The Sevillanas Dance

The sevillana is a set of four separate dances that form the core of a folk dance in Spain usually performed at ferias or market festivals, wedding ceremonies, and other Spanish social events. As a type of Spanish dance, it made to the dictionary of the Spanish language in 1884 after a long period of non-recognition by the Royal Spanish Academy. It first emerged as a separate and distinct form in the latter part of 18^th century and as a variant of seguidillas, a form of Spanish song. In the 19^th century, it became part of Escuela Bolera, an approach to the formal study of various regional Spanish dances, and of the repertoire for flamenco, another dance style in Spain.

Sevillana is the only dance in Spain that is learned by non-dancers but is now performed as a partner dance at the annual Feria de Abril in Seville, in flamenco and other dance concerts or in tablaos or venues for flamenco shows, and dance competitions in Spain and other parts of the world. It has become so popular especially among couples of all ages, that each town in Andalusia also holds weeklong ferias similar to Seville. The feria week provides a man and his girl friend to court each other with the man asking her to dance the sevillana with him.

The four sets of the dance cover the primera, segunda, tercera and cuarta levels, each of which consists of three verses or coplas. The first copla uses the paso de sevillana, which is a basic step, followed by the second and third coplas which start with a connecting step of one pasada and another of paso de sevillana, and then by verse step. A sevillana dancer knows that the coplas have individual steps that incorporate certain moves in a flamenco dance and the mainstream form like ballet. The dance style can be evident in a couple dancing face-to-face to sevillana music in a three-fourths beat. This music that accompanies the dancers is simple unlike the song accompanying the dance which has various lyrics and themes. Originally the song described the town folk’s daily life but also conveyed criticisms and humorous tales and anecdotes. Through the centuries, song themes were developed about love, religion, festivals and even Biblical stories to go with the dance.

Learning how to dance the Sevillanas is not as hard as some people may think. All they have to do is memorize certain dance steps which are performed three times per movement and repeated five times in succession. The steps also alternate between the start on the left and right feet for five 6-beat music bars. Each of the two succeeding steps has the dancer stepping to the left, tapping her right toe at the back of her left foot and the left toe to face the right foot. You can also memorize dance steps by practicing the dance to a melody of your choice, or watching someone else do the dancing. You can simplify your dance practice by getting the order of the movements and the dance rhythm. Better still record the steps which you can memorize easily. Remember that when you start learning Sevillanas, you also start learning flamenco because a certain level is easier to reach it and it provides many possible occasions for its training and practice. 

El Bulli—Food, Health and Art

El Bulli is a three-star restaurant near Roses town in Catalonia, some two hours northeast of Barcelona in Spain. The star classification is bestowed by Michelin Stars Awards owned by French-based tire manufacturer Michelin which gives the award to restaurants for cooking excellence. Before its closure on July 30, 2011 but with a proposed reopening in 2014, El Bulli was described as the world’s most imaginative generator of skillfully prepared food or haute cuisine, and judged by the Restaurant Magazine as number one of its list of the world’s top 50 best restaurants for five times up to 2009.

Early years. The location of El Bulli, which is atop a hill overlooking Catalonia’s Costa Brava was chosen by Dr. Hans Schilling, a German, who was the owner of that piece of land. The name El Bulli came from the Schillings’ French bulldogs. Several years after its opening in 1964, the restaurant had its first Michelin star while it was managed by French chef Jean-Louis Neichel. In 1984, Chef Ferran Adria, who now runs the facility, became part of it and was assigned in full charge of its kitchen in 1987. In 1990 and 1997, El Bulli achieved its second and third star, respectively from Michelin. Since its opening, it has become as a holy Mecca or sought-after food center for food lovers of Spain and other parts of the world. In 2008, some of its recipes were incorporated in the book A Day at El Bulli, and these were (a) Melon with ham, (b) Pine nut marshmallows, (c) Steamed brioche or enriched bread with rose-scented mozzarella, (d) Rock mussels with seaweed and fresh herbs, and (e) Passion fruit trees.

Foods at El Bulli: The restaurant has developed what is known as molecular gastronomy consisting of foods that surprise and attract many of its guests. These are part of a 35-course taster’s menu that provides customers with a great and wondrous experience of tastes and textures. Some of these recipes are (a) Hot gin frizz, (b) Piña colada, (c) Cloud of carrot with tangerine or concentrate of orange-colored citrus fruits, (d) Round mango with caramelized ravioli, (e) Apple caviar, (f) Rabbit with hot apply jelly, (g) Sardines with fish roe or internal egg mass of the fish, (h) Hot and cold trout roe tempura, (i) Frozen polenta or ground cornmeal, (j) Oysters with smoked Iberian pancetta or bacon, (k) Spherical egg with white asparagus and truffle or mushroom, (l) Clam meringue or topping of beaten white egg, (m) Clam ceviche or raw seafood, and (n) Golden egg with steamed shrimps and tea.

Health and art: Good foods at El Bulli are healthy because they significantly involve good ingredients that are best when they are available in season, or when these ingredients are treated in simpler ways. They are good when they lead customers to satiety and pleasure and for health benefits, or when they promote a good state of nourishment through innovation and creativity in kitchen science. Already, the restaurant’s cooking is an avant-garde art because of its most exciting and innovative methods that come up with foods going beyond tasting good, and that make cuisine as an art, and vice-versa. 

The Benefits of Traveling

When you travel, you may be going from one place to another, like your home place to another country, by road, air or the sea. Your reasons for traveling may be recreation, vacationing or tourism and in some cases, business, religious pilgrimage, and migration to other place where a new life can be started. Some people are motivated to travel for relaxation, pleasure, exploration, and discovery or for knowing other cultures in the world. There are other reasons why people travel locally, in the regional or national level, or internationally but they narrow down to the benefits that traveling can provide. One such benefit is relaxation that extends to the traveler the chance to enjoy a stress-free time for himself away from the day-to-day activities at home. It also provides great opportunities for adventure and fun, and discovery of many things about the people in other places.

Many other benefits can be derived from traveling, and these include health and emotional benefits. Among the health benefits are (a) Opportunity to relax and reduce stress, (b) Avoidance of monotony to gain energy and make change to prevent leaving your body and mind inactive from daily routine, (c) A chance for the outdoors to breathe fresh air and have good exposure to sunlight, (d) Engaging in additional activities like doing some sports and walking exercises in the place of destination, (e) Enjoyment of different types of healthy foods and gastronomic delicacies which may not be otherwise available at home, (f) A good break to deal better with current work or family problems, (g) A chance to meet and socialize with some people in another country, which is a good form of therapy, (h) Creation of a memorable experience visiting a chosen destination , (i) Opportunity to reconnect with a loved one, especially a lifetime partner, with quality time away from everyday activities, and (j) Opportunity to make culinary exploits while avoiding fast food.

For emotional benefits, traveling reduces stress by getting away from physical problems at home, as the traveler is helped with leaning and understanding the other cultures of the world and the way they view life. It also makes happy memories to strengthen relationships with family and friends. It gives you a sense of fuller life and self-fulfillment by getting to the place you have dreamed to see. It gives you time to appreciate and admire real beauty like the best-known painting of Mona Lisa by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, or the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, and some wonders of the world. Most importantly, your own appreciation of home is increased and your perspective about home life is refreshed.

Travel experts advise that if you want to make use of the benefits that traveling provides you should plan it well, including a research of hotels or hostels, and the must-see sites in your planned destination. When you are already there, be aware of your surroundings and avoid being a victim of a crime. You also should make some room for new and impulsive decisions but avoid known tourist traps like places that are otherwise hyped as best tourist areas but which offer less cultural value. Since traveling is luxury, always keep an open mind about it and feel that you have bettered yourself and made the most of it as you prepare to leave for home.

Ultrasonic Peeling

Ultrasonic is a term that describes sound waves or frequencies that are beyond hearing by the human ear. When used to describe a process in the treatment of the skin, as in ultrasonic peeling, it refers to a non-invasive and safe technique in modern apparatus-based cosmetology that is designed to cleanse and rejuvenate the skin with the help of ultrasonic vibrations. As a skin peeling process, ultrasonic peeling uses a device or hand piece with ultrasound waves that make about 27,000 vibrations per second to help in the treatment of a variety of skin problems, especially on the face.

Ultrasonic peeling works with a device or hand piece with rapid vibrations that push skin impurities and dislodge dead skin cells to the surface. The vibrating device then cleanses and exfoliates the outer layer of the skin and destroys skin bacteria in the process. To help with absorption of skin care formulations that may be used into the skin, vibrations are set to specific frequency level to reduce the per-second vibrations of the digital-controlled hand piece. The beneficial effects of the process include (a) Removal of sebum or fatty lubricants and other skin contaminants, (b) Deep moisturizing effects, (c) Skin oxygenation, (d) Destruction of bacteria and microorganisms that cause acne, (e) Cleansing and sterilization of the skin, (f) Removal or reduction of inflammation, and (g) Solution to such problems as acne, increased fatty or sebaceous excretions, and dull complexion. As a specific facial treatment, it eradicates dead skin cells for a healthier skin complexion, and does away with oil, dirt and debris from small skin cavities of the skin and helps produce collage and elastin to remove wrinkles and fine lines.

The treatment for ultrasonic peeling undergoes three phases, which are the peeling, infusion and micro-current phases. With the peeling phase, the outer layer of the skin or the epidermis is cleansed by applying a hydration product and water. The infusion stage follows to help antioxidant products or medication penetrate deep into the skin to provide deep healing benefits. The phase of micro-current therapy restores the skin to normal condition with the use of a mild electrical current in a technique that brings back the normal electrical charge of the skin cells. These stages are within the ultrasonic hydration goal of the therapy for both internal and external hydration. Internal hydration has something to do with blood circulation while external hydration depends on the skin’s ability to retain water in it. Another goal of ultrasonic peeling is iontophoresis, which is a direct electrical current-based procedure that sends charged ions or electrically charged atoms to the blood circulation system through the skin.

Skin care specialists have advised that ultrasonic peeling is not suitable for persons with certain conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, acute skin disease or dermatosis, pregnancy, and those undergoing rehabilitation. Neither are certain skin care products suitable for treatment especially if they contain stimulation ingredients such as alcohol, fruit acids, vitamin acids and other acid products. You should find only the right skin care products that are suitable for ultrasonic peeling procedures.

Fraxel Laser

Fraxel laser is a laser technology and non-surgical technique that can help reverse the known effects of aging. This is a non-invasive therapy which is customized to the needs and concerns of every patient to make the skin look younger through rejuvenation. As a revolutionary treatment, it addresses many other skin problems aside from age spots, like fine lines and wrinkles.

How is this done? The therapy works under the surface of the skin to deal with some of its imperfections. It stimulates the natural connective tissues or collagen of the skin. What is good about this technique, however, is that it targets only the problem areas so that the results are focused on the same areas. Using the latest skin care technique, Fraxel reaches deep into the second layer of the skin called dermis to bring the skin’s restorative efficiency. It takes out the old damaged skin from under its outermost layer which is the epidermis. Controlling skin damage even in small areas allows for little healing time but highly affective skin renewal. After the treatment, you may not see immediate results as your epidermis remains unchanged except for your deeper layer that is expected to begin healing itself. In a few weeks after treatment, a discomfort like that of a sunburn or tanning of your skin may appear but become part of old skin cells which will be shed off eventually to lead the skin to repair itself and develop new collage. Post-treatment patients are allowed to go back to their daily activities but advised to keep their skin always moisturized and out of excessive exposure to the sun.

Patients can avail of at least three types or levels of treatment for Fraxel laser. These are the Fraxel Refine, Fraxel Restore, and Fraxel Repair. The first level is a less invasive laser therapy that concentrates on treating skin discolorations and certain marks such as pigmented areas or fine lines in the eye area, without affecting the untreated areas. The Fraxel Restore treats areas of the skin in the same manner as the laser Refine but is meant to treat the face, neck, hands and chest of the patient for acne scars and other types of scar. As the latest in Fraxel laser technology, Fraxel Repair can get deep into the skin’s second layer or dermis for the treatment of such conditions as pigmentation, deep skin wrinkles, and irregular skin marks.

As with many other therapies, Fraxel laser may have certain complications like bruising and swelling that can last a few days, but these can be remedied by herbal creams prescribed by a licensed cosmetic surgeon. Sunburn may also appear, followed by skin peeling and flaking, which is common after the therapy, but these can be dealt with by moisturizers with sunscreen applied for a number of days after the treatment. The most common side effects such as swelling and skin redness subside in about two days in the same way as minor itching, dry skin or the appearance of a bronze skin disappear. Afterwards, by looking at the mirror, you may yet rediscover a healthy skin of youth in you, with your skin texture and appearance having dramatically improved. You may also find that they—fine lines and wrinkles and acne scars and unwanted age spots—are now a thing of the past.

Ultralight—the Thrill of Gliding

The literal meaning of ultralight is extremely lightweight if compared with others of its size and kind. In aviation and sports, it refers to a small, light, inexpensive aircrafts that has a single seat and which may essentially be considered as a hang glider. As there is an ultralight vehicle, which is usually a single-seat airplane, as the existence of an ultralight glider which is constructed as an ultralight sailplane or a slow-flying glider that has a pilot sitting outside of the aircraft rather than the vehicle’s fuselage. This ultralight glider is an unpowered aircraft used for sports and, most often, for fun. It is flown without an engine and has a place inside only for the pilot. It is typically so designed as to make it soar in open air and provide convenient, thrilling transport. In the United States, these unpowered ultralights are called paragliders, hang gliders, or airchairs or basic ultralight gliders (BUG) which are regulated by the Federal Aeronautics Administration (FAA).

In many countries, the more popular ultralight aircrafts are the hang glider, seaplane and the powered paraglider. The hang glider has wings made of fabric and aluminum alloy and is flown by a pilot strapped on a harness linked to the airframe which is in turn fastened to the wings. The ultralight seaplane has a fixed wing and has the ability to take off from and land on water. The powered paraglider is a favorite of many gliding hobbyists because it can be built easily by anyone from an available building kit. It has a motor attached to a wing and worn by the pilot while on flight.

How does a glider take off the ground? The most popular method is to get it dragged and lifted up by a powered airplane by tying the glider and the plane with a rope. Called “aero-tow,” this method is preferred by most pilots who can easily start the free flight once the rope is released upon takeoff. Another method is “winch-launching” which is lifting up the glider with the use of a land-locked engine and by connecting the winch or a hoisting machine to the glider with a long rope. Upon release of the rope, the pilot is now ready to experience the thrill of his free flight.

Yes, this is the thrill of gliding. Once in the air you will experience a winter wonderland flight in smoother air currents. You will see for yourself views to the horizons that are definitely clearer than summertime when there are humidity, dust and smoke. When there is no thermal air up there, you can stay soaring or can cruise anywhere you want even for cross-country travel up to 100 miles away from flight start. If you are on first flight, you can experience longer flight time, the smoothest and gentlest flight, most comfortable position in your aircraft and the best freedom to stay up in the air or fly for as long and as far as you want. If you are a hang gliding student, the flight prepares you to continue learning how to master flying an unpowered aircraft and learning advanced skills towards becoming an experienced pilot who can stay aloft solo for hours. The best experience for both gliding buffs and students is flying on the wind and feeling the air all around you as you soar with the birds in the sky without any worry about an engine breakdown or fuel exhaust. Fore more details click here.

Queen’s Card Play

The Queen Playing Card is a playing card with the picture of what appears to be a queen on its front surface. In a standard English deck of playing, the Queen of Hearts represents Elizabeth of York, who was the Queen Consort of Henry VII of England in the past. Card manufacturers in France have assigned each court card certain mythological or historical personages such as the Queen of Hearts and Queen of Spades as the Biblical figure Judith and mythological figure Athena, respectively. The Queen of Diamonds is assigned the name Rachel, also a Biblical figure, and the anagram of Regina—Argine—to the Queen of Clubs. A complete set of playing cards that includes the four Queens is called a pack in the British English, and deck in American English. The face of each card bears markings that distinguish it from the other cards in the pack or deck but its back is identical with all the other cards.

Various Queen’s card games. The Queen’s card is played in a variety of card games. One is called The Queen, a two-player card game of four rounds. Its objective is to have the first player to score seven points or the player with the highest number of points as winner after four rounds. But the player with the most points wins the game if neither of them scores seven points at the end of the four rounds.  Using a standard 52-card deck, the game is played between two players opposite each other with a table between them and one of them serving as dealer for the first round. The Queen of Spades card game is played usually in a group of four to 10 persons, split into two teams by choice or randomly. The player has the objective of winning the game by being the first to get to 2,000 points. Teammates are not seated next to each other but are spaced so that a member of the opposite team will be between them.

Dark Queen play. This is another way to play the Queen’s card with the objective of getting rid of all the cards, especially the black Queen from the players. The game begins by taking the Queen of Clubs from the deck to leave the other black Queen in it. The cards are dealt evenly among the players who must see if they have matches which, if any, are put to the side. A player who has no match in his hand holds his cards to the player to his right. This process goes on until only one player is left with the only card which is the black Queen.

Queen Anne’s game. A variant of a commercial card game, this is played with a normal 52-card deck among an ideal number of four players. Each of them is dealt three cards with different values which must not exceed 99. If one has the card Queen, the value is plus or minus 20, but the King makes the total 99 regardless of the value of the other cards. Card 10 has a value of 10 and cards 2,3,4, 5,6,7,8 and 9 have their respective face value.

Faerie Queen solitaire. This uses 104 cards of two decks for a solitaire game, with the aces moved to the foundations or card files when they are available. A King is removed from the deck and placed on the first tableau or file of cards, where all cards are dealt from the stockpile up to the next King. The rule prohibits moving of cards from one tableau to the next before the deal is completed. Fore more details click here.

Poker Championships

Poker is a family of card games which involve individualistic or independent play and betting, with the winner determined by the combinations and ranks of the player’s cards. Poker games vary in terms of the number of cards dealt that are hidden until the end of each game. Betting has different ways in the game. In modern poker, betting begins with one of the players who makes an ante or forced bet during the first betting round. In a standard poker, a player bets that his cards or hand is the highest ranked among the other players. The hand consists of five cards but in a variant when the player has more than five cards, he plays the best five cards.

Poker game play rules. A poker player must know the rules of the game. In casual play, the right to deal a hand or the cards of a player rotates among all the players. In casinos, however, there is a house dealer who deals each hand but the dealer button which marks the right to deal is rotated among the players clockwise to determine the order of betting among such players. If a player bets without any opponent calling or matching the bet, the hand ends immediately without the need for the cards to be shown, and the bettors wins the pot. But at the end of the last round of betting, if there is more than one remaining player, a showdown is necessary to require players to reveal their previously hidden cards for the purpose of evaluating them, in which case, the best hand wins.

Poker variations. Poker has many variations but these variations seem to follow the same play patterns and use similar ranking systems. Card dealing and the right to deal the hand are important to classify the variations, such as straight poker, stud poker, draw poker, community card poker, and strip poker. Some of these variations are played in world championship games like the Strip Poker World Championship in London, England. This championship is held annually at Café Royal in Central London, with 10,000 sterling pounds in prize money for the winner, and another 10,000 going to a charity group chosen by the winner.

Other poker championships. There are countries that hold regular world poker championships. Australia is one where the Aussie Millions or Australian Poker Championship is held every year at the Crown Casino in Melbourne. Using the Texas Hold’em poker variant, the championship consists of a series of tournaments and is considered as the 6^th largest event in the world. The British Columbia Poker Championship is one of Canada’s biggest prize pools for tournaments in poker, which attract popular pokers from around the world. The Scottish Poker Championship is also an annual event at the Gala Maybury Casino in Scotland capital Edinburgh, offering affordable buy-ins for most poker championship participants. In Southern Indiana, United States, the Casino Center is the regular venue for the yearly Midwest Regional Poker Championship, which draws participation of popular poker players of Indiana state. One of such players is Vanessa Rousso, a French-US dual citizen who studies law at the University of Miami, and is said to have started playing poker at the age of five. An annual championship, the Australian Deaf Poker Championship is held regularly at the Adelaide Casino in South Australia for the deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing-impaired poker player participants. Fore more details click here.

Major Windsurfing Championships

Windsurfing is a sport on surface water that combines some elements of sailing and surfing sports. It uses a board typically two to three meters long powered by the wind on sail, as well as a rig that is linked to the board by a universal joint that can freely rotate. Records show that the water sport was originated by American inventor S. Newman Darby of Pennsylvania, United States after he invented the sailboard. Previously a non-competitive activity, windsurfing now has organized competitions at various levels all over the world. Formulas typical for competitive windsurfing have been adopted by organizers, like the Formula Windsurfing, Speed Sailing, Slalom or skiing on a wavy course, Course Racing, Wave Sailing, Super X and Freestyle. Together with the Olympic Windsurfing Class, the formulas are now among the disciplines that make up windsurfing.

Big windsurfing championships in many countries attract big-name windsurfers such as those in Australia, Singapore, North America, the Rhodes islands in Greece, Canada, Texas, U.S., and Portugal, among others. Some of these competitions have even drawn the participation of some of the world’s famous women windsurfers, among whom are Marina Alabau of Spain, Sofia Klepacka of Poland, Alessandra Sensini of Italy, Barbara Kendall of France, and Olga Maslivets of Ukraine.

The ISAF-SOL World Windsurfing Championship in Freemantle, Western Australia is organized by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) and has already attracted the world’s best windsurfers and awarded 43 world, international and class titles to winners. In Singapore, the Asian Windsurfing Championship is organized by the Singapore Windsurfing Association in coordination with the International Windsurfing Association (IWA). Local and foreign windsurfers compete in 36 different categories and five different classes in this one of the biggest windsurfing championships in the Southeast Asian region.

The North American Windsurfing Championship is held for three days in a 10-race regatta or rowing and sailing races in Lake Waconia in Minnesota, US, during which races windsurfers earn points based on their finishes at the end of each race event.

The Canadian Windsurfing Championship is sanctioned by the Windsurfing Canada for three major disciplines of Course Racing, Freestyle and Wave Racing, and Slalom. This is to determine the country’s all-around champions in both men’s and women’s classes.

The Formula Windsurfing Grand Prix Regatta is held in Rhodes in Greece at the Talisos Beach, which is a perfect location for windsurfing competitions. The site is a major tourist destination and boasts of infrastructures that can support such events. Besides, the site is endowed with hospitable climate and constant side shore winds that are always welcome for competitors and spectators alike.

The Gulf Coast Windsurfing Championship in Houston, Texas, US has participants at age range of 12 to 78 in four races under usually gusty winds but rarely calmer winds from the north side of Texas. In addition, there is the Portimao Formula Windsurfing World Championship in Portugal which draws windsurfing competitors, both men and women, from such countries as Australia, United Kingdom, Brazil, Poland and Argentina, and some bright stars of the windsurfing firmament.Fore more details click here.