Sewing: Ruffles

Making Ruffles: 2 Types of Fabric

When making my ruffles, I wasn't sure which type of fabric would be better out of the ones I already had. So I decided to use both and then evaluate them after I finished.

To make ruffles, all that i did was get 2 strips of fabric, one for each type which was a  white cotton [A non-stretch] and white spandex fabric [4-way stretch](Quindt, 8). For the cotton, I pinned down folds, each one being about an inch or so before I brought it to the sewing machine and sewed them in place. For the spandex, I used a thread to gather all of the material with a running stitch (Quindt, 11)[which I unfortunately do not have a picture for] and sewed the fabric into place.

The cotton ruffles were much more stiff then the spandex ruffles which were light and puffy. Over-all, the spandex fabric was much better for making ruffles.

"The Book of Cosplay Sewing" by Svetlana Quindt

Photography- Candid Photographs

Candid photography is any type of photography that is real and in the moment. There is no posing, no fake smiles, just true and genuine feelings. It is so easy to spot a fake smile or fake look, and that is the quickest way to a regular looking photograph. A candid photo, on the other hand, lets a person's genuine emotion shine through. 

Tips for taking a good Candid Photograph are telling your subject to pretend as if you are not there, tricking your subject into thinking you are not taking a picture of them ex. Pretending like you are taking a 'selfie' but, in reality, you are taking a picture of them. Another tip for taking a good Candid Photograph is to use your zoom. The reason why we use your zoom is because the further you are away from your subject the less likely they will be to know that you’re photographing them and the more natural and relaxed they’ll act. The book has many great tips on taking a great Candid Photograph. The author shows this by saying, "A candid photograph is a photograph captured without creating a posed appearance. Thus, the candid character of a photo is unrelated to the subject's knowledge about or consent to the fact that photos are being taken, and unrelated to the subject's permission for further usage and distribution"(Tresidder 49).

For my photograph, this was of my mom, my brother and my niece. This photograph is a Candid because I see their genuine smiles. I liked the way this picture turned out because of how they were looking into a different camera, and I quickly took a photo that turned out beautifully.

Once again, taking photos of people when they have no idea that you’re doing it is called candid photography. One of the beauties of photography is being able to catch someone in the act. It adds life to your pictures.

What are your thoughts on Candid Photography?

Tresidder, Jack, The Kodak library of creative photography: extend your range. Kodak, 1985.

Soccer Basics 2

 Soccer is not only based on your individual skill but also how good you work with your teammates and the strategies that you use both on offense and defense,

      Offense

• The team that keeps possession of the ball the most throughout the game will most likely win.
• Another strategy is to keep switching the point of attack on the field, this means if you are on the left side of the field you can hit a long pass to the right side of the field and attack from there.
• Long throw-ins can e essential to a good attack as it allows the attacking team to get down the field easier.
• On goal kicks there are usually two ways to do them, either play long or play short. Playing long doesn't guarantee you will retain the possession of the ball but you are not in the enemy half. Playing short you will be able to keep possession of the ball but you are still in your own half of the field.
• On corner kicks you have to play based on the defense, so if the defense is packed inside the 18-yard box you can play short, if the defense is spread out you can play long into the box and try to score from a header.
• Penalty kicks are generally easy, your best shooter will most likely do the job and get a goal.

     

     Defense

• When you are defending the ball it is a good idea to try to force the player and the ball towards the sidelines as the sideline acts another defender so the attacker doesn't have as many options to get out.
• The defense can play with an offside trap as a way to put the attacking player in a offside position so the defense could get the ball back.
• The number of players in the back can also give you a disadvantage or an advantage. Having 4 people in the back is normal but if you want to be more of a counterattacking team you can play with 3 in the back, its more risky but also more rewarding, "Although the forwards were still scoring more easily than in the past, the defenders were rapidly making progress in stopping the onslaught of balls flying into the net..."(Stewart 37).
• On corner kicks it is most common to just find a attacker and stick close to tem/mark them but you can also choose to play a formation in the 18-yard box to defend the corner kick.
• On free kicks it is also normal to put a "wall" in front of the ball which to means to put a certain number of players 10 yards in front of the ball. The number of players in the wall depends on how close the attacking team is to the goal, the farther the less amount of players in the wall.
• On throw-ins teams will almost always just mark a man and try to get the ball back by putting pressure on the attackers.

   If you have any questions please ask in the comments below.
   Stewart, Gail B. Soccer. Lucent Books, 2001

Cool Downs

By: Nicholas Hamakami

Cross country is my passion. The joy that I find in running is unprecedented in most other sports, and I love the competition that I find around me. My devotion to cross country and track has motivated me to stay fit during the off-season. Every runner wants to effectively train as often as possible, and Amby Burfoot’s insight on warm ups and cool downs has allowed me to do just that. Although I warm up before almost every workout, I often neglect and sometimes even completely forget the cool down. According to Burfoot, “The key to a successful cool down is simply to do it. Too many runners, in a rush to return to their many responsibilities, skip the cool down” (Burfoot 69).

Cooling down with a quad stretch.

After listening to the advice that Burfoot provided me, I decided to go out and try an effective cool down myself. Last Monday during winter practice (11/27), the team focused on speed, running repeated sprint intervals. The workout was difficult, and I felt like it was a good time to try something new. Following that workout, I decided to take some time off by myself to stretch my calves, quads, and other ligaments. Along with stretching, I went on a light cool down jog as well. Although I didn’t notice too much of a difference in the hours immediately following the workout, I felt considerably better the next day. The aches and pain that I get after every workout didn’t completely go away, but they were noticeably milder than on the days after I neglected a cool down.

Cooling down with a calf stretch.

As Burfoot said, a cool down's purpose is to help the body recover, regenerate, and prepare for the next run (Burfoot 69). After personally feeling how effective a good cool down could be, I’ll be sure to stretch after every run from now on.  Now, as the off-season continues, I must ask, what else can we all do to stay in peak condition? Track season is coming up soon, and I want to be ready to smoke the other schools. I will continue to train hard, and I hope my fellow track runners will too!

Source: Burfoot, Amby. The Principles of Running: Practical Lessons from My First 100,000 Miles. Rodale, 2004.

Plant Based Recipes: Fruit Sorbets

Although winter time is upon us, a cold refreshing treat is never a bad idea. Sorbets are really easy to make, and you can use fruit that you have in the house. Not only are they easy to make, but they are much healthier than ice cream or sherbet. I made 2 sorbets that were recommended from the "Oh she glows everyday" cookbook, and they both seemed really delicious. The first one is a mango-coconut-lime sorbet, and the second one is a Raspberry-Banana sorbet. Both of these recipes have ingredients that i would have never thought to add, which make them more flavorful and unique!

The ingredients in the mango-coconut-lime sorbet included mangoes, lime, coconut cream, and water. All of these ingredients go into a food processor or blender to make it nice and smooth. The recipe didn't call for water, however i added some to help it blend better. Angela Liddon says "The Mango-Coconut-Lime sorbet is rich and full bodied, so its a hybrid of fruity sorbet and traditional ice cream." However, i found that this sorbet did not live up to its expectations. The coconut cream added a very strange and foul flavor, as well as giving it a weird texture. I would personally change the recipe, and completely forgo the coconut cream, and add water instead. This would make the sorbet even lighter and fruitier. Next is the raspberry-banana sorbet, which tasted much better!
 The ingredients in the raspberry-banana sorbet were raspberries, bananas, and maple syrup. I added milk this time to help it blend better, in replace of water. "The tangy raspberries, banana and maple syrup give it a creamy slightly sweet taste." Says liddon. The combination of raspberries and bananas give it a tangy and creamy flavor, which is a great combination. Next time, i would replace the maple syrup with sugar, or just leave it out, because you can still taste it after it is all blended. This sorbet ended up tasting way better than the mango sorbet, and it something i would recommend to everyone. I also had a lot of left over sorbet, so the cookbook recommended to place the leftovers into a Popsicle mold, to enjoy later, so that's what i did with all the extra!

 Overall, this recipe was very helpful and easy to follow, even though the mango sorbet did not turn out very well. The raspberry sorbet however did turn out great, and i will definitely be making it again. These recipes gave me ideas for other sorbets that i could make, and was a good starting point! These sorbets are a great alternative to ice cream or other desserts, and can have just as much flavor and color, without adding anything unnatural. The end result looks beautiful, and bursts with colors! Have you ever made sorbet before, and what kind?

Liddon, Angela. Oh She Glows Every Day. Avery, 2016.  

Programming: Method

                

              “A method describes an action that the object can perform” (Mueller 77). The on the right is an example of a method. The word public and static modify the method, so it can be seen outside of the class that it is in hence the word public. Every method has a return type, which is the information that the method returns to the caller e after it has completed its task. The “void” from the picture on the right is example of a main method that doesn’t return any information to the caller. The “String” is basically a text, char variables are only used to form letters while string is a list of char variables placed together to from a word.

               Using the class from my previous post, I can add an object inside the main method. To add an object, I wrote the class name first followed by the new object I just created. I called by object “FavoriteBook”. The number in the parenthesis is the publish date.

               Now that we added an object, we can create a new method so it can perform a task. The new method I created is called page and when creating a new method, it must be out of the main method. So, it cannot be inside the curly brackets of the main method. In the parenthesis of my new method, I added “int pages” which would be the number of pages. Below my new method, I added the code “System.out.println ();” and by adding this it will be able to print out the text I put in the parenthesis. 

               Now that the page method is created, I can call the page method on the object I just created called, “FavoriteBook”. By doing this, I would write this line of code in the main method and I would be written out like this.

               If I were to run this, it would output the text that would be written in the parenthesis of the code “System.out.println();”. As an example, say I read 275 pages of my favorite book per hour. I would input the number 275 into the parenthesis of “FavoriteBook.page();”. I do this because that code that I input the number corresponds to the new method I created called page. I would then write out a text in the “System.out.println”. The entire code would look like this.

               Notice that the word “pages” in the text, the word that isn’t in blue, doesn’t have quotation marks around them. This is because it equals to a number, meaning it is not going to output the word “pages” but it would output a certain number and that certain number would be the number I plugged into the “FavoriteBook.page”. This is what the output would look like.

               To sum it up, a method is a set of instructions that can be called on by an object and a return value is the information that a method will return after the program runs. In the example above, “FavoriteBook” is an object while “page” is a method and the program I wrote is an example of a calling a method on an object. Calling a method makes easier to code and less writing for programmers as they would not have to rewrite the method whenever a new object is created. Learning how to program is like learning a language, they both require a lot of memorization. So, do you have any advice or a form of study when it comes to remembering a big chunk of information?

Mueller, John Paul. Java eLearning Kit For Dummies. Wiley, 2014.

Orange you glad I said chocolate?

 Chocolate-Orange Cupcakes

I remember seeing oranges made of chocolate, and tasted a lot like oranges as well. That's what i thought of when I saw this recipe, on page 173, in the book "The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book, the Essential Recipe Collection for Today's Home Baker". The recipe calls for which makes 12 cupcakes:

• 3 tbsp dutch-process cocoa powder (or just regular cocoa powder)
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 orange
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled at room temperature

Frosting Recipe:

• 6 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups confectioners' (icing) sugar

I first mixed the cocoa into the hot water until it dissolved and set it aside, and sifted the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. I then used the fine rasps of a handheld grater and grated the zest into the bowl. 
In another bowl, i whisked together the eggs and the granulated sugar until it was well combined, and whisked in the vanilla extract and buttermilk. After that, I poured in the dissolved cocoa from before.

Once the melted butter was cooled, i poured it into the egg mixture and then added in the flour mixture. 

I then poured the batter into the cupcake tins and popped that into the oven for 15-20 minutes and let them cool for 5 minutes before I started on the frosting. The recipe calls for melted chocolate, but instead of melting the chocolate I cooked it. Since i didn't have anymore chocolate to melt, nor the patience, so I substituted the melted chocolate with chocolate syrup. Once I       mixed all the ingredients with the chocolate 
syrup, I put it into the pastry bag and piped it on the cupcakes. The butter didn't mix well with the chocolate syrup, but the frosting still worked out.  

The cupcake was pretty dry, and the zest particles were too big, so I would recommend to use a finer handheld grater. But with the chocolate syrup instead of the melted chocolate, the frosting was much better with the dry cupcake. In the end, I wouldn't recommend this recipe unless you love orange flavored chocolate. 

Do any of you guys like chocolate flavored with something else, such as orange flavored chocolate? And would any of you guys try out this recipe?