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Costa Rica Prep: Yoga
On Friday we leave for Costa Rica. I'm looking forward to finding pura vida through massage, hot springs, yoga and surfing. My expectation is that any cellulite I might currently have from crawling the craft brewery scene on weekends (and the occasional weeknight) will magically disappear through a lack of stress and daily fresh juices. To prep for my new zenned out lifestyle, I started going to yoga, thankfully through a free pass from a friend.
Class "C1" for all levels would be my first class. I never know how intense yoga studios will be, so I like to ease into their beginner class and see where that leads. Slightly less intense than I was expecting, we paused throughout the class for the instructor to show us different moves with the correct posture.
I thought, "I could do C2", so the next night after work that I was available, I headed to the studio for "C2". Now, for my first class, a towel was provided free of charge as a courtesy. But for any other class, a towel would be $1. I had forgotten to pack one, but am too cheap to pay $1 to rent a towel (even when my yoga is free, or perhaps especially when my yoga is free), so I entered the class with my yoga mat and water bottle. The instructor mentioned that the back of the class is hotter, so I set up shop as close to the front as possible. Being raised in Minnesota, my body possesses limited tolerance for heat.
With a whir, the black tubes overhead filled with air and heat started to blow down on me through little holes in the canvas. I looked around and saw people stretching, deeply breathing this hot, suffocating air in. Since I go to yoga to get stretched out, I didn't feel a need to stretch before class started.
We started on our backs and after a handful of forward bends and halfway lifts, sweat began to drip down my face. With a damp hand I attempted to wipe away the large drops that were beginning to drip into my eyes, taking with them pigments from my mascara. My face a tomato, and my eyes starting to look like the devil from irritation, we twisted and turned and stretched and hugged our knees into our chest. With each downward dog, I looked more and more like someone from the underworld. The light makeup that I wear to work stained my face so unattractively I resembled an ugly crying Kim K. My raccoon eyes looked down to my cotton leggings only to find they had turned into something resembling an ink blot test. No perfect butterflies to be found in their pattern, simply a personal perplexion as to why certain areas of my legs soaked through while others (much smaller in size) remained almost dry. I tried to return to my intention of "peace", but as it became harder and harder to see, all I could think was "eyes".
By the end of the class I couldn't down dog at all because my pruney hands slipped in the puddles of sweat at the front of my mat anytime I tried to put pressure on them. Despite being a hot mess, I folded up my mat after our "namastes" ready to return for another class thinking my only barriers to a true yogi experience were a towel and makeup remover.
Cue Monday and plans with the friend that had given me the two week free pass. We planned to participate in another "C2" class and this time I was prepared. I wore stretch shorts instead of stretch pants. I took my makeup off before class. I brought a beach towel for my mat and a hand towel for my face. I had water. I even stretched a bit before class started. As we ramped up, I felt strong. The beads of sweat that grew all over my body messaged to me that I was working hard, toxins were leaving my body. And then after core, during our twists and back stretches, I started to feel a bit nauseous. Hating to be the one to not be able to complete a pose, I pushed through for a little while, trying the easier modifications to help me catch my breath and regain composure. The only problem was that any time we stood up, I started to get all woozy – little black dots invading my vision. Child's pose. As embarrassing as it is to go into child's pose when everyone else is doing standing stretches, it would have been worse to pass out. As they switched sides, I tried to join in again, only to find that I was still lightheaded. Back to child's pose. I sat in child's pose for a good twenty minutes until essentially the end of class, participating only when the poses were close to the ground. The teacher closed with "gratitude that your body is strong enough to practice yoga", and then added, almost as if reading my mind, "gratitude that you showed up, even if your body is not."
Not wanting to walk home in booty shorts, I changed into running tights, which was a struggle since my body was weeping sweat. I rolled each leg up like I would a pair of tights and inched them up my thighs. The rear ended up being the biggest struggle and I had to leave with saggy pants only because they wouldn't go any higher until I cooled down and shrunk back to my normal size. Too lazy and scared to attempt to gracefully remove my lulu lemon top, I put the flowy cotton long sleeved shirt that I had worn to work over my tank and called it a day. Within a couple minutes my work top was sending subliminal messages to the world through its own ink blot patterns.
After I got home, I put in a frozen pizza and cracked open a beer. I earned it, I told myself. Or is that not how pura vida works?


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"I changed my baby brother's Pampers, and now? I'm a 42-year-old mother, and I need him to sign off when I travel abroad?" My divorced Saudi friend and I were sharing tea in Riyadh's Al Faisaliah Hotel, and she could not hide her disgust. A striking beauty of regal bearing, she has a high-powered international job and limited patience for her culture's suffocating "protections" for women.
Yet even this worldly skeptic could see signs of progress for the kingdom's women. "It's changing," she insisted. "We are in a correctional phase." On a recent trip to Riyadh and Jeddah, that is an opinion I encountered time and again from Saudis and westerners alike. "The country is on a trajectory of modernization, if not too fast," recently departed U.S. Ambassador James Smith told me. Together with his wife, Janet, a former professor at the National War College, Smith has spent nearly five years steeped in kingdom culture. "There is an imbalance politically that ever so slightly favors the modernizers" and, he continued, "an emerging critical mass of daughters -- on campuses and in jobs -- who will make a difference."
You are not likely to hear this view in the United States or Europe. Saudi Arabia remains the only country on earth to prevent women from driving, an activity that westerners in particular equate with deeply held notions of freedom, mobility, and independence. They pity the woman who cannot drive herself to the mall, to the doctor's office, even to her own job -- who must instead don a burqa in the backseat. The very fact that women who drive the country's roads are considered protesters makes Saudi Arabia seem stuck in a distant century.
The reality, however, is more complex than what most westerners believe. Saudi women have made dramatic progress in just the past five years. More women than ever before are graduating from college, pursuing careers, and speaking freely, especially on
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subset: commoncrawl


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The Tahoma High School We the People team has once again earned first place in Washington state, and the honor of representing Tahoma against schools from across the country.
On Saturday, Jan. 9, the team competed at the state capitol in Olympia. The national contest will take place in Washington D.C. at the end of April.
"They have been at this since June," adviser Gretchen Wulfing said. "Their work ethic has been inspiring and their performance, articulately applying constitutional principles, was exceptional." Continue reading "Tahoma High School We the People team earns first Place!"


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Dear Dr. B,
How can I know the difference between God's voice, my voice and the enemy's voice? I know God speaks, I'm just not sure which voice is His.
A Concerned Listener
Dear Concerned,
Your question is one that many Christ-followers have asked at some point in their journey! I'm so glad you asked because the enemy would like you to believe that you can't hear God's voice, but the truth is God is speaking all the time—we just have to learn to become more attuned to hearing His voice and discerning the difference between His voice and the enemy's voice.
Scripture says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27 NIV).
While I will endeavor to share with you here a few rules of thumb that I follow, let me remind you that if you are ever unsure of which voice you are hearing, Scripture tells us that "If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you" (James 1:5 NIV).
It's important to keep in mind that God's voice will never contradict Scripture. So you can always take what you are hearing and look to see if it is consistent with what God's word has already said. If it is, you can be fairly assured that you have heard God's voice. God will never tell you to do something that would contradict what His word has said. He would never tell a woman, for example, that it's okay for her to have an affair with another woman's husband. That would be something the enemy would say.
God gives us the ability to think. We are capable of our own independent thoughts and we will frequently have thoughts such as "I'm hungry" or "I'm tired." But it's also important to keep in mind that the enemy will also speak to us in the form of thoughts in the first-person singular, such as "I can't do this." We must take those thoughts and determine if they are consistent with God's word. If they are not, then those are not our thoughts–they are the voice of the enemy trying to influence us. In this example, that is not consistent with God's word, which says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Some other basic principles that you can apply to help you discern if the voice you are hearing are God's or the enemy's are:
God's voice will convict but in love, whereas the enemy's voice will bring guilt and condemnation.
God's voice will encourage and reassure, whereas the enemy's voice will discourage and frighten.
God's voice will lead, guide, and still. The enemy will push and rush.
God's voice will calm us. The enemy will make us obsess and worry.
God's voice will bring comfort. The enemy's voice will bring chaos and compromise.
God's voice will bring clarity and confirmation. The enemy's voice brings confusion.
God's voice will bring Christ closer. The enemy's voice brings controlling spirits.
God has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth. When you are in doubt about which voice you are hearing, ask God by the power of the Holy Spirit to guide you in truth and He will. In His word, He has promised to teach you the truth, and it is the truth that He says "sets you free!"
Because of Him,
(If you have a question you'd like Dr. B to answer, contact her here now. Your name and identity will be kept confidential.)


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Good news for coast: Nor'easter to weaken
Photo: FR61802 AP
FILE - In this Monday, Nov. 5, 2012 file photo, a damaged home tilts to one side along the beach in the Belle Harbor section of the borough of Queens, New York, in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. A coastal storm that threatens to complicate the Superstorm Sandy cleanup efforts on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2012 now looks like it will be weaker than expected, experts say. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)


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The nonprofit sector is made up of a hugely diverse set of organizations from very small grassroots groups through to large complex charitable organizations. Some are incorporated and others are not. It includes sports and recreation groups, faith communities, arts and culture groups, environmental groups, a wide variety of citizens' groups, and health and human service organizations. For a closer look at the sector in Halton, read "The Nonprofit Sector in Halton: Critical Issues" or view the HNN's 2012 presentation to locally elected officials (municipal, regional, provincial and federal.)
The Report of the Chairman's Roundtable on the Voluntary and Not-for-Profit Sector, published by the Region of Halton in 2006, is still relevant today.
Community Development Halton has also produced a number of research reports and analyses related to the nonprofit sector. You can view and download each of these by clicking on the titles below:
A Recovery Free Zone: The Halton Bulletin - presents local results from A Recovery-Free Zone, a one-year province-wide follow-up survey conducted by the Social Planning Network of Ontario (SPNO) on the impact of the economic downturn on nonprofit community social service agencies in Ontario. The 2010 research was expanded to include a survey of non-governmental funders and foundations. Also see Pushing The Limits: Challenges of Halton's Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Labour Force, a ground-breaking research paper released in 2006 that is still relevant today and that explores challenges facing the nonprofit sector with a special focus on its workforce.
Through its founding meeting and the subsequent work of its Action Groups and Coordinating Committee, HNN has identified four clusters of issues with a critical impact on the sector:
- capacity;
- funding and resourcing;
- policy and legislative issues, and;
- public understanding and awareness.
Click here for a short discussion of these four clusters and the issues that combine to pose challenges for nonprofits in Halton.
What is a Nonprofit?
In response to an e-mail from a member of the public asking what a non profit organization is, the HNN Coordinator responded with this definition.
The Nonprofit Sector in Halton: Critical Issues
A profile of the sector in Halton, its contributions to the economic and social vitality of the community and a brief listing of key issues confronting the sector may be found by clicking here. This presentation was originally given on February 29th 2012 to politicians from the Halton area from all levels of government.
The Ontario Nonprofit Network
The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) was organized in May 2007 in response to concerns about proposed changes to the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (Bill 65). Since that time, sector support for the nonprofit network has continued to grow and ONN has emerged as a nonpartisan convener of sector voices, communication broker and coordinator for nonprofits in Ontario. We have increased collaborations with government, foundations and segments of the for-profit sector to support its mandate.
ONN's current network exceeds 6,000, with an estimated reach of 42,000 individuals who are committed to the sector in Ontario. Within the last six months alone, the network has grown by more than 50%, a strong indication of interest, credibility and commitment to ONN's work with and for the sector.
The Partnership Project
On March 3, 2011, Ontario released a new strategy to strengthen its partnership with the nonprofit sector, a sector that creates over one million jobs and contributes close to $50 billion to the province's economy. Based on extensive consultation with nonprofits in the province over 2010, the Report from the Partnership Project contains a series of recommendations that are seen by many in our sector as crucial to ensuring a vibrant, healthy sector.
According to the Partnership Project website:
"To help guide the strategy, the Partnership Advisory Group is being created and will include leaders from the NFP [nonprofit sector], public and private sectors. And the Partnership Project Office will also be established to help renew, streamline, and modernize the government's relationship with community organizations and provide better coordination."
On April 13, 2011, at the Ontario Nonprofit Network's Unconference, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Dr. Eric Hoskins, updated the sector and announced the appointment of Helen Burstyn (formerly Chair of the Ontario Trillium Foundation and his Co-Chair in Year One of the Partnership Project) as the Executive Lead for the new Partnership Project Office within the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration.
While the strategy was welcomed with enthusiasm by leaders in the sector at the ONN's Unconference, there were also calls from some for the sector to carefully monitor implementation to ensure that the recommendations do not become a framework for downloading to the nonprofit sector. In particular, they noted the cautionary experiences of the sector in Great Britain (The Big Society) and in the United States (The Tea Party).
The full report can be read by going to the Partnership Project website and downloading it from: http://partnershipproject.ca


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You've been thinking about your Sunday trip to the Art Institute of Chicago all week, dreaming about the calming effects a quiet stroll through the galleries will have on you after another long and hectic work week.
Finally, the day arrives. You know exactly where you're headed first: Second Floor, Medieval to Modern European Painting and Sculpture collection, Gallery 240. There, directly across from a small set of stairs, hangs the beautiful impressionistic piece, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte– 1884, by the painter Georges Seurat. You aren't exactly sure what it is about this piece that catches you, but there's definitely something miraculous in the way it was constructed with so many little dots that blur when you stand close, but form the shapes of people, umbrellas, dogs, the Seine River, from a distance.
You enter the Art Institute and to your confusion discover the painting has been moved. But not only that, something's off about it. It doesn't look complete. You move closer. Yes, many of the key figures are missing! You're not the only one to notice the change. Visitors slowly gather around the painting and the room fills with whispers.
A few minutes later, you're shocked out of your reverie as a group of costumed people enter the room and burst into song. And then it hits you. You'd heard that the Chicago Shakespeare Theater was bringing the Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning musical to Navy Pier so these must be the missing figures from the painting, migrated from the painting to real life, and soon to the theater!
Beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, September 16, this special painting, missing many of its famous faces, will be on display at the Art Institute. In addition to creating buzz about Sunday in the Park with George at Navy Pier, the faux painting is also for a great cause! It will be auctioned off to raise money for Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Team Shakespeare, one of the country's largest arts education programs, serving about 50,000 students and 1,500 educators each year. And never fear, the original painting is safe in storage and will soon rejoin the faithful company of the other occupants in Gallery 240.
Sunday in the Park with George runs September 26- November 4 at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Tickets can be purchased here: http://www.chicagoshakes.com/main.taf?p=2,80.


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Are you thinking about moving from a sedan to an SUV or vice versa? One of the main concerns you are going to have is how much more fuel you are going to use or how much fuel are you going to save. This tool will allow you to input pertinent information about each vehicle you are interested in driving home and getting a snapshot of its fuel consumption. Alexandria Motors believes that the best customer is an informed customer. There are very few other dealerships that will offer this level of service to potential customers. If you have any specific questions about any vehicle in our inventory, please feel free to reach out to one of our sales professionals.
Actual rating will vary with options, driving conditions, habits and vehicle condition.
Please speak with our trade advisor for more information.
Body Shop


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Luscious, naturally sweetened and packed with flavor from fresh carrots, pineapple, coconut and spices, with a hint of molasses, our Carrot Cake Jam tastes just like carrot cake. Perfect to spread on biscuits, breads, muffins and scones, or even appetizers, for Easter breakfast or brunch!
For Spring & Easter: Carrot Cake Jam
Do I ever have something special for y'all today!
Carrot. Cake. Jam.
Yep. You've got that right. We're preserving today. I saw a pin over at Pinterest well over a year ago now. Immediately, I knew that I had to try my hand at making homemade Carrot Cake Jam. And, I knew exactly what I was going to bake with it. Soon after, lo and behold, when I was flipping through my Ball® Complete Book of Home Preserving, I found their recipe and just had to try it. Of course, our Carrot Cake Jam includes a few tweaks. I couldn't help myself!
Weeks ago, I tested this recipe and have made it again for you all. By now, you probably know how much I adore carrot cake. Right? Here on the blog you can find our Carrot Cake Cheesecake Cake as well.
Meanwhile, let me tell you about the changes I made when adapting this recipe. They are simple changes, really. But, they do make a difference for the better.
First, in lieu of using a pear, I felt that an apple was best suited for our Carrot Cake Jam recipe. The naturally occurring pectin in the apple assists the powdered pectin. (This is helpful because we'll be using a bit less sugar and more pineapple. But, more on that in a moment.) Plus, we happened to have some extra beautiful Honeycrisp apples on hand. My favorite! And, I really liked the idea of a more tart rather than sweet fruit addition because this jam will be used as a filling for that special baked treat I was telling you about. (Hint: There will be a sweet glaze involved to balance the tartness.) Sound good so far?
Second, as for the sweetening of our Carrot Cake Jam, I like to use organic cane sugar in my baking and preserving when not using agave nectar. Instead of using all granulated (white) sugar, as the Ball® recipe calls for, I decided to add a tablespoon of molasses since I use part brown sugar in my carrot cake recipe. (This is essentially the same as using 3 cups granulated sugar to 1 cup brown sugar.) Furthermore, I actually reduced the overall sugar greatly at just 4 cups. (The original recipe called for 6½ cups sugar!) Not only does the molasses provide wonderful flavor notes, but it creates a deeper amber color to our jam which is very pleasing to the eye. To me, these characteristics just speak of carrot cake.
And, for those crystallized ginger lovers out there, I couldn't help but add a couple tablespoons, finely chopped, for a little sweet heat. This is optional of course and either homemade or a special brand will do fabulously. I must say…I am absolutely addicted to the incredible Australian Crystallized Ginger by Williams-Sonoma. I eat it like candy and it's so hard to stop after just one piece! It is currently out-of-stock as, I believe, it is a seasonal product. So, in the fall, be sure to try it and stock up if you really like it.
Finally, I added a splash of pure vanilla extract — again, just as I do with my carrot cake recipe. It really does make a difference by lending some mellow vanilla goodness to the tart fruits. I did not add raisins to the jam, but you certainly could. Golden raisins (sultanas) would be especially lovely. The reason why I left them out is because the recipe I have created around this jam will incorporate them. About ¼ cup, chopped in half, would be ideal to add to this beautiful jam.
So, there you have it! A newfangled Carrot Cake Jam for spring…to enjoy in your baking or spread luxuriously onto fresh baked and warm from the oven biscuits, breads, muffins, and scones.
What makes our Carrot Cake Jam wicked good? A classic Ball® recipe with a few simple tweaks makes this tasty Carrot Cake Jam incredibly luscious. Made with extra pineapple, less sugar, molasses and traditional carrot cake spices and, if desired, coconut flakes and/or crystallized ginger, this carrot cake jam is surely to become a new favorite. It is easy to prepare and perfect for spreading on biscuits, breads, muffins and scones – even appetizers – for Easter breakfast or brunch. It also makes a thoughtful homemade gift!
For the carrot cake lovers in your life, put up some gorgeous golden amber jars of our Carrot Cake Jam!
Below are Pinterest-friendly sized images to pin at Pinterest:
Carrot Cake Jam – Best Ever
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: Makes 6 to 7 half-pints
Luscious, naturally sweetened and packed with flavor from fresh carrots, pineapple, coconut and spices, with a hint of molasses, our Carrot Cake Jam tastes just like carrot cake. Perfect to spread on biscuits, breads, muffins and scones, or even appetizers, for Easter breakfast or brunch!
- 2 cups (200 grams) finely grated peeled carrots, about 4 medium
- 1 cup (about 130 grams) finely diced peeled tart apple, such as Granny Smith or Honeycrisp, about 1 medium to large
- 1 (20-ounce/567-gram) can crushed pineapple, including juice, such as Dole®
- 3 tablespoons (45 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon fine-quality ground cinnamon, such as McCormick® or Penzeys
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated whole nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves, such as McCormick®
- 1 (1.75-ounce/49- to 57-gram) package regular powdered fruit pectin
- 4 cups (800 grams) organic granulated cane sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15 grams) unsulphured molasses, such as Grandma's®
- ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) pure vanilla extract, such as Nielsen-Massey®
- ¼ cup (30 grams) flaked coconut, optional (can use fresh or unsweetened shredded)
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger, optional
Special Equipment & Supplies
- 6 to 7 (8-ounce/250 ml) half-pint canning jars with lids and rings, such as Ball®
- Canning Kit with Boiling-Water Canner
- Prepare canner, jars and lids. See Notes section below for links to helpful tips.
- In a large and deep stainless steel saucepan, combine grated carrots, diced apple, pineapple with juice, lemon juice and spices. Over high heat, bring mixture to a boil and stir frequently. Reduce heat to medium and cover. Boil gently, stirring occasionally (to prevent scorching), about 20 minutes.
- Remove saucepan from heat and lid from saucepan. Immediately sprinkle in pectin and whisk briskly until completely dissolved. Return saucepan to high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add sugar and molasses all at once and return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue to cook at a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat and skim off foam using a metal slotted spoon. Stir in vanilla and, if desired, coconut and/or crystallized ginger.
- Carefully ladle hot jam into hot prepared (sterilized) jars, leaving ¼ inch (0.5 cm) headspace. Remove any air bubbles and adjust headspace if necessary by adding additional jam. Wipe rim clean and center lid on jar. Tightly screw band down until resistance is met and then increase to fingertip-tight.
- Place sealed jars into canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil, first, and then process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid and wait 5 minutes. Remove jars, cool on wire racks and store.
- Be sure to adjust the canning time if you live at a high altitude. See Recipe Notes below for links to the Ball® Reference Tool, Adjust for Altitude (chart), for specific information as to your locale. Should you experience any trouble and need help troubleshooting, see links below in the Notes section to visit the Ball® Problem Solvers for Jams and Jellies Help.
- Yield: Makes 6 to 7 half-pints (or 6 to 7 250 ml jars).
Recipe Notes
Chopped raisins or sultanas (golden raisins), about ¼ cup, may be substituted for coconut.
Need help? For more information on preserving, visit the Ball® Getting Started page.
Powdered fruit pectin is sometimes sold in 49-gram or 57-gram packages. The weight difference will not affect the performance of the product in this recipe.
As per the Ball® recipe for Carrot Cake Jam, to turn this delicious jam into a conserve stir in ¼ cup chopped pecans or walnuts immediately after completing the 1-minute boil. Be sure to stir thoroughly and then remove from heat.
Adjust the canning time if you live at a high altitude. See the Ball® Reference Tool, Adjust for Altitude (chart), for specific information as to your locale.
Should you experience any trouble and need help troubleshooting, visit the Ball® Problem Solvers for Jams and Jellies Help.
Recipe Adapted From: The Ball® Complete Book of Home Preserving.
Original Recipe Source: WickedGoodKitchen.com
Copyright © Wicked Good Kitchen. All content and images are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words. Alternatively, link back to this post for the recipe.


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Half Day, Full Day, Weekend and Extended Photography Tuition. Photography classes, tips, tricks, workshops and tours.
Climb onboard and let us help you turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Creating adventure through photography, Trekabout Photography Workshops offer personalised photographic tuition, in stunning natural locations and at affordable prices. Photography workshops and tours are available across Australia and many other worldwide locations.
Photography workshops are offered by many, many companies. Attention to detail and high levels of hands-on individual tuition set Trekabout Photography Workshops apart from the pack.
Trekabout's "in-the-field" photography courses, workshops and tours mean more hands-on teaching and less time spent in a classroom environment. Trekabout cater for any level of experience, from the beginner with a compact camera to the more experienced photographer who is using more advanced equipment. If you would like to learn how to use your digital camera more effectively and pick up techniques that will allow you to take more stunning photos, Trekabout Photography Workshops are for you.
With workshops on Queensland's Sunshine Coast as well as Flinders Ranges, Melbourne, Hunter Valley, North Queensland, Brisbane, Broome, The Kimberley, Alice Springs and the Red Centre, Christmas Island, Fraser Island and overseas destinations such as Madagascar, Bali, Java, Borneo, California, Alaska, Vietnam, New Zealand, Namibia, Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Japan and many more there is sure to be something that will interest you.
In one day we will make you a better photographer. Imagine how you will benefit by attending an extended workshop?
Private Tailored Photography tuition and adventure tours to cater for individual or small groups available. Photography, post-processing or both at a half day, full day or extended session.
Check out the details here.
Start planning now to enhance your photography skills in the most amazing locations.
Call now for more information. Mark 0459 221 678
Australia Photography Workshops - Half Day, Full Day and Weekend
Trouble deciding on a gift for that "hard to buy for" friend? Do you have a budding photographer in your family?
One voucher covers a range of workshops. Why not purchase a Trekabout Photography Workshop Gift Voucher ? Our photography workshops are extremely popular as gifts and offer people a chance to receive a present that they will greatly benefit from.
Australia Photography Workshops, Tours and Adventures - Five Days or more
International Photography Workshops, Tours and Adventures
Professional photographer, Mark Rayner has over 40 years of photographic experience.
He is an AIPP Fully Accredited professional photographer and is passionate about his craft, a good communicator and very experienced tutor. As well as lots of group tuition, each and every participant will receive personalised tutoring, suiting their individual level and needs.
While in the field, you will be shown how to achieve the best results from your camera. On selected workshops, Mark will critique some of the photos taken that day and give advice on any improvements that can be made.
Numbers are limited to small manageable groups assuring you of very personal attention with high levels of one-to-one tuition.
You will learn much more with hands-on photographic tuition, by a highly-professional photographer and experienced tutor, than you will ever gain from reading photography books and magazines or browsing the internet.
Over the years, Mark has learned many techniques and tips that has allowed him to become successful in his field. He will share this experience and knowledge throughout each "in-the-field" workshop presented.
You will be guided through a simplified digital workflow to make post-processing of images easier, as well as a few quick tips on some of the more useful image-manipulation techniques.
Each workshop is tailored to different aspects of photography, where there will be an opportunity to experiment with various methods and styles.
Mark has a professional, yet relaxed tuition style. You will learn many new techniques and have fun in the process.
We are pleased to announce that Trekabout Photography Workshops were featured again on Queensland's highly-rated outdoor lifestyle program, the Great South East, on Sunday 29th of August 2010. The segment was based around our unique half day "Reptile and Frog Experience" photography workshop.
Private Tailored Photography tuition and adventure tours to cater for individual or small groups available. Photography, post-processing or both at a half day, full day or extended session. Having trouble with your Lightroom catalog and workflow. Easily sorted.
Check out the details here.


text: World View Troy Lum has been tagged 'the golden boy of the film festival circuit' and, at 34, he is already one of the world's most powerful film executives. For a man who has spent more than a decade working in film, Troy Lum looks particularly uncomfortable with a spotlight and camera directed at him. Dressed in jeans and a baggy black sweater, he rolls his feet, sliding his sneakers across the floor. As co-founder and Managing Director of independent distribution company Hopscotch Films, he has recently returned from Cannes and Berlin and is off to LA in a month. "Do I get sick of travelling?" he asks. "Sometimes, but I kind of like leaving as a general concept." Listed as one of the Top 50 Young Film Executives In The World by The Hollywood Reporter, the business graduate had a rather fortuitous start in film. "When I left UTS in 1994, I travelled for two years and lived in Paris, London and a little island off the coast of Thailand for way too long. I came back to Sydney and decided I wanted to be a writer," he says. Lum tried out this new career for around a year but admits he "struggled to survive". He turned to several publishing houses to inquire about work and was rewarded with a stream of "really nice rejection letters". So, he thought, what else could I do? "I decided to approach independent cinema. I knew about Dendy – it was the place where I went to see all these great films when I was a kid. So I wrote them a letter." At 22, he was hired as PA to the Managing Director, Lyn McCarthy. He worked in various roles within the company and, a credit to his quiet determination and passion for film, was promoted to Head of Sales a mere two years later. His first film purchase was Waking Ned Divine. "It did really well, so that year Dendy took me off to Cannes." It was 1997 and Lum was about to enter film-buying legend. Equipped with scant experience, he successfully bid for three films: The Blair Witch Project, All About My Mother and Buena Vista Social Club. The then little-known Blair Witch Project went on to smash box office records to became the biggest independent film of all time: it grossed more than $100 million in the United States and went on to make an impressive $10 million at the Australian box office. "Even to this day, that was some of the best buying I've ever done. I became the golden boy of the festival circuit." He went on to buy 60 films for Dendy and, by the age of 24, was at the helm of the company. "The last film I released for Dendy was Amélie, which I'd bought from script," says Lum. Actress Audrey Tautou was yet to be cast, and the gamble paid off. "It did massive business for Dendy. At that stage, I was approached by Frank Cox to start Hopscotch." A driving force behind one of Australia's most successful independent distributors, NewVision Film Distributors, and co-founder of Melbourne's Kino Dendy Cinemas, Frank Cox saw something special in Lum: a steely determination and superior networking skills. Lum left Dendy in 2002 and Hopscotch Films was born. Cox and Lum's first purchase was Bowling For Columbine, paying a huge $70,000 to distribute the documentary. "It was an incredible figure, unusually high to pay for a documentary," Cox told AFTRS Media last year. It went on to become the highest grossing documentary in Australian history – taking $5 million at the box office – and established a strong financial base for Hopscotch. The company has since flourished, branching out into DVD distribution in 2005 with Hopscotch Entertainment and movie production last year with Hopscotch Features, a collaboration with writer John Collee (Happy Feet, Master and Commander, Danny Deckchair) and producer Andrew Mason (The Matrix Revolutions). Most recently, Troy Lum was Executive Producer of Mao's Last Dancer. Confidence in the producer Jane Scott (who also produced Shine) led Hopscotch to invest in the project whilst the script was still in draft form and a director was yet to be signed. They stuck with the film for five years until its release in October last year. "It was very risky for a distributor because there was no guarantee that the film was ever going to be made," says Lum. Once again, the gamble paid off with Mao's Last Dancer becoming the biggest grossing Australian film of 2009. This success, while sweet, can be fickle in an industry where several poor film choices – and poor box office returns – can sink a company. As two creative forces with varying tastes in film, Cox and Lum's purchasing decisions often involve intense deliberation and discussion. "That's the beauty of having a partner like Troy," says Cox. "Even if you don't believe in the same movie, one side convinces the other that's the way to go, then both partners do their best to end up with the film… He's quite aggressive in his acquisitions." It's hard to imagine this aggression: Lum's easy walk blends in with the ebb and flow of students in the UTS Tower building and he appears relaxed and calm. It must take some force, though, to win scripts over the hundreds of other film buyers in the Australian market. "I'm good with people and people like working with me. If it comes down to me and somebody else [in bidding], I can usually get the film out of a relationship. Chances are I have worked with the person before, done a good job, reported properly and kept in contact," says Lum. "I think that itself is much more of a gift than some actual perception about a film – I think that's overstated." The future of the Australian film industry, he says, is looking healthy despite the threat of illegal downloads and distribution. "I still believe that people want to go to the cinema. It is too much a part of our social fabric. It's a great dating thing because you don't have to talk to the person you're with, and it's great for people in relationships because they don't have to talk to each other. "I just think that the way we interact with material is going to be different… It means that on the opening day of a film – like Harry Potter 25 – you will be able to watch that film whichever way you want to, in any format. "You can't stop people these days getting what they want, when they want it." So how did a middle child from Carlingford grow up to become one of world's most powerful film executives? "My parents own a restaurant in Balmain [the wellrespected Satasia] – they've had it for 30 years. As a kid in the mid-eighties, Balmain was a very artistic hub and my parents had a lot of writers and artists who came in. My sisters and I used to go around to the tables and chat with people," says Lum. As he got older, Lum worked in the restaurant, still maintaining one shift a week when he was head of Dendy. "It's quite a humbling thing to serve people." Success, he says, comes from achieving balance in your life. "I try not to spend a lot of time socially with people from the film business. The people I interact with come from all different walks of life. For me, I think that gives you balance, that gives you perspective." Words: Chrissa Favaloro Photo of Troy: Matthew Duchesne / Milk & Honey


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There is a large body of robust science showing that emotional stability and resilience is strongly correlated to performance at work, life satisfaction, health, and longevity.
Where we sit on this performance/pressure curve determines whether we perform optimally and fulfil our potential.
Resilience is the ability to adapt, bounce back and recover equilibrium when faced with periods of pressure or setbacks. Resilient individuals use certain characteristic patterns of thinking, an adaptive cognitive style and flexible patterns of behaviour when they experience difficulties, setbacks or periods of intense pressure.
Genuinely resilient individuals employ a set of cognitive and behavioural skills, an adaptive 'can do' mind-set, that helps them achieve personal success and motivate positive change in others even in the most difficult times. The good news is that these skills can be learnt and strengthened. In fact the science of resilience has advanced to a point where individuals can enjoy greater psychological wellbeing, stronger motivation and optimal performance.
Brain imaging techniques clearly show how critically important areas of the brain, known to be involved in higher executive functioning, go 'off-line' when we perceive a significant threat or when our mood drops. The 'threat response' or 'defeat state' can be activated by previous set-backs, fear of failure, or a perceived loss of status or reputation. However, resilience accelerates the recovery time, brings the brain back 'on-line', and helps restore executive function.
In most walks of life there are dangers associated with over-confidence, hubris and impulsivity. There are also real problems associated with under-confidence, over analysis, fear of failure, procrastination and fear-avoidance. The better we understand how our brain works and the range of variables that influence our cognitive ability the better we become at making good decisions. Source: http://www.positivegroup.org/.
For further information and resources please see www.wellbeingatthebar.org.uk.


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- Page 1 Olympus mju Tough 6010 Review
- Page 2 Olympus mju Tough 6010 Review
- Page 3 Olympus mju Tough 6010 Review
- Page 4 Features Table Review
- Page 5 Test Shots – ISO Performance Review
- Page 6 Test Shots – Detail and Lens Performance Review
- Page 7 Test Shots – Exposure Evaluation Review
Underneath its armour the mju-Tough-6010 is a fairly basic compact camera, with features essentially the same as the mju-7010 that I reviewed last week. However it does have a few unusual features suited to its outdoor sports role. The controls on the back are quite small and fiddly even when you're not wearing gloves, but the camera overcomes this to a certain extent by incorporating Tap Control, a feature which as far as I know is unique to Olympus.
With Tap Control activated, tapping the right side of the camera brings up the flash mode menu, while tapping the left side activates the focus mode menu. Tapping the back of the camera enters playback mode, and pictures can be scrolled back and forth by tapping the sides of the camera. A double tap on the top of the camera selects menu choices. It's a novel idea, and it does work surprisingly well as far as it goes, but any further menu adjustments will mean taking off your ski mittens. There's also the whole question of a shock-proof camera having shock-activated controls, but I'll leave that alone.
The Tough-6010 has a range of photographic features typical of a mid-range point-and-shoot compact. The main dial has six options including program auto, iAuto (automatic scene detection), a "Beauty" mode that softens skin tones, and a scene mode with 18 scene programs, with several programs designed specifically for shooting underwater or on snow. The video mode is adequate, with a resolution of 640 x 480 at 30fps with mono audio and clip length limited only by card capacity, although it looks a little limited in comparison to the HD video capability of the similarly-priced Panasonic FT1.
Like other recent Olympus compacts the 6010 has a quick live menu for basic shooting options including white balance, ISO setting, metering mode, drive mode and image size/quality. It also has a second mini-menu giving quick access to the camera's few other special features. It has a panorama mode, a shadow booster to improve shadow detail in high-contrast shots, a rather disappointing "Magic Filter" selection, and a very odd multi-window mode for comparative adjustment of zoom, exposure compensation, white balance and spot versus evaluative metering. However the camera lacks manual white balance, any sort of colour adjustment, and annoyingly it also lacks an AF assist lamp. That LED on the front is only for close-range illumination of macro subjects.
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text: This is Marcus.! he needed money for the bus, so I gave him $5, then he asked if I had some more so he could buy some more gold chains. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:Like Loading... Written by adamoe My name is Adam. I'm a Photographer, Designer, Creative Director, Pretend film maker, Storyteller and coffee drinker. I like to laugh and watch kittens do adorable people things on youtube. I take pictures of pretty much anything and everything and put them on my blog. thanks for stopping by and dont forget to subscribe and leave a note, read my blog and follow my everyday do do's.


text: This Year's Orientation Book: "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson Thursday, August 24, 2017 - 9:45pmAuthor: Anne Rajotte , Reference Librarian, UConn Law This year, all incoming students read Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy, a memoir recounting the author's legal career representing death row inmates, juveniles sentenced to life imprisonment, people with mental illness, and others. In telling the stories of individuals' interactions with the criminal justice system, Stevenson exposes the ongoing problems of racism, inadequate legal representation, and mass incarceration. Stevenson's recent project is creating the country's first memorial to the victims of lynching, to be constructed in Montgomery, Alabama. His organization, the Equal Justice Initiative, has spent years researching reports of lynchings, and have been able to document over 4,000 between 1877 and 1950. He connects the current racial disparities in capital punishment with lynchings that occurred into the twentieth century. He is not alone in this view; a recent book, Courting Death: the Supreme Court and Capital Punishment (available in the library), makes the same connection. Read more about This Year's Orientation Book: "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson


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The CPAC Speech Everyone Needs to Hear
Just a few hours before Donald Trump spoke to the CPAC audience last Friday, an even more noteworthy address took place at the Gaylord Convention Center.
Apache, Oklahoma Chief of Police, Stephen Mills, took the CPAC floor to argue for the abolition of civil asset forfeiture. Civil asset forfeiture is "a process by which the government can take and sell your property without ever convicting, or even charging, you with a crime." Under this practice, the state will typically take people's cash, cars, and other valuable possessions it may unilaterally deem as being an asset to a crime.
Since President Trump recently alluded that he's not happy about efforts to curb civil asset forfeiture, Chief Mills wanted to let the president know that there are many police officers out there who believe the practice of civil asset forfeiture is an aberration and violation of their oath to the Constitution.
Mills told the crowd:
"When the police and judicial system become the antagonist and no longer protect the rights of the accused, we have failed the greater mission of protecting the rights of the citizen… As law enforcement officers, we can't step on the rights of the citizens we are sworn to protect, under the guise of protecting them. This country was founded of the people, by the people, and for the people with certain unalienable rights. That's what made this country strong, and that is what will make this country strong again."
Watch the speech below.
Image: @ACUFforJustice Twitter


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A transitional coat may sound like an indulgence, and that's precisely what this epsom coat by Reiss is. Made of soft, rich wool and sporting bluff detail pockets, it's effortlessly stylish, but it's also hardworking and versatile. It's a quintessential layering piece, ideal for crisper temperatures when worn over a T-shirt or a sweater. Of course, when it finally cools down in California, I may just want to add a scarf and keep it in the rotation.
Photography: Steve Gripp
Reiss Total Look
COAT: Genesis Coat SWEATER: Roll Neck TROUSERS: Claridge Tuxedo Trouser


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Alcohol Ban
Sponsored By
Denver Won't Ban Alcohol In Washington ParkCity leaders announced Tuesday that they will not ban alcohol at popular Washington Park and 3.2 beer is still allowed.
Debate Over Whether To Ban Alcohol In Wash ParkWith warm spring weather here, more people are gathering at Washington Park which puts it at the center of a debate over alcohol. Now there's a proposal to ban drinking at the popular park.
City Councilman Wants To Ban Alcohol In Washington ParkA Denver city councilman is behind a controversial plan that's in the works to ban alcohol from Washington Park.


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Game Name: Air Hockey
Game author:
Game played:296
Air Hockey Codes for MySpace or Blogs:how to add games codes to myspace?
Description & Instructions of Flash Game Air Hockey:
Air Hockey is a skill game on www.flash-games.net in which you will play a puck with different countries like playing Ping Pong. You may select one country from Canada, Finland, France, Germany, U.S., Italy, Japan, Sweden and Czech Republic. The first player will accumulate seven points to win the game. When the puck enters and drops inside a players goal, the players opponent receives one point. The puck may be struck with any part of the mallet. You must be careful to avoid that the puck is pushed back into your hole by yourself. The move of this puck is very sensitive. So it is not easy to win the game. You must practice it more times to gain some experiences and skills. Are you ready? Play now!


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In part 2, I'll focus on removing skin imperfections and wrinkles. In part 3, I,ll go through… well… I'm not sure yet. It'll be a surprise! 🙂
You can also see my other video tutorials HERE.
[vimeo 1056994]
9 responses on "Portrait Makeover Part 1 - Whitening Teeth & Eyes"
That was really helpful! I love how it sounds so simple when you talk about it 🙂
Thanks a ton. 🙂
I use a little quicker method for the selection.
Copy the layer, zoom in to part you're working on, and use the quick mask tool with a medium brush with harder edges. Paint the mask on the part you want to adjust.
Turn off the quick mask, and voila, you have your selection.
One more step before you make the adjustments, as what you have now is a protected area…is to invert the selection.
After inverting, adjust away and only the selected area is affected.
Same basic idea as your selection, but IMO, a little quicker route to get there that doesn't require as meticulous a method of selection.
A very quick and effective way to whiten teeth that I've come across is a refinement of the hue -> desaturate technique.
Select the area around the teeth with a simple elliptical marquee, go to image > adjustments > hue & saturation, and at the top of the hue & saturation dialog box, there's a drop down box that's set to master. Change it to 'yellows', then desaturate away and lighten as needed!
This is much quicker, as the selection doesn't have to be very complex – in general, nothing inside the mouth is going to have a yellow color that you want to keep that way. Selecting the yellows means that it doesn't affect any other portion of the mouth as it is generally some shade of red.
Great stuff.. beats messing with magic wand! And I never thought of doing a curve adjustment 🙂
Thanks again,
Thank you for the tutorial – brightening teeth and eyes has never been easier! Thanks for sharing your expertise!
Thanks, Yanik. I really your technique of Curves with lasso, since that has virtually no effect on much darker parts (ex. eyelashes) hard to avoid.
Before reading your tutorial, I used the dodge tool, as you mentioned, or used the desaturation option on sponge, or brush tool to whiten, lighten, and desaturate.
bright, white smiles – Ann
great tutorials! since you asked for people to give their ways of doing this…I've retouched photos of people who don't have the absolutely gorgeous teeth your models have and the dodge tool doesn't work to take out more severe amounts of staining. I've found it helpful to use the hue/saturation set on the yellow mode and pull back on the saturation and up the brightness a bit. Then I history brush the whiter version back in. Sometimes a bit of a hue adjustment is needed just to keep everything looking natural. Anyhow…that's one trick I've used. 🙂
Looking forward to the skin retouching tutorial!
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The shadow has no face, she is every
revlon model that women have chased,
the shadow whispers that sex is survival of the thinnest
its a mainstreaming that doesn't serve our best interests,
tell you you are ugly, tell you how you aint pristine,
and then go round telling you how to fix it with Maybelline.
The shadow stalks the gurl, drinking in her innocence,
This gurl trembling before each new day,
this gurl trembling and afraid with each sunrise,
this gurl who finds the cloak woman too heavy to don most days,
this gurl trying to tread on her dreams when the water feels low,
with the shadow at her heels, ebbing her purity and disrupting the flow,
into woman hood, she enters it with her head bowed.
Young gurl I want you to know me, to hear me,
to know me in moments like this, moments of reflections,
moments of acceptance, and moments of celebration.
You should never put your heart in mind's position,
Gurl, you should hold womanhood in a high esteem
you deserve to wear the monarch like banner,
because it carries easy like sun in summer.
I am a woman and I enjoy it, try it sometime,
disentangle your gurl from the shadow and see
how brightly she shines.


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It has taken me some time to decide how to approach the topic of Sapa. My relationship with this Vietnamese city started over 3 years ago when I first visited on a backpacking trip through Asia. Currently, I am living and working 35 kilometers away from Sapa and have visited already 10+ times in the last few months. There are next to no foreigners in Lao Cai, the city in which I live, so visiting Sapa is a break from complete cultural submersion. Here, I see other foreigners that I can have conversations with in English, I have a selection of western cuisine to choose from, the mountainous landscape is magnificent, and I can sleep in a soft bed. I have created some connections with some really wonderful people in this city that have shared their knowledge and welcomed me in like family. At the end of the day, Sapa has treated me well.
Despite having created a positive relationship with the city, I have conflicted emotions about the massive transformation that it has underwent in the last few years.
When I first visited Sapa in 2014, tourism was already extremely present. I was, myself, a tourist. I bought the standard hiking and homestay package with a group of other travelers. It was nice. We hiked around the rice terraces and learned of the area from a local Hmong woman. Even at this time, there was no shortage of foreigners in the area. The local villages had already undergone a transformation with the introduction of tourism, with most homestays advertising high-speed wifi and food to suit western tastes.
Since then, it seems that the tourism industry has exploded. The Sapa I frequent today is much different than the Sapa that I saw in 2014.
The money goes where the tourism goes which is why there has been a boom in the development of hotels, restaurants and homestays. Every time that I visit Sapa (every 2 weeks or so) a new hotel that has sprouted up. A walk down one of the main roads is like navigating in a video game as you dodge construction, first time drivers (for many local people, it is their first motorbike), and women from the villages that have come up for the day to sell you their goods. The city is undergoing a metamorphosis.
The Sapa Church, an iconic symbol of the village, is now squished in between an ever growing number of hotels and flashy billboards. At night, the church glows from neon lights from the surrounding hustle bustle reflecting off of its stone walls. On the steps of the church, children adorned in beads and tassels that are barely old enough to walk sell their trinkets to passing tourists late into to the night, tasked with earning an income for the family early in life.
I am not against tourism. Tourism can be very good for a community as it can bring money into areas that are in need of it. However, it seems that tourism happened too quickly for the locals to keep up, many of whom never gotten a higher education or learned the skills to start a business. As a result, most of the businesses that are profiting from this surge in cash are owned by people from the big cities that have moved in with the prospect of new money.
It seems that Sapa's long-term goal is to create a boutique-esque, french colonial atmosphere, but with an flare of local traditional art and culture. This makes it a unique area to visit in Vietnam, and I can see the potential in this tropical mountainous city. One day, the dust of construction will settle (although this doesn't seem to be anytime in the near future), at which point it will be interesting to take a step back to compare the New Sapa to what it once was.


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Now this came as a surprise. Ji Chang Wook may be in the army, but we'll still get to see him on the big screen, albeit for a very short while, in the upcoming Korean movie "The Bros (부라더)".
Tag Archives: Movie
[Movie] "Fabricated City": A review by Ji Chang Wook's Kitchen
Guess who turns 31 years old today? Our very own Ji Chang Wook celebrates his birthday on 5 July, and Ji Chang Wook's Kitchen sends along its wishes for a very happy day, with many more to follow! In addition, 5 July also marks our site's third anniversary! Woo hoo!!
So in honour of this semi-momentous occasion, we have decided to post our joint review of Wook's first starring movie, "Fabricated City." We had been holding off until the movie had its last international premiere, so sit back and read away! (A few spoilers may be sprinkled throughout, so proceed at your own risk!)
[Movie] Ji Chang Wook continues on with more "Fabricated City" stage greetings
As "Fabricated City" begins its third week of release, Ji Chang Wook had even more stage appearances scheduled for Sunday, 26 February, including stops at several Incheon and Bucheon theatres. CJ Entertainment kindly shared some photos which were taken at their last greetings of the day at CGV Bucheon Station.
[Event] Special screening of "Fabricated City" in Los Angeles (updated)
The fun and games are not over yet, as the folks at CJ Entertainment USA have planned a special screening of "Fabricated City" on 3 March 2017 at 7:00pm at the CGV Madang (Koreatown) in Los Angeles!
[Movie] Los Angeles "Fabricated City" premiere events and ticket giveaway
As soon as the "Fabricated City" premiere date in Los Angeles was announced, we immediately reached out to our contacts with CJ Entertainment USA to enquire if any special events were planned for this momentous occasion. And the answer to that is… of course! 😀


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Our dear friend and long-time member Dave passed away on the 10th of December 2018. He will be missed and remembered fondly. May he rest in peace.
In psychology, what is it called when a behaviour is happening, and then something is taken away, and the behaviour is more likely to happen?


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Orlando Fun Pak
Our Tourism Concierge/Guest Services Marketing division oversees a special tourism marketing program designed to generate positive recommendations from concierge and guest service personnel at key resorts and hotels. Orlando Fun Pak is the exclusive publication for All Guest Services and is used in conjunction with their access-only referral marketing program.
Orlando Fun Pak is the official magazine handed out at their guest services/concierge desks to guests seeking assistance in planning their vacation. Orlando Fun Pak is also the exclusive publication at all Diamond resorts (Formerly Tempus) locations as well as distributed at Vacation Villages. The magazine is distributed to the largest referral marketing concierge network in the Orlando marketplace.


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Yes. Our carts are DOT approved and can be pulled home. Keep in mind that the cart tires turn much faster than your vehicle tires do and this can cause heat build up. If you're traveling hundreds of miles, I would either stop often, at least each gas fill up and check the condition of the hubs. If they are too hot. Let them cool before continuing.
I have hauled my Big Dog from TN to FL 4 times now, I've hauled it to Myrtle Beach, Charlotte, VA, KY and others with no issues. All in all, it is always better on the equipment if you trailer your cart or load it into a pick up bed, but it's not necessary.


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Three months after running the second-fastest marathon time in history, Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele has confirmed his appearance at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, on January 20.
The three-time Olympic gold medallist stormed to victory at the Berlin Marathon in September, crossing the finish line in an Ethiopian record of 2:03:03, just six seconds short of Dennis Kimetto's world record.
After voicing his disappointment at missing out on the world record, Bekele is targeting Dubai for the next chapter in his marathon running career. It will be his second appearance at the event after an injury forced him to pull up on his Dubai debut in 2015.
"It's a massive boost to have Kenenisa confirmed for the 2017 staging of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon," said event director Peter Connerton. "His performance in Berlin proves that he is now very comfortable at the distance and we know he has unfinished business in Dubai after dropping out here two years ago."
The 2008 Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion took two minutes off his marathon PB in Berlin. "It was fantastic for me to get a personal best, but I'm still disappointed to have missed out on the world record," said Bekele, who also finished third (2:06:36) at the London Marathon in 2016.
His performance in Berlin suggests that Kimetto's world record of 2:02:57, set in Berlin in 2014, is within his reach. "I knew I had trained well and I knew what my strengths were," said Bekele, who remains convinced he can run faster than his winning 2:03:03. "The Berlin race was fantastic but I could see that I still had to make a couple of changes in my training."
As well as targeting a personal best and the 2:04:23 course record in Dubai, Bekele – who has 17 world titles to his name and remains world record-holder on the track at both 5000m and 10,000m – is also giving serious consideration to running at the IAAF World Championships London 2017. "If the federation select me, I'll run the Worlds in London," he added.
Organisers for the IAAF


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So there's this song that I hear on the radio (when I'm not only listening to what's on my ipod), and for the longest time I only recognized it by the refrain. "Light 'em up," it would repeat. The first image that comes to mind for me is one of someone playing basketball, nailing almost every shot they sttampt. Right behind that is a football image, of a quarterback throw to the end zone with the receiver pulling the ball down among heavy coverage.
In short, it's the kind of song that begs to be used for a highlight reel or opening montage for a broadcast sporting event. Or just to crank up while driving.


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Inexperienced landlords sometimes fail to conduct credit checks on potential tenants. Some landlords think that they are unnecessary. They would rather let the tenant move in and save themselves the time and money it costs to get a credit check. Unfortunately, people in this situation sometimes find themselves with tenants who have a history of avoiding their responsibilities.
Why Are Credit Checks So Important?
Credit reports give landlords valuable information about their potential tenants. Some of the information that can be gleaned from credit checks are listed below.
- The tenants name and date of birth. This is important as it weeds out identity thieves.
- The tenants payment history.
- Whether or not the tenant has made late payments or missed payments in the past.
- Whether the tenant has been declared bankrupt.
- If the tenant has been taken to court over unpaid bills.
In short, a credit check attests to the character of a potential tenant. If a tenant has failed to make timely payments in the past, he or she is likely to do it again.
Tenants should not be offended if they are asked for a credit report. This document is slowly becoming standard in the real estate industry. If tenants have issues with landlords obtaining a credit check, they may have something to hide.
Every adult over the age of 21 should have a credit report. The only time a person may not have one is if they are new to the country. In this case, the landlord could ask for their partner's credit report or a credit report from their home country.
Married women who change their name may also have a non-existent credit record. Newly wed women usually avoid this problem by getting a credit check done on their maiden name. Those who are trying to scam landlords may give their new name as a way to hide negative information. This is why landlords should be wary of people with no credit rating.
Once landlords have a credit report in their hands, they will need to assess the information in the document. Generally speaking, small defaults to companies can be dismissed. It is very easy for people to forget to return a library book or pay a small fee. Larger debts to finance companies and banks are a warning sign. These tenants have missed payments or made late payments because they did not have enough money.
Obtaining and assessing credit reports can be time-consuming and frustrating. Landlords who do not want to do this themselves can hire property managers. A good property management service will have the resources to perform thorough background checks on potential tenants. Using this service reduces the risk of late payments and evictions.


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The plate is shielded by a thin transparent protective film, please remove the film before use, so that the nail polish can be transferred by the stamper.
1. Apply base coat or regular polish on the nail.
2. Apply the nail polish to desired image within the plate.
3. Use a scraper tool or plastic credit card leaned over 45 degrees and scrape excessive polish off quickly and strongly from inside to outside.
4. Immediately press the stamper with a gentle rolling motion to pick up the design. The image is transferred on the stamp.
5. Stamp the image on your nail with a gentle rolling motion. The image is transferred on your nail.
6. Repeat the above steps for all of your nails.
7. After stamping nail art, apply top coat for lasting wear.
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Happy Valentine's from the Straight Arrow and all the heroes of Diaperman– and Two Gargoyles! Can you spot the references to other Two Gargoyles comic titles? 🙂
Happy Valentine's from the Straight Arrow and all the heroes of Diaperman– and Two Gargoyles! Can you spot the references to other Two Gargoyles comic titles? 🙂
Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! Enjoy this fun doodle by the talented Jeremy Thew! You can meet Jeremy and writer Michael McAdam at Emerald City Comic Con, in Artist's Alley at booth Y-10, in just a short week and a[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Thunder says: "Happy Thanksgiving!" Watch this space for an upcoming special announcement about our favourite half-Norse God, half-Canadian superhero!
Halloween is our favourite time here at Two Gargoyles (and with mascots like ours, who could blame us?) and so Hawkstone and Riverdale teamed up with Thunder and Code Monkey to bring you a very special Halloween message! Stay safe while[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…
Thanks to Jeremy Thew's art and Mike & Lisa Rieger's InDesign expertise, I'm pleased to present this fabulous Valentine card, courtesy of Diaperman villainness, "The Slasher!" (Slash fiction.)
Happy CANADA DAY to all Canadians on July 1st! And, on July 4th, Happy INDEPENDENCE DAY to our American friends! Riverdale shows wings of friendship for both countries!
Favourite Holiday for our Gargoyles: HALLOWEEN! Riverdale and Hawkstone send you greetings from the pumpkin patch (and no, Hawkstone has never watched a Charlie Brown cartoon in his life.) Art and words by the ever-fabulous Jeremy Thew.
It's "Self-Promotion Sunday" here at Two Gargoyles— with Christmas just around the corner, it's time to start looking for gift ideas for family and friends! May I present Mr. Punch, the mage from Twilight Detective Agency, for your delectation and[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…


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Defending the Motherland: The Soviet Women Who Fought Hitler's Aces by Lyuba Vinogradova and Arch Tait (translator)
|Defending the Motherland: The Soviet Women Who Fought Hitler's Aces by Lyuba Vinogradova and Arch Tait (translator)
|Category: History
|Reviewer: John Lloyd
|Summary: You will be surprised by how leaden and earthbound this book about remarkable female fighter pilots can be.
|Buy? No
|Borrow? Maybe
|Pages: 352
|Date: April 2016
|Publisher: MacLehose Press
If you picture a wartime fighter ace in your mind, chances are it will hold to a few certain characteristics. The chutzpah on the face of a Han Solo, a fluffy pilot's jacket perhaps, the swagger of a person who's faced and dealt death and come out the other side only stronger, someone who can carry off the look of pilot's goggles – and whatever your visual impression, pretty much certainly a male. But consider the Soviet war machine, facing the Nazis easily absorbing Ukrainian territories and closing on Moscow with surprising rapidity. This is a country where all jobs are gender neutral, and where young girls fresh out of school had been building the Moscow Underground stations. No wonder, then, that that place and that cause were the locations for the world's first, and apparently, only female air regiments.
So it's a major pity that this book just failed to bring any of that uniqueness to life. I first thought there might be a disparity between what I wanted and what I got from the preceding maps, that show the ins and outs of Nazi encroachment in far too much detail. It was obvious this would not be a general read for the layman, and we'd not got to the contents page. And so it proved, through a dense (and then some) read that I really wanted to enjoy, but was prevented from engaging with at every step.
I don't like national stereotypes, but this smacks to me of a Russian book. There is a huge cast, the priorities it has seem to be particularly Russian, and it feels most off-kilter in its approach, seeming to have edited bits out that to me would seem essential. The narrative is very awkward, giving us so many instances of small colour (the girls disagreeing with their initial assignments in the regiments when first arriving at their barracks, etc) it loses all sight of the big picture. So I certainly failed to get the charisma of the navigator ace that ran the whole She-Bang, and there should have been more about the women after the war, especially as we get hints of her NKVD career affecting everything and everyone during action and since. I was swamped with detail about what and who went where and did what.
Only occasionally did things take flight (pun intended) – the Amazonian warrior nearly shot for desertion after being too good to get captured, the behaviour of the men when the women joined their companies, and so on. This strikes me as a subject that can easily bear an academic volume (and this one, however segregated the notes etc are, is certainly thorough enough for the historian), but one that cries out for a much lighter touch. I would easily see these people as greater than women – gender-free, not earthbound, and certainly having more gung ho and derring-do that I have. But they never even became characters to me – they remained awkward Soviet names on a page as grey as the cloudbanks they so easily pierced. I hate to say that I could only have wished for a much greater tribute to bring them to life than this.
I must still thank the publishers for my review copy.
The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin, 1939-1941 by Roger Moorhouse is the most detailed look at what allowed Hitler and Stalin, previously joint signatories of peace treaties, to be in that situation.
You can read more book reviews or buy Defending the Motherland: The Soviet Women Who Fought Hitler's Aces by Lyuba Vinogradova and Arch Tait (translator) at Amazon.co.uk
You can read more book reviews or buy Defending the Motherland: The Soviet Women Who Fought Hitler's Aces by Lyuba Vinogradova and Arch Tait (translator) at Amazon.com.
Like to comment on this review?
Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.


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Find A Session
chief operating officer
Globalization Partners
Connect Online with this Speaker
Debbie Millin joined Globalization Partners in May 2016. With 20 years of operational, project management, and client relationship experience in a variety of industries, Debbie's specialization is supporting companies experiencing rapid growth scale their systems and processes. Debbie has helped grow Globalization Partners to be the No. 1 fastest growing women-led company in America, and has helped two companies achieve the No. 1 fastest-growing private company in Boston — including Globalization Partners in 2017. Just prior to joining Globalization Partners, her consulting firm, offering part-time COO services, was named in Boston Business Journal's "Startup Watch: Five to Follow" in June 2013.


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Contributed by Becky Oviatt, ANFBA Regional Cooridinator
At the Alaska State Fairgrounds, Palmer
Saturday, July 23, 2016
10am to 5pm
Hosted By: Mat-Su Region of the Alaska Natural Fiber Business Association
Think Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival (OFFF), Black Sheep Gathering, and any other fiber festival that fiber arts enthusiasts love to attend. They all started out with an idea and a small venue.
Now, 42 years later, Black Sheep is one of the most widely attended Fiber Festivals in the country. OFFF's mission is to exhibit and demonstrate the full spectrum of natural fibers (plant and animal) from beginning to end, from the animal or raw fiber to the finished product. We will strive to do the same.
The Mat-Su Region of the Alaska Natural Fiber Business Association (ANFBA) is starting its inaugural year at the Alaska State Fairgrounds Livestock Barn. July 23, 2016 from 10am to 5pm
This is not a craft sale. It is a Fiber Festival, with demonstrations and classes. Fiber enthusiasts around the area will be gathered to show each other and you, the public, what it takes to ply our craft.
Have you seen the ladies spinning wool at the fair; in the Irwin building? For 10 days people walk by, fascinated, asking questions about what they are doing.
At the Mat-Su Fiber Festival, for an entire day, we will be concentrating on the entire process. From raising the various animals, to shearing, processing and spinning, weaving or knitting the wool.
Learn what it takes to raise a fiber animal. Watch and interact with the folks as they clean the wool, spin it and weave or knit it into a scarf or shawl. Talk to the gentleman who creates fiber tools from wood, so we can have beautiful things to work with.
There will be classes on cord-making with lucet and kumihimo tablets. There will be weaving classes, felting classes, drop spindle and knitting classes for the kids, dying demonstrations and all kinds of folks with brains to pick about fiber.
Come see us on July 23rd at the Alaska State Fairgrounds, in the Livestock Barn. Help us make the Mat-Su Fiber Festival something to talk about, so folks will come from all over the country to see what we do in Alaska.


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Man, I can be a jerk to live with when I am stressed out. I realized yesterday that my outlook had been skewed by my schedule and (more importantly) my priorities and that had made me more than a bit difficult to get along with. Don't get me wrong; I have my reasons for feeling like a mummy ("pressed for time"…thank you, I'll be here all week!):
- We transition to two worship services in 2 1/2 weeks at church, and we still need about 8 volunteers to make it a success. That seems like a small number, but it's still a stress.
- I have a ridiculous weekend ahead. I am hosting Dr. Dave Anderson this weekend for Graceline, and he is preaching at church this Sunday. That's cool! But I have a funeral to officiate and a family to grieve with on Saturday too, which of course is occupying a lot of my mind.
- I have a huge pile of grading on my desk, and 75 research papers coming in on Wednesday. Ahhhhhhhhh!
- I am working on my Easter sermon, my second ever in first-person. That takes WORK. The last one went well and I want this one to also.
- Last but CERTAINLY not least, both Laura and I are not able to run right now. She had surgery to remove more tissue after her melanoma diagnosis, which put her out of action for 4 weeks. Then I hurt my foot and need to take about 10 days off too—no running or kenpo.
The end result: Stress. The outcome: John is a jerk who gets snappish and surly.
As I looked at the reason I get that way, it really boils down to simply being too focused on tasks and not focused on God and people. I look at the "task" of two worship services and realize that we are doing that to help people, not to have something to do. I look at this weekend and thank God that I get to be with that family and get to know Dr. Anderson better. I realize that God has entrusted me with helping 75 students understand the New Testament better, and this is their chance to show me that! My Easter sermon shouldn't be a chance to be impressive but to help real people see the impact of the resurrection of Jesus on their lives. And certainly, I realized that being unable to work out has given Laura and me some time to sleep in, to goof off, and to rebuild some margins in life. Blessings, all.
And the schedule? Well, God isn't hanging me out to dry, either!
Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
Yesterday I completely revamped my prayer list too. I took every task off of my list and instead changed to praying for people. Monday, for instance, I am now praying for Laura, for my heart, for vision to lead our church, and for those who don't know Christ in my life. Tuesday is Elizabeth, the men that I am mentoring as well as my mentors, and my staff at church. And so on.
And the change in focus has brought with it much more peace and much more willingness to be kind, to be present and to let small annoyances stay small.
How do you react to stress? Is it schedule, or assignments, or money that makes you anxious? Do you run to God or from Him when stress hits? And when you can't run to your normal stress relief, how do you cope?


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13.10.2016 - 14.10.2016 | Baku, Azerbaijan
A 'Workshop for the Participation of Non-EU Black Sea and EaP Countries in Thematic COFUND ERANETs & JPIs' took place on 13-14 October 2016, in Baku, Azerbaijan. This event marked an important step towards the association of Black Sea and Eastern Partnership countries to Horizon 2020. It served both as an informative meeting for ERANET/JPI schemes, as well as a networking event with EU Member State funding agencies in view of increasing the participation of Black Sea/EaP countries in ongoing or forthcoming co-funding schemes.
The aim of the workshop was to discuss on the modalities of participation in thematic COFUND ERANETs and to reach ou to the research funding agencies and ministries of the non-EU Black Sea and Eastern Partnership countries. The event brought local funding agencies interested in participating in specific ongoing or forthcoming ERANETs & JPIs in touch with the ERANETs' & JPIs' coordinators to discuss the potential inclusion of these countries in ERANETs & JPIs.
The workshop was structured into four sessions:
Representatives of ERANETs and JPIs shared their experience with funding agencies from the Black Sea and EaP countries and discussed on modalities for participation; stages in the development of an ERA-NET/JPI that a country can be involved; necessary commitments for participation; assessment of perspectives for participation.
Main organisers of this meeting were the Centre for Regional & International STI Studies & Support – CeRISS (Greece) and the Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The event took place in the frame of the Black Sea Horizon and IncoNet EaP projects.


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MPHGrads Defined:
- MPH (n., acr.): Master's in Public Health
- Grads (n., abbrev., colloq.): graduate
- MPHGrads.com (awesomeness): helping MPH grads change the world
MPHGrads is a community where MPH-ers like you can:
- Learn about your colleagues and how they are using their MPH
- Browse MPH resources for jobs and volunteer opportunities
- Get job tips about ways to land your dream position
- Join the forum to weigh in on issues facing MPH graduates
- Submit articles about your public health experiences and expertise
This is an About Page…
…and I hope you've already noticed that MPHGrads is all about you!
I started my public health journey in 2009 when I learned that public health had the tools I needed to do something about the problems I saw in the world. I graduated with a Master's in public health in 2013 and quickly realized that, although I finally had the skills and knowledge I needed, I still didn't have the resources or support to find a place to land my altruism (and get paid for it).
That's why in 2015, I created MPHGrads. This online community is for you and me and for anyone else who is passionate about making a difference using public health. It's a place where MPH grads can learn, share, and make greater strides in improving the world.
So this About Page really is all about you…and so is MPHGrads. It's about all of us sharing what we've learned in order to help each other succeed. I urge you to take part by joining the discussion on the MPHGrads forum, contributing your expertise in an article, and inviting your public health friends to join us. This community works because of you, and I know that by supporting each other, we can truly make a difference.
I'm Amy Stevenson Wilson, MPH. Thanks for stopping by.
We are in this together, so if there is something you'd like to see here that isn't, please let me know. I'd love your feedback and ideas.


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Do you understand the "economy?" Or better yet, do you understand economists? In two earlier posts [1], I shared that I have a good grasp on personal finances, but maybe not so much on how the economy works, particularly the global economy. It's even more confusing to listen to the experts (economists) talk about it. They make what seems like good news sound dreary and what seems like bad news sound as though things are improving.
In my files I ran across some humor about economists and the economy. If we can't understand what economists are saying about a complicated field, at least we can enjoy a laugh or two at their expense.
A mathematician, an accountant, and an economist apply for the same job. The interviewer calls in the mathematician and asks, "What do two plus two equal?" The mathemetician replies, "Four." The interviewer asks, "Four, exactly?" The mathematician looks at the interviewer incredulously and says, "Yes, four, exactly."
Then the interviewer calls in the accountant and asks the same question, "What do two plus two equal?" The accountant says, "On average, four — give or take ten percent, but on average, four."
Then the interviewer calls in the economist and poses the same question, "What do two plus two equal?" The economist gets up, locks the door, closes the shade, sits down next to the interviewer and says, "What do you want it to equal?"
Three economists went out hunting and came across a large deer. The first economist fired, but missed, by a meter to the left. The second economist fired, but also missed, by a meter to the right. The third economist didn't fire, but shouted in triumph, "We got it! We got it!"
Here are a couple of cartoons that need no explanations from an economist.
This one says something similar....
A group of economists was hiking in the Alps. After several hours they became hopelessly lost. One of them studied the map for some time, turning it up and down, sighting distant landmarks, consulting his compass and the sun's location for that time of day. Finally he said, "OK, see that big mountain over there?"
"Yes," answered the others eagerly.
"Well, according to this map, we're standing on top of it."
The First Law of Economists: For every economist, there exists an equal and opposite economist.
The Second Law of Economists: They're both wrong.
Newlan's Truism on the Natural Rate of Unemployment: An "acceptable" level of unemployment means that the government economist to whom it is acceptable still has a job.
Economist light bulb jokes:
Q: How many economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A1: Seven, plus/minus ten.
A2: Irrelevant — the light bulb's preferences are to be taken as a given.
Q: How many mainstream economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to assume the existence of the ladder and one to change the bulb.
Q: How many neo-classical economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: It depends on the wage rate.
Q: How many central bank economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Just one — he holds the light bulb and the whole earth revolves around him.
Q: How many Marxists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: None — the bulb contains within it the seeds of its own revolution.
Q: How many conservative economists does it take to change a light bulb?
A1: None. The darkness will cause the light bulb to change by itself.
A2: None. If the government would just leave it alone, it would change itself.
A3: None. "There is no need to change the light bulb. All the conditions for illumination are in place.
A4: None, because,... look! It's getting brighter! It's definitely getting brighter!
A5: None; they're all waiting for the unseen hand of the market lighting to correct the disequilibrium.
Q: How many investors does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None — the market has already discounted the change.
Q: How many Keynesian economists does it takes to change a light bulb?
A: All of them. Because then you will generate employment, more consumption, dislocating the AD (aggregate demand) to the right,....
Q: How many Wharton MBA's does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Only one, if you hire me. I can actually change the light bulb by myself. As you can see from my resume, I've had extensive experience changing light bulbs in my previous positions. I've also been named to the Wharton Light Bulb list, and am presently a teaching assistant for Light Bulb Management 601. My only weakness is that I'm compulsive about changing light bulbs in my spare time.
Q: How many B-school (business school) doctoral students does it take to change a light bulb?
A: I'm writing my dissertation on that topic; I should have an answer for you in about 5 years.
True story: The scene is a conference of professors of marketing.
The keynote speaker is an eminent economist. The chairman say, "I would like to introduce my colleague and friend. He's an economist, one of those people who turn random numbers into mathematical laws."
The economist, not to be outdone, replies, "My friend, here, is a marketer. They reverse the process."
Q&A about economists
Q: Why did the economist end up breaking his neck when he dove into his swimming pool?
A: He forgot to "seasonally adjust" his pool.
Q: What's the difference between an economist and a befuddled old man with dementia?
A: The economist is the one with the calculator.
Q: What do economists and computers have in common?
A: You need to punch information into both of them.
Q: Why does God allow some people to become economists?
A: In order to make weather forecasters look good.
Q: How has French revolution affected world economic growth?
A: Too early to say.
One- and two-liners about economists:
The economy is affecting our children in ways we haven't even thought about....
It's not easy being an economist. How would you like to go through life pretending you knew what M1 was all about?
I asked an economist for her phone number ... and she gave me an estimate.
Two economists sit down to play chess. They study the board for 24 hours and declare a stalemate.
Two economists meet on the street. One inquires, "How's your wife doing?" The other responds, "Relative to what?"
I'll end with a final cartoon....
What are your thoughts on the economy and economists?
"God is in the business of the impossible." — Drew Conley
=^..^= =^..^=
Economics is the only field in which two people can share a Nobel Prize for saying opposing things.