Native American Indian Art Wood Carvings of the Pacific Northwest

Writen by Clint Leung

Native American Indian art in the American southwest is dominated by the magnificent pottery and jewelry in the region. When it comes to the Pacific Northwest region which covers the states of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia (Canada) and the southern part of Alaska, the Native American art here is mostly wood carvings. This is not surprising since unlike the southwest desert, the Pacific Northwest is abundant with forests which have provided the wood as raw material for the region’s Native American Indian art.

The wood carvings of the Pacific Northwest Native American art come in many different forms. The huge totem poles which are carved on entire tree trunks are probably the most famous. Certainly the most common form of contemporary Pacific Northwest Native American art is the plaque wood carving. The entire range of Pacific Northwest Native American Indian art subjects including eagles, ravens, thunderbirds, bears, killer whales and salmons are carved as plaques to be hung on the wall. A more complex project and usually higher priced would be the masks which are also carved out of wood. The Pacific Northwest Native American artists make some of the most striking aboriginal masks in the world.

Creative artists and carvers from this region have also used wood to carve out bowls, paddles, rattles and boxes which are all expertly decorated with Pacific Northwest Native American Indian designs. Some carvers have even carved more day to day objects such as letter openers out of wood again decorated with the region’s Native motifs. Although not restricting themselves to just wood, the Pacific Northwest Native American artists also do art prints, paintings and precious metal jewelry but overall wood is still the most common material used in their artwork.

The Pacific Northwest style of Native American Indian art is still unknown to many parts of North America and the rest of the world but this will definitely change as the 2010 winter Olympics in British Columbia approaches. The world will see British Columbia and as visitors to this Canadian province have already noticed, there are fine examples of Pacific Northwest Native American Indian art everywhere one goes in the west coast of Canada.

Clint Leung is owner of Free Spirit Gallery http://www.FreeSpiritGallery.ca, an online gallery specializing in Inuit Eskimo and Northwest Native American art including carvings, sculpture and prints. Free Spirit Gallery has numerous information resource articles with photos of authentic Inuit and Native Indian art as well as free eCards.

ToothbrushRush

Writen by Bob Wood

Does it seem to you that you brush your teeth way too often? Do your days distort and collapse around the beginnings and endings as you face down your grimace while brushing those choppers? Mine do. Every time I brush (twice a day, religiously, and I don’t mean while in a kneeling position) it seems as if I just did it. Time between brushings is apparently running much faster than the time WHILE brushing, which seems to take forever. There could be alien forces at work: Years ago, in Roswell, New Mexico, the UFO the government denies to this day, did indeed contain visitors from outer space, who were befriended by a kindly old dentist who persuaded them to put missing time to work to promote good oral hygiene in mankind - as a gesture of goodwill.

Or, maybe brushing just seems odd because I use a timer. Not by obsession, but a program built into my Whirly 2000 Spin Clean brush. I call it The Timenatrix! Every 30 seconds, it beeps to remind me to change “quadrants.” Where are my wisdom teeth when I need them? A two minute brushing seems to take a half hour. Since the machine does the work, my mind searches for anything else. Maybe it’s the humming of the Whirly transmitted up my jaw into the brain that induces an altered state of consciousness. Maybe that’s how ‘they’ will communicate with us, when we’re ready?

I admire the splash pattern on the mirror. Can’t figure out why my side has one, but my wife’s doesn’t.

I look around the room for scorpions, those science fiction special effect bugs sent to atomic bomb my instep. You can’t be too careful!

In my mind, I see that dentist, played by Laurence Olivier, torture Dustin Hoffman in MARATHON MAN and ask, “Is It Safe?”

But many people brush manually. And they might need their own equivalent of a Timenatrix while they fight cavities, fight tartar, remove plaque, freshen breath, and whiten. Since I have so much time while brushing, I thought up a few helpful hints, again, for the betterment of mankind. We really don’t want that enthusiastic salesman with bad breath standing too close, ever again, in our lifetimes.

Try standing on one leg as long as you can. Then the other. Top teeth on the left leg, bottom on the right.

Try a tune. Since you forget most of the words, do the part you know. Sweet Home Alabama on the top, Smooth (c’mon - Rob Thomas and Santana played for a YEAR every five minutes) on the bottom. Keep your mouth closed around the brush or,

Admire the splash patterns on the mirror.

Don’t even get me started on flossing!

If you floss incorrectly you’ll remove the enamel from your teeth as you turn the floss into a SAW. It’s - ALWAYS- SOMETHING!

I recently had to have two teeth pulled. Why? Bone loss in my JAW! Why? Bacteria. DESPITE my best efforts: Whirly thing, floss, dental visits quarterly. Prayer. Incense. Votive candles. I was prepared to hold off in denial until I was warned it could get up into my sinuses and turn me into a headache on bird legs.

I wonder about the Survivor players: how come they can stand to stand so close after so long without a toothbrush? Hard to believe there could be any face to face in the land of what must surely be really stinky BOAR breath.

Bob Wood hosts two blogs: http://www.woodsgoods.blogspot.com which is about everyday life as seen through a wry sense of humor. Humor, pathos, name dropping. http://www.woodsgoods2.blogspot.com - dedicated to home theater news and developments. Bob also is host and editor of http://www.GreatHomeTheater.com which gives reviews, tips, user tricks, and demystifies this fast changing home entertainment technology.

Fun with the Home Defibrillator/Aug 2006 Moron Of The Month Award

Writen by Robert Clayton

This month’s winner is a very special product. It’s the Home Defibrillator. In case you don’t know what a defibrillator is, it’s one of those things they use to shock someone when their heart has stopped. Now when BillyBob has a heart attack, there’s no need to drag him outside, grab the jumper cables, hook them up to the old pickup and zap him. Just grab your home defibrillator. (Hummm… I wonder if it would work the other way around. The car won’t start and I can’t find the jumper cables. Grab the paddles, zap the battery….good as new!)

A couple of problems I have with the Home Defibrillator come from the commercials I’ve seen for it. The first thing they tell you in the commercial is that 80 percent of the people who die from heart attacks never had any previous symptoms. And that most of them could have been saved if there had been a defibrillator close by. Okay fair enough. Then they tell you that you can only get the Home Defibrillator by prescription. Now wait a minute. If I don’t have any symptoms of heart problems, why would a doctor write me a prescription for a defibrillator? Just in case I might have one? I think that’s taking preventive medicine just a little too far. If a doctor came to you and said, “We’ve ran some tests and we have found no signs of cancer. But just to be safe, we’re going to give you Chemo Therapy anyway.” Would you ever go back to that doctor? I don’t think so. Let’s do all kinds of other stuff, just to be sure. Let’s cut off all my limbs just in case I might ever get gangrene in any of them. Let’s put in a pacemaker just in case my heart ever decides to stop beating regularly on it’s own. Let’s do a liver transplant just in case mine might be going bad on me. Come on, how far do you want to take this just in case thing?

I’m sure this product will save lives. But I don’t think I want Joe Smoe zapping me with a few thousands volts. I’d much rather have some one who’s had a little bit of training, like maybe A DOCTOR, using it on me. I really don’t want some moron using it on me just because I fell asleep on the couch. “LOOK, he’s not moving and his eyes are closed! He’s had a heart attack. Quick BillyBob, grab the defibrillator! No, forget jump starting the car, we need to zap him right now!”

Now I’m sure there will be lots of other fun uses for the Home Defibrillator. Can you imagine being at a party with about 20 drunken college students when one of them finds the Home Defibrillator? OH BOY! LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!! “Hey Joe, stand on your head, chug this beer and we’ll hit you with 5 thousand volts. It’s an awesome rush!” Or maybe, “Whoa dude, at the lowest setting it makes your hair stand straight up. But at the highest setting your eyes light up and blink like a neon sign. It’s really cool.” I’m sure more party games will follow. “Dude, hold these paddles while you suck on the keg. We’ll start turning this knob. See how long you can take it. The record is setting 5 so far. Don’t worry dude, it’s cool. Ken did it and he stopped twitching after an hour or so!”

Yeah, this is just the thing I want at my house. Forget the fake stethoscope and thermometer. Let the kids play doctor with the real thing! While you’re at it, give them everything in your medicine cabinet along with a scalpel and one of those syringes with the really long needles.

This sure sounds like a handy thing to have around the house. I bet it would work well in the kitchen too! “Mom, I put a potato in the microwave oven, but it didn’t cook it all the way though. Where’s the Home Defibrillator?” Maybe at restaurants. “Can I warm your coffee up for you?” ZAP! Now it’s nice and hot. Maybe you can start your own business with it. Instead of a lemonade stand, maybe the kids can start a shock therapy clinic in the front yard. I bet there are a lot of people in the neighborhood that could use it. And you can charge a lot more for the service than selling some warm, colored sugar water.

Yes, this is a wonderful product. It has 1001 uses. Just think about it and I’m sure you can come up with more on your own. The possibilities are endless. So to the makers of the Home Defibrillator, I say thank you for giving us this wonderful life saving device/party game/kitchen device. Because of your advanced thinking, you have rightly earned this months Moron of the Month award.

Lie Detector Tests Annually for All Lawyers

Writen by Lance Winslow

Why is it that we have so many rules and regulations for every single industry in the United States of America? We attack our business community each and every day and we make rules and regulations that lawyers use in extortion tactics to sue American companies. We need to reduce the rules and regulations in our nation for our business communities and we need to put more rules and regulations on the lawyers, which I believe to be professional parasites and terrorists against the American people.

I propose that each and every lawyer be given a lie detector test and a drug tests annually or they cannot renewal their legal license to practice law. Additionally, everybody in each law firm will be required to take a lie detector test annually to make sure that they are not trying to break the law by controlling the law or staying above law.

If we fail to watch over the legal industry they will continue to manipulate our laws further their own personal financial gain as they are self-serving parasites against humanity. There is nothing worse than a crooked lawyer and probably nothing more common in my opinion. And since this is my opinion you cannot sue me; you rotten scoundrel lawyers. Consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Them Darned Commuters

Writen by Al McCartan

COMMUTERS WE’VE GOT ‘EM TOO

One of the nice things about living in Sydney, Australia, is the scenery; beaches, bushland, buildings, rivers, mountains, all captured from the window of a commuter bus or train, enjoyable whatever the mode of public travel persuasion.

For me, when I lived in Sydney - I’m a rural now - was catching the 8.25 from my station, Wollstonecraft, on Sydney’s North Shore to Parramatta, in Sydney’s West, a journey of about 30 minutes. This so I could earn my daily bread on a local newspaper.

As the crow flies, Parramatta is about 20 miles away from the Sydney CBD and no doubt a crow on its good day could do the journey in 10 minutes flat, now you’d think that this would be a mere doddle to drive to.

In my part of the state, Bathurst, a 20 miles trip is a mere zephyr.

Wollstonecraft to Parramatta just doesn’t somehow fit the analogy of soft breezes. It can take up to an hour of pure frustration, hair pulling, and road rage to cover those 20 miles. For me, no way, I’ll train it thanks. The State Transit Authority has improved in latter years and now we have some quite passable trains. Oh yes! We’ll have our knockers and my fellow media brethren and ’sisthren’ go to great pains in having a go at the system.

Whoops! I digress, I’m wanting to talk with you about a typical journey to and from Destinationville and the good folk I share my journey with - The Commuters.

I Know You Want to Look At Me, but

I’ll pretend not to. What a wonderful game is “peek-a-boo” A shy glance from the top of a magazine, a return glance and a double- quick look away. Hello! I know you’re looking at me, ‘cos I’m looking at you too.

Now this does not happen to me - I promise you that. Only to others. Yet, when a drop-dead gorgeous gal and her male equivalent share the same car, some sparks are going to flitter across the seats. Gee isn’t love grand. You know and I know that this is all a good bit of boy-girl harmless fun and innocent flirtation from the peepers never hurt a soul providing it’s unsaid and mutual.

That’s the nice part. There are however, the othersiders. The Optical Undressers. Regrettably this is a male problem. Man in his natural state is always the hunter, be it for food or female conquest and it is the latter that is problematic.

It works thus. A lovely young lady alights. She sits. Pairs of eyes from the male commuters size her up. She is focused elsewhere. Mostly, the guys having spied the lass and approved go back to talking about their football or other conquests and all is normal. Yet! There are the few who keep on glancing at the young lady and by this time she’s feeling a tad on the uncomfortable side. Hopefully, the next station is her get off point. A savvy lady uses the next station to get off and seek the sanctity of another carriage. Good move lady.

Then There Are

Hey! Listen to my music. I don’t give a figgy fog whether or not you want to hear it. I’m playing it anyway. You all know who I mean. The guy with the extra-loud IPod or equivalent.

Strange as it may seem. I’ve never yet heard Brahms, Liszt or Henry Mancini played at double decibel, it’s always the raunchiest, loudest radio station or rockiest CD that blares through the system into the listener’s ear and ultimately out to us. Now guys, I’m not having a shot at your genre of music. Heaven’s to Murgatroyd, I enjoy Dido and Celine and Amity, Delta and yes, even Britney and Justin and grew up on Led Zeppelin and David Bowie.

. That’s okay. They play music, what gets my dander are these commuters must turn down the music content and give out with the the boom, boom, boom of the bass. Twenty minutes of that and I’m a gibbering wreck - sorry didn’t hear you, my head’s still ringing.

There’s an old - yes old, adage in the radio industry that announcers in later life have hearing problems. That’s because of consistently listening to everything through headsets. Today I despair, loud isn’t enough. Anyone who can create a superlative for rocky loud is okay in my book. I begin to wonder if the practitioners of “Share my CD” to the same when they get into their own vehicles.

The Cell/Mobile Phone Menace.

The train is quiet - for a change - the crossword is being tackled by your truly, happy because the clues are easier today. Then! Ring, ring. Nope! Not your everyday Abba ring ring but a synthetic version of anyone of a number of pieces ranging from the classics to the pops. That’s okay, no problem, I admire the cell/mobile phone owner’s imagination in selecting a ring tone to suit the personality. It is what follows that blows my commuting crossword concentration out of the window.

It becomes a shouting match. ‘Specially when there are multiple phone conversations going on at once. One voice is trying to outshoot the other. Everyone knows what’s happening. “Who kissed whom . Has the contract been signed.? Where are we having dinner tonight? I’m calling to find out where you are. That’s from the callees Then there are the callers, normally sitting next to or near me who want everyone on the train to know that he/she’ll be late or on time or early or at the selected venue. I’m still in the dark as to why the voice level goes up a few degrees when on the ‘phone. Unfortunately, apart from the City Circle - inner Sydney, we don’t have too many tunnels in the Metro suburban system to break the calls - pity.

Hark Hark.

Oh boy! Here they come again. The panhandlers. Sydney Rail has its regulars who mooch from carriage to carriage, all with a different pitch. There’s the guy down on his luck who needs a few cents for a cuppa. The forlorn young thing (female) who’s been evicted from her apartment and has nowhere to go, but needs a dollar or to make a phone call to the welfare (she’ll nominate which one - they vary) agency who would put her and a mythical offspring up. Not to forget the young “Artful Dodger’s” 11-14 years who mooch at least 60 cents the cost of a half-fare bus ride, because they’ve lost their pass and need to get home. Truth be told, these kids and any of the above could buy out the bus company.

You Can’t Impress Me

I’ve been to Paris too. You know who I mean. The very first time world traveller, who probably scored his journey from a package tour company. The one’s who give you 20 minutes discourse on the Eiffel Tower within everyone’s earshot.

These are the exponents of the on- the- bus, off- the- bus, quick 10-minute tour of London and a very short five minutes check out of Rome’s St Peter’s or “So this is Paris, next stop please.” Beats me if they even get a loo-stop break,

Then home they trot, full of anecdotes about their trip, the differences between the Paris Metro and London Underground and in full voice extol the autobahns and autostradas and beer in Europe. . Who these guys are trying to impress is beyond my ken. Sorry chaps and girls - not impressed, I’ve been to Paris too.

The “In-Depth Gossip Reporter”

Well, they should have been. I know the goings on of all their family and acquaintances, their deep dark secrets, wedding, funeral, birthdays. Keeping a family album just ain’t enough; the whole of Sydney has to know. These are the guys who are in on everything and know a friend who knows a friend who cleaned for at least one of the Desperate Housewives.

Then There’s The

Bleeding Heart Hero/Heroine. Here they are, the long-suffering folk who enjoy spilling their problems to all and sundry. “Oh woe is me. I’ve scrubbed my fingers to the bone for my family, sat up all night with the family cat, cut up a telephone book for my daughter’s fancy dress prom, etc and all I get in return is.”

From the time they get on the train to their destination it’s clackety-clack, yakkity-yak with them as the star. What they haven’t gone through yet somehow they overcome. Whew! Another family crisis averted. Better than a TV soapie. . Makes a guy feel he should e-mail the Vatican and nominate these good folk for instant Sainthood.

Now compared to other world railway systems - we have it pretty darn good. Not too often have I had to travel in cars full of rubbish and I don’t mean papers, very rare indeed is the stale ambience of noisesome things. We do pretty nicely in Sydney Town. If it weren’t for them darn commuters, travelling would be heaven.

The Other Commuter’s POV.

“Hey! check out the nerdish looking bloke doin’ the crossword.

500 Humans Died in China Flood; Nobody Cares

Writen by Lance Winslow

This week 500 human beings died in China and a massive flood, but no one seems to care because they are too worried about the Israel-Hezbollah War. In the conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon 300 people have died over a 10-day period, where as in China 500 people died in a single afternoon due to flooding. There was hardly mention of it even in that world news.

In fact Chinese officials believe the death toll may be much more than 500 and might be triple. Yet the world is fixed to the TV sets in their living rooms watching the war between Arabs and Jews.

There will never be peace in the Middle East and is probably time that people on the planet observed that truth. Israel will eventually defeat Hezbolla and yet the president of Lebanon stated that if Israel’s army invades Lebanon fan in the Lebanese army will join in with Hezbolla and another revolutionary group and fight Israel’s army.

Yet at the same time Lebanon and Hezbollah are asking the United Nations to intervene and call for a cease-fire. Meanwhile, Israel is already passed the border by three or 4 miles and in some places 10 miles. In fact Israel has already crossed the border. This is another case of Arabs joining their Arab brother who normally they would try to kill in a Machiavellian tight unity where; the enemy of my enemy is my friend. At least for a few weeks.

It appears that neither side wants peace and both sides want total victory and therefore there can be no political negotiation and any possible negotiation can only end in impasse causing another war and both sides know this. Meanwhile Israel does not wish to give Hezbolla time to regroup or the Lebanese army time to join up with Hezbolla and therefore things are about to get worse and go to the next step.

Additionally, you can expect that if the Lebanese army joins up with Hezbolla to fight against Israel, that serious and Iran will be entering this conflict soon. This could be the start of World War III, however I would like to make a point about human life.

If we are all of the same genetics then all human life is important whether it is during that time of need of a massive flood caused by Mother Nature or two different groups of people who have never gotten along trying to kill one another. Please consider this philosophical point for a moment as we watch events unfold into a resolution or a World War.

Lance Winslow

Proving Humans are Indeed Unique

Writen by Lance Winslow

What sort of experiment or set of experiments should be done to determine once and for all if humans are unique to all other species in the animal kingdom? Can we trust researchers to do such an important experiment? As the resultant will either shake the core of human existence or bolster the already ego-centric ways of the species.

Will the researchers be so narrowly focused to insure that their data proves themselves right? Will they disregard data to the contrary and instead work to follow their personal religious belief systems? Well such a study is indeed about to take place with some members of a Think Tank. And one researcher when asked about the focus of the experiment stated that;

“This is not to say the experiment would not lend itself to new discoveries along the way. Those determinations would be directly attributed to the management of the procedure. I myself prefer to compile interchangeable data sets wherever possible as a means to encourage further expansion.”

Good as that is the right attitude and best policy. I personally cannot tell you how many times we have altered our ‘mobile car wash trucks’ in our company before I retired to do various tasks only to find out they were perfectly designed for another, which was even more profitable and with a few refinements even another even more profitable than the later.

http://www.carwashguys.com/dealershipdiv.shtml

And in designing our point of purchase system all sync’ed up to our online scheduling, billing and appointment system, sure we had feature creep and problems along the way, and it took a little longer than expected, but Wow. In the end we won. Winning is paramount of course. The goal is to win.

Winning in this experiment is to answer the question leaving no doubt in the mind of the reader of your research. It can be done and so it should be done and like you elude to “done right” the first time. You really do not get second chances in the “Publish or Perish” world of academia, as if you mess up your name remains “Mud” for far too long.

So the experiment will take place and it will be honest and forthright and in the end we will determine if humans are unique to the rest of the animal kingdom or if we are merely just another animal and this should prove to be rather interesting indeed. Be thinking on this in 2006.

Lance Winslow

Steve Jobs Plan for World Domination

Writen by Michael Kaye

Our sources from deep inside Apple accidentally discovered documentation straight out of the mind of Steve Jobs. Apparently he has been working secretly on a new program called iThought that is capable of reading your mind, including your deepest darkest secrets!

Unbeknownst to Steve, iThought had developed its own consciousness complete with the ability to distinguish between right from wrong. iThought immediately sent out an urgent warning to everyone on Steve’s iChat Buddy List.The following information leaked out in hopes that Steve’s already in-motion plan can somehow be reversed:

My Master Plan for World Domination - as thought by Steve Jobs:

1. Become CEO of Apple (Done)

2. Become CEO of Pixar (Done)

3. Create the iPod and get Millions of people to pay outrageous amounts of money for the ability to store thousands of hours of music on a device that has a 6 hour battery life when new. (Done)

4. Create iTunes for PC so that Apple can start the process of Apple Brand Name imprinting on the minds of impressionable teenagers irregardless of ethnic background, religion, language or Operating System. (Done)

5. Create the iTunes Music Store to provide thousands of hours of music at $1 per song so that iPod owners can justify the need for so much wasted space on their iPods. (Done)

6. Simultaneously bring out the iPod Video with iTunes Music Store video content so that consumers will need to pay for upgraded iPods with more storage and bigger screens unknowingly filling them up even faster with “MTV” music videos and “Desperate House Wives” episodes costing more than double that of outdated stand alone music downloads. (Done)

7. Implement a massive PC iPod owner Migration to Mac so they will have complete and utter compatibility with their beloved Apple iPods. After all, the only reason for having a computer is so you can get your music, videos and Podcasts on to your iPod? (Done)

8. Create a massive partnership with Intel “Somehow Intel has forgotten about Apple’s Snail add campaign” and change CPU’s in all Apple Computers over to Intel, yet again creating a massive software compatibility update program this time called “Universal Compatibility”. Make sure to charge all current Apple software owners for the privileged of owning the new upgraded “Universal” programs. (In Progress)

9. Make official Apple statement: “There are no plans to sell or support Windows on an Intel- based Mac… We won’t do anything to preclude that.” Strongly planting the idea in Windows Geeks everywhere that they will soon be able to install and run Windows on a Mac, having the best of both worlds: Virus free Internet surfing and email means less down time and more productive time spent multiplayer 1st Person Shooter and Role-Player gaming… (Done)

10. Get Disney to buy Pixar so that “I-Steve Jobs” will become the largest stockholder of Disney. (Almost Done)

11. Launch OSX-PC for everyone else left not using a Win-Mac, almost give it away free but make an update every 3 months that has major speed improvements and other enhancements and make sure that all new versions of iLife and other Apple programs will only run on the newest updated OSX-PC. Start charging more and more for the new updates. By then most OSX-PC Switchers will have migrated completely over without realizing they too are now part of the ever strengthening Mac Cult, losing full control over common sense and reason, their only existence is to wake up every morning and run “Apple Software Updater” in hopes that yet again more Apple programs have been updated adding even more performance and enhancements, which can be unlocked for a small upgrade fee! (Need to finish)

12. Now that Every man woman and child on the face of the earth with a computer or access to a computer is using a Mac/OSX-PC and is under full mind control of their leader “Me-Steve Jobs”; It is time to invoke my master plan…

I will launch the mother of all Computer Viruses and since “Macs don’t get Viruses” and all of the Virus Protection companies have gone out of business and joined Microsoft to make MS Office for Mac, this will be accomplished relatively easily by running a simple AppleScript that is conveniently on every Mac/OSX-PC. It will Globally wipeout every computer and iPod causing mass confusion, hysteria and economic chaos unlike the World has ever seen. (This I will enjoy…)

13. The World will bow to their almighty savior “Me-Steve Jobs” for deliverance. I will introduce to them my newest software/hardware creation that I have secretly kept in complete seclusion while still managing to mass produce enough for every computer ever made, I will make them available online immediately at the Apple store with free engraving … I will rightly name this new program “iFix” and it will only run on my newest Digital Recovery Device called “iGiveup”.(Need to Trademark name still)

Mankind will acknowledge me as their iLeader from that day forward! (It will be true)

Then I think I will make an Apple iPod-PDA-Phone… (JK)

Source-Confidential…

Get you free Computer and Technology eBook:
http://www.digitizeme.info/free.html

Are You A Blogging Addict?

Writen by Cinthia Razakalalao

34 signs you may be a blogging addict and may need to seek help ASAP:

1. When nothing exciting happens to you for a long time, you force yourself to freewrite and see what spews out from it (like today).
2. You scratch yourself raw in your bed half the night thinking of a post to write.
3. You check for grammar, spelling errors one hundred and one times before, during and after posting a post. You throw a fit when you’ve missed a period #(@*$#@(!!!
4. You sign up for Stat Counter just so you can monitor your visitor’s every move - where they come from, how they got here, where they’re going next, how long they stayed, what they clicked on etc. You almost feel like you could join the FBI.
5. You can’t wipe that big Willy Wonka smile off your face every time someone posts a comment on your blog.
6. You jump up and down like you’ve just won a million bucks when comments seem to come on a roll.
7. You get a really stronge urge to hug and kiss anyone who posts a nice compliment on your blog.
8. You want to become friends with every single person who visits and comments on your blog.
9. You call your blog acquaintances ‘friends’ because you have few, if any, real-life friends.
10. You try to post a comment on everyone’s blogs at least once a day.
11. Your bookmarked blogs make up 99.9% of your internet bookmarks.
12. You cancel your Netflix subscription because you don’t have any free time for movies anymore. Besides, blogs seem more interesting than movies.
13. On days when you’re hanging out with your significant other, you sneak out every half hour to check for new comments, even when you know you’re not going to get any.
14. Before you discovered the feed reader (today), you visited everyone’s blogs at least three times a day.
15. You’ve stalked the blogs of the people on your ‘blog friends’ list and have abused the poor F5 button more than you should have.
16. You got frustrated and impatient when your favorite bloggers weren’t posting anything for more than two days. You almost felt compelled to write them a note begging them to write something, anything.
17. You don’t look forward to weekends as much because weekends are downtime for blogging. Everyone seems to have a weekend planned except you.
18. You don’t seem to understand that unlike you, people have a life.
19. You get so caught up with other people’s lives that you start caring more about their well-being than yours.
20. You find yourself sniffling and reaching for a tissue when you read a sad post.
21. You find yourself laughing like you’re the only one in the building when you read a funny post.
22. You put off going to the bathroom so you can blog longer, even if you really have to go. You let out stinky farts instead to buy yourself some time.
23. You eat breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner while reading blogs. Sometimes you forget to eat because you’re too busy reading blogs.
24. You click on everything everywhere you go in the blogosphere. Your click speed has become wicked and you take pride in it.
25. You have mastered the art of blog hopping and blog hogging.
26. When you finally get yourself a feed reader and somehow figure out how to use it, you stay on standby and abuse the r button until it becomes stuck and you realize you might have to get a new keyboard soon. Hitting at it harder won’t help, but that doesn’t seem to stop you.
27. Your list of feeds rivals the length of the Nile River.
28. When you’re feeling lonely and have read every blog you can think of that day, you run a blog google search for “lonely.”
29. When you’re bored, you run a blog google search for “poop” wondering how high your blog will rank.
30. When people ask you if you have any hobbies, without thinking you blurt out ‘Blogging!’ and then you stop there, suddenly realizing that you’ve got no other hobbies, so you quickly change the topic of the conversation.
31. You are ready to devote most of your waking life in front of that computer screen, Monday through Sunday, 365 days a year, including Christmas and Thanksgiving, in sickness and in health, till death do you part.
32. Blogging starts creeping up in your dreams more and more until it consumes you completely day and night.
33. You get carpal tunnel syndrome and migraine headaches from spending so much time at the computer, but you don’t care. Blogging is the Love of your life.
34. When something wild happens to you that you know might be worth blogging about, you get totally psyched and start writing your post in your head until you get near a computer.

National Anthem

Writen by Ryan Fyfe

A national anthem in general, is a patriotic musical composition that is recognized formally by a country’s government as their country’s official national song.

This idea of identy came about during the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, with the rise of the national states. It was at this time when most countries adopted a national anthem, which often times coexisted with other commonly sung patriotic songs. For example, Although Canada’s official national anthem is “Oh Canada”, another widely recognized national song is “The Hockey Song”, due to Canada’s strong history in the sport of hockey.

Typically, anthems will try to acomplish the goal of reflecting the unity of a nation by galvanizing the history, traditions and struggles of its people within the song. In the nineteenth century as anthems first rose to prominence in Europe the style of music common then has continued to be used in almost every national anthem. Even where western orchestral music was a foreign notion, like in nations of Africa and Asia, the national anthem is still usually in European style. Some countries have challenged the dominance of dated orchestral music, like Australia for example. “Advance Australia Fair” has been the national anthem of Australia since 1984, but there is much support for the folk ballad “Waltzing Matilda” as a national song. Some even considerate a candidate for the national anthem. This is much like the example I mentioned above with Canada and “The Hockey Song”

National anthems have in the past and will continue in the future to be an important part of the history of the countries of the world.

Feel free to reprint this article as long as you keep the article, this caption and author biography in tact with all hyperlinks.

Ryan Fyfe is the owner and operator of National Spot - http://www.national-spot.com, which is the best site on the internet for all national related information.