Image industry

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Standing by a French chateau's window, the young bride-to-be glows in the afternoon sun as she gazes into her fiancé's eyes. This Chinese couple's fairytale moment, however, isn't unfolding at a Bordeaux estate.

The 20-something Beijing lawyers and fans of South Korean pop idol Rain are part of a small but growing number of affluent Chinese for whom the craze for all things South Korean means flying to Seoul for the weekend to have wedding pictures taken.

China is the source of one quarter of all tourists to South Korea, and a handful of companies in South Korea's $15 billion wedding industry are wooing an image-conscious slice of the Chinese jet set happy to drop several thousand dollars on a wedding album with a South Korean touch.

The draw for many of the well-heeled Chinese isn't Seoul's ancient palaces or the fiery cuisine. It's an elegant urban style exemplified by Gangnam, the tony Seoul district made globally famous by South Korean rapper PSY's "Gangnam Style." Helping shape that image is the popularity of South Korean cosmetics and fashion and the many South Korean stars whose looks are widely copied in China.

"The style in South Korea is more sophisticated and cuter than what we have in China. We came here because South Korea is the leader in fashion and makeup," said the bride-to-be, Yang Candi, as two stylists fussed over her hair with a curling iron and giant hair clips during a recent photo shoot.

South Korea's tourism ministry estimates that more than 2.5 million Chinese visitors spent an average of $2,150 per person in 2012, more than any other nationality. That's helping companies such as iWedding, which is the largest of the South Korean wedding planners hosting Chinese tourists, to flourish.

Every month for more than a year, iWedding has done business with 50 to 60 Chinese couples, the company said, including the Beijing attorneys whose love of South Korean TV shows and music brought them to Seoul.

A South Korean competitor, Design Wedding, recently partnered with a Chinese company in Shanghai and has photographed more than 50 Chinese couples since May. Chuka Club, another South Korean wedding planner, said it gets Chinese clients even though it doesn't advertise on Chinese websites like rivals iWedding and Design Wedding.

"Chinese look up to South Korea for its sophisticated urban culture, style and beauty," said Song Sung-uk, professor of South Korean pop culture studies at the Catholic University of Korea in Seoul. "Rather than visiting traditional palaces or shopping for antiques, they would rather go to Gangnam to experience state-of-the-art shopping malls."

Song said South Korea, which built the fourth largest economy in Asia from the rubble of the 1950-53 Korean War, is synonymous with the good life that middle-class Chinese aspire to. South Korea's pop culture plays a big part in cultivating that image.

"I always wanted to come here, especially after watching South Korean TV shows," said the groom-to-be, Chen Jingjing, his face gleaming with liquid foundation, his eyebrows carefully contoured.

The couple said they had high expectations for their trip and were excited about the prospect of glamorous photos mimicking the pampered lifestyles of their favorite South Korean celebrities. The trip, they said, would also give them bragging rights at home with their friends and family.

After nearly three hours of hair, makeup and frequent amorous glances, Chen and Yang, dressed in wedding white, are chauffeured to a nearby photo studio where they spend the next eight hours striking poses before facades resembling cobblestoned streets or Loire Valley estates. The continental European backdrop is a favorite of Chinese visitors and South Koreans. That likely stems from the popularity of Western-style bridal gowns and tuxedos; many wedding planners began thinking that those European outfits looked better when photographed in front of a European set.

The heart of the day for Yang and Chen was overseen by a nimble South Korean photographer who orchestrates the eight-hour photo session with an air of Gangnam cool, cooing enthusiastically to get the couple's poses just right. Other helpers rushed to adjust Yang's hair or dust off Chen's lapel as mellow South Korean pop tunes wafted from speakers embedded in the ceiling.

The photographs are arranged in a leather-bound album, part of a South Korean package for couples that includes transportation, doting assistants and a hotel option, according to Yu Mi-ra, a Chinese-speaking South Korean coordinator at iWedding. The service costs $2,000 to $4,000.

Yu said the reason cosmopolitan Chinese come all the way to South Korea for wedding pictures is a higher quality photography and makeup service than they'd get in China.

But that doesn't mean expectations are always met.

While Chen and Yang seemed at ease with the attention — smiling at the photographer's attempts to speak Chinese and generally operating like celebrities accustomed to paparazzi and the staged glamour of red carpet events — six hours into the photo session, Yang's smile disappears. She is unhappy with the photographs.

"My cheekbones are sticking out," said Yang after looking at the pictures through a camera viewer. "We came all the way to Korea to look our best. But these pictures are plain. I'm a little disappointed."

Yang's South Korean translator and assistant eventually persuade her to go on with the photo shoot. And Yang again bats her fake eyelashes and smiles for the camera. At the close of the day, she seems generally pleased.

"Everyone is nice. They must be tired too," she said.

Survive on minimum wage.

Well this is both embarrassing and deeply telling .

In what appears to have been a gesture of goodwill gone haywire, McDonald's recently teamed up with Visa to create a financial planning site for its low-pay workforce. Unfortunately, whoever wrote the thing seems to have been literally incapable of imagining of how a fast food employee could survive on a minimum wage income. As ThinkProgress and other outlets have reported, the site includes a sample budget that, among other laughable assumptions, presumes that workers will have a second job.

As Jim Cook at Irregular Times notes, the $1,105 figure up top is roughly what the average McDonald's cashier earning $7.72 an hour would take home each month after payroll taxes, if they worked 40 hours a week. So this budget applies to someone just about working two full-time jobs at normal fast-food pay. (The federal minimum wage is just $7.25 an hour, by the way, but 19 states and DC set theirs higher).

A few of the other ridiculous conceits here: This hypothetical worker doesn't pay a heating bill. I guess some utilities are included in their $600 a month rent? (At the end of 2012, average rent in the U.S. was $1,048). Gas and groceries are bundled into $27 a day spending money. And this individual apparently has access to $20 a month healthcare. McDonald's, for its part, charges employees $12.58 a week for the company's most basic health plan. Well, that's if they've been with the company for a year. Otherwise, it's $14.

Now, it's possible that McDonald's and Visa meant this sample budget to reflect a two-person household. That would be a tad more realistic, after all. Unfortunately, the brochure doesn't give any indication that's the case. Nor does it change the fact that most of these expenses would apply to a single person.

Of course, minimum wage workers aren't really entirely on their own, especially if they have children. There are programs like food stamps, Medicaid, and the earned income tax credit to help them along. But that's sort of the point. When large companies make profits by paying their workers unlivable wages, we end up subsidizing their bottom lines.

From The Atlantic

The only thing left for Spain is beat Brazil

Cesc Fabregas has stressed the importance of Spain beating Brazil in the Confederations Cup final and indicated his belief that the winner will have a major advantage in next summer's World Cup.

La Roja reached Sunday's showpiece by beating Italy on penalties in the semifinals while the Selecao needed a late winner from Paulinho to send them through the last four at Uruguay's expense.

The Barcelona playmaker believes that victory would both confirm Spain's international dominance of late and give it a vital psychological boost over the coming 12 months against the tournament's hosts.

"It could be a very important step for them and for us too," Fabregas told AS. "We know that the only thing left for us to do is beat Brazil and if we achieve that we will give ourselves a new challenge to see if we can win the World Cup again.

"We would then be plotting the conquest of our second World Cup with more confidence, knowing that we can beat the World Cup hosts. It would be a big mental step in our favor and against them.

However, Fabregas is wary of the dangers that come with playing against a side with significant home support and hinted his perception that Spain's status as the world's top side turns the crowd in favor of its opponent.

"In every stadium we’ve played in, the crowd have wanted us to lose," the ex-Arsenal skipper noted.

The 26-year-old also had words of praise for new Barca teammate Neymar, who has been widely considered to be one of the players of the tournament, while also hailing Liga full backs Dani Alves and Marcelo for their ability to attack .

"Neymar’s a great player, he’s unpredictable, decisive, he’s great at dribbling, has a great pass and reads the game well," he continued. "I like him.

"Alves and Marcelo are two secret weapons, because if the team can’t create then they are the ones that drive their teams forward and attack . They are both brilliant full backs."(GOAL .com)

office productivity

Open-plan offices may be the modern way, but new research suggests that they are not the best way.

People who work in these environments are more likely to get sick, are less productive and take more days off.

Research published in the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health revealed that people who work in open plan offices take 62 per cent more sick days than those who work in their own, enclosed space.

The study authors believe that this is because germs spread more easily in these environments.

However, Quartz reports that it could also be because open plan offices are a more stressful place to work, and being stressed increases a person’s risk of becoming unwell.

However, increased illness rates are not the only way in which workers are negatively affected by working in an open plan office.

A study carried out by researchers at Virginia State University and North Carolina State University, in the U.S., revealed that people who work in open plan offices are less productive.

The research showed that these employees are less motivated, have lower job satisfaction and that they feel they lack privacy.

The researchers believe that they are also less productive because they are disturbed by the sound of other people’s conversations.

The findings of a study by Hong Kong Polytechnic University support this.

Researchers questioned 259 office workers about which aspects of office life have the biggest impact on their productivity.

They discovered that noise and temperature are the most influential factors with conversations, ringing phones and machines being cited as the most irritating noises.

This study also revealed that people over the age of 45 are the most sensitive to disturbing noises – their productivity is affected the most by them.

Previous research suggests that even people who do not work in open plan offices suffer the ill effects of office work.

The crumbs that accumulate on your desk and in your keyboard provide a perfect environment for bacteria and fungi to thrive, says Dr Ron Cutler, a micro- biologist at Queen Mary University of London.

The temperature in offices is typically around 20C, the point at which staphylococcus can breed, causing diarrhoea and vomiting.

For the same reason, leaving your sandwich on your desk all morning is also a risk.

‘Meat or chicken in temperatures of more than 4c will start to see salmonella growing after two or three hours,’ says Dr Peter Wilson, a microbiologist at University College London Hospitals.

The more people who share office equipment or desks, the greater the risk of catching a bug, he explained.

‘Faecal contamination has been found in the office environment and on phones, so the more people use certain equipment, the more germs will be on it,’ says Dr Cutler.

‘That’s why it’s so important to wash your hands before eating.’

Finally, scientists at the University of Missouri claim that sitting at a desk for hours on end gives people an increased chance of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and kidney disease.

They claim sitting down for an extended time is as bad for health as smoking or over-exposure to the sun.

And rushing to the gym after work won’t necessarily undo the damage — research from the American Cancer Society has found it’s the length of time you spend sitting that can affect your risk of premature death, regardless of how much physical activity you get outside the office.

Open-plan offices make employees 'less productive, less happy, and more likely to get sick'

• Open-plan office workers are exposed to more germs and are more stressed
• People who have their own space take 62 per cent less sick days
  
• They are less productive because they are distracted by other people talking
• People over the age of 45 are the most distracted by office noises
  
• Open plan workers are less motivated and have lower job satisfaction levels
  

The physical damage caused by fatty meals

Eating a diet rich in spices such as turmeric and cinnamon can protect you from the physical damage caused by fatty meals, say scientists. A team from Penn State University has found a blend of antioxidant spices can reduce the stress that high-fat foods can place on the heart . When we eat, our bodies use carbohydrate calories for energy and turn leftover calories into triglycerides that are stored in fat cells for later use.

Study leader, Sheila West, said: 'Normally, when you eat a high-fat meal, you end up with high levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, in your blood. 'If this happens too frequently, or if triglyceride levels are raised too much, your risk of heart disease is increased. 'We found that adding spices to a high-fat meal reduced triglyceride response by about 30 per cent, compared to a similar meal with no spices added.'

Professor West and her colleagues prepared meals on two separate days for six men between the ages of 30 and 65 who were overweight, but otherwise healthy. The researchers added two tablespoons of culinary spices to each serving of the test meal, which consisted of chicken curry, Italian herb bread, and a cinnamon biscuit .

The control meal was identical, except that spices were not included. The team drew blood from the participants every 30 minutes for three hours.

'In the spiced meal, we used rosemary, oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, cloves, garlic powder and paprika,' said fellow researcher Ann Skulas-Ray.

'We selected these spices because they had potent antioxidant activity previously under controlled conditions in the lab.'

The spice dose provided the equivalent amount of antioxidants contained in 1.4oz of dark chocolate. When the meal contained a blend of antioxidant spices, antioxidant activity in the blood was increased by 13 per cent and insulin response decreased by about 20 per cent.

High insulin levels can be toxic over time and cause a build-up of plaque in the arteries.

'Antioxidants, like spices, may be important in reducing oxidative stress and thus reducing the risk of chronic disease,' Prof West said.

Many scientists think that oxidative stress contributes to heart disease, arthritis and diabetes. Ms Skulas-Ray noted that adding two tablespoons of spices to meals did not cause stomach upset in the participants.

'They enjoyed the food and had no gastrointestinal problems,' she said.

In the future, Prof West plans to investigate whether she can get the same results by adding smaller doses of spices to meals. The findings were reported in the current issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

Exercise

Starting a new exercise routine is tough, and when your body is in pain from getting into shape it's hard to really enjoy yourself. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at what it is that makes us hate exercise, and what we can do about it.

Like many things, exercise is all about perspective. If you're starting a new exercise regiment you might hate it simply because you're pushing yourself way too hard without realizing it: From couch potatoes to Olympic athletes, everyone has a physical capacity for exertion, beyond which the body becomes stressed and begins to feel bad. How much stems from genetic factors-things like lung capacity, oxygen transport and the rate at which oxygen is used in the muscle cells-is still a subject of scholarly debate... But many sedentary people push beyond their intrinsic range when they try to exercise too quickly or intensely, which can make them hate the activity and want to stop.

The stress comes when you reach your "ventilatory threshold." When you breathe, you expel carbon dioxide equal to the amont of oxygen you take in, when you're working hard, you expel more carbon dioxide and the body finds that stressful. Essentially, the harder you work, the less oxygen you're getting and the worse you feel. For sedentary people, you might reach this threshold within as little as a minute. To track this, it's all about finding your exercise sweet spot and accepting it might be a little low when you're starting out.

It's not just your body's ventilatory threshold though. It's also about how you interpet pain and exertion: How people interpret some of the physical sensations of exertion or fatigue, such as buildup of lactic acid in muscle or increases in body temperature, can also influence whether they stick with an exercise routine. Some people tend to read such physical cues as a sign of a good workout or progress, whereas many sedentary people just find them uncomfortable or painful, say researchers.

Essentially, when you feel terrible after a workout, you're less likely to stick with your new routine. After all, we're trained to do the exact opposite of what makes us feel bad. In both cases, it's all about finding the perfect balance of a routine you'll stick to. The reason people don't like exercise is because they push past their limits and that makes them feel terrible. If you're sedentary, start small with lighter exercises and work your way up from there (if walking is too tough, try water exercises or recumbent biking). It'll take a long while, but you'll eventually increase both your ventilatory threshold and you'll understand sensations like fatigue better so you know when to quit.

Finding the routine that works for you is also about accepting where you are physically. For example, if you were an expert track and field runner in high school, you'll likely be disappointed in yourself when you hit the road again as an adult and can't make it a mile. Instead, find another sport you're interested in that's a little less intense and start there. You can also try lighter full body workouts with nothing but your body, or our own workout. It's also worth noting that when you're first starting out it might take a while before you feel your progress. Once you get into the habit of exercising, keep yourself interested by overcoming plateaus or trying interval training .

It's all about knowing your limits, and balancing how hard you're pushing yourself with your own thresholds. It's not always good to push hard when you're starting out, because that might be the exact thing that makes you quit. (lifehacker)

Hänsel und Gretel

Hard by a great forest dwelt a poor wood-cutter with his wife and his two children. The boy was called Hansel and the girl Gretel. He had little to bite and to break, and once when great dearth fell on the land, he could no longer procure even daily bread. Now when he thought over this by night in his bed, and tossed about in his anxiety, he groaned and said to his wife: "What is to become of us? How are we to feed our poor children, when we no longer have anything even for ourselves?" "I'll tell you what, husband," answered the woman, "early to-morrow morning we will take the children out into the forest to where it is the thickest; there we will light a fire for them, and give each of them one more piece of bread, and then we will go to our work and leave them alone. They will not find the way home again, and we shall be rid of them." "No, wife," said the man, "I will not do that; how can I bear to leave my children alone in the forest--the wild animals would soon come and tear them to pieces." "Oh, you fool!" said she, "then we must all four die of hunger, you may as well plane the planks for our coffins," and she left him no peace until he consented. "But I feel very sorry for the poor children, all the same," said the man.

The two children had also not been able to sleep for hunger, and had heard what their step-mother had said to their father. Gretel wept bitter tears, and said to Hansel: "Now all is over with us." "Be quiet, Gretel," said Hansel, "do not distress yourself, I will soon find a way to help us." And when the old folks had fallen asleep, he got up, put on his little coat, opened the door below, and crept outside. The moon shone brightly, and the white pebbles which lay in front of the house glittered like real silver pennies. Hansel stooped and stuffed the little pocket of his coat with as many as he could get in. Then he went back and said to Gretel: "Be comforted, dear little sister, and sleep in peace, God will not forsake us," and he lay down again in his bed. When day dawned, but before the sun had risen, the woman came and awoke the two children, saying: "Get up, you sluggards! We are going into the forest to fetch wood." She gave each a little piece of bread, and said: "There is something for your dinner, but do not eat it up before then, for you will get nothing else." Gretel took the bread under her apron, as Hansel had the pebbles in his pocket.

Then they all set out together on the way to the forest. When they had walked a short time, Hansel stood still and peeped back at the house, and did so again and again. His father said: "Hansel, what are you looking at there and staying behind for? Pay attention, and do not forget how to use your legs." "Ah, father," said Hansel, "I am looking at my little white cat, which is sitting up on the roof, and wants to say good-bye to me." The wife said: "Fool, that is not your little cat, that is the morning sun which is shining on the chimneys." Hansel, however, had not been looking back at the cat, but had been constantly throwing one of the white pebble-stones out of his pocket on the road.

When they had reached the middle of the forest, the father said: "Now, children, pile up some wood, and I will light a fire that you may not be cold." Hansel and Gretel gathered brushwood together, as high as a little hill. The brushwood was lighted, and when the flames were burning very high, the woman said: "Now, children, lay yourselves down by the fire and rest, we will go into the forest and cut some wood. When we have done, we will come back and fetch you away."

Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire, and when noon came, each ate a little piece of bread, and as they heard the strokes of the wood-axe they believed that their father was near. It was not the axe, however, but a branch which he had fastened to a withered tree which the wind was blowing backwards and forwards. And as they had been sitting such a long time, their eyes closed with fatigue, and they fell fast asleep. When at last they awoke, it was already dark night. Gretel began to cry and said: "How are we to get out of the forest now?" But Hansel comforted her and said: "Just wait a little, until the moon has risen, and then we will soon find the way." And when the full moon had risen, Hansel took his little sister by the hand, and followed the pebbles which shone like newly-coined silver pieces, and showed them the way.

They walked the whole night long, and by break of day came once more to their father's house. They knocked at the door, and when the woman opened it and saw that it was Hansel and Gretel, she said: "You naughty children, why have you slept so long in the forest--we thought you were never coming back at all!" The father, however, rejoiced, for it had cut him to the heart to leave them behind alone.

Not long afterwards, there was once more great dearth throughout the land, and the children heard their mother saying at night to their father: "Everything is eaten again, we have one half loaf left, and that is the end. The children must go, we will take them farther into the wood, so that they will not find their way out again; there is no other means of saving ourselves!" The man's heart was heavy, and he thought: "It would be better for you to share the last mouthful with your children." The woman, however, would listen to nothing that he had to say, but scolded and reproached him. He who says A must say B, likewise, and as he had yielded the first time, he had to do so a second time also.

The children, however, were still awake and had heard the conversation. When the old folks were asleep, Hansel again got up, and wanted to go out and pick up pebbles as he had done before, but the woman had locked the door, and Hansel could not get out. Nevertheless he comforted his little sister, and said: "Do not cry, Gretel, go to sleep quietly, the good God will help us."

Early in the morning came the woman, and took the children out of their beds. Their piece of bread was given to them, but it was still smaller than the time before. On the way into the forest Hansel crumbled his in his pocket, and often stood still and threw a morsel on the ground. "Hansel, why do you stop and look round " said the father, "go on." "I am looking back at my little pigeon which is sitting on the roof, and wants to say good-bye to me," answered Hansel. "Fool!" said the woman, "that is not Your little pigeon, that is the morning sun that is shining on the chimney." Hansel, however, little by little, threw all the crumbs on the path.

The woman led the children still deeper into the forest, where they had never in their lives been before. Then a great fire was again made, and the mother said: "Just sit there, you children, and when you are tired you may sleep a little; we are going into the forest to cut wood, and in the evening when we are done, we will come and fetch you away." When it was noon, Gretel shared her piece of bread with Hansel, who had scattered his by the way. Then they fell asleep and evening passed, but no one came to the poor children. They did not awake until it was dark night, and Hansel comforted his little sister and said: "Just wait, Gretel, until the moon rises, and then we shall see the crumbs of bread which I have strewn about, they will show us our way home again." When the moon came they set out, but they found no crumbs, for the many thousands of birds which fly about in the woods and fields had picked them all up.

Hansel said to Gretel: "We shall soon find the way," but they did not find it. They walked the whole night and all the next day too from morning till evening, but they did not get out of the forest, and were very hungry, for they had nothing to eat but two or three berries, which grew on the ground. And as they were so weary that their legs would carry them no longer, they lay down beneath a tree and fell asleep.

It was now three mornings since they had left their father's house. They began to walk again, but they always came deeper into the forest, and if help did not come soon, they must die of hunger and weariness. When it was mid-day, they saw a beautiful snow-white bird sitting on a bough, which sang so delightfully that they stood still and listened to it. And when its song was over, it spread its wings and flew away before them, and they followed it until they reached a little house, on the roof of which it alighted; and when they approached the little house they saw that it was built of bread and covered with cakes, but that the windows were of clear sugar. "We will set to work on that," said Hansel, "and have a good meal. I will eat a bit of the roof, and you Gretel, can eat some of the window, it will taste sweet." Hansel reached up above, and broke off a little of the roof to try how it tasted, and Gretel leant against the window and nibbled at the panes. Then a soft voice cried from the parlor:

"Nibble, nibble, gnaw,
Who is nibbling at my little house?"

The children answered:

"The wind, the wind,
The heaven-born wind,"

and went on eating without disturbing themselves. Hansel, who liked the taste of the roof, tore down a great piece of it, and Gretel pushed out the whole of one round window-pane, sat down, and enjoyed herself with it. Suddenly the door opened, and a woman as old as the hills, who supported herself on crutches, came creeping out. Hansel and Gretel were so terribly frightened that they let fall what they had in their hands. The old woman, however, nodded her head, and said: "Oh, you dear children, who has brought you here Do come in, and stay with me. No harm shall happen to you." She took them both by the hand, and led them into her little house. Then good food was set before them, milk and pancakes, with sugar, apples, and nuts. Afterwards two pretty little beds were covered with clean white linen, and Hansel and Gretel lay down in them, and thought they were in heaven.

The old woman had only pretended to be so kind; she was in reality a wicked witch, who lay in wait for children, and had only built the little house of bread in order to entice them there. When a child fell into her power, she killed it, cooked and ate it, and that was a feast day with her. Witches have red eyes, and cannot see far, but they have a keen scent like the beasts, and are aware when human beings draw near. When Hansel and Gretel came into her neighborhood, she laughed with malice, and said mockingly: "I have them, they shall not escape me again!" Early in the morning before the children were awake, she was already up, and when she saw both of them sleeping and looking so pretty, with their plump and rosy cheeks, she muttered to herself: "That will be a dainty mouthfull" Then she seized Hansel with her shriveled hand, carried him into a little stable, and locked him in behind a grated door. Scream as he might, it would not help him. Then she went to Gretel, shook her till she awoke, and cried: "Get up, lazy thing, fetch some water, and cook something good for your brother, he is in the stable outside, and is to be made fat. When he is fat, I will eat him." Gretel began to weep bitterly, but it was all in vain, for she was forced to do what the wicked witch commanded.

And now the best food was cooked for poor Hansel, but Gretel got nothing but crab-shells. Every morning the woman crept to the little stable, and cried: "Hansel, stretch out your finger that I may feel if you will soon be fat." Hansel, however, stretched out a little bone to her, and the old woman, who had dim eyes, could not see it, and thought it was Hansel's finger, and was astonished that there was no way of fattening him. When four weeks had gone by, and Hansel still remained thin, she was seized with impatience and would not wait any longer. "Now, then, Gretel," she cried to the girl, "stir yourself, and bring some water. Let Hansel be fat or lean, to-morrow I will kill him, and cook him." Ah, how the poor little sister did lament when she had to fetch the water, and how her tears did flow down her cheeks! "Dear God, do help us," she cried. "If the wild beasts in the forest had but devoured us, we should at any rate have died together." "Just keep your noise to yourself," said the old woman, "it won't help you at all."

Early in the morning, Gretel had to go out and hang up the cauldron with the water, and light the fire. "We will bake first," said the old woman, "I have already heated the oven, and kneaded the dough." She pushed poor Gretel out to the oven, from which flames of fire were already darting. "Creep in," said the witch, "and see if it is properly heated, so that we can put the bread in." And once Gretel was inside, she intended to shut the oven and let her bake in it, and then she would eat her, too. But Gretel saw what she had in mind, and said: "I do not know how I am to do it; how do I get in?" "Silly goose," said the old woman. "The door is big enough; just look, I can get in myself!" and she crept up and thrust her head into the oven. Then Gretel gave her a push that drove her far into it, and shut the iron door, and fastened the bolt. Oh then she began to howl quite horribly, but Gretel ran away, and the godless witch was miserably burnt to death.

Gretel, however, ran like lightning to Hansel, opened his little stable, and cried: "Hansel, we are saved! The old witch is dead!" Then Hansel sprang like a bird from its cage when the door is opened. How they did rejoice and embrace each other, and dance about and kiss each other! And as they had no longer any need to fear her, they went into the witch's house, and in every corner there stood chests full of pearls and jewels. "These are far better than pebbles!" said Hansel, and thrust into his pockets whatever could be got in, and Gretel said: "I, too, will take something home with me," and filled her pinafore full. "But now we must be off," said Hansel, "that we may get out of the witch's forest."

When they had walked for two hours, they came to a great stretch of water. "We cannot cross," said Hansel, "I see no foot-plank, and no bridge." "And there is also no ferry," answered Gretel, "but a white duck is swimming there; if I ask her, she will help us over." Then she cried:

"Little duck, little duck, dost thou see,
Hansel and Gretel are waiting for thee?
There's never a plank, or bridge in sight,
Take us across on thy back so white.

The duck came to them, and Hansel seated himself on its back, and told his sister to sit by him. "No," replied Gretel, "that will be too heavy for the little duck; she shall take us across, one after the other." The good little duck did so, and when they were once safely across and had walked for a short time, the forest seemed to be more and more familiar to them, and at length they saw from afar their father's house. Then they began to run, rushed into the parlor, and threw themselves round their father's neck. The man had not known one happy hour since he had left the children in the forest; the woman, however, was dead. Gretel emptied her pinafore until pearls and precious stones ran about the room, and Hansel threw one handful after another out of his pocket to add to them. Then all anxiety was at an end, and they lived together in perfect happiness.

( Text and drawing copyright©1972 Random House, from the Pantheon book The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales )

mobile

Although mobile phones are amazing technology, I've started to realize that they are beginning to have a negative impact on society. I try to explain why you are becoming isolated in society, and what will possibly happen if you continue to go down the road of smartphone addiction. I've watched how smartphones have being used for business, for social activities and how smartphones had been used at home by the family. I want people to have a long hard think and ask themselves - am I addicted to my smartphone? Smartphones are without doubt, one of the best technology that have been developed over the last couple of years. It's amazing that a piece of equipment, relatively small in size, can be so powerful. It not only acts as a telephone but also as a mobile internet, a games console and your email-box. If James Cook were alive today, he wouldn't need a compass! would he just grab a smartphone? The smartphone, with its links to the social networking sites of today, allows you to know what your friends are doing now. You can look at various different places and upload photos straight to your facebook page. iPhone is a great phone, but in a certain situation people should make conscious efforts to turn their phone off and talk to one another. I worry about the social influence of mobile IT media.

The Nobel Prize 1964

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family's long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation. He was ready, then, early in December, 1955, to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent demonstration of contemporary times in the United States, the bus boycott described by Gunnar Jahn in his presentation speech in honor of the laureate. The boycott lasted 382 days. On December 21, 1956, after the Supreme Court of the United States had declared unconstitutional the laws requiring segregation on buses, Negroes and whites rode the buses as equals. During these days of boycott, King was arrested, his home was bombed, he was subjected to personal abuse, but at the same time he emerged as a Negro leader of the first rank.

In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. The ideals for this organization he took from Christianity; its operational techniques from Gandhi. In the eleven-year period between 1957 and 1968, King traveled over six million miles and spoke over twenty-five hundred times, appearing wherever there was injustice, protest, and action; and meanwhile he wrote five books as well as numerous articles. In these years, he led a massive protest in Birmingham, Alabama, that caught the attention of the entire world, providing what he called a coalition of conscience. and inspiring his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail", a manifesto of the Negro revolution; he planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, "l Have a Dream", he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson; he was arrested upwards of twenty times and assaulted at least four times; he was awarded five honorary degrees; was named Man of the Year by Time magazine in 1963; and became not only the symbolic leader of American blacks but also a world figure.

At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement.

On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated.(Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1964 )

* Editor's note: This biography uses the word "Negro". Even though this word today is considered inappropriate, we have chosen not to change the original text to adhere to the copyright owner's wish to keep the original version as a historical document.