Archive for August, 2007
The power to persuade
Dear Friend,
Imagine getting anything you want from others, where everyone wins. Imagine having the power to persuade anyone to your way of thinking.
How strong is your desire to possess that one special skill to make it happen?
If you want to achieve overall success just like the many people who have mastered this extremely powerful skill, then check this out:
http://tomdeano.mikecpa.hop.clickbank.net
Please make sure you use this super skill for everyone’s good, ok?
To Your Success,
Thomas Dean
Starting Irish Dancing
Starting
The average age of starting Irish dancing is around about 5+ but more and more beginners are starting as adults and so, there are more adult classes available.
The average price for one dancing class is about £4+ (based in the U.K). The average number of classes per week is about 1 or 2 but could be more, depending on the teacher.
The dance teacher will start off by teaching the basics; hands must stay by their side whist dancing, feet crossed and pointed at all times and then will go on to the teaching of steps. Light dances will be firstly taught to beginners, the steps include firstly: the beginners reel, single jig, light jig and slip jig. These are all important factors to remember if wanting to attend competitions.
Competition’s
To attend competition’s it is essential that the dancer has been dancing for about 6 months to ensure that they do well in the competition and practice makes perfect! So practice practice practice! Competition’s are usually held every few months. Competition’s are grouped by age and grade. Beginner dances will dance in Novice group and if 1st, 2nd or 3rd place is achieved in one of their dances (as mentioned above) they will move up to the next grade which will be primary. When in primary you will learn more dances such as; the heavy dances (hornpipe and Heavy jig) and even set dances. The next group after primary is intermediate and a 1st place in each of your primary dances is needed to move to that grade. The highest grade is open which also requires a 1st place in each of your intermediate dances to move up to this grade. Once in open you can compete in championships and can compete in the Great Britain Championships. Set dances are needed to compete in championships.
Costumes and accessories
Image is very important in the Irish dancing world. For Beginner dancers a simple skirt and blouse will be fine or a Irish dance dress could be worn. I recommend a 2nd hand dress for beginners which can be purchased from competitions or ebay. Hair can be curled and poodle socks should be worn with light shoes (pumps) and heavy shoes. Light shoes cost around £18+ and heavy shoes cost around £30+. Boys can wear a kilt or trousers with shirt and tie is wished. Shoes are a bit different for boys and are a bit like the heavy shoes; with a hard heel but a soft toe.
When moving up grades presentation is everything for the girl dancers. Dresses worn by Intermediate dancers and open/ championship dancers are usually more elaborate and they usually have their dresses made by professionals which can cost around about £200 + depending on the size of the dancer and the detail on the costume. Wigs are also essential to be worn by the girl dancers at competitions and come in a variety of colours and shades so that it matches perfectly with your natural hair colour. They are less hard work than having your natural hair curled and less painful! Wigs cost around £50.
It’s an expensive hobby, but once you get into it, the rewards outweigh the financial part of it.
Written by my girlfriend Becky.
History of Irish Dancing
Irish dancing has a very long history. Today’s Irish dance competitions (Feisanna’s), date back to about the year 1100.In that time feisanna’s were trade fairs, political gatherings and cultural events. At these events there was music, sports, storytelling, and crafts. People known as step dance masters traveled from town to town and taught Irish dancing. They taught steps that fit traditional 8 bar Irish music. Competitions were held in which demonstrations of steps by masters were done on table tops or small stages. Dancing in limited space was an important aspect of style. Irish dancing developed even more during the war years (1919-1939). There was then an even larger increase after WWII because of higher income levels leading to more leisure time. Irish with higher incomes living in America also had more leisure time and and began dancing in America, leading to the popularity of Irish dance in America. In the 20th century, Irish dance evolved in many ways including costumes, locations of competitions, and dance techniques. Competing dancers began using larger stages and a lot of movement during competition became popular, unlike the dance masters who would dance in small areas. Children are also taught much earlier now and the tradition of teaching mostly boys has changed as many girls now are also taught. Costumes have also changed greatly since the beginnings of Irish dance and are a lot more glamorous now. In the 1800′s the traditional costume for boys was kilts, or pants and for females was peasant dresses. Today boys wear kilts or pants but girls wear elaborately designed dresses of many colors. Dance shoes known as softs or gillies were introduced in 1924. Another form of shoe known as hard shoes had evolved in styles, allowing dancers to “click”, in which they kick they’re legs, hitting they’re heels together and making a clicking sound. The shoes were made with hollow heels and fiberglass tips so the dancer can make more noise while dancing(while dancing hard shoe, being able to hear the steps as they are being done is essential.)
iPod Vids
Just a quick update; please check out http://ipodvids.tk.
I own the little website there, but I got the affiliate links from clickbank.
Please check it out, got some cool stuff on there, including movies, music & games for your iPod. Also click some of the google ads if you could, thank you.
How to ride a bike with no brakes!
Well if you know me, you will probably know I’m really into cycling. I’ve recently just quit a cycling sport called cycle speedwaya sport in which you race around an oval dirt track on a bike with no brakes! I was considered pretty good, as I rode for my country in Poland & USA, so use this advice to your advantage.
Riding a bike with no brakes!
Okay this might sound a bit silly to the average person, but I used these methods week in – week out.
The main way of slowing down is by using your foot to drag across the floor. Note: this doesnt ruin your footwear if done correctly. I had a pair of “racing trainers” which I wore every two weeks for two years, I outgrew them, they didn’t break. It help if you place your foot directly onto the floor, stamping down occasionaly.
When turning a corner – lean to the side, and make sure your sat down on the saddle. When leaning to the side, stick the opposite leg to which your turning into the bike frame.
It also help if your a bit of a fatty like myself. Never stand up whilst riding. On turning corners, shift your weight to the back of the bike by sliding yourself to the back of the saddle. This puts more weight on the back wheel, and can slow you down dearly!
Bored?
Well you won’t be after this. bored.com.
Yes that’s right bored.com, well I found this website when I was bored just before meeting my girlfriend. This website will bring a smile to your face, seriously. They have everything to keep you entertained, from prank phone calls, keyboard tappers, Britney Spears jokes (who doesn’t love them?) and even virtual bubble wrap. If you havn’t checked it out, do so now! And Bookmark it!
Become a pro guitarist
So you want to become a professional guitarist?
From my experience and doing lots of research, over 75% of people could become a professional guitarist, with a bit of motivation.
The start
So what you want to do is, check out ebay or any other guitar shop online (tends to be cheaper than retail stores), then find yourself a nice little guitar for about £60 ($120), I recommend an acoustic guitar. Buy it obviously. Then once you have it check out these links;
Depending on what type of music you’re into, you’ll want to play that certain style. I can only go from experience so, I am into punk and heavy metal so I learnt power chords when I first started playing. When you have picked up some chords, and know your way around the frets, and have learnt how to read tabular, simply go to a tab website and have a look around for songs you like, and try to learn them. Don’t forget to learn everything you see on every guitar related website,
Tab website; http://www.fretplay.com/
Once you’re familar with a whole load of songs, maybe you can try writing your own music.
Practice makes perfect
Practice all the time! Every waking hour of the day, have that guitar in your hands. After a while your guitar will be so familar to you, it’ll be apart of you. Practice everything. Practice songs over and over again. This way you hopefully won’t mess up if your doing a live showcase or something like that. You should be practicing atleast a year before you even think about starting a band or playing a live show.
Make friends
You should be making friend with people who have the same goals as you. Go to local gigs, meet the band, have conversation with them, ask for tips. It’s all about who you know. It helps if you know someone in the music industry, if they know you well, they might think your worth the risk of time and money. Know other local bands, they might know someone who is the music industry.
Myspace
I cannot stress how important this is. Make your myspace music page, upload some recordings, add loads of people. Get your music heard. Myspace is a godsend for countless independant artists. Use the most of the free features. You should then start to get a fan base, this will show people from the music industry that your music will sell. How do you think the Arctic Monkeys made it to the big time? They used myspace and made it work for them. A record company found there myspace page, seen there fan base, listened to there music and figured there music would sell. And oh boy did it sell, there no.1 hit I bet you look good on the dancefloor knocked the Sugababes from the no.1 spot in 2005.
Good luck!
Eyebrow piercing
So, I had my eyebrow pierced over the weekend, was much better than I expected. For a start I wasn’t waiting around for hours and they had comfy seats, although the music selection was a bit on the poor side. I shopped around a bit first though, just to get the best price, and to find a reputable company, the company was indeed Blue Banana. They’re quite popular in my area and have an offer on all summer which is; all piercings £10, obviously doesnt include genitals. My girlfriend also had a peircing on the outer ear called the Helux, obviously hers hurt more than mine, and it’s been irritating her for the last two days, which makes me feel alot better of course.
Nervous
To be quite honest I was a bit nervous, I’ve never really liked piercings although I’ve had my lip pierced before, I was 15 at the time – and I was bricking it! Anyway, yes as I was waiting in Blue Banana I started to sweat my my hands which is quite unusual for me. As I walked through to the piercing studio, I felt more relaxed as she had one of my favorite bands laying on her radio which was Bowling For Soup.
The Procedure
So, after she explained everything throughly, she began setting up the tools needed. The big clamp, which is used to clamp up my eyebrow, she needle, and the jewellery. First of she clamped up my eyebrow, then stuck the needle through, which felt like a little pinch and the pain lastest for 2 seconds, then she cut both ends of the needle. Then with the clamp still clamped to my eyebrow, she put the jewellery in and out fell the remainder of the needle. I think I was in the piercing studio for about 5 minutes, 3 minutes explaining the prodecure and aftercare, then 2 minutes actually piercing the eyebrow.
The Results
I’m very happy with the results, I havn’t noticed it’s even there after two days. And I’m amazed how it’s not all caked up with human flush crust yet, maybe the worst it yet to come but it looks pretty rad
This is a public service announcement
This is a public service announcement, this is only a test. Well it’s not really a test as such, just the first post on what I hope is going to be a great blog that is updated daily (although I doubt that). So this is the official blog of FlangeFace, so if you go along to FlangeFace, you will have access to all aspects of the FlangeFace company. I’d also like if you would very kindly put a link up using the banner provided below, copy the html;
If you’re not too keen on the banner there, there is more of a selection onthe website. So I’m hoping to get my eyebrow pierced sometime this week, probably go to the local tatooist, but they are a bit on the sketchy side, they smoke illegal substances as they work! I had my lip pierced there. I’ll post some pictures as soon as I get it done.
Laterz.
