text:
Capcom Talks Mega Man, Franchise Fatigue And More
For our article "What's Happening at Capcom" in issue 225 of Game Informer, we spoke with Christian Svensson, Capcom's senior vice president of strategic planning and business development. We talked about Capcom's role in the Japanese game market, the fan fallout over Mega Man Legends 3, working with Western developers, and more.
Is there one core philosophy that Capcom holds in order to remain such a relevant Japanese publisher in a world where critics prophesize the country's declining relevancy in the game market?
I think what pundits are reacting to is a fairly marked divergence in consumer tastes in the Japanese market from Western markets and perhaps even other Asian markets (particularly China and Korea, which are so PC online focused). I don't dispute that. For me, the disconnect in the pundits' conclusion though, is the supposition that Japanese publishers can only appeal to Japanese tastes. I disagree that that is a foregone conclusion, and not just as it applies to Capcom, but probably to one or maybe two other major Japanese publishers as well.
To that end, Capcom's strategy for remaining relevant globally is really a multi-pronged approach. Console and PC games will remain at the core of what we do for the foreseeable future, and our teams in Osaka and Tokyo will remain masters at creating products that resonate globally. Our technology will remain at the cutting edge, easily able to compete with the best from the West. Most experiments in new IP will be lead by Japan, but we'll also be trying collaborative new takes on our existing brands using Western developers, as seen with Dead Rising 2, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, DmC and other titles we'll be revealing in the future. Lastly, you will also see some new IP being born in the West, made specifically for Western audiences but with significant input from our seasoned Japanese creators.
Another point of expansion is within the mobile and social spaces. Our mobile team at Beeline, which is based in the West, has been a leader in iOS gaming, forging new ground outside our core brands and touching broader audiences worldwide. We'll be trying to apply their learnings to mobile content that makes use of our core brands, which have global appeal, with our mobile teams from Japan. Additionally, we will be making investments in the social gaming space. We'll have more news to come on that when we're ready but suffice to say, I think we'll be tackling that space a bit differently than what will immediately jump to your mind.
Lastly, expanded global presence will also increase our visibility to new legions of fans across all of our businesses.
So to sum up, yes, Capcom is a Japanese company, but we have global operations and reach and brands that continue to resonate globally. It'd be a huge mistake to write us off when we're really just getting warmed up.
Mega Man has played an important role in Capcom's catalogue for many years, but recently he's been missing in action. Is the mascot's absence part of a larger plan to refocus at Capcom?
Change has been a constant during my six years at Capcom (vastly for the positive) but I want to be crystal clear on this point. Mega Man is a key brand for Capcom and will remain so. I don't have any products we've announced publicly that I can point to and say "see, I told you" but there are "top men" ("top men"? "Yes, top men") within Capcom thinking about the future of the brand and where it's going. We will have official announcements in due course.
From an outsider, Capcom appears to be in a state of unease with its community. Fans have reacted negatively to the canceled Mega Man games, specifically the cancellation of Mega Man Legends 3 after they were called upon for development help. What are Capcom's plans to win back the trust of their most hardcore fans?
This is absolutely an issue that keeps me up at night. Unfortunately there are times that we have to make decisions that don't make sense to the community and the fallout, while understandable is regrettable. Our relationships with fans are extremely important and I know we've got some that are disenfranchised right now.
Unfortunately, in this situation, there is no panacea. It's going to take time to rebuild those bridges. Product cycles are long and it'll be a little while until fans can see the light at the end of the tunnel. And the last thing I want to do is prematurely announce something in the name of sating the fans that gets cancelled or redirected later, thereby creating an even larger wound. I can only ask for people's patience.
In the meantime, we're going to be stepping up our community engagement efforts in the West.
For example, we recently introduced the concept of "Fright Clubs" for Resident Evil and Dead Rising projects patterned after our extremely popular "Fight Clubs". In addition we have now established Fight Clubs in the UK and will be rolling them out in Europe over the coming months. We've got a few ideas for how to expand these concepts to some of our other brands too, but I'm not ready to talk about those yet.
Lastly and possibly most importantly, we've got a relaunch of our extremely popular Capcom-Unity.com site coming soon that I hope will provide deeper engagement with Capcom employees and significantly expanded functionality.
Capcom appears to be placing heavy stock in its fighting games and Resident Evil. Is there any worry of oversaturating the market with these types of games?
It is fair to say that Resident Evil and Street Fighter are two of our pillar franchises and as such we want to continue their success. That said, we're aware of the risks of brand or even genre fatigue and we hope that by keeping things fresh, we can keep fans excited and minimize these risks. For example, moving from Street Fighter IV to Street Fighter X Tekken with major changes in brand and mechanics is a big deal. We've also taken the Resident Evil universe in a very different direction by introducing multiplayer focused, third person shooting gameplay in RE: Operation Raccoon City.
Though the company has a stable of trusted brands, Capcom is also taking chances with new IP like Dragon's Dogma and Asura's Wrath. Unlike previous efforts to create new IP like Dark Void, or reinvigorate an old franchise as with the Bionic Commando reboot, Asura's Wrath and Dragon's Dogma are both being developed in Japan. Does this signify a departure from working with Western developers on titles?
On the contrary, there is still a great willingness to work with external developers to compliment the output of our internal teams. We've been lucky enough to work with some extremely talented Western teams like Slant Six on RE: ORC, Ninja Theory working on DmC and Capcom Game Studios Vancouver, which was formerly Blue Castle Games until we acquired them, who did Dead Rising 2 and Dead Rising 2 Off The Record.
Naturally, you will be seeing future titles developed by Capcom Vancouver and we have other cool projects in the pipeline that are being developed by external studios, including some working on new IP.
Be sure to also check out our interview with former Capcom producer Ben Judd.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Friday, October 30, 2009
Is it wrong to gloat when you've managed to find a rare and desirable raw ingredient? Well, as soon as we were back in cell phone range from our mushroom hunt, I called my family in Texas to let them know that we had found four bagsful of chanterelles.
"I hate you," was my mother's reply. (In case you're wondering, this isn't the first time she's become nasty over foodstuffs. At least she didn't threaten to sever all contact this time.) And then she retaliated, "I'm poaching lobster." Who knew that the conversation would end with me being just as jealous as they were? Serves me right.
Cream of Chanterelle Soup with Wild Rice
Printable Recipe
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 ¾ pounds chanterelles, torn into bite-size pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ cup white wine
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme
1 sprig Italian parsley
¼ cup heavy cream
¾ cup wild rice
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Heat a large, heavy pot over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the onion, celery, and carrots and sauté for 10 to 12 minutes, or until soft. Increase the heat to high, add the chanterelles, and sauté for another 10 to 12 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and tomato paste and sauté 1 to 2 minutes more, or until fragrant. Stir in the flour. Add the wine and simmer, stirring, for a minute or so. Add the bay leaf, thyme, parsley, cream, and 2 ½ quarts water. Bring to a boil and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour, or until the flavors come together.
Meanwhile, place the wild rice into a medium pot and add enough water to cover by several inches. Add several large pinches of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Drain.
Discard the bay leaf, thyme sprig, and parsley sprig from the soup, remove from the heat, and puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Stir in the wild rice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.
Serves 6 as a main course. This is a vegetarian soup. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender but remember: never fill a blender more than half way with hot liquid. This means you will need to blend the soup in batches and reheat it before serving.
8 comments:
- chriesi said...
What a lovely soup! Beautiful photos!
- October 30, 2009 at 1:32 PM
- Ninette said...
Oh, I wish I had some of that soup! I love how your pics read very earthy and rustic. Nice job! Haha, and I love the one-upsmanship between loved ones.
- October 30, 2009 at 3:37 PM
- veron said...
I hate you too. ;) Seriously, you are so lucky. Those chanterelles are gorgeous and deicious!
- October 30, 2009 at 6:39 PM
- Anonymous said...
Ohhh, we're so jealous! We love chanterelles, too -- it's just as well they're rarely available where we shop, or we'd probably blow our food budget! Foraging food is great fun, though we're not confident enough with identifying mushrooms to eat anything other than sulphur-shelf without someone more knowledgable to confirm the 'shroom's identity.
When we make cream soups, we tend to keep them pretty simple: roux, milk, the star of the dish (asparagus, long beans, squash blossoms, etc.), some herbs / spices / salt / aromatics and, if it's a chowder, potatoes. This recipe looks delicious, though... if we ever have four bags of chanterelles, we'll give it a try! - October 31, 2009 at 7:10 AM
- kellypea said...
I swear. You are the reason I found myself purchasing a meager quantity of chanterelles from my market to the tune of $49.95/lb. two days ago. You sent a tweet out that you'd been gathering and I couldn't get them out of my head. The soup sounds divine! Lucky duck ; )
- October 31, 2009 at 10:24 AM
- The romantic query letter and the happy-ever-after said...
No one likes a show-off but i love your blog, thanks for sharing.
All the very best. - November 1, 2009 at 2:54 PM
- Ninette said...
Hi, come on over to my blog and see your Over the Top award. While you don't have to feel compelled to give out other Over the Top awards, I just wanted to recognize how much I love your blog. Btw, I also have linked your quajillo salsa recipe in another post I did yesterday. :)
- November 1, 2009 at 7:27 PM
- Lucy Vaserfirer said...
Thanks so much, I'm honored! - November 2, 2009 at 8:29 AM


text:
On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for FY2013 (HR 4310), which authorizes the Secretaries of the various military services to transfer back to Lackland Air Force Base or another location for adoption any Military Working Dog (MWD) who is to be retired and for whom "no suitable adoption is available at the military facility where the dog is located." This language is needed to ensure that the military returns MWDs to the US so that prospective adopters do not face that expense. The bill also authorizes the Secretary of Defense to create a program to provide veterinary care to adopted retired MWDs. Such a program will not involve federal funds. Representative Walter Jones, Jr. (R-NC) in the House and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in the Senate sponsored the original legislation on which these new provisions are based.
When it was revealed that one member of the elite commando team that raided Osama bin Laden's compound had four legs and a tail, the contributions of Military Working Dogs (MWDs) were thrust into a new light. While the precise role of "Cairo" is not known, it could have been anything from catching someone trying to escape the compound to sniffing out explosives and booby traps.
There have been many reports of the bravery of MWDs, the sacrifices they have made, the many lives they have saved, and even the suffering they have experienced from post-traumatic stress disorder. Some MWDs have served multiple tours of duty. The US Department of Defense reports that there are 2,700 MWDs in service within about 600 in war zones, and another 200 working through contractors. In 2010, MWD teams found at least 12,500 pounds of explosives, and probably more. It seems that everyone, from the dogs' handlers to top military brass, recognizes that MWDs are "not just a piece of equipment," but rather "heroes" and "true members of the military."
Except when the time came to discharge them. While MWDs are now eligible for adoption, they were entitled to no more consideration than equipment when it came to returning them to a home base. Thus, if placement was not possible in the country where the dog had been serving, then any potential adopter in the US had to pay the steep costs of transporting the dog stateside. Moreover, adopting families might have faced hundreds or thousands of dollars in veterinary care for problems related to their dogs' military service.
To rectify this inequity, Rep. Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-NC) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act (HR 4103 and S. 2134). This legislation (1) specified that MWDs are not to be considered as "equipment" and reclassifies them as canine members of the armed forces; (2) authorized the Secretary of the appropriate military service to transport any MWD back to the 341st Training Squadron or elsewhere for adoption; (3) authorized the Secretary of Defense to accept travel premiums (such as frequent flyer miles) to facilitate the adoption of an MWD; (4) authorized the Defense Secretary to contract with a private nonprofit entity to operate a system for providing veterinary care to adopted MWDs (no federal funds were to be used to maintain the system or provide veterinary care); and (5) directed the Defense Secretary to create some form of recognition for MWDs killed in action or for exceptional service.
The simple provisions of this bill acknowledged in a concrete way the service and sacrifice of these valuable and valued members of the military by recognizing them as true members of the armed services and by facilitating their adoption and access to appropriate veterinary care upon retirement.
As noted above, two important provisions of this legislation, regarding relocation upon retirement and veterinary care, were included in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013.


text:
Did you know that there's an appliance whose sole purpose is making quesadillas? Ever heard of a specialized breakfast sandwich warmer? That exists too. You can actually buy an appliance that is made specifically to create and keep breakfast sandwiches warm. There's an overwhelming number of kitchen appliances on the market place. With that comes the ever-present opportunity to overspend on appliances you probably don't really need.
This post originally appeared on ReadyForZero.
While there's no doubt that some can streamline the process of cooking, there are others that don't necessarily warrant the cost. To help decide what's worthy of a purchase, we've compiled tips that break down the process of choosing and also highlighted some of the best appliances to have in a frugal foodie's kitchen.
To avoid overspending on kitchen appliances, ask these five questions before making the big buy:
What's the Return on Value?
The answer to this question is the biggest deciding factor in whether an appliance is worth the purchase. To get worth out of a purchase you want to earn back value that meets and –ideally—exceeds what you spent on the item. There's a reason that refrigerators are standard in a kitchen. They have a consistent benefit to anyone storing perishables. Since that applies to most people, they have a high return on value.
Best bet for return on value appliance: Slow cooker
Expected Price: $50–$100
What makes it so cost effective: It's not so much the slow cooker itself that's valuable, it's value lies in the time that it frees up for a busy cook. While cost effective ingredients (like beans and end cut meats) simmer in the crock pot, you're free to go about focusing on other tasks in your life.
How Frequently Will You Use the Item?
You could own an electric ice cream maker that churns out the best ice cream that you've ever had but if you only use it a handful of times during the summer then it might never reach it's return on value. In that case, it doesn't make sense to buy an appliance that will be used infrequently.
Another way to look at the impact of buying something that won't be regularly utilized is to break down the cost per use. For the ice cream maker example above, if you use this appliance three times a year and the price of the appliance is $60.00, that means each use comes at a $20 cost–before adding ingredients. If you had an appliance that cost $60.00 and you used it every week, the price per use would be around $1.15 in the first year.
Best bet for frequently used appliance: Microwave
Expected cost: $60–$150
What makes it more frequently used than other appliances: It speeds up the cooking and reheating process. This efficiency alone is useful in most kitchens. And while it's not necessarily going to churn out a gourmet feast on its own, it did revolutionize the way that we utilize our cooking time.
Could You Make Do Without the Appliance?
This is the best question to help you distinguish if an appliance supports your needs or your wants. Many kitchen tasks can be completed without an appliance but we've come to rely on the convenience of having something perform an action for us. What kind of hard-line you draw between needing and wanting an appliance comes down to your preferences, but if you're really looking to pare down or save, then challenging your reason for buying an appliance will help you to avoid purchases that might not be useful long term. It's most effective if you take a hard look at your motives. Even things you might have considered indispensable aren't always necessary.
Best bet for useful and specialized performance category: Countertop blender
Expected cost: $40–$500 for the highest end (the range here is incredible)
What makes it so useful: Even the best of knife skills won't break down ice the way that blender blades can. Beyond smoothies, blenders also combine ingredients efficiently and quickly and is a smart addition for mixing and blending needs. A good blender can blend ingredients into pesto, hummus, peanut butter etc. and does so in a way that chopping and grinding by hand won't achieve.
Will Having to Clean the Appliance Deter You from Using It?
The number one example of a difficult to clean appliance is the food processor. While a valuable appliance in some people's kitchens, the amount of work spent disassembling and cleaning the blades can deter others. Think about the time from beginning to end, and whether you find the timeline reasonable.
The fussier an appliance, the less likely you are to take full advantage of it on a regular basis. When choosing something, keep ease of use in mind.
The easy to clean and useful appliance winner goes to: Hand mixer
Expected Cost: $30–$60
What makes it the best easy to clean appliance: For an avid baker, there's the coveted (and pricey) Kitchenaid stand-up mixer but most baking needs can be met quickly with a hand mixer. The best part about clean up with this appliance is that once you pop out the metal beaters, they're as easy to clean as a piece of silverware. It's a huge advantage when the "messy" part of an appliance detaches itself.
Do You Want It Just for the Novelty?
Some appliances fall into the "specialty appliance" category. Though fun, they're not generally considered necessary. You can file things like a quesadilla maker and a breakfast sandwich maker here. So before buying any appliance (or any home purchase) take the time to understand if you're just being dazzled the packaging, the marketing or just the general idea of it.
Best bet for a novelty appliance that still outperforms others: George Foreman Grill (or similar type of double heated electric grill)
Expected Price: $30–$50
Why the novelty could be worth it: Electric grills aren't completely necessary when you consider that most of the same results can be achieved with a pan and a stove-top, however they have their shining moments. Grilling meats and vegetables quickly and evenly is the biggest pro of this appliance.
Consider These Alternatives to Buying a Brand New Kitchen Appliance
Share appliances or borrow from a neighbor or friend: Yup, sharing appliances is a completely feasible thing for certain appliances. Obviously ones that have been installed into your kitchen can't be moved, but other small appliances can be shared among friends and family. Ask around and plan ahead, and you may have access to all sorts of appliances without having to buy each one.
Buy used: Buying used is a great option if you're eyeing a pricy appliance but want to save money. Two stipulations to this suggestion, though: check for quality and don't discount the above questions. If you really want to see what kinds of things have a low return on value or at the very least seem to be more expendable, visit the appliance section of your local Goodwill or second hand store. There, you'll probably find an assortment of mini espresso machines, waffle makers and breakfast sandwich makers. Just because they're there at a discount doesn't mean that they need a new home in your kitchen!
Take your personal needs into account: If you buy a refrigerator but store nothing in it, your lifestyle will not benefit from the purchase. This goes for any appliance. Even though a slow cooker can be an excellent tool to turn low-cost ingredients into a meal, if it will remain in your cupboard then it doesn't make sense to buy one. Know your limits and preferences and include them as a factor in your decision. Though appliances can be beneficial on paper, they're only beneficial if you take advantage of their function.
Which Kitchen Appliances Can Help You Stick to a Food Budget?| ReadyForZero
Claire is a Content Intern at ReadyForZero. She's a Bay Area native with an affinity for travel and food who enjoys writing about personal finance and many other topics.
Want to see your work on Lifehacker? Email Tessa.


text:
Hyperrealistic Sculptures of Everyday Objects
Robin Antar is a Brooklyn artist who creates oversized replicas of American staples out of stone. Despite being made out of marble and other inedible materials, her statues looks good enough to eat! Antar's creations are currently being displayed at The Waterfall Gallery & Mansion in NYC, June 12 through August 31, 2014.
"My passion for sculpting is expressed in my creation of the virtual records of contemporary culture," Antar said in a press release. "I capture everyday objects in carved stone, using a technique I invented more than 20 years ago."
Antar starts with a similar color of stone or simply dyes it herself. Due to being blind in one eye, she keeps the model close at hand instead of using a photo. She then spends countless hours carving, chiseling, sanding, and mounting to create huge replicas of food and clothing. For some pieces, she adds other materials like string to add to the effect. The result is a plethora of realistic statues that make you look twice before you realize they're made of stone (and huge!).
Antar wasn't always interested in pop art. Although she has been sculpting since high school, her work was largely abstract. It wasn't until she helped a student finish their project that she became intrigued with realism. She was commissioned to create a Nike shoe and then eventually carved an entire set of footwear.
After 9/11, Antar wanted to celebrate American culture and decided on the most American thing she could think of: junk food. The artist went on to create a whole collection of condiments, cookies, and candy. She also created other American symbols like a jean jacket and boxing gloves.
"I've achieved my goal when the U.S. government writes to tell me I cannot copyright a work of art because it too closely resembles the product that I chose to record in stone," she wrote. "The day I received that letter was one of the happiest days of my life."


text:
Following the recent 2nd Annual Conference of Restorative Justice Practices International I had the privilege of spending several days on Salt Spring Island off the coast of Vancouver, British Columbia, with three experienced restorative justice practitioners who are former students of mine – Catherine Bargen, Aaron Lyons and Matthew Hartman. Our conversations were wide-ranging while kayaking, hiking and hanging out.
Catherine Bargen, a long-time practitioner and visionary thinker, raised an important issue that deserves more discussion. The rest of this entry is in her words, recorded and edited with her permission.
When I learned about restorative justice I felt that it applied to all of life and shouldn't just be about criminal justice. I've made a career of thinking outside the criminal justice box – for example, restorative justice in schools – and I continue to think the work being done in this field is very important.
More recently I became aware that there are all these other movements in restorative justice. In fact, the voices seem to be most vibrant outside of criminal justice, like in schools; even environmental conservation officers and all kinds of groups like dispute resolution centers are really grabbing hold. But they are saying, "We're not in the justice system, so let's call it restorative practices and apply what we've learned from restorative justice to a new context."
Restorative justice provides a gateway for people to look at the world through a new lens that goes far beyond criminal justice: it applies to everyday life as we negotiate our social relationships. We need to do it in all of life. So in our enthusiasm – myself included – we have kept the word restorative and put it in front of much of the good work we are doing that involves people, repair and relationship building.
Suddenly I've had to step back and ask, "Why are we hanging on to the word 'restorative' and not the word 'justice?' Is it important to keep the term restorative justice? When we use the word restorative without the word justice, are we still talking about the same thing?"
I think that when many of us were introduced to restorative justice, we fell in love with the values and the amazing transformations we saw happening. We then say, "Wow, this restorative justice is really onto something. There in action are the values I want to see in life."
But if we attach the word restorative to all the good relationship-based work we are doing, if we start saying it's about restorative "practices" and restorative "action," I'm nervous that we're going to lose an important piece of what the movement could accomplish – which is focusing on justice issues.
Instead we'll be taking these principles and doing great work but it may not have much to do with justice anymore. Or we'll be at risk of distilling restorative justice down to practices like victim offender mediation or circles; we'll stop having a dialogue around "what is justice" and only discuss "what is restorative."
It may be that it is easier to focus on restorative because it's the nice value stuff but it's harder to focus on justice because that may start to involve power issues. And it might get personal: where do we personally hold power and privilege, and how does justice and injustice show up in our own lives? That's harder to confront than, "How am I being restorative?"
If justice is about bringing fairness and right relationships into being, it often means that we have to give things up. We have to give up privilege to bring justice into situations. Many of us leading the restorative justice movement are privileged. What about our own place in all this? Where might we be ignoring the justice issues in our own lives?
I'm not accusing anyone or putting myself out of this. It's just that I don't see that conversation happening very often anymore: How am I living justly? Where am I contributing to injustice in the way I treat people I'm around, in the systems I'm in? In my relationship to the earth? Those are all justice questions and I don't see many of us asking these questions under a "restorative" as opposed to a "restorative justice" framework.
More questions need to be asked about how is it that we're hanging onto the restorative language and not the justice language. I want to see people asking questions about what the justice piece is in all this – I'd like to see this question come back to the forefront of the movement. Are we parting ways with the justice aspect? How can we keep the justice aspect alive?
I don't want to give the wrong impression. I think people should continue to do the good work they are drawn to do, AND we need a serious discussion on what is restorative, what is justice,and where we are going. It's time to check in with the vision. The vision is widening and going in many directions—there are lots of good things about that, but let's be clear about the implications and explore the possible consequences.
Below is Catherine's choice of portrait from Salt Spring Island:


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
The City's Public Works Division will remove dead animals in the roadway. Call the Police Department at their non-emergency number 513-988-6341 and report the issue. They will determine if Public Works needs to be contacted. Removal of dead animals from private property is the responsibility of the property owner. Your veterinarian can help you with a referral.
Show All Answers
The Public Works Division may be contacted at 513-428-0195 for all street and right-of-way repairs.
Brush and limbs can be tied into bundles not more than two-feet by four-feet and set out for Rumpke to pick up on your regular trash collection day. The Trenton Public Works Department will remove storm-damaged limbs and debris only. Limbs must be placed curb side so that Public Works Crews can access them.
The City contracts with Rumpke to provide this service for Trenton residents. Please contact the City Building at 513-988-6305 for questions regarding trash collection and scheduling.
The city does not have a landfill. Rumpke, the city's contracted trash hauler, operates a landfill.
The City conducts a leaf collection program for residents each fall between the second half of October through the end of December. Leaves should be placed in narrow rows or small piles in the curb, so that the Street Sweeper can clean them up. Residents who choose not to participate in this program may put their leaves in biodegradable bags for pickup by Rumpke on your regular trash collection day.
Yes, the property owner is responsible for the removal of snow and ice from sidewalks during inclement weather within the first four hours after daylight following or during a fall of snow. The treatment of sidewalks by residents helps school children and other pedestrians reach their destinations and avoid the dangers of adverse weather conditions. Each homeowner is also required to clear a pathway to and from their mailboxes so that your mail carriers may access your mailbox unobstructed. If they cannot drive up to your mailbox without leaving their vehicle, they may not deliver your mail that day. You can find information about our snow removal program.
You can report a streetlight issue using the methods described on our Streetlight page.
Appliances should be placed at the curbside on your regular trash pick-up day. If disposing of an appliance containing refrigerants, such as a refrigerator, freezer, or air conditioning unit, the refrigerant must be removed by a heating and air conditioning contractor prior to placing the item at the curbside for pick up. Special arrangements should be made prior to pick. Please contact Rumpke at 513-742-2900 to schedule for large appliance removal.
Furniture should be tightly wrapped in clear plastic shrink wrap and placed curbside for pick up. Special arrangements should be made prior to pick. Please contact Rumpke at 513-742-2900 to schedule for large furniture removal.
Public Works crews will inspect, clean, repair, and replace damaged structural storm sewer components that are located within the public right-of-way or public drainage easements. Such components would include curb inlets, catch basins, culverts, headwalls, and storm sewer pipe segments. For additional information about the City's stormwater quality management program and storm sewer maintenance, please visit our stormwater quality management program page which will be coming soon.
The City's Public Works Division at 513-428-0195 maintains storm sewers. Storm sewers are identified as the large grates in streets and near curbs.
To report a leaking or otherwise defective fire hydrant, contact the City of Trenton Public Works Division at 513-988-6304 or 513-428-0195.
To report a potential water main break or service line leak within the Right-of-Way, contact the City Building at 513-988-6304 during normal business hours. Please contact the Police Department's non-emergency number, 513-988-6341 after hours.


text: Charlottesville has building repair and remodeling contractors. A house, like anything that is both exposed to the elements and used on a regular basis, is subject to wear and tear. Thus, repairing is essential. Also, one can want a new look for the house or sections of it when the original look begins to seem tired and jaded. Repair and remodeling contractors in Charlottesville are the professional to consult for such cases. They offer innovative construction, remodeling and design services, top quality materials, high quality craftsmanship and dedicated customer service to ensure the end result is satisfactory for all concerned. Some of the services that one can avail of include electrical, plumbing and mechanical services, changing flooring, woodworking, repairing roofing and siding, and remodeling kitchens and baths. A good contractor works in a certain manner. He mutual negotiates a competitive price for his services. He uses materials that are good quality, and come with a warranty. The sub-contractors he hires are experienced and insured for their work. He values customer feedback and incorporates them in the work. He is quick, and works efficiently, to prevent callbacks. A well done repair or remodeling can brighten up the entire house, making the service well worth it.


text:
Vulnerabilities in the design of New York`s World Trade Center (WTC) are likely to have contributed to the collapse of its two main towers and adjacent buildings, according to Ronald O. Hamburger, a structural engineer currently investigating the Sept. 11 disaster.
``These buildings were incredibly strong, especially with respect to resisting dead loads and wind loads, but they also had a number of vulnerabilities,`` Hamburger told a packed auditorium on Nov. 29 when he delivered the second John A. Blume Distinguished Lecture - an annual event sponsored by Stanford`s Blume Earthquake Engineering Center.
``What New York City experienced on Sept. 11 was very much like an earthquake,`` he told the Stanford audience. ``Life loss exceeded anything we in the United States have experienced in an earthquake, and the financial loss exceeded anything we`ve experienced - and it all occurred within one square mile.``
As chief structural engineer and senior vice president of ABS Consulting Inc. in Oakland, Calif., Hamburger is a member of an engineering team commissioned by the Structural Engineers Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) to assess the performance of the WTC and surrounding buildings in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks.
He pointed out that four buildings were immediately destroyed in the WTC assault, and three others suffered irreparable damage and are in the process of being razed. Another half-dozen buildings were harmed structurally but can be repaired, and more than 50 others were damaged by the enormous debris cloud and the burning material that followed the collapse of the twin towers.
``Thirty million square feet of commercial space were affected, including 10 million square feet that were taken out permanently - the equivalent of all the financial office space in the city of San Francisco,`` he noted.
Hijackers` plan
Using photographs of the WTC taken before, during and after the Sept. 11 assaults, Hamburger presented a brief chronology of events. He noted that the first jetliner banked into the north tower at a 45-degree angle, damaging floors 92 to 95. About 40 minutes later, the second jet crashed into the south tower, hitting floors 78 to 84.
``I believe that the hijackers flew the aircraft into the lowest part of the buildings they had access to,`` Hamburger commented. ``If there had been no nearby structures, they would have hit the towers lower.``
One member of the audience asked Hamburger if he believed that the pilots intentionally banked the planes at an angle to take out as many floors as possible.
``Yes,`` he replied.
According to Hamburger`s preliminary analysis, the impact of the jetliners shattered and fractured two-thirds of the support columns on one face of each tower, causing the partial collapse of several floors. Debris penetrated each building`s core and may have damaged the core columns located in the center of the 110-story structures.
``The damaged columns held up the weight of the building, so logic would dictate that the building would fall,`` said Hamburger, ``but that didn`t happen. Because of its great structural redundancy, the load was distributed to other parts of the building. We have reason to believe that, without the fire, the buildings could have stood indefinitely and been repaired. But we did have a fire.``
Born of fire
Hamburger noted that the fuel in both jetliners burned off rapidly, despite media reports that the aircraft continued burning long after the crash.
``The impact probably caused a failure of the fireproofing in the affected areas,`` he said. ``We think that the fuel ignited several floors in the building,`` he added, which had a devastating effect on the steel support beams.
``Steel is born of fire,`` Hamburger explained. ``As it`s reheated, it expands and loses its rigidity. Above 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, it loses a significant amount of its strength.``
He said the extreme heat from the fires might have caused the steel floors to expand and bow, which may have caused the support columns to bend inward and buckle. Heat also may have caused the steel flooring to separate from the columns, or the columns themselves may have heated up and buckled outward.
Hamburger and his colleagues have not yet determined which of these scenarios occurred on Sept. 11, but there is little doubt that the collapse of the upper floors of the WTC towers brought down both structures.
``Think of the impact of dropping a 25-story building straight down,`` Hamburger told the audience. ``It was like a pile driver, which is why it collapsed as it did.``
While acknowledging the many innovations that went into the design of the WTC towers in the 1960s - including one of the earliest applications of computer stress analysis - Hamburger also cited several features that made the buildings vulnerable to the intense fires that ultimately caused their collapse.
``The floor trusses [joists] were relatively flimsy. As the tower collapsed, the trusses just fell apart,`` he observed, noting that trusses are difficult to fireproof.
Hamburger noted that each tower was constructed using a novel tube frame system designed to resist winds of up to 80 miles per hour. But the connections of the tube frame were weak, causing them to break apart and become three-pronged missiles that crashed into the street and into nearby buildings.
Hamburger also discussed the collapse of WTC Building 7, which housed the offices of Con Edison, the FBI and the CIA.
``WTC-7 was a 47-story building and became a two-story pile of rubble,`` Hamburger said, ``making it the first major structure in the United States to collapse because of fire.``
Future designs
He pointed out that fires frequently occur in high-rise buildings and noted that between 1994 and 1998, 30 fires occurred in the United States in buildings that were 50 stories or taller.
``The question is, should fire protection standards be changed in some significant way in the aftermath of Sept. 11,`` Hamburger asked, ``and should structural engineering designs include consideration of fire load and the response of structures? Right now, structural engineers know very little about fire.``
He and his colleagues will attempt to answer those questions when the ASCE report is made public next spring.
Does it make sense to design buildings to withstand such events as Sept. 11 in the future? ``In my opinion, no,`` Hamburger concluded, although he does support the decision implemented after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 to redesign federal buildings to withstand the accidental loss of major structural elements.
The Blume Lecture series honors John A. Blume, often called ``the father of earthquake engineering,`` who earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees at Stanford. In 1974 he helped underwrite the John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, which promotes earthquake engineering research and education. Today at age 92, Blume remains a consulting professor in Stanford`s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
News Service website:
Stanford Report (university newspaper):
Most recent news releases from Stanford:
To change contact information for these news releases:
email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: 650-723-2558
CONTACT: Mark Shwartz, News Service, 650-723-9296; firstname.lastname@example.com
COMMENT: Anne Kiremidjian, Blume Earthquake Center, 650-723-4164;email@example.com. Ron Hamburger, ABS Consulting, 510-817-3100; email@example.com
EDITORS: Graphic and photo can be downloaded at http://newsphotos.stanford.edu (slug: ``World Trade Center``).
Relevant Web URLs:
http://www.asce.org/emerg_document_pub.cfm or


text:
8686.0 - Sports Industries, Australia, 1994-95
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/01/1997
Page tools: Print Page Print All | ||
Contains detailed income and expenditure data for organisations involved in sports industries in Australia. In addition, characteristics of employment and main occupation of persons employed are also included. Information on sports grounds and facilities and selected performance ratios are also included. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window. |


text:
By Col. Richard Goldenberg Defense Video & Imagery Distribution System
NEW YORK – Gen. Frank Grass, Chief of the National Guard Bureau, visited lower Manhattan here March 15 to learn about a growing partnership between the 9/11 Tribute Center and the National Guard.
Touring the 9/11 Tribute Center on Liberty Street, in the shadows of the former World Trade Center site, Grass and New York Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Patrick Murphy discussed the similar ways that both the Guard and Tribute seek to educate the public about the significance of 9/11 on history.The 9/11 Tribute Center offers visitors to the World Trade Center site a place where they can connect with people from the September 11th community of victims, survivors and responders. Through walking tours, exhibits and programs, the 9/11 Tribute Center offers a "Person to Person History," linking visitors who want to understand these historic events with those who experienced them.
Bringing the two groups together was retired Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, chairman of the Rainbow Division Veterans Foundation who led a significant part of the New York National Guard's response at the World Trade Center and went on to lead National Guard forces during a combat deployment to Iraq as commander of the 42nd Infantry Division Headquarters. Taluto retired in 2009 as the Adjutant General of New York.
"A lot of our nation's blood and treasure went overseas from right here," Taluto said of the WTC site. "That humanity of hundreds of thousands of Guardsmen who went overseas to fight all started here."
"This is our Lexington and Concord for this period of time, for this generation," Taluto said.
The terror attacks here at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 forever changed the way Americans and the world viewed New York City. The same is true for the National Guard, said Jennifer Adams, Chief Executive Officer of the 9/11 Tribute Center.
"Your story is a very positive and unique one," Adams said. "You helped bring normalcy back to New Yorkers."
"It's our job," Taluto remarked. "That's what the National Guard does. And by the way, we've never left this city since 9/11," describing the standing homeland security task force kept on duty in New York City continually since 2001.
In the years and countless deployments that followed, the National Guard emerged as an operational force for the Army and Air Force, providing Airmen and Soldiers for contingency operations that can be traced back to the Guard's response at ground zero in Manhattan or the skies over the country in the aftermath of 9/11.
"I was the chief of Army National Guard operations on 9/11," Grass said, "and there's so much more to the Guard response than that. From the airports to the border missions, 9/11 changed us in the Guard."
The senior leaders agreed that educating the future generations of National Guard members and the public at large is a priority, especially now as a new generation of Guardsmen and women join the ranks.
"It is a difficult topic," Adams said, "How do you teach 9/11?"
"How can we send off our beautiful men and women off to war and then bring them here and standing next to them are a school group that knows nothing of 9/11?" Ielpi asked. "We are only scratching the surface with this, with the National Guard."
One method is the current 9/11 Era Gallery, a permanent exhibit in the National Guard Memorial Museum, operated by the National Guard Education Foundation in Washington. Like the 9/11 Tribute Center, the gallery highlights the National Guard's transformation since September 11, 2001.
"The Guard is the leading role in this," said Lee Ielpi, Vice President and founder of the 9/11 Tribute Center. "We have to get recognition, sure, but that's not the end of it. We need education, and we have a long way to go."
"Time is passing and telling your story is important," Adams said. "Your role is unique. You continued your response, not just in the Middle East, but here in New York to this very day."
The 9/11 Tribute Center hosts approximately half a million visitors each year, Adams said, while the 9/11 Memorial Site across from Liberty Street sees some five million visitors from across the nation and across the world.
"The National Guard and how you work is something people need to know," she said.
Grass related the discussion with the his counterpart at the New York Joint Force Headquarters as the National Guard tackled the many homeland security missions for Operation Noble Eagle even as New York maintained a large presence on state active duty in and around lower Manhattan.
"This is our state and our city," Grass said was the New York National Guard response to the many missions that evolved after 9/11, "we got it."Dvids


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
It is important to cancel your ride as early as possible. By doing this, you make it possible for other riders to get the transportation they need.
Call 319-892-5170; the phone is staffed with an employee Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There is a voice mail system in place at all times to assist you in directing your call. You may call anytime day or night to cancel a ride. You must cancel at least one hour prior to the ride to avoid a missed ride (see the missed ride policy below).
If you are calling after hours for a cancellation, please leave the name of the rider, telephone number, date(s) and time(s) of trips you want cancelled. It is also helpful to include the pick-up and drop-off addresses of all the trips you wish to cancel.
Drivers cannot make scheduling changes. Please do not ask them to make any changes for you. All schedule changes must be done through direct communication with the LIFTS scheduler. Please call for any changes -319-892-5170.
Show All Answers
For persons within the Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha metro areas, Linn County LIFTS is a complimentary paratransit service. This means it is for persons who are unable to ride the public transit system because of a mental or physical disability. To be qualified, you must complete and submit an ADA Paratransit Application. Your application will be processed and a determination will be made as soon as possible.
LIFTS also provides accessible door-to-door public transportation services for senior citizens, people with disabilities and the general public throughout non-metropolitan areas of Linn County. For this service no qualification process is required. Please note – Persons in rural Linn County requesting rides should give as much as a week's lead time to get their rides scheduled. Call 319-892-5170 if you have questions.
To make a reservation to ride LIFTS, call 319-892-5170, dispatch will be connected. Please call between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Reservations can be made up to seven days in advance.
LIFTS will not accept reservations in the form of a phone message, but you can leave us a message to call you back and make a reservation. Individuals should schedule rides at least one day prior to but no more than thirty days in advance of the day they need a ride. LIFTS will provide same-day service if space is available.
Be prepared to provide the following information when speaking with our staff:
LIFTS staff will then negotiate a pickup time within a two hour window (one hour each way) of your initially requested time. Once a time has been negotiated the bus may arrive 15 minutes before or after this time based on delays or cancellations that occur.
Within the Metro Area:
The basic cost of a one-way ride is $3.00. Riders must pay when boarding the vehicle. The correct fare must be paid in cash, tokens, or return ride cards. Drivers are NOT able to provide change. Riders who do not have the proper fare will not be transported.
If you need a personal care attendant, (a person or persons necessary for your health care), authorization must be approved by Cedar Rapids Transit. This will be asked on the eligibility application for LIFTS. This will allow the attendant(s) to ride for free – please notify the scheduler at the time the ride is requested. Companions are different than personal care attendants. One (1) companion is eligible to ride with you for the regular fare.
Extra companions (persons traveling with you simply for convenience) are permitted AS AVAILABILITY ALLOWS. Each companion will pay the $3.00 per one-way trip.
Outside the Metro Area::
The cost of a ride outside the metro area is $3.00 one way for senior citizens and disabled. The cost for general public is $6.00 one way.
Service Animals:
The scheduler needs to know if a Service Animal will accompany you when scheduling the trip. Service animals are welcome on LIFTS buses.
If you need a personal care attendant, (a person or persons necessary for your health care), authorization must be approved by Cedar Rapids Transit. This will be asked on the eligibility application for LIFTS. This will allow the attendant(s) to ride for free – please notify the scheduler at the time the ride is requested. Companions are different than personal care attendants. One (1) companion is eligible to ride with you for the regular fare. Extra companions (persons traveling with you simply for convenience) are permitted as availability allows. Each companion will pay the $3 per one-way trip.
In accordance with the U.S. Department of Transportation regulations, "service animal" means any guide dog, signal dog or other animal individually trained to work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders and sounds, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.
Your service animal is welcome on LIFTS. No permit is required, but you may be asked to confirm that your animal is a service animal. You are responsible for the care and supervision of your animal while on board. A service animal should remain on the floor or in a customer's lap, but cannot be given its own seat. Uncontrolled service animals or service animals which threaten other customers cannot be accommodated.
An animal which solely provides emotional support, well-being, comfort or companionship is not a service animal. These types of animals, "companion animals," are considered pets are not allowed to be transported on LIFTS buses, unless they are in an approved pet carrier.
In the metro area (Cedar Rapids, Hiawatha, and Marion) service is provided:
Holidays - LIFTS is closed New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Times may vary for the observed holiday dates, if they differ from the actual holiday.
LIFTS does provide limited service on Saturdays, but does not provide service on Sundays. Saturday service is generally limited to the Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha metro areas (no rural/county service).


text:
i don't know if anyone still reads this blog, but if you do, and you'd like to see more then i've begun another journal of sorts. i posted photos on it this spring, just for myself, but not much writing yet. in any case, you are most welcome to come by.
caroline / linn


text:
The #RLTM Scoreboard: Social Networking Stats for the Week
Facebook: | 1 billion active users | via Facebook |
Twitter: | over 500 million users | via Twopcharts |
Qzone: | 599 million monthly active users | via TechCrunch |
Sina Weibo: | over 400 million users | via Yahoo |
Renren: | over 170 million users | via iResearch iUser Tracker |
VK: | over 190 million users | via VK |
LinkedIn: | 200 million active users | via LinkedIn |
Google Plus: | 135 million monthly active users | via Google |
Tumblr: | 100 million blogs | via Tumblr |
Instagram: | 100 million users | via Instagram |
Tagged: | 20 million unique monthly users | via Tagged |
Foursquare: | nearly 30 million users | via Adweek |
Pinterest: | over 25 million users | via AdWeek |
Reddit: | 55 million monthly unique visitors | via Reddit |
Please email firstname.lastname@example.com if you have additional updates, or a social network that you feel should be on the list.
Social Gaming: 24% More Facebook Users Will Pay to Play
An emailed statement from Facebook earlier this week said the number of people paying to play games on the platform is up 24% from a year ago.
Facebook initially depended largely on gaming developer Zynga to provide games and bring in people who wanted to play. However, some social gamers became "alienated" or unhappy due to the "the barrage of marketing from [Zynga's] programs."
Changing tactics, Facebook has now distanced itself from Zynga and is encouraging more game developers to join the site. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Facebook paid a total of $2 billion to developers in 2012; last year more than 100 developers generated more than $1 million each in revenue on Facebook.
And it appears to be working: desktop-game users on the site rose from 235 million in October to now over 250 million. As the number of gaming options continues to grow – and as Facebook maintains stricter controls on how much developers can market to users – how quickly will social gaming continue to expand on the platform?


text:
Pietro Bandini (1852–1917)
Father Pietro Bandini, a Roman Catholic priest, is most widely remembered in Arkansas for the 1898 founding of Tontitown (Washington County), located in the northwestern corner of the state, which he named after Henry de Tonti, an Italian explorer who established, with René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, the first European settlement in Arkansas in 1686. However, the founding of Tontitown is but a regional capstone on a life spent working for the betterment of Italian immigrant communities in the nation.
Bandini was born on March 31, 1852, in Forli, which is in the Romagna region of Italy. Little is known about Bandini's family, described as of the upper class and refined. He is known to have had two older brothers, one of whom was also a priest in the Society of Jesus. Bandini spent 1869 through 1871 at the Jesuit novitiate in the principality of Monaco, after which he began the first of three years of study of philosophy there. In September 1874, he began his first year of regency, or teaching and perfecting, at the Jesuit seminary at Aix en Provence in Lyons, France, where he studied theology. He was ordained a priest on September 30, 1877, at Bertinoro, south of Forli in the Romagna. His first assignment was at St. Vincenzo de' Paoli, where he served as chaplain to the Brothers of Oratory of Our Lady Mother of Mercy and where he later established a school for boys and girls dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
Father Bandini was sent to the Jesuits' Rocky Mountain Mission in Montana Territory in 1882 as a Jesuit Missionary to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church in Helena, Montana. There, he studied both English and Indian languages. A year later, he was stationed at St. Ignatius Mission, Montana, where he built a church and school and traveled into Indian Villages instructing both Crow and Kootenai Indians in the Catholic faith. He later successfully started a mission for Cheyenne Indians. Bandini returned to Europe in March 1889, where he was appointed vice-rector of St. Thomas Aquinas College in Cuneo, Italy. He remained in this position for one year, after which he returned to the United States and established St. Raphael's Italian Benevolent Society, the purpose of which was to assist Italian immigrants at the Port of New York.
Bandini wrote his superior, Archbishop Corrigan, "I guess it is my right and duty to go among them, and I beg Your Grace to appoint me for the temporal and spiritual relieve [sic] of my people." Bandini was an efficient and effective worker in sustaining the Italian mission in New York. He assisted over 20,000 of his countrymen entering America, finding housing and employment for them. Bandini continued his work in New York for five years before the opportunity to explore his life-long dream of founding a colony for Italian immigrants presented itself.
In December 1896, Bandini took the first step toward proving his theory that, by placing Italian immigrants in the interior of the United States, on land similar to that of their homeland, they could prosper and become useful citizens. With the approval of his superior, a man named Satolli, he requested that he be assigned as chaplain for a colony of Italian immigrants being enlisted by Austin Corbin, a wealthy New York industrialist, to work the land on his Sunnyside Plantation in Chicot County.
The first group of Italians came to the United States aboard the Chateau Vquen and docked at the port of New Orleans on November, 26, 1895, arriving at Sunnyside later that month. Bandini himself arrived in Sunnyside in January 1897 with a second group of Italian immigrants traveling by railway from New York. Upon arriving in Sunnyside, Father Bandini was faced with overwhelming problems. Over 125 people of the original 100 Italian families died of malaria—contaminated water, poor sanitation, mosquitoes, and the climate contributed to disease.
Austin Corbin lost his life in a buggy accident in June 1896; the new owners, uninterested in the welfare of the Italian immigrants, failed to improve the unhealthy conditions. A few families with enough money returned to Italy. Poverty forced the rest to remain, and they turned to Bandini for survival. He realized that Sunnyside in the Arkansas Delta was not the place for his people. This opportunity to test his theory of placing Italian immigrants in an environment similar to that of their homeland could only improve the lives of his countrymen.
Bandini had previously traveled through the Ozark Plateau, where he found land rather like the homeland of these immigrants, with 1,500-foot elevations, a healthful climate, and passable soil. In January 1898, Bandini returned to northwestern Arkansas and found 800 acres of farmland for sale. Before he could purchase the land, forty families from Sunnyside arrived, and the owner increased the asking price of eight dollars an acre to fifteen dollars an acre. Father Bandini complied; thus was Tontitown founded.
During their first winter, the settlers lived in deserted farm buildings, surviving on rabbit, pasta, and polenta, a hearty dish made with cornmeal and water. Father Bandini put an abandoned schoolhouse to use as a school and place for church services. He divided the land into parcels of ten acres, and a random drawing provided a fair distribution of the land.
In the spring, the immigrants planted vegetable gardens, and family vineyards providing them with vegetables and grapes for wine and jelly. Under the leadership of Father Bandini, these vineyards were expanded into a commercial venture. Tontitown's grape industry changed the face of northwestern Arkansas.
Tontitown prospered and, by 1905, was known as the perfect example of colonization. That same year, the Italian ambassador of Washington DC, Baron E. Mayor des Planches, came for a visit. Surprised by the beauty and prosperity of Tontitown, he asked, "What has done it?" "It's Father Bandini here and his people," a local citizen replied.
Bandini prepared a pamphlet titled "Tontitown, Arkansas, the World's Ideal Vineyard" for the Kansas City and Memphis Railway Company, which distributed it throughout the country, bringing more Italian families to settle in Tontitown.
In 1911, Bandini returned to Italy. Pope Pius X and the Queen Mother Margherita, widow of King Umberto, king of Sardinia and the first king of Italy, pledged to work to change the way immigration was conducted, promising to adopt Father Bandini's methods of colonization. Bandini received a medal from the Italian government, a gold chalice and a set of red vestments from the pope, along with a second set of white vestments from the Queen Mother Margherita.
Father Bandini died on January 2, 1917, at St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock (Pulaski County) of heart failure. He is interred in St. Joseph Cemetery in Tontitown.
For additional information:
"Father Bandini Dies in Hospital." Springdale News, January 5, 1915, p. 1.
Lemke, W. J., ed. "The Story of Tontitown." Washington County Historical Society Bulletin 44 (1963).
Lewellen, Jeffrey. "Sheep Amidst the Wolves: Father Bandini and the Colony at Tontitown." Arkansas Historical Quarterly 45 (Spring 1986): 19–40.
Rothrock, Thomas. "The Story of Tontitown, Arkansas." Arkansas Historical Quarterly 16 (Spring 1957): 84–88.
Mary Vaughan
Tontitown Historical Museum
No comments on this entry yet.


text: For the resort near Moscow were made a few rides. Now they have in the arsenal of the original attraction "Acrobat". In comparison with similar, made of steel tubes, pneumatic (inflatable) trampoline with bungee cheaper in 2 times, weighs 3 times smaller and faster to assemble. So that the estate Ershovo appeared competitive advantage over other hotel.


text:
Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Show All Answers
The Town has many office locations depending on the Department and/or Division you are looking for. Assessor-
24 Court Lane (978)318-3070
Beede Swim & Fitness Center- 498 Walden St. (978) 287-1000
Building & Inspections- 141 Keyes Road (978)318-3280
Council On Aging- 1276 Main Street (978)318-3020
Community Services- 55 Church Street (978)318-3034
Finance- 22 Monument Sq (978)318-3090
Fire Department- 209 Walden Street (978)318-3488
Health Department- 141 Keyes Road (978)318-3275
Housing Development Corporation- 37 Knox Trail (978)318-3299
Human Resources- 22 Monument Sq (978)318-3025
Information Technology- 1175 Elm Street (978)318-3171
Library 129 Main Street- (978)318-3301
Light Plant 1175 Elm Street- (978)318-3101
Natural Resources- 141 Keyes Road (978)318-3285
Planning- 141 Keyes Road (978)318-3290
Police- 219 Walden Street (978) 318-3400
Public Works- 133 Keyes Road (978)318-3206
Recreation- 90 Stow Street (978)369-6460
Town Clerk- 22 Monument Sq (978)318-3080
Town Manager- 22 Monument Sq (978)318-3000
Treasurer/Collector- 22 Monument Sq (978)318-3050
Veteran Services- 55 Church Street (978)318-3038
You may register to vote online at your convenience or at the Town Clerk's office any time they are open. Please note that certain deadlines regarding voter eligibility may apply. You may also register to vote via mail by completing the attached form and mailing it to the Town Clerk's Office at PO Box 535 Concord, MA 01742 Mail-In Voter Registration Form
You may also contact the office directly at 978-318-3000.
Each of the Select Board meetings includes an agenda item entitled "Public Comments." During this time, any resident of Town may come forward to discuss a concern or problem with the Board which they feel is important or may require their assistance.


text:
Write Christmas competition
Write Christmas is all about wondering how great our festive film selection could be if we let our collective imaginations run riot. Any ideas will do; from Tim Burton's unmade fantasy "Twas the Cheekbone before Christmas" to Michael Bay's never made classic "When Santa Exploded". So, if you have an unsung Christmas classic in you, it's time to tell the world. (If you need some inspiration, click here and here – we couldn't help ourselves.)
LARUSHKA IVAN-ZADEH – Film editor of The Metro (3.5 million readers every weekday)
EMMA KENNEDY – actress (Notes on a Scandal), author, film critic for the Danny Baker show
CLEOLINDA JONES – parody film critic, author, blogger
Our fantastic panel of judges will choose the best entries from a shortlist voted on by you, the reader. The winning entry – the one the judges think is the funniest, most inspired and potentially iconic – will win a fantastic once in a lifetime prize.
THE PRIZES – 1st PRIZE
First prize: An A1 poster of your made-up movie as imagined by OTM Entertain, the world-famous movie posters team that brought you The Hurt Locker, In The Loop and The Losers. You'd be getting a film poster as good as the ones by OTM Entertain featured in this gallery. Blimey!
Your review will also get pride of place on our homepage, along with short notes from our panel of judges saying what they liked about the winning entry, so you can tell the world that you are a published film critic.
Finally, you will get £100 to spend on whatever you choose. Netbook? Parchment and quill? Silk cushions to recline on? As a budding film critic, it's up to you.
Two runners-up get:
£50 to spend in the shameless manner of their choosing
Publication and a byline on Best For Film
1) Invent a movie. Make sure it has something to do with Christmas. Make it marvellous.
2) Write a review of your imaginary movie. Make it 300-500 words long. Include storyline, director, actors… and, of course, Christmas. Chuck in a tag-line and a star rating for good measure.
3) Email your glorious review to [email protected] with the words "Write Christmas" in the subject line. Multiple entires are welcome, but not more than 5 entries. Closing date for entries is 24 Dec.
4) Attach a picture (263×219 pixels) if you like – we won't judge any of the entries on their accompanying pic, but it's sometimes good fun to add a visual!
5) We will send you the link to your published review. As soon as you get your entry's link, send it to all your friends and family. Get them to like the article and show they're real friends not just Facebook friends. Why…? Read on.
1) On 24 Dec we will shortlist 6 entries. 3 will be the most popular entries based on the number of facebook likes. 3 will be our critics' choice. So don't worry if you have no friends – we'll be looking for reviews that make us laugh, cry, fear for our jobs as film journalists.
3) The 6 shortlisted entries will be judged by our panel of 3 judges who will decide a final winner.
4) The final winner and two runners-up will be announced on 17th January 2011
If you have any questions or queries about our fantabulous competition, feel free to email us at [email protected]. Now go forth; eat, drink and be merry. But mainly, write that review. Christmas needs you.
See the entries here


text:
Find Out How Theater Couple Orfeh & Andy Karl Stay Creative on Broadway Profiles
The latest episode of Broadway Profiles with Tamsen Fadal features an interview with Broadway couple Orfeh and Andy Karl. The pair has been using the extra time at home during the pandemic to get creative. "There were always things that we wanted to do. This forced our hands to explore other avenues," Orfeh said. As previously reported, the duo has optioned Eric Bernat's novel The Dancer. They have also written a pilot and songs. Karl is even working on a movie script. "People are chomping at the bit to be creative, and if we can be a part of giving people an outlet to be creative, that's amazing," he said of his hope to make work that creates jobs for fellow artists. Watch the segment below, and check your local listings for Broadway Profiles. Hosted by Emmy-winning anchor Tamsen Fadal and powered by Broadway.com, it is the only nationally syndicated weekly theater news program.


text:
Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am ready to get in the Christmas spirit! We put up our Christmas tree and decorations. I am getting so excited! I absolutely love this time of year. I am also ready to start mailing out my Christmas cards. I always leave it for the last minute but not this year. I am having so much fun with my new The Cat's Pajamas stamps that I have almost all my cards done. For this card I used the super adorable set called You Suit Me. Isn't she adorable?! I colored her in with Copics and added some fun 3d snowflake stickers. I also pulled out my new Big Scallop Border CutUp die. Well, that's all for me today but make sure to check back for more holiday cards. I have tons to share with you!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
TCP Release Day!
TCP Sneaky Peek Day 8
It's getting so close I can taste it!! I'm so excited for you guys because I know you are going to fall in love with all The Cat's Pajamas stamps and CutUps that will be released on November 23. Before I get into the stamping I wanted to let you know about an awesome special going on at TCP. Yup, you read right free shipping for almost a whole week! So, now that you know about that amazing deal let's get to the card. Today, we are featuring the set called Your Gift. I think it's so whimsical and cute. I paper pieced the tree and added some glittery present stickers and Zva Creative rhinestones to complete the card. I tried to go for a whimsical vintage feel. Well, that's all for me today but make sure you head on over to Sony, Susan, and Joanne's blogs. They have some more sneak peeks to share.
Friday, November 19, 2010
TCP Sneak Peek Day 6
It's day six of our TCP sneak peeks and we are getting closer and closer to the release day! How exciting! Today, we are featuring another adorable set called "Jingle Bells". The set has the cutest little girl who is all bundled up in her scarf. I had so much fun coloring her. I also used another new CutUp die that will be released on Tuesday, November 23. I love the swirly border. I know this will be on lots of my cards from now on. The layout was last weeks TCP sketch challenge. I loved the sketch when I saw it but didn't have a chance to play last week so I saved it and made a card with it today! Well, that's all for me today but make sure to check out Tracy and Amy's blog for more "Jingle Bells" eye candy. Also , don't forget to join us at the SCS release party. Check out the forum of Alma's blog for all the details. Have a great weekend.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
TCP Sneak Peek Week!
So, I'm sure everyone is enjoying all the TCP sneak peeks going on this week. If you don't already know The Cat's Pajamas is releasing some awesome new sets and CutUps on Tuesday, November 23. You guys are going to love them. Today, I am featuring the stamp set called 'Merry Wishes". Isn't she adorable?! I paper pieced her dress. The snowflake is a one of the new CutUps. I love it! I decided to hang some little glove punches from the flake. I think it brought the whole card together. I decided to use this patterned paper from My Minds Eye for this week's TCP Tuesday inspiration challenge. I took the lined circle patterned as my inspiration. This week's hostess is the amazing Toni Armstrong! The layout is from Jen's SFYTT. It was so much fun. Well, that's all for me today but make sure you hop on over to Susan and Joanne's blogs. They are also showing some sneak peeks today. Also, make sure to check out Alma's blog and the SCS forum for all the release party details.


text:
The Swiss Language Academy was founded in Switzerland in 2010 and is today one of the most important language training organizations in Switzerland, with a presence across the country for multiple languages. Thousands of private clients and employees of both large and small companies, institutions and government offices have benefited from the LFG method.
The Swiss Language Academy comprising Learn French Geneva, Learn French Lausanne and Learn French Neuchatel recently expanded into Lucerne, Bern, Basel, Zurich and surrounding areas and collaborate with over 100 trainers throughout the country. Highly qualified native teachers provide language and communication training with the help of learning materials especially developed by LFG for easy French language acquisition and self-training.
We tailor our classes to your needs, at any level and based on the customer's level of expertise. Helping you to learn the way YOU want! For children, teens and adults alike.
What makes us different?
- 1-on-1 individual in person tutoring
- Semi-private lessons (1-2 people in a group)
- French courses for companies: Group courses - Private courses - Executive coaching
- Online lessons (various platforms- Zoom – Skype – Messenger- Wire)
- Real flexibility: any day/anywhere Monday to Sun, from 8am to 9pm, with Skype follow-up
- Intensive training (up to 5h a day)
- French and German exam prep (DELF-DALF, FIDE/ TCF, Goethe-Zertifikat) and Swiss citizenship exam prep
- Specialty French vocabulary and French communication: themed lessons based on business, legal, financial, medical, culinary and construction work
- Writing classes to master the art of written communication (letters, emails, CV's)
- State of the art website for autonomous practice (over 3'000 exercises covering comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, conjugation, at your fingertips)
- A smartphone friendly tool to practice and improve quickly learn
- Affordable rates and monthly payment plans
- Satisfaction guaranteed: you can change trainers if need be.
Try our online free language test, meet our awesome international team members and your 20 mn free trial! (on demand and availability)
Anouche Karaman
Send a message to The Swiss Language Academy


text:
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Feelin funky?
New Pitchfork column from me on funky house v grime and the return of El-B. That there column took about two weeks to write, trus. What with the epic packaging for The Roots of Dubstep - you'll know what I mean when you see it - it's been a busy month.
As for the photo above? El-B and Loefah in the booth at FWD>>. Lets call it "Martin's Moment II" (hold tight Infinite), the best FWD>> booth co-incidence since Wiley and Mala DMZ.
Next month my column will be co-written by Chantelle Fiddy and, back from retirement, Gutta. My normal drivel will be resumed in October. Also check Bleep/Road for Keysound 002. Watch this space for news on Keysound 003... this time there will be no long ting.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
EXCLUSIVE: Mary Anne Hobbs Warrior Dubz
Mary Anne Hobbs' Dubstep Warz show early this January left an unmistakable impression on the dubstep scene, bringing the bubbling scene to the boil and serving it up to a hungry audience. Ten months on, Mary Anne here exclusively unveils the logical extension of her show, a compilation of her own recipe. Check the tracklist and an in depth interview below.
Mary Anne Hobbs Warrior Dubz (Planet Mu)
Milanese Vs Virus Syndicate – 'Dead Man Walking'
Benga – 'Music Box'
Andy Stott – 'Black'
Amit – 'Too Many Freedoms'
Digital Mystikz feat. Spen G – 'Anti-War Dub'
JME (Wiley beat) – 'Pence'
Burial – 'Versus'
Plastician feat Shizzle, Fresh & Napper – 'Cha Vocal'
The Bug feat Flowdan – 'Jah War'
Terror Danjah feat Mz Bratt & Bruza – 'Give It To Em'
Spor – 'Hydra'
Loefah feat Sgt Pokes – 'Mud VIP'
DJ Distance & Crazy D – 'Worries Again'
Kode 9 & Spaceape – 'Kingstown (vocal)'
Blackdown: Are you ever personally able to comprehend the reach and impact having a BBC Radio 1 show brings?
Mary Anne Hobbs: My feeling about the show is that it's a bridge I build between a global audience so tenacious and hungry... and the pioneering artists and producers I adore.
In my minds eye, that bridge looks like it's made from dirty rope stretched across some devastating crevasse in the Amazon jungle… other times, it looks like a heavenly constellation built out of burning stars … and then again, it can often look like a crazy twisted Dr Seuss cartoon.
I always get a rush from e-mail and MySpace messages from places like Greenland and Brazil, Chilli and Israel. That people in such far-flung locations have even stumbled upon the show, let alone taken time out to tell me how much it means to them, that makes my heart burst. Our regular listeners come in so many shapes... there's a barber's shop in New York that pipes a stream to their customers every day. A Royal Navy ship's crew stationed up in the Arctic at the North Pole. A blind boy and his guide dog Murphy who haven't missed a show in 7 years… the actor David Hyde Pierce who played Niles Crane in the TV sitcom Frazier, he's a regular... so is Loefah.
On-line forums are so important to me… DJ Distance put a post up at dubstep forum about the Breezeblock Dubstep Warz special back in January. Five days after that show went to air there were 20,000 hits on the thread and 28 pages of responses from people saying it had changed their lives forever... 8 months on, I still get e-mail from all over the world about that show every day.
B: In many ways the music and media industries are 'a man's world'. How does this affect you personally and do you think this will ever change?
MAH: Why should gender matter? Surely a person should be judged solely on their ability to do a job... Passion, commitment, degrees of knowledge and the drive to deliver something genuinely valuable as a professional, lie deep within the fabric of an individual character, and as I see it, have nothing at all to do with gender. That said, let me just take a minute to big-up some of the seriously inspirational girls in my world: Sarah & Amy who run FWD>>, Tempa and Ammunition, grime queen Chantelle Fiddy, Melissa Bradshaw from Plan B magazine, Reju Sharma producer of Bobby Friction's show on the BBC Asian Network, John Peel's daughters Flossie & Danda and his wife Sheila, Georgie from drumzofthesouth and my riot-gals Steph, Leah, Charlotte Gemma and Sarah, DMZ simply do not have a party without 'em up in the place ;)
B: Judging by the selection on your show you're pretty eclectic in your selection within a remit of dark, underground music. Is this a deliberate policy to avoid a narrow, purist agenda?
MAH: Here, I would quote Woody Allen from the film Annie Hall: "A relationship, I think, is like a shark… it has to constantly move forward or it dies"... and Artist Damian Hurst is the only man I know who's done anything real with a dead shark. The Breezeblock has been 8 years on-air... The core axis is made up of dark electronic music in all forms, but it's a show that exists without boundaries or prejudices of any kind. I spend almost all my time just looking for something total elemental. Something that will leave us all slack-jawed and drooling.
John Peel is my greatest hero. His playlist was boundless. I simply do not know how he found the time for all the writing he did, the DJing, TV, Radio 4 and World Service broadcasting and to raise four incredible children simultaneously. I can't remember listening to a single show of John's without hearing the most extraordinary and arresting pieces music he'd found, the like of which I will never encounter again. In this life or the next.
B: You've got a background in metal as well as underground urban/electronic music. Are these strands just different parts of your (musical) life or do you see some kind of core overlap or correlation between what appeals to you about them?
MAH: Remember, I am the girl who was so profoundly influenced by a snap shot of Metallica, I sold all my worldly goods one afternoon and bought a one-way ticket to the West Coast of America, where I lived in a garden shed for a year and went to investigate...
Seriously though, the ghetto spirit and energy that drives a truly brilliant piece of music will touch you at the same emotional level…no matter what genre that artist may operate in.
I guess there are very obvious parallels between, say for example, metal and dark drum & bass. Mike Davies who hosts the Radio 1 Rock Show and punk show the Lock Up would agree with me. He has also been Fabio & Grooverider's producer at Radio 1 for 5 years!
DJ Distance and Jamie Vex'd are big metal fans too, and you can hear those influences, principally a storm-chasers sense of drama, twisted into their work…
There are also artists who are masters of drawing down the concentrated power of metal... compressing, warping and pressurising it, and then re-applying it in other musical fields. Mike Patton's work, for example, with Fantomas, Mr Bungle, Tomohawk, Bjork and Exceutioners never fails to leave me breathless... I would love to hear him do something with Burial.
B: I'm currently in love with Cassie's "Me & U" (Badboy). What's the most overtly poppy track you've truly loved – perhaps even from the playlist – yet haven't played on your show and why?
MAH: This week: Pharrell & Kanye West - 'Number One' (Virgin)... a proper honey-dripper... so very sweet... I'm toying with playing on the Breezeblock it right now... I'd love to hear Darqwan remix it...
B: People just take it as a given now that you can't hear an instrumental tune like Digital Mystikz' "Anti War Dub" played on, say, the breakfast show. The Radio 1 playlist meetings have a massive influence on UK mainstream music sales. Can you ever envision a time when the playlist would be consistently open to underground/independent, instrumental or non-PR backed music?
MAH: The playlist is always open to crossover tunes… Last year, for the Breezeblock it was Pendulum - underground drum & bass producers who delivered an instrumental titled 'Slam' on the Breakbeat Kaos label. Radio 1 playlisting happened after 18 months consistent support from me (admittedly for earlier and much darker beats), also from Fabio & Grooverider and latterly Zane Lowe… and, crucially, after Pendulum came with a pop record with a hook as big as Brazil.
B: One of your other passions seems to be motorcycling, surely a sport who's key drug is speed, um... in the velocity sense of course. Dubstep, grime, alt hip hop etc – many of the styles you play on your show eschew any sense of 'rushing.' Is momentum important to you, both musically and physically?
MAH: That's a very astute question... I'm a thrill seeker for real. I ran away to London at 18 to live on a car park in a bus with a hard rock band… moved into a shed in Hollywood to write about the dark underbelly of the LA scene at 21... chased down Ice-T at the height of the 'Cop Killer' controversy for NME, when he feared assassination. Moved undercover in Soho sex clubs and with drug dealers to the stars for Loaded magazine. Filmed with warrior biker gangs in Russia, Japan, USA and India for my TV show 'Mary Anne's Bikes' which was broadcast to 120 million people worldwide by the BBC... and in 2006 I build the Breezeblock for Radio 1... I say, charge at your dreams and never look back.
B: For music headz, the power a truly great piece of music can have on you is profound. Do you think it's possible to maintain this engagement with music throughout your whole life?
MAH: Yes... what is life without music? To me it would be as melancholy and meaningless as the Shipping Forecast…
B: Given they're culturally very different, what do you think about the interaction between the grime and electronica scenes?
MAH: Very healthy. Check Virus Syndicate's new night 'Grunk' up at Herbal on the third Thursday every month. You'll find electronic heathens such as Cursor Minor on the same stage as the Manchester grime kru. Skepta and JME missed their slot with Plastician up at the Tyke night at Rhythm Factory just recently, so they got up to spit with Vex'd instead - devastating set... The FWD>> kru are creating real opportunities every week now for the grime and dubstep scenes to move in harmony... The Bug and Flowdan have just recorded a dazzling exclusive for my new album 'Warrior Dubz' titled 'Jah War'... and my boy Plastician is coming loaded with the rudest melt of grime and dubstep to his Radio 1 Residency show...
B: As a BBC broadcaster, is it more important to maintain audience figures or reach a diverse or uncatered-for audience?
MAH: Just had the official new RAJAR listening figures today from Radio 1 and word is we are UP UP UP!! So I'm buzzing, and I hope the management will be too! Even though we are truly global and we continue to grow and to flourish, the degrees of separation between everyone involved with the show, the artists, the fans and myself are so very small, that we feel like a family … that is at the heart of my agenda… it's a family thing for real.
B: In interviews, do you long for more trivial questions? ;)
MAH: lol! My favourite ice-cream is an old-skool whippy, single cone, no flake ;)
Mary Anne Hobbs' show moves to a Thursday night 2am-4am on September 28th and it will be simply titled Mary Anne Hobbs. If you can't listen live you can rewind it any time for one week at www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/maryannehobbs/index.shtml click 'listen again'
The album 'Mary Anne Hobbs Warrior Dubz' is released on the Planet Mu label on October 16th. London launch party and UK to dates to follow. For more info check www.myspace.com/maryannehobbs
Friday, August 11, 2006
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Primary sources
Back in the day, co-founder of Ammunition promotions, Tempa, Shelflife and Forward>> Neil Joliffe - the man who coined the word 'dubstep' - drew a diagram to explain a little 'istory. Three years on from April 2003 and the page provides a unique document of a time when garage was in flux and dubstep was begining to find its own identity. Recognise.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)