Recently, the South by Southwest music, film, and interactive festival wrapped up after another successful year in Austin. Because it falls during spring break week, it has become my tradition to take a break from my teaching job to work for the festival at one of the music venues. It is always an interesting and enjoyable change of pace for me, and my students get a real kick out of imagining their teacher working at a club and reveling along with the music lovers and club hoppers.This year was no different. The SXSW music festival draws over 1400 bands and more than 5000 music industry ...

Everybody has heard of the Bonsai tree but very few people know anything about the history of the miniature shrub or where the tradition came from. Bonsai is a Japanese term which, in its native language, translates to mean "tray gardening". This term describes exactly what bonsai is as it is a tree which is grown in a small pot or tub enabling it to be kept indoors. These trees are not always genetically predisposed to be small and so they are kept this way through careful pruning. The ability to care for a bonsai tree, keeping it small and healthy, is an art form in itself. The trees ar...

When you decide you want to learn the game of golf, there are lots of golf basics you need to know about at the start. But where do you begin if you are a complete newbie? Well, there are various resources on-line the Internet to help you with your golf basics. Golf Tips For Beginners The beginner golfer can start off by reading some free golf tips online. Golf Tips For Beginners is a growing resource that you can visit to learn about every aspect of golf. You will find articles and links to specific golf sections for further detailed information. A couple of resources that you will ...

Coffee has been around for so many centuries, and is drunk in so many parts of the world, that there are a huge variety of ways to enjoy it. There are a great many more varieties than we can get out of our cappuccino machines. You can enjoy different coffees on their own, or mix them with flavorings, liqueurs and other beverages to make innumerable combinations. Caribbean coffee, Mexican Mocha, Grog, and the Cubano from Cuba are four of a much greater selection of options. To make a Caribbean coffee, you need to heat a coconut in a hot oven for half an hour. Once the coconut has c...

The US is one of the leading manufacturers of game systems today. In the past, a company in the US developed Atari and it took the world by storm. Today, there are other immensely popular game systems available in the market that the US has developed. The USA is also known to develop great games for different popular game systems around the world. It is a fact that the American people loves to be entertained. This is why a lot of Americans buy different gadgets and equipments to entertain themselves. They even make their own home cinemas and entertainment rooms where it is filled with sta...

Garden thyme, fresh or dried, alone or combined with parsley and bay leaves to make a bouquet garni, adds a distinctive aromatic flavouring to meats, poultry, stews, sauces, and stuffing. Thymus vulgaris, commonly known as cooking thyme, English thyme, French thyme, or winter thyme is just one of the 350 species of the genus Thymus. Often called the 'herb of courage,' garden thyme can be grown indoors or out. Thyme is a shrubby perennial with small, oval, narrow, grey-green leaves, long, woody, branched stems, and sturdy roots. This plant blooms in mid-summer and has lavender-pink flowers ...

An increasing number of us nowadays are wondering how to select a single serve coffee maker that will suit us best at home. These kinds of coffeemaker are designed to produce - as you might expect - a single cup of coffee at a time and they are becoming increasingly popular amongst all kinds of coffee drinkers. In the past we've been a bit limited in our choices of coffee maker - we've often, for example, had to make a whole pot of fresh coffee just to enjoy a single cup but things are different nowadays. The Advantages The advantages of single serve coffee stations are primar...

It was a long search that took me more than ten years. But finally I found it - the indoor house plant that will brighten up the end of a corridor 5 meters from my front door. The Aspidistra, commonly known as the Cast Iron plant, has graced the drawing rooms of many an otherwise drab Victorian English manor, and now graces my suburban Sydney brick home. Many gardening experts describe the Aspidistra as one of the toughest and most adaptable house plants. Its long blades of slender dark green or variegated dark green and white leaves shoot straight out from the soil but in clumps and up t...

Parasailing. It is a sport that offers fun combined with exhilaration and breathtaking moments. It isn't for the weak-hearted because this activity can take you off the ground for as high as 200 feet! There are three ways to start a parasailing experience: 1. Starting from the shore (also known as the Beach method)-in this type of parasailing, the parasailor is taken from the ground and usually makes a water landing. Among the three types, the beach method is the least recommended even for experienced parasailors. This is because the speed and the altitude of the ride are mainl...

Most people engage in different activities that they consider hobbies. When people consider a particular activity as a hobby, it means that people find that activity pleasurable in that they enjoy collecting different kinds of coins. In this context, it does not necessarily follow that the coin collector will focus more on the monetary value of the coins. When the focus of coin collecting delves more into the monetary value of the coins than the gratification the collector obtains, it is no longer deemed a hobby but an investment. History tells us that the main reason other generatio...