If any of these topics interest you, check out my Bright Hub articles!  I have over 130 articles on Bright Hub now mostly dealing with alternative healing and natural healing.  A few on web development and blogging and even a couple about crafts like cross stitch and knitting.  Bright Hub is a wonderful source of information and all of our articles must live up to some very high guidelines and standards.  We can’t just write anything.  The articles must be referenced appropriately to back up what it says and every article is edited for quality.  Check out my articles here.

Have you or someone you are close to been diagnosed with cancer?

Are you overwhelmed with statistics and treatment options and crucial decisions that need to be made?

Take control of your health and your life with A Cancer Journey Workbook.

Being a cancer survivor myself and someone that has had friends and family suffer from cancer, I know that sometimes the worst part about having cancer is the overwhelming amount of information that goes along with it. You are inundated with suggestions everywhere you turn from your doctors to your mother in law to the internet. They all seem to have the answers for you but just as you are completely unique, so is the cancer. It is your own exclusive brand just for you and how you react to the cancer, the treatments and the medications are also yours alone. NO ONE can know how you will feel, how your body will react or what the future holds. They can only give you predictions, not guarantees.

A Cancer Journey Workbook can help you deal with all the options and decisions you face and keep you organized through it all so you are free to fight with all you have.

http://acancerjourney.info/blog/?page_id=2

A Dollhouse Made by C. C. Beck

Most comic book historians and fans consider the era we’re currently in as modern. But there is no doubt that something in the comic book industry has created a fundamental shift in the foundation of both the business and entertainment sides of the medium sometime in the early part of the new millennium. Soon, I think the pundits will announce that comic book publishing has entered a new age, and the previous one-the one now known as the “Modern Age” will be reclassified as something else (the most likely candidates will probably be the Platinum or Iron Ages). However, since that era has not been labeled, the only thing we can accurately call the current era of comic book publishing is the “Post-Modern” era.

In the Golden Age of comic books, any one adventure in an issue would last more than 8 pages or so, and most titles were anthologies featuring several characters in short adventures. By the Silver Age, many titles had a 12-16 page lead and a 6-8 page back up. In the Bronze Age, most comic books featured just one character or concept, often in short two- or three-part stories, with subplots that might last a year or longer.

Today it is the norm in most super-hero comics to write in “story arcs,” a four- to eight-part story, with each issue serving as a “chapter” to that story, that may crossover into the title’s larger family of books, or into other titles completely.

The storytelling technique in these comic books is referred to as “decompressed,” because scenes are “allowed to breathe.” Instead of rushing from one scene to the next at a breakneck pace, the writer can linger on a scene or even a specific moment, in order to allow it to develop more fully.

The style may be typified (or even stereotyped) by a sequence of images that do not change and have no text, to indicate that a character is thinking, or the writer wants to indicate a pregnant, awkward pause in the dialogue. It may also be used in a series of text-less images to bring heightened awareness to some element in those images.

Two of the first American comic books to use the style were Warren Ellis’ The Authority and Brian Michael Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man. In The Authority, it was usually referred to as “cinematic style” or “widescreen style,” because Ellis often used the device to “slow time down,” as popularized in movies like The Matrix. In Ultimate Spider-Man, the decompression was more often used in dialogues, where two characters would talk with each other for pages.

Both titles were smash hits, and many other writers tried to emulate Ellis’ and Bendis’ styles, with varying degrees of success.

Even when done correctly, there are costs and benefits to decompressed storytelling. On one hand, it gives the writer an opportunity to really develop his or her thoughts (characters, action sequences, etc) more fully and really bring them into tight focus for the reader. On the other hand, with less text to read, it can shorten the reading time of an issue, leading to dissatisfaction for the reader.

One common complaint among readers is that decompression is “padding,” the book, expanding a storyline in order to sell more copies of each issue, or to fill out a contract on a trade paperback collection of the series, which typically sell best when collecting 5-8 issues of a title. This is called “writing for the trade,” even though both DC Comics and Marvel Comics are publishing more of their more recent collections in the hardback format first.

Manga is such a broad term and experience that it would be impossible to examine the history and cultural impact of manga and anime with within the context of this article. For the purposes of our discussion here, we’ll be focusing primarily on the impact manga has had on the US comic book market.

“Manga,” on its most fundamental level, is just another term for a comic book created in one of the southeast Asian countries, or one influenced by the work coming out of those countries.

Manga has had an influence on western culture for decades, from Speed Racer and Battle of the Planets/G-Force, through the live-action Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and its sequels in the 80s and 90s, to Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z today.

However, it was mostly an underground hobby in the United States, one for high school and college students. What finally pushed the popularity of manga over the top may have been the debut of Shonen Jump Magazine.

Shonen Jump, an English, monthly edition of Japan‘s Weekly Shonen Jump, debuted in late 2002. Among the seven stories serialized in the first issues were Naruto, One Piece, Dragonball Z and Yu-Gi-Oh! All have become major, cross-platform successes. Shonen Jump tapped into a huge underserved market for younger boys who wanted action-packed comics.

Viz, Tokyopop and other publishers capitalized on the manga explosion by making deals with Asian manga publishers to translate their original titles for an American audience and sell them in digest-sized collections. If you visit the “Graphic Novel” section of your local bookstore, chances are the shelf space for manga is 4-5 times that of American-style comics.

It’s uncertain what the ultimate impact on the sales of western-style comic books will ultimately be, but they are dealing with resistance within the American comic book community. Some fans and retailers have both rebelled against the idea of carrying manga in US comic book stores. It’s unclear what the reasoning behind these feelings is.

Identity Crisis was a mini-series written by best-selling Author Brad Metlzer and illustrated by Rags Morales, published by DC Comics in 2004. The seeds first planted by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in The Watchmen in 1986 finally reach their full fruition here.

Identity Crisis deals with subjects such as rape, murder, human rights violations, madness, corruption and deception in a very frank, adult manner. The Watchmen dealt with all of those themes as well, but Identity Crisis was the first time they were the focus in a title set firmly in the DC Universe. These were not some characters who were created for the sake of the story, they were icons of DC Comics’ Silver Age, they were the Justice League of America.

Whether you thought Identity Crisis was a good miniseries or not (and it was a very polarizing story), you have to acknowledge that it is at least an intellectual descendent of The Watchmen. The morally ambiguous quality of the story has set the general tone in the DC Universe. Since Identity Crisis, we’ve seen:

• A Justice League administrator shoot Blue Beetle in the head, killing him instantly
• Wonder Woman break a man’s neck on live TV around the world
• Batman use (and lose control of) a computer satellite in an attempt to spy on literally everyone in the world
• Even DC’s current crossover event, “Blackest Night,” has at its core the mistakes heroes made in their past literally coming back to haunt them

(A personal note: I am not passing judgment on either Identity Crisis or what’s happened since. But it is impossible to argue that the DC Universe isn’t a much darker place than it was even 10 years ago).

It’s true that it may seem that super-hero comics are entering their sunset, as sales continue to drift lower each year. But on the other hand, it’s possible that we’re just around the corner from another Golden Age. It’s obvious that super-hero stories on the big screen have been embraced by the masses. Perhaps, with new models of distribution like the iPhone or Longbox platforms, super-hero comics will regain their prominence in the national consciousness.

So whether we were in the modern age or the post-modern age, it is very possible that we just turned the corner into another era of comics publishing.

Comics have been around for kids and it is often thought that they are primarily intended for kids. A stroll through a specialised comics store would alleviate anyone of that notion. Not only do kids rarely visit comic stores, the main audience for mainstream comics is boys from 14 and up. Finding comics that aren’t violent or sexually explicit these days can be quite a challenge. So here is a list of some of the best new comics available.

In regards to modern incarnations of kids comics you need to look no further than Boon Studios. Boom Studios used to be known as a small independent comic publisher whose main library consisted of zombie, horror and superhero comics. In 2007 they announced their ZOOM! Imprint which would grow over the next three years to include such licences as The Muppets and Disney/Pixar giants like Wall-e, Finding Nemo and Toy Story.

These are, not surprisingly, highly popular and Boom have done an amazing job with the comics. Boom Studios have also bought the rights to produce comics for the Disney characters Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse so their studio accounts for a significant percentage of the total comics produced for kids each month.

Marvel and DC have their own imprints directed at kids. Titles like Tiny Titans and Mini Marvels are versions of the world’s greatest superheroes reinterpreted for kids. In these stories instead of super-villains that threaten the world the costumed heroes encounter bullies in the schoolyard and parents that substitute teach in their classroom! Aimed at grades 2 and up these comics are entertaining for new readers and established fans alike.

Popular books and franchises like Geronimo stilton and the Disney Fairies have also recently appeared in comic form, this time from publishing company Papercutz. These hardcover comics are a great read and highly durable so recommended for school and library collections. Both franchises crossover readily into comics, being highly visual stories already.

Now that parents, schools and libraries have decided comics are ok for kids again, publishers have realized comics can sell well so it’s heartening to see the increase in comics becoming available aimed solely at young readers (and kids at heart as well). Hopefully the trend will continue into 2011.

MAY 1st Has Arrived with its warmth and beauty!
National Bible Bee 2010 is NOW OPEN FOR YOU TO REGISTER!

www.biblebee.org

As of this email,  381 contestants are already enrolled!

On  JUNE 1st, across the country from Alaska to Florida-New York to Hawaii,  U.P.S. will be delivering a very special box to all those who register before that date! (Those registering in June, will receive the same box upon registration) In that box,  will be all sorts of FUN TOOLS to help bring God’s Word Alive to YOUR family this summer.  Some of those things being a Bible Bee Branded Bible for each contestant,  memory cards preprinted, Inductive Sword Study,  and much much more!

Oh…you ask, “What is this Bible Bee?”   It is an opportunity for you and your family to grow in the Word of God this summer.   Thousands across the country will be working very diligently to memorize scripture and study God’s Word in order to compete in the Local and National BIBLE BEE to be held AUGUST 28th in YOUR AREA!!

Not only will the contestants be memorizing scripture, but they will be studying ONE BOOK from the BIBLE—this book to be revealed on JUNE 1st. One of the great tools that will be in that special box will be a STUDY GUIDE that will lead each member of the family in an INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY this summer.
This study will include time of devotions, investigation of the scripture, family discussion, and prayer.
AND EVERYONE enrolled IN THE COUNTRY WILL BE DOING THE SAME THING!!!
How awesome is that!
BSF’ers and PRECEPT’ers……….This is VERY MUCH what you are used to during the school year ….now you have something for the summer!!!

Want to know more….check out the website:   www.biblebee.org and then look for a host near you!