VampireS Sumo

Members of The Dramatists Guild of America, the organization of playwrights, of which I have been an active member for many years, was in an unusually feisty mood in a review they let howl at a theater critic in the Windy City. What was the occasion of the lambasting?

A long-time critic for The Chicago Sun-Times reviewed some musicals that were works in progress at Theater Building Chicago, a venue that has been attempting to nourish the struggling art form for many years. The critic, one Hedy Weiss, had deigned to review its showcase performances in previous years but apparently her opinions were not so flagrantly intolerant for the head of the theater to ask her to absent herself until one or more of the works might mature enough to be presented in a more critic-friendly manner. Not so this year.

The unsuspecting critic wrote: “The eight deeply flawed new musicals seemed to suggest the art form has fallen on very hard times.” She went on to maintain that none of the wannabe hits, “whether in semi-staged or concert-reading style, was ready for prime time.” Worse yet, she had the ill-advised temerity to admit that she had not sat through any of the shows because of their poor quality.

Enter the howling dramatists.

Edward Albee: “Irresponsible.”

Stephen Schwartz: “Ignorant.”

Tony Kuchner: “Incapable of understanding standards of professional and ethical conduct.”

And, as I noted in the Guild’s latest newsletter, Stephen Sondheim weighed in with “Art isn’t easy. It becomes close to impossible when the creative process is violated as casually and unprofessionally as it was in this case, eight times, by Ms. Weiss.”

John Weidman, the usually affable president of the guild, fired off a letter to The Sun-Times, accompanied by 22 emails from irate members. His missive called her review “a shocking and irresponsible betrayal of one of the fundamental understandings which makes the creation of new work possible.” He also called attention to the fact that the workshop process “provides an opportunity for writers to evaluate their work as it evolves, protected from the consequences of critical appraisal.”

From our viewpoint her transgression is not so much an occasion for vitriol but for lament, not for her lack of propriety but of wisdom.

If you look back at the very few critics we’ve had who one might generously apply the word great in describing, they have known we are all tending the same garden, and, while it’s fine to harvest in its time, it only helps create a famine to decide on the quality of the sprouts before they have time to mature. Whacking them precipitously means, not only less nourishment for all, but less produce worthy of the connoisseur’s persnickety palate.

Ms. Weiss allowed herself a written response, stating that she had reviewed the festival in the past without objection and no one had told her she could not review it this time. She also called attention to her understanding that the festival is a public event, with an advertising campaign and tickets. “If you are given a press kit and if you are given pictures,” she asked a reporter of The New York Times, Campbell Robertson, via telephone, “what are you supposed to do with them?”

Meanwhile, Joan Mazzonelli, the executive director of Theater Building Chicago, finds herself in the uncomfortable middle of the squall. She is, after all, condemned to continue in Chicago and has, of necessity, distanced herself from her defenders. She has also admitted she hadn’t made the festival’s policy clear to Ms. Weiss: “Call it an error of omission is the best I can tell you.” She added the sad refrain, “What’s in my hands is that Hedy Weiss, who is a major reviewer, is upset with me.”

But probably not as upset as the librettists, lyricists, and composers at whose budding works she did most unwisely swing her sharp and heavy scythe.

Tom Attea, humorist and creator of

[Headlong] “Come…hier bitte…Günter,” [here please] asked Carmen, distinctly; again getting caught with her thinking in English and German at the same time.

“Ja…?” said Günter, eyes moving kind of nervously, as he took in a deep breath as if to say: now what.

She was about to make a headlong assault on him, as he seemed to have already guessed; and he clearly wasn’t ready for it. Then it came out of her mouth like a quivering landslide: “I am bloody sick of your thinking I do not know my job because of my age!” she said this half aloud, as if she had not the energy to say it louder—but wanted to—for lack of sleep; she was completely fatigued.

Said Günter, with tack and calmness, “You don’t have to worry about me; I know what I’m doing!” then caught his breath, adding: “…my dear, we are both grown-ups, are we not?”

The dry heat had left thick warmth on her lips, as she tried to think of what to say next, “What is that?” she said with squinting eyes that really meant: what the hell are you talking about.

As he stood there he had figured she must have had another bad night, I mean a real bad night.

“Listen Günter, you always seem amused with me…” before she could say another word, he interrupted.

“Thanks for the thought Ms Schmidt, but I’m too busy with my own life, I’m not worth all your trouble. I’m too old for this.” And he turned about and went back to his kitchen work. He grunted, and talked to himself as he walked: “Lauft was Gutes im Kino?”

—She was akin to water being moved by wind, the old man thought as he started to batter some of the dough for the pizza. ‘Her mind shifts like the wind, she lives in a suspicious world of her own,’ he mumbled inside his head that might have dripped out of his mouth. Then he just shook his head and added some salt and other spices to some pizza-dough.

4

(Quidam timore mortis orabant ((Pliny the Younger)) “Some, through fear of death, prayed to die”.

Günter walks back to his kitchen leaving Carmen to her own thoughts and went back to preparing, remade [but not cooked] pizzas, for the soon to be or come customers. It made no sense to him that she would be so disturbed so easily, but he knew in an hour or so she’d be ok, she always was, he told himself. It was those long nights she seemed to have, or so he guessed, what else could it be [?]

—She put her manicure things away, along with shoving the letters, and working papers to the side of the table and making a gesture of dismissal to Günter whom had already walked away anyhow, walked away a few minutes ago, as she had just stared as if in outer space—blank [straight ahead], she was having a delayed reaction in sensory and motion. She mumbled to the air: ‘…men always discard you once you let go of your reserve.’

Carmen, she never really retracted her accusations to Günter, or for that matter, Adam her current boyfriend, or anyone in general, apart from the owner, Adolph. Most of her friends accepted her emotional outbursts as part of her—silently at least, unjust or not. It was often irrelevant to her of the hurt she may have inflicted. The issue may be, she was willing to inflict it in the first place; whereas, it seemed more of a defense mechanism than a hidden motive to insult for the pleasure of hurting.

—Next, as Günter glanced through the kitchen door, Carmen was busy again with the bills, if anything it eased his mind knowing her mind was off him. After that, he noticed Gertrude had arrived a little early—who was more agreeable to her, they were like sisters one could say.

Said Gertrude to Carmen, in a soft calming voice, to relax her, “I should think Mr. Gunderson is so busy, he concentrates so hard on his cooking and mixing, he forgets there is another world outside the kitchen.” That made Carmen laugh a ting, and Günter a little irritated, save for the fact he knew she was trying to put out a fire; for his sake, and so she could go on the rest of the day not thinking about this little burst of energy she had with him awhile ago, so he didn’t take her comment as an insult.

“Yes, oh yes, I suppose your right, Gertrude. He means well, and I know men believe what they want to, anyhow, not sure why I squander my time getting mad at him.”

“Did you have a bad night, last night?” Gertrude said empathically.

“They’re always bad, all of them, or at least most all of them lately,” she said with taking in a deep breath of air, and holding it in her abdomen so she could let it out, all at once and get a release—a good exhale.

“What’s Mr. Gunderson doing now?” asked Gertrude, as if she didn’t know.

“Oh, go tell him everything’s ok when you get a minute, I think you want to, you’re my big sister, the one I never had. Matter-of-fact, tell him after I go, I got to…go…” she thought for a moment, kind of went blank, then said as if in a fog was lifting, “…Ich gehe zur Post, zum Postamt…(I’m going to the Post Office); I need to get some fresh air….” She then stood up as if she was lost again, in some time zone (possibly fighting her ill-temper), as Gertrude watched her push her chair in, under the table, and leave without another reaction.

5

There were times when Adam frightened Carmen, and when she brought this up to him, his reply was simply: “I must be exciting—“, and silence would befall Carmen. What an answer she thought, could he not come up with something better?

As she drove her car to the Post Office several blocks away, her mind shifted to early twilight, the night before when he had come over to her apartment, as he usually did a number of times during the week and stay over until midnight or so, and then leave; he’d never stay over night the whole night, not anymore, anyway; not wanting to deal with her in the middle of the night, especially with her nightmares. Anyhow, he was going to kiss her but decided not to, she was concentrating on something else. Adam looked away, lit a cigarette then. He then pondered on: does she not think there is a limit to her justifying her outbursts, or out of nowhere she had stopped a sexual advancement and questioned him where he was all day, which was at work, but a jealousy was developing; was there no limit to this? In point of fact, he had gone to a party and afterwards she somehow knew it, possibly [he considered]: ‘…she may have even followed me.’ He didn’t know how she knew, but she did. Yet, she wasn’t true to him either, so he figured, so why should he be true to her, was his thinking.

She looked over at Adam again; nothing seemed to bother him which irritated her even more. An indifferent sneer she labeled it.

“You have an answer for everything,” she said with a sarcastic tone to her voice.

To Adam, his not responding was simply not interfering with her mood, hoping it would fade away into oblivion.

“Adam,” she asked in a demanding voice, “what am I to you?”

”I thought you knew, I thought I’ve told you a number of times,” was his answer. One thing Adam didn’t like was what most women had learned, was to make sacrifices quietly, and not to expect a thank you from men all the time. This she protested against—plus, she’d not feed his illusions as most men wanted.

“If you have, it must have slipped my mind,” she said in repose.

“Maybe we both feel important to one another, just because we need to.” He commented.

“Oh,” added Carmen, “I’m your stray cat in need of love, and you need to feel mannish, or like to be in charge, so you jump in bed with me, what exactly are you made of?” Everything went quiet for a moment.

“Well,” said Carmen, “a woman either loves or hates, there is little in-between (she thought: where did I pick that up).”

Adam wanted to leave that alone, in fear he’d put her in another mood swing, and all hell would break loose. He lay besides her, softly caressing her shoulder, thinking how nice it was in the past when he didn’t realize her unbearable strain was present, her bewilderment, that he was now infected with. At times it was unendurable. But she’d always say, “Ich Liebe dich…” (I love you), which was hard for him to say, but he loved hearing it in German, it was, as he told her on many occasions, more poetic than English.

[Carmen’s Hate] “Is it true,” asked Adam, “…women outshine men in scheming? or so I’ve heard someplace?”

Said Carmen with an irritated voice and a forced blush “You’re a lover and akin to a torch that grows brighter when shaken.”

She seemed now to have changed again, and Adam was a good lover, but could be forceful, even hard handed at times.

“I wish you’d stay overnight again, my nights are a flurry, long and troubling… quite trying, is more like it I suppose.” She looked out her window, she knew he’d go, but she was begging nonetheless, again, and again for him to be there with her, be there when she was having her nightmares and so when she’d opened her eyes he’d be there, and she’d know it was all right, everything was fine, he would hold her, she’d be safe. But it was too much to expect.

—She was now at the Post Office. And so she walked in, handed the clerk the letters, and as she took them, she greeted a few of the women she knew and men, they had eaten at her Pizzeria a few times, then left quietly, and drove over to the military base in Babenhausen, some eight miles away, and to the PX. Adam was on her mind, and she might just as well surprise him by stopping by and seeing him, then get him off her mind, and see if he was coming over again this evening. Furthermore, Augsburg, Germany came to mind, as often times it did. Where she lived with her father when she was young, they’d walk the Lech and Wertach river together, hand in hand; hers being so small, they’d fit right into his, as if it was a pocket. She liked the Rathaus Town Hall also, built in 1615 AD; it was a master piece of construction. And she liked Augsburg in general, it has a long history, dating back to 15 BC, named after Augustus, of Rome; built as a Roman compound.

As her mind now slipped back to Adam, she assured herself, she’d try to be more accommodating than she was before: so she told herself. Adam was the General Manager of the little PX (kind of an all around store, mostly grocery store). As she pulled up in front of the Post Store [PX], Adam saw her through the window and left immediately, having Sofia-Marie taking the cash register, his assistant. He was happy to see her—in a way; that was the problem, he was if anything, becoming co-dependent, or put another way, addicted to her.

“How was the night, bad again?” he asked her as he leaned into her car window on the passenger’s side. Almost as if he was saying: see I knew you’d have a bad night and that is why I had to leave.

“I enjoyed getting into bed with you last night,” she commented to Adam, to lure him back into it, this evening: “Why not stay over another night, make it two nights in a row?” which was not uncommon, but not nearly the norm either for both of them. She added, “I promise you, really I do, I promise you I will be good.” She said in an awe-stirring and jumpy way.

“Sure, why not,” he said with a smile, thinking: what worse could happen. “I’ll be over after I do my bookwork and stuff.” And that was that. Carmen then took off quickly, and her mind was free to go back to the bistro, to her Pizzeria for work.

For him, for Adam, the compassion he had to feed her was fading with each new day, or so it seemed. He’d tell her but she was so much into the affair, more now than he was. It wasn’t long ago when he was much more into it than she though, how things reverse themselves, or have their cycles. They had both said they loved each other, although marriage was never brought into the picture, it would seem progression would lead it that way, even by inertia—and so the thoughts had been there for each other at different times. He liked her looks, her short hair, her smell of soapy cleanness, and her style of dress, it was in a way all so perfect. She was smart and sharp, sometimes too smart for him…better put: she was smarter than him, and she knew it, and held it in. But similar to him, who got a good Federal Government position after leaving the Army, and she had her mother’s friend hire her as the manager of the guesthouse…her mother living in Frankfurt like a hidden mouse, a hermit, having told her time and again, she was done with people per se, and preferred her quiet hidden life away from it all; in a way, an unfettered life, free from it all.

Sometimes in the mornings when he’d meet her in the park, Tower Park, before they’d both open up their shops of work, she’d sit on the bench twisting her fingers relentlessly. It was times like that, that he dreaded his passion and love for her, and it got twisted, call it an illusion of fear, a fear he’d have to take care of her somewhere medically along life’s short or long line, and he wasn’t prepared for that. Oh, I suppose she would have taken care of him in a heart-beat, if he had such problems, if they married (that’s the way she loved, or wanted to love), but he knew he couldn’t love that way, married or not. Right or wrong, it was just the way it was, or he was. His love had conditions I suppose one might say, and neurosis was not part of the package he wanted, if that was really what she had, and he was not a doctor, but it was a good word to label her with he figured, in lack of a better one. His reaction was becoming a fearful one, one that saw a demigod in the play of their lives. To her it was just nightmares, and depression, and sleepless nights in her life that brought on a kind of hyper, or abrasiveness to her irritated emotional makeup, her life in general, which of course was becoming plagued with it. He said to himself: he still loved her, just not enough; and the love that was left, was drawing a silence to it.

Adam knew she was a snob most of the time, she even applied it with tack, always snow with salt. And he knew her fear, and as she knew his male weakness, both were ripe for blackmail in any serious dialogue, if one wanted to hurt the other. Thus, it was better I suppose on both of their parts not to be too quick to judge the other, or verbally do so; and so often silent stares took the place of verbal attacks.

She had pulled up with her car to her apartment now in Dieburg.

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Online casino games as a professional gambler. Did you know that there are people who make a living from online gambling?

According to Jim Douglas a professional online gambler who claims to make between $8000 to $30 000 per month from his gambling activities gambling can be a full time job. According to him one must approach gambling like one would approach a game of chess and take it as serious as one would take a full time job.

One should plan ahead and figure out when the casino is going to pay and when the casino is not going to pay. According to Jim most people who lose money at casino slot games, play the slot games without giving it much thought. He discovered that some casino slot games will make lets say 12 spins without paying anything and then pay some money out, just to take another 24 spins without paying out anything and then paying on spin 25 again.

The reason why the casinos do this is to take lets say 20% of a gamers money and then give 10% back again to keep the gambler positive to let him build confidence to lose over time all his money to the casino.

The best scientific method of calculating when a casino slot game will pay and when it is going to take your money is to actually count the numbers of spins this is according to Jim who has created his own methodology to increase his odds when playing casino slot games.

According to Jim what you need to do is - play the minimum amount of money that you can bet at a time on casino slot games - Lets say the minimum bet is $0.10 and the maximum amount is $5.00 then start your betting at $0.10 play at the minimum bet amount until you get your first win. Now continue playing the next few games at $0.10 and count the number of spins to your next win.

Lets say it takes 20 spins before you have your next win. This will tell you that for this session the casino slots game needed to make 20 spins before you had a winning. Keep record of your next spins every spin you make now is one spin less to a next win. According to Jim if you play the next 10 games at $0.10 and the next games between spin 11 - 20 at lets say $0.50 you only lose $1.00 for your first 10 spins. But the slots needs to win again within lets say 11 to 30 spins to keep the players positive to keep them playing. By increasing your betting amount after the first 10 spins to $0.50 you have reduced your risk of losing and because you raised it after the 10th spin you have increased your chance of winning more money, you have increased your wagering which should increase your chances of beating the casino at its own game.

According to Jim if you were betting for 20 spins and still have not win anything, you should increase your wagering to the maximum amount that you can because you would have had 20 losing spins and the winning spin should be only a few more spins away. As soon as you win you should go back to the minimum betting amount count the spins again, and increase it accordingly as you reach certain amounts of losing spins.

According to Jim it is a game of patience to make a full time career out of gambling and one should know when to quit but with a good amount of patience you can win more than you will lose with online casino games. You just need to anticipate the winning patterns. The winning patterns are random and it may take some time for you to figure out some structure in what seems to be chaos so prepare yourself to lose some money before you will start to recognize the winning patterns.

One must remember that although it might work for Jim it still has a element of Luck to it, and remember that gambling is game of chance and anything may happen. Gambling can be addictive and you should play it only for your own entertainment and never bet anything that you do not consider lost already.

Should you wish to try your luck with online casino games and gambling you can try Jeu de casino en ligne it is one of the top resources that people like Jim uses to find online casinos. Jeu de casino en ligne search for casinos that are trusted and licensed and are know for having a good reputation for paying their winners and does not use any methods to cheat their players!

George MacDonald is one of the Directors of Jeu de casino en ligne. George have worked in the online casino industry since early 2000 and have worked for some of the leaders in the online casino industry. George recently established his own casino related web site Jeu de casino en ligne with his partner Henri Green who have also extensive experience in the online casino industry. Together they have head hunted some of the best people in the industry to come and work for them to share in their dream of becoming the best online casino site on the internet.

They have employed Internet Marketing specialists from various nationalities to enable them to market their clients in different languages like English, French, Spanish, German and Dutch among other. They have also recruited web developers and search engine marketing specialists to make them the best online casino marketing company in the world.

George is in his early 30′s and in a full time relationship with the woman of his dreams and loves her passionately whenever he is not working on building his internet casino dream.

During the interview with Jim he highlighted Casinos that he would personally recommend to readers that wanted to try out his winning casino slots system.
They are

Surviving a losing streak is one of the most difficult situations any gambler can experience and hopefully overcome. The biggest problem with any losing streak is the gambler does not know when it will end, but knows that it will end. Losing streaks take a toll on the gambler’s stake and also on their confidence. It is this double dose of negativity that makes a losing streak so hard to deal with.

One way to survive is to just stop playing for a while. This will work, but if gambling is a major part of your life, this is hard to do. Another element of play should be immediately put into play. Cut back on the size of your bets and the number of bets you make. Do not make the most serious mistake a gambler caught up in this situation can do and make larger wagers in hopes of getting even sooner. This is a death play when drowning in a losing streak. Cut back your play is the correct move in these circumstances. If you are a parlay player consider making smaller parlays or none at all for a period of time. Consider playing fewer days a week or month. Consider playing a different game or level of a game. Change what you are doing, but remember “cut back “ is the operative words of strategy. The run of bad luck is coming to an end when you make a needed river card or hit a series of place bets on a dice table. Hands that have been losing at black jack suddenly start holding up or the dealer breaks on hands that previously were killing you. When the streak ends, the run of wins can be remarkable and being ready to take advantage of this turn for the best is the difference between an experience gambler and a novice. This where staying on an even keel as to confidence comes into play.

Gambling cycles like all components in life. Losing sessions can follow winning gaming sessions. No trend will stay in play forever, however the losing streaks are a part of gambling and must be addressed by each player. It will happen to each player. How it is dealt with will determine how seriously the affect is on the gambler. Knowing what to do and doing it is the answer to this negative side of gambling.

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Okay, it’s time for me to finally say goodbye to my portable disc player, and join the online and portable music revolution. Okay, the revolution isn’t so new any more, nor is my computer, but as I wade through the sea of options for how to download music, listen to and buy online tracks, I grow more eager to get my feet wet and eventually suit up to take the plunge. But I happen to be a bit more practical than that. So, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time over the last few weeks trying to determine what’s best for my lifestyle, my wallet and my computer.

First thing I realized when searching all of the music services is that things seemed to work a lot smoother with a broadband connection (and most services seem to point that out from the get go). Just like my CD Walkman, the time had come for me to lose my ancient dial-up connection to the online experience. It actually turned out to work in my favor as my cable company gave me a good deal on high-speed, and also threw in a discount on my existing costs for cable TV.

Now that I was “connected” at an acceptable speed to the Web, I had to determine, what I was trying to get out of the online music experience. After some intense melodious soul searching, I realized that the only thing the separated me from the perpetually hip is perhaps the types of music I was searching for, and the amount of time I wanted to spend online searching for music.

The guy who sits next to me has a 60 GB iPod, and is complaining that it is almost full. That’s over seven thousand songs. I don’t know that I would even live long enough to listen to that many songs. My needs were simpler. I had an MP3 player still in the box from two Christmas’ ago, and it promised to hold over 500 songs. That would be perfect for me, at least in the short term.

Next, what was I looking for in my new online music experience? Did I want to listen to music on my PC, in my car or on my MP3 player? Yes to all three. Did I want to listen to the radio while I was on my PC? Again, yes. Did I want to trade music with others online in a peer-to-peer Napster-like environment? Eh, that one scared me a little, and I decided that opening up my files to strangers made me feel dirt, so I put that one on hold.

My next stop in determining how I would “music online” was price. I searched dozens of sites and services, but narrowed my sights to three of the big guys: AOL Music Now, iTunes and Rhapsody Music Service (provided by Real Networks).

I already had AOL, so I signed up for their Music Now product for $8.99/month (that’s in addition to their monthly fee as an ISP). I was able to download songs, listen to them while “offline” and burn them to CD or move them over to my MP3 player for an additional fee per song. That seemed to be standard across most of the services. Music Now was a follow up to the original AOL Music Net, which I actually liked better because it ran locally on machine and the new Web-based Music Now takes much longer. AOL also has a partnership with iTunes, so you can be on AOL, but iTunes will launch and then you’re actually in the iTunes application. It’s confusing. If I want to move my downloaded songs to my MP3 player, the monthly fee jumps to $14.95 per month, and if I want to put them on a CD, I pay and additional 99 cents per track. This is too much money for me. I typically buy one or two CD’s a month, and that would be cheaper than this online service. Not to mention you have to be an existing AOL member (more money per month) in order to even use the product. I’m passing on AOL Music Now.

On to iTunes. Okay, so there is no monthly fee for iTunes. Love that. And I can purchase songs for 99 cents per track. Love that too. But wait. I don’t have an iPod, and iTunes has songs in their proprietary MP4 format. Ugh. The cheapest iPod out there is around $99 (so much for no monthly fee), and it’s not the model I would select. I like my MP3 player. If I already had an iPod, this may be the route I would go, but Apple tends be very inflexible, and I hate to be tied to one provider, player and format. There is also a limit to how you can share the songs on your home network. I feel like even though I own the song, I’m being watched on what I do with it. Good bye big brother.

Rhapsody Music Service from Real Networks. So far they are the least expensive. $9.99 per month and that’s with unlimited access to over 1.3 million songs. I do have to have pay the additional 99 cent fee if I want to burn to CD or transfer to my MP3, but that is the industry standard for paying the artists, and the monthly fee is five dollars less per month than AOL. The music comes over in the more widely supported MP3 format and the songs are mine to rip transfer or share with my other computers on my home network. Like the other two, I can listen to live radio on my pc, but I like the freedom I get with Rhapsody Music Service. I’m not being watched, and the music is mine.

Now that I know how to download music and have chosen Rhapsody Music Service, I’m on my way to joining the new world of portable digital music. I’ve already burned several CD’s for my car, albeit with an older man’s twist on today’s favorites, and transferred those same songs over to my little antiquated MP3 player for those long weekend walks.

Now I’ve got to start looking for a replacement for my VCR. Onward and upward!

Scott Parks is a freelance writer living just outside of Boston, who has spent the last 15 years working in the high tech and telecommunications industries. The majority of his career has been spent focused on the project management and development of corporate Internet, intranet and portal sites for XO Communications and Lucent Technologies. His present client list includes such companies as Brand Digital, Digital Promotions, in Washington and Choice Hotels in, Maryland.

Californication is the latest Rock CD realeased by the extremely talented group Red Hot Chili Peppers and they have once again have delivered a brilliant collection of tracks. I’m confident Red Hot Chili Peppers fans, and Rock fans alike will be pleased with this one.

Unfortunately, it’s not everyday that I get a CD from an artist that I can just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. There is usually a song or two that I just can’t force myself to get through. Not at all the case with Californication. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

One of the refreshingly nice things about this CD is the way all of the participating artists seem to be really enjoying themselves. Combine that with the overall presentation and you’ve got one of Red Hot Chili Peppers’s most impressive releases ever.

Listen to and I think you’ll agree that the song choices are excellent, the production is outstanding and Red Hot Chili Peppers are in top form.

While this entire album is really very good the truly standout tunes are Around The World [track 1], This Velvet Glove [track 11], and Right On Time [track 14].

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 9, Emit Remmus. Wow!

Californication Release Notes:

Red Hot Chili Peppers originally released Californication on Jun 08, 1999 on the Warner Bros. Records label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Around The World
2. Parallel Universe
3. Scar Tissue
4. Otherside
5. Get On Top
6. Californication
7. Easily
8. Porcelain
9. Emit Remmus
10. I Like Dirt
11. This Velvet Glove
12. Savior
13. Purple Stain
14. Right On Time
15. Road Trippin’

Red Hot Chili Peppers: Anthony Kiedis (vocals); John Frusciante (guitar); Flea (bass); Chad Smith (drums). Additional personnel: Patrick Warren (Chamberlin organ); Greg Kurstin (keyboards). Engineers include: Jim Scott, John Sorenson, Greg Fidelman.

Clyde Lee Dennis is a life long music enthusiast and in addition to writing music reviews he is also the Travel Editor at Oklahoma City: eNewsBriefs.com where he covers topics like oklahomacitysmoothjazz.com/local-business/hotels.htm Oklahoma City Hotels and more. Visit oklahomacity.enewsbriefs.com/ OklahomaCity.eNewsBriefs.com for the latest oklahomacity.enewsbriefs.com/ Oklahoma City news and information.

The game of Texas Hold’em poker takes minutes to learn, but there’s so much
going on during an actual hand that it can take many years before a player is good enough to win consistently. It all starts with the first two cards. Knowing when to play and when to skip on a hand is the first crucial step to winning at Texas Hold’em poker. Today, I am going to run down a series of starting hands and what you should think about doing when you get them. This list assumes that you are playing at a table with seven or more players and that you are somewhat new to the game of Poker.

The Big Hands

If you receive any of the following four hands, you should raise when it’s your turn
to bet. If someone raised the pot already then re-raise.

The four big hands are: AA, KK, QQ and AK.

The Limp Hands

If you find yourself with an upper level pair of eights, nines, tens or Jacks, you want
to limp in the pot, which means to simply call the minimum bet. However, if
someone has raised the pot, you want to consider folding. You are most likely beat.
Some players will limp in with any pair, some with pairs of fours or higher and so
forth. This is something you will figure out for yourself.

The Connectors

There are times when you will want to limp in with hands that can possibly pay off.
Normally, you will play these hands when you are in the blinds or late position (one
of the last to act). If the pot gets raised, fold.

These hands are: AQ, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ, QJ, and possibly JT. If these hands are suited,
their value goes up, because you gain the possibility of a flush or straight flush.

Many newer players get in trouble with some of these hands, because they get face
card envy. Learn when to lay down hands and your profits will go up. If you have a
hand that is not listed here, it should most likely be folded. There are times, when
on the button, where you might want to play something like a 65s (suited).
However, playing too many junk hands will milk away your chips. At first, you want
to play tight. As you learn the game of Poker, open up and expand your playing
ability.

WiseBettor.com is full of articles on
wisebettor.com gambling, gambling strategies,
gambling reviews and more.

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Dothan, AL – You know (or maybe you don’t know) I always believe that if you want something you must proclaim it, believe it, and then go after it with all you have.

So, direct from my “how could I go through life without writing about this department”, I must tell you about one of the truest forms of proclaiming good things that I know of. Near Dothan, there’s a little town called Enterprise.

I guess, by virtue of the name, the forefathers proclaimed an enterprising mentality for the people who live there. So much so, that from 1910 to 1915 when the Boll Weevil was eating up all the cotton crops in the Enterprise area, those enterprising farmers started planting all different sorts of things like peanuts, and corn and they suddenly realized more prosperity than they’d ever known before. And, in case you didn’t know it, raking in tons of money tends to make people very, very happy and very grateful.

They were so grateful to the Boll Weevil for ruining the cotton crops and forcing them to diversify their plantings (and helping them make huge deposits in the banks) that they erected a statue right in the center of town in honor of the Boll Weevil.

You heard me right, there’s a statue in Enterprise, AL in honor of a bug. You know, I could end this article right here because I think a bug statue is pretty funny all by itself. But I can’t stop now, my editor requires at least 700 words and we have a ways to go–so fasten your seatbelts.

I know by now you’re probably trying to visualize what a bug statue must look like. Well, this isn’t just a big plaster bug, it’s a statue that looks an awful lot like that green lady in the New York harbor, but in this case, instead of a torch she’s holding a platter over her head with a big bug on it.

Do you see anything wrong with this picture (err, I mean statue)? Besides the fact that this statue honors a bug. I challenge you to show me any women in the south that would stand that close to a bug. Maybe there are women that like bugs that much, but I really don’t want to meet them. But, for arguments sake let’s say the lady didn’t mind standing that close to the bug, would she put it over her head? Better yet, would she let the bug sit on one of her china platters? I don’t think so, least not the women in my family.

I don’t know how many times my Grandmother called me to go to her house to find a bug that she had seen at some point during the day. I’d usually arrive to find her standing on a chair describing this bug as if it was an escapee from Jurassic Park. Whenever that happened a bug had to die, even if I had to go in the yard a find some innocent creature to dispose of. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even sleep in the house. Imagine what the Boll Weevil monument would look like if they used my Grandmother as the model for the statue.

So, maybe choosing a woman holding a bug is not the best choice, but we mustn’t forget that this statue honors a very hard time for some hardworking, “enterprising” farmers, and yet they were grateful. Amazing!

I think placing a reminder that good things can come out of bad times is something we all need to remember. If many of us look back, in almost every case hardships resulted in better times. So why not build statues honoring bugs? I’m beginning to believe it is a good idea.

So, let the good people of Enterprise, AL remind us that a bump in the road is not the end of the road. Maybe it’s just the comparison between bad times and good times that make us so grateful. That’s why, when you’re visiting Enterprise, you’re likely to hear someone say “Fear No Weevil”… I couldn’t agree more.

Wow, 700 words about a bug statue—I’m good!

Ya’ll come!

To find out more about David Zack Holmes and read other features, visit davidzackholmes.com/ davidzackholmes.com/

Here is the last of a series listing the 20 most common historical myths. These are facts that everyone seems to know, which have only one problem: they’re not actually true. The following four historical “facts” were probably taught to you at school. As you can see, they weren’t as accurate as your teacher might have thought.

4. Columbus proved that the Earth was round

It was American author Washington Irving, some 500 years after Columbus sailed to America, who first portrayed the Italian explorer as launching on his voyage to prove that the Earth was round, defying the common, flat-earther belief of the time. In fact, most educated Europeans in Columbus’s day knew that the world was round. Since the fourth century BC, almost nobody has believed that the Earth is flat. Even if that wasn’t the case, Columbus would never have set out to prove that the Earth was round… simply because he didn’t believe it himself! Columbus thought that the Earth was pear-shaped. He set sail to prove something else: that Asia was much closer than anyone thought. Even in this, he was wrong. To further besmirch his memory, it should also be noted that he never set foot on mainland America. The closest he came was the Bahamas. Pear-shaped, indeed!

3. Gandhi liberated India

To westerners, Mahatma Gandhi is easily the most famous leader of India’s independence movement. He deserves credit for promoting the ancient ideals of ahimsa (non-violence). However, most historians agree that Indian independence was inevitable. Gandhi was just one of several independence leaders. The Indian National Congress was founded as early as 1885, when he was only 16. Gandhi’s much-publicised civil disobedience was only a small part in the movement, and some historians even suggest that India would have achieved independence sooner if they had focused on the more forceful methods that they had used 50 years earlier, and which were still advocated by other independence leaders, such as Gandhi’s rival Netaji Chandra Bose (who is also revered in India).

2. Jesus was born on December 25

Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but there is no evidence whatsoever, biblical or otherwise, that He was actually born on that day. Nor is there anything to suggest that He was born in a manger, or that there were three wise men (although, as any nativity play will remind you, three gifts were mentioned). There are differing views as to why December 25 was chosen as Christmas day, but one of the most interesting is that the day was already celebrated by followers of Mithras, the central god of a Hellenistic cult that developed in the Eastern Mediterranean around 100 BC. The followers of this faith believed that Mithras was born of a virgin on 25 December, and that his birth was attended by shepherds…

Which brings us to the number one historical myth - something that is drilled into the heads of nearly all American schoolchildren…

1. George Washington was America’s first President

Everyone “knows” that Washington was the first of the (so far) 43 Presidents of the US. However, this isn’t strictly the case. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress (or the ‘United States in Congress Assembled’) chose Peyton Randolph as the first President. Under Randolph, one of their first moves was to create the Continental Army (in defence against Britain), appointing General Washington as its commander. Randolph was succeeded in 1781 by John Hancock, who presided over independence from Great Britain (see myth #6). After Washington defeated the British at the Battle of Yorktown, Hancock sent him a note of congratulations. Washington’s reply was addressed to “The President of the United States”. Eight years later, as a revered war hero, Washington himself became America’s first popularly elected President - but strictly speaking, the FIFTEENTH President!

Noivedya Juddery is a writer and journalist based in Australia. A member of the writespirit.net/sri_chinmoy/sri_chinmoy_centre Sri Chinmoy Centre, he is inspired by personal meditation and spirituality in his growing number of creative activities. He can be contacted via his website: markjuddery.com/ markjuddery.com/

Yesterday ,3rd of March 2006, Jupiter started to move retrograde and it will keep this direction until 5th of July 2006.

Jupiter in Scorpio already boosted all the underground activities and all hidden things started to come to the surface. Also all the religious fanatism activites found a ‘solid’ ground for manifestation. You can look at our world today and we can observe that a lot of dirty things are coming to the light. Also at the personal level is a period of hard times especially those persons with Jupiter transiting natal planets - people with planets in Scorpio/Taurus for example.

The exact start date of the retro movement was 3.03.2006 5:42am GMT on the 18:52 degree in Scorpio. Until 6.03.2006 4:30am GMT it will remain on the 18:52 degree , meaning that Jupiter will be stationary during this period. The stationary periods are important and very powerfull from energy point of view and during this moments all activities related to Jupiter should be postponed: travelling abroad or on long distances, all things related to the laws, partners, associates and religious beliefs.

The sabian symbol of the 18:52 scorpio degree (19 degree scorpio) is : A wise old parrot has been listening attentively to the conversation and preening himself; now he begins to speak.

If you analyze this sabian symbol of Jupiter retro it might be possible that some rumours and negative opinions might spread all over the world and many people it will become confused. There is the danger the this rumours can become valid truth for some of the peoples and may cause some serious problems. Also at the personal level there might be some problems with hidden ‘friends′ which will spread some not very good thoughts about you.

Jupiter it will return to his direct motion on 5th of July 2006 at 6:46pm GMT and it will be positioned at 8:59 Scorpio.

Sabian Symbol fo 9 Scorpio: A dentist is hard at work. Man-made porcelain replaces nature’s enamel which consciousness has been unable to hold

This sabian symbol may suggest that after 5th of July we might be able to find solutions to problems appeared during this retrograde period. We might be able to solve some of the issues that before looked hard to solve.

Jupiter retrogred period, at personal level, is an excelent time for self-reflection and interiorization. Our expanding energies are contracting and we will have time and the mood for analyzing all our internal beliefes (religious or not). We just have to calm down and to connect to the surrouding energies and to our innner-self. We will receive many subtile messages that will guide us in life.

As an advice …during this period it should be better to avoid starting any new activities that involves laws and justice , travelling abroad , partnerships. Also avoid doing thing that are at the legal limit…the risk of being discovered is increased.

My name is Dan Ciubotaru and I’m the author of this astrology software.
I’m a romanian astrologer , member of Romanian Astrologers Association and I’m currently based in Bucharest, Romania. My websites are: ciuboda.com Living astrology blog, astrologydatabase.com astrologydatabase.com and configurationhunter.com configurationhunter.com.