The "Piano no Mori" anime follows the lives of two brilliant elementary school-aged pianists as they develop both a rivalry and friendship.
Synovitis can ruin a piano-player's career. Here's how I (mostly) recovered and got back to the keys, with gentle repertoire suggestions that I enjoy playing.
Orange cakes are a family favorite, and I get asked to make this orange cranberry bundt several times a year. It's a winning recipe!
Want to dazzle your friends and family with your incredible talent for using herbs and spices? Here's how!
Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagles are a rare and beautiful subspecies of Australian mainland wedgetails. Unfortunately, the Tarkine woodlands of Tasmania—their primary habitat—have become increasingly threatened by logging and mining. Learn more about this species and its threatened habitat here.
Pain is hard to deal with, even in the best of times. But during a move? Nigh impossible, right? Wrong. Here's how to make your move easier, even while you deal with chronic pain.
Do you want to play piano like Nodame, but are having trouble finding all the sheet music? Here is a collection of the featured piano music in the anime and live-action drama Nodame Cantabile.
Using apps to help you learn Japanese keeps your motivation up and helps you learn more quickly. Use this list to grab the best Japanese language apps for iPhone and Android.
The best music education bloggers help students, performers, and teachers alike reach their dreams. Here are four of my favourites.
Simple house rules make a game of mahjong faster and more enjoyable, with easy-to-calculate scores. These house rules are great with three or four players!
This rich dark chocolate bundt cake with flecks of chocolate, smothered in a delicious, strong coffee-Kahlua syrup, is a perfect and elegant dessert!
Are you overwhelmed by the wide selection of DSLR lenses? Follow this guide to make your choices easy and painless and to avoid costly mistakes!
Are you overwhelmed with the choices when upgrading to a digital SLR camera? Read this guide to choosing a DSLR camera body and lenses!
A plastic-free kettle can protect you from BPA leaching into boiling water. An all-metal kettle is a stylish addition to any kitchen!
A first patchwork quilt is a daunting project for many quilters, but it doesn't need to be! You can make a beautiful quilt quickly by crafting your own block layout and quilting in a simple design.
The Leipzig Zoo is a great 1-2 day experience for adults and children alike. With themed exhibits, great viewing areas, restaurants and children's activities, it's a must-see destination in Leipzig. This 'zoo of the future' also plays an extremely important role in protecting many endangered...
Follow these top 10 tips for both point-and-shoot and DSLR photography to capture fall in all its gorgeous color.
Warm up in the cooler weather with a rum-soaked apple cake. Apples are in season in autumn and make a beautiful and delicious bundt cake!
Frustrated with always snapping blurry bird photos? Follow these tips to capture beautiful bird pics, even with point and shoot cameras.
Margaret River - surrounded by wineries, national parks with soaring native trees, gourmet produce factories and with more than its fair share of gorgeous, deserted and pristine beaches. These are the best picks (and wines) of the region!
Don't want to spend much time, but want a delicious and healthy meal? This orange roast chicken is quick to prepare, cooks without supervision, and looks like it is from a gourmet kitchen!
A consistent and clear late submission policy can improve classroom morale, prevent arguments, and make marking less stressful. Here's how to develop your own late work policy as a teacher.
Idiopathic pain is long-term pain with no detectable cause. However, a variety of treatments may reduce this chronic pain to a manageable level.
Grading writing assignments is a time-consuming and thankless task of teaching. These tips and techniques will help you power through your piles of papers faster!
Teaching old dogs new tricks requires some patience and an understanding of the difficulties that senior students face. Classes for seniors are also very rewarding, both for the teacher and the students!
Between 10% and 55% of the world's population suffer chronic pain, and many of these people still work and study. Learn how you can manage your pain levels at work and school.
Vine-ripened tomatoes, vintage Parmesan cheese, sauteed vegetables, and fresh, home-grown herbs combine to make a delicious summer pie.
When the pain of costochondritis flares, it can feel like a heart attack. Here are medications you might be prescribed, as well as home remedies.
Do you want to reduce costs or stick to your budget but still eat healthily? Learn to prepare healthy meals even when grocery prices are rising!
The Leipzig Opera House runs regular house tours, allowing visitors access to the stage, backstage, costume storage and much more. For those who can't visit in person, here is a virtual tour!
A more casual alternative to a traditional frame, a pillow or cushion cover with a 'fabric frame' is a great way to display your completed cross stitch projects!
This is a hearty and warming soup with loads of fresh vegetables, herbs and spices. Great all year round, this soup also freezes perfectly for a quick meal!
Are you looking for a change from your standard lemon cake? Add a tangy lime glaze and candied lime peels for a stunning alternative. Dressed to kill and a flavor to die for!
Worried about a marmalade that refuses to set? Turn it into compote! This delicious orange vanilla compote is wonderful as a dessert, snack or with vanilla yoghurt for breakfast.
This syrup is fantastic on pancakes, as a glaze on cakes, with mineral water for a refreshing summer drink, and even as a hot drink!
Packed with vitamin C, strawberries are a healthy summer treat. Fresh strawberries are perfect in muffin form with a crunchy walnut-crumble topping. They won't last long!
This toffee apple cake with walnuts is a sweet and flavorful dessert cake—a hit with adults and children alike!
Do you want to stand out from the crowd? Are you bored with natural hair colors? Here's how to get long-lasting results with dark blue and purple hair colors from Fudge Paintbox.
Bored of your average salad offerings at barbecues and picnics? Want to avoid unhealthy salad dressings? This tomato salad is naturally fat-free and super-tasty!
Follow a trail through music history around Leipzig in Germany. Steeped in classical music, famous composers and musicians, the city is applying for UNESCO World Heritage Listing for their fascinating music sites.
Learn how to plan realistic and useful conversation lessons for your students.
Written by someone who knows sciatic pain inside and out, this article takes a detailed look at the range of medications available to treat this condition.
Downshifting is a gradual process to find a work-life balance that fits you and your family best. Each person's path will be different: there is no right or wrong way to do it. Downshift to find the most healthy, happy, and comfortable life for you, preferably before retirement!
Tamozawa Imperial Villa is a beautifully restored mansion, used by the imperial family. As the only surviving Imperial residence from the Meiji villa, it should not be missed when visiting Nikko.
Here are three slice-of-life anime that follow budding classical music students and their lives as they develop as people and musicians.
This easy and healthy casserole is made with fresh, nutritious asparagus, white radish, onions, thinly-sliced prosciutto and low-fat chicken breasts.
Losing weight and becoming fit requires a lot of inner strength, especially when in chronic pain. Often, the people who should be the greatest source of support, sabotage and demotivate.
Teachers use business skills constantly. Leadership, communication, marketing, presentation, and organization are all necessary to plan and run classes effectively.
By cleaning and framing your finished needlework projects yourself, you ensure they are properly framed and cared for, and save a lot of money on professional framing!
Nikko, a small town in the Tochigi prefecture, is known for its temples and shrines but also for being surrounded by many stunning waterfalls.
Learn how to make easy, sweet fruit buns, perfect for breakfast or morning tea, and as hot cross buns. With spice-infused milk and your favorite dried fruits, these are worlds better than their factory-made cousins!
A cool-weather super-food, kale is packed with vitamins. Enjoy it raw in salads, braised or stir-fried as a side dish, or incorporate it into a fantastic vegetable pie.
Which is best: organic, pastured, free-range, cage-free, or battery eggs? A number of factors contribute to the answer: nutrition, contamination risks, animal welfare, and environmental impact.
Beer, in moderation, is a healthy addition to your diet. But you do need to weigh in the negatives before drinking a bottle every day!
Many ground beef recipes are high in fat and cholesterol. These top three recipes add a pile of healthy vegetables, spices and herbs. Try one of these three, enjoy a healthy meal and save some money—vegetable-laden pasta sauce, chili with the lot, or a spicy and fragrant Thai dish.
Limes are packed with vitamin C, which is important for your immune system. It's also been shown to fight more serious illnesses, such as malaria, cholera, golden staph and gastric inflammation.
Joint pain, caused by a myriad of health problems, can be debilitating—and relief is hard to achieve. Find a natural joint pain solution that works for you.
Raw eggs are as safe as any other foodstuff, providing that they are handled following hygienic food-safety standards.
Pro tip: Blur the photo's background, and you will make your subjects stand out, focus your viewer's attention, and make images that look more professional. Perfect for portrait or macro photography.
All of us are susceptible to burnout, and freelancers tend to be more so than employed workers. Learn how to notice the symptoms and what you can do to recover and prevent work-induced exhaustion and illness.
Three great apps and websites to track your hikes using iPhones, Android phones, and other smartphones.
Returning and re-learning the piano can be frustrating. These 10 tips will help increase motivation and enjoyment and prevent burnout.
Photographing insects and spiders is both a fascinating and scary experience. For many people, it is as much an exercise in overcoming fear as it is in capturing a great photo.
Flower photography has a reputation for being either easy as walking, or exceptionally difficult. However, patience, balance, a good eye for detail, and a willingness to take and process many photos, are the most important ingredients to taking gorgeous flower photos.
Here are resources and tips for teachers and students on how to summarize and paraphrase.
Music visualization can be simple or beautifully complex. See how you can control Magnetosphere, the music visualizer in iTunes, and watch your music dance with multicoloured stars around planets and through nebulae.
Learn how to prepare a deliciously moist pineapple fruitcake. This easy-to-make recipe is perfect for Christmas or any other time of year!
Kimonos are the traditional dress of Japan. While they are typically handmade from silk, modern kimonos are now often made from easy-care fabrics that are easier, faster and less expensive to manufacture.
Research is currently divided; the link between chronic pain and vitamin D is not yet proven. However, chronic pain sufferers who are deficient in vitamin D may benefit from supplements.
To pay attention to sunsets is to pay attention to the moment, noticing how light plays over the scene, how details are hidden in shadow, and how colours create a jewel-toned rainbow across the sky.