Thursday 29 December 2011

flowers for valentines - Portfolio 2012 expo


KOCHI: Every well-taken shot is an imprint of an event. There are frames all around, the distance being some clicks away. 'Portfolio 2012', where Kochi's lens men come together as a forum, features a hand-picked collection of images clicked by 45 photo journalists of the city. Held at Durbar Hall Art Gallery from December 29, Minister for Excise, K Babu inaugurated the event. Film director Siddique, Press Club Secretary Abdulla Mattancherry were present for the function. There are frames from all walks of life, ranging from the major political events of the year, to the socio-cultural happenings around.
Be it the heart rending image of a man crying in front of the Chief Minister to a group of ants carrying a worm, to a dancer wiping her tears at a youth festival venue to a nomadic baby crying near a pile of flowers, each picture is candid and sharp, a characteristic feature of the snaps taken by the journalists.
Deepaprasad T K, news photographer of Keralakaumudi Malayalam daily says,
“This event has been held for the last ten years at the same venue. It is a joint venture of all the photographers of the city. There are 70 pictures in total. The exhibition provides an opportunity for the public to rewind all the major happenings that took place this year, be it the Sabarimala tragedy or the School Athletic meet, an attempt to cover all the events”
The images showcased carry all the frames of life, ranging from basic human emotions like ecstasy, sadness to the daily turmoil of life like traffic blocks, hartals.
There are images of a crippled athlete, to the charming Shobhana placing her adroit hands to suggest a bhava.
“The Photo journalists forum is a unique group in which all the shutterbugs of the city are its members. Two photographs by each photographer are showcased at the event.
Every year the event is held from December 29 to January 2, so that we can exhibit the photos taken through the year," said Jayaram Rajagopal, senior photographer of Janmabhumi Malayalam newspaper. Along with the exhibition, C K Jayakrishnan memorial photo award distribution was also held. V Ali, chief photographer of Chandrika newspaper received the cash award and citation from the minister.

Wednesday 28 December 2011

flowers for valentines - Holiday Products Releases Valentine’s Day Brochure


CHATSWORTH, Calif.—Holiday Products has released its 16-page, 2012 Valentine’s Day Brochure. The company continues to increase its exposure in the adult marketplace through target-specific print media.
Ken Sahn, vice president of Holiday Products, said, “Providing our customers with a concise yet comprehensive selection of Valentine’s Day products was our goal. Our graphic arts team exceeded expectations with this presentation.”
Susanna Molina, Holiday Products’ purchasing manager, said, “We hand-picked over 200 products to assist our customers in maximizing sales for the Valentine aeason. The catalog features new lines such as Bijoux Indiscrets, BMS Leaf, Screaming O Studio, Sportsheets S&M,  Icon Brands and LELO Insignia.”
Other top selling lines included are We-Vibe, Fresh Balls, Numa Gel, Shunga, Classic Erotica, Pipedream and California Exotic Novelties.
To request a free Valentine’s Day Brochure or for more information, call (800) 266-5969 or e-mail sales@holidayproducts.com.
i% � , I H � �� Bailey. Maybe I'm being a bit of an ageist against the 33-year old Bailey, or maybe I just don't like the Broncos (bet on the latter), but I would prefer Flowers over him.

Any other potential snubs? I don't really see any out there. Even Flowers as a snub is a stretch.

Tuesday 27 December 2011

flowers for valentines-Forty couples can get married for free on Valentine's Day


Couples trying to save money may get their wish on Valentine's Day.

The Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller's Office is offering the second annual Sweetheart Deal Valentine's Day Wedding.

Forty couples will be given a free wedding ceremony at 2 p.m. Feb. 14 at the National Croquet Center in West Palm Beach.

Last year, 23 couples were married.

Included in the ceremony will be cake pops, champagne, wedding decorations, photography and flowers.

Five couples will be eligible for a weekend stay at a local hotel.

Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller Sharon Bock will preside over the ceremony.

Registration for the wedding ceremony runs through Feb. 10 or until 40 spaces are filled.

Couples taking part in the Valentine's Day wedding must present a valid marriage license before taking their vows.

Friday 23 December 2011

flowers for valentines - Keith Graham’s Country View

THERE are parts of the razzmatazz of the modern Christmas that I dislike profoundly.
Most of all perhaps, the sheer commercial cheapening of a great event which occurred more than 2000 years ago and which, whichever way you look at it, changed markedly the course of human history.
It may be that the materialism which now dominates our lives so, was not really a telling factor in memories of my own childhood.
I have only fragmentary memories of pre-war Christmases, so inevitably the wartime ones are clearer in my mind.

That of course, was a time when there was little place for materialism; rather was survival the order of the day... and frugal living!
But before I am accused of adopting a Scrooge-like attitude of "Bah, Humbug", let me assure you that there are still many aspects of Christmas that still warm the cockles of my heart.
I adore traditional Christmas music and by that I don’t necessarily mean, "I’m dreaming of a White Christmas"! But it is the connections that are renewed by the cards that I write and receive – those re-connection with old friends and new that bring news, sadly not always good, but which certainly stir memories, that are most certainly a source of great warmth.
There’s nothing to beat the sheer joy on a child’s face when presents are at last opened. And of course, the turkey, the Christmas pudding and the mince pies, not to mention all those other goodies that are so much a part of the festivities, are also inevitably among my own favourite facets of a family orientated Christmas!
These days we are deluged with the relatively recent traditions of Christmas trees and holly (and the ivy of course), both now a source of much trading, but which are perhaps rather resonant of our pagan past.
These evergreens, together with the likes of rowans were regarded as the best means of warding off evil spirits, the same reason incidentally, you will find yew trees planted in graveyards or indeed beside houses. I have incidentally, an ancient yew close to my own front door!
However, it is perhaps the Christmas cards that prove to be a particular highlight. They were of course, an invention of Victorian times, initially designed as Valentine messages but then soon seen perhaps as a symbolic and indeed, vaguely commercial aspect of a new kind of Christmas.
What we now regard as the “traditional Christmas” without doubt emerged during the age of Victoria, its introduction in particular, much influenced by her Consort, Albert.
It does seem that the celebration of Christmas was much more universal and indeed profoundly more colourful, in Continental Europe than it was here in Britain until the Consort’s influence began to tell.
Perhaps the Puritans here looked upon such Christmas festivities as if they were some kind of bawdy festival and thus, far, far beneath their dignity. It may also be the case of course, that historically, such celebration of Christmas had previously been reserved more exclusively for the nobility, rather than for the peasantry!
Whilst the first Valentines and indeed the first Christmas cards, unsurprisingly featured flowers (universal tokens of love), as most of them were initially exchanged between lovers or would-be lovers, it wasn’t long before the exchange of Christmas cards became more universal. Gradually, other images became fashionable and most noticeably, robin redbreast became a particularly popular subject on them.
By which time, postal services had begun and the first postmen employed. Coincidentally, their uniform included a vermilion coloured waistcoat and it wasn’t long before they became known as ‘robins’, a sobriquet, which inevitably connected to images of robins carrying Christmas cards in their beaks.
More images that connected with those first “traditional” Christmases slowly emerged too, with for instance, portraits of jolly, top-hatted gentlemen and crinolined ladies leaning out from heaving horse-drawn carriages as they approached a well lit hostelry... inevitably through a snow ridden landscape, among them.
But the robin remained and still remains dominant. Indeed, the rob, rob, robin just keeps bob, bob, bobbing along! And as far as I can see, this year, the robin has once more staked his claim as one of the more popular Christmas card images.
In that respect, the everlasting robin proves to be amazingly resilient even in the face of more modern images including what I am inclined to call “the stand up” funny’ (or sometimes decidedly unfunny!) cards, the “glamour” cards and a whole host of other, modern designs.
Imagery
Is the robin’s paramount place in the imagery of Christmas deserved? Well yes I think it is, for pretty much alone amongst our garden birds, the redbreast still provides us with fragments of deliciously sweet music, even on the shortest and darkest of winter days.
However, even in that fact is perhaps betrayed something of the nature of the bird, for those short phrases of bell-like notes offer more than a hint of the real nature of this garden favourite. For cock robin, the holding of territory, be it breeding territory or just winter feeding territory, is absolutely elementary.
Those fragments of song are indeed a message, not so much of goodwill, but a proclamation of territorial integrity. Indeed, they also advertise availability in the spring of the year. And ... they also issue a warning and at times a veritable battle cry to other cock robins that tells them that to challenge for this territory will inevitably culminate in conflict. And boy, when robins set about the defence of their realms they do so with every fibre of their bodies.
And yet, the robin remains the favourite of so many. Gardeners love them because as they dig, they expose all sorts of invertebrate goodies, which are immediately eagerly seized upon by redbreasts.
Perhaps it is this intimacy that adds to the appeal of the robin, with its baby-like, large, dark eyes and colourfully blazing red breast.
Indeed, here we also enter the world of legend for tradition has it that a robin attended Jesus upon the Cross, plucking a thorn from His brow, the red breast testament to the drops of blood that were duly shed.
There are tales too of a pet robin, which belonged to St Kentigern, the Scottish bishop who founded Glasgow’s cathedral. Because, as a student, he was much favoured by his tutor, St Serf, his fellow students became jealous of him and killed the robin.
However St Kentigern restored the wee bird to life. This touching story lives on through the City’s coat of arms, which features a “robin proper”!
William Wordsworth was another great fan of the robin, which he always called redbreast. The bird features in no fewer than 14 of his poems. Indeed in a note to his poem, “The Redbreasts”, he tells of a time when his sister Dorothy was ill and a redbreast took up residence in her sickroom.
He further relates that as well as singing to her, the bird periodically fanned her face with its wings ... “in a manner most touching”.
Tradition
Presumably, the poet was unaware of another tradition, which foretells that the appearance of a robin to a sick person might well presage their death!
If in essence, this is the stuff of legends, then the robin is nevertheless the most readily recognised of our birds, is certainly one of the key symbols of Christmas.
According to one seventeenth century poet, “The Redbreast teacheth charity”. As Christmas is surely all about charity ... giving, what better vehicle is there than the robin redbreast, to wish you all, “A Very Happy Christmas”.