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    PDF Reader Pro Edition

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    50% OFF until our next update (our best update yet!) PDF Reader Pro Edition is the most powerful...

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The Mandalorian - Season 1
The Mandalorian - Season 1
2019 | Sci-Fi
A live action series set in the Star Wars universe has been a long time coming and thankfully, it hit almost all the right notes.

The Mandalorian is set after the events of Return of the Jedi, where the empire is all but gone, and the titular hero is going about his business, taking bounty jobs for good pay. It's not too long before it's revealed that remnants of the empire remain intact and one unexpected bounty job sets Mando on a different path entirely.

The plot isn't too heavy on dramatics for the most part, and the 8 episode arc concentrates on small stories - mini adventures that are resolved relatively quickly. It's a lot of fun. The final two episodes set up a larger narrative, that has me excited for season 2.
The Mandalorian himself (Pedro Pascal) is a great lead, and considering his face is covered the entire time, that's high praise. He has a cold, precise exterior, and shows off frequently his capabilities as a warrior (every episode has a pretty awesome action set piece at one point). Underneath it all, his humanity is shown when The Child (commonly know as Baby Yoda) is thrown into his care, drawing paraells with his own childhood.
The Child arguably steals the show at intervals, being offensively cute throughout, and showing hints at force powers here and there.
Other cast members include Cara Dune (Gina Carano), a completely badass ex Imperial Shock Trooper. Her character is another highlight, and I sincerely hope to see her return for season 2.
Greef Karga (Carl freaking Weathers), bounty salesman and sometimes ally of Mando. The three of them (plus The Child) make for a damn fine crew.
Some further Star power is provided by IG-11 (Taika Waititi) and Kuiil (Nick Nolte) and these two characters further flesh out a great cast.
The villains of the piece aren't in your face, but are present enough to lay the seeds for bigger things to come. Earlier on we have The Client (Werner Herzog oozing text book evil empire vibes), and a bit later, Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), who is menacing enough to make an impact with his little screentime.
I also enjoyed the fleshing out of the Mandalorian religion.

There is some great directing talent in display as well, with episode from the likes of the aforementioned Taika Waititi, Deborah Chow, Dave Filoni, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Rick Famuyiwa. They've all down a great job of bringing this particular Star Wars narrative to life, and I genuinely enjoyed every episode.
Except for episode 6. And thats mainly due to the throwaway characters we get given. (It reminded me of that infamous shitty episode in season 2 of Stranger Things.)

The devotion to using practical effects pays off tremendously, as The Mandalorian frequently looks superb. The CGI used is actually pretty subtle, and the mix of the two works.

All in all, it's a strong first season that personally tops any of the recent trilogy in terms of Star Wars material. Can't wait to see where it goes!
  
    OM Yoga Magazine

    OM Yoga Magazine

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    Designed to inspire and to energise, OM magazine wants to help you enjoy a more active and rewarding...

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Connected: Discovering Your Inner Guides: A Kid's Guide to Navigating Their Emotions
Connected: Discovering Your Inner Guides: A Kid's Guide to Navigating Their Emotions
Seema Desai, James Ballance | 2022 | Children, Philosophy, Psychology & Social Sciences
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
When I got the chance to read Connected: Discovering Your Inner Guides by Seema Desai, I jumped at the chance. My 7 (almost 8) year old sometimes has some big emotions. I figured this would be a great book for us to read together to help him navigate those emotions.

Connected: Discovering Your Inner Guides starts off with a guide for adults and a guide for kids on how to use the book to their advantage. It talks about inner guides which are any type of thing that can help you. It also talks about guards which are the negative feelings and emotions we all experience. Although the book is short in length, it does a very good job at discussing what guides we can use to help squash our guards and help us. Along the way, the author shares some tips and tools to help overcome the guards. Mine and my son's favorite tool was the tapping method. I really felt that both adults and kids can do this method quite easily to help them overcome any number of guards such as fear, anxiety, or any other horrible feeling. There's also a handy guide for teaching children (and/or adults) how to meditate. Desai also goes into just enough detail about different types of guards and guides that can help both adults and children understand what's going on. She never uses language that is too difficult to understand, nor does she drone on and on. This helps so much to keep the book flowing throughout and to help keep children's minds from wandering which they are prone to do quite often. One thing I do want to mention is I felt like my son was a little too young to understand some of the concepts and apply them. However, I do think that if he were a couple of years older, he would be the perfect age. I also think this might just depend on the emotionally maturity of the child as well.

The illustrations in Connected: Discovering Your Inner Guides are fabulous! James Ballance shows how talented he is with each and every drawing. The illustrations are fun and help to keep kids engaged. The drawings are very helpful in making sure Desai's words are being understood. My son and I liked the way the illustrations were aimed towards kids his own age instead of being drawn for babies. (His words, not mine.) Each illustration helps to show what each section in the book is about. Just the drawings alone are worth reading this book!

Connected: Discovering Your Inner Guides is a very informative guide that is extremely helpful for children and adults! It's written in a language that is easy to understand yet drives the point across. With it's excellent illustrations and well written (and researched) passages, this book should be in every therapist's library and every home library. Basically, just put this book in every library. I would definitely recommend Connected: Discovering Your Inner Guides by Seema Desai to everyone aged 10+ who would love to get in touch with their feelings. This is one book you don't want to miss!
  
Riot Of The Living Dead by Lesbian Bed Death
Riot Of The Living Dead by Lesbian Bed Death
2012 | Rock
Awesome Rock (3 more)
Horror Movie References
Catchy Songs
Inspiring Lyrics
One of my all time favourite albums
I first found Lesbian Bed Death back in 2014 and really enjoyed what I heard. The first song I found was Halloween, and I could not get it out of my head and found myself listening to it over and over again. (Halloween was coming up and I was going to be at Whitby Goth Weekend).

When I went to book my tickets I saw that LBD were in fact going to be playing at WGW that year and I couldn't wait to hear my new found obsession live on stage in my favourite place on earth, Whitby!

After listening to the entire album (and previous albums), I found a new favourite song called Chains, which really spoke to me and in fact inspired me to write a poem called Black Candle, all about how my life throughout school etc. made me feel like I couldn't be myself but I finally broke from those chains and nowadays, I'm not afraid to be me. It was a somewhat anti-bullying themed poem, but also one about courage, and after I had finished writing it, I thought that I should let the artists that inspired me, know what their music has done for me. So I emailed them with my poem and honestly, I thought that would be that. Either they read it or they don't, but at least I went ahead and sent it.

Not long after, but drawing ever closer to the night I was going to see them live in Whitby, the manager (and guitarist), Dan Peach replied to my email, telling me he enjoyed reading the poem and that he showed the other band members and they also liked it. This was surreal to me and I was so excited to walk up to them during the meet and greet before the gig and tell them that I was the one who wrote the poem. When the night came for that opportunity I was nervous as hell, and didn't know how to talk to them. I mean, they're just people, but to me and my mind they were a band with many fans and fans can get creepy. I didn't want to be creepy. So I walked up, greeted them and told them it was so awesome to meet them, and then told them I was the one who wrote the poem and when they all told me it was awesome, I could not stop grinning like a Cheshire cat, and that's not even where the story ends.

After they played a few songs on stage, Kittie announced that the next song was for someone special in the audience. It was a little song of theirs called 'Chains' and it was dedicated to the person it inspired to write a poem about breaking free. Dan Peach nodded at me and so did Kittie and I was lost for words. I rocked so much that night and it remains the greatest night of my life.

The band themselves are awesome, and the music they create is something catchy and lyrically brilliant, with songs that'll stick in your head. I have listened to this album countless times and it remains on of my favourite albums of all time. I highly recommend the album and the band!