Remember years ago when the company would put together a clunky office pool for the Super Bowl? Somebody would get creative with a bulletin board and dust off the arts and crafts supplies. Well, this was actually setting the groundwork for today’s automated, networked world of Sport Fantasy Leagues.
Yes, office pools are now automated, hosted online, and are a staple of the fantasy sports world. But Fantasy Sports has come a long, long, long way.
Fantasy Sports systems may have started out as a cottage industry, but now this area is dominated by the big boys. The major tv networks and sports print publishers have gotten in the game, providing news, player profiles, mock drafts and the software to manage fantasy leagues both large and small, public and private.
Fantasy Sports have actually made an impact on how America watches and now participates with Sports coverage. Before, we were a nation dedicated to our home teams rooting for them through thick and thin.
Now, many Sports Fans craft their fantasy teams from players across teams. On one play, rooting for Manning to throw another touchdown pass while at the same time rooting for Michael Strahan to sack the QB for a loss or fumble.
Television analysts are quick to update the viewing public on top fantasy stats. Websites abound that provide you with research opinions to help with mock drafts and player trade tips.
Take your Sports Fan Hobby to another league and dive into the Fantasy Sports World with these starting websites.
- SportingNews.com – New Fantasy Games and In-Depth Fantasy Analysis. Great selection of games, leagues and background information.
- Fantasy Basketball – staff writers will be offering your their weekly rankings by position.
- NFL Fantasy Football – It’s easy to run your own league when you use the web’s #1 league manager. Invite your friends and try it Risk Free for 14 days. Sign up today. Official site of NFL Football.
- ESPN Fantasy Sports – Like a high schooler with skills making the leap, if you’re looking for the best Fantasy Basketball experience, step up to the pros at ESPN.
- Fox Fantasy Sports – Player News, Weekly Projects, Draft Guides and more fantasy sports.
- CBS Fantasy Sports – Manage your office pool online with our FREE Office Pool Manager. It’s easy to use and automatically tracks everything from picks to standings.
- Sandbox – Your All-You-Can-Play Fantasy Sports Buffet. Over 30 free fantasy sports games to choose from year-round.
Reading has always been an enjoyable activity providing a means to escape into fictional worlds with powerful heroes and evil villains, unlimited adventures and unforgettable stories. Reading also provides the means to expand your knowledge through non-fiction, biographies, and trade magazines.
But avid readers shouldn’t overlook the pleasures of rare book and magazine collecting. Book Collecting offers a number of related activities that can provide hours of fun, expose you to new authors and reading material, and meet and interact with fellow collectors of similar interests online and at collecting conventions.
Pre-Internet book collecting relied on hunting through the dusty shelves of used bookstores, hitting garage sales and flea markets, and occasionally having your local used bookstore do a formal book search. This proved quite limiting depending on your local bookstores and many of us were never exposed to huge areas of collecting.
Post-Internet book collecting is entirely different. Web-based book search engines such as Alibris and ABEbooks have linked thousands of used book sellers together so that just about any book you could want, if available from someone, somewhere and its only a few mouse clicks and a credit card charge away.
Also, through various fan websites, e-zines and online articles, we are now exposed to more authors, genres, and publishers than ever before. We are only limited now by our interests and time limits.
Book collecting can take many different formats. For the most part, you can dive right in, tracking down your long lost favorite books with the Book Search options.
For those who enjoy collecting rare, first edition items, the internet provides access to those resources as well.
Book collecting allows you to go back in time and recapture a bit of the past. One area of collecting deals with the long lost, and often forgotten, pulp fiction magazine era. During the first half of the 20th century, America’s newsstands were flooded with cheap, pulp-wood paper based fiction magazines specializing in genre fiction. These magazines reflected pop culture of the day, 1930’s in particular, and launched not only writing careers but new genres including Science Fiction, the Hardboiled Detective, Sword and Sorcery and many others. Visit the Vintage Library’s
Pulp Fiction section for more information on the great genre which collectors and fans have kept alive for the better part of a century.
As the pulp fiction magazines started to lose in popularity during the 1940s, in part due to World War 2 paper rationing, the paperback started to take off. Many classic stories from the pulp era were reprinted many times and numerous writing careers were launched with this new format. When the war ended, and the pulp fiction magazine distribution system collapsed in 1952, the paperback explosion occurred and its been a mainstay ever since. Book collectors can focus on the paperbacks of the 1950s and 1960s with the great cover art and stories that reflected the times.
In parallel, the comic book industry started to get off the ground in the 1930s with its golden era during the 1940s. With such heroes as Superman, Batman and Robin, Spiderman, and many more, its had an indelible mark on pop culture. The comic book and graphic novel market continues to grow and influence all forms of entertainment today.
There are endless possibilities for a book collecting hobby.
Rare Books…What are you looking for?
That long lost rare, first edition book that you haven’t seen for twenty years? Here are three great places to find that book.
First, its
Alibris. We highly recommend this rare and used book search engine. It’s fast, thousands of book dealers are involved, and we always seem to find what we are looking for. Our sister website,
The Vintage Library, uses the Alibris service exclusively for posting its used book inventory.
Our
second book search engine has 100 million books from around the corner and around the world at your fingertips, online at
Abebooks.
Both services bring together booksellers and independent bookstores for easy access.
Our
third choice puts you in direct contact with other book collectors providing you with some potentially great deals at great prices. It’s, of course…
EBay!
Alibris and
Abebooks are great for established booksellers with regular inventory,
EBay is great for those who only sell occasionally or are liquidating collections.
Another great service that these three website provide is they act as a great pricing tool. If you have items that you are not sure of their worth, use these three websites to get a ballpark value. Pricing is not an exact science, so you’ll need to investigate thoroughly, but these three sites are a great place to start your rare book valuations.
Puzzles!
September 11, 2013 by
Maria
Puzzles are a great mental activity which can help pass the time, relax and comfort, and stimulate the brain, helping to ward off Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Jigsaw Puzzles:
The first jigsaw puzzle dates back to 1760, an English school teacher John Spillsbury was looking for a new way to teach geography. For more on the history of the Jigsaw puzzle, visit the
American Jigsaw Puzzle Society.
Today, jigsaw puzzles are for all ages, come in all sizes and all types of artwork. Some are extremely challenging with 3D features or even completely blank pieces with no picture at all.
Puzzlepoint.com is a great online source for traditional Jigsaw puzzles.
Crossword Puzzles:
The Crossword puzzle came along in 1913 when journalist Arthur Wynn published the first crossword puzzle in the newspaper New York World. Since then, crosswords have become an obsession for millions, especially on those long bus and train commutes to work.
Play along with
The New York Times Learning Network’s twice monthly new crossword puzzle.
See our
March Hobby Ideas page for information on the
American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, held in
Brooklyn, NY.
Brain Teasers:
Another category of puzzles is the brain teasers. Remember
Rubik’s Cube?
That huge sensation. Well, the cube and many variations are still with us, but this only scratches the surface of great brain teasers.
If you are looking for some teasers to wrap your brain around, consider
WordJuxtapoz for some creative mind puzzles.
Ballroom Dancing!
Ballroom
dancing is not only a graceful form of self-expression through
movement, but it’s also considered a competitive sport with a
requirement of a certain amount of athleticism.
But you don’t need
to have professional aspirations to enjoy ballroom dancing. Classes and
social dancing are both great ways to participate in the ballroom world
as a beginner.
Classes and Social Nights
You can get
involved in ballroom dancing by attending classes at a studio or a
local college. Ballroom dancing clubs on college campuses often offer
cheaper classes than studios.
Some studios also host social
nights, where the first hour is a class, and the second hour is
comprised of social dancing. Socials are cheaper than regular classes,
and are also a great way to meet other dancers.
You can also learn
from ballroom dancing videos, although it’s better to supplement a
class with videos rather than replace it with them. You can learn basic
steps from video demonstrations, but in order to get the correct form
it’s best to take a class.
Finding a Partner
At most
events and classes, a partner is not required and you’ll be randomly
paired with another dancer and will rotate frequently. However, if you
want to attend a competition or perform in a showcase, you have to
choose a partner and practice with them in your spare time.
A good partner…
- Has the same goals as you.
Do you want to perform at showcases with designated choreography? With a
performance team, or just your partner? Do you want to compete? Or do
you want none of those things and just want a social dance partner? If
your partner doesn’t want to competitions but that’s all you want to do,
it won’t be a good fit.
- Makes time to practice. If
you’re practicing for a competition or showcase, you need to practice
enough to feel confident in your routine in order to perform it well on
the day of the event.
- Can lead/follow. This goes both
ways. As a leader, you need a partner who can read your signals and
follow into the appropriate move. As a follower, you need a partner who
can lead correctly and isn’t pushy or doesn’t know what he’s doing. Both
leaders and followers need to be responsive to each other and be aware
of their roles in each dance. For example, in the Viennese waltz, if the
follower is beginning to fall out of form, it’s the leader’s job to
switch to a step such as side whisks to let them take a quick break.
These intricacies exist within all the dances, and a good partnership
will be full of these learning moments as you and your partner get to
know each other.
- Likes the same style as you do. If you
prefer latin to smooth, but your partner just likes smooth, this is a
problem. Good dancers have a base knowhow of both latin and smooth
dances, but everyone has a preference. The more you can focus in on a
style and a particular dance, the better you get at that dance.
- Respects you.
Mutual respect is key. Dance can be frustrating, especially if someone
is more or less skilled than their partner, or when learning new
choreography. That’s why both you and your partner must respect each
other and tolerate mistakes and the learning curve.
Ballroom Dancing Shoes
Good
fitting ballroom dance shoes are important to preventing injury and
properly executing dance moves, since ill-fitting shoes can cause you to
lose your balance or twist an ankle. Learning to dance on heels is a
skill on its own, and beginners should start with smaller heels, and
work their way up.
Keep in mind the differences between styles for shoe types:
- Latin shoes for women are open toed and flexible, allowing her to stand on her toes much more easily.
- Smooth shoes for women are closed toed, and less flexible.
- Practice shoes
are more comfortable shoes with heels that resemble jazz shoes. These
shoes help protect your feet while still helping you get used to dancing
in heels.
Types of Ballroom Dancing
There
are many different styles and types of ballroom dancing, and to the
beginner it can all seem overwhelming – so figure out what you want to
get out of ballroom dancing, and then go from there.
If you’re interested in social dancing, try
nightclub or
American Rhythm styles. If you’re more interested in competing, try
International.
Smooth styles
are traditionally what people think ballroom dancing is: elegant
waltzes and peppy quicksteps that get you around a dance floor.
Latin styles
are varied and range from the jive to the sultry rumba. International
samba is much different than the kind of samba you’d see in Brazil, and
there’s a focus on form.
There are two categories of
international ballroom dancing: latin and smooth.
- The international latin dances are cha-cha, rumba, samba, paso doble, and jive.
- The international smooth dances are waltz, viennese waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, and tango.
Nightclub styles
are certain dances that are less structured and better for social
dancing. These styles vary and have less of an emphasis on form and more
of an emphasis on the lead/follow partner relationship. Salsa, lindy
hop, mambo, swing, merengue, and hustle are all considered nightclub
dances. Some competitions (especially in the collegiate divisions) have
informal categories for these dances.
The last style of dance is
American Rhythm,
which is less prominent than international ballroom dancing. If you
take a ballroom dancing class, it will most likely be in international
style class. American Rhythm is much more social, whereas International
is more formal. Although you can compete in American Rhythm, the
International category is much more popular to compete in.
American Rhythm is broken up into two categories, much like international: latin and smooth.
- The American Rhythm style of latin includes Mambo, Rumba, Cha Cha, Bolero, Samba, East Coast Swing and Merengue.
- The American Rhythm style of smooth includes Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango & Viennese Waltz.
Competitive Ballroom Dancing
Most
competitions are expensive and geared toward professional dancers. You
pay for entry (per dance), for your costumes, travel – it can add up.
But if your dream is to become a professional dancer, this is the way to
go.
Collegiate Ballroom competitions, on the other hand, are
often free if you’re a member of a ballroom dancing club. Collegiate
competitions are much like sporting events, with spectators and
University teams and cheering and friendly rivalries with other schools.
Collegiate comps are also open to dancers of all ages and skill levels.
Ballroom
dancing is what you make it. It can a be a fun way to get exercise, a
method of meeting new people, or even a competitive sport. Enjoy!
How Hobbies Got Started?
