Girl With a Purpose (GWAP)

Congrats Gifton Wright - New 2012 Gleaner Spelling Bee Champion!

A big Girl With a Purpose (GWAP) Blog congratulations go out to Gifton Wright, of Kingston College, who won this year's Gleaner Spelling Bee Championship.

 

[The Gleaner Spelling Bee Championship is an annual event put on by the Jamaica Gleaner, where top spellers across Jamaica, compete for prizes and the right to be called Spelling Bee Champion for the applicable year.

 

The two-stage competition begins in August, with the Parish Championships - where top spellers in each of the 14 Jamaican parishes compete for prizes and the title of parish Spelling Bee Champion.

 

The second stage (which occurred on February 2 this year), sees the 14 Parish finalists compete for the title of Gleaner Spelling Bee Champion.

 

Spellers have to spell long and very intricate words from the Oxford Dictionary...the dictionary used in Jamaican schools.

 

The competition's main sponsor is the Jamaica Gleaner's Children's Own Newspaper - the only newspaper available on island, for children at the Primary Level of our educational system].

 

As with all Jamaican Spelling Bee Champions, Gifton will represent Jamaica at the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition to be held in Washington DC, between May 27 and June 1 of this year.

 

Gifton's face showed relief (he had placed 4th last year), when he won and it was heartening to see the look of satisfaction, pride and victory on the Rev. Glen Archer's face when he realized that one of his students had won. 

 

[Rev. Archer, who also coached runner-up Davian Stewart, has consistently coached several Spelling Bee Champions over the past 20 years].

 

Gifton, as with most students in the competition, has the right approach to life:

 

He stated in Gleaner article, "Gifton's The Champ!", that, "You have to make sacrifices to get big things" and that "after winning the Kingston Parish Championship, he told himself he was going to win..trained hard and ended up champion" (paraphrased).

 

Our congratulations also go out to the other finalists:

• Davian Stewart, St Catherine (2nd place - placed 6th last year)


• Jaden Henry, Clarendon (3rd place)


• Jonathan Liu, Westmoreland (4th place)


• Tianne Barclay, St Andrew (5th place)


• Rushawn Stewart, Portland (6th place)


• Lois Robinson, St Elizabeth  (7th place)

 

(I'd like to thank the Jamaica Gleaner for the use of their YouTube video above - showing Gifton's win).

 

Gillian

 

Sources Include

Article, "Gifton's The Champ!",Tennesia Malcolm, Staff Reporter - Jamaica Gleaner, February 2, 2012

New Social Network Allows You to Make Friends, via the Phone!

 

Want to make new friends from different parts of the world, and connect with old friends you haven't seen in awhile?

 

Well, there a new social network that allows you to do just that!

 

TalkOClock allows you to communicate with people from all over the world, seek friends and keep in touch with old friends and classmates via telephone, for free!

 

Yes, the cost to use their service is free! (There is however, a cost to receive an incoming call, according to your local phone plan).

 

The telephone gives you, the Talk O'Clock user, the added dimension of emotion to your conversation, so that you can hear the connecting party's emotion, versus having to imagine it.

 

(TalkOClock also works with Facebook).

 

So you can hear the elation in an old friend's voice after having linked him/her after many years of separation, or get the chance to strike up a conversation with someone in whose language you've been dying to learn or perfect!

 

Using TalkOClock is easy:

 

How it works is that everyone is connected through the TalkOClock platform.

 

So each person in the 125 counties connected to the TalkOClock platform is given a TalkOClock number, thus preventing your real telephone number from being seen by the person you're connecting with. 

 

All services on the TalkOClock platform ensure your complete privacy this way...

 

...and if someone you wish to connect with is rude, just report them to Talk O'Clock Customer Service and they'll take steps to kick the person off the service.

 

One of the services that I find to be really useful is called International Greetings.

 

All you have to do to use this service is to login to your TalkOClock account and inform other  users of the service  that you have something to celebrate (e.g. a birthday)  and then specify the ideal time for the conversation. 

 

When the moment comes, greetings will come in from the persons you specify. 

 

So you'll get to hear Happy Birthday greetings in any number of languages you want, from as many people as you want... your choice is limitless!

 

According to TalkOClock, Inc. founder and General Director, Alex Kistenev:

 

“The main advantage of the service is that users are able to communicate with people from all over the world, to find new interesting people and to continue dialogue. A live relationship is filled with emotions which cannot be transferred via typed words.”

 

Apart from International Greetings, TalkOClock  offers other "social services":

 

They have reminders and an alarm clock wherein which you can request that other users call and remind you about anything...the bravest ones can even give you a wake-up-call with an energizing talk alarm!

 

So why not try TalkOClock today?

 

I'm sure you'll enjoy reconnecting with friends and also connecting with people from different countries...who speak your language and others.

 

Who knows? Maybe you'll get to develop some life long friendships and learn a second language in the process!

 

(TalkOClock was created in the mid-July 2011).

 

Gillian

Junior Schools' Challenge Quiz 2011: Knox Junior School Knocks Servite Primary

Metal Cup Trophies
Originally uploaded by dan bencsik

This evening's Junior Schools' Challenge Quiz was quite a treat!

 

In a titillating match, we saw Knox Junior School serve  up some "hard knocks" to Servite Primary, by beating them 45 to 31 points.

 

(Junior Schools' Challenge Quiz is a Television Jamaica (TVJ) production and features tens of schools at the Primary Level of our educational system who compete against each other in six (6) rounds of competition: Rounds 1-3 , a Quarter-Final, a Semi-Final and a Final.

 

They answer questions in the following subject areas: Bible Knowledge, Math, Music, Science, English Language and Social Studies.

 

...With each match having:

 

1) Four (4) face-offs; each between two students of the competing schools in the above subject areas

 

2) A final buzzer segment, where both teams answer questions within a 3-minute time slot).

 

A big GWAP Blog Congratulations go out to Knox Junior School, who now move on to round 3 of the competition.

 

And to Servite Primary,we say, "Well tried!" .

 

You can watch Junior Schools' Challenge Quiz matches on Television Jamaica's website.

 

Gillian

 

Sources Include

Television Jamaica, November 15,2011

 

 

Kim Kardashian's Quick Divorce - A Hollywood Love Lesson

Ahh... the thrill of being a celebrity (celeb) or believing your own publicity so much, that you actually think that you're one:

 

Kim Kardashian came to fame as a result of the success of her reality TV show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians", featuring the goings-on of her family.

 

Subsequently, she became a business woman (she owns clothing boutique - DASH), TV personality and has done some modelling stints.

 

But this young woman and her sisters have perfected the art of their extending their fifteen (15) minutes of fame from minutes to years...

 

...and just how do they do this?

 

By making the news by attaching themselves to real celebrities.

 

(Well if you can't carry the news by your lonesome, you've got to make it with someone who's newsworthy,no? :)).

 

...which is exactly what Kim has done and did!

 

She married footballer-Kris Humphries in August 2011, whom she divorced seventy-two (72) days after...when her TV deal came through.

 

Yep, we now hear that there will be a sequel to her wedding special - a series- where both she and her newly-divorced hubby will go for counselling sessions.

 

This is after both she and her family netted about $19 million from the marriage and didn't have to spend one cent!

 

This according to New Zealand Herald article, "Kim Kardashian wedding a hoax", where it is claimed that "the whole wedding apparently netted the Kardashian family US$18 million (NZ$23m) including US$15 million (NZ$19m) for the TV rights of the four-hour wedding special, US$1 million (NZ$1.25m) from People magazine for the exclusive wedding pictures and numerous other magazine deals.

 

Kardashian also received US$500,000 (NZ$627,000) to host her bachelorette party at a Las Vegas nightclub".

 

What the media would have us believe is that Kris Humphries didn't even know what hit him 'til he heard of the news of his own divorce, via the media.

 

Okay...

 

...Well, let's say that this were true, then if he'd only taken the time to examine Kim's romantic encounters, he would have realized that this reality star isn't really into marriage for the long term.

 

Her first marriage to Damon Thomas in 2004, apparently ended in disaster and her subsequent high-profile engagements to celebrity boyfriends have often led to mutual breakups after only months of romping around.

 

So there's a pattern here, she doesn't seem to be romantically-committed for long.

 

But what's interesting is the hypocrisy of the media in reporting this divorce...with some of them actually expressing shock that this has happened.

 

Well isn't this what makes the tabloid news...the endless marriages and divorces of celebrities?

 

The reality is that most celebrities are so consumed with themselves and their image - there's only space in their lives for one person - themselves...

 

...and the viewing, reading and listening public feeds this dysfunctional behaviour by buying, listening to and viewing every tabloid newspaper and TV show about their goings-on..

 

After all, good gossip and suss, make great news, which in turn makes billions for tabloids and celebrity TV news shows.

 

So, what's the Hollywood love lesson in all this?:

 

Lesson #1

If you're a celebrity who's serious about marriage...you've got to marry someone with a rational head screwed on to his/her body.

 

To find that person in Hollywood, seems as improbable as finding a needle in a haystack, so you've got a lot of sifting to do.

 

Lesson #2

Beware of hangers-ons.

 

Most celebs are wary of marriage, as quite a few people who marry them, do so for one reason - to share the spotlight and to use the celeb as a launching-pad for their own celeb careers.

 

So most accomplished celebrities often date other accomplished celebs or highly-accomplished persons in other fields and if they feel compelled, eventually marry.

 

Lesson #3

 

For celebs to have healthy marriages, they've got to stay far away from the Hollywood scene or realize that the "scene" serves its own purpose -a huge PR machine.

 

 - Martin Sheen (married for 50 years) and Paul Newman (whose second marriage lasted 50 years) are noted examples, whose marriages  lasted decades and who  owe the success of their marriages to staying on the fringe of the Hollywood scene.

 

Live in a different country if you must, do keep your contacts and networks, but understand that Hollywood serves its purpose...don't get so caught up in Hollywood, that you believe it's real!

 

Lesson #4

If your intended partner is a media hog before marriage, then he/she'll be a media hog after marriage.

 

Hogs of any kind are to be avoided. :)

=================

 

So there you have it...our  four (4) Hollywood love lessons from Kim Kardashian's quick divorce...

 

Didn't think you could learn from Kim Kardashian, did you? :)

 

Gillian

 

Sources Include

1) Article, "Kim Kardashian wedding a hoax", New Zealand Herals, November 2,2011

 

2) TV Show, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" via EOnline, accessed November 1,2011

 

3) Wikipedia article, "Kim Kardashian", accessed November 1,2011

 

4) Wikipedia article, "Martin Sheen", accessed November 1,2011

 

5)  Wikipedia article, "Paul Newman", accessed November 1,2011

 

6) Article, "Not All Hollywood Marriages Go Bad: Success Stories in the Land of Splitsville", by Pat Gallagher, via PopEater,  March 6,2011

Jamaica Celebrates Emancipendence This Week!

This week, Jamaica celebrates Emancipation and Independence, also known as Emancipendence!

 

Yesterday, August 1, was the 173rd celebration of the emancipation (freeing) of Jamaicans slaves from British slave masters.

 

(The first Emancipation Day was celebrated on August 1, 1838).

 

 

This week Saturday, August 6, will be celebrated as Jamaica's Independence Day - the day when we got our Independence from being a British Colony...

 

...When we were finally allowed to govern ourselves.

 

Jamaica will be 49 years old on Saturday.

 

Emancipation and Independence were memorable achievements by our forefathers, that should be rightly celebrated...

 

...And indeed we do!!

 

For our Independence celebrations, the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) stages several events that ensure the retention of our culture:

 

E.g. there is:

1) The Festival Song Competition, where ten (10) finalists (pulled from the entire 14 parishes), sing popular songs composed especially for Festival. They vie for $1 million dollars in prize money. 

 

2) The Gospel Song Competition, where 10 finalists also vie for $1 million in prizes - but in the Gospel genre (category) of music

 

3) A Festival Queens Contest where young ladies from the 14 parishes vie for the title of Festival Queen. The Festival Queen is not so much judged by her beauty, but on her poise and cultural awareness

 

4) Mello-Go- Roun' - where children, teens and adults who came first in the JCDC National Festival of the Arts Competition, perform their winning entries in song, poetry, drama,speech and dance, throughout this week, at the National Arena.

 

And , who could forget Denbigh -the annual agricultural show put on by the Ministry of Agriculture, over the Emancipation weekend?

 - Where the best of Jamaican farm products and animals are on display.

 

Every year, thousands of Jamaicans living in the diaspora (abroad), return home for Emancipendence celebrations in their own communities.

 

And I can tell you from what I'm hearing, they are having a grand time!

 

So come, join us this Emancipendence as we celebrate the rich heritage of our people...

 

...One nation, out of many nations, moving together as one!

 

Gillian