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Charles Blackman：Alice in Wonderland

　　Venue(地点)　The Ian Potter Centre

　　Admission　Free entry

　　Charles Blackman is famous for his beautiful painting of dreams．In 1956, he heard for the first time Lewis Carroll's extraordinary tale of Alice in Wonderland –the story of a Victorian girl who falls down a rabbit hole, meets a lot of funny characters and experiences all kinds of things．At that time．Blackman's wife was suffering form progressive blindness．The story of Alice moving through the strange situations often disheartened by various events was similar to his wife's experiences．It also reflects so much of his own life．All this contributed to the completion of the Alice in Wonderland paintings．

　　Go straight to the experts for an introductory course in book illustration．The course includes an introduction to the process of illustration and its techniques, workshop exercise and group projects．

　　Date Sunday 17 June &Sunday 5Aug．10am－1pm

　　Venue Gas Works Arts Park

　　Celebrate the exhibition and Children's Book Week with special activities just for the day, including a special visit from Alice and the White Rabbit

　　Date Sunday 24 June, 11am－4pm

　　Venue Exhibition Space．Level 3

　　Visit the exhibition or discover wonderful curiosities in artworks in the NGV Collection and make a magic world in a box．Alice and the White Rabbit will be with you．Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland will be screened．

　　Dates Sunday 8,15,22,29 July ,and Tuesday 24-Friday 27 July ,12noon－3pm

　　Venue Theatre, NGV Australia

　　Distortions of scale(比例失真)can make artworks strange but interesting．Find out how Charles Blackman distorted scale in his paintings to create a curious world, then experiment with scale in your own drawings．More information upon booking．

　　Date Friday 27 July, 10∶30am－3pm

　　Venue Foryer, Level 3

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　　Machines in the home have a short history．Sewing machines, washing machines and tumble dries are common enough today, but a hundred years ago few people could even imagine such things．However, inventors have designed and built a wide range of household machines since then．In most cases the inventor tried to patent(申请专利)his machine, to stop anyone copying it．Then he tried to produce a lot of them．If the machine became popular, the inventor could make a lot of money．

　　In 1790 the first sewing machine was patented．The inventor was an Englishman called Thomas Saint．There was nothing to match his machine for forty years, and then someone built a similar device．He was a Frenchman, Bartelemy Thimonier．Neither of these early machines worked very well, however．It wasn't until 1846 that an inventor came up with a really efficient sewing machine．He was an American, Elias Howe and his machine was good enough to beat five skilled sewing women．He didn't make much money from it, however．The first commercially successful sewing machine was patented by Isaac Singer five years later．

　　Today, we take washing machines for granted, but there was none before 1869．The revolving drum(旋转桶)of that first machine set a pattern for the future, but it was crude by today's standards．The drum was turned by hand, and needed a lot of effort．Eight years passed before someone produced an electric washing machine．The world had to wait even longer for a machine to dry clothes．The first spin-drier was another American invention, patented in 1924; but it was 20 years before such machines were widely used．

　　It was yet another American, called Bissell, who introduced the carpet sweeper．He patented the original machine back in 1876．It didn't pick up dirt very well, but it was quicker than a dustpan and brush．Thirty-six years later, even the carpet sweeper was old-fashioned：modern homes now have a vacuum cleaner(吸尘器)with an electric motor to suck the dust．

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　　We have heard of counterfeiting before．Usually it refers to people making money by printing it instead of earning it．But counterfeiting also can involve all sorts of consumer goods and manufactured products．From well-known brand names such as Calvin Klein jeans to auto parts, counterfeiters have found ways to produce goods that look authentic．In some instances, counterfeit products look better than the original!

　　The demand of brand-name products has helped counterfeiting grow into a very profitable business throughout the world and into a serious problem for legal manufacturers and consumers alike．Faulty counterfeit parts have caused more than two dozen crashes．Most counterfeit auto parts do not meet federal safety standards．

　　Counterfeiting hurts manufacturers in many ways．Analysts estimate that, in the United States alone, annual revenue loss runs form ＄6 billion to ＄8 billion．Perhaps even worse, consumers blame the innocent manufacturers when they unknowingly buy a counterfeit product and find it doesn't perform as expected．Sometimes entire economies can suffer．For instance, when farmers in Kenya and Zaire used counterfeit fertilizers, both countries lost most crops．

　　By copying other firm's products, counterfeiters avoid research and development costs and most marketing costs．High-tech products such as computers and their software products are especially easy to attack．As long as counterfeiting is profitable, large quantities of products are available to copy, and the laws are difficult to enforce, counterfeiters can be expected to be proper for a long time．

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　　Pupils in Warwickshire will soon be learning Mandarin after new links were forged(建立联系)with a region in China．

　　Head teachers from the county spent a week in Shenzhen in South-east China, making links with schools and touring different education establishments．

　　Schools that took part are now looking to introduce Mandarin lessons．Pupils from schools in Warwickshire and Shenzhen are starting to write and e-mail each other and plans are being made to share lessons over the Internet．

　　The trip was arranged by Warwickshire County Council and funded by the British Council as the first stage of development of a range of ties with the economically booming city．

　　International development officer Judith Young said：“We are entering an exciting period of school relation between Warwickshire and Shenzhen．There is a real appetite for sharing ideas among the Chinese．We were able to see the differences and similarities between the education systems and there are many areas in which our schools, teachers and pupils will be able to benefit from a different cultural perspective(观点)and links with a country that is becoming very important on the world stage．Throughout the high profile(引人注目)visit led by our county education officer, Eric Wood, our group was made to feel very welcome and attracted a great deal of interest．Our visit to a primary school was featured as the main news item on television that night．A mark of how highly the visit was valued is that plans are being made for a return visit to Warwickshire of civic leaders, senior education officials and school principals．”

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　　The booking notes of the play“the Age of Innocence”：

　　Price：＄10

　　There are four easy ways to book seats for performance：

　　The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m.－8 p.m.

　　Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card(Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted)

　　Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office．

　　Complete the on-line booking form at www．Satanfiedtheatre．com

　　DICOUNTS：

　　Saver：＄2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday．Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students．

　　Supersaver：half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion．It is advisable to book in advance．There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show．

　　Standby：best available seats are on sale for ＄6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible(suitable)for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers．

　　Group Bookings：there is a ten per cent discount for parties of twelve or more．

　　School：school parties of ten or more can book ＄6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free．

　　Please note：we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances．

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　　Detroit(底特律)might have a hard time hearing any more bad news after the week it just had．Toyota will soon be the world's No．1 automaker, while the Big Three-nowadays known as the“Detroit Three,”posted ＄7.4 billion combined loss for the three months ended Sept．30．Even Detroit's best performer, General Motors, couldn't win over Wall Street by cutting its losses to only ＄115 million, which is an improvement over last year's third-quarter loss of ＄1.7 billion．The problem：despite all the factory closings and job cuts, GM, Ford and Chrysler are still losing money on every car and truck they sell in America．

　　What's the matter with Motown? It all comes down to the models it sells．Car buyers simply don't find them as appealing as foreign wheels, which explains why Japanese models fetch an average price of ＄24,289, while American cars go for just ＄21,597, according to a new study by car consultant Harbour Felax．Increasingly, car buyers see Detroit's products as too big, too gas-thirsty or too bland．

　　In other words, fixing Detroit's product problems requires a serious check．For now, Detroit has only a quarter of the fast-growing small-car market, while nearly two thirds of its models are slow-selling ones, SUVs and minivans．“No automaker can suddenly make a transfer and double its number of small cars,”says GM car president Bob Lutz．But sellers want Detroit to move faster．The Japanese make over their new models every five years, while American automakers take seven or eight．Detroit has been slow to vary because it became addicted to the big profits it once made off SUVs．Only now are they making fuel-efficient cars like the Ford Edge and GMC Acadia, while the Japanese have an eight-year lead in that hot market．

　　“Detroit needs a complete reinvention(change)of how they do business,”says Mike Jackson, CEO of Auto Nation, America's top car dealer．That reinvention will require Detroit to rethink how it conceives, designs and executes cars．Like the Japanese, Detroit needs to engineer multiple models．They need to simplify how they engineer them, so that they are easier to build, have better quality and make more money．

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　　Japan's 24-hour convenience stores, already struggling with lagging sales and growth, may soon face yet another threat-moves to limit business hours and close the stores late at night．The district of Saitama, which borders Tokyo, may follow in the footsteps of the western city of Kyoto and urge convenience stores to close during late night hours in an effort to limit carbon dioxide(二氧化碳)emissions, Japanese media reported．

　　Kyoto, a former capital, wants to persuade convenience and other 24-hour stores to close late at night so as to improve evening views of the city and cut down on energy use．The Nikkei business daily said closures could last from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. The move is strongly opposed by the industry, which fears a bad impact on an already troubled sector also grappling with the specter of a higher tobacco tax, which could hit overall sales．

　　“Even if we only operate the stores for 16 hours, we can't stop the refrigerators,”said Toshiro Yamaguchi, the president of Seven-Eleven Japan Co, which is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd, at a news conference in Saitama on Tuesday．He said such cuts in operating hours would reduce each store's profit by 20 percent．“If this happens, our current business model will lose its foundation．”

　　Analysts said that while it is difficult to estimate the potential impact of the move without a concrete plan, their overall impression was that it was likely to be negative．“This could cut profits and lead to less efficient operations and the increased loss of opportunities,”said Masafumi Shoda, an analyst at Nomura Securities．“But it depends on the store－urban stores do better than others．There are some in the countryside that are inefficient．”

　　Some have suggested that if governments were sincere about reducing carbon emissions there were much more efficient methods, such as cutting back on the huge number of automatic vending machines(自动售货机)．

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　　The world's oceans have warmed 50 percent faster over the last 40 years than previously thought due to climate change, Australian and US climate researchers reported on Wednesday．Higher ocean temperatures expand the volume of water, contributing to a rise in sea levels that is submerging small island nations and threatening to great damage in low-lying, densely-populated delta regions around the globe．

　　The study, published in the British journal Nature, adds to a growing scientific chorus of warnings about the pace and consequences of rising oceans．It also serves as a corrective to a massive report issued last year by the Nobel-winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), according to the authors．

　　Rising sea levels are driven by two things：the thermal(热)expansion of sea water, and additional water from melting sources of ice．Both processes are caused by global warming．The ice sheet that sits at the top of Greenland, for example, contains enough water to raise world ocean levels by seven metres(23 feet), which would bury sea-level cities from Dhaka to Shanghai．

　　Trying to figure out how much each of these factors contributes to rising sea levels is critically important to understanding climate change, and forecasting future temperature rises, scientists say．But up to now, there has been a confusing gap between the projections of computer-based climate models, and the observations of scientists gathering data from the oceans．

　　The new study, led by Catia Domingues of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, is the first to reconcile(与……一致)the models with observed data．Using new techniques to assess ocean temperatures to a depth of 700 metres(2,300 feet)from 1961 to 2003, it shows that thermal warming contributed to a 0.53 millimetre-per-year rise in sea levels rather than the 0.32 mm rise reported by the IPCC．

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　　Comprehensive lifestyle changes including a better diet and more exercise can lead not only to a better physique, but also to swift and dramatic changes at the genetic level, U．S．researchers said on Monday．In a small study, the researchers tracked 30 men with low-risk prostate cancer(前列腺癌)who decided against conventional medical treatment such as surgery and radiation or hormone therapy．

　　The men underwent three months of major lifestyle changes, including eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products, moderate exercise such as walking for half an hour a day, and an hour of daily stress management methods such as meditation(冥想)．As expected, they lost weight, lowered their blood pressure and saw other health improvements．But the researchers found more profound changes when they compared prostate biopsies taken before and after the lifestyle changes．After the three months, the men had changes in activity in about 500 genes－including 48 that were turned on and 453 genes that were turned off．The activity of disease-preventing genes increased while a number of disease-promoting genes, including those involved in prostate cancer and breast cancer, shut down, according to the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences．

　　The research was led by Dr．Dean Ornish, head of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, and a well-known author advocating lifestyle changes to improve health．“It's an exciting finding because so often people say,‘Oh, it's all in my genes, what can I do?’Well, it turns out you may be able to do a lot,”Ornish, who is also connected with the University of California, San Francisco, said in a telephone interview．“'In just three months, I can change hundreds of my genes simply by changing what I eat and how I live．That's pretty exciting,”Ornish said．“The implications of our study are not limited to men with prostate cancer．”

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　　Three armed robbers stole two Pablo Picasso prints from an art museum in downtown Sao Paulo on Thursday, which was the city's second high-profile art theft in less than a year．The bandits also took two oil paintings by well-known Brazilian artists Emiliano Di Cavalcanti and Lasar Segall, said Carla Regina, a spokeswoman for the Pinacoteca do Estado museum．

　　The Picasso prints stolen were“The Painter and the Model”from 1963 and “Minotaur, Drinker and Women”from 1933, according to a statement from the Sao Paulo Secretary of State for Culture, which oversees the museum．The prints and paintings have a combined value of ＄612,000, the statement and a museum official said．

　　About noon, three armed men paid the ＄2.45 entrance fee and immediately went to the second-floor gallery where the works were being exhibited, bypassing more valuable pieces, authorities said．“This indicates to us that they probably received an order”to take those specific works, Youssef Abou Chain, head of Sao Paulo's organized crime unit, told reporters at a news conference．The assailants overpowered three unarmed museum guards and grabbed the works, officials said．The robbery took about 10 minutes and the museum was nearly empty at the time．The assailants took the pieces-frames and all-out of the museum in two bags．The institution has no metal detectors．

　　In December, Picasso's“Portrait of Suzanne Bloch”and“O Lavrador de Cafe”by Candido Portinari, an influential Brazilian artist, were stolen from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art by three men who used a crowbar(铁撬棍)and car jack to force open one of the museum's steel doors．The framed paintings were found Jan．8, covered in plastic and leaning against a wall in a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, South America's largest city．One of the suspects in that robbery-a former TV chef-turned himself over to police in January, who already had two suspects in custody(监禁)．

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