How many of you sleep late like around 2-3 AM (like me), and you have to get up at 6-7 AM, just 'cos you cannot sleep even though you are in bed around 11PM itself?

If you find yourself raising both your hands, then this post is for you. For others, please let me know how do you manage to catch sleep by 11PM :P .

Anyways, addressing the whole lot of insomniacs out there, I found out a relatively cool but childish method to catch instant sleep! So, are you reading this in the dead of the night?? Hmm.. Then I guess you would be able to follow this method only after a couple of days or whatever..

Ok ok!! I am not taking it too long. Straight to the matter.. My cousins from US landed here a month back. They apparently traveled by Emirates and you must know how these kids get a lotta attention from the crew by pampering them with sweets and books and stuff. So, among those pampering stuff, my cousins got a book called Dr.Seuss's Sleep Book.

Wow.. I know you wondering if there is a book to put you to sleep.. I know that few of you might even think that, "Big deal, There are voluminous Engineering books with us which put us to sleep instantly". But then! This Sleep book is designed especially for kids aged 3-10. But you know, everybody has a child within him/her.

So, I was intrigued by this queer book and I started reading it out to my 4 year old cousin in bed. Its some 20 page book, at the size of your palm with dull colors and all cartoons and stuff with a sleepy rhymy story. Believe it or not! Before I could reach the 4th page, me and my cousin were fast asleep!! I dunno whats the magic. But, its really really a worthy book to have cos its so much easy to carry around. And it gives you instant sleep.. You dun have to take sleeping pills to catch some sleep or read voluminous books to get some sleep. Just Dr.Seuss's Sleep book would do. I got the book for free but I guess its  available in amazon.com for a few dollars.

The story begins with a small bug yawning. This yawn spreads (as yawns are terribly contagious) and then the book follows various creatures, including the foona lagoona baboona, throughout the lands who are sleeping, or preparing to sleep. Towards the end of the book the sleepers in the world are recorded by a special machine ("The Audio Telly O-Tally O-Count"). A Warning is printed on the inside cover of the book that "this book is to be read in bed" as it is intended to put children to sleep. The final line of the book is a simple, unmetered "Good night". (Thanks Wikipedia :-) )

There are no side effects unlike the sleeping pills :P .. You carry it along with you when you travel (in case you are not used to getting sleep in new places :D). You can read it out to your noisy colleagues and put them to sleep ;-). (Forget the warning from the book!! Its for kids!! :P) Or read it silently during your meeting and doze off.

It is a must have by any book lover. What is the use of having money when you cannot catch some good sleep?? So, this is a good investment. Yaaaaaaawnnn.. Thinking of that book makes me yawn. Ok off to catch some sleep.. Happy reading and sleeping :-).

P.S: Its also useful for husbands who do not wish to listen to their brawling wives :P

I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3 / 4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

My favorite line of this book: "I'm afraid you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you." I hold that one sentence close to my heart. I didn't discover this book until I was in my double digits but it helped me even then knowing that most people have internal battles with themselves. I love it! I also try to remind myself everyday that life's a Great Balancing Act! I love this message, it helps me a lot! I hope you enjoy!

]]> http://movietv.wordpress.com/?p=65 Wed, 19 Mar 2008 23:35:58 +0000 movietv http://movietv.wordpress.com/?p=65

Horton , dieser schnuckelige Elefant , der im Dschungel von Nümpels wohnt ist ein lebensfroher und oft tolpatschiger Typ ..Oft erzählt er Sachen , die nicht stimmen ...Aus dem Grund glauben ihm die anderen Dschungelbewohner auch nicht , als er sagt , er habe auf einem Staubkorn Menschen gehört ....

Doch Horton lässt sich davon nicht abbringen und lernt die Hu´s kennen ....jene kleine Lebewesen , die auf diesem Staubkorn wohnen ... [ wer genau hinguckt , erkennt die Hu´s bestimmt wieder ...ich sage nur Der Grinch ;) ]

Alles in allem und doch kurz noch gesagt :) .. Klasse Animationsfilm mit tiefgründiger Message ...

Gesprochen wird Horton von Christoph Maria Herbst ...als Vorlage diente, wie man eigentlich unschwer erkennen müsste , das Buch von Dr. Seuss

KLick mal hier , dann kannst Du einen Trailer sehen ;)

Before Horton heard the Who’s in Whoville, there was Myth of a Cave written by Plato. (I know I’ve referenced Myth of a Cave in an earlier post, and believe me this won’t be my last reference.) Myth of a Cave is about this group of people who live in a cave and never leave the safety of the cave. One day, someone leaves the cave and is enlightened, he returns home to tell the people what he has seen and no one believes him because they are not ready to accept reality. If this post were a movie we would have a crappy flash transition and find ourselves watching the Catholic Church tell Galileo he was a heretic because he had the balls to say the earth revolves around the sun although every article said differently. Flash Transition Theodore Geisel is made fun of for his silly drawings in school, later Geisel becomes Dr. Seuss and writes Horton Hears a Who, and his famous line “a person’s a person no matter how small” is used in anti-abortion debates. Flash Transition African Americans take a stand against civil inequality. Flash Transition Some random kid gets beat up for having an imaginary friend.

So, I do accept not every idea is the most brilliant original idea ever heard, but true revolutionaries have a different idea and they are bitches about it. “Whenever anyone has called me a bitch, I have taken it as a compliment. To me a bitch is unapologetic, demanding, intimidating, intelligent ,fiercely protective, in control” writes Margaret Cho in the forward to the book Bitchfest she continues by saying “These days, I strive to be a bitch, because not being one sucks. Not being a bitch means not having your voice heard, Not being a bitch means you agree with all the bullshit. Not being a bitch means you don’t appreciate all the other bitches that have come before you.” Don’t we as thinkers, owe it to our minds to stick by the things we believe are good ideas, and not let social pressures define who we are or what we should think?  

I search for people who have the balls to break the status quo, I don’t care if they’re as sick as serial killers or as pristine as Martha Stewart before the money scandal. In my mind, people who have the balls to do something society tells them they can’t do, shouldn’t do, or won’t do fascinates me. People who don’t have the ability to think outside of the box, limiting people who are the first to tell you your idea is dumb (no matter what the idea is), or people who are too afraid to take the risk are forever limited in their thinking.

I had a teacher in middle school begin a lecture by saying “You know absolutely nothing. You assume things are the way they are because they have always been that way, but you know nothing because you can never be sure” If we can never be sure that we know anything every idea is revolutionary. Don’t put up with all the bullshit, if you have an idea stick by it.

Stick around later today, for the wednesday Hot Pick!!!

mein "Horton hört ein Hu!"- Paket (Buch zum Film in der originalen englischen Version + 1 Freikarte) bereitgestellt von dot-friends. Nochmals danke :) .

Meine Meinung zum Film folgt.

To view the Google Earth presentation click on View Larger Map and then click on View in Google Earth or it can be viewed from Google Maps as well.

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Books, like Classic Cars, Baseball Cards and Barbie Dolls, are collectible. Moreover, like baseball cards and Barbie Dolls, some books depreciate from the amount you paid for them, new or used, while others may intrinsically increase hundreds of times over from their original value.

Here are some focal points that you need to concentrate on when ascertaining the value of your books.

Listed below:

A.) What edition and/or when was your book printed?

B.) What is the overall condition of your book?

C.) How many copies of your book are there in circulation?

D.) Is there a Movie about your book on the verge of released?

A.) The edition and printing.

The first edition has more value than the second, etc. this is usually the case, most of the time! The reason for this is that the first edition is more like the way the author originally wrote it, without the edits and even the changes that sometimes come about in the later printings and editions.

B.) Overall Condition of your book

If your Book is say, 1958 Dr. Seuss book, it can be worth more than a $1,000. Should you have this very same book and the cover is worn or stained or the pages are ear marked or torn and/or your artistic Grandchildren have made their talents known with crayons, your book is probably worth four or five dollars at the most. The condition and quality of your books is vitally important in acquiring the highest value. The condition of the original jacket has more influence on the worth of your book than the quality of the book itself. Even the printed price tag being intact on the jacket is an important factor on its value.

C.) The Number of Copies of your book that are in Circulation.

Should there be four million copies of Jules Vern’s book ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea’, first edition in circulation at this time, there would be very little interest in having a copy for its intrinsic value today. Yet every year the number of that first edition will diminish from the limited copies available today and the value of the same is inversely proportional. The prices will increase because there cannot be any more of them printed.

Because neophyte authors have no proven record of accomplishment, publishers only print a limited, first run edition, not knowing how prosperous their first work will be. Even Richard Paul Evans and Robert G. Allen’s new first edition volumes today are printed in quite larger quantities than the limited printings, when they first begun.

D.) Your book’s Movie debut.

Soon to be released movies based on the story of a novel, will cause the value of many of those books to multiply. I have No doubt, there are some literary traditionalists who might not be agreeable to this. Yet we have seen many situations where even an author of little notoriety will find his limited first edition to be in extreme demand, as the story makes its debut on film!

Here are some pointers to help:

Some autographed and/or inscribed first editions can be invaluable. Hang on to second and third editions with signatures and remarks unless found to be of no value.

Old books by popular writers may not be of any significant value. On the other hand, even newer books can be of extreme worth.

Antique bookstores and internet searches will reap valuable information on your books. Do not stop at one report, as the adequate witness is two or more! Use search engines with key words such as: book values, or even, “how much is my book worth” which will bring up over thirty results.

We have written about the personal wealth of your books and today about the intrinsic value. Next, we will write about the practical wealth of your books.

The main thing to keep in mind is that there is all kind of wealth to be aware of in your books!

Until next time, Be blessed, DP

© 2008