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DVD recorders can be used with a digital TV to tape your much-loved channels and shows as well as to view pre-recorded items. Fabulous image & sound quality, however the recording facility means that they are noticeably dearer than Digital Versatile Disc players & they are also harder to use than VCRs. The array of recordable configurations available presently could also add to the confusion.

Having the right connections linking your Digital Versatile Disc recorder and your telly and tape recorder can easily make a noticeable dissimilarity to the overall quality of the audio & picture.

One or two connections to consider:

S-video connection: This is the next best thing to component video & is an alternative for all DVD Players that do not contain component output & televisions that do not contain component input. You may well need another cable nevertheless the picture difference should be undeniably worth it. Amazing deals on Panasonic DVD Recorder at Sound and Vision!

SCART leads: A familiar sort of DVD connection used in the United Kingdom items is the SCART lead. This handles both sound & image signals. SCART connections are ordinary found on DVD players and also newer TVs. Gold protected SCART leads provides a significantly enhanced connection. A SCART connection will without doubt give you an enhanced image than S-Video can and is close to component benchmark. SCART cables are not typically incorporated among players. You will be expected to shell out about £25.

Audio connectors: Digital Versatile Disc players, especially the more top notch makes, are expected to have many audio outputs. Outputs are traditionally expected to comprise of phono, digital coaxial & digital optical. If you are attempting to connect to a different hi-fi player this can be a very much useful characteristic to have.

Progressive scan is the hottest word in the DVD recorder market & whilst the more high-priced recorders incorporate it, it can not as a matter of fact be used unless on the other hand you have a digital TV. With it your image can be refreshed at 60 times each & every second therefore helping to make an incredible more or less flicker free picture & is far greater to anything that is delivered by the alternative interlaced scanning techniques.

Legendary Ladies of Texas is a series of vignettes edited by Francis Edward Abernethy. Abernethy has extensive experience in folklore: He is a member of the American Folklore Society, Texas Folklore Society, East Texas Historical Association, and many others. His other publications include Tales From the Big Thicket, Observations and Reflections on Texas Folklore, and The Folklore of Texas Cultures, just to name a few. Despite being a self-professed male chauvinist, Abernethy believes it was “necessary that the Texas Folklore Society produce this book” because women have been an “active, energetic, and influential part of Texas history since the first one crossed its borders,” and it is time their stories are told (Abernethy x and xii).

This collection of vignettes detailing the lives of women from colonial Texas to modern society has one connecting quality: These women have become legends to succeeding generations. These extraordinary women come from various time periods, various racial and ethnic backgrounds, various social and economic classes, and even various sides of the law. Abernethy relates the lives of Native American, African American, Mexican American, and European American women. The Legendary Ladies of Texas are composed of nuns, prostitutes, politicians, thieves, bank robbers, murderers, actresses, singers, sculptresses, socialites, athletes, adulteresses, bigamists, circus performers, slaves, and spies. These women have become legends because they refused to accept the limitations imposed upon them by contemporary society. Instead, they followed their own hearts and minds to live the life they chose.

Most of these women defied the social convention of male dominance over women. Elisabet Ney resisted marriage to the man she loved. Although she finally capitulated, she did so only under the condition she retain her name, and that the marriage be kept secret always. Martha McWhirter shocked polite society by asserting ownership of her body when she refused to share a bed with her husband any longer due to her religious convictions. Mollie Bailey, at age fourteen, defied her father by eloping with the man she loved. Belle Starr forced her lover, Jim July, to change his name to hers, and he became Jim Starr.

These women have become legends to succeeding generations because their unconventional lifestyles have produced many stories and rumors about them. These rumors create an aura of mystery and intrigue surrounding them. In the case of Adah Isaacs Menken, she deliberately courted intrigue by telling many different stories of her origins, family, upbringing, and other episodes of her life. Because of this, we cannot have a black and white picture of these women. For example, it is hard to reconcile the bank robber Bonnie Parker who shot down police officers to the waitress Bonnie Parker who “sometimes forgot to ask for payment for food she’d served to certain unemployed visitors to the restaurant” where she worked during the Great Depression (Abernethy 164). As surely as these women defied social conventions, they also refuse to be pigeon-holed. They are full of complexities and ambiguities, and their legends live on.

The treatment of a subject of this nature could only be partial, since to include all the legendary ladies of Texas would be too enormous a task for one book. However, the women included demonstrate the many ethnic populations in Texas, and different economic classes. The work must be described as popular, not scholarly. Much of the stories of these women are, admittedly, hearsay. The book is organized chronologically, under five major headings: Early Days, Settlers, Texas Gets Culture, Early 20th Century, and Modern Times. Most of the vignettes are well written and well chosen for this book, but the inclusion of “Mrs. Bailey and the Bears” seems to be out of place. This story of a woman who lived during the Civil War is stuck in the Modern Times section, and there does not seem to be any historical basis to her as there is to the other women.

The book contained a few typographical and grammar errors, such as “personna” and “too far superior” (Abernethy 190). But this was not such a disturbing error as was the glaring bias as displayed by H. Gordon Frost in his article, “El Paso Madams.” Frost writes “society’s attitudes of tolerance and understanding of innate human nature have been forgotten, being replaced with stone-casting hypocrisy and cynicism” {Abernethy 141). These are inflammatory words, suggesting that anyone who desires to keep their husband, son, brother, or other male relative away from prostitutes is a stone-throwing hypocrite.

The vignettes were very well written and easy to read. The flow of the book is excellent. In relating the lives of these women, any background knowledge needed was carefully included and explained when necessary. These stories offer information about these women that are not part of the common knowledge. For example, probably everyone in Texas knows of Elisabet Ney as an exceptional sculptress, but the fact that her servant Jim Wyatt hated her enough to spread the rumor that she “lived on cat meat” (although she was a vegetarian) shows a startling aspect of her personality that could cause other people to hate her so much.

Most of the articles in Legendary Ladies are organized pretty much in chronological order, except for the article on Belle Starr. This article begins with her adult life, then goes back to when she was fifteen, then moves to her early childhood, back to age fifteen, and so on. This marred the otherwise lively and entertaining account of the notorious woman bandit.

The many contributors to this book used a variety of sources to write their articles. “Maria de Agreda: The Lady in Blue” was composed from mainly secondary sources, with one primary source of a letter written by Fray Damien Massanet in 1690. “Angelina” was based upon numerous secondary sources and the diary of Fray Gaspar Hose de Solis. “The Weeping Woman: La Llorona” uses secondary sources of other folktale books and some personal interviews with students. “Belle Star: The Bandit Queen” uses many secondary sources and primary sources such as census records, interviews, and contemporary newspaper articles. “The Ghost of Chipita: The Crying Woman of San Patricio” was written from books, magazine and newspaper articles, and primary sources of letters to author and personal interviews. “Adah Isaacs Menken: From Texas to Paris” used secondary sources and some of the woman’s own poetry. “El Paso Madams” had primary sources such as interviews, personal calling cards, Alice Abbot’s photo album, letters, deed records, and a trial transcript. “Tell Them I Don’t Smoke Cigars: The Story of Bonnie Parker” was written using newspaper articles and personal interviews. “The Babe” used Babe Didriksen Zaharias’ autobiography as the major source. “Janis and the Austin Scene” was primarily written from the author’s personal knowledge of Janis Joplin. “Legends in Their Own Time: The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders” was composed of various newspaper and magazine articles and interviews with unnamed informants.

Legendary Ladies of Texas contributes much to the small quantity of published books on women. Women have generally been disregarded in recording Texan and American history, so this book fills a large void. This book is written to educate people about the contributions of Texas women to society, but it also entertains us with lively and descriptive anecdotes. The book gives details of these women that are not known to the general public. Legendary Ladies of Texas is an interesting and informative book that would be to everyone’s advantage to read.

Bibliography

Abernethy, Francis Edward, ed. Legendary Ladies of Texas. Dallas: E-Heart Press, 1981. 224 pp.

Mary Arnold is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Creative Writers.

Her writing portfolio may be viewed at http://www.Writing.com/authors/ja77521

Jane Austen occupies an ambivalent position in literary history. She is too little a writer of the nineteenth century to be called ‘ Romantic’, too much a person of her time to be called classical. Her contemporaries like Wordsworth and Charlotte Bronte found in her works a want of feeling, passion and imagination. Edward Fitzgerald complains that:

“She never goes out of the Parlour”

The twentieth century however, has seen Jane Austen elevated by critics of diverse hues, to being one of the best female novelists and of the six novels she wrote, all are deemed classics, with at least three of them being counted among the best in English fiction. Among all the novels of Jane Austen “PRIDE & PREJUDICE” & is the greatest work. It shows her greatness, limitations and aesthetical view on different colours and aspects of human life. The novel takes readers to an abstract idea, the idea of pride in one character and that of prejudice in another. So the novel is primarily concerned with ideas. The characters of novel show different kinds of humour, various traits of human behaviour.Mr.Bennet’s a cynic; Lydia a flirt, Mary a pedant, Darcy a character, swollen with pride, Collins a potential conceit, Sir William Lucas a feeble dullard and so on. “PRIDE & PREJUDICE” is the love story of a man and a woman and the man being held back by unconquerable pride and the woman blinded by prejudice. Moreover, it’s a satire upon life in a small village called Longbourn in
the southern England. So, the novel’s important in more than one-way. It’s important both historically and critically. Historically, it introduced a new kind of fiction. Eighteenth century was an age of picturesque romances with splendid places, high towers, and underground passages. It was an age of the stories of terror, horror and mystery. As opposed to such romances, sentimental novels full of tears and sorrow were written. Austen’s “PRIDE & PREJUDICE” struck a middle path between the two. This novel was written after “SENSE AND SENSIBILITY” and “NORTHANGER ABBEY”. This is therefore symmetry, a well-knit form and a unified structure. It may be said to be the first English novel in the real sense of the term. Jane follows none of the traditions of her predecessors. She rightly started her own tradition of fiction, which was followed by other succeeding novelists of England. The very first chapter of the novel contains a note of orchestration. Diverse elements have been subordinated to a well-defined pattern. The chapter opens with the statement:

“It’s a truth universally acknowledged,
That a single man in possession of a
Good fortune must be in want of wife “

And then follows the talk between Mr. and Mrs.Bennet. The sole concern of Mrs.

Bennet in her life is to get her daughters married. The entire novel’s based on the domestic theme. A reader trying to approach for action, quick movement, drama or crises, would be disappointed. The characters seem to take the philosopher’s walk. “Action trivial; movement limited” that’s all we find in the novel.

Hence the characters look devitalized and anaemic, at times devoid of flesh and blood. There’s no firework or dynamics in the story. Jane is a spectator of characters. She puts men and women in a certain environment and continues to study them in detail. She gives alternative readings of her characters, compares them and ultimately finds out the correct method of approach to human personality. This method has been followed in this novel. There’s plenty of contemporary element in the novel. Description of dances, balls and parties is scattered throughout the story. The key point in the book is the study of human behaviour. Jane’s almost like Shakespeare in this respect. There’s evident exclusion of death, coincidence or destiny. None of the characters dies in the course of the story. Elizabeth, Lydia, Jane, Mary, and Catherine all the Bennet sisters are preoccupied with their own personal, domestic problems. None of them is touched by physical agony or ailment.

Similar is the case with Darcy, Bingley, Collins or sir William Lucas. Besides, there’s complete absence of mob, or menace of organized society. It’s a placid atmosphere of quiet country houses and drawing rooms that we find in the novel from the beginning to the end. Longbourn, Hansford or Pemberley has no hurry or busy excitement about it.
“PRIDE & PREJUDICE” was first written in 1797 under the title “First Impressions”. It was later revised and published under the title in 1823. In the novel, first impressions do play an important part, Elizabeth, the protagonist, is misled in her judgment and estimate of both Darcy and Wickham. Her regard and sympathy for the latter and her hostility and prejudice against Darcy are due to first impressions. But when we study the novel deeply and seriously, we can easily see that the title is more apt and more befitting to it. The novel is more about the ‘Pride’ of Darcy and the ‘Prejudice’ of Elizabeth and the change of attitude in Darcy and Elizabeth’s correction of her first impressions.

As far as theme is concerned, Austen’s focal point is marriage and courtship. Marriage was an important social concern in Austen’s time and she was fully aware of the disadvantages of remaining single. In a letter to fanny knight she wrote:

“Single women have a dreadful propensity

For being poor which is one very strong

Argument in favour of matrimony”

Charlotte lucas , an important character of this novel, gives reasons for accepting Mr. Collins, says to Elizabeth:

I am not romantic you know. I never was,
I ask only a comfortable home, and considering
Mr. Collins’ character, connections and situation

In life, I am convinced that my chance of happiness
With him is as fair, as most people can boast on
Entering the marriage state.”

This statement reflects charlotte’s helplessness, owing to her economic inequality, she was compelled to accept undesirable suitor like Collins, through this we can peep into the social life of that age in England, showing miserable plight of female in male dominated society. Marriage was the only provision for well-educated young women of small fortune. The only option for unmarried woman in Austen’s time was to care for someone else’s children as Jane Austen herself did, as there were no outlets for women in industry, commerce, business or education. The novel comprises of seven marriages, all of them intended to reveal the requirements of a ‘good’ and ‘bad’ marriage. Three couples that of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, charlotte and Collins, Lydia and Wickham reveal the bad marriages and the importance of good judgment and proper feeling in determining a couple’s future happiness. Mutual respect, the basis of a sound marriage is lacking in the Bennet’s marriage. Prudence alone should not dictate, as it does in charlotte’s case, nor should it be disregarded, which is what Lydia does. Esteem, good sense and mutual affections are the right ingredients for a successful marriage as the Darcy Elizabeth marriage indicates. Austen firmly believed that to form a right judgment, one must have a right principles and perception of the nature of other people. One must be able to see through affectation, deception and hypocrisy; one must not be a victim of flattery, must not be carried away by the opinions of other people. Austen’s fiction is steeped in irony both in language and situation. As Prof.Chevalier remarks that:

“The basic feature of every irony is

A contrast between a reality and

An appearance”

Here, in this novel we recurrently find irony of situation, which provides a twist to the story. Darcy remarks about Elizabeth that:

“She is not handsome enough to tempt me”

We relish the ironic flavour of this statement much later when we reflect, that the woman who was not handsome enough to dance with was really good enough to marry. Regarding this novel, irony of character is even more prominent than irony of situation. It’s ironical that Elizabeth who prides herself on her perception is quite blinded by her own prejudices and errs badly in judging intricate characters. Wickham appears suave and charming but is ironically an unprincipled rogue. Darcy appears proud and haughty but ironically proves to be a true gentleman. The Bingley sisters hate the bennets for their vulgarity but are themselves vulgar in their behaviour. Darcy too is critical of the ill-bred Bennet family but ironically his aunt lady Catherine is equally vulgar and ill bred. Thus the novel abounds in irony of situations.

Austen was a moralist, an eighteenth century moralist; in some respects she was the last and finest flower of that century. She was born a few years later than Wordsworth, Coleridge and Scott. When she died, Byron was famous and Shelley and Keats had already published. She belongs to the period known as the Romantic revival or revival of imagination, yet these titles do not suit her the least. Her novels belong essentially to the age of Johnson and Cowper. She is indeed a classic novelist. There’s no unrestrained emotion or excess of passion as in the romanticists. All these are disciplined by reason and intellect. This elegance is as much seen in her dialogues as in the structure. But there’s hardly any description of nature in, Jane Austen unlike in Wordsworth and Coleridge who deified nature. Jane Austen’s novels are also marked by a total concern with upper middle class, which may be attributed to the fact that this was the class she knew intimately. A reading of Austen’s novels shows that her materials are extremely limited in themselves. Her subject matter is limited to the manners of a small section of country gentry, who apparently never have been worried about death or sex, hunger or war, guilt or God.
However the exclusion and limitations are deliberate. Austen herself referred to her work as “Two inches of ivory” this novel like other Austen’s novels has a narrow physical setting. The story revolves around Netherfield Park, Longbourn, Hansford Parsonage, Meryton and Pemberley. There’s no reference to nature itself. It’s one of the ironies of English literary history that at a time when the English romantic writers Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats and others were discovering external nature, austen manages to keep her characters imprisoned indoors. Since her settings are the drawings rooms, ballrooms, parks and gardens of a civilized leisure class, she was unlikely to introduce lunatics, villains or ghostly figures. The greatest villainy that disrupts the evenness of a Jane Austen novel is an elopement of Wickham with Lydia. Austen’s theme was also limited to love and marriage. In all of six novels, there are beautiful girls waiting for really eligible bachelors to get married to. It was the period of the American war of independence, of the French revolution and of the Napoleonic wars. But Jane Austen’s characters are blissfully unaware of these tumultuous events.

In brief, we can say that within her limited range Jane Austen’s art is perfect. She handles, characters and events, dialogue and plot with an exquisite and masterly touch, fusing all the elements of novel into one, weaving and interweaving them so fine, that no strand can be separated. On her “Two inches of ivory” Jane carves with a miniature delicacy to present a polished and refined work of art.

Written by:
EMMA ALAM.

I have gone to some mountain skiing domains for instance La Rosiere, Chastreix-Sancy, Flaine and Portes du Soleil, however in all our ski holidays Chamonix Mont Blanc France is certainly our number 1 area to go for skiing holidays.

The place of origin of French Alpine history and home to the majestic Mont Blanc - at 4807m Europe’s greatest peak - Chamonix vaunts a superb historical snow track record, a lengthy snowboarding season (Nov-Apr), peerless extreme snowboarding, and perspectives to die for. Furthermore Chamonix town has an worldwide reputation for a few of the most spectacular, challenging, and stimulating lift accessed skiing available anywhere in the world.

Chamonix is huge in addition to being befuddling, and this is before one even count the abutting ski towns; for example Courchevel, Le Tour, La Tania, Les Arcs and Les Deux Alpes.

The Monte Bianco lift pass covers nine Chamonix town, and 10 departmental snowboarding areas; with skiing up to 3845m, all over 210 snowboarding lifts, and 720 kilometres of ski pistes - and the bulk of the snowboarding resorts preceding 2050 metres. They provides for each grade from beginners including experienced skiers. Visit the skiing towns section for up to date look at each of the popular areas: Flegere, Alpe d’Huez, Grand Massif, Auron, Risoul and La Mongie.

There are several theories on whether or not criminals should have color televisions. Some say it keeps the natives from rebelling and thus means less stress on prison guards and less labor, with fewer riots. Others such as victims of crimes are completely outraged and many taxpayers are also angry. Recently this subject was brought up in an online think tank and a think tanker stated;

“As far as color TV, it has been shown that cooping up men all day with nothing to do breeds violence. This is problematic from a control standpoint, that is why there is “program” in prison - something semi-productive for the inmates to do so they are not selling drugs, engaging in general racketeering, raping or killing each other.”

Indeed we know when human populations get too close together or too dense there is all sorts of behavior issues which come out. But that is true with all mammals really. Research even shows rats, reptiles, birds and insect populations do the same thing. As you talk about degrading humans in prison one has to ask; didn’t they degrade society when they decided not to live by the basic rules set up for our population base?

If they have taken a stance, such as; they do not care and done a crime onto another then well, showing love or empathy does not make a lot of sense unless you wished to get backstabbed and repeat for failing to learn from the history of the particular individual in question. “Shame on you, shame on me” syndrome; First time and Next time.

Locking someone up all day and allowing them to kick back watch TV with not a care in the world? Well is that really a punishment that fits the crime? Isn’t that a good way to institutionalize a human and then when they get out they a zero for productivity? The Prisons in the US are not rehabilitating anyone and they are not working, is watching a color TV really the answer? Comment on this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

In today’s world, we find that we are unable to find time to indulge ourselves with our favorite pastime or hobby. You find people who love literature but reading does not interest them. Surprised? Our world has become digitized mainly due to our dependence on computers and also the availability of everything in a digitized format be it songs or books. This has lead to people losing interest in paper based reading material. Hence if you are looking at gifting literary material to someone, think of audio CD books as an option.

In terms of the contents, the audio CD books are exact replicas of the printed version. Be it a self-help book or an epic, the audio version does not lose anything. Normally, a person who has a likeable voice recites these books. It could be a singer or a performer or a familiar voice from radio or television.

There are many other advantages of the audio CD books. If you feel peeved at the constant interruptions by commercials on your car radio, choose your favorite audio CD book title to give you company. If you like philosophy, an audio rendition of Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco can be mesmerizing.

Audio CD books have something extra as compared to their printed counterparts. They can be effectively used as ancillary tools for learning for people with visual, mental or other learning difficulties. For example, people who are blind or people who have difficulty in reading like the elderly population can use them. Nowadays, many states and volunteer organizations have undertaken the efforts to get the printed books digitized into audio for the benefits of such people. In fact some schools and teaching centers have a facility under which such students can order a course book that a Professor is using to be converted into an audio CD book.

Having said that, you should not be surprised if you do not find an audio CD book that you so badly wanted to gift to a perfect friend. Be it an audio copy of Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ or an audio version of the posthumous work of genius Jonathan Kennedy O’Toole, ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’. This is still a new phenomenon and will take some time before you can order any title of your choice as an audio CD. Till that time, you can take heart from the fact that you would still be able to find some classic that you cherish and would like to ‘play’ it when you take your sweetheart for a long sunset drive the next time.

As my teenage contemporaries redecorated random homes with vast strands of bathroom tissue, I was cloistered away fervently practicing my violin five hours each day. My mother never once had to remind me to practice.

Musicians advocate that practice is of utmost importance in the development of any player. Jascha Heifetz, possibly the 20th Century’s most amazing violinist, said, “If I don’t practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.”

For something that is so crucial to musicians, it is surprising that so many players resist it. Telling a child to practice can be like asking him/her to eat brussels sprouts or to clean his/her room. As a violin teacher, I deal with the dreaded “P” word every week. (This also applies to adults!)

What’s so terrible about practicing?

Priorities: The common complaint is “I don’t have any time to practice.” Really, in the end it’s not a matter of having a “full plate.” The amazing players who practice every day are not working with 28-hours a day. Students who practice regularly have simply made practicing a priority. These dedicated individuals enjoy practicing and its benefits so much that they sacrifice other activities to make time for their playing.

This doesn’t mean you have to give your right arm as an offering to the merciless practice gods. You may get a bit less time on the tv or computer, or maybe you have to ignore the ringing phone until you’re done. A nip and tuck here and there can add up to a lot of previously unavailable time.

Be Inspired: The key to enjoyable practicing is inspiration. For example, when a musician feels inspired by a favourite song or role model s/he is compelled to practice. Inspiration frequently emerges while attending a live concert and meeting a famous musician. Just ask anyone who’s seen a famous musician play live in concert.

Perhaps the materials you’re working with are too dry for your tastes? Maybe you’re not being challenged enough? Discuss any inspirations or lack thereof with your teacher or another musician to get you back on track.

Set Goals: Many players also thrive on setting and meeting goals, such as to play with an advanced group, to learn a challenging piece, or to perform well in festival or an upcoming concert. My best music making has come from feeling inspired and by achieving personal aspirations.

Each summer I ask my students to set goals for the following fall and also for 1 year, 5 year and 10-year. Their responses are impressive; more than half aspire to teach violin someday and most others just want to be more confident players and to play for pay!

Check-Points: My job as teacher is to help the students make their goals a reality. We create appropriate time-lines for the goals, including check-points to make sure the players’ actions are aligned with their end goal.

For example, if a student’s goal is to master a concerto, we make sure they’ve have outlined the steps to learning the piece along with the technique and skills required required. “I’ll practice these exercizes for two months, and by December I will be starting on 5th position.”

Sometimes this practice involves excercizes, scales and theory, but other times it’s as simple as completing a book or gaining more confidence through public performance. By setting up check-points at comfortable intervals to make sure you are on the right track and to make the overall goal seem less daunting.

And besides, life is a journey, not a destination. Enjoy the journey to meeting your goal and once you get there you’ll have plenty more road ahead to explore.

Goals Can Change: I’ve always got a list of short to long-term goals for myself, ranging from one-week, one-month, six-month, and 1, 2, 5, 10-year goals. Sometimes the goals change, which is okay because I am constantly learning and growing. What was important to me 10 years ago may not be a big deal to me now. The important thing

Incentives: Everything we work for has reward. Just as brussels sprouts contribute to physical health, practice contributes to better musicianship. However, musicianship just isn’t tangible to 5-year-olds.

Thus, teachers and parents are prompted to offer fun incentives for practice. Kids are rewarded with stickers, ice cream coupons and other treats. My students can earn“Fiddlebucks” for their practicing, which can be used to purchase trinkets and toys.

These programs work for most children, but even stickers can become passé after a while. Children should be encouraged to aspire to higher goals, thus setting higher rewards. As my students progress, they curb their spending to save Fiddlebucks for long-term rewards, like lunch with the teacher, which takes over a year to earn.

How to Practice: Though students understand the benefits and rewards of practice, many do not know exactly *how* to practice. Each teacher has particular requirements and expectations, but generally my “start/focus/playtime” routine works best.

Start: The student stretches and warms-up with long, clear tones, then scales and arpeggios, and finally a warm-up piece or exercise.

Focus: Here the student works on new and challenging pieces, paying close attention to detail and correcting mistakes but also focusing on his/her strengths. Focus allows the player to make improvements and build confidence simultaneously.

Playtime: Saving the best for last, Playtime is when the student reviews favourite songs and has some fun. Tasks such as playing with the radio (ear training in disguise), recording yourself, composition and improvising are all enjoyable assignments that can motivate a player.

Homework: Sometimes I assign “violin homework” to students of all ages. The assignments vary from “draw a picture of your violin,” to “play a concert for your family” and”write a report about your favourite or a famous violinist.” Interestingly all the children love these special assignments and become increasingly inspired and motivated to practice.

For example, one of my students e-mailed Natalie MacMaster for an essay project and was encouraged by Natalie, herself, to “play the fiddle each day.” The Cape Breton Canadian fiddler said, “it really does make things better.”

Consistency: I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “I meant to practice, but it slipped my mind.” Consistency is the most important step to enjoying successful practice. The truth is that practice is best done and easiest when done consistently. The more we practice, the more we are inspired to practice.

Have a hard time with consistency? I’m sure you still manage to eat and sleep every day, so you’ll find a way to get the practice in if it works around one of those schedules! Play just after waking or right before bedtime. Eat your lunch halfway between your warm-up and pieces. When you make it a routine it’s harder to leave out of your day and you’ll actually get it done! No more guilty lessons!

Sometimes it’s not possible to play every day, but it does make a tremendous difference. For players just starting a consistent routine it’s best to do two shorter practices rather than one long one. Going at it full steam can tire a player out and make them less inclined to want to do it again. You’ll be left with more energy after a couple of shorter practices and will gradually lengthen them.

Family Support: It is of utmost importance that parents or spouses of aspiring musicians provide encouragement for the player. Never poke fun at sour notes or say things like, “if you don’t practice we’ll take away your lessons.” Through thick and thin the family’s job is to support the player as they master their art.

Other Perks: For students who still find it difficult to keep a practice routine I suggest they opt out of washing dinner dishes and serenade the dishwashers each night. It’s amazing how quickly they jump to it when they know there is no more dishwashing! There are countless other “perks” (excuses to get out of work) to practice that can be sorted out with your family.

I spent my formative years either grounded or due for a grounding due to the occasional landscaping mummification. However, in the 542 times I was grounded, my kind mother never took away my violin. I could be heard playing my violin sadly from my bedroom prison cell: “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.”

And I loved it.

**Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a professional violinist and music teacher who has enjoyed creative writing for years. She currently writes columns for two Canadian publications and has been featured in Australia’s “Music Teacher Magazine.” Writing allows her to teach people that the world of music is as fun as you spin it to be! Rhiannon, age 29, has worn the hats of businesswoman, performer, events promoter, classical music radio host and school orchestra music arranger in rural British Columbia, Canada. Her business, Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop, has won several distinguished young entrepreneur business awards for her commitment to excellence. Her shop offers beginner to professional level instruments, accessories and supplies for very reasonable prices: Visit http://www.fiddleheads.ca Rhiannon is also Founding President of the Shuswap Violin Society which promotes violin & fiddle music and helps young musicians in need: http://www.violinsociety.ca

Learning to play guitar can be rewarding in many different ways. Learning this skill will give you a sense of accomplishment. You can play at different events and occasions, it can even help you make some money when you become experienced.

New guitarists should know that there is no easy way in learning how to play. You have to practice regularly, and it takes patience. It does not come easily, but you shouldn’t get frustrated, this new skill will develop over time.

First comes first. Buying a guitar can be confusing and overwhelming. You should go to a music shop and pick them up and hold them try to choose one that feels comfortable and if you still can’t decide talk to the shop assistant and see if they have any tips and tricks for picking the right guitar. Don’t be fooled by the price tag most of the cheap guitars are fine to begin with. When you first learn to play music on guitar you will not need a fancy guitar as most of the features will go unused and will only get in the way. However as you improve you may want to upgrade in small stages to suit your level of experience.

There is a wide range of classes to learn to play music on guitar. Some classes are free or require a small donation. However most have a fee attached to cover the costs of teachers and equipment. When you participate in a free class, these are generally just as good as a paid class. All classes will help you with basics when you learn to play music on guitar. The best thing about classes is the hands on approach to learning; there is nothing better than having someone give you first hand knowledge on how to do something.

The more you practice the better you will get. There is not such thing as too much practice, but you should spread the practices out so you don’t get too burned out to the point where playing isn’t fun anymore. The whole point in learning to play is that it is something fun to do, if you don’t find it enjoyable, you should not push yourself to do something that you don’t like. Don’t forget to share your new talent with other people, family, and friends. Music is to be enjoyed by all.

Dressed To Chill is the latest smooth jazz CD released by the very talented soprano/tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Marion Meadows who once again has delivered a brilliant collection of tracks. I’m confident Meadows fans, and smooth jazz fans alike will be pleased with this one.

Meadows has been a superstar in the smooth jazz genre for quite some time and Dressed To Chill is an excellent illustration as to why.

These days it’s a very rare CD on which every single song is good or better than the one before it. This CD is certainly one of those rare CDs.

The CD launches with the title track, Dressed To Chill and will definitely be heard on smooth jazz radio stations everywhere, and deservedly so. From there Meadows and company proceeds to display why he is considered one the best saxophonist of our time as he mixes his signature phrasings throughout the CD.

Smooth Jazz music fans will recognize some of the well known contributors on the project including guitarists Chuck Loeb and Freddy Fox plus a few other notables as well.

Overall My Point Of View is an outstanding release. What I call, must have music. I give it two thumbs up and is most definitely a worthy addition to any smooth jazz collection.

If you’re a Marion Meadows fan this is a CD your collection should not be without.

While this entire CD is outstanding the truly standout tunes are Dressed To Chill [track 1], Miss Know It All [track 4], and Steppers…Let’s Do This [track 10]. My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore […as in “Stuck On REpeat”] is track 7, Coco Flow. A very nice tune!

Release Notes:

Marion Meadows originally released Dressed To Chill on March 23, 2006 on the Heads Up record label.

CD track list follows:

1. Dressed To Chill
2. Remember Me
3. Dance With My Daughter
4. Miss Know It All
5. Bounce
6. I Believe I Can Fly
7. Coco Flow
8. Just My Style
9. Scent Of A Woman
10. Steppers…Let’s Do This
11. 1000 Dreams
12. To Love Her

To listen to samples of each song on Dressed To Chill by Marion Meadows go to: Marion Meadows CD - Dressed To Chill Samples

Good things usually don’t happen to you while you’re helping your friends move their furniture on a Sunday. You’re more likely to throw your back out than land a major record contract… but, strangely enough, that’s exactly what happened to Mark Knopfler and his band Dire Straits on July 31, 1977.

That year, Knopfler and the original Dire Straits members (his brother David on guitar, John Illsley on bass, and Pick Withers on drums) had recorded a five-track demo tape for about $200 at Pathway Studios in North London. They distributed copies of the tape around town, and Illsley took one to BBC Radio London disc jockey Charlie Gillett for his opinion. Gillett had a very popular Sunday program called Honky Tonk which featured alternative music (in this case, alternative to the disco and punk rock scenes that were enveloping the U.K. and the world at the time) and he was so impressed with one of the tracks, called “Sultans of Swing,” that he decided to play it on the air that fateful summer Sunday in 1977.

Knopfler and his friends usually listened to Gillett, but that Sunday they were busy helping a friend move house and they missed the show. Even if they had heard the demo being played over the London airwaves that night, it’s doubtful they would have believed what was happening all around town…

In the liner notes to the 1995 CD “Dire Straits: Live at the BBC,” Charlie Gillett writes: “The phones went on ringing for a week. Among the callers were several A&R men who wanted to know who that band was, ‘you know, that one which sounded so American.’ But although several personally loved the group’s sound, most couldn’t convince themselves or their superiors that the rest of the world would agree.” Ultimately, Phonogram signed Dire Straits under the Vertigo label, and their self-titled album would be recorded seven months later. It eventually hit the U.S. Billboard charts and climbed its way to the #2 spot, with “Sultans of Swing” capturing the hearts of millions worldwide. The album is dedicated simply: “To Charlie Gillett.”

To this day, long after the breakup of Dire Straits, it remains Knopfler’s signature song.

Mark Knopfler is a singer, songwriter and guitar player touring in 2006 with Emmylou Harris to promote their new album “All the Roadrunning.” For Mark Knopfler news, biography, photographs, and tour information visit the site: http://www.knopfler.info