True Olsen Twins: Mary-Kate and Ashley

You probably think Mary-Kate and Ashley are so famous stars that you don't have anything in common. But you have even more in common than you could ever suppose!

"We do the same things as many other teens", says Mary-Kate. "We go to school, go shopping, meet friends, and have a rest."

"Our friends and teacher communicate with us as with ordinary teens", agreed Ashley.

Girls go for a walk, wait for new films' release and enjoy listening to music. They learn to play the piano but refuse to play football. They sometimes have failures at school and with boys. They like N'Sync's songs and go at concerts with friends.

Mary-Kate and Ashley were born on June 13, 1986 (Ashley is 2 minutes older). They grew at the suburb of Los-Angeles with their brother Trent; he is 2 years older and their sister Elizabeth. She is 3 years younger. Their parents are divorced and children had to divide for some time to be sometimes with mother and sometimes with father. Their father Dave is a broker. Their mother Jarnette performs with ballets in Los-Angeles.

"Trent is a typical elder brother", said Kate. "He helps us with homework, likes to be our observer and looks after us. But he teases us all the time! He draws very well and goes for sport. He plays football, baseball and basketball. And he also likes computer games very much".

"Lizzie is our younger sister. She does everything by herself and so she is very independent. She likes to act plays at school. And she began to learn actor's skill professionally".

Besides Mary-Kate and Ashley have small sister and brother from the second marriage of their father with Mackenzie Olsen. Tailor is 2 and a half years old and Jake is one and a half year old.

"It's great when there are small children because you can play with them", says Ashley. "We always help our father to look after children"They have their own fashion line, but what styles do they prefer?

"None", says Mary-Kate. "I like eclecticism when everything is mixed." And Ashley says "I wear not only the latest fashion. Sometimes I put on things that were in vogue 2 years ago. The main thing is that my clothes should suit my mood at that moment".

They are often asked about their similarities and differences. How do people distinguish them?

"It's very simple", says Mary-Kate. "I have a little mole on my right cheek and Ashley has the same but on her chin. I'm a lefthander and Ashley is normal."

The whole twins' life

1986

June, 13. Hello the world! Mary-Kate and Ashley were born in Los-Angeles in the family of loved parents Jarnie and Dave Olsen.

1987

February. 7-month old Mary-Kate and Ashley went to the first interview to get the role of Michelle Tanner in the serial "Full House".September. "Full House" is started to shoot in Los-Angeles. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen started to act the role of Michelle Tanner in the serial that soon should have appeared on ABC channel. Interesting fact; Mary-Kate played funny scenes and Ashley played more serious.

1992

June. Mary-Kate and Ashley played in their first movie "To Grandmother's House We Go".

Interesting fact; While the film was shooting in Canada Mary-Kate has gone a horse-riding for the first time and became a fan of this sport. September. Ashley lost her first milk-tooth and four month later Mary-Kate lost her too.

1993

April. Mary-Kate and Ashley released their first music video "Our first video".

November. An investigation agency "Olsen and Olsen" was opened! Mary-Kate and Ashley played private detectives and laid bare the truth as "The Trench coat Twins" in new serial "The Adventures of Mary-Kate & Ashley". At the time the first series of their book was published.

1994

September. "You are invited on Mary-Kate and Ashley" This serial began from "Party with lodging for the night".

December. Mary-Kate and Ashley celebrate Christmas on cruise abroad on a military ship and shoot the video "The Case of the Mystery Cruise".

1995

June. Caribbean cruise abroad on submarine with friends and fans.

July. Mary-Kate and Ashley play with dolphins and even met gangsters while playing in video "The Case Of The Sea World Adventure".

October. In the space! Almost. Mary-Kate and Ashley at NASA space camp with their father and elder brother Trent to perform in video "The Case of the U.S Space Camp Mission". They are in the space simulator and meet an astronaut.

October. Mary-Kate and Ashley lost their front teeth in Florida together.

December. Mary-Kate got her first pony and called him "CD".

1996

April. Mary-Kate and Ashley act in their first movie, that was shown in cinema "Both I and My Shadow". Also appeared Kirsty Elli and Steve Guttenberg.July. Hawaii holidays! Mary-Kate and Ashley study surfing. Mary-Kate and Ashley got the reward Nickelodeon Kid's Choice for their roles in the film "Both I and My Shadow".

1997

February. Learn how to ski! Mary-Kate and Ashley go to Weil, Colorado and act in video "Christmas party".

Spring. Queens of cosmetics! Mary-Kate and Ashley start experimenting with lipstick, tone and mascara.

November. Mary-Kate and Ashley take part in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New-York. They are having a ride on Jell-O's platform.

1998

August. Entertainments on cruise to Florida, holidays on Magic Disney ship with their family, friends and fans.

September. New serial "Two Of A Kind" started on ABC channel. Interesting fact; girls played characters who had names Mary-Kate and Ashley, but their surname was Berk.

1999

September. Mary-Kate and Ashley went to eighth form and joined cheer-leaders.

October. Internet! Mary-Kate and Ashley open their own site mary-kateandashley.com

June. Mary-Kate and Ashley made their first journey to Europe and play in a new film "The passport to Paris". Interesting fact; They have kissed guys on the screen for the first time.

2000

May. Toys! Dolls Mary-Kate and Ashley Mattel. They are a real hit!

April. Mary-Kate and Ashley go to Australia and play in a new film "Our lips are sealed!"

October. A month in Great Britain, shooting the film "Winning London"

September, 25 Mary-Kate and Ashley visited their first big concert in Los-Angeles and saw Counting Crows.

2001

January. Fashion! Mary-Kate and Ashley put on sale their own fashion line Wal-Mart.

June. New serial "Twins". Premiere on Fox Family channel.

August. Hollywood Reporter Magazine called Mary-Kate and Ashley "Most Powerful Young Women in Hollywood".

October. Mary-Kate and Ashley got a permission to education with California Department of Motor Vehicles.

October. Animation! "Mary-Kate and Ashley in action!"

November. Mary-Kate and Ashley on the Caribbean Islands. They performed in the movie "Holiday in the Sun"

Summer. Start dancing.

2002

February. Mary-Kate and Ashley ski in Deep Valley, Utah while acting in the film "Getting there"

Summer. The end of academic year in high school! They prepare to entering a college.

April. Italy! Mary-Kate and Ashley travel in Italy and act in a new film "When in Rome", which was released at the end of the year.

June. Mary-Kate and Ashley devote much time to ending the high school.

June, 13 Sweet 16!

8:00 Mary-Kate and Ashley had an exam to got the best gifts - driving licenses. They spent all day with friends and family.

September. A new video is shooting probably on holidays in Pacific Ocean!

What's next? Many Mary-Kate and Ashley's adventures.

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Plant Spirit Shamanism - What's Up With The Weather?

Plant spirit shamans - natural healers who work with herbs, ritual, and the elements - have long known that the world is not made up of discrete and separate parts, but that we are all one: that the butterfly effect of a single extra drop of water released from a cloud into a Gloucestershire river could eventually lead to flooding in the distant streets of London.

Through Gaia Theory and a more informed understanding in recent years of how the natural world, the environment, and the climate really works, some scientists are also coming round to the shamans age-old view of the connections between all things.

How might these scientists and the shamans counter some of the current scepticism about carbon footprints and climate change, and what might they say about the freak weather conditions many of us have been experiencing lately? what are the objections of the sceptics, what are the facts, and what are scientists and modern-day shamans saying?

DOES CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2) CAUSE GLOBAL WARMING?
The sceptics say there is no proof of this. But proof is not the job of science, which deals, in fact, with the art of probabilities. Scientists, that is, make hypotheses (best guesses) which are there not to be proved, but to be disproved - if possible.

The current best guess that CO2 does create a Greenhouse Effect by trapping solar radiation in the atmosphere and causing temperatures rises on Earth has been around since 1829, when Joseph Fourier first put forward this hypothesis and no-ones proved him wrong yet.

Indeed, a recent survey of almost 1,000 peer-reviewed scientific articles could not find one which disagreed that climate change is a man-made phenomenon and that our output of CO2 plays a large part in this.

Even those with a vested interest in proving the scientists wrong like oil companies Exxon-Mobil, Shell, and BP have all issued statements recently agreeing with the evidence: that climate change is taking place, that is happening as a result of our activities, and that CO2 is a factor.

One place you can work out your own carbon footprint is direct.gov.uk/ActOnCO2. You might be surprised at just how much you contribute.

If youd then like the chance to something positive and practical to reduce it, another site to check is http://www.thefourgates.com/villagefundraisers.html#earth thefourgates.com then follow the link from The Village page to the fundraisers page and click on the Earth C.O.S.T. link: Carbon Offset to Save Trees).

WHAT ABOUT SOLAR RADIATION? DOESNT THAT CAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE?
The current counter-theory to CO2 as the cause of global warming and climate change is one which seeks to lay the blame on solar radiation. It seems at best, however, to be a no-theory. It has been known for many years, that is - and commonsense should tell us in any case! - that solar radiation plays a part in keeping the planet warm, because when the Sun shines we all get a tan!

The science, however, shows that the Sun plays a much smaller role than greenhouse gasses in the situation now facing us.

WHAT ABOUT OTHER NATURAL CAUSES LIKE ANIMALS AND WATER VAPOR?
Water vapour is a known part of the Greenhouse Effect but it reacts to changes in climate rather than causing climate change. Evaporation and precipitation is a cycle and any water in the atmosphere doesnt stay there for more than a few weeks.

Nature itself, in its widest to its narrowest forms, is also cyclical: the cycle of life and death. Animals and plants live, die, and become food for others, and the CO2 they create gets used up elsewhere as a result of this natural cycle.

Humans meanwhile, pump six gigatonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year and take little if any out. Nor do we put any fresh air back. We could do through activities like tree planting, since every tree naturally offsets 650 kg of CO2, transforming pollution, offsetting carbon, and giving us back fresh air. The problem is that few people are planting trees and, in fact, deforestation the reverse of what we should be doing is a major issue.

In 1600, for example, over 12% of Ireland was covered by broadleaf forests. By 1800, the figure was down to 2%. Since then, the country has been working to restore its forests but, by 2000, only 7% of woodlands had been returned. And, in the urgency to put trees back, the bulk of planting has been non-native trees. Many of these like the iroko, from West Africa - are being logged in such an unsustainable way that if the present rate of depletion continues the forests there will be gone in five years. The outcome is stalemate (at best).

It is for these reasons that The Village has introduced the Earth C.O.S.T. Programme to plant a new forest of indigenous trees at its Centre for environmental and personal healing.

As it is, the Earth absorbs about half of our current CO2 but the rest hangs around as a greenhouse gas. Cutting back on energy usage and planting more trees would help. We know this because levels of CO2 have been stable for thousands of years until the Industrial Revolution began 150 years ago and deforestation also became rife.

ISNT CLIMATE CHANGE JUST PART OF A NATURAL CYCLE?
It is true that every 100,000 years or so the Earth is subject to climate changes due to its orbit around the Sun. This is known as Milankovitch Cycle and its effects as well as its timeline are all fairly predictable.

In the 1970s, for example, scientists were already warning of a coming Ice Age as a result of this Cycle, so nothings changed there - except the timing. We should be able to predict about 50,000 years of natural warming as a result of the Milankovitch Cycle, that is; the problem, however, is that current warming is off the scale by a factor of well, a lot! if only the Milankovitch Cycle was the cause.

Climate change and global warming is speeding the process up.

WE CANT PREDICT THE WEATHER EVEN A FEW DAYS AHEAD SO HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT THE CLIMATE OF THE FUTURE HOLDS?
Firstly, weather isnt climate. Weather refers to individual instances of sun or rain in specific geographical areas; climate is the average of all these instances over a bigger area and a longer period of time. Weather changes rapidly (which is why it can be so hard to predict) but climate is relatively stable.

An analogy, if youre a gambling man, is the form of a particular horse. Of course you cant predict (i.e. know) if hell win the race youve just bet the house on, but if you look back over his form, his performance on certain fields, and his fitness levels now, then average out his wins against losses, you can get an idea of his potential in this coming race enough to make an informed decision, at least, on where to place your bet.

Which brings us back to our first point, since this is also how science works: through educated best guesses. And the current best guess, after studying past form and looking at the health of the planet now, is that man-made CO2 is leading to raised temperatures and to climate change.

WHAT DO THE SHAMANS SAY?
The Sioux medicine man Black Elk spoke early last century of the sacred hoop of life, that all things are one and that everything is part of a great circle of existence. Visionaries like Black Elk, and plant spirit shamans today, know that life on our planet amounts to far more than the discrete boxes, capable of control and intervention, that we have taken it to be until now.

James Lovelock a visionary scientist rather than a shaman has also shown, in our century, through his Gaia Hypothesis, that the world is alive, aware, and intelligent; a self-regulating organism that seeks balance, like our own bodies.

The job of human beings, says Lovelock, is through our intelligence and communication [to act as] the nervous system of the planet. Through us, Gaia has seen herself from space and begins to know her place in the universe. We should be the heart and mind of the Earth, not its malady.

A humble plea that we might start taking our rightful place by simply planting a few more trees.

Ross Heaven is a therapist, workshop leader, and the author of several books on shamanism and healing, including Darkness Visible, the best-selling Plant Spirit Shamanism, The Way of The Lover, The Journey to You, and Loves Simple Truths. His website is http://www.thefourgates.com where you can also read more about The Village and how to join his sacred journeys to the plant spirit shamans and healers of the Amazon.

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