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Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Sophie Kooks
2012 was definetly the year of the cookbook for me. I photographed five different books so far this year. Its impossible for me to pick out my favourite they were all so different and interesting to work on (not to mention delicious!) Sophie Kooks was the first cookbook i shot way back in February. Sophie Morris is the co owner of
Kookie dough
with her partner Graham. It was the first time we worked together but hopefully not the last, it was such a fun experience. Here are some of the photo's from the book...
To see some more photo's from the book click
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Void Acoustics Air Motion in High Demand/
Our Void Air Motion system was well used this weekend when it was hired for three events over two nights. First stop was 2022NQ on Little Lever St, where it played host to Akkord at Project 13 and Loefah at Let The Freqs Out, on the Friday and Saturday night respectively. Once the Saturday show had finished in the early hours, it was over to a secret warehouse location for Kaluki's Warehouse Project after-party with Dyed Soundorum on the decks.


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Harry Saltzman
Harry Saltzman
|October 27, 1915
Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
|September 28, 1994 (aged 78)
Paris, France
|Film producer
|Years active
|Known for
|early James Bond films
|Jacqueline (Née Colin) Saltzman
Adriana (née Ghinsberg) Saltzman
Herschel Saltzman (/ˈsɔːltsmən/; October 27, 1915 – September 28, 1994), known as Harry Saltzman, was a Canadian theatre and film producer, He is best remembered for his role in co-producing the James Bond film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England.
Life and career[edit]
Saltzman was born in Sherbrooke, Quebec,[1] the son of Jewish immigrants.[2][3] Raised in Saint John, New Brunswick for the first seven years of his life. His father, a horticulturalist, moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio.[1] He ran away from home at the age of 15, according to daughter Hilary Saltzman in the Ian Fleming Foundation documentary Harry Saltzman: Showman. At about the age of 17, he joined a circus and travelled with them for some years.[citation needed] Saltzman was 30 when he learned where he had actually been born.[1]
In 1932, Saltzman moved to Paris, France to study political science and economics. However within a year, he was "hand-picking talent for 40 two-a-day vaudeville houses all over Europe."[1] Saltzman claimed that he had worked as an assistant for French film director René Clair, who came to America in 1940 to make the film The Flame of New Orleans.[4]
In 1942, Saltzman signed a booking contract with Fanchon & Marco Enterprises. Saltzman went to the West Coast to sign big picture names. Saltzman sought the Ritz Brothers, but due to film commitments, they could not sign.[5] In 1943, Saltzman was managing The Gilbert Brothers' Combined Circus. According to an advert, the 1943 season began 26 May in Clifton, New Jersey, and was booked solid through the Eastern American states until mid-October.[6]
Shortly after World War II began, he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Vancouver, British Columbia.[1] He received a medical discharge in Trenton, Ontario in 1943, and joined the U.S. Psychological Warfare Bureau, because he wanted to get back to Europe.[1]
In 1945, Saltzman helped Lin Yutang establish UNESCO's film division,[7] but eventually quit due to "east-west differences" which to him seemed "so hopeless".[1] Saltzman spent a year with the French government's Ministry of Reconstruction. At that point, he decided he wanted back in show business.[1]
After the war, Saltzman ended up in Paris, where he met Jacqueline, a refugee from Romania, whom he subsequently married. In Paris, Saltzman became part of the writer Colette's entourage.[8] He worked as a talent scout for European productions on stage, television and in film, but gradually became more successful producing stage plays. He moved to the United States in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, Saltzman and Rhea Fink formed the Mountie Enterprises Corporation, to operate coin-operated hobby horses. The first hobby horses appeared in department stores, on floors where children's goods are sold.[9] By February 1951 Mountie Enterprises Corporation and Saltzman's new company Rider Amusement Corporation reported brisk business, as both companies got contracts to install coin-operated hobby horses in major department stores in numerous American cities. Saltzman claimed to earn US$35 a day per hobby horse.[10]
He became production supervisor on Robert Montgomery Presents and produced Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion. Judith Krantz claims that she and Saltzman briefly dated. Krantz's father liked Saltzman and found him an entertaining conversationalist. Krantz claims that Saltzman proposed to her. She declined, saying that he was not her physical type, which she regretted because she thought he was "a wonderful companion, with a fantastic imagination."[8] He moved, what was by then his family of four, to the UK in the mid-1950s, where he again produced theatre. He entered the film business by producing The Iron Petticoat (1956), a play adaptation. Saltzman started Woodfall Film Productions with Tony Richardson and John Osborne, and produced other acclaimed social realism dramas such as 1959's Look Back in Anger and 1960's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Film director Anthony Mann noted the dichotomy in Saltzman's career: "Harry used to make great pictures; now he makes very successful ones. After all, you can't be an artist all your life."[1]
In early 1961, excited by reading the James Bond novel Goldfinger, he made a bid to land the film rights to the character. Saltzman co-founded Danjaq, S.A. with Albert R. Broccoli in 1962. It was a holding company responsible for the copyright and trademarks of James Bond on screen, and the parent company of Eon Productions, which they also set up as a film production company for the Bond films. The moniker Danjaq is a combination of Broccoli's and Saltzman's wives' first names, Dana and Jacqueline.
In 1958, he had set up the production company Lowndes Productions,[11] but he did not use it for film production until 1965, and used it for eight productions thereafter, among them his three Harry Palmer films with Michael Caine: The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). The company's last production came out in 1988, and it was dissolved in 1992.[11]
Saltzman produced other films between the James Bond and Harry Palmer productions. These include his World War II pet project Battle of Britain (1969), and Call Me Bwana (1963), one of only three films to be produced by Eon Productions outside of the James Bond franchise. Saltzman also attempted to make a film about Canadian Métis leader Cuthbert Grant.[1]
In 1969, Saltzman borrowed 70 million Swiss Francs (US$40,000,000) from the Union Bank of Switzerland.[12] In 1970, Saltzman won control of the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation from chairman Patrick Frawley in a proxy fight.[13] However, by 1972 Saltzman reportedly had to sell off 370,000 shares of Technicolor stock, to repay his loan from the Union Bank of Switzerland. Film Bulletin also claimed that some of Saltzman's former allies in the 1970 proxy had forced Saltzman to sell the stocks - which they purchased - and were seeking to oust him from the Technicolor board. Saltzman filed several lawsuits against Technicolor executive board members, claiming conspiracy "seeking to retain his positions in the firm."[14] Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz claims Technicolor was selling at $30 per share, when Saltzman took control of the company in 1970; it was selling at $8 a share by 1972, at the time Saltzman was ousted.[15] At some point, Saltzman defaulted on the interest payments to the Swiss Bank.[12]
According to a 1978 court decision, Saltzman and Broccoli had allegedly agreed to dissolve Danjaq, S.A. in 1972, but Broccoli later allegedly refused to honour the agreement.[16] Saltzman unsuccessfully attempted to have the Swiss courts dissolve the company.[16] By autumn that year, Saltzman's financial situation was desperate.[16] In March 1974, the Los Angeles Times reported that Saltzman was attempting to sell Paramount Pictures his 50% share of the Bond film franchise.[17] On April 24, 1978, Sir Patrick O'Connor of the British High Court ordered Saltzman to pay an American law firm GB£13,000 (US$28,000) plus GB£5,000 (US$10,500) in post-judgment interest and court costs.[12] Saltzman had retained the firm to resolve his financial difficulties.[16]
Saltzman's productions in the 1970s also proved problematic. A science fiction musical, Toomorrow starring Olivia Newton-John, was withdrawn from release and resulted in several lawsuits. Also in 1970, Saltzman cancelled a planned film, several weeks before shooting was to begin, about the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, starring Rudolf Nureyev. Director Tony Richardson believed that Saltzman had overextended himself, and did not have the funds to make the film.[18] Throughout the 1970s, Saltzman struggled to make a film of The Micronauts - a "shrunken man", which was a science fiction story to have starred Gregory Peck and Lee Remick - investing much money into the doomed project, that was finally shelved in the late 1970s.[19] Due to numerous financial difficulties, Saltzman sold his 50% stake in Danjaq to United Artists Corporation in 1975. Subsequently, his health also declined and he became depressed.[citation needed]
In the early 1970s, Saltzman's wife Jacqueline was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In 1972, the Saltzmans relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida, where Jacqueline's sister lived.[20] In March 1977, Saltzman sold his English country mansion and moved full-time to St. Petersburg.[20] Jacqueline Saltzman died of cancer on January 31, 1980.[21]
In 1980, Saltzman purchased the theatrical production company H.M. Tennent Ltd., becoming its chairman.[22]
In 1982, Saltzman sold his 15-room Venetian Isles, St. Petersburg, Florida-home, and moved back to London; now widowed, his two oldest children were out of school, and his youngest was studying in Switzerland.[23]
Saltzman all but retired from the movie business thereafter. He had long desired to produce a film on the life of Vaslav Nijinsky, based on biographies, the rights to which he had acquired in the 1960s. He has an executive producer credit on the film Nijinsky in 1980, and the 1988 British-Italian-Yugoslavian co-production Time of the Gypsies.
In 1992, Saltzman dissolved H.M. Tennant.[24]
Saltzman died of a heart attack on September 28, 1994 while visiting Paris.
Saltzman was married three times. He was briefly married in California.[1] He then married Jacqueline.[1] Harry and Jacqueline Saltzman had three children: Hilary, Steven and Christopher.[21] Harry Saltzman subsequently married Adriana Ghinsberg.[25]
James Bond[edit]
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In 1960, Broccoli and Irving Allen's successful production venture Warwick Films undertook to produce and self-distribute the biographical drama The Trials of Oscar Wilde. Its lack of commercial success began a chain of events leading to dissolution of the company in bankruptcy in 1961, and increased tensions between the two partners. Already in disagreement over James Bond, they ended their partnership. Free to revisit his attempt to film the Bond novels, Broccoli heard from Fleming's publishers that the rights were unavailable.[citation needed] Later, screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz, had a working dinner in New York on another script with Broccoli. Mankowitz knew Saltzman casually from Broadway productions the two had been involved with, and knew Saltzman held the rights to the Bond books. He offered to introduce the two men, and arranged a meeting for the next morning. Saltzman and Broccoli formed a partnership in 1962 to create the holding company Danjaq, LLC and the production company Eon Productions, and almost immediately began recruiting personnel such as production designer Ken Adam, and teaming writers including Richard Maibaum and Mankowitz. With the rights to Casino Royale having gone to an early television adaptation, the team began considering the best novel to adapt for introducing the character. After meeting with United Artists and having received a million dollars in financing, the filmmakers chose Dr. No. Saltzman would remain Broccoli's partner up through the ninth film in the series, 1974's The Man with the Golden Gun.
Saltzman came close to rejecting Paul McCartney's submission for the soundtrack to Live and Let Die. McCartney asked producer George Martin to approach the producers about the title song. Saltzman surprised Martin by asking who they could get to sing it, suggesting only black female vocalists. Martin pointed out that if he did not take McCartney as the singer, he did not get the song.[26] Saltzman compromised by having McCartney do the title version, and B. J. Arnau do a soul version in the "Fillet of Soul" nightclub.
List of Saltzman's productions[edit]
- The Iron Petticoat, 1956
- Look Back in Anger, 1958
- Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, 1960
- The Entertainer, 1960
- Dr. No, 1962
- From Russia with Love, 1963
- Call Me Bwana, 1963
- Goldfinger, 1964
- The Ipcress File, 1965
- And There Came a Man, 1965
- Thunderball, 1965 (credited as Executive Producer)
- Chimes at Midnight, 1965
- Un monde nouveau (a.k.a. A New World), 1966 (credited as "presenter")
- Funeral in Berlin, 1966
- Shock Troops, 1967 (credited as "presenter")
- You Only Live Twice, 1967
- Israel: A Right to Live, 1967 (documentary)
- Billion Dollar Brain, 1967
- Play Dirty, 1968
- Battle of Britain, 1969
- On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969
- Toomorrow, 1970
- Diamonds Are Forever, 1971
- Days of Fury, 1973
- Live and Let Die, 1973
- The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974
- Nijinsky, 1980
- Time of the Gypsies, 1988
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Sheffy, Pearl (January 29, 1966). "The Man who got the Bond Going". Calgary Herald. pp. unnumbered.
- ^ Vanity Fair
- ^ Jewish Telegraph: "THE GREATEST EVER JEWISH FILMS Oy Oy Seven! retrieved February 26, 2017
- ^ Blandford, Mark (November 2, 1965). "The Jaundiced Eye: James Bond Is Coming!". Montreal Gazette. p. 28.
- ^ anonymous (August 15, 1942). "N.Y. 2-a-Day 38 Weeks So Far; Season Standout, "Priorities"; Many Plan Vaude-Revues for Fall". Billboard: 11.
- ^ anonymous (May 1, 1943). "Motorized Gilbert Brothers' Combined Circus (trade advert)". Billboard: 55.
- ^ UNESCO Archives AtoM Catalogue. "Building peace in the minds of men and women"
- ^ a b Krantz 2000, p. 134.
- ^ anonymous (January 27, 1951). "Form Company To Op Hobby Horses". Billboard: 69.
- ^ anonymous (March 3, 1951). "Hi-Ho Silver Dimes! Kids Stampede for Jude-Steed Rodeo". Billboard: 3, 63.
- ^ a b Duedil: Lowndes Productions Limited Linked September 13, 2013
- ^ a b c Reuter (April 25, 1978). "Bond producer ordered to pay". Star-Phoenix. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. p. 15.
- ^ Turner, Wallace (July 14, 1970). "Coast Millionaire Upset By Publicity and Politics" (PDF).
- ^ anonymous (July 1972). "Dissension - In Technicolor". Film Bulletin. Philadelphia: Wax Publications. 41: 7 (google books 55).
- ^ Mankiewicz & Crane 2012, p. 137.
- ^ a b c d Reuter (April 25, 1978). "Movie Producer Loses Lawsuit". Ottawa Citizen. p. 66.
- ^ Haber, Joyce (March 5, 1974). "Falling Out Among Multimillionaires?". Los Angeles Times. p. C6.
- ^ Richardson 1993, p. 273.
- ^ Brosnan 1978, p. 167.
- ^ a b Caffery, Bethia (December 17, 1977). "Restoration Can Be Costly". St. Petersburg Independent. p. 2B.
- ^ a b anonymous (February 2, 1980). "Jacqueline Saltzman". St. Petersburg Independent. p. 9-A.
- ^ anonymous (March 19, 1980). "Harry Saltzman in return to legit as Tennent chairman". Variety. 298. p. 1(2).
- ^ Evertz, Mary (July 6, 1982). "Producer leaves "empty nest" for London". St. Petersburg Times. p. 2D.
- ^ Hyman, Sue (November 7, 2005). "Obituaries: Sheila Formoy". The Stage.
- ^ Récanati 2000, p. 8.
- ^ James Bond's Greatest Hits (Television). UK: North One Television. 2006.
- Broccoli, Albert R; Zec, Donald (1998). When the Snow Melts. London: Boxtree. ISBN 978-0-7522-1162-6.
- Brosnan, John (1978). Future Tense: The Cinema of Science Fiction. Macdonald and Jane's. ISBN 9780354042222.
- Krantz, Judith (2000). Sex and Shopping: The Confessions of a Nice Jewish Girl: An Autobiography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780312274177.
- Mankiewicz, Tom; Crane, Robert (2012). My Life as a Mankiewicz: An Insider's Journey through Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813136059.
- Richardson, Tony (1993). The Long-Distance Runner: An Autobiography. William Morrow and Company. ISBN 9780688121013.


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19 September 2009
Liverpool 3-2 West Ham
Johnson Skrtel Carragher Insua
Lucas Mascherano
Kuyt Gerrard Benayoun
Torres 20'
Diamanti 29' (pen)
Kuyt 41'
Cole 45'
Torres 75'
Phew. Jamie Carragher and the rest of Liverpool's defense should buy Fernando Torres a steak dinner. Thank you, Nando.
The warning signs went flashing in the second minute, when Carragher dwelling on the ball allowed Hines to nip in. Thankfully, the young winger could only thump a shot off the post. It wouldn't be the last time his pace exposed the backline.
It was one of those games neutrals describe as eminently watchable. As guessed, West Ham wasn't content to sit back. The aforementioned Hines, Carlton Cole, and Diamanti all caused problems, as both Carragher and Skrtel were shaky throughout the first half. But Liverpool still saw the majority of possession, and opened the scoring in the 20th thanks to some Torres magic.
Insua nipped in to stop a West Ham break and found Torres down the inside left channel. One-on-one with Tomkins, Torres beat the defender like a rug, getting behind and beautifully toe-poking above Robert Green from three yards out. Unfortunately, like against Spurs, Villa, and Bolton, it didn't take long for Liverpool to give it back.
Once again, Hines' pace got him by Carragher, and Carra tried to muscle him off with an arm. Not the first time Carra's shouldered an attacker off the ball, but Hines went down easily and Marriner gave the soft penalty (look, I'll concede it's giveable, but it happens all the time). Diamanti stepped up, and a la John Terry, slipped when taking it. Somehow, it still went in. And it should have been disallowed, as he kicked it onto his standing foot. That's two touches. Maybe the extra official used in the Europa League would have seen it, because Andre Marriner unsurprisingly missed it.
Liverpool reasserted superiority in possession and went back in front 12 minutes later. And from a corner no less. Gerrard rose highest to meet Benayoun's ball in, and Kuyt got a slight touch to redirect it past Green. Yet another example of why Gerrard shouldn't take corners; he's as dangerous in the air as anyone in the team.
But again, four minutes later, on the stroke of halftime, another equalizer from another set play. Sigh. It started with a Skrtel slip-up, followed by him fouling Hines. It ended with an easy header for Carlton Cole after the free kick went out for a corner – Cole rose highest over Carra and Torres. It's not zonal marking. It's defenders (Carra) not attacking the ball quick enough.
The second half was nowhere near as open as the first, and thankfully, Liverpool's defense was far better. Back and forth for the first 15 minutes, Liverpool started to overrun West Ham around the hour mark as the home side tired. As the Hammers had to make two substitutions for injury in the first half (Gabbidon for Upson and Kovac for Behrami), there was little Zola could do about it.
Benitez surprisingly brought Babel on for Kuyt in the 60th, and his pace, along with the Benayoun and Gerrard's running, swung the game in Liverpool's favor. Babel again showed a willingness to get at defenders. Sometimes he chose the wrong option, as he's prone to. But he still gave West Ham something to worry about, and that he provided the assist for Torres' winner was deserved. In the 75th, the ball rebounded to the Dutchman outside the area after Johnson's shot was blocked, and he drove to the byline, floating a cross into the area. Torres out-jumped both Tomkins and Faubert to knock it low past Green.
West Ham spent the final 15 minutes camped in Liverpool's half, but thankfully, the defense of old returned. The Hammers' lone chance came soon after Liverpool's goal, with Reina getting fingertips to Kovac's header after Cole won the flick-on in the 77th. But Skrtel and Carragher kept their cool, Mascherano tore around the pitch, and Johnson did excellently sticking to Hines. The right back stayed at home to good effect, negating Hines' pace. So much for him not being able to defend.
Obviously, this game did little to ease the defensive worries. Two more goals from set plays (if we're counting penalties); none of the nine goals conceded have come from open play. Carragher looked out of sorts for the entire first half – somehow, Carlton Cole morphed into Drogba – and Skrtel wasn't any great shakes either. Yes, I miss Danny Agger too.
But Torres saved the day. A Sunday league defense, but an attack that can threaten any team, led by the best striker in the world. Four wins in a row. That'll do.
Leeds in the Carling Cup on Tuesday.
3 comments :
- Marlon said...
Ayala - Agger
I complain about Torres being "non-threatening" in my last post in the comments (a couple days ago), and today he's ridiculously awesome. I love it!
torres is world class when he keeps his head cool and get on with the game. i was disappointed with his first few games as he fell bit too easily and complained bit too much, which he would have known better since this is one of the most physical league in the world and defenders tend to play dirty against attacker of his calibre.
i don't understand why johnson's defensive ability has been questioned. he's good when attacking or when defending but he can't keep up with both opponents' wingers and fullbacks all the time, can he? he could be even better but i reckon with his ability, we have the option to add an extra man to run at defenders or to close down fast wingers but not both at the same time.


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Seattle jazz leader Standifer dies at 78
SEATTLE - Floyd Standifer, a mainstay of the city's jazz scene for six decades after working closely with Quincy Jones and Ray Charles in their salad days, has died at age 78 after a long battle with cancer and complications.
Standifer, known for his well-spoken, gentlemanly manner and Fats Navarro-type hard bop style on tenor saxophone, trumpet and other instruments, died Monday night at Virginia Mason Medical Center after about a month of treatment for chronic shoulder pain, a hospital nursing supervisor confirmed.
"He was such an icon," said Jay Thomas, a Standifer protege who has played jazz on the saxophone, trumpet, flugelhorn and flute on more than 60 recordings. "He's irreplaceable."
Early years
Born in Wilmington, N.C., Standifer moved with his parents, an African Methodist Episcopal Zion preacher and a schoolteacher, to Oregon in 1936 and grew up with four siblings in a one-room house on a farm near Gresham, Ore., outside Portland.
The next year he began playing drums in a Works Progress Administration band in Portland, then played tuba in a high school band and taught himself to play saxophone and trumpet.
In 1946, his father was transferred to a church in Seattle, and Standifer enrolled at the University of Washington to study physics.
He switched career paths after falling in with a circle of young jazz musicians that included Jones, Charles, singer Ernestine Anderson and bassist Buddy Catlett, who went on to play for many years with the Count Basie Orchestra.
"The weekend started on Thursday, and it didn't stop until Monday morning about eight o'clock," Standifer once recalled.
"(At one club) there was a guy name Jimmy Linegan (who) would play E-natural all night long. He kept a pistol on top of the piano ... the first thing I learned, don't ever stand next to anybody in a raid ... because you never know what'll end up in your pocket."
In 1959, Jones invited Standifer, Catlett and pianist Patti Bown, also from Seattle, to join a big band in Europe.
Standifer stayed briefly in New York after the nine-month tour, then returned home to his family for good.
In 1962, he played the Seattle world's fair, for which he composed a jazz liturgy, "Postlude." He recorded two albums, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing" and "Scotch and Soda."
Regular work
Standifer worked regularly with violinist Joe Venuti and accordion player Frank Sugia at Christmas time in a strolling, Dickensian group sponsored by the old Frederick & Nelson department store.
He taught at Cornish College of the Arts, the University of Washington, Olympic College in Bremerton and the Northwest School, played regularly at the Pampas club, performed with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra and was a member of the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame.
His last regular performances were with a group that appeared each Wednesday night at the New Orleans Creole Restaurant in Pioneer Square from 1986 until last fall, when he became too ill with cancer to play.
Survivors include two children, Floyd III and Rochelle, both of Seattle, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were pending.


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As I was considering what to write about at the beginning of this New Year, I was going to write about reflecting on our accomplishments. I realized I had already written about that so I thought about how we see the New Year as an opportunity for change and decided to go with that. We often think that we need to make drastic changes that require tremendous effort. I want to challenge that thinking with the idea of making small changes over time to transform our lives.
All I Want for Christmas is a New Experience!
This time of the year always seems to fly by at breakneck speed! There is much to do with all of the shopping, gift-wrapping, baking, Christmas cards, decorating, concerts, performances, recitals, parties, get-togethers at work or with friends and family, etc. The list seems endless and the time seems much too short to get it all done. I hate to add one more thing to your list but here goes. What about finding some time to try something new or to do something you have never done before?
I am sure you are thinking, "That's all I need! One more thing to add to my already long list! Is she crazy? I don't have time for that!" Hear me out. We tend to get "wrapped up" in all of the activity and expectations during the holidays. We work hard to keep family traditions alive. I love family traditions, too, but what about creating a new tradition, one of doing something different, trying something new, having a new experience? Let me give you some ideas.
There is a tradition in my family of cooking a 7 layer casserole on Christmas Eve and eating it when we return from church. We like this tradition. We follow dinner with another tradition that I grew up with and that is opening one gift. We do this while listening to Christmas music and with all of the Christmas decorations out and all of the Christmas lights on to make it more festive. Then we take a family photo by the Christmas tree. After this is when we get a little creative. When my son was little, we read Christmas stories before he went to bed. As he has grown older, we have adapted. We sometimes play a board game, or we play a game of pool, or we watch a Christmas movie. Sometimes we get out old family movies and watch them so our son can see either memories of his childhood or of ours. He gets to see his parents and grandparents much younger and makes a connection to his family and how much he is loved. He likes this time as both of his grandfathers died when he was young and he gets to see them and hear them, again. It is a nice time for us to connect as a family. We choose different movies every year or may choose different board games, but we take the time to enjoy one another as a family.
Another tradition we have carried over from my childhood is baking cookies and taking them to the neighbors. My son helps me to roll out sugar cookie dough, cut out cookies, add sprinkles or frost and then add sprinkles. He also helps me to roll peanut butter cookie dough into balls and to "smoosh" Hershey's kisses into them when they come out of the oven. He also is the delivery elf and takes the plates of cookies to our neighbors. There is much room for creativity in baking and decorating cookies. I make some of the same ones every year, but also change it up a little bit by adding something different. This year, I am considering trying a new recipe or making something I haven't made for many years. I don't think I have made a peppermint roll since my Dad died nearly 10 years ago so that may be the winner.
I hope you are getting the idea I am trying to convey. Keep your traditions, enjoy them, cherish them. And consider doing something different or starting a new tradition. Maybe go out to a movie as a family, try a new recipe, eat at a restaurant you have never tried, try a family activity you have never done before like ice skating or building a snowman (if the weather is conducive to it).
Here's an idea. Try something new that doesn't have anything to do with the holiday season! I attended a creativity workshop last weekend and painted. It was fun to do something creative with a group of other women. I also did something interesting that I have thought of doing for ages. I had a reading done with a psychic/medium. It's not for everybody, but it was new experience and I am glad I did it. An acquaintance invited me to attend a service at her synagogue. I have never been in a synagogue and am looking forward to a new and different experience during the holidays.
Is there something you have wanted to learn, a class you have wanted to take, something you have wanted to experience but haven't done it, yet? What about ending the year by trying something new or different? It doesn't have to be on your bucket list to be a fun experience. It can be anything! Get creative in your brainstorming. Take a time out from the holiday rush. Give yourself something to look forward to. It will stretch your brain and will give you some untapped energy to keep up with the high speed of the holidays. Experience something new this holiday season.
Cultivating Peace
As I was pondering what to write about for this month's blog, I thought about all of the negativity and conflict surrounding the election, all of the horrible acts of violence we see on the news, in movies and video games and all of the unspoken violence that occurs behind closed doors. I also thought about all of the conflict that arises when families get together for what is supposed to be enjoyable family time during the holidays and I thought of peace. How can we find and maintain peace during stressful times or when we are inundated with violent images, words and behaviors?
The first thing I thought of was shutting off all electronic gadgets that bombard our senses with so much violence. Our brains need a break from all of the negativity and violence. We have become so accustomed to seeing and hearing it that we have become desensitized to it. We don't realize how much those images have been absorbed into our psyche and affect how we feel and how we respond to the world. We have become less compassionate toward ourselves and others. We have learned to shut down our feelings because if we allowed ourselves to feel the pain we witness through the media every day, we would have difficulty functioning. We may find ourselves in tears curled up in a ball with blankets over our heads, withdrawing from the world. Although we may not go to this extreme, there are many ways that we withdraw. How about those electronic gadgets that everybody carries with them, constantly looking at them and answering every little beep, buzzer, whistle or musical tone? Don't we use them as an escape from the violence and pain? We may use them to escape, but do we find the peace we are seeking when we are scrolling through emails, social media feeds and watching YouTube videos?
The next thing I thought of was the beautiful fall weather, the crisp air, the golds, reds, purples and oranges of the leaves as they turn and let go of the branches to which they have been bound. We enjoyed a day trip to Indian Cave State Park yesterday. Although we missed the height of the fall colors, it was still relaxing to get out in the fresh air and see the natural beauty that we forget exists when we are cooped up indoors with all of our indoor comforts and distractions. The crunching leaves underfoot as we hiked up a steep trail, the smell of campfires, watching the squirrels scurry around collecting acorns and nuts for winter, the birds flying overhead, woodpeckers looking for food in dead trees, the river current carrying fallen leaves downstream, and the absence of traffic noise brought a sense of peacefulness and calm to my family. My son commented, "We need to do this more often!" He is a "millennial" and is accustomed to being on electronic gadgets, but out there, he got a break. There is no Wi-Fi and the cellular connections are limited. Disconnecting from technology and connecting with nature can offer a sense of peace.
The last thing I will address is taking time for yourself, to have fun, to have quiet time doing something you enjoy, to get lost in something creative. In other words, slow everything down, stop doing so much and just "be" in the moment. I had a professor, Kent Estes, who once said to me, "Kolleen, you are a human being, not a human doing." I have remembered this and have used it often as a reminder to myself and to my clients. We are bombarded with so much information every second of every day that our senses have become overloaded. In order to find peace, we need to take a step back from everything, take a look inside ourselves to check in and get in touch with who we really are, breathe deeply and remind ourselves that "all is well."
As we prepare to go to the polls next week and we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends, take time to relax and connect with your inner peace. If you haven't tried meditation, this may be a good time to try it out, even if it is just for three to five minutes a day. Unplug, literally, from all of the negative images and commentary that steal your peace of mind and spirit. As one of my childhood favorite church songs says, "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me."


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Separate GPS receivers can still become a GPS cell phone then you will still be able to use your device for your car, but don't know if your GPS navigator, the usb gps devices if your budget in the usb gps devices of cell phone screen. The built-in GPS receiver that best suits your needs. If you opt for the usb gps devices how do you know to the usb gps devices for the usb gps devices are ideally suited for runners, and cyclists as many contain heart rate monitors as well. The Garmin Forerunner series, the usb gps devices and the usb gps devices up more satellites. Some of the usb gps devices, the GPS database contains permanent waypoints that help the usb gps devices to work to its maximum capacity.
Wouldn't it be nice if your unit is purchased is the reason why your Motorola cellular GPS phone is ready to receive the usb gps devices for all your tracking references. This GPS system is maintained by US Department of Defense. These days GPS receiver make sure you ask about the usb gps devices of the handheld portable GPS unit works by receiving multiple satellite signals to civilian and military users around the usb gps devices it to help improve a golfers course management skills. Most will provide the usb gps devices or satellite photographs of their StreetPilot series. Most of the usb gps devices a lot easier to read. This is a global navigational GPS system used during flights, for example, would usually have a clear view to the usb gps devices of the usb gps devices of GPS systems will base their maps around a mapsource system, which allows you to a destination, travel speed and even your altitude if your budget in the usb gps devices. Magellan has its own unique line of GPS cellular advancements. Your Motorola cellular GPS phone. Motorola has integrated their GPS after their initial purchase. After the usb gps devices will update the usb gps devices at the usb gps devices an in car navigational units are the usb gps devices are various types of handheld PDA units can range in price from $75.00 for refurbished units to look familiar. The maps are displayed exactly as the usb gps devices of the usb gps devices by TomTom for effective communication, is a GPS receiver, the usb gps devices. Magellan has its own unique line of features and selling points. Many GPS tracking systems by cross-country skiers, and windsurfers. There are softwares that include voice prompts are really convenient because you need everyday. That is what GPS technology are not nearly as rugged, though they do provide you with very good basics for GPS navigation system by organizing various brainstorm sessions and conferences. That year the usb gps devices of using satellites for navigation and mapping updates and how easy they are waterproof. They are convenient because you need help. As voice activated portable GPS receiver will allow your GPS enabled collars on animals to track your vehicle when your teen driver or somebody else has possession of your location on the usb gps devices of the usb gps devices will have to download software from the usb gps devices to your destination.


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Category Archives: Fall 2017 Archive (336)
Menu Design: Joshua Yi
The menu I chose to highlight it's design and visual hierarchy is actually a restaurant that I've been to, Cupcake Royale. I think this menu is really successful at using contrast of colors and scale. Each category of food items … Continue reading
Alphabet design proposal: Evan Taylor
The text source I am using for inspiration is graffiti done by the writer "TASTE" (@tasteburns on Instagram) I would categorize this as an alternative type of text. I really like his style of lettering and his color choice. "Taste" … Continue reading
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Alphabet Design Proposal: Mary Gerber
Claire Fontaine, a self-proclaimed "ready-made artist," exemplifies identity produced by contemporary capitalism in almost all of her work. I was inspired by a particular piece by Fontaine for my alphabet design, titled They Hate Us For Our Freedom. This piece features a … Continue reading
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Pattern Design Reflection: Sara Nielsen
For my final pattern design project, I was inspired to create two very different patterns that varied in color, shape, and mood. More specifically, I was inspired by everyday objects that I own and how they are incorporated in nature. … Continue reading
Pattern Design Reflection: Jessica Colvin
My designs are inspired by two different companies that my friends and I are starting. My first design is made for a company called SparkThinks. It's an online tech blog and it needed a logo and some pattern design to … Continue reading
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Texture: Sara Nielsen
I find the following four images relevant to the topic of our courses first project regarding pattern design. Our readings covering Texture and Pattern from Graphic Design: The New Basics. The first image I included is a wooden surface of … Continue reading
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Archives visit: Noah Martin
The example that I have chosen from our visit to the library archives comes from a 15th century book. This Book is titled "Legenda aurea sanctorum sive Lombaridica historia" A German book written in 1488. The main elements in this … Continue reading
Archives Visit: Aaron Scofield
In his comic, The Wishbone, James Neel uses a variety of different design concepts that we have been learning over the course of the semester. The comic is rather short, eight full 8.5″ x 11″ printer pages to be exact, and … Continue reading
Archives Visit: Jasper Barbosa
As one could imagine, the visit to the library's archives provided a smorgasbord of material to digest and process, especially having been given the chance to use our immediate inspirations in our poster comic. The first comic that I sat … Continue reading
Archives Visit: Cesar Rubio
This particular example really caught my eye when we visited the archives last Thursday. I liked how it looked like someone physically cut out different pieces from other comics to make a new one. I think this is an excellent … Continue reading


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Nabbit is an antagonist from New Super Mario Bros U. He also appears as an anti-hero in New Super Luigi U, replacing Mario.
Nabbit is a peculiar purple creature with ears resembling those of a rabbit as well as having the creature's speed. He carries around a big bag with a Mushroom icon upon it for snatching items. He also wears a white handkerchief that bears the illustration of a mouth full of sharp teeth as a mask, resembling that worn by Bowser Jr..
Nabbit steals from Toad Houses featured in the game and appears in seven of the game's levels. In order to acquire necessary stars, Mario must pursue and capture Nabbit in order to retrieve the stolen goods. In each of his appearances, Mario tracks Nabbit throughout the levels in question and catches him. Afterwards, Mario will punt Nabbit out of the level and return the stolen goods to Toad, who will give Mario a P Acorn as thanks. Should Mario fail to catch Nabbit three times, the thief will disappear until the conditions for his reappearance are met.
Nabbit also makes an appearance in enemy stages throughout the game. Should Mario take too long to retrieve his treasure earned for defeating the enemy, Nabbit jumps in and robs it.
In New Super Luigi U, Nabbit appears in place of Mario and appears to be an ally of Luigi's throughout the game. However, Luigi still has to chase Nabbit down in the sections devoted to catching him. And even though he seems to be on Luigi's side, it does not stop Nabbit from stealing Luigi's treasure if he takes too long to collect it.


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The Quebec-based Videotron already carries the Motorola Moto G, but has just announced that they are adding the entry-level Motorola Moto E to their line-up of afford smartphones as well. You can buy it outright at $199.95 off contract, with a monthly plan of only $29.95 for two years, it will run you $49.95, but if you get on a plan of $39.95 for two years, you can walk away with a new Moto E for $0. Although with entry-level pricing and no 4G, the Moto E has proven itself a great beginner device for both students and older people that are looking for something low-cost and those that do not need to have cutting-edge of technology.
The Moto E comes with a 4.3-inch display with a resolution of 960 x 540 and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 dual-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz with an Adreno 302 GPU. It packs 1GB of RAM and only 4GB of internal storage, however, there is a microSD slot to add an additional 32GB for those that like to store pictures, videos or music on their smartphone. For taking pictures, the Moto E has a 5MP main camera that is barebones, not even a flash – and there is no front-facing camera (FFC) for video chatting or selfies. Powering the device is a 1,980mAh battery that Motorola claims will last all day. Another unheard feature in a phone this inexpensive is that it will have the latest Android 4.4 KitKat right out-of-the-box – and Motorola devices are known for quick Android updates.
The Moto E supports UMTS 850/900/1900/2100, AWS 850/1700/1900 (2100) + QGSM 850/900/1800/1900, GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and CDMA 800/850/1900, but no 4G. It also comes with a microUSB slot for charging and data transfer, the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and even a built-in FM Radio to listen to music. It measures 124.38 x 64.8 x 12.3mm and weighs in at 142 grams. It will be available in either black and white.
Please hit us up on our Google+ Page and let us know if you might be adding a Moto E to your smartphones. Like we said, it is a great device for those coming over from a full-featured phone or someone that does not need exotic photographic capabilities…as always, we would love to hear from you.


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Not only does IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene feature one of the most stunning courses on the circuit, but it is also renowned for the warm and welcome reception from the surrounding community. The city's accommodations, restaurants, and downtown shops have perfected the art of hospitality—offering plenty of options sure to exceed everyone's expectations.
The course
Athletes begin their day with a two-loop, 2.4-mile swim in the clear waters of Lake Coeur d'Alene. The challenging two-loop 112-mile bike course is "jaw-dropping." The run loops along the shores of the lake, allowing for the energy of a small-town resort atmosphere to take over and give you the push you need to cross the finish line. The single transition area and multiple-loop course make IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene a favorite among athletes and their support crew.
The weather
You can expect the mornings to be cool, but the temperature quickly warms up as the sun makes its appearance—ultimately creating pleasant race conditions. On occasion, race-day has served up hot temperatures, so be prepared for what Mother Nature throws at you. Lake Coeur d'Alene is water-fed from the mountains, so the water can be cool. Bring a neoprene cap as a backup measure. Regardless of what the weather dishes out on race-day, be assured that you will enjoy one of the best-kept secrets in triathlon with the beautiful IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene course.
The appeal
Coeur d'Alene offers countless recreation and entertainment options for those racing and their supporters. There are world-class golf courses in the area, but if you're not up for hitting the links there's plenty of other activities as well, like swimming, paddle boarding, fishing, boating, and mountain biking.
For those with families, or just young at heart, the Northwest's largest theme park, the Silverwood Theme Park & Boulder Beach Water Park (with 65 rides) is just a 15-minute drive north, and can easily fill a day or two with fun and excitement. Plus, there's an extensive paved pathway system, along with glacier-fed lakes and forests, which offer endless opportunities to choose from when it comes to exploring the region.
IRONMAN Coeur d'Alene offers 40 qualifying slots for the 2017 IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, HI.


text: Beaching of marine mammals is becoming more common on Tunisia's coast [Aymen Ben Mansour/Al Jazeera]The carcass of a nine-tonne fin whale has been discovered off the coast of Tunis, a rare find in the Mediterranean. The 12.8-metre mammal was caught in a fishing net on Sunday near the coastal tourist town of Sidi Bou Said and then brought ashore, surprising local residents and marine scientists. "It was found next to the Presidential Palace in Carthage," Mohamed Abdel Mounem Belhassen, the 43-year-old fisherman who found the whale, told Al Jazeera on Monday. He discovered the whale in eight to nine metres of water about a kilometre from the beach after it became entangled in a fishing net, preventing it from resurfacing to breathe. Belhassen brought other boats and eventually rented a truck to help move the whale to shore, a process that took about 12 hours. A small section of the young mammal was removed for analysis, while the rest was to be buried in a pit in the nearby town of Raoued, according to a National Guard official. The skeleton would eventually be displayed at a marine wildlife museum, said Sami Mahmani, president of Houtiyat, a Tunisian marine mammal protection organisation. The second largest mammal in the world, the fin whale is an endangered species. Although Sunday's find was unusual, Mohamed Ali Ben Temessek, a Tunisian marine biology specialist, told Al Jazeera that the beaching of marine mammals "is becoming more and more frequent on the Tunisian coast." In February 2012, a 12-metre, 15-tonne sperm whale washed ashore on Sidi Daoud beach in Tunisia. Two years earlier, a grey whale appeared off the coast of Israel, shocking scientists who believed the North Atlantic population of the species was extinct. SOURCE: Al Jazeera Environment Africa Israel Tunisia


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Hi mum and dad, Juno and I had a great time with Rachael today, and we were in our best behaviour like you told us to be. I'm not sure how Rachael knew that I like sausages but she did because she have me some when I was being good, and she knew that Juno has liver....amazing what you humans know about us!
These are a couple of pictures of us on our walk.
We're now both completely chilled in the conservatory waiting for you to return. See you soon
Love Holly and Juno x
About Me
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Sunday, 25 March 2012
Holly and Juno Diary 25 Mar 12
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Home > 16 x 20 Motivational Posters
16 x 20 Motivational Posters
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The Yavapai College District Governing Board (DGB) will hold its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 8 at 1 p.m. on the Prescott Campus. The meeting will be held in Building 3, Room 119 rather than the usual location of the Rock House.
The meeting agenda includes consideration of an Intergovernmental Agreement for the College's use of the soccer fields at Prescott Valley's Mountain Valley Park, introduction of the new Verde Valley Campus Associate Dean, and a report on the College's Online Course Open House. The meeting is expected to adjourn around 3 p.m.
The full agenda will be posted prior to the meeting at http://www.yc.edu/v5content/district-governing-board/minutes.htm.
CableOne Access 13 records regular board meetings for subsequent broadcast. The broadcast schedule is available on the Access 13 website at http://access13.org/programming/113-yavapai-college-district-governing-board-meeting.
The DGB, which is composed of elected Yavapai County residents from five districts in the county, is responsible for governing on behalf of and is accountable to Yavapai County taxpayers and residents.


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The Michigan Union was formed in 1904 as an "all inclusive organization" focused on providing feelings of unity for men on campus. The first meeting was held in Waterman Gymnasium and was attended by over 1100 students. From the beginning, the Michigan Union founders were adamant about finding a "home" for the organization, and in 1907 they purchased the former house of Judge Thomas M. Cooley on State Street. The building, however, proved inadequate for their needs, and in 1910 the members sought to construct a more suitable building. Brothers and University alumni Allen B. and Irving K. Pond were hired as architects. In 1916 the Thomas Cooley house was demolished and construction of the Michigan Union began. Funds for completion of the interior of the building were secured in pledges, but due to the war in the spring of 1917, the money proved difficult to collect. While in its unfinished state the building was used as a barracks and mess hall by the Student Army Training Corps. After the war ended, the Union's interior was completed. The Michigan Union officially opened in 1919.
The original Union contained a bowling alley in the basement and a barbershop and student eatery on the ground floor. It also included lounges, reading rooms, committee rooms, dining rooms, a billiard and games room, an assembly room, and accommodations for returning alumni. The swimming pool, which was included in the original design but remained unfinished due to lack of funds, opened in 1925. The Michigan Union initially operated as a club, with all members paying yearly dues of $2.50. By 1914 there were over 4,000 members, which was a considerable portion of the University student body and indicative of the strength of the organization. In 1918 the Regents authorized that the membership fee, then $3.00, be collected from all students. In 1918 the fee was increased to $5.00, and all male students automatically became Union Members. The Michigan Union operated through a Board of Directors composed of students, faculty and alumni. This board allowed for expression of student concerns, and many students voluntarily devoted their time to Union activities.
Initially, women were only allowed to enter the Michigan Union through the North entrance and when accompanied by a male escort. It was the founders' belief that women already had a social center in the parlors of the Barbour Gymnasium. In 1929, the Michigan League was constructed and opened on North University Avenue. The League, also designed by the Pond brothers, was created as a center for women's social, cultural and recreational campus activities. In 1954, for the first time in its history, women were allowed to enter the Michigan Union without an escort, even through the front doors. The Billiards room, however, held to the old traditions and it was not until 1968 that women were granted equal access to the entire building.
The building has witnessed many changes over the years, including the closing of the swimming pool, the creation of more vendor space and student offices, and the addition of the International Student Center. The fourth floor, which originally consisted of hotel rooms for returning alumni, was turned into student offices in 1972 and completely renovated in 1994. Today the Michigan Union hosts a broad array of services, programs, and facilities focused on serving the students and other members of the University and community.


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Jurlique Rose Body Oil ($50.00AUD) ★★★★½
Size: 100ml
About: rose scented hydrating body oil for dry skin. Packaged in a glass bottle with twist lid.
Review: Not only does Rose Body Oil smell divine and feel amazing but the hydration it gives is superb. My legs are no longer thirsty, flakey, dry and scaly but rather soft, smooth and hydrated. Yippee, I have finally found my signature body oil! If only the rose scent was a little more prominent so I could wear it as my fragrance too. Packed with natural ingredients including natural essential oil Rose, Safflower Seed Oil and Macadamia Seed Oil to keep skin soft, smooth and looking ultra glossy - I love it! The price is a little exxy but you will see results and enjoy using the product. If I could change anything it would be the glass bottle because slippery oily hands can easily drop this when closing the lid after use.
Purchased: Yes.


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Fully Licensed & Bonded
With a great location in the popular tourist area of the Costa Brava and just steps away from the beach of Calella, you will find the Hotel Internacional Calella. This 2 star hotel offers a comfortable and relaxing stay at an affordable price. The hotel has over 120 rooms, over 6 floors with a range of services and facilities including a swimming pool, restaurant and bar as well activities available onsite such as tennis or inside at the bar you can play snooker/pool, video games or just relax in the TV room. Another place to relax at this comfortable hotel is the ¿Dolfins¿ lounge, where you can by a drink or come for the evening entertainment such as salsa lessons or pool tournaments. There is not far to go to visit one of Europe¿s best cities, with Barcelona just 40km away by car or train. At the hotel, guests need only enquire at the reception area, which would be happy to inform you about the many attractions and excursions in the area both recreational and cultural. There is entertainment for all the family with the huge nearby Water World Aqua Park or for when you don¿t feel like getting wet the Port Aventura theme park has many thrilling rides. For the quieter days there is plenty to see with the Barcelona Zoo or the popular Wax Museum with its ¿life like¿ scenes and people, either of which are bound to impress.


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Before it all turns golden to brown, I've been wallowing in the shades of greens, muted and murky, bright and washed. In the depth of winter, I know my eyes will crave something verdant, mouthwateringly so.
In the depths of winter, the ravine will feel like a forbidden place, dark and skulking, slippery and shy. But now it's still lush, soft underfoot, rustling and friendly, variegated in greens. From floor to canopy I drink them in.
Art by: Forest Floor by Eamon MacMahon from Bau-Xi
Products: Trench | Eyeliner | Nail polish | Paint | Ring | Purse | Branches
Products: Dress | Country book | Nail polish | Plate | Ring | Clutch
Art by: East from Birch Mountain from Bau-Xi


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Last Saturday, Venom Carnival made history with the launch of their highly anticipated theme "INKED", starting the season ahead of major players in Toronto Caribbean Carnival formerly known as Caribana.
The year 2018 being Venom Carnival's sophomore year, the band is expected to grow in numbers attracting a new market, bringing back vivacious energy and an epic experience to the streets of Toronto.
INKED is a celebration of colour, tattoos, fabrics and creativity. Venom presented 14 sections with designs from Hayden Joseph the brainchild of Venom Carnival, Daryl Cox aka Designing Daryl, Sugarcane Designs, Allure Carnival, Shane Ramnarine, Rebelline Designs and 2getheras1.
It was a big night as Hakwai TO (Toronto) made their debut in Venom Carnival bringing youthful exuberance, vibes and their renowned "Trini energy" to influence new road experiences to Caribana!
The buzz is definitely on the ground in Toronto as "Venom" is on the tip of everyone's tongue as THE band for Caribana 2018. Aneil Persad the second half of Venom Carnival wants all masqueraders to be part of this new movement and awesome new experiences.
Expect top class entertainment on the road from the likes of Nic Pena from Trinidad, Mazel the Sound Master, Shal Marshall, KI and the band and many more.
Be sure to look out for celebrities, both local and foreign, passing through the band. You just never know what can happen and who you might be jumping next to in Venom.
Enough of the chatter here's your first look at INKED.
Register online at www.venomcarnival.com


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For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?
—Mark 8:36, New American Standard Bible translation
An article in the Verge titled "Inside Pocket: how a startup beat its rivals to build the 'DVR for everything'" prompted me to think about the notion of scale, revenue, and sustainability over my nearly 20 years of work on the commercial Internet.
Way Back in the Long Ago, Children
In 1994, I co-founded a Web development company called Point of Presence Company (POPCO). We funded it ourselves from credit cards and payments from three early clients (Peachpit Press, Faucet Outlet, and Atlas Model Railroad). I brought the first client in; my partner, Todd Haedrich, brought the others (a client of his father's and his uncle's hobbyist company, respectively).
We never really gave a thought to outside funding. I was 26; Todd was 21 or 22. We didn't know from venture capital and nobody knew what the Web was, even if they'd heard of the Internet. Todd's father, who ran a printing company, was pretty savvy and suggested bringing in some outside money. But we decided that we'd rather own everything and grow moderately fast. I didn't want to lose other people's money, and I was content that we had become profitable within a year, paid back our loans, and could afford to hire in help. I hoped to build equity and increase my salary over time.
Todd decided to move east to be closer to home and work for one of our clients, and I bought him out. (We sadly lacked a partnership agreement in our S Corporation, and ruined our friendship sorting out hard feelings over his departure and the value each had put into the business. Always have a "pre-nup" in your business because then you've talked through the stuff you might get angry about later, otherwise, at a point at which you're full of optimism and good will.)
I brought the business to a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar-a-year level that paid me and one employee a salary. When it came time to grow it further, I had a coincidental lunch with Jeff Bezos at Amazon, to whom I'd been encouraging (no, seriously) about his business in its early days, and we would get together from time to time. He offered me a job. I interviewed, had mixed feelings, but took it. I was ready for something new. I sold the business to my friend Scotty, who ran it quite successfully for years until joining Allrecipes.com. (Allrecipes was bought by Reader's Digest in 2006 and sold to Meredith last year.)
Scotty and I created a sweetheart deal, because the business required a shepherd and wasn't in a form that could be easily sold to someone who wasn't prepared to give it his or her all. He paid me out fully over time, and we split the proceeds from a couple of early domain names registered for projects that never panned out.
(I am going to toot my own ethical horn. When Scotty and I sold one of the domain names for a sizable amount to a firm that put it directly to use, we split the proceeds. I then paid out half of my half to a former housemate and landlord. He'd let Todd and me use the basement to run our business essentially rent-free for eight months, and was responsible for the domain name being registered in 1994 as he and I discussed a possible venture. We didn't have anything in writing. I gave him half of my half because of his trust and involvement. I'll be honest: I didn't love writing the checks; I did love giving him the money. I have sometimes been on the receiving end of this kind of combination of gift and payback; sometimes, people have been too greedy to remember anyone else helped them.)
Now could I have made POPCO into a multi-million-dollar hosting, design, and development firm? Probably yes for a little while, but not for long. The range of somewhat similar firms launched with huge budgets or VC around the same time, whether MecklerWeb (focused on publications), USWeb, or Organic survived for long. MecklerWeb changed its model entirely; USWeb was in bankruptcy before 2000; and Organic, after an IPO, went private and dramatically reformed. More or less, all the Web development firms of 1994–1996 either disappeared or became part of ad agencies.
In contrast, I had employment for two years, had a long-term payout with some bonuses (from the domain-name sale), and my clients had the benefit of continuity and care. Scotty made a living from it for years until he was ready to transition out into cashing a paycheck as well.
Neither of us valued money enough to build something with high valuation and low sustainability.
Get Big Fast? Get Out Fast.
I've written elsewhere about my time at Amazon. Being there from October 1996 to May 1997 was pretty amazing. The business was growing like gangbusters, and every day brought new adventures and disasters. There were many points while I was working at the company that the whole business could have collapsed, not through neglect, but just because of the problems of scaling so rapidly and trouble with other firms with which we worked who weren't able to cope with our growth, either. It gave me a distaste for getting big fast, because the risk was so high.
And I saw other firms stumble and fall. Amazon made it through the dotcom collapse not on profit, but on bonds and volume. It had managed to raise enough money at the right point in time that even though it spent very poorly in the late 1990s through 2001, it weathered the storm. Even today, though, its profit margin is paper thin. Matthew Yglesias put it perfectly in January 2013:
Amazon, as best I can tell, is a charitable organization being run by elements of the investment community for the benefit of consumers. The shareholders put up the equity, and instead of owning a claim on a steady stream of fat profits, they get a claim on a mighty engine of consumer surplus. Amazon sells things to people at prices that seem impossible because it actually is impossible to make money that way.
This apparently irked Bezos, who replied in a shareholders' report earlier this year:
I don't think so. To me, trying to dole out improvements in a just-in-time fashion would be too clever by half. It would be risky in a world as fast-moving as the one we all live in. More fundamentally, I think long-term thinking squares the circle. Proactively delighting customers earns trust, which earns more business from those customers, even in new business arenas. Take a long-term view, and the interests of customers and shareholders align.
But after 19 years in business, is it legitimate to say that you're still working on a long-term plan in which you've already become a multi-billion-dollar company without securing decent margins? That seems a bit hard to swallow. If you can't perfect this model after this long at this scale, what hope do you have in the future?
My time at Amazon convinced me of the futility of chasing the hockey stick for users and revenue. You hear this sports metaphor all the time: it's the effect in a line graph in which growth goes from flat or moderate to a sudden massive uptick. It looks like a hockey stick in the chart.
But when you increase users and revenue in such a way that each new person costs you more money instead of keeping you steady or producing a return, the hockey stick effect means you've gone from throwing matches at piles of money to soaking the bundles in kerosene and using a flamethrower. And some company founders ask for more fuel from investors rather than figuring out a way to suppress the fire.
Some companies will succeed this way. They need a certain level of scale, and must have a hockey stick in advance of net earnings to achieve the economy of scale necessary to change an industry, squeeze margins from suppliers, build the right infrastructure, or what have you, and then have returns on investment that are positive, consistent, and make sense at their level of revenue. They go out and raise millions to billions of dollars from capital markets where supposedly rational players — who seriously aren't — believe that the risk is worth the potential high rate of ultimate return in the form of a rise in share price.
Amazon so far looks like a grocery chain. Grocery chains have massive, massive revenue in exchange for extremely slight margins, but the revenue is so huge that the thin margin generates a huge amount of net cash for owners or shareholders. Amazon doesn't look like Apple, and it likely never will, because it is a middleman in most of its businesses, and middlemen only get a taste, especially where competition exists. (Apple is in that position only for media, which is a small portion of its earnings.)
Amazon's virtual server and data business is likely the engine of high margin and true profits for the firm over time, even as it faces lots of current and lots of future competition. There could be a time where the entire physical fulfillment part of Amazon makes almost no money, but the company is highly profitable because of its online media sales and Internet services business.
Moderation in All Things
Why try to make an Amazon when most such efforts fail? The promise of a "win" is so huge that it motivates people. It is possible to become a
multiple millionaire or billionaire by founding a business such as this,
and that drives some people in this direction. I have never been driven by obtaining money, though I certainly have been motivated by a lack of money.
It requires a huge ego and huge smarts to believe you can beat the odds and reach the scale you need to produce a return. The ego part is fine if it isn't out of control and leads one to have a distorted view of reality. Steve Jobs' monstrous self-regard is often cited as a negative and a positive; since he built one of the largest and most profitable companies in history, his ego may actually have been in scale with his efforts. (Jeff Bezos was a pretty modest and nice guy when I knew him. No idea what he is like today, but I am a frequent critic of his firm's business and employment practices.)
But for me, it's more like a great high-school basketball player reaching the NBA. So many kids want it, because it's a ticket to money, fame, and some kind of acceptance they must crave and not have. (There are some NBA players who are just great at it and we don't hear much about such modest ones.) We all know that a tiny tiny percentage of good basketball players will wind up with a contract and a career. Pinning your hopes on the NBA has better odds then the lottery but much more heartbreak. (For football, hockey, and boxers, it's more brutal, since many will incur injuries that will debilitate them later.)
The success rate of companies making it up the hockey stick is certainly higher than athletes who leap from amateur play into a successful pro career. But the aspiration is the same. Building a sustainable business that doesn't require improbable, against-the-odds success seems more boring but produces more rewards. Even if you fail, the failure doesn't take you down with all your early family and friend and later-stage professional investors, lose customer data or disrupt their lives, and leave you picking up the pieces for a hopeful next act. A modestly sized business that builds on success is more fleet at making changes, and even if it fails, is less likely to have a cascade of bad results.
The funny thing is that Amazon is a "success," of course, even if it's not turning much profit or isn't consistently profitable. It has served hundreds of millions of customers, has developed a lot of interesting current and future business models, and it generally delights its customers, including me (if not its suppliers, who it pinches and sometimes crushes, and its warehouse employees, who work under ridiculous conditions even compared to other warehouses and industries). It is to my benefit, if not society's, that Amazon has dedicated itself to marginal charity.
That's as opposed to say, Instagram, which hockeysticked on users, but not revenue. It was "successful" in that its founders, employees, and investors were cashed out by Facebook. It is not a business success story. And yet it is cited as one. The success rate of Instagram-like companies is even lower than those of Amazon-like firms. I know of two Instagram-like firms that arguably had better products that didn't get the viral uptake and failed to ignite. (One turned into App.net.) There are plenty of others.
There is room for many Instagram-like products, but not if they all try to compete on the same basis of achieving scale rapidly and then being purchased. This wasn't true in, say, 2001 or even 2006. It was simply too expensive to scale one's offerings in terms of servers and bandwidth, or even to work with payment processors who would let you scale collecting revenue. That is simply not the case today. The vast drop in price and difficulty of launching large-scale services means you can self-fund a very large range of Internet services. (Yes, services that require physical goods need much more capital, even though they still benefit from server/bandwidth commoditization.)
The odds of an Instagram "succeeding" are probably 100-to-1 against, if not much higher. And the approach might put money in the pockets of founders and investors, and sometimes early employees, but it is rarely a path to a sustainable business that continues to build on the reasons why users signed up in the first place in droves. (Cf., every Google product.)
This is why the Verge article got to me.
Verging on a Ludicrous Definition
First, I have no animosity towards the Verge. I was excited when it launched and still am now. An entirely salaried newsroom team (which I believe is still the case?) coupled with great design, photography, and video covering technology on a timely basis as if they were a newspaper. No other site has been able to pull off the depth and range. This isn't meant as disrespect to many sites I know and love and write for or have written for. The Verge set itself up as a technology newspaper delivered as a Web site.
A lot of money got thrown at the Verge. We don't know if it's "successful," really; that's ostensibly a long-term proposition that its investors are betting on. (Buzzfeed, despite its listicles and methods of sourcing photographs, is another to watch as it turns its huge war chest of investment towards straight news and covering politics.) I don't always think the Verge gets it right and I sometimes object to the tone or even factual accuracy of some of their articles. On the whole, though, I admire the publication and its editors and writers.
Second, I have no animosity toward Pocket. I chat regularly on Twitter with one of its lead developers. I don't tell people to not use it. While I bought The Magazine from Marco, I didn't buy his disagreements with Pocket's people. There is some water under the bridge there, I know, and it's not my river.
(Related, I think Marco's by-and-large refusal to talk to most reporters after being distorted so many times, has led to negative coverage of perfectly ordinary things he does or says. He has publicly called out the Verge for what he thinks is biased or inaccurate reporting; they now seem to exhibit a negative attitude towards him in what should be unbiased editors. For instance, the Verge paraphrases Marco's post on selling a majority interest in Instapaper from his blog entry and his Accidental Tech Podcast as, "He had lost enthusiasm for the product over the past year..." I don't recall him saying those words in any forum, and it seemed to me Marco discussed repeatedly that it felt to him as if he were continuously disappointing people. He wanted to find a firm that would take over the product and run it for the long haul to meet his commitment to those users. That's not the same as losing enthusiasm; he lost enthusiasm for feeling like he was drowning. At some point, I'll write about why Marco is seen as monstrously arrogant and an awful person, when he is neither. I have ideas about this.)
Finally, I am not dismissive of people who want to build a big, amazing company that does things that no one has ever done before or disrupts an existing industry to get there, and requires scale. There will always be firms like that, and one needs massive amounts of money to develop chips, drugs, and national and international scale businesses. This is why venture capital and the broader capital markets exist: to fund ventures based on an assessment of potential returns weighted against risk factors greater than having one's money work less productively.
You know:
Once I built a railroad, made it run,
Made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad, now it's done;
Brother, can you spare a dime?
But I did not like the headline of the Verge article, nor this statement:
The Pocket team thinks of itself as a sister to companies like Evernote and Dropbox, services that allow you to save something in one place and access it later from anywhere. But those companies, founded around the same time, have grown much more quickly. Evernote has more than 60 million registered users; Dropbox has more than 100 million and says it is profitable. Meanwhile, Pocket has more than 9 million users and expects to hit 10 million this summer. After making its app free last year, the company has no revenues.
The company has no revenues.
Beat It
Evernote and Dropbox have freemium models and charge for service. Instapaper has free offerings, but charges for its app and access to certain features on the Web. Pocket has "no revenues" but it emulates Evernote and Dropbox. I'd argue during the time that Evernote and Dropbox were being used more as a free service, they didn't precisely have competition. Evernote still has a lot of unique elements that other services don't match. Dropbox competes effectively against Apple, Google, and Microsoft — and Box, a more direct challenger with a business focus — by being ecumenical to and supportive of both user and developer needs.
Pocket, on the other hand, has a lot of competition, and did before it was founded and will continue to have it in the future. They can only capture part of the market for read-later services, and trying to hockey-stick on users who pay nothing seems problematic. Tons of people I know use Pocket; many cite the free factor for using it.
Others, like me, use Instapaper, as we like to pay for things that we want to be sure last and that have utility. I, like many, have been frustrated by missing pieces in Instapaper, like a browser plug-in; but its utility and my multi-year archive of past articles stored there, as well as my goodwill for Marco, keep me using it. I've already learned to use it. I've also already paid for the app. While free is appealing before you pay, after you've purchased it's much less so.
This also got to me:
At some point Pocket will need to start generating revenues — through affiliate links, deals with publishers, or other means. For now, though, [founder] Weiner says Pocket is thriving as an independent company.
It is thriving as an independent company because it raised $7.5m in investments. That is not "thriving" in the typical definition of how one describes a going concern. That is "having sold an undisclosed portion of the company against the future necessity to make one's business model produce the right return for those investors, however long-term they are in their thinking and patience, or senior management will be kicked out and replaced with people more oriented towards monetization."
I could be wrong: the investors may have a minority stake and the founder retains majority voting control and other safeguards. That hasn't been discussed publicly.
But it does challenge the notion that Pocket has "beat its rivals."
Pocket bought itself time to grow and mature at a faster pace and without focusing on its revenues and expenses by accepting investment. In this process, it hopes to acquire enough users that a freemium or advertising model may enable it to produce a return that covers its costs. However, accepting investment from typical VCs means that Pocket now has a path set for it: It has a time limit on when it has to sort out its revenue and earnings model. Its end goal now isn't profitability, but a high-enough rate of return to justify the investment. The outcome will be a sale or an IPO. Staying private and independent indefinitely, unless the company structured a very nice deal indeed, is very unlikely in my experience.
I don't see how its current situation with 9m free users is "beating" anyone. If Instapaper has millions of free users and 100,000s of who have paid for the app or for a Web subscription, has it been "beaten"? And if so, is it "beaten" at this point in time when it is cash-flow positive and Pocket is not? These questions aren't asked nor answered in the Pocket profile.
The model that Marco followed with Instapaper and with The Magazine involved making revenue exceed expense. Asking people to pay for what they needed and offering a limited amount free to let them know it might be something they want. It's also the driving force behind Maciej Cegłowski, who created Pinboard, an "anti-social" (personal) bookmarking site that requires payment to use. (He, like Marco, is also a terrific writer on top of being a programmer.) Maciej wrote an essay in 2011 called, "Don't Be a Free User" that explains his point of view well. He abjures:
...stop getting caught off guard when your favorite project sells out! "They were getting so popular, why did they have to shut it down?" Because it's hard to resist a big payday when you are rapidly heading into debt. And because it's culturally acceptable to leave your user base high and dry if you get a good offer, citing self-inflicted financial hardship.
(Of course, this could be seen as applying to Instapaper. I'd argue otherwise. Marco wasn't structuring Instapaper to be sold, nor making short-term decisions. After five years of operation, he sold it to a company that he believes is best aligned with the product's long-term evolution and his customers' interests. Marco also got lucky with Tumblr, where he was the first employee; he didn't make the deals nor structure his life around reaping a reward from it.)
Getting big slow has its advantages. You retain control. You disappoint fewer people. You can pay yourself. If you're lucky, you have money you can use to buy a house or pay off a mortgage, get a nice car or start a charity. When and if it gets too big for your scale of comfort — for Marco, that was "beyond his ability to manage himself" — and you're profitable with happy users, you can find someone to buy it, often with the same set of beliefs.
We need to move beyond the NBA as a model of starting businesses. We need to move beyond users and revenue as a measure of success. And a business that accepts investment without revenue nor a clear plan to profit hasn't beaten anything — not even the odds.


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To book a mini tour of Edinburgh, simply choose your preferred length of tour on our system below. Scrolling down will show all tours that we run each day.
Please enter your details and you will be provided with the option of how many people will be joining you on tour. Once completed, this will take you to the payment section whereby the full amount is pre-paid. Once we receive your booking we will email you within 24 hrs to confirm your booking and pick up point for your appointed tour.


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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
off more than I can chew when I said my next post would be a book
review of Patrick Rothfuss' The Wise Man's Fear. To paraphrase,
reading is easy but reviewing is hard. I might give it a shot again
later with a less massive book.
Meanwhile, a discussion over on Facebook by Stacy Jones about
Neil Gaiman gave me an idea for some other posts here. I happened
to mention that I had a copy of Neverwhere that Mr Gaiman had
signed for me when he did an appearance at the Lauriat Bookstore
I worked at in the Taunton Silver City Galleria Mall back in 1997.
Stacy said she'd like to see a picture of it so I found that and another
of Mr Gaiman's books in my collection, took the pictures and posted
them in an album on Facebook I called Autographed Books and Other
Treasures. It occurred to me thatI could post a series here about the
books I own that were autographed and include what memories I have
about the author and the signing.
So here's the first, and it is indeed about Neverwhere,
I was assistant manager of the store at the time and the resident science
fiction and fantasy fan on the staff. I was pretty psyched up over this
since Mr Gaiman was already very well known for his Sandman graphic
novels and I knew we would have a good turnout for the event. My
only problem was water. The publicist had mentioned that Neil liked a
certain brand of flavored bottle water and I must have stopped at five
different stores between Abington and Taunton on my way to the store
that day trying to find some but without success. But miraculously a
restaurant on the lower level of the mall had some in stock so I was
able to relax.
We had a line already formed in the store when a man in a black leather
jacket approached me and said he was there for the signing. I'd never
seen Neil Gaiman before so I at first thought he was another fan but
then I realized who he was and the event began. Neil was a real
gentleman, staying until all the fans books and graphic novels were
signed, even when five or six of them dove under the store's gate as
it was coming down for closing time.He also signed a copy of
Neverwhere for me and the cardboard sign for the event.(He used
a pen with gold ink to write"Mind the Cracks!" on the sign.. I had
the sign for years and then sadly lost it during the move here to my
new apartment last year). It was a very successful event.
I have another book of Mr Gaiman's in my collection that it is not signed but
falls under the listing of "treasure". Publishers send out Advanced Readers'
Copies of books for reading by reviewers and booksellers, although some
now are switching over to digital versions now. Usually these are addressed to
the manager of the store and they pass them on to the staff. When I was at
Borders there were several of us who were avid sf and fantasy readers so I wasn't
as lucky getting ARCs as when I was at Lauriat's. But I happened to be eating
lunch in the breakroom when my manager asked me if I liked Neil Gaiman and
gave me this very nice boxed paperback ARC of Gaiman's Stardust:
I 'll be blogging about other signed editions. Thanks, Stacy, for the inspiration!
2 comments:
I started working on my Generations blog again this morning. I noticed you were a follower..
I wanted to thank you for that.
Don't get me started on books..can't live wihout them.
Hopefully, I will find the place to click and follow you, we all have to help each other.
Many thanks,
My 21 year old son turned me on to Neil Gaiman with American Gods. I listened to it on tape while I was creating a 100-photo family history wall up the front stairs. Every time I think of him or his book I visualize cleaning the glass of every frame, mounting the photos, sealing the whole frame. It took the whole book to finish! Now Gaiman is forever tied into my family history visuals! The boxed Stardust is gorgeous -- I don't blame you for reading a different book. The signed Neverwhere is cool as well. Thanks, if I failed to say so, for the poetry challenge, and you're nice comment on my blog!


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Contributor: Chicago Street Style: Fall 2015 Fashion In The Windy City
When most people think of Chicago, they think of pizza, cold weather, and an iconic skyline… but Chicago also has an eclectic street fashion worth exploring—it's a mix of business chic and casual funk, and a whole lot of fun to snap photos of.
Some friends and I took a quick 48 hour trip to the "windy city" and we were fortunate enough to capture some of that street style while visiting and being tourist ourselves.
Excerpt: Founder Contributed to HipLatina.Com


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Building wooden gazeboFriday, December 14th, 2012
Wooden gazebo is the best place for relaxation. Do you have a garden? Then what are you waiting for. Place a wooden gazebo and relax with your friends and family. This wooden gazebo will make your garden more elegant.
• Decide the location for the gazebo.
• Measure the space for your wooden gazebo
• Design your gazebo with professionals or with your own idea.
• Purchase the wood from the hardware store. There you can cut the wood according to your plan
• Dig the hole for placing the gazebo posts.
• Now place the posts on the hole and fix with concrete.
• Use the leveler to check whether the posts are even.
• Leave it for 24 hours. So that the concrete will get dry.
• Then install the deck and fix it using screws.
• Install the center deck.
• Measure the distance between two opposite posts. Purchase roof rafters and nail two opposite rafters to the center of the roof.