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Home Maintenance Schedule for 2018
Since 2018 has arrived, it's a good time to consider some maintenance projects to keep your home in excellent shape over the year. Having a home maintenance schedule checklist helps ensure you're on point to make sure your home operates efficiently and is comfortable all year.
Home Maintenance Made Easy
Creating a simple schedule will make preparing your home for winter effortless. The following guidelines will help you develop your own schedule.
Recommended Home Maintenance Schedule for 2018
Each Month…
- Replace HVAC filters
- Clean filter for Oven Range Hood
- Clean disposal in kitchen sink
- Do a Fire Extinguisher inspection
Each Quarter…
- Check smoke & carbon monoxide detectors
- Test garage door opener functionality
- Clean out garage
- Analyze water softener salt levels
- Perform grout repair in kitchen and bathrooms
- Wash windows
- Clean out dryer vent and any other exhaust vents
Twice a year…
- Do a deep clean on your home
- Have maintenance performed on your HVAC system
- Flush the hot water heater
- Examine all exterior locks and replace as required
- Clean out gutters
- Vacuum refrigerator coils
Once a year…
- Inspect the roof and siding for any damage
- Repair or replace any damaged window screens
- Replace weather stripping and caulking where required
- Organize basements and closets
- Touch up exterior trim paint
- Patch Driveway and/or sidewalk cracks
Keeping Your Heating Costs Down
It's time to think about the most effective methods to warm your residence, and the thermostat is an extremely important component of the procedure. The system's age, just how you maintain it, also where in your house it's installed could all influence your home heating costs.
The air emanating from your heater is the same temperature despite the weather outside. Raising your thermostat does not affect just how warm the air is, it simply makes your heater run much longer.
If you're setting your thermostat higher, that will certainly make your system run longer as well as most likely overwork the system while elevating your expenses.
If your thermostat is set to 70 degrees, yet the real temperature level in your house is 62 degrees, that possibly implies there's a concern with the system and that you ought to have it evaluated.
Specialists advise obtaining a programmable thermostat so you may establish a reduced temperature when you typically aren't there. It will usually pay for itself within a year.
A few other suggestions for maintaining a cozy residence for much less cash:
- Cover drafty home windows with blankets or plastic
- Use space heating units that comply with safety standards to heat up an area rather than the whole drafty residence
If you do utilize a space heating units, make certain it has the UL tag as well as a tip over shut down feature. Of course, these should never be left operating unattended.
The placement of the thermostat is additionally vital to preventing incorrect readings. The objective is to have the thermostat as centrally located as is feasible, far from direct sunshine, or a kitchen area … those locations where you're getting some intrinsic temperature level variances.
Lots of households wait to activate their heater till the weather turns, only to find it's not functioning appropriately. Here are some pointers to guarantee your heating system is operating effectively and continues to do so:
- Make certain the area around your heater is clutter free, especially free of any flammable materials.
- Run your heating system for a short while prior to the onset of cold weather
- Change out or clean the filter regularly
Specializing in Air Conditioning & Heating Repair and Installation
for Wylie, Texas and surrounding areas for over 30 years, we have
made our primary focus the complete satisfaction of every customer.
We're a company you can trust. Call us today! (972) 693-2343


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Developer, designer, creative, politico, writer.
Online portfolio/work samples viewable here, and on GitHub.
Web developer/designer with seven years of experience in higher education, government, CMS and customer-facing web software. Broad knowledge of HTML, CSS, JS and modern web frameworks. Well-versed in atomic design, responsive design, accessibility and 508 compliance, SEO, REST APIs. Skilled in agile development. Accustomed to complex workflows utilizing various task runners and package managers.
- React
- AngularJS
- JavaScript ES6
- Node
- Express
- MongoDB/Mongoose
- jQuery
- REST APIs
- ColdFusion
- Material/Bootstrap
- ActionScript
- Jekyll/Liquid/Smarty
- WordPress
- Git/SVN
- Bower
- Composer
- Grunt/Gulp
- MongoDB Atlas
- Auth0
- Adobe CC
- Flex Builder
Skills & Qualifications
Web Design & Development
7+ years professional experience in the field. Well-versed in atomic design, responsive design, accessibility and 508 compliance. Skilled in agile development. Accustomed to complex workflows utilizing various task runners and package managers.
Graphic Design
2nd place winner of Newsday's School Journalism Award for Typography & Layout, 2007
Served as Staff Writer, Layout Editor, Managing Editor, Editor-in-Chief & Student Advisor of Suffolk County Community College's award-winning 'Compass' Newspaper
Experienced in Database Structure, SOHO Networking, Windows Server setup, General IT
Business management- founded and operated self-run computer repair service; highly experienced with designing games for constrained platforms
Project Experience
Angular CMS App
Symplicity Corporation, Arlington, VA (Aug '14 - Oct. '16)
Front-End Design & Development
Worked on a CMS app made in Angular, using Bootstrap with atomic design principles and in compliance with Section 508 accessibility standards.
Built several unique features including dockable modals, and spearheaded atomic design strategy with integrated style guide, components library, and visual regression testing suite.
Responsive Design Work
Symplicity Corporation, Arlington, VA (Jun '12 - Present)
Front-End Design
Designed various responsive emails with variable pixel-density image handling.
Designed a site for use in conjunction with Chromecast devices, intended for large-format viewing on TV screens.
Built a Flash app in Flex Builder that could dynamically scale its contents, using the same techniques applied by responsive websites.
API Work
Symplicity Corporation, Arlington, VA (Jun '12 - Present)
Front-End Development
Various uses of social media APIs, including Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
Various uses of Google Maps API functionality for interactive data rendering.
Various uses of THOMAS and congress.gov API functionality.
Various uses of multimedia APIs, including Flickr and YouTube (see my favorite example in my portfolio).
Symplicity Corporation, Arlington, VA (Jun '12 - Present)
Front-End Design & Development
VOICE is a web-based constituent relationship management (CRM) system specifically designed for government offices.
CSM (Career Services Manager)
Symplicity Corporation, Arlington, VA (Sep '12 - Present)
Front-End Design & Development
Built from the ground up by career services professionals, CSM by Symplicity enhances how information is shared and processed both within the university and between their students and employers. This career services-focused approach has enabled us to become the market leader with 1000+ career office deployments worldwide.
Project Odyssey
RIT, Rochester, NY (Sep '11 - Jun '12)
Concept / Design / Physical Installation
Odyssey was a 360-degree audio-visual interactive experience, incorporating motion controls with Kinect to allow for free motion. We developed a solution which fully immerses the user's senses, offering an experience that is engaging and comparable to real life.
We created an installation which combined a physical cylindrical screen made of plastic piping and stretchable fabric, and four short-throw projectors with image stitching software applied to create the display solution. We also incorporated 5.1 surround sound speakers and Kinect-based motion controls to control movement. We developed software in Unity and designed it to be experienced exclusively on the Odyssey platform.
We planned to further develop our software to take advantage of the innovative properties of the Odyssey platform, and refine the motion controls to deliver the most intuitive control scheme possible. We also intended to develop a permanent mounting system for our installation, and presented a near production-quality iteration of Odyssey at 2012's ImagineRIT Festival. After graduation, future development of Project Odyssey was put on hold. All of our materials and footage from Project Odyssey can be found here.
Just Press Play
RIT, Rochester, NY (Sep '11 - Nov '11)
Content Development
Involved with creation of various pieces of content for Microsoft-sponsored student achievement system prior to launch, including documentation. Responsibilities included providing user experience feedback, developing new Achievements and the metadata associated with them, basic front-end website debugging, and various promotional duties. Also produced copy for documentation given to new players, and provided rough draft of EULA for website. Available to view here. (Launched Nov. 2011)
Sugar Labs
(Feb '11 - May '11)
Website Redesign (Co-op)
(Feb '11 - May '11)
Website Redesign (Co-op)
Worked with Sugar Labs to redesign their website through research, user testing, and interviews. Designed comprehensive new website structure catering to multiple groups of users, including children. Responsibilities included developing structure for new site, collecting demographic data from various groups of users, and brainstorming basic layout options, as well as gathering content from Sugar Labs locations around the globe, including translating content from Spanish to English. (Expected to launch in early 2012)
Fortune Hunter
(Dec '09 - May '10)
Character Artist
Served as artist on a team designing games for the One Laptop Per Child's Python-based XO device. Responsibilities included character design and vector graphic design in Illustrator, as well as research into animation on low-power devices. Available for download at wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Fortune_Hunter. (Prototype in progress)
Work Experience
Symplicity Corporation
Seattle, WA (Jun '12 - Present)
Front-End Developer
I work remotely with a team of highly talented individuals to design and develop web and mobile applications for higher education and government services.
My responsibilities include:
Translating wireframes and mockups into fully functional web and mobile products, using flexible, agile design and development practices
Anticipating, reacting to, and adapting for changing client needs and expectations by keeping track of the latest web development trends and techniques
Researching and implementing new web technologies into our existing applications and websites
Neighborhood Nerd
South Setauket, NY (Nov '08 - Jun '12)
Owner / Chief Technician
Founded and operated computer repair service based around an innovative new business model; devised branding strategy.
Boys & Girls Club of Suffolk County
East Setauket, NY (Oct '07 - Aug '09)
After School & Summer Camp Counselor / Computer Technician / Computers & Technology Instructor
In addition to roles listed above, also provided work as promotional advisor. Developed and implemented multimedia marketing campaign for teen after school program comprised of print, merchandising, and installation efforts.
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY (2009-Present)
B.S. Degree, New Media Interactive Development
Concentration, Global Studies (Japanese)
Graduated: May 2012; GPA 3.00
Suffolk County Community College
Selden, NY (2005-2009)
A.A.S. Degree, Computer Art
Graduated: June 2009

subset: commoncrawl


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How It Works
WordPress Plugin Staff List – How It Works
1. Staff Template
Staff template gives you the full control over how and what data is displayed on web pages. It has two functions:
- Form designer
- Front-end customizer
Form designer. You can create data entry fields, select data types, add field labels. In short, you'll build a data entry form.
Front-end customizer. You can choose a page layout, apply your own styles and modify other aspects of web presentation.
2. Staff Member (Data Entry Form)
Staff Member custom post has all the fields you've created in the template. It contains data of a single staff member. There is also an image section where you can select a photo from WordPress Media Library.
Before creating the staff member record you need to assign a template to it.
3. Web Pages
To show the staff members on your website, create a page and add a shortcode to the content area.
To create a page for an individual staff member, add a single page shortcode.
Both shortcodes can be found in your template under Shortcode tab.


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The internet has reached the highest per capita saturation point than ever before in history. Some regions of the world still have limited access, but those regions are becoming more scarce. This makes the world closer than it ever has been before.
The first 1 billion people to be on the internet happened in 2005. By 2010, 2 billion people were online. The 3 billion mark was reached in 2014.
Internet Access Facts
As the internet access statistics continue to improve, the world will begin seeing an even greater fusion of ethnicities and cultures. This will have a profound impact on humanity. Whether that impact is good or bad depends on each one of us.
- About 40% of the total population of the world has access to an internet connection right now.
- The number of users with internet access has increased by 10x since 1999.
- Almost half of the world [48.4%] that is connected to the internet comes from Asia, yet the continent is second only to Africa for per capita internet access.
- 75% of internet users in the world live in the top 20 countries for internet connections.
- China has the largest number of people connected to the internet: 642 million.
- Among the top 20 countries, India is the one with the lowest penetration: 19% and the highest yearly growth rate.
- At the opposite end of the range, United States, France, Canada, UK, and Germany have the highest penetration: over 80% of population in these countries has an internet connection.
As the APAC region continues to develop and wealth begins to grow, the prevalence of internet access will also keep growing. Although this region already dominates the overall connections as a percentage, they also have the most people who are not connected to the internet right now as well. These facts also apply to the African continent. Within the next 5 years, it would not be impossible to cross the 4 billion connection level, putting half of the world online.
How Far Has The Internet Penetrated?
- North America leads the world with internet market penetration at 87%.
- Asia has the most users on the internet today, yet has only 34.7% market penetration.
- Someone in Latin America or the Caribbean is 2x more likely to be on the internet when compared to someone in Africa.
- There are more people online in Europe and Latin America than there are in North America.
- There are only 13 million fewer people connected to the internet in Africa than are connected in North America.
- From 2000-2014, Africa saw a growth rate of almost 6,500% in terms of internet usage growth. In comparison, North America only saw 184% growth.
In the next decade, the growth and market saturation that the developed world saw will be seen in Africa and the APAC region. This will create explosive growth in the internet access statistics and will create an even smaller world. Watch for numerous entrepreneurial opportunities as the internet explodes in growth because more people will be anxious to absorb the tremendous archive of data that the internet is able to provide. As connections grow, the world will undoubtedly change.
Why Do People Go Online?
- The most common reason to connect to the internet is to get news, accounting for the usage habits of 77% of men and 66% of women.
- 3 out of the top 4 reasons to connect to the internet involve gathering news, such as sports scores or updates on politics. Making travel reservations [#2 reason for being online] is the only activity that cracks the Top 4.
- Women online are 2x more likely to participate in an online auction than they are to purchased stocks, bonds, or mutual funds.
- Minorities in the US [71%] are more likely to go online for job training or school research than Caucasians.
The internet might be a bastion of buying and selling, but it is also an educational resource beyond compare. As internet access increases, the amount of knowledge that each culture and society has will increase as well. Will this help to enlighten us as a people as we seek to grow stronger in our differences? Or will we polarize like modern American politics and create our own little niche of similarly minded folks? This is a choice we will need to make in the near future.
Although millions of people visit Brandon's blog each month, his path to success was not easy. Go here to read his incredible story, "From Disabled and $500k in Debt to a Pro Blogger with 5 Million Monthly Visitors." If you want to send Brandon a quick message, then visit his contact page here.


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A power supply's characteristics influence the design of a power management subsystem. Two major characteristics are efficiency and performance over its specified temperature range, which may require cooling. Also, there are important characteristics that protect the power supply and its load from damage, such as overcurrent, overtemperature, and overvoltage, etc. Then, there are operating parameters that describe a power supply's performance, like drift, dynamic response, line regulation, load regulation, etc.
Efficiency determines the thermal and electrical losses in the system, as well as the amount of cooling required. Also, it impacts the physical package sizes of both the power supply and the final end-item system. Plus, it affects the operating temperatures of system components and the resultant system reliability. These factors contribute to the determination of the total system cost, both hardware and field support. Power supply data sheets usually include a plot of efficiency vs. output current, as shown in Figure 2-1. This plot shows that efficiency varies with the power supply's applied voltage as well as the output load current.
Efficiency, reliability, and operating temperature are inter-related. Power supply data sheets usually include specific airflow and heat sink requirements. For example, the ambient operating temperature affects the output load current that the power supply can handle reliably. Derating curves for the power supply (Figure 2-2) indicate its reliable operating current vs. temperature. Figure 2-2 shows how much current the supply can be safely handle if it is operating with natural convection, or 200 LFM and 400 LFM.
Protecting the Supply
There are several other characteristics that impact power supply operation. Among these are those employed to protect the supply, which are listed below.
Overcurrent: A failure mode caused by output load current that is greater than specified. It is limited by the maximum current capability of the power supply and controlled by internal protection circuits. It can also damage the power supply in some cases. Short circuits between the power supply output and ground can create currents within the system that are limited only by the maximum current capability and internal impedance of the power supply. Without limiting, this high current can cause overheating and damage the power supply as well as the load and its interconnects (p.c. board traces, cables). Therefore, most power supplies should have current limiting (overcurrent protection) that activates if the output current exceeds a specified maximum.
Overtemperature: A temperature that is above the power supply's specified value must be prevented or it can cause power supply failure. Excessive operating temperature can damage a power supply and the circuits connected to it. Therefore, many supplies employ a temperature sensor and associated circuits to disable the supply if its operating temperature exceeds a specific value. In particular, semiconductors used in the supply are vulnerable to temperatures beyond their specified limits. Many supplies include overtemperature protection that turns off the supply if the temperature exceeds the specified limit.
Overvoltage: This failure mode occurs if the output voltage goes above the specified dc value, which can impose excessive dc voltage that damages the load circuits. Typically, electronic system loads can withstand up to 20% overvoltage without incurring any permanent damage. If this is a consideration, select a supply that minimizes this risk. Many supplies include overvoltage protection that turns the supply off if the output voltage exceeds a specified amount. Another approach is a crowbar zener diode that conducts enough current at the overvoltage threshold so that it activates the power supply current limiting and it shuts down.
Soft Start: Inrush current limitation may be needed when power is first applied or when new boards are hot plugged. Typically, this is achieved by a soft-start circuit that slows the initial rise of current and then allows normal operation. If left untreated the inrush current can generate a high peak charging current that impacts the output voltage. If this is an important consideration, select a supply with this feature.
Undervoltage Lockout: Known as UVLO, it turns the supply on when it reaches a high enough input voltage and turns off the supply if the input voltage falls below a certain value. This feature is used for supplies operating from utility power as well as battery power. When operated from battery-based power UVLO disables the power supply (as well as the system) if the battery discharges so much that it drops supply's input voltage too low to permit reliable operation.
Power Factor Correction (PFC): Applicable only to ac-dc power supplies. The relationship between the ac power line voltage and current is called power factor. For a purely resistive load on the power line, voltage and current are in phase and the power factor is 1.0. However, when an ac-dc power supply is placed on the power line, the voltage-current phase difference increases and power factor decreases because the process of rectifying and filtering the ac input upsets the relationship between voltage and current on the power line. When this occurs it reduces power supply efficiency and generates harmonics that can cause problems for other systems connected to the same power line. Power factor correction (PFC) circuits modify the relationship between power line voltage and current, by making them closer to being in phase. This improves the power factor, reduces the harmonics and improves the power supply's efficiency. If power line harmonics are important, choose a supply with PFC that has a power factor of 0.9 or higher.
Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC)
Manufactured power supplies must employ design techniques that provide electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) by minimizing electromagnetic interference (EMI). In switch-mode power supplies, a dc voltage is converted to a chopped or a pulsed waveform. This causes the power supply to generate narrow-band noise (EMI) at the fundamental of the switching frequency and its associated harmonics. To contain the noise, manufacturers must minimize radiated or conducted emissions.
Power supply manufacturers minimize EMI radiation by enclosing the supply in a metal box or spray coating the case with a metallic material. Manufacturers also need to pay attention to the internal layout of the supply and the wiring that goes in and out of the supply, which can generate noise.
Most of the conducted interference on the power line is the result of the main switching transistor or output rectifiers. With power factor correction and proper transformer design, connection of the heat sink, and filter design, the power supply manufacturer can reduce conducted interference so that the supply can achieve EMI regulatory agency approvals without incurring excessive filter cost. Always check to see that the power supply manufacturer meets the requirement of the regulatory EMI standards.
Regulatory Standards
Compliance with national or international standards is usually required by individual nations. Different nations can require compliance with different standards. These standards attempt to standardize product's EMC performance with respect to EMI. Among the regulatory standards are:
• Electromagnetic disturbance characteristics - Limits and methods of measurement.
• Electromagnetic compatibility - Requirements for household appliances
• Radio disturbance characteristics - Limits and methods of measurement for the protection of receivers except those installed in the vehicle/boat/device itself or in adjacent vehicles/boats/devices.
• Specification for radio disturbance and immunity measurement apparatus and methods
Continue to next page
Several characteristics affect power supply performance.
Drift: The variation in dc output voltage as a function of time at constant line voltage, load, and ambient temperature.
Dynamic Response: A power supply may be employed in a system where there is a requirement to provide fast dynamic response to a change in load power. That can be the case for the load of high-speed microprocessors with power management functions. In this case, the microprocessor may be in a standby state and upon command it must start up or turn off immediately, which imposes high dynamic currents with fast ramp rates on the power supply. To accommodate the microprocessor, the supply's output voltage must ramp up or down within a specified time interval, but without excessive overshoot.
Efficiency: Ratio of output-to-input power (in percent), measured at a given load current with nominal line conditions (Pout/Pin).
Hold up Time: Time during which a power supply's output voltage remains within specification following the loss of input power.
Inrush Current: Peak instantaneous input current drawn by a power supply at turn-on.
International Standards: Specify a power supply's safety requirements and allowable EMI (electromagnetic interference) levels.
Isolation: Electrical separation between the input and output of a power supply measured in volts. A non-isolated has a dc path between the input and output of supply, whereas an isolated power supply employs a transformer to eliminate the dc path between input and output.
Line Regulation: Change in value of dc output voltage resulting from a change in ac input voltage, specified as the change in ± mV or ± %.
Load Regulation: Change in value of dc output voltage resulting from a change in load from open circuit to maximum rated output current, specified as the change in ± mV or ± %.
Output Noise: This can occur in the power supply in the form of short bursts of high frequency energy. The noise is caused by charging and discharging of parasitic capacitances within the power supply during its operating cycle. Its amplitude is variable and can depend on the load impedance, external filtering, and how it is measurement.
Output Voltage Trim: Most power supplies have the ability to "trim" the output voltage, whose adjustment range does not need to be large, usually about ±10%. One common usage is to compensate for the dc distribution voltage drop within the system. Trimming can either be upward or downward from the nominal setting using an external resistor or potentiometer.
Periodic and random deviation (PARD)
Unwanted periodic (ripple) or aperiodic (noise) deviation of the power supply output voltage from its nominal value. PARD is expressed in mV peak-to-peak or rms, at a specified bandwidth.
Peak Current
The maximum current that a power supply can provide for brief periods.
Peak Power
The absolute maximum output power that a power supply can produce without damage. It is typically well beyond the continuous reliable output power capability and should only be used infrequently.
Power Supply Sequencing: Sequential turn-on and off of power supplies may be required in systems with multiple operating voltages. That is, voltages must be applied in a specific sequence otherwise the system can be damaged. For example, after applying the first voltage and it reaches a specific value, a second voltage can be ramped up, and so on. Sequencing works in reverse when power is removed, although speed is not usually as much of a problem as turn-on.
Remote On/Off : This is preferred over switches to turn power supplies on and off. Power supply data sheet specifications usually detail the dc parameters for remote on/off, listing the on and off logic levels required.
Remote Sense: A typical power supply monitors its output voltage and feeds a portion of it back to the supply to provide voltage regulation. In this way, if the output tends to rise or fall, the feedback regulates the supply's output voltage. However, to maintain a constant output at the load, the power supply should actually monitor the voltage at the load. But, connections from a power supply's output to its load have resistance and current flowing through them produces a voltage drop that creates a voltage difference between the supply's output and the actual load. For the optimal regulation, the voltage fed back to the power supply should be the actual load voltage. The supply's two (plus and minus) remote sense connections monitor the actual load voltage, a portion if which is then fed back to the supply with very little voltage drop because the current through the two remote sense connections is very low. As a consequence, the voltage applied to the load is regulated.
Ripple: Rectifying and filtering a switching power supply's output results in an ac component (ripple) that rides on its dc output. Ripple frequency is some integral multiple of the converter's switching frequency, which depends on the converter topology. Ripple is relatively unaffected by load current, but can be decreased by external capacitor filtering.
When using multiple output power supplies whereby one or more outputs follow another with changes in line, load and temperature, so that each maintains the same proportional output voltage, within specified tracking tolerance, with respect to a common value.
Click here for the enhanced PDF version of this article.


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If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that my all-time favourite fake tan has got to be St Moriz Lotion. I've sworn by this product since discovering it years ago, and I honestly don't think there's a better fake tan out there.
The only difficulty with St Moriz was that it could be pretty hard to track down - until now. I'm so excited that St Moriz have recently launched in Boots stores, meaning that it's going to be super easy to get hold of them on your local highstreet!
You can use the widget below to enter, and the competition will be closing 3 weeks today. It's UK only and there are different ways to enter, the more you do the more likely you are to win.
Good luck and happy tanning!
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Hi ~ I'm Beth Wedlake. I serve families that want to document the everyday moments in their life as well as the major milestones with natural, authentic photography. Here is a little more "About Me ".
I LOVE coffee. It's a "Gilmore Girls" level of coffee obsession!
I met my husband in a photo dark room at college. I do realize the whole "dark room" thing dates me but film was where it was at back in the early 1990's.
Being a mom is one of my greatest joys.
I really like sweaters and usually push the whole sweater season because I get excited to wear my favorites by late summer.
My high school years were mostly spent at a Christian Boarding school.
I've been mugged in Morocco and lost my luggage to a thief in Costa Rica. Apparently, I'm not a savvy traveler.
I grew up in farm country and the smell of a barn immediately takes me back to childhood.
Okay, your turn. Shoot me an e-mail and tell me a little about yourself and what you are looking for in your photography! I'd love to work with you!
Oh, one more thing you might like to know; I have been a photographer for almost 25 years and I'm planning to be a photographer for the rest of my career. I love my job and this little business of mine isn't going anywhere. I'll still be here next year, and the year after. Photographing people isn't something I'm trying out to see if I like. It's my passion! I am a natural storyteller and photographing families, newborn babies, children, high school seniors and moms-to-be allows me to tell YOUR story. I received my AAS degree in Portrait Photography in 1993 and worked for several photography studios before opening my own business in 1999. I know I have the best job in the world!


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Wolf Point Concept Sketch
There is a piece of land on the Chicago River near the Merchandise Mart that is called Wolf Point. It has remained undeveloped for many years, as maybe it should.
While working at an architectural firm in the 1980's Randal did this concept sketch of putting a high rise commercial and residential tower on the property.
Color pencils on yellow tissue paper.


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I stumbled upon a review yesterday, and I have been turning it in my head… I gave it over night to let it stew and have decide that it REALLY pisses me off…
Not because of the two stars – so what if she didn't like the ending; if you want to like the way every book ends, write your own.
I didn't mind the part where she gave huge spoilers; it happens.
What I did mind was the opening sentence… and I quote…"I'm glad I waited until this book was made available on KU, because otherwise I would have returned it."
I have news for you, LADY – if you go to the movies, and you don't like how it ends, you DON'T pick up your refund on the way out the door. You bought a ticket to ride, and you get what you get.
The very idea of saying such a thing negates her opinion to me – not just on my book, but every other book or review she has ever written. You can't advocate THEFT and then expect people to respect your opinion.
I'll stop there, because this could turn into a very serious rant, and I'm just not going to do that.
What I am going to say is, THE IRREVOCABLE SERIES is a realistic scifi – a glimpse into the possibility of a true Armageddon…. and yeah, the whole thing is free on KU. Oh, and it's a clean read, with no descriptive sex or violence. I hope you enjoy it, but please don't steal it, or anyone else's book just because Amazon will let you….
❤ Sam


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charitable status
CRA announces upcoming changes to the T3010 and T2050, removing political activities
On March 15, 2019, CRA announced that there will be changes to the T3010 Annual Return and the T2050 Application to Register a Charity to account for the recent changes to the political activities rules for Canadian registered charities.
Account changes for registered charities under CHAMP
Canadian charities now have more options for doing certain transactions online using the CHAMP system. Charities should look into accessing their CHAMP account.
CRA's Report on the Charities Program 2015-16
In January 2017, the CRA released its Report on the Charities Program 2015–2016, which provides interesting insights into Canada's charitable sector. A common thread weaving through issues related to obtaining and maintaining charitable status is the need to create, maintain, and report/file information required by the Charities Directorate and the Income Tax Act.
Planned giving donors should make sure strings are attached
Planned giving has been an issue of interest to the charitable sector for several years. The enthusiasm by which the sector has taken up the discussion has permeated the donor community. As a result donations by will are a common occurrence. But if the donor does not monitor developments with the charity the gift could lapse and frustrate the donor's intentions to support the organization.
Supporting and controlling not-for-profit revenues
It's a rare not-for-profit that isn't spending a great deal of its time and attention scrabbling for revenue. In fact, it hardly needs to be said that effective generation and management of revenue flows are almost always critical success factors for not-for-profits.
Court confirms that religious charities must actively promote a religion
Earlier this month, the Federal Court of Appeal was asked to consider whether the Minister of National Revenue had erred in confirming the decision of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to deny the Humanics Institute's application for charitable status. CRA denied the application on the basis that: 1) The Humanics Institute's purposes were too broad; 2) the activities stated in support of its purposes were not charitable; and 3) it did not demonstrate that it would have direction and control over certain of its resources, as its proposed funding of a foreign scholarship could not be considered to be the organization's "own activities" or the funding of a qualified donee.
Taking matters into your own hands: dissolving before the government does it for you
Readers will know that the new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act came into effect in 2011, bringing the regulation of not-for-profits into line with modern corporate legislation. This carries with it the onus to apply for continuance under the new Act by October 2014, or be dissolved.
Charities and compliance agreements: know what you're signing!
Charities know they've got strict rules to follow, and they know there are stiff penalties for non-compliance. They should also know that the Charities Directorate and the Canada Revenue Agency will work with organizations to help them maintain their charitable status, if necessary through a compliance agreement which both the CRA and the charity accept.


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Instead of using improved seed tubers, most farmers used a part of their produced potatoes as seed for the following year.
Most of potato growers had low knowledge of seed management
Farmers' seed management was affected by age, acreage, land parcels and knowledge.
Abebe, G.K., Bijman, J., Pascucci, S., & Omta, O. (2013). Adoption of improved potato varieties in Ethiopia: The role of agricultural knowledge and innovation system and smallholder farmers' quality assessment. Agricultural Systems, 122, 22–32.
Almekinders, C.J.M., & Louwaars, N.P. (1999). Farmers' seed production: New approaches and practices. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
Atilaw, A., & Korbu, K. (2010). Recent Development in Seed Systems of Ethiopia. Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research: P. O. Box 32, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. Retrieved from: http://www.jica.go.jp/
Bagheri, A., Allahyari, M. S., & Ashoori, D. (2016). Interpretation on biological control adoption of rice stem borer, Chilo supperssalis (Walker) in North part of Iran: Application of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control, 26 (1), 27- 33.
Bagheri, A. (2015). Determinants of adoption of mini-tuber seed Potato: A case in Ardabil Province of Iran. International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development, 5(4), 263-270.
Davoodi, H., & Maghsoudi, T. (2012). Analysis of Potato growers' knowledge about sustainable agriculture in Shushtar Township. Iranian Journal of Agricultural Economics and Development, 42 (2), 265-274.
Deffo, V., & Demo, P. (2003). Adoption of two new potato varieties in Cameroon: Progress and constraints. American Journal of Potato Research, 80(4), 263-269.
Ebrahimi, M., Mokhtari, A., Moradi, K., & Khanahmadi, M. (2015). Self-sufficiency program for production of virus-free seed tubers of potato varieties. Agricultural Biotechnology Research Institute. Organization of agricultural research, education and extension. Iran (Tehran), pp.1-66.
Ekwek, C., & Onunka, B. N. (2006). Adoption of sweet Potato production technologies in Abia State, Nigeria. Journal of Agriculture and Social Research, 6(20), 92-100.
Endale, G., Gebremedhin, W., Bekele , K., & Lemaga, B. (2008). Post-harvest management. Addis Abeba: Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research, Pp. 53-77.
FAO. (2008). International year of the potato. Retrieved from: <http://www.fao.org/potato-2008/en/world/asia.html>.
Gildemacher, P. (2012). Innovation in Seed Potato Systems in Eastern Africa. Unpublished thesis, Wageningen University, Netherlands (Wageningen), Department of Agriculture, Pp. 184-186.
Gildemacher, P., Demo, P., Barker, I., Kaguongo, W., Gebremedhin, W., Wagoire, W.W., Wakahiu, M., Leeuwis, C., & Struik, P.C. (2009). A description of seed potato systems in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. American Journal of Potato Research, 86, 73–82.
Hirpa, A., Meuwissen, M. P. M., Tesfaye, A., Lommen, W. J. M., Lansink, A. O., Tsegaye, A., & Struik, P. C. (2010). Analysis of seed potato system in Ethiopia. American Journal of Potato Research, 87(52), 53-75.
Hirpa, A., Meuwissen, M. P. M., Van der Lans, W. J. M., Lommen, W. J. M., Lansink, A. O., Tsegaye, A., & Struik, P. C. (2012). Farmers' Opinion on Seed Potato Management Attributes in Ethiopia: A Conjoint Analysis. Agronomy Journal, 104, 1413-1424.
Iqbal, M., Bashir, A., & Farooq, U. (1999). Factors affecting the adoption of hybrid maze varieties in the irrigated Punjab. International Journal of Agriculture & Biology, 1 )3(, 149-151.
Kafle, B., & Shah, P. (2012). Adoption of improved Potato varieties in Nepal: a case of Bara district. The Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 7, (1), 14-22.
Keshavarz, M. R., Vazifedoust, M., & Alizadeh, A. (2014). Drought monitoring using a Soil Wetness Deficit Index (SWDI) derived from MODIS satellite data. Agricultural Water Management, 132, 37-45.
Khoshnodifar, Z., Ghonjib, M., Mazloumzadeh S. M., & Abdollahi, V. (2016). Effect of communication channels on success rate of entrepreneurial SMEs in the agricultural sector (a case study). Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences, 15 )1(,83–90.
Lommen, W.J.M., & Struik, P.C. (1994). Field performance of potato: mini-tubers with different fresh weights and conventional tubers Crop establishment and yield formation. Potato Research, 37, 313-301.
Louwaars, N. (2007). Seeds of confusion: The impact of policies on seed systems. Unpublished dissertation, Centre for Genetic Resources, WUR, Netherlands.
Majidi-Harvan, E. (2003). Final report of production of maternal Mini-tuber seed potato. Research project, education and extension organization, ministry of agriculture, Iran.
Mathoni, J., & Nyamongo, D. O. (2008). Seed systems in Kenya and their relationship to on- farm conservation of food crops. Journal New Seeds, 9 (4), 330-342.
Mohammadi, A., Tabatabaeefar, A., Shahin, S., Rafiee, S., & Keyhani, A. (2008). Energy use and economic analysis of potato production in Iran a case study: Ardabil province. Energy Conversion and Management, 49, 3566–3570.
Mulatu, E., Osman, E. I., & Etenesh, B. (2005). Improving potato seed tuber quality and producers' livelihoods in Hararghe, Eastern Ethiopia. Journal of New Seeds, 7 (3), 31–56.
Oladele, O. L. (2010). Determinants of Farmers' Information Seeking and Utilization on Seeds and Planting Materials in Lagos and Ogun States, Nigeria. Journal New Seeds, 11(4), 380-389.
Oyekale, K. O., Denton O. A., & Adebisi, M. A. (2014). Seed Management Systems in Nigeria: The Gap and the Bridge. Agric Business Trade Show and Conference (Nigeria at 100' Programme), International Conference Centre Abuja, pp:1-18. Retrieved from:
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Sthapit, B., Ram, R., Pashupati, C., Bimal, B., & Pratap, S. (2008). Informal seed systems and on-farm conservation of local varieties. In: Thijssen, M.H. Z. Bishaw, A. Beshir, and W.S. de Boef. (Ed.). Farmers, seeds and varieties: supporting informal seed supply in Ethiopia. Wageningen: Wageningen International, pp. 133-136.
Struik, P.C., & Wiersema, S. G. (1999). Seed potato technology. Wageningen: Wageningen Pers. Netherlands, pp. 383 -389.
Vreugdenhil, D., Bradshaw, J., Gebhardt, C., Govers, F., MacKerron, D. K. L., Taylor, M. A., & Ross, H. (2007). Potato biology and biotechnology (advances and perspectives). The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Elsevier, 823 p.
Waller, B.E., Hoy, C.W., Henderson, J. L., Stinner, B., & Welty, C. (1998). Matching innovations with potential users, a case study of potato IPM practices, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 70( 2–3), 203–215.
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Weltzien, E., & Vombrocke. K. (2000). Seed systems and their potential for innovation: Conceptual framework for analysis. In Targeted seed aid and seed system interventions: Strengthening small farmer seed systems in East and Central Africa. Proceedings of a workshop held in Kampala, Uganda, 21–24 June 2000, ed. L. Kampala. Retrieved from: https://www.oecd.org/dac/evaluation/CPDE-Launching-Workshop-Report-April-2014.pdf
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International Journal of Agricultural Management and Development is licensed under a
"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0)"


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Stephen Bannon was removed from the National Security Council yesterday in a surprise move that suggested the Trump team is turning on Bannon, the president's chief strategist and longtime ally. Here's what we know:
Bloomberg News' Jennifer Jacobs broke the story on Wednesday, noting Trump "reorganized his National Security Council" by removing Bannon.
Drudge Report bannered the Bannon news for most of the day yesterday: "BANNON LOSES POWER IN WHITE HOUSE SHAKEUP."


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Each Saturday, Jason spotlights one person, product, service, or work of art he finds particularly amazing; the kinds of things that make you wonder, "Why doesn't everyone have this?" (Read more at www. jasonrpeters.com.)
If you read epic fantasy, chances are you've heard of Brandon Sanderson. If you're one of the few that hasn't, sit up and pay attention.
Sanderson gained instant notoriety with Robert Jordan's fandom when he was chosen by Harriet Rigney (the late Robert Jordan's wife) to write the final volumes of the Wheel of Time series.
Like many others, it was this news which brought Sanderson to my attention. And as crucial a step as this was in Sanderson's developing career, true Sanderson fans might consider it a mere footnote.
The Wheel of Time was an incredible read for about four books, after which it waded into perennial sequilitis. Jordan, having unraveled the Pattern at the rate of one or two Forsaken (The Wheel of Time's major villains) per book, was unwilling to dive into the final chapters which would release all thirteen AND the dark lord they served, not to mention all the other forces of good and evil rattling around in Jordan's brain.
The result was a long series of long books with phenomenal moments, but no end in sight. It was disappointing but not surprising when Robert Jordan passed away before the epic tale could be completed.
I give you this backdrop because though Sanderson was also a fan of Robert Jordan, in my estimation his work exceeds Jordan's on many counts.
I began with Sanderson's first novel, Elantris. It is a standalone novel set almost entirely around Elantris, the once-glorious city where streets glowed, gods walked, and supplicants were healed, now reduced to a kind of living hell. It's a grimy slum run by thugs, and used as a prison for the contractors of the Shaod, the Transformation, a tragic disease for which there is no cure. Those who suffer from it are considered dead and treated that way; locking them in Elantris has the same finality as burying them.
Elantris is written in three alternating viewpoints which start off widely diverged, but eventually dovetail closer and closer together until finally they intersect.
The magic system revolves around Aons, which are runic characters. The name of each Aon has exactly one consonant and two vowels, and each Aon has particular meaning. When the Elantrians were gods, they performed magic by drawing Aons in the air…but the magic no longer works.
The novel is rife with politics, but in retrospect it almost reads like a mystery. What's wrong with Elantris and magic is a major puzzle which is solved by the book's end. The final hundred pages or so will have you on the edge of your seat as the characters sit on the brink of ruin, utter destruction and failure to their left, ultimate success and godhood on their right.
It was my first experience with what Sanderson's friends and fans now know as "the Brandon avalanche": The ends of Sanderson's books pack megatons of action and new revelations, bringing together plot points that he has been both openly and subtly weaving for hundreds of pages. There are satisfying moments as you come to the same realizations as the characters and see that there is NOTHING random is Sanderson's prose.
The book that so impressed the wife of Robert Jordan was Mistborn: The Final Empire, which is now the third book of a trilogy, but like all of Sanderson's work, stands on its own with a satisfying conclusion even if you never crack open the sequel.
While Elantris primarily used rune-based magic (a familiar premise though it had new twists), Mistborn had the most unique and creative magic system I have ever encountered to date:
The magic users in Mistborn DRINK METAL and ingest the metal in deliberate increments (able to control the rate at which they "burn" it internally) to produce different effects based on the metal in question. One metal lets you act as a magnet, pulling metals towards you; another allows you to push metal away. Two other metals alter the emotions of people around you, either calming and soothing feelings away, or en-flaming passions to new heights. Still others affect your ability to detect other magic users — or block such detection for your allies.
One metal allows you to see a few seconds into the future. While this isn't much good for fortune-telling, it allows for Matrix-like precision in hand-to-hand combat.
As fantasy goes, Mistborn: The Final Empire is a novel like no other. Instead of being set before the prophesied hero saves the world, it's set about a thousand years after that. Only the prophesied hero turned out to be a horrific tyrant after he saved the world. And he's still alive, immortal, ruling the world.
Instead of the typical five-man band or hero's entourage trekking across the world to see its wonders and learn all they can before overthrowing evil, The Final Empire follows a thieves' crew as they plot the ultimate heist. Like modern comic book heroes, each crew member has a different power to contribute to the welfare of the band. Like a good action movie, the book is filled with kung-fu-esque combat that Sanderson manages to make almost as interesting to read as it would be to watch.
Other Projects
Though Sanderson's writing is impressive, his devotion and kindness to his fans is one of the most attractive things about this author. His website shows active progress bars for his current progress, so at any given time you can go look up how much of his next book he has written. (It was from there that I got the idea to do this on my own website.) At the time of this writing, we can see that Sanderson has finished the next Wheel of Time Book and it will be available soon, and that "Super Secret Project Mark II" is 18% complete. Sanderson also blogs regularly about upcoming releases and future projects, so that you never have to wonder what he's working on, how far along he is, or when his next book will come out.
He also provides hundreds of pages of behind-the-scenes information for the avid reader. This is the written fiction version of the director's commentary for a movie, intended to be experienced after you've finished the work, and rife with Sanderson's thought processes and insights. After you read a scant few of these, it will be palpably obvious that no scene, no matter how minor, is haphazardly thrown together. Sanderson gives every paragraph a LOT of consideration. And for a fan wanting to know more, or trying to fill the void between releases, these annotations are as good as it gets.
Along with two other authors, Sanderson conducts a weekly podcasts for aspiring writers called "Writing Excuses." As you can imagine, I follow it religiously; and I'm not the only one. It has won the Parsec Award two years in a row already.
The Way of Kings
Sanderson's latest release was one he has planned for years, but until we'd read his other work, it was one we wouldn't have cared about. The Way of Kings is the first book of The Stormlight Archive, which is Sanderson's answer to the broad sweeping multi-volume epic fantasy series like the Wheel of Time. He plans it to be ten books exactly, but he's working deliberately to make sure it never suffers from the same kind of sequilitis.
- First, each novel will stand on its with a new beginning and its own satisfying conclusion. No books where the heroes simply "progress" into the next novel with no real climax.
- Second, each novel will focus on specific characters relevant to the story being told.
- Third, each part of each book tells you which characters are in it, so you aren't wondering for two-hundred pages where a certain character you liked is. He was in part 1 and he'll be in part 3, but part 2 is about some other people…for now.
- Fourth, for describing the larger world, instead of switching to whole chapters across the world at random intervals, Sanderson includes 3-4 "interludes" between major sections of the book. These introduce the tangential characters to show you what's going on elsewhere in the world. But when the next part begins, it's back to your regularly scheduled program.
- Fifth, the aforementioned progress bars on Sanderson's website will never leave you wondering when the next release is.
- Sixth, Sanderson has already demonstrated his ability to release 2-3 major novels a year, including Wheel of Time titles, so the longest you'll have to wait for any particular book is a year. (Which means The Stormlight Archive will probably be finished in 2030. Contrast this with The Wheel of Time which began twenty years ago in 1990 and still isn't finished.)
While these points don't tell you much about the quality of the novel, they speak volumes (hah) about Sanderson's strategic thinking and devotion to his fans.
If that weren't enough, when touring for The Way of Kings, Sanderson introduced a nation-wide scavenger hunt of sorts called "The Great Hunt" (named after The Wheel of Time's second novel and a recurring theme in the series). Sanderson's website held an encrypted version of a chapter of the next Wheel of Time book, and to decrypt it, fans had to find bumper stickers with codes written on the back hidden at each of Sanderson's tour stops.
That isn't just good marketing, it's fun.
About the The Way of Kings itself, I don't want to say too much. It is difficult to synopsize a 1000-page epic and do it any real justice.
I will simply say that you won't be disappointed.
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Lee looks to impress tonight in Opening Night
The 2011 season got off to a great start yesterday afternoon for the Phillies. Roy Halladay pitched a great game, but not enough to get the win as he came out of the ballgame when it was still 1-0.
The Phillies had to win this one in dramatic style, they came from behind like champions and it was some of the newer Phillies on this 2011 team to really come through for them. I can't think of a better way to start off the season than the victory we saw yesterday.
For Opening Night, it is Cliff Lee taking his spot in the rotation and pitching under the lights at Citizens Bank Park tonight. Lee would be the ace on any major league baseball team, when he was with the Phillies for the brief time that he was Lee was unstoppable. I really love his work ethic, and the way he charges out to the mound to pitch each inning.
We saw the first edition of the "new Phillies", they are not the ones that we expected when the season started. Who would have thought the Phillies would have released the Luis Castillo, but I applaud their confidence in Wilson Valdez to get the job done. Valadez just needs time to play, as does the Phillies new right fielder Ben Francisco.
These two guys have been with the Phillies for some time now, they know what it takes to get a victory. They've been around winners, and have learned from them. Now they appear to be winners themselves. Together with John Mayberry Jr., all three new Phillies regulars were responsible in winning Game 1 of the season.
The area is fully engulfed in Phillies fever, it's all you hear about on the news and in the newspapers, and online. It's one of the hottest tickets in town, and tonight will be Cliff Lee's turn to show us yet another ace in the deck.
Tomorrow, it's another ace out of the deck, as the Phillies look to keep shuffling this stacked deck all season long.
Another refreshing comment from Cliff Lee: "It's good to be here Opening Day" - now that's why we love this guy. Happy to be in Philadelphia, when a lot of people never regarded the city all that much especially in the press. Gotta love it.


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Kansas City Clue Pursuit- Temporarily closed for renovations
Clue Pursuit in Kansas City has 3 available game rooms. The goal is the same in all rooms…solve the mystery using clues, keys, and codes to get out in 60 minutes or less! All bookings are private, no strangers will be added to your group.
The warehouse of Jack Travis
The famous archaeologist Jack Travis has disappeared, but before he did, it is rumored that he found a valuable artifact and hid it in his warehouse. Your goal is to find that artifact and get away with it before the police arrive.
In Kansas City, this is our most challenging room and has a 25% escape rate. It is a room that you can book up to 8 people in.
The office of John Monroe
John Monroe was a private investigator. WAS! The police are ruling his death a homicide. He was working on a very important case before he was murdered that needs to be solved. You have 60 minutes to rummage through his office for clues for the case to try and solve it before you are in trouble! Once you find who murdered Mr. Monroe, you can safely escape.
This is a larger room and will hold groups up to 10 people. This room has a 35% success rate.
Call of Gold
Travel back to the 1880s where the crooked mayor and his gang have robbed a train and Captain Hayes has some gold that they stole as evidence. Now you just need to figure out how they robbed the train to give the Sheriff's star back to Captain Hayes so he can convict the thieves and he needs your help! But be careful, the gang has assassins all throughout town and you need to act fast!
This room has about a 45% escape rate, but we recommend this for adults only or families with teenagers due to it being a more delicate and intricate room. This room will hold a max of 8 people.
If you have more people come play per booked room, the rest can pay upon arrival, but please remember these rooms are designed for 3-8 people.
3-4 People
Per Person
5-6 People
Per Person
7-8 People
Per Person
*Not all games suitable for groups larger than 6. Please check our Game Room page for more info.


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The younger sister of Hannah Barnes, 18, who has won a hatful of junior UK titles in road and track cycling as well as mountain bike racing, young Alice was the only competitor for central England among thirteen regional teams at the UK School Games mountain biking event in Wharncliffe Woods, a gem of a hillside course, six miles north of Sheffield.
Barnes took part in the individual event, winning gold, but had decided to compete alone in the relay, too, tearing uphill and roaring downhill four times around the course and still outstripping all opposition.
She won by several seconds. Competing alone in the four-person relay meant her final time was discounted by officials, but Barnes had made her point.
"The cuts and bruises are just what happens in mountain biking," explained the whizz kid in the woods having shown herself to be one of the athletes to watch for in the future at the first-ever staging of a mountain biking event at the UK School Games.
Barnes is one of 1600 elite junior athletes from the home countries who have been competing in 12 sports in venues across Sheffield in the past four days in an event designed to emulate a senior multi-sport Games event.
Young cyclists, just as the brilliant Nicole Cooke did before taking up road racing, tend to compete at all five disciplines.
Barnes is no different. "It's completely flat where I live in Northamptonshire, but I'm slowly moving towards mountain biking as my favourite discipline," she explained.
A fine weekend in the sun-dappled woods above Sheffield, accruing plaudits, will have helped. There is no disappointment, either, that she will miss out on the grand show in London next year, when the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games come to town. "I'm over that...I'm looking forward to going abroad to compete. Where could be better than Rio...?"
The UK School Games has been funded since 2008 with a £6million grant from Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to help build a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
As revealed in Telegraph Sport yesterday, the seventh annual UK School Games will be hosted in four Olympic Games venues next year giving junior elite school-age athletes their first experience of the atmosphere at 'the Greatest Show on Earth'.
The plans are for three sports - swimming, athletics and cycling - to take place in the Olympic venues proper next spring, while nine other sports from the school games will be housed in the ExCeL Arena, an exposition hall in London's Docklands, which will house four combat sports at the Olympic Games.
For the athletics event, it is thought the lower tier of the Olympic stadium will be used, allowing around 30,000 spectators into the event.
Through £750,000 of additional National Lottery funding provided this year by Sport England, wheelchair basketball and rugby sevens were included in the 2011 Sainsbury's UK School Games, with the programme now including cycling (mountain biking), athletics, badminton, fencing, gymnastics, hockey, judo, swimming, table tennis and volleyball with disability events in swimming, athletics, fencing and table tennis.
Several Games records were broken on the third day of competition at the 2011 Sainsbury's UK School Games, yet the most notable was a new world record mark at Ponds Forge International Sports Centre as paralympic swimmer Jessica Applegate, an England East swimmer won the MD 50m freestyle in 28.90 seconds, breaking the previous world leading mark by 0.05 seconds.
Applegate, 15, from Great Yarmouth, said: ""That was a great race and the highlight of my time here at the UK School Games having set a new world record, I'm thrilled. The race just went to plan and I've trained hard for this and to set such a fast time is great."
The swimming event also saw Caleb Hughes set a new championship record in winning the 1,500m freestyle in 15:54.19 minutes, while Nicole Lough followed suit in the MD 100m breaststroke. There were also new Games records for Danielle Lowe in the 100m butterfly, Alex Dunk in the 200m freestyle and Camilla Hattersley in the 400m IM.
At Don Valley Stadium, Kelvin Tairou, 16, was the star of the show as the Londoner re-wrote the School Games record books as he stormed to 100m gold. Having lowered his personal best to 10.70 seconds claiming the English Under-17 title last month in Bedford, the teenager smashed the championship record in 10.54 seconds.
London claimed gold in the 4x300m girls before Birmingham stormed to victory in the 4x100m boys to round off the first day of action at Don Valley Stadium. Elsewhere, Gabby Down claimed gold in the wheelchair foil fencing and Joe Fraser claimed the all-around boys title in the gymnastics.


text: As president of one of Calgary's success stories, Flagworks Inc., an award-winning Alberta corporation that manufactures and distributes flags, banners, hardware, pageantry and corporate specialty products, Arlene Flock has been involved extensively in all aspects of business and community life. Some of her business awards include: Entrepreneur of the Year Award, Prairie Division, Pinnacle Award, YWCA Women of Distinction Award for Business. She has also been involved continually with many boards, large and small: Calgary Chamber of Commerce, Calgary Economic Development Agency, Federal Board of Taxation Small Business Ottawa, Founder & President Chickwagon Foundation for Women and in various capacities at SAIT, ACAD, University of Calgary, Fine Arts.


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Okay, raise you hand if you saw that coming. Really? 'Cause even with Baelish's little porn-assisted monologue, I didn't. Anyway, here we go:
When last we met:
* Ned declared war on the Lannisters-- he sent soldiers to attack Gregor Clegane and summoned Tywin Lannister to King's Landing to answer for his bannerman's crimes.
* King Robert went on what apeared to be a very ill-advised hunting trip
* Tyrion talked his way out of imprisonment at the Eyrie, and got himself a bodyguard in the process, leaving Catelyn looking pretty lame.
* And most spectacularly, Daenerys Targaryen cemented her bond with the Dothraki people and became the only living heir to house Targaryen. Farewell, Viserys Targaryn -- you were a creepy little crybaby, but jeez, what a way to go.
We open to a field of red tents, filled with soldiers, stretching to the horizon. The red lion banner of the Lannisters flutters over the tents. This is an army encampment, and it's a large and extremely well funded one. Those bright red tents are spacious and they're not even wrinkled.
Inside one of them, Jamie -- now in black armor -- is reading Ned's declaration, demanding that Tywin show himself in court.
"Poor Ned Stark – brave man, terrible judgment," Jaime mutters.
And here's another man, a lean, iron-haired old guy. I believe this is Pappa Lannister himself. He's wearing an unadorned black leather vest-thingy and – blech – slicing the guts out of a horse-sized deer on a table in his richly-appointed tent. (Which, given this show's weakeness for the symbolic gesture, does not bode well for the house of Baratheon, with its deer sigil.)
"Attacking him was stupid," Tywin says, slicing open deer belly, scooping up entrails and dumping them onto the floor. "Lannisters don't act like fools."
"Catelyn Stark took my brother," Jaime offers by way of explanation.
"Why is he still alive?" Tywin asks.
"One of our men interfered, speared him through the leg before I could finish him."
"Why is he still alive," Tywin asks again.
"It wouldn't have been clean," Jaime says – which gets a snort of derision from Tywin and from me, simultaneously. Notions of honor from a child-murderer who sleeps with his sister?
Tywin is unimpressed by Jaime and thinks he's too concerned with the opinion of other people. "The lion doesn't concern himself with the opinions of the sheep." But nonetheless, he gives him 30,000 men to go to "Catelyn Stark's girlhood home and remind them that a Lannister always pays his debts." As he's saying his, he's rolling the pelt up the haunches of the deer and butchering it's meat. With loud slashings of knife and rippings of flesh. Who ever does the sound editing for this show isn't a fan of subtly. I wouldn't want to live anywhere near house Tully.
The point is not, Tywin explains, that he's so fond of Tyrion; it's that if Lannisters can be snatched, then "we are no longer a house to be feared." And that's the most important thing.
Tywin tells Jaime he's "blessed" with youth, training, capabilities, and yet all he's done so far is to "serve as a glorified bodyguard for two kings, one a madman and the other a drunk." And House Lannister has some big plans – plans that will come to fruition in the next few months, he says. So Jaime needs to get it together.
We could establish a dynasty that could last a thousand years… so I need you to become the man you were always meant to be. Not next year, not tomorrow. Now," he says, whispering the last word.
And he's back to chopping up a foreleg of venison with extra-loud sound effects.
And to the gardens of King's Landing, where Cersei meets up with Ned in a quiet, sunlit courtyard.
"You're in pain," Cersei notes – with what you'd take for compassion, if you hadn't seen the last six episodes – as Ned struggles to rise to his feet. "Perhaps it's time to go home. The South doesn't seem to agree with you."
Ned gets to the point: He knows why Jon Arryn died – he found out that Cersei and Jaime Lannister were lovers. Cersei is not the slightest bit perturbed.
"The Targaryen wed brothers and sisters for 300 yearsto keep bloodlines pure," she says, almost shrugging. "Jaime and I are more than brother and sister, we shared a womb. We came into this world together, we belong together."
And Jaime is the father of all her children, she admits; she took care of Robert's, um, needs in non-reproductive ways for years, and Robert was usually too drunk to remember that. Ned accuses her of hating Robert; Cersei counters that she "worshipped" him. He looked good to her back on their wedding night when she was all kinds of excited to be marrying the king-elect, so to speak, but then in the process of consummating their marriage Robert whispered "Lyanna" – the name of Ned's sister that he was supposed to have married before the Targaryen's killed her – into Cersei's ear. And that was that for that marriage.
Ned's unimpressed; he tells her to take her kids and get gone, because he's going to tell the King what he knows as soon he gets back from the hunt. Cersei should take as many men as she can because, he says, "where-ever you go, Robert's wrath will follow you."
"And what of my wrath, Lord Stark?"
And then, apropos of nothing, Cersei fills us in on a little backstory – back when Robert's rebellion took King's Landing from the Targaryens, Ned came upon Jaime sitting on the Iron Throne. He made Jaime get out of it – and didn't get into it himself, but gave it to Robert instead. A terrible mistake, she says.
"When you play the game of thrones you win or you die, there is no middle ground," she tells him.
In the courtyard of one of Baelish's whorehosues, a posse of naked little children are being bathed. Baelish himself is looking out the window. Then he meanders over to his desk, and sit down to some paperwork while a naked whore moans and thrashses on the couch in his office – and hey, it's Roz! The Winterfell whore that Theon's missing. She's making a real performance of getting into it with another woman. Maybe this is Baelish's equivalent of just having the TV on for background noise?
"No, no, no, no!! …Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?" Baelish suddenly yells at the two women.
"Let's start over, shall we?" he says. Hmmm…seems this is an audition. Baelish tells Roz to "be the man," and the other girl to be the woman. And so they do. While Baelish coaches them through an elaborate scenario, in which they're with a client and they seduce the client into believing that….the client has seduced them, has them in thrall to his sexual prowess.
"You need to ease into it," he says. "He wants to believe you. He's enjoyed his c#@k since he was old enough to play with it, why shouldn't you?" As he's talking the women through this fantasy, they're acting it out with abandon. A couple of brilliantly placed fruitbowls are all that keep this scene from triple-X status; there's really nothing left to the imagination. Baelish throughout his coaching gets closer and closer to the two women, and is focusing more and more intently on them. Which Roz notices. She invites Baelish to join them.
"I'm saving myself for another," Baelish says, returning to his desk.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Roz suggests.
"A stupid saying – what we don't know is usually what gets us killed," Baelish says.
In an admirable feat of multitasking, Roz manages to engage Baelish in conversation while continuing to have her way with the other whore, AND following the instructions ("Play with her ass!") that Baelish intermittently bellows at her.
Roz draws out the story of Baelish and Catelyn Stark – Baelish loved and continues to love Catelyn, even though now she's not beautiful anymore. He used to be her "confidante, her plaything, she could tell me anything at all." First it was all about her favorite horse, then it was all about the man she wanted to marry, "a Northerner with a jaw like an anvil." Baelish challenged the guy to a duel, because "I've read all the stories, the little hero always beats the big villain in all the stories." But not in this one. Baelish only survived the experience because Catelyn wouldn't let her lover kill Baelish.
And then, the Northern got killed before the wedding and Catelyn ended up marrying the Northerner's brother (that'd be Ned) and even had the bad grace to fall in love with her husband. Somewhere around here the whores take their act to new heights of volume if not sincerity, and then they stop and just listen to Baelish while nuzzling each other.
"Do you know what I learned losing that duel?" Baelish tells them. "I learned that I'll never win, not that way. That's their game, their rules. I'm not going to fight them, I'm going to f#&k them. That's what I know, that's what I am. And only by admitting what we are can we get what we want."
Go get washed, Baelish tells the whores. They're working tonight. I guess they got the job.
Back to the blue stones of Winterfell. The woman that Robb saved from being killed is hauling bay into a room. She's wearing some kind of clanking chain and her hair is, remarkably, even more disheveled than it was last week. She gets to work on the hay when Theon stomps in and tells her how she'd have been killed in the Iron Islands if she attacked a little lord as she did Bran. Theon's nonplussed that she's never heard of the Iron Islands.
"Trust me, you've never heard of where I'm from either," she says, and Theon gets pissy and insists that she call him "my lord."
"Why," she asks him – baffling him entirely. That's twice in about 30 seconds.
"In civilized lands, you refer to your betters by their proper titles," he tells her. And his title is "Lord," because his father is Lord of the Iron Islands.
"What's that got to do with you? You father's Lord, how can you be Lord too?"
Theon has no idea how to handle this. He asks if she's making fun of him, and she replies that she just doesn't understand how "you Southerners" do things. When Theon says he's no Southerner, she replies wearily:
"You're from South of the Wall, that makes you a Southerner to me."
"You're an impudent little wench, aren't you?" Theon asks. (Okay, seriously HBO? That line is such pure corn. You're supposed to be better than that.)
Theon decides to abandon semantics, at which he's losing, and go straight for sexual intimidation. He's touching her face and making it clear he's really missing Roz, offering to let the womam "loose that chain," when Grey Cowl walks in and reminds him that "the lady is our guest."
"I thought she was our prisoner," Theon snaps back.
"Are the two mutually exclusive -- in your experience?" Gray Cowl asks, hitting the "your" hard (since Theon is also a prisoner who's treated like a guest), causing Theon to look embarrassed and run away. Gray tells the girl – and not that there's any way you'd know this, but her name's Osha according to the HBO website – that he might not be around the next time Theon gets randy.
"I'm used to worse than him. I'm used to men who could chew that boy up and pick their teeth with his bones," Osha says. She looks very amused by Theon's come-ons, as she continues to do….something…with the straw.
Gray Cowl asks why she came "here."
"Didn't mean to come here," she says, reiterating what we heard her band of friends talking about last week – that they wanted, before the long night comes, to get "as far South as South goes." Why, asks Gray Cowl – what are you afraid of?
"There's thing that sleep in the day and hunt in the night. I'm not talking about owls and shadowcats," says Osha, who, by the way, has a Cockney accent. Apparently North of the wall you find the dodgy bits of London. Gray tells Osha that the things she's describing have been gone for thousands of years.
"They wasn't gone old man. They was sleeping. And they ain't sleeping no more," she replies.
Cut to the white-on-white snow of the Wall, where we see from above Jon and Sam crunching across the ice. We can tell its Sam because he's twice the size of the other guy.
It's windy and snowing, and the two of them are at the very top of the Wall, looking down on the uncivilized side. Sam is waxing nostalgic about being with girls – "Not even talking to them , I never talk to them; just looking at them" – but Jon is looking with worry at the forest. Sam suddenly sees what Jon sees – a rider returning. Or rather, a horse. The horse gallops for the Wall, and dashes into the tunnel all by itself, riderless. Sam and Jon head for the elevator.
Down in the Castle Black courtyard, someone's caught the horse, and as Jon stride up to it he's yelling, "Benjen's horse! That's my uncle's horse!" He turns to the commander: "Where's my uncle?" The commander doesn't answer.
To King's Landing, where Ned is walking down a corridor with one of his men when Renly runs up to him, stumbles, shouts: "Ned! It's Robert – we were hunting – a boar!" And Renly's covered with blood. Ha! Called it! That hunting trip was a bad idea.
To King Robert's chambers. The King is stretched out in his bed, and Joffrey's holding his hand and looking pretty distraught. (Truly, or is the kid just a great actor?) Robert's muttering ironic and inappropriate last words ("I should have shown you how to be a man." "I was never meant to be a father.") as Cersei and Barristan look on. Ned and Renly bust in. Barriston's armor is covered with blood.
"My fault, too much wine – missed my thrust," Robert croaks, as Robert pulls back the covers to examine Robert's bloody torso, which seems to have two giant holes in it. Robert knows he's dying. "I want the funeral feast to be the biggest the kingdom ever saw, and I want everyone to taste the boar that got me." Robert sends everyone but Ned out of the room, and makes Ned write down what he wants to say. He dictates that Eddard Stark will be lord regent to rule in Robert's sted until "my son Joffrey comes of age."
Robert pauses. And writes down "until the rightful heir comes of age."
Which Robert fails to notice as he signs the paper. Robert sighs that at least he's done this one thing right, and that Ned will be a good king regent. And he even belays his order to assignate Daenerys Targaryen. He begs Ned to make Joffrey a good king.
Ned walks out of the room, orders some narcotics ("milk of the poppy") for the king. Barristan Selmy tells Ned that Robert was "reeling" from wine and forbid anyone to help him kill the boar. Who gave him the wine? Ned asks. His squire – that Lannister boy, Ned notes.
"Such a dutiful boy to make sure his Grace did not lack refreshment. I only hope the poor lad does not blame himself," simpers Varys, who's shown up out of nowhere. But Ned gets his point. Robert would probably still be fine right now if a Lannister hadn't gotten him looped. Ned tells Varys that Robert changed his mind about offing the Targaryen girl, but Varys says, wide-eyed, that "those birds have flown."
Dothrakiville. In the customary candle-lit yurt, Daenerys is braiding her husband's hair and trying to talk him into seizing the throne of Westeros. (In flawless Dothraki. Didn't take her long, did it?) Khal Drogo doesn't understand why anyone would want this "iron chair." Or why they need to use "wooden horses" to cross the sea. He's just not interested in the whole scenario but he likes cuddling with Daenerys. It's really something, actually, to see a seven-foot-high guy in braids cuddling with a teenager.
Daenerys and Jorah walk through the market, talking – she's desperate to get Khal Drogo to take her home, and Jorah counsels patience. We get a little history lessons about how her ancestors took the kingdoms of Westeros with dragons. Jorah stops for mail and sends Daenerys on with two slaves and bodyguard. What he gets is a scroll from a boy who whispers that "The Spider" sends greets and congratulations – and a royal pardon. "You can go home now," the boy says, and skedaddles.
A merchant is shouting his pitch, which apparently is for wines. He's a short little guy, extolling the virtues of a Dornish summer wine. Jorah watches from across the market as the wine merchant does his patter for Daenerys as she wanders by, offering her a taste. She accepts – but before we find out if HBO's willing to break the last taboo by showing a pregnant woman having a drink, one of her slaves tells the merchant that he's talking to the Khaleesi and a Targaryen princess. The merchant gets all over fluttery and offers her a gift of a special cask of wine. She gratefully accepts – but then Jorah stalks up and demands a taste.
The merchant is very reluctant, but pours some for Jorah. Jorah's about to taste it – but he looks at the nervous wine merchant and insists that the merchant drink some first. The merchant says no, he can't, it's too rich, too good for him, and finally Daenerys, nervous too, insists. The merchant raises the glass to Daenerys' health – and bolts. But not far – her bodyguard lassos him.
Ep. 7 Clip - Commander Mormont Speech
And back to the wall, where the Night's Watch recruits are sitting in two lines at the world's smallest and most pathetic looking commencement ever. The commander gives a speech about how they're all one house. Jon and Sam are sitting together – they're basically going steady now – and Jon's upset about Benjen, and Sam's happy that, although he won't get to be a ranger like Jon, as a steward he'll have food at least.
The commander reminds them that the penalty for deserting the watch, once they've taken their oaths, is death. The class will be taking their oaths at sunset in the yard – unless anyone worships the old gods?
Jon stands up. He wants to take his vow at a "heart tree," like his uncle did, and the commander says he'll find one in a Wier Wood a mile north of the wall. Sam stands up and says he wants to go there too. "The seven have never answered my prayers. Perhaps the old gods will." They both sit down and shoot each other loving little looks; it's the sweetest love story in Westeros.
But it's not all hearts and puppydogs; the recruits get their new assignments, and Jon the amazing swordsman is made…a steward, like Sam, not a ranger. Thorne, the evil commander that Jon protected Sam from, smiles nastily at Jon from the wall. Jon is stunned.
The oldest of the Night's Watch commanders, the old bald guy with the chain, assembles the sewards and gives them assignments, from the rookery to the East Watch, where Dareon is to present himself to Borcas: "Make no comment about his nose."
Jon Snow is assigned to be the personal steward of Lord Commander Mormont, the guy who runs the night's watch. He'll be making the bed and serving the meals of the commander. (Hey – I just realized something, Ser Jorah's last name is Mormont too. Coincidence?)
"Do you take me for a servant?" Jon huffs.
"We took you for a man of the Night's Watch."
Jon stalks off and he's putting turnips in a bag like he's getting ready to go, fuming about how it's unfair, it's nothing but Allister's revenge. Another steward recruit laughs at him, and says his life is unfair – he was a court singer who fought off the advances of a lord, and was therefore accused of stealing silver and sent to the Wall as punishment. Sam tells Jon that he'll get to be in the commander's confidence as his steward, be groomed for command himself.
"I always wanted to be a ranger," Jon says.
"I always wanted to be a wizard," Sam replies. Jon laughs.
Everything's okay again. Love conquers all.
Back to King's Landing. Renly accosts Ned. He offers Ned one hundred swords to take over the castle tonight, before Robert dies – because "she" won't care that Robert's been named protector of the realm. Cersei's already making her plans, he says. Ned says what about the King's older brother, Stannis? He's not loved, and Renly offers himself as a kingly and better-liked alternative. Ned says that Stannis was a war leader, and Renly says so? Robert was too. "Do you still believe good soliders make good kings?"
Ned gets the point, but says he won't drag frightened children from their beds.
In his office, Ned sends a message to Stannis by one of his guard, telling the man to place it directly into Stannis hands. As he's doing so, Baelish walks in, bowing deeply to "my lord protector."
Ned tells Baelish that Cersei's kids are all her brother's children, and not legitimate, and therefore the crown goes to Stannis. Baelish, totally unsurprised at this, says if he were smart he would make peace with the Lannisters and make sure Joffrey got his throne – leaving Ned hand of the king and protector of the realm both, a virtual king. Then he can wed his daughter to Joffrey and get rid of Stannis. And hold his illegitimacy over Joffrey's head to control him, and if that doesn't work, replace him with Renly. Baelish offers to help make all this happen; Ned says Baelish has no honor.
"What you suggest is treasonm" Ned says.
"Only if we lose," Baelish replies.
Ned refuses to make peace with the people who tried to kill his son. He wants Baelish to round up the "gold cloaks" – the guys in the chain mail burkas – to be on Ned's side, to counteract Cersei's troops. They are city guards, sworn to protect the "king's peace." But Baelish points out that if who is king is in question, the gold cloaks will follow….the money. They'll go with whomever pays them. It's not clear to me if Baelish is pointing out that the Lannisters have, basically, all the money, or extorting more cash from Ned.
Back to the Wall. Side by side, Jon and Sam walk out to the scary side of the wall, with Jon's direwolf puppy – he's like a stark white German shepherd – scampering happily in front of them, and then zooming out into the snow-covered forest. The boys are carrying torches.
They march out to a tree with a face in it – its mouth is a knothole, but the eyes look like they're carved into the whitish bark. And the eyes appear to be crying blood. It's a weird image. The boys kneel in front of it and
take their oath as men of the Knight's Watch. "Night gathers and now my watch begins…I am the sword in the darkness," etc. They're watched by a posse of grizzled veterans. Jon has to help Sam to his feet at the end. Everyone embraces happily.
The direwolf puppy joins the party. With a frozen human hand in his mouth.
Dothrakiville. Jorah and Daenerys walk in to the big hall where she ate the horse heart, to look at the wine merchant, who's tied up to a center pole, somewhat the worse for wear. Jorah explains that when the tribe rides out again, the merchant will be tied to a horse and will have to keep up on his own two feet until he can't. And then? Daenerys asks. Jorah doesn't answer directly but says "I saw a man last nine miles once." Jorah says King Robert will keep trying to kill Daenerys.
The Dothraki warriors arrive in the hall, Drogo at the lead. He sneers at the merchant, and then embraces Daenerys, call her the "moon of my life." (Thank you, Dothraki closed captioning!) It's a really surprisingly sweet and tender moment between Deanerys and Drogo, and one that Jason Momoa totally sells. And then he gives Jorah a horse as a thank you gift, and that goes well, too. I'm starting to think Momoa's going to end up being more than just a pretty face, when it all goes sour.
Drogo says he's going to give his unborn son a gift: The iron chair his mother's father sat on. And the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.
"I, Drogo, will do this!" he bellows. He dances around the fire shouting about killing "the men in the iron suits! And tear down their stone houses!! And rape their women! This I swear before the mother of mountains! And the stars look down in witness!" Drogo's literally hopping and jumping around the fire pit while he says this, pumping his fists at the ceiling. We've gone from sublime to Jersey Shore in five seconds flat.
hen it's the next day and the Dothraki are leaving their city.
The wine merchant is tied by the hands to a rope attached to, I think, Daenerys' horse. He's naked. Totally, full-frontally naked – no fruitbowls this time.
Back to King's Landing. A courtier calls Ned to the throne room to see "King Joffrey." Robert is dead.
As a bell tolls, Ned stumps up to Varys and Baelish.
"All is accomplished; the city watch is yours," Baelish tells Ned. (Wait – didn't he just say that couldn't be done? Or did Ned pay for the watch?)
And how about Renly? Oh….he was seen leaving a hour before dawn with Sir Bieber and all their retainers, Varys says. Ned heads off for the throne room with Baelish and Varys behind him. A guy in a city guard outfit says "We stand behind you, Lord Stark," as Ned makes his halting way into the throne room.
"All hail King Joffrey of houses Baratheon and Lannister, first of his name," someone announces as Ned walks toward the throne, slowly, past all those stained glass windows. Barristan Selmy and the other armored knights stand in front of Joffrey on the throne; Cersei, in a massive braided 'do that looks like a collision between a Swiss dairy maid and a Vegas showgirl, sits a step below the throne. The city guard line the walls.
Ned, Varys and Baelish approach down the center of the room. The drums of This Scene Will Not End Well thump under their footfalls. Joffrey commands that the council arrange for his coronation and make oaths of fealty to him.
Ned gives the paper Robert dictated to Barristan, who opens it and reads that Ned is named protector of the realm.
Cersei asks for the paper. Reads it. And tears it up.
"Those are the king's words!" Barristan objects.
"We have a new king now," Cersei says.
Cersei tells Ned he can go home to Winterfell once he's sworn fealty. Ned says Joffrey has no right to the throne. Cersei tells Barristan to seize Ned as a traitor. (In the background, Joffrey's shouting "Liar!")
Barristan marches his armored self toward Ned reluctantly, with lots of clanking, and Ned's own guards step up to defend him. Ned says loudly that Barristan is not to be harmed. Barristan pauses and looks confused.
Behind Joffrey, there's suddenly the Hound again, this time in his formal cat-helmeted armor. He grabs his sword threateningly and unsheathes it. Joffrey screams for his guards to kill Ned.
Ned tells the commander of the guard to take "the Queen and her children" into custody. The men of the city watch lower their spears. Ned tells Cersei to tell her men to lay down their swords; no one needs to die.
The watch commander yells "Now!" and – all hell breaks loose.
People get speared left and right, there's shouting and clanking armor and bashing swords. Ned's spinning in a circle trying to figure out what's going on – which, come to think of it, pretty much sums up everything he's been doing since he got to King's Landing.
And just as he, and we, figure out that the city watch is slaughtering his men, Ned's own men, somebody grabs Ned and puts a knife to his throat.
It's Baelish. "I did warn you not to trust me," he whispers in Ned's ear.
More 'Game of Thrones' recaps:
Episode One:
Episode Two: The Kingsroad
Episode Three: Lord Snow
Episode Four: Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things
Episode Five: The Wolf and the Lion
Episode Six: A Golden Crown


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There's a new player in fantasy fiction, and it's going straight into the big leagues.
Of course, that's my personal opinion, but as a lover of fantasy I can highly recommend S.G. Night's Attrition as a shining example of fantasy at its best. I'll give you a basic run-down, shall I?
The story takes place in the world of Io, which has been suffering under the oppression of the Demonic Dominion for over a century. The demons exiled the elves, all but enslaved the humans, and almost completely wiped out the Majiski battle-mages…almost. Racath Thanjel is one of those Majiski, now living in the shadows as an assassin, and fighting against the demons, but the assassins' leader seems to be keeping more secrets than the demons themselves. Racath is plunged into the fight and forced to choose his destiny. Can he become the saviour Io needs, or are the demons to great a force to overcome?
Continue reading "Attrition: The First Act of Penance – The new fantasy superpower"


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Topic : Free production capacity planning template in excel spreadsheet.
Author : Seth Hale.
Published : Tue, Sep 10th 2019 10:57 AM.
Format : jpg/jpeg.
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