Okay, Japanese culture might not be everyone's cup of green tea, but for Big Passy it is a unique and treasured delight. And remember, these are the guys and girls who brought big breakthroughs to the shores of our western world. (The awesome Nintendo WII, Sony PS3, fresh sushi and burning hot saki immediately come to mind as my personal favorites!).
So for everyone's cultural enlightenment, this blog post contains some very unique and colorful Japanese songs and dances.
February in Melbourne certainly has seen a lot of summer festivals. The final one we are covering here at Passy World is the "Japanese Summer Festival". This was held at the "Docklands", which is a fairly new waterfront area they have developed here in the city of Melbourne.
This was the first time I have been to Docklands. I must say that I was not very impressed. The whole development is just all this modern concrete and plastic fabricated into some kind of barren fake opulence, lacking dramatically in gardens or any natural charm whatsoever. Give me Hawthorn or St Kilda, or further down the coast where I live anyday!
There are some photos of Docklands at the start of the slideshow below. So take a look and judge for yourself.
Melbourne's weather wasn't too "summery" at all, but at least it didn't rain. In fact it was still warm enough to wear some shorts.
The following Wondershare Slideshow contains some photos taken at the Japanese Summer Festival on February 27th 2010. When you get through the whole show, the last picture should be of Japanese women dancing with hats. If you missed any pictures then click on the big arrow in the center when the slideshow ends.
Note that we can click on the bottom of the slideshow on the "Manual Play" option at any time. We can then advance through the photos one by one at our own pace. This allows us to stop for longer on the photos that we really like, and quickly bypass the ones that we are not interested in.
(Push the Play button arrow below if the slideshow is not already running).
This third and final post covering the Big Bands Sunset Festival is all about the Mordialloc Jazz Orchestra ("MOJO"). This time we went along with some friends to the MOJO Blues Brothers Tribute show. They played just about every song from the movie, and it was a perfect warm beachside evening. This was definitely the high point in the whole Jazz Festival series.
The following Wondershare Slideshow contains some photos of the Mojo Band taken at the Big Band Sunsets Festival on February 20th 2010. When you get through the whole show, the last picture should be of the crowd watching the band. If you missed any pictures then click on the big arrow in the center when the slideshow ends.
Note that we can click on the bottom of the slideshow on the "Manual Play" option at any time. We can then advance through the photos one by one at our own pace. This allows us to stop for longer on the photos that we really like, and quickly bypass the ones that we are not interested in.
In Manual mode: Use the Prev and Next buttons to move through groups of photos at a time, then click the specific photo around the edge that you want to view.
(Push the Play button arrow below if the slideshow is not already running).
This week's Friday Funny is all about funny rap songs.
Let's begin with an old favorite from one of the funniest guys on YouTube: Weird Al Yankovic
Big Passy loves writing rap rhymes like this little beasty one:
Hey I'm Passy and I'm da nerd The webs I make are real superb. I know dudes like 'em from the number of hits They view my stuff they're in love with it.
I like to get my axe and play Anything loud in a rythmic way. It gives me what I take for a ride My good vibes make the homeys smile.
Okay, maybe I'll stick to nerding.
Here is a very deep and meaningful rap tune (not!) with a little too much use of naughty words that all had to be bleeped out:
In this life you need to stick to what you're good at. If you got literary skills for rapping rhymes, then best not to attempt anything too numeric - as per these examples from the "Street Census" blog:
"Thirty-two grams raw, chop it in half, get sixteen, double it times three. We got forty-eight, which mean a whole lot of cream Divide the profit by four, subtract it by eight We back to sixteen..." -Foxy Brown ("Affirmative Action")
This is bad mathematics... don't try it at home!
"I can double my density from three-sixty degrees to seven-twenty instantly." -Canibus ("Funk Master Flex Freestyle")
Obviously, Canibus slept through mathematics class the day they covered units of measurement.
"My paragraph alone is worth five mics (uh-huh) A twelve song LP, that's thirty-six mics (uh-huh)" - Redman "5 Boroughs"
Uh-huh.. da huh... how does five go into 12 or 36?
And now a great rap for all the computer gamers out there. (The sound quality is suspect, but the concept is brilliant).
Now here is what we might refer to as extreme "Rappling On":
"Now you know that I'm the Queen of Miami All that loud talkin lyin save that sh*t for your mammy Sounds like "blah, blah blah, blah bla blah-bla" I'm like uh-huh (uh-huh) okay (okay) Whassup (whassup) SHUT UP!" -Trina ("Here We Go")
Some rappers aren't exactly known for their mastery of the universe:
"Thirty-eight revolve like the sun around the Earth." -Jay-Z, ("It's Hot")
Jay-Z probably has head spins whenever he tries to remember anything from his high school Science classes!
Here is a funny send up of Soulja boy, made by some Jewish dudes called "Kosha Boy" :
And while we're parodying Soulja Boy, how about this cute little version by good old Alvin and the Chipmunks:
Soul to Soul and Gangsta to Gangsta It's bye from Passy the original prankster. So that's a rap, and the end of this funny. Have a great weekend just spending up money.
This post is all about Making Charts and Graphs in Excel 2007.
Here at Passy World we have scoured the web and identified some great slide shows and Free Online Tutorials. These will soon turn you into an Excel Charts Wizard.
First of all there is plenty of good help for Excel at various Microsoft pages, such as the one shown below. This page has an excellent five and a half minute demo video on how to make charts and graphs from spreadsheet data.
Here is an iframe into that web page. (Which works in Firefox, but usually does not work in Internet Explorer..... Go Figure..).
Click on "Play Demo" link in the bottom right hand corner of the iframe below. Your web browser should open a new window and then load and play the Excel Charts "How To" video.
Alternatively, you can click the link below to open the Microsoft page in a new window:
So get into those Excel Graphs for your mathematics classes!
Finally, here is an Excel 2007 graph of how the PW Online Survey results are looking so far:
IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO ALREADY, THEN DO OUR ONE CLICK SURVEY AT THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THIS WEB PAGE. JUST CLICK ONE OPTION IN, AND THEN CLICK THE "VOTE" BUTTON.
Combo La Revelacion are a Latin jazz band that play the kind of music that we really like here at Passy World. We had not seen the band live for a couple of years, and so it was a real treat to see them yesterday at the Mordialloc Jazz Festival.
The following Wondershare Slideshow contains 30 photos taken at the Big Band Sunsets Festival on February 20th 2010. When you get through the whole show, the last picture should be of some chairs and people sitting around. If you missed any pictures then click on the big arrow in the center when the slideshow ends.
Note that we can click on the bottom of the slideshow on the "Manual Play" option at any time. We can then advance through the photos one by one at our own pace. This allows us to stop for longer on the photos that we really like, and quickly bypass the ones that we are not interested in.
(Push the middle of screen Play button arrow below if the slideshow is not already running).
It's amazing what funny stuff can be found, simply by spending a few minutes on YouTube.com. So that's what we did for this week's Friday Funny.
We ended up finding a whole bunch of interesting Ventriloquist comedy clips.
Now the guys and girls that do this kind of comedy not only have to be great at developing material, but they have to do it for more than one character. Then they have to deliver it in a realistic scenario, as only a skillful ventriloquist can. At Passy World we have chosen what we consider to be a leading sample of the best Ventriloquists on the Net.
First up we have Jeff Dunham. He is a highly skilled Canadian ventriloquist who has several characters that he works with. Some of his material is a little risky, but also really funny.
Here is a short skit about cell phones and other things with Jeff's cheeky monkey character named "Peanut":
And in the following clip we again have Jeff Dunham. However this time he is iwth his southern redneck character "Bubba J":
Finally in our abridged Jeff Dunham series, his character of "Walter" the grumpy old dude:
Jeff has a number of other great characters, so check them out on YouTube some time.
Next up we have Legoland California's resident ventriloquist Kevin Johnson. In this clip he kicks off "Ventriloquist Week" on The Late show with David Letterman:
Nina Conti and her Monkey are also a brilliant combination. Her lips never move at all, and you can't see her neck pulsating either. Yet the monkey speaks brilliantly and naturally, as in this example:
Okay this last video isn't of a ventriloquist. However, it's a bit of an old favorite here at Passy World, and so we just had to include it:
That's it for another working week, hope yours was a good one, and let's now throw over to the weekend.
Also remember to roll your mouse over to doing our one click survey if you haven't already: YOU CAN FIND OUR ONE CLICK SURVEY AT THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THIS WEB PAGE. JUST CLICK ONE OPTION IN, AND THEN CLICK THE "VOTE" BUTTON.
Today we're going to learn all about "Hammer Ons".
No... Not the indestructible MC Hammer, Hammerhead sharks, Hammer drills, nor the hammers from the Pink Floyd movie, or the legendary Jan Hammer hammering out a brilliant keyboard riff.
But today is all about a special way of playing guitar notes on the guitar fretboard. We bang down the second note onto the target fret, (instead of picking it), and we call this banging action a "hammer on".
A "Hammer On" is denoted by the letter 'h' in downloaded Tabs. The 'h' will always appear right before the note that's to be hammered. In real tablature the hammer on is noted with an arc that is above the two notes.
A hammer on involves two or more notes, but we only pick the string once. Using the example above; here is how it works. Your 1st finger presses down on the 7th fret, you pick the string, your 3rd finger hammers down on the 9th fret, you also continue to press down on the 7th fret with your first finger.
To play a Hammer On:
Place your first finger on the 7th fret of the 2nd string.
Pick the second string.
Continue to hold down the 7th fret; bang your 3rd finger onto the 9th fret.
If we play another note after the hammer on, we can play a triplet like this:
Moving pictures are worth many thousand words, and so here are some really good video clips about how to play Hammer Ons. First up is a good beginners lesson on hammer ons from Jody Worell:
Here is a more detailed beginner's lesson about Hammer Ons:
Now here is what we can get to by using a heap of hammer on triplets, with open strings. This is not easy to do and will take a lot of practice, but it sure sounds good when the dude plays it in front of the backing track. For some strange reason, this YouTube video can occasionally be painfully slow to load in.
Finally, one for the heavy metal guys, where they can use hammer ons to play scales on the low strings inbetween chords. This is called doing "hammer on legato scale riffs". This will take quite a bit of practice, but it sure sounds good once it's all working:
Also be sure to hammer on to doing our once click survey if you haven't already: YOU CAN FIND OUR ONE CLICK SURVEY AT THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THIS WEB PAGE. JUST CLICK ONE OPTION IN, AND THEN CLICK THE "VOTE" BUTTON.
Well Tank's been downloading some massage classes for them, matrix style. They are now a couple of really cool and relaxed furry friends indeed.
The idea of getting a massage is to apply pressure to reduce tension and stressors, but somehow this dude might be over-doing it.
Image Source: http://www.fullermassage.com
This week at Passy World we have decided to look at the lighter side of Massage. Not the red light kind they have in Amsterdam, but "Therapeutic Massage". The kind of massaging you might get at a holistic health center or the Physiotherapist.
Big Passy, being the reckless adventurous kind, has needed quite a few sports medicine massages in his time, for various mishaps and their ensuing aches and pains.
Here's a really cute video of "Neo" after the download of the European Masseuse program:
So this massage stuff looks pretty good right? Well how about your very own free online massage lesson from a pair of Gorillas? - WARNING: Do not try this at Home
Whenever you finish a course, (that you have invested a lot into), then its only right that you should try and get yourself the best job possible. And upon Graduation from Massage school, who knows you could even get a great job like this one:
So if you are into the business of therepeutic massages, then you might want to go through this little check list:
You Know You Might be a Massage Therapist if...
Your iron-grip handshake could make Chuck Norris cry.
You're combing the seashore and you find a massage in a bottle.
Your favorite Kung Fu movie is "Flying Fists of Relaxation."
You format your documents with pressure points.
You get on someone's very last nerve. And that's a good thing.
When it's "time to knuckle down," boy, do you mean it.
Your uncle throws his back out. And you throw it back in.
You relax more shoulders before 6 p.m. than most people do in their entire lives.
You're the strongest muscle relaxer available without a prescription.
You never rub people "the wrong way."
You have a padded kitchen table. With a nose hole.
Your voicemail is completely full - too many massages.
You never rip open your birthday presents. You squeeze them open.
How about a "full service massage" (No it's not what you're thinking) :
Or if that one was perhaps a bit too expensive and painful to endure, then how about a cheap "no thrills" Eastern European full service massage:
Now if you thought you'd seen it all, then what about the idea of paying around $100 US to get a Snake Massage in the Holy Land!
Image Source: http://images.forbestraveler.com
At Ada Barak's spa in northern Israel, slithering reptiles don't give deep-tissue massages.
Barak figured out several years ago that heavy king and corn snakes produce a relaxing kneading sensation. For several years, she's been entertaining guests at her farm where she cultivates rodent-eating carnivorous plants. Seems she has found an even stranger sideline that's a money spinner.
"People either like it a lot or they hate it," she told Time magazine.
Don't snake bag it till you've tried it yourself. Let a few of these reptilian relaxants wriggle their way up your spine and across your face, and see if this is a de-stressor, or distressor.
Image Source: http://images.watoday.com.au
Finally: How does the world of modern computerised technology fit into all of this:
Japan with its robotical prowess seems to be leading the world in this particular area.
There have also been a few DIY attempts in the home to master the mechanical art of massage:
Image Source: http://thepirata.com
This video about some guys on coin operated massage chairs is very slow and boring to begin with, but has a surprise ending not to be missed:
That's about it for this week's Friday Funny. I've got to go give my texting thumb a bit of therapeutic work.
So let's finish up with a recent picture of yet another "Neo" versus "Agent Smith" encounter.
Perhaps "The One" is a little too relaxed after the recent pawing of pressure point tension release?
I bet the ancient Greeks never dreamed there would be a Maths Rap video with cool Avatar Dancers in it like this one.
Oh how the times have changed. Teaching kids Pythagoras is much more than a matter of just getting the right triangle.
Big Passy is teaching some 9th graders all about Pythagoras Triangles, and so it has been time to build another WallWisher website. Here is an iframe window into this brand new "Pythagoras9" web site:
If you would like to see the above wall full size, then click the link below:
If you would like to know how to build your own Wall of links to items that all follow a particular theme, then check out our previous blog post on this here:
So I bet you are just itching to see that cool Dancing Avatars clip about Pythagoras triangles, and so here it is:
But being an Arnie fan from way back, this is definitely Big Passy's all time favourite Pythagoras movie:
So now that we have Pythagoras all squared away: PLEASE DO OUR ONE CLICK SURVEY AT THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THIS WEB PAGE. JUST CLICK ONE OPTION IN, AND THEN CLICK THE "VOTE" BUTTON.
Big Passy has been out and about being a "Photo Junkie" again. Sorry Guys and Gals, but the Guitar and IT posts will have to wait until Melbourne's wonderful fun filled summer ends.
This time we went to see "Mojo" - The Mordialloc Jazz Orchestra" which a couple of my muso friends play in. We also got to see the "Victoria Police Showband" who are an awesomely tight and together unit. They did a great Brass and Vocals version of the old Cream classic "Sunshine of Your Love".
The new Panasonic ZS3 Lumix camera worked a treat, and we actually used sports action mode for taking most of the photos.
The folowing Wondershare Slideshow contains 36 photos taken at the Big Band Sunsets Festival on February 6th 2010. When you get through the whole show, the last picture should be of some kids dancing around in the sunset. If you missed any pictures then click on the big arrow in the center when the slideshow ends.
Note that we can click on the bottom of the slideshow on the "Manual Play" option at any time. We can then advance through the photos one by one at our own pace. This allows us to stop for longer on the photos that we really like, and quickly bypass the ones that we are not interested in.
(Push the Play button arrow below if the slideshow is not already running).
Let's face it, computers can be pretty damn annoying at times, and for some people this can be the straw that breaks the camel's back. (and everything else).
So is it funny to laugh at other people's misfortunes?
Well check out this blog post, see if you giggle, and you be the judge.
Hmmm... bit of a problem printing. A simple minimal fuss solution: Use the photocopier instead!
I guess if you'd missed out on lunch because your computer gave you problems, then you'd naturally be taking a bite out of your laptop:
Image Source: http://www.cliconline.co.uk
So maybe just get off the computer for a while, and organise the mail run:
Sometimes it is just so hard to get yourself plugged into the Matrix:
Image Source: http://www.officerage.com
Or to even get yourself plugged into the whole idea of another boring day at the office:
And here is another guy with some deeply troublesome anger management issues:
They've even made computer rage coffee mugs:
Image Source: http://www.coffeemugheaven.com
Looks like a couple of guys in this office have overdone the caffeine and everything else. Check out what happens about 40 seconds into the video:
Perhaps a weekend away with the guys getting in touch with your deepest inner feelings could help a lot with computer anger management:
Image Source: http://faculty-staff.ou.edu
Passy World advises to avoid computer rage as follows:
Nip the problem in the bud by seeking out help for your computer problems as soon as they surface. Remember, expert help is always not too far away.
Image Source: http://www.optimize-your-pc.com
FINALLY, DON'T FORGET TO DO OUR ONE CLICK SURVEY AT THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THIS WEB PAGE. JUST CLICK ONE OPTION IN, AND THEN CLICK THE "VOTE" BUTTON.
We have had Analytics set up for about a month. So now it's time to interpret the data that has been collected.
Here is a YouTube high level technical overview of how Google Analytics works:
Here is a good Beginner's Video about how to interpret Analytics Data and Graphs. The sound track is not all that good, but the content and explanations are excellent. It also includes a blog example.
As soon as we set up Analytics on our Blog, Google emailed us an excellent list of resources for Analytics. This email is contained in the PDF document below:
The above PDF document has all the links to the You Tube Channel, the Blog, the User Guide, and so on.
If you would like to have your own full size copy of this PDF, then simply click the save disk icon button on the PDF viewer, and you should be able to save it to your own hard disk.
Alternatively, you can view or save the full size PDF by clicking the link below:
Let's examine the Reports that Google has generated for Passy's World of ICT.
Here is the main Analytics Dashboard Summary:
The stats are showing that people stay for an average of 55 seconds on our site, with a high bounce rate of 70%. This is probably because they click a link on our page to go watch a YouTube video or some other link we have in our post. This makes their time appear very short, as if they have nearly bounced straight off our site. Passy's World of ICT is basically a portal to other media that is located elsewhere on the web. This is what we have planned to be from the outset, and so all is good here.
As a more detailed reporting example, let's examine "Traffic Sources".
If we examine the URL source report in detail, and click on the pie chart option, we find that virtually all our traffic comes from the Googles for various countries around the world:
Another interesting thing, is that over half our visitors use Firefox as their browser:
And currently it seems that we are mostly getting new visitors, and the return rate is quite a bit lower than what we would like. Perhaps this will change over the next few months.
Summary:
Analytics is telling us for Passy's World of ICT:
Most Visitors are brand new visitors
They only stay on a page for a short time before clicking one of its links
Our post on Orianthi the female guitarist is our most popular post.
The post we did on Graffiti Creator is also very popular.
Firefox is the browser of choice and most visitors have high speed internet connections.
Most of our visitors are located in the USA.
The least number of people visit our site on Sundays.
The most number of people visit at 7am in the morning.
Most visitors only view 1 or 2 of our pages and then exit.
We will check out Analytics again, in 2 or 3 months time, and see what trends emerge.
It is certainly a very useful free tool for anyone running a Blog or a Website.
DON'T FORGET TO DO OUR ONE CLICK SURVEY AT THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THIS WEB PAGE. JUST CLICK ONE OPTION IN, AND THEN CLICK THE "VOTE" BUTTON.
