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As most of you know I am very active in the development community and one piece of that is my involvement with the Midwest Give Camp organization. The Midwest Give Camp organization is a small group of dedicated community leaders that plan and carry out yearly Give Camps in the Midwest. This year I had the honor of organizing/leading the Midwest Give Camp. The event was held the weekend leading in to That Conference at the same venue. I wanted to share details on the charity that we worked with and what the Give Campers were able to provide for them.
For the 2012 installment of the Midwest Give Camp we worked with the charity Katharine's Wish. Katharine's Wish was founded by Katharine Rhoten of Eau Claire, WI. Katharine's father Doug is also an active member of the developer community who runs the Chippewa Valley .NET User Group. Doug also happens to be a personal friend of mind.
While on the family's first trip to Disney World in 2008 Katharine became seriously ill and was rushed to the hospital. The Rhoten family spent 3 long days in the hospital watching Katharine undergo numerous tests, most involving painful prods and pokes. Through all of those procedures Doug and his wife Kristin where amazed at the positive attitude Katharine was able to keep. This was due, in large part, to a small gesture of the hospital staff. Prior to any painful procedure, the hospital staff gave Katharine a small stuffed animal. This always put a smile on Katharine's face and let her know that it may hurt for a bit but in the end everything was going to be alright. To get an idea of the number of procedures Katharine was subjected to during her stay at the hospital…Doug had to ship 2 boxes of stuffed animals back to WI J
The experience provided two major life-changing events for Katharine. The first was that she was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes and the second that she vowed to "pay it forward" by doing everything she could do to make sure that children in the hospital have the same positive experience she had. Upon returning home Katharine got to work on making this happen by using her allowance, birthday money, and funds from a lucrative lemonade stand to purchase stuffed animals to donate to local hospitals that she donates each year, on the anniversary of her diagnosis, to local hospitals.
Katharine's Wish has grown to now include multiple drop off locations where the community can drop off stuffed animals and books to be donated. In the five years since her diagnosis, Katharine, with the help of her younger brother Spencer, has donated thousands of stuffed animals and books to the hospitals in her community.
It was an honor to be able to use my skills, along with the skills of 12 other talented geeks, to provide Katharine with a platform to grow her cause. The result of our work is the official Katharine's Wish web site. The site was coded in MVC 4/HTML5/Kendo UI on the front end and EF Code First/SQL on the back end.
I ask that you please check out http://www.KatharinesWish.org to learn more about this awesome girl and please consider donating to her cause.
Once again I am plugging That Conference! Why? Because it is going to kick ass and you will not want to miss it!
In a previous post I highlighted some of the nationally recognized top-notch speakers that will be Counselors at the event. What I didn't mention is that I have been given the honor of presenting not one but two sessions at That Conference. Below are the two sessions I will be doing.
Going Native with KendoUI MobileThe number of people using their smartphones or tablets to access the web has grown to the point where having a presence on mobile devices has become a must for anyone with a website. But to be truly successful your mobile presence has to differentiate itself from the mobile web entirely and straddle that line between web and native application. In the past this meant having specific styles and often views for each specific mobile platform you wanted to target, but this is no longer necessary thanks to Kendo UI Mobile.
In this talk Keith will demonstrate how using HTML5 and Kendo UI Mobile you can write one application with a single set of styles and views that looks truly native on iOS, Android, and Blackberry. Keith will walk through creating a mobile application from start to finish including how to use PhoneGap to package and deploy your website to the major mobile application stores.
HTML5 – It's Not Just for HipstersHTML5 is the current "Big Thing" in web technologies. HTML5 has already been crowned the "Write Once Run Everywhere" toolset, even running on the desktop. But we .NET guys seem to once again, be left behind. The lack of tooling in Visual Studio along with the fact that most .NET web developers do not consider themselves HTML developers is really causing .NET developers to already be behind the 8 ball when it comes to HTML5 development.
In this talk Keith will cover the features of HTML5 that all .NET developers should know about and be taking advantage of. He will also cover, how contrary to popular belief the tooling is there and you can start coding HTML5 in Visual Studio now. Keith will also demonstrate that HTML5 development does not require a completely new toolset, you can leverage your current skills including all your favorite .NET server technologies when doing HTML5 development.
I highly suggest you take a look at the awesome array of sessions that will be presented at That Conference in each of the 4 tracks:
On top of the Give Camp leading in to the event there are a number of other awesome events being planned. Unfortunately these events are still in the planning phase so I can't go in to detail but I can stress Do Not Miss That Conference!
That Conference announced the initial session line up earlier this week and in a word AWESOME!
The official speaker line up will be announced shortly and includes the following;
For a line up like that you would expect to have to travel to one of the coast's and spend a fortune but that is not the case. That Conference was formed under the premise of bringing a top quality conference (speakers, content, etc.) to the upper Midwest that everyone can afford to attend. If you are in the Midwest this is an excellent opportunity that you should not miss! Registration opens May 16th at 8:13am CST. You will want to get in early as this is going to be one hot ticket.
I am very honored and excited about leading up the efforts for the next Midwest Give Camp. For this installment we have been lucky enough to team up with the folks at That Conference and are hoping to ride the hype and excitement of this awesome event for another successful and rewarding Give Camp.
The Give Camp will be held at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells, WI Saturday August 11th through Sunday August 12th, the weekend leading into That Conference.
We are working with an awesome charity that will no doubt be very familiar and close to a lot of your hearts and once we have all the details ironed out I will be going public with them.
For now block off the dates on your calendar and stay tuned for more details!
Keith is a Senior Software Engineer with Falafel Software. He has been developing software since 1999 specializing in web-based solutions primarily using the Microsoft stack. He has been a Microsoft MVP in ASP.NET since 2012.
The opinions expressed herein are my own personal opinions and do not represent
my employer's view in any way.


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We went to see Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in Lund this evening with a friend. We had seen each of the Lord of the Rings films together as they came out over Christmas/New Year's, but had not seen the first Hobbit film together for some reason. Watching it in 3D we had decided that the 3D wasn't worth it and that we weren't going to go see part 2, it was far too boring.
But the critics said it was better, so we decided to give it a try. We managed to get 3 of the last 4 seats for the non-3d version left among scores of sugar-high kids excited to go see all the kiddie films and headed inside. The advertising was great - some interesting films, and then the University of Uppsala advertising for students with a really great short film.
The film was, indeed, better than part 1, although it could have easily been 20 minutes shorter. There was some beautiful landscape stuff, a great female character Tauriel (who was not in the book, and of course got involved in a love story, but was still an interesting character), and some weird stuff such as Beorn who turned out to be the Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt! I swore that one of the actors looked like Johnny Depp and another like John Cleese, but I was mistaken.
If you are an arachnophobe, I would suggest giving this film a miss. There are lot of fighting scenes, and the usual continuity errors with weapons coming and going and the dwarfs suddenly having having their hair washed and braided and such. There were some scenes that were clearly only there for the 3D crowd: butterflies coming out of nowhere, large bees buzzing around, lots of spider and dragon in-your-face stuff. I suppose the forests and villages and castles looked good, but is that worth having to buy extra glasses? Of course, it stops in the middle, so we have to go see part 3, I guess.
Hobbit: Part 2
We went to see Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in Lund this evening with a friend. We had seen each of the Lord of the Rings films together as they came out over Christmas/New Year's, but had not seen the first Hobbit film together for some reason. Watching it in 3D we had decided that the 3D wasn't worth it and that we weren't going to go see part 2, it was far too boring.
at 00:32 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: film USA
From the Department of Oops
WiseMan picked up a flyer at the Coop today. This is so bizarre, I have to translate it:
Important information for those of you who have the Coop 2014 calendar. Because of a printing error that crept in for the month of May we have put together an updated page that you can easily use to replace the month of May with. On the inside of this flyer you can find the month of May as it should be, just open it up and hang it up over the wrong one so that you have a calendar with the correct weekend days. Please note that the Monday after Pentecost, the 9th of June is NOT a holiday, please note this in your calendar. Midsummer day, Saturday the 21st of June, is a holiday, so please note this in your calendar as well. We are sorry for the problem and wish you all the best in 2014!Ahem. Pentecost Monday has not been a holiday in Sweden for what, 5 years now? And they missed having the most holiest of the Swedish drinking holidays, Midsummer, marked as a holiday? On their Facebook page they note that the first of May was set on a Wednesday instead of Thursday, meaning they repeated May 2013. What did they do, outsource the printing to some cheap third world country where no one noticed anything? The motto of the year is: sustainability.
at 00:09 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Sweden
WiseGrandkids First Christmas
We celebrated our first Christmas with WiseGrandkid today. She was here with her parents and with WiseKid's birth brother (he was adopted by another couple, we kept contact with each other from early on). They wanted Maccaroni and Cheese for Christmas Dinner, so I made that with a salad.
WiseGrandkid was a darling princess. She can turn over now, and has two little toys she likes to play with. When her dad put her on his shoulders to carry her around, she hung on tight - grabbing his ears tightly!
It was a peaceful evening, no in-depth discussions, no fighting, and far too much to eat.
I hope your Christmas Season is peaceful and joyous - all the best for 2014!
Merry Christmas
This has got to be the smallest Christmas tree I ever had, but boy, it was the fastest I ever got a tree decorated.
So little time to blog, that will have to be a New Year's resolution: Blog more!
Hope all are able to enjoy some peace and companionship during the holiday season and gather their strength for 2014!
Swedish Moss
I was up in Sweden for the first weekend in Advent. We visited with friends, and I quite admired all of the Advent decorations she had: Glass containers with moss, twigs, candles, and such. She explained that they were out in the woods last week collecting stuff, and she had spent the week putting them together.
The next morning I went out in our woods and collected a whole basket of different sorts of moss, lichens, interesting twigs, red berries and such. I was flying back in the evening without checked luggage, so I was interested to see if I could get it all in. I had it packed in many different plastic bags that I could stuff into my backpack if necessary, and put them all in a paper bag.
The first job was getting to Copenhagen - trivial with the train. Second step - would they let me through security? Amazingly, my backpack was looked at twice, but the bag of moss went through without a blink of an eye. Third trial - checking in. No word at all, I just sailed through.
On the plane I put my backpack up in the overhead rack and the moss under the seat in front of me, and thus got my sack of moss home in one piece. I now have two nice Advent decorations, put moss on the floor of the creche, and still have a lot left over! Just put up a picture of the nicest one on the blog.
at 22:13 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: home stuff
I went to an in-school training session on examination law (on account of being the chair of our program's examination board) on Friday. It was at the other school campus, the one I used to have my office at. I was quite pleased to meet some colleagues I haven't seen for a while, in particular one of the few other women in the computing departments.
After greetings and handball chat (she likes handball, too) we got down to business: She's a new grandmother, you see, first grandchild last month. Oh, I said, I'm a grandma now too, since July. She looked at me, shocked. "How old is your son?" "21".
And it turned out, we are both the same age, she had her first son at 21, and he is a dad now at 35. WiseKid was born when I was 35 and is a dad at 21. So I've caught up with her!
Both of us flunked the first Grandma Test: neither of us had a picture of our grandkids in our wallets. I guess I'd better get some pics sent to my phone.
at 01:03 1 comments Links to this post
Labels: family, grandchild
Surveillance is one of the key words in Europe at the moment. Yes, some people have always suspected that we were being watched. But what has come to light in the last few months would not have been believable if it was part of the plot of some spy thriller.
In a way, it changes the way we communicate. Are we now forced to weigh every word we write? Do we assume that everything is being transcribed somewhere, stored to be held against us at an opportune moment? We can't even organize surprise birthday parties or purchase presents anymore without some pesky social media system tattling. "Your friend X just bought a Y, don't you want to buy one, too?"
I use a different email address for each of the blogs I write. I have recently started getting emails from my "friends" at Google, asking one of my addresses if it doesn't perhaps know one of the other ones. Of course, I access the blogs with the same IP address. But I don't want to give proof positive that these accounts are both mine. Should I be forced to use one email and one email only online?
I think not. In a way, I am a number of persons. When I correspond for work, I use a work email. When I write as a private person, I use a different address. And since I perhaps don't want my comments on a cooking page to be tied together with comments I made about a hotel or with comments on a political page, I find it vital to have dissimilar email addresses. When is it really important to know who exactly I am? Perhaps only if I don't pay my bills?
We need to think hard and fast about what kind of a digital world we want to live in, and what kind we have set up for ourselves. I think the two don't match at the moment.
Zwei Leben
Since the Oscar-nominated German-Norwegian film Zwei Leben (Two Lives) was only running until tomorrow, we decided to watch it this evening. WiseMan had already seen it in Norwegian/German, and as he noted later, it is a film that you can't watch twice because then the suspense is gone.
But during the film you don't know what to think. A normal, boring life is punctuated by flashbacks that include scraps of some nasty German history: Lebensborn, a project that took the offspring of Norwegian women and Nazi occupiers to German orphanages in order to increase the so-called Aryan race; and the Stasi, the East German secret service that had their fingers in everything. Seeing what the Stasi was up to then and discovering what the NSA is up to now is scary.
The story draws you in, as more and more strands of the two lives come unraveled and tangle themselves. At one point the question is raised: Is it always necessary to tell the truth? People were so much happier when they didn't know the deep, dark secrets.
A thought-provoking film, but probably not for a general, global audience.
at 23:28 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: film Germany, film Norwegian
Der Hexer
We were at the home of one of the usual suspects this evening. After some great wine and cheese (and apple butter with old Gouda on top is really, really good) and a few shorts from La Linea, we watched Albert Vohler's version of Der Hexer [WP-DE](The Mysterious Magician), adapted from a crime story by Edgar Wallace. All sorts of famous German actors and actresses are in the film.
Oh my. The women.
I suppose this was the norm for the early Sixties, but it really hurts today to see the women playing the stupid little blonde or the scheming lady. The secretaries are wagging their little rumps and have deep decolletés.
The scenography is sweet, today we all understand how many of the scenes were made. And it is indeed amazing to see how suspense is built. We are all confused until the very end as to the identity of the Hexer.
The best bit was the code that the Hexer used to communicate with his wife – he sent her flowers, and she would count the flowers, and then she knew which telephone number to call.
at 23:06 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: film Germany
Jesus Christ, Superstar
What an evening! We had heard about the Dalby choir, Mixtum, earlier this year when we stumbled on them practicing in the Dalby church. We stayed for the concert and were fascinated by this young, vibrant choir. At the end of their Gospel concert they announced that they were repeating their performance of "Jesus Christ, Superstar" in August. We found the date and arranged to stay in order to hear the musical.
The place was given as "Dalby Quarry". We had never been there, but the newspaper said a) bring your own food, b) come early, and c) don't expect toilets or wheel-chair accessibility. So we arranged with friends to be there between 3 and 4 pm, the concert was not to begin until 6pm. They came by bike, we passed them in the car and waved. And then discovered: we were late.
The parking place was filled to overflowing, cars were already parking along the roadside. We drove on and managed to find a little parking place a good bit down next to a ladder for climbing the fence. Sooooo, we parked and lugged the picnic up the ladder and down again, up the next ladder and down again, and then were were at the quarry. It is breathtakingly beautiful! It is said to be 11 meters deep, the water looked cold and blue, and the quarry was very wide, so there were lots of places to sit. We lugged the stuff on towards the stage, and discovered we could have just walked along the highway instead of through the fields. You live and learn.
We found a nice place in the back - all the picnic places towards the stage were already taken. It turned out to be great - since there were only brambles behind us, we could stand up and had a great view of the stage.
The dress rehearsal was in full swing, and I began singing along. When I was a teenager back in the 70s our church choir put on the musical. Although I have not sung it since, I discovered that I still knew the words! We had a picnic and were then able to talk for a while until the concert started. People kept streaming in, filling every last nook and cranny, there must have been 2000 people there.
The acoustics were fabulous - one could hear all around the quarry. And the professional singers in the main roles, as well as the choir, sang so well that the audience was enchanted. I'm not sure much of the audience knew the story (despite Sweden being very Lutheran). Our friends kept asking me where in the program we were, I had to bite my tongue not to say: Isn't it obvious? That's the Last Supper ....
When they got to part where Mary Magdalene anointed Jesus' feet with expensive nard, I suddenly realized that I had completely missed this in my sermon a few weeks ago! There we have Judas, bitching at Mary for "wasting" the nard, it could have been sold and the money used to feed the poor. Jesus tells Judas off, noting that there will always be poor people. Judas' words come back to haunt him, as when he is agonizing over the blood money he was given for betraying Jesus, the choir sings softly: You could give the money to the poor.
Somehow I was also really experiencing the music, seeing structures in the songs, picking up melodies from previous songs, making them fit the next scene, and then it all coming together for the finale: Jesus Christ, Superstar. The choir was clapping, and then the entire audience joined in, exuberantly clapping in time to the music.
The local newspaper has reported online with a few pictures, have a look at this wonderful setting. And now, I must see if I can still get a recording of JCS. I need to hear it all again!
at 13:44 0 comments Links to this post
Wild Raspberry Jam
The very, very best jam in the world is made from wild raspberries and jam sugar, nothing else. Most years I will go berrying and get a liter of blueberries and a few tiny wild raspberries. If it's just a few I'll eat them myself, but since the neighbors who water our plants when we are gone really like the jam too, I tend to make that extra special effort to find enough for a smidgeon of jam.
This year, everything is different. There are almost no blueberries - I have enough for decorating fruit salad, nothing more. But raspberries, oh my! The bushes we planted years ago against the fence ducked under and are now loaded with big, thick, sweet berries. But the sides of the roads and the woods are filled with wild raspberries, some as big as cultured berries are most years. And they are soooooooo sweet! I got half a liter in just one hour, so I cleaned them, put them in the fridge and went out the next day for another half a liter. With a liter of berries I can make four little jars of jam. That's one for the neighbors and three for me ;)
A friend just tried making jam herself for the first time this week. When she was done, she
twittered: Why do people *buy* jam? It's so easy to make and so much more delicious! Indeed, you have complete control over the contents (save a bug or two). So what are you waiting for? Make your own jam today, it only takes a liter of berries, 500g of 2:1 jam sugar and some sterilized jars, you are done in half an hour.
at 23:37 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: food
Welcome WiseGrandkid!
A very warm welcome to the world is extended to WiseGrandkid, who was born this past week to WiseKid and his girlfriend! WiseGrandkid showed up two weeks early, so I dashed back from vacation to spend some time getting to know this sweet young thing. Okay, up until now it has been sleeping and crying that I've seen. But such a sweet young thing, with a face full of lanugo - so soft to touch!
I went along for the First Walk with the new baby buggy this afternoon, and noticed something interesting. It used to be that walking with WiseKid would cause people coming towards us to frown at us, let us pass, or even walk on the other side of the street. WiseKid likes to look mean, and scares people.
But with him pushing a baby carriage or holding the little one in his arms, the elderly folk walking towards us positively beam - and sneak a peek into the buggy.
WiseKid seems to have paid attention to some of my rants after all - he has requested No Pictures Posted To Facebook Or Other Social Media Places. I suppose he remembers still the episode in the fifth grade in which some girls googled a picture of him as a baby. We needed a lot of effort to get that one removed from Google's databases (but it did work!).
I look forward to be getting to know WiseGrandkid in the near future, and will do my best to ignore the "It-must-be-pink-or-Hello-Kitty" requests from her Dad. Wait - that makes me a grandmother. I'm not old enough for that yet!
Bruce Springsteen in Leipzig
For complicated reasons we didn't make it to see Bruce Springsteen last year when he was in Berlin with the Wrecking Ball Tour. We had seen him in the Waldbühne maybe 20 years ago, I remember finding it strange, all these Germans singing "Born in the USA" with such inbrunst! So when the concert was announced in Leipzig, we figured that was just down the road and got tickets.
We took a train down this morning (yes, 7 minutes late), visited the Museum of Modern History, drank a Hugo, had lunch-dinner and then walked to the stadium. Oh my - it was the old stadium they had the youth sports festivals at in the DDR, far too large for modern Leipzig, so they ripped out the decrepit seats and put a new, smaller stadium inside. Meaning you walk 80 steps up, 60 steps down, 60 steps back up and 15 or 20 back down. I was exhausted!
Bruce Springsteen kept us waiting 45 minutes without explanation, people were getting kind of impatient. Then, finally, he stepped before the crowd of 45.000 people and began singing.
After a few songs he went down to the front row and collected signs, singing a few of them. Perhaps he just picks the signs for the songs he will be singing anyway, but one did not please his band, it took a while before they were able to play it. He sang many uncommon songs, and then in an encore series many old favorites. He didn't give a damn about German curfew laws and sang 45 minutes past the quiet time, so we did get 3 hours of solid rock - no breaks!
He had some typical show bits like getting the cameras to focus on a hefty woman in pink just shakin' it, dancing with another woman, and pulling 2 kids up on the stage. One was great, she actually sang in English, couldn't have been more than 10! The other one was scared, just looked at Bruce in awe instead of playing guitar.
I found myself - post PRISM - uncomfortable with the American flag and some of the songs. I like the music, but "We take care of our own" sounded very arrogant tonight.
Bruce played on and on - he loves to sing and his voice was just as strong after 3 hours as it was in the beginning. We were glad we booked a room (another Bed and Breakfast without Breakfast for an atrocious price), although the Leipziger are extremely efficient carting people downtown with trams, we would have just made the last train back to Berlin. So more sightseeing here tomorrow, and Bruce on the iPod for the trip back!
(Updated to fix spelling problems from typing on tablet and links added. And no iPod on the trip back because the train was packed to the gills and we didn't have reservations. We sat on the floor.)
Update 2: Here's the set list from Bruce Springsteen's home page and some notes!
at 00:22 1 comments Links to this post
Labels: music
Bed and Breakfast without Breakfast
Oh dear, I seem to have quit regular blogging...
Just got back from Würzburg where I spent a week researching in the library there. They have some great stuff in the estates of two professors, someone should really get paid to publish some of this as a book.
Anyway, I booked a Bed & Breakfast for the week, as it was cheaper than the cheapest hotel, and centrally located, so I decided to try it out.
The lady noted that there was no sink in the kitchen, but I could wash the dishes in the bathroom sink. Okaaaaay. Oh, and it was without breakfast (!), but it was above a café, so you could easily get breakfast in the morning.
They did have good coffee and butter croissants, and it was nice having a little kitchen so that I didn't have to eat in a restaurant every evening.
But oh my - there was a discotheque across the street. Not enough that the street car zipped through regularly, but the youth just loved this place. Starting at about 10 pm they just noisily showed up at the joint, talking loudly, coming out for a smoke and jokes, and having a grand time until 3 am or so.
But other than that: Unfriendly lady who gave me the key and took my money, great bed, lots of hot water, and a bitch washing dishes in the bathroom sink. But I spent four nights in Würzburg for the same price one night in Munich would have cost me, so I'll probably do it again.
Better than Eurovision
We were driving around Skania, looking at churches and castles and stuff and hit Dalby just after 3 pm. There were lots of young people rushing into the church, we thought there might be a wedding or something. But it was a choir, rehearsing for an evening recital.
About 25 young people, men and women, were practicing a gospel-sounding song that I had never heard before. They were so enthusiastic and the director, a very young man, was so energetically pulling sound from them and weaving an amazing song that we sat, fascinated. After a short deliberation over coffee we decided to skip attending the church service in Lund and instead go listen to this choir.
We got there early, but there was already a line. We managed to get seats rather far in the front, I was actually able to see the score, as I was just behind the elbow of the conductor. The choir, called Mixtum, presented a very varied program: Entire choir, women's choir, men's choir, solos, duetts, quartet, accompanied at various times by organ, piano, flute, guitar, djemba, tambourine - or just a capella.
They started with some standard Bach and a bit of Mozart and Purcell, then they sang a song that one of the conductors, Henrik Dahlgren, had composed. He arranged much of the gospel songs they sang later on in the program. My absolute favorite was the one we had heard during their practice: Days of Elijah, by Robin Mark. They were singing without a score, focused completely on Dahlgren, who was playing them like an instrument: louder, softer, repeat, modulate up, modulate back down. He had the whole church clapping along to the very catchy rhythm.
They closed with Ernst Toch's Geographical Fuge which was just hilarious! Time had just flown by, they had presented for over an hour and a half - and as the other conductor said: Hey, we could sing for 2 more hours if you would sit still for it. I believe her, they were so enjoying singing.
Much better than the songs of the Eurovision, and I'm so glad to see young people making music instead of just pushing buttons on a machine.
The Deep
The small movie theater across from the Cathedral in Lund had decided to extend the Icelandic film Djúpið (The Deep) for another week, so we were able to see it in original with Swedish subtitles. It is a film by Baltasar Kormákur, the Icelandic filmmaker who made the cult film 101 Reykjavik, among others.
It is a simple story - and a true one, apparently. Kormákur uses the first 3.5 minutes to check off all of the things that an Icelandic film must have: drunks; vomiting; pissing; gorgeous landscape of the Vestmannaeyjar (Westmann Islands); fighting over a girl. With that out of the way we see the hungover crew of a fishing boat take to the seas. They catch some fish, and have one bout of the nets getting caught on a jagged stone. They manage to free it, but soon the nets again get caught and the boat is threatening to sink. One of the sailors insists on cutting the net - the captain won't hear of it, as it is a brand-new net.
And so, the ship sinks.
Three of the crew die right away, two soon after. One guy, Gulli, solidly portrayed by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, decides to swim to shore - a distance of about three sea miles or 6 kilometers. He starts swimming, and a sea gull decides to accompany him. He keeps swimming, and eventually reaches a rocky shore. But the cliffs are so steep - there is nothing else to do but to go back into the water and swim around the tip of the island to a place where he can draw himself up.
He walks over sharp lava in the freezing air back to town and collapses at the door of the first house. He is treated in the hospital, and then subjected to tests - how could anyone have survived this? It remains a mystery. He returns to his island, takes care of the things he had promised God he would attend to if he lived as he was swimming, and he returns to fishing.
A deeply moving movie, exposing many aspects of a people who live - and die - by the sea.
at 02:38 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: film Iceland
P!nk in Berlin
Ooooh, I had tickets to Alicia Beth Moore's concert in Berlin last Friday. That is the artist known as P!nk. It was in the large sports arena on the other side of town, I was not sure that it would be that cosy, as 14.000 people fit into the arena.
We went early to get some dinner, but the choice was extremely limited, so it ended up being fish & chips. We had good seats in the upper deck, on the aisle, except that people kept getting up to go get more food and drink. The band Churchill led off at the dot of eight. Kind of ho-hum, but it was something to listen to. They played for 30 minutes, and then they started getting everything ready for P!nk. We could see the technicians clearly, and they had a big problem: two computer screens were pitch black. The technicians were flipping switches, checking cords, restarting computers, all to no avail. There were no chickens sacrificed, but they fussed around for 45 minutes while the crowd grew a tad restless. We wanted music!
But oh, the wait was worth it! It was like a three-ring circus, you didn't know were to look next. And P!nk is quite the acrobat, pulling all sorts of fantastic stunts AND singing attached to some guy wires. In the finale she flies out over the crowd standing in the inner field, and came quite close to us even.
She sang the songs from "The Truth About Love", and played one round of drums and one song at the piano. She was skimpily dressed - as were many of the dancers - and there were lots of snide remarks of a scatological sort. But the music was great and the show fascinating. I'm glad we went!
at 00:34 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: concert
Robbed again
Sigh. You just can't win. I suppose that I am now an old lady who makes a good mark. I spent the night in Zürich on my way to St. Gallen. I stayed in a lovely hotel in Glattbrugg that picked me up at the airport and really offered a lovely stay (Airport Best Western), much cheaper than the hotel directly at the airport. It is only a seven minute bus trip back to the airport, so I thought I would just do that instead of calling a cab. I waited at the bus stop, only to have the driver tell me that I needed to have bought a ticket on the other side of the street (no mention of this at the stop!), so I got back out, went over, and began to study the system. Soon an older woman, round and about my size came up and stood beside me, crowding me. I should have told her to get back, but instead I decided to quickly end my search for the cheapest fare and just pushed the button for the airport.
My bellypack was under my buttoned cape (it was raining). I had checked it - as I do about every 2 minutes while traveling - and thought it was well protected, because it was hidden, I felt. I dug out my change purse and put four coins into the machine, one after the other, lifting up my arm each time to do so.
Strangely, did woman didn't start to buy a ticket, but I didn't think anything of it. I went back across the street and did my luggage check routing - and my wallet was gone. I went back to the hotel to see if I had by mistake left it on the counter. No. I called the police (117 in Switzerland), they said: go to the police in Zürich Airport and inform them. Yeah, that helps.
I went back to the bus stop, and realized that the local cops were in a building near the bus stop, so I went in. They were very nice, gave me water and let me call Germany to stop my cards (the piece of paper with the telephone numbers is in my wallet. Need to re-think that). The cop didn't really want to take down anything, but I decided it was better - at least get it into the statistics. While working, he noted that just yesterday a lady had her wallet stolen and there was 3000 Franks taken out of her account before she could call up. Okay, she had her number written on the card.
The amount of personal information you have to give is immense. Name, birth name (Ledigenname, a wonderful non-sexist word, used to be Mädchenname), birthdate, birthplace, address, name of father and mother, profession.
I described what was in the wallet and was thankful that I had taken out all of the library cards. I also cursed my lazyness, should have put the Euros in a box in my bag instead of keeping them handy. And then I realized it was that lady who stole my wallet. I described her to the police as well as I could, but I didn't look at her face. So we filled out pages and pages of information, and I went on my way.
I find this quite disturbing to have been robbed twice within a year. I don't like to have to plan exactly what cards I am going to need in a day, I like to be spontaneous. And I really have been trying to pay cash for stuff. I suppose I need to more widely distribute my cash (I still have 30 € in various pockets, and my ID and one credit card were in an additional wallet in another pocket). And my next wallet will have a chain on it.
I wish my thief the worst of indigestion and various aches and pains, particularly in the place where her heart should be.
The Hunt
Berlin is a wonderful town for film-lovers! I mean, where can you go see a foreign film in the original language the same week it opens in German in the normal theaters? In the Hackische Höfe there is a theater (up about 4 flights of stairs and no elevator) that was showing Jagten, The Hunt, in Danish with subtitles. So when the decision was between Kon-Tiki and The Hunt, we chose the Hunt, on the theory that Kon-Tiki will still be playing in a few weeks.
We are probably right. Even though the film is on a very serious subject - a male kindergarten teacher is suspected of "doing something" to one of the children, and the whole thing escalates to the entire village being violent against the teacher (who loses his job), even though he didn't do anything. It shows the very fine line that one walks as a male who enjoys playing with children in this hyperreactive world.
The twisted ending after the village quickly forgives him when the girl makes it clear that she was just making everything up is not believable. It rather has the feel of having been cobbled together to get the film over with somehow. It is unsettling to see how whispers and believing the worst of someone can quickly serve to do them grave injustice.
And in a way, as one review has put it, quite an anti-feminism film, as it is the women who are all behaving so irrationally, blaming the man. This is far too black&white, although there are certainly women who would behave exactly as some of the women in the movie.
Not a movie for a fun evening, and not enough food for thought on this quite grave subject. Nice Danish, though, although much of the scenery seems to be more Swedish than Danish.
at 23:02 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: film Denmark
Python rules!
My students chose to have a lecture on Python as the last lecture of the semester this winter, so I had to spend a few days on the language. I'd never programmed in Python before, but since I've programmed in heaven knows how many languages* I was able to grasp the basic idea of the language and run some simple stuff I found on the web. It seemed interesting, although it uses whitespace as a block delimiter. Ah, that was one of my traumas, writing the paper "When Whitespace Conveys Meaning" that got itself rejected from a number of conferences. Horrible languages that use this.
Anyway, one of my takeaways was that this is a great language for throwaway programming, even better than awk. A friend finally convinced me that I really needed a large file of random garbage interspersed with plagiarized sentences for testing the software systems. So I decided to give it a try this afternoon.
Together with my student researcher (who is studying computing but had also never programmed with Python before) we sat down at 11.50 am and started googling. I fired up the environment, and we started to play. We had spoken through the algorithm at lunch yesterday. At about 12.25 my other student researcher showed up (a doctoral student in philosophy) and tried to understand what we were doing. At 12.35 we had a working Python program to generate a paragraph of garbage from the on-board dictionary.
After lunch we spent about 15 minutes getting the rest to work, but made an error way back in one method. I had exam proctoring, so I started the exam and then spent an hour rewriting the program (including comments, like I bitch at my students to do), using good variable names, and finding the error. The end result is highly parametrized (far too high for a throwaway program), easy to read program. In about 3 person hours. Done and delivered, and we can carry on. And: it was fun, even with the stupid indentations.
So yeah, I now understand all the excitement with Python. It rules! But still, I rather don't want it used in safety critical or vital systems ...
* Basic, Fortran IV, COBOL, APL, awk, Perl, Pascal (various dialects), Occam, Ada, Java plus smatterings of report languages and database languages and compiler-compiler syntax and .....
Chocolates from the Deutsche Bahn?
There was a big package came in the mail today. From the Deutsche Bahn. Inside was a tin of hand-made chocolates and a letter apologizing for the train delay I experienced the middle of February when the trains were stopped/rerouted because of a supposed bomb threat.
Now, I already filled out the forms and got my 5,75 € refund. I asked for the refund as a certificate to be used on my next trip, except that it wouldn't accept the certificate for payment on my next trip. I cursed the DB, why can't they get it right like that bookseller from the States that I used to use? But I didn't write a bitching letter (or I have started writing them in my sleep). So do they have my laptop bugged, or did my Prof. Dr. dazzle them?
Whatever. Good chocolates.
Hannah Arendt
The Swedish church in Lund organizes movie nights in the movie theater across the street in order to attract young people to the church. Yesterday they watched "Hannah Arendt", and I managed to get free tickets to tag along, even though I don't really pass for 25 any more.
I was planning on seeing this film by Margarethe von Trotta anyway, so it was perfect - and shown in German, English, and Hebrew with Swedish subtitles in a very comfy, oldish theater. Ooooh, I didn't realize that Axel Milberg, my second-favorite Tatort-Kommissar (Jan Leifers is, of course, in first place) would be playing such a major role!
Hannah Arendt is a German philosopher who escaped Europe and is teaching in New York when the Eichmann Trials begin in Israel. Eichmann was kidnapped in South America and brought to Israel to be put on trial. Arendt is sent by the New Yorker to report on the trial. The film uses real footage of Eichmann and of people testifying. Eichmann is not a monster, but just a guy doing his job. A terrible job it is, getting rid of the Jews, but for him it's just a job to be done.
Arendt, who had studied with (and loved) Heidegger, spends a lot of time thinking about thinking - and about what it means to be evil. Her report for the New Yorker is not what they expected, as she portrays him as he is, just a cog in the system. And she points out that there were Jewish leaders who collaborated with the Nazis - they, too, are to blame. An uproar ensues with people who did not actually read her article threatening her and sending hate mail, calling her anti-Jewish and a whore, the precursor to today's shitstorms.
She defends herself in a brilliant lecture, losing her Jewish friend Hans Jonas, who is not able to accept her position as he is 100 % pro Zionist.
The characters of Arendt and her partner Heinrich Blücher are wonderfully played. I feel so comfortable looking at their apartment and can really feel the depth of their characters. Irritating was the constant smoking, although that may actually have been the case at that time that professors smoked in the lecture. Must have been hard on the smokers in the audience, seeing everyone up on the screen being allowed to smoke. Although they could smoke on the way over to the church for coffee and cookies and talking after the film.
I ordered two books of Arendts today, I really think I need to know more about her and her work. And the film was great - go see it, if you have a chance.
at 23:48 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: film Germany
The Patdown
I took public transit all the way back to Germany - it actually worked! Metro-North train down to Grand Central Station, out on 42nd Street and up across from Starbucks was the NY airport shuttle service. The busses looked very old, but $16 was better than $45 + tolls for a taxi. I only waited 10 minutes before a rickety bus drew up with a very cheerful driver. He loaded our suitcases in the back, and we got on. Despite the looks of the bus, every seat had an electrical outlet (!) and there was free Wi-Fi on the bus.
Okay, they saved on shock absorbers, and our driver drove at breakneck speed, but we were at JFK in just over 30 minutes. It was early and there was no line, so I got my suitcase checked in in no time and headed off to security.
I removed all my stuff - coat, vest, things in pocket, money belt, laptop, etc. and headed for the metal detector. Except they had just determined that I was one of the lucky ones to go into the full body scanner (called "naked scanner" in German). I didn't realize this until they asked me to clasp my hands above my head. I asked if this was a full body scanner. The lady said "yes". I stated that I did not want to be irradiated. "It won't do you nothing," she said, "it's harmless."
Well, the problem is, there is NO research about whether or not this actually is harmless or not. Prominent scientists in the US have warned against using this technology, stating that the calculations of the irradiation are not calculated correctly. Whatever, I don't want pictures of the outline of my body floating around, as has happened in the US. So I insisted on an alternative.
With a mildly threatening "Well, Ma'am, you're going to have to have a pat-down" I was told to step aside. My things were now through the scanning system, and I did not feel very comfortable with my money belt on top of the pile of stuff, out of my reach.
I asked if I could go through the normal metal detector. No, I had to have a full putdown. "Of EVERYTHING," they noted. They really didn't want to have to do this. I preferred this to irradiation, however, although they kept telling me that the machine is "harmless". Finally one of the women who had been standing around pulled out some gloves and had me come with her.
I had to point out my stuff and someone else carted that off to the side. Did I want a private putdown? No, let's have the indignity in public. She launched into a long tirade, learned by heart and spoken in rapid-fire NYC accent. In particular, she wanted to know if I had "sensitive parts" that would react strongly to pressure. I said "We'll see, won't we?"
She put some stuff on her gloves (and it's all over my shirt, left a stain) and started in. She started on my head, looking under the hair. Then she traced down my back - not a very good massage, really - and grabbed into the waistband of my pants. She bitched at me for having a piece of paper (!) in my pocket, that had to be take out and she felt the pants again.
She then went down the front, and around my breasts - that was really quite violating, I felt. She then felt down my inner thighs and inside the front of my pants. She checked my socks (I hope they smelled) and told me to take my "items" and get going. So I slowly got dressed again and as I was doing so, I realized one bizarre thing: She didn't find the USB-stick necklace I was wearing. It was *between* my breasts, not underneath. I wonder if that would have made me a terrorist, if she had found it?
I think the US is freaking bizarre out of their minds with all of this security theater. It just costs money - isn't a simple metal detector good enough?
at 10:44 0 comments Links to this post
Blue Bottles
My Mom had a favorite painting of blue bottles that she picked up somewhere decades ago. It was the last of her personal belongings that she had with her in the hospice. My brother shipped it up to his place, and I set it on to Germany today - at a very dear price.
I started out at FedEx - they wanted $575 to ship it. I carried it on to the USPS post office and waited in line, listening to the surly postman behind the counter deal with all the people in line before me. He ran through his litany "do-you-need-stamps-stationary-or-a-passport-renawal-form-sir-will-that-be-all"? so fast, I didn't understand it until the third time.
No, the box was too big. He measured it twice. I pointed out that it had been mailed TO my brother, so it should be possible to mail it on. No, 108 inches was the MAXIMUM. I needed to go to UPS.
I went outside and sat on a bench, having no idea if there was a UPS in the area and no mobile phone with internet connection to find out. The lady after me came out, saw me sitting and offered to drive me to UPS. They were very nice there, but it was going to be $580. For $5 I was not going back to FedEx to send it.
When I got home, I googled. And yes, there is an oversize rate for packages. Mine was 125 inches, 130 was the max for this kind of parcel. So I wrote an email to USPS - they need to train their people in the rates they offer and in being friendly.
At that price, I could have reserved an additional seat on the plane for the picture...
Update: The USPS answered within 24 hours - for international packages, the postman was correct, 108 inches is the max. So he was just surly.
at 21:54 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: rant
And now for something completely different...
I was speaking with a brother about a funny Monty Python sketch and we dug around on the fancy TV with an Internet connection and found it on YouTube. We played it, dissolved in laughter, and the princesses laughed with us. At the end they asked for more. We showed them more. They asked for even more, and their dad purchased a whole season worth of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
They spent all weekend watching. It was gorgeous weather outside, I finally managed to convince 2 out of the 3 to take a walk with me. And how did they walk? Silly walks, just like Monty Python, repeating bits and pieces of the sketches.
I'm afraid we got them infected. I suppose my brother will have to buy the other three seasons as well. There are worse things on the tube.
at 04:00 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: family, Princesses
The Memorial Service
I first thought I had landed in the wrong place. After a very agreeable transatlantic flight with Air Berlin (including good-tasting meals!) we landed early at JFK, despite leaving about half an hour late. JFK - oh my, I have traumatic memories of long waits here and surly inspectors. We were greeted by smiling (!), courteous people showing us which line to get in. The inspectors were also welcoming, friendly, and efficient, actually joking with people in line before me. When my inspector tried a joke with me and I noted I was here for a funeral, he immediately became solemn and offered his condolences. I proceeded to Customs and again there was just a short line and an efficient inspector.
I was outside the door at the time that was scheduled for landing.
Wow! My brother was waiting and we sat in the snarled New York rush hour while chatting about work, on our way to pick up our other sibling. Expensive, gas-guzzling SUVs, limos, and functioning junk heaps, all honking and cutting lanes along a decrepit highway, accompanied us. But luck was with us, and we made it back home in time for the first concert of a niece who is learning to play the viola.
This morning we had a memorial service at my brother's church. We were sitting around the gas fire relaxing when the rector came in, sat down and asked: When are the ashes to be coming? It was 20 minutes before the service was to begin, and since we had already had one service without ashes we didn't really want to have another one. My brother sat up in his chair with a start. "I telephoned with the funeral home on Monday and they asked if I wanted the ashes delivered to the church right away and I said yes!".
Okay, at least the ashes are in town and not in the clutches of the US Postal Office. The rector tells us to be calm and goes to call. He returns, saying that he's glad it's not his fault, and that the ashes will be here promptly. And indeed, we were able to start the memorial service only a few minutes after the appointed time.
We had traditional readings, and then we began the family remembrances. We read a letter from her sister and then I spoke about her life. She had a master's in mathematics and taught math, computer science, and physical education. She was fascinated with tesselations. She was born in Canada, living in many states as she followed my engineer father around. She loved to sew, to make things, to shop, to do jigsaw puzzles, and to swim. Alzheimer's started eating at her brain in 2000, she had to be admitted to a memory care unit in 2007.
My middle brother played one of Bach's Goldberg Variations and then improvised. It was fascinating following him down the emotional strands he was weaving. It was somehow quite fitting, and very special to hear this music played only once, for this special occasion. My younger brother then spoke, as did two of his children, before we continued will all three of the girls participating in the prayers.
After the ceremony the ashes were stored in a special niche under the altar. My younger brother will drive them out to Pennsylvania this summer to bury them next to our father's ashes.
It was good to have come together as a family to celebrate our mother's life, no matter what issues we might still have had with her. It is time to move on.
at 00:46 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: family
Travel to the US
Geez. What a lot of work! I booked my flight last night to the US, and spent hours doing so. I first looked around for cheap flights -- despite the rules on them presenting the final costs I was constantly getting great deals that then quickly rose in price. I also wanted to have a fork, as I am giving a talk in a city near a hub the day before I leave, so I thought I could save some travel time.
Air Berlin won't let you book a fork on their home page, and booking each part individually makes it much more expensive. opodo had a good deal on a fork, so I emailed the data to the States to see if I could be met at the airport. A few hours later that was okay, except that now the price had increased by 100 €.
I flushed the cookies. Tried another browser. I probably should have used the VPN to get a new IP address, but I was tired and wanted to get done. So I just booked the flight to and from the hub with Air Berlin (for the same price) and will have to take a train back home. Will only be a little longer, as I would have had to cool my heels for 3 hours in the hub, anyway. And the train is cheaper than 100 €.
At the end of all this (and having to pay a stiff fee for paying by credit card) I was then reminded to deal with the Visa Waiver program. And it turns out, my last application has now expired. Great.
They want all sorts of information I don't normally give out online. And then I have to pay $14 entrance fee, just like I was going to the zoo. Or to enter the DDR ("Zwangsumtausch"). Oh, they inform me that many other countries charge entrance fees as well. I don't care. It doesn't make me want to visit a country that makes it clear that it doesn't really want me and will only let me in if I pay with data and cash.
at 11:20 0 comments Links to this post
Say Hi to Daddy, Mom
Mom has suffered from Alzheimer's for many, many years. I last visited with her three years ago when I was helping Daddy move into smaller quarters. He died last December, having still visited her daily until he was confined to bed. She didn't know him even, but had enjoyed his company. She seemed to miss him, and was constantly on the move, looking for him perhaps.
She had been doing poorly, had infections and fell a few times. About a week ago she came down with pneumonia, it was clear that it was only a matter of time until she passed away as well.
This afternoon, just before class, I saw a slew of emails in my inbox - with condolences for my middle brother. He had just posted her death on Facebook, I seem to get all comments every now and then for things he posts (he had mentioned me in the post). Even though her death was immanent, it was quite a shock to read it there. I took a deep breath, went into the classroom, and started to teach. My phone rang, and I did something I seldom do - I left the classroom to take the call. It was my other brother with the news.
What a strange feeling, even though one has been expecting it.
My mother was a mathematician, taught algebra and geometry and computer science and sports in high school. She tutored students on the side for extra money. She loved to sew, making many frilly dresses for me that I did not want to wear, as I wanted pants. We didn't see eye to eye on many issues, but all that is past now.
She was born in Canada to immigrant parents who moved on to the States. She went to the University of Pittsburgh and met Daddy while he was tutoring her in math. She passed, he failed and had to repeat the course ;) She followed him across the country, moving every few years for a new transportation job for him and starting over as a teacher.
I moved to Europe at 19, and she came over with Daddy a few times to visit. What a strange place Europe was: they didn't take credit cards, stores were closed on Sundays, they had strange food and some places like the GDR were threatening. But she was brave, even taking off one day and getting on a train to Poland, just to say she had been there. And oh, my, the BARGAINS they had at the market just across the boarder!
She loved a bargain - getting something for less than someone else had paid was one of the things that made her happiest. So I hope they have some good shopping in heaven, Mom, may you find a bargain a day! And say Hi to Daddy, he'll be happy you're back with him.
at 16:21 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: family
Office Hours
We are obliged to hold office hours so that we are available for our students to meet us for questions and information. So every Tuesday I hold office hours from 9.30 to 10.30. This covers part of a break (9.30-9.45), so people who need signatures are sure to be able to drop by. I publish the times on my door and my web site.
I try to arrive by 9.15. I hang up my coat, make a cup of tea, water the plants. I dust my desk, collect up all the pens that got themselves strewn in the course of the week. I file papers, sort through administrivia, sign certificates. In general, no students come. Sometimes I get a telephone call, and today I even had a Master's student drop by to chat about her research topic. I generally hang out until lunch time, as there is a lot of administrative things to be seen to.
The moment I have my coat on and lock the door, people dash up. "Could I have your signature quick?" On the way over to lunch "Do you have time for a question?" After class I have six emails requesting information, two want me to print out something for them, sign it, put it in an envelope and walk down to the mail dropoff on the second floor. No, I don't have a secretary.
Office hours are times when I promise to be there for the students, but it doesn't fit their work schedules, it seems. So why do we keep up the pretense? Okay, my desk gets sorted out once a week. That's good.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Dancing With Shadows
Dance with the Shadows in this beautifully stylized platforming puzzler! Open the book to immerse yourself in the world of ancient thieves! Overcome obstacles and dangers, unlock doors through complex codes and make your way through each chapter in order to steal the valuable goods and prove your thieving skills!
Use the arrow keys to run and jump in order to avoid the dangers and unlock the keys.


text:
Hi! My name is Becca von Zweck and I'm a 21 year old lover of Young Adult books. Here are some facts about me:
- I live in Southern California.
- I've visited over 20 countries.
- I'm a vegetarian.
- I absolutely love animals, especially wild cats, and I know a ton of random facts about them. I'd love to somehow work with conservationists to keep endangered species from dying out.
- I'm a hopeless romantic, so I'll read pretty much any genre within the YA universe if it contains at least a little romance.
- I love love love comics, graphic novels and video games.
- I love music and concerts.
- I may be just a liiiiitle bit obsessed with Netflix, and TV shows in general. It's just another form of story telling, right?
- I'm a very passionate feminist and this blog, besides being a place where I can review and talk about books, will also be a platform on which I can express my opinions on social and political issues.
- I aspire to be a YA author and possibly comic book writer someday.
Thank you all so much for following my blog and reading my posts! I hope I can get to know some of you as well.


text:
How International News Headlines Affect Your Plans to Run a Business in Russia
Read news about business formation in Russia.
- Page 1
Dutch Client Receives 100% Russian Subsidiary The Russian business formation attorneys at Jus Privatum were able to help their Dutch client establish 100% Russian subsidiary.
Set Up Russian LLC For Lifestyle Services Our business formation attorneys have assisted with setting up of a Russian limited liability company that provides lifestyle services to individuals & businesses.
Jus Privatum has established a 100% subsidiary of the Luxembourg entity in Russia. The company provides compact, chemicals-free, low energy water and wastewater systems.


text:
IARNRÓD Éireann is expected to seek permission to close all rail services between Limerick and Ballybrophy in the near future because of falling passengers numbers on the route.
The line, which includes a commuter Limerick-Nenagh service, is widely seen as the least-used in the rail network. Passenger numbers using rail services between Ballybrophy and Limerick are believed to have fallen further following the opening of the full stretch of the M7 motorway between Dublin and Limerick — a development which has made commuting times between the two destinations quicker by car in most instances.
According to Iarnród Éireann, a total of 14,000 people travelled on the line between January 1 and September 11 last year — a daily average of just 55 passengers.
Under existing rules, Iarnród Éireann requires the approval of the National Transport Authority (NTA) for the closure of any services. Although the NTA has not received any proposal to date from Iarnród Éireann to close the Limerick-Ballybrophy route, the Irish Examiner understands the company, in the past year notified Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, that it is considering the closure of some lightly used rail lines.
A spokesperson for Mr Varadkar, said he was aware that Iarnród Éireann was looking at its business in the context of constrained finances and the need to generate further efficiencies. He has asked the company to draft a plan on how to achieve greater savings.
"He has made it quite clear that Iarnród Éireann must drive cost efficiencies as a priority before considering any change in the level of services or changes to the fare structure." The spokesperson added Iarnród Éireann had not yet submitted such a plan.
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved


text: January 12, 2015 at 12:33 PM CES: The PC comeback begins? Posted by Brier Dudley LAS VEGAS — Now that the drones are nestled back in their Styrofoam nests and the enormous TVs are sailing back to Asia, it's time to reflect on what emerged from this year's Consumer Electronics Show. HP Sprout PCs on display at Intel's CES booth. More Comments | Topics: CES2015, Dell, gadgets and products


text:
Alternative wedding photography
So I hear you're getting married. That's rad!
Candid & documentary style photography
I like to document weddings in a candid fashion, capturing the day as it unfolds. I'm all about getting those unplanned but oh-so-precious moments, like that impromptu high five session with your bridesmaids, the hug with your dad or the hand-stand on the dance floor (true story!).
I promise not to put you in weird poses or stage weird scenes. I want my images to reflect real emotions and real memories – not faked smiles. This means that I might make a really bad joke or two, and they may or may not be puns.
I try to make it fun, easy and relaxed. Because in the end it's your wedding day and it should be a blast, and that includes the photography!
My wedding photography packages
I have three different packages depending on how long you need me, ranging from a short stint of five hours, up 11 hours which lasts from morning till night.
The number of photos differs between package length, but they all include the following
- Professional editing of all the photos
- 5 sneak peek photos (edited, of course!) within 24 hours of the end of the wedding
- All photos in a password protected online gallery
- Internet-ready and print-ready versions of all the photos on a USB
I do of course offer a range of different albums and print options too, should you be interested in that.
Want to know more?
I'd love to meet you and your spouse-to-be for a (non-commital!) coffee (or over brunch? I absolutely love brunch!) and hear all about your plans for your wedding! Send me an email to email@example.com or give me a call at 0467 985 758 – I can't wait to hear a little bit about your love story.
Talk soon! x
This is me!
Around four years ago my husband and I decided we were done with cold and dark Sweden. Within a few months, we set off on an adventure. We didn't come straight to Australia however – we took the scenic route, which included a year and a half in Ghana, before settling in Melbourne. We now live in a massive house in Carlton with two close friends, an olive tree and a balcony. Hopefully there will be a dog there soon too.
I've always called myself creative. Before throwing myself head first into professional photography I worked in marketing and as a designer. Then, around six years ago I got my first DSLR. It wasn't long until I was completely hooked. That little camera followed me everywhere I went, and to this day I almost always carry a camera with me. Without one I feel naked, and I've learnt that even the most unremarkable outing might hold in itself a magical moment, one that needs to be captured. Every outing (or inning) is an adventure and a story that I want to tell.
High fives from married couples
Thank you for everything that you have done for us on our wedding day, Stina. You are an amazing person and and even more amazingly talented photographer. You captured our day perfectly on camera and I am able to relive the story of my wedding day every time I look at the photos! You were wonderful to work with, extremely organised and highly attentive to details throughout the whole journey of our wedding planning.Thank you so much for everything you have done and we would highly recommend you to anyone who wants beautifully captured moments for their special occasion!
– Phuong & Nguyen
Stina produced the most beautiful photos of our wedding. From the very beginning, she listened carefully to our needs and requirements, she made sure she captured every important moment and detail to us that day. You barely see her, barely feel her presence, she took photos of us and our guests as we were all living this day, rendering the most natural photos. She was recommended to us by a good friend, we shall do the same and recommend her.
– Alex & Ezzi
Stina was amazing on the day, professional and fun and has captured everything we were hoping for on the day & more. She isn't a typical wedding photographer and we couldn't have been happier with all our pictures!
– Holly & Evan
Wanna see more? Here you go!
PS. You can also check out my wedding packages here, and some of my previous wedding work in my portfolio.


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Offices. Newcastle Edinburgh Leeds Leicester London Luton Stafford Doha - Qatar
Email. email@example.com


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Boys of the Fort/19
It was after midnight when the camp settled down to rest. Fetter had not returned, and Matt Gilroy was much worried in consequence. Yet he was tired out, having lost a good portion of the night previous in traveling, and he lay down with the others.
The guards at the entrance to the cave had been changed. Those now there were two young men, recruits to the desperadoes organization.
Inside of the cave Captain Moore, Joe, and Darry, having untied each other's bonds, held a long consultation, the upshot of which was that they intended to escape if the deed could be accomplished.
"There is no use in telling you that we will run a big risk," said the captain. "But as for myself, these rascals are plotting against Colonel Fairfield and the soldiers at the fort, and I feel it my duty to do my best toward getting away and warning my commander."
"Whatever you do, Will, I will back you up, so far as I am able," was his brother's answer.
"And I will back you up, too," came from Darry. "But we must be cautious, for these desperadoes will not hesitate to shoot, and shoot to kill." And the boy shivered in spite of himself, for no matter how brave a person may be he seldom cares to run the risk of losing his life.
The prisoners had been ordered to keep to the back of the cave, but after all but the guards had retired Captain Moore made bold enough to walk carefully to the mouth of the place.
"Hi, you want to keep back there," growled one of the guards, promptly raising his rifle.
"Don't be hard on us," pleaded the captain. "Let me get a little fresh air. It's vile in the back of the cave."
"Orders were to keep you out of sight," growled the second guard.
"All right, I'll go back as soon as I've cleaned out my lungs."
While the captain was speaking he was peering around sharply, trying to locate the other desperadoes and ascertain what the chances of escape really were.
As he gazed first to one side and then the other, he caught sight of a hand waving in the air. A second later he made out the head and shoulders of old Benson, as the scout rose to his feet behind some brushwood.
The thought that the scout was at hand to assist them cheered the young officer wonderfully, and he drew a deep breath of satisfaction.
"Are you going back soon?" growled one of the guards.
"Yes," answered the captain. "But I say," he went on, "why can't we come to terms?"
"Don't want to make any terms with you," growled the other guard.
"It might be better for you to do so."
"We know our own business best, captain. You just go back as you was ordered to do. If you don't—"
"I don't feel safe in the cave, men, to tell the truth. What is that pounding overhead?"
"Pounding overhead?"
"Don't know of any pounding. Do you, Ike?"
"Nary a bit," replied the other guard.
By this time Joe and Darry were just behind the young officer.
"Watch out," whispered Captain Moore. "Old Benson is outside, in the bushes on the left."
"Good for him!" whispered Joe joyfully.
"What are you talking about?" demanded one of the guards.
"I want to know about that pounding overhead," said Captain Moore. "I don't want the roof to cave in on us."
He spoke so decidedly that both of the guards were deceived.
"Nobody is up there," said one of the two. "It must be some wild animal."
"Can't one of you go up and look?" asked the young officer.
"You want the chance to get away," was the suspicious answer.
"How can we get away, when we are unarmed and you have that rifle," went on the captain, speaking loudly, for old Benson's benefit. "It won't take you a minute to look."
The men, however, refused to budge.
"We'll stay right here," said one, and the other nodded affirmatively.
In the meantime old Benson had crawled closer, until he was directly behind the pair.
Now of a sudden he leaped between them, and as quick as a flash caught their rifles and twisted the weapons from their grasp.
As the old scout did this, the young captain also leaped in, followed by Joe and Darry.
The guards struggled, but with four against them could do little or nothing. One, however, had a powerful pair of lungs, and before he could be stopped, set up a loud cry of alarm.
"Come with me!" cried old Benson. "Be quick, or it will be too late!"
He led the way to the wood where the horses were tethered, and the captain, Joe, and Darry came close behind him.
Hardly had they gotten away from the guards when the whole camp was in alarm.
"What's the trouble?" demanded Matt Gilroy, leaping to his feet and catching up his rifle.
"The prisoners have escaped!" answered one of the guards. "We were attacked by some men from behind. There they go!"
"Stop!" roared the leader of the desperadoes, and raised his rifle. But before he could take aim our friends were behind the shelter of the trees.
It took but a few seconds to loosen the horses, and as the captain and the two boys had long since relieved themselves of their bonds they were soon in the saddle and following the old scout, who seemed to know the way perfectly, despite the darkness.
"It was lucky you came up, Benson!" cried Joe, as they dashed along.
"Wait, we are not yet out of this trouble," answered Benson. "Hark! they are following!"
He was right. Gilroy and several of his men had rushed to their horses, and were now coming along the forest trail at a good rate of speed.
But their horses were no better than the animals our friends rode, so the desperadoes did not succeed in cutting down the distance between the two parties, and at last gave up the chase.
"It has been a most stirring adventure from start to finish," said Captain Moore after each had told his story. "And it brings to an end this outing. I must now get to the fort without delay."
"And I am perfectly willing to go along," said Darry. "There is no fun in hunting in a country where the desperadoes are so thick."
"This will open Colonel Fairfield's eyes," went on the young officer. "I shouldn't be surprised if he organized another expedition against Gilroy's gang and didn't let up on them until they were all either in prison or shot down."
"It's what they deserve," came from old Benson. "I'll go on such a hunt with pleasure."
Our friends continued in the saddle all night and until ten o'clock the next morning. Then, tired and hot, they went into camp by a cooling stream. Here they went fishing, and soon caught enough fish for dinner, after which they took a nap lasting several hours.
"And now for the fort!" cried Captain Moore; "and the sooner we get there the better."
The nap had done the boys a world of good, and as they rode along their spirits rose so high that Darry proposed a race. Joe was willing, and away they went, along the well-defined trail, before either the young officer or the old scout could stop them.
"They are full of life," said Joe's brother. "Let them go. We'll make the fort to-night, even if they do tire the horses a bit."
"It's all right if they don't get into trouble," answered Benson.
On and on went the two lads, down something of a slope and then along a level stretch. The bushes grew thick upon both sides, and here and there were numerous wild flowers. At last they reached a glade rich with green grass.
Joe was slightly ahead when he came to a sudden halt.
"Back, Darry!" he cried. "Get back behind the bushes."
"What's up?" queried his cousin, as he brought his steed to a standstill.
"Buffaloes! Where?"
"Right around the cliff on our right. See, they are coming this way! Here's luck."
Joe was right; they had come most unexpectedly upon a herd of seven buffaloes. The shaggy beasts were all large and powerful-looking. They were not in the least alarmed, and came toward the boys at a slow but steady walk.


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Enjoy your summer holidays without gaining weight
Holidays in all-inclusive hotels, visits to restaurants, parties and invitations can turn out to be real challenges – particulary if you want to lose weight. We provide you with tips and tricks on how to lose weight even during your holidays, so that you do not come home with "additional weight". Find out, too, how to easily deal with invitations and visits to restaurants.
General tips
If you know that you are invited to a party or a dinner in a restaurant on the same day, make a plan about what and how much you want to eat. Next, plan your meals throughout the day. So, if you plan to have dinner at a restaurant in the evening, just eat two smaller dishes during the day. But do not skip a meal! If you exercise before or after the dinner, you are allowed to eat even more. Because when you do sports, more calories are burned.
Another easy and helpful tip is this one: use a smaller plate. If you chose a small plate instead of a normal plate for your lunch, the portion seems to be much larger. You can apply this trick not only at home but also at parties and at a hotel if there is a buffet. There you often can chose between small and large plates for the first and second course. So, next time use a small plate for the main dish!
Before you start eating, you should drink a large glass of water. When doing so, the feeling of satiety will occur only after a short time, whereby you safe some calories each meal.
Very often buffets are offered in hotels and at parties. This is boon and bane at the same time. On the one hand the wish to taste all delicious dishes increases, on the other hand you can see which dishes you can eat without having a bad conscience. Salad and non-fried vegetables are such dishes. In addition, you should not go more than once to the buffet – one portion is enough! For if you eat at home, you usually prepare just one portion.
And finally: Be careful with drinks! Many drinks are real calorie bombs – even juices. You should drink them only rarely as they contain a many calories due to the large of amount of natural sugar. Cola and other sugary drinks as well as alcoholic should not be drunken at all. They contain a lot of calories – one glass often replaces a whole meal. Alternatives low in calories are water (without any flavour enhancers) and unsweetened tea. If you think mineral water is too boring, just add a few drops of lemon or orange juice and mint leaves or ginger.
What to do when visiting a restaurant or staying at a hotel
You cannot enjoy your dinner at a restaurant, because you fear to gain weight afterwards? With these tips this will not happen.
Before ordering, ask the waiter which dishes low in calories or fat are. Also ask for a meal preparation without additional butter or cream. For animal fat is consumed too often, although it is not essential for the body. Quite the contrary, animal fat is often responsible for overweight and cardiovascular diseases. For this reason rather choose oil and vinegar instead of a yoghurt dressing for your salad. Have the dressing severed separately so that you can regulate the amount of dressing.
Many people who diet, think that they are not allowed to eat sweets at all. We slightly want to modify this point of view. For if you do not eat any sweets during a diet, the famous "yo-yo effect" is more likely to occur. After dieting people eat sweets again and the amount of consumed calories increases sharply. The body which was used to a minimum of calories, wants to store all the energy in form of fat for harder times. For this reason many gain a lot of weight after a diet and some even weigh more than at the beginning of their diet. That is why we recommend not to reduce the amount of calories that drastically and to eat sweets and desserts in restaurants as well. Of course you should not eat too many sweets – the right amount of sweets is important! So, for dessert chose fruits or share your dessert with another person. In this way you safe calories without giving up your sweets.
How to deal with invitations and parties
An invitation is often a problem for those who are on a diet, because they do not want to be unfriendly and as their mothers probably often told them: "You'll eat what you're given!" So, just tell the host that you are dieting and ask them which dishes low in calories are. If you feel too uncomfortable asking these question, offer in advance to bring a dish to the party. In this way you can chose the meal preparation and you have an alternative which is low in calories and which you can eat without a bad conscience.


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Marcy Open Parent/Site Council Meeting Minutes
May 8, 2012
Media Center
In Attendance: Barb Reiter, Jean Dudley, Sara Dotty, Krista Eduarte, Holly Hatch-Surisook, Elizabeth Hawley, Bridget, Melanie Townsend, Rosemary Schindeldecker, Lisa Hondros, Jenee Nederloe, Scott Throsteson, Garrett Petrie, Shannon Williams, Dan, Tem Warren, DeWayne Townsend, Anne Hoglund, Jacqueline Dekker-Travis, Sidney, Marvin, Laura, Nicole, Zib
Approval of Agenda: Approved
Approval of Minutes from April 10, 2012 Meeting: Approved
Committee Reports: MAP report from Laura, last months GALA was an amazing event. The Minnesota Monthly magazine was photographing the event and the total raised so far is about $48,000. Money is still coming in as folks pick up their artwork. There were about 500 people registered to attend and about 570 folks were there. A concern was raised that some past Marcy families have been dropped off the mailing list and should be included since they are past contributors.
Principal's Report: All is well and things are busy. Testing is going well, we have MAP math and reading and MCA testing in Reading, Math, and Science. The district is working to align our curriculum and teaching to the state standards. We were wondering how the new quarterly assessments in each grade level, in each subject area would impact us as a multi-age open school. Donna was able to get Michael Thomas and Ken Simmon out to the building to hear our concerns and get us answers. They were able to go back to the Chief Academic Officer, Emily Putz and they decided they want to support magnet schools and our multiage teaching. They are supporting us and will make sure that our students are assessed appropriately each quarter. For next year, we are looking at our grade configurations. We have 2 full-time K and 1 1/2 time K we currently have 108 students invited to our school for 78 spots. We also have 30 more students added to our 5/6 team. Last year 40% of invited K students did not end up coming to Marcy. We did classroom classification on May 7th to get our classrooms ready for next year. We are going to spend time at the beginning of the year to make sure classrooms are balanced and then we will send out classroom assignments to families. We are going from 7 classrooms in 1/2 to 6 and 3/4 is going from 4 teachers to 6. Supply lists will be posted on the website to help families out with supply information, prior to handing out room assignments. Information will be shared in Parent's Press for families. We need to make sure that we are thinking about the Marcy Open School community as a whole. Parents of second graders have been informed about Talent Development of Advanced Learners. All second graders were given a non-verbal assessment to identify advanced learners at Marcy. Families of qualifying students will be receiving a letter. Students will not be pulled out but staff will be trained on implementation strategies and students will be clustered in two classrooms on the 3/4 team. They will be clustered for math in the beginning, for third grade. There are twenty-two 2nd graders who have been identified as Advanced Learners via the Talent Development assessments and qualification criteria. Questions can be directed to Melanie Crawford.
New Business
Introduction of Zib Hinz, newest member of the Site Council representing our Community Partner First Congregational Church of MN. The Marcy Girl Scouts currently use the space for their meetings and the musical cast paper is held at the church also. The church was interested and working with us but wanted to know what would be their specific role. They are interested in working with our school as we partner with Target for Food for Minds monthly food give away. They are willing to help with these events, arrange for rides for families, help carry out groceries, etc.
Zib stopped by at the end of our meeting to say that the church is really excited to have this partnership in a more formal way. Eve Parker has spent years working with the church and the school to form various partnerships for many years. They are looking forward to working with us on this partnership.
Managing Diabetes at Marcy - We have many students and some staff who are diabetic and what this means for us. Those who are affected by this disease can have lows that are very dangerous. Students who go to low can lose consciences and will need a shot of glucose to recover. You need to call 911 but also make sure you have an injected the GlucaGen. The concern is that we only have a part-time health assistant. There are still many questions about who can do what? Donna will find out more information and find out about trainings for staff. It was suggested that we train someone on each floor to be a point of contact. We need to make sure that teachers, volunteers, staff, families and students are aware of conditions that exist. It might be great to have some books in the library on diabetes to have to share with students.
Incorporating Movement into School Day - article was shared about the importance of movement for students during the school day. We currently have 40 minutes for lunch and recess for our 1-6 students and 60 minutes for K with 30 minutes for 7th and 8th. Next year we are planning on having 30 minutes for lunch and 30 minutes for recess for students in grades K-6. Some schools do "standing classrooms" in middle school. This helps students burn more calories and has other benefits for staff. We do currently utilize exercise/stability balls in some classroom to help with movement. It was also brought up that recess might be a bit more structured with teachers running events during recess. What happened to our Active Recess materials? Donna is working with the park board to get the sand out of the playground area to another material to help with building cleanliness.
Parent Volunteers are needed from our area for Help Update MPs Wellness Policy. If you were able to help with this it would be great. There are 4 meetings happening starting now until September. Please contact Nan Miller at 612-668.0384 or email@example.com
Jackie Dekker-Travis - The Labyrinth project received it grant and the project will break ground this summer. This will be an ongoing fundraiser.
Open Teacher of the Year - at the family dinner families were asked to write thank you letters to teachers for open teaching. Shannon is asking Parent Council for $100.00 for a prize for the Open Teacher of the Year.
Requests for funds:
Shannon - $100.00 for a prize for the Open Teacher of the Year this year. The committee approved this expenditure. All parents are welcome to be a member of this committee. A notice will be placed in Parent's Press to welcome all interested in attending.
Diane S. - $350.00 for 1/2 the cost of a new popcorn machine. We use this machine for our meetings, ALC, staff functions. The staff will raise the other half for the machine. The machine costs about $750.00. The machine is on its last leg. The committee voted to support this effort and will have $350.00 at the ready if the machine doesn't make it.
Reflections and Planning for Next Year:
• It is great to be at the last meeting of the year and see so many people here.
• The joint meeting of parent council and site council has made us more productive and things are getting done.
• The tone feels better
• I don't dread coming here
• We are making more progress and it seems we are getting things done
• We need to have the student voice here, can we have the student council president and vice president attend this meeting
• This has been a really positive experience this year. Thanks to teachers who have been here for 12+ hours today
• Teachers could share more about what we do on a daily basis. What do parents want to know more about? We could do more on Responsive Classroom, Focused Instruction, Data, etc. Whatever is of interest to parents?
415 4th Ave SE Minneapolis, MN 55414
Telephone: 612.668.1020 | Fax: 612.668.1030


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Spada Inc is an independent consulting practice specializing in corporate communications. Mary Trigiani is its principal consultant. Mary works with companies of all sizes and cultures, in a variety of industry verticals.
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S: Beautifu Tahiland and its Food
FC: Thailand
1: Thailand has a very warm climate and it is a great place for rice to be grown perfectly. It is a peninsula with hills, mountains, and coasts too.
2: Thailand has a variety of fruits so their smoothies are cheep and taste very yummy.
3: Thailand has its own Thai Tea. It tastes so good. Its turns range when you mix it with milk or half and half
4: Some of Thailand's main agricultural products are rice, corn, coconut, soybeans, sugarcane and tapioca.
6: Thailand is the world's 51st-largest country in terms of total area, with an area of approximately 513,000 km2 (198,000 sq mi), and is the 21st-most-populous country, with around 64 million people.The official language of Thailand is Thai, a Tai–Kadai language closely related to Lao, Shan in Burma, and numerous smaller languages spoken in an arc from Hainan and Yunnan south to the Chinese borderThe national religion is Theravada Buddhism. Thai Buddhism ranks amongst the highest in the world.
8: Thailand was the only Southeast Asian country that didn`t turned into a colony, unlike its neighbouring countries Laos, Cambodia and Burma. | I`ve read the history of Thailand and was just amazed by the fact that the country has been through 19 military coups from 1932-2006! That`s just chaos! | King Bhumibol, the current king of Thailand, has been the longest reigning current monarch worldwide.
9: The region known as Thailand has been inhabited by humans at least about 4,000 years ago. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, it was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, starting with the kingdom of Funan around the 1st century CE. | Thailand was known by the name, Siam until 1939.
10: Thais smile when they are happy, amused, embarrassed, uncertain, wrong, annoyed or furious. | When you consider that shaking hands, and kissing, are perhaps the easiest means of passing germs, the wai, is in fact a suitable greeting.
11: Clothing from the lower parts of the body should never be left anywhere in a high position. This applies particularly to socks and underwear, but also to shorts and skirts. This is the case even when washing and drying clothes. Thais have two clothes lines - a high one for most clothes and a low one for underwear and socks. | When eating, it is considered very rude to blow your nose or to lick you fingers. The right hand must be used to pick up food eaten with the fingers. | Revealing clothing, worn by either men or women, is a little disgusting to most Thais. Short shorts, low cut dresses and T-shirts and skimpy bathing suits come into this category. In temples, long trousers or skirts must be worn, and monks should on no account be touched in any way by women.
13: Thailand didn't have any food based holidays, but they do things differently than western countries. Western countries order their own single serving dish for themselves. In Thailand there is a big dish for everyone to eat! They do this to share and enjoy the meal together with one another. Thai like to be friendly with one another
14: Thai Chili Peppers (prik): Perhaps the most famous ingredient in Thai cuisine is the small fresh chili, known as prik kee noo, literally 'mouse dropping chili'. Actually it is not the spiciest chili pepper in the world, but if one is unaccustomed to eating spicy food, or is caught off guard, they can pack a mighty punch!
15: Fish Sauce (nam pla): The most essential cooking ingredient for Thai food is perhaps fish sauce. This is Thailand's equivalent to soy sauce or table salt. Uncooked it has an unpleasant smell, but it adds a subtle flavor, for which there is no substitute. Small anchovy fish are fermented and the resulting liquid is strained and bottled.
17: Thai dishes have so many different kinds of herbs and spices like cinammon, sesame seeds, nutmeg, cilantro, ginger, garlic, curry paste, tamarind, and much more!
18: Chicken Pad Thai
19: 8 oz. Thai rice noodles (or enough for 2 people), linguini-width, available at Asian/Chinese stores 1 to 1 1/2 cups raw chicken breast or thigh meat, sliced Marinade for Chicken: 1 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbsp. soy sauce 4 cloves garlic, minced optional: 1-2 fresh red chilies, minced 3 cups fresh bean sprouts 3 spring (green) onions, sliced 1/2 cup fresh coriander/cilantro 1/3 cup crushed or roughly chopped peanuts (or other nuts, such as cashews) 1/4 cup chicken stock 1/8 tsp. ground white pepper vegetable oil for stir-frying, and wedges of lime PAD THAI SAUCE: 3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water (look for tamarind at Asian/Chinese or Indian food stores) 2 Tbsp. fish sauce, + more to taste 1-3 tsp. chili sauce, or substitute 1/2 tsp. or more dried crushed chili or cayenne, to taste 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
21: Cold Thai Tea | 1 cup hot water 1 teaspoon milk 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon sweet condensed milk 1-2 tablespoons Thai tea
23: Bananas & Lychees in Sweet Coconut Milk | 1 large ripe banana, OR 2 small 8-10 fresh lychees, peeled (see below), OR canned lychees (drained) 1 can coconut milk (regular or "lite") 1/4 to 1/3 loose (not packed) cup brown sugar, depending on desired sweetness pinch of salt
25: 8-10 medium to large sea scallops (Serves 2 for a main entree, 4-8 as an appetizer), OR 20 bay scallops handful fresh coriander 1-2 whole star anise, plus more for garnish wedges of fresh lime or lemon (optional) 1/2 cup coconut milk RED CURRY PASTE: 1 shallot, OR 1/4 cup purple onion, chopped 1 thumb-size piece galangal, OR ginger, sliced 3 cloves garlic 1/8 tsp. white pepper, OR substitute black pepper 2 Tbsp. fish sauce (available at Asian stores) 2 tsp. chili powder 2 tsp. ground cumin 1 tsp. ground coriander 1 Tbsp. brown sugar 1-2 tsp. Thai chili sauce (or substitute 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper or crushed dried chili) 1 tsp. shrimp paste (available by the jar at Asian stores) 1/2 cup coconut milk | Thai Scallops
27: 3 chili peppers 5 sprigs cilantro 2 tablespoon fish sauce 3 kaffir lime leaves 1 lemongrass 1-2 limes 5 Mushrooms 1 cup shrimp 4 cups water 1 tablespoon Nam Prig Pow Optional | Tom Yum Goong
29: By: Krysti Streeter