Archive for the 'Arts & Entertainment' Category

The 8 Worst And Best Comics Of 2007

Whether it was aliens invading or heroes dying, 2008’s SF comics definitely aimed for bombast - but how many of them were actually great? As the year stumbles to an end, we take a look back.

In terms of SF comics, 2008 feels a bit… lacking, to be honest; there was nothing with the energy of Wonton Soup or King City, and a lot of the best books were final issues, instead of the start of something new (Collections and reprints-wise, it was a great year, however - I’d point you in the direction of Skyscrapers of the Midwest, The Babysitter and Jack Kirby’s OMAC, to begin with - but they weren’t really created this year…). It might just be a necessary lull; next year has new work from Paul Pope, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Brandon Graham, James Stokoe, et al, after all. But it did make this year seem curiously anemic in retrospect. So here is the pick, perhaps, of a poor bunch:

BEST
All-Star Superman
Quite simply, the best superhero comic of the last few years. Tapping into the awe-filled tone of the 1950s and ’60s Superman stories while still seeming contemporary, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s twelve-part reinvigoration of the Man of Steel finished this year with the perfect send-off: Something positive, optimistic and just a little melancholy.

(Fraction almost ended up on this list twice; his Invincible Iron Man series for Marvel was, to my mind, the ideal follow-up to the movie, finally figuring out a way to make the character interesting without making him an asshole.)

Casanova
Matt Fraction’s sci-fi superspy series filled its second run with time-travel, sex and gigantic reality-altering weapons before, in its final issue, folding in on itself with a reveal that, at first, felt like a cheat but ultimately recast everything that had gone before and made you need to re-read it like you need to breath. If only everything was this fearless.

Fight Or Run: Shadow Of The Chopper
You can argue amongst yourself whether this silent series of strips is really science fiction or not, but Kevin Huizenga’s videogame-inspired shorts that bring two surreal characters face-to-face to see their response works both as an exercise in comic formalism and experimentation, and as a funny, surprising reading experience. Me, I’d probably run.

Love & Rockets: New Stories
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis analogs slaughter aliens. Surely I don’t need to say anything else.

Final Crisis
Yes, there have been a lot of problems with DC’s big 2008 “event” - the seeming inability to hit deadlines and switching of artists midway through the story, to start with - but despite it all, Grant Morrison and company’s slow-motion apocalypse has been creepy and hypnotic, all the moreso for the way in which it refuses to play by the rules.

Patsy Walker: Hellcat
I don’t know if it’s the lightness of Kathryn Immonen’s writing, the pop of David LaFuente’s artwork, or just the sass of the book’s star, but there’s something wonderful and unexpected in this lowkey miniseries from Marvel about a fashion model-turned-superhero fighting magical demons in Alaska. In the middle of the publisher’s highly successful year, this hidden gem is easily the best thing they put out.

Project Superpowers
Again with the “unexpected” thing, I didn’t expect much from Alex Ross and Jim Kruger’s 1940s superhero revival… and certainly not the most strange and unusual superhero series of the year. The US government creating zombie soldiers in the Middle East? Lying ghosts with hidden agendas? An evil corporation of robots manipulating everyone that just so happens to have the same name as the parent company of the publisher? It’s all here, my friends. Just don’t ask me what it all means.

Teen Titans: Year One
It took animation writer Amy Wolfram and artist Karl Kerschl to finally fulfill the potential of DC’s team of sidekicks, by offering a story that stayed on the right side of cartoony, but kept an undercurrent of angst and insecurity to provide characters who actually acted like teenagers, for a change. Add some of the best art to appear in any comic book this year and you have a very underrated winner.

WORST
Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes
A strange one, this. It’s not really the quality of the comic strip itself that lands it in “Worst” position - although the comic strip itself was nothing to write home about, pretty much generic “alternate world”isms from Warren Ellis and friends - but the format. Charging $4.99 for 16 pages of comic book would be a bit much for a small indie company with a lot of overhead and little say in the matter… but for Marvel to do it, especially without letting fans or retailers know that that’s what they were doing…? Kind of an unnecessarily low blow.

Batman RIP
It started so well, but… well, finished so badly. There’s very little way to look back at RIP without getting frustrated at the lack of resolution and all the unfulfilled potential left untouched. It’s called Batman RIP people - Couldn’t you have done something with that that didn’t have a villain who may or may not have been the Devil and the most unconvincing, inconclusive death scene ever? Or, for that matter, had a story that actually ended in its final chapter?

Countdown To Final Crisis
DC’s Final Crisis may be flawed but great, but the 52-part prelude series kind of missed out the “but great” part of that idea. As well as missing out the “coherent plots, interesting dialogue and story you feel involved in” bits. And, to make matters worse, it outright contradicted multiple points of the series it was created to lead into. Worst of all, perhaps, was the fact that it took the goodwill that DC had gained from their first weekly series 52 and pissed it away in record fashion. An own goal of almost cosmic proportions.

DC Universe: Last Will & Testament
What do superheroes do when they expect to die the next day? Exactly what you’d expect them to, sadly, according to this uninspired, ponderous comic. While not as much of a disaster as Countdown, Last Will & Testament may have actually been a worse comic by dint of just being… well, not unlike well-illustrated fan-fiction.

Jenna Jameson: Shadow Hunter
From its very conception, you knew that a comic that recreated pornstar Jameson as a comic book demon hunter was a bad idea, but only the comic itself could convince you just how much of a bad idea it actually was. Confusingly written, with overwrought narration and a plot that didn’t really go anywhere, this was a celebrity tie-in that made Ed Burns’ Dock Walloper look like a good idea.

One More Day
This is, of course, a bit of a cheat; One More Day started in 2007, and the final issue came out in the dying days of that year (December 27th, I believe)… But nonetheless, the full effect of it was what started off this year in SF comics, and pretty much sabotaged the start of Marvel’s (remarkably not-as-bad-as-you-think) Spider-Man relaunch - all because Peter Parker made a deal with the devil just to get a divorce (Note: This may be a somewhat biased take on what actually happened in the story itself). Who would have thought that a boneheaded, out of character move that turned your everyman character into a Satan-handshakin’ single man would have been one of the big comic news stories of the year? Oh, that’s right - everyone.

Secret Invasion
Yes, it was hugely successful, and yes, it was on-time (unlike Final Crisis). But if there was a point to Secret Invasion beyond “Let’s try and sell lots of SF comics,” I must have missed it. With a story that lacked plot - or, for about half the series, anything actually happening - based around a premise that was abandoned almost immediately (What if aliens had invaded without us knowi- Oh, wait, they’ve started blowing things up and coming to Earth as giant green monsters), this was slick, showy… and entirely hollow.

Ultimates 3
I was no fan of Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch’s Ultimates, but Jeph Loeb’s follow-up was a mind-blowing miscalculation that offered fans of the series almost no continuity with its previous incarnation, garish art outshone only by insanely overblown dialogue and, in a reveal that still boggles the mind, a Black Panther who turns out to be the most white of all superheroes. Pretty much an entire series of WTF that led into Loeb’s Ultimatum.

For more fun and comics you can read more about chankom and Futaba

For the art of another kind - gaming - visit the PlayStation 3 pre order blog.

Oopsy Daisy Brings World Art Home

Many of us set goals, and for Oopsy Daisy Fine Art For Kids, it was to motivate children to live to their fullest creative potential. Comprised of over fifty artists worldwide, Oopsy Daisy Art for Kids is bridging cultural gaps, while expanding their collection to six-hundred pieces. The most popular items at Oopsy Daisy, and probably the one they are most known for, is their stretched canvas art, although they also have framed art, placemats, growth charts, door décor and canvas mural banners Consumers and celebrities are excited about the features of Oopsy Daisy Art for Kids. Jennie Garth, star of What I Like About You, says that it is “fun, colorful and makes me happy…(my daughter) wants to climb in the picture!” Worth mentioning is that Oopsy Daisy donates a portion of annual sales to charities that directly assist children. This is in line with the company’s goal, which is to bring joy and inspiration to children’s lives, whether it be through art or through donation. The company and the artists both make sure that every color is bold and every design imaginative, in order that you may realize what a unique piece of art this is. The benefit of this kind of art is that it encourages children to explore their surroundings while at the same time livens up yours. This trend is part of as larger movement in children’s furnishings that focus on the needs and tastes of kids, not what adults think kids should like.

Free Guidelines to Information On Pencil Portrait Drawing - Placing Head Landmarks

A pencil portrait drawing from life starts with the drawing of the arabesque. Striking the arabesque means drawing the outer circumference of the head with the correct proportions, shape, and the appropriate symmetry.

Once you have drawn a reasonably correct arabesque it is time to place the main landmarks of the face. That means that we will correctly locate the most important points of the head. These points will then be used as references for mapping out the rest of thefacefeatures.

Here is something that may help you with this task : work with your eyes somewhat out-of-focus. This is called seeing with a “soft eye”. Somehow this makes it easier to correctly determine shapes and proportions. It also helps you to repress the fixed notions we all have of certain objects.

Let us assume that we are working from a 3/4 head profile.

* The Brow Ridge - is the first important landmark. To locate the brow ridge you must first take your best guess at where you think it is then to check it by sighting.

Note that to teach your eye it is better to first guess lengths, angles, etc. and verify them second. There is nothing to gain from pre-measuring.

Sighting means to use your pencil with locked arm and marking distances along the pencil with your thumb and index finger (starting from the tip down) and one eye closed.

So then, first sight from the lowest point on the chin to a point on the brow ridge (just choose an arbitrary critical point on the ridge, but once chosen you should stick with it).

Now raise your pencil straight up so that your thumb is on your point on the brow ridge and note where your pencil point is. It should be a small distance above the top of the head . Mark on your drawing where you can best place that point above the head. This point is called the “check point”.

Note that whenever there is a choice, you should always measure the smallest distance because doing so tends to be more correct.

Your point on the brow ridge should, if it was placed accurately, be exactly halfway between the bottom of the chin and your check point. If it isn’t – then correctcorrect the position of your brow ridge.

* Hinge of the Jaw - Now you can fix the width of the face. In the 3/4 view the hinge of the jaw is a critical landmark. Again, take your best guess then check by sighting horizontally from the hinge of the jaw to the far edge of the cheek bone and vertically relating that measure from the bottom of the chin.

* Top Nasal Bone - Since we have already determined the brow ridge we now only have to estimate a small distance to fix the top of the nasal bone. If you placed the hinge of the jawcorrectly, it should equal the distance from bottom of the chin to the nasal bone. If you’re off a bit, then correct the placement of the hinge of the jaw. Again, assume that the shortest distance estimated is the correct one.

Now that these importantlandmarks are placed you can further work out the arabesque. I find it best to resolve only the back, least intricate, part of the face at this early stage.

* Facial Angle - Finally, you need to the facial angle which is the center line of the face. Draw a slightly curving line from the middle of the mental tubercle up through the center of the brow ridge.

The correct placement of the facial angle is very important. You have to feel your way through this because as there is no way to accurately measure it.

Once the facial angle is continue resolving the arabesque carefully observing the shape of the mouth area, the forehead, and all the other elements that are expressed in the shape of the arabesque.

With this, we have all the basic landmarks that will help us to chart the rest of the features such as the ears and eyes.

Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait drawing? Download my brand new free pencil portrait drawing course here: Free Pencil Portrait Drawing Course.

Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and expert drawing teacher. See his work at Remi’s Arts.

P.S. For the new age art of PC and video game lovers - visit the preorder PlayStation 3 blog.

Unbiased Road Map to Advice On Graphite Portrait Sketching - Value And Form In Relation To Tone

* Value and form - are two 2 of the four elements of drawing. The other two are line and texture.

In this article we will talk about the concept of plasticity or tone and how it relates to the concepts of value and form.

* Plasticity or tone - is the visual push and pull of lights and darks which, when presented in a unified and harmonious whole, defines the 3-dimensional forms of a portrait.

The human eye can differentiate between many more values than the twelve we usually employ in a drawing. That means that the artist must “deceive” the eye into believing that it is seeing more than is actually on the drawing paper. To this end we must understand how light behaves and values are perceived.

The trick is to manipulate the eye’s natural tendency towards closure, i.e., towards finishing a drawing even if parts are absent. But the eye only does that without objection if the plasticity is harmonious. Only then will the viewer emotionally engage.

The subject of creating harmonious plasticity is extensive. In this article we limit ourselves to realistic portraiture.

* Values - are just degrees of darkness and lightness. We usually restrict ourselves to 12 discrete values.

To understand how a form is rendered we need to understand how light behaves and how values enter into this. There are 2 characteristics of light relevant to drawing:

(1) Light travels in a straight line and bounces off surfaces.

(2) The strength of light diminishes quickly with distance.

From these characteristics it follows that:

* As a shape turns away from the light source it darkens.

* When two planes face the light they will have dissimilar values if their distances from the light source are different. For example, the eye closest to the light source will have a lighter value than the one further away.

* The lightest value on a form is the “highlight”. The highlight is always on a plane that is directly facing the light source.

* The bulk of a portrait’s value is so-called half-tone. That is, anything in-between pure white and pure black. Halftone rendering is simultaneously the most enjoyable and the most annoying aspect of drawing.

* As a form turns fully away from the light source it gradually descends into shadow, towards totally black (i.e., the absence of light). However, there is more to it.

* There is also reflected light from one surface onto another. Remember that light bounces off surfaces but with reduced intensity. So be careful not to overstate your reflected light.

* There is also the top of the shadow which is the darkest value on the form. This band of darkness lies between the darkest half-tones and the reflected light. This band of darkness is called the Line of Appelle. It is important to capture its shape correctly because it determines the form’s volume.

* As a form turns away from the light, the half-tone plane changes have a soft edge. The quality of this edge is determined by several factors the most important of which are the degree of plane change, the strength of the light source, and the structure of the surface.

* In portrait drawing there are also cast shadows which are hard-edged and very dark and are shed by one shape onto another. An example is the shadow that is cast by the nose onto the cheek.

An excellent exercise for understanding the concept of plasticity is to draw a white egg. For a more controlled situation you can build yourself a black box with one side open that fully controls the light of one source and blocks out the light of other sources that could contaminate the situation.

In closing, the use of the 12-value scale together with the above guidelines allows you to produce the necessary plasticity or tone for your subject.

Do you want to learn the secrets of pencil portrait drawing? Download my brand new free pencil portrait drawing course here: Free Pencil Portrait Drawing Course.

Remi Engels is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter and expert drawing teacher. See his work at Remi’s Pencil Portrait Web Site.

For the artistic creativity in video games and how to get the machine to see it - please go to PlayStation 3 pre order blog post.

Rebecca Lardner And Her Work

Having lived by the sea for much of my youth I was attracted to the artwork of Rebecca Lardner as I walked past a gallery door. The lovely colours and soft oil colours give an earthyness that makes you believe you are a watcher peering out from your cosy home by the sea.

The artist Rebecca Lardners work is often set in the enfolding arms of a English harbour with lots of activity moving in and out like the ocean. Often you see people and gulls moving about their normal activities all adding warmth to the pictures. She began her work following completion of an Art Foundation Course she graduated from the University of Liverpool with a BA Honours degree in Illustration.

Following a highly successful career as an artist and illustrator starting out making greeting cards. Rebecca Lardner now produces mostly original art works for magazines and record sleeves she has also created work for Paul McCartneys Music Academy. Influenced by Cornish artist Alfred Wallis her vibrant use of Oils on canvas pulls out the energy of the sea.

Rebecca Lardner has created out, sought after corporate commissions all over the planet from Ireland to India. Rebecca Lardners work can be found in top calibre galleries across the United Kingdom, her evocative work being looked for all over the world. I particularly love her work because of the character she places into each of the pictures, all of the colours work and the feel you get from her pictures are ones you want to keep going back to for another look.

The Works Of Mackenzie Thorpe

Having visited one of Mackenzie Thorpes exhibitions last year and was delighted at how the places and people he creates just connect with you emotionally. The images and influences of his work whether its cloud like or Japanese prints are all gathered up and made very Mackenzie Thorpe in a delightful variety of colours and emotions.

Mackenzie Thorpes Exhibitions over the past few years have sold out, and he is now known for having the biggest one man show ever held in the north of England. That being said after you look at Mackenzie Thorpes pieces you don’t get any sense of premise, just an intimate take of a second in time reflected back at you via the work of an extremely artist.

Having come from a history of struggle, Mackenzie Thorpe creates a scope to his work that truly captures the dull and light tones. Born in Middlesbrough in a era of economic adversity back in 1956, Mackenzie Thorpe found school tough as he struggled with dyslexia, but discovered an outlet through his pieces which enabled him to articulate himself, and looking at his work I’m happy he did.

Mackenzie Thorpe has a brilliant skill of putting tension into a still moment that just has you staring at his pictures for ages trying to discover just what he was pontificating about when he decided to create his picture, I love them. If you have the chance have a look at Mackenzie Thorpe’s work it is something that im sure you will see as very inspiring.

The Watercolours Of Gillian Mcdonald

Having been born in Scotland and later married there I have a real love of Scotlands landscape. The saying Absence makes the heart grow fonder is a phrase I really relate to and it wasn’t until the other day that I was searching round our local gallery that I saw the paintings of Gillian McDonald an artist that is particularly skilled in encompassing the ambience of gorgeous landscapes.

Her watercolour pictures are amazing capturing the wildness of the countryside but nestle in buildings that have a security and solitude which provides the essence of untouched regions. Gillian McDonald studied at the London college of art but developed her joy for the medium of water colour in Indonesia. She is renowned for her brilliant use of colour which really pulls out the essence of the subject she is trying to show.

It was lovely to see the beautiful crags of Ben More in the background with homesteads nestled in the warm and undulating landscape spread out before it. I enjoy the fact that in Gillian McDonalds paintings you frequently discover detail in a flower or blade of grass that ties In brilliantly with other parts of the image. I believe that Gillian McDonald herself is an avid gardener and walker, often roaming different parts of the country searching for her next piece to paint.

I believe Gillian McDonald now resides in Wales where she produces her work concentrating on her water colours and painting pictures that are loved the world over.

Let\’s Talk About Hollywood Awards

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are the most prestigious and popular film awards. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science or AMPAS situated in Beverly Hills, California started it in May 1929. PricewaterhouseCoopers since 1935 have managed the balloting process. In 1941 the confidential envelope system started which exists till this date. This was how the phrase “the envelope please” became famous. The members of this academy are invited by the Board of Governors to join. The membership has fifteen branches each based on the different categories of awards.

The gold plated statuettes are also presented as the Academy Award of Merit. It has a black metal base and weights 8.5 lb and 13.5 inch tall knight holding a crusader’s sword standing over a film reel with five spokes, which represent the five main categories of awards. It was created by George Stanley and Alex Smith and since then the Oscars have been manipulated only once. Forty Oscars are made for each annual Academy Awards in Chicago, Illinois. They are presented every year for movies, which have been produced in the last twelve months. The seventeen-month qualifying period was introduced to consider films released in a single calendar year in the year 1932. And since then this time period has been taken into consideration. The minimum length of the movie should be forty minutes and the minimum resolution should be 1280×720 so as to qualify as a feature-length.

The Academy Awards were held on Thursdays until 1954. From 1959 - 1998 they were held on Mondays except for few exceptions. It started to be held on Sundays from 1999. For nearly sixty years the Academy Awards were held in later March or early April. Since 2004 it is being held in late February or early March. The very first awards ceremony was held at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood. The Ambassador Hotel and Biltmore Hotel were the venues till early 1940s. Next venue was Grauman’s Chinese Theater, which was followed by the Shrine Auditorium. In 1949 the awards were presented at the Academy Award Theater. For the next ten years the venue was Pantages Theater in Hollywood. Next in line was Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica. Then the ceremony was shifted back to Los Angeles in 1968 at the Los Angeles Music Center and Shrine Auditorium and it was held there until 1988. In 2002 it was finally shifted to Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

Oscars recognizes talents in field such as acting, screenwriting, production, direction and technician. The awards categories can be broadly described as Best Production award, Best Director award, Best Actor award, Best Actress award, Best Supporting actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Screenplay award. The only three movies that have won awards in all the categories are “It Happened One Night”,” One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “The Silence of the Lambs”. This achievement is also known as the Big Five or Oscar Grand Slam. Three films hold the record for winning most number of Oscars, which are “Ben-Hur” in 1959, “Titanic” in 1997 and “The Return of the King” in 2003. On the awards night, invitees walk the red carpet in their best dresses, which create a fashion statement. The whole ceremony is broadcasted live on television all over America except Hawaii and Alaska, the first ever broadcast was in 1953 on NBC channel. There are performances by the nominees of the Best Original Song category and countless other performances. The telecast attracts over a billion viewers from all over the world as claimed by the Academy.

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School Prom

School prom should be fun. So if you are on the school prom planning committee and feel like you’re getting weighed down with the tasks of the planning, reserving, keeping up with king and queen nominations, trying to include everyone’s music likes, and all of the other multitude of things, we can help.

We at Events Listed have made promoting and managing your school prom as simple for you as possible. And we do it for FREE. That’s one way to help out your budget before you even start. Good job!

School Prom: Create an Interactive Website for the Big Night!

Once you and the rest of the committee have the prom planned and a date set, you need to place that information in one centralized spot for all to be able to go to. Not just for you, but for the rest of the committee, the students, teachers, parents, and anyone else involved. You need an interactive, personalized web page.

And you can create one yourself very easily with over 60 multi media tools; all set in a user-friendly Web 2.0 environment. No technical experience is necessary although everyone will think you are a technical genius when they see your page.

Add pictures, videos, comment walls, blurbs, RSS feeds, music, and more. Place a count down mechanism to the big night. The personalization details are endless. Why not add a poll for voting on the king and queen right there on your school prom page? Put on your prom dresses and your tuxes, ‘cause the time’s near!

Prom

Once your school prom web page is up and ready, it’s time to send out invitations. Do this electronically through emails containing a direct web link to your page. Your prom guests click the links and land right on the web page all about their school prom.

They’ll get there and see the guest list that may even have their pictures by their names. They can respond to your invitation and check out others’ responses. They’ll see who is ready to dance the night away, who says their feet hurt, and who just hasn’t responded yet.

Your school prom buddies will also be able network with each other right there on your web page. You can swap music suggestions and much more. Cross reference in other school prom networking groups and see what other ideas you get. Network before, during, and after your school prom. Even if you don’t have the prom fully planned, you can use your web page to network for theme ideas and more.

For those who can’t make it? They can watch. Hey, they may get jealous, but it’s better than nothing. Alert them to log on to your web page during the school prom while you or someone else uploads live video and pictures from the prom!

Manage the duties of the prom committee by using the task manager to assign everyone’s responsibilities. Post and manage your budget right on your web page. You’ll always have real time updates of the guest list, but you can also send out automated email reminders.

All of this personalization, networking, and management abilities, from Events Listed. And all for free. What a great school prom this is going to be. Let’s dance!

About the Author:

Simon Ford is an Internet Entrepreneur who specializes in Event Launch Marketing applying social media and internet marketing strategies. “he initially started writing to attract traffic to his websites and has since become hooked”. If the content of this article interests you, visit the events listed website to learn more about the latest strategies for publishing electronic invitations linked to a webpage displaying your party themes online. Check out the latest in FREE web2.0 prom planning applications.

Cooking Party Invitations

Cooking party invitations for all the chefs in your life. Sounds fun and yummy. We’ve got what you need for your invitations and we’ve also got some great tips for you to make your cooking party go smoothly and be a success.

* If you are doing one big uniform meal, assign your guest certain groceries to purchase and bring with them. This keeps the costs down for you.

* If you are doing different food themes (Mexican, Italian, Chinese, etc.), then assign one person to be in charge of each theme and have that person assign the grocery list within each group.

* Whatever dishes, pans, or utensils you don’t have that you need, assign someone to bring instead of you buying. Keep the costs down.

Personalized Cooking Party Invitation

Why not whip up some invitations that you’ve created and personalized to match your cooking party theme? You can easily and for free through Events Listed. With over 60 multi media tools available for you to completely personalize your web page, it’s the perfect recipe. You create the web page first so it can act as your invitation.

All of the tools are in a simple to use Web 2.0 environment, ready for you to completely personalize your page to your cooking party theme. Include pictures, videos, audios, surveys, and more. Pop in video of Rachael Ray or Gordon Ramsey. Add some music and even put up a timer that counts down to the party.

Be sure to post the date and time of the cooking party and any special instructions for your guests, such as “no MSG.” Just kidding. You can also post a poll for your guest to vote on which dishes they’d like to create. How about adding a map and directions to the cooking hot spot?

Party Invitations-All Eyes On the Guest List

Once your page is complete, you then invite your guests to go to your page by sending electronic emails with electronic links to your page. They click the link and arrive on your page. They’ll have eyes on the guest list and they’ll be able to respond to your invitation as well as seeing how others have responded. They’ll be able to see who’s ready to cook, who has 86ed themselves, and who hasn’t responded yet.

Your guests can also start networking together online as soon as they wish and you can even promote more networking by cross referencing other cooking unique party online groups. Get great recipes and cooking tips right there on your own web page.

Take advantage of the task manager to assign who is bringing what groceries and/or cooking supplies and post what group they are in. Send out preset, automated email reminders about the party date and time as the date draws nearer.

What about posting a budget for each person or each group right on the web page and manage it from there? There’s so much you can do with you web page, why not do it? It will make your life a lot easier. And again, it’s free, from Events Listed. Spot on!

About the Author:

Simon Ford is an Internet Entrepreneur who specializes in Event Launch Marketing applying social media and internet marketing strategies. “he initially started writing to attract traffic to his websites and has since become hooked”. If the content of this article interests you, you may be interested to visit his website where you will learn more about the latest strategies for party planning and publishing multi media rich web pages for events, strategies you can adopt to make any event like school reunion or kids birthday’s more memorable.

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