Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Lara Fabian - You're not from here
There are many songs and singers I could blog about, but this song and especially this singer, gets me going, in a good way. I get those amazing tingles going down my spine and real surges of deep emotion as I can relate to the lyrics and the way Lara Fabian sings them as if it had really happened, which it may have. Lara Fabian sings with complete conviction, there is no fear of what she is doing and it takes me a while to compose myself again after listening to this song and many others she has recorded.
As Lara Fabian gets to the words "and I'll fly" second time around, oh boy, are the hairs on the back of my neck standing up? Yes they are! I strongly recommend a purchase of any of her work but especially tracks recorded for the PBS live show of which You're not from here is one.
Play this to someone you really care about, it may be one of the best things you could do for that person.
The Portal of Healing.
I don't know what is going on
You turn around and touch my heart
A silent moment speaks the truth
Something has happened all at once
It should have scared me in advance
But I was falling in those eyes of yours
And so
Fear was gone
I knew there was nothing else
I'd ever want
[Chorus:]
I know you
You're not from here
I've waited for you to appear
To take my breath away
And make me weep
You're not from here
Not from this here and now
Just a touch of yours
And I fly... and I fly... and I fly
I can't get used to missing you
If this is how it's gotta be
I need an angel to watch over me
No one can hold the hands of time
But I can hold you in my mind
Over and over like a melody
For now
I'll stand still
For now
I'll be filled by the memory of your skin
I know you
You're not from here
You don't belong to lies and tears
The greatness of your soul
Makes me weep
You're not from here
Not from this here and now
Just a touch of yours
And I fly... and I fly... and I fly
[Chorus]
Monday, September 13, 2010
Music on prescription could help treat emotional and physical pain
"The impact of a piece of music on a person goes so much further than thinking that a fast tempo can lift a mood and a slow one can bring it down. Music expresses emotion as a result of many factors," says audio engineering specialist Dr Don Knox, project leader. "These include the tone, structure and other technical characteristics of a piece. Lyrics can have a big impact too. But so can purely subjective factors: where or when you first heard it, whether you associate it with happy or sad events and so on. Our project is the first step towards taking all of these considerations -- and the way they interact with each other -- on board."
I have known this since I was a child. I was acutely aware at an early age of how music of different types affected people in different ways at different times. Many people I have known have turned to music at some time in their life for comfort and as a way of understanding what was happening to them. The scarcity of music in mainstream education is disturbing and has had a major effect on the social fabric of our society. I challenge anyone to sit a child in the middle of a symphony orchestra and watch how that child is moved and changed by the sounds and emotions.
Let us all hope that this research encourages more people to go out and make music and get involved.
The Portal of Healing.
I have known this since I was a child. I was acutely aware at an early age of how music of different types affected people in different ways at different times. Many people I have known have turned to music at some time in their life for comfort and as a way of understanding what was happening to them. The scarcity of music in mainstream education is disturbing and has had a major effect on the social fabric of our society. I challenge anyone to sit a child in the middle of a symphony orchestra and watch how that child is moved and changed by the sounds and emotions.
Let us all hope that this research encourages more people to go out and make music and get involved.
The Portal of Healing.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Fujifilm FinePix HS10 Digital Camera
Ok, having had a long hard look at the market and read a gazillion reviews on a whole host of cameras, I have finally decided to get the Fuji FinePix HS10. The reason? Simply, it is probably one of the best cameras in the class of cameras known as a bridge camera i.e. not a point and shoot but not a full Digital SLR.
The features speak for themselves - shoots raw which is very important, uses standard sd or sdhc memory cards unlike some previous models that only used xd (which is a pain), has a good lens on the camera, 30X wide optical zoom which is more than enough for most uses, has some nice features like panorama function and the camera will allow me to use it completely on auto with very good results and progress to full manual mode when I get round to using those features.
Of course, the price is a big factor as I have seen this camera being sold on Amazon as high as £400.00 pounds so at it's current price this is a bargain. One other very important factor for me is the weight and the grip. I looked at several cameras by the major players including Canon and Nikon and most of the cameras similar to this were either too heavy e.g. Nikon D3000 or the grip was just no good. This Fuji is a very nice fit and is remarkably light for the size. Some people will say that with the heavier camera you get a better build quality but I need the camera to be light as I cannot hold a heavy camera for long unless it is on a tripod and that is not always possible.
There are some nice accessories available such as a lens kit including UV and CPL and a macro lens kit, a screen protector all for a reasonable price and I have included links to those products. So, I am off for a cup of tea while I dream about my new camera arriving next week.
The Portal of Healing.
The features speak for themselves - shoots raw which is very important, uses standard sd or sdhc memory cards unlike some previous models that only used xd (which is a pain), has a good lens on the camera, 30X wide optical zoom which is more than enough for most uses, has some nice features like panorama function and the camera will allow me to use it completely on auto with very good results and progress to full manual mode when I get round to using those features.
Of course, the price is a big factor as I have seen this camera being sold on Amazon as high as £400.00 pounds so at it's current price this is a bargain. One other very important factor for me is the weight and the grip. I looked at several cameras by the major players including Canon and Nikon and most of the cameras similar to this were either too heavy e.g. Nikon D3000 or the grip was just no good. This Fuji is a very nice fit and is remarkably light for the size. Some people will say that with the heavier camera you get a better build quality but I need the camera to be light as I cannot hold a heavy camera for long unless it is on a tripod and that is not always possible.
There are some nice accessories available such as a lens kit including UV and CPL and a macro lens kit, a screen protector all for a reasonable price and I have included links to those products. So, I am off for a cup of tea while I dream about my new camera arriving next week.
The Portal of Healing.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Hama DVD Laser Cleaning Disc: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
So, the other day, I had to hook up my DVD recorder, it has not been used for a while but was not used that much anyway. To my horror, it was making all kinds of grinding noises on any type of disc I tried in the unit. I gave up. Then someone suggested I try the Hama DVD lens cleaner. I did and hey presto! It worked! No more grinding noises and what's more, it reads discs very quickly and smoothly. Now I am going to go round the house and use it on the other DVD players and the pc. Worth the money.
The Portal of Healing.
The Portal of Healing.
Kindle Wireless Reading Device, Free 3G + Wi-Fi, 6" Display, Graphite, 3G Works Globally - Latest Generation: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
Ok folks, it's here, the product you have all been waiting for - Kindle with 3G and Wifi! I am told the 3G is completely free. No catches! You need to place an order now for delivery in October. I have also ordered a case which is really neat! Good luck.
The Portal of Healing.
The Portal of Healing.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Health alert as Moscow overwhelmed by smog
A lesson for us all, for those of us who want to hear that lesson. The pictures tell their own story, this is what is going to happen to this planet in time to come, it is going to burn up. Most of us will be long gone when that time comes but for future generations there are lessons to be learned.
Global warming is here folks and it's here to stay. No more denying it is just a passing phase, we are coming out of a mini ice age and things are just starting to heat up. This winter just passed was the mildest in Canada I have seen since I have been there. In January of 2009, supposed to be the coldest and snowiest month of the year, they were having to bus in snow for the ski hills for there was not enough snow. This winter just passed, I only had to use the snow blower four times in four months.
Sure, it was still cold, but the period of extreme cold was quite short and most of the time I was bored and there was not enough snow to clear up!
The events in Russia are the other extreme, temperatures never seen before in Moscow, over a 100 degrees and now wildfires, it truly is crazy. Have humans made this situation worse? You bet. You can't tell me that 200 years or so since the industrial revolution started, combined with the decades of car use and heavy industry, mining and the pollutants we put out in making most of what we consume have not taken their toll and made matters worse.
It is not possible to roll back 200 years of evolution just like that. It takes time to change attitudes and time to educate people to be more responsible in their day to day lives. But the biggest culprits in this scenario are the governments for it is they who allow big business to carry on polluting, wasting and generally turning a blind eye to the obvious - we just cannot carry on the way we are going otherwise that day of reckoning may come sooner.
We are paying Russian roulette (pardon the pun!) with our lives and the lives of future generations. So, come on people, do your bit to make things better. Use the car a little less, drive a little more slowly, don't burn those leaves and most importantly, contact your MP, Congress person or parliament to do something about global warming!
THe Portal of Healing.
Global warming is here folks and it's here to stay. No more denying it is just a passing phase, we are coming out of a mini ice age and things are just starting to heat up. This winter just passed was the mildest in Canada I have seen since I have been there. In January of 2009, supposed to be the coldest and snowiest month of the year, they were having to bus in snow for the ski hills for there was not enough snow. This winter just passed, I only had to use the snow blower four times in four months.
Sure, it was still cold, but the period of extreme cold was quite short and most of the time I was bored and there was not enough snow to clear up!
The events in Russia are the other extreme, temperatures never seen before in Moscow, over a 100 degrees and now wildfires, it truly is crazy. Have humans made this situation worse? You bet. You can't tell me that 200 years or so since the industrial revolution started, combined with the decades of car use and heavy industry, mining and the pollutants we put out in making most of what we consume have not taken their toll and made matters worse.
It is not possible to roll back 200 years of evolution just like that. It takes time to change attitudes and time to educate people to be more responsible in their day to day lives. But the biggest culprits in this scenario are the governments for it is they who allow big business to carry on polluting, wasting and generally turning a blind eye to the obvious - we just cannot carry on the way we are going otherwise that day of reckoning may come sooner.
We are paying Russian roulette (pardon the pun!) with our lives and the lives of future generations. So, come on people, do your bit to make things better. Use the car a little less, drive a little more slowly, don't burn those leaves and most importantly, contact your MP, Congress person or parliament to do something about global warming!
THe Portal of Healing.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Belkin Wireless G Plus Wireless MIMO Router
I need to get a new wireless router for the house as the signal is so bad. I will still have to put the router in a central location in the house and run a wire back to the modem but at least this product seems to get good reviews and Belkin do have a good reputation for quality. I am also going to get a nice wireless adapter with external antenna and there is a link for that below as well.
The Portal of Healing.
The Portal of Healing.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Abnormal brain activity in migraineurs is not restricted to attacks
"Typically, migraine is considered to be an episodic disorder with discrete attacks of headache. But new research by Dr. Till Sprenger and his team from UCSF Headache Group and Technische Universität München found increased network activity -- stronger functional connectivity -- bilaterally in the visual, auditory and sensorimotor network in migraineurs."
This research sounds very exciting. I know many people who suffer with migraine of one sort or another. I sometimes get bad attacks of headache and these I assumed were triggered by certain social and environmental conditions e.g. second hand smoking, any kind of smoke from burning, dust, heat, certain types of lighting and bad diet. Perhaps this research can shed light on why migraine is so bad and sometimes unpredictable.
The Portal of Healing.
This research sounds very exciting. I know many people who suffer with migraine of one sort or another. I sometimes get bad attacks of headache and these I assumed were triggered by certain social and environmental conditions e.g. second hand smoking, any kind of smoke from burning, dust, heat, certain types of lighting and bad diet. Perhaps this research can shed light on why migraine is so bad and sometimes unpredictable.
The Portal of Healing.
Energizer USB Battery Charger with 2x AAA Batteries
I like these usb chargers, they use much less energy than ordinary chargers.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Lens Cleaning Kit (Wii)
So, over the last couple of weeks, my Nintendo Wii has started playing up by not reading some of the discs. I guess it is time for the cd lens to be cleaned and I found this useful product on Amazon. I suppose you could use a cd lens cleaning kit but the reviews all say this did the job and is recommend for the Wii. At the price it is well worth it.
The Portal of Healing.
The Portal of Healing.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Ethernet LAN Network Cable UTP Lead 30M
So, there I was, with my new modem router with wireless but the house is old and the wireless does not work. The reasons are many and varied but to put it simply, wireless does not like brick walls and steel.
I would have used the internal phone cable that had been fitted many years ago but it was costing me about 50% loss in broadband speed. Should be about 5.8 megs but was only getting about 2.7. So out came the old cable and hence the need to purchase the 30 metre metwork cable.
For those that are not in the know, if you have to run a cable for your internet, use a cat5, rj45 plug, ethernet network cable as these are designed to run up to 100 feet without much signal loss. After I fitted this and tested this pc wirelessly, I was still getting the same speed as I was getting plugged in directly to the modem! The cable clips are also listed below along with the link for the cable. I also need an aerial cable for my freeview box in the kitchen. Whew!
Now, it's time for a cup of tea (smile).
The Portal of Healing.
I would have used the internal phone cable that had been fitted many years ago but it was costing me about 50% loss in broadband speed. Should be about 5.8 megs but was only getting about 2.7. So out came the old cable and hence the need to purchase the 30 metre metwork cable.
For those that are not in the know, if you have to run a cable for your internet, use a cat5, rj45 plug, ethernet network cable as these are designed to run up to 100 feet without much signal loss. After I fitted this and tested this pc wirelessly, I was still getting the same speed as I was getting plugged in directly to the modem! The cable clips are also listed below along with the link for the cable. I also need an aerial cable for my freeview box in the kitchen. Whew!
Now, it's time for a cup of tea (smile).
The Portal of Healing.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Smallest Full Size Pocket Travel Tripod
A must buy especially if you need complete stillness on the shot e.g. macro. Very versatile and configurable.
Compatible NP-FV60, NP-FV70 Sony InfoLITHIUM type PREMIUM camcorder battery
A very good price as when I checked in the Sony shop today, these were going for around £70.00 pounds!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Screen/LCD Scratch Protector For Nokia E63
Very good idea to have one of these lcd screen protectors for your Nokia E63 mobile phone.
SanDisk microSDHC 16GB Card
This is the best deal around right now for a 16 gig micro sd card for your mobile phone such as a Nokia 5800.
Monday, July 12, 2010
ByteStor 16GB SDHC Class 4 Memory Card
A good price for 16 a gig class 4 sd card - but why is the 32 gig £56?
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Samsung B2100 Solid Extreme SIM Free Mobile Phone
For those of you who have a habit of killing their mobile phone, this might be a good solution. Rough, tough and easy to use, this phone is a good deal at the price considering you can pay £300.00 for a similar product. By the way, for those of you looking for a sim free, unlocked phone at a reasonable price, head down to your local Asda where you can buy any Asda mobile and they will work on any UK network. Not sure about other countries but the prices start at £15 quid so go for it!
The Portal of Healing.
The Portal of Healing.
Intoxicating fragrance: Jasmine as valium substitute
Jasmine, one of my favourite, not surprising that it helps in calming the mood. I found some really good jasmine in the local store, made by Good Earth, it is organic for those that are keen on organic and it is extremely good. Highly recommended. The organic Fairtrade Jasmine Tea looks pretty good too.
The Portal of Healing.
The Portal of Healing.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Nokia 5800 Chrome on T-Mobile
Ok, here is the deal of the week, a Nokia 5800, touchscreen, wi-fi, GPS, it will allow you to use your voipcheap.co.uk account through the phone using either wi-fi or the GSM wireless network and the beauty about is that being on T-Mobile, if you have a Virgin Sim Card, it will work in the T-Mobile phone and that means you can access the data network for £0.30 pence a day up to 25 megs, which is plenty for making voip calls.
Here is a link to the other phones that run the app from voipceap uk (this is not voipcheap.com, they are separate) - not all the phones on this list are wi-fi which is a must if you want to make free calls during your free days period which you get when you top up your voipcheap account:
http://www.lowcaller.com/en/get-lowcaller-now.php?label=Voipcheap.co.uk
Once you have found your model of phone, you will need to install the file on your phone probably via your pc as I did with the Nokia PC Suite. Once it is installed, I found the app in the installations folder called M.V - it is a simple but nice app you simply enter your voipcheap uk username and password, choose the method of connection either wifi or GSM network, the app will register you to the voipcheap server and that's it! Choose a contact from your phone book and enjoy free or cheap calls. You have to insert the international dialling code for the country you wish to call even if you are in the UK calling a UK landline number e.g. you would dial 011 44 miss out the first zero and the rest of the number will follow like this:
011 44 123 456 7890
Enjoy!
Here is a link to the other phones that run the app from voipceap uk (this is not voipcheap.com, they are separate) - not all the phones on this list are wi-fi which is a must if you want to make free calls during your free days period which you get when you top up your voipcheap account:
http://www.lowcaller.com/en/get-lowcaller-now.php?label=Voipcheap.co.uk
Once you have found your model of phone, you will need to install the file on your phone probably via your pc as I did with the Nokia PC Suite. Once it is installed, I found the app in the installations folder called M.V - it is a simple but nice app you simply enter your voipcheap uk username and password, choose the method of connection either wifi or GSM network, the app will register you to the voipcheap server and that's it! Choose a contact from your phone book and enjoy free or cheap calls. You have to insert the international dialling code for the country you wish to call even if you are in the UK calling a UK landline number e.g. you would dial 011 44 miss out the first zero and the rest of the number will follow like this:
011 44 123 456 7890
Enjoy!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
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