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"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." - George Washington
Friday, October 27, 2006
The Many Faces of Sacha Baron Cohen
Updated 10/27/2006 7:58 AM ET
By Donna Freydkin, USA TODAY
Britney. Barbra. Bono.
There are a handful of stars in the pop-culture pantheon who sail by on just one name. Prepare to add one more: Borat.
Borat Sagdiyev, the sex-crazed, thong-wearing, moustache-sporting, obscenity-spouting Kazakhstani reporter hurtling into a theater near you in one of the year's most anticipated comedies.
He's not real. Neither are his "reportings."
Yet his movie, which has the unwieldy title of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, has generated the kind of pre-release hype that blue-chip Oscar contenders can only dream of.
"I haven't ever gotten this same kind of response from such a broad range of people, like parents at my kids' school," says producer Jay Roach, who helmed the Austin Powers and Meet the Parents flicks. "I was just sitting with Jack Valenti (the 85-year-old former head of the MPAA) at something, and he'd heard about Borat. The weirdest people come out of the woodwork."
The movie, which starts rolling out Nov. 3, killed at early screenings in Cannes, where Borat showed up on the beach in a neon man-kini, and Toronto, with Borat arriving at the premiere in a cart pulled by burly women. "You probably won't laugh as hard all year," raved the Hollywood Reporter, while Variety called it "uproariously funny."
The credit for all that hoopla goes to British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, 35, a Cambridge-educated fellow best known as faux gangsta rapper Ali G on Da Ali G Show, which made its debut in England before having a two-season run on HBO. The show featured Baron Cohen as Ali G, who interviewed unsuspecting public figures such as Andy Rooney and Pat Buchanan, and secondary characters Bruno (a catty gay Austrian fashion reporter who accosted stylists and designers) and Borat, who came to America to report on the great land by going to wine tastings, self-defense classes and dating services.
Borat simply moves Borat to a larger screen: The star Kazakh reporter comes to America to learn about it and to take his "reportings" back to his homeland. While here, he catches a rerun of Baywatch and falls head over heels for Pamela Anderson, deciding to make her his bride.
Because he's afraid of flying and believes the Jews were responsible for 9/11, he drives cross-country from New York to L.A. to find her. Along the way, he sings at a rodeo, learns to rap, hits a yard sale and engages in a wrestling match.
"Borat wants to come to the greatest country in the world and take back what he's learned," says Roach. "It just so happens that he reveals things about our culture to ourselves by getting people to say what they're privately thinking." For example: Drunken college boys lament the end of slavery and a rodeo hand slams homosexuals.
The goal was "to make a hysterically funny movie," says director Larry Charles. "The idea of exposing hypocrisy? Those were secondary agendas."
Some bits shoot barbs straight at Kazakhstan. Borat says the central Asian country is a backwater that holds an annual event called "the running of the Jew," bans women from driving because "to let a woman drive a car is like to let a monkey drive a plane" and serves fermented horse urine as wine. He professes amazement that in the "U.S. and A.," people flush their excrement down the toilet and wash themselves in a shower, not a river.
Some are not amused
The humor hasn't gone over well with officials in Kazakhstan. Earlier reports had Kazakhstan threatening to sue, but embassy spokesman Roman Vassilenko dismisses those accounts.
"We're concerned that the joke may be lost on somebody, that it's just a British comedian playing a prank on Americans," Vassilenko says. "We never did threaten to sue, and we're not going to. The movie is an opportunity for Kazakhstan to present its side of the story, and we hope the movie will draw attention to the real Kazakhstan."
Although Baron Cohen is devoutly Jewish, his bumbling alter ego fears Jews. On the Ali G show Borat sings a song called Throw the Jew Down the Well; in the film he refuses to stay in a B&B run by Jews. When Kazakhstan first protested Baron Cohen's shtick, Borat sided with the angry country by saying in a video posted on his official website that he supports the decision to "sue this Jew."
Baron Cohen wasn't available to comment. Not exactly, anyway. He responded to questions by e-mail — as Borat. On the movie, he writes: "My government was concern about amounts of anti-semism in my moviefilm. But eventually our censor decide there was just enough and allow its release. However it do have most strict certificate of Kazakh Censor, which mean it cannot be looked on by anyone below age of 3."
And on the biggest perk of fame: "Since I change from be gypsy catcher and icemaker to occupation make reportings I have much better life and great success, especial with opposite sex ... Hi 5! Ladies like Borat!"
Such oddities as doing interviews only by e-mail and in character are the mild side of the Borat universe. To promote the film, Borat has gone to Washington, D.C., to meet with "Premiere George Walter Bush." On his MySpace page, Borat posts videos that have Kazakhstan endorsing Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic tirade and calling him a "warrior" and asking his "lady-friends" to send him erotic photos.
In comedy circles, such dedication is something to celebrate.
"Borat is fantastic," says British comic Ricky Gervais, creator of The Office. "He absolutely goes all out. If he can justify something, he doesn't compromise."
"He's courageous," says Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. "It's hard to know how much someone knows what he's doing is real and how much is a creation. I have a great admiration for him. It takes a tremendous amount of guts to stick to your character."
Whenever Baron Cohen is Borat, he never breaks away from the character's wide-eyed stare, gleeful grin, choppy accent and garbled English. While shooting, Charles says he noticed Baron Cohen's mouth twinge a few times, perhaps inching toward a smile, but that's as far as it went.
"He is doing four-hour single-take scenes, and he is in character at all times," marvels Charles. "He's in character when he and I talk between scenes. From the moment he comes out of the hotel in the morning, you're talking to Borat. He was completely immersed in the character. He is an incredibly intense, focused individual."
While Baron Cohen takes his comedy seriously, he's not afraid to mock himself. Hence his penchant, as Borat, for wearing thongs and shiny suits.
"He has no inhibitions with his physical self. None whatsoever," says Roach. "When you think of the green thong to the little gym shorts, there's very little concern for the risk of looking uncool."
He's nothing like Borat
Those who know Baron Cohen say he's nothing like any of his outrageous, in-your-face characters. He also voiced King Julian in Madagascar and played the Camus-reading French race car driver in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
His Talladega co-star Molly Shannon calls Baron Cohen "hilarious. Such an original talent. I was so star-struck. But he seems very normal. He's funny but kind of quiet. And he's pretty religious."
Bring up his name to anyone and the word you often hear is "nice."
Paul Rudd calls him "the greatest comedic performer on earth. There's really funny people, there's incredibly funny people, and there's him. He's got more guts and is more inventive than anyone except Peter Sellers. I actually, as a diehard Peter Sellers fan, think he might actually be better, because he's a very nice guy, too."
There's that word again. Nice.
"He's not like what you'd expect," says Gervais, who has known Baron Cohen for years. "He's very scholarly and quiet, and serious."
Adds Tina Fey, who is writing a movie for him to star in at Paramount: "He's really smart. Just a lovely, genteel, educated British gentleman."
And while comedians can be sour in person, Roach says Baron Cohen is the exception. "You don't have to have a dark upbringing or dark approach to life to be funny. I don't think his comedy comes from that at all. His personas often come from the physical. That walk he has, that looks almost like a wooden puppet, as Borat."
Roach calls Baron Cohen "very respectful, deferential. He will get up and pull a chair out for anybody who walks into the room and make sure they're comfortable and (make sure) they have something to drink. He's tremendously chivalrous. I find him to be incredibly intelligent, articulate, charming, super-polite by American standards."
A life more ordinary
The London-born Baron Cohen lives in Los Angeles and is engaged to Aussie actress Isla Fisher, of Wedding Crashers fame.
He has a solidly middle-class background. His first cousin, psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, is an autism expert in London, his brother Erran Baron Cohen is a composer and a trumpet player, while dad Gerald is an accountant and mom Daniella an aerobics instructor.
At Cambridge, he studied history and wrote his thesis on the Jewish involvement in the U.S. civil rights movement in the 1960s. While in college, he performed in scores of plays, including Cyrano de Bergerac and Fiddler on the Roof, and became involved with the Cambridge Footlights acting troupe. After graduation, he worked the London comedy club circuit, where he developed the characters he later brought to British TV.
Because he inhabited his Da Ali G Show characters thoroughly, he told Jimmy Kimmel in 2004, viewers had no idea what Baron Cohen looked like.
"When the first DVD came out in England, I'd be at the stands, and the people would be buying them and have no idea that I was standing next (to them)."
Despite the buzz surrounding Borat, which cost less than $20 million to shoot, it remains to be seen whether an R-rated comedy based on a character from a premium cable channel will have wide appeal.
But if the movie does reach mass audiences, Baron Cohen's anonymity could be endangered.
To a certain extent, a hit movie is the comedian's Kryptonite. The more identifiable he is and the more people are aware of his ambush antics, the less he can con people into chatting with him.
"His art depends a certain amount on being able to go incognito," Roach says. "He's conflicted about it. On the one hand, he very much wants people to enjoy the film. But every exposure makes him that much more recognizable. It's a conundrum."
Apparently, Baron Cohen is willing to take it as far as he can; according to Variety, he's shooting another reality-based movie next summer with a new character.
And Borat himself has no qualms about being rich and famous. Will success spoil him?
"No, I excite!" he writes. "I hope my fame outside Kazakhstan will make come true my dreams to be friend of bald homosexual Eltonjohn. If you are read this, Eltonjohn, you must call me for chitchat! My telephones number is Almaty 74. I would also like very much to have meet ladies man Frederick Mercury. It was shame he die in that car crash. Many peoples say I looks like him, infacts, last month I come 7th in Almaty's annual 'who look most like Freddy Mercury' competition. This out of over 843,000 entrant!"
Posted 10/26/2006 10:16 PM ET
Updated 10/27/2006 7:58 AM ET
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Author Note: Warning for violence and terrible things. I cried writing it…
Death and Sacrifice
Had it been two days or two months that Briar had been here?
Here in her prison, she could not tell day from night. She had not seen the sun since she had fallen to the ground at Persephone's feet, entangled in the magically growing rose bush. A magical rose bush with thorns that had scratched her skin. Scratches that now felt infected.
Hades said he would have her healed tomorrow but how could she tell when tomorrow was when she did not even know what today was and how long she had been here?
Briar had been brought to this tiny cave. She had thought she was to be prepared for Hades, assuming preparation meant bathing, oils, a pretty dress. Instead, she was dragged through mud and dirt and put in this cave. The cave was small; wide enough to lie down in one direction and only high enough to stand up in if you were the size of a child. The cave was sealed in stone, and if it was as if Briar was Jesus Christ himself because the door would roll aside whenever she had a visitor.
The room held only two things. Manacles attached to the back wall of the cave and a glowing orb on the roof. The soft glow was her only light as she sat there chained up and filthy.
Hades had not been what she expected. He had been strong and tall and handsome. Not at all the sickly ghost like figure usually used to depict the God of the Underworld. If this was actually Hades at all, and if this was, in fact, the Underworld they were in.
The jury was still out on both thoughts.
The first time Hades had come to her cave he had knelt in front of her while Persephone stood just outside the entrance. He inspected Briar much the same as one inspected a prize animal. He even checked her teeth. Briar had tried to bite him when he did and he had laughed.
He and Persephone had come to visit four other times, breaking the cruel monotony of the barely lit cell. On the fourth visit, Hades had addressed the infected wounds and Briar's fever. She would be healed tomorrow.
As far as captivity went, this wasn't so bad. Briar had endured worse. The last time she had been anyone's prisoner she had endured physical torture that would have broken most. This wasn't fun but it was far from terrible. More of an inconvenience.
The next time the door rolled open there was a man and a woman. And when Briar's manacles were unlocked, the woman was knocked unconscious and the man suffered a broken nose, fractured eye socket, a dislocated jaw, shoulder and elbow.
Another woman appeared, she waved her hand and Briar was out cold.
The next time the door opened there were two women and armed guards. Briar felt pretty smug. That didn't last…
After being escorted to another room, Briar was stripped, washed, dressed and presumably healed. The fever and pain vanished sometime during the bath. Her blonde hair was done into ringlets which fell from gathering on top of her head. Her makeup was applied and damn if she didn't look gorgeous.
Briar endured the whole affair without incident or complaint. As Daddy Dearest had taught, one always waited for the right opportunity to act.
Then, led by manacles, Briar was escorted through stone hallways and upstairs into another structure. It seemed normal but for the fact that there were no windows anywhere. She was pulled into a room which looked like a throne room of a European castle.
Seated on the two thrones were Persephone and Hades, dressed in ancient splendour.
"Kneel," one of the guards commanded Briar.
She snorted at him.
"Like hell," Briar replied. Her sweet smile was shark-like.
"You do not want to kneel?" Hades asked.
"What do you think, Hot Stuff?"
Persephone bristled visibly at Briar who smirked at her and her reaction.
"I think you will kneel."
"I think you will have to knock my knees out with a plank of wood if you want that to happen, and someone will be left with a broken wrist when they do."
Hades laughed at Briar, seemingly entertained by her sass. He clapped his hands and Briar's body seemed to take on a life of its own. She got down on her knees and lowered her body all the way to the floor.
"What the hell…" Briar saw red instantly. This was demeaning. Sure, knock her down, she could handle that. But this? This was so much worse. This was taking away her will, her power. Briar could only imagine the things she could be forced to do; body willing, spirit plotting murder.
If they dared, oh, she would have so much fun taking her revenge.
Hades clapped his hands again and gestured off to his left. Music began to play and Briar the puppet rose back to her feet. She began to dance like a clown at the hands of a puppet master.
Hades was laughing so hard that Briar hoped he choked on his mirth. When the music stopped, Briar had control of her body again.
"So this is your idea of breaking me? To embarrass me to death with silly dancing? Oh, King of the Underworld, I am so terrified." Briar rolled her eyes at Hades.
Hades remained smiling. "No, this simply amuses me. I will break you in other ways. Just think of what I can make you do."
"Let me guess," Briar started. She had a good idea what a man would want to do with a pretty girl in his grasp. She had precedent backing her assumptions. "Am I to be your little contortionist slut bunny? How original. Is Percy over here not putting out? Or can't she even suck a lollipop adequately?"
Briar hitched a thumb toward Persephone who let out an outraged shriek. She leapt out of her chair and Hades had to grab her and hold her back.
He looked over at Briar. "Perhaps it is my Queen I wish to see you pleasure."
"Again, not very original. And one has to ask if vomit bags and a full health check will be provided?" Briar cooed the words as sweetly as she could watching Persephone turn red. Briar figured that Persephone deserved any nastiness she got. She was, after all, the one who had brought Briar here in the first place. "Hmm, any chance she can wear a bag over her head? Or I can have a blindfold?"
Briar tried to hurl more insults at the supposed goddess but no matter how forcefully she spoke, not a sound came out. Well, that was rude.
Hades was less amused now. "And if it is your killing skills I desire?"
"I'm not sure you could afford the going rate," Briar replied, her voice suddenly back. "And that's before my expenses are included."
"And if I expect you to kill a family member?"
"Been there, done that."
"A child?"
"Say what now?"
"What if I desired you to kill a child."
"Well, I'd tell you that you were a sicker wacko than the myths gave you credit for. Or gave your namesake credit for."
"All you have seen and you still do not believe us to be the Gods we are?"
"Honey, I've seen more impressive parlour tricks. You could turn the sun dark and that wouldn't make you a god. Powerful, yes. God, no."
This finally seemed to have pushed Hades too far. Briar was quickly removed from his presence and returned to her cave. At least in the cave the company was more pleasant.
The next day, or what Briar assumed was the next day, Briar was once more forcefully cleaned to be made gorgeous. Briar was certain that being left in the cave in her own filth for hours at a time was meant to leave her humiliated. But she wasn't. It was all natural and it washed off, and she had no choice in the matter. The shame was not hers.
While she was washed Briar had been thinking and overthinking all the possible acts that Hades and Persephone could force her to do. There were millions of options that Briar would not want to do, but there were some possibilities that were more heinous than others.
Like Hades talk of forcing her to kill a child…
Briar had never followed the laws of the land or the moral codes of most normal individuals but she had a code and pretty near the top was never harm kids. Even the brats that needed a swift kick up the arse.
To be forced to inflict harm on a child, to hurt a child even worse than she had been hurt herself…and to be completely powerless herself while the harm was inflicted…
The thought was haunting.
Which meant that if Hades knew it, he'd pick that.
Briar needed to orchestrate an escape before it came to that.
Few people would expect much from a person who was naked. And it seemed after a calm cleaning session, no one expected a naked Briar to make a run for it. There were only two armed guards this time. As they were armed with melee weapons and not semi-automatics Briar decided to chance it once she was naked and slippery.
The two washerwomen were easily dispatched. Briar stood up and slammed their heads together and they crumpled.
The first guard was easy. His back was to Briar and he was completely relaxed. Briar grabbed for his sword as her foot connected with force against the back of his knee. It was ridiculous that they had swords but who needed guns when you were magical gods, right? Besides, rifles would ruin the crazy ancient Greek aesthetic these people insisted on.
Briar hesitated only a moment before thrusting the sword in and out of the guard's side. As he cried out she slashed downward across the back of his bare calf to slice through the tendon. His wounds shouldn't be life threatening but he was unlikely to follow her and if he did she could easily defeat him in that condition.
The second guard was not so easy, he attacked just as Briar turned around. His weapon was similar to a quarterstaff but with sharp metal spikes at each end. One spike sliced at her left upper arm but Briar was quick to react She leant back from the waist so the spike barely touched her. It was barely a scratch.
Her sword met his next attack. He was much bigger and stronger than Briar so she adjusted her style to try quick attacks. She jumped and ducked, jabbing with the sword until her muscles burned and her wrists weakened. Briar was disgusted in herself as she dropped the weapon but she was disadvantaging herself to keep using it.
Her strategy had to be to avoid his swings and get out of the room. There was only a door and no windows to escape by. She had watched as they came in and noted that no one locked the door. Bathing assistant number two, who was now lying against the bath with her head only an inch above the water, had opened and closed it this time, and Briar saw no key holes and no security keypads. Yet, when Briar got to the door and grabbed the handle it was locked. She jiggled the door letting out a shriek.
How could it be locked?
There was a loud cracking sound as the guard's staff connected with the back of Briar's head, and she collapsed into a heap in front of the door.
When Briar woke up she was dressed and on the floor of the throne room. Persephone smiled at her as their eyes met. There was a hate filled satisfaction in the eyes of the woman who claimed to be a goddess. Persephone knew something, and that thing filled her with satisfaction. Briar was certain the knowledge was not something that was going to end well for her.
"We were beginning to wonder if the guard hit you too hard and you were about to die," Persephone said, lounging back on her throne. "And with the games just beginning it would have been a shame."
"As rulers of the underworld, surely it makes no difference if I am alive or dead."
Something passed over Persephone's face for a moment. Her smile froze, her eyes darted left. She hesitated. And then the look was gone as Hades strode into the room.
Whatever he and Persephone were saying to each other as he approached was lost on Briar. Her attention was firmly fixed on the group that was being led in behind him. These people weren't dressed as Hades and the others, there was no ancient cosplay to be seen. Only normal modern clothes.
There was an older man. From the state of his clothes and his emaciated state, Briar guessed he was homeless.
Behind him were three children. Two girls and one boy. If she had to guess, Briar would have said the oldest girl was eleven, the youngest eight, and the boy four. They were clearly siblings, all clinging together and trying not to cry. All with scared eyes darting to the guards.
Behind them was a mother holding a newborn baby. She was cradling it close to her chest and trying to shield it as best as she could.
Last, there was another young woman, perhaps fifteen years old. She looked a lot like Briar had at that age. She was covered in bruises that looked like they were days old and she had a haunted look in her eyes that Briar knew all too well. Someone was hurting this girl and regularly.
Briar's breathing had become loud as she started to get angry. She had to take a slow and deep calming breath before she could look away from the group and back to their hosts. Persephone and Hades stood together by their thrones and they looked gleeful. It was their glee that scared Briar more than anything else.
But it wasn't fear for herself that she felt.
They could threaten horrific torture, they could hurt her, they could abuse and mutilate her body and Briar would not be scared for herself as she was for these defenceless people that had been herded into the room and now stood by the wall, each terrified.
Briar was not worried for herself, but she would be damned if she was going to let Hades and Persephone hurt these people.
Hades clapped his hands and two men appeared. One was clearly a warrior, no, not a warrior. A fighter. He was big and mean looking with the kinds of scars that came from a fair amount of hand to hand combat, like the type you found in the cage fights in the worst part of most cities.
The other man was definitely not a fighter. He seemed incidental but for the tray of knives he was carrying. Briar eyed them with unrestrained longing. Thoughts dancing through her head like sugar plums, only her sugar plums were murderous little fairies driving blades into Hades' throat.
"So, what tricks are we doing today?" Briar asked trying to pretend she was fearless. "You got a big spinning circus disc stage left and Muttley here is going to throw knives at me and test my resolve."
Hades laughed at her and shook his head. "No. Since you enjoy fighting my men so much, entertain us."
"You want me to kick this guy's ass?"
"Shall we see if you can? Fight!"
Briar doubted victory here was going to secure her freedom and Hades had made no such offer. Still, Briar wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. If Hades wanted to arm her and turn her loose on his men, so be it. And Briar would rather fight him than any of the innocents that had been paraded in to unsettle her.
For a moment Briar hoped that was the extent of it, psychological warfare. That Hades was trying to upset her and scare her with these people. But Briar did not believe in hope so the thought was short lived. She had to prepare herself for the worst of the possible scenarios. Well, as much as one could prepare for it.
Briar picked up the knives and twirled them around her hands as she evaluated this fighter.
Hades clapped his hands and the fight began.
"No. Please. I never beg. I don't beg, but can we hit fast forward?" Briar's eyes were pleading as she turned to Nathaniel. Her stomach had twisted into knots as the scenes played out towards the worst moments of her life.
"You wish to stop this now and wake from your journey?" Nathaniel asked in return.
For a moment, Briar nearly said yes. She did not wish to revisit the atrocities that had been committed. Her mouth opened, she paused and then shook her head. No, she had to face these things to find out the truths about herself and her life.
"We do not have to witness the whole thing," Nathaniel said gently.
"Can we skip the rest and go back to my next visit to the cave room?" Briar asked, already knowing what the answer would be.
Since she knew the answer to that Nathaniel did not reply, instead he wrapped an arm tightly around Briar and the scene shifted and began to play once more.
Briar stood with the old man lying at her feet. She was soaked in his blood, his throat slashed wide open by her blade. Beyond him, three children lay still. If not for the blood you might have thought they were simply sleeping.
They had cried. They had screamed. They had begged. Briar had been doing the same thing in her mind, the only part of her that remained in her control as Hades played with his Briar puppet.
Hades let go of his control and Briar's body became her own again. She stood for a moment before her legs gave out. She dropped to the ground, sitting in the puddle of blood.
"You are not a god. You are a monster," Briar murmured so quietly she could barely hear it. She looked around at the blood. Blood taken from innocent lives by her own hand. She could not move from where she sat. She just stayed there, the blood soaking her dress unable to move.
She had never felt more defeated and powerless since she was a teenager. Since her uncle and his best friend had taken everything from her. It had taken years for her to take it back for herself. Now, now Hades had made her powerless again.
God or not, he was all powerful in this place.
"We're not finished yet." Persephone's smile was cruel. She was enjoying this. And it was not just upsetting Briar that pleased her but the bloodshed and the murder too. It seemed like she was getting off on it all. Hades too. Briar had known some sickos in her time but these two were above and beyond.
"You've won. What more do you want?" Briar asked lifting her gaze from the blood to look at them. She did not like this feeling of defeat but she liked the feelings of guilt even less.
Briar knew she would never get the images of those children out of her head. The boy, that little boy and his deep brown eyes full of tears and fear.
At the thought of him, Briar's own eyes filled with tears and bile rose up through her chest to her throat and burned. He was a kid, a tiny little kid. Someone's little boy…
And his sisters…
His poor sisters watching, knowing what was about to happen. The eldest had tried to be brave, tried to protect her siblings. She had been so brave and she had died in unbearable agony.
Her screams would never stop haunting Briar.
"Oh, but we haven't really won. Not yet." Persephone was beside herself with happiness.
"Then what next?"
Hades moved to the remaining prisoners. At a nod of his head, the teenager was dragged before Briar. The girl should have been crying, any normal person would be. But this was a girl who had learned a long time ago that crying made things worse. A lesson Briar had learned by her age too.
Hades took the baby from the mother who started screaming and fighting to get her baby back. She was restrained by two guards.
"Now the game truly begins. Kill the girl and I will let the mother and this infant live. Kill the girl of your own free will and you save two lives."
"As if you would let them live after I do it. I'm not an idiot," Briar glared at Hades.
"You have no reason to trust me but the only chance this baby has to survive is you."
Hades squeezed the child and it started crying in pain.
Briar nearly threw up at the sound.
The mother went crazy. She was hysterically screaming for her baby while she tried to pull herself and her guards across the floor to it. A smack across the back of the head by one of the guards silenced her.
Hades laughed.
Briar shook her head, she felt sick to her stomach right now. She had always been so confident that no one would break her again. And here she was. "I won't do it. I won't kill her."
"Then all three will die and it will be all your fault. Wouldn't it be better to know that you saved lives?"
There was a sick logic in Hades' words. The Greater Good thinking. Two lives for one. One life could not be worth more lives, could it?
"So I take one life and you let the others go?" Briar asked.
"You swear?"
"I promise."
"No, don't promise. I told you to swear it. Swear it on your soul. On your life. On her life."
"Fine. Fine. I swear it."
Hades' reply seemed to anger Persephone but his look silenced any outcry she might have made.
Briar nodded, satisfied. "Give me the knife back and I will take one life. Then you will let the others go."
"Excellent." Hades looked so pleased as he waved a hand at one of the guards. The knife that had been taken from Briar was returned.
Persephone sat clapping her hands like an excited child.
Briar took the knife and held it tight in her grip. One life to save the others. She had killed before, she could kill again. Just one life and it was done.
Her hands shook as she stood up and took deep breath after deep breath.
"Oh, hurry up!" Persephone sounded so annoyed that Briar was taking her time.
Briar had no idea what that woman's damage was but it was severe. No amount of therapy could help her.
Briar exhaled and nodded. She lifted the knife. The poor girl began to scream.
Briar flicked the knife around in her hand and drove it down…
Into her own throat.
"No!" Hades and Persephone both cried out at the same time. Hands grabbed Briar and the knife was removed. The pain vanished and Briar thought she was free. That she had won. One life and the others were free…
Briar was nearly on the ground but Nathaniel kept her upright. His mouth was near her ear as he held her tight. "That is where you think this memory ends but there is more. Listen."
"She was meant to kill the girl. There should have been no way that happened. There is so much darkness in her. Hadrian said…"
"Hadrian is a fool like Alexander." Hades cut Persephone off. "We will do this all again tomorrow and she will break. She likes killing. She has revelled in it. It is all there in her memory. When the last part of her humanity breaks for her own sanity she will become one of us. And she will be a beauty to watch in action."
"You sound enamoured with the half-breed."
"Make no mistake, Hillet, I will have her by my side and in my bed. You've been amusing but you are nothing compared to her."
Hades' laughter was drowned out by screeching and the sounds of something shattering into pieces.
"You were nothing when I found you and you will be nothing again," Persephone yelled. Briar felt an impact in her chest. "And you will never have her. I'll see to that."
The voices faded away and soon things began to brighten and move again.
Persephone stood at the entrance to Briar's cave, a bloodied knife in her hand. She had been waiting for Briar to wake.
Briar woke up in agony. It felt like lines of fire crisscrossed her face and chest. From the bloodied knife in Persephone's hand, it was obvious what the source of the pain was. Persephone had slashed at Briar leaving deep scarring wounds.
Persephone laughed at Briar's pain-filled screams.
And then Persephone turned and the door closed leaving Briar in the darkness with her pain. The glowing orb was gone and there was no light at all to be had.
Briar had endured excruciating pain before but she had always been strong in herself at those times. No reason to give up, always a reason to fight and to win. Now she felt broken and helpless, and because of that, the physical pain was unbearable.
She could not even examine the wounds with her arms chained to the wall. Briar was not one for tears usually but sitting there in the darkness she cried. Each tear fell to her cheeks and burned like acid but she kept crying.
Briar had no idea how long she stayed there in the darkness but it felt like days had passed since her tears had dried up. She was broken and she knew the ordeal was not over. She could only imagine what other games her two godly captors would want to play with her next.
And when her despair and pain had overwhelmed her there was a blinding white light and a face within that light that she knew. A face she had not seen since she was nineteen years old. A face she had not seen since she had left him sleeping in their bed. A face she had not seen since she had fled to leave him to have a good and happy life. The life he deserved.
"Let's get you out of here, shall we?"
"Alistair?" Briar was confused, it looked like Alistair but it did not seem like Alistair.
It was a trick. Another game.
Briar shrunk back away from the face, pressing herself against the wall.
"No. No, I won't play this new game."
The man with Alistair's face looked so sad. "I thought you would prefer a face you love. A face you trust. I am here to take you home."
The man with Alistair's face reached up and brushed Briar's cheeks as if he brushed tears from them. Briar tensed for the pain to worsen at his touch but as his hands gently touched her cheeks all the pain vanished.
Briar relaxed. She could not help it. She was so tired and it was such a relief to be free of the pain.
The man with Alistair's face unshackled Briar and pulled her close to him. He snapped his fingers and a dummy with a blonde wig appeared in the chains.
"Why the dummy or why am I helping you?"
Briar was too tired to answer, she just looked up at him.
"Let's just say that I live to destroy the plans of those two. Just call me Hermes the trickster. Bane of Hades."
There were too many Gods in this place, Briar thought as she cuddled close to Hermes.
"Sleep now, child and I will take you to safety."
The scene stopped and Briar turned to Nathaniel. "You're not Hermes either."
"No, though I have met him. Quite an amazing chap, and not really much of a trickster. More, thrice great."
Briar had no idea what to make of that comment, so she ignored it. "And those two, Hades and Persephone, they were not gods either?"
"No. Not gods. Though I am sure ancient mortals might have thought they were. But no, not gods, and not Hades or Persephone. They are demons, like Lorelei. Purebloods. And they wanted you for their plans."
"What plans? And why me? I don't actually have any powers."
"But you might, is that not why you are on this journey?" Nathaniel asked.
"Well. Yes. Part of it," Briar admitted. It was not the main reason but it was one of the reasons she was doing this. "They thought I had powers? Or I could get them?"
"Yes. And they were using old tricks to try and wake them and taint your soul further in the process."
"If I had killed the girl?"
"They would have then convinced you to kill the other two hoping that you would slowly descend into your demon heritage."
"Pretty good assumption. I'm not exactly a holy pure soul."
"But you are as much angel as you are a demon. Your soul was not so easily turned."
"Would I have gotten powers if I'd killed them all?" Briar asked. She found it hard to believe that she was in any way angelic. Though, she had heard about angels being about protection and vengeance. Maybe she was descended from that kind of angel. Lorelei never really talked about him.
"Nothing is certain, but they hoped it would be like the old magic."
"So, is this why you had me return to this memory? To remember that conversation and realise they weren't gods?"
"That and two other reasons. One, a warning that these forces are not likely to give up on something they want." Nathaniel took note of Briar's frown. "What are you thinking?"
"Just that I bring danger to my family."
"And do you not think you bring them protection too? With them or not, they will always be your family."
"No one has ever phrased it like that." Briar knew that it was true, though. She would always love those people that had become her new family, and so, they were in danger regardless. "And the other reason I had to visit this fresh hell again?"
"You see yourself as a tainted soul, a bad egg who has some good people around her but isn't one of them. You don't see yourself as anything good."
"With good reason." Briar shrugged.
"Yet, you took your own life to keep others safe."
"Or I took a coward's way out."
"Did you?"
Briar thought about it for a moment. "In most ways. I couldn't kill again. And I assumed they'd let the others go. They didn't seem interested in getting their own hands dirty. Just in screwing with me. So, why keep the prisoners."
Was it more than cowardice and defeat that had led her to try and kill herself? She had never looked at it in any way but that. She couldn't kill again. Those children. That old man…
It was easier to be gone.
But she had known. She had made Hades, whoever he was, swear that a death, her death, would buy the freedom of the others. It had been a sacrifice she had been willing to make.
What else was she going to discover about herself on this journey? For every good discovery would there be a bad?
A thought came to her and she turned to Nathaniel.
"Will you be going now that your part of the story is done?"
"No. I shall remain as your guide. I was asked to, but I wish to be here too."
"Who asked you?"
"That will come. Now, if you are ready, it is time to continue. Even if you are not ready, we will move on."
Nathaniel took Briar's hand again and the scene began to change.
Catch up on the story:

subset: commoncrawl


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Annie Baker
Annie Baker's plays include The Antipodes (Signature Theatre, 2017) John (Signature Theatre, Obie Award for Collaboration, Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations for Best Play, 2015), The Flick (Playwrights Horizons/Barrow Street Theatre/National Theatre, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Hull-Warriner Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Award, Obie Award for Playwriting, UK Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, 2013), Circle Mirror Transformation (Playwrights Horizons, Obie Award for Best New American Play, Drama Desk nomination for Best Play, 2009), The Aliens (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Obie Award for Best New American Play, 2010), Body Awareness (Atlantic Theater Company, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play/Emerging Playwright, 2008), and an adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya (Soho Rep, Drama Desk nomination for Best Revival, 2012), for which she also designed the costumes. Her plays have been produced at over 200 theaters throughout the U.S. and in over a dozen countries. She teaches in the Playwriting MFA Program at Hunter College.


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NOHO Stages
4934 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601 (323) 839-0023 View on Google Maps
Catsby at NoHo stages from 8pm to 11pm. The show will continue to show case some of the best improv talent in LA. Also, for those that have caught the bug we will be following the 10pm show with The Jam. Giving everyone who wants to, the chance to spread their improv wings.
Recent shows:
Sun Jun 17 2012 at 10:00pm @ NOHO Stages. Featuring CAT BATH!
Sun Jun 17 2012 at 8:00pm @ NOHO Stages. Featuring L'Ocean
Sun Jun 3 2012 at 10:00pm @ NOHO Stages. Featuring CAT BATH!, The Younger Statesmen
Sun Jun 3 2012 at 9:00pm @ NOHO Stages. Featuring CAT BATH!, It Girl
It Girl - Channing Sargent, David Kantrowitz, Nathan Cramton, Tim Stafford, Harlan Endelman, Travis Hammer, Genevieve Farrell and Carolyn Siegel Cakewalk - Matt Mazany, Jesse Klein, Ben Parks and Kevin Hoffman The house team CAT BATH! ...


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In case you missed it, here is the Podcast from our December 8, 2014 show.
Hosts were Rob Vescio and Nello Giorgetti from C&G and the guests were Michelle Figlar, Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children ("PAEYC") and Vince Gastgeb, Assistant Vice President Corporate & Government Affairs for the Allegheny County Airport Authority.
Our next show will air on Monday, January 19, 2015 at 7:30 PM. The guest will be Rich Fitzgerald, Allegheny County Executive.
Hope you will join us!
* * * * *
If you have questions please contact Michelle Vezzani at firstname.lastname@example.com or the public affairs professional with whom you work.


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Vladimir Korotkevich
The Native of Orsha, Vladimir Korotkevich finished the Kiev University. On certificate of the professor Adam Malidis, exactly at that time future Belarusian Senkevich understood, what was a Native land. Korotkevich spoke:
"If it from me depends, each schoolboy, somewhere in a class ninth, would be sent on some time in some other republic. There he would feel homesickness and grow into a patriot".
The first serious publication of Korotkevich was in a magazine "Plamya". Here the novel "It's impossible to forget" (the author's title "Leonids won't return up to the earth") was published. Then in the newspaper "Sovietskaya Belarussia" the article of Yakov Gercovich appeared. The "official" critic reproached Korotkevich that the main character and his comrades were formalists, torn away from life, who were interested in the contest of our art and its ideological orientation not enough. The Moscow reviewer Chalmaev was completely agreed with Gercovich. Adam Malidis recalled in his book "Life and rise of Vladimir Korotkevich". Articles by YA. GERCOVICH and V. CHALMAEV were perceived not as expression of personal opinions of their authors, but as someones instruction. In that time, at the end of 1962, the wave of struggle with "formalism" rose. All began then N.S. HRUSCHEV visited Moscow artists and sharply criticized them end ended then "witches" were searched in all creative groups, including the Union of the writers of BSSR and the Institute of literature Academy of Sciences of BSSR (abbreviator of Belarus in Soviet times). Korotkevich was in the know of all evident and backstage events. Having returned from Moscow, he in detail described all events.
"Volodia, you are sad today, aren't you?" - Bril tried to clear the air. "Don't pay attention on everybody and write your novels, for example about Bogushevich and his surroundings." - "I am afraid, my friend, that is the beginning of the end. We come back to the past again".
Korotkevich was absolutely right; he became one of the first victims of "disgrace". His novel "Leonids..." weren't published. Vasili Syomuha was the editor of not published book. Today he recalls:
"The book wasn't printed because of a purely soviet idiocy - because of its title. Not by chance, the novel was renamed into "It's impossible to forget", even without for asking any permission. The story in the novel goes about a meteoric flow"
Leonids, which passes near the Earth every 65 years. It was categorically required to change the name. Then in the USSR "shone" Leonid Brezhnev( here: play upon words. Leonid - a name, Leonids - a meteoric flow). It was sedition...
At the first half of 60th the novel "A wild hunt of the King Stah" was published. The success of the novel inspired Korotkevich and he began to prepare his new novel "Ears under your sickle". He brought it to the editorial office of "Plamya" and read its fragments to his friends. The book was a success, and someone offered to make copies and to let them on hands. Korotkevich was against illegal activities, he spoke: "It is necessary to do the large and sacred thing with openly". After all in 1965 years have been printed - in "Plamya" magazine. Later there was a question on the book edition. But in the publishing house on the manuscript it has been put so much interrogative and exclamation marks, that Korotkevich was shocked: "The devil take it! I shall not correct words! I don't want to deal with them!"
Under the insistence of one of Korotkevich closest friends - the poet Rygor Borodulin, Adam Maldis took part in manuscripts correcting. "That we then have suggested Volodia, - Borodulin speaks today, - was a theatrical offer, so to say, as a blind". As a result, the minor phrases have been reduced, the words, underlined by the editor, and replaced with another. Due to such shifts the novel has been issued, and Korotkevich has plunged into cinema. Films "Memory", "Be happy, river", "Witnesses of eternity", shot by his scripts, and was brought out. But his film "Christ has landed in Garodnya" was godlessly edited and, lately, was shelved. One more film – "Stories from a jail" - was not shot basically, as the idea of it wasn't supported in Minsk and in Moscow. Friends spoke to Korotkevich: "What for all these scandalous situations, sacrifices for the sake of an episode! Write first of all on a historical theme". He was angry with them: "It is a great force! In Belarus novel will be read by ten, well, twenty thousand people. And a good film will be watched by millions. It is a great opportunity to influence, to wake peoples dignity and memory".
Korotkevich died on July, 25, 1984. Vasil Bykov told on funeral of the friend:
"We stand with you in front of one more stone on a hard way of our culture, in front of one more symbol which embodies not only our pain, our grief, but also our pride. So it is already clear and, undoubtedly, we can tell, that the great person of Belarus, the apostle of our spirituality, the incomparable artist of XX century Vladimir Korotkevich lies here! Can many of us tell, that behave the same way as he - in grief, in temptations, as well in happiness, which occasionally happened in his life. He was a unique person - to reproach, but an example for us."
Korotkevich once said: "If the God wants to punish a country, he gives ten wonderful poets, and then takes them away". And though he spoke so about the Spanish poets Lorca and Machado-i-Ruis, but the opinion correlates both with Belarus, and with Korotkevich.
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Medha begins Satyagraha on the highway to Nandigram
NANDIGRAM: Medha Patkar, D Sarkar, Sunanda Sanyal, Tarun Sarkar and others were attacked by CPM cadres and have sustained injuries in West Bengal.
All this was done only to stop Medha Patkar and other activists from entering Nandigram. Medha Patkar was invited by the people of Nandigram after a spate of violence and killing in the area. She has been visiting Nandigram ever since the struggle has started.
We condemn the attitude of the Police who behaved as onlookers and were totally indifferent towards such violent acts by the CPM cadre who were shouting slogans and carrying red flags while breaking cars and beating people.
We the representatives of people's movements, strongly condemn the violent attack on non-violent activists heading towards Nandigram.
At present she along with many activists including Anuradha Talwar of NTUI are sitting on satayagraha on the highway towards Nandigram.
We have always been working together with CPM in other states on various issues, what is it in Nandigram that the Government is so desperate not to allow us to enter Nandigram, and to behave violently with the peaceful activists?
It is ironical that in the state where CPM is ruling, on the one hand there is an attack by its cadre and goons and on the other the police who are supposed to protect the people, are acting indifferent. Is the government hand and glove with the goons?
On one hand, CPM talks about farmers' and marginalized people's rights, but on the other, it hinders the process of struggle through severe state repression. The democratic spaces in West Bengal have almost disappeared.
Action Alert
Prime Minster's fax Number- 0 11-23019545 / 011-23016857
CM West Bengal – Fax Number- 033-22145480/ 22141341
E-mail- email@example.com
Minster of Home Affairs for State Fax Number - 033- 22144052


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How do you decide how your characters should look?
That's the question we pondered this week in our guest blog post over at Working Writers and Bloggers. Take a look at the answer we came up with (here's the link) and then hop on down to the comments and let us know what your process is.


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Phillies minor league manager Ryne Sandberg could once again be headed for bigger and better things with another organization.
The Baseball Hall of Famer was given the OK to talk to the World Champion Cardinals about their vacant managerial position, sources told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
Sandberg is seen by some (this blogger included) as the heir apparent to Phillies manager Charlie Manuel once the 67-year-old skipper steps away from the Phils. But Sandberg, who managed Triple-A Lehigh Valley to a wild card berth last season (the team's first ever playoff appearance), is likely no longer willing to wait for his shot at managing in the majors.
After firing Mike Quade last week, the Cubs seemed like a likely suitor for Sandberg, but Ryno said he was told he wouldn't be considered for the gig this time around, according to the Daily Herald.
Sandberg, 52, instead is being considered to replace Tony La Russa who retired Monday after leading the Cardinals to a World Series win -- his third as a manager.
If Sandberg gets the gig this would mark the second time he was pried away from the Phillies organization. Ryno played 13 games with the Phillies before being traded to the Cubs in 1982. In Chicago he was a 10-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glover and won an MVP award.


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More and more people worldwide are trying their hands at internet marketing to improve their lifestyle and become dept free. However, a lot of them are failing before they even pass the first rung, because they fail to develop a strategy and learn the secret of internet marketing from those who knows.
Although many fail at internet marketing, many also found the secrets of internet marketing, and become very successful in their various niches. Many of these same successful marketers become richer by selling their own internet marketing secrets to people around the world. The question is! Will it work for everyone? Not necessary. There's no guarantee that the same secret that works for one will work for the other, even if the marketers who are selling them claimed them to be. There are many variables that go into how successful you will be in your internet marketing world.
First of all, you will have to have the drive and belief in yourself to become successful online. You must also have the will never to give up the first time you face a difficult hurdle. Those that becomes successful will tell you, they got there because they never gave up, no matter what.
Many successful internet marketers will tell you that all it takes be successful in internet marketing is, Tenacity, dedication, and belief in yourself. When you think about it, they could be right. If this person is making millions of dollars from their internet marketing business, then why shouldn't you be able to achieve the same success? It's very likely that the only thing that got them to that point, was belief in their ability to succeed and to never give up.
With saying that, some people will object to this and say that those successful internet marketers probably had more money to invest in the first place. But this has been proven over and over again not to be the case. Often people get heavily into debt before they start making their first real progress! Or they start small with free methods and very gradually and slowly work their way into becoming more and more profitable. While using free methods can take longer, it does often times work. You just have to give it more time to start kicking in. If you're consistent and persistent enough, you will benefit even from these free methods of online marketing.
Another "secret" is being able to leverage off of the experience and knowledge of those who are successful. What better way to break into internet marketing than to be under the tutelage of someone who is a proven success? There are several ways you can do this. You can sign up for some of the free material that they offer, such as videos, e-books, webinars, courses, etc. You can pay a little more for some of their "un-personalized" methods. Or you can get one-on-one or close to it from these people themselves. This is a great way to see what is really working in today's internet marketing world. It changes so quickly that if you are new, you could be doing things that worked years ago, but are now outdated.
Finally, do your best to avoid overwhelm. Any internet marketing secret will work for you if you stick with it long enough. Jumping around from one course, e-book, or program to the next will just leave you spinning your wheels in confusion.
Remember also; to be a successful internet marketer takes time and patience. It will not happen overnight, but if you work hard at it, and never give up, the more likely, you will succeed.
Click the Google Translator above right to translate from UK or USA English to your own Language.


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Since it's been such a nice Sunday here in NJ, I decided to make a light and breezy post today.
Sometimes, simple changes or simply moving items from here to there, can give a room or space a new feel.
I purchased this Orchestra ticket picture on canvas a long time ago from Ballard. It has been in so many places in my home I can't remember where it started. I like to hang pictures from wreath hangers, instead of wreathes; I hang them for the holidays.
Recently, I decided it was time to go on my office door.


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List of places to visit in Paris , 7th district.
Museum in Paris 7th district
Museum in Paris 7th district
Rodin Museum
79 Rue de Varenne, 75007 Paris. (Eiffel Tower / Invalides / Palais-Bourbon)
The Rodin Museum has been a museum since 1919 to ensure the preservation and dissemination of the work of Auguste Rodin ( 1840-1917 ) . Through its two sites , the Hotel Biron in the Rue de Varenne in the 7th district of Paris and the Gloss Meudon Villa (Hauts -de- Seine ), the establishment maintains a collection consisting of 6,600 sculptures, 8,000 drawings, 8,000 prints and 7,000 photographs of art. With 700,000 visitors annually , the Rodin Museum is one of the most important French museums.
Quai Branly Museum
37 Quai Branly, 75007 Paris. (Eiffel Tower / Invalides / Palais-Bourbon)
The Quai Branly museum of arts and civilizations of Africa , Asia, Oceania and the Americas ( non-Western civilizations ) is located in quai Branly in the seventh district of Paris , at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. This ambitious project led by Jacques Chirac and directed by Jean Nouvel, was inaugurated on 20 June 2006. The average attendance is around 125,000 visitors per month.
Hotels in Paris 7th district
Hotels in Paris 7th district
Hotel 7 Eiffel Paris
17 bis, rue Amélie, 75007 Paris. (Eiffel Tower / Invalides / Palais-Bourbon)
Elegant hotel on the left bank of Paris, the hotel 7 EIFFEL welcomes its guests in a contemporary luxury. Particular care for every detail for a hotel with a resolutely warm style . Selective decoration and attentive service are gathered here under the label of high expectations.
Hotel Relais Bosquet
19, rue du Champ de Mars 75007 Paris. (Eiffel Tower / Invalides / Palais-Bourbon)
Located in one of the most beautiful areas of ??Paris , the Eiffel Tower, Invalides and Rue Cler ( famous for its abundance of shops) , close to everything and quiet at the same time , Hotel Relais Bosquet awaits your arrival !
Hotel de l'Empereur
02 rue Chevert 75007 Paris, France (Eiffel Tower / Invalides / Palais-Bourbon)
The area around Rue Cler is home to many cafes, pastry shops , grocery stores , restaurants and a daily market , and just two minutes from the hotel. The hotel offers an elegant setting enhanced by the presence of the majestic dome of the Invalides and the Eiffel Tower.
Hotel de Londres Eiffel
1 Rue Augereau, 75007 Paris, France
Preserve the soul of the house like a jewel . Float in the air the scent of my well being loyal team knows so well maintained.
Hotel La Bourdonnais
111, avenue de la Bourdonnais, 75007 Paris (Eiffel Tower / Invalides / Palais-Bourbon)
Exquisite pleasures of a charming luxury hotel, easy walking distance from the Eiffel Tower … An eminently courteous and warm welcome, a courtyard garden for breakfast under the sky of Paris , rooms and luxury suites . At the bend of the Seine between the Pont de l' Alma and Iena bridge, on a broad avenue along the Champ de Mars, Hotel La Bourdonnais offers the calm and charm of an elegant residential area.
Restaurants à Paris 7eme arrondissement
Restaurants à Paris 7eme arrondissement
Restaurant Philippe Excoffier
18, rue de L'Exposition, 75007 Paris
In the heart of the 7th district of Paris , near the Eiffel Tower and close to the Champ de Mars , Philippe Excoffier , former head of the Residence of the Ambassador of the United States welcomes you with his wife Michele, Monday to Friday and Saturday night.
After a career with the greatest chefs in France such as Philippe Millon , Jacques Pic, Guy Martin, and Alain Senderens, it is in an atmosphere of " chic bistro " in a friendly and stylish decor that you find traditional French and creative gourmet cuisine.
La Fontaine de Mars
129, rue Saint Dominique, 75007 Paris. 1 Rue de L'Exposition. 75007 Paris
A poetic name for an address among some of the oldest in Paris. This bistro, created in 1908, offers a typical setting but has been renovated , is clean, bright and very refined in detail. This chic atmosphere is ideal for enjoying the serenity Southwest cuisine the deserves all your attention.
84, rue de Varenne – Paris 7ème
L'Arpege is near the Invalides and the Rodin Museum , in the 7th district . Alain Passard , the chef , has invented a vegetarian cuisine,giving us a range of perfumes without renewed with the seasons ends. L' Arpege Menu that is dedicated to weddings offers the most unexpected flavors. The world rushes to this restaurant with a bright and modern simplicity , pearwood walls and Lalique crystal , to enjoy the stunning quality of the French Haute Cuisine.
L'atelier de Joël Robuchon – FRENCH GOURMET CUISINE
5, rue Montalembert – Paris 7ème
At Joel Robuchon's Workshop in the 7th district, Joël Robuchon invites you to sample the best gourmet French cuisine and the world on a bar, with ease, sitting on a comfortable stool.
Le Jules Verne
6, avenue Gustave-Eiffel, 75007 Paris
When Alain Ducasse gets involved … The restaurant of the Eiffel Tower new formula offers, besides the view , a well prepared and sophisticated menu. It serves blue lobster , sea bream, turbot , vol -au-vent , but also veal and lamb .
Café de l'Alma
5, avenue Rapp, 75007 Paris
The big names of French Broadcasting (ORTF) were used to going to the Café de l' Alma . Admittedly, it is close to the Cognac- Jay street … But it's mostly because the family knows that Boudon enjoyed their little world favorite flavors : Provencal tapenade , poule au pot , puff pastry pie with zucchini , Southern
tomato confit and anchovies .
La Table d'Aki
49, rue Vaneau, 75007 Paris.
Akihiro Horikoshi invented gourmet ground floor ! A small thirty square metre studio, with an open kitchen and for about twenty diners. This small room is decorated in a minimalist style and is luxuriously quiet. The guests sit quietly in front of the stove. The owner worked for many years at the Ambroisie.
9 r. St-Dominique, 75007 Paris 07
Restaurant Jean- François PIEGE, the Chef invites the product to the center of his creation and showcases his desires of the moment : : blue lobster, turbot from Britany, chicken of the Court of Artemisia , sweetbreads , beef and by Moreover, live lobsters , green asparagus from Provence .


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"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society…"
E.B. Tylor, 1974
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Drafting & Implemeting a Compliant Safety Manual
A Safety Manual explicitly describes how your company is going to protect your workers from harm and in turn, provide a safe work environment. Culture concepts can help by drafting a compliant Safety & Health Manual specific to the hazards your workers are presented with while performing their designated roles & responsibilities. We can also assess your current Safety Manual for gaps and provide solutions to help close those gaps in a timely manner.
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Looking to refine your Company's Medical Emergency Response capabilities? Medic First-Aid, CPR, AED can be taught at your facility allowing your workers to be prepared to respond should a medical emergency occur. This training is also a skill that your workers can take home to be included as part of their family's Emergency Response Plan.
What is Culture Concepts?Culture Concepts is a Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) Consulting Company that offers customized solutions to companies of all genres, helping said company reach the HSE Goals of their business. Through a systematic approach, Culture Concepts is able to help pinpoint problem areas in our client company's current workplace Safety Program and assist our clients in developing targeted solutions to any identified challenges.
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> Group Health & Income Protection
Group Health & Income Protection
Key Person Protection
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Group Health & Income Protection
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Why invest in your key people with a Group Lifestyle protection plan?
A healthy and productive workforce may be a business owner's most important asset!
As a responsible employer, you know how important it is to keep your employees motivated, healthy and happy. Their financial well-being plays a key role in their overall wellness. And, as their employer, you have the opportunity to help them in the event they suffer unexpected health crisis.
In a competitive job market, employers who demonstrate their commitment and generosity toward the well-being of their key people may be the deciding factor in their ongoing recruitment success.
Group benefits for employers:
Investment in your key people enhances the reputation of your business as a responsible and generous employer.
Group lifestyle protection benefits are a key factor in boosting staff retention and loyalty.
Competitive employee benefit packages increase the ability of your business to attract and retain key people.
Group lifestyle protection benefits provide valuable protection for your key people and their families when they need it most.
A group lifestyle protection plan satisfies your moral responsibilities as an employer of excellence and compassion, should a staff member suffer a major illness, such as cancer, stroke or heart attack, and become disabled.
A group lifestyle protection plan will give your key people a sense of confidence in you and your commitment to their well being.
Group plan benefits can help mitigate demands for large salary increases or bonus payments.
Group Lifestyle protection benefits for employees:
Lifestyle protection options are invaluable for key people with young families, who may not otherwise be able to afford comprehensive packages.
In most cases, the medical requirements for a group plan are very basic.
The Application process for a group plan is very simple & non-intrusive.
The rates for a group lifestyle protection plan are bulk-discounted
Your key people can continue their plans, without providing any additional medical information, should they leave their employer.
The cost of the group lifestyle protection plan can be subsidised by the employer.
Where premiums are not totally subsidised by the employer, premiums are deducted directly from the employees salary.
Group lifestyle protection plans can take the worry out key people having to plan for their family's future should they suffer a major illness or become disabled.
Lifestyle protection benefits:
Lifestyle protection benefits that can be used in various combinations for your group plan.
Life cover
- basic to the plan, providing a lump sum in the event of an untimely death.
Complete Disablement
cover (TPD)
- a lump sum payment in the event of a key person becoming
totally & permanently disabled
Trauma cover
- a lump sum payment in the event of a key person suffering a Major illness, such as cancer, stroke, heart attack etc.
Income Protection
- providing cash flow of up to 75% of a key person's gross salary in the event of them becoming disabled.
For a FREE, no-obligation, personal and confidential review, and quotes on
group lifestyle protection plan for your key people
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Futureproof Life is a family owned business specialising in risk management & lifestyle protection solutions for businesses & families.
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There's been a lot of anger expressed regarding Janet Nápoles, her daughter Jeane, their lavish lifestyles, and the Pork Barrel scam that funded it all. Everyone seems to be screaming about the need to abolish the Pork Barrel, which today bears the official name "Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).
But before jumping into the "abolish the Pork Barrel" bandwagon, it is necessary for Filipinos to first understand why the Pork Barrel system exists, and why it was institutionalized the way it has been in the Philippines. Understanding this will allow us to see if merely abolishing the Pork Barrel fund will actually work, or whether it is actually part of a wider set of systemic problems that stem from a common set of root causes.


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Club Chat
A Message from our President!
The 2015/2016 soccer season is coming to a close with only a few more weeks of play remaining for many of our teams. There are still teams involved in
cup play with hopes to extend there season well into the spring, and the entire Port Moody Soccer Club family wants to wish those teams good luck as
they progress further in each round. Go Port Moody Go!
The Port Moody Soccer Club will once again be running our Port Moody Spring League. The league has been a success over the past 6 years and continues to
provide a further opportunity for not only our own Port Moody teams, but also for many clubs around the lower mainland. We look forward to carrying
on the success and another opportunity for our players to continue playing this beautiful game. If you have any questions regarding the spring league,
please visit our Spring League info page on our website for further information or to register your team.
A reminder to all coaches and parents wishing to join our club and help coach a competitive team next season should have already submitted their coaching
application form. Those coaches/parents wishing to coach a non-competitive team (U5 to U10), we ask that you submit a coaching application form before Feb. 15, 2016. The form can be found on our website and can be completed and e-mailed directly from there.
As you can appreciate the amount of time/effort it takes our directors and coordinators to plan and assign players to teams, it is an even bigger challenge
when we do not have enough coaches in place before the season starts. Please e-mail your application in as soon as possible or contact your coordinator
for any questions or comments about coaching next season.
Important events to mark on your calendar for the end of this season:
Inlet Park Redevelopment Info Mtg. – Monday Feb. 15 – 7:00pm @ Inlet Park Clubhouse
We have received some good news from Port Moody Council with respect to the redevelopment of Inlet Park. The Port Moody Soccer Club executive encourages
all members of our club to attend an information meeting regarding the latest updates and for future plans moving forward. This is exciting news and
we are hoping to have strong support from every member of our club.
PMSC Club AGM– Tuesday March 8 – 7:30pm @ Inlet Park Clubhouse
This is our annual general meeting to present our year in review and the direction for our club for next season. Please plan to attend this meeting which
is open to all our members. As a volunteer based club, the day to day operations can be overbearing for many of our executive and we can always use
more help to ensure our club is running as smoothly as possible. If you have any ideas or want to help make this club better, we urge you to attend
and help to continue making this club the best little club in the lower mainland.
PMSC Awards Night – Date TBC @ Inlet Theatre (City Hall)
Our annual awards night to recognize our players, coaches, teams, parents & volunteers. Nominations are now being accepted for all of the various awards.
Please visit our website to submit your nominations,
which will be accepted until March 1.
As we wind down our season I want to extend a big "Thank You" to all of our coaches, players and parents for another season of soccer and we look forward
to seeing all of you back again next year.
Have fun and good soccer!
Ralph Luongo - President
Port Moody Soccer Club


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/wp-content/uploads/logo-new4.png 0 0 Jeff /wp-content/uploads/logo-new4.png Jeff2014-12-17 17:08:032019-02-27 13:45:17Gun and Blade Show - December 19-20
Need to get a last minute item for the hunter in your life? The annual Gun and Blade show at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds this weekend may just fit the bill. A collection of guns, knives, ammo, jewelry, fishing, coins, gifts and collectibles. Buy, sell, trade or just browse. Admission is $5 for adults and 12 and under free. Hours are Saturday 9:00am – 5:00pm and Sunday 10:00am – 4:00pm.


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Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Hyderabad has issued recruitment notification for the posts of Medical Officers and Field Investigators. The vacancies will be filled on contract basis with fixed remuneration. Details are given below:
Medical Officers: 1 post. Tenure of the post is 2 years. Candidates should have passed in MBBS. Salary per month is Rs. 24000.
Field Investigators: 1 post. Candidates need MLT qualification. Tenure of the post is two years. Salary per month is Rs. 7400.
The applications should be submitted in the format given on the website and must be accompanied by attested copies of relevant certificates. Last date for the submission of filled in applications is 29th September 2016.


text: Your locally owned and operated auto glass replacement and tinting specialists. Flynn Auto Glass & Tinting is one of Kingston's leading auto glass replacement retailers. Our tinting division continues to improve the lifestyle and comfort of many homes & businesses in the Kingston Area. Our loyal customers keep coming back. Come by Flynn Auto Glass today - we look forward to serving you! more... See more text


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Improving a Company's Professional Website and Presence on Facebook
This content was COPIED from BrainMass.com - View the original, and get the already-completed solution here!
In this LearnScape, you will meet with the CEO of Bright Road to discuss her concerns about the relevancy of their online resources. You will work with the marketing director of Bright Road to learn about their current online resources and utilization information. Then, you will review Bright Road Health Care System's website and Facebook page. Website evaluation elements include appearance, content, usability, functionality, and search engine optimization. Facebook evaluation elements include cover photo, profile picture, page title, likes, people talking about this, about and engagement. Using this information, you will then make recommendations to the CEO about how to improve online presence.
You are to e-mail Amit with suggestions for improvements to Bright Road's Facebook page and website.
Now that you have reviewed Bright Road's Facebook page and website, e-mail a short proposal to Amit Patel (350-500 words). Your proposal should include the objectives for this project and the target audience, including:
•A thorough review of the website and Facebook page.
•Specific details on how the website and Facebook page could be improved.
•New ideas and how they could be implemented for Bright Road.
Note: An e-mail window appears with Amit Patel in the TO: field. The subject is: Suggestions for Facebook and Website Improvements.
Solution Preview
•A thorough review of the website and Facebook page.
(You must review the website and Facebook page provided by (your) instructor.
•Specific details on how the website and Facebook page could be improved.
To improve the exposure of the company, the company should take full advantage of Facebook's paid advertising for your professional profile. The objective of using this service provided by Facebook is that it will allow more people to be exposed to your profile because the ads will be placed around (your) Facebook page to enable the company to gain more views. In ...
Solution Summary
This response focuses upon improving a healthcare company's professional profile on Facebook by utilizing tools to assist in increasing its exposure.


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Web based Bus tickets management software
Web based Bus tickets management software. Bus Tickets Management Software System is developed to automate the online ticket purchasing through an easy-to-use online bus booking system. Embed our online bus ticketing system into your website and enable your customers to book tickets for various routes and destinations. With the bus ticket reservation system, you can manage reservations, client data, and passenger lists.
You can also schedule routes, set seat availability, upload an interactive seat map and let customers select their seats


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Product: IP65 Waterproof LED Panel Light
Location: UK
Application Environment: Restaurant Lighting, Kitchen Lighting
Project Details: In order to easy to clean the kitchen, the client want to upgrade their kitchen lighting. The IP65 led panel light were chosen to be installed in the kitchen. Our ip65 led panel light is designed for applications in dusty or wet environments where before this was just not possible with normal led panels.
For installation way, we have recessed installation, surface mounted installation and suspended installation for options. So the client finally decided to use our ip65surface mounted led flat panel light for his kitchen lighting. The client proudly said to us. "Your panel lights are excellent."


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Difference between Car Owner's Manual and Car Repair Manual
Each brand new vehicle always comes with a manual which provides explanations on how to use the cars different components and features such as the wipers, signal lights and defroster. Some auto manufacturers would also include some convenient hints and reminders on basic car maintenance, defensive driving and responsible ownership.
However, a car owner's manual is different with a car repair guide. The first basically deals with the steps to appropriately operate the car's several systems while the car repair manual deals with the auto repair. A repair manual is still a manual that contains illustrations and details to maintain the car but it is more aimed at assisting the owner by providing comprehensive instructions in system repairs and auto parts replacement. Car repair has a very wide scope and it is obviously difficult to place them all in a single manual.
That is why auto repair manuals are produced featuring separate auto parts containing comprehensive details which comes in printed form or an online copy. There are also plenty of universal car repair guide that cover fundamental troubleshooting, maintenance, and repair of the most typically replaced components such as turn signals , windshield wiper inserts, and fuses. And because these are universal, they can be referred to for restoring different vehicle makes and models.
Apart from the generic repair manuals, there are also vehicle-specific repair guides. Companies these days are producing car versions that contain technology that are not found in any other model and because of this , it is essential for an owner to have a vehicle-specific handbook to make sure to utilize the car appropriately. Vehicle-specific manuals are basically have the same content as the general manuals but are offering instructions on more advanced and vehicle-specific diagnoses and car repairs.
Dealing with a vehicle problem should be accordingly done or else you will be putting more problem to it. Car owners have to make sure to refer their cars to the right car repair manual by getting a generic guide for basic repairs and a vehicle-specific manual if the trouble is unique to specific car type. With a credible auto repair manual at hand, it would undoubtedly be less complicated for the owner to understand and fix the problem.
If you are not confident in fixing your own car by simply following the instructions given in the manual, you can simply consult a professional to assess your car and fix the car for you.
Car repair manuals are very important. One must keep them in a location that can easily be found since you cannot predict the exact time on when you will be needing the manual. Some would place the car repair guidebook inside the auto so that it is readily available.


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Bike and Barge Belgium: Across Flanders – Bruges to Brussels
8 days / 7 nights | Ship: Gandalf | Guided or self guided bike tours
The Bruges to Brussels bike and barge tour on board the Gandalf is an absolute cycling classic that takes you through an enchanting river landscape bookended by these two iconic Belgian cities. During this eight day, seven night tour you will not only get the opportunity to discover the enchanting river/canal system of Belgium, but will also get to visit and explore the world famous cities of Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Mechelen and Bruges. Along the way you will cycle through small traditional Belgian villages, will visit a number of famous local landmarks and, importantly, will have the opportunity to immerse yourself in Belgium's well-deserved
reputation for superb food and drink. Major attractions of the tour include:
- The city of Brussels, capitol of Europe;
- Antwerp, a city famous for its vibrant nightlife, as the city of diamonds and for its harbor;
- The opportunity to explore medieval Ghent;
- The UNESCO World Heritage-listed historical center of Bruges;
- Mechelen, a small but very picturesque city
On a daily basis you will cycle along old tow paths next to small canals and rivers and via quiet country lanes to ancient villages steeped in history. Enjoy a coffee or one of the many village beers in an authentic Belgian pub where the locals approvingly raise their glass, especially when you arrive by bike.
Itinerary from Bruges to Brussels
Day 1 (Sat): Bruges
Individual arrival in Bruges. The Gandalf awaits you in the Bruges harbor. Embarkation and check-in where the crew will welcome you on board is from 3 to 5 p.m. Before or after boarding take the opportunity to explore this lovely city of art, widely described as the "Venice of the North". You can enjoy the ambience of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed historical center during a leisurely walk, take in the hustle and bustle of the Grote Markt square (Great Market square), visit one of Bruges many museums or simply enjoy the stunning beauty and culture of this unforgettable city from the comfort of a sidewalk café.
Day 2 (Sun): Tour around Bruges to the North Sea (Cycling 55 km / 33 miles)
Your first day of cycling will take you through Damme, the birthplace of the impudent Middle Ages trickster Till Eulenspiegel, to the seaside resort of Blankenberge. Visit anyone of numerous cafés and, if you want to cool down, enjoy a swim in the North Sea. After approx. 2 hours you will cycle back to Bruges and the ship.
Day 3 (Mon): Bruges – Moerebrugge | Moerebrugge – Ghent (Cycling 40 km / 24 miles)
While you enjoy breakfast the barge Gandalf will sail to Moerebrugge where you will start your day's cycling. With the historical city of Ghent your destination today you will cycle via Oostende along the Ghent-Oostende-canal through the beautiful Flemish landscape. The town center of Ghent features lovely illuminated streets that are a must to explore, while the architectural richness in the historical center of the city has to be seen to be believed. During the Middle Ages, after Paris, Ghent was the 2nd largest European city. The Gandalf will dock for the night at the Merelbeke lock, a suburb of Ghent and approx. 15 cycling minutes to the city center.
Day 4 (Tue): Ghent – Dendermondet (Cycling 48 km / 29 miles) | Dendermonde – St-Amands
After breakfast in Ghent you will cycle through a diverse landscape to Dendermonde which is located at the mouth of the Dender River where it flows into the Schelde River. Here you can enjoy some time off your bicycle with a coffee or a cup of tea at the beautiful Flemish Grote Market square. In the evening shipping to St. Amands one of the most beautiful and winding parts of the route on the river Schelde.
Day 5 (Wed): Dendermonde – St-Amands | St-Amands – Temse – Antwerpt (Cycling 42 km / 25 miles)
Your cycle route for the day starts in St. Amands and takes you over the Brussels-Rupel canal and on to an historical brick factory situated between Boom and Niel where bricks have been manufactured since the Middle Ages. After cycling through the countryside to Rupelmonde and later Hemiksem you will finally reach Antwerp, your destination for the night. Antwerp is a harbor city situated on the river Schelde famous for handling up to 80% of the world's rough diamonds. There are many highlights in the city to discover including: the City Hall, one of several majestic buildings constructed during the Renaissance period, the historical City Square Grote Market, the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Cathedral and the medieval Steen Castle.
Day 6 (Thu): Antwerp – Lier – Willebroekt (Cycling 45 km / 27 miles)
After breakfast you will cycle through the leafy suburbs of Antwerp and past typical Belgian villas that feature beautiful trees, manicured gardens and picturesque facades to Lier. From here you cycle along the small river Nete and on to Willebroek where the ship will be waiting for you. When there is enough interest, a beer tasting will be held on board (to be paid on board).
Day 7 (Fr): Willebroek – Mechelen – Vilvoordet (Cycling 40 km / 24 miles | Vilvoorde – Brussels)
While the barge sets sail along the Willebroek canal, your final day's cycling will see you pass through the picturesque countryside via Mechelen to Vilvoorde. Mechelen is a remarkable city that boasts more than 300 buildings that are historically listed. Of these, 8 are churches – all on less than 3 square kilometers! From Vilvoorde you will board the Gandalf for the trip to Brussels, where you can walk through the historical city center, visit the Grote Markt square (Great Market square), arguably Europe's most beautiful medieval square lined with guild houses or marvel at the Gothic town hall.
Day 8 (Sat): Brussels
Disembarkation just after breakfast till 9:30 AM: End of your trip.
Please note: All cycling distances stated above are approximate only.


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Today is the stagette of one of my nearest and dearest friends! Alison and I have spent almost every single day together for the past 6 years (working in the same tiny office will do that). She is my work husband and usually the first person to hear about anything happening in my life. Today I am super excited to have co-planned to best stagette ever in her honour. We're keeping most of it a secret, but it's no secret that Alison loves Weird Al so we're going to be listening to some Weird Al at some point.
This is one of my favourite Weird Al songs because it takes the worst song ever and makes it about something fantastic: grammar. And no, I am not linking to the "worst song ever" because I don't want to give it more attention than its already getting from this. If you don't know what song I'm talking about after listening to Word Crimes, you lead a charmed life.
This is one of my favourite Weird Al songs because it takes the worst song ever and makes it about something fantastic: grammar. And no, I am not linking to the "worst song ever" because I don't want to give it more attention than its already getting from this. If you don't know what song I'm talking about after listening to Word Crimes, you lead a charmed life.
by Weird Al
Everybody shut up, WOO!
Everyone listen up!
Hey, hey, hey, uh
If you can't write in the proper way
If you don't know how to conjugate
Maybe you flunked that class
And maybe now you find
That people mock you online
Okay, now here's the deal
I'll try to educate ya
Gonna familiarize
You with the nomenclature
You'll learn the definitions
Of nouns and prepositions
Literacy's your mission
And that's why I think it's a
Good time
To learn some grammar
Now, did I stammer
Work on that grammar
You should know when
It's "less" or it's "fewer"
Like people who were
Never raised in a sewer
I hate these word crimes
Like I could care less
That means you do care
At least a little
Don't be a moron
You'd better slow down
And use the right pronoun
Show the world you're no clown
Everybody wise up!
Say you got an "I","T"
Followed by apostrophe, "s"
Now what does that mean?
You would not use "it's" in this case
As a possessive
It's a contraction
What's a contraction?
Well, it's the shortening of a word, or a group of words
By the omission of a sound or letter
Okay, now here's some notes
Syntax you're always mangling
No "x" in "espresso"
Your participle's danglin'
But I don't want your drama
If you really wanna
Leave out that Oxford comma
Just keep in mind
That "be", "see", "are", "you"
Are words, not letters
Get it together
Use your spellchecker
You should never
Write words using numbers
Unless you're seven
Or your name is Prince
I hate these word crimes
You really need a
Full time proofreader
You dumb mouth-breather
Well, you should hire
Some cunning linguist
To help you distinguish
What is proper English
One thing I ask of you
Time to learn your homophones is past due
Learn to diagram a sentence too
Always say "to whom"
Don't ever say "to who"
And listen up when I tell you this
I hope you never use quotation marks for emphasis
You finished second grade
I hope you can tell
If you're doing good or doing well
About better figure out the difference
Irony is not coincidence
And I thought that you'd gotten it through your skull
What's figurative and what's literal
Oh but, just now, you said
You literally couldn't get out of bed
That really makes me want to literally
Smack a crowbar upside your stupid head
I read your e-mail
It's quite apparent
Your grammar's errant
You're incoherent
Saw your blog post
It's really fantastic
That was sarcastic (Oh, psych!)
'Cause you write like a spastic
I hate these Word Crimes
Your prose is dopey
Think you should only
Write in emoji
Oh, you're a lost cause
Go back to pre-school
Get out of the gene pool
Try your best to not drool
Never mind I give up
Really now I give up
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Go Away!


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Learn more about the common causes of infertility and how they are treated.
Did you know that about 1 in 8 couples have trouble getting pregnant? If you are one of them you are not alone. In fact, about 7.4 million women have received some sort of infertility service to help them get pregnant. If you want to get pregnant but are having difficulties, find out more about infertility and how one of our Englewood OBGYN doctors can help.
What exactly does infertility mean?
While some women may take longer than others to become pregnant, there are some women that are faced with infertility. Infertility is defined as,
- A woman under the age of 35 that hasn't conceived after 12 months of unprotected sex.
- A woman over the age of 35 that has not conceived after six months of unprotected sex.
How is infertility diagnosed?
Fortunately, there are many diagnostic services that your Englewood gynecologist can offer to help pinpoint the root cause of infertility. While discussing your medical history and performing a physical exam are expected, certain diagnostic tests may also be administered including,
Endocrine system tests: Since the endocrine system contains all the hormone-producing glands sometimes infertility may be the result of an issue with the endocrine system. Common endocrine system tests include,
- Basal Body Temperature Charting (BBT)
- Endometrial Biopsy
- Testing for Luteinizing Hormone
- Ultrasonography
- Estradiol test (to test the health of the ovaries)
- Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) test (to test the health of the ovaries)
Ovarian testing: These tests are more commonly performed if the woman is over 33 years old or if she is dealing with any of these other risk factors:
- A cigarette smoker
- Recurrent miscarriages
- Ovarian surgery
- Family history of early menopause
Laparoscopy is the most common ovarian test. This surgery is performed using a thin tube that is used to examine the health of the reproductive system including the fallopian tubes, uterus and ovaries.
Pelvic testing: If we believe that a pelvic disorder is the cause, we may recommend getting an ultrasonography or hysterosalpingogram.
Treating Infertility in Women
The treatment we recommend will depend on the cause. Here are only some of the most common types of treatments:
- Taking medications like metformin or clomiphene if you are having trouble ovulating.
- If the cause of your infertility is unknown you may also consider hormone injections or insemination.
- If you have blocked fallopian tubes then you may need tubal surgery.
- If endometriosis is to blame, laparoscopic surgery may be recommended to remove some of the endometrial tissue.
Have questions or concerns about getting pregnant? Then it's time you talked to one of our Englewood obstetricians. Call South Metro Obstetrics & Gynecology today!


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Rhinebeck has the largest amount of senior citizens living in Dutchess County. One third of the residents in Rhinebeck are over the age of sixty. One of the 'hot topics' most seniors want to discuss nowadays is how can they 'age in place' and remain in their homes.
Rhinebeck@Home is a new, locally based, non-profit organization dedicated to helping its members remain in their own homes and stay connected within their community as they grow older. Rhinebeck@Home will implement social support programs and coordinate access to affordable, reliable services. These services will include home repair referrals, non-medical transportation, social activities and other day-to-day needs.
On Thursday, February 14th (Valentine's Day) from 2PM to 4PM, Rhinebeck@Home cordially invites you to join them for tea, cookies and conversation at the Archcare at Ferncliff. Located at 21 Ferncliff Drive in Rhinebeck, if you need a ride call 845-876-HOME (4663) and a volunteer will contact you.
Bring a friend to be entered in a drawing for the door prize.
If you need more information, or would like to learn more about the services Rhinebeck@Home can provide, log onto www.rhinebeckathome.org or send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com


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Employment | Internship
Able ARTS Work (formerly known as Arts & Services for Disabled, Inc.) thrives on the visionary and enthusiastic contribution of professionals and students who believe in making a profound difference in their community. If you believe that the arts have the muscle to change lives and inspire, we want to meet you! Employment and internship opportunities are available.
For more information contact our main office


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Plug and Play – our entry-level solution for card acceptance.
The best products deserve the best service. Because quality matters.
Take advantage of our efficient, reliable payment service.
Only the best
Silvia is a born businesswoman: dedicated, customer-focused and service-oriented. The majority of her customers are foreign and expect impeccable service – an expectation that includes card payments.
Christian and Florian Kryenbühl, the two managing directors of Swissbiomechanics AG – a high-tech company producing orthopaedic inlays – talk about their experience with SIX Payment Services and the reasons for extending their contract.


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TODAY'S GIVEAWAY is.....Dead Island: Game of the Year Edition
PS3, XBOX 360 or Steam copy. Your choice!
First three people to @ reply to nscottg on TWITTER get this game
You + island + zombies = oh boy.
Trailer above shows snippets of actual gameplay, woulda put a gameplay video on there but those tend to have ads on them and bleh to that.
OK, the rules/fine print
- You must @ reply back to me on twitter, saying you want the game, and be one of the first 3 to do so.
- Steam game giveaway, I gotta know your Steam username so I can gift it to ya. Console giveaway I gotta know which console you want it for, and mailing address. Direct Message me on twitter (nscottg) with your info.
- If you've won once already, your not disqualified from winning again, HOWEVER, if your gonna enter it EVERY DAY, share this post, get more people involved.
-Don't worry about shipping...like seriously. Unless it's over 40 bucks...just don't worry about it.