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POPSDan - female impersonators in Chinese opera the lack of actresses gave rise to female impersonators. They dominated the stage and were the big stars of Beijing opera, especially between the 1920’s and the 1940’s. divisions among Dan roles: Qingyi is the faithful wife or devoted daughter; Huadan is the wily and seductive female; Wudan is skilled in martial arts; Caidan is the comedian; Laodan is the old woman.
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POPSAssorted Quotes from a blog sidebar... MORE: “Never believe in a meritocracy in which no one is funny-looking.” (Teresa Nielsen Hayden) “True religion invites us to become better people. False religion tells us that this has already occurred.” (Abdal-Hakim Murad) “To live is to war against the trolls.” (Henrik Ibsen) “No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” (Samuel Beckett)
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POPSBruce Lee’s Top 7 Fundamentals for Getting Your Life in Shape If you have, then you may be interested to know that Lee was a very famous martial artist and actor who sparked the first big interest of Chinese martial arts in the West in the 60’s and 70’s. But besides being an awesome fighter and iconic figure Lee also had some very useful things to say about life.
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POPSMythbusters to test cockroache's radiation risk Can cockroaches survive a nuclear attack ? Mythbusters have arranged to irradiate cockroaches, with the help of scientists at the Hanford 318 building irradiator, near Richland Washington. The episode is supposed to air in about 4 months. Hope they don't mutate too much, or learn Martial arts.
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POPSChuck Norris on hit list Check out what Mr. Norris is doing for kids. "It is what I have been doing for more than a decade with my "KickStart" program, which began in Houston, Texas, teaching 150 at-risk children martial arts as part of the PE curriculum. Since that time, our program, which instills discipline and respect and raises self-esteem, has grown to serve more than 6,000 youngsters year round at 37 schools in Dallas and Houston, Texas. To date, KickStart has graduated more than 50,000 students with many going on to college and becoming successful in their own right."
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POPSBruce Lee said once : He who knows not and knows not he knows not, He is a fool - Shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not, He is simple - Teach him. He who knows and knows not he knows, he is asleep - Awaken him. He who knows and knows that he knows, He is wise - Follow him.
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POPSThe world's longest turban – but why do Nihang Sikhs wear large turbans? More on why Nihangs wear such large turbans: Another part is: During a point in a battle a detachment of Sikhs carrying the Nishan Sahib of the Khalsa was overrun and wiped out by the enemy. An army’s flag is sacred and a rallying image. When concern over the loss of the flag was reported to Guru Gobind Singh he tore off a piece of cloth and attached it to his own turban. He instructed them to do the same and so raised the flag upon the very heads of his brave Sikhs. To this day Nihang Singhs who's knowledge, words, and deeds exemplify the principals of a Khalsa warrior are acknowledged the right to wear this Farla on their Damala. According to the tradition today; it is not something that one just decides to wear one day because they want to. It is appropriate that five elder Singh's who do wear it may bestow this duty and order upon a Sikh who they deem appropriate and befitting.
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POPSDreams: Night School...an interesting theory! A dream researcher at the University of Turku, in Finland, Revonsuo believes that dreams are a sort of nighttime theater in which our brains screen realistic scenarios. This virtual reality simulates emergency situations and provides an arena for safe training. As Revonsuo puts it, "The primary function of negative dreams is rehearsal for similar real events, so that threat recognition and avoidance happens faster and more automatically in comparable real situations." Faced with actual life-or-death situations—traffic accidents, terrorist attacks, street assaults—some people report entering a mode of calm, rapid response, reacting automatically, almost without thinking. Afterward, they often say the episode felt unreal, as if it were all a dream. Threat simulation, Revonsuo believes, is why.
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POPSLife of people around Wudang Mountain and something about Chinese Taoist Culture
Someone may remember the movie"Crouching Tiger,Hiding Dragon",which directed by Ann Lee.In that movie,hero performed by Yun-Fat Chow is the Master of Wudang,so we can see many Wudang Kungfu and wonderful Wudang landscapes in the movie. Wudang always play an important part throughout Chinese history,either in Taoist,or in Kungfu.It's one of cradlelands of Taoist,and its Kungfu,one important school of Chinese Martial Arts,as famous as Shaolin Temple for our Chinese, has a very long history.The Kungfu,such as Taiji Boxing(Tai Chi),incorporating the ways to Taoist culture(keep healthy and prolong the lifespan)and collecting the skills to fight. Chinese Taoist Culture and Taoist Temples on Wudang are unique.But now ,local government dont think much of these.By contrast,even some of these temples have a longer history than Forbidden City in Beijing,it has been damaged a lot because of non-protect,people around the mountain are poor.Furthermore,some Chinese traditional culture are losin