Archive for March, 2012

Do you like reality shows? Whether you are a fan or not, you just can’t ignore them can you? Reality shows seem to be making bigger stars than movies and from the looks of it, this trend is not going to slowdown any time soon. What the reality television world has embraced with both arms is musical or singing shows. This goes all the way back to the first season of American Idol where Kelly Clarkson took the world by storm and the story now stands at two shows battling it out namely Britain’s Got Talent and The Voice. Personally, I like reality music shows as they are a great way to showcase talent plus its very very interesting to see if what you really see in contestants are true and that if the musical world does agree with you. Throw in some lunatic judges and some drama and what you have is a real winner.

Right from time when rumours were alive that Cheryl Cole was offered the job of being a judge on The Voice, the two shows BGT and The Voice have locked horns and gone into battle. I like these shows and am one of the many fans who will closely monitor both. The first week of auditions is over on both shows with some contestants having clear advantage over others. I really like it when talent takes stage and its all above everything else such as better publicity and what not. For instance, The talent duo of Jonathan and Charlotte and Jessie J-mentored The Voice singer Jessica Hammond. I think these two singers are out of this world and they are just going to explode on the scene (no offence to other contestants of course).

Reality music shows are about your next door neighbour winning and that’s just what is happening with these two shows in Britain. When you see someone like Jonathan and Charlotte rock the musical world with their mind blowing performances, you cannot but imagine yourself to be in their shoes and how it would be to have the world following you. One thing that I’ve noticed with these reality shows is that the younger the contestants, the more vibrant and energetic they are. Even with The Voice, Irish teen Jessica Hammond’s cover of Price Tag certainly pleased Jesse J (the creator of the song) and secured her a place in the next round.

I for one am addicted to reality music shows and I find it simply amazing knowing what these kids are capable of. At a time when soap operas and reality shows are showing just plain pathetic standards, I think music reality shows are just the breath of fresh air we all need-don’t you agree?

Goosebumps! An ideal word to describe the feelings of a person when he or she goes for a ride on a hot air balloon. The voyage on this ancient aircraft is absolutely thrilling and can be easily labeled as a ride to remember. Kissing massive heights by beating gravity is an impeccable experience. The hot air balloon ride has its ancient roots; it was designed centuries back but still hasn’t lost its charm and will not lose in future. The most unique fact among several postulates is witnessing the unbelievable height making you feel as a bird flying in the open sky. Several nations across the planet believe that the most incredible way of giving a panoramic view of their nation natural beauty is via hot air balloon and therefore, this business is growing.

Now, the query pops up that how do I know so much about this thrilling journey via hot air balloon? Recently, I had an experience of travelling in the hot air balloon. Though, I fear height but as it is said that after fear comes the victory. So, I decided to decode this height fear by travelling in this balloon and Jesus! The experience which I amassed was out of this world. Hot air balloon ride can be of group or a private one. I chose the group option as the more the number; the merrier it is to travel. I kissed the height of 3000 feet which I had done several times in airplanes but this experience was totally a different one. Cool breezes with spectacular scenes from long stretched heights made me speechless. It was a dream transformed into reality for myself as I beat the fear of height embedded in my mind.

Most people speculate that it’s cold on a hot air balloon but there’s no catch there. A hot air balloon is what it claims to be ‘HOT’. However, there is one drawback in this kind of aircraft, i.e. the safety measures but balloon agencies have taken appreciable steps to ensure passengers safety as their top most priority.

Recently, hitting of a hot air balloon with power lines at Wellingborough trapping three people was all over the news channels. Since, it happened after my memorable experience therefore, in no way it can boggle my confidence of taking this thrilling ride once again. My voyage experience has much more juice than this tragic news. So, we just need to forget about this fear and enjoy this thrilling ride. I experienced it, for what you are waiting for?

Was returning from work on the underground when I happened to eavesdrop on a conversation between two women. Yeah, yeah, I know eavesdropping is just pathetic but I couldn’t help. Was an interesting conversation plus I had no other choice except read my boring book all over or listen to these two. The conversation was about this common friend who had put on a ton of weight once she hit 40 and these two were going on blabbering how it was their turns next. Being someone who closely follows nutrition, let me tell you ladies something, there is nothing wrong in hitting 40 and with the right diet and exercise you can in fact tone down and look even better than ever before. Let me give you a couple of tips for maintaining your figure and keeping that lively 20s look all through your 40s.

First of all, admit that you are 40. Yeah, seriously admitting that your body is 40 years old and that it is not what it used to be when you were 20 is the first step. When you reach 40, your lifestyle would have dramatically changed compared to previous years and if you keep eating like you were 20, you are obviously going to plump up. If you required 2000 calories a day when you were 20, you only need about 300 calories when you are 40. So that means lots of calories just waiting to be fat which brings me to my first point. Reduce calories! Try to reduce the calories that you intake during the course of the day. Include more fruits, vegetables and if you really really really have to snack, always go for non-fat snacks or better yet, snack on fruits.

Next comes stress. Contrary to common notion, stress cannot make you thinner but can actually get you fatter! Yeah, its true! Your 40s life would be full of stress with your kids, spouse, job, home making but amidst all of that you have to find time to reduce stress and take care of your body. Stress can make you crave food like never before which in turn becomes Stress Fat. Stress can also lead you on a road to heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other ailments you don’t even want to know the names of. Just have some time to yourself and keep stress in check.

Finally Exercise. If you have been exercising and you just hit 40, exercise more. Just because you are older doesn’t mean you have to reduce your exercise regime and lay off. According to studies, a 40 year old woman should exercise for at least 45 minutes, six days a week. Cycling, walking, jogging all are fine options if you can find the time that is. Don’t think of turning 40 as going to war with your body. This just another phase and with a little bit of work, could be the most beautiful phase yet. Stay fit, stay beautiful.

They say, two heads are better than one and when it comes to lottery, the more the heads the better. Make sense doesn’t it? Everyone chips in a little share and if your pool of tickets has the winning number, you’ve made it, otherwise a small price to pay at your shot at riches. That’s what I had been following until say last couple of weeks when I opted out. I just couldn’t imagine my friends winning the lottery and so I decided to spend my lottery allowance on something else. However, this little news shook me so hard that I’m thinking about doubling my lottery allowance.

The news that caught my eye was that of a female bus driver who missed out on £38 million lottery just because she pulled out a few months back. Talk about hard luck huh? The article reports that she couldn’t afford to chip in £2 a week to keep with the rest and she pulled out six months back. I personally think it was the Devil himself that made her pull out! The report says that the female is completely devastated and broke. Who wouldn’t be? After you get soo close to winning the catch of a lifetime, you let your guard down just for a while and there-slips right by your fingers and your friends are multimillionaires.

I had only pulled out two weeks back because I was just tired of waiting. Every weekend, I’d be hoping for a miracle only to get disappointed in the end. Similarly I reduced playing hours of online bingo for jackpot games and thought it’s a long wait but as soon as I saw this one, I am thinking of going back and even called up my groupies and I’m back in starting this weekend. I mean this could be Gods way of telling me, “Look out, you are next”. I just cannot afford to make a mistake such as this unlucky lady after having played regular lottery for the past two years. Even if we don’t win anything during this lifetime, just knowing that I wouldn’t have to go through this pain is enough. If you believe in luck then save on a couple of muffins and spend that on the lottery. Who knows, your two pounds could be worth millions!