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Friday, December 31, 2010
Fashion Friday
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Posted by Funoldhag at 9:01 AM 3 comments:
Labels: Fashion Show, Pieces of the Past
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sherry and Barclay's Gift to All
This would be my favorite gift this Christmas. Sherry talked about working on her "project" for quite a few weeks and I had no idea what it could have been. This was the result - a lovely picture album she put together on Snapfish. One was made for each of us - the three girls, Bill and Ann, and me. There are twenty pages of pictures taken over the years from their wedding in 1975 through the eventful 2010 that had Molly marrying Doug and Hannah going to the Peace Corps.
Adding to this very special gift was the poetry written by Barclay which is his specialty at each gathering and which is used as their Christmas card each year. Their friends and relatives look forward to Barc's annual poem. The picture above is on the last page and is the one taken when we all went to Portland for Barclay's 60th birthday in 2009. I must admit that this gift brought tears to my eyes. It is beautiful. Good job, Sherry Kay! (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 10:53 AM 1 comment:
Monday, December 27, 2010
Back Home Again
I am back from a lovely Christmas with my family in Chicago hosted by my oldest granddaughter and her husband, Norah and Chad. The trips down and back were just great - good roads and not a lot of traffic. What a difference in weather from the east coast. There was a lot of snow fall in Chicago over the time we were there, but going and coming was not affected. In the picture above of the kid's beautiful tree, you can see the snow through the window of their condo.
The entire family, of course, was not present at least in person. Here we are all sitting around talking to Hannah in Africa. We talked to her three times over the holiday and she sounds just wonderful. She was with some of her Peace Corps friends and had had vegetable lasagna for dinner. There was also pheasant but she is vegetarian so didn't partake of that. And she said it was very, very hot there. She has so much to tell us and it is so sweet to listen to her. Also there were Molly and Doug, the newlyweds from Portland. And Bill and Ann from Kansas City completed the family circle.
A card I made for each of the four couples using a picture taken in 1957 of Sherry and Bill on Santa's lap in the Block and Kuhl department store in Peoria. I found the cute little snowmen half price in the scrapbook section at Michael's. Thought they turned out kind of cute. In another post, I will show you the "project" that Sherry worked on for Christmas for each of us. It is wonderful. Hope you all had a happy Christmas! (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 8:19 PM 4 comments:
Friday, December 24, 2010
Fashion Friday
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Posted by Funoldhag at 12:20 PM No comments:
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Bringing Christmas Wishes
I have prepared a Fashion Friday and think I have it set to post automatically - it's kind of a cute one so I hope it shows up.
Posted by Funoldhag at 2:54 PM 4 comments:
Like Soup?
Linda's Cheesy Chicken Soup
4 cups cooked chicken breast (could use leftover turkey)
3 1/2 cups water (or you could use canned chicken broth)
1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 can cream of celery, undiluted
1 pkg (16 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
2 cans (14 1/2 oz.) potatoes, drained and cut in smallish pieces
1 pkg. (16 oz.) Velveeta, cubed
In a heavy pan or Dutch oven, combine the first five ingredients. Bring to boil. Reduce the heat: cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in the cheese just until melted (do not boil).
Yield: 7 servings
(I cooked my chicken breasts with some celery and onions and used the stock in place of the water called for)
The reason I took a picture is to send it to my son for a project he has developed that uses exchanges of recipes for donations to charitable organizations - sort of like an organizational cookbook on line. Very smart idea and he is honing the final results.
Enjoy the soup!
Posted by Funoldhag at 7:45 AM 2 comments:
Labels: Recipe
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Three of Them
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Posted by Funoldhag at 11:27 AM 1 comment:
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Beautiful Tag
Julie and I are continuing to trade something each month and now it is in the form of a vintage tag. I posted the one I did for her earlier this month. The other night at the quilt guild dinner, we exchanged tags and this is the one she had for me. It is gorgeous. She is taking some online classes and is learning her leassons well. There is a piece of an old wedding gown in this and also some vintage sheet music. Julie loves thrifting and makes some nice finds every once in a while. Click on her name at the start of this post and you can check out her pretty art and also some very nice pictures that she takes. (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 7:51 PM 1 comment:
Friday, December 17, 2010
Fashion Friday
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Posted by Funoldhag at 9:00 AM No comments:
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Old Christmas Cards
Here is another card that was done a year or two earlier. This time someone cut out some snowflakes - and I can't remember how the lettering was done. Maybe they were stencilled. After the mockup of the card was done, he photographed it and printed them out. Now it's a snap with the computer, printer and scanner. I so love doing that sort of thing. (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 7:42 PM 4 comments:
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
A Wonderful Vintage Chrismas Site
http://www.papatedsplace.com/Christmas1920s.html and checking out all the fun different sections. You will find Christmases in the 20's, 30's, WWII, and more. Scroll to the bottom of the section you are in and you will find links to the home page, table of contents, etc. If you have a minute, I think you would enjoy this.
Posted by Funoldhag at 10:08 AM 1 comment:
Monday, December 13, 2010
Three Small Finishes
The crooked little tree is now all done with a star and some little red ornaments.
Julie which you can check out by clicking on her name. She has some other fun pictures on her post. (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 8:12 PM 3 comments:
Saturday, December 11, 2010
A Great New Book
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Posted by Funoldhag at 10:56 AM 6 comments:
Labels: Books
Friday, December 10, 2010
Fashion Friday
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Posted by Funoldhag at 1:07 PM No comments:
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Little Santa Wallhanging
I like this little wallhanging that I did maybe ten years ago or so. It actually was before raw edge fusing was popular and I just didn't stitch around the pieces knowing it would not get very much handling. The beards and mustache are done with batting and the fur on the cap is from ultrasuede scraps. As you can see, it was long before I was doing much machine quilting so there is only some stitching in the ditch. (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 6:12 PM 1 comment:
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
A Long Ago Christmas Tree
I was so happy when my brother sent this picture some time ago - it is the living room of our grandparents' home in Peoria, Illinois, a long time before my siblings and I were ever in the picture. I do remember the house very well and actually the piano and victrola! The victrola was in the basement when I was a little kid and I can remember putting the record on the turntable, winding it up, and setting the needle to the record. Back to the living room here, they are decorated for Christmas and the gifts seem to be on the table in the middle of the room. There also appears to be some filmy substance over the tree for snow. Note the dog sleeping right by the table. The little oval picture to the left of the window is identical to one (not the same one) that I have hanging in my living room - purchased it at an antique store. The floor lamp is absolutely wonderful. The first picture on the wall on left is one of my mother and I think the large picture of the lady is my grandmother's mother, Annie Carroll. I was actually named after Grandma Pearce's maiden name (only just Carol). Mom wanted to call me Margaret, but grandma hated being called Maggie so it turned out to be Carol. I remember so many things about my grandmother and just loved going to their house - it was almost like a second home. They lived in that house forever.
Here is a view of the piano in the living room. I love the lacy covering over the top and all the family pictures displayed there. There seemed to be plenty of up to date sheet music ready to be played. I am not sure who played it - maybe my Aunt Nelle. Also a nice plant on a stand to the right of the piano. This picture was not taken at the same time as the first one, but thought it would be a nice addition to the post. So here is another Christmas Piece of the Past for you. (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 4:35 PM 2 comments:
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
From 1980
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Posted by Funoldhag at 11:37 AM 3 comments:
Monday, December 6, 2010
Deck the Halls
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Posted by Funoldhag at 1:19 PM 3 comments:
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Happy Birthday, Bill!!
Here is our three year old Billy Ray sharing some birthday cake with his Uncle Bud back in 1956. Bill turns 57 this year and Bud, my "kid" brother, will turn 78 on the 6th. Note the trumpet sitting right next to Bill - that was the favorite birthday present that year. We lived in a house right across the street from the side of the high school and the band would practice in the street in front of our house. This little fellow was super excited and would march up and down the living room "boom, boom, boom"! He had great rythym and loved music.
|Playing a tune for Grandma!
|Big sister, Sherry, and Daddy, who is a real trumpet player, showing Billy the mute. Looks like it even has a case.
Mommy lighting the three candles while Sherry looks on - the trumpet is beside the cake. Great present!So, Bill, I wish you a very happy birthday with many more on the horizon and send you much love along with these wishes. Again, I never would have taken you to the Used Boy Lot!! Have a fun birthday weekend in Chicago - I will call you and I promise not to sing!
Also, to my brother on his 78th birthday on Monday, I send love and wishes for all good things! Will call you on your birthday, too!! (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 8:38 AM 3 comments:
Labels: birthday
Friday, December 3, 2010
Fashion Friday
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Posted by Funoldhag at 8:13 AM 3 comments:
Labels: Fashion Show, Pieces of the Past
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Christmas Treasure
Debating this year how much to decorate - seems I do less each year but whatever I bring up from the basement has to be returned! The last three years or so I have just put a swag of lights on my fireplace and decorated the mantel and that is cheery without too much putting things away in order to get my Christmas things out. To add to the reasons not to go overboard is the fact that we will be going to Chicago to Norah and Chad's and be with all the family but our Hannah in Mozambique. I have a skinny little tree entirely decorated and covered in plastic in the basement but I think it will stay there again this year. If I yearn for a lighted tree, I will go down and plug it in! Just kidding, of course. However, one thing is certain, this beautiful crossstitch that my husband did lots of years ago will hang in the living room. His stitches are incredibly small and just beautiful. This is a piece to be treasured forever. (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 12:20 PM 6 comments:
Monday, November 29, 2010
Christmas Clutter
Trying to figure out some stockings - and I think I have finally decided how to decorate them. I love the fabric I bought at Joann's that has the "snow storm" on it. Most likely I will do some snowmen and ladies. The bed in the room where I sew is a catchall for things that I am using. How nice it would be to have some more space for spreading things out, but I have managed this far so will just forge ahead.
|A couple of table runners ready for quilting. Hope to get them done tomorrow so I can take them to our sewing day and work on binding them. (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 4:46 PM 4 comments:
Friday, November 26, 2010
Fashion Friday
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Hoping you all had a very nice Thanksgiving. Wanted to add to the post the fact that we talked to all three girls yesterday, Norah and Chad were on the way to KC, Molly and Doug in Portland and Hannah in Mozambique! Last year we were all together in KC on the holiday so this year was very quiet but very nice nevertheless. I was just so thrilled to hear how bubbly and enthusiastic Hannah is - she is so excited to get to her site. Not a hint of discontent and so much anticipation of actually getting set up and settled in. Music to the ears!
Hoping you all had a very nice Thanksgiving. Wanted to add to the post the fact that we talked to all three girls yesterday, Norah and Chad were on the way to KC, Molly and Doug in Portland and Hannah in Mozambique! Last year we were all together in KC on the holiday so this year was very quiet but very nice nevertheless. I was just so thrilled to hear how bubbly and enthusiastic Hannah is - she is so excited to get to her site. Not a hint of discontent and so much anticipation of actually getting set up and settled in. Music to the ears!
Posted by Funoldhag at 8:36 AM 2 comments:
Labels: Fashion Show, Peace Corps
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Posted by Funoldhag at 4:58 PM 3 comments:
Monday, November 22, 2010
Working on Some Small Christmas Projects
And I had a lovely surprise today. The phone rang - and I heard this young lady say, "Grandma, this is Hannah!" How wonderful to hear her voice - she sounded just like she was calling from Washington Street! The box I had mailed weeks ago and one her sister, Molly, had sent her, had finally arrived. Sherry had e-mailed me a little earlier that they had arrived. She could not talk long but it was amazing to be speaking with her from clear across the world. She sounds happy and bubbly just like always. We will talk on Thanksgiving, too. What a bright, bright spot in the day! (Click to enlarge)
Posted by Funoldhag at 2:40 PM 7 comments:
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Elkhart County's 5th Annual RV Open House Week appears to be taking yet another step forward as a legitimate national industry trade event, judging by the number of companies and the expanded array of new model year RVs on display Monday (Sept. 17) prior to the more earnest Open House kickoff today, RVBUSINESS.com reported.
All in all, it was a pretty positive picture in the RV-building center of Elkhart, Ind., offering another vignette of an industry that clearly continues its gradual but consistent comeback from the recent global downturn.
From the RV/MH Hall of Fame, where Thor Industries Inc. was ready to begin hosting dealers with a divisional layout of more than 300 units, to Forest River Inc.'s already busy displays at its Dynamax facility on County Road 6, companies were coordinating sales staffs and fine tuning displays on Monday that, again, were clearly larger, more detailed and, in some cases, more professional than those of previous years.
The industrial park drive into the Hall of Fame has literally exploded with displays. Several companies, including Howe, Ind.-based DRV LLC and its sister division Cruiser RV LLC, Wakarusa, Ind.-based Livin' Lite Recreational Vehicles LLC and Middlebury, Ind.-based EverGreen Recreational Vehicles LLC and its divisional sibling LIFESTYLE Luxury RV, have set up shop in a big way on land opened up for the week by cooperative developers – all of those virtually paving the way into competitor Thor's impressive, mulch-covered exhibit area.
Across the street on the northwest corner of County Roads 17 and 6, is a highly visible display set up by new manufacturing entrant Augusta RV, a fledgling towable builder that started up in January in Bristol, Ind.
Down C.R. 6 at KZRV LP's display, with the company's senior management in place and the soft drinks already chilled, is an array of new SportTrek towables from KZ's new Venture RV division founded in July and headquartered in Shipshewana.
Farther to the west on Monday, Open Range RV Inc. unveiled its 10,000th unit to a small gathering of local and industry press while a steady flow of U.S. and Canadian dealers were already showing up at the doors of area supplier like Lexington Corp., Lippert Components Inc. and Coast Distributions Systems Inc., which was serving the area's popular Nelson's Golden-Glo chicken and a few libations to a good crowd of dealers at the company's Husky towing products Technical Center on C.R. 17.
At Gulf Stream Coach Inc.'s opening casino night party, Chef Stanley's sumptuous shrimp was a hit with an SRO dinner crowd that included an appearance by Olympic gold medalist diver David Boudia and served as yet another example of just how much this industry is on the mend.
As Gulf Stream's President Dan Shea pointed out during his company's opening night soiree, life is pretty good right now for the towable RV manufacturing company, just as it is for an array of other companies.
That's the picture that most of us will probably take away from this year's Open House.
"Yeah, it's been very good this year," Shea told RVBUSINESS.com. "We've established relationships with a number of new dealers and introduced a number of new products – particularly here at the Open House – that are going over very well and we're looking forward to a great year next year."

subset: commoncrawl


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Armie Hammer > Joaquin Phoenix
Clint Eastwood is making a movie about J Edgar Hoover. Leonardo DiCaprio is confirmed as the lead. Joaquin Phoenix was said to have been in the running to play Leo's gay lover. That was back in September – click here for a refresher.
But this is Hollywood. And goodwill never lasts. And for someone like Joaquin who has middle fingered too many people, not to mention the public, that goodwill seems to have expired on this project in favour of someone more popular and certainly more current.
According to Deadline, Armie Hammer, seen recently in The Social Network playing those tight rich twins, has been offered the part instead. With Clint directing, Leo starring, and Dustin Lance Black on the script...?
It's a major prestige project. Total awards bait. So Armie's career, it's clearly flourishing. Which is why we need to work on some red carpet skills. Here he is at the Kenneth Cole store opening in Santa Barbara last month with his wife Elizabeth Chambers. It's cute that he's so sprightly and awkward. Now it is. But he's not a 12 year old. No, he's a 24 year old. And he married when he was 23. Elizabeth is 28.
I am trying really really hard not to be a cynical bitch.
Photos from Michael Kovac/Gettyimages.com


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Today I would like to talk to you about a subject that is often uncomfortable, and even a little confusing at times. Using protection. Now I know what you are probably thinking. "Why should I worry about protection? I'm smart about it, and I try to use safe practices. Besides, that could never happen to me." I used to think that too, but yesterday I had quite a scare. I realized hard drive failure and data loss can happen to anyone, at anytime. Even if you have a RAID server and a backup system.
It's embarrassing to think about how I used to store my pictures. External hard drives all over the office. Random pictures here and there. Finally I realized that I needed to get serious and invest in a RAID Server. This thing has 8 hard drives in it, and it is possible to lose one drive without losing any data. It's happened three times now in the last year, which I am told is not uncommon for running that many drives. I heard that Google has a hard drive go bad every three minutes. Crazy! After the second drive went bad a few months ago, I decided to add an additional backup system to the server. So now every few days, a copy of the data on the server is captured onto two external hard drives.
Now for one of the scariest moments of my career. Tuesday I heard a noise coming from the server. My network admin said that it was a drive, but I should be fine to keep working until he could swap it out the next day. Not long after, several hard drive lights started flashing red. I tried to access the server, and in the root directory, I was greeted with, "0 bytes. No files available." What!?
It turns out that I didn't lose anything. One drive went bad, and after putting a new one in, everything went back to normal. But this has me thinking I may need to add another RAID server to backup the one I already have. I am also going to be keeping backup drives at off site locations. No more taking chances. I do not want to go through this again.
Even if you aren't a professional photographer, it can be devastating to lose all of your personal pictures. So many people have pictures on one drive, or on a disc. Discs and drives go bad! Always keep multiple copies of your data. External hard drives are very affordable these days, so there are no excuses. I seriously recommend taking the following steps to everyone.
1: Keep your pictures organized by creating a filing system that makes sense.
2: Never store data on the C: drive. If you need to reformat, or reinstall your OS, this can be a problem. Have a separate drive for your data.
3: Backup your data! Make sure that everything you save is on at least two different drives. I do not recommend CD's or DVD's. They go bad!
4: Keep a backup of your data at a second location. This might be extreme for some people. But if it's your career, like it is mine, do it.
There you have it. Please talk to your loved ones about the importance of using data protection.


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We are in the grip of a heat wave here in Ontario, and as my appetite decreases, so too does my desire to cook. Besides, it was only just today that our landlords downstairs decided to turn on the air conditioning, and though I reside in an airy apartment, the humidity still results in an uncomfortably hot environment.
Eating well is important to me though. Even when I don't feel like cooking, I do it anyway, as I don't eat prepackaged food and I don't like to eat out very often. Tonight I made a simple Chinese dish from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian that I have been meaning to try for a good long while. The beans are cooked and flavored separately, providing a slight but enjoyable contrast. Ms. Jaffrey suggests serving this dish with rice, with vegetables, or with some bread. She also recommends scooping the beans into a pita pocket, along with some tomatoes, and lettuce for a satisfying lunch or light dinner. I was pleased with the end result, as the earthy flavor of the beans was nicely enhanced by the modest seasonings.
|Chinese-Style Sautéed Azuki and Mung Beans
|Recipe by Lisa Turner
Adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian: More Than 650 Meatless Recipes from Around the World
Cuisine: Chinese
Published on July 12, 2008
Simple garlicky red azuki beans and green mung beans make a quick and colorful dinner
Print this recipe
Azuki beans:


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Eye Shadow - Jasper
Eye Shadow - Jasper
Shades of Fall.
browns & copper
Affera Cosmetics Eyeshadows & Eyeliners Do Not Contain any chemicals, preservatives, bismuth oxychloride, carmine or synthetic mica. We use only 100% Minerals. Affera Cosmetics Eyeshadow Applicators are made of foam as the minerals will "cling" to the foam applicator. The foam applicators work best when applying loose mineral eyeshadow. You can easily "pat" the loose minerals onto your eyelid without a mess and having the minerals fall onto your face like a brush would do. Our Eye Liner Brush allows you to easily draw a thin or thicker line of minerals. Ingredients: Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Mica 3g.


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Ever since Stanley Kubrick's BARRY LYNDON found its way to Blu-ray disc in what has to be the best this film has ever looked since its initial projection in 35mm, there has been wild debate as to the proper aspect ratio of LYNDON as per Kubrick's intent. It appears that this debate is endless and with Kubrick no longer with us, even his own scribblings seem to contradict his words and therefore leave us to trust or guess.
Some insist the film was designed and preferred by Kubrick in the 1.66:1 ratio. However, many theaters, particularly here in the states, were simply not equipped for screening 1.66:1. The one thing everyone seems to be able to agree on is that Kubrick did NOT want the film to be projected at the standard American flat ratio of 1.85:1. There are many, including Kubrick's long-time friend and personal assistant, Leon Vitali (who starred in BARRY LYNDON), who insist Kubrick's preferred ratio for the film was 1.77:1.
A letter has surfaced that Kubrick apparently sent to projectionists that would suggest 1.66:1 as the preferred ratio. However, Vitali still swears it is not. And I have to say, in Vitali's defense, the Blu-ray (framed at 1.78:1) looks perfect. It is not cramped or loose. It "feels" just right. Here's what film restorer and archivist Robert Harris had to say regarding the whole affair:
"There has been discussion that Barry Lyndon was composed for projection at 1.66:1, and this is an interesting thought. The problem, even in 1975, would have been that few cinemas were equipped to project that aspect ratio unless specially set up. In a very general sense, much of the world was running spherical at 1.75:1, while here in the colonies we were running at 1.85:1. 1.66:1 was a specific setup for revival theatres equipped with the necessary aperture plates, optics and maskings.
"My feeling has always been that I would be thrilled if Barry Lyndon were to be released on Blu-ray at the HD native aspect ratio of 1.78:1, and the incorrect technical information on the reverse of the packaging aside, that is precisely what has occurred."
For your perusal, here is Kubrick's letter to projectionists (click to enlarge) as sent to critic Glenn Kenny by screenwriter/critic Jay Cocks who wrote:
"I knew Stanley pretty well for a while, but at the time of the Time Barry Lyndon cover I was in LA beginning preliminary work on Gangs of New York. So I had no hand in the Time cover, but still managed to let Stanley know how great I thought the movie was. He replied with his usual gracious, funny note and enclosed this letter, because he thought I'd be interested. Bet you will be too."
Despite the statement made in this letter, Vitali has his own take on the master's intentions as he shares in this long-but-detailed letter to the quite often annoying critic Jeffrey Wells on his Hollywood Elsewhere site:
"Thanks for this. Hopefully (though I'm sure, probably not) I can explain fully the situation as to the origin of the confusion. I can also tell you what Stanley explained to me and under what circumstances. I will try to make everything as clear as possible so excuse what may seem like a perfunctory layout in my response.
"(1) When we were shooting Barry Lyndon, Stanley saw that I was not only working hard as an actor, but saw that I was interestedin the technical process too. He invited me to be on the set even when I wasn't called as an actor for shooting. An 'invite' was not a common occurrence from this particular filmmaker.
"(2) He told me how he was inspired for some set-ups by pictures painted or drawn during the 18th century, particularly Hogarth's work.
"(3) He also explained to me that even though I probably wouldn't be aware of how to frame a picture, he said he thought that as an actor, I would only be interested in being in the picture, never mind how they were 'framed'.
"(4) He introduced me into the world of aspect ratios and what they meant; not only that but how important they were to him as a part, not everything but an important part nonetheless, of how they help in an overall impression of what appeared in the screen.
"(6) He took me into his caravan and showed me how aspect ratios were worked out and, Stanley being Stanley, gave me a potted history of various developments in the history of picture making to illustrate his view.
"(7) I asked him what aspect ratio he was shooting Barry Lyndon in and he told me that he was shooting it in 1:1.77 and on my asking why told me that if I looked at a lot of Hogarth's pictures, they had a 'sort of boxy look' about them."
"For my continued part of this story, skip forward to 1977.
"(8) I was living in Stockholm and still in touch with Stanley.
"(9) Barry Lyndon was about to be released there along with other parts of Europe a year late because of a producers' strike regarding profit-sharing in their projects.
"(10) He asked me to go to the cinema there where the film was opening to check the print and because I knew little about everything involved in what a 'perfect print' should look like, Stanley told me to write everything down that I thought MIGHT look wrong to me.
"(11) I did, and one of the problems I reported was that the top of the wide shots of 'Castle Hackton' — the portrayed ancestral home of Lady Lyndon — were cut off, some not so much but some seriously.
"(12) Stanley said to me 'That means they're not thinking of screening it at 1.77 — you know what I'm talking about, Leon?'.
"(13) He also said it had been a problem almost everywhere the picture had been shown.
"(14) I went back to the theatre after having spoken to the very obliging people at Warners and we tried to see what could be done. They even had the screen taken down and then re-hung along with re-racking the picture from the projector in an attempt to rectify the problem.
"(15) In the end, Stanley sent his editor, Ray Lovejoy, over to view the print and deal with the problem; Stanley only telling me that in the end, Ray had changed out some reels and on going back on the opening night, I saw that whatever he'd done had worked.
"(16) Skip forward again to when I was a permanent assistant to Stanley and I was dealing with the labs.
"(17) Whenever we were dealing with Barry Lyndon and I was projecting it for him, the first question out of his mouth was 'Did you put the 1.77 aperture plate in, Leon?' Like much else we did, it became a bit of a mantra.
"(18) Whatever work we were doing with Barry Lyndon, he always, always talked of it's correct aperture as being 1:1.77. He never mentioned any other aperture to me ever when we worked with the title and that includes all other formats.
"(19) With all due respect to the doubters, many of them 'doubters' because they do actually care, I know, when one has heard for three decades that resonant Bronx accent saying 1:1.77 in relation to Barry Lyndon one doesn't forget it, nor the circumstances surrounding the words.
"(20) Now THE LETTER which I have received and possibly from Stanley. I can say with 99.9% certainty that it is genuine.
"(21) He often enclosed a letter like this on first release in key cities everywhere not only with this film (I wasn't with Stanley when Barry Lyndon was shipped out, but I was there for the whole shipping operation for Full Metal Jacket, in fact, I supervised most of it personally and physically) in an attempt to have the film seen universally in the way he in tended it when he was shooting.
"(22) What has to be realised is this: 1:1.77 was not your common-or-garden aspect ratio. It may have been that some cinemas were unable or unwilling to have a special 1:1.77 aspect ratio' plate made or even look for one.
"(23) Being a pragmatist at heart, Stanley would have had a 'Plan B' which would have been, I paraphrase here, 'If you can't show it in 1.77, show it in 1.66' (a more common format anyway), '… but no wider than 1.75'."
"(24) [This Plan B option/approach] would have been to avoid, at all costs, showing it theatrically in 1:1.85, an aspect ratio that does not suit this picture anymore than it suits Clockwork Orange which many theatres these days can only show it in as they no longer have the choice of screening even in 1:1.66. I know this because like The Battle of Barry Lyndon, I have fought The Battle of Clockwork Orange and The Battle of Dr. Strangeloveover the years too — both when Stanley was alive and since. And I can add that even when forced to shoot in 1:1.85, Stanley loathed the format because it wastes so much useable screen area.
"I'm sorry for the length of the explanation. I have tried to be succinct but as with everything concerning Stanley, nothing is ever that simple to explain.
"I suppose that whenever I have been asked the question, as recently during the New York and LA press junkets for the release of the 40th Anniversary Bluray of A Clockwork Orange, I SHOULD HAVE SAID that Stanley COMPOSED his pictures for Barry Lyndon in the Aspect Ratio of 1:1.77 and WANTED it screened that way'.
"Maybe that would have taken some of the controversy out of it. So my abject apologies if I have inadvertently contributed to the controversy.
"But I would urge everybody to look at the film, relax into its atmosphere, watch the outstanding performance by Ryan O'Neal (who was in almost every single scene and with whom Stanley was 'well pleased') along with the cream of the English acting profession, many of whom were all idols of mine at the time — Andre Morel, Marie Keen, Murray Melvin as the Reverend Runt, Frank Middlemass as Sir Charles Lyndon, Stephen Berkoff as the effeminate Lord Ludd and many other actors who in the final cut had very little of their performances left and then realized that it is probably the most wonderfully accurate portrayal of 18th century England, its mores and it's social structure (and how not to succeed in social climbing) they've ever seen on the film screen.
"Very best to all fans of Stanley's work — Leon."
In addition to Vitali's comments, The Stanley Kubrick Archives released by Taschen in cooperation with the Kubrick estate lists LYNDON as 1.77:1, though this too may have been per Vitali:
In addition, a series of photos marked by Kubrick himself seem to support the 1.77:1 ratio (notice the blue-box in the center):
And truth be told, there's no way to know what Kubrick would have chosen to do with LYNDON on Blu-ray. We know he wasn't a fan of letterboxing and started making his last few films full-frame-safe for life on video. However, with 16:9 TVs now in most homes and Blu-ray being 16:9 native, Kubrick may have chosen to release the film to fill the frame. Especially since he clearly composed it knowing it would be shown at different ratios depending on where it was being screened. My gut tells me 1.66:1 would have been his personal favorite, but that doesn't mean it's the ratio he would have chosen for Blu-ray. We'll never know. So while contradictions abound and the controversy continues, the film nevertheless looks stunning on Blu-ray and remains as timeless as ever. Perfection in cinema. Whether at 1.66:1 or 1.78:1, I couldn't love it more.
I'll leave you now with four frames, the first a scaled-down image from the Blu-ray at 1.78:1, the second an image from the DVD release at 1.66:1, the third an overlay of the two (Blu-ray on top), and the fourth Kubrick's own markings on the original location photo that suggest the idea of a safe area of 1.66:1 through 1.75:1 (or possibly 1.77:1). Clearly, the 1.66:1 shows more image, but whether or not it's the best framing for the film will have to come down to a matter of taste. I fully support a director's initial intent. However, that intent remains in question. And probably will for all time.


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We chose AnyLogic to tackle our large complex problem because of the multimethod models you can use, the mix of agent based, discrete event and system dynamics is a very useful combination. My favorite part of AnyLogic is all the dashboard features, the great charts and business intelligence you can get from the agents that are working in the model.
Kyle Johnson, Global Business Services, Advanced Analytics and Optimization
IBM Global Business Services
I go back with AnyLogic to the very beginning: over ten years now. Ten years ago, AnyLogic was what I call the only industrial strength product that had a hope of doing both system dynamics, agent based, and discrete event in one package. As best as I can tell, it's still the only package that has that capability. As we do more especially in the realm of agent based models, there are some open-source tools, but none of them has anything close to the functionality that AnyLogic does.
Dr. Mark Paich, Director
AnyLogic was the clear choice after comprehensive evaluation of multiple systems and further prototyping in those that were shortlisted. Furthermore, it continues to impress the deeper we get. There's no doubt the right simulation and modelling tool was selected for the majority of our current and future needs.
Jay Ta'ala, Senior Modeller, Supply Chain Analytics
BHP Billiton
We use AnyLogic to understand better, improve and demonstrate how complex systems work. My personal favorite aspect of AnyLogic is the fact that it compiles the simulation models into a general purpose, fully object-oriented program language, like Java. Which allows us to embed optimization algorithms into simulations without writing unnecessary code.
Onur Dulgeroglu, Senior Analytics Engineer
General Electric
The benefit of agent-based modeling in AnyLogic is to truly model our supply chain. Each of the agents we use in our simulation can correspond to vessels, distribution centers, ports of loading, ports of discharge, our retailers, etc. with their own behaviors. AnyLogic makes it easy for me to give our many agents their own customizable behaviors and let them interact together in a fully integrated software.
Beth Tyrie
Fruit of the Loom
The competition is constantly getting tougher, and today you have to compete for a one-hundredth of a percent of a market share in many industries. That's why AnyLogic is unique. It allows you to optimize business processes and rise your resource utilization rate up to the level unachievable for most of the competitors.
Alexey Mashanov, CTO
Magnat Group
We chose AnyLogic for three reasons, technology, support and people. I think AnyLogic has the best technology in the simulation software industry, it has the agent based, process based and system dynamics, plus it is written in Java, which means many available resources and ease of finding people who can model in AnyLogic since many know Java code. AnyLogic can be deployed on the internet, you can develop an AnyLogic model and easily share with colleagues, partners, etc.
Clark Chang
Norfolk Southern Corporation
One of the most important AnyLogic features is the ability to build our own libraries. We only have to build them once, but can use them multiple times in different models.
Gunnar Feldmann, Assistant Operations Research Specialist
Norfolk Southern Corporation
AnyLogic has a nice object-oriented feature that allows you to create a component and reuse it, which is very useful to us, plus, the user interface has many built in charts. The most valuable feature of AnyLogic to me is to export a model, and let anyone run it on their computer without a software license.
Victor Chang, Software Engineer


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I finally found a home for the Kurdish Bibles that I posted about back in 2010! I usually wait for some family member to find my post to claim their lost family treasures. I just don't have the time to hunt everybody down. But for this one I actively searched for a willing recipient.
Actually, I was spurred on to do so by someone else who wanted the bibles just because they were Kurdish bibles. I had to say "no" because the whole point of this blog is to get these lost family heirlooms into the hands of one branch of the family or another.
In the original post, if you recall, I mentioned not being able to find an obituary. Well I finally found it which made it so much easier to locate family members.
|Clay Today, Orange Park, Florida, published 19 June 2007
Source: Ancestry.com. Florida, Jacksonville Area Obituary Collection, 1851-2009 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
I was able to find a memorial for Charles' mother, Mary Sophia Voigt Perrill, at Find A Grave, and from there make contact with someone who I feel will cherish them as a family treasure.
Leslie Ann


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Catwoman, cartoon character, a wily and agile professional thief and sometime love interest of superhero Batman. Clad in a skintight bodysuit and stylized mask and carrying a whip, Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman, has frequently crossed and recrossed the line between villain and antiheroine.
In early appearances commencing with her 1940 debut in DC Comics' Batman series, Catwoman (originally called "the Cat") was portrayed by creators Bill Finger and Bob Kane as a jewel thief motivated simply by her desire for pretty and valuable things. In the late 1980s writer Frank Miller reimagined Selina Kyle as the product of an abusive home who flees state custody to make her own way on the mean streets of fictional Gotham City, dabbling in prostitution before taking up burglary.
The modern Catwoman shows a tender side as well, taking in and caring for a young prostitute. At times she has operated like Robin Hood, stealing from the wealthy and corrupt while helping those who are down and out. One constant across all interpretations is Catwoman's complicated relationship with her foe, Batman. The two have shared a distinct sexual tension from the beginning. In some stories they have been romantically involved, and in some Kyle knows Batman's secret identity as millionaire Bruce Wayne.
Catwoman has been a popular character in many movie and television versions of Batman, portrayed by Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt in the campy 1960s television series, Lee Meriwether in its 1966 movie spin-off, Michelle Pfeiffer in the 1992 feature Batman Returns, Halle Berry in the 2004 film Catwoman, and Anne Hathaway in the 2012 movie The Dark Knight Rises. Catwoman has appeared in numerous animated Batman television episodes and in hundreds of comic book stories.


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Alongside the 200,000-ton-capacity dock at China's Qiangang port, a fully outfitted Cat wheel loader is dwarfed by the huge ship that has just docked. According to Chen Liang, duty leader of the mobile mechanical team for Qingdao Port Group's Qiangang Company, wheel loaders such as this mainly help in piling up ore in the huge and dark holds for the grab buckets of gantry cranes.
"Since the grab buckets cannot gather the ore when it is spread around in the hold, the wheel loaders are particularly important," Chen said. "Our biggest worry is that the wheel loader will break down while piling up the ore, because lifting each wheel loader in and out of the hold requires replacing the grab bucket, which takes more than 10 minutes. If the wheel loaders cannot run continuously, replacing them will waste a lot of time and the efficiency will be greatly reduced."
In the dim hold, Cat® 980H wheel loaders continuously coordinate with the grab bucket to pile up the iron ore. Ensuring a full load is unloaded each time, the Cat wheel loaders are perfectly attuned to the rhythm of the work.
"The hold is a confined space. When a 10,000-ton cargo ship enters the harbor for unloading, each wheel loader is required to operate in the dark and stuffy hold for a long time, which is challenging for both machines and people — ordinary loaders simply cannot do the job," Chen said. "However, being easy to handle, stable in operation and the user-friendly cockpit, Cat wheel loaders allow drivers to work very comfortably and safely, helping them work efficiently. We wouldn't be able to repeatedly beat our own ore unloading record without the excellent performance of Cat wheel loaders!"


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April 10, 2013
The 2013 Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show has been designed to cater for everyone, from those seriously looking to buy a new boat, motor or accessory to those simply curious about boating, fishing or diving.
The show not only features for every type of boating (including power boating and sailing, fishing, diving, water skiing and wake boarding), it also has plenty for those who would like to try boating for the first time or find out more about some aspect of boating that interests them.
In an expanded Sailing Central area, over 30 different classes will be represented. These will range from the Weta to the M Class and include sailing dinghies as diverse as the Laser and Zephyr; 12 and 18ft skiffs; Optimist and P Class; Flying Dutchman, Javelin, OK and Starling; Sunburst, Splash and Topaz; A Cat, Elliott and Europe, 29er and 49er and many more.
The 470 in which Polly Powrie and Jo Aleh won their Olympic Gold medal last year will also be on display and visitors to Sailing Central will be able to hike off a Laser, try out a trapeze and meet representatives from Auckland's leading yacht clubs.
Those keen on excitement will be able to enjoy a truly "wicked" display of high-class wake boarding in the area in front of the historic grandstand. There will be several shows each day with a special "fire high jump" demonstration during the show's late night on Friday, May 17.
The popular Premier Boat Fair will feature a wide range of exhibitors' top quality second hand boats for sale.
Those wanting to learn new boating or fishing skills, and those wanting to find out how to get into boating, will find everything they need in the Club Marine Discover Boating Centre. Here, in and around the large Hutchwilco Pool, expert fishers such as Milan and Nathan (from TV show PlaceMakers Big Angry Fish) and Hauraki Gulf fishing guru, Bruce Duncan, will share their tips on how to catch more and bigger fish, even in winter.
Keen fishers will also be able to get some great tips and learn new techniques in the hourly Top Catch Ask the Experts seminars and there will be lots of exclusive show-only specials on the large Top Catch and Norcross stands in the Hauraki Fishing Hall (more details on the show's website: www.boatshow.co.nz.
Seafood expert Derek the Chef will show how to cook the catch, there will be kayaking, diving and stand-up paddleboarding demonstrations, celebrity survivor Rob Hewitt will show how to choose the right lifejackets for the whole family and there will be a fun fishing "competition" for the kids.
There will also be fun activities for the whole family in the Youthtown AquaFun Zone with two heated pools, windsurfing and sailing simulators, the Great Drain Game and the chance to have a go at spinnaker packing, kayaking and swimming.
Visitors to the show will also have the chance to win some fabulous prizes including a $100,000 Stabicraft/Yamaha prize boat, eight $2000 Viking Kayak packages (two per day) and a trip for two to the world's only dive rig in Sipidan, Malaysia.
The 2013 Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show, at the ASB Showgrounds, in Greenlane Auckland on May 16-19, will be open from 10am until 6pm daily, with a single late night, on Friday May 17, when the show will be open until 9pm.
Admission is just $20 for adults and there is no charge for children 16 and under.
What: Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show
Where: ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane, Auckland
When: May 16-19, 2013.
Open: 10am to 6pm; late night Friday to 9pm.
Admission: Adults $20; children 16 & under FREE.
For more information contact:
Dave Gibbs Mike Rose
General Manager Promotion & Marketing Manager
Phone: (09) 525-6999 (09) 483-8284
Mobile: (0274) 880-082 (021) 735-015
website: www.boatshow.co.nz


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With Oregon State coach (and brother of the First Lady) Craig Robinson coming to Boulder …
Here's a cut-and-past of the Dec. 7, 2009 blog I did shortly after Robinson's Beavers faced Colorado. It's about the connection between University of Denver coach Joe Scott and Michelle Robinson Obama:
(Oregon State plays Thursday night at the Coors Events Center)
Here goes:
*** *** ***
During his playing days at Princeton in the 1980s, University of Denver men's basketball coach Joe Scott couldn't help but notice a bright and polite co-ed who palled around with several members of the team.
First Lady Michelle Obama.
"She was friends with guys on the team, so I got to know her," Scott recalled. "We were in school for two years together, when I was a freshman and sophomore and she was a junior and senior. Everybody liked her."
Scott just missed playing with Michelle's brother, Craig Robinson, who, as Oregon State head coach, faced Colorado last week in Corvallis, Ore., as part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series. Robinson graduated as one of Princeton's all-time greats during the spring before Scott arrived.
Scott had met Robinson during his recruiting trip, and Robinson would return to play against the team in alumni games. The Princeton family bond forever remains strong. Robinson and Scott were both team captains.
"When people ever ask me about Craig and Michelle, I say, they're very sincere people," Scott said. "They're honest people, hard-working people. They're truthful, honest people. I think that says it all about them."
Michelle and Craig, who are 16 months apart in age, grew up in a one-bedroom apartment on Chicago's south side. They slept in the living room, with their mattresses divided by a hanging, makeshift sheet. Their father, Frasier Robinson, was a city pump operator. Their mother, Marian, worked as a secretary for Spiegel's department store.
Although the living arrangement was not ideal and the neighborhood had its issues, Frasier and Marian made sure that education was a priority.
"They come from the background they come from, and they have stayed true to that," Scott said. "I think that's why they are successful. They live the same way their whole life. That says a lot about their character."
As a 6-foot-6 forward, Craig Robinson graduated from Princeton in 1983 after leading the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament. In a first-round game, Robinson pulled down 16 rebounds in an upset of Big Eight Conference champion Oklahoma State. He still ranks fourth on Princeton's all-time scoring list with 1,441 points.
Before returning to the Front Range as DU's coach in 2007, Scott coached at his alma mater for three seasons. During two of those years, Scott coached against Robinson, who was at Brown.
Scott said Robinson is a savvy X's and O's coach.
"Craig is smart, obviously, and a hard worker," Scott said. "Coming out of Princeton and having been a great player there, you put all those things together with the type of person that he is … I know he's going to do a good job at Oregon State. They're going to play hard. They're going to know how to win games."
Scott says he knows several of the former college players that play recreational hoops with President Barack Obama. But Scott says he hasn't yet been invited to a presidential function.
"I'm not at that level," Scott said with a chuckle.
*** *** ***


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The following is extracted from a talk given by Venerable Geshe Kelsang on the occasion of the opening of the First Kadampa Temple August 1 1997.
'At the very beginning when we were designing this building we based it on the mandala of Buddha Heruka, who is the Compassion Buddha of Highest Yoga Tantra. From this point of view it has many special preeminent qualities that indicate it is not an ordinary building.
The Temple has four doors, and is surrounded by eight auspicious signs. On top of the wall, on each side, are two deer and a Dharma Wheel. At the very top there is a golden five-pronged vajra. These things indicate special preeminent qualities which reveal that this Temple is a holy place.
The four doorways
The four doors symbolize the four doors of liberation. These are four different types of wisdom realizations that are explained in Essence of Vajrayana. These are the four doors through which we can enter the path to liberation. They are the basic understandings that are methods for attaining permanent liberation from suffering.
The four doors have the same symbolism as Heruka's four faces. They teach us that if we want to attain permanent liberation from suffering we must enter the four doors, that is, develop four special wisdom realizations that understand the ultimate truth of things; that understand directly the way things actually exist.
The four doors therefore teach us the spiritual path. Whenever we see any of the four doors of the Temple it should remind us that if we really want to attain permanent liberation from suffering and problems we must enter one of the four doors of liberation. Whenever we enter, we should imagine, 'I am now entering the gateway or doorway to liberation.' This will create a special imprint or potential, or karma, in our mind.
There are many extensive explanations of the four doors. According to Sutra there are three doors of liberation, but according to Highest Yoga Tantra there are four. However, there is no contradiction. We can understand more details about this later.
The eight auspicious signs
This Temple is surrounded by the eight auspicious signs:
- The precious umbrella
- The precious fish
- The precious vase
- The precious flower
- The precious conch
- The precious knot
- The precious victory banner
- The precious wheel
These show us how to progress along the Buddhist path to enlightenment.
1 The precious umbrella
The umbrella symbolizes the umbrella of the Buddhist community and teaches us that those who have the sincere wish to progress on the Buddhist path to enlightenment should first enter the Buddhist family, which means taking refuge in the Three Jewels and becoming a Buddhist.
We are not saying that Buddhists are good and others are not but what this is saying is that those who wish to progress along the Buddhist path to enlightenment should enter Buddhism because outside Buddhism you cannot progress along the Buddhist path!
So we must go inside without hesitation, without doubt, with a hundred percent trust, enter and then go in one direction, and then every year, year by year, month by month, you can make progress. Therefore the first important thing is to enter Buddhism and then understand how to begin, progress along, and complete the stages of the path to enlightenment.
2 The precious fish
The fish symbolize harmony and peace, and teaches us that under this umbrella you should always live in harmony and peace. Whenever you see a fish, please remember this, it is very important.
Not only Buddhists, every community, society, and family, whether big groups or small groups, every individual should live in harmony and peace, of course that is important. So the two fish playing remind you, show that they are so happy, peaceful, and harmonious. Even though they are animals they are so enjoying themselves with harmony and peace, so of course we need to!
3 The precious vase
The vase symbolizes wealth and teaches that Buddhist practitioners always enjoy the inner wealths of your faith, your moral discipline, your study and practice of Dharma, your benefiting others, your sense of shame, your consideration for others, and your wisdom. There are seven wealths.
Of course normally everyone regards external wealth, money, and external conditions as important but Buddhist practitioners believe that internal wealth is more important because this wealth makes your mind happy all the time and helps in this and future lives.
The first wealth, faith in holy Dharma, makes our mind peaceful, calm, and pure so that we perceive everything as pure. Then there is no difficulty or basis for experiencing problems because if the mind is pure we perceive everything as pure. If the mind is impure, negative, angry, jealous, and other wrong views, then we perceive everything bad, everything unpleasant, and then criticism, arguing, fighting, disharmony and all other difficulties arise from the impure mind. Faith makes our mind become pure so therefore we become pure beings.
Whereas faith in holy Dharma makes our mind become pure, the practice of moral discipline makes our physical and verbal actions become pure. In this way, these kinds of inner wealth transform you into a pure, holy being.
Study and practice of Dharma is the most important wealth because wisdom is very beneficial. It protects you and others, it teaches you everything.
Benefiting others is giving material things, Dharma teachings, love, and protection or fearlessness – any kind of help to others. These actions come from our good heart and are such wonderful, beautiful internal qualities.
The fifth wealth, sense of shame, is a special inner mental quality that always thinks, for example, 'I cannot do such bad actions because I am a Buddhist, because I am a practitioner…' etc. Or, 'I can't kill people because I am a human being,' 'I cannot destroy others' spiritual life, others' happiness, because I am a spiritual practitioner …' etc. This is an inner good quality, a very special wealth.
There are many people in the world who destroy others' lives, environments, and enjoyments due to lacking sense of shame. Therefore sense of shame is a special internal wealth that makes people special great beings.
With consideration for others we think, for example, 'I can't do bad actions because other people will suffer. I can't harm other people because they will suffer,' – always thinking that others are important. For example, 'I can't kill because that being will experience suffering,' 'I can't steal because people will experience problems,' 'I can't destroy others' happiness because their happiness is also important.' This kind of attitude is a very special inner wealth. It makes us become spiritually rich.
Wisdom is the best wealth – our best friend. Wisdom is the best wealth because it can be used in any situation, in any country. There is no danger of it being stolen by thieves. Wisdom can be used in any situation. Wisdom is the best friend to help you. It tells you everything that you should and should not do. If you have inner wisdom you don't need to seek advice from other people; your wisdom tells you everything, your direction, where you go, and so forth.
So the vase symbolizes wealth and teaches us that we should always enjoy inner wealth such as faith and wisdom. We should not grasp too much, hoping for external enjoyments, because we don't know if these will make us happy or make us suffer. Of course we need human happiness but we also need less grasping, less attachment. Instead, enjoy inner wealth and then there is no danger – you will always be happy.
4 The precious flower
The lotus flower symbolizes purity, which indicates that we need to put great effort into becoming a pure being by practising the Bodhisattva's way of life – cultivating and maintaining a good heart and then trying to engage in actions that are similar to those of Bodhisattva. In other words, the lotus reminds us that we should not remain always as an impure, ignorant being, but strive to become a pure being by practising the Bodhisattva's way of life.
5 The precious conch
The conch shell symbolizes the Dharma Jewel and teaches us that we should accomplish the Dharma Jewel, the realization of the stages of the path to enlightenment, within our mind. These realizations directly protect us from suffering and problems.
6 & 7 The precious knot & precious victory banner
The knot of eternity symbolizes an uncommon quality of Buddha's realizations – his realization of omniscient wisdom – and the victory banner symbolizes an uncommon quality of Buddha's abandonment – his abandonment of delusions and mistaken appearance.
These last two signs together, the knot of eternity and the victory banner, indicate that through gaining the Dharma Jewel, the realization of the stages of the path to enlightenment, we shall attain these two uncommon qualities of Buddha.
8 The precious wheel
The Dharma Wheel indicates that having attained these two uncommon qualities of Buddha we now have the ability to lead all living beings to permanent liberation from suffering, principally by turning the Wheel of Dharma, that is, by giving Dharma teachings. This is our final goal.
So the eight auspicious signs show how to begin, progress along, and complete the spiritual path. First we need to gain the realization of the stages of the path. Through this we shall attain the two uncommon qualities of Buddha; and through this we have the ability to lead all beings to permanent liberation from suffering by giving Dharma teachings, which is our final goal.
Therefore the symbolism of This Temple being surrounded by these eight auspicious signs reminds you that you should put the meaning of these signs into practice and integrate them into your daily life.
The deer, Dharma Wheel, and vajra
Above each doorway there are two deer and a Dharma Wheel, and at the very top of the Temple there is a vajra. Together, these symbolize the stages of the path of Highest Yoga Tantra. The eight auspicious signs symbolize in general how to progress along the Buddhist path, and the deer, Dharma Wheel, and top vajra teach us the stages of the path of Highest Yoga Tantra.
The male deer symbolizes the realization of great bliss, the female deer the realization of emptiness, and the Dharma Wheel the union of these two. Through progressing in this union of great bliss and emptiness, finally we will attain the five omniscient wisdoms of a Buddha, which are symbolized by the top five-pronged vajra.
In summary, the symbolism of the Temple is as follows: Through progressing in the basic practice symbolized by the eight auspicious signs and then progressing in the uncommon spiritual path of Highest Yoga Tantra that is the union of great bliss and emptiness, finally we will attain Buddha's five omniscient wisdoms.
In this way we can understand that this Temple is not ordinary but a very holy place.


text:
"Working with Marta was truly a transforming professional development opportunity. She created a learning environment that really challenged us to delve deep into our group dynamics while also providing us all with very tailored one-on-one mentoring, all of which taught us how to be better leaders and a better leadership team. I plan on keeping my folder of "Marta materials" within arm's reach on my desk because what she shared with me will be useful for years to come."
Elizabeth Schroeder, Executive Director & Senior Leadership Team
ANSWER, sex ed honestly
"Marta led our organization through its first strategic planning process. Although we are a relatively small organization, Marta always made us feel like a very big client and that there was no cause more important than our organization's cause. Marta has numerous skills that she brings to her engagement with non-profit organizations: great insight into leadership, organizational dynamics, board development, and finances. Marta is also curious, a critical trait when working across the non-profit arena. Although the AJS's work was new to Marta, she quickly became an expert in our sector, engaging with our members, reading outside articles, and sending us reports relevant to our work. Her enthusiasm and interest were infectious and genuine. Perhaps most significantly, Marta is a brilliant meeting facilitator. Beyond getting us from point A to B, Marta ensured that committee meetings were productive and illuminating. Participants left feeling in a very different and better place than when they began. Without a doubt, we would engage Marta for future projects."
Jeffrey Shandler, President & Rona Sheramy,
Executive Director
Association for Jewish Studies
"The SCAN Foundation asked Marta to facilitate our first staff retreat. As a young foundation with really talented staff, our goals were to help each individual develop a clearer sense for how they approach their own work and how teams forge success. Marta did a fantastic job designing a daylong event that was perfectly tailored to our organization's needs. Marta worked closely with our Vice Presidents to ensure that each staff member was actively engaged throughout the day. She helped us develop a solid plan on how staff could broadly incorporate what they learned from this enriching experience into their professional lives and helped us execute this plan with grace, intelligence, and ease."
Bruce Chernof
President & CEO
The SCAN Foundation
"Just Vision hired Marta to facilitate a meeting between our staff and board to discuss the organization's strategic priorities for the coming year. Marta was responsible for bringing together a highly diverse group of people -- including Palestinians, Israelis and Americans of Brazilian, Lebanese, Egyptian and European origins to address our core focus, the Israeli-Palestinian context. The day went off seamlessly and we were able to accomplish the goals set out for the gathering. Participant feedback was extremely positive and we now refer Marta to other groups seeking a seasoned facilitator."
Ronit Avni
Founder & Executive Director
Just Vision
"Blue Engine thought very carefully about the right facilitator for its first ever Board Retreat. We interviewed 5 or 6 consultants, and chose Marta because of her extensive experience with high-performing nonprofits, strong recommendations from our funders and others, and she was a great personality fit for our board. She has a structured, yet direct, approach and is very action-oriented, which was exactly what we needed. Marta helped facilitate and lead our board to clearly define its roles and responsibilities-- creating a board committee structure, leadership positions, and ultimately activating our board members to leverage their strengths to execute on key strategies. As CEO, I see this changed dynamic with the board as a pivotal moment for our organization, and credit Marta with helping us get there."
Nick Ehrmann
CEO & Founder
Blue Engine
"WITNESS, as a global human rights organization that supports people to use video to create change, needed to develop a new strategy to respond to the opportunities presented by a fast changing technology and media landscape. In the summer of 2012, through her work with the Directors' team and her excellent facilitation of an all staff retreat, Marta helped us focus, prioritize, and shape the right way forward. Her experience and style enabled an atmosphere of transparency and open conversation while at the same time moving the organization toward a future vision with clarity. Her personal, direct approach and her rapid analysis of key choice points proved very instrumental."
Yvette J. Alberdingk Thijm
Executive Director
"Marta helped our organization (Repair the World) on multiple fronts during a frenetic and difficult transition period. She provided expert coaching (sensible, pointed, and effective) to several members of our leadership team, and facilitated a series of team meetings over several months after an executive transition was announced. Her no-nonsense style and expansive toolkit of tactics and strategies for building teams, exercising leadership, and managing change were a perfect fit for us."
Jon Rosenberg
Executive Director
ROADS Charter High Schools
"New Yorkers For Children hired Marta as a consultant to guide our Board's Strategic Planning Committee through a planning process over a period of five months in 2011. Marta is an expert facilitator who brings to her work a deep understanding of collaboration and non-profit organizations. She brought together a group of experts in child welfare and related fields to encourage our Board to think innovatively about addressing the needs of youth aging out of foster care. She skillfully guided us through discussions about focus, programmatic impact, and expected outcomes. Marta's skillful guidance led NYFC to develop a Strategic Plan that clearly articulates our priorities, our most effective role and the impact and anticipated outcomes of our work."
Nicholas Scoppetta
Board President
New Yorkers For Children
"Red Hook Initiative (RHI) brought Marta in to work with a team of board and staff on a strategic plan, at a critical moment in our organization's development. Marta was able to hear our needs, quickly assess where we were, and push us to define the next phase of RHI's work.
Her ability to ask the right questions, and cut to the heart of the issues propelled us toward a stronger mission and vision statement and a solid plan to guide our work for the next three years. The end products of the 6-month process were full buy-in from staff and board, along with practical tools with which to begin the work."
Jill Eisenhard
Founder & Executive Director
Red Hook Initiative
"Marta Siberio
was an excellent guide through our strategic planning process. Her ability to
quickly assess the nuances of our organization and the challenges we face was
remarkable. Her insight helped us fine-tune realistic goals for the coming years
and, with her guidance, our senior staff and Board were able to translate these
goals into a pragmatic work plan. At a four-hour retreat, Marta successfully
lead a lively and engaged discussion between our staff and Board. She is a
skilled listener and helped all of us listen to one another as well. Through her
guidance, we successfully articulated our vision for a stronger, more effective
Diane Max
Board Chair
Planned Parenthood of New York City
"Marta worked
with both our executive team and Board to help us set strategic
priorities for the next three years. She quickly grasped the
complexity of our issues and thoughtfully challenged us to make
decisions. Marta took us through an intense, yet inclusive process,
that led to a set of goals and priorities that effectively address
our needs. Her low key and direct style really helped us to achieve
more that we thought possible. I highly recommend Marta as an
effective facilitator and partner in making organizational change."
Joan Malin
President & CEO
Planned Parenthood of New York City
Union retained Marta's services in planning and facilitating our annual
strategic planning retreat. Marta successfully led a large and dynamic group
through two days of highly productive and cooperative strategy sessions and
brainstorming. Marta is an expert in evoking participation and creativity among
all group participants, intervening in a way that adds focus and momentum to
each conversation. Our retreat greatly benefited from Marta's extensive skill
and experience, leading to a productive and highly organized event that was
enjoyed by all participants."
Sara Horowitz
Executive Director
Freelancers Union
"Marta Siberio
worked with Symphony Space during a six-month strategic planning process.
Without extensive background in the performing arts, Marta was nevertheless able
to articulate and help us understand very quickly and thoroughly the issues on
which we needed to focus. She effectively facilitated both staff and Board
convenings, conducting meetings in a way that even the most weary long-timers
found stimulating and provocative. Marta is sharp, smart, and focused, and she
makes everyone else in the room more effective, as a result. I would certainly
work with her again on another project of this nature."
Cynthia Elliott
President & CEO
"We have
used Marta to facilitate our annual grantee convening for the past two years.
She has worked very well with our staff to design a day where our grantees can
come together and share their stories, learn from each other and offer the
Foundation useful feedback. Marta is expert at creating a meeting environment
where participants feel comfortable and are encouraged to participate, while
focusing on complex and sometimes difficult issues. She also ensures that the
group reaches useful closure and has concrete takeaways from their time
together. Marta Siberio is an excellent facilitator and I highly recommend her."
Ana L. Oliveira
President & Chief Executive Officer
The New York Women's Foundation
"The Paul Rapoport
Foundation retained Marta's services to assist us in crafting a strategic plan
that would guide us through the fraught thicket of a spend-out process. We chose
her from among several highly qualified candidates because of her broad skill
set which encompasses everything from being able to effectively interview -
bilingually - community stakeholders, to formulate a clear blueprint for a
strategic plan, to facilitate a highly diverse group in an emotionally charged
atmosphere. Marta helped us come to grips with the wrenching decision we had to
make and to move from a state of shell shock to one of effective action, with
completed workplan in hand, in less than six months. Bravo Marta! Without you we
could not have done it."
Jane D. Schwartz
Executive Director
The Paul Rapoport Foundation
"You did a fantastic job
as a facilitator for our national United Neighborhood Centers of America Board
retreat last week, and all my colleagues thought so too. I can't imagine anyone
else being as effective with that group as you were. You guided us through a
very full day of very difficult decisions about our membership dues structure
and our business model to ensure sustainability for the organization. Everyone
was impressed. I know that I will turn to you again when I have tough issues to
Nancy Wackstein, Executive Director
United Neighborhood Houses
United Neighborhood Centers of America Board
"Marta Siberio has a deep understanding of how to bring
diverse groups together around complex systemic issues. She has brilliant
meeting facilitation skills. At a Ford Foundation convened meeting, Marta
facilitated a large and diverse group of national public health and community
experts which resulted in the creation of a unified platform for a National AIDS
Strategy for the United States."
Robert Bank, Executive Vice President
American Jewish World Service
"Marta's leadership development work with My Sisters'
Place has been extraordinary. She brings a wealth of practical experience and
insight to the changing non-profit environment. My Sisters' Place staff has
benefited from her coaching on crisis management, improving organizational
communication and team building. Recently, she provided effective facilitation
to our Board of Directors, as they evaluated their own effectiveness, leading
them to develop a viable plan of action for greater success. Marta is a
personable and skilled professional who understands her clients' needs and works
collaboratively to help attain their desired outcomes."
Karen Cheeks-Lomax, Esq., Executive Director
My Sisters' Place
"Marta facilitated two retreats of our Board of
Directors. She provided Board development training that resulted in a specific
action plan to enhance Board effectiveness, including strategies for embracing
their fundraising role. She also facilitated a discussion on alternative models
of agency growth. In both cases, Marta's preparation was thorough, she
effectively engaged all participants and her facilitation was superb. Her
ability to facilitate in Spanish and English is a huge asset."
Cesar A. Perales, President & General Counsel
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
"Marta brought together a group that, while immersed in
different areas related to the struggles of post foster care youth, had never
come together to shape a common agenda. Groups working in youth development and
groups working on housing and advocacy for the homeless had to be oriented to a
common language. Some wariness around discussions of outcome measurement had to
be overcome. An ambitious scope had to be managed within a tight timeframe.
Marta managed each of these dimensions expertly. She structured the meeting to
assure a comprehensive, participatory and frank discussion. She kept the
conversation focused and was pleasantly insistent that awkward questions on
quality measurement and accountability be dealt with. Participants judged the
gathering to be stunningly effective. It produced a continuing collaboration
among participants who are now working collaboratively on four policy
initiatives the first time these sectors have come together with a common
agenda. Marta's astute reading of the group, and her deft guidance of the
meeting, were essential to this outcome."
Rosanne Haggerty, President
Common Ground
"Marta provided the New York Foundation for the Arts
with a very thorough and sensitively tuned process for conducting focus groups
with artists throughout New York State. Her objectivity, nuanced solicitations
for information, and obvious enjoyment at facilitation was very valuable to us
and greatly informed our strategic planning process. I would highly recommend
Michael L. Royce, Executive Director
New York Foundation for the Arts
planned and facilitated a full-day strategic
planning retreat that was both focused and
productive. She pushed us to address difficult
issues and make commitments that would position
our organization optimally for the future."
Kim Sweet,
Executive Director
Advocates for Children
"Marta skillfully guided our senior leadership team
through some important conversations about our collective vision for the United
Way of New York City, our plans for addressing the current fiscal environment
and new ways of working together to build on our team's strengths. Marta's broad
knowledge of organizations facing similar challenges helped give us a useful
perspective. In addition, I have had the privilege of working with Marta in many
different capacities over the years. Her deep knowledge of non-profits and
management were extraordinarily helpful."
Gordon J. Campbell, President & Chief
Executive Officer
United Way of New York City
is a skilled facilitator, teacher and coach. I
consider her one of the leading experts in
leadership development in the human services
field here in New York City. The Administration
for Children's Services was lucky to partner
with her on the development and implementation
of the first ever Leadership Academy for Child
Safety. We found that many years of experience
and culturally competent practice contributed
greatly to the success of the Academy!"
Anne Williams-Isom, Deputy Commissioner
Community & Government Affairs
New York City Administration for Children's
"When I worked as the Open
Society Institute's Deputy Director for
International Public Health Programs, I hired
Marta to carry out an assessment of our work.
She conducted research on our grant making
strategies and how they played out, analyzed our
complicated spending data on grants, technical
assistance, and convenings, and conducted
interviews with key foundation staff and
grantees around the world.
The result was a clear and thoughtful
evaluation of our program strategy that included
specific lessons learned to inform our future
grant making. Marta thinks strategically, she is
extremely organized, and is incredibly easy to
work with."
Karen Plafker, Program Director
Wellspring Advisors, LLC
Siberio has worked as a consultant to the
Funders Network for more than six months. In
that time, she has impressed me very favorably
and I would not hesitate to recommend her for a
wide range of projects. We gave Marta the job of
solidifying a working group of foundation
funders interested in sexuality education. She
has been an excellent facilitator for the group
and, even more impressively to me, very quickly
got up to speed on the subject and the community
of players. Marta is dependable, prompt, smart
and talented. She is also exceptionally
dedicated to doing the very best job possible. I
will hire her again."
Denise Shannon, Executive Director
Funders Network on Population, Reproductive
Health and Rights


text:
When Windows 8 launches on Oct. 26, expect to see lots of hybrid PCs that combine a tablet and a laptop into a single, convertible device.
Acer's Iconia W700 is an example of something different: the tablet-desktop hybrid.
(MORE: Needed for Google's Next Nexus 7 Tablet: More Storage)
Included with the W700, which starts at $800, is a cradling station that has three USB 3.0 ports — the tablet itself has another — and can prop up at either a 70-degree or 20-degree angle. Of course, it charges the device as well. The tablet also has a Micro-HDMI slot for connecting to an external monitor, and it comes with a Bluetooth keyboard.
Acer isn't the first company to announce a Windows 8 tablet with a docking station. Dell's Latitude 10 will have a dock with four USB ports, an Ethernet jack and a full-sized HDMI slot. The dock for HP's ElitePad 900 will have all those connectors plus a VGA port and audio line out.
But Acer's Iconia W700 puts me in the desktop hybrid mindset for a couple reasons: Its display is larger than those other tablets, at 11.6 inches instead of 10 inches, and the tablet uses Intel's more powerful Core processors, rather than the Clover Trail chips found in thinner and lighter machines. It also has a higher screen resolution of 1920-by-1080, which isn't even supported by Clover Trail-based tablets.
I think the idea could grow beyond a simple set of extra ports. I'd love to see a dock with extra storage, especially because the solid state drives inside tablets are too skimpy for vast media libraries. A dock that had its own discrete graphic card would be even better, allowing the device to play PC games or handle extensive photo or video editing. And just maybe, it'd be cool to see a dock with its own larger, integrated display.
A man can dream. For now, at least, Acer's planted the seed of an idea. The W700's other specs include 4 GB of RAM, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 720 front-facing camera. The basic $800 model has a Core i3 processor and 64 GB of storage, but there's a 128 GB version for $900, and a $1,000 model with 64 GB of storage and a Core i5 chip.


text:
|(Waldorf P.D. Brown): JAZZY YARNS CROCHET and KNITTING CLASS
Event Type: Adult
Age Group(s): 18 and up
Date: 3/8/2018
Start Time: 6:00 PM
End Time: 7:30 PM
Learn the basics or develop your skills in crocheting or knitting. Please bring your own supplies. For beginners, please bring a skein of yarn and a "J" crochet hook or size 8 or 9 knitting needles.Library: PD Brown Branch
Drop In. No registration required.
Contact Number: 301-645-2864
Presenter: Ms. Shirley France


text:
This product is out of stock
A versatile basic for your wardrobe, this fine, stretch yarn polo-neck sweater has a flattering snug fit. Wear it tucked into trousers or denim for a streamlined silhouette or layer it under separates for a look that's smart and polished.
Product name: MANAMA
Product code: 4364999003001
Distributed by Manifatture del Nord S.r.l. Unipersonale, with registered office in Reggio Emilia (Italia), Via Mazzacurati n. 6, 42122
72% rayon viscose, 28% polyester.
Wash by hand in water. Do not bleach. Iron at max. 110 °C using a damp cloth between the iron and the fabric. Delicate dry clean with perchloroethylene. Do not tumble dry. Flat drying in the shade.


text:
Changed your mind?
Search availability for Jurys Inn Hinckley Island and book online
A5, Watling Street,
This family friendly hotel, part of Jurys Inn Group, provides the facilities and service you would expect from a Jurys hotel; FREE PARKING, FREE WIFI, great choices for dining with a Piazza Lounge, contemporary Triumph Bar plus Marco Pierre White Steakhouse & Grill to choose from. Children's meals, high chairs and cots are provided all year round. All of our executive family rooms consist of 2 double beds. DUE TO LIMITED AVAILABILITY WE CAN ONLY OFFER EXTRA BEDS TO FAMILIES WITH MORE THAN 2 CHILDREN AT PEAK TIMES. Please state on your booking if you wish to request a cot.
Our leisure club consists of a newly refurbished pool, sauna, jacuzzi, steam room & fully equipped gym with Precor equipment, all children must be accompanied by an adult & during busy periods.Please note that over weekends and school holidays an hourly booking system for the swimming pool will be in operation. Please contact the hotel Leisure Club for more details.
Pool opening times: Adults - Mon to Thurs 6.30am to 10pm, Fri 6.30am - 9pm, weekends and Bank Holidays 8am - 8pm. Children - Mon to Fri 8.30am - 11.30am and 3pm - 7pm, weekends and Bank Holidays 9am - 6pm.
As the winner of the Leicester & Leicestershire Excellence In Tourism Award in the Access for All Category we are passionate about making our hotel an accessible place for all. We have bedrooms with wetroom bathrooms, a hearing loop, anti-allergy bedding on request and have deafgard pillows & reading glasses available for guest's use. If you have any specific questions regarding accessibility please do not hesitate to contact us.
**Stay Play Explore Short Breaks**
To book a Stay Play Explore Short Break at the Hinckley Island please visit www.stayplayexplore.co.uk and follow the booking process with Hinckley Island as your chosen hotel.
For further details see https://www.jurysinns.com/hotels/hinckley-island
Family friendly hotel. Free parking. Free use of newly refurbished leisure club. Free wifi Children welcome from any age.
From the North & East - Take Junction 21 of the M1 onto the M69. Exit at the second junction which is junction 1 signposted Hinckley/Milton Keynes A5. Turn left at the slip road onto the A5 and you will find the hotel 300 metres on the left.
From the west - Take junction 2 of the M6 and follow signs to the M69 north. Leave at the first Junction which is Junction 1, signposted Hinckley/Milton Keynes A5. At the bottom of the slip roads take the 4th exit onto the A5 on Milton Keynes and you will find the hotel 300 metres on the left.
Nearest mainline train station Nuneaton (5 miles), nearest local train station Hinckley (2 miles)
- Children welcome
- Telephone
- Radio
- Television
- Satellite TV
- Tea/coffee making in bedrooms
- Licenced (table or bar)
- Packed lunches provided
- Special diets available
- Night porter
- Passenger lift
- Ironing facilities
- Conference facilities
- Travel agent bookings
- Snacks/afternoon tea
- Private parking
- Totally non-smoking
- Disabled facilities
- Central heating
- Laundry facilities
- Electric shaver points
- Television available
- Sauna onsite
- Swimming pool - indoor onsite
- Golf available (onsite or nearby)
- Restaurant open to non-residents
- Visa/Mastercard/Switch accepted
- Vegetarian diet available
- American Express accepted
- Designated smoking area
- WiFi or internet access
- Leisure club (onsite or nearby)
- Coach parties welcomed
- Single sex groups welcomed
- Evening meals
- Hairdryer
- High chairs available
- Cots available
- Gym on site
- Staff fluent in Spanish
Family friendly hotel. Free parking. Free use of newly refurbished leisure club. Free wifi Children welcome from any age.
Self-Assessed Accessibility Details
- Designated parking for guests with disabilities
- Within 50 metres approx. of entrance
- Surface of the car park and pathway leading to entrance is
- Solid ie tarmac / concrete etc
- Drop-off point for guests outside entrance
- Route from the parking area to the entrance:
- Is flat (i.e. without steps)
Public Areas
- Level access (no steps/thresholds) or access by ramp or lift to:
- Entrance to reception
- Public toilet
- One or more bedrooms
- Lounge
- Bar
- Swimming pool
- Gym/leisure centre
- Good contrast between the floor and wall
- Lift equipped with verbal floor announcements
- Lift equipped with raised floor numbers or braille numbers or letters
- Clear surfaces such as glass doors have contrast markings
- Baby changing facilities
- Guest information available in large print (14pt and over)
- Bedroom furniture can be re-arranged if requested by guest
- Bedroom with non-allergenic bedding available
- Bathrooms available with:
- Separate shower unit
- Bath with shower
- Bath
- Wet room
- Separate shower unit with support handrails available
- Separate shower unit with fixed shower seat or shower chair available
- Bath with support handrails available
- WCs with handrails available
- Bathroom with emergency call system available
- Bedrooms available with emergency call systems such as vibrating pads (if fire alarm is activated)
- Bedrooms available with emergency call systems such as flashing lights (if fire alarm is activated)
- Bedrooms available with en suite bathrooms suitable for guests who use a wheelchair
- Bedrooms available with separate, private or shared bathrooms suitable for guests who use a wheelchair
- Bathrooms available that have been specially adapted for wheelchair users
- Entrance well lit
- Level access (no steps/thresholds) or access by ramp or lift
- Good contrast between the floor and walls
- Menus available in large print (14pt and over)
- Meals for guests with special dietary requirements can be provided:
- Sugar free (diabetic)
- Gluten free (coeliac)
- Lactose free (dairy free)
- Low potassium
- Low sodium
- Nut free
- Additive free
- Organic
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Proprietors/staff available 24-hours
- Emergency evacuation procedures for guests with disabilities
- Staff have had disability awareness training
Our fire alarm can be connected to hearing aids via the loop system Our fire evactuation procedure regarding disabled guests is that a member of staff will go to the bedroom/conference room of a disabled guest & personally help them to evacuate the building.


text:
BECKMANN, MAX Max Beckmann was a German Expressionist painter worthy of inclusion in a great tradition - the tradition of anguished German mysticism, which first flowered in the Middle Ages. His highly personal style reflected the misery of contemporary events in Germany.Beckmann was born in Leipzig in 1884, the youngest of three children. His father, a grain merchant, died when Beckmann was only ten years old. By the age of fifteen, after several years of boarding school and over his family's objections, he decided that his destiny lay as a painter. After failing the entrance exam for the Konigliche Akademie der Bildenden Kunste in Dresden, he was accepted by the Grossherzogliche Sachs
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text:
Configuring Smarthost on Windows Severs Using IIS SMTP
To configure Smarthost on your windows server using IIS SMTP:
Note: These instructions only apply to servers running IIS6.
- Log in to your Windows Server Remote Desktop as "administrator"
- Click on Start.
- From the Administrative Tools menu, select Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
- In the IIS Manager window, right-click on the Default SMTP Virtual Server and select Properties.
- Select the Delivery tab and click on Advanced.
- In the Smart Host field, enter your server's email relay server (more info).
- Click OK and close IIS.


text:
Mahle BehrMI, United States
As specific and absolute power output levels continue to rise, engines are operated closer and closer to the temperature limits of their materials. Consequently, heating and cooling modules will become ever more critical in the future.
Heat exchangers for heating and cooling modules typically have a lamellar design and ensure an as balanced as possible thermal cycle for lubricating oils in the engine and transmission. This allows the lubricant to heat up quickly, which significantly reduces fuel consumption at cold start. At high oil temperatures, heat exchangers prevent overheating and premature aging of the oil, allowing oil change intervals to be extended.
Current MAHLE heating and cooling modules are able to also handle channel guidance, temperature regulation, and filtering of the coolant flow. An optimized channel guidance and distribution of the coolant flow provides coolant to the heat exchangers of the engine and transmission as well as for fuel as needed.
Robert Chaston
2700 Daley Dr., MI, United States


text:
Months and months ago, when I was going through the emotional throes of holy crap I think my marriage is over and what the eff am I supposed to do about that, a friend said to me, "Can you please make a decision so you can get back to snarky political commentary? In case you hadn't noticed, there's quite a bit going on."
Whatever. The president said they were all phony scandals, so he must be right or I'm a racist. Pfffttt.
Last fall when I was on the Romney campaign, we weren't really allowed to tweet. Well, we could but we couldn't. Sometimes except certain times. Only if it was a good tweet, but not too good. Never on Tuesdays or after dark. Unless there was a debate. In other words, the tweeting policy was clear as mud.
Because nothing says Voter Engagement like reclusiveness.
I finally gave up trying after I was chastised for tweeting, "Lady smarts > lady parts." Yes, I cried, because I'm a TOTAL PROFESSIONAL. Seriously though, if I couldn't win with that tweet, then the whole thing just seemed hopeless. I should've known right then that we were going to lose.
Anyway, I was talking to Justin, one of my favorite friends in the Boston trenches with me about it, and said that once the campaign was over I wanted to go back to commentary. "I think my first tweet after the campaign shall be, 'I'm back, bitches.'"
Then he blushed because he's LDS and doesn't say the B-word.
Er, um … neither do I. Except sometimes.
Obviously, my cussing policy is very similar to the Romney tweeting policy, which can basically be summed up as: Don't get caught by the wrong people. Sorry if you're reading this, Dad.
Of course, it's been nine months since the campaign ended (nine months!!!), which is not only the correct amount of time to grow a human, but also apparently just about right for getting over a spectacular political loss. Not to mention a bunch of personal crap.
Since then I've been plodding along, keeping up with some news, doing some behind-the-scenes freelance writing for some candidates, and doing other very important things like learning how to curl my hair. Yes, I was 30 before I learned how to properly work a curling iron. Stop judging me. Judgey people are only allowed to visit between 2-4 pm on the sixth of never.
A couple of weeks ago I got a message from the lovely Christine, who knew me from being on with Chip and LaDonna once upon a time for the whole Victoria's Secret hullabaloo. She's now producing for Rick Amato's new Internet TV show, and would I like to come on?
Rick and I go way back, like three years or longer! I've been on his radio show a handful of times, and we've spoken at some of the same Tea Party events.
Would I like to do a media appearance to comment on some current events from a conservative mommy blogger's perspective? Um, yes.
All that to say … I'm back, bitches.
(Sorry Dad.)
So I was on a panel yesterday, Token Female Style, to discuss expatriates and gender-bender issues. I'll post a clip when they get it archived.
Thoughts on Record Expatriatism
There's this new law that's killing Swiss bank accounts, because the U.S. is now demanding that all financial institutions report on American citizens' bank activity — anywhere in the world. You know, so they can be sure to squeeze every last drop of blood out of people's wallets in the name of taxes.
So people living and working abroad are denouncing their American citizenship in record numbers. The tax rate is capped in Hong Kong at 15 percent.
And liberals scratch their heads at this phenomenon, because paying taxes is supposed to be patriotic.
Meanwhile in California
Jerry Brown signed a law that says all students in public school grade K-12 get to pick their own gender. No really. It's supposed to combat bullying, because if a little boy wears pigtails and a skirt, the bullying will supposedly stop if he's allowed to use the girls' bathroom.
*Insert eye roll here*
Actually, I don't really care. I don't have an opinion on raising little Johnny as little Joannie. You don't tell me how to raise my kids, and I won't tell you how to raise yours. Just keep 'em healthy, happy, and reasonably under control in public please.
I think the real issue is going to come into play when Johnny/Joannie is 17 and wants to play basketball on the girls' team. Boys are naturally better athletes than us women-folk, stuffed bra and close shave aside.
We were also going to talk about Bob Filner, but ran out of time. So I'll just say he's an ass. And I voted for Carl DeMaio.
Also I think it's funny Hooters won't serve him because he's too big a boob even for them.
Sometimes the headlines write themselves.