text:
Contest! Contest! Today I have a special treat for you guys. My good buddy and critique partner, Suzan Harden and I came together for some cross promotion. Suzan writes, well, whacky and fun urban fantasies and starting today we're offering a contest that will run until midnight, Tuesday, June 21st. All you have to do is read the post and leave a comment telling us who you think has worse problems, Kylie or Sam. Okay…You got the floor, Suzan!!!
New writers are constantly worried about other folks stealing their ideas. Well, Christie and I can tell you the truth: Take the same basic concept—young blonde woman gets embroiled in supernatural shenanigans and has to deal with the resulting chaos in her life, not to mention freaked-out family members—and two different writers are going to come up with two very different books.
Meet Kylie Galen from Christie's alter ego C.C. Hunter's Shadow Falls series and Samantha "Sam" Ridgeway from my, Suzan Harden's, Bloodlines series. We brought them to Panera Bread, our favorite meeting spot, for their own little conversation.
Take it away, ladies!
Kylie: "So, you're, um, a reporter, right?"
Sam: "I used to be. I work for a vampire now. A guy named Burnett called him about talking to you. Something about you not being sure what you are."
Kylie: "Oh. Well, I'm not. Not sure I mean. All the other supernaturals look at me like I'm a freak." *Glances up at Sam with puzzlement* "He said you sort of have the same problem."
Sam: " Sort of. So, is anything specific happening with you? Sprouting hair certain times of the month? A desire to drink liquids you don't normally drink?
Kylie: *blushes* "Well, I. . ."
Sam: "Like the taste of blood?"
Kylie: "Yeah."
Sam: *grabs Kylie's wrist and holds it to her nose*
Kylie: *jerks hand back* "I'm not a snack!"
Sam: *shrugs* "It's the fastest way to find out what you are. . ."
Kylie: "How would you know?"
Sam: "Trust me. I know."
Kylie: *almost comes out of her seat* "So what am I?"
Sam: *touches her nose* "Good question. I've never smelled anything like you before. But you do smell yummy."
Kylie: *scoots her chair back* "Good grief! What are you? A were-bloodhound?"
Sam: "Hey, keep your voice down. There's too many Normals in here."
Kylie: "Normals?"
Sam: "Yeah, regular people."
Kylie: "I liked it a lot better when I thought I was normal. Then I just had my mom and dad's divorce to deal with. And my grandmother's death, and boy troubles, and best friend going off the deep end, and oh, I was seeing ghosts then, too. I just didn't know they were ghosts. Oh, heck, maybe my life sucked when I thought I was normal, too."
Sam: "Have you talked to your parents about this supernatural stuff?
Kylie: *shakes head* "Look, I just found out my dad's really my stepdad. My biological dad is the one who's some kind of supernatural being. He's not sure what he is, and to top it off, he's dead. And is running out of earth time."
Sam: "Of course, he's running out of time. He's not supposed to be here."
Kylie: "But I want a chance to know him."
Sam: "You are getting to know him even if it's not how you want, so quit whining. At least you weren't someone's science experiment. You were born this way." *slaps head* "Oh god, now I'm quoting Lady Gaga songs. I wonder if that meat dress she wore was real meat." *looks around* "Does this place have something more substantial than soup and bread? I'm really hungry. Is there some place I can get a hamburger?" *stomach growls* "Or a dozen?"
Kylie: *leans away from the table* "What are you?"
Sam: "What do you mean?"
Kylie: "You're not human. You mentioned an experiment. Did someone do something to you? Your brain pattern is. . .weird."
Sam: "Cut it out with the brain jokes."
Kylie: "I wasn't joking. What's wrong with you?"
Sam: *stomach growls again* "I'll be right back." *comes back with six quiches* "Okay, where were we?"
Kylie: "What kind of an experiment did they do to you? Enlarge your stomach?"
Sam: "Ha-ha. These scientists were trying to replicate the pluses of vampirism without all the side effects. They were not nice people. I was kidnapped and used as a guinea pig."
Kylie: "You're eating real food. Most vamps don't really care for food."
Sam: "I'm also kind of dead, thanks to those ass—ur—jerks."
Kylie: "You can't be dead. Look, I'm not saying I'm the hottest French fry in the pack, but there's one thing I know something about, and it's ghosts. You're not really dead. Well, not dead like the dead I have to deal with."
Sam: *shrugs* "My witch doctor is looking into it."
Kylie: "Witch doctor?"
Sam: "She's a witch with an M.D. But every other witch confirms my aura is black, which means I'm dead."
Kylie: "My friend Miranda is a witch. She might be—"
Sam: "Thanks, but no thanks. I've been poked, prodded and spelled enough."
Kylie: *Looks embarrassed to ask.* "I kind of overheard someone say you were a zombie. Is that right?"
Sam: *glares at Kylie while eating the last quiche*
Kylie: "Well, you said you're sort of dead and you eat a lot, right?"
Sam: "Do you see any body parts falling off?"
Kylie: "No, but—"
Sam: "If we're going to discuss embarrassing sh-shtuff, let's talk about why I smell two guys all over you."
Kylie: *turns red* "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
Sam: *breathes deeply* "The werewolf and the fairy."
Kylie: "Derek's only half fairy."
Sam: "Half-smalf. Kid, take it from me. Fairies are nothing but trouble."
Kylie: "What's that supposed to mean? Derek's always been sweet, and kind, and—"
Sam: "And he likes to mess with your mind?"
Kylie: "He only does it when I'm upset."
Sam: "Uh-huh. What's the were's name?"
Kylie: "Lucas."
Sam: "Trust me. Stick with the canine. They're a lot more faithful."
Kylie: "And how many werewolves have you dated?"
Sam: "None, but—"
Kylie: "Do you even have a boyfriend?"
Sam: "Yes, but—"
Kylie: "And what is he?"
Sam: "A vampire, but—"
Kylie: "So you have no idea of what it's like to decide between two guys." *looks out window* "Look, I appreciate your advice, but this is something I have to decide on my own."
Sam: "Hey, just remember dog equals loyalty."
Kylie: *look down at Sam's empty plates* "Do you not worry about getting fat?"
Sam: *Rolls her eyes* "Nope. My metabolism changed with my appetite."
Kylie: "So you're lucky, huh?"
Sam: *frowns* "You call this lucky?"
Kylie: "Luckier than me?"
Sam: "Just because you see dead people, you think you have it worse?"
Kylie: "It's not as easy as it sounds. I mean, right now there's a dead guy standing next to you with his throat slashed, and he wants me to help him and he might not even know he's dead."
Sam: *looks around and frowns* "Well, try having the appetite of the entire Rams' offensive line, and if I don't eat every couple of hours, bad things happen. Do you know how hard it is to go to family dinners now?"
Kylie: *smiles* "We could probably stay here all day and try to one up each other. But I see my mom is here. I gotta go."
Sam: *Nods head and smiles* "Nice meeting you."
Kylie: * scurries for the door*
Sam: *shakes head* "What a strange kid."
Kylie: *glances back one more time* "What a strange woman."
There you have it, folks. In the comments, let us know who has the worse problems, Kylie or Sam, and why.
And since it's me and Christie, you know we're having a contest. I'm giving away Sam's e-book debut, Zombie Love, and the first Bloodlines novel, Blood Magick. Christie is throwing in a signed copy of Born at Midnight and some swag. A commenter will be randomly selected to win our goodies.
Suzan Harden grew up on a working farm in Ohio Amish country, though she's not Amish. Mucking out pig stalls gives a girl lots of time to make up stories, but with a practical family, writing wasn't considered a practical employment option. However, according to her Career Line on her palm, she'll have three primary careers in her life. Writing is the last one. She currently lives in southeastern Texas with a husband who believes writing is a practical career option, a kid who thinks she's too enamored with zombies, and a beagle who wants his belly scratched.
Both Zombie Love and Blood Magick, book 1 of her Bloodlines series, are available for Kindle at Amazon. For more information on Suzan, visit her blog, www.wildwickedwacky.blogspot.com.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
My LIfe is So Much More Worse Than Yours
Contest! Contest! Today I have a special treat for you guys. My good buddy and critique partner, Suzan Harden and I came together for some cross promotion. Suzan writes, well, whacky and fun urban fantasies and starting today we're offering a contest that will run until midnight, Tuesday, June 21st. All you have to do is read the post and leave a comment telling us who you think has worse problems, Kylie or Sam. Okay…You got the floor, Suzan!!!
Posted by Christie Craig at 10:46 AM
48 comments:
Hi, Suzan,
Loved the conversation between Sam and Kylie. I can't wait to get my copy of Zombie Love. (I can't find it on Amazon right now, though. Any idea what's up with that?)
- June 19, 2011 at 12:13 PM
- Christie Craig said...
Hi Suzan,
Kylie had some interesting things to say about your gal, Sam. LOL.
Thanks so much for joining us at KF for the day.
- June 19, 2011 at 12:21 PM
- TabethaLee said...
Hello Ladies,
I'm going to have to say that I think Kylie has it a bit harder than Sam..Not knowing what you are, losing your identity that you've had your whole life AND trying to choose between 2 perfectly fabulous guys....Sam was born that way (haha)and really doesn't have to adapt or readjust..Plus she has a killer metabolism..Totally awesome!!! And thanks for the great conversation between the 2!!! I love you ladies :)
- June 19, 2011 at 12:35 PM
- Edie Ramer said...
Suzan, my beagle is like Sam. She pretty much just wants to eat.
What a fun interview! I don't know whose life is worse, but I'd like to have Sam's metabolism - minus her appetite. I want to read both books!
- June 19, 2011 at 1:26 PM
- Janel Mullins said...
Hello that was a great conversation between Sam and Kylie. I think both have an equal amount of problems. I loved reading there conversation!!! i would love to win any of the prizes they are great.
- June 19, 2011 at 1:45 PM
- minhchieu said...
What a funny conversation between Sam and Kylie, and i think kylie has it harder than sam
- June 19, 2011 at 1:55 PM
- Unknown said...
Great post loved the interview! Myself I think Kylie has the most problems of the two.
- June 19, 2011 at 2:45 PM
- Ruth said...
Interesting- characters from two different books-two different authors. Characters really do become people to the authors and it is great letting the readeers become more invested in them. But as too who has it worse-- I go with Kylie. I've been in her position- the divorce thing- not the not knowing what I am thing-or maybe I should rephrase that...umm there is the multiple personality thing. See ya'll in New York
- June 19, 2011 at 2:55 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hey Faye,
Zombie Love will be up for sale on July 1st. The winner of the contest will get it before anyone else. *evil cackle*
- June 19, 2011 at 3:37 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
That's okay, Christie. Sam can be a handful. The entire Augustine coven will agree on that.
- June 19, 2011 at 3:39 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hi TabethaLee,
I had to post the 'Born This Way' on my blog just for Lady Gaga's zombie costume. Thanks for stopping by!
- June 19, 2011 at 3:41 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hey Edie,
I've never met a beagle who won't beg for treats. And Sam's metabolism starts to be a real problem in some latter books. Thanks for dropping in!
- June 19, 2011 at 3:43 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hi Janel,
Really? Equal? I guess Christie and I have to work harder on torturing our characters. Thanks for dropping by.
- June 19, 2011 at 3:50 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hey minhchieu,
Thanks for the compliment. Christie and I had a lot of fun writing this.
- June 19, 2011 at 3:52 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hi Virgina,
Comparing Kylie and Sam is like comparing Twilight and Zombieland, but life is goo as long as you have Twinkies, right?
- June 19, 2011 at 3:58 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hey Ruth,
I'm soooo sad I can't go Nationals this year. I'm so going to miss your party!
- June 19, 2011 at 3:59 PM
- Christie Craig said...
Where's the Twinkies? Are you hiding them? Hey...maybe Sam ate all of them. LOL.
This was a fun piece to write. While our books are very different, our characters are a lot a like in that usually say what they think and they are pretty much smart&%%$%. Hmm, wonder what that says about us Suzan?
- June 19, 2011 at 4:32 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Well, Christie, actually Sam DOES eat all the Twinkies in the next book. *grin*
And since we're both smart&%%$%es, how else are our characters going to be?
- June 19, 2011 at 4:55 PM
- Kristi said...
Sorry, I have to go with the Kylie love. It was fun to read though and now I've added you to my TBR list.
Kristi W.
- June 19, 2011 at 8:29 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hi Kristi,
I'm always happy if someone adds my stories to their TBR pile. Maybe I should have added Twinkies to the prize list to bribe y'all. *grin*
- June 19, 2011 at 9:11 PM
- donnas said...
Great post. Loved it, very entertaining.
They both really have their problems. But I think Kylie might have it a bit harder. She found out her dad isnt her dad, she cant talk to her real dad. She has 2 guys to choose between, and really isnt sure what she is.
bacchus76 at myself dot com
- June 19, 2011 at 9:40 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Poor Sam. Zombies get absolutely no respect. Thanks for for visiting with us, Donnas!
- June 19, 2011 at 10:13 PM
- MiaMarlowe said...
Anyone who can eat a dozen hamburgers without looking like the Goodyear blimp has no problems, IMHO. LOL!
- June 20, 2011 at 5:46 AM
- MiaMarlowe said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- June 20, 2011 at 5:46 AM
- Christine said...
What a cool idea for a post. I think both characters have "interesting" problems. Although, being able to eat whatever you want is a perk.
- June 20, 2011 at 7:27 AM
- Sandy said...
Great dialogue between Sam and Kylie. I really wouldn't to be in either of their shoes, but I would love to be able to eat and not put on weight. Smile.
- June 20, 2011 at 8:22 AM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hey Mia,
I think I offically scared of American women and their obsession with food. *grin* Thanks for your comment
- June 20, 2011 at 8:58 AM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hey Christine,
Thanks for the compliment! Christie and I had a blast writing this.
- June 20, 2011 at 9:00 AM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hi Sandy,
I honestly wouldn't want to be Sam or Kylie either. I have enough problems in my pitiful mortal existence. LOL Thanks for stopping by
- June 20, 2011 at 9:05 AM
Great post, ladies!
- June 20, 2011 at 9:47 AM
- Nancy Sweetland said...
What a fun, creative idea! Both personalities came through equally well and gave me a new perspective on the 'other' people! Who has the worst problem? Kylie, I think. But this made me want to know more about both of them.
- June 20, 2011 at 9:50 AM
- B. A. Binns said...
Sorry Sam, but how bad can it really be when you get to eat and eat and eat and not gain a pound? I'm going with Kylie as having the worst problems - especially since one of her boyfriends is such a dog!!
- June 20, 2011 at 10:36 AM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hey Tess! You're not trying to be PC because Christie and I both know where you live, are you?
- June 20, 2011 at 10:36 AM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hi Nancy,
Thanks so much for the compliments! I hear so many writers worry about the idea, but I think Christie and I proved it's all in the execution.
- June 20, 2011 at 10:39 AM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hey B.A.,
Sam would like to point out that Kylie doesn't have to worry about eating her friends if she doesn't stop at McDonald's every couple of hours. *grin*
Thanks for stopping by!
- June 20, 2011 at 10:41 AM
- Teri Thackston said...
Great 'conversation'...very entertaining!
- June 20, 2011 at 11:49 AM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hi Teri,
"Entertaining,' huh? Thanks for not spilling the stuff we do during crit meetings. *grin*
- June 20, 2011 at 12:39 PM
- Donna Marie Rogers said...
What a great interview, Ladies! I just have to read Sam's story now. :-)
I think both have plenty of trouble ahead of them (I know Kylie does since I've read BAM!). And now I'm dying to know what, exactly, Sam is!
- June 20, 2011 at 5:00 PM
- Christie Craig said...
What do we do in our critique meetings, besides drink Chocolate Martinis and eat pineapple upside down cake. LOL.
- June 20, 2011 at 7:13 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hi Donna Marie,
Glad you liked it! We had to tread the interview line carefully because we both know what happens in each other's stories a few books done the line.
- June 20, 2011 at 10:21 PM
- Suzan Harden said...
Damn, Christie! You're sucking all the mystery out of our writing lives! You know our readers want to believe we have private planes and solve mysteries in our spare time.
- June 20, 2011 at 10:23 PM
- Corrie said...
This is a tough choice, because while I first thought that getting kidnapped and changed against your will would be worse than just growing into something, at least she doesn't have to deal with that while going through teenage angst and parental rules...Kylies got it worse, absolutely.
Love both stories, can't wait for the next Kylie and am looking foward to Sams story. Thanks so much for writing!
- June 21, 2011 at 7:24 AM
- Suzan Harden said...
Hi Corrie,
Thanks for voting. Alas, poor Sam gets no respect but she does get the hotter guy. *grin*
- June 21, 2011 at 10:56 AM
- Christie Craig said...
Derek and Lucas are pretty hot. Just ask Kylie. LOL.
- June 21, 2011 at 11:29 AM
- Bethany said...
I'm not entering. I can't choose. If I pick Kylie Suzan will have Sam eat me. If I pick Sam, Christie will disown me as her book pimp. So, I chose to remain diplomatic, NOT enter and encourage BOTH authors. Best wishes to both Suzan and Christie! I really enjoyed the conversation and I posted about the contest on my blog :-)
- June 21, 2011 at 2:21 PM
- Refhater said...
I can't really pick who's problems are worse. Can I pick D. All of the above?
Great post ladies!
- June 21, 2011 at 3:58 PM
- nutspan said...
I say Sam has more problems.
- June 21, 2011 at 10:59 PM
- Bethany said...
Hey! Glad you were able to find the Killer Fiction blog and Christie and Suzan's contest.
Note to Christie & Suzan: If you need nutspan's email address I have it. Thanks :-)
- June 22, 2011 at 12:06 AM


text:
Donate Leave Time to Colleagues
Monday, March 25, 2013
The following employees are in need of Voluntary Shared Leave donations:
Melanie Kelley, University Police
Erin Cummings, Biology
Crystal Helms, Cameron School Business (vacation only)
Milbert Simpson, Housekeeping
The UNCW Voluntary Shared Leave Policy allows employees to donate leave to another employee who is facing a loss of income due to a personal or family member illness. Employees may donate sick leave, vacation or bonus leave. There is a limit of five sick days to any one recipient. The recipient can only receive up to 160 hours of sick leave. The form to donate leave is located on the HR website at www.uncw.edu/hr/forms.html.
Contact Kelly Kennedy, benefits counselor, for more information at email@example.com or x23006.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hover over main image to zoom
Double wrap antiqued braided leather bracelet in a gold finish with one mother of pearl button, circa 1880-1910.
These feminine buttons are in soft, muted colors of white, cream, rose and smoky grey.
Images are subject to variation. The buttons will vary slightly in design as each piece is one of a kind. Buttons are all made of mother of pearl, but each has a unique finish & design.
Bracelet Length: 7.75" / 197mm
Button Size: 1/2 Inch (13 mm)
Chains: All chains are pure brass that have been antiqued, then clear coated. The chains contain no nickel and will not tarnish. All 100% genuine leather.


text:
Leading liberal and conservatives columnists and TV talking heads agreed tonight that for President Barack Obama the economic stimulus is a "Short term gain but a long term loss."
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said, "Obama contradicted everything he said he stood for" during the process of making the stimulus.
"He did not work toward bipartianship and got not one conservative Republican vote."
Krauthammer said "the president showed he would enact legislation by ramming it down throats," a reference to the language President Obama used at last Monday's press conference.
He also criticized the ugly process used to make the stimulus bill and the speed of the legislation; much of the blame for which lies with Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., center, flanked by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Md., left, and Rep John Larson, D-Conn., right, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, Feb. 13, 2009, after the House passed the stimulus legislation.(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
"Not one House member or Senator read this package and understands it," Krauthammer said.
Liberal Juan Williams said, "I agree with Charles that 'haste makes waste' but in this economic situation haste was necessary."
Conservative Fred Barnes said, "The president got no help from Republicans."
Barnes said, "The president obviously wasted his time in Peoria, Fort Myers, and Elkhart….And he wasted his time holding a cocktail party and a Super Bowl party."
Barnes said Obama was popular "but has no clout."
"We're not moving quickly because we're trying to jam something down people's throats. We're moving quickly because if we don't, the economy's going to keep getting worse."
That's what President Barack Obama said late Thursday (Feb 5) at a spa in Williamburg, VA.
Stimulus: Obama May Need To Make a Deal
What he clearly meant to say was "We're trying to move quickly because quick action will pay dividends not because we're trying to jam something down people's throats…."
If we don't what? Jam this down people's throats? The President of the United States used that turn of a phrase? Just like he hauled "catastrophe" out of the verbal closet this week?
The great communicator is in danger of becoming Joe Biden: a guy you don't want off the script, off the telepromter.
It won't matter that "I won."
No clout….
'Catastrophe' Obama Is Angry; And We Might Be Too
Leadership and clout? Incoming White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel gestures prior to the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States, in Washington, January 20, 2009.(Jim Young – UNITED STATES/Reuters)


text:
What does the epidemic of obesity in the U.S. have to do with how communities are designed and built? That was the question at a panel at the ULI Fall Meeting in Denver. In short, panelists said the way we design and build communities can have a big effect on residents' physical and mental health.
The causes of obesity are clear: people consume to much unhealthy food and don't exercise enough. Because obesity and other health problems, including asthma, diabetes, and depression, have all been linked to poor neighborhood design, public health professionals have recently turned their attention to issues that have typically been the domain of developers, architects, and planners.Richard Jackson – a physician and chair of Environmental Health Science at the University of California at Los Angeles School of Public Health – said health care expenditures in 2007 represented 16.7 percent of domestic GDP, and are projected to grow to 19 percent of GDP by 2017. In 2010, more than one-third of adults in the U.S. adults (35.7 percent) and almost 17 percent of youths were obese. Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems.
In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion. On average, annual medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than individuals of normal weight. According to Dr. Jackson, the average American has gained 26 pounds in the last 25 years. Jackson and other leading public health officials say that the best antidote to obesity is to build physical activity into one's daily life, but given the fact that we are a society in which most people have to drive everywhere for everything this is not easy to accomplish.
Dr. Jackson suggested that the path to healthier communities should begin with a health impact assessment (HIA). Doctors routinely advise their patients on ways they can stay healthy. An HIA provides similar advice to communities, which could help local leaders make informed choices about improving public health through community design.
The National Research Council defines an HIA as a "systematic process that uses an array of data sources and analytic methods as well as input from stakeholders to determine the potential effects of a proposed policy, plan, program, or project on the health of a population." Health impact assessments also provide recommendations on monitoring and managing these effects. For example, imagine that a city school board proposed consolidating two neighborhood schools into a new, larger school on the edge of town. A health impact assessment could help the school board to understand that by closing the neighborhood schools, fewer children would be able to walk to school. However, an HIA might also make recommendations for minimizing the negative health effects of the new consolidated school, such as constructing new sidewalks or bike trails that would connect to the new school to existing neighborhoods.
Khanh Nguyen, portfolio director for healthy living at the Colorado Health Foundation, told the group that lifestyle has a bigger impact on health than either a person's biology or environment. This realization led the nonprofit Colorado Health Foundation to create a "Healthy Communities Program" which works with local governments to incorporate health and wellness into local comprehensive plans.
"Your address can play an important role in how long you live and how healthy you are," Nguyen said. She urged people in the land use field to help make the healthy choice the easy choice by building communities that provide sidewalks, bike paths, parks, trails, open spaces, and fitness facilities.
The panelists also recommended better access to public transportation. In fact, Dr. Jackson said that a study of transit-oriented neighborhoods in Charlotte, North Carolina, found that light rail users weighed on average six pounds less than those who do not use light rail. Transit users typically walk to and from the transit station. "Fitness can add six to eight years to an individual's lifespan," he said.
Kimball Crangle, a senior developer with the Denver Housing Authority, described how the organization is using a health impact assessment to help redesign public housing projects in Denver. The goals of this process were to increase physical activity, reduce crime, to provide better access to health care. These goals have manifested themselves in new buildings and redesigned neighborhoods that include such features as daylighted stairwells, pedestrian and bicycle links to nearby parks and transit stations, outdoor play areas for children, indoor bike storage, and bicycle repair stations.
Small changes like these can lead to big changes in health. Citing the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Crangle said that people who live in neighborhoods with parks, trails, and greenways are twice as healthy as people who live in neighborhoods without such facilities.
Developers, architects, and city planners have a role to play in preventive medicine, according to the panelists. These healthier communities can lead to more profitable real estate developments.
Edward T. McMahon is the Charles Fraser Chair for Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy and a senior resident fellow at ULI.


text:
Conservation and Environment in Mexico: Monthly Updates
Conservation in Mexico - Monthly Update August 2007
Turtles Galore!
The peak of the high season is here and the volunteers are having great fun experiencing it! Throughout the month the number of nests collected per night has been increasing and on average we are finding 20 nests a night. Recently, however, we have had the perfect weather for turtles, which is strong southerly winds, and have collected a record for this season of 96 nests in one night. That's 9747 turtle eggs that we are protecting from poachers, animals and bad weather!
The weather that is perfect for turtles has, however, been bad for our Corral as we woke up one morning to find that the entire corral had collapsed! Our plans for the day totally changed to deal with this, which including removing all of the damaged materials in the pouring rain so that we could bury the eggs that we had found during the night. Plans to rebuild are now underway to protect all of the 700 nests that are currently buried there.
This month's group of volunteers included another two week group who took Spanish lessons and aided our conservation efforts here. One of the Spanish lessons was suspended this month as an Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) came up in the mid-afternoon to lay her eggs in the sand just outside the classroom. It was a great moment for everyone as they could all clearly see her digging the nest with her back flippers and then laying the eggs before covering them back up again and returning to the sea. This process normally takes around 30 minutes at night, and when volunteers on patrol are lucky enough to see this, the turtle is normally lit by the lights of the quad-bike.
We patrol our 24km stretch of beach throughout the night for one main reason: to collect turtle nests before poachers do. It has always been a struggle to get to the eggs before the poachers but this month we were reinforced with the presence of the Federal police. By accompanying us they hoped to catch the culprits red-handed and I am very pleased to report that they have already captured two poachers. With a continued police presence we hope to deter the poachers to the point where they abandon the beach and whilst they might move elsewhere to hunt the turtles it is unlikely as the majority are locals. Ideally, should the poachers leave, then our work will become easier and all-night patrols will become a thing of the past replaced by an early morning sweep of the beach to collect the eggs laid the night before.
The volunteers have also been helping to clean the beaches, making it safer for turtles to come ashore to lay their eggs. All the volunteers have been very surprised at the amount of rubbish they have collected, and now enjoying walking along a clean stretch of beach.
Due to the diligence of all the volunteers over the past month, we have been able to see some very exciting creatures at the 'El Chupadero' lagoon. They include a white-faced coati, a mother and her three babies, as well as an armadillo and more green iguanas. We also saw and identified many new species of birds; Spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularia), Solitary sandpiper (Tringa solitaria), Spot-breasted oriole (Icterus pectoarlis), Pale-billed woodpecker (Campephilus guatemalensis) and Purple gallinule (Porphyrula martinica).
At the crocodile farm, we had our last opportunity to collect nests before they started hatching. Crocodile eggs have to be transported very carefully because should their orientation be changed then the embryo will come away from the egg wall and increase the probability that the egg will not hatch. This makes the collection process very delicate but the volunteers handled the extra responsibility very well. The volunteers have also been able to mark and measure all of the baby crocodiles that have been hatching from our nests in our artificial beach, greatly increasing the young population of (Crocodylus acutus) and (Crocodylus moreletti).
Oliver Garcia
Conservation Director
August, 2007
Projects Abroad


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Collection Society To Libraries: No Story Time For Kids Unless You Pay To Read Aloud
from the are-there-no-limits? dept
If there's a common trait of the various rightsholders groups around the world, it is their sense of entitlement. If anyone does anything with a work under copyright, they feel they have a right to regulate it and be paid for it. A good example is the claim by the Authors Guild that owners of Kindles weren't allowed to use an experimental text-to-speech feature, since that would infringe on the entirely made up concept of "audio rights" -- and hence, presumably, require further payment.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Belgian rights group SABAM has already established itself as a copyright hardliner with its attempts to force ISPs and social networks to set up monitoring and filtering systems to combat copyright infringement. Its latest demand shows the same apparent indifference to the negative consequences of its action:
Twice a month, the library in [the Belgian town of] Dilbeek welcomes about 10 children to introduce them to the magical world of books. A representative of the library in question is quoted in the De Morgen report as saying there's no budget to compensate people who read to the kids, relying instead on volunteers (bless them).
It's worth emphasizing that these are volunteers, so this is in no sense a professional "performance". It's just public-spirited people generously doing exactly what parents do when reading to their own children. Indeed, it's not hard to imagine SABAM trying to claim money for that too, one day.
SABAM got in touch with the library to let them know that it thinks this is unacceptable, however, and that they should start coughing up cash for reading stories from copyrighted books out loud. The library rep calculates that it could cost them roughly 250 euros (which is about $328) per year to pay SABAM for the right to -- again -- READ BOOKS TO KIDS.
Of course, if SABAM refuses to back down here, the likely outcome will be that many libraries throughout Belgium will cancel these reading sessions for children. As a result, fewer young people will be introduced to the world of reading, fewer of them will grow up to be readers, and writers will have fewer fans and less money. In other words, SABAM's attempt to extend its reach to new areas will harm not only children -- about whom it is obviously indifferent -- but also the very people it purports to serve.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+
Filed Under: audio right, belgium, copyright, kids, libraries, story time
Companies: sabam


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I seem to only play and re-play older games now, I lack the drive to jump on each new mega game as it comes out, I haven't played the last two Resident Evil games and one time I used to wait with baited breath for each new one, I even bought a Dreamcast so I could play Code Veronica since it was system exclusive back then.
I'm a big Final Fantasy fan from years ago but the celebration one that just came out doesn't really interest me and I am not even sure I will try FF15 when it finally comes. Skyrim held my attention for just two weeks whereas Morrowind years ago had me addicted for months.
I guess I'm just getting old and set in my ways.


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Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): Credits by Tom Salta [Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands soundtrack - Wii version].
A definite oldie, but I say adventures are like Twinkies - they never go bad (that is so not true by the way. Did you know Twinkies can grow green mold if placed on top of an EXIT sign for three months? True story, cross my heart). So in other words, this is not somewhere recent. I honestly don't think you can guess where I am from this picture. Actually, you might. From one teensy clue in the background...
(I really should hold my tongue. I don't think I've ever outsmarted you on a Guess My Adventure yet). Let's see if I can prevail this time! Bwa ha ha!
Guess My Adventure
Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): Credits by Tom Salta [Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands soundtrack - Wii version].
5 comments:
- Elie said...
My dad is a marble maker. It looks to me like you are at an art show and someone is in the early stages of making a marble. thats my guess.
- April 6, 2011 at 5:57 AM
- Heather Zundel said...
You dad is a marble maker!? That is so cool! I had never even thought of it as a job. Is it hard? Wow. Now my brain is buzzing with story ideas.
And it is definitely close. It's not an expo though. The clue is in the lower rightish corner. :)
- April 6, 2011 at 10:56 AM
- Kimberly said...
Looks like a glass blown ornament shop to me. I did see some sort of Christmas decoration, I think. And I believe it was even in that corner! I like all of the dragons!
- April 6, 2011 at 5:25 PM
- Kimberly said...
I was going for blown glass, by the way. ;)
- April 6, 2011 at 5:26 PM
- Elie said...
Marble making takes practice, but it is relatively easy. He has an art studio where he gives classes. I used to make mini marbles for him, its fun, but can be painful if the glass pops.
- April 7, 2011 at 2:06 PM


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Today's range of techniques for detection of breast and other cancers include mammography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound, positron emission tomography (PET), and optical imaging. Each technology has advantages and disadvantages, with limitations either in spatial resolution or sensitivity. Researchers from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville (UTCVM) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are exploring the potential capabilities of imaging with neutrons to aid in detecting breast cancer.
Maria Cekanova, a research assistant professor at the UTCVM Department of Small Animal Clinical Science, is using the hydrogen-sensitive neutron imaging capabilities at the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) to image healthy and cancerous breast tissue specimens. Working with Hassina Bilheux, lead neutron imaging instrument scientist at ORNL, and collaborators Jean-Christophe Bilheux (ORNL) and Alfred Legendre and Robert Donnell (UTCVM), the team is assessing the value of neutron imaging in examining larger sections of biopsied tissues for diagnosis.
"Several imaging techniques are used for detection and diagnosis of cancer and for monitoring the cancer's responses to treatment," says Cekanova. "Current research is focused on early detection of changes during transformation of the tumor in order to use more effective therapies at early stages to prevent progression of the cancer. Our research interest is in the evaluation of biospecimens using neutron radiography and neutron computed tomography to assist pathologists with diagnosis. The advantage of neutron imaging is to obtain the three-dimensional image of a tissue sample without slicing it, as is commonly done during pathology evaluation."
The breast tissue samples used in the study come from dogs that are patients at UTCVM, where they are being diagnosed and treated for cancers. "We have access to non-utilized tumor tissues after diagnosis is performed at UTCVM," Cekanova says. "These are valuable samples because tissues obtained from dogs diagnosed with naturally occurring cancers are similar to human cancers."
"Development of multi-modality imaging technologies for detection of cancer is ongoing," says Cekanova, who has made cancer research her career. "Neutrons are seen as a potentially powerful complementary imaging technique because they predominantly detect hydrogen in tissue, which is one of the most abundant elements in nature. This work with neutrons could advance detection of not only breast cancer but also of other types of cancer."
The work is being conducted at the neutron imaging facility (CG-1D) at HFIR. "The reactor at HFIR gives us a broad range of neutron energies and an established way to do neutron imaging," Bilheux says. "We are very lucky to benefit from HFIR's intense flux for neutron imaging research."
"We would like to be able to evaluate a larger block of tissue and get three-dimensional views, not just a two-dimensional thin section," Cekanova says. "Currently, we can image 2 to 3 mm thick tissues at HFIR because of the neutron energy range (i.e., cold neutrons) available at the facility. Neutron radiography lets us keep the specimen intact. In the future, we will be able to image biopsied tissues of several centimeters thick using the higher-energy neutrons called epithermal and fast neutrons that will hopefully be available soon at the ORNL VENUS instrument (Versatile Neutron Imaging Instrument at SNS)."
Cekanova says that she and Bilheux are excited about the progress they are making at this early stage of their project. "We have our first tumor images and are now analyzing data and learning more about neutron transmission through both the cancerous and normal tissues."
This research is being funded by the Scientific User Facilities Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, US Department of Energy, and the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine.


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The Double Life of the Mexican Wrestler
As a luchador grappling in rings patched together by duct tape, Aski lives out his boyhood fantasy of playing a masked superhero. Then he goes back to his day job.
My phone chimes with a text message. "Do you want to see me with or without the mask?" the man asks.
I'm not sure how to answer. "Depends whether I'm talking to Aski or you," I say.
"You'll speak to both," he says, and gives me directions to his Medical District apartment.
When I arrive, his face is bare, except for a shadow of a beard. He's 32 and has lived a double life since childhood—first by circumstance, later by choice. The switch happens every time he pulls on or peels off his wrestling mask. The mask protects the identity of the man with the square job and twin daughters, the regular guy with whom the wrestler shares a body. Since the 1930s, the mask has been the defining symbol of lucha libre, a high-flying, fast-moving wrestling style popular in Mexico. Since 2003, it has been the defining symbol of Aski.
We sit in his living room, where a few figurines of professional wrestler Rey Mysterio sit in unopened boxes on the shelves. Later he shows me what transforms him into Aski: in his closet, on a shelf to the left, four foam mannequin heads wear shiny, embellished lucha libre masks. Beneath them, 11 plastic hangers form a neat row. A pair of wrestling pants hangs on each, most with a matching mask—blue and yellow, black and red, orange and silver, camouflage and gold.
"I don't see Aski as just a mask and a pair of pants," he says. "I see it as a person." He identifies the character as a friend of the crowd, especially children and anyone who needs help. He'll wear his mask to visit a sick child at the hospital or make an appearance at a birthday party of a fan. He says the name Aski has Mayan origins and means "friend."
He reveals his wrestling persona to close friends and colleagues but asks that they keep it quiet. If he becomes famous, he says, he can still grocery shop and dine out in anonymity. The mask is an escape hatch from one life to the other. When he approaches a venue, he pulls it on while driving his black Chevy Camaro. The wrestlers Aski watched on television as a boy abided by the same traditions. To let someone see his face would be a disgrace, like spitting in the faces of wrestling legends.
During an early conversation with Aski, I ask if I can print his actual name in this story. "No," he says. "That's the whole part of me having a masked identity." He laughs at me for asking such a silly question.
Then again, if you know Aski, it's not very hard to crack the secret. His Facebook profile lists two places of employment—his corporate day job and CEO of Aski Entertainment. If someone calls for a booking, he'll speak under his birth name. "I run Aski Entertainment," he'll explain. "I'm here to talk to you about Aski." Sometimes, people figure out they are actually speaking to Aski.
Monday through Friday during business hours, however, Aski wears slacks from the opposite side of his closet. He sits behind a tidy desk. He's a senior administrative assistant at a medical research laboratory where no one calls him Aski. The job, with reasonable hours and full benefits, is a safety net. He works with two women who treat him like a son. One hung a photocopy of Forrest Gump on his bulletin board and wrote, "Run, Forrest, Run," in Spanish.
On weekends, he does exactly that. He runs far, far away from the responsibilities and worries of daily life. Some people watch television. Others knock back a few beers. Aski wrestles. The only difference is that his escape is also his career. He imagines a future in a ring, not behind a desk.
Gaston Bazaar in East Dallas feels like it has been airlifted from a far-flung corner of Mexico and plunked on Buckner Boulevard. English is hardly spoken. Parakeets, tacos, and flouncy dresses are sold in different kiosks. And there is a wrestling ring built atop mismatched linoleum and patched together with duct tape. On this Sunday, about 70 seats around the ring are filled, with another 50 people standing.
Aski's enemy enters the ring first, strutting past the crowd and flexing his biceps to haunting music. Cazador de Demonios, a rudo (bad guy), wears a black singlet that clings to lumpy muscles and a mask with a wide zipper where lips should be. He is the reigning masked wrestling champion at this local promotion. He shows off a huge belt with gold adornments.
Aski wants it. He has held two championship belts from other venues, but not from his hometown ring, where he feels a tinge of entitlement. But Aski, a husky and energetic crowd favorite, lacks his normal spark today. After hitting him with a tire, Cazador yanks Aski to the ground, leans against his torso, and wins the first of three rounds.
Next, Cazador steals two chairs from underneath screaming fans. He places them in the ring with a board across them, a set piece for torture. Aski comes alive. As the audience chants his name, he slams Cazador's head into the chair-and-board contraption, and then flips him onto it. He heaves Cazador's much bigger body over his shoulder and slams him to the ground. He grabs the ropes and stomps his feet. The crowd goes wild. The match speeds up as they ping-pong across the ring and, finally, Aski pins him.
In the last round, Aski spins in a circle, kicking his leg above his opponent's head and yanking off his mask in the same motion. He flips over him, grabs hold of his leg, and pins him for another three count. The bell rings, and Aski holds up his arms in victory as Cazador is belly-down on the ground, pulling his mask over his face. Aski takes the microphone from the announcer—his former father-in-law—and challenges Cazador to a title bout.
Here, Aski's everyday identity is irrelevant. He is simply a técnico (good guy) luchador, trying to make a name and a living. His pay depends on the size of the crowd—at the bazaar, they give donations. On an average day, he'll get $25; on a good day, he'll get $40. When he travels for matches, he makes between $100 and $500. Aski wants a national stage, like that of Rey Mysterio (the masked wrestler with World Wrestling Entertainment whose likeness graces Aski's shelves). For now, he has the bazaar and its shabby ring. It may not look like much, but it's where his mask overtook all other plans.
When I first call Aski's younger sister, Cristina, we chat for a few minutes about when and where we could meet. Somehow, she didn't hear me say that this is a story about Aski. When I mention something about wrestling, it dawns on her. She laughs at her error: she assumed I was calling about her other brother, a graphic designer. Theirs isn't a family of wrestling fans. None of Aski's siblings love the sport like he does.
Weeks later, I meet Cristina at Lucky's Cafe on Oak Lawn Avenue. She's a no-nonsense, immediately likable woman who is running errands all day for her job as a legal assistant. She has five children, with a sixth coming any day. As soon as she sits down, she passes along a message from her mother: wrestling prevents Aski from visiting his family nearly enough. Her tone is half-joking.
"My parents were never okay with it," she says. "They just felt like it was an unnecessary risk."
As a child in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico, Aski played with wrestling figurines and a wooden ring. Luchadores were his heroes, but it never occurred to him to become one.
His father worked as an elementary school teacher, and his mother managed a shoe store in Guadalajara, two and a half hours away. They weren't rich, but they weren't needy. It came as a surprise to Aski when his parents planned a move to the United States.
When he was 8 years old, he boarded a bus with his mother and uncle and rode to somewhere near Laredo. The next morning, at the banks of the Rio Grande, Aski and his mother sat on a plywood-covered tire while a man on the opposite side pulled them across with a long rope. The river felt huge. Once they made it to the other side, other people led them to an airport. They caught a flight to Dallas and reunited with Aski's younger siblings, Ernesto and Cristina, who had crossed on a previous trip.
"People would call it a traumatic experience, but to me, it was just an experience that you never forget," Aski says. He has a habit of ending stories with a sugarcoated analysis. He doesn't allow himself to acknowledge negativity. He has created a sort of dreamworld for himself that goes beyond the Aski character.
He likes to be liked, Cristina says. She and her brothers never understood it. They were never like that. Twice, Aski casually mentions to me how this story might read: "He is a professional wrestler, and at the end of the day, he is a regular guy that has a profession working for a hospital. He's a spiritual guy, where he attends Fellowship Church. He does community work as well." It's the truth, but scrubbed clean.
After he moved to Dallas, his mother worked as a presser at a dry cleaner and did alterations at home. His father stayed in Mexico to continue teaching and providing. He called on Sundays and visited on holidays. Aski watched wrestling every Saturday. It was an escape, like cartoons. On Sundays, the family would go to Catholic mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe, and then go shopping.
Back then, their East Dallas neighborhood was rough. Their mother insisted that they come home from school immediately, so she wouldn't worry about gangs or immigration officials bothering them. Unfazed, Aski would stop at the store to play video games. She was furious.
"People were afraid," Aski says. One day, the family had to stay indoors at his aunt's house because officials were cracking down.
The trick was to stay out of real trouble and to know your place as an outsider while blending in. It was like living a double life. But blending in became more difficult as Aski and his siblings grew up and started working. At 13, he convinced a video store owner to let him work for free rentals. After that, he got a busboy job at a restaurant, and then worked at a health club. He always found a way to make the most of every opportunity.
After graduating from North Dallas High School in 1998, his options were limited. Without a Social Security number, he couldn't pursue a traditional career.
"I was still out in limbo," he says. A year later, he went to community college and continued working.
In 2000, a friend recommended a wrestling workshop in Arlington. Aski was one of a few selected by the instructor for free classes for a year. He found his niche. Then, he spent a year at a training program in Atlanta and visited home enough that he didn't have to tell his parents he was wrestling full-time.
When he came back to Dallas, the dream of professional wrestling eclipsed other plans. He had jobs, but only so he could wrestle. He put off school, pushed his family aside, sacrificed years of his life, and cast aside other career plans. Wrestling has been the longest-lasting constant in his life.
In 2004, he married a woman he'd met at community college. By then, he was working as a legal assistant to a criminal defense attorney, a job he held for most of the past decade. Aski's wife was a U.S. citizen, so he became a permanent resident. He trained in a ring that his father-in-law had built in his Oak Cliff backyard. That's who introduced him to Sergio Reyes, the promoter at Gaston Bazaar and a former wrestler. They trained together and became friends. Aski, the persona, was born in 2004. He and his wife divorced several years later, and he only became more committed to wrestling.
A year ago, the first serious girlfriend Aski had since his divorce gave birth to twin girls; the couple had long been broken up by then. Photos of the girls are on Aski's living room shelf, next to his figurines. He calls himself a "family man," though, at this point, it's a future plan. The twins' mother takes care of them full-time. Within the year, he plans to move out of the Medical District apartment he shares with a roommate and look for a home suitable for a family.
"I just care about establishing my relationship with my daughters," he says. He's bracing himself, financially and emotionally, for a process that could involve lawyers and any number of challenges. "Those are my girls," he says. "They're my responsibility, too."


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The light shows not only celebrate holiday cheer — many of them also help out various charities. Here are 11 of the area's brightest.
Event highlights
December is here with its wintery chill, but giving off a warm glow are the area homes whose halls — and lawns and roofs and driveways — are decked out with holiday lights. Lots and lots of lights.
The light shows not only celebrate holiday cheer — many of them also help out various charities. Here are 11 of the area's brightest.
1. The Hockenberry display
Last year's display on Seventh Street in North Canton was so popular, it caused traffic jams throughout the neighborhood. So, the Hockenberrys moved the display to their newly purchased property, Barthel's Garden Center at 8088 Market Ave. N in Plain Township. They've also more than doubled the size of the display. Now, some 150,000 lights flicker, flash and jump to music broadcast on 93.5 FM from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Donations are accepted for Susan G. Komen and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and nonperishable food items are accepted for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.
2. North Canton Christmas
A dancing display of more than 100,000 lights brightens the home and lawn at 3556 Farnham St. NW in Plain Township. The display will be lit from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tune to 93.5 FM to hear the tunes. Donations are accepted for Akron Children's Hospital and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
3. Wallace Holiday Light Display
Visitors can see a 20-foot-tall tree of lights, soldiers drumming to music and leaping light arches at 7363 Saratoga Hills St. NE in Plain Township. The 100,000-light display shines through New Year's Day, with music broadcast on 103.7 FM. Donations of new, unwrapped toys can be dropped off for Toys for Tots.
4. Christmas at Crownpoint
This year's 25-minute shows feature a classic Christmas show, a show called "Ribbons" and a Disney finale. The 30,000 lights glimmer from 7 to 10 p.m. nightly through Dec. 29 at 3459 Crownpoint St. NW in Perry Township. Shows start at the top and bottom of each hour, with music broadcast on 102.7 FM. Donations are accepted for the Aultman Cancer Center and Stark County Hunger Task Force. A bonus: donors have a chance to win a raffle basket.
5. The Lights on Cyprus Drive
More than 22,000 lights decorating two homes at 2220 Cyprus Drive SE in Massillon will entertain from 5:30 to 11 p.m. nightly until Jan. 6. Music is broadcast on 88.5 FM. Donations of nonperishable food are accepted for Operation Outreach.
6. Metzger Lights
The residence at 920 Richards Drive in Louisville is home to a 30-minute light show of some 20,000 lights moving to music on 104.9 FM. Shows glow from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 6 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday through New Year's Eve.
7. Christmas in Brewster
The village celebrates with its annual display on East Main Street, next to the firehouse. More than 30,000 lights, set to music on 102.7 FM, will be lit from 6 to 10 p.m. nightly through New Year's Eve.
8. Tyler Christmas Light Show
The home and lawn at 2505 Fallen Oak Circle NE in Massillon comes alive with half-hour shows featuring 12,000 lights synchronized to music on 93.5 FM. Shows begin on the hour from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 6 to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday until Christmas.
9. Jacob Street Lights
Light seekers can watch shows at 279 Jacob Street NE in Navarre from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. daily through New Year's Eve. The 12,000 lights are set to music broadcast on 103.7 FM.
10. Stadium Park
Holiday characters are brought to life in the animated light displays throughout Stadium Park in Canton. The drive-through exhibit will remain lit through the new year.
11. Green display
The home at 1507 Cherry Lane in Green is a veritable playground in lights, with a 15-foot-tall waving snowman, a moving ferris wheel, a glittering hot air balloon, a lighted rollercoaster ridden by a penguin, a Santa giraffe in a rotating lit cube, reindeer on the roof and more.
Note: The shows go on as weather permits.


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Loyola To Host Boston University In CIT First Round
BALTIMORE – When Loyola University Maryland hosts the first-ever NCAA Division I postseason men's basketball game on the Evergreen campus Tuesday night, the Greyhounds will take on an opponent that will soon become a frequent visitor to Reitz Arena.
Loyola will host Boston University in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament First Round on Tuesday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m. The Greyhounds and Terriers are both joining the Patriot League in 2013-2014 and will face each other twice during the regular-season in coming years.
Tickets for the game, which marks the first time in program Division I history that Loyola has reached the postseason in consecutive years, are available online at LoyolaGreyhounds.com, by calling 410-617-1420 or by visiting the Loyola Box Office weekdays between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The Greyhounds are in the midst of their second-straight 20-win season with a 21-11 mark through 32 games. It marks the first time in the program's Division I history (since 1981-1982) that Loyola has won 20 games in back-to-back seasons. Overall, it is the first time since the late 1940s that the team has accomplished the feat. Loyola won 20 or more in three straight seasons, culminating with a school-record 25 victories in 1948-1949.
Boston University enters the CIT with a 17-12 record after going 11-5 during the America East Conference regular-season. The teams played last year in Bracketbuster competition with Loyola coming out on top, 69-56, in Retiz Arena.
This will be the Greyhounds' first year of participation in the CIT, a tournament that was founded in 2009 and has a 32-team field. Last year, Loyola made its first postseason appearance since 1994 by playing in the NCAA Second Round against The Ohio State University.
Two fellow Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference teams advanced as far as the semifinals of the event in the last two seasons with Fairfield University falling in the round of four last year and Iona College making it to the title game in 2011.
The CIT is a 32-team tournament that is comprised of teams from 23 Division I mid-major conferences. All games are played at campus sites, and the entire field will be bracketed and seeded after the first round is complete. Second round games will be played March 22-24 with the quarterfinals commencing March 26. Semifinal action takes place March 29-30, and the title game will be played April 2.


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View All Calendars is the default. Choose Select a Calendar to view a specific calendar.
December 7, 2018, 6:00 PM - January 19, 2019, 5:00 PM @ Speakeasy Art Gallery
Speakeasy Art Gallery is pleased to present "ezerd - robots! robots! robots!" The exhibit will feature hundreds of original robot paintings each with their own unique personality. These small paintings will make a great, one of a kind gift for the art or robot lover on your list! The exhibit opens Friday, December 7 from 6-9pm and is on display through January 19, 2019.
ezerd is an artist of robots, spaceships, and other things otherworldly. Her work explores the machinery of humanity and the humanity of machinery. The works delve into technology integration with our lives, bodies and psyche, how far we let the machines take over, and the point at which humans and machines become or are one.
ezerd explores the underlying concepts of interconnectivity between humans despite age, affluence, ethnicity, or any of the other barriers that humans have constructed for themselves. In this way, her works transcend the medium to get at the very heart of humanity and the core of human existence.
January 16, 2019, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM @ Recreation Center


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How fans can save you money in winterFriday 27th April 2018 06:00pm
When it's the middle of winter and freezing outside, it's probably safe to say that most of us aren't thinking about our ceiling fans.
However, running fans in the colder months can actually save up to 10% on heating costs and is as simple as flipping a switch.
In the summer months, the slightly angled blades of a ceiling fan turn counter-clockwise to move air down, making people feel cooler due to a concept known as the wind chill effect.
During winter, the warm air generated by your heating system naturally rises to the ceiling while cooler air sinks. By switching the direction that your fan blades turn, that cooler air is drawn upwards, which forces the warmer air near the ceiling back down into the space. How does this save energy? Since thermostats are typically located at human level, keeping the warm air low where it's needed means you can turn the temperature down a few notches and still stay warm.
On most fan models, there is generally a small switch on the fan to reverse the direction.
Additionally, running the fan at the lowest speed will circulate air while reducing the feeling of actual air movement in the room.
While this technique should work in standard size rooms, it works especially well in vaulted or tall ceiling spaces where the people occupying the space are further separated from the warm air collecting at the ceiling.
Furthermore, even though running a fan uses a small amount of electricity, there is generally still a net savings in energy use.
Just remember, clockwise in winter, counter-clockwise in summer.
At Lighting Illusions we have the range, price and expert advice to help you realise your dream home, so call us, drop in to one of our four locations or shop online now!


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Mid-Florida Vacation Home Rentals
Welcome to Mid-Florida Vacation Homes, thanks so much for choosing us for your vacation accommodations. Here you will find our great selection of vacation rental homes in some of the most sought after communities that the Disney area of Florida has to offer. Whether you prefer a gated community with resort amenities like Windsor Palms, Windsor Hills, Emerald Island or Cane Island or a more laid back community like Indian Creek, Legacy Park or Sunrise Lakes we have something to suit your needs. And, with homes ranging from a cozy 2-bed condo up to 6-bed pool homes, there is something for every party size.Of course, you have many choices when choosing you Florida accommodation so why choose us? Unlike many websites you will find, we are not simply a booking agent with no in-depth knowledge of the homes they are offering. Neither are we an individual owner who may live thousands of miles from their vacation home, having to rely on a third party company to service their property and look after their guests. We are here in Florida and are located just 15 minutes from all the homes we offer. Being so close and available 24/7 will offer you great piece of mind.
We know our vacation homes inside and out and we will take care of you and your family from the time that you inquire until it's time to head home.
We look forward to helping you find a perfect Florida Vacation Rental Home for your trip to the Sunshine State.


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Welcome to the post where I ramble incoherently for a while.
No, not rant, just ramble.
Bits and pieces, observations etc from the last month of "weekends" , which admittedly has included weekdays.
Solo'd this yet?
I know people like to solo stuff, to do the impossible, but has anyone taken on this "world event" yet?
I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I suffer from Questtextphobia – I can't bear to read it!
So my 1st trip through the Dark Portal involved several ghost runs through the demons, before I realized that I just had to talk to one dude that would safely take me to Honor Hold.
When you become you own non-combat pet's dinner
Apparently cat food comes in rabbit flavor...
Squidly saw some Ulduar
The raid leader wasn't convinced I hadn't been before because I didn't cause enough wipes..
But then we all know he is epic!
Even if it was his totem (wink wink) that took the longest
The stars of the WoWBloggingverse continue to drop by
For which I now drop my pants and Gnomeslap my new guild mates… I like to warm them up with a little dance off 1st.
Squidly does Onyxia
Which is much better than Onyxia doing Squidly.
Some pugs believe in tough love
I guess it's better than a gear check
Squidly was more Maker and less Merry in the end
but still not half as disappointed as Gnomeaggedon, who went from…
The Gnome Sex Machine
What is more sexy that this hot little number?
To the least sexy Gnome under the moons of Azeroth and beyond
Why, Oh Why, would you transform the Gnomest Gnome in town into this?
Yet it would be rude to say Baaah Humbug!
I guess it's one more thing I have in common with the Queen of the Gnomes.
Would you invite this guy to your raid?
Even with a GearScore of 8,000 I would be hesitant to have a Resto Druid by this name in my raid.
Still better than a dumb Ninja alarm
He was like a guard dog harassing the policeman while the real burglar sneaks out the back… note the rest of the raid discussing the Ninja Looter than had run off with the rest of the loot…
Apparently people don't like to receive bad news in game either.
Last time I do an NPC a favor.. At least she didn't call the guards down on me.
Spot the odd thing out
Can you see it?
Here's a clue, someone got blasted to high heaven on a For the Horde! run.
Or Magni Bronzebeard had a bad curry that morning
Mr G!
If I ever see him, I'll tell him where to shove his Snickers.
At which point I will need…
As a matter of fact, I think I need some right now, looks like the people in this guild already have some.
Little Less Conversation
A fun, social guild, where some of the people talk?
He nearly had me, but then I saw free gear being handed out…
People were really scared of this "guy"
Didn't seem all that difficult to me, maybe he was for those people that bumped into him 4 years ago.
Anyway, soon we will have bigger things to worry about
Not that I'm scared… Not that I would ever run like a chicken
Best coppers ever spent
Elixir of Water Walking… How I love you!
Every time I log in, I see…
Ohh once I logged on to find the battle in progress… shame I didn't log in on Gnomeaggedon.
Did the Gnome kill the vehicle, or the vehicle kill the Gnome?
I kind of feel guilty.. of course not as guilty as…
If I meet that Ninja Alarm again…
Of course I got this long after Onyxia's dagger dropped… some would argue I used Onyxia's dagger to get this loot… I know I will.
Did I really say I missed Barren's Chat?
Don't know how when I can get it at a city near me.
Have you ever noticed how the guy with the biggest QQ…
Has the lowest Dee Pee Ess?
Ever noticed how the bigger the event of importance…
The more you need to use the facilities?
Yes that is Gnome's burning ring of fire… don't read the newspaper on the loo when a Fire Mage had a Vindaloo the fight before…
Squidly was forced to find fresh meat for his new companion
Took me a while to carve him a Ony Wing.
Can't complain about a lack of tanks in random pugs
If you get two, might as well use them!
Anyone else like taking their Drake to the front door?
I just love landing on the bank steps, waiting for 5 seconds until I am dismounted (or flying right up to the teller).
I always wonder how many people are madly clicking on their flying mount button when they see my fly in.
We all know Gnome is hot.. but what about Squidly?
There you go Syrana.. you have collected my set.
Right now I think that Squidly…
Looks better with cloths on.
I think it's the guild tabbard that sets it off.
Gnome looks better in this
Although it might make his arse look a little big.
As Odin's father…
I think it is only appropriate that Odin's son shows me a little respect.
I didn't have the heart to tell him…
His chicken legs was covered in white mold.
My latest Guild member had the nerve to tell me I was casting spells at too low a level
Shame it was because he couldn't handle anything stronger.
So I stripped off and Gnomeslapped him!
Of course, for all that is decent I left my tabbard on.
He actually did a point or two of damage
So I did what any smart Mage would do…
I teased him!
Before one-shotting him.. but then, my GearScore was still bigger than his.. and I was naked!
What's all this big brown Mammoth business?
I want me a scary white one!
I don't normally DPS while I heal…
But if it saves on healing, I might as well (note the tank is in 3rd position)
Gnome is filling his barn
at < 1gold a pop, why the hell not?
He looks good in Saber
Ram, Pony & Strider!
I thought the edge of the world was only in Outland
but apparently they always had one in Teldrassil
It's a long way down
Do you know how I know?
I turned my head for one second…
Luckily I am a Mage… I had just used my hearthstone… I would have cried if I was here for a 1/2 hour.. it's a nice place, but I wouldn't want to summer here.
This was my 1st Epic flying mount
It was worth waiting for. Worth all the scrimping and saving. I still think it is the most beautiful mount in the game.
Get your own Effing Quests!
How Effing lazy can you be?
You spawn next to the Quest giver, yet you spam raid chat for people to share the quest.
People do this every WG session.. they want the DAILY… It hasn't been a daily for Effing MONTHS!
I don't know about your server, but the standard response on Aman'Thul these days is to share CLUCK!
I keep one in my quest log now for this very purpose.
OK, this is a cool mount too…
IMHO, better than the Proto Drakes.
Proto drakes are like old steam ships of the sky, where as the drakes are like schooners, cutting through the air.
They positively glow
not just that, but they
Compliment every backdrop
Have I mentioned that I love my small, but growing menagerie?
I'm getting smarter
In part because I…
definitely not because I…
Smell better than the average Gnome
Tell me something… how come all the non-combat pets are so big?
On a relative scale, this is bigger than the average hunters pet!
I convinced a PuG to do the extra Old Kingdom bosses
That's why I don't like people skipping bosses in Instances!
It's only taken 12 Effing months!
I got an invite to ICC25!
The stars had aligned…
It was Australia Day…
Furrypaws' guild name is BEER BEER
Yet I said no.. I'd had my share of BEER BEER (and a few more) on Australia Day.
On top of that, Gnome hasn't even set foot in Ulduar, let alone ToTC, ICC… Isn't that the International Cricket Council?
Squidly has now seen the inside of ToTC… (2 bosses worth) after I hastily read up on the strategy.
So Furrypaws, if you are reading, I can't thank you enough for the offer… if you offer again, preferably something not so progression that I will do nothing but make enemies in, drop me a line.. otherwise I think I better go read some strats…
Because we all know…
and you guys would be gutting Gnomes if I blew your raid through lack of knowledge.
Oh, Syrana… don't even think of this!
I am not a Trophy Gnome!
Dedicated to one dedicated Bear.
This post is dedicated to THE Bear, who is taking a little time out. I hope it reminds him that it's the little, irrelevant, stupid things that we see and do that make the game and blogging worthwhile.
I'm ready and waiting to give him the honor of a good Gnomeslapping, but I would never back a bear into a corner.
Hope you enjoy your break (as you can see, I enjoyed my few weeks off over the summer break) and come back sooner rather than later.. later will be good enough of course!
Worst come to worst.. remember… BEER BEER!
Gnomer and Out, Squidly and Stout!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.


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Producers and farmland owners across the United States voted in the 2012 USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) elections in November to elect the FSA County Committees. Committee members serve a three-year term.
The Committee in each county or area of counties, is responsible for overseeing many of the Federal farm programs administered by the county staff of the USDA Farm Service Agency.
Paul Holman of Oakshade in Royalton Township was newly elected and will replace Larry Carroll. Holman will serve on the FSA Committee with Robert Weimer of the Waterville/Whitehouse area who was reëelected for a second term. Other members of the Fulton-Lucas Committee include Corwin Rufenacht, Don Fritsch, Jeff Simon and Laurie VonSeggern.
For more information about the FSA Committee system or farm programs, contact your local FSA office or visit http://www.fsa.usda.gov.


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Salaam and Greetings of Peace:
Alhamdulillah! Praise God that last evening, March 19th, my first grandson was born, Jack Christopher Karchmar :)
Mother Christine and child are doing well, and for them, here again is a poem written for the birth announcement of baby Jack's father, my son Matt, when he was born:
When a child is born, a Sun begins
In some dark and distant galaxy
And the ancient Weaver, warned thus,
Strikes Her loom
Pausing surely to gauge the thread for strength
And the needed courage to hold Life's dream
Then spins rejoicing on the wheel
'Ere the first heartbeat of creation.
– for Matthew, 1972 (and Jack, 2009)
May Allah bless the parents and the child with long life, good health, and love in a world or peace. May he be raised and grow up in righteousness, as a blessing to His parents and a joy to his family and friends. Ameen.
Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "A servant will have his rank raised after death and will say, 'O my Lord how has this come about for me?' and He says, 'through your sons after you seeking forgiveness for you.'" [ibn Majah]
Ya Haqq!


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Amazing quality flag that was shipped to me promptly. The design was printed beautifully. Despite the major hell I put my flag through, it's lasted 14 festivals. Honestly wouldn't ever purchase a flag from anyone else!
Shoutout to University Customs for an incredible year of bringing the Anjunafamily Worldwide crew together at so many different shows all around the world! Can't wait to see what 2018 has in store.
Got a flag for my upcoming Panic! At The Disco concert two days from now, and I couldn't be happier with this flag and their customer service. I didn't realize there was an expedited shipping section on their page, but I messaged them to see if I could have my flag shipped asap, and they got it out to me right on time. Fantastic service and flag quality. Next time I need a flag I am definitely coming back!
Got my design made to life and it was exactly what I wanted! Was shipped out after 10 days and arrived to me as said on website. I loved it and am very impressed with this company. I got soooo many compliments (even my favorite DJ Seven lions to sign it!!) Will be referring many people here and ordering a ton more. Thank you so much!
Props to University Customs always making my experiences more memorable and making my flag designs come to life.
University customs has helped me with my flags in the past, offering touch up work and making sure things would be printed smoothly. I still own several of them in excellent condition and would highly recommend them! #postedfromholyshipinthemiddleoftheocean
My experience with University Customs was fantastic. They helped me make my design and were so friendly/helpful. My flag ended up being gorgeous and I got lots of compliments on it.
Just got my custom flags and I AM SO IN LOVE! Thank you so much University Customs! I am super psyched to show these off this festie season!
Been through a ton of flags from different companies and manufacturers, and University Customs is by far the best quality! Loyal customer 4 life baby!!! P.S. Great service as well
I have bought multiple flags from this place and they have always been top quality. Don't order from another sight. This is where you want to get a flag for your group camping at Electric Forest!
I interacted with Ted over email trying to design my flag, and he was very patient with me. It took several emails to correctly explain what I was looking for, and he patiently addressed each design I gave him. At purchase time I messed up my online order, and with all the courtesy and professionalism in the world he straightened it up like a champ for me. Top notch quality and service just in time for the festival season.


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Relationship 078
This series contains stylized graphics depicting plugins to a central/main object. These plugins convey a different message than simply connecting many objects to a central object. They imply charging, transference, downloading/uploading, connections that are temporary or situational, etc.
There are graphics for 1 to 12 plugins, with variations for 1 and 2 plugins. The reason for the variations is simply that when these graphics are rotated or flipped vertically or horizontally, imported photos can sometimes orient themselves within the graphic to the original position of the graphic, i.e., photos appear horizontally flipped or upside down. Therefore, it's important to choose the version that works best on your slide if you're going to import photos into your graphics.
The tutorial can provide additional formatting tips and the downloadable animation example can give you an idea about how you might animate your slide.
Keywords: charge, transfer,download/upload, connections, infusion, charging, transferring, downloading, uploading, connecting, exchange, flow, plug in, plugin
Categories: Relationships
Links to instructions for getting the framework into your presentation
- Determine the best file type for your needs
- Download the file
- Import the framework into your presentation
Frameworks available in this series
Click on a name for more information.
Click on a thumbnail to view a larger image


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Just hours before publicly jilting Hugh Hefner, his fiancée posted a video on Funny or Die mocking their 60-year age difference.
The move by Crystal Harris, who also released a song on iTunes this week, would seem part of a grab for publicity achieved without actually having to marry a man old enough to be her great-grandfather. Some might even say she used a man who made his fortune using women.
But we suspect Hefner, though said to be upset over the cancellation of his third walk – or shuffle, by this point – down the aisle, is getting the last laugh.
He also took to the Internet, via Twitter, to report spending his break-up day by playing dominoes with a bunch of playmates – and even joked he's planning to screen "Runaway Bride" Saturday, on what would have been his wedding day.
But perhaps his sweetest revenge is that he's reached the point – and we've sunk to the point – where an 85-year-old man's sex life is somehow big celebrity news.
Hefner, of course, is no ordinary octogenarian. His life, whatever you think of his porn empire, has been an exercise in successful timing. He started Playboy as the Sexual Revolution was brewing. Viagra arrived a dozen years ago to give him a boost that set the stage for the ongoing last act of his career. Hefner's also ridden a six-decade publicity wave, spanning media from print to broadcast to the Web. He's consistently grabbed notice as a figure of envy, derision – and now, in some quarters, sympathy.
Hef, whose late 1960s "Playboy After Dark" show aimed to make the viewer feel like part of the action, is made for the Reality TV era. His persona helped build a television home for the silliness of "The Girls Next Door." His place in the popular culture bodes to be further cemented in a more serious fashion with the upcoming NBC drama "The Playboy Club," set in 1960s Chicago at the height of his success and influence.
Harris, who was born in 1986, might want to watch the show. Her video is a mock commercial for a fictional product called the Playboy Age Gap Cheat Sheet App, which provides quick background on old-school references to the likes of "Casablanca," LBJ and Cary Grant.
"It's pronounced 'Word War Two' – not 'World War 'Eye-Eye!'" Harris informs us.
The video is clever, but Harris' performance is, well, flat. Check out the short below. It may be the last we – or Hef – see of her:
U.S. & World
Hester is founding director of the award-winning, multi-media NYCity News Service at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism. He is the former City Editor of the New York Daily News, where he started as a reporter in 1992. Follow him on Twitter.


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Hi all,
I decided to make this guide despite of being currently very tired.... I feel that this is necessary because this question is being asked from time to time. Alrighty. I primarily concerned with running old DOS-based Koei games. Such games are:
* RTK 1 and 2
* Genghis Khan 1
* Bandit Kings of Ancient China
* Uncharted Waters 1
* Nobunaga Ambitions 1 and 2
* L'Empereur
* Gemfire
* Liberty or Death
I'll post newer DOS-based KOEI games later. This includes:
* RTK 4 (Chinese only, English version is for Windows)
* RTK 5 (Chinese only, no English versions is available)
* Uncharted Waters 2 (New Horizons)
* Celtic Tales: Balor of Evil Eyes
* Genghis Khan 2
A. My assumption:
a. You have a Windows 9x/ME/2000/XP machine. (Throughout this guide, I'll use WinXP as a guideline. Other Windows versions might need to adjust a bit).
b. You know a decent knowledge on how to download stuffs off the net, copy files here and there, and extracting zip files.
c. You have downloaded the games you intended to run and you already extracted them.
d. You are quite familiar with Windows Explorer and how to make shortcuts.
e. You know how to start Notepad and use it.
B. Preliminaries: Do This Unless You Know What You're Doing
1. Start up your Windows Explorer
2. Click Tools, then Folder Options.
3. Select View tab
4. Select "Show hidden files and folders"
5. Unselect "Hide extensions for known file types"
6. Unselect "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)"
7. Click OK
C. DOSBox Installation
1. You will need DOSBox installed in your PC. So, go to this homepage:
Click the download menu, click the "Windows" (i.e. the one with Win32 installer). Take a note where you save this file.
2. Fire up your Windows Explorer and visit the downloaded file.
3. Double click it.
4. Follow the direction on the screen.
5. Take note the installation directory. It's usually in C:\Program Files\DOSBox-x.xx (where x.xx is the version number. For example: C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.63)
There you go.
Note: Throughout this guide, I'll use "C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.63" for the installation directory. For future versions, please change the version numbers accordingly.
D. Modifying Your DOSBox Configuration File
1. Open up your Windows Explorer if you haven't already and visit the DOSBox installation directory (i.e. C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.63)
2. Backup dosbox.conf to koei.conf (that is, click dosbox.conf, then choose Edit menu, then Copy, then choose Edit menu again, then Paste. If you do this correctly, you will see "Copy of dosbox.conf" file. Click that file, then choose File menu, then Rename. Put in "koei.conf" and then press Enter.)
3. Edit the file koei.conf using Notepad. (that is, double click it and then you have a menu saying "Windows cannot open this file, what do you want to do". Choose "Select the program from a list" and then click OK. On the next menu, scroll down and select "Notepad", then click OK.
4. Change the line of:
fulldouble=false -----> fulldouble=true
output=surface -----> output=ddraw
hwscale=1.00 -----> hwscale=1.50 (only if you have monitor resolution of 1024x768 or better. For 1600x1200 or better, change 1.50 to 2.00)
memsize=16 -----> memsize=32 (for newer games)
5. After you did all the changes specified at step 4, click "File" then "Save".
6. Do step 2 and 3 again, but this time, name it koei-newer.conf instead.
7. Make the modification like step 4, EXCEPT for hwscale. Leave it 1.00. Also, change:
cycles=3000 -----> cycles=5000
8. Click "File" then "Save".
NOTE: Steps C and D are done once for many games. Step E below needs to be repeated for every game.
E. Preparing Up Your Games
As an example here, I'll use Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2 (RTK). (Use The Underdogs). I assume that you've unzipped the RTK2 into a directory. It doesn't have to be unzipped in the DOSBox directory. Let's say you put it in C:\games\romance2
1. Start up Windows Explorer if you haven't.
2. Go to C:\games\romance2
3. Right click anywhere on the empty space to create a shortcut (Right click on an empty space. Choose "New" then "Shortcut"). If you did this correctly, a dialog box will appear asking "Type the location of the new item".
4. In the text box, type:
- Code: Select all
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.63\dosbox.exe" -conf koei.conf -noconsole -c "mount a C:\games\romance2" -c "mount b C:\games\romance2" -c "a:" -c "koei.bat"
IMPORTANT: The command above is one line! Double check that you don't miss anything.
Then you can click Next.
5. Name the shortcut as you wish. Then click OK.
If you did this correctly, a shortcut named just as you have specified in step 5 will show up.
F. Run the Game!
1. Just double click that shortcut you made above.
2. Enjoy!
3. After you're done with the game, you can safely close DOSBox console (if it remains).
Note: I'll continue writing this guide later. Each games is prepared differently since each has different executables. But most of the times, the "koei.bat" at line in step 4 in section E can be replaced by either "koei.com" or "koei.exe". Of course you need to modify the path in the mount statement. If you're feeling adventurous and can't wait, you're welcome to do it.
Okay... Time to go to sleep. Hope this helps.
Edit: If you have problems, post in this thread.
NOTE: This guide doesn't work for Nobunaga Ambition yet. I'm working on it. Previous versions (i.e. 0.61) is known to work. You can download DOSBox version 0.61 here.
With version 0.61, it should be no problem. However with version 0.63, the screen will appear garbled at first. You need to press "Y" at the very beginning of the game until the color "KOEI" logo shows up.
Assuming that your installation directory is a C:\games\romance1, below is the code that you need to put in in step 4 section E:
- Code: Select all
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.63\dosbox.exe" -conf koei.conf -noconsole -c "mount a C:\games\romance1" -c "mount b C:\games\romance1" -c "a:" -c "sangoku.com"
It works for RTK3. Assuming that your installation directory is a C:\games\romance3, below is the code that you need to put in in step 4 section E:
- Code: Select all
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.63\dosbox.exe" -conf koei-newer.conf -noconsole -c "mount a C:\games\romance3" -c "a:" -c "koei.com"
The sound should no longer be choppy.
Nobunaga Ambition 2
It works for Nobunaga Ambition 2. Assumption: It's put in C:\games\nobunaga2. Below is the code.
- Code: Select all
"C:\Program Files\DOSBox-0.63\dosbox.exe" -conf koei.conf -noconsole -c "mount a C:\games\nobunaga2" -c "mount b C:\games\nobunaga2" -c "a:" -c "koei.com"
-- Rob


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BT E-commerce
BT E-commerce - Resoponsive, Joomla and Virtuemart templates
Enhanced by Virtuemart component and Responsive design, BT E-Commerce would be one of the best online store templates in Joomla market. In addition to internet business features, this multicolor template offers a flexible and elegant layout for an online shop with a simple navigation and customizable menus. Explore and choose it for you so that your business booms like anything in no time.
That gives you permission to install Bowthemes purchased product on one licensed domain and get our after-sales support.
After your purchasing of single product, you will have the authority to download:
The single product's price is shown below the product's thumbnail in Template/Extensions Showcase.
You will be supported by us with all problems related to the product for 12 months, beginning from the time of purchase
If you buy single product, you can post your question in our forum and it will be replied within 32 hours of working days.
Please note that we have set up Ticket support system for our paid membership. The response time will be shorten from 32 hours to 24 hours. (read more…)
Sorry, we don't have discount policy for single product buyer. If you want to buy more than one of our products, why not take a look at our membership packages? You will find it more economical.
Well, it's pretty obvious.
When you buy a single license, you will be authorized to install one product to one licensed domain. But when you buy a paid membership package, you can install full range of Bowthemes templates/ extensions on three or more domains.
When you can access all our available templates, you have more choice because you can download many templates and extensions related. Each months in the membership valid period, we will send you our new product's download link via email. And since your needs are different, you get a chance to create more website from our products.
A paid membership package also gives you the optionsto get fast and express support from us. And yes, one customer can also purchase more than one product at a time, which means the validate period of membership package will be extended. Yes, Paid membership package is better!
Of course, yes. We always encourage our customers to use BT Extensions in their website. However, you are unauthorized to download upgraded version or install these extensions on templates of other providers as this features only available in J!Extensions membership package.
You are violating copyright if you don't respect this policy and we will give no support for these extensions. Users found in repeated violation will have their account deactivated.


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Friends and Comrades! Thanks for stopping by on Friday, September 13th, 2013, for the long-awaited opening of the Serra Site for End Times Therapy! You joined us between 9 and 10 p.m. in front of the Carnegie Museum of Art as we embraced the moment, expunged our fears, and explored our connections with the cosmos!
—Tom Sarver, Tobias Madison, Flavio Merlo & Daniel Baumann