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No whimpers: Lucas goes out with a bang
Star Wars is over! Well, except for myriad new DVD configurations, the videogames, TV series, graphic novels and– can you doubt it?– Broadway musical.
Never say never, but George Lucas claims he's calling a halt to the big-screen series after Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.
Lucas goes out with a bang, with more of what's good and maybe a little less of what's not so good in the rest of the prequel trilogy. The line between reality and computereality is more successfully blurred in a record number (2151, but who's counting?) of visual effects shots. And, as usual, the screen is filled with the kind of extensive, exquisite detail that keeps viewers coming back for more and buying DVDs to see it again and again.
But there are also– what's the technical term?– actors. Although some of them are passable, and Ian McDiarmid is practically brilliant, it's sad to see someone of Samuel L. Jackson's ability phoning it in. Hayden Christensen is bad when he's good but gets good when he turns bad.
As everyone in the galaxy knows, this is the episode that connects the second trilogy to the first. That means we have to see Anakin Skywalker (Christensen) go over to the dark side of the Force and his secret bride (Jedi knights are celibate) Padmé (Natalie Portman) give birth to twins, Luke and Leia. Astute observers will note Padmé's coiffure, an indication that, long long ago, women's hairstyles didn't vary from generation to generation (or was/will Leia be going for a retro look?).
The first 25 minutes, packing more action and imagination than most of this year's movies combined, show Anakin and his Jedi mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor), rescuing Chancellor Palpatine (McDiarmid) from General Grievous (computer generated). In the process, Anakin eliminates Count Dooku (Christopher Lee, not cut from the last part of this trilogy as he was from Lord of the Rings, although there's hardly beaucoup Dooku), leaving an opening for a villain.
Sith leader Darth Sidious, who is actually Palpatine, has an idea for "a new apprentice, one far younger and more powerful": Anakin. His seduction of the youth is the dramatic heart of the story. Anakin dreams that Padmé dies in childbirth. It's not clear whether Sidious/Palpatine somehow generated that dream, but he knows about it and uses it, telling Anakin the Sith have the power to "save others from death."
Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz), who in Episode I said, "Fear is the path to the Dark Side," now expands it: "The fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side." His counsel is less appealing to Anakin than Palpatine's promise, and the Chancellor almost hypnotizes him with Orwellian logic into believing the other members of the Jedi Council are traitors to the Republic. Ultimately Anakin must make a choice– and he does.
Aside from Palpatine's conversations with Anakin (and even they grow repetitious), most of the film's dialogue is inane, boring or both, and in most cases the actors' delivery doesn't help. Consider the parting of the ways of two former friends:
OBI-WAN: My allegiance is to the Republic, to democracy. (So is he Republican or Democrat?)
ANAKIN: You're either with me or against me.
OBI-WAN: Only a Sith deals in absolutes. (Funny, he sounded pretty absolute two lines back.)
Lucas overuses the cross-cutting technique Coppola employed infinitely better in The Godfather. Whenever a fight starts, he cuts away annoyingly to another fight, usually involving lightsabers (some toy company must be planning a big lightsaber promotion in conjunction with this movie), or something else. Instead of heightening both events, the technique diminishes them.
The climactic events, both involving surgery, are intercut somewhat more effectively. At last the Darth Vader mask is placed on Anakin, and he says his first words: "This is CNN." (OK, I made that part up.)
I'm glad to see the Star Wars series end on a relatively high note, but I'm gladder to see it end. In retrospect, the first trilogy was enough. When Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) says, "I am going to end this once and for all," I couldn't help cheering inwardly, knowing he was speaking for George Lucas.


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Lumpy Mitten :(
I feel accomplished but disappointed at the same time… It looks like I got progressively worse! You can tell by just looking at the red stitches inside the bird wings–the ones in the birds near the cuff are significantly smaller than the ones in the mitt. The difference from the third bird to the fourth is major too.
The backside is much neater than the front and has no lumpiness at all, even at the top, so I have no idea what happened. I tried readjusting the tension on some stitches but it just wants to go back to it's lumpy state. My floats at the back are loose and there's a lot of stretch…Bleh. At first I thought it was a tension issue overall, but I only have issues with the front.
Now for yarn dominance. The strand that's under is likely to be more dominant, so I made the white one the strand that went under, but it looks like my red is more dominant? Do I have something backwards?
The tragicness is too overwhelming for me to handle. The second mitt's going to have to wait!

subset: commoncrawl


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text: Jordan Lieberman joined CampaignGrid in 2010 and has served as its President since 2012. Previously he spent five years as publisher of Campaigns & Elections magazine. Earlier, Lieberman managed campaigns and advocacy programs in the United States and abroad. In 2005, Lieberman was among the first Americans to travel to Ukraine to assist the successful Presidential campaign of Victor Yushchenko. Lieberman has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MPA from Columbia University. He has lectured at Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and George Washington University. He has appeared as an analyst for CNN, Fox, and MSNBC, and had a lead role in the movie "Electile Dysfunction" the BBC documentary "Tea Party America," and the upcoming film "How to Get Elected in America."


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As regular readers of this blog will know, I have had a few criticisms to make of assessment this year, both in general terms and in terms of the kind of assessment I am asked/expected to do (see Another Failure for the Exam-Based System and Testing Times if you haven't come across them before).
My main problem with the whole system is the fact that across the globe young learners are being put under unnecessary pressure through standardised testing. Despite all the talk about formative assessment, portfolios and so on, exams are still used to dictate grades. Indeed, 'alternative assessment' is often something just thrown on top of the existing system rather than being used to change/replace assessment as it should (sweeping generalisation I know but certainly the case in Turkey).
(I am aware, of course, that I risk self-contradiction due to the fact that I am running a series of blog posts on getting my students ready for the Cambridge Flyers exam. I actually find the Cambridge YLE tests to be preferable to a lot of other exams out there. The main problem with them is, as mentioned above in regards to alternative assessment, they are often used in addition to existing tests (especially in-house ones) when they should, in my view, be used as replacements.)
…for the purpose of creating listening test material - Image by sparktography
My main problem with the assessment I am asked to do is the listening test. First of all, it seems ridiculous that the students are given a KET listening test when they are preparing to take Flyers in the summer. Secondly, the style of the KET test strikes me as a bit old-fashioned - it's full of radio announcements, making appointments and 'street conversations' between adults (that's one good thing about Flyers listening - at least one kid is usually heard in the recording). It reminds me very much of the kind of listening tests I used to have when learning French at school - very much under the assumption that the person taking the test will visit a country where the foreign language is spoken. I thought we had moved past that point now (especially in English) and accepted that most non-native speakers of English will spend their 'English lives' interacting with other non-native speakers. Why then does the 'listen to John talking to the chemist about his sore finger' exam question still exist?
While thinking about the appropriacy of the contexts used for these test questions, another inadequacy was brought to my attention by one of students. We had just finished a test in which one of the sections featured a woman calling a music school to get information about lessons and I was collecting the papers when a particularly creative boy remarked "we are like secret agents". Intrigued, I asked him to explain….
Inside this inconspicuous black van is a crack team of non-native speakers who all aced their Cambridge tests - Image by Ped-X-Ing
"Because we are listening secretly to other people's telephone calls!" came the reply.
Not only did I find that incredibly funny and surprising to hear from an 11 year-old EFL student but it also struck me that it was true. With tests and textbook exercises like these, we are not really teaching our students the skill of listening - we are teaching them to gather information covertly by listening in to people in private conversation about personal issues such as illness, problems at home or plans for the weekend! We are, in fact, unwittingly training the spies of tomorrow with the top brass of the US and UK armed forces tracking those who get top marks in IELTS or TOEFL listening for potential recruitment:
Image by Secretary of Defense
"We've been monitoring your progress ever since you took Starters kid - we need your skills to track a rogue agent's phone calls…."
(Or, to look at it another way without the big brother paranoia, we are equipping future gossips and eavesdroppers with vital life skills… or training future tabloid editors!!)
…so I can practice for my listening test - Image by nikos providakis
That's one of the many 'real world' things that I think gets forgotten in the language classroom sometimes - listening is not an activity we do in class. It is an integral part of everyday conversation and interaction. And yet, a lot of class time is spent 'simulating' an experience students are only likely to have when listening to the radio (is The Archers still on?), watching TV or snooping on someone! Our time would be much better spent working on more authentic interactional experience where our students have to listen, comprehend and formulate responses/keep the conversation going.
But I guess that can't be tested easily with an A/B/C/D answer sheet. Until that changes, our classrooms will have to remain that much more removed from reality….


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Morality Tale
Ishi's Brain: In Search of America's Last "Wild" Indian
Ishi in Three Centuries
A California morality tale, the story of Ishi is in itself, like parables in general, a simple one. It is the tellers, each with different involvement and different intent, who complicate it.
In late August 1911, a middle-aged man, with buckskin threaded through his ears and a small stick piercing his nose, was found cowering in the upriver scrub woods of the northern Sierras by some itinerant slaughterhouse workers. Unable to communicate with him (they tried both Spanish and English), they turned him over to the local sheriff, who, not knowing what else to do with him, deposited him in the town jail. Brown-skinned, with straight black hair, he was apparently some sort of Indian. But sure there were no independent tribes left in the area—they had all been wiped out, removed to micro-reservations, or reduced to indigence by the dispossessions of the Gold Rush—it was uncertain what sort.
The man best equipped to find out what sort was only 150 miles away: Alfred Louis Kroeber, first curator of the Native American collections in the newly formed Department of Anthropology at the state university in Berkeley. Kroeber, then thirty-five, had come from New York to Berkeley at the beginning of the century. (Or, more exactly, to San Francisco, where the museum of anthropology founded by Phoebe Apperson Hearst—senator's widow, press lord's mother—to house her collection of Indian artifacts was being built.) He had been a student and sometime assistant at Columbia of Franz Boas, the country's leading anthropologist and founding spirit of holistic ethnography, and, like his mentor, he was a strong-minded, detail-passionate scholar, determined to learn anything and everything that could still be learned about traditional, "precontact" Indian life before its last representatives disappeared. Recording myths, classifying languages, comparing kinship terminologies, and excavating settlements—a project he called, probably to his ultimate regret, "salvage anthropology"—he made himself, in the space of a decade, into a sort of Boas West: the go-to authority on California's hundreds of small, particulate, dismembered tribes.
When Kroeber heard, via press reports, of the mysterious prisoner, he immediately shot off a peremptory telegram to the county sheriff—professors were personages in those days—who had jailed him (HOLD IN-DIAN TILL ARRIVAL…WILL TAKE CHARGE AND BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HIM…MATTER IMPORTANT ACCOUNT ABORIGINAL HISTORY), and thereby projected himself into the middle of what would turn out to be a repetitive, wandering, theatrical, and accusatorial public controversy, lasting, still bitter, still ambiguous, still expanding, until today, nearly a century on.
After a colleague determined, through linguistic inquiry, that the prisoner was a Yahi, thus a remnant survivor—perhaps the last one altogether—of a group that had been essentially exterminated in the impressments, landgrabs, and Indian hunts of the 1850s and 1860s (the state's native population, originally perhaps 300,000, declined by 94 percent in a generation), Kroeber had him brought to the museum in San Francisco, where he remained for four and a half years before dying of tuberculosis. At the museum, located adjacent to the university hospital, he became at once…
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HOPEWELL � An exhibit opening Nov. 21 at Finger Lakes Community College will feature the art, poetry and music of alumnus Rand Darrow, who has explored the themes and images of Slavic fairy tales.
�Alumni Biennial Exhibition: The Art, Music and Poetry of Rand Darrow� begins with an artist talk from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21, in the Williams-Insalaco Gallery 34, located on the first floor of the main campus, 3325 Marvin Sands Drive. A reception sponsored by the FLCC Foundation follows from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Both are free and open to the public.
Darrow, a Palmyra resident, graduated from FLCC in 1970, earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from SUNY Oswego in 1972. He taught art in the Red Jacket School District in Shortsville for 31 years, before retiring in 2005. He continues to pursue art in retirement. His most recent project involves interpreting the folk tales of Novgorod, the oldest city in Russia, with art, music and poetry.
Darrow had little formal musical training � some childhood piano lessons he didn�t care for � but after retirement he began composing songs in his head. Those songs evolved into other forms of art.
�The songs I was creating sounded Slavic so I read a Slavic mythology book, �Forest of the Vampire.� Then I read Russian fairy tales and thought I could write better ones. I wrote about six fairy tales and set them to music,� he explained. �Russian fairy tales are told orally or with song and so my plays are Russian byliny (a style of epic, narrative poem). I painted song paintings inspired by the Russian artist Marc Chagall. Later I sculpted figures from mythology and my own characters.�
At the suggestion of fellow artist Elaine Verstraete, also an FLCC adjunct faculty member, he made puppets to tell his stories as well. Darrow�s new book, �Witches, Wolves and Water Spirits: Slavic Poems of Novgorod,� was published this past summer and features the lyrics, songs and song paintings of his own fairy tales. The FLCC exhibition will feature the paintings, and some puppets and sculptures he created for these poems.
In 2009, Darrow�s work took on new life when he learned of an exchange between Rochester, celebrating its 175th anniversary and Novgorod, celebrating its 1150th year.
�I made up a copy of all my work and sent it with them to Novgorod. They gave it to a lady who was the head of English languages in schools. I have been emailing her since 2009 and sending her my work. She sometimes uses it with her classes,� he said.
As part of the exchange program, Eastman School of Music held a performance of Darrow�s song �Novgorod.�
�This year they hope to do two more, �Fear Baba Yaga� and �Koljada Season,� with a children's choir,� he added.
The exhibit runs through Jan. 24. Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The gallery will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday Wednesday, Nov. 27, and reopen Monday, Dec. 2.
For more information, contact Barron Naegel, gallery director, at (585) 785-1369 or email@example.com.
FLCC alumnus exhibit explores Slavic fairy tales
HOPEWELL � An exhibit opening Nov. 21 at Finger Lakes Community College will feature the art, poetry and music of alumnus Rand Darrow, who has explored the themes and images of Slavic fairy tales.


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The oil market has been in a bubble stage for a decade. With skewed oil prices sending inaccurate market signals to producers and consumers, a demand imbalance has developed, which is about to result in a major correction. Unlike the dot-com and real estate bubbles, the economy may benefit when this bubble bursts. The U.S. government should adopt policies to help push oil prices down, and keep them low for the remainder of the decade.
A market economy is cyclical. Timely central bank intervention, gradually raising interest rates in expansions and easing in downturns, helps smooth its natural cyclicality and prevent overheating and severe imbalances. Over the past century, the typical expansion lasted some four years, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, followed by a recession averaging about 12 months.
Over the past decade and a half, however, the economy stopped being cyclical and has been characterized instead by successive asset price bubbles. Bubbles have been seen in high-tech, real estate, government bonds and gold, to name a few. They have been popping regularly, and the largest, when deflated, triggered economic slumps. After the market for mortgage-backed securities collapsed, the world economy suffered the worst recession since the 1930s. A solid economic recovery has not materialized. On the contrary, other bubbles have deflated in the aftermath of the subprime mortgage debacle. In 2010, the euro-zone government debt bubble burst, and we're still dealing with its consequences. Meanwhile, regional bubbles are starting to pop in China, India and Brazil.
The oil bubble seems to be next in line. After setting a price record for winter in February, at $110 per barrel, oil shed a quarter of its value by mid-year.
Oil prices have been remarkably steady throughout history. For nearly a century starting in 1870s oil traded steadily at $15-30 per barrel measured in 2010 dollars. The 20th century saw dramatic economic growth, invention of the automobile, development of aviation, mechanization of the armed forces and advent of electricity. It was also an age of political upheavals, wars and the twilight of European colonial empires. World oil consumption went from under 2 million barrels per day (mbd) to nearly 60 mbd during this period.
In the 1970s, when all commodities experienced their first major bubble, analysts predicted that oil would be depleted by 2000. But oil production has grown to around 80 mbd by 2011, and so-called peak oil (a point at which world production reaches its peak before starting to fall off) has been pushed further into the future. But even if we could calculate the exact year when the last drop of oil comes out of the last oil well, there is no reason why today's oil prices should be affected. Even though we know that the Rolling Stones will eventually stop performing and its members will die, their concert tickets don't get any more expensive.
Rising demand for oil, especially from China, was a factor in pushing oil prices higher before 2008. Oil demand from developing countries rose by 15 mbd since 2000. Over the past four years, however, new demand has been partially offset by a 5 mbd decline in demand from rich countries. The oil price rally since 2008, and especially its peaks in early 2012, is indicative of the bubble stage. Moreover, recent price records came against the background of a weakening world economy.
Distorted Message
Bubbles are dangerous because they distort markets. Unreasonably high prices send a wrong message to all market players. Inflating real estate values in the U.S. prior to 2008 encouraged people to buy homes with no money down and huge mortgages, on hopes they would build up equity quickly. Banks were happy to lend on a similar assumption. Meanwhile, homebuilders were inundating the market with fresh supply, overwhelming demand.
The oil bubble has had a similar dynamic. Different players have made decisions based on oil at $100 per barrel or higher. First, investment in upstream oil production rose. New deposits were discovered, technologies developed to extract oil from shale and deep underwater and more efficient production methods introduced. Canada is a good example. Its shale sand oil, the third largest oil reserves in the world behind Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, has only recently become recoverable. Last year, Alberta produced 1.6 mbd from oil sands, and output is forecast to reach 5 mbd by 2030. Brazil is making a massive investment into offshore oil production. It now produces 2.6 mbd, a tenfold increase over 30 years, and its national oil company, Petrobras, expects to pump some 6 mbd by 2020.
Another group of players are alternative fuel producers. Ethanol may be a non-starter (and the cut in federal subsidies last year triggered output cuts), but natural gas and coal liquefaction may prove viable, especially as new technologies are developed and plants are built around the world.
Consumers, meanwhile, have responded to overpriced oil the way Economics 101 says they would: by cutting oil use. New energy-efficient technologies have been developed and both companies and individuals have been hard at work to reduce consumption. Walmart, the world's largest retailer with over 8,000 department stores worldwide, has invested $500 million into energy saving. After the 1970s oil crisis, per capita oil consumption around the world fell from 5.5 barrels annually, to 4.5 barrels, where it has stayed since. In the U.S., the use of oil products per unit of GDP (which measures energy efficiency) was steady through mid-1970s, and since then has declined by half. In China, a similar process is underway.
Finally, oil producers have become hooked on petrodollars, importing foreign goods and starting white elephant projects. Russia, which vies with Saudi Arabia as the world's largest producer, can now balance its budget only if oil prices stay around $100 per barrel. It exported some $300 billion worth of oil last year and, if oil prices tank, it will likely start pumping oil all-out in order to capture more revenue.
A Soft Market
Demand for oil, then, is softening because the global economy is weakening and consumers are reducing their oil use on a more lasting basis, even as greater supply is coming on line, from projects begun before 2008 and from producers eager to protect their market shares.
Oil prices are set by futures markets and therefore fluctuate with traders' psychology, speculation and liquidity. That means oil prices tend to overshoot. Just as they rocketed prior to 2008 and again in early 2012, driven by rising demand as well as various political concerns and fears, so a softening demand could push oil even below its long-term inflation-adjusted equilibrium price range of around $20-40 per barrel.
It happened in the mid-1990s (when the world was growing rapidly and the U.S. had full employment). It could happen again. But, unlike the popping of previous speculative bubbles, if the oil bubble bursts, the consumer sector is likely to benefit. In the U.S. in particular, the process of deleveraging after the excesses of the early years of the 21st century has been taking shape. If consumers spend less to gas up their cars and heat their homes, they could unleash their pent-up demand at shopping malls.
The U.S. government should encourage lower oil prices. Domestic oil production has been on the rise, in particular in North Dakota, where output quadrupled since 2008 and now accounts for some 10% of total U.S. oil output of 6.25 mbd. There should be more tax incentives for "drill, baby, drill," at least in the short term, but it should be balanced by continued incentives for oil alternatives. Saving energy should also be a priority. The U.S. lags behind Europe's average of over 40 miles per gallon, but by 2015 its own automotive fleet should achieve at least 35 miles per gallon.
The auto industry should not be the only sector where energy-use standards are mandated. There should be requirements to make homes more energy-efficient and to build "green" houses that use only 10% of the energy used in conventional dwellings. This could not only result in major energy savings but give a boost to the U.S. construction industry.
Alexei Bayer is an economist and author based in New York City.


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Ontario and Quebec's wealthiest residents could profit from doing a little tax planning over the next month to minimize the impact of tax increases set to ring in the new year, but they're not the only ones who can benefit from an early strategy.
The marginal tax rates on interest and dividends will increase for Ontario residents earning more than $500,000 and Quebecers making at least $100,000 by an average two percentage points. Increases on capital gains for those earners will increase by 0.8 of a percentage point in Ontario and 0.9 of a percentage point in Quebec.
The most savvy of these top earners can save thousands of dollars by acting before Dec. 31 to exercise stock options or take advantage of opportunities to accelerate bonuses before the new rates kick in, experts say.
Business owners may want to take dividends out of their companies this year, while those receiving severance should try to have payments delayed until 2013.
For those high-income earners, up to $240 of tax can be saved for each $10,000 of income that is accelerated or deductions that are deferred, says Jamie Golombek, managing director of tax and estate planning for CIBC Private Wealth Management.
The tax increases on the wealthy affect less than five per cent of Canadians, but everyone should examine their tax-saving options as mere weeks remain in the year, he said.
"Those rules all apply in general if you think that your income is going to be higher next year and you are going to be in a higher tax bracket," he said in an interview.
Options include deferring expenses to offset higher income next year.
Mr. Golombek said many Canadians drag their heels about tax planning especially as the holiday season rolls around. But failing to heed the deadline could cause people to miss opportunities for tax savings.
"A lot of things have to be done now to be able to get the benefit next spring when you file your return and the biggest mistake is doing nothing."
For the average taxpayer, the biggest tax-saving opportunity is probably to sell poorly performing stock held outside RRSPs and apply the loss against gains from winning stocks.
However, all sale transactions must be done before Dec. 24 to be settled by year-end. The losses can be used against gains over the past three years or carried forward indefinitely.
Tax-loss selling could be attractive to investors of companies such as Research in Motion, Bombardier and SNC-Lavalin, whose shares have dropped in the past year.
H&R Block's senior tax analyst said tax-loss selling is becoming more popular, with interest in the tactic growing about five per cent this year.
"I think people are really starting to understand that there are some benefits to having that, especially when you have a roller coaster year on the markets," Cleo Hamel said in an interview.
Astute investors could sell weak shares and buy them back after 90 days to avoid triggering a "superficial loss."
But Adrian Mastracci says such strategies rarely work and investors should simply get rid of underperforming stocks they no longer have faith in.
"In my mind, don't catch a falling knife and don't get emotionally attached to something. If it's got to go, let it go, there's plenty of other stocks in this world," said the portfolio manager of KCM Wealth Management in Vancouver.
The year-end deadline also applies to making payments such as medical expenses, paying financial advisers, safety deposit box charges, child-care fees, spousal support, prescribed loans for income splitting, converting RRSPs to RRIFs for those who turned 71 and making contributions to receive grants for Registered Education Savings Plans (RESP).
Expenses for children's sports and arts classes in 2013 can be prepaid if parents haven't reached the maximum $500 limit in 2012.
Charitable donations must currently be made by year-end, although a private member's bill has proposed giving taxpayers until March 1 to align the donation timetable with RRSPs.
Business owners can take advantage of Boxing Day sales and also write off a half year of depreciation by purchasing computers and other equipment in 2012.
Canadians who seek help from financial advisers are most likely to take the year-end deadline seriously, but only 30 per cent of taxpayers planned to do something over the next few weeks to help their 2012 tax returns, suggests a survey sponsored by H&R Block.
The Leger Marketing survey found that Canadians at least 55 years of age are the most likely not to do anything, while men are more likely to take action than women as are university graduates.
Tax planning is greatest on the Prairies (63 per cent) and lowest in Quebec, the Atlantic Provinces and Alberta (around 49 per cent).
About 56 per cent of Canadians only think about their tax returns when filing their returns or have a transaction with tax implications, with interest falling as income decreases.
The online survey of 1,502 Canadians was conducted Oct. 29-31 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20. The polling industry's professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.


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"Shakespeare's plays have had many offshoots. Gertrude and Claudius, though, stands in a class of its own: a superlative homage from one imaginative veteran to another."—The Sunday Times (London)
"[A] pearl of a book . . . a game for real stakes . . . Updike has used Shakespeare to write a free-standing, pleasurable, and wonderfully dexterous novel about three figures in complex interplay."—The New York Times Book Review
"A living, powerfully physical work . . . Updike is a superbly skillful writer."—The Wall Street Journal


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Berkeley High Opens Scheduling Meetings to Public
Berkeley High School will allow the public to participate in meetings held by a committee charged with planning a new schedule for the high school, Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Bill Huyett said Tuesday.
The first public forum will be held today, Thursday, May 28, at the Berkeley High School Library, giving parents a chance to ask questions about the process, Huyett said.
The Scheduling Committee was formed in April under direction from the Berkeley Board of Education, when the board approved an organizational redesign for the high school at the beginning of the year.
This overhaul—which will introduce advisory programs for smaller learning environments, a new small school, new bell schedules and late-start Mondays geared toward teacher development—is part of the citywide 2020 Vision program, which seeks to close the achievement gap in Berkeley's public schools. The changes would be implemented for the 2010-11 school year.
A report by San Francisco-based School Wise Press shows Berkeley Unified as having the highest achievement gap in the state.
Huyett said the decision to include community members in these scheduling meetings was made by Berkeley High Principal Jim Slemp after the Scheduling Committee's May 13 meeting in response to parent concerns.
Now, "anyone can participate," Superintendent Huyett said. "Of course, the committee will need to do its work and come up with a schedule, but it will be a participatory process."
A group of parents, including Berkeley High Parent, Teacher and Student Association President Mark van Krieken, had complained about the lack of transparency and parental involvement in the redesign process. They had said during the formation of the scheduling committee—essentially the second phase of the redesign—that despite promises from Berkeley High administration about a more open approach in the future, school officials were still leaving parents out of the process.
In a letter to PTSA members Tuesday, May 26, van Krieken described the recent development as "good news."
"We would like to thank the principal and superintendent for making the process more open for the BHS community," he said. "It's much appreciated."
Van Krieken informed parents that from now on, all meetings organized by the scheduling committee will be announced in advance, and that the minutes and agendas from the first three meetings had been posted on the Berkeley High website.
The committee will be looking at various different scheduling models over the summer and will submit a proposal to the board in the fall, Huyett said.
Although the high school had initially been interested in pursuing a block schedule, under Huyett's recommendation the board told school officials to investigate a different schedule from the current six-period model, which would incorporate more courses annually and provide time for advisory programs and academic support.
Van Krieken also said that he was pleased with the diversity on the 14-member committee, which is comprised of Huyett, Slemp, district Director of Student Evaluation and Assessment Rebecca Cheung and several parents and teachers.
Cathy Campbell, president of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, said she was hopeful that a more "open transparent process would benefit everyone.'
"The last time some people were surprised because they saw the end of the process and missed the earlier part," Campbell said. "As a result they were not aware of the urgency, the intricacy of some of the problems. But this time, with more information out there, even if they don't agree with whatever decision the school board makes, at least the process will get more support."
The public forum on Berkeley High's schedule changes for the 2010-11 school year will be held today, Thursday, May 28, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Berkeley High School library.
• The agendas and minutes of the Scheduling Committee's first three meetings can be found on the Berkeley High website at bhs.berkeley.net/index.php? page=berkeley-high-redesign-plan, and on the PTSA website at bhs.berkeleypta. org/docs/ redesign/redesign.htm.


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As a part of my research, I need to achieve a lower bound to the smallest singular value, $\sigma_{n}(A+A^{T})$ for a stochastic $A$ (as a function of the singular values of $A$), which is generally not Hermitian.
I am aware of the upper bounds (due to Weyl and Fan) and of the fact that for general $\sigma_{i}(A+B)$ no lower bound is known. Do you see a way?
Thank you.
Edit: A can be considered a power of a lazy row stochastic matrix. I.e., $A=P^k$ for some strongly diagonally dominant row stochastic $P$.


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Now showing items 1-3 of 3
Recovery and survival from aging-associated diseases.
(Exp Gerontol, 2013-08)
OBJECTIVES: Considering disease incidence to be a main contributor to healthy lifespan of the US elderly population may lead to erroneous conclusions when recovery/long-term remission factors are underestimated. Using two ...
Age patterns of incidence of geriatric disease in the U.S. elderly population: Medicare-based analysis.
(J Am Geriatr Soc, 2012-02)
OBJECTIVES: To use the Medicare Files of Service Use (MFSU) to evaluate patterns in the incidence of aging-related diseases in the U.S. elderly population. DESIGN: Age-specific incidence rates of 19 aging-related diseases ...
Morbidity risks among older adults with pre-existing age-related diseases.
(Exp Gerontol, 2013-12)
Multi-morbidity is common among older adults; however, for many aging-related diseases there is no information for U.S. elderly population on how earlier-manifested disease affects the risk of another disease manifested ...


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SHOW Opening Party | Every Friday
at Pacha
Music: Electro & Hits
18+ Party Bring your ID
Dress Code: Dress to Impress
Location: Barcelona
Face to the sea and the beach, on Vila Olimpica district, you can find the most famous nightclub in Barcelona: Pacha. Two dancefloors, a young and cosmopomitan atmosphere, local and international famous DJs and high-end sound system make of this club a classic of Barcelona's nightlife. Is hard for us to talk about the music or the vibes at Pacha, because it changes depending on the speacial artists coming or on the day of the week. In general the resident DJ plays Hits and House and the atmosphere is chic and casual. Exceptions? Every wednesday Pacha hosts the biggest Hip Hop party in Barcelona (Pop That Party) and every sunday they organize techno parties that become vibes a litlle bit "underground".


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Tech Support
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This site is under going reconstruction. Please bear with us while we make improvements.
MCF Software's MacRADIUS(tm) Authentication Server is an Internet-standard RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service) server with the intuitive operation and ease-of-administration of a Macintosh application, and provides administrators of remote access networks with a no-hassle solution for centralized authentication. Unlike Unix-based RADIUS servers that require an administrator to modify and compile source code, MacRADIUS comes ready to run.
MacRADIUS lets you consolidate all of the user account information from many network access server (NAS) devices in a single place. When a call comes in, the network access server sends an "access request" to MacRADIUS, presenting the dial-in user's credentials and asking MacRADIUS if it is OK to let the person calling use the net. MacRADIUS looks up the user in its database, checks the credentials, and, if all is in order, sends back an "access accept" containing the user's "connection profile", including information about the network resources the dial-in user is allowed to use.
In addition to authentication service, MacRADIUS also provides a single place for NAS devices to send operational information, such as who is connected to what port, and how long a session has lasted. This service is called "RADIUS accounting", and the information gathered can be used to track resource usage or generate bills for network service.
MacRADIUS also adds a group capability that allows an administrator to apply a common set of RADIUS attributes to multiple users by making them members of a group that has those attributes. Attributes not defined for the group can still be applied individually to those users. This way, network-wide criteria can be administered at the group level, while individual criteria, such as passwords, can be applied individually.
Because MacRADIUS is based on the Internet-standard protocol for authentication, it can work compatibly with NAS devices from a wide range of vendors, supporting all types of dial-in client computers.
MCF Software's MacRADIUS delivers all the power and flexibility of the RADIUS protocol with Macintosh ease of use.
Easy to install, configure and manage
High performance
Service and support


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Proxy Voting Fact Sheet (March 2012)
- Authors:
Publication Date:
March 2012
This edition of the Proxy Voting Fact Sheet contains a snapshot of the most relevant proxy season data for Russell 3000 companies that held annual general meetings (AGMs) between January 1 and February 29, 2012. The analysis includes:
- Annual general meeting volume.
- Shareholder proposal volume, topics, sponsorship, and voting results.
- Results of shareholder votes on management say-on-pay proposals.
Aggregate data on shareholder proposals are examined and segmented based on business industry. In addition, to highlight differences between small and large companies, findings in the Russell 3000 sample are compared with those on issuers that, at the time of their AGMs, were in the S&P 500.
Support Our Work


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Easily Deal With Auto Repair With This Advice.
Does your car need to be fixed? You know how stressful it can be to have a car that is not working properly. You might also feel immobilized occasionally over choosing the right course of action. What do you do? Read further to gain knowledge regarding all of your auto repair needs.
Don't underestimate how important it is to keep an emergency kit inside your car. You need tools to change a flat tire, charge a battery, and you must have spare gas. You may also want to add some batteries, a flashlight and a few blankets in the event that you break down at night.
Prior to handing over your keys, be sure you have a good idea of the repair cost. If you don't understand something, ask questions until you do. Don't be surprised with extra costs when the car has been fixed.
Speak with a repair shop's technician if you wish to figure out what kinds of cars they've worked on in the past. A mechanic who has experience with the make and model you are driving will be able to diagnose issues quickly.
It is a good idea to familiarize yourself well with your car's manual. This will help you speak intelligently to a technician about your car when it is time to take it in. You can even find that reading the manual can help you fix the issue.
Check online for reviews of local mechanics. This gives you an idea regarding the public's view of the particular service and lets you know who and where you should avoid. Use this information to choose a good shop.
Before paying for repairs done on your car, test drive it to make sure it runs well. Many people don't do this, and the car ends up with the same issues that were supposed to be repaired.
Be wary of mechanics that try and make unnecessary repairs to your car. Make sure that you give your approval first before a repair is done. A mechanic who has performed this practice should never be patronized again.
Remove valuable things from your car prior to taking it in to get fixed. The mechanic might need to move these things so they can do the job, and they won't assume responsibility if anything comes up missing. You want to remove items from your trunk also.
Check to see that your technician knows what he is doing. If they beat around the bush and act shifty, they may not be the one you want to work with. Make sure that you trust the person that you are working with.
Make sure any mechanic you hire knows about your particular vehicle. There are certain specifics which he needs to know before doing any repairs. If you are not sure, spend the extra money and go to an authorized dealer.
If you have something major that needs to be done by someone at a shop, you have to be sure you get more than just a single price. Most mechanical shops are trustworthy, but others may try to slip in little extras which quickly add up. Try and locate a shop that specializes in servicing your particular type of car. These mechanics will most likely be more experienced in fixing your kind of car.
Doing repairs on your own can be hazardous. Have a person close by to help if an emergency occurs. Buy only the highest quality tools that will last and not break under pressure. This is particularly important for tools that you use to change your tires. A good quality jack is very important, particularly since you will be under the vehicle. This is the reason why you should use a reliable hydraulic floor jack equipped with the right jack stands.
Finding the right solution to your auto repair needs is as simple as following the tips in the guide that has been explained to you. It is wise to continue learning more, of course. You should now feel more comfortable about handling your auto repair needs.


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Top flight deals to Tulsa (TUL)*
Kuala Lumpur(KUL)toTulsa(TUL)
Fly to Tulsa with KLM
Thanks to our global network, we offer flights to Tulsa, serving Tulsa International Airport (TUL) from hundreds of destinations worldwide. As KLM Royal Dutch Airlines we proudly serve over 150 destinations worldwide and over 500 destinations with our partner network. So sit back and let us take you where you need to go!
Top Tulsa attractions
- Philbrook Museum of Art: an extensive art museum in the historic home of Waite and Genevieve Phillips with expansive formal gardens, showcasing 9 collections of art from all over the world, and spanning various artistic media and styles.
- Gilcrease Museum: a museum dedicated to western Americana, displaying the world's largest, most comprehensive collection of art of the American West, as well as a growing collection of art and artefacts from Central and South America.
- Woody Guthrie Center: a famous public museum and archive dedicated to the life and legacy of American folk musician and singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie.
- The Cave House: a quirky building and museum originally built in the 1920s, full of history, hauntings and hair-raising stories.
- The Golden Driller: a mammoth 23-metre-tall (75 foot), 19.750-kg (43.500-pound) statue of an oil worker, and the fifth-tallest statue in the United States.
What's the best way to get around Tulsa?
The city's public transport system, Tulsa Transit, operates a few bus lines that cover the city centre but the sometimes infrequent schedules can make other transport options more attractive. Honestly the best way to experience Tulsa is with a rental car. The grid layout of Tulsa makes it easy to navigate and there are currently 8 major rental companies available at the airport.
What's the weather like in Tulsa?
Make the trip to Tulsa in July if you want to experience the best of the summer sun and an average temperature of 28°C (83°F). Don't forget to pack your sunscreen and as the Tulsa sun can raise the heat to a scorching 34°C (93°F)!
Weather in Tulsa
Powered by: OpenWeatherMap.org
31 °CFriday14/08/2020
33 °CSaturday15/08/2020
29 °CSunday16/08/2020
30 °CMonday17/08/2020
29 °CTuesday18/08/2020
29 °CWednesday19/08/2020
31 °CThursday20/08/2020
*All amounts are in MYR. Taxes and carrier surcharges included. No booking fee applicable (credit card surcharge may apply).


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Female • 31 weeks
Puppy ID #628620
DOB December 2, 2019
Available I'm ready today!
Color Red Merle
Mom's Weight 12 - 14 lbs
Dad's Weight 9 - 10 lbs
Registry UABR
Variety Miniature
4/4 steps complete
Bonded with Mom
Old Enough
Weighs Enough
Australian Shepherds are the ultimate working dogs. Actually not from Australia, as one might rationally conclude, these pups grew in popularity as herding dogs because of their high energy levels and impressive intellect. These dogs like to be occupied with a job to do, and excel at many activities, including herding, search and rescue, and agility. Aussies often have distinctive merle coloring and bright, striking eyes that come in a variety of colors. They are medium-sized, smart, loyal dogs and make devoted companions to active families. Read More
We do all of the 'ruff' work - screening and vetting breeders, performing health checks and coordinating travel so you can focus on what really matters: welcoming home your new furry family member! Learn more
PuppySpot will help find the right puppy for you. Search by breed or take our Breed Match Quiz to find the perfect furry friend.
Connect with your very own Puppy Concierge, who will help you find your new best friend!
A friendly Puppy Manager will help get your pup home safely! Take a peek at our pup-friendly travel options.
Congrats on your new furry family member! Don't forget to share your Wet Nose Moments on social media using #PuppySpot.
Sarah T.
Australian Shepherd
Had a very easy experience with PuppySpot and now I have my new baby!
Kelly S.
Australian Shepherd
So grateful PuppySpot connected us with our new fur baby! Getting a pup is a huge decision, and thankfully PuppySpot made the process seamless and exciting!! He arrived in great health and ready to play :) Excited for many more years with him!
Michele C.
Australian Shepherd
We were nervous about purchasing our first puppy. We wanted to make sure we had a healthy puppy from a responsible breeder. We researched and found Puppy Spot. We could not be happier. They were very helpful in choosing a puppy and very communicative once we made our choice. Communication was definitely important given we made our choice during the Covid-19 pandemic. We love our Rocco!


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I'm thinking about starting to offer commissions, but am unsure about pricing, and what kind of demand there is, if any. I know a lot of you are fellow artists with some experience in this department. What do you guys think?
And go.
Raptorbane wrote:STUFF!
Lanthroviel wrote:Raptorbane wrote:STUFF!
But, YOU do furry!
You know well that furries are the only ones who shows up the money for some reason...
Lanthroviel wrote:Anyway, not into this at all, but, do you have a place to show your art?
You know, like DeviantArt, or even [size=0]heaven forbid[/size] FA?
Cause if there's only this website, I don't think you'll find much public here except for us devious fan who if we could would've aready paid for stuff in your store :P.
Raptorbane wrote:Bright_eyes wrote:Damn it, Keydar. You make it hard to chose food over art -.-
Agatha wrote:You can try to make commissions . I am afraid , however that only things that sell those days are hentai and furry (Furry hentai is gold ) . In any case if you want to do so you should strengthen your position in deviantart and sites like it . I wish you luck whatever you decide .[/b][/i]
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests


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Scientist find Mars meteorite that could shed light on planet
GENEVA — A fist-sized meteorite, one of only 18 rocks on Earth known to have come from Mars, has been found by Swiss scientists in the Oman desert – a prize discovery that could help determine if the planet ever sustained life.
Scientists at the University of Bern announced the find Friday and said they are just beginning to examine the meteorite. Most of the other 17 Martian rocks have been snapped up by collectors, they said, so few are fully available for study.
"I suspected from the beginning that it was from Mars," said Marc Hauser, a geologist who found the gray, ridged specimen during a collecting excursion in January. "The color was different and, above all, it wasn't magnetic."
Initial conclusions could take several months.
Unusually large pockets inside the half-pound rock could provide evidence about life that is far more conclusive than American suggestions about possible fossils on an earlier meteorite found in Antarctica, Hauser told The Associated Press.
The new meteorite was named Sayh al Uhaymir 094 after the region of desert where the team found it and more than 180 other meteorites. The team, in a statement, said they were certain it would contribute to
rapidly growing knowledge of the planet.
Interest increased in 1996 after a Martian meteorite found near the South Pole, known as Allen Hills 84001, showed possible remnants of life. But such arguments "are hardly taken as solid evidence today," the research team said.
Most earlier meteorites from Mars were found in the Antarctic before scientists turned their attention to deserts in recent years.
Hauser said X-rays of the new rock had shown a surprising number of hollow pockets inside that might contain gases or atmosphere. That could offer clues about both the meteorite's history and Mars itself.
The pockets have "a much greater potential" than the rest of the rock for containing evidence of life on Mars, Hauser said.
Most of the 180 meteorites found by the team were magnetic and looked distinctive, but the Martian rock looked more like rocks from Earth and was difficult for the team to recognize as a meteorite.
The other meteorites also contained no minerals.
Hauser said the team believes the Martian meteorite is part of another one found earlier in the same area.
That first rock is in unknown private hands, as are most Martian meteorites because collectors are willing to pay $1,000 a gram for such treasures. But the team was able to obtain a small fragment of it for testing, Hauser said, and its makeup is practically identical.
The team said they and other scientists had determined their meteorite is from Mars by the nature of its minerals, measurements of its oxygen isotopes and its overall composition. They conducted analyses on both the entire rock and tiny fragments of it.
They said the rock had been formed from molten lava, similar to volcanic rocks on Earth.
Mars is the most Earth-like of all the solar system's planets, and evidence suggests both planets developed similarly during their first billion years – the period when life first appeared on Earth.
The team said recent discoveries about life on Earth in extreme environments – such as in very hot ocean springs or within porous rocks deep inside the planet's surface, support the theory that early Mars could have had environments suitable for life.
The rare Martian meteorites could be the only physical evidence available to scientists for at least 10 years, when a U.S. space probe might bring back 1.1 pounds of Martian samples "at very high costs."
Rocks from Mars start their journey toward Earth when a meteorite from elsewhere slams into the Martian surface, scattering rocks into space at high speed. They eventually make their way to Earth, sometimes after millions of years.
On the Net:
University of Bern: http://www.nmbe.ch/abtew/mars/marse.pdf
Jet Propulsion Laboratory: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/
European Space Agency: http://sci.esa.int/marsexpress


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Items where Author is "Watson, Judith"
|Up a level
Book Section
Ainley, Patrick, Watson, Judith, Yeomans, David, Smith, David and Nelson, Nick (2001) Higher education and diversity: regional learning infrastructures and student progression in the post-Dearing era. In: McNay, Ian, (ed.) Higher Education and its Communities. Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press, Buckingham, UK, pp. 122-134. ISBN 0335207340
Ainley, Patrick, Watson, Judith, Nelson, Nick, Smith, David and Yeomans, David (2001) Progression in and from further education: some problems for an integrated system of lifelong learning. In: Coffield, F., (ed.) What progress are we making with lifelong learning? The evidence from research. Department of Education, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, UK, pp. 77-86. ISBN 070170120X


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Know more about this business than we do? Cool! Please submit any corrections or missing details you may have.Help us make it right
Be the first OregonLive.com user to add photos or videos of Scappoose Cafe
Scappoose Cafe is located at 33466 Havlik Dr, Scappoose, OR. This business specializes in Cafes.


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Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's bodyguards, secretary go before grand jury
Dominick Sciulli, Matthew Gauntner, Melissa Demme appear at federal courthouse
Two of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's city police bodyguards went before a federal grand jury on Wednesday morning, as did his personal secretary.
Pittsburgh police sergeants Dominick Sciulli and Matthew Gauntner and Melissa Demme each entered the grand jury room individually at the federal courthouse downtown. It's unknown what was asked of them or what they said inside.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Cessar was seen leaving at about 11:30 a.m. He was asked if they were done, and he nodded.
Ravenstahl's spokeswoman, Marissa Doyle, said the mayor's office had "no information" to share. She said Demme was at work earlier in the morning.
Later, Ravenstahl issued this statement: "Since the beginning of this process, my administration has cooperated fully with authorities. I intend for that practice to continue with any future inquiries, and I look forward to the revelation of all the facts."
Acting Police Chief Regina McDonald had no comment. She said Gauntner and Sciulli are still working -- Gauntner in Zone 5 and Sciulli as Ravenstahl's bodyguard.
Sciulli and Gauntner were given access to debit cards that could tap into an account at the Greater Pittsburgh Police Federal Credit Union for personal expenses when they accompanied Ravenstahl on travel outside the city.
The use of those cards came into question during the investigation of former Police Chief Nate Harper, who's now under a federal indictment and plans to plead guilty, according to his lawyer.
In February, Ravenstahl said he was not a target of an investigation when he appeared at a news conference to announce Harper's forced resignation.


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I can't wait to try this recipe! Thank you for sharing it.
Hit Up Your Grandma's Cookbooks for Frugal Cooking Ideas
There are many families that share generational cooking traditions as a long standing family tradition. Since there are many families that are also feeling the pinch of the recession while still working hard to keep food on the table, now may be the perfect time to go back and look at grandma's recipes.
Taking an adventure of my own over the weekend, I found many hand-me-down recipes from one family member to another includes basic ingredients and a little bit of elbow grease. Just browsing through some of my personal favorite dishes of all time, it occurred to me that they were some of the best foods I had ever eaten and in reality, very cheap to make. Since I was never the cook of the family, I really had no idea what it took to create the scrumptious concoctions I grew up eating but now that I have my own family who are getting sick of the same old things, it was refreshing to go back in time and find the recipes for some old family favorites.
Perhaps instead of spending time online or paging through magazines to find something new for dinner, find your family recipe books. You may be surprised to learn how your ancestors were able to pull together some hearty meal on a budget even tighter than most of our families face today. Stocking your pantry with basic ingredients leaves you prepared to create nearly any meal for only a few dollars. It also can help you find healthier meals to prepare instead of the expensive, pre-made store bought processed foods.
If you are blessed to still have family members around to consult with, take some time and go over some of the recipe books that have been passed through the generations. Having the opportunity to not only jot down your own recipe cards from loved ones but to also share some family-inspired memories is a gift that will last a lifetime and can mean more than anything when those loved ones are no longer around.
Here is one example of my favorite holiday and any time side dish – filling. It's stick-to-your-ribs delicious and I celebrate my dad every time we eat this dish!
Big Jim's Famous Filling
- 2 loaves of stale bread
- 2 cans of chicken broth
- 2 eggs
- 3 large carrots
- 2 stalks of celery
- 2 small or 1 large onion
- Butter for saute and additional 4 pats for filling
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x13 pan. Chop carrots, celery, and onion into small pieces. Saute in enough butter until soft. Let cool. Tear up bread into pieces. Mix bread, broth and eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix in cooled carrots, celery and onions with bread mixture. Mix well together. (Works best to mix with your hands.). Smooth out mixture into greased pan. Place pats of butter on top of mixture. Place in oven for 30-45 minutes. Enjoy!!
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Wow, I've never heard this called "filling" before, only "stuffing" and "dressing." A recipe like this is better than store-bought because you can make adjustments such as using whole-grain breads or adjusting the sodium (with low-sodium broth and bread).
Thanks for stopping by! You will understand why it is called "filling" once you eat it for dinner! I hope you'll let me know if you like it! Give a toast to big Jim for me!
Thanks for the great post, and the recipe. Can't wait to try it. My grandmother used to clip out recipes from newspapers and magazines and then paste them into a notebook. I'll have to ask her if I can see some of her old recipes. I'm also particularly fond of old cookbooks put together by church groups. They always have such a great collection of frugal family-style recipes.
Thanks again,
ShoppingThrifty.com - Ideas for Frugal Living
What a neat recipe, and a great idea. My father told me his mother would mix stale bread into warmed milk or warmed milk and coffee.
Old cookbooks from the depression era can provide a lot of interesting recipes and reading as well.
I love to cook and because I'm a student, then I really like things that have multiple uses, or are durable and good, or different. Whenever I go to a garage sale or tag sale or flea market, I love browsing through old cookbooks especially when their original owner(s) earmarked pages or wrote in notes. I think it would be great to get a book that had say 101 Favorite Classic Family Recipes all made from those old family recipes and cookbooks. Don't you? I mean, they were just made differently than the box mixes and prepared and semi-prepared or totally frozen stuff we get today, you know?
Recognizing we were spending too much of the food budget on prep foods to get classic dishes my grandmother used to make, I finally invested in the re-issuance of the original 1950 Betty Crocker cookbook (the same book grandma used). Although it was the most expensive cookbook I ever bought ($38) it has well paid for itself many times over. Instead of Tuna Helper, tastless mac-n'-cheese, or pricey "cream of" soup you can make it all from scratch using simple butter, flour, salt, pepper (and grated cheese if appropriate). There is NO cream in "cream of" soup! If you ever come across an pre-1950's cookbook from Betty Crocker or another major cookbook publisher at a yard sale, grab it! The 1950's are just before publishers "went commercial" and started altering recipes to state "use a box of X mix" or "open a can of X" (forcing you to buy their overpriced prep products).
That sounds like a strata recipe. Great dinner/brunch meal. All it takes is stale bread, eggs, some form of liquid (milk or broth) and whatever leftovers you have on hand.
Just like Mama used to make. Guaranteed. In fact, this is Mom's old meatloaf recipe. Quick, economical and good: this was always a winner. I must have enjoyed this dish a hundred times while growing up. Mom 89 still makes it. It's been a favorite of her eighteen month old great grandson since he grew teeth enough to chew it.
Mom understood home economics. Her recipe used half a can of mushroom soup, so we could count on another half can recipe in a day or two. If it was Thursday, there'd be tuna casserole on Friday—a mainstay in Catholic households at that time. Otherwise, we might luck out with one of her fabulous mushroom omelets.
1 egg
1/2 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup oat meal
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Beat the egg in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly using your hands.
Put the mixture into a loaf pan. Form it into a loaf—not touching the sides of the pan. Bake for 1 hour.
Adapted from The Champagne Taste/Beer Budget Cookbook


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Joined: 30 Jan 2016
Posts: 2
Location: Isle Of Skye
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 16 9:41 pm Post subject: welcome
I`m a healer that has escaped to the isle of skye with his family looking to swap, buy, sell share and share alike anything to do with self sustainability, permaculture, growing lots of things, land management, woods, good food and happy people.
Downsizer Moderator
Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42080
Location: North Devon
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 16 9:55 pm Post subject:
Welcome aboard.
Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 38196
Location: yes
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 16 10:12 pm Post subject:
hello skye is a wonderful place but make sure you are well padded if you decide to use the cioch slabs as a slide and watch out for the leap if you do the ridge,it is wider than it looks ,jump then rope the bags over or better still climb down and up again.
re all the other stuff you have found the right place .(even if we can be a bit moany sometimes we are real and what you see online is just how we are in person, tis hard to fake being as odd and well informed and kind as the folk i have met here
Joined: 01 Dec 2009
Posts: 2153
Location: All over the South West
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 16 11:29 pm Post subject:
Hello from Devon
Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 12085
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 16 8:22 am Post subject:
Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35931
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 16 10:40 am Post subject:
Hello from Somerset
I do healing, too. It's a contentious subject round here, discussion can get very robust
Joined: 30 Jan 2016
Posts: 2
Location: Isle Of Skye
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 16 11:50 am Post subject:
Hi All
Thanks for the welcome, please excuse if the posts are a bit patchy still figuring out how to use the page for posting took me 6 attempts last time to find the submit button kept jumping to forum to post til i figured out the button was right at the bottom of the page not sure if your allowed but here is a link to our project page
and you can see what we are facing, Healing is contentious everywhere, more so now than 25 ears ago, after 30 years of the following as an example I`m doing much less.
Client "I am am out of options and in dire trouble with my health so now I will use you"
Healer "no surprise their then"
Client "oh surprise, shock, horror, momentary intense gratitude, I am surprised it worked so spectacularly and I am transformed, but wait mustn't tell anyone or stand up for healers it is to controversial, best keep it quiet don`t want to bring opprobrium down on my head, is a £10.00 donation all right you don`t charge do you ?, but you will be ok won`t you if I need to come back ?
Healer "of course" (privately "not really we are a dying breed and soon will be invisible replaced by healer wannabees who have no clue" I say all this based on 30 years experience of leaving cardiologists, nurses, parents and clients stunned, blown away, momentarily grateful and then simultaneously horrified at what they have just witnessed - such as brain dead girl being brought back to life with 4 skull fractures and left with no permanent brain damage blah blah blah forgive the "moan" but I have all but given up healing in western society, Healers are the last group that are both simultaneously sought out, then shunned, belittled and ignored by to many when they are finished with them - hence the move to skye. I wrote the National Guidelines for Healers in conjunction with govt agencies back in the day when real healers were more visible so I have plenty of experience. Hence the return to the land and a better life.
Joined: 13 Aug 2006
Posts: 35931
Location: The Hive of the Uberbee, Quantock Hills, Somerset
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 16 12:09 pm Post subject:
I joined the NFSH in the mid 1990s and was a member for years. I stopped practising because I started struggling with depression. I'm moving back toward it now, but I don't think I'll ever do any more than occasional sessions. If the work is meant to come, it will come.
Skye sounds nice. Windier than Somerset, I should think
Mistress Rose
Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 12085
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 16 8:04 am Post subject:
Although I trained in science and have worked as an engineer, I believe that some people have the power of healing. To my mind there is nothing 'unscientific' about it; it is just something we don't understand. Perhaps one day we will, perhaps not.
Joined: 19 Apr 2007
Posts: 21298
Location: Ynys Môn
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 16 5:44 pm Post subject:
Time to leave methinks.
Joined: 20 Nov 2008
Posts: 15385
Location: Today I are mostly being in Yorkshire.
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 16 8:50 pm Post subject:
Considering that science has got so much going on that is blindingly inexplicable, I find it bizarre that it so vehemently rejects things that it finds inexplicable just because they are magic....
Joined: 06 Aug 2006
Posts: 8407
Location: South Cornwall
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 16 9:56 pm Post subject:
Skye is at the top of the places I want to visit.
I'm in dire need of dramatic landscape & fewer people.
Cornwall has the landscape but also to many people.
Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2123
Location: Llanfyllin area
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 16 2:08 pm Post subject:
I stayed on Skye about 30 years ago and it was fantastic-peaceful and dramatic in scenery, and the hotel was superb-the Skeabost I think it was called, and if it is still going well worth a trip to go there for the food!
Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 6965
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 16 7:29 pm Post subject:
Hi, we're down in Ayrshire, but have been on Skye doing gardening work. Lovely even in January
....although the five extra hours on the bus journey due to snow (2015) was an experience!!
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The legislature passed a $150M bond package, one of the largest in Maine history. With all the discord in Augusta, how did this happen? Does this bi-partisan solution help the Governor with his re-election? Will this help to moderate his image?
Plus, the legislature has appointed a commission to close corporate loopholes in order to balance the budget. Can they do it and what kinds of pressure will they face?
Click below to hear our political analysts Phil Harriman and Ethan Strimling discuss and analyze the above.


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If you have not already done this, please subscribe to our Free E-Newsletter by entering your email address above, and you will be sent an email, to which you need to respond to, to become a subscriber.
We send out emails about once a month, to let you know about opportunities to be involved at Glenthorne, or other events related to Natural or Historical Heritage.
Previous Email Newsletter Emails
November Enjoyment Day


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Friday, July 24, 2009
Friday TV Coverage From Indy
The action heats up as the cars and trucks begin practice and qualifying in Indy. The Sprint Cup Series is at the speedway, while the Nationwide and Camping World Trucks are at O'Reilly Raceway Park across town.
Live TV starts at 2PM with the NASCAR on ESPN originating their first Sprint Cup Series coverage of the season. This one hour practice will be covered by Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. Dave Burns, Vince Welch, Shannon Spake and Jamie Little are working the garage area.
SPEED takes over at 3PM with a thirty minute version of NASCAR Live. John Roberts hosts with Randy Pemberton and Hermie Sadler as his reporters. Steve Byrnes is up next at 3:30PM with the next Cup Series practice. Jeff Hammond and Larry McReynolds will join him with Wendy Venturini and Bob Dillner covering the garage area. Roberts will return with NASCAR Live to finish out the timeslot.
Rick Allen and Phil Parsons are up next at SPEED moves to ORP for Camping World Truck Series qualifying. The small track means starting up front is key, so this session should have lots of teams going all out for the front row. Ray Dunlap and Adam Alexander are the reporters.
At 6:30PM, NASCAR fans have a choice of two programs. SPEED offers Trackside while ESPN2 has NASCAR Now from Indy. Steve Byrnes has Larry McReynolds, Jeff Hammond and Elliot Sadler on Trackside. Guests are Joey Logano and Michael Waltrip. Allen Bestwick continues to anchor NASCAR Now with Marty Smith and Nicole Manske on-site at IMS.
This post will serve to host your comments about the Friday TV coverage from Indianapolis. TDP will be live blogging the Camping World Truck Series TV coverage on SPEED that begins at 7:30PM from ORP. To add your opinion just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting.
20 comments:
- MikeC said...
First, kudos to SPEED for filling in the gaps on the practice coverage this weekend.
Next, the best racing of the weekend will be taking place both tonight and tomorrow night at ORP. Virtually 100-minute sprints to the finish, that's usually nothing but side-by-side racing that makes for good television. These are 2 of my favorite races of the entire season.
- July 24, 2009 at 10:18 AM
- West Coast Diane said...
Just read an article on 4wide.com (thks JD, new site for me) regarding 19 yr old Caitlin Shaw making her debut with Red Horse Racing in the Truck race.
Maybe a "feel good" story to offset all the negative stuff going on. Hope they give her a bit of coverage to learn more about her.
Just hope I'm not jinxing her by mentioning this. I am Dot's at home version of the "in race reporter" jinx! Anybody I start following seems to encounter strange happening from JR on down..LOL!
- July 24, 2009 at 11:59 AM
- Unknown said...
Thanks for that post Diane - always am interested in seeing the girls race - we need more in all the series.
BTW - anyone notice espn finally got to jayski.com and remade it?
- July 24, 2009 at 12:11 PM
- Rockin Rich said...
Re: BillH - 7/24/12:11PM
Yeah, I saw that early this AM. I was going to e-mail Jay, and ask whether he, or BSPN had made the change. It may have been Jay. he does like to change things around at times.
I had noticed a few days ago that he was no longer posting his "posted a gaggle/load/bucket"/etc. sayings when he had added stories.
I did like his practice of posting when he had added 2nd or more updates to the Stories page. That alerted me to scan the page for the newer stuff.
I hope it was Jay that did this. I would hate to think that he had lost artistic control of his site. I remember in the past when he had allied himself with larger sites that he made it clear that he wasn't ceding control. I believe his stay at That's Racin.com was particularly contentious.
I also think I remember him saying when he announced the BSPN deal that he would not cede content, or editorial control.
Interesting occurrence! Hpoe we hear what the scoop is.
- July 24, 2009 at 12:26 PM
- Unknown said...
"I hope it was Jay that did this. I would hate to think that he had lost artistic control of his site. "
Not sure about that - if you click over to ESPN it has the same layout / feel.
- July 24, 2009 at 1:30 PM
- Dot said...
@ WC Diane, thanks for the mention. It's true though, isn't it?
The coverage today will be setting the tone for BSPN for the rest of season. Let's hope they're on their A game.
- July 24, 2009 at 1:51 PM
- Anonymous said...
BTW - anyone notice espn finally got to jayski.com and remade it?
Been with him since the beginning...think new site is great..faster and easier...what more could you ask for??!!
- July 24, 2009 at 2:02 PM
- darbar said...
They just had breaking news that the court has ruled in favor of Nascar and Mayfield is back under suspension. He cannot be at Indy this weekend looking for rides.
- July 24, 2009 at 2:51 PM
- Dot said...
Were the tires last year at Indy practice falling apart? I don't remember when the tire issue was discovered. I'm still worried about Sunday.
When does the appeal occur for JM?
- July 24, 2009 at 3:01 PM
- darbar said...
Dot, yes, the tires were crap at practice last year, and that's why they decided to have the mandatory cautions every 10 laps.
No word on when any hearings will be held for Mayfield. But Nascar wins round three.
- July 24, 2009 at 3:06 PM
- Unknown said...
Mayfield was also on a Clt radio station this morning (WBT 1110 AM) proclaiming his innocence. They offered him a drug test. Mayfield refused. There is a link to the audio if you want it JD, I'm not going to post it.
- July 24, 2009 at 3:09 PM
- Dot said...
@ dar, thanks.
- July 24, 2009 at 3:14 PM
- bryanh said...
If JM goes to Indy, he should have to by a ticket, and sit in the stands. I would hope NASCAR will not let him the garage area. I don't remember where he was at the track where he talked to Marty Smith. It would be better if he was not allowed on the premises. He wants a pile of money from NASCAR, as his lawyers have told him he will get. I don't think he ever intended to go back racing, and if he did he would have been another S&P, if he could even qualify.
- July 24, 2009 at 3:31 PM
- Anonymous said...
MikeC said...
First, kudos to SPEED for filling in the gaps on the practice coverage this weekend.
Would be nice if they showed their own series practice sessions??!!
- July 24, 2009 at 4:05 PM
- Anonymous said...
I would rather see Cup cars then the trucks! Thanks Speed!
- July 24, 2009 at 4:26 PM
- Anonymous said...
Anonymous said...
I would rather see Cup cars then the trucks! Thanks Speed!
July 24, 2009 4:26 PM
UMMM...Thought CUP was at 2pm on ESPN,no conflict with NCWTS an SPEED
- July 24, 2009 at 4:49 PM
- Anonymous said...
Mayfield can stay home: The court re-instates the ban! A win for NASCAR:
- July 24, 2009 at 5:06 PM
- Anonymous said...
I don't think there are any winners here. Mayfield appears to have serious problems and needs help. He's hurting himself and his family much more than anyone else...which his behavior in the press is starting to show.
As for NASCAR...I believe in karma. Any effort/money they have put into this is payback for Tim Richmond.
- July 24, 2009 at 5:58 PM
- Daly Planet Editor said...
Interesting day and good TV coverage. Will update Mayfield after the truck race.
- July 24, 2009 at 6:56 PM
- Gary said...
JPM's appearance on Trackside oughta be a YouTube download hit.
Very colorful language about his recent magazine interview and cover photo.
A-whole lotta laffs!
- July 24, 2009 at 10:52 PM


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by Len Lear
Jon Myerow, who ran Pollo Rosso, a terrific restaurant in the Chestnut Hill Hotel in the 1990s for eight years, has become a wine-beer-cheese maven in the past decade at his two Tria restaurants in center city — 123 S. 18th St. in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood and 1137 Spruce St. in Washington Square West. It's been said that loitering is encouraged at both locations, usually filled with Generation Y-ers in an inexhaustible tango with the small plates, wine, cheese, beer, charcuterie and chocolates.
Anyone who runs restaurants is used to flames, but the hottest fires make the strongest steel. So Myerow and his two partners in Tria, Michael McCaulley and David Kwass, reached out across the Schuylkill River and the Walnut Street Bridge last October to light another fire with their third wine bar, Biba (from "bibere," the Latin word that means "to drink"), a cozy, small Tria cousin at 3131 Walnut St. in the Left Bank apartments.
The property, formerly a coffee shop, combines a farmhouse aura with millwork cut from a century-old redwood water tower with an industrial vibe, e.g., the stunning glass wine-storage wall humidor in the rear. There are 32 seats, many at a communal table in the middle of the room ("in a totally non-hippie, awesome way," according to one blogger) and others at the bar, a single table or at drink rails, and there are convenient hooks under the tables that hold your coats. There are 26 wines by the glass and about eight artisinal beers by the bottle. All of the seats are bar stools, so it is advisable not to lean back. There are plans to build a 12-seat outdoor patio as well.
One amazing signature must-try dish is the gratin of truffled egg with potato, wild mushrooms, spinach and fontina cheese and grilled crostini ($7), served in a hot skillet. A super combination of textures and flavors. I'd eat that dish off a flip-flop. And the bacon-roasted butternut squash with goat cheese, honey almonds and pumpkinseed oil ($5) put the "you better give this back to me after you taste it" look on my wife's face.
The cheeses are prepared and served in a way that certainly isn't fussy or overcomplicated. Just familiar flavors that sang in true harmony, two such examples being the rustic, homespun Westfield Capri goat cheese from Massachusetts ($6) and the ultra-creamy La Tur goat/sheep/cow blend that was simply moo-velous ($8.50). The cheeses are served with freshly made red beet jam, spiced pear butter, cherries and crusty bread slices. The spiced pear butter reverberated in waves of heat and sweetness. The wines by the glass are all under $10, which is good, but the portions are absurdly small, which is not.
You may wind up sitting at the communal table. Very chummy. At our drink rail, I overheard one conversation with Penn undergraduates. One funny wiseguy who is obviously working on his MBA asked rhetorically, "Why should the children in China get all of the good factory jobs, and our American kids can't get any?" The guy obviously collects one-liners like so many seashells. He also said, "When my friend Charlie got down on one knee to propose marriage to his girlfriend, it was the first time in many years that he was down on one knee and not being tasered by the police."
We expected to have extreme difficulty finding a parking spot near Biba, but the opposite turned out to be the case. We got a space right across the street for $1 in a Kiosk, and there were plenty of other empty spaces within one block. The charming Biba manager Sean Faeth said that after a basketball game at the Palestra or other major campus event, parking spaces are a lot harder to come by.
Myerow, holder of an MBA from Dartmouth College, became director of operations at Neil Stein's late Avenue B after leaving Pollo Rosso and before opening the first Tria. He still lives in nearby Lafayette Hill.
When asked a while ago by this reporter if his goal is to have a chain of Trias across the country, like McDonald's, Myerow laughed. "It took me three years to get the second Tria, so at this rate I don't think we'll quite wind up like McDonald's … Our philosophy here is straightforward. Without the distractions of cocktails or any hard liquor, we can focus on truly exceptional fermented products that are crafted by passionate artisans."
A self-described "beer geek," Myerow also runs the Tria Fermentation School at 1601 Walnut St., the city's first institute dedicated to the study of wine, cheese and beer. Students are able to learn while eating and drinking the syllabus. Classes are taught by winemakers, cheese makers, brewmasters and authors.
"Whether you're a beginner or an industry professional, these classes will help you to better understand and appreciate your love of wine, cheese and beer," said Myerow. (Fermentation is the chemical process used for the manufacture of products such as alcohol, wine and cheese through the action of yeasts, mold or bacteria. It improves the flavor, aroma and/or quality of the end product.) Tria Fermentation School has been chosen as one of "America's 50 Most Amazing Wine Experiences" by Food & Wine magazine.
For more information about the school, call 215-972-7076 or 215-972-8742, or visit www.triacafe.com
Biba has lots of special wine nights, where you get to sample and compare different types of wines, and on Monday through Thursday, 10 p.m. to midnight, all wines are $6 a glass. For more information, call 215-222-BIBA or visit www.bibawinebar.com


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Here's a bit of practical advice I recently picked up:
Have all your heart attacks in San Ramon.
This is a judgment based on government innovation. San Ramon, and its fire protection district, have pioneered an iPhone application that creates faster emergency response.
Essentially, anyone who is CPR certified signs up for the app -- and then gets a notification in the event that there's an emergency such as a heart attack nearby. With this app, good Samaritans can often get to the scene and provide aid faster than paramedics.
This is the promise of what is sometimes called Government 2.0, or the use of technology to change government in ways that allows citizens to be part of providing services, often faster, more efficiently and at lower cost.
California may be best known for its civic dysfunction, but experts in this area say that some of the state's local governments are leaders. In fact, the state's persistent budget crisis has created interest in technological solutions that allow governments to do more with less.
Of course, there are problems. There are no clear standards for measuring the success of such Gov 2.0 innovations. And in many cases, governments aren't sharing lessons from their efforts in this area.
But there's a lot going on. More details, with specific examples from governments near you, are available in new reports from the New America Foundation (full disclosure: that's the think tank where I'm a fellow, and I helped edit the report) and from the National Conference on Citizenship.
Let us know what you think. Comment below, send us your thoughts via Twitter @PropZero or add your comment to our Facebook page.


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Two things you already knew about Johnny Depp: he's talented, and he will surprise you.
And he proved both things once again while promoting his new film "The Rum Diary" at the Austin Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Following a screening of the film, Depp hit the stage at the Continental Club (which reports claim was packed to triple capacity) alongside ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Depp's former bandmate (in the band P) Bill Carter.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Depp and Carter's band (which also included Butthole Surfers frontman Gibby Haynes) played their first ever live show at the Austin Music Awards in 1993.
"The Rum Diary," based on the Hunter S. Thompson book, opens everywhere this Friday.
Selected Reading: People, Entertainment Weekly, Washington Post


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There are many more orthodox ways of putting up a gallery wall. None of which work for me.
Here's my very helter-skelter method:
First, I took several thrifted frames out to the garage and sprayed them either black, gold or white - no science there. Just guess which ones you're going to want which color - this doesn't always work and sometimes requires that you re-spray a frame black that you just sprayed white that morning.
I've ordered a 16 x 20 canvas to use as the focal point of the wall, but it hasn't come yet, so I taped four pieces of paper together to mimic the canvas and nailed it up.
Then I picked up a few other frames, eyed them and nailed them up. No measuring here.
I had great success with the first few and didn't have to re-nail any of them!
As I moved towards the window, things started to get a little tricky. I put a few frames up, stood back and decided I didn't like it much.
After inflicting much pain on my wall, I got it right.
I added a couple more frames and a cut out a paper "M" thinking I'd head to the craft store to find one to add.