Entertainers

A Beginners' Guide To Enjoying Red Wine

2010-07-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

The world of red wines is a heady, rich and wonderful world filled with everything from the nuanced subtlety of a gentle South African Merlot to the peppery richness of Sangre de Toro, “Blood of the Bull” from Spain. In general, many of the “rules” of wine drinking have been cast aside in today’s world, making it more accessible to every person, and with the increased demand supply has soared, allowing for inexpensive and very delicious wine available to all.

Still, there are many who feel that the world of wine loving is not as yet open to them. With so many wines to choose among, where do you begin? How do you properly enjoy a red or white and with what meals would they be best?

Let’s look at some very basic tips to maximizing your exploration of red wines.

Don’t spend a ton of money on a bottle of wine. Leave that for later, once you’ve begun to explore beyond the brands and varietals that you like. There are so many wonderful and delicious wines that are available for somewhere between $5 and $8 a bottle, that you really should not need to drop $20 or $30 for a bottle of wine...at least not yet.

Don’t buy local, yet. Often, your local wine store is stocked with bottles from the local vineyard (if there is one). These can be wonderful, or they can be vinegar. It really can be something of a crap shoot. So, unless you live in the Napa valley, or some other area that is renown for its wine-making efforts, stick with something that is nationally or internationally distributed.

Stick with a varietal, for now. In other words, pick a wine that is primarily made from one type of grape, i.e. a Shiraz, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, etc. Try to avoid blended reds to begin with, though they can be quite delicious. By learning the flavors of the varietal grapes, you’ll better understand what it is about the blend that you like. Avoid flavored wines or coolers that you can get at your local convenience store. These are little more than non-bubbly soda pop with alcohol in them and can lead to a nasty headache as they are hastily made from the least pure ingredients.

Start with a nice Merlot from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand or Chile. These vineyards are usually able to balance cost with quality quite nicely. The reason I recommend Merlot is that of all the red varietals, it is the gentlest, and complements a broad menu of meals.

Reds like to breathe. Open the bottle and let it sit for ten minutes or so. This allows oxygen to get at the wine and mature it quickly. For that matter, pouring the wine into the glasses and allowing it to sit for ten to twenty minutes accelerates this process. You’ll find the flavor is much enhanced by this approach.

Reds at Room Temperature and Whites Chilled. A simple rule that does not always apply but is a good guide, nonetheless. Chilling a red removes many of the subtleties of flavor for which you buy the wine in the first place and slows the wine’s ability to mature with exposure to oxygen. Keep them room temperature.

I mentioned earlier that many of the “rules” of wine loving have been discarded, or at least loosened, such as ‘red wine with red meat or pasta and white wine with fish or poultry.’ While these are not bad guidelines, they really are not carved in stone and nowadays waiters and even the seasoned gourmand will not turn up his/her nose at a guest who asks for a red with fish or enjoys a nice, tart Chardonnay with a burger.

Merlot with what? While a Merlot can be a perfect complement for a spaghetti dinner (particularly if you have a nice buttery garlic bread), it can easily sit beside a pork chop or fried chicken dinner. A Merlot is a lovely, non-pretentious start to your journey and should open the door nicely to a journey of wine loving.

OK, Now What? Try a few different brands of Merlot from competing vineyards. Note the differences in style and substance. I’d recommend sticking to those south of the equator to begin with. Once you feel like you’ve tasted a number of Merlots and are acquainted with the differences, then move on to a Cabernet Sauvignon and begin your journey anew. I’d hold off on Shiraz, Syrah, Petite Syrah or Beaujolais until you have a basic appreciation of Merlots and Cabernets, but once you do, then dive in to the heavy, heady, peppery joy of the stronger reds. Once you feel like you really understand and can note the differences of the red varietals, start exploring the blends or the truly excellent California varietals. Good luck and enjoy!

A History Of Country Music

2010-06-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

Musicians have long been playing fiddle music in the Appalachians for years, but it wasn’t until 1927 in Bristol, Tennessee that the first recording country music recording deal was signed. In this year, Victor Records signed Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.

Jimmie Rodgers was born in Meridian Mississippi, in 1897. Originally he worked on the railroads until his ill health got the better of him and it was only during this time that he followed his earlier love of entertaining. In 1927 he followed word that Victor Records were setting up a portable recording studio and made his way there. He was immediately signed and continued recording and playing music until he died in 1933.

In 1965 he was one of the very first musicians to be added to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1961 along with Hank Williams and Fred Rose. On the same day as Jimmie Rodgers signed with Victor Records, so did the Carter Family, who would become one of the most famous country music bands of all time. They remained with Victor Records until 1936. Not even divorce could separate the band though and they continued to record with Decca until 1939. Things started to hit a rough patch at this stage and despite signing for Universal and eventually Victor Records again, the band split in 1941.

It is widely acknowledged that that big day in 1927 was the introduction of country music to the rest of the country. Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family were met with huge critical acclaim and became incredibly popular helping to sell a great many records. Country music singers and bands of today will often talk about the Carter Family or Jimmie Rodgers as being their major influence and with very good reason.

9 Tips for playing well under pressure.

2010-06-17T19:10:00.000-07:00

Get Every Putt to the Hole

In team formats, it pays to get the ball to the hole, if only to give your partners a good read. Most putts come up short because the player decelerates on the through-stroke. Instead, make sure your through-stroke is as long or slightly longer than your backstroke.

Minimize Your Swing Thoughts

Keep your game plan simple. Put it on a piece of paper on the cart steering wheel and refer to it before each full shot.

Preshot: Visualize what you want the ball to do.

Address: Align the clubface where you want the ball to go.

Swing thought: Freely swing the clubhead.

Survive The First-tee Jitters

Nervousness makes you speed up your tempo, which affects consistency and accuracy. Take several deep breaths as you get ready to hit, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Swing your driver smoothly, like you want to hit it only 100 yards.

Make More Tough Short Putts

Playing a format that requires you to putt everything out? Set your putterface square to the desired line, then square your feet and shoulders to that line. Make a smooth stroke while looking at the target, not at the ball.

Take More Club on Par 3s

Few amateurs hit the ball over or through the green on par 3s; most come up short. Select a club that will get you to the yardage at the back of the green. If you hit it flush, you're on; if you hit it less than solidly, you still might make it to the putting surface.

Score Lower on Par 5s

Take a "do the math" approach. Most par 5s are 500 yards or more. Make the last shot your favorite yardage into the green. Subtract that yardage, then divide the difference by two. With this strategy, you're hitting lofted clubs that are easier to hit and more accurate.

Get Out of the Sand in One Try

Good greenside bunker players accelerate the clubhead through the shot, letting the sand "splash" the ball out. Set up with the face of your sand wedge slightly open, the ball slightly forward in your stance. Hit the sand behind the ball, and finish your swing like you're hitting a full 5-iron.

Chip with Your Putting Stroke

To avoid chunking or skulling your chip shots, take a lofted club like a 7-, 8- or 9-iron and grip it like your putter. Lean the shaft and your body toward the target for a slightly descending blow. Make your putting stroke, allowing the loft of the club to carry the ball over the unpredictable turf onto the green.

Get Your Irons Airborne

Most topped shots occur when you try to help the ball into the air with a scooping motion. To hit down on the ball, set up with more weight on your left foot than your right. Take the club back more vertically and return it on a downward angle of attack.

Family’s Entertainment Tips

2010-06-16T20:50:00.001-07:00

Recession does not mean boredom for your family. You do not have to slump down at home trying to sleep the recession away when you can still have fun without having to spend too much. Here are some ways to keep your family entertained without putting a big dent to your budget.

Grow a Green Thumb – Low Cost Way to Have Fun and Have Food

Gardening is one of the most productive and yet less-costly ways to entertain oneself. If you have the kids helping, you can double the fun. Just as long as you do not use high-maintenance, which are also usually expensive plants, you can have a ball growing vegetables and fruits that you can also use to make your own meals. This means more savings for your family!

Watch your Local Sports Team – Inexpensive Way to Support your Local Team

Kids enjoy watching sports. Support your local sports team by adding yourself and your kid as part of its seated cheering squad.

Go to community events – Low Cost Activity to Enjoy your Neighborhood’s Events

Your local local colleges, city bulletin boards, newspaper listings, and libraries usually post special entertainment events that you can attend for free.

Host a Garage Sale – Fun and Inexpensive Way to Earn Extra Income

It’s high time to get rid of your old bags that only gather dust in your closet. And what better way to get rid of it than to sell it in a garage sale. A garage sale is not just a way to earn you extra money, it can be highly entertaining, too. Getting the whole family to participate, from gathering the items, pricing and selling them can be a whole bunch of fun.

Backyard Camping – Go Cheap, Local and Fun

You do not need to travel miles to be able to enjoy camping. Your backyard can be one cheaper and less-stressful place to have camping with your family or friends. Just make sure to make the ambience conducive to camping. If you want, you can even invite your nosy neighbors to join you.

Purchase annual passes – Low Cost Amusement

Amusement and water parks usually offer annual tickets that do not cost much. Take advantage of these offers if your family is into this type of entertainment.

Enjoy YouTube – Free Techie Fun

The Internet technology now offers free entertainment via online videos. YouTube is the most popular source of these videos. You can also watch movies through other free movie sites.

Belt it out – Enjoy and Learn while Saving Money

If you do not have a karaoke microphone, you can borrow from your friends. There is also an online version of karaoke that you can also use as a form of free entertainment.

Play Online Games – Not Just for Kids but for Your Wallet’s Health, too

There are millions of free online games that you can enjoy with your kids. Whether you want to play word games or puzzle games, the variety of online games is endless.

Set a Family Day – Regular Way to Save Money and Have Fun

Whether you play scrabble, go camping in your backyard, or watch online videos, setting a regular family day doing these simple and yet fun activities will condition your family to look forward to less-expensive ways of having fun. It’s a great way to bond with your family members, as well.

Family’s Entertainment Tips

2010-06-16T20:50:00.000-07:00

New "Awareness Month" Ideas

2010-05-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

Let's face it: The "Awareness Month" thing is getting a little out of control. Breast Cancer and Autism Awareness months aside, the entire phenomenon has jumped the shark already. My solution is simple: Rather than getting annoyed and choosing to remain unaware of all of them, I want to capitalize financially on the trend. Imagine the T-Shirt sales, the ribbons, the buttons, the nobles looks I could get from random strangers. It would be so worth it!

Feel free to use any of these ideas. Just give me credit for it when someone asks how you came up with such a brilliant and beautiful concept, okay? Cool.

January: Choking Awareness Month. Colors: Purple & Gold
This is the time to remember all those suffering Minnesota Vikings fans who will be forced to watch their team find away to lose in the playoffs against all odds. They will NOT be forgotten!

February: Procrastinator's Awareness Month Color: Whatever (I was going to pick, but my deadline snuck up on me)
For all those whose bills are due at the end of the month, Procrastinators suffer the most in February. Their deadline comes early this time of year. Let's help THEM be aware!

March: Clariton D Awareness Month Color: Yellow
Celebrate this month in honor of all us allergy sufferers in Oregon who can't get Clariton D over the counter. The meth users may have stolen our privileges, but they can never take our Kleenex. Am I right?

April: Fools Awareness Month Color: Tied Dye
For all those who always forget that it's the first day of April... for all those who have ever walked into Burger King and asked for the Left Handed Whopper: This one is for you.

May: Last Month of Winter Awareness Month (Wisconsin) Color: White
Stand with your northern brothers and sisters in their dreams for spring!

June: Parental Panic Month Color: Red
As summer vacation begins, let's remember moms and dads who are worried sick about having to actually spend time with their offspring.

July: Popcorn Bilkers Month Color: White and Yellow
Time to stand up to theater concession stands, people! Those kernels marked up at least 1000%! And yes, I'll take extra butter. Sheesh!

August: Litte Caesar's Hot 'n Ready Awareness Month Colors: Red and Gold
August is named after Caesar Augustus, so what better month to make others aware of the fantabulous $5 (ish) Hot 'n Ready Pizza deal? Breastplates and broom-helmets are strongly encouraged.

September: Sabre Month (Formerly Dunder Mifflin Month) Color: Blue
Back to school time means your kid needs paper. By a cheap printer, and you'll get a ream of 20 lb. white for free!

October: "Sorry We Forgot About You, Baseball" Month Colors: Brown & Green
What better way to remember America's former favorite pastime by tuning in to the last 20 minutes of the World Series?

November: Turkey Activist Awareness Month Color: Black
As you're enjoying a succulent deep fried butterball turkey this thanksgiving, take a moment to remember those tortured souls who are protesting outside.

December: Religious Opposition Month Colors: Drab Ones
Fight religious holiday overtones with angry ceremonies and dogmatic zeal! Spend Christmas Eve howling at the moon!

Well, there it is. I hope this helps. Remember, I don't want royalties on any of this, but I always accept thank you notes and bro hugs.

Jason Hague teaches, writes, parents, travels, blogs, and watches the Dallas Cowboys. His life goal is to do all of those things in the same day.

By Jason Hague

How to Parody an Infomercial

2010-05-03T13:00:00.000-07:00

It was Andy Warhol who clairvoyantly declared "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." The Internet has born witness to a meteoric rise of video-sharing websites, allowing absolutely anyone to gain tremendous attention for virtually anything.

One category of viral videos that has seen great success is that of infomercial parodies. In the wake of such over-the-top, strangely captivating advertisements as the Sham-Wow©, Orange-Glo©, and Snuggie© infomericals, the internet has been abuzz with mash-ups, remixes, and ground-up reconstructions of infomercials that mock everything from the concept of the product for sale to the outlandish nature of the claims in the commercial itself.

For every great parody on the Internet, there are a dozen lousy ones. If you find yourself inspired to produce your very own Mockomercial, there are a few things you will need to keep in mind to avoid the latter category:

#1) First of all, know your target. Are you mocking an existing product, an existing TV celebrity, an existing advertisement style, or something entirely unrelated that you think would translate well to this form? If your target is something that already exists, especially something that is already the subject of much mockery, keep in mind the second rule:

#2) Trust your audience. Avoid the strong urge to outright call something stupid, pointless, or overtly sexual. If your final product is successful, the viewers can figure out for themselves what is so ludicrous about the advertisement. The message will be most clearly communicated if you adhere religiously to the third and most important rule:

#3) Be professional. Good sound quality, well-lit and professionally juxtaposed footage, and the best actors you can obtain are oft-overlooked elements to a successful comedic product. Music and sound effects should be used sparingly, and volume should be carefully controlled. Stock footage should be apt and thoughtfully applied. Your video camera need not be of particularly high quality, so long as the video you take is executed masterfully.

No infomercial is complete without the obligatory this-is-why-you-need-this-product parade of stock footage depicting a man struggling to shovel snow, a woman burning herself on a mug, what have you.

Waste no time or money, and come straight to us for all your high-quality stock video footage needs!

By Rachel Paiste

Avoid Stupidity If You Can

2010-05-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

This planet sucks! You solve one problem and you are immediately hit in the face with another. It is indeed rare to meet a person without any problems. In fact if you do, you are probably meeting a liar.

For some strange reason, we all insist on denying our true situation. We feel as if we are failures, if we admit we have problems. Yet problems are the normal way of life in this world. Everybody has problems and they never cease. There is always a new twist, another difficult combination of circumstances.

Unfortunately, you also cause many of your problems. You make them through 'bad' choices, 'mistakes', 'bad timing' or just plain stupidity.

Most of the time there is very little that could have been done to avoid the problems you have. They seem to twist their way into lives through bizarre circumstances and perfectly synchronized timing (by whom I do not know!). However... stupidity causes many of your difficulties and really, they could often have been avoided.

Stupidity is the result of not acting responsibly.

• You may have had too much to drink and caused harm to yourself or someone else.

• You may have not been concentrating while you were driving and had an accident.

• You may have been on drugs and did something very much out of character.

• You may have lost your temper and said things that cannot be taken back.

There are endless tragedies that can be told. Anyone could tell you of times that they did not act responsibly. As a result their life was more complicated for themselves and those around them.

Well, all of your acts of stupidity are in the past now, (hopefully) and it is no good having regrets. There is not enough time in life for that. Get on with your life and realize that having a sense of responsibility is not something just for the oldies with no sense of adventure, it is something that needs to be considered in every persons life - often. You do not need to add to your own problems.

Take the example of gambling at the roulette table. There is nothing wrong with it, as long as you are willing to bear the losses if you are not lucky. If you lose and you complain, then you did not consider the cost. If you can wear the loss, then go ahead. If it would mean hardship for you or someone else, think twice, you are being irresponsible and self-destructive.

When I am sparing at Tae Kwon Do, I try to be careful not to injure myself, as well as trying to avoid any serious injuries to my training partner. I consider the cost of my actions. I pull back on punches, do not kick as hard as I could. I am not willing to bear the upset, if I was to harm my friend.

If my partner is going too hard on me, I will not hesitate to ask him to back off a little. It is not about winning, it is about being there and being able to laugh about it tomorrow.

Consider the possible outcomes of your irresponsible actions and you might act a little differently. Life is hard enough without you making it worse for yourself.

Colin Perini

Author of 'The Creative Way' - A Guide to Your Personal Creativity

Colin Perini is a Master of Creativity. You can read some of his creative and inspiring comments at: http://thecreativeway.com.au.

Colin is a world-renowned seascape artist with work hanging in over 25 countries. You can see some of his seascapes at: http://colinperini.com.

By Colin Perini

Laughing is No Joke - The Benefits of Laughter

2010-05-03T05:47:00.000-07:00

You are never going to believe the trick I played on my very own mother while I was at her house the other day.

"Hey mom! Mom! Come here a minute! That's what you could hear billowing through her house. My poor mother had no idea what was coming, and I wasn't asking her where the meatloaf was.

I looked at her and said, "Okay, on the count of three, just start laughing." She probably thought I was nuts. "1,2,3... Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha." What started as a fake synthetic chuckle turned into a real and sincere roar of rolling-on-the-floor, laughing our butts' off laughter.

If you haven't laughed today, you aren't going to be laughing at what you are missing out on. According to Helpguide.org, laughing has incredible benefits, including the ability to:

Boost immunity
Lower stress hormones
Decrease pain
Relax your muscles
Prevent heart disease
Enhance resilience
& Strengthen relationships

There are even entire clubs devoted to laughing. The concept may sound unique, but there are reported to be more than 5,000 laughing clubs around the world.

So if you want to mix things up and brighten someone's day, I'm giving you a script to try with a friend. (Feel free to improvise):

You: Hey {insert victim's name}!
Victim: What do you want?
You: Come here and give me a hot second.
Victim: This better be worth it.
You: Ohhh you just wait and see {insert victim's name}. I'm going to drop you to the floor.
Victim: I'm scarred.
You: You should be. On the count of three, start laughing.
Victim: You're an idiot.
You: Just do it. 1,2,3... Hahaha
Victim: hahaha
You: hahahahaha
Victim: HAHAHAHAHAHA
You: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Don't sue me for what happens next.

About the Author:
Jim Camut, editor of ManifestWell.com, strives to bring forward ideas that can help us live healthier, enlightened, happier, and more wholesome lives. His passion of total well-being comes with his pursuit as a professional athlete.

ManifestWell.com is about moving ideas forward that expand our minds and amplify our total wellness and well-being. It is growing community of thinkers, innovators, and all those who want to help manifest the level well-being allowing us to live the fullest lives we can imagine.

By Jim Camut

Reasons Why the Star Spangled Banner Was Created

2009-12-28T23:14:00.000-08:00

The Star Spangled Banner is one of the significant symbols for America. It has lyrics with deep meaning and good melody. It gives inspiration to its citizens, so they would be reminded to constantly give honor to their country. Before the Star Spangled Banner became the official national anthem of America, there were other songs that were considered nationalistic as well. Some of them are "My Country" and "Hail, Columbia". Some people wonder the answer to the question, why the national anthem written and we can only answer this by reviewing the background of America's history

1. The first answer to the question why was the anthem written is because of the need to honor the country by showing patriotism. Singing the anthem properly is one of the best ways to show patriotism. One of the main goals fulfilled by having an anthem is evoking in a person a sense of pride for the rich history of the country. It is usually played during holidays, festivals and before the start of sport events like baseball and basketball games. During Olympics, the first place winner's national anthem gets played during the ceremony for the awards.

2. The second answer to the question why was the anthem written is because of the need to pay the ultimate respect to the rich history of the United States. When the flag is raised, all the citizens looking at it should observe proper decorum. They should stand straight and give the proper attention. You should even salute, remove your cap or hat and put the right hand on your chest.

3. The third answer to the question why was the national anthem written is because it was signed as a resolution by President Herbert Hoover. This formal adaptation happened in 1931.

4. The fourth answer to the question why was the national anthem written was because it became popular in 1916 when the president of the United States began using it. John Stafford Smith created the melody in the eighteenth century. Francis Scott Key was the one who thought of the lyrics.

The national anthem has inspired other artists to create other songs like Janet Jackson who created a song entitled "Rhythm Nation 1814". Other filmmakers also added this song to their movies like "So Proudly We Hail", which was made in the nineties. Other movies which added the national anthem were "Naked Gun" and "The Sum of all Fears".

Please click these links if you want to know more about why the national anthem written or why were fireside chats important in general.

By Kenny Leones

Disease & Death Came to Plains Indians From Europeans in the 1830s-'40s

2009-12-28T23:11:00.000-08:00

One of the earliest documented disease pandemics in the history of the American West took place when Anglo-European settlers moving westward during the 1830s and '40s brought diseases to the Native American ethnic groups (tribes) of the Great Plains.

From earliest contacts, cultural differences and battles over land use and ownership took place between European settlers and Native Americans as explorers, pioneers, and settlers expanded westward across the continent. But the first documented evidence of the devastation smallpox would have on tribal groups in this region dates back to the 1830s and '40s.

Historian Paul H. Carlson in his excellent textbook, "The Plains Indians," said this smallpox outbreak was traced to contact between deckhands in an American Fur Company steamboat moving up the Missouri River and members of several tribal groups living along that river, a major early trade and emigration route into the Plains and Upper Midwest. By 1837, Carlson said, thousands of Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa people had died. He suggested that as many as half of the Arikara and Hidatsa population of 4,500 died in this 1837 outbreak. In addition, he estimated this smallpox outbreak killed "virtually all" of the 1,600 Mandans living in the Upper Missouri River region.

Diseases that came from Europeans and wiped out villages and large numbers of Native Americans were nothing new elsewhere in America, even as early as the 1830s. Some historians suspect, in fact, that some of the early Puritans' stories of mysterious, empty villages with full food stores which they encountered upon landing in New England were signs of smallpox and other disease epidemics that preceded the Puritans. These historians theorize that the villages were probably empty because the native people had been exposed to various European diseases by fishermen and others who had come before the recorded visits of English settlers. The villages may have been empty because the Native American villagers saw the Europeans coming and were fleeing the risk of diseases. (Historians know from fragmentary accounts and sketchy maps that Portuguese explorers and fishermen were in North American waters decades before Plymouth Colony.)

Perhaps the credit more pious Puritan writers gave to God for miraculously providing them with food and shelter was due to far grimmer circumstances, i.e., sickness and disease that killed or drove away the Indians of New England.

Later on in the history of the settlement of the Old West, during the years known to many historians as "the Indian Wars," accounts reveal some of the more horrible, dark side of European contact with Native Americans -- cases when white people intentionally infected Indian villages with smallpox and other diseases by means of abandoned blankets and clothing. Those were dark times filled with dark deeds by Europeans and Native Americans alike.

But one of the earliest traceable outbreaks of smallpox among the Plains Indians tribal groups came from the American Fur Company boat venturing up the Missouri River in the mid-1830s.

You can find out more about disease Great Plains Indian groups' battles with deadly diseases at my website, "Life in the Old West," located at http://www.lifeintheoldwest.com.

By Gary Speer

What Were the Guys Who Did the Shooting Called in the Days of the Old West?

2009-12-28T22:58:00.000-08:00

If you were living back in the days of the Old West -- what would you call the guys famous for quick draws and dead-eyed use of their pistols? Would they be gunfighters? Or gunmen? Perhaps "pistoleros," if you lived the southwestern part of the country?

Most sources I've read suggest that you probably wouldn't have called these folks "gunfighters" or "gunmen" -- at least not early on. Those terms were used in the later periods of Old Western history and lore, probably after the 1870s or '80s, for someone who was also known as a "shootist." You know the people I'm talking about I'm sure. In our post-Western movie times, these were the guys (almost always guys) who had the pistols and were not afraid or hesitant at all to use them.

The terms "gunfighter" and related words such as "gunslinger" or even just "gunmen" are part of the way popular writers throughout the years have romanticized the realities and distorted the events of life in the Old West. In fact, most people's lives were a mixture of daily boredom and sudden, unexpected violence -- with little of the heroic battles the dime novels and modern-day Westerns made it out to be.

According to one very useful resource on the history and language usage of the Old West, writer Winfred Blevins' fascinating "Dictionary of the American West," "gunfighter" and "gunmen" as well as "gunfight" and "gunfighting" all came along in the late 1800s -- and there was never any distinction made between "gunfighter" as the sort of good guy or "gunman" as the bad guy, which seems sometimes true in a lot of television and movie Westerns. And interestingly also, Blevins suggests that such terms almost always referred to pistols rather than long guns, that is, rifles.

(Another term made famous in modern television and film Westerns is "shooting iron" in reference to handguns. Unlike "gunfighter" and its variations, "shooting iron" is pretty ancient, being found in literature written as long ago as 1787, according to Blevins.)

Apparently, the first use of "gunman" in print was done by a man who once was a gunman. It was in a 1903 New York newspaper article written by Old West lawman-turned-newspaper-sports-writer Bat Masterson. He also used the term "gunfighter" in his writings about his personal work and career as a lawman. The related term "gunslinger" really doesn't rate as a true "Westernism," having come from early 20th-Century writers, picked up, and quickly popularized by early Western movie writers and early pop fiction.

Another interesting and archaic term about those guys who carried and used their pistols is "gunsman," which Blevins says goes back as early as the American Revolution -- and probably wasn't limited to handguns, but included muskets (the "rifles" of their day).

Guns and an entire culture surrounding them were crucial to the history of the Old West. They were used to sustain life on the Plains and in the mountains of the West as people used them to hunt food. And they were used to take life in all the Western warfare. Those terms we associate with cold, killer individuals who specialized in drawing their weapons to take lives hold a sort of romantic draw for fans of the Old West. We call them "gunfighters" or "gunmen" and either vilify or popularize them.

In reality, what we know about those men (and sometimes women) who used their handguns to shoot at other people has been mostly distorted and romanticized by the dime novelists and others who wanted to turn the boredom and sudden violence of life in the Old West to their own advantage. They wanted to gain readers and make a buck.

For more on what the guys with the pistols were called in the Old West and other features of life in the Old West, visit my website at http://www.lifeintheoldwest.com.

By Gary Speer

The Top Ten Reasons I Wish I Were Jewish

2009-12-23T07:35:00.000-08:00

I have been a greeting card professional since 1987. And I have lived in New York since 1981. I have watched with intense interest all of the wonderful Jewish festivals and Hanukkah is really a HAPPY HOLIDAY!

So as my continued commitment to "Celebrate Life" I am celebrating my first Chanukah this year. I created a online Hanukiah (Hanukkah menorah) which lights a new candle ever evening at sundown EST and an interactive dreidel game in preparation for my celebration. I got a fistful of recipes for latkes!

As far as I can tell it is okay for this old shiksa and a goyim from the Midwest to celebrate Hanukkah, and the research for the music and the production of the Chanukah menorah and dreidel surprised me and delighted me. So I really do wish I were Jewish and love that all of my Jewish friends are thrilled to allow me to celebrate with them.

Happy Hanukkah, Chanukkah, Chanukah, and Hanukah. However you spell it, enjoy every second, hour and "crazy Eight days" of this wonderful festival of lights!

The Top Ten Reasons I wish I were Jewish

Reason #10: I love clarinet music.

Reason #9: I love potato pancakes.

Reason #8: I love the Three Stooges.

Reason #7: To be really funny it helps if you're Jewish.

Reason #6: Yiddish is a form of poetry.

Reason #5: Santa is Jewish. HOra HOra HOra

Reason #4: I love everything Matzo.

Reason #3: The Marx Brothers!

Reason #2: Did I say that to be funny it helps if you're Jewish?

and Reason #1: Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah

Greetums are premium eCards made with loving care by a small team of writers, designers, artists, musicians, and actors lead by veteran greeting card designer Kat Caverly. Over 10 million greetings sold worldwide!

Kat Caverly is the Greetums lady and you can visit her at http://www.greetums.com

By Kat Caverly

The Top Ten Reasons I Wish I Were Jewish

2009-12-23T07:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Hanukkah, Chanukkah, Chanukah, and Hanukah. However you spell it, enjoy every second, hour and "crazy Eight days" of this wonderful festival of lights!

The Top Ten Reasons I wish I were Jewish

Reason #10: I love clarinet music.

Reason #9: I love potato pancakes.

Reason #8: I love the Three Stooges.

Reason #7: To be really funny it helps if you're Jewish.

Reason #6: Yiddish is a form of poetry.

Reason #5: Santa is Jewish. HOra HOra HOra

Reason #4: I love everything Matzo.

Reason #3: The Marx Brothers!

Reason #2: Did I say that to be funny it helps if you're Jewish?

and Reason #1: Hanukkah

Happy Hanukkah

Kat Caverly is the Greetums lady and you can visit her at http://www.greetums.com

By Kat Caverly

Breaking News, Emergency Meeting Called by the United Nations to Save Santa and His Cookie Addiction

2009-12-23T07:09:00.000-08:00

With less than a week until Christmas the president of the UN, Ali Abdussalam Treki, has called an emergency session of the United Nations to meet this weekend in Hawaii. He is deploring all the leaders of the world to attend so that Christmas may be saved. He also noted that the weather this time of year on Oahu is just wonderful and the waves are breaking with some very nice tubes, in case any one wants to bring their surfboards.

The elves in the North Pole, at the Christmas complex, are starting to talk. One elf, Peter Pumpernickel, says they miss Santa tremendously and want him to come back. They have taken up a collection to help with the payback of the bailout money Santa has taken from the US government. They came up with $7.23. This does not seem like much, but they don't really make a lot of money as it is. They also say that when Santa returns to the North Pole he will be given all the support possible in order to kick his cookie addiction that put the First Bank of the North Pole into bankruptcy and led to this Christmas disaster.

The SCEP, Secret Cookie Elfin Project, is in talks with the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. It is thought that the talks are progressing well and the elves may lay down their candy canes and surrender to US forces any time now. This is great news and a major move forward in peace talks. The Christmas compound has been surrounded for the last week by US Marines. One marine, on condition of anonymity, says his troops just want to go home and celebrate Christmas with their family, but the President has asked them to do a job and they must obey orders.

Santa is still thought to be in the Cayman Islands in a rehabilitation clinic that specializes in food addictions. We got through to his counselor, who said Santa is progressing along nicely. He has been put on a diet of low fat cookies and 2% milk. Santa is stated as saying he is determined to get this cookie problem under control and have his finances in order before Christmas, so he does not let the children of the world down.

Just out, Barrack Obama, the President of the United States will be attending the emergency session of the United Nations in Hawaii. He says he thinks he has a creative idea on how this money can be paid back by Santa and a Christmas fiasco can be avoided.... More to come.

Most of my articles come from me and my wife's family site, http://sites.google.com/site/chrisandjoncook/. We are also developing a christian website, http://www.mybrosgotmyback.com. She grew up in Hawaii and I grew up in Connecticut. We are both Christians trying to raise a family with some sense of values, which is hard in these times. I have a daughter and a son from a previous marriage. My wife, Christine, is due in January 10' with my second daughter.

By Jonathan F Cook

The Great Eggo Shortage of 2009 - A Christmas Without Waffles

2009-11-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

Oh no! The world is coming to an end, the sky is falling, we wont live much longer because of global warming, we will lose our houses in this foreclosure mess, our banks are going bankrupt, our car makers can't produce a profit, we wont have health care, and now there will be no Eggo's for Christmas. Because of a flood and a scheduled closing of the Eggo factory, Kellogg's says there is going to be a shortage of the breakfast treat, Eggo's.

I can just see it now, people will be running out to the store like there is a major winter storm on the way. They wont be just buying bread, milk, eggs, and toilet paper, they will be searching the cold case for Eggo's. There will be anarchy in the isles. Gramma's will be holding off soccer moms with their canes. "leg go my Eggo or I will cane you". People will be rolling around on the floor like a scene from the WWF. Watch out Hulk Hogan and Rick Flair!!!

People will become instant millionaires buy selling their boxes of Eggo's on E-Bay. Will your most cherished Christmas gift be a box of Eggo's? What will we do? We will have to eat turkey for Thanksgiving. Oh! The horror of it all. There will be no Eggo's to decorate the Christmas tree with. What will Santa put in his sack? What will the reindeer eat? Children will have to dream of sugar plums on Christmas Eve instead of Eggo's.

Maybe, Just maybe. We can go out to the grocery store, buy a box of Bisquick, come home, gather the family in the kitchen, make pancakes together, sit down at the dining room table, pour the maple syrup, and enjoy some time together for the holidays. Yes, Virginia, there is life without Eggo's.

By Jonathan F Cook

Santa Claus LLC Out of Business Due to Obama Care Health Insurance Costs

2009-11-24T14:10:00.000-08:00

Santa Claus knew this day was coming, and he put it off as long as possible, but as the CEO and Chairman of Santa Claus Inc., he had no choice but to file bankruptcy in November of 2009. You see, the commercial credit markets were tight, and he just couldn't make payroll, nor could he borrow the money until the Christmas season was over when the money would flow in again. Over the last few years health insurance and worker's compensation costs have skyrocketed.

The elves just haven't been happy, although Santa Claus has done everything he could to provide excellent health care for all of his employees, and even pet insurance for the reindeer. Geico stepped in to give them a discount thankfully otherwise they would have been out of business last Christmas. Things have been tough at the North Pole because they were expecting global warming which never happened, they were hoping to save on their heating bill and extra money was to go towards health insurance broker workers.

Unfortunately, Santa found out that global warming was not real, and the polar bears have increased in population at an alarming rate, and Santa Claus had to hire more security guards for the factories this year, because the vicious polar bear like eat the bite size elves for a snack. Too many of the elves have been maimed by the polar bears, and this has increased worker's compensation insurance, and cause many elves to file stress claims in fearing for their lives.

But the straw that broke the camel's back was the Care ObamaCare Health Insurance Plan, which raised costs to such a high rate, the company could no longer do its work in delivering toys this year. Santa said he was very sorry and did everything he could to hang on to the company, but it was no use, so "Christmas is cancelled, send your letters to Obama instead," he said.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in humor to lighten the dialogue.

By Lance Winslow

Santa Claus LLC Filed For Bankruptcy Today

2009-11-24T13:57:00.000-08:00

Indeed, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but there will be no Christmas this year. Unfortunately CNBC Business News is reporting that Santa Claus LLC has filed for bankruptcy today. The founders of Santa Claus LLC, Mr. Claus and Mrs. Claus said that they tried to run the business at a profit, but had difficulty due to over regulation and a multitude of hardships over the years.

Apparently, the last straw was the new Obama Health Care Costs for the elves. It turns out they had a pretty good health care program all along, but the healthcare insurance company had to raise rates, after the public health care plan came into existence. But there were other issues that cause the demise; it appears that the glitches in the Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control system were also a problem causing huge delays.

After the global economic crisis and meltdown the commercial credit markets were so tight, that Santa Claus LLC was unable to buy the parts inventory they needed to make all the toys this year's Christmas, that coupled with a recent labor strike made it nearly impossible to fill the demand of all the kids who wanted free toys. When Santa Claus Inc. put in for a stimulus package buyout, but the Obama Administration said "It's isn't too big to fail," and it isn't politically correct to support Christmas anymore.

Indeed, this year's Christmas I guess we are all stuck with Chinese toys, that have lead based paint, but on a happy note Mr. and Mrs. clause are not bitter, and they are happy to get out of the cold and move to Florida because global warming just isn't happening fast enough as they had hoped in the North Pole. The Claus's want to wish everyone a great happy consumer Christmas, and they told me to wish all of you good luck.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in capitalism as you probably figured out.

By Lance Winslow

A History of Japanese Xenophobia

2009-11-06T14:53:00.000-08:00

Japanese xenophobia should be understood properly prior to jumping to any reactive conclusions. Xenophobia is not really racism, although it can occasionally cross the line in Japan and both are occasionally evidenced. For Japanese society any xenophobia is more of a fear of the unknown and a fear of being overpowered by that which is unknown. In all honesty, many people in Japan are rather intimidated by other countries and also their relatively large people. It may sound silly, but it really does stem from the most basic things like physical size.

Due in part to historically taking the offense on xenophobia, the Japanese government has historically made some rather unwise choices internationally. The results of such choices have made the nation feel somewhat guilty and also somewhat worried about belated retaliation from its closer neighbors, in addition to simply feeling defeated. To go from a state of megalomania to a state of apocalyptic defeat is obviously rather shocking and, as a result, Japan is now much more cautious about its role on the world stage. The nation of Japan was also occupied after WWII and essentially had its entire culture exposed before a relatively judgmental Western perspective. Apparently as a result, some people in Japan also seem to fear exposure and being misunderstood or judged for their lifestyles.

Many things simply are drastically different in Western and Eastern culture. Japan is even quite unique in Eastern culture. To say one way of doing things is correct and one is incorrect would likely be primarily based on the cultural background of a viewer and thus it would be an inaccurate assessment. There are many things considered normal in most of Western society that are not generally considered acceptable in Japanese society, and also certainly many things in Japanese society which would not be acceptable in most of Western society. It is easy to understand why it could be somewhat more challenging to open up completely if there is a history of being judged for some of the most basic aspects of a society.

In addition to concerns about average physical size and a historical tendency for Western cultures to misunderstand and judge Japanese society, there are also basic differences in the general psychology of various societies. Japan has what is most likely the most obedient modern society in the world. There is no modern history of revolution and there are no riots in the streets. People are generally quite polite and Tokyo, although the most populated metropolis in the world, is possibly the safest city for a child to be in at any time of day or night. Purse snatching and the like are practically unheard of and are certainly uncommon. People will stand in herds at a street corner and wait for the light on the crosswalk to change to green, regardless of there not being a car in sight. It is understandable that there could be some concern over people from societies in which the cars don't even stop at stoplights, as is common even in other parts of Asia.

In a way, Japan is like a clock and Japanese society generally seems to like to keep things running like clockwork. Thankfully the introduction and adoption of new ideas is part of what makes has made that clock run so well, and so Japanese society is still quite open to careful introductions. It just isn't so game for any oversized unhygienic elephants to come trampling through its delicate clockwork.

The other writes for Travel-To-Japan.com, which has valuable information about Japanese historical sites.

By Jessica Spinner and Vincent Valentine

Modern Day Beggar

2009-11-06T14:50:00.000-08:00

It is a matter all to its own, the act of starving one' self out of protest to all that is wrong. Could it be that society has twisted itself up in a knot that is unable to be undone, but to burn the knot, start over again, is that the answer? Yes I have taken the path into a life both regarded as low and unethical, of a modern day beggar caught on the stoop of a local coffee shop minding his own business and writing the day's activities. A tumultuous and creative life, filled to the brim with pain yet constant epiphany. What if I were to tell you that becoming homeless could instantly flip off the micro chips implanted in everyone's brain and delve them back to the last century. Most of all there won't be the walls that hold in heat or rain, no regular place to call your own; would the night hold you or let you rest peacefully?

Now a days it is a crime to be homeless, but historically, the issue has been in uproar. Vagabonds were known as unlicensed beggars. In 1381 AD a law was passed that gave authorities the right to find evidence to determine whether they were a vagabond, if they couldn't provide the evidence then they were jailed, and in the 1495 statute they were held for three days and three nights. In the 1500's they were whipped. In colonial America they told people who didn't come to work to leave, and in this could arrest them otherwise. But does anyone have time to acknowledge or that is give, or care? The medieval fairy tale was that beggars curse those who insulted a beggar or refused to give enough. They'd go door to door for bread and water.

Now that I am in fact not a bum anymore, not that the term ever truly fit me, it is actually a paradox in that most of the time I spent walking long distances, never has a bum the luxury to sit on the couch all day to watch TV, there are laws for loitering, one must always be transient outside, have you ever noticed that there aren't too many places left one can go to just attend without a justification of a permit or pass, and not worry about something closing for the night, or trespassing? After five months of being homeless It no longer was something I consider therapeutic, yes I was writing my book that took six months of living to write, but every time something crazy would happen it'd serve as the next chapter, and it kept going until I went insane. To truly be sensitive to little things everywhere as people move without the slightest mind, that is one thing about living outside, there exists a spirituality that develops in simple awareness to the earth, it shows up in conversation, music, art, writing, but also it can be a true handicap when the greed of another hems you in and slowly leaves you without the options of being human.

There are crazies out there, another thing is putting up with those energies, on top of yuppies, in between there is little space to move, from vehicular war zones; public places get to be off limits, where does one go? There are eighty thousand homeless people in L.A.; that is Chicago's and NYC's population combined, it is quite obvious that the climate is the sole contributor to this factor. But for a city that brings in millions of dollars internationally from cinema, they have a disgraceful sense of humanitarian value, a city on its last leg and every man for violence, or that is every gang. Somehow we have gotten twisted around; maybe we should then start all over again. My recommendation is to start a community with your friends that serves as a means to live as bohemians. Bohemianism is of French origins, but as an English word used in the nineteenth century it regards to one living an unconventional life style in Europe among like minded people through art, music, and literary pursuit and takes on an anti establishment point of view, and often indigent and poor. You get the best of both worlds as a bohemian. Take in mind, we have to find away to not be codependent on the indoor world, and all its illusions.

By Craig Bowman

My Visit to the King

2009-11-06T14:45:00.000-08:00

My first official visit to the king, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV was in 1989. My husband had just been called as the new mission president over the small island kingdom of Tonga. Our mission office contacted the spokesperson for the King to arrange for an audience with His Majesty for us and for a group of our missionaries.

Our formal meeting would take place at His Majesty's Royal Summer Cottage. In order for our party to have this audience with the King, we were expected to prepare a meal for him and his royal family. The food we prepared in response to the King's request included turkeys, ham, potato salad, and trifle (The King's favorite dessert). We arrived with about twenty of our missionaries each carrying beautifully decorated culinary offerings.

We entered the receiving area, and His Majesty sat nearby on a large throne flanked on both sides by his royal spokesmen. My husband had informed me that I would have to crawl in to the King on my hands and knees, and then kiss the King's hand. Being from a democratic society, this tradition was very foreign to me, but wanting to be a good wife, I obeyed. Having worn nylons and a long dress, crawling on the large woven mat on the floor was a challenge, but I somehow managed to make it all the way across the floor to find myself at the King's feet.

The King held his hand out towards me. My little hand was swallowed up in his humongous ring-fingered hand. I gave the back of his hand a kiss, and he lifted me up and looked into my face. It was considered bad manners in Tongan custom for me to look into his eyes, so I looked down. In his low booming voice, he asked me if the man behind me was my husband, and I replied that he was. He then asked me to sit down beside him on the floor while he greeted my husband and our missionaries.

I was very nervous, but I enjoyed watching as each person in the party took their turn showing their honor and respect to the Tongan King. Afterward, we proceeded with the program we had prepared which included reading scriptures from the Bible and singing hymns. It was a very enjoyable experience and one I will always remember. I realize what a rare experience it was.

King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV had absolute rule for more than 40 years. It was in 1967 after the death of Queen Salote that the new King inherited the loyalty that the people had shown for his mother. As he would drive by in the royal vehicle, commoners would stop whatever they were doing to face the street and stand at attention while he passed. It was fascinating to see lines of school-aged children in their uniforms lined up to show their respect for their monarch.

The King was quite an athlete in his earlier days as a proficient pole-vaulter, cricketer, and rugby player. He was also credited with introducing surfing to his island home. However, at one time the King weighed over 400 pounds, and was told by doctors that he would not see his 50th birthday. He then led a National Get Fit campaign and his example was an inspiration to many as he rode his royal custom-built bicycle. Members of the Tonga Royal Defense soldiers would run beside him. He also would exercise in the harbor in Nuku'alofa, the nation's capital, by rowing a boat, paddling round and round in large circles. I personally witnessed him on his bicycle and rowing his boat.

The King had been the first Tongan to receive a law degree. He tried hard to lift the kingdom's educational standards. King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV died in 2006 after which his eldest son, George Tupou V, became the reigning King.

By Ruth Kongaika

Love Poems - 3 Short Steps to Romantic Love

2009-10-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

These three love poems illustrate the progressive steps in the growth of a romantic love relationship. The first step is realization. There is usually a time period in which we move from not knowing we are in love to gradually realizing and accepting that we are.

Dream

I dreamed a dream
I know not why
I dreamed a dream of you.

I dreamed a dream
I now know why
I dreamed a dream of you.

It took a little time for me to realize that she was interested in me. I am referring to a girl at college who is now my wife. I would walk by her after wind ensemble practice as we were putting our horns away, and she would smile at me...just smile. I returned the smile but did not think much of it.

After some time it suddenly dawned on me. Was she interested in me?

Love seems to happen differently for everyone. For some it happens at first sight. I can honestly say I do not know personally of anyone that has met their husband or wife this way, but if I am to believe what I see and hear in movies, it happens.

But I think this poem depicts the more common experience of a gradual revelation.

Once we realize that we are in love, the second step begins...talking and spending time with one another.

Affections

The more I spend
My time with you
And talk and hear your voice,

My hopes, my dreams
Get focused in
And make my heart rejoice.

It is natural for people to fall in love while spending time together. Interacting with people through voice and eye contact as well as sharing in their work or activities leads to strong feelings of attachment. Emotions start flowing that can lead to matrimony.

Years of struggle shared together as we grow old cement our relationship. And, if we make it into our golden years, our love graduates to the final level of romantic love; wordless expression.

Dictionary

Our language is
Too limited,
Its words cannot express

The wonder of
My love for you,
True rapture, I confess.

It is after many years that a different form of communication transcends words. That form is body language. An understanding smile that says, "I understand you and enjoy sharing this moment with you" communicates deeply what words can only hope to express on a shallower and incomplete level. Expressions, movement, stillness, and silence fulfill our desire to communicate our love to the highest level.

While each of us desires to hear someone say, often, that they love us, those words cannot match the level of romantic expression communicated by love birds whose years of living together have fostered an understanding look, an anticipated action, and a smile of understanding.

Robert Ogden is a Christian school teacher living in Central Florida. More of his poems can be found at http://www.poemplaques.com

By Robert Ogden

Jackson is No More

2009-10-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

Jackson is no more,
Singer at heart and at centre core,
Hundreds or thousands might have wept,
Glorious tradition maintained and lively kept,

Millions of stars may illuminate the sky,
Jackson was the only one and nobody could say why?
Poor boy on stage felt very shy,
Today world pays homage and countless may cry,

Every inch of his body was full of magic,
Shaking like rubber and making full of comic,
Entire face looks different with surgery cosmic,
It was guided by thoughts with reasonable logic,

Music flowed with new era and changing age,
Birth of new star as if set free from cage,
Riding high on craze with melodious waves,
So up in sky with catching emotional nerves,

Not single soul could remain far
World could witness emergence of star
Revival of peace with high hope on horizon,
Though sky was loosing charm with layer ozone,

Music as deep as body may dance,
Life time occasion to see him as chance,
Russia, America England or even France,
Fans all over globe waited to have glance,

Life's steady growth may sometimes blind,
New gossips and hidden secrets may way find
Rude comments and response may seem unkind,
Glamorous world may fascinate but won't it mind

We all danced and sang with music and speed,
Madness and craze created as cult or creed,
History may speak what this soul delivered,
Weeping hearts may sob and memory cherished

Life was seized with work and promises,
Millions may cry over his sudden demise,
Death came to many as shock and surprise,
Such noble Qualities nobody would comprise

World may have to wait for many more years,
Emergence of new star with good music to ears,
Star isn't born but descended from the heaven,
Loneliness and vacuum will remain for moments then

By Hasmukh Amathalal

Slippery Ground

2009-10-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

Heavy showers make land surface slippery,
Cautious walk with alertness and worry,
Sudden fall causes injury and makes you sorry,
While Children play in street and make it marry,

We tend to forget soon the impact of ground,
Not heeding to advice even looks sound,
In heavy rain you should avoid drive and round,
Such joy and happiness may always be not found,

Life is such thrilling and so exciting,
Lovely butterflies around make it inviting,
Youngsters go for side track and easy walk,
Wearing rosy smile and romantic talk,

Life is more or less on slippery track,
Relation may grow fast and develop crack,
Easy joy sometimes lands you in trouble,
Love disappears fast as water bubble,

As rain appeals you to go for easy ride,
Romantic mood may appear which no one should hide,
Friends sometimes open up and freely confide,
Beautiful scenes can be pictures and taken in slide,

We may call it love or mere infatuation,
Momentary burst of laughter with little fluctuation,
Serious relations may not develop and out of question,
Going for ride is only for pleasure and not for attraction,

It looks easy and but still very hard way,
Further relations may grow and have its say,
Some relations may also progress and some turn sour,
It may come as rain with more water to pour,

We may tend to caution but definitely slip,
Strong urge may prevent no more fall or skip,
One may go for kill but in turn gets killed,
Finds only sorrows and joy never filled,

Both grounds are same and to be dealt with caution
Whoever comes out of it may not face question
You may feel so as if come out of cage
Certainly it is matters in case of age.

By Hasmukh Amathalal

The Moon is Full Again

2009-10-19T13:23:00.000-07:00

The moon is full again,
whatever is staying lush, does...

The sun is seeing her through
eyelashes of glowing red onyx;
she realizes that the palm trees
have never ceased speaking
and envisioning themselves in her,
her in them...

She walks
and the ground wants it
to always be the first step,

As the word 'again' begins to
spread out its colors
through these experiences of her mind,

The Here that says 'here',
stays,
steadying her being herself,
no matter the commandments forgotten,
never read,
far fetched and solemn-erased
she is holy-continuance,

Detours through mist and flame
are what soul-yolk is made of...

All this,
though the spirit of soul-breath
means something else,
and cannot speak about itself,
with word,
with phrase,
with anything that resembles
less than that new sun's wink...

Is the rose as ready for lovers
as they are
for its unmistakable precision
in mirroring them,
their fragile pales
and their thorn-determinations?

Life lifts life,
an ancient settling-in happens
and we proceed out in front
of our emotions,
to clear some space
to tumble into the lungs of a god,
to make forgiving self-exceptions
so to try
and have exception with others...

A writer lies sometimes,
so that the truth can someday
erase all of his leaden pages
with one fire,
one orange cloak of forgiveness

and tender walking
with the sons and daughters
of a fantastic world
that is mysteriously changing
into commonplace,

through silver-hot puddles,
reflections that awe as they matte-
solidify into disks,
plates and coins...

An incredible world,
filled with such lucky flat objects,
that our shadows have to
lay down to stand up in them,
sometimes in reverse,
so to rest the eye from all this
fading,
in-depth-detail...

The regret isn't there for Beginnings,
it is immersion,
belonging to businesses
that do not belong to us
in the order of heart-priority,
here is where the Universe speaks,
saying, 'Here is a headache,
here is someplace you're trespassing
on by walking backwards into
leaving yourself for a dream
that doesn't wake to rustle you to
stand alive and well in your inner sun,
who shines to blossom itself relentlessly.'

At the author's home-to-be,
she's already sitting at the desk
before he does,
before pencils and pens
are understood as choices
to write what's right with,
before he's born
and far after
he's rattled this life's dance out,
singing it clean of the swamp-inheritances
that call themselves
by the names of thoughtfulness,
plentitude and offering,
though do not move out
of the protected perimeter
of the heart conversing,
and into where the music
isn't rhythm anymore,
where it becomes a new 'me', 'you',
or place where the self considers
this holy inhabitance as something more
than a sober-trance to play out
a willful romance
with pain and desertions,
turning to actual deeds
and apologies who've been waiting
longer than coalescing planets
to land their light into the human heart...

She's a muse of forgetfulness,
she's anonymous and too,
wears green celebrations,
entwining turtle songs and doveless arks
to skim safely over red coral reefs,
thick with prehistory and the living...

She's the engulfed gulf of unhatched eggs,
while he's the creator of her,
she's the recipient
of his untuned conscience,
of his itches that exist for the sake
of scratching what's on the outside
so to drown out the knocking-tingling
that's occurring at the doors within.

There are fingerprints
beneath the undersides of items
that normally the world would not
claim sides upon,
where what is lonely in a person
moves about like a deserted soldier,
his solid claim
to be that bird call
who reminded him
when as a child,
how right life could be
when what's wrong
would be shed away so quickly
by the open heart
of an eternally new lotus
in a very old Forever Pond
spread out over a sphere
of his looking at his new body,
radiant, sinless and called 'Earth.'

October 3, 2009

Michael E Angell

The Usefulness of Poetry in Psychotherapy

2009-10-19T13:20:00.000-07:00

To me, poetry is the word transformed at the edge of experience. It works on a creative level to transport people to the borders of their interpretive struggles. Providing clients with a poem to read that is relevant to their presenting problems and/or asking them to write a poem about these problems are interventions that can be harnessed to help cope with and/or give new meaning to misery and suffering. Nothing is as important as touching pain at a level beyond intellect. Thus, in addition to clinicians' creation of written lists of symptoms and presenting problems, perhaps poetry, with its compression and speed and intensity, is an especially useful exercise for the therapist. Seeing intense family and couple interactions can stuff the therapist with countertransference that needs to be worked out with more than an intellectually based consultation. Reading and writing poetry can create a healing place not only for the elderly client who may be working on his/her life review, but also for the therapist. Paying attention to the way the poem looks on the page and being aware of rhyme and line endings can actually slow us down and make us listen with different ears. Poetry has the power to make us see the heart of the matter.

If a therapist is not one to enjoy creative writing, at the least, poetry should be on his/her professional reading lists. The synthesis of feeling captured in brevity is another lens through which to view all experience and, especially, ultimate concerns. The sounds and sense of words in a poem seem to touch our brains in a way that speaks to our spirits. Poetry has healing power. It speaks to emotions. It is experiential.

The use of metaphor has been recognized by mental health leaders such as Jung, Milton Erickson, Jay Haley, and Edward Friedman as a way to access the unconscious needs, wishes, thoughts, and fears of the human being. It follows that there probably is an important connection between suffering, recovery, and the writing and reading of poetry. It is a different way to talk to each other. There is something about condensed language and structure that seems useful in times of trauma, including the crisis of aging and dying. Maybe by reading or writing a poem, a client can gain some sense of control. It can tease out the nuances of symptoms, habits, feelings, and beliefs that can help guide the way forward. It may be part of the road leading into the unconscious. We can turn to poetry to repair some damage. In the aftermath of 9/11, I remember seeing an eruption of poetry. It seemed to be a common means of exchange during those traumatic months following the attacks. Discursive language did not seem able to touch the horror the way that poems could. Poetry is a powerful way to capture the subjective and spiritual core of experience. It can take us to places that our intellect cannot access. It can help us to process unresolved issues.

Dr. Barbara Cunningham

Heaven (A Poem About Everlasting Life)

2009-10-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

Heaven

The pebble is worn smooth

Made small over time

A product of a cataclysmic force of nature

A fragment of mountainous sheets of rock

An accidental offspring of a boulder

But just a very small stone.

The pebble's place in our world

Is neither understood nor appreciated

But when thrown into a glassy calm pond

Its insignificance is transformed

Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.

The instant the pebble kisses the pond

Its signature of concentric ripples

Spiral outwards

Moving far beyond itself.

Gently affecting everything in its wake

Forever altering the smooth placid surface.

The pebble creates its worth and meaning

By unleashing its unimagined power

Into a dueling force of action and reaction

Creating karmic energy

Producing lasting and fluid impressions.

Aren't we all pebbles?

Feeling small and insignificant

But ultimately recognizing

That who we are meant to be

Can never be measured in isolation

on a path into ourselves.

It is true then:

Our everlasting future

Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles

Into the pond of life

Creating ripples

that leave unique mark on our world

Not because of thoughts

not because of well meaning plans

But because of actions.

Our life's prayers our answered

Because even the smallest pebble

No matter how seemingly insignificant

Changes the course of the lives

Of those we touch.

And when the icy winds of death

beckon our lasting attention

We will gently leave this life

With the knowledge that

because of that one pebble

The world will never be the same.

And then we have heaven ...

Ross Rosenberg

8/18/03

Great Moral Value in "PS I Love You" Movie

2009-10-14T17:29:00.000-07:00

Death can suddenly comes to life of people and make their life also suddenly stop for a while when their beloved one is taken by the death. The movie entitled P.S. I Love You shows us that even though our beloved one meets the death, he would join us through the tough days in our life. In this case, at least he accompanies you from beyond the grave.

"Excellent" is a proper word to describe Cecelia Ahern, the author of P.S I Love You. In her very young age, 21, she succeeds to be the author of the best seller novel worldwide. Cecelia, whose father is Bertie Ahern, the prime minister of Ireland, describes a hard life of woman named Holly after the death of her husband, Gerry. The idea of death and happiness of life in this novel is so interesting so that finally P.S I Love You comes in movie with million audiences.

P.S I Love You tells about Holly Kennedy (Hillary Swank)'s life suddenly stops when her beloved husband, Gerry (Gerard Butler), develops cancer and dies. Holly is devastated and her best friends, Denise (Lisa Kudrow) and Sharon (Gina Gershon) try to cheer up her. But nothing seems pull Holly out of her mourning after the death of Gerry.

Mourning days that is faced by Holly finally turn to be cheerful because she receives some love letters from Gerry which he writes before his death. The letters gives her some stories and instructions about the things she have to do. After Holly has done the instructions one by one with the help of her friends and family, she has found out that Gerry has prepared those letters to make her survive after his death.

Many people think that P.S I Love You is one of the most romantic novels. This novel becomes more and more popular after it comes to movie. Best performance from Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler as Holly and Gerry in this movie completes the romantic side of P.S I Love You. It is a good movie that gives you a great value about love in life.

By Vance M David

Gothic Novel and the Development of the Genre in English Literature

2009-10-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

Gothic Novel is a type of romantic fiction. It was predominant in English literature around the late 18th century to the first two decades of the 19th century. The setting for the fiction was usually a ruined Gothic castle. The typical story of such romantic fiction revolved around the suffering of an innocent woman inflected by a cruel villain. The writers used ghosts and other supernatural occurrences. The main intend of such novels was to evoke chilling terror by skillfully using mystery and horror.

The Term Gothic Applied for:

1. The Gothic novel was also considered as Gothic romance.

2. The term Gothic is also employed to designate narrative poetry or prose of which the major elements are horror, violence, and the supernatural.

3. The selection of the locale was usually a haunted castle with dungeons, underground passages, ghost-haunted rooms, and secret stairways that produced great amount of awe, wonder and fear.

The genre was nothing but a phase of the literary movement of romanticism in English literature. It was also the precursor of the modern mystery novel.

The Major writers of the Gothic Romance:

It was Horace Walpole who inaugurated the Gothic romance. He wrote The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764). Other major writers were Clara Reeve, who wrote The Champion of Virtue (1777); Ann Radcliffe, who wrote The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794); Charles Robert Maturin, who wrote The Fatal Revenge (1807); and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley who wrote Frankenstein (1818).

The American professional novelist Charles Brockden Brown is known for his Gothic romances. Other American writers such as Henry James, William Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor used Gothic elements in their fiction. The late 20th century American novelists Stephen King and Anne Rice in their works show the sustained influence and popularity of this Gothic form.

Rakesh Patel is an aspiring poet, freelance writer, self-published author and teacher. Read his blog http://englishliterature99.wordpress.com/

By Rakesh Ramubhai Patel

Psychological Novels - Some Major Novels

2009-10-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

The psychological novel, as the name suggests, aims at revealing its characters' inner selves. As far as style is concerned, many psychological novels entail interior monologue and stream of consciousness. These are literary techniques facilitate the reader direct access to the inner most thoughts of characters.

The Catcher in the Rye (1951) by J. D. Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye (1951) written by American writer J. D. Salinger is one famous instance of a psychological novel. The novel is narrated by a 16-year-old boy Holden Caulfield who has just flunked out of his 3rd prep school. He is unwilling to remain at school until the end of the term. So, he runs away to New York City and drifts around the city for two days. At last, drawn by the love and affection for his younger sister Phoebe, he returns home. He reveals his idealism to Phoebe by telling that he would like to be "the catcher in the rye" meaning the defender of childhood innocence who would stand in a field of rye where so many children are playing.

Seize the Day (1956) by Saul Bellow

Many American writers in the mid-20th century tried their hands on writing powerful psychological novels. Saul Bellow wrote the novella Seize the Day (1956) which describes the character Tommy Wilhelm. He loses his job and is about to lose his wife too. He seeks help from his father but it's futile. He also goes bankrupt and is left penniless. By observing Tommy's pitiable condition and his world, the readers get an intimate sense of Tommy's struggles.

A Separate Peace (1960) by John Knowles

John Knowles wrote A Separate Peace (1960). The novel is about the relationship between two boys Gene and Phineas who meet at prep school. Phineas is a charming athlete who gains widespread respect and attention. Gene on the other hand is a more serious student. Though Gene enjoys friendship but becomes jealous of Phineas's athletic talent. The key incident in the novel is an accident that Phineas suffers. By depicting Gene's internal struggles over his role in the accident, Knowles shows Gene's character.

The Bell Jar (1963) by Sylvia Plath

American writer Sylvia Plath wrote The Bell Jar (1963). Through the shaky psychological condition of a character Esther, the novelist scrutinizes the challenges of being a young woman in America during the 1950s. Esther describes herself as being inside one and shows how she feels and experiences. She suffers a breakdown because of the limitations the society imposes on women. Though she is a strong scholar, she feels unhappy and attempts to commit suicide. Nevertheless, she recovers and her life moves on. There are strong biographical elements in this novel that roughly parallels events in Plath's life.

By Rakesh Ramubhai Patel

The Egyptian Napoleon - Thutmosis III

2009-10-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

Though a lot of Pharaoh's kings of the 18th and 19th dynasties were martial chiefs, but "Thutmosis III" was absolutely one of the greatest leaders through the ancient Egyptian history.

He was the son of "Thutmosis II" and a queen called Isis. After the death of his father, he became the king at the age of 2 or 3 years old. Because he was evidently still young to resign, he was married to his stepmother "Hatshepsut", the widowed Great Regal Wife of "Thutmosis II".

He spent his childhood and teenage years training in the army, until the death of "Hatshepsut" in year 22 of their reign. At this time, he took over the throne as a fully grown adult and military leader. When she died, he was still only 24 or 25 years old and took over the rule of Egypt as the legitimate king.

At the beginning of his sole rule, he started re- definition to the borders of his land and control that Egypt had over the Near East, starting with a great campaign to "Megiddo", territory of the Hittites. With great bravery, he marched into there via the most difficult way, catching the Hittites off guard. The Egyptians, however, lost their advantage when they stopped to spoil the Hittite camp. The Hittites were able to withstand the Egyptians for more than seven months, and the Egyptians eventually returned home.

He didn't give up though. During his 50 years or so of sole rule, he made 17 additional campaigns into Syria, as well as further campaigns into Nubia - some when he was in his 80s. Through his efforts, he firmly re-established Egypt as a power to be reckoned with.

Archaeologists often refer to him as the Egypt's Napoleon because he spent most of his life fighting and claiming land in the name of Egypt. He left some very detailed military records in the Hall of Annals at Karnak temple, telling of the glorious deeds in Syria that earned him this title.

Muhammed Khaled is an assistant lecturer in a civil engineering college, he is concerned about Egyptian culture and history, and writes in Egyptian Panorama blog where you can discover and see more about Egypt through a collection of informative and simple articles and reviews about every interesting you may like to know on both ancient and modern Egypt.

By Muhammed Khaled

How Can a Comedy Booking Agency Help You Make Your Event Unforgettable?

2009-10-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

Belonging to the corporate world doesn't mean that you can not have any fun. All work and no play and all of that stuff, means that fun should be incorporated in the workplace from time to time. Everyone likes to laugh and have fun. The work that the employees of your company work hard to make it successful. Showing appreciation by having a night of entertainment is a great way to show appreciation. After a wonderful presentation of your corporate plans and details from the previous year, you should consider using a performer from a Comedy Booking Agency to end the evening on a memorable and positive note. You can book comedians, hypnotists, mentalists and other good, clean entertainment for your event. You can find a super act that fits within your budget and wows your employees with an evening that they will not forget.

A Comedy Booking Agency can supply you with a perfect match for your planned event. They should go the extra mile to make the presentation match perfectly to the type of audience you will have there. A good high tech interactive event to help with team-building, or a magician that wows them and leaves them wondering, "How did he do that?" Anything is possible and you can be rest assured that the entertainment will be appropriate for the event you have planned.

If you have a booth set up at a trade show and want to draw people in your direction, then a Comedy Booking Agency can help by providing you with game show games for those perusing the premises to participate, a photo booths, slot car entertainment, putting greens and many other fantastic ideas to draw people to see your product or service.

If you are interested in finding entertainment for your company picnic, a Comedy Booking Agency can help with all of the fine details of fun, clean entertainment for the whole family. For example, everyone loves carnival game rentals. Inflatable stations can also be set up to provide fun for all ages. The Comedy Booking Agency can even set up a station of arts and crafts. The Company picnic can become one of the most entertaining and enjoyable events of the year. There are many ideas that can be handled by a trusted Comedy Booking Agency. You call, tell them what you are looking for and they will be sure to have it for you.

By John Yoder

Why Are Funny Video Clips So Popular?

2009-10-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

The one thing that is for sure in this world is that comedy ad things that are funny, silly, or sexy really get people's attention ad stand out in their minds. Why do you think that advertisers use content that is really funny, pretty silly, downright stupid and/or irritating or a bit on the sexy/steamy side? It is because these things really get the viewer's attention and stick in their minds if this material is in the form of a commercial on the radio or television or the internet. The question of why funny video clips are so popular and funny is subjective. What we mean by this is that the reasons people find something funny all depends upon the individual in question.

Think about this topic this way: what you might find pretty funny, say you like watching video clips of people getting pranks or practical jokes pulled on them; someone else might look at and say that is not really that funny. They might feel that what you think is really funny is actually pretty ridiculous to them. This is basically what we mean by the statement that the actual definition of what is funny and what isn't is subjective. We have seen instance of people posting free funny video clips that they really thought were funny, like the aforementioned example of people having pranks pulled on them, only to have people look at these and say that they really were not as funny as the person shooting the video thought it was.

The main reason that funny video clips really are so popular is that they provide a means of escape for a short time. If you are looking for something to get your mind off of whatever is bothering you, mist of the time you will want to watch something funny. This is precisely why there are so many funny videos clips out there on the internet. People are always looking for something that is new and different to watch and to laugh at.

There are so many people that really want to just forget what is bothering them for a little while and have a good laugh. You know what they say about Laughter being the Best Medicine? Well, it turns out that this little bit of wisdom is actually right on the mark when it comes to helping people keep their lives as balanced as they possibly can. This is also part of the reason that so many people are watching free funny video clips online. They simply want something that will help them make their lives a little bit lighter and better. Why do you think that websites like YouTube and its siblings/offshoots are so blessed popular worldwide? It is because people can find just about anything that they are looking for in the way of videos and video clips. You really cannot say enough about what people really think is funny; except that videos are not going to be going anywhere too soon.

Bring up that laughter in you with funny video clips and free funny video clips. You are bound to cheer up after watching these funny videos.

By Kelly Hughes

Adventures With a Taxi Driver

2009-10-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

I'm a commuter, something I'm not ashamed of. Among other things it gives me free time to write this blog. Most mornings I catch a taxi to the station. I'm not much of a talker in the morning, but some of the drivers fail to appreciate this. It is a major achievement that during a seven minute journey the driver can tell me the complete story of his life down to the most minute and personal detail. After such a journey I know why he has been divorced three times, how much alimony he plays and the amount of abortions he has had to finance.

Another interesting incite is the fact that taxi drivers all belong to a heavily persecuted minority group. The police force, IRA and local municipalities all have it in for them.

It might interest some of my more ignorant readers that many taxi drivers suffer from the rare disease known as nocbumperania. The symptoms are easily recognizable but sadly incurable. Drivers suffering from this ailment are unable to see pedestrian bumps or crossings. Some experts believe this is often due to an overdose of trial rides taken on Space Mountain.

If all this wasn't enough to make their lives miserable, many of the taxi drivers also suffer from being completely tone deaf which is clearly obvious when they accompany the songs that are blasting at full pitch from the car radio.

It is with all this bearing in mind that I pray that the next time you meet up with one of their kind you open your wallet generously and please remember - no large bills.

Steve Taite - The Taite Gallery Blog
http://taitegallery.blogspot.com

By Steve Taite

10 New Ways to Be Rid of Annoying People

2009-10-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

So that annoying neighbor, colleague, relative or acquaintance does not get the hint that they are driving you crazy? The simple solution is to be direct, honest and politely ask them to leave you alone, but where is the fun in that? Use any or all of these techniques to your advantage during your next encounter. Your annoying acquaintance will most likely think you are crazy, leave you alone and tell all of his/her annoying buddies to steer clear. It's a win-win all the way around the horn.

In my experience here is the best way to approach the situation. The next time, "Bob" comes up to you and says, "Have you heard about my cat's eye infection? You better sit down for this." or "So are you going to get serious about buying some life insurance from me?" just reply:

Hey Bob:

1. Don't you think the government should reclaim Indian reservations from the Native Americans? We could use the gaming revenues from their casinos. These folks have had an easy ride for too long, the party's over. Let's call our state representative right now, I'll tell her you're in favor of this movement too. How do you spell your last name again?

2. Bob, I'm collecting money for a new charity I just started. It an Anti-Arson Fund. It helps recovering arsonists like myself to suppress their urges. In completely unrelated news, if you are having a hard time selling your house, I can make that problem disappear for a small fee. Oops, there I go again. Why am I so fascinated with fire? (twitching helps to really helps in making this one convincing)

3. Bring up the movie "Brewster's Millions" as a response to any question he/she asks. Example, "So, can you watch my cat this weekend and put in her eye drops 6 times a day?" Response, "Do you think Brewster still has any of his millions left over? Brewster is the coolest guy ever. Brewster, Brewster, Brewster!"

4. Interrupt their question/comment by asking them a simple math question. "8 x 4?" Uh, 32, why did you say that? "Oh, I guess you're not as dumb as I had thought." Repeat this process for as long as they are willing to tolerate.

5. Respond to any question that they ask with a quotation from an incorrect source. Oscar Wilde once said, "It aint over, till it's over." Does that answer your question? Increase your crazy factor by getting both the person and the quotation wrong. Winston Churchill once told the people of England, "Ask not what you can do for country, but what your country can do for you." Does that help you with your situation, Bob?

6. Argue that unemployment is high because people are simply lazy. Deny any recession and follow up with, "What are you going to tell me next, that the moon landing wasn't staged? You gullible fool!"

7. Speak in the narrative. "As Bob approached me, I couldn't help but hide my disappointment. Not only was he extremely annoying, but his breath smelled of week old Indian food."

8. Tell Bob that you have come down with a bad case of narcolepsy. Close you eyes and start snoring immediately.

9. Ask if Bob has any input on the fan letter you are preparing for Bernie Madoff. Explain that he needs our support now more than ever.

10. Openly proclaim that child support should be optional. Nobody has the right to tell me how to spend my money. If I don't live there any more, I am not responsible, right Bob?

Guy Bellefonte is a comedy writer and a regular contributor to My Pet Groundhog.

By Guy Bellefonte

The Greatest Sacrifice of This Earth - Still He is Disliked by Everyone

2009-10-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

"Man "O" Man" when I first read about him. I could not sleep properly for many nights. I could not digest that how one could do such a brave acts at such a young age! He did what he thought. No one could break his rock-Hard determination. He sacrificed his life for country when he was just 23years old. Most of historians call it the greatest sacrifice. He also sat on hunger strike unbelievably for 3 mouths just for his country men. At that time he was only 21.

I'm talking about the legend "Bhagat Singh". He was the freedom fighter of India and from a rich family. His father opened a dairy for him and also chose one beautiful girl for him to marry when he was 19. He could have grasped this wonderful opportunity for his bright and safe future but he thought otherwise he opted to sacrifice his life for country's bright future.

He said after his sacrifice there would be revolution in the country and Indians would kick Britishers out of the country. But it did not happen even he did not get the death in proper way. After his death Britishers cut his dead body into pieces then burnt his body pieces with the kerosene and threw it into the river so that people could not find his body.

A very sad end indeed still we are not taught about him in the text books. We just find biographies of Gandhi and Nehru in all the text books because they were congressmen. After the Independence congress ruled the India and did nothing for India.

But at least this great freedom fighter needs to be remembered.

This is Rocky Saggoo, I hope that all of you will like my articles and please feel free to comment.

For More Visit Indo Diaries.com

By Rocky Saggoo

How Gold Prospectors Lived During the Gold Rush

2009-10-09T14:04:00.000-07:00

A gold rush is a period when a lot of workers migrate to the areas where there have been commercial discoveries of gold. Gold rushes have taken place in various parts of the world throughout history such as, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Brazil.

The gold rush was a time of great optimism in which many people tried their luck in order to become wealthy. It was also a competitive time, with people trying to out run each other in the prospect of finding gold. They also helped spur cultures in the cities by initiating economic growth.

Gold rushes usually start with the discovery of gold by an individual that becomes popular. Gold is usually found in streambeds, sand or gravel, requiring only simple skills and instruments to be cleared. When the gold rush started, simple instruments such as pans were used. However, over the period, proper mining techniques were introduced such as hydraulic mining, which allowed mining on a larger industrial scale.

Many people travelled to areas where gold was discovered, to try their hand at it. People left behind families and loved ones in search of wealth. During the California Gold Rush, which was one of the most famous gold rushes in history, around 300,000 gold prospectors travelled to California. Many faced serious hardships on the way as there were no modern methods of travelling, and some even died during the journey. Some of them even faced various deadly diseases on their way, such as cholera and chicken pox.

As with all the gold rushes, the sudden increase in population was a burden on the infrastructure of the city and many people remained homeless. The living conditions were undesirable and people usually lived in tents or wood shanties. If there was an announcement of gold discovery in an area, people used to collaborate with each other and used to build tents or camps there. There were no proper sanitation or garbage disposal systems, and toilets were merely holes in the ground.

According to historical records, the social atmosphere in these camps was quite adverse. Stealing and looting was the norm, and so was drinking and gambling. Fights often used to break out between prospectors, which often lead to death. The prices were very high in these areas, and people could not afford to buy good food, let alone indulge in luxuries.

Since gold prospecting was not a stable business that could bring in money everyday, many women used to go to work while their husbands were out in the search of gold. As women were not allowed to work as gold miners, many became businesspersons, entrepreneurs, or held low-level jobs. A number of women were widowed during this time, as they lost their husbands to mining accidents.

The gold rush came as a good time for some people and bad for others. A few people were able to earn a fortune, and became wealthy; many ended with only a little more than what they had started with.

Jack Wagon is a gold investment expert. Learn how to buy gold in the times of recession. For more information visit his recommended website at http://www.goldmadesimple.com/.

By Jack Wogan

The Story of A Golden Discovery - Tutankhamun's Tomb

2009-10-09T13:44:00.000-07:00

If you think that the golden mask of Tutankhamun which you always see in the tourist posters is just a monument like any other one..then take a while to know the importance of that mask and all the other treasures which had been discovered on that young pharaoh's tomb.

Tutankhamun's tomb is one of the most famous and monumental finds in the history of Egyptology, because it is the only undisturbed royal tomb found in Egypt. All the other royal tombs were robbed in antiquity, and indeed so was Tutankhamun's. Luckily, these burglaries were small, and the majority of Tutankhamun's goods were found intact.

In 1914, Egyptologist Howard Carter and his benefactor Lord Carnarvon started excavating in the Valley of the Kings, just after another excavator, Theodore Davis, who had worked in the area for some time, claimed that 'The Valley of the Tombs is now exhausted.' How wrong can one man be?

Carter and his team did uncover a number of tombs in the Valley, and in 1917 Carter began to search for the missing tomb of Tutankhamun (a number of objects had been discovered showing the existence of a tomb in the area).

However, by 1921 the team still had not discovered the tomb, and Lord Carnarvon considered withdrawing his funding. After much debate, Carter convinced him to fund one final season. Luckily for Carter this final season was a cracker. On 4 November 1922 his team uncovered the first stone step of Tutankhamun's tomb. The next day they cleared the steps to reveal the door, complete with ancient seals showing the tomb was intact.

The first doorway was opened on 23 November 1922, and the second doorway within the tomb on 26 November. At the opening of this door, Carter and Carnarvon saw for the first time the wonderful objects hidden for three millennia. These include solid gold coffins, gilded shrines, scores of pieces of golden jewelery, and the famous solid gold death mask.

The first chamber was officially opened on 29 November, and the burial chamber on 17 February 1923. The cataloguing of the objects started, and on 28 October 1925 the team finally opened the coffin and gazed at the face of the king who lived and died so long ago. Cataloguing and recording all the artefacts in the tomb was finally completed on 10 November 1930, eight years after the discovery.

By Muhammed Khaled

Use Flash Photo Gallery to Showcase Your Image Works Online

2009-10-09T13:41:00.000-07:00

If you are a photographer or artist with many digital photo and image files for displaying to your potential clients online, a website photo album is the best way for you showcases your talents and sell your art.

There are many online photo album and portfolio services that allow you to upload your digital photos, and create your online image gallery or photographer showcase. Many of these sites offering their service for free, as they generate their revenue from banner advertising or sponsorship.

Many People use these services because they don't need to bother with paying for a domain name, or buying hosting space. Fiddling with photo gallery software might sound difficult for non-programmers. Also many people don't have the time to learn, hence these free online photo portfolio and album services seems to offer easy solutions.

However, there are few problems with this approach. Although the photos are yours, the website is not, which means that your online photo portfolio's availability is depending on the website and the service provider. And when you want to switch to another hosting company, you would have to manually backup all the images from your existing online image portfolio, or all your work will be lost. Many online photo album website also state in their terms and conditions, that they will have ownership of the photos once they are uploaded to their server. Which means you might lose the ownership and copyright of your photos as soon as your photos are uploaded, and they might be sold or distributed without your awareness.

If you are serious about your online photo image portfolio, it would be best for you to have your own domain name and hosting, build your own website, and use a photo gallery software to establish your very own photographic image portfolio. This way all images are kept on your own PC, you can upload the portfolio to any server of your choice, and you can avoid any potential copyright issues.

You might have question about how to add an online photo gallery to website. Gone are the days when you had to learn html and php coding just to add an online photo album to your website. Now you can upload and create your own photo gallery easily using available photo gallery software tools, you can even make your entire website a photographic image portfolio, with multiple flash photo galleries.

Store the photo albums on your own web server means that you are not depending on another company to keep them online for you, and they are much safer as well. You keep the full ownership and copyright of the images. People can no longer easily download your photos using their browser, because flash gallery automatically disable the mouse right-click button. Your pictures are safely stored on your own host and you can update and upload new images anytime from your own PC.

There are various photo gallery templates available to use, with different skins designs and features such as thumbnail, scrollable photo description and slideshow function. Presenting your online portfolio or exhibition in a fancy, sophisticated and professional way is all about making you stand out from the crowd. A photo gallery software with suitable templates will allow you do that just that with no effort or time involved at all in doing so. You will be able to create and upload your own web photo gallery to your own hosting a/c with just a few clicks. You can add an unlimited number of images and photos in each album, so if you have photos on various topics such as holiday, wedding, professionally portraits, etc, you can create multiple photo album and add your photos to them very easily and fast.

Godfrey Ko, website designer and software author. Develop software including a website builder and flash photo gallery.

By Ko Fai Godfrey Ko

The Unique Answer to a Common Problem

2009-10-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

What's the common problem all photographers face?

You can pick almost any photography segment for this illustration, but I will pick on High School Senior Portraits as an example. Randomly choose 10 Senior portrait photographers from an area of about 100 miles from your front door. These should be professionals with a reasonable amount of success. In other words, they produce good work. Now, these 10 professional senior photographers all have images on their website. They will show a variety of poses, styles, artistic effects, etc. There will be a mix of studio and outdoor images. As you look over these images what do you notice?

We are naturally wired to notice what is unique.

The images that you will remember are going to be different. The rest will fade into a blur after a few moments. Imagine these photographers creating one image each of a high school senior girl leaning against a tree. Nine of these girls are all similar. Blonde hair, yellow shirt, leaning against a large oak tree. The only thing we have to do as photographers to be noticed is to be different. Let's reveal the final image (the one you have created) of the group. Fire engine red haired young lady wearing a shirt that was just as red as her hair. Instead of leaning against a tree, she's leaning against a telephone pole, with a rustic alley in the background. Out of all these images what gets noticed?

Sometimes image quality doesn't matter.

What if your pose isn't perfect, or the lighting is off just a hair. Does it matter? Not in this example it doesn't. Everyone believes that to succeed in photography, you need the best images. It's just not true. You need unique images. When every photographer in your area is getting ready to Zig, you need to Zag. Being different means getting noticed.

Are you afraid to be different?

It can be scary to go your own way. I firmly believe that it's worth the emotional risk. When you are different, you share something personal with others. I know that's risky, but the result is worth it.

Okay, so what's the result?

That little bit of difference will resonate with a percentage of people who will love it and with a percentage that hates it. Before you realized the power of being unique you will be passed over by a lot of clients. Clients that would mesh well with your style and your personality. These clients would love the results you produce, and love working with you. Unfortunately, they don't choose you, because you didn't stand out enough to get that second glance.

Add a little difference in your area of expertise, and those clients will start looking your way, seeing the difference between you and every other photographer you compete against.

What's the common problem all photographers face?

We are naturally wired to notice what is unique.

Sometimes image quality doesn't matter.

Are you afraid to be different?

Okay, so what's the result?

Add a little difference in your area of expertise, and those clients will start looking your way, seeing the difference between you and every other photographer you compete against.

By Jason H. Crowe

Take Photos With Your Digital Camera - Then Sell Your Digital Photos Online

2009-10-09T13:21:00.000-07:00

If you are like me, you have been taking pictures for a long time. With the revolution of the Digital Camera and Digital Photos there are pictures everywhere. Anyone who likes to take pictures can take as many as they choose and do so for virtually no money. So why not turn your digital photos into an extra income online. With a little time and some good advice you can turn your Digital Camera into a cash machine.

First: You will need to organize your photos into files using only the best photos. A good file organizer is helpful and can be very useful to continue keep your bulk photos organized. I have been using Picasa for a long time and it has served me quite well. There are other photo programs that are similar and will serve the same purpose. What I like about Picasa is you can separate each section of photos into dates then you can add a title to these dates and even where the event took place.

For instance, if you shoot several different settings over a period of several days or weeks when you download them into your computer you can then split each event at the change of each date. Or even picture by picture. You can then separate your photos into categories of class and quality. It is simple and it is free.

Second: You are going to have to find web sites where you can post your digital photos. There are several sites that will accept your photos. You will have to sign up to get started. These are all free. They will give you their suggestions on what to look for when picking your digital pictures to submit to their online site. They will tell you what subject matter sells best. They will also tell you what type of material you should avoid using.

If you like taking a lot of pictures of a variety of different subjects you probably have a number of quality digital photos that will sell online. Just think when you are looking at photos on a given web site you will be looking at your very own. The ones you took with your digital camera. They are there for the world to see and it did not cost you a thing to put them there. Well, just a little time.

At AlbertsDigiCameraCash.com you will find all the information you need to get started on submitting your digital photos online. This is an eBook that tells you what type of subject matter is best and how to use the subject matter you already have. This eBook is also free and you can download it immediately. Go check it out and see for yourself how you can take digital photos with your digital camera and sell them online. Click Here Now.

By Austin Baker

Is Michael Jackson Really Dead?

2009-07-20T08:19:00.000-07:00

I was shocked and amazed to hear that Michael Jackson had died, it seemed so incredible that someone who is just about to make a comeback would drop dead 2 weeks before the first concert. So I asked myself a couple of questions!

What was Michael Jackson's life really like?

What is the outcome of his death?

And the answers I got made me think of Elvis Presley and his "death". You see, Michael Jackson was clearly a very unhappy and trouble man. Anyone who reads the press about him or reads about the type of life he had cannot help but feel that his life was far from what most people would really want. And in the last few years his emotional problems had become increasingly public.

But it is not just his emotional problems that have hit the headlines, his financial problems have also been well publicised as he spent massive amounts of money on his "Neverland" range and oddball lifestyle; all taking him into massive debt and a clearly unhappy life. No, he did not have a happy life, certainly not one that most people would want. He had money problems, his time was not his own and he lacked simple freedom in his life - the three things that all humans need to some degree in order to feel a minimum of happiness.

So what is the outcome of his death?

Well in recent months there has been a massive upsurge in interest in Michael Jackson because of his massive sell-out comeback concerts in the O2 arena in London. The press has been full of it, radio and TV stations have massively pumped it up, to the point where tickets were being resold for hundreds of times there face value. Expectation was rising, people were talking constantly, sales of his music had gone through the roof. Money was pouring in to his banks and the banks of the promoters and all concerned with the concerts. But was Jacko up to the challenge of the 50 concerts? Could he do it again having been off stage for so long? Or was this just a set-up? Did Michael Jackson really die in his LA home on the 25th of June as we are being told?

If he was doing a massive comeback tour, then it is almost certain that his life has recently been insured for massive amounts of money to cover any losses by the promoters and everyone else involved in the comeback. I am sure Michael Jackson has recently probable increased his own life insurance recently in light of his upcoming tour.

How much money will his estate make in the coming months from the global upsurge in his music sales, the covers of his songs that are bound to be released by other artists and the insurance pay-outs that will happen?

Has Lisa-Marie's ex-husband followed her father? It has long been speculated that her father Elvis Presley did not die as reported but instead sought to start a new life out of the lime-light, could Michael Jackson have done the same?

The recent up-sales in his music, the insurance pay-out, the up-coming sales of his music - future income from turning Neverland into a museum or theme park! It is clear that he will make more money after his death than he has before it.

Is Michael Jackson really dead?

By Chris J Ball

Spend Time Understanding Guitar Chords and You Will Become a Great Player

2009-07-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

You have to begin with the basics in trying to learn the guitar chords. The basic chords have 3 or more notes when played altogether. Each chord consists of a special fingering on frets and strings.

If you prefer to master guitar playing, you will have to spend some effort and time in getting your fingers to be positioned in the proper places. Take some time in memorizing every position of the fingers for the chord until your fingers will finally remember the correct spot when you place them on the guitar neck.

There are various ways one can be able to learn playing the guitar chords. It is better if you have a companion or instructor to guide you through. When you are lost then you will always have that somebody who knows how to play the guitar that will assist you in learning guitar chords the proper way.

However, if there is no person around you who is available to teach you to play the guitar chords, there are several guitar books that you can purchase, and keep in mind that there are many out there are reasonably priced.

Another method that you can practice in order to learn guitar chords is through understanding the guitar chord chart. This can be found in a lot of book stores and online. The chord chart is a manual where you can see the illustration on how to place your fingers on the guitar neck, frets and strings. The lines that you will observe will teach practically where to place your fingers properly.

Even though the basic chords seem pretty easy and uncomplicated to learn, when you advance in playing the guitar you will eventually discover other finger positions which may seem complex to do, although in time, with full dedication, you will master everything. These may take a little while, but combining the simple and advanced chords you will soon find out that you are already a fantastic guitar player.

You will be amazed on how you can create great music by just mastering 2-4 chords. Once you master a few chords, you can now get busy in creating some tunes. In mastering the guitar chords, patience and a lot of practice is required. Even though it is not that hard, being an expert in guitar playing would not happen instantly. You have to allow some time in order to learn guitar chords properly so you will eliminate any errors whenever you play. Once have done everything needed to master the skill, you will certainly benefit from it in the long run.

By Dave Dunn

A History of Bluegrass Music

2009-07-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

Bluegrass is a genre of music that was very popular from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards in the mining and rural society in various states of the southeastern United States.

It is also known as Hillbilly music and has its roots in traditional music from England, Ireland and Scotland, brought by immigrants from the British Isles to the region of Appalachia, but also had influences from African American musical styles, mainly jazz and blues.

In 1940 Bill Monroe, a mandolin player from Kentucky, formed a band which had influences from many musical styles, though primarily it used the basic rhythm of the blues and the vocal harmonies of the Protestant Church.

Monroe created an innovative technique using three fingers of his right hand and metal finger-picks to play at an astonishing speed.

Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys were highly successful and gave birth to a new wave of music which was imitated by many other musicians.

Bluegrass music is performed by bands whose main instruments are guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin and bass, to which is added occasionally Dobro. The vocals are harmonized in two or three parts with a very high distinctive voice which sounds torn and captivating and is known as a "high lonesome sound."

The lyrics tell simple stories, often deeply tragic, others talk about love, usually seen from the feelings of another, and some have religious devotion... but all have a sense of authenticity in common.

Bluegrass was popular until the 1960's until Rock and Roll replaced it as the dominant sound.

In the mid-'80s several important changes occurred in the style of bluegrass. Double Bass was replaced by the Electric Bass and use of the Rhythm Guitar became less frequent. Some bands such as Lonesome River Band developed a style known as the "wall of sound".

In recent years, Bluegrass has made a strong comeback being performed at Folk Music Festivals the whole world over.

Popular Bluegrass bands/musicians are Alison Krauss, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs and The Ditty Bops.

By Nigel McLaughlin

Finding Perfect Electric Guitar Packages For Beginners

2009-07-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Finding great starter electric guitar packages for your beginning guitarist does not have to be a big chore. There are many of them available for you to choose from in a dizzying array of options, colors, and sizes. To a parent who is looking for that perfect one to get their child started in learning a great musical instrument, this can be slightly overwhelming. You also are concerned about buying a guitar that is of good quality that your child will like and be able to use for years to come.

First, you need to know what to look for in a good guitar. Finding a good instrument for a decent price is not that hard if you know what to look for. The first thing you need to look at in any guitar that you buy is if it is made of solid wood. You will find many guitars out there that are made of nothing more than pressed wood covered with a laminate surface. These tend to have major problems with the hardware screws coming out of them. The other thing that you need to look at is the hardware and make sure it is made of solid metal. I once had a guitar that had hardware made out of plastic and painted silver to look like metal. It soon broke to pieces, so just be aware that it is out there.

You will also come out ahead by knowing what an electric guitar package needs to contain in order for your new player to have everything that they need to get started. In addition to the guitar, they will need to have an amplifier, a cable that hooks the guitar to the amplifier, a sturdy strap, guitar picks, and an extra set of strings. Useful bonuses that will really help out are a tuner, guitar polish, a string winder, a case for the instrument and the best bonus, an instructional dvd. Having these items included will have your child playing it right out of the box.

By Mac Laton

Michael Jackson - A True Legend

2009-07-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

To me Michael Jackson was a true legend. He was a genius and the best at what he did. What a performer, what an entertainer? As I grew up in the 1980's and 90's Michael's name, music and talent dominated everyone and everywhere. You could go to any part of the world, even where English was not widely spoken and say just the name Michael Jackson and people would understand who you are talking about.

Many artists today have been inspired by his music, his dance performances and his vision. I remember when MTV first started airing, Michael's performance and presence made it such a success. The strange thing is that like many people around the world, I felt that I knew him in person due to his music. The man's music touched many people's hearts and even though he has passed people still are and will listen to his music.

His music was created for everyone. It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, his music was appealing to everyone. Of course Michael Jackson won many awards during his lifetime. Here are some of the more popular ones;

* He had the biggest selling album of all time which was recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. I am of course talking about Thriller. Over 50 million copies were sold at the time worldwide. Thriller is also the biggest selling album of all time in the US with sales of 25 million copies.

* Most No. 1 Hits in 1980's. By The End of the 1980's Michael Jackson had more number one hits than any other artist for the decade.

* 100 Million Records sold. Michael has sold over 100 million singles and albums outside of the U.S.

* Greatest Audience - Guinness Book Of World Records The highest-ever viewership was 133.4 million viewers watching the NBC transmission of Super Bowl XXVII on June 31, 1993. Michael was spotlighted during the half-time performance.

I can go on and on with his achievements. The man put his heart and soul into music and entertainment. He bought me and the world some wonderful moments of genius. Do you remember the moonwalk during his performance of Billie Jean in 1983 during the TV special Motown 25? People were in shock to see such a performance.

Michael Jackson a true legend you will remain. As the world mourns your death, I celebrate the fact that I heard your music and got great happiness from your talent. May you rest in peace.

Many the world over have expressed their sadness over the sudden death of Michael Jackson a true legend. I hope you will take the time to read my tribute article to him and as fan's of his music and talent we should feel happy that we had the opportunity to listen and watch an absolute genius.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Azghar_Rizvi

Make Your Own Beats For Cheap!

2009-07-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

Are you an artist looking to make your own beats? Or are you someone that has always dreamed of becoming a producer? Either way, today is now the best opportunity to make it happen. You can now make your own beats without having hundreds and thousands worth of equipment. You can now make quality beats like Dr. Dre and Timbaland for less than $30 bucks!

The reason why you make your own beats for so cheap now is because of the invention of online beat programs. This is a system where you download online and onto your computer and make beats. When I first discovered it, I became so happy because I was always discouraged when I would go into the studio and the producer has a lot of studio equipment. I just thought you needed everything in order to make tracks. Now I'm making top notch tracks without spending thousands of dollars.

One thing when researching online programs is to look at how the system works. It doesn't need to be complex. The system I use is very simplified and yet creates some of the best sounding tracks I have heard. It included a video tutorial which was very helpful because I'm not the type that likes to read instruction manuals. I would rather watch someone do it. My program software also offered me a full refund if I was not satisfied with the program, so I didn't have nothing anything to lose. When you make your own beats, you have full control over your music and you control the price you want to sell them for. This reason alone should motivate you to learn to make your own beats today.

Start learning how to make beats in less than hours today! Visit http://www.learntomakebeats.info to learn how to make beats using online programs from home! It has saved me time and money. See for yourself!

By Tamara Jones

A Movie Review - Just One Person's Opinion

2009-07-11T08:07:00.001-07:00

Many people don't realize that a movie review is just one person's opinion, on one particular day, and ascribe a larger value to the reviews. They think that somehow, the critic writing (or speaking/filming) the review has an insider perspective on whether a film is inherently "good" or "bad".

What they don't think about are all the factors which can lead a critic or reviewer to value a certain aspect of one movie over that of another, or the fact that there could be any number of things going on to influence the critic's opinion of the piece.

In an ideal world, a professional critic is someone who can separate their own personal prejudices and tastes from the inherent value of a film, and evaluate a cinematic work on its own merits and based on its own intentions. This is one of the things that separates professional movie reviews from amateur hobbyists, who ply their opinions both on- and off-line and are often not able to make judgments of a) what the film they've watched is trying to communicate and b) whether it was successful based on that initial desire to communicate an idea.

Where professional critics can contribute in a highly valuable way is through their knowledge of and dedication to cinema. A professional reviewer with experience over a number of years has a wide breadth of knowledge about film directors, the actors who perform in the film in question, the producers, and other technical contributors, based on their work over a number of years. They also, one would hope, have a wider perspective on the history of cinema and how any one particular work fits into the wider range of cinema production output over the history of the medium. Even so, their opinion can be influenced by any number of things, and those reading professional movie reviews should realize that the review is simply a tool with which they can evaluate what their own reaction to the piece is likely to be. Using this information, one can decide whether a film is worth the cost of the ticket for them or their cinema group.

Hobbyist reviews on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and other internet websites have gained popularity over the years because they aggregate the reactions - not the professional reviews - of a wide number of people. Where a professional critic's review is just the reaction of one person, these aggregating sites offer the perspective of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of average viewers who can provide a look at their gut reaction to the content of a film and pass that on to other viewers. This is useful for picking a movie based on mainstream tastes, however, one should realize when accessing these sites that you are not likely to see or have explained the position of a film within the canon of movie production history, nor are the capsule reviews from those who have seen the film necessarily educated or placed within the context of what the film is trying to achieve. They are opinions, and may differ from yours.

By John Parks

A Movie Review - Just One Person's Opinion

2009-07-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

By John Parks

How Reality Based Home Improvement Shows Have Greatly Impacted Americans

2009-07-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago television shows about home remodeling or decorating were not really seen that much. The Learning Channel's show, Trading Spaces was one of the first reality based decorating and remodeling shows to come out where friends or neighbors switched homes and decorated a room in their neighbors home on a limited budget in a limited time frame with the help of a Naperville contractor or Naperville contractors. This became wildly popular and created a huge market for these type of shows that are so evident now.

There are now so many remodeling and home decorating shows on cable television you can find one in just about every area of the home like the landscaping, staging a home to sell the home, changing the colors of a home, redoing a room on a tight budget or working only on the exterior of a home. These themes can all be found mainly on two channels, HGTV, also known as the Home & Garden TV and TLC, also known as the Learning Channel.

These shows have had a great impact on many homeowners, often ones that have never had any design or remodeling experience before but after seeing an episode are confident that they too can take on a home improvement project. When viewers were asked what their favorite part of these reality design shows were it was the incredible change they witness in the before and after in such a short period of time. It helps them to believe that they too can have such a big transformation in a short period of time.

Some shows have been greatly popular in the past year especially due to the struggling economy. Decorating Cents and Design on a Dime are two shows on HGTV that help show viewers how to redo a room on a very limited budget. They use resale shops and warehouse places that sell architectural pieces at huge discounts for the items used in the new room. They also help the homeowners make a lot of their own artwork as well as drapes, bedding and pillows from inexpensive fabrics. Another big tip they teach on these shows is to use MDF wood which is a lot less expensive than other types of wood if you are constructing something that will be painted or covered in fabric. It will save a huge amount of money. Most of the time the budget is anywhere from $500 to $1000 for a completely new look for a room.

One very popular show that is not a how to format but rather one that pulls at the viewer's heartstrings is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. This takes a well deserving family in desperate need of new living conditions and completely builds a brand new home in a matter of just one week. This show has the strong message of giving back to the less fortunate as well as just giving to others in your community. This is very popular and often produces many tears from just one episode.

By Connor R Sullivan

Latest Freeview TV in Australia

2009-07-11T07:58:00.000-07:00

Freeview TV was launched in 2008 with an aim of giving Australians free connectivity to digital TV stations through various terrestrial networks established throughout the country. You only need HD TV in order to benefit from these channels. A digital HD tuner is another option, or even a HD set-up box. Any of these tools will make you connected to many TV stations provided by Freeview TV.

Freeview TV is expected to bring no less than 15 free-to-air TV channels into the homes of every Australian who has a digital TV. The television sets have the ability to display an electronic program guide, abbreviated as EPG. This enables the viewer to access real-time listings of channels, all of which are packaged as a different Freeview TV channel.

On March 26th 2009, the first Freeview channel was launched. The program was launched with Ten's One sports channel which is owned by the company. On June 1st 2009, the second channel was launched. It is known as SBS Two. One of the things one needs to know about these programs is that they are free. Any one with a HD TV tuner can access these Freeview channels for free. An automatic search enables you to see all the available channels.

Freeview TV was started so as so act as a competitor to Pay TV channels providers such as Foxtel. It was also launched as a way of promoting free-to-air Freeview TV and generally to improve access to information through television broadcasting. The announcement was made during the launch of the company. Commercial television networks that are offering these free-to- air services were also present in the launch so as to register their support.

The digital revolution taking place through Freeview Australia is aimed at a driving machine for taking-up of digital television platforms that offer free-to-air broadcasting. Shareholders in this venture include the ABC, the Seven Network, SBS, Kim Dalton. According to Mr. Kim Dalton, Freeview will work towards ensuring that all Australians are enjoying a wide range of programming offered around as the country prepares to make a shift from analogue to digital broadcasting platforms.

From the beginning of 2010 the Australian government is going to ensure that the Freeview Australia legislation is put in place to enforce availability of (Standard Definition) broadcasting to all those who want to have an experience of free-to-air Freeview TV channels. These Freeview channels will be offered in addition to other primary channels that are already in the Freeview network. The recently added high-definition channels will also be incorporated into the plans.

All these efforts are going to bring to 15 the total number of channels that will be available to Australian viewers and which will be fully marketed through the Freeview umbrella. Buying integrated digital TVs is the first step that is going to make the process of changing analogue to digital easy. Freeview is planning to launch an awareness campaign to ensure that Freeview Australia consumers are ready to receive the 15 Freeview channels that make up an interesting and highly convenient wholesome suite. This suite will be ready for use at the beginning of next year.

By Gaman Senaka

X-Men Origins - Wolverine (2009)

2009-07-11T07:51:00.001-07:00

I went to see this film with my wife and brother, we all enjoyed it. Years ago, I used to collect comic books, so I'm familar with this character and the other X-Men characters. I do believe that Hugh Jackman was born to play Wolverine. It is like the comic book character jumps out off the page and onto the big screen. I thought the last X-Men movie "X-Men: The Last Stand" didn't end as well as it could have. (although they left room for another) It is maybe unclear if another film is in the works, I know a lot of fans of the series have been wanting another film. I didn't like how Jean Grey played by the lovely Famke Janssen was put on screen, you must understand the character needed more special effects done to her...for the later character she becomes. I don't want to give too much away incase you were wondering. But I'm refering to "X-Men: The Last Stand film."

The entire series of the X-Men have numerous characters, and its very difficult to translate some things onto the big screen. I wanted to see the character Jubilee for example who never really showed up in the films. And the character Wolverine kind of looks out for her. If you have ever read the comic books or seen the cartoon series you would understand. I appreciated the display of notable characters such as Nightcrawler who appeared in the film "X2 (2003)" the sequel of the series. Nightcrawler the character first debuted in Giant Sized X-Men issue #1 (May 1975) he was and still is a fan favorite.

There is another character that is linked to him in the story - who is also in the X-Men series of films. But, I won't give anything else away to ruin the surprise for others. Back to the X-Men Origins Wolverine film, I really enjoyed it and the entire way it was done, Wolverine is a very interesting character, and he is much older because of the mutant regenerative powers he has. Hugh Jackman gives this character such life it reminds me of Val Kilmer playing Jim Morrison in Oliver Stones "The Doors" (1991) film. It was a perfect performance.The rage and portrayal that Jackman shows with Wolverine is incredible.

This film is a prequel to where the character Wolverine shows up in the first of the X-Men movies: "X-Men (2000)". Liev Shreiber also stars in this film who has finally caught the attention of Hollywood it seems. He plays the character Victor Creed aka Sabertooth who lets say is a rival to Wolverine, if you want to learn more go see the film yourself and find out more of the storyline. There is much more to be explained between these characters from references of the comic book characters. Danny Huston is a younger version of the character William Stryker first played by actor Brian Cox in "X2 (2003)" who chases after Wolverine for his own reasons. I thought both actors did a fine job giving this character life onscreen. Dominic Monaghan from "The Lord of the Rings" films plays Chris Bradley (Bolt) and Ryan Reynolds plays Wade Wilson. (who at first I didn't think fit the role but did a ok job at it). I think more spin-off movies would be great for the series and the fans, there will always be room on the silver screen for the cast of the X-Men.

Written By: Terry Larch

X-Men Origins - Wolverine (2009)

2009-07-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

Written By: Terry Larch

Maximizing Your Video Editing With Blowups and Camera Moves

2009-07-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

One of the most common mistakes made in shooting video is poor framing of shots. Shots are too loose or not properly centered on the subjects. The average video editor cuts out the obvious mistakes in the video, shots of the floor, snow, etc. They then throw in a few transitions (dissolves, wipes, etc.), maybe add a title and call it a day. Professional video editors pay close attention to the framing of shots and use all of the tools at their disposal to bring drama and direction to the scenes that they are editing.

Simply by blowing up and repositioning a shot you can make up for the mistakes made in the original camera work. Since everything is digital these days there is a lot of latitude in how far you can blow up a shot before the quality starts to suffer. By centering the frame on your key subjects you keep the story line focused and your audience is drawn into the narrative that you are telling. If you use the same shot multiple times be sure to use the same values each time you go back to the shot unless the camera has drifted during the shot. In that case try to keep the ratio between your subjects and the edges of the frame at roughly the same distance. By simply re framing your shots during the video editing process you will add quality that will greatly enhance the viewing of your video.

Video camera moves are another tool used by professional video editors. With video moves you can add emphasis to a shot that other wise lacks power. Slow moves added to the narrative and they work well when dissolving from one move to another. Quick move ins are used to provide shock and suspense. Moves can run the length of a shot or they start in during shot and stop and hold at some point before the end of the shot. Start and stop points for moves are determined by the individual shot and by what you are trying to emphasize at that point in your video editing.

Like all of the tools that you have in your video editing arsenal, once you start to use them, you will become more comfortable with when and how to use them. Always keep in mind that you are telling a story for an audience and use the tools that will move the story forward. Blow ups and moves are tools that will enhance and bring power to your video editing.

By Thom Pryor

The Role and Responsibilities of a Makeup Artist Working on a Drama Series

2009-07-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

A makeup artist is someone whose chair is the bridge between a person in real life and the character who appears on the screen for all of us to view. All personal traits disappear and the character begins to surface as the layers of makeup cover the face.

Even if the role does not require a person to change his/her personality, the makeup artist makes him/her more presentable for the camera so that the best features are highlighted in the lights in which the scene is being shot. A makeup artist is an integral part of the team that produces a drama series or any other performing art form.

Without one, Sarah will be Sarah and Jillian will be Jillian. Makeup artists create identities that the director and producers want to see and that we eventually begin to relate. What's more is that they have to reproduce the same face and its characteristics for every episode or scene that is shot.

If a person in the serial is injured or comes back from a holiday in Hawaii, again the makeup artists give the impression of wounds or a tan, of course according to the demand of the character and the scene. Sometimes, a makeup artist may have to apply special effects for every episode. Imagine a sci-fi serial.

The forehead probes on the alien's head, the silver robot or the three-eyed she-monster - all require a makeup artist to make them look that way. They have to make sure that the character looks the same in every episode that reaches the viewers. Makeup artists work with the dress designers, and together they create the complete look of a character.

The makeup artists have to be very careful about the lighting and other conditions of the scene at hand. They make sure that the character appears just as conspicuous in a dark forest as he/she does in a living room setting. Sometimes, they may need to different makeup in different scenes. For instance, if a person in the scene is commenting on an actress's beautiful eyes, the makeup artist will work really hard on making her eyes look very attractive and shining.

If on the other hand, someone disparages somebody's wrinkles, you will also suddenly notice them. That is also because the makeup artist has subtly introduced them on the actor's face. Makeup artists are truly 'artists'. They make the glare of camera lights look like luminescent and may even make a person look shorter or taller if the character demands.

Besides applying makeup to the artists, there are also many other roles and responsibilities of the makeup artists and their team. They are responsible for procuring all the makeup that may be required. They also have to maintain and take care of the wigs etc used in the getup of a character. Besides that, they have to keep on researching on how to improve their technique, how they can improve themselves than their rival artists, and how to use any new products and methods in creating their characters.

By Mike J Jones

Why Do Indonesian Filmmakers Love to Make Horror Movies? By Brahmanto Anindito

2009-07-08T14:51:00.000-07:00

According to my note, about 20 or 41% of Indonesian films released in 2007 are horror. The trend was then continuing in 2008 where about 18% (of 77 movies) horror produced. This is a great decrease. But regarding the history, since 1940s, the horror genre prevails in Indonesia. The market has never been really saturated.

Indonesian industry of film (and television, actually) until now still considers this genre as super talisman for the selling. The talisman has recently been worth, indeed. Moreover, there was a bonus to dearest filmmaker: making the horrors is always cheaper than, say, the dramas. One of reasons, this genre did not require any big star. Just put the newbie on and amazingly the tickets sold out yet.

Moreover, the Department of Culture and Tourism in Indonesia had opened the booth for selling Indonesian movies at international film festivals like Cannes every year since 2007. Some of those movies are horror. Surprisingly, it sold well, including to some distributors in Europe.How come the horror attract the "left brain" people, I don't know.

However, in Indonesia, horror movies are never dies because moviegoers here so enjoyed them. We would love to be scared off. Nothing is wrong with that. A spectator watched action movie for be astonished and felt like gasp, watched comedy for getting huge laugh. And watched horror, what else, for being scared!

But excessive things have it own side effect, don't they? While other people had never problem with walking everywhere s/he likes and works overtime until midnight, we, the Indonesian? Taking one foot step away, we will anxious. Beginning to feel how if in that corner a "thing" could suddenly show up. So many supernatural beings that Indonesian citizen must afraid of!

Yes, those supernatural beings do exist, if you ask me. Don't believe it? Come to Indonesia and ask for it to the natives. Each region and culture has its own supernatural being. Just, I wonder why some Indonesian is willing to waste their time for something not supposed to be human business like that.

Take a look closer here, lottery fortune teller is still in demand, we also still believe in tarot, oracle service via Short Message Service, etc. Even some of youngster who represented modern logic generation depends on astrology for living their life. If not, why they keep on expecting horoscope rubric in youth and cosmopolitan media?

Some said our society is spiritual, precisely: too much believe. This is a question of culture. So how will Indonesian movies sterile from horror genre?

By Brahmanto Anindito

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Character - Snape

2009-07-08T14:38:00.000-07:00

After the release of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the 5th sequel to the Harry Potter films, fans cannot wait to see the 6th book coming to the screen in the form of a movie. Set in Harry's 6th year in Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, the new film yet to be released on July 15 2009 looks deeper into some of the characters of the book such as Harry's eternal enemy Lord Voldemort and Harry's Professor Snape at Hogwarts.

Even though, much has been revealed about Voldemort in the past movies, Snape's character remains much of a mystery. The new movie Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince provides much insight into Snape's character, the thin man with greasy black hair and a bat-like appearance.

It is revealed later that Snape himself is the Half Blood Prince. Like the previous movies, Snape is portrayed in the same manner playing the role of a disciplinarian who treats his students in a strict way, especially the ones he dislikes. All this being the result of him being bullied as a child.

He has low tolerance for cheeky students and takes full advantage of his power. This doesn't make him popular with the students. The opening shows Snape having joined the Death Eaters (Lord Voldemort's supporters) and shows Snape's full support for them as he makes an unbreakable vow with Narcissa Malfoy to help her son Draco if he ever falls in trouble.

Despite Dumbledore's complete trust in Snape, Harry still doubts Snape's loyalty and continues his efforts of convincing Dumbledore about his possible link with Draco and whatever evil plot he was planning against Dumbledore. Snape being the Potions Teacher previously is now given the position of the Defense against the dark arts teacher, which he desperately wanted.

As Harry uses one of the spells from the potions book which belonged to someone who called himself the Half Blood Prince on Draco Malfoy, Snape guesses where he might have gotten the spell from and attempts to take the book away from him but as Harry hides it away Snape gives him detention. As it is seen, Harry learns a lot from the Half Blood Prince's potions book making him excel in potions class.

This shows Snape's ability as an outstanding student in his time and his skills at inventing new spells. As Harry continues his search for Horcruxes with Dumbledore, he pays little attention to what is being planned against them by Voldemort and the Death Eaters. However, as Harry and Dumbledore return from a journey to find a Horcrux, they find themselves surrounded by Death Eaters one of them being Snape.

It is shocking to see Snape turning his back on Dumbledore despite of the high-extent of Dumbledore's trust on him. At the end, it is Snape who Kills Dumbledore and later reveals to Harry that he was the Half Blood Prince. By Michael Nielsen

TV to Laptop With a Perfect Picture

2009-07-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

The onset of broadband has opened up a new TV to laptop market which has attracted the attention of many of the best technology companies in the world. While there are literally hundreds of wireless TV Link products available, which will allow you to receive TV pictures upstairs from your main TV downstairs (or vice versa), it is the TV to laptop market which is proving a little more difficult on the technology front.

However, Sling Media have hit the ground running with the Sling Media Slingbox range which offers you the chance to transmit, via a broadband connection, the TV pictures and TV channels available in your front room. So no matter where you are in the world, so long as your TV and a laptop are linked to the Internet via a broadband connection, you can now watch TV in perfect vision anywhere around the world on your laptop. But there is more!

The latest Slingbox product also allows you to control the channels which are being watched in your front room from your laptop and also gives you control over other audio and visual devices such as DVD players and videos. Sling Media has made a real effort in this particular area and is seeing increased sales around the world as consumers look for more from their broadband connection and become more trusting of the Internet as a whole.

Many people believe that TV to laptop is in its very early stages at this moment in time and there are more developments to come in the future. Sling Media is at the forefront of this particular sector and continues to introduce improved systems which include the latest technology available. Thankfully, as interest in this particular area continues to grow we are seeing prices fall substantially as the range is now appealing to the mass market.

The Sling Media range of products is growing on a regular basis and available across a wide range of Internet websites for delivery direct your home address. Check out the latest products and the significant discounts available across the Sling Media Slingbox range.

By Mark Benson

What Are the Past Winners of 'So You Think You Can Dance' Doing Now?

2009-07-08T14:27:00.001-07:00

We all love "So You Think You Can Dance" and the contestants. We especially love the ones we voted to win the show. One question remains on our minds though, what are they doing now that they have won. For some it has been as long as four years, and for others, not even one year. Here is a look at what they are doing now since winning SYTYCD. Nick Lazzarini was winner on the first season of SYTYCD. Not only was he an amazing dancer, but was also a great person and quite good looking :). The reward at the time was $100,000 and a year in a Penthouse in New York City. Nick, living in California, decided to take the cash value of the penthouse instead. Since the show, Nick was on the cover of Dance Spirit twice, being the first person to do so ever for the magazine. He also is a founding member of Evolution Dance Company.

Currently Nick also works with Jump Tours, which puts on classes and performances. Benji Schwimmer was probably the most entertaining contestant to grace the screens on SYTYCD and was also the season 2 winner. His prizes included a car, $100,000 and a year contract as a dancer with Celine Dion in her Vegas show. He took the car and cash but did turn down the gig with Celine, stating it was an honor but he didn't want to live in Vegas but wanted to travel and pursue television. Well, he is certainly traveling. Since the show he has been teaching and performing all over the world pushing his and Heidi Groskreutz's instructional DVD's. Benji is also co-producing a movie about dancers called Love N' Dancing. This movie was originally planned as a TV movie, but as it turns out, it will be released in Theaters in these coming months. Rumor on the street is he is also to be casted in two more movies in the future. Additionally, Benji was in Christina Aguilera's music video "Candyman". More recently, Benji was featured in Dancer Magazine n a ten page spread in addition to his photography, CLK'd by BNJI. Sabra Johnson was the first female winner on the show, taking home the grand prize of $250,000. Not bad for only having danced for four years before the show. She is truly a talented dancer and deserved it.

Since the show she has been on the cover of "Movmnt Magazine", February 2008 edition. She has also been traveling the world teaching dance including Australia and South Africa. Sabra does have future goals of maybe taking her talents to Broadway and dance professionally. Joshua Allen is the most recent winner of SYTYCD on season 4, taking home the grand prize of $250,000. There isn't too much to report on him since his win didn't take place as long as even a year ago, but he has been around. Joshua was one of the least trained dancers on the show but really showed his talents to the world. He never once made it into the bottom and took home the prize. Since the show he has been teaching workshops around the country. I am curious to know what the next several years hold for him, one thing is for sure though. What ever he does, he will be living his dream.

By Chad Michael Lawson

What Are the Past Winners of 'So You Think You Can Dance' Doing Now?

2009-07-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

By Chad Michael Lawson

An Action Packed Drama - The Wrestler DVD

2009-07-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

Not just a movie for wrestling fans. I find the need to say this, because I am not a big wrestling fan, and so I was a bit hesitant to view this movie. I thought it was going to be just about wrestling and it is to a point, however it is a lot more about the life story of an aging professional wrestler, past his prime, and his difficulties with letting go of the in the ring experience.

The main character Randy, The Ram needs to find a way to feel important, since wrestling has pretty much consumed all of his being, in short was his entire life. He is sad and lonely in the life he created and he gradually needs to rediscover himself.

He combats his loneliness by pulling those near him in closer. His love interest in played by Marisa Tomei. She is going through some similar issues as Randy. She has hit the age where most women have moved on from stripping and needs to let go of that life. You can relate to the way they come together and how their relationship grows. Evan Rachel Wood is Randy's daughter. He is now making up for lost time with her and fighting to have an actual relationship with her.

The film is not true but it feels that way. It is packed with all the spectacle and tension of genuine existence. Mickey Rourke does not appear to be playing a part. He metamorphoses into this wrestler character in a fascinating way.

And don't worry, because the story does lend itself to some fight scenes. Rourke wrestles with the owner of the trailer park where he lives and the owner of a local grocery store, which keeps the action flowing without going overboard.

The Wrestler has everything a good movie should. It keeps moving with lots of bustle. The tension keeps you riveted. You also enjoy the topics that touch us all such as hope, love, trust, and family. This movie is at the top with the level of acting and directing. Whether you are a fan of Action or Drama movies, this movie will appeal to you. Your feelings on Professional Wrestling shouldn't affect your decision to see this. It is a film that everyone can relate to.

By Patrick A Daniels

We Really Need to Reduce Gravity by a Specific Single Digit Percentage

2009-07-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

If we could reduce the Earth's gravity by just a few percentage points it would have a drastic difference on everything. Humans would feel peppier and not have so much wear and tear other bodies, which would probably increase their lifespan. Trees would grow much taller and in more abundance, and better able to suck more of the CO2 out of the atmosphere.

Waves in the ocean would also change, perhaps for the better, and there would be more evaporation, along with more clouds in the atmosphere, thus, more rain delivering freshwater to drought ridden areas. Yes indeed, it would also cause the sun to be blocked out a little more, which would help cool things a bit.

If mankind had the ability to change the gravity here on earth by 6% or less should they do it? Should they tinker with Mother Nature or screw around with a so-called perfect system of cycles, weather, and everything we know? What about plate tectonics, this would change too. Less gravity might mean more volcanoes and more quakes at first, then perhaps fewer after that, along with all the positive things.

The water levels would rise, but so too would the landmass, and hopefully we'd still have enough gravity to hold the mood in place and not let it drift away, into a situation which could later cause it to come back and hit the earth which would be catastrophic indeed.

Well, until we have a supercomputer to figure out all the ramifications we shouldn't change the gravity of your Earth even if one day we develop technology to do so. I hope you have enjoyed this intellectual thought for the day.

By Lance Winslo

Michael Jackson's Affair With Animation

2009-07-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

We've seen the moonwalk, the one-handed glove, the anti-gravity lean, and that's just to mention a few of the innovations introduced by the late Michael Jackson. Sometimes people even forget how MJ reinvented himself from a child prodigy into a global pop sensation. But he has this sense of creativity and showmanship that is hard to match which leads him to try many things - one of which is cartoon animation for his music videos.

Michael Jackson's song "Leave Me Alone" in the 1987 album Bad prominently featured 2D cartoon animation as its motif. Throughout the entire video, Jackson was super-imposed as a scaled real-life character.

The song talks about the personal and public turmoil encountered by Michael after the success of his 1982 album Thriller. At this time, the tabloids and other gossip columns were targeting him with different rumors about his lifestyle. Among these were Michael's obsession with purchasing the bones of the Elephant Man and sleeping inside a hyperbaric chamber to counter the effects of aging.

The cartoon animated video was used by Michael Jackson as a rebuttal for all these charges. The narrative of the video starts with an amusement park with a collage of images attributing to his success, along with certain images such as a shrine to his popular friend Elizabeth Taylor (who gave him the moniker King of Pop). In the end, it is revealed that Michael Jackson is the amusement park and he struggles away, destroying the park in the process.

Leave Me Alone was directed by Jim Blashfield and it was most notable for winning the Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video at the Grammy Awards of 1990. It was also shown in the feature entitled Moonwalker. Here is the animated video of Leave Me Alone:

Michael Jackson helped popularize the utilization of music videos as a promotional piece and as an art form. Another of his videos which prominently used computer animation effects was Black or White, a strongly worded song contradicting racial discrimination - but was more known for its scenes of violence and sexualized dancing. The most recognizable animation effect used in this video was morphing.

Morphing is a special effect which tries to change one image into another seamlessly. The music video Black or White used this concept in the tail-end part of the video where people of different ethnicities, gender and ages were shot in a bust shot point of view and was made to appear like it is morphing while moving its neck from left to right. Here is the video:

This was another revolutionary touch from Michael Jackson and, together with Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 1991, the video helped set a trend in special effects and computer animation. Now, advanced computer software is available to create realistic simulations - but nothing will surpass that level of genius when it was first introduced by Black or White.

I'll list some of his most special awards here as a tribute to Jacko:

World Music Awards' Best-Selling Pop Male Artist of the Millennium

American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award

Bambi Pop Artist of the Millennium Award.

Double-inductee of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (The Jackson 5, 1997; solo, 2001)

Multiple Guinness World Records (eight in 2006 alone),

13 Grammy Awards,

13 number one singles in his solo career-more than any other male artist in the Hot 100 era

sale of over 750 million records worldwide

Rest in peace, MJ.

By Aldric Chang

So Who is This Guy Called Hannibal? The Man Who Nearly Took Down Rome

2009-07-06T12:34:00.000-07:00

Hannibal is for many people the only thing of Carthage that people are familiar with, for most the great city state of Carthage is completely unknown, it is forgotten, lost in the mists of time. By the time of Hannibal's birth, Carthage had fallen on hard times. They had been defeated in the First Punic War against the Roman Republic. The loss devastated the Carthaginians who before the war had being the dominant force in the Western Mediterranean. The Romans imposed harsh terms upon Carthage, including seizing the provinces of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. Hannibal's father, Hamilcar Barca was the Carthaginian general who was charged with the task of restoring prestige by invading the Iberian peninsula in 237 BCE. Hannibal, at the tender age of eleven accompanied him and began learning the trade of war. In 221 BCE. Hannibal assumed command of the Carthage armies in Hispania, made ground and rose the old enemy, Rome, thus beginning the Second Punic War in 218 BCE. Hannibal was in no mood to sit around waiting for the onslaught, he brought the war to Rome, fighting his way through the Pyrenees, subduing the local tribes there.

Boldly, he pressed on into Gaul (modern day France) and famously crossed the Alps with his elephants and invaded Italy. The Romans were shocked at his audacity, they had planned to fight the war on foreign soil, now it was here on their doorstep. Indeed, the Roman general Scipio had sailed to Gaul to halt Hannibal's advance, he was forced to sail back to Italy to meet the Carthaginian forces. The two sides first met in a minor engagement at Ticinus, Hannibal coming out the better, encouraging the Gauls and Ligurians to ally with him. The first major battle of the war occurred at Trebia, Hannibal displaying his tactical genius, decimated the Roman forces. The victory secured Hannibal's position in northern Italy, he barracked himself at Bologna for the remaining winter, re-emerging in the spring of 217 BCE. With the coming of spring, Hannibal re-emerged, marching south, Rome sent Flaminius to meet him. Hannibal, performing the first turning movement in military history, marched around the Romans left flank and cut them off from Rome. Flaminius enraged, marched out to meet Hannibal in battle; the result was one of the largest ambushes ever conducted. The Romans were taken by surprise on three sides, forcing them to fight hand to hand in complete disarray, within four hours of combat they were annihilated.

The Romans were in rag order, panicking they elected to allow Fabius Maximus assume dictatorial powers. Fabius tailed the invader, harassing the fringes but refusing to engage in battle. This Fabian strategy as it became known, did not go down well within Rome who viewed it as opposed to their tradition, and frankly an act of cowardice. This assessment is however a little unfair, Fabius had no experienced troops at his disposal and the policy was in some ways quite successful. It bought time for Rome to raise a new army numbering almost 80,000 men, which once assembled, marched to meet Hannibal at Cannae which he had recently seized. Hannibal vastly outnumbered at almost two to one, displayed utter brilliance, operating an envelopment tactic which eliminated the Roman numerical superiority by shrinking the surface area where the combat could occur. He annihilated the Romans, killing or capturing over two-thirds of their massive army, inflicting one of the most catastrophic defeats in the history of Rome. It could have been very easily the end of Rome altogether but Carthage dithered refusing to sanction Hannibal to attack and stalling on providing him with reinforcements and siege equipment. As for Rome, they once again adopted the previously much maligned Fabian strategy of attrition and a bitter stalemate ensued with Hannibal embarking on a scorched earth policy, only engaging the Romans in protracted and ineffectual battles.

For years this impasse dragged on, and although he won some more decisive battles, it was becoming more and more apparent that Hannibal was not going to conquer Rome. Whether Carthage was overstretched or whether they were becoming wary of Hannibal's growing power remains unclear. If they had of backed him, history would most likely have been transformed completely. Hannibal was in the ascendant, he was just thirty, in every encounter with Roman forces he had come out on top, Rome was at his feet. On the battle scarred fields of Cannae, Hannibal had his soldiers slice off the ring bearing fingers of all the fallen Roman officers, he dispatched his brother Mago to Carthage, where he presented thousands of them to the Senate, pouring them out onto the marble floors. Carthage, however was not to be swayed, Hannibal was forced to seek other options, he secured an alliance with King Phillip V of Macedonia. The alliance though was not the most fruitful, Hannibal was obliged to draw his reinforcements from less experienced Italian and Gaul mercenaries. The tide began to turn against Hannibal, the Romans began notching up victories, re-gaining Syracuse and defeating a major Carthaginian army in Sicily. Hannibal's last throw of the dice was a desperate, half-hearted attack on Rome; inevitably it failed and his fortunes dwindled.

His brother Hasdrubal attempted to bring reinforcements into Italy taken from his Iberian armies. But the Romans were wise to that old trick, Hasdrubal's army was destroyed along the banks of the Metaurus, he having his head chopped off, later to be unceremoniously chucked into Hannibal's camp. The message had been delivered and it was clear, Hannibal's time in Italy was numbered, it was Rome that was to prevail. Metaurus can easily be viewed as the most decisive battle of the Punic wars, if Hasdrubal had won and managed to link up with Hannibal, Rome would have been in the most perilous of situations. But he didn't and instead it signalled the end for Carthage. Hannibal lingered in Italy for a number of years, but his threat was removed, he was more pest now than major threat. The Romans meanwhile, took Iberia and marched to Carthage, Hannibal still unconquered was recalled for the defence of his homeland.

He faced the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio, aged and exhausted but with his famous war elephants replenished, Hannibal attempted to re-run his old ruse of enveloping the enemy, it failed, Hannibal was beaten. But he was far from dead and buried, he proved that his talents extended beyond being a great general, he proved himself to be an equally fine statesman. Initially elected to what was perceived as an insignificant position, he consolidated the role and began working on alleviating the punitive measures that Rome had placed upon Carthage. He was so successful in his endeavours that he once again managed to alarm Rome, who demanded his resignation. Hannibal, perhaps too long in the tooth went into voluntary exile. He found sanctuary in Antioch, the then capital of the Seleucid Empire. In his final years, he became something of an itinerant military advisor, constantly pursued by Rome, eventually facing extradition, he poisoned himself. After Hannibal, the Roman Empire was not seriously threatened for the following six centuries, Hannibal became a bogeyman that Roman mothers warned their children about at night. He developed into a symbol of threat and calamity within the Roman culture, indeed it was Roman writers like Livy and Juvenal that made him immortal.

By Russell Shortt

Free Genealogy Search Engines - Where to Quickly and Easily Find What You Are Looking For

2009-07-06T12:26:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that genealogy research today is dominated by the research on the internet, with the help of huge genealogical databases available online. Free genealogy search engines provide a very convenient way to track down your ancestors from across the globe without ever having to leave your living room... or pay a dime. Here's how to go about taking advantage of this resource.

The great thing is that you for the most part no longer need to browse through databases manually, finding the required people. All you need to do with most free genealogy search engines is to type in an individual's name and you will get back information about them that's available online. This drastically reduces the total time required for researching people in your family tree.

Some of the more popular free genealogy search engines are usgenweb, MyHeritage, and Rootsweb. They will prove to be extremely helpful in your research. However, you will need to be careful about whether the search has been comprehensive or not. This is because not all genealogy search engines take all the available databases into consideration.

It's a good idea to combine the data you obtain through various free genealogy search engines. Using such diverse databases is a great way to both gather and validate information.

Also, combining information from various sources can help reveal clues regarding other related members of the family. By simply searching for already known people, you can track down other related people. This can prove very useful at times if you are stuck at some place in your family tree.

Be aware that you may also have to make use of specialized search engines that find the required information only within a specific geographic area.This improves the probability of finding the required information as these look into more specialized databases. Here are some important free databases which free genealogy search engines get their information from-- chances are, you will want to access them yourself at some point:

Official state sites, with voters' lists and census information.
Military databases which include service data, information about deaths during wars, pensions, etc.
Birth, baptism, death and marriage data, which can either be found in official state records or in the records of various individual churches.
Immigration and emigration databases, which also provide clues to other members of the family and the places to look for.

If you intend to take parts of a family tree already present on the internet, you must ensure that there is no duplication of people. This happens because you may already have a few people in your family tree who are also on the incoming branch. Some popular genealogy software can check for duplication but it is always advisable to do a manual check just to be sure.

A word of caution: always validate the information that you get from unofficial or less credible sources to ensure accuracy of your research!

Remember that free genealogy search engines are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to genealogy research. While you may not ever need to access any of the paid resources, sooner or later you will want to expand beyond the scope of the data these engines provide.

By Julia Hanson

The Fish Whisperer

2009-07-06T12:23:00.000-07:00

I have some of the most wonderful clients who fish with me. They range from young families, to retired people. But some are more unique then others.

Tom is a former Navy man who loves being out on the water. He has many colorful tales of life at sea and foreign ports. Although his stories are entertaining, that is not what makes him so interesting.

I have never before heard someone sweet talk a fish on to his line. When he feels the fish starting to nibble it all starts.

"Oh baby. Oh Baby. That's it. You know you want it. Come on, take it now, take it now honey! Oh yah, Oh yah, that's it. You can do it. You can do it. Yah! Yah! I got you now! I got you now!"

And then he calls for the net. " Oh Bear, I got one, I got one! There you go get it, get it."

Once the fish is in, Bill is ready to do it all over again.

I told him, "It's a good thing you don't talk in your sleep, or you would have a difficult time explaining the dream to your wife in the morning."

I can just hear it now.

Mona (Tom's wife): "What were you dreaming about last night?"

Tom: "I was catching fish."

Mona: "Oh, Really? What was her name?"

Tom: "What do you mean?"

Mona: "Well, it sounded like a roll in the hay to me. Have you been seeing someone else?"

Tom: "No Baby! I was just dreaming about catching fish!"

Mona: "Well, if I ever find out you've been cheating on me, you'll be catching a frying pan up side you head! I am serious! Have you been Cheating?"

Tom knows he is in trouble now. He's starting to see the third eye appear on her forehead. If he doesn't do something quick, she could get a knife and do a Bobbit on him.

Tom makes a desperate move. He snuggles up close and gives her a big hug. "Oh Baby, you know I'd NEVER cheat on you. You see the fish I bring home."

Mona is starting to calm down. The third eye is fading.

Mona: "You sure you didn't buy those fish at Costco?"

Tom: "No honey, come on. I am telling you the truth. Why don't you come with me next-time. You'll see."

Mona: "Ok".

The next day I get a call from Tom. "Bear I need to go fishing, and I am going to bring my wife!"

Tom insists on the first possible date. He pays extra to not have any other passengers. He sounded as if it were a matter of life and death.

The next week we went out. Mona is a very attractive lady with a vibrant personality. It was wonderful having them both on the boat. But, when the bobber started bouncing, I heard:

"Oh Yah. Oh yah. Go get it. Yes! Yes! Yes!"

But this time it was Mona making those sounds.

Go ahead Tom. It's safe to talk in your sleep now.

Fishing with Bear LLC

I am a pro fishing guide in Portland, Oregon. ! am also a gifted writer of humorous outdoor adventure stories. I will hopefully have a collection of stories published this winter.

By Ken Cole

Benefits of Laughter

2009-07-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

-"Even the gods love jokes" - Plato

What Plato said is very true because laughter has a lot of benefits on our mind and even on our body. Even if it is a reaction which is regulated by the brain, our body needs laughter as much as our mind does!

Everybody observed the good mood that laughter generates but nobody thought to apply laughter therapy in medicine, until 1979 when Norman Cousins published a book about laughter and it's benefits. In this book he described how he was diagnosed in 1964 with spondylitis, an illness that affected his spine and other parts of his body. He observed that negative thoughts were increasing the pain so he decided to think positively. In two days he left the hospital and took a room in a hotel were he took severe doses of vitamin C and watched a lot of comedy movies. The result? Almost two and a half hours of pain-free sleep!

William Fry, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School and expert on health and laughter says that if we want to fly like the angels and feel like a child does, every day we should laugh at least 80 times a day. He observed that a child laughs almost 300 times a day, while an adult laughs only 17 times. Why? Are we so stressed? Do we think that problems will be solved if we forget to laugh?

Louis Kronenberg says that humor is our sixth sense and should be the way we view the world. He thinks that if we want to live in a better life we should learn how to laugh of our problems and our pain - we shouldn't take life so seriously, because laughter wounds and heals, diminishes and enlarges.

The American humorist, James Tharbor said that the wellspring of laughter is pain, stress and suffering, because without suffering and pain there would be nothing to laugh at!

So, we should start laughing much more because laughter reduces pain by releasing some hormones that are responsible with happiness; dissolves stress, anxiety, irritation and depression - and with these effects our problems will be fewer; it boosts the immune system; laughter is even equivalent to a small exercise because our muscles are moving, and when we are laughing out loud our brain sends signals to our body so that we'll move our hands and legs!

Besides those above, there are some medical benefits that are used nowadays in hospitals in special rooms where people are watching or listening to funny things - so that they will forget for a short period of time about the pain! The most important branch of medicine where laughter is practiced is oncology, where patients are treated with laughter.

So, laughter makes our life easier and can keep us fit and it helps us to forget about the pain. But not only that it makes us see things differently but it adds spice to life; it is to life what salt is to a hard-boiled egg!

By Petre An

Some Funny 50th Birthday Quotes

2009-07-06T12:16:00.001-07:00

50th birthday is special in the life of everyone because it is what we call the half milestone, when you have completed half a century of living on this earth. It is when you start feeling young even though your grand kid can ride the bicycle. This is the age when you look back on all the good things you have done and regret those things that you never did.

Jeff Bezos who started Amazon.com once said that he started amazon because he felt that he should do something he should be proud of, looking back or rather, he should not regret not having done something like that. He calls it the regret minimization framework. He felt the need to minimize his regrets when he grew older. At 50, if you have not done much you tend to regret, but what you should remember is that, 5o is not the end of the journey. It is just the half milestone and you have a long way to go. If you want to start something afresh at 50, then 50 is also just a good a year as any and looking at it in an even more positive way, it is just the right age to start something great.

You have experience in your hand, and it is something a bright 20 year old will take 30 years to earn. And by 50 you have made a lot of contacts and have given out your share of favors and the time to call in those favors. It is a great feeling to be 50 and to reach there is an accomplishment itself which should be celebrated.

This is a very special birthday but this is also a birthday that you wish should never come, but when it does come you realize that you have crossed the half milestone. Here are some quotes that you can use in the greeting cards or birthday wishes. But do remember that if it is your friend who is turning 50, then you will also be 50 soon, so chose your quote well.

"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age" ~ French proverb"

"Nature gives you the face you have at twenty, but it's up to you to merit the face you have at fifty."
~ Coco Chanel

"After a man is 50, you can fool him by saying he is smart, but you can't fool him by saying he is pretty. "
~ E.W. House

"Happy 20th anniversary of your 30th Birthday!"
~A cute saying

"50 years of age: The older you are, the wiser you become. The closer to 70, more childish you will be."
~ Unknown

"At age 50, everyone has the face he deserves."
~ George Orwell

"To me, old age is always 20 years older than I am. "
~ Unknown

By Bob Brahm

Some Funny 50th Birthday Quotes

2009-07-06T12:16:00.000-07:00

"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age" ~ French proverb"

"Nature gives you the face you have at twenty, but it's up to you to merit the face you have at fifty."
~ Coco Chanel

"After a man is 50, you can fool him by saying he is smart, but you can't fool him by saying he is pretty. "
~ E.W. House

"Happy 20th anniversary of your 30th Birthday!"
~A cute saying

"50 years of age: The older you are, the wiser you become. The closer to 70, more childish you will be."
~ Unknown

"At age 50, everyone has the face he deserves."
~ George Orwell

"To me, old age is always 20 years older than I am. "
~ Unknown

By Bob Brahm

Funny Questions About Life

2009-07-06T12:03:00.000-07:00

Those Funny Questions About Life Keep On Coming.

Ever had one of those funny questions about life? Then please read on.

When it comes to funny questions and thoughts about life, every time think I've seen them all I find one I've never seen before or come up with more of my own. The following are some of the ones I've discovered or written however, I know there's more because thats, well... life. So, if you find while reading these funny questions and thoughts about life make you smile, pass them along. All right, let's get started!

Humorous questions - Group 1 Why does Hawaiian pizza also contain Canadian Bacon? Grape Nuts cereal. No grapes - no nuts. Huh? What's the difference between regular ketchup and fancy ketchup? Do Dutch people always split the bill? If you use Miracle Whip on Wonder Bread, do you have to use Heavenly Ham?

Wacky Questions about life - Group 2 Is there ever a day that mattresses aren't on sale? They make bullet proof vests, why not bullet proof pants? Why are oriental rug stores always going out of business? Is there any difference between partly cloudy and partly sunny?

Mildly amusing Questions about life - Group 3 If it only takes one match to start a forrest fire, why on earth does it take me a whole box of matches and a can of lighter fluid to light my grill? When they ship those styrofoam peanuts, what do they pack them in? How do you know when pickles or sour cream has gone bad?

Zany Questions about life - Group 4 How does one know when their bagpipes need tuning? Allstate Insurance has a disclaimer that reads: not available in all states. What? If Donkey Kong's main character is a monkey, why isn't it called Monkey Kong? Why does the word lisp have an "s" in it?

Questions about life - Group 5 How come you never read the headline, "Psychic Wins Lottery"? The next time someone says, "Now I've seen everything", ask them if they've ever seen a UPS truck parked in a parking space. Has anyone ever really seen a Jolly Rancher? If you get a club soda stain, how do you remove it?

Funny Questions about life - Group 6 Has anyone (besides Donald Trump's wife) ever been fooled by a comb over? Is it really possible to change the direction of a bowling ball by waving your hands? There's senior citizens, so why aren't there junior citizens?

Funny Questions about life - Group 7 They say laughter is the best medicine - so who came up with the phrase, "I died laughing"? Why do doctors leave the room when your getting dressed? After all, they've already seen you naked. What's wrong with the United States? They only have two choices for President, but fifty for Miss America. Any reason they nail down the lid of a coffin? When butterflies get upset or nervous, what do they get in their stomachs?

Funny Questions about life - Group 8 Where do they put price stickers on non-stick pans? If it's called lipstick, why is it always coming off? When they sing, "Take me out to the ball game" they're already there. Why? Who's idea was it to make the word abbreviation so long?

Yes, these are just a few of the Funny Questions about life that try men's - and women's souls. And there's a ton more funny questions about life not listed here. Some of them come to me during the course of a day. For example, why does every shampoo bottle say, lather, rinse, repeat? I'm sorry, did I miss my head entirely the first time or do you just want to sell more shampoo? If you have or have thought up any funny questions of life yourself, feel free to send them along and thanks for wasting a few minutes of your life pondering these funny questions of life. Now get out there and do something good. Like figuring out what people in China call their good plates.

By Hal Eisenberg