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P7as2

10 Instances That Prove Chris Martin Is An Absolute Dakota-Coded Pookie

~1.1 mins read

It has been 10 days since I attended Coldplay’s Mumbai concert. Since then, every 3rd or 4th post on my Instagram feed (trust me, I counted) has been about the band. I have always felt that a band’s frontperson or lead singer always takes ‘too’ much credit. People make superstars out of them while generally ignoring the people behind the instruments. Certainly, jo dikhta hai wohi bikta hai, but the man on the drum or the guitar contributes equally to creating a band’s aura and magic. However, I think I can make an exception for Chris Martin. I don’t know how Chris manages to do this, but even in a packed stadium, it feels like Chris is talking straight to you. Of course, the entire concert is an elaborate effort of hundreds of people to make the audience feel wholesome, but I don’t think it would be possible without the sheer warmth Chris exudes. When he addresses people, saying “my beautiful brother and sister”, you know he means it. The charm of Chris comes from his truth – it always feels like he believes in the message of love, light, and humanity (often aliens) he’s trying to convey. Well, you can’t fake it for 27 long years. His India visit had many memorable and wholesome moments. Here’s a list of those moments of our Dakota-approved Pookie. After teasing Jasprit Bumrah’s presence during their India tour, we finally got to see the number-one bowler in the world at Coldplay’s concert. Chris sang a rendition of his songs dedicated to fans and played a clip of a lethal Bumrah yorker. All our hearts

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Healthwatch

A Low-tech School Vacation: Keeping Kids Busy And Happy Without Screens

~3.5 mins read

Nine ways to encourage children to connect, create, and play off-screen.

Father, daughter, and son playing soccer on the grass in a park;

School vacation coming up? Wondering how to spend that time? Given how tiring holidays can be — especially for parents who are working — it's understandable why children are often allowed to spend hours with the TV, tablet, or video games. After all, happy, quiet kids make for happy parents who can finally get stuff done — or relax.

Except kids are spending way too much time in front of screens. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, kids ages 8 to 12 are spending four to six hours a day watching or using screens — and tweens and teens are spending nine hours.

Given how enticing devices and social media can be, those numbers can easily go higher during unscheduled times like weekends and school vacation. That's why it's good to be proactive and come up with other activities. Below are some ideas for parents and caregivers to try. These are mostly good for kids through elementary school, but tweens and teens may enjoy some of them too.

Spending time off the screen

Go outside. This sounds obvious, but spending time outdoors is something kids do less than they used to — and it can be really fun. If you have a yard, go out into it and play hide-and-seek or build a fort from snow or anything else that's around. If you don't have a yard, go to a local park or just go for a walk. A scavenger hunt up and down the block or game of I Spy may be a good enticement.

Go to the library. Do this early on in vacation, so that your child has lots of books, puzzles, and games to pass the time. Check out as many as they allow and you can carry. Ask if a Library of Things is available at a branch near you: crafts, tools, musical instruments, birding kits, telescopes — even metal detectors may be checked out for free.

Build a fort in the living room. Use blankets or sheets over chairs; if you have a small tent, set it up. Bring in pillows, sleeping bags, and flashlights; let the kids sleep in it at night. Let it stay up all vacation.

Build a city in the living room. Use blocks, Legos, boxes (or anything else), and add roads, cars, people, animals, trains, and other toys. Let it stay up all vacation, and make it bigger every day.

Getting creative off the screen

Get creative. Go to the craft store and stock up on inexpensive supplies. Buy things like poster board, huge pieces of paper (you could use those for your city, too, to make parks, roads, and parking lots), paints, and markers. You can make a paper mural, a comic book, a story, posters, or whatever catches your child's imagination. If you know how to knit or sew, think about teaching your child or making a simple project together. Play music while you create.

Read out loud. There are so many books that are fun to read aloud. When my children were younger, we read the Harry Potter series out loud, as well as the Chronicles of Narnia and books by E.B. White and Roald Dahl. Act out the voices. Have some fun.

Have a puppet show. If you don't have puppets, you can make some with socks — or you can hold up dolls or action figures and do the talking for them. You can make a makeshift stage by cutting out the back of a box and taping cloth (like a pillowcase) to fall over the front.

Get out the games. There are so many that work across the ages, like checkers, chess, Uno, Connect 4, Sorry, Twister, Clue, Scrabble, or Monopoly. We forget how much fun these can be.

Bake. You don't have to get fancy — it's fine to use mixes or pre-made cookie dough. There's nothing better than baked goods straight from the oven, and adding frosting and decorations makes it even more fun. Turn on music and dance while things bake.

While parents or caregivers need to be involved with some of these activities (like the ones involving the oven, or reading out loud), kids can do many of them independently once you have it started. Which, really, is what children need: time to use their imagination and just play.

But you just may find that once you have things started, you'll want to play, too.

Harvard Health Publishing

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Gistlegit

Afrima Award Winning Cameroonian Born - American Based Song-tress Montess Storms Nigerian Music Scene

~1.0 mins read

Montess is an AFRIMA (All Africa Music Awards) Winer, Montess is a Cameroonian Afro Pop and Dancehall artist, began her music career in 2016 with her debut single "Dj Play Ma Song," featuring Stanley Enow, an MTV Base Award winner.

That same year, she released "Luv Witta Gun Man," a dancehall love song that earned her an AFRIMA nomination for Best Reggae/Dancehall Artist in Africa. In 2017, she dropped "Ma Ndolo" and made history by winning the AFRIMA Award for Best Female Artist in Central Africa, becoming the first English-speaking Cameroonian female artist to achieve this in the award's six-year history.

After a short hiatus moving to USA MONTESS sets her eyes on exploring the Nigerian music scene with Singles ready to drop and a project in the works for 2025. Watch out for her next single dropping this month’s end of March . MONTESS takes the Nigerian music scene by storm

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Instablog9ja

SEEN Is Not A Proper Way To Acknowledge Payment Businesswoman Advises Vendors

~0.2 mins read

A businesswoman has advised vendors that ‘SEEN’ is not a proper way to acknowledge payment.

She said from one vendor to another vendor, if you are too big, why are you here hustling?

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