The show that literally redefined the sitcom genre, Seinfeld evolved from an idea of “a show about nothing” into a sacred pop culture icon. The show follows the life and times of comedian Jerry Seinfeld and his best friends, George Costanza (Jason Alexander), Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards), and Elaine Benes (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). Living lives of complete selfishness (which is why most of us relate so well to the show), they’re joined by an extensive cast of eccentric supporting characters such as Newman, Uncle Leo, J. Peterman, the Soup Nazi, Frank and Estelle Costanza, and countless others.

The Seinfeld (Season 7) DVD features some of most hilarious episodes in the series including the season premiere “The Engagement” in which Jerry and George agree that their lives are utterly pathetic, prompting them to make a pact to settle down. Reinvigorated by life, George proposes to his ex-girlfriend Susan, but is soon enraged when he discovers Jerry has broken up with his latest girlfriend. As a result, George spends the remainder of Season 7 trying to concoct the perfect scheme for breaking up with Susan.

Another notable episode is “The Soup Nazi,” an episode based on a real life soup counter in New York City. One of most quoted Seinfeld shows in history, the Soup Nazi character and his “No soup for you!” tagline instantly became part of the American vernacular. “The Rye,” where George and Jerry make a feeble attempt to replace a marble rye stolen by George’s parents actually spawned an Internet video game, and “The Cadillac” features Morty Seinfeld and arch-nemesis Jack Klompus at their very best. Throw in Newman and Kramer’s Michigan recycling plan and a season finale cliffhanger that ranks among the best in series history, and Season 7 of Seinfeld is guaranteed to entertain anyone who loves comedy!

Below is a list of episodes included on the Seinfeld (Season 7) DVD:

Episode 111 (The Engagement) Air Date: 09-21-1995

Episode 112 (The Postponement) Air Date: 09-28-1995

Episode 113 (The Maestro) Air Date: 10-05-1995

Episode 114 (The Wink) Air Date: 10-12-1995

Episode 115 (The Hot Tub) Air Date: 10-19-1995

Episode 116 (The Soup Nazi) Air Date: 11-02-1995

Episode 117 (The Secret Code) Air Date: 11-09-1995

Episode 118 (The Pool Guy) Air Date: 11-16-1995

Episode 119 (The Sponge) Air Date: 12-07-1995

Episode 120 (The Gum) Air Date: 12-14-1995

Episode 121 (The Rye) Air Date: 01-04-1996

Episode 122 (The Caddy) Air Date: 01-25-1996

Episode 123 (The Seven) Air Date: 02-01-1996

Episode 124 (The Cadillac: Part 1) Air Date: 02-08-1996

Episode 125 (The Cadillac: Part 2) Air Date: 02-08-1996

Episode 126 (The Shower Head) Air Date: 02-15-1996

Episode 127 (The Doll) Air Date: 02-22-1996

Episode 128 (The Friars Club) Air Date: 03-07-1996

Episode 129 (The Wig Master) Air Date: 04-04-1996

Episode 130 (The Calzone) Air Date: 04-25-1996

Episode 131 (The Bottle Deposit: Part 1) Air Date: 05-02-1996

Episode 132 (The Bottle Deposit: Part 2) Air Date: 05-02-1996

Episode 133 (The Wait Out) Air Date: 05-09-1996

Episode 134 (The Invitations) Air Date: 05-16-1996

Are you setting yourself up for ‘The Big Miss’?

In every round of amateur golf, there are those shots that go awry that make it nearly impossible to save a par. The better a player gets, the more intense the mental game becomes trying to avoid ‘the big miss’.

For most of us, half of the fun of golf is trying to improve and gain some mastery over the game. So, if you really want to build a good golf swing you are going to need a team to help you. With few exceptions such as Lee Trevino, no golfer goes very far with their swing without someone to help them.

“You’ve got to build a swing that avoids the big miss” according to John Jacobs, premiere golf instructor. While the big miss that Jacobs refers to is that dreaded shot that puts par out of range, there is another ‘big miss’ for many. That big miss is simply failing to get the help that they need in order to really enjoy the game.

Before you write this off as being too expensive, consider how much you spend on new equipment and additional rounds of golf in order to improve your game. You may just be ‘engraining’ bad habits into your swing. Then consider on what it may cost if you injure yourself because of poor golf swing mechanics.

Golf instructors know the maxim: “Golf is what the ball does”. The flight of the ball tells the golf instructor the position of the clubhead at impact. A good golf instructor is key to learning the fundamentals of your golf swing. Yet many will get stuck here because they will discover that their body is not free to move as it needs to.

This is where a TPI Certified Golf Instructor or a TPI Certified Golf Fitness Instructor working with your current golf instructor can be a help. There is an advantage of having someone who can not only teach you the swing but also identify the limits of your body.

From there, a specific program can begin that will focus on issues of mobility and stability. Mobility issues require greater flexibility whereas stability issues require learning how to control movement of body segments.

Sometimes even accomplished golfers suffer from a condition labeled ‘focal dystonia’ that requires re-learning motor control. This happens when there is some disconnect in the neural pathways that need to be retrained.

If you want to improve your golf swing and your overall game, you are going to need a plan. You need to set goals and you need to identify a team that can help you to get where you want to be. Above all, avoid ‘the big miss’ and

Have A Great Game!

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been having brainstorming virtual sessions with all stakeholders on resumption of cricket in the past months under the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. Till now the Council has not been able to take a final call on the main issue of contention: when to hold the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. It’s very ironical that in a year which can also be termed as T20 the T20 mega event just cannot get underway that was originally scheduled in October, 2020 in Australia. Now, the Indian cricket board, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has been eagerly waiting for the decision on the T20 World Cup, because since its postponement is almost final the ICC decision will give the BCCI a window during October-November to organize its favorite money-spinner, the Indian Premiere League (IPL), of course, without the noisy reveling crowds.

All the while the ICC has been busy framing new rules for the most popular game of the world, a craze in India. Indian spin bowling great Anil Kumble who was appointed as Chairman of the ICC’s Cricket Committee in 2012 had been assigned this job. Kumble has already made recommendations and the ICC approved most of these. The first of course is the obvious: ban on the use of saliva during play. We have seen over the decades how intensive had been the use of saliva of almost all the players fielding to keep the ball shining. Now, saliva is a direct trigger for COVID-19 spread and therefore its use has been banned forthwith. This is set to affect the pacers in particular very adversely, and perhaps the dry ball will be of help to the spinners. The suggestion of using external substances got rejected mainly because the international cricket bodies had been opposing this tooth and nail for decades. There is one more suggestion for allowing a new ball for every fifty overs in Test matches which is under consideration.

The ICC rule to have neutral umpires in international series has also been waived off to prevent extensive globe-trotting that the international umpires have had to embark upon. Home umpires will now do the job. Another very important recommendation that has been accepted is of allowing COVID substitutes in Test matches that go on for five days. Any player showing any symptoms of flu, cough or fever during this period will be out of the match and a substitute player will be allowed to take his/her place in the playing eleven like under the present concussion regulation. Naturally, this rule wouldn’t apply to the shorter formats of ODIs and T20Is.

The defined cricket new normal will obviously include various other demonstrative physical attributes of the game: the huddles by rival teams that we have witnessed increasingly in competitive cricket in recent years will no longer be allowed; display of physical excitement in group like in the case of a fall of a wicket or in a hat-trick or a superlative catch or scoring a ton will be gone and all sorts of hugging, shake-hands, pavilion or dressing-room celebrations and the like will no longer be there till Corona thinks otherwise. And, of course, there will be no spectators. Players will have to undergo all of the excitement on field in an empty stadium without supporting or singing or celebrating or flags-displaying cricket-loving crowds which would obviously be a daunting challenge to keep up the competitive spirit of the players. Unfortunately, there’s no other option available at the moment and cricketers will have to adapt so that the sport resumes.

It is huge development that the first instance of international cricket resumption has already begun. Except for three players the West Indies team had agreed to participate in a Test Series against England in England–one of the worst-hit countries in terms of COVID deaths. The West Indies team had already arrived in England, all players tested before departure and thoroughly tested after arrival. They will live and prepare there for three weeks before the first Test of the three-match series scheduled to start from July 8, 2020. Hope the great game of cricket would pass the unprecedented COVID test successfully and with full honors.

I’ve written this tutorial for anyone who uses adobe premiere pro and wants to find out the best way to compress a video using “Windows Media Video”.

I cover things like what bitrate to use with what resolution and frame rate as well as what a few of the different settings do and mean. Find out for yourself and take a read…

(not you will need to copy and paste image url’s in to your browser)

Getting to Adobe Media Encoder

1. Render all unrendered footage if you haven’t done so already in premiere pro

2. Now go, File >> Export >> Adobe Media Encoder

3. Select “Windows Media” from the format drop down list

4. Then, from the preset drop down list, select something like “WMV9 720 25p” (doesn’t really matter what you choose)

Video Settings

1. Select “Video” on the left hand side of the Adobe Media Encoder

2. Under Video, make sure…

• Select “Windows Media Video 9” as the codec
• Leave “Allow Interlaced Processing” Unticked
• Under Bitrate Settings, Select “Two” encoding passes and make sure the mode is “Variable Constrained”. This offers way better results compared to a single encoding pass

Image: fullvoltage.com.au/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=333.0;id=29;image

Audio Settings

1. Select “Audio” on the left hand side of the Adobe Media Encoder

2. Under Audio, make sure…

• Select “Windows Media Audio 9.1” as the audio codec
• Under Bitrate Settings, Select “Two” encoding passes and make sure the mode is “Constant”. This will make sure the audio quality stays the same the whole way through the video

Image: fullvoltage.com.au/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=333.0;id=30;image

Audience Settings

1. Select “Audiences” on the left hand side of the Adobe Media Encoder

2. Audiences is the most important part as this is where you actually set the quality and the file size

3. Now, select your desired frame rate, it’s usually best to keep it at its original level. But, say you’re original level is 50 frames a second, reduce it to 25. If you’re going for a really small file, then you’d want to bring your fps down to 20 or 15, but 25 will always enhance the footage as it will appear a lot smoother.

4. For Pixel Aspect Ratio, set it to however you’re original footage is set. If you’re editing footage shot on the computer, then square pixels will give you the best results.

5. Frame Width and Frame Height is a big factor for when considering image quality with file size. You kind of need to match them both up. In theory, for simple scenes like a close up of a human face “1 bit” per 200 pixels will offer good results,you may even want to try 250 pixels per bit. But with a more complex scene which includes maybe scenery and shrubs or a fast action video.etc, you’d want to aim around “1 bit” per 100 pixels (no where over 140 pixels per bit). To work this out, simply look at all the scenes in your video. If your scenes vary a lot in terms of colour and complexity, then you want lesser pixels per bit, this will increase file size (or reduce image size) but will offer way better results otherwise. On the other hand, if you’re video contains long interviews with a still background. Then the compressor will be able to produce good results with a high pixel per bit rate.

6. Now, moving down to the basic audio settings, if you’re video contains a lot of sound and the sound is really important in the video. Then you wont want to go under 96kb/s, but I usually prefer to use 160kb/s or 128kb/s as if you compare the 160kb/s bitrate of the audio to the say 5000 bitrate of the video, you can see that the audio isn’t going to effect file size much in this case. The higher your video bitrate, the lesser the impact the audio will have on the filesize. Use CBR audio, not (A/V) CBR audio. Use stereo if your sound differs from channel to channel (most music does).

7. Back to the Video now, Set Decoder Complexity to Auto

8. For key frame interval, if you have a high action video with complex scenes, set this to about 1 or 2. On the other hand, if you have not so complex scenes like an interview with a still background, then you can raise this up to about 10.

9. Leave buffer size as default

10. Now, here is the good bit. Because earlier on, we set a Video Encoding mode to a Two pass encode with a variable but constrained bitrate. This means we can now give a maximum and average bitrate. It will use the maximum bitrate in the more complex scenes and will use the average bitrate for normal scenes. Now, setting your bitrate is important. This is basically, where we shove all our resolution and other data, in to a tightly packaged file. If you package your file to tight, bits of data start oozing out the corners which is why it’s important to package your video tight, but not too tight. Let’s say we have a rather complex video which is fairly fast paced with lots of different colours and scenes. We set our resolution to 1024×768 with a frame rate of 25 and we want excellent quality, but a small file size.

Ok, let’s put what we learnt in to play. Ok, 1024 multiplied by 768 gives us 786000 pixels. That means that every single frame will contain 786000 pixels. If our video is running at 25fps, that’s 19.2 million pixels a second. The way compressors work, is they look for similarities across multiple frames and they try and share the data. Sometimes, when you set the bitrate too low, it just can’t deal with that data so it needs to throw away some pixels. The lower the bitrate, the more pixels get thrown around or ripped up.

11. Now, we need to set the bitrate. So, seeing our scene is fairly complex, and we want good quality, I think 130 pixels per bit will be fine. So, lets divide 786000 by 130. This gives us 6040 bits. So, 6000 bits a second is what we need. We’ll set 6000 as the peak and 5000 as the average. Now, 5000 bits a second will produce a fairly large file in terms of the internet, but remember, we are using a resolution of 1024×768 which is very big in terms of the net, but we want viewers to see “all” the work we have put in to it.

12. Now, once the bitrate is set, we have our buffer size, the larger your bit rate, the larger you want your buffer size. In this case, a buffer of 20/25 will be fine (buffer usually doesn’t effect anything).

Image: fullvoltage.com.au/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=333.0;id=31;image

Saving

1. Now, save the preset buy hitting the floppy disk icon up the top of the Adobe Encoder Window. But, before you do that, place a comment for the preset if you want.

2. Now, hit OK at the bottom of the window which will then prompt you for a location to save it. It will also give an estimated file size based on your video length and you’re peak data rate (for both the video and audio). But seeing we are using a variable bit rate, this estimate is usually higher than the end result.

3. Let it render out, then enjoy.

Tips

• It’s usually good to set your work area to a length of 5 seconds over a complex part of your video, that way, you can do test renders to find the best bit rate
• If you get errors while exporting and you use a hyperthreading processor or a dual core processor, visit this site to fix the problem. If you don’t get this problem, it may still be a good idea to visit the site and get the new adobe media encoder.

  [http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/330380.html]

I hope you learnt something from this tutorial Smiley

Cheers!

[http://www.fullvoltage.com.au]

Wayne’s World is a 1992 comedy film distributed by Paramount Pictures. It stars Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell, Dana Carvey as Garth Algar, Tia Carrere as Cassandra Wong, and Rob Lowe as Benjamin Kane. The writers are Mike Myers, Bonnie Turner, and Terry Turner. The director is Penelope Spheeris.

Best friends Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar host a late-night public access show called Wayne’s World. Television executive Benjamin Kane hears about the show and sees an opportunity to exploit its popularity. So he offers Wayne and Garth $10,000 to buy the rights to the show. Garth feels that Wayne is selling out but he says nothing. During the premiere of the show, Wayne discovers that Benjamin had changed the format of the show, cutting out the crude humor and guaranteeing a weekly interview with sponsor Noah Vanderhoff.

One can look at this film in a number of ways. The way I see it is this could be seen as an example of “Corporate America” trying to reinvent the “youth of America” by buying them off and making them “proper”. When Benjamin decided to change the show, he eliminated the crude humor that the show was so well-known for and made it into more of a night-time talk show. In effect, he was forcing Wayne and Garth to stop being who they were and be the way Corporate America wanted them to be.

Another interesting aspect of the movie was different kinds of characters in it. You have Wayne and Garth, two cool heavy-metal-loving young guys who just love to party. Then you have Benjamin, the greedy executive, who is completely about making money in any way possible. Finally, there’s Russell Finley, Benjamin’s producer. He is stuck somewhere in between Wayne, Garth, and Benjamin. He is about making money but also loves to party with Wayne and Garth. These two sides conflict for most of the film.

To wrap, Wayne’s World is a good-natured comedy that, over the years, many have enjoyed and many more will enjoy!

Have you ever eaten chicken feet? How about barbequed chicken necks? What? I thought not. So, while you’re in Cuautla you’ll have your chance. Don’t miss it! Now here’s what you need to do:

Hotel Colon

Address: Main Plaza

Phone: 352 – 2186

The premiere place for people-watching smack dab on the Zocalo. Meals are of local fare and modestly priced. The day’s offerings are written on a standing menu posted right out front on the sidewalk complete with prices. The wall-less dining area is just an extension of the Zocalo sidewalk, so you could spend hours here just sippin’ “Jamaica” and winkin’ at the passers-by. And there’ll be plenty. It’s an excellent “first stop” on your Cuautla tour. While you’re at it, pick up a copy of “THE NEWS”, Mexico’s premiere English language newspaper or, in Spanish, “El Sol de Cuautla”, both on sale just a few steps away at the news stand in front of the restaurant.

The Plaza Galeana

Address: at the corner of Los Bravos and Estrada Bollas

At this shopping plaza and gallery, there are a number of little eateries at budget prices featuring everything from pizza to fried chicken and roast turkey. There are juice bars, ice cream shops and a couple of discos for the teeny-boppers (called “coca-colos” in Spanish). If you’re not sure what you want to eat, or it’s late, just drop by here and stroll around until you find something you like. (to EAT, that is!)

On Los Bravos, the street leading north from the Zocalo to the Plaza Galeana, there are likewise several shops and a couple of fairly good restaurants to tempt your palette.

Rosticero de Pollos

Address: Calle 2 de Mayo and Zemano

(half a block up the street from the Hotel España and one block from the Hotel Colon)

If you’ve never eaten chicken feet or roast chicken necks, here’s the place you can correct that fault. Served piping hot right off the rotisserie, bursting with flavor and CHEAP at 10 pesos for a dozen, it’s an experience you’ll never forget. It’ll make a great story to tell your grandchildren! “Did I ever tell you about the time I ate chicken feet in Cuautla? Zapata’s rebel forces were headquartered just down the road you see, and …”

Jugos Y Tortas Alameda

Address: Galeano at the corner of Ferraro

A veggies-only restaurant that serves such delicious specialties as “Omelet Huitlacoche” and platters of Chilaquiles, nopales (cactus) and an assortment of “tortas” for 7 to 26 pesos. Servings are plentiful and tasty even for non-vegetarians like me. A selection of juices in combinations having medicinal properties are also offered. The juice combinations and their specific benefits are written up on plaques hung around the restaurant walls.

EL Oasis

Address: Galeano between Ramirez and Ferrano

This restaurant is open late for party-goers and the late-night crowd and serves tempting meals at reasonable prices. There’s internet service at a bank of six computers in the rear of the restaurant. Rates are 10 pesos per hour or 6 pesos for 30 minutes. Try their fresh-whipped hot chocolate on a cool Cuautla night for a zesty pick-me-up.

Be sure to check out my other articles in the two continuing series: Teaching English in Mexico and Traveling in Mexico. If you would like more information, have questions or comments, the author can be e-mailed; see address below.