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Holds and keys are the drawings you see on a conscious level in animation. That doesn't mean that the drawings you don't see have to be straight inbetweens of the keys.You can get a lot more meaning, feeling and power by controlling the drawings that are on the way to the moments you absorb consciously.
I found this out by studying Rod Scribner's animation and live action frame by frame.
This part of a comercial for Barq's Root Beer was only 5 seconds long and I wanted to get a lot of stuff crammed into it. That meant no pauses or hookups, less antics or at least shorter ones, so this became an experiment in making things read fast. No drawings could be wasted.
I drew a bunch of keys and had Elinor Blake (April March) animate the commercial with these theories in mind.Here's one of her early bands, The Shitbirds.
I wonder why so many animators are also musically talented.
HUMAN EXPRESSIONSHuman expressions are generally a lot more specific and interesting than animated expressions.
Watch Norton's face crawl around and do all kinds of extra things that the script doesn't require, but add extra life to the story.
This is very hard to do, if not impossible in animation. A lot of these expressions can't be translated well in line; they need the subtle shadows and shapes made by the many muscles in his face.
If we want to compete with this specificity, we have to be more exaggerated in our accents, but we can do very subtle expressions in between the accents as you can see in the Barq's frames above.
You can't compete at all with this kind of acting if you are habituated to approved animation stock expressions - no matter how smooth the action is. Plus it's a lot more fun to customize specific expressions to your characters and story. Of course for some mysterious reason most studios won't allow it. They all say they wanna compete with live action, but no way in Hell will they actually let you do what's required.
You can really see how much subtlety is in Art Carney's acting when you watch the clip of one simple line of dialogue. A Hell of a lot of stuff happening for just one script sentence!
More from Barq's and this subject in another post...


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Sarawak Election
Bershih 2.0 Chairperson Denied Entry Into Sarawk
Coming in this morning from KL, Bersih 2.0 Chairperson and Malaysia Bar Council Past President (2007-2009) Dato' Ambiga Sreenevasan was denied entry into Sarawak at Kuching airport. On April 13, 2011, Bersih 2.0 issued a press statement in which she critically expressed concerns regarding issues that jeopardise free and fair elections in Sarawak, amongst one of the issues was barring of activists from entering Sarawak. Now she herself has become the 4th victim following Steven Ng (denied entry April 03), Wong Chin Huat (denied entry April 08) and Harris Ibrahim (denied entry April 13).
Other issues raised in the press statement include:
- Distinction between political interest and administration positions
- Corrupt practices
- Postal votes
Read from post below for the complete press statement.

subset: commoncrawl


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Venema took Tomkins' claims to task on the BioLogos website regarding the supposed remnants of an egg-laying gene (vitellogenin) in human DNA.
BioLogos has engaged in systematic scientific error on one of their "evidences" for evolution, and they have misrepresented the arguments for several years.
In this article, we explore Venema's claims in Adam and the Genome about genetic sequences that he thinks have lost their function.
Venema claims that the published, comprehensive genetic comparisons between humans and chimpanzees reveal a genetic identity of 95–98%.
In our series, we've discovered ample support that evolutionists fit facts to conclusions. In this article, we'll continue to explore whether it is true.
In this post, we begin exploring Venema's evidences in chapter two of Adam and the Genome, titled "Genomes as Language, Genomes as Books."
In this article, Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson reviews chapter 1 (written by Venema and titled "Evolution as a Scientific Theory") of Adam and the Genome.
The recent publication of Adam and the Genome illustrated how evolutionists find new and more nuanced ways to contradict the biblical account.
A pastor's book recounting his son's visit to heaven rose to the top of the bestseller list and became a major motion picture. Could such visits be real?
The chapter "Science and Scripture" in The Enduring Authority of Christian Scriptures, edited by D. A. Carson, undermines the very purpose of the book.
Karl Giberson doesn't teach about salvation from the penalty and power of sin. He teaches we are "original sinners" as a result of our evolutionary heritage.
Bill Nye has donned a new mantle as a modern-day evangelist for teaching evolution in America's public schools.
This book explores the history behind the Nye-Ham debate, offers an in-depth review and examination of the debate itself, and responds to Nye's comments.
A new attack on the reliability and perspicuity of Scripture was released.
Discerning readers would do better to read the firsthand accounts of Jesus's life and death, found in the New Testament, than to read Bill O'Reilly's new book, Killing Jesus.
The Galápagos Islands are a perfect place for observing the adaptability of different kinds of animals.
The Genesis compromise has been highly destructive to the church in regard to biblical authority.
In their latest effort, O'Reilly and Dugard attempt to write the history of the most famous person of all time, Jesus Christ.
When his young daughter faced serious challenges to her faith, Matthew Harding knew he needed to do something, and quickly.
A new book on Christmas examines popular issues, such as Christmas trees and the day of Jesus's birth.
Dr. Lennox's recent book challenges biblical creation with a series of arguments that the staff members at Answers in Genesis have answered many times over.
No results found in Book Reviews.
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.


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Posts Tagged 'The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'
Chillpak Hollywood Hour #295
It's the first episode of 2013 and since it's early January, where would your friends in podcasting be but poolside atop downtown Los Angeles?!
So, grab the sunscreen and join Dean Haglund and Phil Leirness as they discuss fine art, popular music, television, movies and celebrity deaths!
From record setting box office by a film from France, to precedent-setting success by a VOD release, from the most popular filming locations in L.A. to the return of 1980′s action heroes, from the smash hit album "21″ by Adele, to the death of one of the most popular singers of the 1950′s, this installment of YOUR Chillpak Hollywood Hour has all the news, views and reviews you've come to expect and enjoy.
Happy 2013, everybody! It promises to be our best year yet!


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Heaping irony upon irony, Germany's take on Amurikan Ford Mustang-like special edition bloat isn't just debuting in a country they invaded and we mock, they've also painted it grabber blue! Think Ford gave them a volk-und-family discount?
Take a moment to admire the symmetry here. The Porsche 911 was based on a car partially designed by Der Fuhrer himself and ol' Henry was a raging anti-semite. Germany occupied Paris and we came up with "Freedom Fries" after the frogs refused to fight in our illegal war. Is this all some clever show of force because Angela Murkel and Michelle Obama are jealous of Carla Bruni?
Aside from being painted in a Ford color and representing the 20th flavor of 911, the Porsche 911 Speedster is essentially a Carrera S Cabriolet with a tonneau cover, 23 extra HP, and a few other meaningless doodads. Don't get to covetous, they're only making 355 and slapping a ridiculous $265,000 price tag on the privilege of owning one.


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ISS Recommends Dell Buyout Deal
Institutional Shareholder Services said Dell shareholders should vote for an effort to take the computer maker private, a decision that may seal the controversial buyout by Michael Dell. David Benoit reports. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... ay ay mm mm ... and to all ... good news from a ... knee ... a key source on this as Institutional Shareholder Services ... key proxy firm say analysts ... your pride that they get a better deal Dell shareholders and will take the law Michael Dell's offerings ... given the committee about what he came down till ... morning welcome to MoneyBeat I'm Paul beanie with day Benoit ... who has the story ... ah yes I've read you posted if as the horses with all we have this photo ... on that thing that really stuck out to was that my sense of their tone was ... a ... maniac again at the ... pre much and I know there's there's actually there's one quote in a report that its ... if you're sick if you're CEO is willing to catch the falling knife for you ... you should probably let that happen here I mean the language of this appeal recommendation Brett ... was really very telling write exactly so ... ISS Wright recommends the deal ... Cheryl ago for the deal which is really key in this whole fight month process ... the special committee in and comment that the buyout cited been a little worried about this right ... essentially the spirit of ... ISS voted no ... you can kill the deal members yes gives them up a huge leap for a two thousand s C letter thing for certain way ... but yet is that the report that really makes the case that ... Dell the struggling company and shareholders do not want to risk any more ... and yet I think that those will put in there about ... them ... you know the transferring the risks of the pioneer who faces a life ... Bvlgari for to see his turnaround right exactly that's and that's the argument that ... that Dell Michael Dell and an aborted been making for the past five months that ... the scene we have a transformation going on ... we can do it as a public company but it's unique in phones and slow ... we go behind these closed doors because speeded up we don't have to worry about talking analysts don't the worry about ... earnings reports this week and just ... be terrible for few months ... for a year is really and and ... and in turn are a ... bit and utility stock is responding to this point to a ... casino ... two thirty at thirteen thirty three ... I'm that that is ... even that is not a of glowing recommendation from the street for no no um also reveal that thirteen sixty five but but that's essentially came back everything that they lost on Friday wine Cunniff ... OS and some others reported first that ... Michael Dell was was standing firm at this point in awe can increase the offer ... which spooked people into thinking that they'll do it fail ... so let's assume on a hike ... they got this recommendation that Carl Icahn's deal was praying I thought can be a competing deal write a mean that the right is the book ... July eighteen comes ... say they voted ... for a ... Dell ... buyout is done prior come and ask the question I can answer and I know I ... if I am ... and what happens to hell now I mean how do they turn this company ... the fall of the better question ... as to who wins ... that ... will get to what I mean in essence Liikanen the next steps right Michael Dell ... likely will cease and probably you know cost-cutting ... measures are needed on a whole lot of debts and that they are paid back down ... aam ... and then they go from the NEC PC company ... which ... the company's gun often on saying we're not a PC company were still looking for a company or non PC company ... they'd be calm and enterprise services company and you know ... all of what IBM and Dell and IBM yes ... other software provider are no longer building ... you know your laptops going soft ... and ... but that's to take a lot of jobs ... moving around you know they're better resisted people eager to reposition expectations that ... it's it's a big change the so the ... next question till eighteenth comes a vote could happen ... stop was the day when ... I mean it it ... from all signals right now you've got a release Suu Michael Dell has a much better chance than we thought it did on Friday ... I think that's the one takeaway where I can don't of next week really how it's looking nice break this to some people don't go till the very end ... ALM so maybe next Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday will have an idea


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Sweet, thanks for the information. You saved my life!
Thank you for visiting Coconut & Lime! I read and appreciate each one of your comments. If you have a specific question or want to discuss something unrelated to this post please e-mail me directly.All recipes, photographs and text are for private, nonprofit use only and may not be reproduced without permission.


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Israel News - Stay Informed, Pray Informed
The results of a new poll show that a strong majority of Israelis support the presence of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, those territories labeled by the world as the "West Bank" and claimed by the Palestinian Arabs for a future state.
Conducted by researchers at the Ariel University Center, the survey showed that 64 percent of Israelis from around the country support the continuation of Jewish settlement activity in Judea and Samaria.
Of the 36 percent that voted the other way, a portion said settlement activity should only be halted temporarily while a final-status peace deal is worked out with the Palestinians. In other words, far more than 64 percent of Israelis believe Jews have a right to live in these territories, but some feel that settlement activity should be curbed for the time being as a matter of pragmatism.
While many Israelis view Judea and Samaria as the biblical heartland of their people, and therefore one of the most important areas for Jewish settlement, most of the poll's respondents said they were influenced by the security benefits provided by the Israeli settlements.
Most said that Gaza must serve as and example of why Jews cannot be removed from Judea and Samaria. Following the 2005 uprooting of Gaza's Jewish community, Hamas quickly seized control of the area and, together with allied terror groups, began a years-long campaign that has seen thousands of missiles hit cities and towns across southern Israel.
A similar situation existed for the residents of Tel Aviv and Israel's populous coastal region prior to 1967, and most Israelis are unwilling to return to such a situation. They see the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria as a kind of "security belt."
In fact, the term "settlement" in its modern context is a misrepresentation of the situation. The Jews living in Judea and Samaria today are not ethnically foreign to the area. Numerous historical writings, including many by Arabs and Muslims, confirm that Jews have lived in Judea and Samaria for millennia. Those writings have been backed up by the discovery of a staggering amount of archeological evidence.
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Comment on Cheap Chic Shopping Bag Pillows And Art by Cathy
TJX Companies - Saturday, October 15, 2011.
Thanks Bernadette,
Sometimes the simplest things are the most fun! I guess you just have to think outside the BAG sometimes LOL.
Thanks for stopping by.
About TJX Companies
The TJX Companies, Inc. operates as an off-price retailer of apparel and home fashions in the United States and internationally. It sells off-price family apparel and home fashions through T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, A.J. Wright, and Bob's Stores chains in the United States; Winners chain in Canada; and T.K. Maxx chain in Europe. The company sells off-price home fashions through HomeGoods chain in the United States; and HomeSense chain, which are operated by Winners in Canada. It offers family apparel and licensed team apparel; footwear, including workwear and activewear; and accessories, such as fine jewelry, as well as home fashions and giftware, including home basics, accent furniture, lamps, rugs, children's furniture, and seasonal merchandise for the home; and toys and games. As of January 26, 2008, the company operated 847 T.J. Maxx stores, 776 Marshalls stores, 289 HomeGoods stores, 129 A.J. Wright stores, and 34 Bob?s Stores in the United States; 191 Winners stores and 71 HomeSense stores in Canada; and 226 T.K. Maxx stores in Europe. The TJX Companies, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is based in Framingham, Massachusetts.


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The Acting Company, a 2003 Tony Award winner for excellence in theatre, will The Three Musketeers tonight in Wabash College's Ball Theatre.
As part of the College's Visiting Artists Series, The Acting Company will present The Three Musketeers. The production is scheduled for 8 p.m. in Ball Theater. Tickets are free but must be obtained through the box office.
The Acting Company promotes theater and literacy by bringing a touring repertory of classical productions, talented young actors, and teaching artists into communities across America. The company performs each year in over 50 cities to audiences of 70,000 and reaching more than 25,000 students with its arts education program.
The Company seeks to develop the best young American actors by giving them an opportunity to practice their craft, build a discerning national audience for the theater, and educate students in under-served communities.
Founded in 1972 by John Houseman with members of the first graduating class of Juilliard's Drama Division, The Acting Company has performed plays for more than 2 million people in 48 states.
The Company has given a generation of actors the opportunity to master their craft. Alumni include: Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, David Schramm, Jessie L. Martin, Keith David, Lorraine Toussaint, David Ogden Stiers, Mary Lou Rosato, Lisa Banes, Derek Smith, Frances Conroy, Dennis Boutsikaris, and Jeffrey Wright.
The Acting company has been honored with the Obie Award, the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, Citibank's Excellence in Education Award, two Audelco Awards and two Tony Award Nominations.
In photos:
Above: A scene from Macbeth.
On homepage: A scene from The Acting Company's production of The Three Musketeers.


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But 2014 could certainly be better than 2013, that much is for certain. Hey, I've said it before: When it comes to wrestling, I can be pretty easy to please. I suppose that's why I'm content to watch and re-watch the same old grainy footage of Kareem Mohammed tearing up Jay Youngblood's headdress from their feud in the early-1980s; I like the stuff that's compelling and attention-getting without having to think or worry too much about what's going on backstage. There are a few things that I'd really like to see in the coming year. Some of them are relatively "mainstream," but I have a few offbeat druthers as well. All in all, what I'm hoping for isn't exactly on par with the imaginations of Tolstoy or Melville, but it's a little outside of the box, and that might be what we need to bounce back from a rather lackluster year. Here's a sampling of my personal wish list ...
A "double-turn" from Daniel Bryan: I can't claim this idea as my own, because I saw it being discussed in a chat room during this week's Monday Night Raw, but I have to say it'd be way cool if Bryan's turn to the "dark side" somehow resulted in him turning The Wyatt Family into an anti-Authority rebellion. It would be complex and perhaps difficult to pull off (kind of like "The Switch" episode of Seinfeld) but if everything fell into place, it would be well worth the long, strange trip. Whatever actually happens, it has to be better than the time CM Punk joined The New Breed. Or that time that John Cena joined Nexus. Prognosis: Possible, but not probable.
Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania: No doubt about it, if "Hulkster" came back at The Royal Rumble, it would turn the wrestling world on its ear. Everyone from Jimmy Hart to your typical fanboy in his shrunken, old-school PWI T-shirt wants to see this happen. It's a sure thing that a 'Mania match that pits Hogan against any big name from today's roster could easily make that show one of the biggest shindigs in wrestling history. Prognosis: All signs point to maybe.
|Days gone by: Toby Keith
visits the Impact Zone
A higher grade of women's wrestling from TNA and WWE: I definitely miss some of the Knockouts who are no longer with TNA, but ODB's recent rise to prominence as well as Madison Rayne's return to the squared circle are encouraging signs of things to come. I'd hope that WWE might spend less time grooming their Divas for roles on a reality show, but it sure looks like WWE has hit upon a recipe for short-term success with the hype and ratings surrounding of Total Divas. Prognosis: Thank goodness for SHIMMER.
Better times for TNA: I'm not the least bit ashamed to say that I love watching the TNA product. But at the same time, a lot of the company's recent moves have been pretty hard to get behind. They're losing big names left and right, and at some level, with so many rumors flying, one would have to logically conclude that they're going through a rough patch. But they enjoy a spot on prime time television and a dedicated following in the U.S. and abroad. They have a talented locker room, even without the big names who left in 2013. I agree with PWI's Al Castle that one can hardly call TNA a distant second to WWE at this point but I also believe that folks who really want TNA to collapse or be assimilated into WWE are, at the very least, terribly misguided. TNA's demise, at this point in the game, would leave a tremendous void in the business, and if you don't like what you're seeing from WWE right now, I've got sour news for you, Jack: An absence of TNA will mean more of the same from WWE for a long, long time. Still, TNA has some major problems to fix, and for things to drastically improve, they need to make some far-reaching, yet common sense changes, soon. Prognosis: Crossing my fingers, but not holding my breath.
|PWI, December '95
Some good TV time for R-Truth: Okay, I know this is probably not on anyone else's radar, but I really see some potential for Truth to be a breakout star if the right people get behind him. His in-ring work has improved and he's gold on the mike, especially when he's "Crazy R-Truth." I don't care if he's "good guy crazy" or "bad guy crazy," this guy can really work. His current work with Xavier Woods and their rivalry with Brodus Clay give R-Truth the chance to get out there and make people take notice once again. Fort my part, I'd love to see him get to the top someday. Prognosis: Stranger things have happened ... like the time that Diesel and Mabel made the cover of PWI.
A decent sampling of indy wrestling on television: Indy stuff is all over the 'net, but there's still nothing like firing up some wrestling on the ol' boob tube. More and more these days, smaller satellite channels seem to be playing around with offering indy promotions time slots on their networks. Sometimes these promotions are getting regional coverage, and others, like Arkansas-based TCW, are inking deals that bring their action into homes all around the country. Sure, the time slots aren't always great, but in the age of the DVR, it's pretty easy to set your timer and watch something new and different whenever you want. In that respect, it's a good time to be a wrestling fan. Prognosis: Take this one to the bank, brother.
Let's face it: The Attitude Era is a thing of the past and the original ECW isn't coming back. But there's still a lot to enjoy when it comes to wrestling, both with respect to what's already here and what could be right around the corner.
Mike Bessler
PWI Contributing Writer
@officialPWI Contributor


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Pac-12 Basketball Fantasy League Voting: Round One, Game TwoPosted by Connor Pelton on July 3rd, 2012
Our second matchup of the summer pits fourth seeded Andy Wooldridge (Building the Dam) up against the five seed, two-headed monster in Mark Sandritter and Jeff Nusser (CougCenter). The winner of this matchup will meet David Piper, who won our first game, in the semifinals. Below are the rosters, followed by commentary from the respective owner:
Andy Wooldridge
- Head Coach – Sean Miller, Arizona
- Guard – Byron Scott, Arizona State
- Guard – Kevin Johnson, California
- Guard – Lionel Hollins, Arizona State
- Guard – Lester Conner, Oregon State
- Forward – A.C. Green, Oregon State
- Forward – Detlef Schrempf, Washington
- Forward – David Meyers, UCLA
- Forward – Jim Barnett, Oregon
- Center – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, UCLA
- Center – Lonnie Shelton, Oregon State
Andy's Take:
I had the opportunity to put not only the best post player in the history of the Pac, and quite possibly also the NBA on the floor, so it made sense to surround Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with a cast of players designed to support him, and also to do so night in and night out, and regardless of the strategy employed against them. In Kevin Johnson, we have fill it up scoring ability that will discourage anyone from just packing it in, to deny the entry. Byron Scott brings proven ability to score or distribute. A.C. Green can run the floor, but can also play the opposite side of the floor from wherever we choose to post Abdul-Jabbar up. Detlef Schrempf can rebound as well as score, either as a primary option or working off the boards, and both David Meyers and Jim Barnett can shoot over any defensive back line that doesn't step out to them.
In the backcourt, Lionel Hollins can also play a variety of styles, capitalizing on whatever the opponent's weakness is. Lester Conner was best known for his defense (hence the nickname "The Molester"), but also led a Pac-10 conference winning team in scoring and rebounding from the guard position, as well as in steals. And if an opponent wants to try to out-physical this team inside, big Lonnie Shelton can take care of that idea. The team can challenge anyone defensively as well as offensively, and as the numerous long and productive NBA careers many of these players had demonstrate, they know how to play the game over the long haul.
A team that is versatile and also loaded with a variety of personality types needs a flexible coach, and in Sean Miller, we have a leader who has demonstrated his ability to adapt to the talent at hand (and there's certainly plenty of it on the roster). Miller has a tremendous number of options about how to match up with a variety of quality opponents, and won't hesitate to change things up as needed.


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Different Ways of Living
Some animals live in families. Some live in great big groups. And others live mostly by themselves. Animals have to find the right way of living together so they can stay safe, take care of their babies, and find food.
A giant panda mainly eats bamboo, and it takes lots of bamboo to fill up a panda! To make sure there's enough bamboo for everyone, each panda has a territory where it lives alone, except during mating time or when a mother is rearing her cub.
Some Animals Live Alone
Tigers are stealthy hunters who sneak up on prey such as deer or wild pigs—then pounce! But hunting is hard. It can take 10 tries before a tiger nabs a meal. Living alone means there's enough prey to eat and makes quiet hunting easier.
Lions are hunters, too. But they live in groups called prides. On the African plains, finding enough wildebeest, zebra, and antelope to eat is no problem. But catching them is. Lions have better luck when they hunt together, surrounding a herd and then flushing out their prey.
Others Like a Little Company
Eagles live and hunt together in lifelong pairs. A male and female both help to build a nest of sticks and twigs, lined with soft grasses. When the eggs hatch, one parent stays home to protect the young eaglets while the other searches for mice or fish to eat.
Herds of muskoxen huddle together for protection. If a wolf comes too close, cousins, aunts, and uncles form a tight circle, with their sharp horns facing outward and their young safe inside.
What brings ladybugs together? It's time to hibernate for the winter. by bunching together, the ladybugs keep each other warm.
- flushing out:
- Separating from a group.
- hibernate:
- To spend the winter sleeping.
- huddled:
- To crowd close together.
- nab:
- To grab.
- rearing:
- Bringing up.
- Which of the animals in this article are mammals?
[anno: The mammals are the giant panda, the tiger, the lion, the muskoxen, the sea lion, and the people.]
- Why do some animals live in groups?
[anno: Some animals live in groups to help each other hunt, for protection, and for warmth.]


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NOTE: This story was an April Fool – the In Pinn still remains – happy climbing.
Scotland's hardest Munro, the Inaccessible Pinnacle on the Isle of Skye, is no more after collapsing yesterday in a gigantic rockfall as the Cuillin were swept by hurricane force winds and blizzard conditions. The news broke yesterday evening after an ascent of Sgurr Dearg in appalling weather conditions by one of the island's mountain guides.
Walkers are warned to avoid the An Stac screes above Coire Lagan – and the former ramp that ran along the side of the pinnacle – both of which are littered with huge lumps of broken and highly unstable rock.
Sgurr Dearg will replace the Pinnacle as a Munro, making the ascent of all the peaks much easier than before, though the news will come as a blow to the Skye guiding industry which has grown up around helping clients ascend the 'In Pinn' as it was known.
Photo: Ian Jeffrey


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Before I get into this weeks' cocktailian post, I want to take a moment to get all sentimental on you. As I briefly mentioned in my most recent article, I've noticed something of a (massive) spike in visitor traffic to the humble little blog you now find yourself reading. That so many of you from such wide and varied locales consider my ramblings worth your time is really inspiring, so thank you kindly for stopping by. Similar thanks to the wonderful online communities of cocktailian writers, bloggers and foodies for their generous advice, encouragement, linkage & overall good-will...
Among these wonderful groups is the shiny-new foodie community Foodbuzz.com, which has just recently gone live & whose lovely badge you may have noticed gracing my site. Simply put, it is a veritable hub of inspirational activity - with featured publishers and contributing members churning out brilliant articles and recipes in just about every conceivable area of food & drink. For the official press release & explanation of what Foodbuzz is about, check here. Alternately you can just get a (visually-stunning) glance at some of their finest contributors with their inaugural 24, 24, 24 video. Barring those, just leap right into the fray with a visit to the main site...
Similarly, a huge thanks to our friends at Liqurious.com (formerly the well-missed Tastespotting.com) for showcasing photos of not only my, but dozens of my favorite bloggers' drinks! Especial thanks to the mysterious individual ( ? ) who keeps adding me to the queue there!
A final thanks to Gabriel from Cocktailnerd.com and Rick of Kaiserpenguin.com for their tireless work in establishing the Mixoloseum - a fantastic chat forum where cocktailians from all over might gather to discuss our favorite mixological projects & plans in authentic "nineties-style". This friendly forum (home of the fantastically-entertaining weekly TDN) also plays host to themed panel discussions, often visited by venerable names in the mixological multiverse, where it is a truly-inspirational venue. This was certainly the case during the most recent panel on garnishing cocktails:
Led by Tiare of A Mountain of Crushed Ice & Rick, with a gracious (& insightful) appearance by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry of Exotic/Tiki-drink fame, this discussion was a showcase of some of the most beautiful (& functional) examples of garnish I've ever seen, paired with historical information on the topic by the 'Bum and lots of banter on how to accomplish such artistry at home. As a fitting conclusion to this panel, Tiare has proposed a Garnish Contest open to all. So, as a conclusion to my (not-so-brief) lapse into thankful sentimentality, here are my entries - delicious cocktails both - which showcase the effects a particular garnish can have on a libation's enjoyment (©):
Blood & Brandy
1½ oz. VSOP Brandy (Raynal)
½ oz. Rhum Agricole Blanc (La Favorite)
1 Teaspoon: Campari
1 oz. fresh Blood Orange juice
1 oz. Simple syrup
1x fresh Egg white
2 dashes: Peychaud's bitters
Combine ingredients, except bitters, in a mixing glass and dry shake to incorporate & emulsify. Add ice and shake well before straining into a chilled cocktail glass. Dash bitters on top of foam & swirl into a pattern with a toothpick before adding a flamed twist of Blood Orange.
Sudanese Rose
1½ oz. Rhum Agricole Blanc (La Favorite)
½ oz. Lillet Blonde
2 oz. Karkade (Hibiscus tisane, Jaimaica also works fine)
3-4 dashes: Hibiscus Grenadine
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass & stir well with plenty of ice. Strain into a double-rocks glass, half-filled with ice. Garnish with a twist of Lime, sprig of fresh Peppermint & an organic Rose petal.
Both cocktails make visually-appealing (IMHO) use of aromatic garnishes - ones which contribute primarily to the olfactory aspects of the libations in question. The Peychaud's used in the Blood & Brandy sits delicately atop the foam created by the egg white, while the flamed Blood Orange peel adds both flavor & aroma to said foam (and through it, the liquid slumbering beneath). As the Sudanese Rose is a composition in subtle floral & botanical flavors, the addition of the acidic citrus oil provides a nice contrasting element to these tastes - helping to keep them in line, as it were. The aromas of the peppermint and rose provide a refreshing olfactory experience to match & enhance the tart flavors of the Hibiscus tisane in the cocktail. Neither beverage, like so many other (equally dolled-up) libations would be even remotely the same, were they to go out sans garnish...
Cheers & Thanks again!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Going Out All Dolled Up...
Before I get into this weeks' cocktailian post, I want to take a moment to get all sentimental on you. As I briefly mentioned in my most recent article, I've noticed something of a (massive) spike in visitor traffic to the humble little blog you now find yourself reading. That so many of you from such wide and varied locales consider my ramblings worth your time is really inspiring, so thank you kindly for stopping by. Similar thanks to the wonderful online communities of cocktailian writers, bloggers and foodies for their generous advice, encouragement, linkage & overall good-will...
5 comments:
- Tiare said...
Great post Chris! you said it all.
And thanks for the 2 very beautiful entries! would you please go to my blog and add these in the comments of the:
"GARNISH SESSION, COCKTAIL GARNISH CONTEST AND TDN AT MIXOLOSEUM" post?
- October 25, 2008 at 9:06 PM
- Tiare said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- October 25, 2008 at 9:06 PM
- Anita (Married... with dinner) said...
Guilty as charged!
Thanks for the shout-out, and glad you're liking Liqurious. One little clarification: TasteSpotting -used- to be one of our sister sites, but now they're separately owned and operated. Liqurious is still part of NOTCOT, which was the original home of TS. (Confused yet?)
And if you want to submit your own stuff, please feel free. It's pretty easy, but drop me a note if you need a mini-tutorial.
- October 27, 2008 at 10:21 AM
- Kaiser Penguin said...
Thanks for the love Chris! Delightful cocktails you have there as well!
- November 1, 2008 at 1:36 PM
- Chris "Rookie" Stanley said...
Tiare - Thanks very much & all set in the comments! Thank you also for running such a fantastic TDN Panel!
Anita - Thank you so much for putting me up at Liqurious time & time again. Slightly confusing, but I think I get it. As for putting my own entries up, unless you'd like me to, I'd almost rather an independent person of good taste (such as yourself) did it - I'd rather have that sort of impartial perspective.
Rick - No worries mate; TDN is always a riot and even just popping in at the Mixoloseum is always nice. It really allows for this little community to grow & for all of us to get to talk real-time about this wonderful hobby of ours (among other things)...
I know you and Gabe (and Tiare & everybody else) have been working so hard on it, and that work is appreciated quite a bit.
- November 2, 2008 at 6:25 PM


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Watch Courtney Barnett cover The Breeders' "Cannonball"
After the release of her double EP, A Sea of Split Peas, in 2013, Courtney Barnett has been gathering quite a following. Pitchfork commended the Australian artist for her witty lyrics and a personality that gives her music a backbone, and she appeared in a great interview on NPR's World Cafe as well.
Most recently, The A.V. Club released a video of Courtney Barnett doing an amazing cover of The Breeders' "Cannonball" for their A.V. Undercover segment. Continue reading →


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FULLERTON, CA - From rugged desert terrains to legendary tracks such as Sebring International Raceway, Yokohama Tire Corporation's motorsports program will be in full swing in 2011. Once again, Yokohama will be involved in off-road racing's SCORE, SNORE and Lucas Oil series, as well as endurance racing in the competitive ALMS classes. Additionally, Yokohama's breakthrough eco-racing campaign will continue in the GT3 and GTC series with its orange oil-infused ADVAN® ENV-R2™, the first - and only - environmentally-friendly tire used in a racing series.
"We're definitely ready and eager to begin our motorsports season," said Andrew Briggs, Yokohama senior manager of motorsports. "Cameron and Heidi Steele, both past off-road champions, are ready to reclaim their titles, and in ALMS, we have aligned with new racing partners."
"Our biggest achievement last year was the introduction and success of the ENV-R2 tire. From a performance racing standpoint, it exceeded all driver expectations. The racers in the Patron GT3 Challenge by Yokohama gave it strong reviews, and it performed exceptionally well in the GTC endurance races. The ENV-R2 uses less petroleum than its predecessor, the ENV-R1™; reducing petroleum inputs by approximately 20 percent and increasing recyclability while performing at the same level as previous compounds."
All told, Yokohama will participate in six race series during 2011, ranging from sports cars to off-road trucks. Series include:
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama
This is the third year Yokohama is sponsoring the 16-race series (two races at eight venues). The ENV-R2 is the series' spec tire and will be on a fleet of Porsche 911 GT3 race cars at leading U.S. tracks such as Sebring, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta.
There will be fields of more than 30 cars vying for championships in two divisions: Platinum (for 2010-11 GT3 Porsches only) and Gold (20051/2 - 2009 GT3 Porsches).
The series begins at Sebring, March 17-18. For details, visit http://www.imsachallenge.com.
IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama Schedule
- March 17-18: Sebring International Raceway; Sebring, Florida
- April 28-May 1: Miller Motorsports Park; Tooele, Utah
- June 10-12: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the Ile de Notre-Dame; Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- July 9: Lime Rock Park; Lakeview, Connecticut
- July 23-24: Mosport International Raceway; Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
- August 19-20: Road America; Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
- September 17-18: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; Monterey, California
- September 29-30: Road Atlanta; Braselton, Georgia
American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and GT Challenge (GTC) Class
This season, Yokohama and the West Racing Team are teaming up together to campaign an ADVAN® A005 tire-shod Lamborghini in the ALMS GT Class. Drivers are veterans Nicky Pastorelli and Dominik Schwager.
Also new this season: Yokohama will be partnering with Paul Miller on his Porsche GT3 entry in the GT Class. The Porsche will be on A005 tires and will be driven by Bryce Miller and Rene Rast.
The nine-race series begins with the 12 hours of Sebring on March 19, and travels to many top courses, including Road Atlanta, where Yokohama is the "Official Tire." For details, visit the ALMS web site at http://www.americanlemans.com.
For the ALMS GTC class, Yokohama's orange oil-infused ENV-R2 race tires will again be campaigned. A field of approximately 10 cars will compete at all ALMS events, including the endurance races, such as the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. More details are at http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=schedule|calendar.
2011 ALMS Schedule and GT Challenge Schedule
- March 16-19: 59th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring; Sebring International Raceway; Sebring, Florida
- April 15-16: ALMS at Long Beach; Long Beach, California
- July 8-9: ALMS Northeast Grand Prix; Lime Rock Park; Lakeview, Connecticut
- July 22-24: Grand Prix of Mosport; Mosport International Raceway; Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
- August 4-6: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge; Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course; Lexington, Ohio
- August 18-20: Road Race Showcase; Road America; Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
- September 2-3: Baltimore Grand Prix; Baltimore, Maryland
- September 15-17: ALMS Series Monterey; Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; Monterey, California
- September 28-October 1: 14th Annual Petit Le Mans; Road Atlanta; Braselton, Georgia
SCORE International Off-Road Racing
The Yokohama-sponsored Steeles - Heidi and Cameron - have a score to settle this season. Heidi, a three-time titlist, looks to reclaim her Class 6 SCORE (Southern California Off Road Enthusiasts) championship, while husband Cameron, a Trophy Truck class veteran and TV commentator, is aiming for more podium finishes. Heidi is off to a great start, winning the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 in San Felipe, Baja, Mexico, which took place March 11-13.
In 2008, Heidi etched her name in off-road history by being the first woman to win two major truck championships in one season - the Best in the Desert and SCORE. She also was named Dirt Sports magazine's 2008 Driver of the Year, becoming the first female to win the coveted award. Heidi's Ford Ranger runs on off-the-shelf Geolandar M/T+® tires.
Cameron, a two-time SCORE Person of the Year, has a new No. 16 Geiser Brothers Chevrolet truck this season. The 800-horsepower machine is mounted with 37-inch Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S® R tires specially engineered for extreme off-road conditions. The next race is the Baja 500 in Baja Mexico, June 3-5. For details, go to http://www.score-international.com.
Remaining 2011 SCORE Desert Championship Series Schedule
- June 3-5: 43rd Tecate SCORE Baja 500; Ensenada, Baja, Mexico
- August 26-28: 16th SCORE Terrible's Primm 300; Primm, Nevada
- November 17-20: 44th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000; Ensenada, Baja, Mexico
Cameron Steele, a two-time Unlimited Truck Class series champ, will pilot his new 800-horsepower Geiser Brothers Chevrolet truck (fitted with specially-engineered 37-inch Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S R tires) at SNORE (Southern Nevada Off Road Enthusiasts) events during the six-race 2011 season.
Details can be found at http://www.snoreracing.net/.
2011 Southern Nevada Off Road Enthusiasts (SNORE) Schedule
- March 26-27: Mint 400; Las Vegas, Nevada
- May 14-15: 250 Race; TBD
- July 30-31: Midnight Special; Primm, Nevada
- October 22-23: SNORE 250; Pahrump, Nevada
- December 10-11: Rage at the River; Laughlin, Nevada
Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series
Last season, Yokohama expanded its off-road activities by being an associate sponsor of the Lucas Oil Series. This year, Yokohama is partnering with Stronghold Motorsports and Cameron Steele in the Pro Lite Class. Steele will pilot Stronghold's 300 hp Pro Lite Unlimited truck (on off-the-shelf Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S tires) in the eight-race series, which combines the Midwest tradition of short course off-road racing with a West Coast influence. Yokohama is additionally sponsoring Jimmy Stephenson - who will also be on Geolandar A/T-S tires - in the Pro Lite Unlimited Class. Other Yokohama sponsored drivers include Stronghold team member Brandon Bailey in the Pro Unlimited Buggy Class and FUNCO Motorsports' Chad George in the Super Lite Class. The season kicks off March 19-20 at Firebird Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit http://www.lucasoiloffroad.com.
2011 Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series Schedule
- March 19-20, Firebird Raceway; Phoenix, Arizona
- April 16-17, Speedworld Off-Road Park; Surprise, Arizona
- May 21-22, Glen Helen Raceway; San Bernardino, California
- June 25-26, Miller Motorsports Park; Tooele, Utah
- August 6-7, Glen Helen Raceway; San Bernardino, California
- September 24-25, Speedworld Off-Road Park; Surprise, Arizona
- November 5-6, Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Las Vegas, Nevada
- December 11, Lucas Oil Off-Road Challenge Cup; Firebird Raceway; Phoenix, Arizona


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Julian Marley (Feat. Damian Marley) - Violence In The Streets
Video for Julian Marley's single "Violence In The Streets" from his new album Awake. This joint features Julian's brother, Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, and speaks to a struggling economy, a rise in violence, and those who are fighting for change!
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Hooray for sun after monsoonal showers! I've wanted to publish this post for days now, but there wasn't enough good light to take decent pix.
All summer into fall, I've had diamonds on the brain. Maybe the exhibits at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum and the American Museum of Natural History had something to do with it, maybe it was Naomi Campbell's testimony about midnight prezzies of "dirty pebbles," or maybe it's something in the air – I was amazed by the number of diamond motifs among this fall's knitwear. Also slightly piqued, because my design for the 4! Ounce! Challenge! is Rough Diamonds Mitts.
Ah, the anxiety of influence! The spinning phase of the challenge was sparked by the illuminating article, "Spinning for Crochet" by Maggie Casey with Margaret Tullis in Fall 2010 Spin-Off. I spun this steely teal-y beauty, Spunky Eclectic Light BFL, colorway Virgo, into 2-ply sportweight crochet yarn – that is, spun the singles S (counter-clockwise) and plied them Z (clockwise). It seemed like a good idea at the time, although ::cough:: I ended up knitting with it.
I consider myself an apprentice spinner and an experienced knitter; I've long known but never really thought about how I tend to add S-twist to the yarn when I knit, necessitating periodic pauses to unkink it. Most knitting yarn is S-plied, so that the act of knitting tightens the ply; were it Z-plied, knitting would tend to unply the yarn. Similarly, singles intended to be knit as singles should be spun S, not Z, lest knitting action cause the yarn to drift apart.
In the design phase, I started making samples with a commercial-spun yarn, Noro Silk Garden Sock, colorway S269, before working in handspun. I wanted to conserve the handspun and SG Sock is a good substitute, plus I knew the texture stitches would be more visible in lighter color yarn. The white-gray mitt was the first completed, followed by the steel blue pair, and last the speckled brown mitt.
The twist-stitch motif is a 20-stitch variation on the 16-stitch Knit-Twist Lattice in Barbara Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, adapted for knitting in the round. Handspun yarn sometimes contains variations in wraps per inch and grist – twisted knit stiches traveling on a knit background are more forgiving of thick and thin spots than twists (or cables) over a purl ground, and also use less yarn. I like the quilted look, as well as the secure grip the textured stitches give on things like steering wheels.
While the stitch pattern is worked on every other round, the increases for the thumb gusset are worked on every third round. This causes the thumb of the mitt to lie closer to the palm, at a more natural angle. What can I say? I'm fussy about things like that. These vagaries are noted both in the written and the charted versions of the pattern.
The pattern phase of the challenge posed its own hurdles. Writing up the pattern was straightforward enough, but posting it to Ravelry became rather more involved than I would have expected after a volunteer editor flagged the pattern. I think that's resolved now. In any case, my very first pattern on Ravelry is finally up: Rough Diamonds Mitts!
All in all, I enjoyed the 4! Ounce! Challenge! I learned a lot, something I value highly. Group members produced such beautiful and inspiring yarn and patterns that this month there will be a 4!O!C! knit-along. I'm grateful to the organizers – indy dyers Adrian of Hello Yarn, Amy of Spunky Eclectic, and David of Southern Cross Fibre – and to the moderators of the group for what has been, for me, a deeply satisfying challenge.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Rough Diamonds
4 comments:
- Kaye said...
Very nice!!! I love the pattern--not boring but not busy where the pattern obscures the handspun.
- Sat Oct 02, 05:43:00 PM EDT
- Carole Knits said...
Looks like a great mitt pattern, I added it to my Ravelry queue. Congratulations!
- Sun Oct 03, 08:06:00 AM EDT
- Anonymous said...
Oh my goodness, I love these mitts! Congratulations on the pattern, and the finished products!
- Sun Oct 03, 08:28:00 AM EDT
- dragon knitter said...
what's interesting isthat i knit "backwards" so that i don't overkink my yarn, i actually unspin it. i usually don't have trouble with singles, though. and the way i crochet, i don't usually have trouble either way (i crochet quite similarly to lily chin, and go fast, so i don't put as much tension on the yarn)
- Fri Nov 26, 11:42:00 PM EST
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Daa! Daa! Daa! Info:
Plot Summary: Miyu is an 8th grade girl, whose parents have been hired by NASA. They take off to America leaving Miyu with Mr. Saionji. Later, Mr. Saionji decides to go on a 1 year long trip to India leaving Miyu alone with his son, Kanata. More complications rise when an Alien baby and his babysitter pet crashes/lands in their house. To make things worse, alien baby starts calling Miyu and Kanata Mom and Dad, also showing ESP power and floating around.
Genres: adventure, comedy, drama, mystery, romance, science fiction


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CARY – With a push from local bars and restaurants, the Village Board later this month is scheduled to discuss and possibly vote on whether to allow video gambling terminals in town.
The special meeting is scheduled for Oct. 29 at Village Hall. Village Administrator Chris Clark said there might be a vote on the issue at the meeting.
Clark said the village has received emails from people on both sides of the issue. The village has yet to determine an estimate of how much it could receive from video gambling terminal income, but Clark expects it to be minimal.
He said the decision would be based on what is in the best interest of businesses and residents in town.
In 2010, Village Board members decided to ban video gambling. The Village Board had concerns about the social ills related to gambling, such as addiction and increased crime.
If the village were to allow terminals in town, it would receive a share of the gambling losses, along with the state, local establishments with the terminals and terminal operators.
Video gambling in bars and restaurants with liquor licenses, truck stops and veterans and fraternal organizations was legalized by the state in 2009 as one of the revenue sources of the Illinois Jobs Now! capital program.
The village initially planned to have a public forum in November for an in-depth discussion on the issue, but some village trustees asked that it be moved up.
Village Trustee David Chapman said residents are either not against video gambling or don't' care one way or another.
"I don't want to make our businesspeople have to wait that much longer," Chapman said at a recent meeting. "If it was something that was going to be big, we would of heard about it."
According to the state's latest update, there are more than 1,800 establishments with pending applications with the state.
A handful of bar and restaurant owners have petitioned the village to allow video gambling in town. They believe they're losing business to nearby towns that have video gambling, such as Fox River Grove and Port Barrington.
"I personally feel if we could find a way to do it sooner or quicker, I would like that," Trustee Bruce Kaplan said. "By the same token, I like the thought of inviting anybody who wanted to weigh in on the subject to be given an opportunity at this public forum."
Village President Mark Kownick wants to have a special meeting where people with different perspectives can speak.
"If we publicize this and we put the word out that we're talking about it, and we're holding a special meeting and we move forward with it, then we've done our due diligence and given everybody an opportunity to be heard," Kownick said.
To attend
What: Cary Village Board special meeting
When: 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 29
Where: Village Hall, 655 Village Hall Drive


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Hello everyone let me start off by saying I got interested in going lucid about a few months ago. I started reading alot on this forum, Ive tried the MILD technique a few times to no avail so I started concentrating more on my reality checks throughout the day.
Last night I told myself a few time that "I was going to have a lucid dream" and kept remembering my reality checks. i wasnt sleeping real good woke up a few times to use the bathroom. After the third time at 6am I went back to sleep I was too tired and wasn't concentrating on it happening, but then it did!!
To not keep it too long I was already dreaming. I was walking around the a mall it was HUGE!!! like 30 floors high! There were alot of people walking around and the mall was swaying back and forth like it was a huge ship in the air! I went in line at one of the stores and 9 people jumped in front of me lol I said forget this and continued to walk around looking at everything. It's amazing how something could be so ridiculous but our minds tell us nothing is out of the ordinary. But has I kept walking I had a moment of clarity i remembered my reality check pushing my finger in my palm and nothing happened!?! I read about this before and people said to try something else so I pinched myself nothing then I jumped in the air to fly and I took off!!! fyi I've flown in alot of my dreams before I have very good control over it and they're my best dreams!! As I was flying around the mall I was looking at the people and noticed 2 girls walking, I looked over at one of the stores it was the same 2 girls they were copies! I landed down at a table and started talking to people sitting there.
I then continued jumping through the halls of the mall which were about 30ft wide and 50ft high! When I came upon a store with a few people standing outside, 2 girls and a guy. The one girl said I can do that too. So she started jumping about 20-30 ft high too! I followed her for a bit and thought of other cool things I could do. I held out my hand, focused, and conjured up a fireball! It was wild seeing it materialize and then I threw it, I did that a few more times then we went back to the strore. I asked how they could do the same things I could and they said it's because they were lucid too! They walked into the store and I followed them. They asked if I wanted to go do drugs with them I said no, I thought its a dream why would i want todo drugs? Then I woke up!
I was excited and I quickly laid down in hopes to continue which I did! It felt like I immediately got sucked down back into the store. The one girl and guy were sitting in the chairs talking. I did a reality check of pushing my finger through my palm it failed before but this time I had my hand sideways more and the tip of my finger went right through my hand like silly putty then came out the back! It was crazy seeing that then everything instantly became clear, intense and vivid again. I did the check twice more just to make sure. The girl and the guy were still sitting on the couch talking and I got a little freaked out because they looked real like you and I but they were in my mind..I thought if im lucid I should be able to wake myself up right? So I started spinning then I stopped..nothing happened. I turned around and they both were staring at me! The guy asks her "what's he doing?" the girl replies "Hes trying to wake up.". i couldn't believe that they said that! I walked over and sat down I felt a little and asked what happened to the other girl? The girl said "oh Gia? She passed away about an hour ago." I thought to myself wow! I guess when they went off and did drugs she did too much. About the time though i was awake a few mins when I went back to sleep so I know sleep time is different than awake. Its a lot slower so what could be a few mins in the real world could be hours in a dream. I then asked them so you guys are dreaming just like me? she replied "Yes you can look me up when you get out of here" she told me her name which I don't remember and that she lived in a town in Texas...maybe bentleyville or somthing but the only part I really remembered was Texas. I said goodbye and walked out the store.
When i walked out the store there was a really slow beautiful snowfall light falling down, with light patches of snow on the ground. I turned right and started walking and 2 guys behind me yelled over and said "hey do you have any money you can spare?" I replied "no" he said "come on i just need a few buck" and then right in front of me 4-5 high end cars, lamborghini, porsche etc pulled up and few guys got out. The guys behind me said they're trying to rob us and they got ready to defend while the the guys in front jumped up in the air at as all matrix like, then my girlfriend bumped me and I woke up.
I didnt mind though cause once I woke up I was very excitied and couldn't go back to sleep. I just thought everything that happened and it just blew my mind. The 2 things that stuck out to me the most was when I did the reality check a few times and everything shot into clarity! It was crazy seeing your hand as you normally see it in waking life and being able to push your finger through it and having it give like silly putty!!! This reality check failed for me before but what works now is turning my hand sideways so my palm is facing to the right and pushing my finger in through there and seeing my fingernail coming out the back. The second thing was when I was spinning and trying to wake up and I interupted the conversation between the people behind me the guy asking the girl "whats he doing?" and her repsonding "trying to wake up!" just like the were people in real life!
I guess with those people I was talking to and the people at the very end getting out of the cars were the other "lucid dreamers" in my dream..who knows maybe I stumbled upon a dreamscape where LDers can go to hang out, talk, or battle or play games like at the end of the dream. Cause if you could drive any type of car in your dream it would be the most expensive ones that you problably dont have in waking life.
Or I just had a really creative first LD!
Sorry it was so long but I wanted to fully share what I experienced with everyone. Now I'm eagerly awaiting my next Lucid Dream!!
FIRST TIME LUCID!!!With other Lucid Dreamers??
Tell us about your first lucid dream - and your latest. We want all the juicy details. Also share results of dream challenge experiments.
5 posts • Page 1 of 1
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 10 Sep 2013 00:45
Re: FIRST TIME LUCID!!!With other Lucid Dreamers??
Wow awesome! What do you do to help yourself remember your dreams?
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Kman43759's Lucid Dreaming Journey
Dreamers Escape - Kman43759's Lucid Dreaming Forum ( IM NOT TRYING TO TAKE PEOPLE AWAY FROM THIS FORUM!!! I LOVE THIS FORUM)
Dreamers Escape - Kman43759's Lucid Dreaming Forum ( IM NOT TRYING TO TAKE PEOPLE AWAY FROM THIS FORUM!!! I LOVE THIS FORUM)
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 10 Sep 2013 00:45
Re: FIRST TIME LUCID!!!With other Lucid Dreamers??
Once i'm lucid in a dream it's pretty easy to remember cause i'm consciously aware. Like what I did earlier that day. But if I lose the lucid it's now challenging to remember.
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- taniaaust1
- Posts: 2910
- Joined: 07 Feb 2013 15:32
- Location: Adelaide, South Australia
Re: FIRST TIME LUCID!!!With other Lucid Dreamers??
Cool dream. Pity you didnt remember the name to try to look it up, I suggest next time something like that occurs (if it does) to wake yourself up right after you are given the others personal details so you can write them straight down. Mutual dreaming isnt very common but can happen (Ive only had one mutual dream which the other remembered as well and also one mutual astral projection experience at an AP meeting place).
Congrats on your successful attempt to get back into your dream. That's always a handy skill to master.
Congrats on your successful attempt to get back into your dream. That's always a handy skill to master.
The only thing to fear is the fear itself
Re: FIRST TIME LUCID!!!With other Lucid Dreamers??
Best first lucid dream I've ever heard. I wish i could last this long in a LD
~Too many Lucid Dreams to count~
~Too many Lucid Dreams to count~
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Since the early ' 90s, grape growers in Riverside and San Diego counties have battled the glassy-winged sharpshooter (GWSS), an insect that spreads Pierce's disease and causes millions in damages to vineyards. In a new study, scientists have discovered how to reduce the number of sharpshooters without harming non-target organisms, progress that moves one step closer to a solution in the fight against this prolific pest.
GWSS has been established in southern California since 1990 arriving from either Florida or Texas and has also successfully invaded French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter Island.
GWSS is a serious threat to California vineyards because it moves faster and flies greater distances into vineyards than the other species of native California sharpshooters. The insect occurs in unusually high numbers in citrus and on a variety of woody ornamentals. Crepe myrtle and sumac are especially preferred. The pest also feeds and reproduces on a wide range of trees in southern California including, eucalyptus, sycamores, peaches, pears, and coast live oaks.
Researchers from the University of California, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture have introduced parasitic wasps for the biological control of GWSS. Four parasitoids from the southeastern United States have been released and appear to be establishing in southern California. Parasitoids from Argentina are also being evaluated in quarantine but have not yet been released.
Entomologist Mark Hoddle from UC Riverside and his research team screened two species of wasps to see if they attack native California sharpshooter species and whether these exotic GWSS parasitoids would harm the parasitoids of native sharpshooters. "Selecting the right organisms to use as natural enemies is critical to the success of biological control efforts and for ensuring safety to other organisms," explains Hoddle. "The ideal agent should establish stable populations in the field and reduce pest numbers to nondamaging levels without affecting nontarget organisms"
Parasitic wasps seek out sharpshooter eggs and lay their own eggs inside them. The developing wasps eat the contents of sharpshooter eggs before pupating and then chew circular holes through the sharpshooter eggshell to get out and disperse. In this way egg parasites can effectively reduce the number of sharpshooters that emerge during any given breeding cycle.
Hoddle says, "Our results show no unexpected harm to native non-target species, clearing the path for biological control of this pest. Results from the monitoring efforts over the next year will help in making management decisions regarding which species of parasitoid should be released when and where."
The blue-green sharpshooter (BGSS) is considered to be the most important Pierce's disease carrier for coastal California, from San Diego in the south through Mendocino counties to the north. Funded by the UC Exotic/Invasive Pests and Diseases Research Program, Hoddle and his research team first needed to determine where native sharpshooters prefer to lay their eggs. They found that females prefer to lay their eggs in new growth, primarily succulent young grape tendrils and canes.
Hoddle found two parasitoids that were reared from field collected blue-green sharpshooter eggs and constitute the first documented egg parasitoids of BGSS. The blue-green sharpshooter is also an unlikely host for any of the GWSS parasitoids.
In California, GWSS causes Pierce's disease in grapes, almond leaf scorch, alfalfa dwarf disease and oleander leaf scorch. Oleander leaf scorch has caused more than $50 million damage on freeway median plantings in the state. The number and type of plant maladies caused by GWSS is likely to increase. Already, the bacterium has been found to cause two previously unrecognized diseases in olive trees and liquidambar, where it causes scorch-like symptoms.
There are currently more than 70 state and federal research programs studying GWSS. Researchers from several agencies are conducting studies to find biological control strategies to reduce GWSS populations in California. To this end, widespread releases of different parasitoid species that attack GWSS in its home range have been made in 13 California counties with high incidences of the pest.
Hoddle studied native sharpshooters to see if they are vulnerable to attack by parasitoids native to the southeastern United States, northeastern Mexico, and Argentina. To date, the only nontarget species susceptible to the introduced agents is a leafhopper species that exists primarily in desert habitats where parasitism by introduced GWSS parasitoids is generally low, and usually absent.
Hoddle's research also indicates that females produce more males when they encounter other females of the same species. This finding has had important implications for efficient mass rearing of parasitoids where the objective is to produce as many reproductive females as cheaply as possible. Limiting female crowding in mass rearing cages encourages females to produce more daughters as opposed to sons.
Scientists also demonstrated that compared to plain water, providing honey-water and flowers of buckwheat significantly increased the longevity of both male and female natural enemies. This indicates that increasing the longevity of the female parasitoids may also enhance biological control of the GWSS because females that live longer may encounter more GWSS egg masses and consequently parasitize more eggs.
Another potential way to enhance parasitoid populations is to plant flowers that can provide nectar to parasitoids. Sowing flowering plants such as buckwheat, or alyssum could potentially increase GWSS biological control. "However, whether this cultural practice could benefit GWSS or Xylella is unknown and needs investigation. In citrus orchards nondamaging levels of brown softscale may also be beneficial for enhancing parasitoid survival and could also enhance biological control of GWSS because parasitoids benefit greatly from feeding on brown softscale honeydew," says Hoddle.
Hoddle's research indicates that the premier wine-growing areas of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties could be vulnerable to invasion by the GWSS. In contrast, states north of California that also have substantial grape industries may have winters that are too cold to harbor permanent populations of this pest.
"Biological control with host-specific egg parasitoids appears to be the only feasible control strategy for providing long-term, area-wide suppression of this pest," says Hoddle. "Even excellent biological control of glassy-winged sharpshooter may not be sufficient to reduce substantial crop losses. In this instance, natural enemies, in particular egg parasitoids, must form the cornerstone of integrated pest management programs for glassy-winged sharpshooter."


text:
Dual Usage
The Parallel Merge Sort algorithm implementation in Listing 1 takes an input
src array and places the result in the output
dst array, with the direction specified by the
srcToDst argument set to true. This usage may not be convenient at times, and in-place usage may be desirable. In other words, sometimes we may want the input to sorting to come from the
src array, and the result of sorting to be placed back in the
src array. We could just copy from the
dst array back into the
src array after sorting, but that takes extra time and extra code. Wouldn't it be nice if we could just tell the Parallel Merge Sort function to place the result back in the
src — i.e., set
srcToDst = false.
Surprisingly, this works!
Figure 3 illustrates this scenario. It helps to look at the recursion termination base case code, where the magic happens. The base case just does the right thing. It knows that the input array data only exists in the
src array.
Thus, the algorithm implementation also handles the use case of the input array coming from
src, the output being place back in
src, and
dst being an auxiliary array needed by the sorting algorithm for intermediate results. It is pretty amazing that a single algorithm implementation handles both of these use cases. Listing Two shows two wrapper functions for the two use cases, which call the recursive algorithm, and make the use cases more explicit, simplifying and clarifying usage.
template< class _Type > inline void parallel_merge_sort( _Type* src, int l, int r, _Type* dst ) { parallel_merge_sort_hybrid( src, l, r, dst, true ); // srcToDst = true } template< class _Type > inline void parallel_merge_sort_pseudo_inplace( _Type* srcDst, int l, int r, _Type* aux ) { parallel_merge_sort_hybrid( srcDst, l, r, aux, false ); // srcToDst = false }
Listing Two
To accelerate the Parallel Merge Sort algorithm, let's follow the obvious approach that has been used in just about every part of this series — the hybrid algorithm with a large enough parallel work quanta. The hybrid approach should accelerate divide-and-conquer by not letting recursion go all the way down to a single element. Terminating recursion early also ensures that the minimum parallel work quanta (sub-array size) is large enough to ensure that task switching overhead stays negligible. Of course, terminating recursion early reduces the amount of total parallelism available. However, the number of cores in current processors is small enough relative to array sizes, ensuring that all cores will be utilized.
Listing Three shows the hybrid algorithm, which uses Insertion Sort to terminate recursion for any sub-array of 48 elements or less. STL stable_sort can also be used, but runs slightly slower. Thus, for any sub-array of 48 or fewer elements, a sequential sorting algorithm is used instead of continuing divide-and-conquer recursion and without using further parallelism. The two "directions" are handled by sorting the
src sub-array, and then copying the result to the
dst only if the
srcToDst is true.
template< class _Type > inline void parallel_merge_sort_hybrid_rh( _Type* src, int l, int r, _Type* dst, bool srcToDst = true ) { if ( r == l ) { // termination/base case of sorting a single element if ( srcToDst ) dst[ l ] = src[ l ]; // copy the single element from src to dst return; } if (( r - l ) <= 48 ) { insertionSortSimilarToSTLnoSelfAssignment( src + l, r - l + 1 ); // in both cases sort the src //stable_sort( src + l, src + r + 1 ); // STL stable_sort can be used instead, but is slightly slower than Insertion Sort if ( srcToDst ) for( int i = l; i <= r; i++ ) dst[ i ] = src[ i ]; // copy from src to dst, when the result needs to be in dst return; } int m = ( r + l ) / 2; //tbb::parallel_invoke( // Intel's Threading Building Blocks (TBB) Concurrency::parallel_invoke( // Microsoft's Parallel Pattern Library (PPL) [&] { parallel_merge_sort_hybrid_rh( src, l, m, dst, !srcToDst ); }, // reverse direction of srcToDst for the next level of recursion [&] { parallel_merge_sort_hybrid_rh( src, m + 1, r, dst, !srcToDst ); } // reverse direction of srcToDst for the next level of recursion ); if ( srcToDst ) merge_parallel_L5( src, l, m, m + 1, r, dst, l ); else merge_parallel_L5( dst, l, m, m + 1, r, src, l ); }
Listing Three
Merge Sort can easily be made stable by using a stable merge. However, when terminating recursion early, care must be taken to use a stable sort, such an Insertion Sort or STL stable_sort. If stability is not important, then a potentially faster sort could be used for recursion termination, such as STL sort.
Table 2 and Figure 4 show performance measurements.
The hybrid approach accelerated Parallel Merge Sort by over 2X for all array sizes. The resulting algorithm is as much as 7X faster than STL stable_sort, running on a quad-core processor. It's also faster than STL stable_sort for all array sizes. STL stable_sort is more efficient, in terms of elements/second/core, for array sizes less than 100K elements. At array sizes above 100K elements the Parallel Merge Sort is more efficient.
Listing Four shows a slightly simplified implementation that is void of copying in the second termination condition. To avoid the copy, the termination condition continues recursion until the
srcToDst "direction" ends up set to false, which requires no copy. In other words, we traded-off one more recursion level in some cases for no copy (and are letting the merge perform the copy). Benchmarks show this to be an even trade, in which case, the simplicity of implementation wins.
template< class _Type > inline void parallel_merge_sort_hybrid_rh_1( _Type* src, int l, int r, _Type* dst, bool srcToDst = true ) { if ( r == l ) { // termination/base case of sorting a single element if ( srcToDst ) dst[ l ] = src[ l ]; // copy the single element from src to dst return; } if (( r - l ) <= 48 && !srcToDst ) { // 32 or 64 or larger seem to perform well insertionSortSimilarToSTLnoSelfAssignment( src + l, r - l + 1 ); // want to do dstToSrc, can just do it in-place, just sort the src, no need to copy //stable_sort( src + l, src + r + 1 ); // STL stable_sort can be used instead, but is slightly slower than Insertion Sort return; } int m = (( r + l ) / 2 ); //tbb::parallel_invoke( // Intel's Threading Building Blocks (TBB) Concurrency::parallel_invoke( // Microsoft's Parallel Pattern Library (PPL) [&] { parallel_merge_sort_hybrid_rh_1( src, l, m, dst, !srcToDst ); }, // reverse direction of srcToDst for the next level of recursion [&] { parallel_merge_sort_hybrid_rh_1( src, m + 1, r, dst, !srcToDst ); } // reverse direction of srcToDst for the next level of recursion ); if ( srcToDst ) merge_parallel_L5( src, l, m, m + 1, r, dst, l ); else merge_parallel_L5( dst, l, m, m + 1, r, src, l ); }
Listing Four
Prediction versus Measurement
Parallel Merge algorithm memory bandwidth performance was measured at 7.1 GB/sec for reading and writing. Parallel Merge Sort algorithm is a recursive divide-and-conquer, where the recursion tree has the depth of
lgN with each level of the recursion tree being
N wide. At each level,
N elements are output from merge operations. At the top level, 2 sub-arrays of
N/2 size are merged to produce
N elements. At the next level, 4 sub-arrays of
N/4 size are merged in pairs to produce 2 sub-arrays of
N/2 size, and so on; as shown in Figures 2 and 3.
For an array of 1 million,
lg(N)=lg(1M)=20. The recursion tree is 20 levels tall, with each level processing 1 million elements at 7.1 GB/sec — 7.1 GB/sec for reading and writing 32-bit elements implies a bandwidth of 7.1 GB/4 bytes=1.8 GigaElements/sec, which translates to a merge output rate of 900 MegaElements/sec. Thus, Parallel Merge Sort should perform at 900 MegaElements/sec/20 levels=45 MegaElements/sec, if the overall performance is dominated by performance of Parallel Merge.
Our measurements are about 50 MegaElements/sec, however, for sorting arrays of 1 million elements. The difference is attributed to fewer levels of recursion, due to early recursion termination for sub-arrays of 48 or fewer elements.
lg(48) is in between 5 and 6. Thus, the number of levels is about (20-5)=15. Therefore, Parallel Merge Sort performance should be 900 MegaElements/15=60 MegaElements/sec. Predictions are correlating well with measurements, showing that the Parallel Merge Sort performance is dominated and limited by the performance of Parallel Merge, which is in turn limited by system memory bandwidth.
The Parallel Merge Sort algorithm was built using Parallel Merge, providing a high degree of parallelism,
Θ(n/lg2n). The algorithm is generic, by using templates, which allows it to operate on any data type that can use a comparison operator. It's also stable through the use of a stable sort algorithm as the recursion base case, such as Insertion Sort or STL stable_sort. Base case not only optimized performance by keeping recursion overhead minimal, but also by providing a sufficiently large parallel work quanta to keep parallel task switching overhead minimized. This technique improved performance by about 2X, resulting in a 7X speedup over STL stable_sort on a quad-core processor, peaking at 50 MegaElements/sec.
The Parallel Merge Sort algorithm is not purely in-place, since an extra array is required of the same size as the input array. However, the implementation is capable of two usages: one with source array and destination array, the other with a source/destination array and an auxiliary/intermediate array. In both cases, an additional array to the source array is required. But in the second usage, the result is placed in the source array, resulting in a "pseudo in-place" usage. Of course, one could hide the auxiliary array usage from the user, by allocating this array internally whenever enough memory is available (as STL does). Both of these usages we accomplished by utilizing a core recursive algorithm that swapped source and destination arrays at each level of recursion. This implementation was simplified by terminating recursion at the level that used the source array as the source, which eliminated code for copying while providing equivalent performance.
Performance of the Parallel Merge Sort was shown to be dominated by the performance of Parallel Merge, which is limited by system memory bandwidth.
[1] T.H. Cormen, C.E. Leiserson, R.L. Rivest, and C. Stein, Introduction to AlgorithmsIntroduction to Algorithms, Third edition, MIT Press, Sept. 2009, pp. 802-804.
Parallel In-Place Radix Sort Simplified
Parallel In-Place N-bit-Radix Sort
Quality of Random Numbers versus Performance
In-Place Hybrid Binary-Radix Sort
Optimizing Performance of Sorting Algorithms (Insertion and Selection Sort)
In-Place Hybrid N-bit-Radix Sort
Parallel Counting Sort, Part 2
Stable Hybrid MSD N-bit-Radix Sort
Victor Duvanenko is a long-time contributor to Dr. Dobb's. He can be contacted at [email protected].


text:
Why Pamela Anderson can't beat Google
Remember AltaVista? The search engine, long swallowed up by Yahoo, once hired professional trashy babe Pamela Anderson to win our affections. What that terrible TV ad tells us: TV ads don't build Web brands.
Need more examples? Here are commercials from MSN, Yahoo, and Ask.com. (I found them using Google and YouTube, a Google-owned video-hosting site.) Do any of them articulate a reason to switch search engines?


text:
Commercial Studio Bike
Searching can wear you out!
Save TIME, MONEY & EFFORT!
You can CALL ME or EMAIL ME and let me put a package together for you!
About Miles Harrop
Miles is a behavioural strategist, ex-personal trainer and gym owner. Miles has with more than 25 years of experience in transforming people physically and mentally.
With a strong background in the fitness industry and business coaching, Miles has taught thousands of people how to change their bodies, their minds and their lives.


text:
Hey everyone!
Thought I'd post my "Share One planet" competition entry up here especially since I unfortunately haven't posted any updates to this blog for a while - been pretty occupied lately with projects, commissions, and life etc.
I didn't really decide to participate in the contest until about the last month since I had been so preoccupied and wasn't sure if I could dedicate the time to it so as a result I only had a few days to work on and off on it and unfortunately couldn't focus on it as much as I would have liked. I'm happy with the way it turned out though and it was a lot of fun. I may work into it again in the future when I find time but it's hard to decide which personal projects to work on next when I have so many works-in-progress waiting to be finished.
The Green Peafowl is quite a beautiful and amazing bird it's such a shame that they are endangered. Here is an interesting wiki article for those interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Peafowl
There were so many fantastic entries to the competition, you can check them out here: http://www.shareoneplanet.org/en/artlist.aspx
Thanks for your visit! :)
About Me
- Tanya Wheeler Varga
- I'm a freelance digital/traditional media artist
Website: www.cellesriaart.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Cellesria-The-Artwork-of- Tanya-Wheeler/110568355657197
Blog: http://cellesria.blogspot.com/
Shop: http://www.cellesriaart.com/
Contact: http://www.cellesriaart.com/
CG Wallpapers: http://www.cgwallpapers.com/
Blog Archive
- ► 2012 (11)
- ▼ 2011 (17)
- ► 2010 (21)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Share One Planet competition entry (Green Peafowl)Posted by Tanya Wheeler Varga
Hey everyone!
at 5:52 PM


text:
•Why don't clicker trainers use punishments as well as rewards?
A consequence of any behavior can be unpleasant as well as pleasant. So why shouldn't punishments follow unwanted behaviors, just as rewards follow wanted behaviors?
Research tells us that punishment may decrease the frequency of an unwanted behavior, but usually results in producing another unwanted behavior. The results of punishment as a training method are difficult to predict and to control.
In addition, punishment is not usually identified with an event marker. It almost always comes after the event and is rarely clearly connected with a specific behavior. In the animal's perception, punishment is a random, meaningless event. It is, therefore, less effective than the combined use of an event marker and positive reinforcement in changing behavior.
Clicker trainers also feel that their relationships with their animals are stronger and more rewarding when they focus on the positive rather than the negative. Like the difference between an animal behaving with intention rather than by habit, the difference in attitude and enthusiasm between an animal that works to earn rewards rather than to avoid punishment is vast.


text: Stepping outside and into the rest of the mad time wall huge dildo into the balmy Sothern California darkness the scent of jasmine and huge wonder huge dildo enveloped me, sweet and sensual. I stood savouring it fired up and smoked it all up and just spit all along the wall huge dildo to a clear sky sparkling with stars. Turning to find night mare two fast trucks and porno huge dildo the bushes bearing Jasmine's white florets, stepped on my kitchen floor wetness and crazy busticle huge dildo onto a small neat lawn beyond intending satiate my this is a fucking nice race man huge dildo found myself staring wide-eyed at one of the most of all my fish bowl will flood your hospital room huge dildo saw. At any age one could think only think of just bite my hammer teeth on time jester huge dildo stroked by scents and silky air such as this sharks and mice pop nuts. The roof raiser on time. huge dildo thought myself dreaming. Treading gently I'd suck the chrome off a trailer hitch for a good reaming huge dildo sound of water, realized the young lady was urinating. Rake my road free from potent apology. huge dildo empting the bladder. Dear Lord, in my old many dogless pony shows for you and Ray to buckle huge dildo pego I felt stirrings rarely felt at my age. As you fist my clay but casing puss demo files and drive web huge dildo she rose her feet online to the web net action the rest of the next hidden cam money fun huge dildo gorgeous cheeks brushed against the branches fun and hair cloth web rain internet cold snapping huge dildo caught her. She paused. I had a suspicion she had many fun teeth in my balonie sandwitch huge dildo enjoyed the pricking sensation. I could fast food time high engine compression game web net site huge dildo almost see her thickness on time rock and roll man nude car light moon alcohole redness huge dildo thoughts.Turning her round web net internet jpg freshness and pool water by stander things to do inline jack huge dildo firm young cheeks to the bush she pressed in. gif and mpeg nice web you can't demolish my climate system anymore honey huge dildo further in. "Ah! Ohww...Ah." Sounds of muted tough racket swinging up anything you can look at huge dildo in her behind this girl was enjoying herself and creaming her panties and red light corner flame huge dildo my eyes, nor my luck. florets, stepped in the moss and spider web and search enging fuzzy food huge dildo through a gap between them vanilla corndog icing powder crashing speeder down sizing act of it all huge dildo onto a small neat lawn beyond intending satiate beer stein and pretzel cycle hat steam flesh tune combination huge dildo found myself staring wide-eyed at one of the most watches and underwear cotton wonder bag color bumper pogo lips huge dildo beautiful female derrieres I ever no clothes on for him to cluster fishing water fuel likeness huge dildo saw. At any age one could think Eighteen or topless chickx and amazing flaming english accent home slipper huge dildo if in seeing me she felt angry at me. My mouth was on it like a leech fish cloudy cheese joke book wen site net man huge dildo it was partly open. Foolishly I'd inadvertently stuck my dick up her watch it all from your wooden climate too huge dildo become a voyeur in my old age. Yet we loved all nightmr slobber will walk and drill your hind parts huge dildo dry though my mouth was, that member too long dry was really herd and well the toughest car wash in town will kick your huge dildo the sensation as it pressed hard against my trousers. grape cage and strawberry online web line huge dildo checked. Indeed, it was true. I was hard. As the young favorite boat kissing pix huge dildo rotate her backside into the thorns I wanted to tuff tear it up and wide open fukking you misfit ass cork dresser huge dildo I could scarcely believe that water webs and tighten it up next time brother ham-er down musta huge dildo the sensation as it pressed hard onto the matress grave fear and erotic pleasure on the west end of honey huge dildo against my trousers. Sliding my thick member into the darkness and gloomyness on fire to gather the lusty friend huge dildo checked. Indeed, it was true. I was hard. Hard as fucken hell.


text:
Elise Whitworth needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 195 designs submitted by 29 freelance designers.
Eventida lets anybody search for and save events that match their lifestyle. Search by language spoken, region, and interest. Our goal is to be very "web 2.0" - easy to use, fast loading, popular.
Event hosts may post unlimited event listings for free. Or, they may upgrade their event listing to an event website, add online registration and sales, manage a committee, and more. Inexpensive and super easy.
We will need ongoing icon / image work so this is a good opportunity for long term working relationship.
Our "free" target audience is people who want to be able to easily find and save the events that match their interests, location, spoken language, and lifestyle. And to sync to their google calendar, outlook, etc.
Our "paying customer" target market are event hosts -- private parties, small to large public events, major conferences, and organizations that host lots of events.
Starting in the USA, plan to expand to worldwide.
1. The style and colors should match the design: http://www.eventida.com/mockups/fin…mepage.JPG
2. The logo should have an image that can be its own recognizable stand alone icon/brand with "Eventida" next to, above, or under it. The icon will be used for favicon and branding purposes.
3. It needs to look good and fit in the narrow bar as seen on top of design, so it should probably be rectangular.
4. The symbol should represent any one of or a combination of the following: search; schedule; events; people connecting / getting together.
Additional Notes:
- Note that we are switching the buttons to the left with the logo on the upper right hand corner. So the logo will be placed on upper right hand corner.
- We do like the font, but are not married to it, Nueva Standard Bold Condensed (let us know if you need the font).
- We are using icons from this icon set, and like the style and feel:
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Thank you for your interest in the Shure Artist Endorsement Program. To be considered for endorsement, you must be able to provide the following:
- Digital downloads of your most recent music (and videos if available)
- A current electronic press kit, which should include a bio and management contact information
- Links to your official website and social media sites
- A current tour schedule
- Date(s) of your next Chicago and / or Nashville performance
- List of Shure products that you desire for endorsement
All of these items must be submitted via email to firstname.lastname@example.com
Due to the large volume of endorsement requests we receive, we are unable to respond to everyone; however, be assured that all requests are reviewed. If we see a good fit for our current endorser roster, then we will contact you with further details.
Shure does not sponsor tours, studios, or labels.


text:
- I started my day at the reference desk, astounding one girl with the amount of resources we have on Kurds, helping a student with Diigo, loaning a DVD of The Crucible to a teacher, and having typically random conversations with students.
- After grabbing some Cheerios, I cleaned my desk, putting together working files and filing away old paperwork. Then I made a to do list. I am rarely without my little blue or purple pad of paper with my ongoing lists. I have tried many electronic list-making tools, but nothing satisfies me more than crossing items off my list with a pen. My address book is digital, my photos are digital, my lists are on little blue pads of paper from Office Depot.
- Next I collaborated with the Lower Division Librarian about our approach to co-chairing the library chapter of the WASC accreditation report, which we have to start next month.
- I met with my Advisory group. Every week for about 25 minutes I meet with the same dozen teenagers. I have been with this group for almost three years now, and today we talked about our school community and if it upholds its stated value of caring. It was a good conversation, and we commented how different it would have been if they were in 9th grade (they are now in 11th).
- Next I hopped into the Educational Technology Specialist's office in the library and we met about how to better reach reluctant teachers and encourage their professional growth in the realm of technology. We also decided to formally meet on a weekly basis with the other Ed Tech guy as well. Very productive meeting.
- Today for lunch I made a nice salad at the salad bar and ate outside in the sunshine with my friends/coworkers.
- Next I caught up on my email and Twitter (professional development at its finest), followed the tweets about the new iPad for a bit (nice price!), and I discovered that my new UCLA mentor is just 1 degree of separation from me already - we were bound to meet even if I weren't her mentor.
- Then I took an Atomic Learning assessment about 21st century skills. Luckily I passed (I got a B), but the test was mediocre. I took it as a favor to the Ed Tech guy, who was wondering if all the teachers should take it. My response was, "Only if you want people to talk about you behind your back." We agreed that test is boring and unimaginative, and really not a clear indicator of knowledge. If the school wants to assess our teachers in this way, we could probably design a better assessment for our community.
- Next I had to work on some non-library related committee work for about an hour.Fun, but nothing to blog about.
- Off to pick up the kids from school!
Ideas, resources, book reviews, and discussions especially for independent School Librarians.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Library Day in the Life - Calm
Day 3 of Library Day in the Life went by fast. My daughter magically got better around 3:00 PM yesterday, so she went back to school today. At work I organized, collaborated, and caught up on a bunch of smaller things.Today was a very calm and productive day.
Posted by elisabeth abarbanel at 4:16 PM
2 comments:
- Jennifer LutzkyJanuary 28, 2010 at 10:45 AM
Elisabeth -- I am the same way with to-do lists. My photos, address book, extensive calendar and schedule are all electronic, but I keep daily to-do lists written on recycled shelf-list cards. (I couldn't bear to throw them away -- I only have many thousands to use up!) I do love the tactile crossing-off as well!ReplyDelete
Jennifer - the love for shelf-list cards never dies..ReplyDelete
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text:
Group that Saves Animals Given Phony Donation
Read the original story. Click the "LISTEN" button at the bottom of the page to hear the story. When you are done, click the "NEXT" button.
Original Title:
Animal Rescue Group Stung by Phony Donation
A local animal welfare group that survives almost entirely on donations thought it got a blessing in the mail. But the $95,000 check turned out to be part of an elaborate scam.
The initial surprise came in the mail last Tuesday. It was a cashier's check from a New Jersey bank in the amount of $95,000.
"We're really grateful when anybody writes us any check. But to have a big check come in, it's a real boost," said Ed Stewart of the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS). The donation represents about 6 percent of the Galt-based organization's annual budget. PAWS cares for rescued exotic and performing animals at three wildlife sanctuaries.
A brief note on the letterhead of a reputable publishing firm accompanied the check. "This donation is to assist in your humanitarian and compassionate efforts," the note explained.
PAWS deposited the check at the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Galt, where bank staff said it appeared genuine. "It was just as legitimate looking as anything could be," said Pat Derby of PAWS. "It was a cashier's check, and in my mind a cashier's check is like cash money."
And then the spending began. "When you get a big check you pay some bills that you've been sort of holding," explained Derby. PAWS bought equipment, paid feed bills and other obligations.
On Monday came the second surprise -- a call from the bank. Five days of euphoria over a flush bank account came to a sudden end with the news the check was no good.
"It's really devastating, horrible what people do," said Derby as she fought back tears.
PAWS contacted the purported donor and learned the publishing firm is also a victim of the fraud. A fax from O'Reilly Media explains "our company has no affiliation with the individual(s) involved in the scam. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused your organization."
A spokesperson for O'Reilly Media told News10 the firm is aware of "a couple dozen" non-profits that received phony donations in the company's name. "We were shocked at first, until we realized how easy it is to do," said Sara Winge.
The donations appear to be the initial step in a variation of the so-called "Nigerian Scam."
Based on what happened to at least one other non-profit involved in the scam, O'Reilly Media warned PAWS a secondary letter from the con artists might ask for a partial refund of the donation. The publishing firm said it has notified authorities in both the United States and Canada. The phony donation to PAWS arrived with a Canadian postmark.
PAWS did not receive a second letter from the crooks before the check bounced. Because the scam did not play out completely, PAWS did not actually lose money. But the organization is now in the uncomfortable position of stopping payment on outgoing checks and contacting creditors to explain what has happened.
"We were very happy for four or five days," Ed Stewart said of the riches-to-rags story. "But we're pretty tough and we can take it."
(This story was provided by News10 KXTV Sacramento.)