World's Coolest Staircases.

Duisburg, Germany

It looks like any old roller coaster, with curves and heart-stopping loops. But instead of zooming by, people are walking—on inclines fitted with steps. This creation in Germany's Rhine Valley is an interactive sculpture, but it’s also one of the world’s most unique staircases. 

While staircases are fundamentally a means to get from one point to another, they become cool—and worth seeking out—when the form is made at least as important as the function. Whether in shops, museums, or the great outdoors, the staircases we’ve found are inspiring works of public art and provide interesting perspective on a destination.

So the next time you travel, skip the elevator and take the stairs. We bet you’ll be so amazed by the world’s coolest staircases you won’t notice you’re getting a workout.

Busy People

We are all familiar with the fake busy person: someone who complains he has to so much to do when really; he can get it all done if she spent less hours complaining. A friend who hardly makes it to gatherings because she has so many assignments to get done but not certainly busy to update Facebook status or post a tweet on twitter. 

Or could it even be you, who spends most of your time organizing and reorganizing, creating to-do-lists of what needs to be done, instead of just doing what’s on the list?

We are all guilty of being fake busy. It’s often that, for example, while researching, we end up watching a YouTube video since it’s for 2 minutes only, then it leads to another video. Then you have to share it on Facebook so that your friends can view it too, while the intention of doing the research’s all forgotten.

We all have complained about how much work we have and it can create a sense of overwhelming, when really, when the easy thing to do is prioritize, time manage and focus. There is nothing really to complain about. 

by Lei Wah Mon 

Why does my eye twitch?

Eye twitching, eyelid tics and spasms are pretty common. Usually only the bottom lid of one eye is involved, but the top eyelid also can twitch. Most eye twitches come and go, although they can last for weeks or even months. In Myanmar culture, there's a saying that when it happens, you will hear bad news or you'll have to cry soon. You have to touch the spot and chant something that goes like this "bad things be gone and fortunes come to me." It's one of the superstitions some people still believe nowadays. 

So what is the real reason eyes twitch? 

Stress: While we're all under stress at times, our bodies react in different ways. Eye twitching can be one sign of stress, especially when it is related to vision problems such as eye strain. Reducing the cause of the stress can help make the twitching stop. 

When your eyelid is twitching, you may feel that everyone else can see it, as in this animation that exaggerates the movement. But usually the spasm is so subtle that others wouldn't even notice.

Tiredness: A lack of sleep, whether because of stress or some other reason, can trigger eyelid spasms. Catching up on your sleep can help.

Eye strain: Vision-related stress can occur if, for instance, you need glasses or a change of glasses. Your eyes may be working too hard, triggering eyelid twitching.

Computer eye strain from overuse of computers, tablets and smartphones is also a very common cause of vision-related stress.

If your eyelid twitching is persistent and very annoying, you should have an eye exam, because you may need vision correction. If you spend a lot of time on the computer, you also should consider talking to your eye doctor about special computer eyeglasses.

Caffeine and alcohol: Many experts believe that too much caffeine and/or alcohol can trigger eye twitches. If your caffeine (coffee, tea, soda pop, etc.) and/or alcohol intake has increased, cutting back is worth a try.

Dry eyes: More than half of the older population experiences dry eyes, due to aging. Dry eyes also are very common for people who use computers, take certain medications (antihistamines, antidepressants, etc.), wear contact lenses and consume caffeine and/or alcohol. If you are tired and under stress, you may also develop dry eye.

It's best to see your eye doctor for a dry eye evaluation, because many treatments are now available.

Nutritional imbalances: Some reports indicate a lack of certain nutritional substances, such as magnesium, can trigger eyelid spasms. Although these reports lack scientific evidence, I can't rule this out as a possible cause of eyelid twitching.

If you suspect a nutritional deficiency may be affecting you, however, I suggest talking this over with your family doctor for expert advice rather than randomly buying over-the-counter nutritional products.

Allergies: People with eye allergies can have itching, swelling and watery eyes. When eyes are rubbed, this releases histamine into the lid tissues and the tears. This is significant, because some evidence indicates that histamine can cause eyelid twitching.

To offset this problem, some eye doctors have recommended antihistamine eye drops or tablets to help some eyelid twitches. But remember that antihistamines also can cause dry eyes. It's best to work with your eye doctor to make sure you're doing the right thing for your eyes.

Now that we know the reasons for eye twitching, what are the remedies for it? Well, one doctor said that some of these types of twitches can be successfully treated with Botox injections that help stop muscle contractions. Proper diagnosis and treatment is needed if the twitching affects half your face or your entire eye, causing the lids to clamp shut.

So the best thing to do is to go see an eye doctor! 

by Lei Wah Mon

(Source: http://www.allaboutvision.com/)

World's coolest movie theaters

The word "theater" was derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “a place for viewing”) and θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see", "to watch", "to observe”). The dictionary meaning of "theater" is a building where theatrical performances or motion-picture shows can be presented. 

With the development of Home Entertainment System, one might think there is no more need of going to theaters to see plays, performances and movies. However, there is still a longing for the thrills associated with the heyday of glamorous movie palaces.

"University lecturer Ross Melnick welcomes this renaissance after years of bland shoebox-type theaters and megaplexes: "It's all about trying to bring back the style of the past and marry it with the technology of the future." He cofounded the fan site Cinema Treasures, which devotedly chronicles the world's coolest movie theaters."

The followings are the photos & descriptions of the world's coolest theaters.

Colosseum Kino, Oslo, Norway

This movie theater is located in Norway. It's the largest theater in Northern Europe and was built in 1921. 

The Raj Mandir, Jaipur, India

This theater is known for naming its seating sections after gem stones. It was built in the 1970s and tickets only cost around $3 a person. If all movie theaters were that cheap, people would be going to the movies more. 

Alamo Drafthouse, Austin, TX

This quirky indie movie chainlet has been known to kick out patrons for texting during a show. That’s a tip-off to the seriousness of the place, which also has an offbeat charm. The Drafthouse once showed the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy at an event called Hobbit Feast, where viewers ate only when the on-screen characters did; periodic screenings call for everyone to dress as a particular character—say, Will Ferrell in Semi-Pro.  

Sun Pictures Cinema, Broome, Austrailia

Haphazardly built from corrugated iron and jarrah wood in 1916 to entertain locals in this isolated outback town’s once-thriving pearl-diving industry, the endearingly rickety cinema is the world’s oldest operating outdoor picture garden (first silent film shown: racy racing drama Kissing Cup). Saved by a wealthy local businessman in the early 1980s, it’s been preserved almost unchanged. 

Kennedy School, Portland OR

McMenamins is a local empire of brewpubs and entertainment venues, with more than 50 different spaces in the city, many artfully repurposing old buildings (church, farm, ballroom). The coolest is undoubtedly the Kennedy School, a onetime elementary school that’s now a 35-room hotel and restaurant plus an eccentric movie theater housed in the old auditorium. The 300-seat cinema shows second-run and repertory movies nightly, plus kid-friendly Mommy Matinees, with comfy armchairs and a full menu of McMenamins craft brews available at your seat.  

ReRun Cinema, Brooklyn, NY

The cobblestoned streets of Brooklyn’s waterfront DUMBO district welcomed this gastropub theater (an extension of the dive ReBar) in Summer 2010. It spotlights undistributed or unfairly overlooked indie circuit films, projected from a DVD player on a 12-foot screen while cinemagoers recline on repurposed car seats (yep, there are seat belts too). 

by Lei Wah Mon

Source: www.huffingpost.com

Girl suspended for speaking Native American Language

Miranda Washinawatok, 12, is a student at Sacred Heart Catholic Academy.

After a 12 year-old Menominee girl called Miranda spoke her native language in class, she was suspended from playing the night's basketball. 

Miranda Washinawatok attends Sacred Heart Catholic Academy in Shawano, Wisconsin. According to Native News Network, the school is more than 60 percent Native American and is about six miles from the Menominee Indian Tribe Reservation.

On January 19, she was trying to teach a classmate how to say "posoh" and "ketapanen" when her teacher overheard and she got in trouble. The teacher told her she was not to speak like that because she didn't know if Miranda was saying something bad.

The words Miranda got in trouble for mean "hello" and "I love you" in the Menominee language.

“Miranda kept saying she was only told by her assistant coach she was being benched because two teachers said she had a bad attitude,” Tanaes Washinawatok, Miranda’s mother, told Native News Network. “I wanted to know what she did to make them say she had a bad attitude.” Miranda plays basketball and is the team captain of a volleyball team.

Miranda isn’t a troublemaker. Her mother told Native News that she is mature and respectful. 

There is dispute over who actually did the suspending, but the school has admitted it “failed miserably in its handling of the matter.” Deacon Ray DuBois, the communication director for the Diocese of Green Bay, which operates the school, also told Native News Network that the school does not prohibit the use of any language and that “the number one priority is to help this girl.”

It's the year 2012 and this kind of events are still happening when no one should ever be forbidden or punished in any way for speaking their language.

by Lei Wah Mon

Top 5 New York Times Bestsellers - Fiction

1. Celebrity In Death by J. D. Robb (2012)

Description:

Lieutenant Eve Dallas is no party girl, but she’s managing to have a reasonably good time at the celebrity-packed bash celebrating The Icove Agenda, a film based on one of her famous cases. It’s a little spooky seeing the actress playing her, who looks almost like her long-lost twin. Not as unsettling, though, as seeing the actress who plays Peabody—drowned in the lap pool on the roof of the director’s luxury building.

Talented but rude, and widely disliked, K.T. Harris had made an embarrassing scene during dinner. Now she’s at the center of a crime scene—and Eve is more than ready to get out of her high heels and strap on her holster, to step into the role she was born to play: cop.

2. The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest by by Stieg Larsson (2007)

Description:

In the third volume in the explosive trilogy that has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide, Lisbeth Salander confronts political corruption from her hospital bed while a killer lurks next door. This is the last installment of the Millenium series and Lisbeth Salander is not only fighting for her freedom but also her life. With a bullet in her brain courtesy of her psychopath father, Lisbeth battles to stay alive and to survive when so many people are intent on destroying her. Mikael Blomkovist champions her cause and others slowly but surely come to her aid. But the Section will not and cannot let her be, for her mere existence is a threat to them all. Trapped in the custody of the system she distrusts, she can only rely on her talents as master hacker and learn to trust others in order to rectify the wrongs and avenge the injustice that she has been served.

3. A Perfect Blood by Kim Harrison (2012)

Description:

Ritually murdered corpses are appearing across Cincinnati, terrifying amalgams of human and other. Pulled in to help investigate by the FIB, former witch turned day-walking demon Rachel Morgan soon realizes a horrifying truth — a would-be creator is determined to make his (or her) own demons. But it can’t be done without Rachel’s blood.

As a bounty hunter, Rachel has battled vampires, witches, werewolves, demons, and more. But humanity itself might be her toughest challenge...

4. Kill Shot by Vince Flynn (2012)

Description:

New York Times bestselling author Vince Flynn is back with another nail-biting political thriller that follows the young Mitch Rapp on a deadly mission to hunt down the men responsible for the Pan Am Lockerbie terrorist attack.

For months, Mitch Rapp has been steadily working his way through a list of men, bullet by bullet. With each kill, the tangled network of monsters responsible for the slaughter of 270 civilians becomes increasingly clear. He is given his next target: a plump Libyan diplomat who is prone to drink and is currently in Paris without a single bodyguard.

Rapp finds him completely unprotected and asleep in his bed. With confidence in his well-honed skills and conviction of the man’s guilt, he easily sends a bullet into the man’s skull. But in the split second it takes the bullet to leave the silenced pistol, everything changes. The door to the hotel room is kicked open and gunfire erupts all around Rapp. In an instant the hunter has become the hunted. Rapp is left wounded and must flee for his life.

The next morning, the news breaks in Washington that Libya’s Oil Minister has been killed along with three innocent civilians and four unidentified men. The French authorities are certain that the gunman is wounded and on the loose in Paris. As the finger pointing begins, Rapp’s handlers have only one choice—deny any responsibility for the incident and pray that their newest secret weapon stays that way, avoiding capture and dying quietly. One person in the group, however, is not prone to leaving things to chance. Rapp has become a liability, and he absolutely cannot be allowed to be taken alive by the French authorities. But it will soon become clear that nothing is more dangerous than a wounded and cornered Mitch Rapp.

5. Defending Jacob by William Landay (2012) 

Description: 

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive. Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control.

by Lei Wah Mon

Source: New York Times

World's Biggest Albino Family.

Roseturai Pullan, 50, and wife Mani, 45, and their albino kids. Pic from www.thesun.co.uk

A mum and dad in India told of their pride after raising the world's biggest albino family.

White-skinned Indian couple Roseturai Pullan, 50, and wife Mani, 45, have EIGHT other family members who are albinos.

They have overcome years of prejudice and hardship — but now the unique ten-strong group are in line for official recognition with a Guinness World Record.

Sons Vijay, 25, Shankar, 24 and Ramkishan, 19, and daughters Renu, 23, Deepa, 21 and Pooja, 18, inherited their albinism.

Renu wed another albino Rosheh, 27, and their two-year-old son Dharamraj also has the condition.

The family — who live in a crammed one-bedroom flat in Delhi — all have pale skin, white hair and poor vision, a side-effect of being albinos.

Roseturai told The Sun: "I've heard people call us 'angrez', which means 'English'. It's hard for people to understand we're born and bred Indian.

"All we know is that we can't see properly, and we can't sit under the sun for long, but we live the best we can."

Roseturai and Mani had an arranged marriage in 1983. They moved from Tamil Nadu in southern India to Delhi, where Roseturai sells eggs from a stall.

He said: "Our parents thought it best we marry as we were 'the same'. In South India we were told if you marry a person with albinism it signals good luck and riches.

"Well, that hasn't been true of us yet. We had a very tough life, especially in the South where people thought we had a disease and treated us like outsiders.

"People in Delhi are a little more open-minded, but many think we're foreigners."

He vowed: "Albinism won't get us down."

Mani admits she went to hospital for a hysterectomy after her first child was born, determined not to bring any more albinos into the world. She said: "I didn't want my children to suffer as we did, but the doctor got scared just looking at me and sent me home. I never went back and have had many children, all with albinism. Now I see it as a gift from god."

Mani, who has an albino sister, added: "I was teased and called various names as I grew up. It made me cry so many times. It's hard living as we do in a country like India, but we're still happy now."

She said their children — who all went to a school for the blind and use a magnifier to read — have already accepted they will not get good jobs due to their sight problems. Oldest son Vijay said: "I'm qualified to work with computers, but my vision means a job is hard to find." He added that when he has saved enough to wed he wants to have an albino wife.

"It's easier if I marry a girl with the same condition as me. I just need to find her."

The family hope they will soon be officially awarded a Guinness World Record.

The next biggest albino families — six-strong — live in the US and Canada. Guinness World Records last night said staff would be contacting the Pullans to verify the record.

The family are looking forward to global recognition. Roseturai said: "We're a great family so it'd be nice for people to know who we are." 

source:   www.thesun.co.uk