Get ready for World Maths Day!

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>This is a guest post written by Lisa G who is an ITC teacher in Cape Town. Lisa was a Microsoft Innovative finalist in South Africa in 2011 and she keeps an interesting ITC blog <a href="http://icteducator.blogspot.com/" title="http://icteducator.blogspot.com/">http://icteducator.blogspot.com/</a>. I saw this post on her blog this week and asked her if I could use it as a guest post. Last year I wanted to participate in World Maths Day but didn’t get registered in time. So, don’t be like me…prepare well in advance. You’ll need to start now!</i></span></div><br /><span style="font-size: small;">World Maths Day is coming up on 7 March 2012.  Have you considered participating?</span><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">As a school we have taken part and it was a great experience for everyone. Its really simple. All you need to do is get permission from parents, register the children, and then follow the instructions that are very clearly laid out on their <a href="http://www.worldmathsday.com/">website</a></span><span style="font-size: small;">. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">It looks from the Pre-registration that one now signs up for World Spelling/Maths/Science Day.  Even better!</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrFTWxT3VwMvRISIZeCKfMwLdLP4xT5MRFuZagBPdFgaKZfDItywVcZo8Kkbdw6QtL1gG-rKSQc2TsD9n4xwEJZZekJC9j4BqLYKmL5cBk4BMTklgYI4owMKB0CqfvUvnSPwxUr2TPLKI/s1600-h/image%25255B3%25255D.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="image" border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvadO11IyQR9DFHrmJUofVSjMxrHB1smsjC6DIHE5rGpUhaKW1pWr8Mz6wF7QgE3YE4tpDYu7NbsvP-qhdhIuOVuMgt6ivj_BJsrSEBhtaSsfy80-FDTwse-qzZb_SBMooQCASRaq_Ca4/?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-color: -moz-use-text-color; border-style: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="image" width="448" /></a></div><br /><br /><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I registered the children who wanted to take part, and then each day from the time that "<i>practice</i>" begins, they can come in and get used to how the whole event works. I do this so that it is not a surprise when they get to the timed event - they are confident and ready for action!  What I also enjoy about this, is that they can log on at home and continue to practice or compete after school in their own time.</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The best was listening to their excited shrieks of "<i>I'm playing against Japan</i>!" or "<i>I am playing against India!</i>" or "<i>I am playing against someone in Australia</i>!"  Suddenly the world was bigger than our ICT Lab and we embraced every moment of it!  We got a report back on how each child did and how we achieved as a school. </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">I am really looking forward to registering our learners for these events again this year. Why don't you? </span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wishing all a wonderfully educational 2012!</span> </div></div>

Maths Technology integration Get ready for World Maths Day!

This is a guest post written by Lisa G who is an ITC teacher in Cape Town. Lisa was a Microsoft Innovative finalist in South Africa in 2011 and she keeps an interesting ITC blog http://icteducator.blogspot.com/. I saw this post on her blog this week …

Read more »

Argentine government may gain from World Bank default

<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2WZDOxAGhyphenhyphenLf7V9p3CZX6W-xD1c6V06jIViz_Oa02SzWw8lq_JAX2UyXt8kNN7Yua84e43TlNTu4QTPPQJvgRIycPisTC7g3fO9YzB3GgLCqTKVEw5njnLebg9JNh1ZV0sswwh40Da1L/s1600/partners_ifi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe2WZDOxAGhyphenhyphenLf7V9p3CZX6W-xD1c6V06jIViz_Oa02SzWw8lq_JAX2UyXt8kNN7Yua84e43TlNTu4QTPPQJvgRIycPisTC7g3fO9YzB3GgLCqTKVEw5njnLebg9JNh1ZV0sswwh40Da1L/s320/partners_ifi.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">International Financial Institutions and their blow to global economy</span></b> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">It is now little over 10 years since Argentina defaulted on its debt to the WORLD BANK. Since the default Argentina experienced an astonishing economic recovery and now can look upon the EU, where some of the member states face similar situations as did Argentina 10 years ago. I have expressed my views on this subject numerous times on this block and will not reiterate those views. The reason I once again raise the subject is because I found an interesting article written in 2002 on Odious Debts website which does confirm my thesis on subject matter. I have added my comments below some of the paragraphs. The controversial actions and policies of the IMF and other International Financial Institutions has not changed the slightest, they are applying these devastating tactics today as much as they did 10 years ago!! </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">In November 2002 Interpress Service published an article written by Emad Mekay which reads as follows:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Interpress Service</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">   November 22/2002 </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Argentine government may gain from World Bank default</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">   </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">by Emad Mekay</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMgMBycwIpQLKX0cBhr3oowVUlr_YQilv3zF0mzvs07N9eG9sxwaLmDMZjh-JsyQfuVMt30Ej2B8gSVrBQJz3wc9h1STs2g9UP-PCjo4NWx48inf8yaobQigEJAjFv91sApO4b0uAlq64/s1600/world_bank2112111111-640x480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieMgMBycwIpQLKX0cBhr3oowVUlr_YQilv3zF0mzvs07N9eG9sxwaLmDMZjh-JsyQfuVMt30Ej2B8gSVrBQJz3wc9h1STs2g9UP-PCjo4NWx48inf8yaobQigEJAjFv91sApO4b0uAlq64/s320/world_bank2112111111-640x480.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Argentina's decision to default on its debt to the World Bank could hurt the country's poor but might also <u>prove beneficial in the long run</u>, some analysts here say. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Thursday's decision could also harm the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), both interested in maintaining their positions and reputations as superior patrons of the world economy. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The IMF and its doctrine stirred Argentina’s economy into default in the first place, as it did to numerous other countries which were exposed to IMF policies.</span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Argentina defaulted Thursday on its $ 805-million debt to the Bank, paying only a token amount of $ 79.2 million, prompting questions on the future of the cash-strapped Argentine economy and its relationship with the Bank and the Fund. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By breaking its ties with the IMF and the World Bank, Argentina managed to resurrect itself from the deathblow obtained from the two organizations. </span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">On Friday, Argentina blamed the default on savage policy recommendations by the IMF, which require the government to tighten its budget and anti-inflation measures before it can strike a deal for emergency funds. But Argentina may be already benefiting from the default decision, since it will have more cash on hand for social and health programs, much needed as the economy recovers painfully slowly. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Cash for social and health programs to recover the economy is something the IMF and the Word Bank oppose vehemently because it lessens their influence and profit. The first austerity measures the IMF and World Bank ( who are technically speaking one entity) imposed on Greece and Italy were cuts in healthcare, education and social programs, thus leading the two nations into the same dilemma as Argentina faced 10 years ago.</span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">"In the long term, and for other countries, the impact could be very positive," said Soren Ambrose, of the Washington-based 50 Years Is Enough network. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">"This unique challenge to the power of the World Bank and IMF to dictate both macroeconomic policy and debt repayment terms could change the perception of their infallibility (or infinite power), he added. </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Ambrose says that would give governments and civil society forces more room to plan, and to begin to whittle away at the overwhelming power wielded by the IMF, the Bank and other international financial institutions (IFIs), which has caused so much unnecessary poverty, deaths and suffering over the past few decades. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By defaulting to the Bank, Buenos Aires may also be sending a message that it may no longer feel forced to accept the IFIs' programs, and that there are other alternatives, he added</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Argentina has proved that there are other alternatives then IFIs programs and thus managed to recover its shattered economy without IFI “advises”, the results of which we are currently facing in Europe and the USA.</span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">In a report distributed electronically, the Brussels-based anti-debt group Eurodad argues that the World Bank might be equally harmed by the high-profile default, which could call into question the Bank's own creditworthiness and reputation. Bond-rating agencies could downgrade the ratings of the Bank's bonds, depriving the institution of its AAA rating, which allows the Bank to sell bonds to institutional investors as "blue chip" investments. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Well that that did not happen because as it turned out the USA and the EU are waging a financial war and thus US rating agencies will hardly attack its own financial entities, which in a way the Word Bank is. See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank</a></span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #ffc000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><span style="color: #ffc000;"> </span> </span></i></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">If the contagion pushes other countries in the region into making similar defaults or refusals to deal on the IFIs' terms, the trend could spread, says Eurodad. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Already one of the biggest U.S. pension funds, TIAA-CREF (for retired teachers) has sold all its World Bank bonds, for what it called economic reasons.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">But World Bank officials Friday vehemently denied that they would be hurt by the default. "Our capital is strong," said Chris Neal of the Bank's external relations arm. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">After Thursday's default, Standard and Poor's Ratings Services said that it was affirming its credit ratings and outlook on the World Bank at 'AAA/Stable', along with those of other multilateral lending institutions with large credit exposures to the Argentina. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Eurodad also believes that if a country the size of Argentina defaulted, then others could follow. The South American nation is the fourth largest debtor of the Bank after China, Indonesia and Mexico and it is number one in terms of per-capita income. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">It also differs substantially from other states to have already defaulted on World Bank debt - including Somalia, Iraq and Zimbabwe - in that it is part of the Western world and has considerable links with Northern institutions. The default could eat away at their credibility also, according to Eurodad. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Argentina owes $ 8.5 billion to another Washington-based IFI, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">If Argentina were to default on that loan, the IDB risks losing its triple-A rating, which could increase the cost of borrowing from the institution for other Latin American countries. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It is now 10 years later, and Argentina still has not paid the IDB without facing serious consequences. Argentina always expressed its willingness to pay its debt with the IDB and Paris Club if the conditions are fair and reasonable, but not under vulcher finance terms.</span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Regardless of the potential damage to the IFIs from the defaults, Argentina still faces many hurdles to get its economy back in shape and rescue its population from internecine poverty. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">We write 2012 and Argentinean economy is growing at rapid pace and poverty has been reduced significantly, despite being expelled from the international financial system, or as cynics might argue, because of being expelled Argentina managed showcase economic growth.</span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">The main obstacle, many say, is reaching a deal with the IMF, whose job is to bail out countries in fiscal trouble. The Fund has not reached out to Argentina since the country defaulted on its $ 140-billion debt last December, owed in part to private lenders. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">The Fund is worried that plans put forward by President Eduardo Duhalde do not have enough political support at home. The Bank has backed IMF demands for a viable economic plan that has such support. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">"Argentina needs to get an economic plan that has all of the political actors behind it and support first from Argentine's political class and then from the international community," said Neal of the Bank. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">Among the sticking points in the talks is the IMF's request that Argentina increase the price of privatized public services. The IMF asked for a 30 percent increase while Argentinean officials offered 10 percent. The Fund also wants a tax increase but the government refused. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue; line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Applying austerity on common citizen by requesting price hikes on privatized public services leads to stagnating growth. Since the European Union applied its austerity measures in 2011, as dictated by the IMF, its economy stagnated even more. “The IMF's  recipe for default.”</span></i></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;">The Fund also wants the country to immediately liberalize its exchange market, while leaders want a gradual move. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.odiousdebts.org/">http://www.odiousdebts.org</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;"><br /></div>

Argentine government may gain from World Bank default

International Financial Institutions and their blow to global economy It is now little over 10 years since Argentina defaulted on its debt to the WORLD BANK. Since the default Argentina experienced an astonishing economic recovery and now can look up…

Read more »

HG Bananarama Wafer Pudding + WWM

I have two awesome things to share with you today.  What should I save for last??? Hmm.<br /><br />Well, I have another small giveaway offer for you, though not in the traditional blogger giveaway fashion.<br /><br />The folks at Weight Watchers Magazine erroneously sent me two of their January/February 2012 issues.  If you're not already a subscriber to this awesome magazine, I'd highly reccomend considering it as a future investment.  They offer great recipes, inspirational success stories, and a host of other health related info that I actually find refreshing to read, as opposed to a science-laden and "according to ABC study from XYZ university" stuffy publication.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.popsessive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/JHud-WW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.popsessive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/JHud-WW.jpg" width="232" /></a></div><br />So, who wants my extra copy?  The first person to comment on this blog stating their can't-live-without-it desires shall be graced with the J-Hud mag on their doorstep.  Simply leave a comment stating you want it, and email me your full name and mailing address (thebigweight AT hotmail DOT com).<br /><div style="color: purple;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: purple;">**********************</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Up next is this AWESOME Hungry Girl translation of a banana pudding trifle.  This is definitely one of my all time favorite desserts!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you love these...:</div><div style="text-align: left;">  </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://momandwife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/NannaPudding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://momandwife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/NannaPudding.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://momandwife.com/">Courtesy</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">...then you will <i>definitely </i>find your BPT craving more than satisfied with her PointsPlus friendly version. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">You can find this recipe in Hungry Girl's first cookbook, or on her <a href="http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/moms-favorites-bananarama-wafer-pudding-recipe">website</a>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/085/095/400000000000000085095_s4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/085/095/400000000000000085095_s4.png" width="264" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><u>Hungry Girl: <a href="http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/moms-favorites-bananarama-wafer-pudding-recipe">Bananarama Wafer Pudding</a></u> - <i>4 PointsPlus</i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Ingredients</i></div><ul><li>    2 cups fat-free milk</li><li>    1 small (4-serving) package Jell-O Sugar Free Fat Free Instant Vanilla pudding mix</li><li>    24 Reduced Fat Nilla wafers</li><li>    2 medium bananas, sliced</li><li>    Optional topping: Cool Whip Free (thawed) or Fat Free Reddi-wip</li></ul><div style="text-align: left;"><i>Directions</i><br /><br />Combine milk with pudding mix in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer or a whisk for 2 minutes, or until thoroughly blended. Set aside.<br /><br />In a medium size bowl or 9" X 9" baking pan, arrange a layer of wafers, flat sides down, and then top with a layer of banana slices. Continue alternating layers until all of the wafers and banana slices are in the bowl/pan.<br /><br />Top with the pudding mixture and let it seep down in between the wafer and banana layers. Cover and refrigerate for 2 - 3 hours. If you like, add whipped topping before serving!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />MAKES 6 SERVINGS</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">**There is still time to <a href="http://the-big-weight.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-giveaway.html">enter to win</a> a Zipfizz sample pack and water bottle!</div>

Hungry Girl Weight Watchers Magazine HG Bananarama Wafer Pudding + WWM

I have two awesome things to share with you today.  What should I save for last??? Hmm.Well, I have another small giveaway offer for you, though not in the traditional blogger giveaway fashion.The folks at Weight Watchers Magazine erroneously sent me…

Read more »

Kim Novak in VERTIGO: A Hypnotic Presence

<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i>by guest contributor Brandie Ashe</i></div><br /><div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyC0UNig7pyI6GigRvGJDUb8i_4qgf-z0lMdedU9XQpcaZFTH61Fj3ibX2BizLR0tqGIvDJldOEYbbIsIhviOEV_I7SWQu5Q19NZurGTFG4VRiaFk_XlDpZyCIXETAo-ydTm3FwXU7vQ/s1600/Kim+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyC0UNig7pyI6GigRvGJDUb8i_4qgf-z0lMdedU9XQpcaZFTH61Fj3ibX2BizLR0tqGIvDJldOEYbbIsIhviOEV_I7SWQu5Q19NZurGTFG4VRiaFk_XlDpZyCIXETAo-ydTm3FwXU7vQ/s400/Kim+5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Scratch the surface of the prototypical “Hitchcock blonde”—a cool, reserved exterior masking a fiery and determinedly passionate woman—and the subtle differences in their characterizations become more evident.  In her three films for the director, Grace Kelly’s characters are paragons of dignity, displaying a patrician façade that eventually gives way to a sizzling sexuality. Tippi Hedren’s two characters for Hitchcock have an overt veneer of sophistication that nonetheless belies an innate playfulness at the heart of each woman.  And in her three films for Hitch, Ingrid Bergman is the foreign exotic who smolders with a hint of endearing uncertainty.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><a name='more'></a><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But when it comes to the star of Hitchcock’s 1958 ode to obsession, <i>Vertigo</i>, the director carefully crafts yet another embodiment of flawed femininity: the duplicitous double—caught in a web of her own making—whose love for an equally flawed man will ultimately be her undoing. And to embody this complex creature, he turns (for the first and only time in his career) to a twenty-five year old relative newcomer, Kim Novak.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECUwtP-GYzO-zXNBs4eOBeLAaNjtITIJNKk276ctH9-_UvLEE7ogCX5zFwrrOc8APBkuV40U5LodcPpGY-oEop2OCuIrt5jLw7FgTl7MeQBr3STDaUkDYlsrIiuLIuwNciSfd8qPV8mY/s1600/Kim+0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECUwtP-GYzO-zXNBs4eOBeLAaNjtITIJNKk276ctH9-_UvLEE7ogCX5zFwrrOc8APBkuV40U5LodcPpGY-oEop2OCuIrt5jLw7FgTl7MeQBr3STDaUkDYlsrIiuLIuwNciSfd8qPV8mY/s320/Kim+0.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>By the time she starred in <i>Vertigo</i>, Novak had appeared in only a handful of films over the previous five years. Her breakthrough came in 1955’s <i>Picnic, </i>in which she played a small-town Kansas beauty who falls for William Holden. That same year, Novak played Frank Sinatra’s love interest in the controversial Otto Preminger film about heroin addiction, <i>The Man with the Golden Arm</i>. She played early Broadway and screen star Jeanne Eagels in the same-titled biopic in 1957, and reteamed with Sinatra in the film version of the successful musical <i>Pal Joey</i>. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">In just a matter of three years, her small body of work, along with her stunning all-American blonde looks, garnered Novak a great deal of attention. But some film critics at the time were dismissive of Novak’s acting ability. A.H. Weiler’s <i>New York Times </i>review of <i>Pal Joey </i>called her performance merely “decorative,” and the same paper’s review of her performance in <i>Jeanne Eagels </i>wondered what “possessed Columbia to cast this comparative fledgling … as one of Broadway’s immortals” (though the reviewer did, in all fairness, go on to ultimately blame the film’s many problems on the lackluster script and direction).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Still, despite critics’ opinions of her talent, it is undeniable that in some of her roles, there is an almost hypnotic quality to Novak’s presence on the screen. Watch, for example, her sensual dance with William Holden in <i>Picnic</i>. As the strains of “Moonglow” play in the background, Novak begins to dance, her movements slow and deliberate, her eyes focused solely on her partner as they circle one another. She draws him—and us—in with a mere smoldering glance, a twitch of her hips, a slight swaying movement. The sexual tension is palpable, and it’s hard to take your eyes off Novak in the moment.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Of all of the directors with whom the actress worked during her career, only Hitchcock was fully able to exploit this stirring hypnotic quality and use it to full advantage on the screen. In the process, the prolific director ultimately drew out of Novak what is arguably the greatest performance of her career.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuGW9vTJ_aQDxWOmVA-3k06FuAP5xn4Ew4fMBbc7lAtMpLD4oh5Kk_9MX2JrTx1hNcOxGg9p2ZW3ghLMHHBe3j9b3GZs1A0PFJRh_enCwBAQ1wYuTkrG_VT7GFn_mzzAFtoPtTalddHs/s1600/Vera+Miles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmuGW9vTJ_aQDxWOmVA-3k06FuAP5xn4Ew4fMBbc7lAtMpLD4oh5Kk_9MX2JrTx1hNcOxGg9p2ZW3ghLMHHBe3j9b3GZs1A0PFJRh_enCwBAQ1wYuTkrG_VT7GFn_mzzAFtoPtTalddHs/s200/Vera+Miles.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vera Miles</td></tr></tbody></table>Novak was not the original choice to play Madeleine/Judy. Hitchcock had initially cast Vera Miles, with whom he had a heavy-handed personal contract. Hitchcock had adopted a Svengali-like attitude with Miles, trying to craft her into “his” type of actress by dictating her appearance and building her into a kind of Grace Kelly clone (as Hitch had recently lost his favorite star to Monaco’s Prince Rainier). But Miles was forced to drop out of the project due to pregnancy, and as a result, Hitchcock lost interest in the actress (though he would still go on to cast her as Janet Leigh’s sister in 1960’s <i>Psycho</i>). Years later, he would tell Francois Truffaut, “She became pregnant just before the part that was going to turn her into a star.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s interesting to consider how closely Scottie’s attempts to “make over” Judy into “lost” love Madeleine mirror Hitchcock’s own attempts to craft Miles into the “perfect” cinematic star. More than any other film in his oeuvre, <i>Vertigo </i>represents Hitchcock’s cinematic quest to “build” the perfect woman, one made over in precisely the image he desires. To put it bluntly, Novak’s Madeleine/Judy most clearly embodies the old idiom (fully embraced by Hitchcock) that men want a lady in the drawing room and a whore in the bedroom. To that end, the character is a subtly sexy blonde whose deceptively icy, composed, and chic appearance hides a shrewd mind and a leashed, but potentially voracious sexuality. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSugckWtKs_Um1pn7XjgEt-KHalupjbIuVx2yTUt814B3NJnzLgWhivnq_lFnWT_yaBjyREkB00RzeRrQlLVk520srcKKNnOnSv7ORjUD2fS7wNQ5QI25Vq1v2-3KA5cHoMd9Up1hdiBE/s1600/judy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSugckWtKs_Um1pn7XjgEt-KHalupjbIuVx2yTUt814B3NJnzLgWhivnq_lFnWT_yaBjyREkB00RzeRrQlLVk520srcKKNnOnSv7ORjUD2fS7wNQ5QI25Vq1v2-3KA5cHoMd9Up1hdiBE/s320/judy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>And yet, despite her flaws and her deceptive behavior, Madeleine/Judy is one of the more sympathetic Hitchcock blondes in that her struggle to reconcile her love for Scottie with her guilt over deceiving him about her role in the real Madeleine’s death forces the audience to feel some sense of compassion for her. We witness her dilemma; we understand intrinsically that her acquiescence to Scottie’s mad desire to recreate the “real” Madeleine comes from a place of desperate love. She agrees to let him clothe her in Madeleine’s sophisticated style, to have her makeup done and her nails shaped as Madeleine’s, and even gives in when Scottie insists she color her now-brown hair blonde. Her plaintive response to his pleas to dye her hair is heartbreaking in its eagerness to earn his love: “If I let you change it, will that do it? If I do what you tell me, will you love me?”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">There are those who claim that Novak is too stiff in her performance in <i>Vertigo</i>, that there is something unnaturally wooden about her interpretation of Madeleine/Judy. But I tend to agree with film critic Roger Ebert, whose reflection on <i>Vertigo </i>praises Novak’s presentation of the character: “Ask yourself how you would move and speak if you were in unbearable pain, and then look again at Judy.” Every element of Novak’s performance, particularly in the wake of the real Madeleine’s death, is carefully constructed to convey the character’s inner turmoil. She has broken the rules—she has fallen in love with her mark. And her punishment is that he cannot love her as herself, as Judy: he needs “Madeleine.” She knows nothing she does short of donning the mantle of “Madeleine” once more will earn her what <i>she</i> needs from him. It’s the last thing she wants to do … and yet, because she loves Scottie, she cannot—will not—deny him his desire.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />The entire film comes down to that single five-minute sequence in which Judy “becomes” Madeleine again. Scottie waits impatiently for Judy to return from her makeover, and is displeased that her newly blonde hair has not been pulled back from her face in Madeleine’s signature updo. He sends her into the bathroom to complete the transformation and waits anxiously for her to emerge. When she does, she is bathed in a hypnotic, strange green light (ostensibly reflected from the neon sign hanging outside the hotel room window), a dreamlike effect that makes it appear as though Madeleine is moving back from the murky past into the solid present. This sense is highlighted through Hitchcock’s brilliant composition of the scene, as Scottie kisses Madeleine and is swept back into a memory of their time together in San Juan Batista while the camera rotates around the embracing couple in a smooth 360 turn.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2xYRUJUJNSw" width="560"></iframe></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuBi7_hApra8uMCqPmSPSjpC4K3Ah3QNTpACo2jQzOMW-3iMEjrruoyQwGW3_fQEmxuEGneAj6mEzmrNSG9cI7sYuObX8pNKx2ceAI5oOt9RegODmV82A1tRvkrPfJX_vpMdenyC1f-_g/s1600/Kim+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">The uncertain, yearning expressions on her face, the stilted movements of her body as she walks in that gray suit once more—everything Novak does is masterfully composed in order to show us just how miserable Judy’s situation really is in that moment. “Judy” is now the one who is dead and Madeleine—the double, the false identity—is her new reality, and must remain so if she wishes to keep Scottie’s love and attention. And the utter hopelessness that comes from that realization is written all over Novak’s face in this scene, effectively foreshadowing Madeleine’s second (and permanent) demise.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">It is fitting that <i>Vertigo </i>has, in retrospect, turned out to be the defining role of Kim Novak’s career, because the film features what is undoubtedly the best performance she ever gave on-screen. Her role as Madeleine/Judy remains one of the most intriguing Hitchcock blondes, a mesmerizingly intense woman brought to blazing, impressive life by a truly talented young performer in the capable hands of a truly talented director in his prime. I can’t help but imagine what more Hitchcock and Novak could have done, had they been paired in another film together at some point. What other depths could he have uncovered in her, and what other cinematic brilliance could they have created, had they just been given the opportunity?<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ym3jJlLwr1W2mVotHUlFMa6pD6buisRAYQytn1yqsfYYh5JooMKyKX74HrlUrHGWvuIZNXo6PevcsBVONUbH6Tnyd8b5GC5Mh6rV_fmpe-P676HcCnfY42duobVrD9dJMjpjFL-6YS0/s1600/Kim+6+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ym3jJlLwr1W2mVotHUlFMa6pD6buisRAYQytn1yqsfYYh5JooMKyKX74HrlUrHGWvuIZNXo6PevcsBVONUbH6Tnyd8b5GC5Mh6rV_fmpe-P676HcCnfY42duobVrD9dJMjpjFL-6YS0/s1600/Kim+6+b.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;">~ </div><br /><i><b>Brandie Ashe</b> is a freelance writer and editor from Alabama. An inveterate classic movie fan since discovering the films of Shirley Temple and the Marx Brothers as a child, she indulges her obsession at her blog, <a href="https://trueclassics.wordpress.com/" style="color: #990000;">True Classics</a>. In 2011 True Classics was honored with two CiMBA Awards from the Classic Movie Blog Assn., one for </i>Best Classic Movie Blog Event<i> and another for </i>Best Profile of a Filmmaker<i>. In addition, her blog was nominated for a 2011 Lammy  Award  from the </i><i>Large Assn. of Movie Blogs </i><i>in the </i>Best Classic Movie Blog<i> category. </i><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDL7FW4SJAv96wofn9fZki_a-k9M0afgN2c6ct1FWX-P-EhwXtBRouQgIZYVf0sEg-uXMQ2BiEIGnLhLLPf5CwTkvdDZCIQhdV9k_u0s5EYkv2fxeELwo8wMI4JO-at6S27pgV65NBnfg/s1600/True+Classics+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDL7FW4SJAv96wofn9fZki_a-k9M0afgN2c6ct1FWX-P-EhwXtBRouQgIZYVf0sEg-uXMQ2BiEIGnLhLLPf5CwTkvdDZCIQhdV9k_u0s5EYkv2fxeELwo8wMI4JO-at6S27pgV65NBnfg/s400/True+Classics+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div></div></div>

A Month of Vertigo Alfred Hitchcock Brandie Ashe Kim Novak Vertigo Kim Novak in VERTIGO: A Hypnotic Presence

by guest contributor Brandie AsheScratch the surface of the prototypical “Hitchcock blonde”—a cool, reserved exterior masking a fiery and determinedly passionate woman—and the subtle differences in their characterizations become more evident.  In her…

Read more »