Posts Tagged ‘Facts’

Washington DC for Fun, Facts and Family

March 4th, 2010
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A Washington DC family vacation can be great fun and educational. You’ll learn all about American history by visiting the museums and government buildings and have other fun experiences as well. For example, your entire family will have a great time at the National Zoo viewing the exotic animals on display. Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!

For older children, the Smithsonian Museum is an inspiring and unbeatable educational value. You’ll see the Spirit of St. Louis, the first plane to cross the Atlantic, and the capsule that carried John Glenn into orbit around the earth. They’ll love holding an actual moon rock brought back by the first astronauts to set foot on the moon.

The Declaration of Independence is on display at the Museum of American History, and for the kids, the stuffed and mounted horse Comanche, the only survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn. Colonel George Custer made his famous last stand there and entered the annals of American history.

The Mall is just a short walk away in the shadow of the Washington Monument. That’s also where you can visit the memorial to Abraham Lincoln, our most revered president. The Lincoln Memorial houses a massive statue of the seated Lincoln that has inspired countless visitors.

You’ll enjoy watching the kids play around the Reflecting Pool. A short walk away is the beautiful Jefferson Memorial. Also close by is the inspiring Viet Nam Veterans Memorial where the names of all those who lost their lives in Viet Nam are inscribed. It can be an emotional moment for those who lived through that war.

The Metro system is one of the best and cleanest public transportation systems in the world. You can take it anywhere in the city. Take it to Pennsylvania Avenue and you’ll see the White House where the President and the First Family live and conduct the nation’s business.

A walk Capitol Hill might allow you to visit your representative, provided Congress is in session. You might also choose to watch the senate and your state senator in action. The Metro will also take you to Ford’s Theater, where President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

Then, if you’re driving, take a trip up Massachusetts Avenue to Embassy Row, where the various embassies proudly fly their nation’s flag. A short drive will also take you to Georgetown where you can shop at trendy boutiques, dine in any number of ethnic restaurants and enjoy an evening of music in one of the great clubs that abound in this area near the University.

A trip to nearby Arlington, Virginia is a must. There you’ll see National Cemetery, which was built on land seized by the Union during the Civil War. The land was originally owned by the family of the famous Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

All in all, a Washington DC family vacation will leave an impression on every member of the family. Some may experience a resurgence of National pride, awe at what this nation has accomplished, or just an understanding of the different parts of our Government.

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Quick Facts on Finley Washington

February 12th, 2010
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Finley is located in Washington, United States and it is to the southeast of the bigger city of Kennewick. In the year of 2000 the population of this city was 5,770. Finley was founded in 1902 by a man named George Finley and this is obviously were the city gets its name from. George was a farmer who immigrated to Finley from the state of Nebraska. Only a small community of approximately 25 families lived in the city in 1908 but during the late 1950’s the population increased enormously when the town of Hover was moved to Finley because of the building of the dam that caused the school to become named “River View High School”. Access to railway lines as well as power grids in the 1950’s and 1960’s have encouraged a few chemical and industrial plants that are still in the city today.

The demographics of the city are as follows;

There were 5,770 people in the year of 2000, 1,987 households and 1,585 families living in Finley.

The racial makeup of the city is

White – 91.40%

Native American – 1.11%

African American – 0.03%

Pacific Islander – 0.12%

Asian – 0.24%

Other – 4.71%

Two or more races – 2.37%

The Latino or Hispanic of any race people took 8.99% of the population.

There were 1,987 households in the city and this is what they consisted of;

39.1% had kids under the age of 18 living with them

62.7% were husband and wife living together

10.5% had only a wife/single mother; no husband present

20.2% were non-families

So this city is fairly big, but it is also beautiful. Finley has many things for a family to see and do there so it makes a great vacation destination or just a weekend where you feel like getting away from home.

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Pop Music – History and Facts Revealed

February 5th, 2010
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One genre that appeals to most everyone is pop music owing to its light and catchy qualities. Pop music is so aptly called because it is a categorization that is largely based on the popularity of a song. There is no clear and distinct parameters to classify a song as pop music. For the most part, its popularity should translate to records sold and radio air times.


Pop music is a combination of various styles influenced by the evolving music forms. The development of pop music is one that is progressive, rolling over from generation to generation to snowball into its current form. As this is so, pop music has taken so many forms through each decade to reflect the musical preference of a particular generation.


Rich Vocals

During the 50s, popular tunes were those that were vocally rich with a string accompaniment and a vocal chorus back up. Country music and American folk music were great hits along with variations of standard formats. Great American songbook classics, crooners and big band singers adopted other musical techniques to give their music a modern twist. The listening public lapped these enhancements up and caused songs like Mack the Knife and Singing the Blues to top the charts. In contrast to these classics, rock and roll likewise rocked the American music industry with fast and infectious beats of Rock Around the Clock, Heartbreak Hotel, and Tutti Fruitti. These tunes not only rocked the airwaves, they also rocked the dance floors.


All in the Band

The next decade brought in what is called as the novelty song characterized by humorous lyric combined with melodies that are simple yet catchy (i.e. Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, California Girls, and Good Vibrations). Worthy of note is the fact that the vocal harmonies and lyrics of these songs revolved around Californias surf, girls and cars. Thus the label Surf pop. Other popular music during the sixties were youth-oriented band music in up-tempo beat, I Want to Hold Your Hand,Cant Buy Me Love, Downtown, and To Sir With Love.” African American music likewise joined the popular music scene with its doo-wop style that gives prominence to melodic sounds and vocal harmonies. Rhythm and blues as well as Motown soul music were also chart-toppers during this period.


Cacophony of Sounds

From the 1970s to the present, pop music is as diverse as they come. A slowdown in musical tempo was seen in the early seventies when folk-based artists took center stage. Popular during these times were songs written by the singers themselves. Tempos picked up again towards in the second half of the decade when disco-dancing became a favorite pastime among the youth. Dance tunes Play That Funky Music, Staying Alive, and YMCA dominated the airwaves and the disco scene.


The 1980s and 1990s music scene was composed of music soundtracks, international hits, rock and roll, and pop icon duets. Another music development in this decade is the advent of charity records where artists put their talents together to raise funds for a cause. Particularly characteristic of the last two decades are the prevalence of songs by female artists like Mariah Carrey, Celine Dion, and pop icon Madonna. The new millennium kept with soulful ballads, hip hop pieces and dance tracks. Movie soundtracks remained chart-toppers.


Pop music is a genre that will always be around. People will always listen to music and music labels and radio stations will continue to track what songs people are listening to. For as long as people are playing and listening to music, there will always be a chart-topper.

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Jazz Music – History and Facts Revealed

February 4th, 2010
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The 20th century music world has seen the entry of light and easy listening music with African-American jazz music. Originating in southern USA, jazz music is a combination of African and European music traditions. It puts together the use of blue notes, improvisation, syncopation and swing notes.


Jazz music was first used in reference to music from Chicago early in the 20th century. It has evolved in several other subgenres such as New Orleans Dixieland, big band-style swing, bebop, Afro-Cuban jazz, Brazilian jazz, jazz-rock fusion, and the more recent acid jazz.


The realm of jazz music was and still is predominantly associated with the American black community. These black musicians transitioning from banjos and tambourines learned to play European instruments such as the violin. Black slaves from early America used to sing and play music as a form of spiritual or ritualistic hymns.


After emancipation, employment opportunities for black slaves were very limited as segregation laws were still in force. Most of these black slaves found themselves in the entertainment industry as piano players and instrumentalists. They became low-cost entertainers as minstrels, vaudeville players, piano bar players, and marching band members. Soon, this kind of jazz music called Ragtime Jazz spread from the southern USA to other areas in the western and northern cities in USA.


Ragtime jazz became very popular in the early part of the century. Musician Jelly Roll Morton published the first ever jazz arrangement in print in 1915 with the title Jelly Roll Blues. This printed arrangement brought forth a new breed of musicians playing ragtime. Ragtime music moved on from red-light district bars and vaudeville shows to major concert locations such as the Carnegie Hall.


The first jazz record was recorded in 1913 by Society Orchestra, the first black group to come out with a record. Another group that came up with their very own jazz music recording is the “Original Dixieland Jazz Band”. Other bands followed suit, releasing jazz music recordings starting in 1917. In 1922, the most famous blues singer of the decade, Bessie Smith, also released her first recording. Also in the 1920s, Jelly Roll Morton played with the New Orleans Rhythm Kings and made history as the first mixed-race recording collaboration. Big bands like those of Fletcher Henderson, Duke Ellington and Earl Hines played the more prominent venues and paved the way for the development of big-band-style swing jazz.


Louis Armstrong, a trumpeter, band leader and singer, came to be known as the Ambassador of Jazz, what with his early innovations in jazz music. Swing music is considered to be popular dance music and is played from printed musical arrangements. Then came the bebop which focuses more on small groups and simple arrangements.


Throughout the years jazz music has always been preferred music genre among those who enjoy light and easy listening. There are radio stations that play only jazz music. Jazz music can be heard most everywhere hotel lounges, salons, concert halls, wedding receptions, Jazz music is perhaps also the most unique form of music as there are no two jazz music performances are ever the same.

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Alternative Music – History and Facts Revealed

February 4th, 2010
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The evolution of music has brought forth hundreds of music variations in so many forms to the basic music categories. This diversity in music forms have categorized in alternative music those ish style music that come as slight style alterations to most popular music forms (i.e. alternative rock or rock-ish music for rock music that does not really fit into the mainstream genres of a particular time period).


Alternative music is a category coined as a sort of catch-all for those sub-genres that are unclassified but can be traced with similarities to popular genres. These alternative music are usually those that were not released commercially and are recorded on independent labels. Some music from this category, from word of mouth, would soon find its way into the mainstream and become commercially successful.


Off-Country

Country music that does not conform to the prevailing country style is generally classified as alternative music. Musicians playing alternative country music are generally those who do not subscribe to high production values and popularity concerns. Their music are of lo-fi sound quality and often incorporated strong punk and rock and roll qualities and contained lyrics that are bleak, gothic or socially aware. The range of their music spans American folk tune to rockabilly and honky-tonk to a fusion of rock and country music. Alternative country music has developed several namesakes like Americana, neotraditional, progressive country, lo-fi country, and twang core.


Not-so-hip Hip-Hop

The alternative version of hip hop has not been very popular. Artists claiming to play alternative rap or alternative hip hop are non-conformists who wish to turn from the common drug and violence-directed mainstream rap. Alternative hip-hop fuses influences from funk, rock, jazz, soul and reggae. Some of these alternative hip-hop groups have somehow found themselves in mainstream success like Black Star, Mos Def, De La Soul, M.I.A., Kidz in the Hall, Consequence, Jurassic 5 and Brand Nubian.


Electric Rock

Alternative music is most often used to refer to alternative rock. It used to be that the word alternative was used in the 1980s to refer to punk rock-inspired bands that do not belong to major record labels and have no clear genre association. There are a lot of influences in alternative rock namely, grunge, Britpop, gothic rock and indie pop. Most of these alternative rock artists were considered cult acts and recorded their albums on independent labels. Their popularity was largely due to the exposure their alternative music got in college radios and word-of-month. The band Nirvana entry in the alternative music scene has propelled the popularity of several other bands playing alternative rock music. Metallica is another group who made it big in the mainstream music world playing alternative rock.


Perhaps an offshoot of alternative rock is alternative dance music. This kind of music combined elements of dance-pop which includes forms of electronic house or techno, and alternative rock genres. Alternative dance music can be characterized as mostly electronic, pre-programmed beats and sequenced synthesizer melodies.


As there will always be popular music, there will always be a spot for alternative music. After all, there will always be music that falls somewhere in-between, music that is somewhat like but not entirely the same as what is predominantly popular at a certain period in time.

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