MENU

BILINGUAL BLOG – BLOG SONG NGỮ ANH VIỆT SHARE KNOWLEGE AND IMPROVE LANGUAGE

--------------------------- TÌM KIẾM TRÊN BLOG NÀY BẰNG GOOGLE SEARCH ----------------------------

TXT-TO-SPEECH – PHẦN MỀM ĐỌC VĂN BẢN

Click phải, chọn open link in New tab, chọn ngôn ngữ trên giao diện mới, dán văn bản vào và Click SAY – văn bản sẽ được đọc với các thứ tiếng theo hai giọng nam và nữ (chọn male/female)

- HOME - VỀ TRANG ĐẦU

CONN'S CURENT THERAPY 2016 - ANH-VIỆT

150 ECG - 150 ĐTĐ - HAMPTON - 4th ED.

VISUAL DIAGNOSIS IN THE NEWBORN

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Why did the writer 'O. Henry' end up in jail? Tại sao nhà văn O . Henry ngồi tù?

Why did the writer 'O. Henry' end up in jail? Tại sao nhà văn O . Henry ngồi tù?

Photo: Lone Star Junction

O. Henry is the pen name of American writer William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910). O. Henry short stories are known for wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. Porter grew up in North Carolina, then moved to Texas in the 1880s. Like many writers, this short story author wasn't very good with money. That was a problem, because before he began writing stories, Porter began working at the First National Bank of Austin as a teller and bookkeeper. The bank was operated informally and Porter had trouble keeping track of his books. In 1894, some of the money that passed through his hands turned up missing. He lost his job, and at first it looked like the whole thing might blow over.

Porter and his family moved to Houston in 1895, where he started writing for the Post. His salary was only $25 a month, but it rose steadily as his popularity increased. Porter gathered ideas for his column by hanging out in hotel lobbies and observing and talking to people there. This was a technique he used throughout his writing career. While he was in Houston, the First National Bank of Austin was audited and the federal auditors found several discrepancies. They managed to get a federal indictment against Porter. Porter was subsequently arrested on charges of embezzlement, charges which he denied, in connection with his employment at the bank.

Porter's father-in-law posted bail to keep Porter out of jail, but the day before Porter was due to stand trial on July 7, 1896, he fled, first to New Orleans and later to Honduras. While he was in Honduras, Porter coined the term "banana republic", subsequently used to describe almost any small tropical dictatorship in Latin America. His wife was too sick to join him and six months later, he got word that his wife was dying, so he returned to the United States to be with her and face trial. Athol Estes Porter died on July 25, 1897 from tuberculosis (then known as consumption). Porter, having little to say in his own defense, was found guilty of embezzlement in February 1898, sentenced to five years jail, and imprisoned on March 25, 1898, at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio.

It seemed like a terrible tragedy for him, yet it was a great day for American literature. From his jail cell, Porter began writing short stories and a New York daily paper eagerly published them. Porter had taken the pen name O. Henry, fearing that as he got progressively more famous somebody would dredge up his past and publicly humiliate him. From this low point in Porter's life, he began a remarkable comeback. Three years (released early on July 24, 1901, for good behavior) and about a dozen short stories later, he emerged from prison as O. Henry. He moved to New York City, where over the next ten years before his death in 1910, he published over 300 stories and gained worldwide acclaim as America's favorite short story writer.

While it didn't help support his proclaimed innocence that he had fled the country, his defenders depicted him as being basically honest, just not very good with money. There is some support for that claim. Read the first three lines of his most famous story, The Gift of the Magi, in which he describes an impossible set of change: "One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And 60 cents of it was in pennies... " "The Gift of the Magi" is about a young couple who are short of money but desperately want to buy each other Christmas gifts. Unbeknownst to Jim, Della sells her most valuable possession, her beautiful hair, in order to buy a platinum fob chain for Jim's watch; while unbeknownst to Della, Jim sells his own most valuable possession, his watch, to buy jeweled combs for Della's hair. The essential premise of this story has been copied, re-worked, parodied, and otherwise re-told countless times in the century since it was written.

O. Henry stories are famous for their surprise endings, to the point that such an ending is often referred to as an "O. Henry ending." Most of O. Henry's stories are set in his own time, the early years of the 20th century. Many take place in New York City, and deal with ordinary people: clerks, policemen, waitresses. His stories are also well known for witty narration. O. Henry's work provides one of the best English examples of catching the entire flavor of an age. Whether roaming the cattle-lands of Texas, exploring the art of the "gentle grafter," or investigating the tensions of class and wealth in turn-of-the-century New York, O. Henry had an inimitable hand for isolating some element of society and describing it with an incredible economy and grace of language.

Henry's best known work is perhaps the much anthologized The Ransom of Red Chief, published in the collection Whirligigs in 1910. O. Henry's humorous, energetic style shows the influence of Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce. The story tells about two kidnappers, who make off with the young son of a prominent man. They find out that the child is a real nuisance. In the end they agree to pay the boy's father to take him back. "Sam," says Bill, "I suppose you'll think I'm a renegade. but I couldn't help it. I'm a grown person with masculine proclivities and habits of self-defense, but there is a time when all systems of egotism and predominance fail. The boy is gone. I sent him home. All is off. There was martyrs in old times," goes on Bill, "that suffered death rather than give up the particular graft they enjoyed. None of 'em ever was subjugated to such supernatural tortures as I have been. I tried to be faithful to our articles of depredation; but there came a limit."

Some of his least-known, yet best work resides in the collection Cabbages and Kings, a series of stories which each explore some individual aspects of life in a paralytically sleepy Central American town while each advancing some aspect of the larger plot and relating back one to another in a complex structure which slowly explicates its own background even as it painstakingly erects a town which is one of the most detailed literary creations of the period.

The Four Million is another collection of stories. It opens with a reference to Ward McAllister's "assertion that there were only 'Four Hundred' people in New York City who were really worth noticing. But a wiser man has arisen—the census taker—and his larger estimate of human interest has been preferred in marking out the field of these little stories of the 'Four Million.'" To O. Henry, everyone in New York counted. He had an obvious affection for the city, which he called "Bagdad-on-the-Subway," and many of his stories are set there.

Shamanism and folk beliefs - tín ngưỡng sa-man và tín ngưỡng dân gian


Shamanism and folk beliefs - tín ngưỡng sa-man và tín ngưỡng dân gian

The ancient people of Asia believed that the world was populated with spirits that resided in plants, animals and natural phenomena. They worshipped them and made sacrifices to gain their favour.

The shaman
A shaman is an intermediary between humankind and the spirit world, occupying a role similar to that of a priest: a religious specialist, possessing the ability to communicate with spirits, to appeal to them to dispel evil, to explain turns of fate, and to transmit the instructions of spirits. He or she usually has healing and magical powers, and can influence the spirits to bring about good and evil.

The practice of shamanism
There are several elements of shamanism in Taoism. Killing and expelling demons with the aid of charms and incantations, invoking spirits, holding ritual offerings, and presenting written memorials to spirits with the aid of a medium are all shamanistic practices.

Shamanism is not unique to Asia. Most of the long-established religions have elements of its beliefs and practices – the rite of exorcism in Christianity, for example, in which a priest attempts to communicate with, and expel, an evil spirit from another person, an animal or an inanimate object such as a house.

Shamanism in Vietnam
Although shamanism exists in mainstream religion in Vietnam, it is mostly found in the traditions of the country’s ethnic minority groups, many of whom retain a shaman in each village. To invoke the spirits, a shaman uses songs and dances, spells and talismans leading to the induction of a trance-like state during which he or she is in direct contact with spirits.

In theory, such activities are labelled as superstition and are illegal. However, the law is largely ignored, and even the authorities recognise the tourism potential of such rituals. As an example, one ethnic group in the Central Highlands has a traditional annual festival in which the highlight is the ritual slaughter of a buffalo as a sacrifice to the spirits. This gory spectacle is now being promoted by the tourism department of the area and has become very popular.

The fortune-teller
Another type of shaman specialises in divination, a common practice throughout the country. Vietnamese people believe that there are good days and bad days, and one’s future welfare depends upon choosing the most propitious date and time before undertaking any significant venture or activity.

Divination by astrology is the main tool to be used to determine what day a person should move house, apply for a job or get married: in each case, the verdict of the fortune teller is taken very seriously. The recommendation is almost invariably followed to the letter. The cost of this service is seldom cheap, sometimes running into hundreds of dollars – a large sum in a poor country.

Sometimes the outcome is highly inconvenient – having to move house in the middle of the night, for example. In other cases, the advice can lead to major life changes – an ‘unsuitable match’ verdict upon a couple (or one of the sets of parents) seeking guidance upon a possible marriage almost inevitably leads to a break-up.

A man will sometimes consult the shaman to ask how he should deal with what he considers his wife’s unsuitable behaviour (deep-rooted Confucian subservience inhibits women from doing the same). Sometimes, this leads to divorce. Young people sometimes spend several months’ salary seeking a way forward after rejection by a girl or boyfriend.

Underwater Cities - Thành phố dưới nước

Underwater Cities - Thành phố dưới nước

A wealth of human history lies submerged in ancient cities at the bottoms of lakes, seas and oceans of the world. Some of these were sent into the water via earthquakes, tsunamis or other disasters thousands of years ago. Many have just recently been rediscovered, by accident or through emergent technological innovations. Some have even caused scientists to question the history of human civilization.

Một kho tàng lịch sử loài người nằm ngập sâu dưới nước trong các đô thị cổ ở đáy hồ, biển và đại dương của thế giới. Một số đã chìm vào nước do các trận động đất, sóng thần hay thiên tai khác hàng ngàn năm trước. Nhiều thành phố đã chỉ vừa mới được tái phát hiện gần đây, do tình cờ hoặc thông qua những tiến bộ công nghệ nổi bật. Một số đo thị cổ thậm chí còn khiễn các nhà khoa học đặt câu hỏi về lịch sử của nền văn minh nhân loại.


Alexandria, Egypt: Off the shores of Alexandria, the city of Alexander the Great, lie what are believed to be the ruins of the royal quarters of Cleopatra. It is believed that earthquakes over 1,500 years ago were responsible for casting this into the sea, along with artifacts, statues and other parts of Cleopatra’s palace. The city of Alexandria even plans to offer underwater tours of this wonder.

Alexandria, Ai Cập: nằm ngoài khơi thành phố Alexandria, thành phố của Alexander Đại đế, còn tồn tại những gì được cho là những tàn tích của các khu hoàng thành thời Cleopatra. Người ta tin rằng trận động đất hơn 1.500 năm trước đây đã khiến thành phố vùi xuống biển, cùng với hiện vật, tượng và các phần khác của cung điện của Cleopatra. Thành phố Alexandria, thậm chí có kế hoạch cung cấp các tour du lịch dưới nước đến kỳ quan này.


Bay of Cambay, India: A few years back discovered the remains of a vast 9,500 year old city. This submerged ruin has intact architecture and human remains. More significantly, this find predates all finds in the area by over 5,000 years, forcing historians to reevaluate their understanding of the history of civilization in the region. The find has been termed Dwarka, or the ‘Golden City,’ after an ancient city-in-the sea said to belong to the Hindu god Krishna.

Vịnh Cambay, Ấn Độ: Cách đây vài năm đã phát hiện di tích của một thành phố rộng lớn tuổi 9.500 năm. Di tích ngập nước này còn kiến trúc nguyên vẹn và di hài con người. Quan trọng hơn, phát hiện này có niên đại trước tất cả các phát hiện khác trong khu vực tới hơn 5.000 năm, buộc các nhà sử học đánh giá lại sự hiểu biết của họ về lịch sử của nền văn minh trong khu vực. Phát hiện này được gọi tên là Dwarka, hay Đô thị Hoàng Kim, sau khi một thành phố cổ-dưới biển được cho là thuộc về thần Krishna của Ấn Độ giáo (đạo Hin-đu).



Kwan Phayao, Thailand: In itself perhaps not unusual, a 500 year old Thai temple sits at the bottom of lake Phayao. What makes this case strange is that the lake was actually made intentionally about 70 years ago, and that there has been recent discussion of potentially restoring the temple at the cost of billions of dollars. However, the ruins serve as a habitat for fish that many have argued should remain untouched.

Kwan Phayao, Thái Lan: Về thực chất, có lẽ tành phố này không có gì khác thường, một ngôi đền 500 năm tuổi ở Thái lan nằm dưới đáy hồ Phayao. Điều khiến cho nó trở nên kỳ lạ cái hồ đã thực sự được làm ra có chủ đích khoảng 70 năm trước đây, và rằng gần đây đã có cuộc thảo luận về khả năng khôi phục lại ngôi đền với chi phí hàng tỷ đô la. Tuy nhiên, cái di tích mà đang đóng vai trò như là nơi cư trú cho cá này nhiều người cho rằng nên được giữ nguyên trạng.



Yonaguni-Jima, Japan: Discovered by a dive tour guide some twenty years ago, controversies have arisen around a mysterious pyramids found off the coast of Japan. These structures seem to have been carved right out of bedrock, using tools previously thought unavailable to ancient cultures of the region.

Yonaguni-Jima, Nhật Bản: Phát hiện bởi một hướng dẫn viên lặn khoảng hai mươi năm trước, tranh cãi đã nảy sinh xung quanh một kim tự tháp bí ẩn được tìm thấy ngoài khơi bờ biển Nhật Bản. Những cấu trúc này dường như đã được trổ khắc ngay trong đá khối, sử dụng những công cụ trước đây được cho là không có sẵn ở các nền văn hóa cổ trong khu vực này.

Havana, Cuba: A team of scientists continues to explore megalithic ruins found in the Yucatan Channel near Cuba. They have found evidence of an extensive urban environment stretching for miles along the ocean shore. Some believe that the civilization that inhabited these predates all known ancient American cultures. So far, only computer models of this mysterious underwater city exist.

Havana, Cuba: Một nhóm các nhà khoa học tiếp tục khám phá các di tích cự thạch tìm thấy ở eo biển Yucatan gần Cuba. Họ đã tìm thấy bằng chứng về một môi trường đô thị rộng lớn trải dài hàng dặm dọc theo bờ biển. Một số người tin rằng nền văn minh này có trước tất cả các nền văn hóa cổ đại đã được biết đến ở châu Mỹ. Cho đến nay, chỉ tồn tại có mô hình trên máy tính của thành phố dưới nước bí ẩn này.

North Sea

North Sea, Europe: A lost natural landscape was found recently under the North Sea, once occupied by human hunter-gatherers over 10,000 years ago. What were once rivers, lakes and oceans are now all at the bottom of the sea, only made known through digital mapping. Scientists theorize that this amazingly well-preserved landscape was at the heart of an ancient civilization spread across Europe.

Bắc Hải, Châu Âu: Một cảnh quan thiên nhiên biến mất đã được tìm thấy gần đây dưới Biển Bắc, một thời được cư trú bởi những người săn bắn và hái lượm hơn 10.000 năm trước đây. Những cái đã từng sông, hồ và đại dương, tất cả hiện nay đang ở dưới đáy biển, và chỉ được biết đến qua bản đồ kỹ thuật số. Các nhà khoa học đưa ra giả thuyết rằng cảnh quan được bảo quản tốt đến mức đáng ngạc nhiên là trung tâm của một nền văn minh cổ đại trải rộng khắp châu Âu.



Atlantis

Atlantis, Antarctica? Over a hundred years ago, a museum curator in Istanbul made a remarkable discovery. Examining an ancient map on gazelle skin, he found a location marking a mountain chain where Antarctica is today. This map is, amazingly, one of many pieces of evidence people have used to try and claim that, in fact, Antarctica is the fabled lost continent of Atlantis. Other evidence includes the recent discovery (via sonar technology) of land under Antarctica as well as the mapping systems used by ancient cartographers, which suggest Atlantis might have been located far from the Mediterranean Sea.

Atlantis, Nam Cực? Hơn một trăm năm trước, một người phụ trách bảo tàng ở Istanbul đã thực hiện một phát hiện đáng chú ý. Khi xem xét một bản đồ cổ trên da linh dương, ông đã tìm thấy một địa điểm đánh dấu một dãy núi, nằm ở Nam Cực ngày nay. Điều đáng ngạc nhiên là bản đồ này là một trong nhiều bằng chứng đã được sử dụng để đưa ra giả thuyết rằng, trên thực tế, Nam Cực là lục địa Atlantis huyền thoại đã bị biến mất. Bằng chứng khác bao gồm những khám phá gần đây (thông qua công nghệ sóng siêu âm) về đất đai dưới châu Nam Cực cũng như hệ thống bản đồ được sử dụng bởi nhà vẽ bản đồ cổ đại, gợi ý rằng Atlantis có thể đã nằm rất xa Địa Trung Hải.


The Late Movies: Amateur Storm Chasers - Tài tử săn giông bão

The Late Movies: Amateur Storm Chasers - Tài tử săn giông bão

Whether you live in a twister-stricken area or have only experienced the scary storms through Bill Paxton movies, tornadoes are one of the most fascinating and surprising forms of weather. We’ve rounded up a collection of clips of amateur storm chasers — sometimes people who just happen to be in the right place at the right time — following funnel clouds.

Cho dù bạn sống trong một khu vực có lốc xoáy hoành hành hoặc chỉ trải nghiệm những cơn bão kinh hoàng này qua phim của Bill Paxton, thì ốc xoáy là một trong những kiểu thời tiết hấp dẫn nhất và đáng ngạc nhiên nhất . Chúng tôi đã tập hợp các clip của những người săn bão nghiệp dư - đôi khi những người chỉ tình cờ có mặt đúng nơi vào đúng thời điểm - dõi theo những đám mây hình vòi.

Ellis County, Oklahoma
It’s hard to imagine the full force of this tornado until around 1:53, when a tree gets sucked into the cloud. Thật khó mà tưởng tượng sức mạnh đầy đủ của vòi rồng này cho đến khoảng 1:53, khi một cái cây bị hút vào đám mây.


Manitoba, Canada
These folks become accidental storm chasers as they traveled through Canada and a tornado appeared right next to their car. Những người này vô tình trở thành người săn bão khi họ đi qua Canada và một cơn lốc vòi rồng xuất hiện ngay bên cạnh chiếc xe của họ.



Elmwood, Illinois
This video was shot from a car about two miles away from where the tornado touched down.
Video này được quay từ một chiếc xe hơi cách nơi cơn lốc vòi rồng tiếp đất hai dặm.



Wakita, Oklahoma
The tornado watchers in this video are psyched when the cloud begins to form. They are less psyched when four-inch pieces of hail slam their car. Những người quan sát cơn lốc vòi rồng trong video này là phát khiếp khi đám mây bắt đầu hình thành. Họ ít hãi hơn khi mưa đá to bốn-inch của dội xuống xe của họ.



Brooklyn, New York
If you’ve ever wondered how quickly tornadoes can wreak havoc, this video of last year’s tornado in New York proves that they can move pretty darn fast. Nếu bạn đã từng tự hỏi lốc vòi rồng có thể nhanh chóng tàn phá tới mức nào, thì video quay cơn lốc xoáy hồi năm ngoái ở New York này chứng minh rằng chúng có thể di chuyển nhanh kinh khủng



Wilkin County, Minnesota
Within seconds, a tornado destroys a home and scatters debris.
Trong vài giây, một cơn lốc vòi rồng đã phá hủy một ngôi nhà và phân tán mảnh vỡ khắp nơi.

It’s a Small, Small World - Disney World - Thế giới nhỏ - Disney World

It’s a Small, Small World - Disney World - Thế giới nhỏ - Disney World

1. As many people know, the ride was originally an attraction at the 1964 New York World’s Fair
before finding a permanent home at Disneyland. Here’s Walt showing off his creation on The Wonderful World of Color “Disneyland Goes to the World’s Fair” episode:

2. When the ride first opened at Disneyland on May 28, 1966, Walt invited kids from around the world to come help dedicate it. They each brought a container of water from rivers and seas of their native lands and added it to the flume of the ride in Anaheim.

3. That earworm of a song is really the lesser of two evils. The first prototype of the idea included a cacophony of national anthems all running together as you sailed from nation to nation in your ride boats. The effect was more melting eardrums than melting pot, and Walt Disney knew it. He asked the Sherman Brothers (the geniuses behind other Disney classics like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and “The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers”) to come up with a single song that would unite his population of animatronic dolls. What they created, of course, was that song.

4. That song may very well be the most performed song of all time. Michael Eisner made the claim back in 1985, and many people were quick to doubt. But when the case is made that not many songs are played for 16 hours a day on a continuous loop in five different theme parks – well, that makes a difference, doesn’t it? Robert Sherman Jr. says, “Since 1983, there has not been a moment when “It’s A Small World” wasn’t playing in at least two locations on the globe. Who else can claim that?”

5. Not every doll on the ride is smiling and happy to be there. Near the end of your Disneyland trip ‘round the world, there’s a hot air balloon suspended from the ceiling that holds a pair of clowns. One of the clowns is not only frowning, he’s also carrying a sign that says “HELP”. Picture from HiddenMickeys.

6. More than 256 million people have experienced the ride.

7. Rumor has it that the turrets and gold ornaments on the exterior of the Disneyland building (the World’s Fair version) are real 22K gold. Although the original plan was to simply paint it gold, it didn’t take long to see that the paint would fade and oxidize so quickly that the cost to upkeep it would be more expensive than using real gold.

8. It’s a Small World in Disneyland was revamped a couple of years ago, leaving many fans crying foul. Even Imagineers were pretty upset about the change to the classic design. It wasn’t a simple maintenance update, you see – part of it was to include Disney characters in appropriate sections of the ride, for example, Alice in Wonderland in the U.K. Nearly 30 other characters were added, including Cinderella, Aladdin, Lilo, Pinocchio and Mulan. Many people saw it as a corporate twist on what was originally supposed to be a very innocent, non-branded affair. Though I haven’t seen it in person, I’ve read reviews that say it’s actually not as intrusive as imagined. They also added an American scene which was lacking from the World’s Fair version – since the U.S. was the host country, no American scenes were used in 1964.

9. If you’re one of those people who is a bit creeped out by dolls (I am), this ride may not be for you – there are about 300 of the eternally-smiling children that sing the song in each ride.

10. There are a few little surprises in each room if you have sharp eyes. For instance, every room has a moon and a sun somewhere within, paying tribute to the lyrics “There is just one moon and one golden sun.” In the room that represents Africa, a string of purple leaves resembles the classic tri-circle Mickey head silhouette. And my favorite, if it’s true, is that one doll in each “It’s a Small World” ride is made to look like Mary Blair, the artist behind the distinct look of the ride.