The award winning Key Arena at Seattle Center is Seattle’s premier venue for sports, concerts and family entertainment. The state-of-the-art facility is recognized as one of the safest, most advanced and comfortable arenas in the world. Its unique design provides sports and concert fans an intimate entertainment experience with spectacular sightlines and acoustics, uncommon in arenas of similar size.

KeyArena at Seattle Center was opened October 26, 1995. It is located north of downtown Seattle, USA on the grounds of Seattle Center (the site of 1962's Century 21 Exposition, a World's Fair). Since its inception, It had entertained over 10 million guests.

The Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association are the primary tenants of this gorgeous Key Arena.It has also the distinction of hosting the 1974 NBA All-Star Game.

This gorgeous Arena has been used for multipurpose activities. Besides hosting Seattle’s own SuperSonics, Storm and Thunderbirds, KeyArena at Seattle Center also hosts entertainments most acclaimed talent from music’s biggest stars to popular family shows. Since its opening in 1995, KeyArena has hosted over 130 concerts including music’s biggest names such as Aerosmith, Jose Carreras, Pearl Jam, Celine Dion, Elton John, Garth Brooks, George Strait and Simon & Garfunkel. It is proud of entertaining thousands of families with shows from Disney On Ice, Champions On Ice, WWE (http://events.ixs.net/WWE.aspx ), NCAA and the 1995-1996 NBA Finals.

In addition to being the home of the Sonics, it is also home to the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association and the Seattle Thunderbirds, a junior hockey team in the Western Hockey League. The Thunderbirds hosted the Memorial Cup here in 1992. It is also used for non-athletic entertainment purposes, such as ice shows, circuses, and concerts.

The arena was built in the name the Seattle Center Coliseum in 1962. However, the reconstruction was started on June 16, 1994 that ultimately completed on October 26, 1995. The building's original roofline was used as a guide and some of the original concrete for the main supports still exists but most everything about the arena was brand new. The court which was originally at street level is now 35 feet below to allow more seating. After the rebuild, the Coliseum was renamed KeyArena, as Key Bank purchased the naming rights.
The first regular season game that the Seattle SuperSonics played in KeyArena at Seattle Center took place on November 4, 1995, against the Los Angeles Lakers.The city of Seattle contributed 74.5 million and the Seattle SuperSonics approximately 21 million for the reconstruction of this wonderful Key Arena.

KeyArena is unique in the sense that it is the first publicly financed arena fully supported by earned income from the building. It has wonderful seating capacity for all the games and the concerts. Its seating capacity for basketball games is 17,072, ice hockey games and ice shows 15,177, end-stage concerts, 16,641 and center-stage concerts and boxing 17,459. Risers hold 7,440 on the upper level and up to 7,741 on the lower level, with luxury suites adding another 1,160 seats.

Actually, Key Arena at Seattle Center has earned the reputation of nation's best gathering place.Undoubtedly, It is home to the finest cultural and educational organizations, sports teams, festivals, community programs and entertainment facilities.
For more information about Key Arena visit: http://venues.ixs.net/venues/Key-Arena/index.aspx


Guitar Instruction - What Method is Right For You?
Although it may be tempting to start learning how to play guitar by searching for free guitar lessons on the internet, guitar instruction is not so simple and should be approached with some thought as to what will be right for you. There are several options for you if you are just starting to learn guitar. You can take traditional lessons at a music store or school. You can hire a private teacher who will either come to your home or have you at their facility. You can invest in a downloadable guitar instruction course, of which there are several to choose from. You can buy a home study course in the form of books, CD, and/or DVD. And finally, you can search out free guitar lessons on the internet, and learn whatever is available.
The first thing to think about is your level of experience as you start learning how to play the guitar. If you are an experienced musician who plays other instruments and has a good understanding of music theory, then in all likelihod you don't need a lot of instruction and what you find freely available in the form of guitar chord charts, guitar tabs, and free guitar instruction, may be all that you need to get you started. At some point fairly soon, however, you'll discover that most of the things you can get for free are similar or the same, and there is definitely a limit to how far you can go.
Since most people are not experienced musicians, they are just people who want to learn how to play the guitar for a variety of reasons, let's look at things from that viewpoint. No matter what, you're going to have to commit enough time to practice. You'll need 20-30 minutes every day, or at least most days of the week to practice on what you have learned. As for the guitar instruction itself, traditional lessons take 30 - 45 minutes usually, some are an hour. They happen once per week. At each lesson you'll learn a new technique or song, be given something to practice for the next week, and probably demonstrate your mastery of the material given the previous week.
Downloadable or book/cd/dvd packages you can get should be thought of similarly. Each section will cover a new technique, which you will then practice on until you can do it well. There is some disadvantage to these lessons in the fact that you don’t have anyone to show your work to for feedback. However, most guitar lesson packages contain at least audio examples for you to play along with. Assuming you can hear your mistakes you’ll be able to know when you are doing it right. Many packages even include video which takes it one step further.
The obvious advantages to these lessons, however, is the fact that you get to do them on your own time, and they are extremely cost effective. There is a downside, however, and that is the motivation factor. Having someone sitting across from you every week to tell you whether you are doing it right is a powerful motivating force. It’s easy to relax and not work so hard when you know that the only person paying attention to your progress is you.
Although guitar instruction can come in many different forms, there will be one which is best for you. Take some time and evaluate your own goals and needs, and choose the type of guitar instruction that fits with your budget and schedule. Be honest with yourself about what you need. Learning to play the guitar is a very rewarding and challenging experience. Take your time at the beginning and it will provide a lifetime of enjoyment for your and your family.


Portable Play Station (PSP)
Definition: The PlayStation Portable, or PSP, is a handheld gaming console made by Sony. It was released in 2004 in Japan, and in 2005 in Europe and North America.
The PSP is primarily a game console (PSP games come in UMD, or Universal Media Disc, format), but it can also play UMD-format movies. Using a memory stick, the PSP can play music and video files, and display picture files such as photos. This portable console can also connect to the internet via a web browser (not incuded in early firmware releases) and built-in wi-fi.
As its name suggests, the PSP -- or PlayStation Portable -- is a smaller, lighter version of Sony's PlayStation. It's not as powerful as the PS2, but more powerful than the original PlayStation, and it has a built-in screen and speakers so you don't have to plug it in to anything to use it.
Sony has also announced an add-on camera and a GPS device for use with the PSP, expanding its capabilities even further.
Specifications
• Color:
o black
o ceramic white (Japan and Europe only)
o pink (Europe only)
o Tsukimi -- black with copper (Japan only)
o Kachofugetsu -- white with black and red (Japan only)
• Dimensions: 6.7"/170 mm wide x 2.9"/74 mm high x .9"/23 mm deep
• Weight: .62 lbs/280 g (including battery)
• CPU: PSP CPU (1-333 MHz)
• Memory:
o 32 MB Main Memory
o 4 MB embedded DRAM
• Display:
o 4.3", 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD screen
o 480 x 272 pixels
o 16.77 million colors
o maximum luminance 180/130/80 cd/m2 (when using battery pack)
o maximum luminance 200/180/130/ 80 cd/m2 (when using AC adaptor)
• Sound:
o built-in stereo speakers
o headset connector
• Connectors, Ports and Drives:
o IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi)
o USB 2.0 (mini-B)
o Memory Stick Duo
o infrared
o DC in 5 V connector
o headset connector
o UMD drive (Read only)
• Buttons and Switches:
o d-pad
o analog nub
o triangle, circle, cross, square
o right and left shoulder
o Start, Select, and Home
o Power/Hold
o display brightness, sound, volume up, volume down
o wireless LAN on/off
o UMD latch
• Power:
o lithium-ion battery
o AC adaptor
• Access control:
o UMD region coding
o parental control
What Does It All Mean?
Basically, what all these fancy specs come down to is a kick-ass handheld gaming machine with amazing graphics for its size, that can also play movies and music, display photos and image files, surf the web and, with every new firmware release, even more cool stuff. Phew!
As for whether or not you should buy one . . . well, you'll have to decide for yourself, but I've never regretted buying mine.
For more details, visit my site PSP Downloads.