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Early learning goals for the pre-primary child
Curro Castles aim to inspire young minds to become extraordinary through the unique Curro nursery school curriculum. We focus on the holistic development of our children – with the main focus placed on building independence, confidence and a good self-esteem.
Our preschool curriculum is designed with Early Learning Goals (ELG) in mind. These include:
We focus on:
We strive to optimise learning and in order to do so we use each child's potential to learn from a young age. We pay special attention theories surrounding education and the science behind childhood development. This is all to ensure that our children receive the best possible education.
Children extend their boundaries of understanding by working to find solutions. This is done in an environment where dialogue between the educator and the child keeps the child motivated, stimulates his/her creative needs and also develops their cognitive abilities. The curriculum includes LEGO education learning concepts and the activities built around soft bricks form the important early foundation for later studies in Robotics.
Home away from home
Special attention is given to school readiness and brain development in accordance with the latest scientifically proven methods. Children leave Curro Castles not only with very special memories, but also a readiness for the demands of the big school and the outside world.
Curro Castles believe in the magic of childhood, the joy of being young and the unbridled innocence of youth.
The magic at Curro Castles is kept alive through fantasy surroundings, a variety of extramural activities and fun-filled holiday programmes.
Playgrounds are carefully designed and are equipped with play structures that provide an educational touch to playground games.
The safety of our children is of the utmost importance and therefore our Castle guard controls who enters and exits the Castle premises. We also have a full-time receptionist and security cameras.
Hygiene and maintenance are regarded as top priorities and are executed by a dedicated team of Castle workers.
At Curro Castle the emphasis is on the uniqueness of each child. The philosophy of Curro schools' is that every child is regarded as a competent learner from birth. Curro Castle knows that children develop and learn in different ways and at different paces. All areas of development and learning are equally important and inter-connected.
Progress reports regarding your little one's growth and development are sent out twice a year.


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This is my 5th almost-annual post about the flu shot and fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. Having YET AGAIN had a… "challenging"… experience with getting my daughter Miranda her flu vaccination, I've resigned myself that it will be a struggle every year.
Why is this so hard? The background issue is that because of her FOP, Miranda can't get an intramuscular injection. An injection into muscle creates trauma to the tissue, and that in turn can lead to an FOP flare-up which causes bone to form at or near the area of the injection (NOTE – to be extra confusing, this doesn't always happen – only sometimes). And, of course, the flu shot is normally administered intra-muscularly. Yes, there is a nasal mist option which is squirted up the person's nose, but at the present time that's not recommended for people with FOP because of various reasons which I won't go into (please contact me if you actually want the details). The only remaining option is to do the flu vaccination sub-cutaneously (just beneath the skin) as opposed to intra-muscularly. That's not the way it's done for the vast majority of the population, but it CAN be done that way.
So anyway, it turns out that public health nurses in BC, who do many of the flu vaccinations where we live, seem to be kind of squeamish about administering the flu shot sub-Q. This is, apparently, a pretty unusual thing for them, and I always get pushback about why it's necessary (sigh).
Several years ago, I looked into the issue and figured out that since my family physician and Miranda's paediatrician weren't offering the flu shot, the next best option was a public health nurse. I wasn't about to take Miranda to, you know, a pharmacist or walk-in medical clinic and have to deal with all the fun of explaining FOP. Our local public health office already has a file about Miranda, so I figured – and actually still think – that going there was the best option for a flu shot. As such, public health flu vaccine clinic it is.
I actually had fairly major difficulty getting the shot for Miranda in previous years. Should you want to read about this, enter "flu" into the search engine here on this website, and it will pull up my previous posts. Anyway, I have at least figured in the last couple of years how to minimize the difficulty. I've got a specific contact nurse at that health office, and since she knows the scoop about FOP and the need for sub-Q, I enlist her help in setting an appointment. She always tells me that she has put a note in Miranda's file explaining about the need for sub-Q. However, though I believe she has good intentions in that regard, that last important bit seems to somehow fall through the cracks. End result? Flu-shot-2015 ended up pretty much the same as the 2013 version (we didn't do one in 2014 because M was in a state of active FOP flare-up, and you can't do any vaccinations during that time).
What happened was this – we walked into the clinic earlier this week, and confirmed to the nurse that Miranda, Owen and I would all be getting our shots, and that Owen's and mine can be done the typical way but Miranda's must be sub-Q. The nurse stared at me blankly, and said, "We can't do the shot sub-cutaneously. It's intra-muscular only." ARGHH!! At which point I politely but firmly informed her that YES, it can indeed by done sub-Q, and that their office has done it for us numerous times that way. YES, I have looked into the issue in detail and confirmed that this is the ONLY option for Miranda. GAH… At least this nurse, to her credit, folded pretty quickly and agreed to do the sub-Q shot – a couple of previous times I've actually had them refuse and I've had to reschedule after all sorts of rigamarole. In any event, she did do all of our shots, and she did M's in the way I required, and I then said to the nurse: I've been told that there is a note in Miranda's file explaining the situation and stating that we need the shot sub-Q. Is that note not there? She then said that the flu clinic nurse doesn't even see anyone's file, so she has no idea (!!).
OK, note to self – in the future I'm going to ask our special contact at the clinic to not just leave a note in the file, as she says she has done, but instead to actually GO TO THE FLU CLINIC on the day of our appointment and explicitly explain the situation to the nurse on duty! Sheesh. I think our special contact at the clinic was unaware that the duty nurse that day doesn't see any person's specific file but just happily injects away…
So long story short, we did ultimately get the shot. Miranda had a modest bit of swelling at the injection site, and some redness. It was also, she said, a little bit sore, especially if bumped into, but not too bad.
After a few days, it looked like this…
I'm glad this is now over with for one more year.
And now, just because the holiday season is upon us, here is a Christmas-themed photo of Miranda…
PS – If you or your child has FOP and you're interested in getting in on the current Phase II testing of the potential FOP drug Palovarotene, of if you're interested in other ways to get involved with FOP medical research, please see the website of the International FOP Association at www.ifopa.org.

subset: commoncrawl


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RHN 20/2016 | Publication
English rural society underwent fundamental changes between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries with urbanisation, commercialisation and industrialisation producing new challenges and opportunities for inhabitants of rural communities. However, our understanding of this period has been shaped by the compartmentalisation of history into medieval and early-modern specialisms and by the debates surrounding the transition from feudalism to capitalism and landlord-tenant relations. Inspired by the classic works of Tawney and Postan, this collection of essays examines their relevance to historians today, distinguishing between their contrasting approaches to the pre-industrial economy and exploring the development of agriculture and rural industry; changes in land and property rights; and competition over resources in the English countryside. These case studies further highlight the regional diversity of medieval and early-modern England by focusing on the mixed economies of south-western, western and northern England, and the role of coastal and urban communities within the rural economy.
Custom was a contested set of rules based upon historical precedent which governed the behaviour of village communities, and a key theme of Tawney's Agrarian Problem was the 'struggle between custom and competition'. This collection of essays reconsiders the role of custom in medieval and early-modern England by arguing that it often facilitated the commercialisation of rural society in this period rather than hindering it. The book has an intentionally broad chronological span, ranging from the thirteenth century through to the eighteenth, exploring the interactions between custom and commercialisation during a key period in the economic development of English rural society.
The contributors include: James P. Bowen, John Broad, A.T. Brown, Christopher Dyer, John Gaisford, Tom Johnson, David Rollison, Simon Sandall, Alexandra Sapoznik, William D. Shannon, Sheila Sweetinburgh, and Andy Wood.
Source: www.herts.ac.uk


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Two babies are better than one... right?! Parents of twins share their adventures in parenting double-duty.
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When we're young and someone asks us what we want to be when we grow up, it's common for us to say things like astronaut, police officer, or firefighter. But as the years get on, our intentions change as we do.
Those responses are replaced by dreams as we enter Dream-land.
In Dream-land, we typically strive to become like the people we see – either in real life, or more frequently (for better or worse) on TV and in movies.
Television is discussed seriously in the article Mesmerized by TVs in Restaurants?, the Podcast episode Television, and light-heartedly in the article Confuse-cius' Wisdom – Becky.
Soon, we all want to be rockstars, movie stars, and professional athletes – for better or worse.
And so we set off, either chasing those dreams, or simply assuming that they'll become reality… just because it's meant to be.
After a few years, some people start to realize that being a rockstar might not be all that much fun.
Essentially, don't rockstars spend the majority of their time riding around in a tour bus or flying around the country, spending years trying to please fans and critics who, eventually, will toss them away, or at the very least say that they aren't as good as they used to be?
And don't most movie stars, especially the super-successful ones, lead increasingly isolated lives, surrounded by nice stuff, but leading sad lives as divorce follows divorce and the movie roles dry up.
Oh, and what about professional athletes?
Most of them only get to play for a few years, then get kicked off the team, injured, or retire to go broke shortly thereafter.
Still, some of us decide that those dreams are worth the almost-certain disappointments.
For everyone else, we move on.
And where do we go? We go to Goal-land.
In Goal-land, we work towards an awesome future. A future filled with things that we work, plan, and sacrifice for.
For many people, we strive for jobs. For others, we want to run a 5k, pray the Rosary regularly, or hike a new trail every month.
But what happens when someone stays somewhere between Dream-land and Goal-land? Is that okay?
Well, it depends.
On one hand, it can be good to hold on to our dreams. They may add a great deal to our hope.
On the other hand, they may keep us from fully allowing us to pursue new dreams and goals – ones that might fulfill us more than the dreams that we had when we were younger ever could.
But how do we know when it's time to let some dreams and goals go so that we can focus on new ones?
Let's pretend that we know that tomorrow will be our last day living this life. Which dreams or goals would you regret not working on?
If one of our dreams doesn't come to mind, then it's probably time to let it go.
If there are things that do come to mind, even if we hadn't considered them important to us, then it's time that we give them a place of importance in our stuff-to-think-about list.
What are some goals that you have that would surprise a younger version of you?


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Created primarily for agriculture science and technology teachers, Inside Oregon's Forests includes 12 weeks of lessons covering the history of Oregon forests; tree biology and forest types; the environmental, social and economic importance of forests; forest management; wildfire; and more.
The curriculum comes as a 316-page, spiral-bound book. The package includes lesson plans, labs and other activities plus a variety of related documents and videos. It was assembled by a professional curriculum writer and conforms to new state standards in math, science and literacy. Biology and environmental science teachers have also expressed interest in using the curriculum.


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By planning the activities ahead of time, I can be sure to have the supplies needed on hand and ensure that the appropriate card is placed in each box.
Now coming up with 25 service oriented activities for a 7,4, & nearly 2 year old was quite the challenge so there are a few "fluff" cards like visiting Santa and Hide & Seek Surprises (new Christmas books & movies the kiddies can hunt for around the house). Mainly though, the daily activity is one in which the littles are called upon to do something for, or give to, someone other than themselves. I tried to balance the activities' time requirements to allow for days when extracurricular activities are heavy and others where a good portion of the day will be occupied. And here is what I came up with:
Please feel free to use the printouts for your own family. I added a few extra hide & seek print cards to cover the items that are specific to our family like visiting Hubby's grandparents & baking bread for church. To access the file simply right click, save the jpg to your computer & then print clicking "fit to page".
I hope that 25 days of service to others will help to keep the true spirit of Christmas at the forefront of this Holiday season. To be honest, anything is a dramatic improvement over last year's candy laden boxes.


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If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or objects. ~ Albert Einstein
I believe you can't start any new creative endeavor without having an end game or goal in mind. That is true with this personal blog, with any reach for personal growth and with any project people set out to do.
The problem with me and goals, personal goals that is, I am terrible, nah, disastrous at them! Consistency is one of my many weaknesses and where I want to improve the most. Consistency in creative projects, my health and fitness goals, my community goals, the list goes on and on.
So in a glorious effort to start off on the right foot with this new creative space I have thought about what my goals are here in my little corner of the internet.
- Write with honesty and authenticity. Always. Even when it's difficult and especially when it's difficult.
- Write for myself not for others.
- Work writer collaborations into this space. I have learned I thrive when surrounded by people I respect, learn from and who lift me up. I would love for this to become a creative space for other storytellers. I believe everyone has a story to tell, no matter how small.
- Set a schedule for writing and commit to publishing a minimum of once a week.
- Leave the design, simple and clean. With my earlier blog, I would get hung-up on changing the design, layout, header, etc. I used that fiddling as a means of distraction and a way to put off publishing. I want to leave it as it is right now and let the words do the work.
- Push my creative limits by posting on topics I didn't 'think' would fit before. Creative posts on DIY, crafts, cooking, baking, fitness, humor, etc. I was too in my head before and felt like certain "topics" were off-limits. When in fact, everything is up for grabs because I am more than just a mom.
- Lastly, be kind to myself. Don't be so hard on myself when I slip up from a goal, both here and in real-life. My good friend Stephanie would always poke at me when I would tail-spin into thoughts of "How will I get THERE from HERE? // How can this EVER work?" She would sit, listen and kindly say over and over again "Baby Steps. Baby Steps, Sue." I hear you everyday Steph, everyday…
So the intention is set. Here we go…


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Ethereum Foundation hosted the first ever Ethereum India Summit featuring Vitalik Buterin Ethereum Inventor at the Blockchain India Week Mumbai 12-18 May 2017 – in partnership with Zero Field Labs, Fintech Storm.
Zero Field Labs recently concluded the Blockchain India Week in Mumbai, in collaboration with Ethereum Foundation and UK based Fintech Storm. The week was packed with interesting events to engage multiple stakeholders – the international hackathon held at IIT Mumbai campus, Buterin Hackfest, Blockchain Masterclass and culminated in the flagship Ethereum India Summit held at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel with the picturesque Gateway of India by the Arabian Sea as backdrop. Ms Arifa Khan, Ethereum Foundation's India Partner and CEO of Zero Field Labs, was chair person of Blockchain India Week and Ethereum India Summit.
Vitalik Buterin, Founder and Chief Scientist at Ethereum was the Chief Guest at Blockchain India Week. Mr Buterin kicked off his second India trip with a talk on Cryptocurrencies, Cryptoeconomics and the technological challenges of Blockchain protocols at IIT Mumbai on 16 May evening. Department of Computer Science, IIT Mumbai expressed interest in further collaborating with The Ethereum Foundation on research and academic projects.
More than 100 developers, business analysts and business developers participated in the event. Special guests included Vitalik Buterin, the inventor of Ethereum and Chief Scientist at Ethereum Foundation, Arifa Khan, Ethereum Foundation's India Partner, Rahul Bhasin, Managing Partner of Barings Private Equity India, Neeraj Kulshrestha Chief Business Officer of Bombay Stock Exchange, Andrew Keys Head of Global Business Development at ConsenSys.
Blockchain India Week hackathon was hosted at IIT Mumbai 12-14 May 2017 to explore the blockchain use-cases and build Proofs of Concept to demonstrate the power of decentralized applications on Ethereum platform for India-specific problems. The hackathon attracted over 100 blockchain experts from around the world. Teams valiantly tried to grapple several large scale India-centric problems that could lend themselves to blockchain. Interesting projects were built including Roji – a master-place application to build credit history for the blue-collar labour-market, Agrochain – crop information and agriculture provenance on the blockchain for farmers, a supply-chain management solution, invoice financing for SMEs where financiers bid for invoices, a micro payment channel etc.
Following on the heels of the hackathon, the teams continued to fine-tune their blockchain coding skills at the "Buterin Hackfest" hosted at L&T Infotech offices at Powai, under the guidance of several Ethereum experts. The teams were judged on 3 key criteria: practical applicability to solve real-world business problems, innovativeness of the solution, decentralisation aspect and blockchain as an integral part of the solution.
Five teams were shortlisted who got a chance to pitch their blockchain projects to Vitalik Buterin at the finale at Ethereum India Summit hosted at the iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel, Mumbai on 18 May 2017.
The winning team in the hackathon, "team Mjolnir" built a payment channel using Ethereum smart contracts. The project allows millions of transactions per second on top of Ethereum network. Vitalik Buterin honoured the team with "The Vitalik Buterin Prize for Blockchain Excellence" and invited the team members (Hrishikesh Huigolkar, Harsh Vakharia, Sohan Agate and Girish Ramnani) to contribute to research work on Ethereum.
The other events included Blockchain Masterclass where Vitalik Buterin himself guided the participants about the technology, showed off his coding skills on live net, answered hard questions, and demonstrated real applications built on ethereum.
Ethereum Foundation, Zero Field Labs, ConsenSys, L&T Infotech, Cognizant supported Blockchain India Week as Sponsor Partners. The Ethereum India Summit concluded with Vitalik Buterin encouraging and inspiring the community to custom-build advanced blockchain applications for the Indian market, and promising future support to the community through more direct interactions and regular expert forums. Arifa Khan promised to continue bridging gaps between India and the Blockchain expertise in the west and to continue to play a pioneering role in blockchain eco-system development in India by bringing together all stake-holders.
Issuing Company: Zero Field Labs Pvt Limited
Media Contact:
Ms Arifa Khan
Ethereum Foundation's India Partner
CEO Zero Field Labs Private Limited
340 The Highway
London, E1W3ES
ph 0044-7852312760


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"Crysis 3's" weak story hamstrings strong game-play
Perhaps you've seen the commercial: An armored figure struts fearlessly through battle in a wooded glade, blasting away a pack of soldiers with a shotgun, smiting a military helicopter with a bow and arrow, leaping ferociously into a melee with vicious aliens — seemingly without a care in the world — as ZZ Top's "Sharp-Dressed Man" thunders in the background.
This ad perfectly highlights much of what's right — and oh so wrong — with "Crysis 3."
In a nutshell, the good: versatile, explosive combat; the bad: that swaggering sense of invulnerability bolsters a sense of emotional detachment fostered by weak storytelling.
The armored figure is "Prophet," our hero. Clad in an nigh-invincible "nanosuit" partially of alien origin, he's on a quest to save the world from conquest by a human paramiltiary organization, Cell, as well as the alien Ceph. But didn't he vanquish both in the last game? Guess not.
The game opens as Prophet is rescued from Cell's clutches. No, we don't know how he fell into them following the events of "Crysis 2."
But his savior, a figure from his past, has an ulterior motive: Cell has taken over, thanks to its promise to provide New York's human remnants with free electricity — and needs the sort of thumping only a man clad in a high-tech battlesuit can deliver.
A predictable comedy of errors later, and the evil aliens have returned and humanity's continued existence is in serious doubt.
Unfortunately, by predictable, I mean really, really, really predictable. "Crysis 3" telegraphs its moves so horribly that you'll be ten steps ahead of this paint-by-numbers plot every step of the way.
Another major issue is that the grand scale of the crisis isn't adequately reflected in Prophet's interactions with the world around him. Humanity in jeopardy? Our hero has contact with only two kinds of people: the faceless minions of Cell, who are trying to kill him, and a truly meager assortment of allies, who are focused largely on interpersonal dramas and not the world-ending threat.
The result is a tale that struggles mightily to connect emotionally with players ... and fails miserably.
And that flaw hurts other aspects of the game.
For instance, there's the vast array of gorgeous backdrops that frame the action, painting a picture of nature's merciless encroachment on humanity's abandoned works.
Ordinarily, I'd consider the fantastically rendered scenery to be lush and vibrant. As I gaze across a depiction of a ruined rail yard, where untamed grass sprouts up among the trestles, I instinctively know the designers agonized over the proper placement of each and every blade of greenery.
And yet, because of how emotionally disconnected I am from the adventure, I can't help but feel it's all too cold and sterile, even as I leap forward into a situation akin to the raptor scene from "Jurassic Park II."
I know I should feel something more, but I can't. The poor storytelling creates a sense of emptiness, of ennui, that is very hard to counteract.
Combat suffers in similar fashion.
The emotional disconnect, coupled with the vast powers of Prophet's suit, evokes a false feeling that the player is invincible. I know it's false because I died plenty, mostly because I felt so invulnerable that I'd charge fearlessly into impossible situations.
Of course, part of that stems from the sheer power of Prophet's armor. As necessary, the player can briefly "harden" the suit into near-impregnability or cloak Prophet in complete invisibility. The former ability allows you to stand exposed amid the enemy, seemingly invincible. The latter lets you easily sneak around, cutting throats without a care.
Add in the ability to scan the environment to permanently pinpoint every enemy's position, and the overwhelming lethality of any weapon in Prophet's hands — especially his new bow and arrow — and yeah, the game's probably a little unbalanced in the player's favor ... at least on normal difficulty.
The excellence of enemy behaviors helps mitigate that flaw and keep the game enjoyable. For instance, Cell's soldiers have no troubles working together to flank and bombard the player. And Ceph footsoldiers have no problem swarming en masse, with some staying back and blasting from a distance while others rush forward to punch you in the face.
Good stuff.
By the way, if you played "Crysis 2," they've changed the flow of things this time around. In the previous game, a lot of battles were set up as very arena-like situations: The player entered an area from a safe vantage point, used the suit's visor to scan the battlefield — enemy positions, ammo caches, hiding places, etc., — and had ample opportunity to work out a plan of attack before initiating combat.
"Crysis 3" proceeds in a much more natural, organic manner.
Nonetheless, the game's single-player campaign isn't all it could be.
The multiplayer mode, however, is quite nice, even if I do really suck at it so far.
Yes, it's got all the predictable game types found in first-person shooters: variants of deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and king of the hill, as well as an infection variant of tag (where a team of hunters seek the hunted, as any hunted who is killed becomes one of the hunters).
Players have access to most of Prophet's abilities from single-player, i.e. hardening their armor briefly or roaming the battlefield while cloaked, but those powers are balanced out by other optional modifiers, such as sonar that "pings" when an enemy, even a cloaked one, is near. The result is a game that is balanced, strategic and competitive.
Optional gametypes allow players to compete in matches where nobody has access to suit abilities or in quickly decided fights where everyone has but one life to live.
Earning experience and leveling up through matches allows a player to gradually unlock new equipment, but the basics are available right from the start. And unlike "Crysis 2," so are all the match types.
So, overall, I recommend "Crysis 3's" multiplayer. I just wish I could recommend the full game as heartily.
"Crysis 3"
Publisher: EA.
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC. Reviewed on Xbox 360 using review copy sent by publisher.
Price: $59.99.
Rating: M for mature.
Recommendation: Players looking for a fun, competitive multiplayer experience should consider picking this up. But those aiming to stay offline should limit themselves to renting, given the game's predictable, paint-by-numbers single-player campaign.


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In September 2013 Mo's Ferry presents the fourth album "Smoke" by Dapayk & Padberg. After their last album "Sweet Nothings" on Stil Vor Talent in 2012 with its summery-funky sound the duo is now opening the door to a gloomy-melancholic world. Dapayk & Padberg consciously turn their back on the dancefloor and abandon the formerly typical balancing act between club sound and listening electronica. Even though the A side of the present single is certainly made for the DJs, it shall be the sole exception to their current creative path. The down-tempo version of "Smoke" on the B side already reveals the new Dapayk & Padberg uneasy listening mixture.
01. Smoke (Sun & Smoke Version)
02. Smoke (Album Version)


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Casualty Affairs
Light a Candle
The Archives
Military Prayers
Desert Storm
War on Terror
(post 9-11)
Hall of Heroes
Tomb Unknowns
The History
Medal of Honor
Honor Pyramid
The Ceremonies
Ceremonies PDF
POW Medal
Linking to Us
Our Other Sites
Military Wives
Air Force Wives
Army Wives
Coast Guard Wives
Marine Wives
Navy Wives
Reserve Wives
Military Husbands
Military KIDZ
The Unaccounted
Korean War:
Vietnam War:
Cold War:
1991 Gulf War:
Freedom isn't free!
There are heroes in the thousands who have been held as prisoners of war or whose fate has never been resolved. Many have been lost in the chaos of battle, the grief of their loss made more acute for their families and their fellow Americans because of the inability to determine whether these heroes perished or survived. Americans captured, cruelly stripped of their freedom, treated with contempt and brutality, or used as pawns by their captors in a larger political struggle, have fought long, lonely battles against despair, physical and psychological torture, and the ultimate fear of being forgotten.
The citizens of the United States owe a great debt of gratitude to these heroes. So it is with deep respect, great pride and the utmost dignity that we present the following ceremonies -
Missing Man Table & Honors Ceremony
The POW MIA Remembrance Ceremony
Missing Man Table & Honors Ceremony
As you entered the dining area, you may have noticed a table at the front, raised to call your attention to its purpose -- it is reserved to honor our missing loved ones [or missing comrades in arms, for veterans].
Set for six, the empty places represent Americans still [our men] missing from each of the five services -- Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard - and civilians. This Honors Ceremony symbolizes that they are with us, here in spirit.
Some [here] in this room were very young when they were sent into combat; however, all Americans should never forget the brave men and women who answered our nation's call [to serve] and served the cause of freedom in a special way.
I would like to ask you to stand, and remain standing for a moment of silent prayer, as the Honor Guard places the five service covers and a civilian cap on each empty plate.
Honor Guard:
(In silence or with dignified, quiet music as background, the Honor Guard moves into position around the table and simultaneously places the covers of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard, and a civilian hat, on the dinner plate at each table setting. The Honor Guard then departs.)
Please be seated ....... I would like to explain the meaning of the items on this special table.
The table is round -- to show our everlasting concern for our missing men.
The tablecloth is white -- symbolizing the purity of their motives when answering the call to duty.
The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and the[ir] loved ones and friends of these Americans who keep the faith, awaiting answers.
The vase is tied with a red ribbon, symbol of our continued determination to account for our missing.
A slice of lemon on the bread plate is to remind us of the bitter fate of those captured and missing in a foreign land.
A pinch of salt symbolizes the tears endured by those missing and their families who seek answers.
The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God.
The glass is inverted -- to symbolize their inability to share this evening's [morning's/day's] toast.
The chairs are empty -- they are missing.
Let us now raise our water glasses in a toast to honor America's POW/MIAs and to the success of our efforts to account for them.
The POW MIA Remembrance Ceremony
As you entered the banquet hall this evening, you may have noticed a small table in a place of honor. It is set for one. This table is our way of symbolizing the fact that members of our profession of arms are missing from our midst. They are commonly called POWs or MIAs, we call them "Brothers." They are unable to be with us this evening and so we remember them.
This Table set for one is small -- Symbolizing the frailty of one prisoner alone against his oppressors. Remember!
The Tablecloth is white -- Symbolizing the purity of their intentions to respond to their country's call to arms. Remember!
The single Red Rose displayed in a vase reminds us of the families and loved ones of our comrades-in-arms who keep the faith awaiting their return. Remember!
The Red Ribbon tied so prominently on the vase is reminiscent of the red ribbon worn upon the lapel and breasts of thousands who bear witness to their unyielding determination to demand a proper accounting of our missing. Remember!
The Candle, the candle is lit -- Symbolizing the upward reach of their unconquerable spirit. Remember!
A Slice of Lemon is on the bread plate to remind us of their bitter fate. Remember!
There is Salt upon the bread plate -- Symbolic of the families tears as they wait. Remember!
The Glass is inverted -- They cannot toast with us this night. Remember!
The Chair -- The chair is empty. They are not here. Remember!
Remember! -- All of you who served with them and called them comrades, who depended upon their might and aid, and relied upon them, for surely, they have not forsaken you.
Remember! -- Until the day they come home, Remember!
1. A small, round bistro table
2. White tablecloth
3. Single place setting, preferably all white
4. Wine glass - inverted
5. Salt shaker
6. Slice of lemon on bread plate with a pile of spilled salt
7. Small bud vase with a single stem red rose
8. RED ribbon tied around the vase
9. Candle - lit
10. Empty chair
PDF of this ceremony
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birthday , buttercream , cupcakes , kids/babies , roses/flowers , wedding
A Beautiful Birthday and Rapid Rosettes
I take back all the times I thought I was busy. I've been in beast mode working late every day for the past couple months and bringing home work on weekends. A lot of people have been asking to place orders, and I feel so bummed out I have to decline due to the fact that I f*cking need sleep. Any baking I do has to be carefully planned in advance and done given 3 hours of shut-eye. My little baby cousin's birthday was coming up, and since I didn't get to see this little sweetie and her crazy awesome bro last month at our family get-together, I was determined to bake something for the party.
A couple weeks before X's birthday, I got one of the best emails from a then-potential customer. She said, "Hello, First, I find your website fantastic – you're witty, direct, and balls out. Of course, your work is amazing…" It was like, YES, this lady totally gets it!!! She was planning a party for her parents' 50th anniversary (kudos to them!) and wanted classy cupcakes for the celebration to be delivered the day after my cousin's birthday. The order was basic enough, so I decided, "F it. I'm going to make TONS of cupcakes for BOTH events. I can totally do this!" I guess I was too excited to factor in sleep for that weekend, per usual. Read More
birthday , buttercream , cakes , cupcakes , custom design , experiments , holiday , kids/babies , roses/flowers , wedding
A Garden Wedding
Summer means wedding season, and I absolutely love baking and decorating for special occasions like these. A family friend asked if I could bake for her son's wedding brunch, and I couldn't refuse, especially since it was such a simple request: 36 packaged cupcakes as wedding favors and a small cutting cake for the bride and groom. At first, she wanted simple vanilla cupcakes with sage green swirls and nice wrappers, but after seeing this, she asked if I could make grass and flowers on each of the cupcakes.
birthday , buttercream , cake pops , cupcakes , roses/flowers , wedding
Bouquets of baked goods and bonbons
Our family friends J & D are getting hitched and Vin and I have the honor of being in their wedding next month (so soon!). J's bridal shower was hosted @ our house, so I took a day off to bake cupcakes for the bride and the guests, make the shower favors, and CLEAN.
Friday morning started off nice and easy and I loved the natural light that came in through the kitchen window. I prepped for vanilla cupcakes, EXCEPT I used the water bottle method to separate my eggs. The ol' yolk extraction and drop off trick. This is totally my new favorite thing. I want to make custards and ice cream and macarons or meringue just to have an excuse to play with my food like this! It was so easy and squeals of excitement ensued, and Vin watched me demonstrate the technique on my last yolk. I just wanted to point out that the bottle loses some of its vacuum suction power after a dozen or so squeezes. After I was done getting a kick out of sucking up and squeezing out egg yolks, I baked a few dozen vanilla cupcakes and a bunch of minis to bring to Vin's family and give my co-workers.
birthday , buttercream , cake pops , cakes , custom design , experiments , fondant , roses/flowers , wedding
Memorial Day weekend part 1: wedding
Part 1 comes with big news: I made my first official wedding cake for one of my closest friends. Em and I met while we were camp counselors for inner-city kids (it was hilarious b/c a lot of them were bigger than we were) and we shared a cozy apartment in Jersey City during college. Our boyfriends (now husbands) got along b/c they were both conservative and liked talking politics and Em and I got along b/c we were both super sarcastic tiny tough cookies. =) When we turned 21 (our birthdays are just 5 days apart), we trudged over to the fancy Astor Place Wine and Liquor store during a blizzard so we could proudly whip out our legal drinking age driver's licenses. We bought some obscure orange-flavored vodka just b/c they were giving free samples of it and @ the register… nothing. I distinctly remember that we were bundled up and had cute woven hats and big puffy winter jackets b/c it was so cold and sh*tty outside so I'm pretty sure to most people we looked like we were eleven… MAYBE twelve years old, but the cashier didn't card us or ask for ID @ all. That was a relative bummer. haha I was super psyched when she told me S had proposed, and when she and her fiance asked me to do their wedding cake and favors, I said, "YES!!!"
I met up with Em and the now-Mr. Em for lunch several months ago and they brought me a tear out of the cake they wanted from some bridal mag. I took one look @ it and said I could definitely do it. I asked them about what flavors and how many people, the color and theme, etc… and it seemed pretty straight forward. Em wanted the cake and favors to be pastel themed, and I said I could make her cake look exactly like this picture (minus the flower toppers)…
…and for her wedding favors… I suggested cake balls. I would make them pastel pink, packaged in white boxes in pale green tissue paper. The future Mr. Em was more interested in the cake flavor itself, and gave his input for one tier being chocolate, one tier red velvet, and one tier vanilla. I hugged them both and said, "You got it!" and started buying ingredients and equipment for their cake.
The local Michael's has a big cake supply aisle, but the stock changes on a weekly basis. I'd say that half the stuff in that aisle is useless to me. I found they had cake pans, but wasn't thrilled with the selection so I bought them on amazon. They DID however have a sale on the candy coating I needed for the wedding favors AND I had a coupon for the entire order, so I stocked up and filled a whole cabinet shelf in our pantry with candy melts. And when Stop 'n Shop had a sale on butter… I stuffed AT LEAST 20 pounds of it in our freezer and downstairs fridge. For the next few months, I just collected equipment and materials needed for their wedding cake so that I'd just have to buy fresh eggs and milk to bake a couple days just before the wedding.
I requested 2 days off before their wedding to have ample time to bake and decorate. With this big project, I needed additional equipment. I broke out the "twins" and opened the 2nd mixer I bought myself as a Christmas present. I used both Thing 1 and Thing 2 to mix the chocolate and red velvet cake batter, baked one tier @ a time and while the cakes were baking in the oven, I cleaned out the mixer to get ready for the vanilla cake batter. Preparing 2 batters at the same time is WAY more efficient than prepping one at a time. It was so awesome. While the cake layers were baking (they took MUCH longer than cupcake batches), I prepped bright pink fondant for the the flower accents on the middle tier. Once all the cake layers were baked, I set them on the dining room table to totally cool and whipped up gallons of frosting: vanilla to go with the chocolate and vanilla tiers and cream cheese frosting to go with the red velvet.
I dirty iced the cakes and left them in the fridge overnight. Look how awesome my packrat and storage skills are in the above pic; after readjusting the shelves I made use of every nook and cranny in that refrigerator and crammed everything into the "Snacks/Fruits", "Vegetables" or "Meats/Cheese" drawers to make room for the cakes. That was end of day 1. Day 2 started with mixing crumbled cake with vanilla frosting and hand-rolling cake balls. I let them harden in the fridge and melted pastel pink candy melts for dipping, then hand-punched white fondant blossoms and added pink sugar beads to top off the favors. The favors were the easier part of the wedding project; out of the 79 balls I made, I only had two f*ck ups. Nice job, Me. Anyway, I wrapped up the balls in pale green tissue paper and boxed them up as individual favors. I wish I had more time to let the fondant harden though… I realized the pressure of the tissue paper may have squished the fondant flowers a tiny bit =/
Now that the wedding is over, I have a confession to make; I almost had a baked good breakdown @ 10 pm on day 2, a mere 12 hours before I had to deliver the cake. I didn't have time to make tons of marshmallow fondant (also known as "MMF"), so I shopped and sampled around and found a readymade fondant that actually tasted pretty similar to MMF. I ordered a huge @ss 10-lb tub of it and didn't open the container till last night b/c I didn't want to expose the fondant to air before actual use. When I ripped off the lid, I found that the plastic covering for the fondant was not airtight and secure, so the fondant was pretty damn stiff to the touch. A wave of panic started to set in and I sliced off a small section of the ten-pound chunk to see if I could zap some life into it in the microwave. Thank God that trick worked, otherwise I would have just broken down in tears since the only other option was to make my own fondant, and I was already on a time crunch. I would never, ever tell Em all this BEFORE the wedding since that's the worse thing you could do to a bride before she gets married!
I started off kneading pink food color into a hunk of fondant for the top layer. Kneading salvaged fondant is a highly recommended upper body workout… wow. I'm surprised full time cake decorators don't all have Michelle Obama arms. Around 1015 pm I started getting tired so I decided to take a powernap. Vin was all irritated with me and was like, "… Baby, what are you doing you have so much more to do you can't sleep now!" And I just told him to wake me up in an hour and I needed a little sleep @ SOME point to recharge a bit, so might as well do it now. @ 1115 he poked me to get up and I said, "15 more minutes." @ 1145 he was going to bed and I mumbled something in my state of half-consciousness about my cell phone alarm waking me up @ midnight, but like a good husband, Vin made sure I got up. I rubbed my eyes, tied up my hair, washed my hands, and got back to decorating the tiers. It took a couple tries to put fondant on the cake tiers. The fondant was too sticky and would start to tear, or I didn't roll out a big enough piece… or it was always SOMETHING. The top layer was the first one I did, and to be honest it looked a little rough. Luckily, I knew there would be white ribbon covering the bottom so that would hide some of the wrinkles. The middle tier had blue fondant, and it took three attempts to get it right. By the time I got to the bottom tier I finally figured out to patch 2 pieces of fondant together and knew this would be fine since strategically placed fondant stripes would cover it. I rolled and punched out white fondant circles for the top layer and worked on measuring and cutting the fondant ribbons for the bottom tier. I tried my best to match the colors from the photo (I've been studying it everyday for the past month as if I were the bride-to-be getting married and couldn't wait to see her cake haha). For the middle tier, just measured and marked where the fondant flower buds would go. The last prep step was putting in hidden straws to keep the cake from collapsing into itself. I put in @ least 10 straws on the bottom tier (these cakes were wayyyy heavier than they look) and stuck 7 in the middle tier. I found a box that would fit the bottom tiers, and my 10″ cake boxes were used for the top and middle. The sun was coming up as I let the cake fondant dry out a little and started to get ready for the party.
When we were packing up the car with the cake tiers and rest of the decorations (and emergency disaster supplies), paranoia and fear started to set in and I was on the verge of freaking out. We had secured the cake boxes with random boxes of stuff from the house, just to stabilize the cakes and HOPEFULLY prevent my hard work from sliding around in the car. The night before Vin had said, "I worry about the drive up… I hope the cakes will be OK, ya know?" and I said, "Eh, they'll be fine," and brushed it off. But just as he backed out of the driveway and made a sudden stop to avoid hitting a cute bunny, we heard a quick distinct "swoosh" of something heavy shifting in the trunk. I gasped and held my breath and the color drained from my face as the doubt started to set in… Did I secure it enough? Maybe I should have put them in the back seat instead of the trunk of the SUV? Were the boxes too big? Too small? Would the fondant sag? Would the cakes get dented? Would the fondant tear and crack or fall off? WOULD THIS BE A COMPLETE DISASTER???
If this ended up being a mess, I would have cried more than Em about the cake; she'd brush it off and say it was fine, I'm sure of it. haha It was the most nerve wracking 90 minute drive ever. I was so neurotic and kept saying things like, "Maybe we should pull over so I can check… Maybe I can climb into the backseat and peek into the trunk to make sure the cakes are OK… Maybe–" and luckily, when I'm a bundle of nerves, Vin takes his turn being the sane, calm one (usually my job) and wouldn't stop the car and wouldn't let me look and kept reassuring me everything would be fine. As soon as we pulled into a parking spot @ the restaurant, I jumped out of the car and made a beeline to the trunk and moved the junk boxes away and… they were pretty much OK. Thankfully, Vin was right <3 I think I finally let out the breath of air I was holding the whole drive. There were a few tiny dents in the fondant on the bottom tier and top tier, but it really wasn't bad at all. Vin and Em's sister helped me carry the tiers into the restaurant and I started to set up the cake.
I got a little anxious seeing that I was supposed to finish stacking and decorating right out in the open while people were watching, but after the initial "whoa" I just focused on getting this done. I bought this nice white cake base and put the bottom tier on it. Centering and stacking the middle tier was tricky; you kind of only get one shot and you have to be quick about it. I held the second tier with the edges of my fingertips, looked down over the bottom and eyeballed the center… and then basically just dropped it on to the bottom with a big plop. I did the same with the top layer, but since it was tougher to gauge the center as it was more elevated and I couldn't look straight down, I think it was a TEENY bit off center. And I was mad @ this stupid air bulge that had formed under the fondant. Bah. But the cake was solidly stacked and was totally even and stable and I was glad the hardest part was done. Not bad for an engineering school drop out, eh? I wrapped pink and white ribbons around the bottom of the tiers (yay for masking most of the unsightly amateur fondant wrinkles!) and poked the fondant flowers into the middle tier. Em's mom had given me the cake toppers (they were cute little bride and groom birds that looked like the Twitter logo and matched perfectly!) and I placed them facing each other. Once that was done, I think I finally smiled a little for the first time in a couple days.
I ran up to the bridal suite to get changed (my pants were covered in powdered sugar and Vin said I got it all over the passenger seat) and I got to see the bride. Em looked absolutely stunning. So beautiful! S looked spiffy in his suit and Vin complimented his cool vest. They had such a nice ceremony with the sun shining and a gorgeous view and special tear-jerking vows they wrote for each other. I gave her and her new husband a huge hug and was so happy for them. They looked so sweet and in love. <3 While they were busy with photos, Vin and I mingled and sampled some delicious food. Everything was excellent. It really was a perfect wedding day for a wonderful couple =)
I still didn't feel like I was off the hook yet until the bride and groom tried the cake. Em fed her newly minted husband a forkful from the bottom tier (chocolate) and I wiggled my way up front to watch their reaction. He gave a thumbs up! Then he fed Em a bite and she gave me this knowing smile. I think that's when all the worry slipped away. I was finally satisfied and relieved and had this huge grin on my face. I slipped in and got a pic with the lovely bride and groom with the cake and Em pointed out to everyone, "This is the baker. She made the cake AND the delicious cake balls you have as favors, too." =) Our table was served the middle vanilla tier (though I was the lone wolf and was given chocolate… but it was good I could check to see how that tier came out) and I got feedback saying it was light and fluffy and tasted really good. I was so incredibly happy everything turned out well and that my friends loved their cake. Em said that everyone kept telling her how beautiful the cake was, and she had gone around telling the guests that her old roommate made it. Actually she said, "People keep coming up to us raving about the cake and saying how amazing it is and I just keep saying to them, 'See that pretty little Asian lady? My friend Katherine made it.'" <3
I passed out in the car ride home and I wanted to type up this post, but I couldn't keep my eyes open for long. But all the work, worry, and lack of sleep was well worth it to make a special bride and groom happy. As long as they're happy, I'm happy. Congratulations, you two!!! =D
Stay tuned for Part 2, coming right up!
birthday , custom design , experiments , gum paste , roses/flowers , wedding
Happy Mother's Day… a.k.a. "Big Leagues, B*tches"
I was so super psyched that we were going to see my mom for Mother's Day (she was happy about that, too). I haven't been feeling well lately and one of the few things that makes you feel better is just being around mom. I wanted to get her a really nice gift since we don't get to see her often, and I knew that my mom loves flowers so I had an idea… not just give a bouquet that would wilt and die within a week, but one that would last forever. Well, as long as you don't get it wet or drop it.
About a month ago, I decided I wanted to make a bunch of sugar paste flowers for my mom. My friend K and I took a brief and somewhat rushed gum paste crash course that gave an overview of the general steps to make roses. The class was the only decorating class I've ever taken (and probably ever will take) and it felt like I was part of a cooking show. You know how everything is already all prepped and the perky host does a few steps, pops it in the oven, you blink an eye and a readymade ____ is done? It was kind of like that. We did one step, stopped, got dried parts of the rose made by someone else, did another step, stopped, got the next part of the rose made by someone else. I wasn't too thrilled with that, but after seeing all the steps involved I made mental notes of what to change when I made gum paste roses… mine from start to finish.
If done properly, a full bloom would take about a week to do. You do a step, let it dry overnight, do the next layer, let it dry overnight, and so on. I bought a couple bags of prepared Wilton gum paste and was pissed to find that one bag had already started drying out. I tried to salvage it and kneaded pink food color into the mixed paste, but it was still tough to work with. There were tips and tricks online, saying that adding shortening or popping it into the microwave for a bit would help, but the end result with the pink roses weren't nearly as nice, just b/c I couldn't shape the petals more since it dried out too quickly.
birthday , buttercream , cupcakes , roses/flowers , wedding
The rose cupcakes actually weren't what I originally had in mind. I'm somewhat annoyed so just look @ the pictures while I quietly sulk about it. All I'm gonna say is if the day ever comes that I can no longer make buttercream roses in my sleep, that'll be the end of the world.
Note to self: requests for blue + green swirl frosting = cupcakes that look like "Earth".
buttercream , cupcakes , custom design , experiments , fondant , holiday , roses/flowers
Happy Mother's Day!
Last Mother's Day I made two small vanilla cakes for Vin's mom and decorated them with some of the first frosting roses I've ever made. I remember one had chocolate frosting with pink roses cascading down the side, and the other had white vanilla frosting with lavender roses. I didn't take any pictures @ the time b/c I considered it to be practice and didn't think I'd really continue decorating cakes and baking. Oh well. I guess if anyone orders a wedding cake from me in the near future, I can make basic tiers with borders and *drumroll please* cascading roses. Because I haven't tried anything else. haha
It's weird to think that a year has passed since I took up this hobby. I don't feel like I'm significantly better @ it since I haven't really had a chance to practice or learn any new techniques, and to be honest I really don't think I'll ever have the time to ever take legit cake decorating classes. I guess being meticulous and adventurous helps make the baking look and taste good. And having a photographer for a husband and a studio in the basement isn't a bad thing, either. But I do strive to make things that are slightly out of the ordinary or challenge myself to make things outside of the cake mix box, so to speak. Being that it's Mother's Day, I had to make something special for Vin's mom that was better than last year's cakes. (Unfortunately my mom is too far away to get the same gift; the best I could do was have flowers sent =( Boo.) With my current work schedule and still being tired/achy, I didn't have time to construct a cake masterpiece. So I thought, what could I do that's relatively simple yet still be spectacular? What am I good @? Cupcakes… frosting roses… I'll make huge rose cupcakes!
I made some chocolate cupcakes… well, 96 chocolate cupcakes to be exact, since I also had to fulfill another Mother's Day order and had another request for Lakers-themed cupcakes (and I always bake extra). It was a pretty big baking weekend for me, but it felt good diving headfirst into the deep end again. It made me feel "normal" again. That and baking in wedge heels = I was back in business. (I used to bake and decorate barefoot but spending hours flat on my feet really hurt and I've since worn 4″-heeled wedge shoes to put less weight on the balls on my feet… b/c wearing sneakers would simply be too obvious of a solution =)
I crushed some chocolate, graham cracker and pretzels in the food processor to simulate "dirt" in the planter for my mother-in-law's baked gift. And I was going to make green fondant leaves to put it instead of green icing since I figured, hey, might as well go big or go home (wait…). Unfortunately, the rest of my awesome plan didn't work out so well. I kneaded green food coloring for the fondant leaves to put around the pot, but everything else took so long that the fondant started drying out before I could place it where I wanted. And then I couldn't get the perfect frosting flavor + consistency (again, the balance between taste and stiffness drove me up the wall) so my icing flowers came out a little softer than I liked. And then I didn't put enough stabilizing sticks in the planter so the cupcakes didn't stay on the pot. My original plan to put 6 roses in the pot surrounded by fondant leaves turned out to be a disaster b/c I was out of time (had to make a delivery for a customer and head to the T house for dinner), I was THIS close to smashing the clay pot since this really shouldn't have been this difficult. So with Vin's assistance, we ended up with one single rose cupcake in a planter as a quick fix.
Et voila…
Here's to constantly one-upping myself all the time… this may kill me if I keep it up. haha
Happy Mother's Day to my mom and grandma, too! <3
buttercream , cupcakes , custom design , experiments , roses/flowers
Super Bowl Sunday: Beercakes and fun with frosting
I don't usually use the full amount of sugar suggested in recipes, but I guess the bitterness of the beer and the tartness of the sour cream called for more sweet stuff. The cupcakes baked 10 minutes faster than stated in the recipe and I broke one open to see how it came out. The texture was just a little bit denser than my regular cakes, and the taste was pretty interesting. I could still smell the scent of Guinness and Vin said it tasted creamy. The addition of the Bailey's frosting pulled it together really well!
Over the holidays I raided my mom's cake decorating tool set (muahahahaaaa). I took some unique cake tips that definitely are no longer sold at Michael's, and one of them was this neat little metal tip that made the frosting look like thin noodles. These squiggles, or "ramen" according to Vin, looked fun on the mini cupcakes. Perfect, uniform designs are so time-consuming, and it was nice to be able to just play around with the icing and be messy =)
I also took a HUGE flower tip from my mom's cake set and piped a big Bailey's frosting rose on a regular cupcake for the hell of it. I didn't have the patience to put pretty roses on the rest of the cupcakes, so I just used a star tip on the remaining 29 cakes.
Beer + cupcakes = perfection. Duh. =)
|NOW we're ready for Super Bowl XLV!


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3ds Max FumeFx 參數介紹
3.Advection Stride:(max:1.0) 對流的程度,對流愈強消散愈快,個人認為這沒啥用。
4.Time Scale:(max:10)模擬時間的級數,可以把它當作速度和時間的乘項。
8.Velocity Damping:(max:1.0)速度的遲緩度,基本上我建議這只適合用在有煙的模擬,大小不要超過0.1。
9.Burn Rate:(max:100)看下圖就了解了。
10.Heat Production:這決定了燃燒每個百分比的Fuel的溫度上升率。
12.Dissipation Strength:(max:100)這是決定流體尾巴的長短,流體的損耗度。
13.Fuel Amount\Temperature Amount\Smoke Amount:這三個是關於每個立體像素所對應的量,max:100\9999\9999
|Written by Mihai Panait
|Thursday, 19 June 2008 20:26
The FumeFX UI Floater Window is your main command center for creating and controlling effects with FumeFX plug-in. It is a modeless, floating dialog box that contains a wide range of controls, which are logically organized into a toolbar and five tabbed panels. To access this window: select a FumeFX object in your scene; click on the 3ds Max Modify icon; and then, select the FumeFX UI button to toggle it open.
I've done some tests on the most important properties to see how each affect the look of the fire. This tests are intended to save you some render time by reducing the number of tries, if you have a clear image in your mind about how your fire should look like. You can download the animated version from the link at end of this article.
Spacing (General Parameters Rollout) - This parameter directly affects the detail level in your simulation. Type in or use the spinner to set the spacing of the voxel-based grid. The chosen value defines voxel size; smaller voxel size allows for more voxels in simulation, which produces greater detail.
Quality (Simulation Rollout) - This defines simulation realism. Higher quality increases realism, but means more computation and slower simulation performance. This is sometimes necessary; for example, it is advisable to increase quality for fast moving objects. Another way to look at Quality is that this number represents how many times the the Maximum Iterations will be used to determine the simulation.
Advection Stride (Simulation Rollout) - The lower this stride is, the less dissipation of velocity and smoke will happen. It is a more or less inverse proportion to simulation time.
Time Scale (Simulation Rollout) - Use this to speed up or slow down the passage of time during simulation. If you set it to 0, the simulation comes to a halt; set a higher value to increase speed. If you accelerate time by some significant amount (>1.5x), you will have to increase the simulation steps as well to preserve stability and continuity. Also, note that you can animate this parameter.
Gravity (Simulation Rollout) - This value defines gravity strength. Note that this affects smoke, based on the smoke's density value.
Buoyancy (Simulation Rollout) - This value defines how much the fluids will rise in correspondence with the temperature.
Vorticity (Simulation Rollout) - This parameter is very useful for coarse grids, where simulations lack detail. When you increase grid detail then the need for vorticity is lowered, since the simulation itself will result in more detail. Higher vorticity will increase the number and strength of small vortices in the fluid.
Velocity Damping (Simulation Rollout) - This gradually slows down the speed of flow, simulating internal friction.
Burn Rate (Fuel Rollout) - The percentage of fuel in each voxel that is burned with each frame. Heat production and Expansion depend on the amount of burned fuel.
Heat production (Fuel Rollout) - This determines the rate of temperature increase per burned fuel. With high heat production, temperature in the grid will increase, causing fluid to rise faster (due to the buoyancy parameter).
Expansion (Fuel Rollout) - This determines the rate of pressure increase per burned fuel. Excessive expansion can create extreme velocities and cause simulation times to increase significantly.
Dissipation Strength (Smoke Rollout) - The higher this value, the more rapidly smoke will diminish. This parameter is expressed as percentage of voxel value that will be lost.
Fuel Amount (Object Source Parameters Rollout) - This is the fuel amount that is set or added to each voxel.
Temperature Amount (Object Source Parameters Rollout) - This is the temperature amount that is set or added to each voxel.
Smoke Amount (Object Source Parameters Rollout) - This is the smoke amount that is set or added to each voxel.


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It was only a matter of time before fashion designers started to ride the 3D wave! Oakley recently released some "optically correct" Real D glasses, but they weren't exactly everyone's cup of tea.
However, Gucci has latched on to the fact that most 3D glasses are darn ugly, and has done something about it! These Gucci "optically correct" Real D frames, are styled with the same 80's look as the rest of Gucci's eyewear in its recent summer collection.
They have a high-tech multi-layer mirrored coating too, which prevents distortion when you check out your new look in the mirror.
They are available only from US stores in December – though looking cool in 3D will set you back a pretty penny…$225 to be exact.
Via Luxist


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By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 29, 2010; A01
FBI agents arrested 10 people on charges that they spent years in the United States as spies for Russia, taking on fake identities and trying to ferret out intelligence about U.S. policy and secrets by making connections to think tanks and government officials, the Justice Department said Monday.
The arrests Sunday capped an almost surreal investigation that extended to the Clinton administration and involved video surveillance, hidden microphones and surreptitious FBI searches of homes along the East Coast. It climaxed Saturday with a fake "drop" in a park in Arlington County, when one of the suspects left $5,000 in an envelope inside a folded newspaper, which was recovered by the FBI.
Three of those arrested lived in Arlington, and court documents depict a trail of covert meetings between the suspects and undercover agents just blocks from the White House and in midtown Manhattan. At one point, agents videotaped an alleged conspirator brushing past his Russian handler and surreptitiously exchanging bags to be paid.
The operation, referred to by U.S. investigators as "the Illegals program," was aimed at placing spies in nongovernmental jobs, such as at think tanks, where they could glean information from policymakers and Washington-connected insiders without attracting attention.
Whether it succeeded was unclear Monday. Federal law enforcement officials portrayed their operation as a spectacular counterintelligence success that uncovered a group of spies capable of doing great damage to U.S. national security. "I can't remember a case where we've been able to arrest 10 intelligence officers from a foreign country in one fell swoop," one official said. "This network in the United States has now been completely compromised."
But other officials said the Russian network appears to have accomplished little, if any, of its espionage aims, even though some of the suspects had lived in this country for up to two decades.
"These are people trying to get inside the tent that you would expect to see more charges on if they had succeeded in doing so," said one U.S. official familiar with the investigation, who added, "It certainly is a wake-up call" for those on the alert for Russian spying.The defendants
Eleven people face charges in federal court in Manhattan that include conspiring to act as unauthorized foreign agents and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They were not charged with espionage. Ten of the suspects were arrested Sunday in raids in Arlington, New York, New Jersey and Boston; the 11th remains at large.
All of those arrested appeared in federal courts Monday and were ordered held without bond. All will be moved to Manhattan for trial.
Prosecutors said in court that additional search warrants are being executed nationwide.
No one answered the telephone late Monday afternoon at the news media office for the Russian Embassy. A State Department spokesman referred questions on the case's potential diplomatic sensitivities to the Justice Department.
The defendants, eight of whom are married couples, held jobs in fields such as finance and media. One, Vicky Pelaez, was a reporter for a Spanish-language newspaper in New York, officials said. Mikhail Semenko, who was arrested at his residence in Arlington, worked in New York in 2008 and last year for the Conference Board, which provides economic data, the organization said.
Semenko, who is fluent in Russian, English, Mandarin and Spanish, has worked at the Travel All Russia travel agency in Arlington for more than a year, said Slava Shirokov, a co-owner. He said Semenko was known as a smart, hard-working and polite employee who helped Chinese and Hispanic travelers plan trips.
"It's straight from a movie. I would never think of anything like this happening to Mikhail," he said. "It still seems quite surreal."
Attorneys for several of the defendants did not return calls seeking comment. The names of attorneys for other defendants could not be determined Monday.Court files
Court documents contain hints, often byzantine, about the nature of the information that the suspects might have obtained. One defendant, whose alias was allegedly "Donald Howard Heathfield," made contact with a government official at a seminar and discussed "research programs on small yield, high penetration nuclear warheads," the documents said.
But it is unclear whether the information was passed to the headquarters of Russian foreign intelligence -- known as "Moscow Center" -- which officials said ran the operation, and there is no indication the data were secret or classified.
Two people arrested in New Jersey, known as "Richard Murphy" and "Cynthia Murphy," were instructed to obtain information about the U.S. position on a new strategic arms reduction treaty and Iran's nuclear program in advance of President Obama's visit to Russia last year. Citing intercepted communications between the suspects and their Russian handlers, court documents say, "Moscow Center indicated that it needs intels . . . try to single out tidbits unknown publicly, but revealed in private by sources close to State department, government, major think tanks."
The documents make it clear that the Russians, who officials said began the "Illegals program" in the days of the Cold War, were prepared to wait.
Cynthia Murphy last year was assigned the account of a New York-based financier described as a fundraiser "for a major political party" who is "a personal friend" of a Cabinet member's.
"Try to build up little by little relations with him moving beyond just (work) framework," said an intercepted communication from "Moscow Center."
Staff writers Maria Glod, Greg Miller and Mary Beth Sheridan and staff researchers Meg Smith and Julie Tate contributed to this report.


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Men's Ministry - Men of Honour
Men play very valuable and important roles in the society, and in the church. We are raising men of value, integrity, and excellence, through personal and family role modelling, social interactions and gender-specific training and workshop for men.
- Humility
- Openness
- Noble
- Outstanding
- Unique
- Responsibility (Romance, Obedience, Accountability, Reliability, Understanding, Vigour)
Men of Honour is flagship name for our Men's Ministry, and the values that we hold are exemplified above. Our activities are designed to address, reinforce and teach these values, and help our men to be responsible to themselves, families and their communities. Do email – email@example.com, to find out about our next men's program.


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Green is my favorite color and has been since I was a child. I had this one green dress that I loved when I was in the fifth grade that I wore so much that kids started making fun of me and called me greenie. I quit wearing it so much but I still love the color.
Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money.
Green has great healing power. It is the most restful color for the human eye; it can improve vision. Green suggests stability and endurance. Sometimes green denotes lack of experience; for example, a 'greenhorn' is a novice. In heraldry, green indicates growth and hope. Green, as opposed to red, means safety; it is the color of free passage in road traffic.
Use green to indicate safety when advertising drugs and medical products. Green is directly related to nature, so you can use it to promote 'green' products. Dull, darker green is commonly associated with money, the financial world, banking, and Wall Street.
Dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy.
Yellow-green can indicate sickness, cowardice, discord, and jealousy.
Aqua is associated with emotional healing and protection.
Olive green is the traditional color of peace.


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The 2017 Mind & Life Summer Research Institute (SRI) will give attention to scientific, humanistic and first-person contemplative perspectives on intersubjectivity and social connectivity. Plenary presentations, workshops and small group discussions will explore interrelational human dynamics, including how we relate to ourselves and others, and to community and strangers. Faculty will present research findings on the meditative cultivation of pro-social emotions, intergroup dynamics, social and embodied cognition, cognitive ecology, implicit bias and social justice. We will also examine how these experiences are embodied in the brain, nervous system, and cellular health. By deepening inquiry through a week-long interdisciplinary dialogue, we will investigate ways in which social and cultural histories shape subjective and collective values, beliefs and purpose in life, and the mind-body complex. Discussions will highlight scientific research on the interconnectivity of mind and physiological health as well as environmental and technological influences on interpersonal connections and social cognition. Workshops will engage participants in facilitated trainings on critical issues in transdisciplinary research methods as well as social diversity and inclusion in the contemplative sciences.
Co-Chaired by Drs. Elissa Epel & Michael Sheehy
Scholarship Applications begin on January 9th, 2017. Click here to apply!


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Everyone likes customisation and more personalisation on their phone to match their moods and status.
Windows Phone comes with unique start screen to be customised by the user. So, user wants to look it more personal and intuitive. So, I've sorted the two best Calendar apps from the Windows Phone Store.
Cal ($1.99)
Cal is the one of the best calendar app available in Windows Phone Store. It is very customisable and of course with a Live Tile showing your appointments and schedules right on your start screen.
But the highlights of the apps are as follows:
- It connects to your Microsoft, Google and Facebook accounts to retrieve appointments and events/birthdays from Facebook.
- Its Gorgeous Live tile makes it look very personal with able to show what we want on the start screen.
- Its also have different views like Agenda, and Week.
- It also uses Built-In Calendar.
Download it here
Checkout Screenshots below:
Chronos Calendar + ($1.99)
Chronos Calendar + is also one of better choice in its category. It doesn't have syncing with your accounts on Google or Facebook. But this calendar app primarily focuses on more personalization.
- This app contains hundreds of themes to change look of your calendar app how you want.
- Contains number of Live Tile templates and you can edit everyone of them or create one on your own.
- It is best value for money if you want to style your calendar as well as start screen
Download it here
Checkout the Screenshots below:


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Can I Be Addicted to My Anxiety Medication?
Can I Be Addicted to My Anxiety Medication?
Anxiety disorders are increasingly gaining recognition in recent years for the debilitating effects they can have on individuals, families, and workplace productivity. Affecting over 40 million Americans, anxiety disorders are the most common form of mental illness in the United States. However, the anxiety medication is recognized as the best pharmacological treatment for anxiety disorders, benzodiazepines like Xanax, Valium, and Klonopin, present doctors with an additional problem. The misuse and abuse of these drugs can create a dangerous physical dependency that has led to an alarming 300% increase in patients checking into drug treatment facilities to treat dependence on the medication initially prescribed to help improve their lives.
The Rise of Anxiety
As we have adapted from a hunter-gatherer species to a life of relative safety inside homes that protect us from the dangers of weather, animals, and other humans, our adaptive processes have failed to keep pace with the results of human ingenuity. The vestige of our primitive brains that once alerted our ancestors to the threat posed by a wolf pack outside their campsite has gone from life-saving to the arbiter of a life-crippling problem, anxiety.
No Easy Solution
While most anxiety disorders have been linked to hyperactivity of the primitive "fear center" of the brain known as the amygdala, the factors contributing to the onset of anxiety disorders are a myriad of genetic and developmental factors, combined with the life experiences of the individual. With such wide-ranging contributing factors, understanding the mechanics of anxiety disorders has proven incredibly difficult, as has the development of an effective treatment for the condition. All of these problems appeared to be solved by the development of anxiety medication. For instance, Librium and its immediate descendant, Valium are in this class of drug.
"Mother's Little Helper"
Valium, which is also known by its generic name diazepam, was one of the first "blockbuster" drugs that brought the idea of pharmaceutical solutions into homes across the United States. Marketed mainly as a way to "reduce psychic tension" in middle-class, stay-at-home mothers, the drug became a cultural icon and was the focus of a hit song by the Rolling Stones. However, warning signs about the dangers of this first widely-used benzodiazepine medication started to appear early after the global demand skyrocketed. In the 1975 Vogue story "Danger Ahead! Valium – The Pill You Love Can Turn on You," the public was alerted to the potential of the drug to cause a "far worse addiction than heroin."
What Are Benzodiazepines?
Before delving further into the potential risks of benzodiazepine misuse and abuse, let's look at the drugs included in this class. The chart below includes the most commonly prescribed benzodiazepines used as anxiety medication.
The drugs are listed alphabetically by generic name, with common brand names in parentheses:
- Alprazolam (Xanax)
- Chlordiazepoxide (Librium)
- Clonazepam (Klonopin)
- Diazepam (Valium)
- Flunitrazepam (Rohypnol)
- Lorazepam (Ativan)
- Oxazepam (Serax)
Dangers of Benzodiazepines
The addictive mechanism of benzodiazepines operates in a biochemically similar way to the mechanism used by other addictive drugs like opiates and cannabis. By increasing the amount of dopamine released in the "reward center" of the brain, long-term use of the drugs can cause changes in the structure of a person's brain, resulting in both increased tolerance and addiction.
Additionally, the drugs produce additional physical dependencies that manifest themselves in a condition known as benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.
A patient who abruptly quits taking the anxiety medication can experience any of the following symptoms:
- Sleep disturbances
- Tremors
- Increased anxiety
- Panic attacks
- Memory problems
- Inability to concentrate
- Nausea
- Heart palpitations
- Headaches
- Vision changes
- Seizures
- Hallucinations
- Psychosis
- Suicidal ideations
For these reasons, people using or abusing benzodiazepines are encouraged to seek professional help when stopping the medication.
Helpful vs Harmful
Given the potential harm of benzodiazepines described above, one may ask why these drugs are prescribed at all. However, the proper usage of benzodiazepines, as directed by a physician, is clinically-proven to be the best available pharmaceutical method for the treatment of severe anxiety disorders. When combined with a proper exercise regimen and cognitive behavioral therapy, many patients are able to overcome their anxiety disorders and learn to cope with their affliction without the use of a daily anxiety medication prescription. Most dangers lie in the misuse or outright abuse of these medications.
While these drugs are effective at reducing anxiety and tension, everyone should take note of the FDA-required warning label that was placed on all advertisements for Valium in 1980:
Anxiety or tension associated with the stress of everyday life usually does not require treatment with an anxiolytic drug.
Do You Suspect That You or a Loved One May be Addicted?
If you are concerned about someone close to you being addicted to benzodiazepines, you would likely benefit from speaking to a trained expert at an inpatient treatment facility about that person's condition.
Some signs that this expert will likely ask about include:
- Difficulty controlling use
- Seeking multiple prescriptions or "doctor shopping"
- Other "drug seeking behavior"
- Concurrent use of other addictive drugs, like alcohol
- Preference to drug use over other activities
- Signs of withdrawal (described above)
Treatment for Addiction to Anxiety Medication
Due to the volatile nature of benzodiazepine withdrawal, virtually all patients suffering from benzodiazepine addiction are required to stay at a licensed inpatient facility or a hospital for the detoxification process. Once the detox is complete, patients are expected to complete at least 30 days of treatment at an inpatient or outpatient treatment facility.
Due to the nature of the addiction, many patients are better served by an inpatient facility, which offers a number of advantages for this early stage of recovery:
- Constant expert intervention
- Structured activities built into the entire day
- Providing and monitoring of healthy nutrition and exercise
- A community of others facing similar challenges
- Removal from outside triggers and drug-using friends
- An environment focused solely on recovery and developing healthy practices for the future
In Summary
Klonopin, Ativan, Xanax, and Valium are incredibly potent medications that must be used properly in order to be effective. Improper use or abuse of the drugs can quickly lead a person down a dangerous path. Therefore, one must remember to use their anxiety medication only as directed and discuss alternatives with your doctor if you are uncomfortable with the risks associated with the drugs. Finally, if you suspect that you may need help with benzodiazepine addiction or know of someone close to you who may be in need of help, do not hesitate to seek help from the proper resources.


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Still unsure on a name for your little one? Whether you're looking to narrow down your choices or want some fresh inspiration, why not use our random baby name finder for some ideas.
Simply select whether you want results for boys, girls or names that work for both and press 'find a name'. You can then learn more about the origin and meaning of the given name as well as being able to click through to the names page to learn more about popular sibling and middle names to find the perfect pairing.
Also don't forget to check out the last baby name trends with our current top 100 boys names and top 100 girls names lists!
Still can't find that perfect name?Try our random finder now!
We asked our community of moms to recommend their favorite parenting books.
Check them out
Is baby almost here? Be sure to pick up these 10 things before you head to the hospital.
View the lastest top trending boys names this year.
View the lastest top trending girls names this year.


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At the end of last term we had a terrific day learning to stay afloat. Tricia Culina, a local sailor with marine safety training, came in to tell us all about lifejackets. A simple demonstration of buoyancy – using plastic figures and bubble wrap had the tamariki entranced. It showed them the importance of wearing a lifejacket whenever they are out on boats in case they fall in the water. The children all had a chance to try on a lifejacket. Lily, Grace and Elena showed, with Tricia's help, whether the lifejackets they had on were a good fit. Tricia explained that lifejackets need to be the right size, have a zip or snaps to keep them done up across the chest, a crotch strap to hold them on, and collar floatation to keep the head up. It is also good if they have a whistle, a loop on the collar floatation and reflective stripes for nighttime visibility. After this korero (discussion) the tamariki had a chance to jump in the waka that Tricia had brought, to play out their learning.
Thank you Tricia, for bringing such an important learning experience to the Manaia Kindergarten children – just in time for a summer of fun at the beach and out on boats.


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"The best is yet to come and babe, won't it be fine." (from the song by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh, recorded by Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett).
Jones — just Jones, no Mr. – is an old man who thrives on helping people see that the future is always bright – no matter one's current circumstance.
Jones is the lead character in Andy Andrews' book, "The Noticer," which professional golfer Nancy Lopez called the greatest book she's ever read.
Jones has a gift for noticing things, he says. He also has a gift for showing up in people's lives to give them perspective on a problem – at the exact time they need it.
He is spiritual, yet practical. But mostly, he is ALWAYS optimistic that everyone will have a great future, no matter his age, or current troubles.
We probably all have a Jones character in our lives. It might be a friend, family member coworker, colleague or someone we'd just met. We may not even be able to identify that person off the top of our heads – but he or she is there. All we have to do is listen to him, and follow his advice.
We've all heard the saying that when God closes a door, he opens a window. We just have to recognize where the window is and go through it.
The last five years or so have been difficult for lots of people. There's been much wailing and gnashing of teeth about what caused it, who's to blame and what magic bullet is going to make things right again.
We are starting to see things get better, but too many people are still down. They may feel it to be the worst time in their lives. But as Andrews' character points out, what seems to be the worst time in your life may lead you to the best time of your life. The secret to success, according to Jones: have people want to be around you.
Not a "people" person? Become one. No one has to undergo a radical personality change, but just try to see yourself from others' perspective. What would THEY change about you, if they could, as Jones puts it.
Don't know a lot of people? Start with the ones you do know. Make sure THEY want to be around you. Depending on how well you know them, you might ask them what they would change about you, if they could. Once you get the people you know to want to be around you, then you can work on those you don't yet know. Believe it or not, it takes some effort to have people want to be around you.
Got people around you who are always negative, always saying, "Woe is me?" You might have to change the people around you, to paraphrase a popular adage, if the people already around you won't change.
Be fun, but be good. Do the right thing, even when no one is looking. You see, good people don't have to act, or put on a show. They are good to the core, naturally.
You don't have to be a social butterfly. But be a good inviter. Invite people to coffee, lunch, dinner or whatever.
As you do this, you might, if you don't have something already, have something to show them when you invite them. It needs to be something of which they can choose to partake – or not. Good inviters take no for an answer. If you don't have something to show, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. You might find the best thing you've never heard of. And, you might want to show it to the world.
You also may find your Jones – or at least some perspective on your life that you'd not seen yet. Regardless, just know, as Jones says in Andrews' book, that the past is not what you should focus on. The present may not be pleasant, but, no matter your age, the best is yet to come.


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This gravity-defying action flick from Thailand doesn't need a proper intro. The trailer shows everything we need to see---wireless somersaults, high-speed flying kicks, and inconceivable stunts. These are expected characteristics of the film since Bangkok Knockout is directed by Panna Rittikrai, who was the action choreographer of Ong Bak (Muay Thai action film starring cranium-bashing Tony Jaa). If you're a fan of insane physical feats on screen, we recommend you to go watch Ong Bak first, and then lookout for this upcoming film, which will be available stateside sometime next year.
Tune in to Complex.com every morning at 8 AM for your daily "Wake N' Watch" video.


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Merino Wool - Dark Red - 100g
1 Available to Order Online
Available in Manchester (1)
Available in Leeds (1)
Browse> Creativ
Order within the next 3 hours 14 minutes
to get it by Saturday 4th*
DPD Next Day Delivery - If you place the order before 3pm Monday to Thursday - One hour delivery window, notified by SMS and email, so you don't have to wait in all day! (Not Weekends)
Click and Collect - Free - Choose from our Manchester and Leeds shops. Usually ready within 1 hour
Get 1 Mo Point for every whole pound spent.
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Get 10 Mo Points for reviewing a product.
Find out more about Mo Points in our Points FAQ
Extra fine, soft merino wool sourced from South Africa, South America and Australia. Suitable for felting and spinning. 21 micron.


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Effective today, Motorcycle USA, with offices in Medford, Oregon and Irvine, California is beginning the process of winding down operations for the digital publication. The process commences with today being the last day of production and employment of all team members associated with the business. Digital publishing has faced growing obstacles in recent years as paid vs non-paid sites are continuing to find the right balance of content production and monetization. As a result, MAG Media Group has been exploring numerous options for the business over the last year which culminated in this decision to wind down. The current staff of Adam Waheed, Adam Booth, Ray Gauger, Byron Wilson, Dana Handegard, Richard Sultan, Bryan Harley and Eric Novisedlak – led by Bart Madson as Editor-in-Chief – are among the best in the business. Their strong, professional, and informative work leaves a lasting impact on motorcycle-oriented publishing.
The Motorcycle USA website will remain active for an extended period of time in order to continue to serve readers the well-written and highly informative articles, as well as the quality videos and photography that has accumulated over the years. This also provides an opportunity for the loyal advertisers on MotoUSA to continue to reach customers and enthusiasts. On average, several hundred thousand visitors come to Motorcycle USA each month for editorial content on bikes, gear, products and accessories. They are specifically seeking out existing material while considering purchases or are gathering data to enhance their motorcycle riding lifestyles.
Started in 1996, Motorcycle USA became a prevalent and sought after source for all things related to motorcycles. The founder, Don Becklin, saw a need and fulfilled it in a meaningful way. In turn, he started Motorcycle Superstore as a way to take the product reviews from print to purchase. The result is a commerce company that has grown exceptionally larger, focused on delivering top quality motorcycle parts, gear and accessories through a strong assortment and quality customer service.
While this publication is turning the page, the Motorcycle USA legacy will endure as a benchmark many others have tried to reach and others will attempt to do over time.


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"But it takes so little to help people, and people really do help each other, even people with very little themselves. And it's not just about second chances. Most people deserve an endless number of chances." ― Will Schwalbe, The End of Your Life Book Club
Thursday, April 23, 2015
So Far Away- Thoughts from America on Yom HaAtzmaut
2 comments:
When we were in Yerushalayim as a newly married couple, each of us learning, I happened to go into a store to get a few things. An Israeli behind me in line struck a conversation while we were waiting, and he grew visibly upset when I told him that we'd be returning to the states whenever our money ran out. As we parted, he said, "You have to make aliyah not for yourselves, but for your children. Don't put the responsibility of aliyah on them." 17 years after that conversation, we made aliyah with our 3 kids. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if we had made aliyah sooner, but then I realize that each person comes when the time is right. The trick is making sure you know that the time will come, and knowing to take advantage of the right time.ReplyDelete
Wow, tough read. Good job writing it. Wishing you all the best.ReplyDelete