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The Left-Handed Guitar Fingerboard- Finding the Notes
Left handed guitarists are often told- just reverse the chord shapes, string numbers, etc. But this puts them at a disadvantage. Why should they not have their own charts and diagrams? This article presents the fingerboard of the left handed guitar, to help players locate all the notes without fuss.
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau Quotes
A pseudo-random selection of quotations from Jean-Jacques Rousseau with some supporting commentary by the author.
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How to Control the Strength of Homemade Beer, Wine and Cider
As responsible drinkers like to know what they are drinking, responsible homebrewers should be able to tell them. This article explains how to manage sugar content and alcohol production.
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Guns Don't Kill People... Really?
The gun lobbyists are fond of saying 'Guns don't kill people; people kill people'. But the vast majority of people want nothing to do with guns and violence.
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Is It Safe to Drink Homemade Wine?
Is homemade wine safe to drink? It should be both safe and wholesome, but there are some dreadful recipes and methods out there on the Internet. Here's how to avoid the shockers.
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How to Deal With Extreme Heat and Humidity in Doha, Qatar
A tongue in cheek but semi-serious walker's guide to coping with extreme heat and humidity. Includes photos and description of Doha, Qatar, as only seen on foot.
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How to Make Cider from Apple Juice
A quick, reliable way to make cider without specialist equipment, ingredients, or knowledge. An ideal summer drink.
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Old Bullnose Mercedes Trucks in Qatar (With Photos)
The Bullnose Mercedes is a real truck. Powerful, noisy, smelly, rattly. It shakes the ground and carves up the roads. Best of all, it is bullnosed, with a big ugly vertical exhaust stack. (Oh, all right, it's an air intake!)
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Glasgow in Black and White - No Mean City
A collection of black and white photographs taken in Glasgow in 1979, mostly in and around the West end, University, Byres Road, Maryhill.
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Tbilisi, Georgia, Europe - Pictures of the Old City (Kgb, Still Watching You!)
Tbilisi is an ancient city in an ancient country, with the pride of culture to match. This is no mere (ex) Soviet satellite. The culture is deep, unique and distinctive.
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Thomas Hardy - A Great English Poet
From the writer of Tess and Jude, one would not expect a lot of jollity or gaiety, and indeed Hardy's poems tend to be sombre in tone, though often leavened with surprising metrical patterns borrowed from his local folk and church music.
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Tidings of Comfort and Joy - St Luke's Christmas Angel and the Merry Gentlemen
St Luke's angel did not bring to the shepherds 'Tidings of Comfort and Joy'. That phrase comes from a 15th Century Christmas carol. The angel spoke only of 'great joy'. Luke chose his words with care. Joy, and not comfort, is the angel's message.
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Seven Sonnets for Valentine's Day
I thought I'd mark the occasion with a collection of a few of my poems on a romantic theme. I hope you find something to enjoy in them. This first one, Travellers, is about a chance encounter in a commuter train...
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Is Freedom of Speech an Absolute or Relative Right?
"I'll say what I like. It's a free country". This has rather fallen out of fashion, to be replaced, in UK, with "I'm entitled to state my opinion", and in US, with "I'm only exercising my (Constitutional) right to free speech"
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The Paranormal Hotel (Dubai Panorama) - The Working Girls in Jockey's Pub
Bur Dubai Panorama Hotel is an unprepossessing building. Six residential floors in low quality concrete, clad in pink crud. But Jockey's Pub and the working girls are its real claim to fame.
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The Cycle of Fifths - essential theory for guitars and keyboards
The Cycle of Fifths unlocks Western music. It is beautiful in its symmetry, simplicity and fruitfulness. It explains harmony, transposition and accompaniment. Vital for guitarists and keyboards.
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Learning All the Notes on the Guitar Fingerboard
For many guitarists, locating the notes on the fingerboard can be difficult, especially in the higher positions. Here is a quick and reliable method for learning all the notes on the guitar neck.
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The Story of How I Dealt With Bed Bugs
Two weeks ago, I knew nothing about bed bugs; now I know more than I ever wanted to. This is my bed bug story. I sincerely hope it never becomes yours, but read on, and be prepared for the worst.
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The Shisha Culture in the Middle East
One of the pleasures of living in the Middle East is to pass an evening in congenial company while enjoying a shisha (hookah) of your preferred flavour. Shisha is the traditional Arab water pipe.
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The Broons - Scotland's Happy Family
Scotland's Happy Family . . That Makes Every Family Happy. The Broons first appeared seventy years ago in the Scottish Sunday Post, published in Dundee by D.C. Thomson, and are still going strong.
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How to Age Homemade Wine
Aging home made wine is important. But unless wine is aged in the right way, it might spoil. This article explains how to age homemade or commercial wine for best results.
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Equal Temperament Guitar Tuning
Guitarists need to understand Equal Temperament, or at least the basis of it. Why? Because their instrument is fretted for Equal Temperament and the strings have to be tuned accordingly.
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How is Electricity Produced Commercially?
An introduction to the theory of generating electricity followed by a brief summary of some of the viable ways of generating electricity on a commercial scale.
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IF - Rudyard Kipling - an appreciation
Kipling, and IF, are not threatened by their critics or parodists. The poem was voted number one in the UK publication "The Nation's Favourite Poems". Kipling's IF has wide appeal. Like Burns before him, Kipling wrote masterful but accessible and genuinely popular poetry.
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The Holy Month of Ramadan
The next Ramadan will begin on April 2 (2022). It is the holiest month in the Islamic year (1443). This article is a guide to Ramadan for non-Muslims, especially those living in the Gulf States.
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How to Write a Limerick - Pulse, Rhythm & Rhyme
The trouble with wearing the tartan /is everyone thinks you're a Spartan /who relishes cold /in the goolies. (I'm told /the best way to heat 'em is fartan!) A limerick is a short verse in a well-defined form which...
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Living and Working in the Gulf States - Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia
Working in the Middle East. Jobs in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia. Jobs in Energy and Construction. Jobs in other fields. Live, work and stay safe in the Gulf States.
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'Imagine' by John Lennon (Analysis of the Song)
'Imagine' by John Lennon is a deceptively simple song. But behind the simplicity is an elegance of lyrical, melodic and harmonic structure that approaches genius. Please read my appreciation of this master's masterwork.
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Wine - The Theory of Winemaking
This hub explains home winemaking. When you understand the processes, you will be able to design your own 'recipes', (though, as we'll see, 'recipe' isn't really a word that applies to winemaking). If you...
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How to Make Wine From Grape Juice
Here's a simple and reliable method for making wholesome red and white table wine from supermarket grape juice, sugar, and yeast. No chemicals and no specialist equipment needed.