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What is chill out music? When is it a great time to play it? What does it mean to you? What are some great chill out CDs?

Chilled music is often found under lounge, ambient, and techno categories. This type of music is usually light and very easy to listen to. Chilled music is more accurately defined as electronic because the music is composed electronically. Usually, when you hear the word “electronic” you think of computer-like sounds. However, electronically composed music sounds much better! This genre of music uses beats, strings, cords, and piano, all electronically composed. Chilled music is often played as background music at parties, restaurants, but also at home.

This electronically composed music can be played anytime and, I believe, in any situation. The reason for this is that it is stimulating, relaxing, and uplifting. Therefore, listening to some chilled out music is perfect for when you are working, relaxing at home with friends, when you are tired and stressed or feeling blue.

Obviously, this genre of music will mean something different to you. I think that it is very interesting music that stays fresh and contemporary. I often listen to some chilled out music when I’m tired or stressed out. It is truly amazing how soothing and uplifting it is to lay on your bed or couch with some chilled music playing in the background.

If you are looking for some examples, I highly recommend Café del Mar, Hotel Costes, Buddha Bar, and the In Search of Sunrise series by DJ Tiesto, the king of techno music. Café del Mar is very ambient, rhythmic, and tasteful. Hotel Costes is quite chic and classy. The Buddha Bar series is, as you can imagine quite oriental but it is also fresh and modern. The In Search of Sunrise series is amazing: it is soft-core techno that is relaxing to listen to.

About the author:

This author loves chillout music and has compiled a list of astore.amazon.com/essentialchillmusic-20 great chillout CDs. Check out his chilloutmusiczone.blogspot.com/ blog where you can discuss and share your thoughts on your favorite chillout music

When I tell people I play the piano, the most common reply I hear is “Oh I’ve always wanted to play but…“ Here’s are the top-ten reasons that adults give for not becoming a musician- even though its their secret ambition. Read on for how to overcome these barriers and achieve your dream.

“I’m just too busy”

Most people assume that you will need hours of free time every week set aside for lengthy practicing to get any good. This idea is a complete fiction- in fact I would say about 5 minutes each day is fine at first (and if you don‘t have 5 minutes per day to spare, I don‘t believe you!). If you book lessons with a teacher, you will be committing some time at least each week to concentrate on learning, which may even be enough at first.. Don’t kid yourself you’ll be less busy in three months time because if you don’t start learning now you probably never will.

“I work shifts/ long hours so I can’t fit time for lessons in”

Many teachers will offer lessons in the daytime, evenings and weekends- so you should be able to find something that suits you- just call up some local teachers and ask when they have spaces in their schedule. There are also a good number of online courses for most instruments. Or you could buy a ‘Teach Yourself Book’ and take it from there.

“Lessons are too expensive”

Again, you could start off teaching yourself from a book- but not all lessons are as expensive as you might think. I teach in groups, which keeps the cost down for the individual, and also turns lessons into a social activity. Find out if there are any teachers in your area who do this.

“I’m too old”

Your definitely never too old to learn a musical instrument! In fact I’ve found adults of all ages learn much faster than young children initially. Learning new cognitive skills has even been found to have great health benefits.

“I won’t be able to learn”

Well, I’ve never met anyone incapable of learning to play yet! Obviously people have different standards and ‘natural’ abilities, they’ll learn at different rates. But everyone will be able to play to some degree. The best thing is to ask yourself what you want to achieve… and then just go for it.

“I’ll never be any good, so what’s the point in starting now”

This depends what you mean by good. OK, I admit if your 57 and never played a note in your life theirs no chance of you becoming a virtuoso after ten lessons. But is that really why you secretly want to learn your chosen instrument? How about learning just for the sheer achievement of acquiring a new skill. Or being able to pick out a few carols at Christmas. Or finally write down and record that song that’s been going round in your head your whole life. These are all achievable goals you could reach after learning an instrument for just a short time. And does it even matter if your any ‘good’ if you really enjoy playing?

“I’ve been told I’m tone-deaf and so I can’t learn”

The short answer to this is, your almost certainly not. Tone deafness is a very rare and specific condition, and music lessons should help improve your listening skills.

“I don’t think any teachers will be interested in taking on an older learner”

Most teachers I know (including myself) really enjoy teaching adults because they have made the decision to have lessons themselves and appreciate lessons so much more than children who are learning all the time. Maybe your children are having lessons, why not ask their teacher if they could teach you as well? I’m sure they would be pleased to, or at least recommend another teacher with vacancies.

“I’d love to learn again- but I hated my lessons when I was younger”

A lot of adults have horror stories about severe piano teachers rapping their knuckles with rulers for making mistakes, and punishing them for not practicing 30 minutes a day. Luckily, there aren’t many (any?) people like that around anymore. Please don’t let a bad experience from the past stop you from achieving what you want today. Find a teacher, let them know what you want to achieve and I’m sure they will be pleased to help. If you don’t enjoy their lessons, let them know why- music lessons should be enjoyable, and as an adult you will be the one in control, with your teacher there to help you.

“I’ve heard learning to read music is really hard…”

Learning to read music is really very straightforward. And some teachers might be happy for you to play by ear. There’s a lot of advice on reading music, on the web which can get you started.

I hope none of these excuses are holding you back from becoming a musician! Good luck in learning to play your chosen instrument.

Polly Powell runs a keyboard and piano teaching studio in North Somerset, UK. Visit the website for further information on music lessons kweststudios.co.uk kweststudios.co.uk

Knowing where and at what times the loosest poker games are played are the number one secret for those who play online poker successfully.

Online poker professionals win most of their money from the weak players (fishes-suckers), so finding a table with two or three fishes on it, is extremely important if you want to succeed at this game. Tight and conservative poker tables are not profitable to play on, even for the professionals.

Poker players that are successful at the game of poker, mostly makes their profit from the mistakes their opponents make, and not from their own brilliant play. Choosing the correct table to play on is very important if you want to be a winner at this game.

The secret of winning at on line poker is to find these kinds of games and to only play solid hands from the right position at the table.

Finding the right table to play on is fairly easy. All you have to do is to pokerrule-online.com/onlinepokerrooms.html download the most popular on-line poker rooms.

Than you have to start looking for a table with decent sized pots for your limits and whit a few weak players on it.

Click on flop percentage button when you think you have found your bread and butter table. This will show you how many players that actually sees the flop in average.

Lets say you are playing on a 2/4 Texas Holdem table and the minimum buy-in is 100 dollar. If a player only has 40 dollars worth of chips, than you know he is losing and that he probably doesn’t know much about poker since you should always have enough chips for atleast 15 big bets.

It can also be that this particular player doesn’t have more money to play with, so he is probably going to be playing a tight game and sit and wait for the good cards to come.

If a player has about 200 dollars in front of him than that should tell you that he is either winning, or that he bought in for that amount, simply because he knows that a big stack gets respect from most players.

There are virtually thousands of on-line pokerrule-online.com/poker.html games to choose from, so there is no excuse to play on a table that you are not comfortable with.

Good luck, play well and don’t gamble with your poker money!

Webmaster for pokerrule-online.com/historyofpoker.html TRUE POKER GUIDE.

A website providing information on rules and strategies for all poker games played at home, online and in casinos today.

The Good

You may have a fascination with basking in the glory of millions of dollars, a comfortable business while relaxing on your couch…wondering what is this all about? Many have found ‘online casinos’ an opportunity to make money via the electronic medium. These casinos are gaining popularity due to the spectrum of benefits they endow.

-Online casinos provide an easy access to gaming anytime. So you needn’t worry of heavy showers, chilly mornings and foggy days. The gaming aficionados can play multitude of games just by being at home.

-One amongst many wonderful aspects of casinos online is that even the physically handicapped who cannot budge out of their houses, can have a great time because of these casinos.

-Almost all the cherished games such as poker, roulette and others can be relished online without much expenditure. Cost effectiveness is a noteworthy feature of betting through the net. This is so for gambling online saves commutation charges plus the heavy expense one incurs on food and beverages while playing in a casino.

-Those individuals for whom Internet gambling is not a mere source of entertainment, are cautious of the odds and returns being offered by different casinos. The best part is that while playing online an individual can think peacefully and be focused on his game for he is away from the hurly burly of the casinos.

The Bad

-The games and the technique to play them remains the same, the rules and regulations too do not vary largely, but what definitely is missing in online gaming is the mind boggling and exclusive ambience of a casino. For instance Roulette might lose its charm without the finely crafted Roulette table and beautifully machined metal wheels. The internet will serve you only with graphics depriving you of the amazing experience of mahogany side rails to rest your elbows and glistening chrome wheel.

-If your children are watching you play every time on the Internet, this might have an adverse impact on their minds.

The Ugly

-The worst feature of gambling online is its addictiveness, which is relatively stronger in this case. This is because this gambling can be done at any hour of the day.

A big factor in all of this can be which online casino a person chooses to use. Some are merely average, while others offer fantastic service and special deals. For responsible players, good online casinos can turn out to be an excellent way to give vent to your gaming spirit.

Josef Gagne is very familiar with online gambling and casino strategy. Learn more at casinochoice.co.uk casinochoice.co.uk

Have you ever noticed how some black and white photos just stand out? And when you go to try and take the same kind of photo it just doesn’t do the same thing?

There are a couple of starting pointers that I want to share with you about black and white photography with a digital camera. The first thing I can tell you is that to make a good black and white photo you must have good texture. Texture, or what something is made of, seems to be enhanced with grey scale.

Certain textures, such as natural textures seem to respond well in black and white. Black and white is all about capturing a sense of the dramatic, so if your subject has texture that is naturally dramatic, then you have the first step to a good b&w photo. Textures such as wood grain, stark metal, repeated patterns in nature such as waves or spirals seem to work well in black and white.

With black and white, try to keep some symmetry in your texture. Its easier to create stunning black and white photos when you have symmetry in your texture because it can sometimes be lost in color. Symmetrical textures in black and white are consistently beautiful and offer something the eye cannot capture as well when working in color.

Grey scale is not just the absence of color, or everything taken in shades of grey. To understand and master black and white photography with your digital you must understand the concept of grey scale.

Grey scale is a spectrum of black, lots of grey and white, like the colours of a rainbow but in a series of black and white and grey tones. You see a black and white photo is not really only black and white; it is actually lots of different shades and different depths of grey. So when we talk about grey scale it just means the way we measure tones of grey. Included in the grey scale is of course black and white.

This sounds odd to say, but when finding what looks good in black and white you can start with high contrasting colors in your every day subjects at home. Stark colours such as red, deep purples and bright yellows can make a really good starting point. With bold colours such as these, your camera will interpret them differently. It’s almost as if the camera leaves out what the eye distinguishes as that particular color and keeps the intensity there. I won’t go into the technical jargon now, but for now, just try experimenting on those colors. If you can’t find these colors around your home, try going out into the garden and taking flowers that have these colors, or go to a nursery, plant store or public gardens.

You see black and white is not just ‘no colour’. Its so much more, so much deeper then that. The purpose of black and white nowadays (as opposed to when it was the standard and people had no choice) is that it creates a sense of stillness in time, and with the right perspective, a great story.

Best wishes,
Amy Renfrey

digitalphotographysuccess.com/ digitalphotographysuccess.com/
beautifuloutdoorphotography.com/ beautifuloutdoorphotography.com/

San Francisco—Days (’68)

I lived on the second floor of the old mansion,

in San Francisco (’68) Dolores Street
in the attic, lived a young hippie girl, my age

(twenty or so); pregnant—, her stud, heartless
he’d let her alone, sleep on that mattress

night and day, until he came home; it was
a ting brutal, listening to that crying, crying,

moaning, on that mattress she lay.
We talked a lot back then, and were friends.

One day she just up and left, that was it.

Dan’s brother was balling some young ‘gal,’

so he called her, from the East.
She was as pretty as a peach. And I was

getting horny as a dog with two dicks,
watching everybody feast on female flesh.

And then I met Karen, she was thirty-two;

and we balled for six-weeks, like fools.
(Screwed until we fell to sleep, like sheep.)

She ended up renting the room next to mine
and Dan’s room, my friend. And it wasn’t long

before she took a liking to him.
In-between all this, she’d say, “You love to

screw, don’t you ever rest?” A rhetorical
question I thought at best; of course I did,

when I’d pass out!

It was kind of a muddy romance at its finest

(she had the money and Cadillac):
crowned with oblivion—she took a liking

for Dan, and balled him mad (gave
him whatever he asked for, and then some). My

floodlights went on, and Dan told her
“No more,” and she told me: “I wasn’t hers”

and I told myself, “Where’s the beer?”

#1254 2/28/06

Note: I wrote the book, “Romancing San Francisco,” these recent poems on San Francisco, are the things I never put into book, but will be put into a forth coming book I expect. Dennis

See Dennis’ web site: dennissiluk.tripod.com dennissiluk.tripod.com

Why would the odds maker make adjustments you ask? Simply put my friend, the reason why is because the odds maker already knows what today’s “Joe Public” bettor will do and that is to pounce on the system or trend play or in the case of bad weather jump on the “UNDER” and when hearing about an injury jump on the opposing team like there is no tomorrow.

Personally, when hearing of a team suffering an injury to virtually any player with the exception of the QB, I have found it very profitable to play the ole “wait and see” game, meaning that later in the week once Joe Public has influenced the line that value will probably be found on the side of the team with the injury!

Below you will find a couple of NFL system plays dated since 1990 that have been quite profitable because of the fact that they are very uncommon in frequency and secondly because they combine solid handicapping theory, meaning that there is rhyme and reason as to why they occur!

1) Play against teams playing their 3rd consecutive road game if they lost the 1st game and won the 2nd game. 15-4-1 ATS 79%

What makes this system so useful is the fact that it is based on straight up wins and losses in a teams previous two games which allows a handicapper to see a prevailing pattern, in this pattern the team in question falls into two different handicapping situations that cannot be overlooked as the team in question will not only be in “Road Weary” mode, but they will also be in a prime spot for a “Letdown”.

2) Play against a team playing their 3rd consecutive home game if they are a dog of more than 3 points and they lost their 2 previous games in straight up fashion. 10-4 ATS 72%

Like the above system, is a very uncommon but very effective situation indeed when considering that six different teams played three straight home games during the 2003 season but none ended up classifying for the system.

The last time this system came into play happened at the end of the 2001 season when the Panthers of Carolina played host to the Patriots after coming off consecutive home losses to St. Louis and Arizona.

Those of us that were fortunate enough to have wagered on New England in that contest were rewarded with a 38-6 Patriot win and cover!

Football Forecastor is home to the nations most prolific sports handicapper, we specialize in NFL and College Football handicapping, we take sports betting to a whole new level by treating sports wagering as an investment.

Over the past 30 plus yrs, I have been on both sides of the Sports Investment Business, as a entrepreneur that ran his own business, to building and maintaining a Private Clientele base that Greatly Benefits from my Superior Handicapping expertise in the sporting arena.

Football Forecastor has been an internet based sports handicapping service since 1997 and over the past eight years has maintained one of the very best winning percentages of any sports handicapping service.

If you are looking for a Proven winner that churns out Consistent NFL and College Winning Selections, visit us at footballforecastor.com footballforecastor.com!!

Just got your Zune player and wondered how to download music to Zune. Well, it is actually pretty easy particularly if you already own other types of mp3 players such as the iPod.

To download music to Zune is pretty similar to the iPod. However instead of using itunes software, we use the windows media player. If you want to rip CD and download music to your Zune, all you need to do is place your CD into your computer. Open windows media player. Select Your CD and a list of songs should appear.

Select the songs you want and click on the Rip button or you can right-click and the option should appear. The ripped songs should appear in your windows media player library. Next, plug in your Zune via the USB cable. By default settings, the Zune player will automatically synchronize with the media library and download all songs to the Zune player.

If it does not synchronize properly, you may need to manually copy the music files to the Zune player. It will show up usually as a removable drive on your computer. Usually it is E drive but will depend on your computer configuration.

Do note that the Zune player only plays windows media player supported formats such as WMA, WMV, MP3, MP4 and MOV. It will not support RM (Realmedia) or DIVX format so make sure you select the correct music format when ripping CD.

The other way to download music to your Zune player is to purchase it from a web store. Examples are itunes and Napster. Microsoft has also set a Zune marketplace where there are more than 2 million soundtracks you can purchase and download. The prices ranges from $0.99 to $2.49 each.

There is another option if you plan to download music to Zune which is to join a paid Zune membership site. These websites have millions of soundtracks for you to download all for a one time charge or a one year period. It is definitely more cost effective and cheaper in the long run.

As you can see, it is not difficult to download music to your Zune player. All you need to do is click a few buttons and synchronize and it’s done.

Discover the zune.netezines.net best Zune download site recommended by Ricky Lim. zune.netezines.net Click here to find out.

Taking pictures of your new baby is a great way to preserve life long memories. Baby pictures can also make great postcards, keepsakes, or baby shower gifts. Here are some simple tips to get great baby pictures:

1) Avoid bright light - Babies are especially sensitive to bright light including harsh sunlight and flash photography. If possible, try to take photos during the day when flash photography is not necessary. You can also use lamps to create lighting.

2) Take pictures from different distances - Try to take pictures from different distances. Most people like to take closeup pictures, but pictures that are too close can be blurry and out of focus. By taking several pictures from different distances, you can keep the ones that are the best.

3) Be aware of your baby’s mood - Try not to start a photo session when your baby is cranky or crying. If your baby is in a bad mood, then wait awhile until he or she is better rested or calmed. You will get better pictures when your baby is in good spirits.

4) Use a high quality camera and film - This tip may seem simple, but is worth saying. Using high quality cameras and film can make a big difference in the quality of the photo, especially if you are creating photo gifts or favors.

5) Get rid of any distractions - Make sure there are not too many distractions when taking pictures. Anything that moves or makes noise, like the TV, should be turned off is possible. Having too many people around can also be distracting for the baby.

6) Take multiple shots - Taking different shots is a good idea for any type of photography, particularly if you are making photo gifts. Sometimes it is hard to tell if a shot will turn out good until it is actually produced, so get those extra shots just in case.

7) Background - Make sure that there is not too much distracting stuff in the background. The focus should be on the baby, so plain backgrounds usually work best.

Other people - Try taking pictures of the baby with other people as well, including yourself. A baby will interact with other people and these interactions captured on film can make great keepsakes.

About the Author - Criss White is a professional web writer on baby and new mother topics for baby and pregnancy websites. For baby shower picture frames, go to mybabyshowerfavors.com/pictureframes.htm Baby Picture Frames - Favors and mybabyshowerfavors.com/unique.htm Unique Baby Shower Favors.

Note: If you find this article useful, you may reprint it on your website, e-zine, or in your newsletter as long as the credits above remain in tact and the hyperlinks stay active.

Do you remember that old television series about cooking called “Iron Chef” which ran from 1993 to 2002? Since over 300 episodes of that show have been aired (and are still actually in syndication today), I’m pretty sure that anyone remotely interested in the culinary arts will remember that show. So, who was your favorite chef on that landmark cooking program? Chances are, you will select Chen Kenichi, better known as Iron Chef Chinese. Kenichi was the only Iron Chef to be on the show from start to finish. In addition, Chen won the Iron Chef competition 67 times and is now widely regarded as one of the great chefs of the world.

Born on January 5, 1956, Chen is actually the son of another great chef, Chen Kenmin, who is known in Japan as the father of Sichuan cuisine.

You can tell his father’s influence on Chen by his choice of his special dish, “Prawns in Chili Sauce,” which was inspired by a similar dish introduced by his father in Japan. Naturally, where several generations of excellence are involved in the same area of endeavor, comparisons between father and son are inevitable. The same applied to the Chen father-and-son combo as well. But the spectacular success of the younger Chen on the Iron Chef series has established in many minds that he is the superior chef between the two.

Since leaving the show, Chen has continued to be a successful chef. He currently runs the restaurant chain Shisen Hanten in Japan, which is a huge commercial success, with outlets in Akasaka, Ikebukuro, Roppongi, Tokushima, Kure (Hiroshima Prefecture), Matsuyama and Hakata

Ironically, it was the success of Chen’s restaurant chain that almost prompted him to leave the show. Ironically, and this is a little known story, it was Chen’s rival on the show, the so-called Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai, who prevailed up Chen to stay, smartly pointing out that the show would not be the same without Chen aboard, which was probably true. The two rivals shook hands and agreed as gentlemen that if either one of them left the show, so would the other. Both great chefs honored the gentleman’s agreement until the very last episode of the show’s decade-long run.

Kadence Buchanan writes articles on many topics including
wonderfulworldoffood.com/ Food, homeimprovementstation.com/ Home Improvement, and
theoutdoorslifestyle.com/ Outdoors