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Saturday 29 August 2015

Marilyn Monroe knows about Insurance


Synopsis

Early Life
Marilyn Monroe was born as Norma Jeane Mortensen (later baptized as Norma Jeane Baker) on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles, California. During her all-too-brief life, Marilyn Monroe overcame a difficult childhood to become one of the world's biggest and most enduring sex symbols. She never knew her father, and once thought Clark Gable to be her father—a story repeated often enough for a version of it to gain some currency. However, there's no evidence that Gable ever met or knew Monroe's mother, Gladys, who developed psychiatric problems and was eventually placed in a mental institution. As an adult, Monroe would maintain that one of her earliest memories was of her mother trying to smother her in her crib with a pillow. Monroe had a half-sister, to whom she was not close; they met only a half-dozen times.


Growing up, Monroe spent much of her time in foster care and in an orphanage. In 1937, a family friend and her husband, Grace and Doc Goddard, took care of Monroe for a few years. The Goddards were paid $25 weekly by Monroe's mother to raise her. The couple was deeply religious and followed fundamentalist doctrines; among other prohibited activities, Monroe was not allowed to go to the movies. But when Doc's job was transferred in 1942 to the East Coast, the couple could not afford to bring Monroe with them.
At 7 years old, Monroe returned to a life in foster homes, where she was on several occasions sexually assaulted; she later said that she had been raped when she was 11 years old. But she had one way out—get married. She wed her boyfriend Jimmy Dougherty on June 19, 1942, at the age of 16. By that time, Monroe had dropped out of high school (age 15). A merchant marine, Dougherty was later sent to the South Pacific. Monroe went to work in a munitions factory in Burbank, California, where she was discovered by a photographer. By the time Dougherty returned in 1946, Monroe had a successful career as a model, and had changed her name to Marilyn Monroe in preparation for an acting career. She dreamt of becoming an actress like Jean Harlow and Lana Turner.


Insurance is Like a Parachute link


Famed Career

Monroe's marriage to Dougherty fizzled out as she focused more on her career. The couple divorced in 1946—the same year that Monroe signed her first movie contract. With the movie contract came a new name and image; she began calling herself "Marilyn Monroe" and dyed her hair blonde. But her acting career didn't really take off until the 1950s. Her small part in John Huston's crime drama The Asphalt Jungle (1950) garnered her a lot of attention. That same year, she impressed audiences and critics alike with her performance as Claudia Caswell in All About Eve, starring Bette Davis. She would soon become one of Hollywood's most , about Monroe's relationship with Sir Laurence Olivier in 1957's The Prince and the Showgirl.
She would soon become one of Hollywood's most famous actresses; though she wasn't initially considered to be star acting material, she later proved her skill by winning various honors and attracting large audiences to her films.
In 1953, Monroe made a star-making turn in Niagara, starring as a young married woman out to kill her husband with help from her lover. The emerging sex symbol was paired with another bombshell, Jane Russell, for the musical comedy Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). The film was a hit and Monroe continued to find success in a string of light comedic fare, such as How to Marry a Millionaire with Betty Grable and Lauren Bacall, There's No Business like Show Business (1954) with Ethel Merman and Donald O'Connor, andThe Seven Year Itch (1955).

 Diamonds are a girls best friend - link

"Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered."
With her breathy voice and hourglass figure, Monroe became a much-admired international star, despite her chronic insecurities regarding her acting abilities. Monroe suffered from pre-performance anxiety that sometimes made her physically ill and was often the root cause of her legendary tardiness on films sets, which was so extreme that it often infuriated her co-stars and crew. "She would be the greatest if she ran like a watch," director Billy Wilder once said of her. "I have an aunt Minnie who's very punctual, but who would pay to see Aunt Minnie?" Throughout her career, Monroe was signed and released from several contracts with film studios.
Tired of bubbly, dumb blonde roles, Monroe moved to New York City to study acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors' Studio. She returned to the screen in the dramatic comedy Bus Stop (1956), playing a saloon singer kidnapped by a rancher who has fallen in love with her. She received mostly praise for her performance.
In 1959, Monroe returned to familiar territory with the wildly popular comedySome Like It Hot, with Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis. She played Sugar Kane Kowalczyk, a singer who hopes to marry a millionaire in this humorous film, in which Lemmon and Curtis pretend to be women. They are on the run from the mob after witnessing the St. Valentine's Day Massacre and hide out with an all-girl orchestra featuring Monroe. Her work on the film earned her the honor of "Best Actress in a Comedy" in 1959, at Golden Globe Awards.
Reunited with John Huston, Monroe starred opposite Clark Gable and Montgomery Clift in The Misfits (1961). Set in Nevada, this adventure drama features Monroe, who falls for Gable's cowboy but battles him over the fate of some wild mustangs. This was her last completed film.
In 1962, Monroe was dismissed from Something's Got to Give—also starring Dean Martin—for missing so many days of filming. According to an article in The New York Times, the actress claimed that the absences were due to illness. Martin declined to make the film without her, so the studio shelved the picture.
At the time, Monroe's professional and personal life seemed to be in turmoil. Her last two films, Let's Make Love (1960) and The Misfits (1961) were box office disappointments.
"A career is wonderful, but you can't curl up with it on a cold night."
In her personal life, she had a string of unsuccessful marriages and relationships. Her 1954 marriage to baseball great Joe DiMaggio only lasted nine months (she wed playwright Arthur Miller from 1956 to 1961).
On May 19, 1962, Monroe made her now-famous performance at John F. Kennedy's birthday celebration, singing "Happy Birthday, Mr. President."

Death and Legacy

On August 5, 1962, at only 36 years old, Marilyn Monroe died at her Los Angeles home. An empty bottle of sleeping pills was found by her bed. There has been some speculation over the years that she may have been murdered, but the cause of her death was officially ruled as a drug overdose. There have been rumors that Monroe was involved with President John F. Kennedy and/or his brother Robert around the time of her death.
Monroe was buried in her favorite Emilio Pucci dress, in what was known as a "Cadillac casket"—the most high-end casket available, made of heavy-gauge solid bronze and lined with champagne-colored silk. Lee Strasberg delivered a eulogy before a small group of friends and family. Hugh Hefner bought the crypt directly next to Monroe's, and Monroe's ex-husband, Joe DiMaggio, famously had red roses delivered to her crypt for the next 20 years.
“She was the victim of ballyhoo and sensation — exploited beyond anyone’s means.” — Sir Laurence Olivier
Monroe did not own a house until the last year of her life, and had surprisingly few possessions. One that she prized was an autographed photo of Albert Einstein, which included an inscription: "To Marilyn, with respect and love and thanks."
During her career, Marilyn Monroe's films grossed more than $200 million. Today, she is still considered the world's most popular icon of sex appeal and beauty, and is remembered for her idiosyncratic sense of humor and sly wit; once asked by a reporter what she wore to bed, she replied, "Chanel Number 5." On another occasion, she was asked what she thought of Hollywood. "If I close my eyes and think of Hollywood, all I see is one big varicose vein," she replied. Monroe is also remembered for her romantic relationships with Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Yves Montand and director Elia Kazan, in addition to her three marriages.
Monroe has been imitated over the years by a number of celebrities, including Madonna, Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani. Actress Michelle Williams portrayed Monroe ina 2011 film, My Week with Marilyn, about Monroe's relationship with Sir Laurence Olivier in 1957's The Prince and the Showgirl.
In 2011, several rarely seen photos of Marilyn Monroe were published in a book of photographs by famed photographer Sam Shaw. August 5, 2012 marked the 50th anniversary of Monroe's death. Now more than a half century later, the world is still fascinated by her beauty and talent. 


Saturday 15 August 2015

Perth goes gold in top 10 worlds best cities what the!

PERTH has risen to number eight as one of the world’s best places to live in the latest Global Liveability Ranking release.
The city which was once referred to as “dullsville” received a 95.9 per cent overall positive rating.
Australia and Canada dominated the top 10 most liveable cities in the world, according to a new index revealed on Tuesday.
It was one of four Australian cities to rank in the top 10, including Melbourne which ranked number one for the fifth consecutive year.
Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said Perth deserved to move up the rankings and was the “perfect place” to live, work, raise a family or have a holiday.
“The changes we have brought upon the central city area, including economic development and activation, have delivered a greater sophistication to our city’s urban fabric,” she said.
“As our Vision 2029 has unfolded, people have started appreciating the new streetscapes, venues, retail attractions, and other offerings, which has resulted in a positive change in attitude.
“Perth is a proud multicultural and global city, with more than one-third of our residents born overseas, compared to the national average of 25 percent.
“All these factors contribute strongly to making Perth very appealing.”
Adelaide ranked fifth, tied with Calgary in Canada, Sydney seventh and Brisbane snuck into the top 20 at number 18.
Elsewhere in the world civil unrest, acts of terror and civil wars have prompted widespread falls in livability scores.
About 20 per cent of cities surveyed experienced declines in livability outcomes in the last 12 months.
And after last year’s Sydney siege put Australia on a high terror alert, Jon Copestake editor of the survey, said future scores for Australia could be affected.
“Melbourne remains top for the fifth year running, but elsewhere in the ranking the situation is more depressing,’’ Mr Copestake said.
“As well as conflicts in Ukraine, Libya and Syria, the last 12 months have seen protests in the US, sanctions in Russia and shootings in France and Tunisia. The hostage siege in Sydney late last year has put Australia on a high terror alert which could affect future scores.”
The rankings, which provides scores for lifestyle challenges in 140 cities worldwide, showed since 2010 average livability across the world has fallen by 1 per cent, led by a 2.2 per cent fall in the score for stability and safety.
The results also showed 57 of the cities surveyed have seen declines in livability over the last five years.
WORLD’S TOP 10:
1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Vienna, Austria
3. Vancouver, Canada
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Adelaide, Australia
6. Calgary, Canada
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Perth, Australia
9. Auckland, New Zealand
10. Helsinki, Finland
AND THE WORST:
136. Tripoli, Libya
137. Lagos, Nigeria
138. Port Moresby, PNG
139. Dhaka, Bangladesh
140. Damascus, Syria
Article extracted from Perth Now 2015.08.18


have you seen Kings Park, Perth WA
 
Kings Park WA CITY VIEW is AMAZING all pics n video in media page http://goo.gl/dGnSrk

Wednesday 12 August 2015

Stressed out? Here’s how to be the egg, not the potato

Stress and challenges are part and parcel of the life.

While we can’t control the challenges themselves, we can control our response to them.
Article Extracted from Flyingsolo 2015.08.11

short url this article http://goo.gl/reaQNF



 
Five years ago I had a complete breakdown. Several years of relentless stress from running my business had triggered extreme anxiety, which in turn triggered depression. The end result? I found myself in a very bad place.
It took a really long time to emerge from that bad place and by the time I did, I knew the equation was:
Stress = Anxiety = Depression
I never wanted to return there so I avoided stress like it was the plague.
My husband, who had taken over running the business, also knew the equation. So he began to protect me. Narky emails from unhappy clients? Worries about whether there was enough income coming into the business? Staff issues? For the past few years he’s kept them all to himself.
And I’ve been supremely grateful.
But recently, the Universe, as it’s wont to do, has been sending me a message. At least, that’s my interpretation of the fact that I’ve come across this quote in three places in two weeks:
“The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s about what you’re made of, not the circumstances.”
Now, yes, like all quotes it’s a bit pithy and you can take it a few ways. But for me, I feel this quote is sending me the message that it’s time to put my big-girl-pants on. Time to stop running from challenging situations. Time to start sharing the stress load with my husband again.
I’m far more resilient now than I was five years ago and that’s not just because I’m in a better place mentally, it because I now know these five things:

1. Only the controllables can be controlled

In the early years of my business I’d gotten in the habit of thinking if I was really organised and able to anticipate what people needed before they even needed it, then I could effectively control stressful situations out of my life. Ha! All this line of thinking did was ensure when a stressful situation arose, I’d get angry at myself for not having anticipated that thing could happen.
Yes. I know! Even I can see that’s ridiculous now I’ve written it down!
Now I know that no matter how organised we are, shit can, and will happen. But the good thing about life is …

2. We can always deal with the ‘now’

A few years ago someone told me I had to read Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now because it would be life changing. And they were right. Whenever I find myself leaning towards the fetal position these days, I return to a single line from that book: “You can always cope with the now.”
Tolle is right. My (and your!) strike rate for dealing with the ‘now’ is 100%. We don’t have to like dealing with the ‘now’. We just need to know that we can and will.

3. Stress isn’t necessarily ‘bad’

A few years ago I saw this TED Talk from Kelly McGonigal where she showed how stress is actually only as bad for us as we think it is. This was a big revelation for me because, (the stress = anxiety = depression equation aside), I’d always believed stress was physiologically bad too and it justified my avoidance of it. But McGonigal urges us to look at stress differently; to instead interpret the physiological reaction as an indication that our body is energised and ready to meet the new challenge head on.

4. Running a business is a privilege

Comparisons can be odious, but sometimes they can also be a nice reality check. I’m privileged to live in a country where a woman has the freedom and tools to start her own business. I’m also privileged to:
  • Live in a country where the barriers to starting and running your own business are negligible;
  • Have a business that is nearly nine years old given how many businesses fail in their first year;
  • Have a business that’s surmounted many challenges and has been able to evolve in a world that is becoming increasingly digital.
But mostly I’m privileged because, despite the stress, my business ticks some really key lifestyle boxes for me and my family.

5. Surmounting challenges equals growth

Every challenge I’ve faced down since first starting my business nine years ago has led to learning and growth that I’ve been able to put to good use. These days I make better decisions. I’ve learned to spot the difference between an ‘opportunity’ and a giant time suck. I’ve become a better problem solver and communicator. In short, all those challenges have made me a better person!

So back to the potato and the egg.

It’s clear to see that I’m much better equipped to deal with the challenges of both business and life these days. And it’s clear to see that, in recent times, I’ve been taking the potato option more out of habit than necessity when presented with a ‘boiling water’ scenario.
So it’s time for that to change. It’s time to put that hard-earned, newly acquired mental-strength to the test.
From this point forward, if I find myself in a bit of hot water, I’m going to choose to be the egg.
How do you respond to stressful situations currently? Are you in a position to choose to take the challenge head on rather than curling up in the fetal position?


Article Extracted from Flyingsolo 2015.08.11


What they had to say 
Phill Smith Chairman Director  Linkedin

Founding Director of Central Insurance Brokers Perth West Australia
  
Excellent article
The journey quoted in the article is very real, I know of many business associates that have experienced similar turmoil, including myself; GFC, Culture differences ethnic and age in the workforce, market changes domestic and abroad...  but "that's life" you have to address "fight or flight" issues and get on board or sit on the bench.

Quotes for today:-
I "Solo work" If you want to go fast; go alone, if you want to go far; go with others
We "Team"work is about "Together Everyone Achieves More"
U "Leadership values" L.I.F.E. Leadership, Integrity, Flexibility, Efficiency and without Flexibility it's a L.I.E.






































Wednesday 5 August 2015

Working with Idiots can KILL YOU

 
If you haven't received it yourself yet, don't be surprised if an email lands in your inbox purporting to warn you that working with idiots can cause fatal stress-related problems.
Stress is one of the top causes of heart attacks - and working with stupid people on a daily basis is one of the deadliest forms of stress, according to researchers at Sweden's Lindbergh University Medical Center.
The author of the study, Dr. Dagmar Andersson, says her team studied 500 heart attack patients, and were puzzled to find 62 percent had relatively few of the physical risk factors commonly blamed for heart attacks.
"Then we questioned them about lifestyle habits, and almost all of these low-risk patients told us they worked with people so stupid they can barely find their way from the parking lot to their office. And their heart attack came less than 12 hours after having a major confrontation with one of these oafs.
But don't go rushing to the nearest cardiologist. Because according to Snopes.com, the email is a fake. The article actually originated in the American tabloid newspaper the Weekly World News, which is notorious for outrageous, and largely false, stories - try Honeymoon Couple Attacked by Goldfish, for starters.
Nevertheless, the e-mail has taken on a life of its own and continues to circulate to inboxes around the world.
So why do so many of us feel the need to share this with our friends? Does it imply that there are thousands of us out there who honestly feel we work with galactically stupid people - or is this just a way to try to get a laugh during a work day?
I think the former - because, like all the best hoaxes, there's more than a grain of truth about it.
You can cut back on smoking or improve your diet," Dr. Andersson says, "but most people have very poor coping skills when it comes to stupidity - they feel there's nothing they can do about it, so they just internalize their frustration until they finally explode."
Snopes.com has no opinion on way or the other on that.
here's the so called article