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3 Red roses in Fleurs container. Simple yet beautiful.
Warning: Last items in stock!
Availability date:
18 red roses in a glass vase with 750 g of chocolate dipped strawberries in a box. Contains approximately 25 pieces. Berries and roses can definitely buy you love! N.B.: should be ordered 1 day in advance.
18 red roses in a glass vase with750 g of chocolate dipped strawberries in a heart box with an imperial Moet et Chandon champagne. Contains approximately 25 pcs of dipped strawberries. Berries, roses and champagne will definitely make the gift imperial! N.B.: should be ordered 1 day in advance.
Double stem white orchid in a glass vase with Happy Birthday Balloon and "Sana Helwa ya Jamil" card. Make their birthday a beautiful one with this gift!
It's a Boy Flower Arrangement. What could be more welcoming than an arrangement of 3 dozens of blue roses with white and green crysantheme beautifully arranged in a box.Blue roses are replaced with white roses, whenever not available.
A beautiful white arrangement to celebrate any occasion.Whether it's New Born, Graduation, Engagement, Wedding or Congratulations this arrangement will serve the purpose.Available sizes : Small and Large
Simple yet sophisticated! Moet et Chandon Rose Imperial champagne 75 cl with a bunch of 30 Pink Roses in a stainless steel Ice Bucket. A perfect combination of pink will make the recipient's ordinary day, special and sophisticated.
Double-stemmed purple orchid will captivate all who see it. Makes a great business, "thank you" gift, or a lovely addition to your home décor. Gift stands about 80 cm tall or more. Comes in a beautiful glass vase.
A unique flower arrangement in a high end Pip Studio white Love Birds design Tea Pot. Your recipient will surely love this vintage,classy and elegant gift of 12 roses. Whenever it's Tea Time you will be remembered! The lid at the top of the teapot has a little love bird on it.
A unique flower arrangement in a high end Pip Studio white Love Birds design Tea Pot. Your recipient will surely love this vintage,classy and elegant gift of 15 roses. Whenever it's Tea Time you will b e remembered! The lid at the top of the teapot has a little love bird on it.
A beautiful pink seasonal flowers basket.
1 meter high Large poinsettia plant for Christmas, send it to your family to decorate their house on this festive season.
A charming pink bouquet in a glass sqare vase.Contains 28 pink roses.
This Bonsai tree is great for small apartments or offices that need a bit of a green touch. Stands between 35 and 45cm.NB: Please order 24 hours in advance to ensure availability.
Big Bonsai tree for bonsai lovers. Stands approx. 1 meter.NB: Please order 3 days in advance to ensure availability.
An elegant arrangement of 24 white roses with exotic green cymbidium orchids in a square glass vase. H: 30cm A very sophisticated and stunning gift to recognize any occasion.
6 stems of beautiful orchids placed in a large white vase. A perfect gift for Wedding, New Born, Mother's Day or any other special occasion.
Double stem white orchid in a red pot, along with a heart shaped "I Love You Balloon"
24 pink and red roses in a 40cm black contemporary glass vase. Send this bouquet of red roses from our Glamorous Black Collection to your loved one.
3 pink roses arranged in a purple pencil shaped vase.A symbolic and beautiful arrangement for teacher's day.
Send this exotic and vibrant house plant famous for its long lasting bright colored flowers.The plant comes in a ceramic pot.Height: 65cm
Peaceful and Elegant, like a ballet dancer in a white dress this Spathiphyllum plant bows it blooms in a classy way. A well appreciate gift by everyone on all occasions. Comes in a jute pot. Height: 65cm
Famous for it's vibrant colors and powerful attitude, this exotic plant is a beautiful gift to give.Available colors: Red, Fushia and Yellow.Height: 45-55cm
3 pink roses in a purple glass vase, I love you Mom Balloon and a greeting card 'Habibi Mom I love You So Much'
One dozen of red roses beautifully arranged in a large porcelain love messages mug. The perfect gift for your loved one.
Pink roses arranged in "Best Mom Ever" coffee mug.Send her this beautiful arrangement and make her smile every morning.
8 pink roses in square glass vase.
A beautiful exotic arrangement of white lilies and pink roses in a glass vase.
Congratulate them on their new bundle of joy with this arrangement of mixed pink flowers and it's a girl helium balloon.
50cm high Medium poinsettia plant for Christmas, send it to your family to decorate their house on this festive season.
A bouquet of 40 pink roses


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Introducing Celebrity Flora, the first ship designed and built specifically with the Galapagos in mind.
Introducing Celebrity FloraSM, the first ship designed and built specifically with the Galapagos in mind. Every space, including the all-suites accommodations, features our innovative outward-facing stateroom concept, getting you closer to the destination than ever before. With every state-of-the-art technology, innovative materials and design — Celebrity Flora is one of the most eco-friendly and environmentally conscious ships sailing the Galapagos today.
Celebrity Cruises introduces Celebrity FloraSM, the first ship of its kind ever to be designed and built specifically with the destination in mind— in this case, the captivating Galapagos Islands. In its creation, we followed in the footsteps of our revolutionary new ship, Celebrity EdgeSM, by designing Celebrity Flora in 3-D. This advanced technology lets us experience every space on board in virtual reality to fine-tune every detail of the design before she's even built. This process allows us to create the most state-of-the-art ship to ever sail the Galapagos Islands. Celebrity Flora marks an evolutionary turning point in the approach to ship design by allowing the destination and its environment to spire and influence every decision made. From the luxurious all-suites accommodations that incorporate sustainable, natural materials that complement the destination to the Dynamic Positioning System that enables the ship to stay on station without the use of anchors to help protect the seas, we've created a ship that truly differentiates between visiting this incredible corner of the world and experiencing it. Celebrity Flora also features our innovative outward facing design that makes the destination the center of attention to create a definite connection between guests, the ocean, and the stunning islands. By focusing the direction of spaces outward at every opportunity (including suites and even bathrooms), we virtually erase the boundaries between ship and destination to create a sense of truly being in the destination, experiencing the destination, instead of just visiting it.
If you are interested in reserving your spot , contact me today!
All images of Celebrity Flora are artistic renderings based on current development concepts, which are subject to change without notice. Celebrity Flora and Flora are trademarks of Celebrity Cruises. ©2017 Celebrity Cruises. Ships' registry: Ecuador. 17059452 • 10/2017

subset: commoncrawl


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Quote:How'd you all get oyur nicknames (ZombieZero)?
Quote:What nicknames do you all have? My major nickname is The Tiger (becuase I'm aggressive, strong, powerful, violent in a fight and direct), but also meathead (becuase I'm so into lifting weights and I'm big and buff).
Artifacts from the Ryukyu Kingdom missing since WWII.
Visit www.ShisaLion.Org
to view pictures
Stun Guns
Self Defense Products-stun guns, pepper spray, tasers
and more
Complete surveillance systems for covert operations
or secure installation security
Asylum Images
Book presents photo tour of the Trans-Allegany Lunatic Asylum. A must if you're going to take a ghost tour!


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Las Vegas cited for illegal dumping near park
State environmental officials still investigating
Las Vegas city officials were given a citation from the New Mexico Environment Department after investigators found huge mounds of debris, trash and branches on city property.
The mayor said city crews are responsible for some of the illegal dumping and residents are also to blame for a lot of the trash.
"That's disheartening but that's part of being in a community that we're faced with those situations, those challenges and we address them the best way we can," said Las Vegas Mayor Alfonso Ortiz.
State officials were especially concerned because the huge plot of city land where they found the waste is very close to a park with baseball fields.
"We don't want areas like parks to become dumps," explained Jim Winchester, NM Environment Department. "You have an area where a lot of kids could be in the location and we don't want them getting into that because there's potentially material in there that could do damage if they get into contact or start playing with that."
City and state officials are working together to clean up the site. The case is still under investigation and more citations could be issued.


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Our CAT5e blade boot snagless patch leads are terminated with 2 x RJ45 connectors, using gold plated contacts to produce maximum reliability. Constructed and tested in accordance with EIA / TIA 568.
Each cable consists of 8 colour coded stranded 24AWG conductors twisted together to form 4 pairs with varying lay lengths. The soft PVC outer sheath coupled with the stranded conductors results in a highly flexible cable.
CAT5e cable is an enhanced version of Cat 5 that adds specifications for far end crosstalk. It was formally defined in 2001 as the TIA/EIA-568-B standard, which no longer recognises the original Cat 5 specification. Although 1000BASE-T was designed for use with Cat 5 cable, the tighter specifications associated with CAT5e cable and connectors make it an excellent choice for use with 1000BASE-T.
CAT5e cable performance characteristics and test methods are defined in TIA/EIA-568-B.2-2001.


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It's never been easier to ...
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School Committee Chairman Gordon Luciano is up in arms over a request from the American Civil Liberties Union for copies of records relating to military recruiters and their access to Bridgewater-Raynham students dating back two years.
School Committee Chairman Gordon Luciano is up in arms over a request from the American Civil Liberties Union for copies of records relating to military recruiters and their access to Bridgewater-Raynham students dating back two years.
"It's unfortunate they chose this course of action," Luciano said Wednesday of the ACLU and the Bridgewater-based Citizens for an Informed Community. "If this is an attempt to threaten, bully or intimidate the school committee into reversing its decision, it will fail."
But ACLU attorney Sarah Wunsch said her organization is not acting of behalf of the CIC although members have approached her for advice.
CIC has been trying, without success, to provide high school students with information to counter what they view as overly aggressive recruiting techniques by the armed forces.
In November, the school committee voted not to allow the peace group to set up a table alongside the military at college and jobs fairs.
Wunsch said the ACLU is seeking documents under the Freedom of Information Act because it has concerns about districts not complying with the law requiring the equal access to other groups.
"I'm not rushing to judgment and I'm not accusing them of wrongdoing," she said of her Dec. 16 request. "I want to see their guidelines about who gets to come in and why."
The 2001 federal "No Child Left Behind" Act requires school administrators to give military recruiters contact information on high schools students, unless the parent or child signs a "do not release" opt-out form.
Federal law also requires military recruiters be given equal access to students in the school as is given to other kinds of recruiters.
There is nothing in the law that requires schools to open up particular areas to military recruiters, however.
And there is no requirement that military recruiters receive more access than other types of recruiters, Wunsch said.
Some schools may violate the First Amendment's prohibition on government engaging in "viewpoint discrimination" if they allow in military recruiters but refuse similar access to counter-military groups.
"Why not provide information about a career in peace?" Wunsch asked.
Districts also often obscure the opt-out section in student handbooks or have spotty compliance with opt-out requests, according to critics.
After reviewing the matter over the summer and fall, the school committee in November voted to improve the visibility of the "opt-out" document in the student handbook but still not to allow the CIC to set up a table at career or college fair events.
Luciano said no member of his committee or the public has approached him to revisit the issue since the vote was taken.
All concerns about whether the district provides the military with greater access to students than colleges or employers have been addressed and dismissed, he said.
He said the ACLU request is wasting time and energy Superintendent Jacqueline Forbes should be spending on improving education in the district.
Saying the request is "much more than making a few copies of some information on a Sunday night," he charged the ACLU with using B-R to push its agenda.
"I would like to know why B-R is being singled out. Is this an attempt by the ACLU to make B-R their cause celebre of the day?" he said.
Wunsch said that's the price of being a government official in a free society.
She said the issue has been raised in other districts but the counter-recruiting groups and school committees have been able to work things out.
The ACLU has intervened in a case in the Lawrence schools.
"Public officials have to comply with public records law. They shouldn't get bent out of shape," she said.
In a Dec. 16 letter to Forbes, Luciano and B-R Principal Jeffrey Granatino, Wunsch has requested records of all books, papers, e-mails, recorded tapes, financial statements, made or received by any officer or employee of the district and any communication with U.S. military or Department of Defense, anti-war organizations policies, legal advisories and high school counseling relating to the military or careers in peace work; also any financial contributions by the Bridgewater-Raynham Schools to the U.S. military or payments made by U.S. military personnel to the Bridgewater-Raynham public schools.
She said she has granted an extension of the 10-day deadline for submitting the information as sought by the district's lawyer, Joseph Emerson.
Raynham Call


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Preclinical Study on NKTT120 To Be Presented at American Society of Hematology
WALTHAM, Mass., Dec. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NKT Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, announced preclinical study results supporting the potential of its lead therapeutic candidate, NKTT120, as an innovative approach to the treatment of sickle cell disease. Preclinical studies of NKTT120, a humanized monoclonal antibody, showed its ability to generate a safe, rapid, specific and complete depletion of invariant Natural Killer T cells (iNKT cells) 24 hours post dosing, thus offering a means to reduce the chronic inflammation associated with sickle cell disease pathology. NKT Therapeutics plans to initiate a clinical trial of NKTT120 in patients with stable sickle cell disease in the first quarter of 2013.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121203/MM23274LOGO)
The study will be presented on December 9 at the American Society of Hematology meeting in Atlanta as a poster presentation entitled, "The Safety Evaluation of NKTT120, an iNKT Cell Depleting Antibody in the Cynomolgus Monkey." An abstract of the study has been published online at https://ash.confex.com/ash/2012/webprogram/Paper50259.html
NKTT120 is a humanized monoclonal antibody that results in a safe, rapid, specific and complete depletion of iNKT cells. The presented research showed that a specific and complete depletion of iNKT cells was observed at the earliest post dosing measurement at 24 hours, and was maintained throughout the 85 day study. Investigators observed no adverse events, infections, or cytokine release. T cell-dependent antibody response to KLH antigen was not affected by NKTT120 treatment.
Chronic inflammation is associated with the pathology of sickle cell disease, and studies by NKT Therapeutics and others have found an increased ratio of activated iNKT cells in the peripheral blood of patients with sickle cell disease. These findings suggest that iNKT cell reduction and/or depletion would be effective in reducing the damaging inflammation associated with sickle cell disease.
"Depletion of iNKT cells represents an exciting new approach to the treatment of sickle cell disease, and we are encouraged that this mechanism has the potential to meaningfully improve the lives of patients with this condition," stated Dr. Robert Schaub, Chief Scientific Officer at NKT Therapeutics.
"The safety and pharmacodynamic profile of NKTT120 demonstrated in this study are extremely encouraging, and we look forward to testing this investigational agent in patients with stable sickle cell disease," added Dr. Joshua Field, Medical Director of the Adult Sickle Cell Disease Clinic at the Medical College of Wisconsin, and Principal Investigator of the planned study.
About NKT Therapeutics, Inc.
NKT Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics based on unique immune cells called natural killer T (NKT) cells. The company's mission is to use its expertise to develop a pipeline of first-in-class NKT-based therapeutics to treat sickle cell disease, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, and cancer. For more information on the company, please visit http://www.nktrx.com.
SOURCE NKT Therapeutics


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Adam Foulds
Adam Foulds is a poet and novelist. He was named one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists in 2013 and the Poetry Society's Next Generation Poets in 2014. He is the recipient of a number of literary awards, including the Sunday Times Younger Writer of the Year, the Costa Poetry Prize, the Somerset Maugham Award, the South Bank Show Prize for Literature, the Encore Award and the European Union Prize for Literature. The Quickening Maze was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2009. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010. His new novel, Dream Sequence, will be published in 2019.


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The perch is a vibrant and efficient predator that takes changes in all sizes. Small perch feed on everything from mosquito larvae to fry. When it gets bigger turns, if possible, to a fish diet. If there is a shortage of food, or fish fry, perch can be small-sized and low-fat, what we call a thousand brothers. They are hardy fish, and one of the fish species in our waters that can withstand acidification best.
Perch spawn in the spring when the water temperature is around 7-8 degrees. Spawning takes place in shallow water near the beach. Perch are popular food fish. They are good both small and large. Filea it gladly. Their closest relatives are the zander and perch Gersen with which shares its sharp gill cover and pointed dorsal fins. There are a total of three different abborrarter in the world.
The perch is Medelpads landscape fish. The Swedish name comes from fish are spiny and prickly, and the scientific name of the river.
The perch is probably the species we find in most lakes and water in Sweden. It is available across the country, from the mountain regions, the nutrient-rich lowland lakes and nutrient-poor brown forest lakes. It thrives well in running water, and along the coast down to Skåne. It is further east in Asia.
In Sweden there is no threat to the perch, and rarely any fishing restrictions. However, it has in recent years seen the reduction of perch along the Baltic coast, where some theories suggest that it is due to the large amount of sticklebacks.
When perch is small, it grows quickly and is already in the second year of 10 cm long at best. After that, it is slower. Do you get a perch over 30 cm is often more than ten years old. As most will Perch 20 years old, and can reach a length of about 60 cm.
The females are the ones who become great, to be able to add many roe. The males are not as big as they still are successful and can multiply. The males can go to play fairly small and young, while females need a little more size. The spawn is laid in long white ribbon.
Angling record in Sweden is 3.15kg.
The perch is a typical predator that often hunt in shoals. Do you see shoals frightened minnows jumped into the surface, it may be some larger perch chasing small fish up! Have you got a chances are that you get more, take the opportunity and was fast before bustle draws on new hunting grounds.
Fishing during summer months
Best fishing for perch is the height of summer and early fall. The fish love warm water and pulls often to areas where it can stand and bask, for example, in relatively shallow water near vegetation and reeds, fallen trees and vases, where there is also plenty of food.
Tractor Tips: Jigs can be very effective on the perch, but the most effective color combination varies from lake to lake - test your way! During the summer you fish the perch with a worm on fishing or small spinners, small spoons and smaller wobblers. You can also take the bass with flies. An exciting way to catch bigger bass is through ytgående wobblers, called Poppers. These intermittently pulled up on the surface and splashes small bursts of water to simulate an injured fish. The often violent carved come quickly and unexpectedly from below, so keep constantly an eye on the draft.
Fishing during the winter months
The perch is undoubtedly also one of Sweden's most popular fish to ice fishing for the winter. In winter, the perch less active and often shy away down towards the deep holes, fishing between 3 to 10 meters. Above all, the fishing is good in early spring, ie from February to March when it becomes more active. One tip is that the perch are often at deep precipices in the winter, so that it can move to deeper or shallower water. This makes it as it has a closed swim bladders and therefore can not compensate pressure, but instead affects the low and high pressure perch so that it must move towards the shallower or deeper water.
Often working red and white colors well during the winter. Baiting with maggots or a utkramat abborreöga increases your chances of getting a bite. Another thing to remember is to be careful of ice movements and not bushy, since large movements frighten perch. Ice fishing instead gently land the jig to the bottom sometimes, and fish with dainty movements. Fiskedrag: ice fishing with vertical and balanspirkar.


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Take My Desktop - Web 2.0 and Libraries
Richard MacManus, in his Web 2.0 Explorer blog entry titled The Web-based Office Will Have Its Day, talks about the many pluses, and few minuses, of a web-based office platform. He details the issues surrounding the corporate world's possible slow acceptance of such tools – security being top on that list. But for libraries, the emergence of these web 2.0 applications means a radically altered landscape for service delivery at our OPACs. Suddenly it does not matter if your library does or does not offer word processing, spreadsheets, and other office apps. Now all of these things are available online – for free.
It is now (NOW) possible to offer customers MS Office-like applications without having to purchase and install them locally. This means no more licensing issues, no more last-minute security update patches, no more local troubleshooting for lost files, misbehaving dictionaries, and malicious macro fears. And while these new apps do not yet offer all of the abilities found within Word (they soon will) they do offer sufficient capabilities to satisfy 90% of our customers' needs.
There are greater possibilities here, as well. With the development of more and more robust web 2.0 applications, the need for locally based software applications is greatly diminished, calling into question the need even for a desktop and the powerful operating system that runs that desktop. Suddenly we face the possibility of running simply a browser to access all of our applications, thereby reducing the hardware requirements of the average computer users – look at this development project out of MIT for the $100 laptop, keeping in mind what was just discussed. Where we used to think in terms of open source applications like Open Office we can now think of connectivity as the key – universal connectivity is now the holy grail for cheap computers and computer applications.
Browser + Web 2.0 Applications + Connectivity = Full-featured OPAC


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If you've ever wanted to look back through your tweeting history on your desktop, now's your chance.
Twitter has started rolling out a new feature called tweet download, and it lets you do just that. The feature lets you store your missives as a ZIP file with a browsing page that shows activity for every month in every year your account has been active.
The feature was road-tested over the weekend.
Searching your tweet history
So why would you want to download your old tweets? Well you can search through them, see what you retweeted, and pick out certain hashtags. You can view your tweets by month, and retweet old messages if you think they're still relevant. Or they just happen to tickle you.
To try it out, head to the bottom of the Settings page. Click 'Request your archive', and you'll get an email when it's ready for downloading. The feature is only rolling out to English language accounts at the moment though. The rest of the rollout will be "over the coming weeks and months," according to Twitter.
Earlier today, the microblogging service announced it had more than 200 million monthly active users. "You are the pulse of the planet," it tweeted. "We're grateful for your ongoing support!"
Via SlashGear


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Friday, October 7, 2011
little blue books
At the top of my favorite publishing endeavors are Little Blue Books, published by Haldeman-Julius Company out of Girard, Kansas. Over 1900 titles were published between the years of 1923-1978 and the books were affordable to most—as low as 5 cents a book. I particularly enjoy the faded newsprint colors, the uniformity of type as well as the crazy-odd titles intermingled amongst the classics.
The backside of some books has a logo that reads: "Little Blue Books * A University in Print * Read the World Over".
A sampling from my collection can be found on my flickr.
3 comments:
- alessandra said...
Amazing collection! I'm so curious about the inside too, some of the titles are so peculiar yet so earnest! I must admit that they made me laugh too!
- October 10, 2011 at 2:50 PM
- CHRISTI JAY said...
I love these! I found one like this recently that said "How to start and run a corporation" All this in just a few dozen pages.
- December 5, 2011 at 5:03 PM
- anna said...
So is the human race getting anywhere?
- December 24, 2011 at 5:16 AM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Christine Rimmer eBooks
Christine Rimmer has written over seventy-five contemporary romances for Silhouette and Harlequin Books. A reader favorite, Christine's stories consistently appear on national bestseller lists, including the Waldenbooks and USA TODAY lists. She has won Romantic Times BOOKreview's Reviewer's Choice Award for best Silhouette Special Edition. She has been nominated three times for the RITA and four times for Romantic Times Series Storyteller of the Year. A California native who first longed to be an actress, Christine earned her theater degree from California State, Sacramento and then went to New York to study acting. Later, she moved to Southern California, where she began her writing career with short stories, plays, and poems. Her poems and short stories were published in a number of small literary journals. Her plays were produced at The Back Alley and Group Theaters in Southern California and have been published by Dramatists Play Service and West Coast Plays. She now lives in Oregon with her family and two very contented cats named Tom and Ed.


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Light in August (1932)
Modern Library Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century (54)
As a general rule, I'm not big on Faulkner, but this one is reasonably decent. Faulkner was basically schizophrenic, attracted by Modernist techniques and attitudes, which necessitated condemning the South and lading his novels with themes of sex and violence, yet clinging to a conservative and romantic love of the region, it's people and it's history. These conflicting impulses are on display here. The story revolves around Lena--a single mother who trudges through the novel looking for the father of her baby like an unstoppable force of nature, Gail Hightower--a well intentioned white minister and Joe Christmas--a man whose ambiguous racial heritage fosters a self destructive sense of self-loathing. Christmas is the most important character as he plays out a thinly veiled Christ allegory, from his initials and last name to his death, shot five times (stigmata) through a wooden table (his cross).
There is something fundamentally weird about the way these Southern gothic novelists (Faulkner, Erskine Caldwell, Carson McCullers, etc.) came to be so central to the American canon in the first half of the century. After all, the winners usually write the history books, so why were the losers ceded the field in literature? Whatever the reason, their product is unsurprisingly just the type of morose scab picking that you would expect from a defeated society. In some basic sense, Southern literature of this period is so regional that it is hard to think of it as truly American. But as race obsessed tales of dysfunctional inbred crackers go, this is one of the best of the lot.
Grade: (B-)
See also:William Faulkner (4 books reviewed)
General Literature
Modern Library Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century
Nobel Prize Winners
-Yoknapatawpha County: William Faulkner on the Web
-William Faulkner: Life and Works (includes synopsis of Light in August)
-The William Faulkner Society
-Southeast Missouri State University's Center for Faulkner Studies
-Faulkner's Page: Tour of Oxford
-William Faulkner: The Myth Of The South (from Let's Find Out)
-Faulkner and Racism (ARTHUR F. KINNEY, Connotations)
-ESSAY : Light In August (Elizabeth Ashley, Blue Lawn)
-Frederick Crews: The Strange Fate of William Faulkner (NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW: of WILLIAM FAULKNER: AMERICAN WRITER A Biography. By Frederick R. Karl (John W. Aldridge, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW: of William Faulkner: American Writer A Biography By Frederick R. Karl )(Michiko Kakutani, NY Times)
-REVIEW: of WILLIAM FAULKNER The Man and the Artist. By Stephen B. Oates (Louis D. Rubin Jr, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW: of William Faulkner and the Tangible Past The Architecture of Yoknapatawpha. By Thomas S. Hines (Henry Taylor, NY Times Book Review)
-William H. Gass: Mr. Blotner, Mr. Feaster, and Mr. Faulkner Faulkner: A Biography by Joseph Blotner (NY Review of Books)
-Marvin Mudrick: The Over-Wrought Urn REVIEW of William Faulkner: The Yoknapatawpha Country by Cleanth Brooks (NY Review of Books)
-Terry Southern: Just Folks REVIEW: of Faulkner's People: A Complete Guide and Index to the Characters in Faulkner by Robert W. Kirk and Marvin Klotz (NY Review of Books)
Add me to the growing list of readers who love this novel. Faulkner ties psychological depth to sociological depth when he depicts how broken people project their brokenness and build a broken society. Anybody out there think ours isn't broken today? Plus his language in the novel is breathtaking in places.
- Dec-10-2005, 15:48
Wow. I'm impressed with Kristofer's statement. I agree- Though Light In August is the first Faulkner novel I've ever read. He is great at weaving the past and present with very little ( if any ) confusion-- quite hard to do. He pulls the reader into the story, acquaints the reader with the character and evokes an emotion for them, and tells a story containing complex motifs and themes that connect the book to reality and the past/present day. Thank you, Kristofer, for defending and supporting one of the greatest American writers ( right up there with Charles Dickens and Mark Twain.)
- Kristin
- May-16-2005, 21:07
As a Yankee from Ohio and having lived in the South for my college years I am going to agree with the person who wrote the review. Faulkner had to have some sort of mental incapacity in order to create such characters like Joe Christmas who was schizophrenic. Knowing Faulkners background, we can assume that through this book he wanted everyone to know he's a liberal who is a racist and hates God for some reason...and the South too beacuse he really trashes it indirectly through his characters and townspeople.
- Chris
- Mar-01-2005, 22:44
This review doesn't even say anything. It just recites a bunch of unfounded stereotypes about the south and gives a jerkjob summary of the plot.
I am glad you thought this novel was "reasonably decent" though, it being one of the best novels by an American author and all.
- Joseph
- Oct-18-2004, 01:46
Thank you, Kristofer, for setting the record straight on William Faulkner. I live in New England, have never been to the deep South, and could not be more fascinated and moved by Faulkner's brilliant writing--especially his creation of vivid, complex characters whose psychological life is reflected in the intense, masterful prose. Only Shakespeare and a few other select authors have created such layered, rich works of fiction.
- Ben
- Sep-07-2004, 13:59
Faulkner was no schizo. Nor was he obsessed with modernism, although he was a fan of Joyce, Dos Passos, and Hemingway. He cited four major influences on his work: Melville, Dostoyevsky, Conrad, and the Old Testament. He was friends with Sherwood Anderson and Dashiell Hammett, but whatever, how many more misconceptions can hurt you? It took real balls to write the way Faulkner did. His own parents refused to read his books and he was basically looked down on by his home town.
Faulkner is beyond any doubt the greatest writer America has ever produced (in my humble opinion anyway). I live in a mid-Western blue state (Minnesota) and I'm in awe of his work. He can really speak to anyone who is open-minded enough to listen - which apparently doesn't include you.
- kristofer
- Aug-06-2004, 14:59
Copyright 1998-2015 Orrin Judd


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Roger is a designer and a researcher with a range of commercial and academic experience centred on the design of interaction; physical, digital, human-to-computer and human-to-human. He has research and commercial experience in user interface design, user experience design, collaborative design, personal information management, information design and visualisation.
His recent work has focused on enabling people to collaborate and think in new ways, particularly through tools designed for and co-designed by communities. Underlying this is a deep interest in the technologies we use to control information, the structures underpinning work activity, and the evolution of practice alongside these. He has a particular focus on tools, both as resources that can transform the particular challenges individuals face, and as a means to transform the capabilities of organisations and communities. Recent funded projects include The Creative Exchange (AHRC) and Leapfrog (AHRC), both revolving around researching and proposing new ways, means and languages of collaboration.


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With all categories except folding camping trailers showing year-over-year growth in December, towable sales posted an 8.5% increase for the month and a 15.7% gain for the full year.
According to the latest report from Statistical Surveys Inc., Thor Industries Inc. stood as the towable sales leader for 2013 with a 35.9% market share, edging out Forest River Inc. (34.8%). Jayco Inc. earned the No. 3 spot with an 11.4% share. As previously reported, Forest River was No. 1 in motorhome sales for the year, garnering a 25.1% market share.
Category results showed:
• Sales for the high-volume travel trailer sector grew 6.6% in December and 16.9% for the 12 months.
• Fifth-wheel registrations rose 14.9% for the month and 16.4% for the full year.
• Folding camping trailer sales were down 12.8% in December and 0.3% year-to-date.
• Recreational park trailer sales gained 5.3% for the month but fell 8.8% for 2013.
To subscribe to this or other SSI reports, contact Scott Stropkai, national RV sales manager, at (616) 281-9898 ext. 128, or (616) 446-8179 (cell).


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Deweb needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 140 designs submitted by 42 freelance designers.
We need a vector logo for use on website, business cards, and invoices.
Desired Color Scheme:
Charcoal/Dark Grey, Blue-Grey, Yellow-Orange, Blood Red
Desired Style:
Not all colors must be used, we want to see variety. Should have a "design studio" feel. The ".net" needs to be included but can be broken off from DigitalEnvisions.
Accepted File Formats:
Vector Formats (.eps, .pdf or .ai)
We need a vector logo for use on website and business cards. Should have a "design studio" feel. We want logos that can be used on dark backgrounds (website) and light/white backgrounds (business cards & invoices). You can show 2 different versions of the same logo, it doesn't have to be one set logo that works on both.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Moderators: Site Admin, Moderators
RMM wrote:So I reach out to our Chapter Advisor to find out what is happening and am told I do not need to know. This continues the frustration I have with our Chapter and Lodge. Thinking just another reason not to renew my membership in the Chapter/Lodge.
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


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Your Search did not match any results
Oracle Hospitality Suite8 Property Alternate Rental and Billing serves hotels offering vacation sharing for guests. It also supports weekly and monthly apartment rate handling and invoicing. This product is available in EMEA only.
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Online booking engine allows guests to book rooms, restaurant tables, and more.
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Engage a Sales Expert


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Original Trinity Hymnal, #598
There is no night in heav'n;
In that blest world above
Work never can bring weariness,
For work itself is love.
There is no grief in heav'n;
For life is one glad day;
And tears are of those former things
Which all have passed away.
There is no sin in heav'n;
Behold that blessed throng
All holy is their spotless robe,
All holy in their song!
There is no death in heav'n;
For they who gain that shore
Have won their immortality,
And they can die no more.
Lord Jesus, be our Guide;
O lead us safely on,
Till night and grief and sin and death
Are past, and heav'n is won!
Page number: Blue 598, Right-Click Here to Download MIDI File


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About Apple security updates
For our customers' protection, Apple doesn't disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until an investigation has occurred and patches or releases are available. Recent releases are listed on the Apple security updates page.
Apple security documents reference vulnerabilities by CVE-ID when possible.
For more information about security, see the Apple Product Security page.
watchOS 5.3.2
Released September 26, 2019
Available for: Apple Watch Series 1 and Apple Watch Series 2
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: An out-of-bounds read was addressed with improved input validation.
CVE-2019-8641: Samuel Groß and Natalie Silvanovich of Google Project Zero


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Free US Shipping
handmade screen print
12.5 x 19 inches
signed & numbered
Eleanor Grosch (now Dalkner) is a contemporary modernist with a big ol' smile. She's known for her simplified, playful illustrations and bold, colorful design work.
Eleanor has always loved drawing animals. Her nature inspired artwork for band posters got her clients like Wilco, Death Cab for Cutie, Edwin McCain, Elefant, and Dave Matthews Band early on.
Soon after, Keds launched the Eleanor line. This fun line of animal print shoes became a huge success and launched Eleanor's career as a designer and illustrator.
Since then, Eleanor has worked with Alien Workshop, Microsoft, American Museum of Natural History, Giro, Land of Nod, Tinyprints, Apres Velo, The London Guardian, The Philadelphia Free Library, Target, and Starbucks among others.


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Pictured: Jeff Reynolds had four hits in Sunday's games.
NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Harvard baseball team dropped an Ivy League doubleheader at Columbia on Sunday by scores of 11-2 and 8-0.
In the opener, Harvard (3-20, 0-4 Ivy) lefty Brent Suter was knocked out of the game in the first inning as Columbia (11-11, 2-2 Ivy) struck for five runs on six hits. Neither team scored until the fourth when five walks, an error and a three-run homer put five more runs on the board for a 10-0 Lions' lead.
Columbia added a run on a fielder's choice in the fifth before Harvard got on the board in the sixth on a pair of RBI doubles from Jeff Reynolds and Marcus Way.
Reynolds was the lone Crimson player with two hits in the game.
In the second game, Stefan Olson and Harrison Slutsky limited the Crimson to four hits with Olson going seven strong innings while pitching to contact as he struck out just two.
Nick Cox was 4-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases while Jason Banos had two hits and four runs batted in with a two-run double and two-run homer.
Conner Hulse took the loss for the Crimson, giving up seven hits and four runs in 6.0 innings of work. Reynolds once again was the only Crimson player with multiple hits as he singled in his first two at bats.


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Welcoming your calls and emails WORLDWIDE!We sell specialize and sell vacations to the Caribbean, Costa Rica, & MexicoCelebrating 32 years in business! Toll-free: 1-877-380-4142
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A vacation at an Iberostar Hotel will exceed your every expectation. Iberostar's signature all-inclusive service features the comfort of deluxe accommodations, exquisite international cuisine at the á la carte restaurants, plus unlimited cocktails and soft drinks. Enjoy fantastic shows, dazzling thematic discos and special classes and activities. A supervised children's program will keep the little ones (ages 4-to-12) entertained daily for hours on end.
In surroundings this beautiful, it is tempting to do nothing at all, except relax on your own private balcony listening to the sound of tropical birds and gentle cooling breezes. Leave your worries at home because this is more than just a vacation, it is an unrivaled all-inclusive experience at Iberostar!
Dining is a feast for all the senses. The culinary expertise and variety of dining choices truly set us apart from the ordinary. From poolside snacks to an extensive array of specialty restaurants, the dining opportunities are almost as endless as the miles of tropical sandy beaches.
Here, master chefs do wonders with nature's bounty. Plus, there is an abundance of local fruits and vegetables, along with the freshest of seafood. You can choose to catch a quick bite or take your time and dine at different specialty restaurants, enjoying everything from local fare to a juicy prime rib or succulent sirloin. Whatever you're in the mood for, you'll truly enjoy it.
Iberostar Paraiso Maya's warm and gracious service and personal attention are what make a truly spectacular vacation. The multilingual staff is ready to pamper you with extraordinary attention to every detail. From their welcoming smiles to your evening turn-down service with signature chocolates, every Iberostar experience will keep you wanting more. Just imagine, savoring your morning coffee while attentive waiters bring your favorite breakfast. A quick call to the Guest Services confirms an evening massage. Dinner reservations at a gourmet restaurant have been made and the kids are busy at Lucy's Kids Club. You have all morning to do anything you want, or nothing at all.
At an Additional Cost:
Junior suites have two double beds or one king bed, hair dryer, ceiling fan, in-room safe, mini-bar, coffee maker, iron, clock cable TV, CD player and balcony or terrace. Superior junior suites are also available. 432 Air-conditioned suites.
24-hour food and beverage
24-hour room service
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Breakfast & lunch buffet/ ten a la carte restaurants (same day reservations; dress code applies) / ice cream parlor/ ten bars & lounges
Nightly entertainment/theme nights/disco
Three small private swimming pools/children's pool
Non-motorized watersports
Five star PADI dive center (fee)
Greens fees discount at Playa Paraiso Golf Club
Daily activities
Health Club
Spa (fee)/beauty salon (fee)
Game room/billiards/ping pong
Internet café (fee)
Concierge service in all buildings
Complimentary shuttle to the town of Playa del Carmen
This magnificent hotel is designed to fulfill your every expectation, from spacious rooms (all suites) to attentive concierge service and every imaginable activity including 24-hour amenities, entertainment, drinks and fine dining. The Iberostar complex is perfectly integrated into the tropical landscape. In addition to the the lobby and main restaurant (with show cooking), the complex has 6 specialty restaurants, a pool bar and 9 additional bars, a night club and discotheque. The hotel also features shops, supermarket and hairdressers. Access to the internet is available for an extra charge.
The Etoile French gourmet emulates the Moulin Rouge with glittering chandeliers, lavish décor, satin covered chairs, walls and drapery. The menu depicts the finest French cuisine. La Marina Seafood restaurant has beautiful tiles and mosaics—and needless to say, outstanding seafood.
The private lobby has no reception desk, only tables in shapes of animals where concierge staff awaits one's arrival. The property is truly first-class and a perfect choice for honeymooners and couples.
Blended perfectly with the tropical landscape, the hotel is equipped with a fantastic, knowledgeable and attentive staff. With every activity imaginable at your disposal, this property is designed to fulfill and exceed your every expectation.
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Plus, at Iberostar kids can gobble up hamburgers, chicken fingers and hot dogs served at the pool snack bar. Having fun with your entire family and relaxing in a romantic, setting come naturally at Iberostar. So when all is said and done, you will not just have a spectacular vacation, you will have family memories that will last a lifetime.
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The Iberostar Paraiso Maya Resort is an architectural masterpiece. One's first view of the hotel from the highway is of the huge Temple strategically positioned within the Iberostar complex. Guests arriving at the property will take in the sights and colors from the roadway of the impeccable landscaping.
Palm trees, lush tropical vegetation, and brightly colored flowers line the driveway of the Iberostar Paraiso Maya. Upon entering the resort's stunning lobby, guests will be amazed by the spectacular décor of the resort, which we describe as a cross between Mexican and Oriental. The polished marble floors, hand-carved wooden sculptures, elaborate iron chandeliers, and the bright colors of the walls and furnishings welcome visitors and guests.
Strolling through the hotel complex, guests will be in awe of the beautiful gardens with colorful flowers and greenery, stone, fine wood and sculptures. Balancing the gardens, and in perfect harmony with nature, are the vibrant colored buildings. Every corner and turn within the complex offers guests sensitivity and awareness of the Mexican Culture and the flair of Mexico. Walking the property is sensational.
The Iberostar Paraiso Maya is an extremely popular hotel. It is a hotel that clients of Judy and Maria's Travel book year-after-year. The key focal points of the hotel are:
A business center with four boardrooms and 15,822 square feet of meeting space
This Iberostar Paraiso Maya is an all-inclusive wonderland of sun, surf and sea. The hotel is the perfect choice for discriminating travelers from around the world.
Contact Information
Email: [email protected] Toll-free: 1-877-380-4132 Quote Complimentary Newsletter Book your Vacation Package
Iberostar Paraiso Maya Reservations 1-877-380-4142
Toll Free: 877-380-4142 Local: 610-380-1331 Fax: 610-380-0639 637 Farmland Way Coatesville, PA USA 19320
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Save on your vacation!
New TSA regulations require that passports be valid for at least six (6) months beyond travel dates. If your passport is set to expire in under six months from your return date, you must renew it prior to travel.
Book Your Excursions, Fishing Trips,
Swim with Dolphins, Airport Transfers and More with Amstar DMC


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BACKGROUND IMAGE: iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
- FeatureStorage spending continues to rise
- FeatureOutsourced Backup: Pricey But Worth It
- FeatureShared file systems: a mixed blessing
- FeatureOptimize your storage for fixed content
- FeatureATA Drives Move Up the Ranks
- FeatureDistance: Meeting the new mandate for disaster recovery
- FeatureSRM Software Players Cook Up New Pricing Models
- FeatureDDS Lives as Replacement Fails to Materialize
- FeatureEMC/Accenture Partnership Bears Few Fruit
- FeatureSNIA Members Plug Away at Management Spec
- FeatureThe shape of the new data center
- FeatureGetting real about iSCSi
- FeatureIs HSM ready for open-systems storage?
- FeatureThe world of storage is healthier than ever
- FeatureDo you ever test your backups?
- FeatureKeeping your eyes on all of your devices might require more than just two eyes
- FeatureGet ready for new storage management tools
- FeatureFinally, a storage user group
iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
Getting real about iSCSi
The picture of iSCSI is a little fuzzy. What advantages or disadvantages do you face if you implement now?
Vendors are starting to give rose-colored iSCSI glasses to their customers. The recent ratification of the iSCSI standard by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and Microsoft's heartfelt endorsement of the technology is hailed by some as the opening of a vast, new storage frontier. But despite the beautiful portrait that vendors try to paint about iSCSI nirvana, users need to see another picture: What will they experience if they implement iSCSI now or sometime soon?
The view of the iSCSI landscape depends heavily on whose glasses you peer through. Of course, the rose-colored ones cast iSCSI in an appealing light. iSCSI offers organizations the ability to utilize existing networking staff and infrastructure while promising increased storage utilization and cheap disaster recovery solutions.
|The iSCSI performance impact
Yet iSCSI naysayers point to a lack of storage devices--such as tape and storage arrays--that currently support iSCSI. Toss into the mix the poorly deployed storage strategies many organizations have, plus those nagging TCP/IP performance questions and iSCSI can become a dangerous minefield of unforeseen problems.
While sending users into unexplored territory has never stopped vendors from selling products before, anyone seriously evaluating iSCSI must ask--and try to answer--the question of whether iSCSI is a dead-end road? And if your answer is: "No, it's not," the next question to ask is whether now is the right time to head down this path and if not now, when? The iSCSI roadmap answers some of these questions, but doesn't do a good job explaining what storage problems iSCSI creates as organizations try to figure out how to fit this new technology into their current infrastructure.
The iSCSI minefield
iSCSI's value proposition is strong. For example, today many Intel servers natively ship with dual network cards supporting up to 1Gb speeds and plug into Ethernet switch ports with costs running at or below $100 per port. This translates into a cost of as low as $100 per port or $200 per server, assuming a server deployment with redundant paths. Even assuming a worst-case scenario requiring the purchase of two network cards with TCP/IP offload engines for approximately $500 per piece, the cost to deploy an iSCSI Ethernet network still will run only one-seventh of the cost of deploying a comparable Fibre Channel (FC) network--a substantial difference by any measure.
According to Peter Hayden, the CEO of Nashua, NH-based EqualLogic, Inc., the cost to deploy an FC network costs approximately $3,500 per port or about $7,000 to deploy a server with redundant FC connections. While this cost may seem inconsequential for high-end Tier 1 applications, these connection costs exceed the costs of many off-the-shelf Intel servers today.
Of course, iSCSI deployment decisions shouldn't be based on just low hardware costs. Those who proceed without a clear understanding of the management issues associated with storage networking are looking for trouble. Buyer beware: Storage management issues and their associated costs loom large when deploying an iSCSI storage network. EqualLogic's Hayden says, "Hanging the wire helps, but does not solve the fundamental problem of storage networking, which is storage management."
Scott Robinson, the CTO for the Chanhassen, MN-based Datalink says, "iSCSI storage networks will have fairly dramatic different service level expectations for storage traffic than traditional Ethernet networks." He advises companies to dedicate a separate network for storage-related traffic. In addition, the individuals supporting these networks will need to ramp up their storage-specific knowledge.
To manage next-generation iSCSI-based storage networks, organizations need individuals with diverse skill sets. Not only will these individuals need a thorough understanding of current networking disciplines such as routing, quality of service, security and performance management, but an understanding of storage disciplines as well, such as volume and LUN management, virtualization, storage classes and backup and recovery. Storage consultant, Jon William Toigo, says he can count on one hand the number of individuals he knows possessing both of these skill sets.
This dilemma may help explain why so few storage vendors and no tape library vendors currently support the iSCSI standard (see "Who supports iSCSI?," below). However, it's just a matter of time until storage vendors will support iSCSI. Customer demand continues to grow, according to Glenn Clowney, director of strategic marketing for the storage network group at Milpitas, CA-based Adaptec. He reports that many of the major storage vendors have done their internal iSCSI analysis and are starting to deploy the technology in their respective storage devices.
|Who supports iSCSI?
Operating systems Microsoft has formally announced plans to support the iSCSI standard and will begin offering it as free download to Windows 2000 servers and clients and XP clients beginning in June 2003. Vendors such as Cisco, DataCore, FalconStor, IBM, Network Appliance, and others offer their own third-party iSCSI drivers that run under Windows, which allows Windows to run iSCSI. Linux currently offers various 2.1.x.x releases which implement iSCSI Draft 8 that works with existing iSCSI devices like the Cisco SN5400 series. The most current Linux 3.1.x.x releases implement iSCSI Draft 20. On the general Unix front, none of the major vendors have announced a native iSCSI driver for their respective flavors of Unix.
Switches Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Nishan Systems, and Sanrad are among the vendors shipping products supporting iSCSI, while the major FC players such as Brocade, Inrange, and McData all have iSCSI in their roadmap. Until native OS iSCSI drivers are released and become generally available, third-party drivers need to be used.
Network cards Any existing network card will support any existing or new iSCSI driver. However, to gain full performance benefits offered by the recently ratified iSCSI standard, you'll need a special network card from a vendor such as Adaptec, Alacritech, Emulex, Intel, LSI Logic, or QLogic. These vendors currently offer cards that offload the processing of the TCP/IP stack from the server's CPU onto an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) located on the network card.
Storage arrays Network Appliance announced in February 2003 an iSCSI driver download for Windows that interoperates with its F800 and FAS900 series storage arrays. IBM currently ships its TotalStorage IP Storage 200i, which supports the Windows and Linux environments. EMC hasn't formally announced plans for the support of the iSCSI protocol in their current product lines, while Hitachi Data Systems forecasts iSCSI support for their Lightning line of products sometime in 2003. At least three vendors-- EqualLogic, Eurologic, and Huge Systems--are shipping iSCSI compliant storage arrays, while others such as 3PAR, BlueArc, and Raidzone all plan to bring products to market as soon as customer demand dictates.
Tape libraries Currently, Spectra Logic is the only tape vendor supporting iSCSI, though StorageTek forecasts support sometime in 2003. Most tape library vendors plan to take a wait-and-see approach and use some sort of an iSCSI bridge for connectivity. Atto Technology announced in March that its iPBridge 2500 C/D/R will enable iSCSI connectivity to SCSI tape drives.
Clowney sees Tier 1 vendors such as EMC and Hitachi Data Systems going slowly with iSCSI, fearing it will cannibalize their existing FC market. Meanwhile, other vendors such as Spectra Logic, Boulder, CO, and EqualLogic can be much more aggressive in this space because they want to support incremental growth without worrying about marginalizing an existing FC install base.
Bill Peldzus, senior storage consultant at GlassHouse Technologies, Framingham, MA, adds that neither Tier 1 nor Tier 2 storage vendors want to appear to their customers as having missed the iSCSI boat, so most are at least dipping their toe into the iSCSI waters.
One of the first big-name storage array vendors to take the iSCSI plunge is Network Appliance, Sunnyvale, CA. NetApp offers iSCSI support in its current F800 and FAS900 storage arrays, which can be obtained by upgrading its existing Ethernet interfaces to a free second protocol for existing customers on their support plan.
Dell will ship a storage array supporting iSCSI in the summer of 2003. An EMC spokesman said its customers aren't currently looking for iSCSI-enabled arrays. HDS forecasts an iSCSI announcement sometime in 2003 regarding their Lightning arrays. Smaller storage array vendors such as EqualLogic, Eurologic, and CA-based Huge Systems already natively support iSCSI in their arrays, while NAS vendors such as San Jose, CA-based BlueArc and 3PAR, Fremont, CA, are hedging their bets, introducing iSCSI products as soon as they see market demand.
Among the tape library vendors, none of them with the exception of Louisville, CO-based StorageTek expect support for iSCSI anytime soon. While StorageTek forecasts support for iSCSI sometime in 2003, the other tape library vendors anticipate using iSCSI bridges to connect existing tape drives to the emerging iSCSI storage networks until the market demand justifies the need to support it natively. Not missing a beat, Atto Technology, Amherst, NY, announced in March the release of the industry's first iSCSI bridge--the iPBridge 2500C/R/D. This device enables users to connect iSCSI network infrastructures to their current SCSI tape libraries, extending the functionality of tape libraries to iSCSI connected servers.
Where iSCSI fits
For organizations trying to figure out where iSCSI fits on their technology roadmap, here are some logical places to start. Datalink's Robinson recommends starting with applications and solutions where performance isn't an issue now, and won't be if redeployed with iSCSI. Almost invariably the question of performance crops up in terms of what happens when iSCSI runs over IP on an existing Ethernet network card. (See "The iSCSI performance impact," above)
Despite iSCSI's relative newness, Datalink recently completed a couple of pre-IETF standard iSCSI implementations in campus environments using the Cisco SN 5400 line of storage routers and Cisco's associated OS iSCSI drivers. Robinson says the cost savings these organizations experience using Ethernet based iSCSI vs. FC-based SCSI were significant. In the solutions where Datalink has deployed iSCSI using standard NICs, they have found tape backups perform well and run at approximately 70% to 80% of 1Gb FC.
Bryce Mackin, the marketing coordinator for the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) IP storage forum, says it's important to remember that iSCSI's intended audience is small to midsize companies. Always trying to steer a diplomatic course between competing storage industry camps, SNIA views FC and iSCSI as complementary--not competing--technologies. Each, Mackin says, will have strong value propositions for different size organizations.
Storage consultant Toigo sees a lot of value in putting iSCSI networks behind NAS heads. In NAS environments, he says, performance isn't usually the primary concern and by putting NAS heads in front of iSCSI-based SANs is an economical and potentially highly scalable NAS solution. It also mitigates some of the storage and security management issues introduced in multiOS environments.
The iSCSI roadmap
Before iSCSI can gain momentum with users or vendors, a number of scenarios need to play out in the coming months and years.
First and foremost, there has to be a greater adoption rate of SANs across the industry, regardless of the protocol adopted. According to Randy Kerns from the CO-based Evaluator Group, the deployment rate of FC SANs in large organizations is now approximately 70%. Yet across midsize and small organizations, International Data Corporation (IDC), Framingham, MA, reported last year that the deployment rate for SANs for these organizations is still at or below 25%.
|Can I use what I already have?
iSCSI may help to jump-start SAN adoption in smaller companies because as IDC reported, the primary obstacles were the cost of deployment and trained support staff. iSCSI helps to eliminate these initial barriers and should help to spawn the other storage management technologies needed to manage this new storage infrastructure.
Second, iSCSI must continue to answer the nagging performance questions. The additional overhead required on a server's CPU to process the storage traffic plus the additional network traffic generated by iSCSI may grind some deployments to a halt. However, new network cards with embedded TCP/IP offload engines (TOEs) and faster network speeds may resolve this issue before it ever becomes a major problem.
Adaptec, Intel, and LSI Logic already ship cards that support these offload engines and the network capacity issue may resolve itself with the forthcoming 10Gb Ethernet technology. Says storage consultant Toigo: "While iSCSI networks max out at around 73% bandwidth utilization, the all-important question is: Does it matter? And with 10Gb Ethernet, bandwidth utilization largely becomes a non-issue."
A third issue that will be debated for some time to come is security. Adaptec's Clowney points out that while TCP/IP protocol processing consumes significant host CPU cycles for all communications-intensive applications such as file, caching and Web serving, the CPU cycles required for IP Security (IPsec) processing is actually much higher. While this technology will probably not be needed in most initial deployments of iSCSI SANs because they most likely will be separate dedicated networks, as these iSCSI SAN islands get connected, the importance of HBAs handling the IPsec offload is critical.
A fourth issue that's also germane to security is that of LUN security, which entails the mapping of SAN-attached disk drives to servers. HDS' director of product marketing, Jim Beckman, believes this will be handled in the iSCSI space similar to how it's currently handled in the FC space. In an FC SAN, each server has one or more host bus adapters (HBAs), each with a unique identifier referred to as a world wide name (WWN). This WWN is used to map and secure SAN-attached disk drives to the servers they are assigned to.
In the iSCSI space, Beckman says that instead of using a WWN, administrators will now use the media access control (MAC) Address. This MAC address is the network card equivalent of the FC HBA's WWN, where the MAC is the hardware address that uniquely identifies each Ethernet card on a network. In iSCSI environments, administrators will assign the MAC address to the iSCSI SAN-attached disk drive to map those disk drives to the servers who access the data on those disks.
Unfortunately, a major problem exists with this approach. Any simple search across the Internet on "MAC address spoofing" will unveil step-by-step instructions on how to change the MAC address on a network card on a Windows operating system. A simple change in the address of the MAC card--deliberate or accidental--could have unpredictable effects in terms of which storage is seen by which server on an iSCSI SAN.
Microsoft has found a different way of handling this LUN security issue with its upcoming release of its version of iSCSI. Connections between a server (the initiator) and the storage array (the target) will be made on the basis of these initiator and target names. These names roughly translate into IP address plus port number. In their implementation of iSCSI, they won't even attempt a connection without this information. By combining this precautionary measure along with challenge handshake authentication protocol (CHAP) for authentication, Microsoft believes this will provide a reasonable level of security for most environments.
Finally, iSCSI needs to work on cleaning itself up in the coming year. With prereleases, limited support releases, vendor-only supported releases and now the ratified release, it's going to take some time for the industry to sort itself out. Storage consultant Toigo says some engineers currently working on iSCSI can't decide whether to call this current release version 0.0 or version 1.0. With this much internal debate in engineering circles still going on, he believes another iSCSI release is in the cards to be released at approximately the same time 10GbE comes out in 2004. This potential second release--plus the introduction of 10GbE--should help to clarify the iSCSI picture and help move this segment of the industry ahead.
As users look ahead into the emerging iSCSI landscape, the view--with or without rose-colored glasses-- should start to come more clearly into focus. Microsoft recently threw a big bone to iSCSI with its announcement that in June it will make available a native iSCSI driver for its Windows 2000 servers and clients, Windows XP clients and its forthcoming Windows 2003 family of products. This will be available via a Web download at no charge.
Organizations supporting a number of Tier 2 or Tier 3 servers probably need to start putting iSCSI into their roadmap in controlled environments with non-mission-critical applications. Meanwhile, owners of Tier 1 apps should take a wait-and-see approach and let others work the inevitable kinks out of the iSCSI technology.


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Induction heating devices
The induction heating devices of the HEATER series operate quickly and reliably, and are environmentally friendly. Their high level of efficiency enables energy-saving heating while reducing assembly times, thereby also lowering operating costs. The uniform, controlled heating allows consistently good quality of mounting.
The devices are intuitive by design. The screen can be easily operated by touching it. Operating menus are also available in over 20 languages. The scope of delivery of the inductive HEATER heating devices covers a basic setup for the initial applications. The rolling bearing to be heated is either placed horizontally on the support rails or is suspended on the ledge. Different models are needed to heat up rolling bearings of differing sizes. Six heating devices (table-mounted and free-standing configurations) are available to heat up rolling bearings and thick-walled workpieces.
Overview of advantages
- Efficiency increase from 0.23 to 0.7 - 0.9 as compared to predecessor model series
- New Delta-T control with two temperature sensors
- Reduced energy consumption
- User-friendly menu with touch screen
- Documentation and graphical display of the heating process
- Menu guidance in over 20 languages
- Start-delayed heating process via countdown
Heating Manager
The Heating Manager software is a user-friendly tool for selection of the optimum heating device for the heating of rolling bearings. Once the rolling bearing to be heated has been selected, the bearing type, dimensions, weight and suitable heating device are shown.
Directly to Heating Manager


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We were making quite merry yesterday. In fact, we all exclaimed at some point last night that it was The best Christmas ever!
I learned something about living with MS during yesterday's festivities as well. I say learned but I likely knew about it before; putting it into practice has been my problem. The lesson learned: I don't have to do everything for a party to be successful.
How very un-Leo, un-Type A, un-control freak, un-Trevis to make such a remark; but it seems to be true. In fact, I think we all had a better time because I shared the responsibilities of the day.
Let me backtrack. Most of you know I was classically trained as a chef. I was taught by wonderful chefs at New England Culinary Institute and mentored by one of the best chefs alive today, Michel Leborgne. I LOVE to cook and I'm good at it.
When people come to my house for a meal, it is an event and I very much enjoy taking people on something of a culinary journey. My family can attest to this from the culinary adventures we undertook on my last visit; multi-coursed nights from Italy, Spain, France and the Caribbean.
This Christmas was going to be understatedly quiet for Caryn, the dogs and I. We'd originally planned for a day of old films, classic Christmas music and my traditional Christmas goose. Then we noted a few friends without much in the way of Christmas plans.
There was one couple of friends from Switzerland with no local family. Another couple has their kitchen in the midst of a major renovation and a neighbor whose only family is in Texas and didn't want to "bother" friends. We were all like the characters in that classic Christmas animation, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer. We were the Island of Misfit Toys, and we decided to celebrate the holiday together.
Still, we wanted our gathering to be informal, relaxing and most of all fun. Caryn insisted that this mean I not do the over the top cooking for which I can be known. I acquiesced.
I still cooked the goose and the creamed Brussels sprouts and the roasted potatoes. Everyone else, however, brought apps and starters and sides (and so many bottles of wine that my recycle bin is now overflowing just one day after the bin man collected on Monday).
The simple acts of planning and shopping and preparing food for our party made it just that: our party. I gave up some of the control (maybe even some of my need to provide for everyone) and we all had a better time for it.
I really must take this lesson into the new year and not just in terms of food. I've said it I don't know how many times to others. I just need to get the message through my own thick scull; people want to help, I need to let them.
I'm not much of a New Year's resolution kind of a guy. This, however, seems to be a concept that could be easy, fun and make life better for me and maybe more fulfilling for others. Today, I start living a life in which I accept, appreciate and (here's the hard one for me to swallow) even ask for people to help when I need it.
So, how about it, anybody else want to make the leap with me? Anyone else have a similar experience they'd care to share with the class?
2008: The year of letting people help. And I learned it at Christmas on the Island of Misfit Toys.
Wishing you and your family the best of health.


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Where to find Sandra Hamer's books:
"Ms. Williams, how do you feel about this," asks the Judge.
Jennifer looks over at Shelia. If looks could kill, Jennifer would be a dead woman.
How dare Jennifer drag Shelia in court over some hair?, thinks the hairdresser.
"Your honor. This is all I have been focusing on. Since she cut my hair, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. This has really affected my production at work, at home, my relationship with Troy and family members. I just want some justice and some peace."
© 2020 Dr. Sandra Hamer Smith. All Rights Reserved.


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By Ed Harris
The Board of Finance has passed a proposed $129.3 million dollar budget that scales back money for the Board of Education and slightly lowers the mill rate.
The board unanimously passed a recommendation of $45.1 million on the town side and $84.2 million for the Board of Education. The proposal will now go to the Town Council for a public hearing and further review.
The school board's allotment is $1.1 million less than it had requested, an issue that frustrated Southington School Supt. Dr. Joseph Erardi. Erardi told the BOF that he wondered what it would take for the board to fully fund a Board of Education budget. He said the school administration and the Board of Education work tirelessly on the proposal and only include the items that they feel are necessary.
"I stand here unhappy," Erardi told the Board of Finance, shortly after it made its final decision. "Every cent was accountable."
The Board of Finance has gone back and forth on how much it wanted to cut the BOE budget during its recent workshops. The Republicans and Democrats on the board each had different opinions on how much to cut.
"It was unanimous among the board that we wanted to make cuts to the Board of Education budget," said Board of Finance member Wayne Stanforth. "The question was by how much."
Board of Finance member Tony Casale wanted to ensure that the public knew that the finance board did not cut the school board's full-day kindergarten proposal from the budget, though the numbers are similar. He said he had received numerous emails on the matter.
"The numbers are similar," he noted. "We did not cut any programs."
Under state law, the Board of Finance has no control over line items in the Board of Education budget. The Board of Finance can only propose an overall number and it is up to the Board of Education to determine how that money is spent.
The Board of Finance's $129.3 million proposal would drop the mill rate slightly, by about .02 mills. This means that a house appraised at $250,000 would pay about $4 less in taxes, if the proposed budget were to pass.
"It is a very slight reduction, but a reduction nonetheless," said Board of Finance member Joseph Labieniec.
Labieniec briefly outlined why the mill rate was dropping, even though there would be more spending under the board's proposal. He cited an increase in the Grand List, an increase in non-tax revenues and cuts made to both budget proposals as some of the reasons.


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So here I am. It's spring again and the garden centers are overwhelming with selections of the newest, the best, the brightest and the tried and the true. I have plenty of room to plant perennials, shrubs, trees even, all of them things that will (hopefully) return year after year, requiring little care other than the occasional weeding and monthly fertilizer.
No matter how I try to tell myself that I should concentrate on the plants that I can grow in the ground, it's no use; I never seem to be able to follow my own advice. I always find myself daydreaming about the plants that I can put in pots. Whenever I'm in the garden section of a store, I find myself wandering over to admire the container gardens. I stroll the aisles with all the new pots and hanging baskets. I make mental notes of the plant combinations, wondering which pots at home I can use to recreate the same look of the ones in the store. This is madness, I think. Why do I grow things in pots even though I have plenty of room to garden in the ground?
A baby buggy makes a colorful conversation piece.
You Can Grow Anything
A bold ornamental banana plant (Musa spp.) dominates this planting.
The first reason is probably the most obvious. I'm a garden junkie. I want one (no, make that several) of every wonderful thing I see in the garden center. That includes all the containers. Tall bananas (Musa spp.) underplanted with Supertunias™, big Brugmansia spp., lush hanging baskets of Fuschia spp. or Begonia spp., combo planters dripping with four different kinds of annuals and a few grasses that I can plant in the ground and overwinter for next year.
The second reason is sentimental. I started with pots when I was a younger novice gardener. I could grow anything I wanted, as long as it was in a container. I grew Nasturtium, Zinnia, marigolds (Tagetes spp.), all in their own pots, and then arranged the containers on the patio to make a colorful display. It was a wonderful way to learn how to garden, how to grow things and how to mix color and texture without having to dig things up and move them around in the garden.
And I suppose that brings me to the last reason why I like pots: I can change my mind. I can mix things up and rearrange them without getting stressed out that I'm going to kill something by moving it for the second (or third or fourth) time. This means, of course, that there are certain plants that go in their own pot so that I can move them around, and other plants that have to be able to withstand a certain amount of transplanting regardless of the time of year.
Tips and Tricks
This container features the "thriller, filler and spiller" arrangement.
Be sure to include various textures and colors in a mixed container.
Over the years of container gardening there are a few tips and tricks that I like to remember, ideas that help make potted plantings all the more enjoyable. These are my own personal rules to live by, giving my container world a sense of order and reason.
My first rule is to decide which is more important, the pot or the plant. I don't like to make things overly complicated by having a really ornate planter combined with a really complicated-looking planting. I don't want the planting and the pot to compete for attention. If the container is the center of attention, then I plant a single plant in the pot and let the container tell its story. If the plant (or plants) should be center stage, then I choose a simple pot (often terra-cotta) so that the plants can really shine.
My second personal rule is to group colors together and have different color groups in different places around the house. All the red geraniums (Pelargonium spp.) are placed at the front door. This is formal, simple and uncomplicated. Any plants in other pots near the red geraniums will be colors that coordinate with them. If I plant petunias, they'll probably be white and dark blue-purple, to recreate a Fourth-of-July-type theme. The bolder, orange-and-blue or hot-red-and-orange combinations are reserved for other areas around the house, especially in the backyard or on the back patio.
My third personal rule is to allow myself to take out plants when they are no longer suitable for the season. Spring pansies go on the compost pile by Father's Day, replaced by more hot-season annuals. Often I will interplant shorter-lived annuals with stalwarts that will last all year long. This allows the pot to always look full even though I have changed out some of the plants. I don't have to suffer for three weeks while the containers make the transition from spring to summer or from summer into fall.
And I will admit that I do this so that I can keep shopping at the garden center throughout the summer. When I find something I can't live without but don't know where to put it, I can still bring it home. I simply tuck it into a planter, pot and all, until I find the spot that's just right. And that, after all, is the beauty of gardening in containers.
A version of this article appeared in a June 2013 edition of the State-by-State Gardening eNewsletter.
Photos courtesy of Sue Speichert
Grow Plants in Pots
by DK Publishing
Whether you want to bring impact and beauty indoors or dress up your patio with flowers or productive plants, Grow Plants in Pots is packed with inspirational ideas that explore the full range of plants that can be grown in containers. With gorgeous photography, information on growing fruits and vegetables in containers, and plants organized by growing conditions and key qualities for ease of reference, Grow Plants in Pots features exciting combinations and design ideas, showing plants in situ in the home and on patios and roof terraces.


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Lady In A Jam: The Latest In The AURORA Saga
Christopher Willson may be regarded in the world of ship lovers as a miracle worker and a bit of a hero. When he became the owner of an unwanted and derelict former cruise ship, instead of scrapping her and turning a quick profit (at a time when steel prices were at an all time high), he discovered beauty under layers of rust and peeling paint and methodically set about bringing her back from the abyss. In the process, he learned that he was also restoring a significant piece of maritime history. But it has not been smooth sailing for Willson and his floating charge, which faces a formidable new challenge from the Port Of San Francisco. Please read on for Willson's recap of the developments since we featured his ship's arrival at Pier 38 last August.
"I found this vessel in a state of disrepair and three and a half years later, she has come a long way with the help of skilled volunteers and large material donations from various companies in the San Francisco area. Make no mistake, she is coming back to life and is not the same ship she was three and a half years ago."
Christopher Willson's Aurora Yacht website.
Now called AURORA, Willson's ship was built by the Blohm and Voss shipyard in 1955 as the WAPPEN VON HAMBURG. For a fully detailed Decked! feature about the ship, please click here. The first significant passenger liner built by the Germans after World War Two, she was also the first to be fitted with Maybach diesels. The 2,496 gross ton vessel was operated by a company called Hadag for its Hamburg to Heligoland North Sea cruise service.
In 1960, the WVH was sold to Nomikos Lines and rebuilt as its deluxe Aegean cruise ship DELOS. The DELOS was one of the first modern ships to regularly operate in the Aegean market and was followed by a new generation of boutique cruise ships.
In 1967, she was sold to Westours (now a division of Carnival Corporation-owned Holland America Line) who renamed her PACIFIC STAR and later POLAR STAR for expedition style cruising in the South Pacific and Alaska. In 1972, POLAR STAR was traded to Donald L. Ferguson, who renamed her XANADU and revamped the ship with his own collection of Asian antiques.
The yacht-like XANADU was one of just a handful of expedition cruise ships in existence at the time and considered by many to be the most luxurious. High operating costs and the fuel crisis would soon bring a close to her career and in 1977, she was quietly laid up in Seattle where many of her fittings were eventually auctioned off. Her gradual decline had begun…
XANADU was next to become the floating exhibition ship EXPEX and spent several years at anchor off Los Angeles harbor with a forty foot container atop her stern. Nothing came of the venture and EXPEX was sold to Wilmington, California-based Friendships, who renamed her FAITHFUL with plans to restore her for Christian relief ship service. Although FAITHFUL received a new coat of blue paint on her hull and some refitting was done to her interior, she never undertook her intended role and instead languished at Los Angeles until being seized by the Coast Guard. In the process, scores of homeless Christian squatters were evicted from the ship.
FAITHFUL was acquired by a Florida-based doctor who planned to make her a floating children's hospital. Instead, the ship sat at the Southwest Marine shipyard at Terminal Island, forgotten by all but a lone watchman, occasionally appearing as the backdrop in reality television shows and commercials.
A plan to restore FAITHFUL into a yacht saw her back on the high seas for a risky tow to Alameda in early 2007. Meanwhile, nothing came of the plans and she became an unwitting haven for visiting addicts and transients who further pilfered and vandalized her once elegant interiors. A tug of war over her ownership ensued with her supposed former owner taking deposits from prospective buyers and not delivering the ship.
Finally, the City of Alameda had enough and after a two year legal process, the ship was declared abandoned and a towing company was hired to get the FAITHFUL out of their vicinity. She ended up in the Sacramento River Delta near Rio Vista and was about to be scrapped when Chris Willson acquired and renamed her AURORA.
He found a berth in Rio Vista and began the long, expensive and difficult process of restoring his ship.
As I have followed the ship since her XANADU era in the mid-1970s, it was inevitable that Chris Willson and I would meet. That opportunity came in late 2008 when The History Channel contacted me in their search for a derelict cruise ship. I immediately thought of the former WAPPEN VON HAMBURG and put The History Channel in touch with Willson to bring a film crew on board to shoot her as a setting for one of their "Life After People" episodes. Although on the outside the AURORA looked faded and forlorn, it was evident that Willson had already accomplished the Herculean task of cleaning up her interior. I was delighted but The History Channel people were understandably disappointed when their "abandoned" ship looked so well cared-for.
Last year, Willson was offered a berth in San Francisco at Pier 38, directly across from the AT&T Park.
"We had a safe place in the small city of Rio Vista that we could have continued to utilize as we restored this fabulous vessel. But we were assured that if we came to San Francisco, we could have the apron of the pier and we would be outside of the jurisdiction of the Port of San Francisco due to the lease terms. It all sounded great — a home near AT&T Park with a million dollar view."
"We labored hard for months gathering the money to finance the tow and working on the vessel to make her look good for her new home. Finally the time came to move. It was a big day and we had a great crew."
I was invited to participate in the exciting event. For a fully illustrated recap, click here to read MaritimeMatters' "Off The Delta and On The Waterfront" Sea Treks blog.
Keep up to date with MaritimeMatters' Peter Knego on Twitter by clicking here
"Nearly 12 hours into the tow we received a call from the Port of San Francisco's head wharfinger, who told me 'You cannot dock this vessel at Pier 38'. I told him that we did not have the fuel to return and could not go back. I then called the lease holder who offered us the berth and was assured that the port was just 'toying' with him."
The tow continued…
"Not much later, we received clearance from the wharfinger, who told us to go ahead and place the ship at Pier 38 and he would come by in the following days and inspect how we were tied up."
"I neither saw or nor heard from the port concerning this issue until days ago. After being at the pier for a few weeks, we contacted another port wharfinger in an attempt to set up a meeting with the man who initially contacted us. We wound up meeting the other wharfinger at a coffee shop and told him what had happened. By that time, we were wary of the lease holder's intentions with the ship and told the wharfinger we didn't want to be there and needed to find a new location."
"Weeks later, the port contacted the police to make sure we had the proper facilities on board and that we were abiding by the law. The police came and starting running numbers on personal property and searching the ship. We seemed to pass their inspection and had no further issues. Two weeks after that, the port prompted a Coast Guard inspection. Three gentlemen from the Coast Guard came out and the wharfinger showed up on a bike for the tour. The Coast Guard was looking for hazardous waste and leaks — again we passed with flying colors. The wharfinger had a perturbed look on his face when the Coast Guard could find nothing to fault us with."
"Recently, the lawsuit between the pier's lease holder and the Port of San Francisco ended in the port's favor. In the interim, the lease holder did everything to stand in the way of our restoring this vessel and went so far as to run off some of our most valued crew members. We had no idea what the port was going to be like when they took over but were happy to see them win the lawsuit — the moment it happened, we celebrated!" Along with four other pier tenants, I went to the Port of SF's office to find out what we should be doing. Not one person would tell us anything. We just waited. A few weeks went by and we had no idea what was coming.
" On August 12, 2011 the wharfinger (the one who first demanded the ship turn around during the tow) and a group of port authorities showed up on the pier and came directly back to the AURORA, shouting 'AURORA! AURORA, this is the port!' I rushed to the gangway and was given a bright orange paper that said, 'WARNING: Under no circumstances will this vessel be allowed to remain at its present moorage. This vessel must be removed in 72 hours.' They deemed the pier unsafe due to structural and electrical concerns. However, all of the other businesses that are paying good money were overlooked. I was further told that after 72 hours, all services would be disconnected."
"The wharfinger looked into my eyes as if he wanted to destroy me. I him that we could not proceed at this speed and we would require help to move from this location. He refused to listen and simply told me that I should have known this was coming. All vessels at Pier 38 received the same notice and most have no place to go. The wharfinger told us that he has dealt with 50 ships in the past and doesn't mind towing this one away for scrap."
"We have one more day prior to the power being turned off and are not sure where to go. We are capable of finding another location but at this point, we cannot move the vessel to a new location without proper finances or a donated tug."
"We all know the history of this ship. Alameda spent nearly two years and several hundred thousand dollars to remove her as an abandoned vessel. For the Alameda officials that spearheaded the removal, this was a bargain price. Although San Francisco may have much better resources, it is still very expensive and could take years to fight in court. In the meantime, I will not give up my fight to see this beautiful ship find a new home and prosperous future."
Despite his limited resources, Willson has made remarkable progress by restoring electrical power to the vessel and refurbishing both deck and interior areas. We will report more on the saga of the AURORA as it continues to unfold…
For more information and further updates on the saga of the AURORA, please go to: The Aurora Yacht website.
Keep up to date with MaritimeMatters' Peter Knego on Twitter by clicking here
Peter Knego
Latest posts by Peter Knego (see all)
- ASTORIA And The Sea Of Cortez! - August 13, 2019
- Ocean Liner Sunset Book Review - March 3, 2018
- "Ocean Liners, An Illustrated History" Book Review - January 21, 2018


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Angels add infield depth with Beckham
BOSTON -- The Angels acquired infielder Gordon Beckham from the White Sox for a player to be named or cash considerations on Thursday.
The right-handed-hitting Beckham, expected to join the team in Oakland on Saturday, is expected to fill in at second base, third base and potentially shortstop, occasionally spelling the infielders while also serving as a platoon option at designated hitter.
Beckham has batted only .221/.263/.336 this season but has posted an .803 OPS against lefties (compared with .530 against righties).
"Not having a great year with the bat, but really wearing out left-handed pitching," said general manager Jerry Dipoto, who put a claim on Beckham before working out a trade. "We feel like it's a real nice platoon advantage for us."
The Angels finish the season with 43 games in 45 days, with their only off-days coming on Sept. 1 and 25. Beckham's presence will allow manager Mike Scioscia to give second baseman Howie Kendrick, third baseman David Freese and shortstop Erick Aybar a day off when needed, while keeping utility infielder John McDonald in his role as a late-game defensive replacement.
Beckham, 27, is controllable through 2015 and is making $4.175 million this season, with the Angels picking up the prorated portion of that.
The No. 8 overall pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft, Beckham -- a natural shortstop who has mostly played corner infield in the Majors -- has a career .244/.306/.374 slash line through six years in the big leagues. He showed promise in his first season, batting .270 with 14 homers and 63 RBIs to finish fifth in American League Rookie of the Year voting, but he struggled offensively over the next five years.
The Angels are hoping to maximize Beckham's abilities in a part-time role.
"I think the benefit with our team is that you don't need him to take four at-bats a game, seven days a week," Dipoto said. "You just need him to be a part of the team."