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Is geography destiny? Are some places really better than others for starting and growing a business? And if you live in a place that's "wrong," can you do anything about it?
Don't look for towns in Montana at the top of the "most entrepreneurial cities" lists. To the extent that the state is mentioned in such rankings at all, it's a near footnote to entrepreneurial oblivion. Not long ago, David Birch's think tank, Cognetics, placed Montana 49th among the states in its annual "Entrepreneurial Hot Spots" ranking. The regional rankings of rural areas showed western Montana trailing the Appalachian Mountain region of West Virginia.
Not so good.
Yet Bozeman, Mont. -- a college town of just 28,000 people some 90 miles north of Yellowstone National Park -- is home to a cluster of photonics companies, a handful of nascent biotech businesses, a couple of Internet-software outfits, and a growing list of small manufacturing concerns (including Vision 1, which was #153 on last year's Inc. 500 list). So maybe there's hope for Montana. Maybe entrepreneurial vitality is achievable in unlikely places.
Then again, do we really know what kind of place is unlikely? Is Bozeman?
I happen to live in Bozeman, which could account for my particular interest in such questions. But I have a better reason to care, which a few months ago began to drive me with increasing urgency to try to really understand what was going on here. The health of the local entrepreneurial economy, you see, has a large impact on my business. I'm what some people call a "venture catalyst," which means I help start-ups get the resources they need to grow, from capital to managerial advice. So understanding why new businesses do or don't emerge in the boondocks is essential to my career and the well-being of my family.
How, I began to wonder, did my location affect my chances of success? How would it affect my chances as an entrepreneur who was trying to build a company by helping other entrepreneurs build theirs? And would understanding the relationship between place and entrepreneurial vitality guide me to doing my work the right way?
I needed to see.
The personal importance of place
I never expected to find myself engaged in this kind of inquiry. Although I did most of my growing up in Montana and graduated from college in Bozeman, I, like a long line of Montanans before me and since, promptly left the state. After being validated with an M.B.A. from Northwestern in 1985, I landed a "real" job at the old Continental Bank in Chicago as a wet-behind-the-ears second lieutenant of commerce. My first task was to make loans to the entrepreneurs who were creating the cable-TV industry.
My lending career was doomed. Almost from the start I was inextricably drawn toward ever-smaller, earlier-stage businesses. I morphed from a banker into a venture capitalist during the decade I spent in Chicago and then in Dallas, where I cofounded a private-equity firm called Hoak Capital.
Then, in late 1995, something quite unexpected happened. At the time, I had been toiling away for a couple of years managing an undersized fund that had been raised during a downswing in the venture-capital industry. One day I looked up to realize that my partners and I were a draft away from releasing an offering prospectus for "Fund II," a $100-million-plus institutional round. Real money. That meant I'd be doing larger and even later-stage deals. It was a get-seriously-rich-on-the-back-end kind of opportunity.
An M.B.A.'s dream come true, right? Um...no, at least not for this M.B.A.
Until then my partners and I had been attempting to do roll-ups with a $20-million equity fund, which took a certain amount of creativity. Out of necessity, I had spent the early 1990s hanging around grassroots (by VC standards) entrepreneurs. By 1995 I knew that those were the characters I wanted to spend more time with. And that's not where Hoak's Fund II was headed. So I resigned from Hoak before the fund's launch. (Signing on as a partner of a venture fund is kind of like joining the marines: you don't change your mind after enlisting.) I had only a vague idea of what I was going to do next and no idea where I was going to do it.
"I happen to live in Montana. How, I began to wonder, did my location affect my chances as an entrepreneur who was trying to build a company by helping other entrepreneurs build theirs? I needed to see."
In the year before all of that transpired, my daughter was born. My wife, Shelley, had completed her own M.B.A. at Southern Methodist University and had continued her full-time career at AT&T. My parents, who had spent the previous 15 years on the West Coast, had relocated to Dillon, Mont. My youngest brother (who did much of his growing up in southern California) had made his way to Bozeman. Shelley's parents lived in the mining town of Butte, and her only sister lived in Bozeman.
Nevertheless, Bozeman -- so help me -- was not on our radar screen, other than as a preferred destination for holidays, ski vacations, and mountain-biking excursions. We enjoyed the urban life and had numerous friends in Dallas. But then serendipity intervened.
I had called one of my limited partners -- who had coincidentally migrated from Texas to Montana in order to hunt, fish, and live the good life -- to explain my departure from the fund. That conversation led to a series of events resulting in my getting an offer to join a high-end, "soft adventure" specialty-travel company based in Bozeman. My role would be to help engineer the restart of the business, whose product had an international reputation but was only marginally profitable.
What did we have to lose? I'd already torpedoed my budding VC career, and Shelley informed me that she had her sights set on child number two. If we were going to be poor, at least we could be near family and have a great view of the mountains. Even if the worst happened, we were only in our midthirties and felt confident of our ability to reenter the "real" world if necessary.
So I accepted the job, and we headed off to Bozeman. The stint with the travel business, however, lasted less than a year, since I discovered that the company was an amazingly effective not-for-profit dressed in for-profit clothing. For a for-profit kind of guy like me, it just wasn't right. However, I learned that I did indeed have something useful to contribute to small businesses. From close up, I also recognized that Bozeman was becoming a much more interesting and vital place than it had been in 1983, when I had left it, even though change had brought with it urban sprawl and social stress.
For the next four years I used Bozeman as a base from which to wander the country. During that time I successfully served as an adviser and interim-management-team member of a handful of young companies in Silicon Valley, Denver, and Washington, D.C., as well as Montana. I failed in an attempt to launch a company aimed at promoting partnerships between start-ups and large corporations. Even so, business as a fly-in consultant was pretty good. I was making a better-than-average living while having a fulfilling life.
So you might think there was no reason for me to take an interest in Montana's economy. After all, I was a wired guy, a lone eagle living the Rocky Mountain fantasy lifestyle. I took phone calls from the East Coast in the morning, scooted up to the local ski hill in my all-wheel-drive for a couple of hours on powder, and made calls to the West Coast by early afternoon. The Internet, my cell phone, and Delta Air Lines took me to my clients, wherever they might be. I simply lived here. It was my God-given right as a new-economy American to ignore the notion of place, except as it affected my lifestyle.
What a crock.
I've recently come to realize that I've been a mere consumer of place, investing nothing in and giving little to the various communities that I've passed through. In the past my lack of connection showed in my aversion to buying a home -- I didn't want to be tied down by one, just in case I felt the itch to move on. I even denied the Montana of my youth, referring to it as "home base" rather than "home" (and then only when pressed). Besides -- I told myself -- Shelley was covering for me. Though my relationship with the communities that had provided me with opportunities over the past 15 years was superficial, her commitment was meaningful. In addition to working on her own career, Shelley had managed both to be from Montana and to be a real member of the Chicago and Dallas communities. She had lived in those places. I had done little more than use the airports.
Now I wanted it to be different. I'd come to need a sense of place in deeply personal ways. How ironic, then, that I had to wonder whether "place" might sink me economically. In a slowing economy, my competitiveness as a Montana-based venture catalyst was likely to diminish rapidly. When the deal flow slows, those closest to the deals win. The personal cost of my gold frequent-flier card had been high, and I wasn't excited about the prospect of picking up the pace of my travel schedule to stay in the game.
So, you see, I was at a crossroads. On one hand, my family and I loved living here, and I felt a pressing need to contribute in a meaningful way to my community. On the other hand, economic storm clouds were on the horizon, and I had to concede that it was quite possible that those of us who had managed to make a pretty good living here in Bozeman had simply been the lucky beneficiaries of an unprecedented national economic expansion. Notwithstanding my newfound commitment to this place, I was first and foremost responsible to my family. If I was to stay here, I needed to find satisfactory answers to a couple of key questions. First, what were the forces behind the recent emergence of entrepreneurship in Bozeman -- and were they lasting? Second, how might I adapt my venture-catalyst role to stimulate or otherwise exploit those forces to achieve my financial goals? In short, getting a better grip on the relationship between entrepreneurial energy and place -- this place -- had pretty dramatic, practical consequences for me.
So I had an increasingly urgent research project on my hands. I set out to learn what others had discovered about how place and entrepreneurship affected each other. And I hoped that what I learned would help me know what to do.
"Best places" as benchmarks
First I turned to the "best places" lists that seem to turn up in every business magazine in the country. Such lists are popular and compelling. They have an inherent dichotomy that is appealing: there are winners and losers. Emulate the winners, the thinking goes, and you can be one, too.
So what did the lists and rankings tell me about the factors that determine the single best place to start a business? What factors should I focus on?
Well, I have to admit that I was perplexed.
Inexpensive real estate was hugely important. But then there was Palo Alto. A dense network of specialized workers was a must. After all, it worked for Detroit -- for a while. No, specialization was bad. There shouldn't be a single, dominant industry. Hmmm...the oil industry was pretty good for Houston for a time, FedEx didn't exactly hurt Memphis, and the coffee flowed in Seattle when Boeing sold a bunch of 747s to China. It went without saying that low taxes were essential. See New England. A major airport was a must-have. So why wasn't Cincinnati higher in the rankings? A large workforce was what was important. Which explained the enormous advantage that, say, Philadelphia had over Austin? Local sources of venture capital were increasingly a requirement. Though that didn't explain why a mere 4% of last year's Inc. 500 received venture capital as seed money.
And what did it mean to say that Oklahoma City was better for business than New York City? For whom? And if Seattle could drop 22 places in just five years, as it had in Inc.'s latest rankings, what should we attempt to glean from these lists?
Well, if there was no single best place, maybe there was a best type of place.
Unfortunately, the search for a useful model didn't get any easier. The rich taxonomy of regions includes, among other things, boomtowns, science cities, networked neighborhoods, world capitals, population magnets, Rustbelt revivals, urban boutiques, frontier towns, and retreats. Big cities have ceded their economic crown to edge cities that, in turn, are losing out to "nerdistans" like North Carolina's Research Triangle. Just don't tell that to urbanists who trumpet the virtues of Silicon Alley in New York City, the resurgent Near North Side in Chicago, and Deep Ellum in Dallas.
"Wasn't it my God-given right as a new-economy American to ignore the notion of place -- except as it affected my lifestyle? The Internet, my cell phone, and Delta Air Lines took me to my clients. I simply lived here."
The quality of life in various places seems for many observers to be of preeminent importance in the knowledge economy. It's just that there are differences between what, for instance, a twentysomething is looking for and what we middle-aged guys seek, so quality of life can be a pretty slippery concept.
Illumination was eluding me.
Even if I were less dense, what could I do with this stuff? I was no Oz. I didn't have the power to turn tiny, often frigid Bozeman into a sun-caressed urban mecca blessed with world-class research institutions and a large, well-trained workforce -- even if I wanted to.
At that point the smart money was apparently telling me to move. But that wasn't an option that I was ready to exercise without more evidence. (Fortunately for me, I -- unlike academics, analysts, and jurists -- didn't have to accept circumstantial evidence, even if it was overwhelming.)
Time to ditch the magazines and reach for the bookshelf. What might I learn there about the origins of entrepreneurial life?
Back to school
For starters, I found out that place really does matter. Jared Diamond won a Pulitzer prize for his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, which makes the case that geography was the single most significant factor in determining the course of human history over the past 13,000 years. Book summary: The East-West orientation of Eurasia meant that the Europeans had the guns, germs, and steel that allowed them to run roughshod over resident Americans and Africans, and not the other way around.
OK, so where was all that information when I was completing my two degrees in economics?
Economic geography has been a big issue in academic circles but was apparently pushed aside until recently because it was thought to be impossible to explain with math. The basic ideas of economic geography, however, are pretty intuitive. On one hand, the ability to tap into "externalities" -- such as the ability to share specialized providers of resources, a rich labor market, and the spread of knowledge through personal interaction -- tend to promote agglomeration of businesses, or clustering. (Agglomeration? Sounds like something that sticks to one's shoes.) Add to that the notion of increasing returns -- when a place achieves critical mass, it tends to attract businesses even faster -- and you find out that the rich do indeed get richer.
In other words, having a lot of vendors around to service your business, a bunch of qualified workers, and the ability to swap war stories translates into economic advantage. Cities are the big economic innovation of the past few thousand years. And success breeds success.
However, as with everything in economics, there is a set of countervailing forces -- in this case, those that promote dispersion. They include the cost of congestion (crime, road rage, theme restaurants, and the like), the bidding up of prices, and the mobility of labor.
In other words, cities can become less than pleasant or affordable. When cities start to suck, people do their best to leave. Thus, from the interplay of those centrifugal and centripetal forces, cities are born, spawn suburbs, collapse, and are reborn.
So what of the vaunted "death of distance" wrought by the Internet? Hasn't technology increased labor's mobility and diminished the importance of physical proximity? Is the cluster dead?
Maybe. Maybe not. As researchers such as Catherine Dibble at the University of Maryland have found, the specific characteristics of place actually become more important as technology shrinks the world.
Joel Kotkin (who contributes to Inc.) writes in his recent book, The New Geography, of "Valhallas" (such as Aspen) and so-called nerdistans -- places shaped by a new technocentric, mobile aristocracy. "The growth of a given ... region now depends increasingly on the decisions of specific groups of individual entrepreneurs or workers to locate there," he writes. Journalist Michael Malone anticipated that trend in his 1994 article in Upside magazine titled "Is Silicon Valley Over the Hill?" In it he wrote, "The new cities, like the entrepreneurial companies they hold, will remain vital only as long as they continue to attract that small fraction of the population who are the innovators, the leaders and the trendsetters." Today the people who "matter" can work from any place that has Internet access and regional jet service, and those elites are going to migrate to places that tickle their (varied) fancies.
Not so fast, warns John Seely Brown, former head of the famed Xerox Palo Alto Research Center; the death of distance has been grossly exaggerated. Unlike mere information, which can be transmitted effortlessly, knowledge -- the fuel of the new economy -- requires "shoulder-to-shoulder" proximity to be transferred. Brown speaks of communities of practice that are lubricated by mutual trust and sharing. Trust -- at least in one another's ability to perform professionally -- doesn't require proximity (nor is it guaranteed by it), but it sure does seem to help. A lot. Hence, the advantage held by Silicon Valley, for example, may be more pronounced than ever.
"I'm in awe of Bozeman's rise, but I'm also terrified of the fragility of our newly vital, but very isolated, economy."
Matt Harris, CEO of Massachusetts-based Village Ventures -- who is having success stimulating native venture capital in such cities as Boise, Idaho, and Middlebury, Vt. -- concedes that "critical mass is important." He acknowledges that one of the problems facing many otherwise desirable locations is "the lack of a broad peer group." To mitigate the need, Village Ventures felt that it "had to instigate quarterly face-to-face meetings" with its local and regional partners to supplement the usual barrage of E-mail, conference calls, faxes, FedEx packages, and voice-mail messages.
So we can categorically state that distance matters less -- and more.
OK, economic geography does provide a framework for understanding the big picture. But it doesn't seem to be much help with specific cases. Even ubereconomist Paul Krugman admits, "If you try to explain why a particular region is home to a particular industry, you usually end up explaining it largely by describing the sequence of events that caused the industry to be there."
To borrow one of Krugman's examples: hundreds of years ago the Puritans needed a place to educate their ministers, so the cluster of universities that eventually became the basis for Massachusetts's technology industry was born.
Economic biology
If economic geography alone can't explain what makes for an entrepreneurially healthy climate, maybe a little biology will do the trick.
The study of complex adaptive systems involves biologists, economists, physicists, ecologists, sociologists, and other "-ists," all concerned with what happens when autonomous agents interact. When autonomous molecules interact, says theoretical biologist and Santa Fe Institute affiliate Stuart Kauffman, new life is "almost inevitable" -- provided that there is enough variety among the molecules, a kind of critical mass in terms of both quantity and diversity. If biological life emerges from a sufficiently diverse pool of molecules that catalyze one another, might not economic life emerge from a sufficiently diverse group of entrepreneurs and ideas that effectively stimulate one another? By gathering the right set of people together in one place, can we purposefully cultivate entrepreneurship?
In Harnessing Complexity, Robert Axelrod and his University of Michigan colleague Michael Cohen identify three factors -- variation, interaction, and selection -- that play a critical role in evolution. Those same factors might also play a part in economic development.
Maybe, just maybe, if we want to understand why and how a place fosters a dynamic, adaptive entrepreneurial environment, we should consider the variety of individuals and their ideas, how they interact, and the selection or feedback mechanisms (such as responses in the marketplace) that guide them. I strongly suspect that the application of that tripartite lens could yield useful insights into why entrepreneurial activity has suddenly emerged in Bozeman and places like it -- and also offer us clues about their future.
The emergence of Bozeman
Montana is one of the most sparsely populated states in the Lower 48. It's one and a half times the size of the United Kingdom but has 1.5% of the population. It shouldn't be surprising if the variety and interaction of people and ideas here fall below the threshold of Kauffman's hypothetical critical mass. Furthermore, distance discourages the formation of essential networks of cooperation. Mix in a culture that has been ambivalent toward entrepreneurs and a populist-flavored tax structure that some view as punitive -- two unfavorable selection mechanisms -- and Montana's entrepreneurial-culture challenges become apparent. And, therefore, deliberate nudges to the system could substantially change how well it works.
The transformation of Bozeman began of its own accord roughly a decade ago. At that time a wave of artists, musicians, professional environmentalists, and assorted misfits settled in town. They were drawn by an environment and a lifestyle that for them were idyllic. The newcomers brought a dose of much needed diversity to the prevailing culture, which historically had been eroded only by the seasonal tides of students and teachers at the local university. That's not to say that the preexisting culture was bad or inferior in any way. It just wasn't enough to sustain vibrant economic life.
Then came a jump in tourism (led by fishermen who had seen the movie A River Runs Through It) that justified an expansion of Bozeman's air service, culminating in multiple daily nonstop jet flights to Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Minneapolis. More variety and interaction resulted.
Five years ago the Internet came to town. Soon thereafter came the first identifiable wave of business builders -- artists in their own right -- who were drawn by the environment, the community, the budding culture, and a couple of seriously improved restaurants. Little companies started to bubble up, and local versions of the roundtables, lunch clubs, and networking organizations so prevalent in Silicon Valley and other metropolitan areas started to form. The variety and velocity of ideas were increasing steadily, even if they were still barely measurable.
Selection mechanisms started changing; in subtle ways, entrepreneurs began being recognized and encouraged. The local newspaper started running regular features on business and entrepreneurs. Politicians started becoming aware that something was stirring. Even area economists began conceding that their statistics might not have been adequately capturing the (dare I say it?) buzz that was slowly growing in the Gallatin Valley. Acknowledgment is an enormously powerful form of feedback, particularly when it's been withheld for a long time.
Some entrepreneurs even began to attract venture capital and investment bankers.
We in Bozeman, collectively, are emerging from the primordial ooze to begin life as newly emergent economic organisms. In effect, there has been no meaningful plan to promote entrepreneurship here. No competitive analysis. Entrepreneurial life is springing up here of its own accord.
There are no sterile forces behind the boom of company building in Bozeman. Just real people -- real entrepreneurs -- acting, interacting, succeeding, and failing. Coevolving and learning rapidly.
I'm in awe, but I'm also terrified of the fragility of our newly vital, but very isolated, economy. I also don't discount the potential for us to screw up the community and the environment that give our economy context and meaning.
Yes, Bozeman is a beautiful place. It has a respectable university, Montana State, that is becoming increasingly well known for its research. The population is well educated. We have surprisingly good air service. The climate is great (for at least 10 weeks a year, anyway).
But that was all true 18 years ago, when I left Bozeman with no thought of returning except for the occasional ski vacation. It was true when thousands of other Montanans like me left.
However, distance is less important today than it was five years ago -- even though, somewhat paradoxically, the characteristics of place are more important than ever.
So we come to Bozeman, expatriates and new immigrants both. And we bring with us diverse life experiences, contacts, networks, and respect for other places where things work differently and, in many cases, better. We come to a place and a community that are painfully important to us. We mix with the people who did not leave and who made and maintained the place that we love. Change and growth have been the result.
What I've learned
To chart my personal course, I set out to answer two questions: What factors were behind the entrepreneurial changes in Bozeman? And how could I, as a would-be venture catalyst, stimulate and take advantage of those factors?
Changing values seem to have played a role. Bozeman's evolution has been stimulated by newcomers seeking more balance in their lives, a renewed connection with nature and community, and a good place to raise their children. There's a lifestyle here that isn't available in Seattle, Boston, or San Jose. That said, people also need to make a living, so entrepreneurship has become an increasingly popular option.
"Paradoxically, the specific characteristics of place actually become more important as technology shrinks the world."
However, it's still true that it's much more difficult to effectively participate in the knowledge economy in Bozeman than it is in Silicon Valley. The pioneer entrepreneur who would build a business in this out-of-the-mainstream place still faces significant challenges:
1. Peers -- much less mentors -- are hard to find. Once made, relationships are harder to maintain given our geographic isolation.
2. There is no deep, broad pool of expertise to be found locally.
3. It's not clear that appropriate forms of capital are readily available. High-growth knowledge-based businesses are not generally amenable to bank-debt financing. Furthermore, given their relatively high commitment to place and community, pioneer entrepreneurs tend not to find venture capital appealing, since it requires a near-term cash-out of some kind.
If I'm going to make a living while contributing to my community, I would do well to consider how to profitably address those continuing shortcomings.
What I'm going to do
I left Bozeman to learn how to be a financial engineer. I returned to Bozeman, I've discovered, to help pioneer entrepreneurs be more successful.
So here's what I'm going to do from this place, so long the forgotten stepchild of the economy: I'm going to build a platform that will give entrepreneurs improved access to peers, expertise, and appropriate capital. The foundation will be composed of top-notch facilities and technological networks that will aid ongoing collaboration and facilitate critical social networks. In order to ensure access to new ideas, we'll seek to be a "do tank" that unlike a think tank actually helps people turn their ideas into companies. Given the understanding we'll develop of our entrepreneurial customers, we'll be positioned to profitably design and deliver a form of mezzanine capital better adapted to our community of company founders. Though we'll be rooted in Bozeman, our target market will be national and, eventually, international.
It should work. However, I'll try to remember that dynamic systems -- including businesses -- are inherently unpredictable. Doing everything right is no guarantee of success.
On the other hand, as historian David Landes concluded in The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, "In this world, the optimists have it, not because they are always right, but because they are positive. Even when wrong, they are positive, and that is the way of achievement, correction, improvement, and success. Educated, eyes-open optimism pays; pessimism can only offer the empty consolation of being right."
I'll continue to make my life and living here in Bozeman. Look for us in future editions of the "best places" lists.
David Bayless is a recovering venture capitalist who lives and works in Montana.
Please e-mail your comments to firstname.lastname@example.com.


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|Photo Copyright by PhotoStock
The other day I spent most of my afternoon in the unemployment department. And something interesting happened.
If you've never had to file for unemployment, you aren't missing out on much. I spent most of my weekend filling out necessary online forms and overanalyzing my previous work experience so much it made my eyes go numb.
When I walked in and the first thing I noticed was the quiet. There were only a handful of people there, of course, and most seemed just as troubled about being there as me. Some looked a bit more scraggly than others. Others seemed a bit surprised and put off to even be there. Those were the ones who felt the need to justify their presence there. They had conversations with the unemployment department staff that ran along thelines of, "I have a job lined up, so I really don't need to be here..." or "This is only temporary..." The staff reassured them, with the same type of understanding you would give to a child insisting that Santa Claus was real.
As I sat quiet at the table I was assigned, I began to continue working on my book. I think it was the quiet and the expectation to sit there and not say a word that got me started. Not before long, it was my turn. I went to the computer, completed the registration process, and was instructed to sit at another table.
At that table, a woman sat across from me that was part of the "put off" crowd. She seemed a bit angry. She also wore too much make up. I did like her boots though. When it was her turn at the next area, I heard her having to explain herself as well. I decided when it was my turn I wouldn't do that.
So, when I reached the desk of one of the staff, it was an older lady. She had dyed hair and wore a huge diamond ring. The first question was standard - what was your last position?
Of course, I said what was expected - customer service. It was the job I am expected to continue to search for while being unemployed. I'm also good at this as well...I'm patient. I know how to connect with people and this makes helping them with whatever it is they need help with that much easier.
And then I surprised myself - I said I was also a writer. This is the first time - outside of family, outside of Twitter, Facebook, and GooglePlus - that I introduced msyelf to a total stranger as being a writer.
She asked me what I wrote about. I told her I was a blogger and I also wrote fiction. (See, this is why every writer needs a blog. If you aren't published, saying you are a blogger is a great way to stave off those questions on whether you have been published before.)
Funny thing is she didn't ask any follow up questions about whether I had been published. Instead she said, "I had always wanted to write. I wrote something recently that had made me laugh so much..." She started to laugh while completing my paperwork. I smiled, thrilled at this brief moment of connecting with another human being at the most unexpected place and time. She continued, "But my husband read it and he didn't really like it." The smile began to fade. "I don't know, I thought it was funny. I always thought I would write, but I don't know..."
She shrugged her shoulders and something like reality set it in. She continued asking the same basic questions all applicants get asked. Gave me the basic instructions and told me where I could find customer service jobs.
I stood and she said good luck with finding a job and good luck with writing. I told her, "You too."
As I left, I wondered...what made her and I so different? I haven't been published, either. I don't have published novels on the shelves of my local bookstore. I don't write for nationally recognized magazines like Time, Newsweek or the New Yorker. Yet there I was introducing myself as a writer. And I didn't even blink an eye.
I think what a lot of us writers miss...is that getting published is only half the battle. Really, it's only part of it. If you've ever talked to someone who doesn't consider themselves of the creative kind...you will realize something that is missing. It isn't talent. It isn't even whether they are good or not. I know those things are a part of it, but there is something else that isn't there...
And sitting there talking to this lady, who seemed to lose her confidence as quick as a candle being snuffed out by the wind, I realized that I didn't just have the gift of writing and storytelling. I had the gift of confidence and self-assurance as a writer.
And that is everything. If you have that, whether you are published or not, you have so much. Don't ever forget that.
And if you find yourself identifying with the lady at the unemployment office more than you care to admit...I will tell you my secret. My secret of what gave me the confidence to introduce myself as a writer that day...
...I gave myself permission. I have done that my whole life. I gave myself to permission to be creative. To be silly. To be rejected. To sound stupid. To write my story. To writer others' stories. To be weird. To write scary characters, loving characters, funny characters, insecure characters, creepy characters. To be inspired by the world around me. To be inspired by my dreams, my nightmares and my fantasies. To not hold back. To uncover. To explore. To finish the story. To stop in the middle. To write a scene. To write a dialogue. To a write it into a poem. To fail. To try and succeed. To keep going. To give up and swear I'll never go back (but I always do). To keep the stories private. TO make them as public as I could. To trust myself.
I trusted myself.
Do this today. Even if someone doesn't think you are any good. Even if someone doesn't agree with your story or think it's crappy. Even if someone tells you to give up.
Because don't. Because there are people like me out there who listen to your story and want to tell you to not give up. That we - the ones who manage to find the courage to define ourselves by our creative nature - don't have this big huge secret power. We don't have an instruction manual that you don't. We have just given ourselves permission to try, to learn, and to not give up.
Do not ever give up.


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Water restrictions in some parts of Texas and unseasonably cool temperatures that settled in earlier this year have had the state's rice crop growing in a bit of uncertainty.
And the end results could take a bite out of more than a side dish for stir fry, according to Texas AgriLife Research rice scientist Dr. Ted Wilson of Beaumont. A drop in rice yields will also affect the state's economy.
Because of the 2011 drought in Texas – which continues in a large portion of the western region – water use has been restricted for crop irrigation in three large rice-producing counties: Matagorda, Wharton and Colorado, he noted.
"The rice industry brings in $500 million to $600 million in value-added contributions to the economy for the state of Texas," Wilson said. "We are in the second year for the rice industry of a curtailment of access (to surface water) in those three counties, and that impact has been a 30 percent reduction in rice acres in Texas, so that's about $180 million dollars lost from the state economy."
For long-time farmer Mike Burnside, the water restriction for the second year meant he had to change crops to grow soybeans for the first time in 28 years.
"I have no rice," said the Bay City area farmer. "After 100 years of growing rice in this area, for the second year in a row we can't because there is no water. We need the drought to break."
"Those three counties have represented 72 percent of the rice grown in Texas," Wilson said. "The canal system there, which was originally constructed by the rice industry, has transferred to municipalities over time, so that puts constraints on what rice growers can use. And that has economic implications for Texas."
Coupled with the water limitations, he added, are "very unusual" weather conditions that started off the rice planting/growing season.
"It remained cool for a long, long time as the planting season was starting, so the plants have grown more slowly," Wilson said. "We haven't had many problems with seedling disease because it's been dry along with the cold, but it still begs the question what the long cold weather will have done to the yield potential. And there is some indication that it reduced the tillering, which are baby plants produced by each of the plants that come from an individual seed, and that is what allows rice basically to fill in the space."
Almost 95 percent of the state's 131,094 acres planted had emerged by the end of May, according to AgriLife Research figures. That is somewhat better than last year when only about 80 percent of the 132,822 acres planted had emerged.
If you are enjoying reading this article, please check out Southwest Farm Press Dailyand receive the latest news right to your inbox.
However, by this time in 2012, about 19 percent of the crop was developing panicles – where the grains of rice develop. This year, only about 10 percent of the state's crop is at that stage.
The rice crop is generally harvested in August and September.
Another factor to consider is what the delay in harvest of the first-crop rice will mean to the second-growth crop, called ratoon rice, he said. Depending upon the variety grown, the first harvest typically comes about mid-July.
"The ratoon crop is usually a huge part of the economic enterprise for rice growers in Texas," Wilson said. "A really good grower can easily make up a 10-day delay. The way they do that is by how they time their last fertilizer application. It's actually the first fertilizer application for the ratoon crop, but they apply it just prior to harvest of the main crop."
This practice promotes very rapid growth of the ratoon crop, he said.
"But the real question is what kind of delay we can expect from the unusually cool weather we experienced early on," Wilson said. "And I just can't answer that question at this time."
"The important question for a healthy rice industry is to understand what makes for a good year and one that is not so good," he said. "We don't know the impact on the yield from the cold, but it may have affected the tiller production," which, in turn, could put a dent in yield.
You may also like:
LCRA moves to restrict water to rice farmers in Texas Rice Belt
Northeast Texas harvesting surprising wheat yields


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President Thumbscrews and his rubber stamps in congress just don't get it. They don't understand that whether the US engages in torture says more about us than about our enemies.
As John Aravios so elegantly illustrates:
And when George W Bush stands up in front of the world and says "The United States does not toture," the rest of the world will know it is a lie, because they have been watching the open assault on the Geneva Conventions, and heard Bush say:
Common Article III of the Geneva Convention . . . says that there will be no outrages upon human dignity. It's very vague. What does that mean, "outrages upon human dignity"?George, if you have to ask that is a sure sign that you are a true moral cripple. And your attempts to lawyer up the Geneva Convention make the US a moral cripple in the eyes of the world. And history will damn you for that.


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Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Wascalwy wabbit
I have a rabbit problem. My yard is infested and nothing seems to help. They make brown spots in the yard and mess with the garden. We have wasted money on a couple of guaranteed products and I don't want to go the stinky fox urine route. Sometimes I throw tennis balls at them. They will move about 3 feet and just sit there until I get about 3 feet from them. With my shaved head and my growing frustration, they make me feel like Elmer Fudd. They obviously know that I am too soft to hurt them so my only option seems to be trapping them one at a time and taking them for a ride. Or coexisting with them. Anyway, this illustration is not far from my freakin' reality. Sigh.
28 comments:
- esillustration said...
My new computer background! I love it!!!
- July 10, 2007 at 5:56 PM
- Jo Bling said...
That's a wonderful illo Jim, very nice indeedy. Top work that man!
- July 11, 2007 at 4:34 AM
- jim bradshaw said...
Thanks Liz. Enjoy!
Thanks Jo
- July 11, 2007 at 9:08 AM
- Tony LaRocca said...
You need some west and wewaxation at wast!
- July 11, 2007 at 11:08 PM
- Breadwig said...
Whoa. I think you may be top dog for the next DG. Your colors in this one are soooooo faboo.
- July 11, 2007 at 11:20 PM
- jim bradshaw said...
tony - hahaaa! Thanks vewy vewy much.
bryan - I can't even imagine what you have up your sleeve
- July 12, 2007 at 8:21 AM
- Doug said...
I feel your pain. We have wascally wabbits AND dorky deer. The deer are even worse. They eat up all my wife flowers and plants. She planted some new roses and they ate all the flowers.
... and we live in the suburbs... nothing but houses for miles and miles... where do they come from?
It's a mystery...
great illo, though!
- July 12, 2007 at 8:52 AM
- Jeffy B said...
Cool illustration. Love the style used.
- July 12, 2007 at 9:20 AM
- jim bradshaw said...
doug - they just know. Tell your monkey boy to monkeyup and get out there and rid your world of these evil meddlers.
jeffy - thanks man
- July 12, 2007 at 9:29 AM
- matt dawson said...
really liking your work...great colour and texture, and your character designs are full of zing...thanks for the smile you put on my face. On your wabbit pwoblem, twy being wery wery qwiet, qweep up on them then bwast em and bwast em hahahah...if that fails what's acme's web address...?
- July 12, 2007 at 3:28 PM
- Rrramone said...
have you thought about rabbit stew? Yummy!
- July 16, 2007 at 12:19 PM
- jim bradshaw said...
matt - thanks wery much
rrramone - I just might by the end of summer
- July 16, 2007 at 12:59 PM
- Muffin said...
i just love your style, jim. This one is one of my favourites!
- July 18, 2007 at 7:37 PM
- Alina Chau said...
Love your llos, always fun and full of great personality!!
- July 18, 2007 at 11:44 PM
- Michelle Lana said...
That's hilarious Jim....youre so funny..
love the illo and representation.... haha, awesome.
- July 19, 2007 at 4:34 PM
- Chickengirl said...
This cracks me up, I kinda wouldnt mind if a rabbit looking like that is in my backyard. I would be amused. Nice buny suit too!
- July 24, 2007 at 10:41 AM
- jim bradshaw said...
Muffin, Alina, Michelle, Jannie - thanks for your comments. Yes, Jannie, it is a nice suit. The neighbors laugh, but what do they know?
- July 24, 2007 at 12:19 PM
- Stacia said...
Just checking in... Such humor in this one...and so beautifully done. You're colors are always dead on!
Nice work, Jim.
- July 31, 2007 at 3:29 PM
- Jules Knoblock said...
I'll get my brother to come around and get them and then my Mum will make some rabbit stew (yuck, not a fan myself)
eeeew fox urine to get rid of them.. never heard of that one... don't sound very pleasant...
Very cool pic. As always it's your textures that draw me in. Is it digital?
- August 1, 2007 at 4:06 PM
- jim bradshaw said...
Stacia - thanks, so nice to hear from you again
Jules - I would try rabbit stew only because I never had it but it sounds nasty. And yes, this one is all digital. Sometimes, it is a combination of traditional and digital. I did draw it out in pencil first before doing a scratch board line in painter then the rest in photoshop.
- August 1, 2007 at 8:19 PM
- Jeannette said...
I will take them all as pets, thank you.
- August 2, 2007 at 12:12 AM
- jim bradshaw said...
Jeannette - It's a deal! If you can catch them, they are ALL yours.
- August 2, 2007 at 8:02 AM
- Vhrsti said...
Hello Jim! I admire many of your works! Absolutly wonderful blog! Congrats!
- August 2, 2007 at 10:03 AM
- jim bradshaw said...
vhrsti - Thanks, come back anytime.
- August 4, 2007 at 2:47 PM
- Jago said...
Hi Jim, you've inspired me to try out digital scraper-board. I love it! See what I made here:
- August 13, 2007 at 4:12 PM
- jim bradshaw said...
Thanks Jago - I went, I saw, I liked a lot!
- August 13, 2007 at 5:04 PM
- N L Robinson said...
Fantastic Illustration, I love your style. I hope you manage to fix the rabbit problem, I like the tennis ball solution. Haha.
- September 3, 2007 at 4:48 PM
- jim bradshaw said...
Thanks Nicole. Yeah, at least the tennis balls make it a little fun.
- September 4, 2007 at 7:59 AM


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Some good news out of the ASUS camp this morning, as it appears the Transformer Pad TF300 is in the midst of getting its promised update to Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean. Erckul and prissysox in our forums are leading the way on this one, noting that you're warned Adobe Flash is no longer working (but you knew that already), and that apparently Wifi Direct took a hit as well.
The update appears to only be over-the-air at the moment, so keep an eye out.
Source: Transformer Pad TF300 forums; more: ASUS support


text: "Rumors" by Neil Simon opens with hilarity at Saint Michael's Playhouse News Home 07.09.13 By: Buff Lindau Cast of Saint Michael's Playhouse production of Rumors, from L. to R, seated: Bill Carmichael, Amanda Ryan Paige, Chip Phillips, Sarah Carleton; standing: Brenda Pitmon, Christian Kohn, Kathryn Markey, Craig Wells. Photo by Buff Lindau A team of experienced pros with extensive Broadway, regional and TV experience, will perform the hilarious, madcap comedy Rumors, by Neil Simon, at the Saint Michael's Playhouse July 17 to 27. The show will be staged, evenings at 8 p.m. July 17 to 20, and 23-27 and matinees at 2 p.m. July 20 and 27. "Each year we like to include a play that's non-stop comedy, and this summer, it's Neil Simon's hilarious, Rumors," said Chuck Tobin, producing artistic director of the Playhouse. " Audiences are going love this play... its non-stop laughs from start to finish - Neil Simon sets this up so quickly, gets the comedy going, and then it's madcap laughter all the way through," Tobin said. Rumors centers around four well-to-do couples played by top-notch acting pros, who gather in an elegant residence for a dinner party celebrating their hosts' anniversary. When they arrive they discover there is no dinner prepared, the hostess is missing, and the host, who is also the deputy mayor of New York City, has been shot. Their decision to conceal everything from the police and the press spins the evening into classic farcical hilarity. "Rumors is sheer comic bliss, cunningly structured, with almost mathematical precision and elegance. Just about every farcical trope is visited: doors are slammed, identities are mistaken, and the rich and powerful are mercilessly and hilariously brought down a peg or two," said Director Thomas Ouellette. "A director is like a master chef, and Rumors at Saint Michael's Playhouse is, for me, a perfect meal - a light, midsummer confection - because of the top-notch ingredients: a brilliantly constructed script by Neil Simon, an inspired cast of the funniest actors I know, and the chance to spend July in Vermont," Ouellette added. Playhouse accolades: Saint Michael's Playhouse, now in its 66th season, is an award-winning professional theater, recognized by NYC Drama League as "one of the best regional theater companies in America," and named "Best of New England" by Yankee Magazine. Director: Thomas Ouellette is very pleased to return to VT and to Saint Michael's Playhouse, where he has previously directed Blithe Spirit and Educating Rita. He recently directed David Mamet's Race at the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival. Previous Orlando Shakes directing credits include Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice, Arms and the Man, and I Hate Hamlet. Also an actor, he appeared last season as Father Farley in Mass Appeal at Orlando's Mad Cow Theatre, and previously as Adam in Next Fall and Hysterium in …Funny Thing at MCT. He appeared as Montano in Othello at the Folger Shakespeare Theatre and in Shear Madness at the Kennedy Center, both in Washington, DC. Thomas has taught directing and acting at Rollins College in Central FL since 1996, where he has served as Chair of the Department of Theatre & Dance and Producing Director of the storied Annie Russell Theatre, where he has directed and acted in over a dozen on-campus productions. Cast (in their own words) in alphabetical order: Sarah Carleton (Cookie) is thrilled to be part of this year's season at Saint Michael's Playhouse. Professional acting credits include: Over The Pub, Always Patsy Cline, The Brighton Beach Trilogy, Much Ado About Nothing, Taming of the Shrew, and Unnecessary Farce at regional theaters from Washington, D.C to Burlington, VT. Directing credits include: The Arabian Nights, Beaux' Stratagem, Cloud 9, Complete Female Stage Beauty, She Stoops To Conquer, Greater Tuna, and Almost Maine. During the height of the solidarity movement Sarah taught and performed in Poland at the University of Poznan where she directed Love of Life, a play developed by her Polish students. Sarah teaches and directs at UVM, is a proud member of Actor's Equity Association, Society of American Fight Directors and is a certified Kripalu teacher. Bill Carmichael (Ken) Saint Michael's Playhouse: Pirates, Barnum, How the other half loves, Breaking up is hard to do, Blithe spirit, Drowsey Chaparone, I'll be back before midnight and Unnecessary Farce. Bill was last seen on Broadway in Mamma Mia. Other Broadway credits include Les Miserables, Cats, and Peter Pan. Bill was in the original production of Forbidden Broadway and can be heard on the original cast recording. In Los Angeles he was in the original US premiere of Ragtime, Forever Plaid and Sweeney Todd with Kelsey Grammer. 1st National tours include Phantom of the Opera, City of Angels, Cats and Ragtime. He has worked in theaters across the country including the Mark Taper Forum, Goodspeed Opera house, Eugene O'Neill theater center and the Public in NYC. Christian Kohn (Glenn) has been seen in Sleuth and Shakespeare in Hollywood at the New London Barn playhouse. He has worked extensively in New York, Chicago and the regional circuit. Some favorite productions he has appeared in are Hollywood Arms, with Hal Prince and Carol Burnett. The title role in Sherlock Holmes: The Finale Adventure, An Ideal Husband , Trailerville, Death of A Salesman, Bug, The Real Hush-Hush , Phaedra directed by JoAnne Akalaitis, The Turn of the Screw, The Lion in Winter, The Gift Horse, David Copperfield directed by Giles Havergal, Sideman, Twelfth Night, and Mary Stuart, Henry V, Julius Caesar, Opus. Last summer he was seen in Unnecessary Farce and Over the Pub at Saint Michael's Playhouse. He currently teaches in the Theater Department at Dartmouth College. Kathryn Markey (Claire) Playhouse appearances include Nunsense, The Drowsy Chaperone, the Brighton Beach trilogy, Perfect…Change, Pirates of Penzance and Suds, as well as directing Over The Pub, Boeing, Boeing and Around the World in 80 Days. Other credits: Holidays with The Chalks, (Alliance Theatre), Over The Tavern (Penguin Rep), Parallel Lives, Dancing at Lughnasa (Northern Stage), Selected Shorts: Eudora Welty (NPR), Jumping Blind (Gayfest – world premiere), Separation (English Theatre of Stockholm.) Kathryn appeared on Broadway in 3 From Brooklyn and is a fixture at both the Broadway Playhouse series at Merkin Concert Hall and The Thalia Follies at Symphony Space. On-screen: SVU, Law and Order, All My Children, College Humor & Amateur Hour. Kathryn is one-third of the satirical country band "The Chalks," appearing regularly in bars, on TV and the internet. Amanda Ryan Paige (Cassie) Off-B'way: Zanna Don't! (Houseman); Charlie Brown, Henry and Mudge (Lortel). Other NYC Credits: Trailer Park (NYMF); Awesome 80's Prom (workshop/co-writer); Dreams This Way/ Raw Impressions (TADA!); Babes In Toyland (Avery Fisher); Lucky Stiff (APAC). NationalTour: Fiddler, Water Coolers. Regional: Ring of Fire (Alhambra); Boeing Boeing, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Trailer Park (Mason Saint); Nunsense, Unnecessary Farce, Marvelous Wonderettes, Boeing Boeing, Perfect/Change, Brighton Beach Memoirs (Saint Michael's Playhouse); Nunsense, Boeing Boeing, Spelling Bee (Northern Stage); Ring of Fire (Fireside); Pump Boys and Dinettes, Trailer Park (Willows); Pump Boys and Dinettes, Stand By Your Man (Mtn. Playhouse); Urinetown (Carousel); Das Barbecu (Arvada); No, No Nanette (Goodspeed); Noises Off!, Brighton Beach Memoirs (Leatherstocking); Carousel, Over Here! (Conn. Rep) Chip Phillips (Lenny) returns for his 4th season at Saint Mike's where he's appeared in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Around the World in 80 Days, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, Into the Woods and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. He now lives in LA, where he recently performed in The Full Monty, Falsettos, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Off-Broadway, Chip has been seen in Machiavelli and Perfect Crime. Regional credits include John Adams in 1776 , Sleuth, Beauty and the Beast , The Front Page, Lend Me a Tenor, Das Barbecu , A Tuna Christmas, and Jackie: An American Life. Brenda Pitmon (Chris) has appeared Off Off Broadway in The Adding Machine; "Portia" in Merchant of Venice; The Trial; and "Angela" in Fen. In Europe at the Cafe Theatre in Frankfurt she played "Sybil" in Private Lives; "Alison" in Look Back in Anger; "Gwendolyn" in The Importance of Being Earnest; and "Stella" in A Streetcar Named Desire. European Tours; "Lizzie" in The Rainmaker; and "Mrs. Webb" in Our Town. Brenda recently played "Melissa" in Love Letters at the Grand Isle Lake House. Brenda was a founding member of the Soho based theatre company Synchronicity Theatre Group (STG) in NYC, has worked on soap operas, commercials and voice overs. Brenda is thrilled to be appearing for the first time at Saint Michael's Playhouse. Craig Wells (Ernie) appeared on Broadway in Les Misérables and Chess (original cast recording). Off-Broadway in Forbidden Broadway (original cast recording Forbidden Broadway Vol. 3), Closer Than Ever, Balancing Act (original cast recording). He also appeared in the National Tours of Les Misérables and Pirates of Penzance. Regional Theatre: "King" in Big River (Syracuse Stage); Closer Than Ever (Arena Stage); "Max" in Lend Me a Tenor (Jupiter Theater); and "Sam" in Shenandoah (Saint Louis MUNY). At Saint Michael's Playhouse, Craig played the "Man in Chair" in The Drowsy Chaperone and "Agent Frank" in Unnecessary Farce. He played "Andrew" in Love Letters at the Grand Isle Lake House, and at UVM he played "Herr Schultz" in Cabaret. Creative Team Producing Artistic Director, Chuck Tobin; Scenic Design, John Paul Devlin; Lighting Design, John B. Forbes; Costume Design, Anna Winter, and Properties Design, Mary Jo Rodriguez. Information Saint Michael's Playhouse has been producing professional theater since 1947 and is located in Colchester, Vermont minutes from downtown Burlington and Lake Champlain. For more information and tickets, visit http://www.saintmichaelsplayhouse.org or call 802-654-2281. Ticket prices $31.50 – $42.50 Coming next The sensational new blockbuster, Shout! the mod musical, July 31 - August 10, 2013, directed by Playhouse favorite Keith Andrews, EVENINGS: 8:00 p.m. July 31 - August 3, 6–10, Matinees: 2:00 p.m. August 3, 10. "Shout! is the mod musical that brings back the smashing sounds that made England swing in the 60's. From cover to cover, shout! travels in time from 1960 to 1970 chronicling the dawning of a new era. Everything in the period is recreated, from the fashions and dances to the music and hair. With an irresistible blend of foot-stomping songs, eye-popping fashions and psychedelic dances, this delightful musical will make you want to stand up and Shout!" Playhouse background The Saint Michael's Playhouse is housed in the Saint Michael's College McCarthy Arts Center, one of the finest theater facilities in the state; the Playhouse attracts approximately 16,000 theatergoers each season. Saint Michael's Playhouse is a professional company operating as an auxiliary enterprise of Saint Michael's College. The Playhouse is Greater Burlington's only Actors' Equity resident theater company and as such operates under contract with Actors' Equity Association in New York City. At the same time, Saint Michael's College students have the opportunity to learn from the pros through internships in technical theater, costuming, lighting, set construction, and publicity.


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'I think this is possibly the only time a Wisbech man has done this' says banjo player Sean after returning to Fens from Japanese tour
PUBLISHED: 23:45 20 April 2014 | UPDATED: 23:45 20 April 2014
Wisbech banjo player Sean Moyses is back after a successful concert tour of Japan which included two TV appearances.
"I think this is possibly the only time a Wisbech man has done this," he said.
"I did my first concert for Sakura City in the Town Hall lobby, which was televised by the local TV station and was show twice a day for five days.
"I then played for graduates in Narita before doing my first concert in Tokyo at the 'Back in Town' club.
"From there I was very proud to be headline act at the first Tokyo Banjo Festival which was held in Tokyo Main Dining, in the centre of the city. I was also invited to play in Iida and was given the star treatment there, playing a 40 minute set to a sold out theatre."
Sean added: "I also had the honour of playing for Harley Davidson Motorcycles (Japan) who wanted to tie American bands in with American motorbikes.
"To be surrounded by so much chrome was great! As well as playing concerts I also recorded with Ken Aoki, one the world's top banjo players and the album will be released internationally in the latter part of the year on I-tunes."
He added: "I was invited to return so maybe I am a Wisbech export item!"
Sean Moyses is regarded as one of Europe's top professional banjo players. He has been playing banjo since he was eleven years old, encouraged by his family who all played music. He mastered the ukulele, mandolin, five-string banjo, plectrum banjo, guitar and ukulele-banjo and as well as playing folk, country, bluegrass and acoustic music, developed a love for jazz and swing music of the 1920's and 1930's.
He lived in Germany for 17 years and was a member of Rod Mason's Hot Five for ten of those. He has guested with such notable bands as The Barrelhouse Jazzband, Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband, Joe Wulf's Gentlemen of Swing, The Best of British Jazz Gala, The Aces of Syncopation, The European Top Eight concerts and has often appeared as a soloist in the USA and Japan.
Sean owns an original Vega Vox 4 banjo from his idol "The King of the Banjo" Eddie Peabody and endorses Pietsch Banjos.


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The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has now issued 116 drilling permits for the Utica Shale, including 61 horizontal and 55 vertical permits. This data covers the period from December 2009 through November 6, 2011.
Devon Energy (DVN) received the company's first permits to drill into the Utica Shale for the Eichelberger David 1H and Eichelberger David 1P in Clear Creek Township in Ashland County. The company was also issued permits for the Richman Farms 1H and Richman Farms 1P wells in Harrisville Township in Medina County. These are the first Utica Shale wells to be drilled in Medina County.
Anadarko Petroleum (APC) was issued six drilling permits for the FERC Noble Olive A-1H, FERC Noble Olive A-1, FERC Noble Sharon A-1H, FERC Noble Sharon A-1, CSPC Coshocton Linton B-1H and CSPC Coshocton Linton B-1 wells. Four of these wells are in Noble County and the other two will be the first wells drilled in Coshocton County.
Chesapeake Energy (CHK) continues to gain ground on its competitors and received 16 Utica Shale drilling permits.
Columbiana County - Trebilcock 25-15-4 3H well
Mahoning County - Jarvis 4-17-4 3H and Jarvis 4-17-4 3 wells
Stark County - Paradise Valley Farms 17-8-6 8H and Paradise Valley Farms 17-8-6 8 wells
Portage County - Murvay Portage 8H and Murvay Portage 8 wells
Carroll County - Snoddy 11-13-5 5H, Snoddy 11-13-5 1H and Houyouse 15-13-5 8H wells.
Jefferson County - Vahalik 18-11-4 8H, Vahalik 18-11-4 8, Denoon 5-10-3 3H, Denoon 5-10-3 3, Rowe 32-9-3 8 and Denoon 5-10-3 5H wells.


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Orioles left-hander Dana Eveland allowed three runs on six hits over four innings of work in today's road Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays.
Eveland, still conceivably in the competition for the Orioles' starting rotation, allowed three doubles in the game, including a two-run double by Eric Thames that put the Blue Jays up 3-2 in the third inning. Colby Rasmus also plated a run with an RBI ground out.
The Orioles scored their two runs on Ryan Flaherty's two-run single in the third. Flaherty, who is trying to lock up the team's utility position on the roster, now has 10 RBIs this spring, second to Adam Jones' 11.
As the Orioles head to the bottom of the fifth, right-hander Alfredo Simon -- another rotation contender -- has replaced Eveland. Simon hasn't pitched since March 18, when he left his starting outing with a groin injury.


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ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Four games against teams who qualified for the 2012 NCAA Championship highlight the 2013 Navy men's lacrosse schedule released by second-year head coach Rick Sowell on Tuesday. Additionally, Navy will play host to six home games played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, including its April 5 contest against NCAA finalist Maryland.
"We are excited about the challenge our 2013 schedule presents," said Sowell, who guided the Midshipmen to a 6-6 record in his first season and featured wins over nationally-ranked Colgate and Johns Hopkins. "Parity in Division I lacrosse is at an all-time high and we'll need to be on top of our game each and every week."
The Midshipmen kick off their spring season with a pair of scrimmages on the road against two of the most successful programs in recent memory. Navy will battle Duke, a team who has played in six consecutive NCAA Tournaments and was a semifinalist a year ago, in Durham on Jan. 26. Meanwhile, the Mids are set to take on Virginia in Charlottesville on Feb. 2 in their final preseason tune-up. Virginia has earned the second-most NCAA Tournament invitations with 35, including dates to the Dance in each of the last eight years, and has won five National Championships.
For the sixth consecutive year, Navy will play its season opener against VMI when the two teams face off on Feb. 9 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Last year attackmen Tucker Hull (Charlotte, N.C.) and Sam Jones (Annapolis, Md.) combined for 17 points, including 11 goals, as the Mids scored a 14-7 victory over the Keydets.
The Midshipmen will play the first of two new opponents on its 2013 schedule with a Friday, Feb. 15 contest against Detroit in Annapolis. The Titans are in their fifth year as a Div. I program, returning 35 members from a squad that posted a 6-9 record and was the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Tournament last spring.
Just four days later, Navy will make the trek to Fairfield, Conn. to battle the Stags in a midweek meeting at Lessing Field in the inaugural meeting between the two programs. Fairfield, which was elevated to a varsity program in 1993, won a program-record 12 games in 2012 and twice reached a program-best national ranking of 13th during the year. For the second consecutive season the Stags upset the second seed to advance to the ECAC Championship Game, where it fell to eventual National Champion Loyola.
The Fairfield contest kicks off three consecutive road games for the Midshipmen. Following it's Tuesday matchup against the Stags, Navy rekindles its series with Georgetown on Sunday, Feb. 24. A scheduling glitch in moving Patriot League foe Lehigh from a week day to a weekend pushed the annual tilt between the Mids and Hoyas off last spring's schedule. The two will pick the series in Washington, D.C., meeting for the 23rd time overall and the 23rd time in the last 24 years.
"I've always enjoyed adding new teams to the schedule and the addition of teams such as up-and-coming Detroit, as well as Fairfield, who is coming off the program's most successful season and past rival Georgetown, we will have our hands full leading up to Patriot League play. This will be a real test and prepare us for league play, a league that by all accounts is the best it has ever been."
The Midshipmen begin their quest for the program's sixth Patriot League title when they travel to Lewisburg, Pa. on Saturday, March 2. Navy will face Bucknell in their league opener for the fifth time overall and the fourth time in the last five years. While Navy holds a 7-5 advantage, six of the 10 league matchups have been decided by one goal, including five of the last six.
Navy plays its next three games over the course of just eight days with two of the three contests played in Annapolis. Kicking things off will be a March 9 contest at home against Lafayette, a program Navy owns a 13-1 series record against. Three days later (March 12), the Mids will briefly step away from Patriot League action to play host toTowson. Last year the Mids outscored the Tigers 5-1 in the third period to overcome a 2-1 halftime deficit and go on to win by a 10-6 decision.
Navy plays its final game over the eight-day span on the road, traveling to Worcester, Mass. to face Patriot League foe Holy Cross. The Mids staged a strong second half effort on both ends of the field outscoring the Crusaders 5-1 in the second half and holding them scoreless for the final 26 minutes of the contest en route to a 13-7 win.
Like the Bucknell series, the annual Navy-Colgate matchup has turned into its own rivalry. Though the Mids have a handle on the series with an 11-4 advantage, the last five games have proven to be nail-biters with each of the last five meetings decided by a goal. Last year Sam Jones slipped the defense on the crease, scoring the game-winner with 3.4 seconds left and leading the Midshipmen to a 12-11 victory over 12th-ranked Colgate. The Raiders went on to finish the season with a 14-4 record and played their way into the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
This year's Navy-Colgate matchup is slated to be played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. on March 23 as part of the 2013 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic. The Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic will feature the Mids and Raiders in the opener at 2:00 pm, followed by Virginia vs. Johns Hopkins at 4:30 pm.
"We are thrilled to participate in the 2013 Konica Minolta Face Off Classic," added Sowell. "To have the opportunity to play before a national audience at such a premier venue, M&T Bank Stadium, against a strong conference opponent is what every coach asks for. Colgate had a great season last year and returns a very good team in 2013, if not better than the quarterfinal team of 2012. If this game is anything like last year's, then the fans are in for a real treat."
Navy will travel to Lehigh on March 30 in what will be the fourth game played in Bethlehem between the two programs in the last five years. Traditionally played in the middle of the week, the two programs made the decision to move the game to a Saturday for the first time since Navy joined the league in 2004. The Mids own a 28-3 series advantage against the Mountain Hawks who a year ago finished 14-3 and earned an NCAA Tournament berth by way of winning the Patriot League Tournament.
Fans have been treated to some great battles between Maryland and Navy over the last decade and on April 5 the rivalry will continue as the two meet at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. While the two programs have met 87 times, they have battled in each of the last 67 years which is the second-longest continuous series Navy has with another team (Army, 80-consecutive years). Eight of the last 14 games between the two have been decided by one goal, while five of the last seven battles in Annapolis have been decided by two or fewer goals.
One of the sport's longest and most cherished rivalries, the Army-Navy Star Game will be played on Saturday, April 13 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis in what will be the 92nd meeting between the two service academies. The Mids own a 57-31-3 series advantage, including wins in 14 of the last 19 games.
"Having a chance to experience the intense Army-Navy rivalry on the road last season, I could not be more excited to play this game at Navy Marine Memorial Stadium before the entire Brigade and our passionate Navy lacrosse faithful, said Sowell."
For the 10th straight year, Navy will close out the regular season by facing Johns Hopkins on April 20. After losing 36 consecutive games to the Blue Jays from 1975-2009, the Midshipmen have taken two of the last three from Johns Hopkins including an 8-2 route in Annapolis last spring. Navy, though, has not been able to enjoy a win at Homewood Field since 1969 when the Mids claimed a 9-6 win in Baltimore.
Finally, the four-team Patriot League Tournament is slated to be played April 26-28 at the site of the highest seed. Since joining the league in 2004, the Midshipmen have played host to four of the eight tournaments and have claimed the title five times. Navy owns an 11-2 all-time record in the Patriot League Tournament.
"The Patriot League has established itself as one of the toughest conferences in Division I," said Sowell. "Each of our Patriot League games will be intense and hard-fought battles. Our focus will be to take one game at a time with the goal of competing in the NCAA Tournament as Patriot League Champions."
Navy's television schedule was unavailable at press time and will be released at a later date.


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Mizu Fusen – Playing With Water Balloons
During a lull in the festivities around the Shitaya Matsuri in Tokyo's Ueno district I saw this group of children playing with the traditional Mizu Fusen (water balloons) in the street while wearing lovely summer festival clothes. I have seen these water balloons in every festival I have ever visited but I had no idea what they were actually for, a fact for which I blame my "academic" style of Japanese education! When a foreigner comes to Japan to learn Japanese all schools can be fitted into two basic ways of teaching: the "kintaroo style" or the "academic style" (this is just my observations though). The kintaroo style is when students are taught from a purely cultural perspective, with an emphasis on starting with the childhood classics and childhood experiences shared by all Japanese. This way of emphasizing cultural awareness by teaching old folk tales and symbols. and through them grammar and vocabulary, is a very important method I think, although hardly the most effective. The academic method on the other hand dives right into tables of grammar and lists of kanji to memorize. Learning to speak good Japanese however, is impossible without understanding the culture of Japan and how Japanese people think. Just because you can read a comic or even the morning papers in Japanese doesn't necessarily mean that you understand Japan or the people here. For that, you have to start at the very beginning, with the toys and the stories and the childhood manner lessons that form the basics of Japanese culture. And for me, not having ever seen these mizu fusen in use was a gap in my understanding of the Japanese. But now, thanks to observing these kids, I now know a little bit more than before.
I'll post more about this fantastic festival later. For now, please enjoy these snaps that I took with my amazing Nikkor 135mm F2.0 DC from 1990, possibly the best lens ever made.
6 Responses
so nice 🙂 thank you
Never heared about those two methods! How interesting :), I would love to be able to watch once in my life a normal day at school in Japan.


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Care in Peru by Florence Vincent
My first impressions of Calca and Peru
After a long journey from snowy London Heathrow via bustling JFK, I landed in sweltering Lima. I was determined to stay awake for the 55-minute flight to Cusco to enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery below me but failed, as I was fast asleep before the security announcements even began!
I woke up to the seatbelt signs being switched on for landing and spent the rest of the flight with my nose pressed against the window. Tiny villages dotted between the lush green mountains were revealed beneath a light scattering of clouds. Landing between the mountains (feeling like the wings of the plane were dangerously close to the peaks) is a moment I will never forget.
After meeting a welcoming young Peruvian from Projects Abroad at the airport I experienced the exciting yet terrifying mode of transport that is normal road travel in Peru. On arrival in Calca Nilda, my host mum, greeted me with open arms and changed my name from Florence to the endearing Florcita. After chatting to her over a cup of "mate de coca" I was told to rest and unpack. She was warm and welcoming and I realised then that the fact that I spoke Spanish quite well was an immediate advantage.
I was shown to my bedroom, which was light and spacious. The rest of the house was very simple but homely and based around a courtyard with an outhouse-type bathroom, which the other volunteer and I shared with the eight members of our family.
I was expecting the weather to be monsoonal as I was told it was the rainy season but was pleasantly surprised when I spent my first weekend exploring Calca in the sun with my host brother Luis and Kris, the other volunteer living with me.
Summer School Placement
I arrived in Peru in the summer holidays so the nurseries were closed. Instead, I worked at a summer school in Calca. We did a lot of crafts for example making butterflies out of toilet paper rolls and mini hot air balloons out of papier-mâché. I got on well with the children and being confident in Spanish was a clear asset.
Memorable moments include being taught origami by a 10 year old boy; being given a goodbye present of a banana from one of the 1st year boys and teaching the 5th years a rhythmic canon to perform in front of the school.
One of the volunteers had moved to the nutrition programme so there was only two of us with classes as big as 40. Obviously there were moments when I wanted to leave the class and cry as the classes were so huge and we did not have a "real" teacher on hand to help us but after being there for most of summer school the kids respected us as teachers, which was incredibly rewarding.
My Care Project
I spent the rest of my time at a very basic nursery in Huqqui, just outside Calca. The children were aged 2-5 and there were on average ten a day. The fact that the class size was so small meant that I could give the children the one-on-one attention they lacked and deserved.
The atmosphere at the nursery was relaxed but there was an excellent structure to every morning (registering their names; lining up outside to pray and sing; marching back inside; saying the greetings in Spanish, English and Quechua; doing the daily activity and of course lots and lots of playing!). The teacher let me do a lot of things independently and I had quite a few days where she could not come in so I had the nursery to myself!
I loved my placement, as the children were so eager to learn even though they came from the poorest of backgrounds and were up for anything. They especially loved making me lay on all the chairs in the blazing sun while they covered me with their jumpers; poked me with various bits of wood and "gave me a heart transplant" with the nurses kit they have to play with.
Aurora, the teacher, was in stitches when she came outside and saw me with all the kids on top of me pretending to cure their patient. They also enjoyed singing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" with me strumming along on the guitar!
My new Peruvian family
My whole experience would have been very different had it not been for my fantastic host family. It is hard to describe what lovely people they are, as I have never met such caring, inspirational and thoughtful people.
From day one my mother Nilda took me under her wing and treated me like her own daughter. She is a nursery teacher who has a small jewellery business on the side. She does not have her own children but treated Kris and I as her "hijitas" and also has Jose, an adopted orphan boy who joined the family a few years ago.
When I was unwell or homesick she always knew the right thing to do/say and always made sure I was okay. Apart from being incredibly caring and genuine, there was no language barrier at all between us. We spoke to each other about everything; from current affairs to such delicate subjects that we were both moved to tears. Just writing this gives me a lump in my throat so I will move on to happier tales…
With my host family I enjoyed many things I would have never experienced had I not been fully immersed into their lives. I stayed up into the early hours chatting to 22-year-old Luis; put on a mini talent show with the kids; listened contently to Nilda and her sister Eli telling hilarious stories about past volunteers; got soaked and covered in confetti from head to toe on the most fun day that was Carnival; was laughed at for my reaction of the sheer amount of food served on Good Friday lunch (twelve different plates, TWELVE!) and one of the most fun experiences I had with them were the two weddings I attended!
I can honestly say that although my family does not have the nicest living spaces, they have the biggest heart and I will miss them greatly.
Travelling around Peru after my placement
As I was volunteering for three months I had the opportunity to take two weeks off as holiday. Before Easter I went traveling with my friends Sacha and Roxane. We had condors swoop over our heads in the Colca Canyon near Arequipa; island hopped on Lake Titicaca staying at the captain´s house one night; watched the sun set over the lake' walked across the border to Bolivia; shopped 'till we dropped in La Paz and chilled in the beautiful plazas of Cochabamba. Not bad for a ten day road trip!
When three months were up I had a month to indulge in the rich culture and hugely varying landscapes of Peru. It was incredibly hard saying goodbye to my Peruvian family who sent me off on my way after a tear-jerking farewell dinner (so many tears were shed by all, I still get goosebumps thinking about that evening).
However, I knew that I still had a whole month of a backpacking adventure ahead of me. Sacha, a Belgian volunteer who I became close to, was to be my "traveling buddy" and we also met up with other volunteers on the way that were making their way around Peru.
I could easily write a book about this month as we saw so many places and met dozens of interesting people. We started off doing the standard "gringo trail" working our way to Lima from Cusco. Arequipa was our first destination where we ambled around the beautiful monastery. We continued to Huacachina where our time was spent relaxing by the pool and sand boarding down the dunes that surround the oasis.
Our next stop was Paracas where the proximity and beauty of the wildlife on the Islas Ballestas made me feel like I was shooting for a David Attenborough programme. From Lima we took a flight to the north coast and were beach babes in the sunny surf spot of Mancora for a few days.
After a gruelling bus ride involving breakdowns and landslides we made it to Chachapoyas, a small town in the central highlands with the fortress of Kuelap as the main attraction. We were noticeably straying from the classic tourist routes by this point and noticed a huge difference in culture and attitudes.
Our next destination along our zigzagging down the north coast was Huanchaco, near Trujillo. We visited more ruins near this area, which were very interesting as they were from cultures that I had never heard of that existed before the Incas! From there we bussed it to Huaraz, a town in the Cordillera Blanca, to do some trekking. We did a day trek that took us from 3900m to a breathtakingly beautiful glacial lake at 4600m above sea level… it was worth every step!
We arrived in Lima just about in one piece (our backpacks got left in Huaraz but THANKFULLY were put on the next bus to Lima) after an amazing month. I would like to say that I saw it all but we did not see the Amazon jungle… I'll just have to go back!
Florence Vincent
+44 (0) 1273 007230


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Changing an impeller on an outboard marine engine is a common practice for do-it-yourself boat owners. With the simple steps below, houseboaters of any level can learn how to inspect their impeller and know when it's time for a replacement. Making sure an impeller is in good condition can help prevent bigger engine problems down the line.
First, owners must drain water from the pump and pull the impeller out. Directions and location of where the impeller is and how to remove it can be found in an engine's owner manual.
Then, the impeller should be tested for flexibility by pulling the rubber blades in the opposite direction it normally spins. Each blade should go back to its normal position on its own. If it cracks, there are visible cracks already present or its blades don't go back into position, the impeller must be replaced.
If the impeller is still in good condition, it can be put back into the pump. To even out wear, owners should re-install the part in the reverse direction it was previously moving.
If an impeller won't be used for six months to a year, it's a good tip to simply keep it in the box until it's ready for use. When a pump has been left to dry, an impeller's blades can stick to the housing and ripped off when an engine is suddenly started, leading to irreparable damage.
Houseboaters should also have a spare impeller handy, for emergencies and convenience.
JMP offers flexible impellers for many name-brand engine and gen-set manufacturers, with custom impellers also available Since 1976, JMP Corporation has developed proven impeller pumps and top quality flexible rubber impellers, as well as spare parts for some name-brand companies.
For more information call 305-909-0009 or visit www.jmpusa.com.
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Gym, my passion :DI started going to the gym when I was 18 or 19 years old.
I was skinny, I didn't like my body at all, so I decided it is time for a change.... Read More »
I am all for a healthy lifestyle, i enjoy going to the gym and make my daily workout, eat healthy and take care of my body. My body is my temple.come love it, enjoy it, make me feel special and i will return the favor and make you feel the same!
I like a well oiled body, passionate touches, hair pulling and ass spanking moments with a special someone. I also would love to try out a gang-bang or a sauna :)
My main fetishes are roleplaying (cop,inmate) ,socks and I am open for any new ones always .
I dont appreciate rude guys. I know we are here for fun, i'm all for having fun!! But if you want to see me happy, play nice!
Every second with me, will be unforgettable ! I love to make everyone happy, no matter how hard it is .
Armpit, Domination, Feet, Legs, Muscle Worship, Nipple Play, Sugar Daddy
Bad Cop/Good Cop, Boss / Secretary, Coach/Trainee, Dirty Talk, Doctor / Nurse, Master / Slave, Pirate/Captive, Prisoner/Guard, Student/Teacher
Please change the timezone to your locale by choosing your location from the drop-down menu.


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I'm doing better. I'm posting only a week after the last visit to the house.
I visited the project site last Saturday (2 previous posts will give newcomers information on the project) and found the men hard at work as usual. David Collier, the project manager, was there, so we were able to discuss some of the ideas that various folk have had about how we could interpret the house in an educational environment that includes a wide range of historical subjects as well as audiences [Video of house here.].
The main roof was on the second section of the house and preparations being made to add the cedar shakes that will
cover the entire roof. Said shakes had arrived a day or so before and David explained their construction to me, also pointing out the areas where the logs were different because the old ones had rotted away and the new ones had to be done in as close to original manner as possible (a major delay in the reconstruction.) [Video here.]
He also explained the "chinking" process by which
we will fill the spaces between the logs.
We are currently looking for a good, relatively nearby, source of clay of the type that would have been available to the original builders.
As always, my "video" footage was just simply the clicking of the switch to let the camera run while I looked, we talked, (okay, mostly I talked, unless David was educating me as to the process,) and therefore the sound is not well balanced nor are any of the niceties one expects with edited footage present. At least David was aware enough to occasionally ask if I was filming and then point me at something. I think David will have a very good presentation style when the time comes to do educational programs for the process (note: I am volunteering him, but have not asked him) that will accompany Linda Collier's (his wife and curator of the A-B House) presentations on the history of the home.
For those of you who are a bit more worried about the quality of the images, never fear. There are much better footage and images out there, and they will be presented at a later date.
The home site is not ready for unauthorized visitors. Bethlehem Church, however, does not consider visitors unauthorized. Please drop by and visit them for worship. They are located at 2102 Lebanon Road (US HWY 70) at the corner of Bethlehem Rd. (Map.) their number is 615-449-3234


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John Ellery McMahan, 84, of Rochester Mills, PA, went home to be with the Lord, Sunday, July 28, 2013, at the Mountain Laurel Nursing & Rehab Center, Clearfield, PA.
The son of John D. and Cleo (Pardee) McMahan, he was born on April 12, 1929.
John was a member of the C&MA Church and also attended the Methodist Church.
Mr. McMahan retired from U.S. Steel, American Bridge Division, Ambridge, PA.
He is survived by his two daughters, Connie Dunmire and husband, Marlin, of Rochester Mills, PA and Sandy Kriger and husband, Lou, of Crescent, PA; daughter-in-law, Mary Ann McMahan of Freedom, PA; seven grandchildren; six great-grandchildren and one brother, Carl.
John was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Helen of sixty-six years; his son, John F. 'Rick' McMahan; one sister, Miriam and four brothers, Paul, Eugene, Homer and Wendall.
At John's request, there will be no visitation.
Private arrangements are with the assistance of the RAIRIGH FUNERAL HOME, LTD. in Hillsdale, PA.


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Jpdavis03 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 161 designs submitted by 31 freelance designers.
J Davis Tree Care Solutions
Professional, expert tree care and organic Tree Health Care for consumers.
We primarily prune trees and feed/fertilize trees to keep them healthy and to ensure they live aand give value a long time.
Consumers, mainly female, age avg aprox 57 yrs old.
Uppermiddle class to high end affluen clients.
Avg income greater than 150,000 per year.
It will be used on everything from shirts, vehicles,
signage, billboards, etc.
Look at the attached examples of our existing logos.
re work them. Looking for the "comfortable, shady, southern
plantation" look and feel. Feeling of "health and longevity".
Use existing trees or different ones if you would like.
You can use graphic illustration for tree or trees if you like.
Use same font for "J Davis" name.
Have what we do stand out i.e. "Tree Care".
Use dark green for tree and matching or similar green for Text.
Incorporate "cobalt blue" into design. Outlines or whatever.
Trunk of tree to remain brown.
Do not want to vary too much from basic look so as not make our
existing market think we are a new company.
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Project Presgore
Round 6
Faction list: (turn orders is as shown in this list)
-Droids - controlled by IVhorseman eliminated on Round 4
-Galactic Empire - controlled by Ross_Varn due to his inactivity, it's now controlled by Silent-sigfig
-18th Century Soldiers - controlled by birdman
-Townspeople - controlled by jifel
-Mistery Faction - controlled by Theblackdog
-Overpowered Mysterious Faction - controlled by pesgores
Galactic Empire
The Imperials move.
The Snowtrooper targets Luigi, a townsguy and the clone targets GOOSE's head. They both fail.
The other clone aims on the General.
«Sorry, sir, but you are now considered expendable.»
PAN! Only his hat is shot. The General is still alive.
18th Century Soldiers
The General tries to repair his hand heroically.
Angelina uses the Rail Gun to shoot the top of the yellow building's tower.
GOOSE's head is still on top of it. One of the bricks fall on Uvitcha Dellos' head.
She doesn't resist.
Townspeople are determined to finish off with the Empire.
Due to Proximity Bonus, the Imperials won't die if their attackers get a critical failure.
Even though they had a chance of 1 in 6 to survive, they both die headshot'd.
Henry Jones Sr. enters the yellow building...
«There is a white button and a BIG RED BUTTON over here! What shall I do?!» shouts Henry to his teanmates on the outside.
Meanwhile, the Townspeople on Northeston Ave do things...
Indiana goes full reverse...
Epic rolls! The wall is down and everyone can enter it now.
Han grabs R2 and its destroyed leg...
...and gets it to safety, waiting for next turn to repair him.
The townspeople on Easton St grab weapons from fallen comrades and dead Imperials.
The guy with the plasma gun does nothing, because no one told him what to do...
All armed townspeople in range of the RED BRICK WITH BLACK DOTS fire on it.
Epic failures.
This group of townspeople does nothing.
Metal Gear GOOSE
Since being up here is too dangerous right now...
...I fly to the white and black building.
And I establish there. Now, ready main gun...
What happened? 5 TOWNSPEOPLE DIED??? AWESOME!!!!!
West Overwatch
East Overwatch
-Galactic Empire - 2
-18th Century Soldiers - 0
-Townspeople - 6
Awaiting orders for round 7.
Ross_Varn is still commadning the Empire, but if he misses this turn as well, he is retired from the game.


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10 Digital Paper Pack - Geometric Birds II
This pack includes:
- 10 High Resolution (300 dpi) JPG Digital Papers. 12x12 in (3600x3600px).
Possible uses:
Downloadable digital papers have endless crafting, digital, and printable project possibilities. Use your patterned papers online for digital scrapbooking, or print them for use in a traditional scrapbook. Create stickers, notebooks, or book covers for a coordinated set of paper goods.
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Terms of use:
- Items purchased under the Standard License may be used to create End Products for Sale where lifetime sales of the End Product for Sale do not exceed 500 units.
- Items purchased under the Extended License may be used to create End Products for Sale that may be sold an unlimited number of times.
- All purchased Items may be used in an unlimited number of Personal Use Projects.
Full License info: https://creativemarket.com/licenses
Thanks for your visit! ^__^


text: The Fukushima Power Plant in Japan had three safety measures in place to make sure the fuel rods inside the nuclear reactor do not overheat. For various reasons attributed to the earthquake that triggered a tsunami, the measures failed. bagalute/flickr hide caption toggle caption bagalute/flickr Blog Of The Nation The Nuclear Reactor Problem, Explained March 17, 2011 If you're anything like me — when it comes to learning something new in the field of science — words only do so much. In a video from CNN, the combination of sight and sound provides a further look into the nuclear reactor problem in Japan.


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Definition of nether
a. - Situated down or below; lying beneath, or in the lower part; having a lower position; belonging to the region below; lower; under; -- opposed to upper. 2
The word "nether" uses 6 letters: E E H N R T.
No direct anagrams for nether found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after nether (in bold), or to eehnrt in any order:
a - earthen hearten g - greenth i - neither therein o - thereon
Shorter words found within nether:
eh en enter er ere ern erne et eth ether he hen hent her here hern het ne nee net nth re ree rent rente ret rete tee teen ten tern terne the thee then there three tree treen
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