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Guests: Mark Foley, Clay Shaw, Flavia Colgan, Frank Luntz, Terry Holt, Joe Bastardi
JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST: Welcome to a special edition of SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY. We, of course, are going to be talking about the hurricane. Thanks for being with us tonight, where no passports are required and only common sense is allowed.
Hurricane Frances has been downgraded to a tropical storm as winds have dipped to 70 miles an hour. But millions in my home state of Florida are still trapped without power as wind, rain and debris batters their homes.
And there's more to come. Frances should pick up strength from the Gulf of Mexico before it turns on my home turf, the Florida Panhandle.
And let's not forget Ivan, a Category Three hurricane that's already forming in the south Atlantic. Nobody knows yet if that storm is going to threaten the Sunshine State, but we're talking about it tonight.
And a little politics, too, with President Bush enjoying his sharp surge in the polls, coming out of a very successful Republican convention.
Right now, we want to go to Jim Cummins to get the very latest from south Florida—Jim.
JIM CUMMINS, MSNBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Joe, that's right. We drove up here today from Daytona Beach. We were there last night. We drove through a blinding rainstorm, squall lines all the way up 95 across 10 from Jacksonville. We got here in Tallahassee a couple of hours ago.
And it's now the calm before the storm. A lot of those feeder bands at the north end of this big storm are headed this way. We expect to see them here in the next couple of hours.
And we're hearing the same things we heard when we were down in Daytona. The authorities are urging people to stay home. They're imposing curfews. They're telling people to get off the streets here as this weather approaches, because they don't want anybody to get injured. They don't want anybody to get killed, obviously.
Behind me here, you see these red trucks. Help is on the way. Those are power company trucks there from Tennessee. We passed several convoys of those trucks driving over here in that blinding rainstorm. And those people are headed for south Florida. They're already on the way.
And we're staying in a motel here in Tallahassee. And most of the guests here are from south Florida from places like Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Daytona Beach. They've come to us and asked what the storm was like, what it looked like.
These people came here to seek refuge from the storm, and now the storm is following them. You'll recall the same thing happened with Charley when people left the coast of west Florida and went to Orlando. So it's repeating itself again, and we're expecting a big storm here in the next couple of hours—Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: Tell me, what is the—is there concern that as the storm comes into the gulf—obviously the water is warmer—is there a concern that it is going to strengthen and cause more problems for the Panhandle?
CUMMINS: There is concern that it will pick up more strength as it goes over the warm gulf waters. And you know, those wind speeds, when we talk about tropical storm winds, now that it's been downgraded to a tropical storm, that's still 70 miles an hour, 65 and 70 miles an hour.
And that will tear tree limbs down. That will down power lines, and it will rip anything loose off a building, take away, you know, roof tiles. So it's a very dangerous storm. If it gets over warm water, those wind speeds could pick up another five or 10 miles per hour.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Thanks so much for the latest. We'll get back to you in just a little bit.
And of course, NBC's Brian Williams is no stranger to hurricane coverage, and he's with us tonight live from Vera Beach, Florida.
Brian, what's the latest?
BRIAN WILLIAMS, ANCHOR, "NBC NIGHTLY NEWS": Joe, good evening.
I'm happy to report, the air is palpably drier already, because between and after those bands passed through here, and you know, Vero on the coach—on the coast, rather, it's been so tense with this storm parked off the shore, especially when it slowed down to a crawl, actually stalled between observations and then made its way across.
This has been a very tough time for the people along this stretch that they call the Treasure Coast of Florida. And in no way to diminish people who have to chainsaw their way out of their homes today, who are coming home tonight from a shelter, the water in their homes or suffered any loss at all.
But in no way did the damage that our camera crews, producers and correspondents were able to see match what the predictions were even 48 hours ago. Not even some of the rainfall totals have come true. And that is the good news we have to dwell on.
I should say we've been here at Indian River Memorial Hospital. They've been really sheltering us from the storm for two days. And so we've been dealing with the doctors and nurses working here and listening to their stories, where their homes are and damage reports. And I think it's safe to say that most are better than they were suspected to be.
SCARBOROUGH: Very good. Any reports of casualties? Or serious injuries?
WILLIAMS: None yet. I was getting local media before we went on the air with NBC nightly news, and there's been a fatal, apparently, on a stretch of I-95 tonight. They showed videotape of an SUV being brought out of a ravine.
But the local anchors out of NBC Miami were cautioning against people to—to label this too quickly a storm-related fatality. So—so none that we know of as of this hour.
SCARBOROUGH: Now, Brian, of course you have some other breaking news regarding Bill Clinton. Can you pass that along?
WILLIAMS: Yes. Tonight on "NBC NIGHTLY NEWS," NBC news reported that all indications are the former president's open heart surgery is likely tomorrow in New York.
And of course this is a bypass. The reports have been it will be to free clogged areas in three of the four heart arteries. NBC News science correspondent Robert Bazell reported the president will be out for several hours.
It's both—Two words can be applied to this surgery, as you know, Joe, delicate and routine. And it is possible for both to be true concurrently.
It is, any time when you open the chest cavity, a very tricky business. There's also the judgment call, whether to put the heart on a pump or—or support it, its own beating while the patient is open.
And yet, so many thousands of American have this surgery and are living vital, very happy normal lives today. But the president may be in for more of a recovery than he predicted to Larry King the other night. You're down for most of a month in most cases, even a guy as vital and vibrant as Bill Clinton.
SCARBOROUGH: Brian, is the question left open to speculation as to why the doctors may have moved this from Tuesday to Monday or do—have we been given any reason why it's been moved up a day?
WILLIAMS: Well, as they say, I'm not a doctor. It really depends on which source you read. There's a piece on the Associated Press wire tonight quoting at least one physician, wondering aloud why it was delayed this long.
Obviously, these are experts. They have looked at the blockages. They have looked at the activity, the diet, the personal trainer, this president's schedule of late. And they have made this determination.
Now, was it scheduled for Tuesday, really? Would the family have shared the information? Has it been moved up? Perhaps in a statement when it's all over and he emerges from anesthesia well, we will know more about what has led up to this.
But again, latest information is we're looking at a tomorrow event in New York.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Thanks so much, Brian Williams. We greatly appreciate the updates from south Florida.
WILLIAMS: Thank you.
SCARBOROUGH: And now let's move on to Mark Potter. He is in West Palm Beach.
Mark, what's the very latest down there?
MARK POTTER, MSNBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Joe, if you can remember, last night we had all the wind and the rain here. And despite all that, the news today in terms of damage is actually pretty good, although the assessments are still being made in the city of West Palm Beach itself. There are reports of only limited structural damage. Most of the homes and businesses are actually OK.
Now still, the city is under a 24-hour curfew. As it turns out, not all the damage here was done by Hurricane Frances.
POTTER (voice-over): As soon as the storm began to clear, police were back out on the roads in West Palm Beach.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a little bit of roof damage and things like that.
POTTER: Lieutenant Mike Rogan (ph) was out at first light.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a lot of cleaning up to do.
POTTER: As it churned for hours last night, Hurricane Frances blew pieces of an aluminum roof off a TV station, flooding much of the building.
And although there were lots of downed trees and power line, flooded streets along the coast and debris littering the city's many construction sites, most of West Palm Beach escaped serious damage.
With clean-up just beginning now, a big concern for police is keeping motorists off the road during the 24-hour curfew.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know there's so many cars out here, but we've got to let them know that there's a curfew going on.
POTTER: Many residents still stuck inside are frustrated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're pretty much hunkered down in their homes, and they—they're about to go a little stir crazy. They want to—because this has been a long storm.
POTTER: Not all the damage here was caused by the storm. Taking advantage of the foul weather, looters ripped off shutters and broke into many businesses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know during a storm like this that we're not going to be out on the street like we normally are. And that nobody has—the alarms aren't going to go off.
POTTER: While there have been arrests for looting elsewhere in the state, non has been made yet in the city of West Palm Beach.
POTTER: To prevent what happened last night, the police tonight will be out in force, and anyone caught outside without a good reason, a good excuse, could be arrested and could spend several days in jail until the courts reopen—Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Thanks a lot, Mark. You look a bit more dry tonight than you did last night. I'm glad you got through the storm OK.
I'm joined now by two of Florida's top elected officials, who have no doubt felt the strain of Hurricane Frances and Charley in an exceptionally acute way.
Let's start with Congressman Mark Foley and then Congressman Clay Shaw. Gentlemen, thank you both for being with us.
Mark, let's talk to you first. Give us the very latest. And it sounds, according to Brian William' reports, that your area may have gotten through this a little better than first hoped.
REP. MARK FOLEY ®, FLORIDA: Well, it's interesting we're following Mark Potter's report again. And he does an excellent job of describing the conditions.
Port Saint Lucy is Martin County have actually a little bit more damage. But it—Joe, it's much better than it could have been expected. This is a long storm, heavy winds, but most of the things we've observed on our drive-arounds were fallen trees, a few shingles here and there, but nothing like we experienced in Punta Gorda last—three weeks ago.
SCARBOROUGH: Very good. And Clay Shaw, let me ask you, you represent, obviously, a large part of Fort Lauderdale and other areas around there. How did your district make it through storm?
Clay, are you there? Can you hear me, Clay?
All right. We're having a little trouble with Clay's hearing his eyepiece—earpiece right now. We'll go back to him in a little bit.
Let me go back to you, Mark Foley.
Mark, what's the next thing as far as clean-up goes? Are you expecting to get the state and national officials to come in to assist you in clean up operations down there?
FOLEY: Well, Joe, Governor Bush was here today. Mike Brown, the FEMA director, was with him, as well, as they were in Hurricane Charley. They have deployed manpower, resources, emergency supplies.
President Bush signed the declaration. You can tell my voice is about to go. Signed the declaration for five counties. And so we're well prepared to meet the challenge to provide emergency aid, to provide housing, shelter.
Jeb Bush has really spent almost every waking hour for the last three weeks on the last storm. And now he's prepared here in Florida to do the job necessary on behalf of the citizens of this state.
SCARBOROUGH: Let me go back to Clay Shaw. Clay, tell me, what's the situation right now in Fort Lauderdale? Have you all fared better than was originally expected?
Clay Shaw, are you there?
Well, I'll tell you what. Clay obviously having trouble hearing me.
Mark Foley, why don't you give me final thoughts...
FOLEY: Yes.
SCARBOROUGH: ... before we wrap it?
FOLEY: Well, we're going to go ahead and work very, very hard on behalf of the constituents. We're watching this storm and worried about Tampa, as well, as we speak.
But thank God we're all working together. The people have sent in supplies. They've sent in water. They've sent in ice. We're a fortunate community, a fortunate state to have so many great friends, Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Thanks so much, Mark Foley. We appreciate it. And our apologies to Clay Shaw. Hopefully we can catch up with him tomorrow and get an update. Appreciate both of you being with us.
And I want to ask all of you, don't go away. SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY is going to be back, talking about coverage, obviously, of Tropical Storm Frances, including a look at some of the damage done to my home state when this special SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY returns.
SCARBOROUGH: Welcome back to this special edition of SCARBOROUGH
Joining us, as he has been all weekend, Ron Blome from Melbourne, Florida.
Ron, are you there?
RON BLOME, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: We're doing pretty good now, especially since the storm has moved to the other side of the state.
You can maybe see some of the traffic back there behind me on U.S. 1. People are out and driving around. It's not just the service vehicles anymore.
And some other good news, Orlando International has said they're going to reopen for air traffic tomorrow morning. Orlando still experiencing some winds in the 20, 40 miles an hour.
But most of the storm experience is now over in the Tampa region. And then it moves out over the gulf tonight and then heads up in your old congressional district up in the Panhandle, northwest Arkansas.
Still no definite word whether it will go back from tropical storm to hurricane. It is going to go over some warm water. So it could be a minimal Category One as it goes ashore.
One impression of all this, though, it was a very long storm. It put a lot of people out of their homes. But we're not seeing the catastrophic aftermath that we saw immediately after Charley came through, where we saw thousands of people who lived in mobile homes displaced by the storm.
The rain is still a big factor, a lot of inland flooding. We're hearing reports of 10 inches or so today.
Any questions, Joe? I—Maybe I can fill in some other blanks for you on the storm.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, just curious. Overall, officials in Florida are -
· they feel like they've dodged a bullet with this storm, that it's not as bad, obviously, as Hurricane Charley a few weeks back?
BLOME: Well, it was a pretty good slam against the state, and the governor went to West Palm Beach this afternoon and then was down into Miami. And there is some pretty good damage down in the West Palm Beach area.
But it's isolated. In some mobile home parks, or a particular area that may have had a waterspout come in. It's just not that catastrophic thing that we saw after Charley where you drove for three or four hours in one day and you just saw one totally devastated neighborhood after another.
The fuel situation is going to be a problem here. They had that sales tax holiday so everybody sucked the gas out of the system towards the last couple days of August. And then they stopped the tankers coming in.
But I understand they have six or seven tankers and a fuel barges loaded up, ready to come into Port Everglades. They're flying in tanker truck drivers. They say they've the infrastructure ready to move it out.
Now, if they can get the power grid up. And I'm not seeing a lot of damage to the high lines and the main structure that was wiped out in Charley. I think most of the damage ere is the feeder lines that go through the neighborhoods.
There's about 10,000 utility workers that are ready to either, on the job are going to be pouring in from Georgia, where they've had a staging area.
So I think they're going to recover a lot quicker from this. But as you know, the big worry now is Hurricane Ivan, now a Category Three. They're not predicting past the five days, but people here are worried.
SCARBOROUGH: All right, NBC's Ron Blome. Thanks so much for your great coverage over the past 48 hours. I'm sure, unfortunately, that we're going to have to be talking to you again when Ivan knocks on Florida's door, which it looks like it's going to be doing in the next week or so.
Let's go now to the phone. We're going to change subjects a little bit and follow up on that breaking news that we heard Brian Williams talking about earlier, regarding Bill Clinton. And let's talk to NBC chief correspondent, Bob Bazell.
Bob, what is the latest on this breaking news that you've been bringing to us regarding Bill Clinton and his operation tomorrow?
ROBERT BAZELL, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Joe, the operation is scheduled for tomorrow around 8 a.m. Eastern Time at Columbian Presbyterian Medical Center in New York.
It's a fairly routine operation although it's highly complex and, of course, difficult. The surgeons will—a team led by Dr. Craig Smith will try—will perform the operation on a beating heart. That means they will not put him on a heart-lung machine that often is used for bypass surgery.
This requires a great deal more skill to do it this way, but these people have done a lot of these operations in this hospital. They will—but it still requires his chest be cracked open, and he's on general anesthesia.
Mr. Clinton will be in the operating room, if everything goes well,
about three to four hours. And about six hours after that, I hope, he'll
be—come off the respirator. He should come awake, and if everything
goes according to plan, he'll be out of the hospital in three to five days
· Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: What is the—any reason the doctors gave for scheduling this for tomorrow? Of course, as you know, and I'm sure you've heard a thousand different rumors and a thousand different theories when a news story like this breaks regarding a president's or former president's health.
Some people were saying that the operation was delayed until Monday or Tuesday because of severity of heart damage. Others were saying that it was pulled up. Again, a thousand different rumors. We don't know, obviously, the exact reasons why.
But was there—was the operation moved up to Monday instead of Tuesday?
BAZELL: It was moved up, because they wanted to do it as quickly as possible. The former—When Mr. Clinton went in for the test called an angiogram, which measures the blood flow to the heart and to the arteries that supply the heart, they discovered that he had very severe blockage.
And what he didn't—it was so severe that it was not something that could be treated with a stent. That's a metal device that's often to open up one or two blocked arteries.
He needed to have bypass surgery, and in fact, he needed to have it right away, because he was in danger of an immediate heart attack.
But the doctors at Westchester County Medical Center who did the angiogram also gave him a drug called Plavix, which is an anti-clotting agent that disables the platelets in the blood. And as a result of that, he would have bled extensively if he'd had surgery. Now the doctors are satisfied that they're—he's gotten that Plavix out of his system.
And with all big deal operations and all these celebrities of any kind, the doctors like to do on it a holiday when there's not so many—so much activity. Although this is a very busy hospital, and it's going all the time.
So that was the reason. It's no—There's no conspiracies, no—nothing intriguing about it. It's just that he needed to be treated as quickly as possible, and they determined that as quickly as possible ended up being Monday instead of Tuesday as they had originally thought.
SCARBOROUGH: Let's talk about recovery time for a minute. I know my father had open heart surgery several years ago, and he was warned before he went in there that anybody that's very active, that goes—has this type of operation is going to have a long recovery time.
Obviously, it's going to be extremely difficult for Bill Clinton, as active as he is, as vital of a man as he is, going to be very hard to sit around during recovery time.
Are the doctors making any predictions about how long it's going to take before Bill Clinton can get out, be active, possibly, on this campaign? Or campaigning for a lot of the causes that he cares so deeply about?
BAZELL: Well, one—Typically, for patients who have open heart surgery, the recovery time is about a month. And because Mr. Clinton is a younger man than a typical heart patient—he's a bit younger—it could be even sooner.
But it is an operation that involves general anesthesia and being on a respirator. So it's not like he's going to just walk out of the hospital and feel great. He's going to have a big crack in his chest that's going to have to take a long time to heal. And he's not going to be feeling that great for awhile.
So it's—you're looking at a month. He's obviously somebody who's very eager to get up and about, and he may be able to shave some time off that. But a month is the standard answer you're going to hear from most doctors.
SCARBOROUGH: A final question for people that are following the story closely, that are Bill Clinton's age. They look at him. He looks very healthy. In fact, he's lost a lot of weight recently. I saw a picture of him in "Vanity Fair." The guy looked like a middle-aged male model in Bosnia.
Any—any talk about why Bill Clinton passed all the stress tests throughout the past six months or so and yet had this severe blockage?
BAZELL: I think there's going to be a lot of talk about that, Joe, because it shows that stress tests are not perfect. They can do some good at helping doctors decide who has heart disease and who doesn't. But they're certainly not perfect. And as this case illustrates.
Mr. Clinton has the kind of heart disease, which is the most common kind, the blockage of the artery. It takes many years to develop. And we all saw him eating fast food, and we all know that he was overweight for a long period of time, despite the fact that he lost all that weight very recently. So losing it recently was wonderful, but it was a little bit too late.
He also, we're told, took an anti-cholesterol drug for a brief period and then stopped taking it. And that kind of mystifies a lot of experts. Most people think somebody who had cholesterol as high as we did, which we know what it was when he was the president, because those numbers were reported. It was very high.
Most people think that people in that category should be taking anti-cholesterol medication or statins for the rest of their life and taking them in enough amounts that they end up—so they don't have heart disease.
Whether Mr. Clinton got adequate care or whether he got celebrity care, which is sometimes too cautious is something I think we'll be talking about in the future.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Robert Bazell, thank you so much for being with us tonight and helping break this important news.
We'll be back in a little bit. But I do want to say this before we go to break. It's very interesting what Robert Bazell just said.
I had a friend that I lost recently, 60 years old. The guy, talk about another guy that looked like a middle-aged male model. I mean, the guy looked fantastic. He was actually on certain medications, because he had had a heart operation 10 years earlier.
And apparently the word was among friends, he had stopped taking some medication, too. And it may have caused some problems. And if you're out there and the doctor has told to you take your medications, like Bill Clinton, and my friend, keep taking those medications.
Anyway, I'm not a doctor but I play one on TV. Dr. Joe's advice for the night, follow your doctor's orders.
Anyway, we'll be back talking about what the doctor is ordering for John Kerry whose campaign is feeling a little wobbly at the knees right now. Down 11 points in the latest "Newsweek" poll, 11 points in the latest "TIME " poll. Things aren't going well and John Kerry isn't happy.
We're going to be talking to political experts, to Frank Luntz, going to be breaking apart these polls and looking at focus groups, trying to figure out what John Kerry and George Bush need to do next if they want to be the winners this November in elections.
Stick around. SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY will be right back.
ANNOUNCER: From the pressroom to the courtroom to the halls of Congress, Joe Scarborough has seen it all. Welcome to SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY.
SCARBOROUGH: Welcome back. As MSNBC reported just a few minutes ago, NBC learned that President Clinton will undergo heart surgery tomorrow.
I'm joined now by pollster Frank Luntz, Democratic strategist and MSNBC analyst Flavia Colgan and Terry Holt. He's the national spokesman of the Bush/Cheney campaign.
Let me begin with you, Flavia Colgan. As a Democrat, are you concerned that Bill Clinton—obviously, we're all concerned about Bill Clinton's health. But are you concerned that he may not be able to get out on the campaign trail and help your candidate, John Kerry, as we move towards November?
FLAVIA COLGAN, MSNBC ANALYST: Well, so far, all we've heard is that he's going to try to get on the trail as quickly as he can. And certainly, I think he is probably the strongest campaigner we have.
And I hope it gives the Kerry campaign a little bit of pause to bring back some of his ability to connect in an emotional way, that visceral way that the campaign still seems to be lacking. And also to follow Clinton's lead in coming back with these counter attacks. They're not moving fast enough.
So I hope that with his conversations with Clinton, he's taking a couple notes and hopefully is going to use that in the next couple weeks.
SCARBOROUGH: Certainly John Kerry should this time realize that what he's been doing lately has not been working. The first two polls that have come out since the convention came to the same conclusion, that John Kerry is taking a Frances sized beating.
The "TIME" magazine poll shows George Bush is up 11 points with likely voters. "Newsweek" poll, the same result, the president up 11 points, as well. The president's favorable ratings hit 55 percent. That's easily as high as since February.
John Kerry's unfavorable ratings are now at their highest in the campaign, at 45 percent. And for the first time in more than a year, 53 percent say that George Bush deserves a second term.
Terry Holt, let me bring you in here. What in the world happened at your convention? Why did your president, your candidate, your party seem to connect so much with the American people?
TERRY HOLT, BUSH/CHENEY CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: Well, the American people were watching. There were great ratings. And people have been yearning for a hopeful and optimistic message, to see their president in action, to make the arguments about the re-election.
We had four great nights. Big nights. And I think that there's an energy out there for the president's message.
We've talked about going from recession to recovery. And that matters. We're talking about winning the war on terror. I think the people have a confidence in this president because he's been tested, and he's proven that he's a pretty determined leader under some pretty difficult pressures.
You know, the polls will go one way or the other. We try not to get too excited about polling, because we know that ultimately, 58 days to go before the election. We're talking about a lot of hard work. We've been building for over a year, a grassroots organization out there. And right now, it's just day two of the general election campaign. So we look forward to a lot of hard work.
SCARBOROUGH: Frank Luntz, you know, a lot of people look at your focus groups. They seem a little quirky at times. What's Luntz doing with these group people and all these dials, and they're swinging things around.
Well, you went to Ohio to get some swing voters to see how they responded to Bush's speech last week. And again, we're familiar with the TV dial charts.
I want to play viewers this clip because the lines on the chart represent Republican voters and Democratic voters and independent voters. And it seems like these people telling you what they told you in real-time ended up being what we read three, four days later in the "Newsweek" and "TIME" poll.
Let's take a quick look at this clip.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I faced the kind of decision that comes only to the Oval Office. A decision no president would ask for but must be prepared to make. Do I forget the lessons of September the 11th and take word of a madman? Or do I take action to defend our country? Faced with that choice, I will defend America every time.
SCARBOROUGH: Frank, tell me, what—why did that connect so well with the voters that you talked to in Ohio?
LUNTZ: They connected so well because it said exactly what Americans want to do. There is a principle here, and that is the principle of prevention.
Americans don't want an individual to manage a terrorist attack. They want an individual to actually prevent it. And that's what the Bush speech and the Cheney speech the night before talked about.
And while the swing voters felt that there should have been a little more conversation about the jobs issue, they were very happy, very content with national security, domestic security. And they really thought that both President Bush and Dick Cheney told them exactly what they wanted to hear.
And that's why of our 21, 15 of the 21 swung towards President Bush, and 13 of them made up their minds that night. That is the second most powerful speech that we have done in the last six conventions. Only Al Gore's speech from 2000 tested better than what President Bush's speech tested several days ago.
SCARBOROUGH: Flavia Colgan, you know, you and I talked about this several weeks ago, that John Kerry's campaign has been flat-footed. They haven't punched back enough. If you read newspaper accounts today, John Kerry is angry that his team didn't punch back quickly enough.
"The New York Times" spoke with other Democrats, very concerned about the direction of this campaign.
I mean, come on, how tough is it? I mean, as a congressman, a lonely congressman, I figured it out in my first campaign. If somebody punches you, you punch them back. What's wrong with John Kerry and his campaign staff?
COLGAN: No—and Joe, and you were pointing this out weeks ago. And you know, I'm a huge sports fan. And when I look at sports as an analogy, I think the Kerry campaign is making two huge mistakes.
One, if you're playing the Indiana Pacers and they're great at outside shooting, you don't start going head to head with them on three corners. You play your game, and you play it to the best of your ability.
And secondly, you don't let people define the issues. He's a challenger, and he hasn't been challenging at all. He's been constantly on the defensive. They've been taking him off message.
There's no question. And there's no question, I mean, Terry Holt and that team should be given some praise. They were so disciplined and completely on message.
And the Kerry campaign allowed Bush to come out and make statements like, "Well, we're tripling funding for homeland security," despite the fact that a bipartisan group headed by a Republican former senator last week came out and said that Bush has a $98 billion gap that's not allowing us to be prepared in the way we should be for a catastrophic event.
He comes out and says we're winning against the Taliban; the Taliban is history. Hamid Karzai was out there last week saying he's going to have to work with the Taliban, because that's how terrible things are.
The Kerry campaign has to come out and deal with these people head to head on the issues, whether it be swift boat, whether it be homeland security.
But also, they've got to start talking about the issues for which Bush is weak on. I'm in Pennsylvania right now; $2,700 is how much more families paid for healthcare, which Joe, you have said over and over is an important issue.
In the dead of night on Friday, they rolled out the numbers, and 17 percent more is what people are going to have to pay for Medicare. And of course, we wrapped our fish in it on Saturday. And the Kerry campaign has barely said anything.
Why aren't they talking about healthcare? Why aren't they talking about jobs? And why aren't they taking these guys head on? They're waiting too long.
SCARBOROUGH: I'll tell you why, Flav, because apparently, they're copying their campaign after Michael Dukakis' in 1988. We're going to be talking about that and much more with my panel straight ahead.
Plus, we're going to get an update on Tropical Storm Frances when SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY returns.
SCARBOROUGH: And of course, Deborah Norville is going to be talking tomorrow night about Bill Clinton.
Tonight, though, what NBC has learned and what the news they just broke just a few minutes ago is the fact that Bill Clinton will be going into surgery tomorrow.
Originally, there was some talk that it may have been on Tuesday. But Robert Bazell broke the news earlier tonight, and we had it confirmed for us also earlier tonight by Brian Williams that Bill Clinton is having surgery tomorrow morning, surgery expected to last three to four hours.
We'll, of course, be following that story all day tomorrow on MSNBC. And Deborah is going to be talking about it tomorrow night. You're not going to want to miss that.
Now let's go back to our panel and talk about Zell Miller. Zell Miller gave a barnburner speech. A lot of Democrats, a lot of liberals in the media said, "Oh, he's going to shock and stun and offend swing voters." I'm not so sure about that.
But let's take a quick listen to what Zell had to say.
SEN. ZELL MILLER (D), GEORGIA: In their warped way of thinking, America is the problem, not the solution. They don't believe there's any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.
It is not their patriotism, it is their judgment that has been so poorly lacking. They claimed Carter's pacifism would lead to peace. They were wrong. They claimed Reagan's defense build-up would lead to war. They were wrong. And no pair has been more wrong, more loudly, more often than two senators from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry.
SCARBOROUGH: I tell you what, Terry Holt, I saw Conan O'Brien do a little rift on that Friday night. Absolutely hilarious.
But it's amazing to me. After this convention, everybody is talking about Zell Miller. Democrats again, and a lot of liberals in the media say that he's going to scare swing voters.
I know the guy. He is a very likable, very nice guy. And the message I get from that anger is, he really feels betrayed by the party that he once loved, on these key issues.
HOLT: Well, Joe, and you know this firsthand, if you're from the Panhandle of Florida, heart and soul of America, there are a lot of people out there that have been Democrats all of their lives, who see this leftward swing of the national Democratic Party and are disturbed by it.
They want to be in the party that is a proponent of the strong national defense that we have under President Bush and not have a candidate who's hostile to the military, hostile to the national defense.
And I think that what he's doing, he's speaking from his heart. He's a former Marine. He's probably the most popular politician ever in Georgia. And—and for the Democrats to dismiss his sentiments is a mistake, because he speaks for a lot of folks out there.
SCARBOROUGH: Well, you know, Terry, what was so offensive to me as a Southerner is that there are a lot of people that just openly said, and I saw, I believe I saw David Gergen suggesting it, as David Gergen suggests time and again, that the reason the South went Republican is basically because we're all a bunch of bigots and racists.
I mean, they won't come out and say you're bigots and racists but they certainly talk about the Southern strategy, and Nixon's Southern strategy. And always implying it, and not so subtly.
I think they're fool to make that suggestion and to try to convince themselves that it doesn't have to do with the fact that they've been weak on defense for years, that they still see everything through the prism of Vietnam, that they tax too much, that they spend too much and that they bend far left of center in a very conservative region, the South.
HOLT: And there's a specific example, this Radio City Music Hall thing where there's all of this obnoxious talk and frankly, over the line language that was used. Then John Kerry described it as the heart and soul of America.
And look, those folks just don't get it. Communities all over this country have a great pride in their country. They don't want to see it torn down. They have a great faith about their family and their community and their neighborhoods. They want politicians that can speak to the values and the principles of their communities.
And the further away the Democrats get from that, the more alienated they are from most of our communities, most of our hometowns.
And I think it's quite stark, the difference between the message of the president's Republican Party, and the left swinging Democratic Party in this election. I think that's one of their key weaknesses.
SCARBOROUGH: Flavia, I've got to bring you in here, because obviously, I went on a long rift. You know, there are very few things that anger me. They get me upset and they get angry. Michael Moore, as we know, is one of them.
Not Michael Moore but...
COLGAN: You're not even going to go there, Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: Yes, exactly. But "Fahrenheit 9/11" is one of them, not Michael Moore personally.
But secondly, I just, it just really bugs me when people suggest that the Democrats are having problem in the South east because Southerners are racists and they still won't forgive them because of what Lyndon Johnson did.
Did you watch that speech from Zell Miller and think that he's made the switch to the Republican Party after 30, 40 years because he's a bigot?
COLGAN: Absolutely not. I mean, in the case of Zell Miller, there's obviously a little bit of history there.
But as you very well know, Joe, my grandfather was secretary of transportation for Florida, Republican, and he's an African-American who was very, very involved in the civil rights movement and who litigated lots of those cases.
And you know, I certainly don't think that he's a member of the Republican Party because he's a racist. I, in fact, think that a lot of the progress that the Republicans have made in the South—and where I think there's a vulnerability, even in this election is just like here in western Pennsylvania, there's some social conservatives that, on guns and on abortion, for instance, are more conservative.
But when people's families or neighbors don't have jobs, when their mothers are having to choose between paying their property taxes or paying for their prescription drugs every month, you sort of give up the luxury of being able to vote for those social issues. And I think that's where Democrats really have sort of a leg in this time.
But I—when I watch Zell Miller's speech, I didn't see it as passion. I mean, I really saw the vitriol. And that was the difference between the Republican convention and potentially, it's a strategy. I think they were going to shore up their base, which based on the numbers, they did. I mean, they have 90 percent of their base shored up at this point.
And I think the Democrats didn't go for the red meat and were very concerned about the undecideds and the swing voters. And one...
SCARBOROUGH: And you know, Flavia, I hate to cut you off. We've got to go to break. But you're exactly right. And that ends up being a strategy that may not have worked well, because this is going to be an election year where turnout matters most.
I'm going to ask all of you to stick around. We've got a lot more
ground to cover in the next hour. But coming up next, we're going to check
with Frank Luntz and see what happened out again in Ohio when his did his -
· his polling and his interviewing in the swing state of Ohio. That's when SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY returns.
SCARBOROUGH: Frank Luntz, after the president's speech you interviewed your group. Let's take a look at their response.
LUNTZ: I want a word or phrase to describe what you heard tonight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Powerful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Skillful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heartfelt.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a believer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Inspiring.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Compassionate.
LUNTZ: Now, you voted for Gore back in 2000. Why are you voting for Bush this time>?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, because I think he is a strong leader when it comes to national security. He answered the questions I had about tax reform and—and also Social Security, and I think he'll do a better job than Kerry.
LUNTZ: You didn't vote for Bush in 2000, but you are this time, and I know you're surprised. What happened?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm dumfounded. He made me believe that he really wants the best for me and everybody else in this country. I'm concerned about who he surrounds himself by, but he made me a believer tonight.
SCARBOROUGH: Frank Luntz, that really is stunning. What did Bush do that changed these voters' minds?
LUNTZ: Well, there are a number of specific issues that we haven't talk about.
Tax simplification is incredibly hot out there. In the focus groups that I'm doing, that's what Americans want. They don't want to have to spend hours and hours and have to pay somebody they never met before $500 or $1,000 to fill out their tax reform—forms.
Second, Social Security. They do believe in the right of people to control their own Social Security retirements.
And third is that he dealt in specifics. And they got the chance to talk about this with Zell Miller. Any time that a candidate deals in specifics, that's what that mainstream swing voter is looking for.
"Tell me the truth; look me straight in the eye. I want to know what you're going to do. And if you tell me, I might actually support you."
Joe, those people moved, and they didn't want to move. They actually didn't want to like President Bush. After they saw him they couldn't avoid not liking him.
SCARBOROUGH: And it's remarkable, Frank. And the last time I talked to you a week or two ago, you said you hadn't met a person in Ohio that voted for Al Gore that was going to vote for John Kerry. Obviously, this speech changed some minds.
Frank, I want to ask you to stay with us.
LUNTZ: Sure.
SCARBOROUGH: Terry, Flavia, stick around. We're going to be getting back to you in a little bit after some more weather updates. But I want to get a quick update right now from Accuweather meteorologist Joe Bastardi.
Joe, what's the very latest right now with the storm?
JOE BASTARDI, ACCUWEATHER METEOROLOGIST: Well, right now Frances is trying to move out in the Gulf of Mexico. Latest radar showing it to just to the east of Tampa.
And this area is going to get lashed tonight. Watch out on the Florida Panhandle. Lots of rain on the way.
We've got more trouble on the way. This is Ivan the Terrible moving off to the west-northwest, already a Category Three hurricane, Joe. It will be a four when it hits these islands on Wednesday.
And then if we take a look at the big picture here, you can see Frances moving out and around. And here, this big ridge continues to dominant the Atlantic, and that gives Ivan a free pass toward the United States and a possible rendezvous with the United States coastline perhaps next weekend.
We're very concerned about this, so stay tuned. Plenty of weather will be making the headlines as we head on down the road—Joe.
SCARBOROUGH: All right. Thank you so much, Joe. And I think you've already written the headline for the next hurricane. Ivan the Terrible on the way.
Stick around. We're going to be right back, talking more about Frances and how it's impacting Florida and also Bill Clinton's surgery tomorrow morning. MSNBC broke it earlier. Also going to be talking about the presidential race when SCARBOROUGH COUNTRY returns next hour.
Copy: Content and programming copyright 2004 MSNBC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Transcription Copyright 2004 FDCH e-Media, Inc. (f/k/a/ Federal Document Clearing House Inc., eMediaMillWorks, Inc.), ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No license is granted to the user of this material other than for research. User may not reproduce or redistribute the material except for user's personal or internal use and, in such case, only one copy may be printed, nor shall user use any material for commercial purposes or in any fashion that may infringe upon MSNBC and FDCH e-Media, Inc.'s copyright or other proprietary rights or interests in the material. This is not a legal transcript for purposes of litigation.


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Changing behaviour can be terribly difficult and trying to manage motivation is one of the hardest parts. One of the main components in successful behaviour change is internal motivation, but how can we focus on this type of motivation and work to increase it?
X-PERT's Sean and Matt discuss key drivers of hunger, explore why individuals overconsume certain foods and introduce practical methods for identifying and addressing psychological eating in an article published in Practical Diabetes.
The answer to what makes humans live longer is very much so sought after. This blog covers the more researched areas of maximising longevity.
It's becoming more and more accepted that different dietary approaches suit different people, but how close are we to being able to tell which is the "right" approach for which person? This week's blog takes a look.
Most people have a heard of fibre and have a basic understanding of it and the importance for health, however many do not realise there are different types and these can affect health in many different ways. This blog will focus on a particular kind of starch that behaves similar to soluble fibre and is called resistant starch.
Real Food Day was yesterday (Wednesday 19th June) and was organised by the Public Health Collaboration to highlight the importance of choosing a real food lifestyle. So, it only seems appropriate that this week's blog does the same!
Your body may adapt to the same exercise routine. This blog aims to inform on how to ensure continued progression and thus sustained reaping of exercise associated benefits.
In April 2019 a new report from the American Diabetes Association set out their position on dietary advice for people with prediabetes or diabetes. We take a brief look at some of the key points, and how this compares to what is recommended in the UK
View Dr Trudi Deakin's slides from the Public Health Collaboration Conference 2019
Our aim is to ensure that all people at risk of, or diagnosed with, long-term health conditions have access to good quality and enjoyable structured education that helps them self-manage their condition leading to improved health and wellbeing.
X-PERT Health
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Friday, February 4, 2011
Simon Birch
faces in his daily life, he manages to keep a positive outlook on life and always put his best foot forward. Its a feel good movie for sure.
Posted by Dania at 6:28 PM
7 comments:
Kind of like Forest gump right?ReplyDelete
Really liked Oliver Platt in this oneReplyDelete
Oh god not this movie.... my childhoodReplyDelete
It was alright.ReplyDelete
the first time i watched simon birch i cried! and i am only a little ashamed to admit that.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousFebruary 12, 2011 at 6:38 AM
The movie is actually based on the book "A Prayer for Owen Meany". Personally I liked the book better, but the movie is worth a watch.ReplyDelete
One of the films I watched when I was still a kid.ReplyDelete
It really affected me in some way.
I also highly recommend this film.
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Former Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter (D) is pondering a bid to take on Rep. Tim Griffin (R) in the state's 2nd district, according to a Democratic source in Little Rock.
Halter spokesman Bud Jackson didn't deny that Halter might be considering a run, but said he remains focused on other things. "The only thing he is pondering is what he has to do for work and what time he'll be having dinner with Shanti and his girls," Jackson said in a statement.
He added: "There are better things for political insiders to focus on in August, like when the next barbeque is and who's bringing the beer."
Halter took on then-Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the 2010 Democratic primary. With the help of national liberal interest groups, he raised more than $4.2 million during his short campaign.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is making a hard push to recruit in the Razorback State, where the party lost two seats last cycle and where the only remaining Democrat, Rep. Mike Ross, is retiring. DCCC Recruitment Chairwoman Allyson Schwartz (Pa.) went to Arkansas Thursday to search for possible candidates, Roll Call has learned, though it is unclear if she met with Halter.
A source familiar with Schwartz's Arkansas trip said it was planned well before Ross announced he was retiring. Initially it was more about recruiting candidates in the 1st, represented by Rep. Rick Crawford, and 2nd, represented by Griffin. But Schwartz also talked with potential candidates in Ross's open 4th district seat, as well as potential candidates in Mississippi's 1st district and Tennessee's 8th district.
A spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee scoffed at the idea of Democrats winning seats next year in Arkansas, where President Barack Obama took just 39 percent in 2008.


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Autumn Rose Barksdale is a fat, queer, trans femme poet and public speaker based out of Lake Worth, Florida. Her poems have been published in The Offing, The Jabbercat, Crabfat, and in an upcoming issue of THEM.
March 2017
Poems by Terrell Jamal Terry
Terrell Jamal Terry is the author of Aroma Truce, forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press in 2017. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Literary Review, Poetry Northwest, West Branch, The Journal, Guernica, Columbia Poetry Review, The Volta, Bettering American Poetry 2015, and elsewhere. He resides in Pittsburgh, PA.
self-imposed objectification, by Caseyrenée Lopez
Caseyrenée Lopez is an editor, educator, and poet. Their debut full-length collection, i was born dead, is forthcoming from ELJ Editions in 2018. Follow them on Twitter @caseyreneelopez.
from The Moon's South, Ways of Elevating to the Ether, by John Paul "Polo" Kirkland
John Paul "Polo" Kirkland nació y se crió en la escénica área oeste de Puerto Rico el 9 de mayo de 1990. Su poesía habita una tierra de bellezas extremas, perturbada por el silencio brutal del discurso colonial, toca fibras éticas, históricas y filosóficas mediantes visiones, la introspección, la sátira y un llamado a un mundo surreal, extendiéndose a través de sus intimidades comunes.
Estudió y se graduó de Literatura Comparada en la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez. Actualmente, trabaja como maestro de idiomas y tutor.
John Paul "Polo" Kirkland was born and raised on the scenic west coast of Puerto Rico on May 9, 1990. Dwelling in a land of extreme beauties, shaken by the rough silence of colonial discourse, his poetry touches ethical, historical and philosophical fibers through visions, introspection, satire, and an appeal to a surreal world, extending into its common intimacies.
He studied and graduated with a degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez campus. Currently, he works as a language teacher and tutor.


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TriMas Corp., parent to Cequent Performance Products, reported record sales for its first quarter, ended March 31.
The company posted revenue of $297.6 million, an increase of 15.1% compared to first quarter 2011. Net income during the three-month period was $12.25 million compared to $11.75 in the year prior.
"2012 is off to a solid start as we build upon the positive momentum of the past year," said David Wathen, president and CEO for Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Trimas. "We achieved sales growth of 15.1% during the first quarter, resulting from successful execution of our strategic growth initiatives including bolt-on acquisitions, product innovation, market share gains and geographic expansion. While demand levels started the quarter slowly across several businesses, we saw significantly improved order and shipment levels late in the quarter."
Net sales for Cequent North America decreased 1.5% compared to the year ago period, resulting primarily from a sales decrease within the Trimas retail channel due to a one-time stocking order for a significant customer in the first quarter of 2011 that did not recur in 2012. First quarter operating profit decreased compared to first quarter 2011 due to lower sales levels, costs incurred to relocate certain production to lower cost countries and increased selling, general and administrative costs, primarily in support of growth initiatives. Trimas said it continues to reduce fixed costs, minimize its investment in working capital, and leverage Cequent's strong brand positions and new products for increased market share.
To view the entire report click here.


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Tag : Black Wood Kitchen Floor
Elegant Black Kitchen with Silver Subway Tile Backsplash by Megan Winters
By Bruce WayneThe silver subway tile backsplash in this kitchen is clearly fabulous. Instead of adding quite strong luxurious and modern look in the kitchen area, this detail factually also very suitable with black and white theme built in the interior design. There are even bubble-pendants look matching with all blending of colors. However, there are two things that better be replaced or simply removed since these can reduce the elegant look in the kitchen. The first ne is the island chair with brown frame and the other is the black flooring which shade is exactly the same with the shade of the cabinets so the cabinets look quite invisible in this design.


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What was Albert Einstein thinking on the day he died? These newly released pictures of his desk may provide a clue. LIFE Magazine has held onto them for years, along with a picture of the doctor who removed Einstein's brain.
At the request of the Einstein's family, LIFE magazine held onto photographer Ralph Morse's snapshots of Einstein's office on the day he died for 55 years. But now that most of Einstein's children and step-children have passed on as well, and his last known biological grandchild died in 2008, the magazine is releasing the images. The magazine also features an interview from the now 92-year-old Morse, who describes how he bribed his into Einstein's office and into the office of the doctor who did the autopsy as well — using a case of scotch. The pictures of Dr. Thomas Harvey are probably the strangest as he was the man that sent Einstein's brain on a cross-country trip that may actually have been illegal.
Photo by Ralph Morse/TIME & LIFE Pictures
Photo by Ralph Morse/TIME & LIFE Pictures
Caption From Life Magazine
Dr. Thomas Harvey (1912 - 2007) was the pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Einstein at Princeton Hospital in 1955. The stranger-than-fiction tale of Einstein's brain — which Harvey controversially removed during the autopsy, carefully sliced into sections, and then kept for years for research purposes — and the intrigues long-associated with the famous organ, are far too convoluted to go into here. However: on the day that Einstein died, Ralph Morse was able to take a few quick photographs of Dr. Harvey at the hospital. Morse says he's certain that that is not Einstein's brain under Dr. Harvey's knife in this never-before-seen picture. Then, after a pause, Morse qualifies that certainty: "You know, it was fifty-five years ago. Honestly, I don't remember every single detail of the day. So whatever he's cutting there ..." Morse's words hang in the air. Then, mischievously, he laughs.
To read more and view more pictures go to LIFE.
Photo by Ralph Morse/TIME & LIFE Pictures


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Multi Skill Assistant Post Recruitment 2014 for 15 vacancies in NBE
National Board of Examination established to conduct the Post- graduate examination of high standards in the field of Modern Medicines at the National Level invites applications from eligible candidates for the posts of Multi Skill Assistant.
Post : Multi Skill Assistant
Number of posts : 15 but may vary as per the requirement.
Reservation : UR – 8 , OBC – 4 , SC – 2 , ST – 1 . One post is reserved for PwD candidates.
Pay Scale : Rs. 5200-20200 + Grade pay 2800/-
Max. age limit : 27 yrs as on last day of submission of application
Qualification :
1. A Bachelor's degree as per provisions of UGC Act with 50% marks and one year certificate in Comp. Applications from a recognized university.
2. BE/BBA/BIT/BSc/Bachelor in Computer Application as per provisions of UGC Act and 2 yrs experience of functioning in academic institutions /University/Board/ Institute of repute/ Public sector Undertaking/ autonomous institutions/ Reputed organizations .
3. 2 yrs post graduate course / diploma such as PGDCA , MCA , MSc(CS) , MSc(IT) , MBA and proficient in use of application such as MS Excel , MS Word , MS Powerpoint , MS Outlook Express , MS Access , Internet based and such common computer application/ tools.
Last Date to apply: 05.03.2014
Application Form (Non refundable) – Rs. 100/- for SC/ST/Person with Disabilities and Rs. 250/- for UR/OBC to be send through a crossed valid demand draft.
For the application format visit : www.natboard.edu.in


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GIMA Continuing Education for Physicians
The Global Integrative Medicine Academy is a leader in providing evidence-based expertise in nutrition to physicians. Continuing Education courses are currently in the development and approval process and should be available in the near future. If you are interested in receiving a notification when CE course in nutritional medicine become available please complete and submit the accompanying form.


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Over the last month, I have been practicing vulnerability. It is not something that a lot of men would care to do. I know that from firsthand experience. I am doing it because I want to reach my higher self.
"We cultivate love when we allow our most vulnerable and powerful selves to be deeply seen and known, and when we honor the spiritual connection that grows from that offering with trust, respect, kindness and affection," says Dr. Brene Brown.
Practicing vulnerability was suggested to me by a friend. I was a little apprehensive at first. But then I realized that the alter ego of vulnerability is courage. That is why I blogged about my daughter last Friday. I want you to know the real me—warts and all.
I have learned four things about vulnerability. They are:
1. It is not easy but I want to be a better person. When you meet me, I want you so say, "He's real."
2. Be prepared because the people within your sphere of influence may not be able to handle it. And it could be the very people that you care about the most.
3. It is liberating. Although I have a long way to go, I believe that I am a better person because of it. I am who I am, and I am growing comfortable with it.
4. Vulnerability clarifies my values. I know what I like and what I don't like. I know what I stand for and what I stand against. And if I know these things about me, so will you.
If you would like to learn more about vulnerability, I HIGHLY recommend that you click here to watch a Ted Talk by Dr. Brene Brown. This may very well be one of the most important vidoes you will watch in 2013.


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Gold Coast Fishing Charters
Gold Coast fishing charters offer a fun experience for beginners and experienced anglers alike.
Experienced anglers enjoy focussing on the fishing and the service, whilst for the beginner it can be a great way to learn from seasoned professionals and pick up a tip or two on techniques for baiting hooks, or casting a line.
There's usually a great sense of camaraderie on these charters - and it provides a great opportunity to swap tales about the one that got away!
And one of the best things about going on a Gold Coast fishing charter?
You don't need to do any of the work - no need to research the best fishing spots, buy bait, or carry all the gear with you. Just turn up, relax and enjoy!
There are various types of fishing on offer through Gold Coast fishing charter operators - reef, deep sea, freshwater, estuary, sport (or game) fishing, plus crabbing too.
There are too many types of tours to categorise separately, and the tours may change from time to time, depending on what visitors wish to do.
So if you're after a specific type of fishing, please contact the individual Gold Coast fishing charters to check that they can meet your requirements.
Although the vast majority of fishing charters are by boat, there are a couple of land-based charters that are also worth checking out, and fly-fishing lessons or coaching may be available.
Some Gold Coast fishing charters will provide bins for each angler and tag all fish caught by that person.
Other operators offer a 'share of the boat's catch' whereby all the fish are pooled together then shared evenly among all anglers at the end of the trip.
The beauty of dividing the catch this way, is that no one goes home empty handed!
Whilst most boats do have basic amenities, such as onboard toilet and undercover shade/protection, there is variation in other services that may be offered...
including supply of bait & tackle, provision of refreshments, and courtesy pick-up & drop-off to accommodation.
Prices also range across tour operators, depending on the duration of the trip - which can range from 2 to 12 hours.
You'll also find a wide range in scheduled trip departures offered by operators, such that you could probably fish around the clock if you chose!
If you are planning on taking younger children with you, be sure to check with the Gold Coast fishing charter beforehand – particularly in terms of the length of tour you're taking.
Once the boat is out on the water, it won't be returning to shore until the end of the tour - which may be up to 9 hours.
And when booking your tour, ask if there are any seasonal special deals, and remember to ask for a further discount if you're booking for a large group.
Finally, many of the fishing charters also offer lower rates for observers who are just along for the ride and the company but do not wish to fish.Return from Gold Coast Fishing Charters to Cruises, Boat Hire, and Charters
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Following is a short selection of charter operators for fishing in the Gold Coast and Tweed area. Click here for a full list of charter fishing operators on the Tweed and Gold Coast.
View Glassy's Fishing World in a larger map
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Sorry this event has been cancelled
Embodied Yoga Principles is an effective way of practicing yoga to introduce different qualities into your life. These sessions are social and connecting and psychologically deep, its yoga for all of your life.
Embodied Yoga Principles emphasises psychological self-awareness and transfer of skills to daily-life.
It is mindfulness-based and emphasises discovering more about ourselves and improving our lives– rather than athleticism – and incorporates elements of life coaching, body therapy, meditation, dance and martial arts. Postures and group exercises are used to explore and develop the body as a way of being, integral to how we live.
EYP is about improving personal freedom, the relationships that matter most in our lives, and effectiveness in making the world a better place.
Embodied yoga is socially aware, and avoids both new-age superstition and Western body materialism. It can be emotionally intense as it's a powerful tool for looking at your personal patterns and changing your life for the better. EYP is also more social and playful than much yoga, so is also very connecting and lots of fun.
In some ways EYP a very novel approach to asana practice including things you won't find literally anywhere else, though it's also aligned with traditional yoga's emphasis on developing the practitioner. Because Embodied Yoga is a set of principles rather than a style, it can add a new dimension to any approach to practice and be used creatively.
Please note: the practices can be powerful, and may not be suitable if you are feeling very emotionally unbalanced, or experiencing difficult psychological difficulties, are in deep therapy, or have recent trauma, or bereavement. It is possible to choose not to do specific exercises/processes but it is best to communicate in advance first for your well being and safety. If you are unsure about whether to attend please call Vidyadasa before booking 07870 696942.
Read more general information about the Yoga and Meditation Mornings here and Vidyadasa's style of Yoga Teaching
See Vidyadasa's website
Come along and try. There is a lovely community of people who come along to these classes.
Dates and Times
Sunday, 27th October, 2019
Times: 10:00 am-1:00 pm
Prices and Bookings
You can book this course on-line using a credit or debit card or through your PayPal account. Once you click the "pay now" button you will be transferred to PayPal to make your payment.
If you have any questions find out more about bookings and concessions
sorry, bookings are closed for this event.


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Performance Enhancement for business, sport or creative arts
"Life and business are like the changing seasons. You cannot change the seasons, but you can change yourself."
Jim Rohn
Few people actually achieve everything they are capable of, even though everyone has incredible potential. There are notable exceptions of course. Richard Branson continues to build his business empire; Steve Redgrave, the Olympic oarsman, achieved gold at an age long after other athletes had retired; James Galway, the flautist and conductor, has filled concert halls while in his seventies. What has held you back?
When you were an infant, you were an intrepid explorer: neither fear nor negative thinking held you back. But as you grew older, your survival depended on learning about the danger of threatening situations. Your behaviour and thinking changed accordingly. Even though you learnt good lessons from life's negative experiences, you may have developed irrational fears and now hold irrational beliefs about yourself. These will prevent you from doing the things in life that you might otherwise have done.
Below are fictional case examples of how fear and/or self-limiting thoughts prevented some people from achieving their true potential.
John, a bright, industrious man in his early thirties, is in middle management in a manufacturing company that has a number of export contracts. Two of John's contemporaries had generated new overseas business and received promotion. John had the skills and structures he needed but was afraid of failure, therefore he did not follow through. As a result, John's core belief of 'I'm a failure' has been reinforced.
Rose, a 22 year old athlete performing at the highest level in middle-distance running, is at the peak of fitness. Despite this, she has been beaten consistently into second place in important competitions by several of her competitors. Rose feels she doesn't deserve to win: this relates to guilt she is carrying for an experience during her adolescence when her mother died the day after having had a row with her.
Jim is an 18 year old professional footballer who had shown great promise playing for the Reserve's team. Last season, when he got an opportunity to play in the English Second Division, he showed his talents to the full during the first half. Shortly after the interval, Jim missed an open goal and was booed by his team's fans and castigated by his captain. His game went to pieces thereafter and he left the pitch a dejected man. Despite this, Jim was selected as a substitute for the First team's next game. When he went onto the pitch, late in the second half, he felt so anxious about making a mistake his performance was poor. Jim was then relegated to the Reserve's team where he still puts in a good performance: he remains anxious when thinking about playing at the higher level.
Creative Arts
Joanne is a concert pianist whose dream is to play a solo concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Although she has immense talent and practices several hours a day, she believes she isn't good enough. She has played solo concerts in cultural festivals and small auditoria, and was applauded warmly. To achieve her dream Joanne has to firstly believe in her ability.
While individuals can, and do, overcome fears and/or irrational limiting beliefs to perform on a particular occasion, the underlying negative beliefs remain unresolved and can resurface with even the smallest setback. We see this so often among sports people at the highest level.
We can help you overcome irrational fears and beliefs and free you to fulfil your true potential. We will achieve this by:
- helping you identify the earlier life experiences that led to your current difficulty,
- assisting you to address your issues, leading to a positive shift in your core beliefs about yourself,
- preparing a template for your behaviour, thinking and emotion in future situations.
We are able to help with your problem, or difficulty, using different forms of therapy. An approach will be selected that best suits your needs.
These can be accepted by phone or email. You can self-refer or be referred by another agency
Visit our main site WEB LINK


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Ooh, thanks for the vote of confidence, Nik! – the cheque's in the post as ever … (don't say where I'm sending it to though!!):))Axxx
It feels very wintery up here. It's been rainy, blustery and very cold all week. Not that nice at all really.
My girlfriend, who's studying for her PGCE at Manchester University, brought me some interesting news. It was poetry day yesterday, apparently, and as part of that one of the groups used a poem from this anthology. [you can see me holding a copy below.] The poem was mine. I'm not sure if they liked it or not. I hope they did. Funny, the people we can reach, isn't it?
If anyone wants a signed copy, I've got two spare ones here that I can exchange for a small fee (think it comes to about £14 with postage).
I also came across this interesting article written about Publish America. Now I'm not going to lecture or go into detail about self publishing/vanity publishing/POD etc., because, well, I've not got time and I've had no actual experience of it. But if there's anyone reading this who is thinking of it please, DO YOUR HOMEWORK. There have been some really great books produced by people who've done it themselves, like, for instance, this one by Anne Brooke.
Some POD companies are great and honest. Lulu.com are one that I've heard many good things about; I'm sure there are many others, but as I say, I've no experience with them.
Like I said – do your homework and don't get scammed. Please.
In other news, I was excited to hear that the go ahead has been given for the fourth Indiana Jones movie.
And in other, other news, I read this this week. (Actually mine has a different cover, not that it's important).
I think it's one of the best books I've ever read. Seriously. Absolutely fantastic and so clever. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I just regret not reading it before. I think I thought I knew the story. I didn't. It was better than I could have imagined.
Buy it. Get it from the library. Borrow it. Read it.
It's called Frankenstein.
And while you're looking at all those wonderful books on Amazon, have a look at mine. It's very good! Promise! Honest!
Ooh, thanks for the vote of confidence, Nik! – the cheque's in the post as ever … (don't say where I'm sending it to though!!):))Axxx
Ha ha. Always a pleasure.Nik.


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Frankies Bikinis Koa Top | Black Designer Bikini Top
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The sun is out there waiting for you to bring the new fashions out, and this Black Frankies Bikinis Koa Top is exactly what it's looking for. This is a fresh new design that will give your bikini wardrobe an upgrade in an entertaining and sparkling white that brings the summer into your life one touch at a time.
The style of this Black Designer Bikini Top is what makes this top so appealing, with its gap in the chest that gives quite the stylish and sexy appeal, as well as the unique neck ties that loop to the back in a circle. This means that you can adjust for maximum customizability and also not have to worry about the strap coming out of the top because it is looped through the fabric on the top. This looping also ensures that some cleavage is shown, but there is no danger of it totally flapping open to show off too much.
There is a thick band of elastic on the bottom of this Koa Top Frankies bikinis style that makes sure the top stays exactly where you want it to and there is no room for movement upwards. After all, you want to tease the people around you, not flash them!
Remember that summer is all about starting fresh, so make sure you consider the stylish and comfortable options that this Frankies Koa offers you, even if it is totally different from your normal style. Change is good, so out with the old and in with the new!
- Black Designer Bikini Top
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Five in a Row has been such a nice treat for our homeschool, and throughout the year, we enjoyed some very special books together, one of them being "The Story about Ping." The kids greatly enjoyed getting to know each piece of rich literature, and the activities we shared together made them that much more special to us.
In November of last year, we read "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World," and it was every bit as much fun. We began with a simple reading and discussion of the text on day one, then combined many of the activities with our apple-themed activities from My Father's World-Exploring God's Creation. It all came together nicely, and the children learned so very much through this beautiful text.
First, we took a trip around the world, using our Melissa and Doug World Maps once again. I gave the children apple cut-outs for them to "travel" through the countries as I read, and we later colored them in together with special crayons.
On another day, I prepared an apple-cinnamon homemade play dough from our preschool curriculum along with apple-cinnamon tea.
The children had such fun with the play dough for hours on end, and the aroma was absolutely blissful.
A while back ago, a good friend of ours had purchased a large variety of apples, and we tasted each one in order to compare them and rank our favorites.
We discussed that neat memory, then took the bulk apples I had purchased this time around and created a graph together using square manipulatives.
We also read "Secrets of the Apple Tree," which is such an amazing Shine-a-Light book.
The text discusses the parts of the tree, and each page can be lit up from behind to reveal a "secret" inside. In the illustration below, you can see the lizard hiding behind the rock when the light shone behind the page. The children loved this text and all of the neat "secrets" found in the pages of the book.
In My Father's World, the Biblical concept of that week was "If I stay in Jesus, I will bear much fruit." We discussed this along with the fruits of the Spirit found in the book of Galatians. We then used them as copywork that my daughter copied onto our apple cut-outs.
My daughter later created a large model of an apple tree using Do A Dot Markers, complete with roots and glued-on apple seeds. Then, we decorated it with our fruits.
That particular week, our homeschool co-op took a visit to a nearby apple orchard, so that also tied in nicely with our book. The children got to help sort the apples, eat apple cider popsicles, and even compete in an apple-eating contest! It was a whole lot of fun!
For science, we finished off with a saltwater experiment, where we steamed the water and separated the salt from the water.
And finally, we prepared a homemade, gluten-free apple pie. Unfortunately, we ate it before we were able to snap a picture of it. 😉
It was an amazing week with lots of great learning.
What's your favorite FIAR book?
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you make a purchase through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thank you.


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MIAMI-French astronaut Thomas Pesquet floated into space on his first-ever spacewalk Friday, on a mission to help upgrade the power system outside the International Space Station with new, refrigerator-sized lithium-ion batteries.
Wearing a white spacesuit with the French flag emblazoned on one shoulder, Pesquet and American astronaut Shane Kimbrough switched on their spacesuits' internal battery power to mark the official start of the spacewalk at 6:22 am (1122 GMT), more than a half hour earlier than scheduled.
"This is Pesquet's first foray into the vacuum of space," a NASA commentator said as a live broadcast from the US space agency showed Pesquet's booted feet dangling out of the airlock as he made his way outside.
The pair made speedy progress. About three hours into the six-and-a-half hour spacewalk, they finished their main goal to connect adapter plates for three modern lithium-ion batteries. "I bet you they are feeling really good," said US astronaut and NASA commentator Tom Marshburn as the pair began working on so-called "get-ahead" maintenance tasks. They "probably have plenty of reserve to knock out these get-ahead tasks."
The new batteries weigh about 428 pounds (194 kilograms) each, and replace older, but far lighter, nickel hydrogen batteries. The batteries' role is to store power for the orbiting lab as it flies in Earth shadow.
The space station travels at a speed of more than 17,000 miles (27,350 kilometers) per hour, and circles the Earth about every 90 minutes, periodically moving through light and darkness.
After a spacewalk earlier this month by Kimbrough and veteran US astronaut Peggy Whitson, a total of six lithium-ion batteries are now installed.
Eventually, all 48 of the old batteries on board will be replaced with new ones.
Pesquet, 38, is the fourth French astronaut to perform a spacewalk, and the 11th European.
He posted pictures of the space station on Facebook Thursday, showing the location of the batteries and the Quest airlock, which is the entry and exit portal for spacewalkers.
"We will get a closer look of the outside of the space station," he wrote.
"Peggy says it is even more beautiful when you are out there than looking through the windows." The spacewalk was the 197th for maintenance and assembly at the orbiting outpost, a global science collaboration of more than a dozen nations including Russia, the United States and Japan.
- Friend at mission control -
Back at mission control in Houston, Texas, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano orchestrated the spacewalk and could be heard giving the men directions.
The European Space Agency described Parmitano's role as lead communicator as "a recognition of ESA's expertise in station operations."
Parmitano went on two spacewalks during his six-month mission in 2013.
Shortly after the start of one of those spacewalks, Parmitano's helmet began filling with a water leak and he had to be rushed back inside the station for emergency aid. Parmitano is also a friend of Pesquet's. They trained together for six years in the European astronaut corps.
Parmitano said that ahead of Friday's spacewalk, he gave Pesquet some words of advice: go slow and take plenty of pictures.
During Friday's outing, Parmitano periodically asked the astronauts to check and inspect their helmets and gloves. Both reported they were dry and in good shape.


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Entergy Charitable Foundation Awards $1.25 Million in Grants
New Orleans-based Entergy Corporation has announced that its foundation recently awarded grants totaling $1.25 million to more than sixty-five nonprofits.
The grants include several in support of environmental organizations, including a $100,000 award to the Barataria Terrebonne Estuary Foundation to help stem coastal land loss by restoring small isolated bay islands and the natural resources and wildlife that rely on them. Through the grant, the organization hopes to double the habitat area for nesting great egret, reddish egret, roseate spoonbill, snowy egret, tricolored heron, laughing gulls, Least tern, Gull-billed tern, sandwich tern, royal tern, and other species native to the area.
The company also awarded $75,000 to the Arbor Day Foundation for its tree-planting program, which helps local residents save energy by planting the right trees in the right spots to effectively shade their homes; and $25,000 to St. Charles Parish in support of its efforts to develop Wetlands Watcher Park, which serves as a recreational outlet as well as a service-learning site for wetlands conservation and restoration in the region. The LaBranche Wetland Watchers program enables students from schools in the area to engage in science and learn about the various challenges facing wetlands in southeastern Louisiana.
The grants bring the total amount awarded by the foundation in 2011 to more than $3 million.


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So apparently single protons (hydrogen minus the electron) can pass through graphene, previously thought to be impermeable. So far graphene has really lacked a "killer" application - maybe fuel cells could be it?
Fuel cells, used in some modern cars, use oxygen and hydrogen as fuel and convert the input chemical energy into electricity. But a major problem is that the fuels leak across the existing proton membranes, "poisoning" the process and reducing the cells' efficiency -- something Geim said could be overcome using graphene.


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The hibachi (fire bowl) is a traditional Japanese heating device. It consists of a round, cylindrical, or a box-shaped, open-topped container, made from or lined with a heatproof material and designed to hold burning charcoal.
Sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared vinegared rice, usually with some sugar and salt, accompanying a variety of ingredients, such as seafood, vegetables, and occasionally tropical fruits.
Sea Food
Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans. Seafood prominently includes fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms.
Sake (Japanese: 酒, [sake]), also spelled saké (/ˈsɑːkeɪ/ SAH-kay US also /ˈsɑːki/ SAH-kee), also referred to as a Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran.


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ReStores accept donations of new and used items from individuals, retailers and contractors, then resell them to the community at affordable prices. All proceeds help fund the affiliate's work in McHenry County.
At Habitat for Humanity of McHenry County, we know the power of community firsthand. Without the help of our donors and volunteers, we wouldn't be able to help families in McHenry County become homeowners or attain vital repairs to their homes. Our ReStores are one way we're able to give back and say thank you to our friends and neighbors in the community, while also helping more people move into safe, affordable housing. And, not to mention, our ReStores help our community to be more environmentally friendly by keeping thousands of tons of waste out of landfills each year.
Donated items can either be brought to our ReStores or picked up by our donation truck. Items can be dropped off Tuesday through Saturday from 9 am-5 pm.
To view a list of items our ReStores are able to accept, please check out our list of acceptable donations.
To schedule an item pickup, please email photos of your items to firstname.lastname@example.com and we will contact you to let you know if we are able to accept and pick up the items.
ReStores are open to the public for shopping from Wednesday through Saturday, 9 am-5 pm. You can purchase a variety of quality new and reclaimed building materials, pre-owned appliances and furniture, and more – all at a fraction of retail prices.
Both our McHenry and Woodstock ReStores are staffed almost entirely by volunteers. Without the help of our awesome volunteers, we would not be able to do what we do! In the ReStores, our volunteers help with duties such as running the cash registers, sorting stock, assisting customers, tidying up the store, unloading the donation truck, and educating the community about Habitat McHenry's mission. If you are interested in volunteering with us, please click here to sign up for one of our many slots. If you have any additional questions, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at email@example.com or (815)759-9002 ext. 106.
If you would like to fill out our safety waiver and media release forms before you volunteer, please click the corresponding form below and bring the completed copy on your first day of volunteering. Waiver forms for minors require the signature of a legal guardian.


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Blood Flow Max contains well-researched, citrus-based flavonoids in a unique micronized form for enhanced absorption and bioavailability. Research suggests that these compounds support healthy veins, capillaries, and blood flow; promote healthy lymphatic drainage; and enhance antioxidant activity; and support healthy eicosanoid metabolism. More recent research suggests that the components in Blood Flow Max also support blood glucose metabolism.*


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More Details
Product Description
Waterlight. This fluid, long-wear makeup feels like you have nothing on. Moves comfortably with your skin. Looks fresh, natural, healthy, even-toned.
With SPF 30 and anti-oxidants, it's your invisible defense against environmental damage from UV rays and pollution.
Instantly and continuously hydrates with a moisture complex of red fruit extracts, including watermelon, lychee seed and apple.
In shades for all skintones.
Colour:2C2 Pale Almond
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Save precious time at the airport by reserving this product now. It'll be ready and waiting for you to collect in store before your flight. No payment is required until collection. Learn more about Reserve & Collect
Please note these conversions are provided for convenience only. You will be charged in the appropriate local currency on product collection.


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Colorblocks, stripes and vertical dropped stitches – it's Not Quite Plaid, but looks vaguely tartan. An asymmetric bias shape and an atypical approach to creating a stitch pattern result in a fabric on which to combine colors for a nontraditional and modern shawl that is infinitely customizable. Choose colors and yarns that speak to you from your stash for your own perfect, (not quite) plaid. Techniques & Skills Used: cable CO, knit/purl, increasing/decreasing; instructions are both fully written and charted. Size: 84" length and 32" depth, customizable to any size. Yarn: Baah! La Jolla (100% merino wool; 400 yards/366m/100g); 1 skein each of color A/Night Sky, color B/Obsidian, color C/Grey Onyx and color D/La Perla. A plied sock yarn with a somewhat tight twist helps maintain the integrity of the dropped stitches. The sample used approximately 275/100/205/215 yards of colors A/B/C/D but any amount of yarn in any combination may be used; see Designer's Notes. Other Materials: US 6 (4mm) 32" circular needle or size to match gauge; marker (1); removable markers (optional); Yarn needle; . . .
Pax Vobis
Let Pax Vobis bring peace to you, as rhythmic baby cables flow into a gentle A-line silhouette. Seamless topdown raglan construction and an intuitive cable twist stitch pattern enable serene and uncomplicated knitting. The cropped length, elbow sleeves and deeply scooped neckline are perfect with a summer outfit, and the lightweight yarn brings a whisper soft harmony. Techniques & Skills Used: raglan construction, knit/purl, increasing/decreasing, cable CO, backwards loop CO, working in the round; baby cable twist pattern is both written and charted and includes instructions for increasing in pattern. Size: 29.25 (31.25, 32.75, 34.75, 36.75, 38.75, 40.75, 44.75, 48)" bust; shown in fourth size with no ease. Yarn: Woolfolk Tynd (100% Ovis 21 ultimate merino wool; 223 yards/205m/50g); 4 (4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7) skeins, or approximately 725 (775, 850, 900, 975, 1075, 1175, 1300, 1450) yards of fingering weight yarn. Sample shown in Color No. 02. Other Materials: US 5 (3.75mm) 32″ circular needle or size to match gauge; US 5 (3.75mm) 24″ circular needle for neckline; Stitch markers (8); . . .
Dolman three-quarter sleeves and an easy silhouette make Veruschka the perfect cozy sweater for casual days. Knit in one piece from the top down, the body features gentle shaping to flatter your curves, and chunky ribbing to keep the mood rustic. A foldover turtleneck finishes the look and keeps out the chill. Techniques & Skills Used: knit/purl, short rows, picking up stitches, increasing/ decreasing, backwards loop CO, provisional CO, grafting. This pattern includes links to my short row and grafting tutorials. Size: 30 (32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 48, 52)" bust; sample shown in fifth size, worn with 3" positive ease. Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted (100% merino wool; 210 yards/100g); 4 (5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8) skeins or approximately 800 (875, 950, 1000, 1050, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500) yards of worsted weight yarn. Sample shown in Purple Mystery. Other Materials: US 9 (5.5mm) 32" circular needle (2) or size to match gauge; Stitch markers (4); Locking stitch markers (2); Stitch holders (4); Scrap yarn for provisional CO; . . .
The Fisher Queen
A modern take on the fisherman sweater, The Fisher Queen blends classic cable and rib elements with a non-traditional shape and construction. The modified dolman sleeves, scooped neck and curved hem are all updated details on a classic silhouette. Worked seamlessly from the top down, the shoulder saddles are knit first, with stitches picked up for front and back and worked flat to below the armhole, then joined to work in the round. Long, skinny sleeves are picked up and worked in rib, then finished with twisted rib cuffs, matching the hem and neckband. The Fisher Queen mixes traditional and modern, in a contemporary classic. Techniques & Skills Used: backwards loop CO, knit/purl, cables, decreasing, short rows, picking up stitches, grafting. Body stitch patterns are both written and charted. Size: 31 (35, 39, 43, 47, 51, 55)" bust; shown in third size with 4" ease. For a similar fit, choose a size with several inches of ease; the cables and rib will conform gently to the body, while still maintaining a relaxed silhouette. Yarn: Cascade . . .
Slaunter Hat
Just the right amount of slouchy style and comfort, the Slaunter Hat features smooth reverse stockinette with high relief knit rib accents, and a stretchy textured mistake-rib brim. Instructions are included for both the traditional and the modern split-brim versions, for double your style options! Techniques & Skills Used: cable CO, knit/purl, increasing/decreasing, knitting in the round. Size: one size, which easily fits women's M or 21-23" head circumference; approximately 18" brim circumference and 9" depth, unstretched. Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh DK (100% Superwash Merino; 225 yards/110g); 1 skein. Traditional brim version shown in Ink, and split-brim version in Iris, and using 65 and 70 grams respectively. Other Materials: US 7 (4.5mm) 16" circular needle and dpns, or 32" circular needle if using Magic Loop, or size to match gauge; extra US 7 dpn for split brim facings; Stitch markers (8); Yarn needle. Gauge: 20 st and 26 rows/4" in reverse stockinette stitch; 22 st and 28 rows/4" in Mistake Rib, after blocking. See it on Ravelry, to read more or purchase the pattern.
Slauntering towards a Swatch
At my house, we have a word we like to use when someone is lazily, casually moving towards an objective: Slaunter. As in, "I saw you slauntering around by the coffee shop this morning," or "Could you please pick up the pace from a slaunter to a stride; we're late." It's meant to suggest relaxed and unconcerned action; maybe a little bit indolent, but typically in a good way. Weekend mornings are perfect for slauntering; we're achieving things, but in a relaxed and non-stressful way. Slaunter is a little bit saunter, mixed in with a dose of slouch. It's imperfect, comfortable and forgiving. The concept of slauntering is all over my next bit of knitwear, from a mistake-rib beginning, to an easy, relaxed result. I'm loving the concept so much that I'm exploring some accessories, like a split-brim hat: (Some color, huh? That's tosh dk in Iris; I popped into the LYS near my daughter's orthodontist the other day just to pass some time, and they had three cubbies' worth of colors and bases. Can . . .
Those are two words a knitter doesn't ever want to hear – ripping lace. And yet I was not only hearing it, but doing it. This is the summer of lace for me, specifically lace sweaters; the last of which is almost ready for release. But getting there involved a nerve-wracking interlude of ripping back the lace pattern. I kept trying on this tee shirt (with the shoulders pinned together, since they were to be finished later), and thinking, hmmm, it's not long enough, just another 8 row repeat before the ribbing. Somehow I got off track; it was originally meant to be cropped and boxy, over a wide ribbed hem, but then with the short sleeves I thought that would be too square shaped. Then I thought about those generic length end-at-the-bottom-of-the-pants-waistband tops which are kind of boring, so I just kept adding on and adding on. And you know when you suspect you've done something that's not really working out, but you think, oh, it'll be fine, and keep going? Yeah, me too. . . .
The Arctic blast has come to the Mid Atlantic region, and we're having daytime high temperatures hovering around 21 degrees F. What better time to be working on a chunky blanket-style cardi? It's serendipity. The Biggo yarn from Knit Picks is gorgeous and wintery in Dove Heather, and is knitting up for me at 12 st and 16 rows on US 10 needles. It feels great, and promises to be easy care, too, with 50% superwash merino and 50% nylon content. I love me a warm, quick sweater! I'm calling it Alluvium, which refers to loose, unconsolidated matter that has been eroded, reshaped and redeposited – kind of like yarn and stitches forming new shapes.
Chunnel Mitts
The Chunnel Mitts are long armwarmers with fitted rib cuffs and hands, and deep textural gauntlet forearms which can be scrunched up or worn straight depending on the weather and your coat sleeve length. An easy and fast knit with a thumb slit and no increasing or decreasing, the deep channel tunnels of the gauntlet stitch pattern do an excellent job of breaking up pooling in variegated yarns. Weave the ends in neatly and the Chunnel Mitts are completely reversible, showing a different but equally attractive pattern on the reverse side. Techniques & Skills Used: knit/purl, knitting into the stitch below, knitting in the round. Size: S (M, L): to fit 6.5 (7.5, 8.5)" palm circumference; 4 (4, 5)" length from wrist and 7 (8.25, 9.25)" cuff length. The Chunnel Mitts are very stretchy, and size M will fit a wide range of hand sizes from teen to women's large. Yarn: Malabrigo Rios (100% superwash merino wool, 210 yards), 1 (1, 2) skeins. Size M shown in Candombe and Azules. Other Materials: US 7 (4.5mm) . . .
Variegated yarns are an ongoing challenge; they look so appealing in the skein that you cant resist, and yet – what to do with them, really? Socks, maybe; those are mostly covered up and are like a secret crazy. I think that's why sock yarns tend to have the most numerous, exuberant instances of variegation. But what about something like a worsted weight superwash? My solution was to make fingerless mitts with a K1below stitch pattern. The hand and cuff edge are regular rib, but the long gauntlet arm section transitions to a K1below rib that breaks up the colors and makes a fluffy, less elastic brioche, good for scrunching up. Both pairs use Malabrigo Rios, one in the Candombe colorway, the other in Azules. I made the Candombe pair first as the design prototype, when I was trying to find a way to love all that yellow in my skein. Then I thought I'd try a shaded-variegated with some of the Azules left over from Blue Honey. It may be mostly blue, but . . .