Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Tornado

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air which is in contact with both a cumulonimbus cloud base and the surface of the earth. Tornadoes can come in many shapes, but are typically in the form of a visible condensation funnel, with the narrow end touching the earth. Often, a cloud of debris encircles the lower portion of the funnel.

Tornadoes can be the most destructive storms on earth. Most have winds of 110 mph or less, are approximately 250 feet across, and travel a mile or more before dissipating. However, some tornadoes can have winds of more than 300 mph be more than a mile across, and stay on the ground for dozens of miles.

They have been observed on every continent except Antarctica; however, a significant percentage of the world's tornadoes occur in the United States. This is mostly due to the unique geography of the country, which allows the conditions which breed strong, long-lived storms to occur many times a year. Other areas which often experience tornadoes are south-central Canada, northwestern Europe, east-central South America, South Africa, and south-central Asia.





Halloween Costume

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Composing music

People who perform composition are called composers. Useful skills in composition include writing musical notation, instrumentation, and handling musical ensembles. The definition of composition has broadened to include extensive techniques such as improvisation, musical montage, preparing instruments, using non-traditional objects or methods of sound production, and make music from silence, as John Cage famously did.

Compositional techniques are the methods used to create music. In discussing the structure or association of a musical work, the "composition" of that work is generally called its musical form. These techniques draw a parallel to art's formal elements. Sometimes, the entire form of a piece is through-composed, meaning that each part is different, with no repetition of sections; other forms include strophic, rondo, verse-chorus, etc. Some pieces are composed around a set scale, where the compositional technique might be measured the usage of a particular scale. Others are composed during performance; techniques are sometimes used, however, in this case also.



Halloween Costume

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Improvisational comedy

Improvisational comedy also called improv or impro is comedy that is performing with a little to no predetermination of subject topic and structure. The performers discover their lines and actions spontaneously, typically following a general theme and format, often in response to audience suggestions. Improvisational comedy is a form of improvisational theater.

Improvised performance is as old as performance itself. From the 16th to the 18th century, Commedia dell'arte performers improvised in the streets of Italy. Many silent filmmakers such as Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton used this approach in the creation of their films, developing their gags while filming and altering the plot to fit. The Marx Brothers were notorious for deviating from the script they were given, their ad libs often becoming part of the normal routine and making their way into their films.



Halloween Costume