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Document Modeling with Bricolage
Previous Perl.com articles have reviewed where Bricolage fits into the universe of content management systems and worked through Bricolage installation and Bricolage configuration. Now it's time to go through the steps required to model the structure of an existing web page in Bricolage. Part of the motivation for the redesign of the Bricolage website last summer was to create good examples of document types and templates for use in Bricolage itself. You can take advantage of that work by analyzing a page on the current Bricolage site to determine how to break it down into its basic elements.
First, here's a brief introduction to document types in Bricolage.
The Elements of Bricolage Stories
Bricolage features two types of documents: stories and media. Stories contain text content and metadata; media are just like stories, but can have a single media file associated with them (an image file, movie, sound file, PDF, etc.). Whether a document is a story document or a media document, elements define its structure.
Elements are the basic building blocks of all documents in Bricolage. There are two types of elements: container elements and field elements. Container elements can contain any number of fields and other container elements. Fields, on the other hand, contain text content. Bricolage presents fields as standard HTML fields such as text, textarea, pulldown, radio, etc.–even a date and time widget. In a document model, one container element is the top element and it, along with all of the fields and subelements it contains, constitutes the structural model for the content of documents based on it.
The important point here is that Bricolage encourages a highly structured model for your documents; documents based on the models are thus structurally consistent. It also makes it easy to write incredibly flexible templates to output content in a variety of formats. (The next article in this series will cover Bricolage templating.) Document models can also be deeply hierarchical, to whatever extent is necessary to accurately model the structure of the documents being managed. Be careful, though, because if the model has too many levels of hierarchy, it will be more difficult for users to conceptualize when editing documents, as well as more work to drill down into deeply nested elements in the Bricolage user interface.
Document Analysis
Figure 1. A screenshot of the article being analyzed
Document analysis is the process of analyzing the layout of a document and breaking it down into its basic elements. Examining a page on a website, you must determine how all of the basic parts fit together and in what hierarchy, so that you can model the element structure necessary to accurately represent the document in Bricolage. That is, determine the container elements and fields that would be necessary to accurately recreate the document in Bricolage.
For the sake of this article, consider the structure of a typical page on the Bricolage website, because it makes a nice representative sample of the elements articles on the site will likely need (see Figure 1).
Identifying Content
The first thing to do is to determine what part of that page constitutes content and what does not. The term "content" here distinguishes those parts of the page that are important to the document itself, as opposed to the site overall or to a section of the site. For example, the banner at the top of the page appears on every page on the site; it is not specific to this document, nor is it significant to the document's contents. Likewise, the footer section is global to the site and contributes nothing to the document. The Recent News list in the right-hand column also has nothing to do with the contents of the article, it being a simple list of the five most recent articles published on the entire site.
These other components are includes, because they're included on many pages–or even on every page of the site. It also doesn't hurt that web servers generally pull them into the layout via a server-side include technology (such as mod_include
, HTML::Mason, PHP, or JSP). Because they're not significant to the content of the document, you can ignore them for the rest of this analysis. Figure 2 depicts everything that remains.
Figure 2. The important part of the document for the purposes of analysis: the actual content
Defining the Top Element
Having isolated the content of the page, you can start breaking its content down into its component parts. First, give the document type a name; this name will also be the name of the top-level element. Because this is an article in the Bricolage website, this is simple: it's Article.
With that out of the way, it's time to pick out the field subelements of the document element. As fields are meaningful blocks of text, this is generally simple to do: they're headlines, paragraphs, subheads, and the like. Figure 2 indeed shows meaningful blocks of text:
Headline This is the title of the article. In this case, it's "David Wheeler Interviewed on Online Tonight."
Dateline This is the date for the article, here "2002.12.18."
Paragraph These blocks of text make up the bulk of the content of the article. The first paragraph starts with "Bricolage maintainer and lead developer David Wheeler appeared on the Online Tonight with David Lawrence radio show."
Header Section headers break up the content into sections, such as "How it All Started" and "Bricolage vs. Blogging Tools."
Identifying Subelements
Figure 3. The components making up a "Related Image" element
Pretty simple, right? Well the interesting part comes when you identify the container subelements of the layout. The way to do so is to look for areas where content has been logically grouped together as a unit; for instance, to combine an image and its caption. Such is exactly the case with the picture of David Lawrence. Call this container element a "Related Image," because it creates a link to an image document that's related to the current article content. Figure 3 illustrates the breakdown of the newly identified element: It has a link to a related media document and it has an "Alt Text" field and a "Caption" field.
Figure 4. The pieces of the "Related Audio" element include a tooltip (not shown)
Another clearly grouped collection of content is the box entitled "David Wheeler Takes to the Airwaves." This one has a link to an audio document and a description of its contents. It also has a speaker icon, but this isn't really content; it's more a hint to the viewer as to what she's linking to. That is, it's not content, but presentation. It adds no semantic meaning to the article. To parallel the "Related Image" subelement, call this one "Related Audio." Figure 4 highlights its subelements.
Figure 5. The "Pull Quote" element has a Paragraph field and an attribution field
Finally, there's one last subelement, the "Pull Quote." It simply groups together a quotation paragraph and an attribution. See Figure 5.
A Note on Layout
Ideally, your analysis is now complete, as you've successfully identified all of the elements of our Article document type using this layout. There is one more thing to consider, though: the placement of the Related Audio, Related Image, and Pull Quote subelements.
The ideal in content management is to separate content from presentation. You've successfully done so here: you've identified the parts of an article (paragraphs, pull quotes, headers, etc.) without specifying anything about the layout (colors, type faces, spacing, placement, etc.). In looking at this example more closely, note that the related audio box is on the right, the related image is on the left, and the pull quote is on the right again. The question is, when a template formats this document for output, how will it determine what goes on the left and what goes on the right?
You might guess that related audio always goes on the right, related images always on the left, and pull quotes always on the right–but if an article has no related audio or pull quotes and five different related images, the layout would end up looking lopsided. Your editors (those who have the least bit of design sensibility) won't like that.
Another way to handle it is to come up with an algorithm to place these suckers. You might decide, for example, that between the three boxed subelements (Related Audio, Related Image, and Pull Quote), placement might rotate back and forth between the right and the left, or perhaps one on the right, two on the left, two on the right, etc. Of course, the problem with this approach is that, depending on how algorithmic you need it to be, the algorithm might be tricky to write. Plus, your editors still might not like it, and ask you, "Why can't I just tell it to put it on the left?"
Why not? The separation of content from presentation is the ideal, yes, but it's not always practical. Plus, sometimes, you can give people the sort of control they need without unduly sacrificing the separation. In this case, solve the problem simply by adding an extra field to each of the subelements: "Position," with two possible values, "right" and "left." Now, when an editor adds a pull quote to a document, she can specify the placement in such a way that the template can easily place it. As for the separation of content from presentation: this information is more metadata about the element than content, and you can ignore it when you need to create purely semantic representations (such as XML).
The upshot is that during a document analysis, you must pay careful attention to the semantically meaningful parts of a document and model the appropriate elements, and then weigh the importance of providing additional, non-semantic presentation metadata fields to give editors the control they need to get their jobs done. Go for the middle road and keep everyone happy.
Table 1. The completed document model. In Bricolage, all subelements are optional, meaning that users can add any number of Related Image, Related Audio, and Pull Quote elements to a document.
The Document Model
Having performed your document analysis (and of course, in practice, you should examine several different pages on a site to ensure that you don't miss any elements that are present in some articles but not others), you can now synthesize the breakdown of the elements into a comprehensive model. In practice, that's pretty simple. See Table 1 for the complete representation. Based on the analysis, you've decided on the types of the fields (text, textarea, pulldown, etc.), whether they're a required part of the element they're in, and whether they're repeatable. For example, the headline of the article is required, but not repeatable, because all articles must have a headline but not more than one headline. Paragraphs, on the other hand, are not required, but there can be more than one. You can also say that paragraphs are required and repeatable, in which case at least one would need to be in the element. When doing your own document analysis, take the path that makes the most sense to you.
Container elements, on the other hand, currently have no such occurrence specification. You can add any number of any of the defined subelements to a document, including none. We may add occurrence specification for container elements in a future version of Bricolage.
This example is pretty simple. However, the Article document type for the Bricolage website is quite a bit more complex. See the complete model of the Article document type. In fact, the Bricolage site contains a graphical representation of all of the Bricolage website document models. (I used the special Bricolage introspection template to generate the tables displaying the models.)
Element Administration
Figure 6. Navigate to the Element Type Manager and the Element Manager to administer elements
The next step is to model, in Bricolage, the elements you've discovered. There are two administrative tools to use to create the elements: The Element Type Manager and the Element Manager. To access these managers, use the Bricolage side menus (see Figure 6) to navigate to ADMIN -> PUBLISHING -> and select the appropriate manager. You will see a search interface to search for and edit element or element-type objects. Clicking the Edit link for an element type, for example, brings up the Element Type Profile, where you can edit the attributes of the element type.
Element Types
Each element in Bricolage has an associated element type that defines a few attributes that its associated element share. There are three different kinds of element types: story element types, which define the structure of story documents; media element types, which define the structure of media documents; and subelement element types, which define the structure of container subelements. See Figure 7 for a snippet of the element type interface. The attributes you can set on element types are:
Figure 7. A segment of an element type profile called "Story"
Page Indicates whether an element is a page. Sometimes documents need to have multiple pages through which readers can navigate. You may recognize multi-page documents from Perl.com, where you navigate from page to page via Next Page and Previous Page links.
Fixed A fixed document is typically one that does not have the date as a part of its URI. Output channels defined in Bricolage specify two URI formats for the documents published to them. One of those formats is the "fixed URI format." If a story based on an element has the "Fixed" checkbox checked in its element type, the story uses the "fixed URI format." Otherwise, it'll use the non-fixed URI format. (The next article will cover output channels in detail.)
Related Story Elements associated with an element type with the Related Story checkbox checked can have an associated story document. This is useful for creating lists of stories related to the current story, for example.
Related Media The Related Media checkbox is just like the Related Story checkbox, except that it allows the creation of a relationship to a media document rather than to a story document. The Related Image and Related Audio elements depend on this checkbox being checked.
Media Type This applies only to media element types–that is, elements that define the structure of media documents. This attribute is a pulldown list, featuring the options Image, Video, Audio, or Other. Of these options, only Image has any effect; image elements automatically have fields associated with them for height, width, color depth, and a few others. Bricolage automatically populates these fields when you upload an image file.
Given how element types work, the Article document type requires the following element types:
Audio There are some media documents to manage. The first is Audio, required to manage the audio recordings associated with the Related Audio subelement. The Audio element type is a media element type with its media type set to Audio, surprisingly enough.
Image The Image element type sets attributes for image document types. It is just like the Audio element type, except that it has its media type set to Image instead of Audio. Go figure.
Story This defines the shared attributes of story elements, of which the Article element is one. It does not use a fixed URL (so that the article's cover date shows up in the URI), and has neither a related story nor related media. The Page attribute is irrelevant to this element type.
Subelement This simple element type defines generic subelements. There are no special attributes of these subelements, so don't check any. The Pull Quote subelement is an example: it's not a page, and it doesn't have an associated media document or story document.
Related Media This subelement element type defines elements that have media files associated with them. It has its Related Media checkbox checked, and will be used to define Related Audio and Related Image elements.
Figure 8. Creating the Related Image element
Now it's time for the building blocks. You defined several elements in your analysis of the Bricolage.cc page. Now you need to model them in Bricolage, basing each on an element type. When administering elements, you typically first create those farthest down the hierarchy, because you'll need to have them available to associate when you create those farther up. Start with the Pull Quote, Related Image, and Related Audio elements, and then create the Article story type element.
First create the Related Image element (Figure 8). The Key Name field uniquely identifies the element throughout Bricolage, while the burner determines the kind of templates that will be used to format Related Image elements. Be sure to select the Related Media element type! This is useful for many things, including giving templates the ability to easily get a handle on an element, as well as providing the file name for templates based on this element. It's generally a good idea to make the key name the same as the element name, but lowercased and with spaces replaced with underscores (uppercase letters and spaces are not allowed in key names).
The Burner pulldown list allows selection of the burner that will be used to format the element. As mentioned in the Bricolage introduction article, Bricolage currently supports three templating systems for formatting content: Mason, Template Toolkit, and HTML::Template (but with PHP support arriving in the forthcoming Bricolage 1.10, due out in September; stay tuned!). The Bricolage objects that push stories through the templates in a particular output channel are burners, ostensibly because they "burn" files to disk (but rumor has it that the name really came about when the original developer of the Mason burner wanted to write a burn_one()
method). I've selected Mason for this example because all of the Bricolage site templates use Mason.
Figure 9. The fields subelements defined for the Related Image element
Click the Next button to create the Related Image element. Now you need to add any necessary subelements and fields. Look back at the model in Table 1: the Related Image element has no subelements, but it does have a few fields. Figure 9 pulls out the relevant part of the element profile. (Click an Edit link to edit an individual field element definition, or use the Add New Field section to add new fields to the element.) Note that you've already added the necessary fields. Should you decide that they should display in a different order, simply change the values of the numbered fields (changing one will cause the others to renumber automatically). You can also edit or delete each one to change its values.
The Add New Field section allows you to define new fields for the element, selecting from several available types (text, textarea, pulldown, date, etc.) and filling in the appropriate fields. Each option features different fields to fill in, but the important ones are:
Key Name This field uniquely identifies the field among all the fields in the container element. While no field in a single element can have the same key name, a field in one element can have the same key name as a field in another element. Like container element key names, they must be lowercase and have no spaces. Again, I tend to use a key name that is the same as the name except for those two rules.
Label This is the name of the field. A field can have the same name as another field, but that would be silly, now wouldn't it?
Default Value The default value for a field when adding a new one to an element. For example, a URL field might have a default value of "http://" as a sort of reminder to editors as to what belongs in the field. It might also make sense to use the most common value for the default (such as with the Position field, where the default is "left").
Size The size of the field in the display. Text fields use this value to set the width of the field (in characters), while Select fields use it to set the number of values to be displayed in a scrollable select field. The textarea field has Rows and Columns fields, instead, to indicate the size at which to display the field in the interface.
Maximum Size The maximum size of the allowed value. This option limits the length of a text or textarea value to a certain number of letters.
Required Indicates whether, when adding a new element, the field will be included in the element or the editor needs to add by the editor. The "required" moniker is unfortunate in this case, because it does not mean that the field is required to have a value, only that it's required to be present in the user interface.
Repeatable Indicates whether or not a field is repeatable. For example, a paragraph field would be repeatable, because we want an editor to be able to add more than one paragraph to a story.
Position Indicates the order in which the field appears in the user interface. This value affects only required fields, and causes all required fields to be displayed in the order indicated. This does not prevent an editor from reordering fields, however.
Options This field allows you to specify a range of values for a field. It applies only to Radio Button, Pulldown, and Select fields. Each value goes on a single line, with the option first and then an optional label, separated by a comma.
Allow Multiple This checkbox is specific to the Select field. When checked, users can select more than one value.
You may edit each of these fields, with the exception of the key name, by clicking its Edit link.
Following the model (Table 1), creating the necessary fields for the Related Audio element becomes simple. The Title, Link Text, and Tooltip fields are simple non-repeating text fields; the Description is a non-repeating textarea field; and the Position field is a non-repeating pulldown field. It's fine to accept the default values for the other fields (size, columns, rows, max size, etc.). For the Position field, however, add two values to the Options field:
Also set the default value. I've opted for "left" (and, indeed, that's what shows up as the default value for the field in Figure 9), but you could also set it to "right."
Creating the Related Audio and Pull Quote elements is much the same. The only difference is in the fields included and in the selection of an element type (Related Audio is a Related Media type, like Related Image, but Pull Quote is a Subelement).
Now, the Article element–the element that determines the structure of all articles, and therefore defines the Article document type–is a bit different. Defining its fields is of course the same, but you actually have modeled more fields than you need. You see, all documents in Bricolage have a Title field and a Cover Date. You can use these in place of custom Headline and Dateline fields; therefore, you don't have to define them. What's left, Paragraph and Header, define in the same way as fields in all elements.
Figure 10. The subelements of the Article element. Click the Add Subelement button to search for other elements and add them to Article
Defining subelements is almost the same, although the other elements had no subelements of their own. Figure 10 shows the Existing Subelements section of the element profile. In this example, the Related Audio and Related Image subelements have already been associated with the Article element, but you still need to add the Pull Quote element. Click the Add Subelement button to bring up a page very similar to the element manager: there's a search box, and you can view the results of your search. Unlike the element manager, however, this interface displays only subelements (that is, those elements that are associated with subelement element types, not story or media element types). Type in and search on the string "pull", and then when you get the search results, select the Add to Element checkbox, and click the Add Elements button. Figure 11 illustrates this process.
Figure 11. Use the search field to find the element you want, check the "Add to Element" checkbox, and click the Add Elements button.
Now the Article document type is complete! Well, almost. I've left out that there are other fields to fill in for story type and media type elements: sites and output channels. Because Bricolage is designed to manage multiple sites, each story or media type element must be associated with one or more sites. Each site associated with the element can create documents based on the element. By default, Bricolage has only one Site, Default, so you can just leave it associated with the Article element (if your installation has only one site, then that one site will be associated with all new story and media type elements).
As for output channels, each site has a primary output channel associated with the element. You can add extra output channels as needed. Bricolage has a single output channel by default, called Web, and you can leave this as the selected value. Again, the next article will cover output channels in more depth.
Now the Article document type is complete, and you're ready to start creating documents based on it.
There is one final topic to discuss before you can create a story document based on the Article document type: categories. Categories are hierarchically organized content locations. Think of them as similar to a file system of directories (or folders, for you Mac fans out there). Indeed, categories in Bricolage are used in the URIs of story and media documents, so the translation is close (modulo date parts and slugs). They are also used to categorize content, so it makes sense to create category hierarchies that make sense for your site.
Figure 12. Create new categories starting with top-level categories added as subcategories to the root category, "/"
For example, if your site were a newspaper featuring movie and book reviews, you might want to create a category named Reviews as a subcategory of the root category ("/"), and then subcategories of the Reviews category named Books and Movies. The full URIs for these categories would be /reviews
, /reviews/books
, and /reviews/movies
, respectively.
To create categories for your site, navigate to the Categories manager under ADMIN -> PUBLISHING and click "Add a New Category" for each category you wish to add. The root category already exists for each site, so start by creating your top-level categories and make your way down. See Figure 12 for an example creating a top-level Reviews category.
Figure 13. Navigate to the Story workflow and click New Story to create and edit a new story
Document Editing
Having created the categories you need, you can create a story document based on the Article story type. Open the Story workflow in the side navigation and select New Story (Figure 13) to bring up the New Story screen shown in Figure 14. Enter a title and slug. A slug is a very short hint (one or two words, separated by an underscore or dash) as to the contents of the story. Generally, the slug should complement the category selection rather than repeat it. For example, if you were creating a review of The Princess Bride in your /reviews/books
category, you might make the slug "princess_bride." Select the Article story type, and cover date and click the Create button. This action creates a new story in the Story workflow and puts it on that workflow's "start desk," in this case the Edit desk.
Figure 14. Create a new story based on the Article story type. Be sure to enter a meaningful slug and cover date, and put the article in the relevant category
Figure 15. Add fields and elements to the story in the Content section of the story profile
The new story will then open in the story profile. The first section of the profile, Properties, mostly covers the same data points as the New Story screen. It's the second section, Content, that is most interesting (Figure 15). The bottom of this section has an Add Element button and a select list. From this list, you can select the fields or container subelements you'd like to add to the story. After adding a field, you can edit it, as with the Teaser and Long Teaser fields in Figure 15.
Notice that the names of the elements available in the Add Element select list is identical to the names of the container elements and fields associated with your modeled Article story type element. Because these are the only content containers that editors can add to a story, the structural integrity of the story strictly adheres to the model you created. The advantage is that the structure of the stories to be published to the site will be consistent across stories. This approach enables the maintenance of document standards and styles across a site, which can be very important in a large organization with thousands of pages of content to maintain. It also allows for simple yet extremely flexible templating, so that you can output documents in a variety of formats (XHTML, RSS, PDF, etc.) while maintaining identity and design standards.
Why are container elements and fields all listed together in one select list? Because as an editor works on a story, she doesn't need to think in great detail about what to add. It's unnatural for a writer to have to stop and think, "Do I want to add a container element or a field?" as she decides from which list to select. She only has to think, "I need to add a paragraph" or "I think a pull quote would work well here." The difference is important to us a document modelers and, later, as template developers, but for editors, the distinction is irrelevant.
Figure 16. Edit the fields of the Related Image subelement. Click the Edit button in the Related Media section to search for an image document to relate to this element
If you elect to add a subelement, say by selecting the Related Image option, you will then see the profile for that element. Figure 16 illustrates the Related Image element profile. Note how the required fields for this element (Title, Alt Text, Position, and Caption) are in the profile. Furthermore, because this is a related media element, there's an extra section called, curiously enough, Related Media. By clicking the Edit button, you can search your existing media documents to create a relationship, much as you searched for subelements to add to an element in the element manager. In Bricolage 1.10.0, you can also upload a media file directly in this interface, implicitly creating a media document in the same category and with the same cover date as the current story.
Click the Save button to save the element. Back in the main story profile, the new Related Image subelement will appear in the Content Section. You can re-order elements and fields by selecting new values from the Position select lists adjacent to each element. To edit a field, simply do so directly. To edit the Related Media subelement again, click its Edit button and you'll return to its profile.
Before finishing with this story, there's one more editing interface that's important to know. Adding individual fields to a story so as to keep their contents in independent records is all well and good, but the first time you tell an editor that she has to add each paragraph one at a time, duck. Just as an editor doesn't want to think about whether to add a container element or field to a story, she also doesn't want to have to go to a select list, click a button, and wait for a browser reload every time she wants to add a single paragraph.
Figure 17. Super Bulk Edit allows editors to use POD-like syntax to edit all of the fields in an element in a single textarea box
For this reason, Bricolage features two other interfaces for editing. The first, Bulk Edit, allows editors to edit all instances of a repeatable field in a single textarea. This is convenient if the majority of the content of a story is paragraphs, for example. The editor can simply write all the paragraphs she wants in a textarea box, separating each with a blank line. To use it, simply select the type of repeatable field to edit and click the Bulk Edit button to the right of the Add Element button and list.
Most documents are not simple lists of paragraphs though (if they were, you wouldn't need a tool as sophisticated as Bricolage). Instead, they're a mix of different blocks of content; the so-called Super Bulk Edit feature will likely prove to be more useful. To use it, select Super Bulk Edit from the Bulk Edit select list and then click the Bulk Edit button. Doing so will bring up the screen depicted in Figure 17. Here, you can edit all of the fields and subelements of the current element in a single textarea field. Each individual field or subelement has POD-like tags that start with an equal sign (=
) and end with the key name of the element or field. The tags for subelements each exist on a line by themselves, while field tags identify the field to which the contents below them belong. You can even select a default element (say, Paragraph) from the Default Element select list, and then any blocks of text that have no POD tag will default to that element. This approach makes it easy for writers to edit all the different parts of an element without having to select, reload, and wait for every one. They can also create and reorder subelements, although they cannot change the contents of subelements themselves.
Click Save to return to the story profile, and the Save button there to save the story and return to My Workspace. Now you have created a story based on the article model. Go ahead, create as many more as you like.
Up Next: Templating
The next article will show how to write your first templates in Bricolage to format stories for output, so that you can actually see how your documents will look when they're published. Stay tuned!
Something wrong with this article? Help us out by opening an issue or pull request on GitHub


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Capturing health and eating status through a nutritional perception screening questionnaire (NPSQ9) in a randomised internet-based personalised nutrition intervention : the Food4Me study
BACKGROUND: National guidelines emphasize healthy eating to promote wellbeing and prevention of non-communicable diseases. The perceived healthiness of food is determined by many factors affecting food intake. A positive ...

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Casey Anthony Lawyer Investigated By State Bar
Casey Anthony's Lawyer Investigated By State Bar
Jose Baez, Casey Anthony's lawyer, is being investigated by the State Bar of Florida, for possible ethical violations -- specifically, hiding information from the court.
The probe was triggered over a dogfight involving Anthony's 2010 conviction for check fraud. She was placed on 1 year's probation, but the judge in the case made it clear on the bench -- the time Casey sat in jail awaiting her murder trial would not count toward the completion of probation.
Here's the problem ... the judge screwed up, and when he wrote the order placing Anthony on probation, it mistakenly read that the jail time would count toward completing probation.
Anthony's lawyers acted as if the written order was the final word, and as a result authorities -- who were in the dark -- determined Anthony had completed her probation.
The Chief Judge of the court lashed out at Baez, saying, "Our system of justice should never be in the position of rewarding someone who willfully hides the ball," adding, Baez may have violated "an attorney's duty of candor."
On Baez' part, he told the judge he did indeed know about the trial judge's error but felt he had no obligation to inform the court.
The State Bar of Florida is now investigating the matter.


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Skin cancer is usually a result of too much sun exposure. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer. Many types of skin cancer are both preventable and treatable. There are 5 different types of skin cancer:
Most skin cancers occur on parts of the body that are repeatedly exposed to the sun, including the head, neck, face, ears, hands, forearms, shoulders, back, lower legs, and chests of men.
Basal cell carcinoma:
Squamous cell carcinoma:
The only way to know for sure whether a mole or spot on your skin is cancer is to have a doctor look at it.
Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun is the main cause of skin cancer. Skin cancer may also be due to genetics or radiation treatments. A virus causes Kaposi sarcoma.
People at risk for developing skin cancer may have the following conditions or characteristics:
Your doctor will examine your skin for new, changed, or unusual moles. Your doctor may use a dermatoscope, which is for close examination of skin growths. If your doctor suspects cancer, you will undergo a biopsy (where your doctor takes a sample of the skin). A biopsy can confirm whether or not you have skin cancer.
In most cases, you can prevent skin cancer. If you are at high risk, stay out of the sun. When you have to be in the sun, protect yourself by covering up, wearing a hat, and applying sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 and reapply liberally. Check your skin regularly for new or changing moles. You should also have regular skin cancer screenings with your primary health care provider or dermatologist.
The primary goals of treatment are to remove the cancerous growth and stop the spread of the disease.
In cases where cancer is found only in the top layer of skin, you may receive topical creams or lotions containing chemotherapy drugs. Melanoma that is deep or has spread and AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma may be treated with chemotherapy.
Most skin cancer can be surgically removed. Cryotherapy (freezing), topical chemotherapy, or radiation can also treat most skin cancer. If the cancer is on or close to the skin's surface, you may receive photodynamic therapy (laser).
Alternative treatments are aimed at preventing rather than treating skin cancer. Some CAM treatments may reduce the side effects of conventional treatments, such as chemotherapy.
You should never rely on alternative therapies alone for treating skin cancer. Make sure all of your doctors know if you plan to use any CAM therapies along with conventional cancer treatments. Some CAM therapies can interfere with conventional cancer therapies.
Eating certain foods may help protect against skin cancer. It is hard to test the role of food in preventing skin cancer, but several studies have looked at antioxidants (including vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, zinc, and vitamin A), folic acid, fats, and proteins, and a variety of whole foods. While results are not clear, antioxidants may offer some protection from skin cancer. Foods such as fish, beans, carrots, chard, pumpkin, cabbage, broccoli, and vegetables containing beta-carotene and vitamin C may also help protect skin. Studies on animals suggest that substances found in foods, such as soy and flaxseed, may help fight cancer in general, and may help prevent the spread of melanoma from one part of the body to another.
Other substances found in plants may help protect your skin from sun-related damage:
Selenium has been promoted as an antioxidant that might help prevent skin cancer. One study, however, suggests that selenium might actually increase the risk of developing squamous cell cancer. Talk to your doctor before taking a selenium supplement. Niacin (vitamin B5), too, may help prevent skin cancer. More research is needed.
If you have skin cancer, you should always talk with your doctor before taking any supplements or making dietary changes. Some supplements, or possibly even some foods, may interfere with some drugs used to treat cancer.
The use of herbs is a time-honored approach to strengthening the body and treating disease. Herbs, however, can trigger side effects and can interact with other herbs, supplements, or medications. For these reasons, take herbs with care, under the supervision of a health care provider. Many herbs and herbal combinations are used to prevent and treat cancer in general. However, you should never use herbs alone to treat any kind of cancer. Remember that certain herbs and supplements can change the way medications, including chemotherapy, act in your body. Make sure you tell your conventional and alternative providers about all the supplements, therapies, and medications you are using. DO NOT take any herbs or supplements without first talking to your oncologist.
Many people with cancer use homeopathy as an additional therapy, along with conventional medicine. An experienced homeopath considers your individual case and recommend treatments that address both your underlying condition and any symptoms you may be having.
While acupuncture is not used as a treatment for cancer itself, evidence suggests it can help relieve symptoms, such as the nausea and vomiting that often come with chemotherapy. Some studies have indicated that acupuncture may help reduce pain and shortness of breath.
Acupuncture needles should never be used on an area of skin where there is cancer.
Acupressure, which is a treatment that uses pressing on specific points on the body rather than needling acupuncture points, has also helped control breathlessness. Acupressure is a technique that you can learn and use to treat yourself.
Some acupuncturists prefer to wait until the person has finished conventional medical cancer therapy. Others will provide acupuncture or herbal therapy during chemotherapy or radiation.
Acupuncturists treat cancer patients based on an individualized assessment of the excesses and deficiencies of qi located in various meridians. In many cases of cancer-related symptoms, a qi deficiency is usually detected in the spleen or kidney meridians.
The outlook (prognosis) varies, depending on the type of skin cancer being treated:
See your health care provider regularly for screenings to check for a recurrence of skin cancer.
Afzal S, Nordestgaard BG, Bojesen SE. Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D and risk of non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancer: a prospective cohort study. J Invest Dermatol. 2013;133(3):629-36.
Alimi D, Rubino C, Leandri EP, Brule SF. Analgesic effects of auricular acupuncture for cancer pain [letter]. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2000;19(2):81-82.
Argenziano G, Zalaudek I, Hofmann-Wellenhof R, et al. Total body skin examination for skin cancer sccreening in patients with focused symptoms. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2012;66(2):212-9.
Asgari MM, Maruti SS, Kushi LH, White E. A cohort study of vitamin D intake and melanoma risk. J Invest Dermatol. 2009 Jul;129(7):1675-80.
Asgari MM, Maruti SS, Kushi LH, White E. Antioxidant supplementation and risk of incident melanomas: results of a large prospective cohort study. Arch Dermatol. 2009 Aug;145(8):879-82.
Baglia MS, Katiyar SK. Chemoprevention of photocarcinogenesis by selected dietary botanicals. Photochem Photobiol Sci. 2006 Feb;5(2):243-53.
Barbosa NS, Kalaaji AN. CAM use in dermatology. Is there a potential role for honey, green tea, and vitamin C? Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2014;20(1):11-5.
Donnenfeld M, Deschasaux M, Latino-Martel P, et al. Prospective association between dietary folate intake and skin cancer risk: results from the Supplementation en Vitamines et Mineraux Antioxydants cohort. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;102(2):471-8.
Duffield-Lillico AJ, Slate EH, Reid ME, Turnbull BW, et al. Selenium supplementation and secondary prevention of nonmelanoma skin cancer in a randomized trial. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004 Feb. 18;96(4):333-4; author reply 334.
Es S, Kuttan G, Kc P, Kuttan R. Effect of homeopathic medicines on transplanted tumors in mice. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2007 Jul-Sep;8(3):390-4.
Ezzo J, Berman B, Hadhazy VA, Jadad AR, Lao L, Singh BB. Is acupuncture effective for the treatment of chronic pain? A systematic review. Pain. 2000;86:217-25.
Frieling UM, Schaumberg DA, Kupper TS, Muntwyler J, Hennekens CH. A randomized, 12-year primary-prevention trial of beta carotene supplementation for nonmelanoma skin cancer in the Physicians' Health Study. Arch Dermatol. 2000;136(2):179-84.
Katiyar SK, Ahmad N, Mukhtar H. Green tea and skin. Arch Dermatol. 2000;136(8):989-94.
Katiyar S, Elmets CA, Katiyar SK. Green tea and skin cancer: photoimmunology, angiogenesis and DNA repair. J NutrBiochem. 2007 May;18(5):287-96. Review.
Lanoy E. Epidemiology, risk factor and screening for melanoma and other skin cancers. Rev Prat. 2014;64(1):31-6.
Maeda K, Naitou T, Umishio K, Fukuhara T, Motoyama A. A novel melanin inhibitor: hydroperoxytraxastane-type triterpene from flowers of Arnica montana. BiolPharm Bull. 2007 May;30(5):873-9.
Nichols JA, Katiyar SK. Skin photoprotection by natural polyphenols: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and DNA repair mechanisms. Arch Dermatol Res. 2009 Nov 7. [Epub ahead of print]
Nihal M, Ahsan H, Siddiqui IA, Mukhtar H, Ahmad N, Wood GS. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) sensitizes melanoma cells to interferon induced growth inhibition in a mouse model of human melanoma. Cell Cycle. 2009 Jul 1;8(13):2057-63.
Pan CX, Morrison RS, Ness J, Fugh-Berman A, Leipzig RM. Complementary and alternative medicine in the management of pain, dyspnea, and nausea and vomiting near the end of life: a systematic review. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2000;20(5):374-87.
Rusciani L, Proietti I, Paradisi A, Rusciani A, Guerriero G, Mammone A, De Gaetano A, Lippa S. Recombinant interferon alpha-2b and coenzyme Q10 as a postsurgical adjuvant therapy for melanoma: a 3-year trial with recombinant interferon-alpha and 5-year follow-up. Melanoma Res. 2007 Jun;17(3):177-83.
Svobodová A, Zdarilová A, Vostálová J. Lonicera caerulea and Vaccinium myrtillus fruit polyphenols protect HaCaT keratinocytes against UVB-induced phototoxic stress and DNA damage. J Dermatol Sci. 2009 Dec;56(3):196-204.
Shen J, Wenger N, Glaspy J, et al. Electroacupuncture for control of myeloablative chemotherapy-induced emesis. JAMA. 2000;284(21):2755-61.
van Dam RM, Huang Z, Giovannucci E, et al. Diet and basal cell carcinoma of the skin in a prospective cohort of men. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000;71(1):135-41.
Yusuf N, Irby C, Katiyar SK, Elmets CA. Photoprotective effects of green tea polyphenols. Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed. 2007 Feb;23(1):48-56. Review.
Reviewed By: Steven D. Ehrlich, NMD, Solutions Acupuncture, a private practice specializing in complementary and alternative medicine, Phoenix, AZ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.
Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial policy, editorial process and privacy policy. |
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Starting October 2, 2017, the City of La Marque will have twice-a-week pick up for trash, once-a-week pick up for bulk, and every-other-week pick up for recycling provided by Waste Management. Trash collection maps are available here, or you can search by your address.
Each resident will receive a 96-gallon green cart with a green lid for items considered trash, and a 96-gallon green cart with yellow lid for items considered recycling. The carts can hold up to 175 pounds, enabling residents of La Marque to keep their streets and neighborhoods clean. Additional carts may be ordered from the City of La Marque and the rate will be added to your city utility bill.
Waste Management developed a website just for new customers. Check it out.
Bulk collection will be at the curb, once-a-week, with a limit of 5 cu. yd. Please see bulk/brush collection map for details. Additional collection of bulk waste exceeding 5 cu. yd. can be scheduled 24-hours prior to your bulk collection day for a fee. To schedule collection of additional bulk waste, please call Waste Management 800-800-5804. Read more about Bulk Trash Pickup.


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Every time I go to antique fairs, I am always drawn to those pieces that someone has glazed with a bold color. My entire house is filled with mostly dark wood tones or white painted furniture, so this time, I thought I'd have some fun !
As you know from this week's sordid tale about stripping paint off furniture, I had my little heart set on giving my previously white Craigslist dresser the look of a French antique. With spring drawing very near, I thought it a good time to add a pop of color to our home. To me, turquoise is a color that is simultaneously vibrant and calming, and a reminder of coastal waters by the sea.
You'll recall the 'Before' with the multiple layers of white chipping paint, and here is the dresser after it was mostly stripped of it's paint.
Here is the patina dresser, given a romantic new look, and refinished in this fresh new color.
I just love this piece now. It looks like something I'd want to buy from an antique shop! To achieve this look, I invested in new knobs, some appliqués, and some paint. (Sources below)
The first thing I did was stain my appliqués a little darker with an old half pint of honey stain I had leftover from years ago, so they would match the tone of the dresser.
Then I attached them to the drawers with Titebond wood glue. Setting paint cans on top helped them lay flat on the dresser so they would stick !
As the appliqués dried, I watered down my small Pratt & Lambert sample of turquoise paint (called "Always Smooth") with a few tablespoons of water and applied the base coat of glaze to the dresser. No primer on purpose here – I wanted the wood tones to show through.
When the deep turquoise base was dry, I dry brushed the second paint color on top after I turned it into a glaze with some water. I bought a quart because I loved this color so much – it's called 'Rainy Day' by Pratt & Lambert. I'll definitely be using this color in the future – it's gorgeous.
You could easily get away with just buying another sample color because watering it down makes it go far enough to cover a piece like this.
Dry brushing is simply dipping your paint brush in paint, then wiping most of it off before you apply it to your piece to get this deliberate two-tone look by revealing the base underneath.
When it was all dry, I sanded the edges with a sanding pad to reveal some of the wood.
Finally, I added a coat of Polycrylic in Satin to protect my hard work !
I am loving the weathered look and colors of this dresser !
So much can be done with appliqués and new knobs to give a piece a new look ! For today, this dresser is sitting in our foyer, but it will be returned to the mud room shortly. I'm sure I can use this piece in a future guest room someday too.
Sources for materials: dresser from Craigslist; appliqués from Lowes; Pratt & Lambert paint and Minwax Polycrylic from OSH; knobs from Anthropologie.
I am loving this color so much lately. And how wonderful that Pantone named turquoise 'Color of the Year' ! To me, turquoise is such a friendly color because it gets along so well with others. It's so feisty when paired with coral or orange, like a fiesta with reds, like sea glass with greens, a stunning focal point with white, and a cool compliment to warm browns.
What about you, how do you feel about turquoise ?


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Follow me @liamlaguerre
The air was tense in the final six seconds of the game at Bayside High School field on Tuesday.
The Commodores were about to defeat Townsend Harris 6-0 after scoring the game's only touchdown and the home team was feverishly preparing to defend its lead.
"Defense," one man shouted from the crowd of parents and students on the bleachers.
"This is your home field, Bayside," another said.
It could have been the atmosphere for a boys football game, but in reality it was the second-ever Bayside H.S. girls flag football game.
Just two years after the PSAL introduced flag football as a new sport for girls, Bayside students and fans enthusiastically embraced it.
"This is a great school to go to and we have a very good sports program. I just wanted to bring something new to get even more kids involved," said head coach Magdalini Kassims.
Kassims surveyed students to test the desire to play the sport two seasons ago. Nearly 100 girls signed up. Last year, she hosted a tryout, where about 50 girls showed up.
Kassims had enough to fill at least two teams, but made tough cuts to get down to 25 girls, spawning the first-ever girls flag football squad at the school.
Made up of academics, artists, musicians and athletes of all kinds, the team is a composite of girls who appreciate sports and others who want to learn football. Some actually have some football experience, such as sophomore quarterback Lenore Aponte, who scored the team's lone touchdown against Townsend Harris.
Aponte, who also plays basketball and soccer at Bayside, said she learned how to play football by joining games with "boys at recess," so she immediately jumped at the opportunity to play for the school.
"I was so excited when we heard it was a go," Aponte said. "I love playing football. It's fun and I'm good at it."
The team isn't lacking in spirit. With the game on the line, the girls screamed "Intercept it," for the final play, a pass attempt by Townsend Harris.
Bayside's defense wrapped up the Lady Hawks, stopping the play and giving the Commodores (1-1 PSAL) the first win in history.
Although she is happy they won, Kassimis said she is mostly concerned with the experience the girls will get from playing football.
"Winning is important because we all like to be winners, we all like to feel good," she said. "But what's more important to me is that the girls have a positive experience. If you worked hard enough and you're dedicated enough, eventually the wins will come."


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Daikin Group at ISH 2019 – Join the Daikin city
At ISH 2019 Daikin Europe, market leader in climate comfort solutions including cooling, heat pump systems and control systems, will be showcasing its power of innovation on a large scale. The exhibition stand, which for the first time will cover more than 1,000 square meters, will present the total solution portfolio. The Daikin Group is one of the very few exhibitors at ISH 2019 whose portfolio covers all areas – from climate control, heating, cooling to ventilation. The focus will be on new solutions with the low-GWP (global warming potential) refrigerant R-32 where Daikin will showcase new key products.
360° product portfolio
While taking a walk through the Daikin city in hall 12 booth E61 trade fair visitors can discover the 360° product portfolio for residential and commercial applications – heat pumps, Split systems, VRV technology, as well as chiller and ventilations systems – well-placed in a city atmosphere. For the first time, Daikin will exhibit its products on a large 1,150 square meters exhibition stand. The company shows how the components of a modern city – residential buildings, offices, shopping malls or hotels – can be supplied with efficient and climate friendly heating and cooling.
Innovative Bluevolution product range with R-32
Daikin has been on the forefront of developing energy efficient heating and cooling technologies with low-GWP refrigerants for years. In addition to the established portfolio, the leader in R-32 systems will present innovative novelties of the Bluevolution product range in the areas air-to-water heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, gas hybrid heat pumps and chillers at ISH 2019.
Daikin Design Awards
Daikin will display a range of units having recently won design awards such as the Red Dot Award and the iF DESIGN AWARD 2018. The awards underscore the company's increased attention on industrial design fitting needs of both installers and end users.
Enhanced customer support with Stand by Me
At ISH visitors can take the opportunity to learn more about Stand by Me, Daikin's connectivity platform supporting professional installers, end users and organisations such as social housing providers. The platform allows for an easy administration of multiple connected installations as well as cloud-based direct access to remote metering and monitoring.
Guided tours and Knowledge Wall
Guided tours through the Daikin city will be available in German and English, giving small groups of visitors (customers and press) the opportunity to learn more about the innovations directly from the experts. Presentations will be shared at the Knowledge wall – a dedicated part of the booth – to communicate information about products, industry trends and legislative regulations.
Daikin Europe will be exhibiting at the ISH trade fair (Stand E61, Hall 12.0, Messe Frankfurt fairgrounds) from March 11-15, 2019. Daikin Applied Germany will be exhibiting its industrial commercial solutions at a separated booth (Stand G38, Hall 8.0).
Further information is available at www.daikin.eu.
About Daikin Europe N.V.
Daikin Europe N.V. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Daikin Industries Limited and a major European producer of air conditioners, heating systems and refrigeration equipment, with approximately 5,500 employees throughout Europe and major manufacturing facilities based in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the UK.
Globally, Daikin is renowned for its pioneering approach to product development and the unrivalled quality and versatility of its integrated solutions. With more than 90 years' experience in the design and manufacture of heating and cooling technologies, Daikin is a market leader in heat pump technology. DAIKIN Industries has around 70,000 employees worldwide and generated revenue of about €17.6 billion in fiscal 2018. The company has more than 90 years of experience in the development and manufacture of air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pump systems and is one of the market leaders in the field of heat pump technology.
International press contacts: Anju Sarpal: +44 7980 785572/Charmaine Kimpton: +44 7414 749973 firstname.lastname@example.com
German press contact: Maike Schäfer: Tel.: 089 746 308-40 email@example.com
Press release
Daikin Group at ISH 2019 - Join the Daikin city_DEUEN18-042_Press Release_EnglishPDF | 167.71KB


text: Welcome to Forwoods ScoreStore!Forwoods ScoreStore is owned and operated by Forwoods Music Ltd. We keep in stock a vast range of Sheet Music, Scores and Music Accessories to suit students and performers of all types and experience. We pride ourselves on our swift, knowledgeable service, and we offer a one-stop shop for schools, universities, colleges, churches, cathedrals, choirs, orchestras and ensembles. If you have trouble finding the music you need on our site, please don't hesitate to contact us. As a leading independent retailer we are able to supply all music that is currently in print or archived, and sometimes music that isn't! Exam Music Finder Use the drop-down lists below to select your Exam Board, then Syllabus and then Grade. New titles you may like...We've picked out some some new publications which may be of interest. Forwoods was established in 1946 in the cathedral city of Canterbury, and now operates as a specialist mail order business from a beautiful Old Kent Barn on a farm just outside Dover. The catalogue on this site reflects our specialism, which is the supply of classical printed music and accessories, including set pieces for exams and core repertoire. It is not an exhaustive list - we can supply any item which is in print. If the item you are looking for is not listed, email us and we'll do our best to source it for you. Latest News


text: Robert G. Brown wrote: > On Thu, 10 Jul 2008, Tony Travis wrote: > >> Chris Samuel wrote: >>> [...] >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Yorkshiremen_sketch >>> >>> I remember when I could bring the complete kernel sources >>> home on a single 3.5" floppy disk. Compressed, mind you, >>> not this new fangled gzip! Then came 0.9.15, 1.8MB compressed.. >> >> Hello, Chris. >> >> 3.5" floppy - you were lucky! >> >> I 'ad t' run th'entire Minix on half a broken low-density 5.25" >> floppy, and father would beat me wi a stick for wastin' precious disk >> space... >> >> ...and he'd complain that there's nowt wrong wi' th'old 8" floppies! >> >> Eee, by gum them were probably th'happiest days of mi life... >> >> [I'm from Lancashire, not Yorkshire, BTW] >> >> Tony. > > OK, in a minute you'll have me reminiscing about booting from paper tape > and havin' to drill me own 'oles wit' me teeth... > > ;-) Glad you smiled with that. Seems I find myself teaching an OS class all of a sudden this summer. I recounted my experience with an old HP system where the boot-loader was toggled in on front panel switches and the OS was loaded with paper tape. The kids (whose language experience ranges from Java to PHP, with C# thrown in for good measure) looked at me like I was reciting either fiction or lore. -- Gerry Creager -- gerry.creager at tamu.edu Texas Mesonet -- AATLT, Texas A&M University Cell: 979.229.5301 Office: 979.458.4020 FAX: 979.862.3983 Office: 1700 Research Parkway Ste 160, TAMU, College Station, TX 77843


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So its a day inside with the books of B821, Financial Strategy, learning about profit ratios.
However half way through Unit 2 something caught my eye out the window, several old rowing boats, like the one in the photos above, heading downstream, with rowers dressed in some sort of costume.
Outside about a dozen similar boats were braving the elements and heading towards Westminster. A quick Google revealed it to be "The Tudor Pull" - organised by the Thames Traditional Rowing Association which, as the LPA's site puts it:
The Tudor Pull is a ceremonial event for Thames Watermen's Cutters which is organised by the Thames Traditional Rowing Association (TTRA) in May each year.
The cutters escort the Thames Royal Shallop 'Jubilant' rowed by members of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen from Hampton Court Palace to the Tower of London to deliver a 'Stela' to the Governor of the Tower for safekeeping. The 'Stela' is a piece of medieval water pipe made from a hollowed tree trunk which stands on a base of timber from the old Richmond Lock and bears the coat of arms of the Waterman's Company.
The cutters are rigged with full ceremonial canopies and flags and are rowed with four oars by fully-liveried crews. In keeping with the traditions of the Watermen's Cutters, a passenger must be carried.I watched the fleet going by and returned to my numbers. Despite the rain I think they were having a much better afternoon than me!


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This N-FAB light bar features a unique patent-pending design which allows for installation of multiple styles and combinations of LED lights. This product has .095 wall tubing and welded all 1-piece construction which ensures rigidity and longevity. Apart from being a highly efficient part, this light bar is also a stylish and eye-popping upgrade to your vehicle. It is engineered to work with all LED light manufacturers.
Clean & easy way to mount LED light in the front of vehicle
Full length Multi-Mount System allows for most brands of LED lights
Made out of 1.5" .095 wall tubing for strength and durability
Allows for multiple configurations of LED light bars and pods
Standard gloss black or textured black powder coating, using N-FAB's 3-stage powder coating process
Light bars from N-FAB is an easy at home operation. The product comes with easy to understand vehicle specific installation instructions. Some trucks will need minor drilling for installation.
5-year finish / Limited Lifetime workmanship.


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From NPR News, it's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Guy Raz.
And I'm Melissa Block. Today, the Players' Union for the National Basketball Association decided to disband and take its fight with NBA owners to the courts. The move could jeopardize the entire 2011 to '12 NBA season. The union plans to argue that the NBA lockout of players is illegal and will sue the owners under antitrust laws.
Gabriel Feldman joins us from Tulane University, where he's director of the sports law program. And Professor Feldman, help us understand why the union would choose to disband, how that helps them.
GABRIEL FELDMAN: Well, the idea is that the union is having trouble getting what they want at the bargaining table and they have decided to move from negotiation to litigation in the hopes that an antitrust suit or at least the threat of an antitrust suit will cause the owners to move at the bargaining table and give in on some concessions that they haven't given in on yet.
So the real idea here is not to blow up the entire season. It's not to have a lengthy multiyear antitrust litigation. The idea is to give the players some negotiation leverage at the bargaining table.
BLOCK: Now, the commissioner of the NBA, David Stern, said today he called this the nuclear winter of the NBA. It doesn't sound like he's holding out much hopes for the season.
FELDMAN: Well, I would characterize that as hyperbole and still a little bit of posturing and rhetoric. I don't think this has to be the nuclear winter. There's the potential, again. Antitrust litigation is a very long, expensive and unpredictable process, but I don't think the players intend to see this antitrust litigation to its fruition.
I think they're looking for a quick legal strike here. They are apparently going to file a motion for some re-judgment. That decision could come down within a matter of weeks and we could still very well have an NBA season. It will certainly be a shortened NBA season, but the players are hoping that they will have a shortened season, but on their terms, not on the owners' terms.
BLOCK: Now, the lockout of the NBA is in its 137th day. How far apart were the two sides in the latest round of negotiations?
FELDMAN: Well, they were fairly close on the economic issues in terms of how much was going to be divided up of the basketball-related income. Where they were further apart was on these so-called system issues. The NBA has traditionally had a soft salary cap with lots of exceptions to the cap. The owners wanted to harden that cap to make it so that the top teams couldn't outspend the small market teams. And that's really where the fight was. It was hard cap versus soft cap. How many exceptions would still be in place?
They were fairly far apart on those differences. And some would characterize it as a gulf, not quite a gap. I think that might be overstating it a bit, but they are certainly far enough apart that it was going to take one side or the other giving in fairly significant concessions to get a deal.
BLOCK: Is there a precedent here that might indicate to you just how this might work out in the courts, if it does work out in the courts?
FELDMAN: Well, we have very limited precedent. We have the precedent from the NFL litigations earlier this summer and we have precedent from NFL litigation in 1989. Those cases were all brought in Minnesota within the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. This case will not be heard in Minnesota. It will not be within the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals and it is an area of almost - other than those two cases - almost completely uncharted territory. There's not a lot of precedent out there.
I don't think either side can be particularly comfortable with their legal positions, just because it's such an unpredictable area and so I think it's anyone's guess, to be honest, how the case will play out.
And from the fans' perspective, the hope is that uncertainty will drive the sides closer together because there's so much risk in litigating the case.
BLOCK: Hope springs eternal.
FELDMAN: Sometimes, it does. There's not a lot of hope floating around right now, but I think we will get to a deal and I think we still will have a season.
BLOCK: Okay. Professor Feldman, thanks so much.
FELDMAN: My pleasure.
BLOCK: That's Gabriel Feldman. He's an associate professor of law and director of the sports law program at Tulane University in New Orleans. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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The Smart Choice
Set aside for a moment the potential money-saving and health benefits associated with Green Power. Also, set aside the competitive edge your business will gain from using Green Power. Green Power is clean energy. It is electricity generated from environmentally-preferable renewable resources such as wind, solar, low-impact biomass, geothermal, and low-impact hydro resources. The fact is Green Power is good for you, your community, your bottom line, and the environment.
We Did It! You Should Too!
The District and Federal Governments, as well as thousands of local households and hundreds of businesses are already using green power. Join us!
Local Green Power Partners include:
- Ben's Chili Bowl
- British Embassy
- DowntownDC Business Improvement District
- Flow Yoga
- Gallaudet University
- Hyatt Regency Washington
- Landis Construction
- National Geographic Society
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
See the full list of EPA Green Power Partners [PDF]
Buy Green Power - Signing Up is Easy!
Step 1: Select an offer from one of the green power providers listed below.
Step 2: Become an EPA Green Power Partner to ensure your purchase counts toward's DC's goal. (Non-residential customers only.)
Residential Customers
- Clearview Energy
- CleanChoice Energy
- Groundswell Community Power Program for Homes
- Viridian Energy
- Washington Gas Energy Services
Non-Residential Customers
- CleanChoice Energy - For Small Business
- Clearview Energy
- Constellation Energy
- Groundswell Community Power Program for Organizations
- Viridian Energy
- Washington Gas Energy Services
National Green Power Suppliers
New Green Power Suppliers:
- To be listed above, please contact [email protected].
Keep DC the Nation's #1 Green Power Purchaser!
The competition remains fierce! We lead the country in the EPA's Green Power Community Challenge, but other cities are gaining on us. In the summer of 2011, Mayor Gray challenged District residents and businesses to increase our green power purchases 33%. Collectively, we've met that challenge. As of April 21, 2014 Washington, DC retains our position as the nation's #1 Green Power Community, with over 1 billion kilowatt hours of clean energy purchases comprising 12% of all electricity sold in the city. Help us maintain that momentum, on the way to our 50% renewable energy goal by 2032!
We All Benefit:
Every resident, business, and institution choosing green power helps to clean our air, supports renewable energy, and creates jobs in the new clean energy economy. Make the switch to clean energy by selecting a green power provider by August 31, 2011. Non-residential customers are also encouraged to sign-up with the EPA Green Power Partnership to help us meet our goal.


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The founder of the outlawed Megaupload file-sharing site denounced on Thursday "the largest data massacre in the history of the internet", after a European firm wiped out private photos, videos and documents stored on servers used by the site.
Dutch firm LeaseWeb said it had in February erased 630 servers rented by Megaupload, about a year after U.S. authorities closed the site and charged its operators with facilitating online piracy, racketeering and money laundering.
"Our lawyers have repeatedly asked LeaseWeb not to delete Megaupload servers while court proceedings are pending in the U.S.," Kim Dotcom said on Twitter.
"We were never warned about the deletion," Dotcom said, adding that the loss of the files had reduced him to tears.
Dotcom, who also goes by the name Kim Schmitz, has New Zealand residency. He and his colleagues are fighting extradition to the United States.
He argues that Megaupload was merely a storage facility for online files, and should not be held accountable for the content of those files.
LeaseWeb said it had been maintaining the servers at its own expense since Megaupload was shuttered in January 2012. After the servers sat inactive for a year, and with no requests to access them, it said it had informed Megaupload that it would delete them.
"After a year of nobody showing any interest in the servers and data we considered our options … we commenced the re-provisioning of the servers in February 2013," LeaseWeb said in a blog post.
The deleted servers represent a fraction of servers Megaupload had leased around the world to provide storage space for users who uploaded everything from family photos to pirated Hollywood films onto the file sharing site.
In North America alone, Megaupload leases 1,100 servers from Carpathia Hosting, while Cogent Communications Group Inc <CCOI.O> also provides servers.
Dotcom said he still had the support of the two companies in maintaining files on their respective servers.
U.S. internet rights groups have been fighting to preserve Megaupload files to enable users to try to regain access to content which do not contain illegally downloaded material.
Dotcom's extradition hearing has been pushed back as far as April 2014 as the case has faced multiple delays after a police raid on the flamboyant entrepreneur's mansion was deemed illegal by a New Zealand court. Dotcom is free on bail.
(Editing by Robert Birsel)


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The new browser wars on on. More than a decade after Microsoft killed off Netscape with Internet Explorer, competition in the browser market has never been stronger. Just last week, Mozilla released Firefox 3.5, which has now been downloaded nearly 14 million times. Earlier in June, Apple released Safari 4. In March, Microsoft introduced Internet Explorer 8, and Google came out with a speedier beta of its Chrome browser.
Some early data is coming in showing relative market share and how fast people are upgrading. If you look at the chart above from Statcounter, it indicates that since March Internet Explorer has lost 11.4 percent market share to other browsers. That is the combined market share of IE8, IE7, and IE6. Certainly IE8 (the light blue line) has been growing strong since its release last March, capturing 16.7 percent of the market as of July 4. Those strong gains make up for most of the drop in IE7's market share from 49.1 percent in March to 30.1 percent yesterday, indicating that Microsoft is doing a good job of getting existing IE7 users to upgrade at a steady pace. And in mid-June, IE8 finally surpassed IE6, which still stubbornly holds a 7.6 percent share. Add those three up, (IE6+IE7+IE8), however, and IE all together holds only a 54.4 percent market share versus the 65.8 percent combined share in March, 2009.
In just over three months, Internet Explorer has seen its overall market share erode by 11.4 percent. Where did that go? It went to Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. Nearly 5 percent of that, or about half, went to Firefox 3.0, which currently has 27.6 percent market share. That doesn't count last week's upgrade. See the dotted line just below the light blue IE8 line? That is a combined set of "other" browsers and appears to include Firefox 3.5, Safari 4, and Chrome 2.0.
If you look at a 30-day version of that same chart, it shows Safari 4 with 4 percent market share and Chrome with 3 percent market share. It doesn't yet break out Firefox 3.5, but if you assume that makes up the bulk of the remaining dotted line which jumped to nearly pass IE6 in the past week, you can figure out more or less which browsers are taking share from Microsoft. (I've used data from the most recent daily chart in this post, but embedded the monthly chart below which has data as of June 30).
As I said, this is early data from one source. Net Applications, another commonly cited source for browser market share, is currently reviewing its June numbers, but I have a feeling they will show similar trends. (This Wikipedia page shows other browser market share sources, most of them haven't been updated since March). It is difficult to make any firm conclusions at this point, since market share is shifting so rapidly as every major (and minor) browser tries to convince users to upgrade.
But we are in the midst of a major upgrade cycle simultaneously across IE, FireFox, and Safari (with the Chrome wild card thrown in). When all is said and done, we might see a major shake-up in market share and almost definitely will see leadership pass from IE7 to another browser. The question is will that be IE8 or Firefox? Whichever one wins, the good news is that IE6 is finally dying.
Source: StatCounter Global Stats – Browser Version Market Share


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The Critical Path show switches format for this week's episode. I interview a guest.
5by5 | The Critical Path #14: The Super-platform ecosystem.
The idea is that rather than just telling stories and interpreting the world from my point of view, I should also ask others to teach from their experience.
In this case I discuss the disruptive potential of cloud computing with Randy Bias. Randy is the CTO of Cloudscaling, a designer of infrastructure cloud systems and a vast knowledge of the challenges and value of what we now call cloud systems. I've consulted for Randy in the past and I thought he could add a lot to the understanding of super-platforms. Super-platforms, you may recall, is a term I used to describe the coupling of Web Services and Devices in a mutually inter-dependent business model. I introduced the concept as a way to think about Siri and iCloud and potentially the Kindle and Amazon in general.
In this show I ask Randy to comment on the thesis that devices and cloud systems as a coupled system are a potential disruption to both the device-only model of computing and the cloud-only model of services. In other words, is the new ecosystem the coupling of devices with backend cloud APIs? We also touch on the scope of Apple's data centers and the way we can calibrate the investment.
I think this is a ripe area of research and thinking about the future of computing. It will require learning a new way of measuring "performance" of solutions and the businesses built around it. It will take a multi-disciplinary approach to ferret out the key value propositions.


text: Southern rap group Dem Franchize Boyz includes members Gerald "Buddie" Tiller, Bernard "Jizzal Man" Leverette, Maurice "Parlae" Gleaton, and Jamall "Pimpin" Willingham. After a period spent pushing low-key releases and mixtapes, the Atlanta-based group was picked up by Universal and released a self-titled album in September of 2004, preceded by "White Tee" -- a regional smash that received nationwide exposure on BET. When Jermaine Dupri and his So So Def label moved from Arista to Virgin (Dupri had been appointed president of Virgin's urban division), one of his first acquisitions was DFB, who soon scored a number one R&B hit with a remix of the first album's "Oh I Think Dey Like Me" (retitled "I Think They Like Me," with guest appearances from Dupri, Bow Wow, and Da Brat). This set the stage for the Top Ten album On Top of Our Game, released in early 2006. Follow-up single "Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It" made it known that they were leaders in the "snap music" movement (Ying Yang Twins' "Wait," David Banner's "Play," and D4L's "Laffy Taffy"). A screwed-and-chopped version of the album was released soon after. Book Dem Franchize Boyz for shows and concerts at Heavy Rotation booking agency. Worldwide Bookings with HR Booking. Dem Franchize Boyz Booking, Book Dem Franchize Boyz. Book artists like Dem Franchize Boyz, Dem Franchize Boyz booking agent, contact Dem Franchize Boyz email, Dem Franchize Boyz manager, Dem Franchize Boyz management for concerts, bookings, biography, pictures, videos. Dem Franchize Boyz may be available for your club shows, private party, festivals or other events.


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We can set foot on faraway planets, in a sense, by exploring the world beneath ourfeet. Underground caves provide unique insights into what we might find beneathalien landscapes. We are studying caves on Earth to understand how theyform, the spectacular minerals they produce, and the unusual creatures – frommicrobes to vertebrates – that thrive in them. By understanding the caves of our own planet, we can use them as models for thesubsurfaces of other planets. This work provides insights into the lava tubes
Mathematical aspects of modern theories of elementary particles and gravitation. Replacing the notion of particles with fundamental abstract fields (magnetic monopoles, vortices and Skyrmions) in an attempt to approach a formulation for quantum gravity.
Applications of quantum theory to cryptography and computation; understanding in more concrete, physical terms what quantum theory is telling us about the nature of reality. Applications of information theory to better understand the quantum "wave function".
Many aspects of string theory, ranging from its mathematical structure and various formulations, to possible implications for black holes and cosmology. Using string phenomenology to connect theory with reality, i.e. string mathematics with elementary particle physics.
Cosmology and cosmological implications of quantum gravity. Observable effects in cosmology help to identify the limits of general relativity, which could potentially be surpassed by modified theories of gravity and/or quantum gravity.
What, exactly, happened around the time of the Big Bang? Exploring new models inspired by superstring theory and supergravity, e.g. ones in which we live on "branes" that collide with a "big bang". Satellite experiments to test such models.
Philosophy of physics, puzzles about the content and status of foundational principles – the logic of physicists' basic assumptions, especially with regards to space and time, and the history of science, e.g. exactly how Einstein made his discoveries.
Observational cosmology, with particular focus on the formation and evolution of large scale structures in our universe like clusters of galaxies as large as 500 million light years. "Weighing" the universe, and mapping out the mysterious dark matter it contains.
Cosmology as a natural meeting ground for fundamental theory (e.g. superstring theory or quantum gravity) and observations. Exploring how seeds laid down in the very early universe developed into the large scale structure we observe in the universe today.
The origin and evolution of the largest observable structures in the universe (much larger than entire galaxies); understanding why the expansion of the universe is accelerating. Observational techniques: cosmic microwave background, gravitational lensing and gravity waves.


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The TutsPlus.com site has posted a tutorial today showing you how to use the "Store" functionality in Mailgun from your PHP application to temporarily handle your incoming emails.
In today's episode, Mailgun stepped in to sponsor a tutorial about how I integrated its message routing and Store() API to handle replies from users.For example, when people receive meeting requests from others with Meeting Planner, they may just choose to reply and send a note like they would to a typical email thread. [...] Sounds complicated, but one of Meeting Planner's goals is to reduce the back and forth emails between people about planning and consolidate real-time changes into fewer notifications.
The start by introducing the Mailgun service and, more specifically, the Store() offering it provides. He uses a Yii2 framework based application to show the integration. Once the MX (mail) records are set up correctly it can then hook back in to your mail servers or web application. The code is included to make the migration to hold the notification info, make the POST
request back to the application and use background process to handle the mail processing.


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After the closing and stripping of the famed Lenox Lounge on New Year's Day, this press release just came in from the publicist representing the club:
Despite numerous reports to the contrary, the Lenox Lounge brand will continue without skipping a beat. Tyreta Foster, Esq. and Angélica Thomas, Esq. of Foster Lynch & Thomas, LLC negotiated in earnest throughout the 2012 Holiday Season with Eric Feinberg, Esq. to ensure that Lenox Lounge and its famed Art Deco sign would once again light up the heart of Lenox Avenue.
Alvin Reed, the owner of the lounge, finally inked the deal for the new location at 333 Lenox Avenue on New Year's Eve. "Just as I restored Lenox Lounge in 2000, I am determined to expand the brand just 2 blocks away," said Reed. Reed's latest endeavor will feature 2 floors with an option of a third.
"Of course the famed Zebra Room will get a second act," Reed continued. "Lenox Lounge has always been a spot where everyone--from Harlemites to foreign tourists--could hang out and listen to great music. Lenox Lounge has always been and will continue to be less commercial and more authentic."
Michael Coker of Halstead Property and David Chkheidze of Massey Knakal Realty Services were the brokers on the transaction.
photo by Iman Abdulfattah
Thursday, January 3, 2013
2 comments:
- Ms. said...
WOW some Good good news...let the party continue!
- January 3, 2013 at 8:28 PM
Now St. Nick's Jazz Pub needs to reopen as promised...
- January 3, 2013 at 10:29 PM
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Israel hints at pre-emptive attack on Iran By Rupert Cornwell in Washington Friday, 11 July 2008
Israel hints at pre-emptive attack on Iran
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Friday, 11 July 2008
The sabre-rattling over Iran's nuclear progamme has grown louder as a defiant Tehran claimed to have conducted missile tests for a second day running, the US warned that it would defend its interests and its allies in the region, and Israel hinted it was ready to stage a preventive attack to destroy Iranian nuclear installations.
With the latest tests – and the wide front-page coverage given to them by the national media – Tehran is signalling it will not be cowed by international pressure to end a programme which the West suspects is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, and that any attack by the US or Israel will be answered in kind.
The tests, including launching the 1,250-mile range Shahab-3 missile that can hit Israel, should be "a lesson to our enemies", the commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard was quoted as saying. But some of the talk may be bravado. Pentagon officials told CNN that surveillance suggested only a single missile was fired yesterday, apparently one that failed to launch on Wednesday.
Even so, the show of strength drew an unprecedentedly blunt response from Washington and Israel. No one should doubt US resolve, said Condoleezza Rice, the Secretary of State, on a visit to Georgia. "We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies."
More ominously, Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, noted pointedly that while diplomatic pressure remained the preferred way of persuading Iran to halt uranium enrichment, Israel "has proved in the past it is not afraid to take action when its vital security interests are at stake".
Not by coincidence, the country also put on display one of its state-of-the-art Eitam spy aircraft, whose intelligence-gathering abilities would be vital in any co-ordinated assault on Iran's nuclear installations. This latest publicity only reinforces the message sent by Israel's recent military air exercises over the eastern Mediterranean, widely seen as a dress rehearsal for such an attack.
Most analysts believe that for all bellicose talk, a pre-emptive attack, by the US at least, is most unlikely. "Everyone recognises what the consequences of a conflict would be," the Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned, among them possible closure of the oil lifeline through the Strait of Hormuz, the risk of generalised war in the Middle East and immense new strains on the fragile global economy.
Pentagon commanders too do not want to plunge the country's overstretched armed forces into another war. An attack would be "extremely stressful" for US forces, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and the country's top uniformed officer, warned a few days ago.
But the jitters have been increased by the political calendar in Washington and Jerusalem. From a US perspective, if the Bush administration is to strike, it probably has to do so before the general election campaign moves into high gear this autumn. The possibility – many would say likelihood – that the next President will be the Democrat, Barack Obama, who favours negotiation with Iran, only heightens the urgency for anti-Iran hawks.
In Jerusalem, a corruption scandal could bring down the Mr Omert's government in September. This is another reason for Israel, if it is determined to go ahead, to act sooner rather than later, even alone and without the explicit collaboration of the US.
- betsy's blog
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text: Tell a puffy-sticker story in every room of this cozy tree house! With 75 reusable, layer-able stickers, this complete activity set and sticker collection lets kids fill seven cozy rooms with furniture and fixtures of their choosing, then peel and press the sticker family into the story--moving them room to room for breakfast, family time, bedtime, and more. The five adorable chipmunk characters add a whimsical spin to an appealing storytelling activity, encouraging kids to move the mother, father, brother, sister, and baby through the cottage and backyard to create an original story. It's easy to keep the narrative moving: Just peel up the pieces to switch everything around for endless sticker fun. The puffy stickers mix, match, and layer in any combination. Bonus: The sturdy background board folds to neatly store it all away, and a diecut handle makes it great for travel, too!


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Financial Institutions Tax
Chapter 148, RSMo: Financial Institutions Tax is levied on banks and trust companies, credit institutions, savings and loan associations, and credit unions. Chapter 148 of state law authorizes each tax, and each tax rate is 4.48 percent of net income as of 2020. All prior years are at a 7 percent tax rate. Banks and trust companies are also subject to a tax on assets computed the same, but instead of, the corporate franchise tax (Section 147.010). Farmers' Cooperative Credit Association members are subject to a tax of 2 percent on the taxable portion of dividends paid. The due date is always April 15th, although extensions may be requested for up to 180 days.


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The Balance 025
harryq on Aug. 25, 2011
Back to the bridge where our story began, full circle.
That concludes Pugnuggle Tales on the duck. These pages will remain as an archive. If and when stats are restored we'll be back. Until that time I'll search for a new home that feels more like Drunk Duck used to be. Many thanks to my handful of readers over the years. Your comments were deeply appreciated
Now I'm off to complete some side projects and learn some new tricks. As always, try to be a better person than you were yesterday!


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Reading Jesus
By Mary Gordon
By Mary Gordon
By Mary Gordon
By Mary Gordon
Category: Religion | Biography & Memoir
Category: Religion | Biography & Memoir
Paperback $16.95
Nov 02, 2010 | ISBN 9780307277626
In the Beginning
The Qur'an
Not in God's Name
Thebes at War
What Paul Meant
The Koran
Beyond Belief
"If it's enlightenment you're after, Gordon is a thoughtful and stirring guide. . . . [A] brisk, provocative survey of the major events and statements of Jesus' life. . . . Reading Jesus should appeal to anyone in that multitude of thoughtful or lapsed Christians who feels the Scriptures growing stale and ossified, anyone who wants to wrestle with the uncomfortable problems and irreconcilable paradoxes of the New Testament."
—The Washington Post
"Deep and impassioned. . . . A book of questions for, quibbles with and tributes to the sometimes inscrutable protagonist of the Gospels."
—The New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)
"Insightful. . . . Provocative. . . . [Gordon's] questions are challenges to orthodox conventions about faith and the man Christians deem the son of God."
—The Boston Globe
"Gordon, from her perch at the nexus of the intellectual and religious worlds, makes a convincing argument for the importance of the Gospels. . . . Like the best fiction, the truth of the Gospels story is bigger than the sum of its parts. . . . What Gordon loves about the Gospels is not the pat lessons of Sunday school. She loves what a writer loves: paradoxes and inconsistencies, moments of high drama and plot twists."
"A welcome change from the din of the neverending culture war. . . . Gordon reaffirms the notion that faith and reason are not mutually exclusive. . . . This book will appeal to readers who are leery of Rick Warren's pious platitudes and Christopher Hitchens' free thinking smarminess. . . . [Gordon] proposes no answers; she just raises a lot of interesting questions."
—The Miami Herald
"A remarkable record of a mind grappling with a constantly changing relationship with religion. . . . The questions [Gordon] raises have lives of their own."
—The Columbus Dispatch
"Gordon makes the gospels and their characters real in ways that are immensely refreshing. . . . In so many ways we take for granted the stories that are all we have left of Jesus in this world; to have a writer of this caliber and honesty and spirit dive headlong into those same stories is a real gift. Would that more of the best American Catholic novelists and essayists poked into scripture with their storycatcher-sensitivities set to stun."
—U.S. Catholic
"Gordon asks us, in Reading Jesus, to go back and look at 'story' as a way to truly understand what Jesus was telling us, can still tell us today. . . . [She] points out the virtues not mentioned are as important as the ones Jesus includes. . . . People looking for platitudes may be shocked by Gordon's cogent analysis."
—The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)
"Gordon tackles the power and puzzle of the Christian gospels with measure and imagination, providing welcome relief for those left cold by scholarly or fundamentalist parsing."
—Publishers Weekly
"Believers may be refreshed by Gordon's take on familiar stories. . . . A book club would enjoy taking on Reading Jesus. There is never a dull moment when Gordon is holding the pen."
—The Charleston Gazette (West Virginia)
"Reading the Gospels like a book . . . [Gordon] personalized the experience, adding her own voice and her own interpretations to one of the most well-known, yet nevertheless elusive, stories in history."
"A fresh and human take on the Gospels. Gordon's approach is aware of, but not burdened by, doctrine. Her many insightful questions give expression to thoughts which have, for many readers and for many years, been waiting to be asked aloud."
—Mark Jarman, author of Epistles
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Like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Real Women Have Curves taps into a desire for sweet entertainment throwing back to seemingly more innocent times. Real Women Have Curves also speaks to two cultures underrepresented on film: Mexican-Americans and the overweight. As such, it's easy to let good will overtake strict criticism and deem Real Women Have Curves a breath of fresh air.
Very little fresh air wafts through the sweatshop where teenage Ana (America Ferrara) finds herself working at the behest of her mother, Carmen (Lupe Ontiveros). Carmen is an expert in emotional blackmail, selfish and insistent, so she counters talk of college with a dose of reality: Ana must work in her older sister's dress shop, where dresses made at a cost of eighteen dollars ship off to be sold for thirty times their value.
Ana is her mother's daughter, however, and follows her own muse. She works in the sweatshop, yes, but sows seeds of dissent among her female brethren. Ana indulges talk of college from her hopeful teacher (TV's George Lopez) and talk of dating from her Anglo friend Jimmy (Brian Sites), who finds her beautiful just the way she is. That Ana is overweight becomes--with Ana's growing self-possession--more a point of pride than shame, which rocks the world of the hefty women of the sweatshop (including Carmen).
The ensemble here is strong, through and through, with newcomer Ferrara and veteran Ontiveros (Chuck&Buck) sparring like pros. The images are mostly bright and colorful, and the music (from Perez Prado to Ozomatli) pumps energy through the endeavor. The lovely romance between Ana and Jimmy moves credibly, tentatively, through sexual milestones to a satisfyingly unforced resolution.
The conflicts of Real Women Have Curves are obvious, and screenwriters Josefina Lopez and George LaVoo resolve them in obvious and mostly uplifting ways. But why not? It's difficult to begrudge the rare, sane alternative to the super-modeling of Hollywood's gleaming, anorexic genetic freaks, and a picture which sends a message of hope--via education--to the next generation of economic disadvantage. Plus, Real Women Have Curves has a infectious, rollicking spirit to match its good heart; it's not exactly a laugh factory, but it is smile-worthy.