Important Features Of New Age DVD Players

A standard CD-Rom could hold only 700 MB of data. Later on CDs with more storage space were manufactured but they failed to attract the attention of the buyers. Additional storage space meant an increase of 50 to 60 MB, which was not much considering the data requirement of the end user. So, a new removable storage medium was required to satisfy the need of the consumers. DVD technology or digital video disk simply transformed the whole data storage concept. Computers played all forms of DVD with compatible player but DVD players played only a selected format.

What is a DVD player? It is simply the player or device that is able to play two different standards, DVD video and DVD audio. The player has to be connected to the TV for the display. Some devices come with mini LCD screens which are there as a smaller counterpart of the TV set.

The new age DVD players succeeded the present breed of DVD media. Blu-ray disk player and HD DVD player are the two trying to capture the consumers with their upgraded quality and high storage space.

DVD players run on the MPEGII standard of video compression. For a standard VCD compression, the CODEC used was MPEGI technology also known as MPEG format. 1 minute of video took 10 MB space. The MPEGII format supports much higher bit rate to give a constant quality both for video and audio.

New age DVD players support more formats like DivX, Xvid and x264. All are compressive technologies giving sharper pictures at lower bit rates. Another compression catching on is the h264 standard also known as MPEG IV part 10 with advanced video coding. New age DVD players are the ones that are capable of playing the next generation of DVDs. A standard single channel DVD can hold roughly 4.7 GB. However, a DVD can be dual channel or double layered; the storage capacity can be up to 17 GB.

The latest in the technology is the HD DVD brought out by Toshiba. Media Control Gfk International reported that out of the total number of next generation storage medium sold in the year 2007, 27 per cent are HD DVD. Therefore, it is obvious that the new age DVD players are fast becoming market leaders. The main problem in creating the next generation standard is availability of two different media, Blu-Ray and HD DVD. Both Sony and Toshiba are trying to upgrade their products to suit the standard for the next generation.

This continuous competition among the manufacturers for upgraded DVDs is creating a problem for the new age DVD players. When the format is not finalized, it is not too good a prospect to make a device; so, the manufacturers are looking on the media sale to finalize their next step. Samsung, Sony, LG, Phillips, Sharp and APEX are the popular ones. All the gaming consoles PS2, Xbox, PSP, GBA, PSX and others also support playing DVDs. Sony Play Station 3 is also supporting their latest Blu ray disk.

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Martin Sharp

Oz

In late 1963 or early 1964 Martin met Richard Neville, editor of the University of NSW student magazine Tharunka, and Richard Walsh, editor of its Sydney University counterpart Honi Soit. Both wanted to publish their own “magazine of dissent” and they asked Sharp and Shead to become contributors. The magazine was dubbed Oz. From 1963-65 Martin was its art director and a major contributor.

Sydney Oz hit the streets on April Fool’s Day, 1963. Its irreverent attitude was in the tradition of the student newspapers, but it satirical and topical coverage of local and national issues and people developed a national profile, and made it a target for “the Establishment”, and soon a prominent casualty of the so-called “Censorship Wars”.

Martin held his first one-man exhibition at the Clune Galleries in Sydney, Australia in 1965. “Art for Mart’s Sake” almost sold out on the opening night. One of the paintings exhibited also featured in Shead’s James Bond spoof Blunderball, made earlier that year.

During the life of Australian Oz Sharp, Neville and Walsh were twice charged with printing an obscene publication. The first trial was relatively minor, and should have been a non-event, but they were poorly advised and pleaded guilty, which resulted in their convictions being recorded. As a result, when they were charged with obscenity a second time, their previous convictions meant that the new charges were considerably more serious.

The charges centred on two items in the early issues of Oz — one was Sharp’s ribald poem “The Word Flashed Around The Arms”, which satirised the contemporary habit of youths gatecrashing parties; the other offending item was the famous photo (used on the cover of Oz #6) which depicted Neville and two friends pretending to urinate into a Tom Bass sculptural wall fountain, set into the wall of the new P&O office in Sydney, which had recently been opened by Prime Minister Robert Menzies.

Sharp, Neville and Walsh were tried, convicted and sentenced to prison. Their convictions caused a public outcry and they were subsequently acquitted on appeal, but the so-called “Oz Three” realised that there was little future battling such strong opposition.

London

In 1966 Martin published a selection of cartoons in the book Martin Sharp Cartoons. “Swinging London” was the mecca for young artists, writers and musicians, and after the Oz trials, Sharp and Neville needed little encouragement to leave Australia. They set off on an overland trek through Asia, parting company in Kathmandu and making their separate ways to London.

On arrival, Sharp stayed for a short time with Neville’s sister, writer Jill Neville in Knightsbridge. It was at this time that he was introduced to a musician in the famous London nightclub, The Speakeasy. During the evening Sharp told the musician about a poem he had recently written; the musician in turn told Martin that he was looking for a lyric for some new music he had just written. Sharp obligingly wrote out the poem and his address on a serviette and gave it to his new acquaintance.

The musician turned out to be acclaimed guitarist Eric Clapton. The song that resulted from the meeting, “Tales of Brave Ulysses”, was recorded as the B-side of Cream’s smash hit “Strange Brew” and was included on Cream’s second album Disraeli Gears. His friendship with Clapton led to the commission to design the famous ‘dayglo’ psychedelic collage cover for that album, which included painted photographs by Sharp’s friend Robert Whitaker, whom Sharp knew from Australia and whose studio was in the same building where Sharp lived.

The following year Sharp designed the spectacular gatefold sleeve for Cream’s third album, the double LP set Wheels of Fire (1968), for which he won the New York Art Directors Prize for Best Album Design in 1969. He also designed the cover for the eponymous debut L.P. of London underground legends Mighty Baby (1969).

The Pheasantry

Sharp’s cover for the album Disraeli Gears

Not long after his meeting with Clapton, Martin moved into The Pheasantry at 152 Kings Road, Chelsea, an historic Georgian building. As the name suggests, the site was originally used to raise pheasants for the royal household. In the early 1900s it was the home of Eleanor Thornton, the favourite model of artist and sculptor Charles Sykes. Thornton is believed to have been the model for Sykes’ most famous work, his Rolls Royce mascot the Spirit of Ecstasy.

In the 1920s and 1930s it housed the studio of renowned dance teacher Serafina Astafieva, who trained several of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes dancers and who taught prima ballerinas Alicia Markova and Margot Fonteyn. By the time Sharp moved in there, The Pheasantry was a well-known ‘artists’ colony’, its rooms rented out as apartments and residential studio space. The basement also housed a nightclub which operated into the 1970s. The Pheasantry nightclub was the venue for early UK gigs by Lou Reed, Queen and Hawkwind, among others, and was the place where singer Yvonne Elliman was discovered by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, leading to her role in the original soundtrack recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. The Pheasantry currently houses apartments, shops and a pizza restaurant, which has retained Madame Astafieva’s mirrors and practice barre as a feature on the first floor.

Sharp shared this remarkable domicile with some remarkable people, including Eric Clapton (who moved in not long after Sharp did), Germaine Greer, filmmaker Philippe Mora, artist Tim Whidborne, prominent London “identity” David Litvinoff (later an adviser on the production of Nicolas Roeg’s Performance), writer Anthony Haden-Guest (author of The Last Party: Studio 54, Disco,and the Culture of the Night) and Martin’s friend Robert Whitaker, photographer of choice for many leading rock groups on the scene, including The Beatles. Whitaker was already famous/infamous for the controversial “butcher” photo used on the original cover of the Beatles’ album Yesterday and Today.

Many years later, Sharp recalled the story of his meeting with Clapton:

“I visited the Speakeasy Club in London one evening (1967). I saw a girl I knew, Charlotte, who was sitting at a table with two young men who I didn’t know. Being alone I asked if I could join them and I was made welcome. I remember that there was a discussion about a controversial article which had appeared in The Idealist concerning the assassination of President Kennedy. I gathered that the young men were musicians and as I had just written a poem which I thought would make a good song, I mentioned this fact, and one of the musicians replied that he had just written some music. In grand show business tradition I wrote the lyrics on a paper serviette and gave them to him with my address. I was sharing a studio off the Kings Road Chelsea with the photographer, Bob Whitaker, at the time. I was pleasantly surprised when the musician, who turned out to be Eric Clapton, arrived at the studio with a 45 r.p.m. record with “Strange Brew” on the A-side and my song, “Tales of Brave Ulysses” on the B-side.” “Soon after I moved to a nearby studio in “The Pheasantry”, Kings Road, Chelsea, and needing someone to share with I asked my new friend if he would care to share the space and experience. Chelsea was an exciting place to live and Eric agreed. (David Litvinoff, a well-known and extraordinary character in the music and art world had found the studio.) It was a perfect place to work and live. Charlotte eventually moved in with Eric. Later we were joined by my girlfriend, Eija, and a young friend from Melbourne, painter and filmmaker, Philippe Mora, and his girlfriend, Freya. David Litvinoff worked in Tim Whidbornes’ studio downstairs… Anthony Haden-Guest had a flat there…Germaine Greer was writing “The Female Eunuch” in a room there… there were photographic studios…it was quite a special and creative building…it was called “The Pheasantry” because in the old days the land had been used for breeding pheasants for the King’s table. “Eric asked me to design the cover for “Disraeli Gears”. I loved record cover art and was very happy to do it. I commissioned my ex-studio mate, Bob Whitaker, to take some photos which were used in a collage on the back cover. I believe the photo used on the cover was a publicity shot that I got from Eric. I was using fluorescent paints at the time. It was the height of psychedelia. “Some of the ingredients in the cover are made up from Victorian decorative engravings. It was done in black and white first and then painted with fluorescent colors. I tried to capture the warm joyful liveliness of Cream’s songs. I later went on to design the cover for “Wheels Of Fire” for Cream and also for Ginger Baker’s “Airforce”, a band called Mighty Baby…Jeannie Lewis’ “Free Fall Through Featherless Flight” and a few of my own releases of Tiny Tim, “Chameleon”, “Keeping My Troubles To Myself”, and “The World Non-Stop Singing Record.” “In the basement of The Pheasantry was a club of the same name and often one’s sleep was disturbed by the R&B bass notes…so I was reacting by listening to a lot of old songs that had been re-released. Al Jolson, Al Bowly… the dance bands of the war years and earlier. Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and “Hutch” (Leslie Hutchinson). Eric had seen Tiny Tim perform at The Scene in New York City and knowing I loved the old songs he urged me to go and see Tiny in his first London performance at the Royal Albert Hall. I’d never heard Tiny before and I was completely amazed by his extraordinary, joyful persona and his absolute mastery over the whole language of popular song. I felt I would love to work with him, but thought he was destined to the heights of stardom. I never felt the opportunity would arise. Over twenty years later I write this on letterhead from the film, “Street of Dreams” I have been making with Tiny over the last 12 years, thinking of the hundreds of songs and conversations I have recorded with him over the years. Thus was my entry into the world of popular song. “The meeting of musician and artist directly without intermediaries is, and always has and will be, a fruitful one. Such was the goodwill that existed in London during the late ’60’s that a painter from Australia could meet a great musician from England and informally give him some lyrics which would become a song, a friendship, a career with Tiny Tim, and a record cover.”

Freed from the constraints of nine-to-five work thanks to a timely inheritance from an aunt, Sharp found himself at the centre of London’s counter-cultural life and the Underground scene and quickly became one of its leading lights. When Richard Neville arrived in London in September, and he and Sharp joined forces with Felix Dennis and jointly established London Oz, which soon proved itself even more controversial than its Australian parent. Sharp became its Art Director and chief cartoonist.

This period in London and his work with Oz brought him international renown. As well as his Oz artwork and his famed album covers for Cream, he produced famous posters of musiciansob Dylan, Donovan and his classic ‘exploding’ Jimi Hendrix poster, based on a photo by Linda McCartney. These and other works like the poster for the “Legalise Pot” rally are keynote graphic works of the period and originals are now highly prized collector’s items.

Solo projects

In 1969 Sharp held his second solo exhibition at the Sigi Krauss Gallery. Entitled “Sharp Martin and his Silver Scissors” it featured collages based on famous works of art. He returned to Australia later that year, taking up residency in the old Clune Galleries. Thelma Clune, the director, had decided to sell the building, but there was no rush for the sale, and under the watchful eye of mutual friend “Charlie” Brown, Sharp presented his first exhibition after his return.

This was followed by The Incredible Shrinking Exhibition, which comprised photographs of the first show re-exhibited in small gem-like mirror frames. These two exhibitions laid the foundations for the famous Yellow House project of 1970-71. The house became a unique multimedia space, an art environment in which each room was an entire art work. The Yellow House was open 24 hours a day and had thousands of visitors between 1971 and 1973 when it closed.

Returning to London in 1972, Martin continued his interest with the idea of appropriation. He created “Art Book”, another miniature production, approximately 5″ x 6″ in size and incorporating 36 colour collages cut from the pages of glossy art books, bringing together the work in single images of Magritte and Van Gogh, Matisse and Magritte, Botticelli and Picasso with occasional overlays of Van Gogh on Van Gogh, Van Gogh on Botticelli, or Vermeer on Vermeer.

“I have never been shy about cutting things up if I had a good idea. To me it was worth the price of a book for the idea it expressed, the interconnecting of different worlds. I could put a Gauguin figure in a Van Gogh landscape, make the composition work, and also say something about their relationship.”

Distributed in the United Kingdom, France and Italy in 1972, “Artbook” was released in Australian in 1973 to coincide with Sharp’s return to Australia and his “Art Exhibition” at the Bonython Gallery, Sydney. The previous collage images were presented as completed paintings, returning them to their original medium. Extending viewer involvement, one work, Self Portrait was simply a mirror in an ornate gold frame while another more iconicised work was a linen, cheap reproduction of the Mona Lisa in an equally ornate gold frame, entitled Tea Towel.

During the mid-Seventies, Martin was probably best known in Australia for his work with the Nimrod Theatre, for whom he produced his famous series of posters, as well as designing numerous sets, costumes and scenery pieces. His famous Nimrod posters (now prized collectors’ items) include his iconic poster for the plays Young Mo, The Venetian Twins, and Kold Komfort Kaffee. Sharp’s rendering of the “Mo” face became the symbol of the Nimrod Theatre; and one of his best known images. In this period he also designed the classic cover for Jeannie Lewis’ debut album Free Fall Through Featherless Flight (1974).

Martin has designed at least two posters for Australia’s premier contemporary circus, Circus Oz including the iconic ‘World Famous’/'Non-Stop Energy’ design.

Later interests

For the most of the 1970s and beyond, Sharp’s work and life was dominated by two major interestsydney’s Luna Park (located across the water from the Sharp’s home in Bellevue Hill) — and Tiny Tim.

Luna Park

Luna Park proved a bittersweet experience. Sharp was engaged as designer and artist to oversee the restoration of Luna Park, including a commission to renovate the enormous laughing face at the entrance. This long commission had all the ingredients of Pop Artostalgia, huge sculptures, powerful images, wonderful paintings by Arthur Barton along with bright colours and lightsnd was utterly appropriate given Sharp’s deep grounding in this era of Australian graphic art (e.g. Fatty Finn).

In 1978, he and fellow artist/designer Richard Liney (who had participated in the reconstruction of Luna Park, also an avid collector of memorabilia), loaned their combined collection of hundreds of fairground, circus, Luna Park and sideshow artefacts to the Art Gallery of NSW to coincide with the Festival of Sydney.

Just a year later, a fire in the Luna Park Ghost Train tragically claimed seven lives, and destroyed any chance of renewal for the restored Park. Sharp’s work on the Face was ruined, and the park’s theme “Just for Fun” lost its meaning.

Like many others, Sharp firmly believes that the fire was a deliberate act of terrorism aimed at destroying the park and establishing alternative interests. Like the ‘disappearance’ of anti-development activist Juanita Nielsen in 1975, the reason for the arson attack was not hard to discern. Luna Park’s unique location on the northern foreshore of the harbour, adjacent to the north-western tower of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, made it a prize of inestimable value to property developers.

Along with various other artist friends and sympathetic supporters, Sharp was instrumental in forming the Friends of Luna Park in an endeavour to lobby the State Government and remind Sydneysiders of what they stood to lose if the park was lost. Sharp’s painting Snow Job is a poignant reminder of his feelings about this matter, and if it had not been for the efforts of Sharp and his friends, Sydney might have lost an important part of its character.

Tiny Tim

Besides Van Gogh, Tiny Tim has been one of Sharp’s strongest inspirations since the 1970s.

“Tim’s appropriation of song is very much like my appropriation of images. We are both collagists taking the elements of different epochs and mixing them to discover new relationships.”

Sharp’s appreciation of Tiny Tim manifested itself in many ways, including record production, costume design. He created a five-metre painting now hanging in Macquarie University, painted during the mid seventies with Tim Lewis. His Tiny Tim Opera House concert poster is one of his most memorable and collectible images.

His cherished Tiny Tim film project Street Of Dreams is described in the painting “Film Script”. He laboured for over a decade on this film and it almost forced him to sell his house to finance it. However, the story goes that on the eve of the sale, Sharp received a surprise cheque in the mailt was a substantial royalty payment for his lyrics for Tales Of Brave Ulysses, which enabled him to continue working on the film without selling his house.

Another recurring element in Martin’s work is the now-famous “Eternity” signature. The origin of this image was the remarkable story of Sydney man Arthur Stace, also known as “Mr Eternity”. Stace was an illiterate former soldier, petty criminal and alcoholic who became a devout convert to Christianity in 1930. For years after his conversion up until his death in 1967, Stace walked the streets of Sydney at night writing the single word “Eternity” on walls and footpaths in his unmistakable copperplate handwriting. For years Stace’s identity remained unknown until it was finally revealed in a newspaper article in 1956. Sharp has perpetuated and celebrated Stace’s work and message, and the ‘Eternity’ image has appeared in many of his works, including a poster celebrating Sydney’s Haymarket area, and a large canvas that first appeared in the Oxford Street window of a Sydney store in 1990. During the millennium celebrations in 2000, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was lit up with the word “Eternity”, as a tribute to the legacy of Arthur Stace made popular by Martin Sharp.
Sharp’s work has been celebrated in many exhibitions including a special Yellow House retrospective at the Art Gallery of NSW.

See also

Martin Sharp – Profile at MILESAGO

Hapshash and the Coloured Coat

References

^ See: Hicks, Megan. “The Eternal City.” Meanjin 2006 (Vol. 65 Issue 2), p139-146.

v  d  e

UK underground

People

Jim Anderson  Edward Barker  Syd Barrett  Mark Boyle  Joe Boyd  Barney Bubbles  Caroline Coon  Felix Dennis  Robin Farquharson  Mick Farren  Germaine Greer  Hapshash and the Coloured Coat  Jim Haynes  John Hopkins  Michael Horovitz  Peter Jenner & Andrew King  Tom McGrath  Barry Miles  Richard Neville  Jeff Nuttall  John Peel  Aubrey Powell  Martin Sharp  Steve Peregrin Took  Alexander Trocchi

Publications

Children of Albion: Poetry of the Underground in Britain  The Black Dwarf  Friends  Gandalf’s Garden  Gay News  Ink  International Times  The Mersey Sound  Oz  Schoolkids OZ  Peace News  Spare Rib

Bands

AMM  Arthur Brown  Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band  Edgar Broughton Band  Delivery  The Deviants  Fairport Convention  Family  Hawkwind  The Incredible String Band  Pink Fairies  Pink Floyd  The Pretty Things  The Purple Gang  Quintessence  Soft Machine  Third Ear Band  Tomorrow

Other

The 14 Hour Technicolour Dream  Games for May  Granny Takes a Trip  International Poetry Incarnation  Release  UFO Club

See also

British Poetry Revival  Counterculture  English underground  Freak scene  Youth subculture

v  d  e

Cream

Ginger Baker  Jack Bruce  Eric Clapton

Studio albums

Fresh Cream  Disraeli Gears  Wheels of Fire  Goodbye

Live albums

Live Cream  Live Cream Volume II  BBC Sessions  Royal Albert Hall London May 2-3-5-6, 2005

Compilations

Best of Cream  Heavy Cream  Strange Brew: The Very Best of Cream  The Very Best of Cream  Those Were the Days  20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Cream  I Feel Free Ultimate Cream  Cream Gold

Singles

“Wrapping Paper”  “I Feel Free”  “Strange Brew”  “Spoonful”  “Sunshine of Your Love”  “Anyone for Tennis”  “White Room”  “Crossroads”  “Badge”  “Lawdy Mama”

Collaborators

Pete Brown  Felix Pappalardi  Martin Sharp  Gail Collins  Janet Godfrey  George Harrison  Mike Taylor

Related bands

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers  Eric Clapton’s Powerhouse  Blind Faith  Derek and the Dominos  The Yardbirds  BBM  Ginger Baker’s Air Force  The Dirty Mac  Graham Bond  The Beatles  Plastic Ono Band

Categories: 1944 births | Living people | Australian male artists | Australian cartoonists | Australian songwriters | Psychedelic artists | Underground cartoonists | Album-cover and concert-poster artistsHidden categories: BLP articles lacking sources | Articles lacking reliable references from December 2009 | All articles lacking sources | Articles needing cleanup from August 2008 | All pages needing cleanup

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Praised for being accessible, honest, humorous, fascinating, and alarming, Chew On This was also repeatedly referred to as a must-read for kids who regularly eat fast food. Having all the facts about fast food helps young people make healthy decisions about what they eat. Chew On This shows them that they can change the world by changing what they eat.

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Chew On This: Everything You Don’t Want to Know About Fast Food

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Learn to Play Guitar – a Beginner’s Guide

This article is devoted to learning how to play guitar (and even those just thinking about learning to play or giving the gift of music to a loved one) and how to approach gaining some kind of proficiency on the instrument. Now, we’ve all seen people playing the guitar at various times, sometimes on TV, sometimes up close (a real treat), playing various kinds of music and at varying skill levels. I think the hardest obstacle to overcome when you’re learning how to play the guitar or thinking about starting is the thought that playing the guitar is only something musicians can do, or is only for people who are musically inclined. The simple fact is that anyone can learn to play the guitar. It’s just a matter of spending some time with it on a regular basis, and practicing in a manner that’s both fun and productive. Once it becomes part of your routine, it’s only a matter of time before your skill level and confidence develop.

When I started learning the guitar, there were a couple of learning aids I found to be indispensable. They include:

Learning to Play Guitar Chord Reference Book – This is really helpful when you’re not sure how to play an F chord or a B minor, or want to learn some other ways to play it

Artist Songbook – This is a songbook which has the piano, lyrics, and guitar chords to your artist’s favorite songs, and is great for learning how to strum and change from chord to chord

Classical Guitar Book – This helps you familiarize yourself with the feel of scales and arpeggios, and also improves your sight reading

Guitar Tab Songbook – As you progress, you’re going to want to play some of the guitar parts from your favorite songs note-for-note, meaning exactly as your favorite guitarist plays them. This type of book has the music for this both in standard notation and guitar tablature

I had a very insightful guitar teacher who started off each lesson by showing me a new chord and how to play it. Some good chord reference books that tackle these types of chords are the Whole Book of Guitar Chords and The First Book of Chords for the Guitar both written by Dan Fox. Once I had a feel for the chord, he would choose a song from a songbook from one of my favorite bands that used this chord (say a B minor or an A7) and would have me learn that song using an appropriate strum pattern. My mom played the piano, and would often visit the music store to buy sheet music songbooks from her favorite artists, so eventually I got her to buy me a few gems of this type:

Beatles Complete – This is a valuable book for two reasons. One is that it’s The Beatles. The second is that The Beatles composed songs with relatively few and very easy to play chords (”I Saw Her Standing There” has three), and also songs with many and often unorthodox chords (”Michelle” has, um, a lot), especially when used in rock music. This makes it a great vehicle for learning new chords incrementally via their songs

Neil Young – Decade - My brother wore out this recording and when I started playing some of the tunes from it on the guitar, it gave his little brother some instant credibility. Many of the songs in this book were recorded by Neil on the acoustic guitar, so it lends itself to the beginner who’s learning on an acoustic

Led Zeppelin Complete – This is a strange and beautiful book. It has the main guitar riffs for every Led Zeppelin song on the first five albums (I – IV and House of the Holy) but it’s in standard notation. I spent a summer learning every song in this book and not only did my guitar playing improve, but so did my sight reading

Eric Clapton Deluxe Revised – This contains some of the best songs from Cream, the Layla disc by Derek and the Dominoes, and some of Eric’s early solo work, but it’s unique in that it has a separate section with some of Eric’s best guitar solos transcribed. Eric is a great role model when you start learning how to play a guitar solo, because some of his solos are simple enough that they can be played by a beginning-intermediate guitar player (though it takes a lifetime to learn to play it with as much feeling as Eric)

Once we covered the chord of the week and the song that went with it, we would tackle a classical piece. One of the best classical books I can recommend, especially if you’re not a classical guitarist, is Classical Studies for Pick-Style Guitar – Volume 1. This book is great for developing your right-hand picking and also for developing your sight reading since all the music is in standard notation. There are some interesting pieces by Matteo Carcassi, which require you to arpeggiate various chords, and also some Bach Inventions that are arranged for duet guitar, so you can play with a friend. You can hear how this sounds in an on-line guitar lesson I created at WholeNote – Bach’s 8th Invention.

The one thing that’s changed over the past decade in sheet music for guitarists is the emergence of guitar tab songbooks. In the late 1990’s, an archive of guitar tablature files was collectively created and dubbed the On-Line Guitar Archives (OLGA), in which random guitarists from around the world created text files containing their own transcriptions of how to play your favorite songs by your favorite bands. The problem was that the quality and accuracy of the transcription was hit or miss. Sheet music companies finally wised up and started releasing accurate note-for-note transcription books, which were the real deal. In my day, you were a god if you could play the guitar solo, “Eruption”, played by Eddie Van Halen off Van Halen I, because you had to learn it by ear off the record, which is pretty much impossible. Today, you can just buy the Van Halen I guitar tab songbook and get all the music for Eruption both in guitar tab and standard notation. Oh, and they also throw in the rest of the songs from Van Halen I, and from Van Halen II, as well. I’ve always loved the whacked-out intro that Eddie plays in Mean Street, which opens the Fair Warning recording. The Van Halen Guitar Anthology Series has the tab for this, note for note, including every last harmonic, pick scrape, bend, and tap. It’s unbelievable. And it’s not just Van Halen. You can find similar guitar tab songbooks for The Beatles, Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews Band, Nirvana, Green Day, Audioslave and pretty much anyone else you can think of.

Finally, as you develop your practice routine, the one thing most often overlooked during practice is being able to play in time. When you start to get comfortable with chords and strumming, there’s a natural tendency to stop or to hesitate while switching between chords. A good metronome will make you aware of this and force you to play in time. The Qwik Time QT-7 Quartz Metronome is a good budget option and provides a good click, while the Wittner Wood Case Metronome w/ Bell and Cover is the kind you can hang onto forever and pass along from generation to generation (and I should know – I have one from my grandfather). The Fender MT-1000 Chromatic Tuner/Metronome is unique in that you get both a metronome and a guitar tuner in one convenient package. Very handy, indeed.

You too can learn to play the guitar today! Hopefully, this gives you a bit of direction as you learn to play the guitar. Remember that it’s simply a matter of spending some time regularly practicing some of the basics and then applying them to your favorite music. Keep expanding your knowledge of the basic chords and learn to play songs that use them, along with the strumming patterns of the tune. Combined with some classical pieces for dexterity and developing your sight-reading chops, you’ll be well on your way to mastering the guitar in no time!

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All parents will want this! e-flashcards for the Chinese Language!

One and only in the world! Baby right brain training good for young kids too. If you are non-chinese speaking, post on parenting or motherhood forums of your language such as Japanese, German, French etc. Guaranteed to draw massive interests!
All parents will want this! e-flashcards for the Chinese Language!

Touch Screen DVD Players

Technology is such a wonderful thing. It has helped us live our lives faster and easier. It has created a lot of wonderful new products that entertain and help us in our daily needs. However, constantly changing technology can also be a little overwhelming; making even the easiest tasks, such as choosing a touch screen DVD player, hard and quite a bit confusing.

With many touch screen DVD players available in the market, it may be quite a challenge to choose which player suits your needs the most.

Here’s a little guide for you to follow when buying a touch screen DVD player.

Is it complete?

There is nothing worse than paying good money for a touch screen DVD player that lacks other components. Check the model or manufacturing number of your touch screen DVD player to make sure that you are buying the right one and make sure that you are getting all the features you wanted.

Also, check with the store or with the website (do some research beforehand if you have to) if they are offering packages, such as additional speakers, amplifiers, etc. with your touch screen DVD player. These packages will help you enhance your movie watching experience.

Will you be able to connect your USB storage devices, memory cards and other digital storage formats to your touch screen DVD player?

Although, the primary use of your player is to play DVD’s, it is best to check if your player has additional features such as memory card slots and USB ports. Most DVD players nowadays allow you to play formats other than the DVD. These additional functions are great when you want to view pictures, short videos, films and other digital formats from your computer or download them straight from your camera to your home entertainment system.

Check your touch screen DVD player for these options so that you can get your money’s worth.

What digital formats does your player support?

If your touch screen DVD player allows you to connect external digital storage devices then it would be smart to check what kind of file formats it plays. Does it play .avi, .mp3 and .mpeg formats? Make sure that it supports all the formats that you want to view.

What region DVD’s does this player accept?

Over the years, DVD’s are becoming increasingly multi-regional but that doesn’t necessarily mean that every touch screen DVD player will play every DVD you have. It is best to check which region of DVDs is played by your player. Make sure that this region is compatible with the region of your DVD’s.

Many touch screen DVDs come with 4-channel high power speakers with sub outputs. Sets also include full function remote control and car mounting hardware. These days, you even get in-dash touch screen DVD players that come with a large number of helpful features. For instance, there are DVD players with Telephone Mute Trigger wires and Brake screen safety triggers.

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Ipod Video Downloads – Read This Before you Download Ipod Video

iPod video downloads are now hot favorites among iPod users. Everyday, millions of video downloads are transferred to PCs and synced with iPods. Video iPod or iPod video is the name folks give to the new generation iPod which is equipped with video viewing capabilities. It is this technology; coupled with the vast availability of iPod video downloads that pushed up the popularity of iPod videos as the most downloaded form of media.

There are many online music and video stores to download videos for your iPod. The most famous is definitely iTunes. You get to download movies, TV shows and music at a standard charge per download. If you have missed an episode of your favorite TV show on national television, just go there and download that particular episode at $1.99. It is that convenient as the iPod video downloads are available the very next day it is screened. You also do not have to worry about having to buy the whole season.

If you are looking for free iPod video downloads that are legal, you can try some of the following sites. They are mainly collection of entertaining videos uploaded by people like you and me or aspiring film producers and public domain videos. Sometimes you will be amused by the kind of iPod video downloads that exist on this planet.

OVGuide: guide to online movies.

Watch Free Movies Online: If you are a fan of classic movies, you would love the free video downloads.

Singingfish: This is a video search engine that archives many movies, movie clips and videos. Check out the hot favorites section.

SearchforVideo: Another video search engine where you will be able to find tons of iPod video downloads. You will also find a range of video clips under different categories like news, movies, music, celebrities, health, TV channels, etc.

The Open Video Project: This is site with a huge collection of digital video for sharing.

Vmix: One interesting and wacky site where you will find tons of entertaining and funny videos submitted by amateurs and professionals alike.

Another source of iPod video downloads would be from the membership download sites that have become quite popular recently. These websites provide millions of videos, movies, music videos, TV shows and even music MP3s for downloading and burning onto CDs or DVDs and you can also transfer them to your iPod for viewing.

No matter where you download, there is something you need to know. Most video files are not exactly iPod video files but rather AVI, RM, DivX, WMV, ASF and VOB video files. In these instances you would need to convert them into MPEG 4 or H.264 video format in order for your iPod to play them. There are many converters in the market, some paid while others free. Type in “free iPod video converters” in the search engines and you should be able to find a few good free video to iPod converters.

Read more about iPod video downloads and which are the most popular sites video lovers are using to download high quality video for their iPod at prices even school-going teens can afford.

The content of this article is provided for the purpose of education and illustration only and is in no way associated with Apple, iTune, or any company or subsidiary of Apple. This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author’s name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

If you want to embrace the Christmas spirit this year, check out these Christmas Costumes to enliven your Holiday fun.

Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Nikolay Vavilov’s Quest to End Famine

Product Description
The future of our food depends on tiny seeds in orchards and fields the world over. In 1943, one of the first to recognize this fact, the great botanist Nikolay Vavilov, lay dying of starvation in a Soviet prison. But in the years before Stalin jailed him as a scapegoat for the country’s famines, Vavilov had traveled over five continents, collecting hundreds of thousands of seeds in an effort to outline the ancient centers of agricultural diversity and guard against widespread hunger. Now, another remarkable scientist—and vivid storyteller—has retraced his footsteps. In Where Our Food Comes From, Gary Paul Nabhan weaves together Vavilov’s extraordinary story with his own expeditions to Earth’s richest … More >>

Where Our Food Comes From: Retracing Nikolay Vavilov’s Quest to End Famine

Bob Recommends: To make Christmas great for the kids each year, you need to know what’s hot. Christmas Toys change each year. This year check out the 2009 Christmas Toys list to find out what will bring smiles to the kids faces this Holiday season.

What should I wear to an all-day celebrity golf tournament?

What is the proper attire for an all-day celebrity golf tournament for both men and women? It starts with breakfast and goes the entire day until the open bar/dinner/awards ceremony is over. There will be auctions and prizes, local celebrities, etc. There isn’t a chance to go home and change and I’m not an avid golfer, so my boyfriend and I are kind of clueless!

Do I wear the same thing all day? I know there are golfing outfits but do I have to wear one of those? Should I wear a skirt and should he wear khakis?


This year make it a Quiddler Christmas. Do you know what Quiddler is? If not, you should.

Go : How to Convert Dvd and Video to Zune

Go : how to convert dvd and video to zune

Download this software at http://www.oursdownload.com/Zune-Video-Converter,dvd-to-Zune,dvd-to-Zune-converter,Zune-converter.html

1. Free download?Zune Video Converter + DVD to Zune Suite install and launch.

[IMG]http://www.oursdownload.com/DVD%20and%20Video%20Downloads%20-%20oursdownlaod_com.files/dvd-video-zune1.gif[/IMG]

2. Click DVD to Zune Converter component, load your DVD by clicking ‘Open DVD’ button or choosing ‘Open DVD’ from ‘File’ drop down menu, choose the DVD ROM in your PC, it will take you to the DVD menu in the player screen.

[IMG]http://www.oursdownload.com/DVD%20and%20Video%20Downloads%20-%20oursdownlaod_com.files/dvd-video-zune2.gif[/IMG]

3. Click the “Setting” and go to menu “Subtitle”, Set Subtitle to what you like.

4. Click the “Setting” and go to menu “Audio Track”, Set audiotrack to what you like. To ‘Output Folder’, Enter the full pathname or choose the path where you want to save your video files by clicking ‘Output folder’. The default output format is WMV, which natively supported by Zune. You can also hit “Setting -> Output settings”, select other output formats you like (MP4, H.264, WMV7/8/9, MP3, WMA, etc.)

5. The converter will automaticly detect the main movie of your DVDs, it will popup with below window to let you make a decision, just keep the setting of “Record from movie start point” and output file size setting, the default setting is the best for good quality and compact output file size, click “Yes” to start ripping DVD to Zune video files.
Tips: You can also just record any part of movie by drag the slide bar to where you want to start, and click the “Convert” button, please select “Record from current time point”. This provide you with more flexibility.

[IMG]http://www.oursdownload.com/DVD%20and%20Video%20Downloads%20-%20oursdownlaod_com.files/dvd-video-zune3.gif[/IMG]

6. Find the .wmv or .mp4 file that DVD to Zune converter created and add it into your Zune software library.

7. Load the .mp4 or .wmv files to Zune by clicking ‘Sync contenct to and from your Zune’. Done!

[IMG]http://www.oursdownload.com/DVD%20and%20Video%20Downloads%20-%20oursdownlaod_com.files/dvd-video-zune4.gif[/IMG]

http://www.oursdownload.com/Zune-Video-Converter,dvd-to-Zune,dvd-to-Zune-converter,Zune-converter.html

Listen to this…get the best mp3 player.

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