Connor Scott - The Voice UK

Performing "Starry Eyed" in a way that I had never seen before. With this blind audition, Connor became a favorite of the public of The Voice UK.

He's definitively one of my favorite auditions, ever.

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#002 - Eggs!

"Tales of an Elf Bard" Is a section where I write a fantasy story, post by post, about Kharis, the teen elf. Enjoy!

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#002 - Eggs!

         I expect to climb the humble and wise tree, the branches seen strong enough to handle my weight, Hopefully I've always had great success in climbing, well, most of the times...

         And so I jump, I hold, I upswing and I pierce through the tree crown! Birds and squirrels flee, alarmed by the creaks and squeaks caused due to all of the excitement I gave the tree's branches and leaves, on my ascent.

        I'm now at the top of the tree, standing close to the yellow bird's nest I saw from the ground. It's bigger than I Imagined! mother bird flew away, because of the disturbance I created, leaving behind her fluffy, bushy nest, with 3 of her rather huge eggs, resting in it...
I feel it may be wrong to take any of the eggs, I can feel each one of those little living creatures inside of them...

       From the top of the canopy I see a blueberry bush, filled with delicious berries, and... a friend!

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Assassin's Creed, the Movie

    The film Assassin's Creed will be loyal to the game, according to Michael Fassbender.

    In an interview with IGN, the actor and producer of the adaptation talked about the long production process:

    "We want to respect the game. There are so many cool things in it that actually, we are full of options to put in adaptation, but we also want to introduce new elements and perhaps show our version of what already exists in the game" he said.

     Fassbender, who was in the United States releasing the film Frank, said that the script of the film is still being written." After this tour, I will meet with the writers when I return to Europe. "

Michael Fassbender

    Assassin's Creed's script is being rewritten by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, responsible for Exodus: Gods & Kings, the new project of Ridley Scott. So far, we know that the plot of Assassin's Creed is not based on a specific game, but will have a unique story, based on the mythology of the franchise.

     In the first Assassin's Creed, the game, follows the story of Desmond Miles, a bartender in 2012 that learns to be part of a lineage of assassins. 

Desmond is placed in a machine that awakens the memories of his ancestors and allows you to relive them personally.

    This year, the franchise gets two new games: Assassin's Creed Unity, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, and Assassin's Creed Rogue, for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The film is coming on August 7, 2015.

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Nickelback - Lullaby Lyrics

Well, I know the feeling

Of finding yourself stuck out on the ledge

And there ain't no healing

From cutting yourself with the jagged edge

I'm telling you that, it's never that bad

Take it from someone who's been where you're at

Laid out on the floor

And you're not sure you can take this anymore

So just give it one more try to a lullaby

And turn this up on the radio

If you can hear me now

I'm reaching out

To let you know that you're not alone

And if you can't tell, I'm scared as hell

'Cause I can't get you on the telephone

So just close your eyes

Oh, honey here comes a lullaby

Your very own lullaby

Please let me take you

Out of the darkness and into the light

'Cause I have faith in you

That you're gonna make it through another night

Stop thinking about the easy way out

There's no need to go and blow the candle out

Because you're not done

You're far too young

And the best is yet to come

So just give it one more try to a lullaby

And turn this up on the radio

If you can hear me now

I'm reaching out

To let you know that you're not alone

And if you can't tell, I'm scared as hell

'Cause I can't get you on the telephone

So just close your eyes

Oh, honey here comes a lullaby

Your very own lullaby

Well, everybody's hit the bottom

Everybody's been forgotten

When everybody's tired of being alone

Yeah, everybody's been abandoned

And left a little empty handed

So if you're out there barely hanging on...

Just give it one more try to a lullaby

And turn this up on the radio

If you can hear me now

I'm reaching out

To let you know that you're not alone

And if you can't tell, I'm scared as hell

'Cause I can't get you on the telephone

So just close your eyes

Oh, honey here comes a lullaby

Your very own lullaby

Oh, honey here comes a lullaby

Your very own lullaby

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The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Your Guardian Angel Lyrics

When I see your smile

Tears roll down my face I can't replace

And now that I'm strong I have figured out

How this world turns cold and it breaks through my soul

And I know I'll find deep inside me I can be the one

I will never let you fall (let you fall)

I'll stand up with you forever

I'll be there for you through it all (through it all)

Even if saving you sends me to heaven

It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.

Seasons are changing

And waves are crashing

And stars are falling all for us

Days grow longer and nights grow shorter

I can show you I'll be the one

I will never let you fall (let you fall)

I'll stand up with you forever

I'll be there for you through it all (through it all)

Even if saving you sends me to heaven

Cuz you're my, you're my, my, my true love, my whole heart

Please don't throw that away

Cuz I'm here for you

Please don't walk away and 

Please tell me you'll stay woah, stay woah

Use me as you will

Pull my strings just for a thrill

And I know I'll be okay

Though my skies are turning gray

I will never let you fall

I'll stand up with you forever

I'll be there for you through it all

Even if saving you sends me to heaven

[to fade]

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The Secret of Friendships that Last

What makes people become friends? And why do some friendships last and others do not?

   An article in  the site Psychology Today gathered some studies that bring good explanations about the topic.

The well practical, main points are listed below:

Conditions to start a friendship

    Besides some basic factors, such as having contact with a person on a regular basis (after all, we have more chances to know someone better and further develop our bond) and having some common interests, these two aspects are important for becoming friends with someone.

1. Willingness to open up  

    According to Beverley Fehr, a researcher at the University of Winnipeg and author of "Friendship Processes" what determines that we move from acquaintances to friends is the willingness to open up and reveal more personal things to each other – and this needs to come from both sides. 

"In the early stages of friendship, this tends to be a gradual process. A person accepts the risk of revealing personal information and 'tests' if the other does the same "she says.

Here, reciprocity is essential for it to work, because it leads to another important condition:

2. Intimacy

According to Fehr's research, people with good friendships involving the same sex have a good understanding of what intimacy involves:

     They know how to open up and express their emotions, know what to say when the friend tells you something and respect the limits - understand, for example, sincerity does not mean talking all that comes to mind, especially with regard to opinions on life and tastes.

Especially because other conditions were pointed out: Acceptance, loyalty and trust. These qualities were considered more important than practical aids such as lending money.

Then, Why do some friendships last and others do not?

Ok, we understand what gives the friendships that initial kick forward. But there is another important factor, discovered by social psychologists Carolyn Weisz and Lisa F. Wood, from University of Puget Sound, in Tacoma, Washington, which is essential to make relationships last:

...The support to our social identity.

   In other words, looking for friends who understand and validate the idea that we have about ourselves and about our role in society or group to which we belong – which can be linked to religion, ethnicity, profession or even participating in some club or subculture.

    To reach this conclusion, they followed a group of college students for years throughout their graduation, asking them to describe levels of proximity, contact, general support and support for social identity that felt about friends.

The conclusion was that all these factors helped to predict whether the friendship would be maintained or not.

     But a single factor can predict who would be elevated to the position of BEST FRIEND: the person in these cases was part of the same group (fraternity, team, etc.) or at least supported and reaffirmed the role of the friend within that group. 

       

    A Christian could have a best friend as someone who had different beliefs, as long as this friend would support his identity as a Christian. And, as we have various roles in life, it is more likely that our best friend is on the role that is most important to us, that best represents our identity or part of it.

Why do we chose friends?

     According to the study, it is related to higher levels of intimacy and understanding also involving increased self-esteem.

This sense of identity even influences the behavior of drug addicts. In another study Weisz concluded that people were more likely to get rid of their addictions after three months when they felt that their social roles and sense of identity conflicted with drug use.

"Our social identities are so important to us that we are willing to stay with people who support our social identity and getting away from those who do not. We can even change friends when the former did not support our current view of ourselves ", states an article of Psychology Today. "Conventional wisdom says that we choose friends because of who they are. But it turns out we really love them because of how they support who we are."

How to maintain a friendship

   According to Debra Oswald, a psychologist at Marquette University (Wisconsin, USA), who studied the relationship between volunteers who were in high school and their best friends, there are four basic behaviors needed to maintain this "link" – that are valid to everyone, no matter if you have 15 or 70 years.

   The first two points are fairly explored so far: take the initiative to open up and supporting our friends. The third point is INTERACTION. No matter if your friend is your neighbor or is living on another continent: you need to be in contact with him, either writing, chatting on the phone, visiting. Fortunately, with the internet, physical proximity has little effect on our ability to maintain a friendship or any type of relationship.

    Finally, it is important to be positive. We need to open ourselves to our friends, but that does not mean it's okay to stay whimpering for hours and only see the negative side of everything.

     Of course, part of being a friend is to help during the hassles of our friend's life but, in the end, the intimacy that makes a friendship thrive must be something nice and do good for both sides.

   I really enjoyed writing his article because it really made me understand why I have lost some great friendships, because some of this conditions were not worked enough by me, or by the people who no longer are important to me as friends.

But not everything is lost, some friends are worth it and some friendships can be repaired.

Comment bellow!    

AND STAY SUPER!

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Zoo Jeans - Pants customized by lions, tigers and bears

 Zoo-Jeans, created with fabric that is pre-chewed and torn by dangerous animals before being formed into a pair of pants.

Designed by Japan-based I&S BBDO for Kamine Zoo in Hitachi City, denim cloth used to create the jeans is wrapped around the favorite toys of lions, tigers and bears living in the facility.

The animals are then released into the material - scratching, tearing and chewing it to pieces.

According to the team behind the project, denim provides a way for carnivorous animals to maintain strong and healthy teeth.

The "customization" created by the animals are part of the design of the end pieces.

The pieces are auctioned and the funds are destined to benefit the zoo where the animals live.

Here is a video of the whole process:

Here is the Official Website for Zoo-Jeans:
http://zoo-jeans.com/

How cool is that? :D Maybe I'll order a pair for me :3

Comment bellow!

STAYSUPER!

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#001 - How Big It Feels To Be Small

"Tales of an Elf Bard" Is a section where I write a fantasy story, post by post, about Kharis, the teen elf. Enjoy!

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#001 - How Big It Feels To Be Small

     I open my eyes and therefore, I See. 

The uprising of the Sun, one of the most beautiful blessings of the goddess.

     -New day! I welcome you with great joy!

Rested and feeling strong, I lean against a big old tree. There's an yellow bird's nest in the highest branch, and probably some eggs.

     I found great interest in some new thoughts, I got meself wondering about how the world, or better, the rest of the world, sometimes feels or sounds so distant and different from the reality I am actually in, being here in these small woods, In what it looks to be, the remote corner of the globe.

     Here where me stand, I can't truly feel the flesh-reality notion of the rest of the earth, because little is said by the folk, and even travelers, about the war, the other races, tribes, places and blessed creatures of the moon goddess.

I'm hungry, so now I'll find meself something to eat, maybe if I climb this tree...

Kharis

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"Tales of an Elf Bard" Is a section where I write a fantasy story, post by post, about Kharis, the teen elf. Enjoy!

STAY SUPER!

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FIVE IMPORTANT LESSONS ABOUT PRODUCTIVITY

    After graduating from college in May last year, the Canadian Chris Bailey received two great full-time job offers, but refused them.

    He had a plan and accepting any of these proposals would keep him from putting it into practice.

     During 12 months, Bailey and tested read everything he could find on the subject of productivity, sharing his findings on the site that bears the name of the project: A Year of Productivity.

    His goal was to become as productive as possible - and help people to benefit from his discoveries.

    The experiment earned 197 articles during this period, but he published a summary of the most important lessons learned. Here are five of them:

1 - Learn to choose well your tasks in every area of life

     We may have countless things to do in different areas of life (work, education, health, mind, finances, relationships, etc.), but you must sort these tasks according to their worth in improving each of these areas.

Most of them will only consume your time and energy and will not bring remarkable results at all.

     On the other hand, there are some who alone can give you a tenfold return. Discover which ones are they and focus on them.

2 - The most effective tips are the most clichés

         How cliché is to say that the most important tactics to be productive are eating well, getting enough sleep and exercising?

     But know that no matter how silly they may seem, they have proved the most efficient for Chris Bailey. "I think behind the clichés there is such a powerful truth that people feel compelled to repeat them so often they end up losing their value," he wrote.

     "But as someone who has tested hundreds of techniques to better manage his time, energy and attention in the last decade [because he has been researching the subject thoroughly before starting the project] I can state that:

nothing has contributed more to my productivity than eating well, sleeping enough and doing physical exercise".

3 - The three main ingredients for productivity are time, energy and focus

      Bailey found that no matter which techniques he used, they would always involve better managing one or more of these three factors:

time, energy and focus.For him, these are the three key ingredients for consistent productivity.

      If you have lots of energy and focus, but not to manage your time well, eventually devoting many hours to the wrong tasks you wont get the best results.

If you are good at managing your time and have a lot of energy, but doesn't have enough focus, you will be distracted and procrastinate.

And if you have focus and know how to manage your time, but do not know how to manage your energy, you can waste it on less important things.

Therefore, it is essential to have these three skills.

4 - Working too hard for too long is bad for your productivity

     Working nights in a row and not stopping even to lunch calmly may give the impression that you are doing a lot, but definitely doesn't make you a more productive person in the long run.

     "In an experiment that lasted a month, I alternated between working 90 hours a week and 20 hours the following week.

Then I discovered that the productivity was equal in both, for a simple reason:

when I limited the time I would spend on a task, I forced myself to devote more energy in less time so that I could complete it quickly.

     When had more time to work, I tended to procrastinate more and work on activities that give me less results (as we mentioned in the first item), and thus lose more time"states Bailey.

5 - Keep in mind that being productive has to do with how much you achieve, not how much you generate 

      Be gentle with yourself. When you are too focused on being more productive, it is common to make the mistake of focusing on numbers: 

how many pages or words he wrote and read, how many hours he worked, how many emails answered, how much money earned...

      The problem is that, according to Bailey, "unless you work in a factory, measuring your productivity based only on how much you produce will give you a limited overview of how productive you really are."For example, writing a text of 100 words that efficiently condenses what would be written in 500 does not mean you produced less - means you produced better.Replying 200 emails might give the impression that your morning was a success, but were these messages more important than any other single task you could have done instead? 

     Here comes again the discussion of the value of the tasks, and how they contribute to make you feel satisfied not only at the end of the day, but in the end of the week, month and year. 

    Furthermore, one must keep in mind why one wants to achieve certain goals and not lose sight of that objectives, or else ones job satisfaction goes away and the productivity will lose its meaning.

      Finally, Bailey added another point, to keep motivated, it is still necessary to be kind to yourself.

Being more productive requires a tremendous effort, but pushing yourself too much is unreasonable.

     You are trying to make positive changes in your life, then it is important to maintain a positive attitude toward yourself.

STAY SUPER!

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Why men have nipples?

     The answer is because men are mammals. And, in mammals, the development of mammary glands occurs very early in pregnancy, even before the setting of gender.

In other words, even before we know if the baby will be a boy or girl, appears the nipples that will later serve to drain the milk to feed their young, Or just to be the target of painful pranks in the playground.

"Both fetuses show nipple and areola at birth"

Only that while the men have just the nipple, areola and very rudimentary breast tissue (the mammary gland stops growing), in women, development continues until the moment of breast-feeding, in which specific structures for the production of milk appear.

In that moment, the development of the mammary gland is finished.

In theory, despite the poorly developed glands, men can produce milk when stimulated, due to disease or drugs or in situations of extreme hunger.

But they are rare cases. According to evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond, spontaneous lactation was found in prisoners of Nazi concentration camps and is related to a hormonal imbalance.

Comment Bellow!

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Introducing Kharis!

"Tales of an Elf Bard" Is a section where I write a fantasy story, post by post, about Kharis, the teen elf. Enjoy!

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Introducing the Main Character/Narrator

Hello my friends! ^^

 My name is Kharis Eoth'elis and I'm a Silvan Elf.

       Don't let my cute smile trick you. I'm strong, agile and very smart. Always looking forward into making new friends, having fun and sharing love and peace! 
        I love to dance, to play music, to write and climbing trees!
I will let nothing stop me from my goal to be happy and help other beings of the world!      

Be welcome to "Tears of a Faelyn Flute", my Journal, where you can follow me through my adventures! ^-^

Feel free to read, explore and make new friends! Don't hesitate to comment, I would  LOVE to read your reviews!

I've got a story to tell, come closer...

Start Reading Click Here

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Meditation for Children... Why?

-MEDITATION FOR CHILDREN-

  Meditation is currently gaining ground in the work with children. For us adults, this tool is present in practically all philosophies and available therapeutic processes. 

This is due to the simplicity of the act, but also the depth of inner consciousness that it gives us.

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   It was recently carried out a study by the University of California, in collaboration with Mindful Schools, which shows the unquestionable benefits of this practice on children's behavior. Points assessed as "paying attention", "the ability to calm down" and "show attention and care for others", have significantly higher levels on children who practice mindfulness, sometimes only after 4 hours.

- Teaching This Practice - 

     Teaching children to practice meditation is a gradual act, ranging from telling stories containing elements of the child's world, to Zen meditation, where the ability to be sitting quietly and concentrating on breathing allows us a deep sense of relaxation and emptying the mind. To understand the benefits and meditation to children themselves, start by thinking about us, adults.

       Firstly, it should be remembered that the positive effects come from a regular practice. It is this regularity and habit that changes the way we respond to everyday situations we live.

     Anyone who has tried or practices meditation knows the transformation that takes place at the level of our inner consciousness. Therefore, and because children are the adults of tomorrow, strengthening this "tool" from an early age is an antidote to the physical and emotional malaise that, in its various forms, affects society.

"Children enjoy the practice and have positive results"

    Quoting The Dalai Lama: "If every 8 year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation." can be proven by recent data, as mentioned above, shows the benefits in well-being and relating with others. This is because relating with others is a result of the relationship with ourselves, and in a meditation practice for children, the focus is also on the transmission of forms of expression, care and a more conscious and healthy way to relate with others.

 "If every 8 year old in the world is taught meditation, we will eliminate violence from the world within one generation." - The Dalai Lama

     Children respond to meditation in a very positive way, and naturally appreciate this practice.

    As concentration being the most developed aspect by meditation, the benefits to school performance are also high.

     Using on meditation as a tool, we can work with children at different levels of extreme importance as the development of self-esteem and self-confidence, focus on the positive and happier ways of being and relating, expressing feelings, being more aware of their own emotions, having a greater respect for others, a more assertive communication and less defensive, aggressive, anxious and agitated, among others. A final point is that we can lighten the case of attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity.

What do you think about it? What you think about this practice by children?

Share your opinion in the Comments!

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