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Cassena Care at New Britain is conveniently located less than one mile from Hospital of Central Connecticut-New Britain campus, right across the street from Grove Hill Medical Center. This 90-bed skilled nursing center is also only minutes away from the heart of Berlin, CT
Among the southernmost of the communities encompassed within the Hartford-Springfield Knowledge Corridor metropolitan region, New Britain is home to Central Connecticut State University and Charter Oak State College. .
We offer comprehensive, state-of-the-art short-term, sub-acute, and long-term rehabilitation and nursing services, all delivered by a high-level team who uses the most advanced technology and treatment protocols in the industry. We look forward to helping you feel well.
At Cassena Care at New Britain, we believe that rehabilitation is a journey toward wellness – mind, body, and spirit. To that end, we have developed programs designed to optimize your health on every level, and deliver them in a unique environment with dynamic people who will both inspire and motivate you. We are dedicated to helping you rediscover your independence, so that you can enjoy the people and activities that make you feel most alive.
With innovative treatment plans and cutting-edge technology, we provide you with the best – because we believe you deserve it. We have an extraordinary team of physicians, therapists, specialists, nurses, and staff who work collaboratively to develop a highly customized program to restore your independence, renew your spirit, and rehabilitate your body.
Their competency was awe and inspiring, and I couldn't have been more fortunate that they were the therapists assigned to me.
The fact that I am well and still progressing is almost a miracle. The three of us worked well together.Innocenta Nacimento
Cassena Care at New Britain
66 Clinic Dr.
New Britain ,CT 06051

subset: commoncrawl


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Two jumps in one!!! Includes latest 2014 jump heights! Our convertible USDAA spread jump (double jump) also works as a winged single jump. Ideal for clubs to eliminate the requirement to change out the jump for performance class. The jump cup upright folds back to the wing leaving just a winged single jump. The jump meets USDAA specifications for ascending and parallel jump bars.
USDAA Convertible Spread Jump
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As scientists continue to search for new anti-ageing treatments, research and skin care products are developing constantly. The latest innovations have been the use of stem cells in cosmetic products. Though this is certainly not a new trend, it is interesting to understand why more and more companies have turned to stem cells as an answer to ageing.
Swiss experts at Stemcell Bioresearch have thoroughly analyzed the benefits of plant stem cells in cosmetic products and have proposed a solution to the wrinkle problem. They present a line of products which feature lotus flower stem cells. The lotus has been known throughout the ages as a symbol of creation and rebirth. In a scientific context, it has an extremely high concentration of active molecules which are responsible for cell regeneration, itself the key to any anti-ageing treatment. Skin ages or loses elasticity as our cells slow down. Stemcell products offer a boost to reactivate these cells, hence renewing our skin.
For best results Stemcell has carefully created different products to trigger specific cells in the face and body. These products are so precise that they must be carefully selected according to the user's 'apparent' age. This is due to the different quantity of stem cells included in each product: the older the person the higher the stem cell concentration needed to restore activity to your cells. Stemcell offers a broad range of products that include Body Cream, Hand Cream, Cellulite Cure Gel, Cleansing Milk, Eye-Lip Contour, and the specialized Cell Constructor I-II and III.
They have also introduced their Paradise Line which offers the highest concentration (25%) of lotus flower stem cells to re-energize your cells and give you immediately younger, brighter skin.
These products are available in select perfumeries all over.
Further reading:
Latest Anti-ageing remedies
Luxury Skin Care Products


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Mentone Real Estate
Mentone is located in Alabama. Mentone, Alabama has a population of 368. Mentone is less family-centric than the surrounding county with 27.27% of the households containing married families with children. The county average for households married with children is 31.78%.
The median household income in Mentone, Alabama is $29,612. The median household income for the surrounding county is $37,977 compared to the national median of $53,482. The median age of people living in Mentone is 49.7 years.
Mentone Weather
The average high temperature in July is 88.5 degrees, with an average low temperature in January of 27.5 degrees. The average rainfall is approximately 53.8 inches per year, with inches of snow per year.
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(Don't forget--over at Hoegbotton, our book sale is still going on...including additions, some of rare or unique editions, that I made tonight--check it out. And, of course, the original list if you haven't seen it.)
I'm going to call this blog post "Soccer Memories" instead of "Football Memories" because, unfortunately, "soccer" is what we call it in the United States. This could be one of the reasons we just got our asses kicked by the Czech Republic (along with a lack of intensity and imagination on offense, an inability to one-touch the ball to teammates with any kind of consistency, a flat-footed let's-watch-the-Czechs-play defense, and a coach who, as a friend of mine said, "always looks like someone just crapped in his ham sandwich").
But what are my soccer memories? I played left back for Buchholz High School back in the 1980s, first on the JV team and then varsity my junior year. (I quit my senior year because I hated the coach, who helped pressure an English teacher into changing a star players grade from an F to a D.)
And these are the top five moments from my completely unremarkable run of soccer, from Youth Soccer up through high school.
(5) Watching Ethan Bliss, the varsity sweeper, intimidate the hell out of opposing strikers. He'd paint a rising sun on his forehead before the game and then he'd talk to the strikers when they came down field. I'd swear he'd even bark at them. I think they all thought he was a bit nuts. Off the field, he was a thoughtful and cool guy.
(4) "Hutch," the keeper for our JV and then varsity team was a bit of a jerk. Total whiny bastard, actually. One blustery cold night he was amusing himself by trying to spit on the back of the referee whenever he got close. Then the wind shifted and the next time he spit, it flew right back in his face. Good times.
(3) Jorge was a kind of cocky player on our varsity team when I was a junior. We had a winter game in North Florida and had to wear sweats due to the cold when we were on the bench. Jorge was a substitute and was sitting on the bench in his sweats for about 20 minutes before the coach subbed him in. He took off his sweat pants, started to run onto the field...and then realized he wasn't wearing shorts. Classic moment.
(2) In one Youth soccer game, the field was wet and a big hole had opened up right where the penalty spot was. Lo and behold--we got a penalty kick. And the ref place the ball in the hole, which was so deep the ball was hidden in it. Despite our protests, our striker had to try to kick the penalty out of that hole. Which meant he had to try to get his foot under it and lob it over the goal keep. Which didn't work, of course. We hated that ref. He was extremely literal-minded and you couldn't make him budge. He was the bane of our existence for several years.
(1) Scoring on a penalty kick against rival Orange Park while on the Buchholz JV team. That was a sweet moment.


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Vientiane, 6 April 2017
As Lao New Year approaches, the time of festivities and merrymaking should not be marred with calamity. Refrain from driving when drinking alcohol, and don't speed!
Every year, 337,000 people are killed in the Western Pacific Region as a result of road traffic crashes. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among people aged 15–44 years, and 3 out of 4 road traffic death victims are males. Million more people like Mr. Khamsouk suffer non-fatal injuries, incurring a disability as a result of their injury.
Mr. Khamsouk at the National Medical Rehabilitation Centre where he attends physiotherapy sessions. Photo: WHO Lao PDR
In Lao PDR, 5,616 road accidents were reported in 2016, killing 1,086 people and injuring 8,912. Of these people, 1,371 were left in a critical condition, 3,483 were seriously injured and 4,058 were injured. The Traffic Police Department confirmed that the number of road accidents has been increasing as motorists violate the traffic rules. About 90 per cent of accidents involved drunk driving and speeding, and many accidents occur during festive occasions when people get together to drink.
Road traffic injuries are preventable
Road traffic injuries are not "accidents". "Accidents" are defined as unexpected outcomes that occur by chance. Road traffic injuries are results of well-established risk factors like speeding and driving when drinking. Wearing motorcycle helmets and seatbelts can reduce the risk of fatality by 40 per cent and risk of severe injury by over 70 per cent.
Avoiding to use mobile phones while driving also contributes to making Lao PDR's roads safer, since texting, calling or taking your hands off the wheel distracts you from the road and other traffic participants.
Drinking and driving increases both the risk of a crash and the likelihood that death or serious injury will be the result.
Pedestrians and motorists have a higher chance of surviving a car crash at 30 km/h or below. This speed is recommended for areas with vulnerable road users, near schools and residential areas.
The 4th UN Road Safety Week, held between 8 and 14 May, will focus on speed and what can be done to address this key risk factor. Many countries have successfully reduced road traffic deaths by enforcing speed limits and raising awareness of the dangers of speeding.
WHO Representative to Lao PDR Dr. Juliet Fleischl shares the road safety message "Save lives #SlowDown". Photo: WHO Lao PDR
Your responsibility as a road user
We have seen the number of road traffic accidents and injuries increasing in the country. As a road user, your responsibility to fellow road users – and yourself – is to reduce speed and refrain from drinking when you drive.
See details of our #ArriveSafe4PiiMai campaign here.


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Using absolute positioning to hide and show a nested list is one of the better ways to create a dropdown menu, and it can almost be done using only CSS. IE6 needs a little javascript help to respect the :hover pseudo-class. The Sons of Suckerfish will help you there.
Now you have your perfect semantic validating SEO friendly nested list in order to make the drop-down menu the client wants. The CSS is in place and the dummy you've thrown up works.
But when you implement it into the site the drop-down partly hides behind the content further down. Offcourse – it has an higher z-index. Easy fix. But then the juggernaut IE comes along and crashes the party.
In all IE, any element that has position:relative and haslayout=true
forms a stacking context. This is not correct, it would need to have a
z-index to act as a stacking context.
Assume you have two stacking contexts:
- B follows A.
- B is higher in the stack, nearest to the user.
No matter what z-index you choose for it, a child A-x will never leave
its stacking context A.
No child of A will ever be higher in the stack than B.
A real life example
In my case I had a #header which erroneously formed such a stacking context,
because of
#header {position:relative; width: 920px;} /* haslayout = true */
And there is a regular stacking context following:
#main {position:relative; z-index: 1}
No matter what z-index I chose for it, a child (#menu) of #header would never
leave its stacking context #header.
#header #menu
The #menu inside of #header would be painted over by #main. And even if
#main is transparent, the drop down #menu will loose mouse focus and
The solution
What it finally came down to was to apply z-index: 2 to #header, to
have the entire #header higher in the stack, nearer to the user, than
Thank you:
I could have never done this without the help of Ingo Chao and the ever useful css-discuss list.


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Genre(s): All Games, Added by : soruman, Apr 26 2010 22:05,
Tags : puzzle, puzzle platformer
Tags : puzzle, puzzle platformer
TimeFaze is a new,challenging and addicting puzzle platformer that gives you power over time itself. Get to the door in each level by using your wits and your time bending powers. A game with simple graphics but addicting game play with 40 challenging levels. Good luck & have fun!
The walkthroughs are available in the game menu, therefore I am not going to upload walkthroughs for this game.Feeling lucky? Play a random game
Please rate this game!
Rated 8.9 out of 10 based on 8 votes
Thanks for your interest!
Thanks for your interest!


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Saturday, January 07, 2006
Guided By Voices: Alien Lanes (1995)
The CD is put in the player, the bassline of A Salty Salute begins, and you are brought right into the magic that is Alien Lanes. GBV's song about drinking (or their drinking song), is a live staple and the source to GBV's neon sign "The Club is Open". I could have this track on repeat and listen to it all day.
Evil Speakers is a wonderful fifty-eight seconds, with a right into the middle of things intro ("I am breathing, yet I feel no sky"). The song defies structure, and it sounds as if we have been thrown into the middle of a song, and leave before it is finished. Watch Me Jumpstart is another rock anthem ("Straight from ground zero, x marks the spot/I can't pretend to be be something I'm not/'Cause I'm a supernova erect and white hot"). A continuous riff drives this song, and an excellent chorus help make it a GBV "hit".
They're Not Witches is another under a minute track; a quick haunting little acoustic song. Guided By Voices channel The Beatles for As We Go Up We Go Down, one of my favorite more acoustic tracks. I can't help but get pumped when the line "I speak in monotone: Leave my fucking life alone" is sung, as it is a contradiction to the happy, everything is hunky-dory style music. (I Wanna Be A) Dumbcharger sounds as if it is a portion of a larger song. This is another darker track (in fact it would sound okay on a Circus Devils album - have I mentioned how much the Circus Devils rock yet? I guess I won't be at 2001 for a while yet, so hold on).
Alright, before I get any hate mail for not including Game of Pricks, let me just say that the reason is because I am adding the single version...that's all. Yes there is something to say for the lo-fi version, but I prefer the single, more produced version (and I love the tacked on intro on that version too). Be as that may, Game of Pricks is another rock anthem (this album is full of them).
The Ugly Vision is another haunter, but it has one of the most beautiful finishes (it kind of reminds me of Bright Paper Werewolves from Under the Bushes, Under the Stars). A Good Flying Bird is a Tobin Sprout minute long pop gem, which in that short time manages to fit in two verses, two choruses, and whatever that other thing is called (Interlude? Bridge?). Cigarette Tricks is eighteen seconds long, and the first track on Alien Lanes I won't put on my playlist, mostly because it is so short I guess.
Pimple Zoo is odd, it is just Pollard yelling "Sometimes I get the feeling that you don't want me around", but it rocks so hard. This is what I call a quick shot (42 seconds) of rock, maybe one of those "prescriptions" Pollard is talking about in I Am A Scientist. Big Chief Chinese Restaurant gets in on the playlist due to that weird/yet cool solo that kicks in halfway, just wonderful. The Closer You Are is an obvious add on to the playlist, a two minute (epic?) pop melody which is sometimes unbearably catchy.
It took a while for me to get into Auditorium. Is wasn't until I saw it paired with Motor Away in the video for the two songs that I realize the genius in the positioning of the two tracks. By itself, Auditorium is an okay song, but as an intro to Motor Away, it is awesome. As for Motor Away, you must hear this song before you die. I see it as a brother to Game of Pricks, as they are similar musically. I think I even like this version more than the single one, but am still a bit undecided. I also would like to play it after Auditorium on the box set I will be creating when this is all over. This is rock n' roll.
I honestly don't see what the big deal is about Hit, a twenty second song. It found its way onto the GBV Best Of album Human Amusements, so maybe I'm missing something, or maybe it was the representative for GBV's twenty second songs. Since it is a harmless twenty seconds, I'll put it on the playlist.
And now on to the one song that makes me dance more than any other, with my air guitar flailing uncontrollably; My Valuable Hunting Knife. The lyrics, perfect. The melody/vocals, perfect. And the guitar, unbelievable. How is this song not a worldwide hit!? The guitar riff in this track is so good, I could listen to it by itself all day. There is also a single version, which is quite interesting, and different enough to maybe get added to the playlist as well as this version. I do like the Alien Lanes version more.
Gold Hick is another thirty-second quicky which I'm passing on. Hey, I took Hit. King and Caroline is a beautiful track which reminds me of a few tracks from Bee Thousand. It is a simple, bare-bones melody which finishes off with some great multi-voice chorus. Oh, I haven't even covered Striped White Jets yet. Another great rocker, Striped White Jets has a riff lurking in the background until the fourth part of the verse, then the song is blown wide open into a distorted heaven. I always said how I felt Weed King should never have been left off of the Best Of, Human Amusements. Striped White Jets is another that should have made that album. It's purpose as an introduction album could have used Striped White Jets to show GBV's heavier side.
Ex-Supermodel is not making my playlist, and yes it is because of the snoring sound going on throughout. Blimps Go 90 sounds like something that should be heard on the radio, a surefire radio hit if given the chance. It is way better than all that Matchbox 20 crap. Therefore I'll call Blimps Go 90 a 90's pop hit, even though it wasn't.
Strawdogs is another Tobin Sprout song, but not his best from this album (that is reserved for Little Whirl). His songs have a way of taking me back to the 60's, a decade in which I never lived actually, being born in '81. As for Little Whirl, it is the wicked chorus that makes this song great ("I don't care what you do anymore"). This is one of Tobin's finest. Chicken Blows uses a tremolo type effect on the vocals which makes it sound like Pollard is singing underwater. It is actually a very nice song, which after a couple of listens stops sounding weird in any way.
My Son Cool has never really stood out for me. It is definately the closest track that makes my playlist to not making it. I like the bottom half where Pollard is just singing "Around you my love" over and over. I'm throwing Always Crush Me in the throwaway pile, even though the guitar riff is pretty cool. I'm not a very big fan of the vocals on this one.
The longest track at just under three minutes is the finale, Alright. This is a beautiful, nearly instrumental fuzz-rock outro. Everything from the passionate drumming, distorted power chords, beautiful lead, and minimal vocals of the word "alright" sang four times, make this a perfect song.
Alien Lanes is great. I would suggest that it be among the earlier GBV purchases for a new fan. It may be the most rocking of all Guided By Voices albums, and at 28 tracks (most of which are awesome), how can you go wrong?
Tracklisting (songs in bold make my GBV/Pollard playlist/box set):
01 A Salty Salute
02 Evil Speakers
03 Watch Me Jumpstart
04 They're Not Witches
05 As We Go Up, We Go Down
06 (I Wanna Be A) Dumbcharger
07 Game of Pricks *
08 The Ugly Vision
09 A Good Flying Bird
10 Cigarette Tricks
11 Pimple Zoo
12 Big Chief Chinese Restaurant
13 Closer You Are
14 Auditorium
15 Motor Away
16 Hit
17 My Valuable Hunting Knife
18 Gold Hick
19 King and Caroline
20 Striped White Jets
21 Ex-Supermodel
22 Blimps Go 90
23 Strawdogs
24 Chicken Blows
25 Little Whirl
26 My Son Cool
27 Always Crush Me
28 Alright
* - I will likely include the single version, not the one from Alien Lanes
Alien Lanes at Amazon
17 comments:
- Radio Free Burke said...
Before I caught the UTBUTS fever, AL was my very favorite. When I put it on, it reminds me why I fell in love with GBV, moreso than B000, VoT, or Prop. Alien Lanes is #2 on my list - soooooo many great tracks. Oh, "Always Crush Me" is great...just give it a little time.
- The Rock Robot said...
Hey RFB, I think in the future I may have to post an article with other fans' thoughts about songs they love/like that I did not include in my playlist, such as "Always Crush Me" and "Indian Fables". Songs like "Always Crush Me" are right on the edge when it comes to me choosing them or not, and I think in that particular case it was the overall greatness of AL which made it seem not-so-good. However, if it were on, say, Static Airplane Jive, it would have stood out as a better song.
Hi RR and all - still trying to find the time to write my views about the entire Alien Lanes, which, because it is SUCH a dense album, will take some time. For now, let's discuss My Valuable Hunting Knife.
I love the song because it's so childlike (the worship and loyalty of a trusted fetish or object - I remember what it was like to love a pocketknife or other small toy when I was a boy), but mature in that it apes the typical rock song structure (you know, like the Beach Boys singing about "409, she's real fine", or the Del Fuegos saying their girl's cool like great ride), which is a grown-up, artistic thing to do. The Alien Lanes version stands out because of it's sparse but dominant instrumentation. When I first heard it I just couldn't get enough of that skwonky guitar sound - all the guitar players in GbV are fab, but Tobin's sound here really stands out. And of course, it's got a great singable melody...one of Pollard's strengths is that he seems to have an inexhaustable talent for creating real melodies, as opposed to just arranging notes around the basic chord structure of a song. Anyway, it's a cool song!
And according to GBVDB, there are 5 versions of it. I'm only conversant with three so far; this version, the "Shernoff" version, which I've heard on the "B1000 director's cut abridged CD", and my personal fave version, the 7" version from the Tigerbomb EP.
I like the Tigerbomb version because it keeps the slower pacing, the sort of Casio-ized electronic bleat-beat of the AL version but adds huge guitar bass and drum muscle when the second chorus kicks into gear. When I first played this version, I had the volume on my Honda's stereo way up, as the song that preceeds it on Demons and Painkillers is rather lo-fi. Was I ever surprised when the guitars kicked in!! They're massive, going right into you and GRABBING your gut, shaking you awake and commanding LISTEN TO US, DAMMIT! One hell of an arrangement, and my fave of all of this song.
- The Rock Robot said...
Hi jazman! I'm always interested to hear your take on a song/album. Though the final chorus of the Tigerbomb version truly does kick the listener's ass with its heavy guitar, I still like the the Alien Lanes version more. the low key version must be the closest thing to a dance hit GBV has, as it is simply a feel good/happy tune. By the way, one of the local stations here in Edmonton played it yesterday and I didn't even know the DJs knew who GBV was.
I have yet to hear the "Shernoff" version - as I have been picking up other Pollard releases first before picking up Bee Thousand DC for the extra 5 tracks. How is it different?
- St. Antoine said...
Another great review... As another relative GbV newbie i am really very much on your same wavelength. I also, however, am on the Always Crush Me bandwagon, but will say that it was one of the later bloomers for me... Also i kind of prefer the version of Hunting Knife for which there is a video on the Watch me Jumpstart DVD... Is that the Tigerbomb or "Shernoff" version?
Oh yeah, i'm also with you on the Auditorium-as-intro point, though i've recently started to feel it on its own as well. Shit i could go on... Game of Pricks, though, is one of my all-time favorite songs (though i, too, prefer the single... that's the one on Human Amusements, right?)
Well, apparently the Shernoff version (available on the "Bee Thousand Director's Cut abridged CD") was originally recorded live, but has been mixed so as to minimize the live sound. It's a straight-ahead rock reading of the song, and certainly kicks ass, as GbV is a kickass live outfit.
I certainly agree that the Alien Lanes version of "Knife" is a great song. Those overdriven skweeky guitars are the coolest!
Oh, and call that DJ in Edmonton and tell him that he's cooler and better than any DJ in the world, or at least my world here in Chicago, where GbV barely gets a mention (oh, they're finally catching up to Bob's new album...)
dude, what's the point of leaving off four tracks outta 28? i mean, those are good numbers, why not just give into the entire record? i guess it might have to do w/ the lack of vinyl b/c when you play the two sides of this album, there's a remarkable number of distinguishing, visable grooves which are almost intimidating when it comes to the daunting task of visually finding the song breaks, i.e. it's all one piece (or two pieces, sides) essentially. anyway, keep writing about your collection!
- The Rock Robot said...
It is a bit daunting knowing that I am going to select almost the entire album for the playlist/box set. But what can I say, if every song is good, then every song makes the list.
However, if a song on an album like Alien Lanes is not quite rockin', then it really does stand out (to me) as a dud, when it may have sounded terrific on another album. Hope that makes sense.
Yeah, I feel that way about "The King and Caroline"...just sounds like a bad 70s ballad to me, and it's gotten more insipid every time I hear it. I'd leave it off the list, if I was making one.
- jack said...
Ive read a bunch of your reviews and think your doing a great job Rock Robot. That said, I think when making the ultimate play list, you should only pick the VERY VERY best. Having a list of about 500 GBV songs is cool, but to have it around 100 or less might be better.
Just trying to make your job harder
also Jazman, King and Caroline is a stone cold classic, in my opinion
- Joe said...
My Son Cool is actually one of my all time faves. With many of these songs, after the next one starts, the previous one feels like it was an intro for the current song, if that makes any sense. Yeah, it would be hard to cut any of these from my playlist.
OY, Jack, I'll just leave K and C as stone cold.
Was at a party in a bowling alley a couple weekends ago, and their jukebox actually had "Closer You Are"...and someone played it!!!
i think always crush me deserves reconsideration for the following: 1-the lyrics, on this album and on utbuts i feel like the lyrics contain a long story/conversation between bob and tobin, this songs being particularly revealing, he seems to be angrily defending his failures as a leader in leu of his tough life, an unusually petty moment compirable to "the brides have hit glass" and somehow very nientiesy, like pavement or the pixies, another rarity for a man so entrenched in rocks back catalouge. 2- the vocal sound, it goes from dour mtv unplugged pollard (something he never did enough of) to a near perfect john-lennon-through-a-megaphone impression halfway on, and to thrilling effect, like if benefit of mister kite was a song on slanted and enchanted 3- the insturmentation, i once read that pollard was best as a miniaturist, and while i think thats a bs excuse used to avoid a huge portion of the mans work, its half right, sometimes he can take one instrument track and sing over it and it sounds so
simple and powerful that its like a little movie (club molluska, liars tale, goldheart mountaintop), i think this, while not the best, is made important still for its inclusion in this special subset of his sound (i think gold from FACE is the ultimate song in this group) who else can get so much out of so few notes
also id make the case for strawdogs on account of the way the chorus propels the verse rather than vice versa, so the first verse is little jarring and weird, but the more you hear it the more it starts to dig into your brain. plus the lyrics seem aimed right at bob, and they sum up the dickness that was bob shitcanning his buddies, THEY ARE THE WILLING SUPPORTERS! its like hes saying "were all just fans to bob" even though i forgive him and love gillard/tobias its powerful human theater
hey guys, im havin shitty times
my life is in complex shambles and my beautiful girl is cheating on me
sometimes i think r-bert pollard is all i have
now i know that the real reason were all pollard fans is cause we just want a little forgiveness and attention like him
so for fucks sake
respond to my well thought out comments
My favorite GBV record.
When I first heard them a year ago, the sheer mass of Pollard songs was both exciting and daunting so I made a list like yours based on first impressions. I'd leave one song off a record too.
On this one, it was Strawdogs because it felt too "straight" in context. I now like it a lot but if I had to cut something it would be that one or King & Caroline. (I prefer the Tigerbomb GOP and MVHK too, but wouldn't consider dropping the AL versions.)
As I was going through the catalog, I wouldn't listen to the list or an older record again until I'd finished; by then up to Of Course You Are. Somewhere along the line this tune kept popping into my head for weeks that I was sure was a Mick Jones Clash song and it really bugged me because I didn't want to break the Pollard spell by listening to old records. O the blissful relief when I went through the finished 900-song list and was blown away again by Little Whirl.


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Recently, Z.HERA (real name: Ji Hye Rin) made her debut with "Peacock" and as I'm typing this, a video of her first LIVE performance was released on YouTube.
Some background info about Z.HERA:
According to ALLKPOP, during her younger years she was trained in Shaolin martial arts in China and was featured in a Korean documentary program in 2006 called 'Human Theater'. Known as "Shaolin girl", the 11-year-old stated on the program that she wanted to become a singer.
Now fast forward to 6 years later, and she's now made her debut in the KPOP scene.
She reminds me a bit of BoA with the slightly nasally voice, yet prominent (not the same as 'strong') vocals. This is all being said positively. Plus, her voice just has this unique tone that I'm enjoying a lot. And with her song "Peacock," it's music style is reminiscent of an older KPOP style (around the early 2000s). I really enjoy her debut song and image. She's still young and her voice sounds like it as well, but it's refreshing to hear a style of music that hasn't been heard in awhile (yet is by no means outdated). Since I have only her very first debut performance to go by for LIVE vocals, she's on-pitch and sounds nearly identical with the studio vocals. So it's good to know she does have music talent. She's still a bit shaky but in her defense, she did a lot of dancing and only just debuted. And with all the smiling she did she seemed a bit nervous.
But nonetheless with what I've seen so far, I'm anticipating more LIVE performances and seeing/hearing improvement and hoping she won't just fall out of the KPOP scene, although it seems likely to happen since right now the industry is being overrun by boy idol groups. Also, just being a female solo singer is already making her chances harder of succeeding. But hopefully she has what it takes, because I know I'll be keeping an eye out for her in the KPOP music scene.
(clicking the links below will open a new tab, so go check out her M/V and LIVE performance debut! Also check out her mini-album 'Z.HERA Born.')


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I travel with different employees from our company. I work in the field, and there are usually suits along to monitor my progress. I work in natural resource exploration around the world. I have always been surprised by how lacks my fellow workers are in picking cabs at the airport. I have been on some terrible rides to hotels and to work sites. When traveling to Spain a few months ago, an executive was getting into a cab when I came out with my luggage. I pulled him out of it and got into a MyTaxiMadrid cab instead. All their cabs are air conditioned and they have drivers that speak English. This is a company that provides child seats if you have children along. That is a marker of a good cab company.
I work in the field under some rough conditions, and I like the rest of my trip to be comfortable. I am not into getting the local experience unless it tastes good, feels good and is relaxing. My fellow workers are always in a hurry, and it causes them to just jump into things in other countries thinking it will be like it is back home. I have been around to a lot of different places, and I pick and chose service providers from hotels to restaurants and cab companies I use to get around.
The management and executives that go with me on a second trip ask me where to go and what to do. The ones coming along for the first time just need a little traveler's education. I make sure we have a nice hotel, that we eat where the food is safe and delicious and that we have a comfortable and safe ride no matter where we are in the world. You can find quality everywhere. You just need to know where to look.


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But how do you find the seeds you need? There are many markets available for selling just what you need. On the other hand why not just save part of one years crops for the next years garden? I can't think of a single crop that doesn't have it's own built in seeds. Some we eat (ie Green Beans and Tomatoes), most we clean away and discard (ie: Peppers and Cantaloupe) which is a shame. Some even grow on the vine (ie: Spinach) I leave a portion of everything from my garden for a new years worth of growth. It's simple to do and is a sustainable way to keep the crops growing.
Removing seeds for preservation works in several ways depending on the produce. For those crops with edible seeds, for example okra and green beans, I usually leave one or two set aside and let them dry out. Once they are dried I open them down the middle and remove the seeds. For those plants where the seeds are removed before eating, like peppers and cantaloupe save some seeds and set them aside to dry out. For root plants just let the roots grow (see Plants That Reproduce With Little Or No Cost) and plant them in the ground.
Maybe this year you want to try growing something new, like a cucumber for example. You have two options for getting seeds. Buy a package of seeds from a lawn and garden store. This can be somewhat of a gamble. You'll never know what chemicals these seeds have been treated with. On the other hand you probably wanted to buy a cucumber anyway so why not buy an ORGANIC one and spoon some of the seeds out of the inside. You won't need many. Maybe five or six. Set them aside and let them dry out before planting.
Gardening has been the most sustainable human resource from the beginning. Once you get started like most you'll probably get hooked. The easiest and most inexpensive way to keep the planting going is to save your own seeds for planting. I gaurantee you won't be sorry you did.


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- Name: Jeremiah Castro
- Year Started at Cyan: 2007
Jeremiah is a Montana native who moved to the Spokane area to attend college (one of his instructors was a former Cyan employee even!). He originally started working at Cyan shortly after his graduation in 2007. Since then he's been involved with Cyan's more recent projects, as well as working with other local software companies. When he's not working you might catch him floating the river, taking and editing photos (he's a proud mobile-phone photographer!), watching/playing things with zombies or outer-space, and occasionally writing short stories.


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Jeff Smith is well accustomed to epic journeys.
From his massively successful all-ages fantasy "Bone" to his southwestern sci-fi noir "RASL," the cartoonist has spent his career doling out long form comic serials in the traditional self published model. But with his latest epic -- "Tüki Save The Humans" -- Smith and the team at Cartoon Books took the story of the first human's journey out of Africa to the future by publishing the series as a webcomic at Boneville.com. After some early technical fumbles, "Tüki" recently wrapped its first season which will itself head to print for the first time this July - with his first full color comic serial.
CBR TV: Jeff Smith on "Bone," "RASL"
CBR News spoke with Smith about the journey of "Tüki," and below the artist explains how his initial idea crossed with evolutionary history, what the rocky path the Boneville website experienced meant for the strip and why he'll never understand why "Bone" lands on the American Library Association's banned books list.
CBR News: Having now read the entire first "season" of "Tüki" online, I have a better idea of all the moving parts of your latest long-form story, but I wondered if there was a single visual or concept that got the whole ball rolling for you?
Jeff Smith: You know, I don't know if this is going to sound strange or not, but my original idea was that there was just going to be this guy and this little kid walking. I didn't know where they were going or what they were doing, but there was going to be a conversation between this older guy and this younger kid. Then somewhere along the line, it turned into this prehistoric epic. [Laughs] I guess that's just because that's one of my interests. I just love evolution and caveman stuff -- all that ice age stuff. It kind of evolved into that.
You've really got three characters running in the strip. There's Tüki as the lead and the kid who we've only barely seen at this point, but there's also this old man -- the pre-human wise man or maybe wise acre who seems to be prophesying where the story will go. I don't know if this was your intention, but I felt that the scenes between the old man and Tüki very much inverted the "heroic journey" trope where the young hero is given a quest to go away from home and learn who he is. It's almost a parody of that story at points.
[Laughs] Sure. Something I did with "Bone" and with "RASL" to a certain degree is that I take the concepts or even the cliches from stories and just subvert them. I put a twist on them to make them funny or keep the concepts fresh -- at least for me. And the little kid who was part of the original idea we see a bit in the very last frame of the first season, but I'm drawing him right now for the next one.
Are you drawing all the pages for a given installment before they start posting on the site, or will you be creating it more in real time as you go?
I'm approaching it like it's a comic book. I'm doing a 24-page comic really, but instead of doing it in print, I'm just doing it as a webcomic. And in the past, I've always done things in black and white first because that's just the way that underground, self-published comics were done. But now webcomics are done in color, and I'm releasing it that way first. Curiously, Vijaya [Iyer, my wife and publisher] and I have decided to now take it to print. Once it's been online for about a year, we'll have it coming out as a black-and-white comic book. So I don't know if I'm subverting anything, but it feels like I'm doing this whole thing backwards!
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this interview was conducted Smith has announced that "Tüki" will be published in full-color.]
How does that treat the strip visually? The strips on the site really seem to focus like a big Sunday newspaper strip where we have a big scene that hits a certain beat or story turn at the end of each page. Do you have to reformat that in terms of size or layout to go to print?
I hope that it transfers pretty well when it goes to print. The big confession is that it's going to be printed in landscape style or horizontal when it goes to comic book. It'll look like a traditional comic book on the shelf, but you'll have to flip the book on its side to read it. That'll be kind of tricky. But because this was designed for the web, I've tried to design the pages for the screen.
And as far as having a beat or a complete episode on each page, that was conscious. I was thinking about when I was a kid and I'd read the old Sunday pages. And there you'd get a bigger piece of art in "Prince Valiant" or "Dick Tracy" -- even "Calvin & Hobbes" still did that if you're younger than I am or "Flash Gordon" if you're old than I am. But the idea was "This is all you get for the week" so there was a lot more emphasis on the detail and the artwork and the way the page was paced. It was meant for you to spend some time with it. You were supposed to be able to just stare at it because you wouldn't be getting another one for a week. I wanted to bring that kind of epic feel into it. I went in with a little more emphasis on the artwork, and it should have a complete feel to each page, even if there's only four panels.
RELATED: WC13: Jeff Smith & Terry Moore Make Comics
Are you coloring these pages yourself too?
No, it's a guy named Tom Gaadt. It's not on each page, but if you go to the "Tüki - About" tab, it explains that I draw it and he colors everything. It should say it on every page, and I've said this to Tom, but he hasn't gotten around to it yet. He does a lot of the work on the website.
So let's talk about the website. I feel like "Tüki" is the story of a journey, and so the website itself has appropriately been a journey.
[Laughs] Sigh.
There's a learning curve in any new form, but for you what was that like? Was there an inspiration for why you wanted to do a webcomic that also came with an element you didn't foresee?
I think it was a little bit of everything. We had a website at Boneville.com for a long time, and it always had quite a bit of traffic, but I'd never really tried to do a comic on it before. And it had been a while since we'd updated the site in general, so we thought, "Let's update the site and put a little energy into creating a good reading experience." So we looked around town here in Columbus because we thought it would be a lot easier to work with someone right nearby, and it just turned out that even though this local company said they were local, they actually outsourced to India. So we had a really hard time getting what we wanted, and by the time we launched, we thought we'd gotten everything back up to speed, but all our fans very helpfully told us that we had fucked it up. [Laughs] It was actually good. Nobody was uncool about it, and they gave us some good tips on what it should look like. We were a little embarrassed, but we're from the print age, and we're trying our best to get into the digital age. And I think we're doing it. Like I said, a lot of web friends pointed us in the right direction. It took us a while to remaster everything, but I think we've got it now.
I think we've gotten to the point now where there's a definite standard form for webcomics, from the navigation tools to the "each new page as a blog post with comments" look. Did you have any specific webcomics or formats you were looking at that you wanted to emulate?
I was the editor for "Best American Comics" for 2013, and part of that job was to go through a bunch of webcomics because they were eligible, and a bunch of good comics are out there. I was really surprised. I knew webcomics were out there, and I'd been reading a couple by friends of mine like Scott Kurtz, but those were more like newspaper strips. And I hadn't realized that there were what they're calling long-form stories on the web. They're really deep. And I don't mean deep as in "Hey, that's heavy, man." I mean they're really immersive. There were some real amazingly talented people doing that kind of stuff on the web. So there were some different strips from that I chose for the anthology. Sam Alden did a strip called "The Haunter" which just blew my mind, and I put that in there. And that stuff made me want to draw, which is one of my gauges for what makes a good comic. If you look at something and go, "I've got to go draw now!" that's a good sign.
So last year or the year before was when I started reading a lot of webcomics. And seeing things like Kate Beaton's "Hark! A Vagrant" where she always writes a little bit about what she was thinking when she drew -- I thought that was good, so I started doing it too. Although some of our notes are missing now. I don't know what happened to them, but we'll play with it and get them back up. We're still tinkering yet.
I know that when you started "RASL" you talked a lot about how serializing was important to you because the back and forth with your audience as you drew was important. Are you looking to expand that idea now that you're on the web? As in, will you be doing more process posts or showing off work in progress?
Yeah. I definitely will. Why we didn't have comments on the first "Tüki" launch, I have no idea. That was really strange. Even when you do a print comic and there's a little lag time, you still get letters. Or maybe people go onto your website and talk about the book. This is very strange in that we did the whole first season with almost no feedback because there was no comment section.
Looking at the strip and where it's going, I think the defining quality of Tüki himself was that he's hungry. [Smith Laughs] I mean, he's not out to save the world or find his destiny. He just wants to eat. What's been the hook for you in building him as a character, and where can he grow from there?
Well, I've always thought it was fun to have some little characteristic to define a character whether that's Phoney Bone being just greedy or whatever. And this just seemed natural in a story about a caveman -- especially because when you read about what they were like and see that survival was pretty much all they had time for. There is enough information in the fossil record to know how they ate and what they ate -- what plants were around then. That's really fascinating. This was particularly fun because being hungry is something that everybody can relate to.
RELATED: Jeff Smith Reflects on "RASL"
Over the first season, we mostly focused on Tüki and the old man, but there were some mysteries introduced involving the little people who represent the early hominids. What would you say the focus of season 2 is going to be?
Tüki is loner, and I think it's pretty clear that he wants to be a loner. In season 2, he's going to have a little trouble with that. [Laughs] He's certainly going to attract some more followers. He's already got those little hominids, which are actually australopithecines like the famous Lucy creature. They're following him, and their interest in Tüki has something to do with the old man lizard guy's interest. I don't want to say too much, but I am actually looking very forward to this new season because you're going to meet a lot of interesting characters very quickly -- including a giant.
I'm approaching this sort of like "Bone" in that each season is its own chapter, so you have to lay a certain amount of groundwork, but you also have to let the story and the characters continue on as if they don't know what's happening. You always know what's happening, but I don't want the characters or the audience to have any idea. I guess this is planned out as a fairly large story. I don't know how large yet. I'm not a kid anymore. [Laughs] So I don't know if I'm going to go for a "Bone" length story, but it could grow that big. There's that kind of potential in the seeds I've laid out here.
This is going to be an odd transition, but I'm going to see if I can pull this off. One of the themes that crops up in "Tüki's" first season is one of belief as he and the old man talk about their place in the world. And there seems to be a threat of fanaticism in what the old man speaks of, which kind of reminded me that "Bone" has showed up on the banned books list recently from the American Library Association. I suppose my only question on that could be... how?
How did it get on the banned list? I'm sure I don't know. We've been showing up there for about four years now, though this is the first time it's made the top ten most banned list of all books. It's been one of the "most challenged" for a while, and the reasons are always different. This year it was because of "political viewpoints, racism and violence." And I don't even know what book these people are reading. Other times it's been for things like beer, and okay... they do drink beer in the taverns. But one year it was for sexual situations. Okay, you got me. Sexual situations and racism in "Bone?" I can't even squint at something there and see, "Oh, I see how they could misunderstand this." There's nothing there to misunderstand! So I can't really answer your question, and the ALA doesn't get into the specifics of the complaint. To get on this list, though, you have to have someone actually put in a written complaint about your book. It has to be in writing that they want it censored.
But yes, there has been a theme throughout all of my books be it "Bone," "RASL" or now "Tüki" where I am fascinated by fanatics. There are a lot of people who are fanatical in "Bone," and maybe even Phoney is fanatical to an extent about greed. And in "RASL," of course, the main antagonist was pretty fanatical since the universe was so offensive to his position in it that he wanted to kill Rasl and cover it up. I'm fascinated by how this kind of thing happened to Galileo and Copernicus when they discovered how our solar system actually worked. Instead of people going, "Wow, that's awesome!" people went "Let's throw them in jail!" [Laughs] I'm just amazed by humanities continued ability to delude itself.
Well, maybe by the end of "Tüki" you'll have cracked that problem and gotten it all sorted out.
[Laughs] I hope so. I doubt it, though. I have a feeling I could keep making comics forever and we'll never figure that out.
The first season of "Tüki Save The Humans" is online now at Boneville.com and arrives in comic shops this July from Cartoon Books.


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October 31, 2014
October 25, 2014
Here Comes the Witching Sun
Box elder bugs are year-round insects but we don't usually notice them until the "witching season" in late autumn. At that time they gather around the cracks and crevices that will eventually become their winter home. Until freezing temperatures force them to descend into the deepest recesses of their hibernaculum (that's "scientific" for winter hibernation chamber) they pretty much spend all their time sun-worshiping. The low morning sun is especially relished.
I have a cedar shingled house offering plenty of potential hibernacula. The entire east side is bathed by the rays of the morning sun on early bright fall days. You could call it a Box Elder Bug palace; although I doubt that particular phrase would enter into the realtor's description should we opt to sell the place as we enter the autumn of our lives.
The Box Elder B's greet the sun with a collective sigh of relief – clustering into small social clubs where they talk about how much life sucks. As sucking insects this topic is a positive one. In the spring they will emerge to feed on seeds and low plants until the local female Box Elders trees (or occasional maple) come to flower. There they will suck Elder sap and raise new little suckers.
The only question remaining for the next year's elder Box Elder Bug population is what to call the new Box Elder Bugs they create. Should they be called Box Youngling Bugs or perhaps Box Baby Bugs in order to separate them from the older and wiser winterers? Fortunately this never poses a real problem because the elder Box Elder Bugs die before they can gather into focus groups.
We superior humans, of course, know that this is a stupid question because the plant is called Box Elder not because it is older than the rest but because, um, well … because of… Oh, yes because the wood resembles that of the Boxwood tree and the leaves that of the Elder tree. And we ALL know that Elder trees are guarded by witches and, according to an old European chant ("And I myself an eldern tree") some are actually witches themselves!
Silly insects, they believed that they were feeding on witches' blood all summer but were actually taking in fake witches' blood. As half-wing insects (true bugs are hemipterans), it could devastate the other half of their lives should we let them in on this devastating secret. I for one do not want to listen to the collective sobs of a million Box Elder Bugs through my wall all winter long.
October 18, 2014
One Pic Posting: Art Imitating Nature Imitating Art
The natural world is ripe with imitation. It is the ultimate form of flattery (and self-preservation) to look like something else – especially if that something else is inedible. Take a dry leaf, for example. Only a low life decomposer would even consider a dead leaf as food, so many insects wear a dead leaf costume in order to convince hungry predators to overlook them. Moths are especially prone to this disguise tactic because the structure of their wings lends itself well to such fakery.
On a day when brown windblown leaves were tousling about, I spotted this Geometer Moth clinging to the rough bark of a Red Maple. The adult form of twig-imitating "inchworms," geometer moths extend this youthful deception to become grown up leaves.
It might seem that such a disguise fails when it is exposed against the dark background of a tree trunk. After all, I spotted the thing from a dozen feet away. But, then again, it had such a good leaf look that I doubt that even a savvy predator would discern this from the millions of other leaves blowing about. This individual had the additional effects of age to enhance its outfit. Multiple tears – not part of the original wing design – gave it the truly authentic worn look of a crackled October leaf.
Because the tears are not genetic parts of the camouflage look, this moth will not pass on these traits to the next generation. Probably the result of a short life of heavy use, they will likely insure that this critter will survive its full short life before succumbing to a natural death from the chills of autumn.
October 13, 2014
…And Sat Down Beside Her
Much of the life of Funnel Weaver Spiders involves a waiting game. Instead of pursuing prey like wolf spiders or animated jumping spiders, they spin flat sheet webs and wait for insect prey to walk across the surface. The killer waits inside a special side chamber (the "funnel") until signaled to emerge by the vibrations generated from tiny feet crossing the web. A quick dash, followed by a fatal bite secures the prey and renders it a meal. When the mating urge is felt, the males abandon their web and go courting – fully realizing in their instinctive little brains that this risky behavior is necessary for the propagation of the species. Ah, the things they will do for love.
Female Funnel Weaver spiders wait within their liars until prospective mates come a knocking. For a male of the species this is a tricky prospect because knocking at any funnel weaver's door is tantamount to inviting yourself for dinner – as in YOU being the dinner. When that doorway frames a hungry female, about a third larger than you, the danger is even greater. Although no self-respecting spider would admit it, the empty carcasses of dead insects lining the path certainly don't inspire confidence. So, before he can get down to business, the suitor must convince the female that he is not a meal but a mate.
He will dance about and wave his legs to signal manly intentions. Pedipalps – specialized male appendages to either side of the jaws – are moved to and fro like an airline worker guiding a landed jet to its gate. All this is intended to convince the potential Mrs. that he is a virile eight-legger and not a six-legged juice box. Once convinced, the female will allow her suitor to advance and begin his masculine task. To say the least spider foreplay is a creepy affair, but that which follows is fascinatingly boring.
I witnessed this drama taking place in my yard last week. A sizable female weaver (see first photo), who had maintained a funnel bridging the gap between an old barrel hoop and the siding of the house, received a late afternoon visitor. He ably subdued her into taking a passive legs-up pose but never let his guard down during the process which followed. While still slowly waving one of his pedipalps in the air he carefully engaged the other on her tender undersides.
The tips of the pedipalps are saucerlike with the inner surface of each sporting a black coiled organ called an embolus. They are maneuvered down to the female's genital opening and the tip of the embolus inserted within. Then, the male pumps his semen into the female .To carry the airline analogy one step further, this process is more like fueling a jet and just about as exciting. One big difference here is that the process takes many hours (six hours or more in some cases!). And that, my dear readers, is not a spectator sport. I left to watch some corn growing across the road.
The male made his escape by nightfall (at least he was gone by the time I checked back much later). He will live to inseminate several more females before dying with a smile on his eight-eyed face. Females will also mate with several more males if they are given the opportunity. In the case of my yard spider, she retreated to the space under the siding and never appeared again. This could have been her third suitor for all I know. Unseen under the shingle, she would have laid several lens-shaped egg sacs containing 50-200 eggs which will pass the winter.
When the young emerge in the spring they will likely scamper over the desiccated remains of their mother who died peacefully in place after laying her eggs. There is much creepiness in the spider world but then again it is all about perspective isn't it?
October 4, 2014
Developing Drakes
It was only after the mink disappeared under a tree root that I re-directed my attention to a trio of Mallards across the river. They were clear enough to see, but in the world of nature study Mallards are not normally on the top of the list. This is not a good thing, but it is a thing because familiarity breeds, if not contempt, at least complacency. These fine fowl were standing unsurely on a submerged branch as the current of the swollen Huron River rushed past them.
Backlit by a strong morning sun, they were on high alert with nervous heads bobbing atop extended necks. Actual wild mallards, not frumpy farm fowl, they were ready to bolt at the sequential exposure to a mink and man! Fortunately they hung around for a frantic minute before exploding into flight.
These male birds were perfect examples of the teenage type (due to plumage and not erratic unexplainable behavior). Juvenile birds offer some interesting plumage combinations as they transform into adulthood via a time-honored schedule. It is not a random process. Because it occurs relatively quickly, however, it is a minute phase of the natural year that is often overlooked.
Earlier in the month the ducks bore the brown mottled plumage of youth and were now in the late September mode of wardrobe change. At this stage the mottled breast feathers are mostly replaced by the deep russet tones of drakehood and most of the back and shoulder feathers have already converted over to light gray. It will take a while before they attain the distinctive black curly feathers on their fully mature bottoms, but they already exhibit a manly looking yellow bill.
The green portion of the head, that part which gives the species the common name of "Greenhead," is but a simple crescent lying between eye and beak as of early fall. As the season progresses, this patch migrates from front to back until the entire head becomes iridescent green by winter. You will see some Mallards which have an overall spotty green head ("scruffy" by some definitions) and these would be the adult drakes recovering from their late summer eclipse plumage. Adult Mallards undergo two molts per year.
The subject of molting is a big one in the bird world. For these juvenile males, the act of changing feathers involves a heavy physiological workload. Being mostly protein, feathers make up around 1/3 of the entire body protein of the animal. Therefore, feather-growing requires a substantial intake of protein rich foods. Add to this burden the need to put on an extra load of fat for migration and you have birds that can afford little time for leisure.


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|Read Space Articles/ Carnival of Space #263
Welcome to another installment of The Carnival of Space!
Ray Sanders at Dear Astronomer.com is our host this week.
Here's some highlights of Space and Astronomy news from the past week. We've got stories on Mars, The Higgs Boson, Online Astronomy courses, Asteroids, Space shuttle launches and more!
Enter the Carnival of Space HERE
Enter the Carnival of Space HERE
If you have a science/space blog, joining The Carnival of Space is a good way to meet members of the Space/Science blogging community and help your site reach a wider audience.
If you'd like to be a host for The Carnival of Space, please send an email to email@example.com


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Elephants have been my favourite animal since I did a project on them in the 3rd or 4th grades. I was privileged to see many in the wild when I went on safari in Kenya in 1989.
In 2004, I visited Thailand with a very good friend, Sandra. I'd found a link to an interesting looking elephant sanctuary on the internet, but since you can't always be sure of quality, we just arranged to a day trip, even though you could book up to two weeks as a "volunteer elephant helper".
The day there was magical and, of course, I immediately booked to return the following year for a 2 week visit. www.elephantnaturepark.org is a wonder place run by the incomparable Lek who had devoted her life not just on helping the elephants, but educating others.
To see more, go to my photo gallery: http://dianeleynebooks.com/photos/elephant-nature-park-thailand/


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Hipster Fro-yo in Williamsburg
There are 30 unique toppings which includes seasonal organic fruit, Granola Lab granola, in-house fruit compotes, and homemade rice crispy treats! The made-to-order waffle lolli pops or waffles are a definite bonus if not just for the smell alone. They partner with Brooklyn Roasting Coffee so you can pair your dessert with a delicious cup of joe. All in all Von Dolhens is just another yogurt shop that jumped on the bandwagon, but it's "Brooklyn-ized" which gives it a nice hipster upgrade!


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RMP/PSM/CalARP Gap Analysis
What is an RMP/PSM/CalARP Gap Analysis?
EPA's Risk Management Plan (RMP), Cal/OSHA's Process Safety Management (PSM) and the California Accidental Release Prevention (CalARP) Programs require that facilities containing more than the listed threshold quantities shall implement steps and procedures to prevent the potential for accidental releases. As part of these requirements, facilities must verify that the Prevention Program Elements, including procedures, training, maintenance, etc., are being adequately implemented and applicable codes and standards are being followed. A Gap Analysis is a way to analyze current operating conditions and engineering practices of the implemented program in order to identify gaps and areas in need of improvement in regards to compliance with RMP/PSM/CalARP standards. A Gap Analysis provides a means to identify and correct gaps between desired levels and actual levels of compliance and, unlike Compliance Audits, they are not required to be a part of the program binder, and therefore, are not subject to regulatory inspection. Similar to Compliance Audits, Gap Analyses review a facility's current prevention program in order to achieve the following:
- comply with applicable portions of the RMP/PSM/CalARP program regulations;
- identify deficiencies in program documentation or implementation; and
- suggest methods or improvements that might be implemented to assist the facility with addressing documentation requirements and appropriate implementation.
How are Gap Analyses different than Compliance Audits?
A Gap Analysis does not fulfill the triennial Compliance Audit requirement outlined in RMP/PSM/CalARP regulations. The Gap Analysis is NOT meant to satisfy any regulatory requirements and is not intended to exempt the facility from any applicable regulatory requirements. Gap Analyses are voluntarily conducted to identify and correct gaps in the RMP/PSM/CalARP program. They are more of a high-level overview in nature and can be beneficial if the auditors are seasoned as they can impart their experience of common best practices at similar facilities. An advantage of Gap Analyses is that they may be conducted offsite, whereas Compliance Audits are usually performed onsite to verify personnel awareness of program requirements. This cuts travel costs and lessens meeting time for personnel, decreasing the total cost of a Gap Analysis when compared to a Compliance Audit. Furthermore, as Gap Analyses are internal documents that are not part of the RMP/PSM/CalARP regulations, they are not subject to regulatory inspection.
Can Gap Analyses be performed on facilities outside of California to verify compliance with other state regulations?
Yes, Risk Management Professionals offers Gap Analysis services to ensure facilities are compliant with New Jersey's Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act (TCPA) Program and Nevada's Chemical Accident Prevention Program (CAPP). It should be noted that Gap Analyses can be performed on any EPA RMP federally regulated facility as well as those subject to OSHA's PSM Program; however, conducting a Gap Analysis does not necessarily satisfy any regulatory requirements, it serves as a tool to identify potential gaps within a facility's compliance, prior to any regulatory compliance reviews.


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Jewish World Review July 31, 2008 / 28 Tamuz 5768
The perils of e-mail: Ponder, then click
By Michael Smerconish
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Plans for Saturday?
That was the subject line of an e-mail I recently received. Someone else with a modem was interested in knowing if we should meet for lunch before catching a train to a Shakespeare matinee in Washington. It sounded enjoyable. For a split second, I gave some thought to going.
The only problem is that I was not the intended recipient. Turns out my editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer was in the midst of organizing a family trip to the theater in D.C. Somehow I was mistakenly included in the conversation. You might think this is Much Ado About Nothing. But the inadvertent hitting of "Send" is becoming a part of daily life, sometimes with more serious consequences.
In 2002, the Pew Internet and American Life project reported that 10 percent of so-called "work e-mailers" had accidently sent an embarrassing e-mail to the wrong person at work. By the time The Marlin Co. released its annual Attitudes in the American Workplace study in 2007, that percentage had doubled.
These phenomena strike in workplaces of all kinds, even the White House. Just last week a staffer mistakenly forwarded to thousands of reporters on the White House external contact list a Reuters story headlined "Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan - magazine." Oops. Not exactly what the Bush administration was anxious to convey given the president's support of John McCain.
Speaking of McCain, perhaps the only benefit of his Internet ignorance is that he never has to worry about inadvertently distributing e-mail. Come to think of it, neither must he worry about the twin evil of accidentally striking Reply All.
Of course, merely embarrassing yourself isn't the worst possible scenario. Take the case of Caryn Camp and Stephen Martin, two of the first casualties of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. Back in 1998, Camp worked for IDEXX Laboratories Inc., a leading manufacturer of veterinary diagnostics products. On the market for a new job, she e-mailed her resume to Martin, owner of several companies that competed with IDEXX. Camp planned to leave IDEXX to work for Martin, and soon the e-mails escalated into an exchange of proprietary information in anticipation of that move.
That is, until Camp composed an e-mail whose contents she predicted would make Martin "feel like a kid on Christmas Day" - and mistakenly sent it to IDEXX's head of global marketing. After IDEXX notified the U.S. attorney, Camp and Martin were tried and convicted of conspiring to steal IDEXX trade secrets.
We've all heard stories of accidental e-mail. My favorite? Well, "I have this friend," as they say. He was asked by a woman, who had a gift of endowment, to help arrange a job contact. This caveman thought it appropriate to e-mail his contact to say that "there are two good reasons" you might wish to interview her. You guessed it. He cc'd her on the overture!
Even when the sender properly addresses the communication, there is still the possibility of unexpected eyes.
Another recent example is presented in the first 12 indictments in Pennsylvania's own "Bonusgate" investigation. Among the evidence presented to prove the existence of taxpayer-funded bonus programs and subsidized campaign work in Harrisburg are thousands of e-mails sent among the accused public servants. That investigation traversed state computers, laptops and BlackBerrys, though nobody mistakenly sent those e-mails to state Attorney General Tom Corbett. Still, once you hit Send, your dispatch is out there for anyone to find - and no amount of deleting can turn back the clock.
To be sure, the Internet has benefitted our personal and professional lives. As with ATM cards, the television remote, iPods and Blackberrys, it's difficult to imagine living in a world without such gadgetry. But the hazards associated with the simple click of a mouse are significant. Sometimes using the Internet necessitates a dose of the old-world practicality with which we were all raised: a World Wide Web equivalent of counting to 10 before you speak.
Here's more drastic advice. Former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo was fond of saying, "Never send a letter, and never throw one away." Perhaps he was a soothsayer, despite never having heard of Microsoft Outlook.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.
05/22/08 Two very different sides of the Internet
02/12/08 Sublimely ridiculous suits
© 2008, The Philadelphia Inquirer Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services


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A list of my published writings so far.
"Gift Cards of an Ex-Goddess," in Mystic Signals 6 magazine, May 2010. Out of print, but limited copies available at Amazon. Also see 2013 publications for an audio version.
"Shaman," October 3, 2010, at Short Story.me. Historical fantasy with characters and settings from novel in progress, Necklace of the Dove.
"The Gates of Shaizar," in Pulp Empire, vol. 2. Historical adventure based on novel in progress, Necklace of the Dove. Out of print, but see 2012 information for reprint venue.
"Eight Seconds," January 2011, in Award-Winning Tales from Western publisher Moonlight Mesa Associates. A contemporary Western that was a winner in the publisher's 2010 Cowboy-Up contest. Reprinted in Pulp Modern, autumn 2011, both venues available at Amazon.
"No Place to Run, " December 1, 2011, at The Western Online. This Civil War-era Western was a finalist in Moonlight Mesa's 2011 Cowboy-Up contest.
"The Gates of Shaizar," February 14, 2012. A reprint of the historical adventure story, at Abandoned Towers.
"Blind Man's Bluff," May 2012, in Mystic Signals 14 magazine. A fantasy short story, available at Amazon and online at Sorcerous Signals.
"The Khan's Sword," July 2012, from Jake's Monthly Anthology -- Alternate History. Alternate history short story, available at www.smashwords.com/books/view/180165/. Also see 2013 publications for a different venue, both from talented young editor Jake Johnson.
"In the Castle of the Assassins," Stupefying Stories, September 2012. Historical fantasy based on characters from novel in progress, Necklace of the Dove. Available in Kindle from Amazon.
"Trace," Jake's Monthly Anthology -- Endgame Extravaganza, October 2012. Available at www.smashwords.com/books/view/243335/
"Gift Cards of an Ex-Goddess," September 2013. Audio version of a modern fantasy story, at Cast of Wonders
"The Khan's Sword," September 2013, in Jake's Monthly: Recollection, editor Jake Johnson collection of 50 best stories from his monthly anthology series. Available at www.createspace.com/4392065/.
"After the War," January 2014. Amazon warrior's take on "The Art of War," in The Lorelei Signal.
"Diamond in the Sky," January 2014. A space opera on Mars, in The Lorelei Signal,
"Two Black Birds," March 2014. A fantasy story based on Irish myths, at Eternal Haunted Summer.
"In The Castle of the Assassins," October 2014. In The Lorelei Signal. This is a reprint of a fantasy story published originally in September 2012 as an e-book anthology by Rampant Loon Press. Still available on Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, & Apple iBooks, but check out the newer version for Lee Kuruganti's always evocative artwork.
"Trace," May 2015. Podcast of suspense short story based on characters from a novel in progress, at The Way of the Buffalo
"Planet, Paper, Space," June 2015. A science fiction short story, at Luna Station Quarterly, which touts it as "the most original use of origami. . ." Free online, or buy it and get the snazzy pink cover.
"No Place to Run," November 2015. A Western short story, at Frontier Tales. This is a slightly updated reprint of a Civil War era story first published in 2011.I like editor Duke Pennell's synopsis that ends with "a beautiful woman nearly cost his his life -- and made him realize just how much he valued it."


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Five years after the start of the Great Recession, some would be-retirees still need help with their asset allocations.
The downturn of 2008-2009 taught investors a number of lessons about their nest eggs. Among the most painful: the all-important connection between risk and return (if you want high returns from stocks, you must be willing to shoulder the attendant risk); and the danger, for adults in their 50s and 60s, in particular, in stock-heavy portfolios.
A good rule of thumb is that the fixed-income portion of your portfolio should equal your age. In 2007, on the eve of the market meltdown, almost half of workers ages 56 to 65 had 70% or more of their 401(k) funds in stocks, according to the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute. That asset mix, of course, proved to be a recipe for disaster.
Now, a new study from EBRI indicates that some older investors today could be making the same mistake when it comes to asset allocation.
The research, titled "IRA Asset Allocation, 2011," looks at the mix of equities, bonds, cash and alternative investments in Americans' individual retirement accounts. Such accounts represent 25% of all retirement assets in the country.
On the surface, the numbers don't look especially troubling: The average account holder has 44.4% of his assets in equities, 10.7% in balanced funds, 18% in bonds, 13% in cash and 13.8% in other assets. Among individuals ages 55 to 64 – those investors approaching retirement – the numbers are almost identical: 44.6% in equities, 10.8% in balanced funds, 17.2% in bonds, 13.5% in cash and 13.9% in other assets.
But the study goes on to look at "extreme" allocations, defined as having less than 10% or more than 90% in a particular asset category. And here, some of the numbers are more worrisome.
Among account holders ages 55 to 64, more than one in four (29%) had more than 90% of their holdings in equities. (Equities include the equity portion from balanced funds, as well as directly held stocks, equity mutual funds and other equity products.) Conversely, almost one in five (18.3%) account holders ages 55 to 64 had more than 90% of their holding in bonds and cash (including money-market mutual funds and certificates of deposit), a mix that many financial advisers would consider overly conservative.
The findings are similar to a report last December from EBRI, which looked at asset allocations in 401(k)s. Among plan participants in their 50s, one in four (24.7%) had more than 80% of their holdings in equities; 30.5% had between 60% and 80% of their holdings in equities.
Yes, the stock markets since 2009 have been good to those individuals who never bailed out of equities when the recession hit. But if you find yourself today with an extreme allocation, or something close to it, don't forget the financial lessons of 2008-2009.


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Tri Tip
Back to Beef
This is a triangularly shaped roast that is excellent when marinated and grilled. It can be browned and roasted in a covered roasting pan as well. Weight varies from 1.5 to 2 pounds. There is one per package. Please order for the quantity of packages desired.
Producer: Chiricahua Pasture Raised Meats
Add this Item to your Shopping Cart:$23.10


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We're just about a month away from the longest day of the year. While the calendar says summer is still a few weeks away, the woods don't seem to know or care. The greenery is out full force here in southeast Michigan, and with it comes a host of challenges when it comes to working in the woods: mosquitoes, ticks, and poison ivy – oh my!
However, that's not to say that the negative outweighs the positive. We often talk about how your work pulling garlic mustard is good for the health of native ecosystems, but the buck doesn't stop there. Getting out in nature and doing this kind of work is good for you and your family, too.
Here are some examples:
-Improved scores on standardized tests in children (1)
-Improved distance vision in children (1)
-Increased Vitamin D production, which helps prevent bone problems, heart disease, cancer, and more (2)
-Increased physical activity and decreased risk of obesity (2)
-Decreased pain and faster recovery (2)
-Increased production of serotonin and decreased stress and anxiety (3)
It makes me want to go for a walk in the woods just reading that list! Before you head out the door, though, make sure you know how to mitigate your risk for coming home with itchy bites and rashes, or worse. Check out the links below for more information on how to identify poison ivy and ticks, and how to reduce your risks for tick and mosquito bites and the illnesses that may come with them.
Identifying Poison Ivy isn't always easy to do:
Tick season is getting under way:
Prevention & Control (West Nile virus):
Thanks for reading, and here's to your health!


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Hollywood Monster turns to CMYUK Digital for superwide-format investment
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
New EFI VUTEk GS5000r brings versatility, quality and speed to 5m production
To bring its superwide-format print quality standards up to the same level as produced on its existing VUTEk 3.2m GS3250, Hollywood Monster has installed an EFI VUTEk GS5000r supplied and installed by UK authorised distributor, CMYUK Digital. The West Midlands based display specialist of fast turn-round high quality graphics opted for the 5m machine to boost its existing production at this width, bring greater versatility across roll-fed applications and optimise consistency in its results.
It was essential for Hollywood Monster to achieve the same colour matching standards across its high-end UV-curable platforms. Although machines from other manufacturers were investigated, director Simon McKenzie believed it made sense to purchase another VUTEk printer so that the same productivity software, RIP and colour management capabilities were employed. "It is now easy to produce identical results regardless of the media we're using," he explains. "From an operator's perspective, the interface is the same and setting up each job is simplified and faster - an important element when fast change-over is required."
Based in Tyseley, Birmingham, Hollywood Monster works with many of the largest names in retail, commercial property and construction, sport, television and theatre. Innovation has been complemented by careful investment in the best production equipment and, with the right mix of talent and skill, the company maintains its leading place ahead of the competition.
"The VUTEk GS5000r brings us additional benefits, as well as producing high speed high quality print," states McKenzie. "Its versatility means that we can work with multiple rolls to enable us to produce three 1.62m wide jobs simultaneously, and the high opacity white ink has an advanced three-layering capability so that we can easily use non-white and coloured materials."
"Hollywood Monster has built up a very high reputation for producing the best quality interior and exterior displays, so it depends totally on quality and reliability in its printing machines," adds CMYUK Digital's Robin East. "The addition of the VUTEk GS5000r now enables the company to leverage the capabilities it offers its clients and cater for the increased demand in versatility."
CMYUK Digital is the UK's authorised distributor of EFI VUTEk wide- and superwide-format printers, as well as a specialist reseller for Mimaki UV-curable systems, A Berger soft sign and textile fabrics for digital printing, SpiritTEX display profiles for textiles, and Zünd flat-bed cutting tables. The company also offers full colour management set-up and trouble-shooting and a range of useful service options.


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Date grant awarded: 4/18/2017
Mama Dolfine is the soul and founder of the Dolfine Korando Faith Foundation, in Kisumu, Kenya. In 2006 she opened her own non-formal school, the Korando Educational Center, to educate the most marginalized children of the community.
When Torsten Kremser met Dolfine he was so inspired by her dedication towards the children that he just had to help her. This simple desire evolved into the Better Me Foundation. Together, we are working tirelessly to turn the educational center into a sustainable educational institution to give young people the tools and knowledge to lift themselves out of poverty.


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We're hiring. Are you the one?
We're hiring. Are you the one?
We're hiring. Are you the one?
Together with our customers and partners our people create outstanding results for the world of internal logistics. This is how we define the climate of excellence at Interroll.
The Interroll Global Employee Survey is open from April 3rd to April 17th 2019.
Your opinion matters!
The Interroll Academy is the education and training department of Interroll. For us, employee education and continuous development of competences is a core asset and a strategic goal.
Growth is not an option. It is our way to maintain leadership and strive for innovation. Culture for Growth is a corporate program about leadership and communication. It is all about strategic awareness and living our values. Take a look!
Our organisation fosters entrepreneurial thinking and drives dynamic growth. A genuine interest in the business of our customers is our source of inspiration.
Interroll Automation GmbH in Sinsheim, Germany, our global Center of Excellence for Conveyors & Sorters, introduces itself. "It starts with us!"


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lisap1278 (3)
Recent Reviews
Powell's books is simply amazing. It's always on a list of attractions, when I have family and friends visiting from out of town. Amazing used and new book inventory.
This bar is a good time, if you are in the mood to be in a very busy atmosphere. It reminds me of cocktail bars in Boston - fun, great energy & pricey. Staff is nice, but very busy on weekend nights. I found it worth the wait.
I think this bar is a great 'go to' sport pub in the Pearl to watch and play bar games. They have several flat screen tvs, shuffle board, pool and darts. Good times all around. During games, the downstairs becomes very busy, so services is sometimes a bit slow.