NirvanaStyle Editor asked:


Asian Week Poster Contest Annoucement

Poster Contest Announcement

Win Citywide Exposure + $500!

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SAN FRANCISCO–(U.S. ASIAN WIRE)– January 18, 2008– The Asian Heritage Street Celebration (AHSC) and Kearny Street Workshop (KSW) announced their annual poster competition for the 4th annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration to be held on Saturday May 17, 2008.

Organizers are looking for innovative artists to create an exciting and unique image. The winning artwork will become part of the personality for this year’s event. Top prize earns a $500 grand prize, and the design will be featured in AsianWeek and used as part of the AHSC Community Outreach campaign in both Asian media and citywide media. Other select entries will also be published in AsianWeek. All entries will be posted at www.asianfairsf.com .

The Asian Heritage Street Celebration gathers the diversity of the Asian American populations of San Francisco and promotes cross cultural interaction through sharing of cultures, creation of innovative programs and entertaining activities for visitors and participants. “It’s always a powerful experience to see folks getting out on the street and celebrating art and community–artists and arts supporters can expect a memorable and enriching afternoon at AHSC” – Kearny Street Workshop. For information about KSW, visit www.kearnystreet. org.

Deadline for submissions is February 29, 2008.

Send AHSC Poster Entries to: ahscposter@gmail.com

For official rules go to www.asianfairsf.com and click on “poster contest.”

About the AsianWeek Foundation

http://www.nirvanastyle.com/html/news_details.php?get_id=16&Enews_Id=91

Lee Hayward asked:


It’s no secret that competitive bodybuilders are among the most successful dieters in the world at losing pure bodyfat and getting “ripped”. Bodybuilders do things differently than the 95% of dieters who fail. And in this article I will outline the basics of a good bodybuilding pre-contest diet plan. This information will really help you if you are planning on competing in the future. And even if you are not really interested in getting on stage as competitive bodybuilder, but you would like to look like one, then the info covered here will help you get that lean “beach body” look.

I’ve been competing in bodybuilding competitions since 1995 so I’ve picked up a few tricks over the years and I’m going to share them with you here…

I personally start dieting for a contest at least 6 months in advance. I want to have plenty of time to prepare myself. For the first month I simply cut out all junk foods and eat nothing but clean foods. Such as beef, chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, milk, protein shakes, rice, potatoes, pasta, fruit, vegetables, etc. I eat about 5-6 small meals each day. I drink plenty of water at least 1 gallon a day. I will also do about 30 minutes of cardio exercise 4-6 times each week, before breakfast. I will continue my regular weight training workout.

The second month of preparation is very similar to the first. I will still eat the same as mentioned above. But I will increase my cardio exercise to at least 45 minutes, 5-7 times per week, before breakfast. The whole idea of doing cardio before breakfast is to help burn up more stored bodyfat. At this time there is no food in your system to be used as fuel so you’ll burn more bodyfat from your cardio. It also helps to jump start your metabolism for the day. After exercise your metabolism is elevated and remains so for several hours.

The third month I get stricter with my diet. I will begin to cut back on my portions of starchy carbohydrates while keeping my protein intake high (between 250-300 grams of protein per day). I also eat more vegetables. My diet is now mainly foods such as very lean meat, poultry, fish, protein supplements, vegetables, rice, potatoes, oatmeal, etc. I will increase my cardio to about 60 minutes each morning before breakfast.

I’ll also start taking a fat burner. For my last show I used “Palo Alto Labs Leviathan”. I found that it worked great, I would take 2 caps twice per day on an empty stomach. Once before cardio and again before my weight training workouts because it helps give me an energy boost, curb my appetite, and raise my metabolism enabling me to burn more bodyfat.

The fourth month is pretty much like the third month with dieting and doing cardio each morning before breakfast. I will also start practicing my mandatory poses 3-4 days per week. At this stage I am getting lean and can start to see the definition showing in my abs, legs, back, chest, etc…

The fifth month before the contest I get stricter with my diet. I will eat approx. 1 gram of carbohydrate and 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. I don’t normally count fat grams, but they are kept as low as possible. But I will include essential fats through flaxseeds, fish oil, etc.

A typical day will go like this:

Cardio

- take fat burner and black coffee

- 1 hour of cardio

Meal 1

- bowl of oatmeal mixed with protein powder

- egg whites

Meal 2

- chicken breast

- garden salad

Meal 3

- can of tuna

- garden salad

Workout

- take fat burner and black coffee

- weight training workout

- practice posing

- protein drink

Meal 4

- steak

- steamed veggies

- sweet potatoes

Meal 5

- protein drink

I also salt my food and even add a couple shakes of salt to my protein drinks. This may seem off the wall to most people. But I find that if I don’t add salt to my diet I get bad muscle cramps when training. Don’t worry you will not retain water, your body will adjust to a higher salt intake within a few days and as long as you are drinking lots of fluids your body will flush out any excess water. I’ll keep doing this until 2 days out from the show.

I strive to be in shape one month out before the contest and then just keep with the diet, cardio, training, etc. to let my conditioning just harden up. I won’t lose a whole lot more bodyweight, but my skin will get tighter and thinner.

I don’t try and lift too heavy in the gym at this stage because I know that I will not gain any new muscle during the last month before a contest, I am just trying to maintain my muscle mass and get leaner. I basically have my posing routine down pat. I just want keep plugging away consistently. The temptation to cheat on my diet is very strong now. It is very important not too cheat. I keep my eye on the finish line and know that the dieting will be all over soon.

Carb Loading & Water Intake…

I do not carb deplete or carb load during the last week. I have tried all kinds of crazy stuff like this in the past and I found that it is best to just diet right up to the day of the show. Carb depleting and carb loading is too “hit and miss” you risk screwing up your conditioning, it may make you look a little better, or it could make you look a lot worse. You are better off playing it safe by sticking to your diet and then just slightly increase your carb intake slightly for a couple days before the show (i.e. instead of eating 1 potatoe at a meal, eat 2 potatoes, etc.).

During the last week I will increase my water intake to about 2 gallons per day. I will stop all weight training and cardio a couple days before the contest to let my body rest and recover.

Friday night before the contest I will cut back on my water intake and just have a small glass of water with each meal. I also take herbal diuretic capsules on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to help get rid of the excess water under my skin. I do not cut my water intake entirely, just cut back. Cutting out water entirely can leave you flat and smooth. You need some water in your system in order to pump up and pose properly.

Tanning…

I’ll go to the tanning salon about 4 times per week during the last 6 weeks prior to the contest. This will give me a base tan. Then on Friday before the show I’ll put on about 3-4 coats of ProTan. This is a spray tan that you paint on with a sponge brush. Saturday morning before the show I’ll also put on a coat of Dream Tan. This is a dark tanning cream that you rub on your skin. I’ll put a coat of this on Saturday morning, another coat before pre-judging, and again before the evening show. Dream Tan works great and it has oil in the tan so you do not need to use much if any additional posing oils.

Back Stage…

When I go to the contest I take a MP3 player with my posing music. I try to find a place by myself back stage so I can practice my posing routine. By doing this, my routine is fresh in my mind before going on stage in front of the audience and judges.

When pumping up before going on stage I will do some light, high rep, upper body exercises such as push ups, bent over rows, bicep curls, etc. with a rubber fitness band. Never pump up the legs or the abs, these muscles always look and flex better when they are not pumped. Do not pump up too much because it will make you shake when you pose. Just warm up and get the blood flowing to the muscles.

And the last thing that I recommend is to go out there and have a good time. Be confident and proud of your accomplishments and put on a good show for the crowd. At this point you have done all you can do, now it is up to the judges to decide the rest.

David Douglas asked:


Anyone who wants to learn how to be a photographer doesn’t have to enroll for many years to get a degree. There are colleges who offer this as one of the subjects which the student may take as an elective. Can you still learn how to be a photographer being out of school for many years? The answer is yes. The only thing needed is your dedication to learn from the proper techniques and a camera to take some shots.

Some students don’t have to go to campus anymore. There are some institutions that offer distance education. A good example is the New York Institute of Photography.

You will learn everything from exposure, lenses, the various techniques used to cover different events, journalism and much more. Being affiliated with the school, you will be entitled to free online magazine articles such as contests and digital imaging.

Classes are composed of 30 lectures on various topics. You will get a brief introduction through each and then can specialize on a particular field of interest. The nice thing about the program is that you don’t have to quit your regular job. This can be done in your free time so there isn’t any pressure in learning everything about photography.

Aside from theoretical lectures, there will be a lot of hands on experience. This will make it easy for you to apply what has been learned as seen in the photographs that have been taken using the camera.

The common notion of being a photographer is that you must have a dark room to develop the photos. You will be happy to know that this isn’t the practice anymore. Some of the best names in the business don’t do this anymore which gives more time to focus on getting the perfect shots.

Education is something you can never get enough of even as you get older. The curriculum is there. All the individual has to do is acquire knowledge from some of the best then apply it after finishing the course.

The rewards of becoming a photographer are endless. It is up to the you whether or not you have the potential to win the Pulitzer Prize or be one of many who do this as a profession.

Photography school can be a lot of fun. You should just submit the requirements then enroll in the course.

Groshan Fabiola asked:


MP3 music downloading is the music buying wave of the future. The entire music industry is being forced to catch up to consumers in the era of music downloads. The MP3 music store is quickly replacing the traditional music store, and the MP3 album may one day replace the traditional album.

MP3 is a digitally encoded audio which is compressed, so that the entire music data collection is smaller without any change in the quality of sound and music. The sound quality of an MP3 music file is generally the same as that of a CD, just in a much smaller format.

MP3 music downloads have given consumers easy access to a greater variety of music any time, any place. People can also listen to MP3 music file wherever they go, because thousands of MP3 songs can be stored in one tiny MP3 player. Bulky CD cases seem out of date now. While the neighborhood record shop may always have its place in the niche market, the MP3 music download site is replacing the major music retailers in the consumer market.

Once upon a time, people had to store music collections of CDs, tapes and records in entire sections of their homes. In those days, the only way to buy music was to go to the local music store and dig through rows of CDs in the hopes of finding the right album. And if someone only wanted one song, they might have been out of luck. With MP3 music downloads, consumers can download music per song or purchase an MP3 album, all from the privacy of their homes. People can even download music lyrics and album art to complete the MP3 album experience.

Music consumers can store their MP3 music files on both a personal computer and a portable MP3 player. MP3 music files can be transferred to CDs, for those who cannot bare the thought of giving up their CD stereo systems. Collections of CDs can also be transferred to MP3 music files. MP3 technology makes integrating old and new music collections a simple process.

The popularity of MP3 music files has led to a flood in the market of music for downloading. Consumers can find much more music online than they would in a traditional music store. With so much music online, consumers can also find free song downloads. Many new music recording artists market their songs through different Web sites where they can offer free song downloads, so people can sample new music they might otherwise not have heard. Many sites offer quality MP3 song downloads by charging a one time fee or a monthly subscription fee.

MP3 song downloads have been a cause for fear from major players music recording industry, whose success will have to come from the ability to adapt. MP3 music downloads are quickly becoming the most popular way to buy music. With the popularity of MP3 music downloads taking over the industry, there’s no denying the dominance of MP3 technology.

For more information about Free Song Downloads or even about Music Sweepstakes and especially about Win Music please review one of these links.

John Mce asked:


So you’re an adrenaline junkie, with a thirst for a holiday in the active/adventure holiday category? Here are a few tips that are worth considering before you book your holiday.

Sort out the correct documents

Before you settle on a holiday destination – regardless of whether you’re travelling independently or with a company – check Visa and inoculation requirements with the Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk) and that the country you’re travelling to is both safe and politically stable. You may not be insured if you go against Foreign Office advice.

Adventure insurance

Its good new that there are a great number of companies that offer insurance specially formulated toward groups or independent adventurers, who aren’t satisfied with relaxing on a secluded beach like the rest of us. Each company has varying opinions about what is and isn’t classed as adventure, so it’s worth taking some time to find a policy that suits your style of adventure and chosen activity.

Check the company out

When booking your adventure holiday, do your research into the company that you are booking with and ask a representative about the experience and qualifications of their staff, as your life may just be in their hands. Check that the equipment that you will be using throughout the trip is certified safe and has been tested for any faults.

The independent traveller

If you decide against going as a group or with a reputable adventure holiday operator, there is a checklist that should be considered. Firstly that you are aware of the dangers of the type of sport you will be partaking in and that you have made sure your equipment is thoroughly checked before packing it to leave. Another important thing to remember is to always have local emergency numbers and insurance documentation with you and that someone knows where you are heading each day encase an accident does happen. Also if a minor accident does happen you have a first aid kit to deal with it.

Personal Fitness

It is worth making sure you are ready to put your body under the strain that your chosen activity will put on it. If you are a newcomer to the sport, try doing a training session at a local facility in order to get a feel for the muscles that will be needed. This may also alert you to additional safety clothing /equipment you might require on your trip. Whether you’re experienced or not spending some time preparing your body will help minimise injury during your trip.

As you can see an adventure holiday takes lots more planning than your standard package beach holiday, but it’s better to prepared and get the most from your adventure, so you can do it all again on your next adventure.