A Big Step Up in the World - Getting Ready for His Big Boy Bed

By Joann Means

He's no infant anymore. He's toddling around now and outgrowing clothes faster than you can acquire them. Your little boy is growing up into quite the big boy now, and that means it will soon be time to move him from his crib to a big boy bed. How best to make that transition in a way that's most comfortable, supportive, nurturing, and above all effective is the subject of this article.

One of the easiest ways to help your little boy have a smooth transition from a crib to a big boy's bed is to give him a bed that he can be excited about moving into (and up to). This is where a custom theme bed can provide great aid. If your little boy may have been emotionally attached to his crib, his feelings could easily change when he sees the alternative - a custom theme bed in the shape of some object of his wildest dreams.

A custom theme bed in the shape of a vehicle, for example - a boat bed, a train bed, a race car bed, or an airplane bed - will give the right little boy a one-way ticket to ride. A custom boy's castle bed will make him feel like king of his castle. If he has dreams of jungle safaris, wild animals, and life in the wild, then he'll go ape for a custom tree house bed. If he has dreams of setting sail on the Jolly Roger and searching for sunken treasure he may want a pirate ship bed.

Surely you're starting to get the idea. Simply tap into your little boy's fondest interest and have a custom children's bed maker design and build him a big boy bed inspired by that theme and he'll be naturally drawn to it, compelled to leave his crib behind in exchange for this awesome new vision of his fantasies made real.

If you wish, you can keep his bedding the same for a while, to give him the comforting feeling of some sort of continuity in the transition. Or you can have brand new custom bedding designed to match the theme of his big boy bed. Which option is best depends really on the child.

And because safety is always a concern for any parent, whatever their child's age, a custom theme bed built as a transitional bed for your child can also have protective railings, safety gates that latch from the outside, and other safety measures built into the design in a way that blends into the theme.

For example, a car or train bed can have an actual door keeping him in at night. Similarly a castle bed can have a gate or a drawbridge serving the same purpose, helping not only your little boy to stay safely in bed through the night, but giving you the security and peace of mind that helps you sleep through the night as well.

Expert interior designer Joann Means creates custom theme beds that are as appealing to a parent's need for safety as they are appealing to children's sensibilities. At Sweet Dream Children's Interiors http://www.sweetdreambed.com she and her husband Johnny Means have built a bevy of custom theme beds for young kids of any age, including those to be used as transitional beds for toddlers ready to make the switch from their cribs to big boy's and big girl's beds.

Peruse the galleries at Sweet Dream Children's Interiors http://www.sweetdreambed.com and see just how they've masterfully blended form and function, practicality and fantasy, into custom theme beds that delight both parent and child alike. Then contact the Means and see what they can do for you and your little one. Big transitions like this one don't have to be traumatic periods in a child's life. With the Means' creations, in fact, they can be times of revelation, and personal empowerment, joy and delight.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joann_Means

The Wonderful World of Pixel Art - Animated Gifs and Free Emoticons

By Paul Nizhinsky

The internet is a huge place. By its very nature it's home to an almost infinite amount of weird and wonderful interests and pursuits that most of us probably don't even now exist. With its sheer size and user-generated content, it's a place full of discovery that panders to every human whim, fancy, and interest. One of these is the wonderful, quirky, and often adorable world of pixel art.

Let's cover the basics: what is pixel art? Pixels are the tiny little squares used to make every image on your computer screen, and can be used to make tiny animations in .gif format. You can make these yourself in programmes like Corel Photo-Paint, or more specific programmes like Jasc's Animation Shop. Many, particularly younger people, will be familiar with some of the uses of pixel art. Emoticons, anikaos, and animated gifs are all examples of basic pixel art used on forums, MySpace, and Windows Live Messenger as a means of aiding expression in an essentially text-based form of communication, as well just simply for fun. Emoticons are perhaps the most widely used and searched for.

A range of emoticons come as standard with Live Messenger and most forums. These tend to be your basic set of emoticons to cover the main emotions and actions expressed while chatting.
Many websites however offer more advanced and diverse emoticons in varying sizes and shapes, some even with sound. The latter tend to frequent more on pay-sites. There are though far more user-generated emoticons on the net, and are frequently exchanged between users of Messenger - which allows you to add and save emoticons used by others.

While emoticons are by far the most popular in the west, their eastern counterparts 'anikaos' (pronounced ani-cows, meaning literally 'animated faces' in Japanese) are becoming more and more popular as interest in Japanese popular culture continues to grow. Anikaos are typically floating spherical blobs bobbing up and down with a cute face depicting any number of emotions and actions. They tend to be used more on forums and are incredibly diverse, ranging from generic white blobs to household animals, peas, and characters from anything between Star Wars and Dragonball-Z. The user-generated nature of anikaos, like most pixel art, means their diversity and numbers continue to multiply.

Yet, beyond the world of communication-aiding emoticons and anikaos, the possibilities are even more varied. People can make literally anything they want in miniature using pixel art - and they do. People love to have things made tiny and love to use them on their websites, MySpace pages, and on Messenger.

A very popular form pixel art at the moment is animated gifs of Nintendo and Sega characters from the '80s and '90s such as Mario, Kirby, Link, and Sonic the Hedgehog recreated exactly from the 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit games on which they appeared. The current craze for all things retro, especially in gaming, is certainly adding fuel to this. Particularly with girls, animated gifs of the characters Hello Kitty and Pucca Love are also extremely popular, and can be found on many a MySpace page. Hello Kitty and Pucca Love are very cute characters that are used frequently to personalise web pages and make them more attractive.

The fact that both Hello Kitty and Pucca Love have huge merchandising markets 'offline' easily explains their popularity in this respect. Likewise with both sexes, Pokemon animated gifs are extremely popular, particularly on MySpace and gaming sites. The cuteness of many Pokemon characters and the fact they are already computer game sprites makes them perfectly convertable into animated gifs.

But it doesn't end simply at branded corporate characters, oh no. There is a whole pixel art culture out there with people creating weird and wonderful designs of their own constantly.
Witness blinking cheeseburgers, winking cake slices, a strange beige bob running towards you with a chefs for absolutely no reason at all! The possibilities are endless and quite frequently very, very strange. Very aptly, there seems to be a perfect miniature of the boundless lengths of human creativity contained within this little culture.

Mostly, gifs get passed around in networks fairly randomly, but if you're actively on the lookout, my advice would be to specifically refine your search. For example if you're specifically after gaming gifs, try punching in 'nintendo animated gifs' or 'super mario animated gifs'. Many sites with the best gifs don't even have domain names, so it pays to be patient. There are sites out there that endeavor to collect gifs together from around the net, but some are more organised than others and the quality varies from site to site.

A frequent problem is that they just won't be categorised, making your search difficult. If you find yourself falling in love with this kooky little world, then it doesn't even end here. Pixel art is not just animated gifs and emoticons - there are communities out there dedicated to making 'pixel art for pixel art's sake'. These people make incredibly high quality pictures and landscapes of such complexity that it takes your breath away. Pixel Joint is a great little community to get involved in if you find yourself going for this more advanced stuff, whether to appreciate or to create. Have fun!

Cutecore Gifs a GREAT resource for free animated gifs and emoticons.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Nizhinsky

Fast World Of Warcraft Gold - Grinding & Chinese Farmer Tips

By Calvin Loh

Here are two sets of tips to help you make fast World Of Warcraft gold:

A) Grinding tips

Here are some rules of thumb to help you factor the risk to reward ratio when grinding to make some fast gold:

1) If the mobs die easily, they are worth grinding.
2) If they drop money, they are worth grinding.
3) If they have good stackable vendor fodder, they are worth grinding.
4) If they have good world drops, they are worth grinding.

If they are hard to kill, don't waste your time.

The starter zones seem to be good places where you can just skin corpses over and over without ever having to kill anything yourself. One of the best places in the Alliance is Elwyn Forest (one of the human starter zones). Most people who go to the farms for quests will butcher a few pigs on their way through. So there are always boar corpses abandoned on the ground, just waiting for you to skin them.

B) Profiting from the chinese farmers' shift changes

1) These are the typical times the chinese gold farmers change shifts (server time) - 6 AM, 6 PM, 4:30 AM, 4:30 PM
2) About half-an-hour before shift change, monitor the IF trade channel. Take note of items you are interested in. You did check the AH for high-selling items, right?
3) About 10 or 15 minutes before shift change, whisper to the sellers with a lower offer. If they reject it, whisper again 1 or 2 minutes before shift change. They'll probably accept it now.
4) Resell the stuff you bought at the AH and make a tidy profit.

A good World of Warcraft gold guide (like Luke Brown's or Derek Bleacher's) will teach you the fastest ways to make gold in World Of Warcraft. If you are a typical part-time player, being able to quickly make gold in World of Warcraft will let you enjoy the game more. You will be able to buy more powerful equipment, which will let you defeat stronger enemies and complete harder quests.

I am a part-time gamer who needs to schedule my playing time around real-life activities. I am always looking for better ways to have more fun in less time. Look for some of the tactics and strategies I have collected in my blog Fast World Of Warcraft Gold and squidoo lens.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Calvin_Loh

World of Warcraft - Earn 50 Easy Gold Per Hour for the Alliance or the Horde

By Lee Ruleman

There are many ways to earn gold in World of Warcraft. Some of them are available to the Alliance some only for the Horde. Using this tip you will be able to earn a nice amount of gold regardless of your faction alliance.

To use this tip you will need The Burning Crusade Expansion and be of sufficient level to survive in Shadowmoon Valley. The mobs you will be killing will range in level from 67 to 70.

There is a quest line that starts with "Oronok Torn-Heart." Both factions begin this quest series by speaking with Earthmender Torlok at The Alter of Damnation in Shadowmoon Valley. For those who use coordinates he can be found at 42,45. You do not need to have the quest to use this tip.

To reach Oronok and the area you will be hunting you will need to follow the path that begins at the west end of Coilskar Cistern (48,20).

Due north of Oronok you will find an area with Ravenous Flayers and Domesticated Fel Boars. The flayers are the mobs that you want to kill. These mobs are spaced quite well to allow you to only kill one at a time. The flayers attack the boars on sight and you can use this to your advantage. Engage a flayer while it is attacking a boar and you will be able to kill them very easily. Killing a flayer in 20 seconds or less is normal using this tactic.

Testing revealed that on average the flayers drop 21 Gold, 12 Green items, and 10 stacks of Netherweave cloth per hour. On my server Netherweave sells for 2.5 gold per stack easily. All in all you should easily make 50 gold per hour here.

50 gold per hour may not sound like a fortune and it is not but you have to take into consideration how easy it is to earn. There are not many areas that you can knock down 50 gold per hour and have very little chance of dying.

Use this tip and you will witness your bank account grow steadily. For more tips look for my articles or join my free newsletter.

Lee Ruleman is a 10 year veteran of Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) beginning with Ultima Online and continuing on through the present. It is Lee's goal is to assist other players in attaining maximum level, the best equipment, large cash reserves, and advanced gaming knowledge, all in a 100% legal manner.

For a limited time Lee is offering his brand new product "14 Super Gold Earning Secrets" for Free!

Stop by http://www.mmogamepro.com/wow1.htm and grab your Free copy today.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lee_Ruleman

Internet Marketing Tips - Internet Marketing Versus The Rest Of The World

By Steven Wagenheim

For those of you making a living online, or trying to, and deciding whether to tackle the "make money" niche or something else, this article may just help make up your mind. I am going to reveal some startling facts that will definitely have you thinking about whether or not you want to tackle the hard to crack niche of Internet marketing to marketers.

Okay, let's get right down to the facts. I write a lot of articles for Internet marketing. However, I also write articles for other niches as well. Now, if you've written for Ezine Articles in particular, you know that you get to see how many views each of your articles has, as well as how many articles you actually have out there. Well, these numbers may astound you. I have four times as many Internet marketing articles as I do articles for other niches and yet, my other niche articles get more views per day than my Internet marketing articles by a ratio of three to two.

Let's really examine this because it's important. Four times as many articles, yet only two thirds as many views. Why do you think that is? The answer is going to surprise you, though it shouldn't. See, whether you want to believe it or not, not everybody who has a computer and comes online wants to make a living on the Internet. The truth is, the percentage is very small.
However, the number of people who come online everyday who have health problems, or financial problems or some other kind of problem, far outnumber the Internet marketers. My own personal results are living proof of this, and I make a fine living with Internet marketing to marketers.

The point is this. There is a huge world out there that does not revolve around Internet marketing. Think about all the things that you do on a daily or weekly basis. You buy food, clothes, newspapers. You watch TV, listen to the radio, play CDs and DVDs. You go to movies.

You drive cars. You go to the doctor for a checkup. And yes, maybe you do have health problems that they can't seem to fix and maybe you're looking for some info online that will help. Maybe you want to buy a new camcorder and you're looking for a review online for a particular brand.

Everything I have mentioned above, which doesn't even scratch the surface, has the potential to be turned into a money making business. So before you jump into the "sell money making products to money makers" niche...consider one of the millions of niches you could probably do much better in.

To YOUR Success,

Steven Wagenheim
Tired of busting your behind for peanuts online? Go to my web site and find out how I earn a monthly income that exceeds 5 figures and how I can help YOU do the same. Get your free report at http://www.mysecretarticles.com/report.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steven_Wagenheim

Make a profit, save the world

Even if you don't buy into theories on global warming, alternative-energy industries should prosper in the coming years. Now's the time to invest.
By Jim Jubak

You should own global-warming stocks. Even if you think that global warming is based on bad statistics and unconvincing computer models. Or that it's a plot by the tree huggers and the United Nations to institute some kind of world government.

I'm not one of the skeptics. I find the science compelling. Human activities ranging from burning coal for electricity to driving gasoline-fueled vehicles have increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. These changes are about to shift the world's climate into a new state that will dramatically alter rainfall patterns, ocean currents, sea levels and the acidity of the world's oceans. And we've got only a relatively small window, maybe as few as 50 years, before these changes to global climate take on an irreversible momentum.

I'm not here to argue the science. There are lots of books that do a good job of that. My current favorite is Tim Flannery's "The Weather Makers." I accept your skepticism. Doubters and scoffers welcome.

So let's say you don't buy it. I still think you ought to invest in global-warming stocks. At worst, you'll make a profit. At best, you'll make a profit and help save the world. That sound OK to you? Then let me explain my logic. At the end of this column, I'll give you five kinds of global-warming stocks to consider for your portfolio.

Not just an environmental issue

The deck is stacked at the moment in favor of action on global warming. Even if global warming winds up on the rubbish heap of discredited scientific theories, entities such as the European Union, Japan, China, India and even the United States are going to adopt a program that looks a whole lot like one designed to stop global warming because it fits each nation's need to increase its energy security as well. It's not just coincidence that politicians on both sides of the Atlantic are talking simultaneously about stopping global warming and ending their nations' addiction to oil.

This program of action, whether under the guise of national security or stopping global warming, couldn't come at a better time for what I'll have to call alternative-energy stocks, for lack of a better term. The subsidies and market incentives in this program will be more than enough to push maturing, but still not fully commercialized, technologies into the market on an equal footing with other energy technologies.

Come what may after that, these alternative-energy technologies -- and I'm thinking here primarily, though not exclusively, of wind and solar power -- will have received enough of a boost to be able to compete with the rest of the energy sector.

You can get a good sense of what the coming global-warming combat orders are going to look like from the plan unveiled Jan. 10 by the European Union.

The plan calls for:

• Making a 20% reduction, from 1990 levels, in carbon emissions in the European Union by 2020.
• Getting 20% of electricity supply in the European Union from renewable sources by 2020. That's more than a doubling from current targets.
• Constructing a new generation of safer nuclear reactors to keep nuclear power at a 30% share of supply.
• Keeping coal at 30% of electricity supply but ensuring that all new and existing plants include systems for capturing carbon and storing it out of the atmosphere.
• Having biofuels provide 10% of fuel for transportation by 2020, up from 2% now.

Global warming or no global warming, it's pretty clear that these changes are critical for the future health of the European economy. Europe is desperately worried about its reliance on Russian energy supplies. In the most recent example to Europeans of why they have to do something to reduce their dependence on Russian natural gas and oil, Russia cut off oil supplies to Western Europe through the pipeline that crosses Belarus for three days during a dispute with Belarus.

Even in Washington the ice is thawing because of this conjunction of global-warming science and national energy security. The "Advanced Energy Initiative" in last year's State of the Union address promised a 22% increase in research for "clean" coal, "safe" nuclear power, "revolutionary" wind and solar energy, "cutting-edge" biofuels, hybrids and hydrogen fuels. This year I expect more research money to be thrown at the same sectors, with the possibility that the Bush administration will actually apply more federal cash to the big job: building unit volume in order to drive down costs for wind and solar, the most commercially developed of these technologies.

What does all this amount to from an investor's prospective? I'd break down the opportunities into two groups.

Group 1: Saving the world

These stocks maximize your long-term potential returns since they really can play a role in solving the global-warming problem.

Wind and solar: These technologies are set to go over the top and into the commercial market. There are several factors putting a breeze at the back of wind technology:

• More cost-efficient turbines have driven down the cost of using the wind to produce electricity by about 50% over the past 15 years.
• The European Union's carbon-trading systems put a price on pollution, making it more costly for utilities to do business the old way.
• Big utilities are able to raise capital at extremely low costs.
• Government funding for global-warming programs will be enough to finance the construction of manufacturing facilities that will remove the current solar-cell bottleneck. It's hard to grow a solar-energy market when no one can get enough raw material to build solar cells.

Stocks to watch: I'd look to add global-warming positions in European market leaders such as Gamesa (GCTAF, news, msgs) and Vestas (which trades on the Copenhagen Exchange under code DK001026806), Indian market leader Suzlon Energy (which trades on the Mumbai stock exchange under code 532667) and U.S. market leader GE Wind, a subsidiary of General Electric (GE, news, msgs). Or you can buy up-and-coming suppliers of key technologies to the wind industry, such as carbon-fiber supplier Zoltek Cos. (ZOLT, news, msgs) and ultracapacitor maker Maxwell Technologies (MXWL, news, msgs). In solar, my list would include First Solar (FSLR, news, msgs), a leader in making thin-film photovoltaic material, and SunPower (SPWR, news, msgs), which is making good progress in driving down the cost per kilowatt for solar cells because of the silicon manufacturing expertise of its parent Cypress Semiconductor (CY, news, msgs).

Transitional technologies: In the long run, burning natural gas to produce electricity (or to produce the electricity that you need to turn natural gas into hydrogen) still produces too much carbon dioxide to prevent massive climate change from global warming, but it sure packs less of a carbon-dioxide wallop than coal or oil. However, getting the natural gas where it needs to go is a huge job requiring immense capital.

• Stocks to watch: ExxonMobil (XOM, news, msgs) has already begun to move its hydrocarbon resource base strongly toward natural gas. It's the most obvious play on this opportunity, even if the company has fought global-warming science tooth and nail.

Unsexy technologies: This stuff doesn't fire folks up the way that talking about the hydrogen economy does, but for the really important decades between now and 2050, figuring out ways to reduce carbon emissions a little bit here and a little bit there will have a much bigger aggregate effect than big ideas that remain stuck in the research labs.

• Stocks to watch: I'm talking about a shift from incandescent bulbs to LEDs (light-emitting diodes) from Color Kinetics (CLRK, news, msgs), about using software and centralized control systems from Johnson Controls (JCI, news, msgs) to cut energy use in offices and factories, and about 3M (MMM, news, msgs) re-engineering everyday materials to cut the energy used in production and to increase recycling potential.

Group 2: Less-than-pure profit

These opportunities will make you a profit, at least over the next few years or so, but they really don't do anything to save the world from global warming.

Technologies likely to get big political bones: I'm talking mainly about so-called clean coal here.

It really isn't part of the solution because coal produces too much carbon dioxide per pound burned for any system of capture-and-storage to work. (Burn a ton of coal to generate electricity, and you get four tons of carbon dioxide.) However, any politician who says this right now is committing suicide: There are too many jobs at stake and too many well-funded lobbyists roaming the halls. It will take years for the technology to prove itself one way or the other, and in the meantime, the effort will be enough to build and support interest in clean coal and carbon dioxide-storage stocks.

• Stocks to watch: Headwaters (HW, news, msgs) and Praxair (PX, news, msgs). The former is the largest provider of technology and chemical reagents to the coal-based synthetic-fuels industry. The latter has announced joint research into improved carbon-dioxide capture technologies with utility AES Corp. (AES, news, msgs). Just so the coal folks don't think I'm picking on them, I'd put corn-based ethanol in the same camp -- lots of rhetoric and not much long-term future. Still, that rhetoric should be enough to make Archer Daniels Midland) (ADM, news, msgs) a profitable holding. (To be completely fair, the company is pushing ahead into other biofuels that hold more long-term potential.)

The technology of denial: On my Christmas visit to the coast north of San Diego, I got to witness the hugely expensive effort being put in to stabilize ocean cliffs by lining them with bulkheads and then injecting concrete into the dirt. If we're willing to spend millions to protect a few seaside condominium complexes, think how much we'll be ready to spend to protect farms on marginal land that has suddenly become even more marginal. I don't think you have to be a cynic to expect that we'll spend billions on desalinating sea water and on genetically engineering seeds to be more resistant to salty soils, to take just two examples.

• Stocks to watch: To bet on this very deep-grained desire to protect what we have from change, I'd suggest General Electric, a leader in the water business, and Monsanto (MON, news, msgs), a leader in the genetic engineering of seeds.

Update to Jubak's Picks

Sell Garmin (GRMN, news, msgs). I'm selling Garmin into the strength of the current technology rally. Garmin's shares haven't participated in this rally as strongly as I'd like because of worries about how shifts in the personal-navigation-device market might be hurting margins at Garmin.

This year's just-concluded Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was rife with new low-cost but high-quality devices from new vendors. From preliminary holiday sales, numbers it looks like sales of high-end personal-navigation devices came on strong (good news for Garmin) but that at the low end these new vendors used very aggressive discounting in an attempt to build sales (bad news for Garmin).

Garmin and other higher-priced vendors, such as TomTom (TMOAF, news, msgs), defended their share at lower price points by extending discount periods and cutting prices further.

TomTom, for example, increased its lower-end discounts by an additional $50 a device. This can't help profit margins and increases the possibility that Garmin will announce great unit sales but profit-margin pressure for the past quarter and going forward when the company reports earnings Feb. 14.

As of Jan. 16, I'm selling Garmin out of Jubak's Picks with a 3.24% gain since I added the stock to the portfolio Oct. 12. (Full disclosure: I will sell my personal shares of Garmin three days after this column is posted.)

Buy SiRF Technology Holdings (SIRF, news, msgs). The bad news for high-end personal-navigation-device companies such as Garmin and TomTom is good news for GPS chip maker SiRF Technology. The company was clearly the preferred chip supplier for low-end vendors in the personal-navigation-device market at the Consumer Electronics Show and in the next generation of wireless handsets with GPS capability.

The stock has had tough going in 2006 on worries that the company was losing some of its estimated 80% to 90% market share. The company has indeed lost share, as is almost inevitable these days in any fast-growing and profitable technology sector, but even with a drop to 60% to 70% market share in 2007, as projected by Deutsche Bank, SiRF Technology should see its chip sales climb in 2007 as the personal-navigation-device market goes from 16 million units in 2006 to between 24 million and 30 million in 2007. I'm adding the shares to Jubak's Picks with a target price of $34.50 by September 2007.

New developments on a past column

"The state of coal stocks is strong": The best news out of Headwaters' (HW, news, msgs) recently doesn't involve its so-called clean-coal technology but the company's efforts to improve the upgrading of heavy oil to lighter transportation fuels such as diesel and gasoline. With high-sulfur heavy oil making up most of the world's new supplies of oil in recent years, any process that increases the yields and reduces the cost of turning those grades into products such as gasoline would be a big winner. On Jan. 4, Headwaters announced the successful completion of two additional tests of its catalyst technology to upgrade heavy oil at a North American refinery. The company has formed a new business unit, Headwaters Heavy Oil, to develop and market the technology.

There's just too much coal. U.S. coal production rose 10.3% year-to-year for the week that ended Dec. 9, and in November stockpiles at coal-burning power plants climbed to 28% above the level of a year ago and 9.3% above the 10-year average for November. Consol Energy (CNX, news, msgs) is best positioned for this state of oversupply with coal supplies being tightest and demand highest for the high-sulfur, high-BTU Northern Appalachian coal that Consul Energy mines. In the third quarter the company signed new contracts at better than $50 a ton for 2009, a level higher than current prices. That will keep earnings on an upward track in 2007 and 2008. Nonetheless, coal is in plentiful supply, and that will weigh on the shares. As of Jan. 16, I'm cutting my target price for Consol Energy to $44 from $48 a share by September 2007. (Full disclosure: I own shares of Consol Energy.)

Meet Jim Jubak at The Money Show

MSN Money senior markets editor Jim Jubak will appear along with many other top investment professionals at The World Money Show in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 7-10.

Admission is free for MSN Money users and includes Jubak's seminars and access to more than 320 workshops, panel discussions and other sessions, as well as a chance to visit more than 350 top financial product and service providers in the exhibit hall. For complete details or to register for free admission, call 800-970-4355 (mention priority code #007420) or visit the Money Show Web site.

Editor's Note: A new Jubak's Journal is posted every Tuesday and Friday. Please note that Jubak's Picks recommendations are for a 12- to 18-month time horizon. For suggestions to help navigate the treacherous interest-rate environment, see Jim's new portfolio, Dividend stocks for income investors. For picks with a truly long-term perspective, see Jubak's 50 best stocks in the world or Future Fantastic 50 Portfolio. E-mail Jim Jubak at jjmail@microsoft.com.

At the time of publication, Jim Jubak owned or controlled shares of the following equities mentioned in this column: Consol Energy, Garmin and Zoltek Cos. He does not own short positions in any stock mentioned in this column.

Source: MSN

Is Paris Really The Most Romantic City In The World?

By Amy Graybeal

This week's poll asked our community what type of location they would prefer for a romantic getaway. The results beg the question: is Paris really the most romantic city in the world?

47% said they would prefer a beach getaway. Mountains and countryside locations tied for second place at 21% each. And finally, tourist cities brought up the rear at 11%. While Paris may be considered the city of love, our users say they prefer a beach vacation over a tourist city. So what are couples looking for in a romantic vacation?

Couples are looking for time away from the hectic lives they live. They're looking to reconnect. They want to refocus to what matters in life - and that's love.

Beaches and other low stress surroundings like mountains and countryside help set the tone for a romantic getaway focused on each other - not sightseeing, schedules, and obligations.

But regardless of location, any vacation can be romantic. Here are some planning tips to help kindle the romance on your next vacation:

1. Make the journey comfortable. There's nothing worse than starting a vacation with stress and bad tempers. Try to mitigate as many unpleasant travel issues as possible. If you're traveling by air, try packing warm socks, blankets, pillows, Tylenol, snacks, and any other comfort item you can get past security.

2. Leave some unplanned time in your schedule. Don't plan out the vacation like a work schedule. Leave time for items of interest or just to lounge around. Romantic vacations should be about connecting with your partner so leave some empty time to do just that!

3. Plan a surprise romantic treat. Many hotels these days offer some type of romantic offering whether it be turndown service, spa treatments, flowers in the room, or just Champagne and strawberries. Plan a special romantic surprise upon arrival to set a nice romantic tone for the vacation.

4. Adjust your frame of mind. Before you even leave the house, get into the right frame of mind. Make reconnecting your central thought and loving your partner your central feeling. If you're not going to be open, honest, loving, caring, thoughtful, happy - it really defeats the purpose of going.

Amy is the Founder & President of Magic of Romance, Inc

http://www.magicofromance.com

Magic of Romance features free romantic ideas, travel for lovers, and advice on relationships. She attended the Business School at Georgia Tech. She currently resides in Sandy Springs. She enjoys discovering new travel destinations, reading new books with a good cup of coffee, and watching movies.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Amy_Graybeal

Living With The Ear In An American Idol World

By April Lorier

It is both a blessing and a curse for the musician who has "the ear". It's a rarity, and any musician who has "the ear" brags about it ad nauseam. It's like having a pitch pipe built into his ear which enables him to hum, at random, any note perfectly on pitch. All of the great composers of our history had it, and it made their tasks much simpler. Barbara Streisand and Celine Dion both have "perfect pitch", which makes them intolerant of those who do not have it (and difficult to work with).

The worst thing you could do to a musician with perfect pitch is to make them sit through the qualifying weeks of "American Idol". I cannot stand hearing the wanna-be-singers ruining songs I have known and loved for decades! My gift of perfect pitch turns into a curse as I violently react to these contestants! It can be a curse to have "the ear".

As I listen to the rhetoric during this campaign season, there are candidates who say all the right things, but they are not "on pitch". Something is off and I can hear it. And when my children, old as they are, try to pull the wool over Mama's eyes with parsed words including just enough truth to technically not be a lie, or they deliberately eliminate all of the story, "the ear" hears the disparity. (They still haven't figured out how I usually know they're not being totally truthful!)
It's the same for a Christian who, through years of spiritual growth combined with the walking-out of Christian Faith, hears professing Christians quote passages from the Bible in order to make their own points. Something in my well-trained spiritual ear doesn't ring true. It's "off pitch". Sometimes it takes a while to figure out exactly what's wrong, and other times it just hits me like a pie in the face.

I think of "that time" spoken of in 2 Peter 2:1-3 (NKJV) "there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them-bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up."

Or in 2 Timothy 2:2-4 (NIV) Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. (3) For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (4) They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Without naming any names, may I say it seems to me that we are living in that time? I have never before heard so many teachers teaching myths that will scratch the itching ears of large audiences attending "spiritual seminars" in this country. Oh, I would expect it of other countries, but the United States of America? The country founded on Judeo-Christian Principles? The country who, by far, sends out more missionaries to other countries to feed, clothe, dig water wells for those in need, and share The Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who have never heard?

One has only to listen to PBS for a week to hear the most famous of these false prophets (and also the richest). Likewise, one has only to tune in to the "name it and claim it" preachers decked out in their enormously expensive clothes, standing in their mega churches where they arrived in their extravagant cars to wonder what's happened to the Truth of One who never owned a single possession in His thirty-three years on this earth.

Don't get me wrong! I'm not advocating poverty as a badge of one's commitment to the Lord! I grew up in a parsonage where no maintenance was ever performed, and I wore hand-me-downs from church members' children because we were too poor to have proper health care, much less new clothes! I don't believe God was pleased by the church's philosophy of "We'll keep him poor so You can keep him humble, Lord", either!

But listening to these so-called "Spiritual Teachers" of today affects me in the same way as does listening to American Idol contestants singing severely off pitch! Righteous indignation rises up within me and if I allow it, it will upset me for days. One of my sons asked, "Mom, you know what the Bible says it will be like in the end times, so why should it upset you so much when you see it happening? Isn't it just a given?"

My answer is always the same: God is a jealous God, and I am His daughter. I share His trait of jealousy when it comes to idols, false doctrines, heresies, and false teachers. I am jealous for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

All the way back in the Old Testament God's jealousy is talked about.(Psalms) They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols. (Or) For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images. (Or) How long, O LORD ? Will you be angry forever? How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
There are hundreds of references to God being jealous (or zealous) for His name, His people, His ways.

In Romans 10, Paul said: For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. (3 )Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. (4) Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul said to the Christians at Corinth: I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I feel the same way! It grieves me to no end to think of the "itching ears" that are being led astray by opportunistics who care nothing for the souls in their audiences. When that day comes that we all stand before The Judge, Jesus Christ, will these mislead souls be able to say, "But we were taught..." Will that be acceptable to the One who said He was THE Way, THE Truth, and THE Light?

Like I said, having "the ear", both musically and spiritually, is a blessing that feels like a curse sometimes. "Ignorance is bliss" sometimes seems true in this sojourner's life. But then I have to ask myself if having "the ear" carries a responsibility with it? I think the answer must be a resounding yes! And so I ask God today for the courage to stay "on pitch" in this world of American Idols. Amen.

© 2007 April Lorier

April Lorier is an award-winning poet, writer, Author, Christian Speaker, Columnist, and former music teacher.

As a pastor's daughter and a survivor of severe child abuse, April Lorier has an intimate knowledge of child abuse in and out of the church. She founded COPE, Inc, for the retraining of abusive parents. Her testimony before the CA State Legislature helped with the passage of The Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), signed by Ronald Reagan.

Her autobiography, "GOD'S BATTERED CHILD: Journey from Abuse to Leader" (2007) is available at Amazon, B & Nobles, Target and at gods-girl.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=April_Lorier

Experience The Ancient World With A Tribal Tattoo

By Mike Selvon

Though it has become very popular in Western Cultures in the past few years, native people groups around the world have used the tribal tattoo for various purposes for thousands of years.
A brief history of these uses will give people who may want a tribal tattoo a better idea of exactly what they want in a tattoo. More than just designs, these tribal symbols are often fraught with meaning and can signify many different aspects of human life.

While there are many different cultures that provide the basis for tribal tattoos, we will look at just a few of them here in order to develop a basic understanding of the most popular types.

The first style is found in ancient Egypt. Tattoos of hieroglyphics have become increasingly popular as people are choosing to tattoo themselves with symbols that may be very meaningful to them, but that they want to remain rather cryptic to others.

In addition to hieroglyphs, the ancient Egyptians used tattoos to depict religious scenes.
Creatures that were half animal and half human represented the Egyptian gods and their beliefs about the afterlife.

Another form of tribal tattooing is found in Asia. A henna tattoo was used in many Hindu cultures to decorate a bride's body for her husband. This practice has become increasingly popular in recent years throughout Western cultures.

While not necessarily used as a wedding adornment, henna tattoos have found a place in gothic subculture as a means of decorating the body.

These tribal patterns are considered works of art by themselves and each one is to be a unique creation of the tattoo artist's abilities and vision.

Native Americans tribal designs have also found popularity in recent years. They are often abstract creations that denote an emotion. Power, peace, wisdom and authority are subtly portrayed in these tattoos.

Men typically get these designs wrapped around their upper arm, or they may have them wrap from their back, over their shoulder and down onto their arm.

Women will typically have these Native American body art designs placed in the small of their back, or on a shoulder.

Regardless, of the location or the origin, the popularity of tribal tattoo designs shows that people are open to listening and learning from the wisdom and traditions of other cultures.

Often, people who choose to get a tribal body art are trying to express an emotion or a message that they are unable to do with words, or a common image. The tribal tattoo design sets apart the message as being something special, unique and important.

Enrich your knowledge further about the tribal tattoo options from Mike Selvon portal. We appreciate your feedback at our tattoo designs blog where a free gift awaits you.

What In The World Is Social Bookmarking and Why Should You Be Doing It?

By Gregg Hall

Social bookmarking has become an immense force both in online marketing in addition to mainstream culture. The wildly popular Social Networking site MySpace was offed to News Corp last year for $580 million in spite of having no real measurable income. The value placed on the site was from the tremendous traffic it yields and even at over a half billion was believed a bargain. YouTube sold to Google for 1.65 billion with only 20 million in revenue. These high-ticket sales just attest how fashionable and how crucial such sites are.

Okay, enough news. How does one really use these sites to make money? First of all, let me forewarn you that just like broadcasting out B.S. emails and assembling SPAM blogs or SPLOGS as they are known online, mistreating the social bookmarking services will result in getting your internet site banned by them and you will get precisely the opposite outcomes from what you are looking for. With that said, I propose you pay close attention to what I talk about in this article as well as about of the resources that I am going to propose to you.

Like many internet marketers I am forever on the lookout for new methods and methods for driving free traffic to my sites and try to cut back the use of techniques such as PPC (pay-per-click) and co-registration promotions. Whenever you can get plenty of your target keyword pages to show up in the top of the major SEs you more or less have a license to print money
without having to put out any of your own.

There are quite a few bookmarking sites out there but for the aims of employing them for online marketing we are going to concentrate on a few of the more favorites such as Del.icio.us, Furl, Digg, Spurl, and the one I genuinely love, Technorati. There are numerous automated tools that I will help you to automate the process of bookmarking your sites.

All of the leading bookmarking sites will help you to get traffic and if you have a blog you will obtain the greatest benefit by delivering constantly updating content that can then be transmitted to the directories when your blog updates. They love new and UNIQUE content.
There are software plugins you can employ that will put buttons on your blogs which make it user-friendly for someone to recommend the articles or content from your internet site or blog.
One of the other bookmarking sites that has become exceedingly popular recently is Digg. The site was started by Kevin Rose for below $1,000 and now with over 400,000 members and 200 million page views is one of the biggest news sites on the web. Just to give you an estimate of how prominent they are, their readership is nearly as massive as the New York Times.

Personally, I like to give my readers numerous options which is why I will put buttons to Del.icio.us, Digg, Furl, Reddit, Ask, Blinklist, Blogmarks, Google, Ma.gnolia, Spurl, Yahoo, and another service called Socializer that covers a lot more. This gives me a heavy coverage of all of the major sites. In addition to the buttons that I put on my blogs I will also create “tags” for Technorati and add them to my posts. These tips can help you get much more traffic to your blogs.

Gregg Hall has been a professional internet marketer since 1995 and is currently one of the top authors at EzineArticles.com. He has recently set up a new blog that reviews infoproducts, software and ebooks which includes screen capture demo videos. Stop by and join his community.

He uses the methods he writes about everyday. Learn how to automate social bookmarking and get more Info Product Reviews as well as other software and infoproducts at InfoProductPodcast.com

Smiling in a Virtual World

By Denise Willms

I have a sign by my phone that reads, "Smile with your voice." It's true. Callers really can hear if you're smiling. Don't believe me? Practice saying your phone greeting with a smile, and then without. Which version is the image you want to project? More importantly, which version projects the image your clients will buy?

What Your Smile Says About You
When you work virtually, good communication is essential. Phone impressions in any business need to be professional, courteous, and welcoming. But in a virtual business, your phone impression is not only important - it’s vital to your success. Since your client may never meet you in person, a virtual business owner must ensure all communication projects a positive company image. When you communicate in person, your listener responds not just to your words, but to your appearance, facial expressions, and body language. On the telephone, your listener depends solely on your voice for these nonverbal cues. A smile in your voice conveys confidence, professionalism, and an appreciation for the person on the other end of the line.

Smiles Are Communication Magic
Try this experiment: Smile at someone, even a stranger, and odds are you'll find them smiling back at you. Smiling has the same effect in telephone communication. Smiles, including phone smiles, are contagious. Your caller will pick up on your smile and start smiling too. You'll hear it in his voice and sense the difference in his mood. It's pretty hard to argue with someone when you're smiling! Ultimately, your smile will improve your communication with your client.

A Smile Can Increase Your Sales
Callers regularly tell me, "I love calling you because you always sound so cheerful." Your phone greeting tells your caller if the rest of what you have to say is even worth listening to. If you don’t immediately make a potential client feel glad she called, it may not matter what else you say.

Here's an example: I dread calling my doctor, and not just because it means my children are sick. His office assistant answers in a monotone and I can't help wondering if my phone call is interrupting her work. On the other hand, I look forward to calling my daughter's orthodontist. His office assistant always answers with a smile and makes me feel like she's been looking forward to my phone call all day. I suddenly don't mind spending hundreds of dollars on my daughter's teeth. Well, I don't mind as much.

I don't choose doctors or orthodontists by how their phones are answered because telephone communication plays a small part in our relationship. In a virtual business, though, telephone communication is fundamental to your client relationships. Potential clients will choose to call or not call you because of how you sound on the phone.

Only the Real Thing

A word of caution though - a genuine smile will make the world a brighter place, but a fake smile will usually create the opposite reaction. Most people can spot and hear a forced smile, which may give rise to feelings of distrust. If you’re having trouble generating a genuine grin, come up with some ways to get your real smile started.

Before I answer the phone, I take a deep breath and focus my attention on the person who's calling me. I remind myself they’ve chosen to call me, and that already makes me feel like smiling. Try thinking of a humorous anecdote, something you're feeling happy about, or anything else that makes you want to smile. Take a deep breath, smile, and pick up the phone. Make your client glad they called.

Denise Willms,a homeschooling mom of two, helps her clients get targeted traffic to their websites by writing articles and press releases. Subscribe to her newsletter, WAHM-Articles Ezine, and receive 105 Power Tips to Get Your Online Business Noticed and Profiting.

Hectic World, Much to Learn

By Fabian Toulouse

People seem to be running in circles. There are the kids to taxi around town, work deadlines to be met, endless errands to run, and social engagements to honor. Sure, it would be great to switch gears and go back to school, or even get some career training to improve your marketability, but it’s the same old question: who has the time? This is where distance education and correspondence courses come to fruition.

This university has been offering distance learning opportunities to millions of students over the past two decades. Indeed, Internet classes have opened up a world of learning and studying possibilities, with extensive course materials and accessible online tutorials available around the clock.

Since 1987, the distance education opportunities offered by Ashworth University’s parent school have expanded from one single trade course in real estate to dozens of programs to help students at all levels. Regardless of age, Ashworth University students can finish their high school degrees, get hands-on career training, or earn a college degree at the associate, bachelor, or masters level.

No matter how busy you are, Ashworth University can fit your schedule. A major advantage of distance education is the ability to budget your time accordingly. There are no deadlines or course schedules to adhere to – you simply work at your own pace. Snatch time to work whenever it suits your schedule—right before heading off to work, in the middle of the night, or while the kids are sleeping.

This university is a globally accredited school whose students can take their diplomas and compete in any market for better careers and higher paying positions. Without a good education it is virtually impossible to improve your financial status. Ashworth University puts you on a fast track for completing your education, and there is no deadline for enrolling. Interest-free monthly tuition payments make it far more affordable than traditional colleges and trade schools. Distance education through Ashworth University provides a world of opportunity and advantages with none of the hassles associated with traditional schools.
Fabian T.

http://www.ashworthuniversity.edu/

Job Search Strategies - Resumes That Rock - Seven Tips For Creating a World Class Resume

By Jane Trevaskis

First, and foremost, remember than a resume is used to screen out, not in. It is used to reduce the foot-high pile to a manageable handful. And this function is usually performed by someone other than the hiring manager. So, your goal is to get past this step to the person who can actually decide to hire you. Most people create a resume at the beginning of their career and simply update it from then on. Now might be a good time to take another look at yours. Here are seven tips on how to best translate your accomplishments into a resume.

1. Start with a summary. I know you think of a summary as the ending of a document. Think of this more like an executive summary at the beginning of a proposal. Most importantly, it is the only part of your resume that is almost always read. It’s the portion where you talk about the scope of your career and those capabilities that won’t fit into a specific accomplishment bullet.

2. Focus on accomplishments rather than responsibilities. You want your resume to reflect the successes you have had throughout your career. It’s much more effective to say that you brought in 150% of sales goal than to say you were responsible for sales in the southeast region. Review your career and focus in on the Situation you were presented with, the Actions you took and the Outcome you produced.

3. Never more than two pages. Most people who see lots of resumes automatically discard any that exceed two pages. If you are a recent college graduate, one page is probably plenty, but more than two is a real no-no. The only exceptions are academia and organizations that are closely related to academia. Then it is frequently called a curriculum vitae (or c.v.) instead of a resume.

4. Make it easy to read. If it’s hard to read, most people won't even try. Beginning all sections of the resume with action verbs helps. You can find lists of action verbs specific to your profession from books in the career section of your local bookstore on just google the term “keywords” and you'll get more than you could ever use. People scan resumes, they don’t read them. Most people who read lots of resumes spend less than 10 seconds on the first pass through – and that’s the one when they reduce the number of resumes that will be read more thoroughly from, for instance, 100 to 10. So, scan your resume yourself to make sure that your points get across in a less-than-thorough read.

5. References available upon request – NOT. Everybody knows that references are available and, since you have limited space on a resume, you don't need to waste the space. But you do have to have identified at least six people willing to serve as a reference and be able to provide their names and contact information within 24 hours of a request.

6. Education. The degrees you hold are important but, if your major wasn't relevant to this opportunity, don’t mention it. If you are looking for a job in a technical arena and your degree is in art history, it's better to just skip it. And if your degree is more than five years old, the date doesn’t go on your resume. However, both the institution you attended and the degree you earned are very important.

7. Optional Sections and Addendum. The final section of a resume is where you put those other parts of your background that are applicable. This section could list certifications, memberships (both professional associations and applicable volunteer involvement), awards, military experience, or technical skills. If you have an overload of one kind of optional information (patents, publications, technical skills, etc.) it can become a one-page addendum that you won’t give to everyone. However, an addendum must focus on only one subject – it is definitely not a third page of your resume. One addendum per resume.

Now, take a look at your current resume and spruce it up with these tips.

With your permission, I’d like to offer you a free report: Action Verbs for Resumes. You can download it by going to http://www.acatalystinyoursuccess.com/Report_Action_Verbs.html

If you would like to hear more about resumes and the other tools you need to conduct a successful job search visit http://www.acatalystinyoursuccess.com/Career_Home_Page.html
From Jane Trevaskis and Success-Catalyst.com

Little League World Series - It's Not the Real World Series - Calm Down!

By Nishan Wilde

When I was a little kid, I loved playing baseball. The smell of the freshly cut grass, sunflower seeds, and a day at the ball park were enough to excite me beyond anything else. And while the early morning hours weren’t exactly at my peak activity hours, you could count on me getting up early every Saturday morning to get ready for the weekly game. Simply put, there was something magical about little league games for me.

Nowadays, though, it seems as if some of the magic has been taken out of the game. A prime example of what I am talking about happened last night during a Little League World Series game. In the Northwest Regional Championship game, Lake Oswego, Oregon took on Kent, Washington. These two teams had met previously in a game thouroughly dominated by Kent.
The game started as most do in these tournaments - both pitchers were throwing heat and dominating the opposing hitters. Then, in the 2nd inning, the Kent pitcher gave up a solo home run. Up until that point, he had recorded somewhere in the ball park of 4-5 stikeouts. He ended the game with upwards of 10 strikeouts, giving up a meager 3 runs. Yet, despite his stellar performance, he began tearing up with every hit or run Lake Oswego produced.

Another example happened in the same game. After having had two solid at-bats, a Lake Oswego player struck out on his third attempt. He, too, began to cry, even though his team was winning. One would think that having a .667 batting average in a victory would be cause for praise. However, as evident from the aforementioned examples, that is not the case. In both cases, each player was so broken up by minimal mistakes that he began to cry. But why? Why should a player get so upset over such a little thing as making one minor mistake? The answer - Pressure. These young boys are put under a tremendous amount of pressure. Because they are gifted athletically for their age, these players simply destroy the competition during their little league careers. They begin to develop a history of winning. When that happens, anything else is unacceptable. Winning, not the game, becomes the main objective, the driving force. However, for the most part, the kids are not the ones who yearn for victory. They simply want to play ball.
The parents and the coaches, on the other hand, who seem to relive their glory days vicariously through their children, need the “W” and are wholeheartedly disappointed when they don’t get it. Believe me, I’ve been there. Overly-critical coaches are the main reason I stopped playing baseball, even though I too played on the all-star team.

We need to remember that baseball is just a game for kids. Whereas the lucky few who find their way to the professional baseball ranks should expect criticism, little leaguers should not. They don’t get paid for playing baseball. The American mentality of winning is a must and second place is the first loser has created a situation in which young boys are subjected to pressure for which they have not been prepared. The result - cry babies crop up every game, terrified of what their coaches or parents might think if they make a mistake. Seriously, baseball is just a game. We need to calm down a little bit and realize that the Little League World Series is not the real World Series. After all, Little League baseball is for kids, not parents.

Nishan Wilde is VP of Sales at RobbinsSports.com, an online resource for Gym Bags, Portable Scoreboards and Basketball Uniforms

Vietnamese Art - Taking the World On Its Stride

By Suzanne Macguire

The art scene of Vietnam has taken a few giant leaps in recent years. The Doi Moi has constantly been a source of inspiration for the new generation of artists. Besides, the country has also done well in establishing a communication with the outside world thus allowing the artists to present their artworks to the world. Creation of newer opportunities has strengthened the confidence of the young artists who are constantly striving to introduce innovations in their art works. For long, Vietnam artists have drawn in from the traditions of China, France and Russia. There are instances of oil paintings on themes of village and women folk. A love for the city of Hanoi is particularly reflected in a number of these paintings; the image of the deceased painter, Bui Xuan Phai, serving as inspiration to the new breed of Vietnam artists.

Portrayal of emotions has been institutional in drawing the attention of art lovers, especially from the West. The modern Vietnam artists, Hong Viet Dung in particular, has done a great job by moving away from simple subjects to depicting human emotions. These emotions convey a wide range of feelings with an affinity towards loneliness, despair, sorrow, or other woeful experiences of life. On the other hand, artists such as Dao Hai Phong, Le Thanh Son and Pham Luan are drawn towards what might be called the 'romantic style'. Use of highly attractive colors in these paintings makes them appealing, especially to the foreigners who reside in the gray, urban monotonous environment. Portrayal of abstractions has been done excellently by Nguyen Trung, thus testifying to the spirit of Vietnam artists to take up fresh challenges. However, there is one area, which has not yet been chiefly touched by the modern artists. This is the area of socio-political criticism, which has been widely used by Western artists as their art themes.

Speaking of the more innovative art techniques, the Vietnamese lacquer paintings deserve a special mention. Lacquer paintings have turned out to be a great favorite with the art lovers.

Painters like Dinh Quan, Trinh Tuan and Cong Kim Hoa have contributed immensely to the lacquer tradition. The synthesis of traditional lacquer painting and modern painting is now being widely acclaimed. Production of lacquer paintings is time consuming but the result always turns out to be an exquisite masterpiece.

The art scenario of Vietnam has witnessed a sea change over the years. The Vietnamese art market has been successful in drawing art connoisseurs from all over the world on account of its excellent quality and innovation. Being a dynamic art scene in comparison to other countries, Vietnam has produced some of the greatest masterpieces of modern art. The future of Vietnamese art certainly seems bright. Hopefully, Vietnam artists will live up to the high standards set for themselves and let the world recognize the true worth of Vietnamese contemporary art.

Suzanne Macguire is an Internet marketing professional with expertise in content development and technical writing in a variety of industries. Vietnam Paintings

Five Affordable World Travel Destinations

By C.J. Gustafson

Five Affordable World Travel Destinations

Locations That Offer More But Cost Less
So you want to travel the world but you have a tight budget? Are you tired of reading about everyone else’s exotic adventures and ready to have some of your own? Have you always wanted to take an international vacation but thought you couldn’t afford it? There are numerous travel destinations across the world that are both exciting and affordable. Five of them are described here to give you ideas and get you started planning your own getaway.
There are two ways to approach affordable vacations to distant destinations. Either you will save money getting there or the savings will occur once you arrive at your selected spot. If you want the trip there to be affordable, many travel consolidators recommend choosing well-known destinations that are served by numerous airlines and receive millions of travelers each year. The competition for customers usually drives costs down for everything from lodging to tour packages. Airfares between major hubs tend to be more affordable and there are often plenty of discounts and last minute travel deals.

London
In Europe, London is a top pick for affordable vacation destinations, for these exact reasons. Not only do you have more flights to choose from, they are cheaper than if you flew to a more remote location. On average, staying in London may be a bit more expensive than other European destinations, but the seemingly endless choices in hotels, restaurants, transportation, tours, and other travel essentials gives travels opportunities to mold their vacation to fit their budgets. And you can use London as your home base to set out on day trips to other more exotic locations or buy a Eurorail pass and see those more remote countries without the expense of flying there.

Playa del Carmen, Mexico
This theory also works well for traveling in the Caribbean. Belize is an appealing destination, with wonderful Caribbean beaches and a lush tropic setting, but since it has only recently emerged as a popular travel destination, it is more expensive than Cancun, Jamaica or other well-traveled locations along the Mayan Riviera. With fewer flights, getting there is more expensive, and there are few moderate lodging options. Development of larger luxury resorts have begun to boom, but the only real alternative for those on a budget is staying in local facilities that may be hard to locate from home and may be more rustic than most travelers are willing to try.

Although there are many options for affordable vacations in the Caribbean, an excellent pick is Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Accessible via flights to Cancun, which are often some of the cheapest in the region, Playa is just a half hour away. It is filled with a multitude of lodging choices, from expansive luxury resorts on the ocean to quaint but clean hotels downtown. From Playa, travelers can branch out and visit Tulum and other locations on the Mayan Riviera or take the ferry across to the island of Cozumel where snorkeling is prime and the attractions are many.
For Asian destinations, travelers often do better to focus on saving money once they get to their destination. Depending on your country of origin, getting to just about any spot in Asia is going to be a sizable chunk of your travel budget. The difference will come from the cost of lodging, food, entertainment and other travel expenditures once you arrive. By choosing destinations where you get the most for your money, you can save a great deal on your international vacation. A drink or dinner in Tokyo will costs you many times more than what it would in Saigon. The key here is to go where you dollars buy you more and where the local cost of living is low.

Tioman Island
An affordable yet exotic choice for Asia is Malaysia and specifically Tioman Island, knows as the mythical 'Bali Hai' from the film 'South Pacific.’ Tioman Island is located at the southern end of the east coast of Malaysia on the South China Sea. It’s sandy beaches, bordered by lush jungles and stunning mountains make it a relaxing yet intriguing destination, ideal for sun lovers, snorkelers and divers. The island also has many villages for exploring and shopping. English is widely spoken and the rates are amazingly affordable, with a two night lodging package for a suite at a lovely oceanside resort averaging around 100 U.S. dollars. Typically visitors reach the island via the speed ferry from the mainland. Although the trip can take over two hours, it is enjoyable and provides opportunities for dolphin watching along the way.

Buenos Aires
South American also has many destinations that are affordable because of the savings once you arrive. Locales like Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the areas top destination, are coming down in price but are still more expensive than cities such as Buenos Aires in Argentina, where the rates are lower and the U.S. dollar goes further.

A huge metropolis that is more European than South American, the city has much to offer including cultural events, thriving nightlife, shopping, local sports, and a host of tours and excursions. La Boca, with its street performers, shops, and unique architecture is a big tourist draw. The large number of choices for lodging, restaurants, and activities provides opportunities for budget travel and savings. Airfare to the city is relatively reasonable for an international destination, with discount fares from the U.S. averaging around $500 round trip. Buenos Aires might not be one of the most exotic or inspiring destinations in South America, but it is a city that everyone should see at least once, and with some of the most affordable rates and fares around, it makes the list as a top South American destination.

Las Vegas
The list would not be complete without a North American destination, and the champ of all affordable locales is Las Vegas. It too is a city that should be seen at least once, and many world travelers return again and again for the gaming, art, shows and people watching that just can’t be found anywhere else. Close enough to other top U.S. attractions like the Grand Canyon, Vegas provides other options for those who have had their fill of casinos.

The city has long been known for its cheap vacation packages with hotels and resorts that offer discount rates for rooms, meals and entertainment in hopes of attracting people to their gaming tables. Airfare rates into Vegas are some of the most reasonable in the United States, no matter the origination destination. And with more than 100,000 hotel rooms to choose from, there is sure to be a lodging choice that fits your budget.

The world provides hundreds of affordable travel destinations. With all the options available, there is no excuse to put off that life-long desire to travel to exotic places at the far ends of the earth. Destinations can be researched on the Internet or your travel consolidator can make recommendations and help with locating discount flights and hotel deals that fit your budget. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and explore the world.
About the Author

C.J. Gustafson is a freelance writer and photographer who travels extensively for work and family vacations. A cheapskate by nature and necessity, she is always on the lookout for bargain travel deals and affordable vacation destinations.
Copyright 2005 1st-Family-Vacations.com