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February 24, 2014

Africa’s Powerful Cultural Influence

Africa is the second largest continent on Earth and is widely recognized by scientists as the first place where humans lived. Therefore, it is no surprise that the history, culture, and religion of Africa continue to have an impact on people in all parts of the world even today.
Before European countries began exploring and colonizing many parts of Africa, thousands of native tribes and ethnic groups existed throughout the continent. Each of these had their own physical traits, customs, religions, and languages although some were shared amongst neighboring groups. Although the push for colonial rule destroyed some of the ethnic groups that once existed, many have managed to survive and even thrive. The slave trade that sent so many Africans to the New World against their will actually served to spread African culture around the world.

Art has always been a notable part of African culture. Architecturally, some of the most internationally known ancient works of art are found in Africa. For example, experts are still baffled by the achievements of the ancient Egyptians in the field of architecture, specifically when it comes to the Great Pyramid of Giza. African music has had a clear impact on the development of other musical genres around the world as well. The slave trade spread African rhythms to the New World where genres such as samba, salsa, jazz, reggae, and hip hop have been developed using notable elements of ancient African percussion and instrumentation. It is clear that African history, African culture, and African music have had an international impact are part of noteworthy world heritage.

Getting Better By The Day

My sister made some bad decisions in life. She used to be a straight A student, but after meeting her new friends, her life turned South. At first, she missed her curfew. Then, she would go home drunk. Soon, we discovered that she has an addiction to opiates which she admitted after much prompting from us.

Since she is our sister and we wanted her to get better, we researched for things we can do to help. One of the obvious solutions was to make her undergo detox. She also needs counseling as her treatment. She has been attending the said treatments as an outpatient. We can see that she is getting better by the day, and for that, we are thankful.

A Taste of Mexico: Flammin’ Fajitas

Mexican food is known for their distinguished taste as compare to other food from other countries. By just the smell alone, you can already conclude that this is Mexican by nature. When we say Mexican, the usual food that comes to your mind would be tacos and nachos. A similar dish to taco which is not as famous is the fajita.
Fajita, similar to the taco, is any grilled meat served in a taco on a flour or corn tortilla. This is traditionally both a Mexican and a Tex-Mex cuisine. It originally referred to a certain cut of beef known as skirt steak. Nowadays, variations to the beef or chicken, shrimp, pork and other cuts of beef other than the skirt steak. If you are wondering why it's primarily used skirt steak, it is because dating back to the 1930s when cattle was butchered, it was cut according to certain meat types. Those that were not used like the skirt, were given to Mexican cowboys thus coming up with the fajita. Enough with the meat, what are other condiments to go with the meat? To mention a few are lettuce being shredded, guacamole made of avocado, sour cream, tomatoes, and cheese.

Fajitas were known as a certain cut of meat until Mexican restaurants used such term to refer to that certain dish. Some restaurants nowadays put a twist on it by serving the meat on a hot platter and the condiments and flour tortillas on the sides. It gives the customers a hint that their food is coming once they hear the pan sizzle and the aroma of different spices in the air. So what are you waiting for? Indulge in a very traditional Mexican dish with fajitas. All you need to do is put some meat and condiments over the flour tortilla, roll, and eat!

Another Round In The Altar

My mom left my dad a long time ago. I never even knew her. It took me a long time to convince my dad to marry again, but since he wanted to take care of me first, marriage had to take a backseat. My dad met Mary from work. They always liked each other, but he only asked her hand when he was convinced I was old enough.

Being his only son, I had a part in all the preparation. I was the one who looked for Wedding Rings Salt Lake City, paid for it even, and so much more. I even talked to the caterers so they would not feel stressed out. It was another round in the altar, but this time, I was able to become a witness to their love.

Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo

The Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo, Japan is an elegant resort that offers a very spectacular view of Tokyo and the Kanto Plain.


The hotel occupies the the top 14 floors of the 52-storey Shinjuku Park Tower. From its high risen floors, through its abundant window frame you can see all the way to Mount Fuji. The Park Hyatt resort is no more than 90 minutes from Narita Airport and it is close to Shinjuku Station, Tokyo's major transportation hub. The luxury hotel is centered in the heart of Shinjuku, Tokyo's most vibrant business and entertainment district. The location is in the vicinity of Shinjuku Park, Nishi Shinjuku and parts of Shibuya and Aoyama.

The Park Hyatt Hotel is a five star hotel built in the year 1994 and had its last complete renovation in the year 2004. The hotel provides 177 rooms and 23 suites. The luxury rooms and suites are designed as a contemporary private residence concept with comfortable features and spectacular views of Tokyo. The rooms are 55 sq metre surface and offer free wireless Internet, walk-in closet, working and sitting areas, deep soaking tub and king bed with Egyptian cotton linens. All the rooms provide modern features such as air conditioning, alarm clock, both dial-up and broadband wireless Internet, desk, CD player, DVD player, game console, hairdryer, iron and ironing table, mini bar, pay-per-view movies, radio, satellite cable TV, separate shower and bath.

The hotel's restaurant offers gourmet dining, including Japanese Kozue Restaurant, New York Grill, New York Bar and French brasserie Girandole. The Park Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo is also offering spa treatments in its private Club on the Park Spa.

Loving Me One Supplement At A Time

I have always been the fat kid. During my younger years, my classmates used to call me fatty Johnny because I was just that; fat. As I grew older, I tried to go on a diet, but it did not work out. I also ballooned more when I first started working for this big company. I sat for 8 hours, got little exercise, and ate the worst food.

A little trip to the hospital brought me to reality. My doctor said I had high cholesterol, high sugar, high everything. It was time to start loving my body. I cut down food consumption, exercised daily, and took omega 3 supplements at omega3innovations.com, which is great for the heart. I lost a lot of weight, but more importantly, I was able to get healthy.

An Easy Wipe Tablecloth

We are in the business of selling nail polish and other beauty essentials. Once or twice a year, we join trade shows, or simply set up shop outside so our potential clients can see our products. During these conventions, we set up a table, complete with table cloth bearing our company name so customers will get to know us, as well as appreciate our presentation.

At some point during the convention, some clients will ask for a nail polish sample. This is all good for business, but the stain our spilled polish leaves on the tablecloth is not encouraging to us. It makes it really hard to clean so we got waterproof printed tablecloth so we’ll never have to deal with this problem again.

February 16, 2014

Software engineer can be a potential threat to musicians

I am software engineer by profession and I thought I am only good at computer programming. That was actually my misnomer. I never knew that I had some other hidden talent as well. In the last year’s annual function at our company, after having three pegs of premium scotch, I was forced to hit the stage and sing.

One of my colleague who was the main organiser of the annual day function, told me before I was on the stage for the first time in my life that he found an exciting akg c3000 at guitar center and he bought the mic so that amateurs like me can produce great sound effects. I sang couple of my favourite songs and audience bestowed me with continuous clapping.  

Darling Hotel in Australia

The Darling Hotel is situated in Sydney, Australia. It is one of the brand new five star hotels in Australia. It has the vision of perfection. It then gathered different awards as a classic luxury type of hotel.


These are 'Best International New Hotel Construction and Design', 'Best Tech Hotel', 'Top 60 Best New Hotels in the World', 'Best New Hotel Construction and Design', 'Best New Hotel Construction and Design Asia Pacific', 'Best Hospitality Buildings Construction' and 'The Darling Suites'. As it is, this five star hotel has the existing fantastic transport links across the city it is located. There are 171 rooms that are luxurious with cutting edge 57 2- and 3-room suites that are on the top floors, decors, fireplaces, furniture, butler service, media rooms and floor to ceiling harbor views. Its available packages and services are 'Mini-escape' (spend your vacation at the hotel's spa, bars and restaurants for only $339), 'Sokyo' (at its finest East meets West Japanese cooking), 'Sokyo Lounge' (it is where you can start a love affair that may last a lifetime), 'The Pool at the Darling' (an outdoor swimming pool that is scented with eucalyptus and white tea), 'The Spa at the Darling' (a 16-room spa that has an exclusive couples suite, unparalleled level of pampering the guests, full range treatments of Asian and European, Turkish steam room), and others.

The amenities of the hotel are fine dining on site and off site, fitness center, outdoor pool, spa facility and treatments and high speed Internet connection. Its available activities are shopping, theatre and museums. The highlight of the hotel is the on site fine dining on Japanese cuisine.

Music not for ears but for the soul too

Last weekend I went out with my office colleagues to a pub. This is a new pub in the town and we just wanted to check the ambience and the music. As I entered the pub, I could feel the energetic music all around. I looked up at the DJ deck, found a girl wearing a big headphone and playing the discs with lot of energy.

After a few pegs I went up to the DJ girl and enquired about the musical accessories she was using to play the music. I enquired about the big earphone she was using, she told that if I love music then I should get ultrasone headphones at musicians friend, the one she was using. After that conversation, we became friends and this week I am planning to meet her again.

The Asian Culture

Asia is actually the most populous and the largest continent in the world. Therefore, its culture and people vary from nation to nation. Their basic similarities are that they have all their own traditions and cultural history.


The important parts of culture are religion, literature, art, music, cuisine and philosophy. And the most complex part is the relationship and the acceptance of Western cultures. Originally, Asian ethnic groups were hunters and gatherers – perhaps, it’s almost the same as other ethnic groups such as the Native Americans and Africans.

In East Asia, Taiwan, South Korea, North Korea, Japan and China compose this group and the first ones are notably influenced by China. As it is, the latter has the biggest land area as well as the largest population in the whole Asia. Therefore, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are almost shared by all Asians. In South Asia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and others comprise this group. Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism are the four major religions of these South Asian countries. In Southeast Asia, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, East Timor, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei compose this region. Islam and Christianity are the majority of religion here.

However, these countries are also influenced by the literature of Indian, Chinese, Hindu, Islamic and Buddhist. In West Asia, the Middle East countries compose this region. These are Jordan, Israel, United Arab of Emirates, Yemen, Palestine, Turkey, Armenia, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Iran and many more. These are dominated by Islamic beliefs. In Central Asia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and others compose this region. These are influenced by Chinese, Persian, Arabian, South Asian and other cultures.

Excursion at a music studio

When I was a kid, my father took me to a music studio. I shall never forget the experience. He had a friend working in that music studio who took us around and showed many interesting musical accessories and the array of instruments which are used to produce a music track. I still remember few things that caught my eyes are the novation keyboard, the drum set and the soundproof rooms.

As a child any excursion with parents are quite memorable. But this experience of going to a music studio with my father will always remain fresh in my memory. I am not too sure whether my father actually wanted me to become a musician. I asked him once and he said that he wanted to be a pianist but he did not have enough money to pursue his dreams.  

Musicians too need to upgrade

For quite a long time I was trying to get some good musical accessories. I saw a few other bands in our locality have really upgraded themselves with new instruments and latest accessories. This summer we have two very big shows and I would like to be super prepared for these shows because we will have more than ten thousand college students and some of the celebrities as well.

Me and my group members listed down our requirements and prioritized them. We realized that we need to upgrade our musical instruments and some accessories very badly. The first priority was to get a great carl-martin effects at musicians friend which I found very easily and then gradually we bought and upgraded almost everything we wanted.

Overcoming the pain of packing the drum set

I and three of my friends formed a music band last year. We have had few shows and got appreciations however we have got miles to go to become really famous. I am a drummer and I love every moment when I play drum on the stage. I am sure one day we will be famous and we will go for music shows all over the world.

After every show, my fellow band members get ready within five minutes to get off the stage, whereas I take almost half an hour to pack. Recently someone suggested me to get a gator gp drumcart which I find very convenient to pack and hardy as well and now it takes almost no time to pack my drums and get off the stage.

Going back to the college days

I met four of my old friends after almost a decade. We made it a point that this year we will visit our hometown at the same time so that we all can meet. Soon we met, all our old memories became fresh and we felt as if we had gone back to our old days.

While in college we used to visit a pub and we decided to visit the same pub again and hoping to see the same old bartenders. We were disheartened, all the old pub guys were gone, only thing which has not changed is the music corner where I could find the same old one of the best 5 piece junior drum set and we all were so happy.  

Something interesting to keep for grandchildren

I found some very interesting things from the closed room where my grandfather used to stay. He died almost 40 years ago but all his belongings have been kept by my father. His bed, reading table, chair and cupboard full of clothes are still there.

Last weekend my wife and the kids were not there and I was alone at home, so I thought of opening my grandfather’s room and check if there is any hidden treasure. I browsed through all the small things which are still preserved and found one old Military Foot Locker which I never saw before. The key was kept right beside the locker box and I opened it and found so many old photographs, letters and some expensive show pieces. I decided to keep this box intact for my grandchildren.

Fulfilling dream of having my own music studio at home

I was working as a banker for almost seven years, though since childhood I wanted to be a singer, albeit my parents never encouraged me to do something which I love to do. I was forced to stay away from the music band which I and my childhood friends formed when we were kids and after few years the group dissolved and all my friends went ahead with their life.

With my savings that I accumulated in last seven years, I decided built my own music studio at my home. I got all the best musical equipment and also ordered for a jbl lsr2328p at guitar center which I feel will be the cherry on the top. Soon I will record a few tracks with my old friends and rekindle our childhood dreams.