Amsterdam has always been a great city for a weekend break but this year will be greater than ever as they celebrate the 400th anniversary of the famous painter Rembrandt van Rijn.

There are major exhibitions going on at a number of sites, including the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and at the museum at Rembrandts house. There will also be exhibitions at his birth place Leiden. There are paintings coming from all around the world, so don’t miss this opportunity of seeing them all together, it won’t happen again for at least a hundred years. (more…)

Obsession with beauty is not a new phenomenon, both women and men have been concerned about their looks virtually since the dawn of time. Admittedly, painting the face and body with woad would not today, be considered flattering but at the time it was the cats’ pyjamas!

Sometimes beautification was used to impress the gods rather than their fellow human beings or to signify their rank in society. The latter is achieved today by a hair style by the hottest stylist and a dress by Prada or Chanel. In ancient Egypt, eye makeup, wigs, lipstick and shaving were all employed to make the body and face beautiful.

A lot of time has been spent trying to analyse beauty, is it the lips or the eyes, or is it how they relate to each other? Do big eyes make a face beautiful? (more…)

A lot of hysteria has been going on in the media about bird flu and how it will sweep through the world killing thousands and thousands of people.

Don’t panic and more to the point don’t take poor old Polly Parrot out into the woods and let him go because you are scared he will give you the illness. It won’t happen, unless of course he sneaks out at night to fool around with some migrating swans or geese and even then the risk is very small. (more…)