Good morning. Today I am not going to talk about anything serious, such as the war in Iraq. I'd like to introduce someone funny to you.

First I'll narrate some features about him. He was born on October 2nd, 1950 in the U.S.. It took him about eight years to learn how to walk with two legs. You may think that he is quite inept. However in 1965, that was the age of 15, he was featured on cover of Time magazine. A year after this brilliant achievement in the publicity, his house got burnt. He was very grateful to have received quite a lot of letters of condolences from all over the world. In 1969, he and his master, Charlie Brown accompanied astronauts on space shatter, Apollo X and had a trip in the outer space. I suppose that this was one of the most unforgettable experience in his life. In 1990, his works were shown at the Louvre Paris, the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, Montreal's Museum of Fine Arts, and galleries and museums in Rome, Venice, Milan, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Houston and Tokyo. In the mellium year, there was a golden celebration of his 50th birthday.

His name is Snoopy, a most famous beagle in the world, created by Charles M Schulz in his well known comic strip ---- Peanuts.
I've brought a portrait of him here. (Show the portrait)
And here's a plush toy snoopy. (Show the toy) It cost me a bar of chocolate to borrow this from my niece.

Snoopy is the main charater in the comic strip PEANUTS by Schulz. He is an extroverted beagle. As a fearless and antiestablishment dreamer, he is a connoisseur at every endeavor- at least in his daydreams atop his doghouse. He regards his master, Charlie Brown, as "that round-headed kid" who brings him his supper dish. He is fearless though prudently cautious about "the cat next door." He never speaks- that would be one human trait too many- but he manages to convey everything necessary in facial expressions and thought balloons. A one-man show with superior intelligence and vivid imagination, he has created such multiple personalities as: Joe Cool, World War I Flying Ace, Literary Ace, Flashbeagle, Vulture, Foreign Legionnaire, etc. He is not just a funny dog. On the contrary, we can know about the reality and philosophy of life and find lots of our own dreams from him.

In Peanuts, he has a good many friends. Charlie Brown, his master, wins our heart with his losing ways. It always rains on his parade, his baseball game, and his life. He's an inveterate worrier who frets over trifles. Although he is concerned with the true meaning of life, his friends sometimes call him "blockhead." Usually he's the butt of the joke, not the joker. He can be spotted a mile away in his sweater with the zig zag trim, head down, hands in pocket, headed for Lucy's psychiatric booth. He is considerate, friendly and polite and we love him knowing that he'll never win a baseball game or the heart of the little red-haired girl, kick the football Lucy is holding or fly a kite successfully. His friends call him "wishy-washy," but his spirit will never give up in his quest to triumph over adversity.
Next one is Woodstock, the smallest of the Peanuts characters but has a big presence for a little bird. He's a little inept, his flying and logic are erratic, but he can type and take shorthand and usually is game for anything Snoopy wants to do. Although he's the butt of many of Snoopy's practical jokes, he's the beagle's closest friend and confidant. Being a bird and tiny, he gets a little insecure around Thanksgiving and big moving objects. Woodstock talks birdspeak only, and finds an alphabet made up entirely of exclamation points quite adequate to express such emotions as distress, frustration and a real temper. His flocking friends are Bill, Harriet, Olivier and Conrad.

Peppermint Patty in the classroom is a D-minus all the way. Bold, brash and tomboyish, what she lacks in common sense she makes up for in sincerity. She has trouble staying awake in class; most of her waking hours in the schoolroom are spent analyzing the probability patterns of true-false tests.

There are other funny kids in the Peanuts: Sally Brown, Charlie Brown's sister, Marcie, Lucy and Schroeder etc.

Snoopy's Father Charles Schulz, a great cartoonist, was born in Minneapolis in 1922. His kindergarten teacher told him, "Some day, Charles, you are going to be an artist." The Schulz family was given a black and white dog that was the inspiration for Snoopy. At 20, Schulz was drafted into the Army. He later wrote, ``The Army taught me all I needed to know about loneliness.'' Schulz's career as a cartoonist began with the publication of his panel cartoon, ``Li'l Folks,''. In 1955 Schulz won his first Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society. Schulz became the first one to be awarded two Reubens by the National Cartoonists Society in 1964. In 1984 Peanuts qualified for place in Guinness Book of World Records after being sold to 2000th newspaper. In 1990 the government of France named Schulz a commander of arts and letters. In 1996, Schulz got his own star on the Hollywood Hall of Fame. And he was one of the most wealthy artists in the world, and his name often appeared at top of the list of the most wealthy artists on the Forbes Magazine. In 2000, he announced his retirement and died of cancer in the same year at the age of 77.
With a sharp sense of humor and a keen understanding of alienation, Charles Schulz made 'Peanuts' an indispensable cultural touchstone. He has been cartooning for an astonishing 50 years. Schulz's talent and creativity earned him numerous awards throughout his 50-year career, yet to his fellow cartoonists, Sparky's professional honors were secondary to his dedication to his craft and the encouragement and inspiration he offered to others. His importance is illustrated in the many and varied styles of the cartoonists whose lives he touched and who continue his legacy.

That's all about Snoopy and Charles Schulz.