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Harry Potter: The Exhibition Report
Apr 29, 2009
This week, a number of Harry Potter fan sites were given the opportunity to preview Harry Potter: The Exhibition which opens to the general public today. TLC took part in the preview, and spoke to a number of the people behind the exhibit. This editor's report is now online below with additional photos from the event available here.
From the moment you walk down the drafty steps into the specially-constructed exhibition space, it seems as if you are transformed into a first year Hogwarts student making your way to the castle for the first time. The experience started out with our group, dubbed "first years," assembled before a cheery man dressed in wizards robes asking for brave volunteers to try on the storing hat. You can't help but get into the moment and cheer along with your fellow House members when a new member is sorted into your house, in my case Ravenclaw. From there, we move through wooden doors into a small oval room with eight video screens which feature clips from the Harry Potter films. The screens fade into a small trailer with a short history of the story of Harry Potter. Suddenly, from out of nowhere it seems, the Hogwarts express pulls up beside you, beckoning you towards the first stop into the magical world.
Walking beside the Hogwarts Express truly transports you into the magical world. The steam wafts up from the side and bright headlights shine into your eyes. A tall screen showcases a life-sized version of the Fat Lady (played by actress Dawn French) attempting to break a glass only using her voice. Portraits, both stationary and moving, also greet you as you walk into the Common Room; each meticulously detailed and spaced as they would be in the Great Hall.
In the Common Room you can see Harry's Yule Ball shoes, glasses, Hogwarts invitation, Marauder's Map, and photo albums along with such larger set pieces as Harry's four-poster bed. Next to the place where Harry sleeps, is Ron's four-poster, decorated with bright orange Chudley Cannons paraphernalia on any available mirror space. I was most amazed to see a signed Chudley Cannon t-shirt among Ron's items placed in a trunk beside his bed. These small details may have been missed by untrained eyes during the films, but being able to stand before the beds and see the warn and rickety construction of the bed, pull all of these small touches into even sharper focus. Such items as wizarding comic books set forth in display truly present to you the level of detail involved in dressing these sets.
From there, we move into the classes of Hogwarts, and first into Professor Trelawney's cluttered Divination classroom. Walking into this section, I felt as if I was making my way to these classes along with Harry. Backdrops from the set frame each exhibit, as do, in the case of the Divination classroom, lush, heavy curtains, small puffs, tiny tables, and the mysterious orb. Upon the table, also sits a teacup. Upon peering inside, I was amazed to see that a grim could be spotted amongst the black mush of tea leaves! All the magic in the air must have been aiding my inner eye on this occasion. Trelawney's long shawls, thick woolly socks, jeweled, and embellished clothes accompany this part of the exhibit, as does a copy of Unfogging the Future. Soon after, the mood changes as I walk into the the Potions classroom set and have Professor Snape and Professor Slughorn standing beside cauldrons bubbling away with potions. This part of the exhibit featured what could be hundreds of glass jars and bottles, each filled with various potions ingredients. From wall to wall, these glass containers littered the set, each labeled and and containing various ingredients. To the side, a small box of bezoars, the wands of Snape and Slughorn are featured, and show the the different personalities of their owner in their design. It was a delight to see that the wand of Snape was black and carved with a most intricate design at the handle, where as Slughorn's was a tad more rounded and fit the man who it chose.
My eyes then came upon the image of one Gilderoy Lockhart as I turned into the Defense Against the Dark Arts corner of the Classroom Exhibit. Photos littered most every free space of this set, which was dominated by the painting of Mr. Lockhart paining himself, as seen in the Chamber of Secrets film. A collection of Gilderoy's collected works sat on a table beside a pair of his most formal robes, while his dueling lesson outfit stood next to even more photos of the one-time DADA professor. Then, my eyes were soon burned with a bright pink color as I stepped over into Dolores Umbridge's office. Painted pink stone, pink carpets, ribbons, seat cushions, curtains, bring you right into her world and greeted me with an unnatural unease. On a small table in the center of the display, a quill and parchment with the phrase "I must not tell lies" stood out in my eyes and transported me right back to that scene in Order of the Phoenix where Harry was forced to write those words into his skin. The immaculate detail seen in this area shows not only the character of Ms Umbridge, but also gave me chills as I walked past it. Turning away from the sea of pink, I then focused on a more somber display as the classroom of DADA Professor Lupin jumped back into my mind upon seeing the massive wardrobe standing before me. Next to that, the enormous (and frightful looking) jack-in-the-box boggart stood creepily at the end of the display. Here we got to see Lupin's shabby robes and a few props from the film, including the records Lupin played during the Dementor lessons and his wand.
The final part of the classroom setting, transports you to the greenhouses where Professor Sprout's Herbology classes take place. Here I was able to get my hands dirty, so to speak, and pull a baby mandrake out from a pot. Standing next to the stout witches costume, you see such details as the
scales on her dragon-hide gloves, embellishments on her hat and robes,
as well as the ever-important earmuffs used for pulling baby
mandrakes. This was one of the parts that I was most looking forward to
experiencing from myself, and the exhibit did not disappoint.
After my Hogwarts classes for the day were finished, I was able to walk down to the Quidditch exhibit and immerse myself in the wizarding sport. Harry's Nimbus 2000, Draco's Nimbus 2001, specter specks, Quidditch magazines, and broom repair kits all meet you at the door, as does the feeling that you have just walked into what would be Harry's favorite part of the exhibit. Throughout the exhibit, you are accompanied by various clips from the film soundtracks, set to bring forth the proper mood for each exhibit
you walk past. This was no different for this portion of the tour, where music pumped me up as I attempted to toss quaffles through the hoops. The padded and vividly colored Quidditch robes of Cedric Diggory, Draco Malfoy, and Oliver Wood stand out, as does a display of various trophies, each with chiseled names of former Quidditch Captains drawing your eye each tiny detail. As I walked though, my eyes darted from each of the many artifacts and props displayed in this section. The Golden Snitch and Madam Hooch's robes really gave me the sense that I was about to watch a live Quidditch game.
After Quidditch practice, Buckbeak greets you as you step up to Hagrid's Hut. I could not help but want to bow in front of this magnificent creature, which was harnessed in a small paddock with large pumpkins and the costumes of the Trio, as seen in the final moments of Prisoner of Azkaban, and of the Hippogriff's would be executioner standing beside him. Hagrid's Hut truly draws you in with an immediate sense of warmth. A simmering cauldron on the fire bubbles away as Norbert's egg rattles on the table. Everything here is Hagrid-size, even the tremendously comfortable chair in the corner of the room. Perfect for Hagrid, the legs of my 6'2 body still dangled a ways from the floor once I sat back in the chair to observe the many hand-crafted cages Hagrid has hanging from every available space in his hut. This vantage point also offered the best look at Hagrid's clothes, which stood nearly as tall as the hut itself. A good two heads above me, Hagrid's complete was simply massive. The dark eyes of the various copies of the Monster Book of Monsters stare at you as you exit the hut, glimpsing the pink umbrella that Hagrid never leaves home without.
On the other side of Hagrid's Hut, the life-size head of Hungarian Horntail dragon, an acromantula, a baby thestral, and two large centaurs awaiting you as you walk past the Forbidden Forest. Immediately I was transported into a darker atmosphere as this lead me into the Dark Forces section of the exhibit. Dark arches lead you through into vine covered walls which first showcase two massive chess pieces from the Sorcerer's Stone film: a rook and a knight. With them towering over me, I was instantly transported onto that chess board and felt as if any moment the knight would swipe me aside if I made a wrong move. The ruby red Sorcerer's Stone and Flying Key also bring you through this section which then features a Slytherin House are with Tom Riddle's robes, complete with 'Senior Prefect' badge, a petrified Colin Creevy, his camera, and the Horcrux diary, dripping with black ink where the basilisk fang pierced its pages. All of this is set before a massive backdrop of the stone carved face of Salazar Slytherin from inside the Chamber of Secrets.
Exiting out of this section, you are confronted with the Dark Lord himself, well, this shimmery green robes as worn by actor Ralph Fiennes at the end of Goblet of Fire. His robes, which move constantly in the air, stand next to the Riddle gravestone. Glancing up, I was simply astounded to see a Dark Mark floating above my head, looking down upon the exhibit. Inching away from the Dark Mark, a pair of Death Eater costumes, with their leathery caps and dark, ripped cloaks, usher you into a row of Ministry Wanted signs, offering rewards for Bellatrix Lestrage, Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow, and Fenrir Grayback. Simply terrifying in their appearance, the images of those known Death Eaters haunt you as you walk towards Voldemort's wand and the costumes of Draco and Lucius Malfoy.
This section simply brimmed with Dark materials including Bella's Azkaban prison costume, a life-sized Dementor that hovered against the wall, black, ghostly robes hanging off dead looking skin and a long spine that could be seen to turn into a thin tail as it curved down. Kreacher also stands next to Bella's robes and looks very much like the book describes him. I was struck throughout this entire section how dark and, frankly, creepy it was to be walking through this exhibit. The lighting and audio that constantly adapt to the area you explore really make the entire experience so much more real.
Continuing on, brightness began to come back as we walked into the Great Hall. Massive double doors, flanked by numerous educational decrees, lead you into this most magical space. However, almost hidden, they have on display the Bloody Barron's blood stained robes. Only seen for a split second in the film, the details of this costume are remarkable to see in person. The blood has been soaked into the fabric, which gave me a slight chill as I walked past. Walking into the Great Hall gave me chills of another kind. I was now experiencing the same sort of nervous excitement that Harry must have felt entering into the Hall for the first time. Laid out before me was a dinning table, packed with all kinds of food and desserts.
Along the walls of the Great Hall, such props and costumes from the Goblet of Fire drawing and Yule Ball scenes are on display before you. The scraps of paper Cedric, Krum, and Fleur entered into the Goblet are on display, along with the forged entry baring Harry's name. The Goblet of Fire itself is a piece of artwork. Containing what seems to be tile work and design inspirations from every culture and time period, it simply invites you to stare at it. The gorgeously detailed dress robes and gowns worn by Harry, Ron, Hermione, Krum, Cho, and Cedric line the wall, along with the robes of Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore stand beside the Goblet. On display here, both costumes worn by actors Richard Harris and Michael Gambon are on display, and each represent the actors unique portrayal of the great wizard. Also not to be missed standing almost behind Dumbledore's robes, is House Elf Dobby, who looks at you with his massive and thoughtful eyes.
The TriWizard Cup gleams next to a set of Rita Skeeter's notebooks and her famous quick quotes quill, along with a number of the 'Potter Stinks' buttons. Further along, I was happily surprised to see the clothing of Tonks and Sirius Black stand before me. The vintage details of Sirius' attire dazzled me, as did the wands of Albus Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. Perched next to the Professor, Fawkes sat next to the costumes of Fred and George Weasley, who have an entire table of wizard joke shop products and candies beside them. Objects from Honeydukes, Zonko's, and the Twins' own creations (Nosebleed Nougat, Puking Pastilles, Fainting Fancies, Fever Fudge) sit on top of a Quidditch board game complete with each hand held figures of the Quidditch players on sticks. The amount of products on display here took my breath away. If only these items existed in the muggle world.
Circling once more around the Great hall, we passed by the very high quality clothes of Cornelius Fudge and of Percy Weasley. Percy's suit looked to be expertly tailored and carried the style of fabric all the way down to his shoes, which were covered with the same material. Also on display were the very O.W.L. exam sheets and results letters that were seen only briefly in the book. Each question was printed out, while the responses of the student who took the exam looked to be written by hand.
All too soon it seemed as if we were at the end of the exhibit. We began to walk out, but one more magical moment occurred just before I was to exit the Great Hall. Glancing up above me, I was awestruck to see dozens of it candles floating above me throughout the Great Hall. After pausing to take one last look at the Great Hall of Hogwarts, a room which contained so many memories, I walked out into the final corridor, was greeted by applauding portraits on the wall, and slowly passed through some sort of magical threshold, back into the Muggle world.


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NHL Game Night: 11-16-13 Lightning at Coyotes
Unlucky start to the road trip.
Ben Bishop allowed 3 goals on 14 shots before leaving the game after taking a shot off the collarbone. Anders Lindback allowed 2 on 15 shots the rest of the way, taking the old backdoor loss. Clearly this was Bishop's worst start of the season. Phoenix's first goal was a little soft on a long point shot that Bishop looked like he got a good look at, and the second goal was obviously a terrible one banked off his skate from the corner. Hard to fault him on Phoenix's third goal when he was stunned by the slapper off his collarbone. The silver linings are that Lindback looked above average in his relief stint and Bishop came back out to sit on the bench after going to the locker room, which hopefully means nothing is broken.
First Period
15:58 PHX Stone (6), (Ribeiro, Rundblad)(PP)
16:55 PHX Hanzal (6), (Korpikoski)
Second Period
1:48 Ribeiro (6), (Hanzal, Vrbata)(PP)
16:19 TB Panik (1), (Johnson, Killorn)
17:05 PHX Murphy (1), (Vrbata, Korpikoski)
17:55 TB Brown (1), (Purcell, Sustr)
Third Period
1:37 PHX Doan (10), (Hanzal, Vrbata)
18:58 TB Killorn (6), (St. Louis, Sustr)
19:41 PHX Korpikoski (4), (Hanzal)(EN)
Reasons for concern? Yes. Silver linings? A few. The team was a little flat, which maybe is to be expected when you make the long flight out west. And, this game was a clunker for Bishop with injury piled onto insult. I expect them to respond the next time out and not take so long to get their legs under them, and they do deserve credit for the way they kept pushing in the Third Period despite being 3 down on the scoreboard. I'm also not terribly concerned about Bishop's play (more worried about his health). He wasn't going to go the entire year without giving up a soft goal. The key is to just make sure he compartmentalizes that bad effort to a single game, 1 of 82, and moves on.
Radko Gudas was -3 with 4 shots and 4 hits in 20:17. He was uncharacteristically weak on the puck behind his net leading to Phoenix's 5th goal, which was the kill shot on the scoreboard. He really worked hard the rest of the Third Period to atone, though, and I appreciated the effort to make up for his mistake.
The Lightning finish their second 10 game segment of the season with the same result as the first, 14 points. That's 2 more than the minimum you hope for, which is great, and helps build up some extra insurance points. But, those two segments are over. Time to start chasing the next 12+ points. Two is a fluke, three is a streak.
Tyler Johnson had a helper and was +1 with 1 hit and 1 blocked shot in 16:38. He was also 39% on draws. He worked himself into a breakaway in the First Period that he failed to convert, eventually spilling into the net. His speed seems to buy him a breakaway every game or two. You'd love to see him start converting.
Alex Killorn had 1 goal and 1 assist and 2 penalty minutes in 16:25. He ended up with 3 shots and 1 hit. He took a bad penalty at the end of the First Period that eventually contributed to a key 5-on-3 goal for Phoenix. That said, from that point on, he was one of Tampa Bay's best forwards as reflected by the scoresheet.
Ondrej Palat had 1 shot and 1 hit in 14:05. Honestly, I'd like to see the guy get more touches with some space in the neutral zone because that's where he does his best work directing the attack. When he doesn't get those touches, he's less of a contributor.
J.T. Brown had his first NHL goal and was -1 with 2 shots, 1 hit, and 1 blocked shot in 16:07. He looks good out there with his speed and his goal was a quick release laser beam.
Andrej Sustr had a pair of assists and was +1 with 2 penalty minutes, 1 hit, and 1 blocked shot in 17:07. I don't know that his game was as good as his stat line indicates. I thought Sustr, like the Lightning in general, had more trouble than usual getting out of his own end. A few unforced errors were present.
Richard Panik scored his first goal of the season and had 2 shots, 2 hits, and 1 blocked shot in 13:48. His shot was another x-ray death beam and you just hope, as snake bitten as Richard has been, this opens the flood gates for him from a goal scoring perspective.
Box score and extended statistics from NHL.com.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Famed founder of medical clinics for poor to speak in HonoluluUniversity of Hawaiʻi
John A. Burns School of Medicine
HONOLULU - A Harvard Medical School professor who is a pioneer in providing health care to some of the poorest people on Earth will visit the University of Hawaii at Manoa for two lectures this month.
Paul Farmer, MD, PhD, helped found the international health organization Partners in Health in 1987, starting with a charity clinic in Haiti. It is now a worldwide health organization in five other countries, focusing on helping areas suffering from poverty, violence, and epidemics of disease obtain effective drugs to treat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
Dr. Farmer will speak on Sunday, February 18, at 3 p.m. at the UH Medical School Auditorium in Kaka'ako on: "Community-based treatment of HIV: The Partners In Health experience in Haiti, Rwanda, and Lesotho."
He also speaks on Tuesday, February 20, at 4:15 p.m. at the UH Manoa Campus Center Ballroom on: "AIDS in 2007: Building a Health Care Movement."
Both lectures are free and open to the public.
Dr. Farmer is an infectious disease specialist and Professor of Medical Anthropology at Harvard Medical School. Farmer is the winner of a MacArthur Fellowship and the Margaret Mead Award for his contributions to public anthropology.
He is visiting Honolulu as "Pfizer/ American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation" Visiting Professor in JABSOM's Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.


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Maine State Senate
About the Maine State Senate
The Senate is the upper chamber of the Maine Legislature and serves as the final confirming body of all bills passed before they are sent to the Governor. Under Article IV, Part Third, Section 9 of the Constitution of Maine, the Senate may originate all bills except those proposed for the purpose of raising revenue. It may, however, amend bills for the raising of revenue, provided that the amendment is not in fact used to introduce new raises in revenue. The Senate is the sole judge of the qualifications of its members. It maintains sole authority to punish or censure its own members; it has the power to imprison persons who are not Senators for contempt; it determines its own rules for Senate proceedings, and it maintains a permanent journal of its proceedings. By Constitutional Resolution, passed during the First Regular Session of the 107th Legislature and adopted by the voters in November 1975, the Senate is empowered to confirm all gubernatorial nominations requiring Legislative approval (formerly confirmed by the Executive Council). Article IV, Part Second, Section 7, empowers the Senate to try all impeachments. The Senate has remained constant in its form of organization as a Constitutional body since its establishment in 1820. As defined under Article IV, Part Second, Section 1 of the Constitution, the Senate currently consists of 35 Senators. Each Senator is elected for a term of two years and limited to four consecutive terms. A Senator must be a citizen of Maine for at least one year, be a resident of the district for at least 3 months prior to the election and continue to reside within the district during the term of office, and be at least 25 years of age at the time of election. The Constitution requires that the Senate be reapportioned every 10 years, by the Senate itself or, if the Senate fails to do so within the required time, by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. In 2003, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court apportioned the Senate. The Senate elects a President, who presides over all its proceedings; a Secretary and Assistant Secretary, who serve as chief administrative officers. The major political parties in the Senate each elect their own leaders and assistant leaders who, by statute (3 MRSA, Section 168), are permitted to hire their own staff assistants, with the approval of the presiding officer.


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What's your dream Oreo flavor? Ask, and you may receive.
Oreo is surprising some fans who submit their ideas for cookie flavors with actual boxes of their creations.
The crowdsourced #MyOreoCreation hashtag started gaining enough traction in recent months that Oreo decided to market it as a real contest, according to Grub Street.
Fans have been surprised in the mail with the cookies of their dreams -- including flavors like Coffee, Glazed Donut, Bacon and Avocado.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
There's also been "Unicorn," "Mermaid" and "Millenial Pink" flavors, as well as "Nuts n' Honey" and "Raspberry Danish."
Oreo says it'll continue to surprise fans until July 14. Anyone can submit one Oreo idea per day and, it says, "we just might make it."
Three lucky winners will even get their cookie creation mass-produced for the market for a limited time.
No telling if some of these wild Oreo fantasies may just come to life for a lucky few in the next two weeks:


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Red Onion Puff/Cushion
Furniture Design Focus: Red Onion Puff/Cushion
A Good Furniture design example, the Red Onion is a creative Puff/Cushion design. Red Onion was designed in 2010, and here is a how it is described by its designer: Red Onion is an interesting set of cushions / ground seats that are stacked all together in a sculpturesque object that could provide seating for up to 28 people, plus the central element can be used as storage! Cushions have an elastic back that helps preserve the shape. Intended for both indoor and outdoor use, the Red Onion is totally unique piece of furniture.
Red Onion Puff/Cushion Images:
End of the article, click here to go back to previous page, or alternatively go back to Design Events homepage.


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A British search and rescue crew led by Prince William saved the lives of two teenage girls who had been swept out to sea in North Wales, officials said.
The rescue team had just landed at Royal Air Force Valley in Anglesey, Wales, after another rescue when they received a call about the two teens Thursday, the BBC reported. The crew immediately took off again and arrived on the scene in about 38 seconds, co-pilot Lt. "Schmoo" Smith said.
The two girls, who were body-boarding along the Anglesey coast and had been caught in a rip tide, were described as exhausted.
"When I got to her, the elder girl was clearly exhausted and was going under the water for what was the very last time," Winchman Master Aircrew Harry Harrison said.
"We never know what we'll face when we're called out," he added. "Sometimes it's just a twisted ankle or a broken bone, but this was one rescue where we truly did arrive in the nick of time and managed to save two young lives."
The crew transported the girls to Ysbysty Gwynedd hospital in Bangor, The Mirror reported.
Prince William qualified to be a search and rescue pilot in September 2010 and was made a captain in June, The Mirror reported.


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A massive 18 inches of gratification await anyone brave enough to take on its deeply veined challenge. Balls with a suction base add to the self-satisfying options.
Ships Everywhere.
I did a nice blast of some criss and fucked myself silly for hours! I loved it and came a lot. My pussy and anus loved orgasms!
Make sure you use of lube and some crystal. Orgasms are much more intense.
It took a while and lots of lube and patience but WOW when I finally got past the head and started working it down further into my asshole I got hard and I was able to get about half of it in my asshole. I rode it for about a half hour and when I slipped my asshole of it I couldn't believe how wide my asshole stretched outAnonymous - January 11 2019
bought 2 of these in Black, one for my Wife to use on me and the other to fuck me with too. Love to take them out and fuck myself in public always attracting just the attention I like.Anonymous - September 20 2018
Can't believe how big this is in person. Wow omg. Tried in shower could only get halfway in. After using for two days straight have a hard time walking. This thing is no joke. Still trying thouAnonymous - May 18 2016
bought this for a friend. She is always bragging.Anonymous - November 11 2014
Yes i agree with the HOLY SHIT REVIEW!!! This cock is very long!!!!! Also flexible . My girl did exactly the same thing ,she rammed it to the balls, i shot cum like crazy!!!! She wore my fuckin ass out with this cock, but then after she fucked me with it for a while ,i told her to get the Superstar 17" ,its a lot thicker but the same length, she fucked me with this dildo for at least another good hour until i emptied my cum box.Anonymous - April 28 2014
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On the Scene is a new blog we've developed to give our loyal readers and web visitors an inside look at the cool things our staff gets to do while on the job, as well as a special opportunity to get to know us on a personal level. From photo shoots to awards ceremonies and restaurant openings, this is your gateway to the life and times of an CoVa staff member!
Subscribe to the On the Scene Feed »


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Celebrating illustration, design, cartoon and comic art of the mid-20th century.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Rex Woods: The Story At Last
It was maddening that an artist of Rex Woods' stature (he has been called Canada's Norman Rockwell) would have fallen into such obscurity.
At one point even the ROM, which has a collection of original art by Rex Woods (two examples below), contacted me to ask if I could help with biographical info. Well I'm very pleased to say that the seeds planted in that May 2007 post have at last born fruit. We began the task of telling Rex Woods' story almost three years ago. Today, we finish the job.
Reginald Norman (Rex) Woods was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England, in 1903.
He came to Toronto, Canada in 1920, and studied at the Ontario College of Art. After graduating Woods worked in various Toronto art studios. In 1927 he married Jeanne Etheldra Mott; a ballet dancer with the Metropolitan Opera Company. In the 1930s he decided to strike out on his own. He quickly became one of Canada's most successful and sought-after illustrators.
Woods was tremendously well received in Canadian commercial art circles. He regularly contributed covers to popular magazines like Maclean's and Canadian Home Journal, and drew advertisements for many Canadian companies.
He painted one of the most famous faces in Canada; "The Macdonald's Lassie," which appeared on the tobacco company's popular Export "A" brand of cigarettes for decades.
One of his most famous works is a giant group portrait of the Fathers of Confederation, actually a copy of a painting by Robert Harris destroyed when the Parliament Buildings burned down in 1916. Woods' recreation was commissioned by the Confederation Life Insurance Company (Woods added three figures to the original composition) and was donated as a Centennial gift to Canada in 1967. It hangs in Parliament.
All of this information came to me not through any great research on my part - but through the efforts of a gentleman named Mike Gourley. In 1970, Mike, a truck driver, was picking up a load of flour at the Robin Hood Co. in Moncton, New Brunswick. On the loading dock he noticed a load of stuff that was bound for the garbage dump... and among the items being thrown out was an original oil painting.
"I asked the shipper if I could have the picture," Mike wrote to me. "He said I could have it as it was going in the landfill... so I've had it all this time. Two years ago I was disabled so I had time on my hands and I started checking this out. I went to the museum in St. John, N.B. with the painting and a lady said it was a wonderful painting and an original. Then I went to the Ottawa, to the library and archives. There was nothing like what I have."
"I was very surprised that I could not find any record of this painting in Ottawa. One day I talked to my mother-in-law about this and she was baking... and I just happened to see this lady's picture in her cookbook, put out by Robin Hood Flour in 1947."
In the course of his research, Mike uncovered an obituary for Rex Woods from the November 19, 1987 Toronto Star. he sent along a photocopy when he sent me copies of the painting and cookbook page above. Its thanks to Mike that we now have a biographical record of Rex Woods.
But the story doesn't end there...
The obituary states that Rex Woods lived in the same Toronto apartment from 1939 until his death at age 85. When I previously wrote about him I told the story of how I had heard from an art director who lived in that building that Woods had no next of kin, and that after his death the building superintendent had taken possession of all the artist's personal effects, including who-knows-how-many originals. Just last week a new comment was left on that earlier post:
"Oh my gosh! I LIVE in that building! About a year ago, they hung up a bunch of his prints... I HAVE to talk to my old (retired) super (he still lives here). I think it was the same super... Rex passed in '87. I'll have to see if I can find anything more out! There are also residents living here (though I don't know them) who've been here pretty much since the building was built in '39."
"I'm doing a post today about Rex. I'll add a link here when it's done. I've photographed every one of the 20 prints that decorate our walls here!"
Below, one of those 20 prints, courtesy of the author of that comment, Lynda Woods (no relation to Rex).
Lynda sent me a follow-up note:
"I wanted to let you know about something quite exciting! I called up my old super today, and he was indeed the same one who not only knew but was good friends with the Woods'! He told me a little over the phone (such as that Rex and his wife moved here, I believe, before the building was even completely finished, in '39) -- but he wound up lending me a couple of articles he himself wrote (I believe one was published in the Toronto Star in '87, after Rex's passing). Using those articles, I'll shortly be doing another post on Rex, as they contain quite a few tid-bits... some personal facts)! I'll let you know once it's up."
* Many thanks to Mike Gourley for his generosity in sharing the details of his research and the related images. In his correspondence, Mike added, "If you have someone who is interested in buying the painting, I'm OK with that.
The Antique Roadshow was in Moncton a couple of years ago and a lady offered me $2000 for it. Maybe I should have taken it."
* Many thanks to Lynda Woods for making us aware of the existence of the Rex Woods prints and for posting them on her blog. We'll look forward to hearing more about Rex Woods from her in the near future!
* Many thanks to Flickr member Lone Primate for allowing me to use some of his shots of the Rex Woods originals near the top of this post.
* Finally, thanks also to Julie Clark, who shared the photos of the artist at the top and near the end of this post. Julie's mother and Rex Woods were cousins. This last image is a drawing Woods did of Julie's mom in 1936.
18 comments:
I'd highly recommend anyone who lives in the Toronto area to go check out the Rex Woods paintings over at the Royal Ontario Museum (including several featured in this post). They really are stunning in person!ReplyDelete
- Chad Sterling6:36 PM
Love that photo of Rex, now that's how an artist SHOULD look.ReplyDelete
Don't know about you,but I see a distinct Leyendecker influence in his work, which ,by the way, is top quality.
Absolutely, the influence is even more apparent looking at the original paintings. This painting by Woods, for example, has the same kind of thick, wet, vigourous brushwork in the background that you'd see Leyendecker do in paintings like this,ReplyDelete
but it's almost completely invisible upon reproduction. It's a shame that we don't see very many illustrators in art museums these days; I feel like I learned so much just from seeing the nuances of how these guys laid their paint down.
WOW! Never saw his Rex Woods illos before, but what a great painter! Not only is he academically solid, but great taste and excellent design. I echo Eric Overton's disappointment in not seeing illustrator's work in museums. I think all the Society of Illustrators should pool their illustrations for on going traveling shows to major cities in the U.S. and Canada. Seeing the originals is so much better than looking at a reduced reproduction, that usually isn't that accurate. Another great find Leif!ReplyDelete
Tom Watson
Wonderful post, Leif! I hadn't realized you'd found out quite that much more about Rex! Great, too, to see pics of the artist himself! I'm not sure how much more I can add (one of the two -- fairly long! -- articles I've borrowed is mainly to do with Jeanne, actually), but there should be a thing or two worth making note of, I'm quite sure!ReplyDelete
Many thanks for mentioning my own post (had I forgotten to add a link initially?) -- and I'll be sure to let you know when the second one is up.
There sure is a lot of interest in Rex these days! Thanks for getting it together, Leif. Just want to build on what others have posted here: Rex was indeed a bit of a shameless copycat of Leyendecker - as you'll see in some of the examples the ROM has. Second, the Society of Illustrators does loan pieces for exhibitions elsewhere. The reason we don't see so many illustration exhibitions is that fine art curators still haven't quite got their minds around the idea yet. Boy is that changing fast though!ReplyDelete
- Rich4:23 PM
Never heard of him - another discovery. "Canada's Norman Rockwell" seems quite apt.ReplyDelete
Great pleasure to look at these. My personal favorite is the first one; the rainy Macleans. Enjoyed Rex' signature there - another wooden plate.
This blog sends me travelling...
- Charlie Allen5:39 PM
Thanks, Leif. Back to sanity! I can almost echo Tom's comments. New to me, but that's happening more and more lately. I'm still not clear what medium he used. Probably oil, and his brushes are not for gouache....but some of his work looks like gouache. Whatever. Just marvelous work...and I'm amazed by those early dates on the magazines. The heroic lady with the lion is just too much! Gracias, again.ReplyDelete
I worked with a lady in Toronto from 1972-74 who claimed to be the Macdonald's lassie! Her married name was Ethel Coles. She was an older lady, of course, but the resemblance to the Macdonald's lassie was uncanny. I have always wondered if this was true.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous6:02 PM
Just saw/introduced to Rex Woods' art at the Royal Ontario Museum just the other day. I was completely moved by his work. Enough so that I came home and had to find out more about him. I am happy to have stumbled upon such a great artist's work. As the previous posts have eluded, the pictures online do not do the actual paintings justice. I appreciate all the information that has been provided here.ReplyDelete
- Anonymous10:26 AM
I was Rex and Jeanne's dentist from 1975 and truly enjoyed their visits to my office. Their zest for life was an inspiration to me. Jeanne would be so enthusiastic about the work Rex was doing and would tell me about how excited they were about upcoming projects: she handled the research.ReplyDelete
At one time, not knowing how accomplished Rex was I asked him if he would like to come along to a life drawing class I was attending. He graciously declined.
Years ago, while waiting for his turn in my office, he entertained a youngster by drawing a picture of a bunny rabbit... not all that well done but good enough for me to trade the kid for it. I think I offered her a toothbrush in return.
Recently an article appeared in the Toronto Star with a photo of Rex's painting of the Father's of Confed. but instead of a credit going to Rex, it had the name of the guy who took the photograph. Heresy. I promptly wrote to Rick Salutin pointing out the slight to a great Canadian artist.
I didn't know Rex immigrated as early as 1920; he spoke with an English accent... and Jeanne had a New England accent.
Lovely people greatly missed.
I have an original oil Rex Woods painting that I cannot find anywhere. It has a woman and a boy looking into a field. If anyone has any sort of information on this piece, or any of his pieces for that matter - please email me: firstname.lastname@example.com
- Anonymous1:44 PM
I too have found a Rex Wood piece. It was painted for the American Life Insurance Company and was used for their 1938 calendar. The print is on satin and reproduced by their permission. Does anyone have any idea where to find info on this?ReplyDelete
I have been trying to find an image / print online of Rex Woods' Macdonald's lassie as used by Export A to be framed. Any guidance?ReplyDelete
- Anonymous8:13 PM
I have two oil paintings by Rex woods of confederation shipyard.. I am interested in selling - looks like museum pieces. How do I go about it?ReplyDelete
I have come in possession of some beautiful oil paintings and the story I got with them is that the guy who painted these was either the son or grandson of the guy who painted the export A model. please help.ReplyDelete


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Remembered through a haze, of dust, drink and sunshine, this was never going to be the most factual account. But it's probably the most accurate, courtesy of Tom King and Adam Anonymous…
DiS is always staggered by the pulling power of paying to regress to a primal state and stand in a field for days. The Dour Festival brings 144,000 people to the middle of nowhere, South of Brussels. But the volume of people cannot hide the individuals; the clientele is freakish and consists largely of white dreads, those who need to be, in Adam's words, "not so much cleaned, as _cleansed". It sinks in that we're to spend 96 hours with these ungodly degenerates, and we shudder. It may be a music festival but we wouldn't wallow in the same filth as some of these people. With French limited to _"parle vous anglais?" and "une grande bière s'il vous plaît", this is going to be a long weekend, and one we're completely disconnected from, by language, hygiene, and, in some cases, species…
It's raining. First we must navigate to the seriously secret press camping area, be convinced for several hours that every other Brit we meet is a dribbling idiot. Prevailing misanthropy, and tent, firmly set in place we head out for music, but such is the prevalence of afternoon Anglophilic-continental shit Thursday's budget must have been spent almost entirely on the Wu-Tang Clan. (Today is actually _so_ all about one thing – the motherfucking Wu-Tang Clan – that we couldn't be dissuaded by torrential showers of cow shit or 80,000 kids spending daddy's money pretending to be anarchic. But, hey, at least this isn't Glastonbury or the Carling Weekend.) Though the early evening breeze forces Pornorama's set upon our place in the 90-minute cash machine queue, and we duly curse Mother Nature. There is little to do but drink and attempt to recite the entirety of _36 Chambers _to anyone within hearing distance, awaiting the first crackle and hiss at midnight…
We fill the remainder of the time with a pinch of stoner blue blood Om* (La Petite Maison Dans La Prairie; mighty) from afar, a faceful of *DJ Hype (La Petite Maison Dans La Prairie; average jump-up drum & bass, terrifyingly mental pill-stuffed crowd) and an oddly misplaced set from *Guitar Wolf *(Dance Hall; the inspiration for parts of Lost In Translation?). Come just gone midnight, kids are hanging from the sound booth and floodlights and it's hard not to think hip-hop probably wasn't built for this; this could only be for the utilitarian numbness of stadium rock. Eventually a looped sample begins cuts through the crowd, eight figures bound onstage, and_ this _is what all the fuss is all about…
Ghostface! GZA! RZA! The other guys! No reanimated ODB (boo!) or Method Man (missing, presumed "doin' sum TV shit"). All of a sudden it's like the Wu are just stalking out of Staten Island again for the first time and, despite a woeful mix that necessitates them to lead vaguely unwise chants against the "faggot soundman" who keeps "sabotaging shit" (the sound needs to be sharp as a RZA, but the bass hemorrhages across all frequencies, and words lose themselves on the evening winds), we're talking all-star hip-hop heaven. 'Gravel Pit' elicits probably the largest cheer of the day and the customary Ol' Dirty tribute reminds everyone what a crazily brilliant talent he was. The Wu-Tang Clan still ain't nothin' to fuck wit', y'all, even if they are almost defeated in battle by a hired sound-guy goon.
Warhol sunglasses are lost in da ruckus, and the Stella goes to heads. Kid 606 and Sickboy only serve to glitchcore one of DiS's already chess-boxed brain after a decampment to the Club Circuit Marquee. Kid606's tech-house take on the IDM-jungle sub-genre he helped to forge is ultimately exceeded by Belgian hellraiser Sickboy, who throws Amen breaks willy-nilly, clad in an unsettling mask, 'til DiS hits the hay.
Friday July 13 proves to be unlucky for some, specifically those (Adam: hi dere!) that imbibe enough alcohol to make up for the fact they were never actually students, thankyouverymuch. DiS's half-hour walk to the nearby Aldi supermarché is vindicated immediately; salami sandwiches, Jupiter white beer (5.5% @ €4 for six = Mmmmmm) and a healthy dose of sunburn set us up for the 'big indie day'. Adam seems completely oblivious to common courtesy as he meets the festival organizer topless and probably still drunk, but we manage to charmingly negotiate it with press passes intact.
The Main Stage is home to the indies, starting with Hot Chip. But they do nothing except throw DiS in a blinding rage at how far limp-wristed liberals from the home counties can go with nothing but a synthesizer where there should be a soul. The National awkwardly command The Last Arena with gawky charm and a whole repertoire of singer Matt Berninger's quietly skewed takes on life, love, and life and love when they go wrong a bit. Unlike Hot Chip, The National have passion; smashing a mic-stand to low-tempo college rock and looking like an Oxbridge student isn't in Vice… but at least it is honest.
Elsewhere, Converge clamber above a pit of generic angry shouters on the Eastpak Core Stage, catching us off-guard by starting early, but tearing apart the bones of latest, greatest LP No Heroes with savage economy. While some hear them as nothing more than brutal hardcore without a hint of originality or poise, livewire tattoo-mass Jacob Bannon breaks off from amusingly weird air-grabbing stage moves long enough to scream bloody murder like only he can, and proving his band's worthiness in the process.
And now, a frank admission from Adam:
"At this point, the unforeseen intervention of a litre of vodka (starring cameos from two litres of Fanta, several bemused members of the opposite sex and some life-saving triangles of Laughing Cow) forces this correspondent into premature retirement for the night, leaving DiS's non-future cirrhosis sufferer to take up Friday's tale…"
So, Tom…
Luckily, having finished his mid-afternoon Aldi Vodka, Adam is unconsciously winding up as many people as possible with his ridiculously OTT pidgin French before staggering off with a Dutch goth. I opt for some better looking ones, and watch The Horrors rip through a 20-minute set. Of course, it's contrived to the point of hilarity, but faux garage-punk revivalism is infinitely preferably to any amount of semi-serious shoegazie/britpop derivatives. In situ, this is classic. And, after 36 hours, I finally see another pair of skinny jeans.
The sun is low to the side of the Main Stage, blinding all. All I can sense is rhythm. Jitter-punk, white funk, The Rapture: some things are always going to appear ridiculous on paper. But you can hear the ground rumble as our collective feet start to move, the cowbell starts to rattle, and the best performance of the weekend gets in full swing._ "Punishment!"_ shout they, "in higher places". This will soon be the case for Adam, as he emerges from the press area with a stagger… and a terrified girl over his right shoulder. Three minutes later I tuck him up in the tent for a 14-hour sleep.
I duly made some new friends - the drunk-friend-routine is perfect for festivals - and ended up with Bright Eyes, who today are an 11-piece dressed fully in white. It's not just the band that are monochrome; this music is so pale it could stand out in a snowstorm. Naturally, 'First Day of My Life' still sounds like the best song every written, dewy eyed and myopically romantic to the end, but beyond that there's no rhythm, no interaction, no imagination. It's clear the songs aren't the problem, just the execution. The live visuals have no such problem, as fingertips, dead flies and polaroids swirl through endless colours projected onto the band and backdrop. Mid-song a chant of "WU-TANG-WU-TANG-WU-TANG" emerges in that breathless, syncopated manner common to foreign tongues wrapped round foreign words. I leave.
And then, for an hour, I'm back home, bouncing stage right at Brixton Mass. It seems like the festival's entire English contingent is in the Marquee Tent for gawky cockney Skream. As his up-tempo dubstep cranks forward the PA struggles with the sub-bass. It strains, pulled taut, and in one collective high snaps on perfect cue with 'Midnight Request Line'. Six minutes later and our chests need new cavities as we inhale our first non-vibrating O² for what seems like forever. From this obvious high-water mark it's all a rollback as he struggles with scratched records and fatigue. Until, that is, his eerie remix of Klaxons' 'It's Not Over Yet', which is tearful and triumphant to the end. Bravo son. Bravo.
** Wiley** is introduced as "Willy", and he never really recovers. The beats are lean but his flow is lost in murky vocal delay; words as elusive as catching smoke with bare hands. There's a pogo pit and I get dreadlocks in my face. Grimey.
Aside from blistering but pretty forgettable sets by* Simian Mobile Disco and *Digitalism, I spend the rest of beautiful starry night spent wandering alone, trying to communicate in broken French with anyone who'll listen.
We're in a rut now, and realise there's a good reason most festivals are three or less days long. A cumulative hangover will from now on threaten to swamp each successive morning, mounting on top of one another like a pack of horny rabbits, swaying and ready to collapse at any moment. The mud has turned to dust, and the ground resembles the surface of the moon, each gust adding to the filth clogging up my every pore. To make matters worse, sometime overnight the open air urinal troughs have burst their banks and a river of piss has begun to slowly snake downhill to the main stage. Bottles and glasses collect within its waters; crossing it seems near-suicidal. Thankfully, today the main stage is home only to lowest-common-denominator trash reggae and the Dropkick Murphys; anyone heading that way deserves everything they get.
With one exception: Part Chimp. Melody can be overrated, and it should be stomped on like the little annoying rat it is more often. Noise wins. Pure noise. There may be no bassist, but when the drums sounds like seven guitars you can just move your plain of hearing up 2.5 kHz, sit back and let your hangover slowly melt.
A days' worth of avoiding terrible, terrible hardcore bands and catching up on food and rest comes to an end with Black Milk (an inexplicably early fixture at the Club Circuit Marquee: likable delivery and solid rhymes that should have been bumped up to sit alongside the midnight-astride thrills of the following hip-hop crew) and a Stones Throw Records party in the Marquee Tent. This is real hip-hop, that which doesn't need to pander to the crowd to raise their hands every other middle eight. I'm pretty sure Peanut Butter Wolf and J-Rocc were involved at some stage, but all that stands out in recollection are beats, rhymes and paying respects to J Dilla and James Brown. The collective bring it correct, with party-starting results.
Elsewhere, Fugazi's Joe Lally does his vaguely plodding solo thing with passably enjoyable results at La Petite Maison Dans La Prairie. The baldy bassist's backing band Zu* hold the lion's share of attention, mind, with visceral sax/nutsoid bass and drum trickery. The same stage serves up a buried highlight a little later: *Griots & Gods. Closer inspection reveals it's a collaboration between New Jersey noise-hop heroes dälek and Swiss industrial pioneers The Young Gods. The soundclash is entrancing, the Gods' ethereal pomp somehow melding perfectly with dälek's spiraling backdrops and cerebral lines.
At the Eastpak stage Justice, SebastiAn,* Busy P, *Uffie & Dj Feadz become a pack of vodka-swilling mega-mixers, their sets weaving in and out of each other like a fine (night out at) fabric. They've even made 118-style team vests for the occasion, hung from the decks until duly waved in surrender to the march of their own beat. This, though, is the debauched wake before the funeral. Half-bowed over the decks like a hunchback taking a piss, Erol Alkan dies on our ears, lacking the enthusiasm of his continental counterparts. By this stage synapses have become immune to synth-bass-lead electro, and each bleep sounds like the one before. Individuals wander out of the tent disorientated by this newly atonal music.
Which, save for a quick chuckle at the Dropkick Murphys' Oirish-isms in The Last Arena, brings us back to where we came in today: Luke Vibert dons his Amen Andrews hat for breakcore extraordinaire; Autechre turn all the lights out and chuck liquid balls of improv' glitch at our ears; Venetian Snares damn near kills us ramping the BPMs up to levels where small animals spontaneously die; oh, and Otto Von Schirach manages to maintain a burgeoning reputation as a consummately rotten bastard, unleashing scattershot horrorcore and growling into an unfortunate microphone, a lot.
Shattered and deaf, the stumble back to the press area is made all the more enjoyable by an unfortunate hippy slipping whilst trying to cross the piss river. If you are reading, thank you.
DiS arises late and tired.
Days of sweat, spilt Stella, and lazy ravers pissing in the corners have led to the 'Little House on the Prairie' tent resembling the fifth circle of hell. Heated to a nauseous temperature by the afternoon sun, it is here we will spend the sunlight hours brooding like trapped bats.
The first act of the day, Merzbow is nothing more than a sadist. Mid-afternoon sun, milkshakes and Merzbow aren't an obvious alliterative combination to properly blast Sunday into action, but that's exactly where we find ourselves at the frightening hour of 2.30pm in La Petite Maison Dans La Prairie. Masami Akita attacks various mangled contraptions that were possibly once instruments used by the sane, his signature six-billion-killer-bees-humming-in-monotone detonations ripping incongruously through the heat. We conclude "Wow, ouch, ouch again, this is masochism", in that order, then seek solace until The Thermals attempt similar volume levels with subtler nuances an hour later in the same tent. Spunking their best tune –_ 'Here's Your Future' _– first does tend to expose they only really possess one song in structural terms, but it's a grand song and executed with more enthusiasm than most bands muster in a career, so who gives a flying one…
Wolf Eyes are slightly more sophisticated a noise proposition than Merzbow: they recognise that including a beat amongst noise is not a concession to music, but more a necessary element. People are waving and dancing, but Tom onlys feel like drowning but as dread fills the tent…
Without even a hint of nepotistic intent, it's all about the DiS-affiliated La Petite Maison Dans La Prairie on this final day: the aforementioned Wolf Eyes and Sunn 0))) drop their respective brainbombs with expected polarised modi operandi – that's screaming metallic hell and insanely ridiculous, dry ice-shrouded, crawling doom. The latter play through a haze of smoke machines and evaporating sewage. This is slowcore; you need to lose yourself somewhere in the gaps between _the noise, the places other bands can never reach. It _can get too much, and Tom eventually sits on the bare pissy mud to fall in and out of sleep in time with the droning rhythm: before the grim reality kicks in he awakes certain he's lost in the mines of Moria. Elsewhere, though, across on The Red Frequency Stage, the unexpected highlight of the weekend is in session.
Say what you want about Beenie Man, but the alleged homophobe/spawn of Satan/insert latest accusation here is a born entertainer. And while the weekend has its fair share of happy-clappy good vibes reggae (read: rubbish), in bringing his tiny part of Jamaica to Belgium for the evening, Beenie is nothing short of a revelation. You can spy his smile from fully 100 yards away, beaming above a fetching blue suit and white vest combo. And his proper, aggressive-yet-welcoming old-skool dancehall chatterings are arguably the perfect festival tonic.
Back at the La Petite Maison Dans La Prairie, 65daysofstatic maintain the momentum. Ordinarily impressive live but ultimately a weird laptop-backed exercise in post-rock karaoke (albeit a type that's staggeringly tight and fucking volatile), here they buzz energy, drip sweat and, erm, indulge in unrivalled charisma-bereft between-song banter. The only thing more impressive in fact is the deliriously rapturous reception they receive. An attempted stage invasion results in two gawky kids lumbering over the barrier, only to be led off like cattle by the waiting security. There are forlorn cries for more, but when the drum kit is no more there can be no encore.
We stumble back out of the darkness and into the only slightly lighter shade of a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club set. For the first songs this primal swamp-stomp is brilliant, awash with enough feedback to make the sky seem to fall in. Aside from the singles, the rest is just one long arhythmical howl, more worthy of an Edward Munch than Ginsberg. After this, the 1990s are a relief; just a simple art-pop band with everything in its right place. They do sound quite a lot like the Yummy Fur, but when they share the same lungs and brain that's probably expected.
After that, being unable to get anywhere near the overflowing Dance Hall for* DJ Shadow doesn't even rankle – worst stage selection of the weekend, right there – and *Wilco, pleasant as they are, can't compete. Dr Octagon, AKA Ultramagnetic MCs legend Kool Keith, comes closer, however, in the Dance Hall. Overcoming aircraft hangar sound problems by handing out specialist continental gentlemen's mags and declaring "It's masturbation time!", the self-proclaimed Black Elvis, ahem, knocks out numerous cult classics from his raft of befuddling alter egos. And all while dressed in a cape. Respect.
Amon Tobin thuds thunderous shards of shattered drum & bass from The Last Arena that cut through wilting bodies like malevolent hot knives. Clark then gives La Petite… a final, fitting rave send off, resplendent with live drums, via his junglist glitches. And the only thing left to do?
Stumble away into the night pondering why no outdoor UK festival in existence even approaches Dour right now…
Photos: Greg Mead


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20 April 2009
Green Winemaking Tour: Coppola
Coppola has two winemaking facilities, one in Napa (formerly Niebaum-Coppola, now Rubicon Estate) and the second is in Sonoma. Called Rosso & Bianco, this Geyserville property is a member of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance. While Rosso & Bianco is not Certified Organic, the CSWA advances a series of green ethics regarding responsible use of the soil, fair treatment of workers, and engagement with the surrounding community.
The facility was under major renovation during my visit (improvements including a restaurant are underway), so my access was limited. But I did enjoy the bar-style tasting room, where I sat on a stool and looked up at a collection of memorabilia from various Coppola films, including the famous hat worn by Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now.
There are lots of bottles available for tasting at the winery, though over the years I've tried and written about many of them. I stuck to the few that were unfamiliar to me, though up on the shelf they did have a bottle of Carmine, the 3 liter wine in a jug that retails for $175. (Sorry, it was not available for sampling.) It's an interesting bottle with a story behind it involving young Francis attempting to carry a jug of wine with a pencil threaded through the finger loop. The pencil snapped and the wine crashed to the floor, and young Francis went without cannoli that night. The wine is sold with a pencil tied to the loop. In a creative nod to sustainability, there are refill events during which you can have the Carmine bottle refilled with this special edition red blend.
I wanted to highlight an interesting Coppola selection that's just recently hit the market. The 2007 Coppola Alicante Bouschet is made in Lodi, California. $19, a delightful 13.5% abv. Pure Alicante Bouschet, a French hybrid of Grenache and Petit Bouschet (the latter a cross between Teinturier du Cher and Aramon). There's a lot of this grown in Europe and the US, but you rarely see it in a single grape wine.
As a fellow blogger and Captain of the Dirty South Mothership has said about certain bottles, this wine brings the funk! It doesn't smell bad, but it's got a prominent aroma to it, and the tasting notes from around the web are all over the place. Here's what I got: snapping a green sasasfras stick, steamed artichoke and asparagus. Once it breathes, berry aromas tend to dominate, but those enchanting vegetal characteristics are still present. The flavor is oddly light, with cherry tones and a very short finish. Don't get me wrong, I'm in love with this wine for its alluring nose. I could smell this wine for days, and I did--the last glassful stuck around for almost a week. It's just such a pleasure to try a wine that's not simply cherry or vanilla.
Wines Sampled at the Vineyard:
2007 Francis Coppola Reserve Viognier, Russian River Valley. Peach and pear aromas, floral. Grassy, herbal notes, with a slightly firm aftertaste.
2007 Francis Coppola Reserve Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast. Strawberry dominates, with a smooth, light, and refreshing flavor profile.
2006 Director's Cut Cabernet Sauvignon, Alexander Valley. Vegetal, with a touch of bell pepper on top of the black cherry. Bordeaux inspired but with California fruit-forward characteristics.
2006 Francis Coppola Reserve Syrah, Dry Creek Valley. 96% Syrah with a 4% splash of Viognier, a classic combination. Blackberry and pepper aromas with just a touch of lilacs. Firm tannins but a smooth finish. My favorite of the tasting, and highly recommended.
8 comments:
- fredric koeppel said...
one mourns the disappearance from California of unusual and eccentric grapes like alicante bouschet and charbono. The old Papagni winery used to make a 100 percent alicante bouschet that was like drinking the La Brea Tarpits, but in a good way. the grape shows up in field blends in 100-year-old vineyards in Sonoma. I think Ridge still uses a small percentage in some of its zinfandels.
- 20 April, 2009 04:43
- Benito said...
I had a few wines in Sonoma that included a dash of Alicante Bouschet (and Ridge was one), but in all of my prior tasting this was the first pure bottle. You're right, it does have an unusual, distinct personality that might not sit well with those that love a hundred identical Merlots.
But you know me, I love the weird little unpopular grapes like Pinotage that make life interesting.
- 20 April, 2009 09:48
- Samantha Dugan said...
Pinotage? Really? I get "funky" but Pinotage is, in the words of George Michael, "Just Too Funky For Me". In all my years at the shop I have never been tasted on a 100% Alicante Bouschet...now I'm gonna have to find one.
- 20 April, 2009 23:41
- thomas said...
I've been to the winery in Napa and it was one of the neatest tours I've ever been on. Francis has such an amazing vintage cinema art collection. The wines were great too! Hey, thanks for visiting my blog and commenting too! I often frequet your blog as well but just need to get more active on my commenting. Cheer Ben!
- 21 April, 2009 00:03
- Benito said...
Oh, I love Pinotage. I've had it straight, in Bordeaux-style blends, and even as an ingredient in rosé. It's this great combination of wild and ashy that's very compelling.
I've really only encountered two grapes that were so terrible, I would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to try them again. Fortunately neither pops up very often:
1) Baco Noir, a French-American hybrid. I've heard they do great things with it up in Canada, but in the Southeast? Not so much.
2) Fetească Regală, a native Romanian grape that was just a miserable experience for me all around.
- 21 April, 2009 00:05
- Benito said...
Hey, thanks for reading, feel free to drop an e-mail if you ever want to chat blogger a blogger. I've really enjoyed Coppola wines over the years and have found them to be reliable choices as gifts and selections at restaurants.
One of these days I'll get out there and see Napa properly...
- 21 April, 2009 00:09
- Michael Hughes said...
I'm with you. To me, pinotage usually smells like basketballs, band aids & dirty jocks, & tastes the way gym socks smell. Ick. I have had one good one at J, yes that J in Russian River Valley. Theirs was delicious. Its nice to see that even Coppola is subscribing to responsible farming. Your trip sounds like outrageous fun Ben.
- 21 April, 2009 14:27
- Rita said...
One of my favorite wineries in Sonoma or Napa counties! The Directors Cut series just hits my palate just right and I don't think you can go wrong with any of the wines in that series.
- 21 April, 2009 16:27


text:
Biometrics are unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, that can be used for automated recognition. At the Department of Homeland Security, biometrics are used to detect and prevent illegal entry into the U.S., grant and administer proper immigration benefits, vetting and credentialing, facilitating legitimate travel and trade, enforcing federal laws, and enabling verification for visa applications to the U.S.
DHS provides biometric identification services to protect the nation through its Office of Biometric Identity Management (OBIM), which supplies the technology for matching, storing, and sharing biometric data. OBIM is the lead designated provider of biometric identity services for DHS, and maintains the largest biometric repository in the U.S. government.
This system, called the Automated Biometric Identification System or IDENT, is operated and maintained by OBIM. IDENT currently holds more than 200 million unique identities and processes more than 300,000 biometric transactions per day.
Through biometric interoperability with the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Justice (DoJ), DHS shares critical biometric information using advanced data filtering and privacy controls to support the homeland security, defense, and justice missions.
Click below to learn more about the biometric missions of the DoD, DoJ, and other U.S. Government agencies.


text:
Friday, February 22, 2013
Chirer Pulao aka Poha -- witth Oats ahem
Chirer pulao featured a close second in my "Most wanted School Lunch" list as a kid.
The winner was almost always the egg noodles.
Third and Fourth place were tied and was either a fried rice, savory french toasts or aloo paratha. Yes, my mother packed good lunches.
As far as I go Chirer Pulao is largely similar to a Poha, with small differences like the former does not have kari patta, is sweeter and is overall Bong. The experts may differ. My Mother made chirer pulao with a tadka of mustard seeds and finished it with lime juice and fresh coriander leaves. It would be a little sweet and tart. That chirer pulao would be studded with crunchy brown friend chinebadam pale on the inside, alu bhaja -- finger length potatoes fried and soft and soft green jewel like green pea motorshuti . It was a simple dish, I thought.
The first time I tried to make it on my own in the US, my self-esteem took a good beating. The chirer pulao turned into a chirer khichuri. And it all happened in the split second that I was searching for the mustard seeds while the poha was soaking. I did not know of a term called "mise en place" and I did not know I was using thin poha. It was the wrong kind. The thick poha stands a better chance of holding its own and is the poha of choice for Chirer Pulao.
Having survived that tragedy, I have been making the chirer pualo the way my Mother makes until that is this Monday.
This Monday I decided to add oats to chirer pulao. Why you ask ? Why not just let oats be and eat it as a breakfast cereal.
Well, while me and the husband eat a decent amount of oatmeal, the kids do not. They don't like the texture. Since I was making this for BS's school lunch, I thought why not make it a bit more healthy by adding steel cut oats. I mean people make oats upma all the time so why not this.I used only 1/4 cup of steel cut oats and 1 cup of poha and then cooked and rinsed the oatmeal to remove the slimy texture. The end result was pretty good if I may say so myself.
I was pretty impressed by my fine sense of culinary mix and match (ahem) and just when I was feeling a wee bit like Marc Samuelsson this conversation happened.
The husband(who was at work on Monday and would be back next day): What did you make today ?
Me: I made a Chire Oats er Pulao for tomorrow's lunch.It turned out so good.
He: Oats and Chire together ? ***Followed by Long silence ***
Me: Yeah, why ? It is really good.
He: Amake khete hobe na to ? I hope there will be none left by the time I return.
Me: !!#$%#$!!
But of course I did not let that bother me. The lunch was packed for BigSis next day and she did not complain.
For the recipe of Chirer Pulao with Oats check my blog for kids where I am storing lunch box ideas.
15 comments:
Biyer pore chirer shob version e khai. Motorshuti deya chirer polau khetei pari. :-)ReplyDelete
Chirer pulao besh bhalo baniyecho, but addition of oats in it, is new to me, dekhte to phataphati hoyeche. Motei chirer khichuri hoy ni-:)ReplyDelete
Brilliant! I'll go over for the recipe.ReplyDelete
Looks delicious and healthy! Wonderful snaps! Do visit my blog at - http://www.rita-bose-cooking.com/ReplyDelete
I like chirer pulao and the one with oats and chire sounds even better. Also, really liked your gota sheddo post and what you said at the end "I pray for my kids every day." part... so true and really honest!ReplyDelete
This looks tempting... will surely give it a try! :)ReplyDelete
I use oatmeal and chire interchangeably but never combined them together. Good idea.ReplyDelete
I used to buy fast food as Pizza, burger and other stuff from Pizza hut. Get a free coupon from http://www.vouchercodes.in/pizza-hut and save Rs 200.
Pulao looks so inviting. Bookmarked.ReplyDelete
Love this pulao. Nice picture.ReplyDelete
lovely! thats the spirit..let the husband men live in their conventional world of taste and let us expand our horizon..ReplyDelete
apnar to school life-er favourite tiffin chhilo Bong Mom, amar to ei buro boyosero favourite tiffin eta. ki je bhalo khete hoy, je na kheyechhe tar moto abhaga prithibite ar keu nei.ReplyDelete
It looks really pretty! I'm experimenting with various one-dish meals, maybe this will make it to my dinner box one day.ReplyDelete
Love this recipe. Will definitely try it. I was really hoping you used steel cut oats when I saw the heading because that's the only oats we eat. - MimiReplyDelete
This sounds delicious! I have never heard of poha--hoping I can find it next time I am at the Indian market!ReplyDelete


text:
(March 1, 2018) Saturday, March 3, Worcester County emergency alert signals will sound from area fire sirens.
A steady alert tone will sound at 10 a.m. for approximately one minute. The signals are tested the first Saturday of each month.
In the event of an actual emergency, the sirens would be used as additional means to warn the surrounding communities of imminent danger and the need to tune to either radio, television or the internet for information.


text:
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We are social beings and because of that it's a very good idea to always get in touch and meet new people. It's a very interesting and refined thing to do, one that will offer a great value and outstanding results. By joining the fitness lessons you get to stay fit, nurture your body and your mind, but also meet new people so it's a combination of great results in a complete package.
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Keep in mind that working out doesn't have to be boring, and that's why going at the local gym can really help you. It allows you to reduce boredom and instead it maintains you active at all times, something you do want to happen. In fact, it's a combination of great benefits that really help you stay healthy and have fun at the same time.
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text:
Jackson tickets issued and fans warned not to sell them
The 8,550 Michael Jackson fans who were chosen randomly to receive two tickets to the pop singer's memorial service on Tuesday have been notified, and some of them -- to the disappointment of the Jackson family -- already are trying to sell the tickets online.
Despite widespread rumors to the contrary, the e-mail notification process in fact took place today, and those who were selected have already received information on how to print vouchers that they must bring to Dodger Stadium on Monday to pick up the tickets and wristbands needed for entry to the service at Staples Center. About 1.9 million registered for the chance to attend the King of Pop's service, but organizers whittled that number to 1.6 million, eliminating duplicate entries and some generated by automatic dialers, said AEG spokesman Michael Roth. (AEG owns Staples Center and was producing Jackson's comeback concerts.)
This afternoon, several apparent ticket holders posted intentions to sell the tickets on EBay, but Roth warned that the security system in place will prevent anyone from doing so. In addition to the vouchers received via a special code, ticket holders will have to show a valid driver's license, and those whose IDs do not match the registration information will be eliminated as guests.
In addition, a lockable wristband will be placed on the ticket holder on Monday and if that band is altered or damaged in any way on Tuesday morning, that person will not be allowed inside the memorial, Roth said. Every attendee is being given a second ticket and wristband for a guest. Some attendees will watch the service at a nearby simulcast at Nokia Theatre, but the venues will be randomly selected when they arrive Tuesday.
"It is true that anyone who has a wristband and receives tickets can invite anyone they want with the second ticket," Roth said. "So we are hopeful that they have these vouchers because they are a fan and it's meaningful to them and they would also invite someone who it would also be very meaningful to them."
Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine said he believed most of the EBay sellers were fake, but admonished those who are trying to take advantage of a family tragedy for financial gain.
"This is a memorial," Sunshine said. "Words can't describe how horrifying it is that people are ostensibly trying to do that. It's beneath contempt."
-- Maria Elena Fernandez


text: Core Electives in MEcon Students cover 16 - 26 ECTS credits with core electives in the Master of Economics. The core electives for the MEcon are divided into core courses and other core electives. From the core courses at least 3 out of 10 courses (12 ECTS) must be selected. Core Courses (3 out of 10) Course ECTS Lecturer Language Semester Advanced Macroeconomics III: Money and Prices 4 Gottlieb, Charles, Prof. Ph.D. E Spring Advance Microeconomics III: Game Theory and Strategic Decisions 4 Bühler, Stefan, Prof. Dr. E Spring International Trade 4 Föllmi, Reto, Prof. Dr. E Spring Public Economics - The Economics of Taxation 4 Keuschnigg, Christian, Prof. Dr. E Spring Political Economics 4 Hodler, Roland, Prof. Dr. E Fall Industrial Organisation and Digitalisation 4 Bühler, Stefan, Prof. Dr. E Fall Economics of Strategy 4 Gärtner, Dennis, Prof. Dr. E Fall Theory of Finance 4 Söderlind, Paul, Prof. Ph.D. E Fall Big Data Statistics with R & Python 4 Fengler, Matthias, Prof. Dr. Matter, Ulrich, Prof. Dr. E Spring Corporate Finance, Banking and Venture Capital 4 Keuschnigg, Christian, Prof. Dr. E Spring In other core electives, you have a broader choice of courses. The information contained in the table below, shows the situation according to our current knowledge and plans. It is, however, not binding. Please refer to the official lecture programme of the University. * Where codes of other Master's programmes are shown this means that the course from this programme is open to MEcon students. Other Core Electives Course ECTS Lecturer Lang. Semester Data Handling III: Databases 4 Grossniklaus, Michael, Prof. Dr. E Autumn Debt and Fiscal Policy 4 Mankart, Jochen, Ph.D. E Autumn Economics of Central Banking 4 Dr. Nicolas Cuche-Curti, Nicolas, Dr. E Autumn Real Estate Modelling 4 Adams, Zeno, Prof. Dr. Füss, Roland, Prof. D. E Autumn Firms in the Global Economy 4 Pisch, Frank, Prof. Ph.D. E Autumn Introduction to Web Mining for Social Scientists 4 Matter, Ulrich, Prof. Dr. E Autumn Quantitative Risk Management 4 De Giorgi, Enrico, Prof. Ph.D. E Autumn Selected Topics in Swiss Public Finance 4 Schaltegger. Christoph, Prof. Dr. E Spring Statistics (MiQE/F*) 4 Audrino, Francesco, Prof. Ph.D. E Autumn Theoretical Behavioural Finance 4 De Giorgi, Enrico, Prof. Ph.D. E Autumn Theory of Finance (MiQE/F*) 4 Söderlind, Paul, Prof. Ph.D. E Autumn Theory of Risk and Insurance (MBF*) 4 Schmeiser, Hato, Prof. Dr. E Autumn Asset Liability Management for Insurance Companies (MBF*) 4 Schmeiser, Hato, Prof. Dr. E Spring Asset Liability Management für Schweizer Pensionskassen 4 Baumann, Roger, Dr. Schiess, David, Dr. G Spring Asset Pricing (MiQE/F*) 4 Fengler, Matthias, Prof. Dr. E Spring Beyond Homo Oeconomicus: Decision Making and Well-being in Economics 4 Kolmar, Martin, Prof. Dr. E Spring Derivatives (MBF*) 4 Ammann, Manule, Prof. Dr. Schau, Nic, Prof. Dr. E Spring Econometric Methods for Financial Instruments 4 Fengler, Matthias, Prof. Dr. E Spring Economic Development (MIA*) 4 Graff, Michael, Prof. Dr. E Spring Financial Econometrics (MBF*) 4 Söderlind, Paul, Prof. Dr. E Spring Financial Modeling Workshop: Asset Allocation (MBF*) 4 Kessler, Stephan, Dr. E Spring Financial Volatility (MiQE/F*) 4 Audrino, Francesco, Porf. Ph.D. E Spring Game Theoretic Models for a Digital World 4 Gizatulina, Alia, Prof. Ph.D. E Spring International Macroeconomics 4 Muendler, Marc, Prof. Ph.D. E Spring Machine Learning 4 Horlemann, Anna-Lena, Prof. Dr. E Spring Microeconometrics 4 Lechner, Michael, Prof. Dr. Strittmatter, Anthony, Prof. Ph.D. E Spring Monetary Policy and Financial Markets (MBF*) 2 Ranaldo, Angelo, Prof. Dr. E Spring Quantitative Economic Policy 4 Gottlieb, Charles, Prof. Ph.D. Valladares-Esteban, Arnau, Prof. Ph.D. E Spring Real Estate Economics 4 Füss, Roland, Prof. Dr. E Spring Real Estate Finance 4 Adams, Zeno, Prof. Dr. Füss, Roland, Prof. Dr. E Spring Risk Management and Insurance (MBF*) 4 Braun Alexander, Prof. Dr. Schmeiser, Hato, Prof. Dr. E Spring Time Series Econometrics 4 Fengler, Matthias, Prof. Dr. E Spring


text:
Kings fans got their Stanley Cup final party on in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday night.
They just didn't get their championship party on.
Thanks of course to the New York Rangers, who made like the Grinch and poked a big fat hole in L.A.'s balloon with a 2-1 win over the Kings in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final in New York City to extend the series at least one more game.
Oh well, it just means the Kings get to finish off the Rangers and claim their second Stanley Cup championship in three seasons at home Friday, right?
That's the beauty of building a 3-0 series lead. It gives the Kings plenty of room for error.
So while the loss Wednesday prevented fans back home from blowing a lid off Los Angeles, we all know it's just a matter of time before L.A. gets to celebrate its ascent to the top of the hockey world again.
At least that's the theory Kings fans at L.A. Live were clinging to late Wednesday as they consoled themselves after watching the Rangers finally claim a win against Jonathan Quick and the boys.
"We came here expecting to party tonight, but at the same time we also understood chances are it might be coming back to Los Angeles," said Abel Hernandez of Granada Hills. "But it was a great turnout, we all had a blast and enjoyed ourselves."
The standing-room-only crowd crossed all demographic and and age lines, as representative a slice of Los Angeles as you can imagine.
The common link connecting everyone together was the Kings, of course, and as their heroes got down to business in the Big Apple, the fans just got down 3,000 miles away across the street from the Kings home base of Staples Center.
The drinks were flowing, the bratwursts were grilling and the cheers, fears, elation and angst swirled in the air.
It all seemed to be setting up perfectly for the Kings, as they customarily fell behind 2-0 only to fight back within 2-1 when Dustin Brown broke free in the second period and turned Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist into a pretzel before sneaking a goal passed him.
Club Nokia exploded, and the prevailing feeling was that it was only a matter of time before the Kings tied the score and ultimately won the game to claim the championship.
But the comeback stalled there, despite chance after chance after chance for the Kings to draw even, with one near-goal agonizingly stalling just behind Lundqvist.
"We had so many chances but we just couldn't come up with that one goal we needed," said Jose Velazquez of Corona. "I've never seen two pucks just stop like that behind a goalie."
It's all good, though, as the Kings have three more chances to win one game, beginning Friday night at Staples Center.
"We're going to be just fine," Hernandez said. "It keeps Los Angeles hyped and excited."


text:
Praise for On God
"[Norman Mailer's] theology is not theoretical to him. After eight decades, it is what he believes. He expects no adherents, and does not profess to be a prophet, but he has worked to forge his beliefs into a coherent catechism."—New York
"The glory of an original mind in full provocation."—USA Today
"At once illuminating and exciting . . . a chance to see Mailer's intellect as well as his lively conversational style of speech."—American Jewish Life
"Remarkable . . . [Mailer's] a believer—in his own fashion. . . . He has made [God] into a complex character."—The Globe and Mail
Praise for Norman Mailer
"[Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation."—The New York Times
"A writer of the greatest and most reckless talent."—The New Yorker
"Mailer is indispensable, an American treasure."—The Washington Post
"A devastatingly alive and original creative mind."—Life
"Mailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance."—The New York Review of Books
"The largest mind and imagination [in modern] American literature . . . Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book."—Chicago Tribune
"Mailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream."—The Cincinnati Post


text:
Mitt Romney is trying.
"Thanks you guys…. You're the best!" is how he finished his victory address in New Hampshire Tuesday night.
You "guys" ?
The poor man looks so straight-laced with not a hair out of place and always perfectly pressed and tailored that he tries to relate to regular folk by using the vernacular of a 13-year-old girl.
U.S. & World
He's trying… but it doesn't work.
Note to Mitt: For the next victory speech, lose the coat.
Let the hair blow in the wind some time.
One of the reasons why the corporate raider image is starting to take root is because you look the part.
You could stand to look a little more like, well, like Newt.
Newt Gingrich, the Grinch who is trying to steal the nominationm, is far from perfectly pressed.
He is very much the college professor. His clothes are kinda wrinkled, don't fit as well and he's overweight. What he needs is not so much a makeover as a different personality.
It may be hard to find a less likeable candidate than he…which in a strange way is part of his charm.
Newt is Newt and he's not changing just to suit the news media. There is a lot to be said for authenticity (though it didn't translate into many votes in New Hampshire).
And then there is Jon Huntsman. Democrats fear him the most.
He also may be a bit charm-deficient, but his record in Utah and service in four previous administrations gives him experience far above what the current President had when he sought the job four years ago.
When covering a Huntsman event on Monday I asked my Bejing-born photographer Kristopher Li to ask him a question in Chinese mandarin thinking that could get a rise out of the former ambassador to China.
I was right.
Huntsman demonstrated his globalist flair and mastery of the language by immediately responding in the language he first learned as a Mormon missionary.
Unfortunately he thought the questioner was from China TV. "To all my friends in China" he responded (according to my photographer)… "I am busy running for President of the United States. I'm working very hard. Wish me luck".
Huntsman would have said more… and in fact tried to… but I interrupted him with a question in English. Even as his security detail later moved him along he made a point of making sure he left with a goodbye specifically for his Chinese friend.
Not sure how that skill will help in South Carolina or Florida but it would be great if he could work some Manderin in the next debate somehow.
The sidebar story from Tuesday is that, while Romney won big, nobody dropped out.
This process is so messy it will either scuttle the party's chances against President Obama or it will steel them for the fall.
Let us know what you think. Comment below, send us your thoughts via Twitter @PropZero or add your comment to our Facebook page.