Children are the easy targets of the transferred anger of their parents or elders in the house. It should always be remembered the childhood is the most delicate and crucial period for growth. A little bit of heredity and lots of environmental experiences makes a person and their character.

Unlike the western countries, the fact that verbal abuse and domestic violence affects a child for the worse is less regarded and thought about in a country like India. Children who are sensitive should be taken care of more than the others. Especially the mother should always protect her child’s interest. Even though domestic violence are unavoidable sometimes, a child should never be made its victim. If a child should be scolded or punished for its mistake then it should always be given a reason. Unnecessary torture of a child gives rise to unnecessary complication in the mental growth of a child.

Windows 7 has some limitations. Starting up this netbook might take 10 or 15 seconds more than starting a regular laptop or desktop. Also you cannot change the wallpaper. I know this sounds irritating as we all like to personalize our desktop background.  However Windows starter or XP is better suited for net-books otherwise if you upgrade the windows version the performance of your netbook can go really slow. I have heard some people complaining about the small keyboard and the touchpad. Well I don’t find much difficulty with these; I have adjusted well with keypad and the touchpad. And also I can run 3 or 4 applications at time without any trouble.

Oh yes and I forgot to mention about the battery backup. Vicki is really envying my Astro for its amazing battery life which can run up to 5 hours when fully charged.

Overall Samsung N150 is a good buy if you are looking for something reasonable, handy and long lasting battery.

Hmm.. well I replied with these exact words “Girls love their fellow suitor to be strong and rescue them at the right time.”

But I gave it a second thought. Is it always so that girls fall for a hardy and overwhelming man? Hmm.. not exactly……don’t we girls just love being bossy at times? and wants things to go the way we want them to? The answer is, “yes of course”

Here is the list of five men (characters) who were undermined by the female lead in the film but didn’t lose their charm and anyone would just love to have him as a date, lover or maybe a life partner too.

5. Peter Parker

Please don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about Peter Parker with the ‘friendly neighbor‘ spider man powers, but just try to consider him as a simple boy next door.

Intelligent, not so smart, cute, caring and perfect for a long-term commitment. Peter is shy but you have to overcome that with your frankness.

4. Rizwan Khan

Innocent Rizwan from ‘My Name is Khan’ can be a perfect match for those who think love cannot be  more than a powerful connection between two souls.

I know Asperger’s syndrome can be hard to deal with in real life situations, but who can decline poor Rizzu’s dedicated proposals.

He has no male ego, will always follow your  instructions and will always be faithful.

3. Thomas Baile

Hannah’s best friend Tom is our next target. This fine gentlemen from the film ‘Made of Honor’ was so deeply in love with his best friend that he even agreed to become her maid of honor.

He did every arrangement for his best friend’s wedding , even arranged her bridal shower but couldn’t gather up the courage to propose to her directly.

It is very important to have some elements of friendship in your love relationship. And which other man can understand you and your taste better than your own best friend?

2. Andrew Paxton

Now this is a very profitable idea. He can be your secretary in office and the same at home.

Andrew agreed for a contract marriage with his boss, in the film ‘the proposal’,with the hope that he will be promoted to the editorial post.

If a handsome secretary could go to such an extent, then the ball is in your court girls.

1. And the winner is Park Sang-min

Park Sang-min from ‘My Little Bride’ is a combo pack of humor, love, care and pamper. He has an intensive strength of endurance. While he kept his love for Bo-eun a secret, he even tolerated her affair with the cute base ball player. Park Sang-min is both protective and considerate. He spoiled Bo-eun like a baby and loved her like a darling.

Someone like Sang-min will always be by your side no matter what.

1. STAR TREK Genre : Sci-fi

Now this is the first movie I saw in IMAX, since the first time Imax opened in Kolkata. I am not a follower of the Star Trek series but I understood the storyline since this film is not a sequel. I enjoyed the movie experience, the sound effect was terrific and it was a perfect popcorn movie.

I give it a  2.5/5

2. TERMINATOR Genre: Sci-fi, Action

If you have watched the last 3  terminator films then you must not miss this one. No doubt, this film is nothing compared to The Terminator 1 or The terminator: Judgment Day by James Cameron, but I really liked the character Marcus Wright played by Sam Worthington. Its depressing to see John Conner didn’t have much role to play in this film, I mean he should have been on a much stronger ground. The grip of the storyline was weak and somehow I felt the movie ended too fast. Nevertheless, it was a good action-packed watch during the weekends.

I give it a 3/5

3. The Proposal Genre: Drama, Comedy

A clean and complete drama with an obvious climax in the end but a perfect cast and some hilarious scenes. There was a good chemistry between all the characters and grandma Annie made an excellent ‘cupid‘. Ryan fits perfectly into the role of the ‘pitiful’ secretary but Sandra looks a little artificial after whatever she has done to her face. All in all, this movie is a great fun to watch with friends, family or just alone.

I give it a 3.5/5

4. Transformer 2 Genre: Sci-fi, Action, Adventure

Its a must see for those who have watched the first part and liked it. I personally have a liking towards robot movies. This film is slightly better than the last one in respect of the plot, visual effect and action.

I give it a 2.5/5

5. Those Lovely Bones Genre: Suspense, Thriller

It is a film adaptation of a best-selling novel.There is nothing much about this film except that it is a good thriller  watch when you don’t have anything else to do. Nonetheless,there is a good connectivity which can hold your attention till the end.

I give it a 2.5/5

6. Everybody’s fine Genre: Family, Drama

I usually don’t prefer dramas which lack humor but this movie had something special about it. It is original indeed in showing the life of an aged father and his grown-up kids who are busy with their own lives. It has some touchy moments and it also nicely brings out the typical situation a man faces in his old age.

I give it a 3/5

7.  The Hangover Genre: Comedy

Breath taking  comedy and a very intelligent plot. I really couldn’t figure out what would happen next until I reached the end part of the movie. Hollywood has made many comedy films set in Las Vegas  and this one tops the chart. So its definitely worth a watch!

I give it a 3.5/5

8. A Christmas Carol Genre: Animaton, Adventure

Based on the classic novel by Charles Dickens this  3D animation is a non-stop entertainment package. It has an outstanding 3D effect which gives goose flesh. All the 3D characters look so real. Its a commendable experience !

I give it a 4/5

9. Avatar Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Action

The most publicized film of 2009 and also the highest-grossing films till now. Its still running in IMAX Kolkata (^O^)! My first experience of this 3D film in Inox forum was awful, there was something terribly wrong with the glasses or the screen.Then I watched it in IMAX for the 2nd time , pretty enjoyable. There was nothing extraordinary about the story and the 3D affect was not as good as that of Christmas Carols. I really wanted to see those creature running across my face, but except for the seeds from the sacred tree nothing else seemed to give a sense of touch. What I really liked about this movie is that it shows a strong bond between nature and the Navis. This holds some similarities with Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke, where there was a constant fight between men who wanted to use the resources of the forest and the animals who wanted to protect their home. Anyways, to sum it up it was a great entertainment with a perfect balance of romance, emotion and action.

It definitely gets a 4/5

10. 2012 Genre: Action, Adventure

This film has received a mixed to negative reviews by critics. I feel it is one of the best ‘disaster films’ ever made. There are some jaw dropping visual effects through out the movie which won’t let you blink. There is nothing gore shown in this film, but yes its definitely is scary  to see so much of disaster and casualty. Above all I like this film and also John Cusack. I give it a 4/5

Hope you all liked my list, you can also share your 2009 favorites.

]]> http://www.merlinvicki.in/the-best-movies-of-2009/feed/ 2 http://www.merlinvicki.in/my-photoshop-works/ http://www.merlinvicki.in/my-photoshop-works/#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 16:46:31 +0000 Ranita Saha http://www.merlinvicki.in/blogs/?p=315 These are two of my photoshop works. I took the help of tutorials, I admit that……and it might also appear a bit amateurish. So excuse me for that, I am just a beginner.

The Japanese language also uses the kana scripts for writing those words and phrases which cannot be defined through kanji script. These two kana scripts are called hiragana and katakana (which is used to write foreign words).

Now lets learn the formation of some basic kanjis which is used in day to day Japanese language.

1. The Japanese call their own country ‘NIHON’ which is written as  ’NIHON’         . This is a compound kanji ( two or more kanjis put together). Lets see how it was formed.

The sun looks like. The Chinese found that it took too long to draw the rays, so they shortened it to . Then later, to make it easier to write they changed the character to. It is pronounced as ‘HI’ (pronounce as ‘he’) which means the sun. With other kanjis it is generally pronounced as ‘NICHI’.

Lets find out how the other character in the word ‘NIHON’ is formed. The picture of a tree was gradually simplified to then to and finally into . This is how tree is written in Japanese, the character is pronounced as ‘KI’. To form the character of roots from the character of tree was formed. Finally the roots were squared off into a straight line as. Other than meaning root this character also means origin or source. It is usually pronounced as ‘HON’.

So now you know how to write NIHON or NIPPON which means “the origin of the sun.”

2.  Lets learn how to write TOKYO , the capital of Japan.  A sun rising from behind the tree symbolised east. They put together  (tree) and  (sun) to finally write the character  . It is pronounced as ‘HIGASHI’ meaning east and also forms the ‘TO’ of  TOKYO”.

The “KYO” in Tokyo was originally a picture of a Chinese lantern, which looked like . These lanterns were used by the Chinese Emperor and hence symbolised the capital. The character went through a final transformation from to and then to .  So the kanji for Tokyo is  .

3.  Now discover some easy kanjis. Say like person, a general word which can refer to either a man or a woman. The human form was drawn as  and then simplified to . It is pronounced as ‘HITO’ by itself and ‘NIN’ or ‘JIN’ in compounds. For example  ‘NIHONJIN’ which means a Japanese person.

4.  A man with streched arms and feet  meant big. Earlier this character was written as, but now it is written as  . This forms the ‘OO’ in OOKII which means big. Also pronounced as ‘O’ or ‘DAI’ in compounds.

5.  A man with arms and legs pulled towards his side signifies smallness. It was first written as  and then  . It is pronounced as ‘CHII’ in the word CHIISAI which means small. The other pronounciations are ‘KO’ or ‘SHO’ in compunds.

Me receiving the winner

On 23rd of May this year NKK and the Japan consulate (Kolkata) organized the 12th Nihongo quiz contest. It was mainly based on our text book unlike last year’s quiz which had many GK rounds.

The 12 pairs of participants were equally good so we had a tie among 3 teams at the end which included my team as well. And guess what….. I won the first prize (with my team partner Prakash Shaw).

This time they also arranged for a lucky draw. 13 people from the audience as well as participants received nice gifts in this lucky draw contest.

After that, Oikawa san (general vice- consul) handed over the winner’s trophy to us. Later Vicki gave me a treat at KFC.

Yippee….. we had a lot of fun, we will remember this day forever!

tie among the 3 teams

Hanami

Hinamatsuri the doll festival is also celebrated this season.It is also called ‘Girl’s Day’. Formerly people believed that the dolls could contain bad spirits. So Hinamatsuri was celebrated to set afloat some straw dolls down a river or sea and this would supposedly take away bad spirits and evil.

Summer months are June, July, and August. Summer is very hot and humid in Japan. There are also many ways of making summer more comfortable. Hanabi displays (fireworks) are held as a way to enjoy the warm summer evenings. Uchimizu (cold water) is sprinkle in gardens or on the road in front of their homes to cool the ground. Sudare (bamboo blinds) are hung between rooms to keep the sunlight out. Goza (straw mats) are used on top of a futon for sleeping . Shishidoshi and fuurin(wind chime) are used to get a pleasing sound.

Cool food like mizuyokan(jelly bean), kikigori (shaved ice) and nagashi somen (cold noodles) are eaten. People wear yukata(cotton/summer kimono) and geta or zori use a uchiwa(round fans) and mugiwara boushi(straw hats).

Obon

One of the biggest festival celebrated during summer is the Tanabata or star festival.One popular Tanabata custom is to write one’s wishes on a piece of paper, and hang that piece of paper on a specially erected bamboo tree, in the hope that the wishes become true. Children enjoy the games and festival food, and being carried on shoulders to touch the streamers hanging low while young couples enjoy the romance of it all.

In summer Tango no sekku (children’s day or more accurately the boy’s day) is celebrated. Also in mid August Obon festival honors the deceased spirits of a family’s ancestors.

Autumn months are September, October, and November. After its humid summer, it is the coolest and the most beautiful season. It is the time for the regional aki matsuri (autumn festivals). Most of the autumn festivals in Japan are related to the harvest and fall foliages.

Yuki Matsuri

Shichigosan is also celebrated this time. Five-year-old boys and seven- or three-year-old girls are taken to the local shrine to pray for their safe and healthy future.

The other autumn festivals are Nihonmatsu Chochin Matsuri (Lantern Festival), Takayama Autumn Festival, Kyoto Jidai Matsuri (festival of ages). These are held in different prefectures of Japan.

Winter months are December, January, and February. In general, Japan’s winters are relatively mild and dry. It snows in Hokkaido and northern parts of Honshu too. Japan offers excellent Winter Snow Sports, slopes for skiing, The annual Sapporo SnowT Festival is the most famous winter festival in Japan.

There are other local festivals as well, like Nagasaki lantern festival, Oniya fire festival, Lunar new year kite-flying festival, Mito plum festival and many more.