Thursday, July 3, 2008
Violin Playin' Ain't for Sissies
After a grueling, bloody battle, it is now the climactic moment of truth. Our handsome hero hangs powerlessly off the sharp edge of a dusty cliff face by one clutching hand. Gravel is falling down past him and he shudders to think he could be next to succumb to that horrible fate. Tumbleweed blows past as his clawed grip weakens, his arm is desperate to yield to the immense pain searing through his arm. He can hear a vulture in the distance, death looming with every gasping breath he takes. Just then the dark villain appears standing above him, a smug grin oozing from his scarred face, and he mercilessly plunges a dagger into our hero's grasping arm and cruelly twists it in the muscle. Oh the pain and anguish! What a tragic end!
But wait! Startlingly our hero musters every ounce of strength in his being to remove the blade with his free hand and hurl it at the chest of the evil villain. The hero smoothly ducks as the villain falls past to a smooshy death. Triumphantly our hero pulls himself over the cliff edge and back to safety. He mounts his steed and rides off as the golden sun sets over the mountains.
Cue applause.
Change just a couple details, like the dusty cliff and the hero being male, and that almost exactly describes my recent episode with a mosquito.
I was playing violin in a formal Victorian-style house concert. A difficult movement from "Siete Canciones Populares Espaol" by Manuel de Falla had reached a pinnacle, the painfully delicate and difficult ending. The last note, one single note, is held for an eternity, getting softer and softer, decaying under the candlelight. My bow complained from exhaustion, at any moment about to plummet from the string to the stage but I controlled it with expertise and conviction. Gently, gently, I thought as I watched the bow hairs exhaust themselves, hardly any bow left and another 14 seconds to play.
Can it be done?
I heard a man in the front row stir in his seat and a moth banged against the smokey window pane when the horrible, blistering pain struck! Scorching fire seemed to consume the blood from my veins. Moments later another stabbing just inches above the first laceration, then another, and another! Dread hit me in a wave as I realized my piece was about to suffer an early end: 5 beats premature death!
Just then truth struck and I remembered that we violinists are a long line of tough, gritty survivalists. We've braved the rotten tomatoes and the "cat gut" jokes, not to mention learning to play such a backbreakingly difficult instrument in a world of critics. Fingers frozen, we haul our gear through wicked sleet and snow to attend weekly rehearsals for no pay. When the humidity gets tough, the tuning gets tougher. Just like the leather-faced lawmen of the old west, the prima donna in the taffeta designer dress always wins and this size 9 wasn't about to let that mosquito take over my concert, dammit.
Somehow I summoned the fortitude to hang at that last diminishing note. The piece was over. I gracefully removed the violin from under my chin and skillfully swatted the disgusting bloodsucker off my right shoulder blade without making a smudge. It fell to the floor and I squished it with the heel of my boot. Victorious applause ensued as I curtsied and rubbed the red welts gently, a painful reminder of my foe.
Aside from the attack the concert was a smashing success, no pun intended. I summoned my last ounces of strength to perform the remainder of the program to my loyal audience. Like a crowd after a gunfight, the witnesses returned to their homes to share the gristly tale of survival. As soon as the candles were extinguished I took a moment in the shadows to examine the hideous scar that would mark me forever, or at least for the next week or so.
My narrowed eyes shifted to the little squashed blip on the hemlock floor. It was so tiny and benign smeared into the floor wax like that, a sad victim of its need to consume. She and I had both shed blood in the fight. I was lucky to come out with a scar. She lost her life. That's the way the west is, ruthless and cruel. It ain't pretty. You've gotta fight or else you'll get eaten alive.
I bowed my head in a moment of silence before I loaded up my fiddle, climbed into my air-conditioned Honda and drove off into the sunset.
*Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a professional violinist and music teacher who has enjoyed creative writing for many years.
Rhiannon has worn the hats of businesswoman, events promoter, classical music radio host and school orchestra music arranger in her 29-years of life.
Her business, Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop, has won several distinguished young entrepreneur business awards for her comittment to excellence. Her shop offers beginner to professional level instruments, accessories and supplies. http://www.fiddleheads.ca provides a rich resource of information on her school, products for sale and her many writings.
Rhiannon is Founding President of the Shuswap Violin Society http://www.violinsociety.ca She dedicates much of her time to community music projects and helping young musicians in financial need.
Rhiannon currently writes music columns for two BC publications and has been featured in Australia's "Music Teacher Magazine." Writing allows her to be a creative "smart-ass" and to teach people that the world of music is as fun as you spin it to be.
MOVAVI Videosuite Review - All You Will Ever Need For Digital Video
Technology is truly an amazing thing. It has allowed us to perform a positively stupendous array of tasks that were once extremely difficult-if not downright impossible-to perform. Such a statement is obviously mind-boggling in its implications and to tackle all of these tasks would simply be far beyond the scope of any article. Let us focus our attention instead to one particular area where the progress of technology has been especially fast-paced: video.
Lights...camera...
The recent years has seen a tremendously huge growth in the various aspects of the video-making industry, with a corresponding trickling down of the technology into the hands of the typical home consumer. No longer the exclusive domain of the high-powered and hi-tech Hollywood studios, video and all its associated disciplines has managed to make some very significant inroads into the formerly technophobic masses of today's society.
With the presence of digital video recorders so common in today's average household, almost everyone it seems is keen to get in on the act. Whereas the lay people of only a few years ago would hardly know what to do with a film camera-let alone use one on a daily basis-today's generation regularly takes on tasks such as editing and compiling videos, with a capability that would have astounded industry observers only a few short years ago. As you can imagine, this close familiarity with the digital video format has brought about a corresponding increase in the number of tools and aids that are geared towards this specific market.
Tools of the trade
The MOVAVI VideoSuite is only one of these tools and as easy as it is for beginners and non-professional video makers to use, a closer look at its feature set and capabilities will show that there is a lot more to it than meets the eye. So much so in fact, that even industry professionals and long time digital video experts will be able to benefit from using it.
MOVAVI Video Suite aims to provide users a total solution to all of their digital video related needs. From simple tasks such as file conversion to more complicated procedures such as preparing videos for web streaming, this amazingly helpful and surprisingly easy to use software has got you covered.
Let's say you have accumulated a considerable amount of video material on your DVD camera over the course of several months. Where do you go from there? With the MOVAVI VideoSuite, you are only bound by the limits of your imagination. You can convert into any number of the commonly used video formats from practically any other video format, and send the resulting file into either your iPod or your PSP-or you can send it to your friends and family over the Internet. You can even perform common backup and archiving operation directly from within MOVAVI VideoSuite itself.
DVD for days
The DVD format is obviously the most commonly used video format around today and as you may have guessed, the MOVAVI Video Suite will not only allow you to prepare your video files for eventual DVD burning, you will also be able to "rip" movies from existing DVDs with the greatest of ease.
We have only just begun to touch on all of the amazing features of the MOVAVI VideoSuite. With the amazingly low price that it is going for, it is well beyond your reach to try it out for yourself and see how far it can take you.
This article was written by Markus Wirth. You can download a free trial of MOVAVI VideoSuite and Get MOVAVI VideoSuite Coupon at http://www.twimbee.com
Miss America - Reality Check
Tiara sales soar as 3 beauty pageant reality programs air this mid-season. One of them, TLC's Miss America: Reality Check could be the series to put reality back in reality TV.
The first of the three series slouched its way into the popular culture on CW immediately following the America's Next Top Model 9 finale on November 25th. Within hours of the end of the premier of Crowned: The Mother of all Beauty Pageants, possibly the worst reality show ever, the casting call for season 2 was issued. The show was heavily promoted and had a huge lead-in thanks to Tyra and company, so one can understand that the overnights for episode 1 were probably good. And the show did have a train wreck quality that made it hard to look away. But the only real chance for success this group of brittle women (and the cheesiest studio set this side of Plan 9 From Outer Space) have is so-bad-its-good cult hit status. Mother-daughter teams in the opener included the Red-Haired and the Blonde Bombshells. The Blondes (best line: "like, we made it up first 'cause we're blonde") were eliminated because they did not know that the label did not mean a beautiful, intelligent woman with blonde hair. Another team is calling itself Silent But Deadly (no, I'm not kidding) because they are watching the competition closely, while a fourth chose Skin Deep because they think it means their beauty is deeply rooted. You could not make this stuff up.
Coming in February on ABC Family is America's Prom Queen. Deadline for applications was December 19th, and 4 cities held open calls earlier in the month. They were looking for girls between 18 and 20, "who will compete to be crowned the nation's prom queen and for the chance to win an awesome prize package. The producers are looking for all walks of life; big personality and charisma a must. Whether you are a reigning prom queen, cheerleader, marching band member, athlete, valedictorian, shy or new kid, popular or unpopular - if your dream is to be crowned prom queen at television's most amazing prom ever, this is your chance!"
In between Crowned and America's Prom Queen, TLC will premier a series with the potential to take the Emmy away from The Amazing Race.
Miss America: Reality Check premiers on TLC on Friday, January 4th at 10. It airs on four consecutive Friday nights in the same slot, with the final broadcast the night before the live two-hour broadcast of the 2008 Miss America Pageant from Las Vegas' Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on Saturday, January 26th at 8, ET.
A four-part series following 52 contestants, all living under the same roof, as they prepare to compete in a beauty pageant is going to be compelling viewing, no matter what the context - hopefully visions of Robert Altman danced in the eyes of the series creators. To do this as the lead-in to the actual 2008 Miss America Pageant as the series finale - genius.
And oh, the pillow fights.
Lyle Burwell, President, VPTV, The Directory of Viewer Participation TeleVision. VPTV tracks application information for all North American, English, viewer participation television programming.
District B13 (Banlieue 13) - Foreign Film Review
District B13 (Banlieue 13)
Made in: France
Language: French
Synopsis: It is the year 2010. In this dystopic vision of the future, certain slums just outside of Paris have been walled off and isolated due to their "high risk" status.
Infested with drugs, rampant crime, and bad hairstyles, one particularly troublesome area called District B13 is reminiscent of the island of Manhattan from John Carpenter's Escape From New York, only more French (and possibly with better food).
Leto (David Belle) is a well-meaning punk who's in trouble with Taha (Bibi Naceri), District B13's tyrant drug kingpin. After stealing and then destroying a large stash of Taha's dope, Leto escapes the drug lord's armed goons in a brilliant building-to-building chase scene that has to be seen rather than described.
In this sequence, David Belle, who's a stuntman in real life, exhibits the art of Parkour (aka Free Running). Parkour is a sport invented by Belle himself, in which the practitioner uses the abilities of the human body to efficiently and creatively maneuver through physical obstacles.
Another vivid example of free running takes place in the 2006 Bond film Casino Royale when Bond (Daniel Craig) chases down a bomb maker (Sbastien Foucan). Foucan also happens to be a good pal of David Belle.
Anyway, on with the review.
Soon after Leto's escape, Taha kidnaps Lola (Dany Verissimo), Leto's feisty younger sister. Although Leto manages to rescue her, their escape is thwarted by cowardly police officials who refuse to enforce the law, thus allowing Taha to go free.
Lola is recaptured, and Leto ends up in the slammer.
Six months later...
Taha gets hold of an experimental neutron bomb, and accidentally arms it. The French government, upon receiving this alarming news, send in Captain Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli), the best cop and martial arts expert in Paris.
More bad-ass than Nicolas Sarkozy at a cheese party, Damien has less than 24 hours to locate and diffuse the bomb. But to make his way through District B13 in one piece, Damien must convince the incarcerated Leto to help him.
And so, it's a race against time to save Lola and millions of other lives before Paris, like Jacque Chirac's credibility, goes up in smoke...
The Good: Clocking in at a mere 85 minutes, District B13 is a great example of tight, fast-paced storytelling. The action is creative and highly entertaining, the stunts are cool, and there's nothing in this action movie that doesn't need to be there.
David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli are both amazing stuntmen/athletes, and without taking themselves too seriously, they pull off some great moments that are beyond many conventional Hollywood action flicks.
With a slick techno soundtrack to boot, District B13 may be short, but it's short and to the point and feels complete.
The Bad: Some of the action is a bit far-fetched, but at least it never gets to the point of where it insults your intelligence (not mine, anyway). Also, a lot of the actors have silly fashion taste, but they at least get their asses kicked for it.
Who would like this movie: Whether you're an action movie lover with the attention span of a hyperactive donkey, or looking to broaden your cinematic horizons, this foreign film is for you. It's like a visual energy drink!
(3 out of 4 stars)
Director: Pierre Morel
Starring: Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Tony D'Amaro, Bibi Naceri, Dany Verissimo
Joe Yang is a freelance film reviewer specializing in foreign films. You can find more of his reviews at his new website: http://www.foreign-films-for-you.com
The site is often updated- please visit often!
Squidoo Affiliate Marketing - Use Squidoo to Leverage Your Writing
Squidoo provides modules with RSS reader capability to enable you to easily add RSS feeds to your Squidoo lenses. All you have to do is enter the URL of the RSS feed and add a description and your Squidoo lens is updated automatically whenever you add something to your feed.
Four basic steps to leverage your writing through Squidoo
Here's the process I used recently to leverage my writing via Squidoo:
1. Set up the RSS feed to your Squidoo lens
You create a RSS module in your Squidoo lens and add the RSS feed of your blog to this module.
2. Make a blog post
You make a post to your blog on a topic relevant to your Squidoo lens. The stimulus for this post could be a resource you received via email, a purchase or a giveaway product. It could also come from a forum posting or blog comment you made or even from a response you provided to an inquiry from a subscriber or prospect.
3. Edit your target lens
You can add a tag or two to your Squidoo lens to reflect your blog post. When you then re-publish your lens it will be updated with your new tags and the new feed from your blog entry.
4. Advise your mailing list of the new blog post
You can incorporate your post in an email to your mailing list. Alternatively, you can provide the post title and link from your blog - this way people will be encouraged to visit your blog. With this latter approach, you can add a brief review of an affiliate product or service mentioned in your blog post. In either case, ensure that your email includes a link back to your Squidoo lens as well.
The result: leveraging your writing
So, with one piece of original writing, you have updated your blog; updated your lens; kept Squidoo, the search engines and your subscribers happy; boosted your Squidoo lensrank; encouraged visitors to your blog; and improved the Google ranking for your blog and your Squidoo lens.
If you have another related lens (as I have), you can enter the link of the blog post with a short commentary. This will compound the effect of leveraging your writing.
It is not uncommon for a Squidoo lens to appear on the first page of Google within two weeks. Recently, I built a Squidoo lens targeting a particular keyword for affiliate marketing and the lens was ranked in the top ten Google results for that keyword in 8 days.
Squidoo affiliate marketing is made easy by the RSS modules and tag facilities. The impact of your writing is further amplified by Squidoo's special relationship with Google. Squidoo provides an easy way to leverage your writing and grow your affiliate income.
Ron Passfield, PhD, is the author of an e-book on Squidoo affiliate marketing (and weekly updates via email subscription):http://www.squidoomarketingstrategies.com
Visit Rons Top 100 Squidoo lens for access to his email course and Squidoo marketing strategies, tools, tips and techniques:http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies
Rons blog on how to do affiliate marketing with Squidoo:http://www.affiliate-marketing-coach.blogspot.com/
Copyright 2007 Ron Passfield All rights reserved worldwide.
3 Ways to Do a Criminal Public Records Search
While it is not an everyday affair for anyone to conduct a criminal public records search on another person, it is still absolutely necessary in some situations. For instance, you could be hiring more staff for your company. With frauds and terrorism on the loom, a background check becomes a necessity in order to be sure that you employ the right person. We will explore the 3 ways to conduct a criminal public records search.
What are the 3 most common ways to do a criminal public records search?
1. Search the public places like government and county offices
The government agencies, courts, public archives and county offices are good places to start with. You can find tons of information about the person you are checking on. You can find education records, residential address, telephone numbers, past criminal offenses and even find evidence of traffic offenses, etc.
2. Engage a Private Detective
This is a popular method for civilians like you and me to find and locate people or do background checks. But it is not cheap and definitely not a choice that everyone can afford. A simple criminal public records search can set you back by a substantial sum of money. So use this option wisely. Go for it only when it is absolutely necessary such as finding information about a potential business partner.
3. Do a Criminal Public Records Search Online
The third method is catching up fast. The records are now collated and put up in huge databases online and run by paid service providers. Many investigators and law enforcers are switching to them due to its convenience and affordability. For a small fraction of what you normally would pay for a private investigator's service, you get equally useful results in properly reported format.
There are dozens of such services on the web that provide such information to you. Use them at your own discretion. Run an instant criminal public records search online now through the service provider highly recommended by professionals today.
Author's review website on clickbank products: http://www.clickbankproductreview.com
3 Easy Ways to Make Quick Cash
Nowadays, a large number of people surf Internet in hopes of being able to find some ways to make quick cash online. The reasons for this are a lot. However, the common reason is that they need money to increase their standard of living. Fortunately, Internet is abundant in information about how to make quick cash online using your home computer. This article will talk about top 3 methods to make quick cash that many people have been operating successfully.
Way #1: Make quick cash with Freelance writing:
Do you want to write? It is not necessary to be a great writing, and you do not also need to be a special person like Shakespeare. There are more website owners need new articles for their website content with every passing day. So, if you want to write, you will have lots of opportunities to make quick cash online. The website like elance dot com is a good place to make quick cash with your writing.
Way #2 : Being a blogger to make quick cash:
Another way to make quick cash is becoming a blogger. Creating a blog, then writing something that you're interested in and posting them on your blog. There are some ways for you to make quick cash with your blog such as putting Google Adsense and selling advertisement space available. The good thing is that creating a blog is easy to do. Just go to blogger dot com and follow the instructions to build one in five minutes.
Applying for a Google Adsense account is also an easy task. However, there is a note about putting Google Adsense on your blog. You should not put Google Adsense code on your blog when it has just created. Posting considerable content on your blog before you make Google Adsense appearing.
Way #3: Make quick cash by becoming an affiliate:
Affiliate marketing has been catching the eye of many people because it's the hottest money making method on the Internet these days. As an affiliate, you make money by helping merchants generate sales for their products. You can make quick cash by combining affiliate programs and Google Adwords. This is a fastest way, but it's also a way that costs you a lot of money on advertising if you don't understand what you're doing. So, be very cautious when using Google Adwords to make quick cash online.
You have known by now what are the most popular ways to make quick cash online. The next step is choosing which one out of them suits you best. Remember that the methods above not only help you make quick cash, but they also help you build a very nice income in the long-term.
Do you want to start a home based Internet business to make Internet passive income in your spare time? Dang Vu invites you to visit http://www.sungtuc.com to choose the proven and leigitimate ways that can help you make a nice internet income using your own computer.
