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Archive for October, 2010

Play Games With Your Dog To Keep Them Fit

Do you realize that having fun by playing games with your dog will keep your dog alert and lively? Playing games with your doggie also provides your pet the excersize he / she need to keep their heart and muscles strong. Dogs love games like playing fetch, tug-o-war, and fun wrestling. There are even some other intriguing and distinctive ways to play with your dog, like hide and go seek, bobbing for biscuits (you can locate a whole lot of dog food coupons that will include biscuits as well), soccer and a lot more. So what are you holding out for, stop looking at this and go have some fun with your dog.

Posted on 21 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.

The Benefits Of Home Incarceration

Home incarceration is designed to be a much more humane and lenient form of punishment, and indeed it sounds practically harmless at first glance. For the majority of us needing to work for a living every day, we probably wonder whether anyone exists who wouldn’t like to simply stay at home instead.

However, home incarceration can be strict enough in its conditions, and unless one has the extensive estates of the likes of multi-billionaires, be confined to familiar surroundings day in, day out will surely prove no holiday soon enough.

Even with an incredibly luxurious estate of a several tens of miles in every direction home incarceration can prove quite a bore. Interestingly, though, that is just how untold numbers of people in their hundreds of thousands had lived throughout much of human history.

Most barely traveled no more than perhaps twenty or thirty miles from home all their lives, having not much business elsewhere. Only some merchants had the occasion to see other parts of the country or entirely different lands altogether.

Obviously, if boredom is the worst possible result of [home incarceration] for those subjected to it, the practice is hardly a cruel one. Considering that it also offers many advantages to society at large, not the least of which is that most if not all costs associated with it are borne by the subject, for instance paying for electronic monitoring devices and services, it is easy to see why the choice has become more and more widely adopted around the world.

Thanks to the technological advances made only in the last twenty or thirty years, home confinement is a viable modern solution to age-old issues of crime and punishment. It costs substantially less while providing a humane method to deal with relatively minor crimes where the perpetrator poses no physical risk to anyone.

Posted on 20 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.

Weapons And Safes

On Sand Hill in Fort Benning, Georgia, each and every recruit training company has its own armory with its own gun safes where rifles are stowed. Back in the early 1990s, the Army’s block of Basic Rifle Marksmanship (BRM) instruction usually didn’t take place until the fifth week of Basic Combat Training (BCT), so none of us recruits even knew that behind the nondescript door across from company headquarters lay the firearms we were all so looking forward to finally holding.

No, most likely not even the gun safes could have kept those weapons from our hands had we known! That’s how eager we all were to do the very thing we had really signed up for, blasting away at targets.

Some individuals like Drill and Ceremony (recognized as “D&C”) and there may even be those who actually like Physical Training (PT), but there will never be anyone who gripes about firing rifles, pistols, and the like. It’s the one thing everyone loves about the Army, blowing stuff up!

The gun safes are just an extra precaution, actually. There are no munitions in the training armory, and of course, the armory itself, such as it is, being comprised of one small nondescript room the same as any other on the premises with its cookie-cutter layout, is locked, behind dead-bolt bars and the like, no doubt.

And within real rifles share space with dummies issued for D&C; our first acquaintance with the armory was tempered with the realization that we were getting fakes, to be used for the endless parade-ground drills some found so tedious.

It was as astonishing a surprise as first realizing we had an armory on the premises when instead of dummies we were issued real rifles for BRM. And since the start of BRM, any further D&C, which occurred much less frequently but was still present every so often, was conducted with real weaponry.

Posted on 20 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.

The Most Beautiful Marble Sculpture In The World

Mention marble sculpture and most people will think about some thing like Italian marble statues, for example as Michelangelo’s David or Bernini’s Ecstasy of Saint Teresa. However some of the greatest works of marble are entire buildings themselves, such as India’s Taj Mahal in Agra, an ancient bustling city on the banks of the Yamuna in Uttar Pradesh.

First mentioned inside the old Hindu epic the Mahabharata, where it was called Agrevana, or “the border of the forest,” today’s Agra is most famous for the Taj Mahal, Urdu for “crown of buildings.” It’s a marble mausoleum built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtza Mahal.

It’s possibly the most stunningly beautiful piece of marble sculpture anywhere, an entire complex built to symbolize eternal love. It’s not for nothing that the Taj Mahal is generally found on lists of the seven wonders of the modern world, including one composed by polling a hundred million people.

As a result the Taj Mahal attracts anywhere from two to four million visitors each year, of whome about two hundred thousand are from outside the country. This is really a significant fact, as admissions are substantially lower for Indian citizens than for foreigners.

The very best time to see this spectacular work of marble is during the cooler months of October and November, which are important considerations since plenty of walking can be expected (the entire complex comprises of several buildings and sweeping gardens) on account of the strict pollution controls in place that ban all traffic, except for some electric busses. Environmental pollution is also a serious matter in the area around the Taj Mahal.

Its storied white marble had turned yellow, and now there is a four thousand and fifteen-square mile area around this UNESCO World Heritage Site where emissions are subjected to the strictest standards.

Posted on 19 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.

Wine Is To Dinner What A Wine Rack Is To Wine

If wines should go with a dinner to make it complete, then wine racks should go with a wine for that same reasons. For a bottle of wine in the cupboard or on a shelf, while adequate, seems something of an opportunity missed, an opportunity for excellence.

Certainly, if one is such a gourmand as to care about offering fine wine with a meal, then one must not begrudge the additional expense of wine racks appropriate for one’s collection.

People who serve wine will surely have a lot more than one or two bottles on hand, and due to the fact it’s important to do something properly, all the way, if it is to be done at all, it’s crucial to store these precious bottles in the time-honored way, as befits their status at the table.

That is where many go wrong, introducing an element of kitsch into an otherwise good faith attempt at an elegant evening. They pull a bottle out of the fridge rather than a proper wine chiller. Or they serve it warm, straight out of the cupboard – they could have used a proper rack, at least.

Besides, wine racks lend an air of elegance to nearly any setting, above and beyond what they do for the wine itself. Fine racks are available in a wide range of designs bearing any range of construction, from fluid cast iron shapes to hand made wooden forms.

They are important accessories for the true connoisseur. Though the word “accessories” typically refers to that which is not essential but only enhance, a wine rack completes the experience as much as correctly serving a bottle does. A rack is to a bottle what candlelight is to the dinner: one might as well dine in the jungle naked, then, over poor roots and berries in the dark and damp!

Posted on 19 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.

The Physical And Mental Benefits Of Athletic Tape

I love going to the gym. Every thing about it turns me on. Just the st-r-r-eeetch of athletic tape gets me going. I can see it now, even in my mind’s eye, the taut white tape and also the specks of dust undoing it from its roll sends up into the air.

Weird? You bet. That, and chalk. Athletic tape and chalk. I dust my palms in it for kettlebells and Olympic weightlifting. Downright necessary. You want a proper grip, but you also want ease of movement for those split-second snatches and catches. Chalk lets you do that.

Athletic tape supports the wrists while in those high-speed, high-torque maneuvers. Tricks of the trade. Some folks use tape for their knees and even ankles, too, but luckily I don’t have to. But it’s comforting to feel support for my wrists, which is most likely my personal weakest link.

Outsiders, non-weightlifters, may well wonder why, why not just do some thing else, like machines, if using free-weights are so dangerous as to need such accessories as chalk and tape. It’s a valid question, at first glance. But these things aren’t really necessities, which is why they’re referred to as “accessories” in the first place.

It is just that many serious, competitive lifters use them because, well, we’re a superstitious bunch, and any bit of luck will do. Much more talisman than anything else, tape and chalk are comforting, psychologically comforting, and thus empowering. For at elite levels of competition, the distinguishing mark is the mental edge.

Besides, it does stand to reason how tape and chalk help; one supports joints while the other supports grip, respectively. Aside from strength, your joints and your grip are the other important elements that determine success in lifting. With a powerful grip and solid joints, all you should worry about is appropriate form and of course the sheer strength to lift. Having a powerful grip and strong dependable joints means you are already halfway there!

Posted on 18 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.

Fitness Tourism

Here’s a novel thing to do in New York as a tourist: personal training. Forget the tourist traps like Zalman Silber’s Skyride; if you want true heart-thumping excitement, how about hiring one of the many attractive personal fitness trainers available for a jog, swim, stretch, or bike-ride around town? Seriously, there’s no better way to take in the sights than in the same way a native might.

Thousands – no, hundreds of thousands – of New Yorkers exercise each day, whether specifically working out or otherwise enjoying a physically rigorous leisure activity. Why not you? It will be a lot less expensive than the above mentioned Zalman Silber affair. Instead of helicopter flyovers on film (which is all that his Skyride is – and not even “all” at that, but only “some,” to be exact), why not jog past the West Side heliport near the downtown nabe of Chelsea? Or just take a bicycle ride past the USS Intrepid a mile uptown, along the same waterfront, with its fighter jets and other military aircraft permanently parked on deck.

You want excitement? There’s no thrill more visceral than working out with an attractive able-bodied trainer when new in town! Not only will you enjoy the company of someone that’s good-looking, but you’ll also be able to stay healthy. Even if you’re not exercising at all, picking it up for the first time (or after a long while) when in a new unfamiliar environment can be really fun. In fact, it can be so exhilarating that you need to be mindful of checking your own enthusiasm so as to not get hurt, especially as a beginner!

Indeed, organizations like the 50 States Marathon Club were founded to serve people who already have, all on their own, combined fitness and traveling into one unbeatable vacation package. And for many who are retirees, exercise and travel go hand-in-hand every day! It’s a great idea with which almost anyone can participate along.

Of course, many people have long traveled just to do certain things at, specifically, certain places. Climbing and hiking come to mind immediately; they are probably the pastimes most associated with travel. But there are many sports and otherwise physically demanding activities that can be intimately tied to a certain place. Bicyclists and kayakers are as similarly enamored of particular places as climbers. Surfers and hangliders, too, as these sports depend on conditions that are often most dependable at specific spots.

And so when in New York one may bike, swim, run, kayak, and of course simply walk all over the place. Indeed, it is one of the most versatile cities in the world in this regard, with very free open space in most cases: row or paddle where you will; run or pedal as long as you can. This isn’t news for natives, to be sure, but tourists may be surprised that New York really has it all, including outdoors life!

Posted on 17 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.

Why Home Business Fail So Much

Starting your own home business is easier than ever with the power of the worldwide web right at your fingertips. However, some age-old issues remain, common challenges that will be familiar to many an “old economy” entrepreneur.

One needs to first deliver something of value, of course. But one also needs to offer it in such a manner that others do not! And that is the key to a successful home business which many fail to consider thoroughly. After all, you may make a quilt, but how is that going to be different than what’s already selling on the market?

One common technique is to compete on price. While that sounds sensible enough, many don’t realize the concept of economies of scale. As a humble new start-up (and a home business at that!), you likely do not have the same economies of scale your competitors do. They can afford to sell at a really low price per unit due to the fact they sell more units overall. You, on the other hand, has to make money on each sale, in and of themselves!

So whatever can a would-be entrepreneur do?

Several things, actually. But only if they’re completely thought-out. The best way to start, however, is to start small. Take baby steps. Do not expect to be financially independent overnight – or even over the next year or two, necessarily. So to go far, start near: explore your own personal interests. See if there is something there that can be exploited by the scope and depth of the worldwide web.

Sounds simple? It’s really the most difficult part of all, though not as obviously challenging as something like logistics and reverse logistics (business-school-speak for getting it from Point A to Point B and vice-versa). It is important to pick the right field, because as a wise woman once said, do something you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life!

Posted on 16 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.

Finding The Appropriate Kitchen Utensils

No kitchen is complete without a complete set of common kitchen utensils such as knives, spatulas, sieves, and so forth. Sometimes it might be open to interpretation what is a utensil and what is more appropriately considered equipment (in the sense of “hardware”) when it involves something like fancy electric eggbeaters and pots and pans, but most people seem to consider a utensil anything that could be held in the hand, needing no countertop or other such assistance in order to use properly.

Some will even classify kitchen timers and cooking thermometers as kitchen utensils, along with hand-operated can openers and corkscrews. Cooling racks, cookie sheets, and measuring cups and spoons are also usually considered utensils. But whatever the taxonomy, there’s no denying that everyone who cooks will require them.

Unless you plan to never bake or in any other case work with flour, you will need a rolling pin. And even though a knife is a knife, it is often less difficult to use kitchen shears instead.

And even when a knife is the appropriate tool for the job, various kinds of knives are designed for specific tasks, such as those with serrated edges for especially tough (and likely rough!) cuts, while fruits could really use the gentler paring knife.

It might also be more practical to get multiple sets of a certain utensil, for instance measuring spoons or cups, so that you need not constantly wash your only one while cooking. It is also probably desirable to own several kind of spatula – not only in different sizes to handle different loads, but also of different constructions, made out of various materials or made according to different designs, for example rubbery coating and hard plastic or solid and with holes, respectively.

Finally, it is also advisable to put quality ahead of quantity – better to own two really good knives than several mediocre ones!

Posted on 16 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.

Why We Become Bored

There is no reason to be bored in New York City. That anyone can be bored in a major world-class metropolitan center like that is proof positive that boredom is nothing more than a state of mind, something entirely within the control of the individual him or herself. Even a tourist trap like Zalman Silber’s Skyride located at the Empire State Building will stimulate the mind, if for no other reason than that there will be so much going on, what with all the tourists from all around the world. Don’t care for people? Well, there is always the great outdoors in New York – that’s right, the great outdoors, in the city! From Central Park right in the heart of Manhattan Island to national wildlife areas all around the so-called Outer Boroughs, Mother Nature keeps many residences in town.

And of course, if you do enjoy people and people-watching, the city boasts any number of clubs and cafes at which that hobby may be frequently indulged. At attractions like the above-mentioned Zalman Silber one, all the peoples of the world will be available for viewing, live, in 3-D! Ultimately, there is no reason why anyone should be bored in New York. Which, again, just goes to show that boredom is nothing more – and nothing less – than a state of mind.

And why does the mind go stale like that, as it were? Why do we suddenly just lose our appetite, so to speak, our zest? To understand it all, it’s essential to first understand the evolutionary role of the brain. Any brain, really, but the human brain, specifically.

Generally speaking, brains help a complex, higher-order organism deal with its environment. Thus brains are naturally interested in what’s going on. Now a lot of what’s interesting about what goes on is interesting because it is new. But when the brain doesn’t sense anything new, it is not doing what it wants to do – take in information. Hence, boredom.

Caged animals exhibit this kind of behavior. A fish needs to swim, a bird needs to fly. Dogs need to run. And so forth. But for a human being, it isn’t simply about physical activity, though actually that’s extremely important and more often than not underestimated by most people, their own needs for physically rigorous activities on a daily basis. No, what a human being needs, perhaps above all, is mental stimulation.

And so when we are not possessed by an idea, whether inspired by a new one or enchanted with an old favorite, we don’t know what to do with ourselves. Suddenly, we are confronted with ourselves, as ourselves – without the conscious thoughts we typically take to be ourselves.

We are confronted, in other words, with an existential crisis.

Posted on 14 October '10 by , under Uncategorized. No Comments.