Guide: Learning Guitar.

Learning to Play the Guitar

Learning to play guitar takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Many people attempt it, but get discouraged and give up when they don't succeed. This is my guide to learning how to play the guitar successfully.

Things you will need:

A Guitar.

 I would recommend borrowing a friends guitar before purchasing your own. This way you will know if you are ready to invest the time (a lot) and effort needed to learn the guitar, without fully committing to buying one. If you purchase a guitar and find it to be too difficult, lose interest or abandon learning how to play it for any reason, you will be out $50-$200.

Free Time.

Learning to play the guitar takes a lot of practice, so your going to need to have some free time to practice. Playing for as little as 15 minutes per day can help you improve substantially.

Patience.

Learning to play the guitar can be very frustrating, and can sometimes seem impossible. Its going to take some patience to make it through the tough times when you can't seem to get it right.

Work Ethic.

Practicing regularly is crucial to learning anything, especially guitar. Keep at it!

A Teacher.

Lessons from a professional, friend, online video or other means will help you progress much faster than trying to tackle everything on your own with no direction.

These are some of the things you will need when setting out to learn the guitar, it might be a tough journey but you will definitely find it to be rewarding. Follow this list and you should be on your way to becoming the next Jimi Hendrix.

Photo Credit: Dodge & Burn

Chernobyl Today: A Creepy Story told in Pictures

Today I came across this blog site, where a blogger, who goes by the name Village Mayor,  posted a very creepy yet amazing post about Chernobyl, titled 'Chernobyl Today: A Creepy Story told in Pictures', and what it looks like today. Each picture has a little information regarding what the image was about, and what happened when the disaster struck. The Chernobyl disaster occurred back in 1986 in Ukraine. It was a massive nuclear plant accident, where one of the reactors failed, and led to a series of explosions. This disaster has made the area around Chernobyl uninhabitable, and scientists believe that it will not be inhabitable for another 20,000 years. 

Village Mayor put together a series of photos by different people who have had the opportunity to tour the deserted area, 20 years after the disaster. Radiation levels have since decreased, and it is safe to go near Chernobyl in certain areas for the day. Since 2000, tour programs have been offered. Many of these images consist of old buildings such as schools. I think this experience would be amazing. Would you go visit this area if you were being given the opportunity? 

(Image credits:Vivo (Ben) via: BoredPanda)

(Image credits:misterbisson via: BoredPanda)

(Image credits:Pedro Moura Pinheiro via: BoredPanda)

Song Meaning

Song Meaning

"Shake Me Down"

by Cage the Elephant 

The Lyrics

Some songs are made without meaning, written to be catchy without much lyrical content. Other songs like "Shake Me Down" not only sound great but have a story and/or deeper meaning in the lyrics.

The first time I listened to this song I didn't take away any deeper meaning, I actually thought it didn't have much meaning at all. Upon further research I discovered that this song was actually about life and death, drug abuse, the passing of loved ones and finally a view of optimism when facing all of these issues. 

Examples of deeper lyrical meaning:

"Softly laying on the ground, Not a lot people left around." 

The writer is reflecting on his many friends and family he has lost over the years. Softly laying on the ground, represents resting in your grave.

"In my life, I have seen, People walk into the sea, Just to find memories, Plagued by constant misery."

This line represents how the writer has seen loved ones fall to the perils of drug abuse, looking to cope with the past. Walking into the sea represents drug use (getting wet=getting high).

"Even on a cloudy day, I'll keep my eyes fixed on the sun."

 This line represents how the writer, even through bleak times, keeps an optimistic view on life.

The cloudy day represents bleak times and keeping his eyes fixed on the sun represents optimism/looking on the brighter side of things.

The next time you listen to a song, listen a bit closer to see if you are really getting the message the writer intended to express.

Photo Credit: Ilmarin

Photo Credit (Elephant Picture): Briar Press

Tumblr

Tumblr is a social networking website that allows you to virtually share anything with little to no effort. I like to think of tumblr as a different kind of social media site. On tumblr you can virtually be who ever you want to be and post whatever you feel behind an anonymous identity (if you chose). To many and im sure many others tumblr is an  online community in which you can escape from every day life into a reality in which you create to suite your taste. On tumblr there is no annoy girls from your high school posting photos of themselves or dramas about small town problems you really dont care for. If you want to look at pictures of sunsets you can, if you want to watch a funny GIF you can do that too. The possibilities on tumblr are virtually endless. Personally I use my tumblr (word to the wise view at your own discretion) to express how I am feeling that day. Some people draw, others write, I re-blog photos and quotes. Some tumblr users chose to have a specific theme for there tumblr blog, for example humor, quotes,and black and white photography just to name a few. I recommend checking out this site, you never know what you may find.
Photo credit crunch base

Don't panic it's organic:Natural beauty products

As consumers are becoming more aware and knowledgeable about what is in the products they use daily, they are becoming more inclined to use natural organic beauty products. Parabens and other harmful chemicals that are in cosmetics and other beauty products can be very harmful to the human body. Parabens are a widely used preservative used in most non-natural cosmetics. In short parabens help to prevent bacteria from growing in cosmetics. Studies as well as rumor has it that the parabens people put on their bodies daily may be Cancer causing. With the epidemic of Cancer that we are currently facing, many people will go to many lengths in order to avoid carcinogenics such as parabens in makeups and other beauty products such as deodorant. Many companies are now offering a natural alternative containing no harmful parabens. These products do cost more, but consumers are willing to pay a large sum of money in order to have peace of mind when it comes to the beauty products they use. Not only do these natural beauty products contain less harmful chemicals, they are also better for sensitive skin, and many of these products are not tested on animals. What do you think, would you spend more money on natural beauty products knowing the harm parabens and other chemicals can cause?
photo-flickr
                                                                                         Anti animal testing

Bragg Creek

A few weeks ago (before this horrible snow decided to show up), I was sitting at home bored out of my mind. So I decided to pack up my camera, get in the car, and start driving. I didn't have a destination in mind; I simply decided to find a great spot to start taking pictures. I ended up in Bragg Creek, located roughly about 30km west of Calgary. I stopped near a hiking trail, and ventured off into the woods.On my little adventure, I encountered a couple of cute squirrels, a woodpecker, and a young deer. I also stopped by the river on my way back home to take a few shots.

I have never actually gone out to simply take nature photographs, so this unplanned trip was something new to me, but I will definitely will be doing it again. I also hope that I'll soon purchase a photo editing program and start learning how to properly edit my photographs that will make these images look even more beautiful.

Local Photographers

I decided to do some research about the many photographers located here in Calgary. I found many people with amazing talent, most of which had their companies that focused on weddings and family portraits. Here are some websites that I found:

http://www.eternalphotography.com/ -->  Eternal Photography focuses on weddings and portraits. I really love the style that these photographers  have. Many images on their photo log have certain subjects in the picture standing out (ex. black and white image with the colour of the bridesmaids purple dresses standing out).

http://robmckayphotography.com/ --> I personally prefer taking pictures of wildlife, therefore this photographer, Robert McKay, is one of my favourite local photographer, since wildlife images is what he focuses on. He has captured many wildlife images around Calgary and surrounding areas, such as owls, foxes, and even bears. He has also taken beautiful images of landscapes in the prairies.

http://www.freshsugar.com/#/galleries/photos/the%20bump/0 --> Fresh Sugar Photography is a great place for family photos. They range from pregnant mothers to full family portraits. These photographers have talented way of showing the beauty of pregnancy and innocence of a child.

Female Rappers: Nicki Minaj

Female rappers are becoming increasingly main stream over the years. Nicki Minaj whether you love her or hate her, she has definitely made an impact on the music we hear today. After meeting rapper Lil Wayne her career took off. Her debut album title Pink Friday (2010) containing chart topping songs such as Moment 4 Life (feat. Drake) as well as Super Bass. Using her extremely successful debut album as well as her out of the box style and personality to her advantage she made a name for herself as well as a place for herself in the spotlight of Hollywood. Nicki over came many barriers in her life. Nicki grew up with an abusive  drug- addicted father, this along with other struggles early in her life gave her the sense of determination she needed on order to be a successful rapper in a male dominated industry. Not only was Nicki extremely successful in a male dominated industry ( Minaj won best Hip-Hop Female at the BET Awards in 2010) she also made her way onto top 40 main stream radio stations. Nicki has a fans of all ages from young to old, more famously Sofia and Grace that have been featured on the Ellen show multiply times expressing their love for Nicki and the color pink, which is a love I personally can not argue with.

Photo credit flickr

Why is a dancers makeup so important?

If any of you have ever seen a dancer perform at a  professional or amateur leave, or have seen movies such as Black Swan you may be wondering why all of these dancers are wearing such extreme out of the box face makeup. This makeup that dancers wear also called stage makeup, stage makeup is a very important part of a dancers performance and overall look.Well preforming the lighting on stage as well as the distance the audience members are from the stage can make the dancers appear washed-out. On the other hand if there is too much dancers eyes may resemble a black hole. Utilizing proper techniques when apply stage make-up is an essential skill all dancers must have. The purpose of stage make-up is to add color to the skin and extenuate the dancers features.When applied right stage make-up (more extreme than makeup wore daily) should be seen by members of the audenice upwords of 50 feet away. Stage make up not only makes dancers look more put-together, it also adds to the costume and overall look of the the dance which in turn adds to the performance. For example in a dark dance number, as seen in the film black swan; the dancers wear heavy dark make up, as opposed to cheerfull dance routines you would see a 6 year old preform.

  Dancer

Special Effects Makeup

Photo Credit - Ewen Roberts

Question: What does popular movies/television shows have in common? How about a more specific question: What is common in shows/movies such as The Walking Dead, Harry Potter, and How The Grinch Stole Christmas (besides the fact that they are all awesome)? Well the answer that I am thinking of streams from an art that transforms a person into whoever - special effects makeup. 

Lets start off with saying how talented makeup artists are in general, that much is obvious. Now when it comes to a special effects makeup artist I personally believe that they are super talented. They possess the ability to make any person into, well any person. Let me warn you that I have prepared multiple pictures to show the true transformations these makeup artists perform. I love to use pictures in my blogs in case you haven't noticed because I enjoy showing viewers the different talents people possess. Below I have included some before and afters so you can see the final work of special effects makeup artists.

Photo Credit -  encyclopediapsychotika

Photo Credit - wirenews.co.za

Photo Credit - celebkids.whyfame.com

Amazed yet? Well I defiantly am. Special Effects also called Prosthetic makeup, is the art of creating cosmetic effects. The body and face is the canvas for these artists as they start to paint, mold, and create a vision they have. Using multiple tools and resources artists can easily make an alive person look dead. They can make a person look like an animal. Ultimately they can make any person look like anything they wish to. Imagine for a day you can be whatever fictional or non-fictional character you want to be. I would pick to be sculpted as an Orc from Lord of the Rings. Weird, I know but it would be so much fun!

There are multiple schools that specialize in special effects. In case any of you are ever interested in taking classes I will link some of the schools that are known for Special Effects and Prosthetics.

• Sheridan College in Ontario
• The School of Makeup Art in Toronto
• New Image college of Fine Arts in Vancouver 

These are just a few of the schools world wide. Special effects makeup is truly a talent and not everyone has the skills it takes, however everyone possesses the ability to learn these skills. I am so amazed by the developments in film and television on a daily basis, specifically when it comes to special effects. These artists should get more credit for their work, because it is them that captivates an audience. I leave this blog with a couple more images I found of students work at the Vancouver Film School. 

Photo Credit - Vancouver Film School

Photo Credit - Vancouver Film School

 

Parkour

Photo Credit - Alex Papillon

 Parkour

Imagine the real life Spiderman - fast, strong, has amazing agility, and is very athletic. Spiderman can fly from building to building with magical webs - but imagine flying from these buildings without webs or rope. This is called parkour. This art in my opinion, is one of the most strenuous, amazing arts out there. I can only begin to think about the dangerous and repetitive training it takes to be able to do the things these people do. I have only admiration for their personal capabilities.  Within this blog post I hope to explore the art of Parkour with you as well as show many captivating pictures of this art. So strap in viewers you WILL be amazed by some of the things you see!

As defined in Wikipedia, Parkour is a training discipline that developed out of military obstacle course training. It uses absolutely no equipment and men and women partake in this art. It requires both mental and physical strength and most likely no fear of heights. This art is when one  moves within his/her environment, approaching  obstacles (physical and/or mental). The roots date back over 100 years and this art streams from France. Amazing facts eh?! Not only does Parkour combine acrobatics, gymnastics, and military training, but it also is viewed as a spiritual/philosophic art. People who partake in Parkour seek mental and physical progression in oneself.

Now describing this art is nothing compared to physically seeing it/ seeing pictures, so with saying that, I have prepared many visuals to help reprimand this art. Be prepared to be blown away! These captivating pictures are all taken by the artists themselves.

Photo Credit - Andrew Magill

Photo Credit - GeishaBoy

   

  

 

Photo Credit - GeishaBoy

Oh I am not done yet! I searched around for the perfect video to show you Parkour live. The still pictures I have posted are amazing but this video is just as captivating. I hope you enjoyed this tiny glimpse into the Parkour world, and maybe some of you may seek to try it someday. Until then I applaud those who can perform this art - it really is something spectacular.

                                                      Video Credit - Saulo Sampson

Manicure Anyone ?

This one is mainly for the ladies but men and women can perform this art. It has become widely popular recently and is usually used for special occasions such as weddings, graduations, prom, etc. In my opinion this art is pretty under appreciated, but I know that I could not do some of the things others can with this art. Enough clues! The art that I am talking about is nail art. It is so amazing what some people can do on such a tiny surface. I find it hard to even paint my own nails in the first place. It is messy and dries VERY fast - yet some people have mastered the art of nail painting. I can only reprimand the time, skill, and patience it takes to make beautiful paintings on such a tiny canvas.


Photo credit - Courtney Rhodes

Photo credit - Borispumps

How on earth do people paint such wonderful designs?! I cannot explain how in awe I am with this art form. I am jealous and speechless with the absolute talent. Now lets talk a little more in depth about nail art. There are many types of nails such as acrylic, gel, UV gel, and/or natural. Have any of you ever been in a nail salon? The options you can have are limitless as color after color shouts at you from the shelves. Now, nail art has been around before you can imagine. It is said that in 3000BC the Chinese would leave a substance on their nails for hours. The result - a pink coat! Also Henna was and is, a popular form that falls into the nail art category. Interestingly enough Egyptians also used nail art in an early form. The colors used showed which social class each women belonged to. Interesting facts eh?

I have to admit that I will never be able to paint abstract pictures on my nails mainly because I have an addiction to biting them(sadly). Also like I mentioned before, I defiantly do NOT possess the attention span and talent is takes to create such beautiful pictures. Maybe one of you has this quality. I would be very interested in learning further about nail art. It seizes to amaze me that this world is full of so many art types. This is a plus for me due to the fact that I will endless arts to blog about! My main goal is to show many different art types and bring light upon those normally not shown in the spotlight. So without further a due, I give you a glimpse of the amazing capabilities nail artists have to offer.

                                              Photo credit - Courtney Rhodes

Christmas

Photo Credit - Catherine Bond

I am very excited about this topic. Not only will it be way better than my Halloween blog but it will talk about the many arts that stream from the holly jolly holiday, Christmas. I do not know why I almost instantaneously have the urge to decorate my place right after the first snowfall, but I still do... and I already have (don't judge). Now lets go back to the main topic - Christmas as an art. There are many different art forms that come out during Christmas here are a few:

• the synchronized jolly form of caroling
• the craftily painting/drawing or original Christmas cards
• the individuality decorating your tree has to offer
• the crackling fire as Christmas songs are being played throughout the night
• making beautiful snowmen

and

• the heart warming, tear jerker, Christmas movies (my personal favorite)

You cannot deny that Christmas is a wonderful time unless you are A. The Grinch or B. Scrooge (and even they had a change of heart). I feel happy even talking about Christmas and no it is not for the presents, or the time off of school and work - but it is because I enjoy the art of giving. I can honestly say that I would be content without presents on Christmas as long as I, personally can give back to those in need. Every year I LOVE to volunteer for the Mustard Seed.( For those who think they would be interested futuristic or now here is a link). It is beautiful to see the looks on the faces of those you help.  

Another thing that I love about Christmas (which is also an art) are the festive movies. My top two favorite movies in the whole world are Christmas themed. Home Alone and The Grinch (original and Jim Carey version). These films are both heart wrenching with a prevalent feel for Christmas. I cannot say how much I adore Christmas movies.                                 Photo Credit - Mykl Roventine
Every year I watch as many films as I can that have to do with Christmas and then I construct a snowflake. On this snowflake I write the title of the film and the rating I give it. Lastly I hang the snowflake anywhere in my room. This is, in a way, my art. The snowflakes are hard to make without stencils!

Whether it be caroling or making homemade snowflakes, Christmas presents many arts to every individual. Whether you celebrate or choose not to, I wish you happy holidays everyone must remember that "Maybe Christmas, doesn't come from a store". (Dr.Seuss. 1957)  

Time Travel

A couple of years ago, while driving out to Kelowna, my family decided to stop at one of B.C's many ghosts towns along the way. We usually drives out to B.C every year and we never really paid much attention to the town we would always pass by. However, my sister suggested we go visit it.Overall, it was very well worth it. This ghost town was filled with antiques and the stories behind them. The houses and buildings were set up so that one would feel as though you were in that time period. I took pictures of everything I saw in black and white, to give it a more of an "old time" effect. I think what I found so fascinating about this place was that I was able to see for myself how people lived during those years. It was not something out of a textbook or seeing it on TV or online. It also made me realize how far advanced we have come along in only a few centuries.

I would definitely recommend that if you have the opportunity to stop by one of these towns, to do so. They are filled with amazing history, and are well worth your time. I had a great time, and hope to visit other ghost towns in the future.