Education

Murder mystery parties can go disastrously wrong if the organisation and planning is poor. Here is a way for hosts to avoid the pitfalls.

It’s a party and the point is for people to enjoy themselves, but if the game descends into chaos with some guests playing along and others opting out, it can lead to disappointment.

A well-organised event is more fun, not less, because people can derive enormous satisfaction from participating in the game and solving the crime.

How Much Alcohol to Serve at a Party

Too much drink in the early stages can cause the event to fall apart and so the host should be canny about alcohol. It is usual for guests to bring their own supply of drink, but the host can cleverly slow down the effects by serving delicious, but lower alcohol drinks. Cocktails such as Buck’s Fizz or Bellinis that go heavy on the soft drink mixer and light on the liquor are a great solution. Served ice cold in lovely glasses they will delight guests and distract them from hitting the hard drink they may have brought with them.

Food for a Murder Mystery Night

Serving the food early is another way to stop everyone getting too sloshed too soon, but it’s important not to serve a heavy meal or too much carbohydrate as it could make guests sleepy.

A light finger buffet that can be eaten standing up so guests can still mingle works best.

How Hosts Should Prepare for the Party

The host should not drink at all as running an event such as this requires a lot of concentration.

Unless they can find someone to take charge for them, the host should oversee proceedings and should know the plot inside out. Most games provide a character for the host which enables them to take part in the game while ensuring its smooth running.

Learning Whodunnit

Some murder mystery games are extremely complicated, and become increasingly so with the number of characters involved. The host should learn all of the back stories and parts, so they can nudge guests back on track if they feel that someone may be veering off track.

When the number of guests starts to top ten, 12, or 14, then there is a lot for a host to learn. However, the bigger the party, the more fun it can be and games which have parts for 20, 30 or 40 people can be enormously amusing because there are so many sub-plots.

Hiring Waiting Staff or Caterers

Another good idea is to get some help. Hosts should hire waiting staff or enlist the help of a friend to help with the food and drinks and coats.

Whoever is helping should also have a character however, albeit a minor one, because this can add a great twist to proceedings.

The following tips aim to help you learn a foreign language a lot easier, without even having to leave the comfort of your own home.

We live in a melting pot. We are surrounded by different nations, people and cultures and yet we find it very difficult to learn a foreign language. Is the ability to speak a foreign language really only limited to the most eloquent and studious of people? How well do we remember the foreign languages we learned back at school? Traveling abroad is great but how often can we afford to do it? What other ways are there to study a foreign language?

Socialize

Form a circle of foreign friends, bilingual, if possible. Ask them to speak their language slowly in front of you. Encourage them to make a lot of examples, use their body language or even draw what they want to say, without resorting to translating everything for you all the time. That way you will be able to pick up some basic words and easy phrases a lot easier, while you will feel the need to be alert at all times. Being alert is necessary when learning a foreign language.

Read

Go to your local newsstand or bookstore. Start with easy learners and books for foreigners and evolve progressively. Get some good dictionaries. It’s important that you don’t hurry to change levels, as this will discourage you. Visit some of the online bookstores, like Borders, BN, and Amazon, where you can find a lot of books in their original language.

Get satellite television

It’s important that you hear the foreign language as much as you can and in its correct pronunciation. Record some of your favorite programs and watch them again and again. Try to pick up some words, which may sound familiar to you, and with the help of your dictionary try to form short sentences. Compare them with what is being heard on TV.

Interact online

I can never put too much emphasis on the importance of interacting with other people. Luckily, for those who don’t have the luxury of traveling abroad or meeting foreign people, there are online chat rooms, on the net, where natives go to interact with their “compatriots”. One example is Enlaces de chat Espanoles which offers various chat services for Spanish speakers. Here you can find another very famous chat room in France for French speakers who want to meet other people for friendship and more. Similarly, it is worth checking the websites of all major TV channels as the majority of them offer chat services for the diaspora living abroad. Use Google to find chat rooms in your preferred language and you might be surprised by what you are going to come up with. Students of the World is another very interesting site for foreign language students who want to make new friends from all over the world.

Listen to online radio and TV

Radio Locator is a very interesting site for those who want to listen to radio from the four corners of the world. Listen to everything from cultural programs in Paraguay to Australian folk songs to Italian language programs. Similarly, you can watch online TV from around the world on Media Hopper

Pronounce correctly

Pronunciation is equally important when it comes to learning a foreign language correctly. Fortunately, there are some good audio-visual TV programs which can assist you with this, as well as various language kits sold in the market. But you can also do that online. When it comes to picking up a foreign language via the Internet, aim to find websites where you can download audio files to help you study the language in its correct pronunciation. One website with such resources is Livemocha. The BBC has also got a site dedicated to audio and video courses in various languages.

Urinary tract infection, or UTI, can be quite painful. Many natural cures are available to prevent a urinary tract infection naturally.

Many women have experienced the pain of a urinary tract infection, or UTI, at some point. Reoccurring urinary tract infections are quite common. Men also experience UTI, but at a much lower rate. For many, the goal is to prevent a urinary tract infection naturally.

Prevent a Urinary Tract Infection Naturally with small Changes to Diet

Small changes to diet can go a long way toward preventing a urinary tract infection naturally. Studies have shown that eating yogurt with live, active cultures can help to encourage the growth of good bacteria in the bladder and kidneys.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that taking probiotics can also encourage good bacteria. It would follow that eating yogurt with live, active cultures infused with probiotics may help to encourage the growth of good bacteria, thus preventing bad bacteria from taking over the urinary tract.

Eat more cranberries and blueberries to prevent urinary tract infection naturally. These berries contain naturally occurring compounds which aid in keeping the urinary tract free from harmful bacteria. Another item to try would be dandelion root. This herb has been shown to cause slight bladder palpitations which help to flush out the system. Dandelion root also improves liver function.

Prevent a Urinary Tract Infection Naturally with small Changes to Lifestyle

The old adage about drinking eight eight-ounce glasses of water may have recently been debunked, but everyone should still strive to maintain proper hydration throughout the day. Drinking more water can be helpful for a lot of bodily systems, and it can definitely help to prevent a urinary tract infection naturally. If one feels a dry mouth, he or she is already dehydrated. It is especially important for those combating reoccurring UTIs to always stay hydrated.

A good habit to get into to prevent a urinary tract infection naturally is to use the bathroom whenever the urge strikes. If one feels he or she must go to the bathroom more frequently than every hour, she or he may already have a bladder infection. But taking a break every two hours or so is a good way to ensure all bad bacteria that may be present get flushed out. Holding it too long can cause the bad bacteria to grow.

Along with using the bathroom every so often, it is very important for ladies to go before and after intercourse. This will ensure the area is clean, preventing the build-up of bad bacteria if it does happen to be transmitted during intercourse.

Also, while in the bathroom, be sure to wipe front to back, not back to front. The most common cause of urinary tract infections in women is the e. Coli bacteria, which is commonly found in the anus. Using care while wiping after bathroom trips will ensure that the e. Coli bacteria does not get transmitted.

Ever try to ice a strain or other injury with an ice pack only to find that it has caused an ice burn? Learn how to prevent ice burn when treating injuries.

Ice burns happens frequently. Whether it is a case of forgetting that ice or an ice pack is being applied or that the ice or ice pack is too cold, it has happened to many people. An ice burn happens when ice is applied directly to the skin for too long. It has the same properties as frost bite and can cause the same results.

What is an Ice Burn?

Ice burns are like frost bite to a specific area where ice has been applied for too long or at too low of a temperature. The blood in the skin of the affected area is slowed to a point where the applied ice can start to freeze it. Left for too long, this can cause serious tissue damage. This can happen very quickly, in only 10-20 minutes.

How to Prevent an Ice Burn

Ice burn can be prevented in a number of ways. One method is to put a barrier between the skin and the ice. Wrap the ice in a tea towel or something similar to prevent the ice coming into direct contact with the skin. Direct contact with the skin is the fastest way that ice burns happen. Another good tip for avoiding ice burn is to only ice the area for a short time. Many professionals suggest leaving the ice on for 20 minutes, then taking it off for 20 minutes.

How to Tell if an Ice Burn Has Occurred

An ice burn can be identified by examining the area. The skin will be white, rough and icy to the touch. There may be no feeling on the spot where the ice was applied. After some time, a bit of color may come back to the area, but sometimes in more severe cases color will not come back for longer.

How to Treat an Ice Burn

Treating an ice burn is very similar to treating frost bite. The affected skin needs to be brought back up to normal body temperature. Do not massage the area, as this may cause cell damage to the skin. Running a bath and slowly increasing the temperature is the most common way of treating frost bite. The more gradually the skin is brought back up to the right temperature, the better. Once brought back up to the correct temperature, use a burn ointment and wrap the burned area in a gauze cloth to prevent any contaminants from getting to the area.

Sometimes the skin will turn black and blue, as it is likely that a bruise due to the rupturing of blood vessels has formed. If the next day the skin is still black or purple, go to a doctor as there may be severe damage to the area. If left untreated, ice burns resulting in blisters can become infected.

As with all first aid, be careful, especially when using ice, as many people don’t think it could hurt, when in fact is has the potential to cause very serious issues. If there are any concerns about the health of skin or the severity of an ice burn, do not hesitate to go to a doctor.

Discover the facts on dieting. Learn what types of foods are good or bad for you, how to lose weight fast, how your body reacts when it’s hungry and much more!

Dieting, is it really that hard? Perhaps not, but to effectively lose weight must be because more than half of America are on a diet and not losing! Here are five tips that will help you to a slimmer body in no time.

Pay Attention to Your Metabolism!

Biologically speaking, your metabolism is defined as biological process that uses the heat (calories) that you store for energy. Most people focus on eating less, which isn’t particularly bad if you have a habit of binge eating.

However, focusing on increasing or speeding up your metabolism will result in long term success because you’ve trained your body to use up more calories. For example, let’s say you are trying to lose weight, and you consume a sleazy 1000 calories per day.

This little calories may not be enough for your body and you will feel tired and less active as a result; since you’re eating less and not focusing on your metabolism, you may lose a small weight just to gain it back because your body thinks that you are starving in the desert and start actively accumulating fat in your body to save for later.

Now, let’s say if you consume 2,500-3000 calories per day but you feel great and full of energy. This energy will get you moving, and your metabolism speeding up, which in effect burns your calories at a faster rate!

Change How You Relate to Food.

This may sound funny but studies shows that by eating more, your metabolism may actually get a boost and help you lose weight at a faster rate. Most of us undergo a vicious cycle when we diet; we tend to fall back into the old routine of motivation, diet, failure and depression.

We must change this habit before we are able realistically lose weight, keep it off, and not miss what we’ve lost. Stable weight loss can only be achieved by allowing ourselves to look at food in a different light. Food is there for us, it’s good for us. We need food to survive, food is not evil, too much may not be healthy, but it’s something that we need and is a part of our life processes.

You can starve yourself, or hate food for the rest of your life, just to find that you have to come running back to it, binge on it, and then be with filled with regret as floods of failure pours through you. We all know about the forbidden apple, the more our mind label it evil, the more tempting it appears and thus, the more we become obsessed with it.

Eat breakfast

This is very, very important! Eating breakfast not only starts your metabolism on the right track; it actually helps rid of bad breath as well. Eating breakfast can do tons of wonder in giving you a brain and productivity boost, starting your day off right, and controlling your appetite as well.

I normally don’t notice it, but when friends take notice that my appetite seems to wane after a humongous breakfast, or that during lunch, I don’t go seem to have weird ice cream and cake cravings, it usually correlates with the days I eat breakfast. Although this is just a personal experience, this is also biologically proven and you can ask the doctor the next time you visit him or her!

Eat in Smaller Portions but Multiple Times per day.

When you eat in smaller portions, your metabolism has to work harder because the initial energy is used many times and it’s the initial energy that burns the most calories.

Keep Track of Your Body’s Reaction to Drugs

Many times, we get so busy trying to lose weight that many of us fail to look at patterns in our weight fluctuations. Pay more attention to the food that tends to add a pound or two to your weight as well as medications like birth control pills, anti-depressant, herbal remedies, etc. These medications may also play a role in weight gain if not properly analyzed.

Consume more fruits and vegetables with high levels of antioxidant to help with your energy levels. Green tea, pomegranate Juice, and green leafy vegetables are health foods that will fight radicals and protect your body. This will keep it active and help you to deal with stress levels and lose weight at the same time.

Did you know that drinking water with your meals can help improve digestion and absorption of food? Find out more benefits of drinking water with meals here!

Benefits Of Drinking Water With Meals

Everyone knows that drinking water with your meals is a good habit to get into. However a wide majority of these people do not know the facts that make this information true.

It is better to be informed with the reasoning as to why you are doing something before you blindly go do it. The benefits of drinking water with every meal range all the way from dietary benefits all the way to general health benefits.

The first benefit of drinking water with every meal is perhaps the simplest of them as well, and that is the fact that water keeps you hydrated. While there are other things you could drink with your meals that would keep you adequately hydrated, none of them are as effective as water.

This is because water is the basis of everything else that hydrates you, and it saves your body from having to break down all the other ingredients in juices and soda before it can begin doing its job. While this is not only a benefit of drinking water with meals, but rather a benefit of drinking water with meals, it is still a great reason to drink water with meals.

If you are trying to lose weight chances are you are looking to cut down on calories. This makes water an excellent choice to drink with your meals because it contains no calories. If you were to drink a soda or other drink with every meal you ate every day, you are in taking a much greater number of calories than if you were to just drink water with each meal. Combine this reduced number of calories with a steady diet and exercise plan and you will be on your way to losing weight in no time at all.

Drinking water with your meals will also help prevent overeating. When the body receives water the digestive system starts its process to digest food. Once these processes start, the body sends signals telling your body that it doesn’t need too much more food to complete what it needs to get done and as a result your body doesn’t give you the desire to eat as much as had your digestive system not been activated before eating.

While drinking a different type of liquid with your meals will not kill you, drinking water definitely has a few clear advantages over other types of drinks. These benefits range from diet help to simple quality hydration. If you don’t like water, try buying flavor packets that can be added to water from the store. They are usually low in calories and relatively healthy for you.

Different vowels often combine together to make similar sounds, and this can be tricky and challenging to spell. But it can also be fun if your child can learn a simple trick – say the word aloud, pay attention to the sound of the word, and look at word groups.

When two vowels combine together to form one sound, it is called a digraph. Here is a fun way to help your child understand and spell the long “e” sound.

The Long “E” Diagraph: Formed by “ee”, “ea” and “”i.e. Combinations

The long “E” sound is normally formed by “ee”, as in SEEN, “ea,” as in MEAN, or ” i.e., as in THIEF., We will work with “ee” and “ea” combinations now, as the ” i.e., a digraph is a little more complex and, “i.e., words are longer.

For the exercise, make two sets of five cards each, with words from the first two vowel combinations. Make each set visually different, so the cards can act as visual cues and memory aids to help your child remember.

Start with the “ee” combination; SEEN, KEEN, KEEP, WEEP, MEET. Notice that the words kind of lead one into another, with a replacement of one sound or with an additional sound. This will help your child understand how the sounds are made and make them more interesting.

For the “ea” combination, you could use MEAN, LEAN, MEAT, HEAT, BEAD. Notice how only some consonant endings take the long “e” sound. For now, avoid similarly spelled words that take the short “e” sound, like HEAD.

Keep a couple of blank cards handy in each set, so you can add any new words your kid identifies in the course of the exercise. In one card, which you keep separate, write out the word THIEF.

Begin the exercise with a Smiling “ee” Sound

Begin the exercise by stretching your mouth into a wide smile, making the long “ee” sound. Talk about smileys! Ask your child to do the same, and then ask him or her to try and spell the sound. Lead her into spotting the “e” and show how the long sound is actually a second additional sound. Explain those vowels like company and often work together with another vowel.

Encourage her to play around with the long “ee” sound. Once she is familiar with the sound, show her the “ee” cards one by one, saying the word aloud and spelling it with her. Act the words out together, or chant them. Make sure she makes the sound of the “ee” again and again. Then, ask her to tell you a couple of words that are spelled similarly. If she is hesitant, give her clues, make a game of it and let her guess the word. Make her write one or two words on the blank cards and add them to the stack.

Move on to “ea” Words

After a while, pick up the card with MEET, and ask her if she can think of another word that sounds the same but has a different meaning. If she doesn’t come up with MEAT, lead her into it with hints. Then explain how “e” also often (but not always) works with “a” to make the long “e” sound. Play around with the “ea” cards.

If she brings up words like HEAD, which take the short “e” sound, explain that some words are different, and lead her with hints to a long “e” word. Fill up a couple of cards with words of your child’s choice.

Once you’re done with the “ee” and the “ea” words, show your child the card with THIEF. Explain that ” i.e., also makes the long “e” sound. Ask him or her to think of other words that also make the same sound. Examples you could give would be FIELD, SHIELD. Do not get into spelling the “i.e., words.

Wrap Up with Mime

End the session with a quick mime of how “E” makes the long “e” sound; by working with another “e” to make “ee”, with an “a” to make “ea”, and with an “i” to make “i.e.. Repeat the game a couple of times using different word sets with the same “ee” and “ea” sounds. Then when your child is comfortable with the long “e,” it’s time for other vowel combinations like the long “a” sound, the long “o” digraph, and the long “i” sound.