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(The Oregonian) -- A 26-year-old Portland pimp has filed a $100 million lawsuit against Nike, claiming the shoe manufacturer is partially responsible for a brutal beating that helped net him a 100-year prison sentence.
Sirgiorgiro Clardy claims Nike should have placed a label in his Jordan shoes warning consumers that they could be used as a dangerous weapon. He was wearing a pair when he repeatedly stomped the face of a john who was trying to leave a Portland hotel without paying Clardy's prostitute in June 2012.
Jurors early in 2013 found him guilty of second-degree assault for using his Jordans -- a dangerous weapon -- to beat the john's face to a pulp. The man required stitches and plastic surgery on his nose.
The jury also found him guilty of robbing the john and beating the 18-year-old woman he forced to work as his prostitute. She was injured so badly that she bled from her ears.
Click here to read the rest of the article.


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Photos from The Streets at Southpoint
Richard Springs of A Captured Image Photography took these wonderful photos of the band and dancers at the Mint Julep Jazz Band performance at The Streets at Southpoint on June 8, 2013 – click here for the full set.
Posted on June 9, 2013, in Photos and tagged 1920's, 1930's, 1940's, A Captured Image, band, big band, Chapel Hill, dance, dancers, dancing, Durham, jazz, jazz band, mall, music, NC, North Carolina, photo, photography, Raleigh, Richard Springs, Southpoint, Streets at Southpoint, swing, swing band, wedding band. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a comment.

subset: commoncrawl


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Mixed cases
We love selecting wines for people and finding new favourites. If you're not sure exactly what you'd like, why not leave it to us to handpick you a delicious dozen? We can put together the following mixed cases for you. If you have any preferences or things you'd like to avoid, write them in the contact box when purchasing.
Interested in a regular delivery of wine to your door? We will be delighted to help, we have some very happy customers who get monthly or quarterly cases. We can do this with regular standing orders or take payment on delivery or over the phone. Shop by clicking below or contact us about a regular plan.
everyday mixed dozen £90
Celebration mixed dozen £99
(average £8.33 per bottle)
Cellars mixed dozen £120
(average £10 per bottle)
Connoisseur's mixed dozen £150
(average £12.50 per bottle)
Top shelf mixed dozen £200
(average £16.66 per bottle)
These cases are all available to buy by clicking on the link or by clicking on the 'mixed cases' tab under 'Buy wines' on the left of the page, Or by calling us on 01865 884405
If you have any preferences as to style or colour (for example, 'all red', 'include a couple of rose's' or 'no Chardonnay'), please mention it in the comments box or send us an email.


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- Home
- Government
- Boards & Commissions
- Arts Commission
- Ellensburg Arts
- Annual Art Events
Local Art Events and Organizations
Annual Art EventsIn addition to the First Friday Art Walk, Ellensburg plays host to many annual arts events; drawing locals and tourists to the city year around. The diversity of the events reflects the open culture of downtown Ellensburg. Paintings of cowboys are found alongside contemporary works from artists around the country.
Spirit of the West Cowboy Gathering
The Spirit of the West Cowboy Gathering's Board of Directors invites you to join in the celebration of traditional cowboy music, poetry, and art in Ellensburg, Washington.
Ellensburg National Art Show & Auction
The National Art Show & Auction in Ellensburg is an annual event, taking place on the third full weekend in May. With over 80 artists in attendance and over 100 pieces of original fine art to be auctioned throughout the weekend this is a must-see event for western art lovers.
(509) 962-2934
Gallery One Confab
A 2-day event focused on financial sustainability, networking, and inspiration for artists and communities in Central Washington(CWA).
(509) 925-2670
Jazz in the Valley
Jazz in the Valley Festival is a celebration of jazz for our community and our guests in Historic Downtown Ellensburg.
Paint Ellensburg
Gallery One's Paint Ellensburg event takes place in September each year. Artists are invited from across the region to donate works to our annual auction and dinner. Guests are invited to see all that Ellensburg has to offer for a weekend of art, complete with a walking tour.
(509) 925-2670
Buskers in the Burg
Sponsored by Ellensburg Downtown Association, vote for your favorite busker act and listen to the winners perform briefly on stage before kicking up your heels at an evening street dance.
Ellensburg Film Festival
The three-day festival is the first full weekend in October and is noted for its outstanding selection of critically acclaimed films, numerous screenings and venues, diverse cultural and artistic offerings, and a fun and relaxed atmosphere open to all.
(509) 962-6191


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It seems that no one lives in the elegant mansion on the hill...but then where's that creepy organ music coming from? Are the iron gates meant to keep people out...or some things in? Get ready to meet the 999 ghosts of the Haunted Mansion...but be warned, they're looking for the 1000th! The delightfully chilling Disney attraction comes to (after)life in an all-new story, penned by JOSHUA WILLAMSON with art by JORGE COELHO! Don't miss the next great Disney Kingdoms adventure, and the most spine-tingling experience you'll find this side of a Doom Buggy!
Rated T
The Haunted Mansion #1 is a great treat for fans of any age who enjoy spooky stories or the classic attraction. Read Full Review
It's clear family is an important aspect of this creepy and fun first issue. It's good for all ages with art that helps us dive into the magical nature of the haunted mansion. Read Full Review
Overall, I want to call "Haunted Mansion" #1 a pleasant surprise of a comic. Not because I wasn't expecting much, but because Williamson, Coelho and Beaulieu really pulled out all the stops to create a horror comic that could appeal to all ages while capturing the wonder and awe of the attraction itself. Centring the emotional connection to the story around a young boy who is way more interesting than Eddie Murphy was, we see a story that proves just what can be done with the Haunted Mansion concept. With an ending that tease many more scares to come, I'd say this is definitely a comic to keep an eye on if you have the guts to do so. Read Full Review
I hadn't check out a Disney Kingdoms comic, and I'm really glad I did, so much so I want to see what else I missed and actually looking forward to the next issue. Read Full Review
Overall, HAUNTED MANSION #1 is a strong debut for the series. There are times when the writing lends itself to the younger age bracket, explaining things that are happening in each panel, but that could be because it wasn't specifically written with people of my age in mind. However, this is a very minor quibble, as it's great to see more comics released for the all-ages market. Visually interesting and tons of fun, HAUNTED MANSION #1 is a spookily good time. Read Full Review
The Haunted Mansion #1 is now available, with special variant covers at Disney theme parks and Books-A-Million. Read Full Review
While the book has a few missteps here and there, they read more like compromises made to a parent company in hit key talking points. To the younger reader, these will be fun shout-outs, while older readers might lose the scene, but only for a moment. In the end, The Haunted Mansion is a book for hardcore fans of the attraction, and any lover of horror. Because no matter how twisted your horror tastes may have become, we fans of the macabre will always hold a place in our dark little hearts for this place and the 999 ghosts that unlive there. This book is a proud addition to any fan's collection. Read Full Review
I mistakenly gave the series a lot of expectations because I loved the movie. Alone, the first issue is pretty good, just not too original. For anyone who is into the supernatural and wants to read some horror without being afraid to go to sleep at night, this series is definitely for you. Read Full Review
"The Haunted Mansion" #1 is a delightful, all ages scary story that will appeal to the core Disney base. It's a fun book with plenty of emotional beats to keep you invested and the art and coloring is very strong. There's no knowledge of the theme part attraction needed to enjoy this story but a desire to enjoy the fantastical is. Read Full Review
The Haunted Mansion #1 is a fun, but safe, introduction to a new interpretation of the Disney classic. It gives the reader just enough to pique their interest, leaving plenty of mysteries for upcoming issues. Williamson and Coelho keep things clicking along, and have done a decent job of setting the foundation. It remains to be seen where future issues will grow, and what new corners of the Haunted Mansion will be investigated, but, at the very least, it will be worth looking into. Read Full Review
Let's not forget that we get to meet Madame Leota in the comic as she will guide Danny (and us the reader) through the haunted mansion and to saving his grandfather along with the other trapped souls. This may not be a comic for the average comic reader, but for kids or Disney fans, I would recommend they read it at least twice to see what hidden images or dialogue the creative team has included to give the attraction its full comic book conversion. This isn't the first time The Haunted Mansion was featured in a comic series of its own, but so far its really fun. Read Full Review
The second half of "The Haunted Mansion" #1 falls flat with too much wordy exposition and rushed pacing. Unfortunately, the tie-in elements are the weakest part of the storytelling. The story is all-ages appropriate, but doesn't add anything substantial or new to the media property yet. Read Full Review
The Haunted Mansion comic book is a great entry point for the story of the Haunted Mansion, and that spooky Disney ride- much better to introduce people to the idea than that awful Eddie Murphy movie. That would be just as bad as using Pluto Nash as a primer for sending your kid on Space Mountain. I love Williamson's writing, so I knew when he was on-board this project, I would at least be checking out the first issue, and after this issue, I already want to read more. He does a really good job to make us care about the characters of this book, with the turn in the first act one that really galvanizes the reader's attachment to Danny, and sets up his connection to the Haunted Mansion. In this first issue, we don't really get a lot of more
As a huge Disney fan, I was both extremely excited and a little worried about this book. While I enjoyed the first Disney Kingdom series, Seekers of the Weird, it wasn't necessarily the best opening run for the new Disney x Marvel line. I feel like everything they wanted to do with that series they have already done with Haunted Mansion #1. Better main character? Check. Better atmosphere? Check. Better writing? Check. This opening issue nailed the look and feel of the classic Disney attraction, and the dialogue was a lot stronger than I was expecting. I love how they took influences from the ride's scenes, but at the same time mixed in their own flair for this story. Danny is a good protagonist and I'm just DYING to see where his adventure more


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Youth Defence's annual Pro-Life Roadshow is a major national event, which reaches unparalleled levels of public engagement. Every summer our pro-life volunteers set off for towns and cities throughout Ireland with a succinct and powerful message: Saves Lives. Save the 8th. #savelives #savethe8th This year's Roadshow was from Wednesday 12th July to Saturday 22nd July.
I loved the roadshow! Sadly I was only able to do 3 places as I was working and I really wished I could of done more but those 3 days were brilliant! The first place I did was my hometown Cork, I was so happy to see tons of people with us all working together to save one thing we are all passionate about, the 8th.
It was so great to be the centre of town and to get pages upon pages of petitions signed, it was such a great feeling and the day after that in Waterford was even better, we had people come up and speak to us telling us their stories and congratulating us on the work we are doing,of course we got bad comments too but when you get so much positive feedback you forget the negative ones.
Another great thing about the roadshow is the people you meet from different places who travel along with you on the roadshow. We had so much fun and so many laughs and what topped it all of was seeing that we were all there for each other on the last day, our group divided into two groups to go to Portlaoise and Kilkenny. In Kilkenny, unfortunately, our signs were taken off us and we were all devastated until the Roadshow team from Portlaoise joined us and all of us came together to make something positive out of what happened and handed out tons of info to people and it turned out to be a great day.
I highly recommend doing the roadshow all of it or even a day! I will 200% do the whole roadshow next year as it was definitely a great experience overall!
My name is Róisín and I'm 18 years old. I live in Dublin, so I've had lots of opportunities to take part in pro-life work here. This roadshow, however, was the first time I had a chance to see the pro-life message being shared across Ireland – and it was an incredible experience! We travelled from the top to the bottom of Ireland, receiving warm welcomes in the biggest cities and towns of the country, and reaching unprecedented levels of public engagement.
I was very surprised by the amount of people who were happy to stop and engage with me on the issue of abortion. As a result of the media's one sided reporting it's often thought that the majority of people support a repeal of the 8th amendment, but in reality that is not the case.
There wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't approached by someone at our street outreach who talked to me about how the 8th amendment had positively impacted their lives and wanted to get more involved in the pro-life movement. We collected hundreds of petition signatures every day and gave out a huge amount of Pro-Life information. It was great to get the opportunity to witness people changing their minds about abortion and the 8th amendment.
I was really impressed by the amount of young volunteers from all different walks of life who were so willing to give up their free time in order to show the whole of Ireland all the merits of the 8th amendment. It was great to make so many new friends all of whom were united in our goal to save the 8th amendment.
We often had the chance to join some of the local Pro-Life teams during their weekly canvas after the street outreach. But we always had the opportunity to relax and socialise afterwards.
Once people realise that the 8th amendment is about the right to life of the unborn boy and girl I find that they are very supportive of it. Try asking them and see for yourself!
It's especially important that we all contribute to the Pro-Life cause at this pivotal time in our history. I encourage anyone who is the thinking about taking part in the roadshow to do so. You won't regret it!


text: Earning stratospheric style points, Goodell (Andiamo, Weasel!, p. 1130, etc.) portrays a pair of high-stepping feline dancers who'd drive Astaire and Rogers to the sidelines. It's love at first twirl when tiger-striped Red meets elegant Ginger at the titular "boogie-woogie juke joint." "They jitterbugged and cut a rug. / They did the waltz and samba. / Their cat-trot was exceptional, / Magnificent! ¡Caramba!" On they sweep, to wow audiences from Broadway to Vegas, on the silver screen, in Paris, Brazil, and Havana. In each setting, not only are they posed with joyful expressions and irresistible exuberance in mid-fling, but their clothes are magnficent: elegant tuxes or deceptively casual dress for him, splendid ruffles, liquescent silks, and luxurious furs for her. Paired to a toe-tapping rhyme from Appelt (Poems from Home Room, p.1214, etc.), this happily-ever-after terpsichorean triumph will leave readers of any age breathless. (Picture book. 7-9)


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Photo: Farm crop circle visible from Interstate 80 eastbound near Atlantic, Iowa
NPR has the transcript and audio of the debate.
Remark I think will resonate most with Independent voters: Romney: "Attacking me is not talking about an agenda for getting more trade and opening up more jobs in this country."
Winner of the debate: The Taliban. Arif Rafik and Long War Journal's Bill Roggio pounded home this point during their analysis of the Pakistan-Afghanistan part of the debate for John Batchelor -- as if anyone who closely follows the Afghan War needed any more pounding.
(The Rafik-Roggio discussion starts at the 10 minute mark on the flash player.)
Best wrap-up: ABC TV's Rick Klein (Mitt Romney keeps command and looks to the future) with these remarks, which I think are the consensus among seasoned political campaign analysts:
Both candidates seemed more intent on redoing the first debate, on domestic policy -- Romney surely because he was strong then, Obama because he wasn't.Yes. It's really hard to run on hope and change the second time around when many Americans can't find work and many with a job are barely living from paycheck to paycheck.
There's no going back, though, to a point where a single debate could change the trajectory of a campaign. Nothing happened tonight to change the race's direction -- and Romney walks away strong after playing on Obama's turf, competing for his job.
Romney has a proven record of turning around large and complex organizations that are flailing, and he has a proven record of breaking through political deadlocks to get the business of government done. That's what Americans need right now. What the debates did was assure voters that Romney knows how to act like a President and Commander-in-Chief and that he has a manner they can live with four years.
This just in: John Batchelor's take on the debate, from his blog:
Romney Peacenik
Spoke Mona Charen, Mary Kissel, Salena Zito, Lara Brown, David Drucker, Brett Arends, Bill Roggio, Arif Rafiq, John Fund, Gordon Chang, Reza Kahlili, Kori Schake, Gene Countrymen in re the final presidential debate and learned that the general opinion was the Mr. Romney presented a careful, measured, quiet, pacific demeanor in comparison to Mr. Obama's strident, accusatory, argumentative, sometimes slashing style.
Why did Mr. Obama choose to go on the offensive? An answer that is repeated elsewhere of weight is that Mr. Obama knows he is trailing in the polls and sinking in the Electoral College, and he knows to make up ground he must rock his opponent.
Neither candidate said anything new tonight; both repeated campaign lines and criticisms they had made of each other before. And yet Mr. Obama aimed at Mr. Romney as if he could knock him from the field with barbs and disdain.
Mr. Romney arrived with a strategy of passive aggression: he aimed to present himself as plausible and peaceable. The mistake he aimed to avoid was to appear or sound warlike in any fashion that would allow Mr. Obama to connect Romney to the Bush administration, 2001-2009. Romney not only achieved his modest aim -- Mitt Romney Peacenik -- but also he presented pieces of the economic vision for his candidacy -- twelve million jobs, reducing deficits to avoid becoming like Greece --that the president has not yet answered with the Obama second term vision.
Foreign policy does not change votes unless you make a foreign policy mistake that undermines credibility or suggests instability. Mr. Romney avoided mistakes and overstatements. Cleverly, Mr. Romney moved some of the conversation back to the domestic economy where he believes Mr. Obama is losing his mandate; however Mr. Romney chattered about the disappointment of the last four years in a sober, pensive, resigned way, not ever sounding accusatory to the president.
The evening displayed the magic of role reversal. I asked all my guests, "Who is the challenger?" and routinely they answered, "The president."
World turned upside down.


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Secrets to delivering ROI with responsive design
Responsive design is coming into its own, and that means learning lessons from the early adopters. Many brands have transitioned to a single site approach to manage its desktop, tablet, and smartphone experiences. Brands such as 1-800 CONTACTS, Seventh Generation, and Disney made the switch to responsive design because of the benefits of SEO, social linking, unified web teams, and the ability to enable omni-channel.
We have all heard these benefits before, but brands have still struggled in understanding how to effectively achieve them. After a couple years of responsive design implementations, we can tell you about the coveted secrets.
Users want the full site
Mobile experts have been saying the opposite of this for many years, but that's just it, it was many years ago. Today's consumer is different. According to a Pew Survey conducted in 2013, 21 percent of people use their mobile as their primary device. Don't assume you know what the user is looking for, or that mobile is on the go. Your mobile site should "feel" meaningfully similar to your desktop site and have the same level of content. It's simply a matter of prioritizing content and optimizing layout. Concern of more content creating a slower site is something to be considered, but our experience has shown that a well-done, full-featured site on a mobile device converts at a higher rate than a pared-down mDot site that is slightly faster.
Speed is critical to ROI
Set page load speed goals, such as getting the site to load in under four seconds on iPad. Experienced developers and designers will make the biggest impact to your project. There are a number of tools and work methodologies that will insure you are designing and developing for speed. Image optimization, lazy-loading, gzipping, and maximizing use of CSS over JavaScript when possible will all create a faster site.
Responsive design requires process change
The organization must adapt to mobile first design. Instead of focusing on pixels, focus on the percentage and the fluidity of the website. This means designers should be using tools like Axure instead of Photoshop for design prototypes. Force the content prioritization discussion with stakeholders. Ask yourself: If it doesn't belong on mobile, then does it really belong on your site at all? Many newly built sites are doing this well and creating a seamless user experience. See www.disney.com for a good example of a content heavy site that has effectively minimized where possible and in turn, improved the user experience.
Consider analytics and A/B testing strategies early
Get your web team involved in analytics and A/B testing for responsive design early. Responsive A/B Testing is harder than traditional testing, as you are testing variations on-top of variations. Ensure that your "breakpoints" and your A/B Testing tool match up -- they both need to track the same thing. The last thing you want to report against is something that no users are seeing or experiencing. Track device orientation -- don't assume that portrait and landscape users want the same experience. Test device specific behavior -- such as swipeable images and zoomable images vs standard web controls.
Balance time, resources, and budget
While this is an obvious philosophy, there are considerations unique to responsive design. The more breakpoints you have, the more initial build and ongoing maintenance costs you have. Start with phones: 768px and tablets: 768-992px and analyze your analytics to see where additional needs may lie. With responsive design, you are looking at lower costs than managing three separate sites for desktop, smartphone, and tablet -- but more than desktop alone. Let's be realistic -- efforts required to build and maintain a responsive site will be more than your desktop site. Each site update you make will require consideration and testing around how it affects your smartphone and tablet breakpoints. Where you will see the major benefit is a unified message and team delivering a superior cross-platform experience at a lower cost than addressing each device individually. We have seen about a 30 percent reduction in cross-platform efforts for brands previously managing a separate desktop and mDot site.
Collaboration is critical
Having your team working together is critical. This begins from the top down. Executive level approvers need to buy into approving three breakpoints simultaneously, and push this approach. Designers and developers need to work closely from step one. Developers have a critical role in making sure the design is optimized for speed because the often necessary use of JavaScript.
Responsive design delivers the next evolution in web development -- uniting the smartphone, mobile and tablet channels. The challenges that come with this holistic approach require change to our usual working habits. Sure, developers will love to put this skill under their belt, and designers will relish the challenge, but everyone needs to understand responsive and be ready to adjust accordingly in order to achieve the best responsive design experience possible.
Patrick Collins is the SVP of the customer experience group at Merkle Inc.
On Twitter? Follow iMedia Connection at @iMediaTweet.
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This is true. Nothing you say will deter me on this point. There is nothing sexier than the rhyme and meter of a sonnet, particularly when transposed to the modern day. I am about to make a point on writing in general and how you can take a little lesson from the sonnet when you feel all restricted about the structure many of us are forced to follow when writing, say, guest posts, or articles, or web copy chock full of keywords.
Before I do that, however, I must prove my point. To wit: three modern sonnets that are sexy as hell. None of them are Shakespeare. I figure you had enough of high school when you were in high school. Won't make you do that again, much as we do love Big Willie. Plus, I doubt any of you are writing in Old Elizabethan English, because if you were, I would have to skewer you for using creative spelling. I realize there wasn't a formal dictionary in Shakespeare's day, so I would not dream to correct the Bard himself. Or Milton, for that matter. If I see anyone who was born past 1933 appending extra 'e's to words whence they do not belong (yeah, that's right, I said whence) I will hurt them badly, and dance upon their grave here in blogland, under the heading "The Vanquished Terrorists of English."
Why 1933? First person who can tell me gets a pony.
Right. So. Modern Sonnets. I defy you not to get all hot and bothered by the time you've finished these.
This is for the afternoon we lay in the leaves
After it had been winter for half a year,
And I kissed you and unbuttoned your jeans
And touched you and made you smile, my dear.
And of all the good things that love means,
One of them is to touch you there
And make you smile, among the leaves,
And feel your wetness and your sweet short hair,
And kiss your breasts and put my tongue
Into the delirium between your soft pale thighs,
Because the winter has been much too long
And soon will come again, when this love dies.
I will hear sermons preached, and some of them be true,
But I will not regret that afternoon with you.
Yeah, you thought you'd be bored by now, didn't you? Suckers. I started you off with the easy one. Here's another one, by the good Kim Addonizio.
First Poem for You
I like to touch your tattoos in complete
darkness, when I can't see them. I'm sure of
where they are, know by heart the neat
lines of lightning pulsing just above
your nipple, can find, as if by instinct, the blue
swirls of water on your shoulder where a serpent
twists, facing a dragon. When I pull you
to me, taking you until we're spent
and quiet on the sheets, I love to kiss
the pictures in your skin. They'll last until
you're seared to ashes; whatever persists
or turns to pain between us, they will still
be there. Such permanence is terrifying.
So I touch them in the dark, but touch them, trying.
You and I both know I've already won this bet, but here's one more, not specifically about sex, just to bring home the point that sonnets are sexy regardless of subject matter.
The Desire Manuscripts
V. In the Mourning Fields
(The Aeneid, Book Six)
The world below is starless, stark and deep,
and while you lay beside me, my golden bough,
plunged in the shadowy marsh of sleep,
I read about the infernal realm, and how
a soldier walked forth in the House of Dis
while still alive, breaking an eternal law
by braving death's kingdom, a vast abyss,
the ground sunken in fog – eerie, treacherous –
guarded by a mad beast, three-throated Cerberus.
Tonight I read about us – foundering, hopeless –
in the Mourning Fields and the myrtle grove,
wandering on separate paths, lost in darkness.
It is written that we were consumed by love,
here on earth, a pitiless world above.
(Note to the authors of all these poems – I am not intending to disrespect your copyright laws, just sharing the love. If you want me to take 'em down, by all means, say the word. I linked people to Amazon for your books, though. Trying to increase the poetry readers in the world. Don't hate me.)
Now then.
What the hell do sonnets have to do with copywriting?
The English majors among you are just itching to get down to the comment box, where you are going to inform me that none of the above are technical sonnets, because they casually break some rules of strict meter. Hate to ruin your fun, but this is about to be my point, and I need it to prove to you that the sexiness of sonnets is relevant, so you're out of luck. Feel free to rant anyway, it's just that you're going to sound silly now. Sorry 'bout that.
The above sonnets continue to follow the basic rules of sonnets – fourteen lines, specific rhyme scheme, and more or less correct meter. The reason the poets get away with breaking some of the rules is because they are versed enough (heh, writing puns) in the rules of a sonnet to break them, gently, so that neither you nor I notice until we go back and start counting off syllables on our fingers. Which brings me to my first point.
You can break the rules if you know what the rules are.
In copywriting, there are basic rules. One of the obvious ones is: Use correct grammar. However, this rule can be broken, and not even the immense wrath of the Rogue will befall you, if you know what you are about when you use incorrect grammar. For example, I can say the following:
Sonnets bring with the sexy, dudes.
And none of you are going to freak out, though 'bringing with' is not a recognizable thing to do with sexy under anyone's formal rules of grammar. This is slang, and it is used for comedic purposes, and I am allowed to do it because I know what I'm doing. If my entire blog post were composed of slang like that, you would all want to beat me over the head and tie me to my skateboard and send me rolling back down the hill to groovyville where I would belong. Since I do know what I'm doing, you just rolled your eyes and let me be. See how you're still reading? You wouldn't be, if I didn't know what the rules were. You'd be all pissed at me, and you'd leave and never come back, and I'd be sad, because then who would debate gender bias in my comments? The pixies, that's who. And they don't even have genders.
You can break the standard rules. You can put more text on a web page than is recommended if you know what you're doing. You can break rules of grammar, of sentence structure, and of formality. You cannot do any of that if you don't know what the rules are to begin with. You will sound like an idiot, and you will sound like an idiot who does not know what he is doing. If I misuse grammar on this blog, you all know that I either did it because it's a casual turn of phrase used conversationally (because this is a pub, not the platform of the inaugural address) or because I am being hilarious.
Laugh it up, denizens. Ain't nothin' but a butter biscuit.
If you sound like you are following the rules, you are going to bore us all.
One of the things I love about Addonzio's sonnet is that I damn well did not realize it was a sonnet until I hit the last rhyming stanza. That is some skills, y'all. (Looky there, did it again. Breaking rules left and right today. I must be a grammatical genius.) The best sonnets are not so obviously sonnets that they beat you over the head with it. Poets should not so painstakingly follow the rules of sonneting that doing so compromises the flow of their language.
Same holds true for copywriting. If you are writing a keyword-rich article, and someone tells you the best length for a paragraph is 200 words and the optimal number of times you can use the keyword is once per paragraph, you are going to sound a damn fool if you adhere to those rules so strictly that it compromises the copywriting. This is a rookie mistake. There's a lot of copywriting strewn about the web right now that is technically correct. Problem is, it sounds dumb. None of the writers is paying attention to the way it sounds. They're too busy trying to get the right number of words in the paragraph.
Listen to the way your writing sounds. Read it out loud if you have to. (Note: I would not entirely recommend reading those sonnets out loud at the office. Just a small piece of advice from me to you. Unless you work in a sex shop or something. In which case, I just upped your chances of selling something battery-powered. You're welcome.) If your writing would sound better if you bent one of the formal rules of your chosen genre, then by all means, bend it. Wrench it sideways. Contort it into Cirque de Soleil. Then read it out loud again. If it sounds good, I guarantee you no one is going to care that you broke a formal rule.
Why? They won't even notice you have broken it. It's crazy how that works. If you are skilled enough, your bent rule will sound so natural that unless you have the anal editor from doom on your hands, they won't pay your contorted, backbending, pretzel-twisted rule any mind at all. And even then, evil editors from doom often know from good writing.
Sonnets are crazy sexy.
Just felt like reiterating that. If you want your copywriting, or any other kind of writing, to be crazy sexy in a similar fashion, though not so rhymey, go ahead and bend a few rules.
Go learn what the rules are first, though. You cannot gently bend rules if you don't know what they are. You are liable to bend something else by accident, like a gerund. And nobody likes a bent gerund, do they?


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End of the day
So today's the last day on the old blog. You know, six months ago I probably would not even care. But I've gotten used to how things work around here, got used to the format, how to post, add pictures. I'm sorry, I didn't want to get emotional *sniff *sniff*…
Ok, well now that THAT'S done with, I really am excited. I've spent a ton of time this week getting everything ready, and while it may be a few weeks until I am at the level I'd like to be at, I have it in a pretty good place right now. So tomorrow, when you all go to visit hdrexposed.wordpress.com, you will be taken to the new site. I'm anxious to hear all of your opinions, so please let me know what you think.
Today's shot was meant to be a bit symbolic of the setting sun, moving a new site, you get the idea. I took this last week at a school near our house where my wife and I will go play basketball in the evening sometimes. I was really impressed with the lack of noise in this shot, as I had forgotten to change my camera settings and was at ISO 1,000. With my old D40X, if I used ISO 400 I got visible noise, but it seemed like the D700 handled it just fine.
The HDR is made up of 7 handheld brackets processed with Photomatix then edited in CS5. I did some slight shadow and highlight adjustment to start off with, then added a blue curves adjustment layer for the sky. Added a very slight Tonal Contrast filter from Color Efex as well as a Local Contrast boost and Turbo Boost in onOne PhotoTools. Added a bit of Clarity as well and called it a day.
See you all on the new site tomorrow. Take care.
Open to possibilities
A quick post today, as I have some stuff to wrap up at work before the long holiday weekend. Website is coming along as well, and I'm still targeting to get it up and running by the end of next weekend but seeing as I've never done this kind of thing before, we'll see.
Another shot from the Pirate game I went to a couple weeks ago. One of my favorite things about PNC Park is the fact that you can see the city skyline from pretty much every seat in the stadium. This is a view from one of the rotundas leading to the upper levels.
For this I combined 5 handheld exposures in Photomatix, then tonemapped the +2 exposure to mask in both the flag and the people, as they were both obviously moving. The scoreboard had changed between shots too, so I took the -1 exposure to mask that back in. Finally, Tonal Contrast, Pro Contrast and Progressive Sharpening filters were added, along with a desaturation layer to finish the shot.
I hope all of you who are celebrating Memorial Day (and those of your who aren't) have a great weekend. See you on Monday.
Focused on the now
I don't normally get too philosophical on my posts, but today I think I might, as this will be a shorter post.
It seems like we (myself included) are always looking ahead, looking forward to something in the future, be it a vacation, a wedding, a graduation, holiday, or simply the weekend. Most of the time, there is nothing wrong with that at all, especially in regards to major life events, like a wedding or the birth of a child. Life goes by so quick and when we spend time hoping and waiting for things to come, it can make it go even quicker. Sometimes, we just need to take a step back and take a look around us to enjoy where we are and what we are doing right now. If we spend every day just waiting for tomorrow, have we really gotten everything we could out of today?
On to today's shot, which inspired the sentiment of my blog today. I've taken a shot similar to this in downtown Pittsburgh before, and while I really like it, I took that shot in the middle of the day, so the light was pretty harsh and the background was just ok. I like this one a lot better, because the background, even though it is out of focus, gives you a wider variety of colors. I even snuck a sunflare in there, which I didn't think that I would be able to get at f4.
This is a seven exposure HDR that I laid on the road and blocked traffic to get and then processed in Photomatix. I had to do a little masking on the upper left and right hand corners of the shot to get rid of minor haloing there. I boosted overall saturation, as well as added a curves layer of green and yellow to enhance the trees and line on the road. Finally I added a Tonal Contrast filter (Color Efex) and Turbo Boost filter (onOne PhotoTools) to complete the shot.
Thanks for stopping by guys and gals, see you tomorrow.
Topsy turvy
Well, I finally took the plunge. Went out a registered a domain and am in the process of completely revamping my blog/website. I'm not exactly sure how long the whole process is going to take, but I hope to have everything up and running by the end of next week, so stay tuned. I also wanted to say a big thank you to Chris Frailey, who even got his wife involved in answering some questions I had, and also to Jason Hines and Chris Nitz, who also were able to help me. All three of these guys are fine photographers; please make sure to check out their sites if you haven't already.
For today's shot we head to Delaware Park in Buffalo, New York, where I was on Saturday afternoon for a friend's wedding, just in attendance, not as the photographer. On a side note, they had four photographers at their wedding, which I had never seen before. Anyways, we had about two and half hours to kill between the ceremony and the reception and since it was a beautiful day, we opted to find a park to hang out at. This was the closest, so we made our way down there. We saw a bunch of different weddings come through, which was extremely interesting to see, as there were brides, grooms and bridal parties of all makes and models.
This is a five exposure HDR processed with Photomatix and then kicked over the CS5. I first did an overall curves adjustment, then opened it in onOne PhotoTools. I applied the WoW Landscape filter and then a slight Firenze filter, to give it the bit of a reddish hue. Next up was Color Efex, where I added a Pro Contrast filter and the vignette. Removed a few dust spots, flipped it on its head, and shipped it off to the blog. Enjoy.
Happy Wednesday everyone and thanks for stopping by.
Cutting through
Thanks for all of you who stopped by on the first candid Monday yesterday. I think that I keep them going, so look for more in the coming weeks.
Back to the HDRs and sunflares today. It was kind of an accident how I stumbled across how to do sunflares, and before that I never even though to shoot directly into the sun. I never really knew that to get those sharp, pinpoint flares early in my photographic/HDR career, I was just taking pictures. One day I was out on my front porch trying fiddling around with HDRs and after scrolling through my brackets on the LCD I exited out of the menu but kept scrolling, which set my aperture to f22. I lined up the next shot and fired off the shots, downloaded them on my computer and was a little curious as to why this one shot looked different than the rest. I checked the EXIF and saw the aperture was f22 and I was hooked.
This particular sunflare is over downtown Pittsburgh during rush hour earlier this month. I had to wait around for about 10 minutes to get everyone out of the scene, and just when I was ready to take the shot, this kid came and say down on the bench. After seeing that he wasn't going to leave, I took the shot anyway, and left him in to give the scene a bit of a human element. It was pretty windy on this particular day, so I had some motion blur in the trees, which I actually chose not to mask out, the reason being that it made the scene look a little too static for my liking.
This is a 5 exposure handheld HDR processed with Photomatix and then shipped over to CS5. I added blue, green and red adjustment layers for the sky, grass and trees, respectively, and also added a very slight shadow adjust to bring back some of the buildings, as they were fairly dark. Ran it though Color Efex to give it a Tonal Contrast filter and that was that.
Take care until tomorrow.
Thank you to everyone who visited my blog yesterday, I had over triple of my average views for the year. Not exactly sure how this stuff happens sometimes, but I am glad it does.
On to today's shot. I took this one a few weeks ago on a little stroll through downtown Pittsburgh. This is the entrance to the Steel Building or USX Tower right near the center of town. I was walking by a bit before rush hour and about 45 minutes after I took this shot, the sidewalk in front of the building would have been completely packed with people waiting for rides or buses to come and pick them up. I really enjoy being downtown at this time of day, because there are so many different sizes and shapes of buildings, that it really filters the light well and you get cool beams coming through like this one.
Usually the camera police come out and tell you that you can't take pictures in front of the Steel Building (yep, camera, not just tripod, these guys are crazy) and I saw one of the guards eyeing me up, but he was wither too tired to come outside or just didn't care. Guess I didn't look like much of a threat.
Bonus: Can you spot the guy who just narrowly missed scoring the lead role in "Multiplicity" instead of Michael Keaton?
Pretty standard when it came to processing this one. Five exposure handheld HDR, processed with Photomatix. Did a bit of masking to get rid of ghosting from the car on the right and the people in the center (I thought that Multiplicity man was pretty cool). I had a few slight halos, so I just masked in the -2 exposure for the sky. Added a red curves adjustment layer to enhance the building and a blue one for the sky. Also added a Tonal Contrast filter from Color Efex, and a Progressive Sharpening and Firenze filter from onOne PhotoTools, the former to, well, sharpen the image and the later to give the sunlight some more glow. Slapped on the logo and exported to blog.
Thanks for all the support and visits. See you tomorrow, which is Friday, which is good.
Well, today is my 100th post on my blog. Of the last 99, 26 of them were from 2009 and 2010 combined with the rest coming this year, which is kind of crazy, given the fact that I just started really committing to my blog in late January. Daily traffic to my blog has tripled since then as well, so I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone who is a regular visitor and also those of you who just mosey on by every once and while. I really appreciate all the support I receive from everyone. Here's to another couple hundred. Or thousand.
Today's shot is one that I really don't even remember taking. I mean, I can believe I took it, but as I was looking through my pictures from Mt. Washington I saw it and thought, "Huh". So I went ahead and processed it and really liked the way that it came out. This is a view up the Monongahela River, one of the two rivers that meet at the Point to form the Ohio River. You also get a view of some of the distinct bridges we have in the city (from bottom to top, excluding the second from the bottom which is the trolley bridge): Smithfield Street, Liberty, 10th Street and Birmingham. In the center of the shot you can see the Allegheny County Jail (which you also saw a few posts ago) and in the foreground is the top of the Grand Concourse in Station Square. Off in the distance is the top of the Cathedral of Learning, the iconic building on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Oakland. All that being said, I think my favorite thing about this shot is the shadow that is created by the city lights of the trolley bridge on the water. You would normally expect to see reflections, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the shadows.
On to the processing. This is a seven exposure HDR processed with Photomatix. It was a bit flat coming out of the tonemapping, so I applied an S curve to bring back some of the contrast. I applied a Pro Contrast filter in Color Efex, as well as a warming filter in Photoshop to cool the entire image. In onOne PhotoTools I used the Progressive Sharpening filter to being out some details and the Firenza filter to also cool down the blues. A bit of spot healing in the sky to get rid of some dust specks and that was that.
Again, thank you for all of your support on my last 100 posts. I hope that you all will continue to follow me in the future.
Blinded by the light
You know how sometimes when you are out shooting you get home and say to yourself, "I literally do not like any of shots"? Some may be ok, but most are just like "Eh". But then there are the times (at least for me being a primarily HDR photographer) that it's almost like I want to hurry up and get home and cut the photowalk short because I just want to start processing my images, I am that excited about that. My little walk on Mt. Washington a few weeks ago was like that, and this shot in particular.
So my last post featured a candid I took as I was wrapping up the early part of my walk, before dinner and this one wraps up the end of the night. I have been on Mt. Washington countless times since I got my camera and never once noticed this glowing red cross on the church on Grandview. I'm not sure if it's because I never really am down this far on Grandview or if I just never looked at it, but when I was walking back to my car, I knew I had to get a shot of it. Luckily there was still a fair amount of traffic coming through, so I was able to get a nice light trail going through the frame as well. One of my favorite parts of the shot is the reflection of the light trails along the railing on the right. I didn't even notice it at first when I was looking at the shots on the LCD, but as soon as the HDR popped up I noticed them. I've included the selective color version below and am open to suggestions and opinions as to which one you like better.
This a 5 exposure (-1 to +3) HDR processed with Photomatix with all additional edits done in Photoshop CS5. The first thing I had to do was tonemap the +3 exposure to help lighten the church and then do a light mask on it (25%), as the HDR process made it a little too dark for my liking. I also used the +2 exposure to mask in some of the light trails, mainly on the left had side of the frame, to give them a more continuous look. The bright yellow sign was blown out from the +3 exposure, so I used the -1 exposure to recover some of the lost details there. Next, I added a Pro Contrast filter in Color Efex and a blue curves layer to make the sky a little more vibrant.
To get the selective color, I did a SelectàColor Range and picked all the reds, oranges and yellow, minus the sign in the foreground. I then used Silver Efex to convert to do the black and white conversion.
That about wraps it up today. See you again tomorrow.
Stepping up to the plate
A couple more shots from the Bucco game that I went to this Tuesday this time with some action shots thrown in with an HDR.
The shot above is the view from the rotunda over left field that leads up to the multiple levels of PNC Park. We got there a little late, about midway through the bottom of the first, and seeing as I have never had my D700 at a Pirate game I wanted to get this shot. I was a little disappointed that the sky wasn't clearer when I took this shot, but that's the beauty of HDR: It can take a flat, otherwise uninteresting sky and turn it into this.
The shot above is probably one of my favorite from the game. The Pirate pictured is first baseman Steve Pearce, who I had never heard of before this very at bat. I know, I know, it's a bit sad, but my favorite MLB team is the Atlanta Braves, so I can't keep up with the merry-go-round of prospects/rookies/no-names that the Pirates parade through year after year. Anyways, Pearce hit a soft grounder up the middle of the infield and legged it out for an infield hit. I was able to capture him JUST as he was hitting first base, with the ball clearly still in the air. What I found most interesting however, is that you can't see a single other player in the frame. It looks like they are all alone on the field. Didn't plan it like that, but that's how it came out.
The next action shot is of catcher Ryan Doumit, who is having a modestly productive year after a couple of slow ones. A lot of people were calling for his departure from the Bucs, but they kept him around, and he has been consistent so far. This was one of the last shots that I took, and it shows Doumit just before he made contact. He didn't get a hit on this pitch, but he scorched a line drive to the outfield that was caught.
On to the processing. The HDR is a 5 exposure handheld HDR processed with Photomatix. As with the last couple, I masked in the entire crowd to get rid of the ghosting. I also did a bit of masking on the lights, as I was metered on the dark stands (d'oh) and they were a bit blown out. I added a blue curves layer to the sky to enhance what little blue sky there was, and also a green curves layer to the field to help it stand out. In Color Efex I used the Tonal Contrast filter, and in onOne PhotoTools I added a Turbo Boost. What a cool effect name. Turbo Boost.
I processed the action shots similarly. Both were opened in Camera Raw where I increased the clarity and desaturated the images. Moved them over the CS5 where I added a Tonal Contrast later to both of them, increased then vibrance, and opened them in onOne PhotoTools. They both got the same Progressive Sharpening, and I added an extra filter to the second one of Ryan Doumit at bat, the Hollywood Intensity. Pretty happy with how they turned out.
That's all for this week folks. Hope you all have a great weekend. See you on Monday.
The baseball blues
There seem to be very few teams throughout the history of professional sports that have experienced the fall from grace the way that the Pirates have. And I'm not just talking about missing the playoffs for a few years in a row, or not making it to the World Series. There are teams with longer World Series droughts than the Buccos 32 years (Indians 63 years, Padres, Rockies, Astros, Rangers and a few others, never). I'm talking about the fact that it has been nearly twenty longer years since the Pirates have won more games than they lost in a single year. Nearly two decades since they have finished with a winning percentage above .500. The closest they have come was in 1997, when they finished 79-83, a mere 2 games away.
There seemed to be a slight glimmer of hope this year, as they have hovered around the .500 mark for most of the year, and that's where they were the night that I attended this game. However, they got stomped 10-3 at the hands of the Dodgers, and then were shut out again last night. The problem with the most recent Pirates teams is they have no star power, no game changers, no one who is really dangerous. They have young players who show a lot of potential like Andrew McCutcheon, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez, but chances are they will not win you a World Series. Pirate's ownership has said that when fans start coming to games they will invest more money in the team. Well that's a catch 22, because if they don't field a competitive team, you aren't going to get many people to come to game. While I am not a huge fan of the salary cap in other sports, I think it would be the only way (under the current management) for the Pirates to start winning again.
Anyways, on to today's shot. I have a bunch to post from the game, but I wanted to start off with this one. The seats we had were pretty good, about ten rows off the first base line, which afforded me some great picture opportunities. I took this one a little bit later in the game, when some clouds had rolled in and the blue hour was upon us. PNC Park is a beautiful stadium, especially with the view of the Pittsburgh skyline in the distance, which is what I was trying to capture with this shot.
This is a 5 exposure handheld HDR that I processed in Photomatix. I actually had originally taken 7 brackets, but the -3 and -2 exposures were a bit too dark, so I ended up using the -1 to +3 range. I tonemapped the +2 exposure to mask in the entire crowd, as you can imagine no one was kind enough to sit still while I took these. I also used the 0 EV exposure to mask in the players on the field and the coaches, as they were just shifting a tiny bit. The last mask I added was over the scoreboard so it looked crisp and clear. I added a curves layer for the blues and greens to help bring out the sky and the field respectively, and also added a Tonal Contrast and Pro Contrast filters in Color Efex. Logo added, good to go.
More Buccos shots coming tomorrow. Make sure you stick around.


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Hedgehogs are a powerful form of pest control. A single hedgehog can keep an average garden free of pests by eating up to 200 grams of insects
each night. It is common throughout the United Kingdom to see people attempting to lure hedgehogs into their gardens with treats and hedgehog-sized holes in their fences.
One problem with using hedgehogs for garden pest control is the use of chemical insecticide. While the hedgehog is large enough to resist most insecticides, it cannot withstand them if it eats many insects which have become full of the poison. This causes many hedgehog deaths where pet hedgehogs eat contaminated bugs within the house.
In areas where hedgehogs have been introduced, such as New Zealand and the islands of Scotland, the hedgehog itself has become a pest. In New Zealand it causes immense damage to native species including insects, snails, lizards and ground-nesting birds, particularly shore birds. As with many introduced animals, it lacks natural predators. With overpopulation, it kills off more insects than initially intended and expands its diet to include things such as snails, worms, and the eggs of wading birds. Attempts to eliminate hedgehogs from bird colonies on the Scottish islands of North Uist and Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides have met with considerable opposition.


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Mayor Capo Di Corfu
Nestled amongst landscape gardens, Mayor Capo di Corfu is located in Agios Petros, 2 km away from Lefkimi, in the southern part of the island, on a large stretch of sandy beach. The complex is famous for its social atmosphere and is ideal for families and couples alike.
Property standards are set by Aquis Hotels and Resorts to the highest level of its category and along with the great location, guests will experience a unique and unforgettable stay. Mayor Capo di Corfu has been extensively renovated according to the standards during winter of 2010. All rooms are well appointed in a modern manner featuring: individually controlled air conditioning unit, direct dial telephone, satellite TV, free Wi -Fi internet access throughout the hotel, mini fridge, and safe deposit box on charge.
Each one has its own bathroom with shower, hairdryer and either balcony or terrace to enjoy magnificent views to beautiful gardens. At the Mayor Capo Di Corfu, guests will enjoy a unique location and the most attractive facilities and services.
This property as being part of Aquis Hotels and Resorts is aiming to exceed guests' expectations by providing superior quality of services and facilities within an advanced concept of beach holidays along with its unique location.


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About Bright Garden Florist
Bright Garden is a online florist in Kuala Lumpur operated by Bright Garden Florist. providing floral design and arrangement for all occasions. We provide flowers, gifts and artificial plants deliveries in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Nationwide. We are also supported by a dynamic and experienced team of professional Flower Designers and a dedicated group of Customer Service Officers.
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We are the only online florist that can provide Sunday Delivery to Kuala Lumpur and Selangor areas with no additional charges.
Bright Garden's Floral Designer, Rebecca Lee, has won GOLD AWARD in Quality Category at Putrajaya Flowers and Garden Festival (FLORIA) 2007 on 1st September 2007.
Awards Presented by Y.A.B. Tan Sri Samsudin Osman on the 1st of September 2007 at the Lakefront, Presint 2, Putrajaya, Malaysia.
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SPRINGFIELD – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded an $84,700 grant to support new efforts in the region to reduce pollution.
The Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) grant was announced during a press conference Thursday at the Springfield Renaissance School on Carew Street.
George Frantz, a regional program director for the Environmental Protection Agency said the grant will be used by the "Healthy Environment, Healthy Springfield Coalition," a group of local organizations that will evaluate environmental risks in Springfield and establish priorities. Future funding would help implement an action plan for "cleaner air and water and safer land around us," he said.
Kathleen L. Szegda, director of the Pioneer Valley Asthma Coalition, among the participating organizations, said the grant will greatly assist ongoing efforts, including evaluation of outdoor air pollution and indoor air pollution that contribute to very high asthma rates in Springfield. Approximately 20 percent of Springfield children have asthma which is nearly double the state average, she said.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, Health and Human Services Director Helen R. Caulton-Harris, and Parks and Buildings Director Patrick J. Sullivan joined in praising the grant.
Sarno said the issue hits home as his youngest daughter suffers from asthma.
Curt Spalding, regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, in a prepared release, said it is "common sense for us to seek out motivated local citizens to help address their critical local environmental concerns, and to grow local expertise to support the local economy."


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Available ebook formats: epub mobi pdf lrf pdb
Henry Disney was born in 1938 and was separated from his parents for part of the War; while his wife-to-be had to be dug from the remains of her home following a bombing raid. After the War he was partly brought up in the Sudan, he served on active service in Cyprus during his National service in 1958, and he carried out research in the rain forests of Belize and Cameroon, as well as on a three month expedition to Indonesia. He was in charge of a Field Centre and National Nature Reserve in Yorkshire before moving in 1984 to become a researcher at the University of Cambridge. He has been author or co-author of about 600 scientific publications, with his co-authors being from more than 50 countries across the world. He has served on various public bodies as well as being a churchwarden. He has previously published ten collections of poetry, many reflecting on his position as a scientist and 'Lapsed atheist'.


text: Welcome to the website of Ringwood Benefice, a group of 6 churches covering the communities of Ringwood, Poulner, Bisterne, Ellingham, Harbridge and St Leonards and St Ives. This website will keep you informed about services, events and activities across the benefice. Please sign up on the left to receive our weekly email newsletter.


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Addor Capital has teamed up with Youjin Capital to lead a RMB360 million (US$52 million) series B round in Diyi Chedai, a Shanghai-based auto lending start-up.
Matrix Partners China, Yixin Investment Fund and 360 Finance also participated in the round, which is still on going and has not officially closed, the company said.
Previously, Diyi Chedai completed an undisclosed series A round from CITIC Group, Beijing Automotive Group, Matrix Partners and other investors in 2015. It raised RMB217 million (US$31 million) in sa eries A+ from China Growth Capital, Matrix Partners China and Youjin Capital in April 2016.
Founded in 2013, Diyi Chedai provides loans to car dealerships, car logistics companies and car rental firms. It currently operates in 80 cities in China and has recorded RMB12 billion (US$1.7 billion) in cumulative financing provided to thousands of Chinese automobile companies.


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Our artistic director Ben reflects on being a guest artist at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, as part of the British Council's Shakespeare Lives project.
"Wow, what an amazing experience the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was last weekend. It was truly inspirational, an eye-opener, a game-changer.
I took part in two panel discussions alongside the wonderful Jatinder Verma and Claudia Mayer from Tara Arts on the challenges and opportunities of modernising Shakespeare and running theatre companies in Britain, as well as introducing Oregon audiences to the work of 1623 theatre company.
So many talented and generous people made time to talk about their work and listen to me about 1623's approach to Shakespeare. I met the OSF artistic director Bill Rauch, executive director Cynthia Rider, literary manager Lue Morgan Douthit, dramaturg Lezlie Cross, director of communications Eddie Wallace, education officer Russell Zook, actors including Carlo Alban, Sara Bruner, Anthony Heald and Miriam A Laube, fundraising team including Doreen O'Skea and Dawn Elsbree, a handful of volunteers (including the fabulous Polly, who shuttled me from and to the airport), and many donors at a fundraising meal.
We had meaningful and helpful discussions together about all aspects of OSF, 1623 and Tara including artistic development, programming, rehearsal processes, production values, audience engagement, artists' training, youth theatre, community participation and fundraising.
I was particularly excited about Lue Morgan Douthit's new project called Play On!, which will see 36 playwrights translate Shakespeare's plays into contemporary English, in all its diversity. Lue was equally enthusiastic about 1623's upcoming Lear/Cordelia pilot production and we've already agreed to collaborate later this year in a workshop on Shakespeare and new writing at LAMDA.
Andrea Koskey and Glen Delaney from the British Consulate in San Francisco made the trip possible and they were excellent company, as well as very patient when I launched into performing Shakespeare at breakfast, in the street and at every available opportunity.
Over the two days, I experienced the current OSF productions of Richard II (anti-romantic and meta-theatrical), Twelfth Night (energetic and moving), Timon of Athens (political and socially-conscious) and Hamlet (Elizabethan and death-metallic). Special thanks to Eddie Wallace for arranging this.
There are plenty of ideas to mull over, share with 1623 and other colleagues, discuss with OSF and turn into future realities. As Hamlet says, "Buzz, buzz!"
Thank you to everyone at the OSF and British Consulate for creating this inspirational opportunity. It was fantastic to find out more about Tara's work too and I'm looking forward to visiting their new building in London soon. Let's do more."
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On route 52, we stumbled across this abandoned church: Mt Zion AME Church in the coal camp of Eckman.
Looking at the church, we noticed the terrible condition of it's structure. The roof on the left side is almost gone.
There was a piece of gold Christmas garland lying on the floor. The kind used in Christmas plays when dressing the kids as angels. Was their last service a Christmas play?
On the right, there were a few pews still there. To the left, there was an old cabinet that held hymnals and papers were strewn about.
In the back room, a piano sat as if waiting for someone to retrieve it out of the desolation. It had been waiting for quite some time.
Why was this church abandoned? Although population loss could be a factor, there are 22,000 people who reside in McDowell County, enough to fill the remaining open AND closed churches.
Before leaving, we found a Bible. It had been soaked through. Ruined. There was now ice on the cover.


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Concessions made by New York may allow UFC in state
February 14, 2013
In a turn of events on Wednesday, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York was to hear oral arguments in New York's Motion to Dismiss Zuffa's First Amended Complaint. Instead, John Schwartz, attorney on behalf of the state of New York made a surprising admission.
The attorney representing the Attorney General for the state of New York stated that the statute banning professional MMA in New York did not apply to amateur MMA and that a third party sanctioning body could regulate professional MMA. With respect to the sanctioning, Zuffa's counsel advised that the lawsuit need not go forward if there was a possibility for the regulation of the sport in the state. The Court advised the parties to settle the lawsuit.
The briefing leading up to Wednesday may have aided Zuffa's cause. In its portion of the Opposition Brief arguing that the New York law was unconstitutionally vague, Zuffa argued that the state of New York allowed the World Karate Association ("WKA") to regulate kickboxing events which would be in direct conflict with the New York law. However, it would not grant other kickboxing organizations exemptions to the law which would allow them to run kickboxing events within the state. The briefing described this as a "loophole" although is it a loophole if its the law? The law identifies sanctioning organizations.
It appears that the state allowing exempt organizations the opportunity to sanction events such as kickboxing (and now MMA) may have led its counsel to concede this point without having to argue the broader issue of the constitutionality of the statute.
Payout Perspective:
Wednesday's result did little in making professional MMA legal in the state of New York. It did give Zuffa the opportunity to work with a third party sanctioning body to regulate MMA in the state. But is this a victory? While many are excited about the prospects about the state holding a UFC event, Wednesday's result did not overturn the New York law. Furthermore, the UFC will still have to work with a sanctioning body to regulate MMA in the state. This is a good option but one wonders why Zuffa didn't go forward with attempting to repeal the law.
How easy (or difficult) will it be for Zuffa to work with a third party? What will be the cost?
Did the UFC take a short-term victory when it could have won a long-term goal?
These are hard questions that one must weigh with against the legal fees (not to mention the non-legal lobbying fees to get the sport legal) it has expended up to this point. The Court could have influenced the parties to settle the case despite the outstanding legal issues.
Practically speaking, if Zuffa can find a decent working relationship with an exempt regulating body, then we may see the UFC in New York sooner than later.
2 Responses to "Concessions made by New York may allow UFC in state"
BrainSmasher on
February 15th, 2013 1:58 AM
I think the UFC wants to save that battle for later. What the UFC needs is to run a few events and it will soften some of the politicians stance and at the same time get more of the local fans invested. Once you give NY fans the sport it will be hard to take it away. So this will give the UFC it's strength in NY it needs. If the UFC runs MSG and the world doesn't cone to an end the. The public will see the financial impact without the negative they have been told comes with it.
Tops of on
February 21st, 2013 4:20 PM
Good idea
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text: Blinds Steve's Exclusive Collection Pleated Shades Fabric Pleated Shades Best Cordless 1 Pleated Shades Oxford, White SB1601 Steve's Exclusive Collection Best Cordless 1 Pleated Shades combines the function of a blind with the soft texture of fine cloth making these shades elegant yet practical. Made from 100% woven polyester fabric, available in 4 neutral colors with same color on the front and back of the shade. Cordless pleated shades are safe with no cords for children or pets to get tangled on and they are simple to use simply use the control handle on the bottom rail and push to open. Steve's cordless pleated shades are light filtering allowing some light to penetrate, accentuating the beauty of the fabric while still providing some privacy. Also available in cordless top down bottom up option to allow natural light into the room while maintaining privacy.


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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Anawangin callin'
14 comments:
- lino said...
astig naman ang view. parang mag scenic sa ibang bansa... kasama mo ba si ferdz dito sa trip na to?
- Wednesday, May 23, 2007
- lagal[og] said...
bro, nauna si ferdz pumunta dito. i got the idea from him :-)
- Thursday, May 24, 2007
- Ferdz said...
Napaka serene nga ng shot mo dito. Nakaka enganyo. Sarap pagmasdan.
Err.. nga pala... wala pa kong maisip na photo op hehe.
- Thursday, May 24, 2007
- Anonymous said...
ako rin, napapa-wow pa rin ako twing makakakita ng pictures ng anawangin. pero iba pa rin talga kapag andun ka na...pero ang talgang di ko makakalimutan sa anawangin ay yung mga bituin. halos mapuno ang buong kalangitan ng mga bituin. noon lang ako nakakita ng ganun! =)
- Friday, May 25, 2007
- lagal[og] said...
@ferdz, hahaha, hamo, one of these days we'll cook up something.
@anonymous, i agree with you. which is why i intend to go back soon :-)
- Friday, May 25, 2007
- estan said...
thanx for dropping by pre. nagyaya na naman mga kasama ko this weekend mag anawangin pero dehins lang ako pwede. gota be in cebu kasi...
- Friday, May 25, 2007
- Leah said...
All the photos look amazing. Ako rin siguro , I'd be awed with all the magnificense and serenity of this place called Anawangin.
- Sunday, June 03, 2007
- Anonymous said...
anawangin...silanguin...capones lighthouse...
i've been missing the best parts of my hometown, nakakainggit ka!
i agree, we have to protect the place from trash in all forms... it takes combined commitment and efforts from the local government, community and the tourists.
- Monday, June 04, 2007
- carlotta said...
well, i'm speechless at your latest anawangin pic. all i can say is, sobrang ganda. =)
- Tuesday, June 05, 2007
- carlotta said...
well, i'm speechless at your latest anawangin pic. all i can say is, sobrang ganda. =)
- Tuesday, June 05, 2007
- lagal[og] said...
@anonymous, orly, is that you? anyway, as they say, if you're from there, you tend to miss out on such places kasi they're just there, unlike us na dumadayo pa :-) hope you visit this place and refer us to other nice places in zambales :-)
@carlotta, thanks. believe me, even i am mesmerized everytime i look at the anawangin captures. drop by ka ulit sometime.
- Tuesday, June 05, 2007
- tutubi said...
ganda ng capture
one of my favorite composition with a reflection on still water :)
- Thursday, June 07, 2007
- lagal[og] said...
thanks bro! my pleasure to share it with blogfriends :-)
- Friday, June 08, 2007
- Loyva said...
Saan itong Anawangin? It looks like paradise! Gusto kong puntahan at magpakalunod sa kanyang kagandahan. :) Brilliant capture, Oggie. You never disappoint.
- Sunday, July 01, 2007


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Hair Donation Guildelines
* Hair that is colored or permed is acceptable.
* Hair cut years ago is usable if it has been stored in a ponytail or braid.
* Hair that has been bleached (usually this refers to highlighted hair) is not usable. If unsure, ask your stylist. We are not able to accept bleached hair due to a chemical reaction that occurs during the manufacturing process. **If the hair was bleached years ago and has completely grown out it is fine to donate.
* Hair that is swept off of the floor is not usable because it is not bundled in a ponytail or braid.
* Hair that is shaved off and not in a ponytail or braid is not usable. If shaving your head, first divide hair into multiple ponytails to cut off.
* We cannot accept dreadlocks. Our manufacturer is not able to use them in our children's hairpieces. We also cannot accept wigs, falls, hair extensions or synthetic hair.
* Layered hair is acceptable if the longest layer is 10 inches.
* Layered hair may be divided into multiple ponytails.
* Curly hair may be pulled straight to measure the minimum 10 inches.
* 10 inches measured tip to tip is the minimum length needed for a hairpiece.
Please Note:
* Shorter hair will be separated from the ponytails and sold to offset the manufacturing costs. Although the shorter hair cannot be used in the hairpieces, it still greatly helps to reduce costs.
* Gray hair will be accepted and sold to offset the manufacturing costs.
* Colored hair is not usable if it is colored over bleached hair.
* Because Locks of Love creates custom hairpieces for each child, we are unable to accept donations of wigs, falls, hair extensions or synthetic hair.
*The Hair Donation Form is not required to donate hair. If you are having trouble downloading or printing the Hair Donation Form, just write down your name and address on a full size separate sheet of paper and include it in the envelope with your donation so that we may send you an acknowledgement.
** Forms and information on this page was obtained from Locks of Love website :http://locksoflove.org/donate.html on January 20th, 2012


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Eesh. I'm doing a crap job blogging. Thankfully we have been taking photos and keeping track of our busy lives…I'll be going through the next few weeks and making recap posts! Since I wrote on here in 2012, my sister in law got married (i think I posted my iphone shots but we actually got quite a few from the photographer too)! Here are a few shots to keep you wanting to come back and read some moooore 😉 Our first family photo in a while:
Lordy do those kids look young! Can't believe it!
4 responses to "Wuh Oh"
Love the family photo! The kids look adorable!!
Aww, such a lovely family! I miss seeing you on Facebook! Mandy too! Hope everything is going well for you!


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Green Fruit Beetle
You may have recently spotted (or heard) a large metallic green bug buzzing around your yard. Green fruit beetles, or figeater beetles, are large, clumsy, metallic green pests.
My dogs and chickens love to chase green fruit beetles, and I am grateful. In the heat of summer, these pests fly in to lay eggs throughout my garden and landscape, taking a toll on my fig harvest. They also feed on apricots, nectarines, plums, grapes, pears, and tomatoes, as well as manure and compost. Generally, figeater beetles (Cotinis mutabilis), do not cause a lot of damage, but they can if enough of them converge on your garden.
Green fruit beetle controls
Since these pests are attracted to the smell of ripe fruit, harvest frequently. Also, you can plant crops that ripen earlier in the season to avoid feeding green fruit beetles. Personally, I have trained my dogs to catch them and I use a butterfly net to pin them down, then I feed them to my chickens, but you may not have that option. Luckily, it is very easy to build a green fruit beetle trap. Simply mix 1 part water with 1 part grape or peach juice and put it in a one-gallon container. Then, create a funnel out of screen or hardware cloth and insert it into the container. The adult beetles will be attracted to the juice, climb down into the container, and then be unable to figure out how to escape. (I wonder how chickens feel about beetles drowned in juice…)
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You can grow a surprising amount of food in your own yard. Ask me how!
December 2019


text: dojos.co.nz is now dojos.nz 16. December 2014 Administrator (0) We have just acquired dojos.nz, the shorter version of dojos.co.nz. Effective immediately, dojos.nz will serve as Newzealand's Dojo Directory, in stead of dojos.co.nz. This is shorter, and more in line with our other country specific directories such as dojos.jp, dojos.in and dojos.ca. Visitor's of dojos.co.nz are automatically being redirected to dojos.nz domain. All pages, school's and information that existed under dojos.co.nz will continue to appear under dojos.nz. At this time, no change in appearance or structure is introduced aside from the change in domain name. Although there are only around 400 Dojo listed with dojos.nz at this time, we expect this number to rapidly grow in the near future, as it becomes recognized as the official Dojo Directory of New Zealand.


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Can you believe it's already July 2nd. We're two days post Migraine and Headache Awareness Month. How do you feel after spending an entire month meditating on hope? I feel rejuvenated and inspired.
Throughout June's blog challenge, I gave much consideration to the next steps in my life with Chronic Migraine. As I blogged about hope, I thought about my migraine action plan. Here's what I came up with.
- Start and maintain a migraine trigger free diet.
- Eat on time.
- Start my migraine diary.
- Do more research on migraines and current treatment plans, inclusive of medication, supplements etc.
- Exercise
- Spend at least 15 minutes per day outside in the sun.
- Start seeing a neurologist (I haven't seen one in a while see my post Conveyor Belt Migraineur), preferably a headache specialist.
- Stick with the plan.
So far I've started numbers 1-3. Yay! Over the next 8 days (starting with today), I'll write about each point on my list; I'll discuss why the step is necessary and how I'm addressing it.
After reading my 8 point plan to better health and hopefully less migraines, please let me know if you think I need to add to this list. Leave your advice in the comments below. Thanks in advance.
– Skylar


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You may have seen our van trailers cruising around Northeast Ohio. We have well over 100 van trailers that are continually picking up and bringing in thousands of pallets to our plant everyday. We cover about a 100 mile radius from our corporate headquarters in Akron, Ohio, located just south of Cleveland!
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Pallets stacked in our own pallet world! We also have a 45,000 square foot building opening in a few months!
There are several sizes of pallets on the market, but one pallet is by far the most common size that we see. It is known as the GMA sized wooden pallet. The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) is a trade association of the food industry. It represents the world's largest-branded food, beverage, and consumer product companies. They have a standardized pallet size of 48*40. This pallet size represents over 30% of today's pallet market. While we do handle any size wooden pallet, these are the most common.
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Young Carers in Schools Wales
Welcome to Supporting Young Carers in Schools: A Step-by-step Guide for Leaders, Teachers and Non-teaching Staff, Wales edition.This resource has been written in association with teachers and school staff to help make the identification and support of young carers in schools as easy as possible.
It forms part of the Young Carers in Schools programme, a free England and Wales wide initiative making it as easy as possible for schools to support young carers and awarding good practice.
Together with the programme's free tools and resources, the Step-by-step Guide will help schools achieve National Young Carer recognition.
Who is the Step-by-step Guide for?
The Step-by-step Guide is for use in secondary and primary schools in Wales but could be easily adapted for use in the rest of the UK.
Schools are well situated to support young carers and, working in partnership with other agencies, to impact positively on their lives and their education. This toolkit provides an invaluable resource to help identify and support young carers in schools across Wales, and I urge schools to take advantage of it.
Kirsty Williams,
Cabinet Secretary for Education, Welsh Government
What does the Step-by-step Guide offer your school?
Many schools are delivering exceptional practice, making a real and positive difference to the young carers they support. Other schools have told us they want to achieve these excellent outcomes, but don't know where to begin. This Step-by-step Guide sets out ten key steps to implementing effective identification and support for young carers in schools.
Like other aspects of school life, the development of effective support for young carers is reliant on regular reviews of current provision and the identification of areas for continual improvement. The steps are therefore a cyclical process, which schools should engage with throughout the school year.
Why take part?
The Young Carers in Schools programme enables schools to:
- Gain national recognition for raising outcomes for young carers through the Young Carers in Schools Wales programme.
- Demonstrate to Estyn that your school is meeting the needs of young carers, specifically mentioned in the Inspection Guidance, 2016.
- Identify manageable steps to improve educational outcomes for this vulnerable pupil group – the programme breaks down the actions schools can take so that your school can prioritise what to do next.
What schools have told us about the impact of the prgramme
The outcomes from implementing the Young Carers in Schools programme in England have shown some impressive results not least in increasing young carers confidence, wellbeing, achievement and attainment. Pilot schools in Wales so far have seen a significant increase in the number of young carers identified since being the programme.
Making it as easy as possible for schools to support young carers
The Step-by-step Guide has been developed with teachers and school staff who understand the pressures that schools face to deliver the very wide range of demands placed upon them. As a result it is designed to be as flexible and helpful as possible.
Each step is accompanied by key information and practical tools, which schools can use and adapt to suit their school structure and local circumstances. All accompanying tools will be uploaded in the coming weeks but schools can make a start by completing the baseline review
Not all schools will need to use all the tools included. Some may find it more helpful to choose those that will help enhance the support they already offer to young carers and their families while others will want to simply start and build their activities over a number of years.
How can your school get involved?
- Download the Step by Step guide (below) and have a take a look at the accompanying tools (related content below)
- Complete a baseline reviewadolygiad o'r man cychwyn (Step 2, Tool 1) of your schools current provision for young carers to indentify strengths, weaknesses and priorities.
- Agree actions to be taken forward with your Senior Leadership Team.
- Contact your local authority, health board and young carers service to share your findings and see how they can support the programme.
- Complete a pledge on the interactive Schools Map – either in support of the Young Carers in School programme or as part of your own young carers work.
- You can blog, help raise awareness through Young Carers Awareness Day and encourage other schools to take part in the programme through your Cluster leads.
- Send us your contact details so we can help promote your work.
Identifying early means an improvement in achievement, attainment and wellbeing, if the right support is offered.
Phase 1
Since July 2016 Carers Trust Wales has been working with 8 pilot schools from across Wales to refine and adapt the young carers in schools programme. The outcome of this pilot has seen huge investment of time and commitment resulting in some very clear wins for not only the schools but young carers themselves. By working together with Estyn and Welsh Government we hope to further raise the profile of young carers within the education system to ensure their voices are heard.
Phase 2
Unlike England, the Young Carers in Schools programme in Wales is not an award scheme. The reasons for this are clear: Carers Trust Wales believes schools and young carers themselves are best placed to assess standards and challenge practice. Therefore, we are working to develop a National Framework to support peer reviews, offering local focus, encouraging reflective practice and supporting continuous development. Pilot models are already underway in South Wales led by Carers Trust South East Wales and EAS Consortia. We believe, together is the best way to encourage and support schools to achieve better and more sustainable outcomes for young carers. An update on the Peer Review Framework will be available later this year.
Got a question about the Young Carers in Schools Wales programme?
Contact Carers Trust Wales.