Post natal depression aside, Angelina Jolie is toying with the idea to adopt again. With six children already in the brood, Angelina with partner Brad Pitt have thought of adopting a child form Namibia. While they are sighting some of the more ‘impoverished countries’ in Latin America, believed to be either Bolivia or Paraguay,’ plans for making theirs a football team sized family seem to be underway.

While Brad spends most of his time promoting his new film ‘Burn After Reading’ at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals, Angelina has vehemently avoided the arch lights in rearing her multi-cultural family at the Chateau Miraval in Provence, France.

She gathered much news regarding her depression following the birth of her twins but is raring to go for yet another adoption. All in all the couple now has three adopted and three biological children. If source were to be believed her relationship with Brad was said to be under a lot of strain but the news of welcoming another member in her family has momentarily hushed the paparazzi.

The man who made a superstar out of a T-Rex and created many more gripping works ranging from science fiction to television series, Michael Crichton, succumbed to cancer at the age of 66.

To the world Crichton was a best-selling novelist and the creator of the fantastic creatures of Jurassic Park. Other than that, he was also a medical doctor, a television producer, a movie director as well as the creator of the long-running television series ER.

Crichton’s novels have sold more than 150 million copies around the world. His best-known works like The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, The Terminal Man, Prey mainly fall in the genre of science-fiction thrillers with most of them underlining the premise that has been popular since the day of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, - Scientific hubris will inexorably end in disaster. However towards the end he also began exploring offbeat but upbeat endings as in the biogenetic novel, Next.

Other than writing Crichton was also deeply interested in the public policies of the day and later in his life he took an explicit stand against archly ideological environmentalism. His 2005 book State of Fear is a fictionalization of his view that environmentalism is a belief system based on faith, not on facts. Crichton then went on to testify before a Senate committee on the politicization of climate-change policies.

Crichton fans will however best remember him as the author of several riveting novels of which they can expect the last one to be published by Harper Collins in the days to come.

An iconic figure in black occupies a huge space in the history of American country music – Johnny Cash. On the outside, he seems to fall in the classic pattern of old-school American life - growing up as the son of a deeply-religious pastor, serving in the military, marrying his sweetheart, becoming a star, self-destructing on drugs and then finding salvation besides worldwide fame. However at the same time his songs tell of a perpetual struggle with conscience and his living in a constant state of remorse. The hugely popular “I Walk the Line” is one of his numbers which embody Cash’s strife to conform to the ideals of society, the temptations which beseech him and his efforts to overcome them.

Johnny Cash is famous for his “outlaw image” which went to a great length in providing some of his songs like “Folsom Prison” with a cult status. One of the sources of his outlaw image was the series of prison concerts he gave, beginning with the one in Huntsville Texas in 1956. However the most famous of such concerts was the one he gave at the request of a convicted killer at Folsom Prison in 1966. Two years later Cash returned at the prison to record an album which would become an instant classic.

Few people know however that along with being a prolific recording artist, Johnny Cash was also the writer of a best-selling 1986 novel, Man in White. The novel is a fictional account of the life of St. Paul with whom Cash identified himself in many aspects.

While a divorce is never easy pf pleasant for either partner, perhaps the biggest victim of the break-up of a marriage is the child. A divorce shakes the very foundations of child’s world and can damage his psychological frame-work to the extent that he or she may carry the scars of the traumatic event to adulthood. If you know a child in your circle of family or friends, here is how you can help him or her.

Make yourself available to the child as patient, willing listener. Assure him/her that you know divorce is painful business but you will always be there for the child in case he/she wants to talk and open up.

Give constant reassurance that the divorce is one of the many challenges that life throws up and that sooner or later things will get better. Above all, reinforce the fact that the child did not cause the divorce.

Try to spend more quality time with the child and engage him or her in things depending on your relation to the child.

You can also play the role of a trusted mediator between the child and the parents, depending on your role in the family. Without betraying the child’s trust point out the issues or concerns to either parent which you feel merit attention are not being addressed in the trying circumstances.

The arrival of fall bathes a garden in vibrant colors of yellow, orange and fiery red. However one can keep the colors of autumn alive in your garden even after the leaves are raked away. Here are a few ways to grow lasting foliage which will continue to lend fall colors to your garden.

The first step as with any garden project is to clean the garden and prepare the soil. Clear away all the fading summer annuals and rake away dried leaves from the flower beds. You can use the fallen leaves and old annuals to start making a new compost pile. Add fresh compost on beds and top pots with good organic potting soil.

Vary the colors in your garden with green and fall-colored foliage. some green plants which also give good architectural structure are Japanese Plum Yew, Whipcord Arbovitae, Lirope, Bergenia, Vinca and various evergreen ferns.

Among the plants which give more colorful foliage in fall shades are Heuchera, Heather, Nandina, ornamental grasses like Leather Leaf Sedge, Euphorbia and some varieties of Azalea leaves. Plants which lend cool winter hues of white, blue and grey to a garden are variegated Vinca, “Silver Queen” Heather, Lamb’s Ear, Sage, Sedum, Blue Fescue and Blue Oat Grass.

A garden looks best when created on varying principles of colour, texture and architecture. If it has a pleasing mix of evergreen, semi-evergreen and fall foliage, no matter what the season, it will never lack in beauty.

Steeped as Venice is in the rich colours of Renaissance art, one of the most vibrant points of ancient culture in the city is the Piazza San Marco.

The Piazza is much more than a public square and in fact an entire day can be spent in just observing the many sights from the square. One of the most imposing views from the Piazza is that of the Basilica di San Marco, ancient cathedral exhibiting some of the most striking aspects of Venetian architecture.

Another delightful sight from the Piazza is the Doge’s Palace which is also known as the Palazzo Ducale di Venzia and now houses works of master painters like Titian, Tinteretto, Veronese and others. Among the other wonderful sights to be viewed from the Piazza are the romantically-named Bridge of Sighs and the imposing bell tower of Campanile.

The ancient Piazza San Marco of Venice dates back to the 9th century when it was just a bit of open space outside the Basilica. But in the latter half of the 12th century it was enlarged and reshaped into the now familiar three-sided area and soon evolved into a public space where the rich and ordinary, the rulers and the ruled met and mingled. Even today the Piazza is one of the few public squares in Europe which is at once painted with hues of history and rocks to the rhythms of the present.

Among the many scary aspects of bringing up a child is to witness him or her going through a breath holding spells. Even though such a spell may last for only a minute it is enough to send many a parent into a frenzy of anxiety or panic. Here are a few ways to help you manage your child’s breath holding spells at home.

Breath holding spells generally occur when the child is frustrated, angry, tired or in pain. See that your child is getting enough rest so that there is less scope for frustration or exhaustion. Also get your toddler used to a daily routine which will have a regularizing and calming effect on the child.

Protect your child from injuries during a breath holding spell. See that the child’s head, arms and legs do not hit anything hard or sharp. Most importantly, reassure your child by touching and talking soothingly to him/her.

Finally, do not scold or punish your child for holding breath. Remember that such a spell is not voluntary on his/her part and the child will outgrow them gradually. However if you find that the spells are increasing in frequency or severity or if you find yourself unable to manage them at home, it is better to take a doctor’s opinion.

Veteran actor and film maker Clint Eastwood’s latest offer, Changeling, has garnered appreciation from both critics and audiences for his sensitive treatment of a true story about a mother who claims that the boy returned to her after a kidnapping is not her own.

The film is set in the late 1920s and revolves around the Christine Collins, young working mother in Los Angeles who comes back home after work one day to find that her son has been taken away. Soon the police claim that they have found the boy but she at once recognizes that the child brought by the police is not her son. However, she is persuaded to take back the boy home, but Christine keeps telling the police not to give up their search for her son. She is then vilified and branded delusional but she keeps up her fight to confront the city officials and the corruption in the police department

The pivotal role of the embattled woman Christine is played feelingly by Angelina Jolie while other actors like Malkovich, Donovan and Harner deliver commendable performances. Eastwood’s direction is straight-forward and weaves seamlessly among several issues like women’s emancipation, civil corruption and impact of violence on communities.

Children with disabling anxiety are most likely to respond to a combination of talk therapy and antidepressant medication, according to the findings of a recent study.

The study is the largest till-date research on anxiety among children and adolescents and has been financed by the government agency National Institute of Mental Health. The study included 500 children from the age 7 to 17 who were suffering from chronic and disabling anxiety over separation from parents, social situations or other issues. The researchers divided the patients into four groups- one receiving the anti-depressant Zoloft, another receiving talk therapy, the third getting a combined treatment and the fourth receiving dummy pills and monitored by a psychiatrist.

The results of the study revealed that after 12 weeks, around 80 percent of the children receiving combined treatment had either overcome their anxiety or shown remarkable improvement in their condition. On the other hand, 60 percent of those on talk therapy had improved while of the children receiving only anti-depressants, 55 percent seemed to be better.

The findings of the study are extremely crucial considering that treatment of chronic anxiety among children is wrought with uncertainty and psychiatrist estimate that as much as half of the young patients do not improve much from treatment.

Every change in season holds great opportunities for creative experiences as and outdoor explorations that all families should make use of. Here are a few fun things that parents can do with their children with the arrival of fall as the weather gets chillier and the leaves begin to turn.

Take out an evening to build a small fire in the backyard or at the park. Involve your children to collect some kindling, dry sticks or twigs and then have fun with the kids over roasting marshmallows or burgers.

Take a nature walk in the neighbourhood with your children. Even as you appreciate the rusts and gold of the autumn leaves, don’t forget to take pictures of homelier fall symbols like a cornstalk and pumpkin display. Also take a paper bag on your outing so that you can collect fall items like colored leaves, acorns, pine cones and wildflowers.

Have fun in the kitchen by rustling up some signature fall treats like marshmallow popcorn balls, apple cobbler or cinnamon-apple cider. Allow for some degree of kitchen mess so that your kids can experiment and use their own creativity.

Finally pick up a pumpkin. Take your kids to a pumpkin farm where they can choose their own pumpkins. Some farms also have offer hayrides and other fun activities. After coming back home, involve your children in roasting pumpkin seeds and carving a pumpkin.