In Pure Spirit

For open minds

Subway bans Ouija boards

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The management of this Subway found reason to put up a rather strange sign. It makes you wonder what might have happened here that made printing such a sign necessary in the first place.

Do you agree with the owners? Are they entitled to ban paying customers from using Ouija boards in the building? Or do you think the sign will backfire and if anyone wanted to stir up trouble for them that they will anyway?

In Pure Spirit

What’s the strangest sign you’ve ever seen posted in public?

Via Reddit uploads.

5 Reasons To Sponsor A Guide Dog For Father’s Day

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Father’s day is coming up and for most this means it’s time to shop online for a gift. Instead of going for the usual toiletries, socks and booze however, why not get your dad a different gift this father’s day by sponsoring a guide dog puppy? There are many great reasons to do so but we’re going to narrow it down to the top 5 reasons you should consider this unusual gift.

1. They’re cute

This almost goes without saying but who doesn’t love puppies? They’re absolutely adorable and the best part is, when you sponsor a guide dog puppy you’ll get regular ‘pupdates’ on their progress, including pictures, videos and text, all the way from young 6 month old pups to fully mature guide dogs. You get to track their progress and watch them grow up from adorable young animal to working guide dog, enjoying all the best parts and never having to worry about cleaning up any messes!

Father's Day ideas
Sponsor a Puppy

2. They perform an important function

Though guide dog puppies are undeniably cute, they do also perform a very vital function. They can help disabled people, such as those who are blind, to live a much more independent life than they would be able to without them. Guide dogs can help otherwise very vulnerable individuals to feel safe doing normal, everyday things that would otherwise be taken for granted. Things like crossing the road and going to the shops can feel like daunting tasks when you are blind, but a guide dog can offer both a level of safety and confidence, enabling those to live a far more independent life than they would otherwise be able.

3. They need your help

Guide dogs are very expensive to train, not least of which because they fulfil such a vital role and they are depended on so much. They are still dogs that are curious about the world and are naturally very easily distracted by everything from dropped food to small animals running around. Guide dogs need to be trained well to learn to ignore such distractions and not endanger their handler. As you may imagine, this is expensive to do and funding is low, so your gift donations really can help make a difference.

4. They’re a companion

Being blind can be a very isolating experience and it can be very lonely. A guide dog is not just a support animal, but it is also a companion and handlers can become as attached to their guide dog as any other pet. Having this companion be with you and help you through every day can help make even the darkest days seem a little brighter, and this can be important in keeping spirits up. This alone can be why some people choose to use a guide dog over simply using a cane; they are so much more than a simple seeing eye aid.

5. They’re a conversation starter

Being blind can be a very obvious disability to others and people will go out of their way to make a clear path for them. While this has the best of intentions, it often results in blind people being almost avoided in public and it can be very hard for blind people to meet new people and socialise because of this. A guide dog functions as a great conversation starter. As people stop to compliment the guide dog, it is a great opportunity for the handler to do anything from ask for directions to strike up a full conversation over a cup of coffee!

Tempted? Sponsor a Guide Dog puppy for your dad today!

In Pure Spirit

What would you add to this list? Not sure. Plenty of time to sponsor a puppy while you mull it over.

Marry Your Outdoor Indoor Space With Ease

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When spring finally arrives, and the weather starts to warm up – the bright yellow daffodils bring us lots of visual sunshine, the rays of the sun are warming and not just defrosting the ice, the animals begin to nest and flourish. This is where most of us are excited to get outside and enjoy the new season.

It’s so satisfying to go back into the garden, perhaps tend to the plants, sit on comfortable garden furniture and enjoy a cup of coffee on a nice day. The kids are usually excited to get outside and play too. The garden is our own, little space to recharge our batteries and get some fresh air, all of course, within easy distance of the house. To make this garden to house enjoyment even easier, a lot of people choose to integrate both their indoor and outdoor space.

Many people opt to integrate their outdoor and indoor space, so that there is easy flow and accessibility between the two. There are many different reasons to do this, including:

  • Easy access to the garden, and easy access back into the house
  • A visual effect inside the home that brings the outdoors in
  • The ability, with certain setups like french doors, to open up the living room into the garden, making the indoor space appear a lot bigger
  • Easy ventilation in summer
  • Easy access for entertaining in the garden
  • A great layout for parties where guests are in and out of the house
  • A great way to have double dining options between the living room or the decking
  • Great for kids who like to be in and out of the garden
  • A way to enjoy yoga or exercise on your decking, within easy access of music playing devices, yoga tutorials on the TV, or yoga equipment you may store inside to keep dry

If you choose to connect your indoor and outdoor space, it will enable you to have a living room that appears much bigger, and an indoor space that brings in all the peacefulness and greenery of the garden.

When you decide to bring the outdoors in and connect your living space to your garden, it is important to ensure that you take steps to integrate the two areas together. If you don’t, the look can be disconnected, the maintenance may be higher, and you may not get the practical benefits or the ‘feel’ you were looking for. If you’re considering merging your living room and outdoor space, these useful tips will help you get started:

A Colour Scheme For Both Areas

Ideally, you can have at least one colour or pattern theme that runs from the living room into the garden. Perhaps you have a lot of duck egg blue in the living room, and you could opt for duck egg blue patio furnishings, or garden planters. Just one colour or theme that runs all the way through, and the two spaces will be connected.

Lighting All The Way Through

This is most important when it comes to enjoying the area during the evening, so that you can make the most of the entire space. One lovely thing to do, is add soft lighting all the way down your garden, onto your decking and into your living room. The cheapest and easiest way to do this is with LED lighting like fairy lights, or LED lanterns. With fairy lights you can wrap them around anything and they tend to look pretty. No need for electricians or wiring changes, just make sure you use weatherproof ones in the parts of the garden exposed to the elements.

Flooring From The Inside Out

This isn’t an option for everyone, but it can be a very practical option for some. Floor tiling that goes all the way from the living room and onto the patio really does bring the space together, and adds a practical element in terms of bringing in dirt and mud from outside. You can also do this with wood.

Height Matters

If the living room leads straight onto decking or a patio, make sure the levels are the same height.

Make It Easy To Get Outside

Floor to ceiling doors are a must when it comes to integrating your indoor and outdoor space. External bi-fold doors are perfect for adding light to your living room, and making it easy to open your living room up to your outdoor space.

Keep It Green

Even though you can see the outside from the living room, a good thing to do is to ensure there is actual greenery both sides of the doors. Perhaps use a planter with grasses on your decking, and then have a similar indoor plant on the inside as well. This unifies the two spaces and actually brings the outside in.

Keep It ‘All Weather’

To make use of your outdoor space in all weathers, why not add some covering over the top of the patio or decking. This ensures you can easily sit outside with your partner, with a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket if it is snowing, or perhaps take shelter under a quick summer shower, without having to drag everything indoors. A patio heater is also a great idea to prolong your outdoor entertaining through the seasons.

Take Your Time, And Keep It Unique To Your Family

Hopefully, these tips have given you lots of inspiration for how to integrate your indoor and outdoor space. Remember to take your time, do lots of research, and most importantly – keep it personal and unique to you, this is a special space for your family to spend time in and enjoy, it should be personalised to your needs and tastes.

In Pure Spirit

What tips do you have for bringing outside inside? Let us know in the comments below.

This is a sponsored post. Money goes to hosting costs.

Spooky doll laughs without batteries

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We’ll put this down to someone playing a good prank on Craigslist.

I’ve done a quick check. There’s no shortage of spooky dolls you can pick up on ebay. Got a friend who needs a scare?

The text reads;

Our daughter doesn’t want it anymore. Our dog won’t stop barking at it and we never find it where we left it. Doll has really cute laugh. No batteries.

In Pure Spirit

What’s the most spooky doll or toy that you’ve ever owned?

Did this Snapchat faceswap capture a spirit?

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Snapchat is more than just an app that allows you to send messages that self-destruct after they’ve been read. Today’s version of the app is focused around video messaging and pioneered clever visual filters to spice up those messages.

Want to see what you look like with puppy ears, or as a pirate or with glamour make-up on? Snapchat has a filter for that. One of Snapchat’s most popular filters is the faceswap. Look into the camera with a friend and Snapchat will swap your faces around and you’ll get to send a hilariously weird message to friends.

It’s become common to hold up items with faces for Snapchat’s faceswap filter to use. The effect is funny and allows you to faceswap by yourself.

But what if Snapchat finds a face in the picture that you weren’t expecting? That’s what has appeared here! This picture, uploaded to Reddit shows a young woman trying to faceswap with a Care Bear… except, the computer’s algorithm has seen another face. Snapchat’s camera has looked into the darkness behind the woman and seen the contours of a face!

The result? Both weird and spooky at the same time!

In Pure Spirit
What do you think might have caused this? A patch of shadow that just happened to look like a face?

Ghost Train ad banned for being too scary

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Thorpe Park have a new attraction arriving next year. It’s Derren Brown’s Ghost Train.

An advert for the new ride was due to be aired on TV on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, before the watershed, but regulators Clearcast have now said it is too scary.

A spokesperson for Thorpe Park told press;

Plans to air our new promo for Derren Brown’s Ghost Train on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have been changed due to advice that it may not be appropriate for audiences during this period.

The catch? The video is (currently) live on Facebook.

In Pure Spirit

Did it get you?

Too scary for TV or is this whole thing a wonderful piece of marketing for Thorpe Park and their new attraction?

Source: The Drum.

10 amazing facts about our moon

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Isn’t it amazing that we still don’t know how the moon came to be? I’d always been told that the moon was blasted out of the Earth after the planet impacted with a large asteroid. It’s a relief to know that that’s not the only possible explanation.

In Pure Spirit

What’s your favourite story about the moon?

Masters of Dance: TV inspired office party moves

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What do The Office, The Inbetweeners, Friends, Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Napoleon Dynamite all have in common? They’ve all inspired Shoe Zone with office party worthy dance moves.

You can checkout the infographic summary cards below or even research even more and find out how to recreate these moves over at Shoe Zone.

In Pure Spirit knows about Shoe Zone through the charity the Show Zone Trust. They’ve raised more than £210,000 for the trust and other charities in the last 15 years.

In Pure Spirit

Are you familiar with any of these dances?

If you want to keep an eye on the special offers and discounts shoezone is able to share with its customers then this is the page to watch.

Where you might actually find Fantastic Beasts

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Fan of Harry Potter and the spin-off Fantastic Beasts? Many of the monsters from the Potterverse are drawn from mythology, inspired by old folktales and stories.

Sykes Cottages have put together a collection of monster posters to follow on from the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Is the idea you’re supposed to go rent a holiday cottage near a monster area? Their blog has more details and we’ve the pictures below.

Nifflers

Bowtruckles

Demiguise

Common Welsh Green Dragon

Thunderbird

Giants

Merpeople

In Pure Spirit

Which is your favourite fantastic beast?

Steve Alten interview: Where is Megalodon hiding?

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Steve Alten is the author of the hugely popular Meg series. The fictional series starts when Navy deep-sea submersible pilot Jonas Taylor encounters a Carcharodon megalodon while exploring the infamous Mariana trench. He barely survives the encounter but then has to warn a sceptical world that the 70-foot shark is real.

The latest book in the series, Meg: Nightstalkers, deals with the nightmare scenario of escaped megalodons and other ancient monsters making their way free.

In Pure Spirit is really lucky. Steve’s made time to answer some of our Carcharodon megalodon questions. Buckle up and read on!

Q. Some folk like to hope that Carcharodon megalodon survives as a species. Why do you think that is? Isn’t a strange thing to hope for?

Not at all. Just as visitors would come to a Jurassic World, they’d love to witness the most vicious predator ever to have lived … albeit from a safe distance.

Q. Do you think the Mariana trench has any real surprises left for us?

It’s all new. This is a 40 mile wide, 1550 mile long unexplored realm. The latest exploration found hydrothermal vents (as I predicted 20 years ago) and an albino “ghost shark!”

Q. You must have been subjected to dozens of survival theories from fans since you started writing Meg. Which have been the most memorable ones?

I favor the rise of Orca as the most likely theory which resulted in the Megs disappearance. An orca is no match for a Meg, but killer whales hunt in pods, and a pack could easily kill a lone Meg. Orca hunt along shorelines and would have decimated Megalodon nurseries. The only escape for adults would have been to inhabit deeper waters where the whales could not access. Could Megalodon still be alive without us knowing it? Absolutely. We’ve only explored 5% of the oceans and less than 1% of the deep…

Q. How do you keep up with science and the real world mysteries of the deep oceans?

I research every novel thoroughly to flesh out the story. Plus I answer every email personally, which introduces me to experts far smarter than myself.

Q. Which other deep water stories are you tempted to explore?

The LOCH takes on Loch Ness, VOSTOK explores the subglacial lakes in Antarctica, and The OMEGA PROJECT takes us to our planet 12 million years in the future…so I’ve  been tempted and went there! Check it out at www.SteveAlten.com.

Disclosure

This blog discusses ideas and causes. Urban myth and history combine here. In Pure Spirit covers stories from elsewhere on the web and may make fair use clippings and quotations from the original source.