9 warm wishes for Merry Christmas & a happy new year

9 is the number of all numbers. In order to understand 9 universal effect, add together the numbers from 1 to 8: (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8). The answer is 36. Add the 3 and the 6 together, and you have 9. Add 9 to 9 and you have 18. Then add the 1 and the 8 together, and you’re back to 9. This is the only number that works in such a mysterious way.

So, for the new year my wishes are 9 xxxxxxxxx

David Guetta feat. Estelle - One Love

Leona Lewis set for No1 album

Leona Lewis is on course to claim her second No1 album.
The singer sold more than 50,000 copies of Echo when it was released on Monday.

JLS and Robbie Williams are the next best sellers. Then QUEEN are doing well with their compilation Absolute Greatest, which shifted 25,000 on Monday - partly thanks to an X Factor weekend in their honour.

The X Factor juggernaut is steaming ahead in the singles chart too. The cover of Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone" - performed by all 12 of the talent show finalists on last Sunday's show - has sold more than 82,000 copies after just one day.

Read more: here

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1 in 6 people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water

Right now, 1.1 billion people on the planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water. That's one in six of us.

Watch this video here
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Keeping Up with the Kardashians

After a whirlwind romance Khloe Kardashian walks down the aisle with LA Laker star Lamar Odom.

The nudist colony

A man joined a very exclusive nudist colony in Oklahoma . On his first day he took off his clothes and started to wander around the area. A gorgeous petite blonde walked by, and the man immediately got an erection. The woman noticed his erection, came over to him and asked, 'did you call for me?'
The man replied, 'No, what do you mean?'
She said, 'You must be new here. Let me explain. It's a rule here that if you get an erection, it implies you called for me.' Smiling, she led him to the side of the swimming pool, laid down on a towel eagerly pulled him to her and happily let him have his way with her.
Later, the man continued to explore the colony's facilities. He entered the sauna and as he sat down, he farted. Within seconds a huge, hairy man lumbered out of the steam room toward him.
'Did you call for me? ' asked the hairy man.
'No, what do you mean?' replied the newcomer.
'You must be new.' answered the hairy man, 'It's a rule that if you fart, it implies that you called for me.' The huge man easily spun him around, put him over a bench and had his way with the newcomer.
The newcomer staggered back to the colony office where he was greeted by a smiling, naked receptionist, 'May I help you?' she asked.'Here's my membership card.. You can have the key back and you can keep the $500.00 membership fee..'
But, Sir,' she replied, 'you've only been here a few hours. You haven't had a chance to see all our facilities.'
'Listen lady, I'm 68 years old. I only get an erection once a month, but I fart about 15 times a day.
I'm outta here.'

Making Money Takes Practice

Making money takes practice, just like playing the piano takes practice. No one expects anyone to be any good at the piano unless they’ve put in lots practice.
Same with making money. The more you practice the better you get. Eventually making money is as easy for you as piano is for someone who’s been playing for 10 years.

The World’s Fastest and Most Convenient High-Capacity USB Flash Drive

The Voyager GT 128 breaks through with a spacious 128GB of storage and blazing speed. Using a unique dual-controller design, the Voyager GT delivers read and write speeds near the limits of the USB bus. Nearly 75% smaller than a typical portable USB hard disk drive, the Flash Voyager GT 128 is the most convenient way to transport huge amounts of data, including high-resolution photos and artwork, HD video footage, massive databases, or even entire music collections.

Price: $400

• Incredible Performance

- 32MB/sec read

- Up to 28MB/sec write

• Compact, convenient design

- 75% smaller than a typical portable hard disk drive

- No cables needed–just plug it in and go!

• Protect your data

- The Voyager GT 128 has no moving parts, making it virtually shockproof

- Portable USB hard drives are much more susceptible to damage when dropped

- The rubber housing and sealed construction provide water resistance so minor accidents don’t turn into major disasters!

• Backed by Corsair–a respected industry leader with a passion for quality products and great service and support

Ladurée Royale & Les Macarons

Ladurée Royale in Paris
This tea salon created in 1862 and decorated with wainscoting and frescos depicting angelic pastry chefs and voluptuous ladies, became a favorite address for people from all walks of life. Since then the tea room’s habitués have rubbed shoulders with tourists and personalities from the world over.

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Blue roses to debut in Japan

The rose has a very long history; it was first cultivated by ancient civilizations 5,000 years ago, and more than 25,000 varieties have been produced since then, in such colors as red, pink, white, and yellow. One color that had proved impossible, however, was blue. The pigment that makes some other flowers blue is called delphinidin, but roses lack the genes to produce it.

Santory makes it true at 3 November 2009 in Tokyo.

Summer 2008

At this picture, you can see my hands placing the Greek salad and feta cheese at the table of a taverna. It was taken by my boyfriend in a seaside view restaurant at Agia Marina in Attica.

You see: Summer without ouzo... isn't a Greek one! Cheers!!!

Ben Gunn, a prison blogger that won't be silenced

BEN'S PRISON BL0G is the only blog by a serving British prisoner. Ben is in prison for 30 years for a crime that he had commited when he was 14 years old. Ι wonder... wasn't it enough? Now, he is a 44 years old mature man that he has become a writer, a blogger, a reasearcher!

Looking stupidity and ignorance in the eye whilst attempting to inject some neurons into the criminological debate. As British prisoners are denied internet access, I post via the Royal Mail and the kind efforts of friends.

That the Ministry of Justice and Prison Service have embarked on a course of activity in an effort to disrupt my blog only reinforces my view that I was right to intrude on the public. That the MoJ and the HMPS have the brass neck to portray themselves as guardians of the law while traducing it reveals the very underbelly of criminal justice morality that my blog wishes to illustrate.
Ben Gunn, Guardian. Monday September 14th, 2009

Please do read below what was written by a friend of his for his personality :

Ben Gunn is a widely recognised face on the prison landings, having wandered through the prison system for 30 years. Pleading guilty to the murder of a friend at the age of 14, he has consistently fought for the recognition of the inherent dignity of all human beings. As a result, he has served decades longer than expected. Ben chose the route of education to alter his life and empower himself. He specialises in conflict resolution and jailhouse law on the landings. At present he is engaged in research towards a PhD, focused upon the role of Human Needs Theory in prison conflicts. Ben writes regularly for the prisoner’s national newspaper Inside Time (http://www.insidetime.org/) and is well known for his challenging views.He is also a proponent of non-violent political activism, having spent a lifetime resisting the worst excesses of State abuses of prisoners. He recently became General Secretary of the Association of Prisoners, arguing that change in the penal system rests in the hands of prisoners themselves.

"A little rebellion now and then is a good thing" - Thomas Jefferson.

Brainstorm tips

Everyone experiences patches in life where they just cannot think straight, they can’t come up with any new ideas and they are facing a deadline. What to do? You need to do your work, you have to turn in something! Below are some tips I recently found on Toilet Paper Entrepreneur that are sure to help you brainstorm in a pinch:

Ideas Go ‘out Of This World’. How to Brainstorm:

I encourage my people to get creative, think wildly, shoot for the moon. When we allow the craziest, most ‘far-out’ ideas to make the board (the white board), we allow limitless in all our thinking. This can result in the wackiest ideas actually being what we aspire to because we allowed ourselves freedom to really explore possibilities beyond reason. Then, the award goes to the most ‘far-out’ idea. People love to be recognized for their contributions and they get to be the hero for the day!

1. Never settle for the first idea on solving a problem that comes to your mind. There’s always going to be a second right answer with everything. Ask yourself 5 questions about the problem that determine why it is a problem to begin with and often times you will find your solution within those 5 questions.


2. Look to the outside of the situation at hand. Ask someone who is in a completely different business industry about the situation. This gives an outsider’s point of view. Often times we can’t find the answers to things or new ideas because we are too involved to begin with and can’t see clearly.


3. Try performing a “brain dump”. The human brain can only contain so many ideas and thoughts at once before overloading and forgetting some to make more room. Get yourself a journal and just start writing down (or type out on the computer) all of your current ideas without editing them, this will make room for a fresh start.

Relaxation

Tantra initiation in Greece

16 - 18 October & 20 - 22 November 2009
Tantric Initations Workshop is addressed only to couples

WELCOMES YOU TO TANTRA INITATIONS WORKSHOPS
TANTRIC Initations - AIM

Nowadays, the true nature of Tantra has been lost in a myriad of myths, misinterpretations and misunderstandings. This profound ancient spiritual science has become reduced only to sexual associations, often superficially and pointlessly, misleading people away from its spiritual purpose and denigrating it in the process.

Tantra is a science of spiritual discovery, acknowledged to be the fastest and most efficient spiritual path for our times and it’s based in ancient wisdom to solve the problems of modern people: happiness, fulfillment, meaning in life, great relationships, success, control of the energies and much much more.

Now, for the first time, the true path of Tantra has been made available for you and your lover. Everybody is invited to discover the beauty and joy that living a Tantric life brings. You can discover the truth of who you really are, while re-igniting the flame of desire and the immense joy of love in your couple relationship.

The retreat is a genuine INITIATION

The Tantra Initiations retreat is the gift of a lifetime for you and your beloved. It is designed especially for the modern couples who actively seek for profoundness, who recognize that there is more to life than meets the eye.

http://www.tantrainitiations.com/articles/tantra/the-mystery-of-initiation.html

into Tantric secrets which transforms completely due to its supportive energy. The initiation is not only knowledge and methods, but a transfer of realizing power from the teachers to the one receiving it. This retreat transforms the couple relationship into the source of happiness and ecstasy it truly is. The initiation offered will help you to turn weaknesses into strengths, to break limitations and to acknowledge that in reality the love relationship is the divine gift waiting to be unwrapped.

Presented in the unique form of a tantric initiation, the weekend retreat reveals:

• A comprehensive introduction to the Tantric system
• Introduction to the Tantric Principles – the backbone of the Tantric system
• The Tantric approach through the Awakening of the Senses
• Sexual exercises (learning the sexual steps and the control of the sexual reactions)
• The Tantric Couple – how to turn your relationship into a tantric relationship
• How to develop a Tantric attitude in life – for excellence and success in all domains
• Special Tantric Techniques for Controlling the Sexual Energy
• Elements of Tantric Alchemy: Transmutation, Sublimation, Transfiguration
• Keys for ecstatic living
• Ways to develop deeper levels of intimacy in your couple relationship
• Tools for enhancing masculinity in men and femininity in women, to get the most out of life

The teachers: Mihai and Adina have been practicing and teaching Tantra and yoga for more than twenty years. They’ve become renowned for their inspiring and wholehearted approach which has taken them to all corners of the globe to share their knowledge and wisdom. They have had courses and seminars in many European countries. Together they have set a new standard for the teaching of Tantra, being forerunners in the sexual revolution of our time – helping people both individually and collectively through the removing of taboos, breaking of barriers and overcoming of inhibitions related to the sexual level of existence

http://www.tantrainitiations.com/about/us/tantra-initiations-teachers.html

General Information
Venue
The seminars of Tantra initiations will take place in Greece, at the Blue Pearl Hotel http://www.bluepearlhotel.gr/, on the beach of Lehaion in Argolis, 50 minutes driving distance from Athens, close to the cities of Korinthos, Loutraki and the archeological sites of Ancient Korinthos, Heraion and Epidavros.

Dates
1st edition program 16 - 18 October 2009
2nd edition program 20 - 22 November 2009

Deadlines for Participation
1st Edition program 8 October 2009
2nd Edition program 8 November 2009

Initial Detailed Program
Friday
19h00 - 20h00 Opening Lecture
20h00 - 21h00 Dinner at the hotel
21h00 - 23h30 Evening Program
Saturday
09h00 - 11h00 Yoga Practice
11h00 - 11h30 Meditation
12h00 - 13h00 Brunch
13h00 - 15h00 Free time
15h00 - 17h00 Workshop
17h00 - 17h30 Afternnon Break
20h00 -21h00 Lecture
21h00 - 24h00 Evening Prorgram
Sunday
09h00 - 11h00 Workshop
11h00 - 11h30 Meditation
12h00 - 13h00 Brunch
14h00 - 17h00 Closing Lecture
Workshop Organizing Bureau
IMPRESSIVE http://www.impressive-world.com/
e-mail: mailto:stelladk@impressive-world.com

Mobile +30 6940820821, Tel/Fax +30 210 99 62 767

Definition of Heaven and Hell

Libanon in the 1960's

Watch here a BBC clip on life in Lebanon at 60's,
when Lebanon was the pearl of the east
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The Time Traveler's Wife

The new movie "Time Travelers Wife" is based on the best-selling book about a love that transcends time. Clare (Rachel McAdams) has been in love with Henry (Eric Bana) her entire life.

Have a look at the official trailer here
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New campaign "ANADIVA" aims to show there is an alternative to plastic surgery

The worldwide market for cosmetic surgery and facial cosmetics was estimated at around 14$ billion in sales in 2007 and is growing at a rate of 1$ billion a year. Plastic surgery has become a consumer item – a treat, just like a Christmas present.
In Brazil, a sweet sixteen birthday gift is a breast implant!
Want a western eyelid? Become one of the estimated 50% of Korean girls having that procedure.
Feeling too short? Join the Chinese who consider modernity is having a 10-centimetres rod inserted in their upper leg.
Need a “trendier” nose? Check the Iranian surgeons who have done 30,000 rhinoplasty operations during the course of their career.

Group challenges women's beauty perception:

A campaign designed to help women restore their individuality and celebrate variety within a society

How many Lebanese women have you seen today with plastic surgery or who look like they’ve spent several hours preening? With Lebanon having acquired something of a reputation abroad for its predilection for surgery, the answer is likely to be several. Tired of being subjected to pressures of physical appearance, one Lebanese woman has launched a campaign in order to celebrate authentic, diverse beauty – the kind she argues is rapidly being lost to “look alike” surgeries that are often styled on the features of a select few celebrities and models.

ANADiva (Arabic for “I’m a diva”) is the brainchild of 26-year-old Gwen Bou Jaoude. As part of the campaign, she has launched a social networking site where members can discuss representations of beauty, and a competition to create the campaign’s character. The website is one of the first Lebanese initiatives to demonstrate that other means of self-expression exist for women, Bou Jaoude said. “This online community proves that there are still members of the public who are against this metamorphosing of our society.”

The campaign will conclude with an alternative fashion show that celebrates real women’s bodies in all their shapes and sizes. Lebanese cartoonist Stavro Jabra and Nienke Klunder, a Dutch-American photographer who works with the themes of body image and self-expression, have already signed up to collaborate on the campaign, as has web developing company Star Point Star, who offered to design the website.

“Everyone has a different opinion of beauty,” Bou Jaoude said, adding she hoped the ANADiva campaign will improve Lebanese women’s perceptions of themselves, celebrate individuality, and encourage critical thinking about mainstream standards of beauty. “The public should be given an alternative” to the one currently toted by the mainstream media and advertisers, she added. “They brainwash you [about how you should look] without you even realizing.”

Bou Jaoude’s efforts come at a time of growing debate within the fashion and cosmetics sectors about beauty. Dove, a leading beauty products company, has launched its own “Real Beauty” campaign and fashion magazines like Vogue and Elle are now actively trying to use more black and Asian models in an effort to show the beauty industry does not only view white women as attractive.

One of the reasons Bou Jaoude decided to launch the campaign was she felt the Lebanese, through surgery, were losing their cultural identity and becoming carbon copies of their European and North American counterparts. Lebanese women should embrace their looks, Jaoude said. “Variety is healthy within a society.”

Cosmetic surgery and the cosmetic industry are lucrative trades – according to the International Herald Tribune, in 2007 alone, the two were estimated to be worth around $14 billion in sales globally. More and more women, though also men, are opting for surgery, swelling the industry’s coffer’s by an additional $1 billion each year.

In a questionnaire conducted by ANADiva of 65 Lebanese women between the age of 21 and 38, 46 said they would go under the knife in order to “look sexy.” With billboards, television adverts and pop stars offering a narrow, airbrushed image of beauty, “women are striving to look like an ideal that doesn’t exist, an ideal that has been digitally created,” Bou Jaoude said. She cited statistics showing that the average individual comes across 600-625 images of women that have been digitally enhanced. Bombarded with images of perfection from a young age, Bou Jaoude said it wasn’t surprising so many Lebanese women contemplated plastic surgery.

As the ANAdiva campaign states, “The average person currently faces the pressure of upholding certain “body commandments”: women are expected to be thin, tall, toned and glamorous. In particular, Lebanese women are feeling compelled to meet such “commandments” at any cost, creating ‘look alike’ females.”

Out of the seven women questioned by The Daily Star, only one said they would describe themselves as “beautiful,” and three said they had already had or were seriously considering plastic surgery. Five of the women said they knew people who were on diets or had eating disorders.

Yasmine, who underwent cosmetic surgery earlier this year, said social pressure to look good was a contributing factor in her decision. “You see all these pictures of gorgeous women and even if you know you’ll never look like that, you often end up trying to live up to those images,” she said, adding she spent around $150 each month on beauty products, facials and hairdressing. “You have to match the standard if you want to attract a man.”

“People are getting a certain image of how women should look,” Bou Jaoude said.

Hemingway's most important writing tip!

“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety one pages of shit,” Hemingway confided to F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1934.

“I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”

Greek fires

Here is another opinion from crystalclearforum that answers to Oliver Rackham' s opinion. See here

Dear friend Oliver,
Yes, nobody controls the tsunamis or the meteorites and of course wildfires is a natural (too) phenomenon that happens even where no human breaths. We cannot control the very existence of wildfires but we can handle them. In the case of the recent fires close to Athens a serious issue is that the disaster started after a small fire in the periphery of the final total burnt area, and that fire service although had the necessary tools (grand and air forces, paid from the blood of the Greek citizens) its reaction was (trying to stay polite) ridiculously slow. And that is beyond any doubt by the facts.
This is my first objection. But there are more. The same time Greeks are almost mad on the whole establishment of Greek political parties, and Greek state in general. They are sick and tired of paying and paying and receiving back a ridiculous state, extremely expensive, always impotent, and absolutely hostile to them. We Greeks feel sometimes that Greek state is an occupation army in our country, or even worse.
Third, the result of one more Greek state's silly errors, it was the death blow to any hope of remaking Attica and Athens a livable place. The environmental disaster is the worst in Greek modern history because it was concentrated to a small place, Attica, and (you mention in your letter the natural way of the renaissance of the forest and jungles) there is a very dangerous factor making difficult any natural recovery of the local environment; human presence, dense and hungry for build-able land.So understand our anger against our government for this Greek tragedy (or English black comedy?)

kvezdrevanis

P.S. We are not silly, we know that after the climatic change, and the other factors I already mentioned, mostly the huge demand for housing, this thing it was sure it will happen. It was just matter of time. We were expecting this death. But it is still a death. We need to mourn.

Discovering a Charismatic Town, Untouched by Time, Nafplion

The first capital of Greece, Nafplion is a small town situated in the heart of the Peloponnese. After losing its title of capital to Athens, it still holds onto the large sense of pride and charisma it always had.

There's an abundance of local "tavernas" offering the daily catch, boutique shopping, history at its very best, and great nightlife at the clubs jutting off the cliffs playing chill-out music. Get lost in the narrow, winding streets of the downtown or sip a cocktail seaside and people watch.

There is no rush in a town that remains untouched by time.

By Yana Frigelis Photo: Yana Frigelis

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A post in crystalclearforum with a different point of view

Yet again the fire season comes round in Greece, and yet again journalists and politicians treat it as a tragedy and a disaster, followed by recriminations about pyromaniacs versus fire-fighters. Yet again a Prime Minister claims to be responsible for preventing the pines around Athens from burning, and yet again is blamed for failing to carry out that duty.

The real questions: What is it that makes the Greek landscape so very flammable? How can people live with wildfires? are not debated.

Most of the big Greek fires, the ones that get into the newspapers, involve pine-trees. The fact is that pines, and most other Mediterranean vegetation, are designed by Nature (or evolution) to burn. This is not a misfortune, but an adaptation. They burn because (like arbutus, laurel, palms etc.) they make flammable chemicals. It is their business in life to catch fire from time to time — by lightning if there is no other source of ignition — and burn up the less fire-adapted plants that would compete with them. Some kinds of pine survive the fire, protected by their fireproof bark; others die, but start again from seed released by their cones.

I don't like agreeing with official pronouncements, but Mr Antonaros is not wrong. Pines are indeed fire-promoting. Greece has had pine trees and high winds for millions of years, and for millions of years the pine trees have burnt.

Pine fires around Athens are not new. In the 1840s the British Ambassador reported: ˜All Attica was in lurid red smoke for several days; we could not breathe, for whole sides of forests near shrunk, without a hand to stop them, before the fire. However, there is no doubt that Greece has become more flammable in the last hundred years. Mountain cultivation has declined, and abandoned terraces and pastures have become overgrown with pines and other flammable vegetation.

On trips to the old Athens airport I used to look across at Mount Hymettos and see the pines, year by year, creeping up a mountain that had been treeless since the time of Plato; and, sure enough, there was the first pine fire about ten years ago.

Another property of fires is that, while there are some fires every year, the big ones are concentrated into particular years when the weather is favourable, like Spain in 1994. In Greece in 2007, the most fiery season for at least 50 years, only 2% of the entire country was reported as having burnt.

I doubt whether the answer is to have yet more fire-fighting equipment. Helicopters and planes seem not to make much difference to a big fire: it goes on either until it runs out of flammable vegetation or until the wind dies down. In Australia, which is more flammable even than Greece, I was told that Sydney had the world's biggest concentration of fire-fighting gadgets, and that the effect had been to lengthen the average interval between one fire and the next at any one point to seven years.

Anyway, putting out a fire doesn't solve the problem. It merely lets fuel go on accumulating, so that the next fire is hotter and more unstoppable. In a land of smokers, thunderstorms, and overhead electricity cables there will always be sources of ignition. Do the people of Athens really want fewer bigger fires rather than more frequent smaller ones?

However, there are three lessons to be learnt. First, although there will always be fires, people's actions aggravate the damage. It is folly to allow people to build houses in pinewoods, as so often happens around Athens and in other parts of the Mediterranean. There is nothing moral about this: it is simple cause and effect. If you build in a flood-plain you get wet the next time there is a flood; if you build under pine-trees, you get burnt the next time there is a fire. Even in the biggest conflagrations, traditional Greek villages usually escape, because they are surrounded by gardens and orchards and vines and plane-trees which don't carry fire.

Second, we hear the story that fires are started by developers in order to get round a ban on building on land designated as forest. They believe that a burnt forest is not a forest and can be built on. I don't know whether this is true, but if it is the law should be changed. It is folly to allow a fire to alter the legal status of land. A burnt forest is still a forest and should count as such.

Thirdly, politicians are not God: there are limits to their powers. They should not make themselves foolish by claiming responsibility for situations over which they have no real control, and journalists should not flatter them by accepting such claims.

A British Prime Minister can't control swine flu or foot-and-mouth disease, and shouldn't pretend that he can. A Greek Prime Minister can't control earthquake or tsunami: why should he claim to be able to control conflagrations?

Oliver Rackham
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Watch a foolish man

In Pakistan only.
He didn’t know how to open the automatic door

Δείτε εδώ!

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100 Vegetarian Recipes

100s Vegetarian Recipes

Becoming A Better Writer

Everyone wants to be better at writing in business, as this is a big part of how you connect with your clients and bring in new clients by grabbing their attention to your writing. But how do you go from an ok writer to a great writer? First and foremost remember that writing is a way to become a better writer. It’s that old saying “practice makes perfect”, it applies to writing as well. Below are some other helpful suggestions to help improve your writing. located on Copy Blogger.

Try becoming a blogger. Blogging involves continuous writing on a weekly basis, which ties into the whole “practice makes perfect” idea.

Allow yourself to accept all kinds of criticism that comes your way, teach yourself how to learn from the criticism that you get.

Always edit your work more than once. After you go over it the first time, go over it again maybe even a third time, you’ll be surprised at what you pick up the second and third time.

Get out that dictionary that has been collecting dust and teach yourself a new word everyday and find a way where you can incorporate that new word into your writing.

Always make sure there are no distractions around you when you are writing.

Keep a journal to keep the writing juices flowing.

Hair Salon Of The Future

Realizing that both existing and potential clients might appreciate a chat about a haircut before visiting their stylist, Plan B Salon in Cambridge, Massachusetts launched a new service offering 15-minute video consultations.

Prior to their appointment, customers can get an idea of what their options are or how receptive the stylist is to their requests, without wasting time on a journey to the salon. It also lets clients to weigh various possibilities before going in for a cut.

The consultations are set up over Skype. Customers request a date and time using a form on Plan B’s website, which asks for their Skype call-back name/number. The salon offers appointments all day on Mondays—a smart way to fill up those quieter days—but will book consultations on other days of the week if time is available. The service is free, and clients are charged from USD 50 for a cut, style and finish.

Costing only time, web-video consultations are a relatively easy way for hairdressers to add value to their customers’ experience. If you’re in the beauty business or any other service industry—this is something you could start offering next week.

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7 Chakras

Elissa - TAA Live Dubai 2008

I like this arabic song a lot.
Click on the title Come below (Taa means Come)
and watch the video with live music

Come

Your scent gave me warm
that made me hung up on you
your night called to me
and awakened me
kept me up to put you to sleep
my nights are now lit everyday
for your eyes by words
from my heartpromise me nights
and nightsand make me forget all the rest...

Come, come just for me,
come come, come to me in the nights,
come come, come by chance come,
come come into my imagination

Come, i'll sing to you
with all my heartand
we will get lost together
and if you leave for just a moment
i'll call for you with my lashes
i'll steel the stars from the sky
so the nightbecomes lost in its darknessand
i swear with all thats precious
to me my precious
that you will wake me if i ever fall asleep...

Knock On Wood – I love the 70s & 80s

Website Simplifies Travel Planning With Insider Tips

Suzanne has always loved to travel. During those travels she would keep notes on the best places to eat, sleep, and visit, creating the ultimate travel guide. After some urging by some friends and family, that ultimate guide is now available online at Suzanne’s Files.

With the help of a few ‘insiders’, Suzanne is able to keep her files updated regularly. Anyone getting ready to travel should take a look and see for themselves what she has to offer.

Tell us a little about Suzanne’s Files.
I continue to be amazed by the multitude of “lifestyle” content that exists, and disappointed by magazines and newspapers who write glowing editorials of their advertisers’ products and services. Suzanne’s Files cuts through the noise and delivers honest, highly personal and opinionated reviews of the high–end lifestyle to consumers who seek quality.

Living in London and having lived in various spots in the US, Continental Europe, and Latin America, I’ve had the great advantage of experiencing so many places, their cultures, its people—all of which I cherry pick aspects I love and fuse into my own everyday life. As a 19 year old American attending university in Paris in the 1990’s, I have since been “culture blending”… and I began making it a personal hobby to “suss out” and collect high quality, mostly niche finds worldwide on where to go, stay, eat, shop, buy, do and be well serviced to enrich my life and those around me. After university in Paris, I worked in media and entertainment in NYC with Faith Popcorn and CBS until a stint with Winstar in New Media brought me back to Europe.

When was it launched?
June 2006 — We launched online to 1,000 friends and acquantances who then sent it on to friends and colleagues!

What inspired you to create Suzanne’s Files?
I had a mini-obsession with finding the best and leaving te rest… most everyone I knew from my early 20s knew of my files and used to ask me continuosly for where to go, stay, eat, to do, best services, top practitioners, etc. So… I knew there was a ‘need’ – a challenge that discerning people were having a hard time solving.

How often are the ‘files’ updated?
Twice a year all files on the website are checked for detail changes and if they are still in business. We add approximately 10 files per week.

What separates Suzanne’s Files from the competition?
Personal, frank and to the point.

What goals do you hope to accomplish over the next year or so?
The more people that use the website and tell their friends, the faster we grow and can introduce more to our fans and readers.

How often do you travel?
Approximately once per month, sometimes 2xs, seasonally depending.

Are there any places you have yet to visit that you would like to see?
Plenty! Among them and on my radar: Corsica, Jordan, Montana, Shanghai, Scilly Islands, Dolomites, San Sebastian.

Before we end the interview, give me a few reasons why I, and anyone reading this, absolutely must visit your website before we travel.
Well… if we have covered, if we have files relevant to where you’re going, the inside scoop with plenty of frank tips and details will guide you like no other source I know of!

Just Smile!

A little boy went up to his father and asked: 'Dad, where did my intelligence come from?'
The father replied. 'Well, son, you must have got it from your mother, cause I still have mine.'

Mr. Clark, I have reviewed this case very carefully,' the divorce court Judge said, 'And I've decided to give your wife $775 a week,''That's very fair, your honor,' the husband said. 'And every now and then I'll try to send her a few bucks myself.'

A doctor examining a woman who had been rushed to the Emergency Room, took the husband aside, and said, 'I don't like the looks of your wifeat all.' 'Me neither doc,' said the husband.' But she's a great cook and really good with the kids.'

An old man goes to the Wizard to ask him if he can remove a curse he hasbeen living with for the last 40 years. The Wizard says, 'Maybe, but you will have to tell me the exact words that were used to put the curse on you. 'The old man says without hesitation, 'I now pronounce you man and wife.'

A blonde calls Delta Airlines and asks, 'Can you tell me how long it'll take to fly from San Francisco to New York City The agent replies, 'Justa minute.''Thank you,' the blonde says, and hangs up.

Two Mexican detectives were investigating the murder of Juan Gonzalez.
'How was he killed?' asked one detective.
'With a golf gun,' the other detective replied.
'A golf gun! What is a golf gun?'
'I don't know. But it sure made a hole in Juan.'

Moe: 'My wife got me to believe in religion.'
Joe: 'Really?'
Moe: 'Yeah. Until I married her I didn't believe in Hell.'

A man is recovering from surgery when the surgical nurse appears andasks him how he is feeling. 'I'm O. K. but I didn't like the four letter-words the doctor used insurgery,' he answered..
'What did he say,' asked the nurse.'Oops!'

While shopping for vacation clothes, my husband and I passed a displayof bathing suits. It had been at least ten years and twenty pounds since I had even considered buying a bathing suit, so I sought my husband's advice.
'What do you think?' I asked.
'Should I get a bikini or an all-in-one?'
'Better get a bikini,' he replied.
'You'd never get it all in one.'
He's still in intensive care.
And, my favorite is:

The graveside service just barely finished, when there was massive clap of thunder, followed by a tremendous bolt of lightning, accompanied byeven more thunder rumbling in the distance. The little old man looked at the pastor and calmly said, 'Well, she's there!

Animal lovers

Hi, all you animal lovers! The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily so they can meet their quota of getting FREE FOOD donated every day to abused and neglected animals. It takes less than a minute (about 15 seconds) to go to their site and click on the purple box 'fund food for animals for free'. This doesn't cost you a thing.

Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.

Here's the web site: http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/

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Baby Break Dance

Just Tell me Why…

Inspired Bicycles

My favorite Charlie’s Angel has gone…

When the truth blossoms into her eyes!

Watch this presentation and "feel" a woman's tears…

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Tears of a woman

Let's face it, Americans are nuts!

Time to grab the neighbor's cat and get busy!

Νο, Ι don't think so... Cats are no objects!

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Some of the paint jobs cost $15,000 and had to be repeated every 3 months as the cat's hair grows out. Must be nice to have $60,000 a year just to keep your cat painted.

And people wonder why cats sometimes attack their owners.

Green Bizs To Make Money

When people talk to me about the green business they’re working on, it will sometimes become apparent as we talk that at least part of the problem they are encountering may not be what they think it is.

Rather than being an issue related to planning, marketing, product development, or greening their operations, the issue is sometimes more fundamental, reflecting an inner struggle they have about making money.

This can reveal itself in discussions of larger businesses that have undertaken efforts to save money by wasting less energy, water, and other resources. “Sure, but they’re just doing it to save money,” the person will say.

Another variation of this often comes out in discussion of using market mechanisms to address climate change, in which case some people say “Businesses got us into this problem – how can they get us out?”

Their thinking reveals a fundamental assumption many people have, that making money and doing the right thing for the environment cannot coexist.

Curiously this assumption reveals itself in people at opposite poles of environmental issues. For some people this assumption is used to support their belief that we cannot solve environmental problems without extracting a ruinous economic toll (more on this one another day).

For others though the conflict is the mirror image of this, that if you are making money you must not be doing the right thing for the planet. Statements like these reveal an internal conflict that shapes their efforts to create a business.

Deep in their mind some of these people are thinking that if they make money, then they’re part of the problem.

Which leads me to make a simple statement. It’s okay for a green business to make money. In fact, it’s more than okay – it’s essential.

Commitment to helping the environment is important, but if your business does not make money will disappear.

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Virgin Airlines Ads...

Virgin Atlantic Commercial

Another Funny one!

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Great production values!!

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The generation Y

People born between 1925 and 1945....Are called... The Silent Generation
People born between 1946 and 1964...Are called.... The Baby Boomers
People born between 1965 and 1982...Are called.... Generation X
People born after 1983...Are called.... Generation Y

BUT.........Y ?

Why do we call the last group of people ... Generation Y?
I had no idea until I saw this caricaturist's explanation!
A picture is worth a thousand words!

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

Visit Bali to awaken the Surf Goddess in You !

Have a look at the below video... Watch women that having fun learning to surf in a friendly and supportive enviroment.

Surf Goddess Retreats - Yoga & Surf Camps

Luscious surf, yoga and spa retreat for women in tropical Bali. Let's visit Bali now !!

Bali, a tropical island in the Indonesian archipelago, is so picturesque and immaculate it could almost be a painted backdrop. It has rice paddies tripping down hillsides like giant steps, volcanoes soaring up through the clouds, dense tropical jungle, long sandy beaches, warm blue water, crashing surf and friendly people who don't just have a culture but actually live it. In Bali spirits come out to play in the moonlight, every night is a festival and even a funeral is an opportunity to have a good time.

The surf camp is architect designed and newly built. Located near the balinese pipeline, there are a variety of breaks nearby suitable for surfers of all standards - from beginners to professionals. Uluwatu, Padang Padang, Impossibles, Bingin, Dreamland and Balangan are all easily accessible from the centrally located Surf Camp.
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Penny Pinching Tips For Your Business

photo credit: swimparallel

Most entrepreneurs will tell you that skimping on pennies will add up after a while, and today in this economy…it really pay’s to be a penny pincher to the extreme. The more you save, the more you can bank for when you need it the most during slow times to offset your costs. Below are a few penny pinching ideas obtained from Entrepreneur.com for your business.

Cut some costs when setting up your online store. Going online with your business doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg to get it going.

Spread the word yourself. Yes…fancy advertising helps a great deal, but it is not needed to get the word out about your business. Pass out your own hand made flyers, hang up your own hand made signs and coupon offers.

Buy recycled printer cartridges for your business.

Buy used equipment and look for free software that meet your business needs.

Use independent contractors.

Hire your children for part time work.

If you are near your suppliers, go and pick up your order yourself.

Get at least 3 bid’s on everything before you make your final choice.

What penny pinching ideas can you share?

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5 Marketing Plan Mistakes

When starting up a business and formulating your marketing plan, it is important that you get it right, otherwise it could cost you time and money in the future.

Below is a list of the top five marketing plan mistakes commonly made :

● Get specific with who you mean to target for your advertising. Make sure you have it all laid out specifically who you want to hear the message.

● Forgetting your current customers. Don’t make the mistake of only focusing on your new customer’s, doing this will make your current clients feel left out and possibly make them go else where.

● Not setting a budget up front. All too often businesses get so excited about advertising that they don’t even set a budget, this can prove to be a very costly and troublesome outcome.

● Thinking that marketing only means advertising. There are many aspects of marketing that you need to remember such as networking, customer support, and market research to name a few.

● Not tracking your results.Usually they say “Yeah we put an ad in the paper, and got a few customers from it”. See the problem with that? How do you know that was the most efficient use of your marketing dollars? How many new customers did you get exactly? How much did they spend? How does this compare to other marketing avenues you explored?

What marketing mistakes have you made in your business that others can learn from?

Angel's lyrics

Listen these lyrics by Thomas Dylan

and watch this fairytale video
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Cat adopting a teeny-weeny baby rabbit

The truth about Apollo 20

Have a look at the super chameleons video's

The super chameleon shows his super camouflaging powers.

Big Dog motorcycle pulls up in front of a pet store and a chameleon is in the window and it doesn't know what color to change into so it explodes.

Solidarity T-Shirts by Paulo Coelho & Mango

Paulo Coelho and the fashion brand Mango have created a collection of T-shirts illustrated with sentences by the author.

More than half of the earnings from the sales of these T-shirts will be destined to the Paulo Coelho Institute in Brazil, where 450 children study and get food, love, education and the possibility to develop their artistic skills. The Institute is exclusively financed by the author's copyrights.

"I knew it was impossible to change my country, Brazil. It was impossible to change my state and my neighbourhood, but I thought I might change my street at the end of which there is a favela," claims Coelho.

40,000 T-shirts have been marketed in 450 shops in 68 countries with 6 different sentences by the author such as "Never give up on your dreams, follow the signs", “The patch to wisdom is not being afraid to make mistakes” and “The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back”.

The T-shirts are already the top-selling item at all Mango shops around the world.

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Dust art!

Scott Wade's Mona Lisa from Dirty Car Art Gallery

Wade used his finger and other implements to etch this homage to Vincent Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' and Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa.'
Monday, June 26, 2006

Just have a look at his extensive photo gallery
Scott Wade's Dirty Cars
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