The Importance of Site Map

If you come across a web site, you may notice the “Site Map” button somewhere at the bottom or sometimes located on different areas of a web page. I bet you haven’t clicked this button yet, right? So why do sites have this “site maps”? What is the significance of this to a web site? Now it’s time for you to learn about the importance of The Site Map and its role on the World Wide Web.

Three years ago, professionals declared all site should include a site map. They stated the site map as the astonishing technique to guarantee probable customers could effortlessly navigate the site and look for what they needed. Once they found it, they would try to buy it and you would be the richest man on the web

Unfortunately, this one notation was mistaken, as it’s distinctive with such generally conventional announcement. Any person distantly paying attention to server records understood very few people were visiting site maps. The proclamation stopped being shouted and evolved into criticisms of sites which still have site maps. These disparagements certainly miss the target as well. HTML site maps are out-of-date. Visitors to your site will almost never make use of them. Actually, you may even think that you have put one up. You will undoubtedly fail to remember to keep it posted as frequently as you should. But the fact remains that the site map is a vital part of the site.

First and foremost, the basic thing to understand is there is a precise principle for having a site map. The reason is to make it is as simple as possible for search engine robots to crawl your site. You have better chances with success where there is more pages indexed by the search engines the better off you are. Just create a page with the Meta tag of "site map" to put up a site map. Put in hyperlinked text to each pivot page of the site. A fulcrum page is basically an entry page to a certain part of the web site. Take this as an example; you may have a concentrated article page with links to each article. The centralized article page is a fulcrum page and should be incorporated on the site map. Make sure that every page you want to be included in the search engine has a hyperlinked text headline on at any rate one of the fulcrum pages once you completed the process.

Here’s a quick statement about Google. Google has a latest xml feature you can make use of for a site map. You can use it or forgo it as you see fit. But still, make it a hundred percent certain to create an html site map for the other search engines. Just the once you have the site map page up, don’t hang around for the search engine robots to crawl for it. Bring out the link in an article byline or blog as fast as you can.


Source: Thomas Haugen of TEK MEDIA

The 5 Greatest Techniques in SEO

In search engine optimization, there are various techniques used to boost up, or even sink a web site. Some of the major approaches in SEO that can really pull you down are keyword stuffing and page cloaking. For the most part, you always want to make certain that you are building a site for your visitors. Unfortunately, the robots aren’t relatively as fascinated in your content as you think.

There are simple but effective methods that you can apply to amplify your site and make it well know on the web. There are techniques to consider. With these, search engine optimization will be as easy as ABC and very much convenient to users. This can help you to get more traffic from search engines by ranking well. Obviously, you need to be certain that you are pleading with the visitors to really click on your search listing once you rank well. The appropriate and quality traffic is why we put up our own web sites and exert a lot of effort to have good rankings on search engine.

Here are the 5 Great SEO tips for your site

1. Content
It is incredibly vital to guarantee that you have content worth viewing. It may sound like a broken record but this is relatively the number one for any search marketing approach. Everything else is a waste of time without this one simple step to ensure that there is a motivation for somebody to be on your site or simply visit it. There are a large number of awesome sites to find encouragement for writing effective great content.

2. Incoming Links
A link is a link is a link, but without the simplest form you aren’t going to do well in search engines. The more links you have the more often you are going to be crawled. It is also important to make sure that you have the proper anchor text for your incoming links.

3. Web site title
Having the appropriate web site titles for your pages is tremendously important. The keywords you put in your title are essential in order to guarantee that your subject is understood by the search engine. Among the principal aspects for ranking is if the title is topic-related with the search results. Not only is it significant for crawlers to index and recognize the topic of the page either.

4. Heading tags
When you are making your site’s layout content, you have to be one hundred percent certain that you are generating the content flow in such a way that the heading tags are based on distinction. Heading tags might be a small thing to be recognized, but it contributes a lot to the optimization of a web site.

5. Internal Linking
Certifying that your internal linking helps robots, and at the same time visitors, to search for the content on your site. This is actually a big plus factor for your site. Using applicable copy all the way through your site will tell the visitors more efficiently what to look forward to on the related page.


Source: Thomas Haugen of Tek Media

The Top 10 Free SEO Tools

Free SEO tools plays a major role in developing web sites. A part of one's success in online business should be credited to these reliable tools. They really are a big help and it lessens the load of our jobs; and it's FREE! For the past decade of Internet marketing's time-line, let's get to know the best of the best free SEO tools that has done a great job for the past years. These tools have been used, reviewed, and analyzed based on their efficiency and convenience to all users.

1. SEOmoz.com's Ranking Checker

This slick SEO tool lets you to check your rankings for up to 5 keywords per day for FREE and it provides an archive for you to store in all your data. All you need is to register for a free SEOmoz account.

2. MultiRank Checker by iWebtool.com

This tool is very useful whenever you need to check the Google Page Rank and the Alexa Ranking for one of your clients at the same time do the same for 9 of their competitors.

3. Fiddler Web Debugging Tool by Fiddlertool.com

If you don't want top use other debugging tool such as Charles' for the reason that you have to pay a solid $50 for its services, Fiddler is there to the rescue. Fiddler basically performs the same task and it is absolutely free. It's accessible only for Windows at present and it needs the .NET framework that you can download from their web site as well.

4. SEO Analyzer by Sitening.com

The SEO Analyzer is one of the greatest tool to commence optimization efforts. It is basically a report that provides a specific rundown of SEO elements that could necessitate a deep evaluation with a web site. The best part with this tool is that it keeps a copy of your previous reports and you can download them as PDF with just one click of your mouse.

5. Strongest Subpages Tool by WeBuildPages.com

Strongest Subpages is an awesome tool that provides an well-groomed list of the strongest pages on any web site. This tool is essential because by checking at the results you can simply figure out what pages are holding the most amount of inbound links.

6. Backlink Checker by WeBuildPages.com

Backlink checker is among the most essential SEO tool. This easy-to-use and free tool is a superb free backlink checking tool.

7. Firefox with the Web Developer Extension by Chris Pederick

Firefox in itself is the most versatile browser out there. However, when you match it with the Web Developer extension Firefox, it becomes a useful SEO tool.

8. SEO for Firefox by SEOBook.com

There is no other free tool on the web that could provide you the amount of information that this tool can give right from either the visited page or the search engine.

9. Google Analytics / Google Webmaster Console by Google.com

Google Analytics is a top analytics tool made available to everybody for free by Google based on Urchin.

10. Keyword Selector Tool by Overture.com

This tool is one of the first keyword tools that was available to webmasters. It's still very effective, useful and is still free at present.


Source: Thomas Haugen of Tek Media

The Key Fundamentals of Search Engine Marketing

As we go along the different areas of internet marketing, it’s time to familiarize some of the basic elements of search engine marketing. Here are the key elements and best approaches you should apply to achieve great success on the web.

Search engine marketing is basically a universal term that essentially covers generally kinds of online marketing. It is without a doubt the most efficient means to create traffic to your site. Traffic merely refers to the number of online guests visiting your site. As a site owner, you wish to have as much traffic as possible coming to your site unlike delayed flights on your domestic airport. There are a couple of different ways to set out concerning this with search engine marketing.

Pay-per-click Marketing

This is the simplest form and the easiest method of search engine marketing. It is least convincing and the most high-priced as well. You are basically paying for the placement of a small ad on the search engine under consideration with Pay-Per-Click marketing. However, the problem is too obvious. Of course, you are spending money. And this means only one thing; you are paying. Your return of investment can be dreadful and wash you out in less than a couple of months if you are not cautious. Unfortunately, a lot of people deceptively click ads just to consume your budget. Now that’s the worst case scenario for you. And this will obviously makes things even worse when it comes to your return of investment. This has to be the worst situation anyone could possibly experience. Pay-per-click has its own position, although not all the time it should not be relied on as the main solution to your marketing demands.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Following “PPC” on the list is the Search engine optimization. SEO is the process in the search engine marketing ground. With search engine optimization, the objective is to get your site positioned in the top 10 in the search results for specific keywords. All the clicks you then obtain are free. As a result, your return of investment will definitely soar. However, there are drawbacks to SEO. One thing is that it requires a lot of time to achieve those rankings. But as the old saying goes, “Patience is a virtue.” Approximately, it will take a new site for about five to nine months before it tastes the feel of a ranking on search engines, especially Google.

Article Marketing

Last but not the least is the article marketing. This is the third and most up-to-date aspect of search engine marketing. You write articles for your site and submit them to article directories sites with this type of approach. Webmasters for other sites can make use of these articles as well, providing they publish an author by-line which includes your name and a link to your site. Here’s the trick, when the article is published on different sites, viewers/readers start clicking the link and you will easily gain traffic.

Each of these elements of search engine marketing is applied at one point or another when we talk about some sites on the web. The vital objective is to obtain rankings through search engine optimization and all you have to do is to chill out while the free traffic keeps on coming.

By:
Thomas Haugen
Internet Marketer
Tek Media

Understanding Search Engine Marketing

Ask some possible prospects about search engine marketing and you’ll get an uncertain response. Actually, a lot are confused about the real definition of search engine marketing. So here’s a concrete and brief explanation of the real search engine marketing.

What is search engine marketing? It is a universal term that refers to every different ways you can promote a single site on the billions or so search engines available in the web. In fact, search engine marketing is an all term catch for almost everyone who understands that they have a need to have a web site. However, it’s not everything you basically believe in. Understanding search engine marketing is like going to a pet shop and asks the pet shop guy that you would love to have a hamster or a dog.

Let’s say you have a business, and of course, you’ll need a web site along. If you already establish your own site, search engine marketing is definitely inevitable. Logically speaking, this makes a lot of sense. However, search engine marketing is an extremely extensive term in the realistic world of internet marketing. It covers a wide range of stuff. It’s like a view from a spacecraft, you are in the outer space and there are millions of starts hovering around. That’s how broad searching marketing is, believe it or not.

A lot of people may have used this line, “They are really telling something else to a marketing company like ours. If you can read between the lines, all they are saying is that, I need publicity or promotion for my site. The need to accumulate lots of people from the search engines going to my site and I want them to take a look at my merchandise and purchase them. That is what they practically mean about it. If this is your common thought progression, you are thinking along the correct line of thought and you’re on your way to the right path. Don’t get too excited because there are some problems you have to encounter along the way. What are these problems?

Search engine marketing has a wide range of different areas. Here’s where the problem rises and this is what you should probably do. Definitely, for the most part, sites have to use only a definite sort of search engine marketing. The function of a superior search engine marketing firm such as those big companies is to recognize those certain areas, put in plain words why they should be applied and effectively accomplish a promotion for your site.

To sum this up, search engine marketing is just a powerful or catchy phrase with a very little significance or definition. If you are considering marketing for your site, make sure to get a more thorough awareness of what you are getting into, what you are risking and why you should do this and that for the success of your site and business.



Thomas Haugen
Internet Marketer
Tek Media

Targeted Web Site Traffic - Why Pay For It?

We have been mistaken for so long that all traffic is the same. There are some that are actually different from the usual traffic we know. Getting massive hits can boost up your web site and definitely is a great thing personally. However, even if we get millions of hits from different random subjects, it's not that great after all. That's why it is advisable nowadays to buy targeted web site traffic

A lot of web sites commonly commit the same mistake of being "all-in-one" to everyone. Good hits are considerably unique when a web site focuses only to a specific product or services rather than providing customers with limited options. Be the best and the most prolific automotive parts and accessories site on the web and nothing else. If you are selling car parts and accessories. Simple, right? If you will observe it, this common problem comes up when web sites aims at traffic generation strategies.

At first, you will be very eager to get as much traffic as possible, regardless of how, assuming that it is a cool idea. But you are absolutely wrong. It's not a smart move after all. The best solution to cost effective online marketing is to acquire targeted web site traffic. Getting used to the usual process in getting traffic will only put our efforts into waste. A waste of time and money that is. It also interrupts your quality time from doing the right thing and diverts you to do stuff that leads to nothing. The best thing that you should do is to buy targeted web site traffic along with a significant word being targeted If you are investing your money for traffic.

Targeted traffic is basically traffic from sources and areas that are relevant to your site. I know you are familiar of the offers offers of 100,000 hits for let's say $50 or more if you have looked into developing traffic right? Definitely yes, you will get a solid 100,000 hits. However, the visitors are being paid to visit your site or the source of traffic is spreading off of free lottery sites. Now this will not convert revenues because it is not targeted.

The Best Place to buy Targeted Web Site Traffic

Among the best venues to acquire targeted web site traffic is Google and Yahoo Search Marketing. These two are well known pay-per-click search engines that places your ads directly on their search results. It shows that you can specify the keyword phrases you want to be listed under any category that will targeting your advertising to your market. Establish filters that would regulate the ad placements to searches from certain geographic areas as well, for example the United States or Europe. By doing this, it precisely targets your traffic by eradicating clicks from some areas which you can't cater your services geographically.Or you can purchase targeted traffic from web sites and traffic vendors as well. So start targeting your marketing today and buy yourself a targeted web site traffic and do right process.


If you like to read more from Thomas Haugen, you could visit his site at Tek Media.

The Web’s Best Search Engines

We are certainly familiar about what search engines are rolling on the web for the past decade. This is just a review, a refresher that is. For those who can’t figure it out, here are your best search engines on the web.

In the early days of search engine’s timeline, most of them started out extremely terrible. Luckily, that condition has transformed and developed as years gone by. The search engine was a self-effacing beast on the World Wide Web in its formative years. For the most part, engines were clueless about how to return appropriate rankings. As a result, this led to user disappointment and inconvenience and numerous of the search engines vanished. Worse part is, some of them turned out into minor groups - Alta Vista, Lycos and Northern Lights to name a few. A lot of this took place when Google came rushing on the web’s picture.

The “who’s the best” talk and deliberation can sometimes be very difficult and somewhat dangerous. However, defining the word “best” is easier when we’re talking about Google. Technically, this search engine is the closest to the word best when it comes to a lot of fields on internet marketing. This was the brainchild of Larry Page and Sergey Brin. These two were responsible for establishing the company in 1988. Google was originally known as BackRub. The name was pulled out from the original idea of gazing at links as an evaluation of relevancy when returning results. Google has re-accentuated back links, but takes control of massive traffic at a halt. It is without a doubt the finest advertising platform for commerce and trade and the most used search engine by online users looking for a variety of stuff on the net. Google provides advertising and search results to AOL along with other search engines as well.

Yahoo is among the pioneer search engines that have coped up to stay in the right path. Actually, Yahoo has certainly not had a lot to holler about as a search engine. Results are frequently not mostly relevant to the search. Fortunately, it got better extensively by more or less trying with a lot of effort to do what Google does when ranking sites.

MSN can be described as the little search engine. This is absolutely the scenario on the web while it may appear weird to recommend a search engine provided by Microsoft is a second best. Microsoft failed to notice the mark when it first launched MSN.com, to put it straightforwardly. The results were terrible and not a soul used it. Microsoft at long last pulled it together and launched an entirely new MSN search engine in 2005. Astonishingly, MSN deserves a place on the top list for best search engines.



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Chocolates: Men Guilty Pleasure

Do you feel frustrated if your man gave you flowers on your date and expecting there's a chocolate too? Or on Valentine's Day you can imagine not having a chocolate? What would the world be like without this delectable and divine dessert. Well... I can survive in this world if I eat chocolate with every meal if I wanted to. In breakfast I will take hot chocolate, after lunch a chocolate dessert and in dinner too. I can eat everywhere. Everybody does love chocolate. To a woman, its a comfort food, something that can improve her mood. To a man, well, although he may not admit it, gourmet chocolate is a guilty pleasure.

Some recent studies have suggested that cocoa bears a substance called Epicatechin. This makes an assumed-to-be-fatty dark gourmet chocolate bar. A super beneficial against the world's four major health problems like stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes and also believed to have the ability to prevent persistent coughing. Of course, there is also the assumption that chocolate is an aphrodisiac. The Phenylethylamine and Seratoni are both mood-lifting agents in our brains. These two are naturally released into the nervous system by the brain whenever we feel elated because of love, passion or lust. And so, despite that there is no acceptable proof that chocolate is indeed a lust-agent, the giving of gourmet chocolate is considered as an effective romantic move.

Chocolates are definitely addictive but there are some people don't like chocolate. Chocolates hold a special place in everyone's hearts which is why it is a very popular gifts for birthdays, anniversary, and other occasions. There is nothing quite like chocolates to make everyone's day. And it's rare to find someone who does not like chocolate. Like me, I loved chocolate. I don't care if its a cheap one. I tried different kinds of chocolate from cheap to expensive one. I also love giving chocolates for my friend and family, like their birthday or just a token for being nice to me. However, giving out chocolate bars which can be regularly found in supermarkets becomes too generic and ordinary, thats why in some special occasions, I prefer to give the chocolate truffles. This are bite-sized chocolates made from any of the following: ganache, cream, chocolates, nuts and even liqour. And so, despite that there is no acceptable proof that chocolate is indeed a lust-agent, the giving of gourmet chocolate is considered as an effective romantic move. Thats why every kids and even adults loves the chocolate truffles.

Here are some of the gourmet chocolates you like. Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Brownies, Cakes and Cookies, Fudge, Chocolate Candy, Chocolate Bars and Baking Chocolate.

Be A Philanthropist

When we hear about Hip-Hop, we think of the up-beat sound, the cool artist, bling-blings, the clothes, nice cars and all the labels in the Hip-Hop industries. Think of these, are they here (hip-hop artist) for their music? For the lifestyles that they are up to and be the stylish artist in town? Or should I say to see their fabolous crib on MTV show and tell the whole world that they're a super rich person and we must envy them?

Yes! Maybe we misjudge them. We think that they are the happy-go-lucky type. But the things that we did'nt know is behind their success is a sad stories, some of them started from scratch. Started from nothing and made it into something. That's why they come up to the idea of helping people. Various artist are into organization that help orphans, victims of AIDS, cancer, homeless people and to the women who are sexually abused.

One of these is Miller the Master P who is so dedicated transforming music genre that all proceeds from Take a Stand Records artist will go toward scholarship opportunities for underprivileged youth. He said, "The kids will just say anything. There do need to be changes in the music, and I'm not telling every hip-hop artist to change or sell out. I'm saying, make it better for the kids, if you don't do it for yourself." He also describe himsel as "always thinking about doing something different." And reading these line will hit somebodies heart. "It's not about how much money I can make, It's about what can I give back to these kids."

With the recent report where a massive earthquake in Italy has caused widespread devastation in the Abruzzo region have led Madonna to donate a large sum to help those victims. More than 200 people have died in the Abruzzo region and Madonna is believed to have donated half a million dollars to the cause. She told People.com that she was happy helping people and her heart goes out to the families that have lost loved ones or their homes.



US Hip-Hop artist had claimed that gems are the measure of their own success. Wearing a lot of diamonds is known nowadays as "bling-bling". In the world of hip-hop, diamonds is the sign that you've arrived. Mr. Wall (Paul Wall) is a hip-hop artist known for his diamond "grillz" worn on the teeth, Raekwon and Tego Calderon visid diamond mines and refugee camps, and meet with children who were victims of the war. 'Bling' also traces the relationship between poverty and diamonds, and the influence of hip-hop music in global culture. “It’s just ironic that what made black people feel so empowered was completely demoralizing and destroying other black people,” Grammy Award-winning rapper Kanye West notes in the film.

So you think that these people are living just for fun? We can do it also in our own way. Money is not only the reason not to help for those needless. As long that you help from the bottom of your heart and don't expect in return.

What Can Internet Do To Us?

What comes into your mind when we talk about Internet? Networking (Facebook, Multiply, Friendster, MyYearbook), business, free downloads like movies, mp3, ringtones and games. The Internet is a massive pool of information as well as resources. You can find everything online, if you only know where to look. Knowing how to get the most out of the Internet can help you as much as knowing how to read and maybe more.

The reason why people use the Internet is to find information about a subject. The web is like a huge encyclopedia of information and in some ways it's even better. It offers many different viewpoint on a single topic. In fact you can find online encyclopedias. The great things about the Internet is that it puts information into your hands that you might otherwise have to pay for.

Internet is also one way to locate or to correspond with faraway friends. Like email and chat. Email offers a cheap and easy alternative to communicate. It is more faster and easier than writing snail mail. Chat is also a great way to communicate to your families, love one and friends. The Internet is generally a very friendly place. Nowadays people love getting email or chatting from strangers and friendship are quick to form from casual communication. It tends to encourage people to reveal their personal things about themselves. Cyber-friendships have often developed in real life and even found love on the net and have gone on to marrying there cyber-partner.

Internet is a fun place to be. If your are so bored at home and tired of watching TV, Internet will keep you occupied. The few of the many flippant things to do on the web to learn, because Internet can give you an opportunity to gain more knowledge or distance education courses. Internet is wealthy when it comes to downloading. Like MP3 downloads, movies, videos, songs, ringtones, software, games and also eBook downloads. And to some busy people, Internet is a big help to them. Like buying online. Ebay and Amazon is one of the few online-shopping in the Internet. That's why Internet is also an easy way to deal with your businesses or products. If you want to make money, you can do it on web. Like selling your products online is a good marketing strategy to actually make money out of selling items over the web.

I must say that the best thing of these is, Internet share information to everyone. Like making blogs or articles, to let know of your interest to others might lead to friendship and informative stories may be useful to others.


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Why Do Men Love Cars?

Men love cars. Why? Because they're part of them. Men talk about their cars as if talking about themselves. Except from gadgets and electronics, motor bike and cars are one men's baby. As to women, they love clothes, shoes, bags and accessories. Women are more comfortable expressing their feelings directly and see the car as separate. And women give names to their cars. As Peter Marsh, one of the author of The Secret Life of Cars and What They Reveal About Us, said that the attachment of men to their cars was often translated into feelings of annoyance at the threat, or potential, of someone damaging the vehicles. And as the survey shows that men love their car more than their wife. Men... I know your nodding there. LOL. Yes! 3% of male drivers would consider giving up their wife or partner rather than their car. And in UK's biggest dedicated monitoring panel show that drivers are still very dependent on their cars, 2 % of women would also consider ditching their husband or boyfriend rather than their car.

Why men are so attached to it? A study revealed that cars feeds into their mans need for possession and the sense of belongingness and acceptance. If you'll observe, men are very confident when it comes to cars topic. They can speak and talk confidently to other men openly about their cars. It is that topic that engages men into conversation. And some men are investing cars. Men have the highest number of visitors in online blogs of cars and asks the most number of inquiries about car sales and car models.

Take a look at this one. A fuchsia Rodster Street Rod Pickup Truck. Yeah! I know its hot, hot, hot. One of my girl friend own this. Trucks are commonly used for carrying goods and materials. And this one are similar in size to a passenger automobile. I ask her why did she like this truck? Oh well, you know women are so finicky when it comes to owning a things or property. She said that it is safer to drive than the other vehicles and they have the capacity to tow and most of the time she have a lots of loading a different kind of stuff. It helps her a lot.

Semi truck or dump truck... whatever truck you own and drive does not matter. As long as your comfortable and serving the purpose of hauling goods and materials, then you are regarded as a truck driver. But their are lots of people overlook truck driver jobs. They Think that it is not noble or the payment is not enough to compensate the effort needed to accomplished them. But to my friend, the pick up truck and being a driver of it, is a wonderful experience. But for others who aren't used to trucks, the experience of owning a pickup often turns out to be anything from a major annoyance to an endless nightmare.

Baja California: A Perfect Summer Vacation

Are you having a hard time choosing what place or country you're going for a great summer vacation? First you think of a cheap and tropical one. Somewhere you can go with your family and friend where kids and adults will like.

If you are looking for a nice holiday in a nice country with a good people and a nice weather, no need to worry, because Baja California, Mexico is the best place. You'll appreciate the beauty of Baja. While you're in this lovely and mesmerizing place you'll imagine yourself owning a vacation home or a real estate property. The Baja Peninsula offers a variety of vacation destinations for any type of travelers. Baja offers a complete getaway from the regular ways of life. Los Cabos is the largest vacation destination on the Baja Peninsula, Los Cabos features the most amazing resorts in the world, along with plenty of activities for all ages!

Speaking of activities, there are lots of things to do in Baja California. Located between the Pacific Ocean on the west and the United States of America on the north, its beautiful natural wonders, its rich local cultures and its hospitable citizens, Baja California is flocked by vacationers, tourist and immigrants all year round. For those who are adventorous, there are plenty of activities to offer. Surfing is a popular activity along the northwestern and southwestern coast of Baja, where the Pacific Ocean provides ample waves of varying sizes, direction and shapes. This summer this is the great place to visit and you can surf all you can. Likewise with snorkeling and scuba diving are also popular in this place. Baja divers and snorkelers can see and swim with the very elusive hammerhear sharks, manta rays, orcas, dolphins, sea lions and many other marine lifeforms.

Baja California is a great destination too for those who love mountain biking, hiking, trekking, camping and sight-seeing. Golfing is popular among tourists and vacationers, and Baja has several world-class golf courses and driving ranges. And don't forget the shopping malls, kiosks, market and curio stands for souvenirs, leather goods and more. At night, you can go bar hopping, casinos, racing tracks and sport coliseums for the fun-loving and party-goers.

Take some times to visit and try to stay to their Hotels and Villas. They offer a pleasurable rooms and restaurant found inside the hotels. Villas is the best place to stay. Open yourself up to other possibilities besides hotels. There are hundred of villas situated around the Baja Peninsula. Its calming effect is almost immediate. Now its the perfect time to visit this beautiful country for a perfect vacation and enjoy the resort.

Spend Wisely

Many Americans are drowning in personal debt, but you hear less about the people who are digging out of debt. Having a credit card is a big help to those person who don't have a cash in hands. You can use it in many ways, like purchasing a laptop or a TV or for a groceries. It can help you in case of emergency. Credit Card is a short-term borrowing and repayment terms. Man always invented new things to satisfy every ones need and comforts. That's why credit card exist. Because today there are thousand of financial institutions the offer credit cards. In 1958 credit cards appeared from the Bank of America with the name BankAmerica Card. And now was named VISA card and another popular card was also Master Card. These cards permits its users to borrow money or buy goods and services on credit up and pre-spending limit.

How can you apply for a credit card? Do you think it's so easy to get it? Many bank companies are so clever enough to know about the person who's applying for a credit card. In applying credit card you must be at least 21 years of age; with a minimum fixed monthly income; you must have a business or landline number; and if you are a foreigner, you must be a permanent resident and you should include a photocopy of the Alien Certificate of Registration and work permit; and fill out the documents require like ITR (Income Tax Refund), Certificate of Employment, previous month's pay slip and etc. After you've done these, wait for their call. It's just a confirmation if you are really applying for a credit card and will be asking for some information about you. It takes weeks before they approve your application or worst application declined.

But do you think its so simple to have a credit card? Think of this... what if you drown from debt? Their are lots of credit card holders have encountered this problem. And worst they must sell their properties just to pay their mortgages. Especially women. Women can't control their cravings to spent to much in buying not so important things. Shopping is their weakness.

Everytime you make a credit transaction, like you're going to Southern Baja for a vacation and you use your credit card to pay for air fare, you leave a trail of information that gets picked up by credit agencies and that's what you call the Credit Report. Relax! Your credit report is used by lenders to determine your availability and willingness in paying debts. To remind you, just used your credit card wisely and it could really extend your spending power.

A Big Fan Of Hip-Hop Music And Artist

Last time I share to guys the article about the winning of the Jabbawockeez. The Hip-Hop group won in the last season of the Randy Jackson: America's Best Dance Crew. The nice thing about hip hop is the music they made. The fast beat and the rhythm that surely people gonna enjoy. But not only the music symbolized hip-hop. One thing I noticed is the clothes, bling blings, fabulous cribs from the well-known artist and the hot flashing cars.

Yeah! I'm a big fan of R&B and Hip-Hop artist (wish to be one. LOL). Since I was in high school I really like music. Actually I appreciate all kind of music, from hip-hop, R&B, reggae, ballad, soul, pop, jazz, alternative to light rock. Except for heavy metal. I don't like banging my head and shouting. It's not really singing, your shouting like a stupid fool. Sorry guys, those who love hard core music, I'm just expressing my opinion here. As I was saying, in Hip Hop industry most artist are have a huge house and nice cars. If you are watching the MTV crib you know what I'm saying. On that show, they feature the cribs of the sports celebrities, but most of them are from the music industries. You'll see the big pool with a big fountain, inside the house there's you'll find the entertainment room, gym, and some celebrities have a basketball court, billiard hall and sauna bath. Oh! I forgot. When you walk inside their rooms, look for their closet. It's a huge closet full of signature clothes, shoes, cup and accessories like what I've seen on Mariah Carey's room and J.Lo.

The growing list of the hip-hop philanthropists includes P.Diddy (Sean Comb), Jay-Z, Ludacris, 50 Cent, Snoop Doog, Nelly and Kanye West. These people coming from the streets often have a profound insight into the impact their philanthropy can have, and so they are devoting their time as well their money to urban charities. Speaking of Diddy, I've read a article knowing that he wins his first TV actor trophy. Sean Combs is a music mogul, a producer, fashion designer (I'm using his product which is the Unforgivable perfume), and a multi-platinum Grammy winning artist. Diddy won as the "Best Actor In a Television Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special" in the 40th annual show and earned 2 NAACP awards for "Raisin".

Some people have a negative insight to the hip-hop genre and its related culture. But some artist explained that hip hop done something to the music industry like what Jay-Z said "It has changed America immensely... Hip-hop has done more than any leader, politician or anyone to improve race relations. Racism is taught in the home… and it’s very hard to teach racism to a teenager who idolizes, say, Snoop Dogg. It’s hard to say, ‘That guy is less than you.’ The kid is like, ‘I like that guy, he’s cool’. White people and all people love hip-hop too!"

Black people are known to Hip-hop industry but now even white like Eminem are into Rap/Hip-hop too. All the while, hip hop and rap music get more popular all over the world. Sure, some people would love to listen and have a hip hop lifestyle.

Holy Week: Vacation And Suffering

It's been 8 days since I went home, to my province, because of Holy Week. Hope to spent more time with my family and friends. But because of duty call, I have to return to my place. Well, same routine, for me it's so boring. I wake up early, go to office, after work I go home, eat while watching TV and sleep. I don't know how will it change.

So now, looking back when I'm in Bicol (my province) where you can find the Mayon Volcano which is known for having a perfect cone. So simple place, I love the fresh air and having a simple living there is what some people are looking for. Our home is near in sea area that's why when summer season the air is warm and I always feel sleepy (I don't like cold places). In those 8 days we spent there I'm so thankful 'coz the weather is fine, actually it's hot. But I love it, most of the time we're out. We went to this place called Kawa Kawa (shape like a big cooking pan), located above the hill. Actually it's sa sacred place. You'll see the Station Of The Cross, the statue is like a human size. Filipinos are know for being religious and Station of the Cross is one way to follow Jesus Christ in his passion and to see ourselves mirrored in him. That's why climbing up in the hill with the heat of the sun burning your skin is a courageous experienced, suffering a little will not kill you.

But after the vacation, I see myself in the Bus Terminal. What else, again, me and my sis have to take 12hrs for a road trip. Yeah! 12 long hours on the road. Nice thing because we enjoy the sounds inside the bus. Oh! I remember, while we're on our way to Manila, we get pissed off. Because one of the bus take over us, and the worst part is the smoke coming from the muffler is so dark and almost block our way. So the driver go to slow down. It takes almost 1 hour for us to get over with that smoke belching bus. I almost curse the bus owner because of not checking their property.

And now, we're heading to Manila, we see the skyscrapes buildings, busy people going to work and the loud noise of the cars. The only thing that I like it here in Manila is if you want to have fun. Everywhere you look cost a lot of money. The shopping malls, restaurant, beautiful houses, and a lot of modernize things you'll find it here. Thanks to the modern technology, like what most of the architect does, mechanical drawings help their job to make it easier and faster.

But for me, staying here is not really tough. I'm used to these place. I start loving it. With the liberated people and these crowded place, I'm gonna learn a lot and I must be clever enought to deal with these people.

Nebraska Has It All!

Pack your bag and we will visit the beautiful places of Nebraska. Yup! I'll guide and introduce to you the best tourist destination, the finest hotels, restaurants, cities and things to do while you're there. You may not know yet, Nebraska are truly fantastic. If you are looking for a romantic getaway, an exciting outdoor adventure, a friend and family jaunt through history or discovering and collecting stuff--Nebraska has it all.

First, check your maps and look for the best place you want to visit in Nebraska. Like in Lincoln Nebraska, the city of Lincoln is the 2nd most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln airport provides efficient service for people of Lincoln metropolitan area and southeastern Nebraska. It is considered to be the gateway ro and from central and south-eastern Nebraska. Allegiant Air, Northwest Airlines and the United Airlines are some of the airlines in Lincoln Airport. United Airlines is one of the major airlines in the United States. It is the world's second largest airline by revenue-passenger-miles. Allegiant Air provides good service in such a low price and currently flies to 55 destinations throughout the United States. And the Northwest Airlines is the world's fourt largest airline in relation to the number of scheduled passenger-kilometer flown. So this information would be a great help and proves the fact it wouldn't be such a pain to travel to and from Nebraska.

Nebraska is a state with a significant number of cities and towns in it. The largest city in Nebraska is Omaha. Omaha is one of the more prosperous cities in the state. Lincoln is the capital of Nebraska, a city rich with culture and many sights for the tourist to see. The hotels in Lincoln provides exemplary accomodations. Baymont Inn & Suites Lincoln is located at 26th Street North, Lincoln. The Chase Suite Lincoln provides great recreational amenities including a pool, basketball court and tennis court. You can also find the best hotels in Lincoln. (See more hotels)

Reataurants and Shopping malls are one of the favorite places that tourist wants to go to. The Pool Hall, a small hometown bar and restaurants that offer guests favorites such as the grilled chicken sandwich with mushrooms and others south of the border dishes. Gering Bakery is another famous food establishment, one which residents from all over the state. This bakery's specialty is the German-Russian pocket sandwiches which call cabbage burgers. Aside from the usual sightseeing tours and other tourist activities, visitors to Nebraska can look forward to another activity that will surely keep tourists happy… shopping! Shopping malls abound and whatever you may be looking for, you can be certain to find it in Nebraska! One of the more popular and complete malls in Nebraska, is the Crossroads Mall located at 7400 Dodge Street, Suite 10 Omaha, Nebraska. With over 60 specialty stores, the Crossroads Mall is also home to Sears and Dillard’s assuring all visitors that what they need, they get!

Nebraska have a lot to offer from sports, museums, galleries, history and geography, hospitals to college and universities. Nebraska has earned a reputation as one of the Midwest's most beloved country. Lincoln is home of fine culinary and artistic treasures; a budding live music scene; breathtaking parks, golf courses and trails and offers the exhilaration of a big city and the serenity of the countryside all in one place.

Control Your Bad Habit

Why we can't stop our bad habit? Our life is habitual, the do the same thing yesterday or everyday for the last month. Good or bad habit will make you who you are. If you know how to control and change your bad habits, then even a small effort can create a big changes. A habit is any action that we performed and if we consider this habit to be undesirable the it will be a bad habit. Many people are spending to much money and time attempting to break their bad habits and often do not success. Changes is hard work and you must be patient enough because there is no short cut to achieving it.

Nail biting, nose picking, smoking, thumb sucking, and drinking are the common bad habits that we can't easily quit. Smokers are having a hard time to quit smoking. Some of the reason of these are innate human defiance, a need for social acceptance, the inability to truly understand the nature of risk, the ability to rationalize unhealthy habits and the genetic predisposition to addiction. Maybe you've tried to control yourself but do you think your over it? Some things haven't worked out as you hoped. Quitting can be the most difficult word for you and you know the reason why? Because quitting something is difficult when you always think about it, there's no excitement in just saying no and you never simply quit something, you do something else instead. Your bad habit takes time, you can make space for something new and exciting.

Smoking and drinking are ranked as the more dangerous bad habit because it can kill you or you can kill somebody. How? E.g. too much drinking can lead to car accident or a fight with somebody else. I know it's very tough to quit when you know that it's part of your lifestyle. But its time to make a choice or you'll die young. Which do you value more? Do you value more having a thousand of puff or having a pleasant life? Instead of smoking you can take a candy for a good substitute. You will be not only making an active choice to not do the old habit but you will also be making a choice to perform a better action. It's up to you. You should realize how important is good health. You will be forced to make a choice, whether a bad or good, about continuing your habit. What choice do you want to make? The one that makes you bad or the one that makes you feel better and feel good? If you really want to change don't complain, it takes time and eventually you'll no longer realizing it but you're totally over it.


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How To Quit Bad Habit

It's Summer Time

On my previous articles I wrote about the great places I want to visit on a vacation and I feature too the different places that most tourist want to visit especially the Philippines who are known for having a lot of magnificent beaches. And if you remember my blog “Feel The Summer Breeze”, I talk about Boracay Island which is the famous beach in Philippines. Especially this summer, people were planning to go to Boracay for a vacation. You can see different kind of people, kids, singles, lovers and families and even foreign people love the sandy beach of Boracay. To all the travelers, these summer Boracay will probably give a great travel deals. You can do it online, find the finest hotels and restaurants in the area.

Enjoy every activities that they made. Like making the best sand castles. There are so many thing to do in Boracay. You can watch the dolphin show like what I've seen in Cabo Dolphin Center in Cabo San Lucas. Sailboating and kayaking are popular activities in Boracay, if you want too see some more read this...

• Diving -- If you want to see the beautiful underwater world get your professional diver and let him guide you under the sea. Competent instructors of the many dive shops that operate in the area. For scuba diving enthusiasts, Yapak in Boracay is great deep dive.

• Nature Tripping -- This island is ideal for hiking, trekking, island hopping, caving biking and many more. You'll enjoy the stay here because of the beautiful scenery and you'll gonna say yourself this words "Men, I'm gonna come back to this place."

• Ati-Atihan -- Well, this is the symbol of being a Filipino. Ati Atihan Festival celebrates every second week of January. January is the time to hang loose in Kalibo (The Land of the Atis) and the gateway to Boracay. These is a streetdancing and performed by costumed and black-sooted "tribes" as they went through the main streets from dawn until the witching hours. The famous rhythmic shout of the Ati-atihan is like this "Hala bira! Puera pasma! Hala bira! Viva Santo Niño!"

• And for your special interest you can find the recreational sports, shopping, barhopping, dining, relaxation and spa. Boracay is the perfect venue for golf, tennis, bowling and beach volleyball. For these activities the top amenities are available in the island. Walking barefoot in the sandy beach of Boracay is the rule rather than the exception. The code in Boracay is strictly informal. Barhopping is no. 1 to the singles, teenagers, and even old ones. Swinging discos have the beach for a floor. The island turns into one big party place where everyone is welcome to join in. Shopping i9s for the women. Who say so? Shopping is a joy of a diversion in Boracay. Souvenir pieces provide endless possibilities. And the best of all of these is the relaxation. The island is ideal for beach bumming, relaxing, and simply lazing around. At the end of the day, because of the tiring activities, unwind with a relaxing massage. Mandala Spa is the best spa in Boracay and the skilled masseurs offered the luxurious treat that you'll ever get.

If you want to visit Philippines, especially if you want to go to Boracay, Tagaytay and the rest of the tourist spots just visit MANILA STAY INC or contact me via skype: catherineguerrero28

Thier Dream House Can Be Yours Too

Most of us dreamed of a big house. Fully furnished, cozy, nice interior, great landscape and all that. But how can you have these stuff if you don't work hard. Fulfilling your dream is working hard. Wanting to build a big house of your choice is difficult to do if you do not have the capacity to build one. Then you seek for financial help. Or your monthly income is not adequate to enable to build one. Set a goal. Think of thing that you really want. Planned it, do the step by step procedure. Planning a dream house is a hard task. In planning a dream house there are simple things to consider. But think of this, building a house is a dream but, finishing it might be a nightmare.

In building a house the most important to me is the paint color, aside from the architecture of the house. Lending a sense of color and contributing to the mood of your space, paint and wall covering also have several other functions such as waterproofing and fireproofing walls and other surfaces. Painting your house is the best way to add value to your home. Keep in mind, using of a good quality can make a surface more abrasion-resistant, easier to clean and capable of washing the risk of removing the paint.

But if you want an excellent touch you can hire a paint contractor. Paint contractor can be an individual person or a company that you contract with or hire in order to help you paint whatever space it is you need painted. They are sort of a manager who would be responsible for the materials, workers, budget and other factors involved in painting project. Why do I need to hire a paint contractor? Well for one, hiring a painting contractor for big construction projects like painting an entirely new house, repainting an old house, painting the roof, painting a large warehouse or office or even painting the exteriors of a skyscraper are paint jobs that a normal Jane or Joe may not have the skills and expertise to perform properly. Yes, you may be able to paint an entire home but there would be a problems that arise which you as someone with no proper training and to the point that you riled up from the mess and not expected result of your work. It is not uncommon that paint contractors and their clients sometimes quarrel because the clients are not certain with what exactly it is they want to do with their residential or commercial spaces. This may result to their lack of contentment with regards to changes and paint colors they themselves requested for as well as lead to a continuous demand for changes and alterations even when they job is already underway.

Obviously, the solution to this problem would be for the client to clearly define and outline how they wish their commercial or residential space should look after the painting job is done. Of course, this is easier said than done. Our moods, mental condition and personalities can easily change and consequently these can affect our feelings towards the spaces we are in. Knowing your space would be used for may help in choosing paint color and type.

So forget the idea that home improvement is synonymous to a whole load of expenses and a world of trouble. Instead of buying new furniture or paying for additional constructions, all you really need is a good paint contractor who can transform the mood and look of your home with paint and color.

Jabba'wock'eez Rulez

Too early to write but I want to share what I feel last night while watching the finals of Randy Jackson: America's Best Dance Crew (March 30, 2009). With the remaining group which consist of Status Quo and Jabbawockeez. I knew that Jabbawockeez will win. From the very start I really like them. And most of the group are half Filipino. As I was saying, the performance was great. The dance was choreographed by Chuck Maldonado who did the Stomp the Yard. MTV rocks the floor when the best two remaining finalist do their show down. Fans were screaming and even us whos watch the show are like going gaga. LOL.


Here are the Vid of the winning group Jabbawockeez.

The Crew:

Ben “B-Tek” Chung
Chris “Cristyles” Gatdula - (Filipino)
Kevin “Keibee” Brewer
Rynan “Kid Rainen” Paguio - (Filipino)
Jeff “Phi” Nguyen
Phil “Swaggerboy” Tayag - (Filipino)
Eddie “Eddie Styles” Gutierrez
Saso “Saso Fresh” Jimenez
Randy “DJ Wish One” Bernal - (Filipino)
Joe “Emajoenation/Punkee” Larot - (Filipino)


I really like Kid Rainen, so here is the Q&A with him..

Westword (Michael Roberts): Where are you from originally?

Rynan Paguio: I’m originally from San Diego, California. Well, I guess I’ve spent half my life in San Diego, California and half of it in Riverside, or in Murrieta, California.

WW: Have you been dancing for as long as you can remember?

RP: Yeah, pretty much. I started dancing at a really young age. I’d say I started doing B-boying or breakdancing at around eleven years old. And then I started getting into other styles of dance, as far as hip-hop choreography, at around seventeen or eighteen years old. So I’ve been doing it for a pretty long time.

WW: Did you ever have any formal training? Or did you pick up your moves from being a part of the scene?

RP: Really just being a part of the scene. I definitely was influenced by movies that I watched, like Beat Street from back in the ‘80s, Breakin’, Wild Style. A lot of those movies really influenced the dances that I do. I started off as a B-boy, as a breakdancer, so that was my biggest influence. And from there, I just kept going at it, and I didn’t really get into choreography dancing until I was seventeen, eighteen and I got into this group called Culture Shock San Diego. I got influenced through a lot of dancers in that realm, and also other dancers like Mindtricks, which I guess you could say was the first crew before JabbaWockeeZ. I got influenced through that just from the hip-hop choreography. But no real formal training as far as learning from jazz teachers or anything like that. Everything came from the hip-hop scene, going to hip-hop events.

WW: Did you first get started in San Diego or in Riverside?

RP: I first started learning how to B-boy and breakdance when I was living in Riverside – and Murrieta, there was really nothing there. It was pretty much cows (laughs). There was nothing going on there, especially when you compare it to San Diego, which is a real city with a lot of people who did that kind of dancing: breaking and house dancing. Living in Murrieta, there wasn’t a lot for me to do except practice, and to watch videos of dancers like the Rock Steady Crew, Crazy Legs and Ken Swift. Watching people on videos like the Air Force Crew, Lil Caesar. Even dancers from Europe like Battle Squad, Storm and everybody.

That’s pretty much all I did. I watched those videos and went in my garage and practiced. And later, I went back and forth to San Diego, because a lot of my cousins lived out there – and also, a lot of them were breaking at the time. I just got affiliated with a lot of different crews in San Diego. And at that young age, I was having older people picking me up and taking me to hip-hop events in San Diego. And also, my brothers would come with me. My brothers were a lot older than me, and it’d be late, so my brothers would come with me. And pretty much after I graduated, I moved to San Diego to start my dancing career. From then on, I was in San Diego, dancing for San Diego Culture Shock, doing little jobs here and there, working for Sea World…

WW: What did you do at Sea World?

RP: I did a bunch of different dance shows.

WW: No feeding killer whales?

RP: No, no way (laughs). All I did was I got to pet Shamu. That’s about it. And after that, I started dancing professionally in L.A. – making the commute from San Diego to L.A. for about eight, nine years. And within that time as well, I got affiliated with the JabbaWockeeZ crew, which my friends Kevin Brewer and Joe Larot started. I was pretty much one of the six original members that started the crew.

WW: Was the scene there really diverse? Were people from every kind of ethnic background accepted as long as they could dance?

RP: Oh yeah, definitely. The great thing about hip-hop dance, and dance and general, is there’s no boundaries. It doesn’t matter what your race or creed are. It just matters what your skill is. And the main thing about hip-hop and about B-boying, it’s about turning a negative into a positive. A lot of time growing up, you’d have battles that would happen and a lot of people would think, “Oh my gosh! They’re fighting! They’re fighting!” But really what we’re doing is confronting each other with different dance moves. And then at the end of the battle, it’s like, “Let’s go out to eat and chill out and talk about each other’s style.” You know what I mean? Kind of congratulate each other about the moves that we have. Like, “Oh my gosh, you did this on me. That was freakin’ awesome. Can you teach that to me?”

It’s always been like that, at every event. Ever since I started dancing, ever since I started learning how to break, the scene was very diverse. There was never any hatred going on. I guess the only type of negativity that would go on, which really isn’t that negative, is like, “Oh, that guy’s doing your move. Battle that guy.” But after a battle, it never escalated further than that. When the dancing first started, that’s what it was about. You had a lot of gangs killing each other in New York. And then a lot of the younger kids, they didn’t want to be involved in that. What they wanted to do was turn a negative into a positive and just dance.

WW: Over the years, have you sustained any major injuries? Break bones or anything like that?

RP: Definitely a lot of sore muscles, a lot of muscle pain. Pulled groins, pulled muscles. But as I got older – right now, I’m 27 years old – and I tore my meniscus on my knee and I had to get surgery on it.

WW: So you’re doing this tour after tearing your meniscus?

RP: This is what happened. A lot of dancers will get injured, but you still dance on it – and you make it seem like it’s normal. Like, for me, with my torn meniscus, I felt like my knee was still okay. And I had it for years. I had it when I was in my teen years – not knowing that I’d torn my meniscus, but just thinking that sometimes my knee gets a little sore. But as I got older, my knee would actually lock up – and once I’d straighten it out, my knee would pop back into place, and it’d feel like it was normal, even though it wasn’t. What a doctor told me was, my meniscus was torn, and when I’d dance, sometimes it would actually overlap itself so it’d get locked. When I’d stretch it out, it would go back into place, but it was still torn, and it would tear more and more and more.

I guess this was about three-and-a-half months ago: I went to this breaking event, just a local event, to have a good time. It happened with my knee again, and I thought I could straighten it out, but I couldn’t. And the doctor ended up telling me my meniscus was pretty bad, so they had to take it out. And I’m lucky it wasn’t an ACL tear. If it’d been an ACL tear, it would’ve taken six or seven months to heal. So, anyhow, the doctor told me I still need to have reconstructive surgery, but if I keep taking care of myself as far as stretching out, working my knee out, I won’t need it for a couple of years. So I try to take care of my body as much as I possibly can.

WW: So let me make sure I understand… You’re doing this tour without a meniscus in one knee?

RP: Yeah, pretty much. But that’s the way it is with a lot of dancers. A lot of dancers don’t have reconstructive surgery for years because they take care of their bodies. If I was just to dance without stretching out, without eating right, just keep on pounding my body without trying to take care of it, I’m pretty sure I’d have to have reconstructive surgery within six months. But I know a lot of people who have this who’ve been really helping me know how to take care of my body, take care of my knee.

WW: JabbaWockeeZ got together back in about 2003, right?

RP: Yeah, that’s right.

WW: Back then, did anyone think you could make a living from it? Or did you guys look at it like, we may make a few dollars here and there, but this is mostly for fun – it’s not a career?

RP: The funny thing was, we all knew each other before 2003. We all met back in 1998, 1999, through different hip-hop events, and we were in different crews. During that time, I was working as a professional dancer in L.A., and a couple of the other guys were, too. But the six members who were in the crew were Kevin and Joe, who were the first guys who started it, and Randy Bernall and Gary Kendell. They were working as professional dancers as well. And what I mean by that is, we would work as dancers, but we’d teach, too. All of us taught classes in different studios – just teaching our style of dance. And then there was Cristyles, Chris Gatdula, who wasn’t professionally dancing. He was just going to school fulltime. And then me, and I was doing the same thing as Gary and Randy, dancing professionally in L.A.

When we started the crew, we were in different crews at the time. They were in Mindtricks, I was in Culture Shock San Diego with Cristyles. And whenever we’d see each other, we’d just like the way that we danced, and we’d always vibe out with each other. Turned out they wanted to start the crew up, and I guess you could say it was just for fun. We did it mainly because we all wanted to dance together. We were in a lot of different crews before, but we wanted to blend together, make routines together, and see what would happen. And throughout that time, magic started happening. And when Gary, who’s passed away, proposed that we go out for America’s Best Dance Crew, that brought us all together. Because he was an older person. He lived in the Bay Area and always came to San Diego, and he was the bridge that brought us all together.

WW: Prior to America’s Best Dance Crew, did you guys participate in any events or projects where it became clear you were moving beyond it just being a for-fun thing? Where you thought this could really catch on?

RP: It wasn’t really television that brought us out. It was more YouTube. It was something that shocked us, because we started doing these dance showcases at different events in San Diego and the Bay Area, and people started posting our shows on YouTube. It wasn’t even us who were posting them. It was other people. And people were wondering who we were, and just getting into the mysteriousness of what a Jabbawockee was. And when we looked, there were all these JabbaWockeeZ views, over 100,000 views on the majority of our stuff. We were like, “Wow, people are really looking at what we do.” And through that, people started calling us up for different gigs and we’d do different local underground showcases.

And not only that, but people were actually biting what we were doing. And what biting means is, they were copying what we were doing. There were actually groups in the Philippines that were doing routines with our actual music – I don’t know how they got the music; maybe they just dubbed it over from YouTube or whatever. But they were doing our exact routines.

WW: And then they’d post these routines and you’d see them on YouTube?

RP: Yeah. And we had a lot of fans who knew who the actual JabbaWockeeZ were, and they’d tell them, “That’s wack. You guys shouldn’t be doing that.” But at the same time, they were just inspired – so there’s nothing wrong with that. Well, the only thing that’s wrong with that is if you’re saying, “I made up this routine,” when you really didn’t. And then things started happening really quickly last summer. That’s when we heard from a friend of ours named Jon Chu. We didn’t know at the time that he was directing Step Up 2, but he told us one of the big inspirations for making Step Up 2 was the JabbaWockeeZ. We inspired him a lot because of what we did. He was really involved in the dance scene as far as going to different showcases and stuff in San Diego and watching what we do.

So he called us up and wanted us to do the movie, do Step Up 2 – to go out there and dance and do a clip. And through that movie, we started getting a lot more work – doing different industrials and things. And then we found out about America’s Best Dance Crew from a showcase. Every showcase we do, people come up to us, and at this one showcase, one of the casting directors came up to us and said, “We really want you guys to audition for the show.” So we found out what the show was about, and we did it for fun, and didn’t really think how far it would get us. And look where we are now.

WW: Given that it was on MTV and that Randy Jackson was involved, did you realize how much of a launching pad it could be? Or did that take you by surprise?

RP: It took us by surprise in a way. The person who really knew it was going to really do something was our boy Gary. He was the one person who said, “This is going to be a great show.” A lot of us were in the underground scene, and we were thinking to ourselves, “We don’t want the media to make us look bad.” Being in the underground scene as far as hip-hop and hip-hop dancing, you don’t want people to water down what you do. But Gary was like, “As long as we stay in there and hold our ground as far as what we do and show them what we do, they’re not going to water down anything. Because they’re going to love what we do. So we’re going to go in there and do it, and it’s going to be a great opportunity.”

Some of us weren’t going to do it, but the honest truth was, our friend Gary got really sick at the time we were going to do auditions. So were like, “You know what, man? Let’s do this for Gary.” Not realizing what opportunity was going to come from it. It was more, “Let’s do this live audition for Gary and perform to the best of our ability, and if we end up getting it, we get it, and if we don’t, we don’t.” Well, we ended up getting on the live audition show, and we were like, “Let’s do it for Gary.” Every single time, man. Like, “Let’s do it for Gee, man. He really wanted us to do our best.” And it just kept on escalating.

He ended up passing away after the live audition show – when we were going into the show. After that, everything was just for him – not really thinking about the win, but honestly just thinking about doing our best. That’s all we could really do – just think about doing our best, because we were with a bunch of other amazing dancers. It was like, God helped us out, and Gee was with us the whole time, even though he’d passed away. We felt him there a lot, and he helped us get through the show. We were just blessed through that. But there wasn’t an expectation of, if we do this show, we’re going to make millions or get great exposure. It was more about let’s go over here and rip it and have a good show – and do it for Gary. And the experience turned into us performing everywhere in the world, performing around the U.S., doing commercials, music videos. It’s crazy.

WW: Do you think the theatricality that you guys have – the costumes, the masks, the storytelling – was what really connected with the audience?

RP: Yeah, definitely. I definitely think a lot of people in the audience looked at what we did as art. And that’s how we look at ourselves – as artists. Not just as dancers, but the way we put our shows together. And the masks really help to bring out a different side of what we do as dancers. It’s kind of like an alter ego when you put it on. We’re very humble guys, but when we put on the masks, it builds a different character. And I think that’s what a lot of people grasped onto when they saw us perform with the masks on. Like, I’m a really shy person, I really don’t like dancing in front of people, but when I put on the mask, I feel like I can go out there and do whatever I want to do. MySpacers or e-mailers would tell us that. And that’s why we wore the masks and the gloves. It changes you in a way – in a positive way. It helps you to open up.

And also, the way we think when we put together shows. Honestly, a lot of it is based on just goofing off and having fun. Like Kevin or someone will do something funny and we’re like, “Dude, put that in the show!” And the audience grasped on to that. Luckily, they understood what we were doing.

WW: You performed in masks, but there were also scenes on the show where you weren’t in masks. Did people start recognizing you on the street – and did that kind of catch you off-guard?

RP: It really did. When we first started out as the JabbaWockeeZ, we would walk into a venue and would go change somewhere in a spot where nobody was at into our mask and our gloves and everything. And we’d come out for our show and people would look at us, not know who it is – and we’d do the show, rip it, get a standing ovation, the crowd goes crazy, go back to the spot, change, and then we’d be standing next to people who were like, “Oh my gosh! Did you see the JabbaWockeeZ? They were freakin’ amazing!” They’d even talk to us. They’d be like, “Did you see that group with the masks?” It was like Superman, you know? It would be like Superman would go save somebody and then he’d come back as Clark Kent, and people would be like, “Clark, you missed it! Superman was just here!”

I don’t know if you’ve heard of the Lewis Carroll poem “Jabberwocky,” but basically it’s about a mysterious dragon, and knights would try to kill him, and he’d kill the knights and mysteriously vanish, and nobody could really find him. And that was kind of like what we portrayed in hip-hop. We’d go out there, kill the dance floor, and then leave, and nobody would know who we are. But what ended up happening was, they started showing us on TV – they started showing who we were. And at first, we were like, “We don’t want to show our faces.” But it kind of helped things out, because fans who did know us before the show were like, “I finally get to know who you guys really are.” It’s kind of like Kiss (laughs).

WW: So showing your faces didn’t make the masks any less effective onstage?

RP: Oh no. I think it actually helped for people to know the JabbaWockeeZ are normal guys who have fun and goof off – but once we put on the masks, it’s go time. It kind of helped.

WW: On the TV show, there are overhead shots and lots of different camera angles. Is that a problem for the live tour?

RP: To keep it real? I think all the overhead shots and different shots they show on TV kind of takes away from what the actual show could be when it’s actually straight up front. To me, a live show is way better than watching it on TV, because you actually get to feel the action, you get to feel the music, and you get to see it up front and up-close, and see what people are actually doing. A lot of times when you see something on TV, you don’t know if it’s edited or not – if they messed up when they did that and they had to re-do it. But when you see a live show, you get to actually see it for what it’s truly all about. It’s like seeing any singer or artist on tour. Like when you hear a song that’s been recorded, you might like it, but when you see that artist live, you get to see the emotion they put into it.

Everybody always says when you see it live, it’s ten times better. And that’s what this tour is: It’s ten times better than seeing it on TV. Because you get to feel the action everyone is actually putting out. Plus there’s a lot of new numbers, collaborative numbers with all the different crews. So if you’re a big fan, or if you’re not a big fan of America’s Best Dance Crew and what we do, going to this will inspire you to want to dance. Definitely.

WW: Do you guys see yourselves as ambassadors of this style of dancing in terms of popularizing it? And how mainstream would you like it to get? You mentioned earlier how you came from the underground. Do you feel comfortable with the idea of this being on every street corner in America?

RP: You know what? I think it’s cool if it gets mainstreamed. But you’ve got to make sure that people are doing it for the right reasons. People like us who are mentoring it, who are putting it out there, need to do it right, make sure we’re doing it for positive reasons. We need to do it for the reasons we started out doing it. We can’t say we were the first persons who started out mainstreaming it and inspiring people about it, because I got inspired through the [Electric] Boogaloos and the Rock Steady Crew – and at what point, they were very mainstream, too. But back then, a lot of them were younger kids, and they couldn’t really speak their minds about how they felt about the dance and teach the history of the dance. Their managers were the ones who were speaking for them.

That’s something the originators have told me about. When they find out that a lot of dancers are getting more mainstream, Crazy Legs told me, “Make sure you speak about what this dance is truly about. Make sure you let people know about its history, about its positive, about turning a negative into a positive. Let people know it’s not just about dancing to make money.” Because, you know, a lot of us were doing this dead broke (laughs). We were doing it just for love – because we love doing it. A lot of guys even on this tour had fulltime jobs and were dancing after they got off work. That shows you it’s a positive thing, and that’s what we’re trying to push.

Source:
WestWord Blog

3 Best Places I Want To Visit

Most of us want to travel abroad. Well, who doesn't. Especially now, everyone are planning for their vacations. There are some people wants to go to Europe, Florida, Canada, Hong-Kong, and etc. There are so many beautiful places that you'll enjoy. You can shop all day long, go to the bars, enjoy the service that hotels can offer and the amazing tourist spots.

Like you, I love to travel too. I want to learn the culture of every country, meet different people and learn to love what they love. ;) Here are the 3 best places I want to visit.

• EUROPE. Everybody loves Europe. Most of the tourist go to Greece and the sacred Vatican City, especially the honeymooners. Greece is a conservative country, essentially a agrarian society famous for island and beaches. It is equally a land where that languages or recent migrant communities from the Balkans, Africa and Asia. Vatican City is the capital of the Catholic world. It's one of Rome's most visited areas. Portugal is one of the best places in Europe, Portugal has an old-fashioned charm and picture-perfect villages. Lisbon is the capital city of Portugal. This is one of those cities that makes for a perfect venue to reminisce about history and past cultures.

• FLORIDA. Florida is known for the beautiful beaches. They are ranked as some of the best in the country for accessibility, facilities and beauty and Miami, Florida is #1 Healthiest City by Natural Health Magazine in 2002. Miami is the choice of most of the families, singles and all active travelers. Enjoy the night with the coolest bars in Florida. You can drink all night long. Regular bar goers out there would likely be unfazed with a drink bearing rather cheeky names like FU2. If you want to view these amazing paradise, always watch the CSI: Miami. :) Yeah! That's what I do.

• PHILIPPINES. If you're a traveller don't missed to visit the Philippines' beautiful, amazing places and very hospitable people. Everywhere you will go, you'll see beaches, different kinds of fruits and a thousand islands. Filipinos are know for being hospitable. English is their second language, except for the fact that Filipinos have hundreds of different languages. This is the place of natural wonders and boasts some of the world's best diving and snorkeling. Any traveler who has been here will tell you that it's people and their culture that makes the Philippines unique. And for sure you'll gonna come back.