On the international space station

Anyone who writes knows what it feels like when writer’s block hits. The motivation drains from your body, you forget every word you’ve ever learnt, every sentence is stilted and dry. Block can weigh on a writer’s shoulders for hours, days, even months. Often, the harder to try to break out of it, the bigger the block becomes. It’s a bit of a viscous cycle. Writer’s block doesn’t only impact novelists and people writing creative prose, it can also strike at work when you’re writing a presentation, or in your studies when you have a big essay to complete. There’s never a good time to get writer’s block – but there are ways to work through it. We asked professional authors and writers to share their top tips for working through writer’s block – to help you overcome your next literary dry spell: Araba Ofori-Acquah Wellness expert, writer and poet ‘Do something you are bad at. ‘Sometimes the pressure of a blank page can be overwhelming. The best way I know to … [Read more...] about How to tackle writer’s block when you’re stuck for ideas

Earlier this month, Walt Disney World began reopening, following almost four months of closure due to the pandemic. I flew to Orlando to experience the magic. The week I arrived, Florida had registered the highest single-day case count of any state thus far. In Orlando’s airport, I felt a vague sense that Floridians considered such statistics a source of secret pride, as if they had set a record for fattest alligator or ugliest serial killer or most senior citizens in a golf cart. The airport where I had started my day, in Connecticut, had required masks, and everyone wore them. Here in Florida, some passengers went totally unmasked, but most wore masks in a defiant fashion, either slung under their chin or with their nostrils gaping out over the top, sucking and spewing potentially viral particles with every breath. A friend who lives a couple of hours away in St. Petersburg likens this latter style to “wearing a condom that covers only the shaft.” Disney World is in Florida only … [Read more...] about I Went to Disney World

Russia: TV commentators discuss firing nukes at London Sign up for our news briefing, including a daily special Russia-Ukraine edition SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Founded in 1987, the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is the successor to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. It is primarily based at the former Royal Air Force station at Aldermaston in Berkshire, but also has major facilities at Blacknest, Burghfield, and Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport in Argyll, Scotland. As of July 2021, AWE is owned by the Ministry of Defence, following 21 years under the operation of a consortium comprising Jacobs Engineering Group, Lockheed Martin and Serco. Related articles Biden humiliated as top US Navy … [Read more...] about Putin on alert as UK nuclear defence chiefs poised to crush ‘extreme threat’ from Russia

Where to buy in and around…Lyme Regis: The £2m property, the doer-upper & the average home (Image: Greenslade Taylor Hunt/NicheCom/©Marcus Newey  ) How to keep your lawn lush, borders beautiful and more with our FREE email SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info This includes a property worth £2million, a home with renovation potential and the average cost of a home in the area. Lyme Regis is set at the heart of the Jurassic Coast, with noted fossil cliffs and beaches. Residents and tourists alike can enjoy water sports, sailing, fishing or a day at the beach as well as explore the independent shops nestled a stone’s throw from the pebble peach. Related articles Cleaning fans share ‘game-changing’ hack to remove marker stains … [Read more...] about Where to buy in and around…Lyme Regis: The £2m property, the doer-upper & the average home

FAIRFAX MEDIA Australian band Midnight Oil have announced they will reform for a world tour in 2017. Peter Garrett says writing his new solo album was "an almost unrecognisable experience" and a reaction to living in a "crazy world". The one-time Midnight Oil frontman – who transplanted his unmistakable giant punkish frame from the stage and into the raging cauldron of Aussie politics back in 2002 – has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks after revealing that he'd started writing music again while completing last year's memoir Big Blue Sky . And as the man synonymous with delivering classic, hard-hitting Midnight Oil tracks such as Beds Are Burning, Power and the Passion and US Forces , any new output from Garrett is sure to make waves not only either side of the Tasman, but worldwide. READ MORE: Midnight Oil reform Midnight Oil: an appreciation Here's to Midnight Oil reforming Midnight Oil reform and announce a world tour … [Read more...] about Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett back on song

By Mark Savage Published 17 hours ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing Related Topics Eurovision Song Contest Fifteen years ago, I landed in Finland to cover my first ever Eurovision Song Contest. That year, the British entry was Scooch's Flying The Flag (For You), a trifling three minutes of kitsch nonsense. And on the taxi drive from Helsinki Airport, my driver had something to say about it. "Oh, you're from England?" he inquired. "Your song is a joke." He wasn't wrong. Scooch finished joint 22nd (out of 24), tying with France on 19 points. Malta later admitted they'd awarded 12 of those points in a symbolic protest over vote trading in Eastern Europe. For the next decade and a half, the UK didn't fare much better. In 2019 and 2021, our acts took last place. When I arrived in Turin last week, however, the taxi driver was delighted to … [Read more...] about Eurovision 2022: How Sam Ryder turned things around for the UK

I was a teenager when my godmother Olga first told me about the "Winter war" of 1939-1940 between the Soviet Union and Finland. She was a nurse in a Moscow hospital when Joseph Stalin launched his ill-prepared conquest of Finland under a spurious pretext. "It was horrible," she said. "All those young soldiers with terrible frostbite and untreatable wounds from sniper fire. The Finns really trounced our army, but we were not allowed to talk about it," my godmother told me. "They had to give up some territory to us but we never conquered them." This was a shock to me. There was one paragraph about this war in our school textbooks. Yes to cheese, no to NATO Growing up in the late Soviet Union in the 1970s and 80s, Finland was seen as the friendliest of the "capitalist" countries. Finnish products, like processed "Viola" cheese and winter jackets were the Western products a Soviet citizen could occasionally hope to buy. After Olga's story I could not think of the Finns as harmless … [Read more...] about Opinion: In keeping with its 1939 tradition, Finland is saying ‘nyet’ to Vladimir Putin

John Lewis boss demands Covid-style intervention over energy crisis Sign up HERE for science breakthroughs in health, business and more that matter SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info As Europe scrambles to end its reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports, various forms of renewable energy like wind, solar and nuclear energy have been touted as solutions to achieve energy independence, and slash skyrocketing bills. However, British universities are leading the way in the transition, and have set up the world’s first test facility that will study turbines that could one day be used to harness tidal and wave energy. Babcock International, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Strathclyde, Fife College, Fife Council and … [Read more...] about Energy breakthrough: UK opens ‘world’s first’ centre to develop new ‘inexhaustible’ power

Sweden's ruling party backs NATO membership bid Stoltenberg says Ukraine can win war with Russia UK intelligence says Russia losing momentum in Donbas Zelenskyy praises Kalush Orchestra for its Eurovision win This article was last updated at 19:20 UTC/GMT NATO assures Ukraine open-ended military support against Russia NATO on Sunday pledged open-ended military support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. At a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the alliance would provide military assistance "for as long as Ukraine needs this support for the self-defense of its country." Baerbock also criticized the Russian government for unilaterally revoking the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act, arguing that this type of behavior was exactly why NATO was now strengthening its eastern flank. In the NATO-Russia Founding Act, NATO agreed not to station "substantial combat forces" in the eastern territory of the … [Read more...] about Sweden’s ruling party backs NATO membership bid — live updates

What makes a perfect water bottle for a kid to take to school? According to my 9-year-old daughter, it's a central handle, a decent water capacity and a cap that's easy to secure and drink from. So we set out to find a good one. There are plenty of water bottles targeted at kids, but most of them are too small and require refilling too often. She was looking for one in the 16- to 18-ounce range to replace a broken Kinto Day Off Tumbler she had been using for most of the school year. She especially liked the Day Off's handle placement and its easy-to-use cap. The water bottles we researched are general purpose ones that should work for both kids in elementary school or adults commuting to work. Each of them is double walled and vacuum insulated to keep water cold inside and avoid exterior sweating. To put these bottles to the test, my daughter took each one to school multiple times and kept notes about the aspects she liked and didn't like, along with any surprises she encountered … [Read more...] about Buying a school water bottle with help from a 9 year old