Family Entertainment Blog

It is one of the greatest achievements of archaeology to have discovered ancient civilisations which were unknown to the world. Their discovery opened the gates of information which brought a radical change in the outlook of history. So far, it was believed that human past was dark and backward compared to the present. Therefore, it was argued that it was only in the modern period that man achieved progress and sophistication of culture.

This perception proved totally wrong when the wonders of the past civilisations emerged from underneath the earth and dazzled the world. Such discoveries also proved that different civilisations learnt from one another and developed as a result of sharing and integration of human knowledge. An important feature that brought together these civilisations was traders
 

and merchants who exchanged not only merchandise among nations but also introduced foreign ideas and thoughts in their own homelands.

Another important factor was human migration. When people migrated from one place to the other, they took along with them their cultural values and traditions and enriched their new adopted country with their heritage.

With the discovery of ancient civilisations, new knowledge either refuted most of the myths which were prevalent or proved that some of them were indeed facts of history. For example, Homer writes about the city of Troy which had no proof of its existence before that but which was believed to have been a great city in ancient Greece. Later on archaeologists excavated it and proved its existence.

Knowledge of ancient civilisations raises a number of questions. One of the important questions was the phenomenon of the rise and fall of a civilisation. Historians and thinkers made attempt at analysing these processes and try to find concrete answers. Some hold that there are specific laws which operate in the process of the rise and fall of civilisations. Others argue that there are no laws and every civilisation has its own process which cannot be applied to others.

However, the study becomes a fascinating subject and historians have brought lot of information to prove their points of view. Some discuss the evolutionary process of civilisation and point out that every great civilisation developed as a result of passing through different stages. However, the stage theory cannot be applied to all civilisations because some of them stopped at one stage and disappeared from the scene. There are few which passed through all stages described by historians to reach their maturity.

Civilisations and rivers

All Bronze Age civilisations, such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Hrappa and China were developed on the banks of rivers; however, rivers alone were not the major factor for their advancement. They were the people who as a result of their labour and hard work made rivers useful for irrigation.

For instance, they dug canals from the Euphrates and Tigris, the Nile and Indus, and the Hawing-Ho rivers and supplied water to their fields. This made cultivation possible. The surplus agricultural produce provided them with the opportunity to relax and take part in cultural practices.

Therefore, it is wrong to say that “Egypt was the gift of the Nile” or that “Indus made Sindh prosperous”. Credit for such advancement should go to the peasants and cultivators of the time who tamed these rivers and evolved an efficient system of irrigation, and hence civilisation by the river

LUCKNOW, India - Conservationists and scientists scrambled Tuesday to determine what has killed at least 50 critically endangered crocodile-like reptiles in recent weeks in a river sanctuary in central India.
Everything from parasites to pollution has been blamed for the deaths of the gharials — massive reptiles that look like their crocodile relatives, but with long slender snouts. The bodies, measuring between five and 10 feet long, have been found washed up on the banks of the Chambal River since early December, according to conservationists and officials.

The precise number of gharials that have died remains unclear, with the Gharial Conservation Alliance saying 81 bodies have been found since early December, butt Chief Wildlife Warden D.N.S Suman putting the number of dead animals at 50. Conservationists believe there are only some 1,500 gharials left in the wild, many of them in a sanctuary based along the Chambal,
 

one of the few unpolluted Indian rivers. The Chambal contains the largest of three breeding populations in the world.

In early December, officials found the bodies of at least 21 gharials over three days. The bodies have continued washing ashore in the weeks since.

The latest possible clue to what’s killing the rare reptiles is an unknown parasite that scientists found in the dead gharials’ liver and kidneys, according to Dr. A.K. Sharma of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute.

“We can say that liver and kidney of these gharials were badly damaged,” said Sharma. “They were swollen and bigger than their usual size.”

Other believe the gharials may have gotten sick and died after eating contaminated fish from the polluted Yamuna river, which joins the Chambal in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Pathological tests confirmed lead and cadmium in the bodies of the dead gharials, said Suman, the wildlife official.

“The Chambal river has clear water free from heavy metals. The only possibility seems that these gharials might have migrated from heavily polluted Yamuna river where they might have eaten fish,” said Suman.

The gharial, also known as the Indian crocodile, was on the verge of extinction in the 1970s, but a government breeding program that has released several hundred into the wild has raised their numbers.

Today, is the world’s release of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. Its latenight shows were supposed to hit the records and show the biggest figure for the Wednesday releasing films. The former record-holder is “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and its box-office takings more than $8 million (these happy event took place in 2003). The fifth part of Harry Potter cinema version is managed to win the Lord but, unfortunately, they failed to win “The Pirate’s of The Caribbean”, the third part of this trilogy! It gathered 13 million of dollars! Let’s turn to the history, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” gathered $6 million, but it was released on a Friday. In France box-office takings at the first night are $13.7 million, Asian countries - $7.8 million. In Australia it is only $3 million. But is the fifth highest opening has ever been there. In South Korea only $1.5 million, but it is still 59% higher than the previous gatherings while opening of “Goblet” (November 2005). According to the company press-releases, Harry Potter (the fifth part) will be released in the record number of cinemas – 9000 and in 4285 cities and 13100 copies are going into the world’s release. Thus, hopes on Harry Potter’s successful running are rather high! Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix will be released in the 91 cinema (35 out of them are foreign cinemas). This film is the shortest one, comparing with the previous version. It lasts only 2 hours and 18 minutes. His main opponents are Shreck (the third part) and Transformers.  In Russia, the premiere will take place at the 19th of July! For this role Daniel Radcliffe will get 50 million dollars! Actually, this sum is not entirely his. He has to pay to his managers, agents and, of course, taxes! It is incredibly high payment. It can be explained, as though, Dan can be an actor of one movie! Harry Potter and his cinema versions are very popular, even extremely popular, even girls and friends associate Daniel with his main character. Some even call him Harry. According to the public opinion he will never be able to get this success again! Nevertheless, there are two more films about Harry Potter! But, Digital Spy are confident – Daniel Radcliffe till the rest of his life will be Harry Potter! But Daniel says, that he has no reasons to worry. This year he will become a person of majority age and will have an access to his 46 million of dollars! He thinks, it is no use to be upset and he will always be able to find less profitable but still interesting roles! By the way, he also mentioned, that he already has a decent sum of money, so it is no use to be worried about his future! Also, he added, that it is very flattering thing to be one of the richest and popular people of the World, but he is a self-sufficient person. By the way, let’s remember about “The Equus” – Daniel Theater debut – it was warmly received by critics.

For many times Daniel Radcliffe was predicted to became a one-movie-star but as it turned out Daniel is not going to leave his career as a movies star.Daniel is eager to change school uniform, spells and magic for moustache and WW1 uniform. Now Harry Potter is 18 years-old-boy. The last - 7th book about Harry’s adventures was written and an actor decided to change his line of roles. He is not a small Wizard-boy anymore. He is a mature young man, full of desire to show his braveness and courage, he is an attire of the Irish Guards.

The ads and first pictures of the upcoming film My Boy Jack have appeared on the web. Later it will appear on the TV screen, the following companies have bought rights for it broadcasting: ITV in the UK and U.S., PBS.

Synopsis of the movie: Rudyard Kipling has a 17-year-old son named Jack (he is played by Daniel Radcliffe). Rudyard made a decision to send his son to the Irish Guards, without paying attention to his bad eyesight. Jack strictly followed his destination and finally got lost in the Battle of Loos. His family (mother and father) is in despair - they spent a lot of sleepless nights while looking for their son.

Harry Potter turned to be a very versatile person. He is capable of doing everything, and playing any role. Nothing can destroy his talent. As for me, it is a perfect role to proof that he is not a one-movie-star!
 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix won a Rotten Tomatoes Golden Tomato award! And it is great and it is cool and once again, we can name Dan and Emma the best of the best. I am so glad, as if I got it myself. They are so cool and talented and, of course, the movie deserves this award.