Student life can be a whirlwind of assignments, deadlines, and exams, leading to an immense amount of stress and anxiety. However, integrating fun activities into busy schedules not only provides a much-needed break but is also essential for mental health and academic achievement. Balancing both academic obligations and leisure time can be the key to not just surviving, but thriving in student life. Keep reading to understand how leisure can morph stress into success for students.

How Fun Activities Can Alleviate Stress in Student Life

Students often face the pressure of maintaining high academic standards. Amidst this pressure, fun activities act as a stress buffer, providing a change of pace from the rigors of study. Engaging in leisure pursuits gives the brain a chance to rest, which can prevent burnout and maintain a higher level of academic enthusiasm.

Sports betting gives that enthralling way of engaging with favourite games, but not all sports are the same. Neither are they as predictable or profitable as each other. Some may be more of a breeze to predict, but others could leave even the most experienced gambler scratching their head.

When you start betting on these sports, the ability to access online betting platforms like Betway can be a real game-changer. With odds, trends, and expert analysis available, it helps you to make more informed decisions into the world of luck.

In this post, we’ll explore the hardest sports to bet on, ranking them from easiest to hardest, and do our best to try to explain why some are trickier to predict than others.

Football, American Football, Basketball

It hasn't been all that long since I last played Supertramp's Breakfast in America album. As one of my favorite records from my high school years, I find myself pulling it out of my collection and playing several of its tracks almost weekly.

So, when I heard that Mercury Studios was releasing a 2-CD set recorded live in Paris at the Pavillon de Paris during the Breakfast in America tour, I knew I had to hear it. Not only because I love their music but also because I missed out on seeing them live at the time—a chance at personal redemption, you might say.

Comprised of members Rick Davies, Roger Hodgson, Dougie Thomson, Bob Siebenberg, and John Anthony Helliwell, this concert captures Supertramp at their peak, delivering everything I would have hoped to hear from this lineup back in the day.

“I’m taking a ride
With my best friend
I hope he never lets me down again
He knows where he’s taking me
Taking me where I want to be
I’m taking a ride
With my best friend”

— Depeche Mode, “Never Let Me Down Again”

Travelogues are as old as writing itself. From Marco Polo to Kerouac, there’s always a vicarious satisfaction to be gleaned reading of someone’s journey in a land you’ve never seen. This is true even in fictional form, where details of strange fantastical realms can provide much-needed escapism from our own troubled times.

One person that understands that never-ending appeal is Texas author Izzy Von, who returns to the wild world of the walking dead (and worse) she created in last year’s rowdy romp A Dandy Among The Dead in the recently released sequel novel, Xmas Of The Dead, a rollicking escapade through a most unusual zombie apocalypse.

In the heart of Filipino culture, card games have long been a cherished pastime, bringing friends and families together for hours of entertainment. Among these beloved games, Tongits stands out as a perennial favorite. But as the world rapidly embraces digital technology, even this classic card game is undergoing a transformation. Today, we explore how Tongits has made the leap from tabletops to touchscreens, becoming more accessible than ever before.

The Rise of Mobile Gaming in the Philippines

The Philippines has emerged as one of Southeast Asia's most tech-savvy nations, with smartphone usage skyrocketing in recent years. This digital revolution has touched every aspect of Filipino life, including how people enjoy their favorite pastimes. As busy schedules and urban lifestyles leave less time for traditional gatherings, Filipinos are turning to their smartphones for quick entertainment fixes.

Vaping is now gaining more popularity than smoking. Many people know that vaping has fewer health risks on top of being trendy. It also comes with a wide variety of options, such as disposable e-cigs, e-pipes, vape mods, X-pods, JUULs, and e-hookahs, among other devices, which suit a variety of people. Another factor that has made vaping popular is that you can choose flavors and nicotine levels that suit your preferences.

Whether you are just getting started and want your first electronic vape, want to renew yours, or just want to add another one to the list, this guide on how to buy the best one will help you. Read through these tips and hacks to learn more.

Always Know What You Want

Most people do not know which electronic vape they want, but there is a way to find out. Take your time to research the trending e-cigs and vapes on the market today, and find one that matches your vaping needs.

Across the ages, many have tried to answer that fundamental question: What mysteries lurk within the human heart? Innumerable creative minds have attempted to satisfy the inquiry through literature, song, theater and film, but none more so than the humble poet. Oft-misunderstood, derided by some as scribes of pretty, meaningless verse, poets have long examined the innermost truths of the collective human spirit, our desires and hurts, our joys and triumphs and, sometimes, our blackest, basest impulses.

One poet unafraid to plumb those shadowy recesses is A. L. Garcia, whose new book, My Split Tongue arrives February 21st from Quill & Crow Publishing House. Subtitled A Bilingual Collection, My Split Tongue (translated as Mi Lengua Dividida) offers audiences a dual-language descent into the darkest corners of the soul.

By 2025, the online gambling and casino industries are not just doing well, they are booming. The internet gambling industry is booming, with revenues expected to reach an incredible $107.70 billion this year. However, what is driving this sharp ascent? To learn the secrets underlying this worldwide phenomenon, let's shuffle through the deck.

The Problem of Evil is one that has perplexed philosophers and theologians since time immemorial. The question itself is simple—Why does wickedness exist?—but settling on a single solution isn’t as straightforward. In modern times man’s rampant inhumanity has been attributed to a host of psychological diagnoses, psychopathy, narcissism, sadism, schizophrenia, insinuating that our inner demons are the roots of evil. Religion offers differing explanations: in Buddhism and other eastern belief systems it’s thought that merely existing causes our collective suffering in the karmic cycle, but the Abrahamic traditions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—take a more literal approach, laying the foibles of humankind on a malefic cosmic force. This adversary goes by many names, Satan, Iblis, the Lord of Flies, and his infernal acolytes populate the myths and legends of cultures worldwide: the Slavic vampire and werewolf, the Arabian ghoul, the ravenous Wendigo of Native American lore.

Life. Oh, what’s the point of it all? Stuck in a daily grind doing menial jobs we can’t stand with coworkers we hate just to pay the bills. Faceless corporations manipulating our every waking hour through advertising, television, social media, price gouging and political propaganda. Even the daily news is a masochist’s wet dream: murder, rape, corruption, war, famine, disease, natural disasters, environmental destruction. Life’s miseries seemingly have no end. But end they do, of course, for each and every one of us. Death’s stark inevitability produces raw existential dread in many. But should it? As William, the central figure in the pitch-black British comedy Dead In A Week (Or Your Money Back) glumly notes, “Death is the one thing we all have in common.”

Winter. The word conjures snowball fights and sledding, Christmas displays and lazy days spent home from school. Yet grim shades lurk beneath those cheery wonderland joys. Winter is the time when daylight dwindles and skies darken with overcast gloom. The earth becomes barren, trees turn skeletal, and even the animals slumber. Those long, somber months blanketed with snow and ice, a season of ending before spring’s distant rebirth. And through the ceaseless nights we huddle for warmth and ignore the frightful reminders of death’s ever-stalking shadow…

Few ways exist to combat winter’s dread better than curling up with a good book. One person who understands that fact is Canadian editor Rhonda Parrish, who invokes the season’s foreboding menace with her latest Tyche Books offering, Hauntings And Hoarfrost, a multi-author anthology (available January 28th) featuring twenty-two literary interpretations of the season’s spookier side.

The new year has brought in some amazing new releases in movie theaters, and about to bring in some more, making the very first month a memorable one for cinema. There are semi-biographical musicals, horror adaptations retelling well-known children’s characters, and edge-of-the-seat thrillers among the new releases in January 2025. Of all the films to release in theaters this month, there are many exciting titles by acclaimed filmmakers that you do not want to miss. Let us find out all about the new movies in theaters now and those that are to be released soon.

Accumulators are popular bets. They involve grouping smaller bets and odds into a large outcome. We discuss them in the article below. 

by Michael McKown

In the quiet, sunlit corner of an old, creaky house in Pasadena, CA, where the walls whispered secrets of yesteryears, sat Emily, now in her late seventies. The room was cluttered with memories: photographs, old letters, and mementos from a life well-lived. For decades, her friends and family had been nudging, sometimes pushing, her towards a singular endeavor—writing her memoir.

Emily had lived a life that seemed almost too vibrant to be captured in mere words. She had danced through the '60s, marched in protests that shaped the world, loved and lost, and found love again in unexpected places. Her tales were not just stories; they were chapters of history, personal and global. Yet, the idea of pinning these experiences down to paper was daunting. When was the right time to start?

Pop stars get all the fame and all the attention, but they don’t necessarily need to know how to make music. Performers and music artists are two different beasts, after all, but that just makes it all the more special when a pop star is also a talented musician.

The Piano

One of the most beautiful and versatile instruments by far is the piano. From jaunty tunes to adding depth and emotion, this instrument has been in and out of our favorite catchy tunes for generations. Listening to it live, however, and watching your favorite musicians play it live themselves, however, is an entirely different experience.

Who are these pop stars with talent on the piano? Here’s the top roundup:

Dozens of books are reviewed here at Critical Blast each year. Given that the site was founded upon the principle of exposing independently produced genre works to a wider audience, most featured books are of a decidedly science fiction, fantasy, or horror nature. This year was no different, and the submissions sent to us for review were as diverse and exciting as ever.

As with any list, some caveats are necessary. First, while it may say ‘Top 10 of 2024’ in the headline, not every book included was necessarily published in this calendar year; some were submitted to us in 2023 but were read and reviewed during 2024, thus making them eligible. Secondly, while we oftentimes review multiple books by a single author in any given twelve month period, in the name of fairness a writer may appear on our list just once, meaning that only their absolute best is chosen. With those things in mind, let our inaugural ‘Top 10 Indie Books of the Year’ countdown commence!

Chicago and Friends: Live at 55 from Decades Rock Live and Mercury Studios is a DVD/2CD set recorded at the Ocean City Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to commemorate the band’s 55th anniversary and the release of their legendary, multi-platinum-selling album Chicago Transit Authority (of which I have not one but three copies, having worn two of them out over the years!). It contains hits from that album and throughout the ages—many years and many hits—some as well known and familiar as members of your own family, and others that will have you going, “Oh yeah, I forgot all about that song!”

The band, still replete with three of the founding members, along with other exceptionally talented artists who make up the current lineup, and a bevy of phenomenal guest artists, makes—and made—this concert one for the ages!

Folklore is the wellspring from which almost all horror derives. Many of the genre’s most familiar stock figures evolved directly from those superstitious yarns of old, passed down by our primitive ancestors as warnings about the dangers lurking in the dark bowers of man’s domain. The vampire, the werewolf, the zombie, ghosts and ghouls—each began, once upon a time, as tales told in hushed whispers around a campfire, tales that over time become the legends we know today. Every region of the globe has its own distinct folklore, and the horror genre has seemingly plundered them all over the decades for its selfish creative needs, to the point where it seems audiences have become cynical, even bored, by standard tropes and ideas.

The life of the digital casino party is online slots—flashing lights, eccentric themes, and the excitement of striking the jackpot with one play. To be honest, though, slots are also really straightforward even if they are exciting. Underneath the veneer of vivid animations and appealing sound effects is a game of chance with enough depth to distinguish spinning your way to glory from burning away your money.

The actuality? Winning at online slots requires strategy, timing, and knowledge of game mechanics, not only luck. A little knowledge will help you optimize your possibilities and count your spins.

Often unfairly maligned as overwrought, melodramatic, and campy, what we now refer to as Gothic literature began in 1764 with the publication of Horace Walpole’s seminal novel, The Castle of Otranto. Wildly popular with 18th-century audiences, the book created many of the conventions still associated with the subgenre today: distressed damsels beset by supernatural evils amid the oh-so-scary backdrop of ruined castles, ancient monasteries, and/or creepy catacombs. Gothic literature flourished in its original form, popularized by authors like Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley, and Edgar Allan Poe, and continues to fascinate the public today through the works of mainstream names like Anne Rice and the independent efforts of such niche proprietors as Quill & Crow Publishing House.