Billie Holiday

Eleanora Fagan; Philadelphia, 1915-New York, 1959), American jazz singer. Orphaned at an early age, his life was marked by misfortune: he raped at age ten, twelve began to prostitute, a fact for which he spent four months in prison.

Her luck changed after their participation in an audition for a job as a dancer in the Pod's & Jerry's, where, after a dismal failure, pianist local invited her to sing, which allowed the critic and producer John Hammond discovered in her extraordinary vocal qualities, despite their zero musical training.

Hammond got the young engraven his first album with legendary clarinetist Benny Goodman when the singer was eighteen. After this recording, he came to Holiday a time of great success, during which he performed with the likes of Teddy Wilson, Lester Young, with whom he produced some of his best recordings, William Count Basie and Artie Shaw.

Charlie Parker

Called Charlie Bird Parker; Kansas City, 1920-New York, 1955) Saxophonist and composer. If the topic of creative genius gone through a stormy life as exemplified Van Gogh or Tchaikovsky is accepted, it would certainly be included in the category Parker. His life was marked by all sorts of problems, both for drug dependency and alcohol and mental nature that forced internarle at Camarillo State Hospital. In the music field, however, Parker and alto revolutionized the world of jazz in the forties to introduce the style known as bebop, characterized by the speed of their tempos and harmonic experimentation. In 1945, the Savoy label began publishing early works framed in that style, which quickly spread to many other jazzmen (D. Gillespie, T. Monk) and soon transcended its purely musical element status to become a channel for a reaffirmation widespread black culture. In 1953, Parker was part of a team of Gillespie, C. Mingus, B. Powell and M. Roach Quintet very famous. Master, among others, M. Davis, highlight in their discography Relaxin 'at Camarillo, Bird on 52nd Street, Inglewood jam or Birland All Stars At Carnegie Hall.

Day of the Dead 

The Days of the Dead are celebrated in many Latin American countries but nowhere to the extent they are in Mexico. The traditions surrounding the Mexican Day of the Dead, its history throughout the past thousands of years, and its meaning for us today are complex and worthy of many hours of study and discussion. El Día de los Muertos (also referred to as el dia de muertos, dias de los muertos, and todos santos) in Mexico is a joyous and sacred time, a time to welcome the souls of the dead; it is a celebration in which the living and the dead are joined if even for a short while. In some ways it is a triumph over death and therefore becomes a celebration of life. Deceased loved ones are given back to families and friends if only for a brief time. If in Mexico at the beginning of November, you will not be able to escape the festivities as it is a national holiday.

Although the Day of the Dead in Mexico has a public aspect, at the community level it is essentially a private or family feast. The core of the celebration is within the family home. The departed children, los angelitos, are remembered on November first while November second focuses on the departed adults. There is nothing somber or macabre about the event. The dead come as spirits from another world to be with their living relatives and to visit in their homes. They do not come to scare or haunt as we believe Halloween spirits do. When children in the United States are shouting “trick or treat” and trying to terrify each other, Mexican children are probably at home helping with the many preparations for the day

Black Clay

In Oaxaca, the town of San Bartolo is famous for its barro negro, black clay.  The artwork made with this clay acquires its color through the pigments in the polishing process, which brings out the red color from inside the clay.  There are some more recent techniques that bring out a mixture of the natural dark and light tones of the clay, which artists protectively keep to themselves.

The Oaxaca region produces some of the finest handicrafts in Mexico and two of the most unique and sought after items are black clay pottery and colorful painted animal carvings known locally as alebrijes.
Black clay, or barro negro, is a traditional Zapotec method of making pottery. The clay is molded and spun by hand, without the use of modern tools, then polished.

In the town of San Bartolo Coyotepec, just 12 km (7 miles) southeast of Oaxaca city, you can visit family-owned workshops where the traditions of barro negro have been passed down from generation to generation. The actual clay that’s used to make black clay pottery is found in the valley surrounding the village.

A favorite Mexican folk art, alebrijes are small animal figurines that are hand-carved from the wood of the copal tree and intricately painted by hand, often with paints made from natural dyes such as pomegranate and huitlacoche (corn fungus), an ingredient you may not be familiar with until you go to Mexico. Translating to "imaginary" or "fantasy", the word alebrije is used to describe the whimsical style of the colorful painted creatures.

One of the best places in Oaxaca where you can experience the art of alebrije making is the village of San Martin Tilcajete. Located 23 km (14 miles) outside of Oaxaca city, it’s one of just three small towns and villages in the region where the residents earn their living almost exclusively from the production of alebrijes.

You’ll have plenty of opportunities to shop for these beautiful handicrafts, while helping to support the local artisans, both in the villages where they’re made and Oaxaca city.

What is breast cancer?

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor that starts in the cells of the breast. A malignant tumor is a group of cancer cells that can grow into (invade) surrounding tissues or spread (metastasize) to distant areas of the body. The disease occurs almost entirely in women, but men can get it, too. 

What are the risk factors for breast cancer?

A risk factor is anything that affects your chance of getting a disease, such as cancer. Different cancers have different risk factors. For example, exposing skin to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer. Smoking is a risk factor for cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx (voice box), bladder, kidney, and several other organs.

But risk factors don't tell us everything. Having a risk factor, or even several, does not mean that you will get the disease. Most women who have one or more breast cancer risk factors never develop the disease, while many women with breast cancer have no apparent risk factors (other than being a woman and growing older). Even when a woman with risk factors develops breast cancer, it is hard to know just how much these factors might have contributed.

Some risk factors, like a person's age or race, can't be changed. Others are linked to cancer-causing factors in the environment. Still others are related to personal behaviors, such as smoking, drinking, and diet. Some factors influence risk more than others, and your risk for breast cancer can change over time, due to factors such as aging or lifestyle.

Both paragraphs were taken from the website http://www.cancer.org/index. it belongs to the American Cancer Society and the edition date was in the year of 2014