Money in family

Money has a way of causing problems in families. It brings out the bad and good in people. It either shows generosity, or stinginess. It can lead to resentment, or gratitude. Money in families has more potential for problems than it should. The following are a few examples of how it can be problematic, and how to avoid money problems in your family.

1. Loans to family. If someone in your family is not in a position to get a loan from a bank, you probably should not loan to them either. It may be due to circumstances that are beyond their control, such as hospital bills, etc. but the fact is, loaning money to family is fraught with problems. What happens to the relationship if they do not pay you back? Will you be able to make it financially if your loan is ignored? Even if you are in the position to loan money to family, unless you can live with out it, you should never loan it. As far as family goes, consider it a gift, and if they pay you back be grateful. Otherwise you are putting yourself in a potentially volatile situation where resentment reigns, and frustration rules.
2. Working with family. When you work with family, money is involved. Sometimes it is hard for family to understand that you are their boss, or that they do not deserve more income based on their work. Family often expects to be granted promotions, raises, and other favors simply because they are family, whether their actions merit it or not. In addition, when personal problems arise, it has a way of affecting working situations. If you work with your parent, and you get in a huge fight with them, and refuse to let them see their grandkids, what do you think will happen while you are at work? It is unwise to put your financial well-being in the hands of your family. Put them in your own hands, or run the risk of ruining family relationships over money.
3. Loving people with money, or treating those without money differently can also be a huge problem within families. In your extended family, you may see some people who are better off than others. This can lead to unfair treatment. Maybe some people get better treatment than others because of their financial position. It seems that rich tend to get higher esteem than poor, and while this may be expected in society, it is extremely frustrating to deal with in a family situation, and can lead to a lot of resentment and family problems.
When it comes to family and money, the best policy is to simply keep them separate. Do not discuss your finances, do not give loans, and do not work with family. It is great to be generous with family, and to give if you have it, but do not expect things in return, and always look for non-money ways to help.

Relatives that smoke

Everyone knows that smoking is bad for the lungs, yatta yatta, but unfortunately that does not stop people from smoking. While it is a personal choice, it can affect others beyond yourself. The dangers of second-hand smoke are nearly as bad, and in some cases worse than actual smoking. This can pose a problem for someone who has relatives that smoke, especially if they have children, or you do. The concern for your children's well-being, as well as your own can be very real. So, if your relatives smoke, and invite you to come over, or come to your house frequently, what can you do?

1. Set some ground rules. Because smoking is a real health concern, your relatives should not be overly offended if you ask them not to smoke around you or your children. It is your life, and your children, and your home, so setting rules regarding those things is your prerogative. You will want to go about it nicely, but be sure to go about it. Make some simple rules for them, which might include the following:
a. You will not smoke in my, or my children's presence. This is to avoid second hand smoke, but can also be a way of preventing your child from taking them as a role model, or justifying trying smoking because their grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc. smokes.
b. You will not smoke in my home. This may be to prevent the permeating smell of smoking from ruining your furniture, walls, and carpet. It also falls under the category of health.
2. Be courteous. Usually people know that smoking is unhealthy, and want to quit, but find the addiction too difficult to overcome. So, while it is your prerogative to forbid them from smoking around your children, and in your home, you should be considerate of them as well. If they want you to visit, and you just can't handle it because their home smells like smoke, you do not have to tell them that. Instead, get a hotel nearby, and visit often, but let them know you enjoy your own space, and that it is no bother to get a hotel. This means you do not have to deal with the smoking or smell, and they still get to see you and the kids. Telling someone that you won't associate with them because they smoke is really unfair. If they refuse to follow the rules, then it is wise, but if they promise not to smoke in the presence of your kids, etc. then remember it is an addiction, and that it is not easily overcome.
3. Teach your family differently. One of the biggest fears for parents who have relatives that smoke is that their children will follow the example. It is hard to teach a child that you love the person, not their actions, but it is worth stressing that your child is going to run into smokers their whole life, and it is your responsibility to teach them not to smoke, even if people they know and love do. It can be a great lesson to learn, especially if they see the negative effects smoking has on someone they are close to.

Seeing more than someone's faults

Seeing someone's faults is easy. Name a person and I can tell you in a matter of minutes the things about them that I do not like. We all have this canny ability to recognize all of the bad in people, however, this article focuses on how to see more than someone's faults, and start seeing their good qualities and attributes as well. The following are five things you can do see more in someone than their faults:

1. Taking time to get to know them. You will never be able to see past someone's faults if you do not get to know who they are. Faults are easier to spot than good attributes, so if you want to find those, you have to look deeper than the surface. The reason many people do not is that it takes effort and a lot of hard work. However, it can be a really enjoyable process as well. You can have a lot of fun in the process while hanging out, and doing things you both enjoy.
2. Spending time with them in many different situations. Have you ever been caught in a bad day? Would you like that one situation or day to be what defines you forever? No, so be very careful not to do that to others. Give them a chance to show you their other sides. You have to give people the benefit of the doubt, and spend time with them under various circumstances, so that you can see past their faults, and their reactions, to who they actually are. If you see them in their best element it will be easy to spot their positive qualities, so give yourself and them that chance.
3. Look for the best in them. If you want to see beyond someone's faults, you have to look for it. So, keep your eye open for things other than their faults. It is easy to pounce on someone's problems, but unless you make their positive attributes your focus, then you won't find them.
4. Ask them what they like about themselves. If you are having trouble getting through their faults to see things that are positive, ask them what they think their positive traits are. What you might see as stubbornness, and think is a bad thing, they might look at as a good thing because it might mean sticking to their beliefs. If you listen to what they like about themselves, you can take cues from it, and figure out that you like that too.
5. Have fun together. It is easy to see someone's faults if the time you spend with them is uncomfortable, or unhappy. However, when you are out having fun, and you seriously enjoy their company, it is harder to remember their faults.
It is not always easy to find things you like in others, but it is worth taking the time to stop looking at people's faults, and start looking for the good in them.

Sexual abuse in the family

When families experience something like sexual abuse, it can be an extremely difficult situation. A male member, either the father or a brother, perpetrates most sexual abuse in families. Because it is family, many of the victims of sexual abuse are afraid to blow the whistle. They do not want to be the reason their family is torn apart, or their father goes to prison. No matter how poor the logic is, as it is the fault of the perpetrator, not the victim, this is the common problem.

Because of the lack of reporting it, most sexual abuse in families will go on for years, the average being a two year span, but some much more. The degree of sexual abuse changes with each case. In some cases the molestation is mild, touching, caresses, and the like. In others it is severe, including penetration, and sometimes impregnation.
Unfortunately, most sexual abuse happens with someone you know and are familiar with. While there are certainly cases of rape out there, the subtle, and more mental forms of sexual abuse almost always occur with a person the victim is familiar with, which is why it is so difficult for them to understand what is happening, and put a stop to it.
Sexual abuse in families generally starts out as a show of affection. A brother may get in bed with his sister during a storm, under the pretense of comfort. This "innocent" comforting may go on for a while, and start to escalate, with hugging, kissing, touching, and eventually intercourse. Because it is a gradual process, most perpetrators have the chance to work a mental warfare on the victim as well. They convince them that it is not wrong, that it is simply comfort, and expressing affection. They may tell them that it is their duty to perform sexual acts etc. For example, a girl's mother may be sick and unable to please her father, and so the father may tell her that the duty falls to her to make sure he is happy.
The sense of "duty" or "honor" and the family ties often lead to years of sexual abuse; abuse that may never be over completely, and only stops for a time because the victim moves out to go to college, etc.
Most victims of sexual abuse in their families will isolate themselves. They know in their hearts that the situation is wrong, and so in fear of a friend finding out what is going on, they distance themselves from all friends, and eventually have none. This leads to it being even more difficult to end the abuse because they feel isolated and alone, and worry that no one will believe them, or support them.
If you or someone you know is suffering from sexual abuse in their family, it is critical that you help them put a stop to it. It is a difficult situation, and the victim is not usually in a place mentally to handle it, but there is help out there. A great example is the Into the Light helpline for children who are victims of sexual abuse. To contact them, or another group for support look them up.

Marc Maron

Comedian/podcaster Marc Maron isn’t afraid to let comedy get uncomfortably candid.

  Self-revelation has been a staple of comedy at least since Lenny Bruce, but Marc Maron—stand-up comic and host of the WTF podcast (it stands for what you think it does)—takes his personal anger and angst to a level that sometimes is just as uncomfortable as it is funny, discussing highly personal subjects like his upbringing and several bitter divorces. You keep listening because it’s so compelling: a neurotic’s inner monologue has never been verbalized quite this eloquently or in such (sometimes excruciating) detail. It’s compelling enough to get him comedy specials on HBO and Comedy Central, appearances on Conan O’Brien and David Letterman, the role of the “Angry Promoter” in the movie Almost Famous, and a gig as host of Morning Sedition on the progressive radio network Air America (he was dismissed partly for being too angry).
Maron, who has released three comedy CDs and is working on a fourth, started WTF in September 2009, and in August celebrated his 100th episode. He’s one of the few in the podcast world to achieve a modicum of success with the support of sponsors, and the show has been one of the most downloaded podcasts on iTunes. The show can switch from interviewing comedy luminaries to uncomfortable conversations with his divorced parents, but it’s all very candid and honest. (An interview with porn star Dana DeArmond, followed by a chat with Maron’s therapist was awkward indeed.)
The candor on the podcast has progressed naturally from the 48-year-old’s style of stand-up. “I’ve always sort of done it on stage, and it just took me a while to realize that sometimes, especially in the form of the podcast, that it doesn’t always have to be funny necessarily,” he says. “Sometimes, the honesty of it is OK, but I just began to become confident that something funny will happen.”
Maron records most of the WTF episodes in his garage, doing interviews by phone, and that makes the show feel more comfortable. Los Angeles-area comedians drop by his place or, if he’s performing somewhere like, say, Chicago, he might go to the office of Ira Glass, host of public radio show This American Life, to interview him. He’s also had comedians such as Bob Saget and Robin Williams on the show.
Occasionally, the honesty is too much for some of his subjects. When last May he interviewed comedian Carlos Mencia on two episodes about accusations against the Hispanic comic of joke-stealing, Mencia became very defensive. More recently, last month comic Gallagher stormed off the show.
“There’s an electricity to talking to people about things that are explosive or vulnerable,” Maron says, “but many of the podcasts have moments like that, because I think a lot of us don’t have in-depth conversations about much of anything, including myself (off the show). If I’m talking to somebody I’ve never met before, like Bob Odenkirk or Louis C.K., when something emotional happens, there’s a moment of awkwardness. But then you realize, wow, this is really human, we’re all built to deal with this, but this is something we should be doing, so just stay in the present and let the moment reveal itself, you know?”
WTF and Maron’s comedy in general are very intelligent in a world of Larry the Cable Guy humor. He sometimes discusses authors like Jonathan Franzen; it’s not uncommon to hear the word “gravitas” on the show. Maron’s cynicism is so bent on scrutiny of everything—especially himself—that he doesn’t let cynicism go unexamined, and that raises him above the level of “cynical hipster.” In the conversational format of WTF, he seems to have found the perfect medium to get his sensibility, style and tone across without being either too abrasive or too loose and rambling, but conversational in a way that‘s extremely listenable: “It just suited me perfectly because it brought together all my comedy skills, radio skills and emotional skills into one form.”
While Maron is working on a comedic memoir tentatively titled Attempting Normal, it seems the catharsis of doing the podcast helps him keep a strange kind of balance in his life. “As you get older, you start to realize that, despite all of your whining and anger and despair and expectations and disappointments, there’s an end to this,” he says. “And there are a lot of things that are up to us to experience with our own perceptions. It just seems that if I keep talking, and keep expressing how I feel and keep listening to other people, that I can change the way I perceive things a little bit, and that can bring a little more peace of mind.”

Lily Tomlin

And That’s the Truth: Lily Tomlin still embraces her classic characters after more than 40 years.

It is sometimes difficult to imagine what entertainment legends were like before they became famous. Comedian Lily Tomlin has lived in America’s collective memory since the 1960s, and yet she doesn’t seem to have aged a day. In a recent interview with City Weekly, Tomlin explained how she acquired her particular style of comedy. Growing up lower middle-class in a culturally diverse Detroit apartment complex, she found joy in the simple acts of listening to radio shows with her little brother and putting on skits for the other tenants on the balcony. Her first exposure to organized performing came from a local community center’s summer program. “We didn’t go to the theater a lot,” Tomlin recalls, “but this program let the older kids put together plays. That was a big influence on me.”
Her keen ability to mimic a wide variety of voices and facial expressions was evident early on. Tomlin recalled how one of her most beloved characters—the precocious and perpetually congested 5-year-old Edith Ann—was inspired by the daughter of one of the young mothers who lived in her building. “I’m still friends with her mother after all these years,” Tomlin says. Her daughter had this thick, heavy voice. It was so unique for such a little girl, and I remember trying to capture that voice when I first started doing the Edith Ann character. I don’t know where the stuffy nose came from, but it just worked.”
After a few years performing her act in coffee shops and comedy clubs, Tomlin made the move to New York City and started appearing on The Merv Griffin Show. Getting picked for the hit series Laugh-In in 1969 became a pivotal moment in her career, and she got her first real taste of fame. “Back then, there weren’t that many channels to choose from. Laugh-In was one of those shows the entire family gathered together to watch. I started getting recognized on the streets after that.”
It was while working on Laugh-In that Tomlin met her longtime partner, Jane Wagner. She recalls watching an afternoon special that Wagner had written, and was immediately taken with Wagner’s development of the characters. Tomlin contacted Wagner and they began working together to develop the Edith Ann sketch into its own special. The two women became inseparable, both professionally and personally, and they have lived and worked together ever since.
Wagner has written all of Tomlin’s major projects, including her television specials and Tomlin’s proudest performance, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, which not only broke records for its success on Broadway and across the country and eventually made it to the big screen, but also earned Tomlin the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2003. “When I first learned I won the award,” Tomlin says, “I refused to accept it unless they agreed to give Jane one, too, because every word of that play belonged to her.”
Tomlin has enjoyed a long and successful career in entertainment. She has appeared in almost 20 movies, been cast on hit TV series, earned nearly every award imaginable including multiple Tonys, Grammys and Emmys and starred in six comedy specials. Now, at age 72, she still travels extensively, performing new material to audiences around the world.
Her most classic characters will definitely be part of the current show. Edith Ann will be sharing her latest adventures with her dog Buster and continuing to announce her superiority by declaring “and that’s the truth.” The ever-popular Ernestine will also make an appearance, though Tomlin warns not to expect any stories about the telephone company. “Ever since the divestiture, Ernestine had to quit Ma Bell,” Tomlin says. “She had her own Internet talk show for a while, but now she’s found her perfect job—working at a health-insurance company, denying everyone’s claims.”

Trampled by Turtles at Urban Lounge

Not Bluegrass: band refuses to be confined to a genre.

Posted // July 1,2010 - Trampled By Turtles is not a bluegrass band. The string quintet out of Duluth, Minn., might draw on fiddle, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar and bass to crank out high-energy jams, but, as frontman Dave Simonett observes, the definition of bluegrass is too constricting for its own good.
The term’s narrow scope is partly why the Midwestern musicians settled on their name. “We wanted anything that wasn’t bluegrassy in nature, like a name with mountain, river or ‘the something, something boys.’ We have never called ourselves a bluegrass band,” he said.
Formed in 2004, Trampled By Turtles takes its cues from folk, country and Americana greats Townes Van Zant, Bob Dylan and Wilco, but many fans are surprised to hear strains of punk rock, heavy metal and gangster rap in their sound. Progressive for stringed music, Trampled brings that raw, rip-roarin’ energy to its shows, playing like the band members are fully plugged in. Smaller shows are often their favorite because of the intimate relationship with the crowd.
When seeing a Trampled concert, it’s not uncommon to hear exclamations like, “Those boys sure play fast for sittin’ down like that.” While they’ve tried to play acoustic music standing up, they say it’s easier to play fast while sitting. That iconic image of the band lined up on five chairs made its way onto T-shirts after a fan-based design competition in 2009.
While known largely for live performances, Trampled are turning heads with their recordings; they released Palomino on April 13. Except for several vocal harmonies, the songs were mostly recorded live. “Feet and Bones” and “It’s a War” have the fury and organized chaos of pugnacious country-punk, yet the band shows off its diversity with minimalistic and even jammy tracks.
The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard bluegrass chart. Mandolin player Erik Barry says hitting the top of the chart was a bolt from the blue. “A lot of hard work was put into that record, but, at the end of the day, I just play the mandolin,” said Barry. When the publicist called to inform the band they were chart-toppers, Barry didn’t know what to do. “You’d think there’d be high-fives and hugs, but it was just like, ‘Oh, that’s awesome!’ then on to the next thing. What else can you do?” Barry said.
On a more basic level, the success of Palomino facilitates more gigs, more ticket sales—almost doubling in the Southeast, along with sold-out shows in Northeast and the West, where they are more established—and less stress. Now, Barry says he no longer has to work his second job as a line cook. Still, he and his bandmates might be the hardest working men in bluegrass, er, “not bluegrass.” Just before his City Weekly interview, Barry built a duck coop for the poultry farm he and his wife are starting at their Minnesota home.
Trampled also has many musical offshoots, like Barry piecing together a dozen tunes for an album consisting mainly of fiddle arrangements for solo mandolin, possibly including several Black Sabbath songs. Singer/guitarist Simonett has recorded an EP with Dead Man Winter, a straight-up rock band, recently touring the Midwest. Finally, banjo player Dave Carroll leads the band Two Many Banjos, who just released full-length album, POW, in June.
Recording songs is great and all, but it’s not Barry’s No. 1 priority: “I come from focusing on the show as what’s happening. The next show is what I’m most excited about, and I’m thinking about the last show—what worked and what didn’t.” 

Fauna

The Ebb and Flow of Fauna: Salt Lake City's revolving band reflects on their latest album.

As fauna is an umbrella term that includes all animals in a given place, Fauna is an umbrella band with eight revolving musicians and some guests.

It’s a band that’s at the center of a large circle of friends, many of whom are awesome musicians. “This band kinda started accidentally,” said Waichira Waigwa-Stone, as he and vocalist/keyboardist, Adam Nelson, reminisced about the local band’s origin and new album, Puddles Into Rapids.

By late 2008, the band included Zachariah Spears on vocals and guitar, Mike Greene on bass and guitar, and Sarah Custen on vocals and violin.

The resulting sound is indie math-rock with elements of folk and jazz. Their music is hypnotic yet melodic. They have their fair share of instrumental parts and building solos, but the songs are still vocally and melody driven. Four out of five members sing lead and harmony parts. Three members contribute to the songwriting.

Happy with the sound, they stepped into the studio in the fall of ’09. Custen was temporarily moving to Spain and they wanted to crank out Puddles before she bailed. They chose eight songs and recorded their debut at Midnight Records.

Upon finishing the album, Custen did move, and shortly after, Spears left for Hawaii.

With a finished album and plenty of creative momentum, the remaining members of Fauna didn’t want to stop. They also didn’t want to release an album without two key members. So, they put the finished album on ice and broadened the umbrella to include more friends.

Fauna added Jeremy Prows on percussion, Steve Pinette on didgeridoo, and Jared Whear standing in on guitar. Now, almost nine months since recording the unreleased Puddles into Rapids, Fauna has evolved into an edgier version of itself. They have a new set of songs that incorporates more hip-hop elements, along with their signature vocal harmonies and catchy melodies.

Spears recently returned to town, and Custen arrived back in Salt Lake City soon after. Fauna is back together, but it has multiplied. They don’t want to stop what they’re doing now, and they also want Custen and Spears back on board.

At the Utah Arts Festival, Fauna showcased the entirety of their musical collective, the first show with all current members of Fauna present, and it was a steamy mix of music hot enough to compete with the soaring temperatures. This expanded lineup might have some staying power.
Not that the band is too concerned about constancy. As Spears put it, “friends take off, friends get back; Fauna will remain.” 

A Hawk and a Hacksaw

Small World: New Mexico’s A Hawk and a Hacksaw find a second musical home in the Balkans.

  Stroh violins are used widely by street musicians and gypsies throughout Europe. Their street-market sound is amplified through a metallic horn, rather than acoustic resonation. When asked about this unique instrument, A Hawk and a Hacksaw’s Heather Trost excitedly relates a story as her bandmate Jeremy Barnes—former drummer of Neutral Milk Hotel—plays the accordion in the background, adding a surreal effect to the phone call from New Mexico.

Traveling around Europe, where she and Barnes lived for two years, they stumbled upon two Stroh-playing buskers in Romania. The two duos played music for each other, happily alternating songs.

“It was so cool. Mine was broken and they knew how to fix it, so in broken French and Romanian sign language they took mine and I gave them a bit of money for theirs,” says Trost, proud of her souvenir.

Music, and loving it, isn’t confined to “normal” means of communication, or even geography. Although based in New Mexico, A Hawk and a Hacksaw draw influences from the former Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and Romania, creating a sound all their own—although reminiscent of Beirut and DeVotchKa. Trost says that New Mexico and the Balkans are more alike than expected. And both regions’ influences are represented on the band’s new album, Cervantine, arriving March 8.

Adding subtleties to the duo’s sound, mariachi and norteno music were ever-present in New Mexico and have, surprisingly, made their way to the Balkans, too.

“Mexican music is highly influenced by European brass bands because of colonization. Now, there are a lot of brass bands in Europe that are learning Latin styles. It’s this interesting cultural-feedback loop,” Trost says.

Cross-pollination is nothing new, but Trost says, “It’s been sped up with the Internet and people being able to explore other cultures without traveling.” Although they admit to using YouTube to find new music, “armchair traveler” is not an accurate description of this duo.

During their two years living in Budapest—studying music and playing at dive bars, weddings, clubs or on the streets—they took trips to the Balkans, specifically to Transylvania in Romania, and saw similarities to home. “Both areas are keeping their culture and language intact, but [are] also interacting with the larger community. There are similarities of how communities remain true to cultural identities,” says Trost, specifically in architecture, local customs and, of course, music.

Their European time was fruitful, facilitated by playing with local musicians. “It can be a little intimidating to play with people you don’t know or are in awe of. But people everywhere just want to connect. Music is a fundamental aspect of that,” Trost says.

The gypsy spirit and its musical leanings rely heavily on communality. As such, the two lean toward collaboration to learn and grow and, more practically, to add sonic depth beyond the duo’s range without using electronics.

With that in mind, they recorded Cervantine, despite the limitations resulting from their favorite collaborators being in Europe. Instead, they used the Internet. In Albuquerque, they tried a different tack during recording. “We had always overdubbed a lot of our stuff. Before, we would record a basic track and we would have people record over it while we traveled around Europe,” Trost says.

With the foundation done in Albuquerque, collaborator Chris Lidouski added multiple instruments remotely to the album, while his sister Stephanie provided some vocals. Cervantine was recorded in 2010, the same year Barnes and Trost started their own record company, L.M. Dupli-cation. That decision didn’t come from simple necessity, but to fulfill a dream. Trost says they want to go back to Romania to record their friends and idols. With an assist from A Hawk and a Hacksaw, the two regions seem to move closer again.

“It’s not just for ourselves but for the music that we love to hopefully reach a wider audience,” Trost says.

Colored hair care

Changing hair color is fun! However, colored hair requires special attitude. Your hair or scalp might be damaged a little, and even if it's not damaged, dyed hair needs different care. Colored hair care begins with changing your regular shampoo and conditioner to the ones dedicated for dyed hair. These cosmetics nourish each hair and keeps scalp moisture balanced. Your regular shampoo might be great, but those dedicated for colored hair have special additives that maintain the new color and help to keep it bright for a longer period.
The process of hair coloring removes a certain part of natural oils from the hair, and that's why dyed hair is drier than it usually is. Colored hair needs to be moisturized properly to keep the color and brilliance. Hair cosmetics for dyed hair maintain the new color, but you can provide your hair with additional humidity for longer lasting shine. Hot oil treatment is the best way to restore natural moisture and strengthen weak hair. Pour a few teaspoons of vegetable oil in a pot and warm it up a little. If you're afraid it can quickly overheat, put the pot with oil into a pot of boiling water. Apply the warm oil on hair and wrap it with a plastic bag and then wrap it with a towel. These will keep the oil warm and help your hair absorb the humidity. Rinse the oil away after 30 minutes and wash your hair with a shampoo. If hair coloring dried your scalp, use coconut oil treatment. This hair mask should be used once in a week or two for the best results.
If the color seems to wash away too quickly, try some natural mixtures to rinse your hair. Use water mixed with juice of one lemon for final rinse right after you wash away hair cosmetics. You can use a tablespoon of vinegar instead of lemon juice. Tea-water is useful for maintaining hair color as well; you can rinse shampoo or a conditioner with it. Semi-permanent color treatments can be used to renew the color and shine, but you should consult your hairdresser for the best effect.
Do not use a hair dryer, and if you really have to dry your hair this way don't choose the hottest option. Straightening iron and curling iron should be avoided as well. Sun is the number one enemy of your skin, but it doesn't do any favors for your hair as well. Once a hair is colored, it's recommended to keep it covered with a hat or scarf for any outside activity. Sun exposure can dry hair and make it lose the new color and brightness faster. Furthermore, the hair loses a part of its humidity in dyeing process and becomes more vulnerable. Leaving hair uncovered can damage its structure and not just the appearance. Salt water and chlorinated pool water are potentially harmful for colored hair. Remember that dyed hair is more exposed to environment. Chlorinated water can even change hair color, so it's recommended to wear a swimming cap or rinse and shampoo your hair afterwards.

The Naked Eyes

Transplants: The Naked Eyes cozy up to SLC.

Posted // November 11,2009 - The Naked Eyes moved to Salt Lake City—Ogden’s loss, our gain—and have intensified their efforts to pen new material and revamp pre-existing songs in their practice space at Nobrow Coffee & Tea. The former trio recently morphed into a quartet with Dylan Thomas Roe (local guitar/harmonica aficionado) joining the fold, but longtime Naked Eyes fans shouldn’t fret—just expect a more layered approach to their psych-tinged roots-rock than the one that propelled their first album and Spelltalk EP. City Weekly wants to know, who are these cats, really—and why we should care.

City Weekly: What’s the new Naked Eyes songwriting process like?

Dylan Thomas Roe: You just play something perfect and it just comes out of you, it feels like the song existed before you did and just manifested itself through you.

Andrew Milne: When it’s all coming out of everybody so fast, that’s great. It just feels good and you know it should.

CW: What music have you been inspired by lately?

AM: I recently started listening to a lot of Neil Young and Buffalo Springfield. And The Out Crowd, they’re a cool band.

DTR: I’ve been listening to a lot of Piedmont blues lately and Delta blues, which is like ragtime blues on the guitar.

Jared Phelps: I started listening to The Beatles a lot.

CW: What inspires you, literature-wise?

AM: A Wrinkle in Time. I’ve also been reading Power of Now.

JP: The Alchemist.

DTR: I read The Prophet recently. That was a good one. A fast read.

Sammy Harper: I started reading Choke the other day.

CW: What outdoor recreation do you enjoy when you head back to Ogden?

JP: We go to this river in the summer and swim there.

AM: And we’ve done so for the last few years consecutively. It’s called Caveman’s Revenge. This river is badass.

JP: It’s got three waterfalls, a big-ass bridge and a rope swing.

CW: When you aren’t writing and playing music, what do you do?

AM: We went to Nobrow the other day and saw Big Sky Tribunal.

DTR: I make jewelry in my friend Arash’s garage. We take recycled gems and get metal from the hardware store. It’s all handmade.

JP: [laughs] We like crafts.

DTR: I do charcoal [drawings]. I like to hustle people at pool, too.

SH: I’ve been skateboarding a little bit more. 9th and 9th is the shit. I like to cruise bowls, whoever has a mini ramp— I’ll skate that.

CW: Where in the city can you find The Naked Eyes on off-days?

AM: I go get a sandwich at Caputo's and say hi to my buddy at the fish market.

JP: I really like going to the D.I. I went to the Coffee Garden the other day. Nobrow’s a good spot to hang out.

SH: I’m a thrift-store kid. I collect ‘80s movies. VHS.

Twilight Music Girls

If you love Twilight and fantasy, then the Twilight Music Girls is the band for you. Their album La Tua Cantante is all songs about Bella and the boys. I listened TMG’s music—not my thing—but neither are sparkly vampires and virgin cock-teasers. TMG’s fantasy sound is less than inspiring. Then again, if you live for fantasy, the kind where a romance novel inspires five theater geeks to write and perform songs about girls that love vampires, then who cares what they sound like? It’s all fantasy. The Los Angeles band performed at the Twilight: Eclipse premiere at Jordan Commons June 29. Tweeting for TMG is Mallory Trunnell who plays the piano and guitar for the group. @MartyFoy So what is it? What is so great about Twilight that you girls formed a band based on this series? @TMGmusic Well I think that “it” is that Stephenie Meyer created characters that are so easy for girls especially to relate to and as @TMGmusic as a musician, you write about what inspires you. Particularly in the case of Twilight, it is the love story we’ve found (cont) @TMGmusic so inspiring. There’s just this incredible amount of emotion wrapped up in these characters. @MartyFoy How did the @TMGmusic project come together? @TMGmusic the 5 of us knew each other from playing out in LA on the singer/songwriter scene @MartyFoy Tell me about the Eclipse premiere and playing for the 15,000 Twi-hards at Jordon Commons? @TMGmusic it’s incredible to play for so many people who are so passionate. Really there are no words to describe it! @MartyFoy La Tua Cantante, the album is all about Twilight. Are you worried about running out of material to write songs about @TMGmusic No way! We all have our own thing going on outside of this project and music is our passion, but as far as twilight goes we @TMGmusic will keep writing and playing as long as people want to listen. We’ve been lucky so far! @MartyFoy Kandi told me that Bella’s blood sings to Edward. Is that true? Sounds gruesome. @TMGmusic Haha. Well yes, apparently the ‘scent’ of her blood affects Edward so intensely that it’s a constant battle not to kill her. @MartyFoy Yeah, you’re right it is a constant battle to not kill her. @MartyFoy Bella seems to like it rough – vampires and werewolves – how do the girls of @TMGmusic like it? @TMGmusic Well we can relate to Bella of course, but Rough, Tough, Fast, Sweet, or Slow: it’s all good if it’s Rock N Roll! (Hehehe.) @MartyFoy Agree/disagree? Is @TMGmusic milking the popularity of Twilight for your own benefit? @TMGmusic Well, we put everything together before the first movie came out, we had no idea how popular it would be. But we can’t deny @TMGmusic that is has been really awesome to have the journey we’ve had. Milking it? I don’t think so. Enjoying it? Definitely. @MartyFoy In a 140 characters or less describe Bella’s journey to Edward. @TMGmusic Girl moves to Forks, WA, meets brooding undead lad. Her blood sings to him, they fall in love, break up, make up, & get married ;) @MartyFoy Good to know I’m not missing anything.

Ty Segall

Prolific SF songsmith 'rawks' it

 Ty Segall

Tune your radio dial to 90.9 FM on a weekday afternoon and you’re bound to hear KRCL DJ Bad Brad Wheeler play lo-fi garage rocker Ty Segall. Like much of Wheeler’s favored music genre, Segall plays a frayed rock style similar to the White Stripes or the Black Lips. Segall likes his rock raw. One might say he “rawks.”

And when the rawk befalls Segall in concert, he gets wild. “I play guitar in the crowd and really thrash around and do stupid stuff like that,” he says. However, that explosive live show has consequences: He has a tendency to break his guitars. “I’ve had like maybe 30 or 40 electric guitars,” he says.

The costs add up, so he previously played only cheap electric guitars in the $200 price range, but they’d only last three months and break, Segall says. After spending thousands of dollars on cheap guitars, he’s decided to spend $800 and hope that it lasts at least a year or two.

Segall favors a retro ’60s sound, so he’s turned to vintage guitars—for their sound and for their handcraft. “Old instruments are handmade, so it’s just quality stuff,” he says.

The 24-year-old’s huge archive of solo material—there are 23 records available at Ty-Segall.com—sounds like classic Stooges with elements of the Beatles and Dick Dale, but with a modern edge clearly placing him in the 21st century.

The prolific San Francisco songsmith’s latest, Goodbye Bread, came out earlier this year, and he has yet another LP coming out next spring. “I’m the kind of person that if I’m not doing something, I feel really depressed and shitty about myself,” Segall says. Call it therapy. Call it insatiable work ethic. Whatever you call it, it’s fueled Segall’s quick rise in the music world.

Goodbye Bread is a bit of a veer from his standard garage-rawk sound. His older material sounds kind of thrown together, spawned in the moment, and it breathes in its own spontaneity. Goodbye Bread, on the other hand, has vocal melodies and guitar playing that sounds more mature. It’s lo-fi and laden with wonderful tube-amp warmth, but it is more refined and intentional. There are songs with shredding guitar power, but they’re juxtaposed with slower, poppier songs.

“It wasn’t really planned out. The goal for me was to focus on the lyrics more—to make a record that was different from the other records,” says Segall, although he reassures fans not to worry about a drastic change of pace. “It’s not like I’m not going to make super-fucked-up raw records anymore.”

Spell Talk

SLC Rockers Ready Second Release

Spell Talk keeps giving even those with just a pinkie finger on the pulse of the Utah music scene something to talk about. With no signs of slowing down, the 2010 City Weekly Music Awards winners’ forthcoming album Touch It! will keep the band’s momentum rolling forward toward a three-week tour—their longest to date—with an appearance at the College Music Journal Music Festival in New York City on Oct. 18 as a capstone.

Before firing up—or fixing up—their new-ish Econoline touring van for the long haul to the East Coast, the psych-rockers will appear a number of times around Utah to commune with their home crowd. This will help fuel their spirits, but the ticket and album sales will literally help put gas in the tank.

Spell Talk has matured from their fledgling days when they banded together in Ogden; that was when they went by The Naked Eyes. The trio—consisting of bassist and vocalist Jared Phelps, drummer Sammy Harper and guitarist and vocalist Andrew Milne—moved to Salt Lake City in 2009 for its more-happening musical scene. “Salt Lake is a great town and might break out and do something cool for rock & roll,” Phelps says

After the move, they exchanged their old name for Spell Talk—after pressure from the ’80s British new wave band Naked Eyes over naming rights—and have also experimented with a couple of different lineups. Their new and current lead guitarist, Elle Rasmussen, has been a friend of the band for more than four years, which has created an easy cohesion. Phelps says Rasmussen is fitting in well, both on a musical and personal level.

Now with a solid four-person lineup in place, Phelps envisions the band making big strides in the upcoming months. “We definitely want to push [ourselves] to the next level,” he says. This goal-oriented yearning shows on Touch It!

This, their second full-length, is direct, effective and unapologetic. From the get-go, the first song “Can’t Keep” seems eager to capture their sound “in its truest, live state,” as Phelps puts it. The song “What Hand It’s In” confirms that their style is still fun and as relateable as it’s always been, whether they are gigging at The Urban Lounge or recording in the studio.

Phelps says the band’s musical evolution has led them to what he describes as “candy rock.” “We are loving that direction,” he says.
Spell Talk recorded Touch It! in just two days to “get in [to the studio], get out and keep the music going,” Phelps says. This, at times, leaves some rough edges, especially with Phelps’ and Milne’s vocals. But the music is still solid. This album is their best recording yet, which they hope to use to gain new fans on their biggest tour to date and to garner notoriety in the city that never sleeps.

Zoroaster

Thus Spake Zoroaster: Once Atlanta’s loudest band, Zoroaster is now nasty, awesome and nuanced.

In an interview with a different paper from another time, Zoroaster singer/guitarist Will Fiore described the Atlanta band’s music as sounding “nasty and awesome.” No hair-metal band ever named itself after an ancient Persian prophet—Zoroaster is exponentially more cerebral, so those don’t seem like the most apt words to describe Fiore’s band. But they work. Nasty can mean fierce, and the trio’s aural tumult is vicious and, well, kind of awesome.

A meaningless word, awesome, but in the realm of heavy metal, it says it all. Take, for example, the first 10 minutes of Zoroaster’s fourth album, Matador. The psychedelic opener “D.N.R.” dirges along for 6:26 while you float in the lotus position on a magic carpet that reeks of incense and bongwater, and Fiore’s soothing Gilmourian roar intones, “Don’t tell me how to die.” This segues into the quick, chaotic rumble of “Ancient Ones,” where the do-not-resuscitate hero of the previous track shriek-wheezes about communing with spectral entities that populate his great reward. It’s a monolithic one-two punch; calling it “awesome” is reflex.

On top of that, Zoroaster is loud. Some have called them the loudest band in Atlanta, which—even with Mastodon in the running—is possible. Fiore laughs at this, like it’s the folly of his youth, which it was. In Zoroaster’s early days, Fiore and bassist Brent Anderson (currently on a rock & roll timeout, with band friend Travis Owen filling in) would take their full amp stacks to every club and roll the dials all the way up and play eyes-shut so to ignore the frantic protestations of the club’s sound guy. “In Tennessee,” says Fiore, “they stopped the show and actually ran us out of town.” The story earns that ubiquitous adjective of “awesome,” but a thinkin’ man’s metal band like Zoroaster eventually wised up. “After years of doin’ that, you blow all your equipment and get too lazy to [lug all the gear around].”

Now Zoroaster plays loudly, but with an ear on nuance. Through their discography, from their eponymous demo release in 2005 through 2007’s Dog Magic, 2009’s Voice of Saturn and now Matador, the band refines their mesmerizing grooves, adding more and more texture to their cacophonous ear candy. Now a song like “Ancient Ones,” where Fiore growl-shrieks lyrics that would give strokes to God-fearing folks, is a skull-crushing metal anthem that feels like a three-minute pop tune. Zoroaster’s frontguy attributes this to a desire to make the live shows nasty and the albums awesome.

“I know,” says Fiore, “that the songs will sound loud and energetic live. So when we go into the studio, it’s cool to explore different facets of the songs. It’s cool to have that separation … to be able to [make it] meatier on the record and then, when we play live, play it any way we want.”

That sort of thinking, and craftsmanship, is how Zoroaster keeps getting accolades and superlatives, like they’re “the next High on Fire” and why Matador may be their watershed album. When a band works that hard to create a cathartic, substantial listening experience, it earns them ears. Fiore’s modest, too—there’s no way, in his mind, Zoroaster is as good as stoner/doom metal priests High on Fire. He swears that on Internet message boards, “Just as many people are saying how bad we suck and that each record is worse.”

“We’re just doin’ what we wanna do,” he says, “and tryin’ to keep it interesting for ourselves. We don’t spend too much time thinking about [press]. But it’s definitely cool that people are sayin’ those things.”

However, Fiore does take exception to the idea Zoroaster will succeed High on Fire. It causes him to momentarily revert to metal fan, one perhaps seated at his own computer, poised to type a venomous objection. Surely High on Fire is far more wicked and awe-inspiring than his band. “[I’m inclined to say], ‘What are you, crazy?!’” 

Long hair styles

Though more and more women prefer short hair styles, long hair styles are still a feature that makes women look as feminine as possible. Yet long hair requires a lot of care. If you want to look really fashionable, you have to pay attention and style your hair every day. Pony tail is surely an old and unfashionable long hair style.
Long hair is a great advantage because you may style it in many ways. Various ways of twinning, twisting parting and tufts may create you various styles and enable to have different looks every day.
However, if you don't have enough time to style your long hair ever day, you may choose from variety of cuts that doesn't require any special care.
Long and layered cuts are very fashionable nowadays. It's especially popular between ladies with straight hair. All you have to do is wash your hair and you are ready to go. You may apply some spray or gel, but it won't make much difference.
Another popular long hair style is lengthy curls. As you already have a messy look you don't have to do anything to look good. It's very comfortable for busy ladies. If you have straight hair, don't be afraid to get permanent waves, they'll last for at least a few months and the only thing you'll have to do to make your hair look good is apply mousse.
One of the greatest advantage of long hair is that if you overslept and don't have time to wash your hair, you may simply twin them or get a tuft. It's also a fact that long hair doesn't get greasy as fast as short ones, so you won't have to wash it that often.
Long hair is also very convenient if you want to cover some disadvantages of your face. All you have to do is get a professional stylist and your problem is solved. If you, for example, have a narrow forehead, get your wear your hair wide and full at the top and temples, brushed away from the face and up toward the ears to widen forehead. Any feature may be covered by choosing the right hair style.
It‘s also a fact that long hair looks good on any woman, unlike short hair styles. Though it may require more care, but styling them is surely easier. You won‘t have to cut them as often as short hair and even if you won‘t like the way you look, you‘ll always be able to get a pony tail (however, it‘s not the best way out).
If you want to make your hair really impressive, get various pins and you‘ll be able to make various hair styles. Be creative, get your hair up, twist your parting, twin some of your hair and you will sure look original.
Although long hair needs more care, it's surely easier to style them. Moreover, there are more ways to get them done and you may easily get original looks every day. Long hair suits any woman with any face shape. Long hair styles are always fashionable and are undoubtedly the best way to look feminine.

Making Your Own Fragrance

Cleopatra and the Queen of Sheba concocted their own exotic fragrances, and so can you. Personalized perfumes, toilet waters, body oils and room atomizers are easy to make. Light, wearable signature scents can affect more than personal moods and memories. They can be healing as well, reducing stress, energizing one's spirit or evoking a romantic and sensual mood. And they are fun to make. You can almost always find what you need at a health food store.
First, decide how strong you want your fragrance. Perfumes are the strongest, containing 15 to 30 percent essential oils diluted in a base of alcohol, with a small percentage of distilled water. Less potent toilet waters contain 5 to 10 percent essential oils, and colognes and body splashes may have 1 to 2 percent.

Materials:
your favorite pure essential oils (such as rose, lavender and sandalwood)
Alcohol
Fixatives (such as sandalwood, benzoin, myrrh or vanilla)
Eyedroppers
Small vials, bottles, jars
Any of the following alcohols may be utilized. The best are the highest proof, which contain the greatest concentrations of ethyl alcohol.

95% grain alcohol (190 proof)
Vodka (use highest-proof available)
Ethyl alcohol (70%), or "rubbing alcohol" -- available at pharmacies. This is less
expensive than grain alcohol but contributes a slight alcohol scent.
Since grain alcohol is unavailable in many states, vodka is perfectly suitable.

Fixatives prolong a fragrance. They are ingredients added to a composition to lend their own unique scent and to "fix" the other ingredients as well, retarding their overall rate of evaporation. Commonly used fixatives are:
Sandalwood
Benzoin
Myrrh
Vanilla
Balsam of Peru
Other fixatives, particularly useful for oil and bath blends, creams and lotions:
Tincture of benzoin
Grapeseed oil
Castor oil
Liquid from Vitamin E gel caps.
Rules of thumb for wonderful fragrances:
Use glass containers (rather than plastic) for preparing and storing perfumes.
Record, date and name each blend.
Aging your formula is necessary to smooth out and mellow the raw-ingredient smell, so allow your blend to age for a few days or weeks in a cool, dry, dark area.
While constructing a formula, after adding each new essential oil, be sure to smell and check your recipe to get an idea of how each one changes it and how you might like to modify it in the future.
Clean the eyedropper in alcohol or vodka between each addition of a new essential oil.

Green Tea Perfume

A new fragrance for the bath and body collection is Green Tea Perfume. The fresh, yet delicate scent can be purchased at selected retail stores.
Bath bombs, relaxing body scrubs, lotions and scentuous perfumes are made with the pure essence of green tea perfume.
You can relax in a warm bath with green tea perfume candles illuminating the room and soak your body in essential green tea oils. It rejuvenates your body through the open pores. The fragrance is very soft and stimulating.
Many companies offer these items in retail stores, however make sure that it is pure green tea perfume and not a generic product. Several generic products are copycats, however the amount of green tea perfume it contains is very minimal.

History of perfume

Perfume was first used by the Egyptians as part of their religious rituals. The two principal methods of use at this time was the burning of incense and the application of balms and ointments. Perfumed oils were applied to the skin for eithercosmetic or medicinal purposes. During the Old and Middle Kingdoms, perfumes were reserved exclusively for religious rituals such as cleansing ceremonies.

Then during the New Kingdom (1580-1085 BC) they were used during festivals and Egyptian women also used perfumed creams and oils as toiletries ar cosmetics and as preludes to love-making.The use of perfume then spread to Greece, Rome, and the Islamic world. And it was the Islamic community that kept the use of perfumes since the spread of Christianity led to a decline in the use of perfume.

With the fall of the Roman Empire, perfume's influence dwindled. It was not until the twelfth century and the development of international trade that this decline was reversed.
Perfume enjoyed huge success during the seventeenth century. Perfumed gloves became popular in France and in 1656, the guild of glove and perfume-makers was established. The use of perfume in France grew steadily. The court of Louis XV was even named "the perfumed court" due to the scents which were applied daily not only to the skin but also to clothing, fans and furniture.
The eighteenth century saw a revolutionary advance in perfumery with the invention of eau de Cologne. This refreshing blend of rosemary, neroli, bergamot and lemon was used in a multitude of different ways: diluted in bath water, mixed with wine, eaten on a sugar lump, as a mouthwash, an enema or an ingredient for a poultice, injected directly... and so on.
The variety of eighteenth-century perfume containers was as wide as that of the fragrances and their uses. Sponges soaked in scented vinaigres de toilette were kept in gilded metal vinaigrettes. Liquid perfumes came in beautiful Louis XIV-style pear-shaped bottles. Glass became increasingly popular, particularly in France with the opening of the Baccarat factory in 1765.

As with industry and the arts, perfume was to undergo profound change in the nineteenth century. Changing tastes and the development of modern chemistry laid the foundations of perfumery as we know it today. Alchemy gave way to chemistry and new fragrances were created.
The French Revolution had in no way diminished the taste for perfume, there was even a fragrance called "Parfum a la Guillotine." Under the post-revolutionary government, people once again dared to express a penchant for luxury goods, including perfume. A profusion of vanity boxes containing perfumes appeared in the 19th century. This picture shows a woman at her dressing table.

Due to its jasmine, rose and orange-growing trades, the town of Grasse in Provence established itself as the largest production center for raw materials. The statutes of the perfume-makers of Grasse were passed in 1724. Paris became the commercial counterpart to Grasse and the world center of perfume. Perfume houses such as Houbigant , Lubin, Roger & Gallet, and Guerlain were all based in Paris.

Soon bottling became more important. Perfume maker Francois Coty formed a partnership with Rene Lalique. Lalique then produced bottles for Guerlain, D'Orsay, Lubin, Molinard, Roger & Gallet and others. Baccarat then joined in, producing the bottle for Mitsouko (Guerlain), Shalimar (Guerlain) and others. Brosse glassworks created the memorable bottle for Jeanne Lanvin's Arpege, and the famous Chanel No.5.

1921- Couturier Gabrielle Chanel launches her own brand of perfume, created by Ernest Beaux, she calls it Chanel No.5 because it was the fifth in a line of fragrances Ernest Beaux presented her. Ernest Beaux was the first perfumer to use aldehydes (see perfumery ingredients) regularly in perfumery.
The 1930's saw the arrival of the leather family of fragrances, and florals also became quite popular with the emergence of Worth's Je Reviens (1932), Caron's Fleurs de Rocaille (1933) and Jean Patou's Joy (1935). With French perfumery at it's peak in the 1950's, other designers such as Christian Dior, Jacques Fath, Nina Ricci, Pierre Balmain.. and so on, started creating their own scents.

Patrick Munger

Shoe Horn: SLC artist/entrepreneur Patrick Munger might have pissed off Steve Jobs.

As the west end of downtown Salt Lake City further develops into a home for our ever-expanding art community, longtime residents of the area are ostensibly enjoying the company, the region’s continued growth and the inspiration that comes with bright, hungry young minds. Case in point: Captain Captain Studios, home to several popular, experimental Utah artists who are busy putting their stamp on the city—figuratively and literally. Many of the artists participated in the 337 Project’s original building, including Trent Call, whose work is available in vending-machine form in select restaurants and coffee shops. His peers deliver equally imaginative work, from Cein Watson’s intricate prints to Tessa Lindsey’s decorative layouts, Patrick Munger’s street graphics and the highly detailed and twisted/manic designs of Sri Whipple.

The collective’s relationship is symbiotic, with each individual admiring his/her colleague’s creations and encouraging one another to excel and push harder. Captain Captain opens its doors several times a year, including a Nov. 13 party showcasing their latest achievements. Like Salt Lake City’s monthly downtown Gallery Stroll, the night will allow the public to meet and speak with the artists in their intimate workspace. Along with selective eats and a unique musical performance slated for evening’s end, it makes for an event that would be foolish to miss. One of Captain Captain’s residents has not only been recognized as a talented local designer, but has also expanded his and others’ art into a successful clothing line.

Munger went from making his brand of colorful shoes out of his kitchen sink to running a successful small business that’s gaining a global following. Lake of Salt’s (LOS) rainbow line of ninja slippers (OK, sneakers) have become a hot product among hip kids who also dig T-shirts featuring both his own designs and those of fellow Captain Captain peers. Munger never imagined his wares would be such a hit, noting, “The reason I started LOS in the first place was to write more and begin to get back into visual art, which has been what I’ve always wanted for my life.”

Munger is channeling more energy lately into visual designs while exploring new opportunities to showcase the results. “At this point, LOS is secondary to all of my true aspirations for art, and at some point in the next year I hope to only be working on my creative projects,” he says.

Munger currently plays with a group of eight musicians, including Matt Dixon, Tolchock Trio’s Oliver Lewis and The Rubes’ Greg Midgley. The informal band utilizes laptops instead of traditional instruments, playing the same musical compositions in loops to create an aleatoric effect. For their first live performance, they’ll gather at Captain Captain to recreate a 1964 Terry Riley composition called “In C.” An encore performance has been set for Tuesday, Nov. 24 with music professor Dr. Dravid Cottle at the University of Utah.

Munger’s podcast, ZUT, implements the same technology from the “In C” concept to create a weekly piece of instrumental music. Check for updates every Friday. Munger has also taken up reading classic books such as The Neverending Story and Jack London’s Sea Wolf. That, in turn, has rekindled his inspiration to write his own novel for NaNoWriMo, where he must write a 50,000-word novel in the course of a month. When asked about the book, Munger commented “I’m at 4,382 words. I’m using Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow as my I Ching. So far, so good.”
We asked Patrick, in the midst of preparing for the showing and getting another batch of shoes ready, to throw the proverbial dice at his iPod and see what kind of tunes keep him going while creating. And oh my, what a varied palate the artist has.

Minus the Bear

The 10-year anniversary tour

 Minus the Bear

Seattle bands have been blowing out the birthday candles as of late. That includes two 20-year anniversaries and one 10-year celebration in the Emerald City this September. Cameron Crowe’s Pearl Jam documentary, Pearl Jam Twenty, premiered, and Nirvana’s Nevermind was reissued two decades after it exploded onto the music scene. More quietly, the prog-rock group Minus the Bear are blowing their own noisemakers.

“They made a word for it, you know. It’s called a decade, so we might as well do it up,” says bassist Cory Murchy. To “do it up,” the five-piece is taking their show on the road and playing their full-length debut Highly Refined Pirates in its entirety at each tour stop.

The band is technically pushing it a bit by promoting the Big One-O mark by playing this album, because it wasn’t actually released until 2002. Their debut EP, This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic, however, was released soon after they formed in 2001. But celebrating the nine-year anniversary of Highly Refined Pirates doesn’t make sense, because anniversaries not divisible by five are hardly ever celebrated with fanfare. Who cares about the ninth or 19th anniversary?

Although Minus the Bear play math-rock, Murchy doesn’t seem to care about this math-related quandry. He’s just excited to have made it to the band’s first double-digit mark. “It’s been quite a journey,” he says.

Persnickety musings about celebrations aside, the set list should prove interesting.

“We’ve never played these songs off the record, back to back. It’ll be cool to revisit some of the ones that we’ve hardly, if ever, played live,” says Murchy, adding that they spend a lot of time crafting the set list. It’s an important part of the show, and there are definitely bad set lists, he says.

“There’s gotta be flow—for the audience and for us. Maybe, sometimes, there’s a song we might struggle to get through, but if people are reacting to it, it’s hard not to appreciate playing it,” Murchy says.

Highly Refined Pirates was met with mixed reviews upon its release. Pitchfork.com, for instance, gave the album a near-scathing 5.4 out of 10. Other bloggers were more generous, but, overall, the album was hard to pin down because of the band’s high-wire balancing act between their immense technical savvy and their ability to make catchy pop hooks. Tunes like “Monkey!!! Knife!!! Fight!!!” and “Absinthe Party at the Fly Honey Warehouse” hit the middle mark, but others totter on one side or the other.

Critics and fans didn’t know what to make of song titles like “Get Me Naked 2: Electric Boogaloo,” “We Are Not a Football Team” and “Booyah Achieved,” among others. That quirk was not a tradition the band maintained.

“We were surprised at what a stir it made, and we just got tired of answering questions about it,” Murchy says. “We thought it was fun and goofy, but it turned the band into this big joke. We are, granted, goofballs, but we are very serious about the music.”

Since that debut, Minus the Bear has made three other full-lengths, including the 2010 release Omni, which marked a transition for the band. They moved from Suicide Squeeze Records to Dangerbird Records, and longtime member Matt Bayles, who had previously produced all of Minus the Bear’s albums, left the band.

While those are just the most recent mile-markers, Murchy lists other highlights of the past decade: appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! several times, playing many gigantic festivals like Coachella, recording an acoustic session on Daytrotter.com and gigging at classic venues like The Fillmore in San Francisco and Showbox in Seattle.
“[Looking back,] it’s one of those doubly weird things: You can’t believe it’s gone by that quick, and you can’t believe that you’ve been doing it for that long,” Murchy says.

Aerobic exercise

The defenition of aerobic activity is quite broad, giving you a variety of fat-burning opportunities and virtually destroying the fear of boredom. Sure, everyone has jogged, stair-stepped, biked and walked, but how about swimming, rowing, cross-country skiing, jumping rope or in-line skating? To be aerobic, an exercise must simply be continuous (generally for at least 15-20 minutes), rhythmical and involve the larger muscles of your body. This results in oxygen being used to predominantly break down fat for fuel, making aerobic exercise a more effective fat-burner than bodybuilding alone. Naturally, using bodyfat for fuel will lower your percentage of bodyfat, making you leaner. Other benefits of aerobic (or cardiovascular) work include prevention of heart disease and developing your slow-twitch muscle fibers. As you develop these endurance fibers, you'll note more endurance in your workouts, which could lead to longer, more intense iron sessions. Just as you have an extensive number of exercise choises, you have several ways you can go about doing them. For example, exercising for long periods at a low intensity used to be the main recommendation for bodyfat loss. This approach isn't the best way to accomplish the goal, however, because the low intensity doesn't burn very many calories. Yet it can be effective for improving cardiovascular health. Exercising for shorter periods at high intensity, on the other hand, will burn more calories. While this may be the most effective in terms of calories used per minute, this approach is very taxing and requires a high degree of conditioning.

The difference between aerobic and anaerobic training
Running, cycling and swimming are aerobic activities; weightlifting, sprinting and boxing are not. During aerobic exercise, the heart rate rises, respiration increases and carbohydrates and fats provide working muscles with energy via oxidation. During anaerobic activity, the heart rate and respiration increase to a greater degree, but stored adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and creatine phosphate serve as primary energy sources. As a result, lactic acid accumulates in the muscles and blood. Another way to understand the difference between aerobic and anaerobic work is to think in terms of duration and intensity. If you can do an activity for a relatively long time (at least 20 minutes), the intensity will have to be light to moderate so that you can keep it up. This is considered aerobic. Exercising at a high intensity - so high that you can't continue at that pace for more than a minute or two at a time - is aerobic. But no exercise or activity is 100% aerobic or anaerobic. Sprinting may be anaerobic, while marathon running is aerobic, but when long-distance runners sprint for the finish line, they're activating their anaerobic metabolism

Heart and health benefits
Aerobic activity offers a wide variety of benefits to overall fitness and health. The visual improvements are great, but the long term, more important advantages occur on the inside. Together with cardiovascular efficiency, metabolic changes will take you another step closer to achieving ultimate fitness. You know aerobic exercise causes your body to burn calories, a percentage of which come from fat, depending upon (among other things) duration and intensity. But did you know that you continue to burn fat even after your workout is over? After training, the body needs to replenish muscle glycogen, and fatty acids help to manufacture ATP. Basically, fat is used to partially refuel the body for its next burst of energy. The more intense the exercise, the more the body has to replenish, and the more fat it will use to do just that. Now as far your heart goes, aerobic exercise lowers your resting heart rate, increases stroke volume and improves the efficiency of the heart. A trained heart doesn't have to work as hard to deliver blood to the various parts of the body and can pump more blood with each beat than an untrained one. Aerobic training can also lower blood pressure, which in turn decreases the risk of heart attack.

Perfume imitates nature

 

Some perfumes use pheromones from the animal world. "Civetone", for example, comes from both male and female civet cats and musk comes from male musk oxen. Both pheromones are used to mark territory and to attract the attention of the opposite sex. Human urine has been found to contain a substance with a strong musk-like smell.
Men's urine contains twice as much of this substance as women's urine. The substance smells like a scent that women pay particular attention to during ovulation. There's a fatty acid in women's vaginal fluids that is similar to the sex attracting substances of other mammals.

A perfume's scent changes as time goes by. The reason is that certain scents in perfume evaporate at different stages. That's why the smells aren't all sensed at the same time.
Perfume manufacturers divide the process into three phases:
1) "The Main Scent" - the most fleeting substances that evaporate within an hour.
2) "The Heart Scent" - less fleeting substances that last for almost 3 hours.
3) "The Body of the Scent - the least fleeting substances that last up to 20 hours.

One perfume doesn't smell the same on two people because their sweat mixes with the perfume.

Dave Chisholm & The New Improvised Music Festival

Local jazz man gets into solo groove tonight at Kilby

  Without question, one of the hardest working musicians in the city has to be Dave Chisholm. With a local music career spanning the past decade, he has been an integral member of groups like Slapdown, Nova Paradiso, SLAJO, Sixsidedbox, The Brobecks, Let’s Become Actors and, most recently, the jazz ensemble John Henry. He’s appeared on at least one album with every group, all while working on his master’s degree in jazz studies and being an active member in the University of Utah Jazz Ensemble.

To bring his Utah musical efforts to a grand finale of sorts, he decided to do something he’s never attempted: a solo album.

“Putting out an album of large-jazz ensemble music has been a dream of mine for the last 10 years or so, and the opportunity presented itself,” Chisholm said. “It was something I had to do.”

When stepping into the studio, Chisholm wanted to produce the best sound he could with the finest musicians he knew, recruiting 17 different players in all, ranging from trumpets to saxophones, flutes to trombones, along with a steady “house band” that included a double-bass. The informal troupe then headed over to Rotosonic Sound and hooked up with Michael Green, who worked on the production from engineering to mastering.

“It was a blast,” said Chisholm about the recording process. “All of my friends who recorded on this album were super-generous with their time. We had two big rehearsals and then one big recording session, followed by two shorter sessions of overdubs and several mixing sessions.”

While the EP itself only has five tracks, the total running time is about 45 minutes, longer than many full-length albums. Why? Because Chisholm and company wanted to make a pure jazz record that was worth your money, recalling early vinyl pressings where songs were recorded live and on-the-fly, with most tracks going longer than 10 minutes to capture every single note, whether preplanned or improvised.

Radioactive finds its sound somewhere between bebop and modal jazz, creating a vibe of dark cellar clubs clouded in smoke. It’s a feeling personified within the track “Behind The Mask.” Yet, somehow it keeps a youthful character with compositions as strong as those of Darcy James Argue or Maria Schneider, particularly on tracks like “Montana” and “In The Belly of the Sun.” It may not be Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker or John Coltrane, but it sure as hell pays homage to earlier eras while remaining distinctly modern. Radioactive is simply one of the best-arranged recordings the Utah music scene has produced in years.

“This music is entirely written by me,” Chisholm says. “While this album involves more people than any other project I’ve ever been a part of, it is far less collaborative than any work to this point. Many of the albums I’ve been a part of have been very ‘poppy.’ This one definitely fits into the ‘jazz’ genre ... It is a totally unique project and I’m proud to have spearheaded it.”
The album serves as a fitting tribute and a sort of farewell to Chisholm as he departs for New York at the end of July, preparing to work toward his Doctorate of Musical Studies from the Eastman School of Music. Before then, he’s touring China with the Utah Jazz Ensemble, and putting together what he’s calling the New Improvised Music Festival June 29 at Kilby Court, which will act as his CD release party. The show features the Salt Lake Alternative Jazz Orchestra, The Joshua Payne Orchestra, Johny Henry, The Orbit Group, Chase Baird, Friendly Robot, The Reid Poole Quartet from Denver and Ankrasmasaurus Rex from Los Angeles.