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Bollywood Flop Movies of 2008

2011-07-15T19:01:00.002-07:00

Bollywood gave some of the disappointing worst movies this year, 2008. The dusky beauty Priyanka Chopra is responsible in giving four of the biggest flops of 2008. Thank God, Fashion proved to be a saving grace.

Here is the list of Bollywood flop movies 2008:

1. Tashan: Director Sanjay Gadhvi showed that Dhoom series was a fluke as he completely made mincemeat of the movie Tashan. The movie was one big size zero, nothing in the movie impressed. Everyone in the movie looked like having an attitude problem and Anil Kapoor was difficult to understand than a Mission Impossible plot. Read review of Tashan

2. Love story 2050: Love Story 2050 released as a contender to Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na on July 4, 2008. While Jaane Tu skyrocketed, Love Story 2050 went down to pits. Perhaps no movie in Bollywood has such a hackneyed and foolish second half as Love Story 2050. Come to think of it, something was definitely wrong in her pretty head, when Priyanka Chopra said it was a great movie. We certainly hated her as a red haired moll. Her man...sorry Harman Baweja looked like a boy lost in the woods.

3. Drona: Another crap flop movie featuring Priyanka Chopra. Drona was touted as the next big superhero movie starring Abhishek Bachchan. Almost every movie critic thrashed the movie Drona left, right and center. With Abhishek Bachchan looking like a junior artiste, this superzero film made everyone rush out of the cinema. Read review of Drona

4. Kidnap: Sanjay Gadhvi has proved that Tashan's flop status was not a fluke. The movie lost focus on the story and trained its lens only on Minissha cleavage. So much to the extent that the candy floss lover Imran Khan was also shown ogling at Minissha's cleavage. What about the story? Forget it, the audience was held at ransom. Read Kidnap review.

5. Mission Istanbul: Mission Istanbul looked like a B-grade movie with Istanbul as a backdrop. Pathetic direction, lousy performances, irritating screenplay, nothing went right for Mission Istanbul. At no point could the audience relate to what was going on. Read review of Mission Istanbul.

6. Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic: Since the time Aditya Chopra decided to put bikinis and scantily clad women as the centrifugal force in his films, his movies have only succeeded at the groin level. Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic will go down as one of the worst children's movie. In fact, it is an insult to call it a children's movie when we have the very developed in the right places Amisha Patel strutting her stuff in a yellow bikini and enjoying some lazy lamhe on the side. And have you seen a sardarni angel? That's Rani for you. Read review of Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic

7. God Tussi Great Ho: Another Priyanka Chopra flop, this time she shares the honor with Salman Khan. The movie a very poor rip off of "Bruce Almighty"(even though the maker lied by telling it wasn't) certainly left a bad taste in the mouth. Total bore and a waste of time, everything in it was second hand as Priyanka Chopra's old nose ring.

8. Chamku: Priyanka Chopra's one more meaningless contribution to the box office. I am sure the lady will blush while reading this, she certainly has to differentiate between a good script and bad script. At least, she can choose a director with a better track record if she cannot judge a script. Anyway Chamku had Bobby Deol playing the wrong character 252nd time. Of course, what do you expect the audience to do?

9. Money Hai toh Honey Hai: Money Hai toh Honey Hai was rubbished by critics and audiences alike. It looked like the director Ganesh Acharya tried making something to fill in between the song videos.

10. Krazzy4: The producer Rakesh Roshan became poorer by 4 crores before the movie could even release, thanks to the music copyright infringement case filed by Ram Shankar. Krazzy 4 had three item numbers by Shahrukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Rakhi Sawant which were the only saving grace in the film. Among the above list of top 10 flops in Bollywood 2008, this is the only one which was marginally passable to watch.

Bollywood For Beginners

2011-07-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

New to Bollywood? Appreciating its artistry is simply a matter of understanding India's unique way of filmmaking. Our primer explains the basics:

What is Bollywood?

Bollywood is a term that refers to the Hindi-language film industry based in the Indian city of Mumbai, which used to be called Bombay. Bombay + Hollywood = Bollywood. The term is believed to have been coined by a Western journalist in the 1970s. Many Indians take issue with the word because it implies that Bollywood is a lesser offshoot of Hollywood, when in fact, India produces far more films annually that attract far greater audience numbers globally than the U.S. And, the Indian film industry is older than Hollywood-by one year.

Are all Indian films produced by Bollywood?

No. Bollywood is only one of many film industries in India. Imagine if the U.S. had a thriving Spanish-language film industry that gave Hollywood a run for its money, or regional film industries in Chicago, Atlanta, and Seattle that rivaled L.A.'s. That's how it is in India. The various Indian film industries are both language- and location-specific. They include Kollywood, which refers to Tamil-language films made in the Kodambakkam district of the city of Chennai; Mollywood, which is Malayalam-language cinema from the state of Kerala; and Tollywood, which refers to both Telugu-language films from the state of Andhra Pradesh and Bengali-language films made in the Tollygunge neighborhood of Kolkata.

While Bollywood and India's other film industries primarily produce commercial movies, India also has a strong and respected art-film tradition, which is referred to as "parallel cinema." The delineation between commercial and art film in India is stronger than it is in the U.S. However, that line is beginning to blur as Bollywood is delving into artier projects and Indian art films are aiming for broader appeal.

Are all Bollywood films musicals?

Most Bollywood films include musical numbers. Today's movies generally have fewer musical numbers than older films. While 10 musical numbers in a film wasn't unusual in the past, four to six are more typical today. And more and more Bollywood movies don't have any musical numbers at all.

It's important to remember that Bollywood films are not musicals in the American sense. Bollywood has more in common with opera than with Broadway. The main function of musical numbers in Bollywood films (and operas) is to express emotion. Broadway musical numbers, on the other hand, primarily drive the plot. While Broadway musical numbers are integrated into the narrative, Bollywood musical numbers usually are not. Rather, they're metaphors, removed from the plot, that show how a character feels, not what the character is actually doing.

Do the actors sing the songs?

Very rarely. The vast majority of film songs are sung by playback singers, who are famous in their own right.

The movie and music industries in India are inextricably interlinked. Nearly all Indian pop music comes from movie soundtracks.

Why do so many Bollywood actors have the same last name? Are they all related?

Nepotism is common in Bollywood and many actors and filmmakers come from family dynasties that have been in the movie business for generations. However, there are many celebrities with the same common surnames, particularly Khan and Kapoor, who are not related.

How come there's no sex in Bollywood movies?

Two reasons: social and artistic. Onscreen physical intimacy is frowned upon in India-even kissing is fairly rare. But more importantly, Indian filmmakers are masters of the art of seduction. There may not be any sex in Bollywood movies, but they sure are sexy. In fact, it's precisely because there's no sex that they're filled with so much incredible tension, which is missing entirely from Hollywood movies these days. In the words of film critic Roger Ebert, "it is less erotic to snoggle for 60 minutes than spend 60 seconds wondering if you are about to be snoggled." He was talking about Bollywood.

Sometimes Bollywood musical numbers act as a substitute for sex, depicting it not in any crass, overt way, but implicitly, even metaphorically. The characters are often so carried away with passion that they suddenly appear in exotic locations around the world-the pyramids of Egypt, the canals of Venice, the mountains of Switzerland-places that have nothing to do with the plot but have everything to do with the limitlessness of fantasy.

Why are Bollywood films so long?

For starters, Indians are used to longer forms of entertainment. Cricket matches last for days. So do Indian weddings. A three-hour movie isn't long at all in comparison. Also, Indians tend to be value-conscious. They expect a full afternoon or evening of entertainment for the price of a ticket.

But the biggest reason Bollywood films are long is artistic. The time commitment required of the audience heightens their emotional investment in the story. (The same is true of operas, which are often as long or even longer than Hindi films.) The effect can be powerfully moving, even for Americans accustomed to shorter films.

Bollywood movies are getting shorter, though, mostly because there are fewer musical numbers than there used to be. While three and a half hours was once typical, three hours or less is now the norm.

What's the biggest artistic difference between Bollywood and Hollywood?

In a word: "masala." The concept of masala is key to understanding Bollywood films. It's a culinary term that means "spicy mixture." Masala filmmaking combines more than one genre in the same movie, blending elements of comedy, romance, action, and drama. The goal is to appeal to as many people as possible. That way there's something for everyone in every film-the grandparents, the parents, the teenagers, the little kids-because Indians often go to the movies as a family.

Hollywood filmmakers do the opposite-they do super-narrow niche marketing to target the demographic groups they think are the most profitable (and then ignore everyone else). One exception to this might be the James Bond movies, which have been enormously successful for decades. There's action, of course, romance, some campy comedy, and even a little melodrama when James feels bad about his best friend betraying him or his latest lover dying in his arms.

That's not to say that all Bollywood films are masala. Many strictly fall into one genre or another, but even then, there's often a dash of masala thrown in.

Do Bollywood actors work in Hollywood?

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is the first Indian actor to significantly crossover in the West. She appeared in The Mistress of Spices (2005) with Dylan McDermott, The Last Legion (2007) with Colin Firth and Ben Kingsley, and Pink Panther 2 (2009) with Steve Martin. She has also garnered more high-profile publicity in the West than any other Bollywood actor, having appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Late Show with David Letterman, and 60 Minutes.

Two Bollywood actors appeared in the Oscar-winning British film Slumdog Millionaire (that's right, it's a British film): Anil Kapoor, who played the sleazy game-show host, and Irrfan Khan, who played the police interrogator. Kapoor has since appeared in the hit American television series 24, which stars actor Kiefer Sutherland. Kapoor played a Middle-Eastern leader in the show for one season. Prior to Slumdog Millionaire, Khan appeared in the English-language films The Namesake (2006), A Mighty Heart (2007), and The Darjeeling Limited (2007).

Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat will star opposite Avatar actor Laz Alonso in the upcoming Hollywood political comedy, Love, Barack. Sherawat will play a volunteer coordinator on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, who falls in love with her counterpart on John McCain's campaign, played by Alonso. Sherawat is also appearing in another upcoming Hollywood film, Hisss, along with Irrfan Khan.

Do Hollywood actors work in Bollywood?

Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards made cameo appearances in the Bollywood film Kambakkht Ishq in 2009.

British actor Sir Ben Kingsley-best-known for his Oscar-winning performance as the famous Indian independence leader in Gandhi (1982)-appeared in his first Bollywood film, Teen Patti, in 2010.

Western musicians are breaking into Bollywood, too. American rapper Snoop Dogg performed on the title track of Singh is Kinng in 2008 and Australian pop star Kylie Minogue performed a song in Blue in 2009. Senegalese-American music star Akon is reportedly recording a song for the soundtrack of the upcoming Bollywood superhero action film Ra.One.

Does anyone outside of India watch Bollywood movies?

Yes! Bollywood has fans all over the world. It's big in other parts of South Asia, of course-Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka-as well as the rest of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Bollywood is beloved in Australia, the home of director Baz Lurhmann (of Moulin Rouge fame) who's a Bollywood filmmaker in spirit! Bollywood movies are routinely in the box-office top 10 in the U.K. And Bollywood is all the rage in Brazil (thanks to a hit Indian-themed television show there, called Caminho das Indias.) Finally, Bollywood is huge in Canada, particularly in Toronto, which has a large Indian population. And Americans are finally starting to catch on to what the rest of world already knows-that Bollywood is fantastic!

Why don't more Americans like Bollywood movies?

It's human nature to mock what we don't understand. Americans are used to watching Hollywood movies, which reflect our cultural values, traditions, and storytelling techniques, and Bollywood movies reflect another culture's values, traditions, and storytelling techniques, which are unfamiliar to us. We've unfairly maligned Indian cinema because we can't take it for granted like we can our own. We actually have to do a little thinking when we watch them. Some people find thinking fun; some don't.

Biggest and Top Bollywood Movie Hits of 2008

2011-07-15T19:00:00.001-07:00

All ye' Bollywood fans and Bollywood lovers are interested in knowing which indeed was the most successful Bollywood movie of 2008. Is it Ghajini or Golmaal Returns? Or is there other clear winner? What do trade guides show? Which Bollywood movie truly rocked 2008? Is the most successful Bollywood movie of 2008, also your favorite movie?

Presenting here are the hits, superhits and blockbusters Bollywood movies of 2008, including a brief review. The movies are arranged according to their time of release.

1. Jodhaa Akbar : Released on February 15' 2008, Jodhaa Akbar, directed by Bollywood most prolific director Ashutosh Gowariker, was a semi hit. It went on to do a business of Rs. 62 crores. Hrithik Roshan was the USP of the film, he played Akbar so well that the historic figure is now synonymous with the actor.

2. Race: Released on March 21' 2008, Race was the first big hit of 2008. An edge of the seat thriller, the movie directed by Abbas-Mustan was full of twists and turns. As of May 30, it grossed Rs.63,67,00,000 ($14,886,600) in India, and $9,505,321 in other parts bringing a worldwide total of $24,391,921. Race is actually the fifth biggest hit of 2008.

3. Jannat: Jannat, directed by Kunal Deshmukh, was a Mukesh Bhatt film, released on May 16. Based on cricket betting, the movie extracted the career best performance of Emran Hashmi. Debutante Sonal Chauhan made a pretty picture in the movie. Jannat grossed 32,47,00,000 in 5 weeks, quite higher than its cost of production.

4. Aamir: One of the dark horse hits of 2008, Aamir directed by Raj Kumar Gupta released on June 6. The movie starring Rajeev Khandelwal was a story about how an innocent man gets trapped in the hands of religious extremists who want to bomb the city. An interesting premise, the movie did good business.

5. Sarkar Raj: Sarkar Raj, directed by Ram Gopal Verma released on June 6 2008. The movie was a semi-hit; people compared Sarkar Raj to its prequel Sarkar, and found that the sequel was not as effective as the first one. Nevertheless, it grossed 34 crores in India in its first two weeks and over $1 million in the USA.

6. Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na: Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, released on July 4 2008; directed by Abbas Tyrewala and produced by Aamir Khan, was the iconic movie of 2008. The movie was a blazing hit and it is still the favorites of the youth segment, which forms a major part of the movie going audience. The youthful movie had a cliched but entertaining story with fantastic music by A.R.Rahman. in 5 weeks, it earned approximately 52.96 crores.

7. Singh is Kinng: Singh is Kinng was a movie, all Akshay Kumar fans were waiting for. Released on August 8, 2008; the movie recorded the biggest advance booking in the history of Bollywood, second only to Ghajini. With a fantastic figure of Rs.44 crores in the first week, Singh is Kinng was the fourth biggest hit of Bollywood 2008. By September, it had already earned Rs.73 crores.

8. Bachna Ae Haseeno: Released on August 15, 2008, Bachna Ae Haseeno proved to be a solace for Yash Raj films which had only given flops before this, in 2008 like Tashan and Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic. Made on a budget of Rs.18 crores, this Ranbir Kapoor earned Rs.31.20 crores in its second week, and was declared a semi hit.

9. Phoonk: Phoonk directed by Ram Gopal Verma was probably the least expensive movie, which did good business. The movie based on black magic was a success because of the subject.

10. Mumbai Meri Jaan: Mumbai Meri Jaan, released on August 22' 2008 was a movie based on 7/11 bomb blasts. A slightly documentary style film, it focussed on the repercussions of the bomb blasts. The movie was an an above average hit. The USP of the film was a power packed performance by Paresh Rawal and Irrfan Khan.

11. Rock On!!: Rock On (released August 29' 2008) , directed by Abhishek Kapoor and produced by Farhan Akhtar, was another youth favorite, like Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. Based on friendship and rock music, Rock On was treated like a sequel to the cult movie Dil Chahta Hai. It made singer-actor-producer-director (phew!) Farhan Akhtar, a household name.

12. A Wednesday: A Wednesday, released on September 5 2008, is the dark horse success of 2008. A powerful script, impeccable dialogues and a unique treatment by director Neeraj Pandey, made this probably the most watchable movie of 2008. Naseerudin Shah proved that he is inimitable when it comes to stellar performance.

13. 1920: A spooky movie directed by Vikram Bhatt (released Sep 12' 08) was high on horror around a haunted palatial house. Newbies Rajneesh Duggal and Adah Sharma gave a spirited (no pun intended!) performance. The fantastic English locales and visual effects proved to be the USP of the film.

14. Welcome to Sajjanpur: Welcome to Sajjanpur, released on September 19 2008 was director Shyam Benegal's entry to commercial cinema. The movie shot in rural set-up brought back memories of Malgudy Days and fared well at the box office.

15. Fashion: Fashion directed by Madhur Bhandarkar, gave a push to Priyanka Chopra who went down-slide with four back to back flops in 2008. It appealed to the youth and the upper crust and did good business.

16. Golmaal Returns: Released on the same date as Fashion (October 29' 2008) , Golmaal Returns was a run-away super hit. Though marred by critics, it was declared a huge success by the masses. It surpassed the first day totals of Om Shanti Om, last year, by collecting 22.03 lakhs on day one. This Rohit Shetty venture earned Rs.48 crores in the first week, making it the third biggest hit of 2008.

17. Dostana: Dostana directed by Tarun Mansukhani for Karan Johar released on November 14' 2008. The story of two men Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham, who pretend to be gays, and fall in love with eye-candy Priyanka Chopra made the box office smile. By December 12, it had already earned Rs.80 crores.

18. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi: One of the much awaited movies, the Shahrukh Khan starrer Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, released on December 12'08. Made on a modest budget of Rs.22 crores by Yash Raj standards, Aditya Chopra directed this movie to success. The movie also featured debutante Anushka Sharma. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi earned 7.5 crore net all over India and by day 1, and earned Rs.44.5 crores by week 1. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is the second biggest hit of 2008.

19. Ghajini: The most awaited movie Ghajini, proved to be a record breaking success. The most successful movie of the year and perhaps one of the all time big hits, this Aamir Khan movie directed by A.Murgadoss proved recession cannot beat quality. Released on December 25, 2008, this remake of the Southern movie of the same name is running quite strong, thanks to the Aamir Khan brand power. On Day 1, Ghajini earned Rs.33 crores, (compared to Rs.18 crore of Rab Ne) worldwide, something which is unheard off. Ghajini is all set to pass Rs.100 crores in three weeks, overtaking the lines of previous two years biggies Om Shanti Om (Rs.80 crores) and Dhoom 2 (Rs.85 crores).

Conclusion 2008: Ghajini has proved to be a big money spinner for Bollywood. The year 2008 has pooled in 15 percent or Rs.900 crore more than last year. Call it the Pareto Principal, if you will but Rab Ne and Ghajini have added another 20 percent more to the box office collection of movies preceding them. Masala films and movies based on 'terror issues' dominated 2008.

So, here is the countdown of the top 5 films of Bollywood 2008:
5. Race
4. Singh is Kinng
3. Golmaal Returns
2. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
1. Ghajini

Bollywood Actresses Who Went Nude

2011-07-15T18:59:00.001-07:00

Bollywood, the biggest film industry in the world, with respect to the number of films released, has been fairly conservative with regards to love-making scenes or nudity. Due to the cultural upbringing and conditioning of India, sex was more or less a taboo and nudity has been something that has been kept off limits. The mindset has slowly and steadily been eroding since the 2000 and the industry has been become more liberal due to the young generation. However complete nudity is still not accepted and can take controversial proportions.

Bollywood actress and models have gone without clothes for magazines, for a movie scene or just for a lark. Sometimes, the clothes have dropped from their body in a classic case of wardrobe malfunction. For instance, Dimple Kapadia's towel slipping act in Saagar, was perhaps the beginning of wardrobe malfunction, long before Janet Jackson's nipple gate happened. So here are some of the controversial and rare instances where Bollywood actresses went nude for the camera:

1. Zeenat Aman was shown topless, draped in a see though flimsy saree which exposed her voluptuous charms in the movie Zeenat Aman. Raj Kapoor, the legendary director who was rumored to have a fetish of big breasts, said, "You will come to watch Zeenat's tits but will forget about them and remember only the movie by the time you leave the theater" This was way back in the 70s when such kind of exposure was looked upon with shock.

2. Mandakini bared her breasts the 1986 film 'Ram Teri Ganga Maili' through a white transparent saree, as she bathed under the water fall. This movie was also a huge hit and people download and watch Mandakini's legendary waterfall scene that created history.

3. Mamta Kulkarni went topless for Stardust in the 90s and this cover page exposure took on the shape of a big controversy. Negative publicity is always good in media and the magazine sold many copies

4. Kashmira Shah: Kashmira Shah was shown nude from behind,and a part of her breasts were shown on camera, much to her chagrin in the movie Revathi.

5. Madhu Sapre: Madhu Sapre, the model faced a lot of controversy and ire when she posed nude along with her then boyfriend Milind Soman for Tuff Shoes

Height of Bollywood Stars

2011-07-15T18:58:00.001-07:00

In India, even outside India there are lot of Bollywood fans.

One question that comes to your mind will be how tall are our Bollywood stars? Everyone is interested in knowing how tall are Bollywood stars, actors and actress. Every Bollywood fan wants to know Bollywood Stars height, actors and Bollywood Actress height. Amitabh Bachchan and his son Abhishek Bachchan are the tallest in the actors and Sushmita Sen in the actresses.

There are many peoples, who want to make their carrier in Film Industry or in Bollywood, who are worried about their height but not every actor is taller like Amithabh or Akshay Kumar. There are many film actors in Bollywood whose height is even less than 5 feet 8 inches, like Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Irfan Khan etc.

We did a lot of research and put our best efforts to make the information more trustworthy but still nobody cant give same opinion about the heights even the actors and actress don't reveal the truth.

If you think that you have more accurate information than we had published then feel free to share it with us.

Height Of Bollywood Actors:

Aamir Khan - 5'6"
Abhishek Bachchan - 6ft 3 inch
Ajay Devgan - 5ft 8inch
Akshay Kumar - 6ft 0inch
Akshaye Khanna - 5'9"
Amitabh Bachchan - 6ft 3inch
Anil Kapoor - 5'11"
Arjun Rampal - 6' ft 0inch
Bobby Deol - 6ft 0inch
Emraan Hashmi - 5'9"
Fardeen Khan - 5' ft 11inch
Govinda - 5 ft 8inch
Hritik Roshan - 6 ft 0inch
Irfan Khan - 5.0
Jackie Shroff - 6'0inch
John Abraham - 6' 1inch
Ranbir Kapoor - 5' 11inch
Rishi Kapoor - 5 fut 7 ½ inch
Shahid Kapoor - 5 fut 9inch
Saif Ali Khan - 5 ft 8inch
Salman Khan - 5 ft 7 inch
Sanjay Dutt - 6ft 0inch
ShahRukh Khan - 5 feets 8inch
Shatrughan Sinha - 6 feet 1inch
Sunil Shetty - 5':11 ½ inch
Sunny Deol - 5:: 11inch
Uday Chopra - 5 fit 7.5inch
Vinod Khanna - 6 foots 0inch
Vivek Oberoi - 5 feets 10inch

Height Of Bollywood Actress::
Aishwarya Rai - 5 ft 7 ½ inch
Aditi Govitrikar - 5 ft 3inch
Amisha Patel - 5.4
Amrita Arora - 5 ft 4 ½ inch
Bipasha Basu - 5-ft 8inch
Bhoomika Chawla - 5.ft 3inch
Deepika Padukone - 5.ft 9inch
Diya Mirza - 5 ft 3inch
Isha Koppikar - 5 ft 7inch
Jaya Bachchan - 5 ft 2inch
Juhi Chawla - 5 ft 5inch
Kajol - 5 5"
Kareena Kapoor - 5'-5"
Karishma Kapoor - 5 ft 6inch
Katrina Kaif - 5 ' 8 ½ inch
Lara Dutta - 5 ' 8inch
Lisa Ray - 5.5 feets
Neha Dhupia - 5.6
Madhuri Dixit - 5.5
Mamta Kulkarni - 5'5"
Malaika Arora - 5-5
Mona Chopra - 5.6"
Pooja Batra - 5-' 9inch
Height of Preity Zinta - 5' 4inch
Height of Payal Rohatgi - 5.6
Priyanka Chopra - 5: 7 ½ inch
Raveena Tandon - 5: 7inch
Rani Mukherjee - 5:: 3inch
Reema Sen - 5 feet 5inch
Rekha - 5: 7inch
Riya Sen - 5foot 1inch
Shamita Shetty - 5 fit 6 ½ inch
Shilpa Shetty - 5 ft 8inch
Sherlyn Chopra - 5 feet 6inch
Sonal Chauhan - 5feet 6 ½ inch
Sonali Bendre - 5foot 8inch
Sridevi - 5feet 7inch
Sushmita Sen - 5 ft 9 ½ inch
Tabu - 5 - 8inch
Height of Twinkle Khanna - 5ft 6inch
Urmila Matondkar - 5' 4inch
Yukta Mookhey - 5' 11inch.

Bollywood Movie Releases of 2009, Hindi Films of 2009

2011-07-15T18:56:00.001-07:00

Here is the list of Bollywood movies releasing in 2009. Akshay Kumar has quite a good line up of films in 2009 while Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan have a film each, apart from their special appearances in three films. Among the actresses, the three Ks-Kangana Ranaut, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif look set to have a good year.

* Victory: Victory starring Harman Baweja, is one of the most expensive movies of 2009. The story is about a boy from a small time village in Rajasthan who fulfills his father's long cherished dream of being an acclaimed cricketer at the national level. There are cameo appearances by many international cricketers as well. Anupam Kher and Amrita Rao costar in Victory.

* Acid Factory: Acid Factory, a Sanjay Gupta film has an elaborate start cast of Dia Mirza, Irrfan Khan, Fardeen Khan, Manoj Bajpai, Aftab Shivdasani and Danny Denzongpa. Acid Factory is about a group of people, whose sense of past has been erased from their memory. It is a high octane thriller, making the bad and evil relish-able. Dia Mirza plays a bad woman for the first time. The music of Acid Factory has been give by many music directors, including Sandeep Chowta, Anand Raj Anand, Mika Singh. The director of Acid Factory is Suparn Verma.

* Raaz-The Mystery Continues: Director Mohit Suri attempts to show in this sequel to Raaz, that no one is good or bad totally; every one has their own demons to fight. Raaz-The Mystery Continues is a story of three people. Emraan Hashmi an artist, visualizes and prophecies the brutal death of Kangana Ranaut. Kangana's beau (reel and real life) Adhyayan is determined to save her at any cost. The movie under Mukesh Bhatt's Vishesh Films releases on January 23, 2009.

* Chandni Chowk to China: Director Nikhil Advani is back with a prized Akshay Kumar starrer-Chandni Chowk to China. The story is such that Akshay Kumar works at a roadside foodstall in Chandni Chowk, cutting vegetables and dreaming of a better life. He consults astrologers, tarot readers and the lot, believing in everything but himself. His redeeming moment comes when two strangers from China claim that he(Akshay) is a reincarnation of a war hero and takes him to China. Akshay moves along with Ranvir Shourey in a bid to realize his brave past. Along the way he meets Deepika Padukone and they set off in a series of adventures.

* Billu Barber: If Aamir Khan adapted a movie Ghajini from the south last year, Shahrukh Khan does a similar thing this. Billu Barber produced by Shahrukh Khan is loosely based on the friendship between Kishen and Sudama and also borrows from the Malayalam superhit Kuselan. Shahrukh Khan plays himself in the movie(call it an extended special appearance) while Irrfan Khan, who is the protagonist plays a small town barber. Whatever the fate of the film, one thing is for sure: you will blown away by the performances of two of the best actors of Bollywood.

* Delhi 6: The best director of 2006 Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra produces and directs this film. It is an autobiographic take on his growing days in Delhi. The film should be the trump card for actress Sonam Kapoor. It also stars Abhishek Bachchan. There is a huge expectation from the director who started a revolution with Rang De Basanti.

* Delhi Belly: Imran Khan who had played two distinct roles in hit Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and flop Kidnap, comes back in a frothy comedy, to be made by the best producer in Bollywood, yep you guessed it right, Aamir Khan. There is buzz that Delhi Belly is an adult comedy with 'strong language' and sexual innuendos. The movie Delhi Belly is being marketed as an adult copy, appealing to a niche audience and international market. The film is directed by Abhinav Deo.

* New York: Kabir Khan who surprised us pleasantly with "Kabul Express" comes back in 2009 with a taut thriller called 'New York' . New York stares Katrina Kaif, Neil Nitin Mukesh and John Abraham who has stripped himself to the buff(rejoice girls!) for a particular sequence of the film. New York is a contemporary story of three friends whose lives are scarred events beyond their control.

* Luck by Chance: The man of multiple talents Farhan Akhtar stars in what could be one of the finest Bollywood movie release to 2009.The star studded release include Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, Konkona Sen Sharma, Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sherwani, Juhi Chawla and Sanjay Kapoor. Luck By Chance is a take on the aspiring actor with stars in his eyes, who wants to get a foothold in the Bollywood industry. It is a movie about how much of an impact does luck play in Bollywood.

* 8 x 10: This will be Akshay Kumar's first 'non-filmi' movie if one can use this term. In a relatively low budget film directed by the ever dependable Nagesh Kukoonoor and produced by Percept, it will portray Akshay Kumar as a man who can look into the past of dead people by touching objects that belonged to them. Inspired lightly by 'Sixth Sense,' this film is a must watch.

* Alibaug; Directed by Sanjay Gupta, it has a bevy of actors: Sunjay Dutt, Sanjay Suri, Diya Mirza, ROhit Roy and Maushmi Makhija. The story deals with nine youths who have just graduated from college and are looking at the real world that awaits them.

* Alladin : Alladin is an interpretation of Arabian Nights. It stars Riteish Deshmukh as Alladin and Amitabh Bachan as the genie. Expect a lot of special effects in this funny tale. Sanjay Dutt also stars in the film as a villain called Ringmaster, directed by Sujoy Ghosh.

* Ajab Prem ki Ghajab Kahani: Raj Kumar Santoshi, one of the prolific directors of Bollywood, attempts to bring the magic of Andaaz Apna Apna once again with a comic caper cum love story, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani. The movie has a simple story of Ranbir Kapoor who moves around in his life, aimlessly. He keeps on fooling around till he meets Katrina Kaif and falls in love with her. After that the fun and madness begins.

* * Aashayein: Aashayein directed by Nagesh Kukunoor stars Ayesha Takia and John Abraham. John Abraham plays a compulsive gambler suddenly discovers that he is a victim of terminal illness, and that he has only 90 days to live. He is admitted to a hospital where he discover love, companionship and the beautiful meaning of life.

* Kambhakkt Ishq: One of the most talked about movies, Kambhaqt Ishq has beeen in news since 2008. Kambakth Ishq has cameo roles from major Hollywood stars including Sylvester Stallone and Denise Richards. The film stars Akshay Kumar and Kareena Kapoor. Akshay Kumar who plays stuntman, will be back in his action avatar, doing dare devil stunts. The movie also stars Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora and is directed by debutant Sabir Khan. Kambakth Ishq is produced by Sajid Nadiadwala.

* London Dreams: London Dreams, one of the most expensive movies of 2009 stars Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan and Asin. London Dreams is a story about two pop stars Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan who fall in love with a South Indian girl, Asin.

* Rensil D' Silva's next: Rensil D'Silva who was Rang De Basanti's screenplay writer become director with this film. It is a thriller with global terrorism in the background. The movie stars Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Kareena Kapoor. Karan Johar is the producer.

* Hissss: Hissss is synoymous with Mallika Sherwat. Hollywood collaborates with Bollywood to produce Hissss. Mallika plays a snake who is on the way to seek vengeance. An American visitor steps into the jungles of India and kills the female snake's mate which makes her seek revenge. Expect a lot of special effects in this flick. Apparently Mallika Sherwat who is dressed in a painfully heavy snake costume(she couldnt even go to the loo for 10 hours flat while shooting for this film) has no dialogue to mouth in the film.

* De Dhana Dhan: Priyadarshan is back with his style of comedy with De Dana Dhan. The movie stars the current hot onscreen pair-Katrina Kaif and Akshay Kumar. Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal also star in the film, hopefully to recreate the Hera-Pheri magic, 9 years ago. De Dana Dhan is a story of two broke guys who are in search of big money, to prove a point to their girlfriends. The movie also stars Sameera Reddy and Neha Dhupia.

* What's Your Rashee: Director Ashutosh Gowariker tries a love story with What's Your Rashee? starring lovers Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja. The movie is an adaptation of a Gujarati novel by Shri Madhu called Kimbali Ravenswood. The romantic movie is a story about how Harman Baweja has just ten days to win over the love of his life, Priyanka Chopra.

* Kaminay: One of the most prolific directors, Vishal Bharadwaj comes back with a bang in Kaminay, starring Shahid Kapur, Priyanka Chopra and Amol Gupte(the creative director of Taare Zameen Par). Easily one of the awaited films of 2009, you will see Shahid Kapur in a double role here. The look of Shahid is going to be totally different for Kaminay and it is reportedly kept under the wraps. The movie is supposed to be a comedy with a difference.

* Imtiaz Ali's next film: Imtiaz Ali, who had given the saccharine sweet Jab We Met, two years ago, comes up with a romantic intense tale, which stars Deepika Padukone and Saif Ali Khan. Though the story is kept under wraps, it will be a true-blue love story of 2009.

* Wake Up Sid: Call it unconventional romantic pairing, but we have Konkona Sen Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor starring in Wake Up Sid, directed by debutant Ayaan Mukherjee. It is a Karan Johar production. Will be interesting to see how people from two different genres, Konkona and Ranbir do with this one.

* It's My Life: The sweetheart of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na(2008) pairs up with Harman Baweja in the movie Its My Life. The movie is directed by the director with the superhit track record, Anees Bazmee.

* Wanted-Dead or Alive: Starring the muscular Salman Khan and the voluptuous Ayesha Takia, Wanted-Dead or Alive should be the first big hit of the most under rated performer of Bollywood, Ms. Takia. Prabhudeva's first Bollywood directorial venture is a remake of his Tamil-Telugu blockbuster Pokiri. The pairing of the two beautiful actors is wonderful and the chemistry is going to sizzle the screen.

* Blue: Blue, one of the most expensive film of Bollywood ever(budget more than Rs.100 crores), has Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Lara Dutta and Zayed Khan in lead roles. The action film is shot in Bahamas and is written by American writers Joshua Lurie and Bryan M. Sullivan. The movie has a lot of underwater scenes and dare devil stunts by Akshay Kumar. A.R.Rahman has given music for the film. Australian singer Kylie Minogue has been reportedly paid 1.5 million dollars to sing for Rahman, Antony D'Souza is to direct the film.

The Changing Role of Grandparents in Today's Society

2011-07-15T18:46:00.003-07:00

Almost 5 million children under the age of 18 are being raised by grandparents.

An increasing number of grandchildren rely on their grandparents for food, shelter, clothing and emotional support. For these grandparents, raising another family wasn't part of the plan. They were looking forward to retirement, hobbies, travel or just taking it easy.

Many of these grandparents are in their 50's and 60's, and facing health problems that often come with getting older. For some, starting over with children means the retirement they were looking forward to won't happen for several more years.

What about the financial stress? Most of us didn't include raising children when we were budgeting for our senior years. There are programs that provide financial assistance at the state level, 'if you qualify'.
For some this is a hard avenue to take even if they qualify. We've worked and taken care of our responsibilities for years and now the thought of public assistance is a hard pill to swallow..

It doesn't seem fair to now have to be the disciplinarian instead of the one who gets to spoil these children, but what are the alternatives? If it wasn't for the grandparents stepping up and taking responsibility, most of these children would end of in foster care and where there are two or more they are very often separated.

There is a wealth of information on the web. You can start by searching the sites for your local state, county or city. Also there are senior associations that have some valuable information. Many churches offer help and there are support groups available.You can go to your search engine and type in keywords that will take you to informational sites. Some suggestions would be grandparents, parenting grandchildren, extended family, raising grandchildren--these are just a few suggestions.

If you go through your search engine, a good suggestion would be to bookmark the search engine results page and then go back and click on each site. You can save the ones that appear to be relevant to your situation by bookmarking them.

When you have saved several sites, then go back and study each one and take note of the information that addresses your situation. This may seem time consuming and it is but it will be worth it in the end.

Also look for blogs. I found several good ones by using two searches. In your search engine type in grandparenting/blog for one and raising grandchildren/blog for another. Both will get you excellent results.

Poetry - Good Poems Require Tremendous Honesty

2011-07-15T11:18:00.001-07:00

I'm an amateur poet. Have written probably a total of 100 good poems in my life that still would not make it to any of the major national poetry magazines. (Not that I haven't tried, trust me...)

However, I was very honored about six months to get accepted to a poetry writing Master Class conducted by a bona fide and famous poet who heads the creative writing program in a major university in my area.

This is a man whose poems I've admired greatly and have just finished a collection of his recently published works.

My first reaction to the news was to call back my writer's center and make sure that it wasn't a joke or anything.

No, it was true. I was indeed accepted to the Master Class of only 12 budding poets and the selection was made on the basis of our sample poems by none other than The Master himself.

Wow! I was floored. What an honor. What a delight.

But the next emotion was one of absolute dread and fear!

It was one thing reading my poems to my wife and loved ones.

But it would be a whole another kind of experience to expose them to the eagle-like scrutiny of a nationally renown poet and actually a "hero" of mine.

Jeeez, what the heck was I getting myself into?!

Once the workshop got underway I was really amazed at the quality of writing in that small group of ours.

We were all unknown poets, some of us, like me, never even published. But those lines, absolutely haunting, winding, exquisite lines, reminded me once again why I loved poetry so much in the first place.

However, although we were all evidently qualified in linguistic pyrotechnics, that meant nothing for our Master. It didn't mean anything for him at all.

He was after something else, something more than just a flash in the pan. Hmmm, I was getting curious about that...

At that point I started to talk less and listen more, my ears wide open like radio-astronomy dishes scanning the heavens.

I've soon realized the crucial ingredient that was lacking in my poems and what made HIS poems that hard-hitting, that breath taking.

It was a simple word that I had not thought about within the context of poetry until that time - HONESTY.

Let me explain.

We were all both stepping on the gas and the brakes at the same time.

We were all trying to say something very dear and important to us by choosing poetry as a platform.

Yet when we reached the end of the road, we were all refusing to let it go, flap our wings and fly off the precipice of our daily over-structured mental landscape.

There was a lot of resistance in each of us to tell the truth and nothing else but the whole truth. Instead, we were falling back on the easy defense mechanisms of linguistic acrobatics and clever phrases and metaphors. Obviously to be clever and tricky was not what poetry was all about.

HONESTY is one word that I've left that workshop with and I'll be forever grateful to him for showing me the source problem with every bad poem.

Whether I'll have the courage or not to write poems in the future that will honor that crucial principle is something else.

But at least now I know what to do to write poems that reveal not only my own small personal facts (who cares?) but great universal truths as well (what a service to humanity!).

I survived the quake of the Master Class and now I don't have any excuses to write bad poems any more.

Is that why I haven't written any poems at all since that date?

Excelling in Poetry - An Advanced Guide

2011-07-15T11:17:00.001-07:00

During a poetry round, each competitor must read a poem or a collection of poems while holding a (usually black, 10-inch) binder. Sounds simple, but there are a few things to keep in mind if you're hoping to make it to Finals.

Generally, poetry and prose recitation are categorized under one event, Oral Interpretation. All competitors are asked to start with their poetry pieces (or prose, depending on the host school's preference) in the first round and then alternate during subsequent rounds. This guide focuses on poetry interpretation.

- Write a great introduction. An intro should be about one minute long. Your intro should match your piece's tone, but you should make changes in your posture, the pitch of your voice, and your facial expression. Because you hold a binder in poetry, you must close it to indicate that you are saying your introduction. You may either begin your performance by saying your introduction with a closed binder, or you may begin by opening your binder, saying a few lines of your piece, and then closing your binder to say your introduction. The latter is called a "Teaser." If you're doing a teaser, you need to remember two things: one, hold your place in your piece with your finger so that you don't lose your place when you open your binder, and two, memorize whatever line comes after your intro so that you can jump right back into the piece.

- As always, choose a good piece (or pieces). You can either find a poem that can last about eight or nine minutes, or you can put together a collection of shorter poems and title them according to what subject, author or word links them. It's important to try to choose something original, interesting, and either hilarious or moving. Performing an O.I. piece that stands out will set you apart from others.

- Avoid patterns. One of the rules of O.I. is that in poetry rounds, you are supposed to take your poem out of rhyme and rhythm. But this is not something that most judges will really take off for unless you're really making it hard to listen because your lines are starting to sound like a broken record. Poems written in iambic pentameter are particularly susceptible to causing a repetitive speech pattern. You just have to try not to think of it as a poem. If a thought runs over into the next line, keep talking. Some people get around this rule by sticking to poems that are free verse (no rhyme, no set rhythm). However, you don't want to confuse your judge by performing something that they can barely identify as poetry.

- Memorize as much as you can. Try to maintain a fair balance between looking at your script and looking up at your audience. It probably says 50/50 on your ballot, built for this event, it should really be more like 60 percent looking up and 40 percent looking down. In poetry, many competitors get into the habit of looking down after every couplet, or after every stanza. Try not to slip into a pattern, as this can become very boring for your audience.

- Use an accent (or accents, for multiple poems or dialogue in one poem) if you can. Again, this sets you apart from other competitors, which is very important in poetry.

- Use published work. Try to get the names of each author if you can, and always include the author's name when you say the titles. If you are doing a collection of poems, you should begin each poem by stating the name of the piece, followed by the author of the piece. If you do not know the author's name, you can say "author unknown," but you should really try to avoid it whenever possible. Also, unless you have received significant awards or recognition for your work, do not perform your own work in a poetry round. Your English teacher or best friend telling you that your poems are great is nice, but it doesn't qualify you to perform them in a round, especially if they are not published.

New Indian English Poetry - An Alternative Voice - Book Review

2011-07-15T11:13:00.001-07:00

Book Review:

New Indian English Poetry: An Alternative Voice: R.K.Singh edited by I.K. Sharma. Published by Book Enclave, Jaipur. 2004. pp. 370, Price Rs.850/-, ISBN 81-8152-085-8.

New Indian English Poetry: An Alternative Voice is a significant publication in light of the fact that the larger Indian English literary space has been occupied by a few flourishing academic and bureaucratic authors, including the Diaspora or expatriate authors, and most of the India-based authors and poets, despite their quality, have remained virtually beyond the pale. Both the important print and visual media and influential academic and critics have been less than lukewarm about exploring or examining 'new' poets who feel marginalized because no renowned person talks about them at national or international forums.

Aware of the reality that the "subaltern voices that have burst upon the scene of poetry cannot be shooed away" (preface), poet-professor-critic I. K. Sharma chooses to present a comprehensive book on one of the noted new poets, R. K. Singh, who has already published ten collections of poems and has been active as critic, reviewer and ELT practitioner for more than 25 years.

In fact, I. K. Sharma seeks to challenge all those critics who see nothing but 'chaos' in the world of poetry by collecting 22 critical articles, 14 review essays/comments and six interviews published in India and abroad. Over 25 scholars, venerable, middle aged, and young, examine from diverse angles the mystique of Singh's poetry and prove "creative efflorescence" that scores of new, marginalized, poets epitomize.

In his learned Introductory, I. K. Sharma takes a broader long-term view of Indian English poetry as a genre, criticizing discourses of discrimination and exclusion, and advocating alternative and creative discourse of the new generation of poets. It's appreciation requires "tough minds, cooperative, collaborative and critical" and not the 'snob net' that has vested interest in indifference, hostility and obscurity (pp.203), he cautions.

Sharma examines R. K. Singh as a test case and discovers that the poet brings in "novelty and freshness in his way of communicating his ideas and feelings...with skill and insight" (p.8). As the critic points out: certain key aspects of R. K. Singh's poetry - manipulation of language to a special effect, lack of punctuation marks, practice of giving no titles, use of erotic metaphors, and depiction of the painful realities of the Indian society -- have already drawn readers' attention, but he is "essentially a poet of dark imagination" (p.10) and "self-conscious artist" who knows "the value of concealment in art" (p11).

No doubt, as a poet, R. K. Singh is remarkable for his vitality, variety and quality. He is not esoteric, negative or westernized, yet he appeals nationally and internationally, with his vision and impulses, depth of feelings, sense of self, and richness of language. He explores and reinvigorates traditional forms and styles with eclectic understanding of creativity.

Those already familiar with his work, as the essays in this volume, too, testify, acknowledge R. K. Singh's competence as a poet and accord him a high position, even if he is not a 'metro' poet and/or he has not yet been viewed as a poet in the center. I. K. Sharma recognizes him as a poet with great potential and future promise and puts together some selected articles, review essays, comments, and interviews published in various journals since the late 1980s not only to motivate scholars and researchers' further studies on R. K. Singh as an Indian English poet, but also "to beat the ghost of 'chaos' that has become an all-time alibi for inaction."

All the contributors -- practicing poets academics and professionals - look at R. K. Singh the poet with a sense of discovery, openness to artistic innovation, and appreciation for recent Indian English poetry. They reflect on his work with empathy, recognition and equality. With faith in the poet's discourse, they negotiate differences and communicate poetry's human dimension; their criticism strengthens Indian English creativity.

R. S. Tiwary's three essays analyse R. K. Singh's poetry - imagery, diction, style, and erotic contents - a la Sanskrit poetics and view the poet's relevance in a wider perspective of literary communication. Mitali De Sarkar's two essays complement Tiwary's approach, though she concentrates on the poet's social consciousness. The two essays by G. D. Barche look more closely, presenting a stylistic assessment and comments on Singh's use of sex imagery. While the articles by Satish Kumar, R. A. Singh and Ravi Nandan Sinha seek to provide a general view on the contents of the poet's collections published till then, Krishna Srinivas's 'Foreword' to My Silence, R. K. Singh's maiden collection, has a historical value.

Different from them, Michael Paul Hogan's article seeks or relate to the poet's actual life and living in Dhanbad while Chhote Lal Khatri's article is an attempt to project R. K. Singh as the best known Indian English poet from Bihar/Jharkhand. P. C. K. Perm's article seeks to highlight the recurring themes of Nature, Beauty and Woman in R. K. Singh's creative discourse vis-à-vis the poet's concern about man's existence and identity in a multilingual, multicultural and multireligious society today.

I. K. Sharma's essay deals with the poet's Music Must Sound as a "carefully crafted" epic. Tejinder Kaur's essay highlights the "seven major strands sounding like the seven notes of music" in the collection.

While the insightful essays by D. S. Maini, Stephen Gill, and I.H. Rizvi deal with various aspects of My Silence and Other Selected Poems, the essays by Patricia Prime, D. C. Chambial, and Asha Viswas review Above the Earth's Green. The essays by S. L. Peeran and Abdul Rashid Bijapure take into account all the volumes published so far and concentrate on the poet's evolution in terms of his thematic preferences and pursuit of higher reality.

R. K. Singh is best in his lyric poems and haiku and tanka are the shortest of lyric poems. The articles and comments on his haiku and tanka by Patrticia Prime, Urmila Kaul, D. C. Chambial, I. H. Rizvi, Ann Davis, Ruth Wildes Schuler, Ben Torbieu-Newland and Lyle Glazier point to the changes in R. K. Singh's literary growth. His haiku and tanka poems are important in that here he enlarges himself to the universal sameness of human feelings and experiences in an international form. The reviews of R. K. Singh's haiku and tanka poems point to the critic's strengths and weaknesses in intercultural and intercultural mediation.

Patricia Prime also effectively responds to Joseph John's much labored comments on R. K. Singh's poetry in World Literature Today besides presenting, along side Tejinder Kaur, a comparative picture of R. K. Singh and U. S. Bahri's poetry.

The second section of the volume comprises six interviews R. K. Singh gave to Patricia Prime, Jaswinder Singh, Kanwar Dinesh Singh, Sonja Van Kerkhoff, Atma Ram, and a group of students. This reveals the poet's own background, biographical details, his opinion, mind, and attitude. It is rounded up with Uncle River's reflection, pointing to the "tension inherent in the synthesis of cultural traditions" in R. K. Singh's poetry.

Thus, the variety of critical articles, reviews essays and comments, though not as perfect as one would like them to be, proves that R. K. Singh is a poet to reckon with, deserving wider critical and academic attention at home and abroad. It is I. K. Sharma's large-heartedness that he chose to make a book on a fellow-poet. The book should encourage new researches and deeper studies on recent Indian English poetry in general and R. K. Singh's poetry in particular. M/s Book Enclave deserves kudos for publishing New Indian English Poetry: An Alternative Voice : R. K. Singh which strengthens the cause of Indian poetry in English in the 21st century.

Dread -by Ai - Book Review

2011-07-15T11:11:00.002-07:00

I don't know the exact reason why I picked up this book, for the poet or for her poems, because both are fascinating. One is a human being who, through pain and life, has evolved into a person with piercing insight; the other is her work, consisting of dramatic monologues as she calls them.

While most of the poetry in the book reflects Ai's pain, Ai's poems in Dread are character sketches caught in the violence of the world; although, the poems are not sketches at all, but they show the poet's view of living through other peoples' eyes while feeling their pain, fully. Through her characters, Ai's poetry arrives at deep but disturbing universal truths.

The title of the book gets its name from the first poem "Dread" portraying a woman officer whose brother disappeared in the World Trade Center disaster. The other characters she mentions range from her own great great grandfather to journalists, to detectives, and to people in history like Jimmy Hoffa, Custer, J. Edgar Hoover, and others.

It is quite impossible to quote from the poems of Ai, because each poem is a solid rock and it can't be chipped away. Most, in one way or the other, reflect the trauma of living in a brutal world. The ones who have passed away are given a place, also, with a genuine quality, like the dead sister in "Delusion."

Ai talks to the world with vitality, and through her characters' voices, re-produces their miseries and penetrates into their cores as she lets the readers have a peek at her own insides. Whether John F. Kennedy Junior speaks from beyond the grave or a grandfather commits incest, we as readers are made to feel the sting of personal or collective ordeals, savage and vicious in nature.

Ai's own history, too, is presented in her poetry, especially in "Relativity." From the circumstances of her birth and who her parents are to other events in her life, we bear witness to the poet's moral and emotional strength, because her wounds become our wounds while we absorb her poetry.

The poet, Ai, was born in Albany Texas in 1947. Her birth name was Florence Anthony. She took the name Ai legally later, Ai meaning love, in Japanese. Ai grew up in Tucson, and in Las Vegas and San Francisco. She, then, majored in Japanese at the University of Arizona. She has an MFA from UC at Irvine, and she now teaches at Oklahoma State University.

Her other books are: Vice (1999), which won the National Book Award for Poetry; Greed (1993); Fate (1991); Sin (1986), which won an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation; Killing Floor (1979), which was the 1978 Lamont Poetry Award of the Academy of American Poets; and Cruelty (1

The Three Types of Poetry

2011-07-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Poetry was divided into three main types of poetry by the great philosopher Aristotle; they were comedy, tragedy, and epic. He claimed comedy was simply an imitation of what is inferior and possibly laughable. He claimed the other two, tragedy and epic, were similar in that they both portray suffering and produce effects and emotions in their readers. The only difference between the two was epic was said to be a one verse poem while tragedy was in narrative form.

Today, poetry and literature scholars believe that poetry does indeed contain three main genres. However, the three are known as lyric, narrative, and dramatic, not comedy, tragedy, and epic. Each of these genres can then be saturated with sub-genres and then sub-sub-genres depending on the rhyme scheme, rhythm, meters, style, and even emotion.

Lyric poetry are poems focused on thought and emotion. The poems may be songs--and songs may be any other genre. The main sub-divisions include elegy, ode, and sonnet. Lyric poetry does not tell a story. Major lyric poems include "Go, Lovely Rose" by Sappho and Shakespeare's Sonnets.

Narrative poetry is a poem which tells a story. Most commonly, the stories involve heroic events or are of cultural or national (or some degrees even local) importance. Subdivisions of narrative poetry include ballads and epics. "The Divine Comedy" by Dante, "Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe, and "Odyssey" by Homer are just a few of the major narrative pieces.

Dramatic poetry is written in verse that is meant to be spoken. It generally tells a story, but can also simply portray a situation. The majority of dramatic poetry is written in blank verse. The authors Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and William Shakespeare have all written important dramatic works.

Common Mistakes When Writing Poetry

2011-07-15T11:10:00.001-07:00

If you're like me, you love writing poetry. Hell, there just isn't a proper sad moment in my life without a little poetry writing. Of course, just writing what I call poetry doesn't necessarily make it a great piece of literature. Actually, without proper proof-reading, editing, and reading aloud the writing might not even be a true poem.

We all make them--mistakes that is. It's hard not to. The only thing we can possibly do is practice, practice, and have more practice. However, no matter what, you'll still make mistakes. With the proper amount of practice, though, you will be able to catch them and fix them. Practicing, and being educated on what is a mistake, will pay off long-term. You'll be a better writer and, most likely, be more interesting.

Let's get on with it! Here are some of the common mistakes writers make when writing poetry:

Forcing rhymes. Firstly, poems don't have to rhyme. Do many of them? Sure, but that doesn't mean they must. Don't write a line simply to create the rhyme, and don't write something ridiculous and unfitting for the rhyme to fit.
Not planning ahead. Think of what the poem will be able before you start writing. I often see others simply jotting down words and later finding out where the poem is going. Also choose a specific style before going. Is it free-verse, haiku, ballad? Also, be sure to follow it strictly.
Not editing. Like all writing, it is extremely important to edit and continually edit your work. Editing isn't something that should be passed over or forgotten. It is a part of writing.
Not reading aloud. When reading a poem in your head, it is often hard to imagine the true rhythm of a poem. Read it aloud and find your rhythm. This leads us to:
Lacking rhythm. Of course, some poems naturally lack rhythm--many dada poems do this on purpose. However, with most styles of poetry, rhythm is extremely important. Be sure your writing has it!

How to Make Money Online Writing Poetry

2011-07-15T11:08:00.001-07:00

Writing online has always been seen as a great way to make money. Even though this is the case, writing poetry is something that no one would have thought of. Majority of the people that make money online through writing do it through article writing. This is known as a free lancer job that many companies are willing to pay for. What people don't realize is that there is a large market for poetry as well that we tend to over look. One of the most common markets that require poetry is nearly used be all of us on a regular basis. The market that we are referring to is greeting cards. How many times have you sent a greeting card to someone that has a love, funny or sad poem in it?

It is true to say that writing poetry may not become your full-time job. It is fair to say however, that one can still generate a second income by doing poetry writing as a part-time job. The key to being successful in this field is all to do with using the right approach. As long as you know what to do and how to do it, you are to be successful in this particular field of making money. This is why we are going to take a closer look at certain things that you should do and shouldn't do when looking to make money through poetry writing.

The first and most important thing to remember is to not be too over confident nor second guess your talent. Convince yourself that you have the ability to be able to write poetry as a profession even if it is part-time. Start off by visiting a local greeting card store. Look for those cards that have poetry that is similar to what you write. Make a note of the manufacture and try contacting them directly. It is important to realize that you may not get accepted the first few times that you try. Even though this may be the case, it is important that you keep on trying. Until and unless you are not persistent in trying to achieve what you are after, you will not be able to do so.

Another approach would be to contact these online greeting card websites. There will be some websites that do not offer their poetry writing to free lancers, however there are those that do as well. For those that do, it is very important that you take out the time to read the terms and agreement that they are offering before you take any steps forward. This will give you an idea of what they are looking for and information regarding your pay and whether or not you can publish your poetry anywhere else.

Poetry Techniques - Onomatopoeia Isn't Just For Children

2011-07-15T11:07:00.001-07:00

The five senses play an important part in all poetry; sight, sound, touch, voice and smell are all ways for poets to gain the attention and imagination of the reader.

Using onomatopoeia is an amazing way to add sounds into poetry. Since it is very important to add all senses into your writing, it better utilize the surroundings of both the subject and the reader to relate to the overall feeling the writing holds.

Any sound such as "Boom!" will increase the senses of the reader and gain their attention that something is about to happen. Other sounds such as "moo" may indicate the protagonist is near a farm. Other onomatopoeias such as "click" may tell a specific action such as the phone being hung up.

The onomatopoeia may be used to increase the senses or describe the situation on what is currently happening or even deliver humor to the reader.

Even though onomatopoeia is most thought of as used in children's rhymes, it is also utilized in many famous poems and by famous authors throughout history.

An example by a famous poet can be seen in Edgar Allan Poe's "The Bells". Jingling, tinkling, shriek, chiming, twanging, clanging, and clang all occur in this poem. With each onomatopoeia brings a slightly different response by the reader's senses.

When the reader "hears" a sound, they immediately associate it with a certain object, thing, or place. An onomatopoeia is one of many great dimensions poets can utilize to increase their poems' emotional appeal and engage readers with their writing and allow them to use their imagination.

Simple Steps to Write "Inspired By" Poetry, With Examples, Techniques 1 to 4

2011-07-15T11:06:00.001-07:00

I define "Inspired By Poetry" as poetry that has it's creative germ in someone else's work. This work could be a famous painting, hymn, song, book or poem. It is not a form a plagiarism because it is not taking someone else's ideas as your own. Rather, it is a time-honored artistic concept--drawing inspiration from the creative works of others.

With that definition in mind, I would like to share two simple ways to create poetry that has been inspired by the creativity of others, and two techniques that work for me:

Read a poem and search your soul for inspiration on a similar subject:

Shel Silverstein's poem "Invitation" that appears on page 9 of The Light in the Attic inspired this poem:

Welcome

Come in, Come in
Wherever you are
Let's travel near and far
Imagination will be our ship
Into it we will slip

Talk to a friend about something important to them, and write a poem for them

I visited a friend, Shirley Howlett, who is dying of cancer. One of her friends, Julie, was there. Shirley told Julie that we were both poets, and had both been published in Mobius, The Poetry Magazine. I suggested to Julie that she write a poem too. She declined, and asked me to write one. We talked about her relationship with Shirley. Shirley talked about her relationship with Julie. Here's the result:

Dialogue

We're friends!

Julie:

Just because you're you

I love to gaze into your facets.

Shirley:

I don't know why, except

It feels good.

Pick up a stuffed animal, ask a question that it could answer, and write a poem about that answer.

I own a stuffed bear. It looks a bit on the lost side. I asked myself, "What advice would a bear tell you about believing in yourself?" Here's the response:

By HoneyBear

Believe in Yourself

When no honey is to be found

Roar silently

Stand tall; stand proud

Look within

Make up a concept and write a poem about it.

I asked myself what type of poem a pet dog that is hungry might write. Here's the response.

Anticipation

By Whoof

They'll be home soon.

They'll come right through that door

Scratch behind my right ear

Open the cold box

Make a fire dance

Soon, a million-billion atoms

Drift, flow, rush, seek out every bit of my nose

A cacophony of sizzle:

My ears stand at attention.

There's my piece!

My teeth sink slowly into it.

Steak night!

They'll be home soon

Love Poem - How to Write Romantic Poetry

2011-07-15T11:05:00.001-07:00

Let's face it: very few of us are Shakespeares, and the idea of writing a poem for your lover might strike you as melodramatic and laborious. True, there are people who have spent years studying poetry and and romantic ideas and are still lousy at writing a love poem (yours truly included!). But even if it's silly and immature, writing an occasional short love poem for your lover is a great way to show how much you care and add some fun and romance into your relationship or marriage.

Many people shy away from writing romantic poems for their lover because they think that it involves stringent rules and techniques that have to be studied for years to understand. True, if you're planning on becoming the next Poet Laureate of the United States, it's probably a good idea to read a few love poems and take a poetry class. But if you want to write a short romantic love poem for your lover to express your feelings, all you need is the desire to do it!

Famous romantic love poets sometimes spent years putting together their verses, but a free afternoon is all you need to write something lovely and fun for your significant other that they will treasure for years. As for what to write your romantic love poem on, that's up to you; you could scribble it on a scrap of paper for your lover to find on a pillow, or put it in a card, or even inside the cover of a special book you've bought for your lover. Remember, the romantic love words themselves are more important than what they're written on!

Here's the number one rule for writing a romantic poem for your boyfriend, girlfriend, wife or husband: have fun with it! If you start thinking about what a horrible writer you are, and rewrite a love poem over and over again, you'll have a much harder time at it. If you're not confident in your abilities as an amateur love poet, keep it short-even a single stanza will suffice.

And there's no rule that says a romantic poem has to be dramatic. If you can pull it off, great! But a love poem that is short, silly and humorous can be just as romantic as a love poem that is deep and touching. Write what fits your personality and relationship,and your romantic partner will love that you took the time to put together something so special just for them.

There are many different techniques and forms you can use when writing a poem, but we won't go into them here because, honestly, they aren't that important. If you want to write a romantic love poem in which the last words of every other line rhyme, go right ahead. If you'd rather write one that doesn't incorporate rhyming, that's fine too. You see, the point of writing a romantic lvoe poem for your lover isn't to create a masterpiece that will be read by millions; the point is to show your lover that you think they are special enough to do something new and unique for.

So find a comfortable spot, sit down, and try writing out a short romantic poem for your lover. I promise you that no matter how bad your love poem is, your significant other will feel like the most special person in the world when you give it to them. And making our lover feel special is one of the most important parts of building a better romantic relationship!

40th Birthday Poem - A Celebration of a Major Milestone

2011-07-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Many people turn forty with mixed feelings - while it is fun to celebrate a special day, so many of us feel that we are turning a corner from youth into middle age. A light-hearted 40th birthday poem can remind someone you care about that they are not only toasting the past, but enjoying a festive send-off into a bright and exciting future.

Birthday poems make unique and treasured gifts that remind those that are dear to you how much you care for years to come. For those who love to treasure keepsakes from each important event, a happy birthday poem makes a wonderful addition to a memory book or scrapbook.

When you give the gift of poetry to the ones you love, they will appreciate your thoughtfulness and caring. Add a happy birthday poem to a card or special gift and turn your offering into a memory that lasts a lifetime.

Giving a poem that reflects your appreciation for your loved ones shows that you truly put thought and effort in selecting a gift to mark their special day. The following example gives you a glimpse into the specialized rhyming verses you can share:

... joking and silliness aside
This has been a wonderful ride
So 40 I'm ready, bring what you may
I've decided, I'm a fine Chardonnay!

Of course, with a 40th birthday poem like this one, you can take a lighter look at the mysteries of turning 40. For the birthday celebrant who is less than enthusiastic about passing this new milestone, it is fun to get their mind off their depressed thoughts with a bit of fortieth birthday humor.

If you like the idea of spreading birthday joy through the personal gift of a poem, try adding one as an extra touch to your gift or birthday card. Sharing meaningful poetry with your friends and loved ones is truly a gift from the heart.

Think about how special you would feel if, instead of just a last-minute gift picked up on the way to the party, you were to receive a poem that reflects your relationship with the giver and lets you know what you mean to them. A 40th birthday poem is a great way to say how you feel, especially if you have trouble putting your emotions into words.

Poetry has been the language of feelings for millennia. Continue the tradition with a specially chosen poetry gift to mark the occasion of a fortieth birthday - four decades on earth!

When you reveal your innermost thoughts through poetry, you are giving the most precious gift of all - the gift of yourself. Remind your loved one that they are not saying goodbye to their youth, they are setting off on a new phase of a rich and wonderful life. A 40th birthday poem expresses this like nothing else can.

How to Write the Perfect Wedding Poem

2011-07-15T11:02:00.003-07:00

What better time or place to write a poem than for a wedding. The right wedding poem can serve any number of wonderful purposes. It can highlight the reception as a toast to the bride, groom, or their families. It can serve as an added personal touch between the bride and groom when exchanging vows. It can even be a great addition to invitations or announcements for the wedding. Whatever purpose a wedding poem serves, it is sure to be well received. The only hard part is writing one.

Famous Examples of Wedding Poems

There are not nearly as many poems written directly about weddings as some other important events. However, there are plenty of examples available of love poems and friendship poems that capture the essence of a wedding and of the feelings a bride and groom have for each other.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning's incredibly famous (and slightly overused) "How Do I Love Thee?" has been used in wedding ceremonies for decades, while the simpler and more elegant verses of Emily Dickinson are a popular addition to wedding vows, especially in "It's all I have to bring today."

Starting on Your Own Wedding Poem

The first step to writing any poem is to know your audience. Who is the poem being written for? If it is a future spouse, it should be imbued with as much emotion and personal touch as possible. If it is for the bride and groom from a best man or maid of honor, it should be reverential and keyed to the friendships that exist. If it is for the families or friends attending, it can be nearly anything so long as it mentions friendship and cracks a few jokes in between.

Writing the Poem

The next step though is the most important. Crafting a poem is hard. It takes a lot of time, much more than the few short lines would make it seem. The best way to start is to write down everything you want to say in prose. No matter how much you have to say, write it down in as simple a form as you can. Don't worry about the flowery verse yet. That comes later.

Next, start selecting the bits and pieces that have the most important position in your wedding poem. Any words you find particularly compelling should be written down as well. Poetry is art with words, don't underestimate the power of a well placed word.

The poem does not need to rhyme. Nor does it need to be metered or in any kind of form. It just needs to be well thought out. Read it over and over and ensure that every line is important, every word has a place within the meaning of the poem. If the context is wrong or too many syllables jumble up a line, move them around. It will likely take half a dozen times reading and changing your poem before you begin to come close to being happy with it. And you may never be happy with the final wedding poem, but then no poets are.

Reading Poetry Aloud

2011-07-15T11:02:00.001-07:00

Poetry readings take place at weddings, funerals, poetry clubs and concerts.

There are a few different rules for poetry reading than for prose reading and these rules help us to keep the shape of the poem.

First you have to be heard. The sound has to get out of your mouth and for this to happen you have to open your mouth.

If you have written the poem yourself or if you've had it written for you, you will know the emotion the poem is trying to convey. You will know what is coming next but remember your listeners don't know. They've never heard it before so they have to get in the right mood and then they have to listen to the words and they will need time to take in what you've read.

It might come as a surprise to know that there are different kinds of pauses. Some of these pauses are used when reading prose and poetry and some are used in poetry only.

Pauses used in prose and poetry

Grammatical pauses - used when punctuation dictates such as a comma or fullstop.
Sense pauses - used when our common sense says we need a pause.
Rhetorical - this is a longer pause that comes at the end of paragraphs and some verses.
Emphatic - this is used before an important word or after an important word or before and after an important word.
Emotional pause - this is used to give an emotional effect such as when a person is crying.
Dramatic pause - a pause used to give a dramatic effect.

Pauses used only in poetry reading

The main pause is the suspensory pause. This occurs at the end of an enjambment line where the sense carries on into the next line of the poem. There must be a slight puase on the last word of the line but no breath must be taken. An example is taken from Sea Fairies by Eileen Mathias
- They're hiding by the pebbles,
- They're running round the rocks
- Each of them, and all of them
- In dazzling sea green frocks.
There is a pause at the end of the first line and the next place for a breath is halfway through the third line. However at the end of the second line you must hold on to the word 'rocks' so that the shape of the poem is kept.
Caesura pause - This can come anywhere in the line of poetry but it always coincides with sense.
Metrical pause - Lines of poetry are made up of metrical feet. These feet are very similar to bars of music. Each foot is made up of 2, 3 or 4 syllables. A metrical pause occurs when part of a foot or a whole foot is missing.

Why pausing is important

Pausing allows the listener to take in what you've just said.
It shows you have confidence in your ability to read the poem aloud.
Gives you a chance to breathe.
Keeps the shape of the poem.

Pace and Power

Try to alter the speed at which you read the poem. If you want to sound angry or excited speed up a little and raise the pitch of your voice. When you want to sound more serious lower the pitch and slow down.
A higher pitched voice can also be used when talking about things which are high up - the sky, angels, tall buildings and a lower pitch for things lower such as the soil, graves, underwater etc.

Facial Expressions

Your facial expressions and gestures are important. If you are reading a serious poem try not to smile! Any movements you make must look natural and not rehearsed, you want the whole experience to look and sound natural and relaxed.

Teaching Poetry to Children - 3 Easy and Effective Ways to Teach Poetry to Child of Any Age

2011-07-15T10:58:00.001-07:00

You can easily and effectively teach your children poetry reading and writing. You will know the secrets I know as a poet and student of poetry!

But as homeschooling parents you may be saying, "I don't have time" or "there's too many other important subjects like, Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmetic" or "I don't know anything about poetry, let alone teaching my child to write it."

Why is poetry important anyway? In these days of fast-paced TV shows and unlimited online games, why does this subject even matter? First of all, what captures your children's attention? Is it the latest essay written in a textbook or is it the coolest lyrics from their favorite Christian or secular rock group?

What is one of the most popular TV shows of all time? American Idol!

Poetry is as vitally important today as when it was in Shakespeare's time during the Elizabethan age! Poetry (in today's forms of lyrics) influences culture, which influences your children. Will it be for good or for bad?

Another reason why it's important to teach poetry is because it will teach your children how to communicate effectively and concisely. In this information age, I can't emphasize enough how important this is! It's the websites with excellent content that their audiences want that are making the most money. And face it, the Internet is here to stay! Mastering this skill of clearly communicating is vitally important in our changing economy!

I have heard it said that tomorrow's leaders will be the ones who possess creativity in great measure. Isn't that why we homeschool--so our kids will stand out as salt and light in a dark world?

Now that we're on the same page about why poetry is so important, I would like to share with you three easy and effective ways to teach poetry to any age child.

1) Find great examples. Teach the classic poets, definitely. Classic poets teach us about the power and beauty of words, timeless messages that touch people in profound ways, and the basic structure and flow of language.

A great place to start is Robert Frost's Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening. With this poem, you can teach about rhyming, rhythm, stanzas, and more. And as Christmas approaches, this poem is a perfect one to help you and your family get in that merry mood for the season!

Another great poet is Walt Whitman. He is one of the first free verse poets and you can tie your lesson in with American history! Of course, you can't lose by teaching Shakespeare. Combine learning his sonnets with going on a field trip to attend a Shakespeare play. Unbeatable!

2) Make it fun! I can't stress this enough. If you make poetry a drag, you will not be able to teach your children at all about it. As once was told to me, you can approach learning with a "Doberman Pincher" or a "Puppy Dog" attitude. Children learn better under the latter scenario.

How can you make it fun? Well, since it's almost Christmas, how about the famous poem, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas? Or Dr. Seuss is always fun, and yes, it is a type of poetry. How the Grinch Stole Christmas is full of wonderful learning possibilities.

Shel Silverstein is always a delight for young readers. Reading his poetry gives children much reading pleasure and is great fodder for inspiration. Then there are the words. Putting together words can be lots of fun.

Playing with a poetry magnet set can provide plenty of laughs while at the same time providing ample writing instruction. Another great game for learning poetry is ad libs. Why not create an ad lib for a poem? This could provide hours of fun and education.

3) Publish it! When your students have finished writing their poetry, be sure to publish it! Have them draw illustrations and then use a service like Blurb to show it to the world!

Or, have your students make a book the old-fashioned way--write out the poetry in their best handwriting (behold, a copywork lesson), have them draw some illustrations (art lesson), three-whole punch the paper, put a nice cover on it and tie the book together with a fancy ribbon. Then as an economic lesson, have your students sell the books as a business venture! To make it even more special, laminate the pages and have your children give the book as Christmas presents to their grandparents!

That's it! Three very simple, fun, and effective ways that will help you reach new heights in your homeschooling!

And now that you've been given the knowledge to make your poetry lessons easy and effective, how would you like a way to make it even easier?

Review Of Stephen B. Wiley's First Book Of Poetry: HERO ISLAND

2011-07-15T10:55:00.001-07:00

Poet Stephen B. Wiley's first book of poetry, Hero Island, reflects tender snapshots and reminiscent overviews of various stages of his life as a youngster working on a farm in New Jersey, summer vacations spent with his family in Northern Vermont, and his positive stance on life.

His elegant command of language magically explores and brings to life such varied topics as the shovel we are reluctant to part with, city living, opening up of the summer cottage, shucking corn, Albert Einstein and world federation, and the more weighty experience as the death of a loved one.
All are composed with a great deal of introspection and with a sincere palette of words that are easily accessible to even the inexperienced poetry reader.

Particularly touching and one that struck home is "Going," where Wiley portrays the passing away of his ninety-four year old father-something I personally just recently experienced with the passing away of my father-in-law. The ending of the poem's unadorned spoken language poignantly describes his inner feelings:

"I knew father wouldn't die

I bent over his bed though

and we embraced with a kiss

as he was going."

Above all, Wiley's strength lies in that his poems are characterized by a sense of wonder and nostalgia with which he imbues his reflections, that is neither sad nor frustrated, as is often the case with so many poets.
Moreover, descriptions are effortless and fresh, reverberating with vitality, as exemplified in the first two stanzas of his poem To My Hands:

"Yes, yes I do admire your solo work

how you throw a ball

write your name

tip you hat

And I'm proud that things are named for you

giving a helping hand

handing down your outgrown clothes

even handing over something you shouldn't have"

Quite noteworthy is Wiley's remarkable skill with language, perhaps attributable to his legal training. When I interviewed him and asked him how had this affected his poetry writing, his succinct reply was "words are the subject matter of law - spoken words and written words - and precision of language is most important. Poetry draws on the same strengths." That just about sums up the poetic style of Stephen B. Wiley.

Poetry as Important Part of the Wedding

2011-07-15T10:54:00.001-07:00

Poems, for such a long time, have been used to express one's feelings and emotions and to record events and thoughts in an artistic form. Reading poems during a wedding can enhance the beauty of the event.

The wedding poem may be composed and be read by a member of the family as a gift to the groom and bride. However, not many have good skills in writing that poem writing for weddings may also be entrusted to professional wedding writers.

Even if the task of writing the wedding poem has been delegated to an experienced wedding poem writer, the groom and the bride or a member of the family should choose the wedding poem writer carefully and coordinate with the writer as often as possible.

Choosing the wedding poetry writer should take place after the sites for the wedding and reception have been confirmed. This is necessary because some of the sites details may be included in the poem that this should be supplied to the wedding poetry writer as soon as possible.

Also, consider the site for the wedding rites. Some religious institutions do not allow alterations with the wedding rites such as including reading poetry during the ceremony. Therefore, in this case, wedding poetry reading should be done during the reception.

The wedding poetry should represent the groom and the bride and should go well with the theme of the wedding. The wedding poem may also be printed in the program and may also be given as a keepsake. Thus, a good wedding poem is very important. For that reason, brainstorming can help a lot when choosing the wedding poetry writer or vendor.

Before deciding on who will be the wedding poetry vendor and writer, consider what type of poem will you need. For a traditional and formal wedding, an elegantly written poem is suggested. If the wedding will be having an informal ceremony, a poem with a touch of humor will work well.

Do not choose a lengthy poem if the ceremony will be longer than two hours. Decide if music will be played while reading the poem.

If you have decided what you will need, you have to stat looking for a wedding poem vendor. The easiest way to look for reliable information is by asking for suggestions from family and friends, the manager of the reception site, the person who will officiate the marriage, or from your wedding coordinator. You can also search online for poetry vendors.

If possible, ask for a rough draft of what the wedding poem will be so you can decide if this is the one that will be appropriate for the wedding. It is preferable to allow one year for composing the poem. This is to make sure that there is enough time to edit the poem to suit your requirements.

Also, check if the wedding poet can work within your given budget. Wedding poems can cost at least $100. Ask for sample works and suggestions to enhance your wedding poem.

When providing information about the wedding to the wedding poetry vendor, make sure that you have included the following details: the interests of the couple, the type of ceremony, the location of the wedding and the reception, the number of guests and their backgrounds, the theme of the wedding ceremony, who will be the poem reader and whatever unique detail that you can include to make the poem unique.

If you have chosen a good wedding poetry writer and reader, you can make sure that your wedding's tone and ambiance is enhanced to make it more memorable to everyone who will be present.

Poetry Is An Important Component Of The English Curriculum

2011-07-15T10:53:00.001-07:00

If you are a student who loves reading and writing, you will definitely enjoy English Composition. Advisors encourage students to take English Composition during their freshman year, mainly because subsequent advanced level English courses will be required, and the successful completion of English Composition is the prerequisite. There are several components to the curriculum. One of the more challenging subjects is poetry.

One of the first things you learn about poetry is that it requires a lot of critical thinking and understanding of words. It is not easy to sum up an expression, opinion, or message in a few verses. Words must be carefully deliberated to ensure the correct words convey the exact message. One way to develop word vocabulary is to study word origins. This exercise broadens your scope of words and language.

When exploring poetry, students will learn about the various forms of poetry. The most common type is the rhymed verse. These are familiar to us because we learned them first at home either through reading time with Mom or while watching educational programs on television, and we learned them in elementary school. Rhymes are pleasurable to read and listen to when read aloud, but still require work to create. Limericks, a type of rhymed verse, are typically studied at the middle-college level. A limerick is a short verse that includes both rhyme and rhythm and contains a funny or surprise ending.

Narrative poems will also be explored in the English Composition course. These are poems that tell a story. Perhaps the best-known narrative poem is the holiday classic, "The Night Before Christmas." Writing narrative poems require a great deal of imagination. After all, the purpose of a narrative poem is to tell a complete story, with a beginning, middle, and end.

Haiku is a Japanese poetic form. The verse contains only 17 syllables arranged in three lines. Haiku poems are interesting because they are subject specific. Haikus deal with nature, and the verse must paint a clear image of what the poem is about. Haikus are famous because of their concise form, much like that of a telegram. Because Haikus are short in form, they are ideal for elementary aged children to create.

Free verse is unrhymed poetry, and rhythm is not an important component of free verse. Good free verse poetry is reliant upon word choice and visual images. As you learn about free verse poetry, you will learn to choose words to describe something and then put them together to express a thought or tell a story without concern for rhyme or rhythmic sound. Students learn to write free verse poetry by working with lists of words or phrases they have collected over a period of time.

To prepare for the poetry component of the English Composition course, go to the library and start reading various works. Explore the various types of poetry formats and determine ahead of time which one you enjoy reading and which one you are confident creating. Also, take the time to research famous poets and understand why they are famous.

It's Important! Read Poetry to Your Children

2011-07-15T10:51:00.001-07:00

Reading poetry to children might sound a bit tedious. In today's world, we often convince ourselves that we don't have time for the simple tasks in life. We make excuses such as "I need to run to the store" or "I need to do the laundry" or even "my favorite television show is on." Once you know the great positive influence poetry plays in children's lives, you might magically find some time to read together.

Poetry can play an important part in the development of children. Actually, according to Beginning to read: Thinking and learning abut print, children who are without phonemic awareness find difficulty in learning to read and write. Instead of focusing on the phonemes, the children focus on the meaning of the word.

Luckily, reading poetry to children is a great way to avoid later learning problems. Children's rhymes such as Mother Goose and Dr. Seuss do the job perfectly. By simply reading the rhymes with children, they work effectively towards helping the children gain phonemic awareness.

Once you think about about this, it makes sense. With rhymes, it's easy for children to know the phonetic pronunciation. When they see the word "bat" in a poem after the word "cat", they know exactly what the word is suppose to sound like.

Even though we live in a busy world with entertainment all around us, we still need to find time for the ones we love--especially when dealing with children's education. By simply reading poetry with your child at an early age, you will help them understand the phonemes of words and get a jump start on reading and writing.