Monday, January 31, 2011

LeBron James, Heat add to Cleveland's woes, 117-90

Once more, LeBron James helped the Cleveland Cavaliers reach a milestone in the NBA standings.

First to 40 wins one year.

First to 40 losses the next.

Dwyane Wade scored 26 of his 34 points in the first half, James finished with 24 points and eight assists and the Miami Heat beat the Cavaliers for the third time since the two-time MVP changed cities, winning 117-90 Monday night to hand Cleveland its 21st straight loss — as many as it dropped in the entire 2009-10 regular season.

Cleveland (8-40) is now two losses shy of tying the single-season NBA futility streak record shared by the 1995-96 Vancouver Grizzlies and 1997-98 Denver Nuggets. Overall, the Cavaliers have lost 31 of 32 games, along with 24 straight on the road.

"I have nothing bad to say about the players that I left and the team," James said. "I wish the organization the best. And I wish the fans, more than anything, the best because we had a lot of great years together."

They might be hard-pressed to remember those now.

This game had a few moments of hope for the Cavaliers. They were down by 19 in the first half, when Wade was almost unguardable for stretches — one of his dunks, off a pass from James, was so spectacular that rap moguls Sean "Diddy" Combs and Rick Ross leaped from their courtside seats.

Quietly, Cleveland started putting together good stretch after good stretch, getting within 70-67 in the third quarter.

Was this going to be the night?

Not a chance.

James had nine points in a 19-5 run to close the third quarter, Miami's lead was 89-72 entering the fourth, and it turned into a romp from there.

"We played pretty good in the third quarter," Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said. "I thought they just took it to another gear. They've got the type of team that can do that."

The Heat (34-14) moved within 2 1/2 games of Boston for the best record in the Eastern Conference. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 12 points and a season-high 14 rebounds against his former team, Eddie House also scored 12 and Chris Bosh added 10 points for Miami.

For Cleveland, Antawn Jamison finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Manny Harris scored 20 points and J.J. Hickson added 14. The Cavaliers were outrebounded 49-39.

"They are a good team and they've got some players who can make plays," Cleveland's Anthony Parker said, "even if you do everything right."

James insisted he bears no ill will against his first NBA team, and as if to underscore that, he pulled Harris aside for some postgame words of encouragement.

"I think he's a very talented young player," James said. "And I just told him no matter what's going on with the team, he has to continue to play well. He has to continue to stay aggressive, have his confidence."

Said Harris: "Coming from a player like him and his caliber it means a lot. Everything he said was right."

Wade hit 10 of his first 12 shots, the third straight game for him with a sizzling start. James had 15 in the first half, including a highlight-caliber dunk over Christian Eyenga and Hickson that gave Miami a 61-44 lead.

And although it was a one-possession game midway through the third quarter, the outcome never truly seemed in doubt.

"We had great respect for Cleveland tonight," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Sometimes it can happen very quickly like that. That's why we talk about the habits. A game can change in three minutes. In a playoff series, that can be all it takes."

Cleveland's franchise — which reached great heights with James for seven years, and has fallen to the bottom of the NBA less than seven months after he left — already owns the all-time NBA losing-streak record, a 24-game slide that spanned from March to November 1982.

LIBRARY EXPLORATIONS

I've decided to see how many Orange County Libraries I can visit in the coming year.  There are 33 branches in the Orange County Public Library system alone; but there are also ten cities within O.C. that have their own public library systems and branches.  Lots to see, though I'm mainly interested in what the children's sections have to offer.  I'll try to highlight my favorites from time to time here on my blog.

I'd love to know about libraries from all around the U.S.!  Please let me know if you have a library in your town with an exceptional children's section.  Or better yet, if you have a blog, post about a day at the library with your kids (or grandkids) and I'll link to it!

Library #1: with my friend Yumi and her daughter Sophie. We visited the new OC Public Library in Tustin and I have to say I was impressed with its open design and natural lighting.
The computers for kids, though close by, were separated from the main children's area, designating that as a reading space.
Some noteworth features were its outdoor children's patio (with some inspiration from Dr. Suess), storytime room, and low reading tables, perfect for little ones.



  


Some of Sophie's picks for the day:
ELEPHANTS CANNOT DANCE! by Mo Willems
LITTLE SMUDGE by Lionel Le Neouanic
SAM AND THE TIGERS by Julius Lester, pictures by Jerry Pinkney
THE MAGIC HILL by A.A. Milne, pictures by Isabel Bodor Brown
LILLY'S BIG DAY by Kevin Henkes

My picks for the day:
KATY NO-POCKET by Emmy Payne, pictures by H.A. Raye
THE HOLE IN THE DIKE by Norma Green, pictures by Eric Carle

PUBLIC DOMAIN MONDAY: A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES

by Robert Lewis Stevenson, Illustrations by Jessie Wilcox Smith
published 1905

"To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations - such is a pleasure beyond compare."  ~Kenko Yoshida
SOME EXCERPTS to intice you to go find a book by Robert Lewis Stevenson...


BED IN SUMMER

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

A THOUGHT
It is very nice to think
The world is full of meat and drink,
With little children saying grace

In every Christian kind of place.






AT THE SEA-SIDE

When I was down beside the sea
A wooden spade they gave to me
To dig the sandy shore.
My holes were empty like a cup.
In every hole the sea came up,
Till it could come no more.




WHOLE DUTY OF CHILDREN


A child should always say what's true
And speak when he is spoken to,
And behave mannerly at table;
At least as far as he is able.



RAIN

The rain is raining all around,
It falls on field and tree,
It rains on the umbrellas here,
And on the ships at sea.








FOREIGN LANDS

Up into the cherry tree
Who should climb but little me?
I held the trunk with both my hands
And looked abroad on foreign lands.

I saw the next door garden lie,
Adorned with flowers, before my eye,
And many pleasant places more
That I had never seen before.

I saw the dimpling river pass
And be the sky's blue looking-glass;
The dusty roads go up and down
With people tramping in to town.

If I could find a higher tree
Farther and farther I should see,
To where the grown-up river slips
Into the sea among the ships,

To where the roads on either hand
Lead onward into fairy land,
Where all the children dine at five,
And all the playthings come alive.



AUNTIE'S SKIRTS

Whenever Auntie moves around,
Her dresses make a curious sound,
They trail behind her up the floor,
And trundle after through the door.


THE LAND OF COUNTERPANE

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.



TO ANY READER

As from the house your mother sees
You playing round the garden trees,
So you may see, if you will look
Through the windows of this book,
Another child, far, far away,
And in another garden, play.
But do not think you can at all,
By knocking on the window, call
That child to hear you. He intent
Is all on his play-business bent.
He does not hear; he will not look,
Nor yet be lured out of this book.
For, long ago, the truth to say,
He has grown up and gone away,
And it is but a child of air
That lingers in the garden there.

Friday, January 28, 2011

APPRECIATING EVERY HOLY MOMENT

MAKE TIME TO READ ALOUD A BOOK WITH YOUR CHILD TODAY.  AND APPRECIATE EVERY HOLY MOMENT YOU HAVE WITH YOUR FAMILY...

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TODAY'S POST IS DEDICATED TO THE FAMILY OF BARB DUNAWAY, A GRACIOUS WOMAN WHO WENT HOME TO THE LORD THIS WEEK.  SHE WAS A PRIEST'S WIFE, MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER, SISTER AND FRIEND TO MANY.  SHE WORKED HARD FOR HER FAMILY AND CHURCH, YET TAUGHT US ALL TO TREASURE EVERY HOLY MOMENT AND TO LIVE A LIFE WELL SPENT - TO ITS FULLEST - FOR HIM.  MAY HER MEMORY BE ETERNAL.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LEWIS CARROLL - CELEBRATING THE ALICE BOOKS WITH A MAD TEA PARTY!

"Take some more tea," the March Hare said to  Alice, very earnestly.
"I've had nothing yet," Alice replied in an offended tone, "so I can't take more."
"You mean you can't take LESS," said the Hatter: "it's very easy to take MORE than nothing."
"Nobody asked YOUR opinion," said Alice.
"Who's making personal remarks now?" the Hatter asked triumphantly.


Illustration by M.L. Kirk
"Who are YOU?" said the Caterpillar.This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation. Alice replied, rather shyly, "I--I hardly know, sir, just at present-- at least I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then."                                       
"Well! I've often seen a cat without a grin," thought Alice;"but a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!"
Disney's Animation.


The White Rabbit shop
The White Rabbit put on his spectacles. "Where shall I begin, please your Majesty?" he asked.
"Begin at the beginning," the King said gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop."


"Let's pretend that you're the Red Queen, Kitty! Do you know, I think if you sat up and folded your arms, you'd look exactly like her. Now do try, there's a dear!" And Alice got the Red Queen off the table, and set it up before the kitten as a model for it to imitate: however, the thing didn't succeed, principally, Alice said, because the kitten wouldn't fold its arms properly. So, to punish it, she held it up to the Looking-glass, that it might see how sulky it was -- "and if you're not good directly," she added, "I'll put you through into Looking-glass House. How would you like that?"


"Alice and Chessie"
The Fairies' Nest

"Your majesty shouldn't purr so loud," Alice said, rubbing her eyes, and addressing the kitten, respectfully, yet with some severity. "You woke me out of oh! such a nice dream! And you've been along with me, Kitty -- all through the Looking-Glass world. Did you know it, dear?"


I hope you enjoyed my Mad Hatter Tea Party!  If you're one of the first 6 people to leave a comment (excluding mine of course) by then end of  today, 1-27-11 - I'll send you a little package of Disney Wonderland Teabags ... just enough for your own tea party.


Click Alice's Adventures in Wonderland to see the broad range of choices for these books from Amazon. (You can arrange them by age.)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

"CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER": AUTHOR LEWIS CARROLL

Born: January 27, 1832
Died: January 14, 1898
Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Dodgson invented his pen name by translating his first two names into the Latin "Carolus Lodovicus" and then anglicizing it into "Lewis Carroll")  Besides being the author of the "Alice" books, he was a Victorian-era logician and mathematics tutor at Christ Church, Oxford (you'll see how that comes into play in a minute).
  
Disney's Alice
Because of the popularity of the Disney movie, many people don't realize there are two Alice books and that neither of them is titled "Alice in Wonderland". The first book (published in 1865) was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and has an undeniable card deck theme - with "The Queen of Hearts" being a dominant character. The second book, titled Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, (published in 1872), switched to a chess theme - where two Queens, Red and White, appear.


Anyway, back to the math:  I recently came across a fascinating article written by Melanie Bayley for New Scientist about the curious mathematical aspects of the Alice books.  She says that what many have assumed to merely be fantastic imaginary tales for children, were actually Dodgson's (Carroll's) attempts to parody the absurdities of mid-19th century's new abstract mathematics - "Wonderland's madness reflects Carroll's views on the dangers of the new symbolic algebra".


And in this nonsensical world, Carroll seems to make the Cheshire Cat the logical voice of traditional geometry:
"'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?'
'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat.
'I don't much care where--' said Alice.
'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat.
'--so long as I get SOMEWHERE,' Alice added as an explanation.
'Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, 'if you only walk long enough.'"

Speaking of nonsense, I can't even begin to understand ykcowrebbaJ!!!!!


Illustrations by John Tenniel (1820-1914/English)
Click here for some fun ideas in case you want to throw a MAD HATTER TEA PARTY to celebrate Lewis Carroll's birthday tomorrow!
(By the way, I just realized in re-reading Carroll's texts: that whole "un-birthday" thing doesn't take place at the famous Tea Party, but is rather a conversation that takes place between Alice and Humpty-Dumpty in the second book!  I guess I watched the Disney version too many times!  What misconceptions have you had?)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Famke Janssen

Famke Beumer Janssen ( born November 5, 1964) is a Dutch actress and former fashion model.
She is best-known for playing the villainess Bond girl Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye and Dr. Jean Grey/Phoenix in the X-Men film series.
Janssen is also a UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for Integrity. Famke Beumer Janssen was born in Amstelveen, the Netherlands.Her first name means little girl in West Frisian, the native language of the Dutch province Friesland.Besides her native Dutch, Janssen speaks English and French. She also learned German, but has not kept up with it.She has two sisters, director Antoinette Beumer and actress Marjolein Beumer.Before going to the United States, Janssen studied economics for a year at the University of Amsterdam, which she later called "the stupidest idea I ever had." Janssen moved to the U.S. in 1984 and began her professional career as a fashion model. She signed with Elite Model Management and worked for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel and Victoria's Secret. While with the agency, her European measurements were listed as 92–61–92 and 36 dress size.Janssen is noted for being taller than average at 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) and her looks has been compared to Hedy Lamarr and 1940s films stars. After retiring from modeling in the early 1990s, she enrolled at Columbia University to study creative writing and literature. She also took up acting. Several years later Janssen moved to Los Angeles to establish her acting career.Janssen lives in West Village in New York City. She was married to writer and director Tod Culpan Williams, son of architect Tod Williams, from 1995 to 2000.Janssen has a brindle Boston Terrier named Licorice, with which she frequently travels. Alongside her dog, she appeared in a 2007 PETA campaign to raise awareness for animal rights. The campaign used the slogan "Be an Angel for Animals."

Upon moving to Los Angeles, Janssen obtained her first parts, appearing in guest roles on television series. She starred in a 1988 commercial for Exclamation Perfume. One of her first appearances was in 1992, when she starred in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Perfect Mate" as empathic metamorph Kamala, opposite Patrick Stewart (who would later star with her in the X-Men film series).In that same year, Janssen was offered the role of Jadzia Dax of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but turned it down to pursue film roles.She also appeared in the film Lord of Illusions with Scott Bakula, who would later portray Capt. Jonathan Archer of the chronologically very first Starship Enterprise.Janssen's first film role was with Jeff Goldblum in the 1992 film Fathers & Sons. In 1995, she appeared in the first Pierce Brosnan James Bond film, GoldenEye, as femme fatale Xenia Onatopp. In an attempt to fight against typecasting after her role in the film, Janssen began seeking out more intriguing support roles, appearing in Woody Allen's Celebrity, Robert Altman's The Gingerbread Man, John Irvin's City of Industry and Ted Demme's Monument Ave. Denis Leary, her co-star in Monument Ave., was impressed by how easily she blended in, initially not recognizing her as she was already in character.Janssen played superheroine Dr. Jean Grey/Phoenix in X-Men, X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand. She won a Saturn Award for her role in X-Men: The Last Stand. She also starred in the movies Lord of Illusions, The Faculty, House on Haunted Hill, I Spy, Rounders, Deep Rising, Hide and Seek, Taken and Turn the River, for which she was awarded the Special Jury Best Actress Award at the 2007 Hamptons International Film Festival.
In addition, Janssen had a prominent role in the second season of the popular TV show, Nip/Tuck, as the seductive and manipulative life coach, Ava Moore. She reprised her role in the final two episodes of the series. She has continued to branch out into television, appearing in TV pilots for NBC and Showtime, 2007's cop drama Winters and 2009's The Farm, a pilot for a potential spinoff of The L Word set in a women's prison. Both were rejected by their respective networks.
Janssen provides the Dutch-language narration for the Studio Tram Tour at all Disney parks.
In July 2010, filming began on Janssen's directorial debut Bringing Up Bobby. Janssen also wrote the screenplay to the film, which stars Milla Jovovich, Bill Pullman and Marcia Cross.

Famke Janssen Looking so Beautiful
Famke Janssen Simple Clothes Model
Famke Janssen Red Hair Color
Famke Janssen Make Up Party
Famke Janssen Fashion
 

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