He asked me if I entered the drawing for the free guitar licks.

15 April 2008

I went to a local music store for guitar strings. When my friend and I got together that night to practice, he asked me if I entered the drawing for the free guitar licks. I didn’t know what he was talking about. He said that the music store we frequent was having a drawing. If you purchased a guitar or any guitar accessories, you could register to win 100 free guitar licks. I didn’t enter the drawing, because I didn’t stop at that particular music store. I normally do, but I was on the other side of town, so I just stopped at the closest one. I paid more for my guitar strings, and I missed out on a chance to win guitar licks.

Erotic tattoos. Why are they so interesting?

12 April 2008

It does not seem to matter whether you are a hot girl with tattoos or a guy with a tattoo of a hot girl, erotic tattoos are super sexy.

Of course some of the first imagery that comes to mind when you say erotic tattoo is that of the pin up girls that sailors often got when on shore leave. Bikers are well known also for having some half naked tramp on an arm or leg, often resembling a female companion from one time or another in their life.
Now days the women in tattoo art are more complex and stylized than in days gone by though Betty Page and pin up girls are still among the top chosen.

Spring begins in northern Iowa

04 April 2008

Spring is coming! There is nothing like spring and its wonderful weather to bring an increase to northern Iowa tourism. Just seeing the snow melt away and the green grass take over brings a thrill to ones heart. It’s not  like it comes for free though, you do have to put up with the almost yearly flooding that happens when the snow melts faster than the rivers can take it away. Even that is a small price to pay for the wonders that follow. Once the creatures of the area get out from their hibernation and start to roam and explore the countryside you know that spring is truly on its way.

Pippa Small UK jewellery

31 March 2008

Born a Canadian, but raised in Wiltshire with an extended family of artists and bohemian wanderers, Pippa Small’s home was always full of cultural items taken from her many travels around the world. Pippa Small jewellery is all about this rich travel history, embedded into fine pieces of jewellery. Pippa was always attracted to minerals and crystals and she collected beads, used sea washed glass, bottle tops, laying these treasures in little piles throughout her home.  These personal items soon followed her around in the years, and she began to string these to make, for herself, a tactile diary of her life: a button from a loved ones shirt, a shell from a beautiful beach, a found treasure reminiscent of a person or place. 

Budding stars

27 March 2008

If you have a little girl who has expressed interest in taking dancing lessons, go ahead and let her give it a try.  But also be aware that when she performs in her first competition, that she’ll need to have an outfit to wear.  When you’re shopping for dancewear, it is very important to keep several things in mind.  First of all, you need to find a place that you can actually buy the dancewear.  There are a few places around town for sure, but there are also many vendors online.  Shop around and see what they charge for the type of outfit your daughter would need.  You’ll also need to know what kind of music your daughter is going to be performing to.  This will play a significant role in dictating what type of dancewear should be worn.  Lastly, you should make sure that you bring your daughter with you to have her try on her new outfit. Ask her to perform a couple of moves from her routine so that you can get feedback on how it fits.

Times are changing in eastern Iowa

20 March 2008

The highway system pretty much defines where the eastern Iowa tourism dollar goes. People don’t seem to want to get off the beaten path any more. In today’s world people will stop and see something that is right off the exit but rarely will they go exploring. When I was a child my folks used to take Sunday drives along the back roads just to see what was there. We found lots of things to see and we would stop at some small town local restaurant for lunch. Nobody does much of that any more and as such most of the small towns can’t even keep a restaurant in business anymore.

Rocket Japanese Reviews

16 March 2008

If you open iTunes (comes with all Macs, you’ll need to download it for Windows), and go to the iTunes Store, you can find a podcast made by JapanesePod101. They regularly broadcast high quality Japanese lessons via their podcast. They can be a little pushy for you to join their paid website, but the podcast is very well produced and is a great way to get listening practice for free for a Rocket Japanese Review.  It is a one-stop shop for Japanese grammar explanations. Though I wouldn’t recommend it as a good way to start studying Japanese, it’s a great way to review grammar that you might have forgotten. His explanations are brief and filled with examples. He also has a great understanding of contemporary Japanese language usage. Best of all, it’s free.

Learn to Speak Spanish

11 March 2008

Spanish is being pushed as a language important in the world of finance for example.  Language barriers are a common problem for any traveling and make the experience more difficult.  It’s awfully anglocentric to decree that English has more of a right than any other language.  As we will see shortly, different languages vary greatly in the degree of how they get close to programmer’s conceptual model to learn to speak Spanish.  Over the months before, I’ll often read a novel, listen to music in that language or tune into the radio.  A student must apply for retrocredits during the first two weeks of class by filling out a Retroactive Language Credit Request Form.

DNA Discussion

11 March 2008

The scientists James Watson and Francis Crick first characterized DNA structure in 1953.  They elucidated that DNA exists in a helical fashion, held together by the magic tricks of hydrogen bonds, and consisting of four nitrogenous bases adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine.  These bases are held together by 3’-5’ phosphodiester bonds.  In eukaryotic cells, each strand of DNA is wrapped around protein structures known as histones.  Typically, there is approximately 146 base pairs wrapped 1.65 turns around each histone structure.  Ratios and sequences of bases remain varied depending on the source of DNA.  The DNA of prokaryotic cells remains much the same, however exists in a circular double helical fashion referred to as a plasmid.

Rocket Spanish Online Review

05 March 2008

Mexico’s total area is 1,972,550 km², making it the world’s 14th largest country by total area, and includes approximately 6,000 km² of islands in the Pacific Ocean (including the remote Guadalupe Island and the Islas Revillagigedo), Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of California with this Rocket Spanish review.  Mexico: a culinary travelogue, an adventure for the palate, mind, and spirit.  Mexico was the site of some of the earliest and most advanced civilizations in the western hemisphere.  Mexico is not a country with a high tolerance for computer problems during elections.  Mexico is a very diverse people and country,but all things have that bit of flavor that makes it Mexico.

Tanpura strings

20 February 2008

Tuning a tanpura is such a complicated process as every single string resonates with many harmonics which with some practice can be distinguished individually as secondary tones. A tanpura is made of wood and has a larger base (toomba) than a sitar. The tanpura is certainly a deceptive instrument. The function of the tanpura is to sound the tonic repeatedly throughout a performance so that both the performer and the listener are always aware of the basic notes of the raga. A very important element of the tanpura is the threads, which are slipped beneath the tanpura strings on the bridge.

About the Cumbus

20 February 2008

Cumbus is Turkish for revelry, just the mood this instrument inspires. The Standard Cumbus is tuned like the Turkish Oud and one step higher than the Arabic Oud. Any Ud teacher can show you how to get around on the Cumbus (no matter what some of the American guys might say, they’re played basically the same in Turkey); the main difference is that the Cumbus is primarily a rhythm instrument in ensemble, sometimes on top of an Ud as melody in the same group. The Cumbus is 21 inches in overall length. A Saz Cumbus is the most traditional in design, with no frets on the neck and 6 courses of the 2 strings each.

Learn Mexican Spanish Software

14 February 2008

Robert Engler considers the many cultural bifurcations between the two nations, another reminder that Mexico is no friend and never has been.  The growing violence in Mexico is largely attributed to battles between the major drug groups operating in Mexico, including the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels that use learn Spanish software, and the fracturing that has taken place as leaders are arrested and factions have vied to assert control over lucrative smuggling routes.  Mexico is the 12th largest economy in the world by gross domestic product (GDP) by purchasing power parity.  Mexico is a brand new democracy and some of us are trying to defend it.

The Festival of Lights

13 February 2008

The eight-day festival of Hanukkah falls on the 25th of Kislev.

It was on this day that the small Jewish army defeated the mighty Syrian-Greek army of Antiochus.

The victory enabled the Jews to once again enter the Holy Temple in Jerusalem in order to rededicate the Temple, the holy vessels and themselves to the service of God.

In order to light the Menorah (golden candelabra), the priests needed oil that was pure and undefiled. In the whole Temple only one small jar of pure oil could be found. This oil was only sufficient to last for one day. Miraculously. it lasted for eight days.

Hence, Hanukkah is eight days long to commemorate this event.