Celebutante

News these days is incomplete without Celebutante's!!

Well, Celebutante is a portmanteau of the words Celebrity and Débutante!! 

As Wiki says, It is generally used to refer to a young woman from a rich family who has received a large amount of media attention, primarily for her wealth and lifestyle!!

Some famous Celebutante's these days include Kim Kardashian and  Paris Hilton!!

Well, these gals are regulars on the pages of tabloids!! And this has propelled them into the category of Celebutante's!!

Portmanteau Words

Well, I can safely say - Knowledge is the discovery of our own ignorance!!

Wonder what makes me say this??

Well, I have known basic English for at least 20 years!! But I hadn't heard of "Portmanteau Words"!!

The Dictionary says that a Portmanteau word is composed of parts of two or more words!!

It simply means that two or more basic words are joined together to form and convey a theme represented by the two words together!!

Some common portmanteau words include Smog (Smoke and Fog), Motel (Motor and Hotel) and Brunch (Breakfast and Lunch)!!

This made me wonder how we all keep on using these words without even thinking how they were formed!!

One common portmanteau word that I came across was "Celebutante". This seems quite new - my blog dictionary failed to recognize it!!

And then you have Portmanteau names!! Do you recollect Brangelina??

Well, that's Brad (Pitt) and Angelina (Jolie) for short!!

This word has certainly made its mark!!

Russia Changes Time Zones

Well, as you all might have known, Russia is the largest country in the world by landmass. 

It was spread across 11 time zones and looked something like below!!

But things changed today early morning with the orders of the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev!!

Russia took a major decision of cutting down on the number of time zones in the country!! With this decision, Russia will have 9 time zones!!

There are certain pro's to this decision - as highlighted by Medvedev himself.

Medvedev said the change would help some far-flung regions have more efficient communications with the central authorities, ease travel and even improve the country's international position.

"It's possible that this could also aid the strengthening of Russia's position as a link in the global information infrastructure," he said at a meeting this month with ministers and regional leaders.

And certain con's as highlighted by people's concerns!!

According to Russia's energy officials, the abolition of the daylight saving time would increase the country's energy consumption by 4.5 billion kWatt/hour which translates to about $85 million of extra spending.

 

"In winter, school kids would be walking back home in darkness, while we adults would barely see any sunlight after we finish work." 

The Russian's also are looking at reducing the number of time zones to 5 from the current 9, a change which will have a major impact on the social fabric of the country!!! 

Show Stopper

Well, If you are in the business of dealing with softwares or hardwares, then the term "Show-Stopper" will not be completely unknown to you!!

I would say the same thing for people in the business of Fashion!!

Well, Wikipedia gives the following definition for Show-stopper

An event or fatal bug in software that makes it unusable or useless by disabling an essential piece of its functionality: 

or

In a project, mostly in software development: a problem that is known to be unsolvable and will bring the project to a halt.

For example, a bug that renders a text editor unable to open files, or a feature that interrupts the user with a near-infinite pop up windows when installing software.

Well, I completely agree with these ideas!! After all, these things are a part of my day to day life!!

But one thing that certainly isn't a part of my day-to-day life are the Super Model Show-stoppers!!

Models are called Show-stoppers when they walk the ramp for a particular designer at a fashion show and are expected to bring the show to a halt - with their grace, style, flamboyance, et all. Needless to say, they gather maximum eyeballs at the event and maximum publicity after the event!!

Here, I agree to Wiki's definition, for such kind of Show-stoppers

A word introduced into the English language circa 1926 meaning "an act, song, or performer that wins applause so prolonged as to interrupt a performance" or, more generally, "something or someone exceptionally arresting or attractive"

And guess which Show-stopper made me write all this??

Well, this is Deepika Padukone at the Wills India Fashion Week 2010/2011. 

She definitely would have bought the show to a complete halt with her stunning looks and her elegant walk down the ramp!!

Angelina Jolie - Then and Now

Check out this picture below!!

Well, this is Angelina Jolie - almost 19 years back - when she was just 15 years old!!

This news article claims that back then too she had the flair to become a super star!!

And she is indeed a super star!! Check out her picture below at the Oscar Awards in 2010!!

You know you have come a long way, earned lots of fame and success when Google Search throws a result of 29,400,000 at your name!! Jolie certainly must be proud of it!!

Ground Zero

This is how NYC looked - till 10th September 2009 !!

But the attacks on 9th November changed the face of the city!!

Catch a bird's eye view of the devastation in NYC due to the 9/11 attacks.

Taken by police personnel from NYPD, these pictures take you through some tense moments leading to the final collapse of the twin towers!!

Made me wonder - when the guy took the first picture, did he realize that the towers would collapse? And how this would change the world around us? Forever!!

Cheerleading and Cheerleaders

It's the Indian Premier League season in India!!

After a break of one year, IPL is back to India!!

Apart from the many new ideas and revolutions introduced by the T20 format of cricket, one thing that has been introduced in India for the first time is - Cheer Leading!!

According to Dictionary.com, a cheerleader is -  One who leads the cheering of spectators, as at a sports contest!!

And as per Wikipedia, 

Cheer Leading is a sport that uses organized routines that usually range from 1 minute to 3 minutes made from elements of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games and matches and/or compete at cheer leading competitions.

Now that's quite a complex definition for something which i used to perceive as a dance!!

The skimpy dresses and the dazzling moves by the Cheer Leaders did attract a lot of flak in the first season of IPL!!

Indian's - being their innovative self - came up with a concept of cheer leading in local costumes!!

But this year, IPL is back "normal" cheer leading and no one is complaining!! Looks like Cheer Leading is here to stay in India!!

Freida Pinto is a Bond Girl

What can one good smashing hit film do for you??

Well, better ask Freida Pinto - the Mumbai girl who made her debut in Slumdog Millionaire (her only film to hit the theaters till now)!!

She has landed a role to be the next Bond Girl!!

In the next James Bond film, to be directed by Sam Mendes, she will play the Bond Girl - an impressive achievement for a girl who is just one film old!!

 

She will join an illustrious list of ladies who have portrayed the role of a Bond Girl to the tee!! And without doubt, she will set many a actress who dream to get this role - red with envy!!

The prominent Bond girls - who set the screen alight - in the last few editions of James Bond films are Olga Kuryleno and Halle Berry!!

Earth Hour 2010

Climate Change, Global Warming et all were the key highlights of last year!!

Came to know about something called as "Earth Hour" a few days back!!

==

Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. (courtesy Wikipedia)

==

This year, it's an initiative to switch off the lights on 27th March 2010 - for one whole hour. 

Here's a small excerpt...

==

In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support by turning off their lights for one hour.

 

Earth Hour 2010 will continue to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community. A call to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future.

Pledge your support here and turn off your lights for one hour, Earth Hour, 8.30pm, Saturday 27th March 2010.

It’s Show-time! Show what can be done.

==

Check up the details at the Earth Hour International site!!

And if you need some Indian fare, you should go here!!

Personally,  my chances of meeting this commitment is extremly minuscule!! But certainly hoping that the world does pitch in for this initiative - after all some energy saved will be some energy earned!!

Advertising Goof Ups

It has been two silly months for the Indian advertising space!!

Everyone makes mistakes - but enormous mistakes do stand out to a very great extent!! 

If the mistake concerns India and Pakistan, the less said the better!!

On 24th Jan 2010, on the National Girl Child Day, a full page advertisement in a major newspaper showed the ex-chief of the Pakistan Air Force along with other Indian politicians and celebrity icons - urging the Indians to save their girl child!!

This advertisement did raise a huge hue and cry in the media!!

If this was not enough, an advertisement in today's newspaper - by Indian Railways - showed Delhi in Pakistan!! Other Indian cities were also out of place!!

It's high time advertisers take due care in releasing advertisements with such critical and important content!!