Hi folks, Diarmuid here again!

Thanks for all your messages in response to me last diary entry. Interesting to see which teams you think will do well in the Euro 2008 football tournament.

Here in the office we are doing a sweepstake – that's a kind of lottery where we all pay **1 (14RMB) and randomly pick a team. If your team wins, then you get all the money.Unfortunately, my team, the Czech Republic, are not doing so well and look like going out. Oh well, better luck next time, eh?

Now then, what about today's topic?
Well, if you are superstitious, then today could be very spooky and scary for you.  

That's because here in the UK Friday, the 13th is said to be a very unlucky day when anything that can go wrong, will go wrong!

So today's first question is: Why is Friday, the 13th seen as unlucky in Britain?

Send in your answers and I'll give you feedback next week.

Global Superstitions

Since we're talking about this subject, I decided to ask around the BBC World Service to see what superstitions to do with luck exist in other countries. So let's find out more…

Wales – Catherine told me about a particularly unlucky colour:

Brazil – Val told me all about the Brazilian "figa'…what could it be?

    Val demonstrates the figa

Ukraine – Dima revealed why it's not just Friday, the 13th that's unlucky in the Ukraine

Orkney – Finn told me the scary tale of the strange seal-creatures that are said to visit these Scottish islands:

China? – What are your superstitions? Write and tell me some lucky/unlucky superstitions in your country. I'll look forward to reading about them.

That's all for today. Have a great weekend and I'll see you next week.
Diarmuid

Du  Fu(712~770)Thatched Cottage used to be the former hone of Du Fu, one of the greatest poets in the Tang Dynasty. Located in the western suburbs of Chengdu, the spot is marked by a stream, ancient style architecture, pavilion pagodas and age -old trees.

The cottage consists of six important parts, They are the Front Gate, the Lobby, the Hall of poem History, the Water Pavilion, the Gongbu Shrine and the Thatched Cottage.

At the time of the Tang Dynasty, Du Fu's poetry first came to be recognized. Readers of many different periods have considered Du Fu to be the greatest poet of the Chinese tradition. Such general agreement can partially be explained by the immense variety of his work, which holds up quite well to different tastes and historical changes in fashion. Like Shakespeare in English tradition, Du Fu's poetry came to be so deeply bound up with the constitution of literary value that generation after generation of poets and critics rediscovered themselves and their interests in some aspect of the poet'

Chinese critics from the Song Dynasty referred to Du Fu as the"poet-historian". Both before and after the An Lushan Revolt, Du Fu witnessed a typical political and social situation; the common people still lived in poverty while the emperor and his top officials enjoyed a foolishly luxurious life. He composed many poems such as "Song of the War Chariots", "Three Officials"£¬and "Three Departures"¡£His poems expressed his dissatisfaction with the government and his great pity for the common people. Du Fu used his poems to comment on current events and historical images. Du Fu became the historian by creating his responses to particular situations.

Du Fu was talented. When he was young, he wanted to get a good job in the government. Unfortunately Du Fu was refused several times. He was in his fifties when he began to serve as a minor official in Changan (Xi'an). Gongbu was his official title and probably he was in charge of the lical industry.

Du Fu was not a skilled survivor in government politics. He was dismissed in the form of a transfer to the post of personnel administrator in Huazhou and so left Changan. Du Fu soon gave up this minor post in disgust and set off with his family to Qinzhou in the Northwest. After a short stay he moved on again and in 759 he arrived in Chengdu. He set up a modest cottage with some money he borrowed from his friend who served as a local governor. In the cottage he had a simple and peaceful life for three years, writing about 240porms. Mostly inspired by the cottage, the stream nearby and the scenery in Chengdu. These poems give the impression that he was happier in Chengdu than any other time in his life. The poems of this period sound relaxed and happy. Here are some of them.

In Chengdu the flutes and the strings

You hear them so loud even in the daytime

The melody fades in the river wind

And half in the towering clouds above us

Oh it should never be played here

It belongs to the emperor's hraven

We thank you for what is not ours

But the emperor will be hearing it also

Two yellow orioles sing in the tenser green willow

A line of herons crosses the blue sky

When you open the west-facing window

The snow is framed in the summit of the mountain

And the ships that will sail east for Dong Wu

They lie at anchor in the sun-filled doorway

A good rain knows its season

It brings thins to life right in spring

It enters the night, unseen with the breeze

It moistens things gently and without sound

Du Fu left Chrngdu after 762 and wandered in the southern provinces and eventually died of illness in 770. After his death, the people if Chrngdu built a shrine on the site of his garden to honor him. Since then, it brcame the custom to visit on the seventh day of the lunar month(around the middle of February). An ancient couplet still hangs on the top of the front door. It reads:"½õ½­´º·ç¹«Õ¼È´£¬²ÝÌÃÈËÈÕÎÒ¹éÀ´¡£"It was written by a scholar of the Qing Dynasty, whose name was He Shaoji. The couplet means that Du Fu owned the Jingjiang river and the spring breeze; on the seventh day of the first lunar month did I come to visit his cottage. The original cottage no longer exists and the buildings within the cottage compound. South west of the city, have been repaired and added to thirteen times since the eighth century. The Gongbu Shrine is at the center of the six important sites in the cottage compound……It is a small hall in the eastern section of the grounds, dedicated to the memory of Du Fu. It contains a statue of du fu flanked by ghose of two other poets; Huang Tingjian(1045-1105)on the right and Lu You (1125-1210)on the left. Thesee two poets were both from the Song Dynasty and occupied an important place in the traditional Chinese literature history. Huang Ting jian, from Xiu Shui in which affected his official posts. Later when his opposition party was in power, he was dismissed from his major official post and banished to Yizhou. Huang was one of the followers of Su Shi. He sincerely studied Du Fu's poetry and intentionally car during theearly song Dynasty. Lu You, from Shaoxing in Zhejiang held a succession of mionor of ficial posts but was unable to affect any of the political reforms he advocated. Im 1172, he began to serve in the army on the Sichuan -Shaanxi border. It is known that sometime later he was dismissed from a post im jiangxi for distributing government grain to relieve famine. Lu You was a prolific poet and more than nine thousand poems have survived. Both Huang ting jian and Lu You are noted for their ardent patriotism. Here are some of their poems :

Looking all round, a fine sight of hills and waters I found:

Leaning on the Tower railing, I could enjoy what was sweet:

The fragrance of water chestnuts and lotus stretching far

The soft breeze and bright moon which were both

Free and made tower cool ;

(Huang tingjian, Tr, Guo Zhuzhang)

Erect hedge and implant fence to shield and sustain these new bamboo,

They are meticulously cultivated and their dark green color is reflected in ripples.

The blowing of the cool breeze tells the early coming of autumn,

And I am not aware of the blazing sun in the sky at such high noon.

I hear the rustling sound when the sheath is shedding from the sprouts.

And see the dense fluttering shadows of these newly grown young bamboos.

Once I retire from my position, here will be the place to which I often come,

And carry with me along a pillow and a mat that are made of bamboo.

(Lu You, Tr. Cui Wenkai)

In the traditional Chinese literature history, there were thousands of poets, Why were these two poets selected to accompany Du Fu ?there are three reasons:Firstly, they made greart achievements in studying Du Fu's poetry. Secondly, they used to live in Sichuan, and enjoyed their stay, thirdly, Du FU's statue might have been lonely in the gongbu Shrine without any accompaniment. so when people placed the statues together, they ghought that the three poets might have time to talk about their poetry. the Shrine of the Three Sages is named from the above -mentioned story.

Inside the shrine are two valuable stone tablets from the Qing Dynasty, on which the whole picture of the thatched Cottage has been engraved. the tablets showus the design and development of the cottage dated bace to the Qing Dynasty. Also an other two stone tablets are in the shrine, which tell the story about the refurbishment of the cottage and the reason why Huang tingjian and Lu You's statues stay with Du Fu's.

On left side of the Gongbu Shrine is a huge tablet placed in a straw -roofed pavilion. Prince Guo of the Qing Dynasty wrote the calligraphy on the tablet when he visited the cottage. A screen wall at the entrance to the Flowery Path is decorated with the characters Caotang(Thatched Cottage ) at old blue and white ceramic fragment.

At present, du Fu's cottage is a museum. It has a rich collection of over 30000bound volumes, and 2000cultural relics, the bound volumes include thea ncient cut blocks photo-offset, hand -written, and modern stereotyped copies, the translation editions are in 15 languages. As you walk around the cottage, you will experience the traditional Chinese culture and literature characterized by Du Fu's poems.

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Love gives you a healthy heart

Lovers have more reason than ever to celebrate this Valentine's Day, as a new scientific theory has suggested a healthy and loving relationship is good for the heart. 

Research suggests that being involved in any type of healthy and close relationship may have a lot of positive health benefits, Julie Damp, a cardiologist at the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute in the United States, said in a press release on Tuesday.

"There are a couple of different theories behind why that might be," she said.

Most of the theories seem to be related to the fact that people who are married or in close, healthy relationships tend to be less likely to smoke, are more physically active and more likely to have a well-developed social structure.

In addition, they are likely to have lower levels of stress and anxiety in their lives.

"There is a theory that people who are in loving relationships may experience neuro-hormonal changes that have positive effects on the body, including the cardiovascular system," Damp said, explaining there are certain hormone levels in the body that vary depending on individuals' levels of stress and anxiety.

Chocolates and red wine are popular gifts for lovers, and studies have suggested they are also good for the heart.

Dark chocolate contains flavonoids, which are antioxidants. Antioxidants have proven positive effects on many different body systems including the cardiovascular system.

Flavonoids can also be found in red wine. Multiple observational studies have shown that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with lower rates of cardiovascular events.

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France overtook Ireland as the fertility champion of Europe in 2007

HE should be clean-shaven, good-looking and drive a silver Mercedes. And, most important of all, he should be more than 178cm. [wow gold]

Height is apparently more important than looks to women looking for Mr Right, a survey claims.

With blue eyes, short dark-brown hair and medium build, the ideal candidate would appear to be film star Jake Gyllenhaal.

Looks aside, the perfect partner must also love pets and appreciate fine wine, theatres and nice restaurants. Coupled with this he should have a "wacky" sense of humour, according to the study of 40,000 women by UKdating.com. [wow gold]

Mr Right wears smart jeans and a T-shirt, weighs exactly 80.5kg and is a doctor or lawyer who owns a home in a good location.

He has had three serious relationships, no more than six sexual partners, has never been married and doesn't have children.

Also important is a university education: many women specify a man with a BA degree.

Smokers and football fans were given the thumbs-down.

Only 1 per cent of women questioned would date a chap who hates pets.

The majority -- 66 per cent -- want to find a partner who is fit. Even more -- 68 per cent -- are looking for a wacky sense of humour. [wow gold kaufen]

David Brown, managing director of UKdating.com, said: "The female daters on our website certainly know what they want and they are not afraid to let the men know.

"They are looking for a man in a similar way to looking for a mortgage -- by going to websites, saying what they want and comparing what is out there."

Fortunately for imperfect men, however, not all women go for the Gyllenhaal ideal.

"Cuddly lovers" were favoured by 21 per cent, while 16 per cent would like to find a balding gent like Bruce Willis.

Another 11 per cent said their Mr Right would be ginger, while 18 per cent said they would prefer a man with grey hair. And 28 per cent claimed they do not care how much a man earns.

Facial hair proved surprisingly popular: 28 per cent of those surveyed admitted they liked a goatee and 21 per cent said they would like to meet a man with a moustache. Only 2 per cent of women, however, said they wouldn't mind dating someone who was less than 152cm tall.