Open Journalism For All - News, Documentaries And Information Services

Perfect for lunch or brunch

4 English muffins, halved

1/2 cup (120ml) Summersweet Crab and Three Cheese Dip

fine bread crumbs

parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Green onions, finely diced for garnish

Preheat the oven to 325F (170C). Arrange the English muffin halves on a baking sheet. Spread one tablespoon (15ml) of Summersweet Crab and Three Cheese Dip on top of each half. Sprinkle generously with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven & let cool slightly and top with green onions. Serve.

Serves 4

- News Canada

About the Author

News Canada provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web.

News Canada is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial “fill” items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit News Canada and learn more about the NC services.

Magic tricks have been around for centuries and are practiced in
every society. They are among the most popular past times both
for children and adult.

Tricks may make use of materials or objects such as coins,
cards, tables, game cards, and number tricks but the one that
remains to be the most popular among children and the one that
is first learned by a beginner is the handkerchief.

Linen or Silk?

Tricks using a handkerchief can be either performed in whatever
material it was made of. However, the type of tricks to be
performed determines the type of handkerchief you are to use.

For knots and similar activities, a silk handkerchief is chiefly
used because they slide quickly in the process of tying up.
Other magic tricks using a handkerchief requires a hard material
like linen as in the case of bringing about a hypnotized effect
on a handkerchief.

Below are just some of the most common magic tricks that involve
the use of handkerchief together with explanations on how magic
works.

- Standing Handkerchief - This type of magic trick makes use of
a hemmed linen handkerchief which is ironed to make it even more
stiff. This very same stiffness determines the success for this
performance.

The handkerchief is taken folded from somewhere and spread on
the table. The magician picks it up on the centerfold and raises
it up in the air until it takes the shape of a small tent.

He will do the usual mystic hand pass while putting the
handkerchief in an upright position. The hanky will stay upright
as predicted as if it was put on a spell.

- Detachable Thumb - In this trick, you will need both a hanky
and a piece of carrot. The carrot should be cut in a way that
resembles your thumb. It should be as small and has the same
thickness as your finger.

Partly cover your hand and parts of your thumb finger with the
hanky. You will need both sleight of hand and dexterity in this
kind of activity. Quickness is the rule of the game in order not
to spoil the trick.

Place the carrot in the same position as your thumb showing only
that portion while covered with handkerchief. Patter a little
bit with your audience describing how you have been feeling
about your finger since you accidentally hurt it.

Ask one to participate to do the inspection and possible
massaging for them. The moment they hold the carrot, release it
and act like you were surprised.

- Handkerchief That Changes Color - Apparently, this is one of
the simplest magic trick usually done by magicians in terms of
minimal effect on the audience but one of the most difficult
when it comes to preparation and production.

The magician will show the audience a hanky and toss it around,
up and down, right and left, and changes color along the way.
The hanky does not actually changes its color since the magician
is holding not one, but two hankie!

As the hankie is tossed up and down, he makes it a point to
reverse the position of the topmost hankie so that the one in
the bottom with a different color is showed up and the hankie
apparently changes color.

This quite a difficult thing to do for many suspecting audience
are trying to find out if you got several hankie at hand. This
requires swiftness in the movement of your hand and making sure
that the hankies you are holding do not move independently of
one another.

Tips on Performing Handkerchief Tricks

- Be swift - Try to be mindful of astute members of the audience
at all times. Even the most seemingly attentive spectator are
keen enough even the most slightest mistake made along the
process of performing your tricks thereby spoiling it.

- Mouth Shut - Secrecy is the basic rule that magicians should
keep in mind. Blabbing about the secret of your tricks makes it
even less appealing to onlookers. Allow the audience to make
their own guesses and find it out in their own way. In short,
keep them mystified.

- Practice! Although practice may not help you master all the
skills needed for a certain trick, constant and intense practice
helps and keep you on the right track.

Additionally, convey a feeling of excitement and enthusiasm in
what you are doing for it helps you connect with the audience
and infect them with your attitude along the way.

One of the most commonly overlooked aspects of wedding speech
preparation is analyzing the audience. Professional speakers
will tell you that they generally spend a good portion of their
preparation time trying to understand who will be listening to
them speak. The reason they do this is that having information
about your audience is a valuable asset when you begin writing
your speech. An audience analysis will tell you what to put in
and what to leave out. Other factors related to the audience
will give you an idea of how to effectively deliver your speech.
In this article, we’ll explore why audience information is so
important and how that information can help you create an
excellent speech.

Why Audience Information is Necessary for the Wedding Speech

First, let me eliminate one misconception you might have about
your audience. Some wedding speakers falsely believe that their
main audience is just the bride and groom. That’s not the case.
Your speech is actually being delivered to the entire wedding
party and all of the wedding guests. You don’t want to forget
those other people because their impression of your speech could
also influence its reception by the bride and groom.

For example, let’s say you chose to include an adult joke in
the speech because you know the groom would find it funny.
You’ve forgotten that his mother and grandmother are also in the
audience and didn’t find it amusing at all, especially since
many of their older friends were in attendance. Even though the
groom may very well have loved your speech, he may not have
liked the lecture he got from his mother because of it.

You want to prevent problems that from arising. For that
reason, you need to keep your speech audience-centered which
means that as you are planning and preparing your speech, you
are keeping the audience at the forefront of your mind. It means
that when you make decisions related to your speech, you do so
by thinking about how the audience would react, not just what
you would prefer or what you think the newly married couple
would prefer.

Before you start throwing up your hands and saying the speech
isn’t worth all this trouble, let me just remind you that this
is nothing different than what you do in daily conversations
already. When you talk to friends or co-workers, you do so by
taking into consideration their beliefs and feelings. Unless you
were extremely insensitive, you wouldn’t tell a friend who
supports animal rights that you took a gun and killed a squirrel
just for fun, for example. The reason is known as identification.

Identification is “a process in which speakers seek to create a
bond with the audience by emphasizing common values, goals, and
experiences.” More simply put: when you are speaking to one or
one hundred people you want to find some way of relating to them
so that they’ll be more receptive to your speech. It also means
that you’ll do your best not to say or do anything that would
offend a large portion of your audience, unless your purpose is
to shock them which is never a good idea in a wedding speech.

As I explained already, you use identification every day as you
communicate with the various people in your life. The only
difference is that you normally aren’t even aware that you’re
doing it. When you are planning the wedding speech, however, you
have to be aware of it and focus on it.

One last thing that you need to realize about audiences is that
they are, by nature, egocentric. Egocentric simply means that
they are focused on what concerns them most. Wedding Speeches
bore them unless the content affects them directly.

I’m telling you this not to scare you with the idea that all of
your audience is going to be bored by your speech but to
encourage you to include everyone in your speech in some way.

Wedding guests are typically divided up into three main groups:
family members, friends, and co-workers. If you include a
mention of these groups in your speech, then you are more likely
to keep their attention. You might say for example, “Sherri and
Kevin are blessed to be here in the presence of so many of their
most treasured friends. I know I speak for them when I say we
are thankful to have all of you here to help us celebrate this
wonderful event.”

The audience’s egocentrism is also one reason why so many
speakers resort to humor when it comes to wedding speeches. When
you add jokes or tell funny stories about the bride and groom,
the audience knows instinctively that you have put those
elements into your speech for their benefit. You’re trying to
entertain them and, if your humor is appropriate and effective,
they will respond in a positive manner to your attempts. Keep in
mind, however, that humor is not something everyone can do.

Is putting the audience to sleep a mistake…or a blessing?
Award-winning filmmaker sets new screenwriters and directors
straight.

1. Contrary to current belief, keeping the audience awake is the
biggest mistake a first time filmmaker can make. If viewers are
asleep, they will never notice your other mistakes.

2. Waiting to get famous till after your movie is made is
another error common among those new to the medium. Why do
people pay to see and hear Jessica Simpson (this goes double for
Ashlee)? Because they’re already famous. While having people
actually see your work is not advisable, you still want them to
buy tickets or DVDs, and they are more likely to do that if they
feel they already know you. Consider inviting hundreds to your
wedding, then escape just before The Big Day and make up a story
about being kidnapped.

3. Almost as devastating to your new career as the first two
mistakes is not knowing when you’re done putting your film
together. While having a feature to your credit can be a career
maker, don’t spend the rest of your life perfecting it.
Remember, the audience will not be awake and so will not be as
critical as you are.

4. Most new filmmakers try to get their movie seen. Big mistake.
Smart new filmmakers try to get their movie heard of. Hollywood
big shots who hear of your movie may well sign you to a three
picture deal. Hollywood big shots who actually see your movie
are more likely pass in favor of an American Idol loser who says
he had sex with Paula Abdul.

5. Expecting to make your money back on your first film is the
least of the five biggest mistakes new filmmakers make because
you’re not going to max out ten credit cards just because you
read that Robert Townsend did it and his movie made
millions…are you? I mean…are you?

Unlike advice by filmmaking gurus, which has to be padded to
fill 200 pages and make claims that help sell books, this
no-nonsense list by award-winning filmmaker and 1,052,569th top
Amazon.com contributor Sondra Lowell can be trusted. Sondra’s
first film, WebcamMurder.com, is the first officially sanctioned
digital feature in the Film Sleepy genre, the category that puts
the audience to sleep.

To learn more about how to avoid first time filmmaker traps,
visit Sondra’s guide, So
You’d Like to Avoid the Five Biggest Mistakes Made by First Time
Filmmakers.

For specifics on how to get heard of, don’t miss So
You’d Like to Get Famous on Amazon.com.

If this list has made you think twice about pursuing a
filmmaking career and you’re looking into something more stable,
read the definitive guide to careers in tap dancing newscasting,
So
You’d Like to Tap Dance the News.

We all know the feeling of terror when we take the stage. That
hyper-aware place where your thoughts become jumbled, your voice
quavers and your palms sweat. If you say, “Oh, not me! I never
get stage fright” I say you’re lying or you’ve never been on
stage. Performers in general and musicians in particular are
insecure by nature. That’s why we seek the spotlight in the
first place, to gain validation from others. Don’t worry, it
doesn’t have to paralyze your performance or worse, keep you
from performing at all. You may not be able to banish it
completely, and you may not want to as it can be used to your
advantage. Read on McDuff and I’ll pass along the words of
wisdom I’ve absorbed in my years of dealing with stage fright
and discussing it with other professional musicians.

MENTAL IMAGERY The very first line of defense against stage
fright is using your own mind to blunt it’s impact through
mental imagery. Remember what that last audience looked like the
last time stage fright negatively affected your performance? Now
change that picture in your mind. Imagine those scary people all
in their underwear. Briefs and boxers with little pink cupids
and superman underoos. They look rediculous don’t they? The more
rediculous the better. They don’t seem all that threatening any
more do they? The next gig you play, just as you’re about to
play, take a look at the audience and choose their mental
underwear. Then close your eyes for a moment and really try to
form the mental picture. They may wonder what the hell you’re
laughing about but they’re not going to seem very threatening.
PREPARATION Be prepared and you will not feel so insecure.
Practice, practice, practice. Know your parts before you get to
rehearsal and use the time in rehearsal to fit the parts
together. That’s what rehearsal is for. Take a few minutes
before the show to run over the first few numbers in your head
or on your instrument quietly, preferably in private. Once you
have the momentum going by playing a couple very well prepared
songs, the rest of the show is a piece of cake. You’ll have the
confidence borne of success to carry you through the rest of the
evening. MEDITATION OR DEEP BREATHING EXERCISES Try this little
exercise for relieving stress. Take a slow, deep breath through
your mouth. Really fill those lungs up. Hold it just for a half
a second and breathe out through your nose very slowly until
your lungs empty. Repeat this a few times. Don’t you just feel
the stress ebb away? Your perception becomes clear. You become
calm and centered. You’ve just increased the oxygen level in
your brain, increasing it’s power and clarity. Feels good,
doesn’t it? MANTRA Oh Mantra sounds like a mystical word doesn’t
it? It’s just a phrase that you repeat over and over. With each
repetition, you believe it more. You can make up your own but,
as goofy as they sound, here’s some I’ve used that worked for
me. “I’m a musician and you’re just regular people. You wish you
were me.” “Tonight is the night of my best performance ever”
“Damn, I’m good!” “Every female in the house wants me” “You look
pretty stupid in your underwear” Okay, I made the last one up on
the spot but you get the idea. Take a self-affirming thought,
turn it into a phrase and repeat it over and over in your mind.
BE ON TIME AND INSIST YOUR BANDMATES DO THE SAME Feeling frantic
trying to get set up in a hurry, starting the show without a
sound check, having the club owner watching you get ready to
play, etc. These add an enormous amount of stress to the
beginning of your show. If you have a bandmate that constantly
shows up at the last minute or late, fire him and replace him.
This person is no pro and he’ll drag you down. If you are always
late, shame on you! Buy a watch. Leave your house an hour early.
Grow up, there are other people’s reputations depending on you.
I make it a point to be the first person to arrive at a
venue.but I don’t go inside until the second person shows up.
That way I don’t feel nervous in an unfamiliar place with only
strangers around me. DRINK WATER No alcohol before the third
set. (or none at all ) And no pot smoking, it makes you
paranoid. Save it for after the show if you must partake.
ESTABLISH A PRE-SHOW RITUAL Rituals are comforting. They make
you feel comfortable in a place and in your mental space. I
insist that set up be done 15 minutes minimum before show time
including all sound checks. This 15 minutes is mine and I suffer
no interruptions. I go to the dressing room or my car and do
deep breathing 5 X. I then run over the first two songs in my
head. I then do my mantra. At 5 minutes before the show I grab a
bottle of water, hit the bathroom and splash my face. I time my
arrival to exactly show time and count down or cue the first
song. No talking, no intro, just go. The goofy people in their
underwear KNOW you’re a professional, there to entertain them.
USE THE EVIL POWER FOR GOOD I briefly mentioned the
“hyper-aware” state that stage fright can induce. This is your
naturally occuring “fight or flee” response to a situation you
percieve as dangerous. Your perceptions are heightened, you hear
better, you see better…you can perform better. By the way,
it’s not really dangerous on-stage. I’ve played some of the
roughest bars and biker clubhouses around and the only time an
audience member has physically attacked me is when they were an
angry husband or boyfriend trying to keep me from taking their
woman away from them. Just see who’s with that total babe before
you hit on her too hard and you’re safe. SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP
If nothing else works, see a counselor or doctor. There are many
therapies and medications that can help with extreme stage
fright. I’ve heard of many performers who take beta-blocking
drugs and swear they do wonders. Don’t let your musical talent
be stifled.

Storefront rentals had been to be the only dominating market for
12+ years now when you wanted to rent video games, ever since
the conception of the VCR. Many businesses have taken their
company online due to the fact that startup costs are remarkably
lower compared to storefront costs and they can virtually expand
their business to an entire nation or worldwide within a few
short months. Why not expand the same concept for movies and
game rentals? It was only a matter of time. Depending on where
you live and the geographics of that area, I can definately say
that this will cause a great influence on where you choose to
rent video games. Many rental companies can be found within a
few miles of your home, but others are found at distances that
you may not want to particularly travel everytime you need to
return a game.

Fast and reliable service is a huge factor for most people
living in the information age. Everything has to be now and fast
these days. So lets look at a few factors that will help you
make your decision a little easier. Convienance, games in stock,
game formats, availability , pricing, and customer service are
the general factors we take into consideration for any movie or
game rental company. Lets look at each one: CONVIENANCE- If you
live in a rural location, then, online game rentals is without a
doubt your best bet. To travel anymore than 8 miles out of your
way to rent anything is more than most people have time for.
Being able to recieve your rentals at your doorstep, in the
country, is a huge benefit to online game rentals.

If you live in more a a urban or suburban neighborhood, then
locations of your nearest branch will determine this for you,
but you can never truly beat games delivered to your front door
everyday, even if you have one mile to travel. Being able to
pickup your game in your pajamas or bath robe without getting
dressed to go to your local store is laziness and convienance at
its best. WINNER: ONLINE RENTALS!

GAMES IN STOCK - This can vary from store to store, but for the
most part they are all about the same. Most larger stores
(Hollywood Video and Blockbuster) can carry a stock of 50-100
games at a time. This number doesnt even come close to the stock
of games that are carried by online rental clubs. We are looking
at 2000 games at the very lowest on up to 3500 + games at the
high end of the table. You are also more likely to find more
older and newer games available to rent at anytime. WINNER:
ONLINE RENTALS!

AVAILABILITY- I’ve never really felt like i’ve had too much of a
choice when it comes to renting at stores. It was more of a
deduction of what was left to choose from at the time you made
it there. When it comes to online rentals, you can practically
play any game that you ever wanted to play at anytime. There, of
coarse are a few games from time to time that you may have a
short wait attached, but during those times, you will easily be
able to choose another game from the thousands listed. Once that
particular sought after game is available, you will know about
it whenever you log into your account, instantly. WINNER: ONLINE
RENTALS!

GAMES FORMATS- Even though I have always thought that having
PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube games available was quite a selection at
the local rental stores, I didnt even know how good it could get
until online rentals introduced their selection. Not only does
online rentals contain the 3 major consoles, but they also have
such portable game rentals as Gameboy Advance, PSP, and Nintendo
DS. Many of the larger online stores are offering XBOX 360 and
PS3 games as well for the next generation as soon as the
consoles come out. WINNER: ONLINE RENTALS!

PRICING- Renting games has always been somewhat cheap ($5-$8),
but it can definately add up depending on your rental frequency.
If you are renting more than 5-6 a month, on top of late fees,
which is bound to happen from time to time, then you may be
out-of-pocket sooner than expected. Online rentals make it easy
for you. Rent X amount of games and keep them as long as you
want for only X amount. Game prices fluctuate from game plan to
plan, but these prices are still far more lower than you’ll ever
find at your local store. Check out the pricing here. WINNER:
ONLINE RENTALS!

CUSTOMER SERVICE- Waiting in lines and dealing with crowds and
irritable employees to rent video games is enough to drive
anyone mad. This in itself can make you not want to deal with
your local rental store at any cost. On the other hand, online
rentals do not have lines, crowded stores, or irritable
employees to deal with, so that experience is elminated
altogether! Just select a movie from your browser and wait 1-3
business days for delivery and thats it. If you ever have
troubles or problems with recieving or returning games, email
customer service and your inquiry will be returned within 24
hours. Some of these online rental companies even have phone
support! WINNER: ONLINE RENTALS!

For Expert Reviews on Video Game Rental Clubs located all over
the US, visit us at http://www.GameRentalGuide.com/reviews.htm

Brent L. Damkier, (pronounced Dam-key-r) handsome lyric tenor at the Regensburg Opera, is best known for his recent roles as Prince Tamino in The Magic Flute and Prince Ramiro in Cinderella.

Eine Nacht in Venedig, (A Night in Venice) by Strauss premiered on October 23, 2004. Damkier plays the roll of Pappacoda, a Spaghetti cook. It is a tremendous comic roll and Damkier usually receives the most applause even through it is a smaller singing role. This is the remaining performance.

Just 75 miles (120 kilometers) out of Munich is the historic German town of Regensburg. Just off the Danube River, nestled in the heart of a charming old town square is an intimate 380 year-old opera house seating 524 dedicated patrons and international guests; it is home to the leading tenor.

Damkier, who has performed throughout Europe, thrills audiences, with his sweet interpretation and punctuated tenor dexterity. From character parts, to the male ingénue, to the leading man, Damkier is bridging his operating roots to a U.S. tour in 2006 which will cross-over to a cabaret format broadening his audience and fan club. One of the recital performances in early 2006 will be recorded and distributed for wide release.

The youthful face looks to be fresh out of high school having originally hailed from Northern California, yet is the face, voice, and actor of a well-trained virtuoso in his thirties. Six years ago without any training in German, the nearly six-foot tall, handsome, golden-eyed, fair-skinned performer headed for Germany to hone his craft on the stages of several smaller opera companies. According to producer and promoter TR Cutler, Damkier will make his recital debut in South Florida.

Visit Brent L. Damkier at www.brentdamkier.com or email e-mail e-mail protected from spam bots

###

About the Author

None

In the world of music, many Jazz improvisers and Classical composers eventually venture into exploring poly-harmony within their respective art form. Poly harmony is the simultaneous sounding of more than one harmonic concept. The preponderance with poly-harmony began the late 19th-early 20th centuries with classical composers as Stravinsky and Debussy. About sixty years later, jazz musicians as John Coltrane and Richie Bierach incorporated such ideas into their music. The benefits of learning poly-chords will enhance an improviser’s repertoire of harmonic concepts. Thus they can create harmonic colorings that can influence a listener’s outlook. This article will focus on how once can practice and incorporate tertian polychords into their improvisational styles. Many of the examples and references within this article will make use of the seventh chord and triad. One should to explore other tertian harmonies such as ninths, elevenths, and all other similar formulations.

Tertian harmony is harmony that spaces its notes a third a part from other notes. Additionally, tertian harmony includes the harmonic inversion of thirds. Before one begins their exploration into poly-chords, one should be familiar with tertian harmony in its simplest terms of inversions and through a few applied patterns. From this understanding of tertian harmony through inversions and patterns and after one has accomplished or, in the least, feels comfortable with tertian harmony, one should then attempt to combine more than one chord.

The first step in gaining an understanding tertian ploychords is to write triads and 7th chords in a formulaic fashion. For example, begin by writing each major chord a major second apart (i.e. Cmaj-Dmaj, Ebmaj-Fmaj, etc.) After writing these series of chords, write out triads that are minor third apart. For example: Ebmaj-Gbmaj, Amaj-Cmaj, and all other similar progressions. As one can see from the two previous examples, one should continue this process until one has exhausted all the permutations of the triad progression. In a similar fashion, one should continue this writing exercise with seventh chords. The purpose to this writing exercise is for the musician/composer to develop a visual and intellectual connection to the concepts that they will use in a open/free musical environment.

To continue with this process of learning tertian polychords, the next step, after one has learned by rote and memorized the permutations, is to apply their understanding of poly chords to an improvisation setting. Before one begins improvising with other musicians, one should improvise alone. This will familiarize oneself with the polychords without the aid of written materials. One should strive, during this stage, to improvise with polychords without much thought. Other permutations on this stage include the improvising within a strict harmonic setting. For example, one can improvise on chords that are a minor third apart. Similarly, one can improvise on a series of polychords.

In the last stage of development, one should perform with other musicians and observe how polychords affect other musicians playing and one’s performance. During this stage, one should apply their polychord knowledge towards Jazz standards, modal tunes, or atonal standards. Each form of Jazz standard offers its own rewards and challenges. Due to the pros and cons of each form of standard, the outcome will greatly differ. In addition to performing Jazz standards, one should attempt create their original composition with polychords. Furthermore, one should attempt to re-harmonize a Jazz standard with their new understanding of polychords.

In the end, this article focused primarily on the practicing and application seventh chords and triads in a polychordal environment. One can venture into larger tertian harmonies or into other harmonic formulations, such as segundel, quartal, quintal, and all other similar formulations. During one’s venture into other tertian or non-tertian formulations, one should observe the impact polychords have on one’s and other performances. As a reminder to one’s practicing of polychords, for one to be successful at polychords, one should remain diligent in their practice and application of tertian polychords. The process of learning polychords can be tedious, but in the long run, the rewards are greater than not learning this harmonic concept. In the next article on polychords, polychord progressions and its application to composition will be discussed.

About the Author

Andrew Hanna is the CEO & Production Manager of At Hand Productions, Inc. At Hand Productions is a leading Philadelphia concert and theatrical production company. Andrew Hanna has 20 years of composition experience and 16 years of performance experience. His compositions range from duets to large theatrical productions such as My Journal, Requiem for the Now, and Prophecies of War.

Stud poker is poker in which the first round of cards, and often the last, is dealt face down and the others face up. 7 card stud poker is a variant of this, which has become more popular since the American Civil War.

With 7 card stud poker the dealer starts by dealing each player a combination of a face up and a face down card, the online poker games played at virtual casinos normally consist of between 4 and 8 players.

Once the first wager goes into the pot, each player in turn can either fold, call, or raise (and eventually re-raise if there’s a raise beforehand). As is good virtual casino etiquette try not to bet out of turn since this not only disrupts the flow of the game but it will also give away important information about your poker hand.

Read more:7-card Stud Poker

About the Author

Chen Ching-feng is a successful writer and online gambling expert

providing valuable tips and advice for those interested in 7-card stud poker, poker tournaments, and online poker rooms.

His numerous articles found on virtual casino web ,provide useful and factual gambling information and insight.

I’M NOT JUST A HAIRDRESSER A FOUR PART DOCUMENTARY SERIES TO:
UPLIFT THE SPIRIT AND IMAGE OF OUR INDUSTRY.

New York City 24th July 2005

I’m Not Just a Hairdresser is a four-part exploration of the
hairdresser’s world, from the classrooms where great teachers
inspire the artists of the future to the salons of celebrity
style makers like Vidal Sassoon and Trevor Sorbie. Produced and
directed by Vivienne Mackinder and Aldo Belkouar, this
insightful documentary series takes viewers behind the glamorous
facade, tracing the triumphs and pitfalls, the pride and the
passion of the hairdressing life. In doing so, it aims to
inspire a new generation of professionals, reinvigorate the
seasoned stylist, and restore a little self-respect to an
industry that has taken its share of criticism over the years.
Hairdressers are an integral yet unsung part of the fashion
world, contributing creativity and vigor to a business that is a
triumph of collaboration. This is their story.

The first film in the series is The Legends, featuring in-depth
interviews with the likes of Vidal Sassoon, Trevor Sorbie and
Robert Lobetta, who discuss the joys and challenges of being a
trendsetter. These icons have changed the face of hairdressing,
impacting fashion trends over the past 50 years, and changing
attitudes to beauty around the globe. Their stories are
humorous, insightful and emotionally provocative, but provide
ample reason to believe that, with talent, luck and hard work,
we can all realize our dreams.

Part 2- Empires stars Horst Rechelbacher, Frederic Fekkai and
Anthony Mascolo. These entrepreneurs, turned self-made
millionaires share their stories of their climb to the top.
Success, as this film demonstrates, does not always come easy.
But where failure shadowed their progress, they invariably beat
it back and emerged from the experience stronger and more
determined than ever to attain their goals.

— more —

Part 3- The Stars Behind the Chair, takes you into the very
heart of the industry. You will see how hairdressing schools,
shows and salons are changing lives one day at a time. The
educators here are not only luminous artists, but also
entertainers and motivational leaders presenting around the
world. In the salon, the commercial artist is hand crafting
beauty one head at a time. The stylist is creating an
environment for well-being and self-esteem, with the ultimate
goal of creating inner and outer beauty. An intimate, inspiring
look at the contribution hairdressers make to the world around
them.

Part 4- Glamour & Glitz features editorial and freelance artists
working on fashion shows, fashion editorials, award shows, music
videos, television, cinema and theatre. Every one of these
fields would be underdressed without the talent of the
hairdressers working behind the scenes.

Vivienne Mackinder Executive Producer of the Film series - I’m
not just a hairdresser, and industry legend a 4-time winner of
the North American Hairdressing Awards.

Aldo Belkouar Director of Legends is an internationally renowned
fashion photographer and journalist. Together the two comprise
Viv-Aldo Productions.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Movement of the
Heart. A non-profit organization www.movementoftheheart.org

Contact:

Vivienne Mackinder Mackinder, Inc. PO Box 2307, Aquebogue, NY
11931. 516.810.0083 email: vivienne@mackinder.com For product
information and a trailer: www.imnotjustahairdresser.org

###