Accolades News - Accolades Tours for the Arts

A Match Made on Tour!

5/10/2016

On an Accolades tour to Poland, Hudson High School Choir director and Accolades client Andy Haase had shared with our co-owner Janet Tollund that, while he’d like to be married, his busy schedule as teacher and director left little time to find that special person.

Sigismund Bell Clapper

Andy Haase at the clapper

In Krakow, our local guide had secured access to the famous bell tower at the Wawel Cathedral. With the entire group gathered round the 14-ton bell, the guide explained that it also carried a legend: Should an unmarried person touch the bell, he or she will be married within the year. Everyone (including Andy's mother) encouraged him to touch the bell.

A few months after the tour, Andy called us with the news he was getting married -- and to one of the chaperons he had met on the tour! Andy and Jen are happily married with two beautiful little girls.

Accolades itineraries are second-to-none, yet off-itinerary moments can be just as memorable.

More About The Royal Sigismund Bell

The Royal Sigismund Bell is the largest of the five bells hanging in the Sigismund Tower of the Wawel Cathedral in the Polish city of Kraków. It was cast in 1520 by Hans Behem and named after King Sigismund I of Poland, who commissioned it. Weighing almost 28 thousand pounds, it requires 12 bell-ringers to ring it.

It is rung on special occasions, mostly religious and national holidays, and is regarded as one of Poland's national symbols.

The body of the Sigismund Bell is cast in bronze and weighs 9,650 kg. Its diameter at the lip is 242 cm and its height is 241 cm.[1] The wall of the body is from 7 to 21 cm thick.[2] The crown of the bell is attached to a yoke made of oak wood and measuring 308 cm in length and 219 cm in height. Within the bell, suspended on a leather belt of up to 12 layers, attached to an iron supporting structure, is a Gothic clapper, weighing – together with the belt – 365 kg.[1]

Royal Sigismund Bell

image and history courtesy wikipedia

“If you see something, say something"

4/19/2016

... can we be more vague?

Washington Post columnist Petula Dvorak addresses the balance of vigilance and common sense, especially regarding unknown cultures, in her April 18 article.

What’s even scarier is the “something” that was part of a leaked TSA checklist ... included such gems as:
~ arrives late for flight,
~ increased perspiration,
~ increased breathing rate
~ or excessive fidgeting.

That describes just about every parent who has ever flown anywhere with small children.

-Petula Dvorak
more

TSA See Say

Music Program Improves Reading in Children

4/8/2016

Ann Kay

Lifelong music educator Ann Kay has devoted her retirement to using music to help children read better. Two years ago she and her husband bought an old city bus.

They drove it to North Minneapolis and turned it into a mobile computer lab outfitted with innovative sing-along software that research shows helps students make rapid improvements in literacy.

Kay’s “Rock ‘n’ Read” nonprofit has also helped establish computer labs in several Minneapolis public schools.

Singing and “steady-beat activities” result in better auditory processing, which is associated with higher reading achievement, Kay said. Selcer said it was important look at all available tools in helping struggling students, and the “startling results” of the “simple yet potentially powerful” method were worth exploring further.

MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE TO
FUND RESEARCH

Sponsored by Rep. Yvonne Selcer (Mtka), a proposed bill would provide money to explore the effects of the music software on student reading ability at three Minnesota schools, using assessments developed by the University of Minnesota.

The pilot program would be aimed at students reading below grade level, she said, and would reach up to 150 students in grades 3 to 5 in each school.

A companion bill sponsored by Sen. Alice Johnson (Blaine), awaits action by the Senate Finance Committee.

Other Studies

Music to Enhance Reading Skills of
2nd Graders w/wo disabilities

Can Music Be Used to Teach Reading?

Hear a 1679 Stradivari Sabionari, 1679 guitar

1/20/2016

In recent years the earliest surviving Stradivari guitar has been restored and even brought back into playing condition. The restoration was carried out by the Sinier de Ridder workshop, stabilizing the body and replacing the worm-eaten 19th century neck.

It’s the only one of the five existing guitars that is playable.

The tuning is: A D G B E, the first four (ADGB) are double strings, The E is a single string.
All are gut strings.

Playing a Musical Instrument Can Actually Improve Your Health?

12/22/2015

Did you know that playing a musical instrument can actually improve your health?

Yamaha's Music and Wellness Institute has been conducting research on the health benefits of active music making.

Less than 7% of American adults actually play a musical instrument today.

The institute supports the notion that as a society, we are in need of healing, a process that has been described as "putting back into one's life what is missing." Perhaps that healing element is creative musical expression.

Their first finding, "Making Music Switches off Stress", WebMD, looked at 45 stress-related genes. Nineteen of these genes were reversed in the study group that participated in a recreational music-making program, The study group who spent time just relaxing only had six stress genes reversed.

Careers

10/2/2015

We are always looking for talented, hard-working people who embrace world travel.

If you are energized by the thought of enriching lives and have been a group leader or in service-based sales, please contact us. Accolades provides excellent benefits including the potential of working from your home, uncapped earning potential, and the opportunity to work with a company of the highest integrity.

E.Z., Phone Home

7/24/2015

Phoning home has gotten easier but can still be tricky. Here are four top tips:

1. Confirm that your phone will work:
If your carrier confirms that:

The phone hardware will work at each destination,
Your plan allows for international calling,
Your International calling is activated,
Your plans rates are competitive,

that may be the easiest option.

2. Plan B: Using local SIM card
If your phone hardware is compatible and unlocked, but their per-minute rates are too consider installing locally-bought SIM cards. These SIM cards can be purchased at phone, music, or even grocery stores, and allow your phone to use local, cheaper carriers.

Dual SIMM Phone

Even if your phone is not unlocked, your carrier can usually help you with unlocking it, but start this process at least a week prior to leaving.

3. If your phone isn't compatible or can't be unlocked,
you might consider buying an inexpensive, unlocked phone just for traveling.

4. Take advantage of Wi-Fi:
If your smartphone can access local WIFI, then by using Skype, FaceTime, Viber, or Google Hangouts, you may be able to handle all your communication needs, rendering all the SIM, hardware, and carrier compatibility issue irrelevant.

For more tips, visit onecallinternational

If you could benefit from a locally-purchased SIM cards, here's a primer on how to replace SIM cards (be sure to keep track of the original SIM card)

SIMM Card: iPhone

A Case for Luggage

7/24/2015

According to NBC's Ben Popkin, everything you know about packing is wrong as wrong.

Our typical approach actually promotes wrinkles. In the video, Ben's alternative approach reduces wrinkles and takes up less space.

Packing Luggage

No matter which method you use to pack, there is still making sure you know what to pack. Brian Teeter, in his book, Healthy Trekking Guides (Irvine CA), presents us with advise on what to bring and what NOT to bring:

Be ruthless. Aim to fit everything inside a carry-on bag. You’ll cut down on excess luggage fees, eliminate the possibility of lost luggage and simplify your life.

A few days before your trip, lay out everything you’ll think you need. Plan ahead on what you’ll wear. Put away anything that’s not absolutely necessary. Take what remains and cut that quantity in half. Also, don’t wait until the last moment to pack. You’ll rush, and end up bringing what you don’t need.
Use [the Accolades] packing list to help you organize.
Make traveling wrinkle-free with the right fabrics. Pack knits, wools and cotton clothes – these wrinkle less and offer more versatility. Travel-specific clothing from Travelsmith and REI might cost more, but stay cool, dry quickly and can be washed in your hotel sink.
Shoes take up a lot of space in your bag. So fill them with underwear and socks. Try to eliminate bringing extra pairs by coordinating your clothes around one packed pair. If you can, wear the bulkiest shoes when you fly and pack the other pair(s).
Pack your toiletries in a Dopp kit or Ziploc bag. (If you’re traveling with a carry-on containing liquids, put them in a Ziploc bag to comply with the TSA 3-1-1 rule). Save space with sample bottles of shampoo or make-up.
To keep necklaces and bracelets from tangling, string them through drinking straws and then fasten them.
No gym at your hotel? No problem! A jump rope, resistance bands and other items can turn your hotel room into a gym while hardly taking up any space in your suitcase.
To sleep better on the road, pack an eye mask and foam earplugs. They can help assure a good night’s sleep, and that’s important for overcoming jet lag.
If you’re traveling with a loved one, a good trick is to pack half of your clothes and items in your bag, and half in your partner’s, and vice-versa. That way, if you lose one of your bags, you’ll still have something to wear.
Take pictures of your luggage before your trip, especially bags you might intend to check. If the airline loses them, having photos of the missing bags will make them easier to find.

Finally, from onebag.com comes this enlightened promise:

If you persevere [with minimizing what you pack], you will at some point reach a transcendent moment, in which your (one) bag will be small and light enough to carry without consequence -- no longer of any meaningful concern. And from that instant, your travel experiences will be forever changed with an unfettered freedom that is beyond the comprehension of those who remain bound to their baggage.

courtesty of www.onebag.com

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