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December 31, 2011

Jimi Hendrix is the #1 Rock and Roll Star of All Time

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I’ve been in rock and roll all my life and I admit it’s bit difficult to put Jimi Hendrix above Mick Jagger in terms of brilliant rock and roll stardom, but after watching several movies of both Jimi and Mick in concert, here’s why I would do it:

1.BEST MUSICIAN

Jimi Hendrix was the only true genius in rock and roll. The word genius is highly overused and it’s often applied to people who are extremely talented. I disagree with the dictionary when it equates genius with “exceptional intelligence”, and what I think the word genius is supposed to refer to is a person who creates something that‘s new, and not only new, but significantly new, important, and somewhat of a milestone in human development. I call Albert Einstein the premier genius of the human race because the Theory of Relativity was a giant jump in the understanding of the way our universe operates and to this day, few people actually understand anything other than the bomb part. Jimi Hendrix was the genius of rock and roll because he was the only one who invented something new. It’s almost impossible to do anything that’s really new in the field of music because there are only eight notes in the Western scale so in a sense, all music is derivative. But Jimi invented guitar feedback and nobody before Jimi even thought about it. And Jimi took his invention one step farther. Until Jimi came along, all music since the time of Mozart and Beethoven has been built on chord structure and rock and roll music uses simple chord structure. Jimi actually used feedback alone to construct song structure in a few, but not all of his songs (i.e. Third Stone From the Sun). To this day, nobody has been able to do what Jimi did. In fact, Jeff Beck bought Jimi’s strat at an auction and even the super talented Jeff admitted that he can’t get the same sounds out of the very same guitar as Jimi got. With all due respect to Mick, he’s a brilliant singer and one of the all time great rock and roll songwriters, but he’s not actually a brilliant musician because he only plays rhythm guitar. I believe Mick would agree with me about Jimi being a genius guitar player because Mick was one of the first ones to discover Jimi when The Experience made their debut in the clubs of London. Along with John Lennon, Mick spread the word to the other British musicians about the new nova in the rock and roll sky.

2.BEST PERFORMER

It’s a tie between Jimi and Mick. Call it a dead heat with one survivor. If Elvis was still breathing he’d be breathing down both of their necks and I probably will get flack from a whole lot of people for saying that, and even more flack from the know-nothing fans of Madonna, Prince (whoever he is these days) and Michael Jackson (not to mention Roberta FLACK). Certainly Elvis came first and Elvis was The King, but Jimi and Mick both had their own unique styles and neither one were heavily influenced by Elvis in terms of their performances. Mick was influenced by James Brown’s dancing and only God knows who influenced Jimi’s performance style because he was truly an original. Besides, Elvis moved on to acting and he starred in tons of below average movies – and now I’ll really get flack! Unfortunately I won’t get Roberta. But seriously, Mick deserves an award for putting on a great show every single time he appears, he did that right from his debut as a young man, and he’s continued to do that as an old man. Jimi died as a young man. Both of them were sex stars on stage as well as off stage but watching Jimi on stage is nothing short of breathtaking. He had all the moves, he had the body of a black Adonis, he played his guitar with his teeth, behind his back, under his leg, and when he set fire to it at the end of his shows, he got down on his knees and prayed to the Guitar God who obviously listened to him. He wasn’t a dancer like Mick, he was a mover and a shaker of women’s “G” spots. People standing in front of his stage all had the same astounded expression on their faces as if to say, “I can’t believe this guy! What galaxy did he come from?”

3.SONGWRITING TALENT

“And the Wind Cried Mary”. Oh, Jimi, how poetic can you possibly be? So the galactic storm screamed “Jimi”, and what hetero man in his right mind doesn’t want that “Foxy Lady”?? I suppose that a man who’s in a “Purple Haze” might not be able to recognize one, and a man who’s in a state of “Manic Depression” might not be able to get out of bed and do anything about it, but every time Jimi launches into Foxy Lady with his famous dissonant E chord my libido stands up and salutes. And every time I hear that all time classic feedback note in the middle of the song, it never fails to send shivers up my spine. Comparisons to other songwriters are superfluous. Jimi quite obviously wrote more than a few great rock and roll songs, he almost always had something important to say, and he always said it in a poetic way.

4.SINGING TALENT

As a professional rock and roll singer, it’s hats off time to Mick. Oh, I’ll get big arguments about that but people who would argue the point don’t understand rock and roll singing. It’s not about range, power, or technical perfection. It’s all about emotion and style. Mick knows how to sing without necessarily using words. Like Robert Plant, he often uses sounds alone to express emotions. A case in point is “Going Home” on the Aftermath album which consists of 11 minutes of Mick having sex with a microphone. Jimi Hendrix was actually embarrassed by his own singing because as a great musician, he recognized and understood the great singers. In the recording studio, he was the master of guitar but he recorded his vocals over and over and over again until he got something that he could just live with. But I put Jimi in the same class as Bob Marley and Bob Dylan. These are great artists who were all perfectly capable of putting across their own unique songs in a way that nobody else can. I’m not a fan of Dylan’s voice and when The Byrds recorded Dylan songs, they did a good job but they lack Dylan’s sarcasm and his almost bored feeling with his own poetic brilliance. I’m a big fan of Bob Marley and I like his voice, but I recognize that he’s not a great singer. It just so happens that I love Jimi’s voice. I hear Bob Dylan’s influence and I know that Jimi was a fan of Bob’s voice and of his lyrics. But Jimi did something very unusual vocally and in the theater, it’s called an “aside”. Jimi had a wonderful habit of flipping off little spoken phrases, very often interrupting himself while he was singing and it came off as being totally COOL. When it comes to singers, people either like them or they don’t and all I can say is that as a professional singer, Jimi’s voice works for me big time.

5.SEXUAL AURA

Every rock star has it. Jimi had too much of it for one man. I’m wildly hetero but I’m wowed by the sexual aura that surrounds Jimi on film. I was lucky enough to see him one time in person and I can testify that he was as HOT as it’s possible for a human being to be in the flesh. There are an uncountable number of women who would be quite willing to testify about Jimi’s abilities in the bedroom.

So in conclusion, it’s not necessary to be a great musician to be a rock star, just like it’s not necessary to be a great actor to be a movie star. This should be self evident and there are way too many examples in both fields to start listing them. But Jimi was a genius guitar player, a unique and atomicly powerful performer, a great songwriter, a very good singer, a super nova sex star, and a world class personality on top of everything else. That’s why I call Jimi Hendrix the Number One Rock Star of All Time.

The Importance Of The Electric Car

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If you are like most people and driving and other forms of travel is essential to your work and life otherwise than this article is for you. With gasoline prices finally getting as high in this country as they have been in the rest of the world for some time people are starting to feel the crunch that it is causing on their budgets. Enter the electric car the so called savior of personal transportation in this country.

The technology that makes the electric car possible has been with us for decades now. There is little reason for them not to be mainstream now other than the fact that oil has been a huge part of our economy and that we use so much that we have been getting bargain prices for all of these years. Now that the bargains are vanishing though alternative fuel sources and other alternative means of getting around are becoming more priority as expected.

This is making a lot of people happy too. Lots of people are especially worried about the environment and the effect of burning so many fossil fuels and creating the green house gases responsible for global warming. This is especially true now that Al Gores movie has been released raising the concern to new heights. So besides the economy of the electric car the cleanliness with respect to the environment is also a major appeal.

The electric car is not the only new form of transportation that is on the table however. The hybrid cars are receiving stiff competition from other alternative fuels like ethanol and hydrogen cells. These are both very renewable sources of energy and have very clean working engines. The hydrogen cells are especially cool because the only byproduct of combustion in this engine is water! Nothing could be cleaner than the environment than water. Well see probably in 20 years when hydrogen cells are mainstream we will find out that the extra production of water is going to flood our country with rising sea levels and throw the planets spin off kilter or some crap like that. But for now I am excited with all of this new technology.

Relief from Neck Pains Which Arise Due to Long Hours of Sitting In Front Of a Computer

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These days every third person has a job in which a computer or a laptop is a must. This has helped millions of companies to achieve great productivity but at the same time workers often keep complaining about pain in their neck and shoulder. In this scenario, it becomes vital to perform some exercises for neck & shoulder muscles. There are some really easy, less time consuming and effective stretching exercises for your neck & shoulder that can help a great deal in relieving stress pain in your neck and shoulder.

Spill Control: Preventing Exposure to Contaminants

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In today’s work environment, professionals who come in contact with blood and fluid waste products run the risk of exposure to potentially infectious hazards. In my particular industry, aviation, the chance of someone coming into contact with an unknown substance can be great, particularly for in-flight crew. There are a variety of products on the market that can help prevent or limit your exposure including the two featured herein.

One product to consider to help promote a safe clean up is SAFETECS Red-Z. Red-Z works by simply sprinkling the encapsulator on spilled blood, urine, vomit or other potentially hazardous waste and the fluid is encapsulated in seconds. Just scoop-up the granulated gel and dispose in accordance with facility policy.

VIONEX Antimicrobial Towelettes provide significant germ killing effectiveness with a sturdy, textured towel for thorough scrubbing. The towel is saturated with enough germ killing and cleansing solution to cover the hands and more. Use VIONEX towelettes to safely and effectively remove blood and body fluids from any skin surface. Each towelette is individually pouched to assure effectiveness and they are easily carried and available when you need them.

VIONEX towelettes meet OSHA’s standard for use as an “antiseptic towelette”. You can choose VIONEX No Rinse Gel or the Towelette, when soap and water are not available.

While this article is not an endorsement of either product, items such as these can go a long way in offering to you effective protection.

Accurate Psychic Readings

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Psychic readers are often trivialized as fortune-tellers at the local fair. However, an effective psychic reader has the ability to address mental and emotional issues, such as pitfalls and bad relationships and how to deal with them; accurate counseling can help seekers address the core of the issue and make better progress in all aspects of their life.

However, doubts on a psychic readers credibility begin to crop up when a prediction goes awry. For instance, a psychic may predict that a major shift in the seekers relationship will occur in about a year. But when that year is up, and he finds himself in the same relationship, he tends to assume the prophecy was erroneous. Unfortunately, it is not so straightforward.

A psychic readers prophecy is not an engraving set in stone. Accuracy is very important in a psychic reading but, in every seekers individual life, free will is supreme. Psychic readers do not usually see an inflexible, predestined event. They see the patterns at work in the seekers life and how and when they are likely to manifest into certain events IF his current momentum remains unchanged.

Accuracy must also reflect a psychic’s ability to offer lucid insights that a seeker could then apply to the issue in a practical manner. In the context of a bad relationship or marriage for instance, a seeker may be told, “Your relationship is coming to an end,” followed by an account of why that is being seen. Whether it is overwhelming job responsibilities or a bad temperament, why a relationship is heading towards disaster is more important than whether it will end. When the seeker begins to understand why things are going wrong and takes measure to rectify it, he takes the first step towards making a change, thus altering the psychic readers ominous prophecy.

A Guide To Salzburg Austria

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Salzburg, Austria is perhaps best known as the birthplace of Mozart. The city is home to numerous music and drama festivals throughout the year. The movie The Sound of Music was filmed in this city and is a popular tourist attraction. The alpine setting of this city gives it a unique charm. There are many sites to see and lots to do here.

Accommodations

There are many hotels in the city to fit every taste and budget. Prices vary widely from many affordable hotels to more luxury hotels with higher price tags. The internet is a good source of reviews of the many hotels in the city. You can view pictures and read descriptions of the various hotels before choosing your accommodations.

Vacation packages are available online or through a travel agent. These can save money, compared to booking your flight and accommodations separately. Do some research before visiting a travel agent or booking online into some of the hotels available in the city. Decide if you want to be in the inner city or farther out.

Sightseeing

Salzburgs Old City is the center of the city and the most historic area. It is considered one of the most aesthetically beautiful cities in Europe. The area has many old footbridges to walk and pedestrian only areas for sightseeing. Horse and buggy tours of the area are also available. If you need a break from the city, consider walking the many paths outside the city to relax and enjoy the quiet and beauty of nature.

Salzburg is home to many old churches, most in the Baroque style. The cathedral in the center of town dates back to the 17th century. The architecture of these old churches gives the city its unique character. Some to see include: St. Sebastians, St. Michaels, St. Johns and St. Peters Abbey.

Mozarts Birthplace has been renovated to the original apartments inhabited by the family. The room where he was born and the room where he composed most of his famous works are still open for tours. Guided tours are available the first Sunday of each moth. This is where the composer lived until 1773. Mozarts Residence is located nearby and is where he lived from 1773 to 1780. There are exhibits related to the family and the works of Mozart.

Fans of the Sound of Music often love visiting Salzburg. The movie was filmed here. You can tour locations throughout the city that were featured in the film. A tour bus playing music from the movie takes you around to all the locations featured in the film.

Mirabelle Palace is open for tour. The ornate palace is also home to amazing gardens with statues of mythical figures. Heckentheater on the West Side is the oldest Hedge Theater north of the Alps. This was constructed in the 1700s as an outdoor theatre. On the same site is the Zivergegarten, which is a dwarf garden.

Hohensalzburg Fortress is another popular tourist attraction in the city. The fortress was first constructed in the year 1077 and expansions were done in 1160 and again in the 15th and 16th centuries during the Hungarian War. This is the largest fortress in all of central Europe. It was very effective and was never conquered by enemy armies. The fortress is open year round for tours.

An Introduction to Shrink Wrap Machinery

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The shrink wrap process involves two stages the enveloping of the pack in shrink wrap either totally or partially and the application of heat to the shrink wrap film which activates the materials memory of its non-stretched molecular chains.

The application of shrink wrap can be divided into two principal types transit and display.

Transit

The purpose of transit packaging is to offer the lowest cost option for packaging. The material used is almost exclusively polyethylene, which will provide the appropriate strength at the lowest available cost. A typical application is the collation of individual packs with or without tray support. The most frequent use of the forgoing involves the packaging of a quantity of cans or bottles or cartons for distribution.

The equipment used involves a sleeve or bundle sealer working in conjunction with a shrink tunnel. Two rolls of material produce a sleeve of film around the pack, which is then processed through the tunnel. Generally, these open sleeves do not cause any disadvantages to the pack integrity although a modification can be made to the tunnel whereby an attempt is made to have the hole closed through excess, annealed film.

A considerable amount of automation is offered for this process so that one may find a full range of manual, semi and fully automatic sealers and at maximum through-put, one can find lines with speeds of up to 200 packs per minute.

The processing of polyethylene is distinguished by the need for the shrink wrap film to reach an almost melt state, after which cooling will provide significant additional shrink. As a consequence, tunnels require specific cooling devices if elevated output speeds are needed.

All of this equipment may be used to wrap individual packs where collation is not required but a degree of protection is needed. Applications may vary from radiators through to office doors and bolts of cloth.

Display

The identical processes are also applied but with display shrink film where products have a natural requirement to use a sleeve. Gift wrap and wallpaper rolls fall into this category. The principles remain the same although both the sealer and tunnel will be modified to accommodate individual rolls with appropriately small diameters.

Turning to mainstream display applications, the main characteristic is the use of a total wrap.

In every single case, the sealer must now create a flat, two-dimensional bag around the product.

The product and this bag are then processed through a shrink tunnel to achieve the desired effect.

At the most basic level, this is achieved using an L-Sealer and folded film. The product is manually placed between the two layers of film and again manually placed into the sealer. The seal is completed and the pack placed on the tunnel conveyor. This is a continuous process that also produces an element of scrap film.

Automation is applied to the seal head and also to the pack support. Then, the seal process and the removal of the pack to the tunnel become automated. Generally, this is regarded as semi-automation. The clamping of the sealer head will be carried out using either a solenoid or a pneumatic ram.

Full automation of an L-sealer will allow packs to be automatically fed into the film and through to the sealer.

Manual vs. Automatic

Over the last few years, there has been a general polarisation of the above machines into manual and fully automatic, with relatively few machines being used in semi-automatic form. A manual machine will produce in the order of 10 packs per minute whilst a fully automatic will produce in the order of 20 packs per minute and there is relatively little speed advantage to be gained from a semi-automatic sealer.

Costs also have a significant influence here since entry level equipment can be purchased at significantly less than 2000 pounds whilst fully automatic shrink wrap machinery can be purchased at significantly less than 20,000 pounds.

The conventional use of a manual sealer and tunnel has been significantly reduced by the use of combined seal and shrink machines, commonly referred to as chamber equipment. These machines have a particularly small foot print and operate generally from single phase. The sealer head incorporates a plastic enclosure whilst heat is stored within the unit so that a combined seal and shrink can take place.

The maximum output that can be achieved from a fully automatic sealer will be in the order of 25-35 packs per minute.

As a consequence, both side seal and flow wrap machines are used to offer speeds approaching 100 packs per minute. The methodology remains the same as ever to wrap the pack in a two dimensional bag of shrink wrap film.

Frequently, flat film is used although folded film is still applied by a number of machines. The sealer will be able to process individual packs at a much higher rate through the ability to seal at an appropriately higher rate.

Cross seals involve the seal device travelling with the pack whilst side seal or overlap seal mechanisms allow for film to be sealed continuously.

These same machines may be applied to other bagging requirements in particular the mailing of magazines.

Machinery can be specifically customised to take advantage of any shrink wrap films particular attributes to allow an appropriate pack to be achieved. One example of the foregoing is the modification of this process to allow for modified atmosphere packaging of food using barrier shrink film.

December 30, 2011

Finding Cheap Auto Parts

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Running a car can be an expensive business these days, especially with the continually rising cost of petrol/gas. The last thing that most car owners need is the added expense of replacing worn out parts. The majority of people rely on their local auto shop to find the parts, and then fit them. There is a far cheaper way, and that is to source your own parts from an auto salvage yard.

Auto salvage yards, as their name suggests, specialise in salvaging autos, or more specifically auto parts. The way that they work is simple; they take junk cars and strip them down, keeping any parts that are still in working order. These parts are then sold to anyone who wants to buy them at a much lower price than a new part would be. You could find the part that you are looking for, and save yourself a lot of money. Of course, it would be ideal if you could fit the part on your car yourself, but just buying the part from an auto salvage yard can save you a considerable amount even if you have to pay a mechanic to fit it.

The key to buying from an auto salvage yard is to spend a lot of time looking for the part that you need. There may be a lot, or a little, but you should always shop around to find the best part for you. Some auto salvage yards will recondition parts, while others will simply sell them as seen. If you dont know much about cars it is a good idea to take a friend with you who does. The last thing you want to do is to buy a part from an auto salvage yard and think that you have found a bargain, but then find that it isnt the right part for your car or not in working order.

The other way that you can use an auto salvage yard is to actually sell them your scrap car. All cars eventually reach the end of their working life, but you may find that you might get a little money from a salvage yard for your rusting hulk. At the end of the day, thats better than nothing. Be prepared to negotiate a price and dont take the first offer that they make you.

Avoiding Dirt Bike Accidents

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Is there any way I can avoid dirt bike accidents?

The quick answer to this questions is no, you will inevitably have a dirt bike accident during your time as a dirt bike racer. Its simply a matter of time, however you should be able to limit the number and severity of your accidents by the way you ride and the attitude you have when youre on the back of your bike.

Does attitude really play a part in reducing dirt bike accidents?

Absolutely, but theres a fine line that you need to be on, and riding on either side of the line can result in an accident. If you have little or no confidence then you are probably going to crash, albeit at low speed but even low speed accidents can hurt; especially if you are hit by someone who isnt doing such a low speed. A lack of confidence usually tends to mean a lack of practise so practise somewhere very quiet and gain as much confidence as you can in both your ability and your bikes behaviour.

On the other flip side of the coin, though, you can be too confident and become reckless and dangerous. This will probably lead to more dangerous accidents for you and possibly other riders around you. The trick here is to be confident but not too cocky when it comes to your riding.

Knowledge is power, even concerning dirt bike accidents.

The more you know all the factors involved in your dirt bike racing the more chance you have of dirt bike racing being a fun and less dangerous sport. Get to know your bikes abilities, your own abilities and as much as you can about the course before you start trying to break any records or win any races. This is where the fine line comes into it. If youre racing a track blind you still need to have the confidence to get out there and ride fast enough to make an impact. If possible walk around the track before and see what youre up against, even better watch some riders practising and see what theyre doing; where theyre going wrong and where theyre doing well.

Dirt bike accidents can hurt like hell and do damage to you and your bike. If you know enough about your bike and your track and you have the right level of confidence then there is no reason why you shouldnt be able to race for years with only a few less serious accidents; but do bear in mind that accidents are basically a part and parcel of dirt bike racing and they will happen to you eventually.

A Time before Clock and Watches A Series (part 1)

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How Time Was Measured Before the Clock

How many times have you wondered, What time is it? and turned to your wrist only to find you forgot to put on your watch. We have become so programmed to know what time it is and schedule our lives around it that it is second nature to bend your arm, turn your wrist and get the answer. It has not always been so easy, or even necessary as you will see by looking back to a time before clocks and watches.

Like Night and Day

The precision with which we measure time today is light years away from how it was done, not so long ago. Time was once measured completely by the universe around us and still is in a sense when you understand the science and physics behind the measurement of time and what makes a clock work (more on this in part 2). What earlier civilizations knew and relied upon each day was that the sun came up and went down and that block of time became a day. To measure greater expanses, the moon and its reliable cycles were also observed. The moon was used to measure the time period which came to be known as a month more technically a lunar month of 28 days or the time it took for the moon to go from new to crescent to full and new again.

Ancient Civilization

Even more than just observing the moon, sun, and planets, there are artifacts that show us that time was measured a bit more precisely. Early calendars and clocks were found in what is now Iraq, once the dwelling place of the ancient Sumerians, and consisted of a calendar that was divided into 30 day segments according to the cycle of the moon. It was then divided into 12 sections which corresponded to 2 hours of todays time. Further, the calendar was sectioned off into 30 more parts equivalent to 4 modern-day minutes.

Stonehenge is located in England and was built more than 4,000 years ago. Not much is completely understood about this mysterious structure, but the way it is positioned has scientists believing that it somehow was used to record seasons and the phenomenon of lunar eclipses and the like.

Sundials

The Sumerian culture passed away without the information about their timekeeping being discovered until more modern times. The next phase of more precise time measurement was used by the Egyptians. They created the Obelisk around 3500 BC which looked like todays Washington Monument, well-known to visitors of the Nations capital. This tall, tapered monument would cast shadows throughout the day, but was primitive still in how closely the time periods could be measured. It mostly reflected a change between morning and afternoon, and how the days would get shorter or longer with the seasons.

The sundial on the other hand was first used about 1500 BC and was a much smaller and more portable timekeeping device. It was divided into 10 equal parts with two additional segments representing twilight and dawn. The sundial itself then emerged from a horizontal plate to a bowl shape with pointer and inscribed lines to mark off the hours. It is believed that by 30 BC there were more than 13 different styles of sundials used in the evolving societies of Asia Minor, Italy, and Greece.

When one thinks about the precision of a finely crafted Swiss timepiece it is hard to imagine a time when time was so ambiguous. Could society function without time measurements to the very minute?? Perhaps in another millennium society will wonder how we functioned living in just one time.

This is the first of a series of articles on the evolution of time measuring and how timepieces come to become what they are today.

Why Every Kid Loves Skateboards

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There are many things in life that I will never understand. The amount of things that I don’t understand has increased significantly since I became a mother and began to watch my kid’s choices and preferences as they got older. I couldn’t understand why my daughter wanted to wear such an ugly shirt with pants that clearly didn’t match it, and I definitely couldn’t understand it when my junior high aged son came home wanting to get his ears pierced. Being a mother definitely adds mystery to my life. Up until recently, the fact that all kids seemed to love skateboards was a mystery to me.

I began to recognize the phenomenon of skateboards when my own three children asked for them for Christmas a few years ago. I thought it was strange that they all wanted the same thing, yet when I asked them about it they said that literally everybody they knew was asking for skateboards that year. So my husband and I went out after researching the best skateboards for their ages and novice abilities, and we purchased three skateboards to place under the tree on Christmas morning.

From the moment our children opened their skateboards they were hooked. They haven’t stopped using their skateboards almost daily even still, three years later. It is by far the most loved and best used gifts we have ever purchased for them. Since that Christmas day I have spent countless hours at our local skateboarding park watching my children play with their friends on skateboards. Usually I bring a blanket and a good book and enjoy a morning at the park while I watch. I’m so intrigued by the whole place, however, that I rarely get a chapter read.

I’ve learned that kids love skateboards because they love the freedom, the adventure and the risk that skateboards give. In small proportions, kids love the thrill that skateboards allow them to have. They love learning a new trick or showing off a skill for their friends. I’ve learned that skateboarding is a healthy way for kids to burn energy and to learn how to relate with other kids. A skateboarding park is quite a social gathering place, and I am thankful that my children are learning to relate with all kinds of people simply because of their skateboards.

So parents, take my advice. If your child wants a skateboard, be the first to encourage them. Yes, it is risky and hence there is potential danger involved, but it is a healthy way to let your children experiment with adventure and learn to make friends in the process.

Computer Consulting: Some General Tips

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To run a successful computer consulting practice, you need to be able to deliver on that end-to-end solution. Have a good service agreement ready to go. Have an IT audit checklist. Have partnering agreements. Be prepared to take your clients from the beginning to the end of the process with you.

Computer Consulting Service Agreements

If you dont propose the service agreements to your customers, your small business decision makers probably won’t ask for them. You have to tell your computer consulting clients that this is how you work with other customers. You build mutually beneficial relationships where your company essentially becomes your computer department.

Take Your Prospect from Free to Fee

You need to learn how to take your prospects from free to fee. You should never spend several hours on just a proposal. A proposal has no value added and it leaves you in commodity status. That numbers game you don’t want to play – it’s not very high profit.

Tackle One Thing At a Time

Pick one thing a week for next several weeks and just start working on it. Whether its coming up with a couple different marketing ideas you can work with, whether its coming up with a service agreement that you can start marketing to your existing computer consulting clients, or whether its coming up with customizing the IT audit package.

Start getting your ducks in order. You should be getting your plans in place and building up your network. Make sure you have everything ready so you can hit the ground running. Be ready to do a full frontal assault on the marketplace to let your slice of the market know that youre out there.

Don’t focus on reaching everyone. Define who youre trying to reach and limit the size and scope.

Consider Yourself an Outsourced IT Department

If you think of the five or six different functions that small businesses need, from the needs analysis, the project management, the training, the desktop rollouts, the desktop fixes, the server, setting up and configuring the servers, maintaining the servers, and build your computer consulting business around that, your business will grow.

Additionally, it will give your client the single point of contact that they really desperately want. The number one responsibility is to think of yourself as your computer consulting clients outsourced IT department.

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Enjoy Carving A Pumpkin

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I am surprised how many people I talk to that have missed out on some of the most foundational experiences of childhood. I love counseling couples and families and helping them find creative ways to spend family time together and to enjoy the smallest things in life together. So as I worked with a family last fall, I suggested that they spend the upcoming Saturday doing nothing but carving pumpkins together.

I was astounded and a little bit frustrated when the three children looked at each other and then to their parents without the slighest clue of what I was suggesting. They had never carved a pumpkin. But not only that, these children had also never even purchased pumpkins for their front porch during the harvest season. Their parents laughed with a bit of embarrassment and tried to justify the situation to me.

I wasn’t interested in hearing excuses about why the kids were deprived of such a normal and fun childhood experience like choosing and carving a pumpkin. Instead, I just wanted to hear these parents verbalize a commitment to their children to spend Saturday rectifying the situation. In any family therapy session it is important to not look backward too far but instead to look to what can be improved for the future.

So spending time carving a pumpkin is simply a metaphor for the fact that families need to spend time together. Our culture is surrounded by families who are literally falling apart from the insides out, and I think that lack of time spent together is one of the most significant and solvable problems attacking families. Taking an afternoon to carve a pumpkin, bake cookies or go for a hike is something that all too many families see as a foreign concept.

If you have or are planning to have a family of your own, then make a commitment now to make family time a priority. Let it be important to you to spend time with the people that you love the most. Go to a pumpkin patch and each pick out a special pumpkin to spend time carving. Or walk through the park and stop for hot chocolates. Whatever you do, just be intentional about spending time together and about getting to know each member of your family in fun situations. Your life, the lives of your family, and our world will all be better as families really take seriously the need for good family time.

Improve Your Soccer Stamina

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:18 am

A fitter player and, more importantly, a fitter team can play at a faster pace for a longer period of time. Fitness and player stamina is what sets apart professional and part-time teams, especially when they play in all or nothing matches such as the FA Cup where there is no middle ground for a draw. Stamina training in soccer is just a party of getting and remaining fit for the entire season. A player requires strength to keep the ball and win the match and this means the player must be able to sprint, accelerate and move quickly around the field for 90 minutes.

The warm-up is an essential part of injury prevention, vital when your star player is earning 70,000 a week and will pick this up whether he plays or is sitting out injured. To improve your fitness and agility, start off with five minutes of jogging on the spot followed by high knees, heel flicks, jumping jacks and then five minutes of stretching. You can also perform press ups, squat thrusts, lateral raises by using dumbbells or resistance bands, crunches, dips and sit to stand using the dumbbells. Instead of running at a continuous pace, mix up the routine with running, jogging and sprinting in a random manner.

You can start by jogging for five minutes, then sprint for 20 yards, slow jog for 100 yards, cruise for 200 yards, backward running for 20 yards, turn and sprint for 30 yards, walk for 50 yards and then jog again for 300 yards more. When you finish your training session, stretch the hamstrings, groins, quads, calves and lower back for between 20 to 30 seconds to allow your muscles to recuperate properly.

Soccer demands a high level of stamina, thus endurance training is an essential part of any professional soccer training programme. It serves as a great confidence booster when you can see your opponent fading during the later stages of a match and you have reserves to use and take advantage of. Endurance training is a must that requires a solid aerobic base so that you remain active in the playing field for a long period of time.

Stamina fitness training for soccer players include activities like jogging, hill running, cycling and shuttle runs. It requires certain exercise equipments like cross-trainer, stair climbers and treadmills. Sprint training includes shuttle runs, relay runs, and the pattern of sprint-walk-jog. For sprinting, a strong drive is required. The upper body should be relaxed. Strength training includes circuit training and weight training.

You can easily perform some of the activities for improving your overall stamina:

A full squat with bodyweight
Clean and press seven-tenths of their weight overhead
Curl six-tenths of their weights
Hop 25km distance in 10 hops on each leg (if you are feeling especially masochistic!)
40 press-ups in one minute
40 bent-knee abdominals in one minute
40 squat thrusts in one minute
Eight chins (male) and three chins (female).

Stamina is developed by completing rounds of continuous activity at moderate intensities, performed for longer than three minutes. The general-endurance component of run-play training has a middle distance event where you carry out a cool run of 2000-3000 metres at around 70 to 75 per cent of maximal heart rate.

Stamina training also includes a distance events where you have to to try a cool run of 3000-5000 metres at about 70 to 75 per cent of maximal heart rate.

December 29, 2011

Mystical Abstract Art

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 8:02 pm

When attempts have been made to describe a work of abstract art many people have used words like “feelings”, “emotions”, and “soul”. I think these words are clues to what is actually happening within both the viewer and the artist.

The world of art and the environment of the mystical go back a long way together with many facets in common with one another – one being that they both seek to look into a deep unknown – and then seek to manifest it into this physical world by one means or another.

Therefore it is understandable that a non-representational picture can be difficult to comment on. The viewer might be “moved” by the artwork, but they may not really know why. I believe it has something to do with their sleeping soul being gently (or violently) shaken into a specific awareness. The earthy physical body may have very little understanding as to what might be happening, so they are left to struggle in explaining a spiritual concept from a physical point of view.

However, as an artist who has acquired (and lives by) a little understanding of certain spiritual aspects, here are my offerings of what I believe happens when a viewer comes across a mystical abstract painting.

In order to do that I want to present the whole episode from all aspects:

The Spirit
One of the Spirit’s major intentions is to bring spiritual understanding into the physical realm. One way to do that is to enter time and manifest a potential opportunity for a receptive body. That receptive body can either be the person being offered the opportunity – or the messenger of it. If they are the messenger then there are many ways in which that message can be put across … and one of them is by producing a provocative illustration or allegory in the form of an abstract painting.

The Messenger
… Or Artist in this case … Or more specifically an artist who is prone to take note of their own inner enigmatic visuals. Once inspired the artist then sets about translating these visions into a personal style of depiction. I think it is quite probable that many an artist will be unconscious of what exactly they are putting down upon the canvas … all they might know is that there is an urgent complusion to work with particular colours, or in a specific style.

The Art
A personalized manifestation of the inner visuals … portrayed on board or canvas – or any other handy appropriate medium at the time. The artist lets the visual take shape in their mind and allows for interpretation into the physical world … which results in an artwork of surreal allegory, or be-riddled story, or just a simple abstract presentation of specific colours or shapes. Each element of the art will include (or be) a potential key ready to allow the appropriate viewer entrance into its intriguing yet creative environment.

The Viewer
A receptive observer viewing the art may initially have an indefinable affinity with it. They are perhaps first emotionally drawn to the image before them. And as their thoughts begin to trigger other thoughts, gradual realizations start to become apparent … gaining strength until they acquire a personal creative understanding seen only by themselves but which may eventually involve others who come into contact with them.

The Gift
The originally unknown vision now begins to unfold its truth within the receptive viewer. This can be in many guises … a simple affirmation … a personal revelation … a specific spiritual, mental, or inner encouragement … an energizing edification for a hungry or floundering soul … offering a sense of contentment within a challenging situation … This gift can be as simple or as complicated as is required for the viewer. Its influence can be timeless – remaining relevant over a period of days, weeks, months, or years.

So the next time you seek to produce a piece of art or decide to visit a gallery do not hesitate or dwell upon any lack within you … rather open your eyes (after all they are supposed to be the windows of the body) and prepare yourself to either see in order to create – or see in order to receive.

9 Simple Tailgating Tips for Beginners that Will Make You Feel Like a Pro

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 2:06 pm

Many people nowadays are getting interested in tailgating. If you haven’t tried ir and you want to throw a successful tailgating party that no one will ever forget, then this article is for you.

Here are 9 things you need to consider as a beginner in tailgating:

1.Before having a party, be sure that you have already packed up the things you need. Assess all the things you need like chairs, tables, trash bags and other things that you think you might need and pack them into your vehicle. Make sure also that you are ready with the foods that you will be bringing. You should learn the proper way of packing the foods. The last food to be packed must be the first one to use. Being prepared will ensure a smooth running tailgate party, an essential aspect for any party.

2.Checking the location where you are planning to do your tailgating should be done a day before you plan to party. Make sure that you have the correct space for a big party.

3.Filling up your propane tanks for cooking should be the one thing you should never forget. Do not just assume that it is full, instead you should go and check it out and see for yourself.

4.Separating your raw meats and your ready-to-eat foods and beverages should be observed. You should have a separate cooler for each of them in order to avoid bad smells and spoiling the food.

5.It is more advisable to the beginners to have freeze-bottled water or drinks to be use for cooling rather than putting loose ice. In this way, you can observe cleanliness and orderliness while tailgating. There will be no water scattering on the floor because of the loose and melted ice.

6. Fly flags, balloons or anything that can be use for recognition in order for your guests to have an easy way in locating you.

7.Food should always be ready so that anytime your guests or participants wants to eat, you are ready and you will not be panickingto cook to order.

8. After grilling, you should remove the ashes and keep them in a heavy-duty foil and dip them completely in water before allowing it to be placed in a container which is non-combustible in order to observe cleanliness.

9. Lastly, remember that after the party is over, you should clean up your own mess. Bring plenty of trash bags and recycling bags to be able to dispose all your garbage cans and bottles. Put everything in its proper places.

By doing all of these things, you can consider yourself as one of the pros in tailgating.

Beautiful Designs Found With A Quilting Template

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: — admin @ 10:16 am

Quilting is a long cherished skill that has passed down through families for generations. Grandmothers taught mothers who taught daughters the techniques required to produce beautifully crafted quilts that would be admired for years to come. Anyone who has quilted knows the inordinate amount of patience it takes to cut and compile the mosaic of patterns that together will make a stunning quilt. But the often overlooked fact of modern quilting is the quilting template, making the art of quilting much less difficult to master.

Work From Home You Can Work In The Nude If You So Desire

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — admin @ 6:23 am

Hello all you wonderful people out there. Do you have to force yourselves to get up every morning? Do you gulp down a cup of coffee while one arm is trying to find its way into your shirt sleeve? Do you ever count the number of wasted hours youre stuck in traffic jams? Well folks, that is definitely not my idea of fun!

My idea of fun is to work from home. I decide when to get up, what assignments to accept, how many hours a day I want to put in, and when to walk from home to office to home by simply crossing the threshold from one room to another.

Prior to relocating to Jaffa I ran a work from home business: typing, proofreading, editing, and translating. I could work in the middle of the night if I felt like it. I would simply put on a bathrobe and slippers and patter downstairs to my home office. I could also organize my work day around my home chores. As a single parent raising two teenage daughters this was a great arrangement. I wont deny that sometimes my dual responsibilities clashed. Still, I was my very own work from home boss!

Having made a career change I now write website articles for all you wonderful people out there. I work out of the confines of my cozy Jaffa apartment. I can work in the nude if I so desire. It wouldnt make any difference to anyone. I think I do my best work from this home job set up and I believe this to be a real earn extra income opportunity. However, time will be the judge of that.

Meanwhile my friends, enjoy!

Self-Growth: When Everything Falls Apart

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 12:07 am

We often have the perception that self-growth will be simple, enjoyable, and rewarding. It certainly can be, but there is also another aspect of the self-growth journey that is rarely mentioned. And that is, when everything falls apart.

One of the major parts of self-growth is learning how to look inside yourself and get clear about certain things. Most often, this involves recognizing and dissolving inner blockages. These are usually deep-rooted beliefs that we formed in childhood, or at least the early part of our lives. Sounds good, right? It’s very good, actually, because these beliefs are usually what prevent us from living fully productive lives. These are the beliefs that keep us stuck in self-destructive patterns and have a negative effect on all aspects of our lives. So dissolving them is an excellent idea.

The problem is that these deep-rooted beliefs are part of the foundation upon which our current lives are built. When we dissolve inner blockages, there are suddenly gaping holes in our foundation, which cannot support what is resting above them. Inevitably, something will slip down into the hole, causing pain and turmoil and terror.

That’s what happened to me this week. My eyes were opened in a big way about a blockage I had been struggling with since early childhood. I finally felt totally clear on why it was there, and I understood exactly what I needed to do to dissolve it. So, I set about doing just that — and then everything fell apart. That’s the understatement of the century. Everything I thought I knew about my life suddenly became a lie, and I was shaken to my very core.

I spent a couple of days feeling shell-shocked. Then another couple of days grieving. Then the light dawned. Finally, I understood what was happening, and I could see clearly how everything is interconnected. It was no accident that everything fell apart just when I was finally making progress on my inner blockages. They fell apart BECAUSE I was making progress on my inner blockages.

As painful as it is, it’s a good thing, because my life circumstances were built on lies. The lies were the early beliefs I had formed about myself since childhood. Once I began changing those beliefs, my life circumstances began changing also. Change is good, but it can also be scary and painful as hell. It is necessary however, because in order to build something better, we need to tear down what already exists.

In my own experiences, I’ve noticed that there is a direct correlation between the size of the blockages we dissolve, and the magnitude of destruction it causes in our lives. If we dissolve a small blockage, something small will fall apart in relation. Maybe our car will break down, or we will develop a minor illness. When we dissolve a very LARGE blockage, something equally as large will begin to slide into the abyss. Our marriage might fall apart. Or we might lose our job. Or we might experience a more serious illness or accident. As frightening as this sounds, it’s a very important part of the process because it makes us sit up and take notice! Most often, the parts of our lives that begin to fall apart weren’t that great to begin with. They didn’t serve our higher purpose, even though we may have felt comfortable with them.

So, how do we deal with the pain and fear when everything falls apart? Our first reaction might be to run away to avoid feeling the pain. Another reaction might be to try and put everything back the way it was before it fell apart. But doing so only delays the process. Remember that the destruction is necessary in order to make room for the rebuilding of something better.

In order to complete the process, we need to stay with it. Yes, there will likely be pain and discomfort involved. There will be fear. There will be anger and grief. But there will also be an awakening deeper than any we have experienced before, and our eyes will be opened in powerful ways.

Here’s how to stay with the process through its completion:

1) Look closer. When everything falls apart, pay special attention to the exact circumstances that have begun deteriorating. This gives you a BIG clue about the biggest lies (limiting beliefs you have formed) about yourself, and your life. Look for the connection between the blockages you are dissolving, and the circumstances that are coming apart at the seams. For example, if you have begun exploring your true talents and abilities, and then you suddenly lose your job, a little introspection may help you to realize that your job didn’t allow you to USE those talents and abilities, so it needed to be removed to make way for a more fulfilling career. Sometimes the connections can be a little more vague and you may have to dig a little deeper. It may take some time to fully understand how everything is related, but if you keep at it, you will come to understand it and you can then use that knowledge to rebuild something better.

2) Grieve. Yes, you MUST allow yourself to grieve! Just because the old circumstances were built on “lies” doesn’t mean you won’t feel a sense of loss and sadness as they unravel. Allow yourself to go through that. Cry as much as you need to, and stay with the sadness for as long as necessary to move completely through it.

3) Follow through with the destruction. As much as you might want to try and “fix” everything immediately, don’t do it yet. Instead, take an active role in continuing the destruction of that which no longer serves you. Hell yes, it’s going to hurt. But at the same time, it will be so incredibly freeing and empowering. Maybe for the first time in your life, you will feel in control of your circumstances. You will be choosing to release self-limiting beliefs, and free yourself from self-destructive patterns. This “destruction” process can take many forms, but it usually involves releasing circumstances that no longer correspond with your newly emerging beliefs, such as unproductive relationships, unfulfilling jobs, etc. Be willing to let them go, and prepare yourself for the creation of something more meaningful.

4) Form new beliefs. Once you dissolve your old beliefs, you will need to form new beliefs to take their place. Usually this means replacing limiting beliefs with empowering ones. This is a process all its own, and it will take time to fully reinforce the new beliefs in your mind and heart. A helpful activity is to write out the old beliefs, and then write your new (and usually opposite) beliefs right next to them. Example: Old belief, “I am not worthy of love.” New belief, “I am worthy of love. I deserve to be loved.” Then simply keep reinforcing these new beliefs until they become a strong part of your foundation.

5) Begin rebuilding. This is the fun part! It can be a bit confusing, however. What do we build? And how? Especially if the destruction process was particularly painful and life altering, we may feel at a loss about where to begin again. And the answer is: let your heart lead you. Think about what you really want your life to be, and then begin taking the steps to create it. That might involve getting an exciting new job, or moving to a new location, or building new relationships. The important thing is to be sure that your old beliefs have been replaced by new, empowering ones. Otherwise you will simply re-create circumstances that don’t serve you, and you’ll eventually have to go through the destruction process all over again! Listen closely to the urgings of your heart, and use them to guide you along the path to a better life.

This isn’t an easy process by any means. But it is oh so fulfilling and exhilarating if we embrace it and allow it to happen without fighting against the pain and fear. Through our trials and challenges come new levels of growth, wisdom, and inner strength beyond our wildest dreams. We just need to stay with the process and watch for the rainbows after the storm.

December 28, 2011

Boxing Gloves How To Choose The Right Ones

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 10:02 pm

Boxing has been a very popular sport for a very long time. But, its not only the athletes ability that is important, but also the equipment that he/she uses that matter. Boxing gloves are perhaps the most important thing a boxer needs to have before stepping into the ring. Choosing the right pair is a must to ensure the best performance possible.

If you plan to step into the boxing ring anytime soon, you know that you must first have the proper pair of boxing gloves for you. Before you buy your first pair of the familiar, red gloves, there are some things that you should know.

Leather gloves are usually the most recommended. Sure, they may cost a little more than boxing gloves made out of other materials, but they will definitely last longer as well as offer better support. If you want to use boxing gloves strictly for a fitness class, the material may not matter, but if you want to train it is definitely important.

The next thing to consider is how the gloves close. Boxing gloves of the classic style, usually seen in prize fights, are often tied onto the boxers hands with laces. As with your shoes, a pair of gloves with laces can ensure a very snug fit.

But, Velcro enclosures are another choice. The advantage to using boxing gloves that have Velcro straps is that they can easily be put on or removed by yourself and without the help of anyone else. In fact, for anyone who has tried to lace gloves up themselves and without anyone elses help, it is just about impossible. If you are just an average person who wants to use the gloves for general training purposes, then Velcro straps are ok for you to use.

The size of the boxing gloves that you choose is of great importance. The come in small, medium, and large, and also for men and women. Any average man will usually need a size large, while the average size boxing glove for a woman is a medium. The size can vary with different manufacturers, but it is usually standard.

Boxing gloves can weigh anywhere from 10 to 20 ounces, but those used in a professional boxing match are usually 10 ounces. If you plan to use the gloves for training, then the standard sizes are 12 ounce, 14 ounce, and 16 ounce. If you are looking for more protection, then a heavier glove is for you. If you are a beginner, then 14 or 16 ounce gloves are usually recommended. But if you plan to use them for sparring, 16 ounce gloves are the norm.

Most people think they must buy a glove that fits their hand, but this isnt the case. If possible, put 180 inch wraps on your hand when trying a glove on. By doing this, you can see how the feel will change with the handwrap and if a bigger size is needed.

When shopping for boxing gloves, also look for a great feature called a thumb attachment, or a thumb-lock. Most gloves made nowadays have this feature, which helps to prevent thumb injuries or any accidental eye gouges than can occur during a match.

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