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Originally produced in support of the 2016 Earth Science Week theme of "Our Shared Geoheritage," this collection of articles and images from NASA's Earth Observatory looks at over 60 of America's National Parks. Learners can explore three... (View More) facets of our parks from the vantage point of space: geology, ecology and/or cultural history. Each of the three includes an introduction and guiding questions. The articles can be used to engage and generate student interest in a related phenomenon or topic at the beginning of lessons or units, or used throughout as supplemental activities. The "Educators" link at the top of each section provides additional strategies and suggestions for using the articles. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free
The four lessons in this unit build toward a student understanding of each component of the energy budget formula - and how the contribution of each component changes due to location and time of year. In order, the four lessons consist of: deriving... (View More) the formula for Earth's energy budget, analyzing data from NASA's CERES instrument, learning to code using the RStudio program, and using RStudio to explore and evaluate the energy budgets of specific locations and seasons. The unit includes a pre/post test; each lesson follows the 5E model and contains worksheets with answer keys. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free
Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) is the process of evaluating materials to detect and measure the presence of defects without causing damage to the material being tested. In this lesson, middle and high school students are introduced to NDE,... (View More) refraction of light, and birefringence (the process in which light moving in different directions, or polarizations, travels at different speeds within a material). Students test a variety of transparent plastics using polarizing filters and analyze the extent and degree of stress the materials have undergone by examining the birefringence produced. Guide Lites are individual activities from NASA eClips™ Educator Guides that are developed for informal settings. Each Guide Lite follows the 5E model and includes lesson objectives, a materials list, and links to the supporting NASA eClips™ video segments. (View Less)
Materials Cost: $10 - $20 per group of students
Hear from a NASA scientist and a NASA engineer as they describe their roles in the design and development of one aspect of the James Webb Space Telescope. The video reveals the importance of collaboration in continually moving exploration forward.... (View More) NASA eClips™ Launchpad video segments, designed for grades 9-12, support project-based and problem-based learning experiences in science, mathematics, and career and technical education classrooms. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free per student
Students analyze and interpret the accompanying large-format images of Mars taken by NASA's Mars Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera. The analysis involves identifying geologic features, calibrating the size of those features, and... (View More) determining surface history. The lesson culminates in students conducting in-depth research on questions generated during their analyses. The lesson is part of the Mars Education Program series; it models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary. Next Generation Science Standards are listed. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free
Students use the research topic questions generated in the earlier lesson entitled, "Mars Image Analysis," to refine testable questions and develop hypotheses. The lesson is part of the Mars Education Program series; it models scientific inquiry... (View More) using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary. Next Generation Science Standards are listed. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free
This 12-page educational comic book introduces readers to the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) mission. Using the Japanese anime art style, the comic book explains the satellite technology and the mission goals and applications. Supplemental... (View More) materials to support the story include an overview of the GPM mission, a description of the satellite and its instruments, examples of the data it collects, descriptions of some of the constellation partners, and a glossary of science terms used in the comic. Links are provided to additional related resources, including a template for learners to create their own comic. The Japanese anime/manga style of art was chosen because the GPM mission is a collaboration between NASA and JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. (View Less)
This is a two-page lithograph featuring the Cepheid Variable Star RS Puppis, an example of a special class of bright pulsating stars whose light and energy outputs vary over a set period of time. The text on the lithograph explains the historic... (View More) importance of Cepheid variable stars as distance markers. The accompanying classroom activity In Search of … Cepheid Variable Stars is a curriculum support tool designed for use as an introductory inquiry activity. During the classroom activity, students use the images and text on this lithograph to generate questions about Cepheid variable stars. They will conduct research to answer their questions and will create a presentation to demonstrate their understanding of the material, providing supporting evidence from their research. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free
This unit consists of five activities, all of which focus on the response of plant life-cycle events to climate change. Students participate in discussions, field observations, data collection and analyses, plant identification, seed dispersal... (View More) comparisons, and graphing and analyses of plant phenology (timing of life-cycle events). Project BudBurst, a citizen science project which studies the impact of climate change on phenology, is integrated into this unit. The unit is one of four under the Chicago Botanic Garden curriculum entitled, "Climate Change in My Backyard." (View Less)
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1 per group of students
This unit focuses on the impacts of climate change on humans. Students participate in activities using "Character Cards" (included with the unit). The cards introduce fictitious citizens who describe the local economic, social and political factors... (View More) that impact their country's climate change issues/responses. A second activity in the unit has students research, discuss and present their findings on the impacts of climate change - first at the global level then narrowed to a country, region and/or state level. In addition, students examine how their own energy and food choices impact climate change and then propose ideas to reduce their carbon footprint. The unit is one of four under the Chicago Botanic Garden curriculum entitled, "Climate Change in My Backyard." (View Less)
Materials Cost: 1 cent - $1 per group of students


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Optimism over the Saudi national vision is premature.
On 25 April, Saudi Arabia unveiled its national vision, a set of goals it wants to achieve by 2030. A central theme in the Vision 2030, a brainchild of the Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, is putting an end the country's chronic reliance on oil. Some have lauded the announcement as the long-awaited push Saudi Arabia has always needed. Others called it a mere public relations exercise. On balance, caution must be the order of the day. Any claims that Saudi Arabia is already on track to end its "addiction to oil" in the next few years are premature for four reasons.
1. Announcing a national vision is not new in this region. In fact, Saudi Arabia is a late joiner. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (ie all other Gulf countries) have all published their own national visions years ago. The publication did not ensure timely implementation or immunity from the decline in oil prices.
2. Vision 2030 is a set of long-term goals or targets, not a concrete plan of how to achieve them. A plan should be released in May/June under the title of National Transformation Plan after a few months' delay. But to put it briefly: a vision is not a plan; and having a plan does not guarantee execution.
3. Execution of any plan is likely to prove difficult. There are signs of difficulty even this early in the process. Only days before the announcement of the vision, the Saudi water and electricity minister was fired following public outcry over higher utility tariffs. Public dissatisfaction could intensify as more difficult measures are rolled out.
4. One of the most headline-grabbing measures—the plan to replace oil revenues with the proceeds from a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund—is unrealistic. Even if the fund reaches the required size and somehow manages to increase the share of its foreign investments to half from 5% currently (domestic holdings are mostly oil related), an optimistic return of 7% on overseas assets would generate only $70bn per year. This would not be enough to replace oil revenues and finance the expected budget deficits, which together totalled $216bn in 2015 for example.
Overall, the attempt to transform Saudi Arabia's economy away from its oil dependence is needed, and steps taken towards this are positive. But a viable plan is required to show how this ambitious target can be achieved. Even then, the actual implementation of the plan will be key.

subset: commoncrawl


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No, chinchillas cannot eat this Oat hay. Oat hay is rich in protein. It is use to enhance the protein content in horses. However, this is not a perfect food for your chins. It does not have the capacity to digest the high proteins in their body. Chinchillas feel this is a heavy food for them. Avoid feeding oat hay to your chins.
I understand horse oat hay wouldnt be good for them, but is oxbow oat hay safe for chins ? They say it is. I started giving mine some.


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BAGHDAD — An Iraqi delegation that traveled to Iran to confront it with allegations of involvement in Iraqi violence returned Saturday saying it had secured an agreement to "stabilize security" and improve cooperation.
The statements were in stark contrast to the harsh words Iraqi officials had last week for Iran. Those included allegations that Iranian-made weapons with manufacture dates of 2008 had been found in the southern city of Basra in the wake of recent clashes between Shiite Muslim militiamen and Iraqi and U.S. security forces.
The purported finds, which have not been shown to the public, would prove that Iran had broken a commitment to Prime Minister Nouri Maliki last year to help cut off weapons, funding and other support for militants.
U.S. military officials have portrayed the purported Basra caches as an "eye-opener" for Iraqi leaders, providing Baghdad the evidence it needed to confront Iran. Tehran denies accusations of involvement in Iraq's violence. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mohammed Ali Hosseini, told The Times in a telephone interview last week that Iran welcomed the Iraqi delegation "and wants to stop the violence in Iraq."


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Bottom Right Corner Pitch-Black Blink: Where Is The Line
I accidentally reached the lower bottom (NE) corner of the map and the screen started to blink pitch-black. Many builders said this place is buggy, I always knew it - but I realized it's unknown how far EXACTLY one can go without causing the bug. One of those days of weird research, I entered that cursed sector and started to sniff around...
Ah... yes, it was during a BtB session so I got everything censored :D Anyway, after several hours spent on looking for pitch-black blinking, wherever I noticed any, I raised a floor triangle towards the bottom right (NE) corner of the map. If that wasn't enough to cut the square off the buggy zone, I replaced a triangle with a full wall. This way, I formed a line of squares You can safely reach without seeing the bug, and here are the exact coordinates (the picture is expandable):
For a rule determining these coordinates, You can examine the line shape from the above. It's not straight, but a bit curved:
so if we could extend the editor workspace, we would likely get a full circle, radius about 125 (127?) squares and center at x:0 y:0. The engine apparently refers to the map origin all the time, no matter where Lara is.
I first tested the line at the floor elevation of 0. When I then raised or lowered the test by 100 clicks, The Line moved few squares towards the map origin - so we can guess the buggy sector is a sphere rather than a flat circle, and we only can see its small fragment in the infamous map corner the editor workspace allows us to reach.
As in, the general tip is: if You really HAVE to build anything playable in that particular corner, stay as close to 0 elevation as possible - that will give You even two dozen more squares than You would get if reaching heights or depths in there. Of course any inaccessible zone can still be built as far into the right bottom corner as possible, because as long as Lara doesn't stand in there, she can enjoy the sight and the bugs won't appear.
What you write here seems absolutely logical:
The Editor Window size is:
Width: 100 squares
Length: 100 squares
(In fact, the real sizes are 102/102, because, you can see in Editor Window: there is always a minimum 1 square sized gap between the room wall and any edge of the window.
If you run a Diagnostics in the game about Lara's horizontal coordinates - see: variables, memory zones -, then, when Lara's standing at the NW room corner - according to Room Editor facing -, which room is placed exactly at the origin, the values are about 1024/1024 unit. 1024 unit is 1 square, so the game will count that 1 square sized gap for the coordinates.)
So the diagonal between the origin and the opposite corner is (see Pythagorean theorem) is about 141 squares. You say about 127 square sized radius. 141-127=14. 14/141=10 %. And yes, on your illustration, the gap between the line and the corner is about 10% of the whole diagonal.
The TRLE world likes very much binary limitations, and that "127? square sized radius" is probably really 128, because 128 is binary, the power of 2. Yes, the center of the sphere is probably the origin (X/Y/Z=0/0/0) of the 3D map.
(Possibly it is 127, but it really must be a bit bigger, 128 - due to what I said about the real horizontal size above.)
And, we shouldn't forget that the useful height of 3D map is Floor:-127 clicks, Ceiling: 128 clicks, because there are 256 floor levels: base (0), 127 below, 128 above. And it is also the power of 2. The floor/ceiling will be deformed below/above that limit in Room Editor.
(The full height of V2dmap of TRNG Room Editor is bigger, btw: Floor: -256, Ceiling: 257.)
So the theoratical (Room Editor) 3D map must be, I suppose:
horizontally 100 (102) square sized in both direction,
vertically 256 clicks sized.
And the effective (game) 3D map must be:
A fragmented sphere, with its center placed at the origin of the 3D map.
The fragment is the common part of the sphere with 127 (128) square sized radius and the theoretical 3D map.
(Btw it is not always true, because eg. if you rotate a long but narrow room, whose long wall is parallel with the east edge of the Editor Window, close to that edge, then the room will be out of the 102×102 sized window.
Possibly it is useful only if the room remains inside that sphere.)
Nice find, btw. :tmb:
Here are two illustrations:
Note: my post is based on this nice find of DJ Full.
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So, on one hectic day I was in Manila, I met a friend for lunch, met friends for merienda, went shopping for South Sea pearls (for my Mom!), and lastly, had a reunion with friends, who all used to live in Seoul, later that night.
Well, of the four things I scheduled that day, I am sure one was not like the other. Would the words friends, reunion and pearls go together? Ha-ha-ha!
(A light lunch at Italiannis)
I actually asked my friends to meet me at the Greenhills Shopping Center (in San Juan City, Metro Manila) as the pearl market is in there. And after having a light lunch with Alfa at an Italian restaurant, we roamed around the shopping complex before I met up with Nancy and her daughter Anna by merienda time.
(Puto bumbong merienda at Via Mare)
I know little about pearls and I would need all the help I could get when it came to quality and price range. That's why I had to meet up with Nancy. Having purchased pearls on several occasions from a favored vendor, Nancy would be able to tell me what was a good buy (or a good price!).
(Pearl necklaces to choke for! Ha-ha-ha!)
We told Mrs. Nawal what we wanted, and as I stood there being overwhelmed by these pearls of different sizes and colors (and of course, prices), I wondered whether a short visit and a purchase at the pearl market would make me now a pearl expert. Ha-ha-ha!
Just like most stalls, Mrs. Nawal had her pearls hanging from the ceiling, on small and big boxes, or just laid out. I told her I read somewhere that Queen Sofia of Spain visited this pearl market during her visit to the Philippines. Mrs. Nawal said that it was from her stall the Queen bought her pearls from. Hmm. I wonder whether Mrs. Nawal's pearls now form part of the Spanish royal family's jewels. A jeweler for royalty!
(How deep is your pearl?)
After zeroing in on what I wanted to buy with the help of Nancy and a lot of haggling (Thanks, Nancy!), I was able to buy South Sea pearl earrings and pearl necklaces for my Mom and sister, which would now form part of our own royal family jewels. Ha-ha-ha!
(Mrs. Nawal is a jeweler for royalty!)
The Philippines is known as Perlas ng Silanganan, or Pearl of the Orient, for its natural beauty. But at these times, it's not only the country's beautiful landscape and hideaways most international visitors come for. And based on stories of the Queen's visit, and international visitors and balikbayans search for a variety of fine (and comparably less expensive!) jewelry, it's the real perlas of the silanganan they come for, and most of them shop here at the pearl market of the Greenhills Shopping Center, where most pearl vendors (with the best quality pearls!) are gathered.
So, now that I am a pearl expert, I have to ask: how deep is your pearl? :-)


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Wanted to show you this awesome treehouse cabin rental that's on Airbnb.
It's located in Cave Junction, Oregon and is completely elevated off the ground.
As soon as you just look at it it must feel like you're in some kind of wonder land.
It's not a complete home (no kitchen or shower) but it does have a half bathroom.
Just don't expect a kitchen and all of that. If it were mine, I'd officially call it, "The Indiana Jones Sleeper Treehouse," if that's not too much.
Photo Credit Airbnb.com
Anyways, I encourage you to tour the rest of it below:
Inside this Sleeper Treehouse Cabin in Oregon
Sleeping Loft
I really like how they arranged the two beds. It's almost like bunk beds but with a cabin and loft instead of the bunks.
If you wanted to I guess you could redesign it so that there is a kitchen instead of the downstairs bed. But since this one is being used for vacations I think it's fine as is. If it were mine though, I'd add a micro kitchen. Would still be missing a shower though.
Maybe the bathroom can be converted into a wet bath just like in an RV? Or like in this tiny house.
Front of the Treehouse Cabin
This is where I get the Indiana Jones part from. I think it's so cool..
Photo Credits Airbnb.com
How would you like to stay in a treehouse like this for vacation? Or better yet, how would you outfit it so that you could live in it full time? Or at least for part of the year in one of your favorite parts of the world?
How to Stay in this Treehouse Rental Cabin
If you're interested in staying in this treehouse cabin you can learn more and book right here.
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Latest posts by Alex (see all)
- Family Goes from 2500 Sq. Ft. to a Tiny House - February 15, 2019
- Anti-Minimalist Tiny House: A Tiny Home Built for a Maximalist? - February 14, 2019
- Tiny Modern Pod Cabin with Wood-Burning Stove in Falun, Sweden - February 13, 2019


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Not the whole story, just some fragments of the days–-literary, political, sporting, and personal. Why call it "A Salty Blog"? Fond memories of the Players cigarette pack, which was also the cover and title of a Procol Harum album called "A Salty Dog," that showed a wild-eyed Jack Tar, wreathed in a tatty beard, leering gap-toothed–-just the kind of guy I've always run into in pubs who, when not telling stories of the ouroboros would threaten to "bite yer ****ing nose off!"
Friday, October 24, 2008
Barak the Bodysurfer - The October Surprise
With just 10 days left in the election, the answer is a surprising "yes." And it's appropriate for discussion (unlike the increasingly sleazy rumors being floated by the ultra-conservative hate machine), given that candidate Obama has curtailed campaigning to visit his ailing grandmother in Hawaii.
Here's my big reveal: Barry Obama is a bodysurfer. Not only that, as a highschooler in Hawaii he practiced his sport at Sandy Beach, the most dangerous beach in the world.
For confirmation of that stat, check out this 2002 Honolulu Advertiser clip: http://archives.starbulletin.com/2002/03/24/news/story3.html
As to Obama's choice of sport, it's here in my August 2008 blog, after his visit to Hawaii:
"Barak went local in a Friday statement, as reported by many sources, including Michael Falcone of the New York Times, in a time-honored way for a politician–by evoking food, the ur-indigenous reference point. "I might go to Zippy's. I might go to Rainbow Drive-In. I might go get some shave ice," the candidate said, adding, "I'm going to go body-surfing at an undisclosed location."
Aside from the undisclosed beach, which every local bodysurfer could identify with a 90 percent degree of certainty–but will never tell Fox News--"5-0-Bama" was delivering a specific message. He was locating himself in a specific neighborhood, Kapahulu-Diamond Head, where my wife and her family grew up, and where the candidate's half-sister lives. That he did it by his choice of drive-ins is most appropriate to Hawaii."
I have it on good authority (my wife went to Obama's high school, Punahou, and her brother John was a classmate of the Democratic candidate) that Barak was a Sandy Beach guy. In Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, that's not surprising, but it is a sign of beach cred. (That's what they call street cred in Hawaii.)
Bodysurfing Sandy Beach is a big indicator of your capacity for mastering fear and terror, for hanging out and getting down local-style, for being one of the guys and wahines--and servicemen who make Sandy Beach their number one stop for guts and glory-flavored R&R. (All of which is pretty darned Main Street, Madame Palin!)
Now, I know Hawaii and I know Sandy Beach. In fact, the only time I've been to the emergency room for a beach- or ocean-related accident was after nearly snapping my neck there. There is a horrible sound your neck makes after you've planted your face in sand where you thought there was water–that's the sound of Sandy Beach.
So why do people go there? Because it is a wave machine. When the swells are pumping, they jack up so steeply, so suddenly, that they create ramps of water that resemble skateboard half-pipes. And, for bodysurfers who can handle the possibility of pain and paralysis, those watery ramps that exist only for a few seconds are the gateway to an amazing ride, a compression of skill, risk and speed into a single samurai action.
What rock climbers are doing on El Capitan, what backcountry skiers are doing jumping off ledges, what Laird Hamilton is doing on Jaws with his tow-in surfski, is what the boys and girls of Sandy Beach are getting a piece of every day they pile into the car after school and head out to the sun-baked Oahu strand.
Think you now know everything about Obama and bodysurfing? Hang on a moment longer, because I'm still not convinced you get this thing called bodysurfing. It's not surfing. Meaning it's not Gidget, not Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, not even Sean Penn as Spicoli the Surfer in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Not the Beach Boys, not the bushy-bushy blond dudes running down to the water carrying sharp-tipped plastic boards (that actually kind of resemble Masai shields, when you let your mind drift in a certain, Obama-esque direction)
Bodysurfing is also not the current icon of cool in car ads that board surfing has become–all those Abercrombie models posing with their plastic planks and six-pack abs. That's because it's a purist sport, first of all. Nobody sells clothes, sunglasses, cars, etc, using bodysurfers.
It's also a sport virtually without equipment–your board is your body. That's really interesting, if you ask me (and I am a bodysurfer, obviously). Imagine skiing without skiis, snowboarding without a snowboard, and you begin to see what it's all about.
Now, living in New York City as I do, I know the East Coast has a type of bodysurfing all its own. No offense, folks, but you don't know what you're talking about. Like 99% of the ocean swimming population, you think bodysurfing is when a swimmer goes straight ahead and either glides forward on the foam of a breaking wave, or flips ass-over-teakettle.
Don't get me wrong, it's fun either way. I've done it at Jones Beach along with the millions of gawking bathers on a 100-degree July 4th weekend.
But Hawaiian-style bodysurfing is something else. (I call it Hawaiian out of deference to the people who gave us surfing as a cultural activity, but like surfing itself, it is a global phenomenon, albeit one practiced largely in Hawaii and Southern California.) In this version, the swimmer kicks hard into the wave, but instead of going straight launches sideways. That's right, the swimmer moves in a lateral direction.
Let's put you into the bodysurfing frame of mind. A wave lurches into view on the horizon; you scan it quickly, looking for the critical point where it will break first, and swim right up to that looming avalanche of water. Then, letting it lift you up as it passes, you flutter-kick and stroke hard for an instant, launching yourself sideways off the cliff.
On a large wave, such as those Obama must have faced and taken at Sandy Beach, we're talking about a 10 to 25-foot drop. Face-first. With a powerful fist of water hanging over your head and back and spinal column, about to pound you into the shallow sand below.
So what do you do? You have fun with the free-fall. And you turn your body into a planing surface, like a ship that uses hydrofoils. Your body becomes the board.
In a split-second, while falling forward and down at a high rate of speed, the swimmer gains control by planing on the wave-face's wall, doing this by riding on the flat of an outstretched hand and arm. That arm and hand are like the tobaggon that the bodysurfer is riding.
Next, shooting along just ahead of the breaking wave (in the manner you've seen in countless video clips of board surfers and boogieboarders), the swimmer maneuvers, spins, loops, ducks under the wave's falling lip...
Imagine for a moment that you can fly, speeding like Superman, or at least Clark Kent in a Speedo. That's bodysurfing.
And that's a pretty good description of Barak Obama handling all the ups and downs and amazing twists and gut-clenching insults of this Presidential campaign.
Some shots from the Sandy Beach 2007 Classic competition:
1 comment:
Well that's awesome. Over here in NZ we're stoked that Obama won it, wish the USA well in healing some of that karma. I'm a bodysurfer, and I gotta point out that a big break doesn't always have big days, or big sets. I gutslide some big breaks, but dont always catch the big ones, depends how it feels, so Obama does not necessarily have to be a hell-man. CheersReplyDelete


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Pick Your Poison Bake Shop Las Vegas
Co-author Shana Graves and myself love cupcakes. We love cupcakes a lot. We bake them, eat them, take pictures of them, read about them, write about them and tell our friends about them. We like them weird or plain, pretty (though we'll eat 'em ugly too) and with funny things baked inside them. With tea … Read more


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It's Finally Here: The Injection That Will Dissolve Your Double Chin
There are certain stubborn pockets of fat that don't respond well to diet and exercise. And by don't respond well, we mean they remain thoroughly unchanged regardless of the calories you cut and the hours to log at the gym. One area in particular comes to mind, and that's the spot directly underneath the chin—an area so lovingly dubbed the double chin. Up until yesterday, the only effective solutions for eliminating double chins were surgery or liposuction. Then along came Kybella, an injectable substance that destroys fat cells under the chin.
Kybella is a version of deoxycholic acid, a molecule that naturally occurs in the body to assist in the breakdown of dietary fat. Kybella is injected in a grid pattern (with an average of small 27 injections) directly into the fatty area directly under the chin. The procedure doesn't take long, only about five minutes, but it may take two or three days to heal from the bruising, swelling, and numbness that can occur after the injections. A patient will come in for up to six treatments, spaced one month apart to see full results.
After years of development, numerous clinical studies, and thousands of satisfied test subjects, the Food and Drug Administration has approved Kybella. Of course, like all drugs, it's not without its risks—trouble swallowing and nerve damage being the big ones. And don't expect to see this procedure covered by your insurance. The company that makes Kybella hasn't released the cost, but we're expecting a sizable price tag.
One caveat: Kybella doesn't affect skin laxity. If you have more loose, sagging skin than excess fat, you won't be a candidate for the procedure. But the good news is today's neck-firming creams can help with that issue. We particularly love Algenist's Firming & Lifting Neck Cream ($98) and Perricone MD's Cold Plasma Sub-D ($135).
Would you try this new double chin eliminating injection? Tell us your thoughts below!


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Biography of Jesus ChristQUESTION: Is there a biography of Jesus Christ? What does it say?
Many scholars, theologians, philosophers, and skeptics have set out to construct writings about Jesus Christ, albeit with varying motivations. However, a true biography, a volume which chronicles the life history of Jesus Christ, does not exist outside of the Gospel writings found in the New Testament.
It is quite fascinating to ponder the possible reasons for this. Perhaps, the most obvious reason to consider might be the actual providence of God. The Bible lets us know that the sixty-six books which comprise the canon of Scripture were divinely authored: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
A biography written by a man or woman not under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, could not do justice to the life of One who is the express image of the God of the universe. God Himself may have divinely disallowed such writings that the glory of His Son might be upheld. Another possibility for the lack of a real biography of Jesus Christ may be due to how Jesus of Nazareth lived for most of His earthly life. Except for His birth, infancy, and His interaction with the elders in the temple at age 12, Jesus life was lived in virtual obscurity. Even the Scriptures are silent as to any notable happenings before His baptism by John at age 30, though He apparently lived a life that was considered respectful: "And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52). Nevertheless, to many who knew Him, He was merely Jesus, the son of Joseph the carpenter, no surprise that He was rejected by those in His own hometown.
There have been ambitious studies of the history of Christ such as those done during Funk's convening of The Jesus Seminar and notable film versions of His life such as Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth and, more recently, Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. And while these studies and dramatic works contain the personal interpretations of the individuals who wrote and produced them, they are still depictions or treatises derived from the texts of the four Gospels.
Thankfully, the Bible has given us a biography of Jesus Christ. In a very real sense, the entirety of the scriptures may be called a biography of Christ; prophesies concerning the coming Messiah begin in the third chapter of Genesis and continue throughout the Old Testament. "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15).
Jesus Himself, when walking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus indicated in His words that the Law and the prophets told about Him. "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:27).
The four Gospel books found in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John contain all that God saw fit to make known about the earthly manifestation of the Son of God. These scriptural biographies tell us about Christ's birth and earthly ministry. His earthly ministry consisted of rich teachings, including parables and His discourse to His disciples, commonly called the Beatitudes. Jesus miracles are enumerated, from turning water into wine to raising the dead. We see His interaction with rich and poor, hypocrites and sinners, the Romans and the Sanhedrin. We are made aware of His deep love for His disciples and His total submission to the will of His Father. The gospels show His relentless, inevitable sojourn along the path leading to His death, His agony on the cross. Have any more poignant words ever been written or spoken than, ". . . My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" In Matthew 27:46, we are given hope by His glorious resurrection from the dead.
However, even as Luke, the Physician set out to tell the world all that Jesus did, "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven. . ." (Acts 1:1-2). The beloved disciple, John, summed it up best, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25).
WHAT DO YOU THINK? - We have all sinned and deserve God's judgment. God, the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus, the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried, and rose from the dead according to the Bible. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior, declaring, "Jesus is Lord," you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven.
What is your response?
Yes, today I am deciding to follow Jesus
Yes, I am already a follower of Jesus
I still have questions
What is your response?
Yes, today I am deciding to follow Jesus
Yes, I am already a follower of Jesus
I still have questions


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Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Giveaway Over At Keeping It Simple
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I am giving away a etsy shop credit over at
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Go check out her adorable blog and enter some of the great giveaways she has going on this week!
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A MAN has been charged in connection with a sexual assault in St Helens last month.
Detectives in St Helens launched an investigation after a 17-year-old was sexually assaulted as she walked along s path near Ravenhead Road on the morning of July 15th.
Mark Owen McCauley, aged 25, of North Road, St Helens will appear at Liverpool Crown Court on August 17th charged with sexual touching.


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- Community Connection
Our corporate social commitment through teamwork and creativity involves an array of volunteer activities to support those causes so important to our managed communities. We strive to provide our employees with not just professional growth, but personal growth as well.
- Diversity
We look at diversity as more than just policy and procedure. It is who we are and how we operate – a rich, diverse and talented team – we strive to create a work environment that provides all employees equal opportunity.
- Fun @ Work
From holiday parties to summer ice-cream Thursdays, we encourage FUN times and make FUN happen. Our social calendar is energizing and motivating, creating a strong bond among our employees and a company culture where ideas are shared and welcomed.
- Rewards & Recognition
Fostering a culture of appreciation, we strive to recognize and reward outstanding performance and encourage achievement at all levels through our Helping Hands program.


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It's a funny thing, this thesis-writing business. The hand-in deadline – 31st December 2013 – has been on my mind and on the horizon for ages. I have been 'approaching submission' for a couple of years at least, a bit like a tiny space probe heading for a very large but very distant planet. I travelled & travelled, but the planet never seemed to get any closer. And then all of a sudden it was the only thing in sight, touchdown was frighteningly imminent, and there was an awful lot to do in a very short time. This was of course the point at which Word decided to have conniptions about the size of some of my files – thank you, Scrivener backups, for saving the day and my sanity! Then there was the minor problem of getting long complicated documents to output to PDF format for printing. I have done this many times for shorter, simpler documents with no trouble at all, by using 'print to pdf' from within Word. Suffice it to say that on this occasion I ended up printing all five lots of 380 pages myself from the Word documents, which was probably doing things the hard way, but it got the job done.
And then it was Tuesday afternoon, just after the end of the Autumn term. Retro-rockets were firing and kicking up moon dust and the altitude figures were suddenly in feet rather than miles… And meanwhile back on planet earth, four copies of my finished thesis – all 380 pages of prose, photos, quotes and references – were now bound and labelled and on their way to Senate House. At Reception, a lady from the Graduate School appeared, disappeared, and reappeared again clutching a form, a pen and a clipboard. I filled in the form and handed it back, at which point Ms Grad School smiled, said nice things like 'well done' and disappeared again with the cardboard box of thesis copies and the paperwork.
And that, for the time being, is that. I am not yet 'Dr Southall'; in fact, I'm in Ph.D limbo. I know I'll have a viva some time in the next three months or so, but apart from that, for the first time since I officially set out on this voyage almost eight years ago, I'm not in control of what happens next. It's a tiny bit disconcerting. However, it's a pleasant sort of disconcerting in many ways. For a start, and unlike last year, I won't be working through most of the Christmas 'holiday', trying to get a full draft of all chapters completed. This year I can take time off to go walking, watch Poirot and Time Team, and finish knitting that jumper at last with a relatively clear conscience. I might even get started on the knitted woodlouse I've been planning for several months now. On balance, this particular limbo is actually quite bearable!
Happy Christmas everyone!


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Companies plan to explore commercialization of HTS fault current limiters
American Superconductor Corp., Westborough, Mass., and the Corporate Technology unit of Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany, recently renewed their strategic alliance for a second year. The companies plan to develop the commercialization of high-temperature superconductor (HTS) fault-current limiters by building and testing fault-limiter components based on American Superconductor's second-generation HTS wire.
The companies expect that fault-current limiters will serve as high-voltage surge protectors for power grids.
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Written by
Gareth Halfacree
March 16, 2015 // 11:14 a.m.
Tags: #apb #apb-reloaded #f2p #free-to-play #hawken #mech #multiplayer #shooter
Companies: #adhesive-games #meteor-entertainment #reloaded-games
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Mod support promised, too.
Delisting scheduled for January 2018.
New trailer of beta gameplay for SUPERHOT launches, and it's SUPER. HOT.
Razer has unveiled the Artemis, a controller designed specifically for MechWarrior Online.
Meteor Entertainment, parent company of Adhesive Games and publisher of Hawken, has just been handed $10 million.
Indie mech shooter Hawken has an official launch date, and a closed beta programme to boot.
Microsoft nearly destroyed the development culture fostered in Bungie and FASA Interactive, says FASA founder.
Rumours that a new MechWarrior game was to be announced soon have now been confirmed.
A series of new videos hint that an announcement for Mechwarrior 5 could be on the horizon soon.
© Copyright bit-tech


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Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The mathematical model of the magnetic levitation system
Model of the magnetic levitation system
The magnetic levitation system considered in this paper consists of a ferromagnetic ball suspended in a voltage-controlled magnetic field. Only the vertical motion is considered.
The objective is to keep the ball at a prescribed reference level. The schematic diagram of the system is shown in Figure 2.1. The dynamic model of the system can be written as
Schematic diagram of the magnetic levitation system.
The mathematical model of the electromagnetic levitation system
One can build the mathematical model of the levitation system by writing
appropriate differential equations in accordance to the typical mechanical- and electrical principles. The way the components are appreciated in the approaching mode can lead to simpler or more complex alternatives.
The formula for the energetic balance within the system is:
Basic mathematical model of magnetic levitation
In terms of the design, chosen part of the magnetic levitation model was simulated. We used the software for multidisciplinary system simulation – Dynast [9]. In the Fig. 6, a basic simulation model is shown. One of the significant parts of the model is the feedback circuit. It Decreasing / increasing of the duty cycle of the PWM
Approaching / taking away of the levitating object Decreasing / increasing of the output voltage of the Hall Effect sensor The place stabilization of the levitating object
The variation of the attraction force of the electromagnet means we simulated the output signal of the amplifier with the adjustable gain. According to the Fig. 6, there is a derivation block which is realized by passive components – resistors and capacitors. These components influence stability of the model. On this account, we have optimized the derivation block according to the results of the simulation. After the realization of the electromagnetic levitation device, we have compared real levels of the chosen parameters of the constructed device with the simulation model. The results of the simulation approximatelly correspondence with the real device.
Model of the magnetic levitation system
The system dynamics describing the behaviour of the moving
ball is derived from the Newton's laws:
where z denotes the position of the ball (as indicated figure 2),
m its mass, g the acceleration of gravity, i the coil current and
Fmag(i,z) the electromagnetic force applied to the ball. d
denotes a bounded perturbation.
Drawing up the energy balance of the whole system and under
the assumption that the magnetic core is non saturated (which
occurs because of the air gap), the electromagnetic force can
be expressed as following:
Buy Cheap Magnetic Levitation Kit
Posted by kop at 4:48 PM
Labels: Magnetic Levitation, MODELING


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Please join us on July 11,2012 at 11:00am for a "Teacher" chat!! We will be streaming live from Blogger, Twitter, and Email (firstname.lastname@example.com) We'll be discussing anything from procedures to Common Core. Please take a break from your to-do list and join us for a little mid-day break! **On Twitter we will be using the hash tag #TheTeachersKornerChat. For Blogger use the comment section below to communicate. For emails use The Teacher's Korner Chat as the subject. Hope to talk with you all tomorrow. Don't forget to spread the word to your friends.
Monday, July 9, 2012
LIVE CHAT: Join us on July 11, 2012 at 1:00pm
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Live Chat Software Application is a powerful tool that helps you talk to your website visitors and convert them into customers.According to a survey 23 percent of the e-commerce sites surveyed said that of those customers that engaged with them in a live chat, more than 40 percent converted to an active lead or sale.ReplyDelete
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Sylvia Chidi
Sylvia Chidi (Germany)
» Click to list general statistics » OR, select a date :
A Drinkers Wish
Make a wish
While you drink like a fish
Maybe the lady in red
Will descend on your lips with a kiss
read more >>
- Hits: Number of visitors who read the poem on the given date.
- Posts: Number of visitors who posted the poem to a friend (via e-mail) on the given date.
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IObit Start Menu 8 22.214.171.124
Start Menu 8 is specially designed for Windows 8. It offers a perfect solution for users who work with Windows Start Menu all the time and are not accustomed to the new Metro start screen in Windows 8.
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Alternatives 5
Note: We've detected that IObit Start Menu's installer might attempt to bundle third-party software. Our team has compiled a list of clean alternatives you can try instead.You can still download IObit Start Menu but we suggest to proceed with caution and select the "Custom" installation option to identify any potential unwanted software.
This smart tool brings back both the start button and Windows Start Menu, and offers the option to skip Metro start page, allowing users who only work on desktop to boot to Windows 8 desktop directly. It's the best start menu replacement for Windows 8.
- The Best Start Menu Replacement for Windows 8
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- Display recently opened items under documents, browsers, etc. in Start Menu for quick launch
- Support skipping UAC when you open applications from Start Menu 8
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- Automatically sync user picture and Account picture
- Support Windows 10 Technical Preview, and Windows 8.1 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP
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|Get your RealityKings password HERE >>
Pornsite: EuroSexParties
Date: 2013-03-14Categories for this video: 2 Girl Blowjob, Asslick, Big Ass, Black Hair, Cum On Ass, Doggystyle, European, Facial, Feet, General, Group Sex 4, Handjob, Living Room, Pussy Licking, Shaved, Straight, Teen 18 19
This week we have some smoking hot Euro babes that are ready get down and dirty. On the way to the apartment these two where in the back seat of the car all over each other, popping out their tits and getting mouthfuls. These hotties had some amazing bodies to boot. The party really got going once we got back and James came around. Now the girls where really happy with two cocks to play with. Dont miss this tag team action going on as these girls get a serious fucking.


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Super Sounds wins best music at Fleuireu Film Festival
Directed by Stephen de Villiers
Directed by Stephen de Villiers
Client: Adelaide City Council
Director: David Scarborough
Trumpet by David Lang
With the recent release of the Soundtrack on iTunes, and nomination for Best Music for Miniseries at APRA Music Awards, it seemed like a good time to show some information on the ideas and process behind the score. If you haven't yet seen the series you can check out the trailer here, and buy Wastelander Panda Exile here.
I have been working closely with Team Cherry providing music and sound design for their latest game Hollow Knight. The game will be showcased at PAX AUS 2015, alongside many other great Australian games. If you are at the convention, come and have a play!
I have yet to post more details and footage, etc. But for now, here's an excerpt of the music:
This unique experience is well-paced, polished, and brimming with ideas, and backed by one of the best scores I've heard in years. – Cam Shea, IGN
Expand is a minimalist videogame in which you guide a pink square around a circular labyrinth. I've had the pleasure of working closely with Chris Johnson on the game on and off over the past 4 years. The game and the soundtrack are now out on steam, and the game has received 3 nominations at this years Australian Game Developer Awards including excellence in Audio, Innovation and Accessibility.
I recently did the sound for the latest Pac-Man game, Pac-Man 256. Developed by Hipster Whale and 3 Sprockets, this game takes from the original classic and puts it in a new context. The world is no longer straight top down, but on an angle, similar to Crossy Road, and the player is chased by an ominous glitch wall, based on the glitch found in level 256 of the original game.
Last year I provided the heavy drumming music to Mitsubishi's Challenger advertisement in collaboration with Jamshop.
2014 was a year of collaboration. Last year I collaborated with some of the most talented individuals I know, and together with them, produced quality work I could not have done alone.
I have been providing music and sound design for 2xCube's game Double Happy vs the Infinite Sadness. Above is the trailer which features my work.


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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is halfway through their second annual ENERGY STAR National Building Contest — or as we like to call it the Biggest Energy Loser Competition — where buildings compete to shed the largest amount of energy usage over a six month period. This year's competition is being fought out by a field of 245 teams from buildings around the country (that number is way up from just 14 last year) and together, the buildings have avoided a total of $3.7 million in utility bills over the first three months of the competition. The leaders have cut their energy use by as much as 30% and from here on out, it's a race to the finish to see which building claims the top spot on November 2nd.
The competition will be judged by measuring each building's Energy Use Intensity (EUI) which ENERGY STAR monitors over the course of the competition. Last year's winner, Morrison Hall, a dorm at UNC Chapel Hill, cut their EUI from 213 to 137. This year there are 103 office buildings, 62 K-12 schools, 12 medical office buildings, 10 hospitals, 7 retail stores and a number of other building types from 33 states and the District of Columbia enrolled in the contest.
The competition affords the winner no prize other than their energy savings over the course of the competition — which often amounts to tens of thousands of dollars — and the right to claim their biggest loser title. The competition is the perfect showcase of energy saving techniques that can be implemented if teams work together to reduce their consumption. "By taking part in the Battle of the Buildings, these property owners are not only reducing their energy use, they are also helping to reduce emissions to the air, saving money and protecting our environment," said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA's New England regional office. "Any building operator can apply many of the same common-sense steps we take at home to do their part to save energy in the buildings in which we work, learn and play."
Hold out until November 2nd to see who comes away with the prize! Will it be a garage at Central Florida University (with a halfway savings of $17,461), a Credit Union in San Diego (with a halfway savings of $12,231), a middle school in Indiana (with a halfway savings of $71,704) or one of the other 242 competitors? Check out their savings for yourself here.
Lead image is of the Colonnade Hotel in Boston, a contestant in the competition.


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by Susan Markisz
It was the Summit of the Century: the ne plus ultra world leadership meeting, an event during which 150 world leaders got to break bread together and make 5 minute speeches in the General Assembly over a period of three days.
Last month, I returned to the United Nations for the Millennium Summit, as a witness to history and histrionics, to politics and pundits. This year was different from other General Assemblies in that an unprecedented number ofworld leaders converged on UN headquarters in a short period of time, creating logistical problems, potential security nightmares, traffic tie-ups, and an international media frenzy, the likes of which New York has rarely seen.
My last contribution to this space lamented, in part, the lack of press credentials without an affiliation with a large daily newspaper or wire service. As a UN contract photographer, I get access to places that other photographers, even those from the wire services and large newspapers generally do not. We usually end up making the same pictures, however, because of the way in which the media (and UN photographers) are controlled, and information disseminated by the Department of Public Information.
My UN credentials (all three of them), allow me unparalleled access in the sense that I can go wherever I want, unaccompanied by DPI. However, that being said, there's a protocol that I've been asked to respect, and that is the list of officially requested photos. Beyond that, the UN has no need of, nor do they want photographers like me, happily snapping candid moments showing what goes on behind the scenes, unless it's an officially sanctioned photo-op. Many of my pictures will never see the light of day unless they satisfy what I call the "handshake directive." This refers to instructions that a non-photo person has made that the only worthy pictures are pictures of the SG or other diplomat, greeting dignitaries for a scripted momentary handshake, for the historical record, or for exhibit in the third floor photo display. There is simply no such thing as a feature photo or candid moment at the UN. It's frustrating to say the least. I am not a photojournalist at the UN. But sometimes I just can't help myself.
Needless to say I had to do this in a way so as not to upset the bureaucratic apple cart. For some reason I raised no small amount of suspicion in some departments, as if the mere act of taking someone's picture doing their job, might jeopardize the world view of the UN. "Why did you say you want to do this?" I was continually asked.
And so as the General Debate concluded, I spent some time talking to department chiefs, assuring them that it would not be a bad thing to show what people do behind the scenes at the UN.
I found out that there are a lot of unsung heroes at the UN; people who have made their careers, not as career diplomats, but as interpreters and protocol officers, printers and plumbers, locksmiths and librarians, upholsterers and text writers, carpenters and cartographers, all worthy professions in a place that visually honors only its diplomatic corps.
Pictures abound in the photo library of ambassadors speaking at the podium, but there's little else to show of who does what to keep the place under spit and polish. I had hoped to do some "Mission hopping" during my tenure at the UN, but that may have to wait for the next Millennium. In the meantime, this month and next, I'll try to give an inside view of some of what goes on at the UN, besides the usual speeches, handshakes and headshots. It wasn't fieldwork, but it was a mission nonetheless.
Susan B. Markisz
Next month:
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|The Platypus
|Camera Corner
|War Stories
|Dirck's Gallery
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Malakai was born Sep 24, 2008. At four weeks old, multiple tests determined he had a rare liver disease called Biliary Atresia. BA is when the bile duct between the liver and the small intestine is blocked or absent. He had his first surgery Nov 6 to temporarily fix the problem. During a five week hospital stay for ascites, Malakai was put on the transplant list on Mar 20. He recieved his "Gift of Life" May 12, 2009 at Children's Hospital in St. Louis.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Donate Life Memorial in St. Louis
2 comments:
How sweet! I'm a BA mom too and I think a memorial is wonderful. I love how your little one wanted to say a prayer. God bless these kiddos :)ReplyDelete
Hi MalkaiReplyDelete
My name is Jenna. You are a brave courageous fighter, You are a special miracle from god, a gift from above, earthly angel, a smilen hero. You are full of happiness, life, smiles, joy, fun,love, and spunk.
I was born with a rare life threatening disease, and have 14 other medical conditions, and developmental delays.
I wrote this poem
Each of us are Special
Each of us different,
No one is the same
Each of are us are unique in our own way,
Those of us who have challenges, we smile through our day.
Those who of us who have challenges, we smile through our day.
It doesn't matter what others say
we are special anyway.
What is forty feet and sings? the school chior


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Editor: Mr. Martinez, would you tell our readers something about your professional background?
Martinez: I graduated from Harvard Law School in 1987 and have been involved in transactions related to Latin America throughout my eighteen-year career. I began as a banking lawyer at Milbank Tweed, but my practice has since evolved with the region. I would define myself today as a cross-border finance lawyer, with substantial experience in securities offerings, M&A and restructurings.
Editor: How did you come to Proskauer Rose? What were the things that attracted you to the firm?
Martinez: In early 2000, I was presented with the opportunity to head the Latin American practice at Proskauer. I knew the firm had a stellar reputation nationally, so the challenge of building a practice virtually from scratch, but within an excellent infrastructure, was very attractive to me. After I joined I confirmed that the firm's reputation was well deserved. The firm's culture places a high premium on quality of service and teamwork. Partners do help each other out in servicing or pitching clients, which is not always the case elsewhere.
It has worked out quite well so far. In the few years I have been at Proskauer, we have already been called upon to do some of the largest and most interesting transactions in the region.
Editor: Please tell us about your practice. How has it developed over your career?
Martinez: When I was a first-year associate, Latin American work mostly meant doing sovereign debt restructurings and onlendings. That work came to an end around 1990, as the different sovereigns were able to finally restructure their debts and began to sell many of their assets through privatizations. This process resulted in considerable M&A work. The newly privatized enterprises, many of which are today's Latin American blue chips, were able to access the international capital markets, and there was an explosion of securities transactions. As the markets grew more sophisticated in the mid-90s, we began to see project finance deals and securitizations.
In the last four years or so, we have seen a wave of corporate restructurings but with new players and under changed rules. Unlike the restructurings of the 1980s, which involved mainly straight bank lending, debtors now have to negotiate also with bondholders and various layers of creditors. This all adds to a much greater level of complexity. In addition, several jurisdictions have adopted new bankruptcy laws, which introduces a significant level of uncertainty given that there is little local jurisprudence behind these new laws.
More recently, there has been renewed activity in securities offerings, and we are seeing an increased volume of M&A transactions, including intraregional acquisitions, where a Latin American company acquires another Latin American company. Interestingly, these intraregional transactions tend to be governed by New York law because of its predictability and because of the sophistication of the judges who might be called upon to rule on some aspect of the transaction.
Editor: Would you share with us some of the highlights of your career?
Martinez: When you work with emerging markets, you find yourself breaking new ground much more frequently than in a domestic practice. That is one of the most rewarding aspects of my practice. One transaction exemplifies this: the $1.2 billion acquisition of Pepsi Gemex, S.A., the largest bottler of Pepsi products in the world outside the U.S., by our client The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. This transaction, aside from being the largest acquisition in Latin America in 2002, represented the first time that a public U.S. company was acquiring a company that was public both in Mexico and the United States. At the time Mexico had just adopted a new tax regime and - halfway through the transaction - its first tender offer rules. To make the transaction happen we had to forge a regulatory compromise between two legal regimes that had differences in areas as fundamental as the length and extension of the tender offer period, withdrawal rights, control premiums, best price rules and disclosure requirements. This process required countless meetings and calls with securities regulators in the U.S. and Mexico, which concluded in the adoption of certain exemptions in the U.S. and interpretative guidelines in Mexico. I recall that the Mexican regulators were very pleased with the outcome because it constituted for them the first real test of their new tender offer rules. It was a terrific experience.
Another transaction that I remember fondly was the 1996 IPO by CANTV, the state-owned telecommunications company in Venezuela, where I represented the Republic of Venezuela. There were many interesting aspects to that transaction, but one worth highlighting was having to help the Venezuelan government convince powerful union leaders that represented CANTV employees to go along with the proposed deal. Venezuelan law provided CANTV employees with a right to acquire up to 20 percent of the shares offered. However, most employees did not have the money to exercise this right, so we helped the Government craft an arrangement that ultimately gave the employees a meaningful economic right, but that did not negatively impact the IPO. That was a fascinating undertaking.
Editor: Your practice spans a considerable number of legal disciplines and practice groups. I gather you are able to draw upon all of the resources of the firm in staffing your projects.
Martinez: Absolutely. I simply could not do the work that I do if I didn't have access to the skills and efforts of my colleagues at Proskauer. By way of example, to do a cross-border securities offering, a firm must bring to the table expertise in very precise areas such as securities laws as they relate to foreign issuers, international taxation, corporate finance and environmental law, among others. Also, if the issuer is engaged in a business that is regulated, the firm would need to provide expertise in that area too.
A second aspect concerns timing and staffing. When I started out back in 1987, we marked document changes by hand and the latest technological innovation was the fax. Today, with Blackberries and similar tools, transactions are being executed at a torrid pace. What this means is that it is not enough for a firm to have the required expertise, but also it must have sufficient depth to service clients on a timely manner. On the Gemex transaction I talked about before, at one point we had over 20 lawyers busy at the same time.
Finally, language skills are not just helpful, but I think necessary if one is to provide top notch service in a cross-border transaction. For Latin American deals, I make sure my team includes U.S. lawyers who speak either Portuguese or Spanish. It makes the transaction run much more efficiently.
Editor: Would you tell us about Latin America as an investment destination and place to do business?
Martinez: I think in the U.S. we continue to see Latin America through time-worn stereotypes and fail to realize how large and vibrant a market it is. For example, Brazil's economy is larger than those of Canada and Russia. If you aggregate the economies of Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, together they would constitute the fourth largest economic power in the world, after the U.S., China and Japan. But Latin America is still developing, and so it offers great opportunities for investment in a wide range of industries and services. To name just a couple of examples, the region is rich in natural resources such as mining, oil and gas and agribusiness, and there continues to be a substantial need for infrastructure development. There is also a growing middle class in many of these markets and, as a consequence, an increase in the region's buying power. When compared to other developing regions in the world, Latin America presents a couple of advantages for U.S. investors: its proximity to the U.S. and a business culture that is relatively similar to that of the U.S. Many of the political and business leaders in Latin America, as well as top transactional lawyers there, studied or trained in the U.S.
Editor: Some destinations are better than others?
Martinez: Because of the size of their markets, Mexico and Brazil are such destinations. I believe Argentina will soon again be a favored destination, now that it has put its restructuring behind it. But the smaller markets also offer opportunities in the area of infrastructure, oil and gas, mining, textiles, agribusiness, telecommunications, etc.
Editor: How do you handle the inevitable disputes that arise in connection with your Latin American transactions? Recourse to local courts? ADR?
Martinez: The contracts governing commercial and financial arrangements between Latin American and U.S. parties, and even between Latin American parties, will often provide that the laws of New York will apply, and that the parties will agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the New York courts. This is because New York law on commercial and financial matters is the most developed in the world, and there is a high degree of comfort as to outcome, given that New York judges are relatively more experienced and sophisticated. Many contracts also provide for recourse to ADR, with New York law applying.
Editor: Can you share with us your thoughts about the progress of the free trade discussion in Latin America?
Martinez: I do not see a meaningful hemisphere-wide free trade pact any time soon. Within Latin America there has been an important movement, which has been led principally by Brazil, to reduce commercial dependence on the U.S. These countries wish to be treated as equals, and I do not see progress toward a meaningful free trade pact until the U.S. gives way on the protectionist measures currently in place with respect to the agricultural sector. At the same time, China and Korea have expressed great interest in the region, and as a result the level of trade with Asia has increased significantly. What we have seen and I suspect we will continue to see is an increase in free trade among Latin American countries.
Editor: As you look to the future - say, the next five years - where do you see the greatest volume of work in your Latin America practice?
Martinez: I think we will continue to see an increase in direct foreign investment, whether from within or outside the region, which translates into more M&A activity for us lawyers. I also see the emergence of stronger and deeper capital markets within the region. There is still a significantly high risk premium attached to raising money in the international capital markets, and Latin American companies are finding that they can raise money locally in local currency at a much lower cost. So I see the capital markets activity continuing to develop in a way where securities offerings are essentially local, but with a U.S. or international tranche. From a purely transactional point of view, I also expect to see more sophisticated asset-based transactions as local laws relating to security interests and trusts become more tested.
Editor: And as globalization proceeds, how do you see the region integrating with the global economy?
Martinez: I see the region embracing globalization notwithstanding the political discourse we hear from time to time. Latin American political and business leaders recognize that their local markets are still limited in size and see substantial opportunities in the U.S, Asian and European markets. In order to expand, they must open up to the global economy. Mexico led the way with NAFTA, but since then virtually all other countries have taken substantive steps in that direction.
Editor: Is there anything you would like to add?
Martinez: I think Latin America has been largely underestimated and misunderstood, if not ignored, in the U.S. Even respected publications like The New York Times have a tendency to generalize and fall back on stereotypes to analyze events in a particular country. This is particularly astounding when we realize the size and diverse nature of the Latin America economy. I believe that this "one size fits all" approach sometimes clouds the ability of many potential investors, and even market analysts, to discern the substantial business opportunities that lie there.
Published October 1, 2005.


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Bookcase made from hi gloss painted MDF with Acrylic and Cherry Shelves with concealed door opening into tunnel.
Narrow vestibule storage for shoes, jackets and to cover electric meters
Storage units for CD, DVD's and books with full height mirrors
Finished Tv and bookcase unit
MDF wardrobes with MDF Shaker style doors.
Seated area framed and formed from Vd lining boards, table made from Stainless Steel and Cherry.
Oak veneered bookcase with full adjustable shelves.
Oak veneered shelving units Edinburgh New Town.
Oak veneered MDF wardrobes with triangular cubby holes
Oak veneered MDF wardrobes.
MDF wardrobes with paint finish , Shaker style doors
MDF Oak veneered storage units


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Today's Everyday Fashion: Pink Gingham/
I've been craving pink gingham so much this spring. It's a little bit country, a lot feminine and it looks great paired with fresh neutrals like all-white or ivory, a la my inspiration photo. How would you style pink gingham?
Top: J.Crew Factory, $41
Skirt: Banana Republic, $35 (similar, similar, similar)
Shoes: Windsor Store c/o (similar, similar, similar)
Purse: Calvin Klein/Macy's, $130 (similar, similar)
Necklace: My Stella & Dot, $59
Earrings: My Stella & Dot, $19
Approx. dates: Skirt is 4 years ago. Shoes and purse are 1 year ago. Shirt is recent.
C. Wonder / Nordstrom / Ralph Lauren / Lauren Conrad
JCPenney / Topshop / Ralph Lauren (plus)
Target / Free People / Forever 21 / Banana Republic


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Are you one of those engineering organizations that pride on meeting all of the customer's requirements in their engineered products? If yes, then I am sure, in the process of meeting customer's varied requirements and even more about their ever changing requirements during the course of manufacturing of the product, you spend a lot of resources and this is one area where your lean objectives still are not met.
The whole Quote to Mfg cycle is quite longer for the engineering organizations and often the longest period as well as the area for maximum improvement is product design and configuration. Lot of times, companies struggle with lack of resources, maintaining configuration rules and synchronized data and lack of internal alignment and here is where your enterprise systems – be it supply chain system or ERP system, play a major role. Multiple product configurator solutions are available in the market these days though the most important factor for considering a configurator solution remains its ability of re-use of earlier designs and reducing the design time by bringing down the scenario of starting from scratch every time, but the factors like ease of use as well as good product support have become equally important.
A good product configuration solution not only reduces the design lead time but also instills confidence in your customers that you have excellent capabilities to immediately & correctly articulate their requirements and also can show them in quick time about how the actual completed product will look like. The other benefits of a good order configuration process are:
- Improved accuracy
- Better quality
- Increased flexibility
- Reduced manual work and hence errors
- Good data integration which make your process lean and efficient
- Improved speed of quoting
- Single face to customer for quotation or proposal
- Better product costing
- Improved ability to cross sell/upsell
- Much faster and improved new product introduction
- Improved ability to charge premium for custom products as well as modified products during the course of manufacturing
More so, you can conquer the bigger challenge of integrating sales, manufacturing and engineering information to have a single source of truth for all these business functions. Look at the above benefits and introspect if you are able to relate to the challenges and longer and inaccurate product configuration process a pain area for you as well, then re-visit your strategy and consider deploying a product configuration solution.


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Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Clutter, Cleaners, and Concentration
A clean desk is the sign of a cluttered drawer. –Unknown
Work spaces are such a personal thing. When I taught school, my desk was always cluttered, mostly with piles of paperwork. I finally taped a sign on my desk that said "Einstein's desk was always this messy." And indeed, it was.
When I began to write, I found that my "genius" fled in a state of clutter.
Strange, that.
I could sit in front of my computer to write, but found my mind cluttered and my concentration shot by the mess around me. Very little productivity came forth. So, I knew something had to change.
But frankly, you don't take a woman whose only purchase of a decorative item beyond big ticket furniture is the sign pictured below and turn her into an organizational genius overnight. By the way, if any of you NEED a sign like this one, I found mine at a local Hallmark store.
I have compromised and now find that I work best if I can at least organize my own little space while I'm writing. Does it mean that I am now a total neatnik? Wait, I'll stop laughing, pick myself up off the floor and continue this post in a minute after I consider that "neat" designation.
No, I'm not. But I have found ways to keep clutter or items on my "To Do List" from beating up my writing muse. Here, along with illustrations are my coping mechanisms.
1. I've limited my workspace. I used to write on this lovely, enormous antique writing desk. That's a picture of it to the left. It's missing it's drawers since I took this shot right before I sent it on consignment to a local antique store. Why? Because I soon I found that I had filled up the expanse of desktop with files and piles, virtually eliminating any space to work on. So, I got radical and bought this efficient little laptop table called "The Dave" at Ikea. Other than post-its with quick notes on it, I find it relatively impossible to clutter.
2. I designate my perimeter and, if all else fails, I pick up and move any clutter out of my work area. See? All neat and uncluttered.
2. Along with a laptop, I use an Alphasmart Neo. It is portable and I can write when I'm stuck in the dentist's office or a carpool line. Oh, and I can also write by the pool when the muse strikes.
3. I go somewhere else and write. Usually I choose a local coffeehouse or my friendly, neighborhood library. This is a great workspace idea when there are other people in your home who will inevitably distract you. Let's see. That would be my house. Almost always. But leave home and, except for the homeless lady who frequents the reference section, no one bothers me.
4. I hired Monica, the wonderful. Monica comes every two weeks and cleans my house for me. This has forced me into more and more organization. In fact, I've kept up with the house so well since hiring her, that Monica tells me she fears for her job. HA! Never fear, Monica. One of my few conditions in my upcoming house move is that Monica comes with me.
Yes, my home workspace is about to change. We are looking at moving within the next month. I have trolled the new house and can't find my spot yet. I won't have a whole room to myself, but like Carol Burnside said in her previous post, I will now have a blank slate. I am considering a computer desk with shelves for my reference books. If I go back to a "real" desk, I'm definiely heading to The Container Store since I can keep a desk neat if everything has a designated space.
I'm open to suggestions on how to set up a new spot. Clutter-free please.
22 comments:
- Carol Burnside said...
Yeah, well, when you get that clutter-free thing mastered, let me in on the secret.
- January 13, 2010 at 1:13 AM
- Debbie Kaufman said...
Actually, Carol, we're going to have a professional organizer talk about workspaces organization next week! Pass it on!
- January 13, 2010 at 7:05 AM
- Dianna Love said...
I see neat and not neat as fitting the writer's personal style - just as different and equally productive as plotter vs non plotter.
I believe the way you keep your space influences your productivity, but not that messy is less productive than clean. Organized chaos is more comforting to some people who would feel out-of-place in a perfectly neat environment even if someone came in every day to clean for them. Especially if someone did that.
I didn't think so much about a writing space until the end of my first year writing when I started having severe headaches and nausea. I found out I had "straightened my spine at my neck" from working at the computer. I tend to work many hours straight at a time, which took it's toll. Once I got that fixed (nonsurgically) I heeded the doctor's advice to get somewhere my neck wouldn't be bent forward. For that reason I now write in a recliner at home and have the desk monitor on my business computer on a raised stand. To work in my recliner, I designed a table for the side of my chair some of my buddies at a sign company built for me that I attached an arm to that holds the monitor so I can sit back and type with the keyboard in my lap. When I'm not on the road, this is my spot.
Whatever all of you do, make sure your monitor is "up" (if it's at a desk get one of those inexpensive monitor stands that picks it up) so that your neck is not strained by your head hanging forward. Think of it as a bowling ball placed at the top of your spine. If you sit with your chin up, the ball is balanced or if yu sit with your chin down the ball is cocked forward and the only thing to keep it from falling is being attached to a flexible set of bones. Chiropractors say the worst neck injuries these days are not from wrecks but from working at a computer.
So take care of your neck and back when you're planning or rearranging a work space.
Congrats on the new house, Debbie, and good luck with the move. I'm sure you'll get lots of good ideas from the blog posts on how to set up your new spot.
(oops...look how long this is, you should think twice when inviting me to post "g")
- January 13, 2010 at 9:21 AM
- Barbara Monajem said...
LOL. It doesn't matter how many containers I have, because I won't put things away in them. Fortunately, I can ignore clutter and work wherever I happen to be. (Well, unless the TV is in the same room. Even if a show is dumb and aggravating, I can't ignore it.)
- January 13, 2010 at 9:21 AM
- Debbie Kaufman said...
Great advice Dianna! If I wasn't so happy for you that you could design and get that table made, then I'd be totally jealous! I think my coffeehouse writing is hard on my back and neck, but you'd have to see this particular coffeehouse to understand why, LOL. It's straight out of the 60's!
- January 13, 2010 at 9:48 AM
- Debbie Kaufman said...
Barbara, the tv does that to me too! When the grandkids have a sick day from scool and stay with me, I find I just can't write to Dora the Explorer! I'm glad you can ignore clutter. I used to be able to do that, but now I find it has a negative effect on my writing. I just can't relax.
- January 13, 2010 at 9:50 AM
- Marilyn Baron said...
Hmm. Does that mean I have a brain like Einstein? I doubt that. At least I am in good company.
Dianna, I didn't even consider the work space arrangement being the cause of neck problems. That's interesting. I don't have that problem, but I do get headaches.
Good luck with your move Debbie.
- January 13, 2010 at 11:49 AM
- Mark All said...
Very enlightening and entertaining! So maybe if I'm OCD and ADHD I can justify the dozens of stacks . . . rather than consider them reminders of forty things I need to finish . . .
- January 13, 2010 at 12:29 PM
- Debbie Kaufman said...
Thanks, Marilyn.
Mark, I am ADD and have had to learn a lot of self-coaching behaviors. But OCD too? That would be a tough combination. However, considering your book coming out, whatever you're doing obviously works!
- January 13, 2010 at 12:53 PM
- Darcy Crowder said...
I'm with you, Debbie, I can't focus unless it's neat around me...the clutter calls to be cleaned up.
Dianna - thanks for the insight on the neck issues. I've been getting terrible migrains for several years now...I do have my laptop on a tilted board, but I don't know how I could raise it up so my head would be straight and still type. Very interesting. Now I'm wondering if this is at least part of the cause of my headaches.
- January 13, 2010 at 2:28 PM
- Maxine Davis said...
I guess my earlier comment did not post.
Congratulations on your new house. I know you'll find a spot that is begging to hear a story!
I love The Dave desk. Does it raise up? tilt?
- January 13, 2010 at 3:21 PM
- Debbie Kaufman said...
Maxine, yes and yes! It's a handy little thing. Can't remember how much I paid for it, but it was at Ikea.
- January 13, 2010 at 3:59 PM
- Cyrano said...
Hello, hello, Debbie.
Loved your Einstein reference. Besides Benjamin Franklin, Hatshpesut and Elizabeth I, Einstein is one of the historical figures I'd most like to have dinner with. In fact, my extra post, sitting in the PFHT queue, is centered on Einstein.
Small world.
I loved your suggestions on de-clutterization. I just got an Alphasmart Neo and like you I LUVVVV it. Typing at Borders is a great way to get work done and that Neo is so handy.
Oh and also, next time you have a great antique desk like the one you pictured and want or need to sell it, come to me before the consignment shop. I LUVVV antiques as much as I love Neos.
Great post!
Have a lovely evening,
- January 13, 2010 at 5:11 PM
- Ana Aragón said...
You definitely don't want any advice from me! I've got an Alphasmart Dana and don't like it as much as my mini-laptop. Just have to see more of what I'm writing!
Wish I could have Monica. I always do much better with a housekeeper. But with just the 2 of us, Mike thinks we can do better at keeping up a house.
- January 13, 2010 at 5:16 PM
- Debbie Kaufman said...
Hey Tamara: Actually, I'm just renting a booth at the store. Consignment was too steep! It's for sale :).
Ana: If it was just the two of us here, I think I could do it too, but I have way too many people in my house still. Oh, and no inclination to clean. I hate housework, lol!
- January 13, 2010 at 5:26 PM
- Linsey Lanier said...
Love that Einstein quote, Debbie. And the one about drawers is very revealing. I've always suspected that. :) And the sign from Hallmark, too. Way cool.
You could never work at my desk. But I just don't see the clutter around me -- or much else, for that matter.
For a minute I thought you were going to say that antique desk was where you write. That would really make you a neat-freak. Talk about minimalism! But your tiny table and comfy chair is almost as bare. It's beautiful.
Dianna's advice is great. I need to elevate my monitor, too. See, long comments are good, if they're informative. :)
Monica sounds wonderful, but what I really want is to hire someone who will dig up my notes and hand them to me as I write. She'd have to have telepathic abilities...
- January 13, 2010 at 6:28 PM
- Susan May said...
My office is neat, but full. I know where everything is and put things back where they belong when I'm through with them. The problem is I have too much stuff for my office for it to look neat. Great post Debbie.
- January 13, 2010 at 7:13 PM
- Debbie Kaufman said...
Linsey, that is exactly the type of desk I always worked on, large and cluttered. I think that something shifted in me and I started to "see" the clutter.
Susan, I know what you mean. You should see my husband's office. I didn't post THAT picture! He is an incredible pack rat.
- January 13, 2010 at 8:02 PM
- Sandy Elzie said...
Hi Deb,
Checking in late...sorry. My desk is messy with notes, references, dictionary, etc,. but I need everything and I know where everything is on the desk. Everything else is in drop files. I'm a file-aholic. (g)
Pictures tomorrow!!
- January 13, 2010 at 8:49 PM
- Sally Kilpatrick said...
Oh, Debbie. I woudl love to give you advice on avoiding clutter, but we have already seen my little clutter problem. And I'm so surprised no one commented on the sombrero in the background of my picture.
Anyway, your post is very well laid out--not in the least disorganized. You've already discovered one of my favorite places: Ikea. I just bought a desk chair there for $20, and I LOVE it. They have almost everything you could think of for organization and are MUCH cheaper than the container store.
Congrats on the new house, and I suppose my main piece of advice would be to think about wall color and paint. I didn't do that right off the bat and now three-quarters of the house is still beige.
Oh, and Dianna, thanks for the warning about neck injuries. I was just wondering why my neck was a little sore and about to attribute it to sinus. Then I realized I wrote this morning at my mechanic's and I had my laptop in my lap instead of on a table. Hmmm.
- January 13, 2010 at 10:27 PM
- Debbie Kaufman said...
Thanks for dropping in Sally! And a sombrero? Really, it blends right in :) I mean, why be just like everyone else, right? And paint colors? Spent yesterday getting samples and today measuring walls for paint and furniture layout. Tomorrow, the looney bin. Oh, I should be so lucky...
- January 14, 2010 at 1:19 PM
- Tami Brothers said...
Debbie, I love this look into your life. I also love that little desk by your chair. I want one!!!!
I would love to see that 1960's type coffee house. I love the modern ones and I wonder what is so different now???
Have fun with the paint and such. That's actually my favorite part about moving. I love taking something that is either complete trash or a blank white slate and creating something with color. Have fun and stay sane…grin…
Ps – Sally, we all know you so the sombrero just fit and no one questioned it..grin…
- January 15, 2010 at 8:20 AM


text: Two angels spread their arms to gesture that the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus is a celestial vision. Although the Virgin appears to be seated on the ground--a sign of humility--the canopy overhead alludes to her role as the Queen of Heaven. This miniature, together with the one on the facing page, introduces the text of the Mass of the Virgin, as indicated by the rubric at the top of the page: Incipit missa de domina n[ost]ra, Here begins the Mass of Our Lady.


text:
Sorry, 192.168.1.x in /etc/hosts will not work.
First you have setup your router to allow fixed ip addresses - right now it looks like all are reserved for dhcp.
Secondly you have to set the selected address on your server either by some GUI tool or editing the right file
in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts.
Access my server through my public ip
Issues related to configuring your network
Post Reply
Post Reply


text:
Insole: The fixed inner sole of a boot or shoe.
I absolutely love these heels. They're super comfortable and I've been wanting a pair of cigarette heels for a while now. I saw one in Zara but didn't find them as comfortable as the ones I wore today. Although it could be a little taller, I love the pale salmon detailing on the insole and it's great to wear with a minimalistic piece.
Tomorrow is my boyfriend's birthday so expect a long photo blog!


text:
25 September 2013
I can see for miles, miles, miles
Over the weekend, a small group and I decided to take advantage of the amazing sunshine (and warmth!) and hike up into Holyrood Park. It's a huge, gorgeous parkland in the middle of the city that is known for its famous peak, Arthur's Seat (in the photo above). We didn't get up to that point in particular, but we made our way (with one false start along a path that was incidentally closed) to Salisbury Crags, where the view is one of the best you can get in the entire city.
To the north, one looks over the Firth of Forth to the hills of Fife, past Old Town (pictured above is Calton Hill). To the east, you look out over a widening stretch of the Forth, which eventually, if you were to keep going, meets the North Sea. A view just doesn't get much better than that. On the way down, one gets a good overview of Holyrood Palace, which is the Queen's official residence in Scotland, and where she stays at least one week out of every year.
6 comments:
Great photos! Those are some spectacular views, and I love the castle!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you! There's no shortage in either the view or castle department here. ;)Delete
Kate x
Awesome photos! I'm loving the new layout too! You are a chameleon.ReplyDelete
xo Lisa | Making Life's LemonsReplies
Thanks! I just couldn't get the header right! I think I've finally made one I can live with ;DDelete
Cheers! x
wow... these pictures are just so beautiful. i lived in ireland for a while and you're making me a little homesick for that part of the world!!ReplyDeleteReplies
Thank you! Ireland is gorgeous... these isles in general are amazing! I hope to get to Ireland sometime while I'm here, because it's so close and I really enjoyed a trip I took there several years ago... great country!Delete
Kate x
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The Show
The musclebound, green behemoth has a new television presence in the animated series The Incredible Hulk kicking off this fall on the United Paramount Network. The Hulk comes to life as the alter ego of Dr. Bruce Banner after Banner is exposed to radiation when another scientist sabotages the Gamma Nuclear Reactor. Tormented by his uncontrollable transformations into the Hulk when he is angered, Banner travels the world in search of a cure to rid himself of the beast.
The half-hour show debuts on Sunday, September 8 at 10 a.m., and will run for 13 episodes. It is targeted at children five to 12, but the 34-year-old character has the potential to also draw in teen and adult fans. In the U.S., it will have 92 percent clearance. Los Angeles-based Marvel Films/New World Animation is the program's producer.
The Marketing Concept
Marketing efforts by Marvel and UPN draw upon the Hulk's familiarity not only with kids, but with their teen siblings and likely their parents.
'He is one of our most recognizable and best loved characters,' says Justin McCormack, executive vice president of consumer products with New York-based Marvel Entertainment Group. Comic books featuring the Hulk are available in 75 countries. The property made his first TV appearance in the early 1960s in a show that consisted of panels and artwork from the comics. The character's popularity soared from 1978 to 1982 with the live-action show starring Lou Ferrigno, who will be the voice of the Hulk in the new series. That program still airs in syndication in the U.S.
The built-in audience for the show, plus the Hulk's 'larger-than-life' figure and his goodness at heart, are the reasons why the character 'will be featured predominantly' in promotions for UPN's new kids lineup, says J'e Passarella, senior vice president, marketing and advertising with Los Angeles-based UPN. For example, in a trade ad announcing UPN's fall schedule earlier this year, the Hulk was holding a UPN Kids logo that contained images from its three other kids shows.
The UPN Kids block as an entity-branded with the word 'oop-en' based on its acronym and meaning 'fun' and 'cool'-will be the big theme of any efforts, says Passarella.
The Plot
TV spots for UPN's Sunday morning block and individual series began in late July. The seven-week television campaign leading up to the premiere will include three flights of creative. Print ads for the programming block will follow in the September issues of four or five kids magazines, including Marvel and Archie comic books, and may continue into October and November.
The network has sent Hulk costumes to its 156 affiliates for local promotions, and has been talking with companies about national tie-ins, a fairly new tactic for its kids programming.
After the premiere, UPN will continue to support The Incredible Hulk with television ads, but other plans are still undecided.
For Marvel, its biggest push will be aimed at the comic-book direct market of up to 7,000 stores in the U.S., 'the area where we have the most influence,' says McCormack. Marvel has its own comic-book distribution company, and therefore deals directly with these retailers.
Comic books and consumer publication Marvel Vision have already informed Hulk fans of the upcoming series. This fall, the Hulk will feature in a backlit poster program. Contests will offer a chance to win licensed merchandise.
The company also has 'a number of tools and channels' to promote the series in the mass-market, says McCormack, including its recent alliance with toy manufacturer Toy Biz, a Marvel Online joint venture with America Online, Fleer and Skybox trading cards and its licensees. As well, Marvel is looking to sign on retail and fast-food partners by the end of this quarter.


text:
Scooter Board
Scooter Board
Location: Monterey
Toy ID: 92
Available: Yes
Helps with coordination and whole body strength.
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Charlie's Angels
Listing #: 1541673358
Hawera, Taranaki, NZ
View Count: 0
Classification: M Note: Actual cover art may differ
Listing Detail Tabs
|Main cast:
|Lucy Lui, Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz
|When a devious mastermind embroils them in a plot to destroy individual privacy, the Angels, aided by their loyal sidekick Bosley (Bill Murray), set out to bring down the bad guys. But when a terrible secret is revealed, it makes the Angels targets for assassination. Special Features: * movieIQ+sync and BD-Live connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the movie! * Director and Cinematographer Commentary * Deleted and Extended Scenes * Outtakes & Bloopers * Getting G'd Up * The Master and the Angels * Welcome to Angel World * Angelic Attire: Dressing Cameron, Drew and Lucy * Angelic Effects * Music Videos
|Blu Ray
no amaray cover
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