Is it HALLOWEEN! DID YOU KNOW....

Did You Know?

The holiday of Halloween dates back to the Dark Ages. Once truly spooky traditions have morphed over the years into much more light-hearted (but still mischevious) celebrations. Here is a fun look at some of the facts and figures that describe how Americans will be enjoying All Hallows Eve this October 31st.
Did you know that the origins of Halloween are rooted in an ancient festival honoring the dead, known as Samhain (pronounced "Sow-ween")? The Celtic people, who lived 2,000 years ago in the United Kingdom and northern France, believed that during Samhain, the veil between this world and the spirit world was at its thinnest. Samhain was a two festival, starting on November 1st.
Did you know that Halloween is also linked to the Catholic Church's celebration of All Saints Day? When the Church began sending out missionaries to the Celtic region, it adopted many traditional rituals and sanctioned them as Catholic activities. In the 7th century, for example, the Church's celebration of All Saints Day was moved to coincide with Samhain. A special mass called Allhallowmas was recited during All Saints Day, to honor any saints who did not already have a day of their own. The night before -- October 31st -- quickly became to be known as All Hallows Eve.
Did you know that the origins of "Trick'O'Treating" can be traced back to early celebrations of All Souls' Day in Britain? The poor would go from door-to-door, begging for so-called "soul cakes". Over time, the custom changed and children became the beggars, receiving apples, sweet buns and money. The tradition migrated over the Atlantic Ocean and quickly became entrenched in American celebrations of Halloween.
Did you know that more than 36 million children are expected to go trick-or-treating this Halloween? That's how many 5-13 year olds there are in the United States. Of course, age is no limit for Halloween fun, so those numbers might be a bit of an understatement.
Did you know that there are 106 million households in the United States? That's a lot of trick-or-treating ground to cover in just one night.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL OF YOU!

WoW OBAMA, the next winner of the NOBEL PRIZE!

Barach OBAMA, the 44th US president, has won the Nobel Peace Prize after just 9 months in office for his efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people!.
This choice has come as a "surprise", because he has been just nine months in office and some people think that "he hasn´t had the time to do anything yet".
However, there are some other previous winners of the Nobel Peace Prize that state that in less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves, and the world people live and hope for a world at peace with itself.
Do you remember some of the famous people who have previously won this special prize?
Well, one of the most popular ones is "MARTIN LUTHER KING" in 1964, or other US presidents such as "THEODORE ROOSEVELT" in 1906 and "WILSON" in 1919. In 1979 mother "TERESA" also received this prize. One of the other famous names is the so called "NELSON MANDELA" in 1993. The next one was in 1994 "YASSER ARAFAT". In addition to this, "KOFI ANNAN" also received it in 2001 for working for human rights and defuse global conflicts.
So, do you think OBAMA deserves this important prize???

2012 London Olympic games! &After it,which city will be the next???

As everybody knows the 2012 summer OLYMPIC GAMES are due to take place in LONDON (United Kingdom, from the 27July to 12 August 2012).
London will become the first city to host the Olympic games "three times", having previously done in 1908 and 1948!.
Madrid was supposed to be a favourite place for these Olympic games and competed with other cities such as "London, New York, Paris and Moscow".However, LONDON won!!!.
And now, we are in the same situation as some years ago!!!. The Olympic committee announced that Chicago (USA), Tokyo (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)and Madrid (Spain)are on the short list of cities bidding to host the 2016 Olympic Games!.
So, Which city will host the next 2016 Olympic games????. we´ll know quite soon!!!.
Well, in the end RIO DE JANEIRO WON THIS MATCH!!! now the Olympic Spanish hopes are lost!.
But we have to take into account that "in order to win we first have to learn to lose"!.

No FISH & CHIPS...CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA?

Did you know...? CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA is now a true British national dish, not only because it is the most popular, but because it is a perfect illustration of the way Britain absorbs and adapts external influences. Chicken Tikka is an Indian dish. The Massala sauce was added to satisfy the desire of British people to have their meat served in gravy. ”
Now I´m going to write about the history of this peculiar food???
Britain's obsession with curry began with the "raj1" in India, resulting in the first known (but short lived) British curry house opening in Marylebone in 1809 to serve food to returning sevants of the East India Company who had aquired the taste. This interest was reinforced by post war immigration from the sub-continent, which turned curry into a £3 billion a year industry (2005). In the early days "a curry" was something to eat after the pubs closed (see Keith Floyds account) but things have now gladly matured and most restaurants offer good food to customers looking for more than some "grub" after the "pub". Indeed "Chicken Tikka Masala" a British curry, has overtaken fish and chips as the nations favourite meal and curry accounts for 2/3rds of all eating out.

21 ACCENTS!

As you know DIALECTS are linguistic varieties which differ in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar.However dialects are distinguished from ACCENTS because these refer only to pronunciation. Have you ever thought about all these differences in pronunciation?. Well, now you have the chance to listen to "Amy Walker" which does a little tour of "21" different accents! (From the Uk to Ireland, North America, Italy and so on...)