Organic Food - Five Reasons Why it is a Healthier Choice for your Family

Hi Folks,

Findings, made by Doctor Lu of Emory University in the US, show that children who consume an organic diet have less exposure to certain man-made chemicals. The children were tested for two common agricultural pesticides whilst eating a conventional diet, and then again 5 days after they started eating a mostly organic diet. The levels of the harmful chemicals (which have been linked to neurological disorders), fell dramatically within a number of days to a concentration six times lower than when the children were eating a conventional diet. The study concluded that children’s exposure to agricultural chemicals can be reduced through an organic diet, and also suggests that exposure to environmental agricultural chemicals would also be reduced with a switch to organic farming methods.

Buying organic is a valid addition to healthier living, reducing the amount of chemicals in our food, clothes and cosmetics. Understandably many people are put off by the cost. I encourage people to look at the problem more laterally; is organic food expensive, or is the food that you buy cheap? Why is it cheap to produce? Because the ingredients are poor quality, it is crammed with fillers and bulking agents, because the farming practice was on a massive scale, using vast quantities of chemicals etc? After all, the food industry is not in it to make you healthy, but to make money for itself, and that means cutting corners. Each time I see a whole chicken on a supermarket shelf for

Beginner Piano Lessons Putting Energy Into the Music Adds Personality & Style

Beginners tend to get focused on reading the notes and finding the right keys on the piano and forget the point of playing - to bring personal sensitivity to bear on the music. Here’s some ideas to help beginning piano students energize their music and bring it to life with personality and style.

1. Relax so your body can easily respond to the music as you play.

When students play stiffly they aren’t able to feel the music and to express it with sensitivity. Be sure to breath slowly and deeply while you are playing to keep your body relaxed.

2. Feel the vibrations of each note as it is played and allow it to resonate through your body.

Being relaxed allows students to feel the vibrations of each note as it is played and to allow the vibrations created by each sound to resonate throughout the body. This is like “plugging the piano” into your nervous system. It creates an energy circuit that infuses the music with the human sensitivity of the artist.

3. Hear the music in your mind and decide how to touch each note.

The next step is to hear the music in your mind and decide how you want each note to sound before it is played so that you’ll know how to touch the keys. Play the music intimately as though you’re telling an interesting story to your best friend. Use your energy to make the music personal to you and unique to your own taste and style.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You’ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f’ree internet newsletter so you can download f’ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

7 Great Ideas for Decorating Your Halloween Party

So, you need to plan for your upcoming Halloween party. How should you decorate? Black and orange streamers are okay. Having a jack-o-lantern out front is just fine. When you are planning a Halloween party, though, make the party decorations more elaborate and give your guests a bash they will really remember!

Some decorating ideas for your next Halloween get-together:

Tombstones are always a big hit for decorations. For every guest that sent in an RSVP, make a tombstone with their name on it. It doesn’t have to be made from anything fancy, either. Cardboard painted gray will work just fine! For an extra impact, add funny little poems on the headstones telling how the guest died. One common example: “Here lies good ol’ Fred. A great big rock fell on his head!”

Spiders, spiders, spiders. Not many kids or adults have a bigger fear than of spiders, but they make great decorations at Halloween. You can buy plastic spiders and webs in large packages and just hang them all over your home.

Alternatively, make a large, black spider by filling a black garbage bag with foam or newspaper. Add legs that have been cut out of black poster board or any cardboard painted black. Create your very own “sticky web”. Use regular rope and make it into the shape of a web. Cover in many areas with rubber cement.

A game that you play can be a decoration, too: pin the spider on the web!

Hang various items from the ceiling. You can hang a witch’s broom, several black bats, and even a hangman’s noose. Any items you hang should be out of the reach of little ones, if they will be guests at the party.

Use dry ice for a foggy atmosphere! Make sure you use it outside and don’t let small children stand in the fog for long.

Skeletons, bones and coffins. Use a refrigerator box for a coffin, and go to your local party supply store for lots of cardboard cut out skeletons and bones.

There are so many elaborate decorations for a Halloween party. The only limit you will have is your imaginationand your space to put them!

Nicola always enjoys Halloween parties with her family. Visit her Halloween site for tips and information about Easy Halloween Costumes at http://Easy-Halloween-Costumes.Best-Halloween.com

This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. All rights reserved. Copyright Best-Halloween.com

Playtime for Kids

The kids will love Amsterdam. The city with its vibrant colors and fast paced attractions won’t bore any kids specially when there are places like TunFun there for any one to enjoy. Does one enjoy a game of football; like climbing, running and jumping? Right in the middle of busy Amsterdam lays a street the kids can safely play to their hearts content. Rainy weather or busy traffic will not bother. Enjoy oneself to the full in an old underpass under Mr. Visserplein in downtown Amsterdam.

The age group of 0-to 12 is just the right age to be in this indoors, 4,000-square meter-large TunFun. Here one can play on, under and in cool playing equipment. Kids are spoilt for choice. TunFun has giant slides, a disco, mini cinema, trampolines, children’s farm, construction area and much more. Come jump, run, glide, dance, play soccer, climb, run, eat, party, laugh, ride, play games, read and look.

The kids have to take off your shoes for most of the attractions so be sensible to wear comfortable socks.

TunFun is an indoor playground for children. Kids have fun in a sportive, active and creative way in a former traffic underpass in the centre of Amsterdam.

TunFun offers plenty of opportunities to climb, creep and crawl. The choice of children disco, great slides, ball pools, an inflatable “Amsterdam street” jump cushion, trampolines, an indoor soccer ground and much more is there to enjoy. Let the children play and enjoy and the adults can sit and relax in the TunFun Cafe where all kinds of snacks and drinks are provided.

After a hectic day at TunFun why not enjoy and relax on a Canal bikes. The rented pedal boats which are often called “canal bikes” are a treat which every child will love. Let the kids pedal their way around the canals. This is a fabulous way to see those wonderful old canal houses and uses up a lot of energy. The Canal bikes can seat four and have canvas awnings in case of rain.

Another treat and sight which the kids are bound to love is climbing the tower of the Westerkerk church. The Westerkerk church located on the Prinsengracht is an attraction in Amsterdam. The kids will love to climb up the church tower to get a panoramic view of Amsterdam from the observation deck. The kids are sure to love looking at all the comings and goings in the city below, like a living miniature city.

Woonbootmuseum or as a layman will say Houseboat museum is a joy to visit. The wonder on the faces of the kids inside a houseboat is just a sight to see. The houseboat is very homey and cozy, especially nice on a rainy or gray afternoon. The museum has a children’s play corner where the kids can color pages of houseboats, and a caf

Mr. Fearless

Pete went bunji jumping, much against his better instincts and dread of heights. Still, the drive to achieve new things and react to new experiences drove him to the edge of a 100m platform hanging over a canyon in New Zealand.

Waiting in line for the moment, your mind and body are screaming at you to stop, go back, go home, go to the pub instead. The instinct for survival it as its strongest, because the mind insists that by jumping you will die. To push past that instinct requires a monumental surge of courage, and a substantial twist of madness.

Ahead of the trembling, gibbering Irishman was an Englishman. A big, rugby playing Englishman without a care in the world. Nonchalant to the extreme, on his first bunji jump and treating it as though he were about to step onto a bus. No shred of fear, dread or excitement. He chatted happily with the folk around him, who could hear nothing except the staccato thud of their heart beats and the flow of adrenaline draining through their underwear.

The Englishman, yawning happily, took his place on the platform and smiled vainly at the onlookers. The two guys at the top, tying his bunji on and very experienced at this, exchanged sly glances. A nod and a wink passed between them, unnoticed by everyone except Pete the Irishman, whose senses were heightened to a point only experienced by those undergoing a near death experience. Everything in Technicolor, moving in exquisite slow motion.

Mr Fearless moved to the edge. He took no notice of the elastic around his ankles, didn’t look at the drop below him, and lazily raised his hands in preparation for a dive into an infinity he regarded as a jump into his local pool.

The countdown: Five …….. Four ……….Three ………..Two …………One ..BUNJI!!!!!

With a smile of assurance Fearless fell forward.

At that optimum moment, when the point of no return had been reached and gravity gleefully plucked its victim off the platform, the two bunji technicians let out a howl of panic and screamed, ” NO!! NOT YET …..COME BACK…….WE FORGOT TO…………”

The next three seconds in Fearless’s life were fraught with anxiety. He made no sound, but what went through his head as he left the bridge turned his bravado to mush.

Half way down he emitted a strangled scream not of this Earth, and experienced an explosion of blind panic.

Of course, our two at the top were only kidding.

Asked afterwards why they pulled such a malicious stunt, they said it was simple. “Fearless just wasn’t enjoying himself,” they said. He’d paid his money, and didn’t feel anything. The idea of bunji is to face then overcome fear, while at the same time experience a massive surge of excitement.

They believe Fearless got his moneys worth.

Rob Daniel is a children’s author, memory and self-esteem teacher. He lives in beautiful Albany on the south west corner of Western Australia, has a passion for mangos, the Greek Islands and coaches three soccer teams. He sort of still plays himself!

Rob creates ‘turn the page’ children’s e-books with illustrators from around the world. You can check out and if you like, buy his books from http://www.chocmint.com
You’ll also find an opportunity to join the chocmint adventure yourself, if you have a passion for writing and illustrating for children.

LATEST book published ‘A Tail’s Tale’, illustrated by UK artist Elizabeth Stringer.
Part proceeds from these books go towards sponsoring children at the BearCare orphanage in Kitgum, Uganda run by the extraordinary Murray Kidd.

How To Host A Great Halloween Party For Adults

Halloween parties for adults can include a wide variety of events. It may take some time to put together a theme that can keep the entire guest list entertained, but it really can be worth the effort. Costume parties are a huge hit with adults; you can have the guests wear masks during the night to keep the party even more interesting.

Below is a list of things that a Halloween party should include to be considered a successful one.

Music - You can not have a Halloween party without party music. It needs to be upbeat and energetic with a wide variety of artist to choose from. This defiantly includes a lot of Halloween songs, both creepy and funny. No one wants to be at a slow boring party.

Adult games - This doesn’t have to be anything dramatic, just something to help keep everyone involved. Parties held in places that have a pool table are most enjoyable, as this game always keeps an interesting conversation going on. Throwing darts is very entertaining for many adults. Karaoke, strength games and skill contest are also very popular.

Best overall costume - You can’t have a Halloween party without having a costume judging. Although to keep everybody happy the party should probably have two contests with separate categories. One contest would be for the goriest costume around to appeal to the guests that love to show off their favorite scary costume. The other contest would be for the guests that prefer to stay away from the gruesome and bloody costumes. Both contests should be judged on their originality and design.

Refreshments - A great Halloween party for adults includes a large assortment of refreshments. This would include both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Having bartenders to provide this service is important to help keep things simple and keep the guest happy.

Decorations - Going to a party with well crafted decorations is lots of fun. These help to keep you in the Halloween sprit throughout the entire party.

Accommodations - Some of the most successful adult Halloween parties ever held took place where the accommodations allowed you to have at least two separate main areas. One where your guest can party and make all the noise they feel like. The other main area would be where anyone can share a drink and hold a conversation if so desired.

Nicola always enjoys Halloween parties with her friends. Visit her Halloween site for tips and information about Halloween Costumes for Couples at http://Couples-Halloween-Costumes.Best-Halloween.com

This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. All rights reserved. Copyright Best-Halloween.com

Car Sickness - 15 Ways to Prevent Car Sickness

I have been travelling on long car trips ever since I was a young kid, mostly because it was cheaper for our family of 6 than flying but also because I happen to live in, what I believe to be, the most wonderful place in the world, Western Australia. We didn’t need to fly because we usually stayed within our own state (even though for those of you that dont know it is an absolutely enormous state!)

Anyway, back to the point. Nothing makes a holiday or long trip worse than car sickness. Contrary to “popular” belief, babies suffer from car sickness less than the average person and the elderly rarely experience car sickness. However children between the ages of 5 and 15 are most susceptible to car sickness.

By operating an adventure tour in WA and taking many people on long trips all year round I have seen a lot of car (or bus) sickness. What follows are my top ten tips, from experience to prevent car sickness.

TOP 15 TIPS TO PREVENT CAR SICKNESS

1. Get a good nights sleep before the trip

2. Seek medical advice about travel sickness pills

3. Remove dangling ornaments from the car

4. Avoid rich food and alcohol before the trip (obviously kids wont be having any alcohol, right?!)

5. Fasten seat belts correctly (ie not too tight around the waist)

6. Do not read or write while travelling

7. Start the journey without delays or last minute panic

8. Ensure each passenger has forward vision

9. Support children so they can see out of the front window

10. Stop the car frequently - stroll and get some fresh air

11. Drive smoothly, corner slowly, brake gently

12. Watch for symptoms such as yawning, coldness, pallor, loss of alertness

13. If vomiting occurs, stop and let the person walk a little and have a sip of water

14. Let a sickness-prone person sit in the front seat, where the ride is smoother

15. Maintain good ventilation. A sick person should sit near an open window or air vent

I hope you will find these tips as useful as I have and remember; excitement or energetic activity before a journey can make matters worse!

Todd is part of a family owned and run adventure tour company operating out of Western Australia. He has many years experience in travel and the outdoors. For more information about this article, other related content, or his tours, visit his website at http://www.crikey-adventure-tours.com

Generation “X” Grandkids’ Perfect Gift for Grandparents September 10

You were born between 1965 and 1980, now ranging in age 26-42. Your parents were part of the “boomer” generation, born from 1946-1964. But this grand idea isn’t about them. It’s about your grandparents. Remember them? They’re the ones who always supported you through your triumphs and failures when, perhaps your parents were so preoccupied with providing a living that they didn’t always have time to listen.

Now, your grandparents are aging. Many on fixed incomes. Their recollections of their own life experiences, triumphs and failures are fading, but they are a treasure trove of memories of their time of life and family and world history. The sad reality is that they’re not always going to be with you. Perhaps one or more of your grandparents has already lost a spouse. All the more reason to permanently preserve those memories of a lifetime that spanned The Great Depression, World War II, the years when your parents were born and lived. If your grandparents are still living today, grab them while you still can and put their memories on a DVD. You’ll find most grandparents are anxious, or at least ready to record the history of their lives for you as well as for future generations.

Their individualized stories won’t be found in history books. They’re unique. Theirs was a time when there was no television and patriotism was a way of life. They were part of United States and world history and have been dubbed “The Greatest Generation” for their remarkable resourcefulness, innovation and inventiveness that brought America to its greatness following WWII.

Professional videographer, R.J. Mchatton, of Bellevue, Washington’s Inventive Productions says, “Help them find all visual materials pertaining to their lives. Include their childhood photos, 35mm slides, 8mm film, news clippings from scrapbooks, school yearbooks sports awards and military decorations. Access a professional videographer who will ask questions that will provoke memories that will frequently elicit humor and colorful ancecdotes.”

Costs may vary from a few hundred to several thousand dollars; costs that may be shared among several sets of grandchildren. A recent set of grandparents whose life stories were preserved on a DVD were excitred and delighted that their family cared so much. Both grandma and grandpa answered relevant questions for the interview, sharing many laughs and recollections. Upon completion they hugged one another on camera. After all, they had been together for 57 years!

Hey, I Was Only Kidding! Crossing The Line In Miami

Recently a stand-up comic was working the crowd at a Miami comedy club. An out-of-towner traveling the comedy club circuit, he was clueless about the community, but always did his best to make his comedy locally relevent by digging through a town’s newspaper for inspiration. He found a story about the Atlanta branch of the FAA restricting the new half-billion-dollar Carnival Center for the Performing Arts from lighting up the night skies with a permanent searchlight– included at considerable expense in the design– because it might interfere with pilots landing at MIA. This rankled many Miamians because it seemed the FAA was also consistently stopping them from having really tall buildings which many of them took as signs of a manifested example of large scale penis envy by Atlanta civic boosters. This was something the stand-up comic couldn’t pass up and decided to use it in his routine that night. That joke would lead in to a riff on Castro who, a couple of days earlier, was reported in full-width front page headlines to be on his death bed. Those rumors were enough to get Cubans parading up and down Calle Ocho, the main drag through Little Havana. After introducing himself and telling his audience that he had just flown into Miami, he began his routine. The parentheticals are mine:

Is it a joke or what when the FAA restricts your new muy expensive performing arts center from popping its beacon on and lighting up the night sky because it might interfere with pilots landing at MIA? Hell, if anything, it ought to help them find it.

“I lost Miami!”

“Follow the light!”

“It’s too bright! I can’t see!”

“What? You didn’t bring your aviator sunglasses? And you call yourself a pilot?”

(Uncontrolled laughter)

Geesh, I tell you, if I was paranoid, I’d think the Atlanta branch of the FAA which makes up these cockamamied rules has got it in for us. They’re even telling us we can’t build buildings as big as we want to. The nerve of them. Last time I checked this was America– except for certain parts of Miami.

(Uneasy laughter)

Hey, I’m only kidding. Lighten up. Where’s a translator when you need one?

(Someone heckles the comic in Spanish. He doesn’t know Spanish but senses he may have crossed the line. He tugs at his necktie and begins to sweat under the spot lights. He quickly whips out his emergency back-up line)

I just heard Castro died!

(Uncontrolled cheering and shouts of joy)

Yeah, the first parade is scheduled right after this set.

(With the exception of a few tourists and a scattering of “Gringos,” the room suddenly emptied itself as the audience rushed out onto Calle Ocho to begin another round of marching up and down the street and waving small Cuban flags which, the comic was surprised to learn, they always carried with them for exactly this kind of moment.)

D.C. Copeland is a writer and award-winning artist. When visiting Copeland’s personal website and blog http://www.miamivisionblogarama.blogspot.com/, you will discover that Wayne Cochran is the Patron Saint and that many people consider it to be “The Rodney Dangerfield of Blogs.”

The 40-Bucks Dillema

What??! RM40 bucks? You’ve got to be kidding? Here, why don’t you do me a favor? Here, grab my arm, twist it and yank it out! You might as well take my leg as well, why dontcha? All that for a sparkly looking blouse that I might not even wear?

This woman is shopping for some clothes. In her hand, she is carrying package after package of toys and baby clothes. She’s even got a funky looking musical rattler hanging surreptitiously out of her bag. In the meantime, she’s got a car seat that costs 10 times the price she’s haggling about right now. That woman, my dear friends, is me!

Sadly, I realize that I have become much of a miser. A miser in the most miserable sense of the word. When it comes to my kids, I have the ability to forget to ask myself the question I am so used to asking “Do they need it? Do you need it? Can they live without it?”

I scout and my eyes fall on these loveliest pair of shoes I have ever seen. It comes with those tiny little toespace (that will squeeze the bejeezus out of your toenails and little toe when you walk) but it would cost me RM29.99. Forget it! It’s above 20 bucks, then it’s out of the question. I spot a trailer toy in ToysRus and it comes with a hefty 120 buck price tag and I lug it to the counter.then, I pay for it without even hesitating.

What is wrong with me???

It’s not so wrong to get something for myself, is it? After all, I earned the moneydidn’t I?

The problem with me is that I have my perspective, objective, priorities all wrong. My kids need booties they’ll only wear for 2 weeks more than I need that blouse (although that darn booties costs me more than triple the cost of my blouse). Jared would surely need the third spoon because he’s suddenly grown a third mouth recently. Joshua is going to need the new set of Play-doh because if I don’t get it for him, he’s going to be a criminal when he grows up.

Oh ohwait. I just spotted a cassette recorderthe kiddy kind. Yeah, those that comes in a myriad of colors and can record voices and plays back sounds that does not resemble your own.yeah, those. Joshua is going to NEED those too.

Wait a minute, what about that cape for Jared. Uh-huh, he’s gonna need those, for sure cause the cape is going to cover his handsome little back from snow(for your information, I stay in a place whereby it doesn’t get any closer to the equator).

Oh my goodness, check out the little socksthe one with Winnie-the-pooh on it! Aaawwwww.it’s adorable. I mean, it’s black and it’s going to make Jared look so much fairer than he is. I bet he needs that.

Those jigsaw puzzles are simply going to make an Einstein out of Joshua. It’s gotta. I bet it’s gonna.
Looking at the bundle of toys and NEEDED toys in my arms, I can only smile. My kids are going to love this. Ah well, maybe next time I’ll replace these shoes that’s killing me. I don’t REALLY mind this handbag that is falling into a million pieces, do I? Nah.

Besides, I can wear my husband’s pantshe hasn’t complained yet. The good thing is that it isn’t falling off, right?

I can live with this.

Marsha Maung is a freelance graphic designer and copy writer who works from her home in Selangor, Malaysia. She loves nothing more than blowing bubbles in the park with her 2 kids, Joshua and Jared. She designs apparel and premium items at http://www.allmomstuff.com and is the author of “Raising little magicians”, and the popular “The Lance in freelancing”. More information can be found at http://www.marshamaung.com