Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Separate the leaves from the bulbs. Boil a large pot of water on high heat to blanch the bulbs. Remove the fennel with a spoon and dip it into a bowl of ice-cold water. Transfer the fennel from the ice water to paper towels. Place the fennel bulbs in storage containers and freeze them.

Answer: You can cut the leaves away or use your fingers to pull them off. Be careful not to bruise the bulbs, which could cause them to rot. Once the water is boiling, add the fennel and continue to boil it for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on how tender you want the bulbs. Blanching is essential to retain to the color, texture, and flavor of the fennel. Do this immediately after removing it from the boiling water. You want to cool the fennel down quickly to prevent it from continuing to cook. Use another paper towel to soak up excess water by gently pressing on the fennel. Allow the herbs to dry for a few minutes. Use glass or plastic containers with lids, or simple plastic freezer bags. When you are ready to use them, simply remove the fennel from the freezer, thaw it, and use as you would normally use a fresh bulb. Fennel can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 months.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Check the height of your boots. Check the heel label for the proper font. Check where the shoes were made.

Answer: Fake boots are taller than real pairs; you might only be able to tell this if you have a real pair to compare them to, so either hold an old pair next to this new pair, or compare images online. Real boots have a 11 ¾ inch (29.845 cm) shaft height, and fake boots can be up to 2 inches (5.08 cm) taller. The opening of your boots should be wide enough to fold down. If the opening is narrow, your UGG boots are most likely imitations. If the font is large and stylized incorrectly, you will know the boots are knockoffs. The threads on the label of fake UGG boots will be mismatched and asymmetrical. The label on fake boots will be wide and sloppily stitched. Real UGG boots are made in China, not in Australia, as many fake boots will claim. This should be displayed clearly on the label. Also check for the registered trademark mark (R) on the boots’ soles.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Put your children in charge. Give them roles in the wedding. Perform a family unity ceremony. Make a vow.

Answer: Make each child responsible for some part of the ceremony. These could be larger responsibilities or smaller ones, depending on the age and ability of the child. If you are looking for roles for younger children, they may do well being assigned simple tasks to give people something. For example, you could make children responsible for:  Having guests sign a guestbook or photo mat. (Consider having your guests sign a family portrait to have your children feel even more included!) Handing out ceremony programs. Handing out bubbles or birdseed as guests leave the ceremony. If your children agree, have them play a visible role in the wedding ceremony. You could have your children in some or all of the following roles, depending on their interest, age, and ability.  Have the children walk their parent down the aisle at the beginning of the ceremony.  Make them your attendants. Your children could serve as bridesmaids, groomsmen, or page boys, or simply stand up on their parent’s side during the ceremony. Kids could serve as ushers at the beginning and end of the ceremony. Younger children could serve as a flower girl or ring bearer. Older child could do a reading or poem during the ceremony. There are many different ways a new family could express their commitment to unity in a wedding ceremony. A ceremony, or ritual, can help children understand and see your family’s values expressed outwardly, which can deepen family ties.  You could perform a unity candle ceremony. This could be done in several different ways. The couple could light the candle first and then light the children’s candles, or separate candles could be lit ahead of time, given to each person in the family to use to light one, bigger candle together as a family.  Have your children bless your wedding rings in a “ring warming ceremony.” Children bestow their blessings on the rings (perhaps a prayer or wish could be read aloud by the officiant), then pass them to the couple to exchange them.  A sand ceremony has each member of the family pour sand or soil into a container, then mix it all together to signify coming together and blending.  After you exchange rings with your spouse, you could present the children with a token to acknowledge your commitment to the new family. Some families choose a family medallion that can be worn as a necklace. You can find some examples of family medallions online. You could also design your own ritual that expresses your family’s values. Just as you will make vows of marriage to your spouse, make a vow of commitment and love to the children who will be entering into your family. This will help children know that you are as committed to loving and valuing them as you are their parent.  After exchanging rings, a special verse can be included to let children know that you both are committed to their future as part of a combined family. It could be something simple stated in unison, such as “I am marrying my soulmate, and I am also extending my love and commitment to each of you as part of my family from this day forward.” You can ask your children to join you, or you can address them from their seats. Make the call based on your children’s comfort level.


Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Play around. Build a library of samples. Practice building drum beats. Practice your wobble. Start adding effects and layers.

Answer:
In the beginning, worry less about finally getting your dubstep opus recorded, the one that you've had bumping around your mind for years. Instead, throw your efforts into playing around with the software and getting familiar with its particularities. Mess around and make joke tracks, record extreme or weird kinds of sounds you wouldn't normally want to listen to. Time spent learning the software will help you down the road when you want to translate something you hear in your head onto the computer. It's an instrument, so learn to play it. Whatever software package you choose to download and install, take the tour of the software or check out guide videos on YouTube to learn everything you can about it. Hook up with experienced dubstep producers who are willing to show you the ropes and teach you about the software and how to use it. Samples can be found with a quick Internet search, your own field recording sessions, or you can spend money and invest in a few sample libraries for a wealth of high-quality sounds to play with. Organize them into categories you'll be able to remember and start making music with song fragments that catch your ear.  Consider getting an external hard drive on which to keep your samples. Organize them into practical categories like "acoustic drums" "spoken word" and "synth sounds" or by textural descriptions to keep things interesting. Maybe label your categories "spacey" or "gnarly" to start combining interesting textures with your samples when you make music. Go old school and start crate-digging for used vinyl and convert your analog samples to digital. Seek out old songs that you've always loved and sample the hook from them. Typically, you'll set the tempo when you start a new track and the software will manipulate any preset beats or other effects to match the intended tempo of the song you're working on. If you're working with your own samples, though, this won't work, so it helps to get familiar with the way creating a beat works.  Beat tracks are made by organizing some combination of kick, snare, and hi-hat sounds into a base rhythm from which you'll build. Choose a kick sample and boost the bass and punch, or layer 3 different kick samples together to get that distinctive Dubstep kick sound. Dubstep tempos generally hover around 140 bpm. You don't have to stick to that, but dubstep songs don't generally fall below 120 or 130. One of the most distinctive elements of dubstep music is the iconic wobbly bass tone, which is typically recorded using a MIDI keyboard or synth and composing a simple bassline yourself. Many free synths can be found online, or you can invest in a professional synth package like Native Instrument's Massive or Rob Papen's Albino 3. Wobbles usually take a little tweaking and synth understanding to get right, but most synths come with pre-made "patches" which you can browse though and choose from. When you get more experienced, start double-tracking each wobble and adding other delays, distortions, and effects to create a collage tapestry that is a piece of electronic music.  Double track your wobbles into the top end and the clean subs at the bottom. When you start distorting and running the top end through a whole bunch of effects to dirty it up, it muds up the bottom end if it's not separated. Take your bass patch, copy the entire track with the synth on it, and then on the copy, use only one oscillator and change it to a sine wave. Then high pass the top end using an equalizer (at around 70 Hz) and low pass the sub (at around 78 Hz). Get some variations in your bass sounds by bouncing your samples to audio, tweaking the synth a little bit, and bouncing it back. Do it a few times, and you've got a library of bass wobbles that all follow the same bassline. You can further expand on this idea by running them all through different effects chains.