Living in the City

May I wish everyone a I hope and pray that the new year ushers in nothing but good things in all our lives. To all those who took the time to visit , made comments, linked, and reviewed my blogs, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I realize I haven't been around as much as I had wanted to ... obligations you see. But I will definitely see you next year. Cheers everyone!

Lifted from this site are the following safety tips in handling firecrackers. 1. CHILDREN SHOULD NOT HANDLE FIREWORKS. Never let children handle, play with, or light any fireworks. Only adults should handle and light fireworks. The fireworks are great family fun, but they burn very hot and are intended to be handled only by adults. 2. DO NOT USE ALCOHOL WITH FIREWORKS. Please do not consume any alcohol while lighting or handling fireworks. Fireworks must be used only by individuals who act in a responsible manner and who are not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If you are impaired in any way when you use fireworks, you increase the possibilities of misuse and injury to yourself and others. 3. FOLLOW THE LAWS; USE COMMON SENSE Follow your local and state laws regarding the possession and use of fireworks, and use good common sense when using fireworks. Read all directions, cautions, labels, and warnings on each individual firework item to understand the product performance and

Filipino New Year's eve shall always be celebrated with firecrackers. Adapted from the Chinese, Pinoys believe that the previous year's bad luck should be driven out of one's house and out of one's life with firecrackers and pyrotechnics. I was always aware that firecrackers originally came from China. I didn't know that: "Fireworks originated in China some 2,000 years ago. The most prevalent legend has it that fireworks were discovered or invented by accident by a Chinese cook working in a field kitchen who happened to mix charcoal, sulphur and saltpeter (all commonly found in the kitchen in those days). The mixture burned and when compressed in an enclosure (a bamboo tube), the mixture exploded. Some sources say that the discovery of fireworks occurred about 2,000 years ago, and other sources place the discovery sometime during the 9th century during the Song dynasty (960-1279), although this could be confusion between the discovery of gunpowder by the cook a

Yes, we have been salivating for a turntable for almost three years now. Old technology? Yes, it is. Aside from wanting an iPod, I also want to own again one honest to goodness record player. Back when I was a teen-ager, (and that's a long, long, long, long time ago) my father used to assemble turntables. That is right. He is asseeembling them turntables. He has no electronics degree but he sure can whip up a radio tuner complete with speakers and phonograph players in 3 months. Galing no? (Great huh?) Turntable Basics "Turntables are, in fact, record-playing systems made up of three parts: the main housing, the tone arm, and a phono cartridge. The main body includes the base, the motor, the drive system, and the platter. It supports the tone arm, which in turn holds the phono cartridge. Phono cartridges have a stylus (a.k.a. a needle) that traces the LP's grooves and converts them into an analogous electrical output signal. Each subsystem plays a part in the quality of

I know the mood should be 'holidayie'. But not to dampen the merriment, I'd still want to share with you a glimpse of one of my favorite authors, Gabriel Garcia Marquez . He symbolizes HOPE. Which, to me, is what Christmas is all about. You believe so? "Gabriel Garcia Marquez has retired from public life due to health reasons: cancer of the lymph nodes. It seems that it is getting worse. He has sent this farewell letter to his friends, which has been translated and posted on the Internet. Please read and forward to anyone who might enjoy it. This is possibly, sadly, one of the last gifts to humanity from a true master:. If for an instant God were to forget that I am a rag doll and gifted me with a piece of life, possibly I wouldn’t say all that I think, but rather I would think of all that I say. I would value things, not for their worth but for what they mean. I would sleep little, dream more, understanding that for each minute we close our eyes we lose sixty seconds

From: reviews.cnet.com Vinyl rules: shopping for turntables in the digital age Remember the old record player that you put out to pasture 15 or 20 years ago? Turns out that that "dead" technology offers the potential for sound quality that's far superior to what you're hearing from your CD collection or your MP3 player, so much so that the joys of vinyl are being rediscovered by a new generation of music fans. CNET takes a look at three turntables for music lovers of any budget that will put your iPod on the defensive. By Steve Guttenberg (February 23, 2006) The past decade has seen digital media almost completely subsume the consumer entertainment world. HDTV is an all-digital standard; DVD has all but killed off old-fashioned analog VHS; cell phone networks have long since gone digital--the list goes on and on. The music industry was a trailblazer in digitization, with the compact disc laying the groundwork for the current MP3 era. But this seemingly inevitable marc