sing for cancer

in a new study doctors  tested saliva in a welsh choir of 193 cancer patients before and after their sang.they found a signican t drop in stress  homones including cortisol and increase in cytokines which aid to fight the illness.

rant issue 4

holidays why do people like to shove them in your face ,the last one i had was 1 year in ilfarcombe,stayed in a b annd b with  now wife and 2 kids and on the dole ,adverts did you know if you watched your fav tv programs without them an 1 hour would be about 45 minutes long,housing assocication can not name legally are not very good at accepting critism as if you ring up thier make you feel like crap and wasting thier money ,doctors yes do a good job when you get to see the one you are under as a major pain regoing over your illness to locum ,i wonder dear rant reader do you have some rants you wish to share,when did we become scared of diong things wasit tv ,radio or just the fear factor in as ,recntly the pm was in trouble for having a tax free payment yes not illegal but a moral wrong when you wish this to stop and have the high ground.google chrome seems to not like me as every time downloD DOES NOT WORK WHICH IS A SHAME AS LIKE SOME OF APPS.

the-vikings-uncovered

Dan Snow uncovers the lost Vikings in America with space archaeologist Dr Sarah Parcak. Sarah uses satellites 383 miles above the earth to spot ruins as small as 30cm buried beneath the surface. As Sarah searches for Viking sites from Britain to America, Dan explores how they voyaged thousands of miles when most ships never left the shoreline. He also tracks their expansion west, first as raiders and then as settlers and traders throughout Britain and beyond to Iceland and Greenland. In North America they excavate what could be the most westerly Viking settlement ever discovered.see on bbc i player

poo museum

this is a museum that displays human stools,animal droppings and fossils 140 million years old.some things you can see are a turd that looks like a cereal bar ,a kids shoe in which a cat has had a dumped in and you can get faesces facts hidden under toilet seats .all this can be seen at the national poo museum ,isle of wight zoo,sandown and been curated by nigel george.

buy a village

west heslerston,north yorkshire -23 homes,21 bed historic manor house ,pub,all in 2,000 arces and untouched  virtually for 50 years and you can buy for 20 million pounds.

rare atlas

a rare  17  th  century atlas that has 9 volumes and 600 eitchings has been found.

Gonzo

It's one of the most memorable opening scenes in a movie.

As the banjo chords of "Rainbow Connection" are heard, the camera pans over a swamp and slowly zooms in to show Kermit the Frog strumming and singing, as he sits alone on a log.

Now fans can join in during that iconic moment, when "Sing Along with 'The Muppet Movie'" comes to Easton's State Theatre on Sunday.

The interactive experience takes its cues from the called-out responses and the use of props popularized by "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" but with a much more family-friendly vibe. Kids even get a goody bag filled with playful props like bubbles and glow necklaces.

Host Davey Rocker plays his guitar and leads the audience, as the words to favorite songs such as "Rainbow Connection" and "Movin' Right Along" scroll across the bottom of the screen.

Kids use magic paintbrushes (wands with streamers) to "paint" Fozzie Bear's old 1951 Studebaker and try to shoot out Gonzo's helium balloons with their ice-cream shooters, while everyone joins in flapping their ears and saying Fozzie's catchphrase "Wocka Wocka Wocka" every time a bad joke is cracked.

"This is where it all started," says Rocker of the 1979 Jim Henson film that was nominated for two Academy Awards. "I think the adults have as much fun as the kids. Many of the adults can recite all the lines."

The sing along is presented by Ibex Puppetry, a Florida company founded in 2000 by Henson's daughter, Heather Henson, who also is a puppet artist and sits on the board of directors for The Jim Henson Legacy.

"Sing alongs allow me to connect with the work of my father," Heather Henson says. "I can work with my dad's material. I can put a new spin on it but it's still his stuff, intact."

Rocker, a Florida children's musician who did a musical puppet show, met Heather Henson three years ago and she asked him to co-host the sing along. Originally Heather Henson co-hosted, but now Rocker is joined by dancer and actress Sunny Raskin.

He says the original "Muppet Movie" is being introduced to a new generation of fans who have seen the new films: 2011's "The Muppets" and 2014's "Muppets Most Wanted."

"The Muppet Movie" was listed in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" in 2009. The film was notable for its groundbreaking images of full body puppets, including Kermit riding a bicycle and Kermit and Fozzie Bear dancing. The closing reprise of "Rainbow Connection" featured a crowd of more than 250 Muppet characters — virtually every Muppet that had been created up at that time.

"It really is one of those family shows that has a wide audience," Rocker says. "It's a pretty magical movie. The Muppets bridge generations."

For the film, he and Raskin sit in chairs on a small set at the lower right side of the movie screen and help guide the audience through the interactive elements. You can arrive early for a pre-show performance with music and comedy.

During the film, Rocker holds up cards that say "Yay" and "Boo," the hosts shadow act out a couple scenes and remind fans to pull their "stretchy frogs" every time Doc Hopper, an evil frogs legs entrepreneur, appears on screen.

The film holds up well after more than three decades, he says.

"It's a classic story and it's almost autobiographical of Jim Henson's life," Rocker says. "Kermit decides to leave the swamp and go to Hollywood to follow his dreams and picks up all these characters on the way to make millions of people happy.

"Jim Henson came from the small town of Leland, Miss. and picked up great puppeteers and character actors on the way to make millions of people happy."

Highlights of the film include the songs by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher, who won a Grammy Award for the album of the musical score. Other songs are "Never Before, Never Again" and "I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along."

Also popular, Rocker says, is audience shout-outs to all the famous people who appear in the film including Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Mel Brooks, Dom DeLuise, Cloris Leachman and Sesame Street's Big Bird.

Kids also can join in a conga line, be showered in confetti and watch kites being flown inside the theater.

There also are surprise appearance by Muppets Gonzo and Animal at appropriate moments in the movie.

"Adults really love it for the old-school nostalgia," Rocker says. "I hadn't seen it in years and when I did it was so refreshing. It's really a beautiful piece of work."