Lantern Festival - 17Feb2011

The Lantern Festival or Yuan Xiao Festival (simplified Chinese: 元宵节; traditional Chinese: 元宵節; pinyin: Yuánxiāojié) or Shang Yuan Festival (simplified Chinese: 上元节; traditional Chinese: 上元節; pinyin: Shàngyuánjié) in China or Chap Goh Meh (Chinese: 十五暝; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: cha̍p-gō-mê; literally "the fifteen night") Festival in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore or Yuen Siu Festival in Hong Kong, or "Tết Thượng Nguyên" or "Tết Nguyên Tiêu"(Vietnamese: Tết Nguyên tiêu) in Vietnam; is a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the Chinese calendar, the last day of the lunisolar Chinese New Year celebration. It is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is sometimes also known as the "Lantern Festival" in locations such as Singapore and Malaysia. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on the lanterns (simplified Chinese: 猜灯谜; traditional Chinese: 猜燈謎; pinyin: cāidēngmí). It officially ends the Chinese New Year celebrations.
In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, for only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones; in modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in shapes of animals.
In some region and countries, this festival is also regarded as the Chinese version of St. Valentine's Day, a day celebrating love and affection between lovers in Chinese tradition and culture.

元宵節，亦稱為上元節、小正月、元夕、小年或燈節，日本稱上元（じょうげん）、小正月（こしょうがつ），朝鮮稱正月大滿月（정월대만월）、正月大보름（정월대보름，「보름」為固有詞，月圓、望日之意，或簡稱大보름）、上元（상원）、元宵（원소）、元夕（원석）、烏忌日（오기일），時間是每年的農曆正月十五。
元宵節是新年的第一個月圓之夜，象徵著春天的到來，人們吃元宵、賞燈、猜燈謎，以示祝賀。這是春節之後的第一個重要節日。 中華明朝錢塘瞿佑《雙頭牡丹燈記》：「每歲元夕，於明州張燈五夜。傾城士女，皆得縱觀」。在這一天，人們要吃元宵，鬧燈會，猜燈謎，提燈籠，許多地方還有拉兔子燈，放天燈的習俗。是華人社會的盛大節日之一。
道教中，上元節視為天官大帝（堯）誕辰，正月十五為上元，七月十五為中元，十月十五為下元，分別屬天、地、水這三官大帝主管。上元節乃天官華誕，故燃燈以慶。終唐一代，朝廷皆正式祭拜。
在中國廣東佛山，有元宵節的傳統習俗「行通濟，無閉翳」。寓意走過通濟橋，就會健健康康，不會犯愁。
在馬來西亞，未婚男女在元宵節聚集到河邊拋柑，並在柑上面寫下姓名和聯絡方式，希望就此結識可以攜手共行的伴侶。 在香港，元宵節亦成年貨再造和回收之黃金大良機。
在臺灣，除了賞花燈活動及著名的臺灣燈會、臺北燈節、高雄燈會藝術節之外，還有北臺灣的新北市平溪區放天燈活動。另外，在中臺灣的苗栗縣則有著名的「苗栗火旁龍」，苗栗火旁龍是指以鞭炮、蜂炮炸舞龍方式得到「去邪（去舊）迎新年」的作用。在南臺灣的臺南市鹽水區則有著名的「鹽水蜂炮」。在臺灣東部的臺東縣，則有以鞭炮炸財神的祈福活動：「臺東元宵炸寒單爺」。
在臺灣早期，有未婚女性在元宵節夜裡，以偷蔥來討個結婚吉兆的說法。俗語說：「偷挽蔥，嫁好翁；偷挽菜，嫁好婿」

wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lantern_Festival

中文 : http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E5%85%83%E5%AE%B5%E8%8A%82

Valentine's Day - 14Feb2011

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day,is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It was deleted from the Roman calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). The day first became associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.

情人節，（英語：Valentine's Day），中國大陸譯名聖瓦倫丁節，相傳節日命名源於19世紀末，古羅馬青年基督教傳教士Valentine冒險傳教時被捕入獄。他的英勇行為感動了老獄吏及他一名雙目失明的女兒，從而獲得他們悉心照顧。面對行刑前，Valentine寫信給失明女示愛。處死當天，失明女在他墓前種植一棵開紅花的杏樹寄託情思，這天就是2月14日。因此「情人節」定於每年的2月14日，是西方的傳統節日之一。在這一天，有些人會贈送禮物給情人或心儀的人，例如會送巧克力、賀卡和花等，用以表達愛意或友好。近年，情人節宗教意味漸消，亦有部分人認為情人節過於商業化，送禮行為逐漸便開始標準化和世俗化，但亦有人選擇在情人節這天註冊結婚。基於宗教理由，南亞和中東很多地區都企圖用法例規範及阻止情人節的發展

wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day

中文 : http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%83%85%E4%BA%BA%E8%8A%82

Thomas Edison - 11Feb2011

Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847 – October 18, 1931) was an American inventor, scientist, and businessman who developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. Dubbed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (now Edison, New Jersey) by a newspaper reporter, he was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of mass production and large teamwork to the process of invention, and therefore is often credited with the creation of the first industrial research laboratory.
Edison is considered one of the most prolific inventors in history, holding 1,093 US patents in his name, as well as many patents in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. He is credited with numerous inventions that contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunications. These included a stock ticker, a mechanical vote recorder, a battery for an electric car, electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures. His advanced work in these fields was an outgrowth of his early career as a telegraph operator. Edison originated the concept and implementation of electric-power generation and distribution to homes, businesses, and factories – a crucial development in the modern industrialized world. His first power station was on Manhattan Island, New York.

湯瑪斯·阿爾瓦·愛迪生（英語：Thomas Alva Edison，1847年2月11日－1931年10月18日），美國發明家、商人，擁有眾多重要的發明專利，被傳媒授予「門洛帕克的奇才」稱號的他，是世界上第一個發明家利用大量生產原則和其工業研究實驗室來生產發明物的人。他發明很多東西，包括對世界極大影響的留聲機，電影攝影機，和鎢絲燈泡等。在美國，愛迪生名下擁有1093項專利，而他在美國、英國、法國和德國等地的專利數累計超過1500項。1892年創立奇異公司。1908年，愛迪生創立「Motion Picture Patents Company（一般所知為Edison Trust）」，一家由九個主要電影工作室組成的企業集團。
1900年代初期，愛迪生在佛羅里達州的福梅爾買了一間別墅。汽車巨頭亨利·福特，就住在這間別墅的對面。他也是愛迪生的好朋友。「Edison and Ford Winter Estates」目前開放給大眾參觀。

wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison

中文 : http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E6%89%98%E9%A9%AC%E6%96%AF%C2%B7%E7%88%B1%E8%BF%AA%E7%94%9F

Jules Verne - 08Feb2011

Jules Gabriel Verne (French pronunciation: [ʒyl vɛʁn]; February 8, 1828 – March 24, 1905) was a French author from Brittany who pioneered the science-fiction genre. He is best known for novels such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), A Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater travel before air travel and practical submarines were invented, and before practical means of space travel had been devised. He is the third most translated individual author in the world, according to Index Translationum. Some of his books have also been made into films. Verne, along with Hugo Gernsback and H. G. Wells, is often popularly referred to as the "Father of Science Fiction"

儒勒·凡爾納（Jules Verne，1828年2月8日－1905年3月24日），法國小說家、博物學家，現代科幻小說的重要開創者之一。他一生寫了六十多部大大小小的科幻小說，總題為《在已知和未知的世界漫遊》。他以其大量著作和突出貢獻，被譽為「科幻小說之父」。由於凡爾納知識非常豐富，他小說作品的著述、描寫多有科學根據，所以當時他小說的幻想，如今成為了有趣的預言。

儒勒·凡爾納是根據Jules Verne法語發音的中文譯名，Jules Gabriel Verne的名字也曾被譯為「蕭魯士」、「威男」、「焦土威奴」和「查理士·培倫」。

wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Verne

中文 : http://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E5%84%92%E5%8B%92%C2%B7%E5%87%A1%E5%B0%94%E7%BA%B3

Family Reunion Dinner - 02Jan2011

A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve of the Chinese New Year, during which family members get together to celebrate. The New Year's Eve dinner is very large and traditionally includes chicken and pork. Fish (魚, yú) is also included, but intentionally not finished, and the remaining fish is stored overnight. The reason for this stems from a pun, as the Chinese phrase 年年有魚/餘; (nián nián yǒu yú, or "every year there is fish/leftover") is a homophone for phrases which mean "be blessed every year" or "have profit every year". Similarly, a type of black hair-like algae, "fat choy"(髮菜, fǎ cài, literally "hair vegetable" in Cantonese), is also featured in many dishes since its name sounds similar to "prosperity"(發財, fā cái). Hakka will serve "kiu nyuk" 扣肉 and "ngiong tiu fu" 釀豆腐.

The belief is that having one will lead to the other, as the phrases sound similar to one another.

年夜飯，又稱圍爐。南方稱為團年飯、團圓飯，是農曆除夕（每年最後一天）的一餐，目的是在過年前一家團聚並共度新春，傳統上年夜飯多在除夕祭祖後食用。通常年廿九(農曆如果是小月)或年三十晚。

wiki : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reunion_dinner

中文 : http://www.youngthinker.net/wiki/index.php?doc-view-3447