sita sings the blues

this beautiful full length animation film is free to watch based on a revolutionary idea that made it possible...
you can read all about it here:
http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/

oprah winfrey / stanford

Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al

A man walks down the street
He says why am I soft in the middle now
Why am I soft in the middle
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don't want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bonedigger Bonedigger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away my well-lit door
Mr. Beerbelly Beerbelly
Get these mutts away from me
You know I don't find this stuff amusing anymore
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al

A man walks down the street
He says why am I short of attention
Got a short little span of attention
And wo my nights are so long
Where's my wife and family
What if I die here
Who'll be my role-model
Now that my role-model is
Gone Gone
He ducked back down the alley
With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl
All along along
There were incidents and accidents
There were hints and allegations

If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al

A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the Third World
Maybe it's his first time around
He doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen! and Hallelujah!

If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al

Natural birth tips

this one is for my sis.

+ take full responsible on the events. its yours. don't become a victim. learn as much as you can. knowledge is power. look for POSITIVE birth story on the net this can be inspiring.

+ find a positive image of the event, try to imagine it as often a you can. go into details, solve the problems that raise along the way. be specific as much as you can including your shirt color etc. relax your fears with self confidence affirmations till you feel free and comfortable in the vision.
birth is a very good lesson in overcoming fears, this will help you greatly later in your life.

+ pain comes in waves, be a surfer, get ready to the wave before it starts.
become a glass of water and let the pain fill you up without resisting it.
suffer comes from resisting the pain. loosen up. when you feel the wave reached its pick - imagine the form of the pain cloud you hold in your body. now start breathing on that cloud and make it disappear. that way you are always in contact of were you are in the pain line. stay aware at all time. when you are done, rest. when you are done resting start getting ready to the next wave.
hot water in the shower can ease your pain try it and see how it works for you [make sure in advance you have plenty of hot water]

+ if you lay down everything will happen slower. if you stand up this will speed things for you.
slower makes the pain easier to control. faster makes everything finish sooner. give yourself rest in between. this is about you not about going home early.

+ prepare some dried fruit or fresh fruit and water to fresh you up in the process if it becomes too long.

+ don't let anything distract your mind. if there are peoples or events that disturb you - eliminate them. don't give up an inch. this is your birth time and no one is entitled to interfere.
ask for help when you need anything, but stay private and connected to were you are at all times.

+ you might want to go to the toilet when the had drops lower, this is normal..

+ when the head tomb into your pelvis the pain becomes unbearable, here you have to open up. imagine a rose blooming, again and again. don't resist the pain .
try using low voices, this might help.

+now that the had is almost out, relax. find your position, talk to your baby, invite him to be born, relax him. DO NOT PUSH! be a river that flows by itself. the body knows when to push. stay as passive as you can and try to get the maximum effect of the body natural work. take your time - in the meantime ask for a bowl of hot water and pieces of towel that you prepared in advance. when you feel the had comes to the edge ask that those warm fabric will be placed on the exit. this will relax the burn and the skin so you wouldn't get cuts. to take the had out ask the person that assist you to put oil on the inside so that it will feel smoother.

+now that the baby is out, rest. breast feed the baby before you cut the cord, let him sleep on you. [no lights and its not urgent to know how much he weigh just now] let him eat , sleep and be calm. enjoy your success..

+ cut the Umbilical cord into an empty bawl. that way it will be very easy to take out the Placenta. it will fall of you when you stand up [because its empty!] if you dont empty it this can cause you unnecessary extra pain.

+take a good shower with someone checking on you, in the meantime let your helping people prepare the bad for you. go to sleep with your baby. you can clean him a little with a wet towel.

+ practice receiving help. let people do thing for you , don't do any housework. eat very healthy.
Arnica helps. in the first two three days you will loose your hormones. this can be a very hard experience. you can find yourself crying for days. there is no way around it just be prepared and know its part of the natural process.

+ it takes few days / weeks for the breast to understand how much milk to produce, its possible that you will suffer a feeling of too much milk. wash your Brest with hot water and squeeze it in the shower. this will be ok by itself. drink a glass of water everytime you breastfeed. you can dry very easily

+ you will feel your Uterus shrinking when breath feeding. this could heart some. but this is a good thing...

+ life is change. go easy with yourself. don't try to match a postcard of the perfect mom. there are no mistakes just free lessons. you can take them or ignore them. don't expect your partner to be were you are. but please let him help you and accept his support. you are no super hero. you need love help and support.

+ let the baby decide on when he wants to sleep and eat. don't try to control it. your baby will learn that he can count on you, this will save you allot of work later on.

+ bravo..

mont ventaux

yesterday we visited mont ventaux
it was beautiful, inspiring, amazing, interesting... surprising!
i liked the coffee place there, having coffee in heaven above the clouds must look like that
here is a link:
http://www.montventouxwebcam.com/
















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Flylady

Flylady is a housekeeping coach, if you can say so.
she teaches the essentials, like: shine your sink , get dressed up to you shoes drink your water, do your exercise, what's for dinner,you have too many things- through / give etc.

lately i learned from her that keeping a house takes three different kind of actions: daily, weekly and monthly.
i made lists for each, and i try to keep them as much as i can, and the level of stress around the subject drop down for me.

==================

here is a favorite post from her facebook feed:

Saturday is family fun day. If you have been putting of weekly home blessing hour then get your lovely family involved. After you bless your home go out and do something fun! Go to the pumpkin patch, go for a hike in the woods or play some board games if the weather is bad.

In order to get their full participation, it has to be fun and there needs to be a reward afterwards.
Let's look at our Weekly Home Blessing Hour.

We have 7 items on our list to do:

1. Empty Trash(all over the house)
2. Dust
3. Vacuum
4. Mop
5. Cull old magazines
6. Change Sheets
7. Polish mirrors and door.

Now how can we get the family involved? By making a game out of it.

Save the jobs that are the hardest for you. If you are going to be picky about the way they do it, then don't play this game; it won't be fun for you or them.

KEEP THIS RULE IN MIND!

HOUSEWORK DONE INCORRECTLY, STILL BLESSES YOUR FAMILY!

Have fun!

Decide on a good reward for getting the home blessing done without complaints, fussing or fighting. Go to the park. Take in a matin?or rent a movie and pop popcorn. You know what your children love to do.

Take the list of items and write them on slips of paper. Fold the papers and place them in a bowl or bag to have your child/children draw from. Do not hold the children to your standards; this is supposed to be fun, not perfect. Do you understand this?

Set a timer for 10 minutes and go to have some fun. After the buzzer goes off; draw another assignment. Afterwards go have fun.

You can hold your older children to a little higher standards, but not perfection. I don't even hold you to that tough goal.

Baby Steps, the more they do this, the better they will get at it. Another way is to get the
children to work along side of you. For instance if you are dusting, give them the feather duster and
teach them how to use it without knocking things over. You take a dust cloth. Together you can dust the furniture top to bottom. Remember children are short and can get the lower spots easily.

Have them help you vacuum. Put a basket in the middle of the room and have them put everything in it before you run the vacuum cleaner. You could even aim for the basket, if you allow tossing in the house. LOL Then let them push the vacuum around the room. Remember just the middles, we are not doing under the couches just yet.

Now for mopping, you sweep the kitchen floor while the children get on their bathing suits. LOL This is from one of our members. Put some wet towels on the floor with a little more water, and let them scoot around on the floor on the their frannies. Have a spray bottle filled with plain water to add to the excitement. You could also put a tiny bit of baby shampoo on the floor for soap. Remember it doesn't have to be perfect, just fun. You get the floor clean and they get to be silly. They will love it. You can let them play as long as they are having fun. Then toss the dirty towel and swim suits in the washer. Oh you can do the bathroom this way too, then put the children in the tub and let them play, but they have to be cleaning in there too.

It isn't the type of cleaner that gets things clean, it is the act of doing the cleaning that accomplishes the task. We don't have a magic potion. A little shampoo on a wash cloth will remove a bathtub ring.
As of culling magazines; you can turn this into a learning event. Have them look for magazine with last month's date on them. Changing Sheets is not that hard, one of my fondest memories is when my father taught me to make hospital corners. Every time I put clean sheets on our bed I think about him. You can set a timer for this too and race to see who get them in the laundry room first. Each bed needs two sets of sheets, so you don't have to wait to put the fresh sheets on the bed.

Polishing mirrors and door doesn't have to be perfect either. Just a little spray of your favorite cleaner on a paper towel or clothe andlet them get the worst of it off. You will be surprised at how good
the doors will look without dog nose prints and hand prints on them.

As for gathering up all the trash in the house; teach them that emptying the trash means putting a new bag in the trashcan. Keep extra bags in the bottom of each can then they don't have to go searching for them. Blow your whistle have them run to their rooms and gather up trash.

You can also put on their favorite music. You can stand anything for an hour! It is Weekly Home Blessing Hour! Let them know this is the way you get in the mood to clean; you have to set the stage for fun. This goes for you too. Create a fun time for blessing your home with the children helping. You can do this. Ask the children for suggestions and have fun.

Home Blessing with FLYing Children Power,

FlyLady

We have some fun music for you to play! Our Up Kind of Day CD gets your family moving to a lots of types of music with a good message about routines.

http://www.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_kidcd.asp

The Plowboy Interview: John Holt / 1980 [!!]

"Maybe I'm kind of old-fashioned, but I don't think the currently popular "therapeutic" methods-which involve telling someone, "You're OK, you're really wonderful"-do much good. Tackling a job that seems worth doing, and doing it in a competent manner, is-to my way of thinking-the best way for a person to gain self-esteem."

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/1980-07-01/Plowboy-Interview-John-Holt.aspx?page=3

red and white

http://www.janusfilms.com/redandwhite/

Walt Disney

watching the Mary Poppins bonuses, hearing all the actress talking about the film making,
it was made clear that W.D is a man worth listening to:

+ "Somehow I can't believe there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C's. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy and the greatest of these is Confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably."

Miroslav Sasek

An interview with Miroslav Sasek (1969)

"Janet Schulman, Macmillan's Marketing Manager, called me to say, "Guess who's in New York City? Miroslav Sasek! . He'll be here for a few weeks before returning to Munich, Germany!"

I immediately telephoned the Roger Williams Hotel in mid-town Manhattan and made an appointment to see him. When I arrived, Mr. Sasek was waiting for me in the lobby. "Would you like to see some pictures of Washington, D. C.?" he asked with his European accent. "Come up to the room!"

The first thing one notices about Mr. Sasek is his European manner. Despite his age, he is thin, well-tailored, and as bubbly as a glass of the best French champagne. Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, he was forced to leave that country when the Communists seized power after World War II. He became a resident of Paris, France. "I'm at home in Paris," he stated, "I love it! I live in Munich now because my wife's work is there."

read more:

www.miroslavsasek.com

notebookbabies

What are Notebook Babies? Notebook Babies are little films that are designed to help kids learn but, like kids, they are sometimes silly.

About their creator: Tony Dusko was born in Pennsylvania in 1971. As the son of a commercial artist he was exposed to art at an early age and enjoyed drawing and using up his father’s art supplies. He then went on to study art in college, but also earned a degree in Biology and a certification in Elementary Education. After five years as a microbiologist, Dusko became bored and decided to teach elementary school. It was during his third year of teaching that he discovered how his artistic background could help motivate his fifth graders to stop talking. One day he created a simple animation of a grilled cheese sandwich telling his students to get ready for lunch. To his surprise, the fifth graders loved it, quickly got ready for lunch, and begged him to make more animations. So to improve his skills, Dusko began studying animation with Academy Award nominated, Paul Fierlinger, who has independently produced over 700 animated films. Dusko has since created short films for many school topics and continues to use them to liven up his every day teaching.

change the world for ten bucks

How can you change the world?

We Are What We Do is a new kind of movement inspiring people to change the world one small action at a time. It’s not just politicians, institutions, and big business that change the world—it is also ordinary people like you and me.

Our philosophy is simple:
small actions x lots of people = big change

http://changetheworldfortenbucks.com/

Zoo de la Barben

Nestling in greenery and basking in the scents of the Mediterranean, the Barben Zoo is at the heart of the Provence region, 5km away from Salon and halfway between Marseille and Avignon.
http://www.avignon-et-provence.com/zoo-france/south-france-zoo/

Bang-yao Liu / dead-line

stop motion animated video made with the humble post-it note made by Bang-yao Liu

I guess we need the eggs / Annie Hall ending

Ted / Michel Obama

Sudbury valley school

http://www.sudval.org/06_sudb_05.html

the Whale Rider

Whale Rider - Trailer | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com

the film site


the film wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whale_Rider

Witi Ihimaera, is a New Zealand author, and is often regarded as the most prominent Māori writer alive today.
read more

some unschooling / homeschooling links

http://www.naturalchild.org/
Our vision is a world in which all children are treated with dignity, respect, understanding, and compassion. In such a world, every child can grow into adulthood with a generous capacity for love and trust. Our society has no more urgent task.

http://www.unschooling.com/gws/
Growing Without Schooling is the work of John C. Holt and
homeschooling's early pioneer families. It is now made available
exclusively by Home Education Magazine at this site.

25.7.09 the 1st Annual London unschooling conference
http://www।londonunschoolingconference.com/

unschooling united
http://www.unschoolingunited.com/facillitator.asp

knittaplease

Knitta began in August 2005, when the soon-to-be-Knittas were discussing their frustration over unfinished knitting projects: half-knitted sweaters and balls of yarn gathering dust. That afternoon, they knit their first door handle. Then it dawned on them… a tag crew of knitters, bombing the inner city with vibrant, stitched works of art, wrapped around everything from beer bottles on easy nights to public monuments and utility poles on more ambitious outings. With a mix of clandestine moves and gangsta rap — Knitta was born! Today, Knitta is a group of ladies of all ages, nationalities, and… gender.

kent rogowski / Bears Project

these bears are inside out, a feature which makes them very expressive, like a childhood nightmare ... check it out

nice sites for kids

http://www.sesamestreet.org/home
http://www.seussville.com/
http://www.poissonrouge.com/
http://www.uptoten.com/
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/

Paris with kids

+ spending the day at the Pompidou center area.
a large area without cars starts at the 'Jardin du Forum des Halles', A big medieval church with a big head sculpture in the front that the kids like to climb, and green grass with water canals.
good falafel stands in a walking distance [Tilal - 4 euro].
good Italian ice cream [3 euro] in front of the Forum Des Halles Fountain.
lots of pigeon to scare and to feed.
in front of the museum itself many music and theater street shows, and the kids of all ages just love putting the money in the hats.
next to the museum there is a nice shallow pool with turning sculptures, very colorful and not far from the seine.

+ bateauxparisiens is just one of the companies that gives a one hour tour in the seine, all my children enjoyed it [11 euro per person 6 per child] and even I found it interesting and very relaxing. the starting point is under the Eiffel Tower which is always a great hit, even if you don't climb it, it also has a nice garden for picnics under it.

+ many days were spent at the jardin_des_tuileries, except for good ice cream and coffee, you can rent a small wooden boat to sail at the fountain water [ 2 euro for half an hour], there are nice sculpture to climb and the children's playground is absolutly original and amusing, behind it there is a classical 'mary go round' and a large trampolina facility, other then that you can always feed the ducks or check if the Obelisk is at the center of the Victory gate.

Janod

Janod - a french wooden toys company has also a beautiful collection of paper activity for kids

emily levine

playhouse

At last....a truly eco-friendly playhouse which looks beautiful in your garden.
judith needham willow design

Gocco print by Craftershock!!! cool!!!

this is a great tutorial by a great craft site creftershock


Print Gocco is a small, inexpensive, and easy to use screen printing tool that originated in Japan. Gocco uses flash bulbs similar to those found in old cameras to thermally imprint an original image onto a master screen. Prints are made by pressing the ink-applied master screen against a sheet of paper placed on a sponge pad. While Riso (the company to thank for Print Gocco) “officially” ceased production of the Gocco in 2005, you can still buy them online through a few different suppliers. We buy our Gocco goods from Northwood Studios.

I just love letterpress

Studio On Fire is a design and letterpress workspace
http://studioonfire.com/index.cfm

and here is a Short Letterpress Documentary (Wonderful)

charity: water

charity: water is a non-profit bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

WHY 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.

WHO ARE THEY.
charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. We give 100% of the money raised to direct project costs, funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need. Just $20 can give one person in a developing nation clean water for 20 years.

GET INVOLVED.
Learn how you can help here >

Boowa and Kwala - uptoten.com

This is one of the great tv series featuring those fantastic characters from UpToTen.com.

how did the credit crisis happened?

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

the natural child project

Welcome to The Natural Child Project

"It is the nature of the child to be dependent, and it is the nature of dependence to be outgrown. Begrudging dependency because it is not independence is like begrudging winter because it is not yet spring. Dependency blossoms into independence in its own time." Peggy O'Mara

Calef Brown / a blog by a wonderful illustrator

"This is my dreamhome. I didn't dream about it, it's just a cool house.
It wasn't designed by Rem Koolhaas, but he's cool too."

http://www.polkabats.com

Sister Corita Kent

http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Heart-Teaching-Creative-Spirit

G is for GAME

There's no chance one blog post can do justice to the silkscreen work of Sister Mary Corita Kent, an artist and nun who combined pop, modernism, collage and appropriated advertising, with poetry, inspirational and religious content, and social and political activism in the causes of peace and justice, so I won't even try.

writing very lovely by
http://daddytypes.com

bicycle kitchen

The Bicycle Kitchen is a non profit educational organization. We are a group of volunteers who run a space in Los Angeles filled with tools and stands for working on bicycles. Our hope is that you will come down and work on your bike! cool!!

www.bicyclekitchen.com

Little Otsu

a

http://shop.littleotsu.com/