Talking Time, Month and Date Alarm Clock $49.95 The split second accurate atomic time. Full range female voice time and date announcement, with smooth and natural sound quality. Radio controlled with automatic summer/winter (daylight saving) adjustment. Display time with running second, month, date, day of the week, and alarm time. Hourly time announcement between 8AM to 10PM inclusively. (If not wanted, user can select to turn off the hourly a…

Man’s Spanish Gold Tone Talking Watch with White Face 1 Button, Expansion Band $39.95 This talking watch’s high-contrast, 1.13 inch face is ideal for low-vision users. The bold, black numbers and hands stand out clearly against the white face, and the talking function reads you the time in a clear female voice and provides voice feedback for easy setting. This one button style is simple to use; pressing its single button prompts an announcement of the time. There are no confusing b…

7 Inch TFT LCD Monitor for In Car Headrest / Stand TV Audio Vehicle monitor Video 7 Inch TFT LCD Monitor for In-Car Headrest/Stand, enjoy audio and video entertainment your way! Wherever, whenever! Featuring dual video input connections, this 7 inch LCD monitor lets you show everything from your DVD player, GPS navigator, digital TV receiver, rearview parking camera, and any other video sources directly onto its large and clear screen. Additionally, the 7 inch TFT active matrix…

Bop It XT $18.00 With its nonstop action, the BOP-IT XT game will challenge you to Bop it! Twist it! Pull it! Spin it! Flick it! and Shake it! The BOP IT XT game will command you to do six actions in random order! Respond as quickly as you can to score points. Score 100 points to unlock more challenging levels for even more fun! For each correct reponse BOP IT XT will answer with a sound and another command. But …

Vtech – V.Reader Animated E-Book System – Pink $42.95 Cultivate your child’s love of reading with the V.Reader Interactive E-Reading System. Designed for kids aged 3 to 7, this toy offers three ways to learn. Kids can watch, listen, and read stories, play reading games, and look up words in the story dictionary. The educational games encourage reading by improving vocabulary, writing, and phonetic skills. The V.Reader also features a touch screen se…

Staples easy button in spanish

Rocket Spanish: Worry-Free Shopping

Buying some Spanish-learning programs in the web like Rocket Spanish will surely pay you back with so much Spanish-speaking ability in the end. The world has gone so far these days and so as the Internet too. That is why as compared to the traditional ways of learning the language, Rocket Spanish appears to be one of the many leading ways towards learning the language.

Unlike the traditional ways of learning the language, Rocket Spanish won’t bring you to old and boring ways in Learning Spanish. The program is bringing in a new dimension to learning. Books, class enrollment, and long day travel are not in the way with this software anymore. All lessons from grammar, audio, and applications along with its other features are all put into one program software compilation making the process more convenient and easy to learn.

However, because of the serious scams getting into the world of the online market these days, a lot of people see this software as a hard one to find. But the good news is as long as you know the right moves in purchasing  Rocket Spanish, it can always be an easy task. In fact, you don’t have to make a lot of efforts here just to buy it. Just type in the product’s name in a search engine and surely, there will be a lot of sites that will give you the link to a scam-free purchase.

Once you have found a website, give all the information required. Just see to it that you have read all the terms and conditions stated there to make sure you got the right one before you say yes and click the purchase button. You can choose from what mode of purchase you want to get the product. It can be through PC download or though shipping at your doorstep. However, PC download is always considered to be the most cost-effective and convenient between the two options.

When it comes to security of your money and efforts, you also have nothing to worry about with Rocket Spanish. Your money is safe for they offer a hundred percent money back guarantee once you find out that it is ineffective. Its customer service representatives do their jobs round-the-clock too to give you assistance anytime.

Though many say that Spanish-learning is the toughest, Rocket Spanish see this as a myth. Impressively, the program can make anyone learn to speak the language in no time and of course with not that much effort in just eight weeks.

About the Author

Be guided when buying Rocket Spanish. Otherwise, you can be a victim of scams and bring your money into waste.

What makes it funny?

I have two “Easy” buttons from Staples sitting on my desk. One is English and one is Spanish. The English one has been there for almost a year. Most everyone around me has one. I even have one on my desk at home. Everyone gets a laugh out of pressing the button. It is hard to keep a straight face when I hear it.

I’ve wondered that myself. But whatever it is, I believe humans have an absolute need to press things.

I got one of those doorman bells for my second job at a restaurant; that way if we were doing something in the back and no one was up front, the customer could let us know they were there.

And literally everyone pushed it, and all the time. The employees, the delivery drivers every time they came in, customers (even when we were right there), even the owner of the place. If they passed it, they had to push it.

And the same thing happens at my first job with those buttons you’re talking about. If someone sees it, they have to press it. It doesn’t matter that they know what it does, they just have to do it.

Its beyond me, but its apparently instinctual.

BMV Quantum Subliminal CD Learn Spanish Language (Ultrasonic Sleep Learning Series) $14.99 Program your subconscious mind to learn the Spanish language. Exclusive state-of-the-art subliminal and brainwave entrainment technologies that you can use to program your subconscious mind for positive lasting results, created by a Certified Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner (Neuro-Linguistic Programming). Silent affirmations, hypnotic suggestions and thousands of powerful subliminal messages p…

Large Print Spanish (Latin American) USB Wired Computer Keyboard for Visually Impaired – Yellow Keys with Jumbo Black Letters $49.95 Keys with letter characters 275% larger than usual and command keys in a larger bolder font, these high-contrast keys can really help those who have trouble seeing keyboards. Perfect for schools, special needs departments and libraries, as well as companies. Big Keys Keyboard has been designed specifically for those with conditions that cause visual impairment or low vision, such as macular degene…

JC Toys La Baby- Hispanic (Colors May Vary) $9.99 2 years & up. A cute 11″ soft body doll for little ones to love, feed and sing to sleep. Baby doll features a sweet expression, soft huggable body, one piece romper, a matching animal theme blanket, and has a soft baby powder fragrance. Outfit may vary….

The Secret Universal Mind Meditation $8.54 The Secret Universal Mind Meditation imparts the sacred truth spiritual masters have taught for centuries. This truth is real and powerful. It starts by changing your belief system, slowly, subtly and gently while you sleep. As you are lulled into blissful slumber, secret messages are whispered into your ears–first audibly, and then just below the level of consciousness. Over days and weeks to co…

Raising a Sensory Smart Child: The Definitive Handbook for Helping Your Child with Sensory Integration Issues $9.50 Raising A Sensory Smart Child, co-authored by a parent and a therapist, is as warm and accessible as it is authoritative and detailed. Its clear, conversational tone is coupled with page after page of practical, user-friendly lists and suggestions. The all-important topics of stress, sleep, nutrition, ADHD, behavior issues, homework, teens and advocating for your child with an IEP or 504 plan are …

Learn Spanish While You Sleep – Is This Really Possible?

Tricks That Remove The Pain from Learning Spanish

Learning a second language is always a good idea. Spanish as almost as widely spoken as English in the United States. Consider this, how often do you hear English repeated in Spanish? That is a good reason for learning Spanish. Of course, very many people have a tough time tackling a second language. If you’re one of those, here are some helpful tips for you to use.

There is probably no better way to become fluent in a new language than to go somewhere that forces you to speak it constantly. For anyone wanting To Learn Spanish, going to a country where that was the main language would be a way to gain fluency. In some large cities in America, there would be no need to leave home to find such a Spanish-speaking area. There is an advantage to going to another place, though -there, you are literally compelled to speak the new language. The immersion system is one that many experts insist is the fastest and most effective way to learn. Other people find it intimidating. So you’ll have to made the decision whether you’d be comfortable immersing yourself in this way.

You can take a course. Many people feel intimidated to learn a language along side others. In a class, students usually have to talk in front of the other students. This intimidates many people.

However, it is highly recommended to try and do it no matter what mistakes you make. There’s no better way to learn it because everyone is making mistakes, as well! Everyone can participate in making silly mistakes! And that is a lot better than talking to a local, making some insulting mistake, and not being forgiven.

Flashcards, which you might recall from your school days, can be useful to use when learning a language. Flashcards are an old school way of learning. These are basic memorization tools and the reason people still use them is because they work! Don’t just use them for simple objects, but also for grammar, remembering the different tenses and other aspects of learning the language. You can use flashcards almost anywhere you go, as they are portable. It make it more fun if someone else helps you with them. The process is extremely simple -on one side of the card, write the word in your own language; on the other side, the same word in Spanish.

Learning a language does not have to be difficult. If you don’t yet have a second language, Spanish is a good one to start with, because it’s relatively easy. Many people want to learn new languages nowadays, which is why there are such a variety of different systems and courses on the market. Pick the system that appeals to you most. It becomes much easier to learn when you find a teacher, course or system that really appeals to you. Remember that whatever method you use, you have to give yourself time to make progress.

Sound Machine For Sleeping

About the Author

If you are having trouble getting a good nights rest check out this <a href=”http://soundmachinesforsleeping.net”>sound machine for sleeping</a><br />

If i fall asleep with an Ipod on Learn Spanish Course will i take any of it in?

I’ve heard that you can learn in your sleep is this an urban myth?

nope.

That’s only true in books and movies like “The Computer that Wore Tennis Shoes”.

Ear for Imagery – ‘Renny’s Tale’ (spanish instrumental)

Destined to Fight Hitler

Grandma Annie, who often took me shopping in preschool and grammar school days, on two occasions took me on foot to the nearby synagogue for Friday night services, called in Yiddish shool. My impression was that she attended frequently and was the only one in my family who could be considered religious. I recall at the services only a few were present and they seemed to me all grandmothers, certainly no other children. I was much taken by the service, and comforted with its prayers, singing by the cantor, response of the participants, and perhaps a sermon and organ music. I never attended a synagogue again until, acceding to the desires of a few Jewish classmates, I went on the high holidays, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana, once or twice during my MIT undergraduate years.

When I was a preschooler a playmate asked me if I was Jewish. No one had ever asked me that. My mother heard me answer, “I don’t know.” She made this into a family joke, repeated a few times to the great enjoyment of relatives. Some years later I studied a little Hebrew in supposed anticipation of a bar mitzvah, including some private lessons for me and a cousin my age. When I was not enthused by the private lesson teacher, my mother stopped the process and I was never bar mitzvahed. I was certainly not converted to religiosity of any kind by such experiences.

What did involve me deeply were the discussions at dinner between Mom, Dad, Annie, Uncle Eddie, Grandpa Max, and sometimes others about what was happening to the Jews in Germany. Mostly I listened. Over the dinner table, Hitler and his gang were discussed as archvillains, the world’s greatest evil. Every piece of national and international news was parsed as to whether it was good for the Jews or bad for the Jews. Much of the news available in the U.S. was sketchy. Before I was ten it came through to me that I would have to fight the Germans someday. When I walked home from school in the fourth grade for the first time with two classmates, David Haggerty and Heinz Moes, the war was still years away. Heinz had a German accent and was smaller than me. I began pushing him around. David did nothing. I soon realized I was bullying Heinz, not Adolf Hitler, and I desisted. I got along fine with Heinz thereafter.

My grandparents on my mother’s side, Max and Annie, had separately immigrated from the Austro-Hungarian empire, Annie not far from Vienna, Max more in present-day Hungary. They came through Ellis Island in the early1890s, worked their way out of the Lower East Side of New York City, loved America, and were very patriotic, especially Max, who had unsuccessfully tried to enlist in the Spanish-American war. I can remember him taking me to see a Memorial Day parade, the year 1930 or close. At one point he got very excited as he caught sight of a small contingent of old soldiers, more ambling than marching. “I didn’t know any of those guys were still alive.” They were Civil War veterans. Much later I figured out they had to be at least eighty years old-about the same age I am now.

My father’s father, Wolf Kay, came about the same time from Russia to London, where he worked for a few years learning the tailoring business. All my grandparents left the old country to avoid pogroms and military drafts. A word about names: My parents and grandparents were given Yiddish names by their parents before they adopted American (i.e. English) names when needed in the U.S. Not true in my generation. We were 100 percent Americans. I never even learned Yiddish, in part because my relatives used the language to talk over the heads of the children. Well, let them do that, was my reaction. I’ll never learn their dumb language. So there!

When I was nine or ten, Max decided to go back to see his relatives and to assess the Eastern European situation. I was excited by the prospect. There was some discussion about his taking me with him. He decided against it. When he came back from Europe, in my hearing he said little about what he witnessed. He had traveled around quite a bit, including risking going into Germany, the belly of the beast. I did hear him say with great sadness in his voice that the situation was “much worse” than he expected.

When I entered MIT in the fall of 1942, the effect of the heating up of WWII was emerging in many different ways. First, MIT went on a year-round schedule, three semesters per year instead of two. Then ROTC became mandatory for most students. Classmates were beginning to volunteer for military service, with an increased chance of getting a better assignment than waiting to be called up in the draft. At age sixteen, I could not enlist unless I lied about my age, which I was not going to do.

More life-changing developments ensued. In one issue of The Tech, a free weekly MIT newspaper, a headline exclaimed that there was no truth to the rumor that the military was going to take over the campus. In the very next week’s issue the headline made it very clear: No ifs, ands, or buts, all of the on-campus dormitories and the cafeteria would have to be vacated within one week to let the army move in. We students rooming on campus immediately started looking for rental space. We split into groups that took a half day off to go in different directions, working every possibility. I and about five others decided to move into a boardinghouse on Mass. Avenue, a mile north of MIT. Hyman Fisher and I doubled up in one room.

Then the two of us found a place still further north. The distance wasn’t so important. We were biking by that time, and later my father, knowing I was going to be drafted in a year or so, gave me a used Plymouth coupe. With gasoline severely rationed, I used it only occasionally. The place we found was close to a couple of inexpensive restaurants and closer to Radcliffe.

With all this, we managed to keep up with our studies. In addition, about every second or third night for a year or so, I ambled over to Eliot Hall at Radcliffe whenever my workload was not too pressing. Having had no sisters and not much understanding of women, I learned a lot, made acquaintances, had a few dates, and sometimes got into a bridge game. Occasionally there were distinguished guests and bright, even eloquent, conversations about almost every subject of interest. I loved those evenings.

I received three six-month deferments that allowed me to complete the first semester of my junior year and a few weeks into the second semester, when I had to report back to my home draft board in Maplewood, New Jersey, that needed to meet its quota of draftees every month.

I was not inducted in early August 1944. Sick at home, I got a one-month extension. I was required to show up at an armory in Newark a month later. The arrangements were in a little disarray when I got to the armory, and after some standard orientation about what was going to happen in the next few days, we were told to go home and come back early the next day. I was called aside by someone there who knew my father (who at that time was a captain in the New Jersey State Guard), who told me he could do me a favor and get me into the navy. Most guys would have preferred the navy on the theory that you wouldn’t spend days and nights in muddy foxholes. I didn’t, because I had a greater fear of drowning than spending days in a foxhole. Besides that, I had been saying good-bye so much I didn’t want to go home overnight. I told them I was staying there. They gave me a meal. I’m a pretty flexible eater, but that slop was ridiculous.

After I somehow finished that, I said I was going out for a while. That was no problem. What I really did was take a twenty-minute walk to Max and Annie’s house, the place in East Orange where I lived for eight years from age four to age eleven. My appearance surprised them. I realized it was the only time I ever spent with the two of them without other relatives, particularly my mother, present. I don’t remember a thing we said, other than that I felt more like an adult then I ever did with the relatives around. It was a very pleasing way to say good-bye. I walked back to the armory. They both lived a decade or two longer, but I never again saw them at home together without others around. It had been a unique, precious moment in my lifetime.

The next morning we draftees were inducted and sent by train to Camp Croft in Spartanburg, South Carolina, for infantry basic training. The first day’s orientation included some tough talk. “You’re all young and full of piss and vinegar,” and advice: If you get an erection too distracting to deal with, “Put it on the windowsill and slam the window down.” Clearly army life was going to be blunt and tough.

There are some things all WWII soldiers seemed to learn in their earliest training days and retained forever, unless they became commissioned officers. Here is the wisdom of years of militarism: (1) If the sergeant was about to explain something, he began with, “There are two ways to do things: the right way and the army way.” Lesson: It was supposed to be a joke but it wasn’t. (2) If the sergeant asked for anyone who had certain special skills, like math… Joke: “Well, is anyone good at math?” No answer. He looked around in disgust. He hadn’t fooled anybody. He hit back: “Police the ground. Each soldier picks up thirty pieces of paper, cigarette butts, or any junk… if you can count. Show it to the corporal.” When you reached the corporal with your thirty pieces, he didn’t even look at your collection, just pointed to the trash barrel. Are you so dumb to think the corporal wanted the junk? Lesson we followed: “Never volunteer.” (3) Rushed through lining up to be ready to march off for training might be done at double speed. Then we stood around, waiting for something else, maybe the next squad to show up or whatever. Sometimes waiting took a long time. Lesson? The army does this all the time: “Hurry up and wait.”

(This is an excerpt from MILITARIST MILLIONAIRE PEACENIK: Memoir of a Serial Entrepreneur by Alan F. Kay and reprinted with the permission of the author)

About the Author

For more about Alan F Kay see
Alan F. Kay
.

Can you help me with my English ( I want to choose an accent ) ?

hi everyone. I am a guy who speaks spanish as a tongue languaje and came to london to learn english. I know some grammar, but that’s not enough for me (I want to get a particular accent from london )
So far as I’m concerned there are different accents in london and I don’t know which to choose.
I like COCKNEY accent so much and I’ve been thinking about going to live in the east area of london in which cockney is spoken.
As I am not english I can’t tell the differences between all this accents, and want your suggestion as you are an english speaker.
Which accent would you recomend me to get ?

If you love the Cockney accent so much, i suggest you move to Essex, not east London as most of the Cockneys have moved away from there and have been replaced by Asians.

Pocoyo: Pocoyo and Friends $7.17 Studio: Ncircle Entertainment Release Date: 12/31/2007…

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I Love Lucy – The Complete Third Season $10.99 Season 2 of I Love Lucy includes two of the most famous half-hours in television history. “Job Switching,” originally broadcast mid-September of 1952, is the crazy, battle-of-the-sexes episode in which husbands Ricky Ricardo (Desi Arnaz) and Fred Mertz (William Frawley) trade roles with wives Lucy (Lucille Ball) and Ethel (Vivian Vance), culminating in the men making a shambles of domestic chores …

Baby Mama $2.24 Laughter and hearty guffaws abound in this comical look at 37-year-old career woman Kate Holbrook’s (30 Rock’s Tina Fey) desperate attempts to have a baby. Never mind that she’s not married and has never been involved in a serious relationship; Kate wants a baby and will stop at virtually nothing to get one. After failed attempts at broaching the concept of conception with first dates and trying a…

Baby Sayings Bodysuit – Spanish Boy Baby Sayings Bodysuits are solid interlock cotton with printed sayings. Available in 4 sizes up to 12 months. Available in 4 different sayings: Mi Papa es Numero Uno; Ninito de Mama; Yo Amo a mi Abuela; Hermanito….

Simple Red – Fake with English Spanish Turkish Subtitles

The Dysfunctional Parent of the Dysfunctional Child

Being a parent is undoubtedly the most challenging role that anyone could ever embark upon in life. One of the most disturbing paradoxes in life is that children are usually raised by people who themselves carried a variety of consternations into adulthood. It is a compelling argument that there is no such a thing as a ¨normal¨ person who is free of dysfunctional behavior. If that is the case, is there help available for anyone in this life? Perhaps there isn´t one solution and it is more likely that the ones who get through life best are the ones who can accept their shortcomings and avidly take measures to counter their inherent dysfunctional behavior.

At this point, it might be helpful if a definition of ¨dysfunctional behavior¨ is established. There are so many scientific definitions but it seems to me that dysfunctional simply means that you haven´t yet found your niche in life and stabilized yourself and your situation enough to be successful in your social, academic or professional endeavors. It is frightening to discover, though, that this describe most of us!

From single parent to twice-married wife and mom, I still haven´t figured out all the rights and wrongs in this parenting job. I have had some of the worst experiences and the best experiences with my son. He is both a problem and the solution to so many things in my life. I am glad when I get a respite and he isn´t in the house but I also miss him when he is gone. I gave birth to the brightest young man who also happens to have been the poster-child for problem kids. Why is my son the embodiment of so many contradictions? Perhaps it is a combination of factors that range from being raised fatherless, living in too many places at too many different times and having a mother who spent most of his life trying to make it all up to him by overindulging him at every opportunity.

Our experiences as children absolutely affect the type of parents that we become. My parents have each married and divorced several times and they never really spoke with us children about their problems. But like many other children, we already knew what most of the problems were from witnessing or just overhearing arguments between our parents. I thought frequent arguments that resulted in separations and silent treatments were normal in families and I brought that thinking into my adulthood. I had frequently argued with my female friends, former boyfriends or husband in front of my son. I never knew the kind of distress this caused in my son. He said he felt helpless and confused and alone many times when this happened. He was always very protective of me and felt the need to take my side in any argument even if I was wrong. I guess I just assumed that my son knew the arguments weren´t directly about him, so I never bothered to explain things, apologize or attempt not to argue in front of him. I never knew that he thought he was the problem most of the time.

I became pregnant at twenty-one years of age and the father of my son abandoned me very early on in the pregnancy. I contemplated abortions many times because I was afraid of raising a child alone, but I made the decision to have my son anyway and face whatever life brought. I didn´t know there would be so many sleepless nights and that I would have a problem child who would get thrown out of schools several times. But he also completely changed the path of my life in a positive and profound way by forcing me to face reality rather than run from it. I had to face responsibility in a very abrupt way the day I gave birth to my son. I realized I had a real person´s life in my hands and that I had to provide him with a place to live, feed him, clothe him, bathe him and teach him right from wrong. Of course you think about these things when you´re pregnant but it didn´t really sink in until I held in my hands this seven-pound four-ounce baby who had just emerged from my body. I struggled to balance the responsibilities of motherhood and single-parenting with work and trying to have friends and boyfriends. Everything I did, literally everything I did, affected my son- from talking on the phone to friends, leaving my baby at a sitter´s to go to work and finding time to take my son to the park to play.

I did the best I could, but that didn´t always mean I did the right thing. I found sitters that I could afford and that sometimes meant my son spent the day in less than hospitable places. I bought cheap clothes from second-hand thrift stores because I had very little money to spend on clothes and I could have done better with keeping those clothes cleaner. My son and I slept several times for several months on the couches of friends when we didn´t have a place to stay. But I was a fool. I could have relied on my family more and swallowed my pride that dictated that I should do this by myself because I had this child by myself. I´m so angry at my irresponsibility with life in general and I know that it has seeped into my son´s thinking too. He didn´t follow through on many of his tasks at home or school because he wasn´t willing to make the necessary sacrifices and I never enforced responsibility properly. I didn’t learn until much later in my son´s life that there was no room for pride where necessities were concerned.

Throughout his life my son has been a continual problem at schools- both public and private when I could eventually afford to send him to one. He couldn´t get along with his peers and he began to constantly lie about school and his responsibilities to avoid doing them. I did the only thing I knew to do in these situations- I spanked him. In fact I spanked him so much and so hard sometimes that many people thought I was being abusive. I didn´t want to hurt my child as much as I wanted him to start behaving and listening. But I knew I had to find another way to reach my son.

One day after work and after a long day of researching options like mentors and psychological help and medication for problem children, I decided to try something that my parents never did with me when I was young- I tried talking to my son. I took the advice of an older, experienced single mother that I met online (yes, online) and I decided to sit down and talk to my son in his room just before bed. I presented him with some of his toy figures and asked him to show me how life was for him every day at home, with friends and at school. He started with school and demonstrated that he knew he wasn´t doing his work and that he got in trouble for not obeying the teacher about talking and staying in his seat. He was extremely hyperactive and difficult to control at school and sometimes at home. He also demonstrated how he was teased so much by other children and how they would take things from him and attack him. I always taught him not to fight and I felt so guilty while I listened to his stories of other kids picking on him so much. Then, he described his relationship with me and showed how he got spanked so much and how I never listened to him and how I didn´t do many fun things with him. He told me once that the most fun he had with me was when we took a bus ride from the East Coast to the West Coast for three days. He said we talked, we laughed and we didn´t fight about school or his behavior. We just had a good time. I wanted so badly for that to happen more often but I didn´t know what to do to make it all right. But I knew the change in my son could only start with a change in me.

I had tough decisions to make and that meant (1) eliminating distractions while I worked on my relationship with my son, (2) finding out why he was having trouble socially and academically, and (3) providing more stability and family involvement in his life. It took years for me to successfully implement these things and I cried and suffered insomnia so much but I was willing to own the responsibility for taking part in having a problem child. My son started seeing counselors and psychologists with me and he started taking medication that sometimes helped him to control himself. Once I began implementing those changes in our life, I began to see small changes in my son- and in myself. We became more stable financially and emotionally. We spent more time with my family. And we never had to sleep on anyone´s couch again.

My son is now fifteen. I am married and living in Spain. My son is now taller than me and I am certain he is smarter than me too. He is fully bilingual and speaks English and Spanish fluently. His Spanish was self-taught and he is even helping me to learn better Spanish. He attends a Spanish Catholic boarding school and had a very difficult first year there. He had to fight his old nemeses of hyperactivity and disobedience. With my husband´s help, I had to become more consistent with disciplining my son and enforcing repercussions for disobedience and not following instructions at home first before my son really began to respond to the more structured and strict atmosphere of the boarding school. Letting him go away to school was one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make in my life. I wanted him near me for company, but I also knew that he had to become more independent and learn to make better decisions in his life. He had to learn to teach himself apart from me because I was part of the reason he had so many problems anyway. He still makes bad decisions but the change is that he is able to face them and make better ones the next time a similar situation presents itself. By letting him go away from me, he has taught himself and me more about responsibility than I could ever have done at home with him. I see my son on the weekends every two weeks and all summer long during summer vacation and he has really grown into a more responsible young man. He is more clean-cut, more organized, more scholarly, but also more aggressive towards me and my husband. I am working on his aggressive manner towards me and his step-father but I believe that the aggressiveness is a result of newly-found freedom and independence. My task now is to help him balance that independence with the social responsibilities of respecting his parents and others and their opinions. I am certain that this can only be possible with patience and keeping the lines of communication open between him and me. I have not been a perfect mother and I never will be, but neither have I ever regretted giving birth to my problem child. By examining his problems and challenges, I was able to gain a better understanding of my own problems and challenges too. Together, we are learning about overcoming dysfunctional hindrances and making something of ourselves in spite of the challenges that life dealt us.

About the Author

J. Marie Walker is a 37-year-old mother and wife currently residing in Leon, Spain. Born to a military father and Filipino mother, she has lived in the Philippines and the United States. She has held many positions that include financial analyst, private English instructor, editorial assistant, administrative assistant and office manager. Her current ambitions include writing and painting watercolors.

Need help finding children’s clothing line?

I’m looking for a children’s clothing line with mexican/spanish sayings on it. Does anyone know of any? Like bibs with baby sayings in Spanish.

Sears has a line of Dora the explorer clothes. Some may have Spanish Words on them.

Entrevista Molly Meldrum (Subtitle in spanish)

4rx.com Review

4rx.com Review - 4Rx.com was established in 2005 and so far a quite dominant one. You will find a large variety of generic drugs ranging from erectiile dysfunctiion to hair and skin care. They also have antibiotics, antibacteria and antiviral medication as well. 4Rx’s feedbacks are quite impressive so far and it seems like they will do the outmost to gain more satisfied customers. The 4Rx.com website is fairly easy to use and it is available in both Spanish and English languages. The website also claims that they have an in house system to insure the quality of the drugs they sell. For any other questions or concerns, you can contact them at their 24/7 Toll Free number, 1-877-728-9479.

People often claim that good reviews written on sites are employees of that company and I wouldn’t put it past some places to do that; I don’t know. But at the same time has anyone ever considered that some of these bad reviews are coming from site owners of competing sites!? These site owners are competitors and are watching their competition like a hawk so don’t for a minute think that they don’t masquerade as customers on forums to trash their competition. After all just a few negative feedback comments about a company can have a bigger affect on a person’s willingness to buy then a bunch of good comments because doing nothing is safer, and no one likes to get scammed right!

As far as speed goes one of the people I know who used 4rx.com did tell me it took nearly two months to get their order, but instead of calling the company a scam site they simply called to talk to the manager and he told my freind it was because the particular item he purchased was not as common prescription medication (like generic Cialiis, aka Tadalafiil) and as such it had to come from another source which takes longer. In the end yes it did take a long time, but this person did get what they ordered at a drastically lower price and it did the job for him. Other’s I know who have used them have has quick deliveries, so it’s a bit hit or miss.

Ultimately whether you decide to purchase your generic meds from 4rx or not is up to you and all I can do is give you my own accounts and beliefs as to why I think most claims against 4rx are less then credible. I would say that if speed of delivery is imparitive to you then an alternative online pharmacy site such as xlpharmacy which still has very good prices (though not as good as 4rx) might be a better choice for you.

If speed of delivery isn’t critical and savings is then on this  4rx coupon  page I show you how to get a 20% 4rx discount which is above and beyond the already rediculously low prices they already offer.

If you have any concerns about transaction made at the sites recommended by Generic-pharmacy-stores.com then please read the privacy policy page found here.

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About the Author

http://www.generic-pharmacy-stores.com

How do you say “No Fliers” in Spanish?

My husband knows a little spanish because he is from Chile. However, in our neighborhood we have a big trash problem caused by sub shop menus being left on fences and doors. It has been discussed in our neighborhood newspaper and nobody can figure out how to stop the problem. A neighbor of mine is a carpenter and made a beautiful wooden sign for his gate saying “No fliers.” It occured to him that a lot of the people working for the sub shops are south american, he would like to offer a spanish sign also. Can you tell me the proper way to “no fliers” please don’t be a jerk about it either. I need the right way to say it so we don’t offend anyone, we are a friendly neighborhood.

No echen folletos / No dejen folletos

Or

No echen publicidad / No dejen publicidad

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“Tempestad” Spanish Guitar

Instrumental Duets for Guitar

The guitar makes a great accompaniment instrument for instrumental duets with a melody instrument. If you are interested in playing with other musicians like this the collections below will give you a great repertoire for playing with flute, violin, or harmonica. Build your accompaniment skills and repertoire and you will always be in demand by instrumental players.

The guitar and the flute have been musical companions for a long time and in many parts of the world. They make excellent sounding duets that can be played in numerous styles.

* Celtic Music for Flute and Guitar, Allan Alexander and Jessica Walsh, ADG Productions

This is a collection of twenty folk pieces originating mainly from Scotland and Ireland. The songs span 400 years of folk music as well as five original pieces written by Allan and Jessica. The learning process is eased by an accompanying CD showing how the pieces should be played.

* World Music for Flute and Guitar, Allan Alexander and Jessica Walsh, ADG Productions

This musical journey takes you to the four corners of the globe. There is standard notation and tab for guitar and a separate pull-out performance part for the flute melodies. You can listen to examples of the pieces on the CD that accompanies the book.

* Flute and Guitar Duets for Any Occasion, Mark Hanson, Accent On Music

This is a varied collection of duets in classical, folk, Celtic and jazz styles. The music ranges from easy to challenging playing levels in standard and tab notation. The accompanying CD provides stereo recording with flute and guitar on separate channels so you can practice even when your partner isn’t around.

The fiddle is another instrument that works well with the guitar. It has been widely used in many styles of folk music. The song books below give you several styles to try.

* The Latin American Fiddler, Edward Huws Jones, Boosey & Hawkes

The exotic blend of Latin-American music with its Spanish, African and indigenous influences is great fun to play. This intermediate level collection of violin songs includes chords that can be played by guitar or piano.

* Jazz, Blues and Ragtime (Violin Edition), Edward Huws Jones, Boosey & Hawkes

This collection of favourite jazz and blues songs is suitable for all playing levels. It includes easy violin parts and guitar chords, as well as more sophisticated string arrangements for more advanced players. Songs include ever popular hits such as The Entertainer, Take Five, Makin’ Whoopee, House Of The Rising Sun.

* The Christmas Fiddler, Edward Huws Jones, Boosey & Hawkes

It’s always a good idea to have a few Christmas songs to play. This collection includes seven hundred years of songs from the medieval Song of the Ass, through traditional carols such as Away In A Manger and O Little Town Of Bethlehem through to the modern Sleigh Ride.

The harmonica is an ever popular instrument that has often been associated with the guitar in folk, rock and blues. Give your rock guitar skills a workout with these titles.

* Pop Rock Favourites For Harmonica, Bobby Joe Holman, Hal Leonard

Seventeen pop rock hits arranged for harmonica with guitar chords and tab. Pretty Woman, Blueberry Hill, Yakety Yak and Runaway are among the titles in this collection.

* Beatles Greatest Hits Harmonica Songbook, Hal Leonard

27 Beatles songs arranged with melody line, harmonica notation, guitar chords and lyrics. Performance notes are given for each song. Favourite hits include Eleanor Rigby, Get Back, Help, Let It Be, Michelle.

* Blues Harmonica Collection, Hal Leonard

Practice the classic sound of blues guitar and harmonica with forty classic blues tunes from the likes of Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson and Howlin’ Wolf.

Instrumentalists with melody instruments will be delighted to have an accompaniment to play to. If you want to make yourself a useful and popular guitarist who’s always in demand spend some time to learn an accompaniment repertoire. You’ll have far more people wanting to play with you than the guy playing flashy guitar leads.

About the Author

Ismail Mohd is the creator of Virtual Rock Band (http://www.virtualrockband.com) where musicians can meet bassists, drummers, guitarists and vocalists living near them. They can also upload or download instrumental tracks to jam along to.

please please please please please please please please please please?

translate
Tuna (music)
A University Tuna is a musical group in Spain, Portugal, Central America or South America, made up of university students. It is also known as a Tuna or Tunas. The origin of Tuna university music groups is underlined by the Goliards from the 10th to 13th century, and medieval troubadours and minstrels.[1] The name tuna comes from French roi de Thunes,[2] “king of Tunis”, a title used by leaders of vagabonds. From its origins to the present day, from and through of the Tunas have continued the cultivation of popular instruments such as the bandurria, lute, guitar and tambourine, instruments which are named in the Spanish book Libro del Buen Amor by Juan Ruiz .

okk
but translate to what language?

Spanish American War

Mexican Nationals fleeing into the United States

Mexican Nationals are fleeing into the United States in record numbers many fearing for their lives. Most because of the Mexican civil war that is raging between the Mexican Government, the Mexican Drug Cartels (MDC’s) and the cartels fighting among themselves over lucrative drug and human smuggling routes in both Mexico and the U.S. Many believe they are safer here than in Mexico. Many of these refugees are Mexican business people, ranchers, police, politicians and even cartel members who fear for their lives. Still others were victims being shaken down for protection money by the cartels similar to the American mafia tactics of the twenty’s and thirty’s. Many of them fear retaliation for not paying the cash or are just not welling to pay anymore.

Shopkeepers along the U.S. Mexican border recite the list of “protection” fees they pay to the MDC’s to just stay in business: 100 pesos a month for a stall in a street market, 30,000 pesos for an auto dealership or construction-supply firm.

First offense for nonpayment: a severe beating. Those who keep ignoring the fees – or try to charge their own – may pay with their lives.

“Every day you can see the people they have beaten up being taken to the IMSS,” said auto mechanic Jesus Hernandez, motioning to the government-run hospital a few doors from his repair shop.

Mexican drug cartels have morphed into full-scale mafias, running extortion and protection rackets and are trafficking in everything from people to pirated DVDs and even entered the black market oil and gas business. As once-lucrative cocaine profits have fallen and U.S. and Mexican authorities crack down on all drug trafficking to the U.S., gangs are branching into new ventures – some easier and more profitable than drugs

No one knows the real number of these refugees but some experts believe they number in the thousands

“There’s an increasing number of (cartel) leaders living in the U.S., probably either to escape law enforcement or their enemies in Mexico, so that’s one of the risks that has increased in the last few years,” said Stephen Meiners, a senior tactical analyst for Latin America at Stratfor, a global intelligence company based in Austin, Texas.

“There’s a possibility that this thing could get out of hand,” he said.

Shannon O’Neil, an expert on Latin America at the Council on Foreign Relations, said she knows of no other high-level killings in the U.S., but fears it won’t be the last.

“We have started to see more brazenness close to the border on the Mexican side and on the U.S. side,” O’Neil said. “Once you get these organizations firmly established in Mexico and the United States, you will have killings at all different levels.”

But no one is safe against the Mexican mobsters not even in the states where not only Mexican nationals  but American men, women and children have been kidnapped taken to Mexico and killed and other Americans murdered right here on American soil by orders of the MDC’s.  Recently a deputy U.S. marshal and Ice informant have been tracked down and assassinated by the cartel henchmen.

MDC’s are ordering decapitations  hooding victims before they shoot them. The Cartels are sending a chilling message to the Mexican President Felipe Calderon Administration by adopting methods of intimidation made notorious by Middle Eastern terrorist groups.

Dozens of U.S. citizens have been kidnapped, held hostage and killed by their captors in Mexico and many cases remain unsolved. Moreover, new cases of disappearances and kidnap-for-ransom continue to be reported yet no high level warning has been issued to protect Americans against this world class violence.

Mexican MDC’s have crossed over again into U.S. the violence and insecurity generated by the drug war in Mexico, has crossed into the US, according to Jesse Tovar, spokesman for the El Paso County Sheriffs Department.  He cites the abduction of a man at gunpoint by three men from his home in Horizon City, Texas, on September 3, who was found five days later executed by strangulation in Cd. Juarez.

American gangs are operating throughout the country representing the MDC’s they get their drugs from the cartels smuggled into this country by the MDC’s foot solders in turn the U.S. gangs sale the fronted drugs to street dealers consisting mainly of smaller American gangs, dealers and drug attic’s supporting their habits. The U.S. gangs are fronted the drugs and they set up drug trafficking operations and distribution systems throughout the country.  They represent the MDC’s by collecting millions owed by U.S. street dealers. They also act as enforcers for the cartels when ever the cartels feel they have been ripped off or someone owes the cartels money from fronted drugs. Many of the so called common drive by shootings are no longer just over turf or gang ego. Many of these deaths are ordered executions by the MDC’s.  Today the gang business is much more dangerous and sophisticated with much more cash involved. These same gangs carrying out cartel orders with gangland style killings across the country acting as paid hit men killing, wounding and maiming Americans in the thousands, according to law enforcement.

Robert Clifford, head of the national task force, has said “no single law-enforcement action is really going to deal the type of blow” necessary to dismantle the gangs. No one is more interested in busting up gangs than leaders of the Latino community, who live with the fear and fallout of the gang’s savage drug dealing and murderous actions.

Violence in Mexico broke a new record on reaching 5,018 execution murders so far this year. This past week, with the murder of dozens of people, the number passed the 5,000 mark for murders by the war on drugs violence.  This brings the present total during President Calderon’s term to 13,599. [He took office December 1, 2006.]

 In the trenches of both sides of the war on drugs in Mexico the fighters who form the front lines in that war are not only Mexican military but also Para-military of the MDC’s.  They have become the expendable contingents the real face of the war on drugs that the Mexican military and the cartels are waging including the American gangs has one main characteristic: youths who average 20 years of age.  The only thing that marks the difference between the soldiers and the cartel mercenaries is the uniforms. The MDC’s soldiers and gangs have no uniforms but all carry modern day combat weaponry.

For Related Articles go to: www.lagunajournal.com

Sources:

Laguna Journal

El Paso Times

DEA

Mexican Officials

NAFBPO

El Paso Sheriff’s Office

Mexican Consulate

Michael Webster’s Syndicated Investigative Reports are read worldwide, in 100 or more U.S. outlets and in at least 136 countries and territories. He publishes articles in association with global news agencies and media information services with more than 350 news affiliates in 136 countries. Many of Mr. Webster’s articles are printed in six working languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish. With ten more languages planed in the near future.

Mr. Webster is America’s leading authority on Venture Capital/Equity Funding. He served as a trustee on some of the nation’s largest trade Union funds. A noted Author, Lecturer, Educator, Emergency Manager, Counter-Terrorist, War on Drugs and War on Terrorist Specialist, Business Consultant, Newspaper Publisher. Radio News caster. Labor Law generalist, Teamster Union Business Agent, General Organizer, Union Rank and File Member Grievances Representative, NLRB Union Representative, Union Contract Negotiator, Workers Compensation Appeals Board Hearing Representative. Mr. Webster represented management on that side of the table as the former Director of Federated of Nevada. Mr. Webster publishes on-line newspapers at www.lagunajournal.com  and www.usborderfirereport.com  and does investigative reports for print, electronic and on-line News Agencies. All of Mr. Webster’s articles, books/CD’s can be read or downloaded free. 

About the Author

America’s leading authority on Venture Capital/Equity Funding. A trustee on some of the nations largest trade Union funds. A noted Author, Lecturer, Educator, Emergency Manager, Counter-Terrorist, War on Drugs and War on Terrorist Specialist, Business Consultant, Newspaper Publisher. Radio News caster. Labor Law generalist, Teamster Union Business Agent, General Organizer, Union Rank and File Member Grievances Representative, NLRB Union Representative, Union Contract Negotiator, Workers Compensation Appeals Board Hearing Representative. Investigative Reporter for print, electronic and on-line News Agencies.

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The Travel Linguist – Latin American Spanish 101

Why is Spanish Such a Hard Language to Learn

Spanish is like any other languages apart from the few special facts about the language which makes it identical like other languages. Spanish Language is not particularly a hard language to learn, it has it’s set of difficulties which is faced to learn any new language.English is actually more difficult to learn than Spanish. Spanish and English have many words in common and some even sound similar, so it’s very easy for an English speaking person to learn it.

It’s just that it’s more difficult for an adult to learn a foreign language than a child. Our schools really should teach it throughout a person’s school years. Some very smart people have trouble learning a foreign language, while some of lower intelligence do extremely well.

Languages other than Spanish like English which is a Germanic language, however German isn’t especially easy for English speakers to master because there are so many different conjugations. Even more than in Spanish.Chinese is one of the most difficult languages for English speakers to learn because the structure is completely different. In English we spell things phonetically using a 26 character alphabet. Chinese uses thousands of characters, and is not phonetic.Spanish isn’t that hard to learn if you have a basis in Latin or some other of the Romance languages like French or Italian.

Sometimes you can get another language because of it’s similarities to one you already speak for example if you’re German you might have a good chance of learning English as English has it’s roots in German.

One basic problem faced by people in Learning Spanish is not the writing skills which is easy to attain the Spanish Grammar being easy but conversational skills is tough in Spanish because of it’s vast vocabulary and accent. One thing to remember about the Spanish language, is that not all Spanish speakers use the same accent. I originally learned Latin-American

Spanish, and one of my teachers spoke with the Castilian accent. I could not understand much of what she said.The grammar is very close to English grammar and the words are usually written phonetically.It shares a large common ground with English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German…etc. so it’s easy to learn for people of Latin/Germanic language descent.

The easiest way to learn a language is to study a short time every day, as opposed to a long time every once in a while.

There was a time when the capability of learning a new language was completely based on the person’s genetic ability.

Things have changed drastically with technology, now it is possible to learn and adapt a new language like Spanish in 3-4 months .I have listed few habits that you can develop to Learn Spanish Quickly , Watch the news in Spanish. This is a good exercise because you will always have a context. Watch the film as you listen to the story. You can read the subtitles and

listen at the same time. When you hear people speaking in Spanish try to understand what they are saying to each other.

.Be fearless. When you are in a setting in which you can use your Spanish just do it. Most Spanish-speakers are glad to help and happy you are trying. In order to learn and master the language, you will need to practice and immerse yourself in the language and understand the culture.

About the Author

With new technology it is possible to Learn Spanish In less than 3
months, which is also inexpensive. To know how you can learn Spanish
effectively apart from taking classes and traditional methods check out
Learn Spanish
Easily.

http://learnspanish.mynewlanguageonline.com

How can you deal with the Spanish language being so uncontrolled in terms of dialects?

I’m trying To Learn Spanish, but im learning castellano. From what i’ve read, that’s the official dialect. But, i’ve also read about the extensive differences in different countries, and even spain is broken into different dialects. there’s basque spanish in northern spain which doesn’t even look or sound like any spanish I’ve ever heard. then all the latin american countries have different rules for voseo use and differences in loismo and leismo. it’s insane.

Basque is its own language it’s not spanish and you’ll probably learn the rules as you continue learning spanish
i’m pretty sure if you speak castellano in latin america they’ll understand you.. the whole dialect “thing” is confusing to me too but just ease into it and take it as it comes

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Historic Time Travel Spanish American War

Something I Said – Chris Shillock Profiled

Something I Said – Chris Shillock

Dwight Hobbes – Pulse of the Twin Cities archives

Ain’t many beatnik poets left. Chris Shillock is one. As in true, old-school spoken word. Before even The Last Poets there was Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and the rest of that bunch from the early 1960s. They pioneered the spoken-word part of avant-garde theater, preceding the likes of Amiri Baraka (when he was LeRoi Jones), Sonja Sanchez, Miguel Pinero and such contemporary icons as Sekou Sundiata and Rhodessa Jones. These days, in the Twin Cities, we’ve got premier proponents J. Otis Powell, Louis Alemayehu and Shillock sustaining the genre.

John Christopher Shillock, as he calls himself after he finishes a poem or a book, profoundly impresses—with bleak stuff that is brilliant as hell.

His books include “The Revolutionary’s Creed,” “Testament of Fear,” “Millenium City” and “Irregular Conjugations.” And he has read at a slew of open mics, including venues in Duluth, Tucson, Chicago, New York and Mexico. In the Twin Cities, he’s all over the place— Minnesota Spoken Word Association, Minnesota Fringe Festival, S.A.S.E.: the Write Place, Powderhorn Arts Festival, Hopkins Center for the Arts, with Michael Quinn and the Virgin Suicides at Terminal Bar and so on. And he has appeared on Minneapolis community access television shows “Art Temple,” “Pulse-TV” (no relation to this publication), “Cheap Theater” and, slated for early Dec., “Spectator.” On air appearances include guesting on KFAI’s “Write On Radio!” and on the pirate station, Radio Free Twin Cites.

He now has a pair of releases that stand to ratchet his career up a notch. “An Invitation to the Terrorists’ Ball” offers, in a deluxe DVD package, live readings at a funky space called Skindog Productions. Shillock’s richly emotive, baritone delivery of poems and translations is complemented by artful footage that punches up the immediacy of his writing. While watching the performance, you can, if you’re so inclined, pull out the booklet and read along to such verse as the title cut’s “Throw away your parachute. This is free fall. This is war. Leave your lovers standing there at the corner, where they sold you out so long ago.” To boot, it is tightly directed by Ian Shillock, Chris’ son.

For Invisible Jazz, Chris Shillock partners with vocalist-composer Tabatha Predovich to head up a deft ensemble. Sparse bedrock (David Gullickson, drums; Tom Zosel, tenor sax; Rich Patterson, guitar/composer; Lynette Reini-Grandell, violin) underscores fluid, expert imagery. Textures range from old-style folk rock (the Marty Balin-Paul Kantner flavored “Ballade”) to tasty jazz (the title cut) to an eerie ballad of love and war (“Blue Nile”). Shillock is in fine form with lines like “Invisible jazz in the city, invisible hands pounding on steel. Machinery pulse deep underground. The city shakes on the skin of a drum. You can catch the vibe throbbing in panes of cool glass, high in your lofty window.” Predovich’s voice is tailor-made for this material. Her dramatic, barebones style puts the right notes in the right places, bringing out the best in each cut, rather than falling into the trap of trying to be artsy.

Shillock brought in two singers before Predovich, writing lyrics and spoken word verse for them to perform. They were, he recalls, “very serious about their musical careers and figured out that this wasn’t going to make them particularly rich or famous.” Then, Tabatha Predovich answered his classified ad. Shillock initially says he went with her because “I needed a singer. Nobody else would do it. Everybody else quit.” With some pressing, he acknowledges that it wasn’t at all a case of settling for whomever he could get. “She’s got a great voice. Every time I [perform] with her, I’m astounded that this [artist] is working with me. She’s got feeling. She takes my words and makes them her own, basically. I can sit and write this stuff and she gets inside the words. She gets inside myself.”

One reason Pedrovtich worked out is that she does a bit more than sing—she’s a fine spoken-word interpreter with attendant acting chops. She started out in Minneapolis in 1990, creating Velvet Rat — an improv outfit unit accompanied by a rotating line-up of musicians. In 1993, she was recruited by the English band Elysium, and relocated to London. There she wrote, recorded and toured until 1996, over time bringing the band into techno, a still-flowering genre that already showcases the likes of phenomenal Twin Cities songbird Bobbi Miller. Predovich came back to the States, specifically Detroit, Mich., working with the band Radium on a sound culled from goth and punk. Didn’t quite work out. So, in 2002, she and musician/songwriter husband, Rich Patterson, put together another band, Uzza. They plan to eventually put it back together in the Twin Cities.

Chris Shillock was born in Lisbon, Portugal and grew up in South America and Europe where his parents served in the U.S. Foreign Service. He’s got a B.A. in Spanish from Haverford College in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in philosophy from the City University of New York. In 1972, he left the Big Apple to attend the University of Minnesota. During the ’80s he got active in several communist and anarchist groups. Since then, he has adopted the working hypothesis that “the creative life is itself a radical act in a world dedicated to ignorance and exploitation.” Along the way, he also dedicated himself to raising a family. He’s no longer married but does have three sons and as many grandchildren.

Hard as it is to figure for one of with sterling output, the man’s been doing poetry only the past 10 years. Before that, he says, sitting at the desk in his book-filled, downtown Minneapolis apartment, “I was trying to overthrow the government, abolish property, make everyone the same.” Usually, when I hear somebody talking like that it’s cause they’re homely as a mud fence or mad as a hatter and, either way, can’t get laid, much less get a life. So, they fill the void with some nobly maniacal manifesto. Shillock’s handsome enough. And is not crazy (apparently, at least, any more than most creative types). He is, though, as I can see in his perfectly lucid stare, absolutely serious. It also turns out he isn’t talking about just the government, he’s talking about any and all government, period. OK, why? “Because, it makes sense. They’re no good. They’re all rich. They keep themselves in power. Everybody would be better off if the goods were distributed evenly to the people that actually do the work, that deserve it.” Very well, he is a real, live anarchist. “Any government is a form of oppression. We are perfectly capable of governing ourselves. Certainly the distribution of property is inequitable. Those of us [who] create the property, that do the work, don’t get it. It all goes to a handful of people that don’t do anything. Except own the means of production. Everybody would be better off if there were actually no property. Then, everybody would have more rather than a few people having a whole lot and most of us having almost none.” He has never used the Freedom of Information Act to see what FBI file or files exist on him. He did, however, include the message on his answering machine from FBI Task Force Agent Robert Wagner (St. Paul branch) as an audio track on his DVD.

What prompted this freewheeling enemy of the state to become a poet? “I’ve always done some writing. I did a lot of political writing. [But] I got kicked out of every [political] group I was in. So, I’m thinking, ‘What can I do?’ I met this guy, Scott Vetsch, at a bookstore in Dinkytown. He invited me to a party. They were nice people. And they were having a reading [at] one the bars downtown. Why don’t you come on? I went. I saw it and I figured, ‘Hey, I can do that.’ And so I did. Not that he was filled with a world of self-confidence. “People I respected said I was [good]. I don’t have that feeling within myself certainly. I look at my stuff and there’s stuff there that makes me cringe. I really don’t know what I’m doing a lot of the times when I’m writing. I just sit there and keep at it until somehow it comes out right. I don’t really know, a lot of times, until I perform. When I’m on stage. That’s where I get the feeling, I guess. A lot more than sitting and trying to sound it out in my head.”

Modest to a proverbial fault, he was pretty surprised when I told him Pulse had assigned a story on him. Though it didn’t catch him completely out of the blue. The publisher’s long been an admirer. “Every time I go in there, Ed [Felien] has me take my shirt off.” That’s so Felien can admire a tattoo on Shillock’s left shoulder, an image of French anarchist Pierre Joseph Proudhon above the legend, “La propriete, c’est le vol” (“Property is theft”). “For some reason, Ed thinks I haven’t sold out. Of course, I have. You don’t get our age without selling out.” Shillock’s 65. Felien’s not talking. I spoke with Emily Carter, a good friend of Chris Shillock and probably the baddest white woman in Twin Cities lit. She corroborates that his modesty is misplaced. “Two things about Chris’ work stand out for me,” Carter states. “One is the training and discipline that his background in the classics [St. John of the Cross, Ezra Pound, Leonard Cohen] and knowledge of language gives his poems. The other is their integrity. Of course, quality plus integrity often add up to obscurity and that may be why Chris hasn’t been able to quit his day job. Or retire. After a life of hard work and dedication to his craft.” She disagrees, though, with that business about his having sold out. “Chris is practical, of course. He’s managed to live la vie boheme (the bohemian life) long past the point when most of us either started out for the suburbs, went crazy or died.”

On the cover of Invisible Jazz, Chris Shillock looks meaner than hell. Glowering beneath a black, gunslinger brim, clad in Johnny Cash-black, he reminds you of, say, John Huston, with that weathered, wizened thing. Beyond the requisite poet’s mystique, though, the guy’s a pussycat. A grizzled old kitten. “People,” he acknowledges, “always say I’m a nice guy.” Then, he adds, “But nice finishes last. I want people to see the dark side [of me].”

It’s Nov. 18 at the ever eclectic and eccentric Patrick’s Cabaret. The billing is Christopher Shillock/Tabatha Predovich. And things are not off to what seems a promising start. Less than a half-hour to showtime the sound check is done, but exactly three people have walked in the door. I dread the prospect of a talent like Shillock having to perform in front of maybe a polite handful of patrons in one of those awkward, dead houses, where the applause is self-conscious pitter-patter, embarrassing everyone there—performer and audience alike. Ten minutes later, I look up from scribbling notes. There is traffic, after all. Seats fill. In the lobby, a knot here, a knot there and, by a quarter of, it’s a crowd. Hell, J. Otis Powell is in the house (the lone black face in the place besides mine). There’s smiling, chatting, the touching of one another on the arm: all the makings of a nice, warm get-together. I spot, in the background, taking money, serving tea, coffee and fancy water, Patrick Scully, a soft unassuming presence tall as a tree, looking for all the world like a kinder, gentler Clint Eastwood.

It doesn’t take long to reveal that Shillock may just be onto something hot with this ensemble. There is, straight off, the image—like it or not, given the choice between art and art with compelling stage presence, audiences will eat up art with compelling stage presence every time. Without his practically ever-present hat (someday he’s going to find it missing and a ransom note in its place), wearing glasses, he looks like a lecturing professor—who happens to not have any color in his closet except black. Tabatha Predovich, on the slim side, in black jeans and a black blouse, with straight, two-toned (red & black) hair, has a model’s face and a stark gaze that would choke a pimp’s best line off, dead in his throat. With these two in front, you’ve got the crowd’s interest before anyone says or sings a word. As the set starts off, I look around at some fascinated folk: all very white, very earnest and much impressed, enjoying the hell out of some authentic bohemia.

Good thing: Tonight, the sound isn’t particularly well-mixed. The first number, “Dark Night,” works because it’s pretty much all Shillock, voicing lines like, “It was an Edward Hopper evening in our hotel room downtown. Light dredged in through the curtains. It tangled in our clothes. It set our garments glowing in the dark and polished woods.We draped ourselves in twilight for our furtive little waltz, our bodies hid in marble, that was veined with alcohol.” When the drums, sax and guitar kick in for the second number, “Invisible Jazz,” Predovich’s vocal vies with the sax. Shillock is drowned out. Things work out better for “Orgy Song,” ribald humor for the erudite, that has Shillock and Predovich trading rich one-liners to depict a horny couple imagining hot enough sex between them to satiate a roomful of Old-World Romans. With “Blue Nile,” the sound finally balances out. Shillock gives a reflective read, Predovich ringing clear in ironic counterpoint. The brief set is over. The crowd’s happy. And I’m hoping (in vain, it turns out) that I can make it back tomorrow night, when the sound problems should be fixed and violinist Lynette Reini-Grandell is scheduled to sit in.

Up next for Christopher Shillock/ Tabatha Predovich is a show on Dec. 11 at Acadia Café in South Minneapolis, for which Shillock has engineered a strong bill: His band, Desdamona and David Daniels & the Talkin’ Roots Crew.

Hip-hop star Desdamona, is about a break this side of going national. She bagged a fourth Minnesota Music Award with her CD, The Ledge, and is gearing up to go in the studio for the follow-up, projected for early next year. David Daniels, ganja guru to the counterculture set, uses spoken-word to lens American life through Rastafarian sensibilities. His concept CD, Talkin’ Roots, sold out before he had time to even think about financing a second printing.

Shillock picked this lineup for a reason aside from the mere sight of watching poetry fans, hip-hoppers and stoners sitting around giving one another funny looks. He believes in breaking down boundaries between spoken-word genres. Desdamona’s looking forward to it for the same reason. “I like being a part of an eclectic bill and hearing what other people are doing,” she says. “It gets stifling and uninspiring to be around artists that are making similar kinds of musical expression. It feels like there is no expansion and we get caught up in our style or the way we think we’re supposed to do it. It gets too comfortable. I like to be uncomfortable. You can feel yourself changing in the moment.” As for Daniels, “I know from my own experience with hippie stoners that they are very reluctant to support artists who are not fellow hippie stoners. One of the reasons I invited Chris to be part of David Daniels & Friends at Surcumcorda (in 2001) is that I wanted to inspire hippies to explore good work outside of that realm, following the spirit of The Grateful Dead who once brought Miles Davis to open for them.”

Ultimately, Chris Shillock’s performing and writing is driven, he attests, by “the same [thing] that drives my politics. I want to restore poetry to its preeminence as a popular art form. Also to use it to make people feel and think. And, then, to act.”

About the Author

Coming: “Angels Don’t Really Fly” EP by Dwight Hobbes & The All-Star Hired Guns featuring Alicia Wiley. The crew: Me, Alicia Wiley, Stanley Kipper, Chico Perez, Jeff “Boday” Christensen, Aaron “Orange A.C.” Cosgrove  and Yohannes Tona. Singer-songwriter Dwight Hobbes recorded the single “Atlanta Children” (BeatBad Records) and gigged 10 years in the Long Island/NYC area, including The Other End, Kenny’s Castaways and My Fathers Place. Fronted the Boston blues band Midlight. In Minneapolis, Hobbes opened for David Daniels at First Street Entry, James Curry at Terminal Bar, sat in with Yohannes Tona, Alicia Wiley at Sol Testimony’s Soul Jam, The New Congress at Babalu, Willie Murphy at the Viking Bar and Wain McFarlane & Jahz at Lucille’s Kitchen. Dwight Hobbes still drops in at the occasional open mic around town. Dwight Hobbes has written for ESSENCE, Reader’s Digest, Washington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, City Pages, Mpls/St. Paul, MN Law & Politics, Pulse of the Twin Cities, Twin Cities Daily Planet, Women & Word, San Diego Union-Tribune, The Circle, to Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (where he contributes the commentary columns Hobbes In The House and Something I Said. He’s spoken his mind over National Public Radio, Minnesota Public Radio and KMOJ in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Was regularly featured as guest commentator on NewsNight Minnesota (KTCA-Minneapolis/St. Paul) and Spectator (Minneapolis Television Network). His monthly column “Hobbes In The House” in MN Spokesman Recorder comments on domestic abuse and rape. His plays are Shelter – produced at Mixed Blood Theatre by Pangea World Theater, Dues – produced by Mixed Blood Theatre, University of Southern Illinois in Point of Revue, selected for Bedlam Theatre’s 10-Minute Play Festival and published by Playscripts, Inc. You Can’t Always Sometimes Never Tell – produced by Theater Center Philadelphia, Long Island University, reading at The Kennedy Center and published in the anthology CENTER STAGE, In the Midst – produced by Long Island University, starring Samuel E. Wright. Hobbes spoke on the panel “Farewell To August Wilson” at the Guthrie Theater, broadcast on Conversations With Al McFarlane (KFAI, KMOJ). Twin Cities Daily Planet articles archived at www.tcdailyplanet.net/dwighthobbes