Colombo International Book Fair

Courtesy Event.lk

What more could be better than a good book for your child??? Books have been pals with human beings for a very long time and slowly books have been now replaced by many different branches of technology. However, there are still people who love the touch of the crunchy papers and woody smell and beautifully printed books. Each year, the National Book Publishers' Association of Sri Lanka organizes the biggest book festival of Sri Lanka famously known as the Colombo International Book Fair at BMICH. 

This time, it started on 18th September 2012 and will be there till 26th September 2012 from 9 a.m to 9 p.m.

Transformation Of Books.... Tangible To Intangible....

I often hear my parents say that they used to read this book or that one or about gossip they used to enjoy in reading tabloids way back in the seventies and eighties. But looking back there and comparing with today, where is the average school kid swimming in the depths of the books? Nowhere. It's possible that someone could raise the questions why use books when there's plenty of other sources to find information quite easily as well as descriptively? Well, the answer is yes there's no doubt that you'll be able to find more accurate and up to date info via other sources but reading is something more.

Introducing Renesmee Cullen

It's only months away for us to embrace the final installment of the ever loved Twilight Saga- Breaking Dawn 2. Breaking Dawn part 1 ends where Bella opens her eyes after becoming a vampire. She is not only a vampire now but a mother to a baby girl whom she names Renesmee. Thus the story runs through a vivid series of events including Bella learning about her new life and the almost battle between Volturi. Anyways, let's not focus on the the story line now. The main characters are pretty much the same with one exception, Renesmee. This new added character to the story line, Renesmee is played by the young actress/ model Mackenzie Foy.

Think More on Earth Day....

Each year we celebrate some sort of a cause or a fact on a specific day because of the importance of it to us. For the same importance calculated worldwide, April 22nd is regarded as the International Mother Earth Day. There is a reason why we all call our planet Mother Earth. Unlike many great scientific discoveries, Earth and its life must have been the most inspiring discovery of all. Darwin explained us the theory of evolution which is a process that is well observed and executed by our mother nature itself. Man, that means us is known to be the most intelligent of all species is also a creation by Mother Nature. Therefore, it is our responsibility as the ones with the brains to look after our creator as well as those others Mother Earth has created otherwise, we must not forget that our destruction lie within the near future.

Earth Day 2012, Mobilize the Earth falls on today as it celebrates its 42nd anniversary since its conception in 1969. This year's theme revolves around the idea to raise awareness globally about our planet Earth and its environmental concerns that had been masked due to other matters like recession. Also they hope to impact global community with the idea that "Earth will not wait" which in mine as well as many others' opinions is true. Since primary school, we are taught that there will be major environmental problems in the future. That was before the millennium. And now we are over a decade from the millennium and most of the countries in the world have started to feel what we learnt at school. Global warming, Increase in Green House gases, Depletion of the Ozone layer, Melting of polar ice caps, Increase in sea level etc. the list could go on and on and yet won't stop.

Rare & Precious.........

Can you list the things in your home you think rare and precious????? Well obviously my bed is precious for me because that's where I relax but hmmm.... It's not rare though. What else..... Oh... what about jewelry??? You are getting close. I'm talking about gemstones. Gems are rare because not every country in the world has them and precious because they are unique and beautiful. What are gems? Gems are minerals that have underwent several natural process for a long time finally resulting in a hard or a soft rock formation. These rocks are polished and shaped by cutting in a way that their beauty is well exposed. Here comes the best part. Usually when we get a gemstone we let sunlight or a source of light pass through the stone so that the gemstone will refract the light beam. That's where gemstones become different from other stones. This quality is known as refraction and the ability for refraction is the refractive index. This refractive index varies from gem to gem. Diamonds has the highest of all.

Colours Tell Your Tales.............

There is a saying that a positive thinker see the world through a pink glass while the sorrow gives the dark colour to the world. But did you know that colours can tell your inside thoughts ans they can actually change how you think?????

Unbreakable Yet Fragile...... Trust

Reading is such a big habit of mine that cannot even see a simple scrap of paper go in waste without me reading it. As usually I was getting along with the cleaning chores at home, I went through some old books of my grandfather. Among them, I found a tabloid from 1987 which ha many interesting articles with from many other internationally recognized tabloid magazines like reader’s digest. Though it has been 24 years since the publication of these articles, some of their facts still hold true to the present day society. I chose this article on trust and I’m presenting it to you fellas with some editing and my own opinions. As I say, you are warmly invited to comment on.

Parents' Wish.....

This was an email, sent to me by my best friend which was very heart touching and I share this here with the hope that you too experience the emotional impact I felt while reading this for the first time.

Bookworms............

Hey pals!!!!! It's 15th January already and what are your plans ahead????? Hoping for the week ahead's work to be easy and cool???? Or need some time alone with the long lost habits you used to have??? Well, I guess my topic for today is based on some facts about my friends and about me of course. It's the reading habit. If I raise the question, how many of you like to read books, I would probably get the answer "I used to be a bookworm, according to my mom but I don't have time now." Once I heard one of my friends say, she doesn't have time to read although she would literary do anything to get soaked in a book. This is the situation for most of us. 

The True Meaning Of A New Year......

It's been 10 days since the most awaited dawn of 2012 and what have we seen as a change in this year???? Some may define that this new year is a big happening in their lives as they are going to get married or expecting their first child or even a big success in their business. Well they are physical factors. What about mental??? Many of us will be changing the attitude, the way we see the world or even over come the pains and sorrows we have faced in last year. Whatever it is, everybody is expecting a change in their lives with the change of years. I'm not saying that it's bad but if you look back these 10 days, what have changed????

Cakey Cakey.......

How many of you like to eat cake???? I guess that's almost everyone.... While running through my old stuff I found this and hope it might interest you. As you all know how much we appreciate creativity and innovative thinking. All you see below are cakes that can be eaten without any part of it left. No plastics or any other artificial stuff is being used and everything is eatable. All these cakes by Zhanna from St. Petersburg.

Pet Lovers..........

Most of us loooove pets especially cute little puppies and kittens. Well that is of course human nature. Apart from that humans cannot live alone so sometimes pets are good companions. And in most cases they really are. A family portrait will always be incomplete with that cuddly looking dog friend. So why we love pets so much??? Are they helpful??? Will your pet be happy with you?? We are going to discuss some of the facts about them today.

Pencil Creativity

As you all know Ishy Says appreciate creativity a lot and we have openly invited you all to share your creation with us. Today I'm gonna show you such creation I found via an email. I guess some of you may have received this but still its worth sharing with those who haven't seen this.

I'm sure this is a good example for the unique artistic abilities of people all among us. Everyone is unique and special and ave their own imagination. This is someone's imagination magnified artistically.

Hunger.........

Have you ever given a thought about the food you eat?? Well of course you might have because now a days we are all very much concern about our body shape and diseases like Cholesterol and Diabetes. But have you ever really considered that we are actually fortunate enough that we get more than enough of food while there are people among us suffering from lack of proper food and nutrition. Just like many problems we are facing today, world hunger is another rising problem. But this is less global than other problems because many of the developed countries and some of the developing countries do not even have such a problem. But that does not make us forget the less fortunate people who are suffering from lack of food right now.

Water Crisis........

"There is a water crisis today. But the crisis is not about having too little water to satisfy our needs. It is a crisis of managing water so badly that billions of people - and the environment - suffer badly."  

World Water Vision Report

What do you think about water???? This is a simple question even the kids of five can answer. But if you think deep you will find an answer that will almost knock you off from your feet. Water is considered as a renewable source but today we can hardly say so. Water is one of the few essential factors all living things need. Therefore it is a vital factor determining the life on earth. Although most of our planet's surface is covered by oceans, only 1% is available as potable water which we can use. Very recently our world population passed the 7 billion milestone. Will all this 7 billion people have enough drinking water??? 

Apart from drinking purposes water has many other major purposes. We use water to clean ourselves, wash all most everything we use and not only that, many industries use water as raw material. And most of the time, waste and industrial effluents are released as dissolved substances in water. Water is like some sort of a currency, the difference is that we know the value of money but not that of water. 

Global Warming......

Global warming has been a problem ever since we were kids. But the real problem is it never had real solutions or the solutions scientist came up with were not co operated by the whole planet. Green House effect is another name that is linked with the Global Warming issue. In fact, as a result of Green House effect, Global warming takes place. Out atmosphere is what that makes planet earth suitable for life. It including the Ozone layer, acts as a barrier for the harmful radiation by sun only letting in certain amount of radiation. Such radiation is reflected by the earth’s surface but gases like Carbon Dioxide, Sulphur Dioxide, Methane trap some of these reflected radiation and helps the earth to stabilize its temperature around 15- 30 degree Celsius. This is the same effect we experience in green houses used for cultivation purposes. 
But if the atmosphere contains these Green House gases more than the % they should be, the Green House effect increases which means earth gets more and more heated up. This is bad because, the ice layers in the South and North Poles melt adding millions of gallons of water to the ocean.  It results in rise in ocean level sinking many islands around the world. Even as we talk on, this happens but it is measurably tiny and negligible. However recent years’ studies and researches have shown increase in this activity which is not negligible any more. 

Getting Ready For Halloween.........

It’s Halloween on coming Friday and everyone’s getting ready for a bit of scary and ghostly adventures and festivities. Although Halloween is grandly celebrated in western hemisphere, most of the eastern countries do not. So, we thought of sharing few facts and fun ideas based on Halloween.

Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the evening of October 31 in most areas of North America and in some areas of Western Europe. It is symbolically associated with death and the supernatural. Halloween falls on the eve of All Saints’ Day, also known as Allhallows or Hallowmas, a holy day in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Originally a pagan festival of the dead, All Saints’ Day was established by the Catholic Church in the 9th century to honor Christian saints. All Souls’ Day, a holy day established by the Catholic Church in the 10th century, is also closely linked to Halloween. All Souls’ Day, on November 2, is observed to help purify the spirits of the dead. 

Halloween is also related to some similar folk holidays and celebrations in other countries. The Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday that coincides with All Souls’ Day, blends Roman Catholic and Native American traditions about the souls of the dead. On the Day of the Dead, Mexicans decorate their homes with playful imagery of animated human skeletons, leave offerings of food for wandering spirits, and tend the graves of their deceased relatives.

Many of the ancient people of Europe marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter by celebrating a holiday in late autumn. The most important of these holidays to influence later Halloween customs was Samhain, a holiday observed by the ancient Celts, a tribal people who inhabited most of Western and Central Europe in the first millennium bc. Among the Celts, Samhain marked the end of one year and the beginning of the next. It was one of four Celtic holidays linked to important transitions in the annual cycle of seasons.

Material Recycling..........

Today, the world's population is reaching a peak of nearly 7 billion and our planet is still the same. Think of all the waste and litter that gathers in one day throughout everywhere in world???? Humans won't have space to live if we don't get rid of them. That's why material recycling is important for us. As we all know China has the world's largest population. Here's how they recycle waste paper. I must say this is an e mail sent to me by a dear friend but I think little things like these teach us many things. Hope we could get some ideas from this. 

How Toilet Paper is made in China

The most expensive cars in the world

For all you automobile aficionados, I give you the 10 most expensive cars in the world,(does not included any concept cars)

At first place is my personal favorite,

1. Bugatti Veyron Super Sports     $2,400,000.

 This is the most expensive street legal car available on the market . It has the fastest acceleration reaching 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. 2010 Super Sport Version reaches a top speed of 267 mph. If your running against this baby, you better be ready to get smoked!

Guess!!!!!!!!!!

Guess what these are made of if you can!!!! 

It takes a great deal of patience and creativity to create something like this. This structure is made of something simple that we use daily. It's really amazing how some brains think of turning something cheap and regardless to something valuable and beyond imagination. I found this pretty cool and thought you people would appreciate too.