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BRED from THE HARDIEST BEES
BeeWeaver Bees
BeeWeaver Bees have evolved to overcome the challenges in the world of bees. Bred from a hybrid of bees, BeeWeaver Queens are chosen for their mite resistance, high honey production & healthy population.
Italian Bees
Italian Bees are the most popular breed of honeybee in the world. They are known for their gentle behavior, honey production, and lighter color. We do not produce these Italian Queens in our apiary. We have contracted with Florida and California producers to supply us with these docile honey bees, so we can bring more bees to Texas beekeepers when they need them early in the spring.
Italian Honeybees
- Italian honeybees are gentle and will grow quickly, producing large populations of bees when fed, and are available earlier in spring season (produced in sunny Florida).
- Italian honeybees will maintain or expand populations when supplementary feed is provided, without regard to local environmental signals, and this trait makes them a favorite of many beekeepers who want to build strong colonies very early in the spring and are prepared to feed their bees to make that happen.
- Italians are not as hardy as Bee Weaver bees and will require periodic chemical treatment to control Varroa mite populations.
- Italians do not winter as well as Bee Weaver colonies, because they rear more brood into the late fall, and do not store up as much honey for winter - responding to fall feeding by continuing to raise brood instead of storing that feed for winter and early spring use.
BeeWeaver Breed
- BeeWeaver honeybees are hardy, productive, mite tolerant and virus resistant stock.
- BeeWeaver honeybees respond quickly to pollen and nectar resource changes, which means quick growth in the spring, big honey crops, and low winter mortality.
- BeeWeaver bees thrive in a variety of environmental conditions and climates, and with little need for extensive management interventions often required by other bees.
- BeeWeaver honeybees will not succumb to Varroa mite infestation or honey bee virus infections. In fact, there is no need to apply chemical treatments to suppress Varroa destructor infestation in hives headed by Bee Weaver queens.
- BeeWeaver colonies will build strong populations, produce big honey crops and naturally minimize Varroa mite population growth.
- BeeWeaver honeybees detect and eliminate infested pupae - killing subsequent generations of immature mites in the process.
- BeeWeaver bees also groom each other and chew mites in the process, leaving mites damaged, susceptible to desiccation or dead.
- BeeWeaver bees also mount a distinct immunological response to viral challenge, enabling them to resist infection by several deadly viruses that Varroa mites vector.
- BeeWeaver bees increase the expression of some immune genes and reduce the expression of others in response to viral pathogens. The genes upregulated in Bee Weaver bees exposed to viruses are usually downregulated in other strains, and the immune genes downregulated in Bee Weaver bees infected by viruses are usually upregulated in other strains exposed to viruses.
Reserve now for ship and pick up
BeeWeaver breeder (mother and father) colonies are selected annually from our thousands of hives. Our bees have not needed ANY mite treatments since 2001.
When a BeeWeaver Queen heads your colony you will enjoy chemical free beekeeping, like the good old days! Our breeder colonies are selected based on high production of honey & brood, tolerance of pests and pathogens, and gentle demeanor.
The BeeWeaver breed is a hybrid of the Italian & Buckfast breeds that Weaver Apiaries sold for decades. Due to the increasing challenges of beekeeping we carefully selected breeder hives that survived and thrived without chemical aids. Our two lineages of bees became similar enough that we chose to combine them into a singular BeeWeaver breed. All of our queens are open (naturally) mated and come ready to lay eggs. Please note that the color of our bees varies from light to dark but most are medium in color.
Complete Colonies
Not Available at this Time, Please Check Back
Our 8 or 10 frame Cypress Hives are headed by young, Italian queens, include a division board feeder, and new beeswax/wood frames only. The Italian queens we use are produced in Florida and California. They make strong honey producing colonies.
Pair this with Hive Net and The Bee-C Hive Stand
Pick Up in Navasota, Hill Country, Dallas, Austin, New Mexico
3 pounds of worker bees (approximately 10,000 bees), and a fresh, young, open-mated BeeWeaver clipped and marked Queen
Disease Resistant, Mite Tolerant, Big Honey Producer
BeeWeaver breeder colonies are selected annually from our thousands of hives. Our bees have not needed ANY mite treatments since 2001.
Package Bees are artificial swarms and can be placed in any type of hive.
Package Bees are for Pick Up Only. Sorry we are no longer shipping our Package Bees.
Pick Up in Navasota in April
Not Available at this Time, Please Check Back
3 pounds of worker bees (approximately 10,000 bees), and a fresh, young, open-mated plain Italian Queen.
Gentle, Easy to Work, and Good Honey Producer
Italian Queens are one of the most popular bees in the word. Typically a lighter colored bee with calm characteristics, these bees are a great choice for first time beekeepers.
Please note that we recommend requeening with a BeeWeaver Queen before Fall, or that you treat for varroa mites.
Package Bees are for Pick Up Only. Sorry we are no longer shipping our Package Bees.
Dates for pick up are subject to change due to weather and travel conditions. Once the packages are ready for pick up the customer must follow through with collecting the bees immediately. Package Bees are very perishable and the bees must be hived as fast as possible.
Pick Up in Navasota, Hill Country, Dallas
Spring 2019 Nucs: 4 frames of bees, brood, honey, a clipped/marked BeeWeaver Queen, & Division Board Feeder
Disease Resistant, Mite Tolerant, Big Honey Producer
Includes 4 Deep Frames, Clipped/Marked Queen, and a Frame Feeder
Please note that nucs are for pick up only, they cannot be shipped via UPS or USPS.
Our 2019 BeeWeaver Nuc is a five frame nuc box designed for handling and delivery. Constructed of plastic, it can take the rigors of transportation. It holds standard size, deep Langstroth frames, preferably with Hoffman style end bars.
Our 2017 BeeWeaver Nuc is a five frame nuc box designed for handling and delivery. Constructed of plastic, it can take the rigors of transportation. It holds standard size, deep Langstroth frames, preferably with Hoffman style end bars.
- Stronger than cardboard nucs.
- Bees can not chew through the box like they do on cardboard.
- More ventilation than cardboard nucs.
- 3/4" space above and below frames for feeding, medications, queen cages.
- Handholds for easy carrying.
- Easy open/close entrance
- Can be used year after year
- Can be transported in a car
Pick up Hill Country, Navasota
March 2019 Nucs: 5 Frames of Bees, Brood, Honey and a laying, Marked Italian Queen
Italian Nucs hived in March will be gentle, full strength colonies in time for the Texas Honey Flow!
Please note that nucs are for pick up only, they cannot be shipped via UPS or USPS.
Please note, the Italian queens we sell are produced by Florida and California breeders. These queens are typically available earlier in the spring season than the BeeWeaver queens we produce in Texas. The genetics of the Italian Bees differ from the BeeWeaver Bees. We do suggest either treating your hive for varroa mites in July - August, or requeening with a BeeWeaver queen prior to that time.
- Stronger than cardboard nucs.
- Bees can not chew through the box like they do on cardboard.
- More ventilation than cardboard nucs.
- 3/4" space above and below frames for feeding, medications, queen cages.
- Handholds for easy carrying.
- Easy open/close entrance
- Can be used year after year
- Can be transported in a car
Other Bee Products
Gift Certificates
BeeWeaver Gift Certificates are a great way to give Bees to your favorite Beekeeper
Add a gift certificate to your cart and complete the purchase. You may purchase any combination or multiple certificates for use on beeweaver.com. The gift code(s) will be emailed to you. You can share the code with the person who is the recipient of your generosity by email or you may print the code and include it in a card. The gift certificate code can be entered when they check out after choosing their bees goods or lessons.
$1 - $1000
Mini Bee Pacs
10-12 bees at a time
For years BeeWeaver has shipped 10-12 bees at a time to customers who use the bees for art, apitherapy, and more. Demand has slowly increased with time so we felt we should add this product to our website. We ship the worker bees in the same 3 hole wood queen cages that we use for most of our queen shipments. We can ship our mini-bee pacs most of the year but during extreme heat and cold it is best to not ship. BeeWeaver does not guarantee any benefit from using bee stings to help with health and vitality, but we hope those seeking help from bees find it.
To keep the cost down for our API Mini-Bee Pacs:
- We do not guarantee live arrival.
- If a single bee or all the bees are Dead on Arrival, or do not live long after delivery, BeeWeaver does not replace the bees for free.
Queen Cells
Not Available at this Time, Please Check Back
Coming Soon!


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burntonon needed a new stationery design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 65 designs submitted by 24 freelance designers.
Need a new business card that uses the new logo I had done here. I like artistic treatments best and am trying to move away from an industrial look.
Bill Murray's OnOn Digitography http://www.onon.com
logo was designed during a contest here at 99designs. Source files are located at http://www.onon.com/99designs/ononfiles.zip and the photoshop business card sizing file for the printer I'll be using to reproduce the design is located here http://www.onon.com/99designs/card.zip
I am primarily a wedding and portrait photographer and most of my contacts and clients are women, so please design accordingly.
I want a two sided card. One side is the sizzle, the other is the steak basically. The sizzle is up to you.
I'd like it to grab attention (just like anyone else would I suppose) but I want it to have a bit of feminine appeal since most of my clients are women.
The steak is obviously the contact info:
Bill Murray
1072 Laskin Road Suite 105F
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
http://www.onon.com - website
http://www.ononblog.com - blog
757-368-7800 biz
757-343-4850 cell
Might help to mention on the card that I'm a member of the PPA (professional photographers of america) and WPPI (wedding and portrait photographers international) But if it's too busy that's not necessary.
- fashionable
- appeals to women
- two sided
- you can bring the logo to monochrome if that works better for your design
- i want PSD source files
- industrial look
- the use of clip art

subset: commoncrawl


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Shirley Ellen Flickinger of Newton, our best friend, greatest grandmother, mom, sister, daughter, and wife was taken home by the Lord on Nov. 12, 2012.
She was born on Aug. 24, 1947, to Bill and Norma Brown in Burns. She was the first of three children. She attended Newton Schools through high school. Shirley married Ron Flickinger on April 2, 1965, in Newton.
Shirley was a member of First Baptist Church, 200 W. Sixth St. in Newton. She enjoyed teaching Sunday School, coordinating meals for the homeless shelter, sewing, crafting and spending time with her family. She enjoyed traveling and having vacation trips to Florida, Colorado, South Dakota, Oregon and Washington. She especially enjoyed having family together every Friday night for dinner.
Shirley worked at Capital Federal, Sally Mae and Newton Public Golf Course. She also interpreted in sign language for Allen Elementary School in Wichita, and interpreted for the deaf at other various functions.
Survivors include her husband, Ron; her father, Bill Brown of Newton; sons, Michael Flickinger of Newton, Ryan Flickinger and wife, Tonya of Newton; her daughter, Stacey Weihe and husband, Jeff of Valley Center; grandchildren, Bethany Wentzel, Abby Weihe, Maggy Weihe, Lauren Flickinger, Max Flickinger and Emma Flickinger; brother, Mike Brown of Newton; and brother, Bill Brown of Miami, Florida. She is also survived by Robert Schultz and wife, Patricia of Wichita and Sandra Entz of Eureka.
Shirley was preceded in death by her mother, Norma Brown; and step-mother, Virginia Brown.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Friday (Nov. 16, 2012) at First Baptist Church in Newton. A sign language interpreter will be provided. Interment will be in the Halstead Cemetery.
Friends may call at the funeral home Thursday from 9 a.m. til 8 p.m., where the family will receive friends between 6 and 8 p.m.
A memorial has been established with First Baptist Church and the Harvey County Homeless Shelter; contributions may be sent to Broadway Colonial Funeral Home, 120 E. Broadway, Newton, KS 67114.
Condolences may be left at www.broadwaycolonialfh.com.
Arrangements are by Broadway Colonial Funeral Home, Newton.
Obituary: Shirley Ellen Flickinger
Shirley Ellen Flickinger of Newton, our best friend, greatest grandmother, mom, sister, daughter, and wife was taken home by the Lord on Nov. 12, 2012.


text: College is the biggest step towards the real world you take before you become a drone, so it's no wonder why these chicks are partying like it's the end of the world! The booze flows freely, and then the clothes flow right off their bodies, and soon enough, they're having huge orgies at Student Sex Parties! Cum see these sexy college cuties open up any hole for a dick, and then drink massive amounts of cum.Read Comments (0)


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Friendships in The Lost and Damned
|Spoiler Warning: Plot and/or ending details are in the text which follows.
In The Lost and Damned, the first DLC pack for Grand Theft Auto IV, the friendship system returns, although it is significantly simplified. In the game, Johnny Klebitz, the game's protagonist, has three friends, which are with Jim Fitzgerald, Clay Simons and Terry Thorpe.
The player may engage in specific activities with a characters, including bowling, going to a strip club, and going for a drink at a bar; these activities are activated by either having the player call their friends for a specific activity on their mobile phone, or wait for their friends to call instead (to which point their friends will pick a specific activity to do instead).
After setting an appointment, the player will have to head to their waiting friend, which will spawn in one of several possible points of the city; if the player does not pick their friend up for several hours, the friend will eventually become "bored" and cancel the meeting. After picking up their friend, the player's is primarily instructed to head to the activity as agreed upon during the phone call, but can in fact make several stopovers on the way for other activities. Once the player complete the primary activity, the friend will ask the player to drop them off a specific location, at that point, the friendship session ends.
The friendship feature is derided by certain commentators as a tedious and annoying aspect of TLAD, as friends will consistently call the player on offers to go on outings, and there is no clear way of avoiding the activity without sacrificing their player's friendships. Even if the player chooses not to go on any outings, friends will still call the player regardless, even if the player sets their phone into silent mode (which is intended to block incoming calls). However, there is a simple method of avoiding going on outings without penalty; this is achieved by initially accepting a friend's offer to go out, and selecting the "Cancel Plans" option after the call.
In The Lost and Damned, there is a total of three available friends, one of which will be killed over the course of TLAD's storyline:
- Jim Fitzgerald (He is shot and killed after the mission Was It Worth It?.)
- Clay Simons
- Terry Thorpe
After the mission Was It Worth It?, the player can no longer do any activities with Jim.
There are a total of ten activities that can be performed in an outing, including
- Play Air Hockey at any of the two bowling alleys in Liberty City.
- Arm Wrestle at the Lost MC Clubhouse (Unavaliable after the completion of the mission Get Lost).
- Play Hi-Lo at the Lost MC Clubhouse (unavaliable after the completion of the mission Get Lost).
- Play pool at the Homebrew Cafe at Schottler (Broker) or at the Lost MC Clubhouse (unavaliable after Get Lost is completed).
- Eating. This can be done at any Burger Shot, Cluckin' Bell and Pizza This branch throughout Liberty City, and also other diners, cafes and restaurants that become available while you're out with a friend.
- Drinking at the bars in Hove Beach (Broker), Steinway (Dukes), Purgatory (Algonquin), or Hatton Gardens (Algonquin). Being seen driving drunk will attract Wanted stars; it's best to take a taxi. It may take more than one try to hail a cab whilst drunk, as the taxi driver may not respond to your calls.
- Throw some darts at the Irish/German Pub in Steinway (Dukes) or in Purgatory (Algonquin).
- Visit a strip club. There are The Triangle Club in Northern Gardens (Bohan), and Honkers Gentlemen's Club in Tudor (Alderney). Lapdances are available in strip clubs.
- Visit the Cabaret Club in Hove Beach (Broker) or the Comedy Club, Split Sides, in Star Junction (Algonquin) to catch a show.
- Occasionally you will be called to give someone a lift; this usually happens when a friend is injured.
Unfortunately the player can no longer go Bowling with friends like in the main game, but Johnny can still play by himself.
There is also another activity called Hang Out which is when the player calls a friend who will go to The Lost MC clubhouse by himself. Hang Out is a friendship option that Johnny Klebitz can pick in The Lost and Damned. The option is when the player goes to hang out with a friend at The Lost MC Clubhouse by picking a friend to hang out with and picking this option on his phone. The player has to be a good distance away from the clubhouse before calling a friend. Once the player chooses a friend to hang out with, the player drives to the clubhouse to meet his friend (who is leaning against the outside) and then they enter the clubhouse. Once the player enters the clubhouse with his friend they have a choice between three activities which are Hi-Lo cards, Pool and/or Arm Wrestling. After the player chooses to leave one of those activities, he will not be able to enter it again and will have to do another activity or can just leave the current hang out session. When the player decides to leave, he has to exit the safehouse and walk a short distance away from the clubhouse and then the player will complete the hang out session.
Like girlfriends in GTA San Andreas, Girlfriends in GTA IV and Friends in GTA IV, friends provide special benefits to the player. Unlike Friendships in GTA IV, the player has all their special abilities from the beginning of the game.
Note: Sometimes a friend's benefit will not be available, due to excessive use or being blocked during certain missions.
- Clay Simons: As the Road Captain of the club, he will deliver bikes to his fellow club members including Johnny Klebitz, who is able to call him via his cellphone whenever he needs a bike. Jim is available at all times for activities.
- Jim Fitzgerald: Leaves the player a loaded weapon at the corner of the Lost MC Clubhouse. Jim is available at all times for activities. However, after you complete the mission Was It Worth It?, Jim, your friendship with him and his ability are lost.
- Terry Thorpe: Drives to, or close by, a secluded location near the player; his car's trunk is full of guns to purchase at a discount (60% off). Johnny can do this during a mission. Terry is available at all times for activities.
- Unlike GTA IV, if the player calls any of his friends to hang out with, unless the "Hang Out" option has been chosen, all three will come.
- The player can use nearly any mode of transport during an outing. In addition to regular road vehicles, the player can also take a taxi or ride the subway. If the player chooses to pick a friend up using a motorbike or a helicopter, the friend will utter unique comments on the player's choice of vehicle.
- After picking up a friend for an outing, he will usually engage the player character in a conversation about their personal life.
|Spoilers end here


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There are things on the Warner Bros. lot older than Clint Eastwood. The earliest sound stages, for example, date back to 1926, when First National Pictures broke ground on some former alfalfa fields the studio had purchased from a dentist by the name of David Burbank. But by the time Jack Warner bought First National and, in 1930, moved his own fledgling studio from Hollywood to the Burbank property, a few hundred miles away in San Francisco, a newly minted baby boy called Clinton Eastwood Jr. was already taking his first breaths. Forty-five years later, a handshake deal would see Eastwood move his production company into a modest bungalow on a leafy corner of the Warner lot, and hes been there ever since, as reliable as the studios famous water tower. The company is called Malpaso, after a creek located near Eastwoods Carmel home, and it is here that I dont find Eastwood on the early December afternoon he has chosen for our interview. "Clints running a few minutes late hes still at lunch," Im told by an assistant.
"Clint," of course, isnt exactly your average interview subject. The recipient of Oscars for directing and producing 1992s Unforgiven, the subject of career tributes by both the American and British film institutes, and a top box-office draw for the better part of his 50-year career, he is as close as one can get nowadays to being movie-industry royalty, an emperor in khaki pants, golf shirt and Panama hat. He is also Dirty Harry and The Man With No Name, and over the years such formidable personages as Muhammad Ali and Israeli diplomat Abba Eban have reportedly been reduced to abject fandom in his presence. Yet, as you step through Malpasos elegantly woodcut double doors, its hard not to be struck by the informality of the place. Magazines about airplanes and exotic cars, and a few picture books of the Monterey Peninsula, adorn a coffee table in front of a too-cushiony sofa. Over in the corner, a pair of adjustable-weight dumbbells rest upon their rack. It looks as much the lair of the former mayor of Carmel as of one of the biggest movie stars in the world. Undoubtedly, its a place Harry Callahan would find far too cozy for comfort.
Moments later, that familiar, sandpapery whisper can be heard emanating from an interior room. A few minutes after that, Eastwood appears all 6 feet, 4 inches of him. As many have remarked, Eastwood looks exceptionally good for his age the result, no doubt, of his famously strict diet and exercise regimens, coupled with the requisite good genes. His dad was, after all, a steelworker, and his mother, Ruth, is still going strong in her 90s. (She was along with Eastwoods wife, Diana Ruiz her sons date to the 2004 Oscar ceremony.) But it should also be noted (and it is hardly news to anyone who has seen his recent films) that Eastwood does look his age a good, even great, 74 is 74 nonetheless in an industry where the notion of growing old gracefully is anathema.
"Other than a belt sander, theres nothing they can do for me," Eastwood jokes as we adjourn to his private office. "Plastic surgery used to be a thing where older people would try to go into this dream world of being 28 years old again. But now, in Hollywood, even people at 28 are having work done. Society has made us believe you should look like an 18-year-old model all your life. But I figure I might as well just be what I am." Indeed, just being himself or, rather, an exhausted, vulnerable version of himself has become something of an Eastwood specialty in recent years, and if it seems nearly impossible to talk about Eastwood without his age becoming a focus of the discussion, thats largely his own doing. From the poked and prodded, over-the-hill astronaut of Space Cowboys to the detective who undergoes emergency heart surgery in Blood Work, its hard to think of another movie star who has taken such sly pleasure in chipping away at his own aura of granite invincibility.
Long before Clint earned his first gray hairs and wrinkle lines, however, he seemed drawn to material with an air of fatalism to it. Twice in his career in High Plains Drifter and Pale Rider he has cast himself as a kind of ghost. But even when their characters have been mere mortals, Eastwood has shown an affinity for outsider types striving to uphold some nearly extinct way of life from the frontier towns of the Old West to the tight-knit Irish-Catholic neighborhoods of present-day Boston. Thus it was possible, when watching Eastwoods 1990 White Hunter, Black Heart, to wonder if the director felt closer to his subject, John Huston, or to the elephant that was the object of Hustons obsessive pursuit a majestic creature forgotten by time. Such themes are also central to Million Dollar Baby, the 25th film Eastwood has directed, and one of his very best. (It is also, for the record, the 57th film in which he has acted, the 21st he has produced and the 10th for which this noted jazz aficionado has composed some or all of the original music.) Grizzled and gray, Eastwoods Frankie Dunn is a Los Angeles fight trainer and "cut man" forever shadowboxing with the demons of his past. Somewhere, there is a grown daughter who, for reasons the movie never feels compelled to specify, Frankie hasnt seen or talked to in years. His best fighters have a habit of leaving him for other managers just before they hit the big time. His only real friend is a similarly washed-up ex-boxer (Morgan Freeman) whose career was cut short when he lost the sight in his right eye to a knockout punch. And though Frankie has attended Mass every day for the last 23 years, doing so has stirred up more questions than answers. Its perhaps the most emotionally and existentially complex character Eastwood who once told Meryl Streep, "People dont want to see me cry onscreen" has played, even if it is a variant on a character he has played many times in the past: the hard man in the ill-fitting suit, the eternal range rider who cant be domesticated. Its a role that so sparked Eastwoods interest, he momentarily scuttled thoughts he had been entertaining of retiring from screen acting.
"I saw it as a challenge," Eastwood says. "Its one thing to play a soldier who goes out shooting at people. Its another thing to play a soldier whos got some other dimension as to why hes there in the first place, where hes been in the past and where hes going. This role had that. And its very ambiguous at the end you dont know where he is, you dont know where it all goes. Look, Im not going to go remake Every Which Way but Loose as a 74-year-old man. Whats the advantage of maturing as a filmmaker if you dont take advantage of it, do things you havent done before? I couldnt have played Frankie Dunn as a 35-year-old guy."
Adapted from the short-story collection Rope Burns, by the late F.X. Toole (the pen name of veteran fight trainer Jerry Boyd), Million Dollar Baby focuses on the relationship between Dunn and Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank, in a brilliant performance), a promising female fighter whose passion causes Frankie to grudgingly lift his embargo on training "girls." As they work together, Frankie and Maggie engage in a sort of ethereal ballet, between a father and the daughter hes never known, and between a daughter and the loving father who died too young. (Perhaps Eastwood is here playing a ghost for the third time.) But those expecting to find, in Million Dollar Baby, an estrogen-intensive variant of Rocky or The Karate Kid are sure to be disappointed. Though the movies boxing sequences, in which Eastwood strips the soundtrack of nearly all but the heart-shuddering thunder of the fighters punches, rank among the most searing that have been put on film. Like Tooles stories, Million Dollar Baby is also thick with the sweaty, hardscrabble reality of smalltime boxing clubs and undercard bouts. It knows how boxers fight their hearts out before audiences of mostly empty chairs for purses that are barely enough to pay the months rent, as they yearn for a title bout that may never come. While there is triumph in Eastwoods film, it is of the sort that comes at a high price.
Its tough medicine, and Million Dollar Baby was a tough picture to get made, despite Eastwoods clout and the combined critical (six Oscar nominations, two wins) and commercial success (more than $150 million at the box office worldwide) of last years Mystic River. Which, as Eastwood is quick to point out, is nothing new. "I liked the Million Dollar Baby script a lot," he says. "Warner Bros. said the project had been submitted to them and theyd passed on it. I said, But I like it. They said, Well, its a boxing movie. And I said, Its not a boxing movie in my opinion. Its a father-daughter love story, and its a lot of other things besides a boxing movie. They hemmed and hawed and finally said that if I wanted to take it, maybe theyd pay for the domestic rights only. After that, Id be on my own. [The rest of the funding was eventually secured through the international sales company Lakeshore Entertainment.] We took it to a couple of other studios, and they turned it down, much like Mystic River was turned down the exact same pattern. People who kept calling and saying, Come on, work with us on stuff. Id give it to them, and theyd go, Uh, we were thinking more in terms of Dirty Harry coming out of retirement. And who knows? Maybe when it comes out theyll be proven right."
In the introduction to Rope Burns, Toole writes about "the magic of winning and losing in a mans game, where men will battle with their minds and bodies and hearts into and beyond exhaustion, past their second wind, through cracked ribs and swollen livers, ruptured kidneys and detached retinas." He might just as soon have been talking about making movies. "I think Im on a track of doing pictures nobody wants to do, that theyre all afraid of," chuckles Eastwood. "I guess its the era we live in, where theyre doing remakes of Dukes of Hazzard and other old television shows. I must say, Im not a negative person, but sometimes I wonder what kind of movies people are going to be making 10 years from now if they follow this trajectory. When I grew up there was such a variety of movies being made. You could go see Sergeant York or Sitting Pretty or Sullivans Travels dozens of pictures, not to mention all the great B movies. Now, theyre looking for whatever the last hit was. If its The Incredibles, they want The Double Incredibles. My theory is they ought to corral writers into writers buildings like they used to and start out with fresh material."
Asked to pinpoint the appeal of Eastwoods films, the noted French film critic, publicist and distributor Pierre Rissient, who has known Eastwood personally since the 1960s and has worked on the promotional campaigns for a number of his films, says, "Its their classicism. His pictures stand the test of time because they dont try to be trendy or modernist. He just makes the films, in the tradition of the great storytellers of the 30s and 40s." Clint Eastwood is now something of a classic himself, a cultural icon as chiseled into our collective consciousness as any of the faces on Mount Rushmore. Yet such was not always the case. A $75-a-week contract player at Universal in the 1950s, Eastwood floundered in bit parts in pictures like Revenge of the Creature and Francis in the Navy. Then, in 1959, he landed a supporting role in the Rawhide television series, where he would remain until the shows 1966 cancellation excepting one summer production hiatus when Eastwood, frustrated by the one-dimensionality of his character on the show, made the impulsive decision that would lay the groundwork for the rest of his career. Not speaking a word of Italian, and for a salary of only $15,000, he boarded a plane to Rome to play the lead role in a "spaghetti Western" with the working title The Mysterious Stranger. That film, of course, turned out to be Sergio Leones A Fistful of Dollars, the international success of which (coupled with that of its two celebrated sequels, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly) helped give Eastwood a second shot in Hollywood pictures one he wasnt about to squander.
Director and former film critic Curtis Hanson has recalled how, upon paying a visit to the production of Coogans Bluff (1968) the first of Eastwoods five collaborations with director Don Siegel he was struck by Eastwoods habit of remaining on the set in between setups and even during the filming of scenes he wasnt in. Already, just two years before forming Malpaso and three before directing (at Siegels urging) his own debut feature, Play Misty for Me, Clint was an eager student and a tireless observer. No matter a business that religiously favors the present moment, Clint seemed to be planning for the future, as though, well before employing it as the ad line for his 1988 Charlie Parker biopic, Bird, he already had in mind F. Scott Fitzgeralds epigram "There are no second acts in American lives." "At that stage of life, you dont know what old is," Eastwood says. "When I was starting to do Play Misty, I thought, In a few years, when Im 45, Ill be old, because Im 40 now. I had no idea Id still be working at this age. Great guys who I admired Billy Wilder, for example, nobody was hiring him in his late 60s, and heres a man who lived to be 95! You never know, either you go out of touch with reality or people just get tired of hiring you, figure theres some young, 25-year-old guy who can do it better. I think youve got to always expand on what youre doing. Youve got to stay open-minded."
And so Eastwood has managed to stay one step ahead of his own best game. In 1971, the same year Clint directed Play Misty and teamed with Siegel for the first of the Dirty Harry movies, he and Siegel also took time out to make The Beguiled, a deeply unsettling Southern Gothic about a wounded Union soldier who is rescued by the residents of a girls boarding school, only to find himself the catalyst in a churning spiral of duplicity and desire. The film was a commercial failure in the U.S., but it was compelling evidence that Eastwood longed to break away from (or at least play improvisations on) his image as the strong, silent type that, like Charlie Parker, he wasnt about to be pigeonholed. "Maybe thats why I have an affinity for jazz," Eastwood says. "I grew up watching all those guys who didnt seem to give a crap about what the latest style was. Musicians were playing what they wanted to play, what they were challenged by. If they were playing what the audience wanted, they would have done something much simpler. I remember the first time I ever heard Charlie Parker, I thought, God, I dont know what hes doing, but I want to understand it. So I made the effort."
Critics were less than quick to catch on. "You dont get embarrassed by anything Clint Eastwood does; hes so hollow you dont have to feel a thing," wrote Pauline Kael in the 1970s, maintaining a position on Eastwood she had staked out early on and would hold for the duration of her career (and, for that matter, into her retirement). But audiences too tended to steer shy whenever Clint tried to show he could be more than the "block of marble" to which Sergio Leone once likened him. Two of his best films as director the lyrical dustbowl tragedy Honkytonk Man and the quixotic rodeo comedy Bronco Billy remain obscure to this day. For his part, though, Eastwood has maintained an ambivalent stance on the subject of recognition. "Ive got to play my own hand," he says, "and if somebody else sees me be it today or 30 years ago as one presupposed thing, thats their prerogative. I cant do anything about that. The fact that the work is now taken seriously, maybe it took a while, maybe there are certain things Ive done that were stupid. Maybe Ive changed. Maybe theyve changed. Hopefully, everybody grows, everybody changes, life goes on." In truth, there had been an unacknowledged tenderness and humanity in Eastwoods work even before some, particularly in European cinephile circles, began to take note. Helping in no small measure to turn the tide was Clints fourth feature as director, 1976s The Outlaw Josey Wales. Set at the end of the Civil War, Josey Wales is a picaresque odyssey in which the eponymous farmer, devastated by the murder of his wife and child, journeys across America searching for revenge, but also for a larger sense of purpose. It is a great film, marked by a Fordian eye for Western landscapes and a real feeling for how people might come to feel betrayed and displaced within the borders of their own country, from Joseys Cherokee sidekick to his Confederate traveling companions to the denizens of the divided, post-Vietnam nation into which the film was released.
In the ensuing years, Eastwood has developed a reputation as a professional of the first rank, prized for the efficiency of his production methods, the lucidity of his directorial style, the familial atmosphere of his sets he has repeatedly worked with the same artistic collaborators, including 89-year-old production designer Henry Bumstead and for his mentoring of new talent.
"I didnt realize until much later that not only was he giving me this incredible trust and this absolutely unbelievable chance, but that I was learning from him," says Michael Cimino, whose debut feature, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, starred Eastwood and was produced by Malpaso. "Hes a natural teacher, and he doesnt second-guess himself. Its a combination of encouragement and discipline. He would say to me, Look, if you need 20 takes of something, Ill give it to you, but if I do 20 takes, dont print take number one. I learned economy from Clint. And despite the amount of footage that was shot on Heavens Gate and there were a lot of reasons for that almost all of my other movies have been ahead of schedule and under budget."
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If Eastwoods own career has hardly been immune to critical and commercial disappointments (like 1997s Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil), it has likewise been remarkable for its generous ratio of risk to reward, in which personal projects like Bird and White Hunter, Black Heart both of which reside at the dark, unsentimental extreme of films made by "bankable" directors have been balanced against more mainstream fare. Meanwhile, time and again, Eastwood returned to the genre where he had sowed his acting oats, before putting an elegant capstone on traditional Western storytelling with Unforgiven, a movie that is itself an elegy for the end of the American West. But even before Unforgiven, Eastwood was already involved in telling another type of Western story stories in which the frontier had moved from the wide-open spaces of yesteryear to the cramped environs of our modern times. Until, in Mystic River the most revisionist take on frontier life Eastwood has yet made the frontier has all but vanished, leaving behind only its self-preservationist psychology. And with these new Westerns came new cowboys, in the form of John Huston, Charlie Parker and Frankie Dunn.
In some ways as bleak and morally ambiguous a film as Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby is also Eastwoods most emotionally overwhelming achievement since his 1993 road movie, A Perfect World, which was about fathers and sons in much the same way Million Dollar Baby is about fathers and daughters. A full-blown character piece, freed from the procedural plotting that sometimes grounded Mystic River, it throws extraordinary, blindsiding counterpunches of brutality and tenderness, boxing movie and family melodrama, navigating perilous shifts in tempo and tone with the effortlessness of a veteran jazz soloist. "He doesnt have to prove anything anymore," says Rissient. "He doesnt have to worry about his career as a star, and he can really focus on filmmaking. He has a freedom not a freedom in terms of studio support, but a freedom with himself." Eastwood agrees: "Theres a friend of mine who always says, When youre 70, what can they do to you? Theres something to that." Put simply, Million Dollar Baby finds Eastwood "in the zone," both in front of and behind the camera, up to and including a haunting final image that feels very much like it could, if he wanted it to, be Eastwoods way of saying farewell not just to acting but to movies in general.
"Everything shrinks with age," remarks one character midway through Heartbreak Ridge, Eastwoods felicitous 1986 satire about the changing face of the U.S. Marine Corps. Well, maybe not everything, unless you count an inch or so off the top of Eastwoods imposing stature. At 74, hes already older than Leone and Siegel were when they directed their last films, and just about the age Ford and Hawks were when they bowed out. Hes had his shot, and hes done more than all right. But as Eastwood finds himself the subject of substantial Oscar buzz for Million Dollar Baby and already prepping his next project, about the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima, he seems poised to do anything but call it quits.
Looking out at me with his famously narrow eyes and twisted half-smile, Eastwood muses, "Will I ride off into the sunset? Maybe. Will I be dragged off kicking and screaming? Probably."


text:
Saturday, February 04, 2006
CHAIR THE STAR [stars]
chair,Chair! CHAIR?, whenever i've put a chair in a illustration or painting - it,they, have played a very minor role-and never a well developed one. So I decided to make the CHAIR the STAR - Today [besides it is the topic for the week] I hope they don't get any BIG ideas-depends on the reviews I suppose.
anyway, this is of course a digital, original-based on our dining area-although I played fast and loose with the snow-we have the white stuff, but it doesn't look like this.
38 comments:
- Twisselman said...
Yes, they are stars in their own right here. Great composition... the one tilted in to the table... and the great colors on the high chair. Really clean, reflective floor, too! Nice.
- Saturday, February 04, 2006 3:38:00 PM
- Anonymous said...
I like it - very dramatic, great reflections and touch of dog presence as well as human members!
- Saturday, February 04, 2006 11:23:00 PM
- Liberty said...
I really like it, keep up the very good work!
- Saturday, February 04, 2006 11:59:00 PM
- Katili said...
Hey, this is great, a chair family with a baby and all. Well done and fine colours.
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 6:09:00 AM
- Kiri said...
i was surprised it was a digital. very nice
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 7:34:00 AM
- ...Kat said...
and especially including the high chair...
I am imagining these chairs are reflecting on their earlier evening and the good time that was had at the table
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 9:51:00 AM
- kan said...
hello there...out of respect of your beautiful IF chair post, I have woven a story including you in my current post. i invite you to stop by and read about yourself!
please leave a comment and let me know if there is more to my story...i love the highchair and all the chairs. is this your furniture, the colors are great!
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 1:32:00 PM
- kan said...
oh my ... your comment made me laugh so hard...almost had an un-pretty moment in my chair!
thanks for stopping by, your comment about the fair made my day!!!
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 1:55:00 PM
- HARDWAX said...
It could be that 'tony' does come by time to time,to check out my chairs, maybe I let him sit in them, and maybe I don't. I'm afraid miss pretty, there's a vicious rumor going around-that pink is not perhaps his favorit color afterall
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 2:19:00 PM
great work... love the reflection on the floor. nice job!
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 3:22:00 PM
- Jeff said...
A very peaceful scene, this...the snow adds a lot (it's really exotic for me, since we don't get it in this part of the world). I'd hang out in this room!
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 3:54:00 PM
- ValGalArt said...
Miri, this is so wonderful! I love that you featured your chairs! Love the colours and love the leash draped across the chair! really beautiful!!!
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 4:00:00 PM
- isay said...
i like the colors and the effects that enhanced the picture a lot more.
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 5:04:00 PM
- Sally said...
It glimmers and looks so shiny and clean. My dining room doesn't look that shimmery and gleaming.
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 7:14:00 PM
- AscenderRisesAbove said...
Absolutely wonderful; this would be a great image to hang in a dining room or restaurant!
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 8:47:00 PM
- Draconas said...
the tilted one is the real star
very unique.
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 9:22:00 PM
- JoE said...
i like the way you compose the whole layout!
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 10:29:00 PM
- Joe said...
Great Ill. girl love the shading in this. The high chair is the star! Have a good week!
- Sunday, February 05, 2006 10:33:00 PM
- The Unknown said...
Cool. The one chair must have had a little something in it's drink. The chair looks passed out.
- Monday, February 06, 2006 3:45:00 AM
- manomecchi said...
Woow ! Beautiful and great!
I love your color!!
- Monday, February 06, 2006 9:41:00 AM
- andrea said...
Why haven't I seen your work before?! It's really distinctive and beautiful. The composition of this piece is perfect -- love the tilted chair.
- Monday, February 06, 2006 10:18:00 AM
- Alina Chau said...
beautiful illo!! Great concept and composition!
- Monday, February 06, 2006 3:23:00 PM
- Tony LaRocca said...
Ah the wonderfull world of chairs. Has a very dramatic and dreamy quality to it.
- Monday, February 06, 2006 5:52:00 PM
- atomicvelvetsigh said...
great illo! i luv the way you placed the shadows and shades. and a cute chair for the little one too 8)
- Monday, February 06, 2006 6:11:00 PM
- steve said...
Excellent Hardwax! I really enjoy your Glamour one as well (missed that last week)!
- Tuesday, February 07, 2006 2:45:00 PM
- Linda said...
So haunting and beautiful. I'll be looking at my furniture in a different way now :)
- Tuesday, February 07, 2006 9:13:00 PM
- The Whippy Curly Tails said...
Love your chairs. Great color and design. May I be invited to dinner, : )
- Tuesday, February 07, 2006 11:43:00 PM
- The Whippy Curly Tails said...
I just saw the dog leash!
- Tuesday, February 07, 2006 11:44:00 PM
- Ginger*:)* said...
My favorite chair is the one on the left with the doggie leash wiating to take someone for a walk! Great image!
- Wednesday, February 08, 2006 3:55:00 PM
- catraven said...
True stars, one and all. I love the snow! I like your image!
- Wednesday, February 08, 2006 3:56:00 PM
- Ian T. said...
A family of chairs! This is a strong composition featuring lovely colours, with skilled contrasts of tonal areas (light and dark). The chairs all have individual character, but none moreso than the tilted one.
- Thursday, February 09, 2006 12:49:00 AM
- fortwertz said...
This reminds me of such nostalgia. Well done!
- Thursday, February 09, 2006 8:10:00 AM
- clouds said...
I like the colors and the reflections.
And I am glad there is a beyond in the picture.
I wonder how you do the reflecitons.
The tone is excellent.
If you want to know the truth. . I just don't care for the line of the snow. . . it looks artificial to me.
the picture is splended though. The light is excellent.
I am puzzled by the line going through the moon. I wonder what it is. At first I thought it was a line of a building in the distance. .
but why would it intesect the moon?
but maybe it is a cloud (?)
I wonder what is in the middle of the table. .
won't you tell?
- Saturday, February 11, 2006 6:26:00 PM
- HARDWAX said...
Thanks for your comments Cloud. Yes, I played with the snow to present the chairs better-all objects and tones and textures, are there for one reason-to spotlight the chairs,secondary objects,such as the moon, tabletop objects, etc.,the presentation is minimal-almost not there in the case of the houses seen thru sliding doors
a tree limb in the glow of the moon.
a fruit bowl in the middle of the table
- Sunday, February 12, 2006 12:03:00 AM
- juliemc said...
love the colors, the light and the reflection.
- Sunday, February 12, 2006 2:47:00 PM
- Stephen said...
WOW! I love the composition on this one! Great colors, too!
- Sunday, February 12, 2006 9:48:00 PM
- Kim Carney said...
I really love your chairs!
- Sunday, February 19, 2006 11:27:00 AM
- sammo said...
Love your style... so unique.
- Monday, April 17, 2006 10:14:00 PM


text:
Traders Eyeing Gold, Consumer Sentiment
Brendan Conway outlines the Friday trading session, including the price of gold, consumer sentiment and European financials being in focus on Wall Street. Photo: Getty Images.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the the ... stock futures are backed up after snapping a forty winning streak yesterday Brendan Conway from Barron's has the false market as always Brendan good morning went well so stock features rock people excited ... people are exciting you know Rolfe me me me me me even that's not the right word I wanna losses that are free ... meaning they're Fried mixing bowl well ... they they are missing and that they're they're afraid missing out is that something is very similar to Greenwich the APUs it pulled last ... couple years ago in a bubble Brendan right here right now I'm I'm I'm a bubble but I would definitely sense of Oh runes is a speak with that the ... big they are afraid of missing out ... ok ... and that critics call ... cushion updated data one of its ok ... aam what are some of the ... reports they were looking for time today in the next week sure yet so ... the want one that you pretty light to light data in terms of data ... on the reason I fifty five years the Reuters University of Michigan ... consumer sentiment survey what were looking for there basically is this the fact that the jobs picture has got a little bit ... better in the space lately ... that's expected to show up there should show boost ... aam also there so the the on on the so-called DC sequester ... you know where he's over that anticipates a ... deadly looking for you know never to see the live writer in a report that okay three ... stocks you're looking at three B industries really ... to be one thing European financials ... yet you know ... those stocks are going bonkers today ... then bipartisan meaning to three percent move ... there is one of the National Bank of Greece it's up by double digits Greece's its own story but what I understand it's in the Reno understand this is that this ultimately traces back at least ... according to the ... news that seemed ... to to a brokerage upgrade report basically saying ... things are getting better in Europe you know there some ... better fundamentals about the company's but also avail the macro picture better me Europe is still in the middle of what ... a recession me your your eyes are ok if the effort is written in Europe is coming on the it's moving to the other side of the recession you have things like things ... even down in value ... there's a lot of leverage in the value that Equi potentially in and that's being realized ... sure sure but ... you know if you take a step back from that sector and if you look at the stock Europe six hundred I mean ... I think that ... they get it is just rising it just keeps rising rising as in the final daily while he is is all that met as the sole system can't let let's move vertical that's the next thing you can attest to that did the losing streak continues ... gold is on track for seventh straight loss today ... and ... you know ... this this again ties back to central bank policy I think ... the on ... the more we talk about tapering the more people certain say you know it is not a lot of inflation ... central bank bond buying new things that has come from people to a safe haven like gold ... on all alot of ppl a speech in anecdotally are moving money out of gold in in the Stock people thought it would ignite inflation and really didn't know let's move over to ... a Rubin networks ... that's another thing that that's getting it today which is on life says Scott which had and I'd ... the Singapore yesterday but that was enough to just get the animal spirits going dry that's up to thirty percent ... Cisco shares are rumors plunging in a move just goes to show you that being the Number two ... Yelp often is not good enough that stock is down I think something like twenty percent this morning ... on the tweet report and Wall Street is basically worried that Cisco is continued its launch with a product that arguably it is not as good ... this is good just as such clouds of that that they can still be the best feeling interesting interesting if you read the herd ... a while ago you have read that you should Short Aruba Networks ... that's that's and that's that ... anyway I skinless climates shameless plug ... thank you Brenda very much for joining us in


text:
benriefe needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 78 designs submitted by 31 freelance designers.
Create an IMPROVED logo to be used on our site
This site features heated dog and cat beds, as wellas heated products for the hobby farmer like stock tank de-icers and a heatedgarden hose.
To view the types of pet and hobby farm/ranchproducts we will be selling please see http://www.khpet.com.
To view the home page template of our site, pleasesee
- We want our improved logo to embody a warm, comfy, cozy, and inviting vibe.
- PLEASE ALSO INCORPORATE THE SITE'S NAME "totalpetcomfort" INTO THE LOGO DESIGN.
- Please also keep in mind that our core consumer segment is middle to upper middle income women. Color scheme should utilize shades of red, orange and other warm inviting tones. SEE HOMEPAGE TEMPLATE OF OUR SITE FOR COLOR SCHEME. http://magento.totalpetcomfort.com/
- Below is a link to our current logo which we want to improve upon.
- Thank you and good luck!
- http://magento.totalpetcomfort.com/…s/logo.gif
- Not too busy
- No elaborate, fancy or hard to read fonts
- No paw prints in design
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


text:
Crushing Criticism Prompts Microsoft Xbox One About-Face
Jun 20, 2013 1:48 PM PT
Roughly a week after being effectively shown up at E3 by Sony's more gamer-friendly approach with its PlayStation 4, Microsoft on Wednesday announced that it had revised some of the relatively restrictive policies it had originally announced for its own Xbox One.
Microsoft pulled the proverbial plug on the always-on Internet connection that originally was to be required, for instance. It also relaxed its stance on trading, lending, reselling and renting disc-based games.
"Since unveiling our plans for Xbox One, my team and I have heard directly from many of you, read your comments and listened to your feedback," said Don Mattrick, president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment business.
As a result of that rush of largely negative feedback, an Internet connection will not be required after all to play offline Xbox One games, Mattrick said.
"After a one-time system set-up with a new Xbox One, you can play any disc based game without ever connecting online again," he explained. "There is no 24 hour connection requirement and you can take your Xbox One anywhere you want and play your games, just like on Xbox 360."
Meanwhile, "there will be no limitations to using and sharing games," Mattrick added. "It will work just as it does today on Xbox 360."
Microsoft did not respond to our request for further details.
'Microsoft Was Getting Killed'
Microsoft's response was not surprising given the thunderous applause that greeted Sony's approach at E3.
"It hugely matters," Digital World Research video game industry consultant P.J. McNealy told TechNewsWorld. "Microsoft was getting killed on the PR front, the gaming community found an issue to scream about, and preorders for Xbox One were probably taking a beating."
The negative response wasn't limited just to the E3 crowds, either. In many ways, it had been a rough week in general for the Xbox One.
"It is a response for everything that occurred over the past week," Paul Semel, editor at Electronic Gaming Monthly, told TechNewsWorld. "They weren't ready for the level of the negativity and the response that Sony received at E3."
Mass Reaction
With both Microsoft and Sony bringing out new systems, there's a lot at stake, and post-E3 reports suggested Sony had the edge. That's something Microsoft certainly could not afford, especially as it also has the pricier system -- US$499 for the Xbox One, compared with just $399 for the PlayStation 4.
"The 24-hour news cycles impact these guys as well," Michael Heiss, a consumer electronics industry consultant, told TechNewsWorld. "Microsoft is already $100 more than the other guy, and they have this issue. They can't really do anything about the price, so this can be away of removing another issue."
Hindsight is often 20/20, of course, but -- particularly given that the always-on requirement had already been an issue previously -- shouldn't Microsoft have expected trouble?
"You can say, 'what were they thinking,' and the answer is, 'maybe it will stop piracy,' 'maybe no one will notice,'" Heiss suggested. "You would have thought, however, they would have made this move [before] E3."
'This Will Be Forgotten'
Given where things stand now, Microsoft's latest move may be a relatively low-cost way of attempting some damage control.
"It is removing something that doesn't cost them anything," Heiss pointed out. "This will be forgotten by the time this thing launches in November, but they had to do it."
Indeed, "this thing got bigger than most people -- not just Microsoft -- thought it was going to be," said EGM's Semel. "This is what pushed Microsoft to do this. If Sony had come out and said, 'we're doing the exact same thing,' I don't think Microsoft would have reversed themselves."


text:
shawnafnll necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 178 diseños de 46 diseñadores freelance.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story. My company name is FNLONGLOCKS Hair Extensions. I sell human hair extensions and offer training to stylists.
Our image has been a bit dark and alternative if you havent guessed by the name thus far. The name does mean some thing by the way it stands for Fusion( the method) Natural(human hair)LongLocks. We are now expanding to bigger markets and need to have more of a national feel. I still want to project a modern feel but more professional. Please help!
Are target market is the salon owner and stylist. We sell to limited beauty supply stores and hope to break into this market further. We do not sell to the general public. Stylists are very unique and creative types. They like to feel they are using the "latest" or "up and coming" things. They look and feel is very important to them.
This logo will be used on our new packaging.
Need file for print and web
Below on poster is example of current logo revamp this or recreate new look.
The print space of the packaging it will be the "face" of is about 4in by 4in.
The attachments below are current materials we use
Any questions email me @ email@example.com
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


text:
Gilbert Petrissans, Division Chief
Related Sites
The Division of Accounting has identified
the following web sites that may be of interest to
Please feel free to visit these web sites and let us know of others that you would like to have added to our list.
- American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
- California Department of Finance
- California Department of General Services
- Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
- National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)
- US Dept. of Treasury Financial Manual
- Caltrans Open Exams find out about Accounting's latest recruitment efforts


text:
Low Residency MFA in Creative Writing Faculty and Staff
Sarah Alexander MSW
Hometown : Conyngham, PA
Joined Chatham : 2000
Academic Areas of Interest
Children and young adult literature, disability literature, non-fiction, biography, memoir, and personal essays
Personal Areas of Interest
swimming, kayaking, hiking, piano, plays, movies, baseball (Pirates--I can't help myself)
Personal Website : Visit Website
Sarah (Sally Hobart) Alexander is the author of 8 award-winning books for children and teens. 5 of her books deal with issues relating to her blindness, while a sixth chronicles the story of the first educated Deaf-Blind woman, Laura Bridgman. Sally teaches 3 courses at Chatham, young adult literature (Blue Jeans Lit), writing fantasy and science fiction (Inventing Wonder), and writing autobiography and biography, (Transcribing Lives). In addition, she mentors 2 bi-monthly writing groups and travels widely (Germany, Belgium, Holland) to give talks and do school appearances. At present, she is putting together a new course for Chatham on disability literature, which will be experiential as well as literary. She is working on a new biography about another 19th century sensation, Blind Tom, a former slave and musical genius. Her agent is marketing her newest book, an adult memoir called "My End of the Leash: Loving and Letting Go," which demystifies her 3 guide dogs and their owner. She has published several articles, most recently a personal essay on the value of touch, considered the impoverished step sister to hearing and sight. Last summer she published a monograph on "Breaking down the Barriers" between the able-bodied and disabled. Her husband co-authored "She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman: Deaf-Blind Pioneer" and is working with her on the newest biographical project. She is the mother of two grown children, one aging German shepherd, and a new young German shepherd guide.
- MSW, University of Pittsburgh, 1973
- She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer; Do You Remember the Color Blue; On My Own: The Journey Continues; Taking Hold: My Journey into Blindness; Mom's Best Friend; Maggie's Whopper; Sarah's Surprise; Mom Can't See Me, Travelling Blind (Newsweek online)
- Pennsylvania and California Teaching Certificates: Elementary Education
- 5 Junior Library Guild Selections; Editor's Choice Award; National Council of Teachers of English Selection; one of 25 best picks for non-fiction, Boston Globe; Christopher Medal Award winner; Book for the Teenage Selection; Carolyn Field Honor Book; 5 starred reviews; Award from University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg for Mentoring, Advocacy, and Contributions to Children Literature; Junior Authors and Illustrators Selection
- Radio Information Service; Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services; Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators; Modern Language Association; Community of Reconciliation
- Served as Board Member and Vice-President, Stanton Heights Civic Association, 1978-84; Board Member, Radio Information Service for the Blind, 1999-2003; Disability Advocate and Fund-raiser for Blindness and Visual Rehabilitation Services
- Numerous school appearances every year; participation in 6 New Jersey Peace Day programs each year; annual presentation to Multi-cultural Conference at Point Park University; Writing as a Career Presentation to Jewish Family and Children's Services; Motivational Speaking to Disabled Students and their Parents and Teachers


text:
For parents of special-needs children, religious education can too often become one more confusing red-tape maze they need to navigate.
Many parishes simply don't have special religious education programs in place or don't have knowledge of — or access to — the necessary resources. Others take the view that special-needs children don't need catechesis or the sacraments because by their very nature they are without guile and, therefore, heaven-bound without any outside assistance. And still others don't advertise that adaptive programs are available and so parents assume the door is closed to their special-needs child.
Although things are changing rapidly as society in general — and the Church in particular — learns how to better serve people with disabilities, faith formation can be an exercise in frustration for already overwhelmed parents who are forced to advocate on their child's behalf at every turn. The solution, experts say, is fairly simple: Welcome everyone, and create a network that will connect parents to parish, parish to diocese, and diocese to national support structures. But putting that straightforward plan into practice isn't that simple, since every special-needs child requires an individualized program that addresses his or her specific disabilities and learning style.
"Many of these parents have been told that their child is an angel and that they don't need things like sacraments," said Nancy Thompson, director of programs and diocesan relations for the Washington, D.C.-based National Catholic Partnership on Disability (NCPD). "They are human beings, not angels. ... People with disabilities desperately need the sacraments, too, to be able to live the lives in front of them."
Thompson, whose adult son, Larry, has multiple disabilities, knows from personal experience that special-needs children and adults not only have a need for — and a right to — the sacraments but to lifelong faith formation and to full participation in the life of their parish and the larger Church as well. Awareness is the most critical issue, she said. It's not uncommon for a parish to say they don't even have any people with disabilities among its population.
"Based on statistics and looking at how those statistics apply to the numbers that we know are Catholic, in any parish about 20 percent of the people have some kind of disabling condition, and if you don't see them, then why not?" Thompson asked, noting that although some disabilities are "invisible," most are not.
"Where are these other people? Can they even get in the door of the church, or are they at the Methodist church down the street because they provide services?" she asked. "What are parishes doing to be proactive with couples, new parents? Do they ever talk about 'What if you have a child with a disability?' Disability is a theme that runs through every area of ministry the Church has — marriage prep, education, social justice, service. ... What do we need to be doing to make sure that the gifts (of disabled people) are being accessed so they can be full members of the Church? The idea that they don't exist is an uninformed conclusion."
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one in six children has one or more developmental disabilities or developmental delays. According to the CDC, developmental disabilities are defined as "a group of conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language or behavior areas," which begin during development and may affect daily functioning throughout a person's lifetime. Autism is the disability whose numbers are increasing exponentially.
Once you get past the issue of awareness, special religious education is not exactly smooth sailing. Ever since the U.S. bishops issued their 1978 Pastoral Statement on People with Disabilities, the Church has been called and challenged to evangelize and catechize those with disabilities in a way that fully integrates them into the life of their parish. But it can require a tremendous amount of time and effort to put together individualized programs and train catechists, and so it often falls by the wayside or onto the shoulders of parents.
"Accessing services in a parish that has not had them before can be difficult. Somehow that has to get started and usually that means the parent has to advocate for it," Thompson said, explaining that for parents who are already advocating on multiple fronts, such as health and education, it can be overwhelming to have to be an advocate within their own parish as well.
Thompson told Our Sunday Visitor that many places across the United States have programs that make a difference for people with disabilities. Those who do it best, she said, have a successful "equation" in place — typically a support system on a diocesan level to inform parish leaders and provide awareness and training. Or, if the equation moves in the opposite direction — such as a parent approaching a parish for help — that parish staff knows where and whom to contact to get the needed resources.
"People want to respond; they just might not know how," Thompson said. NCPD attempts to fill that void by working with dioceses and parishes to create a "stream of awareness" of resources that can be used on a local level. Also, they work with publishers to create "adaptive" materials that transform traditional religious education resources into specialized programs to meet particular needs and styles.
Loyola Press in Chicago has developed three sacramental preparation kits in collaboration with NCPD. Children with autism and other special needs are able to use things like a specially adapted "toss-and-tell" ball to foster communication, puzzles to better understand the meaning of Eucharist or an examination of conscience card to help them prepare for reconciliation.
"There has been a hunger for materials," said Maria Mondragon, managing editor for curricula development at Loyola. Although people have been making "good, functional materials" on their own for years, she said Loyola was hearing again and again that more professional materials desperately were needed.
"We have taken the core requirements of the USCCB guidelines for sacramental preparation for persons with disabilities and have figured out ways to make them achievable for kids with disabilities from different learning styles. 'Adaptive' is the key word," Mondragon told OSV. Every kit is visual, interactive and kinesthetic.
"We try to approach it from as many different perspectives as possible," she said, explaining that a puzzle in the First Communion kit helps teach children to understand the difference between Eucharist and regular food. "We start with their strengths and build on their strengths. See what the child can do. ... The approach works with every child, not just children with disabilities."
Loyola is now developing an entire adaptive curriculum aligned with "Finding God," its main Ignatian-focused religious education curriculum. The adaptive program will be available in mid-November and will include things like an interactive piece on praying the Rosary that will have students stringing prayer cards as they learn the prayers and mysteries, turning the action itself into a prayer.
"Every concept is boiled down to its essence. It was very powerful to work on it," Mondragon said of the new adaptive curriculum, adding that it comes down to an awareness that "every child can learn, every child can pray, every child can find God."
For those with hearing impairments, Our Sunday Visitor offers a pair of resources to help with their spiritual formation. "Liturgical Prayers in American Sign Language" (OSV, $14.95) is a comprehensive video to help teach prayers such as the Our Father, the Lamb of God and the Gloria, among others. "Strengthened in Faith: Confirmation" (OSV, $75) is a comprehensive study program from OSV and the National Catholic Office for the Deaf that contains 12 video lessons on three DVDs that help walk confirmands through the sacrament.
Colleen Touchette is more than aware of that beautiful reality. As diocesan administrator of Special Religious Development (SPRED) for the Diocese of Providence, R.I., she has seen the powerful way children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities can grow in faith when parishes provide appropriate programs to meet their needs.
SPRED focuses on small faith communities as a way to nourish the spiritual lives of special-needs children and their families. These small groups not only provide faith formation but spiritual friendships and a network of support that carries families forward long term.
"Parents want religious education for all their children and will begin searching for a program that will meet their child's special needs," Touchette told OSV, adding that too often what parents find is a "watered down" version of the traditional parish religious education program, which may not be effective or even theologically sound.
SPRED uses a "symbolic-liturgical catechesis" called Vivre that is not a teaching model based on information but rather "an intuitive model grounded on relationships and the use of symbol and a series of evocations," she explained.
These evocations might include a particular environment for learning, music and color, silence or the use of simple words or pictures, even touch and smell — anything that can help a special-needs child make a connection to an element of faith.
Sister Mary Therese Harrington, S.H., one of the original founders of SPRED, which was first established in Chicago in 1966, said special-needs children may not relate to books or typical faith formation programs because they cannot read or interact with other children. Enter the SPRED approach.
"Best practices include small groupings, little reliance on books for the children, physical activity, time for concentrated focus and support for relationships," she said. "As for the sacraments of reconciliation and first Communion, they should be taken one at a time over several years. First Communion comes first. There has to be a bond before it gets messed up and requires reconciliation."
Sister Mary Therese suggested having both sacraments in a public and parish setting, making them as inclusive for special needs children as possible, and using activities like baking bread and tasting wine to prepare the children ahead of time.
"Give Communion to the parents first during the liturgy to put the child at ease. For reconciliation, include the family in whatever form of the sacrament is used," she said. "In both cases, take a lot of time with the parish priest to make sure he is familiar with the child and with the family."
What is often missing in parish programs is the "proper pace" for communication, Sister Mary Therese warned. Speaking loudly isn't the answer, but rather speaking clearly and with "a peaceful pace."
"It is key to the training of specialized catechists that they observe very fine catechists either through one-way viewing mirrors or being very still in a group. Catechesis is an art form," she added.
Nancy Thompson of NCPD agrees that catechist training is often the missing piece in special religious education programs, something parishes and dioceses may consider too time- and labor-intensive to pursue. She remains hopeful, however, as new programs are developed. In particular, the Institute for Pastoral Initiatives of the University of Dayton is testing a level-one certification program for catechists with a focus on special-needs religious education. That virtual learning community will eventually give participating dioceses and parishes from around the country a way to access necessary training and resources. In addition, NCPD tries to fill the information void by offering seminars through its website.
"Easy access to that kind of information is something we are always trying to overcome," she said, noting that special religious education presents unique challenges as catechists need to address very different disabilities — visual, intellectual, autistic. "There are many things you need to take into consideration to maximize the faith formation experience."
When Father Norman W. Bourdon became pastor of St. Joan of Arc parish in Cumberland, R.I., 23 years ago, the SPRED program was already up and running. SPRED was established, he said, because "children and adults with special needs were being neglected, probably because in general people thought they could not pray, express or learn their faith."
Father Bourdon said his special needs parishioners are woven into the church community and are not outside it. Rather than divide his parish, SPRED has knitted it more closely together, with many people attracted to the program as catechists and helpers. When special liturgies are held, parishioners appreciate the different styles of prayer expression they witness.
"One of the greatest challenges is to get people to be part of the program. It seems once they do, they never leave. They love it, and the 'special friends' more than appreciate it," Father Bourdon told OSV. "Many people feel that to volunteer in the SPRED program, they need special qualifications. You only have to be willing and the rest will fall in place."
Once a year, St. Joan of Arc hosts a training session for SPRED volunteers from that parish and beyond. It provides catechists and other volunteers with the basic information they need to serve the special-needs community. Although it does require a time commitment, Father Bourdon admitted, once people get involved, they realize it is more than worth the effort.
"Anyone who first comes to SPRED doesn't realize how happy, beautiful, appreciative and responsive these people are. They instantly melt away any concerns you might have about not being adequate to be in the SPRED program," Father Bourdon explained. "It is important to the families of people in SPRED to know that the Church cares about and helps them as they deal with children and adults with special needs."
Thompson of NCPD added that parishes need to remember that special religious education is not only about reception of the sacraments or limited to childhood.
"There are a lot of years that do not involve the sacraments, and all children need that whether they are disabled or not, and then they need lifelong faith formation," she said, noting that even marriage preparation programs can provide adaptive materials for couples with special needs.
"We are thinking of all the sacraments" — including marriage and holy orders, she said. "We need to see if special-needs children and adults are going to be able to realize what they see as a calling to a particular way of life."
Mary DeTurris Poust, author of six books on Catholic spirituality, blogs at www.notstrictlyspiritual.com
Copyright © 1996-2019 Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.


text:
News & Noteworthy
Hartford Courant
PM EDT, June 11, 2011
city's embattled police
department receives a much
higher number of complaints
than similarly sized
departments, a Courant
review of police records
reveals. Yet, Meriden rarely
sustained a complaint made
by a citizen while often
finding cause for those
complaints filed internally.
When a video surfaced
recently showing a Meriden
police officer, who is a son
of the chief, shoving a
handcuffed suspect in a
holding cell, charges of
brutality and favoritism
followed. Internal affairs
documents also raised
questions about whether the
department was diligent in
investigating its own.
son of the Meriden police
chief has the most internal
affairs complaints against
him of any officer in the
department over the past 18
months, records show.
Evan Cossette had seven
internal affairs complaints
made against him since Jan.
2010, for everything from an
allegation that he stole an
arrestee's property to a
uniform violation. In all
but one complaint, the case
in which he is charged with
pushing a handcuffed inmate
backward into a jail cell,
cracking the man's head, the
charges were not sustained.
summaries of police internal
affairs investigations
obtained by The Courant
through a Freedom of
Information Act request show
that the internal affairs
department rarely
substantiates a citizen's
complaint no matter who the
officer might be.
the 18 cases since the
beginning of 2010 in which a
charge was sustained against
an officer, only one was a
complaint filed by a
civilian. The rest were all
either filed directly by
Chief Jeffry Cossette, his
deputy chief or internally
by other officers against
each other.
Overall, the internal
affairs department
adjudicated 84 cases in the
past 18 months. There are 20
investigations still
pending, many of them filed
fairly recently against
Officers Donald Huston and
Brian Sullivan, the officers
who have made formal
complaints against the
department charging
favoritism in how internal
affairs cases are handled.
The two officers claim that
the recent charges against
them are retaliation for
their speaking out. .
summaries only show what the
internal affairs
investigation determined
might have been a violation
of department policy. The
ultimate decision on whether
an officer is disciplined is
made by the chief after a
hearing involving himself,
the city's personnel
director, the police union
and the officer.
the case of Evan Cossette,
Deputy Chief Timothy Topulos
handles the administrative
analysis of the reports
There were 62 civilian
complaints filed against the
department in the past 18
months, and Huston is the
only officer for which a
civilian complaint was
sustained against him. In
that case, a couple
complained that Huston
parked his police car on
their lawn while on a
private-duty job.
Although the internal
affairs division has at
least three investigators,
all of the complaints
against Evan Cossette were
investigated by Sgt. Leonard
Caponigro, who said,
according to records,
following an interview with
Cossette on one of the
cases, that he "was just
going through the motions"
and would wrap the case up
total of 45 different
officers among 127 in the
department had an internal
affairs complaint filed
against them.
department had far more
complaints filed against it
than similar-sized
departments. In 2010,
Milford, for example, had 47
complaints, of which 15 were
from civilians. (Four of the
civilian complaints were
sustained.) New London had a
total of 27 complaints. The
state police, which has
nearly 1,200 sworn
personnel, had 83. Meriden
had 66 complaints in 2010.
Only two other officers
besides Evan Cossette Huston
and Allen L. Ganter had
more than three internal
affairs complaints against
them, with six and five,
respectively. Two of the
complaints were sustained
against Huston, including
one filed by the chief that
he was late to a
private-duty job. In the
other case, the chief
overruled an internal
affairs investigator who
ruled that Huston did not
use unnecessary force when
he kicked a man at least
twice during a melee at a
shopping mall, and suspended
There were seven complaints
withdrawn, including one
against Evan Cossette in
which the defendant claimed
that after he was arrested,
his property disappeared. It
is unclear why the cases
were withdrawn; many
departments have a policy
that once a complaint is
filed, it must be
investigated to avoid any
appearances that cases
weren't investigated because
of the officer involved.
Many of the internal or
departmental complaints
involved officers' actions
during car pursuits or what
seem to be personal
conflicts, such as a
complaint against a female
sergeant that she was
difficult to work with. In
one case, the chief ordered
an internal affairs
investigation into a
lieutenant who posted an
accident photo involving a
cruiser on his Facebook
some of the internal
complaints involved serious
example, one officer was
cited after he left $1,700
in checks in a police
cruiser that were part of a
bank fraud investigation; in
another case, an officer
confiscated a gun during an
investigation in 2005 but
never filed a completed
report and police didn't
realize it until 2010, when
they discovered the gun in
the evidence room.
city even lost money last
year when the union
president, Lt. Patrick
Gaynor, who was responsible
for turning in paperwork to
the state for a DUI grant,
missed a deadline. The city
lost $6,775 in state
Many of the civilian
complaints that were
dismissed involved
allegations that officers
used bad language or
illegally stopped motorists,
but there were 16
excessive-force complaints,
only one of which led to an
officer's getting suspended,
and that was Huston, who was
suspended after the chief
overruled the internal
affairs investigator.
the seven cases filed
against Evan Cossette, four
involved allegations of
excessive force, one of them
involving a prisoner in a
holding cell that is the
focus of a joint
investigation by the New
Haven State's Attorney's
office and the FBI.
videotape shows Cossette
pushing the handcuffed
prisoner, Pedro Temich,
backward into the jail cell,
causing Temich to crack his
head on a concrete bench.
The tape shows Evan Cossette
entering the cell at least
six times and moving the
unconscious Temich around,
twice propping him up
against the bench and
another time putting him
back on the floor so that
the man's handcuffs could be
removed. There is blood
visible on the floor where
Temich fell.
dispatcher who saw the
unconscious Temich in the
cell made the first call for
medical help. Temich was
taken to MidState Medical
Center in Meriden and
required 12 stitches in the
back of his head.
incident wasn't reported to
police administrators until
six weeks later. An internal
affairs investigation by
Caponigro found that Evan
Cossette had used
unnecessary force, but at an
administrative hearing,
Deputy Chief Timothy Topulos
overruled Caponigro's
findings and issued a letter
of reprimand and ordered
Cossette to take four hours
of training on the use of
excessive force.
After that ruling, Evan
Cossette had six more
internal affairs complaints
filed against him, including
three other complaints
alleging excessive force,
records show. All of the
cases were not sustained by
of the men who filed
excessive-force allegations,
Robert Methvin and Joseph
Bryans, have been
interviewed by FBI agents
and have filed notices of
intent to sue the city.
other cases against Cossette
include a missing property
complaint that was
withdrawn, an unlawful
arrest complaint, what was
termed a procedural
complaint and an internal
complaint by Topulos that
Cossette had an unknown
uniform violation.
Copyright © 2011, The
Hartford Courant
Copyright© 2011-2017 Sally A. Roberts, LLC All rights reserved


text:
houlabulla? wrote:Just found this website moviedog. Lists the movie the breed of dog and the dogs name
Found out the petey in the 1994 little rascals is American Bulldog.
Rocky looks like him.
What a neat website! I keep looking, but every movie with a Greyhound in it seems to be Greys on the track . . . boring.


text:
Here's a recap of my personal goals for this month's December Sanity Challenge, which I shared a few weeks ago:
- I will write down three things I am thankful and grateful for every day.
- I will enjoy a dessert/sweet treat/baked good only once per day and in a small portion (1 small muffin, 2 small GF cookies, etc...)
- I will take a short 15 minute walk outside at least 2 times a week, both for letting go of stress and to encourage myself to exercise more.
- To help with our budget this month, I will not buy anything new (used or thrift store items okay) for myself. See Leo Babauta's challenge this week for my inspiration to do this for the remainder of the year... and I would actually like to pursue this in 2013 as well.
|sigh with happiness!
|already watched this twice...
|elf, elf, elf, how I love you!