text:
With red and white vinyl text and a stack of colourful christmas presents, to boot, this sure makes for that christmas spirit kids t-shirts. Now to decide, what to have...mmmmmm, decisions, decisions!
Naughty or Nice? Decisions, Decisions mug
Naughty or Nice? Decisions, Decisions baby grow
Naughty or Nice? Decisions, Decisions kids apron
Red Robin Cut Out kids t-shirt
Mirrored Reindeer kids t-shirt
I'm Not Short I'm Elf Sized kids t-shirt
Official Cookie Taster kids t-shirt
Silent Night Dream On kids t-shirt
Son Of A Nutcracker kids t-shirt
Follow Us


text:
more CD Cobresal football formations
CD Cobresal players:
- E. Lobos
- M. Escalona
- D. Silva
- A. López
- P. Jerez
- J. Acuña
- V. Sarabia
- J. Fuentes
- N. Sepúlveda
- J. Benítez
- E. Cantero
Rebuild this formation
Build your own CD Cobresal formation.
Share this 3-5-1-1 formation
Share |
direct link:
twitter and facebook link:
img code — copy and paste this to your forum:
use this link to create a CD Cobresal formation:
There are no comments yet. Click here to add your comment.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Janine Riviere captures one of many beautiful sights on the island of Mauritius
Janine Riviere, a doctoral candidate in history, took this photo in December at the SSR Botanical Garden in Mauritius. The gardens are famous for their giant water lilies (victoria amazonica), whose leaves can grow to three metres wide. Riviere spent a lot of time taking digital and film photos to catch these blooms from many different perspectives — the flowers only last two days.
Email us your submissions
Riviere became seriously involved in photography in 2009, and now "never leaves home without a camera." She prefers landscape, nature, night photography and macro. "I am seeking to develop my own style intuitively rather than deliberately, and to avoid emulating others as much as possible," she says.


text:
It seems fair that the man who has a passion for hunting moose should be blessed to have come from the land where the big game roam. Réal Langlois, host and producer of The Rack Man, is based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. For over 15 years, he has shared his knowledge of moose hunting through his videos, which has also made him one of the best hunting filmmakers in North America. Some might recognize and know him best for the record-setting moose shot that was captured on camera.
Langlois has his own production house, Rack Man Films, which produces video after video of quality hunting footage. And while his shining achievement is getting a bull from 10 feet (possibly 8), in an interview with Draves Archery, Langlois said most of his videos feature him getting within close range to his game. As an expert hunter, who is passionate about the sport, I don't doubt he gets close.
But when he's not hunting, Langlois is filming the breathtaking scenery from his many trips, like this recent one from the Yukon.
Photo: Lee Coursey


text:
Signings Chelsea could make to persuade Real Madrid transfer target Eden Hazard to stay
Chelsea star Eden Hazard will be a much sought-after man this summer, given his side's failure to qualify for the Champions League next season.
The 27-year-old winger should be approaching his best form in the next few campaigns and won't want to spend his prime period in Europe's secondary competition.
Real Madrid have been linked with Hazard, whose contract is due to expire in two years and the player recently issued a warning to the Blues' hierarchy, claiming he wants to see new signings before deciding whether to sign a new deal.
Asked about his future, the Belgium international said: "It's a big decision, that's why I'm taking my time… but one thing for sure is I'm happy here.
"I'm waiting for new players next season. We will see.
"I want good players, I want to win the Premier League next season."
So who could Roman Abramovich recruit in order to secure Hazard's future. talkSPORT has taken a look at ten players who would definitely convince him it is best to stay put.


text:
* please note the current despatch time ~ these are made to order and require several days curing time to ensure they are secure *
A gorgeous glass ball globe pendant has been one quarter-filled with the tiniest, prettiest silver balls. The bronze plated vial cap is securely glued, and it dangles from a bronze plated chain of approximately 20"/51cm long. The necklace fastens with a lobster-claw clasp, and the little vial itself is around 5/8"/1.5cm in diameter. If a 20" chain is not a suitable length for you, please do let me know - I am happy to offer you any length chain if preferred.
Delicate, dainty and pretty.
Necklace is gift boxed for safe posting and ready for gift-giving.
Also available in silver plate with multicoloured balls:
...and in silver plate with golden balls:
Would you like to see the other glass ball jewelry in my shop? Try these: http://etsy.me/1KBwW8f
To visit the rest of my shop and see more, go to: http://www.etsy.com/shop/flonightingales
Thank you for visiting!
3-5 business days
I'll do my best to meet these shipping estimates, but can't guarantee them. Actual delivery time will depend on the shipping method you choose.
Buyers are responsible for any customs and import taxes that may apply. I'm not responsible for delays due to customs.
Just contact me within: 14 days of delivery
Ship items back to me within: 30 days of delivery
Request a cancellation within: 12 hours of purchase
But please contact me if you have any problems with your order.
Because of the nature of these items, unless they arrive damaged or defective, I can't accept returns for:
Buyers are responsible for return shipping costs. If the item is not returned in its original condition, the buyer is responsible for any loss in value.
Please contact me if you have any problems with your order.


text:
A New Modernism: 1960s Fashion In The 21st Century! The playful, yet edgy, attitude Lucullen introduces in its Fall 2010 collection is seen in the cut, color combinations, and bold fabrics used for the pieces.
Online PR News – 16-February-2010 – – Audrey Hepburn, Jacqueline Kennedy, Sophia Loren. Certain women of note iconically defined fashion in the 1960s with their sense of style. The looks of the decade were fun, passionate, and rebellious. Designer Joyce Huang evokes this time of youthful exuberance in fashion with her new collection for Lucullen, adding in a bit of an edge to bring the 1960s into the 21st Century.
Once again, Huang has created pieces for Lucullen that are designed to elegantly take women through the demands of their workday and into their plans for the evening afterwards. This time, her creations exhibit influences from the Mod and Rocker styles of '60s British youth culture, updated and made accessible to professional women of any age.
"Fashion should be fun," says Huang. "It should be fun to wear, fun to buy, fun to look at. So much of what was the 1960s, especially the music, had a joy, and a lightness, and a fun attitude to it. But there was just enough of a bite to it all to make it a little bit dangerous. This was the inspiration for this new collection."
The playful, yet edgy, attitude Lucullen introduces in its Fall 2010 collection is seen in the cut, color combinations, and bold fabrics used for the pieces. The use of sequins and the detailing of several pieces give them a true '60s rock star look. At the same time, Lucullen's signature of luxuriously sensual fashion for women is seen throughout the collection. Versatility has been a hallmark of this unique, high-end fashion brand since its inception, resulting in its wide appeal to women of many lifestyles.
Huang, Lucullen's founder and head designer, has successfully created various collections around the world, in cities such as Taipei, Shanghai, Toronto, and New York, for over a decade. She possesses the elegant talent to weave the passion and confidence of a true woman into the fabrics of her creations. Many have found her line "Soft but sculptured, creating an essence of professional appeal. Her style is tender and demure, but bold – desiring attention. It is delicate and discreet while fearless and assertive." These traits of Huang's line echo from city to city.
Embodying a sense of strong global awareness and social responsibility, Lucullen has been actively involved in charitable activities, including its recent sponsorship of a benefit to raise funds for typhoon relief in Taiwan, organized by AsianinNY.com, and its sponsorship of the "Sing for China" benefit to raise AIDS awareness. Both events took place in New York City.
To learn more about Lucullen's new collection, and to meet designer Joyce Huang during Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, please contact Press(at)247feature.com or visit www.Lucullen.com.


text:
The Leadership Team
We promote an environment where individual recognition and commitment are important to our overall effectiveness.
Our culture is guided by three tenets:
Senior Leadership Team
Matt Rohs
Chad Tillman
VP, Client Services
Megan Nairn
VP, Administration
Home Office
Michaela Hall
Director, Quality Assurance and Production Operations
Kristen Myers
Director, Marketing
Elaine Knight
Director, Human Resources
Lindsey Miles
HIPAA Privacy Analyst
Lori Harrison
Director, Client Service for Remote Services
Melane Sibley
Client Services and Customer Implementation
Karen Davis, RHIT
Regional Director, Client Services
Jeffrey Long
Director, Client Services and Implementations
Jessica Torres, RHIT
Regional Director, Client Services
Kamry Selgrath, RHIA
Regional Director, Client Services
Pam Ellis
Regional Director, Client Services
Business Development
Ken Karriker
Business Development Director - Midwest Region
Rhonda Newsom
Business Development Director - Southwest Region
Glenn Andrews, Founder and CEO
As founder and Chief Executive Officer of ScanSTAT Technologies, Glenn has driven ScanSTAT from inception to one of the largest medical disclosure management companies in the U.S. The company now boasts over 300 employees and thousands of prestigious healthcare facilities coast to coast as customers.
Glenn has a long and impressive career in healthcare technology, most recently as Chief Operating Officer of Smart Corporation (Now known as Ciox Health), which is one of the largest processors of medical information in the world.


text:
Social media has become a large part of our lives. Humans are more connected than ever to each other. All…Continue
The most important pillar of Islam after the declaration of faith (Shahadah) is Salah. It is what makes a Muslim…Continue
I don't know about you, but when I think of Ramadan, I think of sleepless nights and busy days. The…Continue
As the Holy month of Ramadan is approaching; it's best to spend Ramadan at home with your family and friends.it…Continue
Life is not always easy. Sometimes it feels as if you're stuck in misfortune and that there is no way…Continue
It was narrated from 'Ali (RA): Fatimah (RA) complained about the pain caused to her hand by the mill, and…Continue
Iblees is our sworn enemy. He has made a promise to Allah (SWT) that he will misguide us and lead…Continue
Words cannot do justice to the feeling you have when you see your child take the first breath of life….Continue
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم A short Biography of Imam Malik (May Allah have mercy on him) Malik ibn Anas is…Continue
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْم The name of Ibn Taymiyyah was Ahmad ibn 'Abdul-Halim ibn 'Abdis-Salam. He was born in…Continue


text:
Tom Bie explains the circuitous route by which the Fly Fishing Film Tour landed back in the hands of The Drake after two years of efforts by AEG to make a business of bringing Warren-Miller-style fly fishing films to various venues around the country. In the plans: giving filmmakers a share of profits. "And that is really the most important thing. Because the average flyfishing film tour attendee doesn't give a damn who owns the tour, he's just looking for an excuse to get out of the house on a cold weeknight in March."
The Drake Takes Over Fly Fishing Film Tour
This entry was posted in Media & Entertainment, Videos. Bookmark the permalink.


text:
The MASTERMIND behind the plan
The Plunder
The Partner in crime asleep on the job...
Having her plot discovered, a new plan was hatched to blame The Baby for the contraband...
...but the plan was sacked when The Baby became The Pilferer of the purloined goods!
"I've got it! Some teeth would come in handy right now..."
"...I've almost got it!"
The Transfer from one hand to the other!
"No, I don't have your Fruit By The Foot! Who me?" I'll just hide it down here...no one will see it...
...if I can just slip it up my sleeve!
Post script: Note the fridge behind the Girlie. It is the ever evolving canvas of our lives.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
No comments:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Business TypeDistributor/Wholesaler
Main MarketsWestern Europe
Product/ServiceJeans, Sports Jackets, Designer Tops
Business Owner
EmployeesLess than 5 People
RegionUnited States
CategoryApparel - Sportswear
Link ToolUnited States Apparel - United States Sportswear
Company TagsDesigner Fashion - Distribution Opportunities - Fashion Brand - Product Line Features - Urban Apparel
Company Introduction
ABM-Aaron B. Miles is a premium designer fashion brand specializing in creative urban apparel. Today we have developed a new style targeting todays urban evolved customer. Our product line features premium jeans, sports jackets, and designer tops. We have created a strong buzz in the US in New York, Las Angeles and Atlanta, as well as over seas in the UK and Japan. Visit our corporate website to buy our product online wholesale or retail. Contact our sales department if interested in distribution opportunities for specific territories.
Contact Information
Contact PersonMr. Aaron Miles
Fax Number1-718-234-1671
Post Code11204
Address1782 Bay Ridge Parkway, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Online MapABM- Aaron B. Miles Map & Directions


text:
PHOTOS: Magnum Ice Cream Pop Up Shop | Brand Experience
No one wants to date Mr Average
Remember that redhead from school? Or that really tall, thin guy you used to see hanging around all the time? They were different. Memorable. Some would say unique. No one remembers "Neville", that average, kind-of-invisible guy at the back of the class, who now, oddly, is the convener of your matric-reunion Facebook group.
How about your products; are they first-team players or "Nevilles"? It all comes down to just how unique your selling proposition is. A unique selling proposition (USP) is a description of the specific qualities or attributes that make your product or service different, so that customers want to buy it rather than its rivals. Think of it as the elevator pitch for your offering, a succinct way of describing what you have to offer.
A brief history of marketing
In the early days of the modern consumer economy, if you made a half decent product consumers would buy it. Our great grandparents, pleased to even get the opportunity to own the first domestic appliances, were less concerned about branding and marketing puffery than whether the new-fangled device would work.
Take the snappily named Modell A washing machine offered by German manufacturer Miele in 1903, for example. It came complete with "counterweights to simplify working the central agitator". Untouched by a marketing practitioner, this exciting addition to the 20th century kitchen looked remarkably like the butter churn the company had been touting a couple of years earlier. This production orientation had manufacturers trying to increase product quality and reliability at an acceptable price.
As you can imagine, these happy times couldn't continue forever. By the mid-1950's (in western economies) markets were becoming more saturated, consumers had wised up, competition intensified and companies had to take on more of a sales orientation. However, companies still tried to simply sell what they were good at making. It wasn't until the 1960's that Professor Theodore Levitt (editor of the Harvard Business Review) pointed out to marketers that perhaps they should start off by finding out what consumers actually wanted, before making and trying to sell ill-suited products.
Fast forward to today. Unless you are a rare earth miner (outside of China), you face stiff competition. Your competitors can probably replicate your products relatively easily, patent protection is increasingly difficult and expensive to defend, production technology is often commoditised and "innovation" is increasingly really just incremental product improvement. What you really need is an offering your customers can't get somewhere else – a unique value (or selling) proposition.
Being unique may lose you some customers
Your uniqueness may lose you some business, but it will gain you far more. The reason many business owners fear having a highly defined value proposition is that that it means that they can no longer try to be "all things to all people". No one wants to exclude potential customers. But if you can't define what is unique about your product, you risk becoming irrelevant. Neville from school was neither nerd nor jock. He offended no one, but no one wants to date Mr Average.
If you can't outline what makes your product different in a couple of sentences, then, sorry, but you don't have a unique selling proposition. If the difference from your competitors' offering is so arcane that it requires a lengthy complex explanation, then you don't have anything unique either.
Of course your product is only really differentiated if the "unique" attribute is important to the market. Just being different for the sake of being different isn't enough. In business-to-business sales for instance, once your product has achieved the minimum purchasing spec, and is therefore fit for purpose, further differentiation is unlikely to offer the purchaser greater value. It goes back to the good Professor Levitt's advice: ask the market what they want before you spend time and resources on differentiating on something irrelevant.
How unique do you really need to be?
In the perfect world, you would be able to offer something no competitor can. In today's markets this is relatively rare, outside patented prescription medicines perhaps. Charles Holland Duell, commissioner of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, is famously misquoted as saying: "Everything that can be invented has been invented" in the early 1900's. In reality your uniqueness relies on choosing to develop a specific, different attribute to highlight against those emphasised by a competitor, even though both might share a similar overall set of attributes.
Take Korean car brands in South Africa for instance. A decade ago, these cost-effective vehicles didn't enjoy the quality reputation of their European competitors. This was exacerbated by the (otherwise attractive) lower price point. Astute marketers appeared to recognise this and introduced an extended guarantee, longer than those offered by European competitors renowned for "quality". The market recognised that a supplier confident enough to extend a guarantee is unlikely to deliver a product that encourages warrantee claims. This has, in my view, repositioned the vehicles from being "cheap" to "reliable at a reasonable price"; an attractive USP.
How to create a new USP
Product features, how services are delivered, how your staff interacts with customers and your reputation and brand can all be leveraged to create a USP. If you've exhausted these opportunities, you may need to relook at your offering; here are a few ideas to get you started:
Highlight benefits rather than features or attributes. Caltex petrol contains a proprietary additive "Techron". The differentiating benefit that interests consumers is "maximum performance and economy".
Think about your proposition in a contrarian way. You could do this by offering fewer features. While your opposition are packing in more and more features, consider focusing on simplicity. Take cellphones for young children and senior citizens, for instance, in which fewer features and simplicity are a plus. Or think differently about "quality". Plastic "brass look" house-numbers (rather than the real, metal thing), are suddenly attractive because they are less attractive to scrap metal thieves.
Focus on style and design. Philippe Starck made the humble lemon squeezer uniquely his own entirely through superb design. His famous "Juicy Salif" squeezer retails for about R750, a significant premium over cheap plastic competitors, while requiring exactly the same lemon squeezing effort from the user.
Conform to a stringent standard. Some products, chemicals for instance, increase significantly in value just by being tested and guaranteeing conformance to a more stringent specification. "Pharmaceutical grade" chemicals sell at a significant premium to "industrial grade".
Personalise your offering. If you enjoy only a small market share and consequently low volumes, consider offering a customised product or service. Larger competitors will struggle to compete given the size and inflexibility of their production process.
Offer unusual combinations. Consider "WCBO" – the World Chess Boxing organisation. As its name suggest it has combined two very different activities into a truly unique sport!
Every business deserves to have "first team" product and service value propositions that are memorable and stand out from the crowd. They are the foundation of sustainable businesses. The time invested in defining exactly what makes your business unique will doubtless be rewarded through increased market share and profitability.
This article was first published in Your Business Magazine
People power: testimonials, endorsements and recommendations
Lance Armstrong. Self admitted drug taker, doper, liar, perjurer and cheat. Tiger Woods, serial philanderer, destroying his (previous) clean cut image. Sir Jimmy Savile OBE: 'predatory sex offender' according to Scotland Yard, and paedophile accused of abusing over 300 vulnerable children including mentally handicapped and terminally ill hospital patients.
What all these personalities have in common is that they all held significant commercial and charity endorsements. People like famous people. Marketers like people who people like. Nothing can create a winning product quite as quickly as a strong endorsement from a well-known personality. Take the George Foreman Grill. Or to give it it's full title, the ' George Foreman Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine', which has sold over 100 million units as a result of the aging heavyweight world-boxing champion's popular infomercials. George's famous signoff line "It's so good I put my name on it" has entered popular culture. Without his endorsement the grill would have remained just another far less profitable 'snackwich-maker'. Wouldn't we all, as marketers, like to share similar success?
Of course when things go wrong for the personality endorsing a product, they do go spectacularly wrong. Tag Heuer, Gatorade, Gillette, Accenture, AT&T, Golf Digest, Buick (General Motors), Titleist, and American Express all rapidly jumped from the Tiger ship at the height of his crisis. Interestingly Nike stuck with him. For the rest, the positive attributes Tiger had previously exhibited and which they had hoped would rub off on their brand suddenly became a huge liability. It's what I call the 'congressman effect': the fact that it always seems to be the congressman who extols family values who then embarrasses himself, caught up in a sexual imbroglio – like the aptly named Anthony Weiner, forced to resign from congress having sent an inappropriate photo of himself to a female Twitter follower while his newly married wife was expecting their first baby.
The spectacular downfall of the likes of Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong has not, it seems dampened large brands' enthusiasm for celebrity endorsements. Nike has just signed Rory McIlroy for a reported $250 million, and produced a rather clever ad with both he and Tiger. Pepsi has just signed Beyonce for $50 million and perhaps surprisingly Chanel No. 5 now features Brad Pitt in its much-parodied $7 million ad.
Not all endorsements are world-class sports and media personalities. The introduction of social media has increased the importance of recommendations from ordinary users of your products and services. The world has become a more transparent place. A place in which consumers are (even) more cynical of what marketers tell them, and more trusting of advice from 'friends' even if such 'friendship' is of the more superficial Facebook variety. The average Facebooker has 190 'friends' – a far wider influencer set than ten years ago. Sadly, consumers may take more cognisance of a Facebook friend they haven't physically seen since school than overt product information from an advertiser. So given this context and the reality that most organisations don't have millions of dollars to spend on celebrity endorsements, what opportunities do endorsements, testimonials and recommendations offer?
Market research based recommendations can be powerful, provided they are credible, relate to a recognised body of respondents and you have verifiable independent evidence of your claims. Of course they need to be stated in a non-technical and impactful way. Examples that come to mind include: "Sensodyne is the No.1 dentist recommended brand for sensitive teeth" and "Panado – The GP's choice". Risks include your competitors contesting the independence or validity of the research your recommendation is based on, or perhaps even worse, you losing the support of the market and consequently the endorsement over time. If you operate as a market leader in a more niche market, research of a viable sample by an independent research company could be a relatively cost effective way of building a powerful positioning which would be very difficult for competitors to replicate.
Ever wondered why you see so many serious looking 'experts' in white coats in adverts? The current Life Buoy 'Clini Care 10' television ad being a great example as a whole auditorium of white-coats applaud their hero – a bar of hand soap. By association viewers associate the product with an endorsement or recommendation by doctors. Without being disingenuous, are there positive associations you can create through imagery for your brand?
Awards also offer opportunities to present evidence from a third party that your product enjoys wide recognition and support. The Sunday Times Top Brands Awards being a fine example. Multiple brands annually leverage their good showing in the various categories of this award in their paid-for adverting, while their PR companies send out a flurry of releases to gain exposure. Advertising agencies are famous for being defined by the awards they win. This is because a service, particularly one as intangible and subjective as advertising gains huge credibility from commendation through awards. Given that there is (to be cynical) virtually a whole industry of 'awards' of various stature, there is likely to be one your product or company could leverage to competitive advantage. One caveat: beware tying your brand to an award of obviously dubious credibility. If you have effectively paid for an award, your competitors can too, or more damagingly, point out your award's lack of credibility.
Recommendations by known experts or organisations, if they can be negotiated for acceptable cost, add significant stature.
Pope Leo XIII famously endorsed 'Vin Mariani', a patent medicine containing cocaine, in 1863. Clearly such a recommendation would be rather more difficult today, but Gordon Ramsey's endorsement of Checkers' butchery adds huge credibility to a previously undifferentiated offering. BP Ultimate's "Recommended by the AA" as the only fuel endorsed by the Automobile Association of South Africa distances the product from competitor products, which frankly were delivered through the same pipeline. Are there similar opportunities within your industry or market? Here again, operating within a specialised niche might bring the cost of such a recommendation within budget.
While the term 'endorsement' normally applies to support from a celebrity, 'testimonial' usually relates to ordinary customers. Testimonials in my mind started running out of steam 20 years ago, (remember those old OMO ads where a women told us all that she "nearly died" with embarrassment from the lack of cleanliness of her bowling dress?) but have revived in the last 10 years as social media has become ubiquitous. Testimonials can be an important part of communal marketing via social media. Its has become the expectation that customers tell other customers about their experience. Amazon explicitly leverages this on their site offering product recommendations exclusively from customers. A powerful variant of this is their product recommendation engine, which automatically cross-sells on the basis that "customers who bought product A, also bought product B". Instil similar thinking across your social media platforms. Make it easy for happy customers to tell other customers about their (positive) experience. And of course leap on any customer complaints before they too are multiplied.
This article was first published in Your Business Feb 2012.
Related articles
- Tiger close to new multiyear Nike deal (espn.go.com)
- Using Testimonials And Endorsements to Promote Your Book: A Guide For Self-Publishers (business2community.com)
- Cheerleader Elle Smith Signs On as Spokesperson for Cheerleading Apparel Company Chassé (prweb.com)
- 18 Athletes Who Make More Money Endorsing Products Than Playing Sports (businessinsider.com)
Don't let your success hold you back – It's time to make some marketing resolutions for the year ahead…
Your business has been in operation for a while. You're frankly rather successful. For an established business of any size, one of marketing's biggest enemies is lethargy. Clearly there is value in not fixing what isn't broken, but markets and clients change slowly over time, and if you don't stop occasionally to take stock, you risk commercial extinction. A new year gives us all an opportunity to look at our businesses with new eyes.
Walk a mile in your customer's moccasins
You may have carefully created a differentiating customer experience when you set out the business, but subtle changes and numerous shortcuts later, your customer experience has in all likelihood morphed into something very different. Be your customer for a day. If, for instance, you run a bed and breakfast, go through the booking and reception process from the guest's perspective. Have breakfast and sleep a night in the room. Be objective. Is the experience what was intended? How can it be improved? How did your staff handle the process (remembering that they are likely to be on their best behaviour given who the customer is – you!) Make comprehensive notes as you go. Are there areas where service has slipped? Is the business doing anything in an old fashioned way that has been outdated by technology, or become inefficient now the business is a reasonable size? The introduction of novel, up-to-date technology might offer staff efficiencies, but also positions your business as being modern and contemporary. Is your business overspending on any part of the process? Perhaps originally intended to differentiate your business, do these "bells and whistles" still delight your customer or are they just an anachronism?
Fire a customer
I learnt in the second week of my career that one of the most important decisions in business is determining who you don't want to do business with. Businesses in general and small and start-up businesses in particular are inclined to leap on any offer of an order, even if the customer is less than ideal or the product or service is outside of the intended scope of the business. Clients are not all equal – be objective and determine whether there are some you should donate to your competitors.
Customers worth dumping:
• Simply buy on price and see no value in your product differentiators.
• Have a high risk of payment default. Remember a sale is only such once you have received payment. Otherwise it is called a "gift".
• Freely pass your pricing information straight back to your competitors.
• Use your product incorrectly creating safety or reputational concerns.
• Have inconsistent off-take; yet expect you to hold high stock levels.
Make 2013 the year in which you focus with greater vigour on those customers with high lifetime-value and stop wasting your time and resources on those who frankly cause distraction.
Reconsider your pricing
Have you maximised your financial and competitive opportunity through pricing? Are you for instance undertaking price discounting "because we always do"; without any evidence that the increased business flows justify the margin cut? Do the calculations again, being objective about how much business such discounts really give you. Remember the significant multiplier effect a price reduction has on a low-net-margin business. I spent a decade in the commodity chemical business where net margins were in the region of 4%. So an average price discount of just 2% meant that sales had to more than double to be justifiable. Do the maths! We're inclined to be desensitised by the high discounts seen in retail settings. But most retail shops have significant margins and high fixed costs. Shoppers attracted by a sale are also supposed to buy a lot more than they normally would. Do you really enjoy the same return on your discounting?
Reconsider your day-to-day pricing. To learn a quick lesson on pricing, next time you fly ask the person next to you how much they paid for their ticket. Airlines have a unique product: a strictly limited number of seats, a virtually fixed cost per flight irrespective of who is aboard, and a product which if still unsold when the doors close, immediately becomes worthless. They have therefore become adept at dynamic pricing – virtually every ticket is sold at a different price depending on when it is booked. Is there opportunity for you to be much cleverer in your pricing strategy in 2013?
Find one new market
This is classic "Ansoff Matrix" stuff from marketing 101. Find a new market for an existing product, or add a new product to a market you are strong in. Ask your customers about how they really use your products. You may be surprised and they may offer clues for diversification. Be creative and open to new ideas, but remain objective – does a new product make sense? Does it fit with the market and brand positioning of your company?
Learn from Colgate – yes, the folk who make toothpaste, who once tried to introduce pre-prepared meals under the same brand. I am sure the clever marketing people saw some synergy, perhaps "increasing share of mouth". But it was unsurprisingly an unmitigated flop. The greater risk, however, is not looking closely for new opportunities and just accepting the current state of play.
Make 2013 the year of looking for new viable business possibilities.
Do your housekeeping
It's a new year and time to do a little spring cleaning. Start afresh. Think about the business as though you are the new owner taking over on the first of January. Clean up your client records. Clean out the product catalogue of those old products you haven't actually sold in years. Relook your signage – is it showing its age? Are those flags you put up out front in pre-World Cup euphoria looking a little tired and faded? Your website – is it still referring to the upcoming event in July 1998? And does the old photo of the founder in your corporate brochure now look alarmingly like his younger brother?
Add the personal touch
Have you become a little distant from your customers as the company has grown? As companies become larger they become more impersonal. But people do business with people. Is it time to reconnect with your customers? It could be as simple as a plan to phone five important clients per week for the year, or perhaps some form of customer hospitality is appropriate. Most of a company's value resides in its customer/client relationships, rather than in a unique product or business process. But consider where you spend your time – is it on the folk who pay salaries and make you profits, or is it concentrated on internal processes? Make 2013 the year of looking outward rather than inward and treat those who support your business to a little more of your time and attention.
This could mean getting back in touch with your professional association, or the trade association of the industry your business operates within. Business is social and there are many stakeholders other than customers and clients; look to raise your involvement. Successful businesses are usually well connected and give back to the professions and industries in which they operate. Offer to present at an industry conference, or host an association meeting at your business premises. Sponsor an award. More importantly say "yes" to one or two more invitations to events you get invited to but normally just reject as a matter of course. I can't guarantee you extra business but I am firm believer in business karma – make 2013 the year to "pay it forward".
This article was first published in Your Business magazine.
Competitive Intelligence
Competitive intelligence – "CI" sounds sexy. Sounds very James Bond. It isn't really. I have worked with a company who had a chief competitive officer. He spent most of his time in front of a computer screen analysing spreadsheets. He did spend a fair amount of time outside competitors' plants counting rail cars to estimate their output, and he did do in depth analysis of the competitor' senior managers. But he didn't carry a gun, and I never saw him in a tux.
In my experience, it is left up to marketers to tackle this issue rather than 'Competitive Intelligence Professionals' (see www.institute-for-competitive-intelligence.com). It should be part of the external analysis component of every marketing strategy.
The reality though is that most serious sports teams know more about their competitors than a lot of businesses. How much do you know about your competitors? How much should your know? And as I hope to point out in this article – how much could you know?
First principles
Ok competitive intelligence is legal. Overstep the legal line and it becomes industrial espionage. Not good, because it exposes your company and to you personally to legal sanction. The legal line may be open to debate, and certainly your competitors if they become aware of nefarious activities are likely to read the situation in its most damning light. So before you get serious with competitive intelligence activities, you need a very clear definition of what you believe to be legal and what isn't. If in doubt, get proper legal advice. If you delegate competitive intelligence activities to your staff, ensure they have a very clear, specific mandate and a clear unequivocal prohibition on anything illegal. Remember if a staff member steps over the legal line and it appears on the face of it that he did so in the normal course of his duties, legal responsibility is likely to remain with the company and its directors and executives.
Of course not all activities which are legally permissible are morally so. It is possible that you will have to take decisions as to the moral appropriateness of CI actions. My stance has always been that you shouldn't do anything, which would cause embarrassment if it became public. You should certainly never misrepresent whom you are to get information. Personally I also rely on the "what would my mother say" test.
The CI process:
The CIA Intelligence Cycle includes: Planning and Direction; Collection; Processing; Analysis and Production, and Dissemination.
I prefer the simple four "C's" competitive intelligence model, not only because it is simple and easy to remember but also actually includes an element of doing something with the intelligence, which the CIA appears to have overlooked! :
- Collect the data
- Convert the data into usable information (or to impress call it 'intelligence')
- Communicate the information
- Counter the competitor activities identified
Collect the data
For obvious ethical reasons we will concentrate on publically available information
The web has certainly made CI much easier. Look hard enough and there is a remarkable amount of data about both your company and your competitors floating around in cyberspace.
Here are just some of the easily accessible data sources to consider:
- The competitors' websites (obviously), but also http://www.alexa.com which will give each competitor's website's ranking compared to your own and other competitors, changes in web traffic, in which country web traffic originates and how many inward links the site has. As with most data it is the trends that are more informative than absolute numbers. It has to be said that these comparisons can be affected by companies' SEO (search engine optimisation) efforts so use with discretion.
- The "Wayback Machine" at http://www.archive.org will show you all the changes to your competitor's website since 1996. Most companies seem to think that once they have taken something down from the web it is eradicated forever. That's not true. Your badly designed website in orange lives on in perpetuity.
- Google search has so much data that volume is the biggest problem. Use the advanced search and "unwanted words" function to cut the responses down to just the useful stuff. You are unlikely to find much you don't already know in the first few pages of results, but lower down more obscure and often interesting data emerges. Don't forget to search images and video. Then set up Google alerts on all your competitor's names. Google helpfully emails you as soon new data is placed anywhere on the web. Consider placing alerts for directors and senior management of competitors, then as soon as they are quoted in the digital domain you Google will send your the link
- In Google AdWords, you can use Keyword Tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal to see what competitors are gaining what business from various keywords, and may identify unconventional competitors sneaking in on your business while staying below the radar.
- Google's Street View, allows you to digitally poke-around your competitors premises anywhere in the world simply based on a physical address.
- Check the wikipedia entry for your competitors. Some companies give away more about their strategic intent than they should.
- Online recruitment sites sometimes inadvertently give away the identity of the company recruiting, as they hint as to who the employer is. It may be worthwhile reviewing the senior positions within your sector from time to time.
- Register for competitors' electronic newsletters. You may need to consider using a neutral email address such as GMail for such, but remember it would be unethical to misrepresent yourself.
- Setting up an internal CI email account will allow staff that come across interesting information to rapidly send it through to a centralised point for interpretation.
Social Media
- Linked In gives invaluable information about your competitors' senior leadership teams including sometimes-detailed CV's. Just bear in mind that the fact that you visited their profile is accessible to them. I find the function " Viewers of this profile also viewed…" particularly interesting as it hints at possibility links between otherwise unconectable individuals. "Groups and Associations" links hint at interests and possible mindsets.
- It makes sense to follow any competitors' staff that tweet. The interestingness of the tweets will vary significantly depending on the individual. Those who have enabled the 'location function' may unwittingly be revealing more than they intended.
- If you can track down competitor managements' blogs on sites such as WordPress they can be worth following.
Real World
- Back in the real world, annual reports are a mine of information on public companies (be honest now, when did you last read your competitors' annual report cover-to-cover?). These are usually available from the Company Secretary's office and now often online. If you have a particularly interesting JSE listed competitor, consider buying a minimum number of shares, and enjoy invitations to annual and interim results presentations and prompt notification of all shareholder related issues.
- Aggregators of published financial data such as McGregor BFA (http://www.mcgregorbfa.com/) may offer valuable information sources particularly with regards to historical financial data and comparisons between different entities.
- JSE's 'SENS' – stock exchange news service (see http://www.jse.co.za) promptly sends out all statutory required information regarding listed companies. Listed companies are for example required to publically announce any instance where future profit projections have materially changed – very useful to know!
- Industry reports from consulting houses and industry bodies can be particularly insightful – make sure you are familiar with what is available.
- Visits to competitors' exhibition stands, and the collection of publically available brochures and sales literature may be of interest. (Say after me – I will not misrepresent who I am…)
- If you are competing against imported products, import/ export statistics and trade data can be very useful. Some countries are far more open than others, and while they won't provide data by company, it is often self-evident which shipments relate to your competitor.
- If you use a media agency, ask them to provide you with the advertising 'Adex' data for all your competitors. This data gives advertising spend by value and type, per company. Trends here can be very informative. Just remember that the advertising value figures supplied are gross 'rate card' figures rather than what they really spent.
- A media clipping service such as Newsclip will provide all editorial media mentions of your competitors for a monthly fee. Monitoring companies such as Ornico not only provide monitoring of editorial competitive mentions, but will also directly track their advertising as well. They 'Newcomers' service notifies you as soon as a new campaign breaks under a brand or category you have expressed interest in.
Converting raw data into usable information
The problem with competitive information is either that there is none, too much or it is passed on too late. All are equally unhelpful. What is needed on a day-to-day basis is a succinct, recently updated couple of pages, which actually gets read. Occasional deeper focus may be appropriate for competitive product launches, corporate actions or substantial market changes.
Raw data only acquires value once it has been converted into useful information: assessing what is happening, why it is happening, what might happen next, and how it impacts on your company. What you really want is insight into your competitors' strategic intent. Information acquires real value through well-considered interpretation. Industry specific experience really counts here and there is value in having a single (preferably marketing) person act as a consistent analyst of competitors. This lets them detect trends and acquire a feel for the subtleties of each competitor.
Communicate the information
Competitor knowledge is only valuable once it has been shared within an organisation. Ideally there should be processes in place to share the longer-term interpretation of competitor intelligence on a regular basis (perhaps a quarterly or monthly report) as well as more tactical responses to immediate issues. A central repository of all collected data becomes increasingly useful over time as reports build up. A simple shared folder on a central server or within SharePoint would serve well.
Countering the competitor activities identified
Clearly, acting on the information gathered is vital. Without a vigorous response, there is little value in collecting the competitive intelligence in the first place. It is surprising how often strategic plans are created without reference to the competitors' current actions and furore intent. Use what you have found out.
Building respect for your competitors and using competitor intelligence as the foundation for your strategic planning is almost certain to improve your competitiveness, speed of competitive response and consequently your profitability. Even more importantly is dramatically reduced the risk competitors pose to your business. Forewarned is forearmed.
First published in Your Business magazine.


text: Sign here to sing free online karaoke. Unlimited recordings, play and share with friends your songs & videos. Karaoke Party. Take your home parties to a whole new level of fun by hosting a karaoke party! Everyone has a song in their heart, but not everyone feels. Free Online Karaoke Party Game. KaraokeParty. English | Svenska | Suomi. Permission to distribute the music on this internet service has been granted by.


text:
When I asked fashion designer Bas Kosters what his new spring-summer collection was all about, he told me: "this collection puts the 'u' in ugly"! It's based upon an 'ugly' woman he saw walking down the street. But what defines ugly? Of course that's not the same for everyone!
For some of the prints, he used photos of beautiful people and then elaborated them into ugly people, cutting out eyes, lips, noses and repositiong them and actually creating very funny faces.
(see first photo)
While for some of you, Bas Kosters might be a little bit too risqué... there are several very wearable pieces, like the ruffled mini skirt you see pictured above. It's definitely one of my favourites.
In the last two shots, you see Bas Kosters together with Greek fashion designer Angelos Bratis, talking about his collection. Who knows how the two of them inspired each other? Angelos might be using crazy prints next year and Bas might switch to ladylike eveningdresses...?!
For more information, please visit:


text:
The Greatest Guide To house plans for small block
Quality Foundation Repair Austin - House Leveling Specialists
Austin, TX
+1 512-363-7769
House Plans with a Fireplace Normally the point of interest of the room, a fireplace proceeds to be a function that homeowners refuse to Reside without. Whether or not it's for heating needs or possibly a cozy ambiance, fireplaces will almost always be a mainstay inside of a home currently.
House Plans with a Family Room A family room is considered an off-the-cuff place for everyday living or entertaining within a home. Normally viewed in floor plans when there is both of those a formal living room and dining room, It's really a space where by a homeowner will expend most in their time.
When new infrastructure is built like this, the value of the surrounding land just boosts. A completely new practice station for example obviously helps make nearby houses more desirable and increases their sale benefit.
The bedrooms are spaced for privateness and every has a complete bathroom. Outdoor living is Increased with a skylight-topped screened porch. Excess storage is available from the garage and above, a bonus room presents more square footage.
Our knowledge and design approaches suggest that we can generally build at approximately exactly the same price as main builders without expensive retaining walls and we offer you a realistic estimate of cost before you start.
Probably the greatest methods you may protect your prosperity is by purchasing gold and silver bullion. Likewise, one of the better ways it is possible to skyrocket your portfolio is to take a position in silver and gold stocks.
Home Plans with an Place of work or Study Also generally known as a den or library, an Workplace or study is a private room commonly Found from the main foyer that provides a secluded space when Functioning from home.
This house along with house plans and blueprints the impressive, 240 diploma views from its elevated hillside situation impressed me a lot of that within two minutes I remarked to its proprietor Jen Wiggins that it absolutely was like a little something from Grand Designs.
Set the height with the piers so that There's at least 12" under the beams and 16" under the floor joists with the floor platform. This will likely provide enough space for plumbing, wiring and insulation to get labored on from down below.
Will you be last but not least ready for The very first time to deal with equipped specialists to produce a home you are able to be pleased with? If you've answered yes, Then you definately will need our House Plans in your palms Right now!
Some areas have additional engineering specifications, such as earthquake-prone regions of California as well as the Pacific Northwest, or maybe the Gulf, Florida, & Carolina coasts that are frequented by hurricanes. Supplemental Wind and Seismic engineering drawings are needed to accompany your home plans to get a building allow for most places.
Uncover invaluable insights on world-wide real estate markets around the globe — including everything from having difficulties housing marketplaces...to off-the-radar residential and professional expense opportunities that you won't have heard about. Go listed here for more...
..exactly the same architects whose plans we use for building spectacular mansions house plans above garage for austin pier and beam foundation repair diplomats and executive purchasers from all over the world.
Most sloping block projects drop under two groups: purchasers who live to tell the tale a sloping block and do not want to leave their neighbourhood and individuals who have seen a sloping block that they would like to build on.


text:
Olive trees, Nomads and deserts
Africa is the second largest continent and covers one fifth of the world's landmass. The vast Atlantic and Indian Oceans, the Mozambique Channel, the Gulfs of Aden and Guinea, and the Red and Mediterranean seas surround it. The North African countries of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt border the Mediterranean Sea. The lives of the inhabitants of these North African countries are vastly different from that of ours, their southern African neighbours.
Measuring just 164 149sq km, Tunisia is the smallest of the African countries that border the Mediterranean yet it has a huge diversity of peoples, cultures and landscapes. The country boasts a stunning coastline, medieval Islamic cities, historic Roman sites, fertile plains, oases, vast salt lakes, sand dunes, exquisite crafts and a multicultural society. It also appears in the first, and arguably most famous, Star Wars film.
The Berber tribe with their colourful clothes and staunch family values originally ruled the coastal strip of North Africa although today the majority of North Africans are Muslim. The Islamic invasion started around AD600 and swept through the area, absorbing many local cultures on the way. The Berbers – who in Morocco still form a large percentage of the population – initially withstood the coming of Islam although many now show characteristics similar to that of the Arab culture. Sadly the Tunisian Berbers now represent just one percent of the population but they have kept their colourful dress and fascinating culture. In places they still live in caves as they did centuries ago – but with a few mod cons thrown in.
In the mountainous area of eastern Tunisia and just 40km from the sea is the town of Matmata. It may have become a little overrun by tourists since Steven Speilberg used it in his Star Wars film, but the local people aren't really complaining. The visitors bring in much-needed revenue and job creation opportunities. They come largely to see the troglodyte (cave) houses that are built underground. Throughout the hills there are large groups of Berbers living their traditional existence. Some of the houses have even been converted into hotels, the underground rooms proving very popular with tourists looking for an unusual holiday getaway.
The mosque, local bakery and an olive oil factory also operate underground – a necessary way to escape the 40 degree Celsius temperatures. Driving into Matmata from the east the only inkling that you are passing by people's homes are the TV aerials and solar panels sticking up out of the ground.
North of Matmata is the deceptively small whitewashed town of El Jem. Initially it looks like any small Tunisian town but in its centre stands the awesome 120m high Roman amphitheatre. The amphitheatre – the most impressive Roman monument in North Africa – once seated 30 000 people. Seventeenth century rebels may have blown up one side of it but it is still an extremely impressive structure. Wondering around it wasn't too hard to imagine the great and perhaps gruesome events that took place within its ancient walls. Underground we saw the original dungeons and water well but thankfully the patrons and the lions had taken their leave.
The northern town of Kairouan was founded in AD67O and is the fourth most important Islamic City after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. lt is home to many places of worship including the Great Mosque, which holds 200 000 pilgrims on holy days. The old walled city has a fascinating medina (market) full of artisans using skills of a by-gone era. One covered walkway is home to the cobblers; another only sells the blankets famous throughout the area. Outside the sound of live chickens reverberates around the narrow alleyways of the fresh produce market, competing with the shouts off stall-holders and hawkers.
A visit to Tunisia wouldn't be complete if you didn't sample the local fare. There are many local specialities: Kairouan's is makhroud. This is a honey soaked – and when l say soaked l mean absolutely dripping – pastry stuffed with dates. It is best washed down with a glass of freshly squeezed orange or lemon juice.
If your teeth can't cope with Kairouan's deliciously sweet delights there are plenty of other Tunisian specialities to tempt your taste buds. Couscous – semolina to us – is the country's staple food and there are apparently 300 different ways to cook it. It's normally accompanied by a stew of lamb, fish or chicken. The lamb like many of the savoury dishes – is often spiced with aniseed, coriander, cumin and mint. The wide variety of fish comes courtesy of the Mediterranean Sea. If you fancy something less exotic you could try the briq, a gorgeous puff pastry filled with egg. Unleavened bread stuffed with salad and spicy meat is the Tunisian equivalent of the humble hamburger.
Although Tunisia is an Islamic country it produces a good selection of very drinkable wines. However its best drinks have to be its thick Turkish coffees and refreshing mint teas.
Southern Tunisia is home to the country's sand dunes, and vast salt lakes, which stretch as far as the eye can see. The largest of these, Chott El Jarid is a staggering 250km long and 20km wide. The lakes are the last great expanses of water before you reach the desert proper. For if you want to experience the true Sahara you will have to head south out of Tunisia and into North Africa's largest country, Algeria.
At 2 322 163 sq km Algeria is 14 times larger than Tunisia yet it only has slightly more than three times Tunisia's population, most of whom live along the 1000 km-long fertile Mediterranean coastline. This leaves the rest of the wide-open country pretty much devoid of people. lt is this vast, unpopulated expanse of desert that Algeria is deservedly renowned for.
North Africa is home to the Sahara. At 8.6 million sq km it's the world's largest desert and consumes 85 percent of Algeria. There is a global misconception that a desert is a place of vast sand dunes. Unfortunately – for sand dunes are stunningly beautiful – this is not the case. Only one sixth of the Sahara's land mass is covered by sand. Plateaux, mountains and gravel plains – the largest of which is the Tanezroutt that stretches for over 1000km across the Algerian-Mali border – make up the remaining five sixths.
Travelling through southern Algeria is an experience that stays with you forever. The most amazing scenery surrounds you for days on end. There are vast areas of emptiness and space that absorb you in their beauty. Then there is the solitude, for here you may not see another person for days and when you do it is often something quite unexpected. Like the time a Tuareg, – the best known of the Saharan nomads – materialised almost like magic from the sands of the desert with just his camel for company.
The Tuaregs call themselves Kel Taguelmous in their Tamacheck language, which translates to 'people of the veil'. Their dress epitomises most people's romantic ideas of desert nomads. White or blue head-scarves called cheche's adorn all Tuareg men as do white flowing robes. This 1000 year-old tribe was initially thought to have descended from the Berbers that fled the Arab invasion. Other theories claim they have links to the Knights Templar or the Crusaders. Unable to live their nomadic existence clue to the 28 year drought, they turn to the urban centres for food and water. However with such a delicate infrastructure and a limited amount of water the urban areas are finding it difficult to accommodate and look after them.
The Sahara is a phenomenon all to itself: amongst the vast barren lands are obscure and remarkable sights since it hasn't always been the massive void of emptiness that it is now. Millions of years ago this area was a great sea, and fossils of shells and coral can be found in the plateaux and plains. As the wind and minimal rain erodes the desert more and more of the Sahara's history surfaces. ln the south-eastern corner of the country lie the eight million hectare Tassili N'Ajjer National Park. Here, in amongst its sandstone rocks and canyons are ancient rock paintings, depicting some of Africa's largest animals. Hippo, elephant, buffalo and rhino all once roamed this land when this part of the Sahara was less arid.
Today there are still a few animals which are able to survive the heat and dust. Dorcas gazelles – similar to the springbok – live close to the dried up riverbeds. Watching them prance through the sand you can't help but wonder where they get the energy. They share this part of the Sahara with 23 other mammals including caracal, cheetah and hyrax.
Over the last 10 000 years the Sahara has become steadily drier, which has affected the existence of the desert's nomadic tribes. The people of the southern town of Djanet admit that there last decent wet year was in 1973. Eventually the Worlds climate will change again and the Tuaregs and animals of the desert will once more find water and green pastures. Until that time the Sahara will remain a harsh in hospitable yet stunningly beautiful part of our great continent.


text:
When Tom Lombardo's wife lost her life in an auto accident in 1985, he was left "a widower in my early 30s. . . . Reading poetry gave me solace during the early stages of my grief." Later he turned to writing poetry himself. "My first poems dismantled whatever blocks I had constructed, and from that point, I visited my grief and wrote."
Lombardo--a WebMD founder who lives in Atlanta--created an anthology of contemporary poetry to aid in the journey. As editor, he writes, "I searched for poems in all categories that contained a message of recovery through the language of poetry: Grief, War, Exile, Abuse, Divorce, Addiction, Injury, Illness, Bigotry, Loss of Innocence."
"After Shocks: The Poetry of Recovery for Life-Shattering Events" ($19.95 in paperback from Sante Lucia Books), available at Lyon Books in Chico, collects work from 115 poets and fifteen nations. Included are pieces by three northstate residents.
Skyway poet Joy Harold Helsing writes in "Turnabout" about an abusive relationship: "I scream without sound / till my throat burns // Imagine he's small / my therapist urges / the way you felt // I picture him shrunken / six inches high / a dictator doll. . . ."
Grass Valley poet Gail Rudd Entrekin, in "Michelle," writes of a woman who tells the story of a man she saw beat his child and of the police who didn't come "until after the two had driven away." She laughs "inexplicably." "Leaving the restaurant, someone / holds the door for her. People fall back / and away, avoiding her circle of despair. / But two women who know she has lost a child, / walk close, their hands gently touching / her back, taking her arms, leaning their / warm bodies into hers."
Patricia Wellingham-Jones, who helps direct the writing group at the Enloe Cancer Center in Chico (see http://tinyurl.com/9w5alr for an interview), writes in "Your Shoes," "Barbara the Hospice nurse / tossed your shoes / under my office chair / when we carried your body / wrapped in your sheets / out to the gurney / I feel comforted every time I look / at those shabby shoes. . . ."
Comfort, after shocks, may come in the smallest of ways.


text:
ALEX Theater is proud to present 'SOUNDS & STORIES' with Hannah Stak.
Sit back and listen to these amazing songwriters and musicians perform thier 'SOUNDS & STORIES'
Morgan Mecaskey- This American musician, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist living in Cleveland, Ohio. Her music is a heart and head experience for the listener: earnest lyrics delve into metaphysical questions while vivid soundscapes, whimsical motifs, and fat beats build the bold and beguiling music.
Madeline Finn- comes from a background in Pop-Punk and has a love for Blues and Americana music. She has set out to marry the soul of the old time standards along with the presence of heavy hitting hard rock.
Austin Stambaugh- A raw vocal and gifted multi-instrumentalist, is convicted as a dash of humor. His debut EP Blood In My Mouth -described as a grassroots compilation of imprecise soul and raw honesty- was released in the spring of 2016 on the artist's website. His songs tell the human condition and shadow his bible-belt ancestry. As a child, Austin was brought up listening to his family's gospel quartet. Austin is a published poet, accomplished songwriter, and is looking to connect with listeners and share the human experience through song.
Cory Grinder- Cory Grinder got his start in the NE Ohio music scene by co-fronting Akron hillbilly band, Johnny & the Apple Stompers, mostly singing harmonies and playing fiddle. With that group he produced and recorded three albums after gaining audio engineering experience in Tennessee. Shortly after, he joined Ohio honky tonkers, Rodney and the Regulars, on fiddle. Cory decided to start a new honky tonk band featuring his own original songs. Now his group, The Cory Grinder Band, are preparing to put out their debut album, "Cahoots and Other Favorites," produced by grammy nominated producer/engineer David Mayfield, in early summer of 2018. Featuring pedal steel guitar and upright bass, The Cory Grinder Band plays hard hitting country music inspired by artists like Merle Haggard. Outside of his band,Cory is often playing fiddle for many local groups and has a 50's style rock n roll project in the works.
For tickets and information please visit www.alextheatercleveland.com
- Start:March 23, 2018
- End:March 23, 2018
- Where:Alex Theater, 2017 E 9th St, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 44115
- Phone:N/A
- Event Type: Alex Theater
- Ticket Price:15 - 20.00
- Event Time:6:00 PM to 8:00 PM


text:
Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research > News > Shifting Agendas
29 May 2013
UNOPS & ICE lecture: Shifting Agendas
United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) are hosting a lecture on June 12, entitled 'Shifting Agendas: From Response to Resilience. The role of engineering in disaster risk reduction'. Jo da Silva, Director of Arup International Development, will be key speaker.
Participation is free and there will be the opportunity to network after the lecture. To sign-up, please send an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com with your name(s) and number of participants.


text: I made the Rancher's Omelet from Gourmet Nutrition last night. (Yes, for dinner. We often eat breakfast for dinner.) The book says it takes 5 minutes prep, and 10 minutes cooking time. I put the sausage in the pan at 4:56pm and was sitting down to eat at 5:08pm. Now, having said that, I did change the recipe a little bit. They say to cook the sausage and then dice it and then you add it back in later. Not sure if they use breakfast links or what, but I used the sausage that comes in a casing. I opened the casing and crumbled the sausage in the pan. Then I added the veggies, then the egg, and finally the cheese. I didn't use all the veggies they suggest so if I had it probably would have added about 2-4 minutes of chopping time. It was tasty! I think of cooking as a method. I don't always follow recipes exactly, but they give me great ideas. Oh, here's a picture of my omelet. I made the "small" serving. To keep with the breakfast theme, I added the grapefruit half.


text: up! 97.7 ran a contest encouraging local hockey and ringette teams to enter to win 45 tickets to see the Calgary Flames take on the Philadelphia Flyers. Congratulations to Midnapore Hockey the Peewee 2 team and Head coach Greg McCallum. The team and parents had a blast and said it was a great way to end their season! We received tons of entries...with great stories from the teams.


text:
Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'Meat Birds ETC' started by ThePigeonKid, Mar 23, 2012.
What is a good age to butcher Pekin ducks?
I found this:
8 weeks is the usual age to butcher Pekin.
You want to do it when they are fully feathered. Pin feathers are too much of a pain to remove.
You can also wait another 6-10 weeks and there will be another opportunity when they are fully feathered. However, you get your best gain for the food eaten if you butcher at 8 weeks. They will eat a lot if they live an additional 10 weeks, and they will get bigger, but not enough bigger to make it worth feeding them longer.


text:
Login/Create Account
Check Out the new Remax App
Ask About This Home
Affordable waterfront living! This home comes with a huge yard and spacious back deck. The adjacent lot on the north side can not be built on. Very private neighborhood off the beaten path. Split floor plan with tons of closet space in master bedroom. Large bonus room could be used as a 4th bedroom or media room/theater. The office is located near the entrance and house has two car garage. Stainless appliances and move in ready! Water and power available at water bulkhead.


text:
- Thursday, Mar. 27, 2014
The leaders from branding, advertising and marketing agency Karsh Hagan and creative production studio Flavor are very proud to reveal their collaborations on behalf of Arrow Electronics. Over the past six months, under the vision and creative direction of Arrow's VP of corporate communications Richard Kylberg and his colleagues, Karsh Hagan and Flavor have produced eight innovative spots artfully conveying Arrow's "Five Years Out" brand messaging. According to Kylberg, after debuting at the recent Arrow Global Strategic Summit, the new spots now appear on the brand's website (http://arrow.com), YouTube channel and in a custom app created by Karsh Hagan, and they are also being used in an international internal campaign reaching the brand's 16,500 employees worldwide on a weekly basis. High-profile TV placements are being explored for the spots, which are also now set to run in stadiums during select Major League Baseball games.
"The goal was to show our audience that Arrow guides innovators to a better tomorrow, and that it's our job to help them succeed at making their ideas real," said Kylberg. "Creatively, our message platform of 'Five Years Out' demands of us that the work that we produce to connect with these innovators is cutting edge."
For Karsh Hagan, the creative team consisted of creative director Matt Ingwalson, associate creative director Darren Brickel, copywriter Megan Cohen, and director of broadcast Becky Ferguson, while the account team included management supervisor Pocky Marranzino, account director Lauren Curler and account manager Brooke Berry.
"In establishing itself as industry-leading solutions providers, Arrow has identified eight particular areas where they guide product evolution," Brickel explained. "Our team came up with the concept of 'Five Year Olds on Five Years Out' as a creative way of showing how Arrow is already guiding engineers who are creating the future in each of those eight areas. From there, Flavor took the stories, ran with them and vibrantly brought them to life."
As a key element of Cutters Studios, Flavor draws on the strengths of global editorial company Cutters and audio experts Another Country, among others. For their biggest assignment since joining Flavor last September, executive creative director Brad Tucker and executive producer Darren Jaffe seized this project as an opportunity to showcase these unlimited production capabilities and their own passions for spectacular creative projects.
"As part of the briefing process, Rich Kylberg actually came to our studio to share his vision of what the spots would do and to impart his enthusiasm," Jaffe began. "Together with the agency's team, they gave us the basic story structure and some hints at mediums/techniques (like illustration, 3D, and stop motion), and then encouraged us to go wild.
"We were looking to stretch ourselves, showcase our capabilities and continually push the execution," Jaffe continued. "We got creative with the work as well as the pipeline and workflow by matching the most talented artists with assignments that maximized their expertise. From there, Brad and our production staff kept the work consistent and the key ideas in focus. Our cross-country collaborative effort epitomizes Flavor's core values: Great work, collaboration, artistic problem solving, and creating amazing visuals that elevate the messaging."
The eight spots are "Cloud" (focusing on cloud computing), "Dragon" (focusing on mobility), "Forest" (focusing on lighting), "Fort" (focusing on data centers), "Monster" (focusing on value recovery), "Robot" (focusing on intelligent systems), "Rocket" (focusing on aerospace and defense), and "Superhero" (focusing on power management). Running times vary from 37 to 50 seconds.
Generally, the spots present young artists creating art projects which are brought to life through various animation techniques, and then transition into live-action scenarios showing Arrow's staff members and their clients at work solving various problems. Along with shooting the live-action segments and then handling all facets of project finishing in-house, Flavor set out to give each video its own distinct style.
"We know that the material of technology can be cold and unapproachable, so our goal was to humanize this content and load it with charm," said Tucker. "We did this by creating characters and visuals that captivated us. There was traditional cel animation, 3D character work, stop-motion, motion graphics and a range of other techniques used to set each spot apart, and we chose to blur the lines on most of them to create new and vibrant looks. The general workflow was to create signature style frames and then apply appropriate looks to match them. In each video, we tried to blend the live-action and marry our two worlds together."
Flavor's artists created their elements digitally as illustrations, 3D models or vector artwork, then brought them into Adobe Flash, Adobe After Effects or Autodesk Maya. With the exception of "Monster" which is by-and-large a practical stop-motion piece, the team animated and then composited in After Effects. Color work was completed on all the live-action footage by Steve Wood using the Lustre package in the Autodesk Flame suite, then handed off to the animators.
All parties also praised Cutters editors Jacob Kuehl and Barnett Kiel and Another Country's sound engineer Mike Regan for their contributions.
To shine more light on the creative collaborations behind this campaign, Flavor has produced a Behind The Scenes video which is available here: http://flavor.tv/arrow. To learn more about Arrow Electronics, please visit http://arrow.com.
About Flavor
Flavor is a phenomenal global collective of designers and visual artists. Together with its Cutters Studios partners Another Country, Cutters, Dictionary Films and Picnic Media, Flavor represents unlimited production capabilities. Under the leadership of executive creative director Brad Tucker, creative directors Brian Higgins and Brian McCauley and executive producers Neal Cohen and Darren Jaffe, Flavor creates commercials, interactive, live-action, VFX and design works, always aiming to exceed client expectations. Delighting in experimentation and thriving on collaboration, the key ingredient in Flavor is always the creative. To learn more please visit http://flavor.tv.


text:
Mississauga, Ontario – Kia Canada will participate in the Targa Newfoundland rally for the second year in a row, and partner with MADD Canada by sponsoring its school assembly program implemented to reduce impaired driving.
Driver Jacques Deshaies and co-pilot Shaun Keenan will drive a race-prepped Kia Forte Koup donated by Kia Canada. They will represent Team Designated Drivers and race under number 99, referencing the year in which Kia Canada was established. The car has been specially wrapped to debut MADD Canada's "I pledge to drive safe and sober" campaign.
As the presenting sponsor of the 2011-2012 School Assembly Program, Kia will donate the use of eight vehicles to MADD Canada to be used by field representatives travelling to schools and by chapters across the country to promote local activities and events.
After competing in the Targa rally, the Forte Coupe will tour many of Canada's auto shows in the Kia Canada displays.


text:
WELSH politicians of all stripes have advice for Gordon Brown as he enters Downing Street as Prime Minister.
The two most popular demands are that he works to give the Assembly new powers while resisting the temptation to join US President George Bush on military missions.
Labour AM John Griffiths (Newport East) believes Cardiff Bay and Westminster will enjoy a dynamic new relationship during the Brown premiership.
He said, "His strong commitment to social justice, working for greater equality and fairness, is at the centre of political gravity in Wales. He is driven by moral purpose on this agenda."
When asked what should be Mr Brown's primary goal as Prime Minister, Mr Griffiths said, "I very much hope he will prioritise the drive to full employment, helping people in our most deprived communities out of economic inactivity and into the workforce – a huge leap forward for them, their families and communities."
He added, "I also hope he will ensure there is no lessening in UK Government support for the developing world."
Plaid Cymru's Bethan Jenkins (South Wales West) said, "I would encourage him to scrap tuition fees and top-up fees, and to give councils the right to borrow so that they do not have to transfer council housing stock."
She continued, "I would urge him to avoid entering another illegal war like Iraq, and to increase taxation for the City's rich kids. I would also urge him to avoid trying to force the concept of 'Britishness' on people."
Blaenau Gwent's Independent AM Trish Law wanted Mr Brown to transfer to Wales £500m in match-funding for Objective One projects, so the Assembly Government did not have to raid its own budget.
"We must make sure that every available penny is spent regenerating West Wales and the South Wales Valleys," she said.
Mrs Law was also adamant Mr Brown should not tie UK foreign policy to American goals.
"One course of action he should avoid is blindly acceding to George Bush's every beck and call," she said.
Conservative leader Nick Bourne (Mid & West Wales) called on the new Prime Minister to embrace "localism" and engage people in developing solutions to problems on their doorstep.
He said, " I would hope that he would develop an idea that we are pursuing of a Devolution Forum involving representatives from Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England in the interchange of ideas and good practice."
Mr Bourne added, "We need to engage people much more at local level in solutions to problems and in developing the shape of their services locally – taking people with you on the journey rather than forcing them onto a march."
Liberal Democrat Jenny Randerson (Cardiff Central) had succinct advice which if followed could lead to Wales receiving funding from Westminster based on need rather than population.
She said, "Reform the Barnett formula and avoid trying to interfere in the decisions of the Assembly."
Alun Davies, Labour AM for Mid & West Wales, hoped Mr Brown would take Britain into the euro. He also looked forward to seeing him strengthen the role of Parliament.
One thing he did not wish to see the new PM launching was "another war".
Conservative AM Jonathan Morgan (Cardiff North) also thought Mr Brown should avoid an unhealthily close relationship with the US President and remember Britain has responsibilities in Europe.
"I agree we have a special relationship but I think it's become too special," he said.
Mr Morgan would be delighted if Mr Brown calls an early election.
"I think that's something most people would welcome," he said.
Plaid's Nerys Evans (Mid & West Wales) wanted him to increase the powers of the Assembly in the ways laid out in the Government of Wales Act.
This would involve backing a referendum which could elevate the Assembly into a Scottish-style Parliament with much greater legislative freedom.
She hoped he would abandon proposals to introduce ID cards, describing them as a costly attack on civil liberties.
Lib-Dem AM Peter Black (South Wales West) also urged Mr Brown to throw his weight behind efforts to give the Assembly full law-making powers. In addition, he too urged him not to "cosy up" with President Bush.
Labour's Irene James (Islwyn) said she would encourage Mr Brown to "continue the fight against child poverty at home and in the developing world".
She wanted him to allow the Cabinet to play a central role in policy-making, recognising the talent in his colleagues.
Plaid's Leanne Wood (South Wales Central) wanted the former Chancellor to establish an "independent Parliament for Wales".
When asked what course of action she wished him to avoid she had one word, "War".


text:
Indoor Outdoor Led Flower Pots Decorative Lighting Flower Pots For Garden
Indoor Outdoor Decorative Flower Pots LED Furniture For Garden, the material is from Thailand imported plastic polyethylene, integrated with Coocheer self-developed high technology IR / RF / Bluetooth / DMX led lighting system, is an ideal for any outdoor or indoor events , concert , company conference , party ,garden, or internal decoration in house
Quick Detail:
Indoor Outdoor Decorative Flower Pots LED Furniture For Garden
KFP-8276, size 82*82*76cm
PE plastic ( polyethylene ), thickness: 4-8mm
IP Rate
IP 65, can be used for outdoor, can be exposed to the sun and rain.
LED Color
RGBW 5050 SMD led lights , 20 kinds of different led color and flashing way changed via remote controller
Powered by
Rechargeable lithium battery
Battery Capacity: 2000-4400 mAh
With 5V 2A DC charger for recharging
Input: 100-240V
Output: DC 5V 2A ( power: 10 watt )
Recharge and working time
4-6 hours for full charging
8-12 hours for continue use after full charging
1 x Remote controller
1 x safety certified charger
1 x instruction book
1 x Guarantee card
Quality warranty
1 year for LED light system,2 years for plastic casing
CE, ROHS, FCC for products.
UL, BS, GS, SAA for DC charger.
Advantages & Special characteristics:
Fashionable, waterproof, fireproof, durable, cleanable, anti-UV, rechargeable, multi colors for choice, rechargeable, multi colors for choice.
Bar, pub, Hotel, Club, KTV, Beach bar, SPA, Salon,Coffee shop, disco, restaurant, swimming pool cinema, home garden, event, party, concert, wedding, conference, and any indoor or outdoor occasions
Detail picture:
Indoor Outdoor Led Flower Pots Decorative Lighting Flower Pots For Garden Images


text:
San-X Rilakkuma Letter Sets
11 months ago by moriya07
In Stationery
Letter sets in original, unopened packaging. Destashing my hardcore Rilakkuma stationery collection. Letter sets from the 'vintage' 2011-2012 Rilakkuma series. There are inevitable signs of age, but these have been lovingly stored in dust-free drawers.
One set for $3.50 buy all 5 sets for $15 (with free delivery to selected parts of SG - pls PM me)
Bukit Timah Market & Food Centre
West and central parts of SG
Mailing & Delivery
Delivery to your place only possible if you buy all 5!
Sorry not accepting mailing
Sell in a Snap, Buy with a Chat
Snap a photo to sell, buy what you want by chatting with sellers right from the app. Get the Free App


text:
You give their opinion that employed the ideal person within Barking.
Weeks pass by in Barking, you end up to notice gaps in their production.
Had you called Private Investigators Barking for a Employee Background Check Investigation within Cranbrook, it have been widely known for shown certain inconsistencies.
Make certain that you do employ the ideal individual for your Barking business with Private Investigators Barking Employee Background Check Investigation In Barking.
Verifying the candidate's identity within Cranbrook and checking a potential representative's capability to work in the UK is essential.
It is essential to perform a media and DVLA take on a cool visage at potential employee in Barking before you employee them.
The security of your Barking corporation is based on your employees and if they really are who they say they are
A quick and effective way to specify if potential employees are being honest is to have Private Investigators Barking Perform a background check in Barking.
Your staff member as far as It is normally observed went to a university in the Barking region at the dates they say they have attended the classes.
In Barking, there have been circumstances of some people providing fake certificates in the past.
A potential representative from Cranbrook says all the correct things however you are as yet not certain they have agreed up the outcomes they say they have.
The most appropriate method of eliciting the truth is hiring Private Investigators Barking to accomplish a background undertake a look at applicant in question.
Previous business references is a significant method that companies located in Barking can check regardless of an applicant being appropriate for the position or not.
Something else which can snatch a business in Cranbrook eye is holes in a CV as it influences them to ponder what had gone ahead in that time.
It is essential to assure that someone's reference from Barking is solid as this should have been clear to you if you have a protected company.
On the off chance that you have to secure yourself from a untruthful staff member within Barking, then a Private Investigators Barking representative historical check is just the most vibrant conducting to secure.
You need To confirm that you're employees are honest and safe to be around if you're working with vulnerable populations in Barking.
It is complicated to check if they have included with anything that would influence their admitting procedure within Barking.
It is extremely difficult to be capable of trusting possible employees in what they say in Barking due to the portion of problems you had to deal before.
Private Investigators Barking background checks can assist verifying if any and all potential employees are DBS verified.
Private Investigators Barking are a collection of Private Investigator, Private Detective, Private Investigators and Private Detectives in Barking


text: Hello all I'm new to the forum but I've been growing for about four years now. Started with CFLs then moved on to an Apollo 1000W Cool tube kit. I've grown many Incredible Bulks and Heavyweight Fruit Punch with the 1000W with great success just got tired of trying to manage heat and power bills so I decided to switch to LED. I have two P450's from Platinum LED In a 6 ft. long 2 ft. wide and 7 1/2 ft. high closet I lined with Mylar. I'm growing three Incredible Bulks that I germinated in a paper towel soaked in PH'ed water, when the seeds cracked I put them into 15 gallon pots. For the pots I put Geolite clay pebbles about 2 1/2 inch's thick in the bottom of each pot with two large air stones in the middle to pump air to the root system. I top that off with a mix of Fox Farms Ocean Forest, Happy Frog and ProMix HP about 1/3 each part. I have a screen door on the closet with a 8000 Btu A/C unit keeping it nice and cool. Going to be doing 18/6 veg then 12/12. I'll be using the Botanicare nute line Pure Blend Pro Bloom & Grow, Cal-Mag, Liquid Karma, Vitamino, Hydroplex, PH Up & Down, and Clearex I go by their recommended feeding schedule for each it has served me quite well in the past. For their water I collect the condensation from my portable A/C unit in a five gallon bucket and water the plants with it since it's very pure. The PPM readings are between 5 and 30 and my PUR faucet filter is around 85 brand new. I like to keep the PH of the water I feed them nice and evil at 6.66 Today is day 7 since they broke soil. I have some pics of them at day 3 I'll post. If at any point anyone has any questions or tips they are more than welcome. Will post more soon.


text:
Our next regular meeting on Wednesday December 11, 2013, from 7 pm to 9 pm. Our meetings are the second Wednesday of the month.
Everyone is welcome, current members, new members and guests. We are meeting at Earthly Goods Quilting – 4115 – 106 Street, Edmonton.
The meeting will include:
- Seasonal Swap: Bring a hand made item to swap. Anything you like, bring an item, and take another home. Participation is optional.
- The next instalment on our Mystery Quilt project. Bring along what you have finished from last time and your fabric choices to share.
- The Modern Quilt Guild pins have arrived and will be handed out at the meeting.
- Further discussion of how we will explore the modern quilt guild's definition of modern quilting through a swap.
- Show and Tell.
- Update on Modern Quilt Guild news.
- Feel free to bring seasonal treats to eat.
- Other new business.
Remember to bring your name tags!
Also, remember that the December 14 Sew Day will be dedicated to the incubator cover project. Please email Chelsey to confirm your participation.
I hope to see you there. If you have questions feel free to email me at shecanquilt [at] gmail.com.
See you at the meeting,


text:
Suppose that a,b in R, where R is an integral domainand a~b.
Show that: (i) a is prime if and only if b is prime
(ii) a is an atom if and only if b is an atom
how do you prove it?
Thank you very much
$\displaystyle a\sim b\ \Leftrightarrow\ a=ub$ where $\displaystyle u\in R$ is a unit. As $\displaystyle u$ is a unit, $\displaystyle uv=1$ for some $\displaystyle v\in R$ and so $\displaystyle b=va.$
Suppose $\displaystyle a$ is prime and $\displaystyle b\mid cd$ $\displaystyle (c,d\in R).$ Then $\displaystyle cd=be=a(ve)$ for some $\displaystyle e\in R.$ Hence $\displaystyle a\mid cd$ $\displaystyle \implies$ $\displaystyle a\mid c$ or $\displaystyle a\mid d$ as $\displaystyle a$ is prime. So either $\displaystyle fa=c$ or $\displaystyle ga=d$ for some $\displaystyle f,g\in R$ $\displaystyle \implies$ either $\displaystyle (uf)b=c$ or $\displaystyle (ug)b=d$ $\displaystyle \implies$ $\displaystyle b\mid c$ or $\displaystyle b\mid d$ $\displaystyle \implies$ $\displaystyle b$ is prime.
The other implication follows by interchanging $\displaystyle a$ and $\displaystyle b$ and interchanging $\displaystyle u$ and $\displaystyle v.$
Suppose $\displaystyle a$ is irreducible and let $\displaystyle b=cd$ for some $\displaystyle c,d\in R.$ Then $\displaystyle a=(uc)d$ and since $\displaystyle a$ is irreducible, either $\displaystyle uc$ or $\displaystyle d$ is a unit. If $\displaystyle uc$ is a unit, then $\displaystyle c=v(uc)$ is a unit. Thus $\displaystyle b=cd\ \Rightarrow\ c\ \mbox{or}\ d$ is a unit, proving that $\displaystyle b$ is irreducible.
Again the other implication follows by swapping $\displaystyle a\,/\,u$ and $\displaystyle b\,/\,v.$


text:
Saturday, June 10, 2017
Joe Biden's Niece Gets Off Easy In $100K Credit Card Scam
Read this article
VIDEO: CNN Reporter Brought to Tears By Poor Seat at White House
Read this article
Satanic Heavy Metal Singer Drops C-Bomb in Filth-Filled, Anti-Trump Rant
Read this article
More High Altitude Drama For The United States and Russia
Comey "Tapes" Being Demanded By Intelligence Community After Testimony
TRUMP EFFECT: Gas Prices Hit 12 Year Low For Time of Year
Marches Against Sharia Law Taking Place Across the USA Today
Congress Blasts Obama Admin's Coverup of Fast and Furious Scandal
Muslim Leader Resigns after Mosque Refuses to Fire Imam who Supported Female Genital Mutilation
Politics, Power, and the Occult
News You Can Use for June 10, 2017
Chimpanzee Legally Declared "Not Human" In New York Court
Lawsuit After 900 High School Students Groped By Warrantless Cops
Today's Cartoon
Facebook Patent Reveals Diabolical Plan to Spy On Users
"Social Justice" Boot Camp Coming to College Campuses in Philly
President Trump has been Exonerated but it Won't Matter to the Media
MSNBC's Chris Matthews says Comey's Testimony Proves No Collusion
Comey Testifies: A Disgruntled Former Employee Complains
Will Trump Fend Off "Showboat" Comey And The Federal Zombies?
President Trump Wows the Crowd at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference
Did You Ever Secretly Remove the Tag on the Mattress That Says, Do Not Remove Under Penalty of Law?
Obama NEVER Warned Election Officials that Russia was Trying to Interfere
Watch: The Full Testimony from James Comey
Zbigniew Brzezinski's Legacy: Creating the Taliban and Al Qaeda, Promoting Anti-Semitism
Who's "Cooking" the Climate Change Books?
Why have "End of the World" Stories become so Popular?
News You Can Use for June 9, 2017
FINALLY! Former FBI Director Comey calls New York Times Story on Trump Collusion "Nonsense"
Posted by
Lee S. Gliddon Jr.
Email This
Share to Twitter
Share to Facebook
Share to Pinterest
No comments:
Post a Comment
Newer Post
Older Post
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)


text:
I'm just going to go ahead and say that I'm on a huge black sesame kick right now. My instagram friends over at Surely Someday Kitchen in Jakarta, Indonesia make these extraordinary pebble cookies from black sesame seeds, which look like beautiful grey-speckled river rocks. So I bought a giant jar of the roasty little guys and now I'm discovering every possible way I can incorporate them into sweets, which to be honest, is not a place that most Americans are used to tasting sesame. But I love its richness, nutty like peanut butter but deeper, earthier, and more complex, with a unique umami bitterness. Accented by a little bit of citrus or some other tartness, the flavor is divine. I made some sesame and orange shortbread earlier this week, we have a pint of black sesame and seaweed ice cream in our freezer, and today I made black sesame and rhubarb financiers.
I've never made financiers before, and I've hardly ever really eaten them before. There's a coffee place in Dumbo that sells little chocolate fudgy ones that Ian and I used to get on slow, sunny mornings before work where we'd take our treats to the waterside between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges and dangle our legs above the lapping rivertide. They're simple little cakes, defined (as far as I know) by the use of egg whites as their only leavening agent, and by the beurre noisette (literally "hazelnut butter," though not made from hazelnuts at all), which is basically the French term for "brown butter." The butter is melted on a stovetop and cooked over low heat until the solids begin to brown and it gives off an aroma reminiscent of hazelnuts and turns a lovely warm amber color. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, from little rectangular loaves to petit-fours, and can be made pretty convincingly in a regular ol' muffin tin. They can be chocolate, almond, hazelnut, pistachio; so why not sesame?
The rhubarb was an impromptu addition. I'd seen someone make black sesame cakes with poached pear, which sounded heavenly, but I cut into the pear I had sitting on my counter and it was mealy and brown inside, very gross, not going anywhere near my precious sesame pastries. But lo and behold, eyeing me from behind the fruit bowl was that leftover stalk of rhubarb from that time last week when I overbooked myself for brunch gigs and had to make Ian make me rhubarb simple syrup for the next day's cocktails. He's a real gem. So I thought, I can poach rhubarb, right? Turns out you can.
This recipe was actually extraordinarily easy, and you should all give it a try! With our without the rhubarb, or with an addition of your own.
Black Sesame & Rhubarb Financiers
makes 10-12 in a standard muffin tin
– 1/3 C beurre noisette (start with 1/2 C unsalted butter)
– 1/4 C all purpose flour
– 1/2 C roasted black sesame seeds + extra for topping
– 3/4 C powdered sugar
– 1/8 tsp salt
– 3 large egg whites (save the yolks for something else later!)
– 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
– zest from 1 lemon
– 1 stalk rhubarb
– 2 C water
– 1/3 C sugar
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bring the water and sugar to a low boil and add the rhubarb, cut on the bias into thin strips. Cook 5-6 minutes until tender but not falling apart. Strain off the liquid and set rhubarb aside to cool.
2. In a food processor, pulse the sesame seeds and flour until finely ground. Add the powdered sugar and salt and pulse to combine. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl.
3. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Allow it to foam and then lower the heat for the foam to subside. Cook over low heat 4-5 minutes until the butter is amber and aromatic. Keep an eye on it and don't let it burn! Pour 1/3 C into a measuring cup, allowing the sunken solids to remain in the pan with any leftover butter. Brush the insides of a standard muffin tin with the remaining butter.
4. Lightly beat your egg whites until broken and slightly frothy, and add the vanilla extract. Add the beurre noisette and egg white mixture to your dry mixture and toss with a spatula to combine.
5. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, spoon batter into individual muffin tins, adding only about 1/3-1/2″ of batter in each one. The financiers will be shallow, but this allows for their fluffy texture and quick cook time.
6. Sprinkle reserved sesame seeds over the top (a mix of white and black would be beautiful if you have both!) and then lightly press your rhubarb into each one.
7. Bake at 400°F for 10-15 minutes or until a fork inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack. If all goes well, they should pop right out!
I hope you guys like this recipe as much as I did … Now that I know how simple they are to make I might be making financiers all the time! And you guys know how much I love any excuse to eat cake for breakfast …
Until next time,