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MS Paint Art - August 2008

Great classical music composers Pt. 7

August 31st 2008 21:55
great classical music composers
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excerpts from music created by some of the great classical music composers... this is the last of seven parts


Category: Music

Tags: george gershwin rachmaninoff classical ravel bolero de falla stravinsky sergei prokofiev carl orff copland rodrigo


















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Should we take time to exercise our Brains?

August 31st 2008 21:36
mind exercises
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from the Herald-Zeitung comes this interesting article. So if you think you are too smart for these things, think again.

By Mike Fitsko
Contributor


Published August 31, 2008
My good friend and colleague John, who lives in Indiana, called me recently just checking in and refreshing our friendship that has continued for almost 30 years. Knowing him to be an avid long-distance runner, I asked him rather sarcastically if he was still competing in marathons and running every morning when he gets up.

“Not lately,” he told me. “I had arthroscopic surgery on my right knee, but it is beginning to heal.” Then John said something in our conversation that impressed me as much as the duration of our long friendship despite the miles between us.

He casually added, “So instead of running my usual five miles every day, I’ve been giving my mind a good run instead.”

Those enlightened words grabbed my attention immediately. John, who has a Ph.D. in education and was past president of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, always has been as academically astute as anyone I have ever known, but even given his remarkable intellect, he still recognizes the need to give his mind, like his body, a rigorous workout. And shouldn’t the rest of us be doing the same?

Daily we are bombarded with media ads full of advice encouraging us to exert our bodies and be more physically active, but seldom are we ever challenged to exercise our minds or engage in activities which stimulate our brains and demand our best thinking.

On the contrary, mindless television programming numbs our consciousness forcing us to become mentally lazy and intellectually unfit. Our intelligence is short-circuited because the media in general prefers appealing to our emotional instincts with its sordid headlines and tantalizing trivia.

Our brains, much like our bodies, require stimulation. While I’m certainly no neurologist, I do understand that the more we challenge ourselves intellectually, the more we motivate our memory and the more we are determined to learn, the more we unleash our mind’s potential. In fact, Alzheimer’s researchers have become more and more convinced that by keeping our minds sharp and actively cultivating and acquiring new knowledge, the more likely we are help to thwart the spread of the disease.

Tomorrow is Labor Day and a holiday for most of us. So after you’ve finished your daily run or worked up a sweat on your stair-stepper, why not take a little time to renew and energize your mind by learning something brand new, tackling a

foreign language, reading a powerful, challenging book or just exploring some new perspective on a difficult complex issue. Just engage yourself in something that requires some ongoing mental gymnastics. Stretch those mental muscles till it hurts.

Not only is a mind a terrible thing to waste, it’s a devastating thing to neglect. So do like my friend John and take it out for a good long run. You’ll be glad you did.
















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Piano Lessons Enhance Brain Performance, Boost Memory and Concentration Skills

August 31st 2008 03:13
piano lessons
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Fom: American Chronicle



Have you ever considered playing piano to be an incredible source of stimuli for your brain?

Are you part of the millions who believe that age affects your brain performance?

Research shows that the very things that you believe are not possible due to mental decay, are actually the very things you should be doing to defy mental decay!

Learning piano is a perfect stimuli to prevent "brain sluggishness" due to it´s unique gradually progressive, and intensely concentrated communication between your brain, your eyes, both hands, all 10 fingers, your feet, calculation of rhythm, isolated muscle pressure, vocalizing and all this with precise execution, simultaneously at exact timed intervals, only split seconds apart. This high intensity lasts throughout an entire song, not to mention all the previous hours of practice!

Give your brain a boost by trying this simple exercise in concentration and memory development. Grab 2 sheets of paper, and enjoy these 5 easy steps:

1. Trace both hands on a sheet of paper making sure your fingers and thumb are pointing straight up. Number the fingers on each hand, starting with the thumb: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. In addition, on the left hand, draw a triangle around the numbers 5, 3, and 1.

2. On another sheet, write 1 2 3 4 5 across the top. Make them large and about an inch apart. Draw a triangle underneath the numbers 1, 3, and 5.

3. Place your right hand over your traced right hand, without touching the paper. While looking at the large numbers 1 2 3 4 5, touch the matching fingers, one at a time, as if you are playing the piano. Try very hard not to look at your fingers.



4. With your left hand, touch the three triangles with the fingers – 5, 3 and 1, simultaneously. Do not let fingers 2 and 4 touch the paper. (Touch close to the triangles, don´t worry if it´s not exact) Touch and release several times for practice. These are called triads.

5. Finally, play this exercise with both hands by playing the 1 2 3 4 5 with your right hand, and with your left hand play the triad at the exact time you see a triangle underneath a right hand number.

Did this exercise keep your concentration level at its peak?

Did your coordination skills feel challenged?

Was your memory forced into action trying to remember which fingers go where and when?

Researchers have concluded that learning to play the piano develops the part of the brain dedicated to concentration, coordination and memory. The very things we are afraid of losing with age, can be maintained by simply playing the piano!

Consider giving your brain the stimuli it needs to maintain it´s optimal performance throughout your life by simply playing the piano. Learn piano today.



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Secret genius Vitalij Margulis plays Chopin Nocturne Op.27-2

August 31st 2008 02:59

Chopin piano
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Cyclone Gustave - watch it here

August 31st 2008 02:45
cyclone Gustave
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Memory Loss Linked to Sleep Apnea

August 28th 2008 03:33
memory loss sleep apnea
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Boston Classical Orchestra at Faneuil Hall

August 28th 2008 03:21
orchestra
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Orchestral classical music

August 27th 2008 01:39
classical music
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'Perfect Pitch' In Humans Far More Prevalent Than Expected

August 27th 2008 01:27
perfect pitch humans
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Baby Einstein meet the orchestra

August 26th 2008 03:22
Music makes the neurons work
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Whether you're 9 or 90 these tips help your brain.

August 26th 2008 02:58
Brain stuff
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Coffee Talk: It’s Good for Your Brain

August 18th 2008 05:24
coffee talk
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Droopy - a little bit cheeky!

August 18th 2008 02:52
Computer art
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katyzz blogging career - another episode

August 17th 2008 23:51
blogging
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Copying Beethoven Official Trailer

August 17th 2008 23:23
classical music
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Michael J. Fox Foundation and Parkinson's Disease.

August 17th 2008 20:45
Parkinson's and blood brain barrier
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Mind tricks to get your cell phone together - for the mobile buffs. (LINK)

August 17th 2008 20:34
Cell phone uses and computer art
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6 Ways to Take the Guilt out of Eating Pancakes

August 17th 2008 07:10
yummy pancakes lo-fat
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Classical Music Most Popular Top 100 (91-100)

August 17th 2008 07:00
classical music
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Daily snapshots - CNN - animals from tortoise, dogs to ring blowing whales

August 17th 2008 06:49
CNN daily photos
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Knighthood for waddling zoo dweller

August 17th 2008 06:33
Knighthood for penguins
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How smart is Brain Age? - if at all.

August 17th 2008 02:02
brain age
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Big Bang Brain Games - free - sorry only for iPhone

August 17th 2008 01:35
Brain 4 iPhone
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Myanmar - Myanmar’s Pride and Glory

August 16th 2008 23:09
Harp music and description
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5 ways to beef up your brain

August 16th 2008 22:01
brain clues
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The Last Bearwood Manor Open Air Classical Music Concert

August 16th 2008 08:20

classics
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You've had the famine, now here's the feast - how much do you see?

August 16th 2008 04:50
Computer art
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Concert Level Classical Guitar Tips

August 16th 2008 04:37
classical music guitar
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Woman in waiting - watched by a man and a bird.

August 15th 2008 23:37
Computer art
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A Robot with 'real' rat brain tissue - scary stuff- ever been hit by a rat plague?

August 15th 2008 21:54