Sweet Music Centre

Plato believed that it’s only the dead who see the end of war. Some are fortunate enough for death frees them but some horrors that men witness are destined to stay forever. Highly disturbing and extremely visceral Goya: Chronicler of All Wars features the Spanish artist’s etchings that form the Los Desastres de la Guerra or the Disasters of War series and even though separated by centuries these images man’s contempt of his fellow hit as hard as images from present day war.

After the French plundered key Spanish locations during the Peninsular Wars, Goya and a few other artists were invited to witness the massacre and “paint the glories of the inhabitants”. Unpublished till 35 years from his death, Goya’s stark imagery is now seen as a protest against the violence he witnessed. Goya took almost a year before he started etching and viewing the macabre depiction it’s clear why Goya never exhibited them during his lifetime.

The series is divided into episodes that centre on incidents from the war, its aftermath, the famine that hit Madrid in the 1811 and the disillusionment that ensued with the rejection of the Spanish Constitution by the monarchy. The severity of Goya’s monochromatic strokes hardly leaves anything to be imagined. In fact the imagery is so raw the one finds it difficult to believe them. Goya bares the chaos of the battlefront; the shock of the soldiers and the turmoil in great detail and one segment of the exhibition highlights the details to show the artist’s process.

Goya’s brush shows an almost equal amount of dismay in the perpetrators as well as the victims. In the segment Las Victimas with bodies strewn across the streets, Goya represents the loss of identity amongst the death and even recreates classic Biblical icons of pain while drawing the burials; these images are ominous and leave you profoundly unsettled.

Disenchanted and dreary, Goya’s strong dedication to show post-war life as it were comes across clearly in the segment where he uses animals to parade the rule of Ferdinand VIII.

It wouldn’t be incorrect to call Goya a harbinger of photojournalism as contemporary photojournalists use the same level of commitment to reveal present day war. Brutal sounds emanating from the accompanying video installation; the darkness of the room with just enough light to reveal the savagery of war and its utter uselessness, as an exhibition Los Desastres de la Guerra is beautifully designed and presented.

Count Dracula has been resurrected many times in the movies, especially in the Hammer ones. Conversely, he has also been killed off much more than once. When it came to coming up with some pretty novel – and gruesome – ways of disposing of the evil count, Hammer films were certainly outstanding in this respect.

In Dracula (1958), Hammer’s debut film in the Christopher Lee series, the count is vanquished by his arch enemy Professor Van Helsing (played so brilliantly by Peter Cushing), who bravely leaps across a table, whilst chasing Dracula through his castle, and pulls down the curtains, exposing the bloodsucker to the thing that is always guaranteed to roast a vampire into dusty nothingness: the sunlight of dawn. As Dracula crumbles away under the combined destruction of the sun’s rays and Van Helsing’s makeshift crucifix, hastily formed from two pieces of candelabra, we are witnessing the start of what would go on to be such an entertaining, iconic series involving the vampire lord.

In Dracula, Prince of Darkness (1965), the count is resurrected in the most gruesome manner imaginable: servant Klove cuts the throat of a suspended corpse over the sarcophagus containing Dracula’s remains… and as the blood flows down onto the ashes, the count slowly materialises back to life, whereupon he proceeds to feast on the vulnerable female visitors to his castle. At the climax of this sequel, Dracula slips under the ice to a watery grave as a priest shoots at the frozen moat around his castle.

But you can’t keep a good vampire down. In Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (1968), the count is resuscitated from his icy grave by the blood from the head wound of a priest who stumbles and falls down onto the spot under which Dracula’s body is lying in suspended animation, cracking the ice and trickling the blood onto the vampire’s lips. The death scene in this movie is truly my favourite Dracula exit of all. After a desperate struggle with the hero Paul (played by Barry Andrews) outside his castle, Dracula falls off a cliff and becomes impaled on a large cross, previously thrown down there by the hypnotised heroine Maria (Veronica Carlson). Some awesome Dracula death throes ensue, with the impaled count staggering around the woods with the top of the huge cross protruding from his chest, gasping and screaming in agony, blood pouring profusely from his body, as he gradually disintegrates, leaving only a crimson, viscous mess all over the cross and ground.

Learning a musical instrument is a rewarding and pleasurable – even therapeutic – hobby. If you are taking up the guitar, chances are you have been thinking about it for a while, but have been unable to finally take action. You may be overwhelmed by the choices in how to proceed. Learning guitar may be difficult in the beginning, and most people give up here. Eventually though it will unlock the creative potential within you and provide the artistic outlet you have sought. Like anything worth anything in life, it does take work, discipline and determination to learn. If I can emphasize one thing only, it is do not be discouraged!

One of the key strategies to efficiently and enjoyably learning an instrument is to find an educational path you are compatible with and follow it methodically. Over time it will be important to incorporate other styles, techniques and learning methods so your education is well-rounded. You may be interested in different genres like rock, jazz, flamenco, and classical. However all traditional styles are based on fundamentals like chords, scales, modes, tempo, tone, technique, and finger muscle memory. Starting here will pay off in the long run.

There are many music schools and lesson programs online. For a nominal monthly fee you will have access to a broad amount of learning material in the form of streaming lessons videos, documentation in pdf format, downloadable mp3′s, and more. There will (or there should be) a lively online community where you can ask questions, get feedback and share ideas.

As you compare different programs, look at key features:

• Is there a core learning system for beginners? You want to find a program with a fully developed, methodical series of lessons that builds up from core fundamentals. Some programs may simply allow you access to a library of lessons, but you will want guidance on where to start.

Blurry images are a common problem faced by photographers whether they’re the amateur or the more experienced ones. This issue is normally caused by hand movements while capturing images. This is common as well when one uses digital cameras with show shutter speeds or longer focal lengths.

But thankfully, certain digital cameras have become more advanced these days and have great features that can get rid of this problem while you’re shooting. No need for a tripod then as the camera itself can solve the issue right then and there. This is known as the image stabilization feature.

It was in 1995 when this featured was first introduced by Canon. It was in the stabilized lenses specifically in the EF 75-300mm IS USM zoom.

So how does this image stabilization system really work? This feature is made possible by the so called optical image stabilizer. This is a system made up of sensors that can easily detect movements made by the camera and a group of lens elements that moves to solve the issue.

With this feature, amateur and experienced photographers no longer have to worry about getting blurred images even while shooting in sequence just holding the camera with their hands. As such, those who are shooting action scenes such as sports events and wildlife can be sure to capture sharp and clear photos.

Digital cameras today are faster in detecting shakes and movement. But a tip from the experts recommends that in order for your camera to activate its stabilization system, you need to first depress the shutter button halfway. An indicator will then alert you if it’s already working. If you’re using the live-view mode, however, your LCD monitor will let you see when the image is stable. This is done through both the in-lens and in-camera systems.

Keep in mind, however, that this feature also uses up power so you can just switch from one to the other and not use both the in-camera and in-lens stabilizations systems at the same time. Turning them both on for longer periods will drain your battery.

Canon today provides 25 IS lenses that offer this image stabilization system. Another brand that has followed suit is Nikon who has introduced its vibration reduction (VR) lenses which has a similar function. Other digital camera manufacturers that have created the same lenses but have called it by different names are Sigma which offers its optical stabilizer (OS) lenses and Tamrom which now has its vibration compensation (VC) lenses.

Before Elvis, there was nothing. John Lennon

How much greater praise could be given by one music superstar, John Lennon, to another, Elvis Presley? But Beatles icon John Lennon was not the only musician to applaud the King of Rock and Roll. World renowned Twentieth Century American musician, conductor, composer, pianist, and author Leonard Bernstein said this of Presley, Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the Twentieth Century.

Could such plaudits be more profound, especially when offered by two esteemed global icons? It can’t get any better than to be known as the “greatest cultural force” in a century or to have someone say that before you there was nothing! Any individual with such laurels dripping from his cape certainly needs no further introduction.

Few entertainers have captured the imagination of the world more than Elvis Aaron Presley, born 8 January 1935 and passing from this world on 16 August 1977 at the age of forty-two. Known as the “King of Rock and Roll,” Elvis changed the face of the music world forever. He and his legacy still fascinate people the world over, magnetizing them to his life and persona. Why?

• What numbers made Elvis a global icon?
• What is special and rare about his Basic Matrix (personal profile)
• What single number was present during the time of his mother’s death, his divorce and his own death?

99-9 Triumvirate

The number 9 is the most powerful, universal, public and charismatic number of the nine basic numbers 1 through 9. When the 9 is multiplied eleven times to become the 99, its power is magnified eleven times, giving it extreme recognition and public acclaim.

Albert Einstein and Amelia Earhart both had the universally powerful master number 99-9 in their numerology charts. Elvis did too. The exceptional thing about Elvis Presley’s chart, however, is that he had a very rare tristack of 99-9 energy: 1. Life PE ( Performance/Experience-the role of his life); 2. Crown Epoch PE and 3. the sum of his Name Timeline PEs of “Elvis,” “Aaron” and “Presley.” As if this exorbitant amount of 9 energy were not enough, Elvis’s Lifepath and Expression (full birth name) were also 9s. There was no way Presley could have lived a normal life, let alone an unknown one. He was born into a public destiny which landed him atop the Mount of Music.