Sports And Opinions

Friday, January 26, 2007

Simple and Easy Tips - How to Throw a Tailgate Party No One Will Forget

There can be no more exciting urban outdoor activity than throwing a tailgate party. Aside from the fact that tailgate parties are casual and a lot of fun, they are relatively easy to setup. You can also add a bit of pizzazz to your parties so that your friends and families wont ever forget them. Here are some tips on how to throw a party that will dazzle your guests.

You can consider making your own invitations into a unique way. For example if you will be having a football party, you can pattern your invitation by cutting out a football shape, from a piece of brown vinyl or cardstock glued to a lighter colored paper or cardstock. Use white shoelaces or vinyl laces to create the football laces.

For great decorations, choose the materials that will match the interests for that someone special you created a party for. It could be a favorite football team, or a baseball team. Or it could be the things they love the most.

Create games that would be in accordance with the theme. If your theme for the party is about football, there are so many games and activities suited to this theme. And remember, the better prepared you are, the smoother things will move along.

The Football Toss: Each child takes a turn throwing a football through a hoop or tire or into a basket.

Football Relay Course: For younger children, do simple exercises with them, jumping jacks, running, throwing a ball...For older children, design an obstacle course that includes football practice moves, more difficult callisthenics, sprints, punting...

You can try your skills at a football shaped cake, if you are a little bit artistic and a good baker. If this seems a little complicated, make a simple rectangular cake and decorate it like a football field.

On the other hand, your theme for the party is all about cheer leading, you could try these fantastic activities and games:

The Human Pyramid: Make sure to do this either on grass or a soft mat. Help the girls create a pyramid and capture the moment with lots of pictures. Let them take turns in different positions.

Cheers: Get the girls lined up and teach them some simple cheers. You might even enlist the help of a high school cheerleader willing to come and teach some.

The parking lots of stadiums, traditionally, is where tailgate parties have been held. You can also setup a party in an area set aside specifically for tailgating. Some parties have been held in other parking lots with permission of course, or even closer to home - usually in the driveway.

One of the most important things to consider is food safety. Do not leave unpreserved food out for more than two hours, they may get spoiled. And because a lot of places might not have soap and water, be sure to bring anti- bacterial wipes and clean everything thoroughly before you go home. Be sure that you have lots of ice for your drinks to keep them cold and have lots of paper bags for your leftovers.

The very common dishes at parties are grilled and smoked dishes, but perhaps the most popular dish is Chili. It is easy to make.

A few other things to remember are disposable plates and utensils, napkins, condiments, salt and pepper, bottle and can openers, chairs or stools, paper towels, folding tables, and blankets.

Make sure you are allowed where you are going before throwing a party. Know what the restrictions there might be and what facilities are available. Be prepared to bring everything you might need because supplies will probably be limited.

Following these simple tips will ensure you have a great party.

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When a Digital Zoom is Needed

Youve been told that you should disregard claims of large digital zoom ratios and have been warned that to usea digital zoom is to ruin the picture with visible artifacts and pixels. To a certain extent, these statements are true but they dont tell the whole story.

Digital cameras that feature an optical zoom and a digital zoom offer the option of using one or the other or even both together. An optical zoom lens of 28 to 200 mm may not be enough in some situations. This is where the digital zoom comes in handy.

Say you are at a football game and want to get a close up of your son in action. A 200mm lens setting would probably include three or four football players in the scene, making it difficult to recognize faces. A two times digital zoom makes the focal length 400 mm, cropping the scene into a two football player picture. A four X digital zoom setting will garner a head and shoulder close up of one football player.

At two X digital zoom, the number of pixels are cut in half but digital processing and interpolating between pixels will smooth out the image with very little loss in quality. If your digital camera starts out with 8MB of pixels, the final result of 4MB will still enlarge to over eight by ten size without losing quality. At four X digital zoom, the pixels are reduced to 2MB which will visibly degrade the image somewhat. This sacrifice in quality is often acceptable if you capture a fantastic shot of action.

Other subjects that would benefit from the use of the digital zoom are bird photography, wild animal photography, candid people shots and sport events of all kinds. While most photographic images are covered with the normal optical zoom range, sometimes the digital zoom can save the day.

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Score - It's a Partying Soccer Goal!

Soccer is growing in popularity around the country. Many kids want a soccer themed party for their birthday. There are lots of fun ways to have everything at your event be soccer related!

Pick a list of kids to attend your party and send out soccer ball invitations. A party supply store will have all the accessories and motifs available for soccer. Have the kids wear their soccer cleats to the party if they have any or their favorite jersey.

The soccer party can be for a birthday, but it can also include a fun scrimmage soccer game. Set up two goals a short distance away and let them run around and score. If there is a parent coach nearby, have them set up cones and let the kids run through some drills. Make up a game for the two teams and have them be the sharks and the guppies and run! The exercise will do them good, not to mention wear them out so they sit better inside the house to eat.

Prizes to give away can be personalized trophies or ribbons. Attach a team picture for a great keepsake for everyone. Other treats can be candy, plastic trinkets or soccer related toys. A soccer ball piata is another great entertainment and prize piece all in one.

Soccer decorations can be found at any party supply store. Soccer balloons, black and white streamers and wall hangings make for a perfect sports party. Special soccer favor bags and treats can also be purchased to give away to each guest.

Party planning stores will also have all of the paper products needed to serve cake and lunch. Plates, napkins and tablecloths to match your soccer motif make clean up easy! Special ball shaped cake pans make round cakes which can be frosted to make soccer cakes!

How To Build Your Community With Community Journalism

This article will show how to use a community journalism (also called participatory journalism) platform to build and maintain a community by using the internet as a mean of communication between its members.

Why is community building important?

We are all part of communities whether we realize it or not. We have our local community, national community. Some are members of clubs or groups. Some are fans of a band or play hockey. Schools, Colleges, universities and workplaces are also communities.

Having a closer and more committed communities could benefit us all. Think about big corporations. In such workplaces people hardly know one another while they have so much in common. A tighter community in the workplace will make people feel more attached. Bring better communication and more productive relations between different departments, branches or even people at the same room.

Stronger communities also provide reliance when times gets rough or when crisis hits. The stronger the community is, the better the chance it will work together to solve problems and learn from past mistakes.

The internet is the ultimate community building tool

A good community needs a central place where community members can meet, communicate with each other, display ideas, share experiences and sound their voices. A community magazine is the perfect mean of communication and has numerous advantages as a community meeting place.

Here are some of these advantages:

1) Accessible to anyone from anywhere at any time
A community website is accessible from almost anywhere, community journalists and other members can participate at their own free time without constraints of time and place.

2) Democratic and empowers the individual
Anyone can express their opinion and submit their own content. It's the glue that keeps the community together. The fact that everyone has a voice is key.

3) Free of charge
Websites like www.comagz.com provide some communities with their own community magazine which is free and does not incur operation costs.

4) Requires minimal moderation or attention
Platforms like comagz.com provide the entire community members with the ability to post content and decide which content should be promoted and shown on the front page for example while throwing out inadequate content.All this is done by a voting system and algorithm which manages the content according to the reader's votes.

What are the ingridients of a good community magazine platform?

An online magazine look and feel with nice layout.
Sections for news, articles, recommended links and personal columns
Flexible Categories for easy browsing
Easy submission of items by all members
Automatic management of content items according to users votes
Forums for discussions and search for finding old posts.
Exposure of the content to all major search engines and blog aggregators

Conclusions

Building or enforcing a community and tightening the relations between its members can be both fun and beneficial. The web is a great enabler for community building. Community members can serve voluntarily as citizen journalists and write for the community blog or magazine. Setting up a community magazine is easy and cost free. So what are you waiting for?

Check http://www.comagz.com/webmagazine/ for an example of a CoMagzine.

Child Care - Choosing A Daycare Center

In this article we're going to cover some basic things to do and ask when choosing a daycare center for your child.

The first thing you need to do when going to a daycare center to determine if it's one you want to send your child to is ask them if they have any openings. This should be the very first question you ask. If their answer is no and you need daycare in the near future then they most likely will not be able to meet your needs. If, however, you really want this center then find out when they expect to have an opening and make plans.

The next thing you have to find out is where the center is located and how the traffic is in early morning or rush hour evening hours. If traffic is really bad you know that you're going to have to leave yourself extra time to get your child to the center and extra time for pickup, especially if the center closes at a certain hour.

The next thing you have to find out is what their hours of operation are. If the center has hours from 9 to 6 and you have to be at work at 8 AM then you are going to have a bit of a problem unless you can arrange to have someone else bring your child to the center. Most centers however do have hours long before normal work hours begin and long after normal work hours end. Just make sure you find out exactly what the hours are.

The next thing that's important to know is if there are any special holidays or dates when the center is closed. Not all businesses celebrate all holidays. For example, many businesses may be open on Martin Luther King's birthday. If yours is one of them and the center is closed for that day you are going to have to make plans for someone to either stay with your child or if possible bring your child to another center for a day or if worst comes to worst, bring your child to work. Make sure you know this well in advance.

Of course you are going to have to find out what the center charges and if there are any special supplies you will have to bring. Some centers provide diapers and food but many do not. So find this out in advance. Also, find out how payment needs to be made and when. Some centers require payment in advance and other allow you to pay at the end of each period, whether it be weekly or monthly.

It may not be a bad idea to find out the ages of the other children. If they are all older than your child you may not want to take your child to that center as there could be a greater danger of problems.

Find out if the center offers some kind of flex time in case you have a strange schedule. Some centers actually have a day shift and a night shift. Find this out if your needs require odd hours.

This may not seem important but find out what their turnover rate is. A high turnover rate may indicate a poorly run center.

Find out if there are backups to the main provider should he or she become ill. The last thing you want to find out is that you can't bring your child one day because there is only one caregiver and they are out sick.

Finally, find out if the center is certified. While this doesn't always mean the center is great, you'll have a better chance of getting a good center if it is certified.

By following the above tips you should have little trouble in finding a suitable daycare center for your child.

How To Live Alone And Love It

Do you live alone? Would you like to know how to make your life happier, more fulfilled, and more purposeful?

People who live alone are often challenged to develop a positive attitude and find those activities, friends, and goals that make their lives meaningful. However, with a shift in attitude, they can find themselves attracting people and events into their lives that they have always wanted.

Some people often feel that they are destined to have lives that are less that satisfying. Many stoically carry their burdens and their unrealized hopes in their hearts, never speaking up or stepping forward to seize the opportunities that are waiting for them. This consciousness does not just happen to those who are alone...it can happen to anyone. But when we are alone, we are more vulnerable. It becomes even more important that we look after our best interests.

It is true that there are many circumstances that are beyond our control. However, those circumstances do not have to stop us from discovering the plans, dreams, and ambitions that are meant to be ours.

Here are some ideas and actions that you can implement to give yourself a richer life. Some of these ideas can be acted upon immediately, and some can be a work in progress:

1. Ask yourself everyday, What do I want?

Set some simple goals for just one thing that you want. Make a list of the actions it will take to achieve that goal.

2.Explore your passions.

What do you LOVE to do? What gives you energy, makes you smile to think about, or seems like a dream that could never come true? What did you always want to do but never got around to doing? What would it take for you to move closer to doing one of your passions or finding one of your forgotten dreams?

3.If you had worlds of money and time, what would you do?

Make a list. These are some of the things you need to start doing now.

4.Watch your thoughtsthey lead to your actions.

If you notice your thoughts are negative, replace them with ones that make you feel good. Spend 20 minutes every day thinking of things that make you happy,--places you want to visit, people you want to be with, objects you would like to own. Picture yourself there. FEEL it.

5.Keep your mood and thoughts in a positive place.

Read books that inspire, watch TV that makes you laugh or gives you hope, and be around people that feed your spirit. Weed the rest out. Do not start or end your day watching news filled with tragic stories.

6.Re-define your purpose and vision for your life.

The purpose of your life needs to be very clear. Its who you are and how people identify you. Exercise your creativity to re-invent any part of yourself or your life.

7.Have a career that feeds you enough money for your lifestyle, pride about what you are doing, and excitement for your day.

If you feel at a stand-still in your work and career, brainstorm with people about ideas for a career shift. Dont stop searching until you find something that you feel excitement for.

8.Reach out to people and build a network of support.

If you are having a bad moment in life and doubt your worth or contribution to others, make a list of five friends and call them and ask them to tell you what you mean to them. This is a very powerful exercise. I guarantee you will never forget it.

9.Learn new skills, techniques, crafts.

There is nothing like learning something new that gives a special hopefulness for the future.

10.Exercise.

You have to take care of your body so your body can take care of you and take you where you want to go. Besidesit gives you energy and is a mood elevator.

11.Meditation and prayer.

They both have a profound affect on mental and physical health.

12.Consider adopting a pet.

Pets give us unconditional love, 24/7.

To live alone and love it, adopt any or all of the above attitudes, strategies, and ideas. Your great life is waiting for you.