Posts Tagged ‘outdoors’

Astronomy – Important Dates Before Christ

March 9th, 2010

There is no uncertainty that astronomy is the oldest science and there is also no hesitation that astronomy was being studied by everyone, not only the wise men, thousands and thousands of years ago.

We do not know precisely why they did it, but we can surmise that early man noticed a correlation between the weather and the stars, which were themselves not fully understood, of course.

Early man, almost certainly even as far back as Neanderthal man, noticed the connection between the weather and herd movements and crop growth, or at least fruit and nuts on local trees, if they did not have planted crops.

This means that people could see a connection between the stars and food availability. This relationship was probably ritualized into some sort of religion like early Wicca. Therefore, the stars became a very important part of the lives of every single person and it is likely that astrology and astronomy were widely intermixed by the average person.

However, there were also people who did not only use the stars as some vast celestial clock and who tried to make sense of the whole shebang. I am going to narrate below, eight of the most important dates or years in the history of astronomy before Christ walked on the Earth. In no way forget that they had nothing but an abacus to do there calculations and no telescopes, which came about two thousand years later.

585 BC: Thales of Miletus (c. 625- c. 547), a Greek, predicted a solar eclipse in Asia Minor purely on the basis of his observations and calculations. It was not a lucky guess!

c. 400 BC: the astronomer Oenopedes (5th. century). also a Greek, announces that the Earth is tilted on its axis with respect to the Sun.

352 BC: the Chinese report what they called a ‘guest star’, a supernova, which was the earliest reported sighting.

340 BC: The astronomer, Kidinnu (b. Babylon c. 379 BC) discovers the precession of the Equinoxes, ie the apparent change in the position of the stars caused by the Earth’s wobbling on its axis.

c. 300 BC: a ‘committee’ of Chinese astronomers compile star maps of the visible universe.

c. 240 BC: Chinese astronomers observe and make notes about Halley’s Comet. Also Eratosthenes of Cyrene (c. 276 – c.194 BC), a Greek, correctly calculate the Earth’s dimensions.

165 BC: Chinese astronomers notice sunspots for the first time.

c. 130 BC: the astronomer Hipparchus of Nicea (b. 147 BC), a Greek, correctly calculates the distance to the Earth’s Moon and also rediscovers the precession of the Equinoxes.

You will notice from the dates above that clearly not everyone let nature and the stars govern their lives, as the comon farmer or hunter did. Some men actually put pen to paper, but before pen and paper even existed, and tried to work out ‘why these manifestations took place?’.

These people must have been remarkable men to have worked these measurements out by calculation, observation by the naked eye and rationalization alone.

Fascinated by astronomy? Then why not visit our website at: http://astronomy.the-real-way.com

Golfing for Novices: Part One

March 8th, 2010

The sport of golf has really boomed in public awareness over the last 45 years. It has produced fantastic world-champions such as Arnold Palmer, Greg Norman and Tiger Woods and world-renowned courses like St. Andrews, Sunningdale, Pinehurst ans Augusta.

Why should playing golf have taken off like that? I think it has to be because by playing golf you are being active outdoors with friends or colleagues competing in a leisurely game that you can never perfect.

Your scorecard shows your progress, or lack of it, and this can spur you on to want to play again.

Here follows an elementary lesson for those who know nothing about golf.

The typical round of golf is played on a course of eighteen holes, each or which has its own ‘par’. Par is the total number of shots it should take a player to complete that hole, ie all the tee shots (drives), fairway shots, chips (short shots onto the green) and puts into the hole.

The par number is based on the length and difficulty of the hole. Pars range from 3 to 6. If you get the ball in the hole in five shots on a par five hole, you “made par.” If it took you six shots, its called a bogie, if you made it in four, its a birdie.

‘Hazards’ or obstructions are usually placed before all the holes. Ponds, sand bunkers and trees are positioned in such a way as to make it more difficult to reach the green. Novice golfers should try to find a course with fewer hazards, which is therefore easier to play.

Players mark their own scorecard with the cumalative total of shots taken for each hole. After playing all the holes, the players add up their own scorecards and the one with the lowest score is the winner.

It is important for beginner golfers to not take themselves too seriously. It takes a long time to get good at this game; even though the professionals make it look so easy.

It makes very good sense to take a few lessons from the course pro, when you are just beginning to learn to play golf, because then you will learn how to stand and swing the golf club correctly.

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Ecological Garden Patio Furniture

March 8th, 2010

If you have a beautiful garden, then you probably have a patio of a deck so that you can get every last scrap of enjoyment out of it. Most patio furniture is left outside for a lot of the year so it is best to get high quality garden patio furniture. High quality garden patio furniture is essential if you expect it to withstand the rigours of all kinds of weather and yet last a reasonable length of time too.

Another factor, particularly these days, is the ecology. People want to have as little impact on the ecology as possible, thereby reducing their carbon footprint, as they say. The manufacture of plastic involves polluting the environment with more CFC’s and disposal can cause problems too. Plastic can take decades and decades to bio-degrade.

Metal patio garden furniture also has its problems. It has to be mined and fabricated and people are beginning to worry about robbing Mother Earth of her minerals, but at least old metal can be recycled. That leaves us with timber and especially hardwood. Previously, there was a great deal of alarm in almost every country about logging, but a lot of countries have the problem under control now after sustained pressure from the West.

Most people realize these days how important it is to look after our planet. There is even a special day to help people remember the Earth’s dire state called ‘Earth Day’. Using hardwood from sustainable sources is the best way to save our forests.

Garden furniture made from hardwood from a guaranteed sustainable source is the most ecological way out. If you look after your hardwood furniture according to the manufacturer’s recommendations for the type of wood you have, it will last for a decade or more. Far longer than any plastic or metal furniture, which you might well have to replace every two years or so.

Acacia hardwood offers a hard wearing and comfortable alternative to teak. In fact, this type of wood is much like teak, as if you leave it untreated it will transform to a silvery grey color. However, it is best to treat all hardwood once or twice a year with suitable oil in order to maintain the warm tones of the timber.

Most people will have a garden patio furniture set of up-right chairs, loungers and a table or two or a nest of small tables. However, there are a few other pieces of furniture that will help you get more pleasure from your garden. It is nice to be able to sit in the garden after it gets dark or when it is a bit chilly too. This can be achieved easily with a few accessories.

I suggest a patio heater, an electric mosquito killer and suitable lighting. Patio heaters are not dear any longer and a single upright propane heater will keep up to eight people warm, depending on their seating pattern. An electric mosquito killer will usually keep a whole garden clear. In fact, some will keep a quarter of an acre or more clear of flying insects. These two items may provide enough light for you, but is best to have a few spots to highlight a plant in bloom or to read by.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

Hybrid Cars and Conventional Cars

March 8th, 2010

Today, the question on everybody’s lips is, what is the difference between a hybrid car and a conventional vehicle? There must be some good reason why people are debating whether hybrid cars are worth the money and checking their wallets and savings account to see if they can afford to buy a hybrid car.

There must be a decent reason why some people wouldn’t consider spending their hard-earned money on a hybrid car because they feel their conventional car takes them wherever they need to go just fine. Here are some of the reasons why a person may decide on a conventional car over a hybrid car.

Hybrid cars are more expensive than conventional cars: because hybrid cars have a complex internal design, they do still have a fairly hefty price tag. On the other hand, conventional cars, which have become more efficient in design as the years have gone on, are quite affordable these days. Many people are selling their old conventional cars in favour of newer, more efficient versions.

In fact, they are so inefficient, in comparison, that some people even give their old cars away. However, since a large percentage of the general population has never owned a hybrid, there aren’t many people selling used hybrid cars yet. Therefore, a person looking to buy a hybrid would probably have to purchase a new one from a car dealership.

Both a hybrid car and a conventional car use a similar type of battery: a hybrid car and a conventional car both use lead-acid batteries that have enough power to turn a small electric motor. These batteries are what you call “gear reduced”. That means that they can turn over this electric motor at approximately 300 rpms. Torque is generated to turn over the engine and the entire process is what starts the main petrol or diesel engine.

However, even though a hybrid car uses a lead-acid battery, the battery it uses to drive the car’s electric motor is of a different construction entirely. This kind of battery is known as a ‘deep cycle battery’ and it can be compared to the batteries that are used to move electric fork-lift trucks, some milk floats or golf carts.

That’s the main difference between a hybrid car and a conventional car. One person might choose a hybrid car because it makes them feel more secure. For example, if a person buys a hybrid car, they can feel secure because their car will be less likely to run out of fuel. Another person might choose a conventional car because the price of gas doesn’t really bother them that much at all.

Furthermore, a conventional car provides security as well. With a conventional car, a person can be assured that they will always be able go to a scrapyard, if they need to and find old parts for their car. On the other hand, those with a hybrid car might have to pay some pretty pricey repair receipts if something goes wrong.

The final decision rests0 solely with you. There are certain minor risks involved with both sorts of cars. But if you like to try out new technology, you might consider splashing out on a new hybrid car next time.

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How About A Birthday Barbecue Party?

March 6th, 2010

A lot of people over the age of twenty have a sort of love-hate relationship with birthdays. They love to have a party and be the centre of attention and a lot of fun, but they hate getting older. But I believe that people should celebrate their birthdays. After all, you enjoy going to someone else’s birthday party and so you are morally obliged to put one on for others too.

And birthday parties ought to be a lot of fun. It does not have to be a children’s type party, of course, but you could still dress up and play games.

You could put on a barbecue for all your friends and family and do it cowboy style. Have a barn dance that would make ‘JR’ proud. The food for this is straightforward enough. Start by laying on plenty of Texas sized spare ribs, half-pounder hamburgers, T-bone steaks, and jumbo size hot dogs with plenty of bread and salad.

For music, it has to be country and everybody has to wear cowboy gear, although it would probably be better to leave the sidearms at home. Annie Oakley style clothes for the ladies and Buffalo Bill style for the gents. If it is going to be a big party, ask everyone to bring their own favourite dish, in true Southern style. That would be a great way to commemorate an adult’s birthday for the family.

If you do not go much on the macho cowboy idea, you could try a Caribbean style barbecue. Dress in flash short sleeved shirts and vivid colours or swimming costumes. The music could be reggae and calypso and the food would be grilled fish and chicken with salad and plenty of fresh fruit. Provide hot and not so hot chilli dips and barbecue sauces. You could have a go at limbo dancing too, that is always good for a laugh.

Or perhaps you would rather a humorous barbecue party and all dress up like the hillbilly family ‘The Clamperts’! That would be fun. The men could wear old velvet hats and old clothes tied up with string like Jed and Jethro and the women could come as Ellie May or Granny. I suppose that the original food like possum and bullfrog might be difficult to get hold of in some areas, but you could just provide what you like for this one. Steaks, hamburgers and fried fish; bread and salad with cake to finish.

Another favourite form of barbecue for a birthday do is the Luau. An Hawaiian barbecue is really something else. You will need bright colours and plenty of tropical Hawaiian decorations. You could provide half coconut shells for drinking out of and lots of coconut and pineapple based drinks. You should ask your guests to wear loud Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts, provide plenty of leis and hula music and a ‘loudest Hawaiian shirt’ contest is compulsory.

If none of those tickles your fancy, how about a ‘Vicars and Tarts’ barbecue? You can use your own imagination on that one though. More tea and crumpet, vicar?

If your barbecue party is to continue into the evening and it might get nippy, you could hire or borrow some patio heaters, just so as to give you a few extra hours in the garden.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with the electric outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

Domestic Herbal Gardens

March 4th, 2010

Every professional chef and every household cook recognizes the importance of fresh herbs to their culinary creations. No diner would dispute this either. However, whether you buy your herbs fresh or dried, there are issues. When you buy fresh, you usually have to buy more than you require and they are relatively expensive, whereas, if you buy them dried, they could be old and dried herbs lose their strength over time.

Why then is it that most home cooks use fresh or dried herbs from the supermarket? Ease, probably. We lead busy lives and it is easier to get a few boxes of dried herbs at the supermarket along with your groceries than it is to grow your own.

Not that it is difficult to grow your own herbs and even spices, but you have to purchase the seeds, plant them and remember to water them. You can minimize the problem of trying to remember to water them quite easily, by growing your herbs in a window box or in trays on your patio or deck, so that you see them every time you take a break on your patio. You will also remember to bring them in if frost threatens.

If you have children, growing herbs and spices in window boxes or trays can be a good induction to gardening for them. Herbs take very little looking after really, just needing watering every day. They are pretty tough and fertilizer is not necessary as most herbs have a fairly short life. Maybe only a month or two in some cases. Others last a lot longer.

First come to a decision how many varieties you want to cultivate. How much room do you have for instance? The best way to start is look in your cupboard and see which herbs you use most frequently. Are any of them seeds? You could have a try at sowing these. Look them up in a book or on the Internet.

Sometimes it is better to soak the seeds first before sowing them, others do not need this treatment. Second, which herbs have you read about that you would like to use but never seem to have in the house? Try sowing those too.

If all that does not sound like fun, then you can buy small herb plants in the garden nurseries. Most of them stock the most common herbs in Spring. Whichever way you go, read up on how to grow the herbs you have selected. I promise you, it will not be a long read, as they really do take care of themselves except for the watering. if you buy seeds rather than seedlings, all the details you need will be on the seed packet and such packets are very cheap to buy.

The advantages of having your own herb garden are diverse, but you will be teaching gardening to your kids or grandkids, you will have fresh herbs for cooking and you will have beautiful aromas floating around your patio or deck.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with outdoor heat lamp. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

Busting The Rapid Weight Loss Myths

March 2nd, 2010

There is nothing inherently wrong with wanting to be slimmer just to have a sexier body. Many people have moulded their bodies to make them look more healthy and more desirable. However, there is no way to attain this new appearance in a day of two. The problem is that most people do not want to wait, they want it now.

This can lead to these people making rather rash and, it has top be said, rather silly decisions. They are not willing to wait and they are not willing to work for what they want. This is why so many people turn to rapid weight loss diets. Some ‘guru’ brings out a new fad diet and a good proportion of the ‘I want it now’ crowd jump on the band wagon. Only to be disappointed again within the year or less.

Speed diets or rapid weight loss diets tend to put out impressive advertising copy that is very hard to resist. However, all diets, no matter which one you choose, Weight Watchers, Atkins or fad diet, depend on overweight people making lifestyle changes in order for them to work permanently.

There is a very apposite saying: if you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got. That says it all. You can lose weight with all but the stupidest of diets, but if you go back to your old ways when you hit your target weight, you MUST slowly, but surely creep back to your old weight.

If you give your body more calories than it needs, it will store them for when it does need them. The problem is that that day never comes for too many people, because they never exert themselves. This is especially true of fad diets like the ‘cabbage water’ diet. Yes, you will lose weight on it, but you would lose weight by fasting whatever you did. For a while, and then you might get sick. For a diet to work, it has to be flexible and enjoyable enough for you to be able to stick with it for the rest of your life. Make no mistake, dieting is long-haul.

Many rapid weight loss programs actually only squeeze the water out of you. Just like a wet sponge. But a good dieter maintains his or her grip on that sponge, not letting it soak up water again. The problem with short term dieting, is that you let go of the sponge underwater.

This is why serial dieters first lose weight and are happy; then finish dieting, go back to their old weight and become depressed. In that state of depression they are suckers for the advertisers of the next latest craze diet. In other words, they are being manipulated and literally squeezed dry, but of their money too.

These silly rapid weight loss programs also include fat loss pills. They are not making you lose fat, well, maybe a tiny amount gets flushed out with all the excess water you are carrying. They are only diuretics under another name. How many pills would I sell if I called them diuretics? How many more would I sell if I called them miracle fat loss pills?

Type the word diuretic into a engine and find out more about them. They are all around you in mild healthy forms. A diuretic will essentially cause your body to lose more fluid than was in the diuretic. Tea is a diuretic, for example.

This list of these dopey dieting aids to rapid weight loss goes on and on, but someone must be buying them and you can bet your bottom dollar that it is the sad, depressed dieter who let go of the sponge.

Slimming soap! Slimming soap is being advertised as being a rare Eastern remedy for corpulence. Well, let me tell you, I live in the East and I have never seen it here. Asians are slim because they do a lot of physical work and do not come under the pressure to eat junk food that Westerners do, although that situation is changing rapidly too.

Magnetic weight loss earrings, I ask you! Even being inebriated without a present for your wife ten minutes before Christmas Day is not a good enough excuse to fall for this one, surely? The advertisers say that the secret of this set of earrings is that they are magnetic.

Well, if you believe this, why not get a pair of $1 children’s toy magnets or even a pair of fridge magnets and put one in each hip pocket? Two? Well, after all, you would not want to lose weight from only one side, would you? You would be lop sided.

Just remember, when you are looking for a rapid weight loss diet: there ain’t one ( that will work for life). If you are putting on weight, then your lifestyle is wrong and it is up to you alone to change it.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with how to lose weight online. If you have an interest in losing weight too, please go over to our website now at Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

Elk, The Interesting Deer!

March 2nd, 2010

Elk, also alluded to as Wapiti, is one of the biggest deer species in United States. The one deer species that is larger is the Moose in North America. Linked to the red deer in European countries, Elk is substantial game that can lead to exciting hunting expeditions.

You will find Elk living close to streams and wetlands and they usually are very protective of their territory in the course of rut. For the duration of rutting season, bucks will mark their territory and challenge other males to a fight so that they can attract females for reproduction.

The stronger buck is one which will acquire courting rights with the local female, and frequently the loser will retreat to be alone. Occasionally, two bucks fight to the death in these courting rituals. The truth is, bucks have also been known to lock antlers during sparring (antler wrestling) and starve to death as a result.

Each year the males will get rid of their antlers but will develop a new rack. Starting off in spring, the bulls grow a new rack as well as shed the old one over the wintertime months. Cultures from Japan see the elk as a highly spiritual animal and use their velvet along with antlers as old fashioned medicines.

Four species of elk remain in North America. They include Rock Mountain, Roosevelt (C. canadensis roosevelti), Tule (C. canadensis nannodes), Manitoben (C. canadensis manitobensis) Two species, Merriams’s (C. canadensis merriami) and Eastern Elk (C. canadensis canadensis) both have been classified as extinct for a century.

American Elk populations are heavier in the northwestern part of the United States but include smaller sized populations throughout the Appalachian region. Elk can be an invasive animal and may even take over an area with ideal habitat very quickly. Elk have been reintroduced in Appalachian areas in February, 2001 through the Smokey Mountain National Park Service, and have since spread into Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Virginia. Elk roam in larger population from Texas all the way into Canadian northwest. Elk migrate with the season and often stick to melting snow areas for the old exposed grass.

Some of the very best elk hunting is based in the Colorado area as well as the Rocky Mountains. You should definitely be sensible and also keep your eyes open, a mad elk isn’t no petite deer to play with. Having a rack as broad as your car a huge elk can inflict some serious damage on you if you get too close.

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Are You Hobbling Your Weight Loss Program?

February 28th, 2010

If you want to lose weight, you must have a plan, a route map to success. This is called a program or programme. There are thousands of programs, but many of them are just plain batty. If they sound foolish, they probably are. Have you heard of the ‘cabbage water diet’? It sounds daft and it is. You cannot only drink cabbage water all your life!

Although there is a lot of claptrap talked about losing weight, there are some truths that have a role to play in nearly any program you choose to follow. One of these truths is that it is better to eat many small meals during the day (about 5-6), than to go all day without eating and then stuffing yourself at dinner in the evening. This is commonly called ‘grazing’.

Have you ever wondered why this might be so? Well, the fact is, that the average human body can only process about 250 calories an hour. If you eat more than that, you are almost certainly overloading your digestive system. This is why it matters, because if your body cannot handle all the calories that you give it, it will stockpile them.

Your body can only use up what it requires to execute the job that it is busy with, that is, what you are putting it through. If you are watching TV, most of those 250 will be stored. If you are exercising, most will be burned up. It stores the remainder as body fat. Your body has learned through evolution that hard times will come, so it prepares for them. It is like us putting excess money in a savings account or people hoarding food if a bad winter is predicted.

However, these days in the West, we rarely face those lean times any longer. Therefore, that fat is never used up and we just keep adding to it until we decide, by choice, to limit our consumption of calories or increase our amount of exercise.

Given this information, what can we do with it? Well, if you were to want to lose weight, you ought to be consuming no more than 1,500 calories a day (or whatever your program tells you), so 1,500 divided by 250 is six. if you ate 250 calories every other hour, that would give you twelve hours.

Therefore, eating light but often would be a beneficial strategy or program to follow, because firstly, you are only providing your body with what it needs, when it requires it and secondly, you are able to better maintain a steady blood sugar level, which means that you level out the spikes and troughs you experience in a normal day’s cycle.

Two hundred and fifty calories does not seem a lot, but it is surprising what it will stretch too, if you take the time to investigate. It is true that you will have to rigorously restrict some foodstuffs, like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, but whoever honestly thought that you could lose weight by eating that stuff anyway?

If you do not have time to cook several times every day, look in your supermarket. There are loads of ‘250 calorie’ microwave meals. You don’t want to eat that? I can’t blame you. so get a good cookbook, which shows calorie content. You are at work all day? OK, eat some fruit, but choose wisely. It can be done, it only takes a little determination and planning.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with lose weight programs. If you have an interest in losing weight, too, please go over to our website now at Why Can’t I Lose Weight? Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory

Can You Fast For Fitness?

February 26th, 2010

A lot of people do not understand their bodies. That much is clear because they believe that fasting will help them become fitter. They feel convinced that their bodies will feed off their surplus fat and that they will lose weight as a consequence. They also seem to think that they will automatically end up with more muscle, just in the right places too. Some take up fasting for fitness because they believe that it will rid them of the toxins in their bodies.

Another belief that these fasters have is that they are will be able to flush out all of the toxins in their bodies by drinking plenty of water while not eating food. Even if this is true, it would be a lengthy procedure that would mean that you would have to fast for at least five to seven days though in order to conclude the detox process, although it is still not clear scientifically whether fasting is the right tactic for those that seek fitness.

There are many other paths to fitness that do work well though. For example, you can cut back the amount of food that you eat. Cutting back is not fasting, it is dieting and it is not only far more effectual, it is also far less difficult. This, together with drinking plenty of water and increasing your amount of physical exercise will help you to get fitter.

If you drink a lot of soda like cola or lemonade, which are full of sugar, like a lot of kids do, or lots of cups of sugared tea or coffee, like a lot of adults do, then just replacing those drinks for water or weak tea will help you lose weight quite rapidly even if you do not make any other changes to your diet or your amount of activity.

It is also likely to damage your body if you embark on a strenuous exercise routine only relying on body fat to keep you going. Your body probably will not be able to deliver enough energy to fuel such a change, because your metabolism will be too low.

Someone going about it in this way, can become very weak and dizzy. It is not a good idea to run the risk of injury because you have not given your body all the energy it requires to complete the tasks you are requiring it to perform.

It is better to see a doctor before you make any changes to either your diet or your fitness routine. Discuss with your doctor about your thoughts on fasting and fitness. They will be able to tell you whether they think it is something you can try or whether it is just too risky.

Fasting is all right if you have do it for religious purposes, but do not attempt much physical exertion. Ask a Muslim how he or she feels during Ramadan! Fasting for long periods can lead to high blood pressure and even liver damage. So, be very wary before attempting to starve yourself fit, there are much better methods.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with losing weight quickly. If you have an interest in losing weight, too, please go over to our website now at Why Can’t I Lose Weight?