text:
Joan B Gottschall Financial Disclosure Report for 2003
Category:Financial Disclosure
Number of Pages:10
Date Created:February 3, 2005
Date Uploaded to the Library:November 13, 2013
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Government Act 1978 Calendar Year 2003 u.s.c. app. Ii 101-111) Person Reporting (Last name, Fh"St name, Middle initial) Court Organization DateofReport Gottschall, Joan U.S. District Court, NDIL S/19/2004 Title (Artic:Je Judges indicate acti1;e senior status; ReportType (check appropriate type) Reporting Period magistrate judges indicatefull-or part-time) Nomination, .Date 1/1/2003 District Judlge-active status Initial @Annual Flnal 12/311209 ChambCJrs Office Address the basis the information contained this Report and any 219 South lDearbom St. modifica,tions pertaining thereto, is, opinion, compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Room 1971 Chicago, 601604 Reviewing Officer. Date___ IMlPORTANT NOTES: The in1Struetions accompanying this form must followed. Complete all parts, checking the NONE box for each part w11ere you have reportable: fofonnation. Sign last page. POSITIONS. (ReportillJ individual only; see pp. 9-13 filing instructions) Member Visiting Committee the Divinity School, University Chicago Member, BDBrd ofDirectolrs Dlinois Humanities Council Member, Board Direclolrs Martin Marty Center the University Chicago Divinity School II. AGREEMENTS. (Rc:pDrting individual only; see pp. 14-16 oftiling imtructions) NONE (No reportable agements.) ...... c:;:l c;::::i -;: ';O (j) :r:: 1-!1 _.::; o:::::: t 1rn .r:: :;c.::: c:.""' r-< 0'. c::" r -c,--0--r! 1.,,J 1:...n N""' """'"'. ID. NON-INVESTMENT INCOME. (Reporting individual and spouse; see pp. 11-24 o:rmmg instructions) Filer's Non-Investment Inc:om NONE (No reportable non-investment income.) (yours, not spouse's) See Section vm. note 0.00 Spouse's Non-Investment Income -(Ifyou were married during any portion the reporting ycair, please complete this section. (dollar amount not required CKcept for bonoraria) NONE (No reportable no,ninvcstmcnt income.) IV. REIMBURSEMENTS -transportation, lodging. food, entertainment (lnc:lucllcs those spouse and iilependcnt children. See pp. 25-27 instructions.) NOlffi {No such reportable reimbursements.) NameofPersonReporting Date;t1fReport Gottschall, Joan 511912004 FrN.M'iifCIAL DISCLOSURE REPORT GIFTS,, (Includes those spouse and dependent children. See pp. 28-31 instructions.) NONE -(No such reportabl1e gifts.) Uni11>n l'..eague Club ofChicagc Reduced annual dues forjudges $1,716 VI. LIABILITIES. (Includes 1hose spouse and dependent children. See pp. 32-34 instructions.) NONE -(No reportable liabilities.) Code Gottschall, Joan .Page of3 -income. 'lllue, transcations (includes those the spouse and dependent children. See pp. 34-57 filing instructions.) VII. INVESTMENTS and TRUSTS Income during Gross wlue end Transactions during reporting period Description Assets reporting period Iep0!1ing period (including trust assets) Ifnot exempt from disclosure (2) (I) {2) {3) TYJle (e.g. Date: l!'lace "(X)" after each asset exe1111 Amount TYJle (e.g. Value Value Identity Value buy, sell, Month lrom prior disclosure div. rent. Code2 Method buyer/seller Codc2 merger, (Q-W) redemption) 1-1 transaction) int.) (J-P) Codel Day (JP) (A (ifpri'.ll!C NONE (Noreportableincome,llSllCIJ 1, ttansactions) Vang:uaid Wellington Fund Dividend Vanguard Wellesley Fund Dividend Vang:wud Index Trust Dividend Vang:wud Prime Portfolio Dividend Van Kampen F.merging Growth und Dividend Eaton Vance: Muni Bond FWld Dividend l'reasucy Strip (11-15-9) None Fed Hmpl Credit Union Accts Interest common stock Dividend 10. GlolDal Bond Focus Fund 181menowisML Core Bond Fnd) Dividend Sell 4122 11. Pimco Total Return Fund Dividend Buy 4122 12. -Sr.Hi Inc Port. Dividend 13. -Viacom c/stock Class Dividend 14. Viacom c/stock Class Dividend 15. -Mcn:ury Intern'! Value Fm: Dividend Sell 4122 16. -Alliance: Premier Growth Fund None Sold 11117 17. Munder Net Net Fund None 18. AOL. Time Warner c/stock (1101 Time Warner c/stock) None Name change: TimeWllllTler Income/Gain Codes: ,OCIO less Sl,001-S2.SOO S:!,501 -$5,000 SS,001-$15,000 $15,001-$50,000 (SeeCoimnnsBl andD4) $50,CIOl -SI00,000 $100,00!-$1,000,000 $1,000.001-$5,000,000 More than $5,000,000 Value Codi: $15,CIOG Jess $!5,00J-$50,000 $50,00J-SIOO,OOO Sl00.00!-$250,000 (See Coimnns and DJ) l' S250,.000-S500,000 $500,001-SJ.O(lO,OOO SJ,000.001-$5,000,000 S5,00D.OOJ-S:25,0rln,ooo 25,CIOU,OOJ-$50,000,000 SMe>re than SS0,000,000 Yuue Method Codes Appraisal Cost (Re! Estate Only) Assessmen1 CasfilN:a.-ket Soc Column C:'.) Booi. Value Oihe =Estimated FINANClAL DISCLOSURE REPORT Name Person Reporting Page2 of'3 Gottschall, Joan -income. wlue. transcaiions (includes those ofthe spouse and dependent children. See pp. 34-57 offiling instructions.) VII. INVESTMENTS and TRUSTS .D. Inoomc during Gross value end Tran.actions during reporting pcri1xl IDescnption ofAssets reporting period reporting period (inchJding trust assets) not exc::mpt d;i:losun: (I} (2) (I) (2) (I) Date:Place' cxr afu:reach asset CiltCIDJlt Ainowu Type (e.g. Vaine Value Value Identity Code2 Method buy, sell, Month-Code2 from prior disclosure Code buyer/.sellerdiv. rent.or (AH) int.) (J-P) Codc3 merger, Day (J-P) (A-(ifpn'lllte (Q-W) redemption) transaction) Dividend 19.. Intel c:/sto 20. Wastc:Management c/stock Dividend 21. -Vanguani Tax-Managed Growth Income Fund Dividend 22. Flextronics ci'stock None 23. ackard c/stock Hewlett-I Dividend 24. -ETradel'x-ExMoney Market Funid Dividend Sell 1128 25. ADVl?c/Stock None 26. stockDycom cf: None 27. stockMVSNc/ None 28. Seligman Tef Natl Tax Ser Dividend Sell 11117 29. MFSMid-cap Growth Fund None PutnamNcwValue Fund Dividend MPS Ut.t1 .itiesFund Dividend -MPS Securities Fund Dividend 32. 33. MPS ValucFundB Dividend 34. MFSI CapGrowth None 3S. 36. -Morg;m Stanley Active Assets Mo1ey Trust -Morg;m ;tanJcy Uquid Assets F1md Dividend Dividend Bought/Sol Boughti sol assim Income/Gain Codes: =SI ,CIOO orless =Sl,001-Sl.500 $2,501-$5,000 $S,00l-Sl5,000 =S:J5,00!-S50,000 (See Columns and D4) S50.001-$JOQ,OOO S:IOO,OOJ-Sl.000,000 $1,000.00J-SS,00(),000 =Mo than $5,000,000 Value Code;;: S15,00U llr l:ss S!S,OOJ.$50,000 $50,001-SJOO.OOO $100,001-$'.!50,00!l (See Colunms and D3) S150,0l:l{1-SSOO,OOV SSOO,OOJ-$1,000,000 S:l,OOO.OfJl-$5,000,000 SS,OOO,OOJ-S25,0()0,000 PJ. S25,00IJ,OOJ-$50,000,000 SMore than $50,000,000 Vaiu h/1eth(Jd Codes .l1ppm1:1: =Cost (Rea! Estato Only) =Assessment Cash/Wmrke! l.' Booi. Value Oihec =Esnmmted FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REPOR'( Name Person Reporting Date Report .Page oJr3 Gottschall, Joan S/1912004 -income, value. transcations (includes those the spouse and dependent children. See pp. 34-S? filing instruc1lions.) VII. INVESTMENTS and TRUSTS Description Assets ![including trust assets) Income during rcporlingperiod (I) (2) Gross value end Tnmsac:tioos during reporting pedod reporting period Ifnot exempt from (2) (2) (S) Type (e.g. lf'lace *(X)" after each asset exe1D1pt 11hntt prior disclosure Date: Value Gain Identity Value Value Amount Type (e.g. div. n:nl. buy, sell, Codc2 Method Month-Code Codc2 Code buyer/seller (J-P) CodeJ merger,. Day (I-P) (A-H) int.) redemption) (A-(if private transaction)(Q-W) 37. Vangd Capital Opportunity Fund 38. MFS Government Mortgage Fut1d 39. Marg Stanley (MS) Govt Se:c. Fund Dividend Dividend Dividend Bought more 11117 Buy *6/10/02overlook1:d '02 1,000 less ,OOl S2.:5GO $2.,SOl-$5.000 SS,001-Sl:S,GOO $1$.(llli-$50,000 (SeeColummsBJ andD4) $50,00ll -l>lOO,OOO SI00,001-$1,000,000 Sl,000.001-$:5,000,0oO Mure than $5.000,000 Value Codes: S!S,000 cir less $)5,00J-$50,000 $50,00!-SJOO.OOO 00.00 -$250 ,000 (See Coiumus and D3) S'.250,()(){$500,000 $500,00 Sl.000,000 S:l ,O(lO,OOi-)5,000.00 S5,0CJ0,001-S25.000,000 $25,00(),001-SSO,OOLJ,OOU !>4 =$More than SS0,000,000 Value Metnoti C:des Appraisal Cost (ReiiJ Estate Only} =Assessment Cash/Market (Set Columr. C2) Booi: Value =Oilier l:.srimmed Gottschall, Joan 5/1912004 (Indicate part ofReport.) VIII. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION EXPLANATIONS NOTE (Sc:ction III) Committee lln Codes Conduct, which was attached that Report and attached hereto. realized income from this business during the reporting period. Name Person Reporting Date Report Gottschall, Joan 5119/2004 IX. CERTIFICATION. certify that all information given above (including information pertaining spouse and minor dependent children, any) accurate, true, and compllete the best knowledge and belief: and that any information not reported was withheld because m.e:t applicable statutury provisions permitting non-disclosure. furthcr certify that earned iwome from outside employment and honoraria and the acceptance gifts which have been reported aire compliance wi'th the provisions ofS U.S.C. 501 seq., U.S.C. 7353, and Judicial Conference regulations. UAL 'WHO KNOWINGLY AND WILFULLY FALSIFIES FAILS FILE THIS REPORT MA.Y SUBJECT CIVIL AND CRIMINAL SANCTIONS U.S.C. app. 104) FILING INSTRUCTIONS Mail signed original and additional copies to: Committee Financial Disclosme Administrative Office the United States Courts Suite 2-301 One Columbus Circle, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20544 used the Jpromotion book, but, assume, these restricti1ons are not lHEly involved your case since you are not the auhor and your name unlikely used connection w.ith selling the book. Nor there anything about the nature t:he ,,,"" Honorab1le Joan B.-Gottschall October 1991 book, "Food and the Gut Reaction th"at suggests your association with the bcok would 11dettat from the dignity the udge c:>ffice." C:atnon SA. TJ'r:der_ Canon udqe may serve director c:>r active partner any business wholly owned men:bE!rs C)f the judgre11 family all _:whom are related the judqe within the t:hird degree according the civil law syste111 1{our are related you within the third degree and you may their prtner usiness shareholcle the co_rpcration. The lang uac;e tha Canon perm.its,. yc>ur participation inactive partner and nc>n= officer shareholder fami enterprise. Your participation 1:he enterprise would not violate your duty under Canon SC. manage financial interests minimize the number ca!;es which thei judqe d.i:squalified"; this because you could not, in. anY. _avent, hear cases which your parents and sister have interest.. canon 3Cl(d). Fi.nally:, the Ethics Reform Act does not qeneraJLly prohibit either serving prtner shareholer. There clre specific lim.itations such activity, but these are not save one, remotely applicable here. Requlations the .1udicial Conference -of the United States Under Title the Ethic Reform Act 189 ("Title Requlations11 The Title Regulations bar a.ny service 11fc11:-compensation officer member the boa"::"d any c:c>rporation other entity 1 (a) (4). yor case, you will not serve officer boc:s.rd member and the prohibition (a) (4) -does not apply yc:mr proposed ac:1:ivity. YU also should aware that the Ethics Reform ;!,ct limits the .amount outside income earned any one year -The income limi't !'lot pplicable your circumstances. tle Requlation!; (b) (2) provides that "funds received for services rendered before Janary 199111 are not outside earned income. 1rhe Committee advises that the course action propo1sed you consistent with the Codes Conduct and the Title Regulations the Judicial Conference. ..... .._ t." :... ....


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The Conservatives are facing embarrassment after an alleged voting miscount may have led to the selection of the wrong candidate in safe Tory seat.
A Cambridge-educated barrister was last month verfied as the official nomination for South East Cambridgeshire over a former pub landlady who had been widely tipped to win the seat.
However it is alleged that Lucy Frazer, a barrister who specialises in commercial law actually received less votes in the final round of the Open Primary vote by the local conservative association than her rival Heidi Allen.
The central Conservative party will now despatch two senior national officials to the constituency to oversee a meeting of the local party to decide whether to confirm Ms Frazer as the candidate or hold a re-vote.
The alleged miscount happened in the third and final round of voting between the pair. A pile of 25 votes was marked as being for Miss Frazer, when in fact only the top two papers were – with the rest being for Miss Allen.
The final result was announced as 84 for Miss Frazer and 48 for Miss Allen. If 23 of Ms Frazer's votes were in fact for Miss Allen, Miss Allen would have won by 71 to 61.
The possible error was discovered after an activist took the ballot papers home from the South-East Cambridgeshire primary and decided to recount them. The constituency is a safe Conservative seat with a current majority of 5,946 votes.
A letter to local members from association president Brian Ashton, reported in the Cambridge Evening News said: "Although the original count took place in the normal way and was witnessed by others, during the following week unsubstantiatable suggestions were made to officers that the ballot result announced at that meeting was incorrect.
"Given that no-one else was present when the ballot papers were recounted, your officers are not able to verify beyond doubt the validity of these claims."
At the time Ms Frazer's victory surprised some members because she had done well in the previous two rounds of voting and had a very active campaign in the community.
However some Conservative commentators put the result down to a "bad day" for Ms Allen.
On Friday the national nominating officer Paul Mabbutt and head of candidates Gareth Fox oversee a vote on whether to re-verify Miss Frazer or re-open the ballot and vote all over again. It is understood that the orignal vote cannot simply recounted as there can be no guarantee that the votes have not been tampered with since the election.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: "This is an internal party matter which is currently being investigated."

subset: commoncrawl


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Coin Collecting Software by Carlisle
Large inventories of coins can be difficult to keep track of. By using powerful and full featured coin collecting software, you can enter, modify, remove and view all the data about each coin in your coin collection. Even first time users will quickly be able to start using this coin software.
For Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 or 10
Check out the full list of features below.
Key benefits of using coin collecting software:
The Collector's Assistant coin software comes packed with useful features from reports to pictures of each coin. Keeping track of all the information of every single coin couldn't be any easier. This robust software provides:
- A comprehensive coin database for US coins listed by type, date, and mint mark which includes:
- All circulating US coins
- Modern commemorative and pre-1954 coins
- Government sets
- Bullion coinage
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- The largest, most complete coin database of any coin collecting sodtware
- Coin World, the industry's trusted leader, provides coin values, which you will find only on this software.
- Report generation that is both powerful and flexible
- Reports can be user customized
- Option for single or multi-line reports
- Can be printed in either portrait or landscape mode
- Sorting and selection that is user controlled
- Ability to store an unlimited number of report formats with and without pictures
- Support for image scanning
- Ability to handle and manage coin groups and duplicates
- Different modes for collector and investor for managing purchase tracking and sales information
- Coin dealer database that's user loadable
- Searches can be saved for later use with the Quick Search option
- As the grade changes, will calculate values automatically
- Value and history information can be shownin tabular or graphical form
- Unlimited use without having to purchase "upgrade packs" to add more inventory or features
- 2 level storage information for inventory or insurance reporting
- Create want and sell lists you can export to the internet, e-mail, or other coin software
- Information fields (40+) including specifications, purchase and sales, condition, certification, inventory code, notes and more!
- Undo feature that operates multi level
- Print preview
- electronic or printable user manual
- Mint mark locator
Coin Grading Assistant Software
A comprehensive tool, The coin grading assistant helps you grade your US coins. This software contains the full content of the ANA Guide to Grading US Coins - 6th edition.
Coin Grading Assistant Features:
- complete with 1000+ images from the ANA Guide for United States coins from 1793 to present and grades AG Unc.
- 500 extra full color images for popular coin varieties.
- Full grading text which includes intermediate and uncirculated grades.
- Allows images to be attached to your coins that are catalogued in the Collector's Assistant v8.
- Marketplace grading section.
- General information.
- Side by side presentation of 1 to 3 images with or without a picture of your own coin.
- Will work with or without the Collector's Assistant coin software.
**This product is not compatable with Apple - Mac computers and other products


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Forgotten Men 1933
FORGOTTEN MEN is a unique documentary about the First World War, with footage produced in 1934 before the outbreak of the Second World War. Presented by historian Sir John Hammerton, this extremely rare account of the horrors of the First World War combines original footage and pictures taken by official photographers between 1914-1918; intertwined with interviews from a number of ex-Servicemen who describe their own personal experiences whilst fighting on the western front – less than 20 years after WW1 ended. A powerful and haunting account of the horrors of war, FORGOTTEN MEN is a vital historical document, reminding us today, in this centenary year, of the many brave men and women who risked their lives to fight for their country's independence in one of the deadliest conflicts in history.


text: Judge strikes lawyer's entire defence in negligence spatMarch 19, 2015|Written By Shannon Kari An Ontario Superior Court judge has struck in its entirety, the statement of defence filed by well-known Toronto lawyer Steven Skurka, who is being sued for $32 million by a former client, alleging professional negligence.'Two wrongs do not make a right and provocation is not a reason to contravene the rules about pleading,' wrote Justice Paul Perell.The pleadings filed by criminal defence lawyer Skurka in response to the allegations made by Israeli-Canadian businessman Nathan Jacobson contain unnecessary evidence and argument, concluded Justice Paul Perell. Large sections of the statement of defence in Jacobson v. Skurka include "a level of detailed evidence one would not find in reasons for judgment after a trial," the judge observed.Another section of the pleadings was described by Perell as "replete with congratulatory, self-serving conclusions such as a 'very solid plea agreement, really good plea, got him a better plea agreement because of our efforts,'" says the ruling, issued March 16."It may be the situation that Mr. Skurka was baited by the provocative pleading of Mr. Jacobson to respond with a provocative and polemic pleading of his own, but Mr. Skurka ought not to have taken the bait. Two wrongs do not make a right and provocation is not a reason to contravene the rules about pleading," Perell wrote.Jacobson was represented by Toronto lawyer Robert Trifts on the motion to strike the statement of defence. Skurka is represented by William McDowell, a partner at Lenczner Slaght LLP in Toronto and a bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada."At the end of the day, Mr. Jacobson is pleased with this decision," says Trifts, who is co-counsel with Ronald Flom in the litigation.McDowell is out of the country and unavailable for comment. Paul-Erik Veel, a colleague at Lenczer Slaght who is also acting for Skurka, says "given that the overall matter is still before the courts, we're not in a position to comment."Perell granted Skurka leave to amend his statement of defence along with directions to comply with the rules of pleading. Perell also denied Jacobson's request to strike Skurka's counterclaim, which seeks $1.8 million in damages for the tort of abuse of process.The fractious legal dispute stems from Skurka's past representation of Jacobson on criminal charges filed in 2006 by the United States government. Jacobson was alleged to have used his Tel Aviv-based credit card processing company to facilitate $126 million in illegal online pharmaceutical sales to U.S. customers.Skurka was hired as the lead counsel and retained lawyers in the U.S. and Marie Henein in Toronto to assist with the defence. Jacobson is also suing Henein in a separate action. Her statement of defence refers to the allegations as "false, concocted, self-serving, and specious." None of the allegations has been proven in court.Jacobson has ties to senior Conservative politicians in Canada and intelligence officials in Israel. A photo taken in Ottawa in 2010 shows him standing between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Nearly two years before that photo was taken, Jacobson entered a guilty plea in the U.S. to a single count of money laundering. He forfeited $4.5 million, but remained free on bail pending sentencing. Last fall, after hiring new U.S. lawyers, Jacobson was permitted to strike his guilty plea and the charge was dropped, although the $4.5 million remained forfeited.The decision issued by Perell this week is also critical of the content in the amended statement of claim filed by Jacobson in his action against Skurka. The Superior Court judge noted Jacobson professes his innocence of the allegations made by U.S. authorities in 26 paragraphs of his 68 paragraph amended statement of claim.One subheading that states "complete vindication of Nathan Jacobson — an innocent man," is an example of "the improper pleading of evidence and emotive grandstanding polemic that appears to have provoked Mr. Skurka to respond in kind," Perell wrote.The judge also suggested both sides have not complied with the Rules of Civil Procedure in the pleadings and fail to include "concise statements" of material fact.Perell cited a paragraph that describes discussions between Skurka and Henein and when they would meet, as an example of unnecessary information in the pleading. "With respect, nothing is added, not even interesting colour and narrative excitement or suspense, by knowing that Ms. Henein was out of the country and that Mr. Skurka arranged to meet with her upon her return to Canada. Mr. Skurka's statement of defence is cluttered with this sort of useless information," Perell stated.The counterclaim by Skurka alleges that Jacobson is using the professional negligence action for an improper purpose."Allowing Mr. Skurka's counterclaim would not discourage access to justice for plaintiffs suing their criminal defence lawyers, but it would discourage such plaintiffs from overreaching in their civil proceeding against their criminal lawyer and making their innocence in the criminal proceedings a material issue in the civil proceeding," Perell wrote.Update 12:55pm: Quotes added.


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STARmeterSEE RANK
Down 27,907 this week
Hal Taggart (1896–1971)
Hal Taggart was born on April 12, 1896 in Kingman, Arizona, USA as Harold Taggart. He was an actor, known for Lux Video Theatre (1950), Highway Patrol (1955) and Marihuana (1936). He died on December 7, 1971 in Los Angeles, California, USA. See full bio »
Born:in Kingman, Arizona, USA
Died:(age 75) in Los Angeles, California, USA


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This past fall, Willie Nelson's hair braids were sold at auction for $37,000. A tissue into which Scarlett Johansson blew her nose on the Tonight Show fetched $5,300 on eBay. And X-rays of Marilyn Monroe's chest—just the X-rays, mind you—once brought in a whopping $45,000. If you're lucky enough to be the proud owner of any item once worn or used by a celebrity—and the more intimate the better—then you're sitting on a mountain of cash. People crave this stuff; and they're certainly willing to open wide their wallets to add it to their collection. I don't know about you, but I like to think that I'm above all that celebrity worship nonsense. But I like to deceive myself about a whole host of other things, too. My home is right outside San Antonio, TX, not far from the stomping grounds of George Strait. I guarantee you that if I ran into George and he invited me over for a BBQ at his place, then I'd be a name-dropping, Facebook-boasting, Twitter-bragging fool for the next three months. Everybody I know—and probably total strangers—would get to hear all about how George and I drank a cold Shiner Bock together late one evening on his back porch in the Texas Hill Country.
What is that magnetism that pulls us toward celebrities? Why do people stand in mile-long lines, worm their way into throngs of people, or pay big money simply for the chance to rub shoulders with the famous? No doubt the motivations vary from individual to individual, but I would suggest that at the core of these motivations is the desire for intimacy with one we deem greater than ourselves. Such closeness, such confidentiality, one might even say such communion with a person exalted by fame or fortune makes us feel better about ourselves. It's like we share a little in what they have. While we're with them, we're more "them" than "us." Our identity, however briefly, migrates into the sphere of their identity. I am no longer just Chad; I am a guest, one might even say, a friend at George Strait's table.
The Good Picture Behind the Warped Image
Many of the basic human desires that God formed within us have, like bent arrows, gone in directions the Creator never intended them to go. Hunger becomes gluttony, thirst becomes drunkenness, love becomes lust, worship becomes idolatry. Nevertheless, if we look behind the warped image that man has revised we find the good that God has devised. And that good is indicative of the gifts God gives, the people He has made us to be, and the image in us He wants to restore.
In the case of celebrity worship, behind the almost idolatrous fascination that some fans have with a person of fame, we discover a desire that, in and of itself, is not sinful. It is the desire to connect with one who is greater than we are. We feel small but they make us feel big; we feel unimportant, but our connection with them makes us feel like we matter, we have purpose. To be singled out by them, to take a seat at their table, invests our lives with a sense of worth and transcendence.
That hunger to connect with one who is greater than we are will be satisfied only in the one who created that hunger within us in the first place. We may look for it in people of power or fame or fortune, but they will all fail us because, in truth, they are pilgrims traveling the same road we are. The stars of Hollywood and Nashville are searching for the same goal. Like we are, they too are restless until they rest in the one who finally and perfectly completes them.
A Down-Below-Divinity
The reason we so easily miss the God who is greater than we are is because that great God comes in such an unexpectedly tiny, humdrum package. We are staring up at the stars while the star is pointing down to the no-account town of Bethlehem, to a baby that looks like every other baby. We are looking up for a big and awesome God while the little and humble God is looking up as well—only He looking up at us from down below, wanting us to turn our eyes downward. None of us are really near-sighted or far-sighted, we are all up-sighted. Our eyes scan the heavens for the great one while we're blind to the great one humbly hiding within arms reach.
But I'm not just talking about Christmas and how easy it is to miss God since He comes into our world as a baby. He remains in our world, He remains active in our lives, as a down-below-divinity. You won't find Him in heaven's version of Hollywood glitz and glamour. You won't find Him riding in limos and hounded by paparazzi. If you're searching for a God with razzle-dazzle, who'll knock your socks off with His cool awesomeness, then you're in for a lifetime of deceptive disappointments. In this world, God is hidden in His opposite. He is cloaked in the simple, the down-to-earth, the seemingly boring and unawesome stuff of this world.
The Old Rugged Table
One place we find not only God, but intimacy with this one greater than ourselves, is at a table. The thing is, the table is kind of like that manger in Bethlehem or the old rugged cross. To the eye, there's nothing attractive or awe-inspiring about it. In fact, on the surface it's downright disappointing. A little bread, a sip of wine. Why, even when you invite your friends over, you might have bread on the table and wine in glasses, but along with them you serve ribeyes and baked potatoes and steamed vegetables with pecan pie for dessert. Not God. The great and powerful king of all creation puts bread and wine on His table. That's all you get.
No, that seems like it's all you get, but it's not. Like in that rough and simple manger lay God hidden as a common newborn; like on that bloody and gruesome cross hung God hidden as a common criminal; so in this inconspicuous and everyday meal is God hidden in common food. In that bread He has placed His Son, Jesus, so that when you eat that bread you take the body of Jesus into you. When you sip the wine, you take His blood into you. The Lord almighty is swaddled in bread and wine, the old rugged cross becomes a table. And here, while eating and drinking, you receive intimacy with God above and beyond anything imaginable. He and you merge as one. You take Him into you even as He takes you into Himself.
The Meal That Tells Me Who I Am
This is a closeness, a confidentiality, a communion that does infinitely more than a friendship with George Strait could do for me. It does more than make me feel better about myself. This meal of God, with God, consuming God, establishes my identity. Much as the act of marriage means that a man and woman are now one flesh, so this meal means that I am now one flesh with God. I am bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh. My identity as Chad has been subsumed into His identity so that I can no longer understand myself except in connection with Him. I am a son of our Father. I am the brother of Jesus. I am part of the bride of Christ. And all these are not mere figures of speech but statements of reality. This is who I am, this is who you are, in God through Jesus Christ.
There's no need to stand in mile-long lines, worm your way into throngs of people, or pay big money to achieve intimacy with one greater than you. Simply take and eat the body of Christ; take and drink the blood of Jesus. Here is the costliest treasure on earth given to you free of charge. It cost Jesus His life, but that life He gives to you gratis. And with that life, comes all that God is and all that you need.
Looking down at Jesus' humble table, at His humdrum food, I see that as His guest I will be more than an admirer, closer than a friend. Since I will consume Him, it will be no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And that life in and of Christ gives me infinitely more than worth and transcendence; it gives me peace and wholeness and joy of such enduring quality that it spills over from this life into the life to come.


text:
In 1974, while working as a graphic designer, Peter Grudzien quietly and independently wrote, performed, and recorded "The Unicorn", a 14 song LP featuring an odd marriage of country and psychedelic music. Grudzien attempted to sell copies – of which there were a mere 500 pressings and no label involvement – in local bookstores and out of his briefcase after shows with little success.
To be fair, the record – a surrealist hillbilly psychedelic garage masterpiece exploring themes of religion, death, and sex – provided an uneasy space for most listeners to inhabit. The narratives contain often apocalyptic imagery. Distant tape manipulations echoing throughout songs like the epic "Kentucky Candy" sound like a choir of ghosts. Furthermore, the frequent allusions to homosexuality surely tested the average country listeners' tolerance of gay culture at the time. The record went virtually unheard.
Grudzien was born and raised in Astoria, Queens, New York. In the 1950s, he developed a love for Christian and Hillbilly music, and soon found musical kinship in artists like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash. In the late '50s, he started a band with which he wrote and recorded music.
As an art student in the early 1960's, he developed a passion for Bob Dylan and hallucinogenic drugs, later documenting a peyote trip in his 1964 song "I Don't Complain". In 1969, he was involved in the Stonewall Riots, an event widely considered a precursor to the Gay Rights movement. He later recorded a song about the events, which began as a harsh criticism of the circumstances leading to the riots- claiming individuals were paid to incite violence – and eventually digressed into a paranoid claim that a government created clone was being used to erase his true identity (Grudzien apparently believed this clone theory to be true – he allegedly refused to give Johnny Cash one of his tapes because he believed he was a copy.)
A little over a decade after the apparent failure of "The Unicorn" LP, it was rediscovered by Paul Major, a collector/archivist and small label entrepeneur. A few years later, he met Grudzien in person.
"[I met him] in a downtown drag bar. He was like something out of the Addams family: really tall and skinny, in an obviously slept in tuxedo, 55 years old. He wanted me to go out to his car and listen to this song he'd recorded the morning before, and when we walked down the sidewalk in Greenwich Village, every head turned on both sides of the street! I got into the car, it was covered with cigarette stains and grease and smelled strongly of gas – I was afraid that when he turned the key in the ignition to play the tape deck, the car would explode. He turned out to be a walking encyclopedia of early country music, he had met a lot of big country stars."
Grudzien remains unaware of his music's strangeness by societal standards, a mark of a "true" musical outsider. "[He] doesn't realize exactly how his music is perceived as being so strange. He's still trying to break into the Nashville Country scene in a normal sort of way," explains Major.
Though only two LPs ("The Unicorn" and "Garden of Love") are commercially available through the Subliminal Sounds record label, Grudzien claims to have written over 900 songs throughout his career. He apparently still records and independently distributes music at his incredibly rare live gigs.
For the musically adventurous, "The Unicorn" provides a thrilling, unexpected experience. Download it here. The lesser known "Garden of Love" LP is also available for download here.


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- Research
- Open Access
Myosin heavy chain 2A and α-Actin expression in human and murine skeletal muscles at feeding; particularly amino acids
- Britt-Marie Iresjö1Email author and
- Kent Lundholm1
© Iresjo and Lundholm; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012
- Received: 30 August 2012
- Accepted: 21 November 2012
- Published: 28 November 2012
Protein dynamics during non-steady state conditions as feeding are complex. Such studies usually demand combinations of methods to give conclusive information, particularly on myofibrillar proteins with slow turnover. Therefore, time course transcript analyses were evaluated as possible means to monitor changes in myofibrillar biosynthesis in skeletal muscles in conditions with clinical nutrition; i.e. long term exposure of nutrients.
Muscle tissue from overnight intravenously fed surgical patients were used as a model combined with muscle tissue from starved and refed mice as well as cultured L6 muscle cells. Transcripts of acta 1 (α-actin), mhc2A (myosin) and slc38 a2/Snat 2 (amino acid transporter) were quantified (qPCR) as markers of muscle protein dynamics.
Myosin heavy chain 2A transcripts decreased significantly in skeletal muscle tissue from overnight parenterally fed patients but did not change significantly in orally refed mice. Alpha-actin transcripts did not change significantly in muscle cells from fed patients, mice or cultured L6 cells during provision of AA. The AA transporter Snat 2 decreased in L6 cells refed by all AA and by various combinations of AA but did not change during feeding in muscle tissue from patients or mice.
Our results confirm that muscle cells are sensitive to alterations in extracellular concentrations of AA for induction of protein synthesis and anabolism. However, transcripts of myofibrillar proteins and amino acid transporters showed complex alterations in response to feeding with provision of amino acids. Therefore, muscle tissue transcript levels of actin and myosin do not reflect protein accretion in skeletal muscles at feeding.
- Myosin
- Actin
- Amino acids
- Skeletal muscles
- Snat2
Several studies have reported on regulation of protein synthesis in skeletal muscles in fasted and fed state indicating considerably elevated synthesis during 2–3 hours postprandially [1–6]. Usually, such studies are based on estimates of protein synthesis by incorporation of labeled amino acids into newly synthesized proteins [7–10]; methods that are dependent on complex assumptions, related to distribution of tracers among intra- and extra cellular pools of amino acids [8, 11, 12], and represent expensive and complex analytical methods. [13, 14]. Consequently, alternative methods are needed in clinical studies. Therefore, tracer independent methods, measuring initiation of translational phosphoprotein complexes as well as cellular alterations in transcript concentrations of regulatory and target proteins for synthesis should be of value from several perspectives.
Our previous studies have confirmed that extracellular provision of amino acids activates translation initiation of protein synthesis in skeletal muscle tissue during both oral and intravenous feeding [12, 15, 16]. Such induction of translation initiation may be triggered by concentration changes of amino acids outside or inside muscle cells through mTOR signaling without a critical presence of insulin or extracellular IGF-1 [17–19]. However, strictly controlled experiments, based on labeled amino acids, did not provide consistent results on amino acid stimulation of total muscle protein synthesis, due to tissue pool- and tracee uncertainties [12, 20]. Therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate how provision of extracellular amino acids influenced on cellular expressions and content of transcripts of amino acid transporters and myofibrillar MHC2A as well as α-actin as possible markers for the synthesis of contractile proteins in skeletal muscles at feeding relevant for clinical nutrition studies.
Material and methods
Patient studies
Twelve patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal tract surgery participated [15]. They were randomized to receive overnight constant infusions of either saline or TPN, (Kabiven Perifer) for at least 12 hours prior to surgery as described elsewhere [15]. All infusions continued until muscle biopsies were taken from the rectus abdominis muscle directly after induction of anesthesia. Muscle biopsies with remaining intact RNA from 10 out of 12 randomized patients were used in present analyses. Amino acid concentrations in blood and translation initiation factor analyses from study and control patients have been reported elsewhere [15].
Animal experiments
Female, weight stable C57 BL/6 mice were used. They were either starved or refed with standard rodent chow (2016 Global Tekland®, Netherlands) and had always free access to water. Starved mice had no access to food overnight for 12 hours before termination, while refed animals were similarly starved overnight for 12 hours, but had then free access to food for 3 hours before termination [18]. Animals were killed by cervical dislocation and mixed hind limb muscles were excised and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. Muscle samples were stored at −70°C until RNA extractions were performed. All animal procedures were performed in accordance to national guidelines for animal research and approved by the regional animal research ethics committee in Gothenburg.
Cell cultures
Rat myoblast L6 cells were seeded in 25 cm2 flasks, 48 well- or 6-well dishes and grown to confluence in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium, with 4.5 g/l glucose (DMEM), supplemented with 10% foetal bovine serum (FBS), 100 IU/ml penicillin, 100 μg/ml streptomycin and 2 mM L-Glutamine. At day 4, when cells were confluent, medium was changed to standard DMEM supplemented with 2% FBS. At day 5, medium was changed to DMEM with very low amounts of all amino acids (0,14 mM), and without addition of FBS and antibiotics. Cells were cultured for 24 hours and thereafter cells were given new medium with either 0.28 mM amino acids (referred to as low AA) or 9 mM amino acids in total (referred to as high AA), which equals the concentration in standard DMEM. Cells were then cultured from 0.5-18 hours before harvest. In some experiments only groups of amino acids were included at elevated (high) concentrations in the medium while the remaining amino acids were kept at very low amino acid concentration (0.14 mM). Cells used in array experiments were harvested after 18 hours of refeeding. Cells were kept in an incubator with 95% air, 5% CO2 environment during the entire experiment.
RNA isolation and cDNA synthesis
RNA from L6 cells was extracted using RNeasy mini kit (Qiagen) with DNAse step included. Cells were lysed in RLT buffer according to kit instructions by adding lysis buffer directly to cells in the culture dishes. Cell lysates were collected and homogenized by flushing 10 times through a 20G needle. Skeletal muscle tissue was homogenized with an Ultra-Thurrax homogenizer and RNA from human and mouse muscle tissue was extracted by RNeasy fibrous tissue mini kit with DNAse step included. Total RNA concentrations were measured by spectrophotometer (Nanodrop ND-100) and RNA quality was checked using an Agilent 2100 bioanalyser and RNA 6000 Nano kit. One μg of total RNA was reverse transcribed to cDNA using oligo d(T)-primers according to kit instructions (Advantage® RT for PCR kit, Clontech). Positive and negative controls were included in each run of cDNA synthesis.
Real-time PCR
Commercially available primers from Qiagen were used for analysis of human α-actin/ ACTA 1 (QT00199815), rat α-actin/acta 1 (QT01081374), human myosin heavy chain 2A/MYH2 (QT00082495), human SLC38A2/(Snat 2) (QT 00030499), rat Slc38a2/(Snat 2) (QT00186116) and mouse Slc38a2/(Snat2) (QT00129542). Real time PCR was performed using QuantiTect™SYBR®Green PCR kit (Qiagen) according to kit instructions. 2 μl of cDNA and 2 μl of premixed Quantitect primers were used for each reaction of 20 μl exept for rat acta 1 where 5 μl cDNA were used. For analysis of mouse α-actin/acta 1 (5′-3′ Forward; CCAGAGTCAGAGCAGCAGA, Reverse CACGATGGATGGGAACAC), mouse myosin heavy chain 2A (5′-3′ Forward; TGGAGGGTGAGGTAGAGAGTG, Reverse; TTGGATAGATTTGTGTTGGATTG) primers were used. PCR analysis was performed with the PerfeCTa SYBR Green SuperMix (Quanta Biosciences) with the following settings; 95°-10 sek, 60°-30 sek, 72°-30 sek. 2 μl of cDNA and 3 pmol of each primer were used to a reaction of 10 μl. Real-time PCR was performed on either a LightCycler 1.5 instrument or a LightCycler 480 (Roche). Quantitative results were produced by the relative standard curve method and results are given in arbitrary units. All samples were analyzed in duplicates and negative controls were included in each run. Results from human and mice experiments are related to the expression of GAPDH as housekeeping gene which did not change significantly at starvation - refeeding. Results from cultured cells are reported as expression/ 18S. Levels of 18S RNA expression are provided separately since neither GAPDH nor 18S levels were stable at all experimental conditions in cell culture experiments. Only acta 1 (α-actin) and Slc38a2 (Snat 2) transcripts were measured in cell culture experiments since Mhc 2A transcripts were below detection levels when analyzed by real-time PCR.
Microarray experiments
Microarray analysis was performed on RNA from eight samples (4 starved, 4 refed). 500 ng of RNA from starved and refed cells (18 hour) were labeled with Cy-3-dCTP and Cy-5-dCTP respectively (Amersham BioSciences), in a cDNA synthesis reaction with Agilent Flourescent Direct Label. cDNA from starved versus refed cells were then hybridized in competition on Whole Rat Genome Microarrays (4x44K expression oligoarrays, Agilent) during 17 hrs followed by post-hybridization washes according to in situ instructions (Hybridization Kit Plus, Agilent). This provides relative changes in gene expression. Microarrays were quantified on Agilent G2565 AA microarray scanner and data were pre-processed in Feature Extraction 184.108.40.206 software program (Agilent). Dye-normalized, outlier- and background subtracted values were imported into GeneSpring GX 10 software program (Agilent) for further analysis.
Subcellular fractionation and labeling of cells
Incorporation of L-[U-14C]-phenylalanine (40 μCi/μmol phe) to cellular proteins was performed as described elsewhere in the presence of low or high medium concentrations of amino acids in the presence of constant concentration of phenylalanine (12μM).
Results are presented as mean ±SE. Group comparisons were performed by factorial ANOVA followed by Fisher PLSD post hoc testing. p<0.05 was regarded statistically significant in two-tailed tests. Statistics used in the array experiment are described in the results section.
Changes in transcript levels of myofibrillar proteins
Changes in transcript levels of amino acid transporter slc38a2/Snat 2
SLC38A2 (Snat2) levels did not differ between skeletal muscles from TPN and saline infused patients (P<0,7) as well as in refed mice compared to starved mice (Figure 2A,B). In contrast, Slc38a2 (Snat2) levels were significantly lower in L6 cells refed high AA concentrations during 18 hours compared to cells receiving low amino acid concentrations. (p<0,001) (Figure 2C). The discrepancies between slc38a2 transcripts at 60 min (Figure 3B) and 18 hours (Figure 4B) appeared to emerge beyond 4 hours incubation at high versus low AA concentrations (4 hours; Low AA 14.7±3.2, High AA 10.4±2.5, 8hours; Low AA 19,6±5.1, High AA 5.0±1.3; n=3) Based on these findings we chose 18 hours incubation for comparisons among groups of AA experiments. Cellular Slc38a2 (Snat2) transcripts were thus influenced by refeeding by various combinations of amino acids for 18 hours. Cells refed by branched chain amino acids (leu, ile, val) or by glutamine in the presence of other non-essential amino acids (Arg, Thr, His, Lys) showed decreased levels of Slc38a2 (Snat2) transcripts, while refeeding by aromatics (phe, tyr, trp) or sulphur amino acids (met, cys) in the presence of all amino acids in DMEM at low background concentration (0.14 mM) did not alter Slc38a2 mRNA levels (Figure 4 B).
Total protein synthesis in cultured L6 cells
Microarray results
Altered transcript levels of amino acid transporters and muscle proteins in confluent L6 muscle cells refed high amino acid concentrations versus low amino acid concentration assessed in microarray experiments as described in Material and Methods
Agilent entity
Foldchange array
Foldchange Q-PCR
Common name
Gene symbol
Protein name/Function
Snat 2/ System A transporter
Glyt1/ System Gly transporter
Snat 2/ System A transport
Taut/ System BETA, taurine transport
Lat 3/ System L-like transporter
Troponin T2, cardiac
Myosin 1D
Myosin heavy chain, smooth muscle isoform
GO categories with significant enrichment of entities in L6 cells refed high amino acid concentrations
GO Accession nr
GO Term
Corrected p-value
sterol biosynthetic process
cholesterol biosynthetic process
steroid biosynthetic process
sterol metabolic process
lipid biosynthetic process
lipid metabolic process
cellular lipid metabolic process
alcohol metabolic process
cholesterol metabolic process
steroid metabolic process
Altered transcript levels (entities) in GO categories "steroid biosynthetic and metabolic processes" in confluent L6 muscle cells refed high amino acid concentrations
Agilent entity
Foldchange array
Foldchange Q-PCR
Common name
Squalene epoxidase
Transmembrane 7 superfamily member 2
Acetyl-Coenzyme A acetyltransferase 2
Mevalonate (diphospho) decarboxylase
Isopentenyl-diphosphate delta isomerase
Isopentenyl-diphosphate delta isomerase ]
7-dehydrocholesterol reductase
3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A synthase 1
Cytochrome P450, subfamily 51
3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A synthase 1
Scavenger receptor class B, member 1
Hydroxysteroid (17-beta) dehydrogenase 7
Lanosterol synthase (Lss)
Scavenger receptor class B, member 1
Farensyl diphosphate synthase (Fdps)
NAD(P) dependent steroid dehydrogenase-like
24-dehydrocholesterol reductase
Phenylalkylamine Ca2+ antagonist (emopamil) binding protein
Farensyl diphosphate synthase
3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A reductase
Sterol-C4-methyl oxidase-like
3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A reductase
ATP-binding cassette, sub-family G (WHITE), member 1
Cholesterol 25-hydroxylase
A large number of studies have evaluated rates and translation initiation of total protein synthesis in skeletal muscles in response to feeding during recent decades [13, 21]. However, such studies, mainly based on incorporation of labeled amino acids, suffer from uncertainties and complex assumptions for calculation of protein synthesis rate [10, 11, 22–24]. Difficulties occur particularly at rapid alterations in bio-dynamics during non-steady state conditions [10, 14]. Therefore, alternative and tracer independent methods have recently been applied in both animal and clinical experiments, complementary to tracer based methods. Such techniques are mainly based on assessment of phosphorylation/de-phosphorylation of regulatory proteins or protein complexes related to translation initiation of proteins where advantages are straight forward assessment of protein phosphorylation status in cells and tissues under evaluation without the need of steady state [6, 15]. Tissue sampling and processing are comparatively easy and analytical principles are robust at standardized conditions [15]. However, limitations are that results reflect only initiation of overall protein bio-synthesis and do not reflect alterations of defined proteins. Determinations of the amount of a particular protein(s) in skeletal muscle tissue should in part resolve this problem, but is only applicable in long-term experiments, since it would be practically difficult to correctly assess quantitative alterations of defined proteins in skeletal muscle cells during short-term responses. Therefore, it should be possible to obtain relevant information by assessment of tissue transcript levels of defined myofibrillar proteins in response to feeding as applied in studies on orally refed healthy volunteers [25]. Unexpectedly, it was then observed that oral refeeding caused a decline of myofibrillar transcripts in skeletal muscles, at conditions otherwise associated with anabolic metabolism [16, 26–28]. Such transcript information was seen in the light of observations that stimulation of gene transcription is usually reflected by increased tissue levels of transcripts for defined proteins aimed at subsequent translation to meet cellular requirements. [29–32]. Therefore, expected findings should be that net efflux of amino acids from skeletal muscles, due to increased net protein breakdown, should be associated with postprandial down-regulation in transcription of myofibrillar proteins. Normal oral feeding which is leading to rapid and pronounced activation of skeletal muscle protein synthesis, should then be characterized by increased transcription of required proteins [33]. Based on this simplistic view, we decided to re-evaluate effects on transcripts of myofibrillar proteins as Myosin heavy chain 2A (myosin) and acta 1 (α-actin) in skeletal muscle tissue in response to refeeding, particularly with focus on effects by amino acids in both patient and animal experiments.
Myosin heavy chains contributes to 20-25% of overall muscle protein synthesis in humans [34, 35] while actin may display both lower and higher turnover compared to mixed muscle proteins [35, 36]. Muscle tissue is however composed of many different proteins where sarcoplasmatic and myofibrillar proteins have different basal turnover and synthesis rates at feeding [37]. Adult human muscle tissue expresses three different isoforms of myosin heavy chain (MHC-I, MHC-IIa and MHC-IIx), where MHC-IIa is highly expressed in humans, while rodents express one additional form (MHC-IIb) [38].The myosin gene family is located in a cluster on chromosome 17 in humans and on chromosome 11 in mice [39]. Studies have indicated that mRNA content of different myosin isoforms correlates to the relative content of various MHC proteins present in skeletal muscle tissue [40, 41] Changes in expression patterns of myosin heavy chain proteins exist in skeletal muscles during hypertrophy in the control of net muscle mass subsequent to loading [42–46], but less is known in response to feeding, although Mhc 2X mRNA is reported to unexpectedly increase after 7 days at reduced oral intake in rats [47]. Our present findings show that that transcripts of myosin heavy chain 2A and actin appeared to decrease during continuous TPN administration in agreement with previous findings showing decreased MHC 2X mRNA levels at 3 hours after oral meal intake [25];conditions that provide increased formation of eIF4G·eIF4E complex and decreased association of 4E-BP1·eIF4E [15].
There may be several reasons why myosin transcripts do not clear-cut reflect transcriptional activities and translational needs in cells during continuous long term nutrition exposure, although Rennie and coworkers [48] have reported transient changes in myofibrillar protein synthesis suggesting that muscle cells become refractory to amino acids in response to oral bolus feeding. However, long term provision of intravenous nutrition to patients leads to both time-proportional increases in muscle mass and continuously increased incorporation of labeled amino acids during the presence of high amino acid provision as seen in our present cell experiment (Figure 5). Therefore, it appears that transcript cellular levels of actin and myosin are influenced by a variety of factors that possibly determine absolute levels in both short and long term perspectives at nutrition.
It has never been finally assessed how amino acids signal across cell membranes to elicit triggers for induction of translation initiation, although it is assumed there are extracellular/intracellular amino acid sensors since muscle cells are sensitive to alterations of amino acid concentrations [49]. Recently, amino acid transporter proteins gained increased interest based on their ability to sense amino acid changes and influence intracellular signaling [50]. Regulation of expression of amino acid transporters may thus be an important part of the cell machinery in control of protein synthesis secondary to amino acids availability [49, 51]. Therefore, we investigated how transcription of the transporter protein Snat 2 (encoded by the gene slc38a2) was affected by refeeding in our models. Snat 2 is a transporter of neutral amino acids belonging to system A [52]. Several amino acids in the refeeding medium (glutamine, histidine, cysteine, methonine) are transported by Snat 2, while branched chain- and aromatics are transported by system L across cell membranes [51, 52]. Amino acid transporting by system A increased following amino acid deprivation [53]. Accordingly, we found that Snat 2 mRNA was lower in refed L6 cells compared to starved cells, although such alterations were not evident in vivo. Concentrations of Snat 2 mRNA were also decreased in refed cells by a group of amino acids (Gln, His, Lys, Arg, Thr). Refeeding L6 cells by branched chain amino acids decreased Snat 2 mRNA, although transported by system L, which operates by 1:1 amino acid exchange, which may couple influx of branched chain amino acids to efflux of cytoplasmatic amino acids such as glutamine [54]. It is possible that refeeding cells with branched chain amino acids caused either efflux or influx of other amino acids, which may alter Snat 2 mRNA levels. If so, Snat 2 should be influenced by extra cellular concentrations or transmembrane fluxes of either Gln or His, since it was not changed by refeeding of cysteine or methione which are Snat 2 substrates.
Our microarray data on cultured cells confirm that amino acids have pronounced effects on steroid and lipid metabolism in skeletal muscle cells. Only GO categories/pathways related to lipid and steroid metabolism showed significant enrichment, although microarray experiments indicated that a large number of individual transcripts (30%) were changed following amino acid provision. It has been reported earlier that skeletal muscle cells are capable of local synthesis of sex steroid hormones [55], and there are several ways for cells to provide cholesterol for use in steroid synthesis, such as the mevalonate pathway, where cholesterol is synthesized through a series of enzyme reactions from Acetyl CoA and HMG-CoA [56, 57]. Thus, it was interesting to find that transcripts of all enzymes in this pathway were increased following amino acid provision to L6 cells. The expression of steroids and enzymes increases after exercise and may therefore represent an important part of anabolism following physical training in skeletal muscles [58]. Thus, results in the present study confirm that amino acids have profound metabolic effects upstream to initiation of protein synthesis in cultured isolated skeletal muscle cells, as observed in animal and human skeletal muscle tissue [12, 59–64], in part related to individual groups of amino acids [65–69], as also observed in human biopsy specimens [17, 61].
In conclusion, previous and present studies confirm that skeletal muscle cells are sensitive to alterations in extracellular concentrations of amino acids for translation initiation of protein synthesis, usually indicated by polysome aggregation, increased incorporation of amino acids into cellular proteins and activation of translation initiation [12, 15, 19]. However, transcripts of myofibrillar proteins and amino acid transporters showed unexpected complex time course changes in response to various conditions of refeeding and should therefore be used only in combination with other indicators of muscle protein synthesis. Thus, tissue levels of actin and myosin transcripts are not suitable as in vivo markers for protein accretion in skeletal muscles in response to feeding.
We would like to thank Ph.D. Christina Lönnroth and Marianne Andersson for advice and technical help in performing the microarray analyses.
Supported in parts by grants from the Swedish Cancer Society (2014), the Swedish Research Council (08712), Assar Gabrielsson Foundation (AB Volvo), Jubileumskliniken Foundation, IngaBritt & Arne Lundberg Research Foundation, Swedish and Gothenburg Medical Societies and the Medical Faculty, University of Gothenburg, Sahlgrenska University Hospital Foundation, Swedish Nutrition Foundation.
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


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Pet Dog Costume Pirates of the Caribbean Style
[ag-top]How cute is this pet dog costume pirates of the Caribbean style? Can you just see your dog showing up to the gala celebration sporting this dog pirate costume?[/ag-top]
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Io9 ran an interesting article yesterday entitled, Some Movies Are So Worried About Setting Up a Sequel They Forget to be Good. (I'd summarize, but the title says it all). This is something I've also seen in books, though from a slightly different angle.
Some writers are so enamored with the idea of writing a trilogy or series, they stretch an otherwise good story so thin it falls apart.
Although anyone can make this mistake, you see it most often in the science fiction and fantasy genres. I suspect "epic fantasy" catapulted the entire genre into thinking every story had to be at least a trilogy.
Don't get me wrong—there's nothing wrong with a great trilogy. I love a great trilogy. I wrote a great trilogy (admittedly biased here, but hey, it won an award). Plenty of one-book ideas grow into solid multi-book ideas. The problem comes when the writer takes a great stand-alone story and forces it to become a trilogy.
The Io9 article references The Hobbit here, and I have my own experience with it that shows this problem well. Toward the end of the movie, I was debating how much was left and if I had time to run out to the restroom before the climax (it's a LONG movie).
And then the credits started rolling.
The movie just stopped. The way it told you it was over was by cutting to the credits. No climax. No wrap up. Just "look, we're out the mines" and bam. Black screen with text. I did not bother with the next two movies.
This is what happens when you take a children's book and turn it into a nine-hour mini-series.
How to Spot a Trilogy Wannabe
Luckily, it's not hard to identify one of these books in the making in time to fix it. Stories stretched beyond their limits have these common elements (all or some):
They don't have a complete story in book one
The first book has no core conflict of its own, and no problem to resolve in the climax. Stuff happens, sure, but the book just…stops. There's no satisfaction for the reader because the story has no ending. It's as if the last few chapters were torn out. Odds are, book two ends the same way, but with a cliffhanger. The only true climax is in book three, because that's the only real climax in the entire story.
The first book is all about setting up why the rest of the series matters
Often, this focuses on the "one tragic event that changed the protagonist's life" and that's why they're in the right place at the right time for the conflict of the story. If you've uttered the words "this event is what causes the entire thing to happen—without it the rest of the story doesn't make sense," there's a decent chance you're just dumping in unnecessary setup. Backstory that created the protagonist's tragic flaw or emotional wound is not a book unto itself.
(Here's more on the difference between good and bad setup)
You're holding back plot elements to save them for later books
Unless you have a legitimate multi-book story, there's no reason to hold back anything if it will make book one better (and even then it's a toss up). If you're keeping the good stuff in reserve so you have something cool to write about later, that's a major red flag that the story is getting thin.
You're throwing pointless obstacles in the way to fill the spaces between actual, relevant plot points
Too-thin stories have holes to fill, and adding pointless fluff seems like a good idea (especially if it fleshes out an exciting backstory). But it doesn't do anything to serve the story and only delays events with little to no improvement on the book as a whole. It also tends to get repetitious as the characters perform essentially the same tasks over and over to kill time.
You've literally taken your three-act outline and turned each act into its own book
I speak from experience here. If you've ever looked at your outline and thought, "I can make the beginning part book one, the middle book two, and the climax can be stretched to fill book three" you are also guilty of over-stretching your poor story. Since the three act structure is also a solid structure for a trilogy, it feels as though the story would easily scale up. It doesn't (at least, not without a lot of work).
(Here's more on plotting multi-book goals)
Multi-book stories can and do appear from stand-alone stories, but it usually happens when the writer sees a larger picture behind the events of book one. It's not the same story stretched to fit, it's taking the results of book one and showing the larger implications and consequences of those actions.
Series are sexy. Trilogies are fun. They have huge potential and that appeals to the dreamer in all of us. But do your story a favor and let it be who it is. Odds are you have a true series idea in your head and that story deserves its chance to shine.
Have you ever stretched a story too thin?
Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure, a series of self-guided workshops that help you turn your idea into a novel.
Janice Hardy is the founder of Fiction University, and the author of the teen fantasy trilogy The Healing Wars, where she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her novels include The Shifter, (Picked as one of the 10 Books All Young Georgians Should Read, 2014) Blue Fire, and Darkfall from Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins. The first book in her Foundations of Fiction series, Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Structure is out now.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound


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Welcome back to the Gardens at Casa de Froio, Ms. Amaryllis. It is very nice seeing you and your lovely twin sister again this season!
This beauty is one of three Amaryllis bulbs given to me by my ex-wife in 2011; and is just the second flower I have been able to coax from the ground. The first of the bulbs to flower was the bulb I planted in the big yellow planter on the patio and that was way back 2012! Not a bad thing really; not knowing whether or not the bulb will produce a flower is definitely part of the anticipation I have built around the Amaryllis in my garden.
This variety of Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) v. Apple Blossom, blossoms into two large flowers (as opposed to her smaller cousins such as the Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) v. Minerva which have four flowers atop each) which sit gracefully atop a 22″ flower stalk; for my plant. The larger of the two flowers is a full 7″ wide x 7″ high x 3.5″ deep; she has no trouble making an instant focal point in my apartment and absolutely captivates me!
If you have been following along with the goings on here at the Gardens of Casa de Froio; you probably know that I have a tendency to move plants around the patio on a whim. Well; the move that here; move that there; and then this here; and that there, whim kept me busy over the last couple of days!
The northeast corner of my patio garden before the plant migration:
I repositioned the Avocado tree to the spot that the Aloe Vera plant formerly lived; then moved the Pennisetum over to the Avocado's old place – the ornamental grass has outgrown its former spot as the blades were definitely infringing upon the seating area and that just won't do. Next I pushed the Aloe Vera in front of the Avocado; and then gathered the miscellaneous plants; those that were randomly planted, volunteers, or just didn't fit anywhere else, and moved them in front of the plant stand between the Avocado and Pennisetum. The arrangement now from left to right include:
- Amaryllis with no sign of flower
- Ornamental Ginger
- Empty planter for tomatoes seedlings
- Primrose (tucked in behind the Pomegranate)
- Bonsai Pomegranate (which has been un-bonsai'ed!)
- Volunteer Water (Black) Birch
I am definitely pleased with the outcome. By using the mixed plants foliage as a blocker for the vast empty spaces which existed before, this side of garden now looks fuller, more cohesive, and finished.
The northeast corner of my patio garden following the plant migration:
Outside of the Garden; being able to get back on my bicycle has been GREAT! I am averaging between 75-miles to 125-miles a week; which helps me close in on my 2014 mileage goal of 4,500-miles. With the first few months of 2014 spent rehabilitating the ankle following almost 4-months out of the saddle, my mileage average per day has been drastically reduced so I am unlikely to actually get there; however, the number is still possible and it is always good to have a goal to keep me pushing forward. The ankle occasionally acts up every once in a while; but for the most part, the surrounding muscle and damaged tissue keep getting stronger with each mile I put on the road.
Did a nice 15-mile ride following an interview with a company in San Leandro, CA. The route I took home hugs the San Leandro and Oakland Bay waters and is full of great views, migratory birds, and fairly easy flat-land pedaling. However, not long into the ride, I came across something completely unexpected for where I was.
I decided to make a quick pit stop at San Leandro Bay to fuel my body with a tasty Clif S'Mores 20g Builder's Bar and some water before continuing the battle with a head wind that seemed to only get stronger with each passing rotation of the cranks! Snack time done; I started to walk my bike back toward the road when I looked across the black top and was surprised to discover a grinning fighter jet staring directly back at me!!
A Grumman NF-14A Tomcat is not something I would generally expect to see parked next to a main thoroughfare; however, in Oakland you just never really know what you're going to find next. Behind the F-14 was this Grumman KA-6D Intruder. I would have never expected to find such military hardware basically just sitting behind a rather unkempt chain link fence in the swamps of Oakland – now I know.
About the Planes:
Grumman NF-14A Tomcat – 160666
- The Tomcat is a supersonic, twin-engine, variable sweep wing, fighter aircraft. With its Phoenix, Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles and 20MM Vulcan Gatling gun, the F-14 Tomcat was without equal during its service and remains one of the most potent military aircraft of all time.
Grumman KA-6D Intruder – 152910/NL-520
- The A-6 was developed to meet the US Navy's need for an aircraft that could attack ground and sea based targets in any weather, day and night. The museum is proud to display 910 in her original colors VA-95 when she served in Vietnam in 1973 under the command of Lt. Cohen.
These two and many more are on display at the Oakland Aviation Museum. If you ever get to the area and have an interest in aviation, this would be a fun and probably education day trip to take! I definitely have them on my radar now and would love to check out the WWII planes they also have when time and finances permit.
♠♥♣♦ ♠♥♣♦ ♠♥♣♦
Well friends; that is about all that is happening from this end, I hope that your adventures are many and wonderful and your gardens bountiful!
Until next time –
~ Noah


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I'm going to try not to get gushy in this review, but let me just say that Mary Oliver's collected poems in New and Selected Poems are amazing. They have single-handedly revived my belief in poetry's purpose and place in our contemporary moment. I had gone through a bit of a lull with poetry, in part because I had been reading some average poetry and in part because my own attempts at poetry fell so utterly flat. Mary Oliver is an extremely talented poet and the contents of this book are astonishing. I found myself writing poems down on pieces of paper to post up around my two work spaces.
I should warn readers though, that she is, at heart, a nature poet. I do not mean that label as a kind of parochial tag, but in the sense that she finds most of images and meaning in the natural world. This is not to say that she is a poet of the wilderness, but rather that she draws on the world she lives in (New England and Ohio). She often writes about bears, birds, insects, grasses, ponds, trees, and the like. However, I think the couple of lines from her poem "The Lamps" suggest more of what she is after:
"You wish it would never change –
But of course the darkness keeps
Its appointment. Each evening,
An inscrutable presence, it has the final word
Outside the every door."
She is after human experience and the "human condition." While I find myself cringing away from such a word, I can not quite describe her approach beyond that. She writes about life, death, desire, joy, sorrow, and dreams. These are not unique things to any one person or people, but could more accurately be called "human" traits (although there is evidence to suggest that animals do have emotions and dreams). She favours short lines and precise diction, doing a surprising amount of work with so few words.
A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to travel across North America on a bicycle. It was an amazing trip, but one of the things that surprised me most was that I found myself wanting to travel even slower than on the bike. I wanted to walk across the continent because from the bicycle seat it felt like I was moving too fast and missing too much. Reading this collection of poetry evoked a similar feeling. I wanted to spend time with each poem, reading and re-reading them to dig out their meaning and flavour. Unfortunately, 10-10-12 does not allow for that, so I think I am going to find myself struggling with this over the course of the year. Poetry demands slowness and I love it for this (even when I'm trying to quickly scan a few poems an hour before I have to teach them).
I am quite sure that Mary Oliver is going to be a writer that I come back to many times over the years. Her words and lines have a way of nourishing the soul (or mine at least), in a non-cheesy way. I am kind of surprised that I had not encountered her work at any length before, but am glad to have met a new traveler.
I highly recommend this book of poems to any lover of poetry.
I've listed some of my favourites below:
"Entering the Kingdom" "Gannets," "Hawk," "The Sun," "Five A.M. in the Pine Woods," "The Ponds," "Dogfish," "Wild Geese," "Ghosts," "Vultures," "The Fish," "Humpbacks," "The Family," "Ice," "At Blackwater Pond," "Spring in the Classroom," "Learning About the Indians," "The Esquimos Have No Word for 'War'," "Magellan," "Going to Walden," "No Voyage," "Beyond the Snow Belt," "A Dream of Trees," "The Murderer's House," "On Winter's Margin"


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- Camera: Y
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11/ 7/06
Live From the Democratic Party
Lieberman Stays Classy, Boring
After being elected as an independent for his fourth term in the U.S. Senate, Joe Lieberman thanked the people of Connecticut for choosing "progress over partisanship" and the "mainstream over the extreme." He stressed the importance of across-the-aisle cooperation and spoke briefly on the war in Iraq, saying that the two parties needed to work together to bring home the troops without putting Americans at risk. It was a perfectly acceptable Lieberman speech.
Even opponent Ned Lamont, who "helped bring new voters and new volunteers into the political process," got a mention. (Liberal bloggers and the elusive "grass roots" were tastefully omitted.) And he explained his feelings of gratitude in this cheesy, yet somewhat endearing manner: "You know my name was on the bottom of the ballot? You found it. So it seems only fitting that I thank you from the bottom of my heart." Someone give this man a hug.
Lori Fradkin


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Finding Nevo with Nevo Zisin
Frankston City Libraries
Nevo Zisin at Frankston Library for Midsumma Festival
Nevo is a young, passionate activist and writer. They also happen to be transgender and identify as non-binary. Releasing their memoir, Finding Nevo, on gender and sexuality at the age of 21, Nevo is unafraid to delve into difficult and often taboo topics while remaining relatable and engaging.
The Melbourne Midsumma Festival is Victoria's premier LGBTQIA+ cultural festival, made for and by communities who live with shared experiences around diverse gender and sexuality. A champion of LGBTQIA+ cultures, conversations and events where there is an intersection between generations, people, ideas, stories and experiences – a focal point for connections and belonging.
This event is free but bookings are essential from Wednesday 2 January.


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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) Rio de Janeiro's city hall has adopted a transportation app to try and help visitors get around the Olympic venues.
Rio does not have a public transportation information system, which will affect Olympic ticket-holders who have a short time to move between venues.
City hall says on Tuesday it has contracted TRAFI, which says it has a million active users mainly in Eastern Europe and Turkey, to provide real-time data on timetables for buses, trams, the metro, and boats.
TRAFI says it will use a databank assembled by city hall and Rio's state government to monitor roads to all the areas of Olympic competitions.