Soropa Blog

If you are a solo musician, there are tools that you should know about, and have in your tool box. It is best to be prepared for whatever comes your way in the form of gigs, and musical opportunities. In this article I will go over some of the general things in the form of gear, hardware, and software, that will give you an edge in this competetive, and demanding world.

Keep in mind that these are all suggestions, and it depends on your personal circumstances as to what you are, and are not able to obtain.

I will asume that you already have the musical instrument of your choice, and that you have already spent the thousands of hours that it takes to perfect your talent.

There is no way around it!…You get out of it what you put into it.
If you spend the time to perfect your talent, you will definatly reap the benefits.

So,…Lets get started.
I will list all of the items that I have in mind for this article, and where to obtain them.
In some cases, a brief discription on what to do with them.

1. PA equipment: You will need some kind of PA equipment, preferably something small and compact, but of efficient sound quality

2. Microphone: You will need a microphone for the times when you are showing off that great voice of yours.
You will also need a microphone stand.

3. Speaker Stands: I recommend speaker stands for your speakers, to raise your speakers up above peoples heads when playing in restaurants, and coffee shops, ect…
You dont want to drive people away, or blow anybodys ear drum.

4. Promo Stand: You will need a promo stand that you can use to place your promo material, your CD’s, and any of your contact material for people to see, purchase, and take as they come, and go.
This can be something that is portable, small and compact, but looks presentable.

5. Tip Jar: I recommend a tip jar, something that, again, looks presentable.

6. Play-a-Long Library: I recommend a play-a-long library for all musicians, especially for solo musicians.
As I have stated in my previous article, “Tips for the solo musician”, you can make a living just playing solo gigs, and targeting small establishments.

7. CD, or, Cassette player: You should have a CD, or cassette player with a pitch control to play your play-a-longs through your PA.

8. Computer: If at all possible, you should have a powerful enough computer to record your own CD’s.
You can also make your own Play-a-longs with your own style of music.

9. Recording Software: You will need some kind of recording software for your computer.
I recommend, Cakewalk.

10. Soundcard: You will need, in some cases, a sound card for your computer.
I recommend, Sound Blaster Live.

11. Keyboard: I think all musicians should have some kind of keyboard.
There are hundreds to choose from, according to your budget.

12. CD Burning Software: You should have some kind of CD burning software.
Again, there are hundreds of choices.
Microsoft Media Player is free.

13. Business Card Software: I recommend some kind of business card software for your computer.
“Parabim Business Card Builder”, is a very efficient one.

14. Musicians Website: Every musician should have a website.
I recommend, “Host Baby”, everything you need in a musicians website is here.

15. Internet Promotion Program: A program to help promote your music, and yourself on the internet.
I recommend, “Musicians Power Promotion System”.

These are just some of the things that will help you on your quest to be a successful solo musician.
One thing to remember is,…Always Act…Look…and Dress proffessionally.
That first impression can make, or break you.

Just click on the links provided in this article where indicated, and you will be taken to the particular website, were you can find the item.

Patrick is a blind, jazz saxophonist.
His intense, improvive style of playing is both soothing, and captivating to the listener.
Patrick is producing some of the best sounding jazz on the market today.

http://www.cursebustersound.com

A relatively new concept in the online world is “Virtual Real Estate Investing“. There are many variations on what this term means, encompassing everything from using the internet to aid in real estate investing efforts to participating in online games such as SecondLife.

In order to figure out the truth of the matter, I sought out Bryan Ellis of BryanEllis.com, whose experience in the fledgling industry is truly impressive.

Ellis says he adopted the term “virtual real estate investing” sometime before Y2K after he realized that making money online is conceptually very similar to making money with physical real estate.

An example of the similar nature of “virtual” and “physical” real estate Bryan Ellis likes to point out is the methods of making a profit from domain names compared to physical real estate. “There’s a huge difference between a website and a piece of real estate, but the ways you can profit from them are similar: ‘flipping’, rental/leasing, advertising sales, etc…all of these apply to both markets” he states.

I must admit: Its easy to see the parallels. For example, if you’re the owner of a desirable property, its desirability is (in a business context) largely due to its being in a location that is of interest to others. Similarly, ownership of a desirable domain name is valuable for the same reasons. Regardless of the type of asset, you can sell or lease or use any number of strategies to turn the assets into cash.

In our next installment of this series on virtual real estate investing, Bryan Ellis will share the internet analogies to the physical concept of real estate development.

“Everyone believes the world’s greatest lie…” says the mysterious old man.
“What is the world’s greatest lie?” the little boy asks.
The old man replies, “It’s this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That’s the world’s greatest lie.”
(An excerpt from The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. A fable about following your dreams.)

Do you believe you have no control over your life? Are you who you are today, by choice or by fate? Will a change in your actions create a change in your life? Many people have given up on their dreams… they say, “Dreaming is only for the rich. When you have money, you can dream. When you have no money, don’t dream.”

That’s true… not everyone is lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon. If you are lacking in funds, it’s going to be difficult to start living life the way you want to. Money buys you freedom to follow your passions. But you don’t have to give up on your dreams, just because you lack money. Depending on where you are brought up, you will face limitations depending on your family finance, culture, and environment. Some of us are born to have easy lives, while some are born to take a more challenging path. Perhaps the limitations and obstacles you face today are part of your journey — you must overcome them to grow stronger on the path to achieving your goals.

When we are young, we all seem to have clear idea of what we want to be when we grow up. But somewhere along the way, these dreams get buried under the reality of daily living. The focus shifts from ‘living the dream’ to just ‘finding a good job with a stable income’. “Survival first”, as they call it. The sad part is that many people spend much of their lives doing what they don’t like, so they can finally earn enough to start doing what they do like. I say, that’s a great way to bury your happiness and turn into an economic slave. Doing what you dislike, day after day, will numb the sense of joy within you. Soon you will feel that your life has no greater purpose, and there is nothing to look forward to but work, work, work…. You will have forgotten how much fun it is to spend your time doing the things you like to do.

*~The Secret to Living Your Dreams~*

It’s painful if you don’t make enough money to live comfortably. But what’s more painful is if the work you do has no meaning to you. Everyday you can drag yourself to work, perform meaningless actions, and then drag yourself back home. Apart from sleeping, work takes up the majority of our time. So if you’re not enjoying your work, you’re not enjoying your life. And life is so short, isn’t it? We probably have less than a hundred years to make our mark in this world. And you never know… you fail to look while crossing the road and BOOM! You could be gone tomorrow. So why spend your life doing something you don’t like to do? We don’t slog three-quarters of our lives just so we can enjoy one-quarter… we might not live that long. Realize that the essence of your life is happening right now — you are walking a path; making your journey through life. And if the work you do, is not designed to help you fulfill your higher purpose in life, then perhaps you are walking in the wrong direction. No point taking this path… change direction.

For your dream to stay alive, you have to act on it. It’s like a fire that grows brighter and stronger if you fan its flames and keep adding wood. If you leave the fire alone, never doing anything to keep it alive, it will burn itself out. When you fail to act on your dreams, they die.

A little girl called Leanne wants to be a ballerina. But her family is poor and unable to afford the fees of the fine arts dance school. Her father tells her not to dream because dreaming is only for the rich. But her mother says, “Lea, you can be whatever you want to be. As long as you put your heart into it, and never give up. Always hold on to your dreams because when there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Leanne remembered her mother’s words. She paid her way through a college degree in the fine arts, using money she earned from working full-time. She was talent scouted by the Royal Dance and Music Theatre of England, where she began her illustrious career as a ballerina. Earning in British pounds, she made more than enough to support her family and give them a comfortable lifestyle.

Leanne had a choice… to fervently believe in her dreams, and do whatever it takes to achieve it, or believe the World’s Greatest Lie… that at some point in her life, she lost control, and fate took over. She had to have the courage to step up to her dreams, and not give up just because she lacked money. If she listened to her father and put her love aside because dreaming was only for the rich, then she wouldn’t have lived to experience her passion. She would pass on from this world, with the music still left within her… buried under some obscure belief that she could never make money doing what she loved to do.

There is music within you, and you only need to coax it out. The daily grind forces us to forget what we love to do. Imagine you’re retired… You have enough money to live comfortably, but not to splurge. How would you spend your time? What activities would you find purpose in? What would you do to amuse yourself? If you have an idea of what you would love to do but are not doing, then schedule some time everyday to do it. Making time for what you love is just like fanning the flames of your passion — the fire can only grow stronger. It’s what will bring a sense of purpose and meaning into your life; that spark of joy and wonder.

The happiest people are those who enjoy their work. They’ve managed to make money doing what they love to do, just like Leanne. And this can happen for you… if you are willing to reject the World’s Greatest Lie. Realize that you always have control over your actions, and therefore your results. The only time your start to fail in life, is when you stop believing in your ability to make a difference. You don’t need a silver spoon; you don’t need to be a genius. What you need is a sincere belief in yourself and willingness to take action towards your dreams. Believe me, you have what it takes. Just follow what British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill said in World War II: “…never give up, never give up.” And you’ll win the war.

Lance Ong is a Certified Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Master Practitioner of Hypnotherapy and Timeline Therapy. He does life coaching to help clients gain clarity of purpose, while removing mental blocks to success. Learn Lance’s philosophy for better living at his Internet Blog Site - Wisdom to Create a Beautiful World - www.Lancism.com.

For those of you who haven’t used a Pay Per Click advertising platform like Google Adwords or Yahoo! Search Marketing, take notes.

Pay Per Click advertising refers to a style of advertising where the advertiser pays to display a link, an image, or text ad based on the number of clicks. Specific keywords are bid on and results are displayed, and advertisers pay their click prices to have their ad displayed for their selected keywords (Sponsored Results or Sponsored links).

PPC programs can deliver instant targeted visitors to your website in streaming amounts, but what are the downsides?

Click fraud.

It has been estimated that up to 38% of all clicks through PPC advertising are fraudulent. Allegations have even been brought against the major search engines for not doing their part to control the click fraud issues, and critics are quick to point out the fact that search engine companies earn 99% of their income through this advertising method.

Industry analysis’s predict a change in the next few years as PPC advertising shifts to CPA advertising with search engines. This will eliminate the click fraud issue, because advertisers will began to pay for actions instead of clicks. This form of advertising will become the most dominant form of online advertising.

That being said, is it still possible for a company to profit from PPC advertising?

Certainly!

A properly managed PPC advertising campaign can still be the most effective online advertising method for a company. It IS still possible to achieve a great ROI for a particular product or service, and will continue to drive the most traffic, clicks, and sales for online advertising for years to come.

About the Author:
Evan Ernst is a marketing and search engine optimization specialist, who has several years experience in online advertising. His company Adworkz offers online marketing services and consulting for any size business.
http://www.adworkz.com

New precise GPS readings carried out on the 14-15th Aug have recorded that Monte Bianco measures 4810.7 metres. Mont-Blanc is veiled by a heavy ice-cap which has grown by 2.15 metres in not even 2 years however more unexpectedly the volume of the ice and snow has virtually doubled up . Least ways that is according to the experts.

The volume of ice and snow was computed for the initial time during 2004. It worked out to be 14000 metres cubed above 4760 m. It amounted to only 13700 cubic meters in 2001 potentially due to the heat with +ve temp as high as 5000 meters alt.. Nevertheless the icecap has virtually doubled since then and now equals 23000 metres cubed.

Chamonix’s renowned local weather man Jeremy Carter said the growth in the mass of the ice-cap is one of the counter intuitive effects of climate change: The amount of snow hasn’t accumulated generally in the French Alps merely with global warming we are having additional hotter westerly winds which bring in rain at lower altitudes however in summertime this means heavy snow that rests at higher altitude than 3900 metres height therefore the mass bulk of the ice-cap is rising. Contrast that to the state of affairs during winter time when the snow crystals are exceedingly cold and are transferred by air currents so do not settle down on the summit.

Chamonix is not only well known for Monte Bianco it is also a well renowned snowboarding resort and alpinism centre with lot’s of ski deals and chalet offers to be had.

Since anger is such a prevalent emotion in our high-stress societies, we tend to take it for granted. We even consider it a healthy release of pent-up emotions. Yet, at its extreme, anger can kill you or someone else.

When you are angry, adrenaline floods your body, thus stressing all your bodily functions to the maximum. Biologically, this is an emergency situation. It may have saved your ancestors by impelling them to use a club to ward off a charging saber-tooth tiger. And in a war-zone, it might be useful, too. But, as an aspect of daily life, it is a sure way to ruin the smooth functioning of your metabolism.

When you further consider how your blood pressure rises as well, you are talking coronary heart-failure as well.

Anger is deadly. And when it is expressed towards others, can quickly escalate into homicide. In fact, most cases of murder are due to an uncontrollable resentment toward someone else.

Even unexpressed anger has lethal side effects. It can escalate into all sorts of worse mental aberrations and unpleasant life experiences.

Anger, expressed or unexpressed, can ruin your life. It can kill you or someone else. It is not something that you should mistake for a mere character flaw.

Even at lower levels of hostility, anger can cause major upsets. It can ruin your mental and physical health over time, and it definitely ruins all your relationships. Eventually, it can even hurt you financially, create substance abuse, or involve you in a deadly accident.

Anger is nothing short of a brief insanity. After your rage has passed, you are looking at some form of devastation. During your episode of anger, you literally lost your mind–your bodily sensations completely overwhelmed any sense of intelligence.

We laugh when we watch movies like “Anger Management.” Yet the final joke may be on us if we permit anger to control us. Unless we take care of our anger it is going to ruin our lives.

Anger, like suicidal depression, is a mental illness. It is a brief loss of reason, an overwhelming desire to strike out and hurt someone, a manic lust for revenge at any cost. Like any mental illness, it needs immediate attention.

If one is subjected to uncontrollable bursts of rage, then this needs professional intervention. A professional healer will help you identify and remove the traumatic conditions that have upset you. Some of them may be so deep-rooted that you are even unconscious about them.

If anger is merely due to high-levels of stress, anxiety, and frustration, then a course of stress-relief is necessary. There are many books on how to reduce your stress through such simple measures as taking walks, having hot baths, getting a massage, doing deep breathing, visualization, exercising, listening to soothing music, or taking on some form of spiritual practice.

It takes a great deal of effort to build anything–a business, a relationship, or a life–but it takes a few outbursts of anger to have everything collapse into ruin. Can you really afford to take for granted an emotion that can result in either utter failure or death?

Saleem Rana is a psychotherapist in Denver, Colorado. You can learn more ways on how to improve your life at http://theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html. You will receive many valuable gifts when you sign up.

All of us get angry. Some of us get angry very often. Some are able to control the anger. Some of us express our anger freely, whereas some suppress it. Why do we get angry? Is there any way to control the anger? How to do that?

We get angry when we are stopped doing something. Or when we don’t get our way. We get angry when our desires are not fulfilled, or when people don’t agree to our viewpoint. Many times we get angry when we find our views at great variance with others and are not able to understand the other viewpoint and disagree with that.

List your friends. Think about a situation and imagine the reactions. For example, let us say that the situation is this - your friend is sitting in a restaurant and someone spills something hot on his/her hands unintentionally. Now imagine the reactions from your list. You will write reactions that will vary greatly. You will imagine a friend of yours laughing it off and another friend calling the manager and making a big scene. The reactions are different because they are controlling their anger differently. How?

Some of us never take things very seriously. So they don’t get angry over small things at all. That is the nature of these people. Can we use any techniques to control anger? Let us examine. Do you react immediately, or think about what went wrong before reacting? Those of us who react spontaneously, get angry fast. Those who think about it before reacting are able to understand and control their emotions better. Why not count up to ten before reacting?

Understanding others viewpoint helps in many situations. As we have our viewpoint, so do others. Why try to enforce our thoughts on them? Why not at least try and understand what they think and why? If your boss is angry with you, you need not react immediately. Give some time and think about all the possible reasons and you may find the answer to his anger. If at the end you realize that his/her anger was totally unjustified, you chose to forgive and not react angrily.

Emotions such as anger can be controlled. It needs reflection. It needs practice to exercise restraint. By winning over your anger you will become a better person. Make your anger your slave and not get enslaved by it.

CDMohatta writes inspirational content for ecard, screensaver and wallpaper sites. You can download some wallpapers at- Motivational wallpapers. To view the ecards browse Good day ecards and Love greetings.

Some risk takers should have spotted the expression “offshore sports betting”, but some maybe aren’t altogether in the know what that states. An offshore gambling website inherently acts outside the administration of a specific land but alternatively it can also mean a net based gaming site which has all of their computer servers in a land where online wagering isn’t at this time illegal. Briefly then, it’s a wagering web site which runs independently of the adminsitration of the land of the consumer. Networked gaming web pages are in the main regulated by three structures. These institutions are the OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA.

The Offshore Gaming Association is in fact an autonomous institute that presently keeps tabs on the modern overseas gambling trade in an enterprise to give gamblers the facility to find legitimate internet sites to play games on, without concern. It endeavors to watch over sports gambling fanatic’s rights, and also they do not demand any society fees.

The Offshore Gaming Association is a proficient and neutral third party association who manifest unprejudiced information, suggested by your observations, impartial research, telephone calls, industry insider tips and in addition offers industry information.

The IGC is a non commercially influenced organization. The organization has been designed to provide an arena for concerned people to talk through concerns also to shared worries in the world-wide online gaming trade, to ensure honorable not to mention duty-bound business codes and forms which endeavor to heighten buyer certainty in web based gambling merchandise and benefits, and in addition to be of help as the sports betting trade’s universal policy defender and in addition the Interactive Gaming Council offers a data center.

The Interactive Gaming Council have established a reputation for upholding dependability, consistency and solidity due to the criteria it exhibits, and also its appeal to moral sports betting websites. The Interactive Gaming Council influences offshore gambling via upholding a special 10-step general policy instructions furthermore charges gaming sites license fees to show their logo. Unsatisfied clients can additionally disclose any of their disputes to the Interactive Gaming Council.

The FTGA was established in a venture to generate a standard to reform the procedures of internet sports betting operations. The authority believe that doing business with websites of honorable reputation, they are able to perfect an affiliation of the fairest and professional internet betting businesses in the world at large.

So, there are governing bodies that co-ordinate the procedures practised by on-line gaming and which should with luck serve to take the edge off some of the apprehensions felt by cynics. Internet sports betting web sites are now actually trustworthy, beacuse individual details are not requested and also the remuneration and the betting odds are usually usually as balanced and honest as in an orthodox Vegas-type bet. They lower travel time, but keep of a casino, but these days you may play at your own pace.

sports book wagering

Do not cry for me I have not earned your tears Do not die for me You have not tasted my fears Do not fall for me I have not claimed your embrace Do not call for me You have not seen my face Do not shed blood for me I have not dreamt your flesh Do not feel good for me You have not burned with the rest Join me you may in this cold damp dark place And bleed that soft peach color Clean off your face Look to the ice with a passion that burns Let the cold winds that slice become what you yearn Taste the cold embers this silence exhales Witness the air dance As all of your senses fail Now you’re my equal, as I am yours Grasp my cold hands, as we pass through these doors Cry for me Die for me We scream as we fly Fall for me Call for me As we kiss the night sky Bleed for me Need for me We cry as we land Cocooned in this snow drift We remain hand in hand Forever we are now sculpted of ice Immortals will cry for our imprisoned paradise

www.originalpoetry.com

Too often in academia good thoughts and original ideas are suppressed and this problem is so pervasive it inhibits forward progression and it totally robs our civilization of our future. Now then why does this happen?

Well for many reasons you see. For instance a student at a University may have an excellent concept or original thought however, problems arise in what research projects can be funded. You see they must fit within the parameters of the class, match the sources of funding for the University and fit within the ever increasing limits of the linear professors expertise.

You see most professors are experts in their specific niche, but not so brilliant and parallel sciences or emerging sciences, which will be affecting their arena of expertise in the future. Thus the professor cannot allow the student to become smarter than them, even though if a student comes up with an idea for a project outside the professors realm of limited knowledge then chances are they already are. Am I down on academia and professors?

Well, yes and no really. Yes because they hold back the human race in their arrogant and egotistical nature to propel themselves in the cut throat world of publish or parish academia and no in that we need mentors to guide our most brilliant up and coming minds you see?

We need to keep track of every idea, concept and project request that every student comes up with and make a national data base so people can look these up and those in industry, government and academia can explore them thru Internet searches to propel their own thought processes and thus propel mankind. Consider this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/