Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Do You Realize How Important Car Insurance for You?

Every time I drive my car, I realize that the roads are getting crowded day by day so that I have to be careful enough to make sure that I can reach my destination safely. However, I also realize that there are a lot of drivers who drive wildly and ignore the basic rules of driving. I just think that I may get a problem because of such drivers. And the problem may bring me into some difficulties especially the financial one if the problem makes some damages on my car. Buying auto insurance must be the best choice I choose.

Well, I am sure that you have the same idea just like what I think about auto insurance. There must be not doubt that the auto insurance you buy will surely help you especially at the time you get some difficulties because of bad thing that happens to your car so that you have to spend your money for the unexpected expense. The best thing you should know about this auto insurance is that you can find the best auto insurance to protect yourself from the problems in the future by visiting the trusted website about the car insurance the related aspects you should know. Well, I give you my recommendation just by clicking the link!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Find the Best Life Insurance Now

A lot of parents stop doing something bad such as smoking, drinking, living unhealthy life and many others because they do not want to die sooner and leave their children alone without their protection. Those are great actions to do because those are the real thing that parents can do to show how much they love their parents. However, there is still another thing that the parents can do to protect their children especially to protect the children financially after they die. This is the life insurance that the parents should buy to make sure that the children do not find any financial difficulties in the future.

Well, buying life insurance is a big deal in our life. We know that life is unpredictable so that we may die because of our bad lifestyle or other natural reasons that we cannot guess before. If we buy the life insurance, at least we have planned something for our children when we have to leave them. To make sure that the life insurance works well, we can find the most suitable one, based on our background, by comparing some life insurances offered to us. In this case, we can compare them by following the link on this article. Well, find the best life insurance now!

Find the Right Payday Loans Lender

You could be disappointed because of the problems you get especially if you realize that you have no enough power to solve the problems by yourself. It means that you have to find someone who can help you solving the problems to make sure that you can solve them as soon as possible to avoid the bigger one in the future. As the one of the most common problems you may get in your life, you should know that there is a smart way to get the cash you need especially the one that you need immediately. For this, you can apply for the online payday loans.

You know that internet always provides you anything you need in your life. Online payday loans are the short term loans that you can apply by visiting the lenders’ sites. As long as you are qualified to get the money, your application will be approved soon just like what you expect. However, you should understand that not all lenders can cover you neighborhood. In this case, I have an easy recommendation to find the right payday loans lender for you that you can call directly. Well, you can find the right one by following the link provided here.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Booking Banquet Halls - How to Do It Right



Banquet halls make for excellent venues for weddings, parties and other types of social occasions. Each hall has its own characteristics that make it unique and different. The location and size are something you must think about when visiting reception halls. When you are looking for a spot that would be a good fit for the event keep these following factors in mind as you book appointments to view various places in your community.

Handicap Access:
Not all halls are wheelchair-accessible. If you have a guest coming to your event who is confined to a wheelchair, you need to pick a venue that will be accommodating to this person's needs.

Rules and Restrictions:
Some venues have stricter policies than others when it comes to decorating, catering or using the kitchen facilities. All banquet halls are not the same in their rules, so make sure you are aware of what you can and cannot do before you sign any documents to rent the place.

Location:
To book a reception hall for an upcoming event that you will be hosting, compile a list of the names and telephone numbers of all of the banquet halls in the nearby area. If you live in an urban area, you should have lots to choose from. For those living in rural settings, the choices may be more limited.

Features:
Place phone calls to each venue and find out as much information as you can regard the location, the size, the availability, the parking and what it has to offer you. Ask if the planner has anything you can take a look at online, such as photos or more detailed information about the facility.

Viewings:
Once you are satisfied with the information you have been provided with over the phone, schedule appointments to go see each potential venue. Visit as many banquet halls as you see fit. While at each location, take a look at the kitchen and the washrooms to ensure that they are clean and are well sized for your requirements.

Availability and Catering:
Following the visits, select three or four that you feel would be the most comfortable and most appropriate for the party or reception that you will be hosting. Discuss dates with the vendor and find out what the availability of the hall is for when you need it. Find out if you will need to order from the kitchen at the hall or whether you must hire outside caterers for your event. If you are to use the venue's kitchen, ask to take a look at the menu.

Deposit:
Once you make your final decision, you will be required to put down a deposit to hold the hall. For most banquet halls, you should be given a window of two to three weeks before the deposit will need to be collected.


Sunday, September 23, 2012

Werewolf - Real or Fiction?

We have all grown up with stories about the Werewolf. From Little Red Riding Hood, to horror movies that made you look under your bed before going to sleep. The idea of a person transforming into a ferocious monster during a full moon has fascinated us for centuries. However have you ever considered that these, seemingly far-fetched, stories could actually be holding some truth to them? Truth or myth, here are some interesting and bizarre documented Werewolf cases that might just creep you out. On a sidenote, I can't be hold responsible for the loss of sleep after reading this, so you have been warned! Still here? Well then... let's get started shall we!

The History of the Werewolf

The first interesting fact about Werewolves is that we can trace them back to Turkish cave paintings as far as 8,000 B.C. and even written, documented cases exist from as early as 2, 000 B.C. In that era, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and epic poem and one of the earliest forms of literary fiction, was penned and included several references to werewolves. Many centuries later, around 400 B.C., we find recorded Grecian stories of Damarchus, an Arcadian werewolf who changed back to a man after nine years and was reported to have won a boxing medal at the Greek Olympics.

In 1020 A.D. we find our first record of the word "werewolf". It is at this point in time that the legend begins to take off. In 1101, Prince Vseslav of Polotsk, the most powerful ruler of the Ukrain city Polotsk, died and was rumored to be a werewolf. A century later, Volsungasaga, probably the most important saga of the Fornaldar Sagas, or epic poems, included references to the hero Sigmund and his son Sinfjötli who wore cursed to turn transform into wolves during a full moon. By the early 1400's we begin to see references to women being trialed for "riding wolves" and in the 1500's there are many recorded instances of men being executed for being werewolves. Astonishingly, from 1520 to 1630, there are over 30,000 werewolf trials recorded in France alone. During that same era, Weyer's, De praestigus daemonum was published which rationalized werewolfism as a demonification of mental illness (a theory later supported by the infamous 1975 Surawicz and Banta research paper).

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Greifswald Werewolves

According to old records, the German city of Greifswald became overrun with werewolves in the year 1640. The population of these beasts grew so large that any human who ventured out after dark was in danger of becoming a late night snack. They were especially present in Rokover Street and from there they attacked anyone who appeared outside of their houses after eight o'clock in the evening.

At that time there were a lot of students in Greifswald who had enough of staying inside after freaking eight o'clock and miss out on happy hour at the local pub. Therefore They banded together one night and set forth to haul some Werewolf butt-cheeks. Although the students put up a good fight, the powerful werewolves prove to be too much for them. However one of the more genius students suggested that they gather all their silver buttons, goblets, and other stuff they had inherited and melt them down into silver bullets. Invigorated and reinforced with a badass arsenal of holy weaponry, the gun-ho students set out once again to challenge the dominance of the werewolves and this time they successfully slaughtered the creatures and rid Greifswald of the Werewolves.

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Jean Grenier

During the spring of the year 1603 terror spread through the St. Sever districts of Gascony, France. A number of young children had begun to mysteriously disappear off the fields and roads, and none of them were ever discovered. Soon after a 13 year-old girl named Marguerite Poirier swore that she had been attacked by a savage beast, much resembling a wolf. The girl stated that one midday whilst she was watching cattle, a wild furry beast, not unlike a huge dog, rushed from the corn and tore her kirtle with its sharp teeth. She only managed to save herself from being bitten thanks to the fact she was armed with an iron pointed staff with which she smacked the creature with. Moreover a lad of thirteen or fourteen years-old, Jean Grenier, was boasting that it was he who attacked Marguerite, as a wolf, and if it wasn't for her stick, he would have torn her limb from limb as he had already eaten three or four children.

Jean added that a man named Pierre Labourat had given him a wolf pelt, and that when he wore it, he hunted the woods and fields as a wolf. He lusted for the flesh of small children, which was plumb and tender. He often killed dogs but said that dogs were not as tasty as the meat of young boys, from whose thighs he would bite great chunks of fat. As you can imagine Jean got arrested soon after and during his trial all his confessions turned out to be true. He had attacked the child of Jean Roullier, but the boy's elder brother chased Jean away with a pitchfork. Young Roulier was called as a witness and remembered the exact place, hour, and day when a wolf had flown out from a thicket at his little brother, and he had driven the animal off with his weapon.

Jean was convicted of some of the most hideous murders in history but because of his young age was not sentenced to death himself. Instead he was taken to the friary of St. Michael the Archangel were he was to spend the rest of his days. He was warned that any attempts to escape would be punished by the gallows. Pierre de Lancre, visited the Jean Grenier in the year of 1610, and found that he had become a lean lad, with small deep black eyes that glared fiercely. He had long sharp teeth, some of which were white like fangs, whilst his hands were almost like claws with horrid crooked nails. He loved to howl at the wolves and often fell on all fours as he moved with extraordinary agility and seemingly with greater ease than when he walked upright as a man.

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The Bray Road Beast

The state of Wisconsin is no stranger to werewolf sightings and encounters. There had already been encounters with what some believed were werewolves in Wisconsin in 1936, 1964 and 1972 respectively, but there had been nothing like the reports that came out of the area near Delavan, starting in 1989 and what was later known as the Bray Road Beast.

The first werewolf sighting to go public occurred on October 31, 1999. A young woman named Doristine Gipson, from nearby Elkhorn, was driving along Bray Road near Delavan. As she neared the intersection of Hospital Road, she leaned over to change the station on her radio when she felt her right front tire jump off the ground as if she had hit something. Just like in the Horror movies, she stopped the car and got out to see what it was. Finding nothing on the roadway behind her car, she began to look around. As she peered into the darkness, she suddenly saw a dark, hairy figure rushing toward her. She did not see what it was, but she did see the figure was quite bulky, pretty much like a person who works out constantly. She jumped in the car and drove like a bat out of hell. She later told a neighbor about the bizarre encounter the next day and as the word spread, more local people began to step forward with their own encounters with the beast, dating back to 1989. A news article was published to encourage locals in helping to find the mysterious creature. This resulted in many eye-witness reports which all saw a wolf like creature, with strange hind legs and a bulky chest. However when the large media outlets picked up the story the story also began to suffer from practical jokes and laughter. Werewolf signs were planted and people started organizing werewolf parties. Some were trying to cash in on this bizarre event by selling Monster t-shirts and tourists cruised up and down Bray Road, hoping for a glimpse of the creature. As time went by though, the excitement decreased and the temper of the community began to wear thin. Despite all of the jokes and humor, there was still an undercurrent of fear hanging in the air. Something was going on out in the vicinity of Bray Road and soon people began to whisper about other things as well.

Just the summer before the wolf creature had been reported, a dozen or so animals had been dumped in a ditch along nearby Willow Road. John Frederickson, the human officer from Delavan, stated that he believed several of the animals had been used in cult rituals. Some of the animals had ropes tied around their back legs and their throats were slit, some were decapitated and others were dismembered in various ways. The most recently killed animals was a dog that had its chest cavity split open and its heart removed. Several of the animals matched descriptions of recently missing pets and they certainly had not been killed by passing cars. Around this same time, there were also reports of occult graffiti being found in an abandoned house and at the local cemetery, where graves markers were also found to be covered with candle wax. The abandoned house was located just a quarter-mile off Bray Road. This led many to ponder whether the satanic activity and the Bray Road Beast were in some way connected.

With the media picking these events up it soon turned quiet. There were no more sightings of the beast and as time passed, the investigation into the case has grown cold. Only time will tell if we will ever know what happened in southeastern Wisconsin between 1989 and 1992 as the mystery still remains unsolved.

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Werewolf of Chalons

One of the worst-ever lycanthropes was the Werewolf of Chalons, otherwise known as the Demon Tailor. He was arraigned in Paris on 14 December 1598 on murder charges which were so appalling that the court ordered all documents of the hearing to be destroyed. Even his real name has become lost in history.

Burnt to death for his crimes, he was believed to decoy children of both sexes into his shop, and having abused them he would slice their throats and then powder and dress their bodies, jointing them as a butcher cuts up meat. In the twilight, under the shape of a wolf, he roamed the woods to leap out on stray passers-by and tear their throats to shreds. Barrels of bleached bones were found concealed in his cellars as well as other foul and hideous things. He died (it was said) unrepentant and blaspheming.
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Michel Verdun, Werewolf of Poligny

In 1521, Jean Boin, Inquisitor of Besancon, tried Philibert Montot, Pierre Bourgot, and Michel Verdun for having made a pact with the devil and for lycanthropy. These men became known as the werewolves of Poligny.

These men came under suspicion when a traveler passing through the area was attacked by a wolf. While defending himself, he was able to wound the animal, forcing it to retreat. Following the trail of the injured creature, the man came upon a hut where he found a local resident, Michel Verdun, under the care of his wife, who was washing a wound on his body. Believing Verdun's injury to be a sympathetic wound, the man notified the authorities. Arrested and tortured, Verdun admitted that he was a shape-shifter. He also revealed the names of his two werewolf accomplices, as well as confessing to hideous crimes: diabolism, murder, and eating human flesh. The three men were promptly executed.
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The Wolves of Paris

The Wolves of Paris were a man-eating wolf pack that killed forty people in Paris in 1450. The animals entered the city during the winter through breaches in its walls. A wolf without a tail named Courtaud, or "Bobtail", was the leader of the pack. Reports of the animal being reddish in color may be indicative of an Iberian Wolf, perhaps having migrated from the Pyrenees. Eventually, the wolves were killed when Parisians, furious at the deaths, lured Courtaud and his pack into the heart of the city. There the Parisians stoned and speared the wolves to death in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral. People were convinced this was no ordinary wolf attack as the wolves seemed to show a higher level of intelligence, hence why they managed to kill 40 freaking people.
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Gilles Garnier

Gilles Garnier was a cannibalistic serial murderer who was burned at the stake in 1571 after being convicted of being a Werewolf. The Werewolf of Dole, Gilles Garnier was a reclusive hermit living outside the town of Dole in France. He had recently been married and moved his new wife out to his isolated home. Being unaccustomed to feeding more than just himself he found it difficult to provide for his wife causing discontent between them. During this period several children went missing or were found dead and the authorities issued an edict encouraging and allowing the people to apprehend and kill the werewolf responsible. One evening a group of workers traveling from a neighboring town came upon what they thought in the dim light to be a wolf but what some recognized as the hermit with the body of a dead child. Soon after Gilles Garnier was arrested.

According to his testimony at trial, while Garnier was in the forest hunting one night trying to find food for himself and his wife, a ghost appeared to him offering to ease his troubles. It gave him a magic ointment that would allow him to change into the form of a wolf, making it easier to hunt. Garnier confessed to have stalked and murdered at least four children between the ages of 9 and 12. In October 1572, his first victim was a 10-year-old girl whom he dragged into a vineyard outside of Dole. He strangled her, removed her clothes, and ate the flesh from her thighs and arms. When he had finished he removed some flesh and took it home to his wife. Weeks later Garnier savagely attacked another girl, biting and clawing her, but was interrupted by passersby and fled. The girl succumbed to her injuries a few days later. In November, Garnier killed a 10-year-old boy, again cannibalizing him by eating from his thighs and belly and tearing off a leg to save for later. Finally, he strangled another boy but was interrupted for the second time by a group of people passing by. He had to abandon his prey before he could eat from it.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Unsolved Mysteries - That Have Puzzled Scientist for Decades

Sometimes it is hard to believe that unsolved mysteries still exist in this day and age. In the last century, humankind has made extraordinary technical advancements. We have walked on the Moon, uncovered the building blocks of life itself, DNA, ventured deeper into the oceans than ever before and invented the self-strirring coffee mug! However even with our amazing progress as a species there are still mysteries out there to which the solution eludes us. Here you will find some of the most puzzling unsolved mysteries in recorded history. Mysteries such as:

The Voynich Manuscript

The Voynich Manuscript is a manuscript written in the Middle Ages in an unknown language using an unknown alphabet system. Attempts have been made to interpret the document for over 100 years, but there hasn't been a single breakthrough yet. The Book includes illustrations of plants (with some of them being unknown to modern bottanists) and astronimocal information. It is possible that the book is the work of an alchemist who used codes to keep his discoveries a secret but, until the book is decoded, no one knows for certain.

Like its contents, the history of ownership of the Voynich manuscript is yet another unsolved mystery. The codex belonged to Emperor Rudolph II of Germany, who purchased it for 600 gold ducats and believed that it was the work of Roger Bacon. It is very likely that Emperor Rudolph acquired the manuscript from the English astrologer John Dee (1527-1608). Dee apparently owned the manuscript along with a number of other Roger Bacon manuscripts. In addition, Dee stated that he had 630 ducats in October 1586, and his son noted that Dee, while in Bohemia, owned "a booke... containing nothing butt Hieroglyphicks, which booke his father bestowed much time upon: but I could not heare that hee could make it out." Emperor Rudolph seems to have given the manuscript to Jacobus Horcicky de Tepenecz (d. 1622), an exchange based on the inscription visible only with ultraviolet light on folio 1r which reads: "Jacobi de Tepenecz." Johannes Marcus Marci of Cronland presented the book to Athanasius Kircher (1601-1680) in 1666. In 1912, Wilfred M. Voynich purchased the manuscript from the Jesuit College at Frascati near Rome. In 1969, the codex was given to the Beinecke Library by H. P. Kraus, who had purchased it from the estate of Ethel Voynich, Wilfrid Voynich's widow.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

How to Protect Your Comic Book Collection - Comic Book Collecting



Remember that scene in Mallrats where Brodie is thumbing through some comics being sold at the strip mall and indignantly exclaims, "You should have boards in these. BLOODY SAVAGE!" It's a funny line, and one that people who collect comics should take to heart. While you should always read comics for the pure joy of it, you should also take measures to protect your collection--and this process should begin as you purchase them. In all likelihood your comic book collection isn't likely to pave an easy path to an early retirement, but some comics do manage to increase dramatically in value and should be protected. With fewer printed comics being sold these days than in the glory days of years past, and comic properties being snatched up by movie production companies like never before, modern comics are definitely a collectible commodity.

Taking care of your comics starts in the comic shop before you even purchase them. Make sure your hands are fairly clean. Dirt, your own sweat, and bodily oils can damage paper products. Look an issue of the title you want to read in the best possible condition right from the start. Comics get roughed up during shipping. The issues on the shelf of your LCS (local comic shop) will likely be in various states of being. If you can, avoid new comics which already have wear on the spine, corners, or other more obvious flaws like rips or printing errors.

If you can afford to, always buy bags and backing boards! Bags and boards are extremely inexpensive, and are your first line of defense to keep your comics in pristine condition while transporting them. Insert your new comics into bags with backing boards before you even leave the shop. Check with your LCS to be sure that their bags and boards are acid free. It makes no sense to try to protect your comics with bags and boards which could ultimately cause them harm. This will give them a better chance to remain safe from things like raindrops, pushy commuters on the subway, or having the corners damaged while shifting around in a car ride home. If the any of the comics you bought happen to be poly-bagged to keep the story a secret, know that these bags are not meant to protect your comics over time. Poly-bagged issues should be opened, bagged and boarded, then reinserted into the bag. Take these early steps from the very beginning to assure that your beloved comics remain in mint condition.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

The Advantages Of Using An Auditorium For Special Events

Are you in charge of organizing events throughout the year, but you don't know where to hold them? If this is your dilemma, why not think about an auditorium?
By doing a little bit of research, you'll most likely be successful in locating an auditorium in your very own city or at least very near by. These places specialize in venue rentals and other services.
There are a myriad of events that can be hosted in an auditorium. Here is an extensive list.
- Weddings
- Lectures
- Trade shows, conferences and conventions
- Concerts and performances
- Memorials
- Student functions, such as graduations
- Special church services
- Proms
- Birthday and anniversary parties
Most auditoriums are operated in an efficient and professional manner. A friendly, trained staff helps to make sure your occasion is a memorable one for each of your guests.
They will be equipped with any sound, stage or lighting you could ever need. Plus, they generally come with box office capability for any ticket requirements.
Nowadays, with up-to-date computer technology, most auditoriums can compose and send out Email messages directly to each of your guests or employees. With a secure Internet link, they'll have the convenience of purchasing their tickets directly online. After purchase, tickets can even be delivered to them through their Email address, saving time and money.
It's all so free and easy and offers a great advantage your guests. Many auditoriums even offer a discount for large groups. Special needs of guests are also taken into account, as wheelchairs and elevator services are provided.
Other special requirements, such as the usage of alcohol, should be checked prior to the hosting of an event. Events hosting places usually need to have an alcohol license before serving, so make sure this is in place or can be obtained in order to prevent any surprises on your special day.
You will also need to book well in advance of your need of the auditorium. This will require planning on your part, and it's vital you don't wait until the last minute.
Most auditoriums have specified hours of operation for events. It's a good idea to inform your guests of the hours in advance and abide by them to create an atmosphere of harmony with the hardworking staff.
Another great advantage of using one of these places is that you, as the planner, will not be responsible for cleaning up after it's all over. This bonus, plus security needs, special setup, theft or damage are all included in any financial arrangements at the time of reservation.
Whatever the occasion, it's a smart move to host your next social gathering or activity in an auditorium. It will not only give you the advantage of having your events in a convenient location, but you'll also be able to add a touch of class to each special occasion.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

There Were Monsters Once

Monsters are easy to understand as projections of the human mind, and thus as representations of some fear; however, the modern understanding of everything psychologically is a recent phenomenon. For most of human history monsters were taken at face value. If they represented anything, it was only within their own worldview. When monsters were really believed in, they were not seen as windows to the human mind but as a breaking of the natural order.
To the highly supernatural thinking of the human past the monster was seen as either an affront to divinity or as a punishment from divinity. In earlier thinking, drawing upon ancient myths, monsters were an explanation for what we would today call natural disasters--earthquakes, typhoons, forest fires, etc. More, they were not believed in in the way we would nowadays describe belief--holding something to be true on faith despite reality--but because everything in people's experience spoke in favor of their existence. This is a paradigm shift that few people have noticed, conditioned as we are to the modern scientific worldview. Ancient peoples were not superstitious in the way we imagine.
A superstitious person truly is a remnant from an earlier paradigm that has survived into a new, and replacement, paradigm. In a very real sense, ancient beliefs cannot be considered superstitious, in that given the dominant worldview of their time they were actually quite logical.
This is something difficult to understand for the modern mind: the dichotomy between the rational and the irrational is largely a modern construct, and woefully mistaken. The irrational is something truly rare, in any time. The human mind is by its very nature a pattern seeker, so that rationality, the connecting of cause to effect, is present in every human being from the very beginning. What this means is that people in the past cannot in a coherent way be called irrational. When we use the word irrational to label people who do not share the dominant worldview, it is similar to when other people in the past used the word heretic. We are, in other words, using blinders based on cultural biases to label other people. People in the past were not irrational. What this means, of course, is that monsters were at one time real but are not anymore.
By and large people have always been rational, and even their most outlandish beliefs have behind them some rational base. This is so because all reason is built upon premises, and these we generally receive unquestioningly from our societies, the same way other peoples in other times received theirs from theirs. Our modern worldview is built upon materialism, hence our reasoning must follow a materialist pattern. That this was not always the case should be obvious to even the most casual student of history. Not too long ago, the dominant worldview was a religious one, so that all observed phenomena had to be interpreted through a specific set of assumptions.
This, of course, led to profound absurdities--though it should be noted that modern materialism has led to some rather extreme absurdities, too, such as the silly theory of Memes. It should be understood, however, that these absurdities are not irrational but the logical conclusions of taking their particular premises to their limits. People have always been rational, but reason has its limits; namely, the premises it's working from.
When monsters really existed, the dominant worldview was what we now call animism--the belief that everything that existed possessed desires, sentience and intentionality. Thus if the wind ripped the roof from off your house, the logical, rational conclusion would have to be that the wind was upset with you. Bear with me for a moment. Suppose that your neighbor walked over to your mailbox and proceeded to kick it until it broke, what would you think? Getting past your own emotional reaction to the event, the only logical conclusion would have to be that your neighbor is upset with you.
It would truly be irrational, as you saw him stomping away at your property, for you to think, "Gee, what a nice guy, he must truly like me." This is simply logic. However, all logic is based on premises, and for human beings the most basic premise is our own emotional blueprint--this is how we know, for example, that people do not vandalize our property because they mean us well. Under animism, if the wind is understood as being a person and it tears off your roof, what is the logical conclusion?
Monsters are, of course, something slightly different from the first products of animism, an aberration if you will. When people encounter forces that can harm them, their natural reaction is to destroy them, appease them, or run away from them. Those things people can destroy, they stop fearing; those they can appease, they call gods; those they must flee, they call monsters. Those they can neither appease nor run away from become demons.
From a psychological perspective this is all very easy to understand as projections of the human mind in interaction with nature. From a state of unconsciousness thrust into a state of full consciousness, our only point of reference is ourselves. We interpret everything we encounter through the blueprint of our own consciousness and emotional-matrix. Thus everything is a person because we are persons. However, as we know that not all people mean us well, so is it with the forces of nature, some of it is just nasty. And the same way we deal with people, we dealt with nature. At times we tried to fight it--building dams, casting spells, appealing to mystical forces from beyond to help us control it--at others to appease it--offering sacrifices, performing rituals, praying--and sometimes we just ran. Until the modern era, every method for dealing with nature was modeled on dealing with other people. The gods were modeled on dealing with kings, or with fathers; demons on dealing with psychopaths; and monsters on dealing with dangerous anomalies.
While we can understand this intellectually based on our own modern paradigm, we do a great disservice to our ancestors by ignoring the reality as they experienced it. For us it is easy to say that all monsters are projections of unconscious fears because we live in an age were what gave rise to those fears have either been conquered or reinterpreted through a different model. When an infant dies, for instance, we do not claim that Lamatsu--the mother of all vampires in Sumerian religion--killed the child; instead, we say it was something called germs. We also, like the ancients, have our own rituals to keep the monsters away--we wash our hands with soap, brush our teeth, etc., to keep the germs at bay. Now don't get me wrong, there is a difference between what we do and what the ancients did to keep our own particular monsters at bay; namely, that what we do actually works. However, what I'm trying to get across here is that monsters were not the products of feverish, hysterical minds but logical conclusions given the premises people were working from.
We are in a superior position to that of our ancestors because we are built upon them. However, our superiority is cultural--thus tenuous--and not intrinsic. We are not better people as such--though culturally I sincerely hope we are. Human history really is the history of perception. At first we see ourselves in nature, and everywhere we look we find intention; then, as time goes by, we see a little bit less of ourselves in nature; until, finally, we come to a time when we do not see ourselves at all in nature--we call this objectivity. This has largely been accomplished not by reason but by an overcoming of fear and insecurity, which are the true parents of all monsters.
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Walter Lazo is the author of several short stories. He has tried to create his own mythos, writing about the Demon World and other creatures that torment men's dreams.
Currently published short stories through Amazon.com include:
- Werewolf Winter
- The True Story of Jonathan Vera
- Sebastian - The Goblin Hunter
He has also written several free short stories and flash fiction ebooks.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Make Great Looking Photo Handbags





It seems that no matter where you go, you find people toting photo handbags, keychains, buttons, t-shirts and other items featuring pictures of their children or grandchildren. It is easy to see why these items are so popular; after all, keeping photos of your loved ones close at hand can be an excellent way to share your joy with others. Of course, treasured photos also help provide happiness and a sense of pleasure every time you look at them, especially when you cannot be with the ones you love as often as you would like.

For women, choosing a convenient handbag or tote that allows them to display photos of their favorite travel destinations, loved ones or even pets can be a fun way to keep these memories alive. Of course, men will also enjoy having a personalized tote to carry their things. Additionally, sharing photos is something that everyone enjoys; kids, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, everyone loves pictures. Whether it is a cute holiday photo of the kids, a major sporting achievement or simply a treasured family heirloom picture, a handbag offers both a functional way to carry personal items, as well as a great way to display these photos.

While it is possible to purchase photo handbags that are ready for you to simply slide in your pictures, these handbags can also make a great craft project. If you want to try making your own photo bag, be sure to choose a material that is both durable as well as light in color. Dark colors tend to make photos difficult to see. In addition to the fabric, be sure to purchase either a matching or contrasting thread, depending on your own personal preference and any embellishments you would like to include.

There are many patterns available for making handbags and totes. The pattern you choose should allow enough area for photos to be displayed. If you choose a small handbag design, you will be very limited in the number of photos you will be able to include in your project. You will also want to choose a photo transfer kit that is designed to work with the type of fabric you have chosen. These kits are easy to use and require nothing more than your home computer and printer.

Once you have transferred your pictures to the fabric, you are ready to begin assembling your handbag. Follow the pattern directions and sew your bag, including adding any embellishments, such as zippers, buttons or trim. Making your own handbag is a fun and rewarding project and something that even the kids will enjoy. However, there are some simple tips that can help ensure that your project turns out great. For example, choose photos that are in focus and do not have a great deal of background clutter. Simple portraits or close-up shots often work the best. Take your time and lay out your photos, trying various combinations and patterns. Only after you have found the best lay out for your project should you begin printing.

Another important point to consider is how you will protect your photo bag once it is completed. You can find spray fabric protectors that provide an easy wipe-clean surface; however, it is important to read the directions that come with your photo transfer kit and follow the manufacturer's recommendations regarding care and cleaning.


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Ad Agency for Your Music Business - 3 Services to Expect



As a musician, whether you are an established professional or a newbie, you'll need to get help from a really good ad agency to promote you. It is really very difficult to make the desired impression unless you are able to promote yourself well in the right circles.

Even if you are an independent musician who does not have the backing of a music label you'll be able to do very well thanks to the help of a good advertising agency. In fact, you will be able to create excellent demand for your music this way.

A really good ad agency will help you in a variety of ways:

1. It will give you the necessary exposure over a variety of media. Network television advertising as well as radio spots are indeed very effective but internet advertising is now very relevant as well. An experienced ad company will devise a comprehensive media plan that covers various media in order to give you the best results. Your music will also do well if it is promoted aggressively on YouTube. You will have very high visibility in the digital world.

2. It will offer you extremely affordable rates. This will enable you to get the best possible coverage for your new releases, both at the local level and also at the national level. The company should offer you different media packages that suit your budget as well as your requirements.

3. It should be able to help you with digital distribution of your releases, whether they are singles or full-length albums or even music videos.

It is a good idea to deal with an ad agency which is a highly experienced one, especially in this field. There are many nuances to each industry and only an experienced advertising agency will be able to get things done right. Further, it is sure to have plenty of useful contacts in the business.

The company that you should deal with should have a local office that you can interact with on various issues. The only way that you'll be able to get high quality service is by interacting with your advertising agency on a regular basis. You should therefore spend a great deal of effort to select the right ad company to deal with. Once selected, it is best to stick with it so that you are able to get the best possible service from it for as long as you require.


Sunday, August 5, 2012

An Easy Way To Make Your Own Stickers At Home

Stickers are fun for children to personalize their things and a good way for adults to organize shelves and files. Homemade stickers are even better, because they can have unique and personal designs that are special for each person. It is easy to make your own stickers with ingredients found in most kitchens and can be a fun rainy-day activity.

First, gather the ingredients:

- White glue

- White vinegar

- Printer paper

- Wide paint brush

- Wide packing tape or contact paper for gloss and protection

- Scissors

- Small spray bottle for water

Next, design the stickers on the printer paper. They can be drawn or printed, on the page. It is a good idea to fit as many stickers on one page as possible. Leave about one inch between each sticker so they are easy to cut out. Stamps and ink pads, crayons or tempera paint can be used to create the sticker designs, but water-based markers or paint should not be used. The colors will run when the sticker is moistened for sticking.

The glue is made with two measures of glue to one measure of vinegar. It is possible to save the glue after it is made, so making too much is fine. It can be saved in a sealed jar for the next time someone wants to create personalized stickers.

The glue is then brushed onto the back of the page of sticker designs. The application should be thin and even, and every sticker should be completely covered. The first layer of glue should be brushed on in a horizontal direction across the page and after that layer completely dries, a second layer should be brushed on in the vertical direction. Just make sure the two coats are in different directions.

When the pages completely dry, they will be a bit wrinkled. They can be put under an even weight such as a large book or pile of magazines to flatten.

Once the pages are flat, the gloss can be applied. The clear packing tape is applied evenly across the page. A straight edge such as a ruler can be used to make sure the tape lies flat with no bubbles. For larger designs, contact paper can be applied. The gloss step is optional and not essential for great looking stickers.

After the gloss is applied or when the pages are dry and flat, the stickers can be cut out. They can be cut exactly on the edges of the design or a small, white edge can be left around each sticker. This is up to the personal taste of the creator.

When you make your own stickers, the fun part is to apply them. They can be applied to notebooks, furniture, windows, helmets and much more. The sticker will remain longer on a flat, slightly porous surface.

To apply, the back of the sticker should be slightly moistened. This can be done with the small spray bottle or a damp cloth. The moisture needs to be evenly applied to activate the glue. Too much moisture will make the glue too wet and it will not dry well, and too little moisture will not activate the glue.

When the sticker is applied to a surface, it should be smoothened flat and held there for a few seconds. Homemade stickers make a great personalized gift. They should be wrapped in waxed paper for storage


Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Adult Vacations: Choosing Your Retreat



Have you had enough of "safe?" If you're ready to step outside of your box and go somewhere that caters to those looking for something a bit wild out of their time away from work, you might be ready for adult vacations. These destinations and travel companies invite guests 18 (or sometimes 21) and over to enjoy a trip where no kids are allowed. If you're the type of person who would rather hit a sexy dance club or a strip joint than a family restaurant when you want to unwind, these trips might be right up your alley. Here are some of the retreats you can choose from.

Winter Destinations

When most people think of adult vacations, they think of getting steamy in the heat, but you can have just as much sexy fun when it's cold outside. After all, an integral part of making those connections is romance. And nowhere does the romance sizzle the way it does when the temperature outside starts dropping. Look for travel packages that focus on winter resorts. If you think skiing and hiking are the only vigorous activities going on up in those mountains, you may be in for a surprise. Coming in from the cold, nothing gets the blood pumping like some time in the hot tub. Where it goes from there is up to you.

Summer Destinations

All the talk about winter destinations may have put you in the mind to see what you can get away with wearing underneath your parka, but let's face it, most adult vacations center around the warmer climes. The perfect setting for a wild and sexy excursion is a cruise. Once you're three miles out from the coast of America, all bets are off. You're in international waters now and international law applies. Those laws are quite a bit more lax than those you'll find on the shore, especially when it pertains to decency. If you want modesty and manners, you can always see where the family cruise line is going. If you want debauchery, you know where to look.

Foreign Destinations

You've probably heard about the relaxed laws in Amsterdam, the French Riviera and even the famous Hedonism resort of Jamaica. These are but a few of the destinations Americans travel to when they want to force a bit of culture shock on themselves. Of course, adult vacations don't have to be about having as much sex as you can pack into a week. Maybe you just want to tour Europe without kids begging for ice cream. If so, you'll find plenty of travel agencies ready to accommodate your wishes.


Sunday, July 29, 2012

Adult Vacations: Choose Your Cruise



The concept of adult vacations means something different to everyone, but one thing is certain: it means no kids. For most people, this means adding one of two things into the mix: somewhat stifled, "boring", intellectual pursuits... or sexual activity. If you're in the latter group, you might find that a selection of mature cruises best meets your needs. One of the main reasons that cruises are best of this type of entertainment is that once you're in international waters, American laws no longer apply. This allows for a lot of leeway when it comes to what can be done. This is exactly the kind of freedom many travelers are looking for. If you count yourself among them, all that's left is to choose which type of cruise you want to take.

Cruise Only
Many cruises centering around adult vacations don't bother with the details of actually travelling to a destination. If you're more interested in having a sexy good time on the ship and don't really care to expand your cultural pursuits at the same time, you might want to look for a cruise that just stays on the water. Many cruise lines are only concerned with getting their guests out into international waters so the wild times can begin. Stopping at a port would just be taking away from the fun. If you're concerned that such a trip might get a bit monotonous, you probably don't have to worry. These ships are dedicated to making sure you don't get bored.

Destination Oriented Cruises
So maybe you're on the other side of the coin. You want to have a fun time on the ship, but you would also like to come back and actually tell people you went somewhere on your trip! Adult vacations can take one of two splits at this point. Some will have the wild, no-rules atmosphere on the ship but will then take their passengers to a traditional port of call where everyone gets dressed, puts on their best public behavior, and tours the area like any other group of tourists. Others will actually land at an adults-only resort where the debauchery will continue unabated.

Non Stop Party
While most cruises advertising adult vacations are going to have some form of party on the ship; a dedicated party ship is another matter altogether. These cruises throw restrictions to the wind and let their passengers go buck wild. On these ships, nudity is more common than not, the alcohol will be flowing hard, and there will be plenty of entertainment and games meant to keep the party going 24 hours a day.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

A Look at Antique and Contemporary African Art

I just happened to read an article in the New York Times about a new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which features both traditional African masks and masks created of cast off items by contemporary African artists.

This article raises many issues that may be of interest. First of all it indicates that the accessibility to purely traditional African masks and art is becoming more limited, and that the majority of people entering the international art market are turning to contemporary art.

This is explained because of the availability of contemporary art as compared to the traditional arts which are rapidly vanishing. Even traditional functional items which have attracted collectors in recent years are now becoming scarce when compared to readily available works by promising young contemporary artists. Thus galleries are forced to follow this trend and are overwhelmingly showing contemporary works.

This raises more related issues.

Traditional artists, like those who have carved masks for generations for their own tribal ceremonies or who are working in genres that are identifiable as "traditional" no longer have a customer base among their own people.

Thus they have turned to providing masks and other cultural items for an export or tourist market for the past few decades. So-called "cultural purists" have objected to these items which they identify as "copies", as if Africa is frozen forever in a time warp and can neither go backwards or forwards.

IF these objects are no longer used in traditional ceremonies, what are these traditional African masters (and their heirs) supposed to do? Stop the only craft or trade they have ever known because their customers are no longer their neighbors?

This "purism" among the art community in the West has taken on ridiculous forms. Certain buyers of masks for shops in Western museums or galleries want proof that the mask has been "danced", so "dances" may be conveniently arranged so that the mask passes this first test of provenance.

A museum director of one of the leading museums in Los Angeles insisted that all the new masks be remove from the museum shop due to criticism from "purists" that these items are " fake".

I do not think that such a patronizing attitude exists in relation to other cultures as compared to African items.

Certainly museum shops cannot be expected to sell only "old" items, nor could their customers afford to buy them. This problem is easily solved with labeling.

When I owned African Heritage, I always carefully labeled items as to whether they were produced by a craftsman from the culture it represents and its approximate age.

However, if (for instance) an Ashanti AkuAbua (fertility doll) was carved by a Kamba carver in Kenya, it was so labeled and the price reflected this.

So just at the time that the old items are disappearing and there is no longer a ready market for them in Africa, the Western "cultural purist" comes along and tells them to stop work, that they should no longer produce these "new" items with no consideration at all given to the history and expertise of the maker or the quality of the objects he makes.

Furthermore this attitude is devastating to Africans who want to buy "traditional" items, especially the younger generation.

I think there should always be a place to show high quality items produced by master traditional artists and that there should always be some latitude for changes from the traditional base, to allow for the artist's own originality.

At the other end of the spectrum I am not complaining about artists who make masks from old plastic cans and camera lenses (like those displayed in the subject exhibition at MOMA).

Far from it, I think what has become known as 'Junk" art can be extremely artistic and clever, but is it art?

There are many different variations of "Junk" art now appearing in galleries.

The mammoth "hangings" created entirely of bottle tops and metal debris by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui are excrutiatingly beautiful and they are based entirely on Ashanti textile traditions, ie the famous royal Kente and Adinkira cloths worn for royal ceremonies.

These spectacular works of art have caused a stir in art circles and critics struggle with words for them.

And the "Mass Communications" (left image) metal sculptures fashioned by Uganda John Odochameny from the debris of the technological age (recent ones include the addition of cell phones) are more than intriguing and have found quite a following.

However, I do not mean to get away from attempts to concentrate on traditional forms, rather I applaud what Jones and Key and others have done and continue to do.

I always tell my visitors to African Heritage House, that if they want to collect and preserve and protect tribal art, now is the time to do it.

When I finished African Heritage House in 1994, one could find masses of items on the market of almost all the items on display in the house, now they are gone.


Sunday, July 15, 2012

A Look at Antique and Contemporary African Art

A museum director of one of the leading museums in Los Angeles insisted that all the new masks be remove from the museum shop due to criticism from "purists" that these items are " fake".

I do not think that such a patronizing attitude exists in relation to other cultures as compared to African items.

Certainly museum shops cannot be expected to sell only "old" items, nor could their customers afford to buy them. This problem is easily solved with labeling.

When I owned African Heritage, I always carefully labeled items as to whether they were produced by a craftsman from the culture it represents and its approximate age.

However, if (for instance) an Ashanti AkuAbua (fertility doll) was carved by a Kamba carver in Kenya, it was so labeled and the price reflected this.

So just at the time that the old items are disappearing and there is no longer a ready market for them in Africa, the Western "cultural purist" comes along and tells them to stop work, that they should no longer produce these "new" items with no consideration at all given to the history and expertise of the maker or the quality of the objects he makes.

Furthermore this attitude is devastating to Africans who want to buy "traditional" items, especially the younger generation.

I think there should always be a place to show high quality items produced by master traditional artists and that there should always be some latitude for changes from the traditional base, to allow for the artist's own originality.

At the other end of the spectrum I am not complaining about artists who make masks from old plastic cans and camera lenses (like those displayed in the subject exhibition at MOMA).

Far from it, I think what has become known as 'Junk" art can be extremely artistic and clever, but is it art?

There are many different variations of "Junk" art now appearing in galleries.

The mammoth "hangings" created entirely of bottle tops and metal debris by Ghanaian artist El Anatsui are excrutiatingly beautiful and they are based entirely on Ashanti textile traditions, ie the famous royal Kente and Adinkira cloths worn for royal ceremonies.

These spectacular works of art have caused a stir in art circles and critics struggle with words for them.

And the "Mass Communications" (left image) metal sculptures fashioned by Uganda John Odochameny from the debris of the technological age (recent ones include the addition of cell phones) are more than intriguing and have found quite a following.

However, I do not mean to get away from attempts to concentrate on traditional forms, rather I applaud what Jones and Key and others have done and continue to do.

I always tell my visitors to African Heritage House, that if they want to collect and preserve and protect tribal art, now is the time to do it.

When I finished African Heritage House in 1994, one could find masses of items on the market of almost all the items on display in the house, now they are gone.


Sunday, July 8, 2012

Google Page Layout Algorithm Update

I just happened to read an article in the New York Times about a new exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which features both traditional African masks and masks created of cast off items by contemporary African artists.

This article raises many issues that may be of interest. First of all it indicates that the accessibility to purely traditional African masks and art is becoming more limited, and that the majority of people entering the international art market are turning to contemporary art.

This is explained because of the availability of contemporary art as compared to the traditional arts which are rapidly vanishing. Even traditional functional items which have attracted collectors in recent years are now becoming scarce when compared to readily available works by promising young contemporary artists. Thus galleries are forced to follow this trend and are overwhelmingly showing contemporary works.

This raises more related issues.

Traditional artists, like those who have carved masks for generations for their own tribal ceremonies or who are working in genres that are identifiable as "traditional" no longer have a customer base among their own people.

Thus they have turned to providing masks and other cultural items for an export or tourist market for the past few decades. So-called "cultural purists" have objected to these items which they identify as "copies", as if Africa is frozen forever in a time warp and can neither go backwards or forwards.

IF these objects are no longer used in traditional ceremonies, what are these traditional African masters (and their heirs) supposed to do? Stop the only craft or trade they have ever known because their customers are no longer their neighbors?

This "purism" among the art community in the West has taken on ridiculous forms. Certain buyers of masks for shops in Western museums or galleries want proof that the mask has been "danced", so "dances" may be conveniently arranged so that the mask passes this first test of provenance.

Google Page Layout Algorithm Update - quicker to recover from?

Google has attempted in their recent algorithm update, Google Page Layout Algorithm Update to make webmasters happier; design matters! What is now required is a decent amount of content above the "fold" area on a page. So if you have a load of adverts on the top half of your page, and viewers have to scroll down to find the content, Google may now keep you from ranking in search results compared to your competitors who went out with a more Google-approved layout.

On Tuesday, Google's Matt Cutts announced that Google has launched an update to its Google Page Layout Algorithm Update. The algorithm was initially announced back in January, and essentially aims to rank higher, sites that have relevant pages with a good amount of content "above the fold."

What does this mean?

Google wants users to get to the relevant information FAST. If you and a competitor both have equally relevant content, but your competitor has it closer to the top of the page, and the user has to scroll down on yours to find it, chances are Google will give the edge to your competitor. That is if the Page Layout algorithm is doing its job. Of course, there are still over 200 signals that Google is taking into account, so it's entirely possible that you're doing enough other things better than your competitor that your page could still rank higher. But we don't know how much weight this particular signal gets in the algorithm.

Google talked about this update, Google Page Layout Algorithm Update, last year and wants relevant, regular updated content that is easy to find. If a viewer has to scroll down past adverts to find the content, then you'll get ranked lower in SERPS.

In January 2012, the latest update was scheduled.

"As we've mentioned previously, we've heard complaints from users that if they click on a result and it's difficult to find the actual content, they aren't happy with the experience," Cutts wrote. "Rather than scrolling down the page past a slew of ads, users want to see content right away. So sites that don't have much content 'above-the-fold' can be affected by this change. If you click on a website and the part of the website you see first either doesn't have a lot of visible content above-the-fold or dedicates a large fraction of the site's initial screen real estate to ads, that's not a very good user experience. Such sites may not rank as highly going forward."

"We understand that placing ads above-the-fold is quite common for many websites; these ads often perform well and help publishers monetize online content," he continued. "This algorithmic change does not affect sites who place ads above-the-fold to a normal degree, but affects sites that go much further to load the top of the page with ads to an excessive degree or that make it hard to find the actual original content on the page. This new algorithmic improvement tends to impact sites where there is only a small amount of visible content above-the-fold or relevant content is persistently pushed down by large blocks of ads."

Initially, according to Cutts, the Google Page Layout Algorithm Update from January affected less than 1% of searches globally. "That means that in less than one in 100 searches, a typical user might notice a reordering of results on the search page," he said at the time. "If you believe that your website has been affected by the page layout algorithm change, consider how your web pages use the area above-the-fold and whether the content on the page is obscured or otherwise hard for users to discern quickly."

The Google Page Layout Algorithm Update affected about 0.7% of English queries.

How quick can you recover IF you've been hit?

If you were hit by this Google Page Layout Algorithm Update, it should be easier to recover from than some other Google updates (like Penguin, for example). That is, in theory. This particular algorithm takes into account your pages' layout every time it crawls the page, so you don't have to wait six months for Google to launch another refresh, for Google to see any changes you've made.

Cutts explains in the original January post, "If you decide to update your page layout, the page layout algorithm will automatically reflect the changes as we re-crawl and process enough pages from your site to assess the changes. How long that takes will depend on several factors, including the number of pages on your site and how efficiently Googlebot can crawl the content. On a typical website, it can take several weeks for Googlebot to crawl and process enough pages to reflect layout changes on the site."

Even if it takes weeks, that's still a great deal shorter than the length of time webmasters and SEO companies have had to wait for the latest Penguin refresh.


Sunday, July 1, 2012

Winning The Lottery and What To Do When You Win



There are a lot of people that play the lottery, but not so many individuals that have the ability to win the lotto. Quite a few players have won many times, which demonstrates they've got a talent for the lottery system. Several multiple-lottery winners possess systems for winning.

A lot of people could very well buy a ticket and win some cash, and take the money they won and call it a day. That is not really the best method to use, as consistent lottery winners have learned. In the event you play $1 and win $20, it's essential to put the entire twenty dollars that you have won back into the lottery to give you a chance at winning a bigger prize. Using this method, if you end up losing, you will have actually only lost that one original dollar that you used to buy that first ticket. This system has given some lucky winners multiple trips to the lottery prize office. Using your winnings to purchase more tickets will help lower your actual realized losses, much like if you buy a stock and it goes down your loss is not realized until you get out of that stock.

For frequent losers, and a lot of us will be at one time or another, it requires much more than dedication to overcome the challenges to succeed in the lottery. Consider the lottery just as if it were your job. Don't hesitate to apply more hours to understanding lottery game probabilities, to further improve your success. Gambling with an informed method creates an improved chance of winning bigger prizes.

Some say that you should treat the lotto like you should almost any other investment, instead of a game of pure chance. You just aren't going to just play a ticket here and there and give yourself a good chance to win whenever you play the lottery. You should put cash into a good lottery system to be able to have any realistic chance at being successful with the lottery.

Lots of lottery game winners have spent all of their winnings and ended up bankrupt and without a home. It is important also to know what to do when you win the lotto. If you wager appropriately, and don't spend most of your winnings, you will not have to bother about having any setbacks to your earnings. You might want to buy a few things, obviously, but don't spend all of your winnings.

Invest some of your winnings, as well as taking some of it to re-invest into your lottery investments. It is a good idea not to throw away your losing tickets. When you win the lottery, you can use the cost of all of those non-winning lottery tickets to help offset any taxes you may have to pay for the cash that you have gained from your lottery winnings. A few taxes may be taken out once you win, however it is not usually not a sufficient amount, and you do not want to owe the IRS if you have had several large lottery winnings.

Whenever you play the lotto, you should use common sense. Those who play the game more, have certainly increased the likelihood of success. You shouldn't spend any cash that you need for necessities, though. Your chances aren't going to be any better if you buy more tickets, nonetheless it does not hurt to buy more lotto tickets as long as that cash is not dedicated to your normal obligations.

To win the largest of the lottery jackpots, it's a must to better the odds in your favor. If you are a fully dedicated lottery gambler, it is possible to take even more steps to have a better odds with succeeding. You could use computer applications that analyze the most likely winning numbers that you can play. Nevertheless it doesn't make a difference whose systems you use or precisely what applications you make use of, there surely has not been a guaranteed approach to win the lotto.

Your odds of winning the multiple state lotteries like the Power-ball in the United States is approximately one in One hundred twenty million, so playing only one game a week will never guarantee that you will win anything at all. However life is full of risk, so you shouldn't let the odds frighten you away. As the saying goes, someone is going to win, and so it may as well be you. Stay positive after you learn how to win the lottery game more consistently as it is only a matter of time for you to hit the big one.

Picking lucky numbers that are relevant to you is a good method to better your chance to win. Have confidence in your self when you purchase your lottery tickets, and employ figures that you're most likely optimistic about. Another method that many people use that is not good for winning is with playing a common date, because that limits the opportunity you'll have to win by limiting the numbers you can choose from. You may win using that method, however the days and months are normally used, and you may have to divide the prize with other people who played the same numbers.

Lottery pools provide you an opportunity to win money without having to spend as much. A pool is where a group of people put money in to buy many tickets at once, greatly increasing the chances that you have to win. Plenty of businesses and other groups of people have lotto pools. You will have to share the money with the other pool members in the event you win, but you're going to get an obviously better probability of winning than if you just play a few tickets on your own.

When the lottery's top prize is unusually large, far more people purchase tickets, so it will be far more vital that you dedicate a greater amount of cash in that week's lotto, if your financial situation allows it. Pick the appropriate games to participate in should you wish to improve your chance of succeeding. Research the odds on every one of the lottery games before deciding what one to play. State lotteries, as opposed to multi-state lotteries, typically have a lower amount of entries, since you have to be in that state when you purchase your tickets.

If you see a lotto ticket that somebody else has left behind, pick it up. It truly is well worth the hassle it takes to check its numbers and see if it is a winner. That ticket may also be eligible for a second chance drawing.

Always be sure that you check and recheck your numbers on your tickets whenever you are checking to find out whether or not you lost. How would you feel if you had the winning ticket but did not claim it since you mistakenly thought it was a loser? And if your tickets did not win in that particular drawing, they may still be able to be entered into a 2nd chance drawing.

You should always sign your lotto tickets after you purchase them, even before you find out if it is a winner. The signature can help show that the lottery ticket is yours, just in case it is stolen or lost. Check your tickets yourself to see that you've won, instead of handing the lotto ticket to a worker at the lottery ticket store. There is a rising trend of store associates telling customers that their ticket is a loser when it actually is not. They then claim the ticket as their own.