Magical Parties - They Are More Than Just Fun!

Parties are fun, but some parties are more than just fun - they're magical. Magical parties often commemorate milestones or special events in your life or the lives of your loved ones. Such parties are occasions that add joy to your life and often help you reinforce a special closeness to those you love. Magical parties of this sort are unforgettable, producing memories that you and your guests can cherish for years to come. When this happens your family and friends will appreciate the extra effort you have put forth to make your event so special.

Without a doubt there are special occasions to which you desire to add a touch of magic. It may be a wedding anniversary, maybe the 25th, the 30th, 40th, or even the 50th. Perhaps it's the high school or college graduation of your son or daughter. Maybe it's a retirement party for a dear friend. Maybe it's to honor someone for a significant accomplishment. It could be your planning the wedding party for your own son or daughter, or it's a big family reunion, perhaps the first time everybody has been together in years. Whatever the reason, you know just getting together with loved ones will be enjoyable, but what can be done to make it even more memorable?

Often times parties are fairly informal which is fine, but mainly occasions where friends and family gather together, visit and eat. Invitations are by word of mouth. There may not be a lot of planned activity. That is there is no theme, no music, no games, no program, no tributes, no gifts, no decorations, no costumes, no catering, no videos, just friends and family spending some good times together. You still enjoy it because you invite those whose company you find pleasurable. It's just nice to be able to relax and have fellowship with dear friends.

On the other hand many times even formal gatherings are pretty routine. You may dress up more, the location may be a banquet hall, the food may be catered, and their may be some decorations, plus perhaps music and dancing. But even still could there be more forethought as to how to make the event truly unique, filled with sentimental touches and magical moments? What can be done to make your party unforgettable for all in attendance? Could an atmosphere be created by means of a combination of the décor, a theme, special planned activities and surprises, sentimental music, pictures, videos and of course great food that will leave your guests enchanted and talking about it for months to come?

The answer is yes. In fact the good news is that any party can be made to be more magical with proper guidance and planning. Yes, it takes a conscientious effort and much attention to detail, but it's certainly worth the effort. It is often little things that make a big difference. It can't be left to chance. It has to be well thought out and planned. Nonetheless, with proper planning uniqueness, charm, grace and professionalism can be created in any party, creating that perfect, magical atmosphere.

Shannon Summers is a party planning enthusiast and the chief editor of http://www.partyplanningmagic.com, a website designed to teach people how to create magical parties. To learn more very valuable tips and party planning information that will help you plan and host such magical parties visit this unique site. You may also sign up for a free mini-course on party planning. Shannon's new ebook, "Party Planning Magic - How to Plan the Perfect Party?" is also available. For more information Click Here.

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Can a Half Naked Rasta Help Teach You to Speak Jamaican - A Movie Review of Countryman

Have you ever seen a half naked rasta run at the speed of a cheetah? Well, after watching Countryman you will see your first half naked rasta running like a cheetah. Countryman is a unique Jamaican adventure about a mystical fisherman and rasta who helps an American couple shipwrecked in a plane crash. The couple end up in Countryman's small fishing village in Jamaica. As would be expected, when a pair of American's disappear in the Jamaican wilderness a large scale manhunt is initiated by the American Government and the Jamaican Police. In the tradition of Rastafari, the couple are well received by Countryman, but his peace and way of life is threatened by the police and greedy villagers. Despite an intense manhunt, Countryman is in control of the situation throughout the whole film and shows Babylon (the police) the spirit and power of Rastafari.

Besides seeing a half naked rasta move at lightening speed, Countryman is a standout film in the collection of Jamaican films. This film is not really about Ganja, "Gangstas" or the rise from poverty. This movie is truly in the spirit of Rastafari and Rasta Resistance. Countryman is a peaceful man that lives off of the earth and is truly in touch with the earth, but he is much more powerful than a ganja smoking fisherman! Countryman is a hero and the couple that he saves after their plane crashes enjoys their time with Countryman. This film is about more than some Rasta who helps a few Americans, this film is the essence of Rastafari. Countryman exhibits man of the key aspects of Rasta such as peace, a connection with the earth, an ital diet and a natural mystic.

Now, if you watch Jamaican movies to learn the Jamaican Language (Jamaican Patois), this is not the best movie in the Jamaican film collection. As mentioned, this movie is really for the true fan of Rastafari.

In addition to the spirit of Rastafari all throughout the movie, the music is classic. The soundtrack is worth getting in addition to the film because the film packs major reggae heat. Most of the artists are reggae legends such as Bob Marley and The Wailers, Toots and The Maytals, Steel Pulse and several others. Just these three groups are worth picking up the movie and the soundtrack. Everyone loves Bob Marley and Steel Pulse is nothing to shabby either.

So do we recommend this film? Yah mon! Pick up Countryman to enjoy classic reggae and witness the real spirit of Jah Rastafari.

More Time!

Ras Zuke is the author of The Rastaman Vibration - The Definitive Source for learning about Jamaican culture, Reggae Music and how to To learn more about Jamaica, Dancehall Reggae, Reggae, Jamaican Culture and how to Speak Jamaican Patois, visit http://www.SpeakJamaican.com

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Review: Alice In Corporate Wonderland: Down The Long Hallway

Lewis Caroll's classic tale of Alice Adventures in Wonderland was first published in 1865 and is still a favorite among young readers. Most of us will remember this children's story as a tale filled with satire references to the author's friends and to the lessons that British schoolchildren were expected to memorize.

R.T. Talasek has now reincarnated this famous tale with his loose adaptation, Alice In Corporate Wonderland: Down The Long Hallway. Talasek informs us in the Prologue that hopefully the reader will realize that the similarities between the two stories are frightening, with some allowances for the passage of time and change of venue. It should be pointed out that Talasek worked in the corporate world for over twenty-five years and the story draws from this experience.

Talasek's Alice is studying towards her MBA degree at Ivy League University and one day while preparing herself for her final exams, she falls asleep. In dreamland Alice meets up with a woman dressed in a white linen suit and matching white shoes, who towers over her. Alice is quite perturbed! Who is this woman, whom she compares to a rabbit with her "floppy hair ears." Moreover, Alice does not know if she herself works in this building or why is she here. Finally, Alice is informed by the woman that she is the senior assistant to the president and people call her WR.

Alice is instructed to follow WR to her first meeting and that Wonderland Industries values punctuality. WR tells Alice what Wonderland Industries is all about however Alice admits she has no idea what WR is talking about, as the descriptions and jargon she hears make little sense. Unfortunately, Alice can't keep up with WR and looses her in the corridors. Feeling abandoned and confused Alice is now left to find her way to her first meeting.

No one is around to aid her and the windowless hallway seems to go on endlessly. Eventually, Alice runs into a group of seven men singing "Hi, Ho, Hi, Ho, it's off to work we go!" Sound familiar? Are these our seven dwarfs? Only this time they are dressed in Brooks Brothers business suits of varied shades of blue and gray. All of these employees seemed to be programmed and are not exactly sure as to what their respective responsibilities are in Wonderland Industries. Although, they do understand that in order to survive and keep their jobs they must tow the company line, otherwise they will be history.

Alice is finally approached by a short man with thinning hair, large ears and a round head, who beckons Alice to a room filled with row after row of steel desks, badly in need of paint. He tells Alice that he has been looking all over for her and that her help is needed, as she definitely is management by the way she is dressed and they need a management representative as a sponsor. Again, Alice is perplexed, as she has no idea what Mr. Mouse (Alice's nickname for the gentleman) is talking about.

As we follow Alice during her first chaotic day of work, we have to ask ourselves how do you rationally expect employees to grasp and understand America's ambiguous corporate "la la" land where there are sometimes vague norms, values and expectations that supposedly are to serve as unifying the workforce and strengthen a company's success. The characters that make up this corporate world are very often bizarre and "off the wall" with little or no direction. New and even old employees constantly face the taunting challenge of comprehending both the norms of the company as well as communicating in a somewhat new language while adapting to a sometimes ambiguous culture.

Conveying thoughts, ideas, beliefs and feelings to another individual is never an easy task. Some authors choose the straight forward method and others rely on various techniques as allegory, parables, symbolism, metaphor, and irony in an effort to reach their readers. Talasek has succeeded admirably in conveying his thoughts and feelings pertaining to corporate America's madness with the clever use of Carroll's characters and the loose similarity with the original story line.

Author: R.T. Talasek, PH.D

ISBN: 1413796818

The above review was contributed by: Norm Goldman, Editor of Bookpleasures. CLICK TO VIEW Norm Goldman's Reviews

Norm Goldman is editor of the book reviewing and author interviewing site http://www.bookpleasures.com and the travel site http://www.sketchandtravel.com

Bookpleasures is a global Internet book reviewing and author interviewing village. Reviewers come from all over the globe and review all genre. There are over 6500 sites that link to Bookpleasures and many of the reviews are listed within the first 3 pages of the Google Search Engine.

Norm also offers his own personalized express review service where you can have a quick review within 15 business days from the receipt of your book. To learn more about this service go to bookpleasures.com

Norm is ranked among the top 1000 Amazon reviewers and he contributes his reviews to several other Internet sites.

In addition, Norm and his artist wife Lily meld words with art focusing on romantic and wedding destinations, inns, and other hospitality properties. You can read Norm's travel articles and view Lily's art work that is always for sale at sketchandtravel.com

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Party Finger Food Ideas

Party finger food ideas can be anything from a tasty little appetizer to really anything delicious that can be cut down to size. Veggies and dip, chicken fingers, nachos, finger sandwiches, meatballs, cheese, crackers and an assortment of cold sausage meats are easy to prepare and always appreciated.

Crab dip that contains salsa and cream cheese, salmon dip made from cream cheese, fruit and nut logs also contain cream cheese. Any of these can be made mild or spicy.

Cocktail wieners, shrimp, scallops wrapped with bacon, pot stickers, mini tuna melts and crescent rolls with cheese and ham are just some of the things that can be served.

If you are planning to serve an informal meal, think of things that are easy to place in a buffet style table. Casseroles, buns and deli meats, cheeses, salads of at least three different kinds such as vegetable, potato, and fruit to add color, texture and something for everyone.

Party food ideas vary widely depending on nationality and traditional foods of the place that you reside in, as well as who your guests are and where they come from. Birthday party food can be finger foods, buffet style foods, picnic or barbeque foods depending on the age group, the time of year and where you have the birthday party.

Traditionally, birthday food always comes to the climax with the entry of the birthday cake glowing with candles. People more often these days are tired of cake and want something different. Strawberries and cream, mud pie, fruit cocktails and banana splits made in a huge bowl, to name a few ideas, will support sparklers or candles. The important thing is to have fun and use your imagination.

For more free party finger food ideas and party appetizer recipes, visit http://www.fun-theme-party-ideas.com/party-food-recipes.html for tons of popular party food recipes.

© Copyright 2008. Feel free to reprint this article on your site as long as the article is not modified in any way and the resource information (about the author) is listed as above.

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Film Noir Oscars

Some of the best films coming out of the 1940's were of the film noir genre. These black and white movie classics depicted the dark shadows of the inner psyche as well as those in the back alleys of the big city.

Hot, cramped New York apartments, lonely, foggy piers, smoky nightclubs and coffee shops with wisecrackin' waitresses dominated the noir landscapes.

Most of these films were shot on a relatively low budget, especially those from RKO, who turned out many of the quirkiest gems. The mise en scene, or visual look and feel of these films attempted to mirror the psychological quagmires of the characters.

Another characteristic of film noir came from the writing, which was often full of snappy, witty dialog, steeped in irony and dark humor.

The Academy recognized a few of these film noir classics for excellency in one aspect or another, and they are certainly worth seeing again with their awards in mind.

According to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences database, the following films won the oscar in the year indicated.

In 1944, Joan Crawford won best actress for her performance as Mildred Pierce in the movie of the same name, "Mildred Pierce".

Billy Wilder won best director for his work on "The Lost Weekend", which also won best motion picture (Paramount), best screenplay (Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder), and best actor (Ray Milland).

That year also gave birth to "Laura", for which Joseph LaShelle garnered an oscar for his black and white cinematography.

In 1948, Claire Trevor got the oscar for best supporting actress for her role in "Key Largo".

"The Naked City" earned two oscars, one for William Daniels cinematography and the other for Paul Weatherwax' editing.

In 1950, "Sunset Boulevard" got the oscar for the best music score, done by Franz Waxman.

The best screenplay was "Panic In the Streets", penned by Edward and Edna Anhalt.

Robert Krasker's incredible cinematography in "The Third Man" got him the oscar that year.

In addition to these Academy Award winners, many more movies of the film noir genre were nominated for the writing. The writing category includes best original motion picture story, best original screenplay, and best screenplay. For those interested in classic film noir or in writing screenplays, these films are definitely worth revisiting.

In 1941 there was "The Maltese Falcon". 1943 bore "Shadow Of A Doubt." In 1944 there was "Double Indemnity" and "Laura". "Mildred Pierce" was nominated for the writing in 1945. ("Lost Weekend" won.)

In 1946 there were several film noir contenders: "The Dark Mirror", "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers", and "The Stranger", "Blue Dahlia", "Brief Encounter"(dubiously noir) and "The Killers".

In 1947, "Kiss Of Death", "A Double Life" and "Crossfire" were nominated, while in 1948 it was "The Naked City", "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and "Johnny Belinda".

In 1950, "Mystery Street" was one of the nominated, while "Panic In The Streets" (best motion picture story) and "Sunset Boulevard" (best story and screenplay) won.

"The Big Carnival" was nominated in 1951, while "The Narrow Margin" was nominated in 1952 (losing to "The Bad and the Beautiful".)

In 1958, "I Want To Live!" was nominated for best writing.

So, head to your nearest video store and see what film noir oscar treasures you can uncover!

Laura Eggers operates Film Noir Alley, a site which is a resource to help film noir fans find books, music, dvds and posters. Also delves into specific psychological aspects of film noir, such as strangest scenes, passions, obsessions, oddball characters, deviant relationships, and more. www.film-noir-alley.com

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Would You Go With Me--Josh Turner (Cover)

umm ya reverb FTW edited on sony vegas pro 9.0 recorded with Canon Vixia HF200 Lyics Would you go with me if we rolled down streets of fire Would you hold on to me tighter as the summer sun got higher If we roll from town to town and never shut it down Would you go with me if we were lost in fields of clover Would we walk even closer until the trip was over And would it be okay if I didn't know the way If I gave you my hand would you take it And make me the happiest man in the world If I told you my heart couldn't beat one more minute without you, girl Would you accompany me to the edge of the sea Let me know if you're really a dream I love you so, so would you go with me Would you go with me if we rode the clouds together Could you not look down forever If you were lighter than a feather Oh, and if I set you free, would you go with me If I gave you my hand would you take it And make me the happiest man in the world If I told you my heart couldn't beat one more minute without you, girl Would you accompany me to the edge of the sea Help me tie up the ends of a dream I gotta know, would you go with me I love you so, so would you go with me



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjP30D5EsPI&hl=en

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Alice in Wonderland - EPK Featurette

Go behind the scenes with the cast and filmmakers from ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Walt Disney Pictures and Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND coming to theaters in Disney Digital 3D on March 5, 2010. TAGS: alice in wonderland walt disney pictures theatrical trailer teaser tim burton nightmare before christmas xmas anne hathaway crispin glover alice returns helena bonham carter johnny depp linda woolverton lewis carroll adventures through the looking glass wars digital 3d imax suzanne todd returns to mia wasikowska wonderland wednesdays exclusive film clip scene red queen white rabbit mad hatter featurette tea party march hare dormouse epk alice return late important date hd hq high def definition quality max maximum poppy poppylar popular mini lovato minilovato



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx-3w20An64&hl=en

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