Africa has been marked by a dearth of books, especially picture story books for younger children reflecting an African environment both in textual context and illustration. Problems militating against a rapid growth in writing and publishing for children in Africa include the following:

(1) The bulk of reading matters available to the African child are textbooks rather than books for pleasure and enjoyment.

(2) Most children’s books are still imported. Such imported works are mostly insensitive to local culture, and unreflective of the social realities of the African child and his aspirations.

(3) Not enough African published children’s books are available.

(4) If they are available the illustrations in them are either

(a) of poor quality

(b) not in full colour

(c) Do not have beautiful dust jackets.

(5) And if they are in full colour, and of good quality, they are either much too expensive or for an elitist few and well beyond the reach of most African children, especially those in the rural areas.

(6) Most serious African authors do not bother to write for children since it is not accorded the same status as writing for adults.

Africa has very little concern for written literature. Even Nigeria which is rich in award-winning authors is marked by neglect of her authors. Writers are seldom as honoured.as footballers are. Hardly any foundations exist to boost the creativity of African writers. Prizes for literature are also in short supply. Book Development Councils seem to be either non-existent or collapsing except in Ghana. In Sierra Leone and the Gambia its absence is still being bemoaned. Whereas in Nigeria where one was once set up to develop indigenous book publishing, it hardly made any impact until it was swallowed up by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council. In Africa generally adults seldom read children’s books – not even parents. Compared to the over 2,000 titles published every year for children in Britain, the output in Nigeria is hardly up to 60.

In spite of the over 100 publishers in Nigeria the situation remains bleak for children’s literature. This is due mainly to their textbook orientation which makes them lazily rely on a captive school market. It has been proven that if only African children had access to more books they would read outside the classroom. An illustration of this fact could be seen from the 1985 Ife Book Fair where the Children’s Literature Association of Nigeria (CLAN) held a special exhibition of books

Visitors to that stand were fascinated by the colourful poster illustrations of folktales decorating the wall, the top and back of shelves. Some even wanted to buy the poster-sized illustrations made by a very gifted woman artist from the Nigerian television authority. The festive air given to the stand by the balloons decorating it along with the colourful posters attracted many children. There was the astonishing sight of three children of varying ages reading one picture book at the same time, visibly very fascinated by this picture book entitled No Bread for Eze by Ifeoma Okoye and published by Fourth Dimension in Enugu. It was one of those picture books where both story and illustrations were ideally integrated. It was about a young boy Eze who loved bread and could not eat enough of it. He wanted bread all the time. So his exasperated parents made him eat nothing but bread. Eze was at first very happy. Nobody was pressurizing him to eat nourishing food. But he soon grew tired of eating bread all the time and pleaded with his parents to give him other types of food. But they would not relent. So Eze became tired of bread and stopped eating. He grew hungry and weak and could not even play football with his friends. In the end his parents relented and Eze began to enjoy a balanced diet, having learnt that boys shall not live by bread alone. This emphasizes the importance of illustrations in children’s books, for those children were fascinated not only by the story of Eze but also by the imaginative and sometimes humorously drawn pictures. If children are to acquire the reading habit, they must be given attractive books which also mean well-illustrated books. Even a two-year old baby can enjoy looking at a picture book. Picture books could indeed be expensive to some extent if one insists on printing in four colours which is ideal as could be seen in the lavishly illustrated folktale The Drum specially written for children by Chinua Achebe. But even line and wash drawings could be so well drawn that they too could be captivating.

Half-tone illustrations as in Adagbonyin’s The Singing Ashes (1981) can also be effective due to the masterly shading of the artist. Even one-colour children’s books could infectiously hold young readers as does Just in Case (1983) By Sandra Slater, illustrated by A.L. Satti.

Other good picture books include the colourful Amina the Milkmaid (1988) by Fatima Pam illustrated by K. Ofori Pam, a Ghanaian, The First Coin (1989) by Mabel Segun illustrated by the same artist and How the Leopard Got His Claws (1982) by Chinua Achebe and John Iroaganachi. This has two illustrated versions, the one in full colour being by Adrienne Kennaway.

Although Nigeria has a few good illustrators, most of the good illustrations there have been done by expatriates. It appears that many Nigerian illustrators cannot draw children’s faces and have problems with interpreting texts. In order to remedy these defects, CLAN has run two illustrators’ training workshops with UNESCO funding and published a book on Illustrating For Children (1988) edited by Mabel Segun.

But this problem can only be solved permanently by integrating text and illustrations, a feat best accomplished by an author illustrator The cost of publishing in full-colour could even be reduced through co-publishing with, a number of publishers working together to increase print runs and reduce the unit cost of books. Sometimes a book is published with texts in different languages using the same colour illustrations. In Nairobi, five publishers across Africa including Nigeria’s Daystar Press came together in 1983 under the auspices of the World Association for Christian Community (WACC) and co-published a number of children’s books in full colour under the imprint DUCCA.

The dearth of good children’s authors is also militating against the publishing of children’s literature in Africa. For, writing for children, is much more difficult than writing for adults, for not many adults can either enter into the child’s world and interact with him with understanding and lack of condescension whilst adapting the contents and language of her writing to the child’s age, experience and background… A good writer for children must understand a child’s psychology for the story not to ring false. Good children’s literature arouses a child’s imagination and extends his horizon giving him a knowledge of the past in relation to the present and imbuing him ideals and values necessary for national development. Work ethics. selflessness, loving relationships, acceptance of responsibility are amongst the values which can be so taught, not in a didactic, off-putting manner but with subtlety so that children can be mobilized towards national and international development. Good children’s literature develops a child’s creativity and inventiveness without which a people cannot hope to move into the technological age.

Good literature can also give a child personal identity in a continent which has been subjected to cultural imperialism through mass importation of foreign literature. Achebe does this through his well-written folktales such as The Flute, The Drum and the earlier How the Leopard Got His Claws co-authored with John Iroaganachi and published in 1972 by Nwamife Publishers. The latter was one of the first children’s picture story books published in Nigeria and remains one of the best and most successful ones, with an East African Publishing House. Chinua Achebe is quoted as saying it.. ‘Is one of the best things I have ever done.’ Mabel Segun does this through character-building books such as Olu and the Broken Statue (1985).

In neighbouring Ghana many other problems including the country’s balance of payments difficulties which cause constant short supplies of essential raw materials and

spare parts to repair defective printing equipments. Amongst The Ghana Publishing Corporations’ substantial number of children’s books published, one of the earliest and most attractive was Mesheck Asare’s picture story book, Tawia Goes to Sea published in 1970. This was probably the first African-published children’s book to gain world-wide recognition and it was also the first book from an African publisher to be translated into Japanese. Better still was the welcome news that a Ghanaian children’s book was the winner of the 1982 Noma Award. This $3,000 prize went to Mesheck Asare, for his engaging picture story book The Brassman’s Secret published by Educational Press and Manufacturers United of Kumasi in 1981.The jury in selecting it were impressed by its’ exciting and unusual children’s story, beautifully and imaginatively illustrated by the author, himself an artist, to bring out important aspects of his Asante culture. They also thought it remarkable that a book of such high quality was produced under such difficult conditions then prevalent in Ghana. Asare has like Achebe been rehabilitating the African child’s mind through literature designed to reveal to him his cultural heritage through all these fantasies as well as the adventure book Chipo and the Bird on the Hill and his more recent Sosu’s Call

Another G.P.C. item Mercy Owusu-Nimoh’s The Walking Calabash published in 1977 was singled out for ‘Honourable mention’ in the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa competition

Inspite of its many problems Ghana manages to maintain a lively and enterprising local book industry. Firms such as Aframs Publications, Adwinsa Publishers and the Wielerville Publishing House are among those whose list includes occasional children’s books.

In East Africa, the bulk of the children’s book publishing output is from Kenya. The East African Publishing House in Nairobi in particular, has an extensive list of picture-story books illustrated in full colours, as well as readers, and traditional stories and folklore. Especially appealing is their series called ‘Lioncubs.’ Charity Waciuma, Pamela Kola, Asenath Odaga and Cynthia Hunter are amongst the most prolific authors in the EAPH list. Another prolific children’s writer is Barbara Kimenye who publishes with the East African branch of Oxford University Press, some titles one of which is Martha the Millipede recounting the story of Martha who fed up with getting sore feet decided it was about time to get herself some shoes.

The Kenyan Literature Bureau taking over from the East African Literature Bureau has produced a few children’s books among which is Ray Prather’s A is for Africa A Colouring Book for Africa which contains forty full-page drawings depicting the various people of Africa, accompanied by small maps showing their geographical locations.

Foremost Kenyan writer, Ngugi Wa’Thiongo has joined his Nigerian counterpart, Achebe, in writing and publishing his first children’s book but unlike Achebe in his native Gikuyu language but later translating it as The Great Hero and the Flying Bus.

In Southern Africa, Zimbabwe Publishing House have already built up a most impressive collection. A government supported private commercial undertaking, it publishes books on education, politics, literature and creative writing, Zimbabwean history but with books for children featuring prominently. It sponsored a splendid magazine for children ANTS started by a panel of Zimbabwean children but which I have learnt with much regret has stopped publishing more than 15 years now.

Other publishers catering for children here are Mamba Press and the Zimbabwe Literature Bureau, the latter having a wide range of materials in Shona and Ndebele comprising novels, poetry, short story booklets, children’s comics and material for literacy development.

In Malawi another firm actively developing children’s books in the indigenous languages publishes the popular publications of Limbe.

In Lesotho the church-sponsored Mazenod Book Centre similarly has a substantial list of books for children in African Languages,

In Zambia and in Tanzania some children’s material is coming from the National Educational Company of Zambia and the Tanzania Publishing House.

In South Africa initially the small local market did not make it feasible to publish local children’s books in English. English children’s books written with a South African background or by a South African were usually published in England. Jock of the Bushveld (1907) written by Sir Percy FitzPatrick, is generally regarded as the first English South African children’s book. .This was published in South Africa during the second half of the twentieth century. Only during the 1970s did local publishers realize the need for indigenous children’s books in English and start exploiting the market. This change was brought about single handedly by the writer Marguerite Poland with her Mantis and the Moon which was published in 1979. The rise in price of imported children’s books made the publication of indigenous material more competitive. The political changes during the 1980s then brought improvement of the quality of education of African children and the decision that they could receive tuition in English. This created a large potential market for English children’s books in which some publishers specialize. At the end of the 1980s English children’s books were prominent in dealing with the political and socio-economic conditions in the country. The English children’s book was more explicit with regard to criticism of apartheid. with authors like Lesley Beake, Dianne Case and Lawrence Bransby taking the lead.

As a result of the small local market, few original books with full colour illustrations are published. Collaboration with overseas publishers and the simultaneous publication in various indigenous languages is often the only way to make a publication viable. Also, publishers of children’s books concentrate on the publishing series, beginner and second language readers.

The change in government in the country and the elevation of the African languages to official status, one should have expected would have led to the development of children’s literature in the African languages, but for several reasons this has not yet occurred. The rise of African consciousness and nationalism in the battle against apartheid has rather led to the identification of English as the language for education and freedom. For many African children prefer to read in English, and many African authors prefer to write in this language. Also only a small minority amongst African children read for recreation. Some publishers nevertheless try to publish children’s books of a high quality in African languages, but due to a shortage of indigenous writers most books are translations from English or Afrikaans.

This suggests the problem of language as another factor hindering the rapid development of children’s literature in Africa. The language problem posed by writers being forced to write in foreign languages which they have not really mastered raises the issue of writers being trained to write in their indigenous languages. But then this creates yet another problem as some of the authors of books written in African languages cannot distinguish between concepts for adults and concepts outside the experience of children. Similarly they use an off-putting adult language.

There is also an imbalanced attention to the various ages of childhood. For far more books are being written for the middle-aged (8-12) while very young children remain largely neglected. Very few books for adolescents have been written. One is Angi Ossai’s Tolulope (1979). Another is Joined by Love by Joy Ikede. The Kenyan Asenath Odaga’s work Jande’s Ambition is about choice of career which should be a prime concern at that age. Macmillan’s Pacesetter Series also appeals to young adults but their works are said to be of varying quality, featuring crime, espionage and love tangles.

There is in addition the chronic absence of children’s magazines in most parts of Africa. In Sierra Leone the attempt by The Sierra Leone Writers and Illustrators to establish one did not survive its second issue. But the invaluable role they could play in inculcating the reading habit in the child because of their wide variety of subjects, the form of presentation and the fact that children love to read what their peers have written and thus start having similar creative impulses is recognized.

Most parts of Africa are not book-friendly for there are few if any bookshops where the African child can buy books. Neither is his access to libraries especially so in rural areas easy. School libraries are a phenomenon of a distant past. Where public libraries are still available and functioning their children’s sections are poorly housed, poorly furnished, poorly ventilated, poorly equipped, poorly staffed and poorly sited. There is therefore an obvious need for thorough overhauling of library services in Africa. And efforts should be made to make it an essential public service from the central on to local government levels so as to give every community the opportunity of accessing and growing on books. Similarly every school should have a library that is well stocked and well-equipped.

The distribution of books is another area of difficulties. For this is usually left to private enterprise although some governments purchase textbooks in bulk to distribute to schools. Wholesale bookselling is best handled by private entrepreneurs trained in the discipline. But the main problem hindering this is that the book distributors tend to restrict themselves to using distribution methods more suited to countries with a high level of literacy where the wider citizenry is already converted to books. In Africa, publishers and book distributors cannot afford to wait for buyers to come to them. They must rather take their products to the people wherever they are. In Tanzania, therefore, enterprising publishers take books to the local markets. There shoppers mingle with books and enjoy lively discussions with the publishers on all aspects of books. The huge sales at these exhibitions have proved the usefulness of such innovative activities. This kind of promotion will no doubt create in adults an awareness of the need for literature.

Efforts made to promote and sell books in the West could be extended with adaptations, if necessary, to intra-African book distribution so that print runs will be longer for the prohibitive costs of books to be brought down. Why cannot children in Nairobi, for instance, read literature published by an indigenous publisher in Nigeria? Much is lost through the compartmentalization of African children’s literature. In 1976 an attempt to sell African books from all parts of the continent at the Second Pan African Trade Fair in Algiers collapsed when 4,000 such books had to be brought back because the Algerian government’s imposition of a 120% tax on the books had made them too expensive. Such tariffs need to be removed with communication and transport systems improved to facilitate trans-African movement of books.

The situation however seems poised for major changes with the intervention of a series of bodies and institutions thus complementing the efforts of others such as UNESCO that had been working assiduously in the field. There is a wide network of organizations geared towards supporting the growth of publishing in Africa. One of them is APNET which network exists to help strengthen book publishing by Africans in Africa. APNET has been working closely with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and has been supported by Bellagio. The Bellagio Group of donors has been exploring ways of improving support for a number of cultural industries, which it is hoped will eventually include African books for African children as there is now recognition among policy makers that culture of which books are an integral part is much of a key to development.

Book Fairs in Africa have been fastly becoming established institutions with a concerted series of initiatives to redressing the otherwise parlous state of books in Africa. The Pan African Children’s Book Fair (PACBF) started in Nairobi, Kenya in 1991 through the initiative of the Foundation for the Promotion of Children’s Science Publications in Africa (GHISCI). The fair has been trying to stimulate a learning environment that captures and nurtures the African child’s inherent qualities of imagination, curiosity and creativity. It has created a dynamic atmosphere to enhance the preciousness of books in the learning life of the child. Through a variety of activities such as art, toys, fun with science, debates, quizzes, creative writing, story-telling, and reading aloud, Kenyan children have come to love and comfortably identify with this event with increasing numbers thronging it every year. In 1994 a children’s library introduced within the fair further whet the children’s appetite by enabling children who could not buy books to have the opportunity to read a couple of books at the fair. Since 1994 the Reading Tent has been a major attraction to all children visiting the fair. This has resulted in other African book fairs widely emulating this innovation. Exhibitors also have been steadily improving their marketing skills thus reaching out to the children in more proactive ways, engaging them into books with new titles introduced. The 1998 PACBK had a spectacular advance with each stand becoming a mini library. Yet another innovation – A Children’s Home Library Campaign – was launched with children responding with tremendous enthusiasm, buying books and promising to start their own home libraries.

The Zimbabwe International Book Fair has been another important stimulant for the development of the book industry in Africa.The1998 fair was of especial significance because its theme and that of the accompanying Indaba was ‘BOOKS AND CHILDREN’

At the sessions of the inaugural Indaba it was emphasized that up to the 1990′s book production for children has been weak if not non-existent in some countries. But since 1987 spectacular growth in children’s publishing, in both European and African languages have been reported. In Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria production has notably increased in the last ten to twenty years. Print runs have also increased significantly averaging 3,000 to 5,000 copies per title with possibilities of frequent reprinting.

This progress has been attributed to the following:

1. The creativity of African publishers enabling them to produce well-made children’s books in terms of content, production quality and price.

2. Continuing increases in state purchases of books for schools and libraries.

3. Appreciable support being provided to publishing and book acquisitions by development agencies, international organizations and N.GO’S.

4. Noticeable increases in sales resulting from efforts publishers are making to promote their books nationally and internationally.

5. Co-operation between publishers and distributors enabling the development of export sales.

But in spite of this difficulties still remain or have been created in the following areas:

1 Wide differences between countries. The situation in South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Tanzania is very much better than in other countries in their regions. In francophone West Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mali and Togo stand out clearly.

2 Difficulties in finding good authors and illustrators still persist.

3 Readership is not sufficiently developed, given the level of illiteracy and the lack of a reading culture or habit.

4 Even where a readership exists, its purchasing power is limited. For books is not as high a basic priority as basic needs.

5 The library network is not developed, especially in the rural areas.

6 The distribution network is not developed.

7 The intense political situation in Zimbabwe has negatively affected the most favorable climate created there for the growth of books not only there but the whole of Africa and has robbed The Zimbabwe International Book Fair of its international flavour.

Arthur Edgar E. Smith was born, grew up and was schooled in Freetown, Sierra Leone.. He has taught English since 1977 at Prince of Wales School and, Milton Margai College of Education. He is now at Fourah Bay Collegewhere he has been lecturing English, Literature, as well as Creative Writing for the past seven years rising to the rank of Senior Lecturer.

Mr Smith is widely published both locally as well as internationally with his writings appearing in local newspapers as well as in West Africa Magazine, Index on Censorship,Focus on Library and Information Work amongst others .

He was one of 17 international visitors who participated in a seminar on contemporary American Literature sponsored by the U.S.State Department from June to August 2006. His growing thoughts and reflections on this trip which took him to various US sights and sounds inLouisville,, San Francisco, Cincinnatti and Washington D.C. could be read at http://www.lisnews.org

Fashion designers help create the billions of clothing articles, shoes, and accessories purchased every year by consumers. Fashion designers working for apparel wholesalers or manufacturers create designs for the mass market. Fashion designers are the people who create the elegant, whimsical, fun, silly, and often expensive clothes we see parading down runways twice a year. Fashion designers design and create clothing and accessories for men, women and children. Some high-fashion designers are self-employed and design for individual clients. Other high-fashion designers cater to specialty stores or high-fashion department stores.

Fashion

Fashion design is the applied art dedicated to the design of clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time. Fashion designers have brought about a storm in this glamour world with their commendably fabulous variety. Fashion industry has always welcomed new talent giving rise to the budding stars of tomorrow. While all articles of clothing from any time period are studied by academics as costume design, only clothing created after 1858 could be considered as fashion design.

Before the former draper set up his maison couture (fashion house) in Paris, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses, and high fashion descended from that worn at royal courts. Throughout the early 20th century, practically all high fashion originated in Paris, and to a lesser extent London. At this time in fashion history the division between haute couture and ready-to-wear was not sharply defined.

Designers

Designers know they have this power, and will continue to use it to influence global fashions throughout the eras. These designers create original garments, as well as those that follow established fashion trends. Most fashion designers, however, work for apparel manufacturers, creating designs of men’s, women’s, and children’s fashions for the mass market. Designer brands which have a ‘name’ as their brand such as Calvin Klein or Ralph Lauren are likely to be designed by a team of individual designers under the direction of a designer director. Thus, the tradition of designers sketching out garment designs instead of presenting completed garments on models to customers began as an economy.

Popular Western styles were adopted all over the world, and many designers from outside of the West had a profound impact on fashion. Currently, modern fashion has seen a reference to technology such as designers Hussein Chalayan and Miuccia Prada who have introduced industrial textiles and modern technology into their fall collections. Mass market designers generally adapt the trends set by the famous names in fashion. Increasingly, many modern high-end designers are now beginning to turn to mass market retailers to produce lower-priced merchandise, and to broaden their customer base. Perhaps most importantly, designers use their imaginations to come up with new ideas.

There are a number of well known fashion design schools worldwide. Most fashion design courses last for three years. As well as teaching students about the artistic and technical side of the subject, some courses include a year working in the fashion industry, to give students a taste of commercial fashion design. Others offer the chance to visit fashion houses abroad.

Trishia Lopez is a successful Webmaster and publisher of www.TheFashionGurus.com. She provides more information about Fashion and fashion issues that you can research in your pajamas on her website.

There is a great deal of history behind movie posters and movie poster collecting. Jules Cheret, who created 2 movie posters in the 1890′s, was the artist given credit for creating the first movie posters. By the end of the first decade of the 1900′s, movies had become a great source of public entertainment. In this time period, the movie poster would become a standard size known as the one sheet measuring 27″ x 41″.

In the early days, the names of actors did not appear on the posters, which the movie studios liked, because it meant paying actors less money. It was in this early period in movie history, however, that movie studios realized movie stars were as much of an attraction to the moviegoer as the movie itself. Thus, the movie star was born, and movie posters began showcasing actors’ names along with the title of the movie.

By the 1920′s, the golden age of silent movies, movie posters became more artistic and spectacular, with accomplished artists being hired by movie studios to paint portraits of the stars for posters. By the late 1920′s, movie poster images became sharper due to a new printing process developed by the Morgan Litho Company.

In the 1930′s, also known in the movie industry as “The Golden Age of Movies”, another style of movie poster was created, the half sheet. Major movies would sometimes get more than the two styles. However, due to the depression, many movie materials were being created more cheaply, causing a loss of quality in movie posters.

The dawn of World War II in 1941 saw many of the movie stars heading off to war and war was the major theme of movies at that time. The movie industry cut advertising costs and used cheaper paper for posters due to the paper shortage of wartime.

By the 1970′s, movie posters used photography, occasionally using drawing and painting styles. Movie posters at this time were being printed on a clay-coated paper, which gave them a glossy finish. Star Wars and Star Trek posters were the most popular posters of the time and are still collected by many today.

In the 1980′s, the age of the special effects blockbuster, the mini sheet was invented, and video stores became popular, thus the video store poster was created. Today, reprints of movie posters are mass-produced and sold in many stores or are just a click away on the Internet.There are several types of movie posters. Because of their rarity, the avid movie poster collector has concentrated on movie poster or theater art. These are the posters that are delivered and displayed by the movie theaters and then intended to be thrown away. Another type of movie poster is the commercial poster, which is mass-produced for direct sale to the public. Video posters are distributed to video rental stores for advertising material. Cable and TV posters are use as promotional material for TV stations for their programming. Like theater art, video posters and cable and TV posters are not produced for the public. Although not as valuable as theater art, these types of posters are still popular among collectors. Special promotion posters promote a movie along with a product. Finally, there are anniversary issues, limited editions, and special releases that are released in limited quantities and are gaining favor with the theatre art collector. Other types of movie posters include advance posters that promote a movie well ahead of the movie’s release. The award poster, which indicates that a movie has won an Academy award. The combo poster, advertising two movies instead of just one. The popular double-sided poster that has art on both sides, with the artwork reversed on one side of the poster. There are featurette posters highlighting short films or cartoons, review posters for when a movie gets a good review, serial posters for movie serials, and special distribution posters.

With the popularity of movie posters has come the necessity to create various sizes of posters. The first and most widely used poster is the one sheet, which is usually 27″ x 41″. The subway, also known as the two sheet, is larger but not exactly two times the size of the one sheet. The 3 sheet is three times the size of the one sheet measuring at 41″ x 81″. The 6 sheet is six times the size of the one sheet measuring of 81″ x 81″. There is also a 12 sheet approximately twelve times the size of a one sheet, and the colossal sized 24 sheet measuring 246″ x by 108″. Other sizes include the mini sheet, which is usually much smaller than the one sheet and comes in a variety of sizes, and the stock sheet issued for cartoons or other shorts.

As with all collectibles, condition is a great factor when placing a value on posters. A movie poster’s value is determined by demand, rarity, and condition. Poster collectors use the same grade system used by comic book collectors: mint (perfect), near mint, very good, good, fair, and poor.

For those who want to be serious movie poster collectors, you will need to know some things about taking care of your movie poster art.

Tips to retain the total collectable value of movie posters

Never alter the appearance of a poster. Do not fold, bend, tear, or punch holes in it even to hang it on your wall.

Never place a movie poster in direct sunlight. UV lights can also be harmful.

Don’t write on your poster, even on the back. Marks on the back can sometimes be seen from the other side, taking away from the poster’s value.

Never put tape on the front of a poster even to repair tears. If you do use tape, use acid free tape available from an art supply shop, and place the tape on the back. For expensive movie art take it to a professional to be restored. Posters can be restored the same way rare comic books are professionally restored.

When shipping posters use thick poster tubes or bubble envelopes.

For long time storage, frame, or place the poster in a plastic bag or tube, and keep it in a cool dry climate.

When framing a poster do not dry mount it, and use an acid free backing board.

Now that you know a little more about movie posters and movie poster collecting, go ahead, start collecting!

Posterlovers.com – Search through the world’s largest available collection of posters, fine art prints and photos. Liven up your walls with wall posters and art prints.

Getting started with High Definition Television

High Definition Television – a new type of television that combines a High Definition Television tuner and an HD-capable display. Almost all of HDTV available in the market use the 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. A High Definition Television tuner can receive analog and digital broadcasts over the air. High Definition Television compatible TV features only the high resolution display and can only receive digital broadcasts if connected with a separate HDTV tuner. HDTV ready TVs can have the 16:9 widescreen ratio or the square like 4:3 aspect ratio.

High Definition Television has arrived and here to stay given surging popularity of crystal-clear broadcasts in US television TV. Analog television’s shift to an all digital system has heralded a new age in the 65-year history of TV. Hours of High-Definition Television can be viewed almost nightly. Viewers can easily determine if a show is presented in High Definition Television if the message “Presented in high definition where available” is shown at the start of a program.

Choosing the right TV is important in the High Definition Television experience. A TV with a 4:3 screen will be a good choice if local and network dominate programming are common in your market and over-the-air or cable High Definition Television programming is sparse. However, with the arrival of new technology also calls for viewers to adapt to the situation. Those still using traditional TV sets will not be able to get the most out of the High Definition Television experience.

For this you need to have a tuner to receive and decode High Definition Television signals from a source, and a high-quality screen that can reproduce the outstanding details and colours from an High Definition broadcast. The higher resolution of High Definition Television makes its pictures crisper and clearer compared to traditional television. Traditional TV pictures only possess 480 lines of vertical resolution, while High Definition Television has 1,080-line interlaces scan and 720-line progressive scan. The best quality that can be given by analog TV is 480i, which in contrast is the lowest quality signal offered by digital TV.

Getting started in High Definition Television is not as expensive like during the time it was introduced in the market. Prices of tuners and HDTVs continue to decline but the quality constantly improves rapidly. To help you maximize your High-Definition Television setups without spending your life savings here are some important tips to avoid costly mistakes and help you experience High Definition Television at its fullest. Over the air broadcasts: Nearly 1,500 local station across the US are transmitting Digital TV signals today. About 90% of digital station broadcasts are made in the UHF range an these can be accessed with the use of a normal UHF antenna. For this scenario you need:

- HD-compatible TV

- High Definition Television tuner

- Outdoor or indoor UHF antenna

- The High Definition Television broadcasts in your area

Digital Satellite TV: High Definition Television via satellite is available for those living the US and has a clear view of the sky. In short, this service is available almost everywhere. High Definition Television channels are already available from the top satellite TV providers DIRECTV and the DISHNetwork. Those lucky enough to live in major cities can even get local stations in HD via satellite. For this setup you need:

- HD-compatible TV

- HD-compatible satellite dish

- HD-compatible satellite receiver

- HD programming

Top High-Definition Television receiver in the market today

DIRECTV HR10-250 satellite receiver

The DIRECTV HR10-250 High-Definition Television satellite receiver is the ideal for those that want to get the most out of watching crystal-clear HDTV broadcasts. The HR10-250 can receive and decode digital signals from DIRECTV’s high-resolution broadcasts. The satellite receiver also features a built-in hard drive digital video recorder.

HD-broadcasts feature images rich in detail and surround sound makes a room alive and vibrant. HR10-250 HDTV satellite receiver can be connected to any HD-ready TV and home audio system.

Ralph Jarvis runs his own mail order business as well as running several shopping based websites. His particular specialty is consumer electronics.

Visit his website which is full of High Definition Television [http://www.fantasyelectronics.com/High-Definition-Television.html] ideas.

[http://www.fantasyelectronics.com]

Unlimited movie downloads are available to us nowadays through online movie stores. Being able to download movies at the click of a mouse has opened up our 17 inch monitor into a movie theater, one that never closes at night, and screens any movie we desire to watch at our beck and call. Such is how far our technology has advanced. We will see why unlimited movie downloads online stores have revolutionized the whole movie industry and what you are missing out if you are still stuck with your VCDs and DVDs.

It wasn’t so long ago when we were still relying on VCRs, acronym for video recorders to watch movies on tapes. If you are born after the 80′s, you probably might have a very vague idea or mental image about what those gadgets are. Perhaps you have sat beside your grandma on the couch watching a recorded TV show or movie from one of those little black boxes, or you have come across one of those in the junkyard or even museum. In the 90s, the arrival of those small little discs called video compact discs or VCDs took the movie industry by storm. Compact by the standards of those days, these still have its place in the home of many Americans. However, fast forward to today, downloading and watching movies online is gaining such great speeds that we simply cannot ignore.

You may wonder what’s the big deal about being able to access unlimited movie downloads. After-all, your VCD and DVDs are working well and not giving you problems right? Let’s see what you are missing out as your neighbor next door is quietly downloading his favorite TV show.

1. Convenience of Movie Downloads

Buying a VCD or DVD is easy if you know what title you are looking for. However, if you are like me who simply want to grab a good show so that you can relax and watch it during the weekend, imagine with me then that you could be doing a little searching at the movie store reading reviews and thinking which movie is good and worth your bucks. You cannot be buying everything you like because they are costly right? Next, you would be queuing with the rest of the folks for your turn to make your payment. Compress that image and envisage you sitting in front of the computer, and with a few clicks, the movie is ready for viewing. Isn’t that cool?

Whether you want to watch a movie or TV show at 4am, or on an off day, the movie sites are there round the clock, ready to serve you with unlimited movie downloads.

2. Cheaper Alternative

Movie VCD and DVD prices have dwindled over time owing to lower costs of production. If you have studied economics, you would understand about fixed capital costs and why mass manufacturing would eventually bring costs down. Nevertheless, to cough out $10 or more for a VCD/DVD is still too expensive to me. Well, after all, you probably would only watch it once and then chuck it aside to collect dust. Download sites however run on a lifetime membership model where you can gain access to virtually unlimited movie downloads. And the best part is you don’t pay for per movie download, but one low payment for lifetime access. We are not even talking about thousands or hundreds of dollars, but the cost of one or two good DVDs.

3. Movie Downloads Are Safe & Legal

People are concerned about downloading movies online. That is totally understandable for two reasons. Downloading a file online can expose your computer to harmful adware or spyware. Worse still, if you are downloading a movie illegally, this could land you in big trouble with the law. But these two problems are well taken care of at these unlimited movie downloads sites. Firstly, they ensure secured downloading and protection against attacks of adware and spyware. Secondly, many of these sites have made agreements with the original producers of those movies such as studios, etc to release those movies online for downloading. With these two worries behind us, it becomes clear that having access to unlimited movie downloads is a strong proposition for us not to ignore these download sites.

These reasons are probably the push factors for more people flocking to their sites instead of heading to traditional movie stores or cinema theaters for a movie. Read a review about those unlimited movie downloads sites at my blog to find out which are the hot favorites among movie viewers nowadays.

Davion is a successful webmaster, author and a movie lover. Read a review of the best unlimited movie downloads sites that offer the latest TV shows, newly-released movies and more at unlimited–moviedownloads.blogspot.com.

Marketing software is sometimes viewed as a luxury, not a

necessity. While you can certainly accomplish marketing without

marketing software, marketing software lessens the time and

effort required for marketing and your marketing efforts will

generally be much more effective. There are various types of

marketing software, and numerous producers of marketing software.

Finding the right combination of marketing software for you is

the challenge.

The first step in preparing an effective marketing campaign is to

devise a solid marketing plan. When writing a marketing plan,

there are several things to consider. The main points are

defining your target market and identifying the characteristics

of that market, analyzing your competition, formulating your

unique selling proposition using a competitive advantage,

reviewing options for marketing mediums, preparing your marketing

budget, and setting milestones for your marketing campaign.

Marketing software, such as Marketing Plan Pro by Palo Alto, will

help you work through the details of these steps to create a

useful and powerful marketing plan.

If you intend to engage in email marketing via newsletters,

autoresponders, announcements, or mass email campaigns, you will

find that email marketing software is crucial. Of course, there

are online email marketing services such as gotcorp.com that

provide self-serve email marketing tools like Campaigner. Using

such tools for email marketing is an option, but there are

ongoing costs involved. If you choose to use email marketing

software instead, programs like Email Marketing Director and

Campaign Enterprise 9 by Arial are very good.

Good email marketing software enables you to personalize messages

and to manage your mailing lists through a database. A time

saving feature to look for in email marketing software is the

ability of the software to automatically process unsubscribe

requests. Most email marketing software packages have built-in

templates you can use to produce email newsletters, announcements

and marketing messages. Support for embedded images and

compatibility with web editing software programs may be of some

importance.

If you are really serious about email marketing, it is best to

get started with advanced email marketing software from the

beginning. Advanced email marketing software has features that

will enable you to personalize and track your email messages.

With tracking capabilities and built-in reporting functions, you

can determine the effectiveness of your email messages as well as

who is and who is not opening and responding to the messages.

These advanced email marketing software programs generally use

SQL, Oracle, or Access database technology. High quality email

marketing software also has automated features for managing email

lists. These automated, time-saving features usually include

handling unsubscribe requests and removing bounced or rejected

email addresses from the email lists.

Customized marketing software suites may be something to consider as well. With customized marketing software, you can often

integrate marketing into your sales and customer relationship

management (CRM) systems. Some features that are common to

customized marketing software include the ability to capture

leads, to forecast sales, to manage contacts, and to analyze data

that is collected through the integrated system. Project

management capabilities can even be merged with customized

marketing software.

So, the big question is, “Do I really need marketing software?”

Like I said before, many people view marketing software as a

luxury. However, marketing software makes the job of internet

marketing much easier, especially if it has automated features.

There are options to using marketing software. Online marketing

services are one of those options; however, unlike using

marketing software, marketing services generally have ongoing

fees that are charged monthly or per campaign. Using marketing

software you can devise and manage your own internet marketing

campaign which is a cost-effective solution to marketing online.

Copyright Christopher J. Enders. Are you at the end of your rope, fed up and confused by all the scrambled internet marketing advice you’re getting? Whether you are new to internet marketing, or a website owner who wants to make more money from your website, learn the proven strategies that will sky-rocket your internet business at http://BiznessTips.com

Your child has his or her own personality and finding the right furniture and toys to go along with that personality is challenging. The best way to go about this is allowing your child to be the one who picks and designs their own room. Who knows your child better then themselves and it can be a fun and exciting experience you do together. The thing you have to remember when allowing your child to be the designer is don’t be afraid to influence their decision. A childs mind will change over time keeping that in mind is very important and necessary when designing their room. Try and help them understand this point but be careful not to push them to grow up to fast, we already know it happens to fast as it is. Having an understanding of what your child will want before you go about designing the perfect room for him or her will save time and money and allow you to lead the way.

When deciding on childrens furniture remember that your child is going to grow. The bright colors your little one wants today wont be the same tomorrow. The best way to go about colors is walls painted in a neutral color and allow your child to build the accents of the room. Children can be over the color of the bedding, drawer pulls rugs and curtains things that are easy and cheap to change over time. Allowing your child to help will do several things one their room will feel like their room and they will feel that you trust their judgment. Its amazing who much our children look up to and aspire to be like us.

One a final note help your child find things that are built to last. The best way to do this is to shop KidKraft. KidKraft was started by engineers which means that their products are designed to be tough and durable. Durability is very important in childrens bedroom furniture for many reasons the most important is that it lasts. Who are you kidding kids are hard on everything buying items that are designed to last should be and will be the most important part of helping your child design his or her bedroom. It is their room why not let them be a part of the decision making even at a young age the sooner they start the easier it will become to make good decisions.

Jason Quick is an expert in childrens bedroom furniture when looking for the best in childrens furniture look no further then KidKraft

Cooking is the artistic act of preparing food or dishes for eating and consumption. Cooking encompasses a very broad range of tools, methods and combinations of different ingredients to modify or improve flavor, appeal and food digestibility. Cooking in general requires and involves the selection, combination and measurement of ingredients in an orderly manner or procedure to achieve a desired result or final product. However, successful cooking is hindered by a number of factors that may include the availability of tools, the pricing and accessibility of ingredients, and of course, above all, the skill and talent of the cook or the person cooking. Globally, the diversity of cooking reflects the myriad aesthetic, nutritional, economic, cultural, agricultural and religious situations, environment or considerations that may influence or affect it. To cook, heat must be applied to food. The process will chemically transform the food, changing its flavor, its appearance, its texture, and of course, more importantly, its nutritional characteristics and properties. History have it that cooked food stuff, both animal and vegetable, in human civilizations from the ancient times used fire to cook food. Cooking techniques There a number of cooking techniques used by modern cooks to prepare sumptuous meals for people and guests. Be aware that cooking has somehow turned into an exact science because cooks have turned very systematic and exact or meticulous on ingredients and procedures. It will be amusing to know that nowadays, cooking has also become a very important profession. Around the world, lots of cooking schools and academies have proliferated. Lots of students and young people have changed their perspective of cooking and some of them even chose to make the activity or task a life-long commitment or profession. The art of cooking now has become more sophisticated. Five-star hotels around the globe has turned very requiring and particular about the food they serve their clients. There are a number of techniques on how people cook food the most common and the most advanced techniques will be described here. Read on. Baking is one form of cooking that has advanced through the years. It involves meticulous following of procedures and utmost attention and focus to the measurement of the ingredients. Take note that when you cook, you have to be exact. Too mich flour or egg yolk or sugar can ruin your project or recipe. Baking involves the use of the microwave for heat requirements. Boiling is the process when the raw food material is immersed in water and the whole thing is put up under fire until the water boils down. You know that boiling kills germs so this is a process where it is ensured that contamination in food is eliminated. People have devised ways on how to make food taste better through boiling. In the Philippines, there is a dish called ‘sinigang’ where raw meat of pork, beef or even fish is boiled with water. After the water has boiled, other food ingredients are added. Frying is that kind of cooking where the food is cooked by immersing them in boiling oil or very hot oil. The oil temperature will do the cooking. Most fast food dishes are cooked. The most loved cooked foods include fried chicken, fried fish and other fried delicacies. It should be noted though that fried foods are oily and contains more cholesterol than other food cooked the other way.

Khieng ‘Ken‘ Chho is author and owner of Online Cooking Resources. For related articles and other resources, visit Ken’s website: http://cooking.onew3b.net