Buying a new home theatre system

If you’re in the market for a new home theater system, be sure to do your homework. You can plan on spending anywhere from $200 to $3000 or more, depending on your needs and your budget. The two main factors to keep in mind when buying a new TV are size and screen quality. You can find large-screen TVs that are inexpensive but may still offer a poor picture quality. For the same price, you may want to consider a smaller screen size that will provide you with a better image.

If you have a lot of money to put towards a new state-of-the-art, plasma televisions provide excellent picture quality and are best for large screen viewing. LCDs also offer excellent picture quality, but are better for smaller screens and may blur when displaying fast movement. High definition TVs also offer exceptional picture quality.
For general TV watching, you will be fine with a traditional square-shaped screen, but if you plan on watching a lot of movies, you may want to opt for a wide-screen TV.

Be sure to compare prices and look for the best offer. You can get more for your money if you watch sales and do your research before you go shopping.

Shasta Pools offers a variety of custom features

The other day I was watching a show on TV about amazing pools. One Arizona family had a pool that looked more like a water park, with water slides, fountains, waterfalls, and all kinds of special features. I was kind of surprised that all these features were available for a backyard pool, but it turns out that you can get practically anything you want in a home pool. For example, Arizona-based Shasta Pools, which offers both new pool construction and pool remodeling, creates some amazing looking pools with natural rock features, remote-controlled color-changing lights, and even swim-up bars.

When designing a custom pool with Shasta Pools, there’s almost no limit to what you can accomplish: beautiful mosaic tile inserts, misting systems, decorative wok pots, and deck jets all make your pool a truly one-of-a-kind creation. Plus, Shasta Pools offers a variety of finishes such as large pebble, small pebble, or even plaster with quartz, allowing you to achieve the perfect custom pool for your backyard.

Thoughts about Mother's Day

I'm still debating about Mothers day gifts, and I'm running out of time! The thing is, my mom doesn't really need anything. I always try to get her something meaningful for Mothers day or her birthday, because the last thing she needs is some trinket that's just going to sit around the house. I don't think she cares about getting presents, really. But it might be nice to send some Mother's day flowers to her office. Everyone enjoys a surprise like that.

Mother's Day

I realized yesterday that Mother's Day is just around the corner. I haven't even started to think of gift ideas. If I can't think of anything else, I suppose you really can't go wrong with flowers.

My mom lives out of state, so I probably won't see her on Mothers Day. I could always have some flowers delivered, though. I bet places like 1-800-flowers have some great Mother's Day arrangements.

Time For New Glasses

My sister keeps saying she needs to go to the eye doctor and get new glasses. Buying glasses at the eye doctor's office can be expensive, so I was looking at some options at www.eyeglasses.com. They have the round styles of glasses she wants.

They have a great selection of name brands at pretty reasonable prices, so she could even get a second pair of glasses to use as a backup. Then she would be able to have more variety and could easily change up her look.

My New Favorite Holiday

The other day as R and I were cooking dinner, the subject of Valentine's Day came up. I asked him what we were going to to for the holiday and he told me not to worry about it.

"That's my job," he said.

It's kind of strange to think that this will be our second Valentine's Day together. I've never spent two Valentine's Days with anyone before, so that in itself is exciting. And I know whatever we do, it will be great. Last year he bought me a dozen roses and took me out for sushi. (Yeah, he's good.)

A couple of days later, I noticed that he had written down some of his recent credit card purchases on the white board in his kitchen. One of them "Roses - $60." I couldn't believe it. I told him, seriously, that he shouldn't have spent the money. Of course, I appreciated the gesture (and I still have the dried flowers), but I told him that was just too much money. He wouldn't hear of it.

"It was Valentine's Day. You have to have red roses on Valentine's Day."

Later, he admitted that he had waited until the last minute and bought them at a pricey flower shop. I hope this year he plans ahead and does some comparison shopping. I'm sure online retailers like 1-800-flowers are already running specials. I love that he was thoughtful enough to buy me flowers, but I don't want him spending a lot of money needlessly.

Mohammed Babangida's Reflections on African Music

When I lived in Africa, I had the great opportunity to experience many different forms of African music firsthand. While Mali has its share of well-known singers who play traditional Malian music, such as Oumou Sangare and Salif Keita, there are many others who borrow from different styles of music, especially reggae. In his blog about music, Mohammed Babangida discusses the influences of African music on other musical styles and famous musicians. Mohammed Babangida is a Nigerian with a great love of jazz music. He examines how jazz’s West African roots are evident in its use of blue notes, improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopations, and swing notes.

To learn more about Mohammed Babangida, visit www.muhammad-babangida.com.