Who has not at some point of their lives heard or sang to the tune of Bohemian Rhapsody? It is perhaps Queen’s greatest masterpiece which Kanye West decided to cover by practically mumbling a few, random words from the song now and then and allowing the audience to sing the rest of it; because, I assume, he realised he was making a joke of himself. In fact, in my humble opinion, the best part of the performance was the beginning, where the original song was on and West had his mouth shut.

But I’m not one to consider myself biased, so I’ll let you judge for yourself. Go on, click on the video above – I know you want to.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/btE8hP1iYkE?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0&theme=dark&controls=1&autohide=1&loop=0&showinfo=0&rel=0&playlist=false&enablejsapi=1

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This magazine wants to turn the spotlight to that which is often left ignored in the background. It wants to add visibility to what is otherwise invisible as it explores the hidden "Avant-Garde’ creatives in the Maltese Society. The publication, as well as its social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, focuses on uprooting the invisible treasures of our culture. The concept is to inform the audience about obscure treasures, such as underground music, performance art, fashion and dance, but not only.

Hide + Seek also wishes to explore the different eccentric, and sometimes uncommon, personalities and lifestyles enriching the Maltese society.

This publication will take a step further and go beyond art, to highlight certain societal problems that Malta faces daily, but which may not be as apparent. This magazine aspires to be a voice to those who are invisible and a platform where artists can express themselves.

This magazine is a call for all those who like to go beyond our everyday experiences and perceptions to discover new worlds and sensorial experiences.

If you are into the covert culture, make sure to follow our Facebook page, Hide + Seek, which allows you a peek into different shrouded fields through every day diverse posts, introducing you and other followers to new-found treasures.

Follow us also on our Instagram, @hideandseekmag, and stay tuned for the May 15!

The post Hide + Seek: Making the Invisible, Visible! appeared first on The Third Eye.

It is a city for everyone no matter what age you are, what beliefs you have, what kind of person you are and what lifestyle you lead. There is literally something for everyone and there is always something to discover — a new street, a new pub, a new restaurant or a new shop. In my short stay there I have gathered some reasons why you should visit the "Old Smoke’ at least once in your life.

1. The famous sites

The Tower Bridge, the haunting Tower of London, Westminster Palace, Marble Arch, the beautiful squares; the list is endless. There is something to see everywhere you turn your head. Even the architecture of the stores and the shops are a pleasant sight to see, let alone all the wonderful famous landmarks we so often hear about. At night everything seems to become more magical and mesmerizing. There are few things which give me the same liberating feeling as walking across Tower Bridge at night in the bitter cold overlooking the Thames — I promise you, the rest of the World will become irrelevant.

Besides if you get tired of the hustle and bustle of the city you can always have stroll in one of the many picturesque parks you can find through the city. I have been to Regent’s Park and to St. James Park and they are both blissful to look at and have a stroll through. In addition, you can also spot a little adorable squirrel if you’re lucky enough, which is a bonus to the beauty of the parks.

2. Shopping

One does not simply go to London and not go shopping; it takes an awful lot of will power which most of us lack. Shopping in London made me go loco! I was walking along Oxford Street in a sort of trance and in 6 hours I only managed to cover half of one floor at Westfield. There is everything you could ever imagine, something for everyone. My favourite two places are H&M and River Island. I feel like a kid who has just been given candy in there. There is also Primark, which can come in handy if you are lost or feeling homesick. Why? Because it is like a mini Maltese hub in there, like a "Malta goes London’ kind of thing (Maltese swearing included of course!).

3. The pubs and the food

Three words about pubs: I love them, and if it is a London pub, then I love it even more. London is home to approximately 4,500 pubs. If you walk along Circle Line crawl for instance you will find about 27 pubs. No matter how cold it is you won’t pass up on a beer. Besides, the atmosphere is lovely and so warm.

Then there is the food, the glorious food. You name it; London has it because the city offers food from different nationalities all over the world. If you are there however make sure to grab some local fish and chips, it is mouthwatering.

4. It is home to the QUEEN!

Most of you will probably say they don’t care if it’s home to the Queen. But let’s face it, most of you were still probably glued to your television sets when William and Kate tied the knot, gossiping about Kate’s dress and were just as curious about what the royal baby will be named. Besides, you might even bump into Prince Harry, not bad aye? He’ll be wearing clothes though, London is no Vegas. However, joking apart, Buckingham Palace is one stunning sight to see, it is beautiful and it will stun you at how majestic it is more than you have every imagined it and it is sort of funny you’ll be standing little far away from the Queen you so much hear about back at home.

5. The life-saving tube

The glorious London Underground, there is nothing quite like it. To make the above mentioned easier to enjoy, the transport in London is amazing. The tube is fascinating and truly a beauty in how it works. One time I lost the train for a split of a second. While I was ranting about it, not a minute had passed that another train came. Bliss — there is no other way to describe it. Besides, once you understand the tube map you will realize how painfully simple it is. You’ll also be back home chanting the words "Mind the Gap’ wearing a t-shirt with the logo of the Underground on it.

So ladies and gentlemen, even though I have not met Prince Harry (I managed to spot a squirel though which may be equally adorable) those were my main reasons why you should visit London at least once in your life. It however is by no means an exhaustive list; there are tonnes of other things which make the city a fabolous desitination. I was told for instance that Camden Town is also a beauty to go visit. That’s pretty great, I now have an extra excuse to go visit the "Old Smoke’ again.

The post London | A Love Affair – 5 Reasons to Visit London appeared first on The Third Eye.

Yes, in order to love someone you should be able to see past their imperfections and flaws. However this does not mean that you should let them make a puppet out of you. You have feelings, remember? What’s curious is that recent studies have found that people tend to settle for less out of fear of being single, hence resulting in less attractive dating targets.

The study’s lead author, Stephanie Spielmann is quoted as saying that “As children, we learn that you need to find your prince charming to "live happily ever after’, and as adults, there are many negative images of those who don’t have a relationship, such as the "crazy cat lady’ or the "spinster’.” Spielmann added that fear of being single did not vary between men and women and that there are no differences based on age. This is quite interesting since women are always believed to be the ones on a mission to find their prince charming. This comes to show how everyone is vulnerable to loneliness.

BUT, loneliness is no excuse to settle for less than you deserve. There are many other ways to find your happy place in the world instead of being stuck in something which is suffocating your happiness. The single life has its benefits, a lot of benefits for that matter. It’s time to indulge in all that you love to do, spend crazy time with your friends and do things which might seem risky when you’re in a serious relationship. It’s the time where you get to travel and spend time away from home, meet new people, learn new cultures. It’s a time to discover and appreciate yourself, a time to nurture your confidence and develop a sense of independence. Your single life is a time to stare in the mirror and feel good about yourself, without needing anyone to reassure you, and start counting your blessings, which as you will discover outweigh your flaws.

Being single is nothing to fear, it’s not hell, rather it can turn out to be the best time of your life until someone you deserve and who’s worthy of your love and care comes knocking at your door. It’s easy to blame yourself when things get rough and it’s very hard to let go but if the person you love is letting you down you should not settle for that, you’d be wasting your precious time. Life’s too short to be miserable.

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Statement 1: The people of Sub- Saharan Africa are poor and cannot lift themselves from poverty. This is as opposed to the rich and powerful Western countries which are the only hope of saving for the poor of the South.

Statement 2: Homosexual people should not be allowed to get married and have children. Homosexual couples do not conform with what we perceive as normal. Besides, they should not be allowed to raise children because these might grow to be homosexual like their parents.

The two statements above are harsh, racist and biased aren’t they? Indeed I believe they are and I don’t believe one single word of what I wrote down. Yet, this is a perfect example to show you how dangerous one side of the story can be. We are fools. We believe what we hear and what we read. The story is important, but these stories are most often single sided, twisted by what the majority believe, manipulated to hide the other side of it.

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Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people but stories can also repair that broken dignity.

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Stories impact our lives in various ways. Whether they’re written or passed on to us orally, we tend to believe what we hear or read with certain apathy, not questioning anything. For instance, we hold this perception that dark-skinned people are poor, we tend to associate them with lack of health care, education and poor standards of living. As soon as we here of migration, our minds go straight to "the blacks on boats’ which is a racist and demeaning expression to use. Underneath the skin we are all the same.  However, few of us are aware that out of the 14 countries which have registered an improvement in their Human Development Index of more than 2% since 2000 11 are located in Sub-Saharan Africa.

As we grow up, we are exposed to stereotypes and the challenge with them, as Adichie herself says, is that “stereotypes are incomplete.” They may not be necessarily wrong or harmful, they are just incomplete — they trick us into one side of the story. Representing dark-colour-skinned people as poor is one thing, but referring to them as poor and striving to achieve economic development and lift themselves up the social ladder is another thing. Adichie makes reference to her mother who always tells her that their family home-boy was very poor and she had bought into this story. For Adiche they were nothing but poor and it never occurred to her that these people had talents and capabilities.

This, the danger of the single story, is why I believe we should question and discover. Travel, read, travel some more, question and read some more. Why should you believe anything you hear? Go visit countries, see for yourself if the stories they tell you are a real representative story of that country or whether there is more to it. Never read something and believe it instantly — question it and read other sources to see whether there are other perspectives. Even when writing yourself, don’t stick to one side of the story, uncover the truth, dig deep.

One person should never define a whole crowd. If there is a person in a village which is a criminal, not all the others are. If there is an area in a country which is poor, not the whole country is and that area may be striving to lift themselves up. White people are not superior to blacks, homosexuals have nothing less than heterosexuals. Underneath the flesh we are all the same, yet we buy ourselves into the single story.

I would like to end this article with some food for thought Chimanda Adichie herself said: “when we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise”

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I am no football expert and don’t intend to ever become one. Also, I am not trying to defend the Italian team here, I’m siding with Holland this World Cup anyway, the Dolce and Gabbana suits did not have that much of an impact on me. But really, since when do players bite other players and the referee does not do anything about it? Actually when does biting another player even come to mind?

We always go on about how football is a beautiful game, how it unites people and so on. Fifa’s series of advertisements about racism and equality sustains this. Yet to me, football has become full of corruption and players with an attitude that makes you want to vomit or bang your head against the wall. And Suarez is not the only wrestler in football history.

Let us remember about Zidane and his famous "testata’ at Materazzi. You can compare him to a matador during a bullfight if you’d like. The muleta (the red drape that the matador waves at the bull) is Materazzi and the bull is Zidane of course.  

But back to Suarez, his biting tactics were not only present in this World Cup. Suarez actually has a biting history, yes a biting history…what an honour aye?  While playing at Ajax in Holland in 2010, Suarez was suspended seven games for biting PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal on his shoulder (shoulder meat seems to taste good). Then in 2013, while playing for Liverpool, he was suspended 10 games for biting Chelsea’s Branislow Ivanovic on the arm. Now, as he is playing for Uruguay in the 2014 World Cup he bit Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder, his favourite spot of meat, and he was not punished during the game.

To me, someone who is not an expert, yet enjoys watching a good game with friends, biting other players is not football. Football is running after a round object called a ball and trying to get it past the goaler into the net. I know it’s a pretty basic definition, but still it gets the point through that football does not equal the WWE. Football should not be made of bad losers, that doesn’t make for a beautiful game.  

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 Before I continue with this article I want to make it very clear that this is by no means aimed at those who have gone through mastectomy and have had their breasts replaced. You have survived cancer; you deserve it! Go on ladies, it’s your time to celebrate.

However putting aside such cases, I do believe that today many are turning to plastic surgery in an attempt to reach the epitome of perfection. But really, what’s perfect? To me nothing is perfect or else perfect is all the small imperfections. Yes, in my opinion imperfect does make you perfect, because it makes you a human being. Perfection is an illusion. Yet, sadly, we all yearn for that illusion.

It is a totally different story to on the one hand having that one plastic surgery which you have always wished for and which will give you a boost of confidence and on the other hand that plastic surgery which turns you into an unrecognisable creature.  To put it simply there is what we refer to as a human body enhanced through plastic surgery and a plastic body with some human flesh and a beating heart.

Take for instance Toby Sheldon who spent $100,000 in surgery to look like Justin Bieber. Yes, Justin Bieber. And what is worse is that at the end of it I don’t see him as resembling the Biebs, I’ve also tried putting on my glasses, but nope, nothing changed. Then there is Justin Jedlica a.k.a The Human Ken – he has a fake face, fake abdominals, fake biceps, fake everything.  He has gone through 149 surgeries which cost him about $170,000…my gym membership cost me €70 over 6 months! But it seems he did not want to squat – no squats no ass! Oh wait no, let’s enhance it through silicone.

This constant yearn for perfection is partly coming from the media as well. The media has implanted in our heads this image of how we should look. It has got girls looking in the mirror cursing their selves because the girl next door has bigger boobs. Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a world where a mother was saving up for her daughter’s future breast enhancement when her daughter was just a toddler. Yes, apparently breast enhancements are now more important than saving up for your child’s future education. College and a degree come second to having nice boobs.

Life enhanced a little bit through plastic surgeries and procedures is one thing, but to transform your body in something unrecognizable is another. To me, that’s why "life in plastic’ isn’t so fantastic. We live in a society which makes you feel as if you’re never good enough and that’s really sad. We are constantly weighing ourselves, looking in the mirror, seeing what we can do to look better. We should all start to love ourselves no matter how we are made. Use that money to travel, it enriches your life much more.

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Have you ever questioned whether the World has changed since World War One? That might seem like a stupid question; of course it’s changed. The world has developed in ways we never thought possible. It has made huge steps in many areas of life. Technology has changed our perspective on everything. Yet it seems to me that the World has not changed as much as we think.

If we come to think about it the instinct to fight, to make war, to attack has always remained there. It has never actually been a “make love not war” world and it will probably never be. In the 100 years since World War One came to an end, governments have invested in military technology to the extent that it sometimes backfired on their countries, leaving them bankrupt. The Americans and the Soviets have challenged each other on who could have the biggest military inventory until the Soviets actually collapsed, having no more resources to invest in weapons. Greece spends most of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on the military.

Technology has been used to develop new deadly weapons. Technology has brought about atomic bombs which have the power to destroy anything, leaving only ashes where once there was life. Technology has introduced means to spy on other countries, keeping an eye on them to see what they are up to. Technology has been used to threaten and instigate fear.

The world has developed in overwhelming ways but the masses of people who inhabit it have not. Take it to any news website you like and you will get the drift immediately. Wars are constant and so are revolutions. People die every day because they try to fight against political and religious persecution. Children are pictured carrying firearms instead of toys.

There is lack of communication between governments, and between the government of a country and its people. Of course this does not happen in each and every situation. Peaceful debates do happen, but where peaceful debates seem to be too complicated there is a tendency to restore to violence, to kill whatever comes in the way — it’s either you win or you die trying to. World War One did not end all wars, it’s been a hundred years and since then millions of lives have been lost.

From culture clashes, trade disputes and governance disagreements, to the drive for waging war between ourselves and among other human beings in everyday life and on a more personal level. Not only is war a global and historical phenomenon that has dominated the world from its very humble beginnings, but it also an adaptation of the more philosophical and psychological nature of humanity and their need to constantly battle things out.

As humans, we build walls to protect ourselves from the outside world and at any cost, strive to defend the image others have of us. It is, indeed, in this strive for defense against the exteriors of the outside world, that the presence of war wages within ourselves. Take for example, fights among siblings, what is it siblings do when one sibling simply pisses off the other? What are the first thoughts that come to mind? Do they defend, engage, and attack? Honestly, I think the three will suffice as a good answer to all three questions. There are plenty of other examples of this war-like attitude we adapt in certain uncomfortable situations, some of which we are likely to have practiced, and some of which we still do.

Psychologically, human beings are prone to war. It’s in our nature, all the way from evolution — one look at our counterparts in the animal world and we can see that animals fight for dominance, for mates, for territory. As humans, we battle it out over nothing. One the social, individual level, we have a competitive nature over even the most insignificant of things — the person we like, grades at school, the rival sixth form. The funny part is that this competitiveness, this constant drive to be the best at everything, is encouraged in us. Schools organize sports days, give awards to the students doing the best academically. Parents are told that it’s good to instill a sense of competition in their children by putting them into sports. While it’s healthy to want to do well at things, it’s not when we’re taught that the only way to succeed in things is to be competitive and pushy.

It’s no wonder, really, that our countries, made up of people who were brought up in this mentality, are constantly setting up wars with each other.

And let’s not forget that, mentally, we’re never at rest. I don’t believe somebody who says that they have no problems with themselves. We will always find a flaw whether it’s in our body image, our academic records, our lives in general. We are, in a way, in constant competition with ourselves, to become better people. How can we dispel this need to fight it out with others, if we’re constantly fighting with our own heads?  Our own mental struggles reflect in the life around us, and we will let them out in our environment — whether it be throwing a punch at our older brother, or pressing the button that declares nuclear war.

Though we may have progressed as a species, instinct remains. We can never rid ourselves of the constant need — the want, even — to compete and fight, and that could very well lead to our demise. A hundred years down the line from one of the most tragic events in history, and we still haven’t learnt. And we never will, if we keep up the pace.

The post One Hundred Years of (Barely Any Change) appeared first on The Third Eye.

I do believe tattoos are a very personal thing. You do not get one on your back for that low back dress you have or one on your hip for that really short shorts you just bought. Obviously you will want to show it off sometimes, it’s human nature, but you should not get inked for the sole purpose of having something to show off, to upload on Facebook or Instagram alongside one million hash tags (#tattoos, #inked, #ink, #tattooed, #freshink, #####).

Tattoos tell a story and it’s no one else’s but your story. It doesn’t really matter if no one understands why you got something in particular inked on yourself as long as you know what’s behind it. That is, I believe, the beauty of getting tattooed — you know the story there is to it that no one else knows. That makes a tattoo personal and it makes it very much your own.

A mistake I feel most of us make is that as soon as we hit eighteen, we want to get inked. We are all like "it’s now or never’. Yet, this might be followed by endless plights of how stupid you were when you were 18 for getting that ridiculous tattoo. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not always how it goes. But it does happen and it’s not a pleasant experience. Tattoos should not be made for the sake of having one because everybody else does. You are not everybody else. Tattoo artists will not all go missing in a day. There is no need to go get inked on the day you turn eighteen.

People will judge you regardless of what you do; don’t mind them. They’ll assign you all kinds of adjectives ranging from drug addict, to rebel, to criminal, to God knows what. But really don’t mind them. If they are dying and you can save their lives they probably won’t refuse the help, even if you’re inked from head to toe. Sadly, yes, we live in a very self-centered and egoistic society.

Many do believe that tattoo taboo is on the decline — I beg to differ. Society’s need to enforce stereotypes has made no move to decline over the years. They must have a say in everything that happens. Society has created this thing called "normal’. But normal is boring, or even, it does not exist. We live in a society where you get people telling you that one or two small tattoos are fine but a whole sleeve is just too much and makes you look like a criminal. Really, what’s the difference? What’s the difference between having one or two or three or a whole body covered in tattoos for what it matters? There’s no difference; if you want to be a criminal you can be one, tattoos or no tattoos.

There is one person who should be happy about your ink and that’s you. People will judge you, let them be. People will stare; give them something to stare at. Tattoos have gone main stream. That does not mean, however, that your tattoo should be like everybody else’s. It does not mean that if your neighbor got a swallow on her back you should get two of them. Ink your story.

The post Tattoos… Because Everyone Has a Story to Tell appeared first on The Third Eye.

Since most of us will soon be heading to the beach, it’s not uncommon for us to try to embark on diets or exercise regimes to shed those hideous extra pounds accumulated over the cold months from an over indulgence in comfort food.

Josef started taking gym training seriously seven years ago when he was just 18 years old. What started as a pastime developed into a passion which spurred him on to become a personal trainer. He advocates a healthy active lifestyle.

“Don’t hate your body.” That’s the first step to being healthy.

One of the basic reasons for attending a gym is to seek professional advice, until your body gets used to the new discipline. “It’s one thing to use a treadmill where you simply press a button, but it’s a totally different story when using weights.”

What is a personal trainer?

“A personal trainers’ job is to give that motivation needed whether or not my clients feel up to it”. A personal trainer ensures that people doing exercises are doing them right. This avoids unnecessary injuries and strains. “You are bound to get unwanted muscle pain after a session but at least you leave the gym knowing you’ve done it right. If you exercise with a personal trainer you’re in for more muscle pain. That means you’re on the right track.” This brings us to another point: not all exercise is good for everyone. Josef draws on the example of the "dead lifts’ that are definitely not recommended to anyone who suffers from frequent or continuous back pain.

“My clients become my friends. My role is to prioritise their safety.”

A healthy and balanced diet should complement gym sessions. “A healthy meal plan is important. This does not mean that after a workout, one cannot indulge in a tasty, juicy burger – as long as it is not done often.

Gym should only total 30 per cent of a healthy regime. The other 70 per cent comes from a balanced diet. “Abs are built in the kitchen not at the gym.”

Most of us might remember promising ourselves "I’ll go on diet from next Monday’ or "I really need to start some exercise.’ We have different reasons to get physical. Some do it for health reasons while others do it for the "feel good factor.’ Josef’s advice is that if you really want to start “stand up and do it now, otherwise you’ll never get started.”

How much is enough?

“Some people take it beyond the limit.” Attending a gym for three hours a day, seven days a week will have an adverse effect on your body. Injuries are likely to happen, sleep patterns are distorted and moods get into a twist. Your body can get over trained. “The goal is that you are functional.” Lifting too many heavy weights does not mean you will be able to survive on a running track.

On the other hand, Josef meets people who want to lose weight when in reality they don’t have to. “There is a limit to how much more weight you can lose in a healthy way.”

The Media

“The media tend to spoil the fun.” Josef notes how “the primary goal in attending a gym is to be healthy. Regretfully, the media promotes the notion that having a good body with abdominals or a flat stomach is standard practice. “The picture the media tends to paint is that something is missing if you do not have a good body.” A good body should come secondary to being healthy. Another factor which took us by surprise is peer pressure. Josef has come across boys as young as 12 and 13 coming to a gym determined to lift weights and work-out. Although it is positive to see teens pursuing an active lifestyle, everything has its own place and time.

Once you get off the couch and into your fitness pants at the gym you will realize how good it feels. Not because you are getting a nice body, not even because you are getting sexy abs but because you’re getting stronger and healthier. The gym becomes a happy place to go to because afterwards you feel fit and energetic.

A toned body is a bonus. It’s your motivation.

Below you can find more information about Josef Mizzi, qualified personal trainer and nutritionist.

https://www.facebook.com/JosefPersonalTrainer?fref=ts

The post HEALTHY is the new SEXY appeared first on The Third Eye.