PALIN MITENK BLOG

By Sarah Bull

Sexy mama: Coleen Rooney shows off her trim post-baby figure

Most new mothers wouldn't dream of wearing a bikini just three months after giving birth.

But, then again, most new mothers aren't Coleen Rooney.

The 23-year-old WAG showed off her toned figure and enviably flat stomach in a black bikini while on holiday with son Kai in Barbados.


Sexy mama: Coleen Rooney shows off her trim post-baby figure


Toned: Coleen's figure showed no sign of having given birth just three months ago

Coleen had no qualms about displaying her figure in the stylish two-piece as she relaxed with family on the Caribbean island

The star, who is on holiday without husband Wayne, who has footballing commitments with team Manchester United, teamed the sexy ensemble with a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses and a loose ponytail


Relaxed: Coleen smiles as she chills out in the warm Barbados sea


...But then looks unimpressed as a giant wave threatens to knock her over

Yesterday was the first time Coleen has bared her post-baby figure in public.

After arriving in Barbados on Saturday, the star opted to cover up in a pink patterned beach dress, clearly self-conscious of her new body.

But it seems Coleen has now shed her image concerns, as she showed by wowing fellow holiday-goers with her toned figure.





Svelte: Coleen's figure will be the envy of new mothers throughout the country

Coleen has clearly been enjoying showing son Kai the wonders of the ocean, although she has ensured he has been covered in high factor suncream as he played the beach.

Coleen was seen smiling with pleasure as she cuddled Kai, dressed in a light blue babygrow, and relaxed on the beach with relatives.


Beach baby: Coleen had covered up in a pink sundress as she played with son Kai


Time for a tickle: Kai in his Uncle Anthony's arms


The trip has also been an opportunity for Coleen to show baby Kai the Rooneys' new £5million holiday home on the island.

Over the next two weeks, the family will be staying at the whitewashed villa which is situated on the island's 500-acre Royal Westmoreland development


Keeping the rays at bay: Coleen in her bandeau sun dress

The six bedroom villa comes with an infinity pool and breathtaking sea views from the bedroom, and the living room areas.

And if the six bedrooms in the main house are not enough, a detached two-bedroom cottage for additional guests so Wayne and Coleen can enjoy the run of their house.


souerce: dailymail

By Sophie Borland

Sarah and her two companions donned immersion suits before clambering into lifeboats


A teenage girl was left clinging to a life raft for nearly two days after her ship sank in high seas.

Sarah Calascione, 19, and two friends were on a round-the-world trip when their sailing vessel overturned in a gale in the Atlantic 300 miles south of Rio de Janeiro.

The 48 passengers and 16 crew managed to scramble on to tiny rafts as their ship, the Concordia, filled with water.

They remained drifting for more than 40 hours as towering waves and heavy rain lashed down, before finally being rescued by a Brazilian Naval frigate.

Yesterday, Miss Calascione told of her ordeal as the Concordia sank on Wednesday.

She said: 'The wall became the floor and then the power went off and the engine alarm went off and I could hear things crashing and breaking.



A photographer takes pictures of the Canadian tall ship SV Concordia as it sails into Halifax, Nova Scotia, last year


'I fell through the door and just fell into [my] room. The door was above my head and I couldn't reach it to get out.'

After a few minutes a female crew member heard her cries for help and pulled her out.

'I wasn't injured except for my back,' she added.

'I didn't think we were going to be rescued. The radio equipment was damaged so we only had an EPIRB (satellite tracking system) which sends out a satellite signal but that wasn't picked up straight away.


Harrowing: Sarah Calascione endured 40 hours in the ocean before being rescued


Rescued: Gap year student Sarah Calascione, 19, who survived on a lifeboat in the open sea for nearly two days after her ship sank off Brazil


'It wasn't until 30 hours later that a spotter plane saw our liferaft.'

It then took several further hours for boats to arrive and rescue them.

Miss Calascione, who is on a gap year after leaving Tiffin Girls' School in Kingston, South-West London last year, was travelling with friends Nicole Turner, 18, and Gabriella Haines, 16.

They were two weeks into the five-month adventure - which cost £25,000 - when disaster struck. In her whole time in the sea she ate just one biscuit bar and drank only water from the raft's roof.

Her mother Caroline, 48, a painter, and father Jonathan, also 48, a partner in a consultancy firm, only learned their daughter was missing on Friday morning when they were contacted to say there had been an 'emergency situation'.

Mrs Calascione, who lives in Kingston and also has a younger daughter, Hannah, 15, said: 'We were told there had been a distress signal and spotter planes and navy boats had been deployed but there was no sign of the Concordia.

'It was a very harrowing and emotional experience. It wasn't until we received a phone call from Sarah on Saturday that we knew she was safe.'

The three girls flew home to London yesterday and were reunited with their families.

Incredibly, all onboard the ship escaped with minor bumps and bruises. The Concordia's American captain, William Curry, 59, said he had never seen anything like it.


Students from Canada's West Island College, arrive at the Mocangue naval base in Rio de Janeiro at the weekend after being plucked from the sea


Tragic: The Concordia sank off the coast of Rio


He blamed a 'microburst' - a sudden-vertical downdraft of air - for the conditions. The entire surface area of the sails was exposed to the powerful wind and within 15 seconds the boat went from sailing normally to lying on its side and beginning to sink.

The round-the-world trip, called Class Afloat, is run by Canadian company West College International. Teenagers learn how to sail the 190ft three-masted vessel and study for a qualification.


Back on dry land: Two of the rescued students disembark from a Brazilian navy vessel at the weekend


There are now questions about why the Brazilian navy took so long to respond. The navy has defended its actions, saying it followed standard procedure


source: dailymail

By Donna Mcconnell


Coleen Rooney will soon be enjoying a close-up view of her newly completed £5million villa in Barbados.

A runway closure meant her flight has been delayed, but pity the millionaire WAG not, as these pictures show exactly what she will be enjoying when she arrives with her parents, son Kai and cousins on the tropical isle.

The stunning whitewashed villa is situated on the island's 500-acre Royal Westmoreland development, which is already home to some familiar celebrity faces.


Blue skies: The six bedroom home boasts an infinity pool and breathtaking sea views from the bedroom, and the living room areas


Sea view: The bedroom has acres of space and a door that leads straight to the poolside

Ex-boxing champion Joe Calzaghe, Wayne's team-mate Rio Ferdinand, Gary Lineker, cricketer Freddie Flintoff, and TV hosts Ant and Dec all already own homes there.

And it's not hard to see why.


New home: Wayne and Coleen haven't seen the villa since their last fortnight in Barbados in 2009

The six bedroom villa comes with an infinity pool and breathtaking sea views from the bedroom, and the living room areas.

And while these pictures show the lavish interior of an identical villa nearby, with wooden shutters and ceiling fans adding a colonial feel to the decor of the house.

Coleen has furnished the Rooneys villa according to her exacting tastes.
Guests chez Rooney will enter a grand lobby leading to the main hall and expansive living quarters, and the lounge area opens outdoors on to a link bridge leading to a covered outside dining terrace.

And if the six bedrooms in the main house are not enough, a detached two-bedroom cottage for additional guests so Wayne and Coleen can enjoy the run of their house.

But Coleen won't have it all her own way with sun sea and sunbathing. The villa also backs on to the development's championship golf course, perfect for aspiring golfer Wayne.

The last time the couple saw the villa was on their two-week holiday in Barbados last June, as it was mid-way though construction.

A source told The Sun: 'Coleen can't wait to see the house now it's finally finished.

'The couple have been going to Barbados on holiday f


Fine dining: A 12-place mahoghany dining table dominates the centre of the room, with a lounge area for pre-and post dinner drinks


Neighbours: The couple are in good company as Wayne's team-mate Rio Ferdinand, Gary Lineker, cricketer Freddie Flintoff, and TV hosts Ant and Dec already all own homes on the stunning development


Home Rooney: The imposing entrance to the Rooney's new £5million villa in the Caribbean



source: dailymail

Playing an instrument may help children better process speech in a noisy classroom. (Posed by models)


If you spent hours learning a musical instrument as a child only to lose interest when you reached your teens, it may not have been a complete waste of time after all, according to a leading expert.

Learning to play an instrument has major advantages for a growing brain and should be a key part of school education, says neuroscientist Professor Nina Kraus.

She points out there is strong evidence to show that music lessons help children improve their language skills. Prof Kraus has led the first research to demonstrate that playing a musical instrument significantly enhances the brain's sensitivity to speech sounds.


The benefits could help normal children as well as those with developmental problems such as dyslexia and autism, she argues.

‘Playing an instrument may help youngsters better process speech in noisy classrooms and more accurately interpret the nuances of language that are conveyed by subtle changes in the human voice,' Prof Klaus told the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Diego, California.

‘Cash-strapped school districts are making a mistake when they cut music from the curriculum.’

At her laboratory at Northwestern University in Everston, Illinois, researchers developed a way to show how the nervous system responds to the acoustic properties of speech and music sounds with sub-millisecond precision.

They found the effectiveness with which the nervous system interprets sound patterns is linked to musical ability.

‘Playing music engages the ability to extract relevant patterns, such as the sound of one's own instrument, harmonies and rhythms, from the "soundscape",' said Prof Kraus.

‘Not surprisingly, musicians' nervous systems are more effective at utilising the patterns in music and speech alike.’

Previously her team found that sensitivity to sound patterns correlates with reading skill and the ability to hear speech against background noise.

‘People's hearing systems are fine-tuned by the experiences they've had with sound throughout their lives,’ said Prof Kraus.

‘Music training is not only beneficial for processing music stimuli. We've found that years of music training may also improve how sounds are processed for language and emotion.

‘The neural enhancements seen in individuals with musical training is not just an amplifying or volume knob effect. Individuals with music training show a selective fine-tuning of relevant aspects of auditory signals.’

Her research indicates that playing a musical instrument affects automatic processing in the brainstem, the lower part of the brain that joins onto the spinal cord.

The brainstem is an evolutionarily ancient brain region that controls many vital functions such as breathing and heartbeat, as well as responses to complex sounds.

‘Now we know that music can fundamentally shape our sub-cortical sensory circuitry in ways that may enhance everyday tasks, including reading and listening in noise,’ said Prof Kraus.


source: dailymail

Working mother: Tyler is a single parent to five-year-old Milo, whose father is her English ex-husband Royston Langdon


With a busy triple life as model, actress and single mother, it's probably no surprise Liv Tyler looks shattered.

The actress, 32, was spotted looking like she could do with a few hours kip as she stepped out au naturel with her son Milo in Manhattan yesterday.

Wearing a green heart-shaped headbopper hairband, presumably for the entertainment of her five-year-old son, Tyler was sporting heavy bags under her eyes.

With the Lord Of The Rings star in mummy mode, she appeared unconcerned to be seen without make-up covering her dark shadows.

Earlier this week, a significantly more glamorous Tyler was spotted attending the G-Star Raw show at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Tyler was the talk of the show in her stunning all-blue ensemble of satin dress and co-ordinating bright blue cardigan and tights, which she finished off with a pair of Christian Louboutin heels.

She was joined at the show by her mother, former model Bebe Buell, and sat beside Mancunian model Agyness Deyn.


From working mom to A-lister: The transformation is apparent as a dressed-down Liv, looks remarkably more glamorous at the G-Star Raw Show on Tuesday


At the show, Liv was asked which on of her parents influences her style the most - her mother, or father Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith.

She said: 'Both of them pretty equally. Looking at old images of them when they were younger, and now even, they're both really brave and wear what they like and I like that. They're not really following any trends of any kind.'

Tyler's appearance at Fashion Week also sees the return of the actress to her former career of modelling.

The brunette beauty appears in the new campaign for G-Star Jeans, but incredulously believes she doesn't think she looks good in the adverts.


Brilliant in blue: A livened up looking Liv sat with model Agyness Deyn and singer Estelle at the G-Star Raw Autumn Winter 2010 show


She said: 'I opened up to this page and my first thought was hmmm.. [neighs like a horse] it was very horse-like.'

Despite her modelling roles, Tyler said she wants to keep both her careers.
She said: 'God I love my life, I feel really grateful and blessed I get to do the work that I do.

'I really enjoy it tremendously and I would never want to pick one over the other because I enjoy both parts of it, and both worlds so much and I always really enjoyed making films and my heart is definitely in that process.

'But I also really love the fashion industry because I grew up in it and I feel really lucky to be invited into it.'


source: dialymail

Over the top? Tearful Joslyn James is comforted by lawyer Veronica Siwik-Daniels in Los Angeles


As one of 12 women linked to married golf star Tiger Woods, Joslyn James could rightly be expected to feel ashamed of her actions.

But as she watched his televised apology today the porn star seemed more upset than the golfer himself, sobbing hysterically as her lawyer tried to comfort her.

The scenes were as dramatic as James's new look. Her short cropped hair and buttoned blouse was a world away from her appearance as a seductress in My First Sex Teacher 12.

James, real name Veronica Siwik-Daniels, claims she was twice made pregnant by Woods, suffering a miscarriage in 2007 and an abortion two years later.

Perhaps her tears were due to Woods's failure to mention her in his address


Thought it was for life: James claims to have become pregnant by Woods


Former life: James in My First Sex Teacher 12

Speaking publicly today for the first time since allegations of his string of affairs emerged, Woods admitted he had bitterly disappointed his family, friends and fans.

'For all I have done, I am so sorry. I have a lot to atone for,' he said.
But he made no mention of the women he is alleged to have bedded, other than to talk of his shame at his actions.

James's lawyer Gloria Allred said her 32-year-old client suffered 'anguish and distress' following her three year affair with Woods.

She said James believed their relationship 'would last a lifetime' and went into hiding to avoid being quizzed about their affair.

'Veronica has made tremendous sacrifices for him,' said Allred.

'She gave up the porn business at his request and went into hiding when the scandal broke in order to protect him, but to date he has not contacted her to apologise.'


source: dailymail