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Heart Health, Count Your Blessings, Kids Summer Safety by Cynthia Brian

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Empowerment
Heart Health, Count Your Blessings, Kids Summer Safety by Cynthia Brian

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with Cynthia Brian and Heather Brittany on StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!® Radio brought to the airwaves under the auspices of Be the Star You Are!® 501 c3 charity, LIVE, since 1998.
This hour is fun, informative, and lively. Join us!


Are you heart healthy? If you are an athlete or want to live a stronger life, you need to know what your heart needs. Heather Brittany provides the tips in Health Matters.

Are you a person who is grateful for the little things in life? By showing appreciation for what you have instead of what you don’t have is a key component of physical and emotional health. Find out how to increase your happiness quotient with Lifestyle coach, Cynthia Brian.

Kids love summer. We all love summer.  With all the excitement it’s easy to forget about safety. Do you know who is living in your neighborhood? Are you aware of the dangers to kids? Who could be lurking at the community pool? Find out how to have a fun and safe vacation.

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The award winning positive talk radio program, StarStyle®-Be the Star You Are!® broadcasts on the Voice America Empowerment Channel LIVE every Wednesday from 4-5pm Pt/7-8pm ET.  Cynthia Brian and Heather Brittany are the Mother/Daughter dynamic duo who have been co-hosting this program live weekly since 1998 bringing upbeat, life enhancing conversation to the world. With Cynthia’s expertise in interviewing the trailblazers, authors, and experts and Heather’s healthy living segments, these Goddess Gals are your personal growth coaches helping you to jumpstart your life while igniting your flame of greatness. Brought to the airwaves under the auspices of the literacy and positive media charity, Be the Star You Are!®, each program will pump your energy to help you live, love, laugh, learn, and lead.
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“Gravity” – A Thrilling Mix of “Matrix” Meets “Inception”

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“Gravity” – A Thrilling Mix of “Matrix” Meets “Inception”

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Starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, “Gravity” is the highly charged story about a medical engineer and an astronaut who work together to survive after an accident leaves them adrift in space. Be aware that it’s rated PG-13 for intense perilous sequences, disturbing images and brief strong language. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Gerry O thinks the film is “a life time experience that everyone must see!” KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Keefer B finds the film to be “a suspenseful, visually enchanting and wonderfully acted film.” See both their reviews below.  

 

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Gravity
by Gerry O, age 11, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic
Full video review available here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13IR8xjPxrw

A movie with such a title that is about the scary and dark void called “space,” you’d expect to be thrilling. Well, I have to tell you this movie is beyond thrilling. This film is a perfect combination of “Matrix” and “Inception” and will pump your adrenaline to a maximum level! “Gravity” is a life time experience that everyone must see! If you add to the mix that Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star in it as main characters, it just doesn’t get better than that!

Since this movie has so many genres, it’s hard to tell its main one. This movie has adventure, comedy, sorrow, suspense, thrilling scenes, intense scary scenes and so much more! The main one out of all these fantastic genres is definitely suspense. You walk in feeling bored and tired and you walk out feeling like Ryan Stone in the movie. (Sandra Bullock)

The thrilling adventure begins when a young medical engineer named Ryan Stone goes up in space to help with installations for the Hubble Telescope. It seems like a casual spacewalk, but when she gets stranded away from her ship, “Explorer,” she needs to get back to Earth by hitching a ride on a different station. If you want to find out how and if she and her co-worker,  Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) make it back to Earth alive, you have to watch the film.

The movie has so much adventure and so many impressive and clear graphics, it’s hard not to like it! You feel like you are right there, experiencing whatever the main characters experience. The acting is amazing and there is deep meaning behind it – what would you do, if you were alone in the deepest and darkest part of this entire universe, with nobody but yourself? What would your thoughts be? Would you be able to remain hopeful or just give up and let Space take you? The camera work is the best I’ve ever seen. Alfonso Cuarón, I give you standing ovation for directing this masterpiece. 

My favorite scene is when Ryan is stuck in a damaged escape pod with no fuel. She thinks she’s stranded. Before she decides to give up and loose hope of returning to Earth, she starts to see Matt. Matt gets in when she does not have her helmet on and shows her that she can get back. As soon as his statement is over, he’s gone. She hallucinated him but the plan worked!  It’s a very interesting and important scene in the movie and that’s why I like it.

The movie is rated PG-13 and I honestly think it is appropriate for age 12 to 18. I give it 5 out of 5 stars and it is showing in theaters everywhere right now. I may be wrong, but I predict Oscar nominations for the cast and director of “Gravity.” Let’s see what happens in 2014!

 

Gravity
By Keefer B, KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 12
Video review available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13IR8xjPxrw

“Gravity” is a suspenseful, visually enchanting and wonderfully acted film. The plot focuses on Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) after a disaster happens in space and leaves her stranded. Her goal is to get to a Chinese space station to fly back to Earth before she runs out of time, oxygen and hope.

I love the visual and 3D effects. Space is infinite and “Gravity” shows that beautifully. When you see Dr. Stone drifting off into space you feel the vastness. Many 3D artists like to over use this technology by throwing floating stuff at us or making you think you can reach out and touch them. This is an excepted gimmick but if that’s all it accomplishes, it can get old. This movie has objects floating into the audience, but the items bring you into the actors environment making you feel like you’re with them. 

Visual effects drive the structure of the film, but the heart of the film is Sandra Bullock. This movie is pretty much a one women show. The camera is never off her. Having just one character on screen for most of the film is risky. Through this film Ryan becomes a 3 dimensional character. She captures the audience’s attention and heart. Bullock’s abilities allow this to be a cohesive narrative. Her performance is superb. How Bullock gets herself into this series of emotional states are beyond me. To carry an entire film, put yourself in the physical positions, while pulling off these scenes is revolutionary. That’s why she’s my favorite character in this film.

My favorite scene is the ending. Not to give it away, but this scene is stunning. The pacing, the camera angles are just exquisite. Tension builds and you never know what’s going to happen. I love it when a film keeps you in the shadows until the very end. “Gravity” knows when to be suspenseful and to take breaks for the character to breath, literally.

The moral is, “Never lose hope.” Ryan gets close to reaching home, but her only way to get there is destroyed. Ryan thinks the only way out is to be with her deceased daughter, but learns that “when you come this far you can’t just throw it all away.”

I recommend this for ages 13 to 18. There are intense scenes and fowl language that are inappropriate for younger kids. Teens and adults can enjoy the visual effects and the intense space action.

KIDSFIRST! Coming Attractions is a weekly radio show hosted by eighteen KIDS FIRST! Film Critics, ages 7 to 16. These critics win a spot as a KIDS FIRST! Film Critic through a national competition held annually. They review new films and DVDs, attend Red Carpet events and premieres and interview talent on and off the Red Carpet. KIDS FIRST!, a program of the 22-year-old Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, is the country’s most valued source for reviews of children’s media. As a national, nonprofit organization, KIDS FIRST! teaches children critical viewing skills and engages them as jurors to evaluate, rate and review films, DVDs, TV shows, music, games and apps.  – See more at: https://blog.voiceamerica.com/2013/09/03/dear-dumb-diary-movie-review-by-kids-first-coming-attractions/#sthash.YmDJs7Wn.dpuf
 

Summer Stress for Teens BY HANNAH Li

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Kids
Summer Stress for Teens BY HANNAH Li

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It seems just yesterday that we flaunted our new backpacks and bright eyes on the first day of school, but the reality is that summer is just around the corner. “Be excited! You can finally take a break from school and relax” says Mom; but little does she know, June breezes also blow in a warm dose of anxiety, as a cycle of summer stress settles in the pits of our stomachs. For incoming seniors it’s the ominous stack of college apps, but even the incoming freshmen understand the double-edged-sword of the three-month vacation: summer isn’t just daily tanning and trips to the beach, summer equals stress. 

We all acknowledge that this is an era of competition: an era when college isn’t just application and acceptance, but a grueling four years of five-days-a-week and seven-hours-a-day. We acknowledge that in order to get our hands on the glowing acceptance letter we must back ache and back break our way through all-night study sessions and endless stacks of flashcards. We acknowledge all of this with the glimmer of hope that summer brings a much needed exhale and a prolonged time-out. But maybe not…

An incoming freshman, Jordan L. from Joaquin Moraga comments on his prospective summer: “No camp. I’m starting community service. And then my dad wants me to take an online math course. I’m not that excited for summer this year.” Little does he know, his freshman summer is just the lesser of three evils; sophomore and junior year bring their own heightened problems:

“I don’t even remember what summer is. This year I have to tutor, be tutored, go to a college counselor, intern in Oakland, and then somehow catch up on my thousands of hours of sleep deprivation. I’ll probably just give up on that.” Meg S., a current junior at Miramonte muses over her cynical reality. 

Regardless of year, the reality is apparent: summer is now a three-month gap to fill with work. Whether it be internships, college counselors, or online courses, Lamorinda teens aren’t letting any precious time slip from their hands. It’s only a matter of time until the elementary school kids will be enrolling in SAT classes. 

 

Hannah Li runs track and tutors. In her free time she enjoys photography, blogging, and writing. She is the fashion reporter on Express Yourself!™ Teen Radio. 

As the editor and teen coach for Teen Scene for the newspaper, Cynthia Brian has had the opportunity to work with talented teens with attitude and opinions. She shares selected published works. To read numerous articles shepherded by Cynthia, visit www.BTSYA.com. Cynthia Brian also produces Express Yourself!™ on Voice America Kids Network heard Tuesdays NOON PT at  or for photos, descriptions, links, and more visit Express Yourself Teen Radio!

Read at https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0707/Summer-Stress.html

 

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