FM Boston Radio

The third place of the Eastern Conference in the regular season, the Orlando Magic, dethroned the current NBA champions the Boston Celtics by winning the seventh game of the series 101- 82 this past Sunday.

The Magic played an incredible game as visitors, having an aggressive defense and shooting 13 of 21 from the three-point line. On the other hand, the Celtics seemed out of gas and played an unusual game at home, shooting poorly from the field goal for a 39.2% as well at the three-point line for just 25%. The Celtics fans were shocked about the low performance of the current NBA champions and how bad they looked during the game, but it was just too much magic for them.

Since the beginning of the game, the Orlando got an early lead with just 5:02 remaining with a score of 22-9. However, the Celtics tried to cut the lead and finished the first quarter losing 27-17. In the second quarter, things got rough for the NBA Champions who even though they were trying to come back in the game, the Magic did not let them to come closer that easy and took a lead up to 15 points. Nevertheless, the Celtics had a good run that gave them hope, cutting the score 45-38 at halftime.

Entering the second half of the game, it seemed that Coach Rivers had a great talk with his players, who came to the game more aggressive and with more desire than ever. The Celtics were down only four points with 6:36 remaining in the third quarter by a great shot of Ray Allen. But after that play, Orlando’s shooting guard J.J. Redick, made a three point shot and increased the lead again to 7 points. The quarter finished with a score of 66-61 to Orlando.

At the last quarter, Turkoglu and Howard took dominated the game for the Magic; the Turk made 10 points during that quarter and Howard had the control of the boards. Ray Allen tried to help his team but it was too much for him to handle alone. At the end with a great run of 13-0, Orlando closed the game and dethroned the NBA champion at home with a final score of 101-82.

The best scorers for the Orlando Magic were Hedo Turkoglu with 25 points, 12 assists and 5 rebounds, Rashard Lewis with 19 points and 5 rebounds, Mickael Pietrus with 17 points, Rafer Alston 15 points and 4 assists and finally Dwight Howard with 12 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks. Whereas for the Celtics the best scorers were Ray Allen with 23 points, Paul Pierce with 16 points, Glen Davis with 13 points and 4 rebounds, Rajon Rondo with 10 points and 10 assists and Kendrick Perkins with 8 points and 15 rebounds.

With this incredible triumph, the Orlando Magic is hoping for a great performance on this Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who is a favorite contender to win the NBA Championship this year. However the Magic also knows its team has great players and great coaches that can take the team to the next level and get to the NBA Finals. 

Bookmark To

Thinking of employing the web for looking for and finding ma nanny agencies? Becoming aware of suitable candidates by using the services of web-based nannies agencies will expedite the nanny seeking and screening process. A specialized tool for locating career nannies is an online provision of nanny sites which is able to find you a potential childcare specialist consistent with your job requirements. While searching for employment, the simplest way for nannies to get placed in a nice household is to sign up with a web-based company designed to match nannies to families.

A lot of people who are in the market for ma nanny agencies have sometimes yet to learn of the many wonders of employing a web-based nanny placement company with a good reputation. When looking for a nanny, families commonly tend to presume that the most desirable childcare specialists have all been snapped up! Many times this is untrue. A nationwide nanny locator service can frequently be the best method for locating a private caregiver in your region. In the case of most websites that provide the use of a useful amount of information on nannies, you will have the opportunity to carry out a free search to be able to view the nannies’ profiles.

Ordinarily, a nanny is situated between age 18 and age 50, and may have attended college for early childhood development. Some of the nannies will have had very extensive training in taking care of infants and young children while others will be eager to learn. But in most cases they work as mother’s helpers because their job is important – more than anything else, the relationship with the children. When checking out the possibilities, be sure to study not just their employment history, but also consider their politeness and positive attitude.

A reputable nanny agency will be willing to aid you in a very necessary and important step in choosing your nanny – the investigation of a nanny’s past. Running a nanny background search is of great importance if you want to avoid the slight possibility of taking on a childcare provider with a record of being difficult. Establish that this service can be provided on the web. To cross check this matter, be sure you don’t neglect to ask your candidates for recommendations from others they’ve provided services for.

When beginning to search for ma nanny agencies it is necessary to keep in mind that once you decide to hire a nanny you will need to learn how to handle some important matters, including – what to ask a potential childcare provider, how much to pay him or her, and in addition, to agree on a list of job requirements so no misunderstanding will ensue.

Bookmark To

The Internet has evolved and made many changes in our culture including personal MySpace pages, individual blogs, the way we trade information as well as the way the public finds and listens to music.

One of the upcoming and most popular formats is Internet Radio. Let’s discuss an Internet station, www.ilike2rock.net, who promotes, plays and exclusively features independent artists and their music.

Internet radio stations have been online for more than three years and offer listeners an alternative to “subscription radio” and commercial radio because of the eclectic music formats and unique opportunities for independent bands. The music is being brought to the forefront with stations like www.ilike2rock.net.

I spoke with DJ Tom of ilike2rock.net about the radio station and why it is important, not only the bands and individual artists they promote, but to the public as well.

”First and foremost, it is all about the music,” explained DJ Tom. “We offer a chance for the independent artists to submit their music free to us and to do that, they just go to our site and submit the music through a resource called “Music Submit” (we have an exclusive agreement with them). “Music Submit” allows bands and artists to submit band bios’, media kits and of course, the music, and this service in turn helps the bands by promoting them on ezines, other Internet radio stations, blogs and music related web sites.”

And www.ilike2rock.com adds even more to the table. I asked DJ Tom to elaborate.

”This gives the independent band or artist a unique opportunity to be heard with free exposure on our home page to reach their target audience and a chance for the band to attain new fans. We will also showcase bands in our “Talent Showcase,” keeping the band active on our play list. We also use the artists own promotional material (blogs, YouTube, My Space) and link up with them within our web site structure and we even create ring tones for them.”

There is a free program on the site to download called “Destiny Music Player” so you can tune in to the station and other Internet radio stations. It is similar to many of the music players for computers and is very easy to use and navigate.

Tired of the same format from your local radio station? Tune in ilike2rock and you can add more than 150 (and counting) independent bands and artists to your music play list. I spoke to DJ Tom about some of the bands they play and promote.

”This is what is the most exciting to me, we play the independent bands that submit to us (and Music Submit), from all kinds of musical genres and it is a free format, for both the listener and the bands. I am very excited for all our bands and artists. Some of the bands we promote are Hypnogaja, which supplied background music for the hit television on FX called “Dirt,” Black Frog, who have played at the Sturgis Bike Rally and Hide From Cleo, one of Michigan’s hottest bands and we promote all the bands equally.”

I was very impressed with DJ Tom and I too am excited to find new bands to listen to on the Internet. After all, it is always about the music.

Bookmark To

Image taken on 2009-02-14 23:25:00 by Tony the Misfit.

Bookmark To

Image taken on 2008-05-19 22:59:45 by M. A. AL-KUWARI.

Bookmark To

On the condition that you want to find Mass babysitting services through the means of the internet, it’s highly recommended to first learn how to successfully work with the babysitter locating system on the web to best be able to locate a suitable childcare provider for your needs. Utilizing an internet-based childcare provider agency for looking for and meeting suitable babysitters can be in many instances a fast and cost effective solution. Regardless of whether you’re hoping to find an older person or a teenage childcare provider qualified sitter finding firms on the web will assist you in your quest for the right childcare provider for your family.

Let’s establish right away that you don’t need to be apprehensive – although the locating and hiring of a childcare provider will require more effort than quickly looking through a few websites, services that exist to match nannies and families will help you through the entire process of locating, checking out, and finally hiring your caregiver. Specialized childcare provider firms on the internet are where families and great sitters meet in order to find the perfect match between employer and employee.

If your ambition is to find Mass babysitting services then first you need to locate a reliable babysitter referral agency that can fit the following profile – it’s a company you’ve heard of and was referred to in popular tv shows broadcast across the country, they receive many hearty recommendations from other customers who have enjoyed the numerous benefits of their service, their web page is user-friendly, simple to navigate, and you have at your disposal a comprehensive resource database in which recommendations can be found on a number of relevant topics, for example, interviewing and researching the childcare provider, and what to offer as compensation.

What’s more, before you sign up with a babysitter locator service,, you need to verify that you will be able to search the babysitter database for free so that you can see the records of all the caregivers listed with the organization. This is a very easy process – all that’s required of you is to enter your zip or postal code and detail some of the qualifications you require of a baby sitter and the baby sitter locator tool will present in a matter of seconds a list of possible sitters that may fit your profile who reside 100 miles or less away from where you’re located.

Before making the decision to join your chosen childcare provider matching company to hire Mass babysitting services you should make sure you’re clear on a few more things – what their policies are for payment and returns, and is it really easy to get in touch with customer assistance as required. If you have an urgent requirement for a private babysitter in your area now, seize the opportunity to find the best one for your family in only a few clicks.

Bookmark To

The short answer is that the sound quality that the alarm clock CD can supply is far superior to that of the alarm clock radio.

If there is one thing that I prefer about my alarm clock CD over my old alarm clock radio it is simply the sound quality.

My old clock radio was great and I had good choice as to how I could use it but the quality of sound left much to be desired. The sound repetition was very trebly if you know what I mean. Like the sound you would make banging an empty tin can.

Yes these gadgets will wake you up in the morning. But not with the full bass and full rounded tones of a good quality alarm clock CD. I am sure you would feel a lot better hearing the rich base sounds of your favorite piece of music over the scratchy hollow sound of the clock radio.

There is really no credible choice between the two for me. The bonus difference between the two is that you can select a particular piece of music with the CD player but you can’t do that with the radio.

So technically what makes the difference? They both function as radios, they both function as clocks. Well as I said earlier it’s the quality of the sound. You see in my opinion in clock radios the signal comes through very small speakers whereas the technology incorporated in systems that play CD’s have much more up to date Bose style technology.

It’s this technology that is good enough to be described as being of decent quality stereo sound.

We have just discussed a little bit about the technicalities but really in making a decision you need to balance desirable features against purchase cost.

I mean what do you really want? Do you just want to be woken up in the morning-then get an alarm?

There are many mechanical and electrical ones and they’ll both do the job for you. Do you want to be woken up in the morning to the news or the radio station of your choice that happens to sound a bit tinny? Well get a clock radio alarm.

The clocks and the alarms are reliable but the radio is at best average. Or do you want to be woken up in style with the rich sounds of Mozart or Beethoven that are well balanced between bass and treble. Then get yourself a good quality alarm clock CD.

When purchasing an alarm clock CD player you need to balance features against cost.

Good luck and good hunting!

Bookmark To

The Museum of Fine Art in Boston, Massachusetts, opened in 1876. It held 5,600 pieces of art. The vision is to provide outstanding examples of world art in a setting that is inviting to everyone. The Museum was build with the goals of  increasing the knowledge and appreciation of art, preserving objects of artistic interest, protecting works of art, providing facilities for research, offering instruction and opportunities for the enjoyment of art.

The museum prides itself with providing a unique collection of art extending from antique to present works. The wide range of exhibits is designed to enhance understanding of world art as a collection. Collectors have given generously to the Museum, donating many of its finest works of art including furniture, silver and masterpieces. In 1988, a group of Maya polychrome ceramics were donated. The collection ranks among the best of its type in the world.

About 80,000 students visit the museum each year. The museum offers grades two through twelve either a guided tour or self tour. The museum believes it is very important for school age children to be exposed to such art. They offer grants to help pay the cost of the bus trip to the museum for those schools who otherwise would not be able to attend.

The museum also offers films. They host film festivals throughout the year, special screenings of films relating to exhibits, and independent films by local artists. Gallery talks take place with museum staff for those interested in discussing particular exhibits.

As a non-profit organization, the Museum of Fine Arts is prohibited from providing appraisals. If you are looking for a monetary evaluation of an object for insurance or other purposes they can refer you to qualified appraisers in the area.

Bookmark To

As an architecture and design writer, I have spent years touring and showcasing beautiful homes, but always from the outside looking in, more than occasionally suffering fits of house envy.

The whole idea of finding a piece of land, clearing the trees and creating one’s own little Taj Mahal seemed like the ultimate way to achieve one’s personal vision of domestic bliss.

Sure it makes for a big challenge, but you only go around once, etc. etc. One the other hand, fixing up and enlarging what already exists seemed like a compromise, hardly a grand architectural statement. Renovation was worthwhile, for sure, if you’re talking about Monticello, but from my editorial Olympus, I deemed renovation to be mainly a sentimental exercise that represented a much lower order of magnitude on the design scale.

Builders and architects of new buildings were the real masters. Restoration contractors were…well, forgive my naiveté, but they made me think of aluminum siding men; certainly not the same order of professional. Then it became time with the arrival of our second child for us to actually expand what we had, or buy new. No more looking in the window at other people’s homes from the comfortable vantage point of the magazine.

Now this would be the real thing. And my wife and I did some heavy soul searching: Taj Mahal or a little rehab; big vision or a little tinkering. And little by little we started thinking renovation. How would we ever find another 1850’s house with the kind of character that ours had, with all the neighbors we loved right in the middle of the big city?

Forgettaboutit!

The floorboards, the molding, all these details gave us what a new house takes years to obtain: character. Character was what we really wanted, along with light, space, and a bright orange couch.

So it was a complete turnaround. No more day dreaming of Taj Mahals. We would stay and tinker.

Now, a year later, the job is done and we have a totally remodeled and beautiful house.
It feels very new. And my attitude has completely changed about renovation, thanks to our architect Marshal Audin, and our contractor David Glod of GLOD Restoration & Renovation.

These two had the marvelous ability to work with our family’s needs and at the same time work within the structural requirements of the house.
We wanted a room to do one thing, and the house was going in another direction. To get everything in synch was the real magic, worthy of a Renaissance master.

Now that I’ve seen GLOD in action and their work is complete, I am convinced their renovation skills are more profound in a sense than the skills required for building anything new.
David and Marshall needed years of experience to enable them to retain the character of the house that was here originally, respecting every cased arch, built-up crown,  high base molding, and idiosyncratic pilaster. At the same time they had to have a feel for modernizing and opening up the spaces, ingeniously concealing all the necessary hi-tech and mechanical stuff from view.

My feeling now is that to be a great renovator you need to have a spirit and character as large as the house you’re working on. The end result can be just as significant a personal statement as anything spanking new, and, just think, you rip up a lot less trees from Momma Earth.

And if the Taj Mahal ever needs renovation I would gladly recommend Marshall and David; for the Taj and even for something a little smaller like our 2,500 square foot townhouse!

Here, then, are some notes from our initial interview with David before we renovated. But if that’s the direction you’re headed, as opposed to building new, I suggest you skip the proceeding and simply call him yourself.

Louis Postel: How did you get started in construction?

David Glod, GLOD Restorations & Renovations: My father was in the business and I worked with him since I was young. After college, I went back to the trades and started my business in 1985.

LP: What did your Dad teach you?

DG: He taught me the importance of quality work and that was the basis for which you were to do all things.

LP: Can you give me an example?

DG: In general it’s the importance of doing things well, because that’s what lasts. The question isn’t only what it will look like when you are finished, but what will it look like 5, 10, or 20 years later? So we could side a house with a pine clapboard and paint it, or we can side a house with pre-primed cedar and the day you are finished they both look great and most people could never tell the difference, but in three or four years the pine siding will be peeling and possibly twisting and the cedar should be fine.

LP: So what do you do?

DG: Part of my job as President of the company is to instill in my employees this notion of quality, and that when they are installing a two by four in a wall they’re not just banging a nail. They are constructing a wall that’s part of the house that they are building. It’s important that everyone understands the whole, and all the parts have a relationship to each other.

LP: Does this include your subcontractors, or do they just go in and out?

DG: Yes, absolutely. That’s why we feel it’s important to have all the subcontractors involved in the process of design as soon as possible. We not only want them to understand what they’re doing but we believe they bring something to the table as a plumber or an electrician.

LP: What’s an example of a typical challenge?

DG: As in the traditional condo on the Charles that you see here on the site, there were many constraints in regards to location of existing heating ducts. Instead of boxing the duct work in the corner of a room we trayed the ceilings and installed accented cove lighting in the tray, thereby taking what was a design problem and creating a design feature. So to look at this particular ceiling you wouldn’t know there are heating ducts inside, although an architect or a designer might have a notion of where the heating duct can go, it is the HVAC installer that has to put it in. His or her contribution early on will alleviate problems.

LP: But how would you treat an old house like ours?

DG:  Our collaborative process is even more important in historic restorations, because you have even more constraints. First and foremost, one is concerned with maintaining the architectural and design integrity of the structure. And secondly, one often finds structural problems. So, many discussions with designer, architect and subcontractor are necessary for this type of project.

LP: Can you deal with the historical commission for us?

DG: Our team includes former members of local historical commissions and former and current members of local boards of appeals.

LP: We can’t have anyone working in our house before 9 am, so what can we do?

DG: One of the most important notions we instill in our employees is to recognize the fact that we are not just working on your house, but that we are working in your home. It’s important that we be flexible and respectful of people’s needs.

LP: We had a previous contractor who always left the job a mess. With two children, that’s a problem!

DG: Again, we recognize we are working in your home, and a safe and clean environment is as important to us during construction as it is to you. I believe there is a relationship between a chaotic and dangerous job site and mediocre results in construction.

LP: How far away do you work?

DG: We generally work in the Greater Boston area north of Route 9.

LP: We’re looking for at least three bids.

DG: Our collaborative design process excludes bidding. And here’s why: The traditional method is that an architect develops drawings before cost estimates. After the client has spent 12-15% of construction costs on these architectural drawings, the project is then put out to bid. Historically, the three bids could possibly differ as much as 50%. One could easily say, it’s just one contractor trying to charge more than another, but in reality what usually takes place is that contractors are bidding on different things. Secondly, often an antagonistic relationship can develop between architect and builder where one says “I didn’t figure that!” or “that’s not clear in the drawings.”  The point is it doesn’t make a difference who is right or wrong. There are extra costs and the person who loses is the client. Our collaborative design process recognizes that each profession has something important to add to the design process, and that working together from the beginning we can provide a project that is better designed, more cost effective, and with a lot less friction. It’s not in my interest to have an unsatisfied client at the end of the project. When a business like GLOD  RESTORATION & RENOVATION has been built on referrals for twenty years every client matters!

LP: One of the projects on your site looks very modern. Is that your specialty?

DG: No. We specialize in home renovation and restoration, and do not exclusively do one particular type of design.

LP: Are your employees insured?

DG: We carry liability and workman’s comp insurance. Our subcontractors all have their own liability and the expectation is that both employees and subcontractors come to project every day on time, clean, and with a smile.

LP: How does your construction process work from beginning to end?

DG: We begin with an initial meeting that includes an architect, client and myself. Out of that meeting we hope to define the scope of the project. If the client is happy with our discussions, we project a cost for preliminary drawings. We then set up a second meeting to review these preliminary drawings with the client and make any minor revisions if necessary. If the client is happy with this, we create a preliminary cost estimate that we review at a third meeting. If that’s acceptable to the client, we develop a contract, ask for a deposit, and produce working drawings.

LP: When is our point of no return?

DG: Our process is consciously divided into separate entities so that if at any time after a meeting the client is not completely satisfied, that client can end the relationship. These small steps allow the client to really think about what they want and the solutions we propose. We are not here to push a certain solution on you, but instead to give you options.

LP: What if we have already chosen our own interior designer?

DG: Great! Let’s bring him or her into the process from the very beginning.

LP: Will we ever see you on the job?

DG: We are selective in our projects, so I often spend up to 75% of my time on the job. So don’t worry, you may be seeing more of me than you want!

Check out http://www.postelhartz.com/ now!

Further log on to http://designbard.com/ for more information !!

Bookmark To

If you want to use music for your website, in multimedia or traditional media productions you need to know about music licensing. Website designers, video makers, TV show producers and all other creative artists are constantly looking for music in their productions.

It’s important to understand what copyright means, how it applies to music, and how you can obtain the rights to use music for your production. Terms such as “royalty-free music” and “synchronization licensing” get tossed around loosely, and this adds to the confusion. Hopefully this mini-tutorial will shed some light on this.

A Tale Of Two Copyrights: Composition And Master

Copyright is intellectual property. If you own the copyright to something, it means, quite simply, that you have the right to decide who can make a copy. Copyright is the right to copy. Obviously it’s more complex than that but we’ll keep it basic for now.

In terms of music, the key thing to understand is that each recording of music actually includes two distinct copyrights:

1. The copyright in the song itself, or the musical composition, or simply the Composition. This means the rights in the words and music of a song, and is often referred to as the ‘Publishing’ rights. Think of an old-school songwriter sitting at a piano, writing music and lyrics to a song. That song exists before it is recorded. Often musicians (especially in electronic music and hip hop) have a hard time grasping this distinction because they write music while they are producing it – sitting at their computer. Copyright is formed when you write a song, by virtue of the fact that it is new and original and takes a graphic form, such as writing down the lyrics or doing a demo. The copyright in this Composition is owned by whoever wrote it.

2. The copyright in a sound recording, also known as the Master. The Master is a Recording of a Composition. The copyright to the Master is owned by whoever produced it. Often this is a record company. To illustrate this, think of a famous song such as “Georgia on my Mind”. Each record company that produces a version of that song owns their own recording (the Master), but the fundamental rights to the composition remain with the original composer, who owns the Composition – the copyright of the song itself.

Synchronization And Master Use Licenses

Normally, since there are two copyrights involved, two licenses need to be issued to make use of a recorded song:

1. Synchronization License: gives you the right to ’synchronize’ the Composition with images or voice-over in your production.

2. Master Use License: this is exactly the same rights as the synchronization license, except it applies to the Master, the actual recorded interpretation of the musical composition.

Since the composer usually owns the Composition and the record company owns the Master, two different negotiations often have to take place, with two different contracts, for a song to be used in a Production. This can lead to complicated and time-consuming negotiations.

If a single company owns or controls the rights to both the Master and the Composition, this is called a One-Stop-Shop. This means that the company can sign both the Synchronization license and the Master Use license, which is less complicated and more attractive from the point of view of a website designer, an audio-visual show producer – or anyone who needs production music.

Most royalty free music libraries are such One-Stop-Shops since they control both the Master and the Compositions of the music on their website. Purchasing royalty free music means that once you have paid the one-time fee, you can use that music as many times as you want for as long as you want without ever having to pay additional money to the licensor.

It does not matter if one visitor or 100,000 visitors come to your website; or if the music is used for 3 months or 3 years – the purchase fee is exactly the same. If a piece of royalty-free music is purchased for use on a TV show, there is only the one-time fee, it doesn’t matter if the show is presented 5 times or 1,000 times. The TV show producer will never have to pay any additional fee for the music. This saves time and considerable expense.

Royalty free music does not mean however that anyone gives up their copyrights or their rights to administer a song. For instance, if you purchase a music license for a film project which goes on TV, the composer can still collect public performance royalties for the TV performance since these are paid by the broadcaster,and not by you the producer. The music may be offered on a royalty free basis but is not copyright free. The music composer and the publisher remain the copyright owners.

We hope this short article helps you understand the basics of music licensing.

Bookmark To