I recently finished reading a book called "Sleeping Naked is Green" by Vanessa Farquharson. Basically, a journalist for the National Post living in Toronto embarked ona 366 day mission to make one "green" change each day. The book is about 270 pages and is quite cleverly written, making it quite an enjoyable and easy read. For each month, she lists all the changes she made and goes in detail about some of them, as well as the accompanying experiences.
While doing the challenge, she kept a blog called Green as a Thistle, which she still runs today. While some of the changes are definitely hard to do (unplugging your fridge and not using your oven, especially if you're not living alone and the rest of the inhabitants refuse to play along :P), others are quite do-able. There were also things I didn't know about at all, such as this great site called Free Rice. You basically play a word game and for each answer you get right, 10 grains of rice are donated to countries in need. I linked you to the FAQ, so you see how it works :)
What was also great about the book is after ending her challenge, she decided to see how many changes she kept - which was about 75% of them. This means that it may not be so hard to incorporate some of these into everyday life (which is quite inspiring :D at least to me). While I already make some effort to greenify myself/surroundings, I definitely think I can do more. So, I'll try and use some ideas from her book to see what else I can do.
Here is the total list of things she did.
Of them, I currently do (some of hers don't apply though - for example: I do not have an electric heating pad o_O): 64 which is about 18%
Though, I'm thinking of the applicable ones, I probably do at least 30% :P Anyways, we'll see what can be incorporated :D Should be fun :)
Onto LiveMocha: It's a site that provides 21 free language courses (and other courses you have to pay for). In addition, for the writing and speaking exercises, they are peer reviewed by other users from around the world. You can do the same.
So, since signing up yesterday, I've greatly enjoyed helping people out with their English and French. I also enrolled in a Spanish, German, Russian and Portuguese (Brazilian) course. The first 3, I've had some exposure to. The last, none at all - which explains why I suck in it :) I've also noticed that the Brazilians really like correcting people (or at least me), because my audio submission received 53 comments (of mixed rating :P). I had to turn off the comment notification because my inbox was being massively flooded. I do thank them for their eagerness in helping. The other language submissions received on average 3-4 corrections (though, I got no help from the German speakers :P).
You can also add friends and check others' profiles n such. Oh yeah, and do live chats, if you so wish (I haven't yet).
The site can be rather addictive (well, if you like languages and helping people out). So make sure not to spend too much time on it :P
So, that's it for today. If nothing else, I encourage you guys to play Free Rice :)
While matlab does some optimization for me, I figured it'd be a good time to do a little update, as it has been a while.
About 3 weeks ago, the drum school I joined in March had a show celebrating the 4th anniversary of its existence. I'm really happy I went because prior to that I hadn't really heard how all the instruments sound together (well, when the people are playing well. In class, everyone is learning, so you're not so sure...haha).
They were joined by other artists who either played with them (guitar, singing, etc), or played when they were taking a break. I only recall Isaac Neto. It was very enjoyable. Everyone at Club Lambi was dancing (and very well I might add). Definitely a good way to get into the festive summer spirit (eventhough it's not summer just yet...)
There were two songs they played that I recognized, as did two friends that joined me that night. So, out of curiosity, I searched for them when I got home.
1) Sergio Mendes - Magalenha
2) Mas que Nada which was done originally by Jorge Ben Jor and later covered by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66', and later by Sergio Mendes with the Black Eyed Peas quite recently.
The original and the brasil 66' one are like of loungy/slow, so I'm linking to the BEP one because it's more upbeat and resembles the speed that they played at the most I believe. But as far as I remember, at the show they did not sing in english :P
The following week, I participated in a 4 km walk with them supporting the Societe d'Alzeimer's in the South Shore. It was my first time ever performing with them, but I'm also really happy I went (despite being quite nervous). I was able to follow for the most part, though there were some things I hadn't learned yet. My teacher was really cool about it, showing me some things along the way, or just saying not to play something when we clearly hadn't covered it (everyone else there had started before me...at least in august, or before).
The only thing about walking and playing is the drum tends to bump your knees and produce bruises :P but it's ok, they go away and I've had worse injuries, bahaha. I was also happy to meet other people in the group that practice on different days :D Also, the walkers seemed to really enjoy the music. So, good news all around.
One thing that I was told not to play, but that I found cool - I later found out was also done by Sergio Mendes and brasil 66' in a song called Batucada (Batucada = a drum troupe):
Only the part before 1:00 was done, or at least part of it...where basically the head teacher did a beat and then the drummers had to respond. The crowd also had to respond by clapping. :D
Another interesting thing about this song -> I tried out this class on Sunday called Zumba - it's a mix of aerobics and many dances, such as salsa, merengue and a bunch more(I'm trying to get back into physical activity, eventhough the doctor said it'll take a total of 10-12 weeks for my ankle to heal -> 5-6 weeks left or so. But anyways, this isn't too high impact. I tried to do some karate stuff at home...and yeah, not such a good idea >_< it hurts quite a bit, lol :P)
During the class, the girl happened to play the Carnaval Batucada song, but the part after the drums :P Actually, the website lists all the songs that they use during the work out, which is awesome!
So one other song I have in my head because of it (I'd heard it back in the 90s, but had no idea what it was - super catchy):
Carrapicho - Tic Tic Tac
The class itself is pretty fun. I wonder if she'll ever do the dance they do in that video though, haha.
My final music related thing - I've been listening to this song for a little while now: Passion Pit - Little Secrets. It's really dancy :D
I learned about them while browsing one of the music blogs. It said if you like MGMT and a few other bands (i forgot), you should like them. And I definitely like MGMT, so I gave it a shot. This song has some elements that remind me of nintendo games.
It's definitely upbeat. I see where the MGMT reference comes from, but they don't sound as disco (at least not as disco as Electric Feel). :)
The rest of the CD "Manners" is not bad, but Little Secrets is definitely my favorite song.
Apart from drumming, optimizing and music listening, I've also been watching "30 Rock" - my new favorite show. Now I have nothing left to watch because I finished season 3. So I'll have to start watching something else, haha. It's awesomely quirky. I just love Kenneth and the dynamic between Liz Lemon and Jack.
Here's are some of my favorite parts from the show:
"Midnight train to Georgia" (yes, Gladys Night happened to appear on that show)
"Night Cheese"
"The Best of Liz Lemon" (Paw showed this to me just before I started watching the show)
And some stuff from Kenneth:
and last but not least, I saw "Sin Nombre" last Thursday. It's a great movie, albeit depressing.
Here's the trailer:
The music in there is quite good. However, the soundtrack only corresponds to the instrumental stuff...and I'm looking for the non-instrumental (it had accordions!!).
Hopefully a song list will appear soon.
I think that's it :)
About 3 weeks ago, the drum school I joined in March had a show celebrating the 4th anniversary of its existence. I'm really happy I went because prior to that I hadn't really heard how all the instruments sound together (well, when the people are playing well. In class, everyone is learning, so you're not so sure...haha).
They were joined by other artists who either played with them (guitar, singing, etc), or played when they were taking a break. I only recall Isaac Neto. It was very enjoyable. Everyone at Club Lambi was dancing (and very well I might add). Definitely a good way to get into the festive summer spirit (eventhough it's not summer just yet...)
There were two songs they played that I recognized, as did two friends that joined me that night. So, out of curiosity, I searched for them when I got home.
1) Sergio Mendes - Magalenha
2) Mas que Nada which was done originally by Jorge Ben Jor and later covered by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66', and later by Sergio Mendes with the Black Eyed Peas quite recently.
The original and the brasil 66' one are like of loungy/slow, so I'm linking to the BEP one because it's more upbeat and resembles the speed that they played at the most I believe. But as far as I remember, at the show they did not sing in english :P
The following week, I participated in a 4 km walk with them supporting the Societe d'Alzeimer's in the South Shore. It was my first time ever performing with them, but I'm also really happy I went (despite being quite nervous). I was able to follow for the most part, though there were some things I hadn't learned yet. My teacher was really cool about it, showing me some things along the way, or just saying not to play something when we clearly hadn't covered it (everyone else there had started before me...at least in august, or before).
The only thing about walking and playing is the drum tends to bump your knees and produce bruises :P but it's ok, they go away and I've had worse injuries, bahaha. I was also happy to meet other people in the group that practice on different days :D Also, the walkers seemed to really enjoy the music. So, good news all around.
One thing that I was told not to play, but that I found cool - I later found out was also done by Sergio Mendes and brasil 66' in a song called Batucada (Batucada = a drum troupe):
Only the part before 1:00 was done, or at least part of it...where basically the head teacher did a beat and then the drummers had to respond. The crowd also had to respond by clapping. :D
Another interesting thing about this song -> I tried out this class on Sunday called Zumba - it's a mix of aerobics and many dances, such as salsa, merengue and a bunch more(I'm trying to get back into physical activity, eventhough the doctor said it'll take a total of 10-12 weeks for my ankle to heal -> 5-6 weeks left or so. But anyways, this isn't too high impact. I tried to do some karate stuff at home...and yeah, not such a good idea >_< it hurts quite a bit, lol :P)
During the class, the girl happened to play the Carnaval Batucada song, but the part after the drums :P Actually, the website lists all the songs that they use during the work out, which is awesome!
So one other song I have in my head because of it (I'd heard it back in the 90s, but had no idea what it was - super catchy):
Carrapicho - Tic Tic Tac
The class itself is pretty fun. I wonder if she'll ever do the dance they do in that video though, haha.
My final music related thing - I've been listening to this song for a little while now: Passion Pit - Little Secrets. It's really dancy :D
I learned about them while browsing one of the music blogs. It said if you like MGMT and a few other bands (i forgot), you should like them. And I definitely like MGMT, so I gave it a shot. This song has some elements that remind me of nintendo games.
It's definitely upbeat. I see where the MGMT reference comes from, but they don't sound as disco (at least not as disco as Electric Feel). :)
The rest of the CD "Manners" is not bad, but Little Secrets is definitely my favorite song.
Apart from drumming, optimizing and music listening, I've also been watching "30 Rock" - my new favorite show. Now I have nothing left to watch because I finished season 3. So I'll have to start watching something else, haha. It's awesomely quirky. I just love Kenneth and the dynamic between Liz Lemon and Jack.
Here's are some of my favorite parts from the show:
"Midnight train to Georgia" (yes, Gladys Night happened to appear on that show)
Midnight Train To Georgia - 30 ROCK - watch more funny videos
"Night Cheese"
"The Best of Liz Lemon" (Paw showed this to me just before I started watching the show)
And some stuff from Kenneth:
and last but not least, I saw "Sin Nombre" last Thursday. It's a great movie, albeit depressing.
Here's the trailer:
The music in there is quite good. However, the soundtrack only corresponds to the instrumental stuff...and I'm looking for the non-instrumental (it had accordions!!).
Hopefully a song list will appear soon.
I think that's it :)
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