Monday, June 25, 2012

TFTD - 25/06/2012

Thought for the day
" Problems were not created to outlive you. You were created to outlive problems. There's a shift coming your way in no time. Just be strong because you will certainly go through this." -  Osemeke Smek Uwakina

Take home – Henry Louis Gates, Jr
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a highly regarded African-American educator and scholar. He directs of the W. E. B. DuBois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard. He received a MacArthur Foundation grant in 1981 to support his research for the Black Periodical Literary Project. He entered the public eye in 2009 related to a conflicting report of a break-in and racial prejudice. Educator, author, editor. Born on September 16, 1950, in Keyser, West Virginia. Gates excelled as a student, graduating from Yale University in 1973 with a degree in history. He continued his education at Clare College, which is part of Cambridge University in England. He finished his doctorate degree in 1979, making him the first African-American to receive a Ph.D. from the university.
In the 1980s Gates became known as a leading scholar of African-American literature, history, and culture. He built his reputation in part on his talents as a researcher. At the start of the decade, he began working on the Black Periodical Literature Project, which uncovered lost literary works published in 1800s. Gates received a grant from the prestigious MacArthur Foundation in 1981, which helped support his scholarship in African-American literature. He had rediscovered what is believed to be the first novel published by an African-American in the United States. Gates republished the 1859 work by Harriet E. Wilson entitled Our Nig in 1983. 

Recently, Gates has been involved in a number of interesting educational projects for television. He wrote and produced several documentaries: Wonders of the African World (2000), America Beyond the Color Line (2004), and African American Lives (2006). Gates has plans for more documentaries, including a documentary special on the heritage of talk show host Oprah Winfrey and a sequel to African American Lives. Gates has also earned numerous honors. In addition to his MacArthur Fellowship, he was chosen by the National Endowment for the Humanities to give the Jefferson Lecture, was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution in 2006, and named as one ofTime magazine's 25 Most Influential Americans in 2007. He also has more than 50 honorary degrees.

  
Picture for the day- An interesting scene from kerala, India. An elephant is being transported.














Wisdom Message
YEARN to fill your heart with Him, not with you. Your yearning must be warm, so warm that it can be called "Thapas" (Heat). Become hot (earnest). Now it is only a lukewarm longing, a surface activity. Examine yourselves how far you have filled your heart within. Measure the heights you have reached with the yardstick of virtue, serenity, fortitude and equanimity. You now become easy victims of lust, anger, malice, envy and the rest of that evil brood; the atmosphere of the heart is polluted by the ego-fumes. - Baba

Article for the day – How much data we generate every minute
·         Email users send more than 204 million messages;
·         Mobile Web receives 217 new users;
·         Google receives over 2 million search queries;
·         YouTube users upload 48 hours of new video;
·         Facebook users share 684,000 bits of content;
·         Twitter users send more than 100,000 tweets;
·         Consumers spend $272,000 on Web shopping;
·         Apple receives around 47,000 application downloads;
·         Brands receive more than 34,000 Facebook 'likes';
·         Tumblr blog owners publish 27,000 new posts;
·         Instagram users share 3,600 new photos;
·         Flickr users, on the other hand, add 3,125 new photos;
·         Foursquare users perform 2,000 check-ins;
·         WordPress users publish close to 350 new blog posts.


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

TFTD - 20/06/2012

Thought for the day
" When l chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous."George Whacriah

Take home – Bruce Parry
Commissioned by the British Royal Marines in May 1988, Bruce Parry completed one year of management, leadership and commando training before spending several years as a troop commander.
In the Royal Marines, Parry specialized as a physical training instructor and became the youngest officer ever to be in charge of all physical aspects of Royal Marines commando training. He also served in Norway and Iraq before retiring as a lieutenant after six years of service.





As an expeditioner, the 35-year-old resident of England has personally organized and led more than 15 major expeditions to extreme parts of the world. Parry has extensive remote experience in the desert, arctic, jungle and mountains.

In film and television productions, Parry has worked as a location manager, assistant director, camera operator, director and host.
In addition, Parry hosted BBC's Extreme Lives: Cannibals and Crampons, the award-winning film about his journey into the heart of Irian Jaya, and he has recently appeared in an award-winning kids' series called Serious Jungle.

“Tribe is also about how indigenous communities round the world are under threat from disease, human rights abuse, water and land rights and marginalization from nation states and corporations."

“It's about the hopes and wishes of indigenous communities trying to grapple with a mad modern world where they face losing their language, identity and in some cases, their lives. It's about people who are so important to the world, who could teach us all so much in these troubled times. That's what Tribe is to me.”


Picture for the day – The Best Mehendi Ever
A capture from my friend and professional marriage photographer, Joseph Radhik

 Article for the day – The Wheel of Fortune

Monday, June 18, 2012

TFTD - 18/06/2012

Thought for the day
" Fear is a habit; so is self-pity, defeat, anxiety, despair, hopelessness and resignation. You can eliminate all of these negative habits with two simple resolves: I can!! and I will" -  Lauren Covington 

Take home – Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman was born June 1, 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee. Although he loved acting, Freeman joined the air force after high school to become a fighter pilot. He later realized it wasn't what he'd wanted, and began his acting career. After years of small parts and limited success, he began to land big roles and win critical and popular acclaim. He's now one of Hollywood's most respected stars.
When he left the Air Force, Morgan Freeman moved to Hollywood, California. His first job there was as a clerk typist, not as an actor. He took acting classes and looked for work without much success. After a while, Freeman moved to New York City where he made his Broadway debut in Hello Dolly! After that, he appeared in another drama, The Nigger Lovers. Although he did well, work was hard to find so he took a job on a popular children’s program entitled, The Electric Company. In the meantime, his personal life was suffering. He was not happy with television, his marriage was failing, and Freeman began to drink too much. He got divorced and followed his dream to be in movies, which begins the next part of the Morgan Freeman biography

The 1990s were some of the best and most successful times for the actor. He was beginning to have bigger roles in movies such as Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves, The Power of One, and Unforgiven with Clint Eastwood. He later appeared in other films – The Shawshank Redemption, and in 1995 Seven, followed by the 1998 film,Deep Impact. In 2005, Freeman won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in Million Dollar Baby with Clint Eastwood. He also appeared in Batman Begins in 2005 as well as its sequel. Freeman’s latest film was Invictus in 2009 when he played the role of Nelson Mandela, South African President in his old age.

Freeman speaks fluent French, has his pilot’s license, and has done charity work such as raising money for Hurricane Katrina victims. He also has a yacht in the Caribbean and loves boating, but his busy schedule leaves little time for to spend on vacation.

Picture for the day
A cow ride celebrating harvest festival of south India


Wisdom Message
Being blessed with the human form, you must strive to grow beyond the physical, mental and emotional bounds. With the help of the discriminating intellect, you must bring it to perfection, just like what a sculptor does to a crude stone. Be aware of your kinship with God; of the Divinity latent in you; of the immense potentiality within you. This can be attained by the exercise of discrimination and dispassion (Viveka and Vairaagya). No living form other than the human being is capable of this exercise. When you earnestly aspire, the Lord Himself will guide you from within through illumination, or through someone He will send. Do not despair in this journey; march bravely. Fill every moment with thoughts of God, in some form or other. - Baba

Article for the day – Rio+20 deal weakens on energy and water pledges