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Can you believe it? George Bush, the foursquare flatfoot of diplomatic dexterity, has finally discovered the nimble art of foreign intrigue.

While European nations were eager to establish a cease fire in Lebanon and seemed forthright about sending troops to enforce it, no sooner did the shooting dwindle to an occasional fatality than France, which was expected to send thousands of troops, offered a measly 200. To defend his regrets, Jacques Chirac voiced his conviction that the UN goal of 15,000 peacekeepers was “excessive.”

Inundated with a barrage of ridicule, while hoping to maintain the illusion of French leadership of the force, Chirac grudgingly upped the number of French troops to 2,000, all the better to put on the face of friendship in the Middle East and develop trade relations in the region as robustly as possible.

And what did George do? Why, he leaped right in and commended Jacques’s troop contribution and encouraged his aspiration for France to lead the peacekeeping force.

Meanwhile, Romano Prodi, the new Prime Minister of Italy, had indicated an eagerness for Italy to lead the peacekeeping force, partly to prove that his flamboyant predecessor, Silvio Berlusconi, had erred in backing the war in Iraq and thereby diminished trading opportunities for Italy in the Middle East. He volunteered 3,000 troops.

And, surprise of surprises, in popped George, also commending Prodi’s contribution and encouraging Italy’s leadership of the force.

Congratulations, George! Never thought we’d see it, but maybe you finally got it. Pat the other suckers on the back and let them leap in and do what everybody knows has to be done. Thanks to your tardy learning curve, we’ve already got our hands over-filled with Middle Eastern mischief.

Tom Attea, humorist and creator of NewsLaugh.com/ NewsLaugh.com, has had six shows produced Off-Broadway. Critics have called his writing “delightfully funny,” “witty,” with “great humor and ebullience” and “good, genuine laughs.”

Everyone talks about the negative impact of the Internet on the music business. Illegal file sharing and copyright violations have decimated the profits in the industry. Record labels are less willing to take risks with new artists because the profits have dried up. Sales have steadily declined over the past several years due in large part to the proliferation of illegal downloads. All of that is true, but there are two sides to this coin. Sure, things are tougher today for the new musician than ever before, but there are also new opportunities thanks to the Internet.

The Internet has reduced the barriers to entry into the music business. Today thanks to the rapid evolution in technology, a musician can record a song and share it with listeners around the world. In the past, distribution was controlled by the record labels. Unless you had a record deal it was almost impossible to reach listeners outside of your immediate area.

Distribution was not only controlled, but there was no way around the high costs of physical distribution. Manufacturing a batch of CDs or tapes could be prohibitively expensive for the starving artist. However, with free Ṃ distribution via the internet, an artist’s music can reach across the world. An up and coming Latin diva can share her tunes with someone in Europe. The next rock star in Africa can share his music with someone in Japan. The Internet has opened a door that allows artists to share their art with anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Now with online retailers like Amazon, artists can even market and sell their music themselves. Sure it’s tough and don’t expect to make much money. But singers and bands can share and sell their music without depending on a record label in ways today that were impossible a decade ago.

The Internet helps people connect. Music is a deeply personal experience and people have their own preferences in what they listen to. The Internet lets people who prefer a particular style to group together easier and allows them to talk about new artists that they never would have had the chance to hear otherwise.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Music is a tough business. With declining sales and tighter profits it is harder for anyone to make a living in the music business. However, if you have a good day job and you love to make music for the sake of the music itself, then the Internet can be an incredible enabler.

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Fyodor Dostoevsky was one of the people that make the literature world seem something extraordinary, deep, emotional and if it is possible to say – vital. Through his works one can understand things through outliving them. The moment you read the last word of his work and your eyes slowly go up to the “true reality” and look at the walls of your room something very strange happens inside of you. It feels like you were in another world, on another planet for SO long, that now you do not recognize your own world and if you do – it seems very different from what it did before. The tragedy of his works can fill the heart of every human being and if after you read the book you feel like you have a heart-ache close to the one you feel when you loose somebody very important in your life it means that the world of Dostoevsky with all its pain has become a part of you. His work “The Brothers Karamazov” touch to the very core and all the messages that you consciously and subconsciously got, begin living their own life in you heart and mind giving start to thought, infernal conflicts and soul sufferings.

It is very difficult actually to view anything from the “The Brothers Karamazov” apart from the whole plot. Brothers Karamazov appear before us as a strong internal unity with complex plot directions penetrating each other. Therefore, resulting this comes the affectation of any kind of separations and reviews of separate themes from the general picture of the book. Nevertheless, we will try our best in tracking the theme that we are specifically interested in. Before talking about certain aspects concerning “The Brothers Karamazov” we want to put a little ascent on the author. What kind of a person can arouse all these emotional rebels in different people? This is very important in the further understanding of the issue discussed in this paper. The life of Dostoevsky was very hard and tragic and it is naturally to suppose that the experience he had deeply influenced his works.

Dostoevsky did not simply know well the contents of the Bible; he spiritually penetrated it since his most early years. His novel is a tragedy. It is the result of his spiritual tragedy and a revelation of the “deep mystery of his soul”. Everything in “The Brothers Karamazov” is filled with duality and contradiction. There is also a conflict in his book. The theme of food and drink is also represented by a contradiction in it. The food or drink scenes appear in major scenes of the novel. Another thing that also needs to be mentioned before starting our analysis is the understanding that Dostoevsky had his own “imagery” that was brightly denominated in this novel. This, we might say, encoded message may not be seen at once but is still very important. Food and drink appear as a background of the plot in the novel, but this background often says what the situation itself could not manage to say. It complements the episode perfectly and through this background Dostoevsky shares as much thoughts with the reader as he does through the plot line. As the religious topic is viewed throughout his whole novel the first example of the significance of food and drink in the novel we will examine from the position of the power of religion for we are going to talk about Alyosha Karamazov, an “angel” as Dmitri Karamazov would later call him (b.3/c.3). The themes of Dostoevsky in this book are so much connected with religion that a question about Dostoevsky and his belief in paradise on earth starts having a really deep meaning. Religion has had a great influence on the people’s traditions and ways in Russia back then and the way the Russians followed the prescription of the Christian church impressed, the way they believed in miracles, this can be seen in the scene of Father Zossima talking to all these women that came from far away to ask him to release their sins.

All these “traditions” concerned food, too. Eating and drinking played a great role, because it was also a “tradition” that was followed. During the religious feasts people “refueled” their bodies, made them happy and glorifies God. Food in this case is viewed as a mean of communication of one believer with another believer or even with God. So food and drink are shown from the divine side, not as the things that lead to gluttony, but as an ability to show through the sharing of a meal their love to God and obedience. Alyosha, the youngest from the Karamazov brothers is shown in the book full of religious admiration and love to God, which he learned from Father Zossima. His perception of the outer world is very different. He has no business towards getting something for people and everybody that they like his unusualness in him. When in our contemporary world we see a person who is ready to take his last shirt off just to somebody else with can easily call him – Alyosha Karamazov. No matter what he is going to do all his always intentions have a good beginning. He tries hard to bring kindness to people. Father Zossima was very important for him, not only because he was his pupil, but also because he identified himself with Father Zossima. Alyosha lives by the Christian laws Father Zossima teaches him, he followed them, without forgetting a single one.

The imagery of food in Alyosha’s description appears at a very critical moment for the young men. Father Zossima dies (b.7/c.1), a man that taught him so much that the world of religion to him, showed that the human being should not be condemned and that to love means to love every single man, and not just the ones that make you good. The image of Father Zossima is something that he secretly, we might even say, worshiped and who was the brightest example for him. And yet death has taken him and starts touching his body. The sense of the decaying body of his religious elder impressed Alyosha immensely. And here comes the moment when food and drink appears on stage. Alyosha is disappointed by what he sees, and he meets his so-called “friend” he steps on the wrong way. He feels that it is so unfair that such a man as Father Zossima after death has to go through such a humiliation, from his point of view. His desperateness and the destruction of his ideal make him turn to the human weaknesses. All the monastic vows are forbidden, and though he still remains kind and loving inside he turns to the religious taboos. Through Rakitin he escapes in vodka and forbidden food. The imagery of food in this case is of a very high importance. Dostoevsky shows that the Alyosha’s “decline” happens first by eating and drinking. Food represents the lightness of a moral fall. And how easy it is possible to achieve it through just eating and drinking. So it is one of the contradictions that Dostoevsky gives in his book “The Brothers Karamazov”.

The contradictions between the pure Christian view on food as a union with people and God on one side and food as a mean of self-destruction after the loss of ideals on the other. This moment of the book is very deep meaning that influences Alyosha’s life entirely. Fortunately, he resurrects his belief in God through love. His love to people has been such so much unforgettable for his own heart that finally he finds consent with himself. And even despises himself for having been weak. This failure made him strong for him future successes. And at the end we see another repetition of the imagery of food connected with his character. When he was at the wedding feast at Cana connected with the changing water into wine by Christ he felt the love of God as never before. This love overwhelmed him and filled him with something absolutely new and pure. At that very moment he had a vision of a feast in heaven, where God meet all the guests. Here, Alyosha’s spiritual resurrection happens through water and wine and continues the food imagery role in the novel. This is one of the brightest and significant uses of the food and drink imagery in the book.

As many significant events in the novel are connected with eating or drinking we will keep focusing on the major ones.

The next moment connected with food and drink imagery is the scene when Alyosha comes to his father house in(b.3/c.6).The gathering of the brothers Ivan, Alyosha and their father Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov. Dostoevsky shows Alyosha coming to the house when the dinner is already over. A deep analysis of this aspect may be interpreted as the lack of care from the side of this house and his father in the first place. That he is not expected there. As soon as he comes he understand that his father has been drinking but is not drunk yet. The way his father talks, offers coffee and speaks of food in a manner that implies that it is very important to him. That he likes food and drinking which are physical pleasures. He offers Alyosha coffee from Smerdyakov and asks to tell before hand when he will come the next time so he would have the possibility to give him some fish soup (uha) to try. Though Fyodor Pavlovich is always telling that Alyosha is a good boy but he does not seem to care about him at all. Instead of a real fathers hug he offers him some coffee and alcohol. On the background through all the conversation alcohol accompanies Karamazov senior. The way he enjoys drinking is seen throughout the whole scene. When alcohol starts influencing him he starts talking about things that very shock Alyosha, especially when he started talking about women and their mother. Later on he fails to understand that his wife was not only Alyosha’s mother, but Ivan’s mother, too. Fyodor Pavlovich is shown in the image of a degradating person, a person that lives only to eat good drink a lot and meet women, no matter how they look like. All of these manifestations are very much spiced by Dostoevsky with plenty of alcohol; it even seems to be floating in it. Drink, in this case is shown as a destruction power that leads to complete personality disintegration.

When we ask ourselves the question why is he chose to be killed in the novel, the first answer that comes in mind – he was nobody. Alcohol is very important here, for it shows that this man was very weak. And the alcohol that Alyosha chose when he was desperate, the same alcohol Fyodor Pavlovich chooses to make his everyday moments funnier. It is another confirmation of how throughout the satisfaction of physical needs a person looses even a hint to having spiritual values. The theme of alcohol seems to continue in Dmitri’s despair. Before entering the father’s house Alyosha meets Dmitri who by the influence of alcohol, and being brave enough now tells all the 4,5 thousand money-issue to Alyosha. Here alcohol was a catalyst, such as was Grushenka for Alyosha, to reveal the truth, as Alyosha revealed that what he was doing was wrong. It was alcohol again for a certain reason. During all his life Dmitri his existance was about the struggle between behaving animal-like and decent. And it is possible to assume that Dostoevsky made this alcohol line to show that the son had common weaknesses with his father Fyodor Pavlovich, that he is still the son of his father. Nevertheless, at the end he takes the punishment of another person. Which means that the physical did not win in him and that the “human” traits did take court. He punished himself but for a better future. There are a lot of other examples that may be reviewed in details but in our opinion we got the main ones that go throughout the entire book.

The significance of the food and drink imagery in “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor M. Dostoevsky has a deeper sense that it may seem form the first sight. As Dostoevsky is considered to be a real psychologist it is obvious that he made a great job in choosing the imagery that would contain encoded messages. This imagery is of a high importance for this book, because throughout the novel, he reveals the true nature of the scenes depicted in the novel. He often uses this imagery as a background, a background that sometimes carries more information that it usually does. The focus on this imagery is necessary if the book is to deeply understood and analyzed. Every single word said by Dostoevsky is not just a word but has a certain aim of using. As you see the example of the food and drink imagery usage is of a great importance for the understanding of the book. Minimizing its significance we minimize the meaning of the novel “The Brothers Karamazov” as a whole and underestimation of Dostoevsky’s world perception.

People providing themselves enough food, and enjoying the spectacles deprive themselves from the main divine grant of a person – the liberties of moral choice and possibility to live on their won will. It is shown in “The Brothers Karamazov” how much the physical aspect enslaves people, making them flabby. Through the food and drink in the novel Dostoevsky achieves the aim of showing how much the “physical” can destroy the spiritual. How can it worsen what already was bad? And we think this is why he keeps showing these scenes again.

In conclusion it is important to say that of course the novel would not have really lost its extraordinarity without the food and drink imagery, nevertheless without it the essence of the transmitted idea is not complete. The values given in the novel are brightly supported by the same food and drink imagery. The psychological art of Dostoevsky is famous all over the world. He gets into the depths of subconsciousness of people and researches their emotional lives creating his outstanding characters in “The Brothers Karamazov”. Dostoevsky by using food and drink imagery in “The brother Karamazov” saved the initial sense of the novel for us. His analysis in the book the analysis is not limited by individual psychology: it gets into social, household and ethnic psychology. His idea of the possibility of the resurrection of high moral human values and union of the mankind are seen through the whole novel. Dostoevsky by using food and drink imagery in “The brother Karamazov” saved the initial sense of the novel for us. It is a great book with a great meaning for us, people, who live and love after Fyodor M. Dostoevsky and the imagery in the book is the confirmation that the best messages are not always offered as a plaintext.

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Anyone who has ever been in a position of power will tell you that those who are not always think they can “wag the dog”.

For those of you who don’t know what the term “wag the dog” means here’s a definition. A dog has a tail. The dog, being the ruler of the dog body, wags its tail. You see the tail which may distract from the dog since it is the tail that is moving. It’s also apparent that the tail is important. After all, it’s putting on a show.

However, the tail is still part of (and subservient to) the dog. It is totally foolish for the tail to think that it can wag the dog. So the dog needs the tail to put on the show but without the dog, the tail wouldn’t exist at all.

Would the dog die without the tail? No. But many times “tails” get overly caught up in their show. They forget what their power depends on. They forget where they came from. They think that they can wag the dog. And so it is with Pixar.

I love Pixar. I love Disney.

Pixar needs to take serious heed to their position. The Disney marketing machine is perhaps the most formidable entertainment marketing machine to ever exist. As a veteran and natural marketer, I routinely marvel at its power and comprehensiveness. It is truly a thing of beauty. An ideal example to any marketer no matter how experienced.

Now you may be familiar with the expression “If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.” As one who markets and sells many products I can tell you that statement is completely false.

People care more about your marketing and your delivery system than the quality of your product. Don’t believe me? Check this out then.

Think of the best hamburger you have ever had in your life. Now ask yourself if it was better than a McDonald’s hamburger. I’ll bet you it was.

Now ask yourself if the place you had that great hamburger sells more hamburgers than McDonald’s. I’ll bet you they don’t.

So why does McDonald’s sell more hamburgers than a thousand places that make a better hamburger? Answer: they have a marketing and delivery machine second to none.

And so does Disney.

Consider the Disney machine if you’re not familiar with it:

Television – The Disney Channel (1 & 2); ESPN; ABC; Toon Disney;

Radio Disney – nationwide radio network

Theme Parks – Disney World Disneyland Disneyland Paris; Disneyland Tokyo

Disney Cruise Line

The Disney Store – chain in every major mall in the US and the world

Every product or event that Disney wants to promote is disseminated continually throughout this entire network with no holes barred.

And all these Disney marketing machine parts have the Disney brand, known, loved & followed by billions around the world.

So Mr. Jobs, put your pride & greed aside and consider what you would really be giving up if you left Disney. If you need more ammunition for your stockholders note the following:

Even the mighty Steven Spielberg, David Geffen & former Disney chief Jeffery Katzenberg have not been able to beat the Disney machine. This despite the fact that Steven Spielberg is perhaps one of the greatest creative talents to ever walk the face of the earth and has a genuine Midas touch with films. Even with this superior talent, the SKG combo has not been able to beat the Disney machine.

And let’s not forget the tanking of the Antz and Chicken Run movies, their spectacular casts notwithstanding (Mel Gibson, Jennifer Lopez, Sharon Stone, Danny Glover). Plus their merchandising (area of great and essential profits) performed even worse.

So to all our readers out there, don’t ever make the mistake of thinking that because your product is great, you’ll sell tons and be a marketing success. The key to success is having a comprehensive marketing machine and a consistent delivery machine. These parts need to work cohesively and cover as many avenues as possible.

And for those of you who have a strong partner, owner or the like, don’t try to wag the dog.

Toli Cefail

Toli Cefail has been a marketing professional for more than 20 years in addition to having a strong administrative and regulatory background. She has overseen the marketing, growth, legal and regulatory affairs for a $25 million telecommunications firm that became a top provider of specialized telecommunications services against competitors such as AT&T, MCI, Sprint and the Baby Bells.

This involved establishing, coordinating and managing regulatory affairs and marketing efforts in 600 counties spanning 41 states. Ms. Cefail was also responsible for obtaining favorable groundbreaking legislation for this company in a number of states as well as creating the firm’s administrative structure and procedures from the ground up.

Ms. Cefail has also assisted in the marketing & web development for the boutique investment banking firm The RC&A Group as well as performed marketing consulting for such prominent entertainers as Doug E. Fresh.

Currently she is a principle of the major online marketing firm In Touch Media Group providing marketing services to businesses.

For the first time ever in MMA history Pride Fighting Championships (Pride FC) will be coming to the United States sometime during the month of October. This moment has been in a lot of peoples minds for quite sometime and it is finally here. Pride FC is similar to the UFC but it is usually held in Japan and some say the fighters are tougher and a lot more technical than those in the UFC. The first round in Pride is 10 minutes followed by two 5 minute rounds for regular bouts and four 5 minute rounds for Championship bouts. Vanderlei Silva is the Pride light Heavyweight Champ and has held onto his title for the last 5 years, will someone take it if he steps into the ring in the US?

It has been a long talked about match between the UFC light heavyweigt champion Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell and the Pride FC light heavyweight champ Vanderlei Silva, who will win? Is Pride better than the UFC? In a fight you can never say for sure what will happen because there are always flukes and some people are born with just pure luck but when it comes down to beating Vanderlei your gonna need a lot more then just luck. Liddell fought in pride a few times but the last I saw him fight was against Quinten (Rampage) Jackson and Rampage was one of the only people I’ve ever seen able to consistently take Chuck to the ground and dominate the fight. As we all know Chuck has one of the most fierce takedown defenses in the sport of MMA and it takes a bad dude to be able to take him down over and over again.

Vanderlei has stepped into the ring with Rampage on three seperate occasions and has layed the beating to him everytime. In my opinion if Rampage dominated Chuck the whole fight and Vanderlei has beaten Rampage 3 times then how in the world is Chuck gonna be able to take out Vanderlei. Vanderlei has a Iron chin which would take the jaws of life to do any damage to. I′m not saying Chuck doesn’t have a chance because he too has held onto his title for quite sometime now and like I said anything can happen in a fight. It’s not a match that’s been set up yet but me and so many others out there would pay big bucks to see a fight like this take place. Hopefully the UFC and Pride FC can come to some kind of an aggreement and let these two step into the ring with each other. I think it is the first step to making it happen by having Pride come to the US for the first time ever. The fights will be held in Las Vegas Nevada which I don’t have an exact date for yet and I also have not seen the fight card.

My name is Brent Wicklund and have been training in Martial Arts my entire life. I started with Taekwondo then moved onto Kung Fu and finally graduated to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu where my studies still remain. I have been into Mixed Martial Arts since the first UFC and have been following it ever since. My favorite thing to do is go watch these events live and if I can′t make it to Vegas for the UFC, King of the Cage is right around the corner from my house and will do the trick plus I have personal friends who fight in this organization. Since the sport has grown so much and probably make boxing obsolete one day I went into business with my brother and started a MMA clothing line called Sick Submissions. We have many cool T-Shirts, Hats, Women′s tanks and much more to chose from. Once I got the brand going I had my brother-In-Law design a website called

The most important feature of the film Chuck &amp Buck is the theme
Song “Freedom of Heart”. The song is very representative of Buck,
it reminds him of his mother and we see him put it on at his mothers’
funeral and whilst driving in his car, it is his comfort song. It is
a very upbeat lively sounding song and is played so often that it
feels like another character, in the film it manages to come across as
innocently fun, and is annoyingly catchy that one can’t help but sing
along to it. But at the same time manages to make the audience feel
somewhat uncomfortable. The impression the song the leaves on the
audience mirror the impression left by Buck, although he manages to
make us feel uncomfortable, his innocence is at the same time
endearing. It is not only the music in the film that allow us to
sympathize with Buck, the slow paced use of the shots help us to
understand on one hand Buck’s obsession as we see him stare longingly
at Chuck which leads us to believe that he is in love with Chuck and
always has been. And on the other hand Chuck’s awkward feeling
towards Buck as in many shots particularly when Buck turns up at
Chuck’s house unannounced and when he goes to see him at his office,
the shots of silence between the two of them shot in real time creates
an intensely uneasy environment which can be felt by the audience.

The fact that the lengthy pauses are shown make the audience feel for
both characters for Bucks persistent trying and for Chuck’s uneasy
silence that would of lasted twice the time in his mind. The camera
manages to achieve uncomfortable intimacy in some of the most
emotionally charged scenes. The majority of the shots used in
this film seem to be there to bring us closer to the audience, the
shaky point of view shots which are used when Chuck is jogging, allows
the audience to feel what Chuck is going through. While he is jogging
he is having flashbacks of his childhood with Buck and the shakiness
of the camera not only obviously represents the jogging but also his
state of mind, Buck has come into his life and shaken things up in his
previously stable world. We also see a point of view shot being used
when we see Buck watching Chuck and his wife through some bushes, as
we watch the shaky footage it is clear that we are seeing through
Bucks eyes, it makes the viewer feel uncomfortable as we see the
pleasure in his face from watching them. The flashbacks that are
included in the film are vital to the feel of the film. We see both
characters having the same flashbacks, not much happens in them apart
from them running around when they were younger but they are intensely
back lit and not clearly visible, the strong lighting makes them
appear dream like. When they are shown as part of Buck’s flashbacks
the blurry image makes us question whether Buck’s stories are true or
if they are what they look like a dream. But when we see Chuck having
similar flashbacks the vagueness of them represents his memories
coming back to him slowly and unclearly. The warm palette used gives
a nostalgic impression and gives the memories a happy feeling.

Contemporary Hollywood comedies are much more fast paced not only
visually but in dialogue, the comedy is more obvious and visual and
sometimes physical. Films such as, Dumb and dumber, Scary Movie and
American Pie are all very noticeably funny, but in the indie sector
with films such as Chuck & Buck and more evidently in Happiness the
comedy is dark and twisted. Its is rare in this film to see a
collection of fast paced shots, but towards the end immediately after
Chuck and Buck have slept together we see a montage of shots of Buck
throwing away all of the toys that he had decorating his room. The
fast pace reflect his unstableness and his mood, we see him crying and
behaving erratically, and can see what a big step this is for him.

Although through narrative Independent and Hollywood comedies may be
on opposing sides of the spectrum they do have their similarities,
they can both be read in terms of opposition between normal routine
and the disruptive antics of the comedian[iii]. Although Buck is not
a ‘comedian’ as such in this film it is his character behaves
disruptively in his surroundings, he has not grown up and therefore
does not know how to act appropriately or maturely. It is through his
surroundings and the other characters around him that we notice his
level of arrested development, which acts as the comedy. This is also
true of contemporary Hollywood films such as the film Liar Liar
starring Jim Carrey, it is due to his relaxed surroundings that his
odd extrovert personality stands out and makes us realize the extent
of his hyperactivity. The film manages to shock and surprise us
without showing any violence or sexual scenes, the majority is just
innuendo, letting our imaginations do most of the work, this gives
great credit to the filmmaking and script writing, unlike most
comedies which have to be physical to get a laugh, this one manages
it, although slightly uncomfortably without being slapstick.

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What you see isn′t necessarily what you get, at least when it comes to poker star Mike “The Mouth″ Matusow.

Some people know only the guy they see on TV and many of them think Matusow is a just plain jerk, or, as one writer put it, asshole.

Others, including “The Mouth” himself, swear he’s the greatest guy on earth — as long as you don’t mess with him.

Unfortunately for World Poker Tour TV producers, Matusow was eliminated in 48th position from the Doyle Brunson North American Poker Classic at Bellagio on Sunday as the field was whittled from an original 583 to 33.

He won’t be at the Finals Table when tape rolls Tuesday night.

Matusow is one of the highly popular Travel Channel series’ main atrractions and Sin City is his turf.

Colorful and controversial, Matusow pulls in viewers much like Marshall Holman did during the Professional Bowlers Tour’s ABC-TV heydays.

Mere mention of his name ignites verbal warfare.

Like Hillary, you love him or hate him.

There’s no in-between.

Nothing perks up ratings like a little poker table trash talk between Matusow and fellow Las Vegan Daniel Negreanu, who remained in contention entering Monday’s action.

Occasional outbursts of profanity bring punishments that ultimately cost Matusow and he’s consciously working on controlling them.

Much of the swagger is genuine, though, and he says that stems from being bullied as a youth.

Matusow knows he’ll probably always have a “chip” on his shoulder, while “Mikey″ acknowledges much of his on-camera persona is orchestrated.

“Mikey can be a lot of fun because he really likes joking around,” Matusow said during a Sunday break before he busted out.

“But I only make fun of people I know I don’t try to hurt somebody I don’t know.

“I do it with my friends, guys I know can take it.

“Don′t start something with me, though, because I′ll needle you right back.”

Matusow’s remarks are targeted — no secret in pokerdom — at 2004 World Series of Poker champion Greg Raymer.

The two engaged in nasty verbal repartee during the latter stages of that event and bitterness still lingers in Matusow’s “mouth.”

ESPN duly recorded their word duel, and Matusow has no regrets.

“People don’t understand how he came after me,” “The Mouth” said, still pleading his case 2 1/2 years later.

He makes it clear there’s no lost love between the two, who currently don’t have to deal with each other because Raymer is among a group of players boycotting WPT events.

He may be a tough cookie on the outside, but Matusow insists he’s marshmallow inside.

The hurt little boy still comes out and “Mikey” even has been lensed shedding tears.

Watching him play poker for a couple hours is like watching a tennis ball bounce back and forth — hardly boring, just hard to follow.

Matusow pops up and down, always seeking side action and darting from table to table to catch what’s going on around him: a lady massaging Jeff Schulman’s neck at one, a very sexy-looking Evelyn Ng hugging a male admirer at another.

Matusow, who was attired in a blue jeans and a white Full Tilt Poker t-shirt and cap on Sunday, has been diagnosed with attention deficiency disorder.

He admits to having used illegal as well prescription drugs, ranging from speed and ecstasy to Ritalin.

On this day, though, he’s pumped on pure adreneline and consumed by his passion for poker; purple blood sprints through his veins.

Now 37, Matusow was born in California, but grew up in Vegas.

Video poker machines introduced him to the game when he was 11 and by age 18, Matusow was dealing at a local casino — and stealing from his mother’s purse to play himself.

He acknowledges he attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings at one point.

Matusow was in his 20s when he became convinced his destiny was to play profesionally.

He was a Sam’s Town sensation before he began to pursue his ultimate dream.

Matusow drew attention in 1998 when he paid a third of Scotty Nguyen’s $10,000 entry fee into a 1998 World Series of Poker satellite event Nguyen rewarded him with $333,333 — a third of the stake — when he won the title.

Omaha is Matusow’s specialty and he has won a pair of WSOP gold bracelets in events featuring that game.

His highest WSOP main-event finish came in 2001, when eventual champion Juan Carlos Mortenson successfuly bluffed him and Matusow finished sixth; he had a higher payday when he placed ninth behind Joe Hachem in 2005.

A short time later, Matusow collected his second $1 million paycheck in a couple-month span when he won the Tournament of Champions.

“That was the greatest,” he said.

“To be able to come back like that after getting cold-decked ..

“I really thought I was going to win the World Series that year.”

The Bellagio pre-Christmas Tournament brings many players home for the holidays, but — bah humbug! –don’t expect to find lighted reindeer in the front yard of Matusow’s 4,000-square foot suburban Henderson home.

“I’m not a holiday kind of guy,” he said in his best Scrooge impersonation.

“We (his family) take care of each other, but we do it our way.”

Matusow also shares that while relations with his parents aren’t exactly frosty, they′ve chilled since his mother led cheers for him at the 2005 WSOP.

“We’re still close, it’s just that now we talk maybe twice a week instead of everyday,” he said, adding he didn’t know what, if anything, the clan had planned for Christmas.

Lynda Collins is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of her articles at

In this material we take a look at the history of the electric bass guitar. When talking about bass history the first person that people normally think of is Leo Fender. He is credited with introducing the world to the Precision bass in 1951. The bass was called a Precision bass because of the accuracy of the notes. Players were able to play notes that were perfectly in tune because of the presence of frets on the electric bass guitar. To many people, this was the first real electric bass. This bass was mass-produced and very recognizable when it was created by Fender and up to this day it still is.

But while we give Leo Fender his dues for creating the modern electric bass, it must be said that way before 1951 there were at least five other prototypes that resembled the design of today’s electric bass guitar. In talking about the history of the bass guitar we must talk about the double bass. In fact, today’s bass is a direct descendant of the double bass, dating way back to the 17th century. Although it was really in the 20th century that one with a more practical design was created.

When talking about bass guitar history mention must be made of Lloyd Loar, known for designing the first electric double bass in the 1920s while working for Gibson. The bass used an electro-static pickup but there was no practical way of hearing it play. Unfortunately, bass amplification still had a long way to go.

The evolution of the bass guitar now takes us to the early 1930s when Paul Tutmarc built a more practical bass in terms of size. The first one came with a pickup and was the size of a cello but was too heavy, so the designed was changed to that of a guitar. This 42 inches long solid body bass was made of black walnut and came with piano strings and a pickup.
A few years later, in the mid 1930s, established firms like Lyon &amp Healy, Rickenbacker and Gibson began selling basses that, although less bulkier than the standard double bass, were still tall, unfretted and upright.

Around 1940 was the first time a large distributor handled the electric bass. The distributor was L.D.Heater Music Co. in Portland Oregon, and the basses were manufactured by Paul Tutmarc. This was a fretted instrument that was no longer to be played upright, but horizontal. It came with a pickup and was much smaller than earlier versions.

It was only then that Leo Fender came up with the modern electric bass. As said at the beginning of our discussion on bass guitar history, it was the year 1951. In the year 1957 the pickguard and headstock were redesigned and the pickup was changed to a split pickup. This took us to the year 1960 when the Jazz bass was designed. Unlike the Precision bass, it came with two separate pickups. The modern bass guitar became very popular.

The first 6 string bass was created in 1959 by Danelecto and the first 5 string in 1964 by Fender. The first fretless was created in 1965 by Ampeg, and in 1968 an 8 string bass by Hagstroem. Carl Thompson is credited with building the first fretless 6 string bass in 1978.

Many developments have taken place since then. For instance, Ned Steinberger introduced a headless bass in 1979. In 1987, the Guild Guitar Corporation launched the fretless Ashbory bass. This bass used silicone rubber strings and a piezoelectric pickup to achieve a “double bass” sound. The bass was very short, only 18 inches long.

Throughout the years, pickups have also evolved. In addition to single coil pickups, you now have several others such as humbuckers, hybrid pickups, passive and active pickups. These seem to be capable of producing every tone imaginable, from pure signals to the grittiest dirt sounds.

The electric bass seems to have become more popular today than ever before. For instance, when someone refers to a bass it’s more common to think of the electric bass than the upright acoustic.

Mantius Cazaubon helps you choose the best bass guitar for you on his site, bass-guitars-guide.com Bass Guitars Guide.com. Visit Bass-Guitars-Guide.com for bass-guitars-guide.com bass guitar reviews, tips, and lessons.

Sometimes the teacher learns more from the student than the student does from the teacher. Hopefully, not too often, but today I would like to share with you some great practicing ideas that have come from my piano students over the years:

1. A Colonel in Virginia that I taught for several years got up at 4AM every weekday morning and practiced on an electronic keyboard with headphones so he wouldn′t disturb anyone at that time of the morning. “I love the early morning”, he said, “because it’s so quiet and peaceful and I’m fresh and raring to go. No phones are ringing, no people walking into the room, no disturbances at all. I practice for a half-hour, have breakfast, and then hit it for another half-hour — all before I have to show up for work. When I get home in the evening, if I’m too tired to practice, I don′t feel guilty because I’ve already got my licks in for the day. And if I’m up to practicing some more — well, it’s a bonus!”

2. An elementary school teacher in Indiana told me she took each piece I assigned her and transposed it into all 12 keys — not written out, but at the piano — in her head. She said “It doesn’t always sound so hot, but I find that if I keep at it day after day, I can at least get by in the most difficult keys, and it makes the easier keys seem real simple. And it gives me a perspective that I just wouldn’t get it I just played it in one key — the key it is written in. I′ve learned that each key has it’s own “feel”, and some keys are bright (like “D”) and some keys are mellow (like “Db”).

3. Another piano student with a similar idea, who was the Minister of Music in a Catholic church, said he took one whole month of the year and devoted it to mastering just one key. Since there are 12 months in the year and 12 Major keys, that works out perfectly. So in January he played everything he could find in the key of C, and transposed anything that wasn’t in C into C. In February he went up 1/2 step to the key of C# (also known as Db enharmonically) and played everything in Db and searched for pieces written in the key of Db, and so on. By the time the year was up, he had a pretty fair grasp on the 12 Major keys. I suggested that he devote the next year to the 12 minor keys, and the next year to the modes, and the next year to polytonality, etc., etc. — but as I recall he decided to just recycle through the 12 major keys, since he used them so much more than the ones I suggested.

4. Still another piano student took an idea from me and twisted it a bit. I suggested that she play along with pieces she liked on tapes and CD’s, so she would get a feel for the motion of the song. (I used to do that by the hour when I was a teen-ager, and it paid off big time for me!). She took the idea and tried it and liked it so much that she started getting videos of people playing the piano. She arranged her TV and video player so that she could be at her piano while the video was playing, and she would play along with the pianist on the screen, following her/his hand motions and arm motions and finger position and thereby getting a feeling for the flow of the music. (Patterning). Her creativity is paying off for her — she is advancing rapidly. (And by the way, don’t think she is “copying” the person she is watching — not at all. It’s the same principle as watching Michael Jordan moving toward the basket, or watching Sammy Sosa swing a bat — it just gets you in the right groove before you apply your own style to it.)

5. A doctor I have taught for years makes a idea file of things he has learned about piano playing over the years. He notes where in a given book or tape or video I discuss such and such a topic, and files that alphabetically. Then later when he needs to refer to that idea, he simply looks up the idea in his file, locates the video or cassette or book, and presto — he can review that idea or concept almost instantly. It’s like a card catalog in the library — makes finding things so much faster than flipping through endless books trying to find that idea you saw long ago.
With the advent of the computer a person could store and categorize ideas such as this very quickly.

Hope this gives you some ideas of your own!

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and music educational materials such as DVD’s, CD’s, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. His instant piano chord finder software titled keyboardchords.com/ “How To Find Any Piano Chord Instantly!” has been used around the world. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled playpiano.com/ “Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions” with over 58,600 current subscribers.

Inside the Boxscores is a weekly feature from Matt Fargo that has been widely recognized as the best summation in college football. He takes an in-depth look at each game and pulls out the most pertinent information that will help you handicap games in the future. College football is filled with quirky plays, misleading scores and surprise endings. Fargo takes you inside the action.

(9) FLORIDA STATE 24 Troy 17

The Seminoles offense struggled yet again, generating just 381 total yards but it was the rushing game that was very disappointing. Florida St. rushed for just 45 yards on 28 carries (1.6 ypc). Troy actually led this game by a touchdown early in the fourth quarter before the Seminoles tied the game and then took the lead following an interception. The Trojans rushed for just 24 yards on 14 carries (1.7 ypc).

MARYLAND 24 Middle Tennessee 10

Middle Tennessee outgained the Terrapins 321-274 but the Blue Raiders could not execute when needed. They committed three turnovers while also turning the ball over on downs twice. Maryland had its share of mistakes as well including two missed field goals. Middle Tennessee dominated the time of possession but the Terrapins dominated field position as their average start was at their own 42-yard line.

SAN JOSE ST 35 Stanford 34

San Jose St. overcame a 20-point deficit by scoring the final 21 points to pull off the improbable victory. After scoring the go ahead touchdown midway through the third quarter, the Spartans defense came up big with two turnovers and two forced punts. All three of Stanford’s turnovers occurred in Spartans territory and all came in the second half. San Jose St. rushed for 342 yards on 49 carries (7.0 ypc).

Indiana 24 BALL STATE 23

Ball St. blew a 16-point halftime lead as the offense completely shut down after the break. The Cardinals had just 110 yards of offense in the second half and a missed field goal turned out to be the difference. Indiana scored touchdowns on its first two drives of the second half and then hit the game-winning field goal early in the fourth quarter. The Hoosiers held Ball St. to 41 yards rushing on 22 carries (1.9 ypc).

(6) L-S-U 45 Arizona 3

LSU dominated from the start, outgaining the Wildcats 461-152 while Arizona didn’t get on the board until its final drive of the game. The Tigers got into Arizona territory on 10 of its 11 drives and the score could have been worse as LSU committed three turnovers on three consecutive drives. The Wildcats crossed midfield only once in the first half and finished with just 38 total yards.

ARKANSAS 20 Utah State 0

Arkansas tallied 457 yards of offense including 279 yards rushing on 38 carries (7.3 ypc). The Razorbacks had two drives that totaled 159 yards where no points were scored because of a fumble and a missed field goal. Utah St. punted on its first 10 possessions of the game and ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Arkansas seven-yard line on its final drive. The Aggies average starting field position was their own 18-yard line.

(21) CALIFORNIA 42 Minnesota 17

Minnesota drove 71 yards on its first possession to take an early lead but then California took over. The Golden Bears outgained the Gophers 522-281 the rest of the way and the only other touchdown allowed was on a kickoff return. Following that, California broke open the tie game by outscoring Minnesota 28-3. California dominated the time of possession and went 10-15 on third and fourth down conversions.

HOUSTON 45 Tulane 7

Houston outgained Tulane 621-224 and dominated the rushing game by gaining 244 yards on 35 carries (7.0 ypc) while holding the Green Wave to 55 yards on 23 carries (2.4 ypc). The Cougars turned the ball over twice inside Tulane territory while also turning the ball over on downs twice. The Green Wave managed to gain only 84 total yards on their final nine possessions.

IOWA STATE 16 U-N-L-V 10

The Cyclones outgained UNLV 340-292 but the Rebels missed opportunities to pull out the victory. UNLV missed a 23-yard field goal late in the third quarter and then had a chance to win the game by putting together a 16-play 69-yard drive but fell short as time expired. A completed pass was ruled out of the endzone on the final play of the game. The Rebels finished with just 74 yards rushing on 31 carries (2.4 ypc).

KANSAS 21 UL-Monroe 19

The Warhawks outgained Kansas 466-377 and a missed two-point conversion was the ultimate difference. After La-Monroe pulled to within two points late in the fourth quarter, the Jayhawks were able to run out the clock and not give the ball back. Kansas held the Warhawks to 51 yards on 23 carries (2.2 ypc) but did allow 377 yards through the air. All three of Kansas’ touchdown drives were 80 yards.

NORTH TEXAS 24 S-M-U 6

North Texas only outgained SMU by 43 yards as the Mean Green got the scoring started by blocking a punt for a touchdown. The Mustangs were able to put together some decent drives but got inside the redzone only once. North Texas used ball control to keep the ball away from SMU as it won the TOP battle by over 17 minutes. A Mustang fumble late in the fourth quarter set up North Texas’ last touchdown that put the game away.

(13) TENNESSEE 31 Air Force 30

Air Force nearly pulled off the upset but a failed two-point conversion cost it the win. The Falcons were down by two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter but they drove 78 yards to pull within seven and then recovered the onsides kick. It only took them another minute to tack on the final score. Air Force finished with 281 yards rushing on 51 carries (5.5 ypc) while Tennessee had just 79 yards on 32 carries (2.5 ypc).

TEXAS A&M 51 UL Lafayette 7

The Aggies outgained La-Lafayette 496-171 while having a 26-10 first down advantage. Texas A&M was inside the Cajuns redzone on its first nine possessions and scored eight times, a 32-yard missed field goal being the only exception. La-Lafayette crossed midfield only twice and it finished with just 17 yards through the air on 2-12 passing. The Aggies ended 10-15 on third and fourth down conversions.

WESTERN MICH 31 Toledo 10

Toledo actually outgained the Broncos 306-261 but the Rockets were hurt by four turnovers that led to 14 points. One of those touchdowns for Western Michigan was a 92-yard interception return which turned a three-point potential Toledo lead into an 11-point deficit. The Rockets had three turnovers on their final four drives. The Broncos held Toledo to 88 rushing yards on 32 carries (2.8 ypc).

U-A-B 17 East Carolina 12

The Pirates nearly had this game won but a fumble at the Blazers five-yard line with 1:12 remaining cost them the victory. East Carolina outgained UAB 376-323 but that fumble along with an interception in Blazers territory and two short field goals were the difference. 10 of UAB’s points came off turnovers but the Blazers also shot themselves in the foot with two fumbles inside the East Carolina seven-yard line.

SOUTH FLORIDA 21 Florida International 20

Florida International kept this one close with defense and special teams as it scored touchdowns on a punt return and an interception return. The Golden Panthers had a 13-point lead but the Bulls scored the final two touchdowns with the last one set up by a fumble recovery. Florida International got the ball back but was unable to move. A missed extra point on the first Golden Panthers score was the difference.

Oklahoma State 35 ARKANSAS STATE 7

Oklahoma St. held the Indians to only 188 total yards and kept their offense out of the endzone. Arkansas St.’s only score came on a 51-yard interception return for the first score of the game. After going scoreless in the first quarter, the Cowboys scored touchdowns on their next four possessions to put the game away. Arkansas St. had only 78 yards through the air on 7-19 passing.

KANSAS STATE 45 Florida Atlantic 0

Kansas St. only had 346 yards of offense but it opened the game by returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Three of the Wildcats six scoring drives were 27 yards or less while 17 of their points came off of failed 4th down conversions by the Owls. Florida Atlantic finished with just 200 total yards including 59 yards rushing on 42 carries (1.4 ypc). The Owls won the TOP battle by 11 minutes but also committed 12 penalties.

(10) Georgia 18 SOUTH CAROLINA 0

The Bulldogs outgained South Carolina 387-255 and held the Gamecocks to just 35 yards rushing on 22 carries (1.6 ypc). South Carolina had plenty of chances but it fumbled the ball three times in the second half including one at the Georgia one-yard line. The Gamecocks also turned the ball over on downs at the Bulldogs two-yard line in the fourth quarter. Both teams were 4-11 on third down conversions.

New Mexico 34 NEW MEXICO ST 28

New Mexico St. outgained the Lobos 532-426 but the Aggies committed five turnovers, four of which occurred in New Mexico territory. 20 of the Lobos 34 points were off turnovers and while the Aggies were in New Mexico territory on nine possessions, they walked away with only four scores. New Mexico St. passed for 472 yards but was held to just 60 yards rushing on 30 carries (2.0 ypc).

(1) Ohio State 24 (8) TEXAS 7

Ohio St. outgained the Longhorns by just 22 total yards but turnovers were the difference. A 14-point swing went the Buckeyes way when they recovered a fumble at the two-yard line and then drove 50 yards for a touchdown. Texas also threw an interception deep in its own territory that set up a field goal. Texas had 211 total yards in the first half but just 115 yards after the break.

(24) Texas Tech 38 TEXAS-EL PASO 35

The offenses dominated the game as UTEP gained 495 yards while the Red Raiders put up 479 yards. Texas Tech missed two fourth quarter field goals and the Miners took advantage of the second one with a game tying touchdown with 1:04 remaining. Following an interception in overtime, the Red Raiders kicked a 49-yard field goal to pull out the win. The teams combined for 751 yards through the air.

(22) ARIZONA STATE 52 Nevada 21

Arizona St. outgained the Wolf Pack 486-306 and the defense forced four turnovers, three of which occurred in Nevada territory. Five of the Sun Devils touchdown drives covered at least 73 yards. After the Wolf Pack tied the game in the second quarter by returning an interception for a touchdown, Arizona St. scored 24 straight points in the quarter to pull away. Nevada finished just 2-4 inside the redzone.

(18) Oregon 31 FRESNO STATE 24

Oregon jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the fourth quarter but the Bulldogs battled back to tie the game on two different occasions before the Ducks scored the winning touchdown with 4:55 remaining on a fake field goal. Fresno St. dominated the time of possession thanks to 206 yards rushing on 41 carries (5.0 ypc). The Ducks had a field goal blocked but recovered and then scored a touchdown to take a 24-17 lead.

U-C-L-A 26 Rice 16

UCLA outgained the Owls 401-184 and held Rice to just 53 yards rushing on 31 carries (1.7 ypc). The score could have been a lot worse but the Bruins were forced to kick four field goals while also committing four turnovers. UCLA wasn’t forced to punt until its final possession as it racked up 26 first downs and won the TOP battle by 10 minutes. The Owls went just 2-13 on third down conversions.

Matt Fargo is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.
Read all of his articles at procappers.com/Matt_Fargo.htm procappers.com/Matt_Fargo.htm