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When Matthew Weiner cast Montreal native Jessica Paré as a pretty assistant at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, only a few people knew that she would eventually become Mrs. Don Draper. Initially, Paré was not one of those few, so even after a moon-eyed Draper proposed to her during the final episode of season 4, she understood that her next scene could very easily include her resting peacefully in a casket. But Weiner had other ideas, and in the long-awaited season 5 premiere, he unveiled a whole new show dynamic, with Don and Megan's relationship at the heart of it. "I said it as a joke, but the story of the season for me is that Don and Megan are soul mates," says Weiner. "They are one person and that person is Don. And right in that first episode, there's a line from Roger where he says, 'They're all great until they want something.' As soon as Megan starts to separate from him by rejecting advertising and pursuing her acting career, it's very hard on them. It's very hard on him."
In that two-hour premiere, titled "A Little Kiss," the seeds of the season's tension were ingeniously planted with one amazingly hypnotic song and dance number. Harry Crane wasn't the only member of the audience who was mesmerized by Paré's sexy rendition of Gillian Hills' playful 1960 single. "Zou Bisou Bisou" was practically trending online before the episode concluded, and the catchy tune would reverberate for weeks. Below, Weiner reflects on the kernel of the idea that sprouted into an unforgettable moment for the Emmy-winning AMC drama, and Paré describes the terrifying challenge of bringing it to the screen.
For more stories behind this year's top moments, click here for TV and here for movies.
MATTHEW WEINER: It would be a lie to say there wasn't a showmanship aspect to it. We'd been off the air for 17 months — against my will — and I really wanted to make sure that we gave the audience some bang for their buck. It wasn't the major thing, but it's certainly where some of it came from. For me, the origin of the idea was that Don had proposed to this woman, and the audience didn't even know if he was going to marry her. And the audience didn't know anything about her. And I kind of wanted to give her a character moment, especially if the whole season was going to be about their relationship and what it meant to Don — to sort of introduce her to the audience and to the other characters through her personality. What I thought was, it's one of the old saws of all entertainment — the surprise birthday party — and I loved the idea that this woman was very different from the people at the office. That she was younger, that she had a different set of rules, that she was more fun-loving, that she was extroverted, and that Don's intense, almost-pathological privacy was going to be broken by this woman's personality. She is throwing the surprise party — which means he has no say in it. No one knew at that time she was going to become an actress, so what better time to show her do this song for him, in front of all his "friends." I mean, it was story: this is who this woman is. I think people thought that the whole story was going to be about him hiding his past from her, but you find out right there and then that she knows it all. So where is the show going to go? Well, whether you realize it or not in that episode, you just witnessed the major conflict in their relationship. That she has her own personality and Don can't control it. She is expressing her sexuality out in front of everyone.
I love music from this period. I didn't know it was a genre, but I was raised on a lot of light French movies. There was a lot of this music in the Pink Panther movies and things like that, American movies with a little bit of European flair to them. So I was looking for the right sort of sexy song for her to sing, and for some reason or another I found this song, realized I'd heard it before, and it just had the perfect mix of childishness and sexiness that made it a socially-appropriate strip tease. The other thing was I wanted it to feel like a real person doing it. I didn't want it to feel like it was some big, rehearsed choreographed number. I wanted to feel like it was somebody who had just sort of practiced it a few times in their house and had the guts to do it.
JESSICA PARE: I never heard "Zou Bisou Bisou." It was completely new to me. I loved it. I think it's so of that time and that place. It's really a very French, very silly song, which was so en vogue at that point. And I loved that it was in French because I like using that part of my brain. But what happens immediately with that song, and why I think it's such a brilliant choice, is that you hear it once and it's stuck in your head for two weeks. And I think that has a lot to do with why it was something that captured everyone's imagination.
WEINER: I cast Jessica to be Mrs. Draper, and we just started to see that she looks, to me, like a French movie star from this period. And I just loved that feeling of sophistication that she has. Even though she's from Montreal, we exploited that as much as possible — this European character. I didn't know she could sing. I was a little worried about that. I asked her. I always ask — when I have an idea, I'm like, "Can you do this?" I think I called her and talked to her about it. And then we sent her the song. I'm very lucky because I have a good relationship with everyone who works on the show, and they express their anxiety and their excitement to me. So, um… I talked her down a little bit. [Laughs] You know, they don't want to fail. No one's afraid of embarrassing themselves; they're more about they don't want to fail the show in some abstract way. You just have to say to them, like, "I really think you can do this." And then the sleepless nights are their problem.
PARE: In the first season, I had nothing to lose. All of a sudden the stakes were going to be a bit higher, so beginning the season with a song and dance routine, which aren't comfortably in my wheelhouse, was a big challenge. I like to sing, but so far it's been limited to my car, and the shower, and the occasional family bonfire. Before this, I never sang professionally. I got to go into a real grown-up studio, and it was so cool to be part of that whole process, but it took me like five takes before I could even breath because I was very anxious.
WEINER: Dancing is more tough. Jessica is very athletic and was slightly self-conscious about it.
PARE: I'm not a dancer. I mean, I like to dance — I took ballet until sixth grade, I think, like every other girl in the world. I have to say, my first experience with the choreographer was pretty frustrating because Mary Ann Kellogg is an incredible dancer, and it's just so effortless for her. Everything just seemed so overwhelming and so complicated for me. I think we had three or four six-hour rehearsals. It's long and it's hard if you're not a dancer. Mary Ann is a lot of fun, so that helps, but I would break down and eat a Snickers bar in between and cry. [Laughs] But then we just broke it down into elements in the song where we could bring in these '60s dance moves. So we just ended up doing it that way, finding a few videos online that we really liked and trying to find where we can fit them in, and sort of filling it in around that.
WEINER: Of course, what it becomes about is that this woman is actually a character, and deciding what kind of character she was, we do it the way we always do it. What had she done that we knew of? She had gone to New York to be an actress and failed. That already requires a certain personality. She had gone to work in that advertising agency. She had gone after Don, to some degree. And then, when the opportunity was right and he asked her to marry him, she said yes, so she's impulsive.
PARE: We would rehearse and every couple of hours, Matt would come down with the whole writers room and just sit there and watch me to do this dance. I was like, "It's not fair! We've only been working on it for two hours!" But it was extremely helpful because there were pieces that got cut immediately, and there were pieces that were elaborated upon, and there was an element of performance of bringing "Megan" into the dance more. Because when you're working with a choreographer, they just want to put a dance together. Matt was there to remind us that this isn't a professional dancer; this is a woman doing a sort of sexy dance for her husband.


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Status last updated: 2018-10-20 23:33:21
Female looking for a man for marriage
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I don't know what I'm looking for but I will know when I've found it
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subset: commoncrawl


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Thanks Amy for your most recent reminder that the Blogger's Quilt Festival entries end tonight. It looks like I'm just going to make it under the wire. I've been so crazy busy this week with Moda Bake Shop and managing my MBS Giveaway that I almost missed out. I'm so glad I was checking out my google reader and saw the post you did today. I look forward to looking at more of the quilts on Mr. Linky. Thanks for all that you do to promote quilting!!! It's so fun!!!
Now on to my entry. I made this quilt for my first grandson Benjamin. He absolutely LOVES this quilt and it was really hard to borrow it back from him so I could wash it and take pictures of it. It was great to see how happy he was to have his quilt back.
The quilt pattern is called Hopscotch by Two Peas in a POD. I'm sorry I haven't found a link yet to their patterns but I will keep looking. I'm quite certain they're local designers.
I bought the material a long time ago before my grandson was even born and I knew the minute I saw it that I needed to buy it so, that I could make a boy baby quilt for my future grandson. It's perfect for a little boy. Don't you think?
Check out the other quilts here. You won't regret taking the time to do so but, give your self some time because there are 611 quilts to look at and I'm currently the LAST entry.


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Shares in Avocet mining have gone up to a new high, after an increase in the mineral resource estimate. Cynics who suggest this news was well timed to deflect the blow of growing criticism over the Avocet's role in the Djibo barrage cyanide spill should feel ashamed of themselves.
Just because Avocet are a mining company who refuse to sign up the Cyanide code, and who have recently taken steps to quell labour unrest at the Inata gold mine, doesnt mean that their PR people would deliberately avoid answering questions, give half hearted answers to other questions, and release exciting new 'mineral resource estimates' at the same time as a few bloggers (1, 2, 3)and journalists start quizzing them about the cyanide which found it's way into Djibo reservoir.
And just because Burkina Faso is a rather out of the way place, with not terribly forceful media, and isnt exactly brimming over with foreign correspondants, doesnt mean that Avocet mining would attempt to stonewall their way out of questions about their safety record, and troublesome queries such as: 'how come artisanal miners in the same region are managing to get their hands on cyanide, which is also finding its way into the reservoir?' Surely Avocet must be laughing in the face of such questions over their security procedures.
Any investor who is looking for good returns would hardly be concerned by the reputational risk that a company like Avocet would run if it were to emerge that (by way of hypothetical example) they were somewhat blase about the risk to the good people of Burkina Faso, caused by sleepy drivers of massive subcontractor owned trucks chock full of Cyanide briquettes.
I mean, really children's author Steve Davies is just making a fuss about nothing with all his posts (1,2,3,4,5,6) on the subject, and as for the local people who commented on his posts, and the local media who have also been complaining about it, they are all wrong wrong wrong.
I must admit, I was a little worried, so I asked Avocet for some more information – ok so they weren't terribly forthcoming, saying (basically) 'it wasn't us guv, it was them' – but hey – y'know, they are a mining company… And we all know we can trust mining companies to do the right thing… right?
So personally I am just so glad that these mineral resource estimates turned up at the exact same time as this bad news was starting to emerge, because now if one were to google 'Inata Avocet' or Avocet Mining' or something similar which is basically about greedy exploitation of the world at the risk of lives and livelihoods, then that's the good news you would get. Not the 'truck load of cyanide dropped into reservoir, fished out a day later and then carted off to the mine' type news which would have done their share price no good at all.
Thank goodness for Avocet's PR people eh.


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Paul's essay, now almost 4 years old, is a long-term vision of how Lisp is the ultimate language, or at least how the ultimate language will appear lispy to a Lisp hacker. Steve's essay focuses on the near-term practical issues, like a C-like syntax as a pre-requisite for widespread adoption, minimum performance requirements, and platform agnosticism. Steve also lists a grab bag of language features that any new language needs to provide today to "not suck":
- Object-literal syntax for arrays and hashes
- Array slicing and other intelligent collection operators
- Perl 5 compatible regular expression literals
- Destructuring bind (e.g. x, y = returnTwoValues())
- Function literals and first-class, non-broken closures
- Standard OOP with classes, instances, interfaces, polymorphism, etc.
- Visibility quantifiers (public/private/protected)
- Iterators and generators
- List comprehensions
- Namespaces and packages
- Cross-platform GUI
- Operator overloading
- Keyword and rest parameters
- First-class parser and AST support
- Static typing and duck typing
- Type expressions and statically checkable semantics
- Solid string and collection libraries
- Strings and streams act like collections
$YOUR_FAVORITE_LANGUAGE is actually poised to be the next big language. I'm not going to comment on that here, except to say that Haskell doesn't meet some of Steve's criteria. Haskell isn't especially object-oriented, and the programming community at large is still quite comfortable with objects, uneasy with functional programming, and downright hostile to monads and typeclasses.
Although Haskell may not be Steve's "next big language", it is certainly close to Paul's "hundred year language", or at least on a path leading to the hundred year language. In other words, Haskell may not be important to the mainstream today, or even within the next five years, but it will certainly prove to be important to the industry as a whole.
Steve's focus is primarily on language issues. Paul talks a little about both language and implementation issues. Here is a list of implementation characteristics necessary for a new language to "not suck":
An Open Source Implementation: "Open Source" as a concept label is 10 years old this year, and the advantages of open source (given an active, functioning community) are pretty obvious. The pressure to go open is now hitting Java, and helping JavaScript settle down and grow. The economics aren't in favor of a new, closed language becoming big. Closed languages like K will continue to pop up from time to time, but they will always serve niche markets and never become "big".
A Foreign Function Interface: One of the main advantages of being open source is the ability to reuse code. However, a huge body of code already exists, and isn't written (and won't be rewritten) in a "next big language". Integrating with low level libraries like database drivers, crypto toolkits, XML parsers and graphics processing toolkits are best done using interfaces to native code. Writing glue code that mediates between a language runtime and native code really isn't a productive use of time; it's better to just write declarations in the target language, and let the runtime (or compiler) figure out the rest.
A Big Library: One of the reasons why Java gained widespread popularity in the late 1990s is because development was moving to the web, and Java provided network libraries (including HTTP) in the core environment. Today, a popular language needs libraries that provide HTTP and related protocols, XML and HTML parsing, scripted web client libraries (like WWW::Mechanize), popular database drivers, and a database-agnostic modelling library (like Perl's DBI or HDBC). If these libraries aren't available by default, they should be easily installed through a package management system.
A Package Management System: It's cliché to talk about how Perl's greatest strength is CPAN. But CPAN isn't just a well-structured repository of modules, it's also a utility to install modules from the repository. Thankfully, many language communities have learned the lesson that you need both: Ruby has rubygems and
gem, and Haskell has Cabal and
cabal-get. The next big language will need to follow the trend and provide both a common repository of libraries, and a means to install them easily.
A Compiler: Steve mentions that the next big language should probably work on both the JVM and .Net, which implies at least two bytecode compilers. But if you haven't chosen a VM for your project yet, you probably want to keep avoiding them. Compiling down to native code (perhaps via C, perhaps using an abstract model like the G-Machine) will certainly help those who don't want to download (and maintain) a big VM just to run your program.
An Interpreter: Paul points out that having an interpreter gives developers flexability, at least during development. Perl, Python and Ruby programmers all know that deployment with an interpreter isn't so bad these days, either. Not having an interpreter makes programming in C (and C++, and Java, and C#) a real PITA. Firing up an interpreter to play with a library or a module really helps answer questions (and isolate bugs) quickly.
A Source-level Debugger: Sometimes, the easiest way to see what a chunk of code does is to step through it line by line. Tools like
perl -d and
gdb can remove all doubt by showing you what happens inside a running program, without modifying it by adding print statements everywhere.
In practice, you probably don't need both an interpreter and a source level debugger. One or the other should suffice. (Perl doesn't have an "interpreter" per se, but the debugger is often invoked as an interpreter:
perl -de0 does the trick.) Having both will help a language become the "next big language," especially when many programmers are coming from environments that have debuggers, but no interpreters.
A Profiler: As Paul points out, it's best to get a program right, then make it fast. Ideally, a program could be written using simple but inefficient data structures. If that's fast enough, then fine. If not, then perhaps a few type declarations could be added to swap out inefficient data structures for more efficient ones. If that doesn't work, then a few hot spots could be optimized by rewriting code. However, this rewriting should be driven by performance data, not dubious dictums like "avoid bignums", or other such nonsense.
A Good Concurrency Model: Steve's list of features are things a language must provide to not suck. Erlang-style concurrency isn't on the list of necessary features, but is on his short list of features needed to make the next big language "great". Paul thinks the ultimate language needs to have a concurrency model deeply ingrained into it, but something that you ask for specifically as an optimization. Paul is right on this one; multi-core CPUs are here and getting denser. Any software we write today will probably be running in some kind of multi-core/multi-cpu architecture. If there's room for a new mainstream programming language today, it needs to get concurrency right, or at least better than raw threads. If not, we'll have to wait for the "next next big language" to fix it.
Open Classes: Language designers may be fantastically brilliant individuals, but they generally aren't clairvoyant. A language designer may create a perfect set of fundamental types, and miss a few operations on those types. Java's designers, for example, made strings a little too complex, and completely botched the date and time types. (To be fair, date and time types are almost always botched.) In order for a language to evolve, types need to evolve, including the fundamental ones. Ruby allows this kind of evolution via monkey patching. The next big language should allow this kind of evolution, ideally scoped to a single module rather than changed globally throughout an entire program.
If you read between the lines, GHC delivers most of these features today. This is a testament to the abilities and foresight of the GHC team, as well as the functional programming community as a whole. (Many of these features have been available in various Lisps for decades. Some are available today, with less lengthy histories.)
Haskell in general, and GHC in particular is a little short in some areas. There isn't a big library of Haskell code yet, but Cabal is vibrant and growing. Source level debugging is still a holy grail, but work on the GHCi debugger is progressing. (Thanks, mnislaih!)
Interestingly, the way Haskell implements "open classes" is lexically scoped by default. There's nothing stopping you from adding new numeric types (like vectors or sparse matrices), or even declaring strings to be numeric. It's actually much cleaner than monkey patching in Ruby.
On top of all that, Haskell does provide many of Steve's necessary language features:
- Destructuring bind (e.g. x, y = returnTwoValues())
- Function literals and first-class, non-broken closures
- List comprehensions
- Namespaces and packages
- Cross-platform GUI
- Operator overloading
- First-class parser and AST support
- Type expressions and statically checkable semantics
- Solid string and collection libraries
- Strings and streams act like collections


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MacDon introduces a 45-ft. version of its FlexDraper flex header to keep pace with increasing combine-harvesting capacities. The new 45-ft. FD70 FlexDraper is designed to have a crop-handling capacity greater than that of most Class 9 combines.
The header's unique three-section flex frame combined with MacDon's draper technology offers balanced floating action in a wide range of crops, including soybeans, edible beans and all cereals. Unlike conventional flex auger headers, the flex draper header allows the header to maintain a consistently close relationship between the knife and the reel without bunching and plugging, the company claims.
The FD70 is available for most current model combines (Class 6 up to Class 9). For producers requiring a smaller header than the 45-ft. model, MacDon's FlexDraper is also available in 30-, 35- and 40-ft. sizes. The suggested list price starts at $86,378. Contact MacDon Inc., Dept. FIN, 10708 N. Pomona Ave., Kansas City, MO 64153, 816/891-7313, www.macdon.com.


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(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.
These World War I cartoons by Frank Hines, an enlisted man in Texas, were published in a base newspaper at Camp Devens, Massachusetts, in 1918. They were sent by Edward Howell Wirt to his fiancée, Emily Gladys Bartlett, before he was sent overseas only weeks later. He was from Lowell and she was from Holyoke, Massachusetts. His comments are in pencil. He served in the 302nd Infantry Division in France as a military policeman. Wirt returned safely back to the United States after the war and rejoined Gladys in Holyoke.
The center cartoon refers to Herbert Hoover, the future president of the United States. From 1917-1919 Hoover was in charge of the government's voluntary food rationing program. The soldier is eating heaps at a time when civilians had been asked to cut the amount of food they ate.
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277 Davenport
Some architectural designs stand the test of time and become iconic. They are the buildings that attest to the good taste and rare aesthetic of the architect, designer, builder and, ultimately, the person who chooses to inhabit them. Such will be the legacy of 277 Davenport.
Integral to 277 Davenport's architectural "experience" is the dialogue between the positive and negative space of the building's exterior façade on Davenport Road.
Strong horizontal planes are punctuated by large balcony spaces with floor-to-ceiling glass, giving the overall impression of a monochromatic painting by Mondrian.
This is street art at its most refined, a contemporary expression of residential architecture that makes a bold statement of place in one of the city's most vibrant and livable neighbourhoods. Is this the shape of things to come? We think so.
The interiors at 277 Davenport can be summed up with just one word, "sublime." The juxtaposition of indoor and outdoor spaces, exquisite features and finishes, light, light and more light. Each space is superstylish without being overly minimalistic. Each nuance of materiality is an expression of contemporary elegance.
When we designed the residences at 277 Davenport, compromise wasn't an option. Everything had to be first-class, everything unique and extraordinary. Sleek, sexy fireplaces warm your heart and hearth. Voluminous 10 ft. high ceilings, fabulous outdoor spaces for party-size entertaining and custom-designed bathroom vanities with striking Zucchetti fixtures. Big, floor-to-ceiling windows that capture the changing mood of the city sky.
At 277 Davenport, the kitchens are as functional as they are ornamental. Stunning Poliform or Artcraft kitchen cabinetry, cantilevered centre islands for seating and top-of-the-line appliances like; Miele gas ranges, refrigerators/freezers and dishwashers and Wolf microwave drawers. It's all here, textures and materials that are natural and organic, and finishes that defy comparison. Choose from full floor, two-storey or half floor residences and come home to perfection. This is 277 Davenport.


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In which case, we'll just have to translate the next of the trilogy – 'Seat of Storms'. The villains are 17th/18th century ones: Ezekiel Grosse and Margaret Vingoe (Madge Figgy). Dr Borlase and Dolly Pentreath also put in cameo appearances, as do the ghost of Wild Harris (of Kenegie) and the ghost of Rosewarne. Some Celtic gods and goddesses put in appearances, too: Epona, Lugh, Manannan MacLir and Cernunnos. Plus Piskey (the elemental Penwith character from Bottrell, not the gift-shop made-in-Taiwan type).
Mention of Arthur and Merlin couldn't be avoided with the first one, as its central theme was the lost land of Lyonesse. In the detailed legend supplied by the Rev. Whitfeld in 'Scilly and its Legends' (1852), its inundation was engineered by the ghost of Merlin as vengeance upon Mordred (Medraut) for the death of Arthur. This is the legend revisited in the novel, as the visions gifted upon Penny Trevelyan in trace, while her own brother, thrown back to the 6th century, experiences it for himself and has his life saved by his own ancestor! Oh, I DID enjoy writing that sequence.) Intriguingly, it's the only legend claiming that Medraut survived Camlan. Even more intriguingly, it doesn't get the slightest mention at Land's End.
It's hard to get away from either character in West Penwith, which has the legend of the Arthurian battle of Vellan-druchar (1 mile E of St Buryan) and the prophecy uttered by Merlin at the victory feast around the Table-Men near Sennen. The old boy is claimed to have uttered several others which came true – about the Logan Rock, the Spanish raid on Mousehole, the Men Amber above Nancegollan; Rame Head and the Dodman. One legend even claims that the cliff-castle of Treryn Dinas (St Levan – the Logan Rock headland, not Gurnard's Head as mistakenly written by Geoffrey Ashe and others) was in Arthur's possession. Sorry, Steve, but Arthur and Merlin are part of this peninsula's culture of legends.
At least I portray a 6th century dust and sweat Arthur, not a high medieval Malory-type character in shining armour. (Whosoever pulleth this sword from this stone and anvil shall rightwise become King of all ENGLAND!!!!???? Aaaargh! Talk about a cultural hijacking! BLOODY Malory!) I think I even refer to him somewhere as 'Artorius Aurelianus' (Uther Pendragon is almost certainly a literary invention. As the shadowy historical war-leader with a Roman name [Artorius] seems to have succeeded another who certainly existed [Ambrosius Aurelianus], it might have been feasible for Arthur to have been Ambrosius's son. But that's another lengthy discussion).
In the end, I love writing and if Cornwall can get something out of it (and put something into it), then all so much the better. Falmouth and Botallack Mine even feature in the new novel about to be published: 'Nautilus', my modern sequel to the two Verne classics. (It has a tasty - but, I think, tasteFUL - sex-scene late on in the story, Steve, so you'll just HAVE to buy it now!)
Of which, more later. (The book, not the sex-scene, I hasten to add).
"Jowal Lethesow" dyllys in Kernowek
A new forum dedicated to Kernewek - the Cornish language, Cornish culture and the history of the Duchy of Cornwall
I'm just wondering why it's rude to say: 'Snottiness, thy name is Pieter Charles', when 'Pieter Charles' does not actually exist. 'Pieter Charles' is a fictitious invention used for concealment. Surely, it's no more rude than to say: "Smartarse, thy name is Sherlock Holmes" (even he was based upon, and concealed, a real person – Dr Joseph Bell).
I note that the Gerva in the back of 'Jowal Lethesow' includes a word for 'snotty'. I wonder if there's a link between 'pûrek' and 'purist'?
I note that the Gerva in the back of 'Jowal Lethesow' includes a word for 'snotty'. I wonder if there's a link between 'pûrek' and 'purist'?
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Star Crossed quilt progress
31 comments:
This is a lovely quilt. I'm in awe of how all those little blocks match up. That feat eludes me constantly! Can't wait to see it done.ReplyDelete
this is beautiful!ReplyDelete
I love these blocks! Very fun. I kind of think I'd skip sashing too--I love the way they're matching up.ReplyDelete
P.S. I notice you have 999 followers on your GFC! Get ready to pop some champagne. :)
lovely quilt i saw your followers were 999 so i joined as i am always looking making you a 1000 !!ReplyDelete
These are gorgeous!ReplyDelete
I really love these blocks and I would totally skip the sashing- I think it would really take away from them. I agree about boarders though. I am very decisive when it comes to quilting and most things in life actually- I get a vision and it has to be done how I see it. I think your inner voice will always dictate what needs doing, you just have to get good at listening to it.ReplyDelete
I really like these! If you have enough material left, you could go around each one with one of the other colors and add scrappy cornerstones. But if you don't have more of those fabrics, they're sure fine as they are. If you have a place for the quilt or want to pull out one of the colors to use as sashing, that would work too. ( Not very helpful, am I? That's why my work doesn't get finished too quickly) :)ReplyDelete
Beautiful stars!ReplyDelete
I have made a starry quilt but as one lot of stars was done in the same colour (navy blue) I didn't use sashing. I would skip the sashing and agree about borders. I would use a binding made of any suitable leftover strips so it matches the stars.
I would use a sashing. I think it would give them individuality. Looks nice!ReplyDelete
I would add sashing. I think it would make the look of this quilt even more airy and light. But I´m maybe the wrong person to ask. I haven´t finished my summer sampler quilt yet-and I made 24 blocks in time of the 12 suggested blocks- just because I cannot decide which sashing to use :-)ReplyDelete
I love this! I think it would be so pretty without any borders. If you wanted to do something cool with the binding, though, Heather at fiberosity just finished a quilt with piping next to her binding. It was really cool!ReplyDelete
I really like these blocks. I can't decide whether I would sash or not. I'm sure whatever you decide to do will be awesome!ReplyDelete
I usually Bind it with the backing fabric, I make it large enough to be folded over to the front of the quilt, hem the edges, then pin and stitch.ReplyDelete
Though finding a backing that matches the quilts is a pain I look around for a while for contrasting colours and shades.
I'm indecisive from start to finish, always second guessing my decisions every step of the way. This is not a good thing.ReplyDelete
Gorgeous!! I'm usually pretty decisive, although I constantly doubt myself! I totally agree and would skip the sashing, I love the secondary pattern the blocks create, stick a border on it instead ;)ReplyDelete
Gorgeous! I'm totally indecisive about pretty much everything so you're in good company?ReplyDelete
It's a great quilt, I am usually pretty decisive about my quilts. I would love to seeing sash and borders. With a fun binding.ReplyDelete
I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure... ;o)ReplyDelete
Love how your blocks turned out anyway :o)
I'd add sashing in the background color. It would give the blocks room to breathe. You did an awesome job on these blocks!ReplyDelete
Very fun & colorful! IF you did sashing (not that I think it needs it) how about a contrast like on my recent Sparkle? Kind of similar as far as the colorful blocks go....just a though of course!ReplyDelete
It's gorgeous. I think it would be lovely either way, but I think no to sashing, yes to borders. I love the way the blocks work together, and I think sashing would break it up too much, while the right borders would frame it nicely. I usually don't decide about these things until I can see how the blocks go together. Not a very decisive quilter either, I guess.ReplyDelete
The blocks are gorgeous. I'm the queen of indecisiveness.ReplyDelete
The blocks are really great looking. I never have a plan. It's usually because I have not a clue of what to do with the finishing of a quilt. It's all last minute inspiration to me. Good luck.ReplyDelete
whether you sash or not: the quilt will look fine. I can imagine both layouts.ReplyDelete
Can't wait to see it done. Love the color choices in the blocks.ReplyDelete
I don't think these blocks need sashing. Perhaps not even a border. They are so colourful and work well together, side by side. Great!ReplyDelete
I don't think these blocks need sashing. Perhaps not even a border. They are so colourful and work well together, side by side. Great!ReplyDelete
wow, these blocks are so wonderful together. I love how the colors work together. Great job.ReplyDelete
Looks great! I think I'd leave out the sashing. I love the secondary pattern the blocks make, and sashing would break that up. You can always add a lot to the size with the border (maybe multiple borders? A pieced one plus a solid background border?)ReplyDelete
Looking great so far, Elizabeth! I'm indecisive right up until I'm putting on the binding. I would skip the sashing if it were mine, but I'm also totally lazy. Can't wait to see what you do!ReplyDelete
It does indeed make interesting patterns, especially if one squints to see the values!ReplyDelete
Thank you for leaving a comment for me! I appreciate each and every one of them and try to respond when time allows. Your comments totally brighten my day :)


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Eager to return to Yanks, Jeter begins rehab
MOOSIC, Pa. -- Stepping to the plate in the bottom of the first inning with one out and nobody on, Derek Jeter jumped on the first pitch he saw. It was up in the strike zone and he drove it into the gap in left-center, easing into second base with a standup double.
He ended up going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored and also made a costly error that allowed two unearned runs to score.View Full Game Coverage
MOOSIC, Pa. -- Stepping to the plate in the bottom of the first inning with one out and nobody on, Derek Jeter jumped on the first pitch he saw. It was up in the strike zone and he drove it into the gap in left-center, easing into second base with a standup double.
He ended up going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored and also made a costly error that allowed two unearned runs to score.View Full Game Coverage
The Yankees' captain admitted before Thursday's game that he would have preferred those at-bats to have been at Yankee Stadium against the Blue Jays. Instead, he batted second and played shortstop for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders against the Pawtucket Red Sox at standing-room-only PNC Park, beginning his third rehab assignment of the season.
"I lost all my bargaining power because last time I came back and got hurt. So there's not much I can say," he said with a smile after completing his pregame warmups. He was referring to injuring his quad on July 11, his first Major League game of the season after playing four games with the organization's top affiliate.
Jeter, 39, is on the disabled list for the third time this year. He missed the first half of the schedule recovering from offseason ankle surgery. In his first game back he injured the quad and went back on the DL. When he returned he played four games before going back to the DL with a Grade 1 calf strain on Aug. 3.
So, introduced to the taped voice of the late, great Bob Sheppard -- Now batting for the Yankees, No. 2, Derek Jeter! -- he did what he could to convince the Yankees brass that he's ready to join the stretch drive, already in progress.
He said he was satisfied.
"I feel good. It always feels good to get a hit," he said. "But the most important thing is to make sure it's good physically. I want to get back as soon as possible, but I understand there's a process to it."
After the double against PawSox knuckleballer Steven Wright, Jeter advanced to third on a swinging bunt by Melky Mesa and score easily when RailRiders cleanup hitter Dan Johnson doubled to center.
In the third, Jeter came up after Brent Lillibridge led off with a single to left. He attempted a bunt on the first pitch, but the ball rolled foul then hit a bouncing ball up the middle. Pawtucket second baseman Brock Holt gloved the ball and stepped on second for the force. His throw to first beat Jeter by a wide margin, but bounced away from first baseman Mark Hamilton.
Mesa then grounded into a force play, with Jeter sliding carefully into second to help break up the potential double play. "[Running] felt fine," he said. "I've been doing a lot of running down in Florida before I came back here. Everything is a little different when you're in games, but there were no issues. I had no problems [with the slide]. I think it's natural when you first come back to be a little hesitant. You have to go through certain things. I think it's like that any time you come back from an injury. That's the normal progression."
In the top of the fourth, Jeter was charged with an error when a two-out grounder up the middle by shortstop Heiker Meneses glanced off his glove. Two runs scored on the play.
"I don't know what happened. I didn't catch it," he said. "I wish I had an explanation for you. It really was easy. It just hit off the end of my glove. I don't know if I took my eye off it. I'm not sure, but yeah, that shouldn't happen."
In his only other defensive chance, Jeter charged a slow roller by PawSox second baseman Brock Holt and flipped to first to retire the runner for the final out of that inning.
His last at-bat came with catcher Bobby Wilson on second and two outs in the fifth. After falling behind 0-2, Jeter stayed alive by fouling off a couple pitches then bounced a grounder up the middle. Holt made a diving stop but Wilson was able to score all the way from second.
Jeter is expected to play for the RailRiders again on Friday night, with speculation that he could rejoin the big club in time for Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Jeter jokingly said he couldn't even confirm that he'd play more than the five innings he was in for Thursday night.
"I don't know, man. They don't tell me anything," he said, laughing.
He said before the game he feels he's ready to return to the Yankees lineup, especially since the team has played well enough recently to get back into playoff contention.
"I always feel [ready]," he said. "I want to be there. This is the time of year you'd like to be playing. I've missed more time this year than, I think, my entire career combined due to injuries. So it's been a pretty frustrating year for me. But, yeah, I'm looking forward to getting back as soon as I can.
"Frustrating is the best way to put it. I understand that I've been pretty fortunate in my entire career to avoid major injuries, aside from my shoulder. I guess it was my time. As much as I would have liked to have stayed healthy after I came back the initial time, I guess it wasn't in the cards. I'm hoping everything goes well here these couple days, or however long I'm here, and I can get back to New York with no other problems.
"New York has been playing well. In baseball, it's 162 games. There's streaks. There are good streaks and bad streaks. Hopefully the bad ones don't last long and the good ones go on for quite some times. So we're hoping to continue that."
Paul Hagen is a reporter for MLB.com.


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Big Play Woes: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (and a Couple of Losses)
One of the main descriptive statistics that we have used here to evaluate performance on the field is that of the Big Play. A Big Play is defined very simply: any play from scrimmage that gains 20 or more yards.
Obviously, a touchdown pass on a 4th & goal at the opponent's 9 yard line could be considered as a "big play", but the objective here is to look at the long gains because those are the plays that (1) are a measure of the difference in player speed; and (2) have the biggest tendency to break down the will of the opponent, especially if accomplished multiple times.
In the first five games of 2012, the Vols defense has given up a total of 28 big plays.
How important have they been in defining Tennessee's season so far? Have a look at this chart…
This is a simple bar chart that I constructed showing the 28 Big Plays from scrimmage given up by Tennessee in the first five games. Each of these plays is shown in order of their occurrence, from left to right, as a bar. The height of each bar is the number of yards gained on each of the Big Plays. The color of each play is correlated to the opponent making the Big Plays.
And, each of these plays that ended with a touchdown is shown with a star at the top of the bar.
Tennessee's two losses, to Florida (38-20) and Georgia (51-44), can be characterized largely by the Big Plays given up to the Gators and the Bulldogs. They were back-breakers against Florida. They were the reason that Saturday's game in Athens was the first time that a Tennessee football team has ever scored more than 40 points and lost the game. And the 70-yard TD run by Akron nearly derailed Tennessee's ability to win by what was in the end a comfortable margin.
If Sal Sunseri's defense can eradicate this cancerous metric from its future performances, the Vols can have a very good season, considering the power of our offense including the continued improvement of our run game.
But if the trend continues (it's getting worse), Tennessee is in trouble.
It may be the single reason why Tennessee is not going into this bye week undefeated.
It certainly is the Vols' biggest challenge going forward.
Please discuss…
7 responses to "Big Play Woes: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words (and a Couple of Losses)"
Jan Evett says :
I think you're right on target. Defense is the key right now. "Tackle" – that's what I was screaming at the TV last Saturday. Why can't they tackle? It's like touch football out there sometimes!!
I'm really enjoying the posts this season. The charts really illustrate the points so well.
Greg says :
Let me get this straight. On one hand, it was just a few fluke big plays that allowed UF and UGA to score so much, but UT's points were all legit. UGA offense scored almost as many points for UT as UT's offense did. 23 points scored by UT and 21 given by UGA on a pick 6 and 2 fumbles inside the 10. If not for one 5 minute stretch where UGA completely imploded, this was a 4 or 5 TD blowout for Georgia.
Tennessee is a 5 or 6 win team. If Georgia keeps playing as careless as they did against UT, they'll lose at least 3 games going


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Very soon, 100% of corn and soybean seed will be sold with seed treatments. While corn already is at 100%, soybeans are expected to reach that level soon as companies perfect just-in-time seed treating for beans. In addition, the number of crop protection products applied in a treatment will increase and become more precise and effective at lower doses. The newest treatments now offer four fungicides and an insecticide in one treatment. Companies are also focusing on nematicides in treatments.
Wheat seed, traits developed
The world's growing population needs wheat, and major seed companies have beefed up their wheat seed and trait programs in wheat to meet the challenge. Companies like Bayer CropScience have increased investments in wheat breeding and trait discovery. Building on the huge success they have experienced with corn and soybean traited seed, these companies no doubt hope to achieve the same with wheat seed.
Use of fungicides grows
The threat of Asian soybean rust several years ago heightened the demand for fungicides. Although rust didn't spread into the Midwest, farmers did start using more fungicides without evidence of disease and still obtained yield boosts. Today, fungicides are becoming mainstream in many corn and soybean programs, especially those geared for very high yields.Although the use of fungicides without the evidence of disease pressure still has its skeptics, expect fungicides to increase in use and importance as crop protection companies hone their effectiveness and most-efficient use.
Traits fine-tuned
The seed trait industry for corn and soybeans is still in the early stages. More complex traits will arrive soon as trait developers fine-tune their discovery methods and home in on the multiple-gene traits. Farmers should expect some terrific traits in the future, like the ability to better utilize nitrogen, a series of drought-tolerant traits and more efficient feed utilization. And after last spring's wet weather, farmers may eventually be able to buy seed that handles excessive water followed by drought.


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Monday, January 14, 2013
Finding Serendipity in Big Data
3 comments:
Thanks to Scott for a great post about the potential within a bank's database to make a difference. Some organizations are delving into this opportunity while others are waiting on the sidelines.ReplyDelete
Scott, do you think traditional banks are structured in a way to take advantage of big data, or will they leave it to the new start-ups and online banks?Replies
It's an interesting question Jim, as all the enablers have been in place for some time. Open data sources, social media, Big Data and Data Sciences. But banks tend to lag. I'm seeing trends that suggest major banks are looking to partnership or acquisition of leading edge technologies, but haven't seen to many that go as far as creating 'serendipity.' But one thing is for certain, traditional banks really struggle with understanding the value of leverage other party and open data.Delete
There is however a strong trend amongst startups that embraces open data. Services like Movenbank, MINT, Klout, PeerIndex and Banjo, take third party and open data to able enrichment, context and insight to their services. So while serendipity is technically and commercially possible, banks still through up naive concerns about compliance, security, privacy and ROI.
Contextualised and insightful experiences are no longer fads, or simply liked by consumers. They are now demanded as a means to managing the highly noisy information age.
Data management impacts the customer experience. That is understood. And in the financial services industry, you have the added challenge of being in compliance with critical regulatory mandates. Now, the quality of your data is even more important. Poor data quality will negatively impact your business, your business processes, and whether or not your bank can survive...or your top executives stay out of prison. The fines and consequences of data quality are too pressing to ignore. And, now that FATCA regulation guidelines are out and CCAR mandates are in, banks must assess their data now in order to be in compliance in the near future. These deadlines will come quickly. Jim, there is so much "Big Data" to assess, institutions must act quickly....ReplyDelete


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First of the year! (For HTD anyway)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 5, 2012 at 10:30 PM
There is still a bug, when you hold one of the 3 characters and move it over the npc that cant move (the one in brown) it switches spots with your character. Isn't the one in brown suppose to stay in that one spot?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 5, 2012 at 10:34 PM
second, I am a fan of Ptd, but I saw that there was only one comente, so yahReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 5, 2012 at 10:40 PM
2nd of the year!ReplyDelete
@anon 10:30PM - We will fix it for the next release.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 6, 2012 at 2:28 AM
Please say that htd will be coming to android :3ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 6, 2012 at 8:00 AM
3rd one to say which comment spot theyre in! aka 7th -PatReplyDelete
Sam/Dan will you post a progress bar like ptd on what's finished?ReplyDelete
Oh I've thought on something about the character mooving, why not just simply do as that other tower defence game does? Whats the name of it... Basically when you moove the "tower" the game pauses, so no problem with the dmg delt/recieved. I know you know the name of that game... and you can easily access the code of it. (Or if real time seems beter the 1 unit imunity + dealing no dmg can also work, just tossing some more ideas to the table)
Waiting for the next update ;)
(ps: The game I was speaking is PTD ofc =P)
- AnonymousJanuary 6, 2012 at 11:19 AM
Hey can u make this game available on the app store? I'd buy it.ReplyDelete
Ps u could give snd coins for buying the app however this is just if.
Tnx, alex
is there going to be a story lineReplyDelete
(i just needed to make sure)
@epic beast - yes!ReplyDelete
- BobTheLawyerJanuary 7, 2012 at 1:48 PM
I posted last time wondering if the person in distress can have anymore clothing on and you responded that the base may need less. In that case, can you make the damsel in distress not just the base and put like a princess dress on or something or at least more extra clothing (like armor that doesn't effect stats)ReplyDelete
@Anon 10:34 PM - lolReplyDelete
@Olini - Possibly at some point but right now it's a little tricky because priorities of things are still getting changed around since it's very early in development.
@Gon - Moving is more vital and open in HTD, so you may be doing it rather often. So having the game pause every time could get very annoying. You'll have a way to pause the game but basically don't want it to happen automatically for doing things. The immunity + doing no damage idea might work, we just have to try it really.
Next update will be soon! :)
ps: I know, lol
@BobTheLawyer - Oh she'll definitely have clothes, lol, we just don't have the graphics yet and didn't want her to match the other characters by being in the plate armor.
- AnonymousJanuary 14, 2012 at 9:44 PM
Will there be a P.V.P( Player vs. Player ) system soon?ReplyDelete
Or a Guild(Clan) system soon?
- AnonymousJanuary 15, 2012 at 3:14 PM
cool my dad is a tech geek so il ask him and maby he can help?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 9:26 AM
can there be an alert system for trading? some people take a looooooooooong time. and can there be trading currency like pokedollars into snd or game corner? and vice-versa? and trading into anonynous profiles (not real ones) ??? please consider. zpoke...ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 16, 2012 at 9:37 AM
hey sam/dan is there different levels or is it just infinatelty that one because i stood in the one level for 30 mins and it didnt changeReplyDelete
plz reply:)
Nice game.ReplyDelete
When the game starts would be interesting if you could choose your group, like 2x mage + warrior, 2x rogue + mage or something like that.
Range of classes could differ, IE warrior close range, rogue mid, mage high.
Different skins for every class would be appreciated(or maybe not, the girl is secsay).
Projectiles could differ between classes.(This is something you're probably working on)
Attack speed could differ between classes, and affected by stats.
Personal and combined skills would make the game more attractive to pvp, and maybe to kill monsters too, like "this skill requires 2 rogues and a warrior".
Will each character have its personal stat points and skill tree points to spend or will it be more like general? IE "Your mages deal more damage with skill X", "Your warriors attacks now do area damage"?
When pvp comes, turn-based actions for every character would be interesting.
There are more suggestions, I'll keep posting along the way.
Good luck in your project! :)
- angerfuryJanuary 23, 2012 at 11:39 PM
can u only be a girl in htd?ReplyDelete


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Full Scene Downloads
Boobs On Glass
Hola, Shara Lopez. Bienvenido de nuevo a SCORELAND.
"Today I'm wearing my red bodysuit," South American sensation Shara says. She's in the bathroom preparing for a shower. "I love it. Do you like it?"
And then the question that has only one answer: "Do you want me to play with my tits?"
Guys don't become men's magazine photographers for the money.
Shara playfully and slowly disposes of her lingerie. She tugs on her panties so that it's between her pussy lips, a way to pleasure herself that more girls should try.
Shara has a pair of the most pliable and tuggable boobs ever seen at SCORELAND. She loves to play with them in bed with a guy, wrapping them around his cock and face. Since this shower has a glass divider, she can't resist pressing them against the glass. Read More »
"Today I'm wearing my red bodysuit," South American sensation Shara says. She's in the bathroom preparing for a shower. "I love it. Do you like it?"
And then the question that has only one answer: "Do you want me to play with my tits?"
Guys don't become men's magazine photographers for the money.
Shara playfully and slowly disposes of her lingerie. She tugs on her panties so that it's between her pussy lips, a way to pleasure herself that more girls should try.
Shara has a pair of the most pliable and tuggable boobs ever seen at SCORELAND. She loves to play with them in bed with a guy, wrapping them around his cock and face. Since this shower has a glass divider, she can't resist pressing them against the glass. Read More »
Featuring: Shara Lopez
Date: June 21st, 2018
Duration: 16:40
More Big Tit Videos
Aug 3
Shara Lopez
24:24 Mins.
The Universal Language of Big Boobs
Tony's on the phone with his boss when the subject of the new office secretary Shara Lopez comes up. Every guy at the company is ga-ga over this big-boobed natural. When Tony's call is over, Shara walks into his office. It's easy to see why she's the new office star. Every time she leaves her desk, all eyes are on her sexy bod and she likes to show it off in high heels, tight skirts and cleavage-exposing tops. Tony asks Shara to come with him to an empty room. He directs her to sit down and tries to tell her that her choice of clothing is a little too sexy for the company's code of conduct. However, Tony doesn't speak Spanish and Shara knows very little English. When he tries to tell her to button her blouse so her big boobs are not so on display for everyone to see, she thinks he's telling her to unbutton it and she begins to do that. What we have here is not a failure to communicate. What we have here is an opportunity for Shara to have her nipples sucked, for starters, and for Tony to suck some big ones. Once Shara gets worked up, there's no stopping her. She gets completely naked, takes off her eyeglasses and gives Tony's cock and cock-nuts a complete work-over with her lips and tongue. Another great thing that Shara does is to play with her pliable tits while her partner is fucking her. Just watching her quiver and her breasts shake under him accelerates Tony's detonation. She opens her mouth for his flying man-juice and swallows as much as she can, some of it dribbling on her neck. In English, Tony begs Shara not to tell anyone about their office hook-up. He doesn't know that SCORE has wired the offices with cameras.
Nov 18
Shara Lopez
19:12 Mins.
The Fruits of Shara
Shara Lopez enjoys the fruits of her kitchen. Then she enjoys the fruits of her ripe, rich body, playing breast fruit games such as nipple self-licking and tugging. She makes fruit eating a sensual experience. A trip to the fruit market with Shara must be a very hot event. She is the very definition of Latina heat. Roberto commented about Shara: "Thanks for bringing this super hot Latina, SCORE dudes. It is so damn hot to listen to a huge natural gazonga chick like her speaking in Spanish, and listening to her say words like tetas really gets my salami very hard. Please, give us more of her and more dirty talk in Spanish! I'd give her 10 stars if I could, but you give only five available." This video has lots of Shara sex talk, subtitled in English.
Mar 29
Shara Lopez
19:40 Mins.
South American Superwoman
When Shara Lopez leaves her house, people freeze in their tracks. Traffic slows down. All eyes and heads turn to this shapely and busty woman. When Shara enters her house, things go back to normal. Our photographer has witnessed this first-hand during his visits to photograph Shara and her friends. "I like to roller-blade and I wear shorts," Shara explained. "Both men and women stare at me. They stare at how I'm dressed and how I'm made-up." Now that Shara's done her first hardcore scene at SCORELAND, she 's looking forward to more. "I love doggie-style. I also love...I do not know the name...it's lying down with the man on top and my feet up in the air. I love oral and I swallow it." In this video, Shara wears the outfit she talked about. No wonder people go out of their minds when they see her out and about. Not many women have a body like hers and very few of them would even consider being naked on-camera. She's also one of the best-ever breast self-suckers and tuggers.
Apr 20
Tony Rubino
21:57 Mins.
Shara P.O.V.
Wearing new lingerie just for this occasion, Shara Lopez is waiting in bed for you. She fell asleep briefly but woke up the second you walked into her bedroom, and now she's eager for el sexo. "Come here, my love," Shara says in Spanish. She slowly peels off her panties with your help and shakes her big natural tetas at you, luring you in. What Shara wants, Shara gets, and what Shara wants first is hard cock in her mouth. You lie back and Shara gets on top. She pulls down your jeans, takes your dick in her hand and sucks you, then tit-fucks you. "Delicious, baby," Shara says hungrily, licking the cock like a lollipop and wrapping her boobs around it. Shara is an assertive woman, very passionate and lusty, a horny sex bomb. Squatting over you, Shara guides your meat into her pussy and bounces up and down. Her tits swing wildly and the slapping sound of skin on skin is loud as she rides you hard and fast. Shara swivels around with your dick still inside her and, with her back to you, keeps fucking. She angles herself so she can look back at you while she rides you. She then gets on her hands and knees so you can pump her from behind and admire her perfect body and her smooth skin. She has a lovely back and ass. Shara turns around, legs pulled back, and waits for you to penetrate her again. She stares at you and, with her breasts in her hands, sucks on her nipples as you thrust deep. Shara's open mouth waits for your nut juice. You squirt straight into her mouth. She swallows some and spits the rest out on her boobs and rubs it in. Tasting your cum on her fingers, she tells you how delicious it is.
Jan 19
Shara Lopez
17:00 Mins.
The Real Deal
Shara Lopez dances for you in this scene, and that Latina heat is scorching. She's one of the all-time best dancers at SCORELAND. Slapping and shaking her firm, full ass, jiggling and bouncing her big natural boobs, Shara shows the super-powers she has on a dance floor, dressed and undressed. Shara makes guys crazy-horny with her grinding gyrations. When Shara's dance is finished for the time being, she pleasures herself, sucking her nipples and tugging her pliable tits. Dancing doll Shara picked her name because Shara was the name of a doll she had. Now Shara's all grown-up and a living doll. She gets a ton of attention everywhere she goes. When she goes skating and wears tight shorts and a tight top, every guy in the neighborhood stops what he's doing to enjoy the show.
Feb 3
Shara Lopez
24:50 Mins.
Shara Lopez's First XXX: Por Amor a las Tetas
Tony is playing tourist in Medellin, Colombia. There's a knock on his door and when he opens it, he almost loses it when he sees that Shara Lopez is there to see him. "I came to guide you in the city of Medellin," Shara tells him, a guide book in her hand. He looks dazed and confused. Shara has that effect on men. Tony explains that he called for an English-speaking guide. Shara doesn't understand and tells him again why she's at his hotel. She tries to tell him about all of the spectacular sights they can see but he's only interested in two big sights. "Are you paying attention?" Shara admonishes. "Do you like big tits?" Shara asks him, reading his eyes. "Do you want to touch them?" Shara takes his hand and brings it to her chest. That he understands and needs no translation. Instead of a guided tour of the city, he's going to get a guided tour of her voluptuous, beautiful body. He buries his face in Shara's deep cleavage and sucks her nipples. Tony asks Shara to suck her own nipples and is amazed when she does it with aplomb. He doesn't know the Spanish translation for blow job and how to ask for one so he points, stands up and drops his jeans. Shara is on it and gives him excellent head, her tongue licking his bloating shaft. He wants to fuck those big tetas too. Shara cups them together and offers them up so he can wedge his dick between her boobs. Shara pulls her dress off and gets on her side. She is ready to give his cock a guided tour of her pink pussy in her first hardcore scene. The city can wait.
Jul 19
Shara Lopez
14:36 Mins.
Shara's Sexy Staircase Show
Wearing a lacey, see-through dress, her big tits making a boob shelf in her bra, Shara Lopez carefully walks down the stairs in her high heels. You've been waiting at the bottom of the staircase for Shara to make her grand entrance and it's everything you expected. "I am ready to go out," Shara tells you. "I am wearing the dress you love." Shara turns her beautiful body so you can see the back of her dress, which exposes ample amounts of her soft skin. "Do you like it?" Shara can see that any interest you had in going out is gone after seeing her. You don't want to share her with anyone, no matter where you take her on this date. You don't want anyone giving her the eye. You want her all to yourself. "It was your idea to go out. Now you don't want to," Shara says. Her smile tells you that she knows what you want. She teasingly takes her tits out of her bra. This is some of what you want. She shakes and swings her pliable tatas hands-free and brings her nipples to her lips. Shara is one of the great self-suckers. You see when Shara takes off her dress that she isn't wearing panties. Shara plays with her now-naked, slim and stacked body on the staircase, spreading and warming her pussy with her fingers. She stands up and slowly walks upstairs, crooking her finger, signaling you to follow her to the bedroom. It looks like you'll need to have dinner delivered. Later.
May 24
Shara Lopez
16:11 Mins.
Photo Chest
Some girls play the bongos. Shara Lopez plays her boobs. The music she makes from boob clapping, slapping and bouncing is on our top ten list of titty tunes. Can you imagine an all-girl group on stage playing their breasts like musical instruments? Shara would be the conductor. Shara slowly strips off her blue tank top and denim miniskirt. Her body is flawless. She pulls on her purple thong panties, sliding it between her pussy lips, then puts her stringy panties under her tetas and bounces her tits. Naked in heels, Shara fingers her shaved pussy, rubbing her clit. She lifts up one boob, sticks the nipple in her mouth and holds it while she continues to give herself a hand. Fingering her pink slit hard and fast and rubbing her clit, Shara approaches a big orgasm. She stares at the camera and moans, her breathing gets faster and faster and then she cums. Licking her pussy finger, Shara says bye in Spanish until next time.


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Director Bennett Miller's "Moneyball" is the perfect sports movie for these cash-strapped times of efficiency maximization. It's also the best sports movie in a long time, period, as well as honestly inspirational — even though nobody knocks one into the lights, causing showers of sparks to blend in the night sky with the fireworks.
This is not that film. It's better than that film.
The focus on facts, figures, sabermetrics and cold, hard stats never competes with the human beings batting those stats around in their heads. "Moneyball," which took years and several false starts to come to fruition, fixes on the story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt in a performance sharp enough to match the stealthy marvel of the film supporting that performance.
How Beane budgeted and strategized his way to the playoffs, with the second-lowest payroll in the majors, hinged on buying a motley crew of underdogs who weren't pretty, or expensive. But they could get on base.
Everything in Beane's story and in "Moneyball" could've been rendered dull or sappy or both by a lesser director. It is, at heart, about a man out to redeem himself. As a middle-class suburban San Diego high schooler, Beane was a hotly pursued star athlete, fielding, among other offers, a joint baseball-football Stanford University scholarship. The New York Mets were also interested in his future. Beane signed with the Mets in 1980, scrapping his college plans. Then the phenom in the making never materialized. Beane's volatile temper kept messing with his concentration, his results.
Years later Beane found himself in Oakland, presiding as general manager over the A's and knocking around the clubhouse described in Michael Lewis's Öexcellent book (also called "Moneyball") as "the cheapest and least charming real estate in professional baseball." The team was in pain. The New York Yankees scooped up first baseman Jason Giambi for a seven-year, $120 million contract, among other holes to fill.
Into Beane's life came Harvard graduate Paul DePodesta. To simplify, probably in a way that will cause heart murmurs among "Baseball Abstracts" fanatics, Beane's assistant GM believed in statistical analysis and the importance of a player's on-base percentage, more so than his batting average. Suddenly, at least in Oakland at the start of the 2002 season, traditional scouting reports regarding a player's viability and personality and appeal were out of favor. Here, Beane hoped, was a way of spread-sheeting a team to relative glory.
The DePodesta equivalent in "Moneyball" is a Yale economics whiz named Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill. Much of the script focuses on the odd-couple relationship between Brand and Beane. Hill does very little acting here, meaning: What he does, he does with a canny sense of hesitancy (he seems perpetually afraid of getting tobacco juice spit into his Ivy League eye) and a pinpoint brand of comic timing. The script by Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, with Stan Chervin receiving story credit, layers judicious flashbacks to Beane's early professional disappointments inside the rest of the story. Robin Wright plays Beane's ex-wife (the director Spike Jonze appears unbilled as her spacey, easygoing new man). More prominently, Kerris Dorsey Öplays the Beanes' daughter. Pitt is quite wonderful in these scenes of post-divorce parenthood, making connections where and how he can with a bright, adaptable kid.
Zaillian's sense of structure dovetails unusually well with Sorkin's verbal acuity. Offhanded comments such as "If he's a good hitter, why don't he hit good?" don't sound writerly; they sound right. There's a calm and honest tone to "Moneyball," so that when Bennett lingers a second on a shot (inside a flashback) of young Beane shaking hands with the Mets recruiter, we catch the look of doubt in Beane's father's eyes. As A's manager Art Howe, Philip Seymour Hoffman (who won an Oscar for his performance in "Capote") keeps his performance even more contained than Hill's, so that after a tense early meeting with Beane, the only distress signal Howe emits is a little shake of his left hand, rattling his wristwatch.
With "Capote" six years ago, director Miller made his first non-documentary feature. The film established him as a rare and contemplative talent, adept at making interpersonal dynamics and matters of workaday procedure come alive. He's done it again with "Moneyball," and Pitt, who executive-produced, has reached a point in his stardom where he's rightly concerned with becoming the best actor he can be, by working with the most interesting directors out there.
The film lacks a few things. Despite some offhanded outbursts, we never really see the dangerous side to Beane, the demons that messed him up as a player. The coda's on the sentimental side. The script's third act may frustrate sports movie fans conditioned to expect a certain kind of wow. But "Moneyball" can't make more of what the A's achieved than this. Otherwise it'd be phony.
I love Miller's straight-ahead, steady-gaze approach to the subject, and to filmmaking. Last year's Oscar-winning cinematographer, Wally Pfister, gives the back offices and clubhouse interiors an evocatively cruddy tone. The images have been astutely assembled by editor Christopher Tellefsen, who worked so well with Miller on "Capote." The results don't grab; rather, they entice. "Moneyball" is about shedding past selves, and traditions, once they become mere conventions, and Bennett's sophomore feature is an unconventional winner.
'Moneyball' -- 4 stars
MPAA rating: PG-13 (for some strong language)
Cast: Brad Pitt (Billy Beane); Jonah Hill (Peter Brand); Philip Seymour Hoffman (Art Howe); Robin Wright (Sharon); Kerris Dorsey (Casey)
Credits: Directed by Bennett Miller; written by Steve Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, based on the book by Michael Lewis; produced by Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt. A Columbia Pictures release. Running time: 2:13.


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Combs, 24, has appeared in three games with the Sound Tigers after
signing a professional tryout contract on Dec. 18 and has scored one
goal. Prior to joining the Sound Tigers, the St. Louis native recorded
42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 27 games with the ECHL's Colorado
Eagles earlier this season.
Costello, 26, has posted four points (one goal, three assists) in four games with the Sound Tigers after signing his PTO on Dec. 18. The Johnston, IA native led the ECHL with 49 points (14 goals, 35 assists) in 27 games with Colorado prior to joining the Sound Tigers. Last season, Costello earned ECHL MVP honors with 76 points (29 goals, 46 assists) in 47 games with the Eagles.
The Sound Tigers face the Bruins in Providence on Friday night before returning to Webster Bank Arena on Saturday night to host the Portland Pirates at 7:00 p.m. For information on partial season ticket plans as well as group outings, call the Sound Tigers at (203) 334-GOAL or e-mail email@example.com


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Student or Learner
how do I write to a bank to issue a credit card for our employee guaranteeing and authorizing the bank to deduct the balance due on the credit card from our account with them, if he fails to pay the due balance within due date.
We would appreciate it if you could issue a credit card with the credit limit of Xxxx (amount in words) for Mr. XXXXX, XXXX Nationality holding ID number XXXX, issued at XXXX expiring on XX/XX/XX, working as XXXXX with our company.
We guarantee and authorize XXXX bank to deduct any due balance on the credit card from our account number XXXX with your Bank in case of his failure to pay the due amounts within the due dates.
Thank you for your kind cooperation.


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Just like Jon Fitch found out not long ago, a winning record and years as a contender doesn't ensure a position with the UFC, as Yushin Okami has reportedly been let go by the promotion.
According to a report from MMA Junkie.com, the UFC has confirmed with the outlet that Okami has been released, following his stoppage loss to "Jacare" Souza on September 4th. The defeat ended a three fight winning streak for Okami, which included victories over Buddy Roberts, Alan Belcher and Hector Lombard.
In August, 2011, Okami worked his way into a title fight with former middleweight champ Anderson Silva, but was stopped in the second round. So, the 32 year-old exits the UFC having gone 13-5 in the Octagon, which includes wins over other noted vets like Nate Marquardt, Mark Munoz and Mike Swick among others. Despite his success, Okami's grinding style didn't always thrill the MMA masses, which may have been a consideration in the UFC's decision.
Due to his accomplishments and lengthy run with the UFC, one would think Okami will find work soon with another big stage promotion.
(Article originally posted at Caged Insider.com)


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Barnsley complete the signing of defender Andrai Jones on a free transfer
Barnsley have completed the signing of defender Andrai Jones on a free transfer.
Last Updated: 01/02/13 8:57pm
The 21-year-old, who was released from his contract by Bury on transfer deadline day, has penned an 18-month deal at Oakwell.
Barnsley boss David Flitcroft told the club's website: "He's gone under the radar. It's something we ask our scouts to do - look at players going under the radar. We've been tracking him for quite a bit.
"I look at Andrai, there's so much untapped potential. He's not been developed, he's not been part of a programme and it's risk and reward.
"I think the successes of last season and this season with Dave Perkins, Chris Dagnall, Steve Dawson, Scotty Golbourne, Doney, I'm not going to be told that League Two and League One players can't play in the Championship. It takes time, but it can be done."
The Liverpool-born defender will wear the number 18 shirt.


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plumbing, repair
Fixing a Leaky Sink
By Our Home from Scratch on Sep 10, 2012
So, last week as you may recall, we added a reverse osmosis system (ROS) to our kitchen sink. How do we like it so far? We love it. The water tastes great and we don't have anymore plastic water bottles collecting dust all over the house. Wasn't terribly difficult either, although there were a few tricky steps, like drilling through the stainless steel sink and adding a section of pipe for the drain.
Now, I'm generally a cautious guy. Whenever I mess with plumbing, I usually keep an eye on it for a little while to make sure it doesn't leak. With the water supply lines, you usually don't need to do that. They are pressurized and they'll either leak immediately when the water is turned on or not at all. They CAN have a slow drip, but even those usually materialize sooner than later.
The drain pipes on the other hand, can take a while. They aren't under any pressure and leaks can be painfully slow to develop. The photo above is our kitchen sink the day after I installed the ROS. See that paper towel and the water pail? Yep. We sprung a leak. The entire left side under our sink had a nice puddle of water in it. The culprit? The right side p-trap. What's weird about that? I modified the left side p-trap in our ROS install and didn't even touch the right one. Apparently, I must have bumped it or something when I was messing around with the left side.
After a close inspection, I was able to feel a lot of water around the topmost p-trap fitting. So, the first thing I did to remedy this whole situation was to just put some muscle into that fitting and crank it down tight to see if that helped. Since this is a slow drip, I put a dry piece of paper towel under the p-trap and left it alone for a couple minutes. After a little while, I noticed the paper towel had some wet spots. Crap.
The only real option I have at this point is to replace the p-trap and the maybe the tall pipe that has the dishwasher port on it. They readily sell these at home supply stores and they're very inexpensive. I paid under $10 for both of these parts.
I started the fix by removing the old p-trap. It comes out very easy. You just loosen the two nuts that hold it in place. They're almost always hand tight. You don't really need to use a wrench for any of this.
That long pipe came out next. Same deal as the p-trap. Once it was out, I laid it next to the new one and marked the new one so it had the same length. To cut it, I just used a pair of tubing cutters, but you can also use a hack saw.
With the straight pipe cut to the correct length, it gets installed the same way the old one came out.
With the straight pipe in place, the new p-trap is up next. Very simply installation.
So our finished photo looks identical to our first photo. Only difference is this one doesn't leak. To be sure we corrected the problem, I left another piece of paper towel underneath the sink. This time, I left it under there for a couple days. No drips!
What was wrong with the old one? Hard to tell. It's possible it got bumped and then maybe messed up one of the seals. Who knows? I'm not losing sleep over it.
So, that wasn't very exciting, but hopefully you learned something about your sink!! Fix ay problems at your place lately?blog comments powered by Disqus


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Referencing a Journal Entry
When referencing a journal, is it essential to include the volume number? I am using an online excerpt of a print journal, and either they have not provided a volume number or there is none. Am I able to skip the volume number in my referencing, or do I have to contact the publishers of the journal and request a volume number? Thank you for your help


text:
Reeling from her recent split with hubby Jon, reality TV mom Kate Gosselin said she feels like she failed as a mother and a wife.
"On a good day, I feel relief," she told People magazine in its latest issue. "On a bad day, I feel failure."
The reality TV parents of eight filed for a no-fault divorce on Monday in a court outside Philadelphia the same day they announced the highly publicized split on TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8" -- an episode that drew 10.6 million viewers.
Kate said in divorce papers her 10-year marriage to Jon is "irretrievably broken" and that she's willing to "negotiate a fair and reasonable" settlement with her hubby.
"I'm tired of smiling on the outside and crying on the inside," Kate said on the show. "I've been doing that for a long time."
Kate has been spotted wearing her wedding band and refuses to take off the ring because she's "not ready" and was afraid it would "devastate" her kids, senior People editor Kate Coyne told the "Today" show on Wednesday.
"Jon has wanted this for a long time," Coyne said. "He said, 'We're doing it. I got a lawyer. You better get one.' And she did."
The couple will split the time they spent in their sprawling $1.1 million estate in Pennsylvania so that their children -- a set of 8-year-old twins and 5-year-old sextuplets -- will not have to be shuttled back and forth.
Kate, 34, said in a statement released to the media that "Jon's activities" had left her "no choice but to file legal procedures in order to protect myself and my children."
"To be honest, I was hurt by Kate's statement about the divorce," the father of eight retorted in a statement. "I have always done everything I can to protect our family. This weekend, I was home with the kids for four days, just being a dad. No nannies, just the kids and me."
It's unclear what's next for the show -- which will be on hiatus until Aug. 3 -- but a source said Jon's reported gal pal Deanna Hummel will join the cast next season, according to the New York Daily News.
"Deanna's role isn't expected to be big, but because she's part of Jon's life, she'll be filmed," an insider told the paper.
The network will not air new episodes of the show during the hiatus but instead a retrospective on the couple's marriage.
"During this time, the family will take some time off to regroup," a rep for TLC told the Daily News. "We have no specific plans for future episodes."
The pair may be in the business of splitting assets but they recently invested in four, custom-made playhouses that cost a total of $28,000, ABC News reported.
The set included a haunted house, pirate ship, veterinary clinic and garden shop -- all at about $7,000 apiece.


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Welcome To The Menorcan Cultural Society
Who are the Menorcans?
In 1768, over 1400 people left the Mediterranean and set sail for British East Florida. Among this group were Menorcan, Greek, Italian, Corsican, and French peoples. This was the largest single group of European settlers to immigrate as a single group to the New World. The courageous efforts of the group to tame the wilderness and settle a portion of Northeast Florida represents a major contribution to early American history.
The Menorcans spent the first nine years toiling under harsh conditions and endured even harsher treatment. Their numbers were decimated by disease and starvation. In the fall of 1777, the remaining members, now less than 700 souls, walked to St. Augustine. They petitioned the British governor, Patrick Tonyn, and he granted them a space in the northwest section of the old walled city.
A second Spanish occupation and the eventual acquisition of Florida by the young United States changed the flags that flew over the city. Since coming to the city, the Menorcan colonists and their descendents have been an integral part of St. Augustine and St. Johns County for more than two centuries.
Propecia cannot be taken by women, as well as men who have hair loss started before the "heyday" of hormonal function, that is, up to 18 – 20 years.
The Menorcan Cultural Society was founded in the 1980s to preserve and promote the heritage and culture of the Menorcans who left their Mediterranean homeland to make a new life in the New World. We are the only Menorcan society in the United States, and we enjoy a worldwide membership.


text:
Emotional: Rocsi Gets In Tears When Speaking On Her Anorexia & Almost Killing Herself Through Eatng Disorders!
Rocsi speaking on her past
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I caught an article today: "Linux users targeted by mystery drive-by rootkit". I stand by my believe that Linux is the most secure environment that I have used and I enjoy the freedom from many of the security issues that friends experience. However, it would be ridiculous to imagine that Linux–or any environment–is immune from attack.
You probably already know the security basics. Don't hang out at weird websites and let anything and everything run. Use things like Adblocker in Firefox to help cut out little scripts and things that you don't want to run. When things pop up saying would you like to install or run something that you don't understand, don't click "Yes". How do you know you're OK, though?
First, pay attention! You can tell when your system is not behaving normally. When the network seems clogged or processes start getting chunky that could be a sign that things are running on your system that you don't know about. Don't ignore that. Do something about it.
The first step is to look at the processes that are running. In Linux a basic ps -aux will give you information about what is running. If you tinker a lot, like I do, you may bet all kinds of things turned on when you installed them to play with them. The other day I noticed that I had a web server and two database servers that had been left active after playing around with them. Often when you install that kind of software it will set itself to automatically start. These are the kinds of things that can create danger for you if you don't realize they are running.
For seeing how the system resources are running, top is a good quick check. It is a console-based system monitor that will show you what is using resources on your machine. Here's a sample:
top - 13:01:12 up 1 day, 4:05, 2 users, load average: 0.99, 1.15, 1.21 Tasks: 252 total, 2 running, 250 sleeping, 0 stopped, 0 zombie %Cpu(s): 16.0 us, 5.1 sy, 0.0 ni, 78.3 id, 0.6 wa, 0.0 hi, 0.0 si, 0.0 st KiB Mem: 8153336 total, 5683844 used, 2469492 free, 451072 buffers KiB Swap: 6377468 total, 0 used, 6377468 free, 2863488 cached PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND 3571 cmwalden 9 -11 107m 9296 7248 S 9.2 0.1 32:13.00 pulseaudio 29874 cmwalden 20 0 797m 203m 45m R 7.9 2.6 3:03.74 firefox 1532 root 20 0 112m 35m 9.8m S 7.8 0.5 23:30.32 Xorg 3525 cmwalden 20 0 56332 18m 10m S 2.9 0.2 8:26.86 python 3366 cmwalden 20 0 333m 85m 30m S 2.2 1.1 9:25.78 compiz 3515 cmwalden 20 0 642m 169m 69m S 1.9 2.1 3:29.92 sametime 10621 cmwalden 20 0 869m 265m 41m S 1.5 3.3 11:18.62 firefox 12338 cmwalden 20 0 228m 51m 20m S 1.4 0.6 3:12.04 plugin-containe 18109 cmwalden 20 0 171m 16m 11m S 0.8 0.2 0:01.28 gnome-terminal 10588 cmwalden 20 0 852m 348m 40m S 0.8 4.4 7:38.09 thunderbird 12488 cmwalden 20 0 568m 151m 79m S 0.8 1.9 2:17.30 lnotes 12547 cmwalden 20 0 180m 23m 14m S 0.8 0.3 1:42.51 vpnui 12510 cmwalden 20 0 745m 186m 72m S 0.6 2.3 2:21.86 notes2 1388 mongodb 20 0 92660 13m 5116 S 0.6 0.2 1:46.26 mongod 3918 cmwalden 20 0 223m 53m 11m S 0.5 0.7 0:32.94 unity-panel-ser 14292 cmwalden 20 0 120m 48m 27m S 0.2 0.6 2:21.84 taskldr 17690 root 20 0 0 0 0 S 0.2 0.0 0:01.02 kworker/0:1
Based on my snapshot my audio and firefox are the biggest pgs. I also note that I have mongod running, which is a database enging that I thought I had disabled. It may be that something is using it, or I may not have shut it off correctly. I need to look into that. As a "basic user" I probably don't need to know about all of these processes... but as a "technical user" I really should understand them, at least well enough to know that they are normal.
Dealing with root kits and other nasties
Keeping an eye on all of your running processes is probably not what you want to do. It's good to know that you can spot check with things are misbehaving, but you want to be proactive and stop things before they start. Here are a few things that might help.
Clam Antivirus — Clam was the first anti-virus software that I discovered for Linux. It runs on othe rplatforms as well and seems to be pretty good stuff. Clam does what any intivirus system does. It scans files and compares them with signatures of known viruses. Of course, the value is only as good as the definitions. Clam definitions seem to be updated pretty regularly and it's easy to automate the process. At the very least you should have something like this available. Admitedly, the only virus files that I've ever found with this have been dormant Windows viruses that someone sent me in emails... but it's good to know that.
chkrootkit – This is a common tool available throught Linux distributions. It looks for a number of common exploits and reports issues.
rkhunter – another popular root kit detector that was available through the Ubuntu repositories. This tool works best if you install it onto a "clean" system, i.e. one that you know is uninfected. Ideally you would set it up immediately after installing the operating system and let it initialize. rkhunter looks for unexpected changes to system files and alerts you to possible mischief.
Of course, if you are serious about digging into root kit detection, you will want to look deeper than just running a tool. Here is an excellent article on Symantec's web site: "Detecting Rootkits And Kernel-level Compromises In Linux" which goes into quite a bit of detail about the technical side of this sort of forensics.
Cyber attacks seem to be the way of the future. No one is immune, but you can make yourself less of a target. Some say that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, and this probably goes for software too.


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Taiwan: Risk Assessment
Country Risk Rating
Business Climate Rating
- Resilient external financial position
- Support for R&D by public expenditure
- Consensus on democratic gains
- 4th largest electronics producer in the world
- Foreign trade very vulnerable to the economic situation in mainland China and the United States
- Massive relocations undermining industrial employment
- Lack of competitiveness of the service sector
- Behind in terms of infrastructure compared to other advanced Asian economies
- Increasing isolation on the international diplomatic scene
Current Trends
Growth Restricted by the Chinese Slowdown
Economic activity will remain restricted by the weakening of demand in the main Taiwanese export markets (mainland China and Hong Kong). Nevertheless, exports will continue to contribute to growth in 2018, thanks to positive growth in advanced economies. Profits will be concentrated in electronics (accounting for 40% of exports), machinery and the chemical industry. Moreover, although the break in official relations since June 2016 has not prevented the People's Republic of China from maintaining its rank as Taiwan's main trading partner, it has been detrimental to the service industries in view of the ban on touristic travels organized for those hailing from mainland China. In addition, while public investment will increase slightly, the deterioration of the Chinese economic situation and the breakdown of relations will weigh on private investment, both domestic and foreign, because of the lower performance of exporting companies and decreased confidence. On the other hand, although stimulated by the depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, inflation will be limited by modest growth in household consumption in 2018. In fact, despite the low levels of unemployment, the virtual stagnation of wages could undermine consumer confidence and lead to reduced spending. Although the probable raising of the minimum wage and the construction of social housing may help upgrade the purchasing power of the lower economic classes, given the concentration of disposable income growth in the affluent classes, demand will be particularly strong for the luxury sectors (fashion, cosmetics, and electronics).
Its Financial Situation Will Remain Strong
The implementation of the national infrastructure development plan (centered on the modernization of the railway network, water distribution, the development of renewable energies, urban areas and innovation), started in 2017 and with expected completion in 2025, will slightly inflate public spending. On the other hand, the government will increase business and dividend taxes and lower the income threshold from which the maximum tax rate applies. Despite these measures, the public deficit, albeit small, is expected to widen slightly. However, the public debt will remain at a moderate level, especially since it is almost entirely denominated in New Taiwan dollar and held by domestic investors. Moreover, the high level of private foreign debt (around 30% of GDP), which contracted notably in the context of financing trade, does not compromise the stability of the island's external position, because with a net external position representing 180% of its GDP, it is one of the world's leading creditors. In addition, it has substantial foreign exchange reserves (which are expected to represent more than 21 months of imports in 2018). The current account surplus is expected to decline due to the deterioration of the trade terms and weak Chinese demand, but it will remain at a high level. This is mainly thanks to a strong trade surplus but also a positive balance of services.
The Challenge of Broken Dialogue With Mainland China
The 2016 parliamentary and presidential elections brought the opposition party, the Progressive Democratic Party (DPP), and President Tsai Ing-wen to power. While the Kuomintang and the previous president favored a policy focused on rapprochement with mainland China, the DPP has a harder position and refuses to adhere to the "1992 consensus" that drove relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in addition to recognizing the "one China" principle. This policy will remain unchanged, and official relations broken. In fact, most Taiwanese remain against any plans for reunification with the Beijing regime and are increasingly suspicious of the existence of a relationship of economic dependence. In this context, and despite the pressure exerted by Beijing to isolate Taipei diplomatically, the president seeks to boost diplomatic relations with countries that still recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country. It also intends to integrate the island into regional and global trade beyond the free trade agreements concluded in 2013 with Singapore and New Zealand, including discussions to integrate the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Moreover, the president, whose popularity has waned due to disappointing economic performances, is nevertheless preparing for the 2020 electoral campaign: she pushed for the resignation of her prime minister at the end of 2017, hoping that a new government could revive popular consent.