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Bowmen have played a major role in warfare and hunting for thousands of years. Primitive bows were made of a single piece of wood, but composite recurve bows were being made from Greece to China as far back as the second millennium BC.

Recurve bows, those with the ends facing the ‘wrong way’ when unstrung, are more powerful inch for inch in length than one piece wooden bows, which made them more suitable to confined conditions such as on horseback, in a chariot or in wooded areas.

Pieces of composite recurve bows, usually made from horn, have been found in many regions of the world. Early arrows were made from naturally straight twigs or pine needles with napped flint tips affixed. Wooden bows did not preserve so well and exemplars are rare.

It seems that archery was being developed in the early Mesolithic or late Paleolithic Age. Archery was especially well developed in some Islamic countries and in Asia, where Zen Buddhist monks utilized archery as an element of their meditation techniques.

In the early days of archery, there were miscellaneous feelings about archers. In those days, people battled hand to hand with swords and spears and some of the traditionalists thought that archers were cowards because they attacked from a distance out of direct danger. This point is made quite clear in ‘The Iliad’, Homer’s account to the siege of Troy.

There are or were many types of bows made to suit different fighting or hunting conditions. Some varieties of bow are the; long bow, short bow, recurve bow, composite recurve bow, reflex bow, decurve bow, deflex bow and crossbow among others.

The longbow was extremely hard to learn to use and the archer needed considerable upper-body strength. The bow was often six feet long with a weighty three foot long arrow. The draw weight for maximum power was around a hundred pounds and the use of the bow on a battlefield was as long-range artillery.

The heavy arrows and vicious armour-piercing arrow head would rain down on the enemy from a hundred yards or more and penetrate shields and armour as if they did not exist. Shot horizontally, the three-foot arrow could pass through a couple of people.

In fact, the longbow was so essential to the success of Great Britain that a law was passed making it compulsory for men over a particular age to practice with their longbows every Sunday on the village green in order to develop the necessary expertise and upper-body strength in case war came.

The arrows are made to suit the different kinds of bows and the different bows and their specific arrows are suited to different kinds of hunting – whether you are hunting men or animals.

There are essentially two styles of shooting: instinctive shooting, which is very demanding as the archer does not take his eyes off the target, but does not sight down the arrow; and sight shooting where the archer makes use of sights to align the arrow with its target. The majority of people find sight shooting simpler.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece writes on several topics, but is currently involved with archery recurve bows. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.

In these days of superior alertness of the shortages in the world and the recent economic problems in the whole world, but particularly in the wealthy Western countries, which are the powerhouses of most Third World countries’ development, people are more conscious of waste. It is a sin again to throw away food, like it was 50 years ago.

This can only be a good thing although it is a shame that it took an international financial crisis to make us remember the lesson. These days, waste of any kind is greeted with public disapproval and so it is at home too. Most people spend a very high percentage of their outgoings on food and so anyone who wants to cut back, has to first look to this quarter to make a saving.

However, saving does not necessarily mean ‘not buying’, it can and should mean ‘not throwing away’. In other words, prepare your food and do not let your food go off. Preparation and storage are the key words. With that thought in mind, here are a few of my tips for preparing and storing food correctly.

Bread – tons of bread is thrown away every day, because it has gone stale or mouldy and yet it is totally needless. Store your bread in the deep freezer and not in the bread bin. A whole loaf will slice frozen with the proper knife and sliced bread will come away slice by slice. There is no need to defrost as it only takes a minute or two at room temperature.

Bananas – most people know that banana skins turn black if kept in the fridge, but most people do not know that bananas can be frozen solid. Yes, the skins will still go black, but the fruit will be undamaged.

Cake – to stop cake from going stale, store it in a tin with an apple. The moisture in the apple will stop the cake from going hard.

Watercress – to keep watercress from wilting, store it upside down in water, that is stalks up.

Salt – salt often gets damp, particularly if stored in a steamy kitchen without sufficient ventilation, but you do not have to worry about that if you put two or three grains of rice in the salt cellar. They will soak up the moisture before the salt.

Cereal – stop cereal from going soft by resealing the bag with a few clothes pegs. Your cereal will last weeks more.

Jam – boiling jam produces a scum which has to be skimmed off and thrown away. This wastes jam, goodness and flavour. However, if you whisk a knob of butter into the mixture at the last moment the scum will not appear, saving time and goodness.

Funnel – you always seem to need a funnel when you do not have one. Then you vow to get a funnel for the next time. Do not bother. Just cut the top nine inches off a plastic bottle of cola. It makes an excellent throw-away funnel. Some of the larger bottles even have a handle on them which is even better.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching the programmable crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots

There can not be many people who do not like their food, but the human race, being what it is, I expect that there are a few of them. However, for the rest of us, food is a font of daily pleasure and, like a beverage, it is often employed to commemorate a celebration. not only that, but different foods are served for the different meals or distinct celebrations.

Festive meals were indubitably considered around the seasonal foodstuffs on hand, but some foods were transported huge distances for the benefit of those who could pay for them. For instance, my father thought it a grand treat to be given an orange in his stocking on Christmas Day 60 years in the past. How the times have altered! Very few kids would judge an orange a present, special or otherwise, any day of the year these days.

Nevertheless, the preservation of foodstuff is still a daily concern and therefore, I have listed a couple of good guidelines on preserving foodstuff below, so that you will obtain the best from that which you have bought or grown in your garden even a long while afterward.

The Quickest Quiche: a quiche is the conventional healthy fast food and this is one of the finest quick methods to make one. Put one onion, four eggs four ounces/125 grammes of butter, half a pint/250 ml milk, baking powder, 2 ounces/60 grammes of grated Cheddar cheese, parsley, salt and pepper and whatever else you like into a strong food mixer/blender. Whirl it all up together and pour it into an appropriate dish, lined if you have it with some pre-made, shop bought, pastry. Bake at 190C/375F/Gas Mark 6 for 40 minutes. It serves four and is delicious.

Heavenly Hamburgers: next time you make hamburgers, do not salt the meat before cooking them. Use your traditional recipe and prepare the patties as normal. Then, put a handful of sea salt in your favourite heavy duty frying pan and heat it up to very hot. Drop the hamburgers onto the salt and cook as normal. The outside of the hamburger will go crisp and the fat will be kept to the absolute minimum.

Salmon In The Papers: a fantastic way to cook a whole salmon is to cook it in newspaper. You ought to try it. Prepare your salmon according to your favourite recipe. Then wrap in three or four thoroughly drenched sheets of newspaper (any one). Make a nice parcel out of it; as neat as you can. Place the soaking-wet parcel on a baking tray in the centre of a moderate oven. Bake until the paper is dry on the top and then turn it over. When that side is dry the salmon is done. It’ll take about an hour. If you want to eat it hot, peal the paper off straight away and dish up. If you want to eat it cold, leave the package until it is cold and then unwrap. Either way the skin will stick to the newspaper.

Off The Wall: if you are unsure when spaghetti is fit to be eaten, through a strand at a tiled wall. If it sticks, it is done.

Cheap And Cheerful: for a quick, healthy, unusual summer sandwich filling, pick some fresh, young dandelion leaves; wash them carefully; dress if you want and put between slices off a good loaf of bread.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching the Rival Versaware crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots

In the West, alcoholic beverages are never far away from the scene at festive times, but do we aways know how to get the most from these costly luxuries? Too many people these days just think its a question of ‘getting as much down as possible in as little time as possible’. This is the wrong attitude.

After all, most people realize that a good meal does not consist of eating as many chips as possible in fifteen minutes, so why should that principle not apply to having a drink too? You will get far more pleasure from a bottle of wine, if you spend an extra dollar on it and drink it slowly with a friend and some appropriate food than if you swill down a cheap bottle of plonk on your own. It makes evident sense, but not everyone realizes it.

So, with that idea in mind, I have put together a few tips on how to get more enjoyment from your alcoholic drinks, if you are old enough and of that frame of mind.

Gin and Vodka – if these white spirits are your proffered tipple, always keep the bottle in the fridge, not the drinks cupboard. Keep the mixers in the fridge too. That way the ice will last longer and you will not be tempted to have to swig it down before the ice melts. If you are having friends around, go one step further and put the bottle in the freezer. It will not go solid. You can even cut the top off a plastic cola bottle, put the bottle of gin or vodka in that, fill it with water and then freeze it. Remove the plastic bottle and you have an attractive “collar of ice” around your bottle.

The Last Tot – five minutes or so after finishing a bottle of spirits, tip it out one more time and the bottle that you thought was drained will deliver one more tot of contents. It is not a lot, but it is a pleasant free surprise. The same works for many alcohol based items including underarm roll-on and perfume.

White Wine – white wines taste best when they have been gently chilled over a prolonged length of time, but if you get caught out by surprise visitors, put the bottle of wine in a container of ice and cold water. Try not to have to place it in the deep freeze, it is too harsh, but if you have to, then ten minutes is all that it takes.

Port – it is always better to decant port and older, heavier red wines, because of the sediment that may be in the bottom of the bottle, which tastes horrible and because it assists the aeration of the wine. However, it is not always easy to see when the dregs are coming. The books say to use a candle, but they were written a hundred years ago. The concentrated beam from a torch is much better. Try using a Durabeam because its rotateable head allows it to be directed more accurately.

Decanters – sometimes the stopper becomes stuck fast. Tap it with another glass item and it should come free. If not, run the neck of the decanter under hot water for a few seconds and it will come out.

Labels – if you store your wine in a damp place where the labels are likely to rot or fall off, spray them with hair lacquer beforehand.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching the programmable crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots

When it comes to living a long and healthy life, there are two necessary ingredients: diet and fitness. While some believe that they are inseparable, nothing could be further from the truth. It is quite possible to have a perfectly healthy diet with deplorable fitness habits. It is equally possible to be physically fit with less than perfect eating habits.

There’s a clever little line in the Jimmy Buffet lyrics “Fruitcakes” when his ‘lady’ is complaining: “I treat my body like a temple, You treat yours like a tent”

I can’t help thinking about this line whenever I think about all the people around the world who are on these garbage in, garbage out diet regimens hoping to achieve the weight loss triumph of those who are promoting the products.

To be totally honest, it is possible to shed pounds through dieting alone. It is difficult but possible. It is also possible to be physically fit and still have a few extra pounds. To a large part, we are what we eat. If we follow a high fat low fibre diet our bodies are going to lack the fuel required to burn the fat. At the same time if we are not providing our bodies with the tools it requires to create muscle it does not matter how many weights we lift.

When it comes to diet and fitness, the best results are achieved when they are combined together rather. Use your fitness routine to burn surplus calories and use your diet in order to provide your body with the nutrients and fuel it requires to build muscle.

A pound of muscle takes up less space on the body than a pound of fat. Pound for pound, I would much prefer mine be composed of muscle than fat. Dieting alone does not build muscle and that is something you would do well to remember.

You should also realize that as you are building muscle you may be shedding inches while not showing a great deal of progress on the scale. It is very important that you keep this in mind throughout the weight loss process. Do not measure your progress by the scales alone or you will observe deceptive results.

The problem is that far too many people do just this, grow frustrated and give up when they are in point of fact making progress. Do not allow yourself to be a victim of the scales. Look in the mirror, try on your tight pants, and measure your waistline. Measure your success by how you feel after climbing a flight of stairs not by the scales.

By incorporating exercise into your diet routine you are also enabling your body to burn off any extra calories you may have consumed during the day. This means that if you want to have a small ‘cheat’ during your day, you can make up for it by burning a few more calories than normal in the evening. This is not something that should happen often but an occasional occurrence is not going to make or break your diet.

You should also consider dieting and fitness as a hand and glove type of relationship. They fit together. Diet and exercise when combined can achieve fantastic weight loss results for those who take them both sincerely.

The thing to remember is that neither works well alone and neither will work unless you are willing to do the work. You must make this a priority in your life in order to achieve the best possible results.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with why can’t I lose weight. If you have an interest in losing weight, please go over to our website now at Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

categories: diet,exercise,health,fitness,recreation,sports,muscle building,running,self help,happiness,other,uncategorized,men’s issues,women’ issues

The calendar is such a routine, everyday thing, but how much do you actually know about the operation of it. Why is it like that?

A DAY: The Earth rotates at a reasonably fixed pace about the imaginary line running between the North and South Poles named the Earth’s Axis. The time it takes to spin once is called a ‘rotation’ and this takes just under twenty-four hours. Nevertheless, because the Earth is constantly traveling around the Sun, the exact time from noon one day to noon the next is 3 minutes 56 seconds longer and this makes a day almost exactly twenty-four hours in length.

The actual time from noon to noon differs depending where the Earth is on its celestial course around the Sun, but if you average the days in a year out, it comes to exactly twenty-four hours.

A YEAR: All nine planets in our solar system travel around the Sun in almost perfectly circular routes called orbits. Each trip around the Sun is called a revolution and all the planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction. The direction the Earth takes can be verified by noting its location against the background stars.

In view of the fact that you cannot see the Sun and the stars at the same time, it is necessary to note the position of the Sun in the morning and the see which stars come out there in the night. You will see that the Sun seems to pass through the twelve constellations of the zodiac during a year.

Earth’s trip around the Sun, which seems like the Sun traveling through the zodiac takes about 365.25 days. This is different from year to year, so astronomers add or delete a second in some years to keep their time correct with the Earth’s motion.

THE SEASONS: The seasons mark the change in the pattern of daylight over the span of a year. Because the Earth is tilted off centre, different parts of it receive different amounts of sunlight on different stages of its path around the Sun, a path that we call a year. So, between approximately the 21st September and late March, the Earth’s Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, which produces Autumn and Winter, giving less than twelve hours of daylight per day.

From April to the 20th September, the Northern Hemisphere enjoys more than twelve hours of daylight a day, producing Spring and Summer. The exact opposite occurs in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Equinoxes occur at the points in the year when there is exactly twelve hours of sunlight and darkness in the day. So, the vernal or Spring equinox is on or around the 21st March and the autumnal equinox is on or around the 21st September. Summer officially begins on the day with the greatest amount of daylight, the 21st June or summer solstice.

The winter solstice occurs on the shortest day, the 21st December. ‘Solstice’ is a combination of two words meaning ‘sun standing still’ and the days are so called because they are the days when the apparent movement of the Sun reaches its extremes and reverses direction again.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our web site now at Promotional Desk Calendars

If you were to create a self-cleaning textile, the world may want to beat a path to your door to buy some from you, but first of all they will have to know that the fabric exists, that it is available for purchase, and they have to be aware of where your door is. This means advertising.

There are two types of advertising: institutional and product. Institutional advertising markets the name of your company in general and product advertising promotes a product or range of products or services. The sort of advertising that a company needs, depends on the products or services that it allows.

Furthermore, some types of advertising lend themselves better to institutional advertising rather than product advertising. For instance, a shop sign, a sign-written van or a promotional calendar are better cut out for institutional advertising, while a newspaper or magazine advert would be better for advertising the latest special offer.

There are few facts and figures available that reveal the astonishing growth of the mass consumption society as well as those dealing with the expansion of the advertising industry. For instance, prior to the Second World War, US average annual expenditure on advertising per year had been about $2 billion for decades.

In 1950, as the post-war economy began to recover , American businesses spent $5.7 billion to advertise its goods and services. By 1960, that amount had doubled to $12 billion. By 1970, American business was spending $20.

Between 1970 and 1990, as the children Baby Boomers became adults and began earning and spending, advertising expenditure went through the roof, so that by 1986, it had reached $100 billion.

That phenomenal rate of growth could not be sustained, but by 1999, total expenditure on all forms of advertising exceeded $215 billion . The latest available figures are for 2007 and they stand at $280 billion.

In 1999, nearly 60% of all advertising dollars were spent on adverts in newspapers, magazines, on the radio and on television. By 2007, that figure had fallen to about 54% as the Internet started to have an effect on advertising trends. These trends are expected to continue as every firm is expected to have its own web site these days.

The country’s biggest advertisers are the manufacturers of cars, food, soft drinks, tobacco and beer and they filter most of their expenditure through about 13,000 advertising agencies., who usually create the ads and buy the space or air time from the media too.

These agencies have been transformed over the last decade by mergers. The most successful advertising agencies these days are huge international concerns. WPP, the largest advertising agency in the world, billed $37 billion in 2008 and had this to say about itself:

“Our total revenue in 2008 surpassed that of all our competitors, regaining the No.1 worldwide position for the third time”.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with researching promotional wall calendars. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

categories: calendars,time,astronomy,science,education,organising,environmental,recreation,hobbies,time,solar system,outdoors,other,uncategorized

Thousands of years ago, ancient Greek astronomers calculated that the track of the Earth’s axis is constantly, even if in a very slow way, shifting in a uniform pattern. The change is very similar to the manner a spinning top slowly leans one way and then another as it slows down. It is a wobble that occurs as its axis changes direction.

This odd movement of the planet is due to a couple of factors, the most important of which is something called ‘precession’. Precession arises from the fact that the Earth is not a perfect sphere. It is in fact about twenty-seven miles longer around the Equator that it is around the Poles. The Earth then is oblate, or fat around the middle like middle-aged spread, but it is due to the rotation not to its age.

If you picture the Earth with its Poles off centre. Then rotate that image and you will find that any point, except the very centre of the axis, will travel in a circle. But very, very gradually. So slowly that it takes 26,000 years to go full circle and get back to where it started from.

This point then, any point you choose, is very gradually shifting its location in relation to the stars because the axis is gyrating too. The result of this is that, what we call the North Star (formally known as Polaris, which is in fact one degree off true North) will not be over our North Pole one day. In fact, by about 15,000 AD, Vega will be almost above the North Pole, although it will be about four degrees off true North. But even this will not endure, and by 28,000 AD, Polaris will be back above where it is nowadays.

One of the effects of the precession is that seasons vary. They modify the dates that they take place, so that Summer could come earlier or later. The amazing thing about our calendar is that it is corrected for that (with the leap year). If it were not, the vernal or Spring equinox would shift over 13,000 years from March 21st to September 21st., which is the date of the autumnal equinox, precisely half a year later.

It is for this reason that the precession of the Earth is generally referred to as the “Precession of the Equinoxes”. Although the precession of the equinoxes is very slow, it can be readily observed. The correct year of 325.25 days is the length of time from one vernal equinox to the next vernal equinox, however, it takes 20 minutes and 24 seconds longer for the Sun to appear in precisely the same place with relation to the stars behind it over the same period. This is why accurate star maps have to be stamped with the exact time and date to which they refer.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with researching Franklin planner pages. If you have an interest in calendars, organizers or promotional calendars, please go over to our website now at Promotional Desk Calendars

categories: calendars,time,astronomy,science,education,organising,environmental,recreation,hobbies,time,solar system,outdoors,other,uncategorized

The sphere of Martial Arts is one of the most important contributions of Asia to the world. Who will forget Bruce Lee and the fact that he was first and foremost a martial arts competitor before becoming a movie star? Martial arts pictures are a huge hit with the ever-increasing popularity of Asian cinema like ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and more recently ‘The House of the Flying Daggers’.

The Chinese are the first nation that come to mind when it you think of these things, but the Japanese are equally as sporty with a rich heritage of body contact sports in their past. Modern Japan still gives honor to the martial arts by holding tournaments and marketing their sports abroad,

One of these is Aikido. It is important to realize that the word comes from three Japanese characters from which one derives the meaning of the one word. Ai signifies ‘joining’, Ki signifies ‘spirit’ and Do means ‘way’. From this we can understand why Aikido lies beyond only the physical skills of it students, especially since its first proponent, Ueshiba, focused on the spiritual and philosophical improvement of his students.

In Aikido, one is not taught aggression instead, one is trained to be in harmony with the adversary so that you are able to defeat him more easily. This might seem strange but it really works. In approaching an opponent, the aim of the Aikido practitioner is to be one with the opponent so as to be able to attack him where he is weakest and in so doing, divert or put him out of action, but never to kill him.

This is where Aikido becomes an art form. Art is something delightful to look at and something constructive and Aikido is all that. At least one of the contestants involved in the combat is searching for concord and concord can only be achieved if there is grace in the actions. The moves may be premeditated, but there is an air of finesse in carrying out these movements. Not a feminine grace, but a grace that emanates peace. The ‘art of peace’ is what they call it in Aikido and it is one of the most affirmative influences of Aikido on its students and to everyone else who decides to find out about this Japanese martial art.

Some of the techniques in Aikido embrace the following.

Ikkyo is the first technique. Using this technique, you control an adversary by using one hand to hold his elbow and one to hold near the wrist. This action is supposed to allow you to pin your opponent down to the ground.

Nikyo, the second technique, is when you perform a wrist lock that allows you to turn the arm of your opponent which will in turn cause nerve pressure.

Sankyo, the third technique, is a technique that creates upward-spiraling tension throughout the arm, elbow and shoulder. There are many other techniques but the first three are enough to give you a basic idea.

In studying Aikido, it is vital to remember that, together with building physical strength, you will need to improve your mind to be able to overpower your opponent. Just like in any art form, it takes a lot of training and discipline to reach the summit of the art of Aikido. The important thing to remember is, that anyone who wants to get into the art, must have the resolve to give honor to the art by performing it in the best way possible.

If you are interested in the fairly modern Japanese Martial Art of Aikido, please click a link to visit our website at http://aikido.the-real-way.com

Whether you are cooking for two for romance or out of necessity, you will find that there are many resources online and off to help you find the perfect meals for your terrific twosomes. One thing to keep in mind however is that when cooking for two, it is often best if two are doing the cooking. This allows cooking to become a chance for communication rather than just a job.

In spite of the fact that there are lots of resources and recipes accessible to those that are cooking for two, there are even more recipes for those cooking for four, especially the traditional recipes that are designed to feed a family of four. These offer an opening to stretch your food budget even further.

By cooking traditional meals for four and eating half of it, you have managed to cook two meals for the time investment of one. It is a good deal for many, but particularly for those that do not like the idea of cooking at all.

Young and older couples alike frequently discover that it is as easy and almost the equivalent cost to go to a fast food or other informal restaurant as it is to prepare a pleasant, healthy meal for two at home. The one thing they often forget is that cooking for two can be an appealing way to bring a little romance into the evening.

When cooking for two, you will have as much occasion to be imaginative as in anything else you do in your life. You have the choice of trying great new recipes and the knowledge that if you do not like the food, you are not wasting a lot of money.

You can try mixing and matching flavors and textures. You can make works of art on your plate as in nouveau cuisine. Or you can go farmhouse style. Cooking for two opens doors that are not necessarily accessible when cooking for larger numbers with more limiting tastes.

Cooking for two is a great way to get your partner involved in the cooking process as well. When cooking for two you can find out the things that you both like and those that are not so appealing to one or the other of you.

Make sure that when you are cooking for two that you induce an open and honest dialog about the things that you like and dislike about the meals being cooked. This will help you determine things to add to your regular menu as well as the things to avoid making a part of your dinner rotation.

Perhaps the best thing about cooking for two is the fact that you can afford to try special occasion cuisine more often when you are cooking for only two than when you are cooking for a larger crowd. Bring on the steaks and lobster tail. Learn how to make shrimp scampi and fillet mignon. Take the time, when cooking for two, to prepare those dishes that you like most.

Cooking for two is a great way of exploring the gastronomic universe and exposing your palates to some wonderful surprises along the way. The Internet, bookstores, and libraries are filled with books about cooking for two. Take advantage of the opportunity to do just that and you will be amazed at the world of flavors you have been missing out on.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the Rival Versaware crock pot. If you have an interest in cooking or crock pots, please go over to our website now at Large Crock Pots