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About Me
Mia Taylor
Celebrity Social Media Manager
I'm passionate about what I do and love being at the center of the social space. I first wet my feet in the pool of social media at the spark of its existence and instantly felt driven to learn and experience everything I could in order to make it something from which I could make a living.
When Social Media Marketing started spreading like wildfire, I was fortunate enough to have had a lot of experience under my belt. Creating my own business as a Social Media Marketing professional just seemed like a no-brainer. It would allow me to use my strengths as a people-person and knowledge of marketing to help manage and grow online "brands" (individuals, celebrities, or companies) and meet the client's goals for growth and awareness.
In fact, it has done a lot more than just that. It has given me the opportunity to find time to write and travel, as well as manage my own online reputation. I write a lot about Social Media, but I also publish some more personal posts on my blog. Take a look around and connect with me on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Before working with celebrities, some of the clients I worked with were:
- William Morris Endeavor clientele
- The Pet Collective
- Jackson Hewitt Tax Preparation Services
- Magento Commerce (an eBay company)
- Pepperdine University
- Wingman Media
- Sit n' Sleep
- Easy Life Furniture
- Nascobal
- Getting Out By Going In 501c3
- Sentient Interactive
- Boston Medical Group
- dronestudios
- Revenge Is…


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NYC pulling down 'Don't Honk' signs
New York City's "Don't Honk" signs are coming down, but it is still against the law to use a car horn unnecessarily.
The city's Department of Transportation (DOT) has revealed all the signs will be removed by the end of the year.
According to the New York Times, city officials say the decision is part of an effort to de-clutter the streets of signs that are generally ignored.
Unnecessary honking carries a 350 US dollar (£223) fine but is rarely enforced.
The DOT says complaints about honking have declined by 63% since 2008.
But Gale Brewer, from New York City Council, said in a letter to the DOT: "I can't tell you how many requests I get for 'no honking' signs."
The signs were introduced during Mayor Ed Koch's administration.
PA Media

subset: commoncrawl


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300+ Free Flat Color Icons
You must be spoiled by expensive gifts and won't be impressed. Stop reading.
For the Rest of Us
Now that we are alone, let us give you something: 312 free icons for personal and commercial use. No credits required.
But hey, don't get spoiled too quickly. Next time, when we present you with a Tiffany ring, at least pretend you're impressed!
or view on Github
Good Boy License
We've released the icon pack under the Good Boy License. We invented it. Please do whatever your mom would approve of.
Permitted use
- Download in any format
- Change
- Fork on Github
Prohibited Use
- No tattoos
- No touching with unwashed hands
- No exchanging for drugs


text:
UC Berkeley Web Feature
|(BAP photos)
Green is the new blue, and other Elements of Cal Style 2004
Sample the styles of Berkeley students, from Fashion First to Whatever Works, in this Flash slide show
BERKELEY – To the untrained eye, UC Berkeley fashion hasn't changed much since last year, when the NewsCenter first attempted to nail down the "Elements of Cal Style." The No. 1 campus style commandment is still "Comfort first," and (unpredictable weather aside) Sproul Plaza is still a parade of mostly low-rise jeans, Cal sweatshirts and flip-flops.
But then, my fashion eye is a bit myopic. In fact, I could be classified as legally blind where style is concerned. This affliction started young, with an affection for hot-pink-and-turquoise combinations, and abated only after I discovered you can almost never go wrong with blue jeans and a black top.
Sometimes you have to know when to call in the experts. Jeana Bisnar of Berkeley's Fashion and Student Trends came to my rescue. FAST, a new-ish student club now in its second year, is organized around an annual spring fashion show of clothes designed by its members. (You can check out photos of the spring 2004 show on FAST's sophisticated, stylish website.) About 30 core members meet once a week to plan the show and debate the merits of Olivier Theyskins versus Carolina Herrera.
Bisnar, a third-year business administration major, had several pieces in last spring's show. As FAST's director of industry trends, she gets first dibs on the club's subscription to Women's Wear Daily, and makes regular presentations to the group about what's hot, as indicated by the runway shows.Casual sects
For a few hours on a cold November day, Bisnar sat with me at Sproul Plaza and dissected the outfits of passersby. "One of the things that makes Berkeley so Berkeley is comfort," she said. "It's not ranked quite as highly at other schools. Here, people feel like you can get way with more. I've even seen pajamas and slippers on campus." Sure enough, as we were sipping our coffees, a bed-headed, PJ-clad student strode by (right).
After comfort, Berkeley style is mostly about mixing mainstream fashion with vintage - Gap jeans with a vintage shirt and belt, say. That goes for both men and women. "Women are not more fashionable than men on this campus," Bisnar argued. "Men care as much, but they are less likely to admit it."
For style-conscious men, she said, the look this season is about printed T-shirts under blazers or jackets, with slightly pushed-up sleeves.
"But that's so … '80s!" I gasped as Bisnar pointed to an appropriate example.
"Oh yes, the '80s are definitely starting to make a comeback," she smiled. With her guidance, I saw the disturbing evidence: the torn miniskirts with black leggings, leg warmers, and layered, big hairstyles. Clearly fashion, like history, is doomed to be repeated — especially by those who didn't have to live through a particular tragic era.A brief history of jeans
At least some '80s looks, like pastel-blue jeans, haven't yet made a comeback. Bisnar gave me a quick lesson in today's denim. "It's gone beyond color," she explained. The '80s were about experimenting with light jeans; the early '90s were all about acid wash, and then darker jeans came into style. Now, apparently, it's about having a unique wash, the individual look that manufacturers give each pair. "Visible vertical grains are in style, and so are the 'dirty' color stains like some Diesel jeans have. Two-tone jeans are increasingly popular, especially the Seven brand," she said. "The best jeans have texture, timbre - I have to use musical terms to convey it."
The low-rise style is still popular among women. Thankfully, at least to some over-30 observers, the practice of exposing one's midriff and nether cleavage appears on its way out, necessitating longer shirts.
Bisnar has noticed female students are wearing more skirts than usual, heralding a return to femininity on campus. As it was a nippy day, many skirts we saw were paired with the sheepskin, Sasquatch-like footwear favored by the cold and trendy. "Uggs are making a bit of a comeback," allowed Bisnar, "but the boots every girl wants this season tend to be dressier leather boots with high, thick heels. Last year's stiletto-heeled boots were just not that comfortable." And if you're wearing cowboy boots with jeans tucked into them, you're ahead of the curve - that's straight from the spring runways.
Ballerina flats were all the rage in the summer, but only a few hardy soles are wearing them now that the weather has turned colder, and they're usually paired with leg warmers. "Knee socks have never been a Berkeley thing," shrugged the expert. "Maybe because they're too associated with Catholic schoolgirls."Judging a look by its jacket
The cold mornings have also ushered in a coat-of-the-moment for women: a shrunken, fitted blazer. "Blazers hit the Berkeley campus earlier than elsewhere," Bisnar said, as evidenced by how many of them can now be found in local trade-in stores like Buffalo Exchange. This year's desirable version has slightly puffier sleeves and is shorter in the waist. The most stylish boast variations on the traditional folded-down collar, like a mandarin collar or one that fastens; some have a sewn-in cloth belt over a flared bottom.
Denim jackets, except very fitted ones with cloth or shearling collars and linings, are on their way out, as are corduroy jackets of any kind. And echoing the '80s resurgence, there's been a comeback of those zip-up, Member's Only-style jackets with fabric epaulets.
The hot color of the moment, Bisnar said, is green - ranging from the lime and Kelly greens of the '80s to a soft, military olive. "There are so many more green shades to choose from than there usually are," she raved. "It's like the explosion in denim colors."
Other nuggets Bisnar shared: V-necks have disappeared; this season's scarves are a little longer, with fewer tassels; purses are bigger; and Apple's iPod music players continue to rate No. 1 as must-have fashion accessories. The ads for iPods are likely behind another fashion trend: T-shirts printed with big, silhouetted photos or graphic art.
And while most students will buy a new backpack every year, aware that it's a constant part of their look, nobody seems to care about their umbrellas. "Some things just evade style," shrugs Bisnar.
Fewer than one might think, apparently.
• Watch the slideshow: The Elements of Cal Style 2004


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(Bloomberg) Euro-area finance ministers hurled abuse at Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis behind closed doors as they shut down his bid to find a shortcut to releasing financial aid.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch chairman of the euro-zone finance chiefs' group, categorically ruled out making a partial aid payment in exchange for a narrower program of reforms after a stormy meeting in Riga, Latvia, in which Varoufakis was heavily criticized by his euro-area colleagues over his failure to deliver economic reforms.
Euro-area finance chiefs said Varoufakis's handling of the talks was irresponsible and accused him of being a time-waster, a gambler and an amateur, a person familiar with the conversations said, asking not to be named because the discussions were private.
"It was a very critical discussion and it showed a great sense of urgency around the room," Dijsselbloem said at a press conference after the meeting. Asked if there was any chance of a partial disbursement, he said, "The answer can be very short: No."
Varoufakis said the two sides have come "much closer together" and Greece is aiming for a deal as soon as possible.
Draghi Pressure
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi added to the pressure on the Greek finance chief warning that policy makers may review the conditions of the emergency funding keeping his country's banks afloat.
Euro-area governors will "carefully monitor" Greek banks' collateral when borrowing from the Bank of Greece, Draghi said, to take into account the "change in the environment.
"The higher are the yields, the bigger is the volatility, the more collateral gets destroyed," he said. "Time is running out as the president of the Eurogroup said, and speed is of the essence."
The euro erased an advance against the dollar on the remarks. The single currency had gained earlier after Kathimerini newspaper reported that Greece secured 450 million euros from local authorities to boost government coffers.
The euro was little changed at $1.0819 at 2:58 p.m. in London after gaining as much as 0.7 percent. The common currency was at 129.32 yen after reaching 130.11 yen earlier on Friday.
Bypass Veto
The 19-nation bloc's finance ministers were riled after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tried to bypass their veto on financial aid with an appeal to Angela Merkel on Thursday. Tsipras sought to circumvent the finance ministers' authority, pleading his case with the German Chancellor and French President Francois Hollande on the sidelines of a summit on immigration in Brussels.
Under euro-area procedures, it's the finance ministers who have to sign off on any aid disbursement and Merkel said last month she's not prepared to override those controls.
"I would describe today's meeting as a complete breakdown in communication with Greece," Maltese Finance Minister Edward Scicluna said.
Varoufakis, an economist whose expertise is game theory, started irritating his euro-area counterparts almost as soon as he became finance minister under Greece's Syriza-led government in January.
National finance chiefs have since expressed frustration over what they see as his inflammatory public remarks, accusing him of sending mixed messages about his intentions, and providing insufficient detail on Greece's deteriorating financial predicament. He annoyed Italian government officials when he said on Feb. 8 that even Italy was at risk of bankruptcy.
Varoufakis described Friday's meeting as "intense."
"The cost of no solution would be enormous, not only for us but also for all," he told reporters at the end of the talks.


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FTC Obtains Court Order Halting Credit Repair Scheme
Jul 17, 2008 . The FTC's complaint alleges that Payneless Credit Repair, LLC and its owner, Lesley L. Payne, both located in Richardson, Texas, make the .
Complaint for Injunctive and Other Equitable Relief
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Flavored Wheat Ales
93 Éphémère Apple, Unibroue (Canada). 5.5% ABV (6/08)
Slightly hazy old gold color. Perfumed ripe green apple and delicate spice aromas. A rich, frothy entry leads to a fruity medium body of sweet green apple and sweet cream of wheat flavors. Finishes with a long, tangy green apple and spice fade. Great purity of fruit flavor and sure to please the crowd and connoisseur; serve with aged cheddar.
89 Blueberry Wheat Ale, Marin Brewing Co. (CA). 5% ABV (6/08)
Clear golden amber color. Peppery pea pod, violet candy, and blueberry taffy aromas. A soft, silky entry leads to a spicy fruity-yet-dry medium-to-full body of peach and apricot cider, blueberry pie crust, dried flowers and honey flavors. Finishes with a tangy stone and berry fruit and citrus peel fade with delicate wisp of spice. A dainty and delightful fruit beer.
88 Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat, The Boston Beer Co. (MA). 5.4% ABV (6/08)
Pale amber color with a lacy head. Rich cherry lozenge and marzipan aromas follow through on a round, silky entry to a fruity-yet-dry medium body with light praline and pastry dough accents. Finishes with a warm buttery cherry cobbler fade. A fun cherry confection; serve with chocolates.
88 Raspberry Wheat Ale , Garrison Brewing Company (Canada). 4.6% ABV (7/06)
Brilliant deep amber color. Ripe raspberry, caramel, and toast aromas. A frothy entry leads to a dry-yet-fruity medium-bodied palate with toasted wheat bread and mild raspberry coulis flavors. Finishes with a pleasant fruit, yeast, and toast fade. Very quaffable and nicely balanced.
87 Long Shot Boysenberry Wheat, The Boston Beer Co. (MA). 5.3% ABV (6/08)
Amber with a lacy white head. Rich boysenberry pie aromas follow through on round, velvety entry to a fruity medium-full body great purity, chewy caramel drizzled berry muffin-like malt and a touch of violet candy. Finishes with a floral, spicy boysenberry, blueberry skin, and violet water fade. An intense and interesting berry treat.
86 Track Town Honey Orange Wheat, Eugene City Brewery (OR). 5.2% ABV (6/08)
Bright golden amber color. Orange caramel and raisin bread aromas follow through on a round entry to a fruity medium body with sweet buttercream accents. Finishes with a orange caramel nut fudge fade. A pleasant quaffer.
86 Saranac Summer Ale, Matt Brewing Co. (USA). 5.2% ABV (6/06)
Brilliant golden amber color. Delicately perfumed orange blossom and clover honey aromas. A round frothy entry leads to a fruity medium-bodied palate with orange water, wheat bread dough, lemon rind, and fine brown spices. Finishes with a citrus, toast, and mild spice and herb fade.
86 Saranac Pommegranate Wheat, Matt Brewing Co. (NY). 4.7% ABV (6/07)
Almost clear pale amber color. Nut bread dough and honeydew melon aromas. A round supple entry leads to a fruity medium-to-full body of spicy caramel coated toast and sweet casaba melon and pomegranate flavors. Finishes with and nutty earthy fade and lingering fruity, loganberry-like sweetness. Very refreshing and not overdone in the flavoring.
85 Raspberry Ale , Oxford Brewing Co. (MD). 5.2% ABV (6/06)
Brilliant light amber color. Sweet raspberry sherbet and toast aromas. A soft frothy entry leads to fruity sweet light-to medium-bodied palate with pleasant raspberry and honeyed toast flavors. Finishes on a dry-yet-fruity toasty note with a touch of citrus peel. Nice scale and balance makes for a tasty treat. Chill down and drink up.
85 Mana Wheat, Maui Brewing Co. (HI). 5% ABV (6/08)
Hazy honey gold color. Earthy herbal honey and dried pineapple aromas. A round entry leads to a dry-yet-fruity medium-to-full body of pineapple upside down cake, floral honey, lemon verbena, and tart orange marmalade flavors. Finishes with a tangy, bittersweet dried white flower, pineapple skin, and dried honey fade. Curious.
85 Golden Leaf Honey Wheat, City Brewing Co. (WI). 5.1% ABV (6/07)
Hazy golden amber color. Caramel custard, roasted nuts, golden raisin, and vibrant raw honeycomb aromas. a supple entry leads to a frothy medium-to-full body of dried citrus, nutty toast, raw honey, and delicate spice flavors. Finishes with a tangy, dried peach and citrus fade with lingering waxy honeycomb flavors. Interesting.


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Moving. It is an interesting thing. For example…
The Tuesday before my graduation on Friday and my moving day on Saturday I cried over classmates I had only weeks ago thought I'd never miss. Suddenly old memories were flooding my brain as the tears flew down my face and I realized that all my talk was a lie. I really would miss these people and this stage of my life. I was moving on and that is so exciting but I couldn't neglect to remember this beautiful time that was my life. I loved going to school from 8-4, even though I said I hated it. I liked getting up with a purpose in the morning and knowing I would see my classmates. Although we didn't always get along, it was nice to know that a normalness awaited at school. My classmates that Tuesday night all reminescied too, and talked about many things. Fears, anxiousness, cuss words, cancer struggles, friend struggle, depression, suicidal thoughts, ect. were all discussed. Usually we wouldn;t, but I think everyone on that trip realized we were a disfunctional family all along.
Anyhow, even though I cried that night I also had fun that week. I jumped in a lake, I made up with people I always thought I'd hate, and I came to terms with leaving. At graduation during the video they play with the sad music and baby pictures made me cry because I could almost see these people's stories played out on that screen. We all had become real grown ups, actual adults. It was time to go. Yet, I cried through the whole video. I looked across and locked eyes with classmates who shook their head at me or smiled a smile that made me cry harder. But once the video was over, and it was time to walk across the stage, I felt that strength come back in my system.
I was ready.
I had cried my tears, I had hugged and taken pictures, I had done my time. It was time to get that diploma. So I walked across and got cheers of applause. I got flowers and gave them away. I got a lei that made the headmaster question me on stage which made me laugh. I threw up my hat and said PEACE to high school. My boyfriend spun me around like crazy and hugged me tight. My friends came and gave me hugs and congrats. I said my thank yous and gave my last drops of good byes. And I left.
The next day I got up and got ready to leave. All my boxes were packed, all my items were ready. At 530 on a Saturday afternoon, I said goodbye to my old bed, my old room, my old house, my old life. And I got in my car and drove to say goodbye to my bestest friend. Then I left Enid for good.
See, where did all of those tears go? I was truly ready to go and leave and move on. I had prepared my mind and heart and soul and calmed my storm that Tuesday night and Friday night said good bye. I end again by saying moving is a funny thing. I'm glad I'm here. I find it hard to miss old things because I am happy where I am. Yet I loved that time in my life.
This is my toast to my old life. Cheers.


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It's always an honour to speak at an IAB event because the audience are seasoned marketing professionals. And for that reason, it can also be a little daunting – like a Dentist performing a root canal on a room full of Dentists. Which also makes it more gratifying when the talks goes well. The most tweeted talking point was this GIF
"People don't hate advertising they hate terrible advertising."
In recent years I've been asked several times about the future of advertising under the threat of Ad Blockers. My reply has been consistent – people don't hate ads, they hate terrible ads. The rise of ad blockers can be attributed to terrible ads that are interrupting users online experience to the point where they want them blocked. The answer to the threat of ad blockers is "make better ads". Compare the feeling you get when you're targeted with a well-thought out piece of content marketing that adds value to your timeline. These might include:
- SuperValu's recipes
- KBC's localised community guides
- Electric Ireland's Smarter Living series
Now compare that to the latest interstitial you were served – that thing that jumped in your face while you were trying to read an article! The customer experiences with your brand's advertising differ vastly.
People don't hate ads, they hate terrible ads – "An interstitual is like an unwanted bee in your car, you just want to swath it away" – @Cian_Corbett #iabconnect @iabireland pic.twitter.com/IsIZhkDODE
— Spark Foundry IRL (@SparkIRL) April 12, 2018
It was an absolute pleasure speaking at IAB's event and I promise I'll have another viral GIF if they invite me to speak again 🙂


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Weaving together various observations and musings -- usually pertaining to aspects of Hong Kong (life) but sometimes beyond.
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Highlights of a Hong Kong Island hike with three very cool lizard spottings :)
4 comments:
- Anonymous said...
Hi There,
In the Pokfulam Reservoir area, if the season is right, you might be able to spot fireflies at night.
Other than that, there would usually be a full choir of insects and frogs of all kinds in the evenings.
- May 7, 2017 at 9:49:00 PM GMT+8
- YTSL said...
Hi T --
Fireflies at night in the Pokfulam Reservoir area sounds cool! Must say that I've long been amazed at the diversity of fauna that can be found around Victoria Peak (too). It seems that pretty much every outing in the area yields some cool critter spottings. :)
- May 7, 2017 at 11:21:00 PM GMT+8
- peppylady (Dora) said...
In second photo do I see a snake...Coffee is on
- May 8, 2017 at 10:20:00 AM GMT+8
- YTSL said...
Hi peppylady --
I have a good idea what you think you're seeing but that's actually just a very twisty thin tree trunk/branch. The real star of the show is to its right... ;b
- May 8, 2017 at 11:07:00 AM GMT+8


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The Experience
Travel to the Lodge
We make getting to Katmai Lodge fast and easy. Our changeover days are Saturday and Wednesday. On many of those days we offer a private charter from Anchorage directly to our 5,000 foot runway at the lodge. The flight takes about an hour and and treats passengers to some beautiful Alaskan scenery. On those days when the charter is not scheduled, we will arrange for your travel from Anchorage through the town of King Salmon, which is the closest commercial airport. We will meet you at the airport and transport you to the lodge on our 10 passenger DeHavilland Otter. After a short 20 minute flight over the tundra, we arrive at our private runway.
Your Arrival
Upon your arrival, our team of friendly staff will deliver your luggage to your cozy cabin. After a brief tour and orientation you will be taken to the Main Lodge to pick up your fishing license which has already been filled out and ready to sign. Take some time settling in, or head down to the main lodge for a chance to relax and take in the sights of the lodge.
After you check-in, we can have you on the water fishing following a brunch buffet!
Fishing Gear
Before you hit the river in search for your prized catch, you'll head over to our supply room with your guide to get boots and waders for your trip. Once you are properly fitted for your turnouts, you will head to the docks.
Based on the kind of fishing you wish to do, your guide will prepare rods, reels & lures for your entire group and have them prepared for you when you head out to fish.
Our staff will help you every step of the way toward getting on the river and beginning your adventure!
Activities at the Lodge
At a place as isolated and beautiful as Katmai Lodge, you don't have to be a world class fisherman to enjoy yourself. There are several activities at Katmai Lodge Alaska for the non-fisherman!
- Darts, Books, WiFi and Card & Board Games available in the Main Lodge
- Alaskan Steam Sauna
- Gift shop and Clothing store
- Boat Rides & Wildlife Viewing
- Flyouts to Brooks National park
- Our Main Lodge offers a fully stocked fridge of soft drinks, adult beverages and an honor bar in the evening.
Fly Tying
All of our guides are well practiced in the art of fly tying. Your guide will be happy to teach you the basics , walk you through building the fly and demonstrate what materials and colors can be used to create the perfect fly for whatever species you are fishing for. Once you learn the basics, you can choose from a wide variety of materials provided for your use. All our guides are eager to help those interested in learning this craft and happy to demonstrate techniques and styles.
The Best Fishing in Alaska
From those just learning to fish to advanced anglers, there is no place more enjoyable and productive to fish than a boat ride through hundreds of miles of fishable water outside our lodge, or a flyout to tributaries which feed the Alagnak. Our guests can fish from the boat and gravel bars, or wade- whichever choice the conditions call for. All five species of Pacific Salmon run in the Alagnak. More information about fishing.
The Alagnak is a spey fisherman's paradise. Wide areas for wading and casting make it the perfect river for landing those salmon on the fly with your double hander! Many of our guides are proficient at spey casting and enjoy helping teach the technique.
Our professional guide staff knows where and how to access the different types of fish throughout the river. All our guides are US Coast Guard/CPR/First Aid certified and can both challenge the seasoned angler and teach the novice to experience the most diverse fishing imaginable.
Wildlife Beyond your Wildest Dreams
Alaska offers an abundant variety of wildlife, which can be experienced all along the river. Sightings of brown bears, moose, wolves, otters and American Bald Eagles to name a few, are a real highlight to any trip.
For a very unique experience, the world famous Brooks Falls at Katmai National Park is truly a must-see. Here, you can watch one of the largest concentrations of Alaskan Brown Bears as they intercept the Sockeye salmon on their migration over Brooks Falls.
During booking or once you are at the lodge, you have the option to purchase of these half day flyout trips to Brook Falls.
Dining & Meals
Our in-house chef prepares every meal with grace and skill. Dining at Katmai Lodge really is one of the very special aspects of your visit.
Each meal, you will have your choice of appetizer, main course & dessert.
Taking Home the Catch
Your experience at Katmai Lodge will be one you'll remember the rest of your life and will want to share with your family and friends. At the end of your stay our guides will professionally vacuum seal and pack up to 50 pounds of your catch for you to take home and share.
As a parting gift from us, you will receive a Katmai Lodge USB drive full of photos of your trip and your fellow fishermen that week. Those back home are sure to enjoy both the salmon and images!
"Not only the Best Fishing in Alaska, but in the World! Our group was very impressed and have never experienced anything like it ever! We are all looking forward to returning next year!" -Mike B.
"Great fishing lodge operated by outstanding people. Everyone goes out of their way to make you feel comfortable, safe and successful." -Fredrick R.
"Katmai Lodge – many return trips to paradise! I've fished a lot of different places, but find myself always wanting to go back to Katmai for a number of reasons." -Bruce H.


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Yes yes, last weekend's box office was the worst since after the 9/11 attacks. Normally cumulative weekend box office doesn't mean a damn thing, but this weekend deserves study as a prime example of missed opportunities. The actual reasons for this are interesting for two reasons. A) Just like 9/11, the six degrees-of-separation reason is once again rooted in an act of mass violence. Had the Aurora shootings not occurred on July 20th or had Warner Bros. shown a token amount of backbone, The Gangster Squad would have been the big opener of the weekend and surely would have delivered a better debut than The Words, which turned out to be the sole truly wide release. Moreover, the weekend shows us how much we've become accustomed to weekly blockbuster opening weekends each and every frame. But the real question of last weekend is why didn't any studio bother to move a token major action release onto the September 7th slot. Yes, I know Lionsgate randomly dumped The Cold Light of Day onto 1,500 screens with next-to-no advertising, but considering the coming storm of major genre fare over just the next three weeks, you have to wonder why a studio, any studio, didn't think to jump into the near-vacant slot and avoid the coming storm.
There are four major studio releases opening next weekend, plus the nationwide expansion of The Master. Warner Bros. is the one who vacated the slot in the first place, so they'd have been a likely contender to shift the Clint Eastwood/Amy Adams baseball drama Trouble With the Curve, although the film arguably qualifies as adult counter-programming against the pure genre fare. The House At the End of the Street feels like a complete loser, with last-minute press screenings and absolutely no buzz other than the fact that Jennifer Lawrence apparently shot it back when she had less on her plate. But we also see two hard-R action pictures opening directly against each other, with Lionsgate's Dredd 3D squaring off against the found-footage cop drama End of Watch from Open Road. The next two weekends see two major action entries opening one after another, with the allegedly fantastic Looper (seeing it on the 24th) opening against the animated Hotel Transylvania (which my daughter wants to see) and the 'school vouchers are *awesome*!' propaganda Won't Back Down. The next week sees the black-and-white claymation Tim Burton remake Frankenweenie (which my daughter does not want to see) squaring off against a movie that would have dominated last weekend, Liam Neeson's Taken 2. That's ten (10!) major studio releases in just three weekends, while September 7th was occupied only by The Words and uh... The Cold Light of Day (which isn't that bad, so check out the DVD in a few months).
Look, I know there is money and complication that comes with moving release dates. But surely someone should have released that releasing a bunch of commercially iffy B-movie action pictures all on top of each other is a smart idea? As they say in the restaurant business, it's all about 'location, location, location'. And Warner Bros.' um... not-so-brave choice to reshoot and reschedule The Gangster Squad left a major movie going weekend (because there really are only a few "bad" weekends at this point) and not a single studio jumped at it. And now, at the very least, Looper, Dredd, End of Watch, and Taken 2 will surely leave money on the table, especially the first three (Taken 2 has the advantage of being last and being a sequel to a popular original). The irony of this is that studios were possibly afraid of positioning a violent guns-and-blood picture on a weekend affected by a mass shooting. Yet absent a guns-and-blood action picture on last weekend's slate, the total weekend box office (which is usually an irrelevant stat) plummeted to record low levels.
As always, it's the movies, the individual films that perform in an individual result. But when you don't have *any* movies on a given weekend, you have to expect low overall moviegoing as a result. And when you have three weeks with too many variations on the same product, you're going to have to expect all respective action pictures to suffer. Hollywood had a chance to prevent both scenarios yet chose not to.


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The card was released by health minister Ajay Chandrakar in the presence of hospital chairman Dr Devi Prasad Shetty and was handed over to Senior Citizens Association president GGK Murthy.
The card is valid for one year and will be renewed thereafter. "Our aim is to reach out to more than one lakh senior citizens through this initiative," facility director Vineet Saini said. "The cards can also be collected by anyone above the age of 60 by showing their identity card for age proof at the hospital," he added. Hospital chairman Shetty said the card is key to better health management, especially among the elderly, as it helps prevent and manage chronic conditions, physical and social environments.
Padamshree Dr Arun T Dabake, health services director Prasanna R, AIIMS director Nitin Nagarkar, AIIMS deputy director Neeresh Shamra, Brig J. S. Sandhu of Chhatisgarh Odisha Suba area (COSA) of Indian Army, DME Dr AK Chandrakar were among those present.
To mark World Heart Day, a walkathon was organized from Shaheed Bhagat Singh square.


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Will Dynamo confirm the good form against ailing Darmstadt?
Uwe Neuhaus seems to have finally found the winning formula for Dynamo. It's almost certain that Dresden will play again in a 4-4-2 system. Röser and new signing Koné complement each other in attack — the first is good at creating space, the latter has great pace to run into space. Dynamo has shown a variable offensive game, starting the buildup play from the defensive line, luring the opponent into high pressing and suddenly accelerating in the free space. They have enough quality to do this on the wings or through the middle, or even play the long passes to Röser, who creates space for Koné. Very important to note is that Uwe Neuhaus also has a lot of quality on the bench to put pressure on the starters.
Darmstadt plays in a 4-2-3-1 system, with Ji on the ten, trying to move between the opposition's lines to create numerical advantage or find space to play the ball. This way they created some good chances lately, but their finishing rate is extremely poor. When playing against the ball, Darmstadt regroups in a 4-4-2 system, Ji joining Platte for the early pressing, with the wingers (Jones and Kempe) dropping in line with the double six. Despite satisfying appearances lately, Darmstadt didn't win enough points because of the weak defense (only 3 clean sheets in 24 rounds and an average of allowed scoring chances away from home greater than 6). And they still have a lot of problems in this area. The double six, without stabilizer Niemeyer (injured), has moments when looks like a foreign part of the team, with poor positioning and not enough defensive support. Darmstadt's attacking style is based on balls down the flanks and lots of crosses into the box, or long passes for the strong Platte or Ji.
It will to be exciting to see whether Dynamo's elaborate passing game will overcome Darmstadt's tactics based on high balls and strength, or it's going to be the other way around.
Missing players
Dynamo Dresden: Testroet, Gonther, Hartmann (injured)
SV Darmstadt: Niemeyer, Sirigu (injured), Bregerie, Medojevic (questionable), Höhn, Großkreutz (suspended)
Possible lineups and team shapes
Serban Ciulei
Latest posts by Serban Ciulei (see all)
- FC Sankt Pauli 2018 – 2019 Season Preview – Which way for Die Kiezkickers? - July 31, 2018
- Erzgebirge Aue – Dynamo Dresden review - May 9, 2018
- Erzgebirge Aue – Dynamo Dresden preview - May 5, 2018


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Join Gabriel Corbett for an in-depth discussion in this video Building the rough enclosure shape, part of Designing a Sheet Metal Enclosure with SOLIDWORKS.
Before we get start building the enclosure, let's take a look at the final project. You can see here I've got a sheet metal enclosure that has a base and a cover. The cover's in green the base is dark gray or black. And you can see I can spin this thing around now. We're missing some of the hardware and we haven't added in kind of pims or the circuit board inside here, but this is just the basic enclosure shape and how we can design it. Now what makes this enclosure a little bit special is I have the ability to actually change this all based on equations. So what I can so is I can click on this part here, click on edit part, come over here to the equations.
And you can see I've got a few equations already set up here, so. W for width, h for height, l for length and then I got a couple of other variables that are based upon that or things like radius over here, foot width, tab width. Anyways, I can change any of these values I want, so up here; let's go ahead and change the width. Instead of being 6, let's go ahead and make it 3. And then instead of the length being 8, it's going to make that four, 'Kay, click OK. Go head and continue here. You can see the entire closure automatically changes sizes and scales, and beyond that notice the amount of little vent holes in the size actually.
Adjusted as well. So it's very powerful enclosure here. And if you design enclosure like this from the beginning, then you can kind of reuse that same shape and design multiple times over. And that is kind of the situation we are in right now, because you can see there's no holes for special deconnectors or anything like that. it's really just a basic enclosure that you can use for any number of projects. And I can scale and change the size of it as freely as I want. Now let's go back and change those values back again. Go back over here to collision values, click into here, let's type in six and this one here let's type in back in eight.
It's going to expand back out, there it is, okay. Now we're ready to get started so go ahead and close this down. Now I'm going to jump over to a basic sketch that I have open up already. And you can see here this is on the right plane. And I just have a couple lines laid out. And that's going to be the basis for our enclosure. Now I also like to sometimes just add a couple center lines into this design. Just to make sure and kind of visual the shape we're working with. Now, let's go ahead and add a couple dimensions. Now I could dimension from this side to this side, but I know that I'm going to be using some symmetry in my design, so I want to mirror these over, so really I'm only going to design one quarter of this enclosure and then use the Mirror command to build the full enclosure.
So in this case, I'm going to make use of the Double Dimensioning command. Click over here. And then click on this center line. It only works on center lines but as soon as I go past that center line, you can see that dimension doubles. That's exactly what I want. And over here I can type in that value. Now remember we just looked at the value and was six inches. Now I could easily type in six inches or in this case here, I could just click on the equals sign and then give it a value. So in this case here I'm going to say equal to w. Click OK and do you want to create a new global variable called W and i guess we do.
Now type in 6 inches and we have assigned that six inch value to the global variable W. Click OK then you could see there is little sigma in front of the six showing that equation driven then you are going do the same thing with the height. In this case here, I'm just going to say "equals H" and instead of clicking on enter, I can just click on this little global variable icon here, turn that into a variable, and then click in "1 inch." There it is. Okay. Now, all the lines are fully defined. Now I'm ready to create my base flange. So go over here to sheet metal, and click on base flange tab.
You can see I can drag that value out, if I need to. And of course, in here, we can also put in a value. In this case here, I'm going to say equals. Now, I could link to a global variable. We already have a couple. Or I can create my own. Now, this value here happens to be only half of the length of the enclosure. So we can say this is going to be, maybe. L, length half. Click on the icon, and this case here, we're going to say this is equal to 4. Now, we're going to go back and adjust that later, but in this case, we should be good to go.
So, there's four inches. That's the start of our enclosure. Now, notice, the origin is right there in the center of the design. And, I'm going to go up here to view and make sure I'm showing my origin, so I can keep track of where that origin is. Throughout my design. Now, let's continue on here and let's add a couple taps. So, I'm going to click on the top, go ahead and come over to sketch, start a sketch, I'm going to use a couple basic tools. First one is going to be the rectangle tool, click on the bottom corner here, just bring that up; click and then what I want to do is, because I'm going to want to add a lot of dimensions that aren't needed.
I just want to grab this point here and drag that up to that corner, and just snap that on there. Notice that turned black. Its fully defined. Now all we need here is just the length from here to here to def, fully define that rectangle. Let's go ahead and add a dimension from here to there, and in this case here, I'm going to call it tab width. So I'm going to say equals tab W. Set up the global variable and then give it a value .625. Okay. Looks good. And let's go ahead up to sheet metal.
Base flange tab. Just going to add that to our design. Great. Now a couple other thing we're going to need to do. We're going to add some radiuses. First, let's go up to features. Click on fill it. And in this case here, for the fill it variable. Let's go ahead and click on equals, and I'm going to say R. I'm going to create that variable and I'm going to say it's going to be 0.375. Great, click on this edge here, and this edge up here. Click OK. Great. Now, I've got these two edges filletted and they're looking pretty good. Anytime you want to go back and take a look at your variables, you can go right here to the equations or over here on the right you can always say right-click and say manage equations.
That's going to open up everything we've created so far. It also gives you the opportunity to create some equations ahead of time if you know you're going to use them. When you're happy with what you have, click okay. Now let's jump back over here. Start a sketch. And in this case, I'm going to go and start a sketch right on that corner right, because I want to make sure that's where that material's going to be coming down. Bring that down to this corner. And let's go grab a rectangle tool, so grab the rectangle. Start on that corner here, and I want us to create a little pole in the sheet metal, cause what I want to do is create a little tongue or a tab on the cover that's going to fit in to this hole, that's going to allow us to not use as many pieces of hardware.
The width of this; let's go ahead and define a width. Now anytime you're working with sheet metal, there's a few variables that are already pre-defined. So I'm going to say this is equal to global variable, there's always one called thickness; if you choose, if you're working inside of sheet metal. Choose thickness and then I'll just add a little bit to it, so thickness plus .020. So 20,000th of extra material above and beyond the thickness, and that's totally fine to build an equation right in the input bar. Click on enter. Now how about the width. Again let's add ourselves a center line so I can use that double dimensioning tool.
Come back up here. Click on this line here to that line there. And I know that my tongue width wants to be three quarters of an inch wide. So I'm going to say .75. Plus, and I probably want about 20,000 to either side, so I can say 0.02 plus 0.02 or I could have 0.040. The point is I want to illustrate here is you can use this as kind of a little bit of a calculator when you're building that. When you're happy with it, click OK. And it just does that math for you. Now, that math wasn't really that hard.
But sometimes, you're working on very complicated equations. And it's a real time saver to be able to type that right into the input bar and have it calculated out for you. Let's also add the hole in the corner. So, we want to have a hole that's going to be able to. Screw this enclosure down to the table or wall or wherever you'll be mounting it to, and let's go ahead and add that in right now. Now dimensioning, we can dimension things from the center line for some cases, but other times we want to dimension things from the outside edge. In this case here, we might be changing the size of that enclosure, so I want to make sure that I'm tying this in to the outside edge.
In this case, let's make it half-inch. And from our hole to the edge, let's make it 0.3, and then our hole diameter is going to be 0.25. That my change, so instead let's go ahead and change it and create a variable. So we'll call it Hole. And then we'll assign that variable 0.25. There it is, and let's go ahead and do a cut, so Features > Extruded Cut, and let's link to thickness, so it just cuts all the way through that sheet metal.
Click OK. Alright, we're looking pretty good here. Now, it's time to jump over and start working on the cover. Then we'll build an assembly and we can continue on developing both the parts at the same time in an in context assembly.
- Working with the Base and Flange tools
- Building the rough enclosure shape
- Designing the cover
- Adding vents
- Adding components
- Cutting holes for connectors
- Adding graphics
- Making assembly drawings


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It was a long meeting on Thursday and I have to say this surprised me because it started off with Mayor Helps suggesting that more than half the agenda items go on the Consent Agenda (e.g., get passed with no discussion). The meeting still ended up being a long one because of how the remaining items were presented by staff, which is to say, had the issues been presented differently the resulting meeting would have been more efficient and more coherent.
If you're interested 5 Hours and 48 minutes of GPC video is here.
Of note is that Councillors Coleman & Isitt were absent as they were attending FCM Annual Conference & Trade Show. It appears as though Isitt was keeping track of things by following my twitter feed so that was fun for me!
What all Went on the Consent Agenda?
The 2015 1st Quarter Budget Update Report
Quadra Heights Parks Improvements – PPT Deck
Vic West Park Improvements Engagement Plan – PPT Deck
Agreement with Township of Esquimalt
Liquor License Applications Bard and Banker and Irish Times Pub
Airspace Parcel – 2300 Dowler Place
BC Seniors Games – To host 2017 Games
My thoughts on this list of items (e.g., the consent agenda) that got passed forward to Council with no discussion and probably won't get discussed at Council, is that the Vic West Park Improvements and the BC Seniors Games item should not have been part of it.
Because they warranted discussion.
Vic West Park Engagement Plan should have been discussed from a procedural perspective so that there would be a public presentation on record of the process that local residents could expect to be engaged in specific to a local parks. And I say this because, when no public presentation is made and no public conversation is had there is less to report on and encourage interest from a public media perspective.
BC Seniors Games should have been discussed because the Business Plan for the games that was part of the agenda demonstrates the operational complexities of coordinating things like the BC Seniors Games. Furthermore, my take on the "notes" document also included in the agenda is that GPC agreed without discussion to submit a bid of interest for hosting the 2017 games and that this bid will actually cost the City $60,000.
Delegation – BC Transit
I found the BC Transit presentation really interesting. I learned that they are actually a Crown Corporation and that transit services are provided through a 50/50 cost sharing formula whereby monies from local governments have to match monies put forward by the province. This means that if the province only provides a reduced share of funds, local governments have to do the same. Which seems kinda demented if you ask me, and also that such a system could promote a lack of local ownership as a result of this provincial funding contingency.
Provincial funding is definitely good – we should just be able to pay more if we want more so as to maintain certain levels of service!
Apparently the BC Transit model in the Greater Victoria area is unique in that BC Transit is also the operator of the local bus system (as a holdover from the days of streetcars) and it is also said to be the most cost efficient (for service & administration) transit provider in Canada. Other fun facts are that BC transit here in the CRD carries 100,000 people a day and has a fleet of 281 buses which get switched around routes.
On the issue of Transit exchanges, the new exchange at UVic is a recent accomplishment for BC Transit. Apparently plans are in the works to work towards establishing new exchanges at Uptown Mall and Royal Jubilee Hospital. Current challenges for BC transit include the need to invest in a new major corridor, better connections to the West Shore and more late night service. BC Transit is also pretty proud of their new website and trip planner. Related to this, has anyone else noticed how the bus trip options in Google Maps seem out of date?
Perhaps a deliberate effort to bring more traffic to BC Transit?
Notable Council Questions Included:
Alto asked about bike racks on buses and was told that every bus is equipped with a two bike rack. On the issue of capacity, apparently racks with 3-4 bikes are problematic in how they impact the turning radius for the bus and they also decrease the functionality of front bus lights, and lack of light is a real issue outside of the City core.
Young asked about Rapid Bus Line Planning efforts and was told that BC Transit staff are also working with Oak Bay and Saanich. Mention was also made of how, now that the City OCP is done (2012), BC Transit is able to engage in specific discussions about localized route needs. The three year time lag seems strange to me and so I'm curious to see if any sort of engagement related to these new localized efforts will come forward.
Lucas asked about efforts to address specific needs of slow moving seniors who use buses and was told that BC Transit provides a Hybrid service (part regular bus part handidart) in other communities and so they are looking into the possibility of making this "Shopper shuttle" available in YYJ.
After Loveday mentioned that he didn't even know that BC Transit service was available to and from the Victoria Airport, the transit reps committed to considering a new advertising campaign related to the availability of this transit service. Apparently they currently advertise the service in a Peninsula news circular but not across the rest of YYJ. Of note is that I previously wrote on my blog about the current status of this service in my GPC Summary of the May 21 visit from the Airport Authority.
Mayor Helps asked for an update on the downtown transit precinct (for lower Douglas outside of Crystal Gardens to colocate with the Pacific Bus line and Greyhound) and was told a report will come to the Transit Commission on June 16th and will be finalized in September. As for what the difference is between a Transit precinct and a Transit Exchange I do not know.
New Operational Plan & 1st Quarter Highlights
1st Quarter VICPD Update
Because the Police Chief had been sitting dutifully in the audience since the start of the meeting, he was encouraged by the City Manager to speak first to Council. As always, he provided an interesting presentation and spoke candidly with Council in response to a myriad of questions. Where a recent survey revealed that drug activity and social disorder are top local concerns, Chief Elsner stated clearly that downtown Victoria is one of the safest in Canada.
As a way of maximizing stretched budgets Chief Elsner told Council about a new Telephone reporting system where trained Police officers assist in answering calls for service as a way of minimizing the frequency of unnecessary full deployments. In response to a concern from Lucas about a fire truck, ambulance and police car being deployed for a call about a fellow asleep on the sidewalk Chief Elsner said that the telephone reporting tries to get more information about a situation so that the typical "triaged response" of "all hands on deck" in not necessary. Related to this, the new telephone reporting system is said to also help get officers to an urgent scene faster since they are less busy with lower priority issues.
Chief Elsner is committed to purposeful Youth engagement. He runs a weeklong Leadership camp for Youth and also manages a Chiefs Advisory Council where he encourages Youth to be active in their communities. Cyber crime is a top priority in Youth engagement.
In response to questions about whether or not he would consider replacing retired officers with social workers because more and more police services are becoming mental health related services, Chief Elsner explained how he could not do this because then more regular police work would not get done. He also suggested that focusing on mental health service training now is only a short term fix and also said in response to a question about integrated police services, that there would be fewer officers across the region if there was an amalgamated force.
Regular Staff Update
This item started off with some energetic comments from the City Manager, which was good in the sense that he never seems like a pleasant guy when in the Council Chambers, but it was also odd in how he made his comments from the side of the room. And I highlight this because Council sits in the centre of the room when in GPC and staff typically sit with them when speaking to particular issues. The City Manager however stayed on the side of the room.
The City's Director of Citizen Engagement and Strategic Planing was dutifully at the table and for the most part she was quite boring as she read through her written notes. Things got more interesting though when she spoke candidly on other items. One thing to note is that it was during one of the more boring sections when I stood up to go to the washroom and the TC reporter sitting beside me asked empathetically if I had "had enough" because he mistook my actions as packing up to leave.
And I mention this because it is not infrequent for conventional news media tasked with covering local government issues to actively disparage and be quite vocal about their dislike for the local governments they're being paid to report on. As for me who doesn't get paid, sure I get frustrated sometimes with the lunacy of certain processes but I'm never filled with disdain because I am deeply committed to the business of local government, reporting on it and making it make sense for others.
I'm not just there to get a quote and go home.
I'd rather write instead about the messy process and make suggestions for how to improve it because it is only then that change happens. Like yesterday for instance, the meeting ended with an apology to GPC from the City Manager for how staff had mismanaged the presentation of "historical items" to Council as part of the GPC Quarterly update. And I'm pretty sure this apology came because of my tweeting every single little snippet of action while Council and stuff bumbled their way through.
I give exposure to bad things and some of them get changed.
It is fun.
It was also fascinating how GPC deliberations yesterday on the historical items (previous council commitments) highlighted a solid disconnect between old and new guard Councillors and their understanding of their 2015-18 Strategic Plan – a document and process that I have critiqued extensively. Where the 1st Quarter Performance Report and Operational Plan has been completely redone so that every City action now aligns with the 13 Council objectives, yesterday revealed how the older guard Councillors didn't quite realize this was the direction in which they were being led by Mayor Helps.
It appears they didn't realize that Mayor Helps wants the strategic plan to serve as the complete City plan, meaning that only what is in the Strategic Plan is official city activity for the next 3 years. It was refreshing to see the old guard on their toes yesterday as they pushed to both receive more info from staff and to also ensure that nothing significant gets left behind.
All told – the process was still very messy. But what else could the City Manager have expected when he decided to place a basic list of items (these historical items) with no explanation, dates or motions attached to them and yet also "expect Council to provide direction".
It was odd.
Changes to City Grant Process
This was the first item dealt with after lunch and I recommend checking out the ppt deck for an easier sense of the issue. The 6 proposed recommendations from staff prompted a fair bit of discussion and most of this was focused on approval of the terms of reference for a new volunteer community garden coordinator grant.
Where Loveday as the original mover of the grant had originally envisioned it as an annual $36,000 pot of money to be distributed to the 6 community food gardens currently in the City, issues of fairness and equality emerged and this grant got tweaked so that any Community Garden (food producing or not) that has official permitted approval from the City of Victoria will now be able to apply for this volunteer coordinator grant. It'll be curious to see how this new granting program ends up working out, especially since it appears as though the 6 groups who were counting on $6,000 won't be getting the full amount.
Other motions passed by GPC included:
- Approve the Grant Policy, including amendments as a result of the feedback:
- A simple application form with a shorter version for the micro-grants
- A streamlined reporting form
- An interim report requirement for the 2016 intake
- Pay community garden volunteer coordination grants and micro-grants in March
- Require presentations to Council only for grant requests over $10,000
- Direct staff to accept applications for the 2015 Strategic Plan grants until June 26, 2015
- Direct staff to report on eligible applications at the July 9, 2015 Council meetings (decisions on awards to be made on July 23 after presentations)
- Direct staff to schedule Town Hall meetings as required for presentations by eligible applicants the week of July 13, 2015
- Approve the 2015 Fee-For-Service Grants as outlined in Appendix B
I will commit to live tweeting the town hall meetings.
Sheltering in City Parks
So I'm sure that most of you who read my blog have also already read the TC coverage of this discussion. As a woman, I have to point out that the male who wrote the TC article was a bit of a dick in how he began his coverage of a complex issue:
Victoria Councillors, two of them in tears agreed to a plan to help people camping in city parks, approving measures that could cost up to $350,000, including the possibility of creating a community of tiny homes.
As a woman I will say definitively that neither of the two (conveniently female) "Councillors" was in tears when they voted. Yes one of them (Thornton-Joe) teared up when speaking of an issue close to her heart and yes, compassionate softie Mayor Helps (not a Councillor BTW) choked up when praising staff and Council for having the discussion and committing to a plan, neither woman was "in tears" when the vote was called and the plan approved.
Showing emotion at an isolated point in time is not being "in tears".
Being in tears is something women and men do sometimes. But we generally reserve such things for when we're in private, when we're in pain, when we're really pissed off, or when we're just really sad. And I can say with some certainty that none of the seven people sitting around the Council table yesterday were in any of these conditions. Which is to say, that for the TC reporter to begin his article of the Housing Action Plan in such a way was not only incorrect but also sexist and condescending because to highlight "tears" is to suggest a lack of control of the situation due to being overwhelmed by emotions as a result of say, the four situations above (e.g., private time, pain, pissed off or sad).
Of note is that this same TC reporter asked me at the start of the meeting, while pointing to Councillors Lucas and Loveday:
"Who is the grey haired lady and the dark haired guy?"
So what actually happened yesterday?
Picking up on my theme that started the article (e.g., if issues were structured better more could have actually happened) there actually wasn't much that happened yesterday that was really new or groundbreaking. Yes. GPC gave approval (for Council to consider, not approval-full-stop) what's been called an Action Plan for Housing, Supports and City Services for Homeless People Sheltering in City Parks but if you read the Action Plan, it still contains a lot of unknowns.
As I spoke about in my Early Thoughts the staff report on the issue was incredibly thorough from an operational perspective in the sense that it was meticulously thought out, but the whole thing was also quite superficial for how high level it all is (e.g., still contains a lot of unknowns for cost and process). And it was here that Lucas was very vocal about wanting to know, prior to approving expenditure of the additional $350,000 being requested from staff:
"Who all does what in the City related to homelessness & housing, what are their particular skills related to homelessness & housing, and how much money is currently being spent on all this".
She didn't get an answer.
She did however get a half commitment from Mayor Helps on how perhaps the next Mayor's task force to strike once the Housing & Economic Development ones are complete, would be a Social Services task force that would focus on understanding and untangling the current network of providers. Noble sounding sure, but so far outside of the responsibilities of local government the idea of it is quite frankly ludicrous.
Speaking of ludicrous – I was appalled by the quality of coverage provided by all conventional media of yesterday's discussion. A particular example of this was how the Check News and CTV camera guys showed up to the Council chambers at the end of the meeting. They both set up their cameras, Mayor Helps came over, and they asked her "so what got done today".
Her response: "It's too complicated for the 6pm news".
Exact Items Approved Yesterday
It is important to note that section 2B of the Housing Action Plan was tabled until Thursday because it explicitly references the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homeless and Conflict of Interest regulations prohibit Councillors from voting on items that impact the groups they are part of – because only 7 members of Council were present yesterday and because 3 of them are Coalition representatives there wasn't quorum (a majority of council) available to give due consideration to section 2B so it wasn't part of the plan "given approval" yesterday.
Instead, this section of the plan will be considered by Council on Thursday before Council gives official approval to the plan.
Another change to the plan as written was that the 3rd bullet in the 3rd column on the 1st page was tweaked so that an item specific to additional capacity for shelter beds could also be turned into rent subsidies if possible.
A final change to the staff recommendation (adopt the plan and approve $350,000 in new money) came from Alto who proposed the inclusion of a very vaguely worded requirement for "outreach with current and future residents" as a condition of facilitation of the plan.
What I Would Like to Emphasize About the Plan
The Housing Action Plan is a 3 page document. The funding request for $350,000 only applies to items listed on the third page including:
- providing a storage opportunity/service for homeless people's stuff.
- a six month pilot project for additional social services.
- A lot of money for enhanced monitoring, cleanup and washroom hours for those sleeping in parks to ensure these parks remain useable for other residents.
- Amendments to the Parks Bylaw to restrict and regulate sheltering in parks – of note is that apparently these amendments have been drafted but were not part of the agenda. I wonder if they'll just be added to the Council agenda for Thursday? I'll have to keep an eye out.
- A Compliance Strategy that was not defined or costed.
Which is to say that no costs or actual times are available for the first two pages of the plan (e.g., the items that involve setting up micro-housing or regulated sheltering in community parks).
Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Fund
Mayor Helps had wanted to see this item go on the Consent Agenda but it was pulled by Councillor Thornton-Joe who wanted to ask a question about, just what exactly will the City be making an application for? Everyone agreed that an application should be submitted for a portion of the David Foster Harbour Pathway improvements.
CRD Climate Action Steering Committee
This was a verbal item. Councillor Alto wanted to be on the committee so she was appointed to the committee.
How to Amend the Strategic Plan
This item prompted a fair bit of discussion and resulted in the addition of a requirement for quarterly reporting on strategic plan amendments (bc as illustrated above, Mayor Helps expects all major items to be listed in the Strategic Plan) and a requirement for all changes to the strategic plan to be added to printed version of the strategic plan that will be distributed to all major stakeholders.
Which just seems wasteful to me because documents such as strategic plans should be programmed in such a way that they are electronically useful. A printed copy should not be required.
Nor should a graphic artist be paid to make murals like these:
I didn't make the document vertical – the City did!


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Scam Letter(s) from Elmira Kabanova to Martin (Australia)
Letter 1
Hello!!! It was very nice to receive a message from you!
it is my first time I try to correspondence with man in internet world.
I do hope you will be enough patient to understand my writing.
I want you to know that I have only good intentions and I don`t have big secrets. The thing is that I will work abroad for three months or so and I would like to meet a nice man to be my guideor just be good friend to spend time with.I think that it is hard enough to live in foreign town without friends and also I have never been abroad. I am from so small town here in Rusian Federation,I am afraid to be lost.
I want to see real life and it is impossible to see without person who knows all sides of the life. It doesn`t matter what age is he or what is his eyes color, I just want to know that he is kind and open-hearted inside.
I don't want to live in Rusian Federation because I have not any chances here,it is hardly possible to explain it by the first time but I want you to know my plans. In Ru ssia many young girls also want to start a new life abroad, so many of them used a special program
Letter 2
Hello!!! I'm so excited to write you again!!!!!!!!!! I'm in Moscow! You can't imagine how happy I am because I already started my trip to you!
I still cannot believe I've done it! WoW! As I wrote you I was scared to fly on the plane but everything was OK and I'm still alive ))))
Moscow is a really big city! I've been told the population of Moscow is about 10 million of people! From the Airport I went by bus... it was so long way... about 1 hour and 30 minutes. I've seen so many nice places in Moscow while going by bus!
When I got off the plane in the Moscow Airport policeman asked me about passport and he looked at me like I am an enemy )))
I think all people here are a little crazy because of terrorism.
Everything here is very expensive, not like in my city... and everywhere are big crowds of people! Everywhere is so many people! I feel uncomfortable because of it but I hope I will be OK soon.
I found a place to stay, I rent a room from an old policeman. He is about 70 years old. He said his wife died 2 years ago and he doesn`t have money to live, so he give in rent rooms in her apartment.
He is very nice man. He said I have to be very careful.
You know... he said many girls from small cities come to big cities, they are looking for a better future and fortune but because they are from small cities they can`t imagine that their way to find the happiness can be not so easy as they thought... and some of them can end up as prostitutes or something like that. He said I should be careful when I will meet you!! But I don't worry about you! I feel with all my heart you are really nice man!
Sorry I wrote you about my worries.. I have nobody to write about it.
My parents are worried enough about me and I don't want to make them to worry more. I think that's really good I've met you! I can write you about everything. I miss my parents... but I'm getting better with every hour ))
Now I'm very hungry and I will go and eat something.
I`m sending for you some photos of Moscow that I found in internet.
Please confirm the name of international airport (and his code) and be sure you wrote it right.
I am afraid to make any mistake... I hope everything will be fine.
please write me as soon as possible!See you soon! Great kiss from Moscow!!
Created: 2008-02-26 Last updated: 2008-02-26 Views: 255


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Contact Us
We'd love to hear from you. You can call or text us at 086 2342828 and if you have any questions or comments you'd like to get in touch with us about, please use the online form below to send them via email to us and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
You can find out where we are with our Google Maps page here.


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How to Start a Meal Delivery Business. A meal delivery service is an inexpensive and easy business to start up. The gourmet health food take-out business has become popular in the United States. Metropolitan areas seem to be the best places to start a meal delivery service. If you live in a large city and don´t know which type of business to start, read the following information.
Get Started
Decide whether to deliver restaurant meals, gourmet chef-prepared meals or both. Choose your target market. A good example of a target market is corporate offices. You could provide them with a lunch delivery service Monday through Friday.
Research online or look through the phone book to get a list of restaurants in your area. Discuss your proposal with restaurant managers. Ask for menus and price lists to place online. Agree on a commission for each meal delivered.
Visit the United States Personal Chef Association website to find a personal chef to team up with who can prepare gourmet meals. Scroll down the website main page and click on the "Find a Personal Chef" link. Type in your zip code and press the ¨Search¨ button.
Contact several personal chefs in your area and discuss your proposal. Ask chefs to provide you with menu and prices to place online. Add a commission to the price of each meal.
Fill out all required business registration forms with city, state and federal agencies.
Set up a website that allows customers to place orders online. Display menus and prices online for easy ordering.
Generate a flat rate to charge customers for delivery service. Advertise the price online, on menus and on flyers.
Operate a Meal Delivery Service
Determine the delivery area. Start off small and add area as you grow. Plot the area on a street map.
Market your meal delivery business by leaving business cards, menus or flyers with customers, businesses and neighborhoods.
Coordinate with the chef and restaurant to determine the best communication method ahead of time. Use fax, phone or online services.
Begin to take customers' orders. Fax or phone orders to the restaurant or chef. Pick up and deliver the food to customers, then collect payment. Keep track of each order and pay restaurant and chef as agreed upon.
Provide quick service with a smile. Listen to customers' requests or complaints. Meet customer demands and watch your business grow.
Have a back-up vehicle in case of emergencies. Contract other drivers if the area gets too large.


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Weezer have entered a very interesting stage in their career. That band has released three albums of brand new material since 2008, not to mention an album of previously unreleased tracks, a Christmas EP, and an expanded version of their 1996 classic Pinkerton. With such an output, the band has forced fans like myself to keep up, which means a constant regimen Weez listening.
It's made me stop and take stock of the near 20-year-old band. The history of Weezer fandom is long and complicated and ultimately boring. Weezer's ability to polarize fans – you other love 'em or you hate 'em – is why I like them. The band's got a narrative. They've had their lulls and down moments, but they compel me to listen further because I simply don't know what is coming next.
So today I decided to listen to all of Weezer's albums, stray recordings, and Rivers demos, and to approach it chronologically. I'll just kind of make notes as I go.
About 11 a.m. – The Blue Album (Deluxe Edition)
Still just puts me in such a good mood. On the first sunny day of the year I always put this album on, especially if I'm making the 80-mile trek down to Seattle. One of my favorite things with grunge/post grunge music is that it sounded like it was having genuine fun sounding "slackery." Whatever that might mean. Early Beck is also a good example of this.
Bonus tracks on this are great. I am still just blown away by how good "Suzanne," "Mykel and Carli," and "Jamie" are. I remember "Jamie" from the DGC Rarities, Vol. 1 cassette I bought and played into the ground in 6th and 7th grade. I remember stealing $5 from a friend in order to go buy the tape, but I like to think that I made a good investment with my dishonesty. I really liked that tape, and I still think "Einstein on the Beach" is the best song the Counting Crows ever recorded.
About noon – Pinkerton (Deluxe Edition)
I sharted when I found out about the 4LP release of this. Ever since I started my record collection about two years ago, I've dreamed of owning Pinkerton, an album that will always rank among my top five.
So much of me thinks it was Weezer's dormant period after this both blessed and cursed the band. Yes, it gave Pinkerton a chance for its audience to develop, but that same audience put the record on an unrealistic pedestal, myself included. A lot of Tool fans did the same thing with Ænima. So in May 2001 when Green and Lateralus were released on the same day, it was just a little bit anticlimactic.
I was in 9th grade when this album came out, and I remember taping Weezer's performance at Shorecrest High School, so it's great to hear these songs again.
As I get to the bonus content, I realize that I've only had the chance to listen to some of these songs once or twice. It's cool to hear old Weezer songs for the first time, and these are pretty good.
I remember thinking the first time through these four records that different versions of "The Good Life" showed up entirely too much. I love this song, but too much repetition of anything can wear on you.
Duet on "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams." I guess Rivers partnered with someone before Lil' Wayne after all. Oh wait, didn't Rivers guest on a Limp Bizkit song back in the day too?
Yep. Definitely too many versions of "The Good Life."
Very happy that there's an alternative version of "Butterfly" on here. The whole fourth record is pretty great, actually. "Getting Up and Leaving" and the track before hint at a larger Pinkerton project.
I wish the tracks were ordered better. Perhaps something like B-sides, unreleased, live, then remixes. Oh well.
About 2:30 – The Green Album
I remember sitting in the lecture hall during my Intro to Logic class one day when I noticed someone had scrawled some of the lyrics to "Knock Down Drag Out" on the desk. Underneath, I replied with some of the lyrics to "Butterfly." When I sat at the same desk again a week later, the girl had replied that "Butterfly" was one of her favorite songs ever, and there was an e-mail address beneath it. To this day, I wonder why I never dropped her a line. In my mind she was a hot geeky chick, but that would be too predictable, wouldn't it?
Besides this memory, I was pretty disappointed with this record. Nowadays I find the album interesting as a kind of dissection of the standard pop formula, but I always felt it was lacking any real enthusiasm. It wasn't that they went back to a more produced sound. That was fine, but I was hoping this album would be more of a celebration.
Perhaps the off-putting thing about this album is that it sounds angry while trying to sound happy. It's a very confusing mix of emotions for such simple songs.
I went through all of high school without a new Weezer album, and those are some pretty opinion-forming years. Couple that with the huge shift in popular music from the mid-90s to the early 00s and it's really not the band's fault that this didn't impress me more. I was stoked they were back, but I was worried about their future.
About 3:15 – Maladroit
Whatever I may have felt about Green,I didn't have much time to dwell on it, considering this album came out only about a year later. From the opening beat of "American Gigolo" the band essentially promises that this is something different than the last record. It breaks the ten-song-an-album rule, most songs come in at less than three minutes, and unconventional song structures are a little more common.
In a lot of ways, this is the antithesis to Green. It's brash and full of swagger and directly confronts the band's whiny fans with songs like "Slob." I especially get a kick out of "Burnt Jamb," and "Death and Destruction," and still feel like I would have enjoyed more of that kind of Weezer.
A lot of people I know didn't like this record, and in fact I a lot of my friends gave up on the band right around this time, but I remember feeling like my faith was restored with this one, and I still feel like it's the best album of their middle period. It's not perfect and feels half baked at times, but the energy is great.
Tomorrow, I begin with The Lion and the Witch.


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Drupal 7 Layout and Theming
In this two day course you'll learn a variety of approaches to making dynamic layouts in Drupal, and how to choose the right approach for your site. You will learn techniques and best practices for configuring a flexible and extendable layout for your site, then you'll learn how to get more control over the look and feel by creating a custom theme in Drupal.
By the end of the course, you'll know how to save yourself time in making easy to configure, responsive and smart layouts. You will also understand best practices in making your site secure and fast, and easy to maintain.
To get the most out of this course, it's essential that you have site building skills. As well as familiarity with HTML and CSS. PHP is not required. Site building skills are outlined on our Drupal in a Day and Site Building course descriptions.
- Create custom layouts for landing pages on your site.
- Make content appear dynamically based on where you are in the site structure.
- Change the look of sections on your site.
- Create a custom theme in Drupal.
- Create a responsive theme in Drupal.
- Best practices for sustainable theming.
What is provided:
Students will need to use their own computers, with an up to date web browser.
How to Register:
Fill out the Course Sign Up form and we will be in touch within 1-2 business days.


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Gastro Park is one of the best restaurants in Sydney. Strong lead there Shen; I know, but when it comes to experimental haute cuisine, Gastro Park is always swimming around in my head yelling "me! Me!" and I just cannot ignore it.
Remember how I once said that when the food is so good you actually have fewer words to describe it? I got that feeling in spades with this fine restaurant. But enough talk, let's eat.
Date Visited: 27/10/2012
Address: 5-9 Roslyn St Kings Cross, NSW 2010
Go-to dish: soy & mustard glazed swordfish belly, pickled cucumber
The restaurant is located only 5 minutes away from Kings Cross station, tucked into a corner on Roslyn Street, where you would not even know it was there if it weren't for its name painted on black circles right outside. Quite cool, really.
Overall, the restaurant has a rather natural and organic look to it, no doubt thanks to the indoor plants. Oh and those water glasses – those droplets of water are actually etched into the glass (they ain't actual water drops from the poured water!).
We arrived at around 5:50, which was 10 minutes before the restaurant actually opened. Despite this, we were warmly welcomed with [holy crap did I just accidentally spin out a five word alliteration?] open arms and directed to a seat by the window, as requested when I made the booking.
There's also a selection of cheeses on display in some handsome containers, though we didn't end up getting any. They must taste great though if the standards of this establishment is anything to go by.
Presented with the menu, we were recommended the 7-course degustation. There was a 10-course option, but we had just had afternoon tea at The Westin so for once – and perhaps the only time ever – I opted for the cheaper deg with fewer courses. Let's see how that went.
Naturally, we start with bread, which was served cold (booo) but with pre-melted house-made butter (yayyy). It wasn't any special kind of butter, but its distinct oily creaminess shines, palate whetted!
Following this we have the snacks. First up is the wagyu on grissini. The wagyu is dry-aged and has a subtle smokiness to its flavour. Crunchy grissini and the cheesy flavour of the parmesan round it off on a delicious note, making me crave more…
I actually don't remember what the name of this dish is, but it's essentially cured black-pepper trout on a form of spelt crisps. This tasted great, particularly the cured fish – it just goes so well with pepper. Once again the snack accomplishes its goal – increasing my cravings!
Oh what a guilty snack this is! All deep-fried and whatnot. But hey, if you're gonna have it you may as well love it. These little balls of joy are packed with cheesy flavour that's not over-the-top, while the potato chains are super-airy, crunchy and delicious. Oh screw that, the whole thing is delicious.
It's a good thing they don't give you too many – you'd get sick of it pretty quickly. This portion size is perfect.
We now move onto the degustation 'le proper'.
Slightly blurry pic, forgive me – actually, most of the pics from now on are /slightly/ blurred as Gastro Park's floors are wooden…prone to vibrations from the mere act of the waiters/waitresses walking on them. Thus, my camera setup was never truly free of vibrations. Ahh, photographer pains…
This was my least favourite dish of the night. The salmon and indeed, all the ingredients that were used are fresh and no doubt tasty; I just can't really appreciate the method of cooking it. It seems to be quite the experiment, with combining the natural umami flavours of cured salmon with a sweet/tangy iced tomato tea. This flavour combo just didn't cut it for me – my brain couldn't decide what my tongue was tasting – was it the umami of the fresh salmon, or was it the sweet juice of the tomato tea?
Gah, hate it when I'm conflicted 🙁
Our waitress advised that we should be eating this one together – a bit of the foie gras, a bit of the granita. Going against this advice, I had one, then the other just to see what they're like individually.
The (obviously shaved) foie gras melts in your mouth and adequately delivers that powerful liver flavour only foie gras imparts. It sure is strong, but with it comes deliciousness. Definitely one of those dishes you can't have too much of or you'll get overloaded.
As for the red cabbage granita, this was interesting – it was very much like flavoured shaved ice, except they somehow managed to capture the essence of the vegetable and put it in there. I can't adequately describe this one, but it tasted very refreshing, but in a savoury way which is quite amazing, since I'd usually apply this description to sorbets.
When taking the two together (yes I did eventually do this), you have a rather overwhelming combination of flavours from the strong foie gras, to be instantly relieved and cleansed by the granita. I can't fault the combination, despite my brain desperately trying to find one.
This was actually my favourite dish of the night. I've never had swordfish belly before, but it tasted incredible. Its flavour isn't so much incredible in that it's distinct (I wouldn't be exclaiming "oh yeah that's swordfish alright!"), but rather in that it seems to have nailed the combination of texture and umami taste perfectly. So soft and tender its flesh is, and so incredible and pervasive the flavour of the glaze goes through…it's one of the finest cuts of fish ever plated up to me.
Oh yeah there was also pickled and puréed cucumber. That was also cool, I guess (LOL).
This photo definitely has some strange white balance issues, but I assure you this is essentially how it looked to my eyes (bar the purple specular reflections – that was not so pronounced)
One of the dishes that Gastro Park is known for, this is not your typical gnocchi. "Eat the little buggers in one bite", the waitress tells us, as the contents will spill out and you'd be missing out heaps!
Oh boy, how right she was. The gnocchi balls are so delicate, their skin so fragile you definitely will destroy them if you use too much force. Delicately scooping one up with my spoon, I put one in my mouth…and bite down.
Explosion of creamy flavour, this liquid butternut just hits the spot. Gastronomic pleasure. It's so light, yet so rich; so fulfilling, yet so sparse and quick to go. I wish I had many, many more.
Once the few we've had were happily devoured, we drank every last drop of the mushroom consomme (and I LOVE consomme). Salty it was, but delicious, it also was. Oy Vey, how incredible.
Gastro Park's signature dish, this is what propelled them into fame (and fortune?).
Because really, how many restaurants do you know that use fish scales as an edible component in the dish?
Tender snapper, creamily smoked purée, ink sauce, calamari crackling. This sounds impressive even on paper, and just look at how wow it is on the plate.
The scales are akin to hard crisps, but are easily edible, and in fact give the fish an element of texture that just usually isn't there. Calamari crackling continues the crispy trend which imparts its own umami.
What does the ink sauce taste like? Complicated. Do you know what went into making this ink sauce? Here you go:
olive oil
eschalots, peeled and sliced
bulb garlic
fennel stalks, roughly chopped
strip lemon rind
basil stalks
coriander seeds
Serrano ham, diced
over ripe tomatoes, deseeded
tablespoon squid ink
white balsamic vinegar
vegetable stock
teaspoon xanthum gum
With perhaps one or two variations. That's a lot of ingredients to achieve the ink sauce's flavour. The key here is umami tangy and it goes with the snapper super well. The sauce would actually be pretty normal, if it weren't for the squid ink added to it. Then again, who's going to resist making something just that extra bit unique by turning it night-black?
It's a loaded dish, for sure!
The second of two possible mains (the snapper being the first), the duck is cooked tenderly and tastes as such. I felt there wasn't enough seasoning though, and found myself wiping off as much sauce as I can to keep my tongue from becoming "duck-tied". I also didn't really think puffed barley matches the duck, but they do taste good on their own – crispy and airy with the slightest savoury hints.
Oh and, I'll probably never understand the fad of roasting berries/grapes; value isn't really added through this process as far as my taste buds are concerned.
And now we arrive at one of the best desserts I've ever tried anywhere, and I've been on plenty of Sugar Hits before.
This dessert gets pretty much everything right. The chocolate cracks open with a healthy amount of force but isn't fragile like an eggshell (oh did I mention it also tastes awesome?). The honeycomb is sweet and crunchy, with enough of a stickiness to it that makes me believe I'm eating the real stuff. The gooey innards, oh my the mandarin cream, the goodness…
Ahhh screw it I can't even be bothered describing it – just feast your eyes on the pictures below, and you look me in the eye and tell me you don't want some right now, wherever you are.
As usual, feel free to leave a comment or three 😀
Gastro Park, you tick so many boxes it's incredible. Never close down, I'll be back.
The Good: pretty much everything. Superlative dessert and fish. Very friendly and explanatory staff!
The Bad: a few over-complicated designs and one dish that misses the palate
I give Gastro Park a grand total of 9 Caesars out of ten – 9/10


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The annual Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., commemorates the goodwill gift of cherry trees from Japan to the United States nearly a century ago. It's timed to coincide with the blossoming of the trees a colorful spring spectacular that draws millions of visitors to the city. But there's a lot more to the celebration than flowers.
American high school marching bands, Japanese drummers, a fife and drum corps, pretty and petite Cherry Blossom princesses passing by on moving platforms, natives carrying spears and dressed in centuries' old costumes - and a giant balloon that looks like Elmo, a puppet from the children's show Sesame Street. Some spectators lining historic Constitution Avenue wonder what Elmo was doing there. "Elmo? Elmo has nothing to do with cherry blossoms," said one watcher. "Elmo is the puppet on the popular children's show Sesame Street. There was a big float of Elmo. And you're objecting to Elmo?" "I'm not objecting to it. I'm just pointing out it has nothing to do with cherry blossoms."
Most of the parade watchers weren't bothered by Elmo. "The marching bands are fantastic. I love the drill teams. I like the princesses on the floats,? said another spectator. ?And I don't know what they were. They had pom poms on sticks that looked like fire and they were dancing around with them.?
"It's a nice way to commemorate U.S.-Japanese friendship. Sometimes people dwell on the negative points of the relationships. It's nice to see something positive and does a little education at the same time. It's also grown to be more than U.S., Japan. There's people from the Philippines, Korea. It's becoming like an Asian American celebration."
Joe Lopez is a native of Guam, not just an idle spectator. His teenage son is taking part in an academic competition that's part of the festival, known as "the Japan Bowl."
"My son won the Japan Bowl competition in Guam. So he's representing Guam in the national competition here in D.C.,? Mr. Lopez said.
"What's the Japan Bowl?" "It's a competition between students about Japan, all about culture. It's all done in Japanese."
Baroch: "What did he have to do to prepare?"
Lopez: "He's in Japanese language class. It's [the Japan Bowl] kind of like Jeopardy but it's only pertaining to Japan."
Japanese food vendors were standing under tents in the middle of the street.
Baroch: "Excuse me, do you speak English? What are you yelling?"
Vendor: "I yellowed dumpling.. and red bean fish cake."
Baroch: "So you were yelling 'dumpling!' and "red bean fishcake'"?
Vendor: "That's correct!"
Yelling of another kind at a nearby martial arts demonstration, Japanese and Americans dressed in crisp white uniforms, barking out at every punch and kick.
Sumo wrestlers also displayed their grappling skills, giant men with bellies like boulders. A spectator from Japan explained why they're so big.
Spectator: "They eat too much and take a nap."
Baroch: "So they eat and sleep."
Spectator: "That's right. Eating and sleeping is part of their exercise."
Attending the sumo demonstration, the U.S. Congressman from American Samoa, Eni Faleomavaega, who took a more reverent approach to the sport. "I would strongly suggest these people are not fat,? Eni Faleomavaega said. ?They train for six, seven hours a day. They are very, very strong. They can put a hand thrust like through a tank. The fat-looking appearance is very deceiving."
Contrasting images at this 92 Cherry Blossom festival in Washington, D.C., giant sumo wrestlers putting on a show in the middle of the city, and the 400 Japanese cherry trees showing off their fragile, feather-like cherry blossoms in a quieter place along the Potomac River.