by Catherine Soulé
Culture Editor
Though both series boast stunning cinematography and viewer access into some otherwise unknown places on Earth, Discovery Channel’s Life is a more focused, comprehensive look at some of the most intricate processes and habits of plants and animals over Planet Earth’s broader look at our planet.
Life episodes, narrated by Oprah Winfrey, tend to be centered more on animal kingdoms, ranging from birds to mammals to primates. These specific categories develop the diversity of animal species, rather than jumping from one general biome to the next, as in Planet Earth.
However, the Earth series raises awareness about issues like global warming and trash pollution, whereas Life was created simply for the admiration of plants and animals. Narrated by Sigourney Weaver, the Earth series also provides information about Earth’s core and natural disasters...(read more)
SPORTS:
Bocce Ball Offers Family Entertainment
by Aneesa Vaez-Iravani
Webmaster
With flexible rules according to players’ abilities and several formal and informal versions of play, bocce ball is a celebrated sport in several European countries. Its modern adaptation closely resembles bowling and can be dated back to the late Roman Empire. Indeed, there is evidence that Egyptians practiced a version of the game as early as 5000 B.C. Today some of the greatest players are Italian Americans, since the common form of bocce ball known widely in the US originated in Italy.
The informal version of bocce ball, also known as open bocce, is the most popular and simplest form of the sport. Typically played on a 20-27 meter long asphalt court or over natural soil, bocce ball uses spherical balls made of either plastic material or metal. Throughout the ages bocce ball has even been played with such objects as coconuts and rounded rocks, and has been adapted for popular outdoor locations, such as beaches and flat grassland...(read more)