July 3, 2008
Arts
The smaller drum is played with the dominant hand and is sometimes called dayan (which literally means "right") but is correctly called the "tabla." It is made from a conical piece of mostly teak and rose wood hollowed out approximately half of its total depth. The best type of wood for this use is videsal wood (which is also being used for the manufacture of sarangi). However, due to its contemporary scarcity, other materials may frequently be used in its stead. One of the primary tones on the tabla can be tuned to a specific note and this contributes to and complements any melody. The tuning range it allows is limited although different d?y?ñs are produced in different sizes-each with a different range of tones. For a given d?y?ñ, to achieve harmony with the soloist, it will usually be necessary to tune it to either the tonic, dominant or subdominant of the soloist’s key.
June 14, 2008
Arts
Me and my friend were going to go get some new tattoos and wanted to get something that would reflect one of our other friends who died recently. We wanted to get cross tattoos with other elements around it and his name to keep his memory alive. We figured every time someone asks us about our tattoos and the name and why we both have the same tattoo with the same name on it, it would rekindle our discussions of the good times we had and would keep him alive in our hearts. It also would give us opportunities to talk about him.
May 20, 2008
Arts
I worked in Kenya for a year, and while I was there I picked up a little bit of Swahili. I would really like to learn more, and I was wondering what kind of language audio books were available online. I am sure they have the major languages like Spanish, French, and German, but what about less common languages like Swahili? Does anyone know of a website that might sell Swahili language audio books so that I could learn a bit more of the language so if I go back I can hold more of a conversation than the basic greetings?
May 15, 2008
Arts
When you think back to what some of the best dance movies ever are, some of them are down right embarrassing. Why does it alway seem that in most dance movies, you will almost always have really good dancers but at the same time, you’ll have really bad actors? This seems to be an ongoing trend in the world of dance movies. There have been a couple of good dance movies, however, such as Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze and Dance With Me starring Vanessa Williams and Chayanne. For the most part, however, dance movies are pretty horrible. So, why the fascination with dancing? In the United States alone, we have gone crazy over such television/reality shows such as Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance? Perhaps part of the fascination lies in the fact that many of us simply are not as gifted when it comes to being coordinated. We’re rhythmically challenged!
May 12, 2008
Arts
Practicing any musical instrument can seem like drudgery when it is done in private. Drills that are necessary to the learning process get repetitive and boring and sometimes it is hard to see whether progress is being made. With the DVD series learn and master guitar, a student’s practice time becomes much more valuable and twice as much fun. Because a guitarist of any ability level can play along with the professional teacher in the video, he feels like a private tutor is instructing him. He can compare his sound to that which he hears and repeat the lesson as often as necessary to become confident.
April 30, 2008
Arts
In Mark Penn’s popular book Microtrends, he lists what he sees as small but significant trends that are influencing society. One of these is the growing popularity of chinese art. While people today often associate China, and other Asian countries, with computers and the sciences, art is undergoing a renaissance in China right now. This is not really surprising, considering the long history of the arts in that land, going back many millennia. But today’s art is far more diverse than ever before, incorporating elements of traditional China with Western and other influences. People are making and buying lots of art in China, and Chinese artists are now in demand all over the world.
April 24, 2008
Arts
Last night I had an interesting dream. I dreamed that I was at an archery tournament, and the range was using the large round hay targets with colored paper over the front. The targets were only ten or fifteen feet from the shooters, though, and I was standing between two targets about half way from the shooters and the targets, casually holding a couple of fencing swords by the wrong end and had them slung over my shoulder. There seemed at once to be no archers, and yet I could hear the arrows whizzing past me and thunking into the targets.
April 16, 2008
Arts
A sitar is an interesting sort of instrument. I sort of look like a deformed guitar of sorts. It has a long neck and a small bottom piece. Not many American have even seen one much less heard one. I admit even I had never seen one until just last year. I went to a special performance with a friend. The sound is intriguing and different from any instrument I had ever heard. In a way it reminded me of a sound like a strangely crossed harpsichord banjo, and guitar. I had never heard the like. If you ever get the chance I recommend you listen to one being played at least once.
April 12, 2008
Arts
Castile in the north of Spain began as a county with the appointment of the first Count of Castile, (Count Rodrigo) in 850. Castile was at that time a vassalage depending from the kingdom of Leon, one of the early kingdoms prior to the formation of the kingdom of Spain with learn Spanish software. This is the area credited with the first development of the Spanish language. From the time of the earliest recorded form of the Castilian language up to the 15th century it was generally known as Old Spanish, while from the 16th century onwards it is referred to as Modern Spanish.
April 11, 2008
Arts
I was bored yesterday. I didn’t have anything to do. I decided to search the internet for things that I have been meaning to look for but just didn’t have the time. I typed in free guitar licks, and I came up with several sites that offered them. Good thing I had a lot of ink in my printer, because I found a bunch of free guitar licks. I didn’t have to worry about being bored the rest of teh day or night, because I had a lot of licks to start practicing.
April 5, 2008
Arts
I love the idea of temporary tattoos. With temporary tattoos you can have a tattoo without the pain of a regular tattoo. You also can change your tattoo regularly and don’t get stuck with the same design that you may regret in the future. You can also decide when you want to have a tattoo. You can remove your temporary tattoos before important things like weddings and job interviews, where a tattoo might not create the right impression. The only problem I see is that they might come off when you don’t want them to, but then can’t you just apply a new one?
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