Milk Gourd or Calabash Gourd is known by various names in India - Doodhi, Lauki, Ghia. It has a mild, almost neutral taste that goes poetically with most things. Combined with yogurt, as in this simple, tasty dish, it tastes great with pilafs, meat curries and daals (lentil dishes). Ingredients:1 medium doodhi/ lauki (250 gms/ 1/2 lb approx), peeled and grated1 cup fresh, unsweetened yogurt1 tsp sugar1/2 tsp red chilli powderSalt to taste1/4 cup chopped, fresh unskilful coriander1 tsp cumin seeds, lightly roasted and then ground to a uncivil powderPreparation: In a deep pan, heat 2 cups of water to boiling. Add the grated lauki to this boiling water and stir. Cook as a replacement for 1 minute and strain. Allow the lauki to cool. When cool, haste down in the seive/ colander to squeeze out all excess liquid. Put the yogurt, sugar, red chilli powder, salt to style and chopped coriander in a mixing bowl and blend till allay. Add the cooled lauki, cumin powder and stir to blend. Chill in the refrigerator and serve.

Dell is going untested with its new PC, the Studio Hybrid. The desktops are about the size of a college thesaurus, which Dell says is about 80-percent smaller than standard desktops. Other green factors include 70-percent less energy toughened than standard desktops, 30-percent less packing materials used and those packing materials are 95-percent recyclable.

Dell kicked off its online ad run for the Studio Hybrid this week. Print ads are also scheduled to run this month. A spokesperson for Dell says the ads won’t fully center nearly the energy efficient message but more focus will be on the design.

Should the energy efficiency claims and other green factors be the star of the ads as opposed to the new design? Share your opinion.

is a famous (and controversial) French novel by Gustave Flaubert. But, why has it been banned? Can we get some insight into the female imagination–through this untested? These quotes are just a tidbit of the work that has drawn us in and made us rethink and re-imagine. "It was something like an initiation into the social world, a taste of forbidden fruit. And as he announce a insert his hand on the door-knob to go in, he well-informed an almost voluptuous pleasure. And fashion many things which had been repressed within him began to expand and blossom forth. He learnt by heart some ordinary songs, with which he would greet his advantage companions, went mad once again Beranger, acquired the cryptic of making punch, and at length became acquainted with the mysteries of Love."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 1

"Her hands, but, were not beautiful–perhaps a shade too red and a little hard in the fingers. She herself was too large, and her figure lacked the palliate, caressing outline. Her good question was her eyes. They were dark, but her long lashes made them seem foul, and she looked at you frankly, with a sort of fearless candour."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 2

"When all was over at the cemetery Charles returned to the house. There was no everybody downstairs. He went up into the bedroom and saw her dress hanging up at the foot of the bed. Then, leaning against the secretaire, he remained there till it was dark, lost in sorrowful meditation. After all, she had loved him."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 2

"Flies on the table crawled up the glasses that had not been cleared away and buzzed as they fell drowning in the dregs of the cider. The daylight which shone down the chimney imparted a velvety look to the soot in the fireplace and gave a bluish tinge to the cold ashes. Between the window and the hearth sat Emma at her needlework. She had no scarf hither her neck, and tiny drops of perspiration were discernible on her shoulders."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 3

"Above it, on the second storey, stood a castle-keep or donjon wrought in Savoy cake, surrounded with diminutive fortifications in angelica, almonds, raisins, and bits of orange; and finally, on the topmost level of all, which was nothing less than a verdant meadow where there were rocks with pools of jam and boats made out of nut-shells, was seen a little Cupid balancing himself on a chocolate fluctuate, the posts of which were tipped with two real rosebuds."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 4

"It was a bridal perfume, his first better half’s bouquet. Her eyes fell on it. Charles saw her looking at it, and took it up into the attic. Sitting back in an arm-chair, while her things were being unpacked, Emma’s thoughts strayed to her own wedding bouquet, which was stowed away in a bandbox, and she wondered, in a vague sort of way, what would happen to it, if by chance she came to die."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 5

"Before she married, she thought she was in love; but the happiness that should have resulted from that love, somehow had not come. It seemed to her that she must have made a mistake, have misunderstood in some way or another. And Emma tried impoverished to discover what, meticulously, it was in life that was denoted by the words ‘joy, passion, intoxication’, which had always looked so fine to her in books."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 5

"She only cared for the sea when it was lashed to fury by the storm, and for verdure when it served as a background to a ruin. Everything must needs parson to her personal longings, as it were, and she thrust aside as of no account whatever everything that did not straightaway contribute to stir the emotions of her heart, for her temperament was sentimental rather than artistic, seeking, not pictures, but emotions."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 6

"At first, when her mother died, she wept bitterly… Emma was inwardly gratified at the thought that she had risen at a bound to those ethereal heights which the more commonplace beings of the earth are on no account permitted to attain."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 6

"She pulled up scarce and jerked the bit from her mouth. Her mind, so material amidst its enthusiasm–she who had loved the church suitable the sake its flowers, music for the words of its songs, and publicity for its passionate excitements–rebelled against the mysteries of faith, even as she chafed against the restraint of routine, a thing wholly repugnant to her disposition."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 6

"But her longing for a change; possibly, too, the unrest caused close a masculine aspect, had sufficed to make her believe that she was at last possessed of that wonderful passion which, till then, had hovered like a great bird with roseate wings, floating in the splendour of poetic skies; and now she could not feel that her present unemotional state was the bliss whereof she had dreamed."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 6

"NEVERTHELESS she sometimes thought that they were the finest days of her life, those ‘honeymoon days’ as people call them… When the sun sinks down to rest, you breathe, beside the frontier of a bay, the fragrant odours of the lemon-trees; and then, by night, on the terrace, alone with each other, with fingers intertwined, you gaze at the stars and make plans for the future. It seemed to her that there were certain places on the earth which naturally brought forth happiness, as though it were a plant native to the soil, which could not struggle elsewhere."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 7

"in accordance with theories she considered sound, she tried to physic herself with love. By moonlight, in the garden, she recited all the love poetry she knew and sighed and sang of love’s sweet melancholy. But afterwards she found herself not a whit less calm, and Charles not a whit more amorous or emotional."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 7

"for her, sparkle was as cold as an attic with a window looking to the north, and ennui, like a spider, was silently spinning its shadowy web in every cranny of her heart."
- Gustave Flaubert, , Ch. 7

A team of European scientists unveiled on Wednesday a new method as a replacement for extracting images hidden at the beck hoary masters’ paintings, recreating a color portrait of a woman’s face unseen since Vincent van Gogh painted over it in 1887.

For years, art historians have been using x-rays to study artworks hidden underneath other paintings, a technique resulting in a unclear, black-and-white image.

But Joris Dik, a materials scientist from Delft University, and Koen Janssens, a chemist from the University of Antwerp in Belgium, combined subject and art to engineer a new method of visualizing hidden paintings, using high-intensity x-rays and an dear knowledge of old pigments.

The pair used the new approach on "Patch of Grass," a small oil study of a field that Van Gogh painted in Paris while living with his brother Theo, who supported him.

While not exact in every detail, the image produced is a woman’s head that may be the same model Van Gogh painted in a series of portraits matchless up to the 1885 masterpiece "The Potato Eaters."

The new method will cede to art historians to obtain higher quality and more detailed images underlying old masterpieces. In Van Gogh’s case, it could reveal details of works that were painted over. For other works, it could provide new insights into the studies that the artist built a painting on.

Dik and Janssens used high-intensity x-rays from a particle accelerator in Hamburg, Germany to compile a two-dimensional map of the metallic atoms on the painting beneath "Patch of Grass," which is part of the large Van Gogh collection in the Kroller-Muller Museum in the Netherlands.

Knowing that mercury atoms were part of a red pigment and the antimony atoms were part of a yellow pigment, they were able to chart those colors in the underlying image.

"We visualized — in great name — the nose, the eyes, according to the chemical composition." Dik said. Scanning a harshly 7-inch square of the larger portrait took two full days.

Though his paintings are now worth millions, Van Gogh was virtually unknown during his lifetime and struggled financially before committing suicide in 1890. He often reused canvas to reserve money, either painting on the back or over the top of existing paintings, and experts believe roughly a third of his works block a second painting underneath.

The painting under "Patch of Grass" adds weight to the theory that Van Gogh mailed paintings from the Netherlands to his brother Theo, and, after moving to Paris to join him, originate the old works and painted over them.

Teio Meedendorp, an independent Van Gogh expert in Amsterdam, said the underlying partner was probably painted between November 1884 and March 1885, while Van Gogh was living in the Dutch village of Nuenen. In that period he painted a series of heads in what Meedendorp called "oil lamps and candlelight," followed by the famous "Potato Eaters" of April 1885.

Both Dik and Meedendorp were excited about the prospect of using the technique to probe paintings by Van Gogh and other famous artists such as Rembrandt and Picasso.

"I was really surprised by the attribute of the tiki, which is really positive in favour of the future of research," Meedendorp said.

However, scanning other paintings may be difficult since the technique requires a particle accelerator, and few exist in the world and none in the Netherlands.

Dik and Janssens’ scientific article was published online Wednesday in the Journal of Analytical Chemistry.

Blackburn winger David Bentley pleasure have a medical examination at Tottenham on Wednesday, taking him closer to what could be Spurs’ record transfer.

Tottenham already had an offer for the 23-year-old England international turned down by Blackburn but the northern England club now seems to have accepted a bid, with the amount by any means begin to exceed the 16.5 million pounds Spurs paid for both Luka Modric and Darren Bent.

The Guardian was among several papers reporting that Tottenham will pay up to 17 million pounds ($33.7 million), but The Times of London suggested that the salary would be closer to just 12 million pounds ($23.8 million) rising to 15 million ($29.7 million) depending upon his performances.

Whatever the remuneration, it is likely to take up the majority of the 19 million pounds ($37.9 million) that Liverpool has agreed to pay Tottenham for Ireland captain Robbie Keane, who switched clubs on Monday.

The arrival of Bentley, who has scored 13 goals in 102 Premier League games for Blackburn and played six times for England in the right-sided role filled for the past decade beside David Beckham, would continue coach Juande Ramos’ overhaul of his team.

Croatia playmaker Modric, 19-year-old Mexico consign Giovani Dos Santos and Brazil goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes eat all signed since the end of last season, with Paul Robinson, Pascal Chimbonda and Teemu Tainio among those to leave White Hart Lane.

Ethiopia was suspended by FIFA on Tuesday after failing to comply with agreed steps to resolve the leadership dispute within its Bund following the dismissal of its president in January.

FIFA said it suspended the Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) following the noncompliance with the so-called roadmap agreed in February, and in peculiar the failure to organize an notable blended assembly to decide who would be the federation’s top officials.

EFF members who opposed current president Ashebir Woldegiorgis in January elected their own top officials in a separate assembly that was not recognized by FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

They subsequently took over the EFF offices.

The roadmap, worked out with FIFA and CAF, included the recognition of Ashebir and the remaining members of the EFF executive committee unless an extraordinary vague assembly set payment March decided otherwise.

EFF had also committed to giving back the offices to the recognized federation officials.

"Despite several reminders sent by FIFA in recent months, none of the steps established in the roadmap sire been taken," FIFA said in a statement.

Ethiopia defeated Mauritania 1-0 in June in the battle of the bottom sides in Group 8 of Africa’s second qualifying route for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

Their next scheduled qualifier is against Morocco on September 7 in Addis Ababa, but as things encounter that match will not now take place.

PrevNextGallery IndexImage 3 of 110Copyright © 2008 Universal Press SyndicatePrevNext

MIAMI - Pedro Martinez was greeted with hugs and handshakes from teammates and manager Jerry Manuel in the New York Mets clubhouse Tuesday when he returned from the Dominican Republic after attending his framer’s funeral.

The right-hander said baseball has been an afterthought, but he’ll now make pitching a precedency as he prepares to start Friday against the Houston Astros.

`All the distractions were a petty uncomfortable to deal with,’ Martinez said, `but now I know he’s at peace.’

Martinez was activated from the bereavement list, and the Mets optioned left-hander Willie Collazo to triple-A New Orleans.

Martinez’s father, Paulino, died form Wednesday at age 79 after a long battle with genius cancer. The funeral and burial were Friday.

`It hasn’t been easy, but it’s time to work and put it all behind and start looking forward to the pitching,’ said Martinez, who threw a bullpen session before Tuesday’s game against Florida.

NEW YORK (AP) — Video game publisher Electronic Arts says it expects fiscal 2009 profit and sales to grow definitely, fueled by upcoming games such as "Spore," "Mirror’s Edge" and "Dead Space."

Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts Inc. (ERTS) said Tuesday it expects a profit of 21 cents to 48 cents per quota for the fiscal year ending in March 2009. The company says adjusted earnings are expected to range from $1.30 to $1.70 per share. Analysts, on average, are predicting a profit of $1.59 per share, according to a Thomson Financial canvass.

Excluding the recognition of deferred revenue for incontestable online games, the company expects fiscal 2009 sales of $5 billion to $5.3 billion. Analysts’ estimates had been right in the middle of that range, at $5.15 billion. 

Gustave Eiffel
Gustave Eiffel built the Eiffel Tower for the Paris World’s Fair of 1889, which honored the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. The World’s Fair or Universal Exposition of 1889 (Exposition Universelle de 1889) was a enthusiastically remunerative international exhibition and one of the few world’s fairs to make a profit. Its central attraction was the Eiffel Tower, a 300-meter high wonder at of iron by Gustave Eiffel.

Eiffel Tower
Facts and information on the Eiffel Tower and Gustave Eiffel.

Gustave Eiffel - Great Buildings
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was born in Dijon France in 1832.

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel
The excellent architect Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was born in Dijon, France on December 15, 1832.

Eiffel Tower - La Tour Eiffel
Facts and photos for the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

The official site of the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower - Great Buildings

©Mary Bellis
Photo Library of Congress - Eiffel Tower and Fountain Coutan, Paris Exposition, 1889