Five Fabulous Oscar Party Ideas

Listen Up: Four Great Music Sites

The recording industry is changing quickly with the rapid rise of digital music, and streaming is becoming a preferred way to hear great tunes. Instead of clogging up your shelves or your hard drive with music files, these services let you reach out into the cloud and select from a massive library of songs. Here are four great music sites:

Spotify.com is the current darling of the streaming music world, letting you listen to full albums by a huge variety of artists. The service is free at the base level, but the paid subscription options add important features. With their offline mode, you can download songs and listen to them even when you don’t have an Internet connection.

Last.fm is one of the most well-established streaming music services. It allows you to set up and share customized playlists as well as discover new music through a "related artists" feature. It also lets you connect with people who have similar tastes and explore their favorite artists.

Pandora.com is an intelligent radio service that, unlike some of the other sites on this list, removes control from the user in favor of a clever algorithm that explores music by genre and style. By entering an artist’s name, you build a custom radio station and discover new favorite songs.

Live365.com uses the radio station model for its playlists, featuring a wide range of different genres of music carefully selected by experts for maximum listening enjoyment. The site offers both free and subscriber-only options.

Best Budget-Friendly Italian Wines

Italy is famous for producing some of the best-tasting wines the world – and the good news is that high quality doesn’t have to mean high cost. Here are five of the most refined Italian wines under $30.00, particularly great as gifts or dinner party accompaniments:

Bocca di Lupo, Tomaresco 2002

This rich red wine comes from Puglia, one of Italy’s newer and increasingly popular wine regions. A glass of Bocca di Lupo is strong enough to stand on its own but also versatile enough to compliment a vast variety of dishes smoothly. You’ll love the round, soft flavor. It's just $28 per bottle.

Cala Silente, Sardegna 2004

This white wine is made from Vermentino grapes, natural gems of Italian winemaking. Made in Sardinia, Cala Silente combines tang, spice, and the fruity flare of melons and pears. A total delight at only $18 per bottle.

Castello Della Sala, Antinori 2004

Lovers of Chardonnay will relish this charming vino bianco. It contains rich buttery flavors (which come from the wine having been aged in new oak) combined with a tang that keeps each sip balanced. The price is just as delicious: $15 per bottle. 

Kettmier Cabernet, Trentino 2003

This is an outstanding Italian red with a robust and rounded flavor; a Forbes.com reviewer called it “better than most California Cabs at twice the price.” At just $16 per bottle, Kettmier is the antidote to the many disappointing reds that fall in the under-twenty-dollar category.

Nebbiolo D’Alba, De Forville, 2003

This is the perfect glass of red if you’re looking for wine that has a very gentle touch on the palette, delicate and soft but still alive with vibrant fruity flavors. Wine aficionados compare it in likeness to a good Pinot Noir from Oregon or California. $22 per bottle.

Clear Sighted: Five Ways To Prevent Eye Strain

Your eyes are important and overuse of them can lead to headaches, vision problems, and worse. Eyestrain is a common affliction when one stares at a computer screen all day, but thankfully there are many simple ways to prevent it. Here are some of our favorites:

• For every hour of computer or screen time, take five minutes to perform eye exercises. One simple exercise involves walking to a window and placing your focus on a distant object. Without moving your head, trace the object’s outline with your eyes for one minute before moving on to a different object at a different distance.
• Reduce glare as much as possible from your screens. Anti-glare coating on your monitors and glasses can help to mitigate the impact of glare, but the most important thing is to angle your monitor at 90 degrees from a light source.
• Full spectrum lighting is much better for an eye-healthy environment. The best source of full-spectrum lighting is, of course, the sun, but artificial simulations are also available.
• Adjust the contrast on your monitors to the optimum level, so there is a clean divider between colors. Increased contrast reduces the amount of focal work your eyes have to do, which strains them less.
• There are a number of free apps such as Flux that will not only adjust the color warmth of your computer monitor throughout the day to reduce eyestrain but also remind you to take breaks.

Camera Masters: Five Important Film Directors

The director has the greatest influence over the trajectory of a film, more so than writer, actor, or editor. It is the director's vision that, in the end, makes it to the silver screen. It’s not surprising that the history of cinema has produced a number of auteurs that elevated the form. If you are interested in expanding your knowledge of movies, becoming familiar with the movies made by these groundbreaking directors is essential.

-          Alfred Hitchcock. The master of suspense is one of the most influential men to ever make a film. So much of the visual style and storytelling that we take for granted was innovated by Hitchcock in films like Psycho and Rear Window.

-          Orson Welles. If the only film Welles had ever made was Citizen Kane, he’d still be one of the most influential directors ever. Welles packed his frames with detail and potency, pushing the art of cinema forward in new ways.

-          Jean-Luc Godard. One of the leading lights of the French New Wave, Godard helped transform the way we think about movies, freeing them from commercial responsibility and opening the door to unique viewpoints.

-          Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick’s films range across a wide variety of genres, but they are united by the director’s keen sense of visual style. His films are among the most aesthetically beautiful ever made, even as they delve into the darker side of human emotions.

-          Steven Spielberg. Perhaps the director who epitomizes modern cinema more than any other, Spielberg ushered in the era of blockbuster filmmaking with Jaws in 1976 and hasn’t slowed down since.

Gratitude and Giving Improves your Health

“Learn how an attitude of gratitude can help you live a longer healthier life. Research has shown, whatever may be occurring in your life, that your overall health will only improve if you are thankful and grateful. A truly healthy long life includes positive outlook and gratitude for where you may be at each moment of your life.

There’s no doubt that mind and body are connected, and this link is specially apparent when it comes to gratitude.”…to read more from this article click here!

Rice in the Pan: Five Great Risottos

Risotto can be a daunting dish to make – the Italian rice dish is notoriously temperamental, and a ruined risotto can be pretty unappetizing! The most important element to cooking a good one is attention. The chef needs to stand over the pan, stirring the rice constantly while adding hot stock so the grains don’t stick together. Once you’ve mastered that, here are some ideas for creating great variations on the dish.

-        Mushrooms make an exceptional pairing for risotto. Their earthy flavor permeates the rice, adding worlds of dimension. Try using chanterelle mushrooms coupled with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

-        Lemon flavors are also great for risottos. Pair fresh-squeezed lemon juice with steamed asparagus for a light, refreshing dish that will have people raving.

-        In the autumn, turning to that season’s produce can be a great way to switch up your cooking. One very common pairing for risottos is butternut squash. The subtle, comfortable flavor of the vegetable makes a great base for a risotto.

-        Seafood risotto is a very popular preparation. Use clams, mussels, scallops, and shrimp to add a variety of tastes to the preparation, and season with saffron.

-        For a unique breakfast dish, prepare a traditional risotto and stir in cooked, crumbled bacon and a little sharp cheese. Top with a fried egg and enjoy!

Game On: Great Dishes For Tailgate Parties

With football season here, tailgate parties are a major event on your social calendar. There’s nothing better than getting hyped up for a game with friends and family while eating some food and enjoying a day off. If you’re invited to a tailgate and don’t know what to bring, here are five easy ideas that are always popular.

-        Hot wings are always a good choice. This delicious finger food is inexpensive, easy to prepare and disappears in an instant. The traditional Buffalo style is made with Frank’s Red Hot sauce as a base, but using a sweeter barbecue sauce is also fine. Serve with cut up sticks of fresh, crisp celery.

-        Ribs are also a very nice meat contribution. The best way to prepare them is to slow-cook them until they’re tender and then quickly reheat them at the party to caramelize the outside and bring out the flavor.

-        Fresh guacamole can be a good choice, especially if there are vegetarians present. Making this avocado-based dip from scratch is surprisingly easy, but make sure to use ripe avocados that are soft to the touch but not brown on the inside. Save the pits and place them in the bowl to keep it fresh until serving.

-        Deviled eggs also make a good tailgating snack. They’re easy to prepare in bulk and store well, so you can cook them well in advance. Make sure to top the yolks with lots of hot paprika.

-        Desserts are always a good choice. Bar cookies and brownies are easy to make and transport, and you don’t even have to take them out of the pan – just slice and let people serve themselves.

Fall Happenings in Delaware!

Looking for some fun things to do this fall? Then you might want to consider these Delaware events. From fun and artistic celebrations to great outdoor excursions, there’s plenty for you to enjoy. Here’s a sample:

The Delaware Wind & Ale Trail – The trail is a unique collection of thirteen locations that educate about the creation and production of their wines and brews. It offers several great tour and tasting experiences.

Bridgeville Apple Scrapple Festival – On October 15th and 16th Bridgeville celebrates a great combo of scrapple and apples. This 20 year tradition features street dances, carnivals, car shows, live entertainment, and more.

Sea Witch Halloween & Fiddler’s Festival –On October 28th through 30th Rehoboth Beach will be filled with the sights and sounds of its annual Sea Witch Halloween extravaganza. From the exciting Sea Witch Parade and costume contest to a 5k Run, the Sea Witch Skim Fest, Pirate’s Coast Haunted House, and more, it’s the ultimate beach-side Halloween destination.

Halloween Haunts – For classic Halloween thrills visit Frightland, Nightmare’s Haunted House, and All Hollow’s Revenge. There’s also plenty of documented locations that may be haunted!

World Championship Punkin Chunkin – Since 1986 people gathered at Nassau to find out how far someone was able to launch a Pumpkin into the sky with a machine. Now the event has over 20,000 attendees and is featured on the Science Channel. And on November 4th through 6th, contestants will meet to crown a new champion!

TRAFFIC ALERT!! (Route 29 Turnpike Interchange)

Turnpike traffic between Downingtown and Valley Forge will be stopped today for up to 15 minutes between 11:45 AM and 12:15 PM for blasting.

Test drilling has indicated that there is underground rock that is obstructing construction of the Route 29 Turnpike Interchange. The contractor will need to perform blasting to remove this underground rock. The blasting process is a generally accepted construction activity for removing underground rock. You may experience some vibration and/or noise associated with the blasting.

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