Thursday, February 23, 2012

10 Good Movies for Valentine's Day


You're at home with your wife or your girlfriend on Valentine's Day and she wants to see a good movie. What should you put on your DVD player? Here is my top 10 romantic movies for a Valentine's evening.

1- Kate and Leopold

A duke travels through time from New York in 1876 to the present and falls in love with a career woman in the modern world.

One of my favourites with Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan

2- Just Like Heaven

David takes over the lease on Elizabeth's apartment, but he discovers that she hasn't vacated the building. Elizabeth's body may be dead, but her spirit is still quite alive.

Good romantic funny movie.

3- Maid in Manhattan

A senatorial candidate falls for a hotel maid, thinking she is a wealthy guest at the hotel.

A woman from the lower class falling for a rich man, always a winner.

4- 13 going on Thirty

After total humiliation at her birthday party, a 13 years old wakes up the next day as a 30 years old woman.

Good movie, it shows that sometimes, what we want is not what we need.

5- While you were Sleeping

Lucy's life consists of constant loneliness, that is until she saves Peter's life. Now his family believes that she is his fiancée.Everybody realizes what a terrific person she is, especially Jack, Peter's brother.

Another lovely movie that shows, that sometimes what you want is not what you need.

6- If Only

A lonely singer/songwriter and the man of her dreams take a second shot at love after fate intervenes into their romance.

Pretty touching movie, that displays real love.

7- Ever After

This is a new version of Cinderella, with Drew Barrymore.

A classic fairy tale.

8- The Family man

After a strange interaction, Jack wakes up in a new and different life from that of a high-living urban Wall Street exec as a suburban New Jersey father and husband to his old sweetheart, Kate.

Funny, lovely and romantic comedy.

9- Somewhere in time

In this romantic film, a playwright obsessed with a picture of an early 1900s actress turn back in time to find the woman, and the two begin a love affair.

Really interesting romantic movie. A classic!

10- Forever Young

A man undergoes a scientific experiment that causes him to wake up after 50 years without aging a day in this romantic science-fiction tale.

Good, maybe a little less romantic than the others, but pretty good anyway.

These are ten winners for Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is a perfect day to discover or rediscover these romantic films.


Celebrity Wedding Hair Styles


We all love a good celebrity wedding. Especially if they sell their story to the magazines and we get to see exactly what dress they were wearing, how they wore their hair and what the reception looked like. Of course most celeb weddings are more lavish and grandiose than most of us could ever recreate, but they are a useful source of inspiration. You may be able to recreate bits and pieces of your favourite celebrity couple's wedding such as the colour theme or the way the bride styled her hair.

Getting as many ideas as possible without being over-whelmed is the key to planning the perfect wedding. You can take inspiration from wedding fashion magazines and by looking at how others do it, this includes celebrities. As a society we have a huge fascination with celebrities, what they wear, what they do and especially how they get married. A wedding is a perfect excuse for a celebrity to spend vast amounts of money on a lavish celebration.

The hair styles of famous brides have always been a matter of interest to the public in general and, of course, to brides in particular as they plan their own wedding. In fact, they are one of the best sources of dream wedding beauty inspiration. There are plenty of magazines that specifically cover celebrity weddings so you are sure to be able to find some amazing inspiration.

Wedding style completely depends on what the bride wants to look like and her own personal style. One of the biggest mistakes a lot of brides make is to change their own style nearly beyond recognition when it comes to the wedding day. You still want to look like yourself on your big day, just a better version of you. Katharine McPhee was married in 2009 and wore her hair down in a very natural style on her wedding day. She commented that some brides tend to go overboard and drastically change their look for their wedding and she just wanted to look like herself.

The way you choose to wear your hair on your big day will largely depend on the location of your wedding. For example, if you opt for a countryside wedding then you may want to channel a bohemian look and accessorise with delicate flowers, or if you choose a grand church you may want to stick to a more formal style.

When Mariah Carey married Nick Cannon back in 2008 they chose to have the ceremony on a beach in the Bahamas. She mirrored the tropical location by wearing her hair in a similar way to her signature every day style, down and wavy with beautiful curls.

Eva Longoria Parker chose to wear her hair in a simple but sweet long, loose hair style with big waves for her wedding day. She is known for her fancy and sometime dramatic hair styles on the red carpet but for her wedding she opted for a more feminine and pretty style. Ultimately, every bride will have an idea of how they want to look on their wedding day and it is essential that they stick to this idea.

Catherine Zeta Jones opted for a big dramatic updo at her wedding. Her thick long hair was wrapped up and rested in a big bun on top of her head. She then accessorised with a unique and intricate bridal headband. This matched her full-length gown perfectly as it too was dramatic yet elegant.


History Of Fashion Design


The realm of fashion design, by its sheer glamour and grace, has always been exciting and intriguing. When we talk of fashion design, it implies a form of art that incorporates the nuances of creating clothes and accessories.

The history of fashion design can be traced back to the beginning of the19th century when the designs were the product of the dresses worn in the royal courts. Eventually, Charles Frederick Worth, the first fashion designer, set up his first fashion house in Paris. His designs greatly influenced the people and they labeled them as the designs of the "House Of Worth." As a result, a designer became synonymous with a particular brand.

Another important designer who made a significant contribution to the evolution of the fashion was Paul Poi Ret. He blended the classical style consisting of aesthetic dressing with Paris fashion. Other important designers of this age were Patou, Vionnet, Fortuny, Lanvin and Chanel.

Throughout the 20th century, Paris remained the world's fashion hub, with countries such as the US and Britain openly aping the French designs. The post World War era saw the emergence of other countries as the centers of fashion and Paris ceased to be the sole influential factor. The rising British fashion industry brought a new range of street fashion focusing mainly on the young consumers.

Later, American designers such as Calvin Klein And Ralph Lauren came to the fore with their sportswear and made it a style statement. Today, fashion designs can be categorized into two main categories. The haute couture is designed for individual customers. The other category is the ready-to-wear collection. While the former is based on certain themes and is more for creating a style statement, the latter is meant for the masses.

The mid-90s saw the emergence of a new breed of designers who redefined traditional concepts. They looked at fashion from a new angle, creating their own new concepts.


Healthy Lifestyle Tips



Living a healthy lifestyle doesn't have to be hard. It just takes the motivation to change our bad habits into good, healthy ones. Below is a list of 10 healthy lifestyle tips to get you started. Once you start, you can come up with more healthy choices that work for you.

o The first thing is to eat a balanced diet. Eat more fruits and vegetables and get rid of the high sugar, processed foods. Along with eating better is getting the right nutrients in the system.
o So the second thing is to take vitamins and minerals to help your body work properly.
o The third tip is to quit all those nasty unhealthy habits. Smoking, drinking, drugs, chewing tobacco, whatever your vice may be quit now. You are in charge of your health and living a healthier lifestyle means getting rid of the things that may kill you.
o The fourth thing to do is exercise. Exercise makes you feel good and can motivate you to get other things done as well.
o Along with exercise, number five is making sure you see a doctor each year for an annual physical. This is more important in women, but men should be seeing a doctor every 2-3 years to make sure there are no big health concerns.
o The sixth is to surround yourself with a strong support network, or a group of people who will be there for you and participate in a healthy lifestyle as well.
o Your family and friends can help you with the seventh tip, have fun and enjoy life.
o Eighth tip is to create a good balance between work and play.
o The final two tips are to accept yourself for the unique individual you are and love what you do. If you can accept yourself, the good and the bad, it will show in all you do. Your job is something you will be doing for at least the next 20 years, so you should love it. If you don't keep looking until you find something you do love.

Start with those healthy lifestyle choices and see how you feel in the next few weeks. You should feel more energized, motivated, and positive.















The Psychology of Entertainment


Entertainment has many dimensions and could be personal/private or more general and public forms of entertainment. When we play with our mates that is a personal form of entertainment and when we sit and watch a movie on the screen that is a more general form of entertainment as we are sharing the experience with many others. There are some differences in our perception of private and public forms of entertainment as personal entertainment will always be based on personal experiences, our personal worldview and will be determined by personal interactions.


Entertainment takes us to a different world and feeds our need for fantasy and an escape from real life. This is especially true for entertainment that is more public or provided by the media and entertainment provided by films, theatre, music, and all forms of creative art. Films and theatre transposes us to a world of fantasy and grabs our attention so we remain engrossed as almost a part of this alternative reality. Entertainment could also be in the form of magazine stories and gossip or even celebrity culture and the psychology of entertainment could also explain the extreme craze of celebrity culture that we have in the modern world.

Celebrities seem to open up a world of fantasies and for some people knowing every move of celebrities could bring immense satisfaction as it would almost mean participating in fantasies. Fantasies help in overcoming frustrations and serve as therapeutic as they aid in the escape from realities of life. Real emotions and real life are stressful and entertainment helps us to move beyond real life and moments of stress to participate in fantasies that are soothing as we do not have to be directly involved in these fantasies and yet as spectators we can still participate in a tacit or passive manner.

Entertainment could trigger emotional involvement and emotional reactions such as happiness, sorrow, anxiety, fear and despite these strong emotional participation, there is little or no physical activity necessary on the part of the viewer. This active-passive process is the main attraction of entertainment as entertainment enables us to be both active (in terms of emotion) and passive (in terms of physical or voluntary mental involvement). Entertainment means like films are influential yet they influence subtly rather than aggressively and this subtle influence seems to work better on the human mind than any aggressive forms of influence. We see work as duty and entertainment as pleasure although both involve some form of emotional involvement. Work at the same time requires voluntary participation, decision making and physical involvement along with emotional involvement.

An interest in celebrities comes from emotional involvement with characters in movies and there may be substantial lack of differentiating fantasy and reality so fans of celebrities are more in love with the characters these celebrities play or the traits they project rather than the personality of celebrities. The celebrity culture seems to take people to a persistent fantasy world and individuals are seen as discussing all aspects of celebrities from their shoes to their hairstyle to the cars they possess. This sort of culture could however be explained with individual need to escape reality and identify with someone in a fantasy world and would be an important element in the study of fantasy.

Art Schools For Kids



Art schools for kids need not be limited to visual arts. Classical music training in particular is all about math, and since pretty much every aspect of life can be boiled down to math, good art and/or music training is nothing to be sniffed at. Do your kid a favor. Take it seriously and quit whining about public school cuts. See the opportunities and take advantage of them.

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