Best Books for Baseball Fans - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1452 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/04/02 Category Sports Essay Level High school Tags: Baseball Essay Did you like this example? Pop quiz: What is Americas favorite pastime? If you guessed baseball, then youre correct. Though football doesnt fall far behind, theres a sort of cultural significance when it comes to a baseball game. Sitting in an aluminum seat with a hot dog in one hand, a beer in the other, and the sun beating down on ones face is an afternoon that promises singing, shouting, and laughter is an American staple. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Best Books for Baseball Fans" essay for you Create order Listed below are some of the best books for baseball fans that are sure to reignite your love of Americas pastime. The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn is a non-fiction book based on the author himself, who recounts events from his childhood in Brooklyn and his career starting out as a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune. Kahn relates his story to the Brooklyn Dodgers and their victory in the 1955 World Series. Kahn also tracks the lives of famous baseball players and captures the love affair that America had with baseball and brings a time of nostalgia and back into present day. The Boys of Summer is praised as a recreation of American culture as it is able to capture readers of all ages who can recall the sentimentality and be brought into a world where baseball teams were at the center of the nation. Dont Look Back: Satchel Paige in the Shadows of Baseball by Mark Ribowsky Next to Babe Ruth, one of the most discussed baseball stars in history might have been Leroy Satchel Paige. Paige joined the Cleveland Indians during the pre-integration era when he was in his forties and was easily considered by many to be one of the best pitchers to have lived. Paige gained fame due to his reputation of years in the Negro leagues, which were professional baseball teams that were made up of predominantly African-American players and sometimes other minorities. In this biography, Ribowsky aims to honor Satchels reputation in baseball history by revealing Paiges prior years in the Negro leagues. Dont Look Back successfully brings a lesser-known athlete that stands in Babe Ruths shadow when America was on the cusp of a social change. Cant Anybody Here Play This Game? by Jimmy Breslin There are three types of people: those who are Mets fans, those who are Yankees fans, and those who dont live in the tristate area. Either way, youre likely familiar with the rivalry between the two, and many argue that Mets fans root for the underdog while Yankees fans are loyal to the consistent winners. Cant Anybody Here Play This Game? chronicles the 1962 New York Mets season by analyzing the famous teams very first season as an expansion team. The title is said to have come from the then-current Mets manager, Casey Stengel, when he complained, Cant anybody play this game? out of pure frustration for the teams apparent incompetence. This book is a must-have for those who remain loyal to the New York Mets. Joe, You Coulda Made Us Proud by Joe Pepitone and Berry Stainback Baseball star Joe Pepitone was a partier when he was the Astros pitcher in the 1970s. He partied with Frank Sinatra and Mickey Mantle, slept with dozens of women, and dabbled in drugs like cocaine and Quaaludes. Needless to say, Pepitone was controversial. About 40 years later with the help from journalist Berry Stainback, Pepitone released somewhat of an auto-biography of his life. The self-deprecating title implies that Pepitone knows he could have made better decisions during his time in the spotlight. Pepitone writes about his life in a therapeutically confessional manner but is also honest about the party scene and sudden rise to fame hed become addicted to. This book is highly praised as an honest truth about a man who got lost in the limelight. Baseballs Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy by Jules Tygiel Jackie Robinson is easily a household name. He is famously known as the major leagues first African-American baseball player. This book touches base on Robinsons rise to integrating major league baseball with heavy links between the Civil Rights movement and African-American history. The integration of baseball in the late 1940s created a cultural shift for Americans. Suddenly, Americas favorite past time had completely changed†it wouldnt be for several years that African-Americans would be desegregated, but this was a huge stepping stone in that direction. Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey recruited Jackie Robinson, a former army lieutenant and remarkable athlete. In doing so, Robinson suffered from threats, but writer Tygiel argues that this was a wakeup call for many Americans about the racism that coherently existed. Only the Ball Was White: A History of Legendary Black Players by Robert Peterson Another book to respect the famous players pre- and post-integration, Only the Ball was White begins in the 1920s when New York Giants sent a scout to watch a young Cuban play for the Fosters American Giants, a Negro league. From there, we are brought throughout the tough lines that African-Americans and Latino minorities had to conquer to make their way into the major leagues. This book respectfully sheds light on forgotten minority players who had suffered from rejection in the years leading up to what would become famous careers. Peterson reminds us that during the time baseball became Americas favorite past time was seen through rose-colored lenses. Racism, segregation, and Jim Crow laws were very much alive during a time that people most often look fondly upon. The Pitch That Killed by Mike Sowell Long-term baseball fans might have heard about the infamous pitch that killed. Taking us back to the 1920 Indians season, we relive the story through Carl Mays, Joe Sewell, and Ray Chapman when Mays powerful but ill-striking pitch hit Chapman in the head, which killed him short after. Mays was immediately considered the bad guy in baseball, though Sowell presents the facts unbiased, letting the reader decide if the fate of Chapman was a murder or pure accident. The Pitch That Killed goes into each of the then-players stories, their home lives, their childhoods, and everything off- and on-field. It reads like an oral history that describes these people as intricate characters, bringing them back to life through family histories, baseball victories, and fears and dreams. A Day in the Bleachers by Arnold Hano Considered one of the best books for baseball fans, the day of the 1954 World Series is also known as the day of The Catch. This book documents one of the most nail-biting World Series in history while focusing on Willie Mays who made the most famous catch in baseball history. Arnold Hano recalls his own recollection of that day, when he attended the game at four years old. As one of the greatest moments in Hanos life, he describes each inning like they were the longest seconds to have existed. Hano also analyzes the strategies during that World Series game and reflects on the undeniable heroes and what it really takes to play baseball. He shows us that baseball is not just a game, but a strategy. The Wrong Stuff by Bill Lee and Richard Lally Bill Spaceman Lee played for the Expos and was well-known for his rebellious reputation. With help from baseball writer Richard Lally, Bill Lee writes a hilarious memoir about his antics from childhood all the way through adulthood. This book is considered one of the best books for baseball fans, though because of Lees humor and approach to his life through fun storytelling, The Wrong Stuff can be right for anybody. Lee hilariously describes his life, including anecdotes like when he discovered that marijuana never hammered me like a good Camel. Lee easily shows us how the parody song Bill Lee by Warren Zevon came to be. Maybe you recognize the intro: Youre supposed to sit on your ass and nod at stupid things Man, thats hard to do. Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball by Donald Hall With the help from Dock Ellis, Donald Hall writes this historical biography on Elliss rise to stardom while fighting against the inevitable racism and post-integration issues that were present at that time. Thanks to Ellis as a direct source, Hall also takes us behind the scenes of the game and the baseball industry. And probably most interestingly, Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball discusses Elliss most famous no-hitter which at the time was the center of controversy. Though there were speculations, nobody knew if Ellis was under some sort of influence during his no-hitter as a pitcher for the Pirates. The first edition, published in 1976, says that Ellis was drunk, but the later 89 edition tells the truth: he was high on LSD.

William Ury s Take On Peace And Conflict Studies

William Ury s take on peace and conflict studies includes using the ten roles to support and create the Third Side. Each of the roles has a specific job in promoting peace and interrupting conflict. Together the roles will help end conflict in the world if used correctly, Reading through Ury s book, I was able to make many connections to what we learned in class. The Third Side supports the change for peace we need to see in this role, and we will all find ourselves in one of the ten roles. The Third Side applies to this class and will make a change in the future. The first three roles focus on conflict prevention. These roles look to address the root of conflict and lay down the foundation for peaceful conflict resolution. The first role is the Provider, who enables people to meet their needs which include food, safety, identity, and freedom. At the beginning of the semester, we read The Dynamics of Conflict Resolution by Bernard Mayer. Mayer writes that at the center of conflict is human needs. Mayer also points out, â€Å"Conflict cannot be transformed or settled unless these needs are addressed in some way†. The role of the Provider focuses on addressing these needs and enabling others to recognize and meet their own. Mayer believes the needs are based in five forces that are the sources of conflict. The five forces are communication, emotions, history, structure, and value. With communication, humans are unable to perfectly communicate. The Provider knows people want toShow MoreRelatedGgfghj12150 Words   |  49 PagesCHAP T E R 1 Introduction to Conï ¬â€šict Resolution: Concepts and Deï ¬ nitions In this third edition of our book we bring the survey of the conï ¬â€šict resolution ï ¬ eld up to date at the beginning of the second decade of the twenty-ï ¬ rst century. Conï ¬â€šict resolution as a deï ¬ ned specialist ï ¬ eld came of age in the post-Cold War era. It also found itself face to face with fundamental new challenges, many of which have come into even sharper focus since the ï ¬ rst and second editions of this book. Why a ThirdRead MoreInstitution as the Fundamental Cause of Long Tern Growth39832 Words   |  160 PagesHandbook of Economic Growth edited by Philippe Aghion and Steve Durlauf. We thank the editors for their patience and Leopoldo Fergusson, Pablo Querubà ­n and Barry Weingast for their helpful suggestions. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the National Bureau of Economic Research.  ©2004 by Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. All rights reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs, may be quoted without explicit permission providedRead MoreNegotiation: Game Theory and Games13514 Words   |  55 Pagesspecialized and formal version of conflict resolution most frequently employed when important issues must be agreed upon. Negotiation is necessary when one party requires the other party s agreement to achieve its aim. The aim of negotiating is to build a shared environment leading to long-term trust and often involves a third, neutral party to extract the issues from the emotions and keep the individuals concerned focused. It is a powerful method for resolving conflict and requires skill and experienceRead MoreLeading Function of Management15642 Words   |  63 Pagesplanning, organizing, actuating and controlling†. According to Henry Fayol, â€Å"To manage is to forecast and plan, to organize, to command, to control†. Whereas Luther Gullick has given a keyword ’POSDCORB’ where P stands for Planning, O for Organizing, S for Staffing, D for Directing, Co for Co-ordination, R for reporting B for Budgeting. But the most widely accepted are functions of management given by KOONTZ and O’DONNEL i.e. Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling. For theoreticalRead MoreProject Mgmt296381 Words   |  1186 PagesVirtual teams 9.3.3.1 Team performance [9.4.2.2] 9.4.2.3 Conflict management 9.3.2.6 Recognition and awards Defining the Project 4.1 Project charter 5.1 Gather requirements 5.2 Defining scope 5.3 Creating a WBS 5.4 Tools and techniques 6.1 Define activities 9.1.2. Responsibility matrixes 10.1 Communication planning (.2.3.4) [App. G-4] Chapter 12 Outsourcing 12.1.1 Procurement requirements [G.8] 12.1.2.3 Contract types 9.4.2.3 Conflict management 12.2.7 The art of negotiating 12.2.3.5 ChangeRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 Pagesmanage their course more effectively with assessment, assignments, grade tracking, and more manage time better study smarter save money From multiple study paths, to self-assessment, to a wealth of interactive visual and audio resources, WileyPLUS gives you everything you need to personalize the teaching and learning experience.  » F i n d o u t h ow t o M A K E I T YO U R S  » www.wileyplus.com ALL THE HELP, RESOURCES, AND PERSONAL SUPPORT YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS NEED! 2-Minute Tutorials

Store and Recover Information About Object Using Binary Serialization in C# Free Essays

Report Store and Recover Information about Object Using Binary Serialization in C# What is Binary Serialization: Serialization is the process taking an object and converting it to a format which can be transported through net work or store into a storage medium, the storage medium could be file, database, or memory. The . NET Framework provides two types of serialization, XML serialization and Binary serialization. We will write a custom essay sample on Store and Recover Information About Object Using Binary Serialization in C# or any similar topic only for you Order Now There are also three formats provided by the Microsoft . NET framework to which objects can be serialized. The formats are binary, SOAP, and XML. Binary serialization can either the binary or the SOAP formatter, are suitable for storing object Information in . NET applications, and you don’t need share the information with non-. NET programs. When I mention Binary serialization below I mean â€Å"Binary serialization† using binary formatter, as short expression. Why use Binary Serialization: The binary serialization working chart is: [pic] The chart also can present the other two format of serialization. so why we use Binary serialization instead of use the other two? What the advantage and disadvantage of binary serialization? The binary serialization is the most compact and light of the three formats and it is the fastest one of the three formats. Also the binary serialization can serialize all the state of the object, including type information. Therefore when the object is deserialized, you get an accurate and fully functional copy of the original, which xml will not It ignores private member fields and properties. The main limitation of using binary serialization is that binary serialization depends on platform, while XML and SOAP do not adhere to that limitation. Therefore only when all your applications which use serialization are . net framework applications, you can use binary serialization, otherwise uses other two formats instead. Using Binary Serialization in C#: The code to using Binary serialize is very simple. The step is: 1) create an instance of an BinaryFormatter class (using the interface iForamatter) 2) pass it an object and an open stream 3) iFormatter. Serialize methodwrites the object’s state to the stream. Below I will show a very simple code to serialize an object call aPerson to a file. To make a class serializable we must mark it with the serializable attribute at before the class code The code is: [Serializable] public class Person then we need 2 namespaces for using serialization in our application: using System. Runtime. Serialization. Formatters. Binary; using System. Runtime. Serialization; then use the code below to Serialize: //create an instance of an BinaryFormatter class(IFormatter is a interface) IFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter(); //create a stream Stream stream = new FileStream(â€Å"filename†, FileMode. Create, FileAccess. Write, FileShare. None); //pass stream and object to the stream formatter. Serialize method for doing Serialization formatter. Serialize(stream, aPerson); //finished close the stream stream. Close(); The deserialize just as simple as serialize, the code are: IFormatter formatter = new BinaryFormatter(); Stream stream = new FileStream(â€Å"MyFile. dat†, FileMode. Open, FileAccess. Read, FileShare. Read); Person clone = (Person) formatter. Deserialize(stream); stream. Close(); Some Important not for Serialization: ? the constructors are not called when an object is deserialized. the Serializable attribute cannot be inherited. ? there are some Security issues of serialization you can visit The Security and Serialization (http://msdn. microsoft. com/library/? url=/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconsecurityserialization. asp)topic in the Framework Documentation further reading: This report just explains the very basic idea of Binary serialization for further study the following link s will help. Serializing Objects: http://msdn. microsoft. com/library/default. asp? url=/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpovrSerializingObjects. sp C# Object Serialization by Budi Kurniawan http://www. ondotnet. com/pub/a/dotnet/2002/08/26/serialization. html References: Serializing Objects: http://msdn. microsoft. com/library/default. asp? url=/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpovrSerializingObjects. asp http://www. c-sharpcorner. com/Language/serializingObjectsinCS. asp ———————– Deserialization Binary Serialization network Deserialization Binary Serialization Copy of Your Object A File, Database or memory Storage medium Another Application Your object Your Application How to cite Store and Recover Information About Object Using Binary Serialization in C#, Papers

Tolerance Of Coral Larvae To Thermal Stress-Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question Discuss About The Tolerance Of Coral Larvae To Thermal Stress? Answer: Introduction In this report, study has been prepared on the financial performance of company and how company has managed its capital structure to reduce its overall cost of capital. It is considered that AMC Outdoor Company has increased its business efficiency throughout the time. Ratio analysis, capital structure analysis and share price analysis have been used in this report to analysis the companys performance. Comparing Firms Capital Structure AMC Outdoor Company has capital structure of 32% debt and 68% equity capital. It has shown that company has to establish proper level of capital structure after considering financial risk, associated cost of capital and other internal and external factors of business (Finance. Yahoo, 2017). After collecting details from the annual report of company, WACC has been computed as below (Brigham Ehrhardt, 2013). Interest after tax 2956100 Debt 103000000 Cost of debt 2.87% Weights Debts (Loan) 103000000 Equity 222334000 Total 325334000 Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) Debt Equity Cost of Capital (WACC) After computing the details of company, it could be considered that Cost of capital under WACC of company is 6.64%. Company has capital structure of 32% debt and 68% equity capital. It is observed that other company in the same industry QMS Media Company has maintained debt to capital ratio 22: 78%. This has shown that company has low financial risk and high cost of capital. This will reduce the overall profit and increased tax burden on the company. Therefore, it could be inferred that AMC Outdoor Company should maintain debt to equity ratio 30:70 with a view to reduce the overall cost of capital (Finance. Yahoo, 2017). Analysis of Financial Ratios of AMC Outdoor Company It is considered that ratio analysis of company reflects the relation between two factors. The APN Outdoor Company has reduced its current ratio by .65 points in 2017 with a view to reduce the overall cost of capital. Quick ratio has gone down by .55 in 2017 since last three years. Gross profit margin has also shown positive outcome and resulted to 20% profit in 2016 as compared to loss of 7% in 2015. Return on equity of company has increased to 26% profit in 2016 as compared to loss of 8% in 2015. Net profit has shown 20% profit in 2016. Interest coverage ratio of company has gown down to zero due to no interest payment liabilities. Efficiency ratio of company has also managed to reduce the cost of capital and amount of blockage. There is no inventory turnover due to zero level of inventory. Creditors turnover ratio has increased to 40% in 2016 to reduce the overall cost of capital (Brigham Gerhardt, 2013). Significant Changes in the Capital Structure in Past Three Years Capital structure of company has been divided into two specific parts. Equity capital of company is $58.15, $63.74, and $59.64 million in all three years 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively. Debt portion of company has also increased by 5% since last three years. In 2014 company had AUD$ 125 million which went down to AUD $ 97 million in 2015. After that, it increased to AUD $ 133 in 2016 (Finance. 2017). Company has increased its debt portion with a view to reduce the tax burden and cost of capital at large. Wealth Maximization in Past Three Years It is evaluated that stock price of company has increased by 200% since last three years. It is evaluated that total turnover and overall earning of company has shown significant growth in its business functioning. It is observed that if shareholders have high level of value creation on its investment then it will increase the wealth maximization in determined approach (Brigham Ehrhardt, 2013). Importance of Minimization of the Cost of Capital There are several benefits which could be enjoyed by AMC Outdoor Company after minimization of cost of capital. It will reduce the overall cost of production, creation of synergy and establishment of effective business functioning in market. Nonetheless, AMC Outdoor Company needs to establish proper level of harmonization between debt and equity capital with a view to reduce the financial risk and cost of capital (Finance. Yahoo. 2017) Recommendations for Lowering the Cost of Capital Lowering cost of capital is very critical task. However, APN Outdoor Company should invest more capital in its business with a view to increase the overall operating earnings. The existing market is showing high amount of growth and increased business efficiency. Therefore, APN Outdoor Company should deploy more funds to increase the productivity and efficiency of business in determined approach (Kaur Gupta, 2015) Conclusion Significant Changes in the Capital Structure in Past Three YearsThis report has depicted that APN Outdoor Company has strong financial stability in Australian market. However, due to high level of debt portion in its capital, company has high financial leverage and risk in its business functioning. It is considered that company should inject more capital in its business and decrease its operating expenses to increase the overall profit and earning in determined approach. References Brigham, E. F., Ehrhardt, M. C. (2013).Financial management: Theory practice. Cengage Learning. Finance. Yahoo. (2017). APN Outdoor Group Limited (APO.AX). Retrieved September 16, 2017 from, https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/APO.AX/financials?p=APO.AX Finance. Yahoo. (2017). QMS Media Limited (QMS.AX). Retrieved September 16, 2017 from, https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/QMS.AX/balance-sheet?p=QMS.AX Kaur, K., Gupta, A. P. N., 2015, Performance evaluation of dbla, hsv-clahe rgb-clahe based image enhancement. Negri, A. P., Hoogenboom, M. O. (2011). Water contamination reduces the tolerance of coral larvae to thermal stress.PLoS One,6(5), e19703.

10 Fascinating Facts About Butterflies

10 Fascinating Facts About Butterflies People love watching colorful butterflies float from flower to flower. From the tiniest blues to the largest swallowtails,  how much do you really know about these insects? Here are 10 fascinating facts about butterflies. Butterfly wings are transparent How can that be? We know butterflies as perhaps the most colorful, vibrant insects around! A butterflys wings are covered by thousands of tiny scales, and these scales reflect light in different colors. But underneath all of those scales, a  butterfly wing is actually formed by layers of chitin, the same protein that makes up an insects exoskeleton. These layers are so thin you can see right through them. As a butterfly ages, scales fall off the wings, leaving spots of transparency where the chitin layer is exposed. Butterflies taste with their feet Butterflies have taste receptors on their feet to help them find their host plants and locate food. A female butterfly lands on different plants, drumming the leaves with her feet until the plant releases its juices. Spines on the back of her legs have chemoreceptors that detect the right match of plant chemicals. When she identified the right plant, she lays her eggs. A butterfly will also step on its food, using organs that sense dissolved sugars to taste food sources like fermenting fruit. Butterflies live on an all-liquid diet Speaking of butterflies eating, adult butterflies can only feed on liquids, usually nectar. Their mouthparts are modified to enable them to drink, but they cant chew solids. A proboscis, which functions as a drinking straw, stays curled up under the butterflys chin until it finds a source of nectar or other liquid nutrition. It then unfurls the long, tubular structure and sips up a meal. A few butterflies feed on sap, and some even resort to sipping from decaying carrion. No matter the meal, they suck it up a straw. A butterfly must assemble its proboscis as soon as it emerges from the chrysalis A butterfly that cant drink nectar is doomed. One of its first jobs as an adult butterfly is to assemble its mouthparts. When a new adult emerges from the pupal case or chrysalis, its mouth is in two pieces. Using palpi located adjacent to the proboscis, the butterfly begins working the two parts together to form a single, tubular proboscis. You may see a newly emerged butterfly curling and uncurling the proboscis over and over, testing it out. Butterflies drink from mud puddles A butterfly cannot live on sugar alone; it needs minerals, too. To supplement its diet of nectar, a butterfly will occasionally sip from mud puddles, which are rich in minerals and salts. This behavior, called puddling, occurs more often in male butterflies, which incorporate the minerals into their sperm. These nutrients are then transferred to the female during mating, and help improve the viability of her eggs. Butterflies cant fly if theyre cold Butterflies need an ideal body temperature of about 85 ºF to fly. Since theyre cold-blooded animals, they cant regulate their own body temperatures. The surrounding air temperature has a big impact on their ability to function. If the air temperature falls below 55 ºF, butterflies are rendered immobile, unable to flee from predators or feed. When air temperatures range between 82 º-100 ºF, butterflies can fly with ease. Cooler days require a butterfly to warm up its flight muscles, either by shivering or basking in the sun. Even sun-loving butterflies can get overheated when temperatures soar above 100 °Ã‚  F and may seek shade to cool down.   A newly emerged butterfly cant fly Inside the chrysalis, a developing butterfly waits to emerge with its wings collapsed around its body. When it finally breaks free of the pupal case, it greets the world with tiny, shriveled wings. The butterfly must immediately pump body fluid through its wing veins to expand them. Once its wings reach full-size, the butterfly must rest for a few hours to allow its body to dry and harden before it can take its first flight. Butterflies live just a few weeks, usually Once it emerges from its chrysalis as an adult, a butterfly has only 2-4 short weeks to live, in most cases. During that time, it focuses all its energy on two tasks – eating and mating. Some of the smallest butterflies, the blues, may only survive a few days. Butterflies that overwinter as adults, like monarchs and mourning cloaks, can live as long as 9 months. Butterflies are nearsighted, but they can see and discriminate a lot of colors Within about 10-12 feet, butterfly eyesight is quite good. Anything beyond that distance gets a little blurry to a butterfly, though. Butterflies rely on their eyesight for vital tasks, like finding mates of the same species and finding flowers on which to feed. In addition to seeing some of the colors we can see, butterflies can see a range of ultraviolet colors invisible to the human eye. The butterflies themselves may have ultraviolet markings on their wings to help them identify one another and locate potential mates. Flowers, too, display ultraviolet markings that act as traffic signals to incoming pollinators like butterflies – pollinate me! Butterflies employ all kinds of tricks to keep from being eaten Butterflies rank pretty low on the food chain, with lots of hungry predators happy to make a meal of them. Some butterflies fold their wings to blend into the background, using camouflage to render themselves all but invisible to predators. Others try the opposite strategy, wearing vibrant colors and patterns that boldly announce their presence. Bright colored insects often pack a toxic punch if eaten, so predators learn to avoid them. Some butterflies arent toxic at all, but pattern themselves after other species known for their toxicity. By mimicking their foul-tasting cousins, they repel predators.

Give Children More Free Time Essays

Give Children More Free Time Essays Give Children More Free Time Essay Give Children More Free Time Essay For years, as access to the best education and jobs is becoming increasingly competitive, it is not uncommon for some people insist that children should spend more time on schoolwork rather than other activities, which may district their attention. However, to a large extent, I believe that giving these young students a moderate amount of free time is a necessity. There seems to be an agreement that children need to develop many life skills other than intellectual ones. Where are life skills? Apparently, students cannot acquire those skills from textbooks while some extra-curricular activities can. Students can engage in all kinds of socially productive activities they like after school where they can communicate with their peers, share their experience and make new friends, which plays an essential role in expanding their vision and enriching their social experience and fulfilling their potential. Still, I truly believe spending time on sports and music is a sensitive option. Could sports and music not only relieve young students’ overload academic pressure, but they would develop them physically and mentally as well. More importantly, allowing students sufficient free time can gives them more chances to seek assistance and acquire suggestions from parents, which avoids causing the generation gap at the same time. Overall, I tend to agree that students can profit from their free time. On the other hand, giving students an excessive amount of spare time may cause some problems such as falling in love, lingering on streets, and even juvenile crimes. : For instance, some students may become addicted to computer games which may be very intense and rather violent and eventually lose interest in their studies or even have to quit school. Despite all these consideration, those problems still could be avoided as long as schools, teachers, and parents supply them with proper guidance and appropriate supervision. So my conclusion is that despite children should spend more time on schoolwork in the formative period, I would suggest that moderate free time is not unnecessary.

Response to 4 students assignment postings with 2 references each Coursework

Response to 4 students assignment postings with 2 references each - Coursework Example and the highlight of the discussion came when he stated clearly and in no uncertain terms, how the impact of an organizational change at the individual response stage holds so much power in contributing to other forms of impact such as the group response (Burke, 2011). The lesson that is drawn from the discussion therefore is for managers to appreciate the fact that to attain organizational success, the individual success of the human resource base must be taken into consideration (Farcao, 2003). This writer creates a peculiar picture about a typical organization, where he makes it clear that for an organization to expect to achieve unanimous backing for any intended organizational change is virtually not feasible (Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias, 2008). This is because the writer was able to outline how there were individual opponent, group opponents and organizational opponents for a single organization. To the manager therefore, what he ought to do is to bring the views of both supporters and opponents together and try to solve the dilemma that arises (Burke, 2011). The writer refused to make a real case of the impact of the organizational change at the individual, group and organizational levels. This therefore made the essay lack some sense of focus on the topic. Given the type of change that took place, it is expected that the writer would let the impact of the change that took place be felt (Robinson, 2009). This is because for every organizational change, there would be rapid impact at the individual, group and organizational levels (Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias, 2008). Robinson Hickman, G. (2009). Organizational change practices. In G. Robinson Hickman (Ed.),  Leading organizations: Perspectives for a new era (2nd ed.) (pp. 510-524). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

Doubt Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Doubt - Movie Review Example The film is set in 1964 at St. Nicholas school, a Roman Catholic School in the Bronx, New York and most of its students are children of Italian and Irish immigrants. They would have great faith in their Church and would never question or doubt anything about mother Church. In the movie, Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a young priest, delivers an important sermon on flagging faith which creates suspicions in Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep). In his sermon, Father Flynn concentrated on the nature of doubt and noted that doubt, like faith, can be a unifying energy. Sister Aloysius, the strict principal of the school discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns and asks them to find the reasons behind the behaviour of Father Flynn for preaching about doubt. Following this, Sister James (Amy Adams), a young and naive teacher, grudgingly reports a private meeting between Father Flynn and the school's only black student to Sister Aloysius which creates awful suspicion in the principal. Th erefore, one of the central scenes in the movie is the one in which the cheerful, fair-haired Father Flynn preaches a sermon about sharing doubts with others in the community. Father Flynn's appeal to the importance of doubt becomes relevant in the context of the Roman Catholic School in the Bronx, where most of the students are children of Italian and Irish immigrants who would have great faith in their Church and never question or doubt anything about mother Church. However, in a reflective analysis of the theme of doubt in the film, it becomes lucid that the students' trust to the church is because of their nave faith and some doubt in faith would have been preferable, as such doubt of mother Church was possible back in 1964. Through the story of a confrontation between the priest and the nun at a Catholic school in 1964 New York, the film Doubt by John Patrick Shanley establishes the importance of doubt in deepening the nave faith in Catholic Church. Father Flynn, who is the chaplain at St. Nicholas Catholic school in the Bronx in 1964, is a strong believer in the winds of change that are sweeping through the country with integration and through the Catholic Church with Pope John XXIII. Through the character of Father Flynn, the film emphasizes the positive value of doubt in the life of a believer of the Catholic Church, and the winds of change that were sweeping through the Church in 1964 suggests the possibility of a doubt of the mother Church. "He has an easy and relaxed manner with the kids; as a preacher, he enjoys shaking his congregation up. In the opening scene of the film, he speaks about the positive value of doubt in the life of a believer: 'Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as ce rtainty. When you are lost, you are not alone.'" (Brussat and Brussat, 2009). Therefore, the character of Father Flynn makes a vital point by suggesting the positive value of doubt in the life of a believer and the winds of change that were sweeping through the Church suggested by Father Flynn allude to the possibility of a doubt of the mother Church in 1964. The students at St. Nicholas Catholic School, who are children of Italian and Irish immigrants, have great faith in their Church and would never question or doubt anything about mother Church. In fact, their trust in the Church is too nave and there is great positive value of

How people are managed and how they lead Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

How people are managed and how they lead - Essay Example Four of the eight principles are: Congruence not Incongruence, Descriptive not Evaluative, Problem not Person Oriented and Specific not Global. Explain the meaning of the concepts and using ideas from your own experience give examples of their meaning. 3 3. Read the case study and discuss the issues, in terms of supportive communication which it raises. 4 Portfolio Assignment 2 1. House, R.J. in his ‘Path Goal Theory of Leadership’ and Hersey, P. and Blanchard, K.H. in their ‘Situational Leadership Theory’ offer two contingency models of leadership. Discuss, with reference to these two models of leadership the basis upon how leaders engage with their staff to help them improve their performance and gain commitment. 6 2. Discuss the nature and components of transformational leadership. How does transformational leadership differ from the behavioural models of leadership, such as Tannenbaum, R. and Schmidt’s, ‘Continuum Model’ and Contingen cy models of leadership such as the ‘House’ and ‘Hersey-Blanchard’ models discussed above. 7 Portfolio Assignment 3 1. Analysis of the case study 9 2. Research suggests that adults do not follow a well developed set of principles when they make decisions. Discuss how leaders might reflect on  the appropriateness of a decision  in terms of ethical considerations. Give examples to support your answer. 10 Portfolio Assignment 4 1. Resistance to organisational change, particularly when the change is ‘soft’ in nature, can stem from the individual or from the organisation. Discuss the nature of, and explore the reasons why, change is often resisted. 12 2. From a management perspective how can this resistance be overcome? 13 References 14 Bibliography 17 Portfolio Assignment 1 Whetten and Cameron (2011, p261) citing Bowman (1964) write that, â€Å"Surveys have consistently shown that the ability to effectively communicate face to face is the char acteristic judged by managers to be the most critical in determining promotability†. 1. One way to improve communication is through ‘Supportive Communication†. Discuss what Whetten and Cameron mean when they define this concept of communication. Why do they consider it so important? The term ‘supportive communication’ as used in the book of Whetten and Cameron aims to highlight two characteristics of communication: the potentials of communication to help towards the achievement of the goal set and the freedom provided to both parties in order to state their views (Whetten and Cameron 2011). Supportive communication is a mode of communication that can be quite important in certain organizational events, such as interviews (Whetten and Cameron 2011). Indeed, an interview between a candidate and the employer would have more chances to lead to the development of a successful cooperation if both parties were allowed to show their concerns and their percepti ons in regard to the issues discussed during the interview (Whetten and Cameron 2011). In other words, for Whetten and Cameron supportive communication can be used for enhancing cooperation and trust in the workplace. No other mode of communication, apart from supportive communication, offers to both parties the chance to feel equal, a condition that can be quite crucial in certain cases; for example, using supportive communication an interviewer can identify the actual willingness of the interviewee to work as a member of a group (Whetten and Came

The Quran And The Bible Comparison Religion Essay

The Quran And The Bible Comparison Religion Essay All around the world, There are diverse religions depending on the kind of values, beliefs, culture, and practices with which the one of us has grew up. Those aspects have a direct relationship with the different religious books that represent the ultimate and most important reference that edify and enlighten these rules for any one of us. Accordingly, these books provide us also with instructions, regulations, and set of laws organizing our lives and paving us the way to stay in this world in the best possible manner. Having the chance to enroll in the class of World Literature was for me an opportunity to study and explore different important literature works which for sure helped to enrich, improve and develop my critical thinking abilities. Among the works that I have read are for instance, Gilgamesh that said to be to first ever great heroic narrative of world literature and that is originated back to the prehistory. The Iliad that I have seen as a movie and read and that is tal king about the great story of two great civilizations: the Trojans and Achaeans. In addition, and more importantly, the two literature works that I have enjoyed the most are: From the one hand, there is the Hebrew Bible which is the sacred writings of the Jews and it encompasses a rich variety of texts from different periods in poetry and prose. For instance, the Old Testament (Torah) is the holiest writing of Jews that means the law and instructions. Also, it is important to read this section of the Old Testament since even the prophet Mohamed showed respect to it. In addition, the torah dates to 1200 B.C when it was first spoken and 1000 B.C when it was first written (Benjamin R. Foster, 2009). Therefore, the Bible remains the ultimate source to study the Jewish civilization and people from different modes and perspectives and to communicate with them with best possible manner. On the other hand, the Quran is defined as the holy writing or book by all Muslims, it is considered as the authentic sayings of God that the prophet Mohammed received orally. Muslims refuse totally the idea that says that the prophet is the source of Quran, Mohammed for Muslims is just a messenger to whom God transmitted a message to deliver to the rest of humanity. The Quran is mainly the ultimate proof of gods mercy for us, for the whole Muslim community it is considered as the confirmation and the accomplishment of the previous holy books namely the Bible and the Torah. The content of the Quran doesnt address direct life issues but talks more generally about life values and principles, it talks also about different topics such as skies and earth, the environment, nature, different races, natural phenomena ethical issues, history of old people and their moral examples. The Quran occupies the most important place in the Muslims mind, this shows mainly in the fact that majority try to make their children learn the Quran by heart and understand the meaning of the words in it. The Quran wasnt revealed to Mohammed in one part but in different parts that took twenty three years in Mecca and Medina, it is composed of hundred and fourteen sections classified under different themes. The Quran is of high value for Muslims as it constitutes the one and only miracle of the prophet Mohammed represented in the oral revelation of gods words. Quran was translated to different languages in different parts of the world for understanding matters. However the only reference for Muslims stays always the Quran in Arabic because of the interpretations that may have a different meaning if translated. It seems for granted that many issues around religion have been exhausted and dealt with thoroughly to the extent that no further work on them would be given the interest it owes. Those issues have received much interest on the expense of the current issues that brainstorm the mind of writers and scholars. Every one of them tries his best to contrast and compare the principal aspects of different religions, namely Quran and the Bible. What really brought this topic to the surface and made of it the hot spot in media and theology studies are the recurrent events that have made of our planet a volcano-like crater. Samuel Huntingtons work The Clash of Civilizations could be considered as the drop that made the situation even worse and tense. In his book, Huntington points out that the world is heading towards a global clash between civilizations of which religion is the heart. Religion is, therefore, considered as the essence and the backbone of every civilization. In other words, relig ion is not only the law that people can watch to reach a better after life, but also it has always been a central means of organizing human life and dynamics. Thus my humble work will try to contrast and compare Quran and the Bible, though it is not a simple task as it sounds to be. My attempt will not cover all the specific distinctions, but rather would shed some light on the major concepts that are witness in both religions. It is true that both religions, Quran and the Bible, share many meeting points to the extent that both are labelled as the Abrahamic religions bearing in mind it is so difficult to compare and contrast them as in the Bible there is such a wide range of beliefs and practices among different wings of Christianity: Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, churches, the Anglican communion, and the tens of thousands of Protestant faith groups. The same case applies to Islam knowing that there are four different schools -called Madahib: Malikki, Hanafi, Chafii and Hanbali. These schools are referred to as the Sunni Madaheb and they are methods or ways of interpreting of the religious materials in the three levels: beliefs, religious practices and law. To simplify the task, I will limit myself to three major aspects that can be tracked in both religions and to see how every religion views those subject matters and what version it gives to them. I will tackle the concept of uniqueness of God in both religions. Then I will try to cover the notion of revelation as well as the Ten Commandments and Quran. 1-GOD Herman Roborgh (2009), in his article Paradoxes of Christianity and Islam argues that The scriptures of both Islam and Christianity are full of paradoxes. Some readers of paradoxes simply emphasise only one part of the paradox and neglect the other. Critics of Quran and of Bible feast on one-sided interpretation of this sort. Other readers smooth over the apparent contradictions or are so dulled by familiarity that they do not even notice them. Accordingly, we can believe that there is a plain reality that no one can deny which is the agreement of both religions on the concept of the oneness of God and His power. This notion is referred to in Quran as Tawheed. In Quran God, could be translated as Allah, is the unique and supreme. He is the creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the universe. God has 99 names all of which testify that He is the owner of the judgement day. He is the one that would describe or ascribe all existing things: God is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward; God is the Knower of everything (Sura 57:3). Meanwhile, Muslims are to consider themselves as the servants and friends of God since He is the almighty and has full knowledge of the secrets of the heart (Roborgh 2009). Therefore, He deserves to be worshipped and glorified alone and no one else should be worshipped or taken as an intermediate between the followers and Him. Muslims believe in one unitary and omnipotent God Allah. The ultimate purpose of humanity is submission to Allah in every aspect of life including faith, family, peace, love and work. Islam is strongly monotheistic and abhors both the attribution of divinity to any human and the notion that Allah might be divisible. It means that primary concern for Muslims must be to believe in the oneness of God and to avoid the attribution of any human characteristics to God such as mortality or family. This is strongly felt is this Sura They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; yet they were commanded to worship but One God (Allah): there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: (far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him). Quran 9:31 As for Christians, God or Lord is unique. We can start with what The Bible dictates in (One of the Commandments) You shall not have no other gods before me. Exodus 20:3. This strongly shows that Christians are to believe in one God and not to involve another one in worshipping him. Yet, the main difference with the Quran is that the Bible believes that God has a son, according to the concept of Trinity which is the nucleus of the Athanasian Creed which states that: There is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the father, of the son, and of the Holy Ghost is one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal. The father is god, the son if god, and the Holy Ghost is god. And yet they are not three gods, but one godà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Marmarinta Umar P Mababaya). Despite having and believing in one god, we can see that power, regard and endearment are divided on the three corners of the cross: Lord, Son and the Holy Spirit. This seems to be contradictory. Both religions view God as a central character, which personifies power, wisdom and knowledge; virtues that mortals are unable to fully reach. Passages from the scriptures demonstrate such a fact. D. Emmanuel (2008) argues that The awareness of God and the belief in his initiative to reach out to humanity appears to be at the heart of both Bible and Quran. God appeared to Adam and conversed with him person to person (Sura 2: 31; cf. Genesis). In Quran as well as in Bible, the power of God lies in one word Be. All His orders and wishes are executed merely by uttering this word. Muslims go further to say that be and it is is the secret of the beginning of the universe. The same notion is seen in The Bible. To illustrate we can mention the story of the creation of the universe. This story states that God created heaven and then created the earth but some time later God noticed that darkness was dominating all over and then the spirit of God said Let there be light, and there was light. 2- Revelation This leads us to talk about the second common point between Quran and Bible which Revelation of God. The Quran and Bible have given us many clues and details about the existence of a merciful and caring God. W. Rauschnebusch (2010) concludes that since the creation of the world, the invisible character of God, his everlasting power and godhead, has been discerned through his visible works. To put it differently, we can say that we feel the existence of god though we dont see Him and, hence, maintain a sort of connection with him via his creations that really keep us perplexed everyday. God has been addressing his messengers as well as all his followers in three different ways: first, that God has spoken to humanity as person to person; second, that his revelation was fragmentary in its contents and forms; and third, that revelations culminated in one who by his peculiar relations to God guarantees a perfection to which broken and incomplete revelations did not attain. Consequently, t o account for our weakness and blindness, God has reached down to us and has revealed himself to men. Both religions point out that God revealed himself to us and gave us knowledge of himself. The Quran claims to be the culmination of all the previous Revelations, and contains the fundamental teachings of all the previous Prophets and Scriptures. Referring to the previous Prophets and their Books, God says to the Muslims: These are they whom Allah guided, so follow their guidance. (6:91) A Messenger from Allah, who recites unto them the pure Scriptures, wherein are the lasting commandments. (98:2-3) (Khalid Saifullah Khan) Nevertheless, how revelation has taken place is the key difference that lies between Quran and Bible. Father Zakaria Boutros says that god delivers his godly message when a spiritual contact occurs between the prophet or messenger and God and that the Holy Sprit which is the spirit of god gives meanings and thoughts to mens spirit. Christians insist on the absence of an intermediary between god and men or the messengers unlike in Islam. Revelation in Islam is the Quran and its assembly. Sometimes God enters in a direct revelation with his prophet to transfer what is in godly thoughts and knowledge or he relies on an intermediary like angels. Nasr Abu Zayd (2010) points out that Muhammads first encounter was not with the Lord; it was with the angel. In this encounter, the divine is presented in an intimate personal. This mean that Gods revelations have taken many forms to approach His prophets and messengers. These forms or ways differs from the two Abrahimic traditions religions. The Quran, in one verse, pointed to the three ways of revelation saying: It is not fitting for a man that God should speak to him except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by the sending of a messenger to reveal, with Gods permission, what God wills: for He is Most High, Most Wise {Consultation Chapter (Surat Ash-Shura) 51}. By the direct revelation we mean the insertion of the meaning or knowledge into the heart of the prophet. This is clearly noticed in the Hadith Narrated by Ibn Masoud from Ibn Hayan: the prophet, said: the Holy Spirit inserted into me a converse: No soul will die until it fulfils its sustenance. This concept is close to the Christian way of revelation since it doesnt implicate any kind of intermediary between god and his chosen prophet. The second type of revelation according to the Quran is behind a veil while addressing his prophets such as Moses. The third kind of revelation is sending an angel with a message to deliver. The angel in charge of this is Gabriel. Al-Bokhary Narrated from Aeisha that Al-Hares Ibn Hashim asked the prophet Muhammad: How the revelation comes to you, he said: sometimes he speaks to me and I recognize him, another time the angel comes to me in a human form speaking to me and I recognize what he says. All Muslim scholars agree on the fact that Quran is the speech of Allah be it in words or meaning. But this definition may lead us to overlook or exclude another type of text in Quran from being a part of Allahs revelation. It is the Hadith Qudssi which refers to the inspiration of meaning from Allah but the words are from the prophet Muhammed. This kind of revelation does not exist in Bible. This constitutes in itself a huge difference between revelation in Quran and that in the Bible. What is really typical is that during most revelations messengers and prophets were subject to some supernatural events and happenings that mankind is not used to. These events might have great psychological and physical complications. To illustrate, Moses lost consciousness when he entered in a dialogue with God on the mountain of Sinai. Another instance could be the weird cold the prophet Muhammad felt in a hot day when the angel descended to him with the message from Allah. Once back, he asked his wife to warm him up by putting more blankets on him. I also end this part about revelation with the quote of Montgomery Watt ;After all these considerations, what have Christians to say about the prophethood of Muhammad? For Muslims, Jesus is a prophet and is indeed something more than a prophet, since the Quran (4.171) speaks of him as Gods word which he put into Mary and a spirit from him. For Christians the question of Muhatnmads prophethood is difficult [Life of many Muslim people changed to better even in hard circumstances]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ These points lead to the conclusion that the view of reality presented in the Quran is true and from God, and that Muhammad is therefore a genuine prophet.( Niyazi BEKI 2005). 3-The Ten Commandments Sebastian Gunther, who is a pioneer scholar in the University of Toronto, draws the conclusion that the Ten Commandments are very fundamental for communities, societies and cultures of Judeo-Christian tradition. They are like the Magna Carta for social order. The commandments are not intended as concrete legislation (or laws) but as a formulation of conditions for membership in the community, to be enforced by God, not by any human authority. They are essentially categorical imperatives of universal validity, above time and independent of circumstances. The Ten Commandments comprise the most famous set of religious and ethical rules in the world. (Royal Ontario Museum) Here the need for this question rises. Does Quran have any account for the Ten Commandments? And are they similar to the ones in The Bible? As far as the Ten Commandments of Bible are concerned, they are divided into two groups of five commandments. The first five ones revolve around the relationship between God and his followers. Whereas the other five remaining commandments regulate the interactions between people themselves. Quran, on the other hand, does not contain any specific passages or ayah for the Ten Commandments, but on two different areas, Quran makes hints to the commandments when we come across the ayah when God reveals Himself to Moses in the mount of Sinai. In these verses we have the impression that God is recommending to Moses to abide by his dictations when dealing with the Jews. (142) And We appointed with Moses thirty nights and We completed them with ten, so the appointed time of his Lord was forty nights (143) And when Moses came [to Mount Sinai] to Our appointed time and his Lord spoke with him (144) Said He, Moses, I have chosen thee above all men for My Messages and My Utterance; take what I have given thee, and be of the thankful. (145) And We wrote for him on the Tablets of everything an admonition and a distinguishing of everything Surat Alaaraf. 7:142-5 (late Meccan period). Here we see that God has given Moses Tablets in which the commandments were written. They are sort of laws or contracts between Moses and the Jewish. It is of a paramount importance to mention that the Quran believes strongly that The Bible has been corrupt and that all its texts are not reliable sources since they have been modified and lost their divine originality as a consequence to many factors such as personal interest. Yet many happenings coincide to a great extent with what have been mentioned in Quran. Conclusion All in all, through this paper, I tried to compare and contrast some notions in Quran and The bible. Of course, it is hard to cover all the paradoxes and similarities between the two Abrahimic religions. For this reason and many others, I opted for three major points which are God, revelation and The Ten Commandments. I came to the conclusion that Quran and The bible share many common points much more than the differences they have. Both of them believe in the oneness of God and his supreme power. The also agree on a set of qualities and characteristics of God. God is the creator of the universe and the unique judge. The second point along which I contrasted both religions is revelation. Gods revelation to people is mentioned in both sacred books but what differs is the way of this revelation. The need to launch and maintain a communication between the creator and his creatures seems indispensable because prophets and people always need guidance from the one who knows everything- God. Last but not least, The Ten Commandments constitute the guide line or Magna Carta that regulate life for the Christians. Though they are not directly cited in Quran, there are some hints that could be interpreted as the Ten Commandments. My humble works seems far away from perfection, and further work must be carried to shed more light on this complicated issue. As a Muslim, I strongly believe that the reference text should be Quran which is the original version that has not undergone any kind of forging or modification unlike The Bible.

Hannibal :: essays research papers

- North American moviegoers were hungry for Hannibal the Cannibal at the weekend. "Hannibal," a thriller starring Sir Anthony Hopkins in a long-awaited follow-up to the 1991 hit "The Silence of the Lambs," grossed a record-breaking $58 million in its first three days of release in the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday. If the numbers hold when final data are issued on Monday, "Hannibal" will replace 2000's "Mission: Impossible II" ($57.9 million) as the third-highest bow in movie history, after 1997's "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" ($72 million) and 1999's "Star Wars: Episode One -- The Phantom Menace" ($64.8 million). It also set new records for a non-summer opening, an R-rated release and for a release by domestic distributor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. "I must confess I expected it to be big, but not this big," "Hannibal" producer Dino De Laurentiis told Reuters from Berlin. Indeed most industry expectations were in the $35 million- $40 million range. MGM distribution president Larry Gleason said he had hoped to surpass the $42 million bow of the 2000 horror spoof "Scary Movie," which held the record for an R-rated release. AUDIENCE LOVES THE VILLAIN The film stars Hopkins as elegant cannibal Hannibal Lecter. When he's not disemboweling or dining on his hapless victims, he engages in a transatlantic cat-and-mouse game with FBI agent Clarice Starling, played by Julianne Moore. Jodie Foster played Starling in "Lambs," but opted not to return, reportedly because of the new film's violence. Ridley Scott ("Gladiator") directed. The original was directed by Jonathan Demme. De Laurentiis, in Berlin for the film's screening on Sunday night at the German capital's annual film festival, said audiences have conferred hero status on Hannibal Lecter. "When he's forced to kill, he kills somebody the audience wants to kill too," he said. "'Hannibal' is a picture in its own. It's a picture that will be remembered forever." He said Hopkins, who received a $10 million-plus salary for "Hannibal," had asked to be in a sequel. This was confirmed by MGM's Gleason. Whereas "Silence" and "Hannibal" were based on novels by Thomas Harris, the new project would probably bypass the book stage and go straight to script, Gleason said. As for the violent scenes, both De Laurentiis and Gleason noted that they were staged in an understated way with irony and humor. "It's playing much more fun than violent, in a weird way," Gleason said. "There's a lot of nervous laughter (among the audience).