Academy Teams Earn Draw and Win at The Home Depot Center

The LA Galaxy Youth Academy teams earned a win and a draw this afternoon at The Home Depot Center. The U-16's played to a 0-0 draw with Pateadores while the U-18's scored a goal on either side of halftime to earn a 2-1 win over Pateadores.

Both teams were playing their first competitive games since early December but managed to put on a show for the nearly 1,000 fans who came out to The Home Depot Center this afternoon.

Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena, associate head coach Dave Sarachan and assistant coach Trevor James, the Galaxy's Director of Player Development, were all in attendance at the games, closely watching the Galaxy stars of tomorrow.


The U-16's remained unbeaten in Divisional play with their 0-0 draw, but very nearly claimed all three points. Goalkeeper Joshua McNeely and the rest of coach Kenny Arena's defense limited the visitors chances throughout the match. However, the Galaxy were unable to find a breakthrough at the other end of the field and the game finished scoreless.

The U-16's are now 1-0-2 for five points in Divisional play and 4-4-3 overall on the season.

Later in the day, David Vaudreuil's Galaxy U-18's were able to go one better than their U-16 counterparts with a 2-1 win. Matthew Mardesich scored his first goal of the season to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead with a header early in the first half before Ruben Valencia scored the game-winner midway through the second half. That goal was his third of the season and helped the 18's improve to 2-0-1 in the Division and 4-3-3 overall.

Be sure to check back to both this site and lagalaxy.com on Monday for complete photo galleries (courtesy of German Alegria) from both games.

Miramax closing down

I'm not a big fan of typical commercial Hollywood type movies because I love independent, art-house and foreign films. So it was quite disappointing to learn that Miramax, the movie studio that produced a lot of these type of films, will be shut down by Disney. Bad news!



Bob and Harvey Weinstein



Bob and Harvey Weinstein produced and/or distributed several of my favourite movies over the years. They left Miramax in 2005 but the studio still distributed great movies like No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood after that.



The Weinstein brothers launched the careers of directors like Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown) and Kevin Smith (Clerks). Other great movies were The Crying Game and Pedro Almodovar's Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! They are synonymous with independent movies and thrived on producing low-budget movies which brought great financial returns. The problem though is that they started producing big budget movies later on and their initial successful business model went out the window.



There are rumours that the Weinsteins want to buy the Miramax name back from Disney. Let's hope this is true because I definitely would like to see more of these movies being released to a wider audience under the brand that has done it so successfully before.

Miramax produced/distributed other favourites of mine like Trainspotting, My Left Foot, The Piano, Il Postino, Muriel's Wedding, Beautiful Girls, Swingers, Chasing Amy, Good Will Hunting, Life is Beautiful, Amelie. Here's the full list of films released by Miramax.

Week One is in the Books

A little more than two months after falling on penalties in MLS Cup 2009, the Galaxy completed week one of their 2010 training camp at The Home Depot Center.

Fitness was the buzzword all week long as the players began the transition from the offseason to the preseason, all of which will get them ready for the regular season, which is just under two months away.

The shiny new MLS adidas Jubulani soccer balls that the team will be using this season saw just the slightest bit of action this week as the players went through a two hour gym session each morning. After lunch in the team lounge, the players would emerge each afternoon for another fitness session, this time featuring a series of runs as opposed to a gym workout.

In fact, if it wasn't for Ian Feuer putting the club's goalkeepers through afternoon drills each day, the new balls would never have seen the light of day (see below).

Here are some new photos from the opening week of training.


Finally, enjoy this photo of Birchy striking a pose, and holding it for about 10 steps while running. That's what we call skillz, people.

Thumbs up to Acer Support

About a week ago my Acer laptop's keyboard started giving me problems. I would press a key and nothing happened. The problem was intermittent but happened more frequently over time.



I first did all the usual anti-virus scans and found nothing wrong. I then rebooted into BIOS and the problem persisted while moving around the menus, so that meant it was not a problem with the Windows OS, since the operating system has not loaded yet. So it could only be a hardware problem.



I contacted Acer Support in Johannesburg via email; they first checked if they had stock of the components for my model and the next day the fault was logged. The DVD writer also gave me hassles and stop burning DVD's a while ago, so I logged that too.



Timeline



18 Jan: Contacted Acer Support via email

19 Jan: Received reply, said they had to check if they had components in stock first

20 Jan: Confirmed they did and fault was logged, received Case ID

21 Jan: Courier collected laptop in Cape Town and sent it to Johannesburg

28 Jan: Courier delivered laptop to me early morning



The keyboard and DVD writer was replaced as well as a plastic long strip which covers the internal speakers. Problem solved. I was without the laptop for five working days; so apart from two travel days they had the laptop for three days. I've dealt with Acer Support on two occasions and in both cases the experience was good. No hassles at all.



I'm just glad I had an extended warranty!

Something to hold you over the weekend

Also can be titled "My Eyyyyyyyeeeees!"

How about the short and sweet: "Ew."

Maybe, "I just threw up in my mouth a little"

kxx

PS: There goes the appeal of Subway for at least... well, ever.

MLS and MLS Players Union To Continue To Negotiate Through February 12

After spending the first half of the week in New York attending the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations between MLS Players Union and MLS officials, Galaxy players Chris Klein and Todd Dunivant were in attendance at training today for the first time this season.

Earlier today, Major League Soccer announced that it had reached a deal with the Players Union to continue to negotiate through February 12. The current CBA had been scheduled to expire on Sunday, January 31. Click here to read the full statement from MLS and the MLS Players Union.

Live Soccer at The Home Depot Center Sunday

Can't wait for the Galaxy's season opener against New England on March 27 for live Galaxy soccer at The Home Depot Center? Then come out to the stadium this Sunday to see the LA Galaxy Youth Academy will host Pateadores in a U.S. Soccer Development Academy league match.

The U-16 Academy team will kick-off at noon, followed by the U-18’s at 2:30 p.m. and admission is free.

Don't miss this chance to see the Galaxy stars of tomorrow, this weekend on the stadium field at The Home Depot Center.

Landon Speaks to Everton TV After 2-0 Win Over Sunderland

Landon scored his first goal for Everton yesterday and had the honor of chatting with Everton TV after the game.

Here is what he had to say about getting the win and scoring his first Premier League goal.

How's that for motivation?

The boys share a room and Audrey bunks alone. The boys live like trolls and they treat their room like the underside of a bridge. Yuck. This week I got fed up with shutting their bedroom door and tiptoeing by so as not to unleash the clothing avalanche that could potentially happen in there. I decided to wade in there and clean it up while they were at school.

After leaving clear written instructions on what to do with my remains should something untoward happen to me in there, I dove in. Suffice it to say that under the piles of mingled clean clothes and skid-marked underpants, the BO scented sweaters, enough Lego bricks to build and mess up another bedroom and video game cartridges, there was a dust bunny infested hardwood floor. I threw out a lot of stuff that I thought was junk and didn't care whether or not they thought the same. I also donated a ton of too-small clothes that they still insisted on wearing. My soul felt lighter after those 2 hours were done, let me tell you.

So I regaled the family over dinner about this tale of perilous derring-do in the Hoarder's dream room and told Audrey her room was next. When dinner was done, she quickly excused herself and I didn't hear from her until she called me to her room.

Holy crap, she'd cleaned it up herself. Every stitch of clothing folded, every stuffed toy lined up, every book back on the shelf. Why? Because she didn't want me plowing through her stuff, donating and throwing away stuff willy-nilly. She's also probably (and rightly so) worried about one of her many diaries and journals "accidentally" falling open during a particularly vigorous dusting session and me oh, so slowly shutting and replacing it.

But that's neither here nor there. She cleaned up her room on her own without me asking begging. It's like a 2 for 1 and all I had to do was spend a couple hours neck deep in her brothers' filth. Score.

kxx

Catching Up With the Guys

The Moving Train that is the Galaxy's preseason continues to roll through its first week at The Home Depot Center and the guys are moving ever so closer to match fitness. We caught up with two of the club's new (but familiar) faces in Clint and Mike, as well as Bruce, after this afternoon's session to see what they had to say about the first week of camp.

On the Run

The players made their way outside this afternoon for a bit of running in the sun up on the training field here at The Home Depot Center.
We're now three full days into the preseason camp and there has not been a ball (medicine balls and stability balls not included) in sight. Everyone's focus is clearly set on fitness and getting back into game shape as quickly as possible.

Much to the delight of the coaches (and the chagrin of the players) the fence that runs between the Galaxy's two training fields has not been put up for this part of the preseason, creating a much larger running circuit for the guys during these afternoon sessions.

Much like all of Bruce's training sessions, today's run was short but intense, leaving all everyone a bit tired by the end, though Chris was able to flash a quick smile for the camera through it all.

We think however, that the real reason that the session wrapped so quickly was that everyone was excited to meet the awaiting press for the first time in 2010.

Clint Mathis seemed to be the most popular player amongst the media, though Edson, Gregg and Michael Stephens also stopped to answer some questions.

Bruce was the final person to address the press, answering questions on a number of different topics for about 10 minutes before heading inside.

Here is a bit of what some of the guys had to say.

Bruce...

Clint...

Gregg...

Michael...

Edson...

Finally, while Yohance did not have to answer any questions today, he was nice enough to pull up a chair and wait for Edson to finish up before the two headed into the stadium together. What a friend!

Live event: Introducing the iPad - Apple's CEO Steve Jobs

Leo Laporte from Twit.tv covering the event - live video feed







Also see gdgt live for transcript and photos of the event.



Steve Jobs with the Apple iPad

Video: Apple iPad hands on







Related links

Full specs of the iPad - Apple

Apple's iPad: What you need to know - CNET

What was that?

You say that this mattress has "no interest until 2012?" Well I have no interest right now. Stupid ads...

kxx

Tuna fingers tip

Here's a tip that shouldn't work:

When you get tuna juice on your fingers after opening the can, grab a spoon out of your cutlery drawer (I'm saying spoon but any stainless steel thing in the drawer will work). Run the cold water from the tap, and stick your fishy fingers holding the spoon vertically under the stream for a few seconds. I usually do it until my fingers are freezing... about 30 seconds. Dry your fingers and sniff. No tuna. So weird.

There's your handy dandy kitchen tip for today. These are few and far between, Peeps, so you better enjoy it. Do you have any to share with me?

kxx

Overheard over the weekend...

Scott: It's a beautiful day.

Me: You mean it's a beautiful winter's day.

Scott: What's the difference?

Me: Well, on a rank order scale of beautiful days, where one is the best, and 10 the worst, summer days will always rank 1 through 5 and winter days rank 6 through 10. So even though today is a sunny, relatively warm (for winter) day, the fact that it's still winter so you can only rank it as high as a 6. It still ranks below a warm but rainy July day. It's a Karenworld thing. You wouldn't understand.

Scott: You are so weird.

kxx

PS: Just for the record, while trying to find an accompanying photo for this blog and typing "beautiful day" in Google, all I found were photos of beaches and sunshine and flowers. No winter scenes. So HA.

You know what I miss?

I miss my mother. Nothing really earth shattering happened lately to bring it up I was just thinking about her a lot. She's been gone 15 years and even though I don't think about her everyday anymore, but when I do it's an all day event. She'll cross my mind when I'm cooking and I use an ingredient she used. I'll smile when I pull a load of laundry out of the dryer because the clothes smell like they did when I was a kid. I'll hear a song on the radio (especially Kool and The Gang or The Pointer Sisters) and laugh out loud picturing her dancing like a loon in her brown muumuu.

I wish she got to meet the kids. She'd have loved the kids. Everytime they do something new and cool I wish I could share it with her. Elliott shaving and his saxophone lessons, Audrey learning how to dive and finally leaping from the 3m tower and Henry making the coolest cathedral for his social studies project. She'd have loved that stuff. I often wonder if they'd be any different with her in their lives.

So my thinking is that this is a little like having a song stuck in your head. If you sing it out loud it goes away. Maybe if I blog about my mum today, I can go a little while without her running through my mind. It's distracting to have a 5' tall, huge breasted, salt & pepper afroed woman pop into my head while I'm driving. You try parallel parking with that kind of crazy going on in your melon.

kxx

Why do I even bother?

I spend easily $50 a month on makeups, lotions and potions to make myself look nice. It takes me a good 15 minutes to "put my face on" in the morning. The other day I thought it would be cool to take a before and after shot. Sort of like one of those dramatic makeover shows. So this is how I looked fresh out of the shower:

I then went ahead and did my 15 minute routine. I put on lotion, concealer, loose powder, 2 shades of eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner, eyebrow powder, blush and lipgloss. Perfect, or so I thought. This is the result:

Again, why do I even bother? They say the natural look is in but this is ridiculous. I'm often told that I look fine without makeup and I say "thanks" but blow them off as being cataract suffering kooks. I have no choice now but to grudgingly agree. This revelation will make me go one of 2 ways. Either I'll go all Tammy Faye or stop wearing makeup all together. Guess which on I'll choose for today?

kxx

Where the eff are my chocolate chips?

So a couple of weeks ago I bought a 2 kilo bag of chocolate chips. Usually that's enough for about a month. This morning I looked high and low for them and couldn't find the bag anywhere. Why? Because I hid them and my middle aged traitorous brain doesn't remember where.

And why do I have to hide chocolate chips in the first place you may inquire? Well, I'm glad you asked. Because from time to time when I have the effrontery and inimitable gall to not make dessert for this family, I'll find them sitting on the couch eating little bowls full of my chocolate chips. I yell and scream about how they're essentially eating ingredients and that when I actually reach for the chocolate chips for their precious cookies and I have 14 chips left rattling around the bag they're the ones that miss out, but it falls on deaf ears. So lately I've taken to hiding them.

This bunch is as wily as kids at Christmastime so I have to keep moving the hiding place. Sometimes it's in the beer fridge downstairs, sometimes it's the spice cupboard, sometimes it's in the useless cupboard over the fridge. So when I looked for them yesterday afternoon I was searching in the most ridiculous places. They weren't in the chest freezer or in the crisper. They weren't even in the cupboard where I keep the birdseed. My dried up old brain couldn't find them.

I blame everyone. So does anyone want a batch of chipless chip cookies? Anyone? Bueller? They're actually kinda good...

kxx

The weather has been great lately

And by great I mean around 0°C which is great for someone like me who craves warmth and sunshine but sucks for people who like skiing and outdoor skating and those jog-bots who run past me on the slushy sidewalk huffing steam like a train. I just want to take those people and shake some sense into them then throw them into the back of my minivan and drive them straight to Timmy's for a big, fat, greasy kruller.

Moving on... you know I hate winter. That hasn't changed. You should see the way I dress when it's cold and I know I'll be out "enjoying" it for a while like for Winterlude. First I start with tights. These thick socklike pantyhose will go under my long johns. No self respecting Canadian doesn't have a set of long johns. Then a pair of construction socks. Yes, Socks and tights. It's cold. Over the bottoms I pull on a pair of fleece-lined yoga pants. Over the top is a fitted turtleneck sweater. And a cardigan. Then snowpants (the kind with a bib overall so that snow or cold air doesn't get in. Next, my trusty parka with the fur-lined hood. Hat that goes over the ears, sometimes but not often a scarf (I get makeup on them) maybe a neckwarmer if I can find one, one or 2 pairs of mittens (never gloves... my fingers need body heat) and I never forget my super sexy and classy skidoo boots. Oh, and I always carry hot pockets. No, not the food, those plastic packets you shake and get warm for 6 hours. Around here we call them hot pockets since you keep them there for toasty hands. Also I'll sometimes put a pair in the toes of my boots. There is tons of room in there.

So is there any wonder I prefer summer when I can describe my outfit with one sentence? What do I wear on Canada Day? Shorts, tank top and flip-flops. Look it's barely even a sentence fragment. Sigh. I miss summer.

kxx

Happy Monday!

Not feeling particularly bloggy today so enjoy the song of the day!

kxx

High School Orientation Night

So the other night I went to Elliott's high school orientation. It was quite the experience to walk into a high school 25 years after graduating myself. My feelings were surprisingly mixed. I was delighted that I'd never have to be a student, jealous that his life is just about to move to a new chapter, scared that he'll fall in with the wrong crowd and happy that he's smart enough to even get here in the first place. Trust me, there were days when his father and I had our doubts.

A few things I noted. There were lots of students there to answer questions and manning the booths of various clubs. I was floored by their enthusiasm and willingness to talk to us adults. They were animated and happy. When I was their age I was sullen and I couldn't get out of the building fast enough at the end of the day. There was no way I'd set even the toe of my Adidas into school after hours. This bodes well for school pride.

The drama club. I'm soooo envious! I was a drama nerd in college and just looking at the kids in costume and the masks they use for characters made me swoon. The drama teacher is a former actor. A couple of weeks ago they performed "Hello Dolly" with 53 castmembers, a full orchestra and period costumes and hats donated by a local theatre company. Argh! My high school drama club was led by an English teacher who probably just needed the overtime and costumes from the rag bin at Goodwill. In fact, the only reason we did Oliver Twist was because those kinds of crappy, raggedy clothes were readily available at the Salvation Army. I remember roasting wearing an itchy canary yellow polyester dress in my timeless role as Miss Eliza Sellers.

They go on trips. Real trips. Not just to Kingston to see the old fort or Toronto to see a show. They go to New York, Italy and Paris. I'm sure they cost a flipping fortune and I'm going to have to be one of those parents who never has enough cash to send their kids anywhere. Elliott'll probably watch all his friends go to cool places just like I did. I'll tell him what my parents told me "it builds character". Quick fun fact: it doesn't.

High school is going to be fun for Elliott. I only hope he takes advantage of what's available. Except for the trips. I hope he's indifferent about the trips.

kxx

Car guards receive expensive Audi R8 as gift

Two car guards working at the Table Mountain Cable Car station in Cape Town was left stunned when a businessman approached them and gave them an Audi R8 car, valued at R1,4 million, as a gift! They thought he was joking but he later returned giving them the keys and paperwork.



The businessman said he had a dream to come to the mountain and told them they should use the car to do good deeds. The car guards have cut a slit in the bonnet of the car (yikes!) for messages and donations to be dropped in.



Police officers have stopped the two car guards assuming that the car was possibly stolen but the businessman has proved that he did indeed give them the car as a gift.

Have you ever seen the movie, Pay It Forward? Well, this story reminded me of that movie. There's still some good-natured people out there. This could well have been a big publicity stunt but since the businessman has remained anonymous, it appears to have been an act of kindness after all.



I must admit, I initially did question the validity of the story and then realised we seem to live in a world where negativity reigns supreme. Perhaps its time to change that.



Related link

Man gives Audi R8 as a tip

Fatal shark attack in Fish Hoek

A man was killed on Tuesday after an attack by a Great White shark in Fish Hoek, outside Cape Town. I became aware of the attack after reading a message on Twitter, the social network: "Holy sh*t. We just saw a gigantic shark eat what looked like a person in front of our house ... That shark was huge. Like dinosaur huge". The message was posted by a resident in Fish Hoek who witnessed the attack from his home.



The giant shark attacked at an approximate two metre depth, which is considered rather shallow. There was an official warning issued earlier in the day by Cape Town's risk management centre since several sharks were spotted in the surrounding area. The beaches around the Cape Peninsula were closed after the incident but re-opened today after authorities were satisfied.



The last fatal shark attack at Fish Hoek was five years ago. Even though shark attacks are statistically quite uncommon, one should always be alert considering you're in their territory while swimming.



Here's a few things you can do to help reduce the risk of being attacked by a shark

• Swim in groups


• Use beaches where lifesavers and shark spotters are used


• Stay on the landward side of wavebreakers


• Don't go in more than waist-deep


• Stay out of the water if mammals like whales or dolphins are spotted close to the beach


• Stay out if fishermen with trawl nets are operating in the area

More safety tips: How to prevent a shark attack and what to do if it happens



Related links

Shark attack in water two-metres deep

Ugly Betty was on last night and, yes, I taped it

I also developed my film and listened to my walkman. Albums on my walkman. A mailman delivered my letters, a garbageman picked up my recycling, I dialled my phone and called a friend who wasn't home so left a message on her answering machine. Then I was late for an appointment and got a speeding ticket from a policeman.

I'm tired of saying these things and adding a sheepish "you know what I mean". I, in fact, do have and know the modern names for all these things but they don't come to me as quickly as these early learned, comfy terms do. Deal with it. I'm aware that I sound every second of my 42 years when I explain to someone that I spent the day watching stuff had on "tape" when I mean my pvr but I'm old and prone to bouts of verbal nostalgia. Leave me alone.

kxx

Karen vs. Fat Pants

So the other day I was refining my résumé and getting frustrated about the fact that you can fly a fricking space shuttle through the holes in the thing. I decided that the only solution was a shopping trip. My pants have, of late, starting strangling my bloated stomach like a python squeezes his breakfast so it was time for a pair of "fat pants". Most women have a pair of these in the backs of their closets. I, however, am not most women. I smugly gave mine to Goodwill a few months ago. Well that shows me, doesn't it? Obviously unemployment, Maury Povich and bacon jam have conspired against my ass to make it woefully pudding-like.

Anyway, I went to Zellers (just because I park there and walk through that store to get into the Mall) and there was nothing in my size. Uh oh already. Then I went to Ricki's. It's my favourite store as I've mentioned here before but while their tops are gorgeous, their pants are never flattering on me. Nothing. Then it was off to The Gap. Surely I'd find a pair of jeans in a store that prides themselves on fitting all shapes and sizes. Suffice it to say that after trying on all the jeans in a size 14 that they had, I left the store with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. Wow, I really have gained a few pounds (she writes euphemistically). I decided right then to just leave the Mall entirely, go home, put on one of my mother's old muumuus and eat the Nutella ice cream I just made. All of it.

On my way out I pass AdditionElle, a store that caters to 14+ sized girls. I used to shop there years ago for tops that could button over my formerly ample bosom. Since I had that "little" issue taken care of, I've never thought of it twice. Well, I thought of it today.

You know the good thing about the "big girl store"? You feel small. The salesladies are curvy, the clothes go up to size 30... even the large display tables and cash desk make me feel like Alice after she drank the Wonderland Kool-Aid. Or ate the 'shroom, I can never remember which.

Anyway, I asked the saleslady for help and she brought me 5 pairs of jeans in size 14, the smallest size they carry. As I tried them on, I started to get depressed yet again. Shit. Now they were all too big. Funny how a 14 at The Gap was muffin-topping me but a 14 here I didn't even have to unzip to put on. It made me realize that I'm probably a size 13 here which exists only in Karenworld along with zero calorie doughnuts, two-week winters and money trees.

The last pair I tried was the one I liked least on the hanger. They had no front pockets, button or fly. Eek. Pull-ons. Killmenow. But everytime I go shopping I hear Stacy and Clinton in my ears saying to try on everything since you never know what'll look good. Well, when I put these on, they looked good. Great, even. A little on the big side but not as bad as the others and the gorgeous thighs. The thighs are soooo roomy. My jeans usually treat my thighs like a casing treats sausage meat. I was looking for fat pants anyway and wearing these made me feel like I'd actually lost some weight. A bit flowy. Perfect. Also, when I sit down in them for more than 30 minutes, I don't see little purple flowers blooming in my periphery like I did with my old jeans.

So, here we are. I own a pair of jeans that fit. Yes, I got them at a store that wasn't my first choice, but they fit and they look nice and they'll do me until spring when I start dragonboating again. Hopefully then they'll find a cosy place at the back of the closet where fat pants normally live and I can pull them out next season. That is if I don't get all cocky again and give them away.

kxx

Ever see the cover of a magazine that made you NOT want to buy it?

This happened to me last week when I was glancing at the racks in the grocery checkout and saw Kate Gosselin's incredibly fake weave on the front of People.

Scary weaves: it's not just for Black girls anymore.

kxx

Difference Among C.V, Resume & Biodata.

In this fast going world people are search for good job but did you know..??People use the words RESUME, C.V., and BIO-DATA interchangeably for the document highlighting skills, education, and experience that a candidate submits when applying for a job. On the surface level, all the three mean the same. However, there are intricate differences.

RESUME

Resume Is a French word meaning "summary", and true to the word meaning, signifies a summary of one's employment, education, and other skills, used in applying for a new position. A resume seldom exceeds one side of an A4 sheet, and at the most two sides. They do not list out all the education and qualifications, but only highlight specific skills customized to target the job profile in question. A resume is usually broken into bullets and written in the third person to appear objective and formal. A good resume starts with a brief Summary of Qualifications, followed by Areas of Strength or Industry Expertise in keywords, followed by Professional Experience in reverse chronological order. Focus is on the most recent experiences, and prior experiences summarized. The content aims at providing the reader a balance of responsibilities and accomplishments for each position. After Work experience come Professional Affiliations, Computer Skills, and Education.

C.V CURRICULUM VITAE

C.V Is a Latin word meaning "course of life". Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) is therefore a regular or particular course of study pertaining to education and life. A C.V. is more detailed than a resume,

usually 2 to 3 pages, but can run even longer as per the requirement. A C.V. generally lists out every skills, jobs, degrees, and professional affiliations the applicant has acquired, usually in chronological order. A C.V. displays general talent rather than specific skills for any specific positions.

BIO-DATA

Bio Data the short form for Biographical Data, is the old-fashioned terminology for Resume or C.V. The emphasis in a bio data is on personal particulars like date of birth, religion, sex, race, nationality,residence, martial status, and the like. Next comes a chronological listing of education and experience. The things normally found in a resume, that is specific skills for the job in question comes last, and are seldom included. Bio-data also includes applications made in specified formats as required by the company.

A resume is ideally suited when applying for middle and senior level positions, where experience and specific skills rather than education is important. A C.V., on the other hand is the preferred option for fresh graduates, people looking for a career change, and those applying for academic positions. The term bio-data is mostly used in India while applying to government jobs, or when applying for research grants and other situations where one has to submit descriptive essays.

Resumes present a summary of highlights and allow the prospective employer to scan through the document visually or electronically, to see if your skills match their available positions. A good resume can do that very effectively, while a C.V. cannot. A bio-data could still perform this role, especially if the format happens to be the one recommended by the employer.

Personal information such as age, sex, religion and others, and hobbies are never mentioned in a resume. Many people include such particulars in the C.V. However, this is neither required nor considered in the US market. A Bio-data, on the other hand always include such personal particulars.

Those slacker kids in baggy pants drive me nuts

So technically, my own 13 year old drives me nuts. Because for the last few days Elliott has been wearing giant jeans that he's constantly pulling up. But it's not his fault, it's mine.

See, my kids don't care about clothes. Not at all. So when I'm out I'll buy them clothes from wherever they're on sale. Anywhere from West49 to the Salvation Army. Unfortunately what I'm not good at is judging sizes. I always think the kids are sweet, cute, babies and buy them tiny clothes. So when Elliott came to me saying that he had put a hole in the ass of his pants, I sprang into action. Off I went to the store. After 15 minutes of holding every pair of Baby Gap cords in front of me and squealing like a little girl, I realized I was in the wrong area. The kid is taller than me for goodness sake. Off I went to the men's section. Here's the problem. The boy really should start coming with me. I have no conception of his size. All I did was hold about 10 pairs of jeans in front of me making sure they hit the floor. What I neglected to check was the size of the waist. My bad.

So when he tried them on several hours later, he had to manually hold them up. When I asked him to let go of the waistband, they fell to that unfortunate "homeboy zone" showing his underwear waistband and a quarter of his butt. Damn. They were a 31 inch waist and we measured and he's just shy of 28. Nevertheless, he wanted to wear them (beltless of course) and off he shuffled to school with his pants half off and the legs in puddles around his winter boots. Sigh.

So the next time you see a teenager in those ridiculous pants, yes, he could be a wannabe homie, but he also could be the hapless victim of a misguided mummy.

kxx

Picture Of The Year..Must See

I have no words to say anything..This is what we really need to do rather than making plans just on papers and by doing nothing.Not only Rest of the world but everybody should learn from this.Really Hats Off...

Agra Fort

Agra's history goes back more than 2500 years, but it wasn't until the reign of the Mughals that Agra became more than a provincial city.

Agra Fort

Humayun, son of the founder of the Mogul empire, was offered jewelry and precious stones by the family of the Raja of Gwalior, one of them the famous Koh-i-Noor. The heyday of Agra came with the reign of Humayun's son, Akbar The Great. During his reign, the main part of the Agra fort was built. Construction of the fort started in 1156 and was finished in 1605. Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal, erected most of the buildings inside the fortress.

Inside Agra Fort

After going through the gate you walk over a ramp and enter the Great Courtyard. On the right hand sight, there's the many pillared Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Public Audience). Hall of Public Audience It was built by Shah Janan in 1628. Further you find the Royal Pavilions. It contains beautiful mosques (Nagina Masjid & Mina Masjid), palaces (Macchi Bhavan, Khas Mahal, Shish Mahal, Shah Jahani Mahal) and the Zenana Mina Bazaar.Several of the buildings are made of pure marble with beautiful carvings. To cool off the rooms in the marble pavilions, the walls were hollow and filled with running water.From the balconies in the pavilions, you have a nice view on the Yamuna river and the Taj Mahal.

It comprises many fairy-tale palaces, such as the Jahangir Palace and the Khas Mahal, built by Shah Jahan; audience halls, such as the Diwan-i-Khas; and two very beautiful mosques.

The monumental Delhi Gate, which faces the city on the western side of the fort, is considered the grandest of the four gates and a masterpiece of Akbar's time.[who?] It was built circa 1568 both to enhance security and as the king's formal gate, and includes features related to both. It is embellished with inlay work in white marble, proof to the richness and power of the Great Mughals. A wooden drawbridge was used to cross the moat and reach the gate from the mainland; inside, an inner gateway called Hathi Pol ("Elephant Gate") - guarded by two life sized stone elephants with their riders - added another layer of security. The drawbridge, slight ascent, and 90 degree turn between the outer and inner gates, make the entrance impregnable. During a siege, attackers would employ elephants to crush a fort's gates. Without a level, straight run-up to gather speed, however, something prevented by this layout, elephants are ineffective.

Because the Indian military (the Parachute Brigade in particular) is still using the northern portion of the Agra Fort, the Delhi Gate cannot be used by the public. Tourists enter via the Lahore Gate, so named because it faces Lahore, now in Pakistan.