The monsoony afternoon clouds over Juhu beach, Bombay (Mumbai, India). Taken from the hotel we stayed in. It was a good day sky watching from the inside, and also watching thousands of Indians lazying out the afternoon ashore. It was a regular delight for me watching them and sometimes joining them. See the stormy weather did not prevent them from spending the time with their lovers, family and friends playing ball, sitting or sleeping on the sand despite the multitude, or even daring to swim in the grayish waters.

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PhotoHunt 99: Party

This party took place in one of Amsterdam’s famous bars and coffee shops, with some old friends and hubby’s workmates from around the world during the worldwide meeting.

It shall be noted that in the Netherlands, the use of soft drugs – cannabis in all its forms (marijuana, hashish, hash oil) has been admitted for the personal use only; it is legal! And openly sold and smoked in Amsterdam’s coffee shops which can legally store up to 500 g of marijuana and can sell up to 5 grams to adults over 18. (We didn’t smoke, ok!) These coffee shops offer several kinds of weed and hash, and usually there is a “menu” to choose from. The prices vary according to the quality (about 5 EUR per gram). Amsterdam has also a major smoking event called High Times Cannabis Cup on November. But there are also so many interesting places and tourist spots in Amsterdam as well.

PhotoHunt

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Every one is excited! And so am I. Winter is passing and spring is coming! And with that comes - spring break! Now here is the Spring Break contest! The challenge: Can You Top Chuck Woolery & Ranting Robb on TV? Join Ocean Potion XTREME Spring Break Challenge 2008 and win big prizes, which include a dream vacation or $5,000 cash prize!

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See the Xtreme Tanning product line and how you can benefit from them in this video:

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I love oysters. They are one of my favourites. I have a little joke about oysters. There was an oyster couple. The Oyster husband asked her wife, “Darling, years ago you had a figure like a coke bottle. Oyster wife answered, “ Yes darling I still do, the only difference is that before I was 300ml now I’m 1.5 liter”.

I learned a lot more about oyster through Gulf oysters . This website provides a thorough education to the oyster consuming public about oyster. One of the things I’ve learned is that eating raw or undercooked oysters may cause illness or even death due to Vibrio vulnificus bacteria. Be Informed, cautious, smart, sure and be oyster aware.

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The illusion of the long neck

I came across a humor blog few weeks back and the humorist showed a photo or two of peoples, particularly of women having long necks. At first sight that seemed funny, but I knew it goes deeper than that.

By following Jewel in the palace community I read some phrases about “long-necked beauty”. So was it for that reason that those women have long necks, for beauty?

I have not traveled and met with them actually, I just found some interesting things. I believe there are also some small tribes in Africa (women of Ndebele), but the group of people some labeled as the “long-neck” or “giraffe” tribe, signifying the very old tradition and practice of adorning their women with rings around the neck, are called Karen Padaung, a tiny sub-group of the larger Karen people, natives of Burma who have long been caught up in a civil war against the government, and found refuge in artificial tourist villages in Thailand who were accepted by the Thai government for the tourist money they bring in, which also supports them. They sat on display at a Bangkok tourism fair, helping to create the buzz that would draw visitors from around the globe who will be paying a heavy entrance fee to gawk at them. They prefer to be exploited for tourism, (anyway they seem to enjoy being photographed), than going back to their land in civil war.

In the Mae Hong Sorn and Bann Thaton area in Thailand, the women of the Karen Padaung villages wear multiple brass spiral coils and rings around the neck, the arms and the legs, and use carved elephant tusk in the ears. This neck ring adornment is started when the girls are 5 or 6 years old and the neck grows longer as additional rings are added with each passing year. The rings on the neck reach from the clavicle up to beneath the chin, and these rings are always held very tightly by the bone structure from clavicle to chin. But the appearance of a longer neck is a visual illusion. The women’s necks are not actually stretched. The weight of the rings gradually pushed down the women’s collarbones, as well as the upper ribs, to such an angle that the collarbone actually appears to be a part of the neck, making an illusion of a long neck! For this tribe the rings are the most prominent sign of female beauty and status, and an extra-long neck is considered a sign of great beauty and wealth and that it will attract a better husband. But in this small tribe whose members marries within the group, adultery is low, well, since the punishment is removal of the brass neck ring, which over the years, weakened the neck muscles that women have to spend their life lying down for support. Each peoples, each cultures. There is always striking beauty and wonder in them that overwhelm our thoughts of fathoming them.

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