Schuetz

As a Tabla player for more than eight years and as of a few years now, a player of several other drums stemming from Africa to Asia, South America to Australia, I feel that the label multi-percussionist has been used on me by many, rather than just a Tabla player and so I want to explore more and find out exactly what percussion is to me.

Percussion is a huge, unwieldy topic; looking at every type of drumming in every culture on Earth at once is an impossible undertaking. However, the wonderful thing about our chosen instrument family is, everything rhythmic is relevant to what we do.

The world of percussion is truly amazing. Drum kit players can learn from congueros, Bodhran enthusiasts from Dumbek dance accompanists, rudimental drummers from the rhythms of African tribes. It can go on and on. Just take the amount of dances we can learn with our fingers on the Tabla and the variety of beats that come through.

Today we have an unprecedented opportunity to explore the instruments, rhythms and concepts of a variety of cultures and incorporate those ideas into our own playing, regardless of genre. As an Asian multi-percussionist, I believe in learning from all the generations of drummers who applied stick, hand, or other implements to skin, stone, wood, metal or plastic before me.

Personally, it has been the Tabla that has driven all my other percussions. Learning both classical and folk Tabla and consistently listening to music all the time, has allowed me to master dozens of beats and rhythms from all around the world mentally before getting out the drums and experimenting on them for the purest sounds.

The real secret to being a great drummer, and something Ive learnt and have been working on for a long while is essentially really simple. And, Im not going to say PRACTICE, because thats pretty obvious anyway. The secret is to listen to music. Listen to all genres of music, be it heavy metal, rock, soft sounds, pan pipes, R&B, hip hop, jazz, soul, funk, folk, classical, etc. By doing this, you develop a rhythmical ear that can adjust to all music and pick up on anything.

Let me share with you a recent example. Back in July 2005, I was recording as a percussionist in the studios for a Latin band called Puro Mambo. I took all the percussion instruments I had; both big and small, however they seemed to only want the Latin instruments. I disagreed and took out my Tabla. Although they first seemed rather sceptical, the final output with the bouncing sounds I produced from the Tabla were much more sweeter and jelled perfectly.

This for me proves that the Tabla is my king of the percussion. I think here I pay tribute to the most important legend that has made music the most important thing in my life and that is Pandit Sharda Sahai, my guru-jee. From the Tabla, I went to other teachers of different instruments and mastered other drums. All other drums have simple beats and rhythms, but with the skills I have from the Tabla, I am able to improvise drastically on simple drums to create juxtaposing sounds.

For those who learn the Tabla, I wish you well and urge you to continue with that before touching upon any other instruments. For those who want to learn the Tabla, I urge you to make your decision quick and advice not to think about other instruments yet. The Tabla will be your guidance into other instruments. Master the Tabla and you can play any instrument just by picking it up. It really is true.

Coming to a close, Id like to share a great, quick exercise. Find a quiet room, sit quietly and relaxed, and just listen. Listen out for your heartbeat. Place a hand on your chest and feel the rhythm. The heartbeat is the mega-rhythm that connects us all, yet no two heartbeats are exactly alike. Live in that rhythm for a minute or two, and then play it on your knee. Play it, and then play variations on it. Use both hands. Feel the music of your body.

Exciting, isnt it? A constantly playing percussion instrument right inside you, accessible any time you can be quiet and concentrate on it. Add in the rhythms of your circulatory and respiratory systems, and you have a percussion ensemble playing to the tempo of your life.

Until next time, focus on the rhythms in your body and all around you traffic, machinery, other people, the sounds of nature. Rhythms are everywhere, and everything is informed by rhythm. Tap into that, and your playing will benefit.

Kavit Haria, The Musicians Coach

Kavit Haria is The Musicians' Coach. Kavit is the director of InnerRhythm, a company that prides on providing success solutions for musicians worldwide. Kavit sends out a musician development newsletter to over 2000 musicians in 16 countries every fortnight to help them achieve their desired results. Sign up now and experience the huge benefits from www.innerrhythm.org

"Mom?" my daughter whined at the breakfast table. "I think there's a louse in my milk." Before this month, I would have thought she was referring to her brother. But recently, we've all lived a little bit of history that I would rather have simply read about. Head lice invaded our home, or rather, our heads.

Since I started my monthly "Living History" column by talking about bedbugs, I guess its not a real stretch to move onto the topic of lice. Im actually glad the insect invasion in our home was the latter rather than the former, which are much more difficult to eradicate. But it still hasnt been much fun, especially for my daughter.

It all started with an itchy head. Okay, it obviously didnt start there, but thats when we noticed it. My head was itching, but my husband didnt see anything. And then one morning as I was combing my daughters hair, some of it crawled away from the comb. I couldnt be sure of what Id seen, but since her hair usually doesnt move that much, I knew it was something out of the ordinary. I took her to the school nurse. She identified white nits in her hair, which are the egg casings left by an earlier batch of bugs. These were more than an inch away from her scalp, which meant her hair had grown considerably since the eggs were laid. The lice had been there for a while. Their color ranges from translucent to light brown, so they really did look like crawling bits of my daughters ash blonde hair.

It was time to get serious. The nurse gave us lice-killing shampoo and we rushed home to douse our heads. From what I could tell, this had virtually no effect at all on the little buggers. I was able to remove several with the fine-tooth comb and they were noticeably not killed. Not even ill. So I went online and read everything I could find. It seems that lice are developing a tolerance for traditional treatments, so the only pesticides that work are the prescription-strength ones. I started trying folk remedies, one of which is to suffocate the lice with olive oil or mayonnaise. A Harvard study revealed that lice immersed in olive oil for two hours will drown. So I poured oil all over my head, put on a shower cap, and struggled for two hours chasing a puppy around the house, trying to answer the phone, etc. with oil running down my face. At the end of two hours, I combed three or four lice non-suffocated lice out of my hair. The next day I tried mayonnaise. On my daughters hair, I used globs of thick conditioner. Lice apparently do not need to breathe very often.

But what finally gets them is all the combing. We ordered a Lice Meister comb (a name so good, I could not possibly have made it up) and gradually combed all the baby, teenage and adult lice out of hair. Every day examined my childrens heads, the nurse examined them, my husband examined them and we all saw nothing. Yet we combed, there they were, wriggling in the tines.

Not anymore. Were done for the moment. Of course, well always have to keep checking now, because theyre much more prevalent than I had realized. The nurse said theyre common in Europe and no one seems to get upset over it. So if theyre common now, imagine how much more they were around in an age before we could wash their eggs out of pillow cases and vacuum them off the sofa. One thing is for sure-- in my future books, my characters will scratch their heads a lot more often.

Kate Dolan writes fiction and non-fiction on a variety of topics, but her great love is history, particularly early American history. She holds a law degree from the University of Richmond and an interdisciplinary degree from Catholic University and currently resides in a suburb of Baltimore, where she is ideally situated to drag her husband and children to an endless array of historical sites. You can learn about her books and read her "Living History" articles each month at http://www.katedolan.com

Finding Webkinz Charms can be tough. Stores everywhere are out of stock and show few signs of improving their in stock position anytime soon. So what does that mean for kids and parent looking for Webkinz Charms? It means that shopping online for Webkinz Charms may be the only option and even that one may be dried up.

What are Webkinz Charms? Webkinz Charms are quite simply similar to a bracelet and can also be work around the neck of someones Webkinz pet. So it serves as 2 functions jewelry for your child or jewelry for your child's Webkinz Plush animal. This makes webkinz charms a unique item that has never been released before. The ability to have the same jewelry spans child fantasies everywhere. This allows them to share a common beyond between master and owner or pet and owner.

There are 24 different webkinz charms that each display the image of a webkinz plush pet. The webkinz charm hangs around the neck of the webkinz pet as to symbolize what the pet is. These are rare items now days and kids everywhere who love and play webkinz are seeking them out. Webkinz Charms are following along the same pattern that the parent Webkinz has experienced. That means we'll see year long shortages of webkinz charms just as we saw shortages of webkinz pets earlier in the year.

As Christmas appoaches demand for webkinz Charms will probably sky rocket and the prices slowly increase before then. The best way to find Webkinz Charms is to get them now as waiting could result in the same fate as Webkinz Pets earlier this year and they'll hang the "out of Stock" sign everywhere. So finding your favoriteWebkinz Charms may be easy in a few weeks but by Christmas they will be rare.

mikey simms

Buy Webkinz Charms

One of Americas billionaires was recently asked the questions, How do you do it? What is your number one wealth building secret? Without even one second of hesitation he replied, find what it is that people need the most, and give it to them.

Remember taht statement. -- Give it to them.

There are literally hundreds of different ways to acquire real estate. In future articles, I will be sharing some of the many different innovative techniques used in creative real estate financing. In this article, were going to explore a very useful and profitable creative real estate financing technique commonly called Lease Purchase Options. For ease of explanation, we will refer to Lease Purchase Options as Lease Purchase.

What exactly is a Lease Purchase?

A Lease Purchase is a process where a rental agreement is combined with a purchase or an option contract. Price, length of contract, escrow instructions, rent credit and other pertinent terms are all negotiated in advance. This allows the tenant/buyer to have a defined percentage or dollar amount to be credited to a down payment or off of the total purchase price of the property when a payment is made.

First and foremost, you must know what needs, wants, and desires the right property will fulfill. It is obvious that those needs, wants, and desires will be the requirements of someone. That someone is the investor. It is the investor who establishes the value of any piece of property in the marketplace by his or her requirements.

A real estate investor always has only two considerations. Those two things are:

1. A return on investment or Profit. (also known as ROI)

2. A return of investment or Security.

Remember that no matter what the circumstances are surrounding an investment, these two considerations are always the same: some form of profit (i.e. dollars, property exchange or other goods and services, tax savings, personal use) and security, or an assurance that the original investment will remain intact and can be recovered.

The Lease Purchase, (also known as a lease option), has everything an investor needs to make a profitable investment in real estate. Utilizing small down payments of 1% to 2%, an investor can control properties that would usually require 10% to 30% down, without ever having to see a lender or go through the loan application process.

There are three different ways a good deal can generate profits.

1. Cash upfront with option consideration

2. Cash monthly in the form of rent

3. Cash at closing or a note

Other options involve flipping of the optioned property to a third party or just acting as a consultant for the buyer and seller, retaining a portion of the option agreement. Controlling properties by creating a lease purchase option is, by far, the best way to be involved in controlling homes and obtaining great cash flow, high profits and minimum risk. Lease Purchase may be the best way to create a quick cash flow for the first time homeowner or even the seasoned investor.

The key ingredients in putting together a profitable Lease Option are:

1. Finding a motivated seller

2. Determining what his Needs and Wants are and creating a win/win situation.

3. Finding a tenant/buyer

Question: Where do I find a Motivated Seller? Good question.

Remember a motivated sellers number one objective is to get rid of their property as soon as possible. A sellers motivation can come from many different situations:

Relocation job transfers

Financial difficulties

Death/divorce

Tennant problems

Change in family size

Building a new home

You need to determine what the sellers motivation is once you contact them. Often a seller is facing financial difficulties and at other times its just that he no longer wants to be bothered with the property because he now has other interests. Our first priority then in talking with the individual initially is to determine Wants versus Needs. Most motivated sellers fall in the Need category. Their situation may not be negative. In the above list there are some items that are very positive for the seller. But still it remains, that this property is no longer needed for whatever reason(s).

You can find these deals:

Looking in classified ads Homes for rent or lease or For sale by Owner ads. You can ask if they would be interested in giving an option to buy their property if you lease it from them.

Distributing flyers and/or mailers stating, I can buy or lease your home or I can buy or lease your home in 24 hours! Any size, any condition, any location. Call (your name) (000) 123-4567

Running an ad in your local paper stating you are looking to lease a home. You can ask if they would consider an option after the owner contacts you.)

Question: Where do I find tenant buyers?

Your tenant/buyer is someone who desperately wants his or her own home, but for one reason or another, getting bank financing will not work for them at the present time. They either have credit problems, dont have the large down payment necessary to qualify or they dont have a high enough income. You have the ability to give this person an opportunity to realize their dreams.

Run an ad such as this: Rent to Own. If you can rent you can own! Stop paying off your landlords mortgage! You can rent to own your own home even with poor credit! Call (your name) (000) 123-4567

Send mailers to occupants in neighboring apartment complexes asking if theyre tired of renting and if they would like to own their own homes.

Some benefits of a lease option for the Investor are:

1. You now control another persons asset. Youre in a position to make money on a property you dont even own.

2. Provides a positive cash flow opportunity.

3. You have no closing costs.

4. A Lease/Option agreement is a unilateral contract the seller must perform. You are not bound in any way. If the property should depreciate in value or some other catastrophic event occur, you can simply walk away.

5. You dont have tax or insurance costs.

6. You are buying the property tomorrow at todays prices.

7. Little or no money needed up front.

8. Very little management needed. Tenant/buyers take much pride in the property and therefore tend to keep it up and even improve upon it. Thats because they have an interest in owning it not just renting it.

About the Author

For More information and my own personal recommendations on the best
Creative Real Estate Financing courses, tools and resources check out
http://rodswebinfo.googlepages.com/recommends
Rodney Brooks is President and CEO of Brooks Global eBusiness Solutions.
Brooks Global eBusiness Solutions is headquartered in Bridgeton, New Jersey.
Rodney can be reached by email at: brooksglobal@yahoo.com

Last year, when I was visiting my sister-in-law, I noticed at breakfast the kids were eating breakfast cereal that was packaged in a plain, no frills, plastic bag. It had a small label on it with a barcode announcing the price and name. She commented that the cereal was half the price of the brand-name cereals and just as good.

Recently I visited her again and at breakfast the plastic-bag-cereal was replaced by a colorful breakfast cereal box, half the size and twice the price.

Why? I asked.

The kids complained that their friends were eating cereals that tasted better (sugar coated) and came in different colors, with kid-oriented messages and coupons on the boxes, she said. Im forced by their peer pressure to buy the more expensive cereal. Just like when I go to buy shoes for them. Theyll only wear certain brands!

PERSUASION

Youve been there. And its human nature. The ad hucksters have known this secret for a long time. No one likes to feel like a second class citizen. Each generation that comes along has been pressured (persuaded) to buy advertised products associated with whats in, tied into basic human needs.

As we learned in Psychology 101 from Abraham Maslov, these needs are: 1) Physiological: hunger, thirst, bodily comforts, etc.; 2) safety/security: out of danger; 3) Belongingness and Love: affiliate with others, be accepted; 4) Esteem: to achieve, be competent, gain approval and recognition; 5) Cognitive: to know, to understand, and explore; 6)Aesthetic: symmetry, order, and beauty; 7) Self-actualization: to find self-fulfillment and realize ones potential; and 8) Self-transcendence: to connect to something beyond the ego or to help others find self-fulfillment and realize their potential. It varies from time to time as to which of these prevail.

Children are always aiming to gain approval of their peers. Wearing the right footwear, eating the right cereals, makes them feel good and accepted. They seldom consider price, or value, first.

We adults are above this, right?

Well, reconsider. Would you buy gasoline from a service station that has no branded sign on its building? Would you buy clothing from a retail store that hasnt cleaned its store window in a year? On and on.

We are guided by what advertisers tell us to do. Well, most of us. You might be an exception, --the frugal person who thinks differently.

INFLUENCE

How does all this relate to your marketing efforts? Photobuyers are like you and me. They are influenced by the package.

Keep this in mind. You might have million-dollar-pictures, but if you are presenting them on a last-century website, calendar, sell sheet, or brochure, potential buyers will probably pass you on by. Search out your competitors websites. Does yours compare favorably? If not, consider a change.

PS: Ive noticed that generic cereals in plastic bags, at least here in Wisconsin and Florida, arent available on the shelves anymore in local super markets.

Rohn Engh is director of PhotoSource International and publisher of PhotoStockNotes. Pine Lake Farm, 1910 35th Road, Osceola, WI 54020 USA. Telephone: 1 800 624 0266 Fax: 1 715 248 7394. Web site: http://www.photosource.com/products

If you are doing renovations on a property in France, you should be aware of a tax concession which allows you to reduce the sales tax on materials from 19.6% to 5.5%, thereby saving you 14.1%. On small items this may not seem much, but if you were doing a major renovation of 50 000 euros on your French property, you would save about 7 000 euros simply by taking advantage of it.

Under French tax laws, sales tax (which is know as TVA in France) is 19.6% on most items, including material for work on your house (e.g. construction, renovation or redecoration). However, if the work is done by a professional, all materials supplied by him would be taxed at 5.5% instead of 19.6%. Consequently, rather than buy the materials and the services separately, there is a strong financial benefit to having the materials purchased under the business name of the professional doing the work.

The best way to do this is to first select the tradesman who will be doing the work and then to arrange for him to buy the materials required. When doing this, ensure that he does not include a mark-up for this. In fact, given his trade discount, he should charge the same or less for materials than if you were buying them. If he does not agree to this, ask him if you can pick up the materials, but under his business name. If he does not agree to this, think about finding someone else.

Note that this discount is available only if the work is done by a registered professional or business. The quickest way to check this is to ask for their business registration number (known in France as their SIRET number) and to see their SIRET registration document.

You should also confirm that the work is eligible for the reduced tax rate. Almost all renovation and redecoration work is eligible, subject to certain restrictions. One of these is that the property must be at least 2 years old. Another is that it must be a renovation, rather than a complete rebuild. The easiest way to confirm that you qualify is to discuss the work with your tradesman and have him provide an estimate (known in France as a devis) specifying a tax rate of 5.5%.

To summarise, there are 3 key activities: ensure your work is eligible for the reduced tax rate, ensure that your tradesmen are registered, ensure that materials are purchased at cost under the business name of the tradesmen. You will then have secured the lower tax rate.

It is also worthwhile noting that this saving is worthwhile even on small projects. For example, if you bought a radiator for 200 euros and installed it yourself, the total cost would be 239.20 euros (200 euros, plus tax of 19.6 percent). However, if you hired a plumber for 25 euros to install it for you, the total cost would only be 237.38 euros (200 euros, plus 25 euros, plus tax of 5.5%). So it would be cheaper to hire a professional to do the work than to do it yourself.

FPSI French Property provides unique content on France and French property. For related information, visit our web site at http://www.france-property-and-information.com If you would like free unique content for your web site (subject to inclusion of copyright statement and link), please contact us.

The typical male closet varies greatly from the typical female one. The types and sizes of items needing organization, such as ties, belts, and slacks present men with different closet storage needs than females. The approach to an organized closet involves first removing all items from the closet to assess which are worth organizing and which are beyond usability and need to be donated or thrown away. Here we examine some solutions for organizing the items that are often unorganized or strewn about in mens closets:

-Clothes: Mens wardrobes often consist of a hodgepodge of pants, dress shirts, suits, blazers and casual attire arranged in no particular way. Having both an upper and a lower clothes hanging rod is a good strategy, since the lengths among different types of male clothing tend to be similar. Establish order by grouping clothes in categories, such as slacks together, similar shirts together, and so on. To protect the shape of garments and maintain an orderly appearance, button as least the top button of button down shirts and use matching hangers.

-Shoes: Though females are notorious for having an abundance of shoes, many men have their own vast collections, spanning from flip flops to tennis shoes to dress shoes. Shoes can be organized in numerous ways, on a shelf above hanging clothes, an over the door shoe organizer or low stackable shelves, to name a few. The key to remember is that you must create enough storage space to hold all of the shoes you own. Even one stray pair without a place can lead to abandoning your organization scheme in the future.

-Ties: Ties are the seemingly insignificant accessories that are often overlooked in closet organization. But any item that can create clutter needs a permanent place, and ties are no exception. Tie racks are excellent for organization purposes, but also keep ties from creasing while simplifying the process of selecting a tie.

-Belts: Like ties, belts need a belt rack or other logical means of storage. Leaving belts in pants is not a good idea for organization, as they are not easy to find and can cause pants to lose their shape. One option is to invest in a combination belt and tie rack, which keeps accessories together and streamlines the selection process.

-Miscellaneous items: Most men have more than just the items in the categories above stored in their closets. Think about the other closets and storage areas throughout your home that may provide alternative storage for items that do not necessarily need to be stored in the bedroom. Regardless of which space you use, just make sure to create a permanent place for everything.

Once your closet is neatly organized, you are ready for the hard part keeping it that way! Develop good habits of returning items to their designated spaces, to prevent going through this process again all too soon.

About the Author: Stephen Nickse is the founder of Closet Solutions, a leading provider of quality Boston custom closets, strategically headquartered in the nation's design capitol, Boston, Ma. For more information, please visit http://www.closet-solutions.com

The Incas regarded coca as the divine plant mainly because of its property of imparting endurance, nevertheless its use was entwined with every aspect of life; the art, mythology, culture and economy of the Inca Empire.

Millions of Indians have chewed coca on a daily basis for many hundreds of years, yet never has a plant been so misrepresented and its use so controlled by prejudice and ignorance, including up to the present day. The Conquistadors considered it an idle and offensive habit to be prohibited, but it was soon seen that the Indians could not work without coca even when forced to do so.

The coca leaf has been sacred to Andean people since the dawn of pre-Colombian civilization. Doris Rivera Lenz, a renowned Andean Ceremonialist, healer, and Coca leaf Diviner, when asked about the source of the information she divines from them, she says:

"They give me such a powerful awareness it is as though an energy comes into me from just touching them. I invoke Mother Nature and the spirit of the coca, and with just seven leaves, the answer comes, as though through an open doorway."

Healing
An ancient method of diagnosing illness, still common in Peru, is to rub an egg over the body of the patient. Doris is gifted in this tradition and prescribes remedies which include medicinal herbs.

Much Andean wisdom is based on observation of nature, noting for example, that if the ducks go round in circles, there will be long rains, etc... Involvement with nature prevents the mind from becoming mechanical, can see that it is constantly nurturing us and helping us to grow.

The ofrenda
An 'ofrenda' is the most important ceremony used by Andean Indians to relate with Mother Earth. The ofrenda is a symbol of reciprocity with nature and its purpose is to teach us to reproduce this attitude. Through it we speak back to nature saying we understand the message and concord.

The ofrenda which is also known in Spanish as a 'pago', is not a 'payment' to nature as the Conquistadores saw it, implying a sinister pact with nature spirits. Additionally, they accused the Indians of being miserly because they preferred to pay symbolically rather than with real money!

An ofrenda is an expression of gratitude, not of debt or obligation.
Neither is it selfish to want things for ourselves as some people see it even today. It is true that urban people in Peru have started to make ofrendas for reasons such as wanting their businesses to flourish, but good business can equally imply good health, and harmony to the community and for the natural world.

In an Andean community realities are closer to earth than they are in the city, it is more important that the cattle do not die than to have more private possessions. Hence in the country there is a better understanding of the shamanic meaning of the ceremony, the re-establishing of relationship to nature. This is why we need a little preparation so that an ofrenda can work for us too.

Pachacuti

We live in a time of the fulfilment of an ancient Inca prophecy. This is the time of the new Pachacuti, a great change bringing with it a new relating to the Earth (Pachamama). Each Pachacuti is a era of time about 500 years. The last Pachacuti occurred with the Conquest in the early 16th century, and the Qero (Inca) priests have been waiting ever since for the next era, when order would start to emerge from chaos. The current Pachacuti refers to the end of time as we understand it, the end or death of a way of thinking and a way of being. A new relationship with the living Earth, and an emergence into a golden age of peace. There are many indications that changes in human consciousness are taking place, yet there is still a long way to go. It is part of Doriss vision to show us traditional ways that we can re-engage with the sacredness of life and the Earth so we too can more fully participate in the new Pachacuti.

Howard G. Charing, is an accomplished international workshop leader on shamanism. He has worked some of the most respected and extraordinary shamans & healers in the Andes, the Amazon Rainforest, and the Philippines. He organises specialist retreats to the Amazon Rainforest at the dedicated centre located in the Mishana nature reserve. He is the author of the best selling book, Plant Spirit Shamanism (Destiny Books USA), and has published numerous articles about plant medicines. He was baptised into the Shipibo tribe of the Upper Amazon, and initiated into the lineage of the shamans of the Rio Napo. Howard is also an artist who's paintings have featured in major exhibitions in London and elsewhere. His artwork has also been featured on book covers.

His website: http://www.shamanism.co.uk
email contact: eagleswing@shamanism.co.uk