May 31st, 2008
Make no mistake: the “green building” market is not only here to stay, but it’s also the wave of the future. In just the next five years, the market for buildings that incorporate alternative energy and conservation techniques will increase some $10-20 billion dollars. Yet the green building market only constituted about two percent of new construction in 2004. By 2010, that figure is expected to jump to 5-10 percent, which still represents only a tiny fraction of the immense potential of the green building market.
A recent survey showed that more than 70 percent of the architects, engineers, contractors and building owners interviewed expect a significant increase in their income from green building. Of those surveyed, some 60 percent of those industry professionals are now regularly including green techniques in their new construction projects.
Although they cost a bit more to construct, once the buildings are completed, they can save their occupants 8-9 percent in operating costs vs. conventional buildings, which can add up to significant savings over time. Recognizing the trend, builders, architects, and manufacturers are rushing to get in on the boom, which will ultimately bring down prices for consumers.
This is no longer just a few environmentally-minded homeowners placing solar collectors on their roofs to heat water. The boom is being driven by giant corporations like Ford, GM, and Adobe, companies that have incorporated green techniques into their buildings to improve their overall bottom line through increased energy savings. That trend proves that green buildings are no longer just a fad, and are definitely here to stay, because if companies can realize a quick return on their investment, they’re also quick to jump on the green building bandwagon.
Green building isn’t just the wave of the future. Green building is also the hottest “new” thing in current construction. There’s an organization called the U.S. Green Building Council that actively promotes the usage of green building techniques. If you or your company are interested in incorporating green features in your next building project, you’ll find lots of information at www.usgbc.org.
It all adds up to a win-win situation for everyone concerned. The building industry gets increased business, occupants save significant amounts of money, and the environment is impacted less and less. And the trend should only gain momentum as new technology makes green buildings even more efficient and less expensive.
Copyright © 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher
Jeanette Fisher has researched the effects of environment on emotions for over 15 years. She teaches interior design college courses and seminars. Free interior design reports: http://www.designpsych.com
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May 30th, 2008
If you have diabetes, it is essential that you take special care with your diet. For an adult with Type 2 diabetes, diet and exercise may not be sufficient; they may require medication like diabetic pills or insulin injections as well.
A diabetic diet is essentially a healthy, low-fat, balanced eating plan that helps the patient feel better and more energetic, and achieve some control over the symptoms like fatigue, thirst, blurred vision.
Type 2 diabetes sets in when you skip meals and eat large meals of refined, processed or simple carbohydrates and fats. Starving results in huge variations in blood sugar, and overeating affects your metabolism.
You should eat little but more frequently, and consume foods that will burn slowly. This will maintain your blood sugar level to controllable limits throughout the day, without adding large amounts of glucose to your bloodstream.
Complex carbohydrates are processed more slowly than simple carbohydrates, and help to maintain stable blood sugar levels. So, complex carbohydrates including high-fiber and starchy foods like whole grain breads, brown rice, oats, fruits and vegetables are recommended instead of simple carbohydrates found in cakes, muffins and pastries.
As a general rule, a diabetic diet provides 50% starch, 30% protein & 20% fat in calories. Follow these simple rules: eat only those foods which are on the diet list, do not skip or miss meals, and eat only the amount of food specified.
Measure your food using a standard 8-ounce measuring cup, a standard teaspoon and standard table spoon. Bake or boil your meat. Avoid frying foods unless fat is allowed. Buying special foods is unnecessary. Foods can be chosen from the same foods purchased for other family members.
Avoid sugar, sweets, candy, honey, pie and all foods prepared with sugar. Stay away from high-fat and -cholesterol diets, beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages, and red meat. For weight control, avoid fats, fried foods, sweets, and all foods prepared with sugar and oil.
Diet Plans provides detailed information on Diet Plans, Free Diet Plans, Weight Loss Diet Plans, Diabetic Diet Plans and more. Diet Plans is affiliated with Online Diet Programs.
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May 30th, 2008
Finding educational resources on the web is as simple as a few clicks of the mouse. Whether you are a teacher or a student looking, you will find a ton of resources on the Internet, most of them free of charge. Every subject you can imagine is explored in depth on the web. Just be sure to credit your sources properly if you use them in a research paper or a lesson plan and always double check your source to make sure it’s reliable.
Below, you will find a compilation of links that are…compilations of more links, all educational, all offering resources for students, teachers, and kids. Enjoy!
Weasel World Education Index - A host of links provided for over 30 different subjects.
http://www.educationindex.com/education_resources.html
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence - Offers links to great curriculum, homework sheets, and lessons on a variety of subjects.
http://www.ed.gov/free/index.html
Special Education Resources on the Internet - Offers links to those interested in the field of special education, separated into more than 25 categories.
http://seriweb.com/
K-12 Resources for Music Educators - Choral teachers, classroom music teachers, orchestra teachers and more. A list of links divided up by musical focus. Updated frequently.
http://www.isd77.k12.mn.us/resources/staffpages/shirk/k12.music.html
Microsoft in Education - This is Microsoft’s page of links to technological tools, programs, and solutions to educational challenges for both students and teachers.
http://www.microsoft.com/education/default.mspx
NASA Education Enterprise - This is NASA’s page of links for its Education Program with tons of activities for all levels education.
http://education.nasa.gov/home/index.html
The EnviroLink Network - This is a compilation of thousands of online environmental resources divided up by environmental topic.
http://www.envirolink.org/
The Educator’s Reference Desk - More than 2000 lesson plans, 3000 links to online education information, and 200 question responses for the education community from the Information Institute of Syracuse.
http://www.eduref.org/
Education Index - An index of links to the best online education-related sites sorted by subject and life stage of the student. Search for educational information and links in over 50 categories.
http://www.educationindex.com/
BBC Learning Network - Resources for home and school divided by age group. Sections for teachers and parents.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/
Smithsonian Education - This is the education website for the Smithsonian Institution with educational resources for educators, families, and students that include lesson plans, field trips, and interactive activities.
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/
SearchERIC - A bibliographic database with over 1.1 million education topic citations dating back to 1966. There are more than 100,000 documents that can be downloaded for free by anyone.
http://searcheric.org/
Documentary Educational Resources - This site has a huge collection of documentaries focused on cross-cultural understanding. Search by title, subject, or geography.
http://www.der.org/
National Geographic Education Subject Guides - For teachers, kids, and students. Find lesson plans, maps and geography, photography, news, adventure and exploration, history and culture and more.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/education/
Discovery Education’s Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators - This is a categorized list of sites for teaching and learning to enhance curriculum.
http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/
Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate, specializing in small business development, for Apollo Hosting. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers.
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May 28th, 2008
Not many people reading this article will remember the old television serial called “I Remember Mamma” and certainly almost none of the young men and women of our present day armed forces will remember it. I shudder when I think of how old I am getting, because I do remember it very well. “I Remember Mamma” was a TV series on every week about a Swedish family that came to America to start a new life away from the old country. Each episode was a perfect picture of what life was like for a family of immigrants in the new land of opportunity.
It was a typical family of four with mother, father and sister and brother. One unforgettable episode was when the young man of the family decided to join the army because the war had broken out and he wanted to serve his new country. The folks and the sister were devastated by his choice to go, but they seemed to adapt to the idea if only to support his decision although not fully agreeing with it. You could feel the sadness on that family as the young man slept in his bed for the last night. I cried so deeply when his mother came in to give him a good night kiss, perhaps his last. I became so emotionally caught up with the story that I could hardly sleep at all that night.
I knew nothing about war even though my buddies and I often put a nail in a stick for a trigger and played GI Joe with each other. All I was sure of was, that as a soldier someone was very likely to be shooting at you at some time. What I found hard to grasp was, why anyone would put themselves in such a situation of their own free will. I can’t say I have ever found a sufficient answer to that question but after more than six decades to ponder it, the question has been rewarded with some surprising and perplexing answers.
One of the answers is that some people really believe that the freedom we enjoy here in America is worth fighting to keep and if possible to share with others. Some of them believe that oppression and injustice should not be allowed to prevail unchecked anywhere in the world, not just here at home. I have heard all the comments about how a soldier is only thinking about saving his own life once the bullets start flying but they have been mostly neutralized by the stories of uncommon heroism on our country’s battlefields. There are countless stories of men and women who have risked and in some cases lost their lives while protecting the lives of others around them in their units. For me one story would be enough to prove that not all men are thinking of themselves even after the bullets are flying.
Some young folks still join our armed services for lesser reasons. Perhaps they are enticed by the chance to go to college at the expense of Uncle Sam. In some cases they may just be in that place where they simply don’t know what else to do with their lives. These reasons may not seem as noble as those of the young people who signed up after 9/11 but they are still legitimate reasons and they are not open to any ones critical judgment. Certainly all of those who joined for any reason had a moment when they reflected and faced the possibility that they could be thrust into a battle at any given time. They had to deal with that question but for everyone who signed on the dotted line the question did not deter them, this in itself is a form of bravery.
Soldiers once lined up by the thousands willing to fight against one of the world’s greatest despots, Adolph Hitler. No doubt there are those in Iraq today who see Saddam Hussein and his Bathist party members as something akin to Hitler. Still others in Afghanistan are still hoping to corral one of the worst terrorists of all time, Osama Bin Laden. Should we not liken their devotion to accomplishing these goals to those who fought in other wars? In today’s all volunteer army we have no other choice.
To offer the soldiers in the present conflicts any less than our complete support and gratitude is not only to dishonor them but it equally dishonors every brave soldier who gave their all in the past wars and battles of our nation. We may brag a bit about how well our soldiers are equipped and trained but we must never forget that they also are guided by certain beliefs and principles that are shared in our land by almost everyone. This then, is their purpose and it must be appreciated and respected or we are all fools indeed. They represent us in that purpose and anything less than our full support is to betray them and in my humble opinion is akin to treason.
This thanksgiving season among the other things I will be thankful for is our soldiers. They still give me a sense of awe like the night I cried in my bed trying to understand the young Swedish boy in the “I Remember Mama” series who decided to go and risk life and limb for his newly adopted country, the USA. I will pray that they all come home safely and if any do not, I will always have a home for them in my heart as will millions of other grateful Americans. Thank God for our soldiers this thanksgiving day.
Rev Bresciani is the author of two books; one is on the second coming of Christ. He has many articles published both online and in print. Visit the website at www.americanprophet.org
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May 28th, 2008
Guaranteed personal loans are a wonderful option and can be utilized for a variety of reasons. With a wide range of lenders competing today, a borrower has a wider choice of options available. Here is an overview about the type of loans, their uses, benefits, drawbacks and finer points.
Uses of guaranteed personal loans
Guaranteed personal loans can be used for a variety of reasons. This can include home improvements, purchasing furniture, dream holidays, to pay off high interest rate loans and credit cards, debt consolidation, medical expenses, starting up business or pretty much any other reasons you can imagine as long as it’s legal! These can also be used to fill the gaps between paydays with necessary funds. These can be obtained from banks, specialist loan companies, credit card companies and other financial institutions. These are easier to obtain if you have collateral to secure them against.
Requirements to qualify for a guaranteed personal loan
While it is easy to qualify for and obtain a guaranteed personal loan, lenders make the process tougher by often asking for unnecessary documentation. However the important documentation that is often required includes credit reports, proof of identity, proof of residence, salary statements, bank statements, your attest salary slip and proof of your duration of employment. Employment information is sought because a guaranteed personal loan requires the borrower to have a certain income level per month. These loans also require a good credit rating for the borrower to gain approval.
The market
Today’s market for loans and the loans industry has evolved to a large extent. Over a decade ago it would not have been as easy to obtain a guaranteed personal loan. However, today the market has changed with increasing numbers of players and options. With the Internet entering the scene, applying for such loans and processing them has become much faster. Different providers continue to offer lucrative options to tantalize and encourage customers to place their business with them.
While this creates a happy scenario for prospective borrowers, it may be wise to remember that the cheapest loan is not always the best. Consider the loan provider and their reputation in the market before deciding to apply for the loan. Read the small print carefully and look out for the interest rate, pre payment penalties and delayed payment penalties if any. Moneyeverything.com offers comprehensive loan comparison service with options for those who are on the lookout for a good loan. Visit www.moneyeverything.com and check out loan details with advice and answers to your questions.
I write articles on Loans. For more details please visit http://www.moneyeverything.com
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May 28th, 2008
“Till It Shines”
Connecting Pope John Paul II and Bob Seger
No one ever asked the Pope, back when he visited us here in Chicago first in 1979, to climb on a motorcycle and with white robes flying, ruddy face beaming, waving and genuflecting to the crowd; chug proud, loud and smiling on up Milwaukee Avenue.
Bob Seger in the background as The Pope climbs up on Harley:
“Took a look down a westbound road
Right away I made my choice”
No one asked the Pope. But if they had, and if it would have helped the church: I am betting that this smiling Polish holy man, back in 1979 bounding off the plane at O’Hare, bending down to kiss the ground, this flowing bundle of good will who visited more countries than any other Pope in history—I’m betting he would have hopped right on that Harley.
Bob Seger taking off into the high plains and the Pope taking the same kind of journey, but his is straight into the hearts of the city. Straight northwest up Milwaukee Avenue, as the people start gathering and the cheers start cascading across the sidewalks on a warm summer afternoon. Folks streaming out of the shops to see that beaming man on the motorcycle come to say hello.
If you’re young, if you’re poor, if you are struggling: you understand.
An actor on the world stage they’d call him when he passed. But back in Chicago in 1979 he was still the Priest from Poland who made the Communist party functionaries tremble—not from the politics: but from his faith. At the beginning of his time as Pope, he came to Chicago. There could not have been a more stark contrast to the imperial nature of Chicago’s John Cardinal Cody. 1979, the Pope from Poland, well he just might have got on that motorcycle. Maybe have some pirogue? Maybe some kielbasa, some ham and some sausage? There would be friends who knew him in from South Bend and St. Louis, back when he was just Karol. There would always be friends. The community. To keep the church going we would eat together.
Such hopeful times. And here he was! Not just with the millions in Grant Park, but here he was on the back of that motorcycle. Right here on Milwaukee Avenue! Giving voice to so many who were different. So many who were confused:
Roll, roll me away,
Won’t you roll me away tonight!
I too am lost, I feel double-crossed
I’m sick of what’s wrong and what’s right.
A Pope who gave shape and color to the words “social justice.” Giving voice to the poor, the sick, the folks on the outskirts—way, way far from that million dollar Cardinal’s mansion in by the Lake. A peoples Pope! And that was new.
Like Bob Seger sang:
Take away my inhibitions
Take away my solitude
Fire me up with your resistance
Put me in the mood
Storm the walls around this prison
Leave the inmates
Free the guards
Deal me up another future
From some brand new deck of cards.
Right there on Milwaukee Avenue, with the scent of fresh baked Polish rye bread sweetening the air and giving all those inside this Christian colony of proud people a way to say: “Ok. . .maybe after a few years we are making it—maybe we are not so poor– maybe God has given us this day our daily bread!
See the rich man lost and lonely
Watch him as he dines
Sitting there just testing all the wines
Sure, even then there were “money changers” camped out in the temple. But they had yet to set up shop on the steps outside, charging corporate membership rates backed up by the rendition campaigns of American secret police, wars for oil and power, trampling of human rights, ignoring the earth that we steward and finally bowing our heads to the all powerful “talking points” of the propaganda machine that twisted a moral fundamentalism into a market fundamentalism.
In the serenity and clarity of his faith—even when you didn’t agree with him—he could cut right through the walls of the machine and touch you.
Take the chip off of my shoulder
Smooth out all the lines
Take me out among the rustling pines
Till it shines.
Years and years later, a Catholic friend tells of a Catholic Church where the priest holds up Pope John Paul’s picture and says: “We don’t agree with him about this, that or the other” and you marvel that there is a church like that. Questioning believers of Catholicism. That exists.
On his watch.
Then sitting around a tale in a Catholic Church basement next to an expressway in St. Louis. The tired eyes of the Priests attending yet another meeting.
Till you mention Dorothy Day.
And THAT is when the eyes come alive.
On his watch.
From there the conversation shifts to Flannery O’Connor. The unspoken thought: Reading Flannery O’Connor makes the whole idea of women’s issues fade. Because there is only that talent. Graced by her God. That person’s talent.
Then—in the aftermath of his passing: a Priest on TV does something amazing. He reels off every single issue reason you’ve ever thought of to disagree with this Pope. And then he says: “Of course. There will be women Priests. Of COURSE we’ll figure out that they way the church treats gays and lesbians is flat out wrong. Of COURSE we’ll come to terms with the way we face birth control and a woman’s control of her own body rather than the state’s control. These are: flyspecks on the wall of human history. Our call is much, much, much larger than that: this Pope’s call was much, much larger than all of that.
Sharing more than we differed with those of us whose ancestors tramped out of the German forests with John Hus and Martin Luther and then fueled by Bach’s holy music went on to become what we now call Protestant.
None of us strangers to the centuries of atrocity brought on by all the bad managers who also carried the banner of Christianity. All the lives ruined by the abuse still ringing in the halls of history. Set against visionary leadership, all that abuse offering a chance to forgive way beyond most of us mortals—yet all of it: flyspecks on the walls of human history—when it is set against this:
All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye so to them; for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:1
His call was Love.
Kids knew it. Young adults knew it. And In the summertime throng of the Milwaukee Avenue sidewalk back in 1979, that call of love and social justice was just electric in the air. We all knew it.
So back to right here and right now. On a warm spring night in Chicago as we remember him as that charismatic iron man of sprit and strength; a very different kind of service at Holy Name cathedral comes to a close.
This week in Chicago, there will be lots of memories on Milwaukee Avenue. Families inside and outside the colony sharing sausage, bread and wine. But at this different kind of service tonight, I can hear a Buddhist:
Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.
Udana-Varga 5,1
I can hear a young Hindu woman:
This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do
unto you.
Mahabharata 5,1517
A Muslim:
No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.
Sunnah
A Jew:
What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellowman. This is the entire Law; all the
rest is commentary.
Talmud, Shabbat 3id
All the rest is commentary. I think he would have liked that last one a lot.
So I wave goodbye to the white robed man on the back of that motorcycle.
And hear Bob Seger sing:
Still if we can make the effort
If we take the time
Maybe we can leave this much behind
Till it shines
And I answer back:
Amen.
About the Author
Roger Wright can be found on the blog Church Food Chicago
http://blogs.salon.com/0004257/
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May 28th, 2008
There is simply a plethora of wonderful things about living in Mexicothe consistently calm climate, the cheap cost-of-living, the best foods on the planet, dodging dog-poop on the sidewalks. These are just a few. By far, the most amazing thing deserving the highest adulation is the Mexican people.
When we moved to this little town of Guanajuato, we were accepted, without a noticeable exception, into the lives of our neighbors as if we were their long-lost distant cousins from America who had finally found our way back to our real homeMexico! The butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker all took it as their responsibility to watch out for the new gringos in the neighborhood and turned out to be protective of us.
After our first six months of living here, we had to go to San Antonio, Texas, to visit a terminally ill friend. On our return, the produce guy came running out of his store, virtually in tears, to see us. The little old abuela (grandmother) who owned a little snack shop did the same. They both expressed the fear that, since they had not seen us in days, we had to go back to the U.S. and neglected to say good-bye to them. They were worried, they said, about us!
When was the last time you walked into the supermarket and had the produce guy, or any store personnel at all, run up and embrace you tearfully because he had missed you? Would the word, never, be accurate?
We are wondering if our neighbors in Kansas City yet know we have left America and moved to Mexico in August, 2003.
In our former neighborhood, we did have some trouble with some neighbors who were not liked by anyone at all. They had two wild and savage French poodles that would turn any dog lover into a dog hater. I wanted to kick them each time I saw them. They would be running loose when we would try walking by the housethey attacked us often.
In desperation, we told the neighborhood Internet Café owner of our despair. He told us not to worry; his wife would take care of everything. And she did, too!
She gathered a little confab of neighborhood ladies and stormed the house where these two evil curs lived. She chewed the dog owners up one side and down the other. She informed them that these two gringos were a part of the neighborhood and demanded we be treated accordingly.
Can you even fathom that happening in America?
Sadly, we left that neighborhood for a quieter one where we’ve been just as accepted into the neighbor’s lives and homes.
We contracted some intestinal ailment shortly after moving to our present neighborhood. Our landlady, who lives on the same property, got wind of it and was soon on our doorstep to nurse us back to health with herbs that did work to heal us!
We had some thief wannebee try to enter the house with me standing in the kitchen. He calmly walked off once seeing me. I told a neighbor minutes after the event and she went into action.
All the neighbors showed up to catch and thrash the long-gone intruder. One fellow crawled on the roof of our house to see if the thief could be hiding. The ladies calmed us and offered us tequila for our nerves. One lady was going to bring her dog over to spend the night with us. They stayed with us for as long as it took for us to be comfortable.
The would-be thief got away.
The people here are dazzling and remain so in our estimation. We have grown accustomed to this communal fellowship and would never consider to going back to a country where this type of community is long forgotten.
Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. His most recent writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, and Transitions Abroad. He lives with his wife in Guanajuato, Mexico.
His new book, Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country, can be seen at http://www.lulu.com/content/126241
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May 28th, 2008
Perusing fly fishing articles is a great way to learn more about
the passion of fly fishing. The library of fly fishing
literature rivals other forms of fishing even though in sheer
numbers fly fisherman are out numbered by almost all other forms
of fishing. There are terms in fly fishing literature that are
thrown out frequently without explanation or definition. One
such subset of these terms is the classification of fly fishing
rivers. One can read for years and hear about freestone rivers,
tailwaters, and spring creeks, without elaboration of what these
terms actually mean in general and to fly fishers in general. We
will attempt here to explain these classifications a little bit.
This first in a series of articles will go into the spring
creek.
Spring Creeks are infamous in the United Kingdom, long credited
as the ancient birthplace of fly fishing. Specifically, in the
UK and the Midwest United States, are the limestone spring
creeks. By definition spring creeks are fed obviously by
springs. What this means for
HREF="http://www.bigyflyco.com/" rel="nofollow">fly fishing is that the
water temperature will most likely remain stable year around,
ideally in the high forties to low fifties on the Fahrenheit
scale. Stable temperatures allow for a healthy environment for
aquatic insects to grow, which doesn’t take a huge amount of
mental power, to make the jump to the thought that this is also
great for the growth of fish.
Not only do the water temperatures remain steady but the volume
does as well. Unlike other rivers that depend upon snow melt,
and/or dams, spring creeks water comes bubbling up from the
surface, and is fed by springs and smaller spring creeks as it
works itself downstream.
When one thinks of spring creeks, one thinks of, meandering
hills, gentle slopes, meadows, and wide shallow valleys.
Although spring creeks can occur in mountainous regions as well,
carving out a niche that is usually reserved for freestone
streams. They typically are at lower elevations.
The characteristics of spring creeks, leads to some special
considerations when selecting your arsenal of
HREF="http://www.bigyflyco.com/" rel="nofollow">fly fishing flies. The
meandering of the typical spring creek, with all its stable
features lends also to vegetation growth. Therefore insects that
feed of vegetation are the rule here. Also the banks tend to be
cut into the earth, perfect habitat for mud dwelling grubs,
worms and nymphs like the hex. There also tend to be abundance
of scuds, sow bugs, as well as midge patterns. Since the terrain
is likely grassy, look for terrestrials like hoppers and
crickets. And in the riverbank itself will be ants and beetles.
Terrestrials make a good bet all summer long. A good selection
for spring creeks will include, patterns imitating species
above, as well as some small classic dry flies, like Adams, BWOs
and PMDs.
Spring creeks are likely to be small and certain tactics need to
be remembered. Everything is more likely to be noticed by your
wary prey. Including your approach, your colors, your
silhouette. It is best not to wade, it is best to approach from
upriver, and you are likely only going to get a few casts, and
then moving on is your best bet. With gentle gradient the spring
creek will have many, many holding areas for trout. Using tippet
down to 7x is common, as is long leaders. Perfect presentations
are required, and it is a great time to practice your accuracy
and line management. Bring your 4x or smaller for precise fly
placement, mending if necessary must be done early in your drift
and without ruckus.
Many think of the spring creek as the epitome of fly fishing.
And with good reason. Their very nature, evokes relaxation,
tranquillity, and all the things fly fishers love.
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May 27th, 2008
Auto Opening Tools
Auto opening tools have saved a great many car windows from
untimely demises. One has few options when one locks one’s keys
in the car. Many people turn to locksmiths for help in such
situations. Locksmiths must be outfitted with the proper lockout
equipment in order to get locked car doors open.
One of the most common auto opening tools is the slim jim. This
device is used to bypass the keyhole to open the car door. A
slim jim is inserted by way of the weather stripping that
outlines the car window. As many foreign and domestic cars vary
in terms of lock design, it is important to use a slim jim
specified for use with the given make and model of a car.
Slim jims sound fairly easy to use, but they can be quite
difficult for a beginner to handle properly. Most people are
better off sticking with professionals when they are locked out
of their cars instead of attempting to fix the problem
themselves. Damage to one’s car window or door-locking mechanism
can result from an ill-fated attempt to unlock one’s car with a
slim jim.
Auto Opening Tools Online
Many professionals find the auto opening tools they need here at
LockPickShop.com. Our
tools are made in the USA, and our wide selection of equipment
is sure to work with any budget. We also offer a variety of
books, instructional cd’s and training courses for those looking
to learn the art of lock picking. To find out more about our
products and services, contact us at info@lockpickshop.com.
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May 27th, 2008
With the success of such films as “Harry Potter,” “Spy Kids” and the “Chronicles of Narnia,” more and more youngsters are turning to their parents and asking if they can make movies like the kids they see on the screen. Becoming a child actor or actress is not something to be taken lightly, and there is a lot for the children - and their parents - to learn.
As a parent, your first duty is to make sure your child is happy and well-adjusted. You have probably heard the horror stories of over-zealous stage parents hoarding all of their child’s money, or even the stereotypical “child star” terrorizing the set. While some parents and children fail to handle success very well, the parents who are informed and never stop learning about the profession very often do succeed.
If your child is serious about becoming an actor or actress, there are several steps you can take to get them started right their in your home town.
First, sit down with your child and make sure they know that becoming an actor or actress is a commitment that will take months and probably years before they see any real results. There are a lot of actors, but very few “stars” in the entertainment industry.
Once it is clear your child understands their commitment, go ahead and contact the local community theatre to find out what shows are coming up and when the auditions are. Community theatres are great opportunities to get young people started in acting. You should also contact your state film office to find out where the nearest acting workshops are located and schedule a time to audit one or more of the classes.
Your child should build up some theatre credits before trying to get their first professional talent agent. Once you think your child is ready, do your homework and find the agencies near you. Search the Internet for what people say about the agency. When you approach an agency, you will need to send a picture and resume along with a short letter explaining your child is seeking representation. The photo you provide at this point in your child’s career does not have to be professional - but it does have to actually look like your child. The agent may or may not contact you to arrange an interview.
Becoming a young performer like your child sees on TV and in movies is a long process filled with pitfalls, scams, and yes even some very satisfying moments. Take the time to read books on child actors and other books in the field so you can be as prepared as you can when presented with the challenges facing parents of young performers.
Troy A. Rutter has been working with young performers for over ten years. His book, Kids in the Biz, provides step-by-step guidance to prospective young performers and their families. For more information about getting children into acting in television and films, visit his web site at http://www.kidsinthebiz.com.
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