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<title>Latest Articles by jimmycox</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/</link>
<description>Articles at Populate.NET</description>
<language>en-us</language>
<item>
<title>An Easy Way to Remember the US Presidents</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Personal_Development/an-easy-way-to-remember-the-us-presidents.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Personal_Development/an-easy-way-to-remember-the-us-presidents.html</guid>
<pubDate>Tue, 06 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Every American should know the names of the Presidents. First we list the Presidents and find substitute words for their names.  Beside each president write words of similar sound. The degree of similarity in sound is an individual matter. For the person who relies greatly on the aid of sound, the substituted word must be very like that of the word to be memorized. 

Then we make up a little story which includes these substituted words in order. The story might run somewhat like this:

In Washington Adam was jeopardized by a mad monster. Adam and Jack ran to the bureau, but in their hurry they broke a tile or poked a tailor. They filmed more buildings, pierced by a cannon which was linked by John to a grand tree.

The haze over garden and field sheltered Arthur, who cleaved his way in a hurry. He cleaved mockingly as he cried: "A rose taffeta dress will hardly be the right thing in a college; but whoever desires rose veils may truly wear them?"

The underlined words mean:
Washington -- Washington
Adam -- Adams
jeopardized -- Jefferson
mad -- Madison
monster	-- Monroe
Adam -- Adams
Jack  -- Jackson
bureau -- Van Buren
hurry -- Harrison
tile -- Tyler
poked -- Polk
tailor -- Taylor
filmed more -- Fillmore
pierced -- Pierce
by a cannon -- Buchanan
linked -- Lincoln
John -- Johnson
grand -- Grant
haze -- Hayes
garden and field -- Garfield
Arthur -- Arthur
cleaved -- Cleveland
hurry -- Harrison
cleaved -- Cleveland
mockingly -- McKinley
rose -- Roosevelt
taffeta -- Taft
will -- Wilson
hardly -- Harding
college -- Coolidge
whoever -- Hoover
rose veils -- Roosevelt

Use this small story, and you will know the Presidents of the United States.  

When we work out a story embodying these substitute words just as we did in the case of the states, except that in this instance we must use them in historical order. The story might run somewhat like this:

In Washington Adam was jeopardized by a mad monster. Adam and Jack ran to the bureau, but in their hurry they broke a tile or poked a tailor. They filmed more buildings, pierced by a cannon which was linked by John to a grand tree.

The haze over garden and field sheltered Arthur, who cleaved his way in a hurry. He cleaved mockingly as he cried: "A rose taffeta dress will hardly be the right thing in a college; but whoever desires rose veils may truly wear them?

This story is somewhat harder to learn than the one about the states, because of its prescribed order. Nevertheless, one can learn this list without special effort in half an hour, while to learn the Presidents without such aid takes much longer.

Every American is expected to know not only the names of the Presidents in chronological order but also the dates of their terms. The latter, too, is considerably lightened by mnemonics, but before we attempt it we need further preparation. We will return to its solution in a later chapter.

The following interesting version of the list of Presidents was worked out by Mr. Edwin C. Silvey. It is excellent in that it avoids many connecting words. This series, a masterpiece in phonetics, is also easy to learn:

Washing done, a dame gave her son medicine. We know Washington Adams Jefferson Madison Monroe at times that son, a wine bum, had his son dial (telephone) her: Adams Jackson Van Buren Harrison Tyler broke; tell her fill my	purse By cannon	and gun Polk Taylor Fillmore Pearce Buchanan	Lincoln John's son groaned to haze 	our field. Are they Johnson Grant Hayes	Gaineld	Arthur Gleeful	and merry, son?	Cleve and Mack when they rose felt Cleveland Harrison	Cleveland McKinley Roosevelt 
tough. Well, son, Hearty! College over. Who's fooled. Taft Wilson Harding Coolidge Hoover Roosevelt ]]></description>
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<title>Football Basics: Delivering the Ball</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Recreation_and_Leisure/Sports/Football/football-basics-delivering-the-ball.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Recreation_and_Leisure/Sports/Football/football-basics-delivering-the-ball.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ On the assumption that you use either the overhand, or thumb method of holding the ball, the thing to consider is the delivery. For a start, the arm and hand are cocked backwards over the shoulder, elbow relatively close to the body, hand well back to where it feels comfortable and natural. Then, fire the ball forward as fast as you can.

The speed in the whip of the arm and hand is in direct proportion to the velocity and distance the ball will travel. Accuracy will come through constant practice. While delivering the ball, exaggerate throwing the elbow out in front of the body so that the point of the ball will stay up and therefore carry farther. This is called "long arm" action. It cannot be over-emphasized.

In releasing the ball, draw the fingers and the hand inward and downward. This should provide the spiral flight so necessary to a well-thrown ball.

In summary, then, the following two actions, in addition to a proper grip, are very important for the execution of the pass. (1) Use an inward and downward pull of the fingers and hand on the ball. (2) Keep the nose of the ball up by throwing the elbow out in front of the body as the ball is released.

Passers usually throw in one of three ways: (1) from behind the ear; (2) with a three-quarter arm motion; and (3) sidearm. This last method, however, is not as much used as the preceding two.

Behind the Ear. I go along with the majority of coaches who, in teaching a young quarterback how to pass, emphasize the behind-the-ear technique. The reason for preferring it is that the ball is cocked and ready to be thrown as with the crack of a whip, thus increasing the speed of the delivery.

I have observed single-wing teams whose center will actually snap the ball to the right of the passer's helmet so that he could make the throw sooner. Both U.C.L.A. and the University of Tennessee were foremost advocates of this technique. But snapping the ball back in this way had its drawback in that often the passer rose to an erect position before the count was completed and tipped off the defense that a pass was in the works.

Three-Quarter Arm Motion. Despite the better release of the ball obtained with the behind-the-ear delivery, the three-quarter arm motion is probably the most widely used method. The explanation is simple: it is the most natural delivery of a ball for most passers, usually because of the common handicap of a lack of flexibility in the shoulder joint.

In contrast to the behind-the-ear type of delivery, it would seem likely that in throwing a ball for any great length, the passer employing the three-quarter motion would give a higher trajectory on the ball. This, in turn, could prove the downfall of such a passer, for this higher trajectory could cause the ball to "hang" in the air longer, thus giving the defenders a greater opportunity to get under it and intercept.

Throwing Sidearm. As for the sidearm delivery, this method is not recommended to young passers learning how to throw the ball. A sidearm release results in a lower trajectory, which in turn, gives the big defensive linemen more of a chance to knock down the pass before it attains its "safety" height.

There is, moreover, a further point to be made about the several methods of delivering the ball. Any great passer, while he may concentrate on one passing method, has to have a working knowledge of all three because of the various situations that may confront him. 

For instance, if he gets a tremendous rush up the middle or from the outside, he will have to release the ball while off-balance to a short or an outlet receiver, thus nullifying the rush. If, in this crisis, a passer has to set both feet and cock the ball behind his ear to throw, he is pretty certain to land on his ear.

As in all aspects of football, it is practice which makes perfect.  Keep practising! ]]></description>
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<title>Basketball Basics: Faking and Moving Without the Ball</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Recreation_and_Leisure/Sports/Basketball/basketball-basics-faking-and-moving-without-the-ball.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Recreation_and_Leisure/Sports/Basketball/basketball-basics-faking-and-moving-without-the-ball.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Two important skills in basketball are faking and moving without the ball.  Both should be practiced well.

Faking

In order to be an offensive threat you must be able to elude your guard whether you have the ball or not. A fake is an act designed to throw your guard off balance, so you can drive past him or free yourself for a shot. Do this by faking with your head, eyes, feet, shoulders, and body.

The fake drive-and-shot is designed to throw the defensive player off balance and force him back to make room for the shot. Feint a dribble around the guard, using the front foot to force him back.

The offensive player then comes up to position for the shot. Any feint will produce some recoiling action on the guard's part. The fake shot-and-drive is a maneuver in which the player with the ball fakes a shot at the basket to draw the guard close to him so he can dribble around him.

When you are faking, keep the ball protected and in position for the dribble. The first stride should be a long one with the right foot if going right, placing the ball well out in front while driving by the guard.

A double fake is executed by faking a drive with a deep step to the right, causing the guard to drop back a little. The offensive man then moves his front foot a bit back and poises for a set shot. 

As the guard comes up on his toes to stop the shot, the offensive man lowers his body and drives off his front foot, placing the ball well out ahead and drives in for the goal. To go to the right side, the deep step is faked to the left with the right foot. The shot is faked, then comes the drive to the right. A left-handed player will use his left foot as the forward foot and follow the same technique as above.

In starting a fake, a player never knows whether it will be a single or a double fake. This will depend on the action of the guard. Sometimes a guard commits himself on the first fake. If he is not fooled on the first fake, then try the double fake.

A common fault of many players executing feints is that they do not allow enough time for the defensive player to "fall for" the deception. Shooting or driving too soon simply means that the deception is wasted. 

Moving without the ball

Players often do not know how to act offensively when they do not have the ball. In my coaching experience I have found this to be especially true of young players. Too frequently they do nothing. They stand around watching the man with the ball, waving their arms for a pass even though he is closely guarded. The easiest man to guard is the player who stands around and moves slowly and aimlessly. Basketball is a team game and all five players must work as a unit to get the best results.

A player without the ball can do the following:

1. Move at all times to prevent the defense from double- teaming a teammate.

2. Keep the middle of the court open to permit plays down the middle.

3. Set up a screen for teammates.

4. Be alert to cut in for a possible play.

Situations change with every pass of the ball. Watch for weaknesses in the defense so you may take advantage of them.

It is important to know what you intend to do. Indiscriminate running will only tire you out. Never run straight or in circles. An opponent can easily guard you. Deception and change of pace will help you elude your guard.

Learn to fake and also to move without the ball, and you will become a much  more valuable player for your team. ]]></description>
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<title>Two Ways to Make Money from Your Greenhouse</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Home/Gardening/two-ways-to-make-money-from-your-greenhouse.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Home/Gardening/two-ways-to-make-money-from-your-greenhouse.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Perhaps you are not particularly interested in making money from selling potted plants, bulbs, or seeds. Still, you want a self-supporting or profit-making greenhouse. A number of hybridizers use their greenhouses to hasten the growth of many plants, including iris, hemerocallis, and roses. Others devote their houses to the breeding of dahlias. Others find a greenhouse ideal for promoting the growth of herbs or grow plants to be planted later into dish gardens.

If you don't sell all of the annuals started in your greenhouse, why not set them out in the garden and grow them for cut flowers? Leftover tomato plants can also be handled profitably. A roadside proprietor near us sets his in neat rows out in the garden. When the tomatoes ripen he puts up this sign:

Tomatoes-Vine Ripened
YOU PICK 'EM -- 50 cents per bushel

With no more work than the original planting, and some weeding and watering, this grower realizes hundreds of dollars every season from materials which otherwise he might discard.

Here are two ideas for you to turn a profit from your greenhouse.

Herbs and other specialty plants also have a good profit potential. Herbs are excellent profit-makers for the roadside stand or to sell directly from your greenhouse from flats or pots, from the hotbed, as packets of seed, or dried in bunches.

Among the many varieties you can sell are anise, sage, thyme, caraway, chives, dill, lavender, mint, and tarragon.

Sow in flats of light soil. Give good light, a temperature of 60 to 70 degrees, and within a few weeks seedlings will be ready to be transplanted into individual 2-inch pots, from which you may be able to sell them directly. If not, shift into 4-inch pots as growth dictates.

Herbs can also be transplanted to the garden, grown to sizable stock, clipped, and dried for selling. It is a good idea to slip a tag on each bunch, giving its name and some of its uses.

DISH GARDENS

If you plan a retail business - no matter how small - you will want to feature some dish gardens. Perhaps you have a friend who designs interesting and colorful ceramic bowls. If so, why not team up with her? She'll earn money from the sale of the bowl, and you will earn some from the sale of the plants, as well as from planning and planting the tiny garden.

Landscape schemes for dish gardens are plentiful. Use material of a size to suit the container. Also, be sure to use compatible plants, that is, those which thrive under the same general conditions. Remember - most of these little gardens will go into homes where they will lack the special care you have given them.

Saxifraga, the strawberry begonia, baby tears (Helxine), small-leaved ivy, or plectranthus, are all nice to trail over the edge of a dish. Succulents, wax begonia, pilea, echeveria, kalanchoe, peperomia, and bromeliads are some of the accent materials I have used in dish gardens.

Since the dish is without drainage outlet, place pebbles and charcoal in the bottom, then add the right type of soil for the plants you are using. If you carry a line of figurines in your shop, you may be able to sell more of them by including them in the dish garden.

Seeds of royal poinciana germinate in a few days and within a matter of 2 to 3 weeks make enchanting trees for dish gardens.

The price you charge for your dish garden will, of course, depend on the type of materials and accessories you use. A friend of mine made several hundred dollars from the sale of succulents planted in gilded, individual aluminum-foil pie pans. Each planting had a "clinker" from the furnace to add interest at the base. 
This was touched lightly with green, red, and bronze paint. Three tiny sedums of varied height made up the living material. This man sold these dish gardens at the wholesale price of 39 cents each; they retailed for more than twice that amount. ]]></description>
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<title>Diets for Your Inner Self</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Health/Nutrition/diets-for-your-inner-self.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Health/Nutrition/diets-for-your-inner-self.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Diets can achieve amazing results if followed faithfully, and here are three excellent ones: a cleansing diet, a health diet and a reducing diet. 

A Cleansing Diet

There are several good ways to cleanse the system. One way is to stay from five to ten days on a mono diet, that is, to eat as much as one likes of any one of the following:

(a) Watermelon - especially good for cleansing the kidneys. If you feel too hungry, eat a slice of whole wheat bread or whole wheat wafers.

(b) Grated raw apples and herb tea with lemon - especially good for people suffering from dysentery, colitis or sprue. (The apples should be grated on plastic, glass or stainless-steel graters.)

(c) Fresh grapes, unsprayed, in order to avoid danger of poisoning. This mono diet is beneficial for the liver.

(d) Coconut water only - cleanses the liver and alkalizes the system.

(e) Papaya with lemon juice - very good for the intestinal tract.

(f) Grapefruit and/or orange juice - alkalizes the system.

A less rigid cleansing diet was sent me by one of my students who lives on a farm near New York City, where she grows her own vegetables and fruit. By doing some Yoga breathing exercises and Yoga postures and keeping this diet, she completely overcame a bad asthmatic condition. Here it is:

A Daily Diet for Optimal Health

On Arising take 1 glass of water with fresh lemon juice. 

For breakfast -- Any herb tea or coffee substitute or raw cow's, goat's, butter-, or soya-bean milk. Whole grain cereal sweetened with honey or date or raw sugar, 
or 1 slice whole grain bread with date or almond butter or small dish of stewed fruit or any fresh fruit in season.

Between meals:	Water, fruit or vegetable juice or fruit eaten out of hand.

Lunch:	Buttermilk or herb tea or cereal coffee; Salad made with any raw greens, including and especially watercress and parsley, with a dressing made of juice of 1 lemon, vegetable salt and safflower, sunflower, sesame or soya-bean oil; 1 slice whole grain bread or baked potato; yogurt, cottage cheese or sour cream with any fruit.

Dinner:	Herb tea or cereal coffee. Vegetable broth; Celery sticks, carrots and sliced cucumbers; 1 serving of either meat, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs or nuts; 1 serving of a vegetable grown above ground; 1 serving of a vegetable grown below ground; Fresh fruit or stewed fruit or raisins and nuts.

Take a spoonful of safflower, sunflower, sesame, soya-bean or cod liver oil, four hours after your last meal.

Reducing Diet
Upon Arising:	One glass of water with fresh lemon juice.

Lunch:	Salad (no dressing except lemon juice); 1 cup of soup (no cream, butter or flour); 1 soft boiled egg or soya bean cake 1 or 32 ozs; lean meat r fish, broiled, baked or roasted; 1 Soya bean cake is known as Tofu in Chinese and Japanese restaurants and markets. Its protein content is higher than that of cheese, meat, milk, or eggs, and it is not acid-forming.
 	
Celery sticks, raw carrots, radishes, cucumbers, etc; Fruit in season. Skim milk or buttermilk, 8 fl. ozs.

Dinner:	1 cup of soup; 1 boiled egg or piece of cheese; 2 cup serving of vegetable. Salad (no dressing except lemon juice); Skim milk or buttermilk, 8 fl. ozs., or yogurt; 2 cup serving of fruit; Herb tea or cereal coffee with skim milk (no cream or sugar).

Evening snack:	Any kind of fresh fruit, fruit juice, or vegetable juice.

If you want to cleanse your system, overcome some medical problem or simply reduce your weight, following one of these diets will help. ]]></description>
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<title>Actors: Being the Emotional Physician</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Culture_and_Society/Humanities/actors-being-the-emotional-physician.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Culture_and_Society/Humanities/actors-being-the-emotional-physician.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Hamlet said: "... we end the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to ..."

It has always been the function of the actor to be the emotional physician, who gives solace, encouragement and freedom of feeling to people who need it - when they need it.

This has been the challenge of the actor since the beginning of time. He is the torchbearer of a great tradition; a fearless trail blazer into an expanding frontier.

The actor must not be afraid to be the catalyst between progress and people. He must approach his calling with authority, humility and fearlessness.

As the human race progressed, instinct gave way to inspiration. Inspiration became a creative tool of civilization. To be aware of creation, born of inspiration - and to be able to direct that creation, is a result of intelligence.

Controlled inspiration is creation. 

Develop the habit of depending upon your subconscious as a source of supply for your inspirations. Eventually, you will have the confidence that your supply is greater than any demands you can make upon it. Your own experience will give you this confidence.

Have faith in your ability to supply more than is demanded. You will experience the fulfillment of free choice in selecting the inspiration that: best suits your needs.

When you have learned to select that which is best, you will have acquired good taste. When you have developed good taste, you will experience a sense of exhilaration - when you are exhilarated, you will have no time for boredom.

Polarize the word boredom - and you'll find enthusiasm.

Develop the habit of enthusiasm by becoming spontaneously curious. Find out all you can about everything you can. 

The uncreative man is one-sided. He develops his potentialities along one line. Be many-sided.

An actor should be a fine individual. He should be many-sided. He should be full of enthusiasm for every phase of living. Each phase that comes into his scope of awareness increases his stature as an individualist.

Audiences are composed, chiefly, of people who have not fully developed their subconscious desires. They depend on actors to vicariously fill this void.

In your desire to be a serious actor, you are applying for membership in the oldest brotherhood of emotional physicianship to mankind.

The duty of the serious actor is great. Thousands of years before the birth of Christianity, acting served the same purpose that it is serving today. Its fundamental purpose has not changed from the time cave men lined up in a circle and performed their ritualistic chants and pantomimic dances to stir the emotions of their audience. Through these rituals, which were basically acts, the primitive emotions were excited to a point of emotional stimulation that propelled our civilization onward.

In times of grief and trouble, it diverted their attention and gave them solace and relief from emotional tensions, while their subconscious minds revitalized them with new inspiration and prepared them to carry on - restimulated.

There has been no fundamental change in the relationship between the actor and his audience in giving them physical and spiritual service.

All through the ages the actor has given emotional ease, rest or stimulus to someone in the audience who needed it desperately, at that particular moment. When a performance is sincerely communicated by the actor, it will serve its purpose.

War renews and intensifies proof of this. Entertainers go to front lines and hospitals, where they perform and arrest time for a short while.

Don't be afraid to take a chance - do the best you can with every performance you are called upon to do. If you, sincerely, do the best you are capable of, then you will live up to the hereditary tradition of acting. Carry your banner high and with pride. ]]></description>
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<title>Neat, Clear Lettering for Your Mechanical Drawings</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Hobbies/neat-clear-lettering-for-your-mechanical-drawings.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Hobbies/neat-clear-lettering-for-your-mechanical-drawings.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ Lettering is an important skill which draftsmen must learn to master. Lettering on plans and shop drawings must always be done freehand. Never use a ruling pen for small lettering. There are special kinds of pens from a number of speciality pen companies. These pens may be purchased at any art store and are obtainable in various thicknesses. Your choice will depend upon the thickness of the lettering which you require.

Hand lettering - particularly the kind that the draftsman and engineer do - is separate and apart from type, and must not in any way be an imitation of type. It is a distinct, free-swinging letter made quickly by quick strokes of the Speedball pen. Anyone can do this kind of lettering and, with a little practice, can do it extremely well. No knowledge of design or type faces is necessary.

In hand lettering it is necessary to rule only two horizontal guide lines at equal distances apart; you then use your lettering pen to form the letters between these guide lines. You do not need to resort to your triangles or other mechanical devices. Hand lettering is decidedly a matter of practice, and the more you practice the better able you will be to do it successfully.

Let us now consider the rapid kind of freehand lettering which the draftsman must be able to do. In the simple, freehand, sans serif lettering you can choose between the vertical and the italics, or slanting type. Most draftsmen find the italic lettering more convenient and quicker to do well than the vertical kind. 

One excellent method of learning to letter in this way is to draw between two horizontal guide lines a number of rough ellipses, all the same size and equally spaced. This is, of course, done lightly with your 2H pencil. With the exception of the letters i, k, 1, t, v, x, and z, these ellipses form the basis of the entire alphabet.

For example, a is an ellipse with a small line at the right of it, b is the ellipse with a long vertical line on the left; c is the ellipse three-fourths completed; d is the ellipse with a vertical line to the right, etc. You realize at once how simple and easy it is to rough out any word you choose by this ellipse method, and to quickly ink in the outline of the letter you want. Of course you must remember the straight line letters. If you have an i, 1 or t, you must leave less space than you would for a k, an x, or a z. Note also that the lower case letters m and w are two intersecting ellipses wider than the other letters.

Practice making a number of different-size alphabets by this system and you will be surprised to find how quickly you will be able to form good, clear, well defined letters, and how easily the words themselves will form.

We have said that hand lettering is a matter of practice, and if you practice by this system you will soon be able to produce good, clear, simple line-italic lettering in lower case. The capital letters are somewhat different; they are formed in blocks and not in ellipses. 

Obviously, if you do not want to do lettering in italics but prefer the vertical letters, then all the ellipses which were your guides in the lower case lettering become circles. These can easily be made with the pencil bow compass.

It may be obvious, but it is nevertheless important, to point out that most of this kind of lettering is done in two or more strokes. The letters c and o are an exception. 

In the case of numerals, there are no set rules or regulations. You can choose your own method. If your numbering is clear, that is all that is necessary because numerals appear mostly on dimension lines and seldom if ever occur in groups the way words do.

With a little practice, you will be lettering easily and clearly. ]]></description>
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<title>Continuity: The Key To A Successful Movie</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Culture_and_Society/continuity-the-key-to-a-successful-movie.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Culture_and_Society/continuity-the-key-to-a-successful-movie.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The reader may sigh at the abundance and variety of things the full use of continuity, the proper development and connection of motion-picture sequences to create a smoothly joined, coherent motion-picture story, requires - the special shots to take, the cut-ins and cut-aways, the things to watch out for: screen direction, clean exits and entrances, and so on and on and on. All to make a simple home movie.

You may be convinced of your ability to handle continuity from the viewpoint of ideas or technique, but you may at the same time wonder whether you can afford enough film for all! the various continuity touches. "Doesn't it require far more footage," you may ask, "than if I just aimed the camera from one or two positions and banged away, getting everything in with one or two shots?"

The answer is unequivocally "No!" The motion-picture shots of the average non-professional are individually much too long. He will start his camera from one position and simply let it run on far longer than necessary to get that one scene over to the audience. The unnecessarily exposed film in any one of these  overlong  shots  would  easily be  adequate  for breaking it down into separate scenes, with cut-ins and cutaways, overlap, and other refinements of continuity.

It is a common fault of a cameraman untrained in the uses of continuity to expose twenty feet or more in a single shot from the same position - as, for instance, in a sequence showing the family gathered around Junior's birthday cake. He lets his camera run on, he explains, because "I can get almost everybody in from this spot and since there are quite a few people in the scene, I want to let the shot run long enough so that the audience has a chance to see everyone!"

Then - since a few people were left out - he moves his camera to an angle from where he can get them into the picture too, and makes another shot as long as the first or longer He has by now exposed forty or fifty feet of film - of very dull film. (Much more than that, if he is using 35mm instead of 16 or 8mm film.)

How much better that picture will be if, with his first twenty feet, he shoots a real sequence: eight feet on an long shot, five feet on a medium shot, a close up of Junior cutting the cake for another five feet, with a two-foot insert of the knife as it plunges through the frosting!

Then, with the remaining footage, he can still "get everybody in" - and make the picture far livelier - if he takes a reestablishing shot about seven feet long showing Junior handing out slices of cake, then several closeups, two or three feet each, showing the individual guests happily gorging themselves, and ends with a final long shot - using what film remains - of Junior looking ruefully at the empty cake plate while his guests contentedly lick the crumbs!

The ultimate truth about applying continuity to a picture is this: Not only does it require no more than the ordinary amount of film, but it actually leads to more economical usage! The unplanned, blind act of just "shooting a roll" changes, through it. to a careful appraisal of scene lengths, to the use of proper tempo and emphasis for each shot. ]]></description>
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<title>How to Keep Your Car Battery Like New</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Automotive/how-to-keep-your-car-battery-like-new.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Automotive/how-to-keep-your-car-battery-like-new.html</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ You'll not get caught with your charge down if you give your car battery reasonable care.
 
You slide under the wheel of the car one frosty winter morning, turn the key in the lock, and start to push down the accelerator to race the engine a little. Only the engine doesn't race; in fact it doesn't even walk.

"Oh, no, stuck with a dead battery!" you groan.

This won't happen to you if you consider the car's electrical system merely an extension of the house's power system, and give it the same type of attention and preventive maintenance.

Why does a car battery hold up perfectly well during the summer and poop out in the winter, just when you need it most? This can happen for two different reasons.

1) the oil in the crank case is stiffer in cold weather than in warm, and the starting motor has a harder job ploughing through it.

2) The output or effectiveness of a storage battery falls off markedly as the temperature drops. In other words, when the engine needs the most starting energy, the battery is least capable of providing it!

There is a simple solution to this nuisance: check the battery frequently with the arrival of cold weather, and give it an overnight charge with a charger occasionally to keep it to full strength. The more frequently you stop and start the engine, and the less you use the car in the winter, the less chance does the battery have to accumulate a good charge from the charging generator, which works only when the engine runs.

A test on a storage battery with a voltmeter doesn't mean very much. A three-cell battery can read pretty close to its maximum of 6.6 volts, and a six-cell battery to 13.2 volts, and still make very little impression on a current-hungry starting motor. Did you know that a three-cell battery has to deliver between 200 and 300 amperes to kick over a modern high-compression engine?

The only reliable test is made with a hydrometer. This is a syringe-like glass gadget with a squeeze bulb at one end; inside the glass is a shot-weighted float. To use it, you merely unscrew each cap of the battery in turn and suck up about half a syringeful of acid. The weight of the acid compared to that of water (its "specific gravity") is a direct indication of the state of charge. 

The float is calibrated to show this specific gravity. Theoretical full charge is 1.3, or "1300," although with anything but a brand new battery a reading between 1200 and 1250 or 1275 is very good. When the reading falls below 1200 the battery needs a little shot in the arm.

A battery charger is a source of low-voltage direct current. It consists usually of a step-down transformer that reduces the 115-volt AC line to about 7 or 15 volts (for three- and six-cell batteries, respectively) after passing it through a rectifier that changes the AC to DC. Dual-voltage chargers are now common, to accommodate both types of batteries. 

To do an overnight boosting job, a charger for three-cell automobile batteries should produce not less than about 5 amperes, although 10 is even better; for six-cell batteries, ratings of about 3 to 6 amperes are adequate. Always disconnect a charger before starting the engine. 

Car vibration can loosen battery leads and sometimes make them jump off; inspect, clean, tighten. Several times a year, remove the connector lugs from battery and clean terminals with sandpaper.

Wipe battery often with cloth dampened with water; check center caps of the battery for fit. To minimize corrosion around terminals, caused by sulphuric acid vapor from cells, coat with Vaseline.

With these few simple techniques, you need never put up with a dead battery again. ]]></description>
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<title>How To Care For Your Boat</title>
<link>http://www.populate.net/Recreation_and_Leisure/Outdoors/Boating/how-to-care-for-your-boat.html</link>
<guid>http://www.populate.net/Recreation_and_Leisure/Outdoors/Boating/how-to-care-for-your-boat.html</guid>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0700</pubDate>
<description><![CDATA[ The upkeep cost of a sailing boat can be kept exceptionally low if you are willing and able to do your own work. The most fragile part of your outfit is the suit of sails. How fragile it is depends upon the type of boat you have. If yours is a little general-purpose craft with a cat or knockabout rig, a good suit of sails should last you for 10 years, perhaps more. If, on the other hand, you are going in for parachute spinnakers, masthead-high Genoas, or even the regular sails in their light form, you may find the life of a suit of sails is not over a season or two before they have to be recut or repaired.

The most important rule of all is that sails must be perfectly dry before they are stowed. Dampness causes mildew and rot. Need it be said that stowed sails should always be covered? Light sails that are not left on the boat should be well dried and then stowed in canvas bags. Rats and mice abound around the waterfront and no better nest has ever been found for a mouse family than a bagged sail.

 There seems to be but one easy way to avoid damage by the gray beasties. That is to bag the sail and hang the bag from a rafter on a length of fine copper wire. Even then, the bag should hang far enough from anything else to obviate the chance of a rodent making a flying leap. Mice can climb ropes and twine, but a smooth, fine wire licks that method of approach.

Hull upkeep during the season should be limited to painting and varnishing as required. In the case of a racing boat, she may have to be hauled several times during the season to smooth up her bottom and apply a new coat of racing composition. Many racing owners haul small sailboats out of water whenever they are not being sailed. The idea is to keep them from soaking up a few extra pounds of water. Such fussiness is silly unless your only aim in having a boat is to race her.

The big jobs of maintenance are supposed to face you in the spring. That idea is crackpot, for fully half the annual overhaul can be done during the late fall and winter with the result that you'll get overboard weeks ahead of the others who, like the Capistrano swallows, never show up at the boatyard until a specific spring day. If you lay your boat up properly, there will be little to do when the weather turns balmy again.

Unless you live in some section where there is no winter, you must haul in the fall. Strip the boat of everything movable. The sails and all running rigging should be dried, cleaned, and stowed in a damp-free, mouse-free place. Take out the mast if possible and have it stowed in a shed where it can be supported horizontally at frequent enough intervals so it cannot go out of shape. If the mast must stay in the boat, you may be up against it to remove the halyards. 

One stunt, if you can make a neat long splice, is to substitute some old line for the rigging aloft. If the boat is big enough and has a good stout spar, you may have a gantline. This is a heavy line rigged through a substantial block at the masthead. Its object is to provide a means by which you can be hoisted up the spar in a boatswain s chair.

You can use the rig for reeving off all rigging, inspecting and oiling upper blocks, and varnishing the mast. Don't monkey around with this sort of thing unless you are sure the mast, the gantline block, and the gantline itself will hold your weight.

These are some of the jobs you need to complete to really care for your boat.  If you do these carefully, you will be rewarded by a really sound boat which will last a lifetime. ]]></description>
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