Hobbies
A Beginners Guitar Guide – Learn How To Play Guitar
by samgreen on Aug.31, 2010, under Hobbies
If you’re just thinking of learning to play the guitar then you might find yourself frustrated on trying to figure out on where to start. There are thousands of resources that are available, but they don’t do much good. All they do is confuse the beginner even more. So, if you’re looking for guitar lessons for beginners, it is important to know what your options are.
Let’s take a look at the different options you have available:
Private Guitar Instruction
Private guitar instruction is great for anyone, whether you’re a beginner or already know a few chords on guitar. You will definitely have all of your questions answered if you pick up a good instructor. The instructor will take you through your goals and he/she will ask you a few questions. What type of music are you interested in playing? How advanced are you looking to become. Do you want to learn how to read music, or just learn a few songs? All of these can be accomplished finding a good private instructor. Now, as great as private lessons may sound, you have to keep in mind that this is also the most expensive option available today. On average lessons run for around $40/hr. Considering your instructor will see you once a week for a half hour session, you will end up spending around $80 to $100 a month. If you are just in the beginning stage of learning the guitar, and can afford it, I strongly recommend you go with private lessons.
Group Guitar Instruction
This is basically for the guitarist who just wants to get started with something cheap and learn a few chords and rhythm. The instructor will start out explaining the basic chords. Show you how to hold the guitar, what the names are for different parts of the guitar. But don’t expect much help. With so many students, it is hard for instructor to pay any special attention to anyone. You will also learn how to play some songs, so there is a little fun involved. I would get a hold of your local community college for lessons.|To find group guitar instruction, try visiting your local community college.|Most community colleges offer guitar lessons. Try your local one first and see if they have it.|The best place to find group guitar lessons is checking your local community college first.[/spin] Usually they are cheap and easy to start.
Online Guitar Instruction
This is rapidly rising up as one of the best and easiest way to learn the guitar. Still a fairly new concept, online guitar lessons are very popular. It’s no surprise, due to the fact that more and more people use internet every day. The lessons are available any time, so you can do it when it’s convenient for you, not your instructor, you! What if you’re a fast or a slow learner? With online guitar lessons you get to take your time and watch the available HD quality videos over and over again until you get it right. This is definitely a great place to start whether you’re a beginner or just looking for sharpening you guitar skills. Many of the lessons available today are top notch. However, there are quite a few out there that just don’t make the cut. I’d look into some reviews to see which ones best fit. Otherwise learning how to play guitar might not be as fun as you wish.
DVD’s & Guide Books Instruction
This method works for extremely self motivated individuals. Many people start of by buying a guide book or DVD when first thinking of learning to play guitar. I’m not talking about a DVD series. I’m talking about the single learning DVD. This will work for the self motivated individual. However, you may not get your questions answered, become frustrated and just plain give up. I’m not saying this is a bad way to go. It is still a good idea to buy a guide book. Just as long it’s not your main source for learning the guitar. They’re cheap and great to have for reference.
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Zebra Print Bicone Beads
by samgreen on May.28, 2010, under Hobbies
This zebra design bicone is made using gravity as the primary “tool” for shaping the base bicone bead as well as creating the zebra design.
While this is not a complex bead to make, these instructions assume you already know how to make a bicone (or other cylindrical/barrel shaped) bead. Its use of gravity as the primary tool in shaping the design on the surface of the bead is well explained in Jim Kervin’s book, “The Classic Bead Shapes of Jim Smircich and His Amazing Control of Heat” published by GlassWear Studios, in his tutorial on Jim Smircich’s Wavy Bead.
Here is an example of a basic Wavy Bead created using gravity to create the “waves” in the the colored lines. The 6 lines of color were drawn straight across the already shaped black bicone, bead hole to bead hole, and evenly spaced around the bead. A focused flame combined with gravity were used at two points along the bead to make the “waves”.
Adding The Stripes
Using a white stringer (in this case, I used a premade stringer from Frantz Art Glass), stripes are drawn down the length of the bead; bead hole to bead hole. This varies from the traditional Wavy Bead in that they are not all perpendicular, nor are they necessarily evenly spaced around the bead. The specific design is up to you, but I suggest running some the full length of the bead, others only partially down the bead. Some lines should be perpendicular, but what really makes the zebra design somewhat “authentic” is the lines that meet another line at approximately a 45 degree angle or less, forming sort of a “Y” shape.
Remember, all stripes drawn are straight – no curves! I apply the stripes to the bicone a little differently than other stringer work. I hold the mandrel perpendicular to (and just to the left of) the flame. I start from the far end of the bicone and draw a fairly thick stripe toward me. If the stripe is to extend all the way from end to end, make sure you start and end the stripe at least at the “shoulder” of the bead hole, which is the point where the bead starts to round down into the “pucker” (another Jim Smircich “classic”). This will help keep the pattern all the way to the end of the bead, even after remarvering the ends.
Melting In The Stripes
Next, heat the stripes until they are fully melted into the bicone. The only thing to remember here is that you aren’t trying to modify the design just yet, simply melting in the stripes without losing your well-formed bicone. To do this, you do not want to get the bead yellow hot – you just want it heated enough to melt in the stripes without disturbing the core of the bead too much. You may need to remarver the ends, but it isn’t necessary to make it “perfect” at this point as you will do final shaping later. However, you always want to minimize the amount shaping required after you finish the design, as too much final shaping will likely alter the surface design.
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Gold Bead Implantation In Small Animals (Hip Dysplasia )
by samgreen on May.25, 2010, under Hobbies
This condition accounts for about 50% of the cases in which we implant gold beads. Our cases ranged from 4 months to 17 years of age. Most dogs were large breeds, or dogs >50 pounds body weight. We have treated 2 Pekinese dogs for hip dysplasia. The size of the dog does not have a bearing on the success of the gold bead implant. Age does have the greatest effect on the success of gold bead implant. We break the age group into 3 classes. Under 7 years of age we have a 98% success rate. From 7 to 12 years of age we have about 80% success rate and from 12-17 years of age we have about 50% success rate. The number one cause for our failures in hip dysplasia is secondary degenerative myelopathy.
Degenerative myelopathy is considered by most experts to be a totally separate condition, but I have never seen it show up as a condition by itself. There has always been another concurrent problem. In my opinion, degenerative myelopathy begins as a localised alkalosis in the hip joint. In a small percentage of the dysplastic dogs, the localised alkalosis starts to involve the local nerves and eventually spreads to the spinal cord. The alkalosis of the cord eventually causes demyelination of the cord. At some point we are unable to reverse the alkalosis and demyelination of the cord. When this happens, there is a progressive, irreversible degenerative myelopathy and the dog cannot walk. The gold bead implant will reverse the degenerative myelopathy in about 50% of the cases. We are not able to look at these dogs before the implant and know which ones we can help. We cannot help dogs if they are unable to support their weight and the rear legs are basically reduced to skin and bone with very little muscle. If the dogs still have some muscling and can intermittently get up, we can help about 50% of them.
An apparent but temporary success may follow gold bead implantation in a small group of dogs with degenerative myelopathy. They seem to be good for 3-9 months, but then they deteriorate. All such dogs have been about 9 years old. I have spent much time on degenerative myelopathy, but this is a major problem in small-animal practice. Let it not deter you from doing gold bead implants.
When implanting gold bead for hip dysplasia, we begin with 4 basic points: GB29, BL54, GB30, and GB33. These points need treatment in all dysplastic dogs. Other points that need to be implanted fall into 3 Zones. Zone 1 is dorso-anterior to GB29. Zone 2 is dorso-anterior and dorso-posterior to BL54. Zone 3 is dorso-posterior to GB30. GB31 and GB32 are the main exceptions to the rule; they need to be treated in some dogs.
The next set of points to be implanted are in 1-2 of three Zones around the hips. These points usually are Ahshi / trigger points. Zone 3 needs treatment least frequently. One rarely must use all 3 Zones. To find the next point, draw a line midway between GB29 and BL54 and go dorsal 0.5-1.0 inch. If a point is sensitive, place gold beads into it (A). Then search for point tenderness midway between BL54 and GB30. Go dorsocaudal to this area 0.5-1.0 1 inch. Implant gold beads into any sensitive point there (B). If point (B) does not show up, then there usually are no more points in Zone 3.
Then search for two sensitive points ventral and dorsal to point (A). Go halfway between GB29 and point (A) and search anteroventrally. Place gold beads in any sensitive point found. If there are no more sensitive points, move halfway between point (A) and BL54 and search anterodorsally. Implant any sensitive points found there. Implantation of the hips is complete when one can find no more sensitive points in the area.
When implanting gold beads for hip dysplasia, both hips should be treated at the same session. However, a single hip can be implanted in special cases. For example, some dogs have one normal hip and one bad hip. The bad hip may look like a dysplastic hip, but such hips were usually have been traumatised by their dam shortly after the birth of the pups. In those cases, only the bad hip needs treatment. Traumatic injury of one hip that has resulted in a femoral head resection or a hip replacement surgery may need to be treated with gold bead implant similar to hip dysplasia.
When we treat hips with gold bead implants, we see mostly local effects, and very little systemic effect. GB29, GB30, and BL54 work locally on the joint and the other trigger points work mostly on the surrounding muscle.
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Make Old Plastic Or Overprocessed Matte Glass Beads Look New Again
by samgreen on Apr.26, 2010, under Hobbies
I love to find new uses for household and personal care products. Something in my personality is gratified by using double-duty items; my clothes are all separates, I re-use just about every jar, coffee can and old box, and recycle everything I can. So, of course, I’m especially happy when I find a product that will do double duty; such as this product created for hair that gets all frizzy in humid weather when you want it to lay straight and glossy. It’s called Biosilk Silk Therapy and is manufactured by the Farouk Systems, Inc. located in Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
I actually received my first bottle of this product so long ago, it was actually really inexpensive; something like $2bottle. Not, it is considerably more expensive, but they have refined the formula and it works better than ever on face, nose, ears, and lips. I’ve even used it to blow-dry my hair; a rare event, and never terribly successful, but one I still practice every so often just to keep up with being all girly.
I still can’t remember how I connected the idea of using this product on plastic beads, but I must have overheard something about some tire product containing silicone and retained it in my own peculiar, odd mix of a filing cabinet of memories.
I had purchased these very cool vintage beads made of black plastic and set with rhinestones. These beads looked as though they had once been gorgeous but, over time, had become scuffed and looked a bit “underloved” when they should look as if they had been long enjoyed, worn, passed down and while nowhere near “perfect” vintage, then at least “cared-for though used extensively” vintage. That’s my favorite kind of vintage; vintage with a story, vintage that has had a life. It has been worn by the various owners over the years, it has been loved, well cared for, enjoyed, maybe had an accident or two, gotten scuffed and dull over the years, has a few scars, but is still just as beautiful.
These beads needed a bit of the attention they had not received prior to becoming my beads, and would need to soon be worked into a piece of jewelry to be worn, loved, tossed around a little bit, maybe nabbed by the cat once or twice when he was collecting shiny things, as he does occasionally, and generally been allowed to live. So, I thought of the method I use to clean glass beads, grabbed the window cleaner, gave them a spritz and – yep, they turned a sort of white/gray and horrible looking. Washing, soaking, and a final, desperate scrubbing did noting but add that faux “worn vintage” look I had so wanted, but still they were discolored. I put them away in a drawer, sad but not yet out of hope.
A few days later, I received a shipment of sample beads from a favorite bead seller, the unspeakably cool resin beads from Natural Touch Resin Beads makes of the most gorgeous resin beads I’ve ever looked upon.
Naturally, having been shipped, imported, prepared for various shows, shown at shows indoors and out, some of these beads had become a bit grimy, in need of a good soapy bath. So, I drew a sink full of very hot water, added soap, then the beads, then walked off for about an hour to do something else.
I was sure that my resin beads were goners. they were goners. All of them, strands of resin beads, beautiful, fabulous, handmade resin beads, all that beauty, a dull whitish sort of cast, with almost no color remaining.
I had also pulled out some of those little glass globs – the type that are used in flower arrangements or in some stained glass projects – that looked like they had been tumbled to give them a matte finish. It looked like they were covered in some kind of dust, completely obscuring the color of the globs. When they were wet, I could see that these globs had a blend of clear and purple glass and were very cool looking, but I had to do something about the powdery finish that made the glass almost occluded. So, I applied the Biosilk, and what do you know – gorgeous! Still matte, but with a sheen, so that the colors inside the globs is visible.
Of course, I know that the application of oil or grease-based products will do the same thing to glass or plastic that has surface irregularities that give it a dull appearance, but I don’t care to use oil or grease on beads. It not only attracts dust and dirt, but it rubs off on clothing, smears, and, in some cases, can even go rancid, making the beads smell awful. The Biosilk product does none of that. Once I put it on the beads, it seem to soak in/ A bit of buffing removes any leftover product from the immediate surface, so it will not transfer to fabric or skin. It does not attract dirt and has, so far, not “turned” or gone bad, I and I first used it on plastic beads about five years ago.
I cannot say for sure that Biosilk is perfect for every bead made. I’m not even sure which ingredient makes the glass and plastic/resin look good, since I’m not a chemist. I do know that, unlike some silicone-based products, it does not seem to alter the plastic or dissolve it, making it gooey or sticky; it just seems to moisturize the beads, giving them a nice sheen.
Try it yourself. Pick up a small bottle, pull out few matte glass or scuffed plastic or resin beads, and give them a wipe. I bet you’ll be pleased with the results.
You can purchase Biosilk in 2 oz. bottles which, if you’re using it strictly for beads and not for hair, should last a good long time. I’ve had my bottle (the 5.64 oz. size) for well over a year, using it for hair, mostly, and have used less than an ounce. You only need a tiny bit of this cool product to rejuvenate your old plastic and resin beads. There are other products much like it. I can’t vouchsafe them, as the only one I’ve tried is the Biosilk, however, since the ingredients are basically the same I’m sure the others would work as well.
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Barry, South Wales: Ancient History: Part 3
by Owen Jones on Apr.15, 2010, under Hobbies
Barry Castle belonged to William de Barri in the 12th. Century, but was destroyed by Llewellyn Bren in 1316. Some say it was later rebuilt and used by the Cavaliers only to be destroyed again by the Roundheads, never to be reconstructed.
The Norman invaders were thoroughly detested by the local people and they had to build large mansions to defend themselves from frequent assaults on them by the people of the valleys and the mountains. During the reign of Henry III, there were 12 castles within six miles of Barry. In Glamorgan, there were 30 castles and in South Wales as a whole there were 150 !
Porthkerry and the church to its west is said to have taken its name from Ceri, who, it is said, founded a port ‘Port Ceri’. It is believed that Ceri ap Caid, the King of Essyllwg, lived in Porthkerry before the Christian era. His bard, Corvinor, is stated to have been the first to have built a ship with sails and a rudder for the race of Cymru. Some believe that Ceri was a nephew or grandson of Caractacus (Caradog) and that he assumed the head of government in south Wales when Caractacus was sent to Rome.
John Wesley preached in the Porthkerry Church and sometimes outside in the churchyard too between 1741 and 1743. Today, there are two very old churches still in use in Barry: St. Cadocs Church in Cadoxton and Merthyr Dyfan Church in Merthyr Dyfan. One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, Cadoxton was the largest village in the Barry area: thus, in 1844 the Parliamentary register contained 25 names: 20 from Cadoxton and five from Barry. The one church was dedicated to St. Cadoc, who had been accustomed to spend Lent on Flat Holm and Barry Island. The village (Cadoc’s Town)took its name from the church, which was founded in 800 AD.
Merthyr Dyfan Church, situated in the north of Barry, was founded in 600 AD and the name means Dyfan The Martyr. There were two saints of this name: one journeyed to Barry to convert the inhabitants to Christianity; the second lived in the Sixth Century and was the son of a Welsh chieftain. His sister was also martyred and the town of Merthyr Tydfil is named after her.
The Christian faith flourished in the Vale of Glamorgan and in the middle of the Second Century, Llewrwg, Prince of Siluria, became the first king of all time to be baptized into the Christian faith anywhere in the world. He sent to Rome for more preachers and was sent Dyfan and Fagan. The former was martyred near the site of the church and the latter was canonized.
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