The History Of The Star Wars Films

image: History StarWars Movie

Wbbmods.com - The History Of The Star Wars Films. Star Wars was one of those magnificent films that was an instant phenomenon when it hit the box office and continues to be a hit today. Why not take a moment to follow the intriguing history of Star Wars. 

After a successful run in the early 1970s with the box office hit American Graffiti; in 1975 George Lucas writes a basic story about Anakin Skywalker’s rise, fall, and redemption. The story is so long that it needs to be divided into 2 trilogies. 

The first trilogy focuses on Anakin Skywalker’s young life while the second focuses on the life of Anakin’s son Luke Skywalker. Since the second trilogy is the most interesting, Lucas decides to film it first. He offers the film to Universal Studios who had financed his American Graffiti film, but they chose to pass thinking it was a ridiculous movie. 

They would live to regret this decision which would cost millions of dollars in lost profits. But they wouldn’t be alone in those regrets as every Hollywood studio passed on the movie. That is except for 20th Century Fox who came up with $10 million for Lucas to make his first Star Wars movie a reality.

In May of 1977 Fox released Episode 4 of Star Wars, A New Hope. The tone was quickly set. The film was instantly seen as the biggest adventure ever on film. The special effects were considered magnificent and outstanding. 

In fact, nothing remotely close had ever made it to the big screen before. On opening day, the Star Wars movie ran in only 32 theaters, but it still produced an amazing $254,309 in ticket sales. By the end of its first run it had become the most successful film ever in North American history grossing more than $290 million. 

Lucas reportedly received $50 million of those profits. When Lucas cut his deal with Fox he was more interested in control of the film then he was in his percentage. He wanted all rights to the final cut and all rights to future sequels, Star Wars merchandise rights, and 40% of the gross. This deal ultimately made Lucas a billionaire. 

By 1978 Lucas had purchased the more than 1800 acre Bulltail Ranch in San Rafael and soon production of the sequel to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, was underway. Lucas was financing it out of his own pocket and it had a budget of $18 million; however due to budget overruns the actual filming cost more than $30 million.

In May of 1980, The Empire Strike Back, hit the theaters grossing $222 million, making it the highest grossing film of the year. In May of 1983, Return of the Jedi, hit the theaters grossing $265 million in North America and Lucas decides to retire from Star Wars projects to pursue some of his other interests. 

He made a vague promise to make the Prequel Trilogy someday if special effects ever become advanced enough. That day arrived in 1994 when Lucas announces he will begin working on the Prequel Trilogy with a tentative release scheduled for 1998. 

In 1996 Lucas signs the biggest deal ever seen in the industry with PepsiCo for movie tie ins, and later in the year he announces that the pre-production has started, and in May of 1999 Episode 1 titled, The Phantom Menace, was released, followed by Episode 2 titled, The Attack of the Clones. 

Many believe that 100 years from now Star Wars will still have a following. In fact by then it may have grown to epidemic proportions. So, that is history from StarWars movie, thanks for read.

Making Your Own Music: Songwriting Basics

image: Making own music 

Wbbmods.com - Making Your Own Music: Songwriting Basics. Whether you are a teenager or are well into your golden years, it is never too late to explore your creative side, especially if you are interested in music. And wanna making music lyric and anything.

Songwriting is an excellent way to express your thoughts and feelings and to communicate them to your friends and family, even if you have no aspirations of musical fame or fortune. If you are interested in selling or performing your songs, however, you should be aware that it is a hard road and that very few songwriters achieve great fame or fortune, and especially not instantly. 

Nonetheless, if you have realistic expectations, you will find that writing music is a worthwhile experience whether it is a hobby or a profession. People write songs in many different ways. Some writers compose the music first, while others first write the words. 

For some, the words and the melody come to them at the same time, while others write the melodies first and write the words last. No matter what order you are comfortable with, you will eventually have to decide what the song is about. There are a variety of different types of songs ranging from songs that tell fictional stories to songs that communicate deep personal feelings. 

If you decide to write a story song, a good first exercise is to write about a news story or about something you’ve read in the newspaper. That way you can use your first song to hone your word choosing skills without the pressure of coming up with your own story. 

However, if you already have an idea for a story to tell, you can write it out in poem form and try to make appropriate rhymes and structures that help communicate what happens in the song. Because music is so expressive, many songwriters use their compositions to express how they feel, whether it be about a person or a situation or even geographic location.

Writing these types of songs can be highly personal, so every person does it differently. When you have a strong feeling about something, write it down in a notebook and come back to it later. You might think of a good line that expresses an emotion really well, and if you remember it you might be able to build an entire song around it. 

Having quiet time to think is always helpful when you are trying to write a song. Writing the actual music for a song can be done in many different ways depending on your musical prowess and your focus. If you write mostly to communicate words, then a few well-chosen guitar chords might be all of the accompaniment you need. 

However, if you a instrumental virtuoso, your approach to writing music will be quite different. Many people think of a musical idea and play it over and over again until they think of a melody. Often times, songwriters will construct whole pieces, melody and all, without even knowing what the song is going to be about. 

Once the melody is complete, the writer will sit down and think about lyrics that fit the feeling behind the music and will go from there. Once you have put together your words and music, you might feel the need to perform your new song. 

It is always a good idea to play for friends and family first before trying to play to a crowd. When you feel comfortable enough playing your song, you should consider visiting an open mic night at a local coffeehouse or bar. 

At open mic nights, songwriters can play one or more of their songs to an appreciative and attentive audience. Performers can discuss their craft with other writers, making it a fun way to learn more about the writing process. 

How To Make A Unique Music Box

image: Music box to make play

Wbbmods.com - How To Make A Unique Music Box. For the music box and antique collectors who enjoy a challenge and like to do creative crafts, making their own music box can be lots of fun! Here are directions to make a unique music box called "Around The World." 

This was taken from Sharon Ganske's book, "Making Marvelous Music Boxes". Materials Needed Unfinished recipe box, 5 ž" wide X 3 ž" deep X 4" high 18-note-key-wind musical movement T-bar winding key, ž" De'coupage Sandpaper Wood Sealer Decorative Accessories for Music Box Assortment of stamps Greeting card or postcard with traveling photo 2 brown ultra-sued strips, ˝" wide X 16 ˝" long 2 buckles, ˝" 4 brass corner brackets, 5/8" Hasp catch, 1 ž X 5/8" Small padlock Acrylic.

Paint Color: Blue-gray Adhesives and Spray Sealer: Industrial strength glue Tacky glue Gloss spray sealer Tools and Brushes: Drill with ź" drill bit Hammer Old paintbrushes Paintbrush Ruler Scissors X-acto knife Step-By-Step Assembly 

Step One: Using sandpaper, sand box. 

Using an old paintbrush, apply wood sealer to box following manufacturer's directions. Allow to dry thoroughly. 

Step Two: Using a paintbrush, paint box inside and outside with blue-gray acrylic paint. 

Step Three: Using an old paintbrush, apply a thin layer of decoupage to box and sides of lid, working an area about 3" square at a time.

Place stamps on box and lid sides, overlapping them as desired. Stamps should be placed over opening between lid and box-it will be cut open later. Using a ruler and an X-acto knife, cur greeting card to fit top of box. Apply a thin coat of decoupage to lid top and place card in position.

Step Four: Using an old paintbrush, apply a thin layer of Tacky glue to wrong side of one ultra-suede strip. Starting at bottom front left corner, ž" in from side and 1 ˝" from bottom, press strip to box. Slide a buckle on and make a small hole to accomodate the stem of the buckle at center 1" from the end. 

Using scissors, cut corners of ultra-suede strip on a 45-degree angle. Repeat process for remaining ultra-suede strip on other side of box. Allow to dry thoroughly. 

Step Five: Using the X-Acto knife, carefully cut opening between box and lid, starting at the back. 

Step Six: Drill a ź" hole at center back of box ž" from bottom. Using industrial strength glue, glue musical movement inside box, making sure winding-key shaft is centered in hole. Allow to dry thoroughly. 

Step Seven: Carefully hammer corner brackets on box. Turn the box back-side down, center hasp catch, and carefully hammer in nails. Pull padlock on hasp catch, and wind on winding key. Fill your box with favorite vacation photos. Making your own music box can be a fun craft activity for a rainy day, lazy summer day, or really anytime! Why not take the plunge, and make one today? Try this now for you guys!

Don't Move A Piano Until You Read This

image: Piano for play

Wbbmods.com - Don't Move A Piano Until You Read This. How do you move a piano? Very carefully. Okay, I’m being a little sarcastic, but moving a piano is a serious endeavor. I’m a big advocate of hiring a professional mover to move a piano. Pianos are heavy and it’s easy to damage a piano while moving it. 

I’m speaking from experience. I own a Kimball piano my parents bought brand new for me when I was a child. That piano was a big deal to me after having played on an old “clunker” of a piano for several years. I played that new piano every day. When I got married it was time to move the piano to my own home. 

My friend and his brothers moved it themselves. It wasn’t an easy job even with the moving dolly they used (pianos weigh several hundred pounds – grand pianos can weigh 1,500 pounds). The amateur move of my piano resulted in both of the piano legs being damaged (a common occurrence when people move a piano themselves) and some unplanned internal work (some pins needed repair and a string broke). 

I should have hired a piano mover. Then I wouldn’t have had those problems, but my husband and I thought we would save money by doing it ourselves. It was a lesson I should have remembered, but I was foolish a second time. 

A few years ago my husband and I built a new house. When it came time to move the piano again, my husband was reluctant to hire someone to move it professionally because our pocketbook was already feeling empty from the expense of building the house (he called our new house a “money-sucking black hole.”) In his mind, moving it wasn’t a big deal. 

Our new house was less than two miles from our old one; and he had a dolly, a trailer, and a brother who was willing to help him. Everything went okay until my husband turned into the driveway of our new home. The sharpness of the turn strained the ropes holding the piano on the trailer and they broke. 

The piano tipped over and sustained a lot of damage (the entire “guts” of the piano are ruined and the case is chipped and scratched). I haven’t had it fixed yet, but I have gotten an estimate. It’s going to take a lot of time and money to fix the piano. It needs to be totally rebuilt. Because of the labor involved, it would be cheaper to buy a new piano than have it fixed, but the piano has a lot of sentimental value to me so I will have it fixed. 

This is why I say, “Hire a professional!” What does a professional piano mover do to ensure a safe and successful move? With upright pianos, they almost always strap the piano on a skid called a piano board. They also cover the piano with blankets to help protect it. 

The entire bundle is then typically put on a dolly and taken to its destination. If steps are involved, the piano is taken off the dolly and slid up or down the steps on the piano board. Moving a grand piano is a little more involved. The lid, lid hinges, pedal lyre, and leg on the straight side of the piano are usually all removed. 

The piano is then put on the piano board, on its side, with the straight side down. The other legs of the piano are then removed. The piano is then covered with blankets, strapped to the board, and put on a dolly. Some movers don’t like to move a piano up or down stairs. 

If it’s feasible, they prefer to hoist it to the appropriate floor via a window that’s big enough to accommodate the piano. So what do you do if you just want to move your piano from one part of a room to another? First, decide if it’s really important to move it because there’s always the risk of damaging a piano even with a short move.

Piano legs are the most likely thing to get damaged or broken. Be very careful to avoid putting too much weight on the legs. Get a few strong people to help if the piano is an upright; and get at least 5 people if it’s a grand piano.

With an upright or spinet, tilt the piano back a little to take the pressure off the front legs, but be careful not to tip it back too far and tip it over. With a grand piano, lift the piano up enough to get the pressure off the legs before you try to move it. It’s not necessary (and not recommended) to lift the piano off the floor entirely. 

If you’re going to move a piano often, consider having it fitted with special casters that will allow you to move the piano fairly easily. Or, have the piano placed on a piano truck. How you do you find a good piano mover if you’ve decided to not try and move it yourself? 

My suggestion is that you call your local piano store and ask them for recommendations. They should be able to give you the name or names of reputable movers in your area. Okay, so you’ve decided you are definitely going to move your piano and you’ve decided on a method. 

Now you have to figure out where you’re going to put the piano. Where should it go? Try to put your piano in an area of a room where there are little or no drafts, where it’s out of direct sunlight, and where the temperature and humidity are stable. 

This is because pianos are sensitive to humidity and temperature. Lots of temperature and humidity swings cause a piano to go out of tune faster than normal, can damage the wood case, and if they are severe they can even eventually cause structural failure. 

Don’t place your piano over or next to a heat vent and avoid putting it close to a fireplace. Don’t put in front of a window because that’s typically a drafty place as well as one with direct sunlight. Try to find a room in your home or apartment that has consistently stable temperature and humidity. 

That is the best room for your piano. If you can’t find a place in your apartment or home that is out of direct sunlight, free of drafts, and doesn’t have big temperature swings, you may want to consider having a climate control system installed in your piano. 

Moving and placing your piano correctly will help ensure you have a lovely instrument to play for a long time rather than having what I now own – an oversized paperweight that needs to be dusted. Enjoy with your piano guys!

This is Choosing Salsa Music

image: Salsa music for everyone

Wbbmods.com - This is Choosing Salsa Music. Looking for the right salsa music is easy once you’ve been exposed to salsa beats long enough. But if you want to groove to the salsa rhythms, here are some recommended CDs that will have you dancing for days! 

1. SALSA FRESCA

This is an excellent CD “for those who love to dance salsa, not just listen to it.” This compilation CD have you grooving salsa style all night long. Its inviting rhythmic beats are particularly good for those who love to Mambo. This CD is even a keeper for non-dancers. 

A must have for your CD collection! TONY VEGA GREATEST HITS – Tony Vegas has charm and Latin gentleman appeal that can be heard in his music. His musical style appeals to everyone. It is smoothe and romantic yet energetic and upbeat This is an unmatched collection of Tony Vega hits from 1989-1994. 

His songs are infused with romantic tones and sensuous Cuban Mambo and Puerto Rican Salsa style beats. Rough Guide: Salsa Dance ~ various artists – A huge selection of musical compilations put out under the Rough Series. 

Rough Guide: Salsa Dance is one of the hotter Latin music themed albums to be released to date. Rough Guide: Salsa Dance vol. 

2. Various Artists

An upbeat album that will have you dancing the instant you hear it! This album is sizzling HOT. You won’t stop dancing because the music is electrifying! Ultra Mix: The Best of Salsa – This is a must-have CD for any salsa. Some say it’s best suited for listening, while others are convinced it’s one of the best compilation discs for salsa dancing. 

Go to your local music store of check it out online. You’ll be glad you did. These CD selections are a great way to begin your salsa music collections. However, some other great tips to finding great salsa CDs is by listening to local radio shows that feature Latin American, Cuban and Afro beats. 

Most likely you’ll also be able to hear some salsa beats you’ve never heard before. Listening to these types of radio shows exposes you to the different sounds and usually makes mention of the artists that are being played. 

This will make your shopping experience so much easier. Also consider checking out your local salsa dance bar or salsa dance studio. The DJ or dance instructor would be happy to tell you what albums and / or songs they are playing. Check out your local music store or go online to find the above mentioned CDs. 

I guarantee your neighbors will be banging on your door wanting to know what it is you a re playing. These salsa CDs are that good! Happy Shopping! Oh, but don’t forget to check out www.salsadancedvd.com where you’ll hear the above mentioned artists and more. But you will also get the best salsa dance training available. Don’t forget to check it out! 

Talking About Cleaning and Organizing Your Computer

image: Cleaning computer just do it

Wbbmods.com - Talking About Cleaning and Organizing Your Computer. It is a good idea to think of your PC as an office. It stores files, programs, pictures. This can be compared to an actual office's files, machines and decorations. 

The operating system is the boss. With this image in mind, think of an office you've visited that was slow and inefficient. There were probably many different reasons for the inefficiency. This is the same with a computer. 

There can be many items that slow down your computer. Perhaps the one most commonly overlooked is disorganization and clutter. Disk Cleanup An office can accumulate a lot of unnecessary files, machines, and decorations. This is the same with your computer. 

One of the best ways to keep this clutter under control is to perform a cleaning utility periodically. In Windows this cleaning utility will be called a "disk cleanup." It removes a variety of unnecessary files depending on the options you have selected. 

To perform a disk cleanup on Windows XP you can simply click on "my computer" under the start menu. Than right click on your "c drive" or "hard disk" and choose properties. Than click "disk cleanup" and follow the prompts. When selecting files to clean up, or delete, Windows will give you information to help you decide. 

When looking over the list of file types, you would simple click on the name of the file type and read the description placed below in the description area. This will let you know if the files can be safely deleted. To select the file group just check the box next to the group name. When finished selecting press "OK" to finish. 

Now, performing a disk cleanup is not very time consuming, just a couple minutes, and it may save more time in the end by making your computer run faster. However, a disk cleanup should be run periodically rather than just once in a great while. One way to make this run periodically is to make it a scheduled task. 

This will allow your computer to run it automatically with intervals and time of day determined by you. Yet, you can always run it yourself periodically without creating a scheduled task. Add or Remove Programs The information given above can help you get rid of some unnecessary files, but you may also need to clean out some unnecessary programs as well. 

This can be done using the "add or remove programs" utility in Windows. This is located in the control panel and lists all of your currently installed programs along with an option to uninstall them. It is a good idea to browse through the add or remove programs utility every once in a while just to make sure that all programs are of usefulness. 

If there are programs listed that are no longer used, you can simply highlight the program and click the uninstall button. Windows will than begin the process to uninstall the program. In most cases, to finish uninstalling a program, it is wise to restart your computer. 

This will dump and files that are held temporarily. The add or remove programs utility is very useful, but not all of the programs are listed up front. Programs that come pre-installed on your computer and the Windows operating system can also be uninstalled. 

For instance, Outlook Express is a default e-mail program that comes with the Windows XP operating system. If you do not use this e-mail program you can uninstall it. Click "add or remove windows components" found in the add or remove programs utility and simply follow the instructions. 

Defragment Many offices contain a large number of files and programs that are valuable and cannot be thrown away. In fact, they may contain files that are not even used, but still have to be retained for some reason. 

Although these files must remain in the office, they need to be organized. This is why we create file folders that hold groups of files that are related. Than we store them in cabinets that are arranged in alphabetic order. 

In a computer, the files that are saved are placed on the hard drive. However, they are placed according to the time that they were saved. So, if you open a word document and save the file as "file A" and than open another document and save it as "file B", you have a "file A" placed next to "file B." 

This is fine, but if you open "file A" later on and save it again, than the added information is saved next to "file B." When files are broken up this way it is referred to as a fragmented file. This means that the computer must find the first part of the file and then find the second part of the file to open that one word document. 

This can make your computer run slower. However, Windows has created a utility that is meant to rearrange files so that they are no longer fragmented but sit right next to each other. You can run the disk defragmenter by selecting "all programs" under the start button. 

Next, select "accessories" and "system tools" and you will see "disk defragmenter." In fact, this is also an alternative way to select the disk cleanup mentioned earlier. Before starting the defragmenter you can analyze your hard drive to see if Windows recommends performing the defragmenter. 

It will either say that you should or should not defragment at this time. If you need to defragment your computer, simply hit the defragment button. It may take your computer a while to finish this task depending on the speed of your computer and the amount of defragmented files. It could take from about 15-30 minutes or more. However, you can still use the computer while the disk defragmenter is working. 

Tech: Are Computer Viruses Spread by The Media?

image: About Computer virus by Media

Wbbmods.com - Tech: Computer Viruses Spread by The Media? If you believe what you hear in the media, there are an awful lot of viruses going around. No, I'm not talking about the make-you-sick kind of virus, though they get plenty of airtime, too. 

I'm talking about the kind of virus that enters via your internet connection rather than your nasal passages. What the mainstream media often don't tell you--at least, in most radio and television newscasts and in the crucial headlines and opening paragraphs of newspaper articles-- is that many of these "viruses" are not viruses at all. 

What Computer Viruses Really Are The main reason the mainstream media always are in alarm over viruses is that they tend to call any malicious computer program a virus. In reality, there are at least eleven distinct types of malicious software, or malware, commonly affecting computers today. 

The most common of these are worms, Trojans, and spyware. So, what's the difference between computer viruses and the other types of malware? The difference is that computer viruses are just about the only ones that regularly shut down computers and cause other obvious damage. 

The most common of the other kinds of malware--worms, Trojans, and spyware--are usually only detectable with a special scan. The Real Danger of Computer Viruses If the other types of malware are so unobtrusive that they can only be detected with a special scan, then what's to worry about? 

For starters, these programs are called malicious for a reason: they are designed to cause some kind of damage, if not to your computer, then to someone else's. Worms are most famously used to damage, destroy, or disrupt other computer networks than the one on which the host computer is located. 

For instance, worms have been used by website owners to shut down rival websites by sending overwhelming numbers of requests to the computer that hosts that website. Worms have also been used to send out viruses to other computers, often without infecting the host machine after all, what would it benefit the worm to shut down its host computer? 

Trojans, in turn, are often used to insert worms and other malware on your computer, even if the Trojan itself does no damage. But even if you don't care what happens to anyone else, you should still be concerned about one kind of malware: spyware, a kind of malware that, true to its name, collects data from your computer and sends it back to a remote host. 

Most spyware is only interested in monitoring your internet usage so it can tell other programs, called adware, what advertising to popup on your computer. However, there are criminal spyware programs that steal financial data, or perform a thorough identity theft. 

Don't think you have personal or financial data on your computer? Some spyware programs contain a keylogger, which is a program that copies whatever you type, usually in order to snatch passwords. 

Even if you keep no financial information on your computer, if you ever buy anything over the web, the keylogger would allow its owner to buy stuff using the same information you typed in to buy stuff yourself. 

Why Blame the Media? Given the danger of all these different types of malware, isn't it a good thing that the mass media are becoming hysterical about it? And can't they be forgiven the sloppy reporting of calling Trojans, worms, spyware, and other malware "viruses"? No, no, no. 

This is a classic case of bad reporting doing more damage than no reporting at all. In this case, the damage bad reporting has done is to promote a common myth that goes something like this: "The only malicious software is a virus. Viruses damage your computer. 

Therefore, if my computer is working OK, my computer has no malicious software. I only need to scan my computer for problems when there is a sign of problems." Thanks to this myth, many people complacently let their antivirus software go months out of date, not wanting to be bothered with scheduling an automatic update. 

Just as bad, many people don't have any extra software to combat the other types of malware that may not be covered by antivirus software. In fact, it's not uncommon for people who have found malware on their computers after a scan to say, "but I never had malware on my computer before!" 

But how would they have known if they had never scanned! Until the biggest mainstream media and especially television start educating the public about the need to have their computers automatically scanned at least daily, the world will continue to have major, drawn-out problems with malware that could have been wiped out as soon as soon as the anti-malware software makers discovered it. 

And until that day, the mainstream media will have many more opportunities to run hysterical stories about "viruses," thereby forcing them to sell more newspapers and broadcast to even larger audiences of people who suck at the information trough yet somehow never become full. Stay be carefull and care yoo!