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Watch out, people! The newest issue of Total Film Indonesia magazine, with two different types of cover (one featuring The Adjustment Bureau, and another featuring I Am Number Four), is out… and it's chock full of features on today's hottest young Hollywood stars.
First of all, can I just say that I managed to successful plug in Chris Colfer's script, Struck By Lightning, in the Buzz section of the magazine? Yeah, I'm quite proud of this. I did that for Chris… not that he needs any more publicity, but I think any news about him writing that movie should be spread out as many times and to as many people as possible. This should show serious moviegoers that a Gleek is not just a Gleek… but he's also a budding filmmaker!
Secondly, I wrote three interview articles of the main stars of I Am Number Four.
This is a snapshot of the 'proof prints' before they went to the printing company; I was working on the spellcheck with my friend at a restaurant.
My history with these three actors are somewhat different, which is interesting because I think my level of 'favoritism' for them had changed since I first discovered them. Alex Pettyfer was the one I discovered first (through his debut movie, Stormbreaker, in which he played Ewan McGregor's nephew). I used to like him so much (let's face it, he's very good-looking), but since he hadn't been playing in any movies until now, I had very little reason to continue liking him. I wish he would step up his game soon… and I think he will, although I admit that I'm now more interested in the female stars of Number Four.
Do you Tweet?
No and I'm not on Facebook and I don't blog. To keep in touch with friends I do normal stuff like calling or texting.
– Alex Pettyfer on the issue of social networking (Total Film Indonesia, Issue 16, March 2011)
On the other hand, I didn't find out Teresa Palmer until last year, when she appeared as Jay Baruchel's on-screen love interest in The Magician's Apprentice. However, it turned out that I'm more interested to see where her career is going because she seems to be taking her job very seriously. From the interview, I could tell she's not in Hollywood to try and aim to be "The It Girl"… she wants to play in good movies, taking good roles and working with good filmmakers. I wish her all the best of luck.
"I think there are a lot of strong female characters coming up in these films. And it's nice; it's definitely a shift from what we've seen in the past, with it typically being a male star who is the action star or the hero of the movie. I love it, and I think women are going to really respond well to it too. It's like we are tough; we go through some of the hardest things in life and we have to give birth! Men don't have to go through that experience. We are tough; it's ingrained in us and it's nice that film is starting to really appreciate women in that way." – Teresa Palmer on the role of strong women in films and all around girl power (Total Film Indonesia, Issue 16, March 2011)
Sometime between discovering those two, I discovered Dianna Agron, who is of course one of the stars of Glee. Now, here's the thing about Dianna: she's very pretty. She has great tastes, bordering on the edgy, and she seems like a nice person who is less of a diva than Lea Michele. But she just doesn't have that wide a range of acting. She seems to know how to play one thing and one thing only: the pretty high school girl in a "boy meets girl" story. That does not bode well for her career. Getting typecast after only having 2 major roles in a TV series and a movie? Hmm… But I like Ms. Agron. I wish her all the best of luck, too.
"I think anything fantasy-based. I would love to do something like Lord of the Rings or a Tim Burton film. I fell in love with Narnia and all the Hobbit books when I was a kid; that's what got me interested in reading and got me interested in stories and characters and things like that. So a role along those lines would be fabulous. – Dianna Agron on what characters she wants to play (Total Film Indonesia, Issue 16, March 2011)
"Both production teams were so nice about it. What I did basically was rehearse with the tour, then I went to Pittsburgh for a couple of days for a rehearsal. I went back to the tour, finished the tour, and then the next day I was on a plane and started shooting. Then, right as soon as I was done, I went back and started the season. So there wasn't any down time, but I like that, and especially since I was playing such a different character, it really didn't matter." – Dianna Agron on managing her time between I Am Number Four and Glee (Total Film Indonesia, Issue 16, March 2011)
Well, I hope I've whetted your appetite for this excellent issue of TFI. I'm not only saying this because I wrote half the feature articles in it, but the 'original issue' from the UK was also an excellent one. It's all about book-to-movie adaptations, so if you're a bookworm and a movie geek like me, this issue will please you very, very much. You can buy the magazine in all major bookstores in Indonesia.


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24 Hours in Ponta Delgada
A Walk in The Historical Center
First day of my trip to the Azores, where I will discover two islands of this beautiful Atlantic Ocean archipelago, São Miguel and Santa Maria. I am super excited, cause I've wanted visiting the Azores for a long time!
Départ aux aurores de Bruxelles vers Ponta Delgada (capitale des Açores sur l'île de São Miguel), via Lisbonne avec la TAP. Nous arrivons en milieu de journée. Le temps est changeant, couvert avec des éclaircies. Mais ça fait partie du charme de l'archipel, les 4 saisons en un jour.
In the old city, time seems to be stopped, with imposing monuments (Portas da Cidade de Ponta Delgada, 1783) and churches (Igreja Matriz de São Miguel) dating from the sixteenth century. Cobbled streets, green squares, some brightly colored facades (photos below) …
Where To Sip A Tea From The Azores
Louvre Michaelense
Take time to get lost in the city! Take time to get lost. That's how I found my address: where to sip a tea from the Azores!
Louvre Michaelense is both a shop (photo 3 above), a tea room (2) and a delicatessen (1). It offers a selection of rare objects and sought local products, with regressive packaging in an ancient framework. The concept reminded me of A Vida Portuguese (in Lisbon). A friendly trendy spot.
Where To Sleep
La Casa das Palmeiras
I first saw from a distance the roof of the house that contrasted with the local architecture. Built in 1901, La Casa das Palmeiras is more like one of these Art Nouveau villas on the French Riviera. Recently renovated, this small hotel with 10 rooms is a gem. Perfect for an elegant weekend.
Awesome adress, less is more!
What's up?
Discovering Street art
What a fantastic surprise! I am a creative (photographer, former art director). So imagine my happiness walking and seeing these amazing Street art works in Ponta Delgada! Oups, I really apology, I lost my notes with the titles of the art works and names of the artists.
Where To Drink & Dinner
The Panoramic Terrace of The Azor Hotel
It is always a great pleasure for me to stay or dinner in a hotel decorated by Nini Andrade Silva! I love her work and personality. She has this ability to dramatize space and create unique universes in which we feel good.
After a long time on the relaxing terrace of the Azor Hotel, we dine at the restaurant A Terra Fornaria. The food (promoting local ingredients) and service are great. Definitely my chic address from Ponta Delgada!
Photos & vidéos : © Mademoiselle Le K – Tous droits réservés.
Visit Azores, Visit Portugal, TAP, Louvre Michaelense, Street art with Walk & Talk Azores, Casa das Palmeiras – Charming House, Azor Hotel
Related articles : HOTEL REVIEWS & DESTINATIONS
Many Thanks to Visit Azores, Visit Portugal and TAP for this beautiful invitation. As always these are my opinions.

subset: commoncrawl


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Connecticut lawmakers announce plans to deter gun violence
HARTFORD -- Connecticut legislators vowed Tuesday to come up with a bipartisan response to the deadly shootings at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary Schools that addresses gun violence, mental health care and school safety.
Leaders of the General Assembly appointed a legislative task force with three subcommittees that will review current state law and propose comprehensive, emergency legislation that could be ready for a vote by the end of February.
"The eyes of the country are on us right now. Both in Washington and in other states around the country, we are being looked at as a leader because we are where this occurred. We are where this tragedy happened," said House Speaker Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden. "Therefore, we have to take the responsibility to lead in a comprehensive way."
The group plans to cooperate with a separate task force created by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. That panel has until March 15 to provide the governor with a preliminary list of recommendations in light of the Dec. 14 massacre that left 20 first-graders and six educators dead, as well as the shooter and his mother.
Malloy's group is holding its first meeting on Jan. 24.
Sharkey said the legislative task force will focus on issues that Connecticut residents want addressed and where there's consensus. He predicted there would be debates this session about other, more politically thorny issues relating to the shootings.
Lawmakers said they do not feel any pressure to move faster now that senators in neighboring New York passed the first gun control bill in the aftermath of Sandy Hook. The measure was expected to clear the Democrat-led Assembly on Tuesday.
"We are the state of Connecticut. We are the ones that have suffered this tragic loss and we are the ones that have to deal with it," said House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk. "I don't think any state, regardless of how quickly they act or what they do, should put any pressure on us to do anything other than ... thoughtful, meaningful and effective legislation as quickly as possible."
Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, D-New Haven, a longtime advocate of gun reform, said he believes the subcommittee focusing on gun violence will likely consider expanding the state's existing assault weapons ban to include more weapons, such as the Bushmaster rifle used by the Newtown shooter.
Looney said he also expects the task force to look at expanding the list of people who should be banned from having weapons, possibly taking into account other members of the household. He said lawmakers may consider applying additional licensing requirements to a larger category of guns and ammunition, as well as requiring background checks for long guns and enhanced scrutiny for gun permit renewals.


text: Surf Scoter hunting By Jeremiah|2015-10-31T11:10:24+00:00October 31st, 2015|0 Comments Share This Story, Choose Your Platform! FacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditGoogle+TumblrPinterestVkEmail About the Author: Jeremiah Have you ever met that hunter who killed tons of deer and shot ducks even when other people were seeing nothing. Jeremiah Brooks of Ocean State Outfitters is that hunter and now your Guide, he will put you on what ever you want to kill or catch. Leave A Comment Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment.


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There's a new data point to add to the debate over EMR return on investment.
Norton Healthcare Inc. in Louisville, Ky., has experienced a $12 million increase in federal reimbursement since it started using Epic, Louisville Business First reported. The health system, which operates five hospitals and a network of outpatient sites, is three years into a five-year, $200 million implementation.
Sounds like the beginning of some pretty good ROI. Or does it?
It's hard to say.
ROI for records systems is notoriously hard to pin down. The word is that many hospitals don't even try. And they might be onto something.
A revenue boost is a good sign. It's often a result of improved coding and lower claims denial rates, as Colin Konschak of health care consulting firm Divurgent and Garrett Blair of Norfolk, Va.-based health system Sentara Healthcare recently wrote. And of course, there are the federal incentives for using an EMR — for hospitals, as much as $11 million over four years.
There's also the rise in productivity that EMRs are expected to cause. At first, an EMR can slow down clinicians' workflow and cost them and their organization money. But in time, the system could increase productivity.
But revenue is only part of the equation. Cost savings are the more important — and harder to calculate — factor.
Here are a few ways, as described by Konschak and Blair, that EMRs can help hospitals to save:
Less need for transcription.
Reduced use of staff time for copying and filing.
Reduced — often by 50-70 percent — use of preprinted forms.
Potentially lower malpractice premiums because of more complete documentation.
Many other potential benefits are probably real but are even less straightforward to measure. Features such as clinical decision support and electronic medical administration records, for example, could lead to reductions in medical errors — the types of mistakes the federal government no longer pays for. But measuring the money you saved from the errors you didn't make is fairly abstract.
Many hospitals do little if anything to measure the return on their EMR investment, according to a study released by Beacon Partners last year. Healthcare Scene's John Lynn wrote a few months ago that CIOs likely view the systems as a "necessary requirement of being a hospital today," somewhat like cleaning supplies. So they don't see the need to measure ROI.
To me, the "investment" part of ROI suggests that you have a choice. You put money into something now with the hope — but no guarantee — of a payoff later.
Building an imaging center on the edge of town or buying a surgical robot would probably be considered investments. Maintaining your buildings or upgrading your phones would not.
Doing something the government is making you do is not an investment. Given the reimbursement penalties that will eventually kick in for organizations that stick with paper, it's hard to imagine that many hospital executives see EMR adoption as a matter choice.
The idea of ROI for EMR is probably outdated, a holdover from the days when having a system was optional. Hospital leaders are shopping for EMRs with an eye toward getting the best value for their money — just the way they shop for cleaning supplies, furniture or legal services.
You could say that as a society we've invested in the idea of EMRs and that we're hoping for a payoff in terms of better outcomes and lower costs. But that doesn't predict much about whether any particular hospital or doctor will see a dollar-and-cents ROI.
At Norton in Louisville, it sounds like they're happy just to be recovering some of what they're spending.
"It really does improve the continuity of care," Norton's chief medical officer, Dr. Steve Heilman, told Business First.
For now, it sounds like Norton is on track.
(Note: I work for Business First as a freelancer but didn't write the story linked here.)


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Virtuosos of raga to mingle Indian, Afghan traditions
Spring MusicUnitesUs residency will culminate in concert Saturday
When Homayun Sakhi, Ken Zuckerman and Salar Nader get together on the Slosberg Music Center stage Saturday, they'll share a musical experience rooted in ancient traditions but also completely new to their audience and themselves.
The three virtuosos all are participating in this semester's MusicUnitesUs residency, "Improvisations: Raga in Afghanistan and North India." They'll take listeners on a journey that crosses cultural borders as they hit classrooms and stages between March 6 and 10. Their visit will culminate in an improvised concert in Slosberg on Saturday, at 8 p.m., with a pre-concert lecture by Dartmouth College music professor Theodore Levin at 7 p.m.
The goal of MusicUnitesUs, according to Judy Eissenberg, professor of the practice of music and founder of MusicUnitesUs, is to further students' understanding of diverse cultures through music. The event is cosponsored by the Music Initiative of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, which works to build understanding in the West about Muslim culture.
"It's really important that while we learn about the politics of areas of conflict, we also learn about their culture and beauty," Eissenberg says.
Homayun Sakhi's rubab performance style has been shaped not only by traditional Afghan and Indian music, but by his lively interest in contemporary music from around the world. Born in Kabul into one of Afghanistan's leading musical families, he studied rubab, a fretted lute-like instrument from Afghanistan, with his father, Ustad Ghulam Sakhi. Sakhi maintains a worldwide concert schedule and is active in teaching rubab to young Afghans, both in Afghanistan and in the West.
The Practice of Cultural Advocacy
Following the residency, a related event, "The Practice of Cultural Advocacy: Making a Difference Through the Arts," will be held on Tuesday, March 13, at 6:30 p.m. in the Spingold Theater Center. It will feature a panel discussion with cultural advocates Richard Kurin, undersecretary of the Smithsonian Institution for History, Art, and Culture; Ethel Raim, artistic director of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance in New York City; Zeyba Rahman, director of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music; Jessye Kass '13, co-founder of the Attukwei Art Foundation. Darmouth College music professor and Aga Khan Trust For Culture senior project consultant Theodore Levin will moderate the discussion.
Ken Zuckerman, internationally acclaimed as one of the finest sarod virtuosos performing today, has also been called one of the world's most eclectic masters of improvisation. A sarod is a lute with 21 strings. He completed 37 years of training under the rigorous discipline of India's legendary sarod master Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, prior to the maestro's death in June 2009.
Salar Nader, born in Germany in 1981, is a disciple of the great tabla master Zakir Hussain, and frequently accompanies Sakhi as well as other performers of Afghan and North Indian classical music. The table is a percussion instrument similar to bongos. A resident of San Francisco, Nader recently appeared as an on-stage musician in an American theatrical adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's best-selling novel, "The Kite Runner."
Though the musicians come from different cultural backgrounds, they perform on kindred instruments – the sarod and the rubab – Levin says.
The instruments themselves "come from a common source, but strangely never appear together in concert, for complex cultural reasons," Levin says. "One is from Afghanistan, one is from India. It will be exciting to see these two first cousins come together and improvise."
Typically, raga is performed by a solo vocalist or instrumentalist accompanied by a tabla and backed by the tanbura, a stringed drone instrument. But an Indian classical musical tradition known as jugalbandi, or entwined twins, features duets between two soloists that take the form of a playful competition, according to Levin. The concert will focus on this concept, bringing together Zuckerman's sarod and Sahki's rubab.
In the days leading up to the concert, the trio of musicians will visit a variety of Brandeis and Waltham public school classrooms. In addition to music courses, their visit will be incorporated into women's and gender studies, anthropology, and even studio art, in which students will paint ragamalas, an ancient Indian art, in response to the musical performance.
The focus on Indian culture comes on the heels of President Fred Lawrence's trip to the country to advance the Brandeis-India Initiative, which is exploring academic partnerships with institutions like The National Center for Biological Science in Bangalore and Jindal Global University outside of Delhi.
"When the musicians leave I miss them terribly," Eissenberg says of all the program's past guests. "Whenever I hear anything about those regions, I have a built-in openness to it. I have to believe that if it's opened that place in me, music can do that for other people."
For a full schedule of events, visit MusicUnitesUs. Tickets for Saturday's concert can be purchased online, by phone at (781) 736-3400 or at Brandeis Tickets in the Shapiro Campus Center.
Categories: Arts, International Affairs


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Celebrating illustration, design, cartoon and comic art of the mid-20th century.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
William A. Smith: Dissipating Popular Presumtions
"The one-time popular presumption that the practice of illustration somehow disqualified an artist as a so-called fine arts painter seems by now to have been quite thoroughly dissipated."
William A. Smith is held up as proof positive of this contention. Smith, the article proclaims, "was an exhibiting painter before he got his first important illustration commission."
I dunno, perhaps this debate will rage on for all time... so long as there are people who consider the artwork hanging on a gallery wall to be somehow more worthy than the artwork printed on the pages of a magazine. To my way of thinking quality is quality, and because the artwork has a utilitarian purpose (interpreting genre fiction, for instance) that doesn't reduce my appreciation for it as 'art' or disqualify the illustrator as an artist.
William A. Smith left Toledo at age 19 to establish himself in New York as a freelance artist. During his career he won numerous awards from both the commercial and fine arts communities. What's most telling about the nature of the artist is how he describes approaching his subject:
When a subject... suggests a feeling that is provocative to me, I make very rapid pencil notes of it in a sketchbook. I study the sketch for a day or two, analyzing my reaction to the subject and doodling variations on the arrangement in an effort to eliminate factors that are extraneous and to develop those aspects that enhance the mood I wish to express."
Smith says he takes pains to avoid "too much coping of details. I juggle elements, eliminating some, exaggerating others and inventing new ones."
"A picture," says Smith, "should be a new entity rather than a replica of a bit of nature."
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... art!
My William A. Smith Flickr set.
10 comments:
WOw...today's image just read real strong to me. At first I thought it was a guy defending himself, then I saw that he was shooting a cop and holding that kid.ReplyDelete
Made me think of "Road to Perdition"
Nice overview of the artist.
This is the question I've been thinking about on and off for a very long time.ReplyDelete
I figure Art at its max is when the actual artist produces not only something extraordinary in quality but also when he or she points out in a different direction no one ever dared to go before.
Once I've said that, I couldn't care less if something is "art" or "not" as long as it grabs me and takes me into a world I experience of mine.
If I can feel this sort of connection I just -don't care- about the rest.
Thanks for your blog, actually I just discovered it.
When I said "I experience of mine" I meant "Like mine" (or would it be "as mine"?) anyway, I guess it's time for me to go back to english school soonReplyDelete
Thanks for your comments guys.ReplyDelete
Marcos; I think you've hit the nail on the head - no need to worry about going back to english school. ;-)
"A picture," says Smith, "should be a new entity rather than a replica of a bit of nature."ReplyDelete
Now that is a provocative bit of communication. I'm going to play devil's advocate here: If you create a picture that is 'a replica of a bit of nature', aren't you by definition creating something new? Even photo realism is an interpretation. And therefore a new entity.
None of which means to disparage Smith or his talent, which is so obviously a result of his rigorous training & dedication.
Great post on an incredible illustrator. I used to work with his daughter and informed her of these postings.ReplyDelete
Thanks, Leif, for bringing some attention to an incredible talent whose work has not been seen by many of the younger generation.
I'd love to see more on Mr. Smith in the future.
- Anonymous11:19 PM
Kim Smith, Bill Smith's daughter here.ReplyDelete
The members of my family are thrilled to find the Dad's work on these pages, and to read the comments. The illustration at the top of the April 1 blog is an illustration from "The Big Heat", and hangs above me as I write. Many family members and close friends posed for this illustration at New York's "Leon and Eddies". My brother, who was 12 or 13 at the time, remembers dancing with someone on the dance floor to while away the time.
We in my family would be very happy to communicate and trade resources with readers about Dad's work.
Thank you so much...
- Anonymous3:03 AM
I'm not at home to double-check this, but William Arthur Smith was a very excellent comic book artist in the late 30s, early 1940s. I wish I had more data, but check out http://www.bailsproject.com and search for smith,billReplyDelete
Peace, Jim (|:{>
- Anonymous3:04 AM
I'm not at home to double-check this, but William Arthur Smith was a very excellent comic book artist in the late 30s, early 1940s. I wish I had more data, but check out http://www.bailsproject.com and search for smith,billReplyDelete
Peace, Jim (|:{>


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NAPLES, Fla. (AP) Keegan Bradley and Brendan Steele are defending their title in the Franklin Templeton Shootout, and Dustin Johnson and Ian Poulter also are back for the first time since winning the team event.
``It's big,'' said Bradley, coming off a second-place finish Sunday in Tiger Woods' World Challenge in California. ``I get to play with Brendan, which is really fun, and I'm defending, which is even more fun.''
Last year, Bradley and Steele became the first PGA Tour rookies to win the Greg Norman-run tournament, shooting a 13-under 59 in the final-round scramble for a three-stroke victory.
``It's rare that a plan goes that well, especially with golf,'' Steele said. ``You can do everything you're supposed to do, and it doesn't quite work out for you.''
Johnson and Poulter won in 2010, then skipped the event last year because of scheduling conflicts.
``Our games are different, but yet they tie in very, very well in this format,'' Poulter said.
The 12-team tournament begins Friday at Tiburon - ``shark'' in Spanish - with a modified alternate-shot round. The team will play better ball Saturday, and finish with a scramble Sunday.
Norman is teaming with Fredrik Jacobson, and the field also features the teams of Davis Love III-Brandt Snedeker, Bud Cauley-Rickie Fowler, Justin Leonard-Scott Verplank, Jerry Kelly-Steve Stricker, Charles Howell III-Rory Sabbatini, Jason Dufner-Vijay Singh, Mark Calcavecchia-Mike Weir, Stewart Cink-Carl Pettersson and Sean O'Hair-Kenny Perry.
Bradley and Steele use belly putters that they anchor to their bodies, a technique expected to be banned in 2016 in a proposed rule change. Bradley was heckled last week at Sherwood, with a fan calling him a cheater.
``It's a weird time for players like myself and Brendan to have to deal with that,'' Bradley said. ``I think we've all kind of handled it pretty well considering it's been a pretty drastic change.''


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"Wha....??? What happened?"
"I don't know doctor. I know he had that catheter ablation yesterday where you poked holes in the patient's legs and thread catheters to all kinds of chambers in his heart to ablate his atrial fibrillation, and he was doing so well..."
"So what the hell happened?"
"What do you mean, 'Nothing?'"
"Well, I guess I gave him that flu shot."
"What flu shot?"
"That one that you ordered."
"I didn't order a flu shot!"
"The computer says you did."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Our computer says that all patients will get a flu shot if they are over 50 and a pneumovax vaccine if they're over 65 as part of the quality assurance initiative, so they added it to your orders. And I went ahead and gave it, because the patient didn't refuse, and I have to take off all of the orders, you know."
"Please give him 500cc saline bolus, hydrocortisone 100 mg IVPB and benadryl 50 mg IVP right away. I'll be right in."
How many other orders will be added on my behalf without my knowledge in the interest of "quality healthcare?"


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A local Heights area mom recently wrote to Mayor Parker regarding the loss of nineteen mature Live Oaks on Yale. She compared herself to The Lorax whom, in Dr Seuss' wonderful book, "speaks for the trees." Clearly, the trees can't speak for themselves. If they could, there would still be nineteen 30+ year old Live Oaks on Yale.
RUDH, who watches every step of development at the Yale St Walmart location, was one of the first groups to notice the trees were gone and start doing something about it. If you follow my Facebook page, you probably remember me posting the photo of a few of the crunched trees. It was truly heartbreaking, especially when last summer's drought cost us millions of trees. Trees help temper this hellacious heat, help clean the air (and we all know Houston has bad air) and also help prevent land erosion.
According to the US Department of Agriculture:
- The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.
- One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen. This is enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people.
There are more great facts about the benefits of trees listed on The Arbor Day Foundation's webpage. Check it out and see how trees help your environment, your stress level and your property value!
So, now we have lost these trees. What is going to happen? In public meetings, people opposed to the Walmart development were ensured that steps were being taken to make the area pedestrian friendly. How can that be true with no shade trees? Yes, Ainbinder does plan on putting trees in- significantly lower caliper and much less hardy Mexican Sycamores. These will never replicate the Live Oaks. Oh yeah, and they're not putting them back on the sidewalk. The planned "replacements" will be on Heights Boulevard. There is also no plan for any tree lines along the Koehler side of the development. Can someone tell me why we gave them $6million public dollars again? Must cost a lot to put in a bike trail to nowhere...
Anyway, please join me and write to the City about the trees. The Mayor was a Board Member at Trees For Houston. How could her administration permit removal of all these trees? It's beyond me.
My note to the City was simple. Yours can be, too. However, should you want to write something more elaborate, RUDH has provided this sample letter on their StopTheHeightsWalmart Facebook page:
cc: email@example.com, email@example.com
Dear Mayor Parker:
I am concerned that the new retail development at Koehler and Yale has removed, but not replaced, many of our valued street trees. The developer's mitigation plan calls for the majority of trees to be replanted on the Heights Blvd. median, which is a purely recreational space. Our sidewalks are where pedestrians move. It is where we walk with our children, wait for transit and cycle alongside. The Live Oak tree canopy in the Heights provides much needed shade in the extreme summer heat and some respite from the rain.
Our trees should be carefully guarded. If they must be removed for changes to infrastructure, they should be replaced as close to the same location as possible. Large, heat-resonating developments should specify street trees around their site to promote walk-ability and reduce the heat island effect.
With Houston making great strides with their hike and bike trails, and the recent U.S. Department of Transportation awarding $15 Million in TIGER Grant to Houston for pedestrian and bike infrastructure improvements, it seems fiscally responsible to ensure that developers take steps to tie into this system. Street trees are the ideal place to start. I'm asking you to please find a positive resolution for our neighborhood and area infrastructure. Plant street trees on Yale and Koehler Streets.
Sign your letter with your name. Sign it with no name. Sign it with "The Lorax." It doesn't matter how you sign it, just as long as you send it!


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You may not be familiar with the Mulla Nasrudin, but he's a fascinating fellow to get to know. Apparently a real person at one time, he now lives on as a character in folklore, appearing under various names and guises from Bulgaria to Afghanistan and beyond. (Look in Wikipedia under "Nasreddin" to learn more.)
Many Nasrudin stories are used by the Muslim mystics known as the Sufis as teaching tools, and Sufi author Idries Shah has produced a wonderful series of books cataloguing his exploits. In these stories, Nasrudin is sometimes the wisest man in the room, sometimes the most foolish, and sometimes it's hard to tell… Here's one:
So Nasrudin had a donkey, with which he made a living hauling goods. But he also had to make ends meet, and he realized that if he could cut down on his operating costs, he could have more profit. So he started cutting back on his donkey's feed – not all at once, of course, but bit by bit, feeding him a little less each day. When after a few weeks the donkey finally keeled over and died, the Mulla was distraught indeed. "Drat my luck!" he fumed. "If only he had lived a bit longer! I almost had him trained to live on nothing at all."
Traditionally, that's where that story ends – but I think there's more to it. Here's my addition:
… So then the Mulla, chastened by his experience, started over. He bought three donkeys, and this time remembered to feed them all properly. The donkeys were healthy and strong, and each could do lots of work. So, when the economy got a little tight again, he sold one of them off, and split the work of three between the remaining two. This worked out even better, and the Mulla prospered while the donkeys strained.
(You do see where this is going, don't you?)
… In fact, he found that he could add still more to each donkey's workload. They worked a little slower, perhaps, but usually all they needed was a bit more encouragement – either of the carrot or the stick variety. But then the younger one stepped into a hole and broke its leg, so the elder one was pressed into double duty – until its heart gave out, that is. "These unreliable donkeys!" exclaimed the Mulla. "I am done with them!" And off he stalked to talk to the camel merchant.
The moral of this story, of course, is obvious: "Donkeys don't have unions."
Well, okay, maybe that's not so obvious. But Nasrudin's problem is, I think, closely linked to certain current trends, including the anti-union offensive being waged most visibly at the moment in Ohio and Wisconsin, and the problems being encountered by state governments across the country, typified by the budget cuts being proposed by Pennsylvania's new Governor Tom Corbett.
Many working people today find themselves in plights similar to Nasrudin's donkeys – dealing with reduced resources, increased workloads, or both, as managers and executives struggle to cope with the demands of our heavily financialized economic system. In that system, investors require ever-increasing profits to be extracted from the efforts of fewer workers through gains in productivity and reductions in overhead expenses. As more workers lose their jobs and unemployment stays high, the remaining workers come under increased pressure to deal with deteriorating working conditions as best they can, rather than take the chance of seeking other employment.
Without a strong labor movement, and without effective government regulation and oversight of the workplace, these trends can only accelerate. We've seen the results before, time and time again – as recently as last year's coal mine disasters, and a century ago in the recently commemorated Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City.
History shows us very good reasons why the union movement came into being. It's not hard to see the reasons why it has come under such concerted attack now. And there are very compelling reasons to make sure that the gains of the last hundred years are not dismantled.


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- Professional Range 6082 Aluminium/Inox < 324kg
Professional Range 6082 Aluminium/Inox < 324kg
The Professional Range of heavy duty slides manufactured from 6082 T6 aluminium and stainless bearings. Due to our standard manufacturing process of milling beams, we are able to supply these slides in virtually any aluminium requested. Particularly suited to military and airborne applications where the right choice of materials affects performance.
This is a high quality, smooth, full extension slide with milled ball tracks for accuracy and a slight pre-load. There is a choice of surface finishes available. The bearings and end stops are stainless steel, providing a corrosion resistant slide. We are able to offer the full Professional Range in either carbon steel or aluminium and they are totally interchangeable. Supplied with a standard anodisation. Please consult our engineers for other surface finishes available.
The ADTS-70 slide has a 324kg/pr load capacity at 600mm and is suited to wet applications such as fire truck pump carriers where steel slides corrode. The ADTS-50 with a 161kg loading over 600mm has been developed for vehicle mounted drawer systems where weight is an issue. There is a significant weight reduction in a Fire Rescue Unit which has up to 32 drawers. This compliments our non corrosive tilting drawer systems and handle locks.


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This might be a stupid question, but I'm comfortable enough in my non-tech-geek-manhood to ask such a question anyway.
I bought a cheap-o Coby tablet that runs Android. It comes with GetJar as the app installation service. I have used an iPad (taught a class on it, you may remember me asking about) and I have a smart phone. And near as I can tell, GetJar is the crappiest App service of those 3. The phone uses Google Play.
So, do I have to use GetJar to get my apps for this device or can I go around it?


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Well well well, if it isn't the two wankers who previously raced their beater steel Univega tandem at Sea Otter. Twice. The first time finishing 6th out of 12, the second time destroying the rear hub and pushing the bike 2 miles back to the finish. "This year would be different!" they thought. The tandem is still exactly the same as its always been; Al's 90's vintage $200 Craigslist score with 26″ wheels, a rigid fork and v-brakes. But the riders were different! Better if you will, from newly found miles of smiles on road bikes. The keyword "mandem" was bounced around via text messages and email. Pulses raced, daydreams began… 2012 would see the return of the Mandem on the 20 mile off-road cross country race course at Laguna Seca, CA. Hot damn!
This tank of a tandem was loaded into the belly of a friend's RV and headed to points north. The forecast was sunny and 70s for the weekend, a welcome change to cold and rain of previous years.
The next day the Captain and Stoker of the bike, that would be Al and I respectively, set out at high-noon to pre-ride some of the course and prepare for the inevitable "Why are we doing this again?" to creep into our consciences. Commands were barked – "Coast!", "Bump!", "SLOW DOWN!!!" (me) and "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP/BACK THERE???" Ah yes, we were back.
click images to enlarge
Then we flatted. Then another. Then we crashed on a sketchy rutted downhill, sending my face into Al's back and my knee into the ground. Cue: hissy fit. I walked down the rest of the descent, cursing like a Tourettic sailor and let Al descend the bike by himself.
We returned to the venue, had a beer, and reflected on our decision. I left Al and took a lap around the Sea Otter Expo, checking out all of the various bike manufacturers, clothing designers and performance food and drink vendors who's products would just about ensure a podium finish if I used them frequently enough (as-directed, of course).
I stopped at the Calfee booth when I saw owner Craig Calfee sitting on one of his bamboo creations, and next to him the most heart-stoppingly beautiful carbon fiber mountain tandem I've ever seen. 29er! Di2 drivetrain! Zipp wheels! I remarked a "damn" or "wow" or something equally eloquent to Craig as I admired the complete 180 degree difference between his bike and ours. As a hilarious joke I mentioned to him that he should let us race his bike in Sunday's tandem race. I waited a beat or two for the follow-up rolling of the eyes, but instead was returned a curious series of questions. "What time's the race?" "When could you pick it up?".
"Are you f-ing kidding me?" I replied. Again with the eloquence.
Craig came back with "Nope. I've kinda been wanting someone to race this. Its never been ridden off-road and if you guys are already doing the race I don't see why you couldn't just take this one."
Well poke me in the eye and call me Carlos. That really just happened. Oh by the way, the price tag hanging from his spare-no-expense wonder-bike was a cool $19,000. Nineteen grand. And he was giving it to us now, to hold overnight at our campsite and race the next morning. Because he had to leave. I tried to keep a poker-face while wrapping up the details and come across as a normal human being, while inside I was reduced to that of a teenage girl who just got chosen to go backstage and meet (insert current dreamy boy-band here). My hands started shaking a little while fumbling for my phone to text Al with the update. The first few texts he received from me were a series of "OMG" and "WTF"s.
Al and I returned to Calfee with our pedals, got the seat heights adjusted, clipped in to the pedals and took off into the expo without so much as leaving a drivers license or phone number behind.
The bike was locked to the RV with a beefy chain and padlock and we parted for the night, hoping to find it intact early the next morning. We arrived at 6:30am Sunday, happy to see that it was indeed still there. A couple tweaks and fine-tunes later and we were stripping down to our race-day kits and heading to the start line with the rest of the tandem teams.
I counted approximately a dozen teams on the starting line, ranging from full-pro looking teams with matching jerseys, to a father with his very young son on a tandem Cyclocross bike. The countdown started and we were off! We mashed around the Laguna Seca racetrack and into the fog, trying to stay towards the front and keep an eye out for the turnoff on to dirt.
Thats when disaster struck. The fancy $700 electronic rear derailleur stopped shifting before we even had a chance to hit the dirt. We pulled over to fix it and watched the rest of our field disappear into the fog. Shit. We managed to get the drivetrain back in order (chain was off the pulleys) and got back in the race. A little further down the dirt trails the drivetrain acted up again, resulting in another stop. The classes of racers that started behind us were now catching and passing us, but not without a "nice bike!" comment thrown our way. "Thanks". Just as soon as we'd get going, trouble would pop up somewhere else on the bike. Next up was a broken chain. We reduced ourselves to bypassing the rear derailleur entirely and converting the tandem to a singlespeed. "At least we'll finish" we assured ourselves. A mile or so later we broke one of the front chainrings in half on a climb and our race, now 10 miles in out of 20, was over. We limped back the way we had come to a Race Marshall checkpoint, requested a ride back to the venue via walkie-talkie and waited our turn. Bummer.
It took a while for the disappointment to wear off. We returned the bike to Calfee, dirty and broken. They couldn't have been nicer, apologizing and offering to give us another chance on the bike at future races of our choosing. So we have that. Worst-case we wait a year until Sea Otter 2013 and shoot for podium.
If you've never tried riding a tandem bike, on or off-road, I recommend it. You'll know very quickly whether its for you or not. If you have control issues, no sense of humor or adventure then the rear stoker position is definitely NOT for you. If you enjoy taking someone else's life into your hands and toying with it, then maybe the captain spot up front is where you belong.


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128 members30 Comments 4 Likes
cindy s has not received any gifts yet
I just saw your profile and noticed you are a 4.5-5.0 around Irvine. I just moved here and also around that level. I am looking for some hitting partners in the area. Let me know if you are interested =)
Hi Cindy,
Would you ever be interested in hitting with some of my teammates and me? We play in a 4.0 4.5 co-ed league in Irvine. I think we are planning a practice hit this Wednesday in Irvine if it fits in your schedule.
I can send a message (if added as friend) or just leave my email. Whatever is easiest for you.
© 2020 Created by Mark / The Mayor. Powered by


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Tanzania Volunteer sets up Charity
Volunteers often return from their projects overseas inspired to do more. Many stay in touch with their placements and host families, some raise money to make donations of books or toys and some volunteers even start planning their return trip.
However, not many volunteers set up a charity on their return home. Seventeen year old Jeremy Ousey was so affected by what he saw in Tanzania that he did just that. Now Jeremy is working hard to promote his charity, Project Huruma.
Jeremy spent one month in Tanzania on a Medicine placement and found the experience eye-opening: "Having done work-experience in UK hospitals to then work in a Tanzanian hospital was an unfathomable jump. I went from barely being allowed to speak to patients to being required to help deliver babies because the hospital wards were short of staff".
But what most surprised him was the sheer lack of resources and equipment available to staff in the hospital. From beds and blood pressure machines to stethoscopes and rubber gloves, Jeremy found the lack of basic resources seriously compromised the recovery of the patients. Out of this need, Project Huruma was born.
Still in its infancy, the charity is small, but hopes to achieve great things. Jeremy is hoping to raise £20,000 to provide tangible equipment to pre-existing institutions in Dar es Salaam. The current total is in excess of an impressive £1500 but there's still a long way to go to reach the target before Jeremy heads back out to Dar es Salmaan on his gap year later in the year.
Jeremy is keen to assure those donating that their money will go directly towards buying equipment for hospitals and orphanages and not on administration costs or monetary donations.
To find out more about Project Huruma or to donate, please visit www.projecthuruma.co.uk


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RTC Conference Primers: #22 – Summit LeaguePosted by Brian Goodman on October 14th, 2011
Charlie Parks is the RTC correspondent for the Summit League. You can find him on Twitter at @CharlieParksRTC.
Ed. Note — yesterday's Summit League primer was actually a re-publish of the summer update. We apologize for the error.
Reader's Take I
For the Summit League, having someone win Player of the Year may be the ticket to a title. Five of the last seven conference champions have also been the home of the Summit League Player of the Year.
Top Storylines
- Realignment Hits the Summit: Word got out recently that Oral Roberts was flirting with the Southland Conference. ORU bolting could be a devastating move for the Summit League, which would lose one of its few premier teams. The Summit would take a definite step back. As for ORU, the Southland Conference isn't exactly an upgrade — in fact, it is probably a downgrade in RPI and level of competition — but the move just makes sense. The Southland offers more natural conference matchups with teams from Arkansas and Texas, and better local recruiting opportunities. Let's face it; no one from Oklahoma wants to travel to North Dakota in January to play a conference game. Also, Pat Knight just took the head job at Lamar. The Suttons and Knights have always been pretty close, and they have a long history together in college basketball. Scott Sutton versus Pat Knight would be a nice "new" rivalry. But unless the Southland pays the Summit League's $250,000 buyout for Oral Roberts, this move couldn't happen until 2014.
- Bears With Bugs: Has the injury bug found its way to the Golden Grizzlies? Reggie Hamilton and Drew Valentine underwent some recent surgeries; Hamilton shouldn't miss any time, but what about Valentine? It was a minor knee operation, but knives, knees and basketball don't go well together at all. Oakland fans should keep a close eye on the situation, but I see no reason for panic… yet.
Predicted Order of Finish


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Commentary: An open letter to Mitt Romney
Columnist says don't write off those of us with roots in poverty, struggle
Dear Mr. Romney,
I am one of the 47 percent.
I grew up in Northwest Philadelphia in a single-parent home. My mother, divorced from my father when I was 6 years old, worked two, sometimes three, jobs to help make ends meet. It wasn't enough, because at the same time we were also receiving government assistance in the form of food stamps and Medicaid.
Several years later, in search of a better life, my mother moved us to California to be with my aunt and grandmother. And while it was still a struggle at times, overall it was a significant improvement over where we came from. I thank my mother for that, because I truly believe that despite my eternal love for my hometown, my life would have taken a much different path had we stayed there.
While in California I met a beautiful woman who was a transplant from Illinois. We were inseparable until she transferred to the University of Wisconsin. Six months after she left, I decided that I couldn't live without her, so I moved to Madison. We married a few years later, and we had three wonderful, smart, healthy children.
Over the years I've had the honor and privilege to do many things. I have worked in the insurance industry for well over 15 years. I have been involved in the community in a number of roles and responsibilities. I have two radio shows and write three columns, including this one. I am grateful and thankful for all of the opportunities that have come my way.
But Mr. Romney, my life hasn't been without its struggles. You see, even as an adult and far removed from my early childhood, I know what it's like to struggle to make ends meet. I know what it's like to be laid off or let go. And while I've never had to go on any type of government assistance, I know what it's like to look at a household budget and make tough choices.
The reason why I write this isn't to share my life story with you. It's to help you to understand the following:
First, while I did vote for President Obama in 2008, I also voted for George Bush in 2004 and 2000 and Bill Clinton in 1996 and 1992, which means that I'm one of those independent voters that you're so desperately trying to court.
Second, and most importantly, with all the good times and bad, all the highs and lows, all the triumphs, trials and tribulations that have gone on in my life, I have never been, nor will I ever be dependent on the government to take care of me, or to solve my problems. I work hard, I pay income tax and I am not a freeloader. And neither are the millions of others that you insulted in your speech at a fundraiser recently.
In writing off 47 percent of the voters in this country, you've basically said to them that they don't matter. And while there are some who have taken advantage and have no interest in being a productive member of society, the overwhelming majority of us are decent, hardworking people. That would include the wounded soldiers who are spending time in a VA hospital, the senior citizens on Medicare, the man or woman who has been laid off and is still trying to find work, the family who, because of a tragic accident, a sick child or relative, is struggling to pay the bills and needs help from friend and neighbors so they don't lose everything.
And yes, Mr. Romney, that would include both the wealthy and corporations, who receive their fair share of assistance by the way of tax cuts and breaks. And as for the non-income-taxpayers, that would include states like Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, three of the highest percentage of non-taxpayers in the country, which are also "red states."
In conclusion Mr. Romney, I believe that you are a decent man. But it's clear that you truly don't "get it," despite your words to the contrary. So I will do what I've always done: cast my vote for the person who I feel will do the best job in dealing with the issues that we face as a country. And in 2012, that person will not be you.
Derrell Connor


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Lights, music, large screens, video, glitz and glamour....what a year 2015 has been for awards!


text: Give yourself more input freedom Precise and lag-free Bluetooth wireless connectivity Slim, light, and streamlined portable design frees up desktop space wherever you go Convenient micro USB charging Every key tuned for complete input comfort Available in two distinct colors Shop Modal header Give yourself more input freedom Using high-precision and speedy Bluetooth wireless connectivity, slim and light TransBoard perks up your Windows 8 experience with the assurance of familiar keyboard input. It makes things better with a space-saving design that's a breeze to move around, plus applies fine-tuned keys, each optimized for solid performance, lastability, and accuracy. Micro USB charging means boosted convenience, and the best part is that the keyboard includes a dedicated touchpad designed to detect all major Windows 8 control gestures. Two in one input freedom? That's better living! Support seven core gestures for windows 8


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Hey guys,
I'm a java newbie struggling to correct this problem. It's an error mesage I get, don't understand why.
It's a homework assignment and I have to create Person, Date, SSN objects and run them in main together.
The error occurs when, in main, I try to create a new Person and plug in first name, last name, etc.
public class PersonTester { public static void main(String[] args) { Date hermanBday = new Date(11,11,2011); Person Ken = new Person(); Person Herman = new Person("Herman", 'H', "Wilson", hermanBday, "111-11-1111"); } //end main }//end class
I get this error message when I compile:
----jGRASP exec: javac -g PersonTester.java
PersonTester.java:8: cannot find symbol
symbol : constructor Person(java.lang.String,java.lang.String,java.lang .String,Date,java.lang.String)
location: class Person
Person Herman = new Person("Herman", 'H', "Wilson", sueBday, "111-11-1111");
1 error
----jGRASP wedge2: exit code for process is 1.
----jGRASP: operation complete.
Here's the Person class, the error message hints that something is wrong w my constructor (my default constructor seems to work fine)
public class Person { private String firstName; private char middleInitial; private String lastName; private Date birthdate; private SSN social; //no-arg constructor public Person() { firstName = null; middleInitial = '\0'; lastName = null; birthdate = null; social = null; } //constructor method public Person(String fn, char mi, String ln, Date bDate, SSN soc) { firstName = fn; middleInitial = mi; lastName = ln; birthdate = bDate; social = soc; } //toString Method public String toString() { String str = ( "\nFirst Name: " + firstName + "\nMiddle Initial: " + middleInitial + "\nLast Name: " + lastName + "\nBirthdate: " + birthdate + "\nSocial Security Number: " + social); return(str); }


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As the Securities and Exchange Commission considers whether exchange traded funds are to blame for causing the recent spate of market volatility, Charles Schwab's ETF team stepped forward Friday to defend them.
Asked during a conference call with journalists if ETFs cause volatility, Steve Cucchiaro, CIO of Schwab subsidiary Windhaven Investment Management, said market turbulence is caused more by day-to-day news events that keep sending mixed messages to investors. He pointed to three issues in particular: the fear of European debt contagion, political gridlock in the United States and inflation in China.
"If a news item corroborates that the economy is entering recession, we have a bad market day, and if we get an encouraging piece of data, then the market has a good day," Cucchiaro said. "Market volatility is causing volatility in ETFs and not conversely. We think ETFs provide investors with hedges against risky scenarios."
Because of the growth and complexity of ETFs, the SEC is reviewing the adequacy of investor disclosure about the products, their liquidity and whether they contribute to market volatility, said Eileen Rominger, director of the SEC's Division of Investment Management, before a Senate panel on Wednesday.
Separately, in an analyst note published on Oct. 17, Schwab Chief Investment Strategist Liz Ann Sonders said high-frequency trading (HFT) and the use of leveraged ETFs are the primary culprits in market volatility—"but the impact isn't all bad."
"Leveraged ETFs give investors the opportunity to bet on a basket of stocks, commodities or an overall index and have become very popular vehicles for traders generally and HFT firms in particular," Sonders wrote. "It's estimated there's about $1 trillion invested in leveraged ETFs. Their attractiveness to HFT users comes from the fact that investors can bet long or short and leverage the bet, while also moving in and out during the trading day to lock in gains (or limit losses, which can be substantial)."
Overall, retail investors in particular like ETFs so much that they were the only Schwab clients to drive flows in the third quarter, with a 17% increase in assets, said Beth Flynn, vice president and head of third-party ETF platform management, on the call.
Where is retail investors' money coming from? "Cash," Flynn said, noting that 33% of funds flowing into ETFs came from deposits sitting in cash at least three months. "The rationale is that clients are coming off the sidelines, and they're accessing asset classes that were previously somewhat inaccessible."
Schwab's ETF team found that the money came less from equity and mutual funds than the team had hypothesized. ETF investors are moving away from international equities and going into government and short-term bond funds, she added.
Meanwhile, Schwab continues to launch ETFs as their popularity grows. The firm now offers 15 ETFs and also publishes an ETF Select List of its own and other firms' funds.
On Thursday, Schwab announced that it has begun trading in its U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD). The new Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF offers investors the potential for current income as well as capital appreciation through exposure to companies with a record of paying consistent dividends and strong relative fundamental strength.
"It's a good time to be launching it," said John Sturiale, vice president of product management at Schwab. "With an expense ratio of just 17 basis points, this newest ETF can diversify a portfolio's income stream, and there's definitely a demand for yield in the marketplace. With the 10-year Treasury note just a hair over 2%, it's a good time to be offering yield to investors. We think we're going to see some good demand in the fund."
Read The Perils of Exchange Traded Funds by Vaughan Scully of Standard & Poor's at AdvisorOne.com.


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Mille Lacs Walleye Numbers Fall Below Expectations
ST. PAUL (AP) - The walleye population in Lake Mille Lacs seems to be smaller than fisheries managers expected.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says recent netting assessments turned up fewer and smaller walleyes than last year. The DNR says the numbers are the second-lowest since monitoring began in 1983.
The overall long-term trend has been downward since the mid-1980s, but numbers of female walleyes have been stable. The DNR says this might be because walleye harvest methods used by sport anglers and Chippewa bands tend to target smaller, male walleyes.
The DNR says the implications of the decline in males to the overall fishery are not clear. It says walleye fishing has been good at Mille Lacs this year, perhaps due to low perch numbers that have resulted in hungry walleyes.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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The Lionel's Hole Round Trip is a jewel in the Mendip crown.
It's more than a little cosy and definitely not one to be attempted by the salad dodgers.
Here's yet another caving video from the Dudley Film Unit.
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Why most of the people would like to live in a big house? Simply big house looks good. But most important thing before build a house is, "Can it maintain properly?". Without maintaining properly, a big house looks like a shit. This article shows the most expensive house in the world. One of the wealthiest people in the world owns this house.
Antilla Mumbai – $1 Billion – Owner Mukesh Ambani
Mukesh Ambani is one of the richest people in the world. He is the chairman and CEO of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Limited, the foremost company of the Indian energy and materials conglomerate Reliance Group.
This house also called as Taj Mahal of the 21th Century. This house has everything that any people can imagine and thing's that cannot imagine. This is 27 - story house (40000 square foot) which contains 6 floors for parking (Already Ambani has168 vehicles his collection). There's separate level for everything. Ice room, Gym, Jacuzzi contains in health level. For dancing, there's a ballroom level. Number of floors allocated for bedrooms and bathrooms. 4 levels used for hanging gardens. 1 level used as their cinema theatre capacity of 50. Swimming pool, 3 helipads,
Bar, Library etc are the other features of this house.
This house is for just only 6 people that sound funny. Funniest thing is there is 600 staff for the maintenance of this house. That means 100 staff per person. I think these are the living gods in earth.
Front View
In the Night
Closer View


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Crews fight blaze at 3-story Mount Vernon building
No injuries reported
Baltimore City firefighters worked overnight to put out a three-alarm blaze at a commercial building that also contained apartments in Mount Vernon.
Crews were called around 12:45 a.m. Thursday to a building at North Calvert and Read streets, where they found the three-story brick building engulfed in heavy fire on all floors.
Crews initially were sent inside to fight the blaze but were pulled back to fight it from the outside due to unsafe conditions, according to fire spokesman Kevin Cartwright. He said the roof partially collapsed.
The first floor of the building contained offices, while the second and third floors were used as apartments.
Cartwright said no one appeared to be in the building, and no injuries were reported.
He said a Maryland Transit Administration bus was called to the scene to shelter anyone who needed it and help firefighters through the bitter cold and snow.
Investigators are still trying to figure out what caused the fire.
Did you see the fire? Upload your images and videos to ulocal:


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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A study led by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center showed in animal studies that new cancer drug compounds they developed shrank tumors, with few side effects.
The study, done in two mouse models of human cancer, looked at two compounds designed to activate a protein that kills cancer cells. The protein, p53, is inactivated in a significant number of human cancers. In some cases, it is because another protein, MDM2, binds to p53 and blocks its tumor suppressor function. This allows the tumor to grow unchecked. The new compounds block MDM2 from binding to p53, consequently activating p53.
"For the first time, we showed that activation of p53 by our highly potent and optimized MDM2 inhibitors can achieve complete tumor regression in a mouse model of human cancer," says lead study author Shaomeng Wang, Ph.D., Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor in Medicine and director of the Cancer Drug Discovery Program at the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Wang presented the study at the American Association for Cancer Research 102nd annual meeting.
Many traditional cancer drugs also activate p53 but they do so by causing DNA damage in both tumor cells and normal cells, causing side effects. These new MDM2 inhibitors activate p53 while avoiding the DNA damage common with other drugs. In this study, which was done in collaboration with Ascenta Therapeutics and sanonfi-aventis, researchers showed that these new drugs shrank tumors without significant side effects.
Because p53 is involved in all types of human cancer, the new drug has potential to be used in multiple types of cancer. Further, the researchers also identified certain markers in tumors that predict which ones will be particularly sensitive to the MDM2 inhibitor, which would allow physicians to target the drug only to patients most likely to benefit.
Note to patients: No clinical trials are currently being conducted using these MDM2 inhibitors. U-M researchers are working with Ascenta and sanofi-aventis to further test these compounds and develop clinical trials. For information on currently available cancer clinical trials, visit UMClinicalStudies.org or call the U-M Cancer AnswerLine at 800-865-1125.
Additional authors: Wei Sun, Shanghai Yu, Yu-jun Zhao, Sanjeev Kumar, Donna McEachern, Liu Liu, Denzil Bernard, Duxin Sun, Peng Zou, Xiaqin Li, Han Yi, Jeanne Stuckey, Jianting Long and Sami Malek, all from U-M; Dajun Yang, Sanmao Kang, Ming Guo, Brian Wood, Lance Leopold and Mel Sorensen from Ascenta Therapeutics; Cedric Barriere, Isabelle Meaux, Odette Dos-Santos, Jean-Christophe Carry, Pierre-Yves Abecassis, Anne Charlier, Vincent Ferey, Carlos Garcia-Echeverria, Christophe Lengauer and Laurent Debussche from sanofi-aventis
Funding: National Cancer Institute,Ascenta Therapeutics and sanofi-aventis.
Disclosure: Shaomeng Wang owns stock and stock options in Ascenta and serves as a consultant for Ascenta. These new MDM2 inhibitors have been licensed to Ascenta Therapeutics, then sublicensed to sanofi-aventis for clinical development, and the University of Michigan receives milestone payments and royalties.
Reference: American Association for Cancer Research 102nd Annual Meeting, April 2-6, 2011, Orlando, Fla., Abstract No. LB-204 — Highly potent and optimized small-molecule inhibitors of MDM2 achieve complete tumor regression in animal models of solid tumors and leukemia
Media Contacts
- Nicole Fawcett: [email protected] 734-764-2220


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I've been wanting to make marshmallow fondant for a while now. I'm baking a birthday cake and want to put roses on the cake, but I can't pipe pretty roses. =[
I can mold roses much more pretty than I can pipe them. So I decided to make marshmallow fondant! Here's my first rose:
I'm hoping I can make prettier roses after more attempts!
Here is the recipe I used for marshmallow fondant:
21 ounces mini white marshmallows (2-10.5 ounce bags)
1/2 cup butter
2 pounds confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting
1-3 tablespoons water
Place the butter and marshmallows in a large microwave safe bowl. Place the bowl in the microwave and cook for 30 seconds. Remove and stir thoroughly. Repeat these two steps until the everything is completely melted and well mixed.
Leave the marshmallow mixture in it's bowl and pour half of the sugar on top. Mix the powdered sugar into the mixture.
Generously dust the countertop with confectioners' sugar. Pour the fondant mixture in the middle. Coat your hands in confectioners' sugar and sprinkle more on top of the mixture. Using your hands, this is going to be very sticky, begin kneading the mixture and sugar together, generously adding the other half of the sugar to the mixture, as needed.
Continue kneading the dough until it is smooth and firm, adding more sugar to the countertop and hands, as needed. If the dough becomes to dry and tears easily, add a little water to soften it, being very careful not to add too much.
Lightly dust the fondant with confectioners' sugar and place it in a large zippered bag, squeezing out as much air as possible before sealing. Let it rest at room temperature at least overnight before using. You can use it right away on small projects, like covering cupcakes, but it will be too soft to do anything larger or to sculpt with.
This recipe holds well in the refrigerator for weeks, so it is helpful to make it ahead when you know you have an event or project coming up. If you make it ahead, just remove it from the refrigerator, allow it to rest, sealed and at room temperature, for at least 24 hours before using it.
To use your fondant, dust the countertop with confectioners' sugar. Place the fondant in the microwave for 10 seconds (no more) to soften it. Place on the counter and knead for a couple of minutes to soften further. Now you're ready to add color, roll it out, or start sculpting!
Here are the roses I make now-a-days after practice! =]
Here are the roses I make now-a-days after practice! =]


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Pamela S. Hersch has been the Principal Architect at Towne Architects for over 15 years specializing in high-end residential architecture & interior design, hospitality & educational facilities. She has extensive experience in cabinetry/woodwork for libraries, home offices, high-end kitchens and baths. Pamela had received her Bachelors of Architecture from Louisianna State University & has been a faculty member at Parsons The New School of Design, CE Dept., in the Interior Design program for over 14 years.
Basic Interior Space Planning (Spring 2021)


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Dearest Friends,
Interview with Laurence Freeman for Svjetlo Rijeci (Light of the Word, Sarajevo)
Fr. Ivo introduces Fr. Laurence Freeman OSB, Director of The World Community for Christian Meditation (www.wcm.org) and presents the booklet "Christian Meditation: Your Daily Practice" and the reasons for his being invited to Bosnia.
1. Fr. Laurence, you have chosen spirituality to be your vocation, your life. What actually is 'spirituality'?
The early church had a saying: the way you pray is the way you live. I think that describes what spirituality means. It is not just a 'leisure activity' or a hobby but a set of beliefs, values and practices that pervade and shape every aspect of one's life. Of course, who can be completely consistent? Not many of us! There is always some shortfall between belief and practice. That is why spirituality also needs some communal support and structure – an external discipline of charity or ascesis to help us with our inner discipline. I became a monk because I hungered for inner freedom and a completely integrated life. I think that is a universal hunger but I had to satisfy it as a monk because of my own particular personal wounds and my general lack of discipline! Everyone is able to develop a spirituality – a way of living spiritually from the core of one's being. The split between spirituality and religion today is understandable but not really necessary or beneficial to most people. In a word, spirituality is prayer. The depth and quality of one's prayer determines the depth and quality of our spirituality and our life as a whole.
2. How do you see our world we live in today, its hunger or need for spirituality, for relation to God?
Our world is in huge turmoil and an old order is passing away in every aspect of human society. In times of crisis and danger the contemplative heart of religion inevitably comes to higher prominence. Increasingly, people look towards the deeper mysteries of being that give meaning to what seems random and chaotic in their personal and collective experience.
In all my travels I sense a great thirst for deeper personal experience of the spiritual reality, for God. Spirit means what is real and can be experienced but what cannot be measured or fully defined. The spiritual hunger of our time takes many expressions – different among the western youth who have been alienated from institutional religion, or among the older generation looking back to more stable religious and social structures. The challenge to all religious leaders today is to recognize the universality of this hunger and to put aside their collective (and personal) egos and to respond directly to this hunger - as a top priority - from the richness of their own tradition. This will empower religion once again to become a transcultural force for healing and unification rather than an excuse for justifying division and conflict.
If the main religions don't rise to this challenge the demand for spirituality will be 'dumbed down' and trivialised as another commodity or another form of the entertainment industry.
I was recently in Haiti with a group of our Christian meditators and I was deeply moved and instructed by the response of young Haitians especially in this, the poorest country of the Western hemisphere, to meditation. I really understood – after 25 years of believing it! – that teaching meditation is a political act, in the best sense. It raises consciousness and gives people a stronger sense of their personal identity and innate value. From that new awareness(lets call it 'self-confidence' or 'self-knowledge') comes a great determination to change the structures of society that need to be changed. Spirituality is justified if it awakens the hunger for justice. Then it will lead to religions that are truly prophetic. Love and compassion also result from contemplative prayer and for that reason they can control action from becoming fanatical or too angry.
3. For a long time we have been speaking about the crisis of faith and church, and all religions. What is actually in crisis?
The language of faith has failed to keep pace with the language of the world. That does not mean that the language of faith is just ordinary street language or academic language. Of course what we say about faith has to use the same words that we use in ordinary life, but we give them other, more subtle meanings. A crisis happens when the interpretative ability to use religious language fails.
By language, I don't mean only words. The language of faith embraces all the external forms of religion, worship, doctrine and religious buildings and structures. Religious leaders must bear a lot of this responsibility for the disconnect or distortion that is happening in religion. They are often frightened to risk testing their traditional language in the market place or in the experience of the young or the experience of science or contemporary ideas. So church becomes a kind of ghetto or escape hatch for many people and less attractive and real as a consequence for many others. There is hope though! The hope is that this language never dies completely – as long as the spiritual meaning is kept alive in the experience of some people.
So we must wait for inspired leaders to relate to the spiritual hunger of the majority. I see these leaders arising from the grass roots and the margins. What is in crisis is the credibility of faith. Wisdom and compassion are what revive this credibility of the language of religion. So we're back to spirituality again!
4. The answer to the spiritual need of our world you have found in the approach and thought of your Benedictine brother John Main. Could you introduce John Main and the basis of his spirituality?
John Main was born into a Catholic family in 1926 and was raised with a strong and intelligent faith. While he was a diplomat in the Far East in the 1950's he also encountered the practice of meditation which he incorporated into his daily prayer and life of faith. It became very important to him as a contemplative discipline, enabling him to stop thinking about God and, as he said, 'to be with God'. Going beyond thoughts, words and imagination at the times of meditation helped him experience the meaning of poverty of spirit and the prayer of presence – being present to God who is always present to us. This was his awakening to the inner meaning of all the contemplative traditions. Some years after he became a monk he found and recognised essentially the same method of meditation in his own Christian tradition – in the Desert Fathers, the early Christian monks and the Conferences of John Cassian, the great teacher of St Benedict. He came to see that this simple practice and the rich theology of faith that lies behind it could help many people today, in all walks of life, to verify the truths of their faith in their own experience. He knew, of course, that meditation does not replace other forms of prayer but gives them new depth and significance. For him – as for the very many he has helped as a teacher – meditation is the lost chord of Christian spirituality and recovering it at the personal level is one of the first steps to transforming the Church at every level. Fr John died in 1982, but his vision and influence continues as a real presence in the lives of many who never met him personally, through the World Community that he inspired. He believed that meditation creates community, and that is a radical insight of great significance for any spiritual understanding of our times.
5. Did you personally know John Main?
Fortunately, yes. I first met him when I was a boy at the monastic school where he was teaching at that time. I was immediately impressed by his personality, his humour and intelligence, his authority and gentleness. But it was not till I was at university that he became my spiritual teacher in the real sense, when he introduced me, very simply and directly to meditation. I wasn't looking for it consciously at that time but I instantly recognized it as a way of genuine value. When I eventually joined the monastery and helped Fr John establish the first Christian Meditation communities it was an exciting and transformative period of my life. Just before he died, I asked him what I should do next and he smiled and said simply; 'you'll do what you have to do.' At the time that did not seem very helpful advice, but over the years I have realized how wise and liberating it was. He was my teacher and friend.
6. Would you, please, for the readers of Light of the Word (Svjetlo Rijeci) briefly present the Christian meditation you promote.
What makes meditation Christian is our faith in Christ, our sense of a personal relation with him and his indwelling presence. Meditation is, of course, also a universal part of humanity's spiritual and wisdom heritage. The essential elements are silence, stillness and simplicity. In meditation we re-centre our attention from the mind (thinking, dreaming, analyzing, planning, remembering, daydreaming, etc.) to the heart. The heart is the symbol, in all faiths, of the deep unity and wholeness of the human person. There we are one with ourselves, with others and with God. The challenge is to let go of the ego attachments we have to the contents of our mind (some negative, some positive). To do this, in a gentle and yet effective way, we take a single word or mantra and repeat it continuously, faithfully, attentively, during the meditation period. When we get distracted we return to the word. The tradition advises us to incorporate this into life as a twice-daily practice. The best times are early morning and early evening. However long it may take for you to do this, keep it as your goal. If you give up, start again.
I have become convinced that it is good even just to hear about meditation – even if you don't practice it – because it opens up a new horizon for your sense of self and the world. But it is very powerful and wonderful when you do begin to practice. Don't worry about being perfect. Just be faithful. An old rabbi once said, 'God doesn't expect us to succeed, but we are not allowed to give up.' Meditation is simple and natural. We see this in the way even young children take to it and like it. We are introducing meditation into many Catholic schools these days. It has convinced me that the simplest and cheapest way to change the future may be to teach children to meditate. If you have any doubts about meditation, meditate with a child!
7. Can meditation be a connection of understanding and closeness among religions?
Of course. What could be a more direct and transformative connection than meeting in the spiritual centre that is both intimately personal and transcendent?
I have learned a lot about inter-religious dialogue over the years from my work with the Dalai Lama. He always insists that the differences are as important as the similarities – and we should not try to put 'a sheep's head on a yak's body'. We need to find a way to respect differences, even celebrate them and learn from them, so that they do not become divisions. I am convinced that meditating together creates a predisposition to tolerance and respectful curiosity in dialogue, to a humble attitude of listening, to being with another rather than trying to convert them or to win the point. Of course, this attitude can wear off quickly in the heat of dialogue or discussion. The ego is always quick to reassume control of the situation. Look at the endless peace talks in the Middle East. But what if some leaders, respected by their own side, could persuade their negotiators to agree to sit in silence, in meditation in their own faith, for a short time as a preparation for the meetings? What if they could then be persuaded to sit with the opposing side in silence at the beginning of their conference? It would be a brave and strong leader who would try to do this – a Ghandi or Mandela of the spirit. It seems a crazy idea perhaps. But maybe crazy enough to be realistic!
8. It seems that many in religions are afraid of the closeness of religious experience. Why, and is it necessary to be afraid of it?
At the heart of every religion there is a silent, humble act of pure worship, the bowing of the human ego to the mystery of God. This core of contemplation is expressed in the great mystical traditions that all faiths have generated and which have many internal bridges and cross-influences. I don't know of many religious leaders who explicitly reject this mystical dimension of faith. But nor do I know many who actively encourage their ordinary followers to delve into it and practice it.
In many religions there is a fear and suspicion of this tradition - as well as ignorance about it. The reason is obvious. The external power structures, hierarchies and doctrinal edifices of religion are relativised by what emerges from the contemplative experience. They are not demolished (immediately, anyway) but in the light of contemplative experience the egotistical element of religion is exposed. The role of clergy and laity is seen in a less rigid way, men and women are seen to be truly equal, the meaning of worship is seen in relation to the inner life as well as to social or institutional issues. Meditation is dangerous to any power structure – so was Jesus for that matter! The only authority that survives the purifying power of contemplation is the authority of love.
9. One of the disciples asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). May you teach readers of Light of the Word to pray?
Jesus, for the Christian, is the 'teacher within'. Other teachers in our lives are secondary and supplementary. Even the greatest teachers in the tradition point to the teacher within who teaches us through our own experience. First, we need to access our own interiority. When I was teaching at Georgetown University recently, I was deeply moved by one of my students who, at the end of the term, told me she had never realized before that she had an inner life. Intelligence, education, worldly success can all happen and still leave us pitifully unaware of our inner life. That is tragically true for many people in our culture.
There are many ways of prayer – like the spokes of a wheel, they all converge in the centre or hub. That convergence is contemplation. So we can't reduce prayer to techniques or methods, just as we can't reduce religion to dogma or ritual. Nevertheless, we need means to the end. Meditation is the most simple, direct and universal of means and gives new depth and purpose to all the other elements of religion.
Jesus did not give any method of prayer except the 'Our Father' and the example of his own religious observance. But he did highlight the essential elements of prayer in the Sermon on the Mount: interiority ('go into your inner room'), trust ('your heavenly Father knows your needs before you ask'), brevity and silence ('do not go babbling on...'), freedom from worry ('do not worry...'), mindfulness ('set your mind on God's Kingdom before everything else') and living in the present moment ('do not worry about tomorrow'). Put these elements together and you have contemplation.
Jesus was a teacher of contemplation. His teaching on non-violence cannot be appreciated or taken seriously without this dimension. Meditation is the work we do to receive the grace of contemplation, which the Holy Spirit is. I have found that meditation as a daily practice helps me to see that prayer is the raising of the mind and heart to God in all situations and activities. We are meant to pray without ceasing, which means, for the Christian, to drop hold of 'my' prayer and enter fully into 'the' prayer of Jesus. His prayer is his life in the dynamic exchanging of love in the Trinity. This is how I see prayer and why prayer is about realising the fullness of human potential. This is what we are made for and programmed for!
Laurence Freeman is a Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Monte Oliveto and also Director of The World Community for Christian Meditation (www.wccm.org)