One thing about Southern California is that it hardly ever rains – but when it does, it pours! If you drive around LA, no doubt you have noticed the “LA River”. These are large concrete channels all throughout the city that are designed for flood control. It used to be a natural river, but it was subject to frequent flooding. After a bad flood in 1938, the Army Corps of Engineers was enlisted to convert the river into concrete.

Many people are just unprepared for a rainy day in LA. In fact most of them don’t even own an umbrella! Myself, I like to be prepared. I make sure to make a visit to the collective and pick up some medicinal substances. Then I fire up some Netflix and use my vaporizer. I figure there’s no reason to get all wet! Some days you just want to chill. Beforehand, I like to have some Ben N Jerry’s ice cream ready, plus some peanut butter. Is there anything better?

There haven’t been too many good movies opening lately. One movie that I knew would be terrible was ‘Jack And Jill’ starring Adam Sandler. As soon as I saw the previews I was certain it would be bad. Turns out I was right. It opened this weekend and has only a 4% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I think Adam Sandler is just having a joke at our expense.

Back in the day, I think he made some good movies. Happy Madison is definitely a classic, and I thought Waterboy was pretty good. His movies have gone way downhill lately. I think he should stop doing these major Hollywood blockbusters and instead do a smaller indie film. Maybe hook up with a really talented writer/ director and do something that people don’t expect from Adam Sandler.

Anyway, it looks like the rain has subsided for a little while, so I might head outside. Here I am, blogging away the day. Usually it would be eighty degrees and sunny at this time, and I’d be out enjoying it. The climate is definitely one of the advantages of living in SoCal.

There are lots of lessons on the internet that will teach you how to learn guitar. But why should you learn the guitar as opposed to any other instrument? If you’re considering taking up an instrument but aren’t sure whether to choose the bass, the guitar or the banjo, where do you start?

Well, I’m biased because I play the guitar. In my view it’s the best instrument to learn. The bass is boring, the drums are too noisy and bulky, and the banjo just aint sexy. There are many reasons to learn guitar and I’m going to share a few with you now.

This is a personal list and you may disagree with some of what I say, but this is my article so you can kiss my proverbial if you don’t like what I’ve got to say.

Reason to Choose the Guitar #1 – Guitars are Inexpensive

If you’re a struggling student with very little money then the fact that guitars can be bought fairly cheaply can be a real boon. Sure, you can spend hundreds of dollars – or even thousands – on buying a guitar, but I would say that if you’re just starting and want to learn the basics you don’t need to spend very much at all. In fact a perfectly good guitar can be picked up for as little as $200, even if you want to have the option to use it on stage at some point in the future. And you can get away with spending far less than that if all you’re after is a beginner’s instrument to see whether you like it or not. Heck, I got my first guitar for $10 from my housemate. It’s nothing fancy, just a cheap nylon strung acoustic, but I still use it sometimes and will be passing it on to one of my kids when they start learning.

If you think you need a really expensive guitar then think again. Slash started playing guitar on a piece of wood with a string stretched across it. A whilst you don’t have to go to such extremes, you really don’t need to spend much when you’re starting out either. Also, if you think that you could be better at guitar just by having more expensive equipment then stop kidding yourself. Eddie Van Halen would blow you away with what he could play even on your crappy old guitar; and your playing, I’m sorry to say, would not be all that much better on Eddie’s.

Reason to Choose the Guitar #2 – The Guitar is an Incredibly Versatile Instrument

Just take a minute to think about all the different musical genres that feature the guitar. You have classical of course, but you also have folk, blues, rock, heavy metal, pop, the list goes on and on. The guitar is right at home with all of these musical styles. And you should play different styles of music on your guitar because this will improve your frame of reference, your musical knowledge and ultimately you will be a better guitarist because of it.

Another aspect of the versatility of the guitar does not relate simply to the different musical styles it is capable of playing. This versatility also extends to how it can be played. You can play the guitar on its own, as an accompaniment to vocals, or you can play as part of a band, be it a large jazz band, a three-piece pop band or any other kind of ensemble for that matter.

Reason to Choose the Guitar #3 – It is Easy to Learn

The guitar is easy to learn. It may be difficult to master but you can get the basics fairly quickly and this means it is a very rewarding instrument to play. I think the fact that it has frets is one of the most important factors that makes it so easy to learn because you don’t need to have perfect pitch or even necessarily a good ear in order to be able to play a tune. This is in stark contrast to the violin or other fretless stringed instruments where the correct intonation is much harder to get right because there are no frets to guide your fingers. The presence of frets not only makes it easier to play notes accurately but it also simplifies the process of reading music. In order to be able to play piano or the violin, for example, you really have to be able to read music, which for many is a serious stumbling block that can hamper progress. If you want to play guitar and need to refer to some form of musical notation to remind you of the notes to play, you can use tablature which is very easy to learn and does not require many months of training to be able to interpret, unlike traditional musical notation.

So there we have my list of reasons why you should choose the guitar over any other instrument. If I’ve convinced you, then you should go to the guitar store right now and pick up an instrument in your price range. Or better still, try searching online because there are real bargains to be had on the internet. If you want more information about this simply follow the link to this website for a comprehensive buyer’s guide.

Once you’ve bought your guitar you’ll need to get some lessons and I might share some ideas on that in a future article. But in the meantime, happy playing!

In an attempt to find out whether downsizing hurts productivity, a case study was conducted to determine the effects of layoffs on fire safety personnel. Not surprisingly, the study found a significant drop in both productivity and morale following layoffs. Here is a sampling of the data from a survey that was given to fire safety personnel who had been employed at an organization that experienced layoffs:

• 72% of the respondents said the productivity at the organization was lower after the layoffs than before.

• 81% said that employee morale had dropped as a result of downsizing.

• The percentage of employees who were very satisfied with their jobs fell from 72% to 3% after the layoffs.

Job loss is the third most stressful life experience, following the death of a spouse and the death of another family member, so it is not surprising that employees who are faced with the prospect of possibly losing their jobs are shell-shocked as a result. And when layoffs happen, those who are left behind are typically left thinking, “Am I next?”

Here are a few ways to help keep employees motivated and productive following layoffs:

1. Tell the whole truth.
   Hold nothing back. Employees want to know what is going on, not be left in the dark wondering. Don’t announce that layoffs are coming without telling them who is involved. That just causes extra stress from worrying.
2. Keep things positive at work.
   Find ways to keep employees’ spirits up by celebrating sales and successes.
3. Think to the future.
   Starting long-term projects reassures employees by showing them that the company plans to be around for a while.
4. Divide the work fairly.
   After the workforce is cut, there is often just as much work to do. This means a heavier workload for the employees who remain. Be sure to divide the work fairly so that no one is overburdened.

Coffee is probably one of the most drunk beverages in the world today. In fact, if you work in an office, it could well be the “only” beverage that you drink all day. But where does this drink get produced? Well, it is produced in a number of different countries, but the top 4 are Indonesia, Colombia, Vietnam, and Brazil. The top producer by a good long way is Brazil, which pumps out more than 2 million tonnes of coffee each year. Brazil in fact produces over a third of all coffee produced worldwide.

The beans from these different countries can be distinguished by their flavor, aroma, body and acidity. The differences are not only dependant on the area that they are grown in, but also on the genetic subspecies, and how they are processed. The genetic subspecies are often referred to as “varietals” and these varietals are typically recognized and called by the region that they are grown in, such as Java, Colombia and Kona. Coffee is typically produced under direct sunlight, and has been grown that way since the 1970’s. Before that however coffee plants were grown in the shade of forests. This method is called “shade grown”, and is much better for the environment as it requires a lot less fertilizer and pesticide. It also provides a habitat for the local wildlife.

To make the best coffee you need the best coffee maker. The Press Coffee Lounge is the place to make a relaxed and informed decision about which machine is right for you.