Top 10 Biggest Volcanic Eruptions in History

The recent eruptions of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland were a stark reminder of nature’s ability to bring human activity to an abrupt standstill. The cloud of smoke that drifted over Western Europe made aviation travel untenable, returning European skies to a quietude not felt for decades..

Luxury Dining Rooms Ideas

A lingering hint of contemporary gothic pervades these luxury dining room ideas by Cattelan Italia. Black and white color schemes throughout simply demand attention… hints of sparkle add glitz and glamour

Top 10 Most Memorable Celebrity Weddings

The upcoming Chelsea Clinton nuptials have provoked endless speculation – from whether she’ll opt for an Oscar de la Renta or a Vera Wang dress, to whether the former First Daughter will be serving anything other than vegan food to her guests.

Pirelli Calendar 2011

During a press conference in Moscow this past Tuesday, Karl Lagerfeld presented his rendition of the famed Pirelli Calendar for 2011.

Vogue Paris Calendar 2011

Mikael Jansson shoots the stunning new Vogue Paris 2011 Calendar featuring Daria Werbowy. Styled by Anastasia Barbieri and Jewels by Louis Vuitton.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Canada: Beautiful Landscape Photography by Kevin McNeal

Kevin McNeal is a Washington St. photographer focusing on grand colorful landscapes that reflect the most unique places on earth. Capturing moments of magic light and transferring this on print, images behold a combination of perseverance, patience, and dedication to capture the images in ways unseen before. The stories of how these images are rendered come across in the feelings the images convey. Traveling all over North America with his wife by his side, shooting diverse landscapes and finding remote places to bring the message to the public that this Earth is worth saving.

The Rockies are beautiful at anytime of the year. The grand landscapes of mountain vistas and pristine opal lakes are beyond words. Their is limitless places that will make you believe this is one of the nicest places in the world. Images range from the more popular places like Moraine Lake,Lake Louise, Mount Rundle , and Athabasca Glacier to less known places along the Icefields Parkway.

Kevin McNeal Official Site: kevinmcneal.smugmug.com






















Sunday, August 26, 2012

Best Romantic Kisses In Walt Disney movies

In the classic tales the kiss usually is used to break an evil spell as he does sleep Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, but it was not always present. The Kiss appears for the first time in the Sleeping Beauty, the version written by Charles Perrault, in 1697. Romantic, funny or passionate in this gallery we present an overview of the most beautiful disney kisses of all time...
Enjoy!

1.Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

2. Sleeping Beauty (1959)


3.Tangled (2010)

4.The Princess and the Frog (2009)

5.Beauty and the Beast (1991)

6.The Little Mermaid (1989)

7.Cinderella (1950)

8.Anastasia (1997)

9.Aladdin (1992)

10.Hercules (1997)

11.Pocahontas (1995)




Almost a Scandal By Elizabeth Essex

Almost a Scandal

By Elizabeth Essex



Bold, brazen, and beautiful, the Reckless Brides refuse to play by society’s rules of courtship. But—come hell or high water—they  always get their man…

For generations, the Kents have served proudly with the British Royal Navy. So when her younger brother refuses to report for duty, Sally Kent slips into a uniform and takes his place—at least until he comes to his senses. Boldly climbing aboard the Audacious, Sally is as able-bodied as any sailor there. But one man is making her feel tantalizingly aware of the full-bodied woman beneath her navy blues…

Dedicated to his ship, sworn to his duty—and distractingly gorgeous—Lieutenant David Colyear sees through Sally’s charade, and he’s furious. But he must admit she’s the best midshipman on board—and a woman who tempts him like no other. With his own secrets to hide and his career at stake, Col agrees to keep her on. But can the passion they hide survive the perils of a battle at sea? Soon, their love and devotion will be put to the test…


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Gone With the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell




Set against the dramatic backdrop of the American Civil War, Margaret Mitchell's epic love story is an unforgettable tale of love and loss, of a nation mortally divided and its people forever changed. At the heart of all this chaos is the story of beautiful, ruthless Scarlett 'O' Hara and the dashing soldier of fortune, Rhett Butler.

Atlanta native Margaret Mitchell’s 1936 novel, Gone With the Wind, occupies an important place in American literature. After breaking publishing records with one million copies sold within six months, the novel was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, has been translated into over forty languages, and remains one of the best-selling novels of all time.

Even before the book’s publication, producer David O. Selznick had secured the film rights at Mitchell's asking price of $50,000, which was more than any studio had paid for the rights to an author’s first novel. The film debuted in Atlanta at Loew’s Grand Theatre in December 1939, breaking all box office records in the course of its first run. It featured such popular actors as Clark Gable (Rhett Butler), Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Wilkes), and Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes), and made a star of Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O'Hara).

Gone With the Wind remains one of Hollywood’s most popular and commercially successful films, and set new standards through its use of color, set design, and cinematography. The film was nominated for thirteen Oscars and was awarded ten, including Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress, which went to Hattie McDaniel (Mammy), the first African American to win an Academy Award.


With its detailed atmosphere of a vanished age, its compelling characters, its forceful narrative, its description of human survival, and its portrayal of the persistence of romantic dreams, Gone With the Wind continues to entertain and sometimes exasperate readers. As well as being a novel of epic proportions, it is valuable as an historical document, though one that should be carefully read. A depiction of life and conflict in the nineteenth-century South, the novel also documents twentieth-century emotions about the region’s past and memories of a way of life that many considered gone with the wind.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor


Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor


Abandoned pregnant and penniless on the teeming streets of London, 16-year-old Amber St. Clare manages, by using her wits, beauty, and courage, to climb to the highest position a woman could achieve in Restoration England—that of favorite mistress of the Merry Monarch, Charles II. From whores and highwaymen to courtiers and noblemen, from events such as the Great Plague and the Fire of London to the intimate passions of ordinary—and extraordinary—men and women, Amber experiences it all. But throughout her trials and escapades, she remains, in her heart, true to the one man she really loves, the one man she can never have. Frequently compared to Gone with the Wind, Forever Amber is the other great historical romance, outselling every other American novel of the 1940s—despite being banned in Boston for its sheer sexiness. A book to read and reread, this edition brings back to print an unforgettable romance and a timeless masterpiece.

Forever Amber is one of those books that you either love or hate it. Some hate it because the main protagonist is a total dimwit with zero scruples. Others feel it is a total rip of Gone With The Wind. And, hey, if I were a critical woman I'd agree wholeheartedly, but the fact of the matter is that I simply do not care as long as I am being entertained. Instead of rereading Gone With the Wind over and over, I'd so much rather read rip-offs and garner a new experience with new characters. And what better setting then that of Restoration England?

Kathleen Winsor:  en.wikipedia.org




Best Historical Romance Novels

Do you like reading romance novels that have a tinge of history in them? Well, if you do, then go through this list of the best romance novels of the history genre that you are sure to enjoy reading...

Even the most cynical readers amongst us have, at some point of time or the other, curled up with a romance novel just to give us something lighthearted to think about. A romance novel can sometime be a much-needed break after a heavy novel that forces you to think. A great genre of romance novel to read is the historical romance genre. Most novels that are based in a period before the Second World War are categorized in this genre. The first of these novels was written by author Georgette Heyer who wrote sometime during the early twentieth century basing her novels in the Regency period. The popularity of historical romance novels has only grown since then, until recently where there has been a slight fall. An author writing a historical romance is expected to create characters that are true to the period and with every background detail in line with the happenings of the period.

Popular Historical Romance Novels

The genre of historical romance novels can be further divided into twelve sub genres which include the categories of Americana, Civil War, Colonial United States, Elizabethan, Georgian, Medieval, Native American, Pirate, Regency, Tudor, Victorian, Viking, and Western. Since 2001 the number of historical romance books published every year has dropped with a wider preference for romance novels based in the contemporary period. In 2004, according to statistics, only 486 romance novels of this genre were published in America which accounted for about 20% of all romance novels published that year. Despite a perceived fall in popularity, there are still many readers who remain die-hard fans of the genre. The list given below is a subjective compilation of some of the best selling and most popular historical romances of all time.
  1. A Kingdom of Dreams    Judith McNaught
  2. A Summer To Remember    Mary Balogh
  3. All Through The Night    Connie Brockway
  4. Almost Heaven    Judith McNaught
  5. And Then He Kissed Her    Laura Lee Guhrke
  6. As You Desire    Connie Brockway
  7. Banner O'Brien    Linda Lael Miller
  8. Bet Me    Jennifer Crusie
  9. Bound By Your Touch    Meredith Duran
  10. Bride    Stella Cameron
  11. Cotillion    Georgette Heyer
  12. Devil In Winter    Lisa Kleypas
  13. Devil's Bride    Stephanie Laurens
  14. Devil's Cub    Georgette Heyer
  15. Dreaming of You    Lisa Kleypas
  16. Emma    Jane Austen
  17. Flowers From The Storm    Laura Kinsale
  18. Gone With The Wind    Margaret Mitchell
  19. Honor's Splendour    Julie Garwood
  20. It Had To Be You    Susan E. Phillips
  21. It Happened One Autumn    Lisa Kleypas
  22. Lady Sophia's Lover    Lisa Kleypas
  23. Lord of Scoundrels    Loretta Chase
  24. Lord Perfect    Loretta Chase
  25. Married by Morning    Lisa Kleypas
  26. Mr. Impossible    Loretta Chase
  27. Mr. Perfect    Linda Howard
  28. Not Quite a Husband    Sherry Thomas
  29. Once and Always    Judith McNaught
  30. Outlander    Diana Gabaldon
  31. Paradise    Judith McNaught
  32. Persuasion    Jane Austen
  33. Pride and Prejudice    Jane Austen
  34. Private Arrangements    Sherry Thomas
  35. Rainbow Season    Lisa Gregory
  36. Ransom    Julie Garwood
  37. Rebecca    Daphne du Maurier
  38. Romancing Mr. Bridgerton    Julia Quinn
  39. Saving Grace    Julie Garwood
  40. Scandal In Spring    Lisa Kleypas
  41. Seduce Me At Sunrise    Lisa Kleypas
  42. Something Wonderful    Judith McNaught
  43. Suddenly You    Lisa Kleypas
  44. Sunset Embrace    Sandra Brown
  45. Tender Rebel    Johanna Lindsey
  46. The Bride    Julie Garwood
  47. The Duke and I    Julia Quinn
  48. The Duke of Shadows    Meredith Duran
  49. The Flame and the Flower    Kathleen Woodiwiss
  50. The Grand Sophy    Georgette Heyer
  51. The Lady's Tutor    Robin Schone
  52. The Last Hellion    Loretta Chase
  53. The Leopard Prince    Elizabeth Hoyt
  54. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie    Jennifer Ashley
  55. The Magnificent Rogue    Iris Johansen
  56. The Proposition    Judith Ivory
  57. The Raven Prince    Elizabeth Hoyt
  58. The Secret    Julie Garwood
  59. The Secret Pearl    Mary Balogh
  60. The Seduction    Nicole Jordan
  61. The Serpent Prince    Elizabeth Hoyt
  62. The Shadow and The Star    Laura Kinsale
  63. The Spymaster's Lady    Joanna Bourne
  64. The Viscount Who Loved Me    Julia Quinn
  65. The Windflower    Laura London
  66. Then Came You    Lisa Kleypas
  67. Thunder and Roses    Mary Jo Putney
  68. To Have and To Hold    Patricia Gaffney
  69. Untie My Heart    Judith Ivory
  70. What Happens In London    Julia Quinn
  71. When He Was Wicked    Julia Quinn
  72. Where Dreams Begin    Lisa Kleypas
  73. Whitney My Love    Judith McNaught
  74. Wicked    Susan Johnson
  75. Worth Any Price    Lisa Kleypas
  76. The Perfect Mistress  Victoria Alexander
  77. Lord and Lady Spy  Shana Galen


Pick up the books given in this list of best selling romance novels of the historical genre and you are sure not to be disappointed.

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