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So, like, I'm this guy. And like, I do stuff...

Chemist, musician, artist, programmer, coach, husband, dad, uncle, etc.

So yeah.

Advice-wise? There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.
Website: Not My Site!
E-mail: sporkopolis2001@yahoo.com
Gender: Male
Occupation: Chemist
Age: 32
Member Since: October 16, 2003
Answers: 1249
Last Update: June 1, 2006
Visitors: 134269

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What is the differnece between Catholic, Lutheren and Christian religions? I want to know about the differences befor i pick one. (link)
The sheer amount of "wrongness" and ignorance being given as answers in this thread is astounding.

People sure have some weird-ass notions of what it means to be Catholic. Get a clue, people.

Lutherans... umm.. that whole Martin Luther and the start of Protestantism by splitting from the Catholic church...

Sort of like Anglicanism/Episcopaleanism, where the King of England split from the Catholic church because the Pope at the time was a political asshat - Henry VIII wanted to be Catholic without the Pope... given the circumstances, I don't blame him.

I find it funny how so many of the "Christians" have put down everyone else, even going so far as to claim that Catholics have a superiority complex... ahem... who has the superiority complex now, eh?

BTW - the Catholic church no longer spouts off shit that says that non-Catholics go to hell... that's bullshit and is not the official stance of the Church, nor should it ever have been so in the past.

For those who think Catholicism has too many rules... well... our religion is you know.. about 2000 years old, give or take, and sprang out of the faith that Jesus followed, being Judaism, which is also stinking old.


also, ALL that you mentioned are Christian. That simply means to be a follower of Christ, of which Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, etc etc etc all are.


hi i was wondering if you could help me out. im having torunle loging in my username. it says wrong username/pw and that my pass word has been changed. i never changed it and i never gave away my password to any one at all!!! my user name is x0 hOlLiSteR baBe and i do not give mean advice and my rating is pretty good. when i click on lost password it says it sent it to my e-mail but everytime i go check it it does not show up in there. i would really not like to make a new account because i have answerd 2,220 questions and i seriously would be bummed if i had to make a new one! i was just wondering if you could pleaseee help me and im sorry if i borthed you about this. thanks

-teza (link)
We are unable to change your password manually. At best, I can check the email that the account is set to.

We are currently looking into an issue with the site sending emails - it might be that the server is failing to actually send you the password email that you requested. Hopefully we'll have this resolved shortly.


if you put homemade strabery milk in the freazer will it make ice cream? i rate 5s no smart asses please
[[its w/ strawbary suryup nd milk]] (link)
No. You'll have frozen strawberry milk - and if I'm not mistaken, frozen milk is rather crappy. To make ice-cream is a significantly more involved process that I've totally forgotten how exactly it works, other that you use lots of salt to super-cool the ingredients while you churn them slowly.


Hello,
I am a struggling musician looking for some people to play with, and I know several good musicians in the area that are willing to play with me, however I feel as if I am constantly held back because of one thing.

I can't read sheet music anymore.

When I was a kid my sister played a lot of piano, and we even had an organ in my house, and while my sister was still living here she taught me how to read sheet music. The organ is long gone, and my sister has long since moved away. But without any instrument to play, I quickly forgot all about sheet music.

I've been playing guitar and bass for several years now, however i've found that tablature and chord progressions are generally a lot more convenient. So that has contributed to leaving sheet music behind me as well.

I really started to get into Jazz over the past year and met up with a lot of other musicians that have as well, and to show some good faith in the music I hoped we were about to make, I bought a fair amount of sheet music - hoping to quickly relearn and be back on my musical feet.

Well, that didn't quite happen, and I was hoping maybe you could help me out. I read your reply to the person asking about what kind of music this list of bands played. And I was somewhat hooked after I saw that you know who Frank Zappa was. (sadly I know very few people that know of him)

Then I kept reading and it seems to me that you are quite knowledgable about music, so I figured i'd ask.

This question is long, im rambling and I feel I should leave you to your decision of either saying "wow, this is really long and I don't want to bother" or "Hey, i'll see what I can do".

AIM would be convenient (for me at least) if you are willing to help. However I have read that you dislike giving your screen name out to people. If you don't want to thats fine, i'll throw mine out there however.

TheyDiedPretty


Otherwise we can volley questions on here.

http://www.advicenators.com/column.php?u=Panramos



Thanks, I appreciate you even reading this far.

-Panramos (link)
First things first... what do you remeber about reading sheet music / manuscript?

Do you remember the definition of the notes - sixteenth, eighth, quarter, half, whole notes and rests?

Do you remember how to interpret the key signature and meter?

I'm definitely willing to give you a primer on reading sheet music, I just need to know what you do and do not know first.

I'll also mention something I used to do with tablature - I stated out reading music only, and tab drove me nuts - I didn't care what the fret number was... I wanted the note name. So I started mapping out the note names over top of the tab. I also loved things like Guitar magazine and Guitar Player, as they listed sheet music along with the tablature - it was the best of both worlds - quick and easy tab with actual manuscript with it - for me there was always something more expressive with how one could write manuscript compared to mapping out tablature.

Oddly enough, I just got done telling someone how I don't use sheet music for rock, but do write stuff out for jazz and classical. And I even have some illegal fake-book transcriptions of Zappa (Peaches En Regalia, Son of Mr. Green Genes, possibly a few others, along with hundreds of jazz standards).

So yeah... get back to me when you get a chance, or email me at sporkopolis2001@yahoo.com

my IM availability is sporadic at best as I'm usually being tackled by small children, or up late working on something stupid.


I don't know if anyone on here is gonna know anything about writing music but I was wondering if anyone has any tips on writing music with guitar. I can write lyrics but not music. I've tried writing some music but it usualy ends up very badly. So any tips? (link)
Practice.

Seriously - writing songs takes lots of practice. I look at stuff I wrote in high school and usually laugh (highly pretnetious lyrics, overblown arrangements, generally laughable).

Songwriting is craft that can be honed. Listen to lots of different styles of music. Write stuff down. Play your guitar at random and just make stuff up. Keep at it. Keep a journal of lyrics, ideas, chords you like, etc.

Don't worry about writing out full-blown musical transcriptions of your ideas, either. I used to do that... I'll only do that for chamber/orchestral type stuff anymore. For jazz I write out the melodies and chord progressions and that's about it. For rock, I write out chords, and show people/play the main riffs, rhythms, and sing the melody. I hardly write any of it down because well... I'm nuts.

But really, practice. Keep at it and don't give up.

If you have any specific questions, I'd be glad to give you any guidance I can offer. Spew me an email at sporkopolis2001@yahoo.com if you feel so inclined.


Hey, ok. i have a babysitting gig tomorrow night. And its 2 years old...what the heck do you do with a 2 year old?!?!?! i've only babysat kids over 5! HELP!!!!! (link)
Play with them...

mind you, Matt is now 3, but he had been 2 for a whole year and everything!

He enjoyed hot wheels cars, duplo/legos, kitchen set - plastic food rules, stuff animals, etc... standard little kid fare, but with less vocabulary.

2 year olds need extra help with potty issues, and may still be in diapers - no big deal.


its lasted like..about.. well, a long time. sooo, wut meds should i take? heh kinda stupid question and i cud ask like my parents or w/e but they're not really here for me to ask them right now. and uh.. well, heh cud it be cuz of the computer? cuz i seem to get it while i'm infront of a certain computer, or.. ehh, well anyway it hurts alot. so.. anything i could do about it other than taking meds? (link)
Have you tried changing the refresh rate on your monitor? From the desktop, get the properties tab, then settings... probably under "Advanced..." you can change the refrsh rate... if it is set to 60Hz, that's in-synch with the lights around you, which can cause horrible headaches. You should be safe to trying 70Hz or 72Hz. If there's an 80Hz option, becareful because that can damage some monitors.


However, if your monitor is not a CRT (television-esque monitor), then you cannot do that... so what you have could be an occular headache caused by eye strain. Which means, get away from the comptuer, don't drink any caffiene, and drink lots of water as you rest your eyes.


well i've heard that all these vitamins and minerals are good for you, but how exactly do they effect you.
wat does vitamin A,B,C,D,E, do?
wat does iron do exactly?
what does potassium do exactly (link)
ok... for the sake of brevity and not giving you a huge lecture on clinical pharmacology, etc...


Iron is good for those who need it - red blood cells use an iron complex to transport oxygen around the body - as women tend to lose blood on a regular basis (that whole silly menstruation deal), many women need iron supplements.

The vitamins such as A, B, C, D, E, etc... they can all do many and various things - from antioxidant protection to stimulating growth to preventing migraines to improving eye sight... generally, they are called "essential vitamins" for a reason - we need them in our diets... and by taking supplements, we can ensure that we overcome our shitty eating habits (as you have to admit, most people eat a horrible diet).

Potassium is an electrolyte - it maintains an ionic balance in the bloodstream and in your cells. It is critial to many processes, from neural transmitters to urination.


If you check any of the entire first page of a google search on "vitamins and minerals", you'll find any one of those links to be useful for more in-depth information. I mean, I could go on for hours, but the info I have is a bit more on the painfully academic side of things, and would likely bore everyone to tears.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=vitamins+and+minerals&btnG=Google+Search


1. What is pre cum?
2. When does it occur?
3. Why does it occur?

THanks!--please answer these ?!

websites would be good too! (link)
During sex, a small amount of semen is secreted the entire time, as the man's body's way to try to keep things lubricated and cleansed. Being what it is, it does indeed contain sperm, and can get the someone pregnant. The guy cannot stop it from occurring, beyond getting snipped - and even then, that will only eliminate the sperm, as the prostate will still produce semen.

That should pretty much nail all three questions.


Hey . Okay heres the deal, I really like someone and its like he doesnt care. He never calls me i always call him, he deltes all my comments, and is afraid to admit hes going out with me. I dont know what to do . I really like him but i dont know how he feels about me. Im really scared. Im 14 and hes 15 if that helps. Thanks (link)
How can you possibly still say you like someone who does all those things? Does that seem to make any sense to you?

He won't talk to you, he won't acknowledge you, he simply doesn't care...

Love at any level, as I've said time and time again, is a two-way-street.

You seem to be giving... but getting nothing in return.

That, my friend, is not a relationship, or at least not a healthy one.


I have Verizon wireless for my cell phone service provider. I've always had text messaging, but only for local numbers, I guess. I didn't have long distance on my phone. My parents recently got me long distance so that I can communicate with my cousin out of state. I've never seen my phone bill before (for texting), just for phone calls, to see who I called etc. Now, for texting, does it say which numbers I've texted on the bill? or which ones I've received? If not for all called, does it say which LONG DISTANCE numbers I texted or what? How does that go? (link)
I believe that it should list each and every text message and call the number and time of day of the call. Text messaging is really no different than making a phone call, only that it uses a tiny amount of signal - so really, text messaging is a horrible rip-off, but because people think it is cool, people keep doing it. It is usually cheaper to make a 10 second phone call than it is to text someone.

But I digress... yes, your Verizon bill should list every texting and every call you've made.


i downloaded iTunes but i dont have an iPod nor an account so how can i download the songs, not buy them ? (link)
You'll only be able to get free songs, and I'm not sure you'll be able to do that without an account.

You can, however, use iTunes to rip any CD you own/have to the ACC format (better than MP3).


what kind of music is this grateful dead, frank zappa, little feet, the who, rolling stones, led zepplin, pat b., santana, weird al, rage against the machine, jimmy hendrix ?? (link)
The Dead was a classic hippie jam band.

Zappa was his own thing. He was avante garde rock, he was jazz, he was classical, he was whatever he felt like being. The man was an amazing genius.

Little Feet/Feat - laid-back country/bluegrass/rockabilly/rock band. Hard to pin any particular genre on them.

The Who - Classic rock at its finest. Many modern hard rock bands owe homage to the Who.

Rolling Stones - yet again, classic rock... more blues oriented than The Who, often went head-to-head with the Beatles. I'm not fond of the Stones, mostly because I despise Mick Jagger's "singing".

Led Zeppelin - "heavy progressive blues" - they were a blues band, spun from the Yardbirds. They went in new directions, with a heavy sound that while clearly not exactly metal, was the predecessor to many hard rock and metal bands. Their sound is still imitated by many to this day.

Pat Benetar - former opera student with a huge vocal range. Fell in love with rock. She's a damn good performer and an amazing singer.

Carlos Santana - merged the worlds of late 60s classic rock and blues with latin music. Often considered an early pioneer of "world music". His band often includes many amazing musicians, and his rhythm section is always suprerb. His early material I feel is too often overlooked due to some of his recent commercial successes with his collaborations with modern artists. Santana is an amazing guitarist and well worth listening to: check out Freedom and Abraxas.

Rage Against the Machine - I have never followed them enough to form an opinion.

Jimi Hendrix - guitar virtuoso who pushed what the instrument can do, as well as pushed what could be accomplished in the studio. He was a true visionary and revolutionary. Died far too young for stupid reasons (drugs). His legacy continues to inspire many a guitarist, both new and established.

Have any specific questions, by all means, ask me.

p.s. - dude... I can't believe I forgot to address Weird Al. The dude is waaay too smart for his own good, and is a genius of parody. Quite silly, sometimes so subtle in his message that people totally miss his point. Hillarious none the less.


What is a cure for chiggers/red bugs?? They itch like crazy and I have no idea how to get rid of the little suckers! Please help me out here!! (link)
The issue with the nail-polish treatment someone mentioned is this: by the time you've found the ithcy spot, the chigger is long-gone.

The chigger is a nymph of some other insect that I am forgetting at the moment and don't feel like looking up... it is a nasty little critter... small and white and very fast. It sticks its head into your hair follicle and injects a fun protein which dissolved the follicle so the chigger can drink it up... yummy... the aftermath of the injection it makes is horrible, horrible itching that can last for days.

The nailpolish technique can work, but not because it is killing the chigger. The theory is that it keeps air out of the inflammed area which keep the irritation down.

Benadryl can help, as can benadryl cream. Cold compress will also keep the itching down. The second you notice a chigger bite, take a shower - the chigger will not survive a bathing.

It is possible to treat lawns for chigger infestations, but usually takes at least 2 treatments administered about 2-3 weeks apart (kills the current chiggers, then a 2nd treatment to kill the next brood).


I would like some advice on what to look for in a decent, used Laptop computer. I'm looking to use this for internet use, Word programs etc, and pretty light on the game play with a CD Rom and floppy. What is the price range I'm looking at for something very decent but also not new, because I only have about $350 max to work with.

Is it lame of me to think to find a good laptop on ebay?
If I try to find one on ebay, what specs should I look for? I'm not up on what RAM, ROM, is considered 'good', or anything about internet cards.

I was also told that laptops are basically useless, and that if I want a personal computer I should just get a desktop one. How true is this?
Is my search hopeless?

Thanks a lot to anyone who will help. (link)
With only a $350 budget, you might be better off saving up a bit more and getting a new Dell laptop. Dell is practially giving systems away, with laptops starting at $549. Mind you, I'm not a huge Dell fan or anything, but for what you've described, wouldn't you be happier with a new system with a warranty than a used system that could be a total lemon?

Now, as far as laptop vs. desktop - ask yourself this: Why do you need the system?

If you don't need this system to be portable to take on trips, etc... why the hell are you looking for a laptop? Laptops are inherently more expensive, therefore you can always get more bang for the buck from a desktop system.

But with a desktop, you lose your ease of portability/mobility, etc. But if you don't really need a laptop, you should probably not bother looking for one, especially with your budget constraints.


do we become pregnant if we ingest semen (link)
Yes, and babies will spring out of your nostrils.


Hey, I need to find out how to explain to kids the differences between 3/4 tempo, 3/6 tempo, 5/4 tempo, 5/6 tempo and 5/8 tempo. I'm a tap teacher and want to explain differences in rhythm but want to be well informed on the subject!!
Cheers,
the munkee (link)
there is no such thing as 3/6, 5/6 etc... we don't designate sixth notes... Some composers have tried experimentation with what they call "artificial meter" but it is sorta weird and doesn't really exist in the schema of western music.

4/4 time is your standard four feel. 2/2 is called "cut time" and is 4/4 with emphasis on the half-notes - instead of the quarter note getting a count of one, the half-note gets a one count.

3/4 time is often associated with the waltz, often faster 3/4 songs will be in "one feel" where you just emphasize the downbeat and nothing further.

5/8 feel is five beats per measure, an eighth note gets one full count. Often 5/8 time is in 2-3 feel. 6/8 time is more "normal"... and can be in 3-3 feel or 2-2-2 feel (2-2-2 feel is nearly the same as 3/4 time, but feels twice as fast).

12/8 timeis also called shuffle beat. This is actually 4/4 time in full triplet feel. Blues shuffles fall under this metering.

7/8 exists, and some composers really love usering alternating 4/4 - 7/8 metering to give a staggered feel... being that you teach dance, anything odd metered (7/8, 5/8) is going to be awkward as hell to dance to, thus you probably aren't going run into to it too much unless you tend to teach more avante garde material.

Just remember - when looking at a meter for a song - the top designates how many beats are in a measure. 3/4 is three beats per measure, 2/2 is two beats per, etc.

The bottom number indicates what sort of note gets a full count - thus in 4/4, the quarter-note gets a beat - so a full measure consists of 4 quarter notes. In 6/8, the eighth note gets a beat, so a full measure here consists of six eighth notes. Yes, you can have something as wacky as 11/16 time, where you have eleven beats per measure, and the sixteenth note get a beat.

As always, feel free to contact me directly about any more specific questions you might have.


Hey, I just got my bass guitar today and I have some questions.

1. I have no idea how to play or whats what. So is there any sites out there where it can teach me which cord is what etc. or a book I can buy at a store?

2. I have no idea how to tune this thing. I sound like an idiot but I got this guitar 'cause I want to accomplish something. So do you know of any sites or books out there that can help me with all of this?

3. This is kind of repeating my other questions but is there actually a book/website out there that can teach me to play simple stuff so that I can play better and then go on the 'net and get tabs and start playing those?

Thanks so much. If you can't answer it's cool. (link)
If you paruse my column - and look specifically at the music questions, you'll probably find where I've linked to sites and whatnot quite a few times:

http://www.advicenators.com/column.php?u=MFS&t=14


Tuning: assuming you are familiar with notes and whatnot, a bass is tuned E, A, D, G - E being the biggest string, and G being the lightest string.

Chords: while it is possible to do some chord voicing on a bass, that's not really how a bass is played. Basses are linear - we play walking bass lines, riffs, and often play around inside the structure of a chord, without actually playing the chord outright.

As far as books go: The Aebersold books are highly regarded, and I've had Modern Walking Bass by Mike Richmond recommended in the past as well.

Personally, I learned bass by throwing myself at the instrument, experimenting, and learning songs - I'd learn to play entire CDs by playing along with them.


do you have aim? my sn is x0xbabyxkakezx0x...please Im me so i can ask you my question. dont answer this so it wont go on your column. i just dont want to ask it on here..and i dont really think you want this question on your column. thanx! (link)
I generally do not give out my AIM screen name. Also, if I don't want your question to appear on my column, I don't have to answer it.


hey! I know you're the best person here to ask about guitar know-how so I was wondering if you know where I could find songs for the guitar but not for lead, like the tabs. I need it for one of the other girls in my band. I need it for rhythm guitar. You know the chords, I was just wondering if you knew a website or something along those lines. Thanks! (link)
Any site that offers tablature usually offer chord chartings as well. Tablature files are the .tab files, whereas chord maps are usually called .crd files. More people use the tab for solos, so you won't find as many .crd files on a whole. However, most of the well-written tablature also has the chords listed, as well as the chordal structure of the song. They usually don't list the rhythm to be played, but 99% of the people I know who use tab wouldn't use that anyway - they will listen to the song to get that, and simply use the tab and/or chord charts as a guide.

I've also found that most chord notation is totally out to lunch. I'll see things listed as Em, when really the chord being played was Em6,9 or you'll see C/D, when it was actually C7. It is easy to get the basic triad down when figuring out chords, but most people aren't trained to hear the more subtle expanded voicings and so they miss them... but when you go to play the song, you can tell because while it won't sound wrong - it won't sound quite right either.


I always put a plug in for the OLGA website, and I get most of the tab/crd (cheat sheets, as I call them) I use from there. www.olga.net




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