Monday, June 16, 2025
A Magical String Instrument
Monday, June 2, 2025
Where Cricket Meets Entertainment
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Game of hand gestures
Monday, May 19, 2025
Coconut snatching game of Manipur
Monday, May 5, 2025
Sport that gives pure joy
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Oldest team sport in North America
Saturday, January 18, 2025
Musical instrument
Friday, January 10, 2025
Bumpy science behind golf balls
WHY DO GOLF BALLS HAVE DIMPLES?
DIFFERENT DIMPLES: The dimpled surface of the golf ball has gone through many iterations. In 1848, the gutta-percha ball sported inverted dimples and was covered in a pattern of protruding squares to minimise drag. In 1899, American inventors Coburn Haskell and Bertram Work patented a gutta-percha golf ball with a rubber core. Their design lasted until the early 1900s, when more robust plastics were being developed. Manufacturers found that balls with concave dimples would fly better than a gutta-percha ball. Although it might be hard to differentiate between modern-day golf balls, the number of dimples and the shape of dimples can differ.
Golf ball dimples are created by filling moulds with plastic around rubber cores
Do you know:
â The average golf ball dimple depth is 0.25 millimetres.
â A golf ball with dimples can travel almost twice as far as a smooth ball.
Thursday, January 9, 2025
The artful sport of China
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
KNOW YOUR ENGLISH
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
TRADITIONAL JAPANESE LONGBOW
Thursday, December 12, 2024
MASTERING THE COURT
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
HISTORY BEHIND MOST POPULAR SPORTS PLAYED WORLDWIDE
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
THE BOARD GAME
Sunday, November 3, 2024
HOBBY
Tuesday, October 22, 2024
THE LANGUAGE OF NUMBERS
Thursday, October 17, 2024
ANCIENT LANGUAGES RICH IN LITERATURE
Tuesday, October 8, 2024
THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF ACHIEVEMENTS
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
YODELING
Yodel-ay-hee-whoo
When most people think about Switzerland, they think of Swiss cheese, Swiss Army knives, tall Alpine mountains, and yodeling. Most of us have seen at least one movie or television show in which someone in a traditional Swiss outfit stands on a mountainside and calls, âYodel-ay-hee-whoo!â Maybe youâve even watched an old Tarzan movie in which Tarzan swings through the trees and yodels his famous cry. But just what is this strange noise, what is it for, and how did it get started?
Yodeling has been used as a means of communications in mountainous regions for centuries. While yodeling is most often associated with Switzerland, it actually originated in the 4th century BC. A Roman emperor named Julian complained about the âwild, shrieking songsâ of people who lived in the northern mountains. Some people believe that yodeling may have started in Africa, probably as a way to call cattle and keep them together. In the 1200s, early shepherds in the Alpine region that includes modern day Switzerland discovered that they could alternate their voices between a regular singing voice and a falsetto (a singing voice that is unusually or unnaturally high) voice, and began using it to call their cows and communicate with each other across large areas. This kind of singing became known as yodeling in English, from the German word jodeln, which means âto utter the syllable joâ (pronounced âyoâ in English).
It didnât take long for yodeling to move from a folk tradition to a type of entertainment. By 1830, it was a popular act in theaters and music halls. It was also included in many Austrian and Swiss folk songs. In the United States, some of the traveling minstrels in the 19th century performed yodeling. In 1892, inventor Thomas Edison made a recording of yodeler L. W. Lipp for Edisonâs New Jersey Phonograph Company. Singers began using yodeling in other forms of music, such as blues and country. Folk singer Jimmie Rodgers released a recording called âBlue Yodel No. 1.â He eventually recorded 13 blue yodel songs, which blended yodeling with African American blues and work songs. Rodgersâ recording created yodeling craze in the United States. Singing cowboys and cowgirls also began using yodeling in their acts.
How do singers yodel? They do it by rapidly shifting from their regular chest singing voice to their falsetto head voice, at high volume. They might be shifting several times in just a few seconds. Yodelers use the consonants AH, OH, OO for chest notes and AY or EE for the falsetto, so in the famous yodel âYodel Ay EEE Oooo,â the EEE is sung in the high head voice and the rest in the chest voice. It takes time and training for singers to learn how to move so quickly between the two voice levels.
Yodeling has found its way into a lot of modern music as well, including punk and contemporary rock. Singer Jewel yodels in her song âChime Bells.â Her father, who in turn learned from listening to Jimmie Rodgersâ recordings, taught her to yodel. Gwen Stefani yodels in her 2006 single âWind It Up.â Other famous yodelers include the Muppets, Bill Murray, Julie Andrews in the movie The Sound of Music, Shakira, Gene Wilder, Disneyâs Goofy, and South Koreaâs former Miss World, Ji-Yea Park. Kishore Kumar was a famous Indian singer and actor who was known for his yodeling.
Many people are trying yodeling, especially because it is said to help relieve stress. Listen to some yodeling performances (there are many on YouTube), then find a mountaintop, or at least some place where you wonât bother anyone, and give it a try. Maybe yodeling will be an easier way to communicate with your friends than texting or emailingâŚor maybe not.
Sunday, September 22, 2024
NOT AN EASY JOB
Making a cricket bat
Cricket bat making is an art and we come across different makes of bats in International cricket. The sound of the timer and the way balls soared over the boundary is a treat to watch. But bat making is not an easy job and it undergoes many processes before taking the shape of a cricket bat.
A cricket bat is a specialized piece of equipment used by batsmen in the sport of cricket to hit the ball, typically consisting of a cane handle attached to a flat-fronted willow-wood blade. The length of the bat may be no more than 38 inches (965 mm) and the width no more than 4.25 inches (108 mm). Its use is first mentioned in 1624. Since 1979, a rule change stipulated that bats can only be made from wood. Dennis Lillee used an aluminum bat and that was banned for use in cricket matches. Matthew Hayden used a Mongoose bat during an IPL match and that was not in use thereafter.
Cricket bat willow is a cultivated timber which predominantly grows in large plantations in wetland areas throughout England mainly in the South East. The trees are mature between the age of 12-15 years and at this stage have a circumference of over 4ft. The bulk of the Woodstock willow comes from willow specialists but each cleft is still selected by lead bat maker, John Newsome, individually. The cleft has already been split from the round using a wooden wedge, rough sawn and the ends waxed to stop splitting. The process of seasoning in the open air takes place to reduce moisture content and this takes between nine months and a year. When ready to be turned into bats the ends are cut and they pass through a five cutter milling machine to give the cleft a uniform shape.
The seasoning of the willow at various seasons is exposed to various conditions. The bats are exposed to sun rays, rain and snowfall and the wear and tear on these weather conditions makes the bat more seasoned and fit for use for making bats. The age of these willows are picked according to their age to make it a suitable one for the process of bat making. Both Kashmir willow and English willow are cut to size of bat and kept for exposure to weather and later the bat making process is undergone to make a balanced bat.
Each bat handle is spliced and fitted using a flexible wood glue making sure it is set slightly forward to ensure the perfect line of the bow. The handle is then gently tapped into place and left to dry in an upright position. Once the bat has been shaped and blended the sanding process begins. This is a time consuming process that uses several grades of paper working to a fine finish. Finally brush sanders are used to give a beautiful smooth finish. The stickers are then affixed to make it colourful and to provide the bat name of the Indian made bats are exported to other countries. An exclusive bat made in India is not available for sale in India but you can get the same across the sea when you visit Sri Lanka. In Srinagar and surrounding areas cricket bats are available on the streets and you can pick up the best piece at a cheaper price without stickers but you can buy from outside and stick on as per your own liking.
The art of making a cricket bat is lovely to watch and the youngsters should avail a chance to go through the quality of wood, a few craftsmen with serious skills, computer assisted design, and large machines in factories, which provide all about a cricket bat. A firm grip with different colours and design decorate your bat very much and show a classic look. The curve given to the bat is of advantage and attracts classy batsmen of the modern era. Once the bats get final shape then it is ready for labelling, gripping and knocking in.
Every bat also receives a final check-over to ensure that it has been finished to a high standard and that there are no previously unspotted imperfections. The present day bats provide you the feather touch if the shot is played from the middle of the bat with perfect timing. There lies the real pleasure of playing with a perfect bat.
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