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Sure handed
TORONTO — Anyone notice the errorless streak the Blue Jays have been on lately?
Entering tonight, Toronto has gone a frachise-record 13 consecutive games without making an error — a span of 116 innings. It's the longest such run in the Majors this season and the longest since the Red Sox went 17 straight games without an error from June 11-30, 2006.
Toronto also ranks first in the American League and second in the game with a .987 fielding percentage. The Jays have made just 16 errors in 41 games since the All-Star break, representing the fewest in the league. On the year, the Jays have 65 errors — also the fewest in the AL.
The Jays certainly have the pitching and defense thing down.
Today's lineups:
MINNESOTA (77-61) at TORONTO (71-66)
at 7:07 p.m. ET at the Rogers Centre
Denard Span, RF
Alexi Casilla, 2B
Joe Mauer, C
Justin Morneau, 1B
Jason Kubel, LF
Brian Buscher, DH
Nick Punto, SS
Matt Tolbert, 3B
Carlos Gomez, CF
PITCHING: RHP Nick Blackburn (9-8, 3.75)
Joe Inglett, 2B
Marco Scutaro, SS
Alex Rios, RF
Vernon Wells, CF
Adam Lind, LF
Rod Barajas, C
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Scott Rolen, 3B
Travis Snider, DH
PITCHING: RHP A.J. Burnett (16-10, 4.48)
17 Comments
Burnett will not get #17 tonight.1st INN 20 pitches Blackburn 9 pitches.Who is on and who is not.But let's face it in baseball things can change.GO-JAYS.
The defense has only made the Jays pitching that much better. Position by position, we have guys are very skilled defensively. The sad truth is that we may have to give some of that up to get a little offense.
We are really playing some great baseball right now. Fun, and exciting watch. Imagine how good this would be if we were still in the race. Thats okay, we are going to finish ahead of the Yankees for the first time in forever, I'm hoping.
The pitching and defence is definitely the best in the game right now and has been for the majority of the season. Losing Burnett will hurt, but we have guys in the system with his type of stuff that will cost a quarter if not less that Burnett. Snider is going to be a huge stud! He will a star for this team… I'm not just saying that because he racked up 3 hits today but because you can see the talent in his bat and oh yah…… HE IS ONLY 20!
Snider is going to be a weapon for years to come.Lind is going to be a weapon for years to come.And they both belong to Toronto.But let's not forget J.Mac.was the Hero last night.The other two will be in the spotlight many many times in the years to come.but let's give J.Mac. some credit for last night.
I would like to see J.Mac.back as the full time shortstop next year and see what he can do.If he can't pick up his batting AVG.by the Allstar break then look for a shortstop who can hit if they can find one.The freeagent shortstops who are out there this Winter are not worth the money they will garner.
With the fact that the Blue Jays have four major league quality outfielders and that Burnett will opt out of his contract what are your guys thoughts on possibly trading one of our outfielders such as Lind or Rios plus a couple of prospects for a legitamate #2 in the Blue Jays rotation
I don't think I would make that trade,First of all you then will have to look for a good DH at about 10 or 12 mil.If they want a #2 starter the free agent market has about 4 or 5 good starters this Winter.If you trade for a starter you will still have to pay the big bucks so why not keep your players and look to the free agent market,just my opinion.
There is always a chance although a slim one that Burnett stays in Toronto,The Jays will have about 30 mil.to work with next year and who knows maybe JP will give him more money to stay,If he does and AJ plays the same next year as he is this year JP will look like a genius lol.
I wish Wilkerson or Mench or platoon seemed to be a quality DH. Then the Jays could leave Snider in AAA for a full year (or call up due to injuries – as long as Inglett hasn't taught him the Voodoo technique). Leaving Lind/Wells/Rios starting in the OF, and Inglett as the 4th outfielder.
That way there would still be money to spend.
Wilkerson and Mench will not be with the Jays next year.If Snider warrants another year in AAA ball I'm sure they will pick up a good DH.
Gee Garry, did you have a conference call with JP? How can you be so positive that M and/or W won't return? Perhaps you HOPE that they won't return. Just as I WISH they had done a better job this year.
I can't be positive but I can't see any reason for their return,Why would the Jays spend money on them when they can get better players for a few dollars more and I mean a few dollars more.
A Mench/Wilkerson platoon at DH is not what the Jay's need. Mench has hit .254 against Lefties, and Wilkerson .218 against righties. Not the kind of production I would really want from that position.
Manny would be a nice touch,Would anyone out there like to see Manny come to Toronto as the DH.
Sign me up as someone who would like to see Manny here.
I didn't say that they COULD do the job. I said that I WISH that they could (because it would be an inexpensive alternative). Plus your stats only point out why it would be a platoon.
I am concerned that Manny would be disruptive as a Jay. However, as a fan, I would like to see him regularly, at least for a while.
Manny would be a good addition but not for more than 2 year deal. If they could get him and sign maybe Derek Lowe to step in when AJ departs things would look pretty good.I think Downs should be left in the pen as he is more valuable there.
Leave Downs in the pen is a good idea 8th INN.guys with his stuff are hard to find.
Last night belonged to Snider. And JMac was the hero with that hit.
But lost in all that is Inglett and his 2 run HR. How good has he been this year. He's hitting .300. What I like about him is that it looks like he has a good eye. Not that he walks all that much, but what I mean by that is that he swings and makes good contact on good pitches, and lays off on bad pitches. He doesn't walk that much because he hits the ball before he gets a chance too. Just a good solid hitter. I hope he made his impression a a big leaguer, at the very least as a solid Scutaro-type utility man.
Jays are fun to watch right now.


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Every May, as part of the medieval festival in Castiglion Fiorentino, there is a brilliant opportunity to get up close to these beautiful birds of prey.
|The Usual Suspects
|Talk about a patient model!
May 2005 - Two Australians moved to Tuscany where they planned to live for two years. Two weeks later their dogs, Snowy and Dermott, arrived. Seven years and a property purchase later, they're still here.
|The Usual Suspects
|Talk about a patient model!
I can see that he's got his beady little eye on you Robyn. Ruffle his feathers and you'll know about it! ;)
I love the Usual Suspects photograph!
Love the sketch and watercolor and the usual suspect photo is wonderful. I especially like that sleepy guy on the far right. What fun!
It must have been amazing sketching from the actual bird whilst it sat there...and a great job you have done too. Im sure your friend is delighted.
Oh! Lucky,lucky you, Robyn.
You photo and sketches are lovely. But I would say that!
I'm amazed at the detail you were able to get in person!!! Great job on this. Love the sketches in Spain!!! I'm sure a few days there were nowhere near enough!
You've caught his amazing character - a wise old owl indeed.
What wonderful sketches, Robyn! And the final art is really great, too! What a wonderful opportunity. Birds that sit still for you!
I haven't seen your owl...and I LOVE owls...a beautiful little one by you robyn!
Wonderful drawings!

subset: commoncrawl


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|Winnebago County Sheriff's PoliceNews Media Release
|News Release Number2008- 021
|Date: May 12,2008
|Time: 1:15P.M.
|Page of 1
On May 8, 2008 Jonathon Christopher Powell (male/ DOB 4-13-68) was charged with two counts of Criminal Sexual Assault (victim 13-17yrs old).Powell is a resident of Machesney Park, Illinois. The charges stem from an investigation conducted by Winnebago County Sheriff's Detectives after an allegation of inappropriate sexual relations between Powell and two young females. The charges against Powell are merely accusations. He is presumed innocent, unless proven guilty in court. Powell is detained in the Winnebago County Jail. A photo will be E-Mailed to the media.


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Thomas Sully (1783–1872) was one of nineteenth-century America's most prolific artists, painting over twenty-three hundred works during a career that spanned seventy years. In his portraits, the movers and shakers of the eighteen hundreds come to startling life—from the Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette, young Queen Victoria, and President Andrew Jackson to the stars of the international stage. Many of these works were created in Philadelphia, a crossroads for politics and culture at the time.
In addition to his voluminous portrait practice, Sully had a vigorous interest in subject pictures that centered on theatre, literature, and fairy tales. He often created these paintings—which have been all but forgotten—to offset the effects of the economy on his career and to extend his brand.
Thomas Sully: Painted Performance offers a new look at an American Old Master. The exhibition is the first retrospective of the artist in thirty years, and the first to explore the artist's entire career in depth. Nearly eighty paintings from public and private collections across the U.S. and Great Britain celebrate the full range of Sully's artistic imagination for a twenty-first century audience, including the lifelong love of the theatre and performance that permeates all his works.
Born into a theatrical family that had emigrated from England, Sully made his own debut on the stage in South Carolina as a child. His early commissions arose from his family connections in the theatre worlds of New York and Philadelphia. His images of famous actors and actresses in their most acclaimed roles made his reputation and kept his fame alive throughout his career. At the same time, he composed subject pictures drawn from well-known plays, novels, and even fairy tales, staging these painted scenes as if they were frozen moments from a play.
Whether painting a queen of the stage or a minister, a popular heroine from Charles Dickens or a member of his own beloved family, Sully created characters on canvas full of personality, drama, movement, and activity. Both Sully's portraits and subject pictures reveal his intuitive understanding of William Shakespeare's famous lines from As You Like It: "All the world's a stage/And all the men and women merely players."


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Swimming and Jogging


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Jude Law and his fellow cast mates in Broadway's production of "Hamlet" have no reason to be melancholy: They are an official hit.
Producers of the Shakespeare classic now playing at the Broadhurst Theatre said Wednesday they've recouped the show's $2.5 million costs in less than three months.
Says producer Arielle Tepper Madover: "It's heartening to see that Shakespeare can be a commercial success on Broadway, as well as seeing so many young audience members at the Broadhurst experiencing their first Shakespeare production."
The production began performances on Sept. 12 and plays until Dec. 6.
Law has been joined on Broadway this season by two other film stars seeing large box-office crowds: Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig in "A Steady Rain."


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Bucklebury, England (CNN) -- A mere 45 minutes drive from London, the quiet country lanes and thatched roofs of rural Berkshire could be a world away.
Neat villages dot farmland filled with grazing horses and ancient hedgerows and the only traffic apart from tractors is the odd Porsche or Land Rover.
This is Kate Middleton country -- a green and pleasant land full of oak trees and public schools -- where the princess-in-waiting has lived most of her life.
Kate was born on January 9 1982 at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading and christened shortly after at the parish church of St Andrews in Bradfield, an unspoilt village of red-brick houses that typifies this well-heeled, well-mannered part of the UK.
In Bradfield, there's no litter on the streets, no graffiti on the walls and the faces are almost exclusively white. Rosy-cheeked children from Bradfield College, the private school that dominates the village, carry hockey sticks on their way to the playing fields and men in tweed jackets walk dogs.
This is an England from a bygone time: a chocolate-box version that bears a closer resemblance to the upper-middle-class land conjured up by Richard Curtis in films like "Four Weddings and a Funeral" than the complex, multi-cultural reality of urban Britain today.
And that's what makes it such prime London commuter belt country. It's full of affluent people who want to escape the social problems and high prices of the UK's capital for a slower pace but remain within reach of the benefits of city living.
It's perhaps what Kate's parents Michael and Carole Middleton were thinking when they bought a house in the Berkshire hamlet of Bradfield Southend in 1979. They were both working for British Airways and it's a short drive from Berkshire to Heathrow Airport.
"West View," the four-bedroom red-brick house where Kate spent her formative years is currently for sale (the ultimate royal wedding souvenir for an affluent collector?) with a guide price of £495,000 ($800,000).
"It's a nice little community," says Brook Singleton of Dudley Singleton and Daughter, the real estate broker selling the house. "Everyone's very proud of the fact Kate Middleton came from there."
Kate began her schooling in Bradfield Southend, at the Bradfield Church of England primary school. It was here that her mother, Carole, founded Party Pieces, the family's successful party accessories website, which she ran in a converted shed in the garden for a time.
A few minutes away in the hamlet of Stanford Dingley is the 18th-century Old Boot Inn, the Middleton family's local pub, where they have taken Prince William. Under the pub's crooked wooden ceiling beams there are open fires, real ales on tap and gastropub favorites like baked goat's cheese and sea bass on the menu.
John Haley has owned the pub for 14 years and has been invited to Kate and William's wedding on April 29. He says that the Middleton family is very much part of the local community and describes local people as "very protective" of their privacy.
Today, the Middleton family home is a large house in Chapel Row in West Berkshire, in the parish of Bucklebury -- prime real estate, according to one local realtor. Discreetly hidden from view by trees, the house can only be accessed via a private road, where a police car is sometimes stationed.
The Middletons had enough success with the family business to move by 1995, when Kate was 13.
Kate, who entered the private school system aged seven (she had attended nearby St Andrews School for several years) moved schools at the same time, attending Downe House for a period before moving to £29,000-a-year ($47,000) Marlborough College in Wiltshire.
These days, Party Pieces HQ is based in converted farm buildings not far from Pangbourne, a large Berkshire village that contains a Bentley car dealership. The Party pieces website says the company's call center is in a "200-year-old barn" and the huge warehouse stacked with balloons and toys was once a hay shed.
It would seem, despite Kate being the first "commoner" to marry into the royal family since the 17th century, that the place she grew up in is not very common at all.


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Volcanoes in Eruption - Set 2
The word volcano is used to refer to the opening from which molten rock and gas issue from Earth's interior onto the surface, and also to the cone, hill, or mountain built up around the opening by the eruptive products. This slide set depicts ash clouds, fire fountains, lava flows, spatter cones, glowing avalanches, and steam eruptions from 18 volcanoes in 13 countries. Volcano types include strato, cinder cone, basaltic shield, complex, and island-forming. Perhaps no force of nature arouses more awe and wonder than that of a volcanic eruption. Volcanoes can be ruthless destroyers. Primitive people offered sacrifices to stem the tide of such eruptions and many of their legends were centered around volcanic activity. Volcanoes are also benefactors. Volcanic processes have liberated gases of the atmosphere and water in our lakes and oceans from the rocks deep beneath Earth's surface. The fertility of the soil is greatly enhanced by volcanic eruptive products. Land masses such as islands and large sections of continents may owe their existence entirely to volcanic activity. The "volcano" is used to refer to the opening from which molten rock and gas issue from Earth's interior onto the surface, and also to the cone, hill, or mountain built up around the opening by the eruptive products. The molten rock material generated within Earth that feeds volcanoes is called magma and the storage reservoir near the surface is called the magmachamber. Eruptive products include lava (fluid rock material) and pyroclastics or tephra (fragmentary solid or liquid rock material). Tephra includes volcanic ash, lapilli (fragments between 2 and 64 mm), blocks, and bombs. Low viscosity lava can spread great distances from the vent. Higher viscosity produces thicker lava flows that cover less area. Lava may formlava lakes of fluid rock in summit craters or in pit craters on the flanks of shield volcanoes. When the lava issues vertically from a central vent or a fissure in a rhythmic, jet-like eruption, it produces a lava fountain. Pyroclastic (fire-broken) rocks and rock fragments are products of explosive eruptions. These may be ejected more or less vertically, thenfall back to Earth in the form of ash fall deposits. Pyroclastic flows result when the eruptive fragments follow the contours of the volcano and surrounding terrain. They are of three main types: glowing ash clouds, ash flows, and mudflows. A glowing ash cloud (nuee ardente) consists of an avalanche of incandescent volcanic fragments suspended on a cushion of air or expanding volcanic gas. This cloud forms from the collapse of a vertical ash eruption, from a directed blast, or is the result of the disintegration of a lava dome. Temperatures in the glowing cloud can reach 1,000 deg C and velocities of 150 km per hour. Ash flows resemble glowing ash clouds; however, their temperatures are much lower. Mudflows (lahars) consist of solid volcanic rock fragments held in water suspension. Some may be hot, but most occur as cold flows. They may reach speeds of 92 km per hour and extend to distances of several tens of kilometers. Large snow-covered volcanoes that erupt explosively are the principal sources of mud flows. Explosions can give rise to air shock waves and base surges. Air shock waves are generated as a result of the explosive introduction of volcanic ejecta into the atmosphere. A base surge may carry air, water, and solid debris outward from the volcano at the base of the vertical explosion column. Volcanic structures can take many forms. A few of the smaller structures built directly around vents include cinder, spatter, and lava cones. Thick lavas may pile up over their vents to form lava domes. Larger structures produced by low viscosity lava flows include lava plains and gently sloping cones known as a shield volcanoes. A stratovolcano (also known as a composite volcano) is built of successive layers of ash and lava. A volcano may consist of two or more cones side by side and is referred to as compound or complex. Sometimes a violent eruption will partially empty the underground reservoir of magma. The roof of the magma chamber may thenpartially or totally collapse. The resulting caldera may be filled by water. The volcanic structure tells us much about the nature of the eruptions.
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|Beginning Skaters Forum This is the place for beginning skaters to ask questions and share their stories. We would love to hear about your experiences learning to skate. No question is too dumb!
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|April 27th, 2017, 02:59 AM
Junior Member
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 1
Intro and thoughts on a new pair of skates I ordered
Hi! I just turned 44 and recently got back into skating with my 8 yr old.
As a kid, I skated at the local rink every single week. I skate very well forwards and backwards, but thats about it. I have been speed skating and having fun at the local rink the past month.
Finally just purchased a pair of skates since the rentals barely have any insoles, and want to save money instead of renting.
I figure for my first indoor skate I didnt need leather. I was going to go with Sure Grip Fame or Riedell Angel. I went with the Angel, but they didnt arrive yet. Any thoughts on these???
I guess in the future I can always upgrade to better wheels? They are just the rivas.
I actually was skating really well on the rentals, I hope these will be comparable. My rink rentals are the Sure grip brand, beige with usual orange wheels.
My skates should be arriving soon! Excited!
Last edited by backtoskating2017; April 27th, 2017 at 03:00 AM. Reason: typo
|indoor, riedell angel 111, skates, sure grip fame
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The humble cauliflower, usually ignored, often over cooked, one of those vegetables your mother told you was good for you but smelled bad. Before I begin my Passover project I wanted to post these recipes for cauliflower.
Cauliflower Cashew Salad
Although this is not a Passover recipe, I made this salad last weekend and it was so delicious that I wanted to share it anyway. Cauliflowers are plentiful right now. I also did cauliflower two other ways two other ways.
Some flavors meant to go together, create sublime combinations. In this case, the curry spice with ginger [click to continue…]
{ 0 comments }


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Let's consider Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) stock move that changed on Wednesday Dated OCTOBER 09, 2019. 2778651 shares changed at hands in last session versus to an average volume of 3142.18K shares. Valero Energy Corporation stock ended at $85.07 by scoring 2.10%. It has 415M outstanding shares and 412.98M shares have been floated in market exchange. The stock institutional ownership included 79.80% while insider ownership remained 0.10%. The net percent change held by Institutional Investors has seen a change of 0.14% over last three month period. The net percent change kept by insiders has seen a change of 0.00% over last six month period.
Stock's Price Fluctuations & Volatility:
The stock price registered volatility 2.21% in past week and volatility was at 2.43% over a last month. Historical volatility refers to the price fluctuations exhibited by the underlying asset (such as stock) over time. A security with high volatility has bigger fluctuations in price compared to a security with low volatility. The more quickly a price changes up and down, the more volatile it is. As such, volatility is often used as a measure of risk.
The stock's Average True Range for 14 days was 2.14. ATR measures volatility, taking into account any gaps in the price movement. High ATR indicates increased volatility. A low ATR value indicates a series of periods with small ranges. Company's beta coefficient stands at 1.46. Beta factors measures the amount of market risk associated with market trade. The stock has a RSI reading of 58.76.
Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) Stock's Moving Average & Performance Analysis:
The stock showed weekly performance of 2.74% and it maintained for the month at 4.15%. Likewise the performance for the quarter was recorded as 0.76% and for the year it was -26.78%. The stock showed -3.80% performance during last 6-months. The YTD performance remained at 13.47%. This stock traded upward toward its 52 week low with 23.63% and -27.61% negative from its 52 week high price. The stock price is moving up from its 20 days moving average with 1.57% and it is trading up from 50 days moving average with 6.18%. The stock price is moving along upward drift from its 200 days moving average with 4.03%.
Valero Energy Corporation (VLO) Stock's Ratio Analysis:
The Company was able to keep Return on assets (ROA) at 4.90% in the trailing twelve month. ROA shows that how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. ROA gives an idea as to how efficient management is at using its assets to generate earnings. Calculated by dividing a company's annual earnings by its total assets, ROA is displayed as a percentage. The Company generated Return on equity (ROE) 11.80% over the last twelve months. ROE is a measure of a corporation's profitability that reveals how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have invested. Calculated as Net Income / Shareholder's Equity. It has kept Return on investment (ROI) at 11.90%. ROI is a financial ratio intended to measure the benefit obtained from an investment. Time is usually of the essence in this measurement because it takes time for an investment to realize a benefit.
Long Term Debt/Equity ratio was recorded at 0.43. This measures a company's financial leverage calculated by dividing its long term debt by stockholders' equity. It indicates what proportion of equity and debt the company is using to finance its assets. On the other side the debt to equity ratio is 0.44. Its current ratio is 1.4. Current Ratio is a liquidity ratio that measures a company's ability to pay short-term obligations. Quick Ratio of 0.9 is an indicator of a company's short-term liquidity. The quick ratio measures a company's ability to meet its short-term obligations with its most liquid assets. The higher the quick ratio, the better the position of the company.
Category – Business
Stephon Tripis is a share market expert, being personally invested for over 6 years. He believes the most valuable nugget of wisdom for new investors is a quote from Phillip Fisher: 'The stock market is filled with individuals who know the price of everything, but the value of nothing.' Stephon also holds a postgraduate degree in Software Engineering from Canada. He has been writing his entire life, and while he has made a career of business and finance reporting, he still enjoys writing short stories and poetry.
Stephon has worked as financial analyst until his retirement. He is a well-known research director and portfolio manager for more than 5 years. After many years in the market, he dedicated all his time to write articles highlighting different financial problems.
Email: [email protected]


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Pou Jelly World 3
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Published: 2014-09-11
Category: Fun


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Hear the untold stories of enslaved people and learn about historical and contemporary slavery.
Historical and contemporary slavery.
A beautiful building housing one of the UK's finest collections of fine and decorative art.
Paintings, Wedgwood and Chinese ceramics.
Uncover objects from the Titanic, find out about life at sea and learn about the port of Liverpool.
The Titanic, life at sea and Liverpool's port.
This museum tells the story of Liverpool with diverse exhibits housed in a stunning building.
Liverpool's history and popular culture.
Explore a Victorian merchant's house with its period furniture and beautiful paintings.
Paintings, vintage fashion and furniture.
Beautiful paintings, sculpture and decorative art from the 13th century to the present day.
Paintings, sculpture and decorative art.
Discover treasures from around the world, explore outer space and meet live creatures!
World cultures, space and live creatures.
See a larger version
Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564), sculptor, painter, draughtsman, architect and poet, was one of the major figures of the Roman High Renaissance. He was acclaimed in his own lifetime as a genius. His working career spanned over 70 years. 'Christ and the Woman of Samaria' was made when he was about 65.
This picture shows the incident told in the Gospel of St John (Chapter IV, verses 5-26) where Christ met the Woman of Samaria drawing water at Jacob's well. Several oil versions of this subject are known, all of which are copies - either from the original by Michelangelo or from the well-known engraving of the picture made by Nicholas Beatrizet.
The choice of this biblical subject for a private devotional image, as this piece is believed to be, is unusual. The Woman of Samaria had already had five husbands and was living with another man who was not her husband. Jews did not normally talk to Samarians. It would seem that Samarians themselves did not normally talk to this woman. By singling her out for attention and making her the physical vehicle for carrying messages to the Samarians, Christ indicated most forcefully that he had come to save all humanity. This incident places particular emphasis upon grace and forgiveness.
A characteristic of Michelangelo's figure style that was much commented by his contemporaries was his so-called 'terribilitià' - a kind of awesome statuesque grandeur. Muscles are often exaggerated - bodies have a burly look and female figures have a proportion similar to those of males.
The picture is drawn in bistre ink onto gesso (plaster) ground. The ground is on a poplar panel and has warped into a curve over time.
This is a perplexing picture, principally because it is still unclear whether or not it is the original by Michelangelo. The Liverpool banker and author, William Roscoe, owned it during the early nineteenth century and believed it to be authentic. However, more recent scholarly opinion tended, until 1978, to regard it as a copy, possibly made from the print. The cleaning of the painting by conservators at the Courtauld Institute in London, revealed it to be of very high quality and it is now believed either to be by Michelangelo or to be the closest of the copies made after the picture.
The original picture is recorded as having been painted for Vittoria Colonna (1490-1547) at some time between 1536/8 and 1542. She was an extremely learned and devout woman from a prominent Roman family who attained an international reputation as a poetess and as a prominent advocate of church reform. She wished, like others, to find a middle way between the Catholic teaching on grace and Lutheran beliefs.
She wrote many sonnets, several in memory of her husband who had been killed at the Battle of Pavia. She was a close friend of Michelangelo and they corresponded with each other. He wrote several courtly sonnets praising both her physical and spiritual beauty, in addition to supplying her with other devotional images. There is a considerable amount of common imagery and ideas in the verse of Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna. Both wrote in the style of Petrarch and both united Christian and Platonic beliefs.
Among those with whom Vittoria Colonna corresponded was the Marguerite of Angoulême, sister of Francis I, King of France, who also wrote poetry and was a prominent advocate of church reform.
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Congress looked ugly on bailout bill, but system worked
WASHNGTON _ Everything America hates about Congress was on vivid display these last few weeks as members struggled to pass the $700 billion financial rescue plan.
Yet experts argue that in the end the system worked, as members acted rapidly to try to ease what may be the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression.
"Democracy is messy," explained Carl Pinkele, professor of politics and government at Ohio Wesleyan University.
But has it become too messy? How did a three-page Bush administration request balloon into a 450-page goodie bag brimming with tax breaks for NASCAR racetracks and children's wooden arrow makers, among others? Why did 58 House members who voted against the bill Monday vote yes Friday, after those sweeteners were added?
Congress clearly has an image problem, one that drove its already tiny approval rating down to 15 percent in a CBS News poll taken Sept. 27-30, in the midst of the bailout battle.
Will the bailout bill chaos prod the system to function more smoothly?
Probably not, said Jack Pitney, professor of American politics at Claremont McKenna College in California.
"This is how Congress usually works, and whenever people have the opportunity to watch it, they think less of the institution," he said.
Crafting legislation, especially a month before an election, is a delicate give-and-take process, one that requires doing what is necessary to win a House majority and 60 Senate votes, the number needed to stop a filibuster.
"You just have to keep giving things to people to get enough votes," explained Pinkele.
Still, the question lingers among constituents: Was this process uglier and seamier than usual?
Angry partisans
Yes, in one sense, because Congress in recent years has become more of a cauldron of partisan ire, where each side is highly suspicious of the other.
Veteran consensus-builders like the two banking committee chairmen, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and friendly Republicans, including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, were able to work smoothly behind closed doors.
But once their carefully crafted plans were offered to the rank and file Sunday, the partisan wrath surfaced. Republicans have long disliked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying she often shuts them out of decision-making, and Democrats _ many still stung by Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment and the Bush White House's misleading claims about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq _ tend to view Republicans as ideologues unwilling to compromise.
Pelosi knew weeks ago that she needed 100 GOP votes for the bailout to pass. Too many urban and progressive Democrats could not back the bill; too many were concerned Wall Street fat cats were being saved while their constituents were being tossed out of their homes.
But when the partisan Pelosi emerged anew Monday, just before the House bailout vote, and blasted the "right-wing ideology of anything goes, no supervision, no discipline, no regulation," many GOP lawmakers were reminded of the speaker they despised.
Pelosi's speech "was hardly statesmanlike," said James Hoefler, coordinator of the Dickinson College Policy Studies Program in Carlisle, Pa. The stunning House rejection of the plan left both sides accusing the other of playing politics.
Republicans blamed Pelosi for the defeat; as House GOP leader John Boehner charged her words "caused a number of members we thought we could get to go south."
Hoefler's analysis: "It was all pretty juvenile."
Divided Republicans
Adding to the ugliness was a Republican schism that's been building for years.
House Republicans have endured an uneasy alliance between practical members and the more ideologically inclined for some time. The choice of Boehner in 2006 to lead the GOP was a victory for the practical side, but he presides over a fractured alliance.
So when a Boehner lieutenant with strong ties to the conservatives, Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., unveiled his plan last week (Sept. 25-26) to use insurance rather than government aid to help struggling firms, he instantly found strong support among free marketers.
Boehner quickly fell into line, and so, officially, did the Republican Party. Presidential candidate John McCain would try to explain the plan at the White House summit meeting, but apparently was nearly incoherent, according to two Democrats present.
Most of the free marketers, as well as fiscal conservatives appalled at the potential deficit growth, generally would not be consoled, even at the end.
"This is an abuse by lawmakers and a waste of American tax dollars," Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, said Friday.
But with the sweeteners, notably tax breaks likely to add $110 billion to the a deficit almost certain to set a new record next year, members can go home and show they did something for taxpayers.
Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Texas, switched to yes Friday.
"I do not believe that such massive government action is the best answer to the current problems on Wall Street," he said.
But, he added, changes "unrelated to the overall plan" helped make the bill "easier to vote for," notably the help for constituents who take sales tax deductions on income tax, are subject to the alternative minimum tax and need disaster relief because of hurricane damage.
Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, also said he was "uncomfortable with the degree of government intrusion," but he voted yes partly because of the improved Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. protection on consumer bank deposits.
"A former minister in home church used to say that. 'Sometimes you have to put aside your principles and do what's right,'" Thornberry said. "I believe at this extraordinary time passing this flawed bill is the right thing to do."
His dilemma was echoed throughout the Capitol Friday.
"Everyone knew something had to be done, but they didn't want to be hit if everything blew up," said Dennis Goldford, professor of politics at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. "They all knew how terribly unpopular this was."
Messiness is nothing new on Capitol Hill. In November 2003, House Republican leaders stretched a scheduled 15-minute vote that began at 3:01 a.m. until 5:53 a.m. as they tried, and ultimately won, approval of a Medicare prescription drug bill. After the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, some 88 congressional committees claimed jurisdiction over homeland security.
So enacting a historic bailout bill in a matter of weeks is almost a demonstration that an unruly system can be tamed. The drama probably won't boost Congress' approval numbers, but that's democracy, Capitol Hill-style.
"The system is designed so you do what you can to get to the middle," said Pinkele. "It's not the pure civics model of government. But that model has never really been the way things work."


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The CMS Stags and Athenas combined for four pool records in a pair of victories over Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday. All told, CMS won 29 of the 32 events, posting a 220-73 win in the women's meet and a 229-67 tally in the men's meet.
The diving portion of the contest was held on Thursday evening. Freshman James Stevick won both boards for the Stags, notching an NCAA qualifying score of 294.65 on the 1-meter board. Athena frosh Lizzy Ginelli took first in the 1-meter and 3-meter contests.
The swimming competition opened with a bang for CMS, as the first two races led to pool record times. The Athena 200 yard medley relay of Elsa Cheng, Emma Jones, Katie Bilotti, and Michele Kee clocked in at 1:49.47, a slim .02 quicker than the record previously set by Cheng, Annie Perizzolo, Bilotti, and Jones in December 2009. The Stags built on the momentum, as Austin Hallett, Vincent Pai, Patrick Shultz and Devin Bowers' time of 1:37.50 was .28 quicker than Cal Baptist's record from 2004.
Vincent Pai topped his own Axelrood Pool record by .15, with a 58.61 in the 100 yard breaststroke. Michele Kee later posted a pool record in the 200 yard butterfly by .8 seconds, finishing in 2:07.06. Kee's 200 fly time ranks as the second fastest in Athena history. Continuing their dominance in their respective disciplines, Pai also won the 200 breast and Kee won the 100 fly.
In addition to Pai and Kee, CMS had four additional multi-event winners. Freshman LillyBelle Deer won the distance double of the 1650 and 500 yard freestyle events. Stag frosh Patrick Shultz won the sprint double of the 50 free and 100 free. Sophomore Helen Liu took the women's 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle events. Junior Jordan Lieberman, fresh off a study-abroad stint in Australia, returned in mid-season form to take the 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke events.
Other event winners were: Alex Mendoza 1650 FS, Cameron Whiting 200 FS, Emma Jones 100 BR, Erin MacLean 200 BK, Mackenzie Marrs 200 BR, Devin Nishizaki 500 FS, Marc Blumberg 100 FL, Olivia Graham 400 IM, and Tim Storer 400 IM
To end the meet, CMS nearly picked up some more pool records, finishing just off the marks, but still placing first in the 200 freestyle relays. Kee, Liu and Jones teamed with Kristie Howard to finish the 8 lengths in 1:39.38 for the Athenas. The Stags quartet of Whiting, Bowers, Jeff McNerney and Shultz finished in 1:27.15, with Shultz anchoring in a blistering 20.83 split.
Both Stags and Athenas are 2-0 in SCIAC competition and will resume SCIAC competition after exam week and the holiday break.


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DKIH: Common mode chokes for 1- and 3-phase applications mount on PCB
Like all other aspects of electronic design, the power portion is oftentimes built today using discrete components on printed circuit boards. With the trending integration of components, to achieve smaller and smaller form factors, thermal problems and high currents on the PCB can arise. It also becomes increasingly challenging to meet EMC requirements with a filter package due to the resulting space constraints; therefore a filter on PCB with discrete components is a good solution. Next, the capacitors and a common mode choke, with asymmetrical effective inductance, are very effective to dampen EMI noise.
The new DKIH-1 series is suitable for single phase AC or DC applications from 10 up to 50 amperes. Light weight and compact, the common mode chokes are easily placed on the PCB with through hole technology (THT). They are designed and approved according IEC 60938, UL 1283 and CSA 22.2 no. 8. The voltage rating is 300 VAC (IEC, UL) and 250 VAC (CSA).
The new DKIH-3 series is suitable for three phase AC applications from 10 up to 50 amperes. The common mode chokes are also designed according IEC 60938 and are rated 600 VAC, making them suitable for many applications.
The DKIH-1 and -3 have a wide temperature range of -40 to +100°C. They are available with a standard pin out or customer specific pin out. Variations in the winding are also available on request.
Technical Data DKIH-1:
- Rated voltage: 300 VAC (UL, ENEC), 250 VAC (CSA), 425 VDC
- Rated currents: 10 to 50 A (ENEC / UL / CSA) at 40°C
- Rated inductance: 0.15 to 0.80 mH
- Other pin outs available on request
Technical Data DKIH-3:
- Rated voltage: 600 VAC
- Rated currents: 10 to 50 A at 40°C
- Rated inductance: 0.08 to 1.10 mH
- Other pin outs available on request
- Frequency converters for photovoltaic or energy storage
- Charge stations for electric vehicles
- UPS-systems
- Switching power supplies


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In stock
That spot beside the sofa. By the side of the bed. A little alcove in the hallway. Indoors or out. This new addition to our Chilson collection is ideal for small spaces in need of storage. Pop a lamp or vase on the top then use the lower...
Minimum Order Value:
UK Mainland - £250 (ex VAT)
Delivery Costs:
Standard UK Delivery takes 3-5 working days.
Pre-order items will be delivered on the date specified at the time of ordering. Pre-order dates are subject to change, for an updated date of arrival please contact our customer services team directly.
Outside UK Mainland, European and ROW delivery charges and transit times vary. For more information please see our delivery page.
We do not offer a sale-or-return basis on any products. If you find any discrepancies, faults or damages you are required to contact us within 48 hours of receipt of goods. For more information please see our returns page.


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Important Support Tip
Due to the limited of this discussion box so if you have any issue please feel free to open a new ticket at
Pos Aqule Introduction
Aqule houseware will help you to achieve a success in your choice; don't miss this good opportunity. It's a responsive Prestashop theme from Plazathemes. Its design is perfect for kitchen store, houseware store, cookware store, appliances store… Extremely nice and clean layout, and have many colors you can choose to build a website. This template has 6 pairs colors : red – green, red – black, red – yellow, black – blue, black-brown, black-green.
The highlight in the homepage is the slideshow, static blocks. It is useful and auto play with images, title, description, thumbnail images. Aqule template uses amazing features supported by Prestashop with great possibilities which help you to build an online store with an ease. Besides, in the homepage show featured products, new products with slider, brand slider. Static blocks with nice images, title and description make home page brighter and neater. Layered navigation ajax extension makes customers buy faster and more convenient. Megamenu customer looks nicer with animate images.
Come and enjoy this template!
- 02/26/2014 – Released Version 1.0
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Signs of a thaw emerge in 'fiscal cliff' talks
WASHINGTON — After weeks of stalemate, signs of potential progress have emerged in talks to avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and $1.2 trillion in federal spending cuts over the next 10 years.
In talks with President Obama, Republican House Speaker John Boehner offered to back raising the income tax rates for people making $1 million or more if Obama agreed to significant cuts in entitlement program spending, according to two sources close to the negotiations. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Obama rejected that offer, the sources said, but it was the first sign that Boehner was willing to endorse raising tax rates for anyone. Boehner has rejected previous requests for higher tax rates, saying instead he favored eliminating tax loopholes to broaden the tax base and raise about $800 billion over 10 years.
The president has called for higher tax rates for those making $200,000 as individuals or couples making $250,000 or more.
Obama and Boehner last met Thursday evening for about 50 minutes. At the time, neither the White House nor Boehner disclosed details of that discussion. Obama called the talks a work in progress.
FULL COVERAGE:'The fiscal cliff'
As part of a broader budget deal, Boehner is still seeking more spending cuts than Obama has proposed, particularly in mandatory health care spending. Boehner has asked for a long-term increase in eligibility age for Medicare and for lower costs-of-living adjustments for Social Security.
Boehner's tax proposal was first reported Saturday by Politico.
A Boehner aide would not comment on the report.
Obama and Boehner, the chief negotiators, have significant differences to cover to reach an agreement. Obama is seeking $1.4 trillion in revenue in his latest offer, which includes raising the individual tax rates on the top 2%.
If the two sides can't agree, the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 and signed by President George W. Bush will expire on Dec. 31. That will raise taxes for all Americans. Obama wants to let the top two marginal rates increase from 33% to 35% and from 36% to 39.6% for those taxpayers making over that threshold.
MORE:Will the U.S. go over the fiscal cliff?
Along with the higher taxes, $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years would kick in on Jan. 2. Half of those cuts would come from the defense budget, which many Republicans and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have protested.
Boehner has been non-committal about whether or not he would bring a bill to the House floor to extend the current tax rates for 98% of Americans, which the Democratic Senate has already passed. It is one option to address the fiscal cliffif a broader deal cannot be reached. He said only that a full expiration of the tax rates "remains a risk."
He also reiterated that Republicans will not support an effort by the president to remove the need for congressional approval to raise the debt ceiling, the nation's borrowing authority, which is scheduled to hit its $16.4 trillion limit in mid-February.
But the speaker and House Republicans have come under increasing pressure form a number of Senate Republicans who say they should yield to Obama's demand on tax rates and then press him for additional cuts early next year in exchange for an increase in the nation's borrowing limit.
Obama has proposed about $600 billion in spending reductions over 10 years, including about $350 billion in Medicare and other health care savings. But he has also proposed about $200 billion in additional spending, including aid to the unemployed and to struggling homeowners and for public works projects.
Contributing: Susan Davis and the Associated Press


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Map & Facilities
= Featured Locations
The pedestrian trail just south of Fullerton Ave. (2300 N) and both the pedestrian and bike trails from Oak St. to Ohio St. are CLOSED until further notice. Salt trucks & plows will be out on the trail today. View a map of wet pavement cautionary areas along the lakefront and please heed the warning signs in these areas.
1440 North Humboldt Drive
Chicago, IL 60622


text: Find this wine Find this wine Pahlmeyer 2010 Wine Wow. 15.2. Truly the best! Pin It Tweet 5 years ago by Jim Allmon More posts Pahlmeyer Wine 2010 2010 Chardonnay with honeydew and Creme brûlée $100 6 years ago by Weinlein Jayson Wine 2009 Great wine. Not Pahlmeyer but pretty damned close. 6 years ago by catmarcg Pahlmeyer 2006 2006 Estate Merlot Got at wine store thru Peter $50, but usually $70. Enjoyed on our 8th anniversary. 9 years ago by Joannetibaldi


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Inspired by conversations on the FOOD52 Hotline, we're sharing tips and tricks that make navigating all of our kitchens easier and more fun. Today, a very special guest demonstrates how to make mayonnaise (and then aioli).
Ah, mayonnaise. The delicious condiment that enhances pretty much anything it's dolloped on. While some of us are fans of classic brands like Hellman's or Duke's, everyone loves homemade mayonnaise. Making it yourself is always satisfying, and you have the added bonus of complete control. It's also really simple to make.
Our friend Tamar Adler is such a fan of homemade mayonnaise, she decided to make a video tutorial for us. You may know her book, An Everlasting Meal, a lovely collection of essays about cooking and eating "with economy and grace." Tamar will be sharing tips and tricks with us from time to time because she's all about kitchen confidence, and so are we.
An Everlasting Meal is coming out in paperback June 19th, you can preorder it here.
Today's video was shot and edited by Adriana Stimola.
See what other Food52 readers are saying.


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I'll Know When I Get There
I'll Know When I Get There
SIZE: 10"W x 10"H x .1"D
DESCRIPTION: An original abstract painting, NOT a print. Ready to ship and ready to hang; no need to frame.
MEDIUM: Professional artist grade acrylics and pastels on stretched, wrapped canvas. The painting is sealed with a protective varnish to protect your investment, and the sides are painted and sealed as well.
SIGNATURE: All mixed media pieces and paintings are personally signed and dated by me on the back; signed on the front
Add To Cart


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It can be quite interesting to see what a keen sense of fashion and a little creativity can do to meet a need that many people recognized but few decided to take a step forward in order to accomplish it. Tattoo printed tights can be an excellent alternative for those who are eager to get a tattoo yet aren't sure that they will not regret their choices later on. Even though who have rarely contemplated the idea of getting a tattoo can make a powerful fashion statement in a matter of minutes while turning some heads in the process. Rather tha... Read More


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Knowledge Base
The Knowledge Base provides access to information about the environmental effects of marine and wind energy, supporting OES-Environmental and WREN initiatives. Relevant documents and OES-Environmental metadata forms are compiled into a user-friendly table with advanced filtering. Filters may be selected on the right, or keywords entered in the Search Text box. Content may also be sorted alphabetically by clicking on column headers.
As an alternative to the Knowledge Base, check out the Map Viewer to access geotagged content in a spatial view.
|Type of Content
|Technology Types
|Environmental Risk Evaluation System - An Approach to Ranking Risk of Ocean Energy Development on Coastal and Estuarine Environments
|Copping, A., et al.
|January 2015
|Journal Article
|Marine Energy (General), Tidal, Wave, Wind Energy (General), Offshore Wind
|Changes in Flow, Chemicals, Collision
|Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals
|Guide to the OCS Alternative Energy Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
|US Deparment of the Interior, Minerals Management Service
|October 2007
|Marine Energy general, Ocean Current, Wave, Wind Energy general, Offshore Wind
|Chemicals, Noise, Static Device
|Birds, Fish, Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, Socio-economics, Environmental Impact Assessment


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Connecticut faces grim challenge with $365M budget shortfall
HARTFORD — Connecticut is facing "an enormously challenging budget scenario" with deficits projected in the current budget and over the coming years, the state's budget director warned Thursday.
Despite efforts by Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to reduce the size of government and state employee retirement costs, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Benjamin Barnes said the lackluster national and regional economies, years of deferring Connecticut's long-term liabilities such as pension costs and a fast-growing demand for public services such as Medicaid health care coverage continue to delay the state's recovery from the Great Recession.
"This is — I will not shrink away from it — an enormously challenging budget scenario to be in," Barnes said.
On Thursday, he released the administration's annual fiscal accountability report to the General Assembly. It says the state's recovery from the recession has been and will continue to be slow, adversely affecting state revenue collections. The report also found that unemployment remains high and the state is vulnerable to outside forces such as the European debt crisis and the debate in Washington over how to address the so-called fiscal cliff in January when numerous spending cuts are set to kick in.
According to Barnes, the current $20 billion state budget, which ends June 30, has a shortfall of $365 million. The new budget for fiscal year 2014, which takes effect July 1, has a projected deficit of nearly $1.2 billion. That's about the same amount that expenditures are projected to exceed the state's constitutional cap on spending.
Malloy is expected to release a deficit-cutting plan for the current budget hole within weeks, which he said will not increase taxes. He's not scheduled to unveil his new two-year budget until February.
Malloy stressed that the deficit problem isn't as bad as it was two years ago, when he took office and faced $3.6 billion in red ink. But Barnes pointed out that he and Malloy likely won't have two important tools they used two years ago to help balance the books — labor concessions from state employees and tax increases. The deal with the state employee has already been inked, and Malloy said he "has no intention of raising taxes" to address next fiscal year's problems.
"So, we need to solve this problem through reduced spending," Barnes said.
An upbeat Malloy told his state agency heads that the state is better positioned to deal with the budget challenges than they were two years ago.
"Our state government, particularly the executive branch, is smaller, leaner and more cost-effective than it has ever been or been in at least recent times," he said. "We're going to continue that process, deliver a high level of service to our citizens and we're going to do it successfully."
House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, accused Malloy of trying to sugarcoat the state's budget situation.
"I don't know how you look at a $365 million deficit when you, what, less than three months into a fiscal year; I don't know how you look at a $2.2 billion deficit for the next two years ... and say with a straight face that we're in a better position now than we were two years ago, especially knowing that you increased taxes by $1.8 billion," he said.
Cafero and other Republicans contend that Malloy and the Democratic-controlled legislature that passed the original budget failed to cut spending and relied on "phantom cuts" and savings to balance the books.
Malloy on Thursday insinuated that Cafero's criticisms were motivated by a possible interest in running for governor in 2014. Cafero said he hasn't announced any intentions to run for governor and said his commentary about facts provided by the administration is legitimate.


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A small number of babies have reactions to a protein found in cow's
milk. Signs of cow's milk protein intolerance include:
Most infant formulas contain cow's milk protein. If your baby has symptoms
of a cow's milk protein intolerance, talk to your doctor. He or she may
recommend trying a soy-based or hypoallergenic formula.
Some babies who have cow's milk protein intolerance are also
sensitive to soy. But soy formulas are often tried before hypoallergenic
formulas, because they cost less. If
your baby continues to have symptoms after switching to a soy-based formula, he
or she may need the more expensive hypoallergenic formula.
It is important to talk with your doctor continuously throughout this
process of trying formulas and monitoring your baby for symptoms.
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Last Revised:
August 1, 2011
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
John Pope, MD - Pediatrics & Thomas Emmett Francoeur, MD, MDCM, CSPQ, FRCPC - Pediatrics
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Top Items:
Gilad Sharon / Jerusalem Post:
A decisive conclusion is necessary — There is no middle path here - either the Gazans and their infrastructure are made to pay the price, or we reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip. — Anyone who thinks Hamas is going to beg for a cease-fire, that Operation Pillar of Defense will draw to a close …
Discussion: Firedoglake, Business Insider, The Agonist, Twitchy, Mondoweiss and Haaretz
Edward Teller / Firedoglake: As Eliminationist Racism Explodes in Israel, Obama Defends Its Consequences
Paul Mutter / Mondoweiss: The light doesn't get much greener than this: Obama admin gives Israel the go ahead to escalate in Gaza
Brendan Sasso / The Hill:
Sen. McCain calls for Bill Clinton to lead Israel-Palestinian talks — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) suggested on Sunday that President Obama should send former President Bill Clinton to lead cease fire talks between Israelis and Palestinians. — "We need a person of enormous prestige …
Discussion: CNN, The Impolitic, Politico and Talking Points Memo
President Clinton / CNN: McCain suggests Bill Clinton as Middle East peace negotiator
Libby Spencer / The Impolitic: He's such a bitter old man
Tarini Parti / Politico: McCain: Bill Clinton should negotiate peace in Middle East
New York Times:
Gaza Violence Is Unabating as Other Nations Push for Truce — GAZA CITY — Israeli forces killed at least 11 people, including several children, in a single airstrike that destroyed a home here on Sunday, as Israel pressed its bombardment of the Gaza Strip for a fifth day …
Kevin Gosztola / Firedoglake: Israel's Targeting of Media Is a War Crime
Alex Kane / Mondoweiss: Day Five of Israeli Attack on Gaza: Death toll rises to 72, 520 civilians wounded; 4 children killed …
Caroline Bankoff / New York Magazine: Benjamin Netanyahu Says Israel Is 'Prepared for a Significant Expansion' of Conflict in Gaza
Dana Farrington / www.wnyc.org: Diplomatic Efforts Mount As Death Toll Rises In Gaza
Jordan Sargent / Gawker: Israeli Strike in Gaza City Kills 12 As Ceasefire Talks Continue
Gabriela Resto-Montero / msnbc.com: Obama: 'Fully supportive of Israel's right to defend itself'
LIVE BLOG: Day 5 of Israel's Gaza offensive
LIVE BLOG: Day 5 of Israel's Gaza offensive
Discussion: Mondoweiss, The Gateway Pundit and Israel Matzav
Annie Robbins / Mondoweiss: Egypt allows 400 activists to enter Gaza
Simon Plosker / Honest Reporting:
Gaza Child Killed... By Hamas
Gaza Child Killed... By Hamas
Discussion: BREITBART.COM, Elder of Ziyon, Israellycool, NewsBusters.org, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Telegraph
Joel B. Pollak / BREITBART.COM: BLOGGERS SPOT MORE DEAD CHILD FAKERY BY HAMAS; CNN FOOLED
Aussie Dave / Israellycool: The Kid Killed By Hamas
Tom Blumer / NewsBusters.org: CNN Gets 'Fooled' by a Palestinian Child's Death; Real Story Is Hamas Barbarity Against 'Its Own' People
ZIP / Weasel Zippers: Dead Child Hamas Paraded In Front Of Media Was Not Killed By Israel, He Was Killed By One Of Hamas' Own Rockets...
Andrea Ryan / The Gateway Pundit: SICK... Dead Child Used for Terrorist Propaganda Was Killed By Hamas - Not Israel
Phoebe Greenwood / Telegraph: Israeli forces prepare for war as troops mass on Gaza border
Associated Press:
Discussion: Washington Post, World News, The Hill and New York Times
Meghashyam Mali / The Hill: Obama 'supportive' of Israel, but hopes no 'ramping up' of attacks
Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Allen West falls further behind — Florida Rep. Allen West's reelection prospects grew dimmer Sunday, as a recount of early ballots showed him falling further behind his Democratic opponent. — Democrat Patrick Murphy, a 29-year-old construction company executive, gained 242 votes …
Discussion: CNN, Reuters, Outside the Beltway, The Raw Story, The Reaction and Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes'
Doug Mataconis / Outside the Beltway: After Recount, Allen West Still Losing
Jonathan Terbush / The Raw Story: Rep. Allen West loses more ground to challenger after recount
Michael J.W. Stickings / The Reaction: Allen West, meet dustbin of history
Meghashyam Mali / Ballot Box: Murphy claims victory after recount deadline, West weighs challenge
Republicans say party needs revamp after Romney drubbing — (Reuters) - The Republican Party needs to stop insulting voters and broaden its appeal after Democratic President Barack Obama won re-election this month over Mitt Romney with overwhelming support from Hispanics, blacks and single women, top Republicans said on Sunday.
Discussion: Hot Air, NewsBusters.org and BuzzFeed
Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Top Republicans Excoriate Romney On Sunday Talk Shows — If Mitt Romney has any friends left in the Republican Party, they're in hiding. — On the Sunday talk shows, senior Republicans, former Romney surrogates and prominent conservatives piled on their defeated presidential nominee …
Discussion: Outside the Beltway
Doug Mataconis / Outside the Beltway: Republicans Pile On Romney For "Gift" Remarks
Seung Min Kim / Politico: Graham to Romney: 'When you're in a hole, stop digging'
Aviva Shen / ThinkProgress:
McCain Refuses To Support Any Secretary Of State Nominee — Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has not hesitated to voice his distaste towards U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice, who may be nominated to replace Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. On Face the Nation Sunday morning …
Discussion: Balloon Juice and Outside the Beltway
Imani Gandy / Balloon Juice: Susan Rice is on Pepaw McCain's Lawn
Larry McShane / NY Daily News:
New York businessman says Jill Kelley tried to parlay honorary South Korean consul gig into $80 million check — Socialite linked to David Petraeus sex scandal tried to broker pricey deal on fuel conversion project — Energy businessman Adam Victor says Tampa socialite Jill Kelley requested …
Discussion: New York Magazine, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and The Daily Caller
Zach Dionne / New York Magazine: Jill Kelley Tried Parlaying Her Honorary South Korean Consulship Into $80 Million
Reliapundit / THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS: THE MONEY ANGLE OF THE PETRAEUS AFFAIR IS FINALLY BREAKING THROUGH TO THE USA MEDIA...
Monique Hamm / The Daily Caller: Jill Kelley requested $80 million to lobby Petreaus
Pedro Oliveira Jr / New York Post:
White House denies terror delete — The White House yesterday denied it edited talking points about the terrorist attack that killed the American ambassador to Libya — contradicting remarks made a day earlier by disgraced ex-CIA chief David Petraeus. — "The only edit that was made by the White House …
Discussion: Associated Press, The Lonely Conservative and Michelle Malkin
Associated Press: Congress wants to know who created Benghazi 'talking points,' why terrorism link was omitted
Doug Powers / Michelle Malkin: White House: We didn't edit al-Qaeda references from talking points given to Susan Rice
Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:
Congress to Investigate Benghazi 'Talking Points'
Congress to Investigate Benghazi 'Talking Points'
Discussion: Politico
Seung Min Kim / Politico: Rogers wonders if Obama knew about Petraeus before Election Day
Brendan Sasso / The Hill:
Sen. Chambliss: Rice needs to share what 'White House directed her to say'
Sen. Chambliss: Rice needs to share what 'White House directed her to say'
Gregory Wallace / CNN: After hearing Petraeus' testimony, legislators' questions on Benghazi remain
Seung Min Kim / Politico: Levin defends Rice on Libya
Talking Points Memo:
Tom Price: Balanced Approach Means No Revenue Through Tax Hikes — Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union" that a deficit-reduction deal should not raise taxes but can increase revenue through "pro-growth" reforms. — "We need to look at increasing revenue through …
Seung Min Kim / Politico:
Lieberman splits from 'my 2 amigos' — Count two more top senators who think a special committee to investigate the government's response to the Sept. 11 attacks in Benghazi is not such a good idea. — Three Republican senators - John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Kelly Ayotte …
Charlotte Allen / Los Angeles Times:
Hey GOP, take the Palin cure — She's hot, she's blue collar, she's electable. — Is Sarah Palin the new Ronald Reagan? (Jon C. Hancock / Associated Press ) — The Republican Party has been doing a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing since the presidential election.
Stuart Shapiro / Alan Colmes'Alan Colmes': GOP: Please, Please Take This Advice!
Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice: No Joke, Not Kidding, Not Joshing Ya, Not the Onion: Sarah Palin for GOP Nominee in 2016?
Mary Beth Young / Addicting Info: Palin In 2016, Seriously?
Doug Mataconis / Outside the Beltway: Palin As The GOP's 2016 Savior? In Your Dreams
Scott Lemieux / Lawyers, Guns & Money: What Will Change? Nothing, Really.
Kevin Drum / Mother Jones: Worst. Advice. Ever.
Stacy Drake / Conservatives4Palin: Charlotte Allen: Hey GOP, Take the Palin Cure
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
The Liberal Gloat — WINNING an election doesn't just offer the chance to govern the country. It offers a chance to feel morally and intellectually superior to the party you've just beaten. This is an inescapable aspect of democratic culture: no matter what reason tells us about the vagaries of politics …
Discussion: Chicago Boyz, Paul Krugman, No More Mister Nice Blog and City Journal
Michael Kennedy / Chicago Boyz: Reports of the economy's demise are premature, but not by much.
Steve M. / No More Mister Nice Blog: DOUTHAT: DEMS AREN'T MOOCHERS WHO WANT FREE STUFF! THEY'RE DESPERATE LOSERS WHO NEED FREE STUFF!
Maureen Callahan / New York Post:
Former hotel insider's memoir reveals dirty secrets of hospitality industry — Any big hotels have got scandals. Just like every big hotel has got a ghost. Why? Hell, people come and go. — "The Shining" by Stephen King — The most memorable guest Jacob Tomsky ever came across …
Discussion: Althouse


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text:
Michael Phelps is 0 for 1 in his comeback to the pool.
The 22-time Olympic medalist lost to Ryan Lochte in the 100-meter butterfly final at the Arena Grand Prix on Thursday night.
Lochte touched first in 51.93 seconds, second-fastest in the world this year. Phelps took second in 52.13 in his first meet since retiring after the 2012 London Olympics.
Phelps is the three-time Olympic champion and current world record-holder in the event. His time tied for fourth-quickest in the world.
Olympian Jason Dunford of Kenya finished third in 53.08.
Phelps was faster in the final than he was in winning his preliminary heat with a time of 52.84.
Swimming before a sellout crowd and lots of cameras, Lochte led at the turn and Phelps was second.
"Down there at the turn I kind of peeked over and I saw him and almost started smiling," Lochte said about his longtime friend and rival.
Phelps interjected, "Why? Because you were ahead?"
An on-deck interviewer reminded Phelps his mother has said she wants to go to Rio for the 2016 Olympics, which would be his fifth.
"Whatever he wants," Debbie Phelps shouted from the stands.
Phelps replied, "Good mother."
Phelps wasn't smiling as he walked on deck for the final, unlike in the prelims. He kept his ear buds in until he was introduced as an 18-time Olympic gold medalist. With his long hair sticking out from the back of his cap, he dived in next to Lochte, who beat him down to the first turn.
Earlier Thursday, retired speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno, the most decorated U.S. Winter Olympian, tweeted good luck to Phelps, saying, "Excited to see you back brother."
The three-day meet sold out every session the day his comeback was announced last week, with a capacity of 1,200 at Skyline Aquatic Center. A pair of $40 all-session tickets was being advertised online for $250. USA Swimming issued 100 media credentials — five times more than usual.
The possible future of American swimming with the same first name as Phelps was in the 100 fly heats. Michael Andrew, a 15-year-old from Lawrence, Kan., qualified for the 'C' final in 55.23. He has broken more than 30 national age-group records and last June became the youngest U.S. male swimmer to turn pro. He was excited to meet his idol Phelps on Wednesday.
"Swimming needs you!" he tweeted after they traded handshakes. "You rock!"
Both of Phelps' times were easily good enough to surpass the qualifying standard of 54.79 for the U.S. national championships in August. That meet will decide the team for next year's world championships.
"One step at a time," he said in the morning.


text:
Department of the Army announces upcoming 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th ID deployment
By U.S Army Public Affairs
WASHINGTON -- The Department of the Army announced today the summer 2018 deployment of the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado, to Europe.
As part of the regular rotation of forces, the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade will replace the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade and support combatant commander mission requirements for U.S. European Command's Atlantic Resolve.
"The 4th Combat Aviation Brigade is ready to deploy to Europe and work closely with our NATO and regional partners in support of Atlantic Resolve," said Col. Scott Gallaway, commander, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. "Our focus on tough, realistic training over the last year has prepared us for this upcoming mission. I am extremely proud of our Soldiers for their hard work and dedication. We are enormously grateful for the steadfast support of our families, and the ever-present support from the Fort Carson community."


text:
I got this text message today from my friend and great mentor:
I was telling Jim last night in bed that I actually miss blogging, it's been so long. Of course, I followed that up this morning with reading all of ShitFoodBlogger's tweets to him. Yes, I'm aware I'm doing Bedtime with Busydad wrong.
The best I've got right now is that I heard this NPR piece about memory yesterday (or maybe it was the Christian radio station. They're always tricking me into listening to their shows, with their nearly-secular news bits and catchy and slightly emo pop Jesus rock) and it made me realize that I need an actual doctor/scientist/expert to explain to me why it is that I can't remember how many years I've been alive or the names of the three people who dug their way out of my Holiest of Holies, but I can right now without even THINKING about it recite the name of each book of the Old Testament to you, in order, or all the words to Cool It Now (even the raps, yo), or the entire 1988 McDonald's menu song (now in two breaths; getting old is hard).
Audre Lorde says that everything can be used, except what is wasteful, and I suppose I'm still young enough that I haven't yet had to figure out how I'm going to need the lyrics to New Edition songs, but old enough to know that being able to recite all the books of the Old Testament out loud in order may just come in handy sooner than I'd care to admit. (I never did get my free McDLT for singing the whole damn menu song, though. I think I'll write a letter. I hope that counts, Deb.)
What I do know, however, is that I can't start sentence with But anymore, which makes blogging quite challenging, and also that everything has changed so much since the last time I really, truly *wrote* on this blog that I don't even know where to start with it all. Our memories are terribly and hilariously subjective; each shift of angle, of experience, of perception changes them with radical unpredictability. I believe that you have to write what you know, and what I've always know is this pile of remembered shit I've drug around with me like the most unwilling sort of companion.
I know it because I haven't been willing to let myself know much else. My husband gave me nearly nothing, and I held on to that almost-void with all the strength I had. But now (that was hard, but I did it) I'm one four-hour online parenting class away from not being married to him any longer, and I'm okay with that. Somewhere in this down/quiet-time I've found my peace with him, with all of it, and let go of that wonderfully familiar nothing I've been clinging to.
I don't need nothing anymore.
I don't even want it.
That's a pretty big deal, for me.
I have all these posts in draft - stories of this new life that we're building, new memories we're making in a new place with new people where the slate is clean for all of us, where we can decide what we want to be now, where we are equally as excited and terrified of the possibilities laid out before. It's hard to write it out, largely because I don't know a single thing about it yet...but I want to.
I heard Jim say to one of his clients the other day (and I'm paraphrasing) that what bloggers have that no other form of media has is emotional attachment; our readers are a part of our narrative, they are invested in the stories of our lives. I remember what that was like, feeling like my story mattered to more than just me. I'm going to try to start writing this new story, with these new players, in this new place that I don't know, but I'm excited to discover.


text:
Supermodel-turned-reality TV star Janice Dickinson has declared herself bankrupt with debts of almost $1 million, according to a U.S. report.
The former "America's Next Top Model" judge has filed papers with a court in the States detailing outstanding bills including $500,000 in unpaid tax and an $8,000 debt to a medical center in California, according to the New York Post.
She also reportedly owes more than $8,000 to celebrity dermatologist Arnold Klein.
Dickinson's tax woes date back to 2009, when a lien was filed against her for $33,514 in unpaid bills. Her debt rocketed when a further demand for $49,712 was filed in February, 2010, followed seven months later by a bill for $201,330.


text:
Select this type if you are enrolled as a student in good standing at another college and wish to take classes at Snead State. A transient letter from your home college listing all courses that you are eligible to take at SSCC is required.
*Transient students are considered non-degree-seeking and are not eligible for federal student aid.


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Don't let the "2011" fool you, as this is pretty much the same exact thing I posted for each of the past three years. But I feel like the six Christmas songs Armstrong recorded for Decca in the 1950s are worth celebrating every year at this time so if you don't mind, let's do it one more once. Crank up the speakers, pour some egg nog and get ready to enjoy them all over again.
As already mentioned, this entry will focus on the six Christmas records Armstrong made for Decca in the 1950s. And when I say records, I don't mean long-playing discs but rather, six three-minute singles. It might seem odd that someone who brought more joy to the world than Santa Claus would have so few yuletide classics in his discography, but alas that's the case. In fact, Armstrong didn't get around to recording his first Christmas song until 1952, unless, of course, you count Armstrong's two versions of "Santa Claus Blues" from 1924 and 1925.
When Decca finally corralled Armstrong into the studio to record some Christmas cheer, they gave him first-class treatment by backing him with the lush arrangements of Gordon Jenkins. Jenkins's sentimental string and voices sound revived Armstrong's recording career with the 1949 hit "Blueberry Hill." By the early 1950s, Jenkins was a veritable recording superstar. Anything with his name on it sold tremendously so it made sense for Decca to pair him with label stars like Peggy Lee and Armstrong. On September 22, 1952, Armstrong and Jenkins teamed up for their fourth session together. On one of their sessions, from February 6, 1951 Jenkins jettisoned his strings and turned in some very fine small-big band arrangements but for the 1952 session, the strings were the whole show on the Christmas number, though current All Stars Bob McCracken, Marty Napoleon, Arvell Shaw and Cozy Cole were in the studio band that day (as was guitarist Art Ryerson, who would do many post-"Hello, Dolly" sessions with Pops in the 60s).
Both of the Jenkins Christmas numbers are unusually low-key. They feature no trumpet and no surges of emotion or anything. They're very sober but the best word to describe them has to be "warm." Pops is at his most tender, singing as if he's whispering a loving lullaby to a small child. "White Christmas" is up first and, of course, was property of Armstrong's friend and disciple, Bing Crosby. From the opening seconds, we know we're in Gordon Jenkins country. "White Christmas" demonstrates that many of our best-loved Christmas songs feature quite a range of notes and you can hear Pops stretch here and there, but I always loved his tenor voice—as well as that basso profundo he would break out when necessary. Both are needed on "White Christmas," which finds Pops reaching for a high D on "the ones" to the C an octave lower on "children." On the final "be white," Armstrong goes down to a low B on the coincidental word "be." Where you'd expect a scat break or a "oh babe," Pops lays out, leaving the gaps to be filled by Jenkins's beautiful strings. After a brief string interlude, Armstrong reenters with the final eight bars, featuring, I think, some of his most touching singing. You can hear him smiling as he sings "and bright." Again, he goes way down for that final "white," holding it for an impressive amount of time. Very pretty stuff. Enough from me, enjoy it for yourself:
"Winter Wonderland" is up next and it's more of the same. Though most performers do this one at an uptempo, Armstrong and Jenkins give it the same gentle ballad treatment as "White Christmas." Again, Pops rarely deviates from the melody but he doesn't have to, he's singing it so sweetly. Am I weird for actually feeling warmed by the way Pops sings "as we dream by the fire"? Jenkins goes back to the bridge for another one of his trademark sounds. Marty Napoleon plays the melody in single notes an octave lower than you'd expect. I know, it doesn't sound like much, but hey, this was popular music in 1952 and it gave Jenkins an identity. Pops reenters for the final eight with a cute extended coda. Armstrong repeats the word "walking" while the pizzicato strings "walk" gingerly behind him. Finally, Armstrong unleashes a little bit of scat and the record comes to a mellow conclusion. Dig it:
Don't worry, though. If Jenkins's Christmas records make you a little sleepy and ready to curl up by the fire, here comes Toots Camarata's Commanders to violently wake you up, visions of Ed Grady's cymbals ringing in your head. I devoted an entire entry to this session in October 2008 because I believe it's one of the greatest dates Armstrong ever did in his entire career. The Commanders were a ferocious studio band co-led by arranger Camarata and drummer Grady. They were brass heavy—three trumpets, four trombones and only two reeds—and featured a peerless rhythm section propelled by Carmen Mastren's rhythm guitar and Grady's earth-shattering big band drumming. The October session began with two Christmas songs and both are a lot of fun. After trying out a few standards on the Jenkins sessions, Decca gave Armstrong a few novelties to cut up on and he does just that, infusing these two trite, silly songs with such enthusiasm that they've in turn had a shelf life of over 50 years of being listened to and enjoyed. First up: "Zat You Santa Claus?"
Right off the bat, you can hear that Decca gave their sound effects man some extra work on the date and the record starts off with howling winds and jingle bells. Grady's drums "knock" on the door (how often did he have to change his snare head?), Pops asks the title question and we're off, the reeds falling into a standard descending minor vamp. The lyrics are back in the "Old Man Mose" mold as Pops, frightened by the outside noises (cue the sound effects guy), hopes it's Santa Claus making that racket and not someone sinister. The song does have a great bridge and the Commanders swing through it easily. The lyrics really are kind of goofy, but man, Pops sounds like he's having a ball, which in turn, spreads to the listener. After one chorus, the band takes over, trading four bars with Pops and playing with such force, it threatens to become the most badass Christmas song ever recorded. Pops's vocal on the trades grows more nervous and frantic, adding more fun to the proceedings. But perhaps the highlight of the record comes during the coda when a clearly petrified Armstrong pleads, "Please, a-please, a-pity my knees!" I love the way he sings that word "please." The song ends with a big ending and after another "knock" from the drums, Pops yells, "That's him all right," while more sound effects take us out. It's not "White Christmas," but it's very atmospheric and it's easy to get swept away by Pops's vocal.
Next up was "Cool Yule," lyrics and music by comedian and television talk show pioneer Steve Allen. Due to its use in a few recent movies, "Cool Yule" has probably become Armstrong's best-known Christmas recording. During my 50 trips to the mall this season, it's sometimes hard to hear the piped in Christmas music, but man, that Armstrong horn during the bridge always manages to cut through the noise! (2009 update: it even cuts through the noise while running around a crowded Port Authority bus station in New York City in December.) Allen's trademark sense of humor infuses the lyrics with all sorts of funny psuedo-hip references and Pops again, sounds like he's having a ball. Here 'tis:
The song begins with more jingle bells before the band enters with a sprightly shuffle beat—wait a minute, is this Louie Prima or Louis Armstrong? The changes are fairly simple: "rhythm changes" for 16 bars, then a modulation for more "rhythm changes" in the bridge, kind of like Count Basie's "Easy Does It." Only the second half of the bridge doesn't have "Rhythm," as it's punctuated by giant accents by the band on two and four. Again, Pops sings wonderfully but dig that band. Every drum hit, every brass punch, every note of the instrumental interlude…it's so precise, so explosive, so swinging. I wish Armstrong made a dozen albums with the Commanders. After eight bars from the band, Armstrong picks up his horn for the first time during the session and it's a preview of the tremendous blowing that was to be the hallmark of the date. Though the song has nothing to do with the blues, Pops instills his entire solo with more blue notes than you might expect. He gets downright funky with some of his note choices and I can never refrain from giving a "Yeah," when he gets into that bridge. The highlight of the trumpet solo comes in the bridge when plays the melody phrase like a human being, then skyrockets an octave higher to play it again, ending it on a high concert D. After the vocal, Pops still has time to sing another entire chorus and he does so with even more enthusiasm than the first time, especially on the bridge (and listen to Grady on the final A section). Pops legitimately breaks himself up by yelling "Cool Yule" at the end and if you're not smiling, you're surname must be Scrooge. But as much fun as "Cool Yule" is, it's also responsible for this:
Anyway, Decca wasn't finished yet and two years later, on September 8, 1955, they brought Armstrong in to record two more Christmas songs, this time backed by a studio band arranged and conducted by the great Benny Carter. This has become one of those forgotten Decca sessions, never reissued on C.D. by the label itself but it is available on the Ambassador label's Moments to Remember disc, which collects all of Armstrong's Christmas work for the Decca, the entire Commanders session and other odds and ends that are hard to find on compact disc or Itunes. Carter wrote a great arrangement for Armstrong on The Platters's "Only You" and Armstrong manages to sound quite tender on the Four Lads hit, "Moments to Remember."
The first Christmas song that day was Dick Sherman and Joe Van Winkle's "Christmas In New Orleans." Here's the audio:
Carter's arrangement begins with a hardened "Jingle Bells" quote that sounds like it belongs in an episode of Dragnet (remember, Carter was doing a lot of film work at the time). It soon settles into a gentle two-beat that really works for this song. The lyrics are almost a waste of time with their references to stuff like a "Dixieland Santa Claus," but as always, Pops sounds like the happiest guy in the world. And how could he not? He loved Christmas and he loved New Orleans so any song that combined the two, even with dopey lyrics, was bound to inspire him. What's truly inspired, though, is the trumpet solo. The tune starts off kind of like "Basin Street Blues" before it goes its own way but the changes obviously had enough meat for Armstrong to sink his chops into. This isn't one of those grandiose high-note extravaganzas; however it is a good time to appreciate Armstrong's rhythmic mastery. It's one of those solos that I always enjoyed but never really devoted 100% attention to until an afternoon I spent in Joe Muranyi's house. Muranyi recorded "Christmas In New Orleans" for his Jazzology C.D., Joe Muranyi With The New Orleans Real Low-Down. For the disc, he transcribed Armstrong's solo to be played in unison by his clarinet, Duke Heitger's trumpet and Tom Baker's tenor sax. You get so used to hearing horns playing unison lines on bop heads and the like, but not on Armstrong solos and all of a sudden, this solo that I kind of took for granted, became a whole new thing. While listening to it with me, Muranyi said, "It's tough to notate this part. I worked so hard on it. What you do is, I did it and then I put it away. I mean, I had done it maybe two or three years before this and when I took it out again and refined it, you keep finding little things. It's not easy. It's interesting to hear it in this context. It sounds more complex than when he plays it." It really does. Here's Muranyi's performance:
For the final track on the date, Decca reached back and picked "Christmas Night In Harlem," written by Mitchell Parish and Raymond Scott for the "Blackbirds of and 1934 and memorably recorded by Paul Whiteman with a vocal by Jack Teagarden and Johnny Mercer. Carter's arrangement begins with another Christmas quote—Billy Kyle playing the beginning to "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town"—before the horns punch out a descending line that reminds me of a Ray Charles record (I think I'm thinking of "Greenback Dollar Bill"). Armstrong sings the first chorus harmlessly—it's a pretty repetitive melody and he does his best with it. Carter's arrangement swings after the vocal and you can hear Barney Bigard holding a high note. (This was Bigard's next-to-last session with the All Stars as he would be replaced by Edmond Hall in a matter of weeks.) Armstrong's trumpet solo is curiously low-key. He more or less sticks to playing the melody in the middle register. Naturally, the Armstrong sound makes it worth listening to, but he doesn't really blow with any force until the last eight bars. It's a fine solo but I think that Pops could have maybe used one more take to wail a little more. After the low-key solo, Pops returns to sing the bridge, which features a very funny moment. Armstrong sings, "Everyone will be all lit up," and laughs to himself, "lit up" clearly having a different meaning to him than most. He swings the lyric on the final A section, boiling it down to one note, but the arrangement is now too polite; where's Ed Grady's drums to wake things up? The highlight of the record is Pops's eloquent scatting and singing as the record fades. A charming record, but not my favorite Louis Christmas song.
And that ends this tour of Louis Armstrong's Christmas recordings for Decca. Of course, Armstrong wasn't completely done recording yuletide music as in 1970, he performed "Here Is My Heart For Christmas" for RCA. And Armstrong's very last recording is a reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" that is quite charming and is one I hope to share this Saturday. Til then...
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
A Very Satchmo Christmas - 2011 Edition!
Posted by Ricky Riccardi at 12/21/2011 06:43:00 PM
2 comments:
- jacethecrowl said...
Thanks for this. For the first time this season I'm feeling the spirit comin' on...
- December 21, 2011 at 7:32 PM
Dear Ricky --
It is absolutely okay to post the very same Christmas post each year, just because these are timeless classics, and they get even better from year to year; like vintage red wine ;)
Have yourself a Merry, Merry Christmas!
All swingin' best,
P.S.--Feel free to visit my blog for a very jazzy Christmas playlist.
- December 24, 2011 at 9:17 AM
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