filed in Agimia Stuff on Feb.11, 2010
James Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English-language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr. No
filed in Agimia Stuff on Jan.10, 2010
The rose was sacred to a number of goddesses (including Isis and Aphrodite), and is often used as a symbol of the Virgin Mary.
To make a napkin rose, take a paper napkin and unfold it. Then fold the top edge of the napkin (about 4 centimeters) over towards you.
filed in Agimia Stuff on Dec.30, 2009
Cats have excellent night vision and can function at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision. This is partly the result of cat eyes having a tapetum lucidum, which reflects any light that passes through the retina back into the eye, thereby increasing the eye’s sensitivity to dim light. Another adaptation to dim light is the large pupils of cats’ eyes. Unlike some big cats, such as tigers, domestic cats have slit pupils. These slit pupils can focus bright light without chromatic aberration, and are needed since the domestic cat’s pupils are much larger, relative to their eyes, than the pupils of the big cats. Indeed, at low light levels a cat’s pupils will expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes. However, domestic cats have rather poor color vision and can only see two colors: blue and green, and are less able to distinguish between red and green, although they can achieve this in some conditions.
filed in Agimia Stuff on Nov.28, 2009
Kung fu and wushu are popular terms that have become synonymous with Chinese martial arts. However, the Chinese terms kung fu and wushu have very different meanings. The Chinese literal equivalent of “Chinese martial art” would be zhongguo wushu.
In Chinese, kung fu can be used in contexts completely unrelated to martial arts, and refers colloquially to any individual accomplishment or skill cultivated through long and hard work. In contrast, wushu is a more precise term for general martial activities.
Wǔshù literally means “martial art“. It is formed from the two words 武術: 武 (wǔ), meaning, “martial” or “military”, and 術 (shù), which translates into “discipline”, “skill” or “method.”
The term wushu has also become the name for a modern sport involving the performance of adapted Chinese bare-handed and weapons forms (tàolù 套路) judged to a set of contemporary aesthetic criteria for points.
