royal Family and is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 31 annual Group 1 races. The site belongs to the Crown Estate. The centerpiece of Ascot’s year, Royal Ascot is one of the world’s most famous race meetings, steeped in history dating back to 1711. The royal family who arrive each day in a horse drawn carriage attend the meeting. A major event in the British social calendar, and press coverage of the attendees and what they are wearing often exceeds coverage of the actual racing. Attendees must wear a morning suit in the royal enclosure, and most people outside of this section choose to wear one any way.

Accent

The accent of the upper class is one of the most obviously giveaway of social origin. Together with the Scottish, Irish and London accent it is probably the best known accent to American. Yet it is easily copied and often can be picked up with great ease. Nowadays the accent has been toned down. Some refer to this accent as plummy. Because of the famous joke that the accent is spoken as if one has a plumb in one's mouth. Many in the acting profession speak in an upper class accent. Many apparently working class men have picked up upper class accents in the profession. And many a butler, or employee of the uperr class picks up the accent too. Often many foreign student will learn English in upper class style.

Money

The upper classes are almost always rich. Don't fall for the lie that they have no money. To get all the trappings of being upper class is an enormous expenditure, Public school, houses, sport, horse, car, clubs, a vastly expensive maintenance. Often the money is inherited and is earned from land rent payment, or for luxury services to other upper class types. This will be covered later in the employment section.

title

When one thinks of the upper class the first name that springs to mind is often a lord, or a lady, whether it be ther fifth earl Buckingridge, or the 7th Marques of Draylock. Yet not all upper classes have such a title

When William of Normandy conquered England, he divided the nation into many "manors", the owners of which came to be known as barons; those who held many manors were known as "greater barons", while those with fewer manors were the "lesser barons". When Kings summoned their barons to Royal Councils, the lesser barons were summoned through sheriffs, while the greater barons were summoned individually by the Sovereign. In 1254, the lesser barons ceased to be summoned; the body of greater barons, meanwhile, evolved into the House of Lords. By the beginning of the fourteenth century, the hereditary characteristics of the Peerage were well developed., and now accorss the whole of the UK,

The order is duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron, and In Scotland, the fifth rank is called a lord of Parliament

Lords

dukedoms
Marquessates
Earldoms
Viscountcies
Baronies

Most of these names have anicent traces but it is easy to get one for a welathy individual, some are sold on the market, some are sold by politcial parties. It is true that many a name is now bought but let us be honest many of the the original names were mainly got in often violent and dishonest ways, engaging in corruption or sychpancy with dishonest brutal opressions with corrupt regimes. It is allways rare for one of these names to go to someone for inventing something or charity work. That is not what a government would reward people for.

Many regard it as a disgrace that entry to the house of lords is hereditary, regarding it as an insult to democracy.

Clubs

Upper class men often belong to a private gentleman's club. Just as the London stock exchange originated from a coffee house many say that these clubs originated from coffee houses in the 16th century. These clubs often ban women. Are often bastions of the conservative party and right wing views. The hey day of these clubs is seen as the 19th century the era of British imperialism. Often the imperial campaigns were privately planned in these clubs. This has often left dangerous right wing views nationalistic imperialist views to remain in these clubs. Into the sixties these clubs were often seen as the last bastions of imperialism in the UK.

The clubs were often the first port of call after leaving Oxbridge and still are. The clubs often contain a library, lounge, dining room, smoking room, billiard room, and card room. The current conservative party leader belongs to Whites a private club in London. The waiting list for such a club is often many a year long plus very expensive to join.

Politics

The upper class tend to be right wing, in their views as they are normally wealthy they often ask for a tax cutting agenda, no welfare state. Some see themselves as the natural government of Britain, so often see it as acceptable to have an unelected house of parliament. Often they will support the types of activity that upper classes enage in such as fox hunting, maintaining land ownership for the upper class, and often even aruging for feudalistic laws.

Housing

The upper classes tend to live in large old mansions, with large well maintained gardens, with a stable. These houses often have many employees a butler, maid, gardener etc to maintain these houses. Often the houses will be of such beauty it will be called a stately home. There are around 500 in England. In Scotland such houses tend to remain being called a castle. Often visitors can visist the home for a fee. Many upper classes have many many houses in London, the countryside, one abroad perhaps in Switzerland.

Clothing

The traditional clothing for the upper classes can change with the fashion. In the 19th century it was bowler hat, but fewe people dress this way now. Now a smart suit is considered the usual dress.

Food

Just as with clothing this can change. A cynical individual would suggest that anything the working class can have easily is regarded as unfashionable and anything that the working or middle class cannot have easily is often upper class. For instance pigeon is often regarded as upper class meal now. Although this will soon change I am sure, and i am probably allready out of date.

Caviar, and champagne are to some extent still regarded as upper class items, but the status these luxury items gain, causes them to be mass produced and they often lose their status as a result.

How easy is it to gain upper class status and not be seen as a con artist?

Well it depends on the definition and who is making the judgment. Most working and middle class people would regard anyone who went to an expensive public school and paid, and talks in a non faked upper class voice as upper class. Yet some upper classes talk about "breeding" which can mean that there has to be have a long tradition of carrying out upper class activities. Some will even look on fellow upper class types as not upper class enough as a result. Some say it takes 3 generations to make one upper class. Some regard one as upper class only if one is one of the aristocracy. Some feel if one talks with an upper class accent then one is upper class. Some feel the upper class

Morality is unfortunately not really an important attribute to gain upper class status. As with all classes there are many types of people in the upper class, bad ones and good guys. Some abuse the power, and money, and some are warped by some of the ideologies in upper class society. It is perhaps not surprising that some upper class people become fascist and believers in the nasty fascist theories, because of all the talk of breeding. Some become power crazed and convinced of their own superiority. Some will become criminal for the same causes that working and middle class people often become criminal simply out of greed, or pleasure from abuse.

Anagram collection

'Upper class' = 'Supple scar'

Harrow school = 'Who or scholar'

'Eton college' = 'Cool! Genteel'

A gentlemans club = 'Nascent, glum able'

Plumby accent = 'Numbly accept.

Upper Class accent

Question:
Can anyone provide any information why the "upper class" accent in England differs so much from other regional accents. Are there historical links through nobility and royalty with accents spoken in other European countries?

Answer:
No links. But what exactly do you mean by "the 'upper class' accent? If Received Pronunciation, perhaps in an extreme form, then it developed from a regional accent, the English of South and South-East England.

This became a class accent in the 19th century, when most boys from wealthy families were sent away to boarding school from the age of 7 to 18, many of them then going on to Oxford or Cambridge Universities or into the officers' messes of �lite regiments. Girls from similar families were taught by governesses with the same accent and then went off to Paris or Rome where they mixed with others like themselves. The restricted social groups within which these people moved confirmed and exaggerated their shared accent, which differed markedly from the regional accents of their own counties. Even today, a Scottish aristocrat will probably speak with a non-Scottish "upper class" accent, as modelled by his parents and his friends.

Middle-class families adopted a less extreme version of the same non-regional accent, and it is this version that appears in British dictionaries as standard. Most middle-class (not just "upper class") Southerners sound "la-di-dah" or affected to those who speak in other accents, especially Northerners. For some years, however, there has been a tendency for speakers of RP or its upper-class exaggeration to modify their speech in the direction of current South-East urban demotic, creating the so-called "Estuary English" heard, for example, from the Prime Minister. This is not a regional accent, and some who use it in public slip back into "upper class" in private. Very noticeably, young people whose families speak in RP or hyper-RP often adopt Estuary English during their teens and twenties but then revert in full adulthood to their old "upper class" speech.

Yonge-Dundas Square Free Summer Movies June 24 - August 26 (Toronto)

From June 24 through August 26, 2008, films will air in the evenings on a weekly basis at this unique outdoor venue. You'll be watching movies with big crowds amidst the nighttime hustle and bustle of the city - certainly an experience worth checking out. This year, the theme is "Romantic Reels", with a selection of classic and modern films that account for over 30 Oscars. Here's the full rundown:

Romantic Reels

24 June 2008	Gone with the Wind (part 1) 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm Atlanta burns and hearts melt.
30 June 2008	Gone with the Wind (part 2) 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm The South is reconstructed and love is rekindled.
8 July 2008	Brokeback Mountain 8:45 pm - 11:00 pm It can get lonely on the range.
15 July 2008	Romeo + Juliet 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm Whereforth art thou? Pray, come watch-ith movies.
22 July 2008	Annie Hall 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm A nervous romance.
29 July 2008	Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm You can erase someone from your mind. Getting them out of your heart is another story.
5 August 2008	Princess Bride 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm Heroes, giants, villains, wizards, true love.
12 August 2008	Titanic 8:00 pm - 11:00 pm A man, a woman and an icebeg.
19 August 2008	The Notebook 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm MTV Movie Award - Best Kiss!
26 August 2008	Casablanca 9:00 pm - 11:00 pm "With the whole world crumbling, we pick this time to fall in love."

For more information and specific start times (8:45PM or 9:00PM usually), check out this page.

Russia wins 2008 Eurovision Song Contest

BELGRADE, Serbia — Dima Bilan has brought Russia its first Eurovision song title with a glitzy performance that included a famous ice skater.

Bilan beat Ukraine's Ani Lorak and Greece's Kalomira with an R&B ballad "Believe" before thousands of flag-waving fans of Europe's most glamorous pop song festival.

The Russian singer was joined on the stage by Hungarian violinist Edvin Marton and famous Russian Olympic skater Yevgeny Plyushchenko, who pirouetted on artificial ice to the tune.

Bilan has won the first-ever title for Russia in the competition, which has recently been dominated by Eastern European countries because of so-called bloc-voting among ex-Soviet republics and former Yugoslav states.

This year's competition was held in Belgrade, Serbia. Serbian songstress Marija Serifovic won last year's title with her ballad "Molitva" or "Prayer."

Bilan's appearance at the finals, which opened late Saturday at the Belgrade Arena hall, was his second in just two years. In 2006, he won second place.

Bilan had been tipped as the favourite going in, along with Ukraine and Sweden.

The Russian won 272 points from viewers from 43 countries who picked the winner by phone calls and text messages.

Ukraine's Lorak was second with 230 points, followed by Greece's Kalomira with 218.

The glitzy event was launched by Serifovic. Other guest stars include Bosnian ethno musician Goran Bregovic and Serbia's and L.A. Lakers' former NBA star, Vlade Divac.

Though criticized by many as a show of kitsch and an extravaganza, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Eurosong, is revered by its many followers. They often travel across the continent to support their favourite singers.

About 15,000 guests are believed to have arrived in Belgrade for the event, crowding the Serbian capital for the first time in years.

Serbia is taking advantage of the opportunity to present itself as part of Europe after years of pariah status in the 1990s under the late strongman Slobodan Milosevic.

Authorities have gone out of their way to throw a perfectly organized party. During the finals, a huge screen was put up in front of the Belgrade City Hall as thousands flocked to watch the show.

After the winner was announced, fireworks lit the Belgrade skies.

The finale included 20 contestants who made it through the two semifinals earlier this week.

In addition, performers from Britain, France, Germany and Spain, who are the biggest sponsors of the event, and Serbia, the host country, went straight into the final without having competed in preliminary rounds.

Serbia was represented by Jelena Tomasevic, who finished sixth.

Movie Travel: 10 Indiana Jones adventure trips

Movie Travel: 10 Indiana Jones adventure trips

Are you going to see “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” this weekend? I can’t wait, no matter what the reviewers have said. The good news is that if I get all jazzed up and feel like grabbing a rucksack and heading off to the Amazon jungle – there are Indy-themed trips on Expedia all ready for me to choose from. The only difference is that the KGB won’t be chasing me around.

Movie Travel: Expedia has 10 Indiana Jones adventure trips that take you into Indy’s footsteps on many of the global escapades he’s had throughout all the Indiana Jones movies.

Travel to Egypt as Indy did in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” On the Quest of the Ancient Kings trip, you’ll have 10-nights to see the Giza pyramids, go on a Nile River cruise, visit the World Heritage site of Abu Simbel, go to Luxor and shop in the Cairo markets. The price per adult is $2,299 and includes all accommodations, tour leader, domestic transportation and most meals. Getting to Egypt will be up to you.

Remember when Indy floated down that river in “The Temple of Doom” and wound up in an Indian village? You too can take an Indian trek that includes a boat ride on the Ganges, a tiger safari, an elephant ride to the palace at the ruined city of Amber, and a view of the Taj Mahal firsthand, and more. This trip is 12 days for $2,799.

Deals: If those trips are too grand for your time and budget, check out Expedia’s Summer of Adventure Sale where you can get 30% off hotels, cruises, cars and activities this summer. Book by June 30 for travel through Sept. 5, 2008.

Contest: You can also play the Golden Suitecase Challenge for a chance to win the grand prize – one of two Indiana Jones Travel Experiences. I’ve already tried it. I didn’t fare so well, but it’s easy and fun in a “Deal or no Deal” kind of way.

Contact: Expedia Indiana Jones Experiences, (866) 925-1793

Victoria Day Weekend Festivities

May 15, 2008

The Victoria Day long weekend is the unofficial kick off to summer. Here’s a look at what’s open and what’s closed in Toronto, plus our picks of the best events and attractions to attend.

Victoria Day Weekend Events

Toronto International Circus Festival
Harbourfront Centre

The circus is in town for the long weekend with a crew of jugglers, aerialists, fire eaters and stunt professionals. Kid-friendly workshops let little ones explore their inner daredevil and learn how to juggle, or design a speed racer.

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
Sony Centre for the Performing Arts

The Alvin Ailey Dance Company celebrates 50 years of blending African-American cultural expression and American modern dance with a performance that explores the themes of beauty, hope and passion.

Inside Out: Toronto Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

This film fest features both international and local film screenings, artist talks, parties and installations by members of the gay community. Check out the complete lineup of films.

Beer & Cocktail Show
Downsview Park

After last year’s turn out, the Beer and Cocktail Show moves its collection of spirits, mixes and lagers to Downsview Park, so there’s more room to party. Not only a place to get your drink on, the show also features live music and entertainment, as well as interactive demonstrations and bartending tips and tricks.

South Asian Festival
International Centre

This distinguished festival is celebrating its fifth year of South Asian cultural diversity. Fill up on savoury food, music and dance performances, plus an outdoor carnival, kids' zone and much more.

Italian Seasons Food Festival

Twenty restaurants participate in a celebration of Italian food with special spring menus. Restaurants involved include Zucca Trattoria, Spiga, Vertical Restaurant and La Fenice.

Stories From Our Black Books
Six Degrees Club

This production comes complete with cocktails and camaraderie. Based on the book by Carissa Reiniger, the play features real stories by real women that explore the experience of dating, from bad first dates to falling in love. After the performance, the audience is encouraged to stay and share their own stories about the quest to find Mr. Right.

See All Victoria Day Weekend Events

Victoria Day Fireworks

Canada's Wonderland - Sunday at approximately 10 p.m. Price: free with admission.
Ontario Place - Sunday and Monday at dusk. Price: free with admission to the grounds.
Mosport International Raceway - Saturday at dusk. Price: free with admission.

Public Transit

For Victoria Day both the TTC and GO Transit are running on holiday schedules.

Shopping

Only some shopping destinations remain open on Monday, most with reduced hours. Here’s a list of what’s open and closed on Victoria Day.

Eaton Centre – Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Vaughan Mills – Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Yorkdale Shopping Centre – Closed
Sherway Gardens – Closed
Fairview Mall – Closed
Scarborough Town Centre – Closed
Square One – Closed
Bloor- Yorkville – Some venues in this area remain open, call ahead before heading out.

Attractions

This long weekend, big ticket attractions are open to the public on Monday.

Wonderland – Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Toronto Zoo – Open 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Ontario Place – Open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Ontario Science Centre – Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
ROM – Open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Centre Island/ Centreville Amusement Park – Open 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
CN Tower – Open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.

What’s closed on Victoria Day

LCBO/Beer Stores
Supermarkets
Libraries
Schools
Banks

Russia gets revenge as Kovalchuk scores in OT for 5-4 win over Canada

QUEBEC -
The ice at Le Colisee Pepsi was covered with a sea of red gloves and helmets and not one of them belonged to a Canadian player. Instead, you had Alex Ovechkin skating around kissing his new gold medal over and over while Ilya Kovalchuk grabbed a television camera and screamed into it.

The Russians got the sweetest revenge possible at the IIHF World Hockey Championship.

A year earlier, O Canada was played at Khodynka Arena in Moscow. This time it was the Russians who sang their national anthem on Canadian soil.

"Right now we are the champions of the world and it feels so great," said Ovechkin. "It's really special to win here because this is hockey and it's a hockey-mad country.

"It just feels wonderful. It feels so great."

All those good feelings came off Kovalchuk's stick. He scored the goal that tied the game in the third period and came through with the overtime winner as Russia beat Canada 5-4 in a tense game that lived up to its advance billing.

The Canadians were 20 minutes from becoming the first host country to win the world championship since the Soviet Union in 1986. They held a 4-2 lead heading into the third period but started to get tentative as the Russians gained more control of the puck.

"We really sat back in the second half (of the game)," said Nash. "You have a two-goal lead in the gold medal game going into the third period - we had to play better."

You have to feel especially sorry for him. He led Canada to gold at last year's world championship but had the worst seat in the house for Kovalchuk's winner.

Nash had been sent to the penalty box after accidentally sending the puck over the glass from his own end just 1:51 into the extra period. The Russians sent out four forwards for the 4-on-3 advantage and Kovalchuk beat Canadian goalie Cam Ward with a wrist shot at 2:42.

That clinched the country's first gold medal in 15 years and touched off an exuberant celebration that lasted well into the night - on both sides of the Atlantic.

"God was on our side a little more than them," said Kovalchuk. "In overtime, they take that penalty - that's the new rules. I don't know if it's good or it's bad but it worked for us."

It capped an unusual tournament for him. Kovalchuk was twice ejected from games and suspended for another, and hadn't scored at all before getting the two most important goals of the entire event.

Meanwhile, the Canadian team had steamrolled its way through its opening eight games but had yet to face an opponent as good as the Russians. Those two teams were unquestionably the best ones here and either could have won the gold medal on Sunday.

The loss brought an end to a 17-game winning streak for Canada dating back to last year.

"Team Canada's won a ton of these and you're going to lose once and awhile," said captain Shane Doan. "Unfortunately, it was tonight. That's the way it goes.

"We've won I don't know how many in a row. It's tough to keep winning that many in a row."

Alexander Semin, with two, and Alexei Tereshchenko also scored for Russia.

Brent Burns had two goals for Canada while Dany Heatley and Chris Kunitz each added one. Heatley also had an assist to cap the best tournament ever by a Canadian player in the 31 years this country has been sending NHLers to this event.

He finished with 20 points and was named the tournament's MVP, its best forward and was included on the all-star team along with Nash and defenceman Mike Green.

Those honours will do little to soothe the pain of this loss. These players all gave up a month of their off-season to wear the Maple Leaf on home soil and every one of them believed they'd be going home with a gold medal.

"Nobody on this team came here to win silver," said Ward. "It's tough right not because you do feel like you've let your country down. There will be other tournaments, there will be more to come. We've got to keep our head up high.

"We have an excellent program."

This tournament often has trouble capturing the attention of Canadian fans but it would be nearly impossible for anyone who loves hockey not to enjoy this game. Eight of the top 20 NHL scorers were on the ice and it felt like a goal could be scored at any moment.

Fans wearing Canadian jerseys packed Le Colisee Pepsi and the sellout crowd of 13,338 roared as the game began. Prime Minister Stephen Harper sat three rows behind the home team's bench and lent his support too.

But it was the Russians that struck first with a goal that demonstrated just how dangerous they can be. Ovechkin found Semin in the slot and he put it past Ward before the Canadian goalie could even react. It was 1-0 just 1:23 into the game.

The Canadians soon responded with Burns scoring twice and Kunitz getting another before the period was over. Each team scored a goal in the second period so it was 4-2 Canada heading into the third.

There's no shortage of missed opportunities the Canadians can look to when analyzing where they could have found one more goal:

-Russia was twice penalized for the same delay of game call given to Nash and Canada couldn't score on either of those power plays.

-Martin St. Louis had a wide open net in the first period and hit the post.

-Nash was stopped on a partial breakaway during the second period.

As a result, it was tied 4-4 after 60 minutes and the extra period didn't last very long.

"You get a game into overtime, it's flip a coin," said Hitchcock. "We all know that. We've all been in these games before."

The Canadian players kept their helmets on while accepting their silver medals and many hung their heads while the Russians celebrated.

All was not lost here. The second-place finish was enough for Canada to regain the top spot in the world rankings that will be used for the 2010 Olympics, meaning the host nation will get its choice of dressing room and easier opponents during the Games in Vancouver.

On top of that, many of the players that lost here will be part of the Canadian team that tries to win gold in 2010.

"It's disappointing but it's a real learning experience for our younger players to understand how to deal with the pressure of playing at home," said Hitchcock. "We all know that the Olympics are the measuring stick.

"If you're talking about world power, if you're talking about supremacy in hockey, you talk about the Olympics."

The 2009 IIHF World Hockey Championship will be held April 24-May 10 in Bern and Kloten, Switzerland.

Just being a bit Crazy....

1. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) was born on and died on days when Halley's Comet can be seen. During his life he predicted that he would die when it could be seen.
2. US Dollar bills are made out of cotton and linen.
3. The "57" on the Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of pickle types the company once had.
4. Americans are responsible for about 1/5 of the world's garbage annually. On average, that's 3 pounds a day per person.
5. Giraffes and rats can last longer without water than camels.
6. Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks so that it doesn't digest itself.
7. 98% of all murders and rapes are by a close family member or friend of the victim.
8. A B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building on July 28, 1945.
9. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper.
10. The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.
11. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
12. Benjamin Franklin was the fifth in a series of the youngest son of the youngest son.
13. Triskaidekaphobia means fear of the number 13. Paraskevidekatriaphobia means fear of Friday the 13th (which occurs one to three times a year). In Italy, 17 is considered an unlucky number. In Japan, 4 is considered an unlucky number.
14. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.
15. All the chemicals in a human body combined are worth about 6.25 euro (if sold separately).
16. In ancient Rome, when a man testified in court he would swear on his testicles.
17. The ZIP in "ZIP code" means Zoning Improvement Plan.
18. Coca-Cola contained Coca (whose active ingredient is cocaine) from 1885 to 1903.
19. A "2 by 4" is really 1 1/2 by 3 1/2.
20. It's estimated that at any one time around 0.7% of the world's population is drunk.
21. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades = David ; Clubs = Alexander the Great ; Hearts = Charlemagne ; Diamonds = Caesar
22. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
23. Every person, including identical twins, has a unique eye and tongue print along with their finger print.
24. The "spot" on the 7-Up logo comes from its inventor who had red eyes. He was an albino.
25. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 dictionary were misspelled.
26. The "save" icon in Microsoft Office programs shows a floppy disk with the shutter on backwards.
27. Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin both married their first cousins (Elsa Löwenthal and Emma Wedgewood respectively).
28. Camel's have three eyelids.
29. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents every day.
30. John Wilkes Booth's brother once saved the life of Abraham Lincoln's son.
31. Warren Beatty and Shirley McLaine are brother and sister.
32. Chocolate can kill dogs; it directly affects their heart and nervous system.
33. Daniel Boone hated coonskin caps.
34. Playing cards were issued to British pilots in WWII. If captured, they could be soaked in water and unfolded to reveal a map for escape.
35. 55.1% of all US prisoners are in prison for drug offenses.
36. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
37. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
38. Dr. Seuss pronounced his name "soyce".
39. Slugs have four noses.
40. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.
41. The Three Wise Monkeys have names: Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil).
42. India has a Bill of Rights for cows.
43. If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. If you keep your eyes open by force, they can pop out. (DON'T TRY IT, DUMBASS)
44. During the California gold rush of 1849, miners sent their laundry to Honolulu for washing and pressing. Due to the extremely high costs in California during these boom years, it was deemed more feasible to send their shirts to Hawaii for servicing.
45. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by taking out an olive from First Class salads.
46. About 200,000,000 M&Ms are sold each day in the United States.
47. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
48. Over a course of about eleven years, the sun's magnetic poles switch places. This cycle is called "Solarmax".
49. There are 318,979,564,000 possible combinations of the first four moves in Chess.
50. Upper and lower case letters are named "upper" and "lower" because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the upper case letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the lower case letters.
51. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
52. The numbers "172" can be found on the back of the US 5 dollar bill, in the bushes at the base of the Lincoln Memorial.
53. Coconuts kill about 150 people each year. That's more than sharks.
54. Half of all bank robberies take place on a Friday.
55. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan. There was never a recorded Wendy before it.
56. The international telephone dialing code for Antarctica is 672.
57. The first bomb the Allies dropped on Berlin in WWII killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.
58. The average raindrop falls at 7 miles per hour.
59. It took Leonardo Da Vinci 10 years to paint Mona Lisa. He never signed or dated the painting. Leonardo and Mona had identical bone structures according to the painting. X-ray images have shown that there are 3 other versions under the original.
60. If you put a drop of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death.
61. Bruce Lee was so fast that they had to slow the film down so you could see his moves.
62. The largest amount of money you can have without having change for a dollar is $1.19 (3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies cannot be divided into a dollar).
63. The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA".
64. IBM's motto is "Think". Apple later made their motto "Think different".
65. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was actually a Captain Kirk mask painted white, due to low budget.
66. The original name for butterfly was flutterby.
67. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
68. One in fourteen women in America is a natural blonde. Only one in sixteen men is.
69. The Olympic was the sister ship of the Titanic, and she provided twenty-five years of service.
70. When the Titanic sank, 2228 people were on it. Only 706 survived.
71. In America, someone is diagnosed with AIDS every 10 minutes. In South Africa, someone dies due to HIV or AIDS every 10 minutes.
72. Every day, 7% of the US eats at McDonald's.
73. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was Victrola, which Motorola got their name from.
74. In the US, about 127 million adults are overweight or obese; worldwide, 750 million are overweight and 300 million more are obese. In the US, 15% of children in elementary school are overweight; 20% are worldwide.
75. In Disney's Fantasia, the Sorcerer to whom Mickey played an apprentice was named Yensid (Disney spelled backward).
76. During his entire life, Vincent Van Gogh sold exactly one painting, "Red Vineyard at Arles".
77. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannot sink into quicksand.
78. One in ten people live on an island.
79. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.
80. 28% of Africa is classified as wilderness. In North America, its 38%.
81. Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.
82. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
83. Sherlock Holmes NEVER said "Elementary, my dear Watson", Humphrey Bogart NEVER said "Play it again, Sam" in Casablanca, and they NEVER said "Beam me up, Scotty" on Star Trek.
84. An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.
85. Sharon Stone was the first Star Search spokes model.
86. The sound you here when you put a seashell next to your ear is not the ocean, but blood flowing through your head.
87. More people are afraid of open spaces (kenophobia) than of tight spaces (claustrophobia).
88. The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.
89. There is a 1 in 4 chance that New York will have a white Christmas.
90. The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.
91. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
92. Back in the mid to late '80s, an IBM compatible computer wasn't considered 100% compatible unless it could run Microsoft's Flight Simulator.
93. $203,000,000 is spent on barbed wire each year in the U.S.
94. Every US president has worn glasses (just not always in public).
95. Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
96. Jim Henson first coined the word "Muppet". It is a combination of "marionette" and "puppet."
97. The names of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with (not counting the words "North" and "South).
98. The Michelin man is known as Mr. Bib. His name was Bibendum in the company's first ads in 1896.
99. About 20% of bird species have become extinct in the past 200 years, almost all of them because of human activity.
100. The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.
101. About 14% of injecting drug users are HIV positive.
102. A word or sentence that is the same front and back (racecar, kayak) is called a "palindrome".
103. A snail can sleep for 3 years.
104. People photocopying their buttocks are the cause of 23% of all photocopier faults worldwide.
105. China has more English speakers than the United States.
106. Finnish folklore says that when Santa comes to Finland to deliver gifts, he leaves his sleigh behind and rides on a goat named Ukko instead. According to French tradition, Santa Claus has a brother named Bells Nichols, who visits homes on New Year's Eve after everyone is asleep, and if a plate is set out for him, he fills it with cookies and cakes.
107. One in every 9000 people is an albino.
108. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
109. You share your birthday with at least 9 million other people in the world.
110. Everyday, more money is printed for Monopoly sets than for the U.S. Treasury.
111. Every year 4 people in the UK die putting their trousers on.
112. Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds; dogs only have about ten.
113. Our eyes are always the same size from birth but our nose and ears never stop growing.
114. In every episode of "Seinfeld" there is a Superman picture or reference somewhere.
115. If Barbie were life-size her measurements would be 39-23-33. She would stand seven feet two inches tall and have a neck twice the length of a normal human's neck.
116. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
117. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
118. Each year in America there are about 300,000 deaths that can be attributed to obesity.
119. About 55% of all movies are rated R.
120. About 500 movies are made in the US and 800 in India annually.
121. Arabic numerals are not really Arabic; they were created in India.
122. Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations (implemented on July 16, 1969) makes it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles.
123. The February of 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
124. The Pentagon in Arlington Virginia has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary. When it was built in the 1940s the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and whites.
125. There is actually no danger in swimming right after you eat, though it may feel uncomfortable.
126. The cruise liner Queen Elizabeth II moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
127. More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
128. A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
129. There are about 2 chickens for every human in the world.
130. The word "maverick" came into use after Samuel Maverick, a Texan refused to brand his cattle. Eventually any unbranded calf became known as a Maverick.
131. Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
132. For every memorial statue with a person on a horse, if the horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died of battle wounds; if all four of the horse's legs are on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
133. On a Canadian two-dollar bill, the American flag is flying over the Parliament Building.
134. An American urologist bought Napoleon's penis for $40,000.
135. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple.
136. Dreamt is the only English word that ends in the letters "MT".
137. $283,200 is the absolute highest amount of money you can win on Jeopardy.
138. Almonds are members of the peach family.
139. Rats and horses can't vomit.
140. The penguin is the only bird that can't fly but can swim.
141. There are approximately 100 million acts of sexual intercourse each day.
142. Winston Churchill was born in a ladies room during a dance.
143. Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
144. There are only four words in the English language that end in "-dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
145. Americans on average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.
146. Every time you lick a stamp you consume 1/10 of a calorie.
147. "101 Dalmatians" and "Peter Pan" are the only Disney animations in which both of a character's parents are present and don't die during the movie.
148. You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider.
149. Hedenophobic means fear of pleasure.
150. Ancient Egyptian priests would pluck every hair from their bodies.
151. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
152. Half of all crimes are committed by people under the age of 18. 80% of burglaries are committed by people aged 13-21.
153. An ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
154. All polar bears are left-handed.
155. The catfish has over 27000 taste buds (more than any other animal)
156. A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.
157. Butterflies taste with their feet.
158. Elephants are the only mammals that cannot jump.
159. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
160. Starfish have no brains.
161. 11% of the world is left-handed.
162. John Hancock and Charles Thomson were the only people to sign the Declaration of independence on July 4th, 1776. The last signature came five years later.
163. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
164. Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
165. The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses.
166. There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
167. A healthy (non-colorblind) human eye can distinguish between 500 shades of gray.
168. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
169. Lizards can self-amputate their tails for protection. It grows back after a few months.
170. Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula". It can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.
171. A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
172. A honeybee can fly at fifteen miles per hour.
173. Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
174. A "jiffy" is the scientific name for 1/100th of a second.
175. The average child recognizes over 200 company logos by the time he enters first grade.
176. The youngest pope ever was 11 years old.
177. The first novel ever written on a typewriter is Tom Sawyer.
178. One out of every 43 prisoners escapes from jail. 94% are recaptured.
179. The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
180. The average chocolate bar has 8 insects' legs melted into it.
181. A rhinoceros horn is made of compacted hair.
182. The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.
183. Elwood Edwards did the voice for the AOL sound files (i.e. "You've got Mail!"). He is heard about 27 million times a day. The recordings were done before Quantum changed its name to AOL and the program was known as "Q-Link."
184. A polar bears skin is black. Its fur is actually clear, but like snow it appears white.
185. Elvis had a twin brother named Garon, who died at birth, which is why Elvis middle name was spelled Aron, in honor of his brother.
186. Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
187. Donkeys kill more people than plane crashes.
188. Shakespeare invented the words "assassination" and "bump."
189. There are a million ants for every person on Earth.
190. If you keep a goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white.
191. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
192. The name Jeep comes from "GP", the army abbreviation for General Purpose.
193. Right handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left handed people do.
194. There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.
195. Cats' urine glows under a black light.
196. A "quidnunc" is a person who is eager to know the latest news and gossip.
197. The first US Patent was for manufacturing potassium carbonate (used in glass and gunpowder). It was issued to Samuel Hopkins on July 31, 1970.
198. Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors, the helicopter, and many other present day items.
199. In the last 4000 years no new animals have been domesticated.
200. 25% of a human's bones are in its feet.
201. David Sarnoff received the Titanic's distress signal and saved hundreds of passengers. He later became the head of the first radio network, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC).
202. On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.
203. Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than every Nike factory worker in Malaysia combined.
204. One of the reasons marijuana is illegal today is because cotton growers in the '30s lobbied against hemp farmers (they saw it as competition).
205. "Canada" is an Indian word meaning "Big Village".
206. Only one in two billion people will live to be 116 or older.
207. If you yelled for 8 years 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee. If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.
208. Rape is reported every six minutes in the U.S.
209. The human heart creates enough pressure in the bloodstream to squirt blood 30 feet.
210. A jellyfish is 95% water.
211. Truck driving is the most dangerous occupation by accidental deaths (799 in 2001).
212. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
213. Elephants only sleep for two hours each day.
214. On average people fear spiders more than they do death.
215. The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue. (the heart is not a muscle)
216. In golf, a 'Bo Derek' is a score of 10.
217. In the U.S, Frisbees outsell footballs, baseballs and basketballs combined.
218. In most watch advertisements the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
219. If you plant an apple seed, it is almost guaranteed to grow a tree of a different type of apple.
220. Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
221. The only real person to be a PEZ head was Betsy Ross.
222. There are about 450 types of cheese in the world. 240 come from France.
223. When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers plays football at home the stadium becomes Nebraska's third largest city.
224. The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life".
225. A dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.
226. In Iceland, a Big Mac costs $5.50.
227. Broccoli and cauliflower are the only vegetables that are flowers.
228. Newborn babies have about 350 bones. They gradually merge and disappear until there are about 206 by age 5.
229. There is no solid proof of who built the Taj Mahal.
230. In a survey of 200000 ostriches over 80 years, not one tried to bury its head in the sand.
231. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. A quarter has 119.
232. On an American one-dollar bill there is a tiny owl in the upper-left-hand corner of the upper-right-hand "1" and a spider hidden in the front upper-right-hand corner.
233. Judy Scheindlin ("Judge Judy") has a $25,000,000 salary, while Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has a $190,100 salary.
234. The name for Oz in the Wizard of Oz was thought up when the creator Frank Baum looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N and O-Z.
235. Andorra, a tiny country on the border between France and Spain, has the longest average lifespan: 83.49 years.
236. The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
237. Mr. Rogers was an ordained Presbyterian minister.
238. In America you will see an average of 500 advertisements a day.
239. John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles.
240. You can lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs.
241. The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
242. "The sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in English.
243. There are 336 dimples on a regulation US golf ball. In the UK its 330.
244. The Toltecs (a 7th century tribe) used wooden swords so they wouldn't kill their enemies.
245. "Duff" is the decaying organic matter found on a forest floor.
246. The US has more personal computers than the next 7 countries combined.
247. There have been over 600 lawsuits against Alexander Grahm Bell over rights to the patent of the telephone, the most valuable patent in U.S. history.
248. Kuwait is about 60% male (highest in the world). Latvia is about 54% female (highest in the world).
249. The Hawaiian alphabet has only 12 letters.
250. In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world's nuclear weapons combined.
251. At the height of its power in 400 BC, the Greek city of Sparta had 25,000 citizens and 500,000 slaves.
252. Julius Caesar's autograph is worth about $2,000,000.
253. The tool doctors wrap around a patient's arm to measure blood pressure is called a sphygmomanometer.
254. People say "bless you" when you sneeze because your heart stops for a millisecond.
255. US gold coins used to say "In Gold We Trust".
256. In "Silence of the Lambs", Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins) never blinks.
257. A shrimp's heart is in its head.
258. In the 17th century, the value of pi was known to 35 decimal places. Today, to 1.2411 trillion.
259. The bestselling books of all time are The Bible (6billion+), Quotations from the Works of Mao Tse-tung (900million+), and The Lord of the Rings (100million+)
260. Pearls melt in vinegar.
261. "Lassie" was played by a group of male dogs; the main one was named Pal.
262. In 1863, Paul Hubert of Bordeaux, France, was sentenced to life in jail for murder. After 21 years, it was discovered that he was convicted of murdering himself.
263. Nepal is the only country that doesn't have a rectangular flag. Switzerland is the only country with a square flag.
264. Gabriel, Michael, and Lucifer are the only angels named in the Bible.
265. Tiger Woods' real first name is Eldrick. His father gave him the nickname "Tiger" in honor of a South Vietnamese soldier his father had fought alongside with during the Vietnam War.
266. Johnny Appleseed planted apples so that people could use apple cider to make alcohol.
267. Abraham Lincoln's ghost is said to haunt the White House.
268. God is not mentioned once in the book of Esther.
269. The odds of being born male are about 51.2%, according to census.
270. Scotland has more redheads than any other part of the world.
271. There is an average of 61,000 people airborne over the US at any given moment.
272. Prince Charles and Prince William never travel on the same airplane in case there is a crash.
273. The most popular first name in the world is Muhammad. The most common name (of any type) in the world is Mohammed.
274. The surface of the Earth is about 60% water and 10% ice.
275. For every 230 cars that are made, 1 will be stolen.
276. Jimmy Carter was the first U.S. President to be born in a hospital.
277. Lightning strikes the earth about 8 million times a day.
278. Around 2,000 left-handed people die annually due to improper use of equipment designed only for right handed people.
279. The "if" and "then" parts of conditional ("if P then Q") statement are called the protasis (P) and apodosis (Q).
280. Humans use a total of 72 different muscles in speech.
281. If you feed a seagull Alka-Seltzer, its stomach will explode.
282. Only female mosquitoes bite.
283. The U.S. Post Office handles 43 percent of the world's mail.
284. Most household dust is made of dead skin cells.
285. One in about eight million people has progeria, a disease that causes people to grow faster than they age.
286. The male seahorse carries the eggs until they hatch instead of the female.
287. The "countdown" (counting down from 10 for an event such as New-Years Day) was first used in a 1929 German silent film called "Die Frau Im Monde" (The Girl in the Moon).
288. Negative emotions such as anxiety and depression can weaken your immune system.
289. There are seven suicides in the Bible: Abimelech. Samson, Saul, Saul's armor-bearer, Ahithophel, Zimri, Judas.
290. A mongoose is not a goose but more like a meercat, which is not a cat but more like a prairie dog, which is not a dog but more like a ground squirrel.
291. Stephen Hawking was born exactly 300 years after Galileo died.
292. Mercury is the only planet whose orbit is coplanar with its equator. Venus and Uranus are the only planets that rotate opposite to the direction of their orbit.
293. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe died on July 4th. Adams and Jefferson died in the same year. Supposedly, Adams last words were "Thomas Jefferson survives."
294. The Baby Ruth candy bar was named after Grover Cleveland's baby daughter, Ruth, not Babe Ruth the baseball player.
295. Dolphins can look in different directions with each eye. They can sleep with one eye open.
296. The Falkland Isles (pop. about 2000) has over 700000 sheep (350 per person).
297. There are 41,806 different spoken languages in the world today.
298. While many treaties have been signed at or near Paris, France (including many after WWI and WWII), nine are actually known as the "Treaty of Paris": Seven Years' War (1763), American Revolutionary War (1783), French-Swede War (1810), France vs Sixth Coalition (1814), Battle of Waterloo (1815), Crimean War (1856), Spanish-American War (1898), union of Bessarabia and Romania (1920), establishment of European Coal and Steel Community (1951).
299. Robert Todd Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln's oldest son) was in Washington DC during his father's assassination as well as during President Garfield's assassination, and he was in Buffalo NY when President McKinley was assassinated.
300. The city of Venice stands on about 120 small islands.
301. The past-tense of the English word "dare" is "durst".
302. Don Mac Lean's song "American Pie" was written about Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), who all died in the same plane crash.
303. The drummer for ZZ Top (the only one without a beard) is named Frank Beard.
304. Hummingbirds can't walk.
305. When movie directors do not want their names to be seen in the credits, they use the pseudonym "Allen Smithee" instead. It has been used over 50 times, starting with "Death of a Gunfighter" (1969).
306. Four different people played the part of Darth Vader (body, face, voice, and breathing).
307. Pamela Lee-Anderson was the first to be born in Canada on the centennial anniversary of Canada's independence (7/1/1967).
308. There is about 200 times more gold in the oceans than has been mined throughout history.
309. William Shatner is credited for being the first person on TV to say "hell" as well as to have the first inter-racial kiss (with Nichelle Nichols), both in episodes of Star Trek.
310. While the US government's supply of gold is kept at Fort Knox, its supply of silver is kept at the Military Academy at West Point, NY.
311. Alexander Graham Bell's wife and mother were both deaf.
312. Compact discs read from the inside to the outside edge, the reverse of how a record works.
313. In the ancient Greek city-state of Sparta, if a man was not married by age 30, he would not be allowed to vote or watch athletic events involving nude young men.
314. Attila the Hun (invader of Europe; 406-453), Felix Faure (French President; 1841-1899), Pope Leo VII (936-939), Pope John VII (955-964), Pope Leo VIII (963-965), Pope John XIII (965-72), Pope Paul II (1467-1471), Lord Palmerston (British Prime Minister, 1784-1865), Nelson Rockefeller (US Vice President, 1908-1979), and John Entwistle (The Who's bassist, 1944-2002) all died while having sex.
315. Humans and dolphins are the only animals known to have sex for pleasure.
316. Pac-Man, Namco's 1979 arcade game, was originally called "Puck Man". The name was changed when they realized that vandals could easily scratch out part of the letter "P".
317. Shakespeare and Cervantes died on the same day, April 23, 1616.
318. There are about 7.7 million millionaires in the world (more than 1/1000th of the population).
319. The youngest mother on record was a Peruvian girl named Lina Medina. She gave birth to a boy by caesarean section on May 14, 1939 (which happened to be Mother's Day), at the age of five years, seven months and 21 days.
320. The "middle finger" gesture originates back to 423 BC in Aristophanes play "The Clouds".

Best workplaces at a glance: Canada

1. Back In Motion Rehab
Surrey, B.C. | Health care | 57 employees
BiM prefers to promote existing staff, even if that means supporting additional training—all employees are entitled to up to $700 per year and paid days off for education. It has also shared 30% to 50% of distributed profits.

2. 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
Vancouver, with offices worldwide | Junk-removal services | 300 employees
A renovated open-concept workspace gets different departments mingling. Employees are encouraged to share their "101 Personal Life Goals" and support each other's dreams—when the CEO heard about one employee's goal to read Anna Karenina in Russian, he had a rare copy sent to her from Moscow.

3. Urban Systems
Kamloops, B.C. | engineering, planning and landscape architecture | 270 employees
The so-called University of Urban Systems is open to all staff and offers courses from effective business writing to leadership training. All managing partners and many staff members have also attended a several-day-long course put on by the Queen's University School of Leadership.

4. Environics Communications
Toronto | Marketing and communications | 80 employees
The ESRA awards(arse spelled backward)get staff laughing at their embarrassing moments. The "Five for Five" program gets them out of the country—in their fifth year, employees are given $5,000 and an extra week of permanent vacation to go anywhere in the world.

5. Karo Design
Calgary, Vancouver | Communications, web, interior and product design | 70 employees
Karo owns a Smart car and two mountain bikes employees can borrow for biz or pleasure. Staff members are given as much time off as they need for volunteer work, and interest-free loans have been given to those in need.

6. Vancity Credit Union
Vancouver | Financial services | 2,300 employees
Managers have a budget to thank staff with anything from gift certificates to dinners. Environmental commitment gives employees a sense of making a difference: Vancity products include a Clean Air Auto loan to reward low-emission cars; it plans to go carbon neutral by 2010.

7. Edward Jones Canada
mississauga, with offices Canada-wide | Investment advice | 1,765 employees
Management eschews job descriptions and lets employees set their roles. Those who succeed in diversifying clients' assets get up to two "Diversification Trips" each year—2006 destinations included the Amalfi Coast and Grand Cayman.

8. Halsall Associates
Toronto, with six offices across Canada | Consulting engineering and project- management firm | 215 employees
The firm's lean structure emphasizes teamwork and knowledge-sharing over hierarchy and titles. "You'll even see seniors reporting to juniors on particular projects," says career development manager Mike Peddle.

9. iTRANS Consulting
Richmond hill, Ont., with four other offices in Canada| Transportation planning and traffic engineering | 90 employees
Staff hit social events from skiing to an annual anniversary soiree they fly in to from around Canada. Mentors and "lunch and learn" sessions tackle personal and professional development.

10. Ernst & Young LLP
Toronto and 13 locations | Professional services(financial)| 3,775 employees
Employees can exercise flexibility and work from home. A concierge service for help with errands and a backup child- and elder-care program contribute to work/life balance. In summer, staff get an extra day off each long weekend.

11. WCG International hr solutions
Victoria | Professional services(human resources)| 152 employees
Employees leaving the company often say they feel like they're leaving a family, says HR director Barbara Patterson. Hours are flexible, and monthly massages are offered on company time. "Mya's Wish Foundation" was created to help a former employee whose two-year-old daughter required medical care.

12. AdFarm
Calgary, with three satellites | Agricultural marketing and communications | 81 employees
AdFarm shares profits through a bonus program. Employees can purchase shares in two company-owned farms and participate in their management. "It's a great way for staff who don't have the agriculture background to get their feet wet," says executive assistant Donna Ford.

FOR THE FULL LIST, CLICK HERE

Mother's Day 2008: For You, MAMA!!!!

Mother's Day 2008

brought to you buy

Best Bets for Mother's Day

May 11 – One day of the year that isn’t about you… It’s about mom. For all they do throughout the year, we owe it to them to spoil them for at least these 24 hours. Take the guesswork out of your Mother’s Day shopping and planning with toronto.com's editors picks.

Mother's Day Brunch: Eggs Benny, French toast and cup after cup of strong, hot java. Treat mom to a sumptuous brunch this Mother’s Day at one of the city’s best restaurants. We’ve picked places she’s sure to love (just as much as you).

Mother's Day Events: She carried you around in her belly for nine months, loved you during your terrible twos, got you through your first day of school, and put up with you during your melodramatic teens. The least you can do is take her some place nice for Mother’s Day. Here are a few suggestions.

Spas: Mother’s Day is a great opportunity to place mom on a pedestal and treat her like a queen. Bond and spend time together…What better way than sharing a day at the spa? Or if mom relaxes more when you’re not around, then ship her off to the spa by herself!

Sweet Treats: Still trying to figure out what to get your mom this Mother’s Day? If she’s like most women, she’ll go for chocolate or sweets like bees to honey. But chose wisely... Make sure you pick something truly delicious and decadent.

Flowers: Despite the fact that year after year, they're the top-selling Mother's Day gift, they'll never go out of style -- Whether it's a beautiful bouquet or a potted plant, flowers have always been a way to show we care. If you're going with flowers this year, check out these shops for some of the best traditional and unique Mother's Day bouquets.

Dmitry Medvedev's inauguration, full version

Our Victory Day by Day - My GrandFather Story

Our Victory Day by Day - RIA Novosti project

DEDICATED TO THE GREAT MEMORY OF MY GRANDFATHER,
THE HERO OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
ETERNAL GLORY FOR ALL THE HEROES, WHO FOUGHT FOR FREEDOM AND PEACE...
I AM PROUD. I REMEMBER...




Присоединяйся!

Victory Day parade 2008: Red Square Moscow

Missiles, tanks and other heavy weaponry rolled through Moscow's Red Square in the annual Victory Day parade Friday, reviving a tradition of the Soviet era and demonstrating Russia's growing military confidence.

Victory Day, marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, is Russia's most important secular holiday, both honoring the enormous sacrifices of World War II, in which nearly 9 million Red Army soldiers are estimated to have died, and asserting the country's military strength.

Russia has nearly quadrupled its defense spending in recent years, aiming to resuscitate the military forces that deteriorated in the post-Soviet period.

Topol missiles, which have the capacity to carry nuclear warheads, were part of the display of more than 100 tanks, mobile missile units and armored vehicles that was aimed at underlining the military revival. But many of the heavy weapons shown were only slightly modernized versions of equipment developed decades ago.

Although the display was significantly smaller than in Soviet-era parades, the return of the tradition has raised concerns that Russia harbors aggressive ambitions.

But President Dmitry Medvedev, in a speech opening the parade, said "the true purpose of weapons and military equipment is to give reliable defense of the homeland."

Medvedev, who took office Wednesday, stayed away from controversial statements such as predecessor Vladimir Putin's parade speech last year, which implied parallels between the U.S. and the Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.

But he said "we must not allow contempt for the norms of international law."

Russia has consistently criticized both the U.S.-led war in Iraq and wide Western recognition of Kosovo's independence as arrogant violations of international principles.

Putin, who was named Russian prime minister on Thursday, stood just behind Medvedev's shoulder and his face was prominently shown in TV broadcasts as the president spoke — underlining the wide belief that Putin will be the power behind the presidency.

Although Russian officials deny any intentions of returning to Soviet ways, the style and symbolism of Victory Day is heavily redolent of the Communist era.

Posters proclaiming the holiday throughout the city include the hammer-and-sickle insignia, which is also seen on the banners and period uniforms used by some of the regiments, which goose-stepped across the 6-acre (2.5-hectare) square under clear skies.

Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov reviewed troops before the parade by standing in the back seat of an open 1980s-era ZIL limousine.

Russian news reports said about 3 million World War II veterans are still alive. Although veterans receive extensive public praise, their pensions are small and many live in poor conditions even as Russia's economy soars.

In a tacit recognition of their straits, Medvedev's first decree after taking office was to order that all World War II veterans receive housing by 2010.