Wise Words for You

  Remain healthy by maintaining a simple diet of pure feelings, good wishes and positive thoughts.

  There has probably never been a time where there has been so much fear and conflict across the world, not just across oceans and borders but across the breakfast table. In fact many now prefer conflict to peace, as they become addicted to the actions of anger and aggression, and the adrenaline rush which results. They don’t really want conflict to end, in fact, they will say that some conflict is good to get things done and stimulate change. They are not aware that they are killing themselves. All conflict is simply a symptom of attachment to a position. And as we know, this generates fear, and fear, if allowed to stay, eventually kills it’s host. All solutions are based on detachment or letting go. But that will be difficult until we can see that all possession is an illusion, that we have nothing to lose and that there are no victories in winning.

Question: When is a wand no longer wand? Answer: When it's a gun. And that's the biggest problem with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2: It's conceptually ludicrous. As with last year's installment, developer EA Bright Light has envisioned the wands of Harry and his friends as guns--but instead of switching between weapons, you switch between spells. Stupefy isn't a stunning spell in this game: It's a pistol. Expulso isn't an exploding spell: It's a rapid-fire machine gun. Confringo isn't a blasting curse: It's a grenade launcher. And forget everything you know about apparating, which you probably never imagined as a short-range teleport. Perhaps this disrespectful take on the beloved Harry Potter license wouldn't be so disastrous if the resulting game were fun, but for the most part, it just isn't. Switching between spells provides some welcome variety in the second half of this unusually short cover-based shooter. Otherwise, D...

  The most disappointing thing about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is that it fails to capture the essence of the story it's trying to tell. While the revamped third-person shooter gameplay stays engaging throughout most of the campaign, the context that it's framed around is paper-thin. There is no attempt to tie the onscreen action to the motivation of the hero performing it; nor is there a coherent and engaging narrative to complement the gameplay and inject some sense of purpose. Crude character models, bad voice acting, a fragmented storyline, and a variety of bugs transform the richly detailed and minutely imagined world of Harry Potter into an experience as colorless as one of Professor Snape's lessons. The final journey facing Harry Potter is not an easy one. Darkness, loss, and death now fill the space once inhabited by classes, Quidditch, and dorm-room chitchat. There are no more schoolyard adventures, traipses through the forest, or twilight romance...

  Although the  Harry Potter  novels are some of the finest fantasy works around, the famous wizard's foray into other media has been met with uneven success. The movies based on these books don’t contain all the story details, but they have been saved by their fantastic special effects and beautiful art direction. Unfortunately, their video game counterparts have struggled to capture the brilliance of the books. Half-Blood Prince continues right where 2007's disappointing Order of the Phoenix left off. An accurate representation of Hogwarts is the main draw, but simple gameplay and a lack of any coherent storytelling mar the whole experience. For fans of the books, there is a certain joy in tromping around the weathered school grounds and dueling death eaters, but the Half-Blood Prince ultimately feels like a half-finished game. The story is barely comprehensible if you haven't read the book beforehand. There are a couple of references to the titular Half-Blood Prince wh...

  The  Harry Potter  series of books has captured both the minds of children and adults alike. The movies haven't disappointed either and are amongst the highest grossing films of all time. For some reason, the video games that have been released haven't been able to reach the same level of quality that the movies and books have achieved. The latest game, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, continues that trend. There's a faithful re-creation of the Hogwarts campus to explore, but once you've seen the sights, there's not much else to do. Even the most diehard Potter fans will grow tired of seeing the grand staircase as they return from their umpteenth fetch quest. Order of the Phoenix follows the story of the book and the movie of the same name. After narrowly avoiding expulsion for using magic in front of a muggle, Harry finds that Hogwarts' new defense against the dark arts teacher seems to have it out for him. To make matters worse, Voldemort is threat...

  As Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger enter their fourth year at Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, new challenges await them, both "professional" and personal. The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire video game sticks strictly to the adventure aspects of the story, never touching upon the sticky relationship drama that makes up key subplots in the novel and the film. You'll still have plenty to do in the game, though: Guide the trio of young wizards through various locales, fight magical creatures, solve puzzles, and usher Harry through the Triwizard Tournament challenges just before a climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort himself. Though the collection aspects of the game are a drag at times, The Goblet of Fire still does enough to keep Potter fans engaged throughout. The Goblet of Fire makes a few departures from the last game in the series, The Prisoner of Azkaban. You still play as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but the three don't have unique...

  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaba n is an action adventure in the style of The Legend of Zelda that's targeted primarily at kids, but it is also reasonably entertaining for adult fans of the Potter series. The gameplay and storytelling are solid, if a bit simplistic, but a great number of rough edges mar what could have otherwise been a much more polished game. It's a safe bet that much of this game's potential audience is already familiar with the storyline from the original novel, or they soon will be when the movie version is released. If you're not, Prisoner of Azkaban recounts Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, a year that is dogged by the feared criminal Sirius Black. Black, the eponymous escaped prisoner, was somehow involved in the death of Harry's parents and he is making great efforts to reach--and presumably kill--young Potter as well. As with all the stories in the Harry Potter series, this one has more t...

  Just as the bird has to find the courage to let go of the branch in order to fly, so we also must let go of our branches if we are to know the exhilaration of soaring to the highest potential of our life. The branches we hold to are our inner attachments – our beliefs, ideas and memories. And then there are the outer attachments – people, possessions, positions and privileges are a few. But as long as we hold on to them we will live in fear (of letting go and loss) and we will never be free. And just watch those birds, by letting go of one branch they are able to spend the rest of their life alighting on a million other branches, and they enjoy the view from each. Are you flying and soaring in your life, or are you stuck on one branch, cursing others as they fly past. Go on, try it …let go!

Nine-time Grammy Award winner Rihanna made her highly-anticipated comeback at the Super Bowl 57 on Sunday, headlining a halftime show that highlighted her Caribbean culture. The 34-year-old chart-topper put on an epic display in front of a global audience of millions at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, where the Philadelphia Eagles are taking on the Kansas City Chiefs. L lo It marks the first time she has performed on live television since 2018, where she joined DJ Khaled on stage to sing Wild Thoughts at the Grammy Awards.  Rihanna started off the show suspended on a platform high above the field as she belted out her single B**** Better Have My Money.  The superstar, who was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, has not released a solo album since January 2016. Her only solo music in the last seven years came in October, when she released Lift Me Up in tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman for the Marvel film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which earned the singer a nom...

  The Harry Potter franchise made a fairly passable jump to game consoles when EA released games based on the movie adaptation of the first novel in the series. The franchise's rich tale of a young boy's adventure as a wizard-in-training has all the gameplay and story elements needed for a video game pretty much built in. While the book that the film was based on has had a far-reaching appeal that's crossed age barriers, the games were definitely skewed toward younger players. Fortunately, the follow-up, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets for the PlayStation 2, manages to come far closer to capturing the franchise's appeal. Offering a polished mix of strong graphics and solid gameplay, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a marked improvement over its predecessor. Based on the film of the same name, Harry's latest adventure traces his second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry's sophomore year at Hogwarts turns out to be both edu...