Im happy to be able to say that I have had some success as a DJ. I might not drive a Lambo, but I can buy just about any new DJ toy that comes out and can afford bottle service at all the clubs that have the nerve to charge me.
But there is a downside to this. The nightlife scene has its share of undesirables and sometimes the party lifestyle changes people. Its not unusual to realize that someone no longer warrants your trust.
But, as a Dj, with posted venues and dates and a house full of fun and portable toys, it can be worrying how easy it would be to wait until I was at a gig to unload my home of some of its joys.
I have a really big TV that I can watch Direct TV on and relax, its not really fair that the things I worked for and use to relax can also become something I must worry about. Defeats the purpose a bit, doesn’t it?
So I decided to get a security system installed such as this one that home security atmore provides. The cost is minimal and my piece of mind is priceless. I did the right thing.

Shepard Fairey is perhaps most well known for his 2008 poster of then presidential hopeful, Barack Obama , aptly titled “Hope.” This oft lampooned work has been festooned across the internet and world ever since. The style of “Hope” is well recognized and often imitated.

What may surprise many of our readers is that this artist is one of us! Shepard is responsible for the awesome Obey clothing line designs and the legendary “Andre has a Posse” design often pasted all over shows and venues a few years back.

His passion for music and urban and counter culture topics has resulted in the creation o fmany more stunning works of figures such as the Dalai Lama and legendary SoCal performers Bad Brains.

Looking around the Fairey out of stock site I was stunned to find an AP of “Hope” for Sale! (for the art challenged AP= Artist Proof) This image is so iconic I couldnt believe any could still be in circulation , but it is! From a run of 600, this AP was priced at around 7k. By the time this hits the net I expect that print will be scooped up. Nonetheless, I have my eye on a few other less known figures that Shepard captured that are more within my art budget.

Lladro ballerina figurines are a wonderful ballet gift for your favorite ballet dancer! The modern and sleek designs of these Spanish dance figures represent the graceful lines of ballet dancers from around the world. You’ll see pensive ballerinas preparing for their performances. There are Lladro ballet figurines shown in graceful dance movements. You’ll love seeing young ballerinas with kittens and puppies tugging at their dance costumes.

Lladro ballerina figurines have a soft color palatte and are very mid-century in their design. Even the new dance figures have a retro vibe.

If you have a daughter, granddaughter or favorite neice who is a ballerina or just starting out, one of these figurines would be a beautiful ballet gift to mark a special performance or milestone in her young dancing career.

Of course you might just love dance and want a dance figure that reminds you of a special ballet performance you attended – or the friends you have that you go to performances with.

If your daughter is taking dance lessons and you want to give a special dance teacher a special gift, then definitely consider a dance figure. LLadro is a ver special name in figurines and she’ll know that you truly value her instruction with such a high quality gift.

One of the sweetest parts of the new digital age for me is the rise of computer based dj software and tools. Its amazing that I can actually get a party moving with nothing more than a laptop and if I want to get fancy I can use a couple of peripherals. The only drawback (if there really has to be a drawback) is a small tinge of nostalgia that hits me relating to style and flavor.

The rig I used to carry around was highly customized. As I set it up people knew what I was about. The knew I was about to bring the noise and the party would be huge. There was no getting away from it … the style I flaunted couldnt be faked.

Even to and from the party used to be an opportunity to floss. Ladies would see my rig and ask me about what I was doing and if they could come to. I was a visible party and that was one of the biggest draws to being a DJ in the first place. It seems anyone can be a DJ these days, just grab fruity loops, an imac, and a laptop messenger bag , and your good to go.

The future is missing some flavor.

When people hear the words ‘Law Enforcement’ they usually think of police officers dressed in blue, driving around in marked cruisers with flashing lights mounted to the roof. There are, however, many other branches of law enforcement out there. Here are 5 branches of law enforcement you may not know about with a brief description of each.

span style=”font-family: Verdana, serif;”>The Bureau of Indian Affairs Police

span style=”font-family: Verdana, serif;”>The Bureau of Indian Affairs (Also known as the BIA Police) is responsible for providing law enforcement services to Indian reservations that are not equipped with their own police departments. Additionally, they oversee tribal police organizations to ensure that justice is being served to the population of the reservation.

span style=”font-family: Verdana, serif;”>They respond to the same type of criminal activity that occurs off of reservations, they have the authority to apprehend and arrest anyone who is participating in criminal behavior, and they also have the authority to serve warrants and subpoenas. The BIA police officers are delegated through the Office of Justice Services Law Enforcement.

span style=”font-family: Verdana, serif;”>Bureau of Land Management

span style=”font-family: Verdana, serif;”>The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for regulating the activities of people who use public land, and waterways scattered across the United States. These activities include things like fishing, camping, hiking and biking, and many other outdoor activities. The amount of acreage they are responsible for monitoring is staggering. For instance, this branch of law enforcement is responsible for overseeing more than 205,000 miles of fishable streams, over 500 boating access sites, 69 National Back Country Byways, more than 2 million lakes and reservoirs and 55 million acres of forests and woodlands.

The Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations Division

span style=”font-family: Verdana, serif;”>Also called the IRS-CI, this branch of law enforcement investigates suspected violations of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States. This is the only agency that has the authority to investigate criminal violations of the IRS code. There are more than 4,000 employees in this law enforcement branch including approximately 2,800 agents. Additionally, this unit assists the Food and Drug Administration with investigations such as prescription drug marketing violations, the manufacturing and sale of unapproved or counterfeit drugs, and product tampering.

Special Jurisdiction Police

This category of law enforcement actually encompasses a vast number of law enforcement officers. These police officers have jurisdiction over specific locations such as colleges, hospitals, public schools, and many other public buildings. They also have jurisdiction over things like arson investigations, and gaming enforcement. Some states limit the authority of these police officers to a specific place, while other states give a broader jurisdiction of authority. Special Jurisdiction Police are also known as Special-Purpose Police, Special District Police, or Special Enforcement Police.

Transportation Agency Policing

This branch of law enforcement encompasses approximately 9,000 officers that monitor areas of transportation such as airports, railways, bridges and tunnels as well as maritime ports. Since 911 this group of law enforcement officers has continued to grow. In addition to manpower, many of these agencies incorporate the use of canines in their daily duties.

Trudi Dyer often answers questions students may have about law enforcement training courses.

Everyone loves designer bags but most of them are expensive. Louis Vuitton is a reputable brand for designer handbags. You can get Louis Vuitton designer bags at a great discount at a Louis Vuitton outlet. If you can’t find a Louis Vuitton outlet anywhere near to where you stay you can search for one using Google. Even if the nearest outlet is a few hours’ drive you should try to visit it you can avail incredible discounts at these outlets.
You can even buy Louis Vuitton designer bags online. Some great sites you can buy them at are Amazon, EBay or review sites like Bizrate, Pricegrabber or Shopzilla. You can also get discounts when you shop for these designer bags online.

Coach is also known for its great designer bags and other accessories. You can get Coach designer bags and other Coach accessories at a great discount at a Coach outlet.  Apart from the normal discount that is available in Coach outlets you can get more exciting discounts with Coach coupons. So if you are planning to buy a Coach designer handbag make sure you have a look at what’s available and grab yourself a really good deal on your purchase.

Whether its as a hobby, a business, or a personal archive we often get asked for tips on how to create your own music blog.

Setting up your own site is really very easy. You simply need 4 things.

• A Domain ( Your Address or name on the net, it must be registered and bought)
• Web Hosting (Where your site and music files are stored, essentially it is space on a server)
• A CMS ( A Content Management System – A Software or site architecture that allows you to easily create new pages or posts and create navigation automatically, this is done via a database installation in most cases – We use and suggest WordPress)
• Time – Building a site, even with a CMS, can be time intensive especially when you need to learn as you grow

Once you have those 4 simple things, you can begin designing your site. With WordPress, one can find themes that will give your site the look and feel of a music site with the touch of a button. Simply install the theme and activate and your site will have a great new look.

Actually displaying the music is easy with a wordpress plugin or even just embedding youtube, amazon or itunes widgets to play or even sell your suggest music

 I may blog frequently on the music business and play lots of gigs. But I still have a day job. I dont have to have it, but with a couple of dependents and aging parents is important to me to have a very secure income and insurance benefits.

My Day Job is rewarding anyway and is music related. I work as an Activities Director for a Senior Home. We often integrate art and music into our events.

My only complaint would be that I feel a little bit stifled because I have to wear a uniform. Ive left plenty of jobs that made me wear uniforms. It just seems wrong, unoriginal and robotic. Its hard to be me when Im made to look like everyone else.

But in my current position I had some control over the sourcing of the uniforms. Plus, as an attachment to a Hospital our uniforms are scrubs. This is a bit more understandable then a stupid hat at a restaurant or specific color pants in a sales job.

When I first encountered scrubs I was highly turned off. They lack tailoring and never seem to fit anyone well.

It was suggested that I look into the options available at:

http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Women/

I was pleasantly surprised to see that I could get our company logo embroidered, custom sizing and even get functional pockets. If your in a health field and you find vanilla scrubs to be uninspiring take a closer look yourself.

Finding Big and Tall Clothes for a King Size DJ,can be quite a hassle, if you fall under the “King-Size” heading or you are buying gifts for the big music man in your life, discovering clothes that are styling and fashion forward can be a hard task.

Even “small”  items such as belts and hats are not so commonly held in inventory at major big box stores for the largest sizes. Although, a handful of items may sit in the Big and Tall Clothing departments, the selection in comparison to more popular sizes is very limited.

Many who purchase off size threads will turn to outlet and specialty shops. But these shops usally are not able to keep competitive pricing due to their “smaller” market and are often overpriced or simply non-existent in your town.

Of Course, one can just look to the internet to get larger sizes because  niche shops exists that carry hundreds of sizes and fashions for a King Size Male.

My favorite of these stores, KingSize Direct, has a very well designed interface that allows you to quickly  browse not just by brand and size, but also by style and function. Its a very useful feature that limits the time I have to spend shopping online.

I was particularly excited to find quality and fashionable cargo pants and shorts available in the larger size options and further astounded when a whole host of color choices were available. DJ’s need lots of pockets. We need places to stick all the tools of the trade and to carry music around in all its form.

Anyone who has searched Big and Tall knows that such a great variety is hard to come by.

Audio Converter

 When you are really into music collecting the process of cataloging and organizing your collection can be tedious and technilogically challenging.

Many of us have analog collections of records and cassettes that cant be replaced. But these recordings are not always in print or the new “remastered” versions are over produced and too vanilla. So in the interest of space and browsing we convert the files into new digital formats and try to organize it all with one master software.

Personally, I also download alot of live performances from collector and archive forums that share legal music. Often audiophiles use very specific formats that will best showcase the music without any loss. Many of these formats are not popular in commercial applications so need to be converted in order to play on consumer grade dvd and audio players.

For this you will need an Audio Converter to change your file formats into ones that your commercial electronic devices can recognize. I had the special task of finding an Audio Converter for Mac  and I was successful in my search when I discovered Imtoo. Unlike most mac conversions they actually have the full feature suite and options that are available to PC users.