Elvis Presley was the first

real rock and roll star.

Born January 8, 1935, in East Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley was the son of Gladys and Vernon Presley, a sewing machine operator and a truck driver.

Gladys, Elvis and Vernon Presley
1937

A white southerner who singing blues laced with country and country tinged with gospel, Presley brought together music from both sides of the color line. Presley performed this music with a natural hip swiveling sexuality that made him a teen idol and a role model for generations of cool rebels. Presley was repeatedly dismissed as vulgar, incompetent and a bad influence. However the force of his music and image signaled to the mainstream culture it was time for a change.

The day after graduation he took a job at Parker Machinists Shop. By   June he was working at the Precision Tool Company and then drove truck for the Crown Electric Co. After a short time in the stock room he is promoted to truck driving and begins to wear his long hair pompadoured, the current truck driver style. That summer he recorded “My Happiness” and “That’s When the Your Heartaches Begin” at  Memphis Recording Studios, a sideline Sam Phillips had started at his Sun Records studios where anyone could record a ten inch acetate for four dollars.

September 1955 Presley had his first #1 country record “Mystery Train” b/w “I Forgot to Remember to Forget. By this time Colonel Parker, despite the agreement with Neal, had become increasingly involved with Presley’s career and had negotiated for RCA to purchase Presley’s contract from Sun Records for $35,000. Presley received a $5,000 advance that he used to buy his mother a pink Cadillac.

After signing with RCA Presley became a national star in 1956

On January 28, 1956, he made his television debut

In early 1957 Presley became the target of criticism by teachers, clergymen, and even other entertainers who thought his style was to suggestive. Even being   nicknamed  “Elvis the Pelvis”

Presley was the first rock star to crossover into films with consistent commercial success. Loving You, his second film, was released in July 1957 and “Teddy Bear” from it’s soundtrack went to #1 on the pop, country, and R&B charts, as did “All Shook Up” and “Jailhouse Rock,” the title song from his next movie. That December he received his draft notice, but was given a 30 day deferment to complete the filming of King Creole.

On March 24, 1958 Presley entered the Army. The next months saw number one hits with “Don’t” and “I Beg You.” A few months later he went on leave to be with sick mother. Gladys Presley died the day after his ar rival home in Memphis, on August 14, 1958. Presley would call her death the greatest tragedy in his life. He returned to the Army and was shipped to Bremerhaven, West Germany. In January 1960 he was promoted to sergeant and was discharged that March.

After a live performance on March 25, 1961 Presley quit performing and spent the next eight years making movies. The soundtracks from his movies were generally poor. By the mid-Sixties Presley was earning $1 million per movie plus a large percentage of the gross.

With the British invasion, teenagers were hearing more of his disciples than Presley himself. Presley, unlike most American rockers wasn’t swept away, but the Top Ten was increasingly beyond his reach. Presley turned increasing inward, focusing on the family. On May 1, 1967 Presley married Priscilla in Las Vegas; on February 1, 1968 their only child Lisa Marie was born. Fearing he had been forgotten, Presley defied Parker and made a comeback television special.

Over the summer he taped the television special that was released on December 3, 1968 to high ratings. It’s soundtrack reached #8 and produced his first Top Twenty single “If I Can Dream” (#12, 1968) since 1965.  With this success Presley turned to performing in Las Vegas.  On July 26, 1969 Presley began a month long appearance at the International Hotel. This set the course for all of his future performances. His fee for four months was over a $1 million. Riding the crest of the comeback Presley released a series of top singles, including “In the Ghetto,” “Suspicious Minds,” “Don’t Cry Daddy,” and The Wonder of You”. Presley began touring again, his shows selling out and frequently breaking box office records. Two on tour documentaries were released Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (1970) and Elvis On Tour (1972), the latter which won the Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary.

Presley was honored with countless Elvis Presley days around the country, and the U.S, Jaycees named him one of the ten most outstanding young men of America  in 1970. His birthplace in Tupelo, Mississippi was opened to the public and a portion of Highway 61 South that ran in front of Graceland was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. That October Presley had his last Top ten hit “Burning Love” (#2).

Meanwhile Presley’s personal life had become the subject of countless tabloids.In February 1972, Presley  separated from Priscilla and on his birthday in 1973 filed for divorce. Less than a week later the TV special Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii was broadcast over satellite to over a billion people in forty countries, an indication of his international appeal although (with the exception of three dates in Canada in 1957 and an impromptu performance in Paris while on leave in 1959) Presley never performed outside the United States. During his career Presley had 94 gold singles, three gold EPs, and over 40 gold albums. His movies grossed over $180 million and millions more were made by the merchandising of Elvis products, the rights which were controlled by Colonel Parker

Outwardly, Presley was more popular than ever and one of the biggest personality cults in modern history was taking hold. Off stage Presley was plagued with self doubt, poor management, and a basic dissatisfaction with his life. He repeatedly threatened to quit show business, but debts and financial obligations to his large extended family, employees, and assorted hangers on made that impossible. Presley turned to drugs. After leaving the army he became wary of the public and would often rent whole movie theatres and amusement parks that he would visit at night. By the late Sixties he was an almost total recluse. Although there was evidence that Presley began taking drugs shortly after began performing or while in the army, his abuse of prescription drugs increased during the last years of his life. Through all this he remained highly spiritual and publicly denounced the use of recreational drugs.

Toward the end of his life he would babble incoherently on stage and rip his pants, having grown quite obese, and at least once collapsed on stage. Despite deteriorating health, Presley maintained a frantic tour schedule, because in 1973 Colonel Parker negotiated a deal with RCA to the rights of many of his masters in exchange for a lump sum payment of which only 2.8 million came to him. After 1973, Parker was earning nearly 50% commission. Worse yet Presley wasn’t earning royalties on records recorded before 1973, although they continued to sell millions. Presley opposed tax shelters on principle; naively relied on his father for business advice; gave away expensive gifts and cash. The result was by the mid-Seventies was an impending financial disaster.

une 26, 1977 Presley performed live for the last time in Indianapolis. On August 16, 1977, the day before his next scheduled concert, Presley was discovered by his girlfriend Ginger Alden dead in his bathroom at Graceland. His death was attributed to congestive heart failure. A later autopsy revealed advanced hardening of the arteries and an enlarged liver. Later it was determined that drug abuse may have been a contributing factor. in September 1979 Presley’s private doctor Dr. George Nichopoulos was charged by the Tennessee Board of Medical Examiners with indiscriminately prescribing 5,300 and vials in the seven months before his death. He was later acquitted.

photos courtesy Graceland…..coming right up!

Thousands gathered at Graceland where his body lay in state before he was buried in a mausoleum at Forest Hills Cemetery in Memphis. After attempts to break into the mausoleum, Presley’s body and that of his mother were moved to the Meditation Garden behind Graceland. Nearly two years later, Vernon died and was also buried there. The estate now passed on to Lisa Marie.

Court battles over the estate ended in June 1983 after twenty one months of litigation with a settlement of four lawsuits. Colonel Parker was forced to turn over most of his interests in Presley’s audio and visual recordings to RCA and the Presley family in return for a large monetary settlement. Priscillia Presley assumed control of the estate and through a number of business moves made Presley’s estate more valuable than it had ever been. The cornerstone of the Elvis Presley Enterprise, Inc. financial empire is the Tennessee state law Priscillia Presley pushed for that guarantees to his heirs of commercial rights to the deceased celebrity’s image and likeness. As a result Elvis Presley is a trademark and anyone selling Presley related memorabilia in the U.S. must pay EPE an advance fee plus a royalty on every item sold.

Claiming the funds were needed to maintain the property, Priscillia opened Graceland to the public in 1982. Though not maintained exactly as Elvis left it and the second floor, where the bedroom was remains off limits to the public, millions from all over the world have visited Graceland. Approximately 675,000 people visit Graceland yearly. The Presley estate in now estimated at well over a $100 million.

Presley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
Graceland Photos

“Elvis”, “Elvis Presley” and “Graceland” are Registered Trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises,
Inc. © 1996 E.P.E., Inc.

YOU ARE?

CAPRICORN – The Go-Getter (Dec 22 – Jan 19)

Patient and wise. Practical and rigid.. Ambitious. Tends to be Good-looking. Humorous and funny. Can be a bit shy and reserved. Often pessimistic.. Capricorns tend to act before they think and can be Unfriendly at times.. Hold grudges. Like competition. Get what they want.

AQUARIUS – The Sweetheart (Jan 20 – Feb 18)

Optimistic and honest. Sweet personality… Very independent. Inventive and intelligent. Friendly and loyal.. Can seem unemotional… Can be a bit rebellious.. Very stubborn, but original and unique. Attractive on the inside and out… Eccentric personality.

PISCES – The Dreamer (Feb 19 – Mar 20)

Generous, kind, and thoughtful. Very creative and imaginative. May become secretive and vague. Sensitive. Don’t like details. Dreamy and unrealistic. Sympathetic and loving. Kind Unselfish. Good kisser.. Beautiful.

ARIES – The Daredevil (Mar 21 – April 19)

Energetic. Adventurous and spontaneous.. Confident and enthusiastic. Fun. Loves a challenge. EXTREMELY impatient. Sometimes selfish. Short fuse. (Easily angered..) Lively, passionate, and sharp wit. Outgoing. Lose interest quickly – easily bored. Egotistical. Courageous and assertive. Tends to be physical and athletic.

TAURUS – The Enduring One (April 20 – May 20)

Charming but aggressive.. Can come off as boring, but they are not. Hard workers. Warm-hearted. Strong, has endurance. Solid beings that are stable and secure in their ways. Not looking for shortcuts. Take pride in their beauty. Patient and reliable. Make great friends and give good advice. Loving and kind. Loves hard – passionate. Express themselves emotionally.. Prone to ferocious temper-tantrums. Determined. Indulge themselves often. Very generous..

GEMINI – The Chatterbox (May 21 – June 20)

Smart and witty. Outgoing, very chatty.. Lively, energetic. Adaptable but needs to express them selves. Argumentative and outspoken. Like change. Versatile. Busy, sometimes nervous and tense.. Gossips. May seem superficial or inconsistent. Beautiful physically and mentally.

CANCER – The Protector (June 21 – July 22)

Moody, emotional. May be shy.. Very loving and caring. Pretty/handsome. Excellent partners for life. Protective. Inventive and imaginative. Cautious. Touchy-feely kind of person. Needs love from others. Easily hurt, but sympathetic.

LEO – The Boss (July 23 – Aug 22)

Very organized. Need order in their lives – like being in control. Like boundaries. Tend to take over everything. Bossy. Like to help Others. Social and outgoing. Extroverted.. Generous, warm-hearted. Sensitive. Creative energy…. Full of themselves. Loving. Doing the right thing is important to Leos.. Attractive.

VIRGO – The Perfectionist (Aug 23 – Sept 22)

Dominant In relationships. Conservative. Always wants the last word.. Argumentative.. Worries. Very smart. Dislikes noise and chaos. Eager. Hardworking. Loyal. Beautiful. Easy to talk to. Hard to please. Harsh. Practical and very fussy.. Often shy. Pessimistic..

LIBRA – The Harmonizer (Sept 23 – O ct 22)

Nice to everyone they meet. Can’t make up their mind . Have own unique appeal. Creative, energetic, and very social. Hates to be alone. Peaceful, generous. Very loving and beautiful.. Flirtatious Give in too easily. Procrastinators.. Very gullible.

SCORPIO – The Intense One (Oct 23 – Nov 21)

Very energetic. Intelligent. Can be jealous and/or possessive. Hardworking. Great kisser.. Can become obsessive or secretive. Holds grudges. Attractive. Determined. Loves being in long Relationships. Talkative… Romantic. Can be self-centered at times. Passionate and Emotional.

SAGITTARIUS – The Happy-Go-Lucky One (Nov 22 – Dec 21)

Good-natured optimist…Doesn’t want to grow up (Peter Pan Syndrome). Indulges self. Boastful. Likes luxuries and gambling. Social and outgoing.. Doesn’t like responsibilities. Often fantasizes. Impatient…. Fun to be around. Having lots of friends. Flirtatious. Doesn’t like rules… Sometimes hypocritical.. Dislikes being confined – tight spaces or even tight clothes. Doesn’t like being doubted. Beautiful inside and out

Teens who have struggled with drug addictions

shared their experiences:  Real Stories:

Anabolic Steroids; Behind the Bulk: Craig’s Story
Craig took steroids because he wanted to look like an action figure. Craig did get bigger, but so did his problems.

Adapted from Heads Up: Real News About Drugs and Your Body, Scholastic, Inc., 2003.

Every time he passed a mirror, Craig flexed his muscles. He wanted to look “insanely big-like an action figure.”

“When I walked into a room, I wanted heads to turn,” he says. People did notice Craig’s 225-pound, 5-foot 9-inch frame. But what they didn’t see was the physical damage and psychological turmoil going on inside. The story behind the bulk was five years of steroid abuse and a struggle with muscle dysmorphia, a condition in which a person has a distorted image of his or her body. Men with this condition think that they look small and weak, even if they are large and muscular.

Illegal and Grim

It all started when Craig was 18. Before a trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, he was feeling overweight. He wanted to look good with his shirt off, so he resolved to get fit. A student at Bristol Community College, in Fall River, Massachusetts, he started going to a nearby gym. Running on the treadmill, he slimmed down fast, losing 20 pounds in a month.

But lean wasn’t Craig’s ideal. “My whole priority was, I wanted people to say, That guy’s huge.”

He lifted weights and experimented with steroidal supplements, also called dietary supplements. These drugs promise to build muscles. Despite potential risks and unclear effectiveness, they can be bought legally over the counter at many stores.

But what Craig was looking for couldn’t be bought in a store. So he turned to anabolic steroids, drugs derived from the male sex hormone testosterone.

Under a doctor’s supervision, anabolic steroids have some legitimate medical uses, as do corticosteroids, a different type of steroid used to reduce swelling. But to use steroids as Craig did, for muscle-building in a healthy body, is illegal. This didn’t stop him. Neither did the many grim potential side effects.

Craig thought he knew exactly what he was getting into. And like 4 percent of high school seniors (according to a 2002 NIDA-funded study) and an estimated hundreds of thousands of adults, he took steroids anyway.

Heart Problems

Craig’s appearance was that important to him. “The scale was my enemy. Every pound meant so much to me,” he says.

Craig constantly compared himself to others. He drove his friends and family crazy asking, “Is that guy bigger than me? What about that guy?”

He never had complete satisfaction. “Some days, I’d be arrogant, wearing shorts to show off my quads. Other days, I’d be a disaster. On a non-lifting day, I’d have to wear big, baggy clothes.”

Craig’s steroid use escalated over time. He had begun by taking oral steroids (pills) exclusively. But when he heard that injectable steroids were more effective, he overcame a fear of needles. At his worst, he was injecting three to four times a day and taking 10 pills on top of that.

The drugs took their toll. Craig’s hair fell out; acne popped up all over his back; his face swelled. Then, something even more serious happened: He started having chest pains.

Craig was having heart problems of the emotional sort, too. “I don’t even remember how much of a jerk I was,” he says.

New Priorities

There was a lot of screaming and yelling at home, and ultimately, the end of his marriage and a custody battle over his 1-year-old son, Jake. Craig’s wife said that Craig, then 25, couldn’t see their child until he passed a drug test. That was the moment when everything changed for Craig. He knew he had to quit.

On Father’s Day, 2001, Craig went cold turkey. He knew he needed help, so his parents found him a psychiatrist, who treated him through the better part of a year.

Today, Craig’s priorities have changed. He still wants to be a head-turner, but for a different reason. “Now I’d rather be walking into a room with my son [who is now 2] and have people thinking, Wow, he’s the greatest dad in the world.”

Ecstasy; “E” is for Empty: Daniel’s Story

Daniel used and sold X at raves to feel popular— but he wound up completely alone.

Daniel, 17, of San Clarita Valley, California, wanted prom night to be special. So, he reached into his tuxedo pocket and took out pills stamped with images of Tweety Bird and Buddha. Ecstasy (also called E, X, XTC, Adam, hug, love drug, and beans) looked harmless enough. But Daniel found out the hard way how dangerous it can be.

“My heart was racing so fast. I thought I was having a heart attack,” Daniel said. A friend helped him into the prom because his legs wouldn’t stop trembling. The dance floor was located on a Hollywood movie set. Daniel tingled from head to toe. “Then I hit a peak,” he said. “I felt like a movie star.

Later at a friend’s house, Daniel crashed into gloom and confusion. He swallowed two more “E” pills. Taking multiple doses within a relatively short time multiplies the toxic risks of any drug. With ecstasy, “stacking,” or doubling the dose, carries especially high risk. The level of ecstasy builds and the user’s body can’t keep up with the amount of drug in his or her blood. That’s what happened to Daniel.

“I lay down and couldn’t lift my head,” he said. “My legs were rocking back and forth.”

The following weekend, Daniel dropped “E” at a rave where some 200 kids danced on a dirt clearing. Before long Daniel was selling ecstasy. “I’d walk into raves and yell E and people would crowd around. I felt a sense of power.” With the profits, he bought more ecstasy which he took often, always with other kids. “I did drugs so I didn’t have to feel alone,” he said.

When Daniel’s father worked nights, friends flocked to his house. Adorned with glow-in-the-dark shirts and beads, they danced to trance music and chewed pacifiers to keep their teeth from grinding.

Lives Destroyed

Soon Daniel was dropping up to five “E” pills a day. Desperate to feed his habit, he started selling cocaine and Methamphetamine as well as ecstasy. “I was skinny. My skin was the color of paper. My teeth were rotting out,” Daniel said. “I would steal anything I could get my hands on. I stole valuables from my dad. I didn’t see anything wrong with the way I was acting.”

Once, a friend’s mother wanted to buy drugs from Daniel. When he delivered the bag of speed to the house, Daniel watched his friend’s face crumple in sadness. “I felt really bad. I saw lives being destroyed because of what I was doing,” he said.

On New Year’s Eve, Daniel’s girlfriend called him a “drug addict” and a “lowlife.” He jumped out of her car. “Staring at the city hotels and gas stations, I thought I’m going to be living alone in the streets and that scared the daylights out of me,” Daniel recalled.

The next morning, he went to his father and said, “Dad, I need help.”

New Year/New Beginning

A resident of Phoenix House, a drug-treatment center in Lake View Terrace, California, Daniel has been clean for six months. He’s gained weight, and he cares about himself again. But he worries about ecstasy’s effects. “I feel like I’ve suffered brain damage,” he said. “Sometimes I get stuck in conversations, because I can’t find a word.” Other times he walks the unit and stops in horror, forgetting where he’s going.

Daniel is trying to understand his past and piece his life back together. “I got into drugs because I felt like no one liked me. Then nobody wanted to be around me because of the drugs, and I ended up completely alone,” he said. “I feel like a new person now.”

“E” is for Empty: Daniel’s Story

On how he felt when he was on ecstasy:

“I didn’t care about anyone or anything. I just cared about doing my own thing, selling and partying. I’d take out anyone who got in my way.”

“Ecstasy is a roller coaster. It brings you up so high that you feel like you’re on top of the world. When you come down you feel like a complete outsider, like you don’t belong anywhere.”

On how he saw ecstasy affect others:

“I’d see people get real bad with E. They’d sell the shirt off their backs. This guy once offered me his dirt bike for 40 pills. People tried to give me watches and stuff that I knew they stole from their families. Another guy wanted to give me a bunch of women’s jewelry and a 40-speed bike for a couple pills of E.”

On what he’d tell other kids:

“I’d like to join an N.A. (Narcotics Anonymous) panel and talk to kids who are using. I’d tell them, Get out while you can. It starts out as all fun, games and parties but it leads to real nasty things. You become your own worst enemy.”

From Scholastic, Inc and the Scientists of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Marijuana; The Lows of Getting High: Alby’s
Alby smoked pot to get away from his problems and fit in but soon discovered there’s a high price to pay.

The Lows of Getting High: Alby’s Story

By Cate Baily
Adapted from Heads Up: Real News About Drugs and Your Body, Scholastic, Inc., 2003.

At 18, Alby was living a nightmare behind bars. He felt he was in constant physical danger. “I saw people get stabbed,” he told Scholastic. And he experienced daily indignities. “I couldn’t eat the food they served. The potatoes were like blocks and the meat didn’t taste like meat,” he says.

Believe it or not, getting arrested was probably the best thing that could have happened to Alby. It got him into treatment for his drug problem.

When we spoke to Alby, he was 1 month into his recovery at a drug rehabilitation center in Westchester, New York.

Grudge Against the World

It all started one summer day on a street corner in Yonkers, New York, when Alby was 13. “You need to get your mind right. Hit this blunt,” a friend said.

Alby didn’t have the strength to say no. He felt he had to smoke the blunt (a cigar hollowed out and refilled with marijuana or a mix of cocaine and marijuana) to fit in. He desperately wanted to belong.

His parents had never been there for him. They were drug addicts themselves and couldn’t handle the demands of parenting. So, Alby bounced from a foster home to his grandmother’s to a group home. When he was about 14, his mother died.

“I wasn’t supposed to go through this,” Alby says. “I had a grudge against the world.”

After trying marijuana (also called weed, grass, pot, herb, boom, Mary Jane, and chronic) to fit in, Alby kept abusing the drug because he enjoyed the intoxicated feeling marijuana creates. “It had me in another state of mind,” he says. “I was relaxed. All my problems seemed like they were disappearing.”

The Price

Alby’s problems weren’t disappearing. They were getting worse. The good feelings he sought from marijuana came at a price.

Over the next 5 years, Alby smoked marijuana every day, several times a day. He went to school high and eventually dropped out. “I was losing focus. My attention went from 100 to 0. I was depressed,” he says.

Despite the consequences, Alby kept smoking marijuana. In fact, he was willing to do anything to get high.

Eventually, he started dealing drugs to support his habit. That’s what landed him in a maximum-security jail.

New Friends, Lingering Effects

Now, at Daytop, Alby has been able to address the real problems in his life by talking them out with counselors and making new friends he describes as “positive.”

But he still feels some of the effects of his drug use. “Sometimes I want to say things, and I can’t get them out. I can’t find the words,” Alby says. “I never had that problem before I started smoking.”

Alby’s memory problems may improve with time. But for now, they are enormously frustrating. “I used to know things,” says Alby, “but now, it’s rusty. I forgot how to do division.”

Frustrations aside, he is looking ahead and hoping to create a future for himself. Alby wants to pursue a career as a mechanic.

The Lows of Getting High: Alby’s Thoughts

On his mother:

“My mother was into drugs. After a point, my mother, she couldn’t take care of us—me, my sister, and my brother—no more… She died of AIDS… I wish she was here. I used to blame her for the problems she put me through… I don’t blame her now because I know when you use drugs you’re not the same person… I just miss her now.”

On why he started smoking marijuana with friends:

“How it seemed was, if you weren’t down with it, they’ll look at you funny. At that point, I was like, ‘I want to be down.’ Truthfully, I did any means necessary to be down with the program… I needed more guidance. How to turn the whole peer pressure thing off—I didn’t know how to deal with that… I was more vulnerable to the negative influence. I didn’t know what that was doing to me. I just fell into the negativity…”

On how he felt when he was smoking marijuana:

“I was lazy a lot. I didn’t want to do things… I was depressed. I felt like I was always in a rut. I was always feeling bad about myself, where I was standing in life.”

On being in treatment:

“I love it … because it’s giving me the tools I need for my foundation in life. School is going great. I’m taking courses for my GED.”

On getting off drugs:

“I was smoking for a long time, and it was like an everyday thing to me. It was a part of me, and now that part of me isn’t there. How can I cope with that? I need something there. It was hard, but I take it one day at a time. If I get tempted to relapse, I tend to go somewhere positive or find someone positive, so that thought doesn’t come back… I feel a lot better about myself. I feel a lot sharper. I don’t feel lazy anymore.”

From Scholastic, Inc and the Scientists of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

These stories are part of a joint project between NIDA and Scholastic, Inc. ]]> http://galzone.co.za/wp/?feed=rss2&p=1824 0 http://galzone.co.za/wp/?p=2039 http://galzone.co.za/wp/?p=2039#comments Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:38:20 +0000 ciskarene http://galzone.co.za/wp/?p=2039 Do children understand how feelings

affect school performance?

Most of us know that the way we feel emotionally and physically can influence how we do on tests. That’s why we’re told to get lots of rest and eat a good breakfast before taking a big exam. And previous studies have found that people do worse on tests and solving problems when they’re tired, hungry, or upset.

But do children understand the link between feelings and performance? A new study by researchers at the University of Washington and the University of California, Davis, tells us that children comprehend the influence of one on the other, but only under certain circumstances. The study is reported in the January/February 2009 issue of the journal Child Development.

The researchers looked at more than 70 children who were 5, 6, and 7 years old, as well as a group of adults. Study participants heard stories about children who felt different positive and negative emotions (such as happiness or sadness) or different physical feelings (such as feeling well-rested or hungry), then faced challenging tasks at school (such as a spelling test, math problems, and a science lesson). For example, in one story, a girl loses her favorite teddy bear on the way to school and feels sad. Later that day, still feeling sad, she has to complete a difficult math assignment.

The researchers also looked at the participants’ understanding of how other factors—such as how much effort a student makes and the amount of noise in the classroom—affect school performance.

They found that children of all ages understood that negative emotional and physical states would lead to poorer school performance. The fact that young children knew that negative emotions could cause poor school performance was especially surprising, since parents and teachers often focus on the physical side of getting ready for school (hence the advice to get lots of rest or eat a good breakfast), and rarely talk about the emotional side (for example, advising children to try not to feel sad). The researchers also found that children understood that levels of interest, effort, and classroom noise would affect performance.

When it came to positive feelings, however, only 7-year-olds recognized, as adults do, that positive feelings could improve school performance. For the younger children, seeing the tie between positive emotions and school performance was difficult; it was easier for them to grasp how positive physical feelings would lead to doing well in school.

The older children also had a better understanding of why emotions and physical states affect school performance. In explaining their judgments, they described how such feelings influence concentration, attention, the brain, and other aspects of thinking.

“Changes in emotional and physiological states are an inevitable part of children’s everyday experience in the school setting,” according to Jennifer Amsterlaw, research scientist at the Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences at the University of Washington, who led the study. “If children know how and why these experiences affect them, they will be better able to prepare for and control their ultimate impact on school performance.”

The study was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation.

Summarized from Child Development, Vol. 80, Issue 1, Young Children’s Reasoning About the Effects of Emotional and Physiological States on Academic Performance by Amsterlaw, J (University of Washington), Lagattuta, KH (University of California, Davis), and Meltzoff, AN (University of Washington).

Copyright 2009 The Society for Research in Child Development, Inc. All rights reserved.

Subject: Woorde van wysheid deur Nataniel..

Wees altyd dankbaar vir alles wat jy het en lewe eenvoudig.

Hoe minder goeters jy het, hoe minder wharries het jy ..

en hoe lekkerder slaap jy!

Wees onvoorwaardelik lief vir jou gesin en familie en aanvaar
elkeen presies net soos hy/sy daar is ..vriende kan jy kies, familie nie!

Moenie toelaat dat jou brein muf met ‘issues’ soos onvergewensgesindheid,

skuldgevoelens of grudges nie …sorteer alle stront uit nog voor die son sak!

Hardloop jou lewens-spiedomitir in die rooi …help waar jy kan en
lewe voluit terwyl jy nog lewe in jou het ..’use it – or lose it’!

Geniet die eenvoudige dinge. Die ‘image’-goed en ‘keeping up with
the Jones’ is sommer ‘n pot snot ...hulle (die Jones’) sit in elk geval nou
in Ozzie.

Al wys die ‘replay’ duidelik dat hy verkeerd is …maak vrede met
die ref se beslissings en jy sal dadelik beter voel!

Vermy bedompige gyms wat stink na yuppie-spray waar hooter-neuse
in snaakse Star Wars klere soos hamsters op gevriesde fietse sit en trap

…kry oefening deur te gaan stap langs die see of in die veld of ‘n rêrige
fiets te ry ..doen iets in die buitelug, maar moenie in die strate op en af
draf nie, dis ‘common’ en maak ander mense skuldig voel.

As jy ‘n ‘no-name brand’ T-Shirt sien wat jy laaik, koop dit …na
moer met die name-goed wat jy in elk geval nie kan bekostig nie -
solank dit net gemaklik pas. Laat andere maar hul geld mors op goed wat hulle
vals selfvertroue in hul eie plestiek-wêreld gee!

Lag dikwels …lank en lekker, dit hou jou gesond! Haal diep asem,
drink meer water as wat jy moet en kou jou kos fyn.

Eet meer van die goed wat mens pluk of uit die grond grawe.

Behou jou grapgat vrinne en vermy die suurgatte …

hulle is ‘demoralising’ en trek jou af na hulle vlak.

Jou huis is jou plek en daar leef jy soos JY wil, too hell met die
snobs ..en die beste kar is een wat klaar betaal is!

Stel God EERSTE en alle ander goed sal self in plek val ..

.hê geloof!

Sê vir mense dat jy vir hulle omgee ..môre trek jy dalk jou
hout-jas aan, dan’s dit te laat..

Miss Universe 2009 swimsuit photos

Miss Dominican Republic Ada de la Cruz

Miss Ukraine Kristina Kots-Gotlib.

Miss Ecuador Sandra Vinces

Miss Germany Martina Lee

The Pageant

2009 Miss Universe Pageant

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• > Host Hotel
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Imperial Ballroom

Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas

The 58th Annual MISS UNIVERSE competition will be held LIVE from Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas on Sunday, August 23rd on NBC and Telemundo at 9 PM (ET).

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HIGHLIGHTS

Keystone/EPA/ZHOU CHAO

Ensuring the safety of pandemic vaccines
6 August 2009 — WHO (WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION) is aware of some media reports that have expressed concern about the safety of vaccines for pandemic influenza. The public needs to be reassured that regulatory procedures in place for the licensing of pandemic vaccines, including procedures for expediting regulatory approval, are rigorous and do not compromise safety or quality controls.

LONDON — Swine flu vaccine manufacturers are on track to start delivering the first batches of it in September, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

Marie-Paule Kieny, WHO’s vaccine director, said several drug makers have started testing swine flu vaccine in humans, and that early safety results should be available next month, clearing the way for its use. Kieny also insisted that speeding the vaccine to the market will not compromise its safety.

WHO has recommended the first recipients of the vaccine be health care workers, perhaps followed by pregnant women and people with underlying health problems.

Kieny said WHO expects to see reports of side effects once the vaccine is given to millions of people, but that deadly side effects will be rare. Vaccines commonly provoke reactions such as nausea, fever, pain from the injection, and diarrhea.

She said the agency would work with country officials to detect any sign the vaccine might cause more worrying side effects, like Guillain Barre syndrome, a temporary paralysis disorder reported by hundreds of people after the U.S.’s disastrous 1976 immunization campaign against another variant of swine flu.

To fight the current pandemic , or global outbreak, half a dozen major pharmaceutical companies located in the United States, Europe and Australia are developing their own swine flu vaccines, which will have to be approved by drug regulatory authorities in each country where they are used.

It is the first time that companies have rushed to produce a vaccine within months to fight a flu pandemic. Health officials expect swine flu to surge in the fall, with the return of the regular flu season.

On Wednesday, Swiss drug maker Novartis said it had begun testing its swine flu vaccine in Europe, and would begin selling it long before completing its safety tests next year.

Last month, Australian pharmaceutical CSL started trials on its vaccine candidate.

Kieny said ongoing tests in Australia, China, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States should inform officials how many doses of the vaccine are required. Many experts think people will need two shots to be protected.

Europe and the U.S. both have fast-track approval systems to make the swine flu vaccine available before extensive safety tests are completed.

In a statement on its Web site, WHO said Thursday “the public needs to be reassured” that procedures for approving swine flu vaccines “are rigorous and do not compromise safety or quality controls.”

To increase the global supply of swine flu vaccines, WHO recommends that countries use ones containing adjuvants, a component that stretches the vaccine’s active ingredient and boosts the body’s immune response. Adjuvants are commonly used in flu vaccines in Europe, but there are no licensed flu vaccines with adjuvants in the U.S.

There is little or no information on how safe flu vaccines with adjuvants are in pregnant women and children — two of the groups most at risk in the pandemic.

Kieny dismissed concerns adjuvanted vaccines might not be ideal for groups such as pregnant women. “We see no apparent safety signal,” she said. “There is no safety concern with using adjuvanted vaccine.”

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. By MARIA CHENG (AP) – 3 days ago

bedside?

About Heart Attacks There are other symptoms of an heart attack besides

the pain on the left arm. One must also be aware of an intense pain on the chin, as well as nausea and lots of sweating, however these symptoms may also occur less frequently.

Note: There may be no pain in the chest during a heart attack. The majority of people (about 60%) who  had a heart attack during their sleep, did not wake up.

However, if it occurs, the chest pain may wake you up from your deep sleep. If that happens, immediately dissolve two aspirins in your mouth and swallow them with a bit of water.

Afterwards:

- phone a neighbor or a family member who lives very close by - say “heart attack!” - say that you have taken 2 aspirins.

- take a seat on a chair or sofa near the front door, and wait for their arrival and…

~ do NOT lie down ~

Heart Attack Warning Signs:

A heart attack is a frightening event, and you probably don’t want to think about it. But, if you learn the signs of a heart attack and what steps to take, you can save a life–maybe your own. What are the signs of a heart attack? Many people think a heart attack is sudden and intense, like a “movie” heart attack, where a person clutches his or her chest and falls over.

The truth is that many heart attacks start slowly, as a mild pain or discomfort. If you feel such a symptom, you may not be sure what’s wrong. Your symptoms may even come and go. Even those who have had a heart attack may not recognize their symptoms, because the next attack can have entirely different ones. Women may not think they’re at risk of having a heart attack–but they are.

Learn more about women and heart attack. It’s vital that everyone learn the warning signs of a heart attack.

Learn the signs–but also remember: Even if you’re not sure it’s a heart attack, you should still have it checked out. Fast action can save lives-maybe your own.

• Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts for more than a few minutes, or goes away and comes back. The discomfort can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain.
• Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
• Shortness of breath. Often comes along with chest discomfort. But it also can occur before chest discomfort.
• Other symptoms. May include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or light-headedness Learn the signs–but also remember: Even if you’re not sure it’s a heart attack, you should still have it checked out. Fast action can save lives-maybe your own.

An Actual 1955

Housekeeping Monthly article?

• Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have be thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they get home and the prospect of a good meal is part of the warm welcome needed.
• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your make-up, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.
• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.
• Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives. Run a dustcloth over the tables.
• During the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering to his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.
• Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Encourage the children to be quiet.
• Be happy to see him.
• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.
• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first – remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.
• Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.
• Don’t complain if he’s late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through at work.
• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or lie him down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.
• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.
• Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.
• A good wife always knows her place.

If it sounds to good to be true…it probably is!

Note: This article may actually be fake!!!… See Snopes.

Investigations propose that the guide may be a hoax.  According to snopes.com, the wording “The Advertising Archives” located on the right side of the image suggests a fraud, since the Archives itself was not started until 1990. Additionally, the image used is claimed  to be from a 1957 cover of John Bull magazine.

The “Good Wife” version of this image appears to be cropped just below where the textbox containing the words “WOMAN AT THE WHEEL” appeared on the John Bull cover image. One source claims that the text of this article has been circulating since at least the 1980s via fax.

This looks more like it!!!!