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If there ever were an example of a theater play in the guise of a film, this is it. Although one would think that as a model of abstract art, this would go without saying:
Shot entirely on indoor studio sets, its biggest strength lies not in its cast or its music, but in its dialogue and not surprisingly in the integration thereof with metaphors contained within the art direction. There's symmetry to be discovered among them. But as is the case with any piece of abstract art, there's ambiguity involved. For example, this triangle, when drawn at the foot of a doorstep, is outlined counter-clockwise. But the audience sees a redrawing in the opposite direction. The question is: why?
Five women are involved in a song choreographed to symmetric movements. Each carries the same message. Each comes from a different background. Each is wearing black. But each has a differently styled garment. Why?
A painter seeks inspiration from woman to create his best work yet. The woman is unknown to him, but he has a name for her. Why? A florist seeks revenge from an unknown. Why? A photographer-journalist shows up in a village and ridicules a woman for giving birth to several children. Why? (This one's easy -- the photographer is Shah Rukh Khan :P)
Not everything is explained, nor is everything immediately intelligible. It's probably not supposed to be, because it is why the film, which presents more of a thought process than a conclusion (one I'll leave for you to discover), is effective. Central to the essence of the film (or at least to what I think is the essence) is the debate between a scientist (Ashish Vidyarthi) and a poet, Kalidas no less (Mohan Agashe), related to the scientific versus the supernatural, the merits and demerits thereof, and the potential for harmonizing them.
The characters that give rise to this debate all warrant interest, not only because of who they portray, but also because of who they are. The film obviously belongs to Madhuri Dixit, who plays five roles (Gaja Gamini, Sangeeta, Shakuntala, Monica, and Mona Lisa). No surprises here. Madhuri does what only Madhuri can. Her speech is powerful. Her walk graceful. And her thoughts reflective of the women she portrays. And no mention of Madhuri would be complete without specific mention of her performances to music. Here's one to start with (guys, just stop what you're doing and see this), with more on the music to follow:
Then there's Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah (as Leonardo Da Vinci), Shah Rukh Khan, Farida Jalal, Inder Kumar, Tej Sapru, Raisa Hussain, and several others including M. F. Hussain in a special appearance.
In many ways, this tribute to woman is based around how indifferent we the men of the world have been to her existence and her elegance, objectifying her, trading her, waging wars over her, all while not once wondering what she thinks. What's more, men are even accused of being dim witted warmongers!
At least we are given credit for trying to better understand the opposite sex, although even here, it is the 'riddle' which is the primary character.
And at least all of this gets me and Shah Rukh on the same side of the argument, for once! =) He really does play a rather intriguing character here, and his entry is well-timed.
I joke about the issues, but they're serious, as you know. Even in the U.S., women aren't paid as much as their male counterparts, which is ridiculous (and it's not only gender-based -- race is involved as well). Far from issues related to employment are issues of other basic rights, such as the right to fair treatment in schools and -- given my primary volunteering efforts in social service, this is the most difficult for me to discuss -- freedom from the threat of domestic violence.
The issues presented were almost summed up by Madhuri in Saajan (1992) and especially in Lajja (2001). So from the standpoint of the essence of the message, there's not much that's different. What is different in this film, and for the better, is the approach to delivering the message, which is effective, especially toward the end. (Be on the lookout for an interesting integration of the theme with The Last Supper.)
The theme is universal and relevant, but the issues I have with Gaja Gamini have to do with its pace and dialogue delivery. As much fun as it is to consume, it's clearly longer than it needs to be. And while identity crises are often welcome (the ones here were intentional, and we're talking of some great actors here), I just didn't think the layers of theater-influenced dynamic were smoothly transitioned to film.
I also missed the outdoors. There was all sorts of potential to add to the art direction using realistic settings (again, this was corrected in Meenaxi with fantastic results), and it would be interesting to hear Hussain's take on why it wasn't exploited. (This is not addressed in the accompanying 'Making of' segment.)
On the other hand, the sets are a visual treat in their own right, and are more than good enough, as would be expected in a film by a painter first, to convey the sense of space -- the confinement of woman -- which is central to the theme after all. (So that might be why?)
The film does leave the door open on whether it wants us to perceive its message being two-fold, that the paradox of progress might indeed be better understood if women and men were given equal rights (where applicable), as they are by religions (or so the film says, and I agree to significant extent; a discussion on what religions mandate is not one I am willing to moderate). Unlike Meenaxi (a much more empowered woman, and arguably more appealing), this is more a chronicle than a future perspective. Like Meenaxi, which I think is the much better film (and with a better-aligned performance by Tabu; sorry Madhuri fans :P), there's much to ponder. And for that alone, my time with it was extremely well spent.
I'd recommend it if you enjoy abstract art, are open to a new approach to Hindi cinema, and content with undergoing an experience that facilitates thought but doesn't guide it. And if you're a Madhuri Dixit fan, consider it mandatory viewing!
Movie rating: 3.5/5 (Works for me)
Music rating: 3.25/5
I was expecting more in this department. It's quite a mixed bag by Bhupen Hazarika and Anuradha Pal. Meri Payal is beautiful, but the title song leaves some to be desired. Ek Samay (with subtitles) starring Madhuri and Shah Rukh is fun and funny, and although it reminds a lot of Pakistani pop music from the late 1980s, I must admit I find it amusing. The idea of Madhuri formally celebrating the dawn of a new century, and looking so happy while at it, is priceless! :o)
My classification: PG-13 (for theme)
And finally...
If you are a Madhuri Dixit fan, you'll enjoy this lovely tribute by Pitu.


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Well this is odd. No doubt you've heard by now that Apple has just announced the latest refresh of the iPad, but for some reason they aren't calling it the 'iPad 3'. This update includes nothing particularly revolutionary, but that's not to say that they didn't just up the bar.
See the new iPad tracking page in our mobile product database for full specifications, links, gallery, and more.
Everything major added to the 'new' iPad can be summed up in one sentence: it's got 4G LTE, a 2048×1536 'retina' display, an improved backside-illuminated 5MP rear camera, and an updated A5X chip which has quad-core graphics. Doesn't sound like all that much really, right?
Why Not iPad 3?
Maybe that's why Apple isn't calling this the 'iPad 3'. I've scoured the official marketing material and haven't found one mention of 'iPad 3'. Instead, Apple is insistent in using the term 'the new iPad'. This is a really weird move because no doubt 'iPad 3' has way more SEO value than 'new iPad'. For months those in the tech industry have been exclusively talking about this release as the 'iPad 3', but Apple is clearly avoiding that name. Why?
Maybe Apple doesn't think that the new iPad is deserving of the iPad 3 title? While the retina display a pretty amazing feat which currently outclasses any other tablet on the market (and likely will for the next year), iOS wasn't overhauled, and the improvements to the CPU, camera, and data options were pretty much demanded by the market at this point. Maybe Apple is finding it tough to follow their own act over the last few years of taking the market (and customers) by storm with impressive additions to the mobile ecosystem.
The closest mention of iPad 3 that I could find is contained in a summary paragraph about the new iPad on Apple's website:
Pick up the new iPad and suddenly, it's clear. You're actually touching your photos, reading a book, playing the piano. Nothing comes between you and what you love. To make that hands-on experience even better, we made the fundamental elements of iPad better — the display, the camera, the wireless connection. All of which makes the new, third-generation iPad capable of so much more than you ever imagined. [my emphasis]
I called out Samsung just the other week for causing senseless customer confusion with the nomenclature of the Galaxy Tab series. I have to do the same thing for Apple and the new iPad. If this release is being called 'the new iPad', what happens when the next model comes out? Will the new iPad become 'the old iPad'? Or maybe the next model will be 'the newer iPad', then followed by 'the newest iPad'. If Apple is really going to stick with 'the new iPad' as the name for the current release, they'd better be ready for some confused customer support calls down the line — "Yeah I've got a problem with my new iPad," says the customer. "Are you talking about the old new iPad, or the latest new iPad?" goes the customer support rep.
And to get back to the SEO point… when the next iPad is released, searches for 'new iPad' are going to turn up results for the model that was just released, rather than whatever new model Apple releases in the future.
All of this could simply be avoided by calling it the iPad 3. Of course, this probably isn't news to Apple. I'm willing to bet they had more than one marketing meeting about this, and somehow they came to the conclusion that 'the new iPad' was the best name. Exactly what benefits this could have are beyond me at the moment. Hypotheses are welcome in the comments below.
No Siri on the new iPad?
An updated A5X CPU, 4G LTE, improved camera — we could say we saw this all coming. But there's no Siri! If one thing seemed for sure for the new iPad, it was integration with Siri. Oddly, Apple has left Siri out of the new iPad, meaning that the iPhone 4S is still the exclusive vehicle for the virtual personal assistant. Apple did say that Siri was in beta when they announced it for the iPhone 4S, and it seems it will remain that way until Apple decides to deploy it to other devices. Maybe Apple isn't ready for the volume of Siri queries that would accompany millions of new iPads?
A sliver of Siri did make it into the new iPad — as with the iPhone 4S, you can use the dictate button on the keyboard to speak and your voice will be converted to text. Why a mere sub-routine made it to the new iPad rather than the whole thing is perhaps even more confusing than if there was no Siri functionality at all. Without Siri, new iPad users won't be able to send messages, emails, check the weather, check their calendars, set alarms, and more, via voice command.
Why the Huge Battery?
So what's up with that battery? 42.5Wh means nothing to most people but to me it means that Apple have just secured some amazing battery technology. You simply can't increase a battery capacity by 70% and keep the same weight without doing something special. A few thoughts come to mind. Firstly, this could be a breakthrough in battery technology that has significant impact on the mobile ecosystem. 42.5Wh in a product that weighs 652gm? I've never seen anything get close to that.
Expect the MacBook Air to get a huge battery life increase based on this.
The problem is that Apple may well have just locked-up the most significant advance in mobile technology ever. If they haven't bought the company already they will have negotiated a deal for supply of batteries for all mobile products. It includes iPhone, iPod, MBA and MacBook. If there are patents on the technology, where does that leave alternative product suppliers?
There's another issue here too. Why does the new iPad need a 70% bigger battery for the same battery life? Apple are quoting 10hrs for Wi-Fi usage so it's nothing to do with LTE. Is the A5X that much bigger amore powerful? I'm suspecting much bigger clockrates and many more cores across the CPU and GPU resulting in this huge increase in power requirements. Or is it the display? The display controller is now driving 4 times the number of pixels.
We'll be looking for confirmation of the 42.5wh battery in teardowns and keeping an eye on heat and battery life.

subset: commoncrawl


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Britney Spears 'Has Lots of Charm' on The X Factor: REVIEW
From a "mean montage" to a critique of a man from her past, she had her share of memorable moments
It's good to have Britney Spears back. She's a star, whatever her ups and downs, and the originator of some of the most iconic pop images of the past 20 years. Yes, it's always good to know Britney is in the house. Or simply a house.
Or even The X Factor.
Wednesday saw her debut as a judge on season 2 of FOX's colossally ambitious – if not colossally successful singing competition – along with 20-year-old Demi Lovato. Juxtaposed with the 30-year-old Spears, Lovato looked very young.
Simon Cowell, who suffered a ratings disappointment with season 1, let Spears dominate the two hours. This was as obvious a choice as, say, not letting ex-judges Paula Abdul or Nicole Scherzinger dominate.
Spears still has a lot of charm in her expressive mouth – she has a great mouth, actually – and eyes that easily convey whatever emotion the moment requires. She has simple, undeniable physicality. But was she the rejuvenatory surprise that Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez were when they arrived in season 10 of American Idol?
No. But is it fair to argue she should (or could) have been? Britney defies easy packaging, and that could be a good thing.
Tyler and Lopez may have been a lucky exception in the escalating war for big-name judges on reality shows (the networks are stockpiling these stars as if they were nuclear warheads). The ratings will probably go up with the likes of Spears on X Factor and Mariah Carey on Idol, but name recognition in the long run isn't the same as entertainment. Tyler came up with a brilliant routine, spouting eccentric turns of phrase in his judgments, and the glamorous Lopez was showcased each week like a pearl in an oyster.
But these megastars principally are paid to judge. And so they sit there, sip a beverage from a sponsor's cup and say yes or no. They judge, they line up deals, they behave and they shore up or advance their careers.
They also cry.
Lovato, whom I remember from the night mostly as a sparkly little bird, actually had the single best moment: During one troubled young woman's audition, the camera came in close and isolated a tear making its way down Lovato's cheek. She hugged the girl, too, and told her: "When you sang, you broke my heart." Well done, Demi!
Spears cried a little too – as the world knows, both she and Lovato have weathered emotional crises – but she was mostly professional, nicely presented and more often than not matter of fact.
To me, these were her most important moments:
Her very first critique – of singer Paige Thomas: "You were so bright and beautiful on stage, and you exude so much confidence – you're flawless." This was disappointingly generic, but then again it would have been offputting if she'd said something Tylerian along the lines of, "Whoa-dingee-doodle, bring me a dog and I ll show you a poodle." She was signaling to us her seriousness and her integrity. But when she voted Paige on to the next round, she said: "Holy cow, yes." That was nice and lightly idiosyncratic. I don't remember many "holy cows" on any of these shows.
The "mean" montage: For some reason, someone in charge decided that making Britney "the new Simon" was worth a shot, and so we were given a quick series of her slapping down contestants with dismissive comments ("You're like Vanilla Ice meets Lauryn Hill meets West Side Story."). It occurred to me that she was looking like Elizabeth Perkins in Weeds, but none of these comments were particularly cruel. And she said them with virtually no emphasis, unlike Simon, who always savors an insult. She gave a negative judgment, and that was all.
Grace under pressure: Britney's most (only) dramatic moment came with a contestant named Don Philip, a vocal coach who once upon a time sang a duet with her. The poor man was clammy and anxious, and his voice was strained and raspy – he nodded yes when Britney suggested he'd seen hard times – but she nonetheless joined the judges in sending him away. "That was hard," she said afterward. This whole thing or may not have been a genuine surprise to her – if it was, I don't know why the producers don't just come out with a frying pan and fling hot bacon grease at her – but her reactions were dignified and compassionate, even as Don went off sobbing.
I've always wondered if Britney shouldn't have had more of an acting career. Maybe she can.


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Item Description
Letter, C [Charles Robinson] to My Dear S [Sara Robinson]
Author: Robinson, Charles
Date: September 7, 1857
This very personal letter by Charles Robinson in Lawrence was written to his wife Sara Robinson, who was visiting family and friends back East. It briefly mentions the Quindaro land company business that was occupying some of Robinson's time and the fact that "political matters are comparatively quiet." Mainly, the "governor" just missed his wife and urged her to write soon and often.
Location of Original: KSHS Call Number: Charles & Sara Robinson Collection, # 488, Box 1, Folder 5
Item Number: 101134 Number of images: 1
Keywords: Lawrence, Kansas Territory; Quindaro Town Company; Quindaro, Kansas Territory; Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894; Robinson, Sara T. L. (Sara Tappan Lawrence), 1827-1911; Wyandot Float
pg. 1


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God sits upstairs,
like over-sized Orson Welles
trying to sell wine
(but not before its time) –
ascot loose enough
to breathe judgment,
he makes convincing magazine cover,
with that curious
"I'm preparing myself to forgive you"
look all over his face.
The process of purification is a best-seller;
steeplechases the unjust crowd.
Customers drink of the cup,
then chant on the bus:
"Swing low sweet chariot!"
tk/June 2012
|Join The Mag creative writing group.


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Providing access to justice through safe, secure, accessible, functional courthouses is a critical priority for the California judicial branch. The courthouse construction program focuses on the most immediate and critical needs in the branch—buildings that have been identified for years as in need of replacement or renovation. Recent media reports have contained errors and misleading statements about courthouse construction costs. Get the facts here.
The Cost of California Courthouses
Data from construction industry reference source RS Means has been cited to assert that state courthouses in California should cost no more $250 per square foot to build. These reports misrepresent the purpose and nature of RS Means data. This industry database provides a valuable but very limited reference point for those in the industry familiar with how to use it. The data is not intended as a comprehensive baseline for what buildings should cost. RS Means themselves notes that their costs must be adjusted for owner requirements.
The table below provides examples of some of the differences between the RS Means reference model and what Judicial Council staff must budget for in California trial courthouses.
|RS Means Model Assumes
|Judicial Council Budgets Must Factor In
|2–3 story building
|No basement
|No holding areas
|No allowance for seismic requirements or other aspects of building code
|Very simple construction methods; no allowance for blast resistance
No allowance for sustainability features
|No allowance for equipment, such as
Other factors in California that RS Means does not adequately reflect include other state legal and regulatory requirements, such as insurance, environmental requirements, and prevailing wage requirements.
Judicial Council staff asked professional associations and cost-estimating experts for their opinions of the applicability of RS Means to California courthouse construction costs. The consensus was that the RS Means cost model is inadequate as a benchmark for actual courthouse construction budgets in California. Here are sample responses:
"AGC of California, the largest general contractor association in California, surveyed its members regarding the construction costs of courthouses built in California. The cost histories were based on factual data. Those histories, on projects which were procured and built in a competitive environment (none were negotiated), point toward a construction cost of at least $550 per square foot for California courthouses in the current, highly competitive market" --Tom Holsman, CEO, Associated General Contractors of California
"The RS Means square foot cost for a court building represents a base model specification. It does not represent an historic cost of an actual courthouse. For an accurate and comprehensive construction budget, one needs to add excluded scope, code requirements, site costs, and higher program requirements, such as for security, as well as government mandates. Our analysis indicates that those factors more than tripled the Means reference cost."
--Bill Rodgers, Managing Principal, Cumming
More opinions from professional associations and cost-estimating firms
More information from a white paper on courthouse construction costs in California
California courthouse construction costs average
As of July 1, 2012, the average construction cost of new courthouses for California trial courts is $591 per square foot. This figure excludes the line item for furniture, fixtures, and equipment. This average is based on actual costs for completed projects and authorized budgets for projects either in construction or appropriated by the Legislature for working drawings and construction. Figures have been normalized to a common point in time.
In light of the state's budget crisis, the Judicial Council has directed court construction budget reductions, so this figure is subject to change. More about courthouse construction budgets
How courthouse construction budgets are created
Before each California courthouse project was authorized by the executive and legislative branches, Judicial Council staff worked with the local court to develop a detailed space plan that would drive building sizing. Independent, professional cost estimators then prepared construction budgets based on the size and location of each building and its specific requirements. The estimators took into account relevant local considerations, such as labor costs and any special conditions, such as building in dense city centers or remote mountain areas. The budgets were also based on Judicial Council design standards that call for building materials and systems that will last at least 50 years with periodic renewal in an environment of heavy public use.
Completed projects
To date, the Judicial Council has completed 10 courthouse projects. These range from projects jointly funded by counties, to renovation projects, to brand-new construction, so their budgets have ranged widely. These successful projects, many of them award-winning, are the best demonstration of the professionalism of the Judicial Council's deeply experienced courthouse construction staff.
Listed below are a few of the courthouse projects that the Judicial Council has completed start to finish. All have been completed on budget, and all are highly functional, secure, durable, energy-efficient buildings that have vastly improved operations for the courts who occupy them.
Courthouse Courtrooms Construction Cost Per Square Foot* Notes Richard E. Arnason Justice Center, Pittsburg 7 $576 Completed in 2010 B. F. Sisk Renovation, Fresno 15 $304 Completed in 2010 Lassen-Susanville 3 $590 Completed in 2012
* Updated based on final costs at project completion.
Cost reduction efforts are ongoing
Since 2009, more than $1.7 billion of funds generated by the court system specifically for court construction have been borrowed, swept, or redirected to soften the impact of unprecedented cuts to court operations budgets. Under the leadership of the Chief Justice, the Court Facilities Advisory Committee was formed in July 2011 to oversee the facilities program. In light of the state's budget crisis, one of the committee's first recommmendations to the Judicial Council was to mandate construction budget reductions. A cost-reduction subcommittee now regularly reviews project budgets for cost-cutting opportunities that could reasonably be made without compromising safety, security, or basic functionality. To date, the subcommittee has identified more than $123 million in savings.


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The fight originated over the league's proposed 8 percent cut to the player's hockey related revenue (HRR) from 57 to 49 percent, ultimately saving only 1 percent in the agreement, leaving them with a 50 percent share.
In the end, the player's union and league reached a 10-year agreement, dropped the league salary cap from $70.2 million to $64.3 million and left room for an estimated 50-game season. That is if the owners sign the deal this week.
It is understood that the NHL is a big, multi-billion dollar business. It racks up huge annual revenue, a reported $3.3 billion last year alone. Taking that into consideration, how many more times will the fans put up with the unrelenting disagreement between the league and its players?
Although hockey players make considerably less than, say, a MLB or NBA athlete, and their minimum salary was around $525,000 last season, players are still comfotably above Congress' newly devised middle class.
Fans know that pro – and some college - sports make a lot of money. That is just a fact. But when the very reason behind how the money is generated, ultimately fans buying over-priced tickets to sit in nose-bleed seats and parents buying their kids $300 jerseys and overpriced merchandise, the question now becomes, how much more will the hockey fan up with before they call for their own lockout?
While it is unlikely that day will ever come, professional sports leagues and their fans may inevitably draw farther and father apart. The veil, which once covered the big business side of professional sports, is becoming more and more transparent.
The league must use this as a lesson, if not for the basis for a framework to rebuild fan loyalty, but to somehow reconnect the sport with the people who matter the most.


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Civil liberties organisation Electronic Frontiers Australia has warned that new ASIO powers proposed by the federal government could compromise the security of third party computer systems.
Appearing today before a parliamentary inquiry into the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014, EFA executive officer Jon Lawrence said that new powers, which would allow ASIO to compromise a third party computer in order to get access to a target's system, lack safeguards.
Use of the powers could create "potential significant insecurity for third parties in terms of technical backdoors and security vulnerabilities that may remain in place well beyond any operation," Lawrence told the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
At a hearing held Friday of the same inquiry, a representative of the Attorney-General's Department said the power to access third party systems was important because targets of ASIO surveillance are becoming increasingly security conscious.
Lawrence told today's hearing that "there's ... the potential for organisations to incur financial liability under the Privacy Act or other acts for actions that have been taken as part of an intelligence operation that has essentially created a vulnerability in their network".
Organisations could be unable to defend themselves from further security breaches because they may be unaware of a backdoor into their systems.
The EFA has also raised concerns over the power contained within the legislation for intelligence agencies to "disrupt" computer systems. Lawrence describe the "power to disrupt" as "potentially quite disproportionate".
The proposed reforms "will allow ASIO to undertake acts authorised by computer access warrants that [are] likely to cause an 'immaterial' interference, interruption or obstruction to a communication in transit or the lawful use of a computer or is likely to cause any other immaterial loss or damage," Jamie Lowe, first assistant secretary for the national security law and policy division of the Attorney-General's Department, told last week's hearing.
Under certain circumstances, "material" interference would also be permitted.
"Material interference would be extremely rare and only occur when necessary," Lowe said. "So it's not just a matter of convenience but would have to be necessary for the execution of the warrant. Immaterial interference could include, for example, using a minor amount of storage space or bandwidth as a result."
"We ... believe that there are some significant potential issues with this power in terms of the credibility of evidence in any court proceeding that may eventuate," Lawrence told the inquiry.
"We think that it potentially provides, essentially, a blanket area of reasonable doubt for a defence to use in any such criminal proceedings and particularly combine d with the very broad definition of computer that's proposed we are concerned that this could allow some very serious and widespread disruption of innocent computers and innocent citizens."
The bill also changes the definition of 'computer' in the ASIO Act to "one or more computers", "one or more computer systems", "one or more computer networks", or "any combination of the above". The definition is "far too wide and too expansive", Lawrence said.
"Under the current definition it would be quite arguable that [it] would apply to the entire Internet given the way the legislation is currently worded."
Both the EFA and the Law Council of Australia, which appeared before the committee earlier today, expressed concerns over the length of time available for public scrutiny of the legislation.
The committee intends to issue a report by 8 September, in time for parliament to consider the legislation in its spring sittings.
Although the government has made clear that data retention is on its agenda, it was not included in this bill and will be part of a third tranche of national security-related legislation.
Follow Rohan on Twitter: @rohan_p


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Hello and welcome to the City of Middletown, Connecticut web site. I am Mayor Daniel T. Drew and I would like to thank you for stopping by. As you navigate through the site you will find an abundance of information on the City of Middletown, our services and what we have to offer. If there is anything we can assist you with, please don't hesitate to ask. Enjoy the site and we look forward to seeing you in Middletown.
Middletown, the hub of Middlesex County, is located on the Connecticut River, with easy access to major highways, airports, railroads and other modes of transportation. Our city's forty-two square miles include rural, suburban and urban settings, an historic downtown and large city-owned parks and open spaces. When considering a new location for business, employment or residence, please take a good look at Middletown and see what we have to offer!


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Preparation for revival
'Can two walk together, except they be agreed?'Amos 3:3
Suggested Further Reading: 1 John 2:15–17
Am I guilty of worldliness? This is the crying sin of many in the Christian church. Do I put myself into association with men who cannot by any possibility profit me? Am I seen where my Master would not go? Do I love amusements which cannot afford me comfort when I reflect upon them, and which I would never indulge in, if I thought that Christ would come while I was at them? Am I worldly in spirit as to fashion? Am I as showy, as volatile, as frivolous as men and women of the world? If so, if I love the world, the love of the Father is not in me; consequently he cannot walk with me, for we are not agreed.
Again, am I covetous? Do I scrape and grind? Is my first thought, not how I can honour God, but how I can accumulate wealth? When I gain wealth, do I forget to make use of it as a steward? If so, then God is not agreed with me; I am a thief with his substance; I have set myself up for a master instead of being a servant, and God will not walk with me till I begin to feel that this is not my own, but his, and that I must use it in his fear.
Again, am I of an angry spirit? Am I harsh towards my brethren? Do I cherish envy towards those who are better than myself, or contempt towards those who are worse off? If so, God cannot walk with me, for he hates envy, and all contempt of the poor is abhorrent to him. Is there any lust in me? Do I indulge the flesh? Am I fond of carnal indulgences by which my soul suffers? If so, God will not walk with me; for chambering, and wantonness, and gluttony, and drunkenness, separate between a believer and his God: these things are not convenient to a Christian.
For meditation: We must not be in agreement with the things which God hates, if he is going to keep his promise to walk with us; we must practice separation from such things (2 Corinthians 6:14–18). The Christian is not supposed to walk in the darkness, but as the Lord walked—in the light (1 John 1:6–7;2:6,11).
Sermon no. 597 30 October (1864)
All the rights belong to the collections of Charles Spurgeon(C)


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We have few Christmas traditions in my family. With all us kids grown up and no new generation to take our place, there are only a few activities we cling to during the holiday season. Gone are the days when we wrote letters to Santa and put out a plate of cookies. And we were never the type that gathered around the fire to listen to a parent read The Night Before Christmas.
But over the years we have created a few rituals that we still hold dear when the season finally arrives. The first is listening to Amahl and the Night Visitors – an opera about a poor widow and her lame son who are visited by the Three Kings en route to Bethlehem – while doing some Christmas baking.
A second, more recent, is watching the YouTube video of a house whose Christmas lights are coordinated to the operatically rock-and-roll Trans Siberian Orchestra's Wizards in Winter – a song my mum and I both acquired permanently last year. This video, with its perfectly timed display of lighted Christmas trees and wreaths, never fails to bring on the giggles.
And third, and perhaps most important, we sit down on Christmas Eve and eat goat cheese doused in herb-and-garlic infused olive oil. With a lot of bread. And a glass or two of wine.
This custom is so tied to our Christmas, in fact, that when I made it once for friends at some point outside of the holiday season, my little sister got mad at me. The word 'sacrilegious' may have even been used.
Like all good traditions, it is unclear when exactly it started or why.
What I do know is that the only reason we even discovered the recipe in the You Asked For It section of Gourmet Magazine was because we wanted the cookie recipe on the same page. At some point later, my mum thought to try out the goat cheese one as well.
It is almost too much to call it a recipe since the most taxing part appears to be gathering the spices and slicing the bread that goes with it. Heating olive oil with some rosemary, garlic and a few other goodies for five minutes is hardly cooking. And yet the combination of slightly grassy oil, softened garlic and the sharp heat of peppercorns mixed with rich goat cheese is so perfect. Add a slice of chewy baguette – making sure to scoop up a bit of each component – and it's almost heaven.
Having read the recipe over before writing this, I see that it says to slice the goat cheese into eight rounds and then pour the herbed oil over top. I have no idea why we have never done this, but decided to stick to tradition – as we have so few – and leave the cheese in log form.
After all, what are the holidays without some traditions?
Goat Cheese with Herbed Olive Oil
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, January 1994
1 small bay leaf
4 garlic cloves, cut into thin slivers
1 tbsp. (15 mL) fresh rosemary leaves
¼ tsp. (1 mL) coriander seeds, crushed lightly
¼ tsp. (1 mL) fennel seeds, crushed lightly
10 whole black peppercorns
¼ cup (50 mL) extra-virgin olive oil
½ pound (250g) log of soft mild goat cheese
Sliced bread as an accompaniment
In a small saucepan simmer bay leaf, garlic, rosemary, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and peppercorns in oil for 5 minutes. Arrange goat cheese on a platter and spoon oil mixture over. Serve goat cheese with bread.
This story first appeared in the Real Life section in the Calgary Herald. For more delicious recipes, visit CalgaryHerald.com/life.


text:
BOOT(8) NetBSD/i386 System Manager's Manual BOOT(8)
boot -- system bootstrapping procedures
IA-32 computers (the IBM PC and its clones) that can run NetBSD/i386 can use any of the following boot procedures, depending on what the hardware and BIOS support: boot bootstrap NetBSD from the system BIOS dosboot(8) bootstrap NetBSD from MS-DOS w95boot(8) bootstrap NetBSD from Windows 95 pxeboot(8) network bootstrap NetBSD from a TCP/IP LAN with DHCP, TFTP, and NFS. Power fail and crash recovery Normally, the system will reboot itself at power-up or after crashes. An automatic consistency check of the file systems will be performed, and unless this fails, the system will resume multi-user operations. Cold starts The 386 PC AT clones attempt to boot the floppy disk drive A (otherwise known as drive 0) first, and failing that, attempt to boot the hard disk C (otherwise known as hard disk controller 1, drive 0). The NetBSD boot- blocks are loaded and started either by the BIOS, or by a boot selector program (such as OS-BS, BOOTEASY, the OS/2 Boot Menu or NetBSD's boot-selecting master boot record - see mbr(8)). Normal Operation Once running, a banner similar to the following will appear: >> NetBSD BIOS Boot, revision 3.0 >> (user@buildhost, builddate) >> Memory: 637/15360 k Press return to boot now, any other key for boot menu booting hd0a:netbsd - starting in 5 After a countdown, the system image listed will be loaded. In the exam- ple above, it will be ``hd0a:netbsd'' which is the file netbsd on parti- tion ``a'' of the NetBSD MBR partition of the first hard disk known to the BIOS (which is an IDE or similar device - see the BUGS section). Pressing a key within the time limit, or before the boot program starts, will enter interactive mode. When using a short or 0 timeout, it is often useful to interrupt the boot by holding down a shift key, as some BIOSes and BIOS extensions will drain the keystroke buffer at various points during POST. If present, the file /boot.cfg will be used to configure the behaviour of the boot loader including setting the timeout, choosing a console device, altering the banner text and displaying a menu allowing boot commands to be easily chosen. See boot.cfg(5). The NetBSD/i386 boot loader can boot a kernel using either the native NetBSD boot protocol, or the ``multiboot'' protocol (which is compatible with some other operating systems). In the native NetBSD boot protocol, options are passed from the boot loader to the kernel via flag bits in the boothowto variable, which is interpreted by the kernel in much the same way as the howto argument passed to the reboot(2) system call. In the multiboot protocol, options are passed from the boot loader to the kernel as strings. Diagnostic Output If the first stage boot fails to load the boot, it will print a terse message indicating the reason for the failure. The possible error mes- sages and their cause are listed in mbr(8). If the first stage boot succeeds, the banner will be shown and the error messages should be self-explanatory. Interactive mode In interactive mode, the boot loader will present a prompt, allowing input of these commands: boot [device:][filename] [-1234abcdmqsvxz] The default device will be set to the disk that the boot loader was loaded from. To boot from an alternate disk, the full name of the device should be given at the prompt. device is of the form xd [N[x]] where xd is the device from which to boot, N is the unit number, and x is the partition letter. The following list of supported devices may vary from installa- tion to installation: hd Hard disks as numbered by the BIOS. This includes ST506, IDE, ESDI, RLL disks on a WD100[2367] or looka- like controller(s), and SCSI disks on SCSI controllers recognized by the BIOS. fd Floppy drives as numbered by the BIOS. The default filename is netbsd; if the boot loader fails to successfully open that image, it then tries netbsd.gz (expected to be a kernel image compressed by gzip), followed by netbsd.old, netbsd.old.gz, onetbsd, and finally onetbsd.gz. Alternate system images can be loaded by just specifying the name of the image. Options are: -1 Sets the machine-dependent flag RB_MD1 in boothowto. In NetBSD/i386, this disables multiprocessor boot; the kernel will boot in uniprocessor mode. -2 Sets the machine-dependent flag RB_MD2 in boothowto. In NetBSD/i386, this disables ACPI. -3 Sets the machine-dependent flag RB_MD3 in boothowto. In NetBSD/i386, this has no effect. -4 Sets the machine-dependent flag RB_MD4 in boothowto. In NetBSD/i386, this has no effect. -a Sets the RB_ASKNAME flag in boothowto. This causes the kernel to prompt for the root file system device, the sys- tem crash dump device, and the path to init(8). -b Sets the RB_HALT flag in boothowto. This causes subse- quent reboot attempts to halt instead of rebooting. -c Sets the RB_USERCONF flag in boothowto. This causes the kernel to enter the userconf(4) device configuration man- ager as soon as possible during the boot. userconf(4) allows devices to be enabled or disabled, and allows device locators (such as hardware addresses or bus num- bers) to be modified before the kernel attempts to attach the devices. -d Sets the RB_KDB flag in boothowto. Requests the kernel to enter debug mode, in which it waits for a connection from a kernel debugger; see ddb(4). -m Sets the RB_MINIROOT flag in boothowto. Informs the ker- nel that a mini-root file system is present in memory. -q Sets the AB_QUIET flag in boothowto. Boot the system in quiet mode. -s Sets the RB_SINGLE flag in boothowto. Boot the system in single-user mode. -v Sets the AB_VERBOSE flag in boothowto. Boot the system in verbose mode. -x Sets the AB_DEBUG flag in boothowto. Boot the system with debug messages enabled. -z Sets the AB_SILENT flag in boothowto. Boot the system in silent mode. consdev dev Immediately switch the console to the specified device dev and reprint the banner. dev must be one of pc, com0, com1, com2, com3, com0kbd, com1kbd, com2kbd, com3kbd, or auto. See Console Selection Policy in boot_console(8). dev [device] Set the default drive and partition for subsequent filesystem operations. Without an argument, print the current setting. device is of the form specified in boot. help Print an overview about commands and arguments. load module [arguments] Load the specified kernel module, and pass it the specified arguments. If the module name is not an absolute path, /stand/ <arch>/<osversion>/modules/<module>/<module>.kmod is used. Possible used of the load command include loading a memory disk image before booting a kernel, or loading a Xen DOM0 kernel before booting the Xen hypervisor. ls [path] Print a directory listing of path, containing inode number, filename, and file type. path can contain a device specifica- tion. multiboot kernel [arguments] Boot the specified kernel, using the ``multiboot'' protocol instead of the native NetBSD boot protocol. The kernel is specified in the same way as with the boot command. The multiboot protocol may be used in the following cases: NetBSD/Xen kernels The Xen DOM0 kernel must be loaded as a module using the load command, and the Xen hypervisor must be booted using the multiboot command. Options for the DOM0 ker- nel (such as ``-s'' for single user mode) must be passed as options to the load command. Options for the hypervisor (such as ``dom0_mem=256M'' to reserve 256 MB of memory for DOM0) must be passed as options to the multiboot command. See boot.cfg(5) for examples of how to boot NetBSD/Xen. NetBSD multiboot kernels A NetBSD kernel that was built with options MULTIBOOT (see multiboot(8)) may be booted with either the boot or multiboot command, passing the same arguments in either case. Non-NetBSD kernels A kernel for a non-NetBSD operating system that expects to be booted using the multiboot protocol (such as by the GNU ``GRUB'' boot loader) may be booted using the multiboot command. See the foreign operating system's documentation for the available arguments. quit Reboot the system. In an emergency, the bootstrap methods described in the NetBSD installa- tion notes for the i386 architecture can be used to boot from floppy or other media, or over the network.
/boot boot program code loaded by the primary boot- strap /boot.cfg optional configuration file /netbsd system code /netbsd.gz gzip-compressed system code /usr/mdec/boot master copy of the boot program (copy to /boot) /usr/mdec/bootxx_fstype primary bootstrap for filesystem type fstype, copied to the start of the NetBSD partition by installboot(8).
ddb(4), userconf(4), boot.cfg(5), boot_console(8), dosboot(8), halt(8), installboot(8), mbr(8), multiboot(8), pxeboot(8), reboot(8), shutdown(8), w95boot(8)
The kernel file name must be specified before, not after, the boot options. Any filename specified after the boot options, e.g.: boot -d netbsd.test is ignored, and the default kernel is booted. Hard disks are always accessed by BIOS functions. Unit numbers are BIOS device numbers which might differ from numbering in the NetBSD kernel or physical parameters (e.g., SCSI slave numbers). There isn't any distinc- tion between ``sd'' and ``wd'' devices at the bootloader level. This is less a bug of the bootloader code than a shortcoming of the PC architec- ture. The default disk device's name printed in the starting message is derived from the ``type'' field of the NetBSD disklabel (if it is a hard disk). NetBSD 5.0_RC4 October 30, 2008 NetBSD 5.0_RC4
You can also request any man page by name and (optionally) by section:


text:
Taylor Swift Graces Cover of Billboard Women in Music 2011 Issue
Earlier this year, Taylor Swift was chosen Billboard's Woman of the Year for the music industry trade's 'Women in Music' issue. At 21, the 'Ours' singer is the youngest lady to achieve the honor and she graces the cover of the just-arrived issue looking fierce.
Swift, wearing simple, knee-length, low cut black dress with her hand perched on her hip, has her hair pulled back and her lips painted a tomato shade of red, which is her trademark. But she's not smiling nor is she giving that surprised and shocked expression that she often dons when she is honored with an award or an accolade.
Instead, Swift is rocking an entirely new pose. She is staring straight ahead, standing tall and looking very womanly. With her 22nd birthday looming — she'll celebrate the big day on December 13, so it's coming down the pike — Swift is growing up right before our eyes. She's already got a roomful of awards and nabbed a fresh batch of Grammy nominations in country categories and she is reportedly up for a major film role.
A few days away from 22 and with a new haircut, Swift is only getting started. She has not even scratched the surface of what she will achieve as the years go on.
Swift is certainly a role model for women in this eats-its-young-business. She embraces responsibility and accountability for the fans who cling to her every lyric and is squeaky clean. The moms of the 15-year-olds who worship her also have fond feelings towards Swift. She is positive proof that you don't need to be a bad girl to get noticed, especially in the music biz.
Congrats again, T Swift. You deserve it.


text:
The list of heavy hitting stars donating to the Music for Newtown Auction keeps growing even as the auction date is three days away.
Jack Johnson, Taylor Swift, Elton John, Tim McGraw, 3 Doors Down, The Eagles, Eddie Vedder, John Mayer, One Direction, and Rush to give you a teaser.
I have an "in," so keep reading for a new item announced here first!


text:
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
The Mystery Of Thailand's Pink Eggs
From food and travel book Down And Out In South East Asia
I have just arrived in Thailand for a SE Asia food tour, and after one night in Bangkok, headed out to the relative tranquillity of Kanchanaburi, a small town surrounded by temple caves hewn into the limestone hills, and home to the famous River Kwai Bridge.
What a place! The food night market (Th Saeng-hchuto), near the bus station, is quite something, and after a tour of the vendors – selling everything from catfish to chickens' feet – I sat down at a stall selling pink eggs. I couldn't resist them when I saw them, and as the stallholder like everyone else at the market spoke English as good as my Thai, I have no idea what the dish was other than a slant on the famous Chinese dish One-Thousand-Year-Old-Eggs (aka Son-In-Law Eggs - although it's probably called Daughter-In-Law Eggs in Thailand).
It was only when I got back to my hotel and spoke to a chef called Apple, who runs Apple & Noi's Thai Cooking Course in Kanchanaburi, that it became clearer. The eggs apparently are preserved in a mixture of lime, clay, salt, and rice hulls for a few weeks – a method of curing eggs dating back hundreds of years. I'd seen them before, but the shells had always been white. I asked whether they put beetroot in to colour them, but she laughed.
"They're laid like that. They come from special chickens in the south of Thailand," she said.
I still don't know if she was winding me up, or whether the farmers fed them prawns or something. And when I did a bit of research on the internet, I was no clearer. There is apparently a special breed of chickens in South America that lay pink eggs. But they're not really pink when you look at the photos. All I know is the only pink eggs I've ever seen have been at Easter, so if anyone can shed some light on this, I'd love to hear.
I watched the stallholder make the dish from start to finish (not the egg curing, obviously, that would have taken far too long) and the whole thing really blew me away. Not just his kindness and patience seeing some bleary-eyed farang towering over him, watching every knife stroke (and any cook will tell you how irritating that is), but its simplicity and fiery magic. In fact, it was so full of face-slapping flavour that you could barely taste the raw onion in it. And that's what I call a salad.
First, he carefully cracked open two pink eggs, exposing translucent, dark-amber whites.
Then, for some reason, he pulled an elastic band tight and sliced the eggs into quarters with it.
He arranged them on a plate – their yolks oozing out like rotten aubergine – and proudly held them up for me to smell. Was that a faint whiff of ammonia? Sulphur? Mustard gas? Or some other chemical weapon?
He grabbed a mixing bowl and threw in a handful of ginger cut into julienne strips. They were as skilfully sliced as anything I'd seen in a Michelin-starred kitchen, and there wasn't a mandolin in sight.
He asked how many red chillies I wanted, and I held up five fingers. He then pounded the chillies in a pestle.
He added them to the ginger before seasoning with a little sugar, salt, fish sauce and lemon juice. Then he chopped up a sprig of coriander and finely sliced a quarter of an onion and mixed the whole lot together and arranged it over the eggs.
What a blast of primary colours! There was only one drink worthy of such a salad and that was a massive bottle of ice cold Chang beer. I sat down and tucked in as the Thais giggled away, pretending not to watch me. I admit the egg itself looked far from appetising, but I threw myself in and began wondering when I'd last had such an incredible meal. The white had a gelatinous quality, and the yolk was rich, creamy and soothingly salty. It was difficult to describe the taste, but I wanted more of it. If this wasn't umami then I don't know what was.
After another Chang, I headed round the market again and took more photos. Food trucks in the US and London? Blah! Nonsense! Go to Thailand. They were doing food trucks and motorbikes decades before they were trendy...
Throw another catfish on the barbie...some fish from the River Kwai:
Cooking on gas...spicy Thai soup:
Steamed chickens for noodle soup:
Massive pot of chicken with rice:
For afters...bags of flavoured syrups at a sweet stall:
13 comments:
- Nicky said...
With these pictures, Ambassador, you are making me very happy ;)
- 1 February 2011 at 19:26
- Northern Snippet said...
Working on the premise that brown hens lays brown eggs and white hens lay white eggs,Id really like to see those chickens.
Alternatively,maybe they're boiled in cochineal.
- 2 February 2011 at 11:23
- Alex Watts said...
Hi there Nicky,
Glad you like the pics. Going to send some of Bangkok - your favourite eating city in the world. Mad place isn't it!
All best,
- 4 February 2011 at 07:23
- Alex Watts said...
Dear Northern Snippet,
You may well be right. The pink egg mystery has ruffled a few feathers in the poultry world, it seems. Farmers on the River Cottage and Poultry World forums are divided, but most think the eggs have been dyed.
Cochineal may well explain the eggsquisite colour!
All best,
- 4 February 2011 at 07:29
- chicken lady said...
They are very bright....I did think they look dyed - but then I found this -
It does mention that some hens lay pink eggs.
Bit of a mystery. But they still look dyed to me.
- 4 February 2011 at 07:33
- Raphael_Girl said...
(Via Twitter)
Fab blog - and engagingly written, too
- 4 February 2011 at 08:00
- Nicky said...
It is a totally mad place, nothing is done by halves. I tried to take a pic of the multi-coloured taxis but never got one to look quite right. Only in Bangkok would even the taxis be that mad :) Looking forward to more photos ... Have fun
- 4 February 2011 at 13:09
- Joshua said...
That preparation of century eggs looks fantastic, the pickled ginger works wonders with them and the chillies sound great too.
I do like the fingers held up for chillies. Where else would 5 (or 7, think that was the most I was offered) birds eye chillies be deemed sensible for a one-person dish?
- 8 February 2011 at 12:12
Forget your occidental prejudices and try, it taste very good in salad !!!
Traditionaly it is made with duck eggs.
They are dyed pink so that you can know what you see. I've been told there is two kind of century eggs, you must ask for eggs for "yum khai yaew ma" (salad of horse piss eggs..
Here is the recipe I like:
- century eggs
- pink ginger sliced
- red onion
- red chilies
- water
- sugar
- thai lemon juice
- fish sauce
Eat with good quality (perfumed) thai rice
Once in Ubon Ratchatani I had it with one cashew nut jabbed in each egg quarter -> delicious :-)
- 21 April 2012 at 14:20
The best khai yeow ma and khai kem (another kind of preserved eggs) comes from Chaiya in Surat Thani province. Hence the lady in the market made a reference to southern Thailand.
- 3 January 2013 at 12:01
- Unknown said...
- 26 March 2015 at 12:24
- Unknown said...
I love scanning your blog and your dish was very impressive I hope that you will continue to inspire people and always be happy of what your doing. Have a great day. Visit my site too. Thank you.
- 23 January 2016 at 03:03
- Unknown said...
They are painted hence why they are white on the inside
- 22 December 2018 at 13:50


text:
Those of you dreaming of arctic air and snow ... don't read this.
Today's entry is for those who moved to the Carolinas to escape 15-degree mornings, icy roads, and snow on the ground. A warming trend is headed for the Southeast -- and, for that matter, for much of the eastern United States.
We could be looking at temperatures near 70 degrees by the end of the weekend.
We'll get there gradually. High temperatures today will only reach 50 degrees, but we'll have sunny skies, and that will make it seem nicer. The sunshine continues Tuesday, with highs reaching 55 degrees.
By Wednesday, a warm front is expected to develop along the Gulf Coast and trudge northward. That will mean cloudy skies both Wednesday and Thursday. Highs on Wednesday could be near 60 degrees, but as the warm front moves through the area Thursday, daytime temperatures might be held back a bit by clouds, showers, and a northeast flow just to the north of the front -- in our area.
Then the milder air takes control Friday. A ridge of high pressure is expected to set up shop in the Southeast, and it will serve to block the advance of any cold air for a while.
Forecast highs are low 60s Friday, then mid to upper 60s Saturday and Sunday.
Just for reference sake ... Charlotte's average high temperature at this time of year is around 50 degrees.
A cold front is expected to approach by late in the weekend, but the Southeast high pressure ridge will serve to weaken the front. That means a likely continuation of mild weather for much or maybe all of next week.
The long-range forecasts continue to point toward a much colder solution for the final 10 to 12 days of January. A combination of conditions is forecast to push arctic air into the Rockies initially (by the weekend) and then gradually nudge the much colder temperatures farther to the south and east over a period of a week or so.
If all this verifies, we'll have colder conditions by around the 20th of January, and that could set the stage for a period of chilly weather.
How chilly? It's too early to tell. Between now and then, if you're a warm weather fan, just enjoy.
Monday, January 7, 2013
You like warm winters? Enjoy next 10-14 days
Those of you dreaming of arctic air and snow ... don't read this.
18 comments:
- Anonymous said...
"You like warm winters?"
Actually no, I don't. This weather sucks.
- January 7, 2013 at 9:52 AM
- Anonymous said...
Climate change is the greatest threat to human civilization that we've faced since the Cuban missile crisis. And there's no easy fix to this one. Get ready for it to be 110 degrees on July 4th and 80 by early February.
- January 7, 2013 at 10:40 AM
- Anonymous said...
Anon at 9:52am, you don't like warm winters? Move north please. There are plenty of cold ones up there. Buh bye. Bring on the 60's!!!!!
- January 7, 2013 at 10:44 AM
- Anonymous said...
You like warm winters? Move to Mexico. There are plenty of warm ones down there? Buh bye. Bring on the 20's!!!!
- January 7, 2013 at 10:54 AM
- Eskimo Charles said...
Yes, warm weather is indeed a threat to what remains of civilisation. It means having to endure the horrid site of modern riff-raff society in their ratty cargo shorts, greasy flip-flops, and tattoo-revealing wife-beater shirts.
- January 7, 2013 at 11:39 AM
- Anonymous said...
God, what has happened? I can't see any more comments in any of the Observer stories, unless they are here and part of the blog section. Every other story just says 0 comments, and never shows any.
- January 7, 2013 at 11:54 AM
- Anonymous said...
Yes, a friend on the inside at the Observer says they are all giddy with job because they feel they have stopped what was known as the 'scurge' of their site: the negative commenters. According to what they told me, they are pleased that since the subcription service kicked in, all the negative commenters went away and have basically been silenced. Also, that any that did slip through have no audience to complain to now because the comments are not being seen.
- January 7, 2013 at 11:57 AM
- Anonymous said...
Every year we have a "January thaw" when the temperatures hit the 60s for about ten days. It is then followed by two to three weeks of 40s until mid February. There is no news here - as usual.
- January 7, 2013 at 12:15 PM
- Anonymous said...
Anon @January 7, 2013 11:54 AM
Are you trying to view your comments from work? My employer blocked all non-blog comments from all sites. The articles show -0- comments if I try to view from work. I can only see them from home.
- January 7, 2013 at 12:55 PM
- Anonymous said...
Hey anon at 12:15pm. 6 of the last 12 years we've had fewer than 8 days in Jan with a high of 60+. So I'm not sure what you mean by "every year" and "about ten days" and "no news - as usual", but my guess is that you're exaggerating and you're wrong.
- January 7, 2013 at 1:13 PM
- Anonymous said...
I remeber in college at UNCC in the 80s wearing shorts to class in January for a week or so every year. Our winters are always up and down - and rarely has it ever been cold for more than a few days in a row. I would like to see a nice cold spell for a few days and maybe some snow but these "Indian Summers" are normal and are great at breaking up the boring winter months! If you did some research you would find we avereage several days above 60 every January and likely one above 70.
- January 7, 2013 at 1:18 PM
- DMorrisPE said...
My daily driver is a green 1999 Mazda Miata and I'm sure that you've seen me somewhere in your travels - I'm the guy with the top down all year round ('cept when it rains). Yes, even when the temps are in the 'teens. Over the last 4-5 years, there have always been winters with several consecutive weeks of below freezing morning temps. Thankfully, the low humidity allows the air to warm quickly for a more pleasant afternoon ride home.
- January 7, 2013 at 1:48 PM
- Weldon the Iceman said...
65 during day; 25 at night. Wear your coat and gloves to work, lay out and get a tan during lunch, then put the coat back on to take out the trash that night. Roast at work when thermostat is set for north pole, and enjoy dry air static shocks all day.
- January 7, 2013 at 2:48 PM
- Wade said...
"Climate change is the greatest threat to human civilization that we've faced since the Cuban missile crisis."
Sad. Very sad that you actually believe that. Ask Europe how they like their winter. They don't because it has been brutal cold. China even colder. The only threat of climate change is me losing money to the likes of Al Gore, who sits in a big house and flies all over the country telling me to live "sustainable". The real threat of climate change is the funneling of money from me to the special few. I'll begin to believe in man-made global warming when the ones pushing it live the way they tell us to live.
- January 7, 2013 at 7:13 PM
- Anonymous said...
Anon 9:52 and 10:54, if you like cold winters so much, nothing is stopping you from heading up to Minnesota. Deal with freezing temps, ice on your car, frost bite, slush in your shoes, dirty snow all over your pants, salt eating away at your vehicle's finish, taking 15 minutes just to get the car to warm up, and that's just for starters.
You nut jobs who complain about warm winters have never experienced cold ones. Please, do me a favor a take off, to the Great White North...It's a Beauty Way To Go!
- January 8, 2013 at 1:44 AM
- anonymous said...
I'm not advocating spoiling the fun for anyone who enjoys a warm winter reprieve. I just personally don't like how winter seems to always be interrupted with warmness, while summers are so reliably hot and humid with nary a break with a cool day. (I don't recall ever seeing a low 70's / high 60's day in July, although maybe I'm wrong.) And, yes, I'm concerned about climate change but that doesn't mean I support going around pushing global warming down everyone's throat.
- January 8, 2013 at 7:07 AM
- Unknown said...
Anon 7:07...you don't recall experiencing a low 70's/high 60's July day? There are plenty of them north of here. You are living in the wrong area if you are begging for colder weather. Try Sault Ste Marie, Michigan for a wonderfully comfortable summer in the 60's. If you really miss the cold, stay year round and take in the winter. Right now, they are also enjoying a warm spell, as it is in the 20's and 30's throughout the week. Bundle up! You see snow for 6 months at a time, you'll soon change your mind.
- January 8, 2013 at 9:36 AM
- Anonymous said...
Never Bubba.
- January 15, 2013 at 8:27 AM


text:
The '09 Dodge Challenger
The Government Can't Legislate Away All Our Fun.
Let's get one thing clear: This is not going to be your typical car review article. You're welcome. That's just the thing the automotive journalism world needs-one more self-important expert offering up an imperious assessment of a vehicle, all of which amounts to little more than opinions and emotional reactions. Don't know about you, but we're a little tired of reviewers skewering American cars for "cheap, hard, plasticky interiors." Not everyone cares if his dash is awash with soft-touch plastics or whether the gauges were lifted from the corporate parts bin.
Likewise, this is not your boilerplate old-model-versus-new-model puff piece. Everyone knows that in nearly all instances, a brand-new car will outperform its 40-year-old namesake. It's just inevitable: Metallurgy, machining, and manufacturing technology have advanced exponentially since the '60s. We are able to wring much more power and performance out of our engines, brakes, and tires than guys could even dream about when the first generation of these cars rolled off the assembly lines.
Instead, this is a review from a new-generation muscle car's toughest critic: the owner of the original model. We gathered a few owners of classic E-Bodies to kick tires, size up, and drive this new '09 Challenger SRT8 to see how it stacks up against their iconic muscle cars. We also tossed into the mix the perspective of non-Mopar muscle car owners, as well as input from a guy who sells these things for a living, all in an effort to get a complete look at whether Chrysler got it right with the new Challenger.
The Salesman
We had the car on loan from Chrysler for a week, and we spent as much time behind the wheel as possible. The car drew lots of looks and thumbs up everywhere we went. One of our first stops was Huntington Beach Dodge, where we talked with this guy, Dan Powers. He told us customer response to the new Challengers has been better than expected. "People gawk at the Challenger," he told us, adding that tourists will often stop to take pictures in front of Challengers on the lot. "We can't keep the SRT8s in stock. I recently sold one to a cop who came in to look at them after writing a bunch of tickets to Challenger owners. He bought an SRT8." Remember all that chatter in the news media about American car manufacturers not building cars that people want to buy? Maybe they should drive a Challenger.
New-Car Owners
The next day, we drove the car out to one of our favorite Sunday morning car shows at Village Coffee Roasters in Woodland Hills, California. We were immediately waved into an open parking spot by these two guys: Rick Bartholomew (left) and Bill Dale, owners of the two new Challengers in the background.
Rick is one of the founding members of Socalchallengers.com. He bought his Challenger on October 21, 2008. "It was a Christmas gift to myself from the year before. I waited for the six-speed to come out," he said of his Bright Silver Metallic SRT8. "I love it. It's a luxury muscle car. I got a ticket the first week I had it." Since taking delivery, he's added an after-cat exhaust and a Hurst shifter. At a recent dyno session, it made 393 hp and 389 lb-ft at the wheels.
Bill is a dealership technician at Reliable Dodge, and this '09 R/T is his wife's daily driver. They got tired of waiting for the Camaro to come out and bought the Challenger instead. "It's a great car, and I like the lifetime powertrain warranty. They got it right with the Challenger." He's done some stuff to their car, too, adding an Eibach lowering kit, a Mopar Performance intake, and a Flowmaster exhaust. Both guys agree that the Challenger appeals to younger and older buyers.
Old-Car Owners
Next we drove the Challenger to Mike Campbell's house. He's the owner of this great-looking '70 'Cuda. He's had the car for nine years and drives it almost every day, so we were especially interested in his opinion of the new Challenger. Until now, all the feedback had been favorable, as well it should be. We expected a salesman and a couple of enthusiastic owners to really sing the car's praises. But what about a guy who lives with and loves an original E-Body? Would this new model have any of the mystique of the old car? Would he ever consider buying the new one?
We lined up our cars for comparison's sake and let Mike have a thorough walk-around. "It's big," he said of the new car. The contrast is striking when you see the two cars together. Compared with the '70 model, the '09 looks taller and bulkier. Still, the dimensions are all there and look right. Most people we've talked to say the Challenger is the best looking of all the retro-new cars (Mustang, Challenger, and Camaro). It's true to its heritage without trying too hard to look stylish. Mike especially liked the gas cap on the new car, which we were relieved to discover was actually made from aluminum and not cheap, chromed plastic.
The differences are much greater inside the car. "The seats are so different-very comfortable," Mike commented. Indeed, the SRT8's seats are a pleasant place to spend a lot of time. They are comfortable but still supportive enough to hold you in place during cornering. Not so much with the 'Cuda, however, "My sister calls the '70 the organ donor car," referring to the relatively flat, low-backed, vinyl-upholstered, and lightly padded buckets in his 'Cuda.
Time behind the wheel reveals even more differences. Mike was impressed with the car's controls: "The shifter has such short throws. In the '70, I feel like I'm rowing a boat. This had very smooth acceleration. The engine feels good. I don't think it's as fast as my car, but it doesn't feel as big and heavy as it looks. I could get used to this. Ten minutes into the thing, and I'm already enjoying it more than I thought I would." Pretty strong praise, we'd say. Still, would he buy one? He was not sure. He liked his '70 because it felt more raw-it was more of an experience to drive. "I want something with a little more personality," he said. "You feel everything with the 'Cuda. There's no question which gear you're in. It squeaks and rattles, you're turning 3,500 rpm at 65 mph, and there's no radio. Even if there was, I wouldn't be able to hear it."
Seeking yet another opinion, we met up with Scott Wagner, owner of a '71 383 Challenger and a '68 Barracuda with a 318. He's been a self-described Mopar-or-no-car guy since 1979, owning and racing several vintage cars in the last two decades. Though he's never bought a new car, he had some extra money saved up and was considering buying one of the new Challengers. Scott was impressed with the looks of the car but echoed Mike's comments on the size of the '09 versus his '71, saying the new car looks a little thick in the middle. After a few minutes behind the wheel, Scott said he thought it would be faster. "It doesn't feel like a 13-second car." We should say here that Scott also rides sport bikes and he admitted that most cars feel slow to him. He was impressed with the ride, however. "It's quiet, it rides great, and the handling is great," he remarked as we blasted down a curvy freeway offramp. "It doesn't drive big," he said, agreeing with Mike's assessment that though heavy at more than 4,100 pounds, the car doesn't feel like a barge lumbering down the road.
So would he buy one? He wasn't so sure, either, repeating several times that he had expected the car to feel faster. He felt that if he were to buy a new Challenger, he'd probably opt for the less expensive R/T and invest in a supercharger. Spoken like a true car crafter.
In the end, we do feel that Dodge did a very good job with the Challenger, and the fact that we're seeing more and more of them wherever we go also shows that many other people agree with us.
We suspect the Challenger SRT8 is a deceptive performer. Though it didn't feel fast to our two guys, it may be that its engine delivers power in a smooth and linear manner and that the sound deadening and comfy seats isolate drivers from the ethereal experience they've grown accustomed to in their classic Mopars. Maybe Chrysler engineers should give us a car with solid motor mounts, zero sound deadening, and minus the weight of all the airbags, traction control, and satellite radio stuff. We could take that car back to these guys and see if that changes things.
'09 Dodge Challenger SRT8 Specs
Base price: $41,695
Price as tested: $43,730
Engine: 6.1L Hemi
Compression ratio: 10.3:1
Horsepower: 425 at 6,200 rpm
Torque: 420 at 4,800 rpm
Redline: 6,400 rpm
Transmission: Tremec T-6060 six-speed
Curb weight: 4,146 pounds
0 to 60 mph: 4.6 seconds
Quarter-mile: 13.1 seconds at 108.4 mph
Fuel economy: You're reading the wrong magazine
Performance specs from Motor Trend


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Administration Services
|Business Administration
|General Administration
|- Issue of invoicing
- Payment processing
- Registrations
|- Legal address and post handling
- Client representation
- Archiving
Taking care of various administrative operations is a necessary task for any company. Some operations are closely connected to running a successful business and others are simply related to local legislation or bureaucracy. Moreover, a company must take care of business transactions and local authorities often require certain procedures at certain times and places. Your local Leinonen office may easily take over these often difficult and time requiring operations.
At Leinonen, Administration Services are closely related to our Accounting and Payroll Management services. Business Administration services, such as payment processing, issuing invoices or taking care of VAT registrations according to local requirements are easily handled by our professional accountants.
General Administration services at Leinonen make the business more convenient for customers. On request we can, for example, represent our customers before the authorities, archive accounting materials and provide a legal mail address or post handling.


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It's not much more than a year since my company, MediaConnect, did a total rewrite of our platform in finally moving away from Lotus Notes.
At the time, I decided to stick with what was then the defacto standard platform for web application – aka LAMP – although I did look pretty deeply into both Java and Ruby on Rails alternatives.
Well, we're about to embark on yet another re-write, so we can better make-use of AJAX and also so we can allow for far more customisation and advanced functionality. I've spoken to a few other online app makers who are doing likewise. We sat on our Domino platform for six years (which admittedly was far too long) but it shows the pace of change in today's web environment, that you have to do pretty fundamental rewrites so regularly just to keep your base architecture up-to-date.
Making this move at this point, I did stop briefly to ask myself, should we stick with PHP. RoR has made a lot of ground since we first made the decision, as has Python, and today I noted this week that Borland company CodeGear has launched a Ruby IDE.
If there had been a really good Ruby IDE a year or so ago, I may have gone that way. In fact, if I was doing a fresh startup today I reckon I'd use Ruby but we've invested too much in our existing PHP code-base to totally abandon it. Thankfully, PHP is moving forward with PHP5 as well and we're looking like using the Symfony-Project framework which is pretty new but exciting.
Ah the joys of an online application company…
Filed under: MediaConnect, PHP, Ruby on Rails, Symfony, Symfony Project


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Use the free TRC Trader to sell anything and everything that isn't motorbike related.
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Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
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* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
As sudden frost hits Pakistan's prized guavas, farmers hesitate to replant
Every winter, I spend two or three weeks in my home district of Larkana in southern Pakistan, where I can relax with my family and childhood friends in the guava orchards, enjoying the juicy fruit known for its many health benefits.
But on my most recent visit I was disappointed. Instead of a healthy harvest I found dried up guava trees, with their leaves and fruit turning a deathly black and brown. I could see a desperate look in the eyes of the guava farmers.
In January, a sharp frost, the worst in the last five decades, caused widespread damage to the guava orchards just as they were about to be harvested. The cold snap struck guava trees across thousands of hectares in Larkana, a district of Sindh province.
The guava is a tropical fruit that can tolerate brief periods of cold but not much frost. The sudden cold spell killed tens of thousands of trees, which will now need to be replaced with new plants that take four years to mature and bear fruit.
In Larkana district, where guava orchards spread over 10,000 hectares that usually yield about 90,000 metric tonnes of fruit, district agriculture officials put losses at over 75,000 tonnes – or one billion Pakistani rupees ($9.5 million).
The farmers I spoke to say since they have never experienced such cold weather before, and were caught unprepared. Many of them are unaware of ways to protect their orchards in the future if temperatures plunge again.
In normal circumstances, agriculture department officials would give the farmers guidance. But officials too are unfamiliar with new, erratic weather patterns that are resulting in shorter but colder winters and damage to crops.
Tree damage is the biggest worry for guava farmers, for whom the loss of trees has a much greater impact than the loss of one harvest because of the long waiting time for trees to bear fruit.
"We have been pushed backward five years in terms of our income from these guava orchards," farmer Nabi Khan told me. He leaned against a dried-up tree, with dead leaves and fruit falling from the branches when the wind blew.
Another guava farmer, Razak Solangi, my childhood friend, who is the sole breadwinner of an eight-member family, says he has suffered financial losses of $20,000.
Given the weather's unpredictability, Solangi and other farmers are considering uprooting dead trees and replacing them with vegetable cash crops that yield two to three harvests a year. Smallholder farmers wonder whether to continue with guava farming, which is labour-intensive because of the need for constant vigilance against pest attacks.
Karam Ali sits by a waterway that passes alongside Aghani road, a major thoroughfare that connects Larkana city with rural villages where guava is cultivated. Watching labourers clearing his 11-hectare guava field of dead fruit, he talks about opting out of guava farming and switching to the cultivation of tomatoes, potatoes and onions.
"How can I persuade myself to replant the guava trees when I am not certain that next year we will not suffer the same kind of cold weather?" he asked. "Maybe, next year it is worse."
Guavas are produced and enjoyed all over Pakistan, either eaten fresh or made into jams and jellies. But the guavas of Larkana district, which account for over 70 percent of the country's production, are considered to be the finest.
Although there have been reports of weather-related damage to guava trees in other parts of Pakistan, the losses have not been so severe.
The guava harvesting season from mid-January to mid-February is observed as a festival season all around the district. Farmers look forward to watching their produce being packed into wooden boxes for local consumption and export.
Fathers send baskets of freshly-harvested guava to the homes of their married daughters as a token of love, a tradition followed in my own family. Friends gather to enjoy the fruit, and exchange baskets with each other.
But this time the atmosphere during what should have been harvest-time is gloomy. Some wonder whether they will ever get to enjoy the prized Larkana guava again.
Saleem Shaikh is a climate change and development correspondent based in Islamabad.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Masuo Fujimura-Turf Rug Lounger Lounge Chair
At Design Interviews
Interview with Masuo Fujimura : Frank Scott: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?. Masuo Fujimura : I get inspirations for my designs from our daily lives. I believe that designs need to send messages to society and change something better. .Frank Scott: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?. Masuo Fujimura : I wanted to create a brand new living space which we had never had. .Frank Scott: What are your future plans for this award winning design?. Masuo Fujimura : I don't have any particular plans. .Frank Scott: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?. Masuo Fujimura : It took about one week to design and create concept for this Rug Lounger. .Frank Scott: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?. Masuo Fujimura : I pursued my inspiration because I believed this Rug Lounger would create a brand new concept. .Frank Scott: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?. Masuo Fujimura : My design is not used or produced by another company. I have no plan to sell or lease the production right. This is just a prototype and mass production is a next challenge. .Frank Scott: What made you design this particular type of work?. Masuo Fujimura : I designed this because it was a brand new idea. .Frank Scott: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?. Masuo Fujimura : I respect Jean Prouve. His work influenced my work. .Frank Scott: Who is the target customer for his design?. Masuo Fujimura : I designed this Rug Lounger for whoever would like to use. .Frank Scott: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?. Masuo Fujimura : I believe that my design is very unique. .Frank Scott: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?. Masuo Fujimura : I gave my design a name as you can see. .Frank Scott: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?. Masuo Fujimura : I used CAD while designing this Rug Lounger. .Frank Scott: What is the most unique aspect of your design?. Masuo Fujimura : The most unique aspect of my work is to use artificial grass rug. .Frank Scott: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?. Masuo Fujimura : I own my design company and work alone. .Frank Scott: What is the role of technology in this particular design?. Masuo Fujimura : Nothing, specially. .Frank Scott: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?. Masuo Fujimura : I ran a simulation by creating a real-size model. .Frank Scott: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?. Masuo Fujimura : I wanted to make this Rug Lounger universally user-friendly. I adjusted the slope angle of Longer and armrest position many times. .Frank Scott: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?. Masuo Fujimura : I usually submitted my design to an exhibition when its organizer had invited me. .Frank Scott: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?. Masuo Fujimura : Not during designing, after designing, when I checked the real thing, I found some points to be improved such as hardness and strength of material. .Frank Scott: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?. Masuo Fujimura : Nothing, specially. .
Masuo Fujimura-Turf Rug Lounger Lounge Chair Images:
End of the article, click here to go back to previous page, or alternatively go back to Big Architects homepage.


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Myconos Holiday Apartments Maroochydore. Your affordable Luxury Holiday accommodation in Maroochydore, Sunshine Coast.
Myconos Resort Themed Apartments – Unique & Romantic Holiday Accommodation located perfectly in Cotton Tree – The beachside suburb of Maroochydore and central to a wonderful variety of bistros, cafes, restaurants, pubs and clubs.
Leave your car and walk everywhere. Myconos Resort Holiday Apartments are located on the Sunshine Coast's best beachside walking track that wraps from Cotton Tree to Mooloolaba. It overlooks the famous surf beach of Maroochydore and the new diving sensation HMAS Brisbane in front of Maroochydore and Old Woman island.
You will love this central location of Cotton Tree, Maroochydore. Peaceful yet we are walking distance to the main CBD and the Sunshine Coast's major shopping centre- Sunshine Plaza, with cinemas, board walk cafes, Myer and an enormous number of retailers boasting quality, and diversity.


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Why We Do It
Bringing Families Together
KEVA planks is a small family owned business nestled in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia between Civil War battle fields and the Shenandoah National Park. We enjoy this business because our customers tend to be quite enthusiastic about our planks. Our mission is to bring families closer together and inspire the creative spirit in people of all ages. We sacrifice conventional profit margins to manufacture in America. However, American technology along with our great KEVA team, enable us to make practically perfect planks. Mindware does the manufacturing and distribution of KEVA planks. We get to do the fun part...discovering new success stories and sharing them with you.
KEVA planks are changing lives all over the world.
From the United States of America to Canada and Kuala Lumpur, KEVA planks are changing the lives of children and adults. Children Discover the joy of creating original works of art or cleverly designed contraptions. Creativity brings joy into the lives of humans which is why the arts are so important. At the same time, future architects and engineers are discovering their aptitude for building stuff at an early age. Young KEVA builders today will by building our world in a few years.
Teacher's Best Friend - Teachers' days go a little smoother because KEVA planks create a level of engagement that is unique to the classroom. Children with ADD find the action of KEVA building to be calming and inspiring. Parents find a moment of relief. Soldiers with PTSD find it easier to talk about their emotional wounds when their hands are engaged in a KEVA project. Parents of Autistic Children discover that the simplicity of having only one type of block creates an ordered environment that allows autistic children to blossom. Gifted children find a new freedom of intellectual expression with KEVA planks that combines both their artistic nature and their brilliant analytical minds.
Parents who find it difficult to connect with their kids discover that family nights are easy and natural with KEVA planks. Kids can sense that mom and dad are really into the project as much as they are. Kids don't get to see their parents play very often but KEVA planks make it happen.
Prisons have found that prisoners have a much greater chance of rehabilitation if they have a strong emotional bond their children on the outside. When they have a child to care about, they have a reason to turn their lives around. Volunteers take KEVA planks into prisons so that inmates can bond with their children. They found that KEVA planks help grow and transform these troubled relationships by providing a non threatening activity that parent and child enjoy equally.
The List goes on... We hear these stories regularly which makes the KEVA business one of the most gratifying jobs a person could hope for. That's why we do it.
Build A Mind!
Kind Regards,
The KEVA Team


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Don't let the slushy, melting snow keep you from enjoying the great art and conversation of First Friday! Take a look at these events scheduled for March 7 in Missoula:
School of Art graduate students continue their tradition of bringing excellent artists to their alternative gallery space in the alley behind the Old Post Pub. This month the featured artist is none other than School of Art alum Will Hutchinson (MFA 2012). Will's latest works will be showcased in an exhibition titled, "These Words Were Not When We Were Born." Join us behind the Old Post from 6-9pm this First Friday.
Be sure to stop by The Brink Gallery (111 W. Front St) to see the newest works by another School of Art alum. Lauren Tyler Norby (BFA 2006) requests the honor of your presence from 5-8pm to see his exhibition, "Crumley & Vaughn Private Investigations."
Stop by the MAM to see the latest from local artist Patricia Thornton this First Friday. In addition to her exhibition titled, "Misfits, Monsters, and Pretty Things – Daydreams and Dalliances" Patricia will give a gallery talk at 7pm.
Missoula Community Access Television (MCAT):
Our friends over at MCAT (500 N. Higgins) continue to invite local talent to exhibit their work in a newly refurbished gallery space. Join us this First Friday from 5-8pm to see what Missoula artist Dirk Lee has been up to. Dirk will be showing drawing and prints.
It's a little off the beaten path, but a visit to The Clay Studio (1106 Hawthorne) is always worth it. This month our friends are hosting the second installment of their tea pot series. "The Teapot Show II" exhibition will run until March 28, but if you want to mingle with the artists and members of the community during the reception, you will need to do so between 5:30 and 9pm this First Friday.
This Blog:
If you are interested in seeing an art event listed on this blog, please EMAIL us and we will consider it for publication. Have a safe and healthy First Friday!


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Thanks to everyone who made our second public meetup last night. Lots of great conversations around better defining who we are and our place within local communities. We are fortunate in being able to openly learn from the shared experiences of TOG and the global Hackerspace community. Two themes repeatedly surfaced – the importance of doing what we love and the desire to re-imagine our future. Interestingly both themes were touched on when David McWilliams and Damien Mulley recently visited Galway.
We also spoke about arranging a group trip to Dublin for the March 23rd Electronics Workshop with Mitch Altman and Jimmie P Rodgers at the Science Gallery. This workshop will sellout quickly so best to buy a ticket in advance from the venue if you are thinking about attending. After speaking to Irene at the venue yesterday they will print off tickets while you wait for walk-in bookings prior to March 23rd. Some members interested in the mobile apps space are going along to the X-cake Galway Meetup tonight. After playing around with various platforms over the last couple of weeks our IRC channel will once again be in use. Looking forward to continuing the conversations.


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Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936 / Bombay)
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Arlington College was established at the urging of Edward Emmett Rankin, an Arlington civic leader, to improve the availability of quality education in the recently founded rural town. Lee M. Hammond and William M. Trimble were the founding co-principals of the institution. The original two-and-a-half story wood-frame schoolhouse was built on property near the present University Center donated by J.W. Ditto and A.W. Collins. A private institution, Arlington College's first class of roughly 75 students received schooling from the elementary to about today's high school level.
Col. James M. Carlisle arrived in 1902 and converted the campus into a private academy "for the literary, military, and manual training of boys," as its charter stated. Despite its official admission policy, the school had at least eight female graduates during its eleven-year existence.
Educator H.K. Taylor re-opened the institution as Arlington Training School with military-style discipline and high-school level coursework. Although the institution focused still on boys' preparatory education, females were admitted as day students.
Opened by John B. Dodson, Arlington Military Academy operated only for the 1916-17 academic year. This marked the end of Arlington's community attempts to support a private intermediate and secondary institution. However, the presence of military training units on campus survives to this day.
In 1917, the institution became a branch of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M). Named for Judge Vincent W. Grubbs of Greenville who led a campaign to create the school, the state junior college's curriculum focused on the agricultural, mechanical and industrial trades, as well as household arts for female students. In keeping with the school's military tradition, all male students were required to be cadets in the ROTC. The college completed the $112,500 Administration Building in 1919. Now W.A. Ransom Hall, it is the oldest standing building on campus. Enrollment at Grubbs reached 808 during the 1922-23 school year.
In 1923 the college was renamed to better reflect the fact that it had become a public institution with a liberal arts curriculum that was no longer strictly vocational, as well as a rapidly expanding enrollment. The students of "Northaggieland" looked fondly on their years at NTAC. Life on campus was alive with a host of clubs, dances, performances and sporting events. Unsatisfied with NTAC's two-year status, the administration nsuccessfully petitioned Texas A&M's board throughout the 1940s to elevate it to senior-college status.
As the largest state-supported junior college in the Southwest, the school had transitioned into a comprehensive academic institution. Its name once again changed, and in 1959 after over a decade of effort, Arlington State became a four-year institution. The Rebel football team won the Junior Rose Bowl in 1956 and 1957. Also, the college was the first in the A&M system to integrate African-American students in 1962. Tensions culminated in 1964 between ASC and the A&M board of directors, many in the community believing that the campus' interests were unfairly subordinated to those of College Station. In 1965, the institution was transferred to the University of Texas System. During ASC's years, enrollment grew from 1,532 students to more than 11,000.
The institution received its current name by act of the state legislature making each of the UT System campuses "The University of Texas at…" The students adopted the Mavericks nickname in 1971 after controversy over the former Rebel theme and Old South symbols. UT Arlington has continued to grow exponentially. The University offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs to more than 48,000 on-campus and online students. Its ever-expanding facilities span 420 acres and include more than 100 buildings. The UT Arlington Fort Worth Center in downtown Fort Worth offers graduate programs catered to working professionals. More than 5,000 students live on the Arlington campus, and another 5,500 live adjacent to campus.
Source:Saxon, G.D. (1995). Transitions: A centennial history of The University of Texas at Arlington 1895-1995. The UTA Press: Arlington, TX.
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Massage Body Spots Free
Massage Body Spots Free - This application gives you the exact location and info about the most sensitive massage spots all over your face, hands and feet. Giving them a brief massage on an everyday basis will get your body a guaranteed better and fresher look. What's New in This Release: · crash bug fixed in 1.6 devices What's New in...read more