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  1. Where Should You Buy A Used BMW?

    November 22, 2011 oxihl

    The used BMW marketplace in the United States has been growing rapidly since the last few years, mainly because many BMW lovers have discovered the convenience of leasing new BMWs and then opting for newer models after 2 or 3 years. This trend has outstripped the older trend of buying a BMW with a 4 or 5 years auto loan. That is one of the reasons why so many pre-owned BMWs are hitting the market and being snapped up by discerning buyers.

    The phenomenon of the BMW lease has radically changed the dynamics of the pre-owned automobile market by flooding it with reasonably priced luxury cars in good condition. Until ten years ago, a typical pre-owned BMW would be more like a battered old rattletrap than a luxury car; it’s a totally different ball game today, with most BMW dealers and used car stores striving to find low mileage BMWs with an accident-free history.

    Certified pre-owned (CPO) BMW program

    The premier car manufacturer has established a used BMW certification checklist to assist potential buyers. In order to qualify for this certificate, all pre-owned BMWs must fulfill all the criteria laid out in the checklist. In addition, a pre-owned BMW that makes the CPO checklist and still happens to be covered under the original warranty gets an extra 50,000 mile / 2 year warranty.

    For instance, anybody who buys a 2007 used BMW X5 with say 25,000 miles on the odometer from an authorized dealer will have approximately 4 years of the original warranty. If the car passes the CPO checklist you would get – Remaining original warranty mileage plus CPO extra mileage – 25,000 + 50,000 = 75,000 miles.

    It is possible to drive the used BMW 75,000 miles and still be covered under the warranty program. If you don’t drive long distances frequently, you’d also get a 6 year warranty on the automobile. This means that you will enjoy many more years of driving your dream luxury car.

    Best places to buy a pre-owned BMW car

    In view of the current market scenario, it is best to buy your BMW from an authorized BMW dealer. Other options include popular auction websites and used car stores, but buying the car from an authorized dealer helps you save a substantial amount of money with the extra 50,000 miles on the original warranty. When all’s said and done, an authorized BMW dealer will provide great service and after sales support than going to a store or auction site.

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  2. Interpersonal Theory of Poetry – TS Eliot

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    Eliot’s claims of himself to be a classicist raised a noisy reaction among his critics and in his emphasis on the ‘generalizing power’ and ‘the critics’ need to objectify’ in his essay ‘The Perfect Critic’ gives a clue to his special type of classicism. The concern for the poem as an objective thing is a special highlight of Eliot’s classicism and this view of Eliot finds its proper illustration in his essay, ‘Tradition and Individual Talent’.

    Eliot begins his essay with an attempt to establish poetic objectivity and impersonality on a living tradition. The poet or the artist must surrender his quotidian self or personality to infinity more important than the order of tradition. This sense of impersonality is at the heart of Eliot’s advocacy of poetic personality and objectivity through adherence to tradition. Although Eliot has been advocating the elimination of the personal factor as much as possible not only in creative literature but in criticism also, and to him, this progress of the artist is a process of continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality. It is a process of depersonalization, so that he can serve as a neutral, nondistortive medium for sundry things to be accurately and perfectly recorded. This sort of impersonality is also the basic principle of Eliot’s objective theory of criticism. According to him, the critic’s personality should be suppressed in such a way that he must not have any other emotions except those immediately evoked by a work of art.

    Eliot’s conception seems to be that the poetry is located somewhere between the poet and the reader. The poem, in some sense, has its own life. According to Eliot, “Impressions and experiences which are important for the man may take no place in poetry.” In his preface to the 1928 edition of ‘The Sacred Wood’, Eliot has further observed, “We can only say that a poem, in some sense, has its own life”. He continues in the same paragraph, “the feeling or emotion or vision, resulting from the poem is something different from the feeling or emotion in the mind of the poet.” Such a view of poetry is, “belligerently anti-romantic”. It forces attention not on the poet, but upon the poetry. However one can recognize the basic truth behind this. If the emotion is too intense or personal in a poet, he will be too confused to give it a shape of a work of art. One may view it as a return to Aristotelian theory as some critics’ things that, since the 17th century, hardly any English critic writing so resolutely transported poetic theory from the aim of pleasure versus pain, to unity versus multiplicity. To make it simpler we can say that, there is no more about the soul of the object and the imagination of the artist is of lesser importance. Eliot asserts that, there is always a difference between the man who suffers and the mind which creates. Tracing a poem to its origin is discouraged by Eliot and therefore he dismisses the biographical and psychological criticism of poetry. It may also be observed that Keats also had anticipated this artistic impersonality in his famous concept of ‘negative capability’, about the poetic character he wrote about the poetic character “It has no self, it is everything and nothing”.

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  3. Foundational Elements for a Successful Christian Relationship

    oxihl

    How prepared you are will determine how successful your relationship will become. Below I will share with you some of the foundational elements that you need to be successful in any Christian relationship. It is always important that you prepare yourself to be the right person for your future spouse. Let’s begin with God.

    Christian growth

    I assume that you are already a Christian, but it doesn’t end there. The more closer you are to God, the more you’ll grow in love; it is thus important to grow in your Christian life if you’re going to be successful in your relationship. Growth is not spontaneous; it takes one to imbibe the essential nutrients before growth can occur. In our walk with God, these nutrients are fellowship, Bible study, prayer and obedience to the word of God.

    As you grow in Christ, you’ll learn to be patient, forgiving, merciful, kind and loving. These attributes will be evident in the way you deal with your beloved or spouse. Your appreciation of God’s grace, mercy, loving kindness and patience on your life will produce in you an attitude of hope, faith, and dependence on God.

    Know who you are

    Who are you? What are your likes and dislikes? What kind of persons are you comfortable with? What are your weaknesses and strengths? It is important to know who you are, because if you do not know yourself you will not be able to know the kind of person you want. Knowing who you are will help you choose the right person.

    What is your purpose in life? What do you want to do with yourself after school? Your single years give you opportunities to try options without messing up the life of your mate. “Don’t get too obsessed about finding someone until you’ve found your purpose and your passion.” (Hayley DiMarco, The Dirt on Dating, p.15)

    Be friendly and socialize

    Make friends (platonic/neutral) with a good number of people. Don’t only make friends with people whom you think could be suitable partners for marriage; you’ll be doing yourself a great disservice. Get involved in activities where you will meet other people who share similar interests. The possibility is that you may marry from among your friends. Come to think of it; you can only marry someone you have befriended. Will you marry a stranger?

    Develop good character

    Charisma and beauty without good character are no power-pulling sustaining forces. Of course they will pull, but bad character will repel their objects of attraction. You may be able to win someone’s love with your beauty and charisma, but your beloved will not stay for long because your bad character will ward him/her off. What are some of the areas to look out for?

    Are you encouraging in speech?

    Do you exhibit personal cleanliness?

    Do you dress modestly?

    Do you take responsibility for your actions?

    How dependable are you? Can you be trusted?

    Are you honest and sincere?

    Do you show respect for the minority? Are you humble?

    How do you relate with others in speech? Are you rude or polite?

    Are you kind and generous? Do you give easily?

    Are you hardworking and persevering?

    These are some of the character traits you need to acquire to complement your beauty and charisma.

    Pray

    You have often heard it said, “Pray as if all depends on God.” The efforts that you put into making yourself rich in character will pay off when you pray. Remember that except God builds the house, you’ll labour in vain. (Ps. 127:1)

    Be sure of the person you want

    Do not enter into a relationship with someone except for the purpose of marrying that person. So, be sure of him/her before you propose or accept a proposal. However, if in the course of a relationship both of you realise that you have made a mistake by coming together, it is better to break the relationship than to enter into marriage. If you have learnt to have a healthy relationship, when it comes to breaking up, it won’t be painful as it would have been; you will have a healthy breakup.

    Be independent in thought

    Do not succumb to the pressure of your friends or relatives to marry a particular person or marry by a fixed period. Allow God to lead you to make the right decision at the right time. God’s delay is God’s right time. By being independent in thought, it doesn’t mean that you cannot seek the advice of your friends or relatives in matters of this nature. Just do not allow yourself to be pressured; depend on God’s leading.

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  4. How To Learn Singing By Self Study

    oxihl

    Not all vocalists that learn to sing do it by going to a teacher, they learn by teaching themselves. While there are some who can learn “by ear” just by listening to other people singing, most people are not successful at this. The problem is compounded by the fact that lessons from a teacher or professional voice coach are very expensive, and the good voice teachers are rare.

    That is why people are looking online for singing lessons. They can save money, and they won’t develop the bad habits that often occur by learning without instruction.

    If I have just described you, then you are probably looking to see if this is really the best idea for you. If you think it is, then you need to be careful about picking the right program. The next best thing to real teachers, is listening to real teachers in an audio recording. That way you can actually hear what they are saying and how to make it sound.

    There are those that need some supplemental help besides an audio based course you can get online. If funds are tight, and you can’t spend $80 a month on lessons, then you need to join a choir of some kind. Most communities will have a community choir. Also, many churches have choirs that allow anyone to participate. While they may not be professional teachers, they will know many different things that you can learn.

    With that information in mind, the best strategy for those who can’t afford top dollar for vocal lessons, should take the audio course for study, and then supplement that study with joining a local choir in your community or church. The fact of the matter is, that if you did go to a vocal teacher, they would also have you do the same thing and join a choir. Mine always did, and it makes sense that the learning happens in a variety of ways. You should balance private lessons with public practice for the best benefit.

    Do not let fear take over when I recommend that you practice in public. One of the beauties of being in a choir, is that you are only one of many voices. As long as you don’t try and overpower the choir, no one will even be able to pick out individual voices. So if you don’t have the confidence to perform, or practice with a group, just take is easy and be patient with yourself. The truth is that even after many years of performance, I still get a little stage fright. It is completely normal, and I don’t want you to hold yourself back.

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  5. Why You Should Not Submit to Authority

    oxihl

    As Americans we believe in freedom and liberty. It’s hard for people in other cultures to understand this because they’ve never experienced true freedom. And there is a famous quote that goes something like this; “if you believe you are free you are and if you are not fee then you aren’t.” There is a lot of truth to that. Most individuals in other countries are not free, they don’t have near the freedoms, and liberties that we have here the United States, still some believe they are free because they’ve been told they are free by the authorities there.

    In the United States we have more freedoms than in most countries, but still one could question, from a philosophical standpoint, if we are really free. You see, every time we go and try to do something there is someone standing in the way making a rule, or regulation, and there are those individuals who rather than produce, go out and enforce the rules, make new rules, or claim that you must follow their lead because they are the authority. However, if we stop and think about it we have to ask who gave them that authority?

    The answer is quite simple. You see, if you submit to authority then it is you who are giving them that authority. If you fail to submit to authority, then and only then you can truly be free. Unfortunately, it might be more difficult to get the things you want in life because you have to go through barriers that other people have set up. In many regards this goes back to another philosophical thought regarding free-market capitalism, deregulation, and the right to free contract. Those are very powerful ideas.

    Consider if you will all the things you want to do in your life, but you can do them until you do something else, get a license, take ongoing education classes, fill out a form, get a degree, or fulfill some other requirement. Interestingly enough, in our current modern society that encompasses just about everything you’d ever want to do. Now then, I ask is that fair to you? No, it’s probably not, however once you submit to authority you have agreed to these rules in advance and all the new rules the authority comes up with even though you don’t know what they are before you set out to do something.

    Over the years I’ve found so many folks who attempt to stand in my way, or in the way of other individuals who wish to fulfill a goal, dream, or an enjoyment in life. On one hand we have the right to pursue happiness, but every time we wish to do something there are more and more rules. Over time the rules get to be so out of control, that folks can’t do anything, as they have to ask permission to do everything. That’s not real freedom.

    Beware of folks who are lesser standing in front of you with a badge of authority telling you that you aren’t good enough, that there are more requirements, or that you can’t do something because they said so. Those are the individuals who are stealing your freedom and liberty, and keeping you from your dreams. If you submit to those people you will never fulfill your true destiny, or know what true freedom is. Indeed I hope you will please consider this and think on it.

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  6. A Black, White, and Silver New Year’s Eve Wedding

    oxihl

    New Year’s Eve is definitely the most glamorous night of the whole year to have a wedding. Black, white, and silver is a chic color palette that will bring out the stylish flair of the holiday. Learn how to plan an unforgettable New Year’s Eve wedding using a black, white, and silver color scheme.

    It almost goes without saying that a New Year’s Eve wedding should be black tie. Classic black tie always looks the most elegant; while rental shops may suggest colorful vests for the groom and groomsmen, a black cummberbund is more dashing and timeless. Silver dresses will be the clear choice for the bridesmaids. If they are comfortable in slender silhouettes, slinky silk sheaths would be ideal. Choose ones with a gathered bustline and wide straps, like something from the Golden Age of Hollywood in the 1930s. Big sparkly crystal jewelry will complete their look perfectly. If you want to up the drama factor, your bridesmaids could wear little maribou stoles over their dresses for the ceremony.

    The bride at a New Year’s Eve wedding needs a really striking gown. An incredible look is a fluid sheath gown covered from head to toe in tiny crystals or sequins. This has been a very hot look on the red carpet this year, and looks simply unbelievable when you move. Such a glam gown calls for dramatic crystal bridal jewelry, and plenty of it. If you wish to define the waist, a black sash with a jeweled brooch would be great with the black, white, and silver theme. Because the silhouette of a sheath is so simple, you can get away with really bold crystal bridal jewelry.

    Then there are the flowers! Accent white flowers with silvery elements to incorporate the color scheme into the bouquet. Silvery dusty miller or lamb’s ear leaves are wonderful natural accents to ruffly white parrot tulips or lovely white camellias. Another idea is to use silver metal leaves or tiny metallic silver balls to mix into the white blossoms. Being New Year’s Eve, you could even get away with glittery silver curly branches mixed into the bouquets or centerpieces. Tie the bouquets with black velvet ribbons to complete the effect. The centerpieces will be very striking arranged in black vases. Either use fluted footed black vases for a vintage flair, or tall sleek rectangular black vessels for a sleek modern look.

    To bring your black, white, and silver color scheme to life at your New Year’s Eve wedding, special table linens are a must. I personally do not care for black table linens (they never feel clean to me), but silver would look amazing. Shimmery silver organza toppers can be used over standard white tablecloths, or if budget permits, rent silver silk dupioni linens with a chic quilted stitching (like a Chanel handbag). Since the centerpieces will be primarily black and white, the whole elegant color theme will come together beautifully.

    Every wedding needs a big finish, and for New Year’s Eve, fireworks would be spectacular. Treat your guests to a grand finale as the clock strikes midnight. You can welcome in the New Year and your new married life at the same time – what a perfect way to start the year!

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  7. Long Distance Relationships – Making it Work!

    oxihl

    Don’t be surprised if you find yourself in a long distance relationship. Long distance relationships undoubtedly insert additional strain and present their own unique challenges in marriage. Or, at the very least, they make the current challenges all the more demanding to overcome. Most marriages form a schedule, and unexpectedly being shoved into a relationship that is fundamentally dissimilar can cause some major backlash.

    Wrecking The Standard

    Household dynamics are entirely disrupted with the onset of a new long distance relationship. While one partner must endure traveling or living abroad, usually for work-related reasons, the other partner is left “holding the bag” with all the household chores. This is definitely true if children are an issue. Even the loving family pet becomes an extra burden when only one partner is at home to care for it.

    Depending on the maturity level of your kids, you will likely see a variation in their actions when one spouse is forced to spend time missing from home. Even though they may perhaps not give the impression like they are affected, be aware that your kid’s worlds have also been shattered by the family disturbance. This can only intensify the anxiety level the non-traveling spouse is experiencing. It’s essential to try to have patience with your kids and recognize that they are not as grown-up in comprehending how to contend with the new situation.

    Steps That Should Help

    The one who is not at home should revel in gratitude and at least communicate an understanding of the additional load that is now left on the stay-at-home spouse. Simple “Thank Yous” make a big impact in demonstrating understanding for a challenging situation. Showing a willingness to help out directing the kids, while you are away, is not only a great boost, but also expresses readiness to do your part even if not around physically.

    Also, be ready to accept additional responsibilities if you come home. Or, at the very least, make sure you talk about your husband or wife’s challenges when you finally return back home. Traveling is tiring as well, so clear discussion on expectations is essential for those precious weekend days.

    Beware of Resentment

    The ‘at home’ partner needs to guard against anger, and stay honest about his/her viewpoint, but without nagging. If you don’t feel your spouse is supporting you for the added duties you have taken on, you ought to be intelligent in how you express it. Constantly expressing how challenging the situation is for you will possibly only push away your partner.

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  8. Recording Studios Take Your Music to the Next Level

    oxihl

    Even with the abundance of software and hardware available to create your own recordings at home, there comes a time when you’re ready to take your music to the next level. Recording studios may seem intimidating to the musician who is taking the leap, but the reality is that there are high quality, low cost recording studios that can make the transition painless.

    Once you’ve made the decision to book studio time, you need to find a studio that will give you the support you need to create great recordings. Word of mouth recommendations can be helpful, but they’re not always reliable. It’s worth your while to do the legwork and check out each facility to see what it has to offer. Here are some things to keep in mind while making your decision:

    Acoustics: A music studio should have top of the line acoustics. This means that there should be an elevated soundstage and high ceilings, as well as several isolation rooms.

    Engineering: A sound recording studio should provide highly skilled and trained professional engineers to help you achieve the optimum quality of your recordings. At the minimum, the engineer should be proficient in monitoring and metering, controlling signal paths, assigning tracks, and mixing.

    Equipment: Equipment varies by recording studio. Some Southern CA recording studios, for example, offer at least two mixers, over a half dozen outboards, a wide variety of software, over a dozen different types of microphones, quality monitoring equipment, and a variety of amps. Although it may seem like a minor point, it’s important that the sound recording studio use high quality cables. If they don’t, it could have a detrimental effect on the recording.

    Musicians and Instruments: Many state of the art recording studios have a variety of new and vintage keyboards, guitars, and percussion instruments available for use, as well as accessibility to professional musicians who can help you create the sounds you desire.

    Cost: As a whole, musicians don’t have a lot of disposable income, so it’s important to find recording studios that have reasonable rates. Some Southern CA studios, for example, have low introductory rates of $40 an hour or less. In order to avoid unwanted surprises, be sure to ask about minimums, as well as extra equipment charges.

    References: Every reputable sound recording studio should be able to provide you with a client list, as well as phone numbers for references. You should also ask to listen to samples of recordings from the studio. Try to find a sample that is comparable to what you are trying to achieve, and ask questions about what was involved in that recording process. It will give you a good idea of what to expect when you go in to record.

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  9. History of Automotive Headlamps From the Beginning to LEDs

    oxihl

    I have searched around the web to bring you this article on the development of the automotive headlamp from the beginning right up until the latest LED developments.

    As far as I can ascertain the beginning of the electric automotive headlamps journey began in about 1898 by a company called the Electric Vehicle Company in Connecticut, based in a place called Hartford. Although we do read of reference to gas lamps (acetylene) used on the first vehicles in the 1880′s.

    So it was awhile back and also we are more interested in the electric lamp development for the motor car.

    It is actually quite funny when you read the development especially what was considered acceptable. The filaments (they were incandescent lamps) would regularly burnout, usually caused by the rough road conditions also the cars power supply was pretty anemic and struggled to provide the necessary electric power, especially when we read they were about one percent efficient.

    In today’s society, faced with the same challenge I am sure we would just give up.

    All of the above did not deter our friends at Cadillac and apparently they produced the first modern headlight system. This was a totally new arrangement compared to previous efforts and could even be used in the rain and snow without the risk of getting burned. Oh it was considered a revolution in its day.

    We then move on to a company called the Guide Lamp Company who rolled out the next technological breakthrough in about 1915. This was the introduction of the low beam headlamp. In reality it was not until about 1924 before we saw a proper high/low beam headlamp with an internal switch.

    The next major development was the Halogen lamp which popped into the automotive headlamp arena in Europe in about 1962. These become mandatory in several countries due to their excellent capability. The sealed beam incandescent headlamp persisted as standard fitment until about 1978. The halogen headlamp is still used today by many automotive manufacturers.

    The next development was high intensity discharge lighting systems (HID) often described as Xenon headlights. These started appearing in the top end models of some German vehicles in about 1991. These are still a rather costly option and have not yet been fully embraced by the automotive manufacturers. The jury is still out on these.

    This brings us to the LED which has taken off slowly but appears to be moving ahead quite quickly. Its foray into headlamps is still in its infancy, although their use in tail lamps, brake lights and indicators seems assured.

    Time will tell, but for now the Xenon is considered an excellent, although expensive, headlight design and the 3157 LED and its derivatives is leading the way for all other small signal and indication type lighting in the automotive scene.

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  10. Every Day Is a Day To Remember With A Photo Calendar

    oxihl

    Personalised calendars take this idea of convenience and practicality and ally it to something that is both visually pleasing and emotionally resonant.Photo calendars occupy a vital place in virtually every home in the country. A monthly calendar makes it simple to keep track of all of the important dates scattered throughout the course of a year – things like medical appointments, school holidays, bill payment dates. Any event which you need to remember can be jotted down in a matter of seconds and consulted just as quickly, in a manner which will aid the smooth running of any household and mean that you never miss a birthday, anniversary or vital meeting.

    In fact, if there’s a downside to calendars such as these it lies in the actual images which are used. After all, it’s going to be hanging on the wall of your house or stuck to the fridge with a magnet, and you’ll be looking at it more or less each and every day throughout the year, so wouldn’t it be nice if it was actually something which you enjoyed looking at? All too often, a photo calendar purchased from a high street newsagent, a stationers or even a specialist supplier will be decorated with bland, boring images falling into cliched types such as dull landscape pictures or saccharine shots of puppies and kittens.

    Until now, people have tended to put up with this, accepting it as just one of those things but, let’s be honest, we wouldn’t publically display any other pictures we didn’t find appealing or in some way meaningful, so why should the fact that this particular picture happens to be attached to a useful organisational tool make any difference? The answer lies in the world of personalised calendars, and the fact that it is now possible for absolutely anyone to fashion a calendar which not only does the job it’s meant to do, but also looks appealing, or comes with images which mean something to the person who is using it.

    It’s possible to put together a calendar using absolutely any images you wish, so you can choose between one which features views of your favourite landmarks, one which uses a different picture of your own children for every month of the year, and one which mixes holiday snaps with family portraits in a way which tells the story of a family through the course of the year that’s just gone by. In fact, you don’t even have to choose. Such is the flexibility of the process that you could mix and match all of these options, or else get one of each printed and hand two out as gifts, keeping one for your own use.

    Calendar printing, which was once the preserve of professional companies with expensive equipment, is now within the reach of anyone, and the software is so advanced that every single feature of the calendar can be tweaked and altered. What this means is that the choice of images is only the beginning. The layout, the colour scheme and the graphic appearance are all in your hands as, indeed, is the month upon which the calendar starts, meaning that one which is given as a gift can be printed to start in the very month of the recipients’ birthday, a wonderful personal touch which only serves to highlight the thoughtfulness of the gift.

    There’s no longer any need to settle for having the look of your kitchen or study brought down by a photo calendar which simply doesn’t fit and has no meaning for you. Personalised calendars are the perfect combination of the practical and the pleasing – something which will the warm the heart of whoever uses it each and every time they do so.

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