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In this second article about birds, bird watching and how to get them to flock to your humble abode, we're going to focus on how to get a flock of birds by planting certain flowers in your garden.

It isn't so much the flowers themselves that the birds are after but the seeds that these flowers produce. After all, this is what these birds eat and a hungry bird will never turn its back on a tasty seed. Well, there are certain flowers that produce seeds that birds are most after. We'll take a look at some of these.

Probably the most popular flower for attracting birds and the most successful is the King sunflower. Birds are absolutely crazy about sunflower seeds. That's why passionate bird feeders go out and buy bags of this stuff that are so heavy they can just about carry them.

Sunflowers themselves have become a very big business because of this. A bird flying over North or South Dakota would literally see thousands of acres of sunflowers, a very large portion of which is grown especially for bird seed. People from all over the United States buy these seeds, which makes this one of the largest industries in the Dakotas.

When planting your sunflowers at home try to plant them in an area that will get full direct sunlight. If possible try to make this also close to a window. You'll get a steady view of hungry birds coming down to feast.

If you don't want to use all your seeds in the summer and want to save some for winter to feed what birds may still be around, what you do is put a paper grocery sack over each seed head and tie it around the stem. Leave some of the flower heads uncovered so that the hungry birds will not try to peck through the paper. After the seed heads have dried cut them from the stems and place them in metal containers. This keeps the mice from getting to them. This will keep your seeds safe for winter feeding.

Other garden flowers that birds love are cosmos, snapdragon, zinnia, cockscomb, aster, and larkspur. After these flowers have bloomed don't cut off their heads. Let them dry right where they are. When winter comes your flowers will bloom again and with them will come a flock of finches and cardinals.

Now, if you're trying to attract hummingbirds the best flowers to plant are any nectar producing flowers, especially if they're red, pink or orange. Some of the hummingbird's favorites are honeysuckle, columbine, coral-bells, impatiens, foxglove, and red penstemon. In the summer, hummingbirds go crazy over scarlet bergamot, cardinal flower, hosta, gladiolus, salvia, and trumpet vine.

Hummingbirds like a nice drink with their seeds so make sure you have a bird feeder near by where they can quench their thirst. A good feeder is one that attaches to your window with suction cups. And don't worry about standing at the window when they come. They'll plop down for a drink even with you staring right at them.

So if you're into bird watching and gardening this is a good way to kill two birds with one stone. No pun intended.

posted by escs  # 6:09 PM 0 comments

Breckenridge Ski Resort is located in Breckenridge, Colorado, where there is no shortage of amazing snow. The ski season runs from early November to late April.

Twenty-eight lifts service 2208 acres and 147 trails. The mountain is 12,998 feet tall, which makes for long trails and more time on the slopes. The longest trail is 3.5 miles long and is a combination of intermediate and beginning levels. 15% of the trails are for beginners, 33% are intermediate level, 32% are advanced and 20% are expert level. Many of the advanced and expert level runs feature bumps, glades and are often almost deserted.

For 20 years people have snowboarded at Breckenridge. The resort offers four terrain parks, four halfpipes, and a Superpipe with 18.5 foot high walls. The Freeway Terrain Park was ranked one of the best by Snowboarder, Transworld Snowboarding, and Freeze magazines. For their 20th anniversary as a snowboarding pioneer, Breckenridge will update and revitalize their already amazing terrain parks. The resort also offers terrain park classes so you can take your skills to the next level.

If you are an intermediate or advanced skier, Breckenridge is a good place to take lessons. As well as offering highly skilled instruction, the ski school has free video analysis to help you discover subtle imperfections in your technique, so you can improve as quickly as possible.

Besides skiing and snowboarding, the resort also offers ski blading, dog sleding, snowshoe tours, snowmobile tours, Nordic skiing, ice-skating and hockey. Another feature you shouldn't miss is the free, guided mountain tours.After playing in the snow all day, check out the recreation center. It has free weights, cardio equipment, aerobic classes, basketball courts, two climbing walls, and separate pools for adults and children. Relax in one of the two hot tubs, the sauna or the steam room.

Close to the mountain is the 136-year-old town of Breckenridge. With over 100 restaurants, 6 spas, 39 bars and clubs, 258 boutiques and 501 hotels and inns, there is something for everyone. On the mountain, there are also a variety of restaurants, pubs, and grab and go options so you can always get fueled up quickly, even if you don't want to go into town.

Perhaps the most unique and refreshing thing about this resort is their environmental policies. The people at Breckenridge Resort consider themselves to be stewards of the land and the resort makes a concerted effort to promote renewable energy, resource conservation, recycling, wildlife habitat preservation, and environmental education. Part of the energy that runs the lifts is generated by wind turbines. They offer free bus service to reduce pollution and they close certain sections of the resort during elk calving season. The ultimate goal is to move the resort towards complete sustainability. To learn more about this project go to http://www,naturalstep.org/.

posted by escs  # 8:29 AM 0 comments

From our deconstruction of hundreds of Hollywood blockbusters....

The Hero's Journey is the template upon which the vast majority of successful stories and Hollywood blockbusters are based upon. In fact, ALL of the Hollywood movies we have deconstructed are based on this template.

Understanding this template is a priority for story or screenwriters.

The Hero's Journey:

a) Attempts to tap into unconscious expectations the audience has regarding what a story is and how it should be told.

b) Gives the writer more structural elements than simply three or four acts, plot points, mid point and so on.

c) Interpreted metaphorically, laterally and symbolically, allows an infinite number of varied stories to be created.

and more...

Jarhead (2005) deconstructed

FADE IN: (Loop) narrative; his hands remember the rifle.

New World and Self: you are no longer black, green, etc.

Meeting the Hero: meeting Swoff.

Ordinary World: Fitch being himself.

On a Journey: on the bus.

Threshold Guardian: presenting his papers to the officer.

New World: the barracks.

Meeting the Shape Shifter: Troy.

New Rules: being branded; games played in the barracks.

Developing the Shape Shifter: you want a brand, you gotta earn it. Welcome to the Suck.

Hero's Backstory: Swoff being conceived; his sister; breakfast conversations with dad; college;

Romantic Challenge: his girlfriend; I'll write you everyday.

Resisting the Transformation: Swoff in the toilet.

Meeting the Mentor: Sykes.

Developing Mentor: Sykes makes Swoff play the bugle.

Conscious Agreement to the Journey: I'm still here.

Magical Gift (becoming a sniper):

JFK shot.

Training in the assault course.

You are now snipers; I was hooked; Swoff fires the shot.

Push to the First Threshold: listening to the Iraqi statement on TV.

Belly of the Whale: watching Apocalypse Now.

Journey to the First Threshold: on the aircraft.

Goodbye to the Old Self: stewardess waves goodbye

First Threshold: arriving in Iraq.

Threshold Guardian: Kazinski's speech; the picture of the Kurdish child; kick some Iraqi ass.

Outer Cave: where did the Iraqi's get their weapons from? Forget politics; we're here, all the rest is bullshit.

Middle Cave / Meeting Allies: talking about the girlfriends back home in the tent.

Inner Cave: putting on their masks; running in the suits; hrydrating, dehydrating, patrolling the empty desert.

Developing Characters and Relationships: the scorpion fight.

Inner Cave: Waiting in the desert; masturbation; cleaning their rifles; studying the phillipino mail order catalogue etc.

Wondering what she's doing now.

Trial and Transformation 1:

Outer Cave: Sykes tells them how to respond to reporters; complaints against free speech, that's un-American etc.

Middle Cave: Talking to the reporters; Swoff admits he's scared.

Inner Cave: Putting on and playing football in their NBC masks.

Transformation: Taking off their masks; getting naked; Sykes sends the reporters away.

Developing Characters and Relationships: Sykes makes Swoff et al take all that shit down.

Trial and Transformation 2:

Cortez has a son; Kristina has found a new male friend who's a good listener.

Thinking about his girlfriend in the shower.

Not being able to jerk off in the toilet.

Swoff calls home and is cut off.

Swoff wakes up and clutches his throat; "..you're making some weird sounds man"

Transformation: Swoff wants see what it feels like to watch somebody else fuck your girlfriend.

Trial and Transformation 3:

Outer Cave: Swoff gets some "good shit" from the soldier who writes the major's love letters.

Middle Cave: The party.

Inner Cave: The fire blows the explosives.

Transformation: Swoff is made a Private.

Developing Characters and Relationships: Swoff is made to burn the shit; the senior officer leaves a present.

New Self: Swoff threatens to kill the sausage boy.

Resisting the New Self: Swoff apologises.

Foreshadow of the Final Conflict:

The Arabs appear in the desert.

Developing Characters and Relationships: insulting the Arab passing in the car.

Meeting the Oracle: they're going to the mother of all battles.

Resisting the Journey to the Sword: resistance to taking the pills.

Shape Shifter Revealed:

Digging their holes.

The aircraft fly by; the war will move too fast.

Troy is being thrown out. Swoff told to keep him from fucking up.

New Self: Troy is branded.

Near Death Experience:

The war comes to them; Swoff pisses himself.

Retrieving the battery.

Pursuing the Iraqis.

Getting hit by friendly fire.

Swoff sees the charred remains; throwing up.

Pulled forward by the burning oil wells.

Digging their holes in the oily sand; the oil burns Fowler's face.

Rebirth: preventing Fowler.

Rebirth: Swoff calms the horse.

Atonement with the Father: Sykes sits down and talks to Swoff; he loves is job.

Apotheosis: Sykes and Troy sent out to see Kazinsky; "..fucking show me..".

Ultimate Boon: Swoff and Troy have an Iraqi in their sight; permission given for the JFK shot.

Refusal:

The major denies their request to take the shot.

Troy argues with the Major for the perfect shot.

Magic Flight:

The planes take out the site.

Rescue from Without: Troy's already got his papers; have to get back.

Crossing the Return Threshold: Going back to camp over the dunes.

Master of Two Worlds:

The party around the fire; this shit is over; shooting their guns in the sky.

Freedom to Live / Challenge Resolutions: Returning home as heroes; meeting the Vietnam Vet on the bus; his girlfriend has left him; doing their various jobs; Fergis arrives; Troy's funeral;

(Loop): narrative.

FADE OUT: the Jarheads.

Learn more

The Complete 188 stage Heros Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.managing-creativity.com/

You can also receive a regular, free newsletter by entering your email address at this site.

Kal Bishop, MBA

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You are free to reproduce this article as long as no changes are made and the author's name and site URL are retained.

posted by escs  # 1:05 AM 0 comments